#the oldest boy is 16 at the start of the war so maybe he gets conscripted i will. do more reserch 👍

[thedogslegart]

Im in the weatherspoons. Better pixs later maybe. Anyway. Jack Marston daughter ☝️

[rosie-kairi]

Hello I heard an excuse to ask about Rosemary and the seedlings

Who proposed, Rosemary or Ephemer? How long were they dating? How long were they married before they decided to have kids?

Which of the kids are keyblade wielders? Who takes the brunt of the social obligations as a famous family? Who spends the most time with each parent? Which kids end up having kids themselves?

What position do you envision Rosemary having in the rebuilding of Scala? How does she feel knowing that Lauriam is lost somewhere in time and will likely outlive her? How does she honor Strelitzia's memory? Does she know the full truth of the situation, that the public wouldn't? Does she forgive Ventus for his part in it?

Rosemary and Ephemer get married around their early to mid 20's, I think. Rosemary is about 1-2 years older than Ephemer, so I'm thinking maybe 22 + 24? Ephemer being around 16 at the end of khux and her being 17-going-on-18 sounds about right. Probably don't start dating until at least a year of knowing each other. (Ephemer not wanting to jump right into a close relationship out of fear of losing her/feeling like he's using her to soothe his guilt due to her similarities with Lauriam). Idk.

Anyway, the story of their marriage is a very funny one that can be summed up thusly:

Ephemer proposes to her pretty much on the spot after this. I imagine it would be mostly due to a lot of the public probably having more.. traditional values? Basically, Ephemer doesn't need people judging him for having children born out of wedlock when he's trying to build a society from the ground up. But it's also something he had been wanting to do but didn't know the right time for. So they get married soon after, and if the kids are born only a handful of months after the wedding instead of at least 9, who's to say?

As for the kids, I think they'd all wind up with keyblades at one point or another. I don't think Nico is much of a fighter, though, so he doesn't see reason to use it unless absolutely necessary. Reggie, as the oldest, takes on most of Ephemer's responsibilities once she's old enough. The other two help out as well, but they're also busy running around the various worlds trying to gauge the extent of the damage the keyblade war caused, for science and for funsies.

June is very much a daddy's girl, and Nico's a momma's boy. Reggie has no real "favorite" parent, but if asked she'd probably say Rosemary as well. They all love each other equally, but it's clear who took after who on the family tree lol. As for their kids, I think all three of them have at least one. June carries the Belrose family name which eventually leads to Sigrun in DR, and Nicolai somehow leads to the creation of good ol' Nort.

Rosemary's role in the rebuilding of Scala is being the person doing all of the talking. Growing up in a well-respected southern family has taught Rosemary her fair share of conversational tactics to get someone to agree to exactly what you want them to. Call it manipulative, but she does it mostly through being very very polite. You just can't say no to a face like hers, and she's asking you so so nicely. Ephemer eventually finds his footing as leader, but everyone always listens to Rosemary.

With regards to her cousins, Rosemary probably doesn't know all of the details. Ephemer tells her most things but leaves out some of the stuff that he'd think would really wreck her emotionally. So, as far as she is concerned, Lauriam and Strelitzia are dead dead. No Coming back, she can only hope to see them in whatever afterlife exists in KH. She honors them by creating multiple gardens in their names and treats them with the utmost care. Her and Ephy probably have statues of them put up in the gardens, or maybe something meant to represent them.

As for Ventus, I think Ephemer would explain it to her in the best terms a non-wielder could understand. There was this kid, he was lonely, Lauriam embraced him as a brother in the absence of Strelitzia, but then it came out that the kid had accidentally caused Strelitzia's death. They're probably the only two that know that last bit, as Ephemer saw no reason to stain the poor kid's legacy with that, knowing that'd it would probably be twisted over the years and lose the "unintentional" part. So, I think Rosemary understands that Ventus didn't want Strelitzia to die. I think Rosemary would wish she could've been there for him, at least a little bit. Roads not taken, and all that.

[lindsayrps]

indigo armstrong, twenty nine, fighter pilot

born three months before the start of the great war, indigo spends childhood nestled in a quiet suburb in seattle with his family. he's the oldest of three, the only boy and brother to juniper and, eventually, willow. joseph and adelaide are self proclaimed free spirits and vehement objectors to war in all forms, opposing wilson's call to join the war in 1917. joseph chooses farm labour in another state over enlisting in an attempt to avoid imprisonment for failure to serve.

adelaide takes on parenting indigo and his sister on her own in the absence of joseph but two young children take their toll and things are hard all around. joseph returns a few months after the signing of the armistice, in early 1919, and the family attempts to settle back into the life they'd known. they welcome a third child, another daughter, and decide their family is complete.

the twenties roll by with relatively little fanfare, a move is contemplated in the midst of it in an attempt to stave off using whatever savings they've got to their name but the 30s present a new obstacle and times get even toughter than they had been. indigo turns 16 by the spring of 1930 and starts working wherever they'll let him to start contributing to the household where his father, or mother, cannot. they struggle, pinch pennies and move into smaller and smaller places.

by 1939, indigo is 25 and somewhat transient. much of his time between '32-'39 is spent travelling and working wherever anyone will have him and sending the money back to his family so they can survive. he picks up a steady, long term job as a mechanic on planes and eventually learns to fly them when he's got some downtime.

his parents are furious when he joins the air foce and even moreso when he tells them he's being sent overseas to join the war effort. he knows they'll come around, eventually, and maybe only when the war is over but it sucks, in the moment, for them to decide to stop talking to him, almost pretending like he doesn't exist. he doesn't enjoy the war or think it's right but it feels like the only option and he realizes that flies in the face of everything they'd taught him so he supposes he doesn't blame them but, still.

it's a stable, steady job and, for a time, he doesn't regret it. he flies a single seater, lockheed p38 lightning for a simple fact that he trains on it, he knows it like the back of his hand, and he doesn't want to be responsible for getting anyone but himself back home when all is said and done. he spends the early days of the war flying missions over italy in the mediterranean theater before being transferring to western europe in september '43 where he's been flying escort missions with flying fortresses from the 8th.

indigo is the exact person you want on your side. he's unshakeable, for the most par, always having a level head and the ability to think logically where that might fail with others. he prides himself on being the kind of person everyone can rely on for some perspective.

he does tend to let loose and have fun when he's not flying missions and is stuck on base for whatever reason but he's also a very chill person. he'll go for a drink or a night off at the club but he knows his limits and generally doesn't push them.

(unless david is involved.)

he's a restless sort on the worst days and leans impulsive when he's bored or Very Sure of something (see: his marriage to eliza after 2 months of knowing her) but doesn't see that as a shortcoming.

despite however kept together he may appear on the outside and how little seems to shake him, he's not at all at ease with the war. he compartmentalizes and turns off his guilt by saying it's a job. it's a job and when he's done, he gets to go home to his wife and he never wants to get involved in anything like this again.

certified Wife Guy™

[lillian-nator]

Everything below was made by Me, Eye, and Ethan over the course of like 3 days

Thank you (with additions from sleepy my beloved)

Like

Okay

So

Wilbur isn’t the oldest

Techno is

But it’s a war run empire, they take pride in their troops and armies and triumphs

The soldiers come first

So Techno is the commander in chief , the general

Wilbur, second born

Is heir to the throne

To the diplomatic side of the empire

and Tommy Gets shit

He doesn’t even understand why Phil had another kid

Of course there is the situation where Techno or Wilbur dies, or one of them steps down, but it won’t happen

Was he really born to be the understudy

he was born as a backup

Tommy was an accident but they’re not gonna let the public know that

like he's the Zuko

Phil doesn't really pay attention to him so his mother picks up the slack

Wilbur is 21

Techno’s 23

Tommy’s 17

However I have a really good idea for prince Tommy, just like what if he doesn’t like the way that people treat him? Like he doesn’t want all these yes men he wants to be he wants to be told now, he want somebody to tell him he that’s against the rules he just wants him like structure he just want someone to hate him he want someone to not like him and say no and tell him that he’s stupid which is why he does all of the stupid shit that he does

Ever since he was like 4

Everyone has said yes

He wants to defy them

He wants to just do something to make someone say no

That and he lowkey

He wants ~~Phil~~ Wilbur to pay attention to him

Is a Little Shit who causes so many problems on purpose to try and find someone who will push back against him

He wants someone to give him structure and discipline but overall he just wants his family’s attention

He’s broken shit, thrown temper tantrums, he’s started fights and he’ll he’s even snuck out and stole things

He’s never been stopped

People consider him snobby and spoiled

He's a brat

He gets everything he wants, but he doesn’t really want it, he just asks to see if they’ll tell him no

Tubbo = Stable Boy

Ranboo = Prince of another country (probably the americas)

Ranboo could definitely fit the role of an overseas royal prince who Tommy sees as a regal, spoiled, uppity little shit. Like Tubbo, who Tommy sneaks everywhere, has met Ranboo and likes him. Tommy can't possibly see why, he's unbearable.

Bench Trio = Best freinds

I think that Tommy and his brothers were always very very close

they just have jobs and shit

They took over Phil's shit

they probably drift apart as they get older, Wilbur and techno have duties and Tommy starts his quest for attention, they grow apart from their little brother without realizing it

Tommy and his mother (kristin) are always and have continued to be close

she definitely chides him, and tells him quietly to not do things for all of his "misbehaviors"

but there is only so much that she can do, because she has the duty to not make a scene

that and she's not who he's looking for attention from

You may be asking "How is crime recognized, identified, discussed, and atoned for?" more specifically, "Is it a 'you stole my bread so without asking anyone I'm cutting your hand off' or is it the US court system" ~~You may also be Ethan~~

The answer is:

like the UKs

But more like

Okay so the Supreme Judicial system, but Phil (and then Wilbur) has teh final say

Court system, but with Phil overseeing everything

instead of a judge

HOWEVER, that's in the national level

in smaller villages, its more of the cut your hand off system

because the judicial system isn't regulated

So bonus questions:

Punishments and the identification of whether a crime counts as a crime?

soldiers can call crimes out, and citizens can file reports

Phil's not really shit, he just doesn't show Tommy any attention because he's busy with the other two

Just honestly doesn't even care about most shit Tommy does

Like, doesn't pay attention to it until it affects him, he's busy running a country and training the boys to running a country

I don’t think they (the brothers) realize how badly everything is affecting Tommy

The only one who knows anything about the full extent would be his mom, and she’s in a similar boat to Tommy

Phil doenst really see her much either

Not like she could “Make a Scene” trying to get Phil to pay attention to his youngest, to actually love his child, he’s barely around

Kristin and Phil spend time together at night, but during the day everything is for the cameras

its like the UK royals, how they do shit just for the people

And Phil doenst want to hear about the kids at night, he wants to spend time with his wife

Tommy has stolen a car and will do it again

Just fucking hopped in and took a joyride

With Absolutely No Repercussions

Do you think Phil ever tries to hire like, a nanny or something? In the aftermath of the Car Incident? Yes, and it never worked

Tommy, like 15 at the time, pissed as hell as a random ass woman tries to tell him to go to bed at 8:30 pm

Tommy wants somebody to tell him no but not somebody hired to tell him no mannn

Tommy goes to like parties - like ragers

he has a network of really famous friends like young actors and shit

dude is a party animal, underage drinking, rumors of drugs, he’s the PR Teams worst nightmare, but they’re not going to say anything

The press makes up SO MUCH SHIT

The press once said that he had done cocaine when it was really one of his friends

Tommy adopts two dogs (hello Betty and Walter) without asking either of his parents

Betty is short for Elizabeth

He brings them in off the street

Literal abandoned street dogs and he goes, mine now

He like, walks down the street with sunglasses on, and just doesn't look at anyone as he walks the dogs, who have like black nice leather leashes

The paparazzi always finds him walking the dogs

like a modern celebrity

Mans can and will call the paparazzi on himself - because he is a drama queen ETHAN Tommy voice "hello pa pa. I have hired two new staff, pa pa." "Huh?" "they have found work in this palace as emotional support animals, pa pa." "....ok." tommy voice "he didn't even blink, elizabeth the fourteenth" END OF ETHAN MAKING FUN OF THE BRITISH

By the way just to clear things up with you all, Tommy addresses Phil as "Father"

most of the paparazzi's pictures of Tommy are him flipping the camera off

He poses for them

just sees a camera and fucking sticks his tongue out and flips them off

He’s wearing some atrocious outfit while walking his dogs and he just has a full on fashion photshoot of poses for them

If his dad won’t give him attention at least they will

Tommy befriends some of the staff

he hates a lot of the butlers tbh

thinks they're stuck up

but likes to gossip with the maids, and sit in the kitchen as the chefs cook lunch "Heyyyy, chef!" "Your highness, what is it, are you hungry?" "Can't a man just talk to his chef? Befriend his castle staff?" "Ah."

that and the kitchen gives betty and walter treats

Top ten Prince Thomas microaggressions

Number One: he calls Phil "your highness"

For context, kings are referred to as Your Majesty

He calls Wilbur Your Majesty

It was a joke when they were younger, a habit from then on, but now it’s to spite Phil

Tommy spends an ridiculous amount of money on clothes all at once, purely to see if Phil would yell at him for using the family debit card for it

He never wears the clothes

He doesn’t particularly like any of them anyways

Instead he donate them all anonymously

Tommy may be a brat but he isn’t wasteful

By the time Tommy’s 12 he’s started acting up, and it escalates slowly until he hits 15 where things just start snowballing and he gets worse and worse

he's definitely nicknamed by the press as some sort of party animal or fratboy

a spoiled brat

He’s 16, and he knows his place in the family, he is forgotten and glossed over, but he won’t be ignored, not if he can help it

The Public gives him the attention he wishes his father would give him, he walks his dogs with the paparazzi tailing after him, just hoping that maybe one scandal or one horrible picture will eventually be enough to make his dad actually See him

he'll tell the paparazzi what they want to hear

and give every magazine a story to tell

they notice him

he just wants somebody to tell him no, somebody tell this boy no without being paid to please

Tommy probably has like, pierced his ears or smth. Gotten tattoos.

he has holes in his face yes.

he pierced his ears and his nose

He has a tattoo on the inside of his finger that matches with Tubbo and Ranboo

Maybe the picture of him plastered from last weekend will make his dad reprimand him

Maybe the weed found in his backseat will get his Dad to ground him

Maybe the bottle of fucking pills he was “holding for a friend” but got caught with Will get some sort of reaction

and its not like he's only doing it for attention

he starts it for attention, but he loves it he does

he has fun, he loves his friends, he likes the parties and the air

but, he also loves the attention, he's not gonna lie

Tommy who took adderall at a party once but it didn’t do anything for him, he seemed to function a little better actually

Tommy who knows Techno has adhd and takes adderall for it, Tommy who puts two and two together Bc he’s not fucking dumb

Tommy realizing his dad never cared to even get him diagnosed or treated

and Techno does notice, he does figure it out, but he does either a "hey..." or a "m8 I'll just get you your own if its helpin you focus" and tommy is furious

Tommy's life here is just

'trying to be yelled at HARD MODE'

Just wants to be screamed at, lowkey

I think, Wilbur avoids the tabloids

And the press

And the news

However, his advisors often read him the shit about Tommy - or anything about him

But they never see the pictures

They don’t see the picture of Tommy drunk on a strangers balcony

They don't see how bad it is

Tommy however? LOVES reading what the press has to say about him

Phil sees it however,

And he’s so disappointed

He gives Tommy so many talks but it never works

Because it doesn’t get him to love Tommy, to care about what Tommy does

Not like their mother

And he never makes a scene, not in the way Tommy wants to

It's all about "YOUR RUINING OUR IMAGE"

not: "YOUR RUINING YOUR LIFE"

He never asks if Tommy is ok

He never asks if he’s safe

Tommy's mum however, SO MANY AWKWARD "STAY SAFE" TALKS

He doesn't just fucking jump off shit because of her, he's slightly less reckless so that he can come home alive to her

I just think that Wilbur, no matter how busy, would find time to concerned yell at his baby brother if he were to find out about the pills

Weed and alcohol? Not great but ok.

Pills though?? He is full blown concerned Wilbro there

His brothers care. Their father is busy. He's a jerk sometimes too.

Wilbur does put out the fire a bit

He’s glad Wilbur had his best interest in mind

But man

The news headlines

They do him dirty

Shit like “Prince Tommy Caught Doing Cocaine at Frat Party” really fuck him over

They really just try their best to make him look like shit 95% of the time

Tommy loves it, just a little

Bad press is still press

He laughs at the headline Bc he knows he wasn’t doing cocaine, but Phil doesn’t, wilbur and techno don’t know that

It’s a tense week after that headline is released

His mom doesn’t even know if Tommy would have actually done cocaine

They just don’t know

Kristin asks him

She’s the only one who believes him

I think Wilbur wants to believe him, Techno too

But it’s hard to, especially when you’re not even sure you know your own brother anymore

Wilbur says something along the lines of being disappointed in Tommy, if he thought Tommy was trying to be better

Tommy scoffs and says he is trying, but that it’s real rich of Wilbur to be or entering to care now

This isn’t even the worse headline

One time a blonde kid got picked up from the same party Tommy was at on a stretcher, he had had an allergic reaction

Some shitty journalist saw and automatically assumed it was Tommy

They ran with the story that the prince had fucking overdosed for at least a week

The things they say are close to the truth but not quite

The PR Team tries their best to help but

They don’t even know what’s true or not

Tommy goes on a bender for a week, and walks into their office with coffee and pastries to apologize

They all know that presents mean a rough week of damage control

But Tommy imports them these Bomb ass donuts so

Fair trade really

Also heaven forbid tommy gets seen with a girl

It’s the worst shit

Tommy gets caught, drunk off his ass, pushing a couch out a window

(To be fair the people were moving soon anyways, they didn’t need the couch, it was a going away party)

And the next morning, recalling what he did

He orders up those pastries and calls the coffee place

Swings by to pick up the coffee and picks up the pastries all within the next two hours and delivers them on the third with an apology note

It’s fucking DAMAGE control

Thinking about Tubbo and Ranboo being Tommy’s DDs when they can

They are

When Tommy’s handler isn’t around

Them doing wild shit together but not Wild Shit

Tommy teaches them how to do burnouts and donuts in a fucking lambos in an empty mall parking lot

Ranboo goes everywhere incognito, Tommy practically flaunts his rank, Tubbo is considered a nobody and doesn't have to do anything but show up in casual clothes. He has a uniform for stablework.

Ranboo's parents are approving of his friendship with the fledging prince, as they hope he can wrangle Tommy to regality and he's building positive relations between the two kingdoms.

Phil is disapproving, worried Tommy will taint Ranboo and his rep and cause a tense air between the two kingdoms. Tommy loves Phil's worry, he practically bathes in it, it's the attention he so craves.

Tommy definitely will hold Tubbo's hand when he walks with him, because the headlines all scream Tommy is the gay?? and while he's very incredibly straight, he finds this hysterical.

Ranboo isn't always in Tommy's kingdom and rather spends most of his time at home. He might be second to heir or the crown prince himself, but he does have to spend time in his own country. Tommy face calls him a lot and he and Tubbo are ecstatic when he announces he's going to visit

I imagine he's second to the throne because that means he can focus on building relations instead of training to be king.

Older sibling Fundy, gets chronic illness, and Ranboo has to take over the throne for a bit

One of Tommy's worst stunts was hitching a ride to the Americas/Ranboo's kingdom without telling anyone.

Whether by boat or plane, he was gonna go visit his young king friend no matter what.

I say "young king" but he's still a prince. Just filling in for fundy

But all eyes turn to Ranboo and Ranboo is stumbling with attention he'd never known. Tommy has to help, doesn't he?

He expects such a punishment for stowing away to visit, but the headlines are... positive. Prince Tommy's friendship with Princr Ranboo becomes.... legendary, practically. Tubbo is always excluded from the news, even when he comes with.

Never too fantastical for classism

But no, the headlines see Tommy's visit not as the young, rebellious prince stowing away, but as a young boy risking his skin to visit his stressed friend.

Tommy is appalled.

And Tommy just groans and shows him the phone

And Ranboo laughs and goes

“There there Tommy, I’m sure dragging me to a frat party will be enough to ruin the good press.”

“Maybe get a dui, you’ll have diplomatic immunity so no jail time?”

“Boo, I wouldn’t get jail time even if I wasn’t em-mune, I am simply too poggers.”

“Sure man, let’s go with that.”

Tommy’s like “maybe I need to actually start doing hard drugs”

Ranboos just like “no -“ just “Please god no, your brothers will kill both of us.”

The Boo is terrified of Techno and Wilbur

Not as royals though, simply as Tommy’s older brothers

Like he knows about Tommy’s issues with validation and feeling unloved, he knows his Brothers are often very busy

But he also sees the way they look at Tommy, and the way they look when people talk bad about Tommy

He knows if something were to happen and he was to cause harm to Tommy or cause Tommy to cause harm to himself

It probably wouldn’t end well for him

Wilbur and techno try as hard as they can

But they’re SO busy

That they can’t do much especially when Tommy’s so persistent on doing his shit

Tubbo is great with the horses he tends to, and Tommy adores them. Ranboo is an excellent, regal rider and Tommy and Tubbo are more rough and ballsy, so races are fair and fastpaced.

