#ADHD Mention

[masked-kitsune]

I've been hyper fixating on Slugterra recently, so here are some headcanons

•Eli is fluent in the language native to Slugterra, thanks to his dad. He grew up speaking the language along with writing and reading it in preparation for the drop along with English.

•Sometimes Eli will curse at someone in English if he's really angry or he just switches languages when he's flustered or scared. The gang know that when Eli starts speaking the language of the burning world that they're in deep trouble

•Everyone has accidentally eaten slug food at least once

•Trixie punched a guy who was being racist towards Kord and Pronto once

•Kord was shocked when he found out Eli was driving a mecha without a learner's permit, let alone a license

•Pronto is a really good cook

•Junjei has nightmares frequently about his time as the dark slinger

•Eli has nightmares frequently about everything he's witnessed in Slugterra that's traumatized him

•Eli sleeps with his slugs after the events of It Comes By Night

•Pronto usually patches the team up after missions if they get hurt

•Everyone in the Shane gang has adhd to various degrees

•The day and night cycle in Slugterra are longer by thirty minutes to an hour. There are Sundrop and Moondrop gems in the highest points of each cavern that act as a sun and moon, respectively, allowing people, plants, and animals of Slugterra to get the same effects from real sunlight

•The carvens experience rain via slug migrations or when enough fire, water, and air slugs gather. There's also the occasional opening of a thermal vent that causes the humidity to spike and then causes rain when it meets cool air

[glassjoeandgreattigersssimp]

Aran Ryan headcannons for St. Patrick's Day!

(Authors note: Doing an Aran Ryan is illegal in 47 of the 50 states of America. Do not the Aran Ryan. Penalty for the Aran Ryan is 10-20 years in state jail.)

- He was quote anxious about leaving his family and living in America by himself. He always lived in a big household in Ireland, so the culture shock would be huge. It's a good thing he quickly became friends with Disco Kid!

- Loves the idea of owning a motorcycle and terrorizing people with it. He has lots of leather jackets, but can't own a bike since he's been blacklisted from driving in the US.

- Got black listed from driving in the US after he took Disco Kid's convertible for a spin and killed 3 people with it.

- In the Punch Out universe, he trolls his fans by making parody thirst traps. The punchlines are random every time, but he's aware of how many people simp for him.

- Takes ADHD medicine but is insecure about others knowing about it, especially his father. He got them prescribed to him after Disco Kid recognized that he had ADHD.

- Doesn't ever want to retire from boxing. If he's forced to, he'll just resort to illegal street fighting in an organization (likely made by him).

Sorry for the short headcannons. I'll update this if I can think of more! I got writers block ;-;

Anyways happy Aran Ryan month!

[yesthatsatumbler]

I once ended up on a channel with a 15 second slowdown/rate limit and I basically got around it by putting all the follow-up messages in the same comment until the 15 seconds were up and I could post. I think I could probably have gotten away with it on a 1 minute slowdown too but it would have resulted in really long responses.

But otherwise, yeah, the edit function is your friend.

Good lord. I just found a discord channel (supposedly for asking questions) that limits you to sending 1 message a minute.

This is a hate crime against people with ADHD. You really expect me to summarize all my thoughts in a single post and not have five different followup messages immediately after I hit send? In this economy?

[adhdandcomics]

"adhd is the easiest disability to have" “sure plenty of people have adhd but most people are faking” “people are abusing the resources that WE need so that’s why i can’t get my adderall!”

there has been an artificial shortage of all adhd medication for the past 4 years in the US. every investigation into this shortage has returned with the unequivocal result that simply nobody thinks we need it enough to solve the problem.

so they point fingers at the “faker” gaming the system to get adderall who “thinks” they have adhd or is “abusing stimulants to get ahead” for a problem that Our system MANUFACTURED.

so we would be at each others throats instead of realizing that our government and big pharma is to blame for all of this. because their First priority is to punish addicts and to punish folks with adhd and to punish anyone who relies on medication. over everything else. even over profit.

