#rupert x Amir

[edensundae]

The Two Princes OC AU Animatic! [WIP]

I fear I might be one of the 3 people in the TTP fandom … guys … IS ANYONE THERE?! 😭

I’m absolutely obsessed with Rupert and Amir, I have been since 2022. Those two are almost identical to my boys Jacob and Noah … so let’s mix it up !!! This is my 3rd time making an animatic to this exact audio :) maybe I will post the comparisons soon! Also please for the love of GOD can we have a TTP fandom revival??? I NEED TO SHARE THE BRAINROT !!! RRRAAAAHHHH

[welcome-to-the-agender-agenda]

Okay but the Two Princes deserves so much more recognition!

Started listening to the Two Princes podcast, I definitely enjoy it

[girl80s]

when you are trying to write some fanfiction for an audio media and it’s to the point where it is not even close to what the main plot should have been. Feels like I’m writing a spinoff 😭

[turtlethebean]

Rarepair Week Day 3: Letters

Note: Spoilers ahead for season 3.

AO3 Link: Waiting for your Letter - Turtle_The_Bean - Criminal Case (Video Game) [Archive of Our Own]

Another day, another empty letterbox.

Rupert checked his calendar. He wasn’t used to waiting this long for a letter. At this point, it had been several weeks since he sent his last letter. He knew it wasn’t an issue with the postal service; his colleagues had been receiving letters from friends and family abroad with no problem. He would usually pass it off as his boyfriend being busy, but that seemed unlikely at this point. He hadn’t taken this long to write before, and it wasn’t like the Bureau had too much work for him. Rupert had even seen his colleagues on the news, though Armand was nowhere to be seen in the photos and videos.

He closed the letterbox and was about to head up to his apartment when a familiar hand was placed on his shoulder.

“Yo, Rupert,” Amir Devani, Rupert’s apprentice, smiled at the older man as he turned around, “One of David and Alex’s old coworkers is here. She used to work for the Bureau; isn’t that awesome? You should join us.”

Once Rupert heard the Bureau being mentioned, he instantly agreed to meet her. He needed answers as to why Armand wasn’t answering his letters. There was no guarantee she would know anything about what was going on with him, but it was worth a shot.

---

The majority of the Grimsborough Police Department was crowded around Grace, asking her a flurry of questions regarding her work at the Bureau. If Rupert wanted to get closer to her, he knew he would have to wait.

However, his patience was growing thin. He needed to know what was going on with Armand. He needed to know if he was still alive or even just busy with work or travel. He silently begged for an opening, a way for him to get close enough to ask her some questions.

“GRACE!” Amir called out, “I GOT A FRIEND HERE WHO WANTS TO MEET YOU!”

Grace got off her seat and walked over to Rupert. He started mentally preparing himself to ask her the question. He just needed a few words. He couldn’t mess this up.

“I hoped you’d be back, Amir.” Grace smiled warmly at the lab assistant.

“Yeah, I just need to get old Rupert here out of his apartment.” Amir nudged his mentor playfully.

“Good afternoon, Miss Delaney,” Rupert extended a hand to shake, “I’d like to ask you a question about a person who works at the Bureau if you don’t mind.”

It was a bit wordier than he had intended, but at least he had gotten his point across.

“Oh, well, out of what I know, I’m the only one from Grimsborough. There was a member from England, but I doubt you’d have any interest in a teenager.” Grace explained, trying to figure out who he was talking about on her own.

“He’s not from England. He’s Swiss, actually. His name is Armand Dupont. Would you happen to know how he’s doing right now? Even where he is at the moment?”

“Armand Dupont…” Grace’s face fell upon hearing the name, “Rupert, I am so sorry.”

Don’t.

“It may be best for us to talk about this in private.”

“No, it’s alright.” Please, don’t say it.

“Alright, if you say so…”

Please, it can’t be.

“I’m sorry, Rupert, but Dupont…Armand…passed away.”

No.

“He was shot in the chest during a confrontation with a criminal. They managed to remove the bullet, but his body couldn’t take the surgery.”

No.

“He died the same night we accepted the Nobel Peace Prize. I wish he could’ve been there with us, but…”

No. No! NO!

“Thank you for the information, Miss Delaney,” Rupert said, brushing past everyone else as he left the room.

Once he left the room, Rupert felt as though the floodgates were about to burst. He rushed himself somewhere private, his laboratory and closed the door before collapsing to the ground. Tears started flooding down his face as he curled up in a ball on the floor.

He couldn’t believe this. It couldn’t be true. His love couldn’t be dead.

Was it wrong that he didn’t want to believe that anything was real anymore?

---

How long had he been on this floor?