Ranboo once got bucked by a royal stallion and Tommy and Tubbo never let him live it down.

I imagine Tubbo lives on the property, as some servants do. He either doesn't have a family, has a bad one, or his family doesn't live close to the palace.

So Tommy 10/10 sneaks to the servants' quarters and he and Tubbo sneak out to ride the horses.

I feel like Wilbur makes more of an effort after the pills and cocaine incident, he tries to ask Tommy about the headlines

Purples is Tommy’s friend

Rich family, old money

Throws a lot of the parties Tommy goes to

Purpled and punz :handshake: Tommy

Frat Boys

I think you guys are underestimating the time that Tommy spends at the castle

Like he still has school, and usually 3 days out of the week he follows around his brothers like an endearing little shit

But those 4 days where he’s gone (which includes weekends) plus nights, he’s doing shit

Also, yiu know Pongo right

101 Dalmatians

That’s how Tommy walks Betty and Walter

They are like standing completely proper and walks straight

ah yes, the royal bitches and also betty and walter are there too

the paparazzi taking pictures of Tommy and the dogs

and Tommy turns, taking his sunglasses off, and smiles big and wide "They have names you know? You should stop callin' them 'the royal dogs'."

One of the guys, he's familiar with the prince turns on his camera and asks "what're their names Prince Tommy?"

"Betty and Walter. Give them some respect."

Tommy visits Ranboo sometimes. Ranboo was looking for him one day and just found him standing in a long hall, staring at a portrait.

It's Ranboo, just barely younger, hands folded behind his back, the perfect picture of regality.

Tommy is staring at it because he knows that at home, there is a portrait of Wilbur looking like that, and one of Techno, and one of Phil and Kristen, and one of himself.

But somehow this image of Ranboo is.. haunting

Not because it doesn't match with the Ranboo he knows, but because it does.

It haunts him because he can stare at his portrait for hours and never see himself, but this is so plainly Ranboo that it's chilling.

Ranboo stands beside him, hands folded behind his back as they always are when he is in nice clothes and his eyes are visible. Tommy glances over and Ranboo is facing him, but staring up at the picture. It's still him.

The clothes are different and his hair is longer now, but Tommy can't tell the difference past that.

He knows that Ranboo is what his family wants him to be

He knows that Ranboo is him if he hadn't strayed, the same past

Ranboo knows exactly what’s going through his head right now

And he knows exactly what he needs too

They get fucking piss ass drunk in Ranboo’s room order takeout and FaceTime Tubbo

They can party tomorrow, Tommy doesn’t need to be in public right now

ANywyas

Tommy and his mother have a wonderful relationship

she teaches him literacy and history, they have a tutor teach him maths

they eat breakfast together every morning

the whole family does

but his mum tries to eat lunch with him at least 3 times a week

he goes out for lunch the days he doesn't eat with his brothers or mom, out to some resturant, sometimes, they trash it or party, sometimes he just brings Tubbo, no big group, and they just chill

With Ranboo in line for kingship (the way royalty works is that if the ruler dies, it will always go to the next in line of blood, never by marriage. Even if every heir was dead, it would still not go to the ruler consort but instead to a family member of the late ruler), rep is so much more important

he can't really be seen with Tommy sometimes

not on the bad weeks

not when Tommy just destroyed a bnb or set off fireworks with his friends, or was caught throwing chairs into his friend's pool

Tommy likes sport cars

big car guys

He has an exorbitant amount of fancy cars

its truly like

disgusting

how many cars he owns

Wilbur makes fun of it Bc the kid is just now legally old to drive

But Wilbur has so many expensive instruments

Some of which he doesn’t even know how to play yet

to be fair

Wilbur doesnt go breaking his instraments

Techno, techno has swords, which makes sense Bc he’s a general

But the amount swords he has just hanging on his wall

Never meant to be used

It’s so many

I feel like Tommy has a few cars that he doesn’t even let get scratched tho much

His babies

he has his expensive cars that he wrecks

and then his expensive cars that he treats like gold

They’re named

Clementine is this horrendous orange car that he absolutely loves

Its a bright orange ferrari

(He loves it Bc it was a gift from Phil, one of the first cars in his collection)

(Tommy doesn’t know that the idea was his mother’s, his father didn’t know what to get him)

all of his cars have padding in the back for his dogs

Tommy hates purse dogs, the girls with them are always fake and horrible

but he wishes his dogs were that small

Easy to transport

but they got all gangly limbs like him

and stand up to his hip

Henry is his sleek black classic mustang convertable

its what he drives when he doesn't want to be followed by the papp

It’s what he drives when he takes The BT to lunch

its not that the paparazzi doesn't know its him

they know

but he's not in one of his bright fucking obscene cars

The press and Tommy have a weird sort of understanding

He creates their headlines and they let him have moments to himself

If someone breaches that

They risk getting blacklisted

that car was what he drove to his grandmother's funeral in

im not naming his grandmother, but all royals live like forever

Clementine barely sees the road I think

She’s kept in top condition

By Tommy’s own hands

But she probably doesn’t get driven to the parties

Or the brunches

Or the clubs

She's used pretty much exclusively for black tie events

Tubbo is his driver for those Bc he trusts no one else with the car

And he has to exit her before she’s parked

So Tubbo valets and then meets him inside

It’s also how Tubbo gets into the black tie events

so its modern right

so its like thousand-dollar suits instead of capes

so, Tommy just refuses to wear blazers and suit jackets

he always wears his button-ups rolled to his elbows

Maybe, maybe you’ll get him in a vest

But most of the time it’s a button up, rolled up sleeves, and the tie is most likely incorrect or untied

The only reason it’s correct half the time, is because Wilbur makes him let him tie it

Tommy won't wear the jacket because he prefers to roll his sleeves up - he's able to do anything, party or just like rough housing with his brothers, or helping out the staff

Wilbur won't wear a tie, or a button up most days, opting for a high-end sweater and loads of jewelry; its just much more his style.

Techno won't wear a vest because it restricts the places he can hid weapons, and he almost never keeps his tie tied.

Tommy trying to walk past Wilbur to leave with and untied tie

“Wait! You know you can’t leave like that, come here.”

Tommy’s groans and slumps over but walks over to Wil anyways

“I’m just gonna untie it halfway through the party, you know i will.”

“Well, I’m not letting my little brother walk a red carpet with an untied tie, you know I won’t”

The second half said in a mocking tone of voice, very clearly mimicking Tommy’s whining

It’s a soft moment, they stand there together, brothers

And as Wilbur’s pat the finished tie, they make eye contact and both of them have undeniably fond looks on their faces, damn they’re brothers n shit

“Thanks Wil.”

It’s quiet, it’s soft, it’s Tommy

“Of course.”

Just as soft, just as quiet, wholly Wilbur

Wilbur clears his throat breaking the soft atmosphere of the room

“Now go, you gremlin. Don’t be late”

Wilbur ruffles Tommy’s hair, careful not to mess it up too much

Tommy rolls his eyes And quickly heads for the door “Bye Wil! Love you! Don’t wait up!” Wilbur quickly yells after him

“Love you too! Don’t do anything stupid!”

“Oh Wil you know I can’t promise that!” Wilbur just rolls his eyes and returns to his book

Yeah Tommy stays away from tobacco I think

Just weed

and I wouldn't be surprised if like hits peoples vapes sometimes, but doesn't smoke cigs

for sure, its stressful

Wilbur smokes cigarettes though

and he can't act out like Tommy can

and Phil loves him..

Techno and Wilbur watching Tommy rebel in the ways they never got to

They feel kinda sad, that they never got to be kids like that, sad that Tommy feels like he has to act out for attention

he gets to do shit

like he gets to be a real teen

the whole, dumb rich 17 year old experience

like yachts, and expensive hotel rooms, and sport cars

And sure they probably wouldn’t have been going to frat parties or crashing brunch places, but they see him with BT

See him have actual friends

And they’re happy for him

But it hurts a bit

And Tommy's hurting too

It's a lot

but its like

even if Phil wasn't shit

its a lot of attention

like everyone is watching them at all times

Techno and Wilbur have to stay refined in the eyes of the press

Tommy gets to put on a show for them

Yeah yeah

Do you know how much a drunk picture of Prince Tommy is worth?

Too much

Some random guy on his first paparazzi job, gets a pic of Tommy, shirt mostly unbuttoned, tie tied around his head, drinking out of a beer bottle, and flipping off the camera while stumbling out of the most expensive hotel in the UK

The guy never has to work again

Purpled son of some billionaire, and Ranboo a literal prince is with him

They are both laughing at him

Tommy swung on a chandelier that night

A picture of that ends up online, some socialites Twitter

The amount of people in her dms for that picture?

Ludicrous

Like just the random pictures from Snapchat stories

Magazines pay thousands

Yeah the amount of double takes people have done going through their friends Snapchat stories like

Just tapping through

“WAIT WAS THAT PRINCE THOMAS????”

So, Dessert Drinks

It’s alcoholic beverages that have like chocolate or gram crackers or maybe candy in them

That are meant to taste like a dessert

So there’s chocolate cake margaritas, or like s’mores drinks

They’re Tommy’s favorite things in the world

Everyone thinks that he’d like the like strong, burning, whiskey esk stuff

But no

He wants the sweetest thing you got

Like he’ll drink straught vodka, but not if he doesn’t have too y’know?

He also like wine strangely enough

The like really expensive wine

Bc it reminds him of Wil

They have it down in the cellar

Techno is the whiskey dude

Or like 1942

Which is just a really bougie tequila

He just likes the shit that burns

Tubbo will drink literally anything

He’ll eat anything too

It definitely comes from the spot that he didn’t have that many choices like Tommy, but he genuinely just likes anything

Which is why Tommy really likes to treat him out to fancy fucking restaurants

One of Tommy’s favorite past times is spoiling his loved one

Fucking loves giving presents n shit

It's his love language

Ranboo doesn’t pay for anything when he’s visiting

Tommy insists on paying

Tommy has millions from the throne, he will use it

Plus he uses his daddy’s card so like, Phil can afford to spend the money

Oh he has one of those black cards doesn’t he

And by he I mean Phil

But you know, Daddy’s card

Black amex all the way

Boujie motherfuckers

Tommy's drunk like persona is different depending on the environment

When its Wilbur and Techno having to deal with Drunk Tommy

He’s like an excitable puppy, he would switch from rowdy to sappy real quick for his brothers

So they’re trying to get a drunk Tommy to bed but Tommy’s 100% clinging to them

Just full of affection

Techno tries to leave to go study and drunk Tommy just looks so fucking sad

Kicked puppy

He’s very much turning on the little brother charm, full scale pouting, whining, nicknames and all

making grabby hands, sitting on thr ground, fluffed up hair, shirt all wrinkled

"Fucking - fine. What are you gonna do without me, hm?"

He’s a god damned puppy and it’s hard to believe this is the same kid who got in a bar fight last week

he hangs off the chandeliers of boogie hotels

he also trashes his friend's rentals

on the other hand, he hugs his brothers

and steals Wilbur's crown

when he wears Will's crown it goes over his eyes

Still does after all these years

He’s grown but Wils head is simply too big

Tommy has his own crown of course

he just doesn't wear it as often as Wilbru does

Wilbur wears his all of the time

Tommy wears his when

A. he's drunk and with friends

B. at formal or royal events

he likes wearing it when he's partying

still thinking about drunk Tommy and his brothers having to deal with him

He makes techno give him a piggy back ride

He can walk fine, he just wants a piggy back ride man

Can you blame him?

They all really miss being little

They miss being able to be kids n shit

when their mother took care of them

and their father did all the king shit

And when Techno would give Tommy piggyback rides in the garden

When Wilbur had all the time in the world to learn how to play guitar

Even if it comes from Tommy getting drunk off his ass they’re glad they can still find the childish joy that they once had y’know?

Techno gives Tommy a piggy back ride to his room, and Tommy steals Wilbur’s crown and they talk and it’s nice

And as everything winds down Wilbur plays his guitar

And it’s so similar to when they were younger man

...

but then,,, Wilbur gets called down for an emergency meeting

and Techno has to make sure the guards are doing their rounds

and Tommy's left all alone in The Prince's Chambers

and people wonder why Tommy likes partying

fills the time, doesn't it?

He wakes up cold and alone and hungover

And he calls Tubbo and they just fucking day drink man

It’s a bad two days

Yeha but basically after this night he and Tubbo get fucking drunk as hell and they don’t come back to the castle for two days

And Tommy is barely sober during those two days

After those type of days happen Tommy always goes completely straightedge for a week

He doenst need to develop an addiction y’know?

Plus the chaos doesn’t have to happen drunk

He’s pretty irrational sober anywyas

half of the parties he's at he's not even drunk

sometimes he'll get high

but he just likes the adrenaline

and just hanging and being fucking assholes with his mates

POV you are an emotionally wrecked prince who is hanging onto this present as proof that your dad knows who you are at least in the slightest and you find out it’s not actually a gift from him but something your mother told him to get you

He didn’t even think twice just called the dealership and asked for the car, didn’t even know which one it was

mmmmm Tommy wrecks Clem that night

It’s not a good night for anyone

Got drunk as hell man

No dd

Car crash

I don’t think Clem is totaled

And Tommy is ok

But she’s scratched and dented and it’s just a representation of how Tommy feels

Something about Clementine being symbolic of hope and the idea that his father knew him

And with that crashing down

Clementine was bound to crash too

Tommy gets out with some bruises and Clementine can be fixed

But it happens on a public street so it’s everywhere

Tommy wrecks Clem

Then fucking goes on a bender

just destroys shit

parties so he doesn't think about it

and then he fucking crashes

Wilbur and Techno and Kristin all know what the car meant to him, what it symbolized to him

So when there’s a headline and a picture of Tommy staring at a wrecked Clem, they don’t know how to feel

maybe he mentioned something about upgrading Clem to Phil, or offhandedly at family dinner

And Phil asks something like “Right and when did you get this one?” Very rudely y’know

And Tommy’s like, it’s the one you got me for my birthday last year, and Phil just says something about how he has to be more specific because he doesn’t even know which one that is

And Tommy feels everything crumble around him and he just tensely says, “never mind...” and goes back to his food

The other three watch the whole exchange like, “fuuuuuuuuuck”

And then as soon as dinners over Tommy’s out the door man

He’s gone

he doesn't take the dogs, which means he's causing damage

He doenst even take Tubbo

they can hear the handler hand Tommy the keys

Tubbo comes to Wil to ask if he knew where Tommy was and that’s when they realize Tommy’s going out to cause real damage

And Tommy’s phone is turned off

They can’t contact him

Tommy gets handcuffed

he won't get arrested, but he'll get brought back in a police car

he fucking like crashed into a poll on purpose

like it was less on purpose and more like he definitely wasn’t not trying to hit something

And then they fucking breathalyzer him and he’s drunk as balls

Straight vodka type night

there's a bottle in the cupholder

He gets out when he wrecks and you just see him dead eyed staring at the scratches on her hood

The dent in her door

The cracks in the windshield

And he just takes a swig of the bottle

He lets the police take the bottle and handcuff him, taking him back to the palace

Clem is towed back too

He doenst care man

this is bigger than party to distract Bc it’s all he’s thinking about even drunk n shit

So I feel like he’s absolutely crushed

he spends like a week or two in a depressive episode won't leave his room, won't talk to his dad

and then he asks his mom "why didn't you tell me?"

and she just purses her lips and and shakes her head

and he's out

he needs to leave

he doesn't need her pity

and he just goes to Purp's and parties

because he just wants to have fun for one night before he learns that everything is a lie

His brothers are there as much as he lets them be

Tubbo too

Ranboo would try to make it over after seeing the headlines

he gets on a jet

and goes as soon as he sees the news

cause Clem was Tommy's baby

He loved that fucking car man

And then

Boom

One dinner is all it took to ruin everything

Phil's just left like "what'd I do?"

Techno is straight faced

Wilbur rolls his eyes at Phil

And Kristin just looks stressed

She’s still staring the the door Tommy all but ran out of

none of them finish dinner, Kristin waves the butlers over to clear the plates

They don’t, and Phil is just so confused and frustrated and he doesn’t know what happened

Top 10 Prince Tommy Headlines: 10. Mourning or Disrespectful: Prince Thomas caught smoking outside grandmother's funeral 9. New Connections? Prince Thomas and Prince Ranboo seen outside Palace walking Royal Dogs 8. Protective Older Brother; Crown Prince William shielding Prince Thomas from cameras while walking down London streets 7. When Will He Stop? Prince Thomas continues his week-long bender 6. Another Frat Party: Prince Thomas found stumbling drunk after rowdy night at The Ritz London 5. Boy Crazy? Prince Thomas and Mystery Boy seen dancing at Crown Prince William's Birthday Ball 4. Is Prince Thomas's Rampage Over? The Prince seen hungover, nursing a coffee at London Branch Costa Coffee 3. Time to stop; Prince Thomas caught doing cocaine at socialites party 2. A good friend - Prince Thomas flew to the United States to help Prince Ranboo with new responsibilities

1. When is enough, enough? Prince Thomas crashes after driving drunk, arrested.

10 Tommy doesn’t smoke cigs so mans was just getting high at his grandmas funeral

he was real close with his granny, it was a sad day

It was because his father said something like “oh, I didn’t know you were coming Tommy”

It was his fucking grandmother Phil

Tommy just puts his sun glasses on, and sits as far away as he can

Number 5, the boy is Tubbo, Tubbo thinks it’s fucking hilarious, Tommy is pissed

Some of those headlines seem like they’re from the car month

Obviously number one is

But then the bender headline

Then the coffee one

And then the Wilbur one

They seem like a series of events

big month for the press

Tommys hungover and he calls Wil asking for him to pick him up

And Wilbur drops everything Bc he’s just glad Tommy’s coming back home

wilbur fucking glares at the cameras

Tommy's used to it

And then the press tries to mob them and Wilbur Almost breaks decorum

Like almost fucking yells at someone who gets too close

and Wilbur never does that

he's so in-line

he never breaks the rules

but goddamn if they take one step closer -

He’s been especially stressed, and all he wants is to get his baby brother home man

He’s been smoking a lot more since the wreck

He just wishes he could make everything better

Tommy relishes in talking to the press

Wilbur will clart someone who gets to close to his baby brother

The press who’s never seen Wilbur as anything other than composed and charming suddenly being faced with a very angry older brother who smells slightly like cigarette smoke

Wilbur in the Pogtopia coat but it’s some designer piece that’s expensive as hell

It’s his smoking coat

And it’s what he picks Tommy up in

So he smells like smoke

And not the tasteful cologne he usually wears in public

just like a dark overcoat

really expensive wool

Wilbur using it to cover them from the cameras

when they were younger, like 16 and 12, Wilbur would hide Tommy

like no one got a picture of Tommy until he was 14 or 15

Kristin really hid the boys when they were kids too

Tommy trying to peak out and make faces at the camera

it was illegal to get pictures of them younger than 10

like immediate blacklist

And also maybe some legal issues

Wilbur pulls Tommy's hood up over Tommy's head

And it’s very older brother of him too, he pulls it over to protect his face but then cinches the strings to be a little shit

Those Wilbur and Tommy brother moments comps exists in the universe too

But it’s just shit like that

Tommy has a great support system

He really does

His brothers love him

His mom loves him

He has two amazing friends and a bunch of other great friends as well

And sometimes he feels like a brat for throwing all these fits over his dad y’know?

Wilbur always tries to like, keep an arm around him when they're doing red carpets

And keeps Tommy sitting next to him at Royal events

but also like, steals food off his plate

and ruffles his hair

Tommy whispers the fucking worst jokes about the dignitaries and nobles and Wilbur has to keep a straight face

god thats tommys favorite thing to do

he tries so hard to get Wilbur to laugh and lose his shit

The fucking big boobs bit

But it’s Tommy whispering it to Wilbur completely out of context and randomly at a gala

ALSO

THE WHOLE EXTENDED FAMILY BULLSHIT

TOMMY HATES IT

LIKE WHO THE FUCK IS THIS LIKE AUNT TO HIM?

HE DOESNT KNOW HER

But Royal Families are always big on that shiit

They try to hug him n shit

And Tommy depending on how Brave n shit he’s feeling (how fed up he is) will either politely excuse himself or straight up say no and step back with a glare

he's honestly uncomfortable around the strangers

who say they're family

like he's too sober for this

He needs a god damned drink

But he’s in a vest and a nice tie and his crown is sat proper on his head

And he can’t have a drink

god he's like a little doll, he plays by Phil's rules

the crown comes on and he's the proper prince

He fucking hates it

he sips on Wilbur's wine, and does the whole "tequila for water" thing sometimes

Flask in his sleeve

Techno catches him with the flask once and is just impressed

god is that a look on Techno's face

He sees Tommy slip it from his sleeve and somehow sleight off hand take a drink

And it’s just a raised eyebrow and a head nod that says

Good for you

Bc techno also needs a drink during these events

Sometimes Tommy will spike his and Techno's drinks

as Wilbur regally sips on wine

Wilbur fucking also secretly wishing he had a flask during the drier events

Wine drink just isn’t enough sometimes

Wilbur puts on his best face

and pretends he wants to be there

and gives out a warm smile, and raises a glass

god he fucking hates it sometimes

and sometimes he loves it

but man, does he hate it sometimes

Tommy complains and Phil makes a passive aggressive comment about how

“Oh but don’t you love parties Tommy.”