[dasiesanddarkness]

sick of the dumb Jesper Fahey agenda

Jesper Fahey that stays up until 3 am researching random things because he thought about it and now he needs to know the answer

Jesper Fahey that can explain complex concepts better than Kaz because he’s thought about them so much that the facts are permanently implanted in his brain

Jesper Fahey that asks random questions without context because it popped into his head and now he has to know

Jesper Fahey that goes on long drawn out rambling sessions about the things that interest him

Jesper Fahey that is the go to guy for random facts in the Dregs because he often knows the answer or knows enough to guess relatively reliably

Jesper Fahey that knows how to do all sorts of things (treat a burn, rig a small bomb, pick a simple lock, scale a building, knit a scarf, mend clothes, throw a knife, etc) because he saw other people doing them and asked and asked and asked to be taught until they gave in

smart Jesper Fahey. tell me you see the vision

[citricacidprince]

“Man I’ve been feeling good lately! Maybe I don’t gotta take my medication that helps my mood/productivity!”

☝️if this thought ever crosses your mind never listen to it, that is the devil talking

[whyseverynametaken01]

smosh, I'm once again asking you to put those two again in another reddit story.

it's been (almost) 9 months since the last one

[fayewoodss]

Brief gautism thoughts:

Dream's comments on George's work ethic line up a lot with George's own self described struggles, but I think it notes a clear difference in their neurodivergency and how they navigate it.

Dream's neurodivergency is disabling, but he was raised with a diagnosis and resources. He is equipped and far more likely to self advocate. He also has a strong safety net with living and working with his family.

George's neurodivergency is disabling, but he didn't receive any diagnoses or resources, making it hard or impossible for him to self advocate. He can recognize his struggles and be the first person to admit he has a problem, but fixing said problem is a Herculean task when he doesn't have prior knowledge or experience. I think he has a good support system, but being separated from his family severs some connections that may lead him to action.

On top of that, it's very clear that the way Dream and George operate and what helps them fall on different points of the spectrum. Dream is very independent and yses his hyperfixations as motivation for his work, sometimes to a fault. George benefits from collaboration and body doubling, his special interests being more immobilizing as they serve as a comfort zone to avoid the difficult task of overcoming executive dysfunction. Both boys believe that no content is better than unproductive content, Dream is just more likely to use that to be productive while George manifests it as a personal failing, leading to insecurity, dysfunction, and being too self critical.

I won't comment much on the communication stuff because I do believe Dream, obviously. They live together and do communicate and collaborate, but it is frustrating as a fandom when the only thing we see is all three of them contradicting each other on stream, saying the others are lying, and creating confusion and disconnect. However within that, we can piece together the struggled that they may be facing, especially with George and his current relationship content.

We also know George has a long history of depression and executive dysfunction. I just hope whatever is going on in his head eases up and the people surrounding him encourage him to get proper help and resources.

[scenecipriano]

Lucifer draping himself over Alastor: Ya know how I went to the pharmacy?

Alastor: Yes?

Lucifer: Umm they’re out of my ADHD medication for five days…

Alastor: Oh my god…

Lucifer: It’s gonna be a fun week!

Alastor: I’m going to Rosie’s!

Lucifer: THROUGH SICKNESS AND IN HEALTHY MOTHERFUCKER-

[faramirsonofgondor]

I was hoping you could work your magic on the notion of there being a connection between Dick’s role as the guy who quips/yaps and the central theme of him being ignored.

Frankly, this is such a constant that it’s hard to pin down all the instances in comics where it occurs, but to give a few general examples:

Both as Robin and Nightwing, Dick is shown to be uniquely sidelined during collaborative events — not in the sense that he isn’t there, but that his input has a far higher likelihood of being thrown out. Suggestions he gives while trying to figure out cases are either dismissed out of hand or actively talked over, usually (but not always) by Bruce. Especially in older comics, it’s hard to find an instance where Dick’s thoughts are actually taken seriously for the majority of the run.

Dick’s romantic history is also filled with cases where both implicit and explicit vocalizations of his discomfort are ignored. You know what I’m talking about here.

There’s also the whole of both the Court of Owls and the Spyral arcs. During the Court of Owls event, Dick spends a ridiculous amount of time engaged in one-sided conversation with Bruce about his right to be involved in his family history and know what’s going on. Bruce does not relent — even so far as having Dick take a blood draw to test for relation to William Cobb without his knowledge and punching out a tooth instead of just explaining what’s going on.

