#I started so many snippets for this before I actually came up with one that worked

[jessicas-pi]

For the au ask game! Sabezra in a *flips through my au ideas list* private detectives au

so. yeah. this. this is egregiously late. But it's HERE! At long last!

....to be entirely honest I don't even know what this is. it's sabezra. they're private detectives. let's just leave it at that.

---

"Ezra, what are you doing?"

Her partner in preventing crime (and occasional partner in actual crime---they may or may not have broken into a house once; no one could prove anything) had stopped in the middle of the grim alleyway, staring at nothing in particular.

"Sabine..." he said slowly. "I think this is where I met you."

Sabine did a double-take, looking around with keen eyes. The place didn't seem familiar, but she'd been so distracted on that day, she probably wouldn't know it if she was there.

"Is it?" she asked, strolling back to him, hiking up her long skirt and stepping cautiously around the filth on the ground. "You think so?"

"Mm-hm." A nostalgic smile twitched at the corner of his mouth. "You know, I've still got the handkerchief you gave me."

Sabine grinned at him. "Of course you do. You were in the throes of violent yearning. You couldn't bear to part with it."

"And my nose was still bleeding."

"That too."

"And if you recall, I did try to give it back to you---later." His smile grew proud. "Tracked you down with just your monogram and a glimpse at your face. First bit of detecting I ever did."

Sabine slipped her arm through his, hopping lightly over something that could have been a filthy rag or maybe the carcass of a large rat, as they continued on their trek towards home. The streets cleared up when they got to the main roads, but there was still the inevitable splash of mud.

Mud was everywhere in London.

"I thought you might have been a princess when I saw you on the stairs then," he blurted out, and she tilted her head up to look at him from beneath the brim of her large flowered hat. He gave her a sweetly bashful smile and a shrug. "With those big white puffs in your hair---"

"Ostrich feathers," she filled in automatically, turning her attention back to the pavement and nodding politely to a gentleman and lady who passed by them.

"---and that white dress, too." Ezra laughed to himself. "Golly, you're lucky you kept it. Your old lady wasn't gonna give you a nickel for another one."

Sabine squeezed his arm affectionately. "I could have worn any dress."

"Well, no one would have thought it was a proper wedding if we hadn't got you in white."

"No one thought it was a proper wedding when we did," she retorted. "They thought I was degrading myself."

"Then the joke is on them, because I hit the big time pretty well, didn't I?"

Sabine arched an eyebrow. "You wouldn't have amounted to anything if I hadn't got us into the illustrated papers."

Ezra paused on the pavement as they reached the steps of their lodgings, looking thoughtful.

"You're right. I wouldn't have."

"Then it seems you're lucky you've got me."

He looked right into her eyes and grinned boyishly, slipping into his most intolerably trans-Atlantic accent. "We do make a pretty bang-up team, don't we?"

"A jolly good one," she nodded in prim agreement, adopting an obnoxiously posh tone, and they both giggled, smiling at each other for a moment more before a distant clock chimed the quarter of the hour, reminding them that they were on a schedule.

"Well, I suppose we had best go on in. Our client will be here any minute now."

"I guess so."

And with that, the unstoppable team of Bridger and Bridger ascended the steps of their home at 221b Spectre Street, arm-in-arm.

[cityofmeliora]

notes / thoughts on Terzo's characterization (Terzo is so disappointed and depressed and i love him)

a few weeks ago i saw this post from slavghoul which has snippets of TF describing the Papas. it includes this quote:

“He represents this frustrated old guy who hates everyone, especially himself. But despite his wounds and his darkness, he has a sense of humour and is endearing, like most of my heroes. The late actor Christopher Lee was an inspiration to me. In many ways, he is Papa.” (Metallian 7/2015)

i thought this quote was really interesting because i'd never seen anyone talking about that side of Terzo before. Terzo hating "everyone, especially himself" felt at odds with the charming personality he typically displayed. i wanted to know how that developed and where his "wounds and darkness" came from. so i did some digging for quotes on Terzo's history and characterization. here are my notes + thoughts:

something that came up again and again in my research is that he is actually quite antisocial when he's not performing. it seems like he didn't want people to know anything about him past his stage persona.

TOUR MANAGER: No one in the crew really gets to see or speak to Papa, ever. Only Anna and myself have access. He is not in the building and then he'll just be there, just for show time. The only thing you really need to know about Papa is what you see of him on stage. Ghost - The Devil's Hands (Documentary) (2017)

he almost never interacted with any of the nameless ghouls or the tour crew. in fact, he really went out of his way to avoid them. he traveled separately, would appear right before the start of a show, and then he would disappear as soon as it ended. in "The Devil's Hands", it showed they sometimes had trouble locating him when he was needed.

With this new era, can you introduce Papa Emeritus III? NAMELESS GHOUL: I don't know him very well yet. We haven't really done our mileage with him, so I am sure that we will find out. But he seems nice. He seems okay. Obviously, he's very close relatives with Papa number two, who was a little bit of a hmm. I'm sure that he isn't like, completely different, but we'll find out. He's a bit of a recluse, and he sort of travels on his own. And he sort of appears when we're due onstage and then he disappears when we're offstage. So yeah, I guess we have a little bit of a social disconnect there, but I don't see a big problem with that. I mean he seems to be doing well on his own, and I don't know if he has a little harem somewhere that occupies his time offstage, I guess. I'm assuming that. Loud TV (July 2015)

INTERVIEWER: How has it been working with the third Papa? How is he fitting into the group? NAMELESS GHOUL: We like him, actually. He seems to be quite nice. Obviously, we haven't really done our "miles" with him yet, so we don't know him that well. And he doesn't travel with us- he sort of goes separately everywhere, and he appears just before the show and then he just disappears. So we haven't really had the time to sort of fully get to know him. But overall, he seems quite a joyful chap. Metal Injection (September 2015)

predictably, his bandmates did not know him very well. but they always remarked that they liked him and that he seemed like a nice, chill guy. (they also assumed he had a harem that he spent time with when he wasn't performing, which is probably not true, considering how much effort he put into avoiding people whenever possible.)

NAMELESS GHOUL: We don't really socialize with Papa, so… But he seems nice! But he's very occupied in his harem. [...] He's a little bit cooler. He seems to be the nicer of the two brothers --I don't know if there are two-- but he seems to have, I don't know, a kinder mother, probably, or something that makes him slightly.. INTERVIEWER: A little different. NAMELESS GHOUL: Yeah, he's a little bit different. AMBY (October 2015)

i don't think his charming, pleasant demeanor was just an act, though. i think it did come from a genuine part of himself... he wasn't always an antisocial recluse.

before he became Papa, he was a cardinal in Krakow, Poland. Bishop Necropolitus Cracoviensis (the character representing Zbigniew Bielak, the artist who does the album art for Ghost) characterized younger Terzo as having enthusiasm in all his endeavors. he was always a very devoted member of the clergy who had big dreams of progress and modernization for the Ministry and the world. he had a strong interest in Futurist art and philosophy.