Wilbur sits between them

The table goes

Techno Kristin Phil Wilbur Tommy

Tommy just sneaks another sip of the flask

he doesn't have time to deal with his dads shit

Slumps back in the seat

He probably wouldn’t even try to hide it after that

Not like Phil is actually looking at him

He can let the press have it

He doenst care

just like leaves the flask next to him

under teh table

and jsut takes large swigs from it

Tommy maybe having a group of his friends crash one of the stuffy events

Not an important one

So fucking dedication ceremony to some inane building

He just invites a wild group of socialites

It’s nice

It’s not as wild as a normal Tommy Innit party

But it’s not a stuffy fucking boring ass royal meeting

they just bring some fucking whiskey into the back room and chat shit

Tommy fucking has a group of friends crash this gathering

It’s not wild

But it’s not stuffy

It’s nice

Tommy even drags Wilbur back for at least a little

and that takes a whole lot of work

It really does, Wilbur isn’t even a little tipsy off the wine, and Phil been by him the whole time and it’s just been hell, he can’t get wiobur away from the “socializing” hes doing

but when Wilbur is a bit tipsy he just becomes more charasmatic

truly a king

Less someone putting on a mask for their father

A little bit more authentic

he's a natural, sipping wine with one hand, and shaking hands with the other, crown propped beautifully on his head, million dollar suits hanging off his frame

It’s nice to see his brother in his element

its a bit sad

but its nice

A little yeah, Wilbur’s

Wilbur’s leaving him, not really but

Wilbur being king is-

It’s going to be hard

Different

More than it is already

Wilbur will always love him

But eventually he’ll be too busy for Tommy

Just like Phil is

And it hurts

But that thought is what makes Tommy take a drink of his flask and drag Wilbur to the back room

Wilbur doesn’t have to forget him yet

Tommy looks real regal too

Wilbur wishes that Tommy could see what he sees

But he knows that Tommy’s self worth issues would take more than a nice hug and some warm words to fix

Tommy looks regal, and the gold crown really fits with the whole golden boy aesthetic

and he laughs, and makes conversation with everyome

and everyone eases up around him

Wilbur wishes that Tommy saw what he sees

also

Tommy and Ranboo's texts have been leaked once

Wow so many dog pictures dude

but also

:sparkles:state secrets:sparkles:

That was hell to clean up

it fucking was

it used petnames (which the public is never supposed to know about the nickanmes of royals fun fact)

and said shit about Phil

and detailed Fundy's illness which isn't public

and talked about meetings that Wilbur forced Tommy to attend

Tommy was terrified

Ranboo too

He was so scared someone would be angry at him for it

He doesn’t think he could handle be yelled at for this thing that wasn’t even his fault

like of course he could've not said it over text

but one of his best friends lives an ocean away

and his life is just all about secrets

dont make this something too

:sparkles: hackers :sparkles:

if someone god a hold of Tommy's IP, or Phone, or Phone number

or

dms

they could be using instagram, twitter, or snapchat to have some of these converstaions

dms can get leaked real easily

Mmmm you ever think about Crime Bous

Because all I can think about is when Wilbur does get out of the house, and just like every event they go to

Tommy isn’t a fucking party boy then, he’s just Prince Thomas, Crown Prince William’s baby brother

And they always get photographed and shit

But they have a great time

They’re always smiling when they’re together

Sans Wilbur being a really protective older brother, and when their grandmother died

It’s nice to just go get lunch together at that one specific cafe they’ve been going to for years

Or just walk the dogs together

Just hang out and be brothers

They sit at the same table every time, and Tommy has gotten a Raspberry Lemonade since he was 8

When they walk the dogs, Wilbur holds Walter and Tommy holds Betty

Sunglasses on, big wool overcoats, and pants that were sewn just for them

And they’re seen walking out on the streets during big events a lot too

To like take a breather

Tommy has made a habit of allowing the press to ask him questions whenever they find him

Wilbur on the other hand always knows exactly what to say to press that come up to them

He always shoos them off with a polite “we won’t be answering any question right now thank you” and a blinding smile

And Tommy’s making a face at the press from over his shoulder

Either like sticking his tongue out or making some sort of face at Wilbur

As he gets older, he stops doing it as much because it gets a bit tiring, everything is tiring

But he does it every once in a while, usually a sharp grin over Wilbur’s shoulder accompanied by a middle finger

when like press sees that Wilbur smokes like a lot

hm

big thin

and I feel like Wilbur would straight up be like "its not a big deal, its completely legal"

and hes like smoking 8 cigs a day, but its fine

He doesn’t have an issue

It’s just a little stress relief

King at 21 is a lot to handle

and maybe the stress is so much that it becomes a problem

but hey its his relief

its legal

he's fine

That’s Wilbur’s mantra most of the time

he falls asleep in Tommys bed a lot, waiting for the teen to come home

wilbur does

he finishes a pack, and sighs, rubbing his eyes

The empire is on the brink of war, it always is

He looks in Tommy's room, its empty

And he sits on the bed, waiting

10 minutes later he's asleep

The sheets don’t smell like Wilbur, and Wil thinks that’s what makes it’s so comforting

They don’t stink of nicotine or Wilbur cologne

The smell like Tommy

and while that smell like expensive booze, and coconut shampoo

its perfect

and the dogs are in Tommy's room too

he's a little less alone

Betty is the cuddler

She’ll come up and sleep next to Wil

but she wont do it to just anyone

its a bond, its trust

its the fact that Tommy likes Wilbur

she growls at Phil

she nudges at Kristin, LOVES kristin

anyways

its lonely and sad

because Tommy usually doesnt come back

Tommy snakes back in early in the morning and tucks Wilbur in

Though most times Wilbur falls asleep in Tommys bed

Uncovered

Completely dressed

He’s lucky bettys fur is sleek otherwise his very expensive clothes would be covered

I think Wilbur more often then not will wake up with Tommy in his arms, and that makes him very happy

like, Tommy comes it at 5am, and just snuggles next to Wilbur

It’s makes Tommy sad to know his brother is waiting up for him to never come

But at the same time he’s always so happy to see him when he gets home

I imagine sometimes butlers come to get Wilbur for work, and Tommy makes them leave so that Wilbur can sleep in "Hello your highness, we came to fetch King Wilbur for his morning briefing" "He's sleeping." "Well, I can see that Your Highness -" "So let him sleep." "Prince Thomas -" "Let. Him. Sleep. Okay?" "Yes, Your Highness."

I've decided that Tommy is the big spoon

in these vulranable moments, when Wilbur is weak, Tommy kind of holds him

like obviously there are a lot of tims, where Wilbur wants to hold his baby brother

however, Tommy kind of holds Wilbur, like wraps himself around Wilbur, and puts Wilbur's head in the crook of his neck

this happens when Tommy comes home to find Wilbur in his bed

either this, or Tommy curls into a ball and rests his head against wilburs chest

Tommy has daddy issues

Wilbur has the weiht of the world

Techno has ptsd

Phil: fuck you my kids are completely fine!

Wilbur’s nicotine addiction

Tommys abandonment issues

Technos fucking PTSD

Once, when the empires war was getting really, really bad, and Wilbur had to decide life or death shit

He smoked a whole pack in a day

And then just kept going

His hands wouldn’t stop shaking

why wouldn't they stop fucking shaking

Tommy stopped partying that week, he isn’t ignorant, nor a fucking dick

He was Wilbur’s right hand for as long as he needed him

Despite how badly he wanted to party until he could see straight

His brother needed him

His king needed him

And he will gladly serve Wilbur as long as he would have him

He stood right behind Wilbur

Every decision

He was right behind him

Even if it meant constant decorum and constant royal dress, Tommy was there

And that was a grounding fact

If Tommy hadn’t been there Wilbur thinks he may have lost it that week

Sometimes the only thing that kept Wilbur’s hands from shaking terribly was holding Tommy’s hands

When the advisors and court had left

Tommy would take Wilbur hands and make him do breathing exercises

Wilbur wasn’t allowed to look anywhere other than Tommy’s eyes

They would get through this

Together

They would, Tommy would make sure of it

Tommy in the room also made everyone a bit nervous and loosen up around Wilbur though

Because sometimes they act like they can boss Will around

And Tommy is stone faced, and has the media wrapped around his finger

The court knows that all it would take is one “scandalous statement” from Prince Thomas to end their careers

Wilbur could fire them, but he’s stressed

Any other day, he’s a fucking FORCE to recon with

But Tommy? He’s here to ensure the best or their careers would end

And you know that Tommy has at least 3 sources in the biggest news outlets in the empire

He could get ANYTHING out there

Wilbur’s throne is the biggest in the middle

Two thrones smaller aside him

Within the like office / study / planning room

Tommy's hasn't been used until just then

Tommy finds it quite uncomfy

But he can deal

Also Tommy drops the nicknames for the week or so

No “Big Man”

It was “Will” and “William”

Your Majesty at one or two points

But that felt a little too formal for both of them

Too alienating

Tommy learned a whole fucking lot of fucking politics that week

Not that he didnt listen in his lessons it’s just that

Well

He can’t not listen if he’s not there

It’s different IRL too

Seeing all the decisions

It’s terrifying

And he’s exhausted

Dressing nicely and talking for 12 hours a day about politics

And life / death decisions

So many cuddles dude

Just permanently cuddling if they’re not presently working or “coping”

And I think

That although Wilbur is the one who’s going through it

When they cuddle, Wilbur likes to hold Tommy

Just in the sense that Tommy’s here and safe

In the midst of all the death around Wilbur

He needs to know that his person, his kid is alright

Plus having this one thing this one routine helps him feel a little on control during this out of hand time

:sparkles: Prince Tommy PR leak :sparkles:

I talked about how Tommy was close to his grandmother

and how he was smoking outside of her funeral

maybe it was during that time in his life

really dark place in his mind

smoked and drank every day

Wilbur smoked a lot during that time yet

they probably drank together a few times

like straight up vodka

Just they’re so young and so tired

and so its like, pictures of Wilbur and Tommy (and just Tommy) drinking in the parlor, and in the like, bar area of their private living area, dark eye bags, red eyes, just straight from the bottle

Both of their ties were undone, no jackets, sleeves rolled up to their elbows, Wilbur's top 3 buttons are undone, they're both like manspreading

like they're just at their lowest, particularly Tommy, but Wilbur was having an adjacent bad time

Tommy's hair is a fuckin' mess

HOWEVER, they're both still clean shaven, neither of their shorts or trousers are wrinkled or stained

They may be going through it, but the royal image waits for no one

How does the castle react? Immediate lock down.

Interrogations or some shit

none of the princes are allowed to leave

they have to do clean up

they write scripts essentially for Tommy and Wilbur to adress the press

they need to send out a memo that they don't agree with underage drinking

its all structured, scripted, and written by advisors (and their father)

major damage control

which is just not what Tommy needs right now, because he's like trying to work through his grief

and Wilbur has a fucking fight with his father about that

Phil does not care

They fucked up

Someone else fucked up

And now they’re going to be big boys and fix it Like Phil's going to Tommy's room to get him to look over what his quick press tour and Wilbur jsut stops him in front of the door "He's fucking grieving - Let him have a moment will you? Don't you know how close he was with Gran?" "You messed up. He messed up. Now you're gonna be big boys and fix it." “You’re horrible sometimes you know that?” “I am your father” “Then act like it, your majesty”

meanwhile Tommy: in bed, hasn't slept, major depressive spiral, cuddling Betty, Walter standing guard at his door, holding onto a blanket that his grandmother gave him

just - can't even cry anymore

just empty

Literally just despondent

Staring at the ceiling as Betty noses his face

like good luck getting to get up, let alone read shit

He hasn’t showered in days

He is very much not presentable

like it's only been a week or two since his grandmother's death

and he still is processing

He is no where near done grieving

[shijiujun]

I’m trying to do a nice series compilation of danmeis to read in time for New Year’s maybe! Anyway also just a note that all the images I use are either from the official manhua, donghua, audio dramas OR official artwork as provided by official China bookstores when they do prints (and have obtained permission from artists on Lofter to use their artwork for merch/prints etc.)

- Part of Min’s ‘Why You Should Read’ Series -

Summary: 

Yu She (the one in black) and Zhong Wan (the one in green) were close friends for a short period of time when they were younger, but unfortunately their identities and positions placed them on opposite sides of the fight for the throne (for their parents’ generations). Yu She’s family supported the Second Prince and Zhong Wan was taken in by the Sixth Prince’s family when he was younger, but in the end it was the Second Prince who ended up getting to the throne, while the Sixth Prince was accused of treason and died somewhere far away at war after being captured. 

Zhong Wan’s only wish was to keep the Sixth Prince’s children - Xuan Rui and a pair of twins, Xuan Yu and Xuan Congxin - safe, and so he moves them to another province and asks the Emperor (the former Second Prince) to demote Xuan Rui’s status to prove that they are no threat to the Emperor, if only to stay alive for another day.

However, their days of hardship have only just begun in their new home, and Zhong Wan decides to namedrop Yu She, whose family is so powerful now, to make sure that other people will not bully his charges. He claims that Yu She loves him and that he was wooing Zhong Wan back in the days they knew each other so that officials and others would treat the children under his care better. A few years pass and Yu She doesn’t expose Zhong Wan. Zhong Wan thinks they can go on like this forever, until the Emperor asks Xuan Rui and the twins to head back to the palace for a visit.

Zhong Wan meets Yu She again, but the boy he knew, who was gentle, a stickler for rules and a proper, well-mannered person who always got embarrassed and irritated when Zhong Wan flirted with or teased him, has changed almost completely. Cue palace conspiracies again, brothers fighting for the throne, scheming consorts etc. XD

Read:

Novel (Online) | Novel (Print) - August 2020 | Novel Translations | Manhua | Audio Drama

Characters:

1.  钟宛 Zhong Wan - Also called Zhong Gui Yuan (归远) and his childhood nickname is 宝宝 (bao bao = baby), something he’s very embarrassed about. He’s a righteous but outgoing, sometimes flirtatious young man who lost his parents when he was very young, and then was taken in by the Sixth Prince and his wife, who married each other for political reasons and weren’t close until Zhong Wan turned up and got them to interact more with each other, helping them to fall in love, and that’s how he got three more siblings - Xuan Rui, Xuan Congxin and Xuan Yu. The prince and his wife doted on him a lot, but he was very aware always that he was not their son, and after the Sixth Prince was accused and died, he took it on himself to keep the other three children alive by any means possible.

He spent a month or so in jail after the Sixth Prince was accused of treason as interrogators attempted to torture him into speaking out against the Sixth Prince, but managed to keep silent. Yu She rescued him by paying an exorbitant bail for him (he wouldn’t know about this until later), and he stayed with Yu She for almost half a year until he ‘ran away’ to take care of his three siblings, so to speak.

He starts to fabricate stories about how Yu She likes him, and was wooing him, but they weren’t exactly fake entirely because he extrapolated from actual events (when he tried to tease/flirt with Yu She so he would let him go) that were actually pretty like flirtatious in nature (the both of them are entirely oblivious). 

His priority will always be the safety of the children, but when he returns to the Imperial City and realizes that Yu She has changed, he begins to plot to stay at his side, worried about him (and also to rediscover his feelings for Yu She).

Also has a weak body as he was poisoned when he was 15-16 by someone close to him, faints and gets sick frequently in the novel hahaha (I have a type).

2. 郁赦 Yu She - His courtesy name is Zi You (子宥), which Zhong Wang calls him by. He is the only son of Marquis Yu, and was study mates with Zhong Wan when they were younger. After his parents contributed to the downfall of the Sixth Prince (as they supported the Second Prince) and Zhong Wan ends up imprisoned, Yu She pays A LOT OF MONEY to get him out after Zhong Wan is basically put up for sale to anyone who wants him, to keep him safe from those who want to harm/humiliate him (because Zhong Wan is so handsome/beautiful as well). 

He was originally unable to handle Zhong Wan, who keeps teasing him and accusing him of liking him etc., and let Zhong Wan go when he plotted to leave him, understanding that he had a duty to keep the Sixth Prince’s children safe. In the years that Zhong Wan is away, he discovers a secret that causes him to engage in self-destructive behaviour (talking back to the Emperor, ingesting deadly poison etc.), and realizes that his parents are not who he thought they were. He becomes unpredictable, either doing dangerous things, or refusing to do normal things (instead of studying or reading for example, he spends most of his days reading published fanfiction about him and Zhong Wan).

When he first heard of the rumours about him and Zhong Wan, he descends into this spiral of doubt, wondering if what Zhong Wan fabricated was true and if it was his memory that was wrong. He falls sick thinking so hard about the time he spent with Zhong Wan before LMAO, before deciding that he does like Zhong Wan, but until Zhong Wan returned to the city, he never once thought of acting on it.

3. Xuan Rui, Xuan Congxin & Xuan Yu

Xuan Rui is the Sixth Prince’s oldest son and was old enough to be aware of what was going on when his parents died. He’s very timid, paranoid and easily swayed by others, while his younger siblings, six-year old twins Xuan Congxin (left below) and Xuan Yu (right below) were brought up entirely by Zhong Wan, and Congxin in particular is much more mature/steady in personality than her two older brothers, and also knows to always stand on Zhong Wan’s side.

4. Lin Si - Zhong Wan’s childhood friend who was also brought up by the Sixth Prince and his wife. He’s mute, and a bodyguard of sorts, helping Zhong Wan to gather information from the city while he’s away. After Zhong Wan left with the Sixth Prince’s children, Lin Si stays with the current 4th Prince, and also falls in love with him. It’s unrequited until he kisses the prince and then disappears, leaving the prince to look everywhere for him XD It’s hinted that they do end up together.

Other Things I Like in the Novel:

Zhong Wan’s childhood nickname is 宝宝 lmaooooo and Yu She threatens to torture Lin Si (like about to torture him), and Lin Si was like ‘what does he want to know that he would torture me for it’, then finds out that Yu She is about to hurt him to find out what Zhong Wan’s nickname and he’s like wtf??!!!

Yu She has this steward who was bullied by Zhong Wan a lot while he was staying there with them over that half a year, and is also the biggest Yu She/Zhong Wan shipper even though Zhong Wan was really the troublemaker then

When they find out who the person who poisoned Zhong Wan was, Congxin is the first person to step up for Zhong Wan, and turns against the person who poisoned him

Yu She keeps forcing Zhong Wan to read out their fanfiction novels aloud, much to Zhong Wan’s mortification, but after Zhong Wan realizes he likes Yu She for real, he starts being really forward with his want for him, and it is Yu She who gets embarrassed

Yu She is so embarrassed that he schedules days where Zhong Wan can/cannot touch him, and sets limits to the number of times he can kiss him etc. LMAOOOOO in the beginning of their relationship I frickin died

[glitterytidalwavedragon]

Expanding into my other Fandoms (I’m gonna have to take a stance) Read the whole thing please.

One of my oldest and most beloved anime is Inuyasha. As of late I have been binged watching the hell out of it as I am getting my BFF into different anime shows. We are really close to entering the Yashahime part of the series, and she asked if I planned to write fanfiction involving the one character which made me even watch the show as a 10-year-old.

Sesshomaru

The first episode I ever watched involved this aloof, entitled dog fighting his brother over the sword in their father’s grave. Specifically, it was part 3 of that whole episode series were Kagome pulled out the sword. I at the time had 3 dogs of German Sheppard/wolf hybrid, they were MASSIVE dogs, fell in love with the big white fluff that was Sesshomaru’s demon form. I use to sneak staying up and watch the show faithfully to see the goodest boy as it was only on at 11pm EST on adult swim. Which meant it was bad and I was breaking the rules, I felt like a rebel.

Now I hesitated answering that question. She has no idea of what is in Yashahime, she is being careful not to spoil it so I told her I didn’t know. Recently, to find out what the feel is for Sesshomaru content, I looked into the tag on tumblr…

OH MY GOD.

Sesshomaru’s tag is FLOODED with hate. Like every four post, there is hate, distain, and attacking happening. As someone who watches Yashahime, I quickly knew why.

Sessrin.

Even now I sigh. And I sigh HARD. I am not for, nor am I against the Sessrin train. Same for the Sesskagu train. I think both sides need to look at things on a logical prospective. I plan to do just that. I know I will get hate from the either side and maybe some support as well. But if I am going to do anything in this fandom (as I like doing ships and reader inserts) it will come up.