As for Spyral, Jesus Christ does the man not have any autonomy. It starts with Dick literally on his hands and knees begging not to go, only to be ignored. The entirety of the Grayson comic series is one long plea by Dick not to do certain things, only to be told by Spyral agents that he doesn’t have a choice because of his role as an underling. Then he goes back and begs to Bruce via comms to return home, and is ignored there as well.

When he finally returns and attempts to explain to his family that he was forced to go, every single person except Damian ignores this in favor of blaming Dick for faking his death and taking the mission. They’re more mad at him then Bruce, despite explicitly stating on multiple accounts that is was unwilling.

Personally, I can’t help but think that at some point down this line, Dick’s tendency to vocalize his stream of consciousness is founded on the idea that no one is listening. He says out of pocket stuff all the time, or otherwise doesn’t sensor his monologues. in the sincere belief that nobody cares anyways.

Maybe it helps him feel less lonely, or maybe it’s purely because it helps him think and he doesn’t believe there will be any negative consequences — because it isn’t like anyone is paying enough attention to glean important information from his words.

OOOOH I’ve been thinking about this stuff too, especially in connection to him being SA’ed multiple times and people treating him like a slut. But also in general Dick is a character whose autonomy is constantly being ignored or taken away from him (his arguments with Bruce, him being assaulted, the apprentice arc, etc.) I’m gonna do so much yapping about this now so buckle up. My thoughts are probably gonna be disorganized asf too.

I think that it would be realistic that Dick resorts to making quips, jokes, and just saying crazy shit sometimes in an attempt to diffuse tension or distract people but also because nobody ever listens to him when he’s trying to be serious about things. It starts to become a vicious cycle where people don’t take him as seriously as they should, and he plays into that.

I also think a large part of it is centered around his relationship with Bruce (like you pointed out with your post). But I also think it starts a little earlier than that. Whether or not he was being groomed by Haly’s circus for the court is up to your interpretation, but he was a professional athlete and gymnast when he was still a child. That’s taxing work, it’s gotta take hours upon hours of training and practice to get to where Dick was before his parents died when he was 8-9 years old. And I sincerely doubt that either of his parents started as young as he did. I don’t doubt that Dick wanted to be an acrobat and part of the circus like his parents and family, but I also do think that the amount of pressure and work it took probably wasn’t healthy for a child Dick’s age.

Perhaps his autonomy wasn’t necessarily taken away from him in this scenario, but his circumstances didn’t provide him with many opportunities for what he could do. Furthermore, even if nobody pressured him to be an acrobat, his family was the circus, so obviously there’s going to be some internalized pressure towards following in their footsteps because he loves his family and wants to spend time with them and make them happy. I doubt his parents or anyone at the circus would ignore his pain, but I do think it does set Dick up for being a people-pleaser and whatnot.

Then his parents are killed and nobody is listening to him when he says it wasn’t an accident. He loses his autonomy when he’s put in Juvie for literally no reason other than his parents’ deaths. He loses his family and in some ways, he loses his future. The only person who listens to him is Batman, which I think is kinda crucial to their later-on unhealthy dynamic.

When he and Bruce first became crime-fighting partners, Dick was a child. It doesn’t matter that they’re supposed to be partners (which usually means that they’re equals) because there’s an obvious power imbalance between them. This furthered by the fact that Dick likely feels indebted to him because he was the only one who listened and believed him about his parents’ murder, and because Bruce gave him an outlet and promised to help bring Zucco to justice. I think that in the beginning of their relationship, Bruce would definitely hear out Dick’s suggestions and ideas, especially considering Dick was a pretty smart and talented kid.

But then Dick gets beat up by Two-Face, he goes out on his own, and he helps start the Titans. I think over time, with these factors in mind, Bruce would listen to Dick less and less because he feels like his control is slipping and he’s worried about Dick hurt. He thinks he knows what’s best for Dick, and since Dick isn’t really listening to him, why should he listen to Dick? I think for the entirety of their time as Batman and Robin, it never really occurred to Bruce that there’s a major power imbalance between them, and that Bruce shouldn’t be treating like he’s an adult. Like he expects Dick to be able to do the same things he does, despite the fact that Dick is a child, but he exerts his power over Dick to get him to listen.