Bp. Necropolitus Cracoviensis remembers: "...our relationship goes a long way back to the times before his papacy, that is when he was still a cardinal in my hometown, in Cracovia...(...) Although we had our share of juvenile recklessness - be it indulging his beloved cream pies - allegedly verging on six hundred sixty six portions a year but that must be a rumor I believe, or wild parties at the attic of seminary school (laughs) - even in his formative years, he remained a focused man of vision, looking far into the future, always addressing his people's needs and longings to keep our church together in those turbulent, rapidly changing times (...) there were so many temptations to syndicate among our good people (...) (...) We would sit down to studying exciting Futurist manifestos, sketched the blueprints of utopian metropoles, spiked with shiny skyscrapers stabbing at the heavens belly... Wantonly swollen zeppelins would to carry our gospel of indulgence to the farthest corners of the globe to summon and enslave. (...) Forged in nostalgia of steam and fire, this brave new world of ambition, vice, lust and greed - all so inherent to the enlightened modernity, was always with him through all these years. And it is now - when our church continues to grow stronger and wealthier under wise reign of Papa Emeritus III - that these visions may finally be witnessed and embraced in the preachings of 'Meliora' - his most contemporary and humane Encyclical." (https://www.facebook.com/thebandghost/posts/994031900615606)

those core values of ambition, vice, lust, and greed stayed with him when he became Papa. though he had a revolutionary spirit, he's actually described as "less rebellious" in Metal Myths. Terzo took his job as Papa very seriously, and he cared about being successful and achieving his goals. while he and Secondo certainly had vice, lust, and greed in common, it was Terzo's ambition that truly set him apart.

"It felt like the goal was to take Papa II's sense of modernity and remove the recklessness." Metal Myths: Ghost Pt. 2 (April 2022)

How would you describe the personality of Papa Emeritus III compared to his predecessors? NAMELESS GHOUL: "First of all, Papa Emeritus III is an entertainer! He loves projectors, he loves the public, and he loves success. The first Papa Emeritus was someone very rigid, very strict, and very solemn. A real son of a bitch! (laughs) To be honest, we don’t miss him at all! Papa Emeritus II was a pervert a little bit sadistic, and, in hindsight, I think he wasn’t very at ease on stage. He wasn’t a showman, unlike Papa Emeritus III! Him, he’s the guide we missed to rise up the quality of our shows, to reach the step above and communicate with our fans." (MyRock #44 (2017) translated from French by @ a-wandering-ghoulette)

unfortunately, his ambition eventually led him to become disillusioned and depressed.

Terzo looked forward to becoming Papa. he worked so hard for it his whole life, only to be confronted with the realization that his time as Papa --and therefore his achievements-- would be limited.

he was a nice guy, but he was also was egotistical. he was a showman and an intellectual, and he thought very highly of himself.

NAMELESS GHOUL: He's a little bit more chill. But obviously, all the Papas are definitely pompous assholes. INTERVIEWER: That's part of the job. SPECIAL GHOUL: That's one of the criterias, the prerequisites, that you have to be this sort of flamboyant diva, know-all, show-off. Metal Injection (September 2015)

his self-hatred came from his inability to be the person he wanted to be. it's not that he felt like he couldn't measure up, it's that he felt like he wasn't allowed to express his full potential. Terzo's mindset was "i know i'm good enough. and i could prove it if they would just let me." but he wasn't really in charge, and his vision was at odds with the goals of Sister Imperator.

Terzo felt so stifled, it makes sense that he became a "frustrated old guy who hates everyone, especially himself."

and i think this is the reason for the paradox of him having a kind, charming personality onstage and being unsociable offstage. he still gave it his all. he did the best he could with the time and resources he was allowed. that zealous man of the people was still in there somewhere. but he felt betrayed by the clergy, the organization he dedicated his life to. his career ended up being unfulfilling and he was ultimately really bitter about the way things turned out.

he was good. he never got to be great.

[threeacttragedy]

Entry 9: The One Where You Choose Your Own Brazilian Adventure

My planned post – the “In Dedication of JVN” one where I fangirl over Jonathan Van Ness and what a fun and interesting piece of the Lukola puzzle he is – was derailed today because I was once again asked about Brazil. Well, more specifically, I was asked about whether I thought we were ever going to get those steamy, hopefully X-rated pictures, from Brazil. There’s pictures?!

In truth, I thought we’d collectively squeezed that grapefruit dry and left the rind somewhere between Italy and the Glamour Awards.

Alas, here I am writing about Brazil.

It’s funny because I’ve never thought much about Brazil. I know, I know! How could I possibly type those words without my nose growing six inches in front of my face? Well, it’s because it was always Australia that intrigued me. More on that later…

So why exactly do we believe there are pictures from Brazil? And, why do we think they are going to prove some kind of hot affair between Luke and Nicola? This theory is likely fueled by rumor; rumor born from how Luke and Nicola behaved towards each other while they were in Brazil.

I thought it would be fun to play a little game of “Choose Your Own Adventure” to determine if we’re ever going to see these alleged pictures. And, yes, I will be a very sarcastic bitch when doing this.

Before I start, though, I want to give a quick shout out to my dear friend, whom I shall call The-One-Who-Drops-Random-Pics-Into-Our-Group-Chat-and-Lets-Us-Sweat-Over-Them-for-Atleast-Three-Minutes-Before-Finally-Explaining-Them. She was a wealth of information about Brazil and even had a nice mother-daughter chat with me about the significance of a clean-shaven face (pardon me for never having dated a bearded man, which is odd because I find facial hair quite attractive).

Now, gather ‘round and I shall give you a little prologue to our adventure!

I’m sure most of you already know all about Brazil. In fact, many of you are probably self-described experts at this point. But, for those who are new here, let me go ahead and light the candles and set the ambiance for you. 

On May 19, Luke and Nicola were shuttled off to do their beach photoshoot in Brazil. You know, the one where Nicola was walking the dogs; Luke was strumming the guitar; Nicola was being all girlfriend-like fixing Luke’s jacket; Luke was gazing up at Nicola at the pub while she was touching his neck; and then there was that moment when we all thought they might kiss. Yeah, all that plus Luke’s scruffy face from the week prior suddenly appeared clean-shaven. Apparently, you can never be too “Casual” when you’re headed down south (pun intended – as was that Chappell Roan reference). And, about now is where I’ll “insert disclaimer that this is speculation only.”

The following day, we had the actual premiere. I’m not sure what those two were up to before the premiere but both were un-fucking-hinged by the time they made it to the red carpet. We had angel-face Nicola looking up at Luke like he had created the universe and Luke answering Nicola’s Little Red Riding Hood vibe with one sexy ass Big Bad Wolf persona. I mean, the bits and bobs that came out of Luke’s mouth that day! “There’s a carriage downstairs.” “I mean, in this heat, all I’m thinking about is when we didn’t have to wear clothes ‘cos that would be quite nice right now.” “I mean the show is proof that it is [okay to kiss your friends].” With Nicola whispering back, “This is true.” Then there was Luke taking that mic without taking his eyes off Nicola. We had Luke helping Nicola put on her bracelets because – God forbid! – she let go of him for 30 seconds to do it her fucking self. And, let’s not forget about the two of them holding on to each other behind that woman’s back (I’m sorry, I don’t recall her name and I’m too lazy to look it up – mainly, because I’m certain most of you don’t really care about that other woman).