Rupert didn’t know how long he had been crying on the floor. For all he knew, it could be anywhere between five minutes and five hours. He couldn’t get up. His legs felt like jelly anytime he tried. Even using the table didn’t help. He just kept falling back down to the floor. It was as though he was trying to climb his way out of a hole, but he kept sliding back down to the bottom.

He still couldn’t believe the news. He still didn’t want to believe the news.

Did he have any choice?

A knock at the laboratory door. He didn’t have the strength to open it himself.

“Come in.” He called out, not bothering to try to get up again.

The creak of the door and then the clicking of heels filled the room as Grace approached him.

“Sorry to bother you.” She began, her face solemn.

“It’s fine; I’ve just been sitting on the floor for…I’ll be honest, I have no clue how long it’s been now.” He sighed, burying his head in his hands.

“I just thought I’d find you to give you this.”

Rupert looked up to see that Grace was handing him a folded-up piece of paper. He took it from her, unsure if he should unfold it.

“I found it when we were clearing out Dupont’s library. I thought the address seemed familiar, so I decided to keep it on me in case. It seemed important.”

“Thank you, Miss Delaney,” Rupert gave her a weak smile, “I mean it. Thank you.”

“Of course. Feel free to call me if you need anything else.”

Rupert nodded as he watched her leave his laboratory. He finally mustered up the strength to pull himself up onto one of the chairs in his lab. He got up, turned on one of the table lamps and took a deep breath before unfolding the letter.

My dearest Rupert,

I’m writing to inform you that I have received your last letter. However, there is more I wish to tell you.

I miss you. I have this horrible feeling that I may never see you again, but given that we will be in America sometime soon, I hope to have the opportunity to see you again. I miss sitting next to you as we read books and occasionally told each other about our interests.

Even if we never meet again, I hope that you know that I love you.

The letter ended there. Incomplete, but even just seeing the handwriting again made Rupert tear up.

He had been so afraid – afraid that Armand had fallen out of love with him, afraid that he had become too busy for him, afraid that losing his love was going to be the same as him losing his life.

In actuality, his love was alive. Sure, he had physically passed away, but his spirit lived on in this letter.

A letter he would cherish for the rest of his life.

[theshippirate22]

I have a theory

listen up bitches (gender neutral) (affectionate) i’ve been cooking this for an incredibly long time and i’m very very excited to share it but it is gonna be long so i’m putting it under a cut

my theory is that there has been a new set of archetypes created by popular m/m media either in canon or coding and i would love if it was more widely recognized by a distinct name so here we go:

I present to you: The Mirrorball x Running Up That Hill Boyfriends™️ Theory

i need to preface this by saying that i am absolutely not an english major or expert but i have done so much analysis that i’m 98% positive i’m on to something here

so usually mlm ships- at least in my experience- get boiled down into typical Grumpy x Sunshine, Golden Retriever x Black Cat, or like. Babygirl x Badass. and i hate that because those are like really watered down hetero romance stereotypes and i think queer people deserve to get our own archetypes instead of trying to force queer characters into prepaid boxes but that’s a story for another day so:

basically, all content with widely accepted mlm ships (even if they are more in coding than in canon) has this pattern with the ship that fits into Mirrorball x Running Up That Hill

(name pending- open to suggestions)

Boyfriend No.1 of course is the epitome of Mirrorball by Taylor Swift (i know, i know. bear with me here). He’s constantly trying to prove himself and his worth and usually he’s driven to hide or overcome 1-3 specific and intense insecurities/character flaws. He often has innate loyalty to a system or person who has repeatedly abused/neglected/abandoned him and thinks that this treatment is a result of his own character rather than a reflection of the abuser. In relation to the plot and audience, this is the “more dangerous” of the two because he’s so desperate to hold onto the status quo that he’ll often act in a way that makes things more difficult for himself, often by leaving Boyfriend No. 2, sacrificing himself, or doing “the wrong thing.” He also commonly has an older male figure that is breathing down his neck constantly, haunting his perceived inadequacies, and fueling his self-loathing. He’s constantly mischaracterized because he’s either boiled down to “the silly one” or a visage of his trauma and the people that relate to love these characters are usually extremely sad people. Usually this character is also the “mean girl” of the couple.

Examples of the Mirrorball boyfriend: Dean Winchester, Aziraphale, Stede Bonnet, Lucius Spriggs, Sherlock Holmes, Eddie Munson, Mike Wheeler, Prince Rupert, etc.