By the time the whole Apprentice Arc rolls around (which in my personal headcanon happens when Dick is like 13-14) Dick has come to conclusion that working and training like an adult is reasonable thing for him to be doing. He doesn’t like Deathstroke or his morals or methods, and sure the training is painful and borderline torture, but I think that the transition from Robin to Renegade is a lot smoother than Dick would like to admit. He knows how to train hard, and he knows what it’s like to expect to work with someone who expects perfection. I think the hardest part for him would be that he has no say in anything he does, not in what he wears, how he acts, how he trains, what they do, etc. And I think no matter how much Dick longs for his freedom when he gets back, it’s hard for him to remember that he’s allowed to make his own choices at first. And maybe Bruce unintentionally takes advantage of this. He might not realize why Dick is being more obedient, but he takes it as a win because Dick isn’t causing as many arguments between them.

Then Dick gets shot by Joker. Like I said earlier, Bruce has been treating Dick like an adult in some ways. I think this incident was a major eye opener for Bruce that Dick is still a child and that he shouldn’t be fighting crime like an adult. Instead of admitting his mistakes, and having an actual productive conversation with Dick, he fires him (taking away the name that his MOTHER gave him) and kicks him out (or at the very least pushes him into leaving). This leaves Dick homeless and vulnerable at 16, and he ends up joining Eddie’s gang (or whatever the fuck it was) and ends up in a “relationship” with Liu, who is a grown ass woman (sorry if I’m fucking up the timeline). He has most of his firsts with her, and he gives her a piece of himself, meanwhile her weird ass is just grooming and using him to get access to Bruce.

Anyways, by the time he’s Nightwing, he’s been used by so many different adults in his life, and his feelings and needs have been brushed aside and disregarded so many times. Then the Mirage situation happens, and Dick gets slut shamed for being taken advantage of, which isn’t his fault in the slightest. Dick is clearly hurt and upset about the entire situation, and incredibly uncomfortable when he gets called a slut, but this is disregarded in order to frame Kory as the sole victim of the incident. Dick internalizes the feelings of shame, disgust, and discomfort with the whole situation because he can’t outwardly express any of his thoughts or feelings about the situation without being shamed or ignored. He’s put in a position where he can’t really defend himself from any of the accusations and rumors being made about him. This also correlates with everyone treating Dick like he’s an adult and not a teenager, because regardless of any of his training, it’s not his fault that he wasn’t able to tell that Mirage wasn’t Kory. But everyone around him is acting like it is his fault, which further solidifies the idea that his pain doesn’t matter and that he has to be perfect. This is also shown with the situation with Tarantula and how Babs reacted to it.

Anyways, as for his relationship with Tim and Jason (and the rest of the batfam tbh). I think they’re in this weird sort of position where Bruce makes Dick the golden standard for being Robin, which causes some envy and frustration in their relationships with Dick. But also, Dick and Bruce were constantly fighting and not getting along with each other and they’re not oblivious to that. From Jason’s POV, as a kid, he probably thought Dick was just being stubborn and stupid. It would make sense from his POV, because Jason was street kid and now’s he’s living in a manor and Bruce can buy him whatever the fuck he wants, so why would he want to leave? I think Bruce also stopped treating Robin as a partnership and more as a sidekick when Jason became Robin, so the dynamic between them was more parental.

Anyways, no matter how many times Bruce and Dick fight, Dick eventually caves and comes back. This probably normalized the whole concept of ignoring Dick’s thoughts and ideas because they had grown up watching Bruce do it and get away with it. It probably doesn’t even really register to them as overriding Dick’s autonomy and feelings, and they probably see it more as a “winning an argument” type of situation. This is probably part of why it’s so easy for them to disregard everything Dick says about Spyral. After all, how many times had Bruce said that Dick doesn’t know what’s best? How many times had Bruce told them that Dick was just being manipulative and stubborn and trying to get Bruce to bend to his will? (How many times had Bruce forced Dick to bend to his will?).

So I think, while wrong, it would be easy for the batfam to justify treating Dick poorly and not listening to him. The one person (as you pointed out earlier) who doesn’t really do this is Damian. And I think a large part of that has to do with the fact that Bruce was lost in the time stream soon after Damian came into the picture, and everyone left soon after, and thus it wasn’t normalized to push Dick’s boundaries and feelings aside. Dick listened to Damian and tried to do his best to help, and I think Damian used that as an example of how he should interact with Dick. He trusts Dick and the decisions he makes.

