#now everyone has to asks Tristan who his /husband/ is

[marymary-diva17]

A marriage of a great deal

Marriage among the ton had been were many things but when it came, to one family the Bridgerton marriage had been purpose to made for love. Not all the members of the family will be given the grace of happy marriage of love, when to came time of them to be married. A marriage that was made without the intention and approval of the one who was, being married off. 

Antony “ you shall marry lord Tristan” 

Y/n “ brother why have you done this I and Tristan ….” 

Antony “ I have arranged the marriage and it shall be done I ready, approved of the proposal and soon the ton will know when we have a party in honor of the marriage” 

Y/n “ no I was promised like everyone else a marriage of love, that a marriage that will get me out of the house and away from the family”

Antony “ you will marry Tristan a marriage with him will do o family well, and it will make both house’s powerful in the end” 

Y/n “ I will speak to mother about this she will say no right away brother” you and left your brother office and soon walked towards the drawing room.

Antony “ get back here sister we are not done”

Colin “ what is wrong dear sister you seem mad don’t tell me dress, shop was out of your favorite fabric color” 

Y/n “ leave me be Colin mother Antony has agreed for a marriage for me with Tristan ” 

Daphne “ Tristan that is splendid sister you and him will be perfect” 

Y/n “ no sister he married me off to him without knowledge me” 

Violet “ dearest I know” 

Y/n “ then tell my brother you son he being very rude without asking me …. Do we even know Tristan wants a wife right now” 

Benedict “ oh baby sister he needs to marry with the power his family has and money, he can’t stay single forever” 

Y/n “ what of you dear brother you and our other brothers who are grown, haven’t done your duties” 

Antony “ it different for us sister one of us older kids need to marry, before Daphne and Eloise are present to the ton” 

Y/n “ so I most be the one to marry and not you” 

Antony “ you are young women who should be married by now and having kids, and your have failed at that no other man might have you .. I spoke wing Tristan father and he agreed his son needs a wife” 

Y/n “ Tristan as I remember as siblings as well unmarried as well” 

Eloise “ yes why should y/n and Tristan marry when other in their family haven’t” 

Antony “ that is not important we need you both to marry and bring a Union and stop this wild behavior you have sister, you need a husband that man is Tristan once you both are married we all will be happy … think about the family you unmarried will bring shame to us all” 

Y/n “ …..” 

Violet “ dearest I was arranged as well and I found love” 

Y/n “ mother you and papa said I could find my husband for love and not force into something” 

Violet “ well something there needs to be sacrificed I know your brother, will not marry to any bad lord it Tristan a young man from well know family” 

Colin” sister you might be lucky be doesn’t spend much time at gentlemen club or with other women you are lucky one, you could be married to some scandals lord” 

Benedict “ man in debt with not wealth for you to spend and he travels as well so you will be lucky to marry him” 

Antony “ sister for once do this for the family for us all to find partners, because if you don’t then we are doomed and alone with Tristan family as well … we will be doomed because of you and him … you will marry him or be alone forever” 

Violet “ you will find love or some good in this marriage and you will always have a place here my daughter, and not far from us as well … when we plant this wedding you will get to know him better” you didn’t say anything else as it will fall on deaf ears like always, soon the news spread you had gotten spend time with Tristan. Both of you upset on how your families and treated you both for voicing your opinion. 

Day of wedding

Violet “ you look beautiful my dear your father will of loved to be here” 

Y/n “ yes mother” 

Violet “ I know this marriage is not something you wish but your brother and I had thought the best for you, and look where we are now your wedding … you will always be here in London” 

Y/n “ yes mother” 

Violet “ once you are happily married your siblings will come as well, all of you marriage of love as well I know it and maybe soon grandchildren from you … I will be so happy” 

Y/n “ yes mama what ever makes the family happy I will do it” 

Violet “ my dear I will …” 

Antony “ is the bride ready it time for the wedding” 

Violet “ yes she is ready I will see you out” Violet soon left the two siblings alone. 

Antony “ it seems like you and Tristan have grown a strong bond, on the end so there was no need to worry after all my sister you shall thank me in the future … with this marriage all our siblings marriage and mine shall me good”

Y/n “ I will do anything for our siblings I and Tristian have made a stronger relationship, and spoke about our future”

Antony “ good you are doing your duty to our family”

Y/n “ yes”Antony and walked you into the chapel and soon gave away to Tristan. 

Priest “ do you lord Tristan take this women a your wife” 

Tristan “ I do” 

Priest “ do you lady y/n take this man as your husband”

Y/n “ I do”

Priest “ then you both shall kiss” Tristan had kissed you and you kissed him back. The wedding party was grand and fun. 

Benjamin “ I can’t believe your both were upset about this whole situation, now look at them man and wife”

Tristan” you missed the point dear brother of mine”

Tristan father “ my son this marriage has done our family well look at all that came to, the wedding this union will be good for us all”

William “ maybe if you both have enough kids we all might not have to marry, as we will heirs to take over for us”

Tristan “ what if we have all daughter will that work for you or not bother “

Antony “ you both will have the kids first and we might have them as well, there is future we need to think about for us all”

Violet “ all your children will be love and welcome, in our families good son”

Colin “ with our dear sister married we will be soon married as well, with our sisters relationship with other houses”

Y/n “ only time will tell my brothers”

Eloise “ sister you shall be missed at home please write”

Antony “ she not leaving the county Eloise, she just moving to countryside to make her home … we can see all anytime we wish”

Daphne “ yes sister you most invite us”

Y/n “ yes I will once I and my husband are settled into our new roles”

Violet “ I know you shall do well my girl” the rest of the party had went well, until you will leave with your husband. 

Violet “ the carriage will take you to the inn for the night”

Y/n “ yes mother” 

Gregory “ I will miss you”

Y/n “ we can write my brother and you all can come see in time”

Hyacinth “ you promise”

Y/n “ yes and if you all ever need help please write to me see we will be apart for sometime”

Eloise “ we will sister and maybe come stay as well “

Tristan “ you are all welcome to come for visit”

Antony “ once you both are settled into your roles we will come see you both, and speak with each as family and maybe getting Reya for the next seasons to come”

Tristan father “ yes that is good”

Tristan “ if we are lucky we can get the rest of siblings in some courting or marriage as well .. it the best for the family” 

Lady Danbury “ I can’t wait to see what you and young Tristan will do, I always love the spark the both of you have ..I know both are powerful fires and will do well looking forward to see the future you both forge”

Y/n and Tristan “ thank you”

Antony “ you both should be getting to your honeymoon, and enjoy the months of being newly weddings” 

Y/n “ we will brother and I will write when I can”

Violet “ enjoy your time we will be good and I know your father will be proud of you”

Tristan father “ my son your mother will be proud as well” 

Tristan “ yes well dear wife we shall leave now come along”

Y/n “ yes my husband” your siblings had given you one last hug, even your mother a hug as well. You had soon gotten into the carriage with your husband. Heading off to an inn on the starts of being newly weds.

Tristan “ y/n I need to have some words with you”

Y/n “sure dinner has arrived as well”

Tristan “ good you remember my uncle at reside in Scotland”

Y/n “ yes joke uncle I remember him very well, what the matter”

Tristan “ he has fallen unwell and has asked me to come to Scotland, to take over his household and lands until he is well … he has made me his heir verse my brothers”

Y/n “ then you shall go see him he has always been there for you”

Tristan “ thank you and he asked me to bring my new wife as well, you with me

Saying it will be good and big enough house for us to stay there… it far better then stay in London at the moment”

Y/n “ I have to agree this whole marriage had been made for us, yes I love and care for you but how everyone had been treated is is awful… then them making jokes on us having kids so they couldn’t it not fair”

Y/n “ I shall not have my children be used a pawns in my brother game of avoiding marriage, and saying I shall be blamed for everything in the end made me sick”

Tristan “ my family wasn’t son nice about it either, I shall not have you or our future kids treated that way … we are no longer pawn in their chess game and are children will not as well … my mother told me to live the life I shall want and not let other control me”

Y/n “ so it seems like we are in agreement we shall go to Scotland and care for you uncle and his household as well”

Tristan “ splendid my dear wife and your brothers and my family, can’t do nothing about it … if wish for scandal and judgment to be placed on them”

Y/n “ now my husband have a meal with me, as you tell me more about this letter form your uncle”the couple had soon sat down for a meal and went into deeper conversation, about Tristan uncle and the move it Scotland. The next day they had left for their new home and land,and there was nothing that could stopped them as they are a married couple living their own lives.

[gawrkin]

Random question but do you think it's possible to do a story combining the Chronicle version where Guinevere marries Mordred willingly and the Vulgate where Guinevere and Lancelot are lovers without demonizing Guinevere? Specifically imagining in this version Guinevere is bitter like in E A Robinson and explicitly did not want to return to Arthur. Lancelot would have to assume that she was forced ofc as to not die of heartbreak but I think it could work and am surprised no one has tried it yet... it would also work for Guen and Morgan being foils since just as Morgan mellows out Guenevere decides fuck it I'm rebelling against my husband now. She can still have her little redemption where she joins a nunnery, therefore the opposite of Morgan who began in a nunnery.

Yes, you can if you know and aware of what you're doing. Buuut... it also comes with some concessions.

You are not beholden to the standard sequence of events anymore.

If you're combining the two divergent narratives together - making Guinevere love Lancelot and marry Mordred willingly - you've essentially created a new story. You have basically opened a can of worms regarding as to how and why things happen in the story. You are going to need to ask yourself a lot of questions:

Is Guinevere just using Mordred? Does Guinevere love Mordred? Or vice-versa? Mutual? Is Mordred marrying out of pragmatic need or is he also in deep love with Gwen? How did this happen while Guinevere is in a relationship with Lancelot?

How Lancelot aware or unaware of Mordred and Guinevere's relationship? Will he approve of the marriage in any sense? Would Lancelot even act and go back to Logres in the first place? Lancelot never cared about who is married to Guinevere (because Courtly Love), unless it was dishonorable for her to do so. Lancelot might just think that's a great move on Gwen's part if he and Gwen share a dismal view of Arthur. And that's if he wasn't forewarned of Guinevere's next moves beforehand by Gwen herself...

What about Lancelot and Mordred's relationship? Relationships don't happen in a vacuum. For things like a Mordred-loving-Guinevere or vice versa to happen while Lancelot is in the picture, you have to seriously consider setting up the characterizations and relationships a long way before the Fall. Are they aware of each other's affections for Gwen? Were they competing for Gwen's affections before the Grail Quest? Do they respect each other? Hate each other? You may just created a new Tristan-Palamedes-Iseult triangle. Which utterly alters the story. Remember, Mordred is Lancelot's junior in Vulgate.

Does the Burning at the Stake even happen in the first place? A Mordred-that's-in-love-with-Guinevere would never agree to her execution and, depending if he and Lancelot have positive relationship, would never be onboard with Agravain's plan. (It's why in Vulgate, Mordred falls in love after the Burning, nonsensical as it sounds) The exposure of the Affair won't go the usual way anymore, with Mordred going anywhere from convincing Arthur not to execute her, to protesting with Gawain, to dying alongside Gaheris and Gareth to Mordred joining Lancelot's rescue party and maybe killing his own brothers in the process.

Does Guinevere need to be sympathetic? Does anyone else, including Arthur, need to be sympathetic? Why? Are you worried about alienating the audience? Sometimes, you don't really need to morally justify the actions of a given character as long as they make sense and the narrative development with them is engaging /compelling enough on its own. In particular, are you trying to push a moral/ethical message to the audience? Is Arthur the bad guy or not? Is the Arthur in this story - regardless of his characterization - supposed to be in the right or in the wrong?

What is the Political situation surrounding Guinevere's willing marriage? Everyone is onboard with it? Archbishop Dubricius and the Church? Who is on Guinevere's faction? Who are against her and Mordred? Guinevere locking herself in the Tower of London wont happen now and instead Guinevere could... y'know... "Hey, Mordred, do you want to attack Arthur now while his back is turned so we can go save Lancelot?" A Mordred-who-hates-Lancelot won't do that, but Guinevere is now free to do alot of things and may have more than just Mordred on her side.

For that matter, what about the Roman War? It still happens in Vulgate, albeit minimized.

During the actual Mordred revolt, does Guinevere try and contact Lancelot of the situation? To help Mordred or just fish her out? Is she instead coordinating and planning with Mordred? Does she have a plan to do something? Again, she's not holed up in the Tower of London anymore, so why wouldn't she be proactively doing something?

Does Guinevere even NEED to go to a nunnery? If she hates Arthur, that goes out the window. A Guinevere that's bitter about Arthur would never feel the need for redemption. She would, in her mind, be justified in her actions. In both Historia Regum Britanniae and Vulgate Cycle, the reason she goes to a nunnery was because she was afraid of being killed by Arthur (and Mordred in Vulgate). It's only in Malory, that Guinevere becoming a Nun is an act of repentance for her actions, out of guilt regarding the death of her beloved husband and the collapse of the kingdom. Earlier stories are about protecting herself from retaliation. In particular, Vulgate cycle has Gwen become a nun out of fear when Mordred's sons are hunting her down. In your hypothetical story, Melehan and his brother could be Guinevere's own sons (ala Alliterative Morte Arthur) and so she has nothing to fear unless your story has Mordred and Gwen's relationship breakdown badly or Gwen has been a bad mother. And all this is assuming a nunnery is her first option. Why doesn't Guinevere go back to Cameliard? Potentially, with her sons and the Benoic faction in tow?

Would your Guinevere have the motive to sieze power and reassert her rule? Her "redemption" may not even come in the form of going to a nunnery - she can just desire to salvage Logres and rule as a possible Dowager Queen, with the aid of Melehan and/or Lancelot. Then Constantine comes into the picture....

So as you can clearly see, your ask has a lot of things going around than just simply slapping together two different narratives and expecting a simple fit, especially in a modern standard that seeks to make sure there are no plot holes.

But to reiterate, you can have your hybrid Chronicle-Romance narrative with a sympathetic Gwen if you know where things lead to what, how to get there, what are the consequences of xyz change and how to accomodate for those consequences.

[tytarax]

I already finished Zou arc (I'm suffering with Sanji, and the masochism of liking one of his brothers rn), but I just can't stop thinking about everything that happened and this scenario has been living in my mind for days now.

I also realized that if it's about one piece, I'm into furries minks

Being Duke Dogstorm's wife only caused him to want to keep you safe when he heard the intruders bell sound. Everyone knew what was coming. They're coming for Raizo, the ninja from the land of Wano.

"Please, my love, stay here" He begged as he stood up from beside you. You were looking down as you held back tears. "Just... promise me you will come back" You were already tired of him telling you that you couldn't go with him, you resigned yourself and all you could do was pray that everything would turn out well.

After a goodbye kiss, you were left alone in the forest fortress, where several townspeople were already arriving. As a figure of authority, you couldn't just stand there doing nothing, you had to give your people hope. So, doing your best to ignore the sound of the houses falling and the screams, you dedicated yourself to taking care of the others and not showing fear in the face of the threat of the pirates Beast and Jack, their leader.

---

Three days passed, everything was silent, and your heart was broken from listening to the pleas of your people begging these monsters to stop their torture. You were already ready to return to the city to see with your own eyes that everyone was still alive… at least you had the hope.

But one of the soldiers who managed to reach the fortress asked you not to go to the city… that no one should go, since as a last measure, the pirates used poison gas bombs and it was highly dangerous to go.

You were a stubborn person, but you ended up staying anyway. Still, you couldn't help but worry about everyone being okay… about your husband being okay.

Sometime later, you heard a rumor that some pirates had arrived in Zou, the Straw Hat Pirates. And they were willing to help save everyone's lives.

The days dragged on, each one filled with a mix of dread and anticipation. You continued to oversee the forest fortress, ensuring that everyone was safe and cared for, but your thoughts were never far from the city and Dogstorm.

Until one day, you finally saw him, and if your heart was already broken... it shattered. He was unconscious, still alive, but yet so harmed, blood all over his face, scars, and what horrified you the most was seeing that they had cut off one of his legs. How far were those monsters capable of going?

---

"You-teia have my gratitude," you said looking at the saviors of the mink tribe, who had introduced themselves as Nami, Sanji, Chopper, and Brook, a corpse-like hero who looks very delicious. "Oh, it's never a problem to help a beautiful mademoiselle like you! Garchu, ____-san!" Sanji said with heart-shaped eyes while standing beside you and you responded to his garchu. "Garchu, Sanji-kun"

"I believe Duke Dogstorm will wake up in a while, I don't know when tho..." Chopper exhaled as he removed the stethoscope from his ears and jumped off of the bed. "Thank you, doctor Chopper."

Chopper blushed, rubbing the back of his head bashfully. "It's nothing, really. I'm just glad I could help."

