#she has super speed so the two of them would have duked it out

[popbloganddropit]

Cowboy Carter - Beyoncé

1. AMERIICAN REQUIEM: Just light the CMAs on fire, B! An impeccable intro to this album with varied sounds throughout the song that is representative of the sonic journey this album is going to take you on. 4.5/5

2. BLACKBIIRD: Stunning. Knowing no background about the song, I think it would still stop you in your tracks to hear these women harmonize and deliver each line with the perfect performance, emotional but not overdone. With the addition of the knowledge that Paul McCartney wrote this song about black women in the civil rights movement adds to the feeling behind the song and the feeling this version should have always existed. 5/5

3. 16 CARRIAGES- I heard the first two singles described as Texas Hold ‘Em being for country fans that weren’t sure about Beyonce and 16 Carriages as being for Beyonce fans that weren’t sure about country music and that holds up. This song describes Beyoncé’s ascension in the industry, and while I do like it, it’s missing something that makes me NEED to return to it like some of the other tracks here and on RENNAISSANCE. The way the chorus builds up into the titular line is really striking, and does stick around in my head. 4/5

4. PROTECTOR- This song is so sweet, just the right amount of hymnal to feel it in your spirit. The protector into projector line is *chef’s kiss*. 4.5/5

5. MY ROSE- an interlude, but I really wish it were longer because it’s got some really gorgeous and touching moments. 3.5/5

6. SMOKE HOUR- again not rating this, just had to note how tickled I was to hear Willie Nelson say KNTRY radio.

7. TEXAS HOLD ‘EM- I think this song has been stuck in my head since the Super Bowl. It’s so fun and makes you want to learn how to line dance in a pair of Daisy Dukes. 4.5/5

8. BODYGUARD- so smooth and sexy. If I were figuring out what to do with the Bond franchise, I would build a movie fit to make this the theme song and it would be a for sure blockbuster. 5/5

9. JOLENE- there’s probably too much discourse around this song for how serious it is, the Creole banjee bitch is having fun, so we can ignore a few corny lyrics (don’t raise full grown men though, ladies). There’s some really fun stuff going on in the background too, which is keeps a familiar melody interesting. 3.5/5

10. DAUGHTER- MURDER AT THE OPERA, and it is me who has been slayed. 5/5

11. SPAGHETTII- Beyonce having rap as a little side hobby she keeps in her back pocket is so cunty, country, petty of her. This would be one notch better if the hook in the chorus did a touch more for me lyrically. Beyonce’s harmonies over Shaboozey’s verse is perfection, though, so I will overlook it. 4/5

12. ALLIGATOR TEARS- the driving beat in the background never lets you feel at ease with Beyonce’s soulful yet slick performance. 4.5/5

13. JUST FOR FUN- a souldul, heavenly performance. Bey and Willie Jones sound great together. Willie fits in so well, his voice adds a gravelly, twangy flair. This is the CHURCH GIRL of this album for me. It’s objectively good, but something about it just doesn’t go all the way for me. 4/5

14. II MOST WANTED - This so fun! Miley and Beyonce’s vocals sound great together. A music video for this song would be magnificent. Fringe and rhinestones everywhere, vintage cars speeding through the desert, and I can picture them singing together on an upright piano in an old-timey saloon. This song does remind me of Gaga’s “You and I” and some of Joanne. She would have been a great option for this duet too. This song was meant to be belted out your car window at sunset. 4.5/5

15. LEVII’S JEANS- It’s most notable how clean and smooth Post Malone sounds! Everyone cleans up their act for Beyonce! I prefer “II MOST WANTED” a bit more of these two duets, but this is a fun little number. 4/5

16. FLAMENCO- it’s giving mafia but make it country. I know it was noted that a lot of these songs were inspired by movie and I would love to know what movie this one was. FLAMENCO has a bit of a theatrical flair. 4/5

17. THE LINDA MARTELL SHOW- Again, not rating this, I just think it’s very important to the thesis of this album. Genres are limiting. More on this later.

18. YA YA- this song begins the best stretch of the record and is a highlight on an album chock full of great moments. “YA YA” really showcases so many things that Beyonce does well. The intro call and response showing her cheeky sense of humor, then takes off like a shotgun with killer vocals and some social commentary (“whole let of red in that white and blue”) and moves into a sickening Beach Boys interpolation and is ass-shakeable throughout the whole thing (plus some some wild guitar shredding). And it keeps the country line dance-y vibe the whole time. An instant Beyonce classic. 5/5

19. OH LOUISIANA- an excellent transition, because you honestly do need a minute after YA YA. Would love to eventually hear the unedited vocals and/or an explanation of how they made Beyonce sound like this??? Going to skip a rating because this is just a transitional moment; I think very few people are playing this intentionally on repeat as a solo track.

20. DESERT EAGLE- sexy with a hot bass line running through it. Beyoncé makes do-si-do sound cooler than it ever has. The only possible complaint is we need an extended version since it’s only ~70 seconds long. 5/5

21. RIIVERDANCE- only Beyoncé could get away with the combining “Folsom Prison Blues”-esque verses, The Gift esque “running through the river”’s, a hint of 2010’s folk-pop stomp claps, and a and cheeky twerk anthem, “bounce on that shit, no hands”and absolutely get away with it. 5/5

22. II HANDS II HEAVEN- love the “no hands” of the previous song moving into this. This wouldn’t be out of place on Renaissance, but belongs here lyrically and musically as well. It’s not a stand out track, but still very solid. 4/5

23. TYRANT- I really like the beginning and I wish there was a little more of it or it was its own song. I also really like the second part, so it’s not too sad. This is the tight black leather type of country song. That string in the background and the beat are doing some work, which really rides an interesting line between country and RnB. 4/5

24. SWEET/HONEY/BUCKIN- a JOURNEY of a song, I would take 5 minute cuts of any of these portions. It’s a mix of everything that’s on the rest of the album. SWEET starts off with Beyoncé’s soulful vocals and gets a verse from Shaboozey that balances a country and rap fusion significantly better than most garbage on country radio that sounds like rap for people who are afraid to leave their suburb. The claps that follow are scientifically designed to make you want to dance. Into a slower, sensual(but short) HONEY interlude that then takes off like horse into the BUCKIN section which is just a goddamn banger. Sickening how hype this gets. Does Beyonce say “Look at that horse” because you could lift a horse when it’s playing?? 5/5

25. AMEN- an AMERICAN REQUIEM reprise that is a nice bow on the end of this gift Beyonce has bestowed upon us. Works perfectly if you want to go ahead and start the album over again (and you might) or go right in to RENAISSANCE. 4/5

I overall do love so much of this album. If we were to compare to Act i, I would say Renaissance is better as it is, for me, a no skip, play front to back album that is so cohesive. I think the Linda Martell interlude is key to understanding Cowboy Carter, because what is genre and is it important? I think the thesis of this album is that genre is limiting. To the critics that will say xyz elements aren’t country enough, she’s got Willie, Dolly P, and Linda Martell’s co-sign. Country fans checking this out will find Beyonce playing with so many different genres but can hopefully see the country twist she has put on them. In the opposite direction, Beyonce fans who might limit themselves to modern pop and RnB might discover the original Blackbird or Jolene, or they might look at works by the interlude or featured artists and find something they love and relate to. How much of genre do we relate to who it is coming from? Can a Beatles cover by Beyonce be country? Does it matter if it’s “country” if you like it anyway? Beyoncé is exploring and pushing the boundaries of every genre here. Where Renaissance feels very tight and cohesive as a record, Cowboy Carter is the Wild West with a little something for everyone. There does seem to be a general consensus that it’s a little long, but there’s no agreement on what should be cut. I love the way the interludes divide the record up into cohesive segments and those segments would feel incomplete if you removed songs from them, so I must come to the conclusion that the more Beyonce, the better. There are rumors she might do a rock album next, but the real message to be found here is that she can do anything she wants.

This album gets an average of 4.4 and I do feel it is absolutely an album that works together from front to back, so we will round up to a 4.5/5.

Top 3: Bodyguard,Ya Ya, Sweet/Honey/Buckin

What’s Next:

A review straight from The Tortured Poets Department. Thinking I might split it up into a few pieces. This already took me a while and 31 songs is A LOT!

[greenunoreversecard]

Hi! So, I've been playing IF's recently, and stumbled along Bastard of Camelot! And I decided, why not make some picrews and show of my character and dragon? (Well, one of my Mordred's, I have many seeing as I've been religiously playing this lol)

But, anywho! My mordred!

<find the picrew here>

A description of my character (copy pasted)

You're rather honest, unlike what people would expect out of Morgana's child. When it comes to confidence, you're rather lacking. You tend to be cautious. You keep your calm. Kindness is seldom offered to you, but you try to be kind. Unlike Morgana, you keep your head bowed, not looking for trouble. You usually bottle up your emotions, but sometimes they surface. You're affable and friendly, greeting people with a smile.

A description of your skills

Magic knowledge: You've taken an interest in magic, outside of your own affinity.

Le Fay magic: You have a good grasp on your magic, not letting emotions influence it.

Pendragon magic: You can talk to dragons, telepathically or in their tongue, and find it easy to summon fire.

Magic of the Lady of the Lake: You're rather skilled.

Swordsmanship: You wield the sword with confidence - working hard on honing your skills till they're as sharp as your blade.

Persuasion: You've learnt that a few well placed words can get you far, but you're still working on it.

Intimidation: You can be rather intimidating, but you're still working on it.

Romance: She thought she had a crush on Gawain, but was astoundingly wrong and thus the two are now just good friends. She had found Galahad super cool and intriguing when the both of them met, and cannot seem to get his eyes out of her mind, but cannot fathom why.. (hmm I wonder-) Maybe it's because shes dead set on proving him wrong about her? (bahaha, you oblivious fuck)

And how does she get along with the others, you ask? (All copy pasted)

Morgana Le Fay:Your relationship is cold and distant. Everything you've come to learn has dug a deeper, wider chasm between the two of you.

King Arthur:You love Arthur and always eagerly await his next letters and visits.

Accolon:You used to be so close - now your trust in him is shattered.

Gareth:He loves you dearly. He's always there for you.

Duke Lot:His hate for you is getting tiring; all you wish is to avoid him as best you can.

Nimue:As little children, you used to be friends.

Gawain:The two of you are good friend, sending each other letters all the time.

Galahad:You turned his world upside down, making him question what he's been told of you.

Elaine:She considers you a friend - you've been one of the best parts of coming to Lothia.

And my dragon companion, Finneas!

<find the picrew here>

A description of Finneas's personality

Finneas is playful and prone to mischief.

A description of Finneas's skills

Fighting: If playful scuffles count as fighting.

Speed: Isn't slower than their dragon peers.

Anywho, it's a lot of fun so go ahead and check it out on itch!!

[tophthedaydreamer]

toph just saw: space jam 2: a new legacy (what a title)

here’s my thoughts. WARNING, HERE BE SPOILERS!

alrighty, i have a LOT of thoughts. i’ll start by talking abt what i liked!

i LOVE the animation ohhhhh my lord. when lebron and bugs went to pick up their friends in different worlds, i kept screaming with happiness whenever it showed the animated characters interacting with the live action. also!!!! in certain older movies, they make the animation grainer!!!!!! which makes me go jsnsdjafnsdfdsjds!!!!

my favorites were wile e. and roadrunner in mad max, yosemite in the black-and-white movie (i’m so sorry i don’t know the name, i am a failure to film culture), and granny and speedy in the matrix. i also did a double take when i saw elmer in austin powers jnedjsnfkd;g. 

i was touched by the fact that bugs was all alone. kinda pulled a spinel, huh? i really wish they spent more time on that. how long was he alone??? is?? he okay???

and everytime i saw the warners in the background i went

alright. time to talk abt what i didn’t like.

so the story feels a bit too rushed in certain parts, and a bit too slow. there surprisingly wasn’t a lot of action in the big game that got me excited. the comedy didn’t hit right for me either? like, it just. wasn’t all that funny to me. which is a darn shame since i came in really wanting to laugh and enjoy this movie (only part i did laugh at was elmer in austin powers. if you know, you know). i feel like they were really close, though! 

speaking of plot, there’s this part where it seems like bugs is gonna die. they play it super serious, and i genuinely thought he got deleted (ok when he said “we’re all back together again” my heart broke a lil). but when lebron comes back to the real world, bugs is there with him. and i can understand his statement: “i’m a toon! i can survive anything!”. and i like that he and the gang are vibing with lebron now! i wish they did that part differently, or something. idk.

i felt like they kissed lebron’s butt a bit too much. i wish air jordan had a cameo. i think they mary-sue’d lola a bit (i wish they could have called back to her iconic line “don’t ever call me doll”). where. where was penelope pussycat??? i thought she was going to be on the team! not to mention that they seriously ignored marvin, poor guy. 

and they did not come on and slam, and welcome to the jam 😔 (where’s the bomb remix?? i was promised a slappin’ remix!)

ok. that’s me thoughts. i give it a 6/10. pretty close, but not quite there. i wonder if i should see the original?

[oh-obrien]

AAAH THE ONE SHOT WITH THE STOVE WAS EVERYTHING! ✨✨Could I also request something? I did feel the duel scene was a bit underwhelming, I did want some more drama tbh (and I love Anthony as well). What about a one shot Anthony x reader, where the reader accompanies Daphne and lots of more drama? Perhaps reader gets hurt, Anthony in panic, angsty and stuff..feel free to adjust

I HOPE THIS ONE IS GOOD TOO!! I took a few creative liberties with this, adjusting the events on the show to fit the request and what not. 

I’m coming off of a little bit of a migraine hangover and tbh I’m not sure how I feel about this right now on top of getting back into the swing of school. This is the first day since Friday that looking at my computer for more than twenty minutes doesn’t hurt my head so sorry it took longer than expected. 

As always if you’re not happy with this, or if you want to request anything else feel free to slide into my inbox! These requests are SUPER fun.

After Daphne’s scandalous run in with Simon in the garden the night before, Anthony had taken it upon himself to challenge his long-time friend to a duel. The ball was supppsed to be your and Anthony’s grand debut as the newest couple of the season, however, you never got your dance with the Lord, and your dance card now laid empty and forgotten on the floor of the Bridgerton study.

Your dress also laid crumpled in a ball of fabric in the corner of the room. After hearing of your and Anthony’s intentions to begin properly courting, Violet had taken you to the seamstress to get one of your gown adjusted. Genevieve Delacroix had added stunning crystals to the delicate pale green fabric. Your had had been done perfectly by the Bridgerton family’s staff and you had even agreed to wearing a small amount of makeup. However, the night of your dreams abruptly ended when Anthony interrupted your conversation with Colin to inform you both he would be taking Daphne home for the evening as she was not feeling well.

The anger pouring off the eldest Bridgerton was like nothing you had ever seen before and you couldn’t help but wonder if she had rejected the Prince’s proposal, as you knew he had to intend to propose soon, and no night seemed better. However, as Anthony dragged his sister away you couldn’t catch his or Daphne’s eye, leaving your dreams of starting a whirlwind public relationship with Anthony crushed.

You now sat on the desk in the Bridgerton study, Colin pacing around the room in front of you, his boots rhythmically hitting the floor with every step he took. “What if he kills Simon?”

“Colin-”

“What if Simon kills him?”

“Colin I don’t think that-”

“Benedict surely doesn’t want to be bothered with the social scene, does that mean the responsibility to escort all of my sisters through their season falls on me?” The boy in front of you stopped pacing and pulled on the roots of his hair, letting out a long, frustrated sigh. “I’m supposed to be traveling soon! Anthony is supposed to be the mature one, he’s supposed to know how to run the family! Not me!”

“COLIN! STOP!” You finally cut the boy off, standing up and placing both of your hands firmly on his shoulders. “Nothing is going to happen to Simon or Anthony, no one saw Simon and Daphne in that garden other than your brother so there’s nothing to hide!” You dropped your hands from Colin’s shoulder. 

“But-” both you and Colin turned to face the door of the study, Daphne standing in the doorway, her tone sombre and her head bowed towards the ground. “What if someone did see?”

You stepped away from Colin to face the eldest Bridgerton daughter, your tone changing to one of concern. “What do you mean what if someone saw,” you felt panic starting to bubble up in your chest. “Did someone see you and Simon in the garden last night?” You thought Anthony had been overreacting when he pulled yourself and Colin into the study the night before after you had helped escort Lady Bridgerton home. But if Daphne was concerned someone saw her and Simon kiss, maybe he wasn’t overreacting.

Daphne opened her mouth, as if she wanted TJ speak, before closing it again. Silence fell across the three of you before you heard Daphne gasp. “Cressida Cowper,” Daphne blurted out. “When Anthony brought me inside she stopped me and and asked if I caught a chill in the garden.” You watched Daphne’s expression change to one of concern.

“Cressida Cowper,” Colin started running a frustrated hand over his face again, “saw you and Hastings in the garden last night and Anthony, nor Hastings, know?” He took in a long breath before leering the air out through his nose.

Daphne quickly shook her head. “Colin you need to tell me where they went,” Daphne demanded. You pulled your bottom lip between your teeth, not finding it proper to interrupt the conversation between the siblings.

“Daphne, Hasting has, he’s done you one of the greatest dishonors,” Colin quickly shook his head, giving his sister a clearly confused look. “I’m sure you want him to pay.”

“I don’t want him to pay with his life!” Daphne’s voice grew louder and you stepped towards the sibilants again, hoping you wouldn’t have to be the one to calm their tempers so no one else in the estate would be woken.

“Well, I’m sure both Anthony and the Duke will do as gentlemen should and shoot wide,” Colin supplemented with a shrug.

You stepped between the two siblings, “besides,” you supplemented, “everyone might just think that Cressida has a grudge against you. You did take the Prince’s attention off of her, even if you don’t want to admit it.” 