Anyways that was just a whole lot of character and plot analysis (sorry) now lemme get into hashing out some scenarios:

So that all being said, since Dick isn’t taken as seriously and his ideas and thoughts are constantly being disregarded, he never really discusses anything serious with other people unless he’s framing it like a joke. He laughs or smiles sheepishly when people catcall and harass him, or call him a slut. He jokingly gives out suggestions during meetings, knowing that nobody will really consider his plans either way. He starts to get more and more free with whatever he talks about. He just starts spewing stuff without a filter, and at some point maybe he even starts relishing in the fact that nobody cares.

I think that at some point it comes to head. There are few different ways that could happen though.

I think it would make sense if maybe one day during a big hangout or team-up, Dick joking makes a reference to some sort of trauma (lets say the Apprentice Arc), forgetting that some of the people who were there when it happened (the Titans) are standing right next to him. Those who weren’t there (the rest of the batfam possibly?) laugh it off and start to move on like nothing happened, but the others are horrified and very uncomfortable with what Dick just said. Instead of letting it go, they tell everyone that it’s not fucking funny, and that what Dick went through is really fucked up, and he shouldn’t be treating it like a joke. Now everyone is quiet because they didn’t realize that Dick was actually telling the truth about that, they just thought he was making up some kind of morbid joke. Before anyone can say anything else, Dick tries to brush it off, telling everyone “It’s not like you’d care either way.” Everyone is like “wtf does that mean???” but Dick just ignores them every time they try to talk about it. They watch him more closely though, and they start to realize that he says a lot of shit that he might actually be serious about under the guise of joking. It disturbs them, but they don’t know what to do.

Another way this could go down is that an outsider/new hero (like Duke) comes in, sees the pre-established dynamic, and goes “that’s so fucked.” Like maybe Duke hears Dick’s joking suggestions, and the way it’s disregarded, and then after the chosen plan fails, he thinks back to Dick’s suggestion and realizes that it would’ve worked far better than what they had done. So he starts paying attention to Dick’s suggestions, and he starts realizing that Dick is actually coming up with really good plans, but he’s making them sound like jokes. Then one day, after Dick makes another suggestion, instead of brushing it off, Duke pipes up and says that he’s think it’s a good idea, and maybe adds in a few ideas of his own. He sees the way Dick lights up when Bruce eventually decides to go with the plan, and he sees the way he deflates after everyone thanks and congratulates Duke after the plan works. Damian is the only one to congratulate both of them, and Dick brushes it off with a simple “I wasn’t even being serious when I suggested it, anyways. Duke’s the one who made it work.” Duke is silently crushed by the whole interaction, and works to make sure he always listens to Dick’s advice and boundaries.

A third scenario that I think would be interesting to explore is if maybe some alternate-dimension batfam got whooshed into this one, and the other Bruce is evil and put mind-control chips in his kids after he returned from the time stream. Maybe the entire JL and Titans get involved with this. It disturbs them to see the batfam counterparts acting so unlike themselves. Except, the alternate universe Dick acts the most similarly to the real Dick. He’s quieter, a bit more blank and robotic than the real Dick, but occasionally he’ll throw out some dark joke or say something that reminds them of their Dick. When the fight is finally over, and they remove all of the alternate versions’ chips, they find that Dick doesn’t have one. At first they think that maybe Dick is in some sort of kahoots with evil Batman, that he has more autonomy than he’d originally let on. So they use Diana’s Lasso or J’onn’s powers and discover that he doesn’t have any autonomy or say, that he just does whatever Batman wants because it’s not like Batman will listen to him or care either way. This is just how it’s always been for him. Somehow it clicks how scarily similar this is to what’s going on with their Dick, and they realize that they’ve majorly fucked up.

I think all three of these scenarios would end up with some sort of intervention being staged, with varying levels of success. I think maybe Dick would take a break from operating with the Batfam and JL, because I think they all need time away from each other to process and undo all the learned behavior, and tbh I think Dick deserves a break. Damian and Duke are the only ones who get to visit him (maybe Steph too idk). Even if Bruce and the others still aren’t good at listening to Dick and respecting his boundaries, I think at the very least they’d be getting called out for it whenever it happens, and his input is considered more often.

