#secret third option: abandon them

[gardenoflupins]

Y’all i need your help. What do I do with my unfinished fics. I said that I’d only publish my finished fics but I have 6473837473 wips marinating in my docs.

[wolfjackle-creates]

Bring Me Home, Chapter 2 Part 1

First, Previous

Story Summary: Tim Drake and Danny Fenton meet online as precocious preteens with far too much internet freedom due to parents who are far too interested in their work to monitor what their kids are getting up to. They bond and don't bother keeping secrets from each other about their vigilante lives.

This chapter wasn't supposed to exist. I was supposed to end the first chapter with the last segment I shared then jump ahead to the point where Tim helps Danny escape. But I couldn't get the idea of Tim and the Young Justice team ending up in Amity. I mentioned the idea to @britcision who asked if I really couldn't find a way to fit it in. And that was followed up by a night of insomnia due to bad life decisions regarding caffeine. And thus I figured out how to make it work.

This is going to be a longer segment! I've been wanting to share something a bit longer for a week or two and then I hit the 250 follower mark, so now I have an excuse to do so! (I totally would've shared regardless of a notable follower milestone.)

Word Count: 4.8k

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Tim was in the pilot seat of the plane, but had it set with autopilot and was facing the back where Conner and Bart were arguing over what to have for dinner. He and Cassie exchanged grins and he pulled out his phone to text her and ask if she was up for sushi just to throw a third option out there and make the argument worse when the computers all started beeping as the plane wobbled.

Dropping his phone, he turned back to the controls. The computers had failed and the plane was losing altitude fast. Tim pulled up on the steering, trying to keep the plane from nosediving into the ground.

“What’s going on?” shouted Conner.

“I don’t know!” Tim grit his teeth. “Plane failure, we’re going down!” he warned. Examining the landscape before them—mostly open plains thankfully—he held the steering steady as he aimed for land empty of buildings and roads.

“I’ll break the door,” called Conner.

“Superboy, lock the steering in this position!” ordered Tim.

“Done!”

Tim abandoned his seat and ran to the door, reaching it just as Conner tore it open. Without hesitation, Tim jumped out, Conner’s arms around him a moment later holding him in the air.

Next to them, Cassie had hold of Bart who was grinning as he showed off the bags he’d rescued before their escape.

From their place in the air, they watched as the plane crashed in a fiery disaster.

“Do we check it out or do we run in the opposite direction?” asked Cassie.

Tim wanted to run without leaving any trace of who’d been flying the plane. But… “We have to make sure the fire doesn’t spread. And make sure there’s nothing incriminating in the crash. But I want you or Wonder Girl on recon and we’re out of there as soon as first responders get close.”

“You’ve got it,” said Conner in his ear.

And a few moments later, they were on the ground facing the wreckage that was their plane.

“You know,” said Bart, “We probably didn’t have to steal the plane when we left. Had anyone tried to use it to escape, they wouldn’t have gotten very far.” He tossed one of the bags their way and Conner caught it. “But look at what I saved!”

Tim leaned over to see as Conner opened the bag. Right on top was the cellphone he’d dropped when the plane started to fail. He laughed and grabbed it. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t turn on for some reason. Deciding to deal with it later, he looked at what else was in the bag: his and Conner’s civvies. “You’re the best, Impulse!”

Bart held out a second bag to him. “And this is as much of the evidence I could get to. The last bag has mine and Wonder Girl’s belongings.”

Tim pulled him into a hug. “I don’t know what we’d do without you.” Letting him go, he turned to the burning plane. “Now, let’s take care of this.”

Over the next hour, they managed to contain the wreckage and put out any fires. No local authorities ever came out to investigate the site.

“Where the hell even are we if there’s no one around?” asked Conner. “Even back at Ma and Pa’s someone would’ve been here in, like, ten minutes.”

Tim just shrugged. “I’ve no idea. Somewhere in Illinois. But I don’t like this. Let’s see if we can find the nearest town. Make sure everything’s okay. Wasn’t there a highway just south of here? Impulse, mind checking it out and seeing if you can see any signs pointing us to a local town or city?”

“You’ve got it, Rob!” said Bart with a salute before disappearing.

Tim had barely opened the last bag to see what else Bart had saved before he was back.

“You’re right about Illinois! Saw a sign. A town called Elmerton is east of us and a town called Amity Park west.”

Tim froze. “Amity?” he asked. His mind already spinning away. Danny had mentioned tech sometimes went wonky near Amity due to the interference of ectoplasm. Could that be what had happened to the plane? And Danny had mentioned their town was so small they didn’t have much of a police force. A large explosion would probably be assumed to be a ghost and be left to Phantom or the Fentons…

“Yeah. Do you know it?”

Tim laughed. “Yep! I’m friends with the local hero. He knows both of my identities. Let’s go pay him a visit. Civvies will be best. I’ve told him more about you as my friends than my teammates.”

The others exchanged hesitant glances. Cassie was the one to speak. “You talk about us to him? Why haven’t you mentioned him?”

Tim shrugged. “He and I don’t really keep secrets from each other. And I’m sure I’ve mentioned him. Remember when we were trying to settle on a movie last week? I suggested the reboot Star Trek movies because Danny had been going on about them for ages and I wanted to see what had him so worked up.”

“Okay, what the fuck, Rob,” said Conner. “You need to be more obvious with these things. We thought you meant someone from your school or something. Not a fellow hero!”

Bart nodded his agreement. “Also, won’t he be mad you’re just telling us his identity?”

“Danny’s an idiot,” Tim stated. “He’s worse at keeping a secret identity than Kon.”

“Hey!” protested Conner.

“Rob’s got a point,” said Cassie as she elbowed Conner with a grin. “But, Robin, if we’re going as civilians, how will we explain the lack of transportation?”

“Easy. According to Danny, tech acts weird around Amity. Probably why the plane went down and our phones don’t work. So we’ll just say our car broke down and ask if Danny can fix it. He’s good with machinery.”

“Why haven’t you brought him into the League if the two of you are such good friends?” asked Conner, arms crossed.

Tim just shrugged. “He doesn’t want to join. The local threats he takes care of are constant enough that he can’t leave for more than a day or two. Besides, his parents don’t know and he can’t explain absences that are longer than a single night where he pretends to be at one of his friends’ places.”

“His parents don’t know?” Cassie shook her head. “I couldn’t imagine doing this without Mom’s support.”

Tim nodded. “Yeah. I’m honestly kinda worried about his living situation. So the chance to go check on him in person is something I can’t bring myself to give up. You guys don’t have to come if you don’t want to, but Danny and I’ve known each other for four years and things have been rough for him this past year since he’s gotten his powers. I need to make sure he’s okay.”

“Wait, four years?” asked Conner.

“He predates Robin?” Bart’s mouth was all but hanging open.

“I did exist before the suit, you know.” Tim stood a little taller. Usually he liked being Robin more than Tim, but he did have a life outside of the suit.

Cassie rolled her eyes. “That’s not what he meant and you know it. It’s just… You don’t talk about your pre-Robin life very often.” She grinned and Tim suddenly felt uneasy. “We are so asking him all sorts of questions about what you were like.”

“I mean… I wasn’t all that different to the current me.”

“Oh, we’ll be the judge of that,” she promised with a wicked gleam in her eye. This was going to be a disaster, wasn’t it?

“So what’s got you so worried about Danny?” asked Bart.

Tim sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “So, the deal with Amity Park is that his parents built a portal to the Ghost Zone in his basement. In the process of getting it to work, there was a lab accident and Danny got ghost powers. Don’t ask him or his friends about it. Now ghosts come through and try to attack the town and Danny stops them. Bad enough, right? But the reason his parents were building the portal is because they’re ghost hunters. They see a ghost, they pull a weapon on it and try to, and I quote, ‘tear it apart molecule by molecule.’ I don’t like the idea of Danny living there when he has ghost powers but he’s refusing to leave and I don’t have any way of kidnapping him and keeping him away.”

“You know that’s a spot on your ‘how close is Robin to going supervillain on us’ bingo card, right?” asked Cassie.

Conner elbowed her. “Not the point right now, Wonder Girl.” Then, in a whisper just loud enough for Tim to hear, he added, “Though this gets me close!” Back in his normal voice, he said, “Robin we’ll absolutely go check on your friend with you. Is there anything else we need to know?”

Tim tilted his head but decided not to address the teasing. “Don’t eat any food cooked in his house or stored in the main fridge. And try to avoid mentioning the word ‘ghost’ around his parents. They apparently will take that as an excuse to literally talk for multiple hours on the topic. It should go without saying, but his hero identity must be kept secret from his parents at all costs. His best friends and sister are the only humans who know. Though all the other ghosts know.”

“So…” start Bart, “You’re telling us that his rogues all know his identity but his parents don’t. That’s a bit of a role reversal.”

Tim laughed. “Yeah. Weirded me out when he told me, too. But he’s not concerned about the ghosts knowing. Just human ghost hunters.”

“Like his parents,” Cassie said.

“Like his parents,” Tim confirmed.

“Well fuck.” As always, Conner knew how to sum up everyone’s thoughts.

“So, do you know his address?” asked Bart.

“Nope,” Tim said, popping the P. “But we won’t need it. His house is obvious from a mile away based on what Danny’s said.”

Cassie shook her head. “Every word out of your mouth makes me more concerned and more curious.”

Tim laughed. “That about sums him up. He’s got some stories that could rival ours for ridiculous and crazy. Now, Wonder Girl, Superboy, what do you say about flying us closer to town? Then we can change and walk the rest of the way in.”

“You’ve got it Boss-man!” Conner shouldered the bag of their belongings and hugged Tim close before launching them in the air.

Cassie did the same with Bart who pointed in the direction of Amity. It wasn’t long before they could see the town.

The group landed in a small grove of trees to change out of uniform before walking along the side of the highway towards Amity.

As they were walking, Bart asked, “So why shouldn’t we eat any of the food at Danny’s? I’m hungry.”

“We’ll go and get far too many burgers and snacks on B’s dime. The food at Danny’s house isn’t safe to eat or even be around, just trust me.”

“Hey, Tim,” said Conner, “What the fuck does that mean?”

Tim just shrugged. “Look, his parents would fit in at Arkham. The rest… well, we’ll see when we get there. I only have second hand information myself and I don’t know if I fully believe what Danny says.”

“You didn’t crash the plane on purpose, did you?” asked Bart who was now walking backwards in front of him.

“Yeah, Tim,” agreed Cassie, “Sounds like you’ve been wanting to come here for a while. Convenient, isn’t it? You could’ve just asked us if we were interested in a road trip!”

Tim flushed. “Are you guys seriously accusing me of deliberately destroying evidence in a plane crash? Me?”

“Don’t worry, Tim!” Conner slung an arm around his shoulders and leaned into him. “I believe you. If you wanted to concoct an excuse to get us here, it’d be much more subtle.”