Boyfriend No. 2 then, is the Running Up That Hill Boyfriend, based of course, on the song by the same name by the perfect Kate Bush. He’s the one that’s seen The Horrors™️ and gained a layer of cynicism that Mirrorball doesn’t have. He was once loyal to something that used/hurt him but he rejected it and used his newfound freedom to restructure his entire personality and reach his much higher potential. Usually, he has passed so far from having a few insecurities to perceiving himself as utterly worthless and unlovable but he’s so convinced that it doesn’t even haunt him, he just goes with it and usually comes off looking overly-confident or cocky. This is The Bitch (affectionate)™️. There’s probably a scene of him covered in blood. This is The Girls’ favorite blorbo and ultimate whump. He tends to be really good with kids and he’s the kind of character that would and often has to CLAW a life out for himself by his fingernails.

Examples of the Running Up That Hill Boyfriend: Castiel, Crowley, Ed Teach, Black Pete, John Watson, Steve Harrington, Will Byers, Prince Amir, etc.

unfortunately i haven’t seen a lot of popular queer stuff so if you can think of other mlm or mlm shaped characters that fit into these archetypes please please please tell me

i’m specifically curious about:

-Hannigram (Hannibal)

-Buddy (911) (@criminally-obsessed if you would mind weighing in but obviously no pressure)

-Lokius (Loki) (@henderdads same thing)

-Any of the marauders but specifically WolfStar

-Stucky (MCU)

-RWRB (i’m so sorry i don’t remember the guys’ names)

-Nick and Charlie (Heartstopper)

-What We Do In the Shadows has one I think?

-literally anyone else please and thank you 🙏🙏 love you all

if you want like explicit examples of each piece for a character lmk for sure because i could talk about this all day long

[antispopausandstuff]

when you get into a series and then stupid shit happens.

.

so, i got into a podcast from 2019 called 'The Two Princes', and i love it. it's very charming, basically like a show in audio form, and full of queer. listen to it frequently, got into the tags on my socials, found some fanart and fics and a bit of inspiration.

but during my searches of fanart, i came across two things.

people calling the main relationship ( rupert x amir ) an EtL

some people comparing it to c//a

both of these severely bothered me, and i'm gonna explain why.

for the first one, it's very simple. rupert and amir were not really enemies, in terms of their actual dynamic. according to this red herring of a prophecy, though, they are 'meant' to be enemies.

however, rupert lies about not being the prince of the west ( amir is prince of the east ), saying he's a thief, that his name is fitz, and that he wants nothing to do with his kingdom. this isn't because he holds any ill-will to his own kingdom, but because the east and the west are hostile and he didn't wanna get killed by amir leaving him behind in the forest.

so, their actual dynamic was more of 'unfriendly strangers to friends to lovers'. because amir was a bit uppity and micromanaged, while rupert was more soft(?) and tended to overreact // overly panic. that, and the span of the first season is 3 days. you can't really go from being enemies to lovers in 3 days. in most cases, i guess.

anyway, moving onto the even more frustrating point.

the princes are nothing like catra and adora. absolutely nothing alike. not even a little.

i'm guessing part of the reason is because amir asks rupert to stay. but the context of that situation vs catra repeatedly demanding asking adora to stay is entirely different.

amir asks rupert to stay because, despite being prickly, rupert saved his life and continued being kind to him. he doesn't ask him to stay because of any self-importance, or because he wants rupert to do dirty work, or for any other reason but because amir likes him and wants them to be friends.

that is entirely different from why catra kept demanding asking adora to stay. she kept asking because she couldn't take no for an answer. because adora's ideals didn't align with hers. because she wanted adora for herself, and took any other options as a personal attack.

and another reason this comparison exists, i'm guessing, is because of the whole "they saved the world // universe // kingdom // wtv by kissing and being gay", which. that's still. no. but okay.

the prophecy in 'The Two Princes' is a red herring because it's misleading. it's not intending to be, but it is. everyone thought it meant that the two princes would fight to the death and one kingdom would rule over, when it actually meant for one kingdom to unite the east and west.

and amir and rupert figured that out by kissing and later on deciding to get married ( that's a general way of saying it, but it's cute, aight? they're very cute ).

in the final episode of spop, there was no actual reason or explanation for why any of that happened. it just happened because the show wanted it to.

why did a viral infection go away the moment catra kissed adora? THE FUCK IF WE KNOW!

why did that activate she-ra? 'CAUSE- LOVE! EVEN THOUGH THEY'RE SISTERS, BUT WHATEVER!

why did the heart get destroyed by that? WHO CARES? WE DON'T!

final assumed reason is, again, because of the whole EtL thing.

like i said, 'The Two Princes' is not an EtL story.

and spop was never supposed to be an EtL story. but it is one, so there's that.

anyway, the writing isn't perfect, but if you like podcasts and wanna hear a cheesy-ass queer show with a disaster gay prince, disaster bi prince, a badass lesbian knight, a bi diva, a feral gay twink, a pathetic flirty gay twink, and a dragon and a dog, then give it a listen.

and there's a goat unicorn.

