#well to her shitty brother Richard

[justlookfrightened]

A trip back in time

Filling a prompt from @notenoughgatorade: The haus gang goes to a renfaire

King Richards Faire opens the weekend we get back to Samwell!!!!

Bitty had no idea what King Richard’s Faire was, much less why Holster was assaulting the group chat with four exclamation points.

Ransom, however, appeared to get it.

Road trip! Ransom responded.

Bitty thought about asking what this was, where it was or why Ransom and Holster wanted to road trip there. He thought about asking, but doing so in the group chat would be letting himself in for even more humiliation, proving he was different than the rest of the team in yet another way.

He was small, he was southern, he didn’t play hockey until high school, he was gay, and oh yeah, he was terrified of being checked, which just happened to be a big part of the game he played to allow himself to afford going to college. And now he didn’t know what King Richard’s Faire was?

Bitty muted the group chat and shoved his phone into his shorts pocket; dinner was on the table, and Mama got cross if he was texting during dinner anyway.

Maybe he’d feel better with some food in his belly. That would probably make his headache go away. And maybe no one else would respond, it would go from a Haus road trip to a Ransom and Holster road trip, and Bitty would never have to betray his ignorance.

After dinner, he told Mama he had to start packing, and headed to his room. It wasn’t exactly true; he’d left all his winter stuff at Samwell, in the room Johnsn had deeded to him — dibbed to him? Was that a word? — which meant that he would be with the team pretty much 24-7.

And not just with the team. With the core of the team, the team leaders, the heart of the team, Coach would call them. Jack, the captain; Ransom and Holster, the top D-pair; and Shitty, who — well, everyone loved Shitty and was exasperated by Shitty in equal measure, but Shitty did seem to keep everyone in line when it came it social justice kinds of things.

It was Shitty who first adopted Bitty last year, followed by Ransom and Holster. Bitty had been a little afraid of the D-men, to be honest, especially about them finding out he was gay. But they loved his pies, and they had turned out to be like big brothers he never knew he wanted.

Even Jack had come around to accept Bitty’s presence by the end of the season. If Jack wished Bitty spent less time in the Haus kitchen, Bitty was pretty sure it was only because he was hardass when it came to sugar, thinking less was always better.

Now, a week before he was set to head back north, he was starting to wonder whether living in the Haus was such a good idea. He hadn’t skated since the game where he got hurt (got bowled over by a behemoth, lost his helmet and crashed head first on the ice — a sequence he saw in his mind every time someone talked about him “getting hurt”). He had no idea what kind of a player he would be when he started practice, but he suspected that all the work Jack had done with him in all those early mornings had been undone.

How much patience would his teammates have?

Bitty pulled out his big duffle bag and started filling it with T-shirts and shorts from his clean laundry basket, then, once it looked like he had actually been packing, flopped on his bed and pulled out his phone.

Jack had chimed in next, with a reminder: We have practice that Monday

That was hopeful. Trust Jack to focus on hockey and why they were due in Samwell at the beginning of August.

Aw, c’mon, Cap! Shitty had contributed. It’ll be a team bonding experience.

Bitty knew then that he would have to find out about this King Richard’s Faire thing. If Shitty was calling Jack “Cap” it was all over.

Ugh.

Could be fun, Lardo had chipped in. Some people I know from the art department are working there on the weekends.

Lardo. Lardo — not at all an athletic bro — could be be Bitty’s salvation.

Bitty found her contact.

Help! I don’t know what King Richard’s Faire is! Why does everyone want to go?

By the end of the evening, Lardo had explained the concept of a Renaissance Faire to Bitty — food and drinks and jousts and plays and shopping and lots of people in costume and knights and ladies and fairies and even peasants — and it sounded like it might actually be fun.

It also didn’t sound like something that most of the sports bros Bitty had grown up with would do.

It sounds kind of — I know I’m not supposed to say this but kind of girly, Bitty said. And like, something maybe the theater kids would do? And maybe the stoners who played D and D?

At that, Bitty’s phone rang.

“Do you even know the Samwell Men’s Hockey team?” Lardo asked in lieu of saying hello. “Holster would be a musical theater guy if he could carry a tune, or dance, or act. Ransom is like crazy smart, and he needs stuff completely out of his zone to get him to relax. I’m gonna have to do my best to keep Shitty from dressing a serving wench — or maybe I won’t, the actual serving wenches will find it hilarious.”

“And Jack?” Bitty asked. “I mean, even he didn’t  think it was a terrible idea. I don’t think. You’re going to tell me he liked the history of it all?”

“Not really,” Lardo said. “Although he does like pointing out all the anachronisms, including, y’know, food safety standards and age limits for buying alcohol.”

“You’ve been with him before?” Bitty asked. Because he didn’t remember being invited to such an outing last year. Lardo hadn’t even been in the country.

“This one is only in the fall, but there’s another one in the spring,” Lardo said. “Shitty and Jack and I went at the end of my first year. It was fun. You’ll like it. I promise.”

So Bitty added his approval to the group chat, hoping his, Sounds like fun! Sounded enthusiastic enough.

Bitty didn’t precisely forget about the renaissance fair for the rest of the week, but he put it out of his mind while reassuring his mother that he had enough underwear and yes, he intended to go with this haircut and no, he didn’t want to get the top cut short.

Returning to the Haus ended up helping put some of Bitty’s fears to rest. The guys in the Haus welcomed him back with open arms. The complimented his haircut, pretended to be impressed with the development of his muscles — with no skating, he had plenty of time to spend in the gym over the summer — and followed his instructions to get a “welcome back” dinner together, punctuated with a birthday pie for Jack.

Even Jack smiled when he saw Bitty, and took the case of beer Shitty had thrust at him to the basement fridge with no complaints. 

Before bed that night, before she disappeared to sleep on the air mattress in Shitty’s room, Lardo told Bitty not to worry about a costume. “You can wear a pair of your athletic leggings, and I brought a big shirt you can wear like a tunic. I don’t suppose you have boots?”

“Boots?” Bitty asked. “Costume? You didn’t say I had to wear a costume.”

“You don’t have to,” Lardo said. “But I’m wearing one — like what I brought for you — and Shitty’s going as a pirate. I bet Random and Holster have costumes.”

“Really?” Bitty said.

“Holster said something about royalty,” Lardo said. “You know how over the top they are.”

The next morning, Bitty pulled on a pair of black leggings and a white T-shirt before Lardo knocked on the door and handed him an oversized ruffled shirt. 

“Theater department costume room,” she explained. She looked at him with a critical eye. “Do you have a vest or anything? Or a belt?”

“I have a belt,” Bitty said. 

“Give it to me,” she said, then wrapped it a little below Bitty’s waist, blousing the fabric of Bitty’s shirt artfully.

By the time the group assembled next to Holster’s old minivan, everyone was in costume except Jack. Shitty, as promised, was a pirate, complete with an eye patch and knee-high boots. Holster was indeed in cheap-looking king costume, probably from a Halloween catalog, and Ransom was an improbable queen. Lardo was dressed much like Bitty, although she had motorcycle boots and had painted her face and glued crystals under and next to her eyes.

“What are you?” Bitty asked.

“A fae,” Lardo said.

Jack wore his usual form-fitting jeans and a snug black T-shirt. When Bitty arrived, he thought Jack’s look lingered on him longer than usual, and fancied that Jack was suppressing the urge to shake his head at the silliness of it all.

“You couldn’t even try to get into the spirit of the day?” Holster asked, sliding into the driver’s seat. 

Jack shrugged.

“This is me in the spirit,” he said. “I’m here.”

Ransom called shotgun, and Shitty and Lardo dove for the back, leaving the middle seats for Jack and Bitty.

“I think you look fine,” Bitty murmured as he leaned over to fasten his seatbelt. “I think I’m kind of ridiculous.”

“You look fine,” Jack returned, giving Bitty a reassuring smile. “You’ll fit right in. You don’t think Lardo would steer you wrong, do you?”

“What are you looking forward to the most?” Bitty asked. “I was thinking about the food — they say the turkey legs are the size of my head! Plenty of protein, I guess.”

“Almost,” Jack said. “But you know a lot of the food is modern. They even have soda.”

Jack seemed personally affronted by that.

“Not like they can serve mead to ten-year-olds,” Ransom pointed out from the front seat.

With the bantering that went on in the car, Bitty realized that he needn’t have worried that he didn’t know what would happen at a renaissance fair. With all the talk about what they were looking forward to, Bitty was pretty clear on what he would find: A lot of people pretending to be in Merrie Olde Englande, complete with extra e’s at the end, watching all kinds of performances from singing to animal acts, plus stage-fighting with swords and jousting on horseback. There were games of skill — mostly throwing things at targets, it sounded like — and simple, non-motorized rides like swings.

Lardo wanted to look at the artisans’ stalls — she was especially interested in the blacksmithing demonstration — and Shitty and the rest of the boys were looking forward to the tavern, and the serving wenches.

“They’ll put you out on your ass if you don’t behave,” Lardo warned them. 

“We always behave,” Shitty said. “At least when it comes to not being disgusting pigs to women who are just trying to do their jobs, right, boys?

Ransom and Holster rolled their eyes, but agreed, and Bitty had a moment of being proud of the team he had become part of.

While the food would not be strictly period-accurate, Bitty was looking forward to trying some of the meat pies. He’d been wanting to incorporate more savories into his baking.

Once they piled out of the car and made it through the admission booths, Bitty found his eyes darting from the crowd, full of archers and knights and ladies and nobles, and, yes, woodland fairies with antlers on their heads and elves with long pointed ears.

He couldn’t always tell who was a guest and who was a cast member, although he assumed the jester who juggled while he walked and the man in doublet and hose standing on a box and declaiming poetry both worked there.

His costume did not stand out at all — if anything, it was a little basic, but there were plenty of people like Jack who hadn’t dressed up.

The booths and stalls and signposts were bedecked with flowers and ribbons, and the signs were hand painted and not always easy to read. Bitty found his head starting to swim, until he recognized the smell of baking pastry, and beef.

There was a pie stall right next to the entrance, so Bitty got in line. It wasn’t until he was close to the front that he realized most of his group had melted away. Only Jack stood next to him.

“You wanted pie too?” Bitty said.

“I’m holding out for a turkey leg,” Jack said. “Maybe we can get one after you get your pie? Then walk around and eat and figure out what we want to do? Lardo and Shitty said they were going to Artisan Alley, wherever that is, and I think Ransom and Holster said something about a strongman competition?”

“That would appeal to them,” Bitty agreed. 

He ended up with two pies — chicken and beef, with vegetables and gravy — and a plastic tankard of ginger beer, which he suspected was really just ginger ale.

He and Jack made  their way through the fairgrounds to the stand that sold turkey legs, noting places they’d like to go back to. It was never too early for Christmas presents, and there was a woolen shop that had shawls he thought Mama would like, right at the top of the row of shopping stalls, and Jack said he wanted to try his hand at throwing a wooden ball to knock down pins.

The line for turkey legs was long, and by the time they got to the front, he and Jack had finished both pies, trading bites. They were hot, which was good, but Bitty thought he could make better gravy, especially for the chicken, and come up with better seasonings. The pastry cases were crumbly, rather than flaky, but Bitty supposed they had to be sturdy enough for people to eat with their hands as they wandered. 

“I thought they were good,” Jack said, popping the last bit of the beef pie into his mouth and sucking the remaining gravy off his thumb. “You want a turkey leg?”

“I couldn’t,” Bitty said. “Not yet.”

“You can have some of mine,” Jack promised.

Once they were again provisioned, they set off for the tournament field, where Holster and Ransom were indeed engaged in a contest to see who could lift the heaviest log. They did well, with Jack and Bitty cheering as loudly as they could, but a huge man wearing nothing but knee breeches and an open leather vest won.

“He was a ringer,” said Holster, breathing hard, as he pulled his crown back on.

He looked at Jack, tearing a mouthful of meat off the turkey leg, and said, “You almost fit right in. You know they rent costumes, right?”

“I’m fine,” Jack said.

Bitty, eating the meat he had pulled off the turkey leg with his fingers, said, “I dunno, Jack. You’d make a great Prince Charming.”

Because he looked like every Prince Charming in every Disney movie Bitty had ever seen, with his dark hair and blue eyes and pale skin. Not because Bitty thought of Jack as his own Prince Charming. That way, he knew, madness lay.

“So what do you think, Bitty?” Ransom asked. “Is it everything we promised?”

“So far,” Bitty said. “But all I’ve really done is eat and watch you try to pick up a tree. You want to find Lardo and Shitty?”

Horns blared, and Holster said, “The tournament’s starting. Let’s watch that, then see if we can find them before the Royal Parade at noon.”

“You guys go ahead,” Jack said. “I … want to see Lardo about something.”

Ransom and Holster stood on either side of Bitty, watching the knights on horseback thunder around the field, draped in colorful cloth matching  the flags the knights on their backs carried. Then the knights took long poles and they ran at each other, narrowly missing each time, while the crowd around the field cheered. Finally, the queen — seated in a raised pavilion on the other side of the field — declared a winner by dropping a scarf to one of the knights, and the horses left the field.

“That means they’re getting ready for the parade,” Holster said. “Let’s find the others.”

Shitty and Lardo were saving space near the top of Artisan Alley, right in front of the woolen shop. 

“You guys seen Jack?” Bitty asked. “He was looking for you.”

“He was at the leatherworker’s booth,” Shitty said. “Said he had something to show you, after the parade. But I thought he was going to meet us here.”

The same horns that had signaled the start of the tournament sounded again. There was a band coming, and a group of jugglers and acrobats, then all the knights riding slowly down the road, bowing to the people on each side.

At the end came the king and queen, seated on thrones on a horse-drawn float, preceded by ladies in their finery scattering flower petals.

Bitty finally caught sight of Jack on the other side of the road when the parade passed. He was still wearing the jeans and short black boots he’d started with, but he’d added a sleeveless dark blue tunic with a wide leather belt, and a blue, red and gold satiny cape.

“Good enough for you?” Jack asked, as the group crossed the dusty road, eyeing everyone before settling his gaze on Bitty.

“Oh, Jack, you know you didn’t have to,” Bitty said, suddenly feeling guilty in case he’d made Jack uncomfortable.

“But brah, you do look amazeballs,” Shitty said.

“Yeah, dude,” Ransom said. “Like, I have this whole costume on, and you add a shirt and a cape and somehow look better.”

Lardo just nodded in approval.

“So,” Holster said. “As your king, I declare Jack to be a noble of the realm. And I declare that it’s time for lunch.”

Holsted led the way to a restaurant that actually featured chairs and tables and food served on dishes, and everyone fell in. Jack and Bitty brought up the rear.

“The costume really does look good,” Bitty said. 

“I actually got the belt first,” he said. “I bought that. At the leather shop. The cape and the tunic I rented. But I got you something too.”