We were also given snippets of Luke and Nicola at the premiere afterparty, looking like two people who, at a minimum, enjoyed each other’s company. They greeted fans outside the venue and, as they walked away together, Nicola seemingly put her hand on Luke’s lower back as if to guide him in the right direction (go ahead – let your imagination run wild – it’s a great opening for a FanFic).

Then, throw in the beach walk with the giant security guard; the interview where Nicola was wearing the fluffy pink skirt and the two of them talked about Chappell Roan’s “Kaleidoscope” (seriously, those two were listening to that song together?); Nicola couldn’t stop giggling about the “meat” of the Carriage Scene; and Luke appeared perhaps a smidge too interested in Nicola’s answer about what she looks for in a man (which fit perfectly into Luke’s “Like, how nice is it when someone notices, like, your kindness or your sense of humor?”). And, we can’t ignore them seemingly sharing a tea cup and Luke reaching for Nicola’s spoon after she’d sampled a dish. Don’t even get me started on over-analyzing Luke’s “manspread” that day.

Let’s also not forget about the rumor portion of this Brazilian escapade – because that is what fuels the sexy hot pictures theory and the central plot of our storied adventure.

Rumor has it Luke and Nicola spent a lot of time with each other in Brazil.

By themselves.

In one or the other’s room.

On the beach.

By the pool.

There were also rumors of them making out in the hotel hallway.

The only evidence we have of any “alone time” are some pictures that were dumped on X of them dining together alone, without any other members of their team.

Now that the backdrop has been set, let’s go on my little adventure.

During the summer between my 7th and 8th grade years, I was bored out of my mind. I grew up in the countryside. No neighbors. No sidewalks. No cable! Just fields, wooded areas, and my two sisters, both of whom had no interest in entertaining me that summer. My mother suggested I read. After boredom had dug itself so far into my being that I was left with no choice but to read, I finally ventured over to the bookshelf and grabbed the thinnest book I could find. It was a “Choose Your Own Adventure.”

If you don’t know what a “Choose Your Own Adventure” book is, then you (and your children) are missing out. Basically, you play the role of the protagonist and make choices to determine the outcome of your story. Sometimes you make the right choice and survive; other times you make the wrong choice and get turned into a little mouse that may or may not be eaten by a cat.

Here we go.

As the protagonist of our story, you are:

THE EMPLOYEE

You’re an employee of the hotel Nicola and Luke stayed at while in Brazil. You have sworn to maintain the privacy of hotel guests; you’ve signed a non-disclosure agreement of sorts to protect the privacy of guests, especially since you have access to VIP areas. You can be a housekeeper, a watchman, a concierge, a seven-foot-tall security guard, whatever tickles your fancy. Doesn’t matter – you’re all bound by the same provisions to protect the privacy of the hotel’s guests. But, in this story, let’s say you’re the housekeeper because – what’s that old saying – the only person who knows everything going on in the house is the maid?

You’re cleaning Nicola’s room and you find lots of signs of a man being in the room. In fact, you find a coat that looks exactly like the one Luke was wearing the night of the premiere. Oh my. As you’re leaving, you see two people making out in the hallway – headed straight towards the room you’re just leaving!  It looks like Nicola and Luke. What do you do?

Choice A: Well, you’re a pervy housekeeper so you pull your phone out and start taking pictures. I mean, those two are so into each other, they don’t even notice. You then run and play show-and-tell with your friends because you can’t keep a damn secret. Unfortunately for you, that gossip spreads faster than lice in a preschool, and hotel management tracks your ass down because, guess what, your friends can’t keep a secret either. So, congratulations on being fired. You’re meeting with the lawyers is first thing in the morning. Oh, we also need your phone and the names of all your friends.

Choice B: You respect the privacy of Nicola and Luke and simply turn and walk the opposite direction. Taking photos of them never even crossed your mind! But, damn, what a good story to tell your bestie when you get home, even if you don’t have “receipts.”

THE VIP GUEST

You’re a random guest staying at the hotel. In fact, you’re a random VIP guest staying on the same floor as Nicola and Luke. When you checked in, you signed a non-disclosure agreement. I mean, you want your privacy protected, too! And, heck, NDAs are thrown out like candy these days. You’ve seen so many at this point, you don’t even bother to read them.

You take the elevator up to your floor and, as you step into the hallway, you’re confronted with – goddammit, there’s two motherfuckers all over each other! The guy is trying to slide his key into the door, but the woman’s dress is so awkwardly large, he can’t seem to find the right slot! You realize the people look a lot like those two stars from Bridgerton, and your best friend, Effie, is a huge fan! What do you do?

Choice A: You can’t believe Effie is missing out on this excitement so, of course, you pull your phone out and start taking pictures!! I mean, that NDA you signed didn’t even cross your mind three minutes later when you were forwarding the pictures to Effie! And, because you can’t control what Effie does, she forwards the pictures to all her Bridgie buddies. The next morning you awaken to find the pictures all over X. Oopsie. You feel slightly guilty, and a bit peeved at Effie – but only until you’ve had your morning coffee.

Choice B: You take people’s privacy very seriously. Well, maybe you don’t take it that seriously, but it would be too difficult to dig your phone out of your handbag to take pictures. And, to be honest, Effie is the huge fan, not you. Plus, it seems the guy finally got that door open and damn, based on the sounds of it, he's unlocked something magical. Oh well. You’ll call Effie in the morning to tell her your story, if you remember it.

THE RANDOM STRANGER

You’re a random stranger taking an evening stroll along the beach. You love the sound of the ocean. It’s so peaceful…the sound of the waves… Ugh, what is that noise?! It sounds like – shit, it is! – two people snogging in a cabana about 10 yards away from you. Wait a minute – is that? Yeah, you think it could be! I mean, you were just at the Bridgerton premiere last night! What do you do? Without hesitation, you pull out your phone!

Choice A: You creep behind an umbrella and zoom in as close as possible with your camera! I mean, shite! You can’t believe this! How long have you been filming?  Probably longer than necessary but who cares? Suddenly, you feel a presence behind you, perhaps a seven-foot-tall presence, and you slowly turn around. Fuck! Who’s this guy?! He takes your phone, drops it to the ground, and stomps on it, shattering its insides.  Asshole.  You bend down to pick up the phone, but the man taps your shoulder and shakes his head, “No.” Well, umm, yeah, I guess you best be leaving.