I might write more about all of this later but that’s all I got for now.

[its-fnaf-time-bitches]

"You'd eat food that's sensory bad if you were starving!"

You deathly afraid of jumping out of planes? Didn't wanna go skydiving? Well you would jump out of a plane if it was crashing, so therefore you can't really dislike jumping out of planes

[vividstardustrevolution]

Disabled people (both people with physical disabilities and people with psychological disabilities) should be able to get housing, food, medical needs, etc met without having to work or stay in school. ...Okay, really, everyone deserves access to free or affordable housing, food, and medical care, but disabled people ESPECIALLY deserve it because if I, a law student with "low support needs" autism, depression, GAD, OCD, and ADHD, cannot afford to take a break from school and take a semester off because I'd have to start repaying my loans because I had to drop down to three credits last fall and because I would have to get a job, so it wouldn't really be a break (which, I have had one job in my life, and I'm not fully convinced it wasn't a fluke, and also, trying to maintain a job when you have disabilities is difficult), I can only imagine that disabled people with higher support needs are even more fucked than me when it comes to being able to get housing and food and medical care without much, if any, funding.

Yes, Medicaid, Medicare, Food Stamps, and housing programs exist in the US, but, uh, I hate to break it to y'all, but that doesn't fully fix the problem, at all. There are a lot of old apartment complexes that are straight up inaccessible if you use a wheelchair. I'm living in one now. Applying for Medicaid and other programs can be a pain in the ass, especially when you're disabled.

"Just live with your parents!" My parents were emotionally abusive and emotionally neglectful, transphobic, and they literally harassed me so much during my 1L year that I still have nightmares.

"Live with a roommate!" I tried to. It went fucking terribly.

"Are you really disabled if you're able to be in law school?" YES. YES I AM.

Actually, on that note, law schools and the law profession need to become more accommodating for disabled people ASAP. Buck v. Bell needs to be overturned. Courts should be wheelchair accessible. Having to get past seven plus different forms of ableism just to graduate and pass the bar is ridiculous. Seriously, can we get some resources for disabled people in law school and the law profession, please?

Disabled rights matter, and we have every right to be able to live in peace and get our needs met, regardless of our support needs, disabilities, or anything else.

[vaguely-humanoid-form]

hi guys I just finished episode 15 and. t. them. they make me SIIIIICK I need to kill them with hammers,.

edit: I spelled coalecroux wrong in the tags LMAO

[onefortherose]

Every time I remember the statistic that 95% of students with adhd drop out of college I just remember that Markiplier was one of them and I feel better

[plasticfreckles]

🪶 "i miss you" rookanis enjoy 🪶

Lucanis could have collected every finger of his every last target and still not have enough to count the times he's heard the echo of his own name being yelled through the Villa's halls bouncing off its many walls.

Summonings. Illario getting into trouble. Their other cousins ratting him out and Illario drawing Lucanis into it, as well.

The countless times Caterina stood on the fourth step from the ground, yelling his name like she'd caught him to lure him out of his hiding place. The countless times he fell for it.

The quiet fury when he'd still not gotten up for breakfast even after the fifth servant tried to rouse him with a young messere and knuckles rapping against his door.

Yells that imply abuse and punishment and shouts of leather belts whipped across his growing shoulders.

The sound of his father coughing out his name, cut down in front of him as his nursemaid hauls him to safety through the hidden corridors inside the walls.

Never before, though, did it come accompanied with the thud of a heavy bag hitting the ground and flat, nimble feet losing their shoes as he's trying to find a hidden corner to have his coffee and his book.

Rook is sprinting across the foyer and hurling herself into his arms like a drunk man into sheets. Coffee splatters against a jacket and his book falls to the ground.

"You're home."

"So are you."

"This is my house!"

Rook's lips, already inside his collar, split into a smile, teeth against his skin. Her fingers grab the mouth of his coffee cup, steadying it mid-air, to keep the liquid in the porcelain and off her clothes.

"Like you'd ever say no to an opportunity to get out of here."

"If it means I can't be there waiting for you to come back? I would never."