[partyanimalshu]

Wes Anderson várva-várt filmje, az Asteroid City január 6-tól elérhető – kizárólag a SkyShowtime-on

A film főszereplői Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson és Tom Hanks, és a kisebb szerepeket is népszerű és kritikusok által is elismert színészek játsszák. https://youtu.be/UB376bobhSQ?si=HHZ-vSPkQMJ8ES4d Az Asteroid City, Wes Anderson legújabb filmje Jason Schwartzman (The French Dispatch, The Grand Budapest Hotel), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow, Jojo Rabbit), és Tom Hanks (Elvis, News of the World) főszereplésével január 6-ától elérhető – kizárólag a SkyShowtime kínálatában. A hétszeres Oscar®-jelölt Wes Anderson (Isle of Dogs, Moonrise Kingdom) által írt és rendezett, a Focus Features által forgalmazott Asteroid City főszerepeiben világhírű sztárok brillíroznak, a mellészereplői gárda pedig olyan népszerű, kritikusok által is elismert színészeket vonultat fel, mint Jeffrey Wright (Westworld, No Time To Die), Tilda Swinton (Suspiria, Michael Clayton), Adrien Brody (The Pianist, The Darjeeling Limited), Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad, Trumbo) és Edward Norton (Glass Onion, Birdman). A történet 1955 körül játszódik egy fiktív sivatagi városban, Amerika délnyugati részén. Az évente megrendezett Aszteroida-napi ünnepségre az ország minden tájáról összegyűlnek az ifjú csillagászok és űrkadétok – ám a tudományos versenyt fenekestül felforgatják a bekövetkező események. Az ifjú csillagászok eredményeinek tiszteletére rendezett ünnepségen ugyanis váratlan látogató jelenik meg: egy földönkívüli. Az Asteroid Cityt lezárják, és a hadsereg hamis fedősztorival igyekszik leplezni az igazságot, de a koraérett zsenik – Spielberg klasszikus filmjeinek ifjú hőseihez hasonlóan – kieszelnek egy tervet, hogy a külvilág tudomást szerezzen az eseményekről. Ám Andersonról lévén szó, a történet természetesen ennél jóval többről szól. Visszatérve keletre, az Asteroid City szereplői egy színdarab bemutatására készülnek, amelynek a címe „Asteroid City”. Itt 1955 körül kukkantunk be a kulisszák mögé, és ismerjük meg az előadókat. A színházi színészek, akiknek nevét hamarosan szárnyára kapja a hírnév, épp színészi játékukat csiszolják tökéletesre. A film kétségtelenül ugyanolyan vicces, mint Anderson bármelyik műve, de kozmikusabb is: a bonyolult családi kapcsolatok és új románcok, szülők és gyerekek, titkok, felfedezések és a felnőttek kijátszásának befelé forduló, személyes vizsgálata, a széles Nyugat és a szürke Kelet, mindez olyan tökéletes egyensúlyban egymással, amire csak Wes Anderson képes. A népszerű mellékszereplő-gárda olyan színészeket vonultat fel, mint Liev Schreiber (Ray Donovan, X-Men Origins: Wolverine), Hope Davis (Your Honor, Succession), Stephen Park (The French Dispatch, Fargo), Rupert Friend (The Young Victoria, Pride & Prejudice), Maya Hawke (Stranger Things, Do Revenge), Steve Carell (The Office, The Morning Show), Matt Dillon (There’s Something About Mary, The House That Jack Built), Hong Chau (The Whale, The Menu), Willem Dafoe (Spider-Man-filmek , The Florida Project), Margot Robbie (Barbie, Suicide Squad, I, Tonya), Tony Revolori (The Grand Budapest Hotel, A Marvel-moziverzum Spider-Man-filmjei ), Jake Ryan (Moonrise Kingdom, Eighth Grade) és Jeff Goldblum (Jurassic Park-filmek , Independence Day). A SkyShowtime az előfizetők számára közvetlenül elérhető a SkyShowtime alkalmazáson keresztül Apple iOS, tvOS és Android-eszközökön, Android TV-n, Google Chromecaston, LG és Samsung tévéken, valamint a www.skyshowtime.com/hu honlapon keresztül. A reklámmentes SkyShowtime-előfizetés ára havi 1999 Ft. További információk a szolgáltatással kapcsolatban: Honlap: www.skyshowtime.com/hu A SkyShowtime-ról A SkyShowtime Európa következő nagy streamingszolgáltatója. A Comcast és a Paramount Global közös vállalkozásaként a SkyShowtime saját sorozatai mellett elhozza a legjobb hollywoodi produkciókat és helyi szórakoztató műsorokat, filmeket és eredeti sorozatokat a Universal Pictures, a Paramount Pictures, a Nickelodeon, a DreamWorks Animation, a Paramount+, a SHOWTIME®, a Sky Studios és a Peacock kínálatából. A SkyShowtime a prémium szórakoztatás új európai otthona. A SkyShowtime szolgáltatása Európában 2023-ban indult és jelenleg Albániában, Andorrában, Bosznia-Hercegovinában, Bulgáriában, Horvátországban, Csehországban, Dániában, Finnországban, Magyarországon, Koszovóban, Montenegróban, Észak-Macedóniában, Norvégiában, Hollandiában, Lengyelországban, Portugáliában, Romániában, Szerbiában, Szlovákiában, Szlovéniában, Spanyolországban és Svédországban érhető el a választott televíziós szolgáltatónál vagy Apple iOS, tvOS és Android-eszközökön, Android TV-n, Google Chromecaston, LG és Samsung okostévéken, illetve az interneten. Read the full article