Choice B: You use your camera to zoom in on the couple. Snap! Snap! Snap! Then you get the FUCK OUT OF THERE! You tell yourself you don’t look suspicious at all, even though you’re practically running and your heart is about to pound its way out of your chest! Oh, thank God, you’ve made it to your car. You start it up and, like I said, YOU GET THE FUCK OUT OF THERE! You get home and take a look at the photos! Goldmine! So, should you drop them on X? Maybe be a little see-you-next-Tuesday and try to sell them to Nicola or Luke’s teams? But, hell, you don’t even know where to start with that! Or, should you just pocket them for your own pleasure? You tell me….

The End.

Yes, I am absolutely being a facetious little ass! The above scenarios were for (the most part) my own entertainment. I mean, there are so many situations where these alleged pictures could exist (these playful ones don’t even scratch the surface). But, do the pictures exist?

If we’re being logical here, you would think that, if anyone in the general public were in possession of these alleged sexy-time pictures of Luke and Nicola, or had seen them, it would be all over social media at this point. I mean, ALL OVER. So, what can we deduce from the fact that they aren’t?

That the pictures probably don’t exist. Don’t shoot the messenger! Seriously, watch where you point that thing!

But, let’s say pictures did exist. Who is the most likely person to dump them on, say, X? The hotel employee, the VIP guest, or the random stranger? I would place money on the random stranger, followed by the VIP guest. The hotel employee, who probably has the most access to VIP guests but the strongest legal barriers, would be the least likely to photo dump. What is the likelihood that someone from one of these three groups – for example, a random stranger – (a) had pictures of Luke and Nicola, (b) didn’t drop them on social media, and/or (c) didn’t share them with someone who dropped them on social media?

I’m all for a good conspiracy theory but I find this one to be a hard pill to swallow.

Maybe one person can act as a lockbox for this kind of secret, but when you start including more people, the ability to keep something (like illicit photographs of two celebrities) out of the public eye diminishes rapidly.

Remember what Benjamin Franklin said, “Three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead.”

Unfortunately, this quote is incredibly accurate. The general public cannot keep secrets.

If the pictures exist, they are most likely in the possession of Luke and/or Nicola’s team (of lawyers). So, unless they’re going to sneak them on to X for giggles (I mean, it’s been known to happen), you’re probably never going to see them – and that’s assuming they even exist.

However, if you’re the housekeeper from our first adventure and you happen to have some candid photographs you’re just dying to share, just find yourself a printer – one that cannot easily be linked back to you – and print them out. Then, “accidently” drop them at the feet of someone who knows exactly what they are, and then give them enough time to take their own photos of them and send them to their best friend’s brother’s sister-in-law’s third cousin’s wife’s neighbor, who could drop them on X for us. I mean, you should be golden with seven degrees of separation.

[womanofwords]

is the neglect!reader series finished if so, can we have alil reaction that they finally relies on that they actually lost us and when they go spy, they see us with our family all happy then they go sulk back at the manor

plus, Alfred visiting us alone

Wrote an extra snippet just for you, honey! Writers are nourished by comments and compliments, and I hope nobody forgets it. So here's your snippet!

"Y/N . . . is cutting us off for life?" Damian spluttered. "But I had so many things to do with them!"

"Nobody's surprised that they're cutting you off, Damian. Tim, Jason, and I were running bets that you were possessed. But me?" Dick clutched at imaginary pearls. "I'm the resident sunshine one!"

"And they could have talked to me about business instead of Penguin," Tim said. "I would have loved to finance their ice cream franchise. People love the Ice Block! Y/N really knows their stuff."

"Don't worry about it. We actually have a bit of an out," Stephanie said. "Y/N only banned our legal identities. Our vigilante identities have no such restraints. We'll . . . swing by Cobblepot Manor and see why they love it there so much. Barb, I'll keep a livestream on for you."

"Thanks."

The Cobblepot Manor was filled with villains, all . . . playing poker. Through a conveniently open window, they watched as Y/N played poker with all the biggest villains in Gotham. A shadowy, unseen figure in the corner was winning. Since when could Y/N play poker?

"Damn, Alfred, where the hell did you learn all this from?" they heard you laugh. Alfred removes the shadows from his face, laughing heartily. Not only was Y/N playing poker, they were losing to Alfred? Since when could he play poker?

"I had a life before being a butler for the Wayne family, Y/N," Alfred said. "And I liked that life."

"Alfred's . . . with Y/N," Jason said. "There was never a restraining order against him. I forgot about that."

"He looks so happy," Barbara said over the livestream.

"Y/N looks happy, too," Dick said. "We should have learned how to play poker so they would never have left."

"Dick, enough." Bruce put a hand on his shoulder. "You have to accept that Y/N is gone. All the poker and gymnastics and the affection now won't bridge the gap. All they want is . . ." Bruce forced down bile and tears, "their papa, their aunts, and their uncles."

We are all too late, Cassandra signed. They interpret our attempts to bond and apologise as covering for ourselves. All they remember are our failures. All we have are our failures.

"Alfred, I'm so glad you came," you said, hugging Alfred tightly.

"They never hugged me that tightly," Damian said.

"They never hugged any of us like that. Don't try to make it about yourself," Tim snapped.

"We should go," Stephanie said, as Penguin started dolling you up with jewellery. "It hurts me to watch."

Without warning, you got up and went towards the window they were watching you from. Locking eyes with each of you in turn, you smirked and closed the curtains with a flourish.

That would be the last time they ever saw you.

[nameless-jamie]

Been working on smth…

Jamie Tartt x ???? Fem! reader

TW: suggestive innuendos, kissing, cursing

A/N: Hi guys I’ve been working on smth new! Here’s a snippet. I wanted to see your reactions to it (and maybe you can guess what Jamie’s and Y/N backstory is) or maybe you have any other ideas for it.

The first thing Y/N registered was warmth—soft, steady, and entirely too comfortable. The second was the distinct feeling of being trapped. She blinked against the morning light filtering through Jamie’s curtains, her cheek pressed against a firm, bare chest, his arm slung lazily around her waist.

Her breath hitched.

Jamie was already awake. She could feel his gaze on her before she even looked up. When she did, he was smirking, tousled hair a mess against his pillow, eyes heavy with sleep but sharp with amusement.

“Mornin’, love.” His voice was low, husky from sleep, tinged with something else—something knowing.

Y/N swallowed. Her mind raced through fragmented memories—his hands on her waist, her name a rasp against his lips, laughter between tangled sheets, the way he had kissed her like he never wanted to stop.

She shifted slightly, and his grip instinctively tightened, fingers splayed across her back as if he had no intention of letting go just yet.

“Jamie,” she started, voice quieter than she intended.

He hummed, watching her with that infuriatingly pleased expression. “Yeah?”

Her lips parted, but no words came. What was she supposed to say? Good morning, thanks for ruining me last night?

Jamie, as always, seemed to enjoy her silence. His smirk softened, eyes flickering over her face before he reached up, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

“Y’look good in my bed,” he murmured. “Knew you would.”

Her stomach flipped.