Jack pulled a satchel that was hidden under the cape forward and opened it, and took out a laced leather vest.

“It’s called a jerkin,” he said. 

Bitty almost snorted, but didn’t.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t say that in front of … anyone else here. But I thought it would look good with the shirt you have on. And then if you come to one these again, you’ll have something to start with.”

Jacks cheeks were pink when he finished his little speech.

“Jack,” Bitty said, feeling his own cheeks flame in response. “You really, really didn’t have to. You know that, right?”

But he was already pulling the vest on and tightening the laces, making a snug bodice to contrast with the billowy sleeves and collar. The shirttails almost looked like a skirt coming out from under his belt.

“What do you think?” Jack asked.

“I … really like it,” Bitty said. He felt less like a kid in a nightgown this way, more like a proper boy.

“You look good,” Jack said.

Then they went in to join the others, who had already ordered platter of such medieval fair as nachos and chicken fingers.

“Looking good, Bits,” Lardo said, when Bitty sat on the bench next to her.

The beer came by the pitcher, and Bitty indulged with his friends, and then joined them as they spent the next several hours laughing at a slapstick comedy show, getting their caricatures drawn in all sorts of combinations, and helping Holster choose the perfect sword to complement his costume.

Lardo came with him to buy a shawl for his mother, helping him choose a soft blue and gray pattern that she said went with his brown eyes.

“Your mother has your coloring, right?” Lardo asked. “This will look nice, then, Maybe not as nice as that jerkin, but …”

Bitty huffed and turned away in pretend annoyance. To be honest, he liked knowing Lardo agreed that it looked good. She wouldn’t lie about that.

“Can I ask you something?” he said, after he paid and they were on their way to join the group for the last joust of the day. “Do you know why Jack bought this for me?”

“Because he thought you’d like it?”

“Lardo, I’m serious. I saw what the prices were like in that shop. Why would he do that?”

“It’s not like he told me,” Lardo said. “But he did show it to me and ask if I thought it would fit. I think … he likes you, Bits, and he’s worried about you.”

Because Jack didn’t think he’d be able to play this season?

Lardo continued as though Bitty had voiced his question.

“He thought you seemed … nervous, I guess, about moving into the Haus, being the new guy, all of that,” Lardo said. “And this is a team bonding activity. Might as well dress the part.”

“Is that why he got himself a costume too?” 

“I guess,” Lardo said. “You could ask him.”

By the time the sun was sinking towards the west, the team was tired and cranky and ready to leave. Holster, who had partaken of much more beer than Jack, gave up the car keys without a fight (thank God, Bitty thought) and he and Ransom collapsed on top of each other in the back seat. Lardo and Shitty took the middle, leaving Bitty to ride shotgun while Jack drove.

The car was quiet, with most everybody sleeping or just looking out at the New England evening. Jack played what Bitty thought of as “dad rock” and hummed along, almost inaudibly, until Bitty said, “Lardo said you were worried about me.”

Jack made a noise that showed he heard, but didn’t answer.

“I’m sorry if you’ve been concerned,” Bitty said. “I’ll be alright.”

“I know,” Jack said. “But it’s nothing to apologize for. You’ll be fine, and if you’re not, I — we’ll all be here to support you until you are. I know moving into the Haus — it’s like being new on the team again, in a way. We need to make sure you know we have your back.”

“By buying me clothes?” Bitty asked. 

“Whatever it takes,” Jack said. “Even putting on a costume myself.”

“You didn’t have to,” Bitty said, even though he knew he was repeating himself. Then he fell silent, wondering if his head was more muddled than he thought.

“I know,” Jack said. “But it seemed like it might be fun.”

“Was it?”

“Yeah,” Jack said. “It’s fun to be part of the group sometimes. As long as it’s a group you like.”

“I think so too,” Bitty said. 

Jack hummed along to the song about a horse with no name, and Bitty thought about what it meant to be part of the group, and what it meant that Jack had wanted Bitty to feel like he belonged.

It was team bonding, of course. And it was Haus bonding. But Bitty felt like maybe, maybe it was something more. 

[tonight-i-may-see]

"Burn." Preview (Rossi!Unsub!Reader Chapter 1)

preview under the cut (word count: 750)

chapter cws: graphic descriptions of: murder, general physical harm other cws for: disturbing thoughts, grief, parental trauma, mental illness, unreliable narrator, canon divergent plot (in terms of Krystall Richards), reader is Krystall's son, male!reader

(Note: I will post a series cw list once the first chapter is done along with individual ones for each chapter. Also if you think I need to add any cws please feel free to comment and I'll get them added!)

moodboard

It got easier, the more he did it.

Whether it was his strength improving, or muscle memory, he wasn’t sure. But still here he is now, a year into this endeavour. The first time was an accident, he’d told himself, but deep down he knew it wasn’t. Deep down he’d craved for years to get revenge on the man who had ruined him- who had left him with no chance because he wasn’t the one he wanted. He shouldn’t have survived, so he was going to make his life hell in return. 

The grave he’d stood at was small, kept in a garden with other tiny plaques and memorial pebbles- anything that could fit a name and one date on it. 28 years. An older brother that he never met, and yet for all 25 of those 28 years he’d lived through, he’d been reminded that brother was everything he’d never be-

“Richards.” A voice ripped him from his thoughts, a bored and uninterested tone accompanying the tired look on his coworker’s face. He stares blankly, clearly there was a question he hadn’t heard, and was about to hear again. “I asked how your weekend was.” 

A shrug is the only answer she gets. Not that that was anything new, he wasn’t the talkative type, which was precisely why he worked on a tech team. Less people, less interaction, less annoyance. In the time it had taken him to raise and drop his shoulders, the woman across from him had started up her daily rant about her husband and how he refused to pull his weight around the house, how she hated him but not enough to leave him because of the kids. Richards scoffed slightly, earning a pause from the unhappy wife. Fathers were a constant thought in his mind, something he both despised and craved, like picking open the same wound over and over again till it scars so deep you’re changed forever. Not some pigmented reminder of the past, but a deep, ragged fissure that goes almost to bone. Something that can’t be hidden. That’s what his father had done to him, and he wasn’t even there. 

So was it better to lose a father who was useless when he was there? Or never have one and live knowing you aren’t wanted? Does it hurt less to look him in the eye when he chooses to take no responsibility? 

Well, he thought it was better to save those kids the trouble. It was better to watch the panic in their eyes, watch the pain and tears and hear their pleading, suddenly so ready to be a father now it was life or death. They’d thank him one day, he was sure of it, and one day he’d get to see that panic in the eyes of the man who made him this in the first place- who had written so many times of sons scorned by fathers that turned to pain and death to cope, not once thinking of the baby boy he’d abandoned before he even got the chance to live happily. This was his fault. Those men could’ve lived, those kids would have had a chance too, but he was selfish. How unfortunate, truly.

The rest of the work day drags disgustingly slowly until finally he’s in his car, scanning the lot to watch his coworker get into her shitty beat up minivan. The licence plate was scribbled on a note in his pocket, having taken it down this morning, all he’d have to do is send it to one of his…friends…and they’d get him her address with the right payment. Soon enough that worthless piece of shit she’d married would be gone. If she knew his plans, she’d thank him. That’s what he told himself. Every single time.

[cookie-de-baunilha]

I love how John firmly and wholeheartedly believes that Jamie is the only person that knows about his relationship with Percy, when in reality there’s about 1% chance of that being the case.

There were a lot of people who probably suspected/knew about them. Maybe not before Percy’s exposure, but after that situation? Oh boy. They would look at their close friendship in hindsight + John being miserable after everything that happened and just put 2 and 2 together.

Especially the ones closer to John, but other people in his social circle too. People talk. The gossip would be wild. Before going on campaign those two were going out and about in London together, having dinners, attending plays, going to gaming clubs etc. At the time, no one would pay much attention to it. But that would drastically change after the incident with Percy.

Let’s not forget about the “near scandal” John was involved in with George Everett that had him exiled to Ardsmuir.

So… everyone kinda knew about them?? Ok not everyone, but a bunch of people. And it’s funny how John is delulu about it. Let’s see:

Hal

First of all, Hal knows John is gay. They just don’t talk about it openly.

Hal would notice John’s behavior after Percy was caught. He knew John would be a witness in Percy’s trial and was afraid of what could happen in that case. He knew John felt betrayed and tried to manipulate John’s anger towards Percy to get Percy killed. John couldn’t do it — if Hal still had any doubts, they ceased to exist the moment John came back from his conversation with Percy with that gun.

Not to mention the fact that Hal read the letter that Percy sent to John. The very first paragraph of that letter is basically Percy using pretty words to say that he would die for John. And at some point in the letter Percy writes that John told him about his father’s murder. Like??? It took 17 years for John and Hal to talk about it, and suddenly John would be openly discussing his family’s secrets with his new stepbrother? And you expect me to believe that somehow Hal thought that it was a normal friendship?? Nope.

Also, Hal’s advice to John in MOBY:

Hal merely snorted. "Men like that never die so conveniently. Why the bloody hell is he telling you this, do you think?"

Grey suppressed the vivid memory of bergamot, red wine, and petitgrain.

"I don't know. But I do know he's deeply involved with French interests, and-"

"Wainwright's never been involved with any interests other than his own," Hal interrupted brusquely. He gave John a sharp look. "You'd do well to remember that."

"I doubt I shall ever see the fellow again," John replied, overlooking the implication that his brother considered him gullible — or worse.

It’s impossible that he doesn’t know.

Benedicta

Mothers just know ok?

But seriously, Benedicta is really smart and she definitely knows that John is gay. In fact, if anyone suspected anything before the incident, I would bet on her.

Minnie

She knows.

Olivia?

I’m not sure about her, tbh. Maybe she was clueless. But then we have this conversation between her and John and it’s kinda sus (mind you, John is depressed af at this point):

Lucinda Joffrey and her husband

Firstly, both John and Percy running away from Lucinda’s arranged marriage plans like the plague might have made her a little suspicious. She might have suspected about John way before Percy came into the picture, in fact.

And she notices how bad John is after everything. She gets really concerned with him:

She goes as far as tricking John to see a doctor for his mental health, with the help of Horace Walpole:

Ally queen!!

Her husband not so much though, side eyeing John like Whitney Chewston, the homophobic dog:

Sir Richard be like 🤨🏳️‍🌈?

Horace Walpole

This is the funniest one to me, but also the sweetest.

First of all, Horace sees how shitty John is and works in cahoots with Lucinda Joffrey to trick John into going to the 18th century version of a therapist.

And then:

What I love about this interaction is the way that John knows that Horace is queer, but refuses to admit that Horace would know about him too.

The way Horace hesitates because HE DOESN’T KNOW HOW TO REFER TO PERCY. He wants to say lover (or ex-lover) but he knows that he isn’t that close to John and that it would be weird to be so open about it — and he also doesn’t know how John would react. Even if he is 100% sure that John is gay, he can’t be sure that John wouldn’t feel offended or react in a violent way.

But he also doesn’t want to say “friend” or “stepbrother” because he KNOWS THEY WERE SO MUCH MORE TO EACH OTHER. He knows those are not the right words to use. So he hesitates until John makes it simple.

HOWEVER. He knows that Percy being caught with another man must mean that John was betrayed. He knows John is hurting, not just because of the betrayal, but because of the brutality of it all — after all, betrayal notwithstanding, Percy got arrested and could get executed for being gay; for being just like them. That’s something that affects all of them as queer people.

So even though he can’t be open about it, you can feel that he wants to bring that comfort to John, because he knows how bad the whole thing is and how lonely John must be feeling. He wants John to know that he will do whatever he can to save Percy’s life. He wants John to have hope.

It’s sad, but also so sweet?? That silent solidarity.

AND JOHN “DOUBTS” WALPOLE KNOWS!!! MY DUDE!!! YOU. ARE. NOT. THAT. DISCREET.

A bunch of people in Hal’s regiment would be suspicious of John just because of their family connection — due to, you know, homophobia (and John being unmarried, unlike Hal)

TL;DR: John and Percy weren’t that much of a secret tbh, everyone close to them (or not that close) kinda knew. Everyone except General Stanley. That dude was clueless.

[phoebehalliwell]

can I send you another silly ask lol I'm curious about how your characterisation of each character came about. across all of your next gen aus and canon lol. I've got my own next gen ocs for another fandom and some of them were a full character immediately while others I still have no idea. I have to assume making like aesthetic edits and stuff helps you with that but what else? did you have to think about it much or did some appear in your mind with a full personality and vibe already?

so a lot of it depends i would definitely say some appeared in my mind more fulfledged than others (charactrers like henry jr, parker, sheridan, & pj i had a pretty solid handle on from the start whereas like melinda, tamora, dj & mikey morris, and patricia halliwell-trudeau were definitely slower processes and a lot of coming up with something then scratching it lol). but, in general, for next gen specifically, i would say my greatest influence is both parents + birth order, just because i think those are the thing that will make a next gen character feel the most like a next gen character to the audience. it is a personal pet peeve of mine where next gen media kind of goes yeah they were kind of shitty parents like. those are the people i grew up with!! you shut your whore mouth!!! (no i am still not over the characterization of aang in lok.) but yeah, so like, a large part of what their character is like will come from what i perceive their childhood to be like. so for example: pj, phoebe and coop's eldest, is def going to be a romantic and totally going to meddle in everyone's business, and then, being the eldest, is also going to have that protective/overprotective streak we see so often modeled by the eldest sibling in charmed, as well as her own mother (think back to when paige was with richard). so next gen does offer a kind of cheat sheet like that.

there is, of course, a little more difficulty when, like, you just straight up don't really know which route to go/where to start. for melinda, i had trouble because she's already coming in on two really strong personalities: wyatt & chris, who also already have an established dynamic without her. for this, i really just kind of worked backwards to establish what i didn't want. for melinda (and this is personal preference) i really didn't want the stereotypical ya 2014 badass heroine who wears eyeliner and black leather jackets. for starters, i feel like those tropes have gotten really overdone, especially in the urban fantasy medium, and then secondly i just didn't want everyone in this family to be the same kick ass leather boots type (which, given that i already had visions for parker, henry jr, kat, chris, pj, etc who all kind of fit comfortably into those ya tropes, i really wanted someone on the softer side). i also think that like, for her, piper and leo are you know they have this tenderness this sweetness and i wanted to embody that. so i didn't want black leather melinda, but narrowing it down further i also really didn't want doormat melinda either. again, we're looking at her parents. they're stubborn, they're fighters, they don't take shit. so i wanted to work to combine a softness and like a take no shit vibe. from there it was just kind of holding up puzzle pieces in my mind until i found ones that fit (e.g. i think she swears at her brothers and calls them out on shit but i think outside of the home she's a lot more passive not everything needs to be a fight because quite frankly she's got plenty of tension in her life already no need to be adding more, she's shy when it comes to love interests, she's a perfectionist, she's a mom friend/mama bear, all just little character quirks that exist in my little character brain bank that i decided i liked how they worked for her)

there is the separate category of the true oc, one who has not previously engaged with canon at all, and those are usually shaped through motivation, and their motivation is usually shaped by what i need to happen in the plot. so, for viola, for example, her main motivation is a wish to be left in peace. why? well, because i wanted kat to try to find the twice blessed and that kind of meant the twice blessed had to be hiding. so for that main motivation, a couple potential pathways arose: she could straight up not give a fuck and be apathetic towards the whole thing. she could be scared of her destiny and not want any part of it out of fear of herself/her own power. she could not want to complete her destiny because doing so would involve making a choice she feels like she can't make. i ended up going for the last one bc to me it definitely seemed the most fun. based off canon, i decided that the twice blessed destiny, while never explicitly stated in canon, was to wipe out all evil. of course, this meant there was the flipside there was the potential to wipe out all good. now i feel like to the average person this has a fairly easy answer like if you could wipe out all mosquitos. like, yes, you know there are prob going to be some like ramifications from removing a species from existence, but, like, fuck those guys. also, hello, malaria? i feel like you'd be saving a lot of people. so like i felt like i needed to give her some tie to evil, some bond, something that would motivate her not to want to destroy evil because if she did she'd be destroying her loved ones. next question is why/how does she love something evil. so i built her a backstory of being raised in a defect clan (witches who have turned into warlocks, something we established could happen in the show), giving her a different perspective of being people raised in say the manor might have. from her backstory more parts of her personality started to bloom, she doesn't let herself be tread on and hates feeling like a pawn in someone else's game, she's very protective over the ones she loves and is willing to remove herself from their lives to save them, she likes helping people, she likes making people smile, her sense of humor can be a little bit twisted and she thinks selfish people should be cut down before they hurt others.

i hope this helped answer you question if you have any more qs just let me know and i will do my best to answer

[emilylawsons]

I am an A&A slut so I'm going with "Chapter 16 (TLOU)" Please and thank you!