[little-boats-on-a-lake]

I posted 35,673 times in 2022

27 posts created (0%)

35,646 posts reblogged (100%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@galahadwilder

@iamtrashofthetrashiestorder

@thedragonemperess

@bladeangelx

@buggachat

I tagged 736 of my posts in 2022

#my art - 103 posts

#wwdits - 94 posts

#the owl house - 68 posts

#spy x family - 68 posts

#what we do in the shadows - 65 posts

#anya forger - 50 posts

#fanart - 48 posts

#toh - 48 posts

#guillermo de la cruz - 39 posts

#loid forger - 37 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#like none of the other protagonists could do that but grace and simon could because they like trained each other... in hand to hand combat??

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

OH MY GOSH THEY ACTUALLY DID IT THOSE MAD LADS AT HBO MAX ACTUALLY RENEWED OFMD SPECIFICALLY FOR PRIDE MONTH

25 notes - Posted June 1, 2022

#4

hiii okay it’s been a WHILE since we’ve actually talked but! you’re my only mutual who’s into the two princes and i was just wondering what the plot is and who the characters are and stuff? i really want to get into it but also i am clueless so. yeah. help 😭

AHA INCREDIBLE TIMING I WAS JUST LOOKING THROUGH THE TTP TAG

Okay so our story begins with Prince Rupert of the West who knows that something is Very Wrong because the forest at the edge of his kingdom is invading. So he goes out to look for the Hollow of the Two Kings, where legend says that two kings battled a thousand years ago and created the cursed forest. If he can find the Hollow, he could save his kingdom!

Except he’s not the only one in the forest. He quickly runs into trouble and is saved by the dashing Prince Amir of the East! Amir my beloved, thank you for being so beautiful…. I mean brave! Haha brave totally don’t think you’re beautiful.

The East and the West are enemies. Deadly enemies. Rupert is wayyy less capable of beating Amir in a fight so he lies. He’s totally a thief named Fitz who has a Robin Hood situation going on and lives in the forest. Amir kinda hires him to lead them to the Hollow because as it turns out, Amir is looking for something there too…

I’m not gonna spoil the rest because it’s really and truly amazing but our cast includes

Lady Cecily- resident valley girl who owns my heart, she really has such character growth by the end

Sir Joan- she’s beauty she’s grace she will kick you in the face our beloved knight Joanie is just all around wonderful

Queen Atossa- Amir’s mom. Tbh we don’t know too much about her but we know she’s smart as a whip and tough to boot

Queen Lavinia- “if I throw more parties, people will like me more!”

I totally recommend checking out this podcast it’s absolutely worth your time

37 notes - Posted April 6, 2022

#3

Rb if you’re the one percent of the four percent of adults who use tumblr to get news ✌️

53 notes - Posted May 2, 2022

#2

I’ll be honest I did not have “The Guide has OCD” on my WWDITS S4 bingo card

80 notes - Posted July 13, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Hunter is just built to be an older brother

Too soon?

627 notes - Posted May 7, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[glubberr]

Rupert in season 1:

Rupert in season 2/3:

Cecily:

Rupert's farther:

Me:

Darling:

Percy Jr.:

Literally everyone in the Heartlands(and show itself..kinda) :

When making Ttp:

[lunali-moon]

wedding day

[theeasylifeforme]

welp i'm way fucking late to the party and this fandom is essentially dead but this fucking podcast is taking over my whole goddamn life so i'm making YET ANOTHER blog just for the two princes and i am going to do a liveblog of my third relisten whenever that happens anyway if anyone sees this post i love you

[treba-neco-napise]

The Two Princes Season 2 is so stupid.