"By the way, Wanda, why don't you-teia show them around in the meantime? Miyagi, Tristan, and I will take care of Duke Dogstorm. Go enjoy for a while," you suggested smiling.

Wanda nodded, her ears twitching slightly. "Of course, Lady ____. I can show them around. Follow me," she said, gesturing for the, at the moment, Curly Hat Pirates to follow her. As they left, you turned your attention back to Dogstorm, "You-teia will get through this, my love. You-teia are the strongest person I know."

---

More days have passed, the Duke still hasn't woken up. However, just a few hours ago you heard about the arrival of the rest of the Straw Hat crew.

So, you gave the order to have a welcome banquet, which they gladly attended. Likewise, you asked Tristan and Miyagi to attend the banquet, and take a break.

"Step aside Shishilian, I've come to bring something to Lady ____" you heard Pedro's voice on the other side of the door, interrupted by Shishilian's "And for what reason would they have sent you-gara?" He said at "full power" as always.

"Let him in Shishilian" you raised your voice a little so he could hear you on the other side of the door, "Oh, as you-gara say your highness" he said as he opened the door and let Pedro in.

"Lady ____, how are you-gara doing" Pedro asked approaching. "I'm doing fine, Pedro, thanks for asking. What brings you-teia here?" you asked curiously. "I'm here to bring you-gara some food of the banquet for the straw hats, I was told you-gara haven't been eating well since..."

"Why, thank you, Pedro, that's really nice. Please give them my apologies for not coming to introduce myself yet, " You said smiling lovely. Pedro handed you the tray of food and looked at the Duke for a moment. "How's Duke Dogstorm doing?" "He's doing fine, as far as I know, still we don't know when he'll wake up," You said looking at your husband with worry before looking at Pedro. "I see... I hope the best for him and you-gara" "Thank you, Pedro."

Pedro said goodbye as he headed to the banquet and you were left alone again, occasionally trying a bite of food. All of a sudden, there was a slight movement. His eyes fluttered open, and he looked around, disoriented.

"My love," you whispered, tears of relief streaming down your face. "You're awake." He looked at you with relief in his eyes "____... sorry for making you-gara worry"

You shook your head reassuring him, "It's fine" It wasn't fine, he knew it, you knew it "At least it's finally over. A pirate crew named the Straw Hat Pirates came arrived here and helped us, I'm truly grateful" You said smiling with tears threatening to come out. He brought his big paw close to your face and wiped away your tears. "I see, then I'm grateful too"

You looked out the window for a moment and saw the monkey mink picking some fruits. "Bariete" you said, getting his attention. "Hm?" "Go tell everyone that Duke Dogstorm has woken up, please."

"Yes, of course! I'm so glad!" He said as he ran off to the room where they were having a banquet. You both laughed softly at the mink's enthusiasm. You remembered something when you saw the newspaper that had arrived a few days ago.

"On the other hand," you said as you stood up from his side and picked up the newspaper, "this news arrived a little while ago, it says that Jack supposedly died after trying to rescue Doflamingo from the hands of the Marines. And about Doflamingo, it was the Straw Hats themselves who defeated him, that was what caused Jack to leave."

"These Straw Hats piqued my curiosity…" Dogstorm said as he grabbed the newspaper from your hands. "They're good kids, I'm sure of that." You said as you walked over to give him a well-deserved amount of garchus before everyone else arrived.

Part 2

Masterpost

OP Masterlist

[queer-ragnelle]

Hi! Your flowchart is amazing, and I'm so excited by the literature list you made. However, I was wondering if you know which book is best to start reading more about Arthurian legend? I have only collected knowledge through osmosis, so I have no clue where or how to start learning more. Thank you for your time and have a nice day!

hello!

thank you, i'm glad they're helpful for you! i did answer a similar ask about what medieval texts to begin with here and link to free resources, but the formatting is hard on the eyes, and now that my own collection is available, i'll reiterate. all suggested translations are available on my blog.

le morte d'arthur by sir thomas malory: you'll get the most mileage out of this book as malory sourced a broad spectrum of stories to incorporate them into a single text, which includes arthur's conception, pulling the sword from the stone, receiving excalibur from the lady of the lake, marrying to guinevere, young gawain's knighting and first quest, tristan and isolde's romance, the grail quest, final battle at camlann etc. plus malory himself invented some of the most iconic stories, such as gareth's time as the kitchen boy, beaumains. with this book alone, the majority of retellings will make sense to you. but be warned it can be extremely dry (and confusing timeline wise, calogrenant dies twice bc malory couldn't keep his own story straight!), i recommend the keith baines translation as it's rewritten into prose like a novel.

the vulgate cycle: it's 10 books. i know it's 10 books. but it's simply the best. the truncated nature of malory's le morte d'arthur leaves the majority of characters reduced to singular traits (orkney bros the mindless killers, priggish grail knights etc.) which has negatively influenced many retellings since imo. this is not an issue with the vulgate where everyone has a little more nuance and depth, even the bad guys, but especially the characters we're supposed to root for like lancelot and gawain. many fun characters who were cut from le morte d'arthur are fully developed here like half-giant galehaut and gawain's baby mama the lady of lys. i'm putting it high on the list bc i simply think more people should try it. i recommend the translation edited by norris j. lacy. he's incredible and i love all of his translation work. footnotes right in the margin will remind the reader of past references and explain language subtleties lost in translation (like puns) or indicate what was changed for ease of understanding (sometimes the scribes made mistakes and named the wrong character, which lacy will fix and then note he fixed). so if one can get past the sheer volume of text, it's a wonderful read, and i even have specific stories within it i could recommend. but i digress...

sir gawain and the green knight: it goes without saying this poem is iconic. the pearl poet (as the anonymous author is called) wrote beautifully and the version of gawain here is a much kinder portrayal than what he appears in the post vulgate, which was a major source for malory's le morte d'arthur. the beheading exchange/game is the focus here, although this motif will appear in many other texts, such as perlesvaus, and the sgatgk story appears in the majority of retellings that include gawain, so it's a must read. i recommend the j. r. r. tolkien translation (the audiobook version of this translation is phenomenal, like music).

four arthurian romances + the story of the grail by chrétien de troyes: except you can skip cligés bc its mediocre at best. really what you'll need from this is knight of the cart (the first ever story in which lancelot appears and he's very pathetic and weepy and insane and lovable haters dni), knight with the lion (gawain's cousin yvain gets a pet lion, fights a dragon, gets married, gets divorced, goes mad, recovers, gets married again...), erec and enide (worst husband in the universe), and the story of the grail (perceval and gawain adventures). a version of these stories were adapted into le morte d'arthur and the vulgate (except for yvain's lion which is a bummer!). i recommend the nigel bryant translation of perceval and william kibler translations for the rest. when you reach the end of the story of the grail and it cuts mid-sentence...well, sadly we don't know what happened to poor chrétien that kept him from completing his story. but there are four continuations written by other people, plus the german parzival is great as well (and has one of my favorite of gawain's wives, the haughty maiden of logres, orgeluse).

the mabinogion: some of the same stories as chrétien but of welsh origin plus extras. haters will try to pit two bad bitches against each other, but these texts go hand in hand. i like the whimsical vibes of this version and the magical powers given to the characters, such as kay's ability to grow to the size of a tree and set things on fire with his hands or bedwyr's ability to strike faster than all other knights despite having only one hand. it also gives owain (welsh version of yvain) an army of ravens that kill people in addition to his lion, arthur has an invisibility mantle (also referenced in the welsh triads), and the whole gang fights the demon boar twrch trwyth to steal the golden comb off his head. good stuff. i recommend the translation by lady charlotte guest.

the wedding of sir gawain and dame ragnelle: obviously this has to be included. i'm biased but at the same time, it is supposed that sir thomas malory actually wrote this poem! which i think is pretty neat. additionally, 99% of retellings include ragnelle as gawain's wife. in fact, excluding the ones in which he doesn't have a partner at all, i can only think of one in which he marries someone else. dame ragnelle is the people's darling, all of us arthurian authors agreed that in spite of our differing opinions about everything else in the stories, she is the wife of all time. and we're right. a thing of beauty. this text does not have a translation, it's just in middle english, which can be challenging to read. this version edited by thomas hahn has footnotes to help or otherwise i recommend the version retold by selina hastings and illustrated by juan wijngaard, it's gorgeous, and includes all the fun supporting cast like kay and guinevere.

this was a long list with probably more explanation than necessary but it can be difficult to narrow down a single place to begin with arthuriana as each story builds on the literary tradition that came before. everyone is sharing and influencing one another so stories and motifs are repeated, each author writes for their time, slightly altering the technology and culture to reflect their own lived experience, so the narrative evolved as the centuries passed into what we have today. thanks for this ask and hope you enjoy reading!

[sajirah]

Reaching out to express my appreciation for you as we approach the new year - your writing has brought me so much joy in 2024 and I really feel so lucky I discovered your writing after finishing ACOTAR. <3 I'm so obsessed with your Feysand stories, especially Rhys omg. The way he's ALWAYS an utter simp for Feyre is like ruining men for me - whether he's posessive dark Rhys or charismatic husband material. Would you be willing to rec some of your favorite romances? (They can be super dark, Come Away O Human Child is like my fave of yours - though Let Us Cling Together As The Years Go By, We Just Have To Face It and Take Care of Business for Me are SO GOOD too!!! Even unfinished!!!) I think you mentioned a pirate fic in one of your comments a while back?. Not that I'm complaining about spending my days rereading your fics and refreshing ao3 to see if you've posted a new chapter - time very well spent, not regrets! BUT I feel like we have the same taste in reading material so would love to find out!

ANON!!! 😭🥺❤️🥰🥹❤️💛💚💙💜

You just made my day! My week!! I am so flattered and happy that you enjoy my fics so much! Especially since I've really only been writing for the first time in years just this past year.

Oh man, I have so many recs but let me see if I can narrow them down a bit. Sorry, this might run a little long.

Lyonesse trilogy by Sierra Simone

A modern re-telling of the myth of Tristan and Isolde. But with kinky sex, threesomes, and spy shit.

Looking for some of the hottest books you'll ever read? Do you love angst? Pining? Kinky sex? Mess? Hate love triangles but love a ménage à trois (aka everyone fucks)? What about hot but morally complex doms? Golden retriever simps? Complicated female characters? Well boy do I have the book series for you!

The first and second books (Salt Kiss and Honey Cut) were my favorite books of 2023 and 2024 respectively. By a lot. Book three comes out in a couple months and I AM RABID FOR IT.

2. The Four Horsemen quartet by Laura Thalassa

The world is ending and the Four Horsemen have come to bring an end to humanity...unless they're given a reason not to.

These books surprised me. I went in thinking they'd be trashy apocalyptic romances. And they are. But they're the kind of trashy, tropey romances that hit all the right spots. Enemies-to-lovers? We got that. Mortal/immortal romance? We got that too. Angst? We definitely have that. A man who will literally kill anyone who hurts his one true love? We absolutely have that. These books made me cry. Like three times. But it hurt so good.

3. Sea of Ruin by Pam Godwin

A female pirate finds herself drawn between her dashing ex-husband and the cold and calculating English Naval Captain who seeks to capture her. Who will win? (The answer is both. This is another ménage à trois book) aka the Pirate Book you asked about.

I do have to warn you that this book has some triggers (namely rape and non-con). For me, this was a delightful fun historical romp but for others it could be upsetting. So fair warning.

4. Love Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood

While applying to a new position, a scientist finds herself at odds with the brother of the man she is fake dating.

My girl Ali! I've been a Reylo for quite a few years now and remember when Ali was still writing Reylo fanfic. It was a joy to see her blow up as a best-selling author but even more exciting to finally see some new material from her that wasn't based on one of her fics! This is one of those books. Easily my favorite of all her published works.

5. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

The story of a marriage between a man forced to travel through time and the woman who loves him.

Since you mentioned you're enjoying Let Us Cling Together As The Years Go By, how about the book that inspired it?

I read this book when I was a teenager, shortly after it first came out, and it was a revelation for me. I don't think I had ever really read a proper literary romance before that point. It was fascinating. Not just the plot device (the time travel), but the way the relationship between these two characters was woven and the very real, very gritty ups and downs of their marriage. Not to mention the prose itself is beautiful. Highly recommend.

6. Land of the Beautiful Dead by R. Lee Smith

A woman seeks out the god of the dead to plead with him to end the apocalypse...at any cost.

And last, but certainly not least, my favorite romance of all time? It's this book. The big daddy of all romances for me, made specifically with my tastes in mind. And I really do mean that. It's problematic. It's weird (the love interest is a corpse...and not a sexy one). It's full of triggers (a lot of them). It's angsty. It will rip your heart out of your chest and then stomp on it for good measure...and it is also the best love story I've ever read.

15/10. Perfect book. I was left sobbing into my pillow at 2 am when I finished it. I still think about that last scene almost daily.

I hope these are what you're looking for! Feel free to hit me up again if you need more! 💜

[kandadiff]

After the scene at the pool, Negan went with Simon to take Camila and Shawn to the hospital. My father apologized profusely and grew angry with us. 

My mom pretended to be upset but she couldn’t hide her glee. She convinced him to take us all out for a family talk. 

This resulted in him renting out a beach front restaurant for the night. The waiters and waitresses extra attentive since I’m sure the owner told him how rich the family was. Or they came to their own conclusions given my dad waved a wad of money at him and they kicked out the other patreons within the next half hour. 

The table was silent. Robin hadn’t said a word to you since you saw him snap and it seemed everyone else didn’t want to break the tense air of the table. 

My mom spoke first, after taking a sip of her tea. “We should talk. For a moment, the table was silent.

Until I broke the silence. "Is this even a family vacation anymore?" My tone was dripping with attitude as I spoke. "It seems like there's more people outside of the family here then there is family members. Negan, Simon, Shawn and now camila. Is this our family vacation or there's?" I looked from my parents to J, clearly addressing him.

J chuckled, his bright red smile turning upward at me. "Do you have something you'd like to say to me specifically, sister?" he sneered the last word, making it sound like an insult rather than a relationship between us.

"Yeah, what was going through your fucking pea sized brain when you invited him." I spat, "we had a deal."

Rhea who was sitting on one side of me gripped my arm signaling me to stay quiet. She knew no one else besides me, her and J new about the plan with the bloodline. But it was too late, my father looked up from his menu with a raised eyebrow.

This caught my fathers attention and he looked at the waiters attending us and smiled at them. It was clear his smile, unnerved them as some of them looked away or giggled nervously. "Leave us for a moment." They looked at their manager who nodded and started to filter out.

"I agree with Kay." Meadow said sighing. "This is our family vacation. No one outside of the family should be here. Thats why I don't bring Tristan or the kids here." She glances at you the only non-family member at the table.

Robin glares at her but its Emmy that speaks up. "We both know you keep your 'husband' hidden from us. Why shouldn't Robin's partner be here, she's practically family." My father watches until all the waiters leave the room. The already empty restaurant seems even more desolate and silent.

My father puts out his cigarette on the white tablecloth and looked at me. His voice carries a fighting authority as he speaks. "What deal did you have with J, Ace?" I glance at J but don't respond so my father looks at Rhea. "Ripley?" she shakes her head.

"No deal" Rhea says "she misspoke."

"You know." My father sighs rubbing his hand over his face. "Happy," (Robin) "runs the company, Ghost" (Theo) "defends the family from the law. Blondie" (Meadow) "has a family in Ohio. Rocket and Tiny," (Frances and Riley) "go to school. Firefly and Jo-jo" (Cordelia and Jerome) "assist J with the nightclubs and my sweet Pearl" (Emmy) "assists me with the casinos." His eyes turn to me and Rhea. "You know, Ace, Ripley... I tend not to ask too many questions. I just hear you re helping with the west coast dealings with our family... but what do you two do exactly that you need to make a deal with your brother?"

"Shes helping me." Rhea says rubbing her wrists, a quirk she had since she was a child. She was nervous and both my parents could tell. I could feel all eyes on us and my parents looked at each other.

For a moment they just looked at each other, My mother lighting a cigarette and taking a deep puff. She handed down the pack in her hand and Theo who was on the other side of you, encouraged you to take one. "You'll need it." He whispered.

My mother looked between me, rhea and J. She knew more then my father, despite popular belief she was protective over her surviving children and she made sure to know about her children's doings while remaining in the shadows. After all, if they knew she was watching they'd hide it better from her. She knew J's anger and hate towards The Bloodline.

The bloodline was another popular gang that rivaled there own. They had the cops under their thumbing ran nearly all the west coast and wanted it all. They were considered better then The Playhouse, they gave to the community, there violence was more hidden from the public because they paid off the networks and while they weren't considered safe, they were more trusted then our family. She knew J hated The Bloodline, he wanted as much of the country under the Playhouse rule and unlike a lot of other gangs, The Bloodline wasn't intimidated by the tales of violence about our family. She also knew Rhea was working with The Bloodline and how she was slowly working her way up the ranks.