Cassie and Bart laughed as Tim grumbled about traitorous friends. Louder, he said, “Oi, watch what you say. We’re in everyday clothes.”

“Of course. And you’re not just saying that because we’re right.” Bart stuck his tongue out at him.

Tim ducked under Conner’s arm and threw a punch which Bart easily dodged. “Remember I know where you sleep!” he called out.

“Right back atcha!” replied Bart. Cassie and Conner laughed at them.

It only took them about twenty minutes to come to the outermost buildings of the town and within forty, they were in the town proper.

“Now, seriously, Tim, where’re we going?” asked Cassie looking around.

The people who were around kept giving them odd looks and Tim had no idea what they were doing to stick out so obviously.

As if echoing his thoughts, Cassie muttered under her breath, “Is it just me or are we being stared at?”

Conner replied just as quietly. “I can hear them whisper; they know we’re outsiders. What sort of town is this, Tim?”

“Amity’s been through a lot the past few months. It might be a more active hot spot than Gotham, actually. I don’t think they trust strangers right now.”

“Worse than Gotham?” asked Cassie. “Timmy, bestie, you are totally keeping secrets from us again! Not cool.”

“I’m not!” Tim protested. “Look, we just need to find Danny’s house and hope there isn’t a ghost attack before we do.”

“How often do these ghost attacks happen?” asked Bart.

“From what Danny says, something usually happens most days. But they’re generally small. Big attacks… maybe once a week? But those can take a few days to fully resolve.”

“Dude, that is worse than Gotham,” said Bart, awe in his voice. “And the local hero just takes care of it all himself?”

“Yeah. Danny Phantom seems to be pretty competent. At least against ghosts.”

Cassie let out a low whistle but decided to change the subject. “So, if your friend’s house is so distinct, what are we looking for?”

Before Tim could reply, the roar of an engine drowned him out and a giant silver-and-green monstrosity turned the corner so fast only two wheels remained on the ground. A woman in a blue jumpsuit leaned out the window holding a gun bigger than herself as she screamed about ghosts.

Around them, people took one look and ran into any door they could, slamming them shut. Conner, Cassie, and Bart fell into defensive stances.

Tim just grinned and relaxed as he watched to see what street the GAV turned down. It really was as ridiculous as Danny had said.

As soon as the noise of the Fenton’s illegal tank died down, Tim answered Cassie’s question. “We go down the same street as that vehicle. Those were Danny’s parents.”

“Are we going to the lair of super villains?” asked Conner.

“Nah, just mad scientists.”

“Tim, is this really the best idea?” Cassie had pulled out her phone and was uselessly trying to turn it on.

“We’ll need to if you want your phone fixed.”

Around them, people were starting to cautiously open doors and look out to make sure it was safe. Tim pretended not to notice the looks his friends were exchanging.

“Come on, what happened to grilling Danny about what I was like before Bruce took me in?” He really hoped the potential for embarrassing stories, of which there obviously weren’t any, would get them to stop second guessing him.

Cassie did hum consideringly. “Well, it’s not like we haven’t faced weirder. And we can hold our own against mad scientists if needed. Even without any form of communication device. Which… Tim, on a scale of an elephant noticing an ant to about to start world war three, how likely is it that your family has noticed something happened and how totally normal will their reaction be?”

Tim groaned. “Look, I’ll see if Danny can fix my phone first before we get dinner. If it doesn’t take too long, it won’t be an issue. We probably have a few hours before B does anything irreversible.”

“I have no idea how you put up with someone always in your business like that,” commented Conner.

Tim shrugged as he finally got the others to start moving in the direction the tank took. “I mean, I keep track of you guys about as closely as Bruce follows me.”

Bart laughed. “Whelp, that’s another box checked on the ‘Tim is going to grow up to be a supervillain’ bingo card!

Tim stuck his tongue out at his friends and sped up so he was walking a few feet ahead of them. Around them, pedestrian traffic started picking up again as people decided it was safe to come out again.

Bart ran up until he was walking backwards in front of Tim. “Do you really think you can outrun me?”

“I’m not trying to out run you. Just walk ahead of you. I’m the one who knows what I’m looking for.” They reached the turn and Bart kept walking straight so Tim grabbed his arm. “Like, for example, the fact that we need to turn down this road.”

A quick glance down the street proved this had to be the right place. The giant Fenton Works sign hung off one of the buildings and the monstrosity Danny referred to as the Ops Center sat precariously on the roof.

“In fact, that building that’s probably breaking every building code ever imagined is our destination. Come on! The sooner we get there, the sooner Danny can fix my phone, and the sooner we can eat.”

“He’s totally taking us to the lair of some evil mad scientists, isn’t he?” Cassie muttered.

Tim pretended he couldn’t hear her. Or Conner’s reply of “Oh, definitely. One more square and I’ve got bingo.”

“I think we need to change the rules of the game. We have winners too often. First person to a full card wins, not the first person to connect a line.”

“I hate you guys. You’re fired as my best friends. It’ll just be me and Danny from now on. I’ll run away and move here and hide in his attic and never talk to any of you ever again.”

Bart hooked their arms together. “Then we’ll just come and drag you back. Evil scientists and ghosts and creepy town or not.”

Conner walked up until he could bump his shoulder against Tim’s and Cassie ruffled his hair.

“Yep. You’re stuck with us for life at this point. No firing allowed,” she said.

Tim hid a smile as they walked the last half block to Danny’s house. And then the group just stared at the building for a minute.

“You know, after seeing this place, I don’t think I needed the warning about the food,” commented Cassie. “I’m not going to trust a single thing they try to give us.”

“If it comes from Danny or his sister, it’ll be fine. From their parents? Decline.” Tim took a breath and walked up the steps and rang the doorbell.

Voices could be heard from inside and a moment later, the door opened to reveal the largest human Tim had ever seen. And the orange jumpsuit he was wearing was so bright even Tim, used as he was to Robin colors, had to hold back a wince. Jack Fenton was smiling broadly at them.

“Welcome to Fenton Works! Who might you lot be? Would you like some fudge?” And even though his hands had been empty a moment before, he managed to pull a tray of fudge from…somewhere.

Before Tim could reply, Maddie Fenton was there, too. “Jack, let the kids speak! Welcome. Are you here for Jazz or Danny?”

Tim put on his gala-smile. “Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton. I’m Tim, Danny’s penpal from Gotham and these are some of my friends. We are on a road trip and were passing by and I decided I wanted to stop by to see Danny. Is he home?”

The words were barely out of Tim’s mouth before Jack was shouting with a voice loud enough to shake the windows. “Dan-o! Your friends are here!”

Maddie’s reaction was more interesting. Her brow furrowed and she seemed to mumble to herself, “Penpal? Has Danny mentioned a penpal before?” Louder, she said, “Please come on in. Danny will be right down.”

As his friends shuffled past him, they each poked or prodded Tim in some way to let him know how crazy they found the situation. Maddie shut the door behind them and the click of the door had no right to sound as ominous as a lock turning in a cell in a supervillain’s lair.

True to Maddie’s predictions, footsteps echoed on the floor above them and then down the stairs. Danny froze on the steps, though, as soon as he saw exactly who was in his living room.

Tim raised a hand and grinned. “Hey, Danny! Surprise?”

“Tim? What the—” Danny cut off the phrase with a glance at his parents. “Secrets! We’ve talked about surprises like this! What are you doing here?” And then he was running the rest of the way down the stairs and hugging Tim tightly.

Tim’s surprise lasted just a moment before he was hugging Danny back. “I don’t actually think we have had a conversation about the proper way for me to show up at your place when I ended up stranded in the area by accident with a non-working phone. I blame you, by the way.”

They pulled apart, but Danny stayed close enough that their arms brushed against each other at the slighted movement. “I can fix that for you. It’ll take about twenty minutes.” He glanced at Tim’s friends. “Each, I’m afraid.”

Cassie waved off his apology. “Fix Tim’s first. His family is the one that’ll freak out if he’s out of communication too long. It’s nice to meet you Danny, I’m—“

But Danny cut her off. “Cassie, right? Tim’s told me a lot about you. It’s great to finally meetcha! And you two must be Conner and Bart!” As he said their names, he correctly pointed at each boy.

“You’ve got it in one,” agreed Conner. “Though I’d like to open by saying anything Tim said is probably a lie.”

Danny laughed. “Even the part where he called you the coolest person he knows after Dick? Because I got that message just—”

Tim slammed his hand over Danny’s mouth. “No need to go into that right now.” He ignored the way he felt his face heating.

To his relief, Danny’s dad butted into the conversation. “Well we’re thrilled to have you kids here! Will you stay for dinner? My snoockums will be making the best chicken you’ve ever had!”

“Actually, Mr. Fenton,” said Tim before anyone else could, “Danny and I have this ongoing debate over which is better: Batburger or Nasty Burger. It’s been going on for years and I need to try Nasty Burger so he can’t use the excuse that I don’t know what I’m talking about when I insist Batburger is better.”

“Oh you are so going to eat your words,” Danny said shrugging out from under Tim’s arm. Looking to his friends, Danny asked, “Have all of you had batburger?”

Bart grinned. “Sure have! We’ll be sure to give our unbiased opinions!”

Danny laughed. “Great, because Tim sure won’t. He’ll refuse to admit how he’s completely wrong and Nasty Burger is the absolute best ever.”

Cassie shook her head. “Is it really called Nasty Burger? Why would they do that?”

“Oh someone vandalized the sign years ago and the restaurant decided to lean into it. Now, come on, I’ll fix Tim’s phone and then we can get dinner.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to eat here?” asked Maddie again.

“Yeah, mom, we’re sure.”

“How long’ll you kids be in town for?” asked Jack. “Do you have a place to stay?”

Tim shrugged. “My foster dad gave me a credit card for us to use for lodgings, food, and gas on the trip. We were just gonna find a hotel or something in town.”

“Now that just won’t do!” Maddie even covered her mouth with her hand, eyes wide in disbelief. “Neither the hotel nor the motel has any ghost shields to speak of. What if there’s an attack? No. You must stay here. Our house is the safest place in town, dontcha know.”

“Exactly!” boomed Jack. “In fact, let me show you!” He reached over and flipped what looked like a light switch, but instead of a light turning on, a siren sounded and glowing-green metal slammed over the windows. At least five hidden compartments on every wall opened revealing lasers and guns. Each of which made their own noises.

Danny tensed next to him as about a third of the weapons pointed to him and a robotic voice said, “Ghost threat detected.”

Then a girl appeared on the stairs shouting at the adults. “I’m trying to study!” It was amazing how she was able to shout over the noise of the alarm systems. “Who activated the home defense system?” And that’s when she noticed Tim and his friends.

As soon as her daughter appeared, Maddie flipped the switch back off and the weapons disappeared back into the walls, the metal retreated from the windows, and the alarms fell quiet leaving behind a normal-looking living room once again.