Oh god, why.

I know nobody probably cares but I just need to get this off my chest.

(warning: there will be spoilers for season 1 and 2)

So. This morning I started listening to a new podcast because I finally caught up with Dungeons and Daddies. And the beginning was just perfect, so throughout the day I binged the whole first season and even though it was a little cliché at times, it's like some good sweet junk food. I genuinely cried when they confessed their love.

But then I started listening to season 2 and what the fuck.

I'm going to gloss over the fact that in season 1, they said multiple times "Why would I get married!? I'm so young, almost 18!" and after three days of knowing each other, they all of a sudden decide to get married because they need to unite the kingdoms and suddenly, it's perfectly okay to get married and they're not too young anymore (they probably could've just done it by paperwork but whatever, I think the target audience is mostly YA so it doesn't matter that much).

But first of all, the whole "your most prized possession" is cliché as fuck. It could've worked if they just went with the cliché and Amir's most prized possession was Rupert, it could've been sweet at least. But his memories!? If you want to do that, you need to establish that his most prized possession is his memories before this happens! Now it's just confusing.

Second, why? There are no arcs whatsoever in this season. In the very first scene, they established some sort of relationship arc between Joan and Cecily (that, as well, came out of nowhere and made no fucking sense, they didn't exchange a word in season 1) but I was in for it, I wanted to see that relationship develop. Did I? Hell no. And the thing with Rupert and Amir... what even is the message!? Like, I get the "letting him go" thing but it doesn't fucking work if he lost his memories and had no say in becoming a completely different person! And again, they never established any conflict between them. I'm also mad about that, they present their relationship as just sweet banter? Dude, they've been together for three months, please don't tell me they didn't have a single serious argument. Relationships aren't sunshine-and-roses-until-one-of-us-gets-cursed. Why is the only conflict between them caused by magic and not just personality differences!?

And. How am I supposed to feel something, at least a shred of respect for Chad's POV on Rupert's actions if he's such a dick. Why even!? None of the events in season 2 serve... anything. No fucking character development. Rupert is just more stupid and mean and I don't remember ever wishing for that, I think most people were pretty happy with him being the cinnamon roll. The whole season is just there to cause drama and will-they-won't-they because duh, we can't let them get happily married so easily.

On another note, Malkia is so flat, oh god. She's the perfect generic evil, power-thirsty sorceress with fancy fantasy speech and again, her very existence has no damn point. What the hell even is her motivation!? If you want to go for the "she wanted to protect her people so she went more and more into magic and lost herself", you should probably go for pity and give her more personality because I'm not buying this. (Also, I was hoping she and the other sorceress whose name I couldn't catch for the entirety of the season could be girlfriends/wives because duh, more gay couples. But no, they're sisters, which is also pretty cliché and they had more chemistry as a couple than as sisters, so - disappointment.)

Now, Chad. Oh no.

I don't vibe with Amir that much simply because I sympathise with Rupert more (I talk a lot.). But he was such a good character, he was fun and I love their relationship (it was kind of sappy when they got engaged but whatever)! And what is the story about? Those two idiots being in love. So why the fuck did they sweep Amir off the table right at the beginning of the season? That is not Amir, Chad is a completely different personality. And he's not fun. He's a coward, self-absorbed and so, so stupid (like many characters in the second season, including Rupert...). Why would you even make this decision if you knew it's not fun for the audience? There were about two three-second bits in the whole six episodes that were funny.

I have a thousand more things to say, I think I'll edit this later and add more, but I'll just finish this so I don't repeat myself ten times more:

purpose. every decision you make when writing a story should have a purpose and nothing, nothing does here, it's just "we're gonna do this because it's my first idea and we need drama."

as a fanfic writer, memory loss is actually a cool concept if it serves the relationship. instead, it drives amir and rupert away from each other and villainizes amir until the last second when all of a sudden, he was lying all along...? how am i supposed to sympathise with him in any way!? it completely ruined him for me because i keep remembering chad. so chad is gone all of a sudden? all of his personality traits? he wasn't a part of amir at all!? logic gone.

percy has no fucking purpose in this garbage. he's kinda fun and his background makes sense but again, serves no purpose. (i mean. i hope he at least made a good cake.)

the references. they used to be fun. now they're just annoying.