She really should say something. Something normal, something casual—Haha, yeah, fun night, mate!—but she was still pressed against his bare skin, still feeling the ghost of last night on her lips, and Jamie knew it.

So she did the only thing she could.

She buried her face back into his chest with a groan.

Jamie chuckled, his hold on her tightening, his lips brushing the top of her head. “Yeah, alright,” he muttered, voice full of something dangerously close to fondness. “Five more minutes.”

Y/N had absolutely no excuse.

No drunken mishaps to blame, no moment of weakness fueled by too many shots of tequila. No, she had walked into this with full awareness, with every nerve in her body on high alert, and still—still—she had let Jamie Tartt kiss her like he had every right to, touch her like he already knew the shape of her body by heart, and pull her into his bed like this was inevitable.

And the worst part?

It felt inevitable.

She could try to deny it, but it wouldn’t change the way she had let herself lean into his touch, the way she had curled into him in her sleep like she belonged there.

Jamie’s fingers traced lazy circles against her back, warm and absentminded, like he did this every morning, like he wasn’t at all concerned about what happened next.

She, on the other hand, was very concerned.

Clearing her throat, she peeked up at him, only to find that infuriating smirk still playing at his lips.

“I can feel you thinking,” he murmured. “It’s too early for that, love.”

Her stomach flipped at the rasp in his voice, but she forced herself to focus.

“How did we even get here?” she mumbled, more to herself than him.

Jamie tilted his head like he was actually considering the question. “Well,” he drawled, his smirk widening, “if I remember right, you were lookin’ at me all night like you wanted to snog me senseless, and I, bein’ the gentleman I am, simply obliged.”

Y/N groaned, shoving at his chest, but he didn’t budge. “That is not what happened.”

Jamie arched a brow. “Oh? So you weren’t the one who dragged me back to yours last week after that pub quiz?”

She glared at him. “That was different.”

“How?”

“Because I was frustrated!”

Jamie grinned. “Yeah, and I helped with that, didn’t I?”

She let out an exasperated sigh, but Jamie wasn’t finished.

“Alright, so what about the other night? When you kept findin’ excuses to touch me? Yeah, yeah, don’t give me that look, I clocked it, Y/N. Thought I was gonna have to start chargin’ you for all the times you grabbed my arm.”

Her face burned. “It was dark, I needed to make sure you were still there.”

Jamie’s smirk softened, something flickering behind his blue eyes. “I’m always here.”

Her breath caught.

He said it so easily, like it was a fact, like he wasn’t completely rewriting the rules between them with a single sentence.

Jamie studied her for a moment before nudging her chin up with his knuckles. “You gonna run?” he asked, voice quieter now.

She should. That was the smart thing to do. But running felt impossible when he was looking at her like this, like he was waiting for her, like he had been waiting longer than either of them wanted to admit.

So she swallowed, exhaled, and did the only thing she could think of.

She kissed him.

And Jamie—smug, beautiful, impossible Jamie—sighed against her lips like he had just won the easiest bet of his life.

[that-student-that-has-homework]

Pretty Girl - Portgas D. Ace

I read this lovely little snippet by @mrsoharaa and felt the need to know what would happen next. Written with permission!

Check out my MasterList for more of my writing!

To be fair, Marco actually wasn’t teasing him this time. He’d been nose deep in a book and was just as deep in his thoughts when he’d made the request.

“Hey Ace, can you go and call” the first division commander squinted at the book, trying to recall the words but was clearly too distracted to, “can you call-we-what was-just call your pretty girl for me yoi?”

He wasn’t teasing him this time. 

Ace had just simply had enough.

//—----------

It had started in the morning? maybe afternoon? who knows what time it was…after some good old fashion pirate revelry until who knows what hour of the evening.

He’d woken up in some weird kinda angle on some random corner of the ship, with a bit of a headache. So like any other day, he made his way over to the kitchen to get some food to fix his problem. After all, if his head hurt, he probably just needed some food, right?

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the slick Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates,” the Division Commander in question blinked at his Fourth Division counterpart, his lips pulling up at the strange greeting.

What’d he mean by slick though? Just thinking about it made his head squeeze, so he decided to push it off until he had some food in his system.

“Thatch, I’m hungry,” he declared as he slumped himself on the kitchen counter, throwing his bottom half on a stool there, “gimme somethin’ to eat.”

“Comin’ right up,” the cook shot him an amused grin as he went about grabbing his disgruntled younger brother-in-arms some food.

“Hungover?” The question came from Ace’s side, where the head doctor sat, sipping on a cup of…well it wasn’t alcohol.

“Huh?” The younger man just blinked, trying to get the fog out of his brain. “Nah.” He rolled onto his side to better face his older brother. “Just got a headache.”

“Sounds like a hangover to me yoi,” the doc grinned over the rim of his mug.

Ace didn’t pay him much mind though, waiting for his food to arrive.

Though his silence seemed to encourage his companion, “especially with how much you drank last night.”

“Wasn’t that much,” he ruffled his hair in hopes to alleviate some of the pounding in his head.

“It was enough that you called a certain someone ‘pretty girl.’”

A moment of silence passed as Ace continued to aggressively knead at his scalp. His mind very sluggishly processing Marco’s words…he was just about to fall asleep again with how much his he-

HE DID WHAT?!

That blew all the fog and grog out of Ace’s brain and body, as he all but sprung to his feet in shock. The medic in front of him offered him little more than his usual lazy, lopsided grin.

The vertigo hit him right as the adrenaline wore off, and he was clutching to the counter to save himself from smacking into the ground. His grip only tightened as he heard footsteps from the other side of the counter rejoin them.

“Yo Ace, I fixed you a plate for your pretty girl too,” he chirped sliding over two plates, “if you wanted to go and deliver it to her.”

It had been a while since Pops had clobbered him, but the memory of his audacious, disastrous, flirty remark hit him much like one of Pops’ fists did. Of all things, he only came up with pretty girl? 

He-just-urgh-just-just where was his hat when he needed it? He resorted to using his hands to hide his face from the other two commanders. He didn’t need to see them to know they were grinning - they were just oozing with entertainment.

“Ah don’t worry slick,” he could hear Thatch’s voice getting closer, “I’d say she took it well enough.”

The way the cook only barely got his sentence out before he and Marco broke out into snickers said otherwise. Ace grabbed his plate of food and moved to find a different corner of the massive galleon to eat in.

For the next few days, the different commanders would wink, snicker, smirk, borderline leer at him whenever you were in his general vicinity. They weren’t subtle about it, given pirates were generally as subtle as a sea king on land. They didn’t have to say it out loud for him to hear it though: 

“Pretty girl.” 

The behavior spread to the rest of the crew like wildfire. He’d have compared the spread to some nasty disease, but those usually knocked people out. Unfortunately this one seemed to rile them up, everyone seemed overly eager to be able to poke at him for his drunken declaration. By the end of the week, even the swabbies were in on it. They weren’t as bad as the commanders, but…ugh. Just…anyhow you’d think that, after a week, it would become old news, but no. 