But what she didn't know was why J needed me. She just assumed I ran the casinos with J. Like he told her. Her brown eyes locked into mine, "Are you working with Rhea, darling?" Her eyes flickered from me to j.

"I work in the casino, father," I lied smoothly. "You know this. The deal with J is that I take some of the money we make and help Rhea with her job."

My mother isn't convinced but nods. My father seems satisfied by this answer. "Are you seeing anyone?" my mother asks and I glance up at J who's face looks rather emotionless. I know he is thinking the same thing as I am. If mom knew, shed try to control it or intervene which would put our whole operation at risk. Rhea and I were both in the enemy's den, if we were found out then it would cause a war between the two factions and we didn't even know which groups if any would take their side.

"Not seriously," I lied again. "Why should I go back with Negan?" I challenged and her face fell. Robin chuckled at her face.

"mom," Cordelia whined. "Can we order now?"

.

[qnewsau]

I'm A Celebrity's Ellie Cole shares her unexpected love story

New Post has been published on https://qnews.com.au/ellie-cole-shares-her-unexpected-love-story-on-im-a-celebrity/

I'm A Celebrity's Ellie Cole shares her unexpected love story

Australian Paralympic champ Ellie Cole has opened up about how her relationship with her partner Silvia took her by surprise on I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here.

The swimmer and wheelchair basketballer, who is Australia’s most decorated female Paralympian, retired in 2022. Last week, Ellie ~entered the jungle~ on the wild reality TV show.

In between challenges, Ellie Cole and athlete and cricket WAG Candice Warner discussed their partners.

Ellie Cole shared with her campmates that she and her partner Silvia (above) have been together for eleven years.

“We met at the London Games. She was working for Paralympics Australia,” Ellie recalled.

But when Ellie was asked if she recognised those first interactions as the start of a relationship, she responded, “No, I was straight then.”

Ellie explained to camera,“I just always assumed that I was straight.

“I just remember being in primary school and thinking, ‘When I get older, I’m going to get married to my husband, and we’re going to have six kids by the time I’m twenty.’

“I just always followed that path, because that’s what we grow up thinking we’re going to do, for some reason.”

Ellie hid her relationship from her family

But when Ellie and Silvia started talking every day, their friendship unexpectedly became a relationship.

“I wasn’t sure what [my feelings] were. I thought it was just a fling at first, but [it’s now] eleven years later,” Ellie said.

She said it “just felt right, so I never looked back,” but sadly she kept her relationship secret from her family for many years.

“I didn’t tell my mum for years. It was really hard. I knew that she didn’t approve of same-sex relationships,” Ellie recalled.

“It’s not nice hiding a part of yourself from your parents.

“My mum didn’t find out until we actually bought a house together, like years later.

“My grandma loved Silvia and I think my grandma talked my mum into it a little bit. The last couple of years it’s been great. Silvia comes to all of our Christmases.”

In February, Ellie Cole and her partner Silvia announced the birth of their first child, Felix.

Ellie Cole gets Australia Day Honour

Ellie received a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in this year’s Australia Day honours.

The retired athlete was awarded for her “significant service to sport as an advocate for diversity and inclusion” of Australians with a disability.

When she was two years old, Ellie was diagnosed with a rare tumour. A life-threatening neurosarcoma was wrapped around the nerves in her right leg.

As well as a year of brutal chemotherapy, when Ellie was three her doctors decided to amputate her right leg.

Ellie said on I’m A Celebrity that despite being our most decorated female Paralympian, she never felt that she received the same level of support as other Olympians.

“As a para-athlete, probably up until Tokyo 2020, I really felt like I had to push much harder just to be seen in the same regard,” she said.

“I joined the Campbell sisters [Bronte and Cate] in a training program. Everyone loves the Campbell sisters, and so they should. They’re Australia’s swimming sweethearts, and it was an amazing opportunity to train with them,” Ellie said.

“But I was going into that program as a 15-time Paralympic medallist, and I still had to try and fight for resources and fight for funding to be able to be supported in the same program as an Olympic athlete. That was really challenging.”

Read more:

Ellie Cole and her partner Silvia become mums

Paralympic champ Ellie Cole gets Australia Day Honour

I’m A Celebrity’s Tristan MacManus worried love of dancing would brand him gay

Khanh Ong just put his whole fist in his mouth on I’m A Celebrity

For the latest LGBTIQA+ Sister Girl and Brother Boy news, entertainment, community stories in Australia, visit qnews.com.au. Check out our latest magazines or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

[ninjastormhawkkat]

“So does this mean I can’t go to the sports game this Saturday.” Alex joked which made Gene give him a light thwack to his head. “You don’t even like sports!” Gene retorted. Tristan turned to his brother Alan. “I am glad you are okay.” Tristan said. Alan nodded. “I am. Is Hugh alright?” Alan asked in a worried tone. Tristan nodded. “He’s okay, but he’ll be elated to see you again.” Alan gave a small smile at that, but then frowned as a thought occurred to him. “Miss Power, she called you Anaran. Except for our family and friends, no one outside of Lexicon would know that. I don’t recall you ever facing someone like her in combat before coming to Earth.” Alan pointed out. Tristan agreed, his expression becoming serious. “I know. That means she is from Lexicon. Though it makes her appearance and attire all the more confusing since no one from Lexicon looks like her.” Tristan noted. Gene looked at his husband with concern. He too was confused as to how Miss Power knew Tristan’s Lexiconian name. “Look, let’s just head back to the warehouse. I’m sure Pops and the others are back right now with the other hostages.” Everyone except Alex and Alan nodded. “Hostages? What hostages?” Alex inquired. “We’ll inform you guys back at the warehouse, but Gene is right.” Archie exclaimed. “A lot has happened since you two were kidnapped.” Jenkins added. The sound of dog barks soon interrupted the touching moment between Matthew and Sebastian. Both men released each other, and along with the others, turned towards the source of the sound. A decaying black dog had walked in, wagging his tail happily. “Aww, what are you doing here little guy? This place isn’t safe.” Evangeline cooed. She didn’t want the Church Grim to get hurt. The dog ignored the looks of the others, including the freaked out stares of Rebecca, Verdona, and Sebastian, and raced towards the man in strange attire who was looking at the Church Grim with surprise. “Zosi?” The man muttered. Zosi gave a small yip and happily placed his paws on the man’s trousers. “Zosimos!” The man exclaimed in a joyful tone, a grin bursting upon his face. He knelt down and picked up the Church Grim. “Oh my sweet boy. What are you doing here?” The man cooed. Zosimos simply responded by licking the man’s face happily, causing the man to chuckle. “Aww, I missed you as well.” The man replied. “So is that zombie dog yours?” Rebecca asked, looking a bit disgusted seeing a decaying dog lick someone. The man shook his head. “No, Zosimos is a Church Grim. Yes he is my dog. Church Grim’s usually guard cemeteries but Zosi is the exception here.” The man explained. He then turned back to the dog. “Did Robert or any of the others come? How did you get here from the Society?” The man asked in an urgent tone. Zosi’s tail dropped and the Church Grim let out a sad whine, confusing and worrying the man. Matthew, Evangeline, Patricia, Atomic, and Joe looked at each other with uneasy glances. Sebastian, Verdona, and Rebecca gave the man sympathetic glances. They had already begun figuring out the reality of their situation. “Um sir, what year do you think this is?” Patricia asked in a hesitant tone. The man looked at her with a puzzled look. “It’s 1885, is it not? Also why are all these ladies wearing trousers in public?” The man inquired, not in an accusatory tone but rather a surprised one. Patricia winced at the answer. “I’m sorry, but this isn’t 1885. It’s 2013. You’ve been trapped in a tube in suspended animation for about 130 years.” She responded. Immediately the man’s face went from confused to shocked and horrified.  @dualnaturedscientist

"Hold on a minute, some weird guy is staring at me. Probably some bum trying to get change off of me." Comments like that had ensured he would absolutely be relieved of guilt for what was to happen next. A smile spreads across the figure's facial features, revealing inhumanly sharp teeth glinting in the street lights. A hand quickly shot out, taking a hold of the rather obnoxious man. "What the hell are you doing-" A scream soon pierced the quietness of the night. It quickly became a horrendous gurgling noise. The cellphone in the man's hand had fallen in the process. Leaving the person on the other end to become worried and confused about what was happening to the man. It didn't take very long for the man to become completely still. The figure allows him to finally fall to the cement below, licking at his blood stained lips in satisfaction. "The night, it is still so young. I don't think I shall waste another minute on you." Like a ghost in the night, he had vanished. As if he were never there. Leaving only the grotesque mess he had made for others to find. Unknown to him, there was a witness to this who had seen the whole thing. Watching in complete and utter fear. The figure grinned, it was as if he were seeing the world through different eyes. The opportunities that awaited him. It sent a shiver of excitement up his spine. His thirst might have satiated but he wasn't satisfied with only that. Oh no. There was so much more he had in mind for this city. Just wait till morning until they discover his little surprise for all to see. It wasn't until hours later did he finally return to the house. Feeling pleased with himself. Carl shot up in bed, heart racing so fast within his chest. Calming down once realizing he was in bed with Matthew. It took the retired scientist to recognize his surroundings. "That's right.. we're at Gene's place." The dream he had woken up from was already fading from his memory. It was rather absurd, recalling what he could. He could've sworn the dream was incredibly vivid and felt so real. But the little bits of the dream that he did remember became fuzzy and distant in his mind. Carl wasn't as quiet as he thought. Matthew had woken up. "Love, are you okay?" His voice had brought Carl from his thoughts. "Matthew, dearest. I hadn't meant to wake you up." He frowned, feeling guilty as he wanted his husband to get as much rest as needed. "It's alright, I needed to get up early anyway. Don't feel bad, my darling. I'm worried about you, though.” He gave Matthew a smile. “It was just a dream. I was just startled from a dream. I don't even remember what happened in it anymore. I'll be fine.” Matthew pulled the other into his arms, holding him in such a comforting manner. Placing a loving kiss to Carl's forehead. “Even so, I've still got you.” The former scientist blushed. Matthew still had such an effect on him even after all this time. “Thank you, my love.” They had stayed like that for a good while. It wasn't until Carl noticed the time that he forced Matthew to get out of bed and to get ready for his community service. Though there was something that had been bothering Carl since waking up. He had not remembered going back to bed after his conversation with Gene last night. No matter how much he tried to, it just kept coming up blank to him. Carl sighed, he must've been that tired that he didn't remember. He was getting up there in age. “I could stay back. Margaret won't be very happy about it but I don't want to leave you if you're not okay.” Carl smiled once more. “I'm not going to be responsible for what she'd do if you tried. You're also expecting a new face there, aren't you?” Matthew looked surprised at that. He had completely forgotten about that. And Carl did make a point. Wincing at the thought of what Margaret might do if he actually did skip out on it. Though for Carl, it would've been absolutely worth it. Whatever punishment she'd dole out, he'd endure for his dearest husband. “Go get dressed now.” Matthew chuckled at that before doing as he said. Leaving Carl to this thoughts.

Carl still felt unsettled by the dream, it was like he was walking through a mist. Yet at the same time it was like someone or something was controlling his body and actions. The dream was scary, but also ludicrous. At one point Carl thought he saw someone who looked like his old narcissus ex boyfriend who he never thought about again until now. Carl just let out a sigh and shook his head. 'It was just a nightmare.' Carl reassured himself. He remembered how reading how the mind and senses can trick the body into thinking something is real when it isn't. His strange dream was just one of those cases. Carl decided to get out of bed and go downstairs. He was going to try and help his son and other son-in-law deal with this strange and frightening case of kidnapping. Carl pushed away the issue of the nightmare and headed downstairs, ignoring the feeling of dread in the back of his mind. Carl also did not pay attention to that fact that his mouth was no longer dry and that there was no glass cup on the nightstand when he got up that morning. Atomic Steele surveyed the area with caution and an intense gaze. He was going over the area looking for something out of the ordinary. Something that had bothered his friend and teammate Electric Blur. Something in this seemingly abandoned area affected Blur's powers. "I wasn't sure what just happened. It felt like I was suddenly communicating emotionally with a strange energy wave that was being transmitted from there. I felt uneasy and scared...but also sad for some reason." That is what Blur told Atomic when she came back to their hideout looking shaken and worried. She told him she never felt anything like that before, not even from the fallen B.E.A.W labs. Atomic Steele offered to check it out for her as the young heroine wasn't keen on returning to the spot. While Electric Blur was being comforted by her other teammates, Atomic followed the directions the heroine had given him to the location where she felt the strange and unsettling energy. What Atomic Steele found when he got there was a large but abandoned warehouse surrounded by an empty field. The area was surrounded by a rusted, wired fence. The place looked like it hadn't been used for years. Still, the normally brave yet brash young hero couldn't help but feel a child go up his spine. His gut and instincts telling him there is something dangerous here, something evil. Atomic Steele walked up to the doors of the warehouse. He grabbed at a rusted handle and tried opening it. To the hero's surprise and growing caution, the door easily unlocked. Atomic Steele took a deep breath and steadied his nerves. He then proceeded inside the warehouse in a slow pace, ready to discover what laid inside. "Oh hello there Matthew. Cutting it a bit close are we." Miss Dewey lightly teased the former villain as he just came into the library to start his community service. "Sorry about that Miss Dewey. I had some problems this morning but I'm here now." Matthew replied, feeling a bit embarrassed about cutting things close. He really didn't want to leave Carl and Gene alone during the family crisis that was happening but at the same time he really didn't want to test the limits of his second chance at freedom from prison. Miss Dewey gave the man a look of sympathy and concern. "You know, if there is a serious problem going on at home, I wouldn't mind helping you fill out some forms to request a temporary leave from your community service." The librarian offered. Matthew smiled in appreciation at her kind gesture. "Thank you Miss Dewey but I'll be alright." Matthew responded. "So has the new service worker arrived yet?", the former villain asked. Miss Dewey smiled and nodded. "Yes he is here. Matthew, allow me to introduce you to Frank Leigh." Matthew glanced over to the man Miss Dewey introduced. He looked to be a few years older than Victor but still younger than Matthew and Carl. He had dark hair and light, blueish gray eyes. The man gave a friendly wave to Matthew. "Hi nice to meet you." Frank spoke in a kind tone. @dualnaturedscientist

[the-kings-of-games]

I like Chaseshipping, so here's a college headcanon:

(Or: In which Tristan's friends are famous and he's famously dating)

While Téa goes to American and Yūgi and Joey continue to on their dueling careers, Tristan attends university two cities over to study business and accounting. He wants to help with the family business.

For convenience's sake, he rents a cheap apartment, but he comes home often, usually on weekends.

Due to living close to campus, he joins the gaming club (because it reminds him of his best friends) and makes friends. He's not the best at playing, but he's awfully insightful and knowledgeable about games, including Duel Monsters.

He's well liked by his classmates, and even professors can rely on his help. Tristan often agrees to go to drinking, but he doesn't go to "meet" people, though he's been offered a few times.

"Sorry, I have a boyfriend. He's in California right now."

Girls find it endearing, but that's all Tristan mentions of his boyfriend. A few people in his circle think the boyfriend's made up because he's trying to be nice. They tease him about it.

"He's real. I wouldn't lie about that, that's embarrassing."

"Then show us a picture! Come on, Tristan!"

"I rather not. He always incites a riot when he's brought up, and I know people will bother me about him."

"You make it sound like he's famous."

". . . He's— Very good looking. I guess." (Technically, a lot of people I know are famous, but I'll never tell any of you that!)

Then, one night out at a bar with the game club, there's a surprise appearance from some old friends. The door to the club's private room is opened, and Tristan hears a familiar voice.

"I knew I saw you coming in here, Tristan! It's been a while."

The room is quiet, and everyone's eyes are as big as saucers because there's a world famous duelist and the CEO of the biggest Duel Monster company in the world just standing there.

"Mai! Kaiba!" Tristan greets, smiling. Everybody's been so busy, it's been a while since they had a get together. "What are you doing here?"

Mai smiles back, winking. "Working on some tournament deals, and we stopped here for the night. Are these all your friends?"

Seto scoffs. "I knew I felt geek the moment I stepped inside this establishment. Be ready to leave at 9 tomorrow, Valentine." He's already leaving.

"He's still an asshole." Tristan is rolling his eyes to the back of his head, but he's still laughing. "It was good seeing you, Kaiba! Mai, you wanna stay for a drink?"

"Sure! Let's catch up a bit. I could use better company than Mister Brick Wall. Scoot over, Tristan."

Tristan introduces his club to Mai. All the club members are silently thanking the brunette because God, that's Mai Valentine! (And they got to see Seto Kaiba in real life??)