So, like my Kaiba post, and my Sebastian Heel post, I will use my research skills as well as my COLLEGE DEGREE WHICH HAS BOTH ART AND MEDIEVAL HISTORY labelled on it to explain why this progression in the story is normal to anti-Sessrin fans and why this isn’t a crime by story standards nor should we look at it as a crime.

AS WELL

Explain to Sessrin fans why it is so weird for non-shippers to see it play out and why so much hate formed.

As I let out another sigh, we shall begin. Let’s start at an historical prospective. (Links at the bottom).

PLEASE READ THE WHOLE THING! I’LL BE ABLE TO TELL!

~~

I will start with the information I can access right away.

While finding charts on the life-span of common folk in 1590’s Feudal Japan is rather difficult, Ancient.edu states that the average lifespan was about 50. To put this in perspective, the average lifespan of Europeans at the time was somewhere between 40-45 with the latter being rare. Since most of us reading are not from Japanese descent, I will through Europe in this first.

If we look at the same time frame of 1590, we are looking at most of Western Europe had now entered the age of Renaissance. According to sources from Learning Resources in association with the National Gallery of Art, marriage was not what TV drama’s from HBO or Hulu depicted. By today standards they would be a crime, as the average age for marriage of an adult female was age 14…

The reasoning behind the young marriage age had multiple factors. First being, females were considered an adult once they were menstruating. Birthing also proved to be fatal, and since the lifespan was at best 40 and 45 if they were lucky, there was really no room to wait. Also Europe at the time had became hugely focused on making sure blood lines were legitimate, meaning to ensure the girl was a virgin, the moment she was able to reproduced she was married off. Those they married were not young teenagers either. Most marriages, a man would be in their thirties, and had probably multiple wives as women died more than men when not counting the battle field.

To make matters worse for the Renaissance Lady, these marriages would leave many young males unable to marry and if their husband died in battle, well, unfortunately they were not seen as desirable. This was due to the idea of a ‘free woman’. Should the girl not have a father, brother or uncle to return to as they too died, a widow had her freedom. But that freedom came at a cost. She would be assumed to have slept around, and in many writings, such as the Canterbury Tales, where Geoffrey Chaucer writes about a Window on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land survived her five husbands and the men in her family. In short, she was made to be a slut and to be looked down upon as no man controlled her.

The point of talking about Europe is because that is something most of us Non-Asian or Japanese people consume and like to paint in large romantic brush strokes of knights and magic. Honestly, reading G.R.R.Martin Song of Ice and Fire, he uses this model as we see the Queen of Dragons, Danny start off at age thirteen shortly after she had her first menstruation.  

Now let’s look at Feudal Japan.

As stated before, the lifespan was around 50 years. In some populations, this was even shorter. Nagaoka, Hirata, Yokota and Matsu’ura’s on demographic data at the Yuigahama-minami area in Kamakura, Japan and found both male and female remains that suggested life expectancy to have ended around age 24-25. This was largely due to living conditions and public health. In areas like these, it would make the most sense to marry and repopulate quickly as the expectancy of life was half the national average at the time.

To my frustration, I could not find a clear marriage age for Japanese women at the time of the edo period. HOWEVER, where there is a will there is a way. I took a look at famous Lords or Daimyo’s of the time. The average age of marriage of their wives was between 12-14. Much younger than I expected, but it made sense considering this is a time where war ran the show and marriage was strictly about political gain. One of these Daimyo’s was Masamune Date, who was also 13, but then as he got older took concubines who became considerably younger than him as he became older. The goal was to have as many children as possible for hires and for political marriages to gain power.

Now lets look at Inuyasha the MANGA

Lets get the manga timeline proper here. The whole adventure took place in 11 months, a month shy of Kagome’s 16th birthday. Doing a few estimations, Rin would have travelled with Sesshomaru about 8-9 of those months. But before we get into the relationship, lets look at something the ANIME made a huge mistake with in the beginning and tried to fix as the story went on.

For some reason I could only fine gifs for the Early appearances of Sesshomaru so bear with me.

Early appearances in the manga

 ^ He was so fickle and a trickster then...

Now early apperances in the anime.

Later appearance in the manga

Laster appearance in the anime

Notice the issue here? 

Sesshomaru was CONSIDERABLY younger looking in the start of the manga. In the anime, he started off looking like an fully adult male. But as the anime went on, they tried to make Sesshomaru look younger with subtle changes to his jaw line, eye size, and his height. Yeah, his height had changed. They made him shorter.

While in the manga, we see this young-teen looking demon, slowly mature over 11 months to look like he is in his later teens and by series end, closer to being in his late teens or twenty. Yes, art changes over time, but the anime went a reverse route. I can only guess they spoke to the author of Inuyasha about her ships, as they did Drama CDs, and realized the mistake that was made in making him more mature than he was.

You can’t tell me he doesn’t look closer to his manga self in the final act, because he does.

Since we are on the topic of the anime, lets be clear. The anime timeline and manga timeline are very different. The story in the anime (in the English) suggests that OVER a year has past since Kagome started her journey. They try to fix this in the final act, but it was still so muddled as previous seasons are to be taken as cannon. This could have been due to an translation error in the early production when the anime no longer had anymore manga material to reference. But whatever the case, for English viewers the time the group spent together felt much longer.

So now we come to the heart of the issue.

Because of the mistakes of the anime, a lot of anti-sessrin see the relationship as father daughter. I’ll be honest, watching the anime and solely the anime as a teenager and as an adult (as the manga was on hold for a very long time due to author’s health. I was in college when it finished.), I too thought it was just a father-daughter relationship and Jaken the nanny who got punched all the time. In fact, the English took hard liberties with Kagura, as the English dubs often do with characters, and made it very clear her feelings for the demon lord and Sesshomaru very much recognized them (though he never responded). Even in her death scene, it felt as if he was saying good bye to a friend more than love interest. But who really knows, as there are things that point otherwise.  When another demon mock’s Kagura’s death, Sesshomaru gets super pissy.

The manga did also play with this fact when it came out in English, idk if the wording or message is different in the Japanese. Translation errors happen a lot even in todays releases, look at Kuroshitsuji.  So of course most anti-sessrin’s did not see this coming in Yashahime when Rin was named mother. In fact it felt like a betrayal as we were sure Sesshomaru had no romantic feelings.

Then there was the Kohaku/Rin mashup that was hinted left and right. The English anime, with its overly dramatic and blunt emotions made it appear one way. That in the end the two kids would probably be married. Then the anime as a whole made Sesshomaru older than intended. I can see why and understand how this became a problem.

On the other side of that coin.

If you followed the dub, seen ‘Swords of an Honorable Ruler’ and read the manga… Sesshomaru was not fatherly to Rin at all. In fact, Jaken picked up all of that leg work. Rin worried for Kohaku, but clearly loved Lord Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru cared about Kagura but he almost CRIED when he lost Rin.

We have to remember that Sesshomaru and Rin’s relationship must have been very hard for the demon. While we never see his mental process expect for a few rare times, we have to remember he hated humans. In the movie, he blamed a human for the early death of his father, Sesshomaru killed without mercy. It made sense that he wouldn’t be fatherly to Rin as her just being there should have caused countless inner conflicts. Hell, he even says his father’s weakness was humans, and look who picked up that trait.

Sesshomaru was designed to, someday, walk in his father’s footsteps. So sess/rin, not a surprise. Also when you see it in a historical perspective, Rin having kids around age 15-16, makes sense. In fact you could argue he waited too long for the time period.

We also need to look more at the manga when concerned with Yashahime. 8-9 months is all Rin travelled with him and he was like hold up, and left her at the village because he KNEW she needed to come to her own conclusion. That no matter what she picked he would live with and protect her. Unconditional love on his end. She cannon wise spent YEARS living with humans and MONTHS with Sesshomaru. Again, by manga standards of cannon.

Now I can already hear the screaming about age and what not. Some sources say Sesshomaru is over 900, by the rule of thumb, if we look at anime and movie releases, we have Sesshomaru being over 500 with no define age and Inuyasha around 270 years old being more pinpointed due to the movie. Just by going by ANIME CANNON. Kagome and Inuyasha, you have a 15 year old with a 270 year old man. If you say being pinned to the tree doesn’t count, then you have 220.

Also, here is something very interesting. In the episode where Inuyasha meets the unmother, he tells her, thinking it was his mom, she died when he was very small and we have flash backs later in the series of him being small running from demons. Demons clearly age much slower than humans, even half-demons. Inuyasha can be 270 but mentally and physically be 15, the same logic works for Sesshomaru, who in the manga is not much older than Inuyasha.

In the manga, there wasn’t any grooming, in the anime, there was a ton of mess-ups but no grooming.

Would this fly in todays world? HELL NO! NO, its gross, she’s a kid. Stop.

I know any fanfic I write will lean heavily on the side of father/daughter because that is what I grew up seeing on the screen. I can’t think of Rin as an adult because years of seeing her as a cheerful little girl. It’s like seeing G.O.T Arya about to have sex for the first time in season 8… I remember when she was a kid on the show. It was way to weird and I had to look away until it ended. But that’s my 2021 mentality.

But Inuyasha is not taking place in 2021. Feudal Japan is a whole other era with its own beliefs, morals and way of life. Those who understand this have nothing wrong with them. They just understand history.

Also, just to bang some nails in…

Anyone remember Bleach? Remember the MOST accepted couple was Ichigo and Rukia…. Rukia who was hundreds of years old and Ichigo who was 15… or Ichigo’s mom who was a teenager and his dad also hundreds of years old.

Most of this also boils down to Sesshomaru being a dude. As in reverse roles in animes its accepted and they don’t have the same historical context. Inuyasha is based off of historical context of Feudal Japan.

We need to stop spreading hate. We can’t accept some forms of literature because its European fantasy but bash other fantasy based literature for doing the same thing.

Sure, its weird for those who were use to seeing the father/daughter dynamic. Yes, there are extreme sessrin fans who post really questionable illegal content when they decide to leave Rin as an 8-year-old…

But this wasn’t ever meant to be perverted. The story was meant to make sense on a logical and historical base.

I hope everyone takes the time to read this. I love Inuyasha, I love Sesshomaru. I am just sick of seeing so many people fighting over what should be the revival of a beloved series. While yes, there is still room for sess/rin not being a thing, until it is stated otherwise, why hate each other? This fandom will only lose people by doing this. Calling people names or accusing them of illegal endorsement can hurt someone these days over social media.

Tumblr allows you to block tags. You don’t have to read anything or watch anything you don’t like. We gain nothing from attacking each other but can lose so much by doing so. Fanart, really good fan fiction, friends, ideas, sharing fond memories. Both sides have the right to feel as they feel, but no right in hurting each other.

A fandom is meant to bring people together. Not start a war…

Thank you.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ajpa.20402

http://www.italianrenaissanceresources.com/units/unit-2/essays/husbands-and-wives/#:~:text=Marriage%20not%20only%20reflected%20order,to%20ensure%20the%20bride's%20virginity.

https://www.ancient.eu/Canterbury_Tales/

https://www.ancient.eu/article/1424/daily-life-in-medieval-japan/#:~:text=Just%20as%20Japanese%20people%20today,in%20Western%20Europe%2C%20for%20example.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Date_Masamune

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megohime

[juuls]

Juulna’s ‘Hold Onto Your Sanity’ Fic, Book, and Music Recs for the 2020 Dumpster Fire... Part 3!

So you just crash-landed behind enemy lines in a war you know barely anything about except that your role seems infinitesimal and insignificant, and dumped into a year, 2020, that already seems fifteen years too long.

Before you drown your sorrows in some fantastic scotch or wine coolers for days (or weeks)… I have a proposal.

That you step back from the flames, tune things out for a bit, and try to forget about the outside world for a while (but don’t forget to vote or I will be very sad at you!).

These fics are meant to take you out of your head (I’m including more plot/story-minded fics than PWP) for the next few weeks or months as the world goes to hell (even more) but of course there are some bits of solid angst in these as there is wont to be in many a fic. Check the tags, read responsibly, don’t like-don’t read, ship and let ship, and please do leave a kudos and maybe even a comment! :)

This is PART THREE.

Check out here for Part One and most of the Marvel fic recs, along with a selection of book recs too. :)

And here’s Part Two, which has the bulk of my Star Wars and Game of Thrones recs, along with Spotify playlists!

Part Three is this one here, all about the Potterverse.

(Not yet complete) Here’s Part Four, filled with even more shippy goodness from all over the Star Trek universe. So. Many. Ships. :D

(Not yet complete) Part Five is Witcher, Man From UNCLE, Stargate: Atlantis and SG-1, Sherlock, Hannibal, and Doctor Who.

(Not yet complete) Part Six will probably be all for my newfound love of Supergirl, along with some Game of Thrones and Marvel ships I skipped, because I gotta stop somewhere with all these recommendations or I’ll be at it forever. Seriously, how much of this stuff have I read!?

But I think we all need some distractions from the world these days, eh? Or something to console us other than internet rage and a barrel of ice cream and/or hard alcohol.

Potterverse

I’ve chosen to pick fics (mostly) off of AO3 for their easy reading access, though HP fics’ golden years were on sites like fanfiction.net and other independent archives like Sycophanthex and others which have closed their doors over the years, sadly. Some of these fics date back to almost 20 years old, or more, amazingly!

For fics on fanfiction.net, I highly recommend using this link (FicSave) to epub/mobi converter rather than dealing with the frustrating app. It functions like AO3′s built-in download button.

SSHG/Sevmione

Rec assistance by @perrydowning​

Second Life by Lariope

Phantom of Hogwarts by Good_Witch

Romancing the War by Pubella

The Poison Garden by turtle_wexler @turtlewexlerwrites

A Light in the Fog by turtle_wexler

Pride of Time by AnubisAnkh

The Savage by MagdatheMagpie

Snape’s Story by Tbird1965

Recognition by jezzie (krith)

Tedium of Time by oneredshoe

Tango by Desert_Sea

Sense and Insensibility by Desert_Sea

Time Mutable Immutable by Grooot

The Twenty by Leyna Rountree

For the Only Hope by ausland @run-with-me-to-the-sea

Bundle of Joy by LadyTuesday

Our Hands Tied by multilingualism

Choose Something Like A Star by TeddyRadiator

Mistress of the Stacks by Ms_Anthrop

A Derailed Train of Thought by Ms_Anthrop

Antiquities by stormcorona

Watch Over Me by @snapeslittleblackbuttons​

Dropped Down into the Unknown by @q-drew​

Delicate Transitions by @morbidmuch​

Lay Me Low by TeddyRadiator

The Savage by MagdatheMagpie

Another Dream by @dragoon811​

A Chance For Happiness by @corvusdraconis​

Breath of the Nundu by corvusdraconis, Dragon_and_the_Rose

Just to Be by Amarti @amarti-writes-stuff​

Hinge of Fate by Ramos

Forged in Flames by @mswhich​

Days in the Sun by bluespring864

Making sure the boy who lived, actually does by Hold_en @hold-enwrites​

The Problem With Purity by Phoenix.Writing

One Step Forward, Two Decades Back by corvusdraconis

The Headmaster’s Wife by Mrs_HH @propertyofseverustsnape

The Master, the Warden, the Headmaster, and the Deputy by mak5258

Cloak of Courage by Wendynat

Hermione Granger and the Intended Vessels by ShawnaCanon

Augury and Ardor by SnapeySnax

Before the Dawn by snarkyroxy

The Love You Take by Subversa

His Draught of Delicate Poison by Subversa

and sooooo many more if you want them just ask, this is both mine and Perry’s oldest ship lol

Gramander (Original Graves x Newt)

A Gilded Cage is Still a Cage by Anonymous

take a deep breath (and let it go) by lincesque @tumbloncat

Roar by @elenothar

Matchmaker, Matchmaker by @prosodiical

Dearly Beloved by prosodiical

Basic Instincts by @manic-intent

Promised by Miss_Lv

Plan G by Aate

Heat of the Chase by argentoswan @wannahearaboutmycats

Newt Scamander’s Guide to Getting Things Done by arthureameslove

Against all Odds by Maril

Where I Belong by Mishafied

He Wants To Say, “I Love You, Nothing Can Hurt You”  by @obsidionwingsofmidnight

Arranged by Miss_Lv

death of a bachelor by gudetama (elementary)

The Graves Identity by Mishafied

you make me feel this way somehow by gudetama (elementary)

The Nature of the Beast by AntiGravitas @absolutelynogravitaswhatsoever

The Knights, the Newt, and the Rose by @yinyangswings

The Wizard’s Cat by @natecchi

The Color of Boom by gypsiangel

Signalling Theory: Blue Coat by @obaewankenope​

Flame by @esamastation​

And The Tag Read Simply: “Pretty” by @funkzpiel​

Aren’t You Gonna Arrest Me, Officer? by JoyBurd

a little bit lost by shortbread @shortbread-fanfiction​

Dramione

Rec assistance by @cuthian​

Seven Times by kerri240879

Her Beauty and the Moonlight by BrilliantLady

The Fallout by everythursday (orphaned and only available on AO3 now, but complete)

The Eagle’s Nest by HeartOfAspen

Turncoat by elizaye @imnotleavinherewithoutyou

The Virgin Conundrum by AkashaTheKitty @akashathekitty

Bad Faith by Morrighan256

Isolation by bexchan @bex-chan-blog

The Serpent, the Witch, and the Broom Closet by bitchywitchy

Silencio by AkashaTheKitty

All You Want by senlinyu @senlinyu

Static by galfoy @heymanticore

What the Room Requires by Alydia Rackham

And We All Fall Down by @rumaan

Ambition’s End by Hanako A

Wait and Hope by mightbewriting @mightbewriting

Rewriting Destiny by mayawrites95 (mayarox95)

Chronos Historia by In_Dreams @indreamsink

A Muggle-born Magic by Musyc @willhavetheirtrinkets

Hunted by Bex-chan

A Second Look by @riverwriter

The Nietzsche Classes by Beringae

This Too, Is Sacred by HeartOfAspen

Bite First, Ask Questions Later by Daredevilsinthedetails, Kaylessi

Nocturnus by In_Dreams @indreamsink

Broken by @inadaze22​

The Green Girl by Colubrina

Lady of the Lake by Colubrina

Rebuilding by Colubrina (really just anything written by @colubrina)

Presque Toujours Pur by @shayalonnie

Can’t Change the Way I Am by @nauticalparamour

Law and Marriage by DragonGrin (formerly TeenTypist)

The Tower Window by @xodramaqueenox​

Unexpected by Emara88

Something Old, Something New by Kate Dessi

Suppressed Emotions by hopelesslydevoted.xx 

Silver Blood by @freyaishtar

When the Day Met the Night by @bex-la-get

Harmony

A Marauder’s Plan by CatsAreCool (Rachel500)

A Step to the Right by CatsAreCool (Rachel500)

Eighth by lorien829

The Catalyst by lorien829

Harry Potter and the Isle of Mists by lorien829

Knife’s Edge by Celtic55

The Black Book by mosteveryonesmad

Awakening by SweetShireen

The Sword and the Snake by bartonfink1974

Dispelling the Silence by Indygodusk

One Year Later: Return to Hogwarts by Twilight’s Inferno

DraHarmony

Fourteen Thousand Galleons by @frumpologist

The Invitation by hot_elf @hot-elf

Love Love Love by MissELY @misselylux​

Changing Scenery by aethling

East of Eden by msmerlin @ms-merlinblack

Turn Back Time by Dazeventura6

Foxfire by @setissma

Come Together by @nuclearnik

The Soul of the Wolves by LR_Earl @fanficbylrearl

Running From Lions by tryslora @tryslora

An Unexpected Family by ladyroxanne21

The Prophecies by jamcreynolds

Drarhinny

Reconstruction by @aldersprig​

Fell From the Sky by BrandonStrayne @brandonstrayne​ (I really love this one, and not just as a Canadian.)

Demons From the Past by pottermum

Drarry

Rec assistance by @newtypeshadow​

Rarely Pure and Never Simple by birdsofshore

Aural Gratification by birdsofshore

Lost Among and Falling by @bafflinghaze

The Corruption Sequence series by beren @berenwrites

Sentinel ‘verse series by elyssblair @elyssblair-blog

Date Blindness by dysonrules

Starts With a Spin by Maxine @serasarahhhh​

Temptation on the Warfront by alizarincrimson

Paradigm by dysonrules

Here’s The Pencil, Make It Happen by ignatiustrout

Draco Sodding Malfoy by Shewhxmustnxtbenamed @shewhomustnotbenamed

Pieces of What by Jadwiga

Found, Not Lost by inspiration_assaulted

Shared Detention by DadIWriteGayPorn

Dirty Little Secret by Writcraft @writcraft​

19 Years by shilo1364 @whimsicaldragonette​

Morning Suns & Coffee Runs by laugh_a_latte @queer-coffee​

Reus Una by purplepen76

Between Ink and Blood by Candamira

Ginmione

Distractions by @morningsound15​ 

Cissamione

(This seems like it’s a bit cracky, but there’s some good ones, I promise! I sorta stumbled ass-backwards into this ship but really enjoy some of them.)