i have kind of a problem with the whole "joan is a LADY knight, it's EMPOWERING for women!!" thing because she could've been that without the misogyny... we did great without homophobia, why can't we just have both? (the whole "she removes the helmet and - oh, that's a woman!? a woman is a good fighter, what!?" cliché... um... that hurt. and i'm male.) plus, the talk with her dad was um. so forced. it could've worked if it actually served any purpose to the plot or her character development but her dad just came in like "make me some supper, you lazy bitch!", then threw some weird history wisdom and left, apparently at peace with being hungry for the rest of his life? neither of them left the conversation with any change of thoughts. he didn't make her doubt the royalty and she didn't give him a single thought about him maybe being a misogynistic dick, it was there solely for the purpose of some really vague exposition for, again, nothing. (and don't get me started on the princess army that was there just to be there. also, where's the dragon that i presume was porridge's mom? did they kill the dragon!? who knows!?)

"the people aren't homophobic, they're just xenophobic! that's better!"

it turns out i'm more mad about this podcast than i thought... hah

[michaelficed]

ben platt and noah galvin - Oct. 11, 2020

[turtlethebean]

Criminal Case Rarepair Week Day 7: Bonding

Aka, two old grandpas bonding with their adoptive grandchildren.

Read it on AO3: Surprise Babysitting - Turtle_The_Bean - Criminal Case (Video Game) [Archive of Our Own]

“What’s on the agenda today, dear?” Armand Dupont asked, sipping his tea as his boyfriend, Rupert Winchester, walked into the kitchen.

“Well, you’ll be happy to know that both Amir and Jesper are returning to work today. Therefore, I have to look after Harpreet today.” Rupert replied, filling his mug with coffee and rubbing his nose bridge.

“Well, I wish you luck with that. If you need me, you may find me in my library.”

“Thank you for your help.”

“You’re-“ Just as Dupont was about to finish his sentence, a loud crash was heard from the hallway.

“DUPONT!” Dupont’s former coworker, Elliot Clayton, frantically burst through their front door with his daughter, Michelle Clayton-Scott, in tow, “Sorry for interrupting, but Amaya’s having another breakdown. Benjamin’s trying to calm her down right now, but I think we might have to take her to the hospital. Can you watch Michelle?”

“Of course.” Armand smiled, pretending as though he wasn’t just making fun of his boyfriend for taking care of a baby.

“Thank you so much. I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

The door closed, and Rupert immediately burst out laughing. Armand gave him the side-eye but knew full well that it was just karma at this point.

Armand got up off his chair and made his way over to the toddler who was standing in his hallway, slightly confused as to what exactly was going on.

“Good morning, Little Michelle.” He smiled, trying to soothe any worries she may have had.

“GRANDPA!” Michelle's face lit up as soon as she realised it was him, giving him a big hug.

“Oh, careful, careful. You know you little ones can be a bit rough on my old bones.”

“Grandpa!” Michelle ran into Dupont’s library, eventually returning with a book, “Book!”

“You want me to read to you?”

“Yeah!”

“Alright, but how about we wait a little while? We have someone else joining us later.”

“Who?”

“Well, it’s a baby. More specifically, Grandpa Rupert’s grandchild, Harpreet.”

Michelle stood for a few minutes, attempting to pronounce the baby’s name herself, but ultimately gave up and stomped away. Armand gave a little smile. He could tell which father she got her stubbornness from.

He caught up with the toddler as she was sitting on the couch, looking up at Rupert with the occasional glance down at the oxygen supply attached to his nasal cannula. He knew the young child must be curious, but he found history easier to explain compared to biology.

After about five or so minutes of awkward staring while Dupont finished his tea, Rupert got up to answer a knock at the door, taking the oxygen supply with him. Michelle got off her seat, making Armand assume she would be following Rupert, and walked over to him, tugging at his shirt.

“Hm?” He answered, putting his mug in the sink.

“Why Grandpa Rupert have a box?” The toddler enquired, tilting her head like a confused puppy.

“Oh, it’s because he needs oxygen.”

“What oxygen?”

“It’s the thing we have to breathe in to keep us alive. Grandpa Rupert can’t take it in properly, so he needs a little extra help.”

“Wow,” Michelle replied, seemingly losing interest, as she quickly saw Rupert with the baby and immediately rushed over to see it.

Rupert and Armand both watched as the toddler awkwardly climbed up onto the couch, receiving a little bit of assistance from Armand. She then crawled over a little bit to peek at the baby over Rupert’s arms. Once she was up there, Armand had a little clearing to sit himself down, taking the book Michelle had picked out to read while doing so. As the toddler noticed, she began to turn her attention away from the baby and towards the book being read to her.

“Now, let’s see what you picked out for us today,” Armand had a look at the cover of the book, “Ah, the Stuart Period. I see you’ve taken an interest in local history. A fine choice, I must say.”