Mai warms up to the club immediately, answering questions from excited nerds. (Don't worry, she's very used to this.) She agrees to autographs. At some point, someone asks offhandedly if she knows Tristan's "boyfriend."

"Yeah, why you ask?"

"So he is real? Tristan won't tell us anything about him. We thought the boyfriend's made up."

Tristan is groaning, hiding behind a beer. Nosy friends. Mai is intrigued by this.

"Well, I won't tell if Tristan won't, but I assure you, the boyfriend is very much real."

"Can you at least tell us one thing about him?"

"Mai," Tristan says, pleading for her to stay quiet.

"Don't worry, Tristan. It'll be vague: he's famous in the gaming world."

The club ponders on this for a second, looking back and forth between themselves and Mai who's laughing. Someone famous in the game world, and someone world famous duelist Mai Valentine knows, maybe someone close to her?

"Joey Wheeler???"

Tristan spits out his beer.

For weeks after, Tristan is badgered by big DM fans on campus because word got out about Mai and by his club friends because they really want to know about his famous, real boyfriend.

However, Tristan doesn't let up, tightening up even more. This is partly the reason why he didn't want to tell in the first place.

Then, another surprise appearances happens but only for other people. Tristan had been excited for a week, and when he's done with classes that afternoon, he rushes out of the building, throwing himself at one of the guys in sunglasses standing outside. The other guy has a hat on and is shorter.

There's shouting between Tristan and the hatless one (a blond), the former getting the latter in a headlock while the short one laughs. They look pretty close. Tristan takes them to the game club because the shorter one loves games.

The three of the them show up at the club meeting which is already five minutes in. Tristan's guests take off their disguises, and it's Joey Wheeler, another world famous duelist, and Yūgi Mutō, the King of Games????

Everyone's freaking out. Two people burst into tears, and another into flames(?). They're all too shocked to speak properly.

"Does this happen all the time?" Joey asks, joking. He gives someone a wink, and they faint.

"I half expected this to happen," Yūgi says, a little worried.

"Remember it was all your idea," Tristan says, shaking his head. "Everybody, calm down, or we're leaving!"

Self-control is brought back to the club. Everyone who's into DM challenged Yūgi and Joey to a duel, but the former refrains, wanting to play the other games available first. Joey's all, "I'll take all of you on for the both of us!"

Everyone's having a great time, and someone is smart enough to ask about Tristan's boyfriend.

"Pretty boy?" Joey asks, scoffing. "There's nothing special about him. So what if he's Pegasus's—" Tristan clasps a hand over his friend's mouth.

"He's still your boyfriend?" Yūgi asks, confused. "I thought he—" Tristan has two hands, guys, for silencing his two best friends.

"I have dirt on the both of you. I'm not afraid to use it."

Joey and Yūgi choke a bit before nodding. Everybody is even more intrigued (about the boyfriend and the dirt Tristan has).

The meeting continues on like before, and the three leave about two hours later, Tristan and Joey chanting, "Cheap beer! Take out! Cheap beer! Take out!" Yūgi is laughing, waving the club goodbye.

By now, Tristan is the gaming club's most favorite member. Word gets out about Joey and Yūgi, and even more people are asking about them. Everybody's just waiting for the next famous someone Tristan knows to show up. Maybe Pegasus? Dueling prodigy Rebecca Hopkins? Up and rising American pop idol Téa Gardner?? God???

But months pass and there's nobody new shows up. Everyone's a bit disappointed as the semester comes to a close, but Tristan doesn't think much about it. He's just trying to finish his classes and have a good time.

Finally, there's only one club meeting left before break. Some people will graduate, some will come back to finish their degree. Tristan's already packed to go back home for the time being, and he goes to attend the last meeting, lingering on his walk over.

He does not expect to see one famous dice lover, creator of the popular Dungeon Dice Monsters, young and successful entrepreneur and part time model, sitting and playing with members of the club who are literally vibrating with excitement and awe.

"Duke! What are you doing here?!"

"Oh, hey, babe! I came to surprise you and take you home. I miss your sister's cooking."

Duke doesn't hesitate as he gets up and kisses Tristan on the lips. His smile is 100 watts, Tristan is nervous.

All the pieces finally come together.

"YOU'RE TRISTAN'S BOYFRIEND?!"

Duke's smile falls, Tristan is nervous™.

"Boyfriend? He's not my boyfriend."

Tristan is sweating, face red. Duke is glaring at him. The club is sweating. The tension can be cut with a knife.

"Tristan Taylor, what have you been telling everyone?! I'm not your boyfriend, I'm your freaking fiancé!"

". . . FIANCÉ?!”

[rere-the-writer]

Can you do one where the reader is married to Klaus, she’s pregnant but they already had a two-year-old daughter, but aurora kidnaps the reader out of jealousy which infuriates the whole family? (the reader is a witch/ Hope and Hayley never happened)

Yes. I enjoy writing Klaus going to slaughter everyone

Warnings: Over protective Mikaelsons, Klaus being Klaus, tooth rotting fluff at the end

You sat with your two year daughter reading to her while waiting for the family to return home. Your daughter was a surprise to you and your husband but Aster became a welcome addition to the family.

You were a witch that married Klaus Mikaelson over a 60 years ago which your husband loved to joke that you don't look a day over 22. Now you were pregnant with Klaus's son something the Mikaelsons was excited for.

"You're going to be a big sister soon Aster." You told the girl watching the two year old lay her head on your belly listening to her baby brother move.

There was a crash down stairs and you were quickly hiding your daughter with magic where only Freya could undo it. You stepped out seeing Aurora standing there which didn't surprise you as the female vampire was determined to get your husband.

"I am giving you a chance to leave Aurora." You say as she glared at you and you saw the jealousy in her eyes. You knew who she was, Klaus's first love but Klaus had told you that you were his true love.

"You stole Nik from me."

"I didn't steal a thing. Nik had simply chosen to move on from you." You said looking at her with careful calculating eyes. There was a reason Klaus called you his Queen and you were a powerful witch that had the covens second guessing from attacking the family.

You belong beside Klaus as he would say and adored showing you and Aster off much to your amusement. Kol and Rebekah loved calling you Queen of the castle seeing just how much Klaus loved you.

"He belongs to me, witch!"

"My husband belongs to no one. One last chance Aurora."

"No Nik is mine and you are in the way!" Aurora said coming at you as you gave her an brain aneressum making her fall holding her head. You let out a ylep as Aya caught you after knocking you out.

"Thank you Aya. Now take care of her."

The family came home noticing how quiet it was. Freya sucked in a breath feeling the magic you left over and quickly headed up stairs undoing the spell you did with Elijah following.

"She is gone!" Kol said after checking the compound, Elijah frowned coming down carrying a sniffling Aster as Klaus pacing anger flooded him as thought of who could have taken you.

"Surely she wouldn't leave? Y/N would never let Aster from her sight." Elijah says looking to Rebekah who was calling you. They all saw your phone on the stairs ringing as fury flooded them at who ever dared to take you.

"Hello all. Ho....." Lucien was cut off by Klaus pinning him against a wall hand around his thoat. Elijah covered Aster's eyes with his hand confusing the girl making babble grabbing her uncle's hand. Rebekah and Kol joined Klaus in cornering Lucien.

"Where is my wife? You better tell the truth or I'll let Rebekah flay your skin." Klaus says as Freya covered Aster's ears so the girl won't hear the threats.

"Oh.....is....the Queen missing?.....I wasn't aware." Lucien choked out flinching when Kol smirked leaning in.

"If you know something best speak or we start removing limbs."

"Aurora.....came...asking my witch...to lower the safe guards....she took Y/N." Lucien said as Klaus let go growling deeply eyes flashing.

"Aurora dies tonight."

You huffed sitting in a comfortable chair rubbing your belly as much like his father, your boy was restless. While you were taken by Aurora, you were placed under Tristan's watchful eye who made sure you every comfortable which you knew why.

"Congratulations on having a boy. Mik is every lucky."

"Cut the noble act Tristan. You and I know you want the baby and your sister wants me dead."

"A smart one aren't you."

"I am not Nik's Queen for my looks." You say glaring at the vampire as he looked at the dead vampires that had tried moving you.

"Yes well Aurora wants that title. Sadly you are on the throne."

"I am aware. And it sounds like the King has came for me." You tell Tristan smirked hearing the sounds of screams reached their ears.

"Nik! You came to see me."

"Where is my wife, Aurora?" Klaus growled glaring at the female vampire as the family went searching killing anyone in the way.

"Do you really need some boorish witch? Remember how much fun we had? Now she turning you into something you aren't."

"Aurora, I am not playing any of your games." Klaus growled eyes turning yellow as Aurora pouted crossing her arms.

"But Nik! She is keeping us apart! But if you must know I handed her off to Tristan. You know he always wanted a son."

Klaus surprised her by slamming her against a wall his hand around her throat growling deeply.

"If your brother touches a hair on my wife's head I will lay to waste all you know." Klaus growled as Aurora shuttered flinching when Klaus squeezed.

You jumped hearing a body drop as Elijah stepped into the room cleaning his hand looking at you smiling then looked to Tristan.

"Why am I not surprised to see you here." Elijah says stepping over a body looking you over making sure you weren't harmed then back to Tristan.

"Well Aurora promised me the boy." Tristan says as you covered your belly as Elijah narrowed his eyes.

"I see. I'll be leaving with her now." Elijah said as it happened quickly and Tristan's body hit the floor from his neck being snapped.

"Y/N are you alright?"

"Henrik and I are fine." You say standing as Elijah paused looking at you seeing a smile on your lips. You hushed him before he said a word.

"Keep quiet about it please."

"Of course." Elijah says leading you out as Kol rushed to your side with Rebekah both fuzzing over you. Walking out to the main room you found Klaus standing in the middle of dead bodies and Aurora layed on the ground her neck snapped.

"Nik." You called out softly getting his attention right away as Klaus took you up into his arms kissing you. Klaus buried his face in your neck taking in your scent while cupping your belly.

"Let's get you home love."

It was nice for you to be home sitting on the couch in front of a warm fire with a blanket over as you knitted having both Kol and Klaus listening to your son. Aster cuddling her favorite uncle, Elijah gently reading to her while sitting in a rocking chair. Freya and Rebekah cuddled up on the another couch all of you enjoying the calm.

"Have you thought of a name?"

"I have Beka. I was thinking Henrik would be a good name." You say softly as they froze looking at you then soft smiles came on their faces.

"That is a prefect name love." Klaus said kissing your head as you smiled gently soaking up your husband's warmth happy that you made them happy.

[vivinightingale]

Marrying their firefighter/cop s/o

Request by @sacredwarrior88 ! <3

Yugi Muto:

It was honestly the day he has been ready for his entire life. The beautiful dress/tux you wore was something out of a fairytale.

He remembered how distraught you were when you realized the muscle you have gained from your line of work was more prominent with your wedding attire, but honestly he doesn't understand??

Even now as you stand in front of him reciting the vows of love he doesn't understand why you would dislike them?? It helps show all the hard work you put in your career. So it just made him more proud to call you his.

God does this boy love you.

When it's his turn he pours all his love and adoration into his words that it even makes the pastor tear up!

“And though your career as a cop takes you down a dangerous path, I promise to stay by your side and support you in any way I can. You will NEVER be alone.”

Yami/Atem:

To say Atem waited 2 life times for you isn't an understatement. When the two of you first met you were part of the royal guard, a captain to be specific. When he met you again your dreams were to be a cop to help protect the people.

Now here you were years later; wearing the most amazing dress/tux he had ever seen you wear, with him standing at the end of the aisle tears gathering in the corner of his eyes.

He watched you grow into this beautiful person who helps protect the city you hold dear, and he honestly couldn't be prouder.

He would do anything to keep you by his side.

The vow exchange was beautiful and heartfelt. Though no one but you cried, everyone could feel the love behind his words.

“I have waited so long to call you mine, but I would wait as long as indeed to because you're worth every bit of that wait.”

Joey Wheeler:

I won't lie to you, this man is a nervous wreck. He still doesn't understand what he did to deserve such a wonderful s/o like you, but he really doesn't want to screw it up now.

He stands in the front clenching and unclenching his sweaty hands as he watches you walk towards him. Your amazing dress/tux looked way better on you then your firehouse uniform

That sparkling smile you wore was the same smile you wore when you came home and told him you got your dream job of being a firefighter.

He wouldn’t trade this and those moments for anything.

When you finally reached him and vows were exchanged. He stumbled and mumbled a lot, but they were beautiful and heartfelt all the same

“I-I may not be good with….everything, b-but i promise to be a good husband! And to give you all the love and s-support you deserve!”

Tristan Taylor:

So Joey was nervous, but Tristan is straight up a wreck. He talks all this big talk,but really he is really scared to mess the whole thing up.

Though he has seen you fight fires bigger than buildings, and go through fires to save people. This moment right here was the scariest thing he has ever faced.

Seeing you walk up to him in your beautiful dress/tux and your shining smile has him a happy wreck.

He wants to save this moment forever.

When the two of you exchange vows you both tear up, both of you hanging on to each other's words.

“I could never ask for someone as beautiful and amazing as you. Thank you for sticking it out with me in the long run…”

Duke Devlin:

When you and Duke started dating he slowly evolved from a playboy to a simp. He supported you and your career of being a cop. He made sure you had breakfast in the morning, a lunch packed, and dinner for when you got home.

He was the perfect definition of House Husband except he didn't have the official title until now, and honestly he wouldn't have it any other way.

To him you looked good in anything, but your wedding attire was better than anything he has ever seen. However when you reached him at the altar he couldn't help but throw some suggestive comments your way.

This man continued to be a danger to your ever growing blush but you love him no matter what.

Though he wanted to lighten the mood he couldn't bring himself to throw in jokes into his vows. He wanted you to feel all the love he has for you.

“You have changed my life for the better, and I couldn't be more grateful to you. Allow me to spend the rest of my life repaying you.”

Seto Kaiba:

Honestly he never thought he would see the day where he was sharing his life with another person who was his family. Though he would never admit it to you in public, it is a nice change for him.

He was scared for a while that the two of you would drift apart. With him constantly upping his business and you as a cop he thought there would hardly be time for just the two of you,but you made sure to make time for him and Mokuba..

And now here you both were, Standing at the Altar hand in hand sharing your own silent vows of love.

Being able to love you has been the most amazing feeling to him.

His vows are strong and confident; yet still full of love. He knew his place was by your side, and he wants you to know that.

“You have taught me more than anyone i have ever met, and i look forward to learning more with you by my side as my husband/wife”

Bakura Ryou:

This boy was in tears before he even saw you walking down the aisle. You have saved him in more ways than one, and he can't believe he gets to call you his.

When the two of you were in highschool, a bad chemical reaction had caught the lab on fire. You were one of the few brave enough to go back and help as many students and staff that you coil. One of them so happened to be Bakura

Since then he has stuck by your side through everything. Graduation, training, and you eventually becoming the great firefighter that you are today..

You are his whole world

When you stop in front of him, and he gently grabs your hands he could help but say his vows before the priest could say anything

“You've been a light in my life for as long as i can remember, and i'm so happy to have you in life forever.”

Yami Bakura:

Now...how did he get here?? Never in a million years did he ever see himself dressed up, and in front of an altar.

But here he is watching you walk towards him, a smile gracing your features, and dressed nicely in your dress/tux. The scowl from his face never left, but just by looking at how it softened upon seeing you one would know he loves you.

Being on the side of law, the two of you seem like a crack couple, but the two of you made it work in lovely ways. He stayed out of trouble when you were around, but kept it on the downlow when you were.

His cute little cop.

When you finally reached him he took your hands in his as his face grew red. His vows were stumbled but pure. He loves you, even if he doesn't show it often.

“You are as pure as a desert lily, and even though we don't see eye to eye on everything…..i-i...i love you.”

Marik Ishtar:

He wears the biggest grin you have ever seen. From the day you agreed to date him he knew you were the one. You brought him joy and fun when nothing else would.

Though he traveled a lot he always came home to you. You were the only home he knew anymore.even when that home was covered in soot from another fire.

He adored you to no end,and he was so happy when you picked him up when he fell, when he got antsy to travel again,and when he came home months later.

May he never part from home too long.

When you finally reached him he could just grab your hands. He had to cup your cheeks to feel that you're really there. He wasted no time telling you how he felt even as he began to tear up.

“My starlight you have been a gift from the gods themselves, and I hope to make you as happy as you make me.”

Yami Marik:

This man does believe in shit like that. He knew you belonged to him since the day he met you, but if a simple piece of metal and some simple words will make you happy he will do it.

He keeps everything small, but enough to satisfy you. He doesn't smile until he sees you. Something about how the light hit you made you seem angelic.