Nope. 

Not this news. 

Seems everyone on this damn ship was a gossip. Grown ass grizzled pirates, reduced to giggling gossiping gaggles of gremlins. The Second Division Commander couldn’t go for more than a few hours without hearing some kinda comment, or getting some kinda look. 

Even pops was in on it now! 

He’d found out when the old man had grinned at him, what was worse was that it was a good-natured grin. He wasn’t teasing him…but what he said to him, as a kind of encouragement, had left this poor son of Whitebeard feeling more flustered than ever.

Unfortunately all his attempts at getting the crew to cut it out were falling on deaf ears. His fellow commanders in particular had no problem ignoring his requests and continuing to tease him, which of course emboldened the rest of the crew. 

Of course the worst part had to be…well, there was no way you didn’t know about what was happening. After all, you always put on an unbothered face, but he knew it had to be making you uncomfortable. After all it wasn’t like he’d ever followed up on that pretty girl comment while sober. Though he wouldn’t deny the little amused simpers that you’d put on whenever your fellow crew mates would leer at him had his heart doing little flips.

Anyway…

Things had finally died down a bit, with Ace getting some peace of mind. People had finally gotten bored. Meaning he could probably try…y’know…approaching you while sober…

Well they’d mostly died down…

//—--

“SHE IS PRETTY ALRIGHT?!” Yeah he’d had enough. “Do none of y'all have eyes?!” He raged on, over a week’s worth of agitation erupting from him violently. 

“So what if I called her pretty girl?” There was a kind of catharsis in seeing the First Division Commander staring at him bug-eyed. “It wasn't a lie!” He threw his hands up in agitation. “That's for sure.”

“Uh A-”

“Like you all don't state the obvious sometimes!” He pointed an accusatory finger at everyone who was in the infirmary…which wasn’t much, but Thatch hadn’t left yet and he was one of the guys that teased him the most!

“A-”

“And!” He was burning up the whole place and there was no stopping him. “I never said she was my pretty girl! I just said she was a pretty girl!” Little flickers of fire left his shoulders. “And she definitely is pretty!” He flexed his fingers. “Gorgeous, beautiful, pretty, all the words that mean that!”

The Second Division Commander’s chest and shoulders heaved from the way he was panting after his rant. Man it felt good to get it off his chest.

He shook his head, getting the remaining frustration out before rolling his shoulders out. He felt a whole lot better. He stretched his neck, before turning to look at his stunned fellow commanders.

“Hey Thatch, I’m hungry,” he grinned, “can you make me something to eat? Or should I just go raid the fridge?”

That seemed to snap the cook out of it, “keep yourself out of my fridge and out of my kitchen hotshot!”

“Uh…Ace,” the fiery man turned to look at the medic that had sparked this outburst.

“Oh Marco, what did you need again?” He’d asked him to do something before mentioning you.

“It’s no problem yoi,” strange, the doctor seemed to be looking behind him.

Was there someone behind him? The young commander turned around - 

Shoot.

He hadn’t said anything negative! But dang what he said sure as hell was damning. He must sound like a total creep. Just going on and on about how pretty he thinks you are. Could someone just launch him into the sea?

It didn’t help that the most unrelenting of the division commanders were here to see this horrifying display. They weren’t ever going to let him live this dow-

“You think I’m pretty?” You asked, hope pulling your lips up tentatively. “Even while sober?”

Ace managed to nod at that.

Gosh he felt stupid. This wasn’t how he wanted to do it. Why was he so trash at trying to compliment you?

“Well I think you’re pretty too,” you gave him a good-natured smile, “so there, we’re even.”

“Really?” Gah! Why was that the first thing out of his mouth?

Oh gosh it was so cute the way you fiddled with your fingers. You only ever did that when you were nervous-you only ever did that when you were nervous.

“I mean,” you grinned, “haven’t you ever looked in a mirror Ace?”

Ace was sure he’d turned his face to fire at that point. He was here fumbling over his feet like a baby dear, and you were so smooth, you might as well be polishing the deck with wax.

“Um, in case that wasn’t clear,” you continued, “yes, really Ace, you’re pretty.”

Thatch let out a low whistle then, “well would you look at that,” he grinned, “a pretty boy for a pretty girl.”

“Stop teasing him Thatch,” you sighed, shooting the cook a look, “you’ve all teased him more than enough already.”

“Yo,” the longtime resident of the infirmary called out to you, “I was actually going to send Ace to find you yoi.”

“Oh did you need something Marco?” You walked further into the room, passing by the stunned pretty boy.

“Were you busy today yoi?”

“Not really, why? Did you need help?”

You thought he was pretty too? 

Would you consider, maybe, going out on a date? He couldn’t help but stare at you as you continued to talk with his First Division Counterpart. He wasn’t about to ask you here, in front of these jerks, but maybe later…

Maybe later…

When you were sitting on the bow looking up at the stars that dotted the night sky. He’d ask you. 

And you’d say yes.

[lady-of-the-upside-down]

Thoughts on The Odyssey (1997)

(YouTube, Amazon Prime)

- Love that it starts with the birth of Telemachus, and how they made it the same day Odysseus gets called to Troy by Agamemnon and Menelaos.

- Enjoyed the brief snippets of the Trojan War with Achilles dragging Hektor’s body all over the outskirts of Troy, as well as the infamous Trojan Horse gift and the sacking of the city.

- The crew on Ody’s boat are absolutely funny. I love fat and balding Polites as well as the flute guy. Eurylochus and Perimedes were amazing too, and not nearly as antagonistic except for when Perimedes opened the bag.

- As soon as I heard sheep noises on the first island they landed in, I said “oh no” out loud. Sure enough, it’s the Cyclops cave. No club; he just tears up some crew members and eats them.

- Circe is so beautiful, they made a great choice with the actress there. Definitely has a similar vibe to her EPIC counterpart. Interesting that her island was way up a steep mountain so the crew really needed a lot of effort to get up there. Genuinely enjoyed the part of the animals acting off as a hint that they’re former humans. Also, they made the choice to combine Circe with the lotions island, having her offer them the flowers. Really genius choice because both islands in the book have the warped time dilation effect so it’s a good idea to combine them if given a time constraint in the adaptation.

- The Underworld was a fiery place and I love the part where he meets flute guy again who leads him to Tiresias. On the way out, he sees his mother (who “got in the water” earlier) and that scene broke my heart so much.

- The interspersed Telemachus scenes were fun. Child!Telemachus was a menacing gremlin running around the palace, and Teen!Telemachus has so much angst in him like he was emo before emo was even invented.

- No sirens, they go straight to Scylla and Charybdis. Scylla was hidden in the caves with no woman as lure, just snakes with mouths scooping up crew members and one goat. Some dialog here will be familiar to EPIC fans. Same can be said with Charybdis who is a many-toothed worm monster like in EPIC.

- The remaining crew after Scylla all die in Charybdis, so no mutiny and no cow incident. Odysseus clings onto a single log until he reaches Calypso’s island.