Daphne, however, seemed to refuse to take no for an answer. “Colin you need to tell me where they went.” She turned to her brother again, a desperate look on her face now, “you know Anthony’s pride won’t let him shoot wide.”

Colin puffed air into his cheek, letting it out slowly before speaking. “Fine, but we’re coming with you.” 

You had been lucky enough to be able to bring your own horse with you to London, and now, racing towards the site of the duel, you were glad you had. The Bridgerton’s horses clearly had not gotten used to speeding across the hills, as they lagged slightly behind you. Years of living out in the middle of the country had given you, and your horses, the ability to adapt to all different types of terrain. Be it flooded field, rolling hills or even shoulder high grasses, your horses were able to tackle it all.

You were glad your hair, still expertly tied up from the night before, had yet to be taken out as it kept the strands from flying into your face, distracting you from the task at hand. Still slightly ahead of both Colin and Daphne you were able to make out five figures standing in a plot of open land between two beautiful trees. Anthony and Simon were back to back in the clearing, both men clutching a handgun between their hands.

“You can go faster,” you urged your horse while he pushed himself to fly faster through the tall grass field, his breath coming out in heavy puffs. Anthony and Simon began to take slow, steady steps away from each other and you held your breath, knowing you were unable to push your horse to go any faster without him hurting himself. 

Both men paused briefly before turning to face each other. Anthony pointed his gun towards Simon, while the Duke aimed towards the sky. Now, within proper distance of the ongoing duel you started to slow your horse. “Anthony!” You swung both of your legs to one side of your horse, trying to keep your balance while you did so. “Anthony stop!” Your horse slowed to nearly a stop and you let yourself slide off your horse’s back, your feet not even hitting the ground before you were running towards the two men.

“What are you doing?” Benedict practically yelled while you ran in between Anthony and the Duke. “Anthony! Anthony stop!” Benedict called when he realized you had already made up your mind. However, his call for the eldest Bridgerton to hold his fire.

Before you knew what had hit you, in both a literal and figurative sense, you felt a searing pain cut across your cheek. The bang of the gun firing didn’t reach your ears until after you had hit the ground, your left hand clutched tightly over your right cheek. Anthony and Benedict calling your name didn’t register either, especially when you pulled your hand away from your cheek and noticed it had been covered in blood.

“(Y/N),” a warm, heavy hand was placed on your shoulder and another pulled your hand away from your cheek. “The doctor needs to make you’re you’re fine, (Y/N),” Anthony’s panicked eyes met your own. However, you couldn’t focus on them with the pain in your cheek and the blood still covering your hand.

An older man crouched down next to you, pulling a medical bag up next to him and opening it before he began expecting the wound on your cheek. “The bullet just grazed her,” the doctor spoke while he began cleaning the wound, “she’s lucky.”

“Thank the heavens,” Anthony breathed out while he pressed his forehead to your temple on your unharmed side, his warm breath fanning across your cheek. “I’m so sorry,” you could hear his voice break towards the end.

“She’s perfectly fine my lord, keep the wound clean and covered and it’ll heal in absolutely no time.” You winced when you felt the doctor wipe something across your cheek, the pain flaring up momentarily before subsiding again. “I’m sure you could tell Lady Bridgerton it was a riding accident and everything would be believed. “If that’s all, and you gentlemen don’t intend on trying the duel again,” the doctor looked between Anthony and the Duke, “I’ll be going.”

Hasting and Anthony both thanked the doctor before he departed, Daphne and Simon engaged in a seemingly heated conversation along with Colin and Benedict. “(Y/N).” Anthony started, both of your hands held in one of his large ones. “I don’t-”

“I can’t right now, Anthony,” you placed a hand across your covered cheek. “I just,” you let out a frustrated sigh, “I’m questioning if your mind and your heart and in two different places at the moment.” You felt tears begin to gather in the corners of your eyes.

“(Y/N), please,” Anthony seemed to be nearly begging, tears gathered in his own eyes while you stood up. Your hands felt from his grip and you cupped his cheek with one, running your thumb along his cheek bone.

You offered the man in front of you a sad smile before you removed your hand. “I’m going to ask one of your brothers to escort me home while you and the others decide the next steps between Daph and the Duke.” He opened his mouth to speak, but you didn’t allow him to. “Once you reconsider priorities we can revisit our arrangement, but I will not be second to any other reckless endeavors you wish to engage in if we do get married.”

With that you turned from the Viscount, still on his knees in the damp morning grass, tears in his eyes and a frown on his face.

[woahajimes]

So I have this little headcanon (well,,,, not really a headcanon but more of a nice-to-think-about headcanon because it would never happen but it’s- like the title- nice to think about so im sharing it here) in which they’re all going to the beach in this sorta mini-van that bruce rented. And take in mind that this is the wayne family, but at the same time most people that wear a bat on their chest,,,, so they had to whack some things up.

BUT ANYWAYS, it was Bruce’s dumbass idea to buy a van and call it a road-trip, and honestly? no one was ready. That usually happens with big families, even with one that has most kids over 18. And how everyone was on board with the idea doesn’t matter because this is my headcanon and they are all now squished in a minivan and there are bags in the back and towels in the seats and there’s a cooler on top because it didn’t fit. 

and just for reference the van was like SMALL. it was sort of like the school buses but way smaller, so they’re like buses in which there are three seats in front, driver, and then like two others (the middle one doesn’t really count because that’s where you put waterbottles and stuff). There’s a sort of space in the back, where you usually put the backpacks (these are like elementary school buses and every single kid has those backpacks with wheels and it’s a pain in the ass-) and then there is another set of four seats (that’s more like a sofa but no armrest- god please have patience there is literally not a single image on google im trying to be specific- and those are facing the back of the bus (so the backrest (?) is facing the place with the bags).

THEN we have another seat that’s close to this one but facing the opposite way but it’s only THREE seats so there’s a space for the next row of three seats and then there’s the back one that’s four again.

In conclusion, you can fit 18-ish people, driver counted. 

and continuing with my story, it’s Bruce driving, Alfred as shotgun, a water-bottle or two in the middle, the bags in their respective places... and then... 

disaster. 

Babs is the only one sitting in the four-seat closer to the bags, harper is in the three-seat, Dick is there as well. 

and then there’s the rest. Steph, Cass, Duke, Jason, Tim, Damian, they’re all screaming in the back and they’re throwing towels around and there’s an “OW! THAT WAS MY HAIR YOU DICKHEAD!” and a “THAT’S MINE!” and so many other things because. the back of the bus, it’s cURSED. And Bruce is just driving with a strained smile because he wants so badly to turn around and throw a waterbottle at each of their heads to get them to shut up (of course, it wouldn’t work because not even god can calm down the back of the bus)

Tim and Jason somehow get into this argument of how tim ‘has no friends’ and Tim shoots back that in fact he DOES, that he’s calling them right this instant. And bruce doesn’t even have a chance to yell at them, because now there’s a speedster and a cloned kryptonian right beside the moving minivan and Bruce is lowkey freaking out because none of them (the ones in the van and the ones out) are wearing their superhero costumes, and then Tim is just with his hands pressed on the window and he’s like practically banging the glass and waving and they can’t hear him but he’s like “HEY! HEY HYE HEY YOU GUYS MADE IT!!!” and then dick is just telling them to cut it out and slow down because you know, identities, and Steph is like HOLY SHIT THEY DID MAKE IT and Damian is just sitting upside down with his legs in the backrest off the seat and Duke is in the same position, making fun of Damian because his feet don’t reach. 

Kon and Bart seem to get the hint because they slow down, but not before bart has literally jumped towards the MOVING VAN and vibrated through (i’m like 99% sure he is able to do that so-) and then he literally landed on Tim (tim actually softened his fall, because Tim’s back literally made a ~crack~ sound by hitting somebody’s knee) and stood up real quick and then started waving and laughing at kon, who was now running normal-speed beside the van. 

And then bruce went FASTER and kon was like WHAT THE HECK OLD MAN and he can’t use his powers so he’s literally running behind the van and bart is laughing his ass off and then tim is like “BRUCE STOP THE VAN!” and then Bart is already calling cassie and telling her what happened and you can hear cassie laughing from over the phone and then Tim is just yelling at bruce in the background. Bruce eventually DOES stop, and Tim opens the door for him and Kon crawls in and Bart’s still laughing, and he’s practically leaning onto Dick and Harper, and they’re squished together and bart’s just laughing on the phone while Kon sits on the really far end of the opposite seat (practically on the door) so he’s the furthest from babs as possible because he’s actually terrified of her. Tim is just sorta awkward because he now realizes that he was a bit TOO excited to see kon, and then the back of the bus/van is staring at them and like what the hell and then Tim goes “who doesn’t have friends, huh?”, and Jason goes ‘pfft’ and he calls roy but he’s spending time with lian; he calls artemis and she goes, “but wasn’t this a family trip? what do you need me for?”, SO jaosn calls bizarro and then he barely answers the phone when bizarro goes “RED HER SAID NO. BYE” so Jason slumps and it’s quiet for a second when steph goes “is that GUM IN MY HAIR”. And then jason laughs and its chaos all over again. (i might make a ‘things that were heard from the back of the road trip bus post bc i have so many ideas oh my god)

and then they are at the beach, the bus barely stops and there’s a few bags thrown out the window, and people yelling at Kon to open the door, and Kon not being able to work under pressure so tim opens it and everyone’s pushing each other and Steph has an uneven strand of hair, because Damian went to ‘extreme measures’ and cut it so now steph’s hair is uneven and they were going to keep cutting it “to make it even” but then Alfred was like “you’re all going to clean the van afterwards so think carefully” and then nobody did anything and there’s literally a ziploc bag with steph’s strand of hair (damian didn’t even cut to where the gum was, he cut even FURTHER but yes, the gum is in the bag). 

As I was saying, they get out of the van, and the bags are out and Bruce has NO IDEA what to do. none. It’s alfred that rents a tent and then Damian’s chasing duke into a random restaurant’s changeroom and showers and then cass is dragging harper that’s dragging steph that’s dragging jason and tim is getting the bags with Kon and bart and bart realizes that he doesn’t  have a swimsuit and then he stops walking and Kon seems to realize too and it’s like OH MAN and they can’t run back (because no powers, rule set by bruce when two super-powered bros came in the bus) and They’ recarrying the bags to this tent (do you guys know what im talking about? i feel like we’re imagining completely different things- it’s this but much more people and there’s a bunch of people selling stuff like sunglasses and doign hair, piercings, tattoos even - for the tattoos thing it’s just promo for an actual shop they don’t tattoo you in the actual beach - ) and It’s literally Kon, tim and bart carrying the bags (which they CAN carry between the three, it’s not like they packed up half the manor) and then a minute later or so Steph is sprinting towards Tim and she’s yelling something Tim can’t understand and then Steph points at her bag (that tim’s carrying) and she screams something like “SAND! HOT!” and then she’s like high-knee-ing/sprinting even faster and Cass is just walking barefoot in the sand, super calm, but she’s got Harper on her back. Damian and Duke are racing towards the shadow (because the sand is cooler there), and next thing you know Jason’s aready in the tent with a coconut. 

And if you haven’t thougth about how the Batfam would be in the beach then let me tell you, you don’t have enough spare time because i know for a FAT FACT that: 

It was Jason that insisted on Bruce buying sand toys (a whole bag, i swear)

Damian tried coconut water, didn’t like it all that much (altho he loves the inside- idk what it’s called but it’s edible i swear)

Bruce put on an excessive amount of sunscreen

Duke has swimming trunks with the robin logo just to piss damian off (also Damian has matching ones but with the batman one)

Steph, Cass and Harper rented a banana boat (here’s a picture) and they dragged Jason and Tim along, just to toss them off in the end 

Jason 1000% got stung by a jellyfish 

Bruce bought like seven friendship bracelets from this guy that made them because they looked deadass cool 

They played beach volleyball and let me tell you Damian can throw a really mean overhand serve (actually, i don’t think you THROW a serve, but like,,, serve one-)

dick got buried in the sand, courtesy of Jason

bart was pissy because he couldn’t go in the water, so he and Kon sprinted with normal speed (they both had water-proof anklets that sucked their powers, so it was REALLY  a no-powers vacation, courtesy of Bruce, again.)

the only ones in stock were neon, and they settled real quick so now theyre sprinting back and cardying a bag of keychains they thought looked rad as hell and now tim caught up to them and all three are practically skipping towards the water

,,,,they forgot to put sunscreen on.... all of them,,, they forgot....

tim made a sand castle

in teams of two (kon/bart, tim/cass, duke/harper, steph/jason, dick/damian) got on each other shoulders and basically spent five minutes trying to see who would be the last team standing, splashing water everywhere and stuff

first team to go down was Dick and damian, because steph pushed damian and by trying to keep himself on Dick's shoulders, damian accidentally poked dick's eye (sort of CLAWED in so you know what i mean).

second team to go down was steph and jason, because damian doesnt play fair and so he swam down and literally just scratched Jason's ankle, knowing damn well that the jellyfish sting was there. Jaosn shrieked and steph lost her balance. so much for vigilantes at night with stealth and talent, huh.

third team to go down was tim and bart because kon insisted on being on bart’s shoulders and that’s easy peasy because i mean, bart’s not WEAK, but he’s not TALL either and it’s not like Kon weighs a feather and they’re on the deeper side,,,,, you can imagine the rest

Now there’s two teams, and they call it a tie because otherwise someone’s gonna end up injured (altho tim likes to say that he and cass won)

There’s music playing in the background, with really vulgar lyrics that alfred disapproves of, but you know. It’s not his beach. 

THIS IS REALLY JUST A SCREAM POST SORRY IT’S NOT WHAT YOU GUYS SIGNED UP FOR BUT TAGLIST ANYWAYS: @red-hood-redemption @screennamealreadyused @bikoncon @catxsnow @thesporklecat @thesesickfics-justmakemesick @hauntingsonofrobin anddd i think i forgot someone sorry 

[addictedtojmanga]

Shoujo manga recommendations - otome game isekai

So, after 10+ years reading shoujo manga, I’ve read over 1k titles, admittedly, a reasonable amount is one-shot (or at least a collection of), but nonetheless, over time I had to expand my interests.

Lately, I’ve started reading the otome game isekai genre, and decided it’d be nice to share the ones I thought were best.

Most of them are pretty much the same, but the best ones usually have a twist, so...

! Warning: You’ll most likely want to beat up 1 or 2 characters from each one, but worry not, so do I and the other characters

1. Fiancée's Observation Log of the Self-proclaimed Villainess

Crown prince Cecil was so brilliant that everything in life was easy to the point of boring him, then one day, his fiancée Bertia suddenly said "Prince Cecil, I am a villainess!" Claiming that this world is the same as that of an "otome game" from her past life and that she is playing the role of the "villainess" in it, she aims to play her part well and have their engagement annulled. With that goal in mind, she sets about causing turmoil in Cecil's daily life.

This one definitely takes the gold for me. Super sweet and pretty funny.

2. My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!

Most people would prefer being the protagonist of a world full of adventure, be it in a game or in another world. But, unfortunately, a certain girl is not so lucky. Regaining the memories of her past life, she realizes that she was reborn in the world of Fortune Lover—one of the games she used to play. Unfortunately, the character she was reincarnated into—Katarina Claes—is the game's main antagonist, who faces utter doom in every ending. Using her extensive knowledge of the game, she takes it upon herself to escape from the chains of this accursed destiny. However, this will not be an easy feat, especially since she needs to be cautious as to not set off death flags that may speed up the impending doom she is trying to avoid. Even so, to make a change that will affect the lives of everyone around her, she strives—not as the heroine—but as the villainess.

This one takes 2nd place! It has a different result than others, and the FL is great - everyone is, to be fair.

3. Of Course I’ll Claim Palimony

"I'll annul our engagement!" My fiancé suddenly declared?! Apparently he's in love with the recently transferred count's daughter and is planning on making me the villain in order to annul the engagement. Although I have no lingering attachments about the engagement, I do have to claim a hefty consolation fee don't I?

This is sooo good. The FL is spectacular and manages to stand out - even if just a bit - from the rest of the genre.

4. I’m a Villainous Daughter, so I’m going to keep the Last Boss

Avoid the BAD END! That's the goal of the villainess in this plot-twisting story!! She has been reborn into the world of an otome game as the villainess, Irene. Using her memories of her former life, she recognizes flags indicating she's en-route to the bad end, so she makes a plan to conquer the last boss (the evil king Claude), make him her lover, and see if she can open up a new route!

Pretty funny, and the FL is bold. Also, the ML is a bishounen.

It’s one of the few mangas from this genre that has been completely translated, and since it only has 13 chapters, it’s a good way to start out.

5. The Plain & Unnoticeable Me is No More

Elaine Lana Norris, who was born at the top of the aristocratic daughter, was declared abandoned by her second fiancé at the school's founding party. Lana, who has been made a villain daughter, is driven out of her home by a strict grandfather. But there is a secret in Lana that everyone doesn't know about?

I don’t want to give out any spoilers, however, it suffices to say that she accepts her role as the villainess.

Ok, I think these 5 are my favorite, but the ones below have been selected as well, so they’re still pretty good and worth reading.

6. The Villiainess Is Adored by the Crown Prince of the Neighboring Kingdom    

Tiararose was supposed to be disengaged and exiled from the country. “This was the Otome game I had played!” She realized on the day before the story’s ending??……. Shall I wait for the judgment? But, I did not do anything too cruel……. Thinking so, the ending continues. But, during the judgement??something that was not possible in the game happened. The neighboring crown prince courted the villainous daughter Tiararose.