He knew that you were an officer, and that you protected the people,but he didnt care. You became something more than a pawn to him. He let you into his heart, to see parts of me no one else has.

You are a safe place for him and he adores it.

When you finally reached him he grabbed your hands in a gentle manner he stared deep into your eyes. His vows are powerful and full of determination.

“You have become a light I haven't seen in years. As long as you're with me I will protect you just like you have done with me.”

[thecagedsong]

I know it’s such a jezebel move, but there’s something to the moment in a story where a man is professing his eternal and undying love for a woman, and the woman turns around and says “prove it” and asks for something the man doesn’t want to do. 

Like, not to condone murder, but just watched Much Ado About Nothing again and like, Beatrice going “Someone who really loved me would challenge Cladio to a duel for besmirching my innocent cousin’s name in a public spectacle.” Was so good.

And Benedict was like, “Murder? My friend? Really? That’s what you want?”

Beatrice is all “Look, I’d do it myself. I would eat his heart if I could, but the limits of culture and society say only a man can do that. If only someone actually loved me enough to do it for me!”

On the one hand, asking someone to prove they love you doesn’t really indicated you love them, only what they can do for you. 

On the other hand, love is easy to talk about, and the kind of commitment it demands really should be based on something more than whispered words.

The protagonist of A Doll’s House is showered with love until her husband finds out she took out a loan in his name (I think that’s her sin) and he immediately turns on her and is ready to throw her to the law to clear his own name. That wouldn’t have happened if she asked him to prove his love when he first proclaimed it.  

It’s Victoria in Stardust asking Tristan to prove he loved her enough to bring her back a star after flattering her. The story shows that her request was ultimately unreasonable and a sign she didn’t love him at all, but don’t forget that it also showed the Tristian didn’t love her! Tristan found a girl just as pretty along the way, took time to actually get to know Yvonne, and ultimately realized he didn’t love Victoria.

The story frames it as him going back to Victoria in a moment of triumph, having realized she didn’t love him and found something better while becoming a better person, leaving her to be small and selfish with her subpar lover. 

But like. It’s Tristan who was the liar. He came back, having gotten out of the village, and he didn’t love her? He claimed he loved her so much he would get a star for her, but he only made the last leg of the journey to rub his improvement in her face. What would have happened if she had believed in him? HE DIDN’T ACTUALLY LOVE HER DESPITE SWEARING HE DID. He just loved the prettiest girl in the village, when his world became bigger, Victoria wasn’t important anymore. 

When he gave her the star, Victoria was ready to believe that he loved her, to get to know him now, just like she said she would. Marry him even.  But the narrative punishes her for not believing pretty words in the first place and asking him, while tipsy, to prove they were more than pretty words. He literally drops her in the dirt. Victoria was true to her words. Tristan wasn’t. Victoria’s crime is not believing in Tristian’s self-proclaimed potential enough to trust her whole future to it. 

While stardust punishes Victoria for asking for proof, when Benedict challenges Cladio’s honor with a duel, the narrative rewards him for it. Beatrice knows that his words aren’t empty, that she isn’t just the first woman that he realized liked him back. Cladio realizes the gravity of PUIBLICLY HUMILIATING the woman he loved instead of talking to her and asking about it or simply postponing the wedding until it was resolved. And for the first time the noble character of Benedict that everyone has been talking about the entire play is shown as he stands up to his friend for harming a good woman. That’s when you actually start to love this disaster of a man.

I’ve been rambling, but I guess I’m tired of women being portrayed as false and faithless for not taking a man’s word that she’s important. Don’t writers know how devastating to the soul it is when the man proves faithless? Women should be counted wise by requiring proof. (though I would not, as a general rule, advocate women require men to kill people to prove their love.)

What does the woman have left in a story when a man proves faithless? 

Does she become the vengeful, wrathful “woman scorned” as Medea? 

A pitiful charity project for the actual hero?

Let women demand proof of a man’s love. Because I hate that media has trained me to put faith in pretty words and convinced me that I’m the one in the wrong when I ask for proof. 

Punish men when their words of love prove false and let the story show their nature is that of a coward and a liar.

[themadauthorshatter]

... I’ve already made a draft of this and deleted it, but I’m going back in. 

This is an AU of what would happen if Mareven was healthy and the end game. 

I apologize in advance for any and all MareCal shippers, including myself. 

SO! What happens? 

Simple. 

Everything remains mostly the same in the story except we get more of a doubtful and uneasy Maven as the story progresses, as in he hugs Mare a little longer and is genuinely perturbed when he hears about the ‘bomb’ that went off and looks terrified of Cal when he returns and orders Farley to be tortured. He’s also more hesitant to listen to his mother. 

He still offers Cal’s legion to the Guard, but is a little sadder to say it. 

THEN WE GET TO THE PLOT TWIST OF THE STORY!!!!!!!!!

Maven plays along, but, as he stands by his mother’s side, he mouths, “sorry” to Mare and goes for a gun on Arven’s belt, shooting him in the leg and warning him not to try silencing him or he’ll aim for something more vital. 

It catches EVERYONE off guard, especially Elara, who’s about to risk having Cal or Tibe out of her whispers to get Maven back in line. 

Instead, Elara asks what he’s doing and why, as she thought this was what he’d always wanted. 

“It’s what you want, Mother. Not me. None of this is right. You’re already the Queen. What else do you want!?” 

Elara bares her teeth. “Are you saying you want to live your days with a Red rat?” 

Maven pulls Mare to her feet and pushes her behind him, keeping the gun at them, nodding. “I’m saying I'm not following your plans or listening to anything you have to say. I'll die before I let you in my head again!” 

Well, wish granted because Mare senses the cameras turning back on and Elara lets Tibe and Cal go.

Only to force Maven to shoot her and Tibe, though Maven actually misses him.

Mare breaks free and they make a run for it, Elara shouting that they are traitors and to arrest them, though she does force Tibe to play the part of concerned husband.

Cal isn't in the room because he races after Maven and Mare.

Speaking of which, Maven leads Mare through the castle and finds a hall that goes toward a servant's passage, so they can escape.

Too bad there are guards that round the corner and take aim at them, not only for staging a coup de ta, but also for attempted regicide.

Cal's there too, aiming a handgun at them and telling them to submit to arrest.

They do and are sent to the Silent Stone cells.

Mare is confused and livid and doesn't want to talk to Maven, who keeps pacing and clutching his head and telling someone to be quiet. 

Mare mentally tells him to maybe practice what he’s preaching, but wonders what the hell all that was when they were captured. 

Maven sighs and sits down, back-to-back with Mare, and asks her how good she is at picking locks. 

Her hands are for picking pockets, not locks. 

Maven lets out a semi-bitter chuckle and regards that he shouldn’t have bothered asking because of course she’s better at pockets. he then admits that he’d been so scared of the cells as a boy, his young mind tricking him into thinking that there were monsters or prisoners in the cells. 

Speaking of the cells, Mare breaks her silence and asks why it’s so hard for her to use her powers, even asking if Arven is close by listening to them. 

Maven admits it would be useful to do that, but no. The cells are made of Silent Stone, which is basically Arven being there without him really being there. 

Although she already knows what’s going to happen, Mare wonders what will happen to them, in the Bowl of Bones. 

Maven lists off a firing squad, some Silvers, maybe some animals, and the fact that no matter what, the show will not be short; the people want blood and Tibe is going to give them blood, even if it’s his own son’s. 

“Not if he can’t find you.” 

Both Mare and Maven stand as Cal walks in, dressed formally and holding a set of keys to the cells. 

Maven asks what this is and what Cal’s doing as he opens both Maven’s and Mare’s cells. 

Cal explains that he’s already had to give Julian a head start and hopes that Maven and mare can do the same, can vanish into thin air before their execution. 

Mare asks why they should accept the help, seeing as Cal’s the one who arrested them, but Cal counters by asking who’s idea it was to get them arrested, glaring daggers at Maven. 

Maven has his own question: How does Cal know they won’t be seen? 

Cal looks away and admits that he hopes there aren’t any Red servants that know how to fix the security system.

Maven and Mare exchange a glance and start walking, but Cal gets between them, shackles them, and grabs their arms, telling them to play along and make it convincing so no one questions anything. 

They both do their best reluctant prisoners act up until they pass by Sonya, who inquires as to where Cal’s taking them. 

Cal states he’s just taking them to get some cardio before their execution, seeing as how they’ll need every ounce of strength they’ll need. 

Sonya spits that they shouldn’t and should actually fight with nooses around their necks so they’re easier to grab and throw around, but drops it anyway, eying Cal before she leaves. 

Time’s almost up, so it’s a good thing Maven leads Cal to a servant passage, where they stop and get free, Maven getting his flame-maker bracelets back. 

Maven opens the passage, but Cal stops him and Mare, telling them to be careful now, because if they manage to escape, they’ll be fugitives and will get hunted like deer for treason, Maven for attempted regicide, from what narrative that now exists. 

They nod and thank him for the help. 

Before Mare can follow Maven, Cal grabs her arm again, which makes Mare turn to him. 

The two stare at each other, realizing what’s happening and what’s going to happen. 

The royals will figure out that Cal helped them escape and will probably have him killed for letting two traitors run free. 

Cal is the one who helped her in the first place by getting her the job at the Summer Palace, and now he’s saving her life again, this time also saving his brother’s and risking his own. 

Maven shouts for Mare to keep it moving and Mare pulls out of Cal’s grip, backs away, and races after Maven, Cal watching her leave before closing the passage. 

His face contorts with sorrow, regret, anger, and pain and he clenches a fist as he hears a sentinel shout that Mare and Maven are missing. 

Cal shouts, “They’re this way!” and races down the hallway and away from the bookshelf, trying to make it look like they outran him. 

In the passage, Maven leads Mare by the hand as they soon find themselves underground and under the streets, overhearing an announcement to keep an eye out for the two of them because both are armed and dangerous, Mare especially. 

Maven groans at his father’s words and muses that at least they’re out. 

Mare isn’t as relieved and asks what he was planning with his mother. 

Maven stops in his steps and states that she already knows. 

Mare does know, she just wants to hear Maven say it. 

Maven bites his tongue and clenches his fist at his side, not turning to face Mare as he asks what will happen if he doesn’t tell her. 

She’ll make him tell her, make him talk or she’ll shock him until he dies. 

Maven  tightens his fist but then drops it, admitting he and Elara planned on killing Tibe and using Mare and Cal as scapegoats, sending them to the Bowl of Bones, and having them executed to wrap up the story and solidify Maven as the new King, with no Scarlet Guard and no loose ends to ensure the story of Mare being a Red would slip out. 

Mare demands he define ‘loose ends.’ 

Lady Blonos. The servant girls who dressed Mare as a Silver. Lucas. Julian. Sara. Mare’s family. Kilorn. Cal. Mare herself. All the Reds on the list Julian gave her. 

Mare gasps at that last one, sliding down a wall as Maven explains in increasing panic and with his eyes growing teary that he was along with the ride and all for getting the throne the way his mother planned, but then he began to feel genuine feelings for Mare and her plight and no matter how much Elara tried to take those feelings away, they always came back. She did the same with Tibe, making Maven lose his love for him, and had semi-success with Cal, but didn’t fully remove his love for his brother. It also changed when they killed Blonos and the servant girls, and when Tristan died. It opened Maven’s eyes and made him realize that he was going to kill someone he didn’t want to die. he’d already lost Thomas and it was his own fault, but if he was the reason he lost Mare, too, he’d lose his mind. 

Maven stops his rambling and joins Mare against the wall, admitting that he knows he deserves whatever comes next, but whatever does happen, he just asks that mare know that he is sorry for all of this, for putting her in such danger that now they’re on the run and risk execution if they’re caught. 

Mare turns to him and asks if Elara has the list, if he told her about the Newbloods. 

Maven shakes his head; the raid was going to happen in a few hour hours, so there wouldn’t have been enough time for Elara to look through his mind, write down all the names, and the find them in the blood base, so they have a good head start there, too. 

After a minute of collecting themselves, and a glare from Mare, the two stand up and keep walking until they reach a fork in the path and wonder which is safer.

The only answer they get is a gun pushed against the back of Maven's head and a certain blaonde telling him to go right or she's painting the tunnel Silver.

Mare turns and sees Kilorn and Farley, with the addition of a certain Barrow we all still mourn, don't lie.

"Shade!"

Mare and Shade reunite, though Maven voices confusion as he thought Shade had been executed.

Shade explains that they tried and failed, making an example by teleporting in front of and behind them, saying with pride that no one's faster than him.

Mare is a mix of happy and sad at the news, but Farley brings them back and reminds them they need to keep going or they'll get arrested and killed.

Maven also gets put back in shackles, but acts as a good sport and doesn't burn them off.

They continue throught the tunnel until they reach a train, climb aboard, and get to riding, merrily on their way to nowhere in particular.

Back in White Fire, Elara slaps Cal HARD in the face and demands to know what he was thinking and where Maven and Mare are.

Tibe gets between them, but Cal admits that he didn't fully know what he was thinking, just that he couldn't let his brother be forced to fight when he's still in training. It would be a bloodbath.

Elara asks if that's the same reason why he also let Mare go, or if there's something he's not telling them.

Tibe also wants to know. He understands letting Maven go, but why a Red rat like Mare? If the people see her lightning powers and Red blood, there will be Hell to pay.

Cal's silent, but Elara solves that with a quick look into his mind, seeing all the moments of Cal and Mare being close and friendly with each other.

Elara asks Cal if he's more interested in dirt than diamonds and Tibe gets the picture instantly, upon seeing Cal's reaction.

Change of plan: Cal is getting his legion back in action, and an additional two hundred soldiers to locate and either capture or kill Mare and Maven. No more catch and releases or else it's Cal who fights in the arena and he'll have nothing but his wits to defend himself.

Cal pales at this and gasps that they can't kill him, because then Norta has no heir.

Tibe only glares at him and tells him not to fail before leaving to let Cal get his army ready.

Cal watches his father leave and is broken by the fact that he legitimately screwed up and that his father, as King, needs Maven, his own son, executed with Mare, someone who never should have had her powers to begin with.

Elara glares at Cal for a moment longer and also walks out of the room, leaving Cal on his own.

[ashintheairlikesnow]

Tell Me Everything

Follows Found Out, Akio, Chris Sees, and I’m Here

CW: References to murder, suicide, grief, pet whump, abduction, whump of a minor, ableism, Oliver Branch manages to be creepy even now in brief reference

He’s shorter than Ben thought he would be.

Ben sees him first, but, like of course he does - Akio Nakamura isn’t exactly famous but he has his own youtube channel and is like an Olympic-level athlete, so he’s pretty fucking recognizable... if you’ve spent two days scrolling through every Instagram photo of him on three different accounts that you can find. 

Ben showed up thirty minutes early, because Ben has never been late to a fucking thing in his life and something tells him this is maybe one of the most important things he’ll ever do, even though he doesn’t quite know why. 

Something about it keeps picking at his mind, taking it apart, unraveling him with the reality that someone fucking cared about Chris, before whatever happened. Chris doesn’t remember much, and Ben and Laken had done the googling and searching and shit, trying to get some idea of what the hell could have happened to make someone like Chris - bouncy and full of sunshine optimism even on his bad days - end up at a place like WRU.

They’d found nothing a first. But Ben hadn’t known what he was looking for, then. Now that he knows what to look for, he can’t stop finding things. He feels like a detective or someone who has lost his mind, desperately piecing together a life that was interrupted, like someone disappearing mid-sentence, and Ben is following a trail of the words he said before. 

He finds human-interest stories from ten years ago, digitized articles from old community newspapers. He finds more photos from the gym, photos where the redheaded boy is in the background, or in the front always looking slightly off to one side, rarely smiling for the camera but happy to smile as long as he didn’t have to look right at it.

He finds out Veronica Higgs, murdered in the double-homicide that had destroyed the life of Tristan Higgs, had a facebook page, and it’s marked as In Memorial. So is her husband’s, but Paul Higgs’s page is private and his profile photo is a meme that hasn’t been a thing since…

Since they died.

Something about that makes his throat close up as he scrolls Ronnie’s last few public updates, the scattering of people who have left comments saying they miss her, they’re thinking of her, they hope she’s in a better place. Comments are left on the last post like clockwork, once a year, by the same few people. 

Thinking of you today, Ronnie. 

Saw your favorite bird today!

Hope you and Tris and Paul are happy wherever you are now, Ronnie. I take comfort in knowing you’re still together.

Happy Heavenly Birthday, Ronnie!

Left flowers for you today, Ronnie. Jennifer did a routine this year that uses some of Tristan’s music, we’re always thinking of you!

Thinking of you

Miss you

Hope you three are happy together

Miss you, big sister, always.