One Step Left by Cysteine @cysteine

Extinction by @rubikanon​

Blinding Light by @16-pennies​

Somebody Loved by beforeyouspeak

...

..

There. This is much better, isn’t it?

So my challenge to you, if your world is falling, burning down around you in flames... is this:

...if you feel yourself getting anxious or depressed, whether from the news or being cooped up in isolation or bored or on the verge of tearing your hair out or jumping off that roof or grabbing something to go after the dictator-of-the-week.... pause, take a breath, open up this rec list, close your eyes and pick something, and let chance take you somewhere hopefully far away. Let yourself be transported.

Oh, and don’t click on this Google Drive link. Really, there’s not 30+ GB of data on that Drive I’m sharing. Shame. There totally aren’t tens of thousands of books, as many audiobooks as could fit, and a large collection of fanfiction downloaded from AO3 in there. (Also, not all fics have been shared to that folder yet; I’m working on it a little at a time as I download more.)

[angstymdzsthoughts]

1 no war abo au where teenager omega wwx accidentally (it actually was an accident, the one instance where he wasnt trying to be a little shit) pulled lwj's headband off so now they have to get married even when lxc and jyl isnt married yet. yzy was more than happy to be rid of wwx and jfm couldnt do much with pressure from both his sect and gusu lan.

2 wwx was very apologetic and tries his best to at least be friends with lwj but lwj doesnt know how to deal with him. he keeps avoiding wwx even if he still makes wwx perform his marital duty. the lans are harsh and biased on wwx. making up his rule violations just to have him punished. no one would defend him bc even his husband is cold towards him. then lxc brings in jgy (jgs begrudgingly took my in just bc an omega is an asset and not bc he valued his skills) to gusu lan to marry him.

3 jgy is subtle and obedient, and despite his background the gusu lan elders much prefer him to wwx. xiyao's marriage affair was much larger and not just bc lxc was the sect heir but bc jgy was a better bride than wwx could ever be. wwx couldnt even enjoy the one time good food was served in cr, with his new pregnancy any food tasted like paper. maybe after the child is born lan zhan would look at him and protect him.

4 he didnt. he acted aloof as usual. even when their child lan yuan, the legal heir of gusu lan (by gusu lan law the heir is the oldest of one's generation in the main family), didnt even get a proper one month celebration, lwj didnt bother to fight for them. in reality lwj is torn bc he felt guilty towards wwx but the elders do not like his husband and by extension his child and they criticize him for not being proper enough. so he did what his father did best, standing by doing nothing.

5 it was truly unfair, lxc is free to be intimate with jgy in public but lwj gets scolded for visiting wwx's cottage more than 3 times a week. after 2 years, jgy is still not pregnant and cant resist jgs pushing him to get rid of lan yuan. wwx's omega instinct is in overdrive. it wasnt entirely unreasonable. he may be paranoid, but a venomous spider wont just magically appear in lan yuan's crib. wwx doesnt ask lwj to protect their son, he saw firsthand how useless his husband is in his inaction.

6 it came crashing down when ayuan got sick and he found the note in jgy's handwriting for ayuan's nanny, along with the remains of a poison. he took it up to the elders, not having any of their shit anymore. but they blame him instead, accusing him of being too greedy for power that he would try to get rid of his rival even when his own son was already heir. that he forgot his station, a mere son of a servant. he looked at lwj, who couldnt meet his eyes and didnt say a word to defend him.

7 that was the final straw. clearly them mother and son mean nothing to the entirety of gusu lan, so they would just leave. he brought suibian out and cut a few inches off his hair. you only cut your hair in mourning of spouse or parents. he continued by cutting off the tip of lan yuan's ponytail. from now on wei wuxian has no husband and ayuan has no father. using an invisibility spell he ran away from the wrath he just invoked.

8 he flew to lotus pier and hid under jiang cheng's protection. mdm yu would kick wwx out if she saw him and uncle jiang is as passive as his husband. the healers all report to mdm yu, so jc managed to get him some medicine to treat ayuan, but it didnt cure him, only lessened his symptoms. with jyl's marriage closing in most people are too busy to notice him. jzx is going to pick jyl up from lp instead of having her travel all the way to lanling alone.

9 wwx is glad at least jzx got his head out of his ass and returns his shijie's feelings. the lans come for the wedding, obviously. jc did his best to hide them, but got found out anyway. he ran away and ended up in yiling, sitting by the side of the street to get out of the rain when wen qing found him. the female alpha took him in, out of kindness since she remembered wwx to be one of the few students who were nice to wn during their study in gusu. she healed ayuan and came to like the boy too

10 it was wq who taught ayuan to read and write, wn the one who taught him to play games. jc visits them sometimes, even slipped a silver bell for him. jyl sometimes come when she visits ym. ayuan is almost 5 and gusu lan still hasnt had a new heir, so they are never truly safe from being pursued by the lans. it just so happens that wen xu travelled to yiling from nightless city to meet wq. he was greeted by a child, obviously related to the lans judging from his facial features, hugging his leg

11 wen xu is a decent person, unlike his sleazy younger brother. he appreciates competence like his father and respects wwx as a cultivator. (after all that trauma wwx's bar is very low). ayuan likes him so wwx has no qualms with being friends with wx. they become closer with wx's increasingly frequent trips to yiling.

12 wx began courting wwx. wwx never been courted, never been liked that way by anyone. wx even offered to properly adopt ayuan as his heir. wwx didnt feel it necessary, but it was nice for ayuan to have a father figure. wrh quite like both mother and son. wwx is a strong cultivator and ayuan has innate talent for cultivation. besides, if wwx marries wx and ayuan becomes wen yuan, they would never have to go back to that wretched place everyone calls sacred.

13 wwx agreed to marry wx, becoming young madam wen. but he didnt want any announcement. he just wanted to live in peace where he is. it was quite strange for the marriage of a sect heir to not be held in fanfare. the answer came on the next conference in nightless city. the alpha child sitting next to wen xu has lwj's nose. he has lwj's lips, has lwj's cheekbones, but he wears black and red and dons the surname wen.

14 jc and jyl werent surprised, but the rest of the sects were. lqr spat blood seeing wwx appear next to his son wearing wen robes. wrh didnt appreciate the ruckus and told them to keep it for later. lwj approached wwx after the conference. he admitted that the elders had been putting him on a grill since wwx left. elder brother turned out to be impotent, so the task of producing an heir falls on him. they basically want ayuan back.

15 wwx told him he didnt need to worry. he didnt have to do anything for them, since hes so good at it. just marry another omega, a proper one this time, and have a child with them, as he clearly is able to. besides, wen yuan is already formalized as an heir to qishan wen. so if they dont want a war with the wens they better just leave them mother and son alone.

16 then wen yuan came around the corner, looking for his mother. he called out to wwx, telling him that the banquet is about to start, lets go back to a-die. wwx left with him without another word to lwj. "who was that?" wen yuan asked. wwx grinned, "no one," -i just wanted an excuse for wen wwx

[silverechosandblankmasks]

Decided to talk about my headcanons for Relations on the DSMP! With included family tree at the bottom :D Note, Mumza isn't canon here, Philza is a single father. Im personally uncomfortable with including irl people and backstories into the lore of the SMP and other stuff, even if we have permission. This means Drista and Tubbo's sister and any others arnt in my headcanons and lore. Philza has three sons, all adopted-Wilbur, Techno, and Tommy. He found Techno first and has been with him the longest, but Wilbur is older. (Wilbur still considers Techno the oldest.) He found Techno in the Nether (thrown out of the piglin horde for being a hybrid), Wilbur at a village (orphan crime boy tried to lift his money off him), and Tommy was dragged home by Wilbur (Phil still has no clue how they met) and Philza and Techno got attached when he lowkey refused to leave XD

Tommy met Tubbo at roughly age 13 or so when Tubbo was a street kid and brought him home. He's not considered Philza son nor Wilbur and Techno's brother (by his own choice mind you)(so basically he's not the SBI's family but he's Tommy's if that makes sense). He's lived with them a few times but Tubbo goes through periods where he straight up disappears for a few months and just wanders his own way.

Wilbur met 'Sally' when he was 18, and I mean newly baby adult Wilbur (he's been traveling for while but hasn't permanently left the world the sbi lives in yet like Techno has. Tommy is kinda doing the same but stays home more often). He found a injured and women floating in a river he stopped by and saved her, stitching her up and helping her. She said she didn't have a name he could understand so he nicknamed her Sally, for her Salmon red hair. Turns out Sally was a nature spirit and gave him a 'gift' for her thanks. That gift was Fundy becuase 'humans love babies!'. Wilbur is unaware that Sally used some of his blood to make Fundy, and thus is technically is Fundy’s bio-dad.

Fundy was raised by a couple who where friends of Philza and didn't mind the fact he was a hybrid fox who aged oddly. (I cant work out the specs but he ages fast for a few years, before gradually slowing down) They died when he was around 16 and he's been traveling ever since, electing not to go and find Wilbur until he ran into him on accident later. (he could of gone to Philza but he only met the man a few times and by then most of Philza's kids have left so he's ended up going to a new world) Niki is Eret's half sibling. Niki was raised by her mom and her stepdad. She always knew she might of had siblings but her family had no luck in trying track them or her birth dad down. She met Eret on the DSMP.

Eret is Niki's sibling. They are half siblings through their dad and didn't know they where related until they met on the DSMP. Both knew they potentially had a sibling/siblings out there. He is the oldest sibling as far as they know. Eret adopts Fundy after Wilbur died, wanting to make up for many things and genuinely wanting to see Fundy be happy. Eret adopts Ranboo, who is an orphan and their other half brother, and becomes his legal guardian. 

Ranboo is Niki and Eret's half sibling as well, the youngest and only other sibling as far as they can tell. They managed to track him down using some connections and found him in an Orphanage and brought him to Dream smp. He doesn't know his exact birthdate, but he knows its between 16 and 17 probably. He doesn't actually know if he's older then Tommy but he decided just to say so and ran with it lol. He's an endermen Hybrid and is officially adopted by Eret. 

Note- Their father was human as far as they know but Eret's eyes and some other small things didn't come from their mothers sides of the families so its assumed he had some sort of magic or something in his bloodline. Dream is an pretty much an orphan. He left home at a super young age, being a restless soul from birth, and hasn't tried to returned back once. His dad died before he left and he has a mom and maybe siblings but has no desire to ever seek them out. He considers his best friends his family and that's all that matters. He might be related to Tubbo, either through adopting a lil brother or though his parent(s) but who knows. (I only included him becuase I sometimes make him related to Tubbo lol) Bonus Tubbo Fam! (He basically adopted people rather then the other way around lol)

Captain Sparklez is Tubbos adoptive Dad. He was Tubbo's hero growing up and when Tubbo found out he was in MCC at the same time as Jorden, he sought him out before the event to talk to him. The Captain found he liked Tubbo a lot and they started running into each other outside of MCC as well. Soon Tubbo was visiting and following him around worlds for fun and Sparklez decided he was really attached to him. It wasn't until after the first Among Us Game was held (A kinda simulation meets mafia game where people have to pretend to be a murderer and the others need to figure it out) and they played together, did he really realize Tubbo was kinda like a son to him. An accident later (Tubbo nearly died, Jorden had a heart attack, it was fun) that Jorden asked to adopt Tubbo.

Note, Tubbo is like Dream in the sense he has a restlessness to him. He's always out and exploring and going to new places and worlds, but in a different way. He always feels like he's waiting and searching for something and he follows his heart and instincts when the mood strikes. Its how he found Tommy, its how he found the SMP, its how he found dad and kinda brother.

5up (or 5cup) is Tubbo's kinda adopted brother. Tubbo had been invited to a more high end Among Us actual Tournament after getting quite good at it, and met 5up who was like... why is there a Teenager? Oh he's quite good, omg why is he alone stop being assholes to him please, hey he's funny. 5up invited him to come play with them sometimes and they hit it off. (The nickname is becuase Tubbo is dyslexic and at their first game read 5's nametag wrong and it made 5up laugh so hard he let Tubbo keep doing it.) Tubbo started jokingly calling him brother and 5up started doing it back. 5up's kinda inwardly horrified at how nonchalant Tubbo is about his life and the war and his friends. He about had a heart attack when Tubbo told him was president now and might be facing another war. Jorden is no help becuase his definition of bad is also skewed, he's been though...a lot. But he doesn't like all the pain and drama he's been going though, Tubbo's his son and he knows the teen can handle himself but... he doesn't know what to do sometimes, ya know?

Captain Sparklez and 5up only know of each other for now, but Family of Family is still family. Please don't attack or come at me becuase you don't agree with my headcanons, this was just for fun XD

[queenie-lexieee]

[[ OC Character Profile ]]

Fandom:

Marvel

Full name:

Jupiter Gabe

Nickname(s):

•June

•Jane

•J

•Ms. Gabe

•Gabriel

Sex/Pronouns:

Female

Birthdate:

April 14, 1990

2022: Age:

32

Powers

None

Skills:

Knowledge in the sciences and books, knows karate, medicine science and used a gun once.

[[ About ]]

Personality:

•Loyal

•Honest

•Clever

•Intelligent

•Helper

•Caring

•Hardworker

•Friendly

•Organizer

•Independent

•Brilliant

•Good-natured

•Forecful

•Knowledge

•Realistic

•Clumsy

•Lovable

•Humble

•AngryHead

Likes:

•Books

•Helping People

•Science

•Math

•Alone Time

•Proving Someone Wrong

•Goodness in people

•Working on experiments

•Quietness

Dislikes:

•Thanos

•Asswholes

•Being proven wrong

•Jerks

•Her step-father

•Loud people

•Flat Earthers

•Telling her that science is fake

Fears:

•Thanos winning

•Her family dying

•Being forgotten

Allergies:

•The Avengers

•S.H.I.E.L.D

•Her fellow scientist

Sexual Orientation:

Bisexual

Species:

Human

Faceclaim:

Emma Watson

[[ Relations ]]

Father:Fred Gabe (Dead)

Step-Father: Rick Vince

Mother: Catherine Vince (Gabe)

Little Step-Brother:Link Vince

Other Relatives:

Friends:

Steve Rogers

Tony Stark

Natasha Romanoff

Clint Barton

Bruce Banner

Peter Parker

Scott Lang

Stephen Strange

Her Science Team

Enemies:

•Thanos

•Flat Eathers

•Conspiracy people

Significant Other(s):

(Multiships)

[[ Biography ]]

Jupiter Gabe is oldest in her family, she always did what her parents told her and she forced on school. Jupiter father was a solider for the army and he dead over seas when she was only 7 year old. This left her and her mother alone and her mother being single and working two jobs while a girl of 7 last her dad and caught herself in sci-fiction books. Science was her favorite subject, she loved learning about the planets and elements, also chemicals. She wanted to become a scientist, that would be hard for her and her mother but she worked hard and got her grades to be at a A+ to get scholarships.

When Jupiter was 16, her mom remarried a man named Rick Vince, he was a working for the cops and his rules were hard. Rick was not a nice step-father at all, he sweared and screamed at her and her mother. But her mother seemed to still love him, so they had a baby boy named Link. Because she was seen as the oldest she had to take care of him most of the time because of Rick. It was like having her own baby and she hated that. She had to focus on so many things at once. When Link was born, Rick seemed to go back and front from being clam to being an jerk to her and her mother. Soon her mother took care of Link and told Jupiter to focus on her studies and she did. Rick was not so pleased but Jupiter mom threatened to leave if he didn’t leave her alone.

2010, She is a freshman in college and her major is science, she grown into her own person. As she was in college, the things went down with Tony Stark and this big green man that broke the definition of a science experiment gone wrong. Her family life was worse as well, she was sure that Rick was hitting her mother and maybe even Link, but didn’t have enough advice. Only advice that ever showed was when she come home from school, her mom would have a bruise that as she told her was from burning herself or falling down the stairs. As the year went on, Earth seemed to fall into a war zone outside and inside.

2012, being a 22 year old and a loner, Jupiter kept to herself and didn’t go to college parties. She focused on her major and getting a job at a little lab in her college that showed her how it would be in a real lab and on the down low though, she learn karate because she seen enough of her mother getting hurt. She stilled lived at him because getting a one bed room in New York was expensive for a college student. One day when they all eating diner together and Rick was drinking his beer, something at Link did really pissed him off and he started yelling and throw his bottle across the room. Jupiter protected her mother and brother from him as when he got physical she took him down and called the police on him.

When the battle of New York happened, she was in school studying for a big test that she felt like she was going to fail. All sudden portals everywhere and people screaming and big aliens come out nowhere. All the students watched a group of people started fighting off the aliens and this when she saw the big green guy up front. He was riding big aliens and crashing little ones. She watched a guy in a America outfit throw a Shield to knock back aliens and do special tricks. This battle made Jupiter want to become part of this group badly, she wanted to help people and work closely with alien technology

2015, She graduated college with a degree in science and technology, and some Astronomy. There was no facts about aliens in books but she knew they were real and they come to Earth. Her mom and brother were doing just fine finally now that Rick was behind bars. Her mom did not marry again and worked a great job as person who took calls by women or men who were being abused by their partners. Jupiter had gotten a job at lab that was run by the government of New York and she made a enough money finally to get her own apartment in New York. She was at the lab one day and the averages had come onto the tv screen being showed fighting a new villain made out of metal of some sort. Jupiter watched in horror as a city again gets destroyed like New York did three years ago. Her team started making medicals and sending them off to the city where millions of people homes where getting destroyed.

As the years gone by, she got closer and closer to being a scientist for S.H.I.E.LD program. She made a name for herself, the scientist who doubles in alien technology, in chemicals that could make a human stronger, in the stars and different planets. By joining this program, she kinda become agent for them but one that looks into the aliens side of things and staid in the lab working hard. Sometimes she would be in the lab with the one and only Bruce Banner. She never really talked to him. But he seemed to disappeared as battle of Ultron ended.

When the Average fought over if they should gave up their freedom to the government or not, she mostly kept out of it and focused on what was coming next. Her readings seemed to show something big was coming. She worked with Jane because she knew a lot about Thor and his planet and what happened with the different types of Universes.

2017-2018, Jupiter was the one who got a big spike reading in her research in the stars as Thanos bumps and himself made it to Earth, she had to gather all her important research and being to the big S.H.I.E.L.D base as the battle happened. S..H.I.E.L.D brought her to Wakanda where she learn about vibranium and how strong it is by a girl genius, who was the Princess and that was taking care of Untied State man named Ross. She tired to help Shuri get out Visions stone out, but they couldn’t do it. At the end of it all, Thanos won and people turned into ash.

2018-2022, Both her mom and brother have disappeared and half her science team. Years past and people move on, she has a few relationships but none last. Finally S.H.I.E.L.D calls her back to her work and what is left of The Average been working on a Machine and that made her feel like Dr. Brown. As Captain America and others goes back in time to get all the stones and comes back, to only mess up and mix up different times lines, which she saw coming. Finally Tony kills Thanos and all his army

Jupiter recently meet an assassin named Scarlett Red, because someone wanted her dead, but luckily Scarlett found her cute and didn’t kill her. But then Jupiter got captured by two criminals who worked for someone else, they took away and Scarlett followed them to a warehouse where they tired to get information from Jupiter. But they got nothing from her and they were ready to kill her but Scarlett stepped in and killed them all, then told Jupiter everything. After Jupiter insisted they go back to the lab and they did. The control that let in alien was taking, which was bad. Because the control could let in the new Thanos. As they searched for where someone took it, they fell for each other and now Jupiter was with a dangerous woman. Soon enough that fling was over, it was nice to have that, but they won’t right for each other.

[bymaellena]

Touching the Stars | Chapter #1

With a loud thud, Anna Park had been abruptly taken out of her dreams. The subway had finally arrived at her station.

When she was in High School, becoming a manager was nothing like that. She thought she would have a good car, a beautiful house and idols to take care. She could run in the morning, drink a coffee in the cafeteria next to her house after a hot shower and receive a smile from all her respectful co-workers. She would have friends to dinner with and have lots of fun activities on her schedule to entertain fans at the same time she would make sure all the stress provided by fame could be taken away from her protegees.

And, in the weekends, she could finally seat in peace at her sofa and enjoy some dramas and mukbangs while eating her favorite foods. Or, if the weather was good, she could just stargaze in the terrace while waiting for her homemade barbecue to be ready. Peace, silence and fullness.

Instead of the beautiful and complex scenario that a 16 year old girl could create in her mind, ten years later her life couldn't be more different. She had not gotten a place in the college of her choice and the internship she had gotten was in a company so small that the only artist who promoted it was one of the founders. Serving coffee was never her dream, let alone living in a tiny room with thousands of stairs and taking two hours to get to the company. Incredibly, despite all the endless walks and stairs that were cursed daily, she had put on weight too.

She blamed the huge amount of sleepless nights and noodles that she ate. But she was immensely dedicated to the company. Although not her dream company, what she discovered in a hidden dark corner of Gangnam-do was something beyond what she studied in college. She found CEOs who cared so much for the artists and staff that they forced her to at least doze off in the break room for a few hours daily. Four solo artists, three groups and two changes of address later, all the blood, sweat and tears had made the company grow and managed to house more artists than she had imagined.