The fact you are so enthusiastic makes me smile. I have very little written, and I did share another snippet yesterday. Here’s another small nugget.

—————

“I like the guy.” He nods thoughtfully. “Mom being happy is…refreshing.”

Tess can’t help but scoff.

“You don’t see any difference?” her brother asks.

“Not really. Sure, he’s nice, he’s decent, but—” she lowers her voice. “How does he put up with her?”

Andrew just stares at her like she’s an alien from some other planet. “What has she done remotely wrong to him?”

That has Tess’s mouth agape. What the hell does he mean?

“She’s just…her.”

Still staring at her, Andrew speaks slowly. “Yeah…and she’s nothing but pleasant to him.”

Tess thinks back on dinner last night. While Deb shot digs at her and a few minor ones at Andrew, she’d never raised a single critical finger to Richard. She’d served him dinner, he’d served her wine and dessert. They’d waited on each other hand and foot at various intervals.

So, no, Andrew isn’t wrong…

“You’re telling me he’s not at all bothered by the way she talks to us?” she argues.

“Well, she was fine with me. I’m sorry if—”

Tess lowers her voice and interrupts. “She insinuated that it was somehow embarrassing that you’re living in Melissa’s house and not one that you bought with your own money.”

“No, she just wanted to make sure that I was paying my fair share, that I wasn’t mooching off my girlfriend.”

“Why are you making excuses for her?” Tess hisses. “And since when is it her business anyway? We’re grown ass adults.”

“She wants what’s best for us.”

Tess’s eyes have never rolled harder.

“Come on, Tess,” Andrew begs. “She’s actually trying. She doesn’t want us ending up in a situation like she was in after dad died.”

That has her pinching her lips together and scowling at him. “That’s no excuse, and don’t you dare use ‘dad died’ to defend her shitty behavior again.”

“I’m not def—”

“Lord!” Deb’s voice booms down the hall. She comes scampering into the kitchen, fanning herself wildly. “Who turned the heat up? I’m dying. These hot flashes are killing me.”

Tess watches her mother open the freezer door and stick her head into the bitter cold of it. As she and Andrew exchange a look, they both need no further explanation as to why the house was so cold this morning.

[fangaminghell]

( in which Suraya gives some sisterly advice, part how many times this has happened now)

The day is nearing its end. Blair left early to look after Lilith and catch up on some studies. Suraya eventually managed to tear Lep away from the whiteboard and get him something to eat ( they ordered take out). When all of that was said and done, they two found themselves back in front of the whiteboard, simply staring. Leo doesn't say anything, his eyebrows furrowed as he stares hard at his creation. Suraya simply waits for him to speak.

" I made them wait so long, " he says at last, quietly, " How do I know that they're willing to put up with me, after everything? I ignored them, pushed them away and-" his voice hitches, and he feels his eyes begin to water.

" Oh, Leo....". Suraya coos, bringing her little brother closer to her, " I can't exactly give you the answer on that. But I think that if they didn't care, they wouldn't have helped you through....you know"

Leo winces. Yeah, he knows. Richard's words still echo in his head, and still grip at his soul. He hates that he's still hung up on him. Hates that he still thinks Richard might be right.

" I...I guess," Leo sighs,leaning into his sisters touch, " I just want to give them something worthwhile. To make up for all the bullshit I caused them,"

"...okay, there's a lot of things I want to say here, but to stay focused on the conversation- I don't think you realize how much you helped them, Leo. Yes, what happened probably hurt them as much as it did you, but I don't think it's something to make up for. That's some Richard bullshit, if you ask me," Leo snorts, a tiny bit bitter at the mention of Richard, but overall he doesn't feel as shitty as he did before. Suraya moved to her brother's face to look directly at her.

" Leo, those three love you. Plain and simple. Something 'worthwhile' to them is you being safe and happy. You don't need a helicopter filled with roses to make yourself worthwhile,"

Leo doesn't respond, wiping away a tear before it can shed.

" Talk to them Leo," Suraya urges gently, " Tell them how you feel, tell them your insecurities. I promise you they will understand. I'm sure they have some insecurities as well,".

Leo bites his bottom lip, momentarily thinking before giving his sister a small smile.

"... Okay. I will. Thanks Raya," Suraya beams.

" Of course Leo. Anytime,"

[bridgertonbabe]

girl… you can’t keep getting away with this!!! *Sigh*FINE I’LL BITE…WHY DID SHE SAY NO

I'm living for the exasperation in response to my general nonsense 🤭

But to answer your question there's two factors in play regarding why Sophie rejected Benedict.

Factor #1: As much as the Bridgerton Brothers are well liked and their genial characters spoken highly of, they do have rakish reputations. They're often photographed leaving clubs with their latest fling, their short-term relationships with models covered in every gossip mag, and just sleeping about in general. It's not too surprising - what guy in a famous band wouldn't reap the benefits of having every single woman they encounter lusting after them? And so in spite of the chemistry between them, despite getting to know Benedict on a far deeper level than anyone else, and regardless of the fact that there's nothing more she'd like better than to accept his offer and go on a date with him; she turns him down. She's fallen in love with the Benedict the rest of the world doesn't really know, the version of himself he hides away, and the emotionally intimate bond they share has captured her in a way nobody else ever has - but she fears what will happen once she gives into her feelings and her desire, convincing herself that as soon as Ben's bedded her he'll lose all interest and thus destroy the illusion of the man she thought she knew and had fallen for. She doesn't want to be just another notch on his bedpost and she can't bear the thought of him treating a hypothetical hook up between them as a casual one time thing when she craved for so much more. And besides, he wouldn't take her seriously as any sort of lover with longevity. He only dated people of his own calibre; models, fashion designers, fellow artists. Never in a million years would he pursue any sort of relationship with someone like her, a nobody who was employed by his band. She was sure he would only want to go out with her and seduce her out of boredom - it would just be a game to him and as soon as she had been under him he probably wouldn't even give her the time of day again. It's this thought process that contributed to her declining the offer of a date from him, refusing to give in to whatever naive hope she possessed that maybe, just maybe, Benedict wanted more than just a fling with her.

Factor #2: Enter shitty stepmother being the world's biggest hypocrite. In this AU Sophie is the result of West End chorus girl Maria Beckett's secret relationship with famous film director Richard Gunningworth. He didn't even know of his daughter's existence until Maria's mother reached out to him when Sophie was seven years old. After losing her daughter to complications during childbirth, Sophie's grandmother had recently been diagnosed with early onset dementia and she wanted her precious granddaughter taken care of before she was no longer capable of doing so. Richard took his daughter in as well as paying for the best care home possible for Maria's mother, and though he was a good father behind closed doors, he kept Sophie's existence a closely guarded secret, not wanting news of his lovechild splashed across newspapers and magazines as gossip fodder. He then made the grave error of marrying Araminta Reiling, a woman who was instantly incensed upon discovering that her new husband had a daughter from a previous fling. She was more than happy to go along with keeping Sophie's existence secret from everyone, though she was determined that as soon as Sophie turned eighteen that she'd leave for university and be out of their lives forever. She constantly shamed Sophie for just about everything though the girl remained resilient and chose to ignore her. It was when Richard decided to encourage his daughter's gift for music, dedicated as she was to her violin, and enroll her in a prestigious music academy that Araminta saw red. Behind Richard's back she guilt-tripped Sophie, saying her father was paying her way into a school she didn't belong in and that nobody would ever take her seriously or respect her for being a nepo baby. This was the only time Sophie took what her stepmother said to heart and actually went to her father to insist the music academy wasn't for her. Despite how disappointed she was to turn down an opportunity she had greatly been looking forward to, Sophie decided not to let it get her down; she'd forge her own way into the music field without her dad's money and influence. It's why she never adopted her father's surname, not wanting the Gunningworth name to open any door she knocked at and choosing to work and practice hard at her violin as much as humanly possible. Sophie worked her arse off and proved herself to be more than just the daughter of a renown and influential person in the industry; she earned every job she had through sheer undeniable talent and discipline, playing in orchestras and going on tour with various companies - and then she landed the gig in the string section for the Bridgerton Brothers global tour. When Benedict asked her out, yes she already had negative-minded doubts of being taken seriously by him, but she was still plagued by Araminta's shaming. Though she had proven herself not be a nepo baby by any design, the thought of being with Benedict, whether as a one night stand or (in her wildest dreams) as a full-blown relationship made her nervous that word would get back to Araminta and her stepmother would claim Sophie was trying to sleep her way into being famous or to warn herself better opportunities through Benedict - she didn't want to be shamed in the same way Araminta had always shamed and spoken ill of her mother. And so, despite Araminta quite obviously latching onto Richard's fame and power to get her in the door of getting acting gigs as well as using his connections to get her darling Rosamund into the fashion modelling industry, Sophie was determined not to become the very person Araminta had always painted her out to be; and she wanted to be better than her stepmother and stepsister, wanting to prove that no relation or association to any man in the industry could be perceived as her trying to use them for her own benefit. So even if she wasn't convinced Benedict's interest in her wasn't remotely serious, she still would have turned him down in order to prove she wasn't anything like her social-climbing stepmother.

[applechip118]

all the mr:tm lore i have so far

i thought i should start posting about my ocs! the story is called Melanie Richards: Teenage Mercenary (probably not my idea lmao). i don’t have any official refs yet but here’s the official lore thus far!

TW for abuse, neglect, mental illness, murder, homophobia/transphobia, bullying, toxic yuri ❤️ , violence/body horror (like FNAF)

Melanie Charlotte Richards (Maurycja Celina Rodowicz) is a 13-year-old Polish-American girl who lives in San Diego in the early 2010s. She comes from a poor, abusive family, living with her mother and stepfather (her father passed away in the 2000s).

She’s the classic middle school weeaboo, obsessed with manga and J-pop. Don’t mention yaoi around her, she’ll start foaming at the mouth (not because she finds yaoi boys attractive though—she’s a lesbian in denial, but if you told her that she’d kill you on the spot).

She is autistic and has ADHD, BPD, OCD and likely PTSD, and because of this asks her parents for therapy but is denied because she’s “old enough to earn it for herself” (since her family can’t afford it). She’s forced to become a hitman in secret, going around killing middle-aged businessmen for other middle-aged businessmen with an old cricket bat. She’s terrible at being subtle so her parents likely have an idea something’s going on, but don’t care.

Andrea Claudia Campbell is a 13-year-old Jamaican and Native Hawaiian girl who also lives in San Diego, and goes to the same middle school as Melanie. She has a mom, dad and two younger brothers (11 and 8 years old). She is autistic and has ADHD, and her family is a little better off than Melanie’s.

Andrea is an absolute LOSER. NOBODY likes her!! She’s the bi, probably nonbinary Deviantart wolf furry kid, who dresses scenemo and probably posts edgy edits of herself to Facebook. She and Melanie quickly become best friends through their eighth grade art class, since they’re both unpopular and get bullied often.

Andrea’s home life is arguably better than Melanie’s (Melanie’s parents are emotionally abusive and neglectful, as well as bigoted traditional Christians. Andrea’s parents are less volatile, but still bigoted, especially homophobic/transphobic). Andrea’s parents end up finding her gay stuff on her laptop, and in a panic Andrea runs away from home and shows up at Melanie’s door. Melanie suggests that they run off and live in a shitty motel together, and being stupid 13 year old girls in a sapphic situationship, they decide it’s a perfect idea!

When Andrea becomes curious as to how they can afford to live out of a motel, Melanie figures she should introduce Andrea to her work and… yeah. She tricks her into helping her do a job, and in the aftermath, she comforts a horrified Andy by putting matching yellow band-aids on their ring fingers like a wedding. Me and the girl I pulled by traumabonding her to me ❤️

Eventually Andy comes around and they’re good for a while, of course until the school bullies catch wind of their situation and start talking. I’m not so certain on this part, but Melanie ends up betraying Andy and throwing her under the bus. I want to write it so that it’s a combination of her internalized homophobia, trauma and BPD (if anyone has any advice or experience please feel free to share!).

By this point Andy has earned enough herself to fend for herself, so they end up going their separate ways for a while. Working on her own, Melanie is given an offer by a client—a way to be much more efficient at her job. Still unstable and uncertain, she agrees. What she doesn’t realize is that this offer was to literally hollow her out FNAF scooper-style, and then turn her into a Springtrap-esque abomination of flesh and machinery ❤️

Andy, lonely and guilty despite Melanie being the one to betray her, returns and finds Hollow!Melanie. She’s rightfully horrified but also angry at Melanie for what she did. She confronts her but ends up breaking down and hugs her. Melanie, a literal and metaphorical machine, starts to remember her humanity from this and apologizes.