One day I’ll stop leaving comments like you’re still here. I was watching the old videos and gosh, I couldn’t help but think how proud we were of our boys back then! Rest in peace. Give Tris a kiss for me. That’s Aimi Nakamura, that’s Akio’s mom. Her profile photo is her with her arms around Akio himself, wearing his leotard and holding up a medal with a bright smile, and a younger teenager who must be his little sister - she’s just wearing regular clothes. Feeling like a stalker, Ben opens the mom’s facebook page in a new tab. He absolutely does not look at the photos of Akio she’s posted. He does not do that at all.

He might do that later.

For now he goes back to Ronnie’s page, sees that her last post was brief, something about looking for a recipe, crowd-sourcing. Tris asked to try baked oysters, isn’t that funny? Only my kid, I swear. He’d said seafood is ‘slime’ except for tuna since toddlerhood, but no, this week he wants oysters. He said he wanted to try something new for once and he might as well go as far from the usual as he could get. I

One of the joys of all of this is how when he gets something in his head, I just go with him, and we see what’s on the other side of the jump, right? Watch him spit it right back out. 

It’s fucking ordinary. 

She posted it a couple days before she was murdered.

That doesn’t seem fair, does it? He just can’t wrap his head around it. She was a good mom taking care of her kid, she got some recipe ideas... but then she never cooked any of them because she just… died?

She died, and Tristan’s - Chris’s - dad died, and then there just wasn’t anybody? There wasn’t anybody to take care of a kid who couldn’t take care of himself yet? Nobody at-fucking-all, to keep Tristan safe and loved when the people who loved him the most were gone? 

How the hell did he go from placed in the care of relatives to just... gone? How did he go from gone to a rescued runaway pet with a new name and a new life? What happened in all that gray space in-between?

Ben blinks back tears.

Whatever it was... could that happen to Jamey? Ben’s whole family has built their existence on holding his little brother together through the ways the world wants to shred everything about him. He’s spent nearly all the life he remembers with his brother’s hand closed in the fabric of his shirt, shadowing him through the world, reminding him that you can’t trust everybody, not everyone has good intentions. 

Ben doesn’t even have to think before he’s moving in front of him to block out the noise and chaos of the world that Jamey just can't filter the way Ben can. He knows that when - hopefully forever from now - their parents die, Jamey’s going to move in with Ben. 

It’s never been a question. He doesn’t want it to be a question.

But... what if Ben wasn’t there? What would happen to Jamey if his Mom and Dad were gone, and nobody was there who wanted to keep Jamey safe? He can’t stop thinking about it. He cycles around and around, and Laken called him yesterday and said not to talk to Chris for a few days, that he saw the video and he’s not okay, and Ben’s not fucking okay, either, is he?

This could happen to Jamey.

Someone could see him, alone and vulnerable, and think, no one will stop me and he can’t stop me either, and then Jamey could disappear and then just not be Jamey anymore, and there wouldn’t be anyone to save him-

Ben looks up from his phone without focusing on anything, sniffing back the pain, the tight feeling in his chest at the idea of his little brother, disappearing into some dark hallway and never coming back. Just some photos on Instagram, a video of two, some mentions on somebody’s In Memorial Facebook page, that’s all that’s left of his silly, serious, annoying, funny little brother?

Like someone turned out the light on Jamey’s life and the world just forgets him, because his family isn’t there to keep him safe and Jamey can’t always tell who you can trust and who you can’t, and… and Chris can’t either, can he?

He just wants to think the best of everyone, he forgives everyone who hurts him so easily, so quickly, like it’s second-nature, like...

Did Tristan Higgs want to think good things about whoever did this, whoever had him erased, whoever handed him off to be turned into one of those blank empty-eyed dolls celebrities and rich people drag around? Did Tristan Higgs trust the person who gave him away to be erased, because he didn’t know not to?

Who the fuck bought him?

How did it all fucking happen?

The bell chimes. Akio Nakamura is right on time.

And he’s short.

He’s got a natural almost-smile on his face at all times, a hint of tan to his skin even now in the early spring, wearing a thin gray hoodie, unzipped over a plain white t-shirt and blue jeans. His muscles aren’t visible, like this, but Ben has seen the videos and knows they’re there, the body of a trained athlete hidden under casual clothing. His hair isn’t as short as it is when he competes, in the videos Ben has already watched over and over entirely for research purposes. It’s a little longer, starting to flop over his forehead.

Dark eyes scan the interior of the store, and Ben raises one hand to catch his attention.

The smile brightens, briefly, with a quick nod - like the sun coming out from behind a cloud, Ben feels that smile as a physical warmth in his chest - and he pushes the rest of the way inside, walking straight over. 

“Hey,” Akio says, and his voice is a little deeper than it seems in the youtube videos where he narrates, and Ben, for one shining moment, completely forgets how to speak his own fucking native language.

His mouth opens and nothing comes out - except maybe kind of a croak, which, please let that not have been audible - and he clears his throat, waiting for his brain and his body to remember how to work together. “Uh… um, h-hey,” He says, finally, and shifts uncomfortably. “You’re-... right. I’m, um. I’m Ben.”

“Yeah. I, I figured, you look just like your profile photo.” Akio laughs a little, dropping into a seat cross from him, sitting casually and letting his eyes roam over the mostly-empty interior of the shop, painted with bright colors and lined with posters about ice cream. 

Ben could not possibly have picked a worse place for a professional athlete to go to… meet and talk about his dead friend, could he? Oh, God. Oh he’s a fucking moron. “Right. Uh, sorry, I couldn’t-... when you asked to meet on the phone, I kind of blanked and this was the only place I could think of-”

“Hey, that’s all right. I like coming here, when I’m off from competing. It’s been a while. Hope you don’t mind if I stick with an iced coffee today, though, I’m not feeling ice cream.” Akio grins at him, and Ben’s knees might buckle if he wasn’t sitting down already. The smile takes over his entire face, lights it up, and it reminds him so much of Chris when he’s really happy, the way Chris smiles with his entire fucking body, not just his mouth. 

“Yeah, it’s… no problem, I’ll order, I picked here, anyway. Just the iced coffee?” 

“Yeah, please. Also, I should warn you - my mom is lurking across the street faking an interest in whatever they sell at Paisley Poses and she’ll probably stop pretending she’s not here and show up before we’re done. She’s… uh. Well, get the stuff, and then I’ll, um, I’ll explain.”

“Right. Got it.” Ben’s grip on his phone is white-knuckled as he stands up, aware of every movement of his body as he walks - and he walks normally, right? Not, like weird? It’s not like Akio is watching him walk anyway, probably - over to the cash register. The cashier, whose hair is dyed a pale faded sort of seafoam green, almost the color of those weird mint shakes you can buy from McDonald’s in April, takes his order with a flat affect, unbothered, uncaring.

Ben doesn’t know what he orders for himself. His mouth moves and words come out and then he realizes he doesn’t know what he just said. 

Whatever it is, he pays for it.

He takes the little number-on-a-stick, and carries it back to the table to wait. 

“Iced coffee it is,” He says a little breathlessly. “Um, it’ll be just a sec. They’ll bring it out with my… with mine.”

Shit, what the fuck did he even order for himself?

“No problem.” Akio’s eyes move over his face, considering. He’s sitting slouched a little, but it doesn’t look quite natural - like his posture is usually so much better and he’s trying to look like everyone else. Ben’s eyes are drawn to his hands, folded over his stomach, over wrinkled white shirt fabric. He has a blood-bruise under one thumbnail.

What a weird fucking thing to notice about someone.

“I-I don’t really know where to start,” Ben admits, slouching himself. He runs his fingers over the textured case of his phone, a charcoal-black with rough edges. Jamey likes the texture on his phone, will just sit and rub the pads of his fingers on it over and over and over again, smiling in a distant way, sitting next to Ben on the couch while Ben watches TV and Jamey, who can go days without speaking and is currently one hundred percent all about how they film movies and tv shows, explains every fucking cinematic trick every camera is using at any given moment.

It’s nice.

It’s how Jamey says he loves you, by sharing what’s up in his head whenever he can, and Ben - when he’s home - always tries to listen. 

“Yeah.” Akio laughs again, and Ben decides it’s a good laugh - strong, and not overly loud, and a little infectious. “Yeah, me neither. I don’t-... how do you even begin a conversation like this? Hello, nice to meet you, what do you know about my dead best friend? I don’t know what to say, just… we don’t even know they’re the same person, do we? Maybe they just look alike. Fuck.” Akio laughs once more, but this time it’s shaky, breathier. “I genuinely can’t decide if I want him to dead or not, I just-...”

Ben takes a breath, thinking of Laken’s voice on the phone yesterday morning, exhausted and rambling after a night of not sleeping, their fear and grief and love for Chris, telling Ben to go ahead with this meeting, but Chris needed time. “They’re definitely the same person,” He says, voice low and quiet. “We, um. He saw the video you posted, and he kind of-... freaked out.”

“Freaked out?” Akio blinks, sitting up a little straighter. His eyes are focused completely on Ben’s face, which would make him blush if he weren’t trying not to look directly at him. “What do you mean?”

Ben swallows. “Um. Just. He’s-... he doesn’t remember. Or… he didn’t. Seeing the video might have… brought some stuff up. Like, a lot of... bad stuff.”

Fuck, I’ve never heard him scream like that. Laken’s voice, rough-edged, laced with their tears. I can’t believe… he needs a few days, he can’t go with you to see this guy, Ben. He’s-... he’s super fucked up right now. I’m so glad his brothers know what’s happening to him because I-I don’t know what to do and he won’t let me anywhere near him. 

Akio nods, slowly, and his hands worry at each other under the table, the smile faded and replaced with seriousness, uncertainty. “Yeah, when you said-... anyway, I looked the company up, and it’s-... it’s weird, I knew about pets, but I guess… I mean, he wasn’t old enough to…” 

“Um… yeah. So, um. I know, but they-... clearly they still did...”

They sit there in an awkward silence, and then Akio pulls his own phone out of his pocket and unlocks it. “Let me show you something. Tris and I shared our passwords for Instagram, way back, and when he-... went… when his aunt took his phone away-”

Ben’s eyebrows furrow. Something about that pricks at him. Miss you, big sister, always. 

“He went to live with his aunt?” Ben asks. The cashier reappears, setting a plain iced coffee down on the table, and Ben discovers he apparently ordered iced coffee with a scoop of ice cream for himself, and that’s not bad, good for him. It’s even his favorite ice cream, vanilla with almond and chocolate chips.

“Yeah, his Aunt Jo, his mom’s sister.” Akio shrugs one shoulder. “I never met her, she never came to meets or anything. Tris always said she was kind of a shit to him and his dad.” Something in his jaw is tightening - and the line of his jaw is catching Ben’s eyes entirely too much for the seriousness of this conversation. He can’t stop himself from looking. “She’s who he went to live with, after. She took his phone away because he was complaining to, um, to my mom and I - my mom and Ronnie, Mrs. Higgs, were… you know, team moms.” He shrugs, and Ben doesn’t know, but he nods anyway. “He was complaining about how she took him out of therapy, and… uh, you know, Tris needed therapy, just-... it helped him to, um-”

Ben swallows. “Self-regulate,” He says, softly. “Redirect potentially harmful stims. Figure out how to filter.”

“Right.” Akio smiles, a little shamefaced. “Sorry, it’s been… fucking years since I had to think about this so much. It’s… I would show my mom his messages, and my mom would call Jo and tell her to get him back in therapy and back to practice, but… you know, the social workers said there was nothing we could do about it. We weren’t family. We made complaints, but...” Akio slumps, closing his eyes briefly. "God, I don't even know if they did a home visit."

Ben closes his eyes. Jamey, trapped with someone who didn’t let him go to his own therapy. Jamey, nonverbal on hard days, trapped with someone who didn’t learn signing to talk to him during meltdowns like Ben’s family did. 

Jamey, trying to say he needed help with his hands again and again but no one’s listening, no one’s even trying anymore-

“Yeah,” Ben says, voice hoarse, and uses a thin plastic spoon with a long handle to get a bite of ice cream soaked in cold coffee taste, letting it dissolve on his tongue to buy himself some time for his throat to open back up. It’s fear in his chest, yeah, but beneath that is a bubbling, simmering fury, a distant anger for a hypothetical that he understands was Chris’s reality. “Yeah. My brother’s-... um, autistic, so I know… I know about it.”

“Yeah, I saw that.”

Ben blinks, caught off-guard. “What?”

Akio flushes, reddening along his cheekbones, and rolls his eyes at himself, slumping back down. “Okay, so, I promise I’m not a stalker, but when you messaged me I looked at your profile to see if you were just a creep. I saw the autism banner, so I looked and you wrote this really sweet thing about your brother-... how old is he?”

Ben almost forgets how to speak again. “He’s-... fifteen. Just turned fifteen. Jamey’s, um, his name is Jamey.”

“Cool. Yeah. So. I’m not a stalker. But, I’m just… listen, Tris and I started training at the gym together when we were like… seven. And I was seventeen when he, when she said… when she said he died.”

Ben’s breath catches. “Shit. She did?”

“Um. Yeah. A month after she took his phone away - we were calling her all the time asking to speak with him and stuff, my mom had kind of threatened to get social services involved again - she called my mom and said he-... um. Sorry if suicide is a thing for you, but…”

“No, I-I’m okay, I just…”

“Yeah. She told us he killed himself. We thought she was lying - oh fuck, she was lying, wasn’t she? - but so... but then you know, she had him cremated, and... I fucking-... I lost my shit, Ben. I didn’t compete, I didn’t train, I just, I just sat in my room for like six months bawling my eyes out and I told my mom it was just like she killed him, taking him away from everything when, you know, he was so sad and scared without them.”

Ben nods, quiet, watching Akio’s face as he speaks.

“My mom offered to take him, have him live with us, but… you know, she said no, and then he-... but he didn’t.” Akio drinks his coffee, absently, and Ben realizes his eyes are red around the edges. “Oh, god, he probably thought nobody cared about him anymore. Oh, shit. He probably thought we stopped giving a fuck. That h-he was al-... alone-”

He’s been crying. He’s maybe going to cry again.

Akio takes in a deep, shuddering breath. “He didn’t know-... shit. He probably just thought, no one’s coming, nobody cares, and… shit. I don’t know what to even think right now, just...” Akio slides his phone across the table. “Look at this. I locked it, when I thought-... but I kept it, anyway. I kept everything, I couldn’t-... I mean it’s just a box of stuff under my bed, but… I couldn’t throw any of it out, because… I don’t know. Somebody needed to, to r-remember him, and she wouldn’t have-... that fucking bitch told us he was dead. And she threw out all his stuff, so I’m... I guess I’m the only one who still has anything, so I just... kept it. Everything. And... this.”

There’s a moment where they both pretend Akio’s voice isn’t trembling.

“What is this?” Ben knows before the question is fully out of his mouth, but he looks anyway. Akio’s phone is still warm from his hand. 

“Tristan’s Instagram account. We, uh, we took pictures of stupid shit a lot back then, and Instagram was, like, super new and all filters all the time, so you just-... but this is his. His mom encouraged him to use it because, you know, sometimes he could show stuff better than he could say it.”

“Yeah, I get that.” Ben tilts his head, scrolling through the images. Most of the photos are just nothing - a cloud, books on a bookshelf, a tree leaf. Ben kind of quirks a smile at all the old Instagram filters right there, like looking in a fucking time capsule. Sometimes there are gymnastics photos, of the gym or of someone training. Sometimes Tristan himself appears in the photo, a blur of constant motion, photos taken by someone else. Photos of dinosaur bones at a museum, seemingly every fucking skeleton or fossil in the place.

“That’s our trip to DC, the team went,” Akio says, and points to a photo of Tristan and Akio, gangly awkward teenagers, standing in front of the Lincoln monument. Akio is smiling, and Tristan is looking up at the sky instead of the camera. “I like to look at this stuff sometimes? I know it’s been… it’s funny, we were talking a few weeks ago about how it’ll be a couple more years when he’s been dead longer than how long I knew him, but he’s not-... he was never dead.” Akio swallows, and his voice catches. When he speaks again, he sounds strained, forcing his voice to stay calm around the emotion that threatens to overtake it. “He was never dead. I keep getting caught up on that, because-... because how did we not know? How did we never… find him?”

Ben pushes the phone back to Akio. “You didn’t know to look,” He says, softly. “How were you supposed to find him if you didn’t know anyone needed to be looking?”

“I guess. My mom feels like shit, she’s been crying since we spoke to you. Well, I have, too. But my mom feels like she… she should have showed up at Joanne’s door and just taken Tristan by force, but, you know, the cops would’ve taken him right back, probably? That’s fucking kidnapping? And I keep telling her not to feel guilty, but she-”

“Yeah,” Ben says, thinking of Laken’s voice on the phone. 