Twenty trainees growing up year after year was something she hadn't imagined she would be able to witness. Some were younger, some older, but all talented and incredible enough to win a place in their hearts. Despite being different from what she had dreamed of, her life wasn't that bad. She only complained when reality hit her hard.

And reality literally decided to slam the door in her face as she tried to get out of the crowded subway. Missing the station would mean five minutes late. Five minutes that it would take to arrive at the cafeteria of the building just to see the queue for the giant cafe, and having to decide whether to be scolded for being late or for not bringing coffee for the entire team. It was her fault that she slept late enough not to be able to wake up on time, but it was for good reason.

She finally got a dorm room good enough for all twenty trainees who were going to move in an attempt to finally get her debut. An apartment near Gangnam-do with five bedrooms was not easy to find, in fact, it was impossible. But something she had learned at that company was that all the staff were responsible for doing the impossible to make the artists feel good. After so much bad news of idols being harmed in all different ways and in all different ways, all I wanted was for the girls, too young to be able to handle everything that fame could bring, to be able to rest in peace after a long day . If she couldn't have the apartment of her dreams, at least the girls could.

"I was almost asleep without your coffee, Anna." Kang Hyunsik jokes, getting up and helping the girl with all the boxes and bags she carried. "Are you preparing for war?" Anna laughed, feeling the full weight of the stress go away with the boxes she was carrying. After all these years, she was still surprised at how Hyunsik managed to have that effect on everyone.

He might not be handsome enough to be an idol, but his smile was enough to brighten up the room and his selfless attitude was what attracted the girl to the team in the first place. He was a talented manager, above all, managing his artists as best as possible and always making sure that they slept at least six hours a day. "Preparing for the war against the press, for sure. Did you forget that the news from the reality show is out today?"

"How could I forget? This place hasn't stopped for a second in the past month, it's insane," he took a deep breath, escorting her to the meeting room. "Do you really think that a reality show is the best way to debut girls? Twenty girls competing for nine places seems very cruel, and we know how much it can affect them," Anna asked, still concerned.

Six months later and she still hadn't gotten used to the idea of ​​playing teenagers in a place with cameras filming all the time and an invisible jury to look at their whole lives, without mercy. "It was taking too long for you to say that," Hyunsik laughed, delighted by her friend's motherly attitude.

"Despite not being the most appropriate according to the company's parameters, it will be a good thing. We promise, and we sign, that they will not be filmed all the time, they will have a day of rest a week and will have daily medical and psychological monitoring. . If any of them are not comfortable, we will take care of them "He breathed, placing the boxes on the floor of the elevator and pressing the button. "Besides, they will be in good hands."

Anna laughed, taking a break from the walk she had taken there. Some days, her body missed when the company was smaller. "Do you really think so?", She asked anxiously. After so many years dreaming, the opportunity to finally look after some group had fallen into her hands, leaving her excited and apprehensive at the same time.

"Anna, you work here as long as I do, you deserve this job. Besides, with someone who cares about them most of the time, I'm sure they will love you as a manager." And there it was, one more of those radiant smiles that filled her with confidence. It was impressive, as if all the charms of a smile came together in one person, it was almost as if it were in some cliché drama. Or in a toothpaste commercial.

They entered the meeting room, finding the others responsible for making that dream happen. There were two ways that described ONE Entertainment founder and main producer, Lee Jimin. Genius, responsible and CEO were the words that came together in all the stories about him, followed by all the awards he had won throughout his career, either for his music or for those he composed for his artists.

But if Anna could really describe her superior, it would be quite different. He was an extremely relaxed and funny guy, always forgetting where he had put his car keys, cell phone and glasses. Most of the time she was humming around the building and loved to spend most of her time on the terrace, as if the absence of sunlight from the studios blocked her source of inspiration.Above all, Jimin was like an older brother to Anna. He always offered her a ride and took milk from a box when he had time, helping her with all the jobs she received. Certainly a key part for the growth of it and the company as a whole.

Walking around with a half-empty cup of coffee in hand, the elegant woman was Nam Bora. She spoke emphatically on the phone, in a language she couldn't understand. Even if she were English, Anna would probably not understand. The company's co-founder was responsible for finance and international transactions.

She didn't spend a lot of time with the managing team, always traveling, but she always brought souvenirs for everyone. And when I say everyone, I mean everyone. It was almost as if she had a spreadsheet with the names of everyone in that building. And she probably had it, being addicted to Excel and organization.

Bora had become one of Anna's best friends after hanging out with the team and sharing her entire life with the intern, even without being drunk. Bora said that she saw a lot of potential in the girl and always gave her work, just as often as she asked her to shop or go to the movies. She was like the big sister she never had.

Sitting next to them, Daniel Wu read quietly, for the tenth time, Harry Potter. He was quiet and smart, always checking to see if anyone needed anything. Anna did not understand how he was still single. He was as handsome as he was polite. When the company started to grow, he stopped riding in the car to take the subway and the bus together with the whole team. It was his way of remembering the company's roots, something very different for the chairman of a company.

Anna admired it in him, never forgot where it came from. She often bought whole meals for the company and made sure everyone felt welcome, from longtime employees to the birds on the terrace. Maybe that's why the whole company felt like a huge family, due to Daniel's quiet and sure effort.

Ahn Namjoon was the only one missing, nothing they were not used to. He was not often late, but he was always the last to arrive, and when he did, he was never empty-handed. As the manager of the boy group Kingdom, he was the oldest of the team and the director of the managing team too. He always had some unusual idea that solved everyone's problem, he was someone who lived outside the box.

Anna had met his family at a barbecue and could tell that she cared for the boys in the group just as she cared for her son. Just as she took care of herself and Hyunsik as if they were older children. He was the one who had hired Anna, saying he had the potential to build the entire company. If anyone had catalyzed the company's growth, it was him. More often than he would like, he said that Anna and Hyunsik were a couple as good as popsicles in the summer.

Analyzing that scene well, she could understand why she liked that reality so different from his dreams. Nobody was normal in that company, just like her, but everyone worked to grow the company and each other as well. A coexistence that added, like a healthy family. It was not the family she was born into, but the one she chose to love.

Hyunsik helped her organize the things she had brought to the meeting, while Namjoon finally arrived with a box full of sweets and snacks, hoping to turn the meeting into a brunch. "Sorry for the delay, I couldn't help bringing these brownies, they just came out of the oven!"

From a distance, they almost looked like a happy family at their weekly meeting. Life could have hit Anna in the face a lot, but she would have done it all again just for that moment. "Anna, please tell me you got a place for the girls," Bora asked as she bit into the cupcake with more frosting, getting a judgmental look from Daniel for eating the candy before it was salted.

"I got it last night! It's just a ten-minute walk from here, two blocks from a supermarket and one from the pharmacy. It's a townhouse with five rooms and a terrace that they'll love! We can take them there as soon as the cleaning is over, probably tonight. I drafted how they can get organized in there too. " she showed the papers excitedly, ignoring Hyunsik's concerned look.

"Always proactive, huh?" Namjoon praised, trying to eat a chicken salty without dropping crumbs on himself. "Great! I'll check with the film crew if they can record their reaction. If it's not good enough for the show, at least we can keep it as a souvenir." Daniel started to write things down in his pocketbook as he spoke. "We should take them out to dinner beforehand, so we can celebrate the start of this new phase of their career. Anna and Hyunsik, can you handle this?" Both nodded, nodding excitedly.

"Namjoon, can you take charge of taking the judges to practice before filming tomorrow morning? I'm worried that Elle still doesn't feel comfortable enough to get back on stage." Namjoon agreed, while everyone worried in silence. It was like a secret that ran within the apparent perfect family, everyone knew, but nobody commented on it. "I'll take some brownies to cheer you up." He smiled and packed the candy from the table.

"Great. Let's hope there are no more problems to solve by tomorrow morning" Bora summed up the meeting, looking at his cell phone watch and swallowing that morning's fifth candy. "One fam, fighting!", And with that she got up and hurriedly left the room, as usual.

"Well, it's time for me to leave too." announced Daniel, after smiling at his friend's attitude and picking up his book along with a box of oatmeal cookies. "Thank you so much for breakfast. If you need me, you know where to find me." before walking out the door, now ajar, he turned to the table. "And Anna, after taking care of the girls, goes home to sleep. A great job also needs a night's rest, and we're going to need it to its fullest tomorrow." He smiled and left the room.

"He's right, we can't debut these girls if you fall exhausted in the hall. Hyunsik, after escorting the girls to the celebration dinner, take her home, please." Jimin asked, hurrying to finish an argument that would have no end if it depended on Anna. Her persistence was great for the job, but when she became stubborn, no one could stop her. "Anyway, as soon as they finish cleaning their new house we should go over there to examine the route. Namjoon, after finishing Prism's comeback schedule, take them to lunch, and they worked hard for it."

"We agreed to celebrate at dinner, I already booked their favorite karaoke room. Wheenie will spend the afternoon with you in the studio finishing recording the solo, Moon is finishing the choreography for the final survival stage, Stelar is getting ready for the recordings. of the new drama and I asked Hyejin to rest before tomorrow ". The older man remembered, earning a smile from the CEO, amused by his own distraction. "And that is why I will never work without you! Anna and Hyunsik will be able to take care of the trainees and organize them in the new house then? Or Kingdom also has some schedule that I don't remember?", He laughed at the joke itself.

"They will be rehearsing for the final stage today as well, but nothing that requires my presence. I can follow Anna and the girls without any problems." He shrugged, proud to have released his schedule for that day. "Great! Anna, if you can move on to Hyunsik how the dorm will be organized, I appreciate it. Do we close our meeting then?" Everyone waved, standing up. With a smile and a nod, Jimin left the room with three boxes of food that he would probably take to the recording studio and would support him for the rest of the day.

Namjoon opened the door for the youngest and headed for the dance studio on the third floor, beginning another pleasant day at work. Anna went to her table, followed by a concerned Hyunsik, almost like a puppy. "I thought about separating them by age, so they don't have to worry too much about formalities and any problems they encounter can be easily solved ..."

"Anna." Hyunsik called out worriedly, failing to interrupt her friend. "I know it is not what they are used to, but I think it is a good idea to help them interact independently from the group that is formed. After all, in this industry, any friendship is essential for their mental strengthening ..."

"Anna." She tried again in vain to stop the train of thoughts that kept flowing. "I'm more concerned with the younger ones, if they don't debut they will be extremely frustrated, if they debut it will take a lot more than someone normal their age. I'm worried about Hiyori, Lyra and Seoryu too. They are the oldest, they are probably thinking that if they don't debut now they won't have a chance and- "

"Anna!" The girl was interrupted by Hyunsik now holding her shoulders and turning all her attention to him. After realizing the position they were in, he released her and took a deep breath. "I won't scold you about how important it is that you sleep, I know you don't want to hear that." The girl took a deep breath of relief. She liked her friend's concern, but she just wanted to worry about leaving the girls well, and if she needed to sacrifice every night's sleep for the next six months, that was what she would do. "If you want to check on them, I'll just see if the boys need anything else. I'll meet you at the studios as soon as I can, okay?" The girl waved smiling, earning a smile back. "And don't worry about dinner, I know the perfect place for us to go together!"

Anna's eyes shone with anticipation, there was only one place that would accept booking the entire restaurant for so many people in the nick of time. Omma Jigu was her favorite restaurant and went whenever she had money, she would never forget how Hyunsik's mother welcomed her when she joined the company as if she were her own mother, let alone all the dumplings she took home that day. Smiling and jumping with joy, she headed to the second floor to find her future protégés. She hoped from the bottom of her heart that the girls would feel as welcome in that place as she had, and hoped even more that, regardless of the outcome, they could feel welcomed by the family that that company had become over the years. Even if some of them could not make their debut at that time, she knew very well that they would not be abandoned. After all, inside his briefcase he contained a plan B for each of them.

[ugly-crying-over-bucky-barnes]

Field of Poppies Part 8

Summary: After being apart for six years, childhood friends Tommy and Amelia reunite under odd circumstances. Tommy is an outspoken young man and Amelia is pregnant and out on the streets. The bond of family can be unbreakable but it is tested often. Especially when Europe descends into war.

Part 8: Maxwell Thomas Shelby, the newest member of the Shelby family. 

            It happened one unseasonably warm fall day. September 16th, to be exact. Amelia was getting a glass of water from the kitchen, just minding her own business. It wasn’t until she stepped to the side when she noticed a bit of liquid trickling down her leg. At first, she was embarrassed, not sure what was happening. Then it dawned on her that it was most likely the start of what she’d been afraid of for almost nine months.

             “Uh…Pol?”

            Polly was writing carefully in a ledger in her office in the betting shop. “Have a question, love?” She asked, a bit distracted by numbers. It was early in the afternoon and the shop was abuzz with activity. Odds being shouted back and forth, money passing hands, and the sound of chalk on the blackboard. But Amelia had quietly flitted her way to Polly so she wouldn’t call attention to herself.

            “How would I know if my water’s broke?”

            That immediately grabbed Polly’s attention. The woman’s head shot up and she dropped her pen. “Your water broke?”

            “I er, I think so. I don’t know for sure though.” Amelia pulled up the hem of her skirt a bit.

            “Alright, let’s get you upstairs then, just in case.” Polly jumped up and rushed over to the young woman.

            “I-fuck!” Amelia suddenly shouted and doubled over when she felt her first contraction.

            The men in the shop all turned to look at her in confusion.

            Polly knew if anyone had the most sense in the home, it was her. “All of you clear out.” She ordered. “Now.”

            “Pol…” Danny looked a little lost. There was no way Tommy and Arthur would appreciate all of them leaving in the middle of taking bets.

            “I said get the fuck out!” Polly snapped; a bit louder. That was enough to convince them, as they all scattered. But she stopped Danny at the door. “Get Tommy, bring him back here, tell him she’s gone into labor and he needs to get here now.”

            “Yes, ma’am!”

            Polly got Amelia to sit down. “Take some deep breaths.” She soothed in a calmer voice.

            “Pol, I don’t think I’m ready.” Amelia was suddenly terrified. It was easy enough to say she wasn’t scared when she was just pregnant. But as she was getting ready to give birth, the reality was hard to ignore.

            “Well, that little boy is ready, so you’ll need to be too.”

~~~~~~~~            

            For a moment, Tommy thought Danny was playing a joke on him. But it became clear that Amelia was going into labor. So he ran the entire way back home.

            “Pol? Mel?” He called.

            “In the shop!” Polly yelled back. She was kneeling down next to Amelia, holding her hand and coaching her through her breathing. “Help me bring her upstairs.”

            Tommy froze a bit. Amelia looked panicked as she clutched Polly’s hand and gave little, shallow breaths.

            “Thomas, get your head outta your arse and help me!” His aunt stood up.

            Running on nothing but instinct, he scooped Amelia up into his arms and did his best to carefully bring her upstairs. Mid-way, Amelia let out a groan of pain.

            Tommy didn’t even have the words to comfort her. He had no clue what to say, all he could do was listen to Polly.

            “Go downstairs and get a heap of towels,” Polly instructed as he lay Amelia down on the bed. As Tommy dashed back downstairs, she helped Amelia sit up against the pillows. “As long as you keep breathing, you’ll be okay.” She promised as she helped the expectant mother strip down to her slip to make the delivery easier.

            Amelia had no time to be embarrassed, and she didn’t have a reason to either. Polly was like a mother to her and there wasn’t anyone else she trusted to deliver her child.

            Tommy came back upstairs in the blink of an eye, running purely off of adrenaline.

            “Set them down here.” His aunt instructed. She sat down by Amelia’s feel so she could check the progress of the labor.

            Tommy set the towels on the bed and stood frozen. He could remember the awful screams from the room when his mother was giving birth to Ada and Finn. It was terrifying and even though he was an adult when Finn was born, he was afraid his mother was going to die. It wasn’t the most outlandish thing. He’d heard of mothers who died during childbirth. What would that do to him if Amelia met with the same fate? He felt like his heart was in his throat and he had to push the thought away.

            “Tom…” Amelia reached out to him. Her hand was trembling slightly.

            “You want me to stay?” He asked, moving to take her hand.

            She didn’t even have to answer. Aside from Polly, there wasn’t anyone else there for her. Her parents didn’t care where she was or even if she was okay. The biological father was just as careless.

            “I’ll stay.”

     ~~~~~~~~~~      

            And he did. He didn’t move from his spot the entire time. Even when Polly when to wash a couple of towels or get a drink, he stayed.

            “Remember when Maisie was in foal?” Amelia asked, bringing up the conversation to take her mind off the contractions.

            It had been some time since Tommy had thought about the mare that they both loved so much. She was a paint pony, barely over fourteen hands with a long shaggy mane and a mark on her face that was the shape of a crescent moon. She was the first pony almost all of the Shelbys rode. When Amelia and he were about ten, Maisie gave birth to a beautiful filly they named Maybel.

            It was almost midnight as they crouched in the hay with a lantern in hand. They watched from afar, too curious to look away from the active birth. Charlie stood near, ready to intervene if needed. Amelia would always remember how Maisie tenderly cared for Maybel. Keeping her tiny foal close, and licking her damp coat. She and Tommy nearly stayed up all night so they could see Maybel stand on her wobbly legs for the first time. It seemed so effortless and beautiful. Now that Amelia was in the midst of it, she didn’t think it was as easy as Maisie made it look.

            “Yeah, she was a good horse. We gave her to a farmer out in the country when she got older. He needed a pony to keep his mule company.

            Amelia smiled. “That’s sweet. What about Maybel?”

            “Think we sold her to one of Charlie’s kin. One of their little girls took a liking to her if I can recall correctly.”

            That please Amelia. “Good, they deserved good lives. They were so kind.”

            “All horses do.” Tommy agreed.

            “Even that mean gelding who bit you and threw you off constantly?”

            “Major?” He chuckled. “That bastard made me a better rider.” He recalled when they were a bit older, maybe twelve, around the time he started to fancy his best friend. He took Amelia to the Yard to show off the new horse his uncle got. Tommy was allowed to ride him mainly because Charlie believed that a green horse was a good test for any Traveller boy.

            Major was the tallest horse he’d ridden at that time. He was a stunning creature, muscular and strong with a shiny, chestnut coat. But he was as mean as could be. Charlie said horses weren’t born mean, they were taught. No one knew exactly where Major had learned how to be so mean. They just knew that Charlie had rescued him from slaughter.

            And when Tommy took Amelia to see the gelding for the first time, he made the rookie mistake of turning his back to the beast.

            Amelia didn’t have enough time to warn him. Major stretched out his neck over the stall door and bit Tommy’s arm.

            It was humiliating to be bitten in front of the girl he had a crush on. But he loved the horse no matter how many times Major dumped him, bucked him off, tried to bite him, or pinned his ears back at him. Tommy knew he never would’ve become the rider he was without him.

            “I was scared of him,” Amelia remembered. “Everyone was except for you.”

            “He was just misunderstood.” Tommy shrugged. “He rode beautifully when he behaved.”

            Amelia watched him, her mind drifting away from the contractions she was trying to count. “You should see your eyes when you talk about horses.” She murmured. “You just light up, Tom.”

            His face burned up a little bit. “Well, I dunno.”

            “Maybe you take what you earned from the betting shop and put it into working with horses.” She suggested hopefully. Amelia figured that if she could draw Tommy away from the life of a bookie to someone who worked with horses, she would be doing him a favor. He’d be so much safer.

            “I plan to have horses.” He said. “Once we have it in the budget. We’ll have stables at our house in the countryside. That’s where Max can learn to ride.”

            It sounded so promising, even if it was a stretch to imagine it ever coming true. But Amelia knew that he was deflecting. Getting that house in the countryside would only be the result of getting money from God knows what. She didn’t completely know or understand Tommy’s plan of action, how he anticipated earning so much money. But she knew that no one earned the amount of money he was looking towards through honest means.

            But Amelia couldn’t give it any more thought. Another contraction hit her and she squeezed onto Tommy’s hand. “Getting closer.” She wheezed. “I’m so tired already.”

            “Try to relax best you can, like Pol said.” He soothed gently. “I’m right here.”

~~~~~~~~~~~           

            All in all, it only took about five hours from the time Amelia’s water broke in the betting shop. The sun was just starting to set as Polly helped guide the baby boy into the world.

            The first Tommy heard his son cry was heartbreaking. As the second oldest, he’d almost become deaf to babies crying. It was just a part of life. But when Max cried, it struck him right in the heart. This little bundle was now his responsibility until the day he died. It was something he didn’t take lightly.

            Amelia was exhausted but she let go of Tommy’s hand so she could reach for her baby.

            Polly wrapped up the wailing newborn in a blanket and placed him on Amelia’s breast. “He sounds healthy.”

            “I told you, she’s always right.” Tommy couldn’t help the smile on his face.

            Amelia was in too much awe to acknowledge Polly’s premonition. “Look at him, Tom.”