The ending is a work in progress but the main moral of the story that I’m trying to portray is that girlhood, especially teenage years, can be really fucked up, but it does get better because you’ll grow out of it. Melanie and Andrea part ways with a sincere “I’m glad you were in my life, now get the FUCK out”, and Andy is left with a hell of a middle school crush horror story to tell. The End ❤️

if you guys have any feedback or ideas please let me know!!!! this is all based heavily off of my own experience with abuse and trauma so it’s accurate to my own story but not necessarily anyone else’s. maybe i can get around to making refs sometime! (lying) but if you guys have any questions/submissions i will be so so SO happy to answer them :3 i felt like the ooftrop ucft writing this lmao

[yall-im-dead]

Chapter 1: My Darling Dumb Brother…is dead?

“Where is he?”

I’ve just returned from spending time with my Aunt for 9 months and can’t find my brother. 

“My lady…”

“Answer me.”

“He’s 6 feet away my lady…”

“What do you mean Ronald?”

“…”

Why won’t he answer me?

“What. Do. You. Mean. By. 6. Feet. Away.”

“6 feet down below our feet my lady..”

I find myself grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and slamming him to the ground before leaving and coming back with a shovel and handing it to Ronald.

“Dig. Him. Up.”

“Lady Bishop-“

“Dig. Him. Up.”

“Yes ma’am…”

Ronald then began to dig my brother out of the ground and I gently placed my hand to his cold dead chest and he slowly awoke coughing up blood as I turn him into a snake temporarily till he can heal. It’ll be easier to help him this way..

Maybe I can convince father he’s just a snake and to help him. Or aunt Charlotte could help. It seems my dear Richard has been dead awhile now…

“My lady- how’d- How did you-“

“No need to worry Ronald. A woman never tells her secrets. Anyways, how long has my brother been dead without you telling me?”

“He’s… he’s been dead since a month after  you left Catherine..”

“So my brother died 8 months ago and no one has fucking cared to tell me?”

I can feel my blood boiling and as much as I love Ronald as a person I want to murder him currently. 

“Well my lady- you were with your aunt and nobody wanted to interrupt that time you two had together.”

“First of all fuck you. Second of all I will not hesitate to call my father and tell him you called America a filthy trash pit of all the people the other countries didn’t want again and he will kill you.”

“My lady, we both know Patrick would never listen to you.”

Ah crap. He caught my bluff.

“I- well I-“

We hear a gruff and choked voice from the ground,

“Sis, mind help-helping me up? Gods this hurts like hell. Feels like I’ve slept like the dead though”

Before I can catch myself I feel my body rushing into my brother and giving him a large hug. It’s easy to forget how nice it is to hug your idiot siblings.

“Sis…I was dead wasn’t I…”

“Mhm…”

“How’d you-“

“Doesn’t matter.”

I’m livid and it’s clear but I help him get up and I lead him through the garden into the manor we live in.

See, it wasn’t always this way, me,Richard,Ronald,Constantine,Stacy,Alistair, and two others who don’t live here with us were all stuck in a couch for many years, me and my brother the longest.

Me and Richard were stuck in our fathers cursed couch for 400 years. Our mother told us the story of our father,Patrick Alarie,

A demonic snake god who is the son of Satan that married our mother and had us. Then our mother, Alice Bishop, saved our town by drowning Patrick in holy water. 

I vaguely remember him back then since I was 5. Mostly just the fact that some towns people tried to drown me and my brother because we inherited our fathers deep red eyes with snake pupils. 

I’m getting of topic but, mother when we were 15 told me and Richard the story thinking we were old enough to not be idiots. Low and Behold my brother later that night comes to me talking about summoning our father and as an idiot I agree.

Patrick ripped one eye out of each me and my brother and put them in his couch then locked us in the couch as snakes for nearly 400 years.

The two of us only got out because a group of teenagers that really hate our dad destroyed the couch. 

Inside the couch it was dark. Unexplainably dark. A void with absolutely nothing. I tried to scream from inside but nothing came out. 

All of a sudden we fell into the real world. A bright and sudden burst of color and noise.

Now, Here we are. Twins who are now 16 that know just enough American history to maybe pass a 4th grade test on it.

Back to reality now.

“Richard dear, who killed you”

“Some guy”

I roll my eyes, very hard, at my brother.

“Some guy with a creepy ass smile”

“Mhm… go on”

“Some guy with a creepy ass smile,black swept over hair,bloodshot eyes and a shitty suit”

“And what did he do to you Richard?”

“stabbed me. He broke into the house and I tried to defend the others and in the process I died.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah…”

Who the hell thinks they can just come in here and murder my brother. He’s my fucking twin.

I lift my petticoats and run to my room to grab my crowbar then run out of the white Marble mansion, running over the garden smashing flowers and plants me and Stacy spent weeks working on.

I run for awhile not really knowing where I’m going, the wind trying to push me back as I run through the fields and woods and towns, then I pause. I have no clue who did this to my brother and now I have no clue where I am. Damnit.

A strange man that takes awhile to recognize appears on the street. I don’t realize who he is because he’s wearing a new suit along with a mask.

Normally he wears a blue suit with a red,white and blue tie and also normally he allows his form to be around a normal tall human size.

Today my..father decided to appear in a form that stands roughly at 8 foot tall and is in a blood red suit and tie with black lining.

“Father.”

“Oh sweet Catherine~ how are you today?”

“Father shut up.“

“Who’s the immortal snake god here”

As he says this he summons a snake and I roll my eyes at him. My father is an insufferable prick.

“Dad,I’m not here to fight you. Someone killed Richard”

“Oh yay! Bout time that little shit died! Want to have a party?”

He snaps his fingers and American flag party hats pops on our heads

“I have the ability to bring people back from the dead, Father.”

“Damn it kid. You got my hopes up for nothing?”

He snaps again and the party hats disappear. 

“Father I’m off to go figure out this bullshit.”

Compared to my father in this tall form I am very short, so I decide it’s the perfect time to hit him in the balls with my crowbar before continuing out through the woods. I hear him groan and I look back to see him vanish in a pop of rainbow glitter.

[milkmaidovich]

@krystallouhoo you asked and I couldn't help but answer

— — —

"Yer fuckin', like, cute or some shit, d'ya know that?"

Mickey is drunk.

They'd gone out to a bar near their apartment, some new (to them) joint, part of a deal the two of them had made when they'd moved: at least once a month they'd branch out and try a different bar, breaking away from their favorite, a place called Richard's that made them both think fondly of The Alibi (before his own brother had the gall to fuckin' turn it into a cop bar).

So tonight they'd gone to a place called Third Rail Tavern, and while Ian himself had had his one beer, Mickey...

Well, there'd been one of those big chalkboards hung up right at the entrance, and in eye-searingly bright letters it had proclaimed:

Half-price AMF's, today only.

"The fuck is an AMF?" Mickey'd said just loud enough for a passing server to hear.

"Adios Motherfucker," she'd supplied before Ian had gotten the chance, continuing on her way with ease, unaware of what she'd just set in motion.

The speed at which his husband's face lit up in excitement was both delightful and fucking terrifying.

—

"Goddamn, Gallagher, you're a pretty motherfucker, you know that?"

It starts around drink number three, the little compliments and sweet talk, more than Mickey usually does in public, and while Ian had been told before that a drunk Mickey was a love-sick Mickey, he'd never seen it himself.

(Ian couldn't, and didn't, really drink like he used to, and now Mickey didn't really either, an adorable sort of silent solidarity with his husband that Ian found so fucking sweet he could barely handle it sometimes. They split joints all the time and had started to dip their toes into the wild world of edibles once Illinois recreationalized shit, but Drunk Mickey was a rarity these days.)

Ian arches his brow, a habit he'd picked up from Mickey. "That so, Mick?" His lips are twitching with barely suppressed delight at the idea that he might be getting to see Sappy Mickey for himself tonight.

Mickey takes another big gulp of his drink, not even bitching about the metal straw it had come with. ("The fucks wrong with plastic? You think me and my occasional use of fucking plastic is gonna make or break the earth? Go after the people making the goddamn things if they're so shitty for the planet or whatever.")

Mickey nodsvigorously, eyeing Ian and breaking out his Flirty Look, eyebrows high and tongue poking out from the corner of his mouth where he was biting it, pretending to bite back a smile. Ian is as much a sucker for it now as he was at fifteen when Mickey used to flash it to him across the Kash N Grab, angling to get turned the fuck out in the cooler. "Mmmmhmmm, always been so fucking pretty, baby face an' all."

And so it goes, compliments getting more and more specific as the drinks kept coming, and Ian has never been more in love with his husband in his life, all the praise lighting him up like a Christmas tree, helping to settle the ever-present seed of worry that some version or part of him would be too much or not enough or just not what Mickey wanted.

Fucking hell was that doubt getting shut the fuck down tonight.

Mickey is toying with his hands now, having relocated to Ian's side of the booth so he can press in close, adhering himself to Ian's side like cuddly Velcro. "'Member when these hands couldn't palm mosta my ass? 'Member?" He nibbles on a knuckle, tracing the bulge of it with his tongue and staring Ian full in the face while he did, pupils blown out by liquor and lust. "Thought my ass was gettin' smaller at first till you wrapped these big fuckin' paws around my hips one day and I could feel your thumbs on my back even with your fingers mosta the way to my dick."

Ian slides his free hand around Mickey's lower a back, fitting his thumb in the dimple there and splaying his fingers wide, watching as Mickey's breath hitches before sucking hard on Ian's finger. "Like that?" Ian asks with a smirk, delighting in the effect he has on his husband even now.

"Uh huh," Mickey sighs, nodding his head so hard Ian's worried he'll make himself dizzy. "'Ve always been smaller'n everyone, but you're the only one I like it with. Like being small with you."

Ian's dick twitches hard in his jeans, both from the frankly indecent way Mickey is licking at the webbing between Ian's fingers and from what's coming out of his mouth.

He leans in to nuzzle at Mickey's neck, exaggerating how far he has to bend down to do it, grins when he feels the stuttering exhale against his throat. "Safe to be small with you," Mickey murmurs into the thin skin of Ian's neck, and Ian shivers at the sensation of those perpetually bitten lips. "You're the only one I ever felt fuckin' safe with, Ian."

Ian had had to kiss him then, and they made out for a little bit right there in their booth, not giving two fucks who can see them, and if Ian's mouth was free he'd be fucking cheering at how far they've come.

They break apart eventually and Mickey keeps drinking, getting looser and handsier with each sip. "I wanna fuckin' bite you sometimes, y'know? But cause I fucking like, love you and shit and it's too much and I just gotta—” and then Ian finds his forearm being chomped gently between Mickey’s teeth, a laugh punching out of him when Mickey makes the most fucking adorable growly nomming sounds, chewing gently on his husband's arm.

He's halfway through drink five when Ian's freckles finally get mentioned, and Ian can honestly say he's surprised it took so long. "D'you know y'got eyelid freckles?" Mickey clumsily grabs at Ian's face, tilting it down and Ian closes his eyes in preemptive protection so Mickey doesn't feel the need to try and close them himself and accidentally getting his alcohol-clumsy thumbs in Ian's eyes. "How does that even happen?" Mickey wonders, tilting Ian's head jerkily back and forth as he studies the eyelids in question, Ian biting back a laugh the whole time. "An' why the fuck do I wanna kiss 'em?"

They're outside after Mickey finishes his last drink, Ian's arm around Mickey's shoulders and Mickey's around Ian's waist, hand tucked snugly in his back pocket, copping a feel every few steps and giggling to himself when he does, like he's sneaking it in and doesn't have free reign of Ian's body whenever he wants.

Halfway home, Mickey sighs deeply and rests his head on Ian's shoulder, closing his eyes for a moment, trusting Ian to keep them uptight.

"Sometimes when you look at me," he starts, eyes fluttering open and glancing upwards, the blue of them even brighter in the dim yellow street-light glow. "Its like my blood gets all fizzy 'n' shit and I don't know what to do with that." He rubs his face against Ian's denim-covered bicep. "S'always been that way. Used to scare the fuck outta me cause I knew it meant somethin'."

Ian hums, tucking Mickey more firmly against him. "And now? Still scary?"

Mickey stops them suddenly, not caring that they're in the middle of a West Side sidewalk, and stares at Ian with the kind of serious earnestness that only incredibly drunk people ever manage. "No," Mickey says firmly, now with both hands firmly in Ian's back pockets, holding him close. "Nothin' 'bout us is scary anymore." He frees a hand and rubs vaguely at his chest, knuckle tats standing out starkly in the muted yellow light. "No room to be afraid, ya know? There's like, too much love 'n' shit now." He waves his hand around, gesturing wildly at his torso. "Takes up all the space."

Ian backs him into the closest wall and they spend the next twenty minutes leaving no space for anything but all that love between them.

the scenes where mickey was drunk and talking about ian made canon that when he gets drunk he talks about ian and maybe now when he's drunk he talks about ian to ian

[pandoraimperatrix]

caught between goodbye and I love you

DickKory | Pining | Eventual smut | Two shots | Post season 3 AU

Chapter 1: My heart is a sad affair

Nobody could say he didn't have been trying. Well, they could but it wouldn't be true.

Even though Bruce had made sure Dick knew how to attract the female attention, nobody told him what to do when it didn’t work as planned. Or how to stanch the wound.

Hell, Bruce made sure he could seduce anyone that could be seduced. "It is a very useful skill to have in your utility belt, Chum" he said then. But it didn't mean Dick didn’t pray for the sweet release of death back then when he was being forced to have seduction lessons under Alfred's or worse, Selina's tutelage.

He should have payed more attention to when they broke up, not that he’d have learnt something useful. They always got back together. He and Kory on other hand…

Well, been taught how to seduce someone for ulterior motives didn’t mean he knew what to do when his goal was not mission oriented. Usually in a mission, after the seduction part was over, even if he had to date the person for more than one night, he had a script and a clear goal. But what if there was no mission? What if he had hopes instead of goals? What to do without no script to follow? No set of rules to guide him?

And he was especially bad when he genuinely cared, never being able to judge if he was trying too hard or too little, usually finding himself overcome with anxiety which resulted into pushing the object of his affections away in the long run. That happened to Dawn, to Babs, hell, despite being a completely different kind of relationship it almost happened with Rachel and Gar too. Thank goodness his children were way more forgiving.

Since Dawn was gone for good and he and Babs had broke up again after deluding themselves for a whole five minutes that their childhood trauma bonded romance could have a last hurrah. He was back to reality. The depressing reality that he, to his absolute despair, cared for Kory, so much, too much, more than he had thought that he ever could for anyone.

Read on AO3

Despite all his overthinking tendencies, all his overplanning, all his precautions, he really didn’t see that coming. Of course, he was aware he was attracted to her from day one, it was nothing alarming back then, at least in the beginning. It hurt when she told him she needed to find out who she was before it got too serious, but he understood, and it was fine. They had time. And time they had, after their reunion, raising a household together, his physical attraction to her remained, and new set of feelings started breeding from their partnership. Something way more aggravating than the constant desire to fuck her brains off every time she entered the room, something deeper.