I didn’t know he’d come home early. I keep saying I’m sorry but... He wasn’t-... he wasn’t ready for this and he’s so… he’s so fucked up. He won’t even talk to me. Every time Jake leaves the room we’re scared he’ll hurt himself again. He keeps telling me to find someone else, somebody easier, but I don’t want anyone else, god damn it, I want him! 

“She’s taking it really hard,” Akio says, finally, breaking into Ben’s thoughts. “I mean. We both are. But, you know, I keep thinking I can’t do this but then I think… I want to see him again. I want to see this guy in person, not just in those photos and videos you had. I want to see how he’s doing, he looks-... he looks so good.” Akio coughs, like he’s trying to cover up a sob, not quite managing it. “He looks really good.”

“He is, he’s doing… he’s good. Um, he’s having a hard time with remembering some stuff, but overall... he’s good.” Ben picks his own phone back up, pops back to Ronnie’s page. “What did you say the aunt’s name was?”

“Jo, um, Joanne… something. Sorry, I don’t really remember her last name, my mom would-”

“Botham?” Ben looks up, and god, he kind of wants to hug Akio until there aren’t tears in his eyes anymore. But also that’s a stupid thing to think, isn’t it? But he wants to, anyway. 

“Oh, that sounds right.”

“She left a comment on his mom’s-... I’ve been looking for everything I could find. I’m sorry, I know that’s creepy. But Joanne Botham left like a comment about missing-... hold on.” Ben clicks to open up Joanne Botham’s profile. A woman smiling in a profile photo, with dark hair. Something about the shape of her mouth is similar to Chris’s, but that doesn’t mean much, really. He scrolls down. 

Name, stupid quote from a stupider movie, current city is a while away from this one, like a couple states away, but she could’ve moved… There it is.

The answer to his questions, all of them, all at once, right out in the open.

“Joanne Botham,” He says out loud, “works at WRU.”

“What?” Akio looks up at him.

“His aunt. The mom’s sister, she works for WRU. That’s where Chris was-... where they hurt him. Where they make pets.”

Where they erase people. Where they take someone like Jamey and destroy him and how many versions of my brother are there who weren’t rescued by somebody like Chris’s big brother?

“WRU?” Akio’s face twists, an ugly pain written across it. “They’re one of our team’s sponsors. I’ve never thought about how… oh my god. I, I never liked… I mean, none of us are, like, political about it because you can’t be if you want an Olympic career, not really, but we all kind of hated taking the money. My coach thinks it’s good because it gets people off the street, which is super fucked up, but…” His iced coffee thunks down on the table. 

“What?”

“Oh shit. Oh holy fuck. They’ve been sponsoring us since we met with the old governor - he’s the one who hooked our coach up with their marketing team, and… oh my god. I’m gonna be fucking sick. WRU’s been my sponsor since like… a year after Tristan died-... didn’t die, I guess...”

“You didn’t know,” Ben whispers, staring down at Joanne Botham’s profile photo, scrolling through the profile picture photo album. He’s not maybe the smartest person on earth, but he can put two and two together for four. Tristan Higgs’s parents died, he goes to his aunt - who works for a human pet company - and he’s dead, supposedly, four months later. 

Time passes. No sign of supposed dead boy.

Then Chris, identical in every way, appears with no memory of his life and a thousand traumas to heal from, rescued from something that Ben doesn’t know the details of, but he doesn’t have to. 

Life as a pet, a life that made him terrified of bad weather and scared of people who raise their hands too quickly, unable to say no to anything when he gets scared, nervous about big vans with no windows, someone who says stupid fucking bullshit like silence is better than stammering when he’s upset, who sometimes has screaming nightmares that Laken has to wake him from that he refuses to explain to them...

Meanwhile, Aunt Joanne is putting up photos of herself traveling internationally, buying a new house, a new car, stuff she couldn’t afford to do before.

The math does itself.

It’s fucking true crime textbook, and it’s right in front of his eyes.

Akio’s jaw is working, and his eyes are glimmering again. He looks at Ben, and he looks weirdly lost and young, and Ben reaches out without thinking and grabs onto his hand. Akio grips on tight. His hand is warm, almost too warm, but also it’s the perfect amount of warm. “Do you think-... do you think she-”

Ben thinks about Jamey, scared and alone. He thinks about Jamey - and Tristan, the two of them mixing together in his mind - being dragged away, to be lost and overwritten, because no one was there to stop it.

Because someone did it on purpose.

Because no one stopped it.

“I think maybe she was lying to you because she didn’t want you to take Tristan,” Ben says, softly. “I think maybe she wanted to-... make money on him.”

Akio chokes, and leans forward, and Ben holds his hand as tightly as he can, feeling the other man’s fingers tremble in his grip. “I can't-... I can't even begin to deal with that, I just… So h-how did he end up in college? Pets don’t-... go to school, they’re not capable… are they?"

"Um. It depends, apparently?" Ben doesn’t know how much of this is something Chris would ever allow him to share. But Akio’s eyes raise, and catch his again, and Ben smiles, just a little, in an attempt to comfort. “He was rescued,” He says, softly. “I don’t know how, or when. He’d have to tell you that himself. But he’s, um. He’s just Chris now.”

“He’s just Chris, now.” Akio groans resting his head on his hand. “But not Tristan. So he really is dead, his body’s still just-.. walking around.”

“No,” Ben says, and leans in, getting Akio to look at him again. “He’s not gone. Not, like, the core of him, I think. We knew him as soon as we saw him on your video. We knew the smile, and how he moves, all of it. Everybody in the room knew him as soon as we saw him smile at you. He’s still there, he’s still him. I promise.”

“I knew it was him on your stuff as soon as I saw him dancing,” Akio says, brokenly. “H-he always did get obsessed with those fuh-fucking musicals and we used to make up routines to th-them-” His head drops, shoulders shaking, and Ben puts his other hand on Akio’s shoulder, moves around the edge of the little circular table, so he can put an arm around him. 

“It’s okay,” He whispers. “It’s okay.”

“It’s not,” Akio says, muffled. “It’s not okay. We should have saved him, w-we didn’t know, we didn’t know she would… he probably th-thought we didn’t care... the social worker said it was fine, we’re not re-relatives, we didn’t know he wasn’t dead, we didn’t know he wasn’t gone, I thought I l-lost him and he probably thinks I didn’t even give a fuck-”

“I’m sure he never thought that,” Ben says, softly, and Akio’s hair brushes a little against the side of his face and he tries not to think too hard about how nice that feels, this is not the time or place, Benjamin, stop thinking about his hair stop it stop it stop it.

“We thought... “

“I know. But… you found him, now. He’s found.”

Akio sniffs back tears, mumbling, “Can I see him?”

Ben hesitates. “He needs-... he might need some time.”

Akio nods without looking up, but he leans a little on Ben. “I’m sorry, I’m being a fucking moron about this, making you comfort me and you don’t even know me, but I just-... missed him, and mourned him, and we go to see is parents wh-where they’re buried every year on the day that his aunt said he-... Is he h-happy? Now?”

Ben closes his eyes. That’s what I’d want to know, isn’t it, if it was Jamey. Is he happy now? Does his new family sign, do they know how to calm him down when it’s too much, do they know, do they care, if I’m not there does someone love him as much as we did?

I’d claw my way out of the fucking grave to make sure someone loves Jamey as much as he deserves.

“He’s happy,” Ben says, softly. “He was adopted by the guy who saved him, I think. There’s a whole lot I don’t know, you know, it’s not really my-... my story to, um, to tell. I just know some of it. He’s, um, he’s with someone, and… he’s… he’s happy.”

“Good. I just-... I want to see him.”

“I know. I’ll ask. But his partner... I’m friends with them, and they, um, he’s n-not... not okay right now, so...”

“I can wait.” Akio looks at him, intense, intent, eyes so dark Ben could fall in. “I’ve waited this long, I can-... I can wait a little longer, I just... I just want to see him, when he can see me.”

The bell over the door chimes again, and the two of them turn and look to see a woman who could not be more obviously Akio’s mother entering, looking at them, her eyebrows furrowed in immediate worry when she sees the tears on Akio’s face. “Aki?”

“It’s him, Mom,” Akio says, and she moves to him as if drawn, and Ben fights himself to pull back and away, to watch mother and son. Tristan had this, and lost it, but Chris has it, too. Life, interrupted at the second act, begun again with new actors around the main character. “It’s definitely-... it’s Tristan. But, she-... I have to tell you what happened to him. He, they-they made him a, um, a pet-”

She hitches in a breath, pulls a chair with a loud scrape from another table, and sits, looking Ben over, expression serious. “Tell me,” She says, softly, but fiercely. 

“It’s, um, it’s a lot…”

“I’ve got time.” Ben is reminded of his own mother, in the simple steel flashing under her perfectly styled hair and carefully done makeup. Her eyes are red around the edges, too. She lays a cool, dry hand over Ben’s, and her dark eyes bore into him with focused intensity. “Tell me what happened to our Tris. I want to know what happened to-... I want to know what I didn’t stop.”

Akio looks sidelong at his mother, putting an arm around her, and he’s shorter than his mom but she seems to sag against him, and he can see how Akio takes after his mom, with the same wide mouth that normally seems always on the verge of a smile, the same dark eyes flashing with anger and guilt. “M-Mom, you couldn’t have known, we couldn’t do anything-”

“I could have gone to that woman’s… house, or wherever she was, and taken Tristan right out the door, and I didn’t,” Aimi says, and her voice doesn’t shake, but her face is bright red and her eyes are overbright and glittering. “I could have called lawyers, or the cops, I could have tried to fight for him and I didn’t. Ronnie deserved-” Her voice catches and her hand is over her mouth. Ben watches her eyes well up, her struggle to calm herself, throat working as she swallows and leans into her son’s embrace. “Ronnie… would have wanted someone to fight for him. I want to know what happened because I did the normal thing and not the right thing, because I didn’t let myself see it. I want to know what exactly it is that I didn’t stop when I had the chance.”

Ben sits back, takes a breath. 

“He, um. His name is… Chris now,” Ben starts, slowly. “Christopher Stanton. He’s, um, he’s a sophomore in college, and… he was a human pet, for a while. We don’t know how long, nobody knows for sure, or who had him. I mean, I guess he knows and I think his brother knows, but h-he, won’t… won’t tell anyone who it was.”

Aimi’s whole body shudders, but her face doesn’t change, and her eyes don’t leave Ben’s. “H-how-”

Akio licks at his lips, and hesitantly says, “Ben thinks maybe that aunt they sent him to sold him. She works for WRU.”

Aimi’s eyes slowly close, and her breathing is slow but trembling. The two young men watch her. Akio’s knee bumps his under the table, and he doesn’t think about that, either, except it’s all he’s going to think about for the rest of the day.

“Okay,” Aimi says, after a long pause, and her eyes open again. A kind of perfect calm settles itself across the pain in her expression. 

Ben thinks that this woman is probably fucking terrifying if it’s you she’s angry with and not herself. 

“Mom, if we need to stop, that’s okay-”

“We don’t. Ben-... that’s your name? Ben?”

“Uh, yeah… Benjamin Prentiss, but-... call me Ben.” 

Prentiss, Akio mouths to himself, and Ben hopes, in another weird moment, that Akio likes his last name. 

“Got it.” Aimi leans forward, smacks the table with one hand. Ben flinches. Her jaw sets. She’s definitely terrifying. Like his own mother when they tried to kick Jamey out of school, this is a woman who could stare down the sun itself unblinking and walk away undamaged, if the sun was a threat to her children. “Ben?”

“Yes, um, Mrs. Nakamura?”

“Keep talking. Tell me everything about Tristan-”

“Chris.” He clears his throat. “He’s, um, his name is Chris.”

“... tell me everything about Chris.”

--

Tagging: @burtlederp, @finder-of-rings, @endless-whump, @whumpfigure, @slaintetowhump, @astrobly  @newandfiguringitout  , @doveotions  , @pretty-face-breaker  , @boxboysandotherwhump  , @oops-its-whump  @moose-teeth  , @cubeswhump  , @cupcakes-and-pain  @whump-tr0pes  @whumpiary  @orchidscript

[rosesnink]

Your Most Ardent Admirer

Author’s Notes 

*This new series I had baking for a very long time took me a lot of research and writer’s block for nearly a year, but here it is! 

*This series will treat some sensible themes, such as traumas of the WWI, the misogyny, war itself, etc, so this series will be rated +13 for your sakes. 

*All the characters belong to Pixelberry, I only own my OC, June Dante, no one else. 

Summary: Ernest Sinclaire finds himself a widower, lonely and hopeless, until he meets this dashing singer that has intrigued him from minute one... 

TW: Heavy kissing, adultery 

Rating: PG-13 

Word Count: 2310 

*Click in the image for better quality!!

London, UK, 1928

The night had fallen in the Guilty Pleasures as Ernest Sinclaire scans the cabaret’s crowd. They’re all laughing, drinking and kissing. Everyone lives their lives as he mourns. He catches Bartholomew Chamber’s shape, with a hand awfully down on a man’s waist. He’s laughing, flirting shamelessly with that man as the other ladies giggle to themselves. Donna Bowman seems to see him and whispers something to Felicity Holloway. He goes toward the bar as he avoids all he can the blonde woman. He finds himself dodging some dancing ladies and waitresses in revealing clothes to catch his eye. But he ignores them all.

He finds a glass of expensive vodka and gulps it as he observes his photo with his now dead wife: Roselyn D’Oleur, a beautiful and delicate French girl who caught his attention when he was just 19. They dated over a year before he proposed to her. She accepted between ‘oohs’ and giggles. They lived happy and had a great dynamic in everything… or that’s what he thought. Then, reality hit him. She’d ask him for money all the time to go shopping and fetch drinks that never came to her since she disappeared all night. Both families pressured them to settle down and start conceiving children, but Roselyn started coming very late at home and that connection was… lost.

One day, after talking late about businesses with Vincent Foredale, he saw Roselyn in a hotel room that had the window open. She was naked and drinking expensive wine. He thought, under his hot collar that it was just ladies’ fun…   Until he saw him. The man who had been a role model was there, also naked, taking his own wife in a hotel with the window open. He thought it must be a joke. A nightmare. But fifteen minutes later they were at it again, and he couldn’t stand it. He awaited her until she came home at 6 a.m., her hair a mess and hickeys all over her neck and her dress half zipped.

“How long, Roselyn?” He asked, looking at her with sour pain. “Please, no more lies. I saw you both there. I saw everything.”

She sighed as she played with what seemed like the room’s key “Two years. Ernest, I am so sorry- It was a mistake!”

“You know it’s not true. Is it a mistake that you flirted with him with my ring on your finger, let him touch you, allow him to connect with you for who knows how often and without daring to look to my eyes and tell me the truth? That’s not a mistake, Roselyn. You let it happen and made me look like a fool in front of everyone. I just- What did I do wrong?”

She took a heavy breath “It’s not you, Ernest. You’re a fantastic husband, but- the thing is- I don’t love you. I only wanted your money, Ernest. Not all of us can afford being romantic.”

Those words came to him like a stab on his chest. He felt fooled, hurt and humiliated. This was all about money and reputation. Never love.

“Just- Get out, Roselyn. I need to think. Alone” She reached for him, but he jerked back “Don’t do it. Just… Go.”

The days passed as he processed everything and thought how he’d look at the people once he saw what they probably saw for a while ago. He felt so… he couldn’t even name it.

The days passed until, at midnight, he heard a loud banging at the door. Whoever it was, it was screeching his name and insisting on him to open the door. And he obliged.

Who else than Roselyn was there, crying and grabbing her stomach? He rushed her inside and helped her calm down and talk to him. She cried out in his shoulder that she was pregnant. Pregnant of Tristan Richards. And that she told him, but he repudiated her for a rather young woman who seemed as a payed prostitute.

Her family disowned her, the father wouldn’t talk to her and she was now a fornicator with no feelings.

Even if his reasoning told him to do the same, it was against his nature. His ethics, how he was raised. He took her in, helped her through pregnancy and never left her side.

But things got complicated in childbirth. She lost a lot of blood, she was in pain and very weak. She was too young to bear it. She died, but the child would survive.

She was breathing heavily, holding the babe tight. She looked at him and muttered “Percival… his name is Percival… take care of him…please. It’s-it’s not his fault. Don’t make him pay for my sins,”

He took her hand and kissed it “I will. Little Percival will have everything he needs. I promise.”

She smiled at him weakly and kissed his hand in return as she looked at the crying newborn “Mon bebe… J’et aime.” And with that, she was gone.

And now, back at the present, he awaited his company as his fingers drummed the table. There he was. Renard D’Oleur, Roselyn’s brother. He saluted him and asked “Where’s my nephew?”

“He is outside with the nanny. We’re biding our goodbyes. Will he be alright?”