The toddler simply smiled in return before climbing up to peek at the book as her adoptive grandfather read it aloud to her.

However, this peaceful time would be cut short as the quiet reading was interrupted by Harpreet crying.

“Oh, my apologies. I was warned that her diaper had only been changed once today.” Rupert explained, leaving the room with the baby in tow.

Armand chuckled and nudged Michelle, “I’m glad your fathers never got me to change your diaper when you were a baby.”

“Why?” She inquired.

“Well, one of your fathers works from home, so he didn’t really need me to babysit you.”

“Oh. Is that why you babysit me now?”

“N-no, dear. It’s just that you’re a bit too big to go places like the hospital now. Your fathers are afraid going there might affect you for the rest of your life.”

“Why?”

“Because I know at least one of your dads is very protective of you.”

“Why?”

“He doesn’t want you to be affected by your childhood in the same way he was.”

“Why?”

Armand tried to hold back a hearty laugh, “Well, I feel that you’re a bit too young to understand that. Even so, I don’t believe it’s my place to tell you. If you are so curious, though, I will tell you this – not everyone is fortunate enough to have good fathers like you do.”

“Did you have a bad dada?”

“No, I didn’t. I had a very caring father. Now, shall we resume our reading about the House of Stuart?”

“Hm…yeah!”

---

Rupert could definitively tell you why he never had children, and he had just experienced every single one of those reasons in one day. He has spent pretty much every minute of the day running around the apartment, trying to keep Harpreet clean, fed, and entertained.

Now, he finally caught a break after finally getting the baby to sleep. She would only sleep in his arms, but he didn’t care as long as she was asleep. He walked into the kitchen, where Armand and Michelle were both fast asleep on the couch. He sat down gently, trying not to wake any of them.

Maybe he should take a nap himself while he still could.

Just as he was drifting off to sleep, Rupert felt a small shake on his arm. He opened his eyes to see Michelle looking up at him.

“Oh, Michelle, I thought you were asleep.” He sleepily smiled at her.

“Can I hold the baby?” Michelle asked him, pointing at Harpreet.

“Hm? I’d usually ask her fathers for permission, but I think it’d be alright. Just be careful; she’s only a little baby.”

He gently lowered Harpreet into Michelle’s lap, keeping support of the baby’s head in case it dropped. He kept a gentle hold of her the entire time, afraid of what might happen if Michelle accidentally let go.

He watched as Michelle gently held Harpreet. The toddler smiled and cooed as if trying to communicate with the baby. Of course, she was asleep, so the communication wasn’t quite getting through. He saw a little sparkle in the toddler’s eyes, and it wasn’t just the lighting in the room. He almost felt comfortable enough to let her go, but he still wasn’t quite sure.

“Grandpa Rupert?” Michelle looked up at him yet again.

“Yes?”

“Um, when…um…Ha-Happy’s daddies coming back?”

“Oh, they’ll be back soon. Amir finishes work at five o’clock, and it is…four thirty.” Rupert almost cried hearing Michelle’s attempt at pronouncing Harpreet’s name.

“How long can I hold her?”

“Well, if you want, you can hold her until Amir gets back. That should be about forty minutes.”

“Can you hold her if she cries?”

“Of course I will. For now, though, she’s sleeping, and she seems very comfortable with you.”

“Yay! I like that she likes me.”

“I’m sure she’ll grow up loving her big cousin.”

“Who?”

“You, Michelle.”

“Oh. I’m gonna be the best big cousin ever! Even with Auntie Marina and Uncle Jonah’s baby!”

Rupert chuckled and gave her hair a little ruffle. “I’m sure you will, dear.”

[the-antichrists-plus-one]

Everyone go listen to The Two Princes podcast. It’s so good. Do you like high stakes adventures? Do you like dramatic storytelling? Do you like tales of nobility fighting for their kingdoms against evil? Do you wish all of that was just a little more gay? The Two Princes is for you! This show is the epitome of giving us gays what we want. It’s so good guys. Love wins.

[noodle555]

I think what I love most about The Two Princes (aside from the cliche romance tropes I absolutely DIE for) is that it's simple in its plot and very easy to follow, and it's quite obviously made for all audiences. There’s no swearing, no adult humor or “age-inappropriate” themes. I mean, they say stuff like “Oh my gosh” and “What the heck” when they REALLY don’t need to. It’s clearly meant for everyone to listen to it. 

So, a 5th grader can listen to this and hear about two princes falling in love and everyone accepting and supporting them. They can hear about lady knights and princesses fighting battles. They can hear about queens ruling their kingdoms without any help and telling toxic masculinity to go fuck itself... and I think that's really cool.