Behind him, Tim heard Cassie mutter, “What the fuck?”

“Who are you?” Jazz asked as soon as it was quiet.

Jack answered for everyone. “These are Danny’s friends! Tim and… sorry, I don’t think I caught the rest of your names.”

“Dad!” Danny shook his head. “Come on down, Jazz. I’ve mentioned Tim a ton. He’s my online penpal Secrets. And these are his friends: Cassie, Bart, and Conner.”

“Oh! Secrets!” She ran the rest of the way down the stairs. “It’s so great to meet you. Danny didn’t mention you coming to visit.” She shook Tim’s hand with a friendly smile.

Tim couldn’t help but smile back. “Glad to meet you, too. Danny talks about you all the time.”

And his friends were done being quiet because Bart decided to take over explanations. “Our visit was unscheduled. We were in the area and our transport and phones stopped working. Saw the sign for Amity and Tim brought us here.”

Jazz nodded in understanding. “Yeah, that happens around here. But Danny can fix your phones and car so you won’t be stranded long.”

“Yep! That’s just what I was about to do. Fix Tim’s phone then take them to Nasty Burger. I’ll take care of everyone else’s after we eat.”

Jazz nodded. “Bring me back a milkshake? I have a bit more studying to do. But, Tim! I want to get to know you better. After all, you’ve been such a large part of Danny’s life these past few years. So I’ll pull out some board and card games and we can just hang out for a bit while Danny fixes your phones.”

Tim felt his face flush again. Did Danny really talk about him that much? “Uh, yeah. Sure. That sounds great.”

“Oh. My. God. Jazz! You’re not allowed to interrogate my friends.” Danny took Tim’s hand and dragged him towards the stairs. “Come on, let’s go up to my room where I can work on your phones.”

Tim heard snickering from at least one of his friends as they followed them. But really, most of his focus was on how Danny’s hand felt cool but solid in his own.

Jazz just rolled her eyes. “It’s not interrogating, Danny. It’s getting to know someone. That involves questions!”

“Don’t worry about it,” said Conner. “No one is worse at interrogation than Tim’s dad.”

“Not my dad!” protested Tim automatically.

“Foster Dad, whatever! You know who I mean.”

Danny didn’t let go of his hand until they were in his bedroom. And once everyone, except Jazz, was in the room, he shut the door.

“Great, now that we have some privacy, let’s have proper introductions! Glad to meet you all. Do you want anything? Jazz and I have water bottles and pop cans hidden up here that are safe. And I’ve got, like, seven flavors of pringles.”

“What flavors of pop?” asked Conner.

“Coke, ginger ale, sprite, and fanta,” replied Danny.

“Can I have a sprite?”

“I’ll take a coke if it’s okay,” said Cassie.

“Fanta for me!” called Bart.

“You guys got it. Tim?”

“I’ll just have water for now.”

Danny nodded. “Give me just a sec. The fridge is hidden in Jazz’s room.”

And then the Young Justice team was left alone.

Cassie hissed, “What the fuck, Tim!”

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Next

And there you have it! Tim and Danny's first in-person meeting. And the Young Justice's introduction to Amity and the Fentons.

If anyone has any fics, meta analyses, or whatever that focuses on the Young Justice characters, I'd love some recommendations! I've read less on them than the bats and they're shaping up to have a big part in this fic.

Tag List:

@gremlin-bot, @bonebrokebuddy, @britcision, @lady-time-lord-, @welcometosasakiworld, @akikkobara, @phoenixdemonqueen, @dolfay, @skulld3mort-1fan, @we-ezer, @markus209, @sjrose1216, @onyxlightdragon, @dragonsrequiem, @jesus-camp-the-sequel, @spidey29phangirl, @kyrianclawraith, @evilminji, @introvert-even-on-the-internet, @emergentpanda-blog, @lexdamo, @v-inari, @idontgetpaidenoughforthisshit, @longlivethefallen, @undead-essence, @xye-chan, @liandrin, @seraphinedemort, @kisatamao, @schalensitzbucket, @caelestisdreamer, @runfromthemedic, @nutcase8691

[fairypaw]

YEAHH TREE TIME EVRERYNYANN

me babbling abt tree under the ✂️

in my humble and objectively correct opinion tree is THE most interesting cat especially with his impact in the books both narratively and the impacts he has for the worldbuilding. Tree is a care free almost lazy, and weird but he makes up for it by being charismatic, highly intelligent, and hes??? so funny?? he met four cats and he makes up a DIFFERENT fake backstory everytime, he's a chronic nonsensical nonchalant nonbinary i love him.

He was born in a unique origin so to say, although putting aside the criticism around The Sisters, Tree or back then Earth, gives us an outsider pov for once and its genuinely so refreshing! i loved Tree's roots and seeing what hardships he went through to be moulded as the clever, witty yet untrustful cat he's become

He overcomes trauma from his origin and his fleeting attachment issues stems from a constant back and forth lesson and events that led him to be disclosed yet painfully longs for a place to set foot.

From the very start, all he ever wanted was just to have something, somewhere, someone to rely on. but from the death of his best friend, to the Sisters "banishment", to his dad's death and every other harsh lesson the world gives that he was better off alone. He slowly comes to unlearn it, by squirrelflight's hope, a quote from him really speaks about how far he's come and how he finally finds grounding and a home, a *family* in the clans

“Her kits deserve to have a

mother, even if only for a short while.”

“They’ll have the Sisters.”

“I guess.” “But Rootkit and Needlekit will have a father and a mother

for as long as they need them, and if they’re in trouble, they’ll always have a Clan to turn to.” PUNCHES A WALL. I LOVE YOU TREE TIMES A GAZILLION !!

Tree knows the bitter lifestyle he had to endure in his childhood, he was so young when everyone around him expected the world, to be larger than life. he would never want that for his shrub babies..

And Tree also embodies the *middle option* that choices and roles arent put into objective boxes, he questions the roles of toms and she cats in the sisters, the way he struggled in his role as a tom, the way he abandons his name, the torment between always wanting a home but constantly taught either by tongue or harsh events that the solitary life, the way he couldnt choose between being a warrior and a medicine cat, to the way he becomes the secret third thing every choice his given.

As a queer person specifically i relate to him but also just in general <3 Tree is a cat who represents healing from past trauma to move forward, who serves justice and sees common ground in every situation, someone who is everything he chooses to be and also he makes awesome horrendous jokes.

[spevvy]

There's randomly been a plethora of X-Men/Cherik stuff appearing on my timeline and I gotta say a) this brings me so much joy and b) have I missed something, are we due another X-Men film yet? I thought Dark Phoenix had tanked the franchise forever?

Anyway it got me remembering a bunch of X-Men fics I'd written during the first two weeks of First Class' release (istg I am not the same person as I was before I saw that film) , mostly XMFC but a couple set during/around the first three X-Men films, only a bunch of oneshots (although I did start writing a multi chapter fic that unsurprisingly got abandoned) and no I'm sorry no Cherik (what could i possibly write that could be more beautiful than the way they look at each other?) and yknow what, even though they're like....a dozen years old now, i gotta say they're not the hot mess I thought they'd be....

Anyway if I post them to AO3 would anyone read them or do you think I should just keep them under wraps because it's been a dozen years and nobody cares about the X-Men outside of Cherik any more?

Thanks in advance, folks!! You guys are the greatest!!

[moibakadesu]

I have been rotating one of Haruka's lines from the earphone collab in my brain for a while now, because it stood out to me as very important.

And that would be the line in which he apologizes to Amane in a very distressed and tearful voice.

So, Yamanaka had mentioned that these lines are important to canon or "critical to uncover the secrets of the prisoners", which is also why I think they made sure that they are not hidden behind a paywall, you can read up on all of them on the website of the collab.

And I think this line gives us hints for things to come in t3.

//cw for the topics of suicide and Milgram-typical violence

Alright, so let's assume that the restrictions of the guilty prisoners don't work the way we imagine. For context, I always assumed that they are not physically bound (after all they still have to eat, use the bathroom etc), but it's more of a emotional barrier that keeps them from inflicting violence or defending themselves. But we never got a confirmation on that, this is just what I combined by observation, but it might as well just be that they consider the longer straps (and in some cases sleeves) as restriction, which is ... well, that is not something that is stopping someone with the intent to kill, that is for sure.

So I would say we are all terribly aware about Haruka's threat of suicide. But I think his plan might have changed a bit, he had a long time to ruminate about it after all. And he clearly does not want to die (AKAA even has the lyrics "I don't want to die" translated as "Don't wipe me out", but we are all aware how scuffed the translation for that song is). His conversation with Kotoko on her birthday already made me rise an eyebrow. My first assumption was that he is planning a murder-suicide with Muu, in a way to safe her both from being scared in Milgram and from being alone when he is gone.

But what if he came up with a third option? An option that would show he is serious without destroying the time with his mother. (I still think Muu won't want to hang out with him anymore in t3, but that is beside the question here.) Our blue boy once stated that "he can kill anything that is smaller and weaker than him", and who fits that description the most in the prison and also has a bit of an overlap with his presumed victim? Amane.

An important detail is, that Amane is a prisoner that Haruka had no interaction with whatsoever. He does mention her, in his t1 VD explaining that he is not good with children of her age and in the t2 VD that he apparently does not have problems with her anymore. Still, he seemed to (understandably) always keep his distance from her.

So why of all things does he get a line in this collab addressing her directly? It doesn't feel like a "sorry I'm not interacting with you" kinda line, it's very pained, you can feel the tears in his voice there.

And this lead me to think that Haruka will attempt to attack Amane, which ... oh boy, it will be all kinds of messy. We know Amane is armed, even with the overwhelming strength disadvantage she could easily stab him with her scissors in a death-struggle. Not to mention the conflicts that will bring among the prisoners (I don't even want to think about how that could sour how Fuuta thinks about Haruka tremendously).

And it would be a very interesting turn story wise, instead of going the way too obvious and telegraphed path of Haruka attempting to kill himself and Amane planning an attack on Shidou etc.

It would also be a very mean and ironic way to repeat Haruka's misery (I am crying), getting abandoned by Es/us and very possible his second mother Muu and trying to change things by taking the life of a young girl.

[kyluxtrashpit]

Transferring this post from twitter, with some edits and additions, because the mess that was the development of the sequel trilogy fascinates me on an extremely deep level

Okay so. You’re probably aware that Adam Driver gave an interview a few weeks ago where he said that the original plan for Kylo in the sequel trilogy was to get progressively eviler throughout. Which I’m not here for redemption vs corruption arc discourse, that’s not what this post is (because I prefer a secret third option), and what I want to dig into here is what makes this an incredibly curious statement

Because this is the first time anyone involved with the ST has mentioned there ever being a plan. So, let’s explore that for a second because why is he saying something that’s completely at odds with every other piece of information we have?