            Max’s face was all scrunched up as he cried, his little fist pressed up against his mother’s collarbone. He only had wisps of light brown hair but it was too early to tell his eye color.

            “Wow…” Tommy was stunned. He didn’t know what he’d feel when he first saw the child he promised to help raise. He figured it would be some sort of affection, who could look at a baby with malice? But he was taken aback by the devotion he felt immediately upon seeing Max.

            Amelia was completely overwhelmed as she cradled her son close to her chest. When she discovered she was pregnant, she was terrified. Everything about it scared her, her parents’ reactions, the father’s reaction, the reaction of friends. She was worried about how people would perceive her having a child out of wedlock. When she was disowned, she was angry at herself, angry at the man who assaulted her, angry at her parents for taking his side. She didn’t want to be pregnant. She didn’t want to be a mother. There was no way she would be able to care for a newborn. She felt lost and hopeless.

            But there, in Birmingham, holding her son, all of those fears and worries felt foolish. All of a sudden, she was willing to jump through hoops for her son, fight an army single-handedly to keep him safe. She would starve, be penniless, even die if it meant keeping him safe. This tiny little being was suddenly all that mattered to her in the world. And it brought tears to her eyes knowing that he depended on her. That he would look up to her and expect her to be her best. She needed to be her best for him.

            For nearly ten minutes, Amelia silently sobbed as she held Max. She softly whispered her promises to him. Whispered how much she loved him. Whispered how he would never know the struggles she had known.

 ~~~~~~~~~

            A couple of hours after Max was delivered, Amelia was wiped out. She fell asleep as Tommy went downstairs to introduce his son to the rest of the family.

            “Everyone, I’d like to introduce Maxwell Thomas Shelby, the newest addition to the family.” Tommy propped Max up a bit in his arms so everyone could see him.

            His siblings drew close to see their nephew.

            “Healthy looking lad, aye?” Arthur smiled, proud of his brother for stepping up for Amelia’s sake.

            “Now we’ve got two babies in the house?” John grimaced. “We’ll never get any sleep.” The teenager protested. 

            “I think he’s cute,” Ada said. “Is he and Mel gonna stay with us forever?” She asked hopefully.

            “Yeah, Ada, I think they are.” Tommy looked down at Max fondly.

 ~~~~~~~~~          

            Tommy couldn’t sleep and it wasn’t because Max was keeping him up. In fact, the baby was sleeping quite soundly in his cot. He’d cried about an hour earlier and Amelia had nursed him back to sleep. Now both mother and child were fast asleep in the same room. Tommy was sitting next to the cot, his back to the wall. He watched Max through the bars of the crib, watching every breath he took. Tommy wasn’t sure if he was scared by how fragile the newborn seemed to be, or if he was still in a bit of shock. He wondered what this little boy would grow up to be. Would he like horses as much as Tommy did? Would he look up to him?

            It was a bit frightening to look so far into the future and realize all that could potentially happen to any of them. The uncertainty drove Tommy mad. He wanted to give Amelia and Max everything they deserved, he just wished he knew the future so he could know he was going down the right path. He wanted to know that he would uphold his promise.

Permanent Tag: @papa-geralt-of-cirilla @giftofdreams @biba3434 @kimmietea @karmezii @enrapturedbythemoon @vampgirl1997 @tarafaithe

Tag list: @shelbyblinded

Masterpost

PB Masterlist

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Sinday: Bucky's Professor

Bucky takes a couple college courses and becomes obsessed with one of his professors as requested by anonymous

Hey it's me ya girl sagechanoafterdark on my main, can I get some stalker dark Bucky to sooth my soul on this fabulous sinday? Maybe a little noncon or dub on? 😘 As requested by @sagechanoafterdark

It had taken a year for Bucky to find the courage to walk into the therapist’s office. Another six months to take his advice to find a hobby. It was hard at first. Journalling didn’t work for him, drawing was never his forte, and he was tone deaf. Dr. Callum suggested he try some classes; something to keep him focused.

Days spent perusing the catalogue and he had finally chosen two classes. When he revealed his selections to the doctor, he had been wary. Maybe history wasn’t the way to go. He might not be ready for something so personal. At least, if he was going to study the past, he should opt for something he hadn’t lived through.

Bucky enrolled anyways. He wasn’t interested in ancient ruins or corrupt kings. The community college was small and both courses were taught by the same professor. Night classes he could work in between missions. He bought his textbooks and was early for his first day. And every class after that.

He met her in the hallway as he waited outside the locked classroom. He thought maybe she was another student. She remarked on his punctuality and muttered some excuse about her previous class. She let him in and crossed to the desk at the front to drop her bad on top. He was surprised.

He shouldn’t have been. He was among the oldest of her peers. As they filtered in, he sat in the front row with his open notebook and watched her. She wrestled with the projector remote and went about opening her presentation. Finally figured out, she watched as her students took their seats. 

She closed the doors and clapped her hands together. She silenced the room and smiled. Even as a few continued to titter. She gestured to the screen and welcomed the class. Bucky was eager. He hadn’t been involved in the pacific theatre of the war. This was something entirely different and yet completely familiar.

“I know you are all excited to get to the blood and grime of war but let us begin this course by setting the stage for our conflict.” Her voice was much bigger than her. He suspected the mic on her lapel helped with that. “Please open your syllabus and we will briefly go over our schedule before we jump in.” She waited as papers fluttered and folded. “So week one, that’s today, we will go over society and politics. Get an idea of how the US and Japan ended up at loggerheads. Week two, we will travel the road to war in the US, week three, we will head over to Japan, and by week four we should be at our declaration of war.”

Bucky didn’t look at his syllabus or scribble in his notebook. He watched her as she lit up. “And a short disclaimer before we get into the content. This is not a glorification of war. We are not learning about the war as scripted by Hollywood. This will be war as it is; destruction, death, tragedy. This is not war in numbers, it is war in blood. In human life. The casualties are not just statistics, they were people, on both sides. As much as this course is about the Pacific War, it is also about the greater picture of war as the calamity of human history.”

Bucky liked that. He smiled. How often he had rolled his eyes at the screen when the war was painted as some heroic crusade. At the ignorance of those around them who didn’t realize how greater powers barted the lives of the dispensable. He picked up his pen and jotted in his notebook. Her voice filled his chest with a peculiar warmth and he didn’t look down as his hand moved across the page.

His other class with her was in the same room. He took the same seat. Front row. This course was about the European front. He knew that much better. She was just as fiery. Just as confident in the knowledge locked inside her head. Just as fascinating.

He started recording her in the third week. He’d listen to her lectures as he fell asleep or when he was travelling for a mission. He managed to keep his class schedule between his work. Sometimes he showed up overtired and still bleeding beneath his jacket, but he was always present.

And he didn’t tell Dr. Callum about her. He told him about the classes but not her. He didn’t want to talk about her, he wanted to keep her to himself. She was his secret. His appointments grew fewer and further apart. He explained that he was busier; his missions kept him out of town. He could tell the doctor was disappointed but he didn’t care much. The doctor was always disappointed in him even when he did as he said.

It was just before midterms when it all combusted. He had an important mission. He’d be out of the city for a week. He e-mailed her. It took an hour to get his words right. When he hit send, his heart felt as if it would explode. She replied quickly. They could meet to re-schedule his exam if need be. 

“Before class?” He asked. She couldn’t do that. She had a class right before and was always cutting it too close. She sent her office hours. He couldn’t make those. He was busy with work. Well, she could see him in her office on Tuesday after class. That was the hour she usually used for marking. Yeah, that would work.

When she finished her lecture, she began to pack up. He remained in his seat and waited as the other students left. A few stopped to speak with her and she was just as lovely as always. He wasn’t the only one who liked her. A few of the boys who sat in the back made lewd jokes as they passed through the door, thinking themselves unheard. He was tempted to follow them but he had an important date to keep.

The classroom was empty at last and she zipped up her bag. She looked up as he tucked his notebook into his textbook and stood. She smiled. It was a habit, both genuine and nervous. He had seen her at the cafe just inside the library. She smiled when she ordered and wrung her hands. She sat and opened a book. When she looked up and accidently caught the eye of another, she smiled then too. Nerves.

He could hear her heartbeat. It stuttered when she saw him. Had she forgotten their appointment?

“Mr. Barnes,” She ventured, “Or James, can I call you that?”

“Bucky,” He corrected her. “Only my mom calls--called me James...but if you prefer it.”

“Bucky,” She repeated, “I’m sorry about the delay. We can head up to my office.” She looked over at the clock on the wall. “The cleaners will be here shortly.”

“Okay,” He stepped back to let her precede him. She smiled and passed him. He watched her hips as she walked to the door. Listened to the click of her low heels. He smiled, too.

-

You led the silent man into your office. You were surprised when he had emailed you. He wasn’t the most talkative and despite his punctuality, he had become a pillar of your class. He was almost a comfort as he took his usual seat and his blue eyes followed you around the hall. You would miss him in his absence, you were sure, but for now, you needed to figure out when he could sit his midterm.

You rounded your desk and the door closed. You looked up but didn’t think much of it as Bucky neared the chair opposite yours. You set your bag down beside your desk and sat. You gestured to the seat next to him and reach into your bag for your large leather planner. 

“You can put your things down, if you like,” You said as he balanced his books on his lap. He nodded and placed them on his side of the desk. “Now, I’ve gotten approval from the faculty dean for the re-sit but I just need to submit the date.”

“I’m sorry again,” He said. “I just...have to be out of town.”

“I understand, these things happen,” You opened your planner. “And given your...work, it must be difficult enough as it is.”

He shrugged.

“Would you like to sit it before or after that week?”

“Either,” He replied. “After would probably be easier given the time restraints.”

“Of course,” You scanned the lines and flipped the page. “I think I can do...the Monday before the class after? Does that work?”

“Sure,”You smiled and grabbed a pen. “Thank you.”

“Not at all,” You finished writing and sat back, “You know, it’s not everyday I teach a veteran about a war he fought in. It’s a bit...awkward.”

He chuckled. “I never thought of that.” He said. “I guess it would be.”

You nodded and tapped the pen. “Can I...ask you something?”

“Sure,” His metal fingers bent slightly along his thigh.

“Why exactly...are you taking these classes? Pure curiosity. Sorry, it’s just...you were there.”

“I was.” He accepted and stretched out his metal fingers. “But it was a long time ago. I wasn’t there for all of it.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” You broke the silence that began to rise. You placed your pen in the middle of the planner and closed it. “Well, I won’t keep you any longer unless you have any other concerns or questions.”

He lowered his head and thought. He sighed. “No, I think that’s...everything.” 

He stood and you did too. You rounded just to the side of the desk and he reached for his books. He didn’t quite grasp them and they slipped to the floor. You flinched and bent to grab them as they splayed across the carpet. He did the same. He grabbed the heavy textbook as your fingers wrapped around the open notebook. Your eyes flitted across his narrow writing and you froze.

'07:02 arrives on campus. Grabs coffee and muffin at The Chestnut. Today’s flavour is carrot and pineapple. Sits by window. Leaves 07:23. 

Walks to office in history wing. Arrives 07:38.

In office until 08:14. Proceeds to classroom for class at 08:30. Dismisses early at 10:17

Next class 1200. English wing. Dismisses 13:51. 

Returns to office. Leaves at 16:22. 

Stops at grocer. Drives home.'

You dropped the book and backed away. That was your schedule from last Wednesday. He had followed you. How long had he been following you? 

"Bucky," you said shakily, "I think you should go."

He picked up the notebook and sighed as he closed it. He set it down on his textbook atop the desk. "It's not--” He paused. "I don't want to hurt you."

"Why?" You retreated around the desk and he followed. "Please, just go."

"My therapist said I should take classes. Find a hobby. Something to keep me busy." He closed in and you tripped on your chair. He caught you before you could fall. "You've kept me busy. Kept me from feeling lonely. Every Tuesday and Thursday."

"Let me go," You rasped. "Please."

"I know you're lonely too." He pulled you close. His metal fingers squeezed your arm as his other hand went to your waist. "I've seen you at night."

"Please," Your voice was barely a whisper.

"Please, don't be scared." He leaned in and his lips brushed your forehead as he nuzzled your hair. "I only want to keep you safe." His arms snaked around you. "Because you're mine."

[siarven]

hiya! i see that you have three wips that youre working on? if i could get a one/three sentence description of all three thatd be great :D (one or three, your choice. or maybe both! up to you.)

First of all I swear I’m not ignoring you, tumblr keeps forgetting to tell me that I got asks and I also wasn’t online for almost two weeks (except a bit on my phone and I have no idea how to answer asks on there??) but yeah I accidentally looked in here and ?!?!?! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH I’M SO SORRY, AND THANKS FOR ASKING :’D <333

Thank you so much for being interested in my dumb wips ;W; I also just noticed you sent me another asks weeks ago, AHHH I will answer that after this one x’D I am so sorry, thank you for bearing with me skdfjhskdf

ANYWAYS

Yesss, I have 3 wips! :D <333

The first and oldest one is called Dream’s Shadow (it went through a few title changes though) and the current horrible/dumb tagline is “boy’s should’ve-been-fatal-but-somehow-wasn’t accident drags him and his 2 sisters into an ancient conflict that could change the future of everyone forever”.

It’s dark epic fantasy, set in another world, but also hopepunk (so while it gets dark and there’s some (eye) body horror and monsters and stuff the tone isn’t bleak and hopeless and all that...) . It’s set in another world and is the first in a series where the scope escalates with every book (this one has a fairly small scope, “saving Ben” more or less :D)

Basically Ben (16) is in a coma, wakes as a ghost a few days later and needs to find out how to get back, if he even can, or wants to, and nobody knows what happened including him. His little sister Ava (8) has to keep their dysfunctional family together in his absence, she feels like she’s failing, and she can also see gods (well, entities...) in her dreams now, which is never a good sign. Their other sister, Elinor (14) gets involved in all of it, too, but explaining all that is a bit complicated. XD If you’re interested in the worldbuilding and more about that, though, I recently made a comic sans power point! :D

I also finished the 3rd draft a few weeks ago and it’s now going through some editing and then I will probably actually start betaing?? which is insane?????? I’ve been rewriting that thing off and on since NaNo 2014, what the heck, we’re actually getting somewhere now?! (It has basically nothing in common with draft 1 except 2 names and 2 plot points at this point. XD)

✿✿✿

My second WIP is Like Dragons of Old!

A feral, winged orphan girl and a librarian's daughter are raised by an immortal and a phoenix in chicken form among the towering stacks of a sentient, endless library. Shenangians, adventures, and heartbreak ensue.

It’s also set in another world, also dark epic fantasy, and a trilogy (heh, I can’t do short things...) and also hopepunk because that’s very important <3 It takes place over ~10 years (every book will) so the main characters grow up over the course of the story and it ends when they’re in their ~40s :D It’s basically a slow burn with the main problem that over the course of the trilogy Timbre and Selandri end up getting separated and meet again, years later, as leaders on different sides of a pretty huge conflict :’D I love my babies so much ahhh The first one is still very lighthearted though. For the most part. :3

(It also has a comic sans thingy here)

✿✿✿

The third WIP is called Hope Beyond

It’s a bit different from the other two, because it’s a multimedia story and has 3 different POVs in 3 different styles each that will start to overlap as the characters develop and grow closer.

There’s Alia, who’s basically a child (... it’s complicated), who has limited perspective comic panels as her chapters (so it’s very much how she sees the world, with a ton of magical creatures, magical realism style), then there’s Morgan, her older adoptive sister (who planned on being a book-hoarding crazy cat lady and is 30, she has 3rd person novel narration) and Phaedra, a one-legged war veteran who’s their next door neighbour (who keeps a diary for therapy).

Basically the story is the 3 of them working through their various traumas and grief and rage together, helping each other cope, and growing as people. So, very much a found family story :D I don’t even know how to describe the plot because the setup explanation alone always escalated very badly, buuut I have an intro post for it here <3

✿✿✿

Soooo.... thank you so much for asking, I’m sorry this escalated so badly (it always does lmao) and that I only responded now :’D

Thank you so much for your interest <333

[thepeakyfckingblinders]

Dēlīrĭum || Arthur Shelby x reader

⤠ MASTERLIST⤟

Anon requested: “Yay I love prompts! Okay; Arthur Shelby & number 16 from that beautiful list of yours. Happy writing! :D”  ♡

Summary:  n.16 from my prompt list: “Another’s hands on her skin” (Finn being my precious little baby, Thomas being both a caring “big” brother and an unbeatable bitch, as usual) Warnings: swearing, heavy drinking, cocaine use, mention of PTSD, angst, Arthur being softer than cotton candy

Author’s notes:

I just reached 168 followers, yay! I know it may not seem like much, but I’m shamelessly happy right know, thank you so much babes ♡

Lately I’ve been feeling like I’m letting you down, idk, I just can’t help but think that you’re not happy with my latest works; so, please, if  what I think is true, tell me what’s worng and what’s right about my writing, take a minute to send me a message, I need actual feedbacks to understand how to improve my skills and grow ♡

If you want, take a look at this:  ↠ Contāgĭo↞

I’m sorry for being this late, but I’ve been really busy in the past days and writing is never just easy, it demands concentration and effort, plus I don’t want you to be disappointed, so I’m always extra accurate while working. I hope this is worth the wait!

Probably, this piece is angsty, I don’t know why it came out this way, maybe because I’ve been very low in the past days, so I’m sorry if this is not what you expected. Anyway, let me know what you think about it ♡ 

I’m Italian, English isn’t my first language, so I apologize for every possible mistake I made. Also, please, help me improve my writing by telling me if there’s something wrong

ENJOY!

Dēlīrĭum [dēlīrĭum], delirii  neutral noun II declension 

1. delirium, frenzy 2. madness, lunacy, folly 3. rage, wrath, ire 4. unbridled desire, fierce passion

That familiar dense fluid inexorably dropped out of the crystal bottleneck, its dark stream harmonically danced, giving birth to an indefinite number of small whirlpools, before steadily falling into the compact glass held in Arthur’s trembling hand.  His gaze followed the whole process with noxious attention, those few moments stretched out in his blue eyes, till it seemed like it took an eternity for the whisky to brim over his cup, and, during that distorted time, he somehow managed to find some numb peace, alienating his haunted mind from the thundering world around him. Nevertheless, when even the last drop run its course, that usual asphyxiating chaos, along with his compulsive thoughts, returned to fill his ears, destructively afflicting his brain again. That had been a long rough night at the Garrison, and finally, nearly at the crack of dawn, he was allowed to seek a little solace by sitting alone at the table in their private room and downing his umpteenth glass of liquor, yet no relief came for him as he couldn’t help but think about his only excruciating obsession: you. Your mother had always been Polly’s closest friend, for which reason you practically grew up around the Shelbys, easily becoming part of their family since you truly loved all of them like your own siblings, and they just felt the same way about you; however, it turned out to be even easier for you to mercilessly steal the callous heart of their oldest brother. Indeed, Arthur had been madly in love with you for as long as he could remember, what irreparably bound him to you was such a strong feeling, that the cruel war itself hadn’t been able to weaken it, not in the slightest; still, after all those years, he couldn’t find the guts to come clean about his incommensurable affection for you. Actually, the mere thought of telling you the truth terrified him: every time he looked in the mirror, he only saw a rude, pathetic man unworthy of a wonderful, sweet creature like you, he knew he could never give you what you really deserved, he knew he just was not enough, and he definitely hated the idea of making you unhappy by forcing you to remain stuck with such a wreck for the rest of your life. Anyway, during that long time, he had learnt how to cope with his difficult feelings, he had gradually become able to hide them, eventually finding a way to stay by your side without going crazy; but that night, when you entered the pub holding hands with an unknown bloke, when he noticed the way you smiled while looking into his brown eyes, every single piece of his frail soul fell apart all over again, leaving him devastated and close to a new mental breakdown. Once more, his chest seemed to unnaturally collapse under the weight of that terrible realization, pain radiating through his whole body as he tried to get rid of that dreadful sensation by slightly shaking his head. Yet, nothing changed, everything in that moment felt just like a flashback of the war, the booze together with that deep sorrow were dangerously tricking his mind, leading him to hear inaudible noises and sense inconsistent hands strangling him almost to death. Still partially aware of what was going on in his brains, and eager to break free from those mental chains, he inconsiderately took from his pocket the small blue ampoule Finn had given him, pouring its deadly white content on the table and hastily cutting it, before he could inhale the Tokyo with such violence that, soon after, blood started to fall from his left nostril. Arthur stood there for a while, in religious silence, with his wide eyes turned at the ceiling in a mute prayer to that God who had apparently forgotten about him long before that day, nevertheless he prayed for the world to stop wildly spinning around him, and when nothing happened, again, he couldn’t hold back his deleterious ire anymore. Before he had the chance to realize what he was doing, he found himself rabidly throwing the massive wooden table against the closed door, along with its four chairs and several empty bottles, his palms now covered in blood and wounded by uncountable glass shards. In the meanwhile, the main salon of the Garrison was occupied only by Finn and Isaiah, busy playing cards and drinking beer, excited to be finally allowed to stay up late at night, yet, as soon as that loud crash reached his ears, Finn dropped everything without a second thought and, utterly immersed in a blind panic, he promptly run towards the blinders private space, for his mind was already picturing the worst possible scenario. The youngest Shelby used all his strength, he kept kicking the barred door and ramming into it, until he knocked it off the hinges and barged into the room right away, finding Arthur alone in the middle of the place, crimson drops rolling down his fingers and a disoriented look on his tormented face. “Jesus Christ, Arthur! What happened? Are you okay?” Anxious breaths left the boy’s lips as he swiftly approached his brother, paying attention to avoid that mess made of sharp splinters and jagged pieces of wood, he meticulously checked that no serious harm had occurred and soon sighed with pure relief, still, when he tried to fraternally place a hand on Arthur’s arm, an impetuous shove threw him against the opposite wall. “Go away, Finn! Get the fucking out of here!” Still dazed due to the violent collision, Finn simply looked at him for a brief moment, he was beside himself, foaming at the mouth as he took dangerous steps in his direction, thus the young man managed to get back on his feet as fast as he could and escape that room without a backward glance. Anyway, he didn’t get to walk past the doorstep, because his face unexpectedly came in contact with Tommy’s chest; apparently, the middle brother had abandoned his accounting ledgers, alarmed by those same loud noises. “You’re the only one who can do something, I-I tried to help him, I tried! But he wouldn’t let me, p-please...” Tom lovingly gave him a pat on the shoulder, bringing his restless rambling to an end and flashing him a sympathetic smile, before he gently smacked his freckled cheek two times as a sign of gratification. “It’s all right, kid. You did good, go home now, eh? I’m taking care of this” Finn nodded keeping his eyes down as he rejoined Isaiah in order to leave the pub, Thomas, instead, just leaned against the doorframe and calmly lit a cigarette, while his sceptical gaze remained on Arthur who, on the other hand, keeled over the floor with both his hands covering his face. “Would you mind explaining what the bloody hell is going on?” Tommy’s stoic tone didn’t change a shade as he greedily sucked down the bleak smoke and watched his sibling squirm on the ground, screaming out all of his frustration. “It’s y/n, Tommy! It’s always been her” His voice cracked for a few moments, overwhelmed by a cry bereft of tears. “I-I can’t bear to see another’s bloody hands on her skin, Tommy, I just can’t. This... she is- she is driving me insane, brother!” Arthur’s fists collided multiple times with his own face as he continued to desperately alternate heavy sobs and gruesome wailings, until Thomas reached for him, roughly lifting him up by harpooning his jacket collar, he managed to get him to stand up, more determined than ever to put some sense back into his dizzy head.