“I assure you, he will.” He patted his back “If that’s everything…”

“Wait, one more thing. May I… call him monthly? To check on him?”

Renard sighed as he grimaced “He is just one year old and I wouldn’t have to force him compromise with something like that. I’m so sorry, I wish I could do more.”

“Just keep him safe. It’s all I ask of you,”

“He will. We’ll tell him who was his mother.”

And with that, he left with the bundle of joy in his arms, a part of him broken. He turned on his heels to look at him again and commented.

“Anyways, June Dante is giving a show in here today. Chick’s know how to sing and give a show. Relax and let her bewitch you.”

He sighed as he chugged his vodka and shook his head. Last thing he needed was now a show.

He was about to pay the bartender when a feminine voice started singing, her melodical, mermaid-alike voice seemed to caress his skin and he turned on his left, where the singer, who had a short, blonde hair and an elegant flapper dress, red lipstick and elegant high-heeled boots that made her mildly bare legs and dress draw him to her. She smiled as she dropped sensually her fur coat and started singing the chorus

Diamonds are a girl’s best friend

No man can compete against them

I like to wear them without the pressure of being called Mrs.

Making my skin glowing

If I could choose a marriage over this stone of pure blessing

I’d choose elegance over a tying knot

And do not dare to say men are better than these blessed stone

Because ‘tis the glow that will never overshadow moi

His eyes were glued on her, her charming and seductive smile, how her hands and hips moved in a killing, slow way and her eyes connected with his, sending a cold shiver over his spine, his heart racing fast. The song was reaching the end, and there was a moment where she rolled over his seat and caressed his cheek in a ticklish, sensual way, making him shiver and blush furiously. She ended her spectacle dancing in a very revealing way, feeling hot under his collar, his eyes never wandering off hers. Everyone clapped and threw her flowers, money and even personal belongings followed by “I love you’s, marry me and other rather scandalizing ways as she laughed seductively, her voice like velvet in his ear and waved goodbye.

Renard was right, that woman made a most dignifying spectacle, making him want more of her. He drank the rest of his vodka and wandered how a stranger would possibly land her beautiful hazel eyes on him, a simple, modest man. A man tapped his shoulder and whispered to accompany him. He followed the rather intimidating man and trespassed Richards, who was trying to get the singer’s attention.

“Oh, come on! Him of all people?! He’s but a boring widower! You deserve better, June!”

“Miss June awaits you. Be a gentleman,” The man scowled before kicking out Richards at the head of the horde of people.

When he took in the image of June in a fine silk white robe and her hair flawlessly falling on the edges of her jaw and with a rather extended V over her chest and revealing her ankles and part of her flawlessly shaved legs, his heart raced and his pulse quicken as he tried to assimilate that the beauty of June Dante called him. She turned around, her smile perfect and white and her lips still red and her face glowing and heard her regular voice, he felt like speaking with an envoy of the angels.

“So you’re the dashing gentleman! Oh, how rude of me, here, have a drink, darling!” She handed him an elegant flute of fruity white wine and rushed him to a very comfortable sofa and sat in a way that she was leaning on him and her knees were at a 90 angle and her manicured feet were barely seen and her perfectly made nails got close to him.

“What’s your name, handsome?” She traced a shivering line on his hand vein.

“Sinclaire. Ernest Sinclaire” He answered, trying not to shudder.

“Ernest Sinclaire… Hmm, I like your name, Ernest,” She purred as he tried to control the dizziness in his head and how her middle and index finger were tracing his hand and his heart was racing fast like a hummingbird.

“I- Thank you, Miss—,”

“June. Just call me June. We’re in confidence, dear Ernest,”

He had to admit, his name in her lips was like being kissed and caressed of Venus’s touch.

“What brings you to my show tonight, handsome?”

He swallowed as she played with the corners of her dress and answered “I’m a regular since—since my wife’s passing. I just closed some business with her brother”

Her face fell as her hand traced the length of his arm and caressed his jaw “Oh, dear, I am so sorry to hear that such a dashing and intriguing man is alone in this gray town.” She pouted.

“I—That’s much appreciated, Miss—Ahem, June.”

“Come, love, allow me to ease the pain,” She placed his head on her chest, making his skin crawl and his heart was about to get out of his chest as he felt her heartbeats and how she caressed his hair, playing with his curls.

He didn’t know if it was the vodka or some strange substance in the champagne, but he felt so good…

“Thank you, June. You’re a kind woman.”

“Oh, I am not just known for my singing skills, dear Ernest,”.  

“I never doubted that, June.”

“How long?” She asked of all sudden.

“I’m sorry?” He asked back, confused.

“How long has your wife been dead?”

He didn’t understand why she asked that but he answered anyways “Like, for a year. Why?”

She didn’t answer. She just grabbed his face and kissed him fervently, all the tension in the ambiance now down. He was at first startled by the sudden action of the woman, but then he kissed her back, returning her fervent kisses and grabbing gently her waist and back, bringing her closer to him. She moaned softly as she grabbed his hair and the back of his neck, laying down the sofa, allowing him to be atop her. Their tongues battled for dominance before she panted, leaving him some liberties and a hand traveled to her lower back, bringing her body closer to her, which she answered by arching towards him. He moaned in pure bliss and delight, not believing such a beauty would be allowing him take such liberties with her. She grabbed his shirt and tried to tug it off, but then he realized one thing: he was quite tipsy, kissing a dashing stranger and in a backstage no less. He broke the kiss and sat again as he gulped, wiping off her lipstick all over his mouth. She looked at him confused and panting, her lips red and itchy of the kissing.

“Why’d you stop? Is something wrong? I thought you liked me!”

He studied carefully his words before placing a hand in her.

“June, you’re a breathtaking, beautiful, interesting and witty woman, but we just met and I’m still grieving my wife. It’s—It’s not the moment. I am not ready for jump out for some new romantic adventure. You deserve so much better, June.”

She nodded as she fished something of her purse and said “It’s alright. I understand. I shall apologize for dragging you to this, it was wrong of me,” She handed him a few cards “My residences in Madrid, the outskirts of London, Paris, New York and Berlin if you want to pen me, either as a friend or whatever you’d like, I’ll be at your disposal despite the distance.”

He grabbed those cards and nodded “That’s kind of you, June. I’ll treasure them,”

She kissed his cheek and sighed “It was memorable to meet you, Ernest. I hope we can see each other again,”

“Me, too,”

With that, he left. All the feelings rushed him inside: he felt happiness, guilt, longing… He shook his head. He just met this woman! Love at first sight was but an old wives’ tale. And he was still grieving Roselyn, he couldn’t just do that so easily. Maybe he couldn’t afford a lover, but it never hurt having a friend who could listen to you and make your day brighter.

Right?

[ninjastormhawkkat]

“Oh I’m sorry to hear that dear.” Constance said, expressing her condolences. She seemed hesitant on asking her next question. Not wanting to upset the poor woman any further. It seemed clear Melina was deeply attached to the man she called father. Constance would feel it would be horrible to divulge what nearly everyone else was thinking at this point. Luckily for her, Becky diverted her crisis for a brief period of time. “Dad, why did you and grandpa Matthew look s..sss.shocked at seeing Archie’s dad?” Becky asked in a curious tone. Matthew and Gene’s eyes widened a bit, both taken a bit back by the sudden question. Carl at first looked confused as to what Becky was referring to but then he took another long look at Stewart. Carl’s eyes soon widened in recognition and surprise. “Wait a minute. Weren’t you Mr. Rainbow?” Carl asked. Stewart looked surprised at the question but then gave a warm smile. “Why yes I was. I assumed you watched the show as well.” Stewart chuckled a bit. Carl shook his head. “Only a few episodes. But Matthew and Gene watched it together a lot when it was running.” Carl commented. This caused Gene to blush a bit. “Dad. I was a little kid. It was a famous family show that I only watched and liked when I was a lot younger.” Gene commented. Matthew crossed his arms with a frown. “Mr. Rainbow was a national icon back in the day. You watched every episode together up into your teens.” Matthew corrected. “Pops!” Gene yelped as his face was becoming more red. “I’m sorry but what is this Mr. Rainbow?” Hugh asked in confusion. Stewart ended up explaining what the show was to the alien doctor. “Oh it was a wonderful show. I went on stage and played the role of a character called Mr. Rainbow. I performed a lot of skits with various puppets and props. The main purpose of my show was helping children and adults learn important values and lessons such as being kind and polite to others as well as being respectful and sharing. It was a family oriented program that I wanted to use to spread good and helpful messages to every child and their families.” Stewart happily stated. “It was kind of embarrassing when I was a kid to have Mr. Rainbow as my dad but he really helped me and my mom a lot. His lessons and kindness towards me helped me to become the person I am now.” Archie said in a proud tone. “Aww.” Sunshine cooed at her husband. “Yeah, the Mr. Rainbow show was great. Gene was a huge fan back then. I remember one time Gene got upset because they were sold out of the Mr. Sheep stuffed toys at the local toy store.” Matthew commented. “Pops! It was a while ago when I was a kid of course I would have acted upset then.” Gene nearly shouted back. His face now turning a deeper shade of red. “Wait a second. As I recall, you were 12 when it happened.” Victor spoke up. “You nearly bit the hand off of the cashier when she told you they were sold out.” Gene turned his head around quickly and glared at his siblings who started snickering. Alex and Tristan cooed at hearing about Gene’s past while holding back their own chuckles. Patricia meanwhile was full on cackling like a hyena. “Ha, this is too ironic!” Patricia chortled. It was ironic to her that Archie idolized Gene when he was a kid, and Gene idolized Archie’s step father when he was younger. Gene just groaned into his hands. “Can we please change the subject to something else.” Gene moaned. It didn’t help Gene when Stewart spoke up again. “If you want Gene, I still have Mr. Sheep at my home. I can bring him over sometime in the future if you want to see him.” Stewart offered. Gene, now completely red faced with pure embarrassment just quietly muttered, “..yes please.” This sent Patricia on another laughing fit and this time Jenkins couldn’t help but chuckle a bit too at the scene before him. Becky had an annoyed look though. “You don’t like Pretty Princess but you like his show. Pretty Princess teaches good stuff too.” Becky remarked with a huff. @dualnaturedscientist

Heart of chaos

A year had passed since the B.E.A.W Labs organization had fallen. Since all the events had taken place. Becky being taken along with Bob. The poor girl being experimented on by a cruel scientist who had no love for anyone but himself. Matthew had broken out of the facility with her, Carl and Steven. Gene's true identity being revealed along with losing his Dr.Two-Brains persona. Shocking revelations unfolded. Betrayals and redemption. Things had calmed down significantly since but that didn't mean life had been dull. It certainly wasn't for Fair City. Especially with the villains, heroes and its eccentric inhabitants livening up the city. Becky had been making a wonderful recovery. Though she still wasn't at her full recovery Becky was still making so much more progress than the year prior. Gene still had identity issues, dealing with the loss of Squeaky. Though he didn't go through it alone. The still mad scientist had his family and friends help him through everything. Matthew and Carl took up residency within the city. A house that wasn't too far from their sons. Life in this place was definitely lively and peaceful in comparison to the hellish place many innocent souls were imprisoned in. Matthew was less exhausted than before. Relaxing within the living room in his son's house, watching whatever was put on the television. Matthew felt his eyes beginning to droop. Sleepiness hitting him out of nowhere. He simply allowed himself to doze off, not fighting it. Knowing that he was safe there. It wasn't until he felt weight on him that Matthew opened his eyes. Usually a dog or cat would be the cause for this but Matthew met many eyes. Fluffy had snuck into the house yet again. A small warm smile spread across his facial features, patting the spider on its head. Fluffy leaned into Matthew's hand, making soft happy noises. It was funnily cute to him. Though he understood as to why Gene was so afraid of him. Even Carl was squeamish around the giant spider. “Aw, who's a good boy? You are! You're a good boy!” Matthew couldn't help but baby talk the arachnid. He looked up, wriggling his chelicerae in response. As to say ‘Me! I'm a good boy!’ He chuckled at that, giving Fluffy gentle scritches. It was like a huge puppy in a spider's body. Though the peacefulness was interrupted by a sudden shout. “NO! WHY IS IT HERE AGAIN?!” Gene was in the doorway of the living room. Looking quite terrified at the huge arachnid. Fluffy instantly moved around on Matthew's lap to look at Gene. Excitedly jumping off of the supervillain's lap in favor of his son. He bolted right for the mad scientist, causing him to yelp loudly and make a run for it. “SOMEONE KEEP THAT ABOMINATION AWAY FROM ME!” Matthew gave a small laugh. “Can't help but feel abit rejected there.” Archie, who was quiet until then, responded. “I know that feeling.” This caused Matthew to jump up startled. “Don't do that! I'm old. Also I could accidentally blast you.” Archie blinked in confusion. “You didn't notice me? I came in with Fluffy. He got loose and snuck into the house. I just came to bring him back before he got to Gene. Too late for that now.” Archie frowned. “I can't help but be jealous at how much Fluffy loves him. Though Gene is terrified of him. That spider just won't listen to me when it comes to his favorite person.” He shook his head disapprovingly. “You want me to help you?” Matthew was being genuine with his question. He didn't want his son dying of fright from the giant arachnid. “That would be greatly appreciated. I have to take him back home. He can't avoid taking his medication this time.” Matthew got up, stretching first before doing anything else. This earned him a strange look from Archie. “What? I said I'm old. If I don't stretch I'll pull a muscle.” The hero shrugged. “Let's go get him soon. I have to look after Charlotte as well.” Archie always had the brightest smile when Charlotte was brought up. Either by him, Sunshine or anyone else. It was sweet. “Alright, alright.” They were completely unaware of an enemy observing them. Waiting.

Miss Power growled in frustration at the display she was witnessing through a window to the Boxleitner or rather the Woods household. A display she thought was very disgusting. How badly the alien conqueror wanted to charge right in their and obliterate everyone in her sights. She couldn't do her usual tactics and tricks right now, not after what she learned after coming back. She was still ticked off after that little alien brat Wordgirl and her parents dupe and tricked her into leaving the planet in defeat. There was no way she could go back to her planet and face her people with such a shameful stain to her otherwise brilliant record. Fueled by revenge and hatred, Miss Power spent her time preparing, training, and waiting so she could exact her revenge against those who wronged her, against the little hybrid girl and her freak of a family that humiliated her. Sadly when Miss Power and her loyal sidekick Colonel Gigglecheeks did decide to return, they were not prepared for the recent changes that had happeend in their absence. Miss Power did not care much for this Darius person or B.E.A.W labs, she had seen those like them a dime a dozen before on other worlds. The alien wished she could have congratulated the person who tortured and dehumanized Wordgirl and her sidekick. If it was up to her, Professor Ross Moran would receive high honors among her people for his actions. She did give her condolences at his unmarked gravestone. While the recent trauma Wordgirl and her sidekick have suffered gave Miss Power an opportunistic advantage, the alien conquerer unfortunately could not risk using it especially with her grandfather around. Miss Power was amazed at hearing about the past and recent exploits of Maddrix the Malicious. She was shocked that someone so bloodthirsty and powerful was the father of that scientist who used to have a mouse brain attached to his skull as well as a weird cheese obsession. To her disappointment, Miss Power could clearly see the man was too human and had regretted his actions in the past. Actions that would have made him highly respected among her people despite him being human. Still Miss Power wasn't going to risk striking back while that old coot was still alive. Age did not always equate to weakness according to what she had been taught. Even though he was old, Maddrix was clearly still powerful. It was likely that her and Gigglecheeks would wind up dead by the man's hands before they could claim revenge and victory. A chittering sound snapped Miss Power out of her musings. She turned her head to see her sidekick give her a concerned look. He chittered again and asked 'So what are we going to do?' Miss Power smiled and scratched her sidekick's head which he enjoyed. "Don't worry Colonel Gigglecheeks. We'll get our revenge soon. We just need to learn more about Mr. Malicious and what weaknesses he might have so we can use it to defeat him." Miss Power cooed. She then took her sidekick and flew off without anyone being the wiser. Miss Power was brash and bold and could be tricked sometimes, but she was no fool. The alien conqueror learned long ago that the best way to win your battles was to be prepared and know your enemy more than they know themselves. Carl sighed with relief and slight exhaustion as he sat down in a comfy chair. He had just finished sweeping the floor of his and Matthew's home. Now all he had to do was sit and relax until his husband got home. Carl wanted to try a nice 'mom and pop' owned restaurant that one of Gene's friends, Chuck, had recommended to the man. Carl had been itching to get out and do something more and more recently. If he had to be honest, he was getting bored. In the past, Carl had his job and work as a scientist to keep him occupied along with spending time with his husband and kids. Unfortunately after his 20 year imprisonment, Carl couldn't step in another official science lab ever again without a severe anxiety and panic attack @dualnaturedscientist