It took a while, because he was known for being stubborn as fuck, but he knew that a good detective can’t cherry pick evidences, and eventually, he admitted to himself that he wanted to be with her forever. Which not only was a scary thought by itself, considering how much time he spent running from everything serious and true, but it made his insides twist in fear.

Because nothing that good could last. When the love of you life quite literally fell from heaven, heaven can take her back whenever. And the thought of losing her at any moment pushed his anxieties to the roof. Her behaviour haven’t been exactly helping. Despite of not having anything substantial of proof, Dick could feel something was wrong with her, something that she wouldn't talk about no matter how many times he tried to approach her.

Maybe it was his fault, maybe he put himself in a position in which she felt responsible for his wellbeing but not trustworthy to be relied upon after the mess he had made with Slade and with Jason.

Besides, what claim did he have to demand any clarification from her? They weren't together.

But it still hurt. That feeling of uselessness, of having nothing to offer when she gave so much just being by his side.

They lived in the same house and were currently raising super powered teenagers together, everybody outside their tight circle assumed they were a couple, married even, hell, her sister thought they were together. And Kory hardly flinched when they dined out and the waiter called her “Mrs Grayson”, she joked about it, that also hurt, because it wasn’t true. Yes they used to have sex, and yes he was trying to make his grimaces of pain to look like smiles on regular basis to hide how much he wanted her, but they are not together.

But it wasn't by Dick's choice.

It was Kory's.

And the rejection hurt, especially when he didn’t expect it.

From all his many faults, Dick wasn't that kind of guy, it wasn’t as if he didn’t think that her rejection was impossible or insulting due to some high opinion of himself. But it just didn’t make sense. He wasn't deluding himself, although he sometimes had no choice but doubt, wanting to believe and respect her choice, but when it had such dissonance with her actions…

Because, as much as he sometimes wanted to take the easy way out that his internal self-hatred provided – that he was crazy, pathetic and there was no way in heaven or hell such woman would have feelings for him – Dick had also been trained in reading body language and micro expressions.

Everything about how Kory interacted with him felt like an invitation. Unless he had been suffering from a very serious case of psychosis (again), he couldn’t have been imagining the longing in her gaze. Sometimes, even when he thought she wasn’t in the room, he could feel her eyes in him. And it wasn’t just the hot looks he was used to get from people that only thought he was attractive – even though Kory would give him plenty of those too, his skin had been reaping the benefits of all his ice cold showers. But, sometimes, especially when he was giving attention to their children, or just doing something mundane like reading or meditating, he could feel her watching. A gentle smile on her face, eyes like pools of warmth and endearment. Nobody ever looked at him like that, with such unadulterated fondness.

Or the way she found excuses to touch him. He always loved the feeling of falling, doing unnecessary stunts so he could only feel that special kind of rush. With Kory around to catch him whenever he needed, he had been doing that even more often so he could feel her strong arms around him, and she never denied him.

When they fought enemies, or trained, she always found a way to make skin contact, throwing him at their mark to give him an extra boost, instead of shouting for him to clear away from danger, she’d physically pull him away in very unnecessary and unfortunately fast hugs.

She’d lean on his shoulder for no reason at all, even after her powers returned and she told everyone she was not feeling tired all the time anymore. In the mornings, while they washed the dishes together – since Gar banned them both from cooking – she’d bump him with her hip to make him move out of her way, and her hands always lingered when handing him an utensil.

Kory was always pressing away invisible wrinkles on his clothing, and picking things from his hair, so much he could hear muffled giggles from the children every time she did that.

And how could he have been imagining the way her face lit every time he entered the room, or when someone mentioned his name? He couldn't have made anything like that up. Didn't have the self-esteem necessary, or the self-hatred necessary to imagine such torture.

Dick did wonder, though, if living with a woman that looked like what poets sang about, that had the personality correspondent of the most golden of summer’s day, and flirted with him mercilessly, but yet dismissed every attempt he made to turn their relationship into something romantic was just karma. In the past, he had abused his own good looks and knowledge. Hearts had been broken because of his folly, and now the universe was punishing him or something.

Yeah, right, as if the universe cared that much.

But then, when his bitterness and confusion were not settled at all, and he was getting ready for another night of delicious horrible dreams about the woman that did not want him, something weird happened.

Kory Anders, knocking on his door, with a bottle of tequila, just a few days after he finally asked her out and she destroyed his heart and made a mess of his head by saying no. Not only no, she said she didn’t like him like that. That she loved him as a friend, and didn’t want to make things more complicated.

What a bunch of garbage.

For a fraction of second he wondered what she'd do if he closed the door on her face. But he'd never be able to do that, so, wordlessly, he gave away the space she needed to enter his room.

“Can I help you?” he said when she just stood there, looking everywhere but him, as if his room were a great novelty.

Kory bit her lip and he wanted to die. He didn’t want to believe she did those things out of malice, but sometimes one cannot help but being angry over such carelessness.

“Kory?” he asked in that bitchy impatient way of his.

“I lied,” she finally said in a puff of breath.

“What you mean?” His heart was racing, it couldn’t be. Was he asleep? Most of his dreams began with some sort of flashback of their first night. Terrible, terrible dreams that always ended too soon.

She looked away, searching for something, his heart shrank when swayed her body aside, thinking she was about to leave, but Kory placed the bottle and the cups on his dresser and turned back to him, the look she gave him making his throat feel raw. In two powerful strides she was all over him, firm elegant palms cradling his head as she tilted his face to the angle she wanted for their kiss. It was like if time went back.

He pulled her closer carefully, afraid she’d disappear in the smoke of his lust filled memory if he went too hard or too fast, but even when she remained solid, warm under his touch, her teeth pulling his bottom lip mercilessly, then spreading licks and soothing kisses, her perfume making him dizzy, he let her lead. It was easier, which considering his tendency for always taking the most tortuous path, added a layer of pleasure in a luxury hardly ever taken.

--------------------------------------

Notes:

I started writing this before season 3, because I wanted to write a fic in which Dick was pining, and also I wanted it to be steamy and smutty. But since the smut part is taking forever to finish and the pining part became bigger than what I planned, you get a two shot.

---

Preview:

“Please don’t this. I don’t want to pretend. I’m so tired of lying to you and I’ll have to pretend to the rest of my life. This might be the last night I will ever have to be myself, to be with you. I need this to be real.”

Kory took one of the hands off his hair, bending her arm backwards so she could rub him trough his trousers. Dick let out a moan and she used the opportunity to make a wet path of kisses across his cheekbones, until she reached his ear. She whispered something in her native language and licked his earlobe.

What else could he do? She wanted real. He’d give her real.

Dick pulled her up as his lips claimed hers again, her powerful legs crossed around his hips. He held her up like that for a while, just enjoying the feel of her body pressed flush against his. His hands giving her support by moulding her round butt with his palms.

Dick he walked backwards until his chins hit the bed and he fell sitting with Kory on his lap. She stopped her ministrations to pull her hair from her face and look down at him.

“Hey,” she said, her eyelashes were still wet, but her tears had stopped falling, she looked so… No wonder she belonged to the heavens, no being in the planet could be so perfect.

[faintblueivy]

So Imagine...

A world where Bruce Wayne died as a child in that alley that day, Martha and Thomas Wayne grieve as normal parents. They DO NOT BECOME BATMAN AND JOKER. 

Nothing ever remains the same after losing their little boy. So, Thomas buries himself in his work and Martha drowns herself in depression and pain. They do therapy and it works a little and life becomes bearable but...not happy.

One day, Alfred badgers the couple to go out and relax a little and buys them tickets for a circus - Haly’s circus. Everything was going nice and dandy and Martha was in awe of this little acrobat as much as the rest of the crowd when suddenly the rope snaps and the boy’s parents fall to their deaths - right in front of him and the gathering. Thomas is quick to jump in to see if he could help them in any way but Martha can see it in his eyes that they are as dead as they can be. 

They return to home with heavy hearts and Martha can’t get the image of the little boy out of her head. His skin was a light shade of bronze but his dark hair and bright cerulean blue eyes reminded her so much of Bruce that her heart wouldn’t rest. So a few days later she uses her connections to know if the child is safe and well cared for, when to her immense horror, she is replied that he was shipped to Gotham Juvie due to the lack of foster homes. She is enraged.

She calls Thomas and Alfred and lets them know about the little acrobat’s situation and declares that she was going to adopt him. They hesitate a little but she is not to be deterred as she goes ahead and brings the little boy home. 

Richard John Grayson - Wayne. Or Dick, as he likes to call himself. 

He is adamant that he wants no parents and Martha is fine because not only that she is old enough to be not his mother but also because no child can ever be her Bruce.

“You can just call me Grandma then.” She tells him.

His eyes are wide but he nods and then smiles and Martha, in a long while, has never felt this happy. 

Her new Grandson, despite losing his parents, is a ray of sunshine with unlimited supply of energy and the cold and empty manor is warm and happy again. 

Dick is a little charmer and even after Thomas and Alfred’s initial reluctance, they immediately fall in love with the boy and one day, when Martha comes down to the morning breakfast, she hears a happy, deep rumble - one she has not heard in many years. Thomas is laughing. 

There on the dining table, seated beside Dick, was Thomas laughing. Her eyes water at the scene and Alfred, who is standing beside her offers her a handkerchief. None of them mention how his own eyes are wet too.

 ...

Dick is sixteen, a brilliant boy in academics as much as they disinterest him but an invincible athlete. Martha has been told time and time again that her grandson is undoubtedly a international level gymnast. But he is a teenager.

And teenagers steal their grandparent’s ‘coolest’ car and rush off into the night. But they don’t come back with a little battered and bruised, homeless kid tucked under their arm.

“He had jacked three tires off your car. When I confronted him, he tried to hit me with a tire iron.” He says, amused, as Thomas tries to convince the child to show him his injuries.

“I didn’t do nothin’! He’s a fuckin’ big boob liar!” They boy screams, his blue green eyes glaring daggers at Dick.

“Language.” Both her and Alfred warn simultaneously.

After hours of struggle, interrogation and fuck you’s, Martha learns that the child’s name is Jason. He is twelve. Mother died form drug overdosing and Dad is a petty henchman of some crime lord. He ran away from multiple foster homes because they are so abusive that the child feels safer on streets. 

Martha goes on a rampage over Gotham’s foster care after that. She did not donate millions of dollars annually for children to feel safer on streets. After of lot of talks and reassurances and promises, Martha acquires her second grandchild.

Jason Peter Todd - Wayne. 

Jason is tiny. Malnourished like Leslie said. But he is sharp, observant and hungry for knowledge. Martha and Alfred joke that Jason is Thomas' soul child. Where Dick had loved activity and movement, Jason liked quiet and stability - Martha thinks that running and fighting for survival on streets every single day does that you. So evenings often found her and Dick in the garden but Thomas and Jason in the library pouring over as many books as they can.

And to nobody's surprise, despite their rocky start, the boys become inseparable. They are outwardly different, with clashing interests and behaviors but Martha can see that they both carry the same cores of light.  

When the morning of Dick’s Parent’s death anniversary comes around, both her and Thomas find Jason on Dick’s bed, arms curled protectively around his big brother. For the first time in so many years, Dick wakes up to warmth surrounding him, not nightmares. 

...

Both her grandsons attend Gotham Academy so when she receives a phone call from the Principal, she is half surprised and half not. When she enters the Principal’s office, both her boys are standing on one side, Jason with his head hung in shame and Dick glaring daggers at the other side. The boy who seems to be injured is being coddled by his mother who is shooting nasty glares at her grandchildren periodically. 

Then she notices another small boy standing beside her boys, trying to melt into the wall.

Tim Drake. The only son of Jack and Janet Drake of Drake Industries.    

She arches a questioning eyebrow at Dick who shakes his head and then she turns to the Principal. 

“What happened here?”

“Glad to see you’re here Mrs. Wayne.” The Principal says, pushing his glasses up his nose, “I regret to inform you that your ward Jason Peter Todd attacked this young man here.” He gestures to the other boy. 

“Madam, Gotham Academy is a prestigious school and we do not encourage physical violence here. Yes, it might have been acceptable from where he came from but it won’t be, here. I hope you give us the right to punish Mr. Todd here appropriately.” 

Martha inwardly bristles at the jab at her grandson and says crisply, “Mr. Wayne.”

“What?”

“He’s not just Todd. He is a Wayne. Please remember that.”

“Principal Sir.” Dick cuts in and Martha is confused because as hyperactive as Dick is, he is a mannerly child and knows better than to cut in a conversation like this but what draws her attention is the chilling tone which Dick almost never uses. Dick continues, “Why don’t you tell our grandmother more of your regrets? Or the prestigious Gotham Academy believes that bullying is acceptable.” 

Martha has been told what she needs to know. 

“Jason?” she calls out to her youngest grandson softly, “What happened?”

Jason is quiet when suddenly Tim Drake moves forward. She can see he is scared the way his hands shake but determination shines in his blue eyes. She likes him.

“I want to say something.”

He narrates the tale of how he was being bullied and how the boy on the other side with his mother threw his science project model away and broke it and physically tried to attack him when Jason stepped in to save him. Martha felt nothing but pride at Jason’s righteous indignation. 

Tim also explained that Jason exercised immense control even after these bullies called him ‘street rat’, but the verbal spar intensified after Dick was insulted for his Romani heritage, but it came to fist fight after Thomas and Martha were insulted, and Bruce’s death was made fun of.

Her gaze snaps to the other three occupants of the room and they are all in various shades of pale. Apparently, the Principal had not done his homework.

“Principal” She says icily, “Yes, I give you the authority to punish Jason appropriately but only when this young man here”, she gestures to the boy who was now cowering behind his mother, “Is dealt with in the same way.”

After threatening the Principal in soft words but harsh tone about not tolerating to having her grandsons bullied the next time, she grabs Jason’s hand to drag him away from these people who don’t deserve his company, when her eyes fall on the little trembling Tim. 

She offers him her hand.

He stares at it, shocked but after an encouraging smile from Dick and a small shove from Jason, he takes it shyly.

And since that day, Tim becomes a member of Martha’s family. The boys stay together so much that even Thomas forgets that Tim is not theirs. 

Tim’s upbringing sends Martha’s grandmother instincts on a haywire and she resents the Drakes for their criminal neglect towards Tim. 

It is rewarding that Tim flourishes in their attention. 

She learns that his hobby is Photography and he is excellent at it. And he is a genius when it comes to science, computers and gadgets. He likes crime thrillers movies and books and often picks them apart with his scarily good knowledge about forensics that leave the rest of the family in awe and slightly disturbed. 

The dam breaks when one day Jason and Dick return back from school telling her that Tim was absent today and they are worried about him. When they later sneak into the Drake mansion in the evening, Thomas receives a frantic call from their oldest grandchild that Tim was burning with fever. Because Thomas is a doctor, they save Tim before anything serious happens.