“Hey!” His hoarse voice raised and he buried the fingers of his right hand in his brother’s cheeks, so that the strong grip on his face obliged Arthur to look into Tom’s stern icy eyes as they brutally delved into his tormented conscience.  “You are Arthur fucking Shelby! If you want something, you fucking take it, because you fucking can!” Those words left Tommy’s mouth in a proper roar, still they were not enough to fix that tragic situation, in fact, a couple of seconds later, Arthur reacted to that sudden assault and violently pushed him away, before going back to cover his face with his palms, in attempt to shut down all the demons riddling his mind. “She doesn’t love me! Don’t you get it? She never will, goddamn, look at me!”

A loud husky laugh echoed through the room, leading Arthur to raise his head, glancing at Thomas in disbelief. “Are you laughing? You ‘fucking laughing at me?!” Before Arthur could physically attack him, Tommy stopped his laughter and cleared his throat, it was impressive how, in a single instant, he was always able to get his usual severe expression back. “Yeah, I’m laughing, Arthur. I am, because y/n’s been dying for you since the bloody first grade, that girl’s been trying to get your attention in every possible way”  Tom’s index finger menacingly pointed at his brother’s chest while he kept shouting in his confused face “And she started dating that cunt since she was sure you would’ve never fancied her, ‘cause she’s fucking blind, just as you are! You damn idiots!”

Arthur’s blue eyes unrealistically widened in shock as his bran processed that absurd load of information, he started frenetically walking up and down the room, diving his fingers in his long hair in order to relax a bit.

“She is... Is s-she... Oh my fucking God! I need to see her, w-where is she, Tommy? Did she leave with that prick? I swear I’ll cut his hands off if he dares touch her...” The influence of cocaine on his brain was made clear by his frantic delirium, he kept bouncing from one place to another with a look halfway between enthusiastic and frightened, so that Thomas had to stop him by slightly poking the sweaty back of his neck in order to have his attention again. “She’s at Polly’s with Ada. They’re probably drunk, but so are you, now just go and take what’s yours, for God’s sake!”

@namelesslosers, @shadow-of-wonder

[mrae71]

School’s Out

One thing people didn’t know about my father was that he was an awesome story teller.  According to his tales, he lived quite a life.  I’m not sure how much he told was fact or fiction; I call it fiction presented as fact.  I am currently compiling his stories into a book, and here’s one of them:

School’s Out

                Rudy stared eagerly at the clock, watching the seconds, then minutes tick by as the school year came to a close.  The classroom was like a furnace, not only holding in heat, but seeming to also take it in through the open windows.  He waited eagerly as his teacher, Mrs. Winlock, passed out the year-end reports one by one.

              After handing them all out, she sat down at her desk and said those final, long awaited words to her class of fifth, sixth and seventh graders, “thank you class, see you next year!”  With that the children let out a collective whoop as they quickly gathered their things and left the drudgery of books and assignments behind them.  Except Rudy. He sat quietly perplexed; he hadn’t received a home report.

              “Reuben,” Mrs. Winlock said softly, “stay behind please, I’d like to speak with you.”

              Rudy remained in his seat and nodded.  He liked Mrs. Winlock, she was kind and patient. She came from one of the town’s most prominent and wealthy families, living in a huge Victorian home on acres of land.  She even had servants.  He had heard adults saying that her family used to own slaves, but he never dared ask about it.  First, he was eavesdropping on what was supposed to be a conversation between his aunt and his grandmother, a conversation that he was sternly ordered to see himself away from.  And secondly, even at 11, he knew it would be rude to bring up such a delicate matter.

              Mrs. Winlock waited for the room to empty and then approached the child, envelope in hand.  She sat on the desk beside him and began gently, “first, Reuben,” she always addressed him by his proper name, “I wanted to know, would you like to work for me again this summer?”

              Rudy smiled widely, nodding his head.  He had worked for her all last summer, and enjoyed it ever much, tending the gardens, cutting grass, piling wood, mending fences, tending animals, and generally doing anything that needed doing.  He only worked through the week, leaving his weekends free to fish or play ball and she always invited him inside for a tasty lunch.  “Yes, ma’am, I’d like that.”

              The teacher smiled warmly, “good,” she patted his arm, “I can do $5 a week, plus, just like last year, you’re free to take home some of the produce, fruit, etc. that we won’t require, does that suit you?”

              He nodded eagerly, $5 was a full 50 cents over and above his weekly wage the year before, and the work wasn’t all that hard.

              Mrs. Winlock shoved the few greyish-brown strands of hair that hung from her neat bun behind her ear and took a deep breath before handing Rudy his home report.  She wished more than anything that she could rip it up, call it a huge mistake and welcome the boy as a sixth-grade student the coming fall.  But that wasn’t going to happen.  He simply hadn’t achieved the necessary outcomes to warrant promotion.

              It wasn’t for lack of trying.  Not on her part, and not on his.  Sure, Rudy was like most boys, more interested in what was going on outside than what was happening at the front of the classroom, but he was always quiet, attentive enough and eager to please.  The truth was, Mrs. Winlock, even with over 30 years as a teacher, had no idea what the disconnect was.  Rudy wasn’t stupid, not by a long shot.  He wasn’t one of the many children she’d seen in her career that were just simply slower than most to comprehend.  In fact, she found the young lad very quick to pick things up, especially if he were shown it.

              She remembered the time her husband, a fairly feeble man for 54 after having had a fairly severe stroke which left him with limited mobility on his right side, went outside and showed Rudy just how to prune the tomato plants, cutting the shooters to allow the blossoming vines more room to grow.  He only needed one quick lesson, which was more than the teacher could say for herself. In fact, her husband, Ned, forbade her from ever touching the tomato plants after more than once having hacked them half to death.

              She couldn’t put her finger on it, if she could have, she’d have fixed it, but somehow, whatever she was doing in the classroom wasn’t getting through to the bright-eyed child.  It was as if whatever his mind responded to had nothing to do with classroom teaching and while he was able to slide by with marginally acceptable results until now, as the work became more complex, she saw him fall further and further behind.

              She had thought about doing the charitable thing and pushing him through, reasoning that perhaps the confidence boost would propel the boy to work harder but decided against it.  She knew of other teachers who had done so and if she were honest, she had done it a time or two herself, but the circumstances were different. She normally reserved such mercy for those students who had a track record of turning in good performances and then suddenly, usually due to some issue at home, sometimes something as simple as plain old hunger, had fallen behind.  The fact was Rudy was falling further and further behind with every grade and to advance him to the next grade would serve no one, not the class, not herself and not Rudy.  “Please take this home directly,” she said firmly, handing him the envelope, “do not open it, I want your mother to read it first, do you understand?”

              Rudy nodded.  He knew what it said anyway.  The entire year had been a long series of F’s and “please try agains”.  It didn’t take any sort of eminent scholar to see the writing on the schoolhouse wall.  “Yes, ma’am, Mrs. Winlock, I will.”

              The teacher chocked back her tears and turned her head momentarily to compose herself.  She didn’t want Rudy to see her upset.  She didn’t want to upset him.  She cared a great deal for the lad.  In fact, she could readily admit to herself, and to her husband, that he was the favourite of all her students, ever. She imagined had she been able to bear a child, he’d have been much like Rudy, strikingly handsome, tall and wiry, strong as a small ox.  He was hard working and wanted only to please those around him.  He had a surprisingly soft heart that most people didn’t take the time to see.  He seemed to take very well to and to protect the younger children just coming into school and she had caught him more than once cradling or singing to a calf or a lamb in her barn.

She’d spent five years watching him grow and blossom, fight and struggle and she knew about his homelife.  Woodstock wasn’t a big town and talk got around.  She knew the black eyes and bruises he often sported came from the hand of his father after downing more than his share of whiskey.

              She didn’t know Reuben Senior as a younger man but had heard the stories.  He was once just like his son, sweet, tender hearted but with a steel exterior.  He had somehow managed to lie his way into military service in 1916, stating his age as 18 rather than 16 in order to do his part for the country and as the story goes, he came back from the First World War alive, but forever changed.  But that wasn’t the straw that broke the camel’s back she knew.  He came back more aggressive for sure and made a name for himself as quite a good boxer.  But years later, when young Rudy was just a baby, he and Thea lost a child, baby Grace. Mrs. Winlock was given to understand that the 10-month-old was a perfectly healthy infant until suddenly falling ill and passing away some five or six days later.  It seemed Reuben senior never recovered from the loss and his aggression quickly turned to red hot anger and the occasional drink with the guys turned into binge drinking to the point of blackout.

              Rudy, she knew got the brunt of his father’s aggression and she worried for the child, wondering what this home report would bring.  Sober, he seemed a decent enough sort, she’d spoken to him several times and he was quick witted, but quiet, almost charming.  However, fueled by drink, he often sought his oldest son out and took out his frustrations on him.  It was as though the child, who was in fact, visually, the very picture of his father thirty years prior, represented all the unfulfilled hopes, plans, and dreams he had that never worked out.  What better way to address what you see as your shortcomings than to beat up on your younger self?  Well, except for the fact, he was beating on his son.  She shook her head, trying to make the awful thought disappear, “Reuben, please, promise me, you’ll take this directly to your mother, she begged, sounding a little more desperate than she had intended.

              Rudy agreed and was dismissed.  He walked outside into the late-June heat and found the school yard empty.  He walked toward home, just far enough to get out of sight.  He darted behind a group of trees and opened the envelope. He scanned it furiously, not wanting to be caught.  He skipped over the individual subject reports to get to the bottom line, “I regret to inform that Reuben has not met the necessary requirements to be promoted and will be required to repeat fifth grade.”  His heart sank and he sat down behind the tree and cried, his head in his knees.  He knew it was coming, but he hoped, naively, as children do, that maybe, just maybe, it would all be okay, but there it was in print.  He mourned the defeat, dried his tears and after a few moments, stood up and walked home, knowing exactly what he would do.

              When he arrived home, he saw his mother surrounded by many of his siblings, all basking in her praise.  Of course, Althea was front and centre, basking in her triumph. Having jut turned 13 the month before, she was quickly taking on the bearing of a young woman.  She was slender, curvy and had a pretty face which boys were starting to notice.  However, she had very little time for local boys or their nonsense.  She had plans, plans to become a teacher and later a wife and mother.  She was to spend her summer minding Dr. and Mrs. Baldwin’s eight children and taking in sewing in her free time. She was to be paid $3 a week, but she kept some for herself.  He didn’t understand all the ins and outs of it, but his mother explained that young women needed pocket money for important things, things only women understood.  He imagined it had something to do with dresses or maybe lipstick. She, of course, received glowing marks, and finished top of the seventh-grade class.

              Enid stood right behind her sister, jumping up and down, eagerly awaiting her turn at praise. She was a tiny wisp of a girl, but her personality loomed larger than life.  She did reasonably well this year. Her home reports going forward always read the same, “Enid is capable of exceptional work when she puts her mind to it,” and this year was no exception.  She was a bright girl, there was no doubt, but she had a streak in her, a fierce independence that often bordered on defiance and troubled their mother. The girl was intent on doing things her way.  She wasn’t unruly or disobedient, but had something not often seen in little girls of the time, a sense that she wasn’t supposed to conform to the world, but that in fact it was the other way about, the world should conform to her.  Their grandmother politely called her a “spirited child.”

              Then there was Bobby, he managed to get through second grade unscathed although his teacher opined that “further effort will be required to be successful in coming years.”

              And finally, David, the impish first-grader, complete with a toothless grin.  Sharp as a tack, but inattentive and mischievous.  He was the first to peer out the window at anyone or anything that happened by.  He was also the first first-grader to put a dead frog on Mrs. Mullins’ chair back in October.  He denied it vehemently, but his guilty giggles gave him away.  His older brother Bobby saved him from his father’s beating, claiming responsibility for the prank, something he often did.  In any event, despite his lack of attention and his tendency toward pranks, he got through with better than average grades.

              Rudy lowered his head and when the crowd dispersed, having received an adequate amount of praise, approached his mother, cleared his throat and handed her his home report, “Mrs. Winlock says for you to read this,” his face reddened with shame.  The idea of disappointing his mother killed him.  He knew she worked so hard, especially now, with so many children. There was him, Althea, Enid, Bobby, David, Jimmy, Johnny, and now, baby Francine, just six months old.  She was a pretty baby and from what he could see, fairly well behaved.  She didn’t fuss a lot.  That made eight kids, and he had heard whispers that another may be on the way, but that hadn’t been confirmed.  He kind of hoped not, the house was a tight squeeze as it was, the boys, Bobby, David, Jimmy, and himself, shared one room while the babies, Johnny and Francine shared another.  Althea, who had previously enjoyed the enviable position of having her own room had recently been forced to suffer the indignity of sharing with Enid.  Rudy was sure she hated that, but in true Althea fashion, she accepted the assignment as her duty to the family and said nothing about it.

              Thea turned to her children, still milling about in the living room as Rudy stood beside her, “you all get on outside,” she ordered, “I want to have a talk with Rudy.”

              “But Mama,” Enid whined, “it’s hot.”

              Thea stared hard at the children, her plump brown face set in that way that let them know she meant business, “then go swimming, but scoot, I’ll not tell you a second time.”

              The kids scrambled out the door as their mother told them and Thea turned to her eldest son, “let’s see this, then.”  She knew what was inside.  She gingerly opened the envelope and read it as tear began to stream down her son’s face again.

              Rudy buried his face in her ample bosom, sobbing, “I’m sorry Mama, I’m sorry!”

              She cradled the child gently then took his face in her hands, wiping his tears, “it’s okay, Rudy, I knew it was coming, you’ll just try harder next year.”  She didn’t know why, but she had known for some time that her eldest son struggled with schoolwork.

              Rudy snuffed the snot back from his nose and stood straight, “I’m not going back, ma’am,” he declared, “I’m going to work.”

              Thea looked at the child in disbelief, “you’re 11, what do you think you’ll work at?”

              “I’ll be 12 come January,” he explained, “I’ll do just like Daddy, I’ll join the army, fight in the war, just like him!”

              Fear welled up in his mother.  Thea knew well what war did to her husband and she also knew her son was just impulsive enough to try such a thing, although she also knew he had no chance, even at 12, looking young for his age, of being accepted into any army, it was time for a strong message.  She softly slapped his face with the back of her hand, “you will do no such thing!” she exclaimed, “and I’ll hear no more talk of any army, do you understand?”

              Rudy began to cry again, the slap didn’t hurt physically, she barely touched him.  But his pride hurt desperately.  He nodded in submission, “yes, Mama, I understand.”  Then he added, “but I could continue for a while at Mrs. Winlock’s till after apple season, that’ll take me into October, then I can go work in the woods.” He had it all figured out in his mind and in his young mind, it seemed to be the only reasonable choice.

              Thea softened, “Go on outside and play,” she told him, “I know you’re disappointed, we’ll talk about this nearer the school year, okay?”  She had no intention of allowing him to quit school.

              Rudy agreed, quietly set in his intention never to return to the classroom.

              The summer went quickly and soon it was time to get ready to return to school.  Thea and Reuben took their eldest son aside to see how he was feeling about repeating fifth grade.

              Rudy stood straight and tall, as tall as an 11-year-old could and informed his parents of his intentions, “I’m not going.”

              Thea, now confirmed to be expecting, yet again, shook her head, “Reuben, don’t start,” she warned.

              The child continued, steel-faced in his opposition, “no, Mama, I’m not going back,” he explained, “Mrs. Winlock says I can stay on ‘till at least October, then I got some work with old man Hawthorne lined up, and I also got a bit over at the general store, only a few hours here and there, but it’ll do us.”

              Thea’s heart sank, “Rudy, you’re a boy, you need your schooling.”  She was devastated, it was hard enough in 1941 to be a black man, but to be a black man with next to no education, the thought terrified her.  She always wanted better for her kids.  She wanted them to achieve, to have the opportunities she and their father never had, to be seen as they were, equal members of the human race.

              Reuben Senior spoke up, “woman,” he said, “we both know the boy ain’t much for the books,” he took a big gulp from his mug, “if he don’t wanna go, maybe we shouldn’t make him.”  Another gulp and he turned to his son and poked him hard in the chest, “but if you ain’t in no kinda school,” he warned, “you’re payin’ room and board!”

              The boy agreed, “of course Daddy,” he said breathlessly, “Mama can have all the money, just like always.”  He always turned over his entire weekly earnings to his mother for household expenses, often refusing her pleas that he take something, even a quarter for himself.  He added, expanding in his long-term plan, “anyway, it’s only ‘till I can get into the army and go into the war like you did, Daddy.”

              His father panicked in his whiskey fueled haze as memories of World War 1 trenches came flooding back faster than he could process them.  The gun fire, the filth, the rain and mud, the slop they passed off as food, and to top it off, the way black solders like him were treated like simple cannon fodder, pushed out to the front lines, never recognized for anything more than boots on the ground, it was all more than he could bear.  He didn’t want his son going through that.  Rage filled him, rage at every white superior that called him boy. Rage at every German that shot in his direction.  Rage at the impetuous, unwitting brat in front of him who had no real idea about the harsh realities of the world.  Before he knew it, his hand was up and he smacked the boy, hard, across the face, knocking him across the room and onto his ass, screaming, “shut up, boy, shut up!”

              Thea jumped between them, begging her husband to stop.

              Enraged and seeing nothing but the life his son would have if he chose the military, he shoved his wife out of the way, sending her into the stove.

              Young Rudy rose to his feet staring his father in the face for the first time in his life, cocked back his fist and punched his father in the jaw with all his might.  It was enough to send the man, now in his early forties and suffering more and more from his war wounds, not to mention the whiskey, stumbling.  “Never hit Mama again,” Rudy screamed, “never, or I will knock you out!”

              Thea took a seat, trying not to cry in front of her son.  Reuben Senior composed himself and looked at his son with a hard, critical eye.  He both loved and hated the child now.  He loved his resolve and strength.  He hated his resolve and strength.  He mostly hated that the boy had shown him up.

              Rudy knew nothing would ever be the same. He knew he couldn’t strike his father and expect to live in his home.  He looked at him and said in an apologetic tone, “Daddy, if I can collect my things, I think it’s best I go to Grannie’s.”

              Thea protested, but her husband overruled her, agreeing with his son.  The house was crowded as it was, and it gave him a quick opportunity to save at least a little dignity.  He agreed with the boy and said sharply, “you got 10 minutes and then I’ll kick you out by the ass!”