Rook pulls him into her embrace again, so tight he has to hold on to the small of her back, but they tip back against the door, anyway. The handle digs uncomfortably into skin and muscle below the left shoulder blade.

"I missed you so much, Lucanis. I've gotten used to having you along for every single job."

"Well." He pushes against her, his hand moving to the side of her hip, until she sinks back down onto her heels and he can detangle them - just enough to shuffle to the sofa hidden in the corner. "That can be rectified easily enough."

"How?" She pulls at him easily, making him rest against her like it's all they both were made to do. "People will notice the First Talon running along on another House's jobs."

"Rectified easily enough," he says, again.

A snort, somewhere above him. "Good luck hashing that out with Viago."

"First Talon. Stealing a Crow. I don't have to hash out anything with Viago."

There's a beat of silence.

It's rare for him to have the last word when talking to Rook. On the (so very rare that it borders on inexistent) occassion that she doesn't have a retort, it's usually Spite taking her side, on principle.

No matter how often they've both tried to explain to him that they're not on opposing sides. They never have been.

But you're wrong so often. So is Rook. Different kind. Curious kind. Fuck around and find out kind. You're wrong because you're stubborn. You say that as though you weren't. As though she wasn't. Different kind. Does that mean a better kind?

Spite pauses, slinks down from his toe tips and stops trying to catch the flame of the wall candle with the splitting overgrowth of his fingernails.

No. Just Different.

"Oh, before I forget!"

Rook moves out from her position as his backrest and retrieves a poorly bound collection of papers.

"So, bad news, my contract was on the author of that serial you've started the other night."

"The Truths Between?"

A hum, affirmative.

She says it as though they hadn't taken turns reading it aloud to one another.

"But the good news is: I brought you the manuscript for the last part."

The bundle of papers is dropped into his lap. The sheets are crumpled, bloodstained, the stitches holding them together uneven, the thread just a little too thick, dissolving a little where it emerges from the needlehole.

Like the author had been led to believe hastily binding and handing out the manuscript would leave them alive.

But that's not Rook's way to do it. He doesn't think. From the way she moves on the open battlefield, even cutting the Dread Wolf's hand to tie him to the Veil when she just as well could have pinned him to it with his own dagger through his heart - a killer, yes, flamboyant, yes, but not deceitful, or cruel. Never that.

Which means someone else tried to kill them before she ever got to him. Perhaps even before the contract reached Viago's desk.

Something to look into. Later. Tomorrow, maybe.

For now...

"Last part? Does that mean you read it?"

"Yeah."

"How do you feel about it?"

Lucanis knows, with every fibre of himself, that Rook would never ruin the ending for him. Nothing he, or anyone else, could ever say to her would make her spill it.

Not until he's read the ending himself and asks to discuss it with her.

Lucanis also knows, also with every fibre of himself, that right now, she's dying to tell him.

He can tell from the crease in her lips, the furrow between her brows, from the way her index slides off the pages and taps impatiently against his knee.

It's terrible. You don't know that. The serial is terrible. The ending will be terrible. Look at her. She HATES it. You hate the serial, Spite. Don't impose your thoughts and feelings onto her expression.

Spite opens his mouth, then clamps it back shut again instantly when they hear Rook inhaling to finally speak.

"Ettore doesn't deserve all that."

Something about the deadpan, resigned way the words escape her mouth, as if Ettore were an old friend of theirs who keeps getting into difficult dalliances with habitually unfaithful people, makes Lucanis burst out laughing.

He laughs and laughs until the sound of a vase shattering against tiles, followed by the rough, sleep-deepened voice of his grandmother shouting runs through the halls like children through tall grass.

Even when he and Rook collect their things and quietly make their way back to their own chambers, he's still giggling to himself.

🪶

i overthought on this so much i no longer like it lmao. I'm not in my writing era rn apparently and tbh that terrifies me. I don't want to abandon my fic. I dont want to phase out of Dragon Age Brainrot :(

shoutout to @chubritza for helping me fix it

[~rina]

[jasperthejester]

me: finally accepting theres a good chance im autistic and starting to work up the courage to ask my parents to see if i could get a diagnoses but being scared to

my mom: do you ever think you have adhd? if you want to do a screening for add next time your at the doctors you can

me: