#I know I've already made it pretty obvious that I like making him suffer but y'all ain't even seen the rest of my documents

[egginfroggin]

For the question game~! Emmet, 21 and 23

(With regards to this ask game)

21. If you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favorite thing to do when you're writing for this character? What's something you don't like?

Favorite thing to do? Make him suffer >:]

Something I don't like? I'm honestly not sure, as I usually don't write things I don't enjoy writing, but probably how hard it can be to get his voice right at times. It can be very difficult at times, especially because I tend to wax prosaic in everything and Emmet is the most to-the-point bean I think I've ever written for.

23. Favorite picture of this character?

That is a very good question, I have no idea! There's a lot to choose from.

Favorite art by other people is possibly:

this one (reblogged like 3 times now)

this one (which is just. the cutest thing)

this one (which someone drew for me and I love it and internally kick my feet doing a little squeal every time I remember that)

one other that I don't have on hand because I haven't reblogged it yet, but I love the vibes and linework of it (may also be Ingo? It's vague)

Favorite picture that I've done for him (so far, at least) is probably

this one (warning for blood)

Thank you for the ask! These were fun to think about and answer. I hope you have a good day! ^^

[patrophthia]

it wasn’t implied? | remus lupin

pairing: remus lupin x reader

genre: fluff, pining, maybe angst¿?, miscommunications, secret confessions, not proofread

wc: 4.2k

originally posted on wattpad

"i saw you," sirius said lowly, smirking, "you two think you're so sly but i see everything."

"i don't know what you're talking about."

"sure, you don't," he remarked with a roll of his eyes, "you never know what i'm talking about, not when i told you that your crush on remus was obvious, not when i tell you that remus fancies you back and definitely not when i saw —with my very own two eyes— you kissing."

"just be careful doll, i've been there before," he told her softly, making her glance at him. "you've been there before?" she repeated testingly, not understanding what sirius meant. "i was once remus when i was younger."

"where should we go next?" peter asked excitedly, holding onto the teddy sirius had won for him for dear life.

it was a hogsmeade weekend, the marauders had decided that it was a bright idea to sneak off to an amusement park. the sun was setting, a pretty mix of pink and blues with hint of gold within it. they stood in the middle of the park, pulling at their coat tightly to keep themselves warm whilst james suffered in a corner.

"definitely not the roller coaster again," said lily wearily, eyeing james from where she stood as he hunched over a garbage can with remus and sirius to his side. "anything but the roller coaster again."

"i'm pretty sure they're done with it," she said kindly, watching as remus rubbed james' back in a soothing manner, "we've been on it four times now, i don't think they'd like to go on it for any longer."

"hopefully, you're right," lily muttered under her breath as the group of boys returned.

james looked up, smiling charmingly. "what's next?"

"i wanted to go on the ferris wheel," said sirius off-handedly, his hands digging into his pocket to keep itself away from the cold, "the sunset's nice."

"okay," lily agreed; nodding her head as she approached james' side, lily looped her arm around his and began leading the way when she realized that two of their friends were missing. turning around, lily spotted the pair conversing between themselves. "guys?"

"yes?" remus looked up, finally noticing that their friends were ten steps away and blushed. "sorry."

lily only smiled, giving him a pointed look and glanced down slightly. "is she cold?"

"very," she answered, voice muffled as her head was pressed against remus' torso, holding onto him tightly. "remus is very warm."

"of course, he is. the man's a human furnace," sirius said, almost frowning, "now, c'mon i want to see prongs throw up again."

"that's disgusting," she whispered just loud enough for remus to hear, moving her head slightly to look up at him.

"it's pads, what'd you expect?" he asked in return, smiling fondly at her.

she scrunched her nose in disgust, accidentally picturing james going through hell once more at sirius expense. "less suffering for the man who's already legally blind?"

remus laughed at that, making sirius groan even more. "would you stop flirting please?" sirius whined dramatically, "seriously princess, are we going to get an apology here?"

pulling away from remus completely, she stood besides him and assessed their friends.

"sorry, i made you wait because i was cold," she started slowly, feeling as though she was a kid waking up her parents to tell them she'd done something bad. sirius tutted, pulling out his wand and casted a warming charm on her. "can we go ride the ferris wheel now?"

"of course, we can," sirius said brightly, all signs of his previous sour mood disappearing.

sirius led the way this time, bantering with lily as remus and [name] walked slightly behind. shoulders brushing against one another as they listened into their friends arguing.

somewhere between where they started to the waiting line, remus had managed to slip his hand into her's intertwining them together.

she looked up at him, surprised —not to mention, extremely flustered, and smiled. an action that remus reciprocated along with a comforting squeeze of her hand.

james, lily, sirius, and peter took a car of their own. insisting that remus was too tall (as if it made any sense) to fit into their carriage so it would be better to have her accompany him as to not have him be lonely. all four completely oblivious to just how obvious their match making attempt was.

"this is nice," remus commented absentmindedly, looking over his shoulder, "it's so pretty up here."

"it is," she concurred, eyes kept on remus. tinge of pink and blue with the slightest hint of purple, painted his face, green eyes shining brightly. "they're taking pictures of us."

remus turned abruptly, concern written all over his face, "what?"

"them." she pointed upwards, remus eyed her direction and found their friends in the other car grinning and waving at them.

lily had her polaroid camera in her hand, it pointing at them. she gestured her over, shouting about how she couldn't fit her into the frame unless she sat besides remus. she followed her request, moving to sit by his side and looked up at them.

their was a flash, lily took the first polaroid out and handed it to james who was besides her. "smile!" she shouted before adding, "move closer, [name]! you're too far away!"

again, she did what she was told, scooting over and rested her head on remus' shoulder, smiling up at lily. remus laid his head on top of hers, beaming at the camera as well. lily counted from three and the flash went, sitting back down when she was satisfied with its result.

remus hand found hers once more, holding onto it firmly. "i think i might fall asleep."

"go ahead," she said lightly, "i've been working on my levitation spell, i can get you back to hogwarts safely."

remus lifted his head up so he could look at her properly. "as much as i am honored to the first person you murder, i'm really not looking forward to dying so soon."

she moved away from his shoulder, gaping at him with mock offense. "you underestimate me, mister lupin."

"and i've always been correct with my underestimations."

"that's not a kind way to talk to your best friend."

"actually i can talk to my best friend however i want," he said matter-of-factly, "that's kind of the point of being best friends with someone, being able to act however you want."

"you know what," she said, scooting away from him, "i don't want to be near you anymore."

"is that so?" he taunted, pulling at her hand.

"it is."

"i don't believe you." he leaned forward, pushing at her buttons. the full moon was near, which meant remus' senses had been heightened, making the both of them fully aware of just how fast her heart was beating. "i really don't believe you."

within seconds his lips are on hers, closing the gap between him and her without any hesitation. the line of whether their relationship was platonic or romantic, now crossed. remus tilted his head, leaning down to help her from straining her neck. the kiss was innocent, pulling to a stop when they were ushered out of their car by their friends.

remus cheeks were red when he left the carriage, blaming it on the cold wind. james had swept remus into a conversation about the prosperity of churros when remus took her hand again, holding onto it as he amused james with questions.

sirius was walking besides her, hands tuck in his leather jacket. he nudged her lightly —an action that almost knocked her off of her feet if it weren't for remus catching her. remus scolded sirius quickly before turning to check on her, after being satisfied with her answer he turned back to james.

"i saw you," sirius said lowly, smirking, "you two think you're so sly but i see everything."

"i don't know what you're talking about."

"sure, you don't," he remarked with a roll of his eyes, "you never know what i'm talking about, not when i told you that your crush on remus was obvious, not when i tell you that remus fancies you back and definitely not when i saw —with my very own two eyes— you kissing."

"just be careful doll, i've been there before," he told her softly, making her glance at him. "you've been there before?" she repeated testingly, not understanding what sirius meant. "i was once remus when i was younger."

"sirius, you're seventeen stop talking like you're in your eighties," she said exasperatedly, "and i'm really confuse right now. what the fuck do you mean you were once remus, were you once tall and cute or something?"

sirius made a face, one of offense and irritation with the slightest tint of hurt. "are you calling me short and ugly? you wound me, sweetheart."

"i'm not calling you short, sirius. it's just that i don't have the crippling fear that you would suddenly lick my head when i'm near you."

"tall people don't do that," sirius frowned, "do they?

"i wouldn't know," she shrugged.

"anyways." sirius dragged out, moving back to the topic at hand. "what i'm trying to say is that i've put someone in the same situation as you and moony right now. it doesn't end well, [name]."

"it's really confusing —and if i'm being completely honest here, i feel guilty for everything that happened," he confessed quietly, "i made it complicated. when it could've been so easy.

"so . . ." sirius trailed off, watching her with patient grey eyes, "talk to him. make sure you know where the two of you stand before everything goes wrong."

sirius gave her one last reassuring smile before he tuned into their friends discussion on churros. remus let out a laugh at one of james' comment, a pretty smile on his lips that may or may not have pulled at her heart string.

fuck remus, where did she stand?

•••

sirius was laying on the couch, james sitting on the floor besides him along with peter while remus sat on the armchair when lily and her found them in the gryffindor's common room. there was a girl, hunched over the coffee table, a small notebook in hand talking to james and sirius as she wrote down whatever she found important.

she must've felt her presence, looking up at them with a small smile. "dorcas, we had care of magical creatures together in third year."

she replied with her name, smiling as well. "what were you three talking about?"

"a project," she said enthusiastically.

lily sat down besides james, and patted the empty spot to her left for her to take. she was about to take a seat beside lily when something tugged at her hand, she turned, following the direction of her distraction and found remus smiling at her, his hand holding onto hers.

"sit with me." she was hesitant, not knowing where she was supposed to go when the chair was so small. remus must've noticed, pulling her directly into his lap and wrapped an arm around her waist, securing her in her spot.

dorcas didn't even bat an eyelash when she continued on, "would you like to hear about it?"

"sure."

dorcas began her explanation with a clap of her hands. "so i've been reading a new romance novel and in it there's this muggle newspapers thing where people can mail something they wanted to say to someone they loved or cared for, whether romantically or platonically, it was called the W.L.U segment —standing for words left unsaid."

"i thought it was cool so i asked dumbledore if i could somehow pull an event together and he said no but i'm known to be quite annoying so i used that to my advantage and eventually he agreed."

"so." she clapped her hands together. "on march, thirteen, the fifth floor corridor will be plastered by sticky notes with hand written words on them for each person that is submitted to. it is by first name only and there would be a spell to prevent you from actually recognizing who's ever hand writing it is, so everything will be anonymous."

she had many questions, unsure how everything will work out like dorcas planned it out to. there was thousands of students at hogwarts, how can she fit them all in the corridors (even if the name were to overlap), how will the letters be submitted if it was anonymous, and most importantly —how will filch's cat resist the urge to claw off all the notes?

instead she settled on asking, "march thirteen?"

"it's when my dad first met my mother," she said with small smile, "under a clementine tree."

"can everyone just submit anonymously?" peter asked, intrigued.

"that's pretty much the whole idea, no one would know who said what. we're giving out special notes that would magick itself out of your life the second you've finished writing and it would be added to the wall. the notes will be owled out to everyone, because if you saw someone trying to get the notes you'll be suspicious of them, ya know?"

and then she added, "the identities would be unknown unless you sign it off with your full name, or initials for whoever it is you wrote it to, to guess. it's up to you really, if you want your identity to be known then you make it known."

"are you sure it will stay anonymous?" he followed up skeptically.

"cross my heart. not even the ones preparing this project would know."

•••

march came fast, so did remus' birthday —an event that had left her more confuse then she was before hand. the marauders had threw him a surprise party, one she attended in high spirits.

around midnight, marlene had dragged her into a circle where their friends was waiting for her. "we're playing truth or dare," she had told her.

the first few rounds was fun for the most part, her having done stupid dares that had spilled out of peter's drunken lips (the gryffindor is the funniest when he's absolutely wasted).

remus' birthday cake sat in the center of the circle, everyone enjoying their slices while they played the game. remus picked dare for the third time, keeping up with the courageous gryffindor spirit.

dorcas perked up at this, getting her word in before anyone else could. "i dare you to kiss the person you find most beautiful in this room."

sirius had pouted his lips out for him only to be blatantly ignored by remus. the room was —more or less— unphased when remus had made his way over to [name], cupping her face and kissed her.

soft and quick.

when he pulled away, he made his way back to his seat and acted like nothing had happened.

dorcas nudged her from her right, giggling slightly as she spoke, "i knew he would kiss you."

then the question she tried so desperately to forget resurfaces. what were they? where did she stand?

the next day comes and dumbledore introduced the project at dinner, letting dorcas up on the podium which she spoke at proudly, informing everyone of her plans and answering any questions they had.

the notes arrived the next morning, students walked around chatting about who they planned to write to and by dinner time half of the castle had written and sent off their first notes.

march, thirteen came and she was rudely awakened by dorcas and sirius pounding at her door, announcing that the project has been opened for viewing and that they needed to see it as soon as possible.

she quickly got dressed and followed them into the common room. stood by the entrance was the rest of their friend group, all looking tired out of their mind.

james led the way towards the fifth floor, the corridors walls littered with notes, all belonging to a group of names in alphabetical order.

their group went through the names one by one, being nosy when there seemed to be some sort of drama in the mysterious notes. some of the notes were on the sweet side, some malicious.

james was a common name but they were —luckily enough— able to identify which one was their james based off of how some referred him as 'the quidditch king' or 'james, potter, james potter' or the last (and definitely sirius' favorite way of identifying james out of them all) was 'james, the four eyed one.'

there was various love confessions, some cussing him for not giving them a position on the gryffindor's quidditch team, and some compliments about how much they wanted to run their hands through his beautiful, beautiful hair.

"you smell." sirius read out loud, ignoring the tiny :) that was drawn on the note to laugh at james' face. "i think that's for you, prongs."

"shut up, pads. you smell like wet dog."

then was the letter R standing tall above the name remus. on the wall stuck countless amount of notes, all confessing just how pretty they thought remus was. his pretty eyes, his pretty nose, his pretty lips and how much they wanted to kiss it and his stupidly pretty hands.

"good god moony, what spell have you put hogwarts under," james said slightly horrified, his eyes gluing to each notes that stuck under the name remus, "what have you done?"

"i haven't done anything," remus replied, his tone defensive, "and we can't be sure this is about me, i'm not the only person named remus."

"yeah but you're the only person in this school with that name." dorcas pointed out, just as fascinated as the rest of them with the amount of letters he received.

something caught her attention, making her take a step forward so she could get a better look at it. dorcas turned to her friend, fingers pointed at a note written in blue paper. "this handwriting looks familiar."

she followed dorcas' hand, reading the note to herself. i'm so confuse, remus. where do i stand? am i your girlfriend or am i just a girl that's a friend?

below it was another note written with same handwriting. i shouldn't have let you kissed me the first time and i definitely shouldn't have let you done it the second since all it did was amplify how i feel for you.

sirius cleared his throat loudly, pulling their attention to him. "this is boring," he began, grey eyes firmly locked with her, "let's go read mine."

he pulled her away with a smile to the others, hoping that they'd follow without questioning. "you wrote it didn't you?"

"wrote what." she acted oblivious, standing before the wall filled with notes for the name sirius. he, like remus, was the only one with that name.

"those notes." he rolled his eyes, annoyed.

"isn't there supposed to be a spell to prevent people from knowing who wrote it?"

"there is," he concurred, "i actually don't know for sure. 's why i'm asking you. i don't recognize your hand writing but i know the situation mentioned like the back of my hands. i can only assume and i know they can too."

"so now everyone knows that i'm confused about what remus and i are?"

"pretty much," lily joined in, standing besides her. "god, sirius why is so many people angry at you?"

"why people are upset with me is not important right now," said sirius distractedly, "what's important is that moony read those notes —just like we did, need i remind you— and he still hasn't come to try and talk to you."

"maybe he doesn't know it's from me—"

"remus is not a basket case, darling," cut in sirius. "he's being slow on purpose."

lily tsked. "men are stupid, [name]." she reminded, not sparing a second at the baffled look sirius threw her. "let's go read the ones with your name on it."

there was only so many notes for someone with her name, all littered with different colors and signed with their initials on it. she didn't know half of the possible initials but one specifically caught her eyes.

r.l

she hoped, despite knowing that she shouldn't, hoped that it was from him and that he had written it for her.

above the initials was the note itself, written in a set of neat handwritings that was so similar and yet so unidentifiable, it had her heart jumping to her throat.

i had hoped that one day i could shun you out of my mind but i cannot, not when you are the only thing running through it. not when the idea that you'd let me kiss you again is stuck in my mind. the same mind that hasn't stopped thinking about you before i even knew how much i liked you.

i can only hope you would forgive me for it. r.l

"you know," sirius said slowly, eyeing the note, "this whole confession thing would be so much easier if you just talked to each other."

"like you're the one to talk sirius," lily scoffed, "you wrote regulus a lengthy five note apology letter instead of just saying sorry."

sirius flushed at that, turning away from lily bashfully as he muttered under his breath about how she was no fun.

•••

dinner came after classes as usual. dumbledore gave the podium once more to dorcas for her to express just how grateful she was that so many people participated in the project, welcoming feedbacks with open arms.

dorcas thanked james, lily, and sirius, respectfully giving them credit where it's due. dorcas was half way off the podium when her eyes widened comically, running back towards frantically. "just one more thing."

"if someone has said something to you and you're sure that it's meant for you from that special someone." dorcas looked at her pointedly, making her avert her eyes. "talk to them, work it out. that's all, goodnight."

dessert wasn't even able to make its appearance when she was hunted down by the marauders.

"i need to talk to you." remus took a step forward cautiously. "please?"

the five of them trudge towards the nearest empty room, the other three boys leaving to give them privacy. "so," she drawled, "what did you want to talk about?"

"why did you ask me if you were my girlfriend?" he asked directly, not seeing the point of beating around the bush.

"isn't it self explanatory?"

"no, it's not actually," said remus, annoyance etching into his tone, "would you care to explain why you said so?"

"i said it so because, i wasn't sure if i was."

"you weren't sure if you were my girlfriend?" remus scoffed, narrowing his eyes incredulously, "then what were you?"

"i dunno," she said lowly, feeling stupid that this conversation was even happening in the first place, "it's what i'm trying to find out."

"okay wait." remus took in a deep breath, his hand in a pausing motion. "so for the last three months, i thought that you were my girlfriend while you thought i was just some friend who goes around kissing people?"

"that's not—"

"it's not? because, it seems to me like you thought so."

"well it's not my fault you never made it clear!"

"and it's not my fault you never asked," he argued, "because, if you did —for even just once, we wouldn't be fighting right now."

she stared at him in silence, feeling speechless. "i'm so confuse."

"you're confuse?" he asked, almost taunting, "i'm fucking confuse. i've been thinking that you were my girlfriend since i kissed you in that goddamn ferris wheel."

"you thought we've been dating for three months?"

"yes," he said with a nod, "since we went on that ferris wheel and i kissed you. you didn't pull away, you kissed me back so i thought the feelings were mutual but apparently not."

"so that night," she murmured slowly, "your birthday." she clarified. "you kissed me because you were my 'boyfriend' and not because you were drunk."

"i kissed you because, you truly were the most beautiful person in that room," remus sighed, "why would you even think otherwise?"

"i don't know—" she paused, feeling pathetic, "it's just something sirius said after we kissed, it got me thinking—"

"of course, it's fucking sirius," remus cut in, laughing dryly, "the lad makes one relationship mistake and thinks he's qualified to go off and give advice. look where that got us now."

they could hear a scowl from outside the room before a smack landed, a loud ow! and a shut up you twat, you messed this up once already following in its wake.

"nowhere bad," she said, defending sirius slightly, "he actually told me to talk to you but i didn't so it's technically my fault."

"it's not your fault, [name]." remus frowned. "this could never be your fault. i kissed you not once but twice and never bothered to talk to you about it. it was stupid of me to think it was mutual."

"but it was, remus," she told him, "the kiss. everything. it was all mutual. i just— i didn't know that i was your girlfriend."

"then i must be one shitty boyfriend," he snickered, chewing on his bottom lip.

"will you just shut up and kiss me?" she took a step towards him. "as my boyfriend this time."

remus met her in the middle, smiling shyly. "how could i ever say no to you."

—from bee: this is incredibly inspired by the unsent project,, check it out it’s pretty cool!!

[suzukiblu]

WIP excerpt for ducksandswans behind the cut; Jason gets knocked up and accidentally goes home about it. ( chrono || non-chrono )

Jason tightens his grip on Pup Brother and Quiet Sister tightens her grip on him. He can smell the whole pack's scents–smell the whole pack's packscent–and he feels . . . good about that. He likes that. 

He missed them. He shouldn't have stayed gone so long. Though now there's a pup, and maybe even more than one, so he supposes it was worth it. 

And either way, he's home now. 

Grandpa said. 

“ETA on B?” Big Brother asks. 

“Eighteen minutes, if they avoided the downtown traffic,” Big Brother’s mate says. Jason hums acknowledgment, then lets himself relax just a little more. More than he even thought he could, really. 

It's nice. 

It's really nice. 

And they're all safe, too. 

“Holy crap, is he purring?” New Brother mutters under his breath. 

“He is definitely purring,” Loud Sister confirms. “Like a big grumpy motorcycle.” 

“Pretty sure I've heard quieter motorcycles,” Big Brother's mate says wryly. “It's pretty cute, though.” 

“It is so cute, oh my god,” Big Brother says in despairing delight. “This is bad enough, how are we gonna handle him being like this with an actual baby?” 

“I think that's mostly a ‘you’ problem, Dick,” Little Brother says. 

“That is definitely a ‘you’ problem,” Loud Sister agrees. 

“For sure,” New Brother says. 

“Very cute,” Quiet Sister hums, nuzzling the back of Jason’s neck and patting his shoulder. “Baby brother.” 

“Thank you, Cass,” Big Brother says with a huff, folding his arms. “This is so adorable I can’t even stand it.” 

Jason huffs, rolling his eyes, then just settles in and closes his eyes. It’s safe to. And he has a nest to let his scent seep into and through, and “bred” pheromones to let settle into and fill up the den. He’s early enough in his pregnancy that it’ll probably take a little while, so it’s past time to concentrate on putting those off and scenting the room. The nest’s all made, and Pup Brother and Quiet Sister are in it, and Grandpa’s by the door and Big Brother and Little Brother are just outside the nest, and Loud Sister and New Brother and Big Brother’s mate are all here too, so . . . 

So once Alpha’s here, then everything will be perfect. 

“He’s purring again,” New Brother mutters. “I literally did not even know he was physically capable of making that sound.” 

“Capable of making it to motorcycle-shaming levels, apparently,” Loud Sister says with a laugh. “Damn, Jason.” 

Jason doesn’t know what she’s talking about, but he isn’t worried about it. If it’s important, someone will take care of it. 

Everyone’s here, so of course someone will. 

“Silence, all of you,” Pup Brother grumbles, sounding long-suffering but staying settled secure in Jason’s arms, which is good. Definitely. He should be there right now. 

Jason nuzzles him some more, for obvious reasons, and then just concentrates on letting his pheromones spread through the room. His nest already smells like the pack and so does the den, obviously, but it doesn’t smell like pup-is-coming.

It needs to, obviously. 

Someone’s purring. It’s not Pup Brother, but Jason’s not sure who else could be. 

Well, it doesn’t matter, really. 

Some of the others talk about some things, their voices soft and quiet. Jason doesn’t worry about it. It’s just little stuff, like patrol schedules and classes and appointments. Normal little things for a pack to talk about, and easy to settle into the background as white noise while he lets his pheromones fill up the room and makes sure Pup Brother’s eaten. 

He eats some of the apple slices and peanut butter, himself. The pup needs to eat too. 

It’s the same cheap, shitty store brand that he used to insist on as a pup himself. 

“ETA five minutes,” Big Brother’s mate says eventually after checking her phone. Jason’s not sure what she’s talking about, but isn’t worried about that either. If it’s important, someone will tell him. Or handle it. Or both. 

All he has to do right now is wait for Alpha to get here, and then everything will be fine. 

Everything will be perfect, actually, once Alpha gets here. 

The others talk a little more. Their voices are still soft and quiet, so Jason still doesn’t worry about it. He just stays curled up around Pup Brother and in Quiet Sister’s arms, and letting his pheromones fill up the den with bred and home-safe and all the usual things that are usually part of presenting a pup to the pack. 

It’s nice. The . . . being here. It’s nice. 

He missed it here. 

He wonders why he missed it so bad. Has it been that long, or . . . ? 

He just missed it. 

But now he’s here, so he doesn’t have to miss it anymore. 

Grandpa turns his head towards the door and pushes himself up out of his chair. Jason whines in disappointment. Is he leaving? Why’s he leaving? 

“I’ll just be a moment, my boy,” Grandpa assures him, and Jason settles, a little. If Grandpa says it’ll be just a moment, then he means it. 

Grandpa steps out into the foyer again and everyone else goes quiet all at once, and Jason realizes–oh. The front door just opened, didn’t it. He doesn’t hear footsteps, though. 

. . . does that mean . . . ? 

“Alfred?” Alpha says from the foyer, sounding just barely concerned, and something in Jason vibrates at the sound of his voice. “What’s going on?” 

“Is someone purring?” Alpha’s mate asks curiously. 

“Master Jason came home, Master Bruce,” Grandpa says. 

“. . . he what?” Alpha says, his voice sounding–strange, just a bit. Jason isn’t sure why it does, but feels . . . 

“Just–the living room, Master Bruce,” Grandpa says. “You should come and see for yourself.” 

Grandpa steps back into view of the doorway, and Jason still feels unsettled and just a little bit uncertain, and isn’t sure if–

Then Alpha steps into view too, and Jason forgets everything else

[strongheartneteyam]

*:ꔫ:*ﾟHeadcanons

How he would try to show you he loves you/convince you to be his mate:

Jake/Ao'nung/Lo'ak/Neteyam x female!na'vi!reader

CW: fluff <33, pining, kissing, love confessions, touching (not in a sexual way, just touching someone else's body), yearning

Not proofread 🥲

♡

Jake: given his goofy nature, he would tell you jokes all the time and try to make you laugh as often as he could. He would always end up stealing some laughs from you at the end and that would always leave him feeling proud of himself, everytime he saw your pretty smile. Jake would also hunt meat from big Pandoran animals, the ones who are hard to kill, like the hammerhead titanothere, and bring the meat to you already prepared as a meal as an act of courting (and to prove to you he's a fearless warrior and a good mate who will be able to provide really good food for you if you choose him). He would tease you calling you "pretty girl", making you blush and sometimes get mad at him for making you flustered and vulnerable and Jake would find your angry face just so cute and smile widely, thinking he would never give up on trying to make you his mate because you're too adorable. One night, he would approach you after dinner time and say "I've been courting you for so long. Can you please end my suffering and let me be your mate? My heart is all yours, girl." He would look at you with those perfect yellow eyes, begging for you to be his. You would step next to him, touch his beautiful face and kiss his lips, making him grab you tight in his arms, breathing out in relief.

Ao'nung: He would bully almost every young person in Awa'atlu but it was different with you. He would never dare to make fun of you, scared to hurt you even slightly, because imagining your little precious heart aching because of something he said or did killed him. Ao'nung would smile at you a lot, but not in a devilish way like he did to others, but in a sincere, pure way. You didn't understand why he acted that way with you but you would smile shyly back and always be nice to him. He would teach you all he knows about fishing and diving. One day, he would ask you if you wanted to meet him just before eclipse would fall, in a quieter place next to the shore, where not a lot of na'vi would go at the time. You found that a little weird but as you knew him for long enough and he was the Olo'eyktan's son, you thought he wouldn't do anything bad to you, so, you accepted his offer. When you got there, he would be waiting, looking at the sea. When Ao'nung noticed you, he would give you that cute wide smile as you were coming closer. The moment you were standing in front of him, he would hold your hands. That surprised you but you liked the way it felt. Ao'nung would look at your eyes and say "I don't know if you noticed it by now, but you're more than special to me. Can I start courting you? I've made you some bracelets but never felt confident enough to give them to you. I didn't wanna ruin our friendship..." You would smile at him and say "I didn't see it coming... but yes, Ao'nung. I'd love to be courted by you."

Lo'ak: He would make it totally obvious that he wants you as his mate way before he finds the courage to start courting you, not because he is incredibly confident, but because he sucks at hiding his feelings for you. Lo'ak would stare at you a lot. He would be so talkative and extroverted next to everyone else but, next to you, he would suddenly become shy and talk less, what even made you think maybe he didn't really like you as a person but soon enough you caught him staring at you one day with his mouth slightly open, like he was in awe. When Lo'ak noticed you saw him, he didn't know what to do at first, but then he finally found the courage to say "sorry I look so weird, I was just... to be honest, I was trying to understand how can a girl be so beautiful and real at the same time." You chuckled at how cheesy it sounded and smiled at him. He smiled back, so happy he wasn't rejected, and after that day he started to gift you many delicate jewelry he would make for you that had your favorite stones in them and talk to you everyday until he finally was confident enough to ask you if he could kiss you, to which you said "yes, please" and he pulled you in, kissing you eagerly.

Neteyam: He would be so protective over you. Neteyam would treat you like a gentleman, helping you with any weight you needed to carry, always smiling at you and making you feel that you were special in his eyes, the chosen one among all the girls in Pandora. He would gift you with all types of things: fresh fruits, delicious fungi treats, jewelry and really sharp knives he made himself to help you hunt easier. Neteyam would always ask if he could sit next to you at meal time, when the na'vi would get together to eat and you would always say you'd love his company. You guys were inseparable, a big beautiful bond between the both of you. Neteyam would slowly work his way into being sure you liked him back, before making the next move, that would be a bold one. He would at first touch one of your braids slightly when you guys were laughing and talking. When he noticed you didn't show discomfort, with time, he started to touch your hands, then your shoulders, until it escalated to him touching your waist, which sent shivers down his spine. You would melt at every gentle touch Neteyam gave you. The time for the bold move came, and Neteyam would look deep into your eyes and say "I'm gonna do something now. Please, push me away if you don't like it." He would get his mouth close to yours and give you the most tender but intense kiss, like he was starving for your lips for so long. You kissed him back, holding onto his braids, which made him sure he did the right thing. Neteyam would whisper "I love you (y/n). I want so bad to be your mate." and gaze at your eyes until you said "I wish you had said it sooner. I want to be your mate too, Teyam."

[catierambles]

Alternate Instincts Ch.30

"I want to thank you all for comin' on short notice." Sy said as the pack gathered in the apartment. It wasn't all of them as not all them were able to make it, but he knew they would get filled in by the others. "I wanted to get this over and done with before Steph had the chance to Girl Boss me out of it."

"Markus." Stephanie sighed, rubbing at her eyebrow and he winked at her. Well, he tried to, at least. She was standing with Geralt, his arms loosely around her waist as she leaned back against his chest.

"It's come to my--our--attention that some of you gotta problem with Steph." Sy said, "Some of you don't believe she's actually our Mate, that we're only with her because of what she lets us do to her in the bedroom."

"Which is shockingly vanilla, oddly enough." Stephanie said, "Well, Pornstache has his moments." That made a chuckle go through the group.

"Don't distract me." Sy said, pointing a finger at her. "I know she ain't a wolf, it's pretty fuckin' obvious to everyone here that she ain't a wolf, but she's our Mate regardless. Yeah, I got stabbed. Yeah, Walker got his face cut. Steph's gotta Feral after her, ain't leavin' her alone and makin' a nuisance of'imself."

"Her ex boyfriend?" One of them asked.

"Y'all know who it is?" Sy asked and a few of them nodded. "Did Frank know about'im? That he was a Feral?" More nodding.

"He told us to stay out of it, not say anything to her."

"Son of a bitch." Walter sighed.

"Makes sense, actually." Stephanie said, "I'm not a wolf, so I wasn't a part of his pack, and with the shit he was pulling, he probably wanted to keep the Council as far away from his business as possible."

"Whatever, he ain't here anymore." Sy said, "If any of you gotta problem with Steph, you gotta problem with us. She's our Mate. So if you gotta problem with her, there's the door, don't let it hit you on the way out. I ain't gonna evict ya, but you will have to find a new pack." No one moved. "That's what I thought. Playground rules. If you ain't got anythin' nice to say, then keep your mouth shut. Understood?" They nodded again wordlessly. "Good."

"I want to know who." August said, "Walter, are they here?"

"August." Stephanie said.

"No, Stephanie, I want to know if those women who said that shit about you are in this room. Walter?"

"Drop it, Walker." Stephanie said.

"Stephanie--"

"No. You think this is the first damn time I've dealt with catty bitches who never got out of their Mean Girl phase? Not even fucking close. So I'm telling you to drop it, August." She said and they stared at each other for a long moment before he looked away.

"Consider it dropped."

"Thank you."

The rest of the impromptu pack meeting had went decently well and a couple of the members actually approached Stephanie by the end of it, apologizing for not telling her about Jordan. She had accepted the apology but ultimately brushed it away, saying she understood why they hadn’t. Frank had suffered no disobedience and if he had found out they had gotten themselves even remotely involved, it would not have gone well for them.

Geralt had made the comment that if Frank had done his due diligence and contacted the Council about Jordan, that they probably would have sent him out to take care of it, as he was the closest stationed. The result being that he, and eventually the others, would have met Stephanie long before they actually did. He did also let them know that he would be speaking with his contact with the Council, letting them know about Frank’s inaction, putting another black mark on his already pitch dark record.

Walter could hear Stephanie on the phone as he worked on the computer in the office, going over spreadsheets of pack finances and paperwork. They may only be taking what was needed, but they still had to keep track of yearly earnings for tax purposes, just like any other business. The IRS classified packs as “social clubs” connected to the Pack Council and therefore it’s members were exempt from federal income taxes, but the Council still took membership dues and fees like any other social club and paid them out to whoever was running the pack, in this case Sy along Walter as his proxy. It was added to their rent every month. The number of members had to be kept track of, non-wolves who were involved with wolves in the pack (like Stephanie) were considered non-members but still a part of the pack, so they also had to be recorded along with gross annual income.

Lot of boring bureaucratic nonsense that came with running a pack and it was giving him a headache.

“Will you fucking stop it already?!” That made him look away from the screen. “Stop talking about them like that! I am never and I fucking repeat never going to agree with you when it comes to wolves. Britt is amazing and she makes Jack happy. Why can’t that be enough for you?! Who cares that Jack is a wolf now?! He loves Britt and wanted to share that with her! What the fuck is your malfunction!?” A pause. “Well of course they’re not human, mom! They’re wolves! And who fucking cares?! If you ever wonder why you and I don’t talk, this is why! So no, I am never going to a meeting with you, stop forwarding me shit about the “truth about wolves” and if you ever call them monsters to my face I swear to god I will smack the shit out of you. The only “monsters” I see are the ignorant, brain-dead bigots you associate with who target families for their hate. Well guess what, mom? I’m fucking five wolves on the regular. Sometimes more than one at once! Choke on that and die, you toxic bitch!” He pushed up from the computer chair as she gave out a sound of frustration, leaving the computer room to see her sitting on the couch in the living room, her head in her hands.

“Steph?”

“I don’t know why I try.” She said, picking her head up, “I don’t know why I let her get to me. I mean, of course she can push my buttons. She’s the one who fucking installed them.”

“Why did you call her?”

“She called me.” She said, “I was going to let it go to voicemail, but I decided to answer it. Big fucking mistake.”

“Steph, there’s something I’ve been wanting to bring up with you.” Walter said, “Now that you’re...even again.”

“Okay?” She asked and he went over, sitting next to her on the couch. Reaching over, he took her hand in his own, tangling their fingers.

“When you had your...episode, you asked Geralt to infect you.” He said and she sighed, looking away from him with a nod.

“I knew he was probably going to tell you guys, but I was hoping you had forgotten.”

“Do you still want him to? Or any of us?” He asked but she shook her head.

“I don’t, Walter. I’m sorry.” She said, “I don’t know why I asked him to do that. I shouldn’t have. It wasn’t fair of me to ask that of him after I told you all I didn’t want to be a wolf, but at the time I...” She gave another sigh, “I don’t know. I guess I just wanted to stop being a disappointment.”

“You never were.” He said, “And you never will be.”

“I guess it’s why he didn’t do it then and there, huh?” She asked, “Because he knew?”

“Can’t speak for him, but probably.” Walter said, “If it had been me you had asked that of, I wouldn’t’ve then either.”

“I know August wants me to be a wolf. He says it doesn’t bother him that I don’t, but I can tell it does. If I had asked him, it would have been done before I was even finished asking.” Stephanie said, “Sy is almost...protective of my humanity. Like it’s some precious commodity for him to keep safe. He would have flat out told me no. Mike, I don’t know, Mike just kind of goes with it. If I had asked him, I think he would have hesitated but if that’s what I wanted, then that’s what I wanted.” In his opinion, she was spot-on with her assessments.

“We will love you no matter what.” He said and pulled her towards him with an arm around her shoulders, pressing a kiss to the side of her head.

“I know.” She said, “And I really do. No matter what my brain tells me sometimes. But I’m gonna need you all to stop being so damn perfect all the time. It’s doing nothing for my paranoia.”

“I’ll try.” Walter said with a snort, smiling against her hair.

[freyjhasdesiredreality]

The Witch and The Winter Soldier (Bucky Barnes x Reader)

(Credits to GIF owner)

A/N 1: Hey guys! This has been in my drafts for so long. Although it's only 2.1k words, there is so much going on in this story, so I basically thinking about making this a serie. But instead of a complete serie, I'm thinking something like a sitcom. Like it's a world that you are the main character but every part will have a different adventure, I hope I'm clear lmao let me know what you think please!!

A/N 2: These events happen between Civil War and Ragnarok. They pretty much happen at the same time but I changed it a little so it could fit what's in my mind! So basically Ragnarok will happen later after this story. Okay? Okay!

A/N 3: Please bare with my grammar mistakes, English is not my first language!

WC: 2.1k+

Warnings: Mention of trigger words, Bucky being depressed, mention of HYDRA, let me know if I missed any!!

Bucky and Steve landed in Wakanda, relieved to be in a safe haven after their harrowing escape from the US government. Steve had told Bucky that he had a friend in Wakanda who could help him get back on his feet, and now it was time to make good on that promise.

Even though, Shuri ensured them they can help him, it was obvious it was going to take a lot of time. Meanwhile he would need to be put in cryo. Steve didn't want that. He didn't want to see Bucky suffer any more longer.

"No other way? Are you sure about that?" Steve asked Shuri.

Shuri knew Steve was worried about his friend. "I'm sorry Captain Rogers, I'm afraid I can't work as fast as I can with a fully functional brain. It needs to be calm so I don't do any mistake."

While Steve considered his options, Bucky was trying to convince himself everything would be okay. It was not HYDRA, he was in Wakanda and after he was put in cryo, he would wake up as a different man.

"I don't trust myself Steve," he said with a broken tone. "If it's the only way, I accept what it requires."

Steve knew that look. He wasn't sure so he didn't just want to accept and then it hit him. "What if I said I know a friend who could actually help us? She is a powerful witch and extremely experienced. I'm sure she would accept to help you," Steve said, hoping he would accept.

"Why would she want to help me?" Bucky asked, sounding even more hopeless.

"You'll understand when you see her."

-

You, Y/N Odinsdottir Heladottir, were one of the strongest witch in nine realms. You didn't have a father. Your mother Hela, created you from the souls that Asgard lost during battles and Yggdrasil gave you life. You became the goddess of reality. Your powers were raw and unlimited, that's why Hela wanted to train you as fast as possible so you could be a strong warrior among her side for the throne. After Odin banished Hela from Asgard, he took you as his own daughter and Frigga announced you to Thor and Loki as their sister.

Loki adored you immediately. He knew you were special and promised himself, he would do anything to protect this little angel that is his new sister. He could feel your magic. He made a mentally note to train you when you grow up.

-

"I think, she is the goddess of reality, which I don't know what it means, but she was trained to read and control minds. I don't exactly know the limit of her powers but she is a strong one Buck," Steve said hoping he would calm down a little.

"You said she can read minds, I don't want a stranger to see horrible things I've done. What if she saw them and refuse to help me?" Bucky said panicking. He had a chance to get rid of his past but the thought of being rejected made him anxious more than he already was.

"I tell you she's not like that, don't you trust me?" Steve seemed a little heartbroken.

"Don't get me wrong, I knew we were best friends, brothers actually but I don't exactly remember those days Steve. I don't feel that kind of trust just yet," Bucky admitted and just wanted to slap himself. "Why the hell I said that, what is wrong with you? Now he won't help you," he thought.

"Just say yes and she'll be here in no time I promise. I always keep my promise, Buck."

"Okay. I-I want to meet her."

-

"Look I'm not an expert on Asgard but we look like bunch of punks, Steve."

For the last 5 minutes, Steve were yelling your name to the sky, hoping you would hear and come. While he was trying, T'Challa approached to them.

"There is a woman in Shuri's lab, asking for you Captain Rogers. She said you called her," the king said, trying to hide his laugh. "She came from the sky, I thought you brought war to us," he joked.

"I would never do that your highness," Steve laughed. "Come on Buck, let's not keep her waiting, she is a little impatient."

"Is that why we have been yelling to the air last couple of minutes?"

-

"Your technology is impressive comparing to the rest of the world!" you cheered when Shuri showed off her gadgets to you. You both immediately got along well. She spilled the beans about why Steve called you. You suggested to do everything together with Shuri, using your magic and her technology.

"Thank you, thank you princess Y/N. Your magic is quite killer as well," she smiled widely. "Oh, here comes the white boys!" she called.

"I feel like we always meet in extreme circumstances," Steve smiled and hugged you tightly. "How are you, Y/N?"

"I've had better days, unfortunately we lost Loki a while ago, during a war," you said trying to hide your pain.

"We didn't have great memories with him but I know you loved him, I'm sorry for your loss," he patted your back.

You looked behind him and saw a brunette overthinking about everything and a chaos in his mind. You didn't want to just invade his brain but his thoughts were extremely loud so you wanted to help him. "Hi, I'm Y/N," you offered your hand to shake which he gladly took.

"I'm Bucky," he said nervously. He was sure you were the most beautiful woman he had ever laid his eyes on. You blushed lightly and when he realised, he was sure you read his mind. That made him blush too.

There was a thick tension between you, you were sure Shuri and Steve were trying to hide their laughs but you didn't care. "Shuri told me why you needed me, so when do we start?" you cheered, looking at Bucky with big eyes.

"You want to help me?" Bucky said, his eyes filled with hope. "Yes, of course Bucky! I'll do anything I can," you offered him a warm smile. He smiled back, already feeling better.

-

"You are in pain Bucky, I can feel that," you stopped with magic. Last few months have been hard on Bucky. He had to remember every single thing HYDRA had done to him and getting rid of those memories' chains. You didn't even made him remember what he had done to people but even this part were really painful to him.

"I can take it, please continue," Bucky nearly begged you. You were sure he couldn't take it anymore without going crazy so you wanted to stop a little until he feels better again.

"How about I tell you another story of my life in Asgard while you rest? I promise we'll continue then," you offered him a smile, put your hand on his shoulder to ensure him that you are here.

You've been doing this for a long time, whenever he felt overwhelmed, you stopped what you're doing and helped him relax while you told him stories about Asgard. You told him about the palace, the Valkyrie, your mom and dad, your brothers, Thor and Loki and Heimdall. He loved those stories. Every time you tell him, he learned something about you. You were so close with Loki and your mom, Frigga. Odin favoured Thor, that's why you always felt left out. From the colour you loved the most to the planet you loved to be in, he learned every little thing about you.

"That sounds good," he smiled back and laid down.

-

"Loki! Look how fast I am!" You shouted at your brother while riding a horse.

"Be careful my love, you might fall." Loki watched you closely. You were his soft spot. You were sure no one would love you more than he does.

"My children, it's almost time for dinner." Frigga called you both from balcony.

"We're coming mot-" he was interrupted by your scream.

"Loki!" His eyes filled with horror when he saw you crying on the ground, holding your knee. He ran to you so fast and leaned over.

"Hey hey, shh. Calm down pumpkin it's okay. I'm here, you're fine. How did you fall?" He smoothed you.

"S-she saw a snake and scared." You hugged him tight.

"I'll pick you up now and we'll see Eir, alright?"

"O-okay"

-

"And then father forbade him to see me again."

"But you didn't listen," Bucky laughed.

"Of course we didn't," you smirked.

-

"I want to see my brother!" You shouted with your lungs out crying.

"Thor is already here, Y/N."

"I want Loki!" you kept crying as loud as you can. You knew if you did your mother couldn't stand it anymore.

"Enough Y/N! I said you can't see Loki, he's dangerous! He couldn't protect you!" Odin shouted. You were shocked. Tears were flowing from your eyes but no words came out of your mouth.

"That's enough! You scared her enough. I'm taking her to her chambers," Frigga said to Odin, took you in her arms and left.

It didn't matter how much she soothed you, you refused to calm down. She could see you were exhausted but resisting to sleep.

"Oh my little peach, you really want Loki, don't you?"

You nodded your head vigorously, still crying. Frigga gently brushed your hair and wiped away your tears.

"I understand how you feel, my love. You and Loki have a special bond, and it's not fair for Odin to keep you apart. But you must trust me when I say that he's doing it to protect you," she explained softly.

"But why does he think Loki is dangerous?" you asked, sniffling.

"Your father has his reasons, but I believe that Loki is not the monster that Odin sees him as. He's your brother, and he loves you very much. I promise you, we will find a way to make things right."

Frigga held you close until you finally fell asleep. The next day, she called for Thor and told him to bring Loki to her chambers. When he arrived, she sat Loki down and spoke to him.

"My son, I know how much you love each other with your sister, and I can no longer stand to see you separated like this. Y/N is heartbroken without you, and I think it's time that you to understand the gravity of the situation," Frigga said, looking at him sternly.

"Odin believes that you are dangerous, and he's afraid that you might harm Y/N. But I know that you would never hurt your sister. However, you must promise me that you'll never put her in harm's way. Do you understand?"

Loki nodded solemnly, "I would never hurt her, mother. Ever," he felt offended a little. Frigga smiled at him.

"Good. Now go and make up for lost time, and be sure to never let anyone come between your bond as siblings."

You ran towards Loki as soon as he stood up, wrapping your arms around his waist tightly. Loki smiled down at you, and you knew that everything was going to be alright.

"No one is strong enough to break our bond, my little princess."

-

"You really liked Loki then," Bucky asked, feeling a little jealous but covering it with a smile. He knew he shouldn't be jealous, Loki was your brother after all. But he kind of wanted that bond with you, maybe even more. He wanted to keep you on his side, protect you at any cost. Even though he knew, you were perfectly capable of protecting yourself, even more than he can but it didn't matter to him.

"You don't have to be jealous Bucky," you laughed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to read your mind, it's just, you were thinking too loud and I thought there was a chaos going on in your mind," you said blushing.

"It's okay and I-uh," he sighed, trying to collect his words. "I just like to spend time with you, I mean you are so good to me and you know I- I would like to spend more time with you, other than just you helping me with this trigger words. You know, ma-maybe we could go to beach and watch sunset like that," he couldn't believe himself and how he couldn't just shut up. He looked away, he didn't want to see rejection in your eyes.

"I think that would be lovely, maybe you'll tell me your stories in 40's? I shouldn't be the only story teller, should I?" you grinned cheek to cheek. Seeing him relaxed after your answer made you even more happier. "But first, let's get through with this session, shall we?"

"We shall, doll."

A/N: Like and reblogs are appreciated! Let me know if you want more of this series!

[zhouxiangs]

i saw that you're currently reading my stand-in novel but you're not really spoiling anything. how are you finding it so far if i may ask? is it as angsty as people say it is?

(i waited until the end of the day to answer this because as i thought i've already finished the novel, so much for self-restraint lol also sorry this got a bit long... oops?)

i enjoyed it a lot! and it made me get over my reading slump, so i will even excuse it getting into some tropes i'm not particularly fond of at the end. it got cheesy…er, and not even in a way i like. amazingly, that didn't make me like it any less.

from the synopsis of the series and the tags in novel updates (and i only skimmed those because i didn't want to get spoiled) i had a pretty good idea of what the novel was going to be like, which is why i decided not to really liveblog since, transmigration aside, i'd say it's a pretty straightforward story. i could be persuaded to make a recap if there's interest though, since there's still over three weeks left until the series starts airing and i'm probably going to go over everything again and take notes anyway...

and oh, is it angsty! the whole thing hinges on zhou xiang (joe) being a sweet angel baby and yan mingxiu (ming) being a fucking idiot, and it's pretty much what you can expect from any dogblood/makjang with the scum ml, misunderstandings, heartbreak, regrets, etc. i have to say i'm not usually a fan of the misunderstanding trope bc i tend to find it annoying, but as with most tropes i don't particularly enjoy it's because of the way i often see it done. here it was painful for everyone involved, so i really liked it. also, please keep in mind that i'm a huge fan of big character development and characters redeeming themselves, so. there's that. wink wonk. (i've been reading some reviews and think for some people it may be best to know what kind of story this is before going in, other than because of triggers–which, very important if you need them, at least in the novel–because of the whole. scum ml more than anything lol even though yan mingxiu is not that scummy really!)

i love my stories character-driven, so having them being this well fleshed out and compelling was a joy, and being able to see so clearly what both zhou xiang and yan mingxiu were thinking and feeling, sometimes a lot earlier than they themselves could (please bl gods keep at least some of the internal monologue in the series, i am begging), was soooooo ugh. you're supposed to hate yan mingxiu allegedly but i just couldn't, not even in his scum era, because he was so obvious and so oblivious and so set in his own ideas he kept gaslighting himself into not noticing things. this could have gotten frustrating pretty easily, but again, everything feed into the delicious, delicious suffering. that being said, and because it doesn't seem to be a popular opinion... i think it's important to empathise with both of them, or at least sympathise, for maximum enjoyment of all that angst. you cannot cry over yan mingxiu's pain if you want him to get hit by a bus.

oh and the relationships (not only the cp's, though their progression is really good) are very important in this story, which is something i hope we get to see more of in the series because i ended up missing certain side characters in the later chapters. not tan yin though, i hope that fuck ass didn't make it into the series. how is a character so annoying while being in maybe six scenes total.

i can't say if it's good or not but it was extremely enjoyable, zhou xiang is my sweet darling angel baby, yan mingxiu is okay too (if you see me in the trenches defending him in about a month…), and i can't believe i am now, somehow, even more excited for my stand-in.

[bougiebutchbitch]

Heyyy you seem like you really know your batjokes. You got any fics to recommend? Oneshots, longfics, incomplete or not, I'm just looking to feed this craving. I've already read the big ones, REMS, Made for the Journey, Half Way Across, Love and Abuse, etc. I need MOAR

DAMN this is a good question... and one I am only semi-qualified to answer. I've trawled through a fair bit of the Batjokes AO3, but that still amounts to, uh, not even half of it. Any further reccs are welcome! For now though, some favourites, old and new, are under the cut~

Please check each individual fic for rating & warnings.

I'm currently obsessed with The #48 Verse series, by DesdemonaKaylose! Start here...

BRED TO SUFFER (desdemonakaylose)

AU from Batman comics #48: amnesiac Bruce Wayne is saved from having to choose between his newfound peace and the legacy of Batman. And as long as there is no Batman, there can't be a Joker.

John Doe, of the uncannily wide smile and the acid green eyes, deals with a creeping sense of dread that something is poised to go very, very wrong.

After the events of Endgame, amnesiacs Bruce Wayne and John Doe find themselves drawn together and repelled like magnets. Love - and danger - ensues, as their pasts crawl slowly back through cracks in the mirror.

And I can't not mention the other fic I'm obsessed with: AS WE GO ALONG (battybrownboo) - EXPLICIT

Batman and the Joker are perched along the edges of a precarious and complicated affair when an old enemy returns to Gotham. The adversary's desires for revenge against Bruce Wayne have only strengthened with time. This forces the two enemies with benefits on a wild goose chase, and to confront their relationship head on, whether they’re ready or not.

Strong Deadly Duo vibes, but with all the hardcore fucking that DC keep forgetting to add in! Batman and Joker are forced to team up, while navigating a delightfully messy ongoing relationship. As ever, I'm on tenterhooks for the next chapter!

GLASS, CONTENT, PIECES (ashtosilver) - EXPLICIT

"Mr. Wayne, it's this government's decision that regardless of the progress, you will become this man's handler. How he gets to the point of accepting that, is up to you."

Bruce breaks the Joker. But not for himself. Contains rape.

WHAT A WONDERFUL ANIMOSITY (kyrilu)

Joker is preparing to celebrate his and Batman’s upcoming Nemesis Anniversary when he makes the devastating discovery that Batman is married to his roommate Bruce Wayne.

Legobatjokes cuteness!

JUST IN CASE OF SURPRISES (princegrantaire)

What do you get for the man who has everything anyway? A skinny murderous clown, apparently.

Clark gets Bruce a very unconventional birthday present.

After you've worked your way through those, please go read the entire archives of Dracze, Distortopia, Fractualized and Fricketyfrac, aka DDFF, aka the deities of batjokes fic. A couple of faves of theirs that I haven't yet reccommended publicly are:

GOODBYE UNTIL TOMORROW (dracze) - EXPLICIT

Dick and Barbara reminded me what’s important,” Bruce says, quietly. “And there's one more person I want to see.”

So sweet it gave me cavities <3

FRIEND, PLEASE (distortopia)

Joker will not let a disease, of all things, do him in. He was always meant to die at the hands of the Bat. He hadn’t tortured him enough before; he had been holding back. But now he would present Bruce with an impossible, obvious choice: kill Joker before he killed the world.

Joker gets cancer. It goes badly.

(AND I'M DROPPING A SHOUT FOR FALLS THE SHADOW TOO BECAUSE I WANT MORE OF IT PRETTY PLEASE, IT'S SO GOOD)

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT (fractualized)

The Justice League are regrouping after an attack when an unexpected visitor arrives at Batman's hideout.

The Justice League meet John Doe! <3

GOOD FOR NOTHING (fricketyfrac) - EXPLICIT

Batman investigates why Bane made an appearance at Amusement Mile, and his interrogation of Joker takes a dark turn.

Batman finds the nasty aftermath of a confrontation between Joker and Bane. Warnings for rape and some very, very dubious consent.

[missheavenfield1215]

Opinion on the meaning of the songs in Beetlejuice The Musical

Songs centered on Beetlejuice and Lydia

I've noticed that Lydia and Beetlejuice's songs are intrinsically related to the name and being invisible, I think it's pretty obvious, but I've also found some other things.

In the prologue we can find this sentence:

"You're invisible when you're sad"

And:

"Is it being greedy to need somebody to see me

And say my name?"

And in Dead Mom, we'll find this part

"I'll go insane if things don't change

Whatever it takes to make him say your name, Dead Mom!"

And in Invisible: Reprise:

"You're invisible when you're me"

And:

Can you...

See me?

Yeah

You can see me!

I'm gonna have a new best friend!!

We can know that they both feel invisible (obviously) and find in each other the validation they need. Also apparently saying that person's name automatically gives her visibility, like in the song Dead Mom, Lydia wants her father to say her mother's name, so that he stops treating her as if she doesn't exist. That brings me to mind that the personification of invisibility is Beetlejuice and his signature song is:

"Say My Name"

And the song in which the two collide, which I personally like to call, "the bonding song" is:

That Beautiful Sound

Both people who felt invisible, finally collide... And it's a great respite for the two of them. Both finally feel recognized by the other.

"Hey look at me! (we're looking at you girl)"

"I'm finally free (You're finally free girl!)"

"I was invisible (she was invisible)"

"But now they all see!!"

Only in that beautiful moment do they feel that they don't need anyone but each other, since their company is enough.

They both feel seen and valued by someone who understands the pain and suffering of being alone.

But that feeling of closeness between Beetlejuice and Lydia is cut off as abruptly as it began. And he could say that it was Lydia who broke his heart, because Beetlejuice immediately feels that she betrayed him by breaking off their friendship and abandoning him to find her mother.

I have a slight suspicion that Beetlejuice wanted Lydia to be his wife, because he was already perfectly happy with her and didn't want that happiness to be taken away from him again.

Now let's talk a little bit about the song:

The Whole Being Dead Thing Pt 3 & Good Old Fashioned Wedding

We all know that everything Beetlejuice did was to put Lydia up against the wall and force her to marry him... But there's something that baffles me a bit. Beetlejuice was ready in just a few seconds to force his only friend to marry him, revealing a sad truth. Beetlejuice is always ready to receive a "no" or maybe he's always ready to fight for his interests because it's very likely that a lot of people have failed him.

And after hearing the "ok, I'll do it, I'll marry you," he was so excited that he revealed something that my sister made me realize.

Not only was Beetlejuice considering Lydia as a good choice to marry, but she is the ONLY OPTION for him...

But everything would fall apart when Lydia would rather go to Netherworld than share her life with him.

But, up to this point, Lydia has already betrayed him twice, it's obvious that Beetlejuice's ego is in tatters, obviously she's hurt him a lot and if she's not the one marrying him, then no one would be...

So, as if it were a punishment, Beetlejuice, shattered by her second betrayal, threatened to kill everyone present.

On top of that, without Lydia, there was no longer anything to tie him down to anyone present, although I would like to point out that Delia was still an option.

(But I'll talk about that in another post)

Now, let's talk about the elephant in the room...

My Creepy Old Guy

Phew, I have several things to say about this song...

Contrary to what many think, I don't think this song is a mockery of Beetlebabes fans.

1- This song is a joke for the audience and a mockery of the cultures that continue to do this type of practice (marrying a minor to an adult man) It's also a joke that most women understood, as it's a reference to the sexual harassment we receive when we go out on the street just for existing, and the fact that Lydia finds this "cute and vile" is a very funny contradiction. It's also why we can find Lydia leading the song (and Beetlejuice's footsteps throughout the entire stage). If you notice, both Adam and Charles have only two sentences in the entire song, which allows the women to talk about the harassment they have received almost their entire lives.

2- They don't romanticize the wedding, we all know he's forcing it on her, just to get that "green card thing," It's very obvious that the song is a very funny irony... It turns out that Lydia "suddenly" has a crush on the guy she just met and who just forced her into a marriage she didn't want.

But there's some of what we're missing.

That "something" is that we're missing Beetlejuice's point of view in this scene...

What happens is that Beetlejuice really believed that Lydia was in love with him and for a moment he thought that he wasn't actually forcing her...

And that's what Lydia really wanted to do... And so she continued the charade:

"Everywhere, fellas would stare

Out on the street"

"And I felt used

Kinda confused"

"I would refuse to look in their eyes"

"But now I really love creepy old guys"

"We all do!"

I love Beetlejuice's reaction in this scene. Because immediately after listening to it, Beetlejuice gets excited to find out and his face is like:

No...

...fucking...

...way!!

REALLY?!

Then we have this part:

"They make me blush"

(Can't get enough)

"Now one of 'em loves me, wants to be mine"

(That's right)

"Marrying my own creepy old guy!"

At this point, Lydia assures that Beetlejuice loves her and that she does want to be with him, but he doesn't get it until he understands that they are referring to him.

(I'm a creepy old guy!!)

And when he gets it, he's really surprised and he's like:

Oh, my God... I'M THE CREEPY OLD GUY!

Then we have this part:

(I am older, but I'm glad I waited)

I would have loved to know what he meant in that part, until I remembered it... Beetlejuice is referring to the part where he stayed at the Deetz-Maitlands' house to make them victims of his wrath. But just before he can lash out at anyone, she appears... as if he was waiting for her... (Like a real wedding!!)

Now, I want to mention something... Beetlejuice's reactions are the whole song, they show him very moved... He truly believes that they love him.

And an honorable mention to Barbara for this reaction:

(He's like:)

Oh, my God... See?? She loves me! She loves meeee!!!!

Yes dear, whatever you say... 🙂😐

For obvious reasons, Charles would never agree to something like this, but he trusts his daughter and the plan... But still, he lets his true feelings be seen through a single sentence:

"Have you guys seen "Lolita"?"

"This is just like that, but fine"

For some who don't know, Lolita was a novel that became a movie. It is the story of a mentally ill man named Humbert who ruins his entire life by becoming obsessed with an underage girl named Dolores.

I have a slight suspicion that Charles wants to see Beetlejuice ruined in the same way that Humbert does.

Then we have this part:

"I know that on the outside he's disgusting"

"And even on the inside, he's disgusting"

"But I know that this time, I'm makin' it right"

Under Beetlejuice's eyes, this doesn't sound bad... It even sounds hopeful, meaning that even if he's unpleasant, she wants to get off to a good start with him.

After a while, we can finally hear him:

"I found me a wife"

"L'chaim to life"

"This is so normal!"

"I was ignored"

"But now, I'm adored!"

"'Cause I extorted, tortured, and lied"

"Give it up for my underage bride!"

This is a very sad thing... Beetlejuice has never been the object of love and affection, That's why he thinks the whole song is proof enough that they love him... And what breaks my heart is knowing that Beetlejuice said he would give all that for his wife... It also breaks my heart to know that Beetlejuice gave up all his trust with so little acceptance from everyone in the house...

He's genuinely enraptured by the way everyone in the house is treating him... It's not hate, it's not disgust, it's not anger. Everyone is being kind, generous, understanding and supportive and that touches him...

Everything is so perfect for him

Too perfect actually...

When Beetlejuice is brought to life, it is saturated with many MANY sensations, feelings, and sounds.

I personally believe that if Lydia had tried to calm him down instead of murdering him, he really wouldn't have killed anyone. And I like to think that from there, only she could reassure him and thus, he would be like a little puppy looking for the affection of his owner...

I think that, to calm him down, it would be enough just to touch him... Let us remember that he has been deprived of genuine contact and affection, so a single touch of her fingers and a few words would be enough to make him desist from any act of violence.

But, he was killed for not being able to control something he never had...

Which reminds me of this phrase:

"It's good to trust someone, but not trusting anyone is better"

Well, to finish, Beetlejuice was really deceived by Lydia, due to the conditions of both of them... The two of them were lonely and abandoned, so Beetlejuice was willing to believe Lydia whenever she approached him with "good intentions". Beetlejuice's appreciation for Lydia blinded him and he was hurt three times in a row in the same night for believing her.

That's all for now!

Thanks for reading my soliloquy! Bye!! 😘💕💖

[taracsacum]

I Need Your Love

I've finally finished this fic 🤪 You can also read it here ☺

Warnings: it's 18+ content, please, don't read it if you're a minor

James was awfully irritated lately. Whether it was because of the upcoming album release or the strained relationships with Jason and Bob Rock, Kirk couldn't say for sure. He had a feeling that even James couldn't name the reason for his annoyance. Maybe it was all at once. The tension in the studio had been growing for months. James felt imprisoned by constant criticisms and demands, which had strained his relationship with everyone around him.

Kirk wanted to help him relieve the tension, so he suggested James to go on vacation. Well, technically, it was James who came up with that idea a couple of weeks ago but they were busy that time and soon forgot about their conversation.

So, now, when they had at least two free days, they could afford to spend some time together and leave LA. They definitely needed a change of scenery, so Kirk rented a house near the ocean. It was a beautiful place just a couple of hours from LA. He didn't tell James where they were going since James'd told him that it didn't matter much as long as they were completely alone and as far from the recording studio as it possible. He was tired of constant arguing with Lars, Bob, and Jason and wanted to forget about everything just for a day or two.

Kirk was in a good mood this morning and planned the whole day they were going to spend in nature. He wanted to take James for a walk in Torrey Pines after they'd get to the house and rest a bit from the road. He also couldn't wait until tonight to surprise James with a dinner on the terrace. Honestly, he chose that house because of it's terrace with a long path lit by dozens of small lanterns. They created a wonderful and magical atmosphere so he didn't think twice and booked the house as soon as he saw the pictures.

After taking a shower, Kirk was about to wake James up but he was already awake which surprised Kirk a bit because James hadn't slept well that night in spite of their previous long day at the recording studio. And that was another problem: lately, he suffered from insomnia which made Kirk slightly nervous. He was determined to talk about it but not now, he didn't want to piss James off any more than he already was.

It was obvious that James was still tired but he got up and started to help Kirk pack and get ready for the road. One look at his exhausted boyfriend was enough for Kirk to start regretting the vacation idea. Maybe they could just spend some time at home not going anywhere? He shook his head, throwing those thoughts away, James deserved more than just being cooped up here all weekend.

"You can take shower, I'll pack our bags myself, you know," Kirk suggested James, he looked up at him with slight confusion and gave him a gentle smile.

"Thanks, hon, I definitely need it now, I feel like I'm gonna sleep all day."

"Then I'm waiting for you in the kitchen, when you finish, we'll have breakfast and be ready to go," Kirk kissed James on the cheek and took his guitar case.

At first, he wasn't going to write any new riffs because his main intention was to relax and try not to remember their stressful everyday routine but he knew himself pretty well: he couldn't feel completely relaxed without his guitar, it wasn't necessary to come up with something new, he could just play any song they'd already written. As for James, he was pretty the same, but Kirk decided not to push and let him make a decision whether to take his own guitar or not by himself.

By the time James left the bathroom, Kirk had already packed their bags and made breakfast. He decided to fry eggs with bacon for James and an omelette with tomatoes and spinach for himself.

James didn't talk to him during the breakfast as he was still sleepy, and Kirk didn't get on his nerves with unnecessary questions and only smiled sweetly when James kissed him on the cheek finishing his meal.

In half an hour they were ready to go. James helped Kirk carry the bags to the car. As they packed, Kirk occasionally glanced at James, noticing how fatigue lined his face. 'I wish I could do more to help you relax,' Kirk thought, resolving to make this getaway as peaceful as possible.

Kirk checked the front door and got into the driver's seat. He knew that James wasn't in a good condition to drive and let him rest for a while.

"So, are you ready to go? You didn't forget anything?" Kirk asked him. James nodded and got comfortable in his seat.

"Yeah, I packed everything, we can go."

Kirk started the car and pulled into the driveway. He glanced at his lover who had already closed his eyes trying to sleep. Kirk sighed softly and decided to let him rest since it was a long day ahead of them. Driving away from the city, Kirk couldn't help but feel a glimmer of hope. They had a few days to reconnect and recharge, and he was determined to make every moment count.

***

James slept the whole way and only woke up when they pulled up to the rented house. He looked around sleepily taking the view before him. There was a big house behind the high gates painted white on the contrast with bright green grass and bushes. Kirk got out of the car and came to the gates to open them. He needed to enter a code that the owner had told him beforehand, then he could take the keys hidden in one of the flowerpots on the porch and open the door.

Then Kirk drove the car into the yard and closed the gate. By the time he got back to the house James stepped out of the car and started unloading their stuff. Kirk hurried to help him.

Although they didn't have many bags with them, it took a good ten minutes to bring all of their stuff inside and put them in their places. Kirk took his guitar case and duffle bags with his and James' clothes and came into the bedroom. It was large and bright, there were big panoramic windows overlooking the nearby beach, a king-size bed in the middle with nightstands on each side, and a wardrobe in the corner. Kirk liked that room, it was cosy and the bed looked really comfortable. He took his socks off and dig his toes in a creamy beige colored fluffy carpet. Yes, he definitely liked it here.

Meanwhile, James was taking a better look at the house. The living room was spacious with a coffee table and several magazines on it, a big TV on the wall, a bookcase in the far corner, and a large couch with pillows on it. The beige walls, carpet and furniture made the room look pretty clean, almost sterile, and James felt a bit uneasy, he had to control all of his movements to keep that house pristinely clean.

He stepped into the kitchen to put some groceries in the fridge. The kitchen was combined with the dining room and wasn't big but cosy with wooden cabinets and a vintage stove. Soft light coming through the window added a homey feel to the room. He take a look at the dining table and chairs made of light wood, then opened the cupboards to put a pack of tea and some spices there, checked the utensils and made his way to the bedroom.

Kirk had already put their stuff in places and welcomed James with a sweet smile.

"Do you like it here?" he asked him, full of the joys of spring.

"It's pretty… bright in here," James couldn't come up with the better answer so he just smiled and hugged Kirk. "I'm gonna take a shower, it's so hot outside, I feel nasty."

Kirk chuckled and kissed James on the cheek, "Go ahead, I'll change my clothes and make us something to eat."

James sighed as he stepped into the shower, the warm water cascading over his tired body. He let his mind wander, trying to find relief from the swirling thoughts about the album and the constant bickering.

While James was taking shower and resting from the long road, Kirk went to the kitchen to cook lunch. It was simple - pasta with vegetables and tomato sauce. Kirk decided to boil water for spaghetti first and in the meantime started chopping pepper, a couple of onions and carrots. He wanted to fry them first and then to stew with a tomato sauce he bought with the other ingredients beforehand in LA.

Kirk felt a bit anxious given James' reaction to their rented house and lack of enthusiasm. He didn't know how to cheer him up, what to do or say. It was like he was walking on the edge. Kirk took a deep breath trying to calm his nerves a bit. The sound of the knife monotonously slicing through the onions acted as a soothing rhythm. The strong aromas of fresh vegetables filled the kitchen, slightly easing his anxiety.

When pasta was ready, he went to his and James' bedroom to call his lover. James was asleep, and it made Kirk tense because he was worried whether James would be able to go for a walk to the park in this condition or not since it was a pretty long trip. Honestly, if they had to stay at home or just go to the beach, Kirk wouldn't mind but deep down, he hoped to see something new here and share this experience with James.

"James, it's lunchtime, get up, love," Kirk said softly and shook his lover's shoulder. James mumbled something inaudible but woke up. He looked at Kirk with a tint of confusion in his eyes and let out a long sigh.

"I was sleepin' so well," he murmured and closed his eyes.

Kirk didn't give up and patted his shoulder again. He didn't want to be annoying but knew that James had to be hungry and should eat something.

"I know, but it's time for lunch, you haven't eaten anything decent in hours! You can't spend the whole day in bed," Kirk was determined to bring James to his senses.

"Who's gonna stop me?" James scoffed but started to get up. Kirk offered him his hand and together, they made their way to the kitchen.

There was a silence during lunch as there was at breakfast. James was picking at his food unenthusiastically, and that broke Kirk's heart a bit. Yes, it wasn't the best meal he cooked but still, he tried to help James feel better, he gave him his time to relax and do whatever he wanted to, and all of that was for nothing?! He tried not to show his disappointment so decided not to talk either. He knew he wouldn't have been able to hold back sharp or rude words if he started any conversation in the state he was in.

"What are your plans for today?" came an unexpected question from James, Kirk cleared his throat.

"I was planning to take you to the Torrey Pines Park if you don't mind, of course," Kirk answered carefully.

He was aware that James could flare up if he didn't like something. He didn't discuss their trip with him before, and that was a mistake, James could think that this vacation was only for Kirk but it was wrong. James just shrugged and continued picking the already cooled down pasta and vegetables with his fork.

"If you don't wanna go there, we can stay here?" half-heartedly offered Kirk. He started to think that his idea to come here in general was stupid, he couldn't help but blame himself that he pushed James to activities which he obviously didn't like or wasn't ready for.

"Can we?" James asked him hopefully and Kirk already knew what he was going to answer.

"Sure. Anything you want," he smiled sadly and took his plate to put it into the sink. He was going to make some tea when James came up with another question suddenly.

"What are you reading?"

Kirk frowned and froze, not understanding where this question came from. James seemed to notice his confusion and hastened to clarify, "There's a book on the coffee table. It's yours, isn't it?"

"Yes. It's 'The Horla' by Guy de Maupassant."

"Never heard 'bout this book," James admitted. Kirk couldn't figure out why James started this conversation since it seemed he wasn't so eager to talk just a minute ago.

"It's a horror story, you wouldn't like it anyway."

"Mhm, so now you get to decide what I would and wouldn't like," James' voice was raspy and dangerously low, Kirk felt like he was standing in front of the predator who was ready to attack him any minute.

"No, I just supposed that 'cause you're not much into horrors," Kirk didn't know why but he was ready to cry. It was so stupid, James didn't say anything rude or hurtful, but he couldn't miss the slight annoyance in James' tone.

"Oh, you know me that well," came an instant sarcastic reply. And that was the last straw.

"I don't know you at all," Kirk barely whispered and gave up his idea to make tea. He wanted to hide somewhere from James and this stupid argument they had, he needed time to calm down. He was ready to turn around and go outside when he heard a sharp squeak of chair against the floor and then the heavy footsteps. Kirk sadly hung his head, ready to hear the loud slamming of a door, but the footsteps stopped behind him, and Kirk could feel the warmth of James' body.

"Kirk," James called him but Kirk didn't answer. He knew himself pretty well and didn't want to aggravate their quarrel with his harsh rash words. He knew he would regret them later. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you."

'I don't need your condescension,' Kirk thought but hold his tongue. There were nasty words, sharp like a razor, he could cut their relationship off with this razor for good. He didn't want to.

James put his hand on Kirk's shoulder and turned him around to look in his eyes. There was sadness in them and something James couldn't quite identify. He hugged Kirk squeezing him as tight as it was possible.

"I was an asshole, I know. I just can't stand when someone decide everything for me. I know you didn't mean anything bad, it wasn't fair to spill my anger on you. Don't shut yourself off, please, tell me."

Problems need to be spoken. They knew it like no one else. It was one time when James sad something stupid without thinking and obviously hurt Kirk, but the latter refused to talk about it and almost broke up with James. James had to make amends. And here they were.

Kirk heaved a heavy sigh and snaked his arms around James' waist.

"You made it clear to me that I and everything I do for you is insignificant and unimportant. That you are still separate and I am still a stranger to you."

"Kirk, no," James could hardly breathe, "It's not like that at all."

"OK," was the only answer.

***

"Now it's my turn to take care of you," James told him some time later and took Kirk's hand leading him to the bathroom. He intertwined their fingers feeling the slight tremble in his own, this moment was more than just an act of caring.

He prepared a relaxing bath, cleaning it and filling with steamy, hot water.

"Careful, it's hot," James warned him but Kirk just gave him a reassuring smile.

"It should be hot," Kirk took his clothes off staying stark naked.

"I couldn't find any bubbles or bath bombs, sorry. It's not as romantic as I was planning. But here's some coffee shampoo. It even says 'Vegan Formula'," James chuckled and gestured to Kirk, who playfully rolled his eyes still smiling, to get into the bathtub.

"I'm not a vegan, you know. I bet it smells good," Kirk got comfortable and reached out to James. Sitting in hot water, he instantly felt how his body started to relax and the tension left his sore muscles.

James hesitated for a second but finally took his clothes off and stepped in the tub, getting used to hot water and sitting down behind Kirk.

Honestly, he didn't plan to take a bath with Kirk as it was not for him but only for his lover, however, he could still take care of Kirk by washing his hair. Firstly, he warned Kirk that he was going to scoop up the water and pour it on his head to wet his wild curls. Then he took the bottle of shampoo and squeezed a small amount of it on his palm starting to wash Kirk's beautiful hair. He massaged Kirk's sculp gently, making him moan softly. He knew that Kirk loved when he stroked his hair or brushed it but what Kirk loved the most was a head massage. It made him melt like an ice cube under the sun rays, he became a moaning, completely boneless mess, and James always felt proud of himself for that.

"I want to apologize for my behavior these days," finished washing his lover's hair, James spoke a few minutes later trying to sound confident but his voice was a bit shaky. He buried his nose in Kirk's dark wet curls snaking his arms around his lover's middle and breathed in the smell of coffee mixed with Kirk's natural scent. He loved Kirk's smell: it was sweet and a bit spicy at the same time like that raspberry chilli ice cream he once tasted.

"You know, I'm quite nervous because of the new album and the relationship in the group but it's not an excuse, I know, I just… Dunno, I feel like my life became the endless night, I can't see anything, I can't do anything not being judged by Bob or Lars. It feels like I'm not doing enough for our group, I come up with one riff and Bob says it doesn't fit and I have to try something new, I bring another one idea but he still criticizes whatever I do. I play wrong, I sing wrong, fuck, I am wrong. I know, he's doing his best and wants us to grow, to become something more than we already are, but I can't help but feel annoyed with him, and all of my anger is spilling on you and I hate myself for this because you did nothing wrong, you help me, you put up with me, you're perfect partner and that's another reason why I'm so stressed out. I mean, it's not because of you, no, I just have a feeling like I don't deserve you, I'm always grumpy and rude to you. Look what you've planned for me, and I ruined everything as always…" James' voice was tight like he was holding back tears and that vulnerability wasn't typical of him who usually hid those kind of feelings and didn't discuss them so Kirk tensed up a bit and turned his head to look at his lover.

James was obviously upset and that was no good.

"James, listen, I'm not mad at you, not one bit. You have every right to be nervous, upset or angry, it's OK, I promise. I was a bit sad earlier today, yes, but not mad, I know how much you love Metallica and everything we do, of course it's tough to work with us sometimes, we can be real bitches, I know that," Kirk laughed quietly and lifted his hand to stroke James' soft cheek. "Just don't forget that I always care about you and you should too. Don't be so hard on yourself, you're doing great, but sometimes even Mighty Het needs rest."

"Thank you, babe, I don't know what I'd do without you," James wanted to say more but couldn't find any appropriate words, he was overwhelmed with feelings he felt for Kirk so he just pressed him closer to his chest and looked at him. It was a look full of adoration and love, and Kirk understood him without any more words.

Kirk smiled at James and reached for the kiss. James willingly closed the distance between them and softly touched Kirk's wet lips with his. It was a featherlight caress and felt like a gulp of fresh air after a long exhausting day. James felt every movement of their lips, his heart beat faster, his breathing calm and slow as he sank deeper and deeper in that kiss.

He snaked his right arm down Kirk's side, stroked his flat stomach, feeling how his muscles tightened at that touch. Kirk let out a quite moan and opened his mouth slightly, licking James' lips. Although the angle was a bit awkward, given his position, Kirk couldn't break the kiss, he missed James so much, they barely had time for themselves during the rehearsals and recording, and even if they were free after all of this they couldn't find the energy for anything more than taking shower and going to bed.

James sighed and slid his lips lower kissing Kirk's jaw and slowly getting to his neck. Kirk whined when James grazed his teeth over the sensitive skin.

"God, I missed you," James breathed out biting and sucking at his lover's neck and shoulder leaving small reddish marks on them. His arms still held Kirk tightly pressing him closer to his chest.

Kirk turned his head giving him more access, lost in the sensations, he was torn between the strong arousal and tender and extreme love for this man who made him feel secured, desired, and powerful no matter what. He didn't notice how one of James' hands slid down to his inner thigh and started to stroke his smooth skin close to his already hard cock. Kirk shuddered and threw his head back moaning louder and grabbing James' arm.

"James," he whispered leaning on James' chest, breathing heavily.

"What's up? You want something?" James teased him gripping his thigh harder but still not touching Kirk's cock, just accidentally brushing his balls with the back of his hand. Still kissing and licking his shoulder, he moved his other hand to Kirk's flushed chest and squeezed a nipple. The rapid reaction from his lover didn't disappoint him: Kirk shuddered and cried out.

"Wow, so sensitive," James chuckled briefly, impressed by his responsiveness, and let out a hot exhale which gave Kirk goosebumps.

Kirk felt like his body was on fire even though he sat in the water, which wasn't as hot as it was several minutes ago, and going to explode. James' slightly chapped lips, his hoarse whispers, big calloused hands on his tan body touching it's sensitive spots like they were touching the guitar strings, creating the best music in their lives: Kirk's moans and whines, - all of that made him quiver, he wanted more. They hadn't had sex for such a long time that he couldn't wait anymore, he needed James now.

He started squirming and tried to move James' hand to his aroused cock but James caught his hand and squeezed it teasingly with the devilish smirk on his face.

"Not so easy, babe, I didn't hear you. So, what do you want?"

"James," Kirk whined trying to touch himself discreetly with his free hand but of course James noticed it and stopped caressing him.

"Yes? Use your words, honey, I don't know what you want me to do."

'Such a teasing bastard!' Kirk thought. He was aroused, hot, and desperate but at that exact moment James decided to play his silly game instead of bringing them to the much-anticipated orgasm. He let out an exasperated breath and whimpered not having any strength to wait anymore, "Touch me."

"I'm already touching you. Could you be more specific?" James definitely was proud of himself, Kirk could tell it by his tone. James slowly pinched Kirk's nipple and kissed him behind the ear.

Fuck, he was killing him!

"Touch my dick, god dammit!"

"Now we're talking," James smiled contentedly stroking Kirk's thigh again, then covering his crotch with his big hand.

Kirk shuddered and moaned, finally getting what he wanted so bad. He felt like his body was struck by lightning, it was on fire, and Kirk couldn't help but close his eyes and cry out when James squeezed his balls lightly and swiped his thumb over the head of Kirk's cock.

James kissed Kirk's neck, gently stroking his cock and caressing smooth skin of Kirk's chest, feeling his rapid heartbeat. His own hard-on was pressed against the small of Kirk's back, so he jerked his hips up a bit to get some pleasure as well. Kirk was a moaning mess, he tilted his head back on James' shoulder, his wet wild curls everywhere, and grabbed his hand that was doing its magic with Kirk's dick.

"God, you're killing me," Kirk whined and thrusted his hips upwards trying to get a release as soon as possible. The seconds felt like hours, he was going crazy.

James was squeezing and pumping his sensitive cock with such feverish desire that Kirk couldn't stay still, he writhed and jerked his hips up, he needed to cum, but when he was ready to let himself go, James suddenly stopped.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Kirk was mercilessly snapped out of his pleasant haze, so he didn't think twice before asking this question with a hint of frustration in his voice.

"Stand up," was all James answered. He definitely had something on his mind, Kirk could tell it by his playful smirk and gleeful eyes, so he did what he was asked for.

James stood up next and turned Kirk to face him, pressing him back to the wall. The tile felt extremely cold after the hot water and warmth of James' chest, so Kirk shuddered a bit and looked at his lover utterly confused. James gave him a passionate kiss and took their both slick dicks in his hand. Kirk gasped when he felt James' hard-on against his own and nearly lost his mind as James' strong hand started quickly jerking them both off, smearing the pre-cum. He gripped his shoulders trying to stay on his feet and not to fall right then and there.

"Fuck," James breathed out a couple of minutes later and pushed his hips into Kirk's. He was close and Kirk's moans and sobs were pushing him to the edge. He saw how Kirk tensed, then trembled, coming in his fist with a loud cry, he could feel Kirk's warm hand on his own and a thumb stroking the head of his dick and it was enough to bring him to release. He fell forward on Kirk pressing him harder to the wall and came moaning in his ear.

He felt the wetness on his hand, there was a lot of cum since they hadn't had sex for a long time, and James was a bit embarrassed by his fast and intense release. Kirk seemed not to pay attention to it, he was trying to gain his composure back breathing as hard as if he'd run a marathon.

"Fuck, it was cool," Kirk smiled at James who was still trapping him between himself and the wall. James only hummed in response not having any strength to move, think clearly, or talk.

Kirk twisted out of his grasp, turned on the shower, and pulled the plug out of the tub. They were ready to get themselves cleaned up.

***

Later that evening, after having dinner with James, who volunteered to cook it by himself by the way, Kirk told that he had a surprise for him. Yes, he had a bit different plans for their vacation since he himself wanted to make dinner and have it with James outside but he didn't mind giving in to his lover and letting him do things his way. Still, he had a card up his sleeve.

They went outside. The sky was already dark blue but still illuminated by the setting sun on the horizon. It looked like a beautiful painting made by a skillful artist, there were several pink, purple, and orange stripes mingling with the darkness of the inky sky.

Kirk took James' hand and led him to the terrace that was already lit by the little lanterns here and there. But it was not even this magical atmosphere that was to win James' heart, but the huge wicker swing at the back of the terrace under a spreading pine tree.

James didn't expect that Kirk would surprise him more than he already did. They came together to the swing with lots of small soft pillows on it, and Kirk told James to make himself comfortable and relax while he went back into the house and fix them some tea.

"It's a bit chilly out here, you can take a plaid," Kirk gave him a big blue plaid that lay under a pile of pillows.

"I'd rather have you warm me up," James chuckled trying to pull Kirk onto his lap but Kirk just laughed and stepped back.

"Don't ruin my surprise, we have the whole night to 'warm you up'. For now, I have other plans." Kirk winked at him and made his way to the house.

James giggled and threw a plaid over his lap, looking up at the horizon. The sun had already set and the sky became black, so he could see several constellations on it. It was cool and quite out here, James caught himself thinking that he hadn't felt this peaceful in a long time. Sitting on the swing, James reflected on the past few weeks. The arguments, the sleepless nights, and the pressure of the album's release weighed heavily on him. He was eternally grateful to Kirk for planning all of this for him. He was still a bit ashamed of his flash of anger, he knew that Kirk truly loved him and was willing to do anything for him not only because of that comprehensive love but also because of his wonderful soul. Kirk always was a sweetheart ready to give everything to those in need, and James highly appreciated it. So, he knew he shouldn't have acted like a complete asshole and was going to make amends tonight and show Kirk his deep and boundless love.

Kirk came back with two big mugs in his hands. James could smell a nice light aroma of thyme and mint. He took his mug with a big grateful smile on his face and gestured for Kirk to sit next to him. Kirk made himself comfortable and wrapped another one plaid over them.

"Thank you for this vacation, it's amazing even though not everything went as you planned," James said after a few moments of blissful silence. "I shouldn't have reacted like this when all you wanted to do was to help me. I was a complete dick and I'm sorry…"

"You've already apologized to me, remember? Let's just forget about everything and spend the rest of our weekend like we want. What you think, hm?" Kirk looked up at James and gave him the most delicate smile he could manage. He leaned up for the kiss and closed his eyes contently. James kissed his warm lips with all tenderness and adoration he felt for that wonderful man and thanked God for having such a beautiful and caring lover.

"I love you," James whispered breaking the kiss and pulling Kirk closer to him.

"I love you, too," Kirk said softly, then laid his head on James' shoulder and added with a smirk, "Now drink your tea, it's getting cold."

"Yes, sir!" As James sipped the tea, he glanced at Kirk, a soft smile playing on his lips, grateful for his thoughtful planning.

They laughed quietly and finally let themselves relax and listen to the nature. It was a wonderful night. They were young, successful, and loved. Here, bathing in the quietness of the beautiful starry night and their love, they realized that no matter what difficulties they'd encounter later on in their journey, they'd overcome them all. They knew the road ahead wouldn’t be easy, but with newfound understanding and determination, they promised to face it together, stronger than ever.

[thehyperfixationspeedrunner]

so uh… thunder saga. are you alive.

Do not get me started.

I am not gonna lie when I got into this fandom (around January) and found out about the different sagas the one I was least excited about was the thunder saga (not for any reason in specific, it's just that I was most excited for the underwold, wisdom and Ithaca sagas, I love Circe with all of my strengths and the vengeance saga (I think that's the name) has Dangerous and another song that I'm always forgetting but that I am so hyped for and I hate fights between friends and this saga has a song called mutiny) so I did not have much expectations for this. Boy, did I understand that wrong. It is currently my favourite saga.

Suffering - SO DIFFERENT. Jorge always likes to play with old-fashioned and modern music, but he went all in for the synths. The melody was so pretty and the fact that in the chorus Odysseus picks up the you from penelope/sirens line "I will take my suffering from you". Also, fuck you Jorge, you made me believe that this wasn't sirens and I was already thinking of an alternative universe where he didn't go to war and spent his time with Penelope and instead of a son they have a daughter but because of his other self's shit he is also afraid of water (yes, I know, way too far but that's how my mind works)

Different beast - FUCK YES, I LOVE THIS SONG SO MUCH. THEY SOUND SO FUCKING BADASS THAT I ALMOST BELIEVED THAT THEY WERE GOING TO SURVIVE THIS EVEN THOUGH I KNOW HOW THE STORY GOES. FJENENRGKVKCDKSMSNEFNFJCJ IT MAKES ME FEEL POWERFUL. New favourite song from the musical in case it wasn't obvious. AND IT'S SO FUCKING CATCHY, I'VE BEEN SINGING THE CHORUS FOR THE PAST 2 DAYS

Scylla - this was the song I was most hyped for and it did not disappoint. Holy shit those harmonies were everything AND HER VOICE??? *chef's kiss* I do not have much to say because I was in awe the entire time (also is it just me or whe Odysseus says "the lair of scylla" it sounds weirdly like when Athena says "goddess of wisdom" in the first berse of warrior of the mind)

Mutiny - I was so scared of this one and I was right, it was horrible (<- in a this destroyed my feelings kind of way not in a this was a bad song kinda way). As I said before I hate when friends have fights, so this was... a struggle, but I got through it, barely. I absolutely love the fact that in the Odessey, Odysseus men were just dumb. They were warned by Tereseus and still did it. HOWEVER, in Epic, they just seem so exhausted and pessimist. It's just heartbreaking to hear. The do not have hopes of getting home and their too blind with hunger. Also, when they start singing "how much longer must we suffer now" and Odysseus starts overlapping? 😩👌 Perfection. Also, the men singing full speed ahead while Odysseus just screams faster is also everything to me.

Thunder bringer - holy shit this was so much better than I thought. When I heard in the snippets "If I were to make you choose/ the life of your men and crew or your own/ why do I think they'd loose" I thought it was just a reference to Odysseus' monster side NOT THAT ZEUS WOULD ACTUALLY MAKE HIM CHOOSE. Anyways I heard the last instrumental part of the song one (1) time, which was in my first way through the saga. I cannot listen to that knowing that Odysseus is drowning and his crew is all dead because of his choice, I just can't.

ANYWAYS, after this I just have to say one thing: CALL👏BACK👏SAGA👏. There were SO MANY references to previous songs.

BUT WHAT DID YOU THINK. WHAT'S YOUR OPINION????

(To answer your question the only reason I didn't perish is because I have to reach the end of this musical)

[cheemken]

Ahoy it's me again I've been doing some thinking:

So march 31st is when the philosopher's stone was made which puts a wrench in our "Regulus created by the philosopher's stone" idea but what if not? (I'm about to be deranged here but I thought of this at 4 AM so wheeeeeeee)

One of the lesser known properties of the philosopher's stone is that it can be used to create a homonculus. Now there are alchemical recipes for homunculi that do not require a philosopher's stone (instead opting for lots of blood and a live horse, among other things)

So I was thinking: Why use the philosopher's stone to make one when stuff like blood and live horses are relatively easy to get? Well based on the difficulty of cloning mammals (Dolly, cloned in 1996, took 277 fertilized eggs to get 1 surviving sheep) and that homunculi are reputedly more like miniature humans, what if the philosopher's stone based method just gives better results? What if the philosopher's stone version of a homunculus eliminates the need for hundreds of attempts, perfects the homunculus to be nearly identical to a naturally born arcanist, and makes the process faster?

Because if the horse and blood based recipe takes 9 months, and the philosopher's stone cuts that down to 4 and a half months... isn't August 15 4 and half months away from march 31st?

I should go eat breakfast afhgkhlfgakfdklfkg

Oh you are cooking👀

Wait no that's dope cause if APPLe's goal was to create life, then that'd make much more sense for him to lose his body during the transmutation bc ofc, it seems like he's playing god, rather than just try to recreate the Philosopher's Stone

Okay this really got me thinking now cause if we go w that, it would make much more sense, since the Philosopher's Stone is already discovered, and for arcanists, that's an actual thing, unlike w humans who think the Philosopher's Stone is merely a myth. And APPLe wanted to know more abt it's uses, bc he knows it's an elixir of life as well, it could grant immortality, but most of all, he knows it'll be a better material in doing transmutation, he knows it'll be a successful experiment, but a lot of people had warned him not to, as not a single arcanist has ever tried creating life with the Philosopher's Stone

And it would somewhat justify the punishment APPLe received, while yeah he was successful in creating life, the stars had punished him by making Regulus from his own flesh and blood, a spitting image of him, and even bearing the personality traits he once had that he always hated. Regulus was a mirror of him that he cannot escape, a version of him w all the traits he never liked from his own self; bc he wanted to play god right, then he shall suffer the consequences as well

But w regards to the pendant, I mean it's pretty obvious is is the Philosopher's Stone, so what role does it play now Regulus? I do wanna say that it's like,, more like smth similar like the sentimonster thing in miraculous ladybug, the pendant/Philosopher's Stone is what gives Regulus life, it's connected to her somehow, and APPLe knows that. So if anything ever happens to the pendant, then smth is also gonna happen to Regulus, that's also the thing abt his punishment

He created her w the stone, and the stone is forever connected to her. And how could he even protect her properly w his new body, he's just an apple now, his arcane skills aren't as strong as they were before, Manus almost got the stone from them as well had they not escaped in time

Speaking of Manus it'd also make sense why they'd be after it, if the Philosopher's Stone can perfect the transmutation in one go, ofc they'd wanna get their hands on it, they could just create homunculus as their mindless followers right, powerful arcanists who listens to no one but Arcana, and APPLe knows that is still very much a possibility, and it haunts his every waking thought

[womanofwords]

The Poisoned Prodigy (Chapter 4)

After school, I went to Sandalwood Institute. I stuck out being the only one not wearing the Sandalwood uniform, but that didn't matter. I was looking for someone.

"Excuse me, have you seen Sally Kinley? I need to talk to her," I said, grabbing a scared looking boy and shaking him.

"Young man, you seem lost," someone said. A kind looking man approached me, hands behind his back as he walked. He walked like my grandpa used to, even though there was no way that he was older than forty. He also dressed like an old man, with a sweater and tweed slacks. Aviator glasses fresh from the seventies rested on the bridge of his nose. "And I'm fairly certain that you are not a student here."

I sighed and decided to be honest before he thought that I was a stalker. "I'm looking for Sally Kinley. She was friends with my best friend, Patton Reynolds, and I would like to talk to her."

A sad look took over his face. "Oh, goodness. By any chance, were you the boy sitting him up while he was on the floor?"

"You saw that?"

He smiled and shook his head. "No, no, I wasn't there. I couldn't make it last minute. I heard about everything from my wife on the local news."

I felt the world tilt. "It's . . . on the news?"

"Yes. The media can be such vultures, you know." Words kept coming out of his mouth, but I couldn't hear them. I was just going

down

down

down

stop.

:-)

I woke up in a white room with the man and Sally waiting for me. "Did I go to hospital too?" I asked, sitting up on my elbows.

Sally laughed. It was melodious, sweet. "No, you're in the nurse's office. You fainted."

"My fault, really," the man said. "Hello, Vincent. I'm Dr Jacobs. We were talking about Patton and the news coverage when you fainted."

Everything came back to me. Patton being poisoned was on the news.

"I've seen Ernest's face all over the internet in the past few hours. More than he deserves," Sally said, toying with the sleeve of her school blazer like a cat toying with a mouse.

"Why is his face on the internet?" I asked.

"He got arrested, Vincent. The picture of him is his mugshot," Dr Jacobs said.

"I hope he suffers for what he did to Patton." Sally's voice was deeper with anger, syllables being growled out. "It's obvious why he did it. Patton was naturally incredible and charming and sweet, and all he had to impress people with was his parents' money."

"Miss Kinley!" Dr Jacobs gasped.

"Everybody knows it! Well, except Vincent here, of course, but he knows now."

"Miss Kinley, there is a time and a place for this kind of talk," the nurse said. I'd honestly forgotten she was there. "If you and your friend really want to talk about recent events, then you can do so somewhere else. Anywhere else, really. Patton was a sweet soul."

I always heard people say stuff like that about Patton. He made a place better. He was so smart. He was the sweetest young man. He was the sort of kid you wanted your kid to be like.

I already knew what people said about me. It used to be the same word every time from different mouths, getting progressively worse every time.

"Who?"

James was meaner about it. "Dude, you're the lamest teenage boy in the world. And I've met some pretty lame ones."

"I'll escort Vincent out of the school once he's ready to leave," Sally said, snapping me back to reality. "Why did you come here, exactly?"

All eyes were on me. "Just . . . wanted to talk about the events that happened with someone who knew Patton in school. Sally's was the only name he mentioned."

"Of course. Do whatever you need to cope with this horrible situation," Dr Jacobs said. "Lots of students have been to counselling over this event. Patton had a wide and strong impact over everyone."

"He's not dead, you know!" I yelled. Everyone stared at me. "He's in a medically induced coma, but he's not dead! He could live!"

"Vincent's right. We shouldn't treat Patton like he's already died," Sally agreed. "Come on. This isn't exactly a nice place to be."

She took my wrist like I was a little kid and dragged me out of the school, people whispering off to the sides as they stared at us. She kept dragging me until we got to a convenience store. "Thanks for getting me out of here," I said, once we were out of sight.

Sally looked at me with a hardened expression on her face. "Why did you really come here?"

"What?"

"Why did you really come here?" she repeated. "I know that you didn't really come here for Patton, no matter what you told Dr Jacobs. Spoiler alert: you look away when you lie. Why are you really here?"

"I wanted to look for you. You know all these people and you've definitely met this Ernest guy already. Also . . . also . . ." My words failed me.

"Spit it out!" Sally grabbed my neck and squeezed for a cruel, hard second. This must be what Patton felt when the poison began to take effect.

"I don't think Ernest did it!" I blurted out. Sally let go of me in surprise. "It's stupid, but it got cleared up so easily! I keep thinking about it!"

Sally stood still. She was giving me a weird look. Then she smiled.

"You know something, Vincent?" she asked, smiling at me. "I was thinking the exact same thing."

:-)

A few minutes later, we had exchanged Instagram details and phone numbers, and I was walking to the bus stop to get home. Something was off about what happened to Patton. Ernest seemed like a prick, but he wasn't a murderer. Maybe he was just an idiot who hated Patton and wasn't very personable. But that just left so many questions.

If Ernest didn't do it, who did? Why would they frame Ernest? And why would they hurt Patton?

If you want to read the other chapters, see Masterlist.

[sang8262]

JP rambles: default outfit and character design edition

cause i asked about his character design and now I'M thinking about it, also im procrastinating so i have thoughts here goes

mostly about his default outfit, with a tiny bit about outfit 2 at the end. I already know this is going to be a needlessly long post lmao

TL;DR - JP is inspired by playing cards, bartitsu, and vampires/bats. he's a poker faced gentleman through n through

~~also minor spoiler warning for World Tour things, such as having JP as a Master and getting to max level skills/ bond with him~~

This is a safe space and I will be HONEST: I didn't like his default look a lot at first, but I've since warmed up to it!! I still use his outfit 2 (color 10) online tho. I speed ran World Tour for that, I have suffered, and I WILL enjoy it.

Anyway, it was once I realized he has thematic ties to playing cards that really made his default design make sense to me. First, some proof that he takes inspiration from playing cards to begin with.

Once you get Master Skill level in World Tour mode, everyone gets a little cutscene movie featuring their skills, archetypes/ titles, and ends with a quote commemorating your achievements as their student.

JP's starts off like this, with a bunch of playing cards with his name on them falling down the screen:

(also, btw, where we get more of that bat imagery, but i'll get back to that later)

This is what made it click for me and made it really obvious why his name is stylized the way it is, using the font it uses. His name reads the same way right side up as it is upside down, and looks very much like how the values are printed on these cards.

Then, the video includes several 'titles' for each character. Some of these get used in other promotional material too, but JP's are as follows:

King of No Country

High-Rolling Pretender

Gentlemanly Tyrant

In which, again, the poker/ gambling references show up with the phrase "high-rolling", or "king" of no country.

And final proof, is that each Master in World Tour can be given gifts that they will react to in unique ways, and also receive extra bond points for. Sometimes they're things the character likes, or really hates: it's just what gets an interesting reaction out of them.

JP (unfortunately) only has one such gift item he has special dialogue for: antique playing cards.

Although his reaction to them are... less than positive (he literally calls them 'trash'), he also points out how old cards can't be used to play actual games, as it is against the rules.

Within the game's universe, it shows that he cares, or at least knows enough about cards to even have these notable responses to them. Considering it outside the game, the devs specifically decided to make his special World Tour gift a set of Antique Playing Cards, instead of any other item. They wanted to make this connection between him and cards for a reason.

So to me, I think this is a lot of evidence that shows a clear and intentional relationship between JP's character design and playing cards.

In retrospect, I honestly think he does look like the face cards quite a bit lmao. The white hair and beard + mustache, the cravat, the colors too (really strong orange/ red, paired with gold and that bit of marble on his cane), and the cane paralleling a scepter/ sword.

Speaking of, more about the cane: the devs had an interview answering fan questions, and at one point they explain the inspiration for JP. I'll link the video here with the timestamp for this question:

https://youtu.be/ORw3_BK7o70?t=146

But basically they say they wanted to have a character use a cane, and cites bartitsu/ Sherlock Holmes as well. So, even if they worked backwards from 'cane', all the way to 'gentlemanly tyrant who likes chess puzzles and launders money through fighting game tournaments', I think they made it work well with the playing cards aesthetic too!

Finally, I'll go back to the bat imagery that I think is pretty interesting.

Parts of his design subtly incorporate bats, such as his brooch on the default costume:

And more directly in his alt costume 2, seen on his buttons and coat pattern:

And I have to imagine the brooch on his default outfit is somewhat invoking of a bat (with wings and large ears) because of his WT skill Mastery video having a giant BAT in the middle of the screen. I also thought it might be in reference to the Shadaloo organization symbol, which is a skull with wings.

Then even further from the comics, Kalima-- his assistant while organizing the fighting tournament in Nayshall-- warns Luke that JP is like a "vampire who will suck this country dry". The vampire analogy just works so beautifully with how he works as a criminal, not to mention the other aesthetic associations with it.

All in all, I really REALLY love JP's personality and whole modus operandi as a character and villain so greatly in his design. I definitely also feel that his outfit 2 isn't nearly as symbolism laden as his default one, but I am a sucker for formal wear and suits, so I am just, in love. Plus the subtler nods to his bat/vampire-ness is there, if only very minimally.

Edit: noticing this as I literally posted this AH. But also on the playing cards from his WT skill video, it has two different faces, it has both the Jack (or possibly King...) and the Joker:

It continues to add to his duality/ hidden true nature/ deceiver type character so much, it's perfect. And of course, with his name, or pseudonyms starting with "J". So either Jack or Joker works perfectly. I mean literally, he isn't the king of any country... but he'll still bring it to ruin all the same.

Edit #2: omg i keep remembering things i meant to add thank you adhd very cool

BUT, in the original Japanese version of the Mastery skill video, his titles are SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT. As is the Korean translation, which is a more direct translation of the Japanese one than the English is.

'So "King of No Country" was originally also: "No-Life King of a Ruined Country"

And turns out, doing some good ol' googling, that 'no-life king' has some established meanings to it:

Basically, it's related to other media including vampires, undead, monsters, so I'm guessing 'no-life' is closer in meaning to 'immortal', having no natural lifespan rather.

So yeah, even more references to vampirism for ya

but aNYWAY,, Thanks for reading my silly observations!!

I think I got pretty much everything but if there's anything I didn't mention or something to add please please do, I love reading replies and the tags (this site's so much better for this kinda stuff lmao)

[quaranmine]

Your word-of-god on my theory is driving me UP THE WALL!

Ok, so let me make a timeline here, let me know if I'm wrong at any point.

He leaves his campsite on the 12th for a day hike, taking minimal supplies with him. He gets hopelessly lost and takes temporary shelter under some low-hanging tree limbs for the night.

He finds the mountainside where he fell early on the 13th and, with a pair of binoculars, can see the creek in the distance. Let's say the rangers and medical examiner were correct, and he was heading to the creek because, at this point, he's probably in the early stages of dehydration (his presumed cause of death)

He tries to climb down safely, and we all know how that went. He makes it as far as he can on a broken leg and possibly numerous superficial injuries that wouldn't have been evident a year later for obvious reasons. He takes shelter under the overhang and... never leaves.

Grian reports Mumbo missing on the 16th when he misses checking in.

Grian leaves Colorado and subsequently arrives in Cody, WY to join the search on the 17th and is immediately forcibly subjected to a nap.

At this point, Mumbo has been under that overhang for the better part of five days. If he was already dehydrated, even mildly, before he even fell, and especially if he lost a medically significant amount of blood from any abrasions or lacerations suffered during the fall...

There is a significant probability that Mumbo was already dead by the time Grian joined the search.

Grian never had a chance of finding him alive, did he?

Damn...

OOOO

Okay so your timeline is a bit different than mine. But I'd like to note—my idea of what happened to Mumbo in general is actually pretty vague. It was one of those things where it didn't actually matter much to the plot since it would never fully be known. Also it made me sad to think about LMAO (imagine that.) Actually though? I had a draft of chapter 11 where when Grian was unknowingly retracing Mumbo's steps, it would be intercut with italics/otherwise clearly formatted Mumbo moments. So that you could see both of their stories converge. I scrapped it because I disliked the ~3 paragraphs I'd written for Mumbo and never came back to it.

So, the dates for this can be whatever you want (12th or 13th) since the specifics don't matter much. I think the main difference is that I didn't have Mumbo getting lost as the first step, I had it as the second. This means that I had Mumbo leaving the trail intentionally to get water, and getting lost on the way. In my scenario yes, the rangers were right about him heading to the creek.

I mainly had this idea because of my experiences with backpacking in Big Bend. Namely, it's just....very, very, very hard to bring enough water on a trip like that. So people bring water filters. When hiking the South Rim in Big Bend, you can refill your bottles at Boot Spring (though you shouldn't rely on it having water since it's the desert.) I have done this before. (Pictured: my dad lol)

I figured that Mumbo probably needed to refill his water (Grian stated he left no bottles at camp, not just that they were empty, so he would've brought comparatively a lot for a day hike. So maybe he planned on refilling them later in the day.) I figured that maybe he just....didn't want to completely overshoot his camp to go back to the creek he crossed a day or two before. Maybe he thought his off-trail route was shorter. Maybe he was confident he could find the trail again. It doesn't matter, all that matters is it brought him to the place where he fell. Or maybe, related to what you said—maybe he made this somewhat silly decision because he was already dehydrated.

From that point on, I think the rest of your timeline matches with mine. You are right that they wouldn't be able to tell any other superficial injuries a year later. Actually, I've got no idea if they would be able to tell it was dehyrdation that did it after that long. That's MY idea of what happened. But probably it would have been more accurate for the rangers to file it under a general blanket of exposure/infection from injuries/dehydration.

I can't say if Mumbo was dead or not by the time Grian joined the search. You're 100% correct that it's very possible. The only reason I don't confirm is that I don't know the timeline myself, nor does the timeline really matter that much, since even if he was alive when the search started, it would've only taken a day or two more before he wasn't. And since he wasn't in the search radius....You are right that Grian never had a chance.

But I think it's less sad that way, honestly. Devastating still of course. I just think it's worse to linger for weeks when nobody is looking in the right place.

[izzythehutt]

What are your thoughts on Snily that you'd like to share? I'm very curious, because I always love your commentary on the Harry Potter characters and story!

Four people sent me a version of this, thanks guys for indulging my desire to look like I'm answering a need for my opinion on a subject.

My thoughts are that I always liked the idea of it as a one-sided unrequited thing and that it made sense to me as a motivation for Snape, but I found the way the information was artificially withheld from the reader (and more specifically Harry) contrived as hell. I find it incredibly implausible that Harry would spend 7 years in the Wizarding World and never even hear that Snape and his mother were friends, and I find it even more absurd that Lupin and Sirius would apparently not know that James and Snape's rivalry was motivated by jealousy/competition for Lily (or even just that Snape had a crush on her.) It's one of the most contrived things in the books. You can sort of try to retcon it in your head to make it work but it's obvious that Jo was saving it for a final act "reveal" and that really stretches credulity for me.

In general I think the latter half of the series (particularly for those of us who were reading them as they came out and speculated about what was going to happen next) suffered from plot-twist-itis. By the end of the series, the "twists" were all super easy to guess for the reader (Snape being a triple agent and Dumbles ordering him to kill him to keep his cover is the biggest example of, yeah, we all knew this after HBP.)

I also find the way Harry finds everything out after Snape is already dead via memory super emotionally unsatisfying/anti-climactic. How would I have done it differently? Not sure, but Harry actually getting to confront Snape about his crush on his mom/their friendship is something I've always enjoyed the idea of (maybe only in fanfic form). Just because of how uncomfortable he'd be. I don't feel like JKR was interested in a Snape and Harry emotional catharsis, presumably because Sev really wasn't doing it for him, but I would have maybe found that more interesting than what she gave us?

As for the relationship between the characters, I think their relationship was pretty dysfunctional from the jump and Lily (probably unconsciously) kind of enjoyed James and Sev fighting for her attention, lol.