ML: 10/10 FL: 8/10 (too insecure for my taste)

7. Endo and Kobayashi’s Live Commentary on the Villainess

She’s always putting on that grumpy face even though she’s not actually that upset! Oh, why can’t she just be honest with herself…!??? She is a tsundere, after all? When her embarrassment levels exceed a certain limit, she will explode into anger. However, the point that she’s suppressing under the surface is that she wouldn’t mind that sort of thing if it were in a less public place.? As Endo-kun passionately reacts to the antics of Lady Liselotte, the villainess of an otome game, Kobayashi-san provides a painstaking breakdown of her tsundere behaviour. Suddenly, one person could hear their voices; Liselotte’s fiancée, Prince Siegward. That is where this story begins.

8. I’m the Villainess, but the Capture Targets are too Abnormal  

The villainess, Mystia, remembered her past life on her 10th birthday and has unwittingly turned the characters in the otome game "Kyun Kyun Love School" into yanderes! In order to avoid becoming the love rival of the "heroine" who will lead her to her downfall, she starts making every effort to break off her engagement with her "prince-like classmate"! That’s was what supposed to happen...But, because of her kind personality, her favorability increased instead!

It’s still in its beginning stages, but seems pretty solid.    

9. Though I May Be a Villainess, I'll Show You I Can Obtain Happiness!  

A collection of one shots.

Great way to start out, it has quite a few options, so if you don’t like one, give another one a try!

10.  The Villainess, Cecilia Silvie, Doesn't Want to Die, So She Decided to Cross-dress!      

I was reincarnated into the body Cecilia Silvie, the villainess of an otome game. According to the plot, what awaits me in the normal route is either a slow, painful death or an instantaneous one... Essentially, every route leads to my demise. Then I'll change my fate! And that's why I decided to become a man. However, I made a mistake during a certain event, and the story began to head down an unexpected path...?

I haven’t seen any other like this, and if you like gender bender, this one’s for you!

11.  I’ll Become a Villainess That Will Go Down in History ― The More of a Villainess I Become, the More the Prince will Dote on Me

Alicia is the eldest daughter of the noble Williams family—a bloodline that excels in dark magic. Her jet-black hair and golden eyes command a powerful presence, but her most unique features are, without a doubt, her sharp tongue and malevolent nature. By all means, she is a villainess, but also a fictional character from an otome game!

12. I’m Not a Villainess!! Just Because I Can Control Darkness Doesn’t Mean I’m a Bad Person!

The novel The Saint Beloved by the Prince is set in the land of Lacia, where spirits control the elements, each of which is overseen by a "Spirit King." On rare occasions, these Spirit Kings may bless a single human, granting them immense magical control over their respective element. The heroine, Amelia Logan, and the villainess, Claudia Leitzya, are two sides of the same coin, blessed by the Light and Dark Spirit Kings respectively. However, while Amelia is beloved, Claudia is hated and rejected due to her dark skin, ebony locks, and aptitude for dark magic. After dying in modern-day Japan, Sakura is reborn as an infant Claudia. While difficult at first, Claudia tries to adjust to this new life, all the while accompanied by the Dark Spirit King Gerald. But even this task is far from easy; people fear her at first glance, no matter how she acts toward them. Still, Claudia is set on changing her fate from the novel, proving she is a good person and breaking free from the shackles of a "villainess."

13. Rebirth of the Villainess: The Life of Letizia after the Engagement Annulment      

For some reason, the duke's daughter, Letizia, was plotting to break her engagement with the prince. Her plan succeeded and the prince, none the wiser. But shortly after the engagement was terminated... The King collapsed! In that moment, she recalled her memories of her past life as a nurse and she fully utilised her knowledge & experience as a nurse, to save the King's life. Thinking she had achieved what she wanted, she thought she could finally relax, drinking her favourite beverage and leisurely spend her time, she instead somehow keeps getting involved in incident after incident. The slow and peaceful life is now nothing but a dream!? Lazy daughter, busy seeking freedom and laziness!

14. I Won't Become a Villainess. I'm Just a "Normal" Duke's Daughter!

A Japanese person reincarnated into an otome game chock full of death flags for the villainess, Rosalind. "I'm going to live an enjoyable life in this world!" Making full use of the game knowledge to avoid death flags, for some reason events keep happening one after another?! Contracting with spirits, helping her father (the prime minister) with his work using her modern day knowledge, taking a walk with the holy beast... and on top of all that, even starting up the heroine's event...? Will Rosalind be able to smash through every unknown death flag that comes her way...?! And will she be able to be fluffy lovey-dovey with the supporting beastkin character she liked from her previous life?!

Cute. Has beasts.

15. Milady Just Wants to Relax      

She worked herself to death in her past life, but then she was reborn in another world as the villainess Ronia! As expected, her engagement is broken and she's expelled from society, but now she takes that chance to live peacefully, and even opens a cafe with the help of her fairy comrades, which is becoming unexpectedly popular with beast-kin...?

Also cute. Also has beasts.

16. I Swear I Won’t Bother You Again!            

Violette, a proud and beautiful daughter of a duke, commits a crime out of jealousy towards her half-sister. Convicted, Violet faces her own heart with sincerity in a prison cell and regrets her sin. Then time rewinds to a turning point—to her first meeting with Maryjun one year ago. Violette makes a decision. She will not make mistakes this time. Without committing a crime and bothering anyone, she will live an ordinary, plain and inconspicuous life...! However, incidents contrary to Violette's expectations occur one after another...?!

17. I Became a Villain Daughter

On her 15th birthday, Hinase Kaede, a young girl who was working as a part-timer, perished in a traffic accident. Upon her death, a self-proclaimed “God” appeared, declaring that Kaede would be brought back to life. However, Kaede’s happiness was short-lived and her soul was thrown into Erika, the villainess of an otome game! In the original game, Erika became a saint candidate alongside the heroine, committed evil deeds over the course of the candidacy, and ultimately faced condemnation. Thus, Kaede decides that she will not get close to the main characters of the game so as to avoid the bad end, but yet——?

[malfoys-demigod]

Turn Me or Leave Me 2/2

1/2

Summary: Elijah makes his choice to find and return you to him with the help of Marcel.

A/N: It was really nice to see that people wanted a second part. This one's shorter but I hope you still enjoy it!

Word Count: 1.8k

Tagging: @puddinmistahj-blog @moon-child-writer @wanniiieeee @agent-anna @mysticalfallsss

“All I wanted was a happy ending. A happy ending to what I have caused on our special day.” Elijah said, expressing his guilt on a sunny morning. A day after the evening of when he learned that you, the love of his life, had chosen to leave, and adding to the misery, asked that your memories were to be erased. Every last one memory he and you shared for the past five years.

Marcel and Klaus, being his only two anchors who felt responsible to hold the honorable and noble Mikaelson standing, stood behind the still-sad Elijah, listening to him sulk around the compound.

Marcel felt highly accountable for putting Elijah in greater pain, confiding in him the truth that came along with nothing but distress. He also felt sorry that he had to tell them something that made you unsure of telling Marcel in the first place, despite not telling them exactly where you were headed… yet.

The right hand of Klaus had sighed, looking at the ground, getting Elijah to turn around and look at him with focus.

“I’ll have you know Marcellus that I completely feel regret in myself for giving her the choice to leave. I shouldn’t have referred to her as a wall when it came to discussing important matters as that. I feel entirely in the wrong as she was right in making that point of no difference between now or five years for me to turn her. I vowed that I’d do anything to make her happy and I denied a simple request that I could have given in a heartbeat. I am clearly spiraling down a whole of great depression and fear, on the brink of turning my humanity off knowing that I cannot attempt to get her back. Is that what you wanted out of me?” he asked, irritated and drained.

Marcel looked at Klaus, who seemed to have shrugged, signaling that this was not his floor for him to say anything since he wasn’t the one to have gotten Elijah’s attention. He then looked back at Elijah, who was breathing heavily from what he had just told Marcel.

“I’m sorry, Elijah, you must have misunderstood me,” Marcel stated, “You see, I wanted to honor the moment Y/N and I had together that night in the airport. In order for her to tell me where she was going, I told her that there was no use in feeling hesitant to tell me since there was an assumption that you’d back off and respect her wishes of leaving, staying here instead. I shouldn’t have done that now that I’m hoping you’d sweep her off her feet again and get her back. Before you snap my neck or anything, just know that I’m on your side now, I want you to get her back.”

Elijah used his super-speed to quickly appear in front of Marcel, looking at him with serious eyes, “Then kindly tell me where she is. I’d like to get my wife back.”

Marcel patted Elijah in the back, smirking with delight, “With pleasure, but there’s someone you should know with her over there who’ll be brought back as well.”

Elijah’s face turned to stone, as his excitement was abruptly brought to a pause. “Who?” he asked with worry.

--

“I’m so glad we could end today’s shopping at this wonderful restaurant’s seating choice, Rebekah.” you thanked your newly made friend.

The two of you were currently at Duke’s La Jolla, a Hawaiian-inspired restaurant known for its beautiful outdoor seatings, overlooking the ocean views San Diego had to offer. This was near La Jolla Cove, a place Rebekah had planned on taking you to see after.

Right now, Duke’s was the place to gather energy and restore appetite after today’s massive shopping care of Rebekah at The Shops, an unparalleled experience for shopping at the city. She surprisingly took care of all the expenses, managing you to not stress about the endless rolling of receipts. She said it was another warm way of welcoming you to the city.

“Of course, dear, Y/N,” Rebekah waved off, “I’ve befriended the chef quite some time ago and got us the best seats for today. He’s remarkably a talented chef I might say as our meals are on the house.”

You gasped at the fact that meals were also taken cared of, “First the shopping, now the meals? This clearly has to be a dream, Rebekah, I’m serious, nobody could be that lucky in one day.”

“I can assure you that the chef of Duke’s has his ways of welcoming newcomers to his city and giving out free meals on your first visit is one of his many ways,” said an masculine voice, interrupting the conversation.

You looked up to see an elegant and sophisticated man, wearing a black luxurious suit, smiling at you with such captivation in his eyes. He removed one of his hands that had been hiding in his pocket, lending it out for you to shake.

“I’m Elijah, Rebekah’s brother,” the man introduced himself to you.

You took out your hand, shaking it with a small, enchanted smile on your face as you were charmed by his presence, “It’s nice to meet you, Elijah, I’m Y/N.”

Elijah felt nothing but pure attractiveness in how refreshing you looked compared to how he saw you last time. He was feeling nervous but wonderful to see you as you felt and appeared so different.

He examined how different you looked in terms of fashion. Rebekah transformed you into this fresh West Coast beach girl, successfully rocking the sundress and denim jacket as your hair was flowing down in a wavy manner. Your smile, it really showed that you were compelled. You had no thoughts of the troubling life you had in New Orleans, especially during the last time you interacted with Elijah. You seemed to have had no thought on the supernatural events happening, as there was nothing but sunshine on your mind.

Marcel seemed to have noticed that Elijah was about to start fawning over you for a much longer time than he had expected, which caused him to nudge Elijah in the shoulder, bringing him back to reality.

Elijah, animated back to reality, turned to Marcel, who was smiling warmly at you, “This is Marcel, a friend of mine.”

“He’s also my boyfriend actually,” Rebekah stated, smiling at you and Elijah. Marcel extended his hand and chuckled at you, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Y/N.”

You shook Marcel’s hand, gasping again at Rebekah, “Rebekah I didn’t even know about you having a brother, and now a boyfriend? You seem to be hiding lots of things from me,” you teased.

“Relax darling, I’ve only met you a few days ago, I can’t just talk you through my entire life,” Rebekah sarcastically replied, “No doubt that would take centuries,” she looked at Elijah with a smirk.

“Right, well I wouldn’t want to be rude anymore, Elijah, Marcel, would you like to join us? The view is to die for, and so is the food!” you proposed, inviting your two new friends to sit with you by the table.

Rebekah waved her hands at Elijah and Marcel who had begun nodding and gesturing to sit, “But would you look at the time? Y/N was meaning to be taken to La Jolla Cove and now seems to be the perfect time.”

You turned to Rebekah, narrowing your eyebrows in confusion. But before you had a say in it, Elijah took a step forward and pointed at his sister, “Yes well, perhaps you’ve forgotten that you and Marcel have matters to attend to by this hour, sister? Y/N shouldn’t be worried about cancelled plans on her end, I’d be delighted to take her for you, if that's alright with you, Y/N?” he asked, now looking at you.

You rapidly nodded in excitement, “Of course, I don’t see why not!”

Marcel clasped his hands together, rubbing it in successfully, “Well now that’s settled, I think it’s time to make a move now,” he offered, looking at the group with a big grin on his face. Rebekah pursed her lips in irritation, “Right, just fantastic…” she murmured, standing up and making her way beside Marcel.

Elijah took his hand out gracefully, which you took in response, standing up beside him with an elated smile on your face. “Well, thank you for lunch today, Rebekah, and of course shopping. I’ll see you at home later?”

“With good things to look forward to I hope,” Rebekah strangely replied, which somehow Elijah and Marcel knew what she meant, leaving Marcel and Rebekah to part ways after that, resulting in you and Elijah left alone again.

He looked at you with mesmerism for a quick second and then gestured his hand to the exit, “Shall we?”

--

Plans with the person taking you to La Jolla Cove may have been changed but something about Elijah taking you instead didn’t really bother you. He was nothing but a pleasure to be with at the moment. After multiple times of offering that you drive, you finally gave up when Elijah strongly insisted that he’d take the wheel and drive the two of you to your destination.

For some reason, the drive to the cove had been surprisingly quiet in a good way. Glances at each other were exchanged every so often, smiling at each other as if you two were an old and sweet married couple enjoying each other’s moments together.

While you were thinking about how kind and handsome your friend’s brother was, Elijah was feeling nothing but a breeze of happiness in his heart, seeing you smile as if nothing in the world was bothering you at the moment. He was a little sad that you weren’t aware anymore of the feud between you two, but he wanted to cherish this happy and silent moment the two of you were sharing, knowing it would come to an end later on as he intended of bringing your memories back.

Once you arrived at the cove, you quickly stepped out and breathed the fresh and sunny air in the small, picturesque cove and beach that was surrounded by cliffs. “Wow, I can see why this place is deeply loved by both tourists and locals.” you admitted, gazing at the waves and breathtaking sky.

You turned around, looking at Elijah, who seemed to have already made his way beside you, putting his hands back on his pocket. You noticed how elegantly perfect he looked in his suit, but it didn’t really suit the setting. “Can I be honest with you, Elijah?” you asked, getting his attention.

He gave a small smile and nod, gesturing for you to continue, “Of course.”

“No offense because I really like your whole get up and all but wearing a nice suit… on a beach?” you joked, laughing at what you said.

Elijah looked down at his whole look, grinning at your observation and started unbuttoning his jacket, “Yes, I suppose you’re right. I do hope though that folding up my shirt and trousers would suffice at the moment.”

“We could head back to the mall and get you some beach clothes if you want,” you offered, turning around to the car.

Elijah shook his head, and stopped you by grabbing your forearm, “That won’t be necessary, Y/N, I wouldn’t want you to miss out on spending more time in this lovely place.”

You nodded, showing a gesture of appreciation and looked back at the view of the beach, “It’s beautiful isn’t it? I’ve never seen such magnificent views like this. You see, I’m originally from New Orleans and I just moved here to the West Coast and I haven’t really had much exposure to things like this.”

Elijah, finished folding his shirt and trousers, looked at you with care, “Do you like it here so far?”

You nodded, showing eyes of hopes and dreams awaiting to be accomplished, “You bet. I don’t really see myself going back to New Orleans. I can’t explain how I’m feeling exactly but this place makes me feel free and at ease. Like nothing’s stopping me to live a carefree and happy life.”

Elijah displayed somewhat of a small smile, which to him was because he was relieved and happy that you were happy. The smile was small because he also felt unhappy that he was not able to provide you this happiness.

“What about you, Elijah?”

“Hm?” Elijah hummed in confusion.

“Are you living a carefree and happy life as well?” you prompted, asking innocently. “Perhaps there’s a special person in your life that’s giving you the additional happiness in your life?” There was something in your gut that wanted you to ask this, wanting to know if he had a significant other in his life.

Elijah chuckled to himself in a depressing way, looking down at the ground. “It’s quite a long story.”

“Ah,” you opened your mouth, happy that you understood what he was trying to say, “But do you love her?”

There seemed to be a quick and honest nod from Elijah, who seemed to be looking directly at the horizon, as if he was vividly thinking about his girl. “Words cannot express how much I love her.”

“So what happened?” you genuinely asked.

“One single yet vast mistake I made on my end. It ruined everything that we had together and I will never forget how much I regretted everything that led to her completely starting a new life without me. It broke my heart but I deserved that. She doesn’t deserve to have her heart broken because I wasn’t thinking things correctly.” he utterly confessed with grief.

You touched his shoulder out of pity, causing him to look at you with soft eyes, “Fight for her, Elijah. She has to be around here somewhere, hasn’t she? It isn’t too late to see if you have a chance to get her back and I know you will. I can help find her!” you supportingly said, trying to get his hopes up.

But it somehow failed. He sighed, shaking his head at you. His hand slowly touched yours, the one that held his shoulder. “Looking around for her won’t be necessary,” he replied, confusing you, “Because you’ve been standing alongside me today.”

You narrowed your eyes, wondering what he meant as this sounded strange to you. “I-I don’t follow, Elijah.”

Elijah placed both his hands on your shoulders firmly, looking you straight in the eye as he started compelling you.

“What we have just briefly discussed between us is considered a highlight of what I’m about to bring back to you,” he first said, “Recently, Marcel Gerard had compelled you to forget everything that happened to you in the last five years upon your request. The reason for this was because I denied you of becoming a vampire after being asked by you on our five year anniversary. With this, we had a massive quarrel, leaving you to have your memories erased and decide to start a new life here, away from New Orleans. Eventually you met again, Rebekah, but that doesn’t matter as much as what I’m about to say. I, Elijah Mikaelson, your husband, have travelled to see you, ending this compulsion to give you free will upon hearing what has been said.”