(behind a cut for length, as I went and pulled a bunch of interview quotes and other materials and then analyzed them, you can scroll to the very bottom for my conclusions if you like)

So first, I went and found this, which I purchased many many years ago in 2017

In it, an interview with RJ himself confirms what the story has been for a long time: there was no plan, there was no required plot points, no endgame to lead to, just absolute freedom (I recall reading this then and feeling a spark of confusion and concern - what do you mean there was no plan?) 

I also found this, and while I don’t have the TLJ art book to verify it, another person on twitter confirmed it and also advised that RJ was even in the know regarding the Aftermath series (confirmed by him and Chuck Wendig at a convention) - so he knew a lot. And this plus the above shows that if there was a plan, it was abandoned before TFA was even released, likely even before it finished filming

And then we have the rather well known moment when JJ himself pretty much confirmed that the ST should have had a plan (question asked was about sw, even if JJ didn’t say it himself). Could this be shade at abandoning a plan instead of never having one? Maybe. But it’s unclear 

And as our last piece of evidence, we have confirmation from RJ that he asked JJ to change the ending of TFA. Which once again shows TFA was not finished when RJ, who explicitly said he was given no plan to follow, was writing TLJ

And that was the story all along, confirmed multiple times over. We can say for sure that as of the writing for TLJ being started, which was before TFA was even finished, let alone released, there was no plan. So it is certain that if there ever was a plan, that plan was abandoned at the very latest in early 2015, but I suspect 2014 is more likely

So why would AD say there ever was one? He has no reason to lie and I don’t think he is, he has nothing to gain and everything to lose by doing so. But with so many other pieces of evidence directly contradicting what he’s saying, I think we can also say that RJ is telling the truth too. But how can both be true?

Well, knowing the mess that is d/lf and also how disney treats actors I think it’s one of two possibilities:

Option 1: there was indeed a plan, likely pitched by JJ himself, and that d/lf agreed to that plan with no intention of ever following it through. They sold the actors on the plan, telling them it was a capital P Plan, but then didn’t ever tell them it had stopped being the plan, so that’s also why we saw the actors becoming increasingly frustrated throughout the series. They were told there was a plan, what the plan was, and then watched none of that come to fruition because it had secretly been abandoned long ago without their knowledge. It’s extremely scummy, but I could see disney doing it

Option 2: the plan was never a firm capital P Plan but rather was just the initial concept JJ had. No one ever committed to it, but since the actors couldn’t see the script, JJ’s initial vision was used as a “here’s my concept” kind of thing to sell the actors on without it being a firm plan. Just a concept that was used at the time but later discarded, as I’m sure a good number of concepts were. But it would be easy for that to get misinterpreted by the actors, and this gives us the less scummy option on the mouse’s part because it’s more about miscommunication than anything else

And if it is option 2, it’s also possible that the actors did know it wasn’t an confirmed plan, just a concept, but clung to those concepts since they were all they had. Which I can understand, given that not knowing the eventual story makes their jobs harder. I can totally see AD sticking with that initial concept even if he knew it wasn’t a “plan” per se, because he had literally nothing else to go on and he needed something to play the role. And once again, given how increasingly frustrated the cast got over the course of the trilogy, I suspect this experience would have been shared among the whole cast

Overall, I lean towards option 2 on this, because even though I do think disney is pretty fucking evil, option 1 might actually be a contract violation or at least open up the possibility of one. And plus, the entire story group would have had to be in on it, and if they did straight up knowingly lie to the entire cast and JJ, I just feel like that would be something which that many people can’t keep secret (plus wouldn’t RJ have accidentally spilled the beans when talking to JJ? Or was he in on it too? Too many players imo). I know it’s disney, but still, things leak all the time (as those of us who followed the tfa or tros leaks know lmao). Plus, I do agree with the adage of assuming stupidity over overt malice when in doubt, so I’m going to stick with that here

So ultimately, my suspicion is this was never a true, capital P, confirmed Plan, but rather the initial concept they used in place of a real plan (which they never made) because d/lf had nothing else to use to sell the actors on it and the actors had nothing else to cling to when actually playing the characters, so they used it where they needed gaps filled. And with it being more likely just a vague concept that was never committed to and was abandoned in 2014 than anything else, well, no matter how good or bad it might have been, I don’t even think it’s worth considering as something we ever would have gotten. It clearly wasn’t in the stars (ha) from very early on and thus belongs in the pile with the rest of the surely very numerous concepts that never came to fruition

And this, kids, is why trilogies need to be fucking planned lmfao

[stromuprisahat]

Siege and Storm- Chapter 13 (Leigh Bardugo)

I can interpret show!Zoya's change of alliance easily. She was present on the skiff, she saw Aleksander move the Fold, she was jealous he's no longer interested in her, so she switched sides for the one that served ~her~. Fuck the army and the guy, who doesn't favour me anymore,- let's save MY aunt (and thwart a strategic move I don't care about even though I'm familiar with its purpose) and get rid of the dick, who humiliated me by replacing me by another.

Selfish? Yes.

Short-sighted? Absolutely.

Yet it DOES make sense.

But book!Zoya?!

There are rumours Novokribirsk is Darkling's fault, but no survivors. All Grisha are blamed (and hunted) also, hell, even the capital wasn't safe for them! Her aunt's dead (due to her own idiocy)- sad. How does any of that translate into "Let's kiss the ass of the girl I've hated since the day one (and who stole Daddy's attention and made him take my amplifier)"?!

Is it because she got let down by the Darkling- "her" spot on the sun (Pun intended.) given to another, who never did anything for it, her amplifier (She TOOK from others.) confiscated, and even if Darkles weren't to blame for the Fold and pogroms after, he FAILED TO PREVENT IT?!

Is it because Alina's in the Crown's favour now, so she's the safe option?!

Is it the math of The Fold made by a Darkling expands = another Darkling's fault => join the opposite force?!

All I can come up with is either selfish, childish or both.

Her distaste towards Alina's caused by Darkles too, isn't it? If HE didn't want Zoya to adore him, she wouldn't mind the undeserving girl, who got everything with zero effort... even this aspect of her enmity is discredited by her actions. While I can understand hating you're working hard for less appreciation, than someone, who has everything falling into their lap, abandoning the blind leadership FOR the undeserving rival's beyond me.

Why doesn't Zoya aim for leading position herself, if she believes herself to be SO good?

Why doesn't she cooperate with Sergei (Oh yeah, he's Corporalnik and she haven't left the world of high school cliques yet.)?

Why does she switch someone she doesn't idolize anymore for someone she despises, instead of looking for a secret third thing?!

How does her tragic loss translate into "I'll back up the incompetent girl I hate"?!

Sure, Alina's THE Sun Summoner, but Zoya's not a religious person, and Sergei's points about Alina being unfit to lead the Second Army are justified.

[sincerely-sofie]

omg wAIT this question’s been in my brain for a while - if grovyle’s name is clover, and celebi’s name is skye, what would dusknoir’s name be? would he ever reveal it to the rest of the future trio? to twig? dID TWIG GET ENOUGH REST AND STAY HYDRATED TODAY

Dusknoir has had multiple names throughout his life, given to him by multiple people. It's hard not to describe those names without describing his backstory as well... So let's get into the meat and potatoes!

The first name he received was after he reached his second birthday. The group of ghost, dark, and steel-types he was hatched into didn't name their children before they'd survived to that point. This was a tradition rooted in how infant survival rates were so low, and waiting to name a child helped the group avoid getting attached "too early" in their eyes. As was tradition in the group, he was initially named after a recent misfortune that faced the group— Famine, in his case— to keep the memory of the struggle fresh in their minds, and to keep them mindful of future struggles.

After growing into adulthood, he was given another name: Solace. The group gifted virtue names to their young adults to give them something to build their new lives around— to provide them a sort of direction, a goal. Solace eventually left the group he grew up in and set off in search of his namesake, having gone through a strange period of sorrow that had no apparent cause and which persisted for several months, stretching out into the start of his journey.

He returned not long after, as the sorrow had come and gone with little fanfare— one day he woke up and didn't feel hopeless and mournful immediately upon doing so— and found the group struggling to survive. Something about them had caught Primal Dialga's attention, and that attention came with it explosive anger and immeasurable violence. Solace came up with a plan to turn Dialga's hatred elsewhere by feeding him false information about a secret rebellion against him forming in the valley over thataway. Unfortunately, Dialga decided his group were the only people he could trust amidst the imagined rebellion threatening to overthrow him. A number of the adults in the group were picked to be Dialga's trusted servants, with Solace numbered among them.

Unluckily for them, it turned out there was a conspiracy against Dialga— a legend called Celebi was enlisting the assistance of mortals to travel back in time and prevent the Future they lived in from ever occurring. None of them stayed committed to her plot for long after entering the Past, and they always chose to live out their days in the era of calm before the storm, but she didn't show any sign of giving up on her plan.

During this period of time, Solace rescued a set of sextuplets from a cave-in that had orphaned them, and had taken on the task of raising these children left adrift in the wake of tragedy. He dedicated most of his time to their upbringings, and Dialga made his displeasure at him neglecting his duties clear— Solace was forced to choose between abandoning the young sableyes that he'd taken in, an action that would likely lead to their eventual deaths, and refusing the command of a Legend, an act that guaranteed it. He chose a third option— he told Dialga that he was training up the sableye to become new additions to his throng of servants. Dialga bought the lie, but expected them to be viable additions sooner rather than later, and Solace had to work hard to train these poor kids to fight viciously enough that they wouldn't be gutted the second Dialga demanded their service in stomping out the rebellion that Celebi was still eagerly stirring up.

The sableye started calling him Obsidian after a time, apparently either after some folk hero or storybook character he'd never heard of. The name swiftly devolved into him being called Obbi as well when in private, safely out of the sight of Dialga, when they could forget the roles of master and servant and resume the odd family atmosphere that formed about them.

Flash forward to after TPiaG. A little girl— an infant so small she fits comfortably in the palm of one hand, and so delicate she feels likely to blow away with a single breath— looks him in the face and calls him Grandpa.

All of that backstory aside: Dusknoir is very private, and doesn't speak of his past much. He wouldn't plan to give any of his names to the members of their motley crew, but when Grovyle laments missing Twig calling him Clover toward the beginning of the Future Trio living together, he'd share his own homesickness for being called Solace, or even the nostalgia of being addressed as Famine.

Grovyle wouldn't address him as either name after this— Dusknoir doesn't really like people using the names in conversation unless they're one of the people who gave him them, like the sableye calling him Obsidian or the nicknames they derived from it— but Dusknoir feels a lot better knowing that he's now not the only person who knows him by those names.

Celebi has a similar interaction with Dusknoir, but reversed— she comforts him when he briefly, dismissively mentions the longing he has associated with his old names, and tells him that he's lived up to his virtue name very well.

Twig probably wouldn't ever learn the names she wasn't around to hear be first given, and wouldn't use them as a result. However, she's always used his species name as if it belonged only to him— and has gone on detailed rants about how strange it was to have another Dusknoir introduce herself as such. She gave him a name of her own, in a way, strange as it was.

Also: It was an unseasonably hot day in Verdant Village and Twig was chugging water and juice all day to cope. She took a nap to catch up on sleep after a bad night for insomnia. It wasn't a very successful nap, thanks to a squirmy little Opal demanding she be included despite refusing to settle down and actually sleep, but she got some good bonding time with her baby— so she'd count that as a win.

[tea-cat-arts]

Disclaimer: this is 3am rambling. Whether or not this rant ends up being a cohesive thought is between me and God. Also, I'll be switching around what pronouns I use for Shi Qingxuan and He Xuan every paragraph

"Shi Qingxuan should've chosen He Xuan! Shi Qingxuan would never chose anyone other than his brother-" man, if choosing He Xuan was one of the options he was given, I honestly do think Shi Qingxuan would've taken it.

Cuz here's the thing: Shi Qingxuan was thoroughly sick of their brothers bs. They wanted to go their own way, they wanted to break out of the house, they wanted to handle their demons on their own, they wanted to choose their own gender expression without getting told to "put that thing away", they disagreed with their brothers actions and what he did to turn them into a god... they wanted to get away from their brother, but they never got the chance to unpack or deal with any of that because both of their lives were constantly being put in danger (so they were kinda distracted).

And I don't even know where to start with how Shi Wudu had been breaking down their self esteem, getting them to second guess all their wants/desires/choices, and pulling the "big brother knows best" card on them for god knows how long. I know it came from a place of love, but it still had to have done something to Shi Qingxuan's brain chemistry

Shi Qingxuan options were never "He Xuan or her Brother," it was "chose to abandon your luck for both your lives, or chose yourself and become a murderer" so ya, of course she's gonna go with the first option because she's not a terrible person. Shi Qingxuan probably would’ve chosen He Xuan (who was her best friend, who'd been going along with her antics for centuries, who remembered which resturant she wanted to go to even after the breakup), but that wasn't a card they put in her hands, and even if it was, its not a real card if she had to kill her brother to get it. At that point, giving up revenge and finding love again wasn't an option He Xuan had even considered yet, and it'd be unreasonable to suggest Shi Qingxuan should've come up with a secret third option off the top of her head given she only knew the full story for like what? A minute before she was forced to make a choice? And even though she tried choosing the option that would hurt the least amount of people, Shi Wudu could not for the life of him respect her choices. Kinda makes me think Shi Qingxuan never really was given any choices to make in the first place 😒

Anyways, I'm choosing to believe at some point, He Xuan realizes this, spends the rest of her life trying to make amends, they get some time being a ghost couple together, and then they eventually find peace and disappear into the afterlife

[the-bluepoet]

I’ll bite the bait

What’s the au? Is it like the characters in ponyo or a different plot ? Or is it like a third secret option ??

ily sm <3

ok so! I’d probably describe it as I have them set as the characters and a rough plot… all of the above really (it’s early I’m so sorry)

lemme just- long post WOOO

so scar is ponyo! look at him look at my lil babey in fish form

and grian as you might have figured is sosuke!

plot wise I do have it planned out roughly the same way ponyo is set, with the overall scar wants to be a human(?) like grian.

same as in the movie he kinda just *takes* [ooo spoiler]’s magic to have legs just like grian! and a tail and silly ears! he wants to be like grian! he wants to run around and play!

now Jimmy and Tango are loosely set as grian’s (sosuke’s) parents! y’all can decide who’s Lisa and who’s Koichi. I however refuse to separate them <3 they found grian as an abandoned egg and decided to raise him

now as for who’s gonna be fujimoto and granmamare, well :3 wait and see

I hope I covered everything waa

[vandal-flower]

Chapter 4 - So This Is Love

Blue Roses With Gold Lining

The day has ended and you recall Madam Gertrude's wise words. Wake up to a morning to a new routine and most importantly, a courtroom meeting held by the prince.

MALE LEAD: Michael Kaiser

W.C.: 2.2 words

WARNINGS:

Mentions of children, child abuse & neglect, reader takes a bathe, 'prostitute' is used x3, fatherless behavior from Michael.

I.¹ - ll.² - lll.³ - V.⁵ - VI⁶

"To the very point of having his child."

These eight words rung in your head while resting on your bed in your personal chambers. It reminds you like how your mother would reprimand you to not gag about hearing of how the ministers got their 'connections' in high places. Disgusting.

Having a child is sacred. The whole act of trying to have a child is sacred, it is supposed to show the bond between a woman and a man. It is supposed to show the love between these two people.

It's all in the name of love.

A sick and twisted version of it.

These women participating in this competition would have the prince's child to show how he 'loves' them so much, how they 'love' him so much. But in the end would neglect their own child, abuse their own child, once the prince abandons them.

And she knows this. The queen knows this. She has to.

There is a possibility that she is experienced in this. Why else would she give birth to Michael. Out of love? That's a foolish mindset to have.

It was to win.

To win the little game they play. The gamble which they bet their life on. Throw the dice and pray to whichever deity you pray to in order to win, or take it in your own hands. What's even worse is that the child's gender adds more tension.

A girl to sell off.

A boy to achieve greatness.

An heir to keep the royal bloodline flowing. To make a name in history.

To make a name in history...

History...

His story...

You wouldn't lie to yourself and say you never wanted your name to be written down in some book, but just your name. Having your good deeds written down as well would be great, but you can't be greedy now.

But the only thing keeping these shenanigans going is greed.

Focus (Name), you need to focus.

You can stress and think about the things at the back of your mind later, you have to focus on what you need to do. Remember what Madam Gertrude told you.

First, keep to yourself, but listen to the conversations of others that could be of benefit to you.

You could learn the secrets of others and their plans. You need to be one step ahead.

Second, don't raise your voice unless you want to look like a fool.

You could draw unwanted attention and could let others poke around you to make you look like a fool even more. Don't shout, but be loud enough to be heard.

Third, don't boast about your achievements. Even if you achieve something greater than the rest, that doesn't mean you are an inch away from death. Be proud of what you have done, but don't let it get into your head.

Fourth, act cautiously and carefully. You need to be aware of your surroundings and make sure your plans are planned cautiously and carefully. The last thing you want is for someone to know what you're doing.

Fifth, become allies to people who vow not to betray you. Finding people who's trust could be an asset to you can get you places. Befriending them could at least lead you to an advantage.

Sixth and finally, win the loyalty of the prince, not his heart. Even if a king says he loves you, he still has his concubines. His loyalty can last for years and is of great power and a weapon to slaughter your enemies.

Madam Gertrude must of had strong faith of you to tell you this. Your main goal is to survive, as well as Michael's little task for you.

You yawn and rub your eyes. It's the end of the day, of course you would be tired, especially from the events that happened today. You change into a night gown to sleep. It's a good thing your head servant packed the one you wanted instead of your parents' option. You'll thank her when you see her.

Before drifting off to sleep, you take one last look at the blue roses outside the window.

You wonder if you could take a closer look at them.

You wake up to one of the servants gently patting you on the back. Had it not been for this damn competition, you would've ignored and gone back to sleep. Even though you clearly need it, you can't let your intrusive thoughts gain power over you and win. You are in this mess because of it. You recall smacking away Michael's hand when he was touching you yesterday.

Definitely intrusive thoughts.

You sit up straight and look at the servant, she avoids eye contact by look down at the floor. You assume she is timid since all the servants you have at home look directly at you, but you remember how looking at people of great royalty can be considered a crime.

You must not forget that this place has the most prideful people to ever exist. One look at them and they turn it into a court case meant for first degree murder. People who act like that are sensitive, you think.

"Your grace, the prince has called for all the women participating in the competition to meet at the courtroom. He advices to be swift and to not be late.", she tells you, still looking at the floor.

"Thank you for informing me, you are dismissed.", you tell her, getting up from the bed and stretching before entering the bathroom.

"Um, your grace, I apologize for stopping you from what you are doing but...", she stammers through her words, but manages to catch your attention.

"Yes?"

"Servants are supposed to bathe you, not yourself. It is a must for all servants to treat the people staying in the palace to be treated with our utmost care."

Pardon.

You look at her wide-eyed. What do mean servants are supposed to bathe you? How was this normal? How can such rule cease to exist? You might as well abandon the logic you brought from home, because it honestly sounds ridiculous!

You take a deep breath and look at her. "Thank you for informing me once again, may you please prepare the bath for me."

"Of course your grace."

You enter the bathroom with her following you behind. She made sure the water was not too hot or too cold, just right. You undressed while she did so, removing your night gown and folding it to put it on top of the counter.

"Your bath is ready your grace.", she alerts you.

As you slowly entered the bathtub, she grabbed soap and a sponge to wash you.

If you could describe the overall experience in one word, it would be uncomfortable.

The silence was louder than anything you have ever heard in your life. You would rather hear bees buzzing, birds chirping, dogs barking, cats meowing for five minutes everyday, than go through this experience once everyday.

When she was done bathing you, she dressed you up and applied some make-up to you as well. The last thing she did was combing your hair. She made sure to get rid of the knots without hurting you.

A miracle worker you think.

One could argue that the servants are trained to give the best treatment to their guests, but you don't care. You rather have her do your hair for the rest of your life than anyone else.

By the time she was done with everything, she smiles to herself, proud of her work. "Your grace, why don't you go to the mirror to see how you look, I hope it is to your liking."

When you saw yourself, you were astonished.

The common phrase, 'Pain is Beauty, and Beauty is Pain.', somehow threw itself out of the window. Sure it is true to an extent, but at the end of the day it really depends how far you'll go in order to reach such beauty.

"Beautiful, thank you miss."

"My pleasure your grace. You should be at the courtroom right now, you should not be late."

Oh right. The meeting the prince held in the courtroom.

"Thank you for reminding me, have a good day!"

And like that you speed walked to the courtroom, making sure not to trip and fall on the way. Now that you think about it, telling a servant to have a good day isn't normal, but in they are still human and are forced to endure the scumbags in the palace, not to voice any complaint for the whole day. Why not give them a little kindness to start their day.

You enter the courtroom to see a ten women, Maria and Berdine being the two women you saw first. Seems not all of them have arrived despite being told to be swift.

Maria, who was standing with Berdine, waved her hands at you to grab your attention when she noticed you.

"(Name) you look absolutely stunning!"

"Oh, thank you. You look beautiful as well, you too Berdine.

"Why thank you!"

"Thank you (Name), though I am quite concerned. "

You and Maria turn to Berdine. "The others were supposed to be here thirty minutes ago, what's taking them so long?", she said to herself agitated.

"What if they just woke up, or are busy doing their make-up, or just busy doing something.", Maria said, smiling about her sudden assumptions. "I mean, after yesterday, who would want to be insult by the prince."

Or taken to his chambers to make a deal with him only to be sealed with a kiss. On the lips.

You recall the kiss from yesterday and how it felt. He has a terrible personality, comparable to garbage, but he is handsome. Surely you can let it slide just once...

No! Focus (Name)! You can't let some snotty prince's good looking self get into your head.

Your face becomes flushed and feels hot, catching the attention from the two women beside you.

"(Name), you are burning up are you sick, should we take you to your chambers?", Maria asked, her eyes large like jewels staring at you. "No need to be worried about me Marie, you too Berdine.", you look at her worried face. "I'm just embarrassed about yesterday that's all."

Berdine looks at you with an assuring look,"I'm sure you will be alright, I mean it's already the second day."

Before the three of you could continue talking, you were interrupted by three more women entering the courtroom, one of them being Morrigan. Two of the other women were whispering to her, attempting to calm her down.

"Calm down Morrigan."

"He's just playing with her, no need to mind her."

"But that bloody wench was clinging onto him like some prostitute, how the hell can I accept that?!"

Her face was red in anger as she tightly clenched her hands, her nails long enough that it could've cut her palms. Berdine stood forward and asked what had happened. The two women looked at each other worryingly before looking at her.

"One of the women who is also participating in the competition was found talking to the prince."

"And clinging onto his arm, like a prostitute, she was even bad mouthing us, all of us, saying she is better and how she'll win-"

"ENOUGH!"

Morrigan yelled, she then straightened her posture. "I, Morrigan Ernaline, will make sure that wench, little pest will be the first to die by my hand." Some women were unsettled of how she smiled at the thought of killing the suspected woman.

The doors suddenly opened to the prince and the woman herself. She clinged onto his arm, her breasts nearly falling out of her dress. No wonder they called her a prostitute. She nearly looked like one. Her pink hair and eyes don't help her situation at all, she may seem innocent, but her actions could tell a different story. The prince however...

Looked as if he was disappointed.

"You may get off me now.", he said with a disinterested tone. You almost feel hurt by how he sounds. "Oh, forgive me your majesty, you are just so handsome and strong that I could not help myself." She lets go off him, before kissing him on the cheek and walking off.

All of you are stunned.

Who does this woman think she is?!

Her actions towards the prince won't leave him guessing, but make him want to be away from her. Such act is probably to show she is better than us. Michael doesn't bother to wipe off the remains of the kiss, instead sighs to himself and smiles to himself.

"At least one of you are making a move on me, as aspected." "I called all of you here to explain how some of you are lacking."

Lacking?

"Some of you lack confidence, some have to learn their place, deflate your ego, and most importantly, abandon your old logic.", he said, his tone was condescending that some women flinched.

"Don't cry over spilled milk now, I won't make me any softer towards you, instead, show your affections or become someone of great use to me."

"It's your choice, princesses."

Some women just looked at the prince with shock, some smiled to themselves, others remained silent, but you couldn't care less. In order to gain his loyalty, you have to be of use to him. But you don't want him to use you, no. You want him to be of use to you.

This is how you will show him your affections.

How you want to show Michael Kaiser your affections and gain his loyalty.

Tagging:

@lightoftheamethyst

@kimura-uzuri

@kascar-chronicle

I apologize for taking so long, I was extremely busy and exams are coming up. My inbox is still open and just ask to be tagged in later chapters.

[echolepzy]

hm yes i enjoy reading your opinions, nice opinions you have. i will now share my own because that’s probably how humans converse or something idk /j

ship? i’ve really only seen isafrin and sifloop, and personally i enjoy sloop but like as a weird not romantic but secret 74th option that they invented one afternoon at 11:56am. isafrin is a classic, always chefs kiss. yes very ship very nice very good will read fics of them being dramatically torn apart to the point of insanity. i just like the classic sloop “i fucking despise you wanna cuddle” dynamic. better if loop is human and isabeau is there to break up their arguments. cuz it’s funny

my favorite silly has gotta be loop. they suck i hope they die in a supernova. sif is a very very close second, and my third would deffo be bonnie. they are a child who brought a child here. i think the only reasons loop is my favorite rn is 1) loop plush THAT I GOT yippee it doesn’t arrive until next year but. i’ll have it eventually and i will treasure it. forever. i’ll be buried with it. 2) funnysillyjokespun person traumatized x32 edition

trauma has gotta be the fact that sif almost destroyed the world with his abandonment issues. like dude…. which also includes mal du pays. the embodiment of homesickness itself is here to fuck shit uppp let’s go. i also really like time loops so really just the entire time loop situation(basically the whole game) especially when there’s fics about it post-canon. those are so fun.

THE LOST COUNTRY yessss i love this thing. a lot of my headcanons revolve around a fic that i thought was really cool that dove deep into its culture (fic here https://archiveofourown.org/works/56032411 i think). some of the things i remember and liked are bonds being expressed through nicknames(im like 85% sure that sif calls them all by nicknames but changes to calling some by full names in the game but i might be delusional so). i just really liked a lot of the culture deep dive in that fic. i also imagine them being rather technologically advanced in comparison to other countries, since like all that knowledge about stars. i think it’s also possible that there were still people who could perceive colour on that island(not majority, maybe like 20% of the population). and y’know how vaugarde is fantasy france? north island is fantasy greenland. just imo

leading off of that- poteria is fantasy america(so. they use fuck as curse :]) and idk what mwudu would be. i think it would be fun though, to have the various countries be fantastical irl countries, and is also supported by evidence with ka bua being fantasy japan. so yeah this is actually canon now.

and ngl i really wanna cosplay siffrin someday- like, i can’t this halloween cuz i already have a sick asf dragon costume in the works but maybe a thing in the future. maybe i could even do winged sif to make moneys worth of the wings im using for my dragon costume. maybe i’ll do it for next ren faire one day-

(i wish i had a sibling to have the loop-siffrin dynamic with… alas, as i am a lonely child and have none. i killed them in the womb /j)

-same mutual if you couldn’t tell (guess who lol)

First of all *absorbs that fic link* I'm reading this now thank you

Secondly fuck yeah Loop plushie buddies!! I'm sharing mine with my little brother since he's the undeniable Loop kinnie but the sticker is mine and it's going on my laptop

The wiki says Vaugarde is based on France, Ka Bue is based on Japan, the Forgotten Country is based on Guadeloupe (but insertdisc5 likes seeing other interpretations too), Poteria is based on Italy (which was my headcanon before I even saw it on the wiki lol), and Mwudu isn't really based on anything (I headcanon Germany for some reason, but also not? idk it's complicated, my main Mwudu headcanon is that they have this whole deal with fire). As a creature of low intelligence who always fails geography I kinda just stick with what the wiki tells me XD Also, Ka Bue is on the other side of the world but the rest of the countries are closer together, I think that's kinda interesting to think about-

Finding parts for my cosplay is proving to be a huge pain in the ass, right now I'm just settling for "close enough" and I'll try to customize the parts when I get them- Agh the hat is probably the hardest right now ;w; I wonder if they'll let me bring a dagger to my vocational school... My friend on the bus has actual knives with her every day so I don't see why I can't have a costume dagger (a real one would be cooler but I don't think my family would trust me with it).

[horrorknife]

hi ! sorry if this sounds weird but like

i stumbled upon one of your hoffheight posts and I'm so. genuinely fascinated ?? like, i THINK i understand it (I've certainly put them in a microwave and stared at them for the past few days) but i want to "get it right", if that makes ANY amount of sense. I want to interpret them correctly, I think is a better way to phrase it (it's 2am nothing I say will make more sense and I apologize for that.)

I think in a post you mentioned them being like, reflections of each other or something, which, I didn't realize but shit yeah?? they are aren't they. something about being on hair triggers or whatever. GOD they fascinate me so much I need you to understand how much this dynamic intrigues me. having them both be unstable in their own rights (esp with anger issues and all) it just. I love that ?? it's so fun!! I keep spinning them in my mind !!!

I think you also mentioned them being some flavor of qpr and as someone who's aromantic I. god qpr's my beloved. I really need them to be an evil qpr. that means a lot 2 me. ESPECIALLY if it's not even mentioned, but it definitely is a qpr. in my head Adam would have the potential (still not likely) to know what a qpr is, but he would never label it as that. at least not verbally. I love when there's a silent agreement that two people are definitely not romantic but labelling something as platonic is insincere. they're a secret third option don't worry about it !!!

sorry for dumping this into your inbox, I have a lot of thoughts and assumed it'd be mildly funny if I just left them with you. do with that what you will. I hope you have a nice day and thank you for the food for thought

[bonus ask that's ACTUALLY an ask and not just the ramblings of a mad man, do you have any fic recommendations of the two? for research, of course]

HI!!!! oh my fucking god anon you have no idea how excited and happy this makes me . *little cat running around in circles moment* 

so like. i imagine there’s this cord between them and neither of them understand it. they can both just Smell the sameness on each other, the familiarity of deepset rage and suffering and loneliness. adam’s young and impressionable and hoffman would be able to use him to his advantage. hoffman would love this guy. my characterization of adam post bathroom is lonely, detached, and even angrier than before so he gets into fights for the self destructive nature of the thing and hoffman would LOVE how unhinged he is (we all saw how much hoffman seemed to admire/get obsessed w strahm and that guy is Nuts). they’re the same kind of prey animal! they have the same fear of abandonment!!

something something the way they both die in the same spot, attached to the same pipe, forced to watch as LAWRENCE (OF ALL PEOPLE!!!!) abandons them for dead. adam is desperate for life adam is in a game rigged against him. hoffman fights and fights and gnashes and thrashes against this the entire series and yet he ultimately has no choice but to succumb to it, he dies the same horrific way adam did, alone and abandoned and feeling that same primal prey animal fear. there's something to both of them being lawrence's only (CANONICAL) victims (brad, ryan, and dina are lawrence's vics to me. but that's a different post) there's something to the way that adam dies in the first film and haunts the narrative forever and the person who reprises that role is HOFFMAN of all people. the way that this comes full circle is really really delicious to me

adam's camera is his buffer from the real world, it's how he processes things, he's at his best when he's unnoticed and free to Watch. guys we're not doing enough with the voyeur thing. guys. adam catalogs information adam loves holding secret knowledge. in a similar way, hoffman is holding a knife between himself and the real world, he's processing everything through a layer of violence before all else because he can't risk human connection anymore. all of his relationships are made through violence and this is of course present here as well because you adam's deepest connections are also facilitated through violence. you can argue that this is true of all saw characters and you'd be right but there's something so specially flavored about it when you look at hoffman and adam next to each other.

hoffman needs Direction From Someone Else in order to be an effective cog in the jigsaw machine–after john dies he just falls apart immediately and gets clumsy and makes stupid mistakes bc at the end of it all hoffman has been robbed of a Normal existence and the thing he really wants most is companionship (again, seen in the way he interacts w rigg and strahm–he communicates his ‘affection’ in adversarial ways to keep them hooked + offers them genuine chances at survival but they’re both too clouded and Against Him for it to work. king of misjudging situations) and direction. i think if he even had a LITTLE help he’d be a lot better at being jigsaw

conversely, adam is this poor, broke 25 year old clinking pennies together in his shithole apartment. and he has the same stripping of purpose hoffman does. he doesn’t communicate with his family anymore (for undisclosed reasons but this is one of my personal pinpoints for bi/transmasc adam), effectively abandoned by them, and we know that his one namedropped friend (his “BEST” friend btw) is a piece of shit TO him and ABOUT him. adam gets walked all over and he lives at the universe’s disposal to kick the shit out of. he’s been abandoned or mistreated by everyone significant in his life. hoffman is a well off and well respected cop with a whole department of people who highly respect him but he’s empty inside bc he’s incapable of having any meaningful relationships the moment he gets involved with john. he has to fully wall himself off again because it’s too risky to get close to other people. imagine your only worldly thread of understanding from another person ends up being the serial killer you’re chasing/impersonating. and he hates you.

adam’s a genuinely understanding and kind person under his defensiveness, we all know this, we’ve all seen saw 2004. he’d be kind to hoffman and hoffman would see stars. he forgot people were capable of treating him like a normal person. having hoffman warm up to you is the equivalent of having a crochety old man who hates everyone share apple slices with you. you’re a little nervous about it, you’re a little on edge, but he’s just cutting out his apple slices and handing you one every so often. a test of trust. maybe you’re uncomfortable but you’ll take his offering to be polite. you’ll enjoy his company, you’ll share that apple with him, you’ll forge a new bond with that person. this is the type of companionship im kind of getting at. 

um but yeah . rambling aside. back on track. unspoken/unaware qpr hoffheight is THE THING to me. yes we love each other yes we’d kill for each other no we’re not in love. we have a secret third thing and it’s called I Have To Keep This Guy Safe Right Fucking Now Because He Matters To Me More Than I Can Understand. OH mid paragraph im remembering something important. this absolutely all takes place within a sphere of hoffman and adam’s relationship starting with hoffman making adam his apprentice. i feel like that might have been obvious up there ^ but i want to be very clear w my intentions and my vision. KJDFSJKDF. ALSO oh my god . fuckkkkk fuck  fuck fml i think hoffman thinks 2 himself that angelina would probably have liked adam and that definitely endears him to the guy. 

like you said yeah i think adam has the Potential to know what a qpr is (but i dont think he does know)!! if anything he would ultimately just recognize it as an inherently special and inherently queer relationship…auuuu………i know i didnt get too into the evil parts of them too much here but thats cuz it would make me end up writing a 6k essay on them or something. just know that they do butt heads a lot because at the end of the day theyre from completely different universes and adam is an ODD/BPD king.

god . i could really just go on and on and on and on about them. i have so much more to say LOL but this is already a bit of a wordy response >__< i just have such a clear vision of their vibe and dynamic in my mind. it comes to me like sherlock visions. i’m being pelted with big times new roman font things that say shit like “HOFFHEIGHT GAY SEX” “They Are Everything To Each Other In A Codependent Ass Way” 

THANK YOU FOR THIS ASK BY THE WAY I UM. GOT SO FUCKING EXCITEDD WHEN I READ IT AKJDNJAKLDNVSJKFNFDKGNVDFK. YOU DONT KNOW WHAT THESE TWO ARE TO ME . YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW SICK AND FUCKED UP I AM OVER THEM LOLLLLL. asks that made me get up out of bed at 6:30 in the morning because i was too excited and woke up fully 

if u have more questions or u wanna rap abt this more PLEAAAAASE feel free 2 send more asks or reach out via messages i love discussing my evil plots with them. i am literally ALWAYS locked and loaded and ready to talk about hoffheight. anon i unfortunately do not have fic recs because i do not like reading fanfiction. im incredibly particular about characterization and i’m a little bit of a writing snob. i don’t trust them in anyone else’s hands for fic if i’m being honest. i don’t think anyone else’s vision will fully align with mine and i’m too autistic to risk seeing that be done wrong. i’ll get too emotional KJDNKJSNFJ

[galaxyedging]

Sex worker!Max Lord x f!reader

WC:1.9k

Warnings: A little angst. Idiots in something that comes before love. Allusions to smutty times.

Summary: Hot on the heels of his first proposal Max hits you with another.

Series Masterlist

The Proposals

The yellow piece of paper that Max wrote on was unceremoniously stuffed into your purse as you headed to the office. The underground car park was a wash with flashes of red and blue. There was a queue of four or five cars waiting to get in. None of them moved an inch. Huffing you abandoned your car completely, your heels clicked purposefully on the ground as you strode towards the source of the lights. Three black SUVs sectioned off the elevator. Men in FBI windbreakers milled around talking on radios.

Something too garbled for you to hear got their attention. "We're on the move." One guy calls. They scattered, getting into two of the cars until only one guy was left by the third. He opened the back door before climbing into the driver's seat. The elevator pinged and the doors opened, revealing two board men escorting a third. The third you realised was your very red faced boss. He rants indignantly as they walk him to the SUV to load him in.

By now some of your other co-workers have arrived.

"Do you think they'll shut us down?" A voice asks over your left shoulder you open your mouth to speak but get cut off by a voice from the right. "Hardly, it's just a little embezzlement."

It was not in fact 'just a little embezzlement." After the company shut down. A long list of charges came to light. By some miracle you'd made it out with a very substantial severance pay check thanks to your excellent skills in negotiating a contract. It would give you some breathing room. Quite a lot in fact but this was still a major setback in your career. Things with Max were put on pause while you sorted through your options. It wasn't until a week later that you saw that Max had sent back your last payment. Max didn't have a cell phone so you had to leave a message at his apartment. When he didn't return in after a couple of days you got worried.

The florists wasn't hard to find. During one of your dinners, Max had spoken about how grateful he was for your help in getting it. He told you about his job, the area he worked and how the lovely old lady would cook for him. A warm smile was on his plump lips. 

Standing at his door you second guess yourself. Your hand hovering over his buzzer until a woman pops her head out of the store. "So you're Max's secret lady!" Her English was heavily accented, Eastern European maybe? Wherever she was from she uses her language to hush the man inside the shop that had clearly had made a disapproving comments.

"Come, come." She waved you in. "Don't mind Viktor. He doesn't have a romantic bone in his body."

"I'm Zofia." She held out her hand. Shaking it, you give her your name. "The last few weeks Max has spoken about you every day. About how pretty and lovely you are. He thinks I haven't noticed. He still calls you a 'work friend'. You work at the bar that Max works at." If it was a question she doesn't wait for an answer. Her hands moved as fast as her mouth as she gathers a bunch of flowers and wraps them. "It's not good for him. Those unsociable hours. Sometimes I get up in the night and he's rolling home at 2am looking exhausted. At least he always has a smile on his face! Here!" She hands you the bouquet she had made. It was simple and elegant. Wildflowers and baby's breath in a hessian cloth. "I've told Max to take you these many times. A declaration of affection doesn't have to be fancy. Just good and honest. Right, Viktor?" Viktor seemed to be used to not being able to  answer as he just nods his head before she continued. "Well off you go. He's been off work all week. He'll be pleased to see you." You barely get a thank you out for the flowers before she ushers you out of the door and presses Max's buzzer. 

"Coming." You hear Max's voice before his footsteps descending the stairs. The door swings open to reveal him there. He looks different. Good. But different. His hair is wavy. There is no suit or shirt. He wears jeans and a sweatshirt. It takes you a moment to process it all. 

"Hi." He looks happy to see you but the moment is fleeting as a voice calls from inside. "Dad?!" 

The word hangs in the air before he turns to answer "Just one minute. There's someone at the door."

How did you not know he was a father? Was there just the one kid up there or more? "I..erm. I called you but didn't return it. I thought I'd check on you. You're fine so…" Every part of your body was screaming to leave.

"Yeah. I'm sorry. I was busy. It's my first visitation weekend in…too long."

"That's why you needed the money."

"Yeah." He shifts uncomfortably. "I see you met Zofia." He gestures to the flowers. 

"Yeah. Lovely woman. Very chatty."

The lines around his eyes deepen as he laughs. "She is. Alistair, my son. Is here until Sunday night. I could come over then? Give you time to read my proposal?"

"That would be good. Enjoy your time with your son." Your feet move of their own accord as you exchange goodbyes. Getting into your car you feel yourself physically deflate. That was a lot. All you wanted to know was that he was okay. Now you know he talks about you enough to need a cover story. And that he has a kid. It's all a bit much as you drive home and bury yourself in looking for ways to save your career. 

Sunday nights rolls around. Your mom and dad chat on different phone in the house. You filled them in on the situation with work. Assuring them that you are fine the whole time. Confirming to your mom several times that you are not going to jail. After your dad finishes telling you how his boat is coming along and hangs up, your mom stays on the line. "Are you sure you're okay, Sweetpea?"

No, I want to give up this stupid idea I had that I could run my own company and come home with my tail between my legs. I want to crawl into bed in my childhood room, just regress and live a simple life. Maybe with a sweet, brown eyed man.

"I'm fine, Mom. I'm upset, obviously, but I'll survive. I love you."

"I love you, too." You could hear the smile in her voice.

Max arrives about half an hour after you said goodbye to your mom. It was odd for him to be late.

"Sorry, I'm late. My car broke down on the way home from dropping Alastair off."

"You should have called. You didn't need to come over after that stress."

"What better way to relieve some stress than to see you?" You can't help but smile. 

All week, every free second you had you thought about how you would have loved to be in his arms. Not jostling for power or control. Just being with each other. Caring for each other. It had been so long since you had that. A man in your life that wasn't seen as competition or the enemy. 

"Sorry, I didn't get to read your proposal. I've been snowed under with work stuff."

"That's okay. I may have rambled a little. I can write you a shorter version. It all boils down to one sentence." Max snaps up a pen and post it note from your paper stewn table and scribbles something. "Here."

The note he handed you was simple.

I want to remove rule number two.

"Max…" All the words stuck in your throat. "I can't…"

"Can't remove it from the contract? Fine, I quit." His hands thread with yours to pull you in.

Slowly, you allow him to move you closer. "Max, you need this job. You have a son."

"I couldn't have gotten a home without your money but I can manage now. I can't take your money for something I'd willingly give you for free anymore. I shouldn't have taken it for this long."

"You'd be given up on the money for what? Me? I'm not sure I can give you a relationship. I have to focus on finding a new job…"

"About that I have a business idea…."

The small motel looks like any other from the outside. Maybe a little bit nicer than some you would pass on the highway. It's set back from the world hidden in the woods. It's advertised as a hidden hideaway for lovers but if anyone calls the number on the sign it's always fully booked. Each room has the softest cotton sheets, some have mirrored ceilings, others have restraints built into the wall, some have poles to dance around. One room, an old windowless supply room, has a full rack that people can be tied to, right behind the sex swing.

The advertising is half right. Except it's more like a hotel for people looking for lovers. There is a special number connected as well as the commercial one. A number that only a few knew by word of mouth but it soon spread. You call the number to leave your details. A contact number and what fantasy you want to live. 

You want a handsome cowboy to flirty his way into your heart and between your legs? He's stabled in room twelve. 

You need a daring pilot to take you higher? Room five. 

A little romance, TLC and gentle hands? You're in luck. Rooms eight, ten and fourteen are happy to help. 

Fourteen also provides a rougher hand. The duality of him is as much a mystery as his face that he covers with a simple black mask. 

Seven comes with additional warnings. Even with those, the women who stumble out of there are never really ready for him. There's just something about him that makes them feral. 

Six is the same. The theory is that it's his ability to be so dark and brooding but hold so much gentleness in those big brown, soulful eyes. It's simply magnetic.

When they both have company you worry for the wall separating them as the beds slam into it. 

Two was given a fitting room number as he is more than happy to take two at a time or more. He still manages to satisfy everyone. And still go looking for more company in the night. Speaking of…

Twenty five had to be given a room at the other end of the motel as people in nearby rooms were getting high off of his supply. Six makes sure that a little weed is the only drug that he has. 

Nine mans the phone line. His way with words eased the jitters of anyone calling up. He occasionally indulges those who ask for him specially. His voice entices them. The loss of his arm is still so recent that he's having trouble adjusting to being physically intimate without it, yet not one complaint has been made about his performance.

Room one is saved for the boss. He doesn't work as much as the others. He's far too busy with his family. Any requests for him have to be negotiated with his fiancé, she knows exactly what he is worth.

[darklordazalin]

Azalin Reviews: Darklord Jacqueline Renier

Domain: Richemulot Domain Formation:  694 BC Power Level: 💀💀💀⚫⚫ Sources: Ravenloft (3e), Secrets of the Dread Realms (3e), Domains and Denizens (2e), Realm of Terror (2e), Domains of Dread (2e), Gazetteer III (3e).

Most Darklords are pulled into the Mists and “gifted” a land to rule (that is also designed to torment them) after committing an act of so-called evil. Others gain such titles through the act of killing another Darklord. Why one would want eternal torment, I cannot say. Self hate? Inability to recognize where they truly are? Oh and if you are thinking of doing the same, this ploy doesn't always work. Most Darklords simply come back after they are “destroyed” as even our tormentors will not let death free us from them.

Before Jacqueline Renier became the Darklord of Richemulot, her grandfather Claude Renier was Darklord. The Renier family was chased into the Mists by a group of monster hunters and their hounds when Jacqueline was a child. Most Darklords rarely remember much, if anything, of the land they came from, our tormentors erase such things from their minds. One must not believe a lying rat when they state they remember something when all evidence points to the contrary. 

The Reniers fled into the sewers and given the choice between death and a vault filled with a mysterious Mist, they chose the Mist and Falkovnia. Death may have been the kinder option than dealing with Drakov...The Reniers lived in the sewers of Silbervas in Falkovnia for a number of years before Vlad grew tired of their antics and ran them out of his Domain and into the Mists once more. This indicates that Vlad was successful in defeating the Reniers. Now that is a family history I’m sure Lady Jacqueline doesn't wish you to know of.

The Mists created Richemulot, which is mostly made of river valleys and untamed forests with the majority of its populace living in the three large cities. There is no known history of what happened in Richemulot prior to the Reniers settling there. The cities themselves were said to be empty when they arrived and like true scavengers, instead of questioning this oddity, the people merely accepted it and took up whatever residence they wished. To this day, only about a third of the buildings in each city are occupied by humanity, the rest lie abandoned and given over to decay and the infestation of rats.

Claude ruled through fear and manipulation, bidding his rivals and relatives (often these were the same) against one another. Jacqueline and her twin sister, Louise, were his protegees and he was always encouraging competition between the two for his affection and praise. That is until Jacqueline had enough of it and had a servant send him a drink laced with lye. Each wererat in Richemulot has their own unique 'allergin' and lye was Claude's. Not that I would advise anyone to consume lye in the first place... 

Jacqueline ensured she was there as her grandfather drank the poison so she could gloat as he died. But the poison wasn’t enough for her and she also pushed him through a window where he fell through the roof of the family kennel and was half-consumed by hounds before his body was retrieved. Considering the poison killed him before he hit the ground, this was quite unnecessary and makes it far more obvious to even the casual observer who was responsible for Claude’s death.

Jacqueline is just as manipulative and cunning as her grandfather was, ruling the land through secrets and bringing down her opposition through rumors and misinformation. It is said the nobility trade more in secrets than coin in Richemulot and that a commoner may gain status by simply hearing the right rumor and knowing how to weld it. 

Instead of pitting her family against one another, Jacqueline encourages them to work together, though she herself kills anyone that appears to be working against her. Only her twin sister is the exception to this. Curious. Does Jacqueline have some form of misguided affection for her sister? Is this why she has all of Louise’s lovers and friends killed? Regardless of the reasoning, it is abundantly clear that Jacqueline does not take competition for her affections well.

She is patriotic and wishes to bring prosperity to her Domain. Of course, the prosperity she strives for would result in the end of humanity, but she does try.  Though there’s no formal militia in Richemulot, she expects all of her people to take up arms to defend the realm. So, her defense is the equivalent of untrained peasants with pitchforks. Drakov’s ever-failing attempts at conquering her Domain must be particularly crushing for the little mercenary. Still, he seems to have created enough stir in Richemulot to encourage Jacqueline to sign the Treaty of Four Towers with Borca, Dementlieu, and Mordent in defence against the war-hungry, impaling-loving idiot. 

Jacqueline’s curse is to only appear in her rat form to those she loves. A fact she discovered when she fell in love with the nobleman Henri DuBois. She attempted to inflict him with her lycanthropy but he managed to not only escape that fate, but Richemulot as well. Jacqueline, a word to the wise, if one cannot accept you in your rat form, are they really worth all this pinning and crippling monophobia?

Jacqueline is a formidable combatant, but only when she is surrounded by her allies. She can speak with rats, take mist form like a vampire, and climb along almost any surface. However, when she is alone, her monophobia cripples her to a point where she can easily be defeated.

Considering the majority of her people do not know of her wererat affliction, her mastery of manipulation and control, and easy defeat of Claude; Jacqueline is not a Darklord to be underestimated. Though, if one learns her fears she can be easily taken out by a well-placed assassin. I will grant her three skulls.

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Domain: Richemulot Domain Formation:  Unspecified (694 BC older editions) Power Level: 💀💀⚫⚫⚫ Sources: Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft (5e)

The “good” Doctor’s new guide indicates that Jacqueline is not a natural born wererat, but was inflicted with the curse instead. Does this mean one could simply cast ‘Remove Curse’ upon her person to effectively neutralize her? Or any of her family members seeing as she changed all of them herself? Our Tormentors rarely make things that easy, but a theory I encourage any with such abilities to try. 

Born into the Renier noble family, Jacqueline analyzed the changes in her city as the commoners became more wealthy. To Jacqueline this was viewed as a threat to her family’s position. Would a wealthy class of commoners abide by the rules of nobility if they have no need of them? And though Jacqueline shared her concerns with her family, the other Reniers ignored them, content with these inevitable changes.

Without her family’s assistance, Jacqueline was left to her own machinations. This eventually led her to discover a secret society of esteemed families that called themselves the Trueblood Council…which ended up being made of a bunch of filthy commoner wererats.

She was disgusted to find this filth in place of what she imagined as elite masterminds. Given the amount of gold she spent on gaining membership, perhaps she should have done a bit more research on them? Was it really THAT surprising they ended up being wererats considering their secret meeting location was the sewers? Regardless as she cursed and spit upon them, they made her into a wererat. 

Jacqueline easily adapted to her life as a wererat and swiftly infected all of the Reniers. Except for her twin sister, Louise, who resisted. For her insolence, Louise was disfigured and cast out. In order to gain control of the city, Jacqueline unified the wererats and together they created the Gnawing Plague. However, instead of becoming the savior to the people when they begged for her assistance, she let them die, finding her hatred of the commoners replaced with a hatred for all non-wererats. Who exactly are you ruling over if everyone is dead? Well, no one is the answer and the Mists took her after the last person in Richemulot died.

Now Jacqueline rules half-empty cities in the land of Richemulot, but can only maintain her rule by controlled releases of the Gnawing Plague in order to suppress those that would rise up against her. Given the apparently disposable armies of rats, wererats, and animated armor stuffed with rats she has control over, this seems an unnecessary tactic. Not to mention the populace cannot be all that intelligent given their lack of awareness of Reniers affliction. Jacqueline wears a shawl of rats, rat shoes, and a rat bracelet. Her love of rats could not be more apparent and the rats are known to be the cause of the plague.

No wonder she has no love of ruling over her idiotic populace. I doubt they pose any real challenge for her. Her torments are rather weak compared to other Darklords. She dislikes ruling, misses decadence yet causes such things to be nonexistent with her plagues and has to keep on creating plagues? I would take those anyday over what I have to endure.

Jacqueline can control and communicate any rat in her Domain and mostly uses them as spies. Otherwise, she is an inflicted wererat who has a love for creating plagues. Considering her control would easily break if the labs that created said plagues were destroyed, I consider this version of Jackie to be less powerful than in previous versions. 2.5 Skulls.

[belphieslilcow]

DILLY EXPLAINS THE TIMELINE SITUATION IN NIGHTBRINGER

so the original game has the timeline normal until lesson 15/16 when mc went back in time and belphie killed them, barbatos then merged those two timelines

so no, there isn't an abandoned timeline where we never came back to the boys, they were merged with themselves in this timeline, as we were when our body dissapeared from mammon's arms

so with nightbringer, there's already that split by virtue of solomon and us being there

the main events dealing with the brothers (levi getting henry 1.0, lucifer getting cerberus, etc) would've happened regardless if we were there or not, the circumstances might be different, but they still happened

so there's a couple options for what will happen once we're done in the past (it was confirmed on reddit that it'll continue past the end of season 4 in og obey me, so we'll have to be back there eventually)

option 1: we reforge our bonds and then go back to our original timeline, no real differences

option 2: the timelines get merged again and our actions in the past have a lasting effect on the brothers and they have new memories of us even if they're foggy

or like a secret third option where it's a weird mix of the two