This time, it is Thomas who sues the Drakes for Tim’s custody after him and Jason had, had enough of ‘Timbo’s shitty parents’.

“Timothy?” Martha brushes his sweat soaked forehead gently. “Would you like to be a member of our family legally?"

Tim is hesitant about this but he admits that he likes Wayne manor much better than he ever liked Drake mansion. He confesses that he loves Jason and Dick as brothers and sees Martha, Thomas and Alfred as his grandparents as well.

The long custody battle ends with both Jack and Janet Drake dying at the hands of two different tragedies, leaving Tim an orphan, but also with a loving family consisting of three grandparents and two brothers by his side. 

Timothy Jackson Drake - Wayne is adopted into the Wayne family as her and Thomas’ third grandson.

...

A year after they adopt Tim, Thomas comes home with a small girl on his side. She is clearly an east Asian in heritage with dark hair and dark eyes and is speech deprived. Thomas is clearly distressed after Cassandra - her name is Cassandra - is safely secured in warm bed in a nice room across Jason’s. He calls her, the three boys and Alfred to his study to explain about the small girl. 

He talks about how Gordon brought the girl to him and after hours of wordless, signed and clumsily sketched on paper conversations with the little girl they were able to determine that Cassandra was hiding from her father who was an assassin and wanted to drag the little girl down the same path before she ran away. The more he talks about the damage and abuse the girl had experienced at the hands on her own father, the more furious Martha becomes. When Thomas’ explanations ends, Jason slams a punch into the wall making a dent but no one has the heart to reprimand him for that. 

The following morning, Martha can see that her three boys have unanimously decided that they are adopting Cassandra as their sister. She is treated like a Princess, and given the nick name ‘Cass’. 

Slowly but surely, Cass learns what it means to love through Dick’s bright kindness, Jason’s quiet protection and Tim’s infinite patience. After her father is finally apprehended, the family celebrates.

Cassandra Wayne, soon after, becomes the beloved Wayne Princess of Gotham. 

Martha and Thomas often accompany their only granddaughter to her speech therapy lessons, so after six months of her adoption, at dinner, she places a kiss on everyone’s forehead - her three brothers and three grandparents, stands at the head of the table and croaks out, slowly, “Thank...thank you.” All of them stare at her flabbergasted, but it appears that she was planning to shock them even more.

“You...Love. Love you...”

The silence that follows her broken but sure words is deafening. Surprisingly it is Tim who breaks it as he scrambles out of his chair and launches himself at Cass, wrapping his arms around her and both Jason and Dick follow him, grabbing both their youngest siblings fiercely.

A quiet sob breaks her out of the trance and she smiles when she watches Thomas furiously wiping his tears from the sleeve of his shirt. The last time he     had cried was at Bruce’s funeral. And Martha is infinitely grateful that this time these are happy tears. 

...

Sometimes Martha wonders what would have happened if Bruce had lived. If these children are her grandchildren then does that mean they are Bruce’s kids? Had Bruce lived, would he have accepted these gaggle of kids that her and Thomas have collected over the years as his own? Would he have kids of his own? 

Her questions are answered when one day she hears a slight commotion in the entrance is surprised to see a young woman with a sword threatening Alfred.

“I want to meet the Master of this house. Let them know immediately.” She demands in an authoritative but silky voice, and Martha suddenly sees the Toddler clutched in her arm. 

“What is it?” Martha speaks as soon as she can when the woman notices her. She looks surprised for a second but immediately schools her features as the baby fusses.

“You’re alive.” She whispers and before any of them could make an indignant comment about her wordings, she says, “It appears that I might have traveled in to the wrong universe.”

Now that is interesting. Martha lives in a world where they are protected by aliens...so, it is certainly worth hearing for. 

Martha offers the young lady an invitation for tea which she accepts. She notices how the woman carries herself with lethal grace and dignity as if she was a Princess but much more. As they sit and Alfred leaves to bring the promised team Martha notices how the woman’s eyes sweep over the place. 

“How may I help you?”

Her voice attracts the attention of the toddler and this time, he is not clutched tightly enough to his mother’s chest to turn his small head and look at her. Martha gasps. Because the child looks too much like Toddler Bruce. But instead of the blue eyes like her son, this child has glowing green ones, like his mother. But still, the resemblance is uncanny. 

“Yes, he is your son’s.” The woman answers the unasked question.

She is explained the existence of Multiverse, and it’s workings and how Bruce survived instead of them in that world, met Talia (the woman’s name is Talia Al Ghul) and had a child but had to leave. Talia mentions the reason she came here was because her son’s life was in danger and Talia’s father wanted to raise her son as an assassin Prince and a tool for him to use. Talia’s solution to protect her son was for her to give her son to the Bruce of this world to raise, since the Bruce of that world had gone missing.   

“I can raise him.” Martha suddenly declares and the woman looks at him shocked. “I will not raise him into a life of violence but I can certainly protect him and give him a happy civilian life.”

Talia looks unsure, hesitant, but says, “I...have been a warrior since the day I can remember. Never once have I ever thought of my son not being a warrior. He was...born to be one.” 

Martha smiles. “He doesn’t have to be one. Yes, his life will be infinitely different than the one you imagined but...he will be well loved and protected. I can assure you of that.”

“Damian.” Talia whispers as he deposits the baby in her arms after a lot of consideration. “His name is Damian.”

She looks at her son tenderly one last time and places a kiss on his forehead and Martha’s heart breaks a little for the young mother. 

“Will you return back for him?” Martha asks as she follows the Talia to the door.

“No.” Talia whispers, her voice strained. “I will not. Any action taken by me is monitored by my father closely. If I return back, then he might know that I have left Damian here and I cannot let that happen. He is yours, forever.”

Martha gives her a sad smile. “You’re a brave and good mother Talia. Thank you for doing what is best for your son.”

She nods, not turning to look at Damian one last time as she leaves the manor grounds, never to return. 

Martha looks at the baby secure in her arms and her lips quirk up into a grin at the sight of two curious green eyes watching her with interest. 

“Welcome to the family, little Damian.”

When she introduces the new addition to the family, Thomas is dumbfounded. Dick is ecstatic at the prospect of having a new baby brother, Jason is secretly pleased, Cass is happiest and Tim looks unsure.

That’s how Damian Wayne - Al Ghul joins the family.

Damian fits in their home spectacularly. After few days of hesitation, like he had with Dick, Thomas takes to Damian quickly. He has an epic competition going on with their eldest grandson to become the baby’s favorite. Damian refuses to sleep without Thomas but his tantrums are only controlled and won over by Dick. Damian loves Jason manhandling him and giggles happily when the older boy throws him in the air or swings him around. Damian loves Cassandra because she knows what he wants before any of them do. And Cass loves to carry her little brother around to watch birds and animals in the manor grounds.

The only person Damian seems to not get along with is Tim and the older boy seems not be fond of him either. Because Damian wants everything Tim does and the older brother has to compromise for Damian every time. But Martha has to bite laughs a lot now a days because almost everytime Damian falls asleep, it is with Tim in vicinity. And she has caught the older boy tenderly covering Damian in his favorite blanket more often than not. Martha thinks that this is kind of cute but keeps her opinion to herself. 

Her little grandson is quite protective of his siblings though. Anytime someone upsets any of his siblings, they are threatened with scowls, growls and even bites and stabbings in extreme cases.

Like last time when Mrs. Park made fun of Cassandra’s  speech impairment, Damian almost bit her finger off. Damian hates one of Dick’s racist colleague (they all do) so much that anytime the man enters his field of vision, the first thing Damian gets his hand on is thrown at the guy’s head. With deadly precision. And last time when Mr. Link had called Jason ‘street rat’ for personally volunteering charity work for poor and homeless, Damian had smeared his juice and drool covered hands on the Man’s thousand dollars suit. And when one time, a reporter had infiltrated a Gala and chased Tim around to ask uncomfortable questions about his parent’s death and the Wayne’s involvement in it, Damian, noticing Tim’s distress had stabbed the reporter with a fork with no hesitation. 

Martha is still not sure if she should encourage or reprimand Damian for that.

...

As she sits on the head of the table with Thomas on her side and Alfred on the other end, she wonders how miraculous it is for her to have all these children in her life. 

Dick is engaged in an animated conversation with Stephanie who was introduced to the family as Tim’s girlfriend. Barbara, the daughter of James Gordon and Dick’s girlfirend/or not was helping Cass pile up food on her plate. Damian and Tim were bickering over something as usual but Jason trying to hide his snickers in guise of drinking water which made Martha sure that the something was Jason’s doing.

These people were her family. The ones she had gained after losing Bruce. She wonders, if there was a universe where Bruce got to meet her grandchildren. 

Would he accept them? As family? 

Would he love them? As family? 

She brightly smiles when the multiple sets of eyes turn to her waiting for her to blow the candle.

“Happy Birthday Martha.”

Thomas says warmly, his voice thick with emotion and she meets his gaze and sees the love, affection and thankfulness in his eyes for this family that they had created after their earth shattering loss. She knows what she wants as she blows the candle on the cake flickering in front of her.

I wish for us to be family in every universe.

[redladydeath]

Aaaaaand back to the main

@storm-ismyusername

Damm, that’s sad. She deserves so much better. I need Sarah to find someone who’ll love her unconditionally.

It doesn't even need to be romantic love, just... someone who would miss her if she was gone. Her mother and brother mean the world to her, but it feels lonely, only having them.

Just a side note, but I have no idea what Sarah/Ondine and Thomas/Fineas' orientations are. They're both the type of people who, in their main verse, never seriously questioned their sexualities and lived out their lives perfectly satisfied with their heterosexual spouses. That doesn't mean that in Hell they wouldn't try new things though. @voxaholic and I have been pairing Fineas with one of her male OCs (they've got a whole Blitz and Stolas thing going on, it's complicated), but I legit don't know if Ondine is attracted to men, women, both, neither, or somewhere in between. She had like fifteen boyfriends over the course of her downward spiral, but that's more a testament to her desire to feel like she belongs.

The song “Let You Break My Heart Again” fits this version of Sarah perfectly! [….Is it weird I know have the urge to make a playlist for an AU version of a Hazbin Hotel fankid????…]

sdfghgfdssdf, I'd be honored. The singer of that song has a certain overwhelmingly gentle quality to her voice that really works for Sarah/Ondine.

I can picture Sarah staring at herself in the mirror, with a dull lifeless expression and tired eyed, before putting on her makeup and a sultry smile and heading out to Husk’s casino. (Like that one photo Richard Avedon took of Marlyin Monroe.)

I've had this mental image for the past day or two of Fineas picking her up from work at like 4am on his shitty little Vespa/motorbike. He asks her how she's doing and she says she's fine in her flat, distant affect. She gets on the back of the bike in her sparkly work outfit, and wraps her arms around his torso, pressing her cheek against his back, pensive expression never leaving her face. In that moment together, the two of them have never felt more helpless and lonely. Fineas feels guilt eating away at him that he can't do anything to help her, that he couldn't do anything to help her when they were alive either, and that it's his fault she's dead in the first place. The two of them ride back to their little apartment in silence, where their mother is waiting with "dinner" on the stove.

Wow, a good display of how Niffty’s manipulation and how tightly she has people wrapped around her little finger. (Also her rudeness, have you SEEN Sarah!?! She’s beautiful!!!)

In the verse where everything's normal with Vox, Ondine once asked if she could give modeling a try; she's just so bored stuck in the tower every day with no responsibilities. Vox agreed and she was allowed to do a couple tasteful photoshoots. The pictures turned out well and Ondine was excited for the campaign to go to print. Vox was proud of her... until she got her first creepy fan letter/people started making suggestive comments online about Daddy's Little Princess. The campaign was buried, perverts were sniped, and Ondine wasn't allowed to model anymore. Or have a public social media presence (it was already heavily monitored, but now it's locked up tight). Yaaayyyyy.....

@storm-ismyusername

1 - How does 60sMindbreak!Vox condition different from regular RAM? (Can he remember specific events? Is he less scatterbrained and distractible? Does he break less things while at the hotel?)

Vox would probably be significantly more mellow than his main RAM counterpart. He's still distractible, high-energy, and struggles with short-term memory, but he's far more stable. There's not a 50 year gap in his memory, he doesn't have the trauma of the torture or his confinement to grapple with, and he's more or less acclimated to the way his mind works now. No one's afraid that he's going to suddenly fall apart for no clear reason and set the building on fire in this verse– he's just Alastor's offbeat, old-fashioned friend/lackey who probably shouldn't be left alone for long periods of time.

2 - Since Alastor broke Vox before he became an Overlord does he have less powers/is weaker than regular RAM?

It's sort of a weird situation. They're equal in terms of power level since neither has any active contracts anymore, but their levels of experience are difference. Main RAM Vox had become very adept at using his powers before the broadcast, after which he lost control over them, although there's still a bit of "muscle memory" there. 60s Vox never had those years of refining his powers, but he isn't starting from scratch like main Vox is. Not sure who would be more powerful since it's not exactly clearcut.

3 - How is Vox's relationship with Velvette different from canon? How is Valentino's relationship with Velvette different from canon?

My interpretation of canon Vox and Vel's relationship is that he's her mentor. He respects her abilities, but still can be a bit condescending to her. Velvette sees him as old (despite his best efforts) and kind of cringey, but she also recognizes that he's incredibly clever and his advice is worthwhile. For Valentino and Velvette, I think Valentino's opinion of Velvette changes with his mood. Sometimes he thinks she's cool and fun, other times she's a spoiled bitch who needs to get off her high horse. Velvette repeats Valentino as an overlord, but not as a person. His temper tantrums are ridiculous and she's not sure why Vox puts up with him– the sex must really be that good. However, Vel's not one to turn down partying with someone just because they're a pain to deal with sometimes. Her and Val can totally get along, so long as he's not stepping on her toes.

In this AU, Vox isn't as self-impressed as he is in the main verse, so he sees Velvette as more of a friend than someone whose raw potential he needs to mold. He might still have his quasi-paternal moments, but he mostly talks to her as an equal. Valentino tries to shut her out at first, but as time goes on, he realizes how fun and clever she can be and starts opening up to her a bit. Velvette starts off her character arc thinking that Vox is a freak and Valentino is a miserable shit. She ends it feeling like she's finally found her people. Yeah, they're freaks, but they're her freaks. She doesn't want to part ways with them; maybe if all this redemption shit doesn't work out and they all break free of their masters, they could be a team.

4 - What does Velvette think of Charlie, Vaggie, Sir Pentious (if he's still there), and Alastor? What does Valentino think of Charlie, Vaggie, Sir Pentious (if he's still there)?

Velvette's giving "sullen teenager" during her first month or so at the hotel. Like mainverse Angel, she doesn't take any of the redemption exercises seriously and can be kind of a bitch to deal with. Her and Vaggie clash a lot because of her attitude. Charlie is endlessly patient with her and thinks that once she can get her to open up, she'll buy in. Velvette bullies Pentious if he's around. Eventually, Velvette starts to chill out and becomes a bit softer with the OG hazbins.

Valentino is also hard to deal with. He's moody, thinks Charlie's mission is laughable, and is prone to making deeply cutting sarcastic remarks. His relationships with the original cast are similar to Velvette's, being mostly antagonistic until they start growing on him a bit. It takes longer for him to come around than Velvette, though.

5 - What would Velvette's reaction to seeing Mindbreak Niffty scuttling around the hotel? (Such a contrast to the cutthroat woman she worked under.

It makes Velvette's hair stand on end. She may not have liked Niffty, but this is just scary, seeing her turned inside out like this. Velvette was already leery of Alastor, but now she's actually afraid of him.

6 - What would Valentinos react to seeing Mindbreak Niffty so helpless? Would he try to hurt her (but she would like the pain) or has he grown enough of a conscience to just ignore her instead?

I'm not confident enough in my characterization of Valentino to say. We could meet in the middle and say he does something to hurt her as revenge, she reacts positively, and he's freaked out, deciding it's not worth it.

7 - Would Niffty and Vox's relationship be slightly different?

Depends on how malleable Vox's grasp on reality is. He could forget that she used to be Velvette's boss/accept Alastor's claim that Everything's Fine, She's Part Of The Team Now and start treating her like a friend, or he could be a bit more hesitant.

1 - Velvette and Valentino making fun of Alastor's stupid haircut while Vox tries (and fails) to defend it. (He secretly thinks it looks stupid too).

Valentino and Velvette are high school mean girls and Vox is trying not to give in to peer pressure (but there's a mean girl deep down inside him too, just waiting to come out).

2 - Thinking about when Vaggie flung the Hotel residents into a literal war zone. Velvette doesn't know how to fight! She was a regular teenager before dying and was snatched up by Niffty quickly after arriving in Hell so never learned to fend for herself. I can see Velvette completely freaking the entire time, potentially using Sir Pentious as a (in)human shield, and relying entirely on Valentino and Vox to not be brutally maimed or worse. This would probably be the moment Velvette became actual friends with Valentino and Vox. (Also when she realized how dangerous Vox truly is when he electrocutes an entire block. (Vaggie just assumed Velvette could fight and is horrified when she learns she threw a non combatant in the middle of a literal war zone. She would definitely apologize afterwards.)

Velvette probably has some self-defense skills, but not enough to hold her own in the Doomsday District. She definitely would try to use Pentious as a meat shield and is lowkey in awe when Valentino and Vox suddenly reveal themselves as highly competent fighters. Vaggie might've been too preoccupied with her musical number to notice that Velvette wasn't fully participating in the fight (until Val gave her one of his guns, that is).

3- After Vaggie finds out how Alastor maims Valentino including removing and selling his wings) she tries to reach out to him. At first Valentino pushes her away and lashes out, thinking it's pity when really it's empathy. Vaggie finally managed to break through his shell when she hand sewed him an eyepatch. After that he doesn't completely push her away and they start to become kinda-sorta-almost friends, eventually.

Vaggie and Val, the two most prickly people in the hotel, making nice. Charlie would be proud if she wan't preoccupied with the "Alastor's been abusing my friends" realization.

4- I think Valentino's eyesight looks like this:

Don't know enough about low vision to dispute this. He probably has depth perception issues given how he's missing an eye.

5 - Husk, Niffty, and Angel Dust are nicknamed The Glamours~ by regular Sinners because of their glamorous looking lifestyles and how much time they spend together.

Cool

6 - Alastor's a lot softer with Vox than in regular RAM He's a 1-3 out of 10 on maliciousness, breaking Vox was a complete accident and he tries his best to be kind to him. (Still a monster to Valentino though.)

That would be interesting, and has the potential to be kind of sweet in a messed up way. Alastor might've taken what happened with Vox as a lesson: don't be reckless with your powers and don't act out of anger. He ended up breaking his friend because he got too caught up in their fight and tried something rash. It'd make him even more infuriating to deal with from Valentino's perspective though. Alastor maintains that he's not hurting him out of spite (well, not entirely), he's just doing what's necessary to correct him. Valentino thinks that's a crock of shit, but if he says so, he's putting himself in danger.

60s Swap: Valentino experiencing phantom pains from his missing wings (and arm).

Mental image of Vox and Val sitting together quietly as Val "flexes" his missing arm. Vox doesn't know what to say or do, so he just decides to be there with him.

60s Swap: Velvette takes Angel Dust's role where would she take the group in episode 3?

Velvette probably wouldn't volunteer a location, she just sits there making snide comments until Vaggie snaps and tells her that if she's so smart, why doesn't she pick the trust exercise? Velvette takes them to the mall. The exercise is "trust me with your credit cards." Vaggie wants to throttle her but– shit, where did Vox go?

What would Velvette, Vox, and Valentino think of Lucifer and vice versa?

Vox is excited to meet royalty and tries to schmooze with him (the effect is slightly ruined by the fact that Vox is talking so fast, Lucifer thinks he's on coke). Valentino doesn't really give a fuck, but enjoys watching him and Alastor bicker. Velvette's curious at first, thinking Lucifer is going to be some cool, cunning anti-hero, and is lowkey disappointed when he turns out to be just some cringey dad. His and Charlie's reconciliation may have touched her just a tiny bit, though.

[medea10]

My Review of Requiem of the Rose King

How did I get into this anime? Let’s just see what my thoughts were the second I saw the promo poster.

“This looks like something that should have been made 15 years ago and something Studio Gonzo should have put a pin in. Are there going to be a bunch of Texans doing English accents? This looks to be promising to the female yaoi demographic. How is there not an ALI PROJECT song prepared for this? Wait, can we still get an ALI PROJECT song for this anime? Why isn’t there an ALI PROJECT song for this anime?!”

This story is loosely based on Shakespeare's plays. England has been in a hot-bed of royal fights over which house is fitting of being crowned King of England, the house of York or the house of Lancaster. At the beginning of our story, it’s decided that Henry VI is the rightful king. But let’s see if a certain Richard has a say in the matter.

Richard is the third son to the Duke of York (and his name’s sake). Richard was loved by his father but despised by his mother. Take your pick, it could be because Richard is neither man nor woman, Richard was born under a bad omen, or the fact that Richard looks absolutely nothing like his parents or his brothers. Despite the harsh shitty upbringing, he’s still devoted to his father and wants to help his father pursue the crown.

However, Richard’s father fell to defeat at the hands of the house of Lancaster. But Richard is determined to keep the dream alive by having his elder brothers Edward and George hold the crown once it was won by any means necessary. He’s not afraid of getting his hands dirty or setting up anyone that gets in his way. But aside from that, there is a bit of a love story that revolves around Richard and Henry VI.

Neither of them knows of each other’s family name (at the beginning), but things get tumultuous when everything is out in the open.

BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: Before I go into who is in this anime, I must always praise this one voice actor. Mitsuki Saiga! If you need someone who can play literally every gender in the known world and even a few undiscovered ones and Megumi Ogata is in the can, Mitsuki Saiga can get the job done! Okay now that I got that out of my system, FUNimation nabbed this one at the last minute and saw it quite fitting to give this an English dub. Oh fuck! The Texas brigade dubbing something clearly British! It’s Black Butler all over again where J. Michael Tatum is the clear winner and everything else is on levels between ‘okay’ and ‘cringe’. I don’t know. I’m not brave enough to hear the English version. Here’s what you might recognize these folks from.

JAPANESE CAST: *Richard is played by Mitsuki Saiga (known for Drew on Pokemon AG, Maria on FMA, Yelena on Attack on Titan, Henry on Black Clover, Kurako on Princess Jellyfish, Wolfram on Kyou Kara Maou, and Rossiu on Gurren Lagann)

*Henry is played by Hikaru Midorikawa (known for Zel on Slayers, Zora on Black Clover, Tamahome on Fushigi Yugi, Li on Code Geass, Yoshino on Clannad, Best Jeanist on My Hero Academia, and 16 on DBZ)

ENGLISH CAST: *Richard is played by Ciaran Strange

*Henry is played by Landon Mcdonald (known for Enmu on Demon Slayer: Mugen Train, Shun on Rent-A-Girlfriend, and Shiba on Tokyo Revengers)

SHIPPING: Characters screwing each other in more ways than once. There’s a lot of betrayal, usurping, and manipulating people’s emotions just to get their way.

Yeah, that’s Shakespeare!

Anyone named Henry loved Richard. Anyone who looked like Henry VI loved Richard. Anyone whose sperm has come from a Henry and has a penis loved Richard. Is that gay enough for you now, fangirls? Okay, how about any women? Yes, there was Ann, Richard’s childhood friend. Ann loves Richard too, but she’s being lead astray because of her father and her betrothed.

Oh sure, Ann does return to Richard. But that’s only after she becomes a pregnant widow. But this is such a staged marriage. They haven’t slept with each other! Well Ann doesn’t know about Richard’s peculiar body, so we can’t blame him there. Richard still yearns for Henry even though he’s long gone. Even after that, Richard finds himself spending nights with Buckingham. Richard almost ended up in certain trouble after many nights of fucking. But the point is, there’s a lot to unpack here. At least Richard isn’t the only person with a messed-up love life in the family. His eldest brother Edward really is no better.

Let’s just say that when it comes to Edward, he has shitty taste in women. He was betrothed to another woman at the start of his kingdom when he met Elizabeth and got married to her. And don’t get me started on that bitch either. She married into the royal family with the mission of destroying it because they killed her first husband. She didn’t love Edward. She just wanted to have babies with him and have them take over and do her bidding when they’re older. Even when married with kids, Edward had a bit of a hedonistic lifestyle. I honestly think he fucked around too much and caught something.

Do I have a ship that I support? I know fans of the franchise have chosen what side they want to be on when it comes to Richard. Team Henry, Team Henry, Team Henry, or Team Catesby. I’m just going along for the ride and seeing what happens next. Go team!

HALFWAY MARK: The York’s getting the crown for England wasn’t going to go down without a fight. Warwick (a long-time ally) turned out to be a double-crosser early on. He betrayed King Edward and offered his daughter Ann to Edward of Lancaster. But to cover his bases, he offered his other daughter to King Edward’s brother George. It all comes crashing down as Warwick is taken out on the battlefield by Buckingham (posed as Richard). The Lancaster family is captured. Edward is murdered in front of his mother by Richard. Edward is fine by this as he does have a thing for Richard. Like I said, any sperm that came from Henry has a thing for Richard.

But the biggest hit for Richard came in the form of learning that Henry was indeed THAT Henry, the previous king and (to Richard) the reason why his father perished. Though we all know that it was Henry’s wife Margaret that killed Richard’s father. Henry winds up with a bout of amnesia and is unable to remember Richard or the time they spent together. Richard’s mother goes and makes things worse by poisoning Henry with words disparaging her son. You’ll find this happens a lot throughout the rest of the series. Hearing Henry repeat his mother’s words made Richard snap and kill Henry. Of course, Richard had orders by his older brother to kill Henry, but I think Richard was acting on impulse. After that, he hooks up with Ann (after he kills her husband, father-in-law, and father).

We then get into a time-leap. King Edward is a skirt-chaser. George is drunk. And Richard is married to Ann and taking care of her and the baby she had with her previous husband. But everyone seems to believe the lie that the kid is Richard’s. Even though Ann’s child looks like her previous husband and IS his. I will not say the names of the kids these people had because everyone’s name is the fucking same. Geez England, add some different names please. Not everybody has to be named Richard, Edward, Henry, and Elizabeth.

ENDING: Richard is now King of England. Now it wasn’t an easy path to get to the throne and he was behind several people in line. First, both of Richard’s brothers died almost at the same time. George was murdered and King Edward croaked from an unspecified illness. Next in line would be King Edward’s eldest son (who is still a child). Richard and Buckingham had to take care of King Edward’s crazy widow in the meantime. She had her eyes on the throne and a slow-moving coup in the works with her supporters. Richard was able to do away with Elizabeth and her children. A few episodes later, two of her children were poisoned and I’m sure Richard will get blamed for that. And then a certain thorn in Richard’s side continues to stir up trouble and that is his mother. She tries to get the public enraged by telling them Richard is a demon. But a stunt by Buckingham and Richard fooled the public and they are all in agreement that he must become king.

But Richard’s problems are only beginning. There’s still that slow-moving coup I was talking about in the works to oust him. Henry might still be alive. Richard’s body is still a cluster-fuck! No, seriously it is! He has breasts, a penis, and now I think he has a uterus. At least it feels like it when he got a check-up and we’re aware of how many nights he’s together with Buckingham. This however wasn’t the only time Buckingham fucked Richard as he kinda betrayed the crown and was beheaded as a result. Now Richard is going through some severe Henry-withdrawal. Oh yeah, Buckingham’s real name was Henry. Imagine that! Another character named Henry that has an unhealthy lust for Richard. Just because Buckingham is dead doesn’t mean the trouble is over. An uprising is coming from this weird guy that we see smiling and plotting, Lord Richmond. He thinks he deserves the crown and wants the death of Richard. In fact, he’s the guy that gave the poison candies to Edward’s sons.

Richard’s wife Ann was worried as her health was declining due to tuberculosis and wants her son to have nothing to do with the crown. So Ann dies and they fake her son’s death and have him go in hiding with a fake name. And then Richard’s crazy mother (who I’m surprised is still alive given the average life span of this family) comes out to call him a demon once more and rooting for Richmond to defeat her son. To top it off, I’m pretty sure he caught tuberculosis from his now deceased wife.

So now it’s a showdown between Richard III and Lord Richmond. Who will come out vict…I don’t even need to finish that question because everyone and their mother knows who wins. Richmond takes out Richard. But we end with Richard’s only loyal ally Catesby coming to rescue him. But we’re pretty sure Richard is done for. Whether it was the battle or the tuberculosis, he’s done for.

Shakespeare works are not for everyone. Even the more amusing ones like A Midsummer Night’s Dream are not for everyone. It’s an odd taste. And it’s not going to help when the mangaka comes out to say that the manga has so much more that the anime has neglected to show and a lot more sex scenes. In my case, it does entice me to read the manga. I’ve seen so many thoughts on the internet surrounding this one particular anime. Most of them hate it and others see it as an underrated classic. I just thought it was okay.

In fact, I would like to think of this anime as a picture book. Maybe it was just bad timing with me and most people who watched this anime at the exact same time as Demon Slayer’s recent season. Because going from that to Requiem can give you whiplash. But the way the animation was, it almost felt like a picture book. That’s the nicest way I can put it for an anime that doesn’t show much in terms of a battle when every other episode has Richard in a battle.

If you are a Shakespeare enthusiast, I would say give it a chance. This wasn’t my cup of tea, but I’m glad I was able to give it a chance. I’ll still stay on the record that Romeo x Juliet was the best anime adaptation of a Shakespeare play.

If you would like to watch Requiem of the Rose King, FUNimation and Crunchyroll have every episode (including the recap) available for streaming.

[marauderundercover]

Taking Chances Chapter 4: Unexpected (Bonding)

Prev

AO3

Bruce Wayne felt lost. This wasn’t an unusual feeling for him, but he wasn’t particularly fond of the events that led to him feeling lost. First, he found out he had a daughter. Yet another child that he hadn’t known of their existence. Then, he acted as Batman. He researched the girl and found that her school situation was...less than ideal. As was the supervillain situation in Paris. The girl- his daughter- had been targeted several times. Sometimes the Akuma went after her from the start. Other times, she was unfortunate enough to be in its line of sight when it was on a rampage. Any way you looked at it, she was in danger. No, the biggest mistake in researching her came with the phone number for the bakery run by her parents. Two lovely people who had raised her and taught her right from wrong. Something he hadn’t done. Their phone call was what left him feeling lost. They hadn’t demanded that he stay away from his daughter- from Marinette. No, on the contrary, they thought it was a great idea for the two to bond. Especially once Bruce had mentioned his other children. 

“Marinette was distraught when the only information we could give her about her birth father was his name.” Sabine had said, adding to Bruce’s confusion. 

“You had my name but didn’t reach out?” Bruce asked, trying (and failing) to figure out the situation. 

“We didn’t have much to go on. Just your name and that you were American and worked in business. Bridgette didn’t give any specifics, and back then it didn’t really matter. I assumed Bruce Wayne was a common enough name, especially in the US.” Sabine replied simply. The rest of their conversation had gone similarly, with Bruce growing more and more lost until the end. They hadn’t even suggested a DNA test (though he was planning on asking Marinette, just so that they could be completely certain). They just wanted Marinette happy. Even if it meant meeting and bonding with the man who hadn’t known about her existence. 

---

Marinette Dupain Cheng was not having an easy week. No, her week was sucky. In fact it was beyond sucky, it was shitty. So many things were happening at the same time, and she was just grateful that she wasn’t currently in Paris, since she was certain she’d be akumatized. From being attacked by the Joker for simply looking like a Wayne, to meeting Batman who was just as angry in person, and then figuring out Bruce Wayne really was her dad and accidentally calling him Batman, to fighting an Akuma by herself (one that she could barely handle) and then to top it all off, Adrien is Chat Noir. And Adrien has a crush on her, as Marinette. And apparently has for at least a month. Oh and now he knows that she’s Ladybug and so last night was filled with her Chat Blanc nightmares all over again. The cherry on the top of this mess was the fact that the class was practically ignoring her. She was sure they weren’t doing it intentionally and that they were just kinda distracted by Lila’s tall tales of Gotham. Tales that include her dating one of Bruce Wayne’s sons. She wouldn’t clarify which one, which was probably for the best. They two closest to their age were 12 and 19. Neither a great option for the 15 year old Italian. A shrill ringing tugs Marinette out of her thoughts. Glancing down at the unknown number attempting to call her, Marinette silently prayed that this would turn her shitty week around. 

“Hello?” She answers, wincing slightly at the way her voice sounds after a night filled with screaming and crying from nightmares. 

“Is this Marinette Dupain Cheng?” A deep voice asks. Marinette frowns. 

“Um, yes?”

“Good. This is Bruce Wayne and well, I’m not sure how to-”

“You’re my dad.” She blurts out, face instantly heating up. “Oh crap, I mean, um-”

“Well yes. I do believe I may be your father. I was in contact with your parents earlier, to ask about boundaries and such. Your mother says that you had shown interest in meeting me and seeing how we’re similar?” He says, the question clear in his voice. Marinette opens her mouth to respond, then frowns. 

“Just like that? We’re gonna meet, just like that?” She asks, hoping that her distrustful tone doesn’t push the man away. 

“I’ll admit that I was going to ask if you would mind a paternity test. After speaking with your mother, I have no doubts, but I thought it might make you feel better. And of course, if you would prefer to just act as though I didn’t speak to your parents and go on with your trip, we can do that as well. I just- I was caught off guard, if I’m being honest.” Bruce Wayne- her father- says. 

“I’ll do it. I- I would like to get to know you. I can’t have a relationship with Bridgette, but if my parents are okay with it, I do want a relationship with you.” Marinette admits, holding her breath as she waits for an answer. There’s silence on the other end for a long moment, but just as Marinette’s about to apologize and tell him he can go and pretend she doesn’t exist, he answers. His voice a little softer this time. 

“I would like that.” 

---

The paternity test came out positive, to no one’s surprise. Bruce had given Marinette the option of meeting somewhere more public (like a restaurant or museum) to bond, or coming over to the manor. Not quite ready to deal with the possibility of paparazzi and the rumors (no matter how true they may be) that would stem from a public visit, Marinette agreed to going to the manor for dinner. Which is how she ended up sitting in silence in a town car with a man who seemed like he knew more than he was letting on. 

“So, you’re the one who raised Mr. Wayne?” Marinette asks, not quite ready to call the man “Dad” or any variation of the word. The man nods and she meets his eyes in the rearview mirror. 

“Indeed, Miss. I am Alfred Pennyworth.” The man, Monsieur Pennyworth, says calmly. She tries not to let the frustration that she feels building show on her face. She feels like she should know this man, like there’s something important that she’s just barely missing. 

“Have we met before?” Marinette finally asks, racking her brain as she tries to figure out why this man is so familiar to her. 

“I don’t believe so, Miss Dupain Cheng.” He says, and for the first time since meeting him, it doesn’t feel like he’s all knowing. Instead, it feels like he’s just as confused as she is. Drat. She opens her mouth to question him more, when the huge manor becomes visible in the distance. Eyes widening, Marinette forgets everything else and turns her attention to the beautiful architecture. The giant fence and metal gates do little to hide the massive house. Sections of the house rise above others, almost as if there are towers. Dozens of windows are visible, as is the giant fountain at the front of the house. Ripping her sketchbook out of her bag, Marinette immediately starts sketching out the ideas that attack her mind. Dresses and suits and skirts, all using the architecture in front of her for the basic shapes of the outfits. As the car goes past the gate and the gardens come into view, Marinette can’t hold back her shocked gasp. Shaped hedges and flowers, hundreds of different colored flowers, and trees and- it was beautiful. Almost too perfect. Like something that belonged in a movie. She jumps slightly as the car door is opened, Alfred standing on the other side with an eyebrow quirked up. Right. She was actually getting out of the car. And going into this massive house. And spending time with her biological- nope. She can’t do this. She can’t- 

“Miss Dupain Cheng, if it makes you feel any better, Master Bruce seems to have run into some traffic on his way back from the office. You’ll have a few minutes to gather your bearings inside before he arrives.” Alfred says softly. Relief washes over her and she nods, finally moving to get out of the car. 

“Thank you, Alfred.” She says, smiling at the man. He nods back at her before leading her up the steps to the door. He opens it and then steps back, allowing her to take a tentative step into the house. Her previous panic is pushed aside as she realizes the inside is just as gorgeous as the outside. Immediately turning back to her sketchbook, she tunes out the world around her and just stands in the foyer, scribbling furiously into her sketchbook. 

“Um, hi?” A voice says, making Marinette yelp and jump, eyes scanning her surroundings until they fall on a guy. A pretty tall guy. 

“Hi.” She says softly, also confused as to who this guy was. Not her- dad-biological father-other part of her DNA-father-Mr. Wayne- not anyone she had ever met, that’s for sure. 

“I’m sorry, I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Dick Grayson.” The man says, extending his hand, a smile on his face. Anyone else probably would have thought the smile was sincere, but Marinette had always been good at reading emotions. And she could tell that he was wary of her. Why would he- oh. Grayson. As in, Richard Grayson, as in this man was her brother. Or, well, maybe he wouldn’t want to be. Maybe he would think that she’s ridiculous or that she’s just here to get money or here to try and pull apart Mr. Wayne’s family or maybe he would think that she was trying to take his place and she would never but maybe he would hate her and- She takes in a deep breath, trying desperately to ground herself and wishing she’d taken up Adrien’s earlier offer of him coming with. 

“I’m Marinette. Marinette Dupain Cheng.” She finally says, reaching out and shaking his hand. He nods, obviously still confused. So Mr. Wayne hadn’t mentioned her. Did he hate her? Did he ask her here to have her sign a NDA? Did he not want anything to do with her? Of course he wouldn’t, he obviously already had a family. A family that he chose, not one that he had by accident. His name was on her birth certificate, surely he would have found her sooner if he actually wanted anything to do with her? He chose Dick Grayson to be his son. He wanted him. He didn’t want Marinette. He-

“Ah, Marinette. I see you’ve met Dick.” The last voice she needed to hear says calmly as he walks through the door. Marinette swallows back the thickness in her throat, the one that tells her the tears will be starting soon. 

“Uh, yes. Mr. Wayne. Um, hi.” She says, flinching slightly when he winces. What did she do wrong this time? Was he really going to tell her to take a hike? If he didn’t hate her before, he surely did now. 

“Bruce, what’s going-” Dick starts to ask but is cut off by screaming voices getting closer to them.

“What the hell is wrong with you, Demon Spawn?” 

“Not my fault your blocking skills are subpar, Todd.”

“Sub- you almost stabbed me, you little shit!”

“Almost, yes. But I didn’t. I’m sure Father will be pleased with my restraint.” 

“You little fu-” “Boys!” Mr. Wayne finally yells as the two screaming walk into view. Both freeze and the younger one’s eyes instantly fall on Marinette, narrowing as he takes a defensive position. 

“Another one, Bruce, really?” The older one asks, making Marinette flinch back. Of course. Two more of his sons-her brothers- who he chose. Another two that he wanted. Not like her, someone he was going to be forced to know. Unless he told her tonight that he never wanted to speak to her again and made her sign a paper saying that she would never contact him again and then they would never have to worry about seeing her again and- oh this is a lot. 

“What were you two doing?” Mr. Wayne finally asks, and that’s when Marinette sees the weapons in their hands. And the blood on the older man’s shirt. The man turns slightly so that that part of his shirt is hidden when he notices her staring. 

“Uh, bonding?” He says, not at all convincing. 

“Who is that, Father?” The younger boy asks, the utter distaste clear on both his face and in his tone. And this is it. This is where he’s going to say that she’s no one, she’s nothing, and then he’s going to make her sign that stupid piece of paper and the last chance she has at knowing one of her biological parents is going to fly out the window. Poof. And then she’ll be so embarrassed, she won’t be able to go back on the trip and then she’ll have to change her name but she can’t completely run away yet because of stupid Hawkmoth and-

“This is Marinette, my daughter.” Well that was unexpected.

Next

Tag List: @maribat-bdbwm @vixen-uchiha @stainedglassm @liquid-luck-00 @when-no-wings-do-broomsticks @jayjayspixiepop @jjmjjktth @mizzy-pop @trippingovermyfeet @queenz-z @thepaceperson @iloontjeboontje @waiting247 @laurcad123 @toodaloo-kangaroo

[almondmilks-posts]

Just a lil ramble

Ok just a thought because I'm getting back into the secret history again ...

Dream smp characters as the secret history characters because i can

Henry: thecnoblade because this definitely the dark personality, the mystery the enigmatic character but also the death. He killed 2 people?? Well 3 because himself kinda and also he planned the best ways to kill bunny which is 1000% technoblade and look on the SMO they look up to thecno for answers like they do with Henry... And the Greek obsrssuy with homer ... "Welcome home Theseus?" Ring any bells.... OK BUT HENRY THREW BUNNY OFF A CLIF ISNT THAT WHAT HAPPENED TO THESEUS.... The parallels are disgusting. ...

Richard: I'm thinking Tommy because it really is Tommy smp unreliable narrator we know Tommy and Richard lies about the plotline.... I also think because controversial but all of Tommy's issues were because of him he wasn't actually that good of a person and when you analyse Richard he wasn't exactly good either.... But also Henry kinda takes Richard under his wing much like thec does with Tommy. Richard and we know is easily manipulated like Tommy so it's a no brainer ...

Camilla: tubbo ok hear me out... I know she had a thing with Henry and Charles but let's forget that... Camilla's character is basically based on others because that's how Richard (our narrator) sees her now tubbo his lore and plot line is based on others, . Tommy than schlatt than ranboo not 100% sure but I don't think tubbbo has had lore not based upon others... So we know kinda bearly little about tubbo lore wise because of other plot lines much like camilia and while Tommy the dream smp narrator isn't with tubbo if we didn't watch a tubbo stream or or non cannon ranboo and tubbo lore we really wouldn't know shit about tubbo

Bunny: I want bunny to be dream so bad which is the only right answer ofc. The manipulation the shitty Ness of how he treats his friends like dream with Tommy and George and sapnap look that there fight when dream came out of prison yea it's somethy dream would do...

Julian: oooo ok ok Wilbur. This character is so fucking shady when you dig deeper into Julians role and search up some fan theories about him. But also because Julian is a "coward" (quote( and I'm convinced manipulated all of the students like Wilbur did in pogtopia with the big bang and leave by blowing up lmanburg because he couldn't have it. The group also look up to Julian him and Henry being close and Richard wanting to be close ... Also makes sense with this SBI brother head cannon of Wilbur tech and Tommy....

Francis: I wanna say Fundy, not just because of the ginger but the daddy issues and the hypochondria like I'm sure that's cannon for Fundy, but also gay? Like fundys lore although there really isn't much like him and Wilbur were close but are not now like Francis and Julian because im sure Francis was like woah this man's actually not that great ...

Judy: tough but im thinking quackity based on the comedic timing and always being around, plus tell me quackity wouldn't do some cocain with Tommy in a burger king parking lot .. we know quackity lives burger king and he had that weird drug dealer arc which btw I love quackity lore probably one of my fav characters and streamers actually

Charles: see this one was also quite hard but hear me out I'm thinking this one is schlatt because alcoholics but also SMp live is cannon on the dream smp, bring schlatt as a character between both and see see this decline of humanity much like we do with Charles. Also schlatt lore was great AND I WILL stand by this schlatt as a character wasn't that bad at all like really what did he do wrong? Exile Tommy and Wilbur and tried to kill tubbo for conspiracy for treason which he did.... So like yea but also Charles was sexually abusing his TWIN like schlatt was kinda witch quackity but Camila was his sister but ngl I know because it's Richards narrative and I really shouldn't but I do kinda feel for Charles like Henry was a shit head to him and put all the blame for "killing that farmer" which I don't believe they even did kill the farmer in the first place but that's irrelevant I'm just saying I think the characters kinda line up