A few mere seconds had passed after Elijah’s compulsions and there you were, standing, and staring at someone who grew fondly familiar to you, bringing about tears slowly falling on your face as emotions were just attacking your body, hitting you right in the face with such clarity and impact.

Elijah only saw a tearful wife of his, narrowing her eyes with emotion as she didn’t know how to feel at the moment. He wanted to hug her and tell her everything was fine but he wanted her to make the first move, giving her the choice on how she wanted to react.

“E-Elijah,” your voice broke, causing you to just wrap your arms around his neck, breaking out to sob quietly. Elijah frowned in pity, hugging you back with such grip on his arms, wanting to not let you go. He gently rubbed your back, whispering sweet words and telling you to let it all out.

“My darling,” he whispered, “Just let it all out, it will be alright.”

Still embracing him, you shook your head, which he felt you do, “No,” you denied, “I’m so sorry, Elijah.”

This caused the heartwarming hug to stop from the two of you, as you simultaneously pulled out from each other. Elijah looked at you with slight confusion, after hearing you apologize. “Elijah,” you continued, “It was really wrong of me to lash out on you that night. I completely destroyed our anniversary night all because of one thing I kept going on about. Then I didn’t even let you know what choice I chose, leaving you to find out in a way you couldn’t imagine. I’m very, truly, sorry.”

Elijah gloomed, lowering his face with guilt, “No, Y/N,” he started with a low, sad voice, “It is I who is in the wrong, not you. You will never be in the wrong. What you asked for was something to do with what special thing we have. Of course it is my dream to live an eternal life with you, and when the situation appeared in front of me, I foolishly ignored it and words cannot express how wrong that was of me to do. I was a fool for doing so, for letting you go, and making you unhappy. It went to show how vapid I was as a husband and the guilt of that lives in me. It was I who destroyed our special day together, not you, but I. When you left without telling me, I deserved that as it gave me the time to reflect on how much of a mindless person I was that night. Knowing that you went here to start a life without me broke me. I never wanted to imagine what it was like to not have you in my life anymore and that fear arrived the moment we fought and I was trembling with such immense fear, knowing that life would crumble down without you by my side. I want you to know Y/N, that you are the love of my life always and forever. I am deeply apologetic for what I have done and I want you to know that I will do everything in my power to make things right, to make us right again, because all I want in my life is to make you happy and if you will, I would like to live an eternal life with you, for you are the light of my life.”

It didn’t take another second for you to think about it. Despite going through a lot on both your ends, he was still the love of your life. If there was one thing the Mikaelsons taught you, it was that no matter what happens, family will always come down as the number one thing in life, always and forever.

You nodded, starting to grow a smile on your face, followed along with giggles, which caused Elijah to tense down and return the smile, “Yes, Elijah,” you replied, “I will always love you with all my heart. You are after all, my husband, my lover, my favorite person in the entire world and I would never want things to end between us for you too are the light of my life.”

With that, Elijah cupped your face and connected his lips with yours, planting a passionate and heartwarming kiss to end the beautiful day in one of your favorite places with your favorite person. You returned to wrapping your arms around his neck, hoping to stay like this forever with him.

Perhaps the two of you could stay in this beautiful place for awhile, after all… It is your special week in the end.

[nikkywrites]

The Superhero Next Door // Part One

Summary: Starla moves in with her sister. Things get better. Then she notices her new neighbor and not in a good way.

Based off this prompt/idea by @caffeinewitchcraft

This one has been reworked a bit. Still the same story though, just fixed how Starla notices Duke, basically. That’s the biggest change.

*****

"That would be a literal blessing," her sister says, sighing into the phone with hope that pierces through the static of low reception.

"Well," Starla sighs, hand on her hip, looking at the stacked boxes in her apartment, artfully ignoring the eviction notice laying on the kitchen counter. "I kind of don't have a place to live past Thursday, so I don't have much of a choice."

"Well, you're always welcome to come take the guest room."

Starla rubs the bridge of her nose. "I can't afford any rent, though."

"You don't need to pay rent, " Melissa insists, words garbled by the piercing sound of a crying baby. There's some rustling, sound muffled as she deals with the crying newborn. "You're my sister,” she continues, voice softer as she soothes the baby, practically cooing. "It's no problem and you'd be doing me a huge favor anyways, with the kids."

"Okay," Starla says, nodding to herself, like she has options and a choice. "Let's do it."

So she moves in.

It’s what’s best for both them, what with Starla’s apartment block being torn down to place a strip mall, and with Melissa having two new babies that she was raising solo. This was better for both of them, and it would help restore their bond that had been neglected since they had both reached adulthood and thrown themselves into work and romance.

This was good.

Starla moves in easily, happy to be closer to her sister and niece and nephew, but missing the busyness of city life.

She’s a babysitter now. Glorified, with her lack of rent, and definitely overpaid, but still a babysitter.

It’s exhausting, so maybe not so much overpaid or glorified. Maybe she had underestimated the amount of work and attention two babies took.

Watching one baby is difficult, but two? It’s the only thing that fills her day, and it does a fantastic job of doing so. It takes time, and after only a few days, she’s become adept at holding them both at once and caring for both of their needs.

She’s becoming a good aunt, she thinks. A solid second parent to the tiny babies who will never meet the man tied to them by blood. It’s hard, but she loves them and that makes it worth it.

It doesn’t take long for her to familiarize herself with the neighbors. 

Casey from down the block walks her two Shepherd mixes twice a day every day. Mat from across the street brings his sons to the park three days a week. Leslie jogs at six in the morning before work. Jake brought her a welcoming tin of muffins when he noticed that she’d moved in, a joint gift from him and his wife. Kay from the end of the road hosts a weekly hang out that she kindly sent her an invitation to alongside a welcome note.

None of them are who catches her attention, though. It’s Duke, who is her new direct neighbor who catches her eye. She’s never bumped into him or anything, but she’s acutely aware of his existence.

She’s-- she doesn’t mean to spy, but she’s sure that he’s no normal neighbor.

She’s fairly convinced that he’s a Super, actually.

No one in the neighborhood suspects, no idle gossip whispered when she questioned about the new neighbor who hasn’t bothered (or noticed) that someone new has moved into the house next door. He’s fairly secluded among everyone.

He doesn’t go to Kay’s hangouts. He’s just home to sleep, everyone says. He’s not a social guy. He does, though, travel into the city pretty often for hours at a time. Some of it is on a schedule.

Some of it is not.

Starla has... perhaps checked the news when he does, to see how often it lines up with city Super sightings, but it doesn’t enough for obvious eyebrows to be raised. But she knows that Supers don’t always go out in suits when they’re working, so it’s an iffy measurement from the start.

It doesn’t damn or clear him.

Not much would. But she’d find what she had to. If he was low-level, she’d be fine with it. It was the high tiers who couldn’t escape from their work. Who’s work followed them after they shrugged off the suit and the mask and the name.

It was fine if he wasn’t dangerous. She wasn’t planning on outing him. She just needed to know if he was safe.

After she learned that, she’d leave him be.

It’s his fault for being obvious. He comes home bruised and battered from an office job. He has odd hours. He’s left for the city at night a time or two, speeding out of his driveway in a hurry. No one has ever been in his house. No one has said anything more then hello or good morning to him. He was a ghost. A picture of what it looked like when someone was trying to be invisible.

It was suspicious. It had her gut rolling in unease.

Scones are how she decides to start. it’s polite to bake goods for neighbors and scones are bland enough he probably won’t hate them. It’ll open the door of her getting closer.

The twins are napping when she gets the chance to start throwing the batch together. She hopes they sleep for the hour or so it’ll take for her to throw it in the oven because she’s starting it from scratch. They don’t, of course, or more specifically, Cassie doesn’t.

She abandons the bowl of unmixed powders with liquid poured over the top like a faulty volcano to scoop up the crying baby.  “Hey baby,” she coos, swiping a finger over a soft, velvet cheek as she bounces softly. “Whatcha crying for, huh?”

She settles fairly quickly, her large eyes drifting down. Carefully, Starla sets her back into the rocker and returns to baking, sacrificing time for silence. 

They sleep through the rest of mixing and shaping into triangle-esque blobs. It’s after she sets the timer that they wake again, and she’s quick to go over and give them another feeding, and a diaper change for Benjamin.

Caring for them both had seemed impossible, at the beginning, but now it was as easy as breathing.

Her life is turning around, rising from the bland routine it had fallen into. A brightening comet that lights her night sky.

Things were much less stressful now. She enjoyed her day to day, which she didn’t before. She’d loved the city, but it hadn’t been kind to her and the eviction notice was just the straw that broke her. That sent her away. The suburbs were nice, too, though, and she was close enough to the city to be satisfied.

It was safer, too.

Or, it was statistically. She’d never suspected her apartment floormates or coworkers to be Supers. Now she was determined her neighbor was one. Now she was worried about it.

Back at her apartment, a ripped-up street was just another Thursday. Rubble blocking a road was normal. It hadn’t disturbed her too much. Life was boring.

It wasn’t now. And not just because of the twins. She had a mystery, too.

She likes mysteries. Puzzles and games and books. She likes to guess who the villain is, in thriller stories and in mystery books. She guesses right sometimes and she doesn’t on others, but she likes attempting. At trying to slot together all the little clues and dissecting the truth from a heap of mostly inconsequential evidence.

As a kid, she’d wanted to be a police officer. Her dad had watched a lot of crime shows and she’d liked watching them fit pieces together to bring justice. It looked fun, when it was on TV.

Then she grew up. She learned that police work was a lot more boring and restricting than the shows made it out to be. Cops were just second-rate overlooked heroes. They got all the paperwork. None of the glory. They did the stakeouts and the waiting. All of the parts that were a slog. Heroes got the benefits. Her fire had been snuffed out. but she still loved the idea of it.

She still likes solving mysteries. And even if she didn’t-- she doesn’t like the idea of someone dangerous living next to her family. 

What if a fight followed him home and a Super battle broke out? If Supers started fighting that close, there would be nothing she could do.

It was best she figured out what kind of Super her new neighbor was . If she was lucky, he was just a nonpowered, try hard vigilante. Which was kind of illegal, but not particularly dangerous. But that was if she was lucky. If she was unlucky, then they were in danger just because of their proximity to him.

Living in the city, she’d seen too many new reports of mangled office buildings, smoking apartment buildings, has seen too much of the wreckage fighting leaves behind on the streets and the buildings and the people. It had so much impact on people. It was a very destructive thing to happen.

There was a reason why most of city budget goes to upkeep and repair. Super battles break everything and because they’re doing good, they don’t face punishment.

Starla is pretty indifferent to Supers. She knows that they’re expensive and destructive. They’re good too. Now she just doesn’t want that near her sister and the babies.

She was going to figure out just how much danger they were in. Exactly how much.

She was going to figure out Duke’s secret identity.

*****

Done! This one was a struggle to do for some reason. I think it’s a tad better now, though.

[phis-corner]

I recently read your platonic brucinette post, it was amazing, i couldn't stop laughing. What if she invites herself over to the Manor or something and the boys have no idea who she is (cause I feel like he wouldn't mention her cause she would probably ruin his reputation even more since his kids would probably spread the stories to their own friends) but I feel like maybe Tim already know her since he was in Paris looking for Bruce (when he got "killed" by Darkseid), he would probably see her as a mom or fun aunt that he could vent to

Ask and you shall recieve! again, any grammar mistakes are because I did not bother proofreading. whoops.

Masterlist ◈ Original

Dick Grayson had seen a lot of unexpected things throughout his lifetime, but he really did not expect to come downstairs for a nice bowl of cereal for breakfast and find a woman who looked eerily like the late Martha Wayne sitting at the table and eating his Bat Puffs.

Wait.

“Those are my Bat Puffs!” Dick shrieks, because he has priorities. That’s the last of his cereal, okay? And it’s going to be two days before Alfred goes on his next grocery run and he’s really bad at shopping for food on his own. Sue him.

Not-Or-Maybe-Possibly-If-You-Believe-Conspiracy-Theories-Martha-Wayne simply laughs, and easily dances out of the way of his grab for the bowl, moving out of his reach with an elegance and grace that can only mean she spends part of her day dressed in a different costume. Whether or not she was a good guy still remained to be seen, considering she had somehow broken into the Manor without setting a single alarm off and was currently eating the last of his Bat Puffs. 

A truly despicable act, indeed.

“Grayson?” Damian chooses that exact moment to come down the stairs. “I heard you scream. What’s-” He snarls the moment he catches sight of Not-Martha-Wayne, pulling out a knife from somewhere in the folds of his pajamas and hurling it at her head with impressive speed and accuracy.

Not-Martha-Wayne simply ducks, letting the knife thud into the wall behind her, making Dick wince. Alfred was not going to be happy.

“Identify yourself, woman!” Damian screeches, pulling out another knife. “Who are you, and how did you get in here?”

Not-Martha-Wayne tilts her head, blue eyes sparkling with mirth. “Really? I’m not even allowed to eat cereal in my own home now?”

Dick is slowly growing more and more convinced that Not-Martha-Wayne is actually Zombie-Martha-Wayne.

Damian freezes, eyeing her suspiciously. “Your home?”

“Wh’s goin’ on?” Tim slurs, stumbling down the stairs. “Why ‘re you all screamin’?”

Maybe-Zombie-Martha-Wayne brightens when she sees Tim. “Timber! How’s it going?”

Tim rubs his eyes, once, twice, and then his face splits into a grin when he finally registers Maybe-Zombie-Martha-Wayne’s presence. “Marinette! It’s so good to see you!”

And okay, what.

Tim hurries down the stairs (meaning only marginally faster than before, he hasn’t had his morning coffee yet,) and ignores the coffee machine in favor of hugging Possibly-Undead-Martha-Wayne, who laughs and puts down the bowl of Bat Puffs in favor of hugging him back. Dick takes the opportunity to snatch the bowl away from her, mourning the fact that there’s only a bit of milk left at the bottom of the bowl.

“Good to see you too, Tim,” Not-Martha-Wayne, whose name is apparently Marinette (why does that sound familiar?) ruffles Tim’s hair. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“Tim,” Dick says, at the same time Damian demands “Drake.”

“How do you know this woman?” They say at the same time (Dick stubbornly ignores that Damian replaced ‘woman’ with ‘harlot’).

“You mean you don’t?” Tim asks, frowning. “She’s-”

“Marinette,” Bruce cuts Tim off, having appeared at the foot of the stairs in his usual dramatic fashion. 

Not-Martha-Wayne-But-Still-Really-Looks-Like-Her-Whose-Name-Is-Apparently-Marinette beams and waves cheerfully at Bruce, who looks done with life. “Hey, little brother! I see you haven’t gotten tired of dressing up as a giant bat to beat people up yet!”

Well, that was a lot to unpack. Dick decided he’d start with the easiest thing.

“Little brother?” He looks from Marinette to Bruce, Bruce to Marinette, noting the resemblance in both of them to Thomas and Martha Wayne. “You mean- she’s your older sister?” Dick shrieks, turning to Bruce. “Why have we never heard about her?”

“Really, Bruce?” Marinette gasps, mockingly placing a hand over her heart. “I’m devastated. How could you, after everything we’ve been through, not even tell your hundred thousand children that I even exist?”

Bruce doesn’t reply, instead letting out one long sigh through his nose. Huh. Sixteen whole seconds. Impressive.

“Just kidding,” Marinette grins once Bruce has finally stopped sighing. “He’s never told you because I travel the world a lot, my job is super dangerous, and because I’d expose all his deepest, darkest secrets.”

“Like his greatest fears?” Damian asks. Cass, who had silently entered the kitchen at some point or another, stood behind him, ready just in case he pulled out another knife.

Marinette tilts her head. “What? No!” Like how he wiped off one of the eyebrows on Sylvia McCartney’s face when he was four-”

She doesn’t get to finish that sentence because Bruce has made a mad dash across the kitchen, evidently aiming to get her to stay quiet. Marinette dances out of his hold with a giggle and continues speaking even as Bruce chases her all around the kitchen.

“-anyway, he declared that ‘she had something on her face’, wiped off one of her drawn-on eyebrows-” She ducks underneath a plate, which Cass deftly catches before it hits the wall. “-and then went ‘There. I got it for you!’”

A shoe flies at her head. Marinette bats it away with one hand. 

Dick tries valiantly to stifle his snickers, but judging by the evil eye Bruce is giving him, it’s not quite working.

“And there was that time we were at that four-star restaurant in Star City and he ate too much and-” Marinette raises an eyebrow as she catches a toaster in her hands. “Really now, Bruce? A toaster? You know it’ll take more than that to stop me. So he ate too much and got a stomach ache, then started holding his torso and very loudly declaring that he was starting his period.”

Dick doesn’t even bother holding in the laughter this time, and neither do any of his siblings. If only Jason was here to see this, but alas, he was at his own apartment and had no clue that this was going on. Neither did Steph, for that matter, and Duke was already out on patrol since he was somehow a morning person. What a travesty.

“And then there was that time when-” Marinette is cut off by another one of Bruce’s long, very drawn-out sighs. 

“Look, Mari, I think they get the point,” He groans (well - as close to groaning as the Batman ever got), pinching the bridge of his nose. “You can stop now.”

“Oh, you’re just annoyed that you couldn’t stop me,” Marinette retorts with yet another smile, and Dick is once again struck by how similar she looks to the lady in the portrait that hangs over the fireplace in the largest of the Manor’s three living rooms. “I suppose you’re right, however. Despite the abundance of embarrassing stories, they do run out at some point, and I’d prefer not to use them all up in one go, ya know? I have to be the cool aunt. Kate can keep wine aunt, but I’m the cool one now.”

“I think Miss Katherine might disagree with that,” Alfred says mildly. “However, I do believe you can win the children over if you tell them about the time your father brought Master Bruce to his board meeting.”

The look of utter betrayal Bruce gives Alfred makes them crack up all over again.

--o0o--

“Man, I am so glad you got it all on camera,” Duke grins, placing two bowls of popcorn on the coffee table before flopping back down onto the couch. “This is going to be great.”

Tim waves a hand dismissively. “I just hacked the cameras in the Manor. Bruce’s paranoia backfired this time.”

Steph cheers and immediately makes a grab for the popcorn as Cass hits the play button on the remote, and Dick can’t help but crack a smile at his own face when he sees the last of his cereal being eaten.

“Richard, I find it concerning that your first thought was of your cereal and not the intruder,” Damian observes.

Dick ruffles his hair, drawing out a squawk of protest. “Well, what can I say? I really like Bat Puffs.”

The Wayne siblings settle down for a movie night that is definitely going to be filled with lots of laughter.

permanent tags

@wannajointhecrabcult @miraculous-simmer7 @certainmuffinbagelcalzone @fantasyislive @chocolateherringtacofan @junarvion @susiej1118 @aestheticnpoetic @toodaloo-kangaroo @ladybug-182 @itsmeevie01 @g-arya @souleateralicestein @nightstarblue @i-is-mysterious @moonystars14 @vixen-uchiha @flapdoodle-noodle @labschaos @nathleigh @jalaluvsu @kaithehero @iamablinkmarvelarmy @luveverything12 @technicallyburninggarden 

unspecified

@momothefemur @indecisive-mess-named-me @laurcad123 @ilovefluffbutsmutisalsogreat @sassakitty @fusser90

[jimlingss]

Sugar and Coffee [20]

Chapter 19 - Chapter 20 - Chapter 20.5 OR Chapter 21

➜ Words: 4.5k

➜ Genres: 99.5% Fluff, 0.5% Angst, Pâtisserie school!AU

➜ Summary: It isn't hard to be a pâtisserie chef, but it's not a piece of cake either. It seems like for you in particular, life keeps throwing in one wrench after another. It always finds ways to make your sweets bitter. The cherry on top is Jeon Jungkook — a rival with a sensitive sweet tooth who always finds ways to complain about you.

cr.

Breakups are the worst.   You know from first-hand experience — how it feels like your entire world is crumbling. How the most important person in your life that was the most involved is suddenly a stranger. How you lose not only a lover, but a friend, someone who was considered family.    So witnessing Hoseok becoming despondent and sluggish, and being an observer to the heartache, it’s surreal.   “Are you okay?” you lean over to ask.   The yells of Taehyung, Super Smash music and sound effects are loud in the living room. It’s unusual to gather on a Tuesday night when there’s class early tomorrow, but you know everyone’s gathered for Hoseok.   No one might pour their feelings onto the table and talk about what happened, but you’ve quickly caught on that this is all meant to act as a distraction. Not a counselling session.   Still, you want to ask him in case he does want to talk about it.   “I’m….holding up okay.”   “If you ever want to discuss anything, I’m here.”   “Thanks.” The both of you turn back to the screen where Yoongi, Taehyung, Jungkook and Jimin are duking it out. At times they’re screaming at each other and at others, they fall into silence.   You stare at Jungkook — the way his thick brows are furrowed in concentration, how the tip of his tongue is peeking out, nose scrunched, his body leaned over with his elbows on his knees, forearms exposed and the veins popped. Jungkook looks angry and it’s hot as fuc— “Hey, Y/N?”   “Huh?” You turn to Hoseok, hoping it wasn’t obvious that you were salivating over your boyfriend. “Y-Yes?”   “Has Aeri said anything?” he asks hesitantly, quietly. “I know you and her are close, so….”   “She did talk about it with me…” You pause. He seems to wait, so you go on, “She said you guys broke up after a lot of arguments, that it seemed like you were more mad at each other than happy and decided to end it. She doesn’t hate you, Hoseok, if that’s what you want to ask.”   The man nods.   You know what it’s like — he wants to hear every detail but doesn’t at the same time. So you spare him from it. “Thank you. Tell her….tell her that...nevermind.” Hoseok sighs. “I’m just glad she has you for support.”   “It’s nothing,” you say sincerely. “Trust me.”   It simmers into quietness again. But when the match ends, you jump into the game with them. And while Hoseok protests, mumbling that he doesn’t want to play, Jimin forces him to hold a controller and naturally, he joins too.   It’s fun to play — Jungkook and you secretly have an alliance and you team up to crush the others. And when it’s just you and him left, Jungkook lets you win. Taehyung yells that it’s totally not fair each and every time but your boyfriend feigns ignorance, citing that you’re just too good.   After seven more rounds, you begin to get drowsy and check the time.   “Oh, we should go.”   Yoongi quirks a brow. “You two have somewhere to be?”   “It’s snuggle hour.”   Jimin pauses the game. Everyone whirls around to stare.   Hoseok grins. Yoongi remains puzzled. “The hell is snuggle hour?”   “It’s nothing!” Jungkook suddenly interjects, eyes wide like a deer caught in headlights.   “What do you mean it’s nothing?” Your jaw goes slack — just yesterday he said it was his favourite part of the day. It baffles you that he’s outright denying it now.   “It’s something Y/N likes, not me.”   “Excuse me?!” It was him who came up with the entire concept — personally, you could take it or leave it.   “Can we keep playing or what?”   “No.” Jimin disregards Jungkook’s attempt at changing the subject and eggs you on, “Y/N, what’s snuggle hour?”   “It’s a designated time slot in our schedule to snuggle for an hour everyday. Jungkook likes being touched,” you state it in a matter of factly way, deadpanning it before your boyfriend can stop you.   “Babe.” Jungkook’s face is bright red. He turns to his friends. “That’s not true.”   “Ugh, gross.” Taehyung’s entire face scrunches in disgust.   “Not like that, you idiot. It’s not sexual.”   “Babe!” Jungkook shouts and you redirect your attention to him. He’s shaking his head, horrified. “TMI.”   “Why are you embarrassed?” you question with a frown.   “Aww, Kook likes being touched?” Jimin teases, leaning over to hug Jungkook. “I knew it!”   “Get off me,” he huffs and pushes the other man off. “She’s kidding. It’s her who wants to cuddle.”   You scoff. “That’s a blatant lie.”   “Oh shit.” Taehyung lifts his brows, head darting between you and Jungkook and your exchanges of expressions. The brunette looks like he’s about to grab a bag of popcorn and neither you nor Jungkook appreciate it.   “Are you ashamed of me?”   “No—”   You cock your head to the side. “Your ego is too big to be romantic?”   “Can we do this later?” Jungkook ducks his head and whispers harshly as if they can’t hear. “You can’t do that in front of our friends. You can’t tell them.”   “Why not?” you bite back loudly, arms crossing. “You’re embarrassed? You’re too good for me to love you?”   “It’s not like that,” he sighs.   “I think it is.” You grab your coat and your bag. “I’m leaving.”   “Y/N.” Jungkook stands up, following after you. “Wait. You’re not upset, are you?”   “Nope. Not at all. I’ll see you tomorrow.” You offer a stiff smile and the door slams shut with you on the other side.   It’s awfully silent.   It happened so fast, he’s still reeling.   “I don’t miss that.” Hoseok smiles gingerly.   “What just happened?” Jungkook returns to the couch, completely bewildered.   “I think you just missed out on snuggle hour,” Yoongi snickers.   //   The next time Jungkook sees you, he’s wary. But you greet him as if nothing happened and the two of you go on about your day.   Yet, the boy is unsettled and constantly glances at you from the corner of his eye. He finally decides to clear his throat stiffly and go in for the kill. “You’re not still upset from yesterday, are you?”   “No. I get it. You think it’s personal and you don’t want to share what we do in our down time with your friends.”   “Exactly.” Jungkook’s entire body drowns in relief, shoulders easing from their tension, muscles no longer stiff. He’s so glad you get it.   You smile. “I’m sorry for lashing out and being crazy.”    “It’s okay.”   “So it’s true then.”   “What?”   “You think I was being crazy?” There’s an extended pause. You stare at him — he stares at you. Jungkook pales, not knowing what to say, but then you burst out laughing. “Kidding!”   He starts laughing too. “You almost got me there.”   “Did I?” You laugh some more.    Then it goes silent. The only noises in the corridor are your footsteps and Jungkook takes a moment to glance at you. It doesn’t take a second thought for him to reach down and take your hand. But before he can grip it tightly or lace his fingers through yours, you shake his grip off.   He looks at you in surprise.   “Nope.” You shake your head, keeping your eyes trained forward. “You’re too cool for that, remember?”   “What?” Jungkook increases his strides when your steps begin to speed up. “I thought you said you weren’t mad!”   “I’m not. But what if your friends see? We can’t risk that,” you say, feigning worry and it’s almost mocking.   Jungkook scoffs. “Who cares?”   You hum. “But see, you do. You gotta remain cool for your friends, Jungkook.” You turn to pat your boyfriend’s head once and then you’re walking away.   The boy’s left absolutely appalled, but unable to say anything when you keep barrelling straight down the hall.   Jeon Jungkook knows he’s fucked up.   //   Jungkook isn’t a particularly confrontational person — he’s not big on arguing and fighting, but you always seem to be the exception to every rule of his. From the beginning, you’ve gotten under his skin and the pair of you have bickered back and forth relentlessly. Even now that your relationship has changed, he discovers that he would rather have you angry and shouting at him. He’d rather you quarrel, so at least he can apologize and things can go back to normal.   He can’t keep up with these mind games. You’re just teasing him at this point.   When he puts an arm around your shoulder, you slink away. “Let’s not get too touchy here, buddy. Someone might see.”   When he comes to stand next to you, your shoulders brushing against each other’s, you immediately step away from him like he’s got the bubonic plague. “Appropriate spaces between us only, Jeon. You gotta stay cool and hard. God forbid, someone finds out you’re a giant softie.”   Jungkook never realized just how much he naturally reaches for you throughout the day. Not until you were pointing it out and avoiding all acts of physical affection.   But the last straw is when he’s in your room, reaching in for a kiss, and you dodge him completely. His mouth nearly smashes on the wall. “Oh! Can’t do that, can we? You never know who’s watching!”   “Okay, okay. I’m sorry, alright?” Jungkook breaks first. He can’t take this anymore and turns to follow you, watching you crawl into your bed. “I’m sorry for acting like I’m too good for you and being embarrassed and I’m sorry for all of it. You’re right. Who cares. I made it a big deal when it didn’t need to be.”   You get settled into the covers and stare at him impassively, as if you were the queen judging if he, the jester, should be executed or not. Then a tiny smile of victory pulls at your lips.   You untuck your feet from the blankets and hold the left one in the air. Jungkook already knows what to do and sits down, placing your foot in his lap. He holds and cradles it behind the heel, rubbing and squeezing at the tender parts, making you sigh. Nothing beats his massages.   “You know I’m not actually mad.” You grin and squirm when he hits a ticklish spot. “I just like teasing you.”   Jungkook scoffs and sulks. “I don’t like it when you tease me.”   “Oh, poor, baby.” You laugh, but you can’t taunt him when he begins massaging harder. You hiss when his fingers slide towards the base of your heel and back to the top.   “Feel good?” He smirks at your reaction.   “Uh-huh.” You open your eyes again. “I get it though. I do. You don’t want Taehyung and Yoongi and them to make fun of you. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable either, so I won’t talk about our private things anymore—”   “It’s okay,” he hums, “I don’t care. I shouldn’t anyway, they’re all just jealous of us.”   A light laugh falls from your lips and he relishes in how the sound tinkles. “So you’re not ashamed anymore?”   “I wasn’t in the first place. I love you.”   “You always know the right thing to say at the right time.” You scoff, but reach for your boyfriend anyway. You take his arm, pulling him up to you and you plant a small kiss on his lips. You smile. “Get over here, Jeon. It’s snuggling time.”   “My favorite time of the day.” He grins and the two of you shuffle to get comfortable.   He wraps his arm around your shoulder, pulling you closer so you can rest your head against his chest. You throw your legs over his, tangling your limbs, arm snuck over his torso.   Jungkook’s such a big baby, you don’t know what to do sometimes. You wonder if he knows it, but you wouldn’t want it any other way. After all, cold, bad boys are overrated.    Jungkook might be corny, sappy, a giant softie yet you love him all the more for it.

When you see Jungkook in the morning, his eyes light up and he doesn’t hesitate to come over to give a short peck to your lips. When he pulls away, you’re smiling and he hums, leaving to get his food.   Yoongi, on the other hand, is gagging from across you.   “Oh, grow up.” You debate on throwing your fry at him, but you decide not to in case he lunges over the table to fight you for getting oil into his poreless skin.   “I can see you two made up.”   You scoff, a smirk playing at your lips. “Oh. We made up alright.”   Yoongi lifts up his palm. “Spare me the details.”   “Wouldn’t tell you even if you begged me to,” you snicker mischievously much to the man’s dismay.   You’ve learnt to treasure these moments of the day. Times when all of you can gather together for a meal in the dining hall or maybe late on a Friday night at the apartment or someone’s dorm room. There doesn’t even need to be any meaningful conversations, any exciting news to share — as long as there’s each other’s company, it seems to be enough.   You try to savour these moments, even if they’re frequent. Since it’s these meaningless moments that will one day become fond memories.    When everyone’s graduated, gone their own paths to continue developing their skills and chasing their dreams, it will be hard to gather. To banter over mediocre food, to play games and chit chat without a care, to have ridiculous debates and fights.    And as you become vigilant and learn to care for those precious moments, you inadvertently become afraid of time every now and then. It was only ten months ago that your relationship with Jungkook began to alter and change, that you both saw each other in a different light and started an unlikely friendship. And it will only be seven more months until graduation is here.    You didn’t know that time could move so quickly. It makes you scared of what’s to come.   “Afternoon, Y/N.” Taehyung plops down and waves a hand in front of your face. You snap back to reality with a curious look and he grins. “You were spacing out.”   “Sorry. I’m just a bit tired.”   “Wonder why,” Yoongi deadpans. “Maybe it has something to do with Kook and you making up.”   “Ugh, gross.” A disgusted expression creeps onto Taehyung’s face.   “I thought you said you didn’t want to talk about it.” You eye the lethargic man who only shrugs.    “I’m just stating the facts you gave me.”   You scoff, right in time as Jungkook and Jimin sit down with their dinner trays. But your boyfriend pays no mind to the conversation. His attention is immediately taken by the silver bowl his friend has on the table. “What’s that?”   “Oh, it’s cookie dough!” Taehyung grins. “Want some? I made too much during class and couldn’t bake it all, and I thought it would be a waste to throw it away.”   Jungkook grabs his spoon but you stop him. “Wait. You can’t just eat cookie dough. Did you learn nothing from baking safety?”   “Why?” Taehyung blinks. “It’s fine.”   “No, it’s not. The eggs are raw and it could give you salmonella, and the flour could be filled with bacteria. You might end up in the hospital with e.coli. People have died from that.”   “I’m going to have to agree with Y/N there,” Hoseok pipes up.   “Just save it and bake it later, Tae,” Jimin offers.   But your boyfriend disagrees with them. “You can’t get salmonella if the eggs are pasteurized. And contamination of raw flour is rare.”   You whip your head over to your partner, baffled that he could be so dumb. “You know better than that. Why would you even want to risk it?”   He shrugs. “Don’t we risk our lives daily? We get into cars that could technically crash.”   Yoongi grabs his spoon and digs into the cookie dough without hesitation. “We’re all going to die anyway. Live a little, Y/N.”   “That’s gross.”   “It’s delicious,” your boyfriend corrects, about to dig in too but you grip his elbow.   “I’m not going to show up to the hospital if you get sick.”   He smiles in spite of your threat and pulls himself away from your restraint to scoop into the batter. Taehyung grins and offers Jimin some, but he adamantly declines like you, expression queasy.    Hoseok is in the same boat. “I’ll pass, thanks. I’d rather not get sick.”   “Oh, c’mon.” Taehyung chews. “It’s not going to kill you.”   “Except it might.”   “A little is fine,” Jungkook says, smacking his lips together.   “A little is enough to get you ill,” you retort. “How can you be so stubborn about something you’re so wrong about?”   He scoffs and blatantly eats a spoonful in front of you. His eyes shut and he hums in delight as if it’s the most delicious thing he’s ever eaten. But Jungkook’s exaggerated reaction does little to tempt you to the dark side. “Maybe because I know I’m right and you’re too stubborn to admit it.”   “This is like baking safety basics.”   “Yeah and it’s basics not to let saucepots burn but you do it anyway.”   “Oh. So this is how it’s going to be, Jeon?” You narrow your eyes.    It’s personal now.   “I can’t admit I’m wrong when I’m not, babe.” Jungkook slyly smirks, the corner of his mouth curled.   There’s a clear division of teams — Jimin and Hoseok are disgusted like you are, but Yoongi and Taehyung can’t seem to care any less that they might be inviting bacteria into their bodies. And Jungkook appears to be eating more just to spite you.   The argument is different this time around. No one’s backing down this time.   “Oh, would you look at that?” Jungkook nudges you hours later.   “What?”   “I’m not sick from the cookie dough.” He grins, but you only give an impassive expression, turning away from him.   //   Jeon Jungkook can argue what he wants. But you were educated and you have the facts.   It’s late the next night when his phone lights up with a text from you, despite you sitting right beside him. “Did you just text me a link to webMD on...salmonella?”   “Did I?” Your head quirks to the side, lashes fluttering. “Must’ve been a mistake.”   Jungkook scoffs.   //   The following morning while on your way to class, he shows you a picture on his phone.    “My mom found this yesterday. Look.” It’s an old photograph with a smaller version of Jungkook. Perhaps when he was four or five — red shirt and blue overalls — so cute your heart might explode. He’s got big, buggy eyes and giant nose, tiny body and an excited expression. Mini Jungkook is sitting on the kitchen counter with his mouth open wide, half-way to spooning something in.   But you don’t need to ask what it is he was eating. He tells you—   “I was eating cookie dough! Looks like I’m still alive today, huh?”   “How lucky,” you deadpan.   “Lucky enough to live this long and meet you, babe.” The little shit leans down to press a kiss to your cheek. Your eyes bore into his backside when he walks ahead.   //   It’s in the evening after dinner when you’re both in the library and Jungkook suddenly sighs. “I can’t believe school just started a month ago and now midterms are coming up.”   You hum, unloading your bag of textbooks to start studying. But Jungkook notices one in particular — it catches his eye enough that he stops taking notes of his readings.   “Isn’t this our baking safety textbook from last year?” He frowns, picking it up.   “Yeah, I brought it along.” You smile at him. “Thought you should do some reviewing.”   Jungkook scoffs.   You maintain your welcome, friendly demeanor that a perfect girlfriend would have. And you keep exaggerating it when you notice how much it irks him. “You’ve probably forgotten about the contents we learnt about, sweetheart. Wouldn’t want you to forget important facts.”   “You’re so considerate.” His smile is stiff. “I’ll consider reviewing then.”   “You really should.”   “Thanks.”   //   The back and forth continues for a while. It’s small and incremental mentions, from him linking you pictures of kids eating cookie dough to you sending back pictures of what it looks like to have e.coli. In the middle of your snuggle session, Jungkook mentions he craves some cookie dough and in passing, you quote news articles of people getting sick from it and what the FDA thinks.   You can tell Jeon Jungkook isn’t going to back down or give in. And with no end in sight, you start to plan one.   “I don’t feel like studying anymore.” You close your textbook, pouting at him when he lifts his head up from his own pages. “Can’t we just go back to your room, Jungkook? I’m tired.”   Jungkook smiles at you, wholly unsuspecting and dancing right in the palm of your hand. “Okay.”   “Are you hungry?” he asks on your way back.   You hum. “Not particularly.”   “Alright.”   The both of you walk the rest of the way in silence, but the second you get back to his dorm room, the door slams shut, your bag drops and you shove Jungkook against his own bed.   He laughs, allowing himself to fall back onto the mattress. “I thought you said you were tired.”   “I was,” you correct. “Not anymore.”   You waste no time — moving to climb onto him and sitting yourself down on his crotch. You get comfortable and swivel your hips hard. Jungkook grabs hold of your waist as his breath stutters. “F-Fuck, Y/N.”   “Like it?” You cock your head to the side.   But he doesn’t answer. Instead, Jungkook reaches up to you, his hand slinking to the back of your neck pushing you downwards, so he can kiss you. You follow his command and at once, his hot tongue intrudes into your mouth for a slobbery, eager kiss.   You try your best to work him up as much as you can, letting Jungkook grope you anywhere he likes while you touch him gingerly. And after a few minutes of heavy petting and making out, you pull apart, sitting back on your heels.   Your hand slinks down to his hardening bulge. Jungkook’s breath hitches in anticipation.   You smirk mischievously. “Want me to keep touching you, Jeon?”   His brows are knitted together, not sure where you’re taking this, but he nods. “Y-Yes…?”   “Then I need you to do one thing for me.” You tuck your hair behind your ear, softly whispering. You allow your hot breath to skim against his exposed skin. “Just...one...little...thing. Please?”   “What is it?” Jungkook exhales shakingly, swallowing hard.   “Admit you were wrong,” you mutter like a seductress hypnotizing him, “Cookie dough is bad for you.”   Immediately, Jungkook freezes beneath you. Your hand is right on his goods, caressing and squeezing his crotch. He shudders and shuts his eyes. Unbeknownst to you, Jungkook wasn’t relishing in your touch — he’s gathering willpower that he doesn’t know he has.   Suddenly, a yelp sounds from your chest, and then you’re the one being pinned to the mattress with Jungkook on top of you. He’s flipped you over before you’ve even had a chance to blink.   “I don’t think so.” He grins while you pout at him. Jungkook’s thighs are pushing your legs together, his hands holding down your wrists beside your head. He’s got you fixed right where he wants. “You really thought you could use this tactic to win?”   “I’ll never give you what you want until you admit it,” you bite back even in this compromised position.   He clicks his tongue in annoyance. “Brat.”   Cockiness is a good look for Jungkook. But it’ll also be his downfall.   Your leg moves and you knee him right in the ass. It’s enough to catch him off guard and when he jolts, his hands on you loosen and you laugh, taking the opportunity to tackle him down. It’s your turn to be on top. “Admit it, Jeon!”   “Never!” He laughs and wrestles against you. The two of you roll around in his bed, ruining the covers and wrinkling the fresh sheets, all while giggling.   You try to tickle him until his strength overpowers you. You could never win against his muscles anyway, but it was worth a try.    Finally, Jungkook gets you on the bottom again with your arms above your head. “Can’t we agree to disagree?”   “No, because you’re wrong,” you laugh.   The boy shakes his head, eyes full of endearment. “You always have to be right about everything, don’t you?”   “Only on the things I know I’m right about.” Your legs wrap around his waist and you pull him closer to you until your hips and pelvises are rested against each other. The movement renders his bottom half immobile and with Jungkook closer, you quirk your head again, lips pouting. “Plus, if you get a bacterial disease and die, how am I supposed to live without you?”   “Are you worried about me?” Jungkook grins, the strands of his dark hair brushing against yours. “Is that it?”   “That and the fact that I can’t have my boyfriend be such an idiot.”   He scoffs and one of his hands comes down to jab at your sides, making you squirm. “You gotta live a little, Y/N.”   “I’m very content with my life, thank you very much. I’d rather not risk anything,” you tell him. “And if you want to blame anyone for that, blame yourself. You made me this way.”   Slowly, an even bigger grin spreads across his face — enough to swell his cheeks and break his face. Jungkook giggles full-heartedly, giddy and amused. He’s unable to resist and leans down to capture your mouth with his.   It’s a fight that never ends up finishing. But by the end of the night, neither of you have half a mind to continue on the pointless debate.   Not when you’re tangled in the sheets and each other, more content than ever.

Time. It’s a scary thing. It goes by too fast and you’ll never know how much of it is left. But it’s what makes you savour moments. It keeps you cognizant and aware, not to take any hour for granted.   “They have a special over there,” Jimin announces, taking his place at the table. “Does anyone want pineapple pizza?”   “Me!” — you exclaim at the same time as Jungkook’s face wrinkles. — “That’s disgusting.”   You look at each other and there’s a playful exchange of expressions that feigns offence.   Time and time again, you hope Jungkook will always be the one here to have meaningless arguments with you.

[peppersonironi]

12, 21, 19

(Is this late? Oops. Sorry!)

12: Favourite character to write about this year

Stephanie Brown, easy. She's my spirit animal, so I might be doing a touch of projecting, but I honestly don't care. She's just pure chaos in the best way. Some of my favourite lines that I've written are for her. Such as:

"What's up bitches? I brought donuts!"

"My waffles await!"

"FEAR ME!"

"Welcome to Steph’s Glitter Bomb Palace, Where Snitches get Stitches™! So don’t tell Bruce or I’ll sic Jason on you."

She's also the character I've gotten the most comments on. People really seen to enjoy how I write her!

A close second would be Duke Thomas. Bliss, a fic I wrote for the 2020 Duke Week, was one of my favourites! Or maybe Damian? His dialogue just comes easy to me.

21: Most memorable comment/review

the batfamily exist:

everyone: is,,is that allowed?

On Code Orange (Batfam/Young Justice Crossover)

*Or*

I have wanted to read a DCU/MCU crossover for a VERY long time. This story is such a delight. Your characterisation (and for me an introduction to The Signal) was fascinating in the extreme. I loved the game playing and the fact that I could watch (open-mouthed) as Bruce Wayne enjoyed childlike fun with his children and Alfred(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) was the cherry on top of the icing on top of the cake. I look forward to your updates in a way that you wouldn't believe.

On Batfam/Avengers Crossover

19: Any new fics to start next year

Oh boy. So many. You know what? Here's a list. It'll be good to get these ideas out. Plus, you guys can tell me what you'd rather see first!

Gen/just Batfam

Crack fic based off this piece of dialogue (came from a convo between my sister and I): Tim reached forward and poked Duke's face. "You're right!" He exclaimed. "You really *do* squish like a block of wood!" Duke Centric.

Based on THIS Incorrect Quotes. Talia moves into the Manor because she's sick of Ra's. Featuring a bunch of good mom!Talia.

Based off THIS Incorrect Quotes. Jason runs for President as Red Hood. I have so many ideas! This'll be really fun.

Loosely based on THIS post. It explores Jason and Cassandra's relationship, and how it evolves.

Duke Thomas Big Bang Fic (can't say much, but it'll be great!)

Platonic (need to be certain you understand that. There were some misconceptions w/ my Discord server) Slow Burn between Tim and Damian. At the beginning the absolutely despise each other. But over time they realise their own insecurities, and how they don't actually hate the other. And by the end they fully admit and embrace their being brothers.

Reverse Robins with Damian as the oldest (I made THIS post talking about it a while back. But I've highly revised it.)

Reverse Robins with Duke as the oldest (I wrote THIS fic, but I think I want to change this into a series!)

Cassandra as Batman. Stephanie as Catwoman. Carrie Kelley as Robin.

5 Times Bette Kane was the mastermind behind the batkids' pranks without Bruce's knowledge, and 1 Time her brilliance was brought to light.

5 Times Duke thought that he couldn't possibly get any more siblings and 1 Time he met the cousins (AKA: Duke meets the extended family)

Birdflash

Birdflash in the JL/JLU universe (based off that one hexagon by @novaviis ! Super fun!). The league is inviting potential members to the Watchtower one day. Except Wally wasn't there during the choosing of said members. So he's completely shocked when his husband Nightwing shows up. They have to act like they don't know each other, which basically involves Dick flirting his butt off with Wally, Wally trying desperately to remain professional, Bruce digging in the corner, the rest of the League in varying degrees of disapproval and confusion (at least a couple have seen Wally's wedding ring. So that adds a while 'nother layer).

Young Justice soulmate au. Dick, and eventually everyone else, knows that Wally is his soulmate. Wally is oblivious. Lots of pining and angst in this one. Slow burn to an extent (depends on how long I make it). But definitely a happy fluffy ending in sight!

Batfam Meets Young Justice

THIS fic.

Duke gets yeeted into the YJ universe, and promptly passes out. He wakes up in the Watchtower, and breaks out of the confinement the Team has set up for him. Pulls shenanigans (some unwittingly) and used his powers. The Team and JL are confused, and panicking. Because this guy keeps muttering things about the Batfam. And he has a bat on his chest.

The Team break into some ancient temple after getting info on a new Supervillian plot. They find purple clothed woman draped across a throne. She talks, and they panic, as she knows all their secret identities. The only one who isn't, is Tim. He looks bored. Alternatively: Steph needs Tim's credit card to take his sister out on a date, and absolutely refuses to text.

While the Team is on a mission to stop Lady Shiva, a dimensional portal opens up and spits out a strange Robin (Damian) and what seemed to be a female Batman (Cass as Black Bat). This new dynamic due promptly defeats Lady Shiva and all the goons. The Team is freaked out, and 'apprehends' the dimensional anomalies, bringing them back to the Watchtower. Where the due promptly break and and start chaos. Featuring "Toxic" by Britney Spears. I will not explain why.

The Watchtower gets a sudden emergency message from the Batcave. They accept, to find a stranger calling himself Signal panicking about Robin being missing. They all look at Tim, who ignores them, and says that he doesn't know where Robin is. Some naming shenanigans occur.

(Not sure if this fits here, oh well) Set in Season One, Bruce is tired of Clark's attitude towards Superboy, and adopts the clone himself. Not sure how far this'll go, but at least goes through Dick's time as Robin. (Based on THIS Tumblr post)

(Also iffy on placement) a continuation of one (not sure which? Probably Damian as older) Reverse Robins fics. It's a retelling of Season One of YJ, with Dick as Robin. Nightwing (Damian) feels protective of his brother, and so takes on the role Black Canary had in the show, training the Team. But as time goes on, he ends up being more of a big brother to the group. Cameos from the rest of the Batfam as well! And an Identity Reveal (including finding out Dick and Dami are brothers) at the end!

Batfam Meets the Justice League

Cass takes over being Batman for a bit, because Bruce was an idiot and broke his leg. This happens to line up with when the Justice League reach out to the Dark Knight, in order to extend an invitation to the league. They eventually meet Bruce as Batman, and are confused as to why he is so tall. And male.

Joyfire

Lian accidentally reveals her three parents' relationship by calling Bruce 'grandpa' over dinner.

Museum Heist

THIS fic

Operation: Seduce Nightwing. Based on a post for an ATLA ot3, Wally and Artemis realise silumaneously “Hey, we kinda have the hots for Dick” and decide together to see if he likes them back. Which involves a heck ton of over the top flirting, and shenanigans. The Team is sighing on the sidelines at their idiocy. Dick is internally combusting and thinking “Do they like me back? I’’m not sure.” 

5 times Dick and Wally fought over being the middle spoon, and one time Artemis had had enough.

Set in Season 3 (but ignores some canon), Bart is kidnapped by some mad scientist obsessed with the Speed Force. The Team mobilizes, and gets Bart back from the evil base. But when they get there, they find Wally West freed from the Speed Force. He and Artemis reunite, and everyone is happy. They prepare to leave. Then the Pick-up Squad arrive in the bioship, and Dick gets out. Everyone is expecting Dick to give Wally a hug, because hey, he's his best friend! What they weren't expecting was him to run forward and pull the speedster into a passionate kiss. They go back to the Watchtower, and some more stuff happens.

Soulmate AU where the first thing your soulmate says to you after they fall in love with you is tattooed on your body.

Post Season Two Get Together. Starts with Artemis living with Dick as opposed to Will. Might be Slow Burn? (They come pretty close to kissing) Eventually Wally comes back. Arty and Wally are back together. They both live in the same house as Dick, for convenience. Then some more Slow Burn happens. Maybe some Birdflash moments. Arty tells Wally she kinda had a thing for Dick. Wally admits the same. Maybe a touch more Slow Burn. They Eventually get together.

Batlantern

AU where Bruce met Hal back when he first came back to Gotham. Fic goes through how their relationship evolves over the years (up until current time, when Damian is 13). I'm considering a relationship reveal with the Justice League.

Hal's interactions with Bruce's kids.

Green Lantern Corp acting protective of Hal when Bruce comes to Oa. This was an ask that I got, and I'm holding off on writing it till I get as much into on the GL's as possible, as all I know if their characterization comes from that animated series, and Guy Gardener's (Hilarious!) parts on Young Justice.

Marvel

Like 3 different versions of the Peter Parker Field Trip to Stark Tower Trope.

2-part Crossover with the Batfam (they exist in the same universe), where the Avengers go to a Wayne Gala, and interact with the family. The second chapter involves them heading out the next night to try and contact Batman.

THIS fic.

[hasquetzorkukudoneanythingwrong]

Take down the Bat

(Minor summer 4 spoilers)

After Xook had been taken care off and Hokusai managed a victory against Melt, next was to go to the Rakuza casino. But instead of a regular casino it's more like a district in a Japanese town. Filled with shops and the like.

Mari: this is nothing like the others.... why come here?

Rex: well the next swimsuit swordmaster is here.

Quetz: si.... it's a bit more complicated tho.

Ed: like how?

Rex: well this is all being run by Nobunaga, of the demon king variety.

Mari: Washi ja lady? Damn, can't take her seriously.

Quetz: si, and she has her own group of Daimyos too!

Ed: eh?! Isn't that a bit much?!

Rex: it would be but..... well let's go to the first Daimyo and you'll see my point.

Hokusai: a whole bunch of daimyos?! It'll be thrilling taking them down!

Rex: right......

But as they went on to each headquarters of all the daimyos, each and everyone of them had been defeated already, by someone else.

Hokusai: what's going on!? Every single one of them! Gone!

Mari: damn, sad.

Ed: who could be doing this?

Then they hear panic throughout the town, and people running away.

Quetz: que es eso?!

Rex: let's find out!

The group run to the outside to try and find the source of the panic.

When they do go out, they see two figures in the sky, duking it out at high speeds. The two were so fast, they were like a blur.

Mari: que es eso?!

Rex: good question...

Then one of the figures falls after a strike from the other, landing near the group, it looked to be Okita.

Hokusai: wow there! What happened to you?!

Okita: urgh. Kind of a long story, but I was busy with something then that thing attacked me!

The group look up again to see the figure flying stationary, staring down at them. It was Camazotz once again. The group had finally run into him again.

Quetz: Camazotz!

Okita: you guys know him?

Mari: unfortunately

The creature immediately flew straight upwards before going into a dive bomb towards them.

In an immediate response, Okita manages to get back up and block the monster's talons with her sword.

Okita: they seem to have it out for you all!

The monster flies back up into the air. Possibly to try again.

Mari: yeah he does, I've had to deal with this asshat's bullshit for fucking ages!

As she says this, she walks forward and seems to be preparing for something.

Mari: but not anymore! Now I'm gonna beat his ass!

Hokusai: master, you're concerning me.

Ed: si, you've seemed to have gone a bit mad with power.

Mari: well yeah, try going mad without it, it's boring.

Okita: if you're going to fight him, let me help. He's already gotten in my way far too much today!

Hokusai: what are you trying to do anyways?

Okita: I need to win that grail! If not, I won't make it through the day!

Hokusai: what?!

Ed: huh!?

Mari: fucking shit.... let's try and make this quick then!

Then out of Mari's back, grew large feathered and skeletal wings. Ornamented with purple and black feathers, with a large red talon at the bending point.

Hokusai: whaaaaat?! Master you grew wings?!

Mari: yeah, came with absorbing those chips!

Okita: how good are you with those?

Mari: hmmm.... let's just get started!

Rex: I am not filled with confidence....

Then both Mari and Okita soared into the air, within Camazotz's sights! The bat monster immediately flew towards the two, in an attempt to attack.

Okita readied her sword, meanwhile Mari's hands grew feathers and large claws ready to attack.

They both parried Camazotz's talons, and before retaliating!

Okita: is this your first time flying?

Mari: on my own, yeah! What about you?!

Okita: couldn't do it before I got this jetpack, but I've already gotten the hang of it.

Mari: great to hear!

After a bit more time fighting, Camazotz backed up before summoning his swarm of tiny pterosaurs!

Okita: what?! He can do that?!

Mari: unfortunately, yeah!

Meanwhile on the ground

Rex: you think she'll be fine?

Quetz: I hope so...

Hokusai: ya think we should try and help her?

But as they talked, another figure approached. Seeming to have been injured, from a previous bout. It was the Demon King version of Nobunaga.

Rex: oh shit Nobu, you look like shit.

Ed: oh hey! Washi ja lady!

M!Nobu: washi ja...? Whatever, where the hell is that Bat Monster?

The rest of the group pointed upwards, promptint the Demon King to look up at Mari and Okita trying to fend off the beast and his swarm.

M!Nobu: ah...

Hokusai: also, what in the hell happened to you?!

M!Nobu: well... I was just running my super legal business-

Rex: totally wasn't legal

M!Nobu: when out of nowhere Okita came and attacked me! I was nearly finished if it wasn't for that bat monster busting in and attacking her.

Quetz: now what do you plan to do?

M!Nobu: I'm taking out that bat! He's ruining everything!

Hokusai: even though, he technically saved you?

M!Nobu: I mean, Okita probably had her reasons to attack me. Also I just don't like this dude.

Quetz: well do something fast!

M!Nobu: I got it, I got it!

Back to Mari and Okita, the two were still struggling with the swarm.

Mari: ok! I got an idea!

Okita: what is it?!

Mari: first, get down!

Okita then flew down, allowing Mari to have enough room to safely release a huge cloud of toxic gas!

Most of the swarm fell thanks to the toxin.

Mari: hahaha! Get fucked asshat!

And as Mari celebrated, she heard her mother call out to her.

Quetz: Mija! Get down!

Mari: huh?!

Demon King of the Myriad Heavens!

As soon as Mari heard this, she dropped to the ground, baring witness to the hail of Bullets hitting the remaining swarm and Camazotz.

M!Nobu: ha! How do you like that!

When the dust cleared tho, Camazotz was still in the air. But he was visibly injured.

M!Nobu: dammit....

Hokusai: maybe another go?

M!Nobu: that already took the majority of my current mana to pull off!

Then soaring back into the air, Mari and Okita were ready to finish him off.

Mari: don't worry! We've got this!

Okita: unfortunately, my jetpack been damaged. I could probably only pull off one last attack before it's over for me.

M!Nobu: wait, what?!

Okita: it's very long and complicated, but this Jetpack is my life support now and without it I'll die.

Mari: then let's stop wasting time and let's go!

Okita: right!

The two flew up towards the monster! Ready to deal the finishing blow!

At insane speeds, they circled forward through the air before finally!

CROSS COMBINATION SLASH!!!

The two simultaneously sliced at the monster, finishing him off for good! But as this happened, Okita started to fall. Mari just barely managed to catch her as she landed.

Mari: Okita! Okita, speak to me.

Okita seemed to not have much left in her. Her eyes losing the life in them. The rest of the group came in to see her final moments.

Ed: oh no....

Hokusai: Okita....

M!Nobu: dammit.... not like this...

Okita: it's ok everyone. I had a good life, with master and Nobu and even got to meet Master's children too, I even got to fight alongside one of them aswell. And I finally got my swimsuit, it may not have lasted long but I got the Supreme victory I wanted in the end.

Mari: no... Okita please... I barely got to know you...

Okita: it'll be OK, Maria. I'm sure we may one day... be able to meet again... just know that.... I'm happy to have shared my final fight alongside you....

And with that, Okita seemed to have died. The battle was won... but came at too high a price.

Then MHXX came along.

XX: oh hey everyone! Where's Okita?

The group all looked at her, silently before she saw Okita laying in Mari's arms.

XX: ...what happened?

M!Nobu: she's gone.... her life support cut out.

XX: huh? Oh that! That shouldn't be an issue! Turns out, she was fine the whole time! Didn't need life support at all, I was just confused from her already not so good health. She should still be just fine.

The group then looked back at Okita, only for her to open her eyes again with a DEEP red blush on her face from the embarrassment.

Mari: Okita...?

Okita: hmmm... DEATH TO MYSTERIOUS HEROINE XX!!!

XX: Huh!?

And immediately Okita got back up, and attacked XX.

A/N: Finally! The next installment of this story! Took me too long to get here! Hopefully I'll be better with this going forward. Not much left anyways, but still... hope yall like it!

@hasbbdoneanythingwrong @haskamadoneanythingwrong @havetheavengersdoneanythingwrong @hasjalterdoneanythingwrong @hasspartacusdoneanythingwrong @hasnightingaledoneanythingwrong @hasmerlindoneanythingwrong

[introvertguide]

15 Badass Movies for a Fun Time at Home or with Friends

There is a buzz in the air as COVID-19 vaccines are rolling out and the hope of having a movie night with friends is again becoming a reality. Watching alone isn’t as fun because I want to talk to somebody about what I have just seen. A full theater does not agree with my introvert nature because somebody screaming or laughing or talking on their phone will ruin it for me. Watching with a fellow cinephile or two is perfect. But what to watch first? People have been stuck inside, so fantasy and alternative worlds have been overly popular. All I do is talk over zoom for a living. I think what I need most right now is a movie about realistic people with realistic skills that go into a situation and just wreck house. I need a badass movie. What is this “badass” movie you might say? Well, here are some basic criteria: 1) There must be a tough lead character who kicks butt while spouting one liners and doesn’t need superhuman powers (high levels of peak skill with speed, aim, or strength is OK if they are plausible in the real world), 2) most of the characters (good and bad) must be likable, admirable or at least memorable, 3) the lead must face and defeat overwhelming odds against them, and 4) extra points for memorable one liners. Also, I am only dealing with human protagonists (sorry Terminator), but slightly superhuman opposition is acceptable. This list is by no means exhaustive, it is just an example of some badass movies. So in no particular order:

1) Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

To start off the list, I want to mention the most well known American badass. Indiana Jones is a smart guy with a gun and a whip. He is rugged and punches guys in the face. He has weaknesses but works through them to get the job done. Harrison Ford was in his early 40s for this role and had this tough-as-nails and seen the world kind of feel while still being young enough to fight hand to hand. Any of the first three films featuring Indiana Jones would work here, but this is the original and it started the fun. Easy to watch. Easy to cheer for. Great movie. You can’t really go wrong with any age or group with this one. 

2) 13 Assassins (2010)

This movie is extremely badass but not for everyone. This is one of the goriest films I have ever seen as 13 warriors kill off a couple of hundred soldiers and the evil leader that they guard. The movie was directed by Japanese extreme horror icon Takashi Miike if that means anything to you (hey made Audition and Ichi the Killer). The movie has gallons of blood, but also an amazing story of redemption and honor. There are tons of scenes of a single warrior taking on dozens of soldiers and managing to overcome. Not for everyone, but still very much a badass movie.

3) The Raid (2011)

This is an Indonesian action thriller with the word action in bold. The film is directed by Gareth Evans and stars Iko Uwais as part of a small police force that tries to take down an old building that houses a drug lord and his violent gang. It has a lot of what I like in badass movies: one-on-one fights between the lead and almost superhuman villains, long well-choreographed scenes, a banging soundtrack, ridiculous weapons, and ridiculous gore. The fight scenes in tight places and the use of the environment for weaponry is amazing and the sound design makes sure you can feel every punch. The lead character should have no chance, but he makes up for it with skill and being a pure badass. This movie is one of the few that I would describe as having non-stop action.

4) Jon Wick (2014)

When did Keanu Reeves become so cool? I grew up with him being part of the Bill and Ted duo. He decides to learn martial arts and play a god-like being in the Matrix movies and then becomes a one man wrecking crew? I guess he is a badass because he does it so well. Keanu plays a retired hitman who is wronged and decides to go back to work for vengeance. He just won’t stop coming and seems to constantly survive out of pure hatred alone. There are 3 films in the series and any one of them will impress. Pure fun too watch.

5) Casino Royale (2006)

When I was asking around, there were many people who thought that James Bond was the ultimate badass. I disagree in that many of the older films show Bond as overconfident with the assistance of many people. In fact, Q is more of a badass in many ways than James Bond. However, when the series was taken back to its roots with the last book that had not been made into a serious film and made darker, it reached badass levels. From the parkour chase to a poisoning to an extreme torture scene, this was not like any James Bond movie before it. Roger Craig plays a much colder lead who gives no quarter, much more like what the greatest secret agent would have to be. Heavy on violence but light on gore, this film is more for all audiences than other films on this list.

6) Desperado (1995)

What makes this movie is not all about Antonio Banderas and Selma Hayek. It is that every other character is memorable and badass as well. The street standoff with Bucho’s men versus El Mariachi, Quino, and Campo is iconic. El Mariachi murders everyone in a bar with precise skill. The rogue assassin Navajas with all the knives played by Danny Trejo. Nothing but extreme shoot outs and fight scenes with a ridiculous variety of guns and explosives. I think what makes this movie so amazing is that all these amazing assassins are incognito and, when they suddenly produce an arsenal out of nowhere, it is always a pleasant surprise. Quino and Campo are amazing when they bring their guitars. 

7) Pulp Fiction (1994)

Truly the role that made Samuel L. Jackson into the ultimate badass. He and his partner Vincent are hitman that keep running into the worst situations. The thing about the film is that everybody is so cool. The characters are cool, the music is cool, the dialogue is cool, hell even the diner featured in the movie is cool. The movie only spans a couple of days (in completely separate segments shown out of order) but packs in 7 distinct situations that are all berserk. From the mind of Quentin Tarantino, this movie is dripping with the best characters traveling through the best story. Highly recommend.

8) Leon: The Professional (1994)

Also known simply as The Professional in the U.S., this film features the debut of Natalie Portman. It is directed by Luc Besson at his best period, right between La Femme Nakita and The Fifth Element. The lead is actually a quiet hitman who reluctantly takes a little 12-year-old girl on as an apprentice to become a paid assassin. Her parents were killed by a corrupt cop and she wants Leon to help her exact revenge. He is an absolute badass and somewhat of a caring surrogate father to the girl. Unlike a lot of the films on this list, the premise is not simply kicking butt in a bad situation. There is serious character growth. Apparently you can be a caring parent and a cold-blooded murderer...and that is badass.

9) Kill Bill (2003)

Being a badass is not exclusive to men and The Bride is a prime example of this. She survives a shot to the head, kills deadly assassins, slaughters a gang, and takes on a crazy school girl bodyguard. She is tougher then any lead I can think of and she has the bad attitude and sense of vengeance that makes for a badass. Combine this with the soundtrack and beautiful cinematography associated with director Quentin Tarantino and you have a beautifully violent movie in which the hits keep coming. Even on this list, the fight scene between the bride and Gogo Yubari is insane. Also note the nod to Bruce Lee with the bright yellow motorcycle suit. Beautifully badass film.

10) Aliens (1986)

In nature, there are few things more dangerous than a mother protecting their young. A mother will fight you to the death and make sure that, at the very least, you won’t be able to go after her kids. Now imagine an alien planet covered with hostile beings created in the mind of James Cameron and Stan Winston and you have a setting made to create a real badass. In the beginning, Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is just desperate to survive and barely knows how to use a weapon. She meets a little survivor named Newt and then has a real reason to become aggressive. She and a group of marines fight through a station filled with super destructive xenomorph aliens made straight from nightmares to save this kid. The transformation is truly amazing and culminates in a mech suit versus a giant queen alien and it is extremely badass.

11) Army of Darkness (1992)

Far and away the funniest movie on this list, this is the third film stemming from Evil Dead and again stars Bruce Campbell taking on the deadites that were raised by reading from the Necronomicon. The opposition is the undead evil that faces the world which makes the violence very unrealistic. This was early work from Sam Raimi and features a variety of different shots done to the extreme. What really makes this film stand out is how Bruce Campbell is amazing at delivering a one liner. His classic quips have been used as fun Easter eggs in video games like Duke Nukem and World of Warcraft for decades. The quintessential horror comedy and a perfect example of a badass.

12) Die Hard (1988)

Apparently, I am a big fan of single characters that need to work their way through a building of villains using mostly intelligence and the element of surprise. Throw in some one liners and I am all for it. That is exactly what this is with Bruce Willis crawling barefoot around a 40 story building and fighting off a gang of villains. The movie also has Alan Rickman as the main bad guy and he is chewing the scenery. This is a great example of being a badass, but it is too bad that the follow up sequels were so poor. Definitely stick to the original and let the rest pass by.

13) The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (1966)

An OG of the badass movie genre, this is some of the best of Sergio Leone and the spaghetti western. Instead of one badass, this movie has three different leads that are all amazing. You have the good, Clint Eastwood, who is an amazing shot and a heart of gold under a rough exterior. You have the bad, Lee Van Cleef, playing an conniving assassin that will kill anyone that he doesn’t have a use for. Finally, you have the ugly, Eli Wallach, as a desert rat that will do anything to survive. They all gain information about a gold stash and need to work together to get it, but this creates a vortex of cheating, undercutting, and straight up murder. Clint Eastwood is more of the classic badass with his cigar, hat, and poncho, It is an iconic look on an iconic character in an iconic movie. That is what I call badass.

14) Ong-Bak (2003)

This less of a badass movie and more houses some of the most amazingly badass fight scenes that can only be described as badass. This movie introduced the great Tony Jaa to the western world and showed the high flying nature of Thai boxing and Muay Thai in general. The main character is entered into a street fighting tournament and the moves include a flying double knee drop and a full splits kick. If the whole movie was the tournament, it would be the best movie that ever existed. The variety of opponents makes the fighting even better and the cinematography is top notch. Tony Jaa is truly badass in this film.

15) Dredd (2012)

Not the crappy version with Stallone, this movie is seriously badass. It features Karl Urban who is helmeted for the entire film (as Dredd would be) taking on a 200 story mega slum filled with residents that want to shoot him dead. There is a drug dealer high up in the building and she locks down the entire compound with instructions to kill Dredd, who only has his rookie partner to help. He takes on random resident mobs, groups of gang members, and even a trio of mini guns that have bullets that can rip through walls. He has a smart gun with a bunch of ammo that he uses judiciously to kill everybody. This movie was seriously underrated since it had not been that long since the garbage Judge Dredd came out in 1995. The 2012 is a far superior movie, being much more violent and dark instead of having Rob Schneider as the comedy relief (not badass).

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I know there will be a lot of opinions about what makes a badass film and what movies i didn’t add. Feel free to add your own movies or critique my choices. I will stand by my choices, however, and recommend any of these films for a night of cheers and badass action.

[fictionadventurer]

Top 5 unpublished stories (unfinished, in-progress, etc. yours or others' - things posted on tumblr fit, but not indie or traditional publishing)

To be clear, I’m limiting this to:

Works that have at least a partial scene drafted. If it exists only in outline or in idea form, it’s ineligible. There has to be some writing for me to reread and like.  

Stories that are not current WIPs.

So, in no particular order, here are five favorites that I’m fond of.

(Warning: Very Long Post)

1. Airship Sleeping Beauty.

In this world, parents buy fairy gifts for their children at birth. Most people are limited to two or three. Seraphina Crowne (please call her Sara) was gifted with twelve. Her impoverished parents had friends among fairy kind who were able to bend the rules to give this child enough gifts to survive in their harsh environment. Thus, Sara has everything from enhanced beauty and grace to strength and speed and musical skill, which makes her an unstoppable force of (super)nature. She loves a challenge and decides to support her parents by becoming a sailor on a flying sailing ship, where she rockets up through the ranks.

Our POV character is Jack Sanders, who serves under her as second lieutenant. Jack has spent years struggling through the ranks with only one unsuitable fairy gift. The father who chose his gift was an insomniac, and gave his son the gift of helping people fall asleep. Surrounded by people with more useful skills like strength or navigation, Jack languished as a midshipman for years until he served under a captain who realized the greater uses of his gift. Jack hates Seraphina Crowne, assuming that she’s the daughter of a rich man who has enough money to bend all the fairy gifting rules for his precious princess.

As they travel through a tropical land, they run into many adventures, and Jack starts to respect Sara. He learns that she comes from a much less privileged background than he’d assumed, and they slowly become friends. Then one day, they’re taking a day of shore leave on a flying island when they get into a fight with some local ruffians. Sara falls over the edge and is impaled on one of the metal spikes that serve as a barrier between the island and the open sky. But she doesn’t die. She climbs up with a gaping hole through her torso, and the should-be fatal wound heals within hours.

Sara is forced to tell Jack her greatest secret--she actually has a (highly illegal) thirteenth gift. Her mother’s greatest friend among fairy kind was a fairy who was banished from the guild for giving gifts that were too powerful. This fairy wanted to make absolutely certain that her friend couldn’t possibly lose this child at a young age. Her gift to Sara was that she would die by being pricked on the spindle of a spinning wheel--which means that nothing else can kill her. Not disease, injury, old age--she is invulnerable as long as she stays away from spinning wheels, which is easy to do in this industrialized age when your average person has never seen such a thing.  

Jack promises to keep Sara’s secret and they return to the ship. But Jack isn’t the only one who heard her confession. There’s a local airship pirate who supports his business by adopting infants and getting them the illegal fairy gift of being able to transform into birds. One of these bird-children also heard Sara’s story, and they inform their pirate father, who make plans to attack the ship and take out its most powerful asset.

I never finished the story because the climax falls apart. The pirates were going to attack and stab Sara, but Jack is able to stall her death by putting her to sleep--and I could never figure out a way to save Sara without it feeling cheap and predictable and/or detouring into a completely different plotline that takes us away from the story. But I think of the rest of it as one of the best fairy tale retellings I never wrote.

2. Faraway House

This one is my middle-grade portal fantasy for adults. Mara meets Adrian, a mysterious, magical man whose house sits in a space that connects to three different universes--ours, one that has a more medieval fairy tale vibe, and one that’s more steampunky and involves lots of chimeras and people with animal traits. People in need of help tend to fall into this in-between space, and Adrian lets them stay at Faraway House for as long as they need.

There are tons of characters who drop into this story and provide little subplots, but my favorite part was an overarching plotline involving Adrian and Mara. Adrian, who was originally from the fairy tale world, was the evil magician of every childhood nightmare, a powerful man who did all sorts of horrible things to people. He became obsessed with immortality and eventually got it--at a great price to the rest of the world and to himself. He was caught, stripped of a lot of power, and left to live his long life and see the consequences of his actions. He spent a few centuries wandering the three different worlds and undergoing a ton of character development. As a newly humbled man, he was given charge of Faraway House, since his magical talents would be valuable to keep the area and the portals stable. Now, he’s the nicest, sweetest guy you’d ever want to meet. He rarely tells anyone about his past, and most people wouldn’t believe it if you told them.

Anyhow, after Mara’s been staying at Faraway for a long time, she and Adrian go through a portal that links to Adrian’s home universe. They soon realize that it links to his world several centuries in the past, when Evil Adrian was at the height of his power. And he’s very interested in Mara, because her adventures in Faraway have given her some kind of magic that will help him reach the Well of Immortality (or something like that--it’s a very nebulous, fairy tale idea). Unfortunately, taking this magic will kill Mara, so Older Adrian does all he can to save Mara. He succeeds and gets her back home. But his younger self is still on the lookout for her, and he eventually makes his way to Faraway, where he drains the magic and escapes, leaving Mara dying.

And I know this is the most cliche way to end this, but I like my stories predictable and cheesy, and Older Adrian ends up saving Mara by giving up his immortality, which kills him. It’s all very Disney-moving. The story ends with Mara being made the new caretaker of Faraway. And I give away the ending because I’m never going to write this, but I’m still fonder of this story than it deserves.

3. The Island

Anne of Green Gables meets fairy tales.

The Island is a place full of magic. Amphibious mermaids swim along its shores. A fairy forest fills the heart of the Island. Selkie live on the tiny islands off its shore. Pixies cause trouble in the farmyard’s back garden. It’s amazing to the relatively low-magic areas of the rest of the world, but it’s all part of daily life to the farmers and fishermen who live here.

The Fairy’s Daughters, a retelling of “The Twelve Dancing Princesses”, had the most words written in it, but I think I’m fonder of some of the shorter sketches set a generation earlier that highlight little bits and pieces of the world. I started with the tale of Lizbet, an ordinary orphan girl living with her aunt who befriends Gideon, a half-fairy boy who eventually becomes the town’s magical doctor. Their friends include the widow lighthouse keeper who tries to adopt an orphan boy and is surprised to get Amy, who’s a girl--and a mermaid. There’s Captain Avery, a fierce-looking old sailor with a gentle heart and a surprising amount of experience with magical creatures. There’s Auberon, a fairy prince and eventually king who’s racist against humans, spends some of his younger years traveling in human lands to import human-made products, and becomes even more racist because of it.

I think my favorite thing in this universe are the sylphs. I borrowed Andersen’s idea of the “Daughters of the Air”, and made my sylphs into invisible, benevolent creatures who do good deeds for people, and can accomplish magical feats far beyond what any fairy can do. The sketch I reread most often is a scene where Amy, out for a swim in a storm, is rescued by a sylph who has taken a human (though translucent) form, and gets invited in for tea by Amy’s grateful friends.

It’s a fun universe to play in, but not one that I’m very good at finishing stories in, so I think it needs to stay as a pretty aesthetic and a fun sandbox.

4. Clever Anne

A retelling of “Kate Crackernuts” set in a non-magical Regency-esque setting. Anne is the beautiful, intelligent daughter of a duke. Kate is her bold, daring stepsister. They are deeply devoted to each other, but Kate’s mother hates Anne for being so much more beautiful than her daughter. She gets one of the servants to push Anne into the embers of the fire, leaving her face badly burned. Kate throws a veil over Anne’s face and gets her out of the house, insisting they’ll go off to make their fortune.

Anne was childhood friends with a young man who, through a convoluted succession crisis, unexpectedly finds himself on the throne. They stumble upon him in their travels, and find themselves able to help him by investigating the mysterious behavior of his half-brother, who resents that he was passed over for the throne and may be plotting something sinister. I was never able to figure out a good political-intrigue parallel to the “dancing all night with fairies” portion of the plot, so it never got written. The only really good scene I wrote from this story was the moment where Kate finds out about Anne’s injury and insists on leaving the house. But even in that one scene, their relationship is so strong and so vivid in my mind that I love their story even if I never finish it.

5. The Beast’s Mechanic

This is the one on the list that’s closest to being a WIP. I actually edited some of the beginning in March. It’s a sci-fi take on “Beauty and the Beast” set in a world where two planetary empires are at war. The war destroyed Monique’s father’s shipping business, forcing the whole family to move to a desert planet where they run a small spaceport. Monique is a top-notch mechanic, her sister Gemma is a pilot, Gemma’s twin Joanne stays at home to take care of the house and the two youngest siblings, and Leo is a seventeen-year-old rapscallion who is desperate to join the war as soon as possible.

Their world is upended when, for the first time in years, their mother wants to meet with them. A former starship captain, she and her husband disagreed over the war, and she left the family years ago to join the war effort. But now her starship is in for repairs and she wants to take some time to reconnect with her family. There’s some controversy among the family--do they really want to open these wounds again when they’ve finally moved on?--but Monique the peacemaker insists that, even though it’s impossible for the whole family to make the trip, her father should take the chance. He goes to meet his wife, but on the way there, his spaceship breaks down in the middle of nowhere, and he’s rescued by the Beast, an infamous cyborg outlaw. He also breaks important equipment on the Beast’s ship, and is only able to keep from being thrown out of the airlock by insisting that his daughter can fix it.

Monique nearly does, except that the authorities show up just before she’s done with repairs, forcing the Beast to take off with her in the ship. She comes to learn that the Beast is far from an evil criminal and has been helping people wronged by the government, and she helps him get home to his family (in the enemy empire), but her patriotic starship captain of a mother takes all of these events in very much the wrong light.

I’m very fond of this story for the ways that it avoids some of the usual BatB retelling tropes. There’s much more to this story than the romance, and little focus on the mystery of how the Beast became a Beast, and there’s much more focus on family. The Beast hasn’t even shown up yet, but I’m just incredibly fond of Monique’s family and their everyday working-class life on a desert planet. I hope I can make more progress on it someday.

[softlyblues]

hi I read your answer about moist! I agree. :) I was wondering based on what you said if you ship vetvimes or not?

fhi, thanks very much! 

i think vetvimes have a rly interesting and nuanced dynamic. i’m all in for the memes, of course i am, but i don’t really ship it so much as i think vetinari/vimes/sybil have a rly interesting, basically canonical relationship, involving if not vimes w/ both of them, then all three of them with each other. i rly hope u dont mind bc im about to go off on one lmao. 

i recently reread guards guards and what got me (and i know from a doylist pov it’s because pterry hadnt finalised the universe yet) was the inequality in vetvimes dynamic. vetinari pities vimes and holds him at arms length, and vimes is a very stupid but very earnest drunkard. he’s a pitiable figure when he asks for a small raise and a dartboard, and vetinari doesn’t take him seriously. 

through men at arms/feet of clay/jingo we see the dynamic we know and love growing. it’s been a while since i’ve read them all, but im gonna get up some scenes that i think are super important to vet/vimes/sybil... and yes this includes the gonne scene. (:D)

so here is the scene right after vetinari is shot. here is really, imo, the first time vimes stops seeing vetinari as one of his Betters - vimes is in his element, calm even, and vetinari asks him what to do. vetinari speaks slowly, almost stuttering, and i read a lot of fear into that line “i appear... to be losing a lot of blood.”

and then vimes outright accuses vetinari of not doing the right thing. can you IMAGINE guards guards vimes doing something like that? vimes holds vetinari to account, and vetinari allows him. i also think it’s significant that this all happens at vimes & sybil’s wedding; we know sybil and vetinari are friends, old friends, and the wedding continues on despite the attack. vimes has time to save sybil AND vetinari, without sacrificing one for the other. that’s really the central point of men at arms: vimes doesn’t have to retire to have time for his wife and for the watch. he can multitask without losing either. 

feet of clay is another important leveler book for vetinari and vimes. for most of the book, vetinari is slowly dying, trusting basically nobody but drumknott and vimes to come into his room - he does know what’s going on, yes, but he trusts vimes to not need his help to work the thing out. vetinari does stay ahead, and he does have the advantage, but he doesn’t feel the need to help vimes; he respects him, and treats him as though he’s on the same level as him. this is really important for vimes’ perception of himself going from drunkard to someone who has people relying on him, and as someone who can be trusted. in order for vetinari and vimes to have any relationship, they need to not only be on a level, but they both need to know they are as well. i think vetinari has no problem knowing this, but sam is very unreliable when it comes to an account of his own intelligence, bravery, and merit. i mean. he remains, right up until the end of snuff, convinced that he is a Bad Person who has Snuck Into Someone Else’s Happy Life and is waiting for the other shoe, yknow, so men at arms/feet of clay are important books for hauling vimes up onto vetinari’s platform so they both know they’re equals. 

sybil is HUGELY important in this, and part of the reason i dislike traditional vetvimes is bc they just... idk, kill her off of make her horrible or just disregard her existence. sybil is the catalyst for literally all of sam’s development. without her he’s an alcoholic in the gutter. with her, he’s duke, commander, sir samuel, the man vetinari trusts the most. (dont disregard sybil, vetvimes ppl.)

in jingo, i think we start to see the vetvimessybil dynamic we’re more familiar with. vetinari trusts sam to play along with him, and he goes to klatch and does the whole sexy juggler thing and he allows sam to arrest two countries. he lets the lords of ankh-morpork raise armies, because he trusts sam. sybil trusts sam. vetinari trusts sam. vimes trusts both of them implicitly, even if he doesn’t think or say so. 

fifth elephant might seem not that important, but it’s really big to note that at the beginning, vetinari and sybil appear to be conspiring to give sam a holiday. also, sybil calls vetinari havelock, and the only other person i can remember who calls him that is lady margolotta, his ‘love interest’. vimes turns to sybil as his last chance against vetinari, only to find that they’ve been in cahoots because they’re both concerned about his health (and about sybil) and doesn’t that sound terribly domestic!

then we come to night watch, and i know it isn’t a new opinion, that this is one of the big pivotal books for he whole series, but more than that it’s pivotal for the balance between vetinari, vimes, and sybil. the cigar case is the only thing stopping sam from going off the deep end - with love from your sybil, just to press the point - and it all happens in between the birth of young sam. vimes is motivated by love for his city of course, but he has a family now, and he drinks Loving His Wife Juice through history. vimes has already been through his character development; night watch is vetinari’s turn.

finally vimes is the wiser, superior, older mentor figure to vetinari’s bullied, presumably 25-or-younger self. he is already mature, with a tendency towards the dramatic, but i think it’s not really a reach to say night watch was vetinari’s gay awakening. and OH MY GOD the ending scene beside keel’s grave is etched into my memory. i’ll attach it even though i’m sure we don’t need it:

like, woah. what a change in dynamic. now vetinari is bowing to the whims of a vimes he can’t predict, and now vimes is the one telling vetinari off. this is his area of expertise. “afterwards we could-” vetinari has become accustomed to a world where he and sam do things together; it would be fair to say (and supported by the young assassin at the start of this book) that vimes is now firmly integral to the cogs of ankh-morpork. vetinari not only relies on him, but trusts him to be at his side without having to ask. vetinari respects him at this time, in this place, because he has finally seen the lengths to which vimes will go to protect his city, a dedication to a-m that only vetinari has ever expressed. 

from there i think vetinari/vimes/sybil continue without much change. in thud, snuff, and raising steam they have settled into a comfortable give and take. i think that sybil ABSOLUTELY CANNOT be removed from the equation, because she cares for both vimes & vetinari - she is a formidable force when put into action (hello, army of letter-writers from snuff!) and we know she has the power to bully both men into taking care of themselves. imo she is the driving force behind any romantic action between any of the three of them, including herself & sam; remember how they got together in guards guards? she just sat him down with a cup of tea and talked and he realised that he’d somehow gathered a fiancee without realising it. sybil ramkin is DEFINITELY the unstoppable force to both mens’ immovable objects. 

i think it’s perfectly expressed in thud. vimes can both read a story to his son, be a good husband to his wife, be a good commander to his patrician, and be a good watchman to his city, without ever having to sacrifice anything - because of the machinations of his wife and his patrician. (and his city and his son. i mean, that scene with the traffic and the high-speed bedtime story chase says it all.) 

so those are my Many Many Thoughts about vetvimes, i hope that... wasnt too much over what you were asking me for lmao

[myhistoryobsession]

happy pride!! who are your top 5 most interesting lgbt people from history? and go!

Hi anon,

Happy Pride Month to you too!! That's a great question. Before I answer that, I want to make a few things clear.

First, it's important that we don't try to impose modern labels on historical figures, especially when looking at something like sexuality. I have definitely been guilty of that in the past (as evident in most of my earlier posts here). While it's not exactly wrong to use modern terms for historical figures, it's important that everyone understands that the terms come with a grain of salt - there's always a little wiggle room!

This brings me to my second point - all of these people and their sexualities are 100% open to interpretation. I know there's the old joke of historians going, "they seem to be really good friends" and "oh my god, they were roommates," and while it's okay to laugh and make those jokes, it's not always done out of homophobia. How humans connect and relate to each other has changed over the centuries and varies from culture to culture. Something we consider today to be very intimate and sexual may in the past only be soft expressions of friendship. So you - or anyone - may delve deeper into a person, review the evidence, and draw your own conclusions. It's always good when studying history to do your own research, engage with the historiography, review the evidence yourself, then come up with your own argument!

That being said, here are 5 lgbt+ figures I find super interesting:

1. Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum - Ancient Egyptian same-sex lovers

Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum were royal overseers to Pharaoh Nyuserre Ini. They share a tomb with numerous depictions of them engaging in intimate acts, such as touching noses, hugging, and holding hands. Early archeologists believed the two men might have been conjoined twins, but most Egyptologists now believe the two men were married, or at least publicly same-sex lovers. While they each had wives and children, the fact that their families allowed the two men to share a tomb - itself an extremely intimate act - may display familial, if not social, acceptance of their relationship. They may be the first same-sex couple in recorded history.

2. Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States of America

In his early years in Springfield, Illinois, Lincoln shared a room and bed with Joshua Fry Speed. While bedsharing was common then - beds were expensive - the longevity of their relationship raises some eyebrows: they lived together for nearly three years. Lincoln later became engaged to Mary Todd in 1839. Shortly afterward, Speed left Springfield, which sent Lincoln into a depression that culminated in him ending his engagement with Todd. Later, Lincoln and Todd reconciled and married in 1842 and had several children together. However, some historians maintain that Lincoln was bisexual, or perhaps asexual, citing his relationship with Speed and several comments made by friends and family members that described his lack of sexual interest in women.

3. The Public Universal Friend, an early-American preacher

Born Jemima Wilkinson in 1752 Rhode Island to Quaker parents, they publicly identified as female and used she/her pronouns for most of their early life. In 1776, they suffered a severe illness (probably typhus) wherein doctors believed them near death. However, the fever broke, and, after waking up, they claimed that Jemima Wilkinson had died of the fever and that God had transformed them into the Public Univeral Friend, a genderless person. Friend stopped using their birth name, adopted they/them pronouns, and dressed androgynously. They preached in the Northeastern United States, rejecting predestination, promoting free will, calling an end to slavery, and supported sexual abstinence. They formed the Society of Universal Friends, which accepted men, women, Black people, and Native Americans. Friend died in 1819 at 66, and today is a significant figure in American Christian evangelism, and lgbt+ history.

4. Mary Jones/Peter Sewally, a gender-nonconforming 19th Century New York Black person

Born Peter Sewally in 1803, they used both names throughout their life. During the day, they wore male clothing and went by Peter. By night, they would dress as a woman and go by the name Mary Jones. Under that name and in that persona, they prostituted themselves to men to steal their money. Police arrested them on 11 June 1836 for larceny, and they appeared in court as Mary Jones several days later. Courts found them guilty, and they later went to prison. Afterward, they adopted Mary Jones as their primary name and openly lived as a woman. They faced several more criminal charges for soliciting sex and stealing money from customers. Today, they are remembered as one of New York City's first Black gender-nonconforming people.

5. Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale, grandson of Queen Victoria, in line to inherit the British Throne

Albert Victor was the eldest son of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, and Alexandra of Denmark. He was second in line to inherit the British throne from his grandmother, Queen Victoria, after his father. Today, Albert Victor is best remembered for his involvement in the 1889 Cleveland Street scandal, wherein police raided a male brothel and arrested the clients and workers, homosexuality being illegal in Britain at the time. Several high-ranking people close to the royal family were implicated. Soon, rumors emerged that Albert Victor was a regular patron at the brothel and that the police and royal family covered it up. Although no charges were ever brought forth and no definitive evidence produced, the rumors persisted for the rest of his life. Several surviving letters indicate that Albert Victor developed romantic feelings for women, which lead some historians to conclude that the prince was bisexual.

While there are many other people worth mentioning, those are 5 that I find particularly interesting! Hope that answers your question, and thanks for the ask! Happy pride!