- Calypso and her island are BEAUTIFUL. The vibes are just amazing and it’s like a sort of ice cold spring spa with some feasting going on inside. Calypso doesnt do anything too bad here except the occasional kiss, and later the refusal to let go of Odysseus even when Hermes requested it.

- Telemachus, now of age, goes on to the diplomatic mission to Sparta, but Menelaos is meaner and just tells him that his father is dead, though he compliments the prince’s similarities. I love the set design and costuming in this part.

- Poseidon being a face forming on waves is a really fun adaptation, really hammering home that he IS the water and being in the water when disliked by Poseidon is a really terrible idea.

- There is a brief visit by Odysseus to the Phaeicians after leaving Ogygia, and he actually doesnt doc himself when asked for his name this time, though King Alcinous already knew who he was because of his hint that his name was cursed that it cannot be spoken. The Phaeicians are the ones who give him a ship and crew to get him home, and that’s really sweet honestly.

- The discovery of the un weaving of the loom came at such an intense time because I genuinely thought Eurymachus was going to be successful at seducing Penelope but she really stood tall and said that she can’t (probably inspiring the Ody and Circe part of EPIC). The loom-burning that happens after was genuinely terrifying snd sad.

- Athena giving Odysseus a magical old man beggar disguise that only lifts when he later shoots through the axes (right before the slaughter) is such a genius idea rather than just having base Ody wearing rags. Eumaeus is the first one who recognizes him form how he behaves in the palace farm area. Telemachus runs into the two and learns that the beggar is Odysseus in disguise.

- The wrestling match between Telemachus and Antinous after the former got home from his diplomatic mission definitely inspired the events of “Little Wolf” and their dynamic. It almost turned into a knife fight if not for beggar!Odysseus stealing attention, and promptly getting hit by Antinous with a chair.

- EURYCLEIA RECOGNIZING ODYSSEUS gosh that part shakes me to my core. Athena likely intentionally left the scar from the boar there as a hint for those who know him well. So at that point it’s Tele and Eurycleia who knows.

- The slaughter was such a satisfying part, especially since in this version majority of the kills were done by Telemachus, with Odyssseus only taking out a few—notably taking out Eurymachus and Melantho with only one spear through both of them, a traitor-kebab if you will. Best part was during the beginning of the slaughter when Odysseus goes “Now is the right time, let out your anger” to Telemachus

- The part where Penelope and Odysseus lay by the olive tree bed again made me so emotional. They’re together again and they’re happy!!

- The practical and special effects are great for its time, and I definitely prefer it to the over-polished VFX green screen that the present day movies use. This movie just feels more authentic.

- Casting and costume design is also solid. I am especially obsessed with the costumes at Calypso’s island, and how it depicts that they’re removed from the rest of Greece so they ended up developing their own culture.

- Set design is amazing, I love how there is a contrast between the almost dilapidated and dirty palace of Ithaca compared to the other Greek kingdoms we encounter throughout the movie, showing the hardship they were going through with the absence of rod a kung and the presence of a flock of suitors that insist on staying there.

Overall a solid 5/5 stars, and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys Greek mythology, specifically The Odyssey and EPIC: The Musical.

[herstuf]

Agatha Theories I’ve had so far

Agatha has no control over her powers. Or at least didn’t. When her mother said “you were born evil” I’m wondering if when she was a baby if her mother tried to use magic on her and as a baby Agatha started draining her magic… could be where the ideas behind her mothers hatred but also the “I can be good” came from. “I can be good” is such a child of an abusive home thing to say…

Unsure if I still like this one but- Billy is in Nicholas Scratch’s body. In the comics the twins are reincarnated beings… interesting if Billy is in Nicholas’s body

Rio is Mistress Death and when Agatha went down the road before she was in search of a way to stop her own magic from draining others in order to protect her son… only for the road to take Nicholas in exchange for the dark hold and Rio, as Mistress Death, HAD to help him cross over, even when Agatha begged her not to

Rio hates ghosts because they’re the spirits of people who wouldn’t or couldn’t pass on, even with her help. She must be actively bothered by that as it’s her Job to help souls pass on, and ghosts probably refuse to

Agatha hasn’t actually killed as many people as the rumours say. It’s just easy to blame her for, and to act like when other witches have sought her out and attacked her that it was her fault. Her comment about “and people wonder why I don’t have female friends” has LAYERS to it.

Similarly- Agatha told Lilia that she can’t take power unless someone attacks her first… what an odd thing to tell someone if you actually want to do that. Like why give yourself away like that SO easily… unless she really doesn’t want to TAKE people’s magic who aren’t hurting her. Despite how she later tried to trick the coven into blasting her… she hasn’t actually done it since. And she was horrified at first when Alice starting blasting her. Why warn them if not as a caution not to attack her, if she actually wanted to take from them?

Episode 5 the were all possessed- I saw someone else talk about this in much more depth than I can do justice and found it interesting. Also interesting that the exit from that trial was the first exit “up” instead of “down,” as in down down the witches road…

Lilia was either royal or elevated (very wealthy/lady/lord style) in medieval or before times. Based on the snippets we’ve gotten from her I picture her as a bit of a Cassandra character. She was likely betrayed either by family or coven, or perhaps by her own visions, at some point. She started to distrust or be scared of her magic and that’s why it has faded.

Also love the theory that she predicts death.. with the “Alice don’t” and then later saying it when Alice blasts Agatha. Theories that she predicted the black plague, and that all the slips she has are moments where she gets closer to predicting deaths… so interesting to think about

My favourite- Alice isn’t really dead. Because I don’t want her to be. :)

[dcdreamblog]

Going to ramble a bit before my latest question.

My scrapbooks aren't a reliable primary source of information. Their contents seem to shift every time there's a furshlugginer Crisis event, and there's a missing volume but every time I try to think what's in it exactly, it slips my mind. Plus of course they only contain the newspaper and magazine articles I or someone who knows about my hobby happen across, and some of those newspapers, like the Metropolis Whisper, are known to give false information.

Still, it's a fun hobby. The first clipping I started with was one my slightly older cousin pointed out to me about the Justice League fighting Doctor Destiny in 1966 (yes, I know). The mask Wonder Woman had to wear during that case was shown and fascinated me. Mom suggested making a scrapbook for the news items I was interested in, and it quickly became all superheroes and mystery men.

Once it turned out I was serious about this, I also inherited loose clippings on the general topic that my parents and grandparents had randomly saved. And now we're getting closer to my question.

I've got six items from the 1930s about a New York City mystery man, or urban legend, named the Shadow. Two are straightforward news reports of gangsters going to prison, with a mention that "the Shadow" was somehow involved. One is an official announcement from the NYC police commissioner of the time that no such person as the Shadow existed. Then there's a snippet from a gossip columnist where Orson Welles, the radio celebrity, allegedly claimed to have actually met the Shadow and helped him on a case. Finally, two letters to the editor, one claiming that the Shadow was made up by reporters as a hoax to sell newspapers, and another positing that the reason the Shadow had never been photographed is that he had the power to turn invisible (which was also why no one could catch him.)

From what little I could find in a cursory search, the existence of the Shadow appears to be controversial.

So, what's the current scholarly consensus? Was the Shadow a for real person, an urban legend, and either way, what's actually known about him?

Establishing the existence of a superhero or mystery man can be tricky in some cases and utterly trivial in others, making the hard ones even harder by comparison. For instance, it's pretty easy to establish that Superman exists. He acts publically on a daily basis, the world over, his face, his costume and his abilities are globally known and he interacts with the public and the media enough that establishing a profile on him is background radiation. It's just KNOWN. Establishing that a mystery man existed back in the late 30s and 40s is also usually easy. Green Lantern is attested in dozens of newspaper articles, photographs, newsreels and of course the man is still alive and directly connected to many other well known superhero organizations. Then there's the tricky ones. Superheroes who show up once and then never again, strange costumes and images that don't quite fit with any other report, things that mix closer to legend than fact. This is one of those.

(A sketch of the most well attested version of what 'The Shadow' may have looked like) Reports of the Shadow's existence stretch back as far as 1931, the better part of a decade before The Crimson Avenger and the Sandman would bring the era of the mystery man into the full public consciousness. There have always been theories, some more fringe than others, that they were NOT in fact the first Mystery Men of their era but in fact simply the two that went public and maintain their identities long enough to be well attested in the historical record. That's never become a mainstream position simply because all versions of it either fail to meet the definition: The Crimson Avenger and the Sandman are the first BECAUSE they directly lead into their generation being birthed as a social force. Even if other came before them they only arguably count as part of the same wave because they obviously didn't reach the war years. OR like in this case, because their existence is impossible to prove. I don't believe the Shadow exists because the more you try to dig into him the more his existence becomes something worse than unprovable, it becomes unfalsifiable. He can turn invisible, he's a master of disguise, everyone who has ever seen his face is dead, he can mind control people through hypnosis so even standing in the center of a well lit room he won't be noticed, he has dirt on literally every possible person in or out of power that's so airtight no one would dare leak his existence, etc, etc, etc. The more questions are raised about lack of evidence, the wider the circle becomes to justify how nothing about him has ever been pinned down. None of the other heroes who were active in the very early 'gangland' days like the Sandman, The Crimson Avenger or The Atom ever confirmed working with or against him, he was never a member of any team or organization, no photograph was ever taken of the man beyond a shadow of a doubt. Eventually it comes down to the fact that a theory that can't be DISproven can't be trusted.

[sweetttsummer]

heey house md fandom (yall still out there?)

i've rewatched the show on loop for the last two years and the rot has gotten to me enough that i've started a fic! i'm unsure if this fandom likes self insert but here we go. there's a small snippet of it under the cut.

there is a larger story/fic attached to this, but i also just wanted to put out some feelers with a small blurb. please come let me know i'm not shouting into the void! ask/request here

dr. robert chase x fem!reader. under the cut, not beta read

word count: ~800

There was a moment where they seemed to both size each other up, to debate if they had lost their minds. Chase couldn’t help the way his feet moved, they were use to walking towards her, not running away from her. 

“(Y/N)” Chase barely recognized his own voice. (Y/N) on the other hand had that voice burned into her brain. The lilt in the accent, the slight breathlessness laced in her name. It had been at least a decade since she heard him say her name. Still she could pick him out by voice alone. 

(Y/n) straightened her back against the wall in her sitting position and opened her mouth to reply. Nothing came out. Instead, the unanswered letters she had sent 10 years ago flash across her mind. She finally closed her mouth and kept her gaze up. He looked mostly the same, older of course, a decade apart will do that to a person. He had let his hair grow out, and despite the shocked look on his face, he still had the same rosy undertone in his cheeks. 

Chase took her silence to really look at her. He thinks of lingering teen hands, of giggling in the dark, of the only soft thing he had when everything was falling apart around him. There had been plenty of parties in his teenage years, so many girls, so many things he hid away but her. (Y/N) had been the one person he never spoke about, he had done his best to ignore the betrayal he felt when she left and she never reached out to him. He had packed it away. His father’s briefcase all packed with his things flashes in his mind. 

“What are you doing here?” Chase finally speaks up again, he rolled his shoulders a little and tried to put on a front, tried to pretend he wasn’t aching at the sight of her now. She still mostly looked the same, a little thinner than he thinks is natural for her, slightly hollow in her face in places that shouldn’t look like that. He tore his eyes away and glanced over to the empty conference room, House’s empty office. He ignored the voice telling him something was wrong. He had looked away and she could find her voice again. 

“Robert” She finally spoke said the only thing that came to mind.  She didn’t know how to answer his questions, she wasn’t here to even ask his professional opinion, she had no idea he was even here. She had last seen him so far from here she never imagined he would have came all the way to New Jersey. 

Thankfully, the moment died quite quickly. Sadly, it was broken by the voice by House. 

“Chase, tell Wilson here..” House didn’t finish his sentence when he noticed Wilson had taken his chance to slip away, not wanting to hear whatever shitty thing House was going to yell across the hall to Chase. 

Chase clenched his jaw and kept his eyes trained on House as he limped over to where Chase stood. 

“Not now House,” Chase mumbled. 

“Dr. House?” (Y/N) tried to confirm if this was the man she was told could help her. House acted like he didn’t hear her and went to say something else to Chase before she stood up quickly and held her medical file out towards House. 

“My name is (Y/N) (Y/L/N) and I was referred to you. I work under Stacy Warner and-“ She was cut off by a small wave of fatigue. She felt her legs shake a little at the act of standing up so quickly. Chase didn’t think twice  when he moved a little closer, let his hand linger around (Y/N)'s  arms. He stopped himself before he could actually put his hand on her, there was something scary about the idea of touching her again after all this time. It felt like another lifetime when he had the chance to be able to touch her freely, and her disappearance from his life felt like enough for a sign that she didn’t want him to touch her anymore. 

His voice soften when he spoke, “Hey, you should sit back down,” he kept his hands lingering near his elbow as he came closer to her, a little nudge to get her back onto the bench. She listens without thinking and falls back onto the wooden bench. Her medical file is still in her hand and slightly held up towards Dr. House. “If you could at least look at it, tell me anything please,” she tried to get Dr. House’s attention. 

please come let me know i'm not shouting into the void! ask/request here

[wikiangela]

Hi, a bit late but joining in on the @alliwantforchristmasislou project 🫶

I decided to donate to a polish organisation called the stonewall group (which is why the pic is in polish lol)

chose this one just because im the most familiar with this one, and they do amazing work in support of lgbt+ people and fighting for our rights in this... not so queer-friendly country 🫶

now, ive been in the 911 fandom for almost 4 years now (gonna be 4 in i think February), and i only started after the episode Buck actually bc it was allll over my dash. i binged the whole show in a week, before the next episode is even aired, I loved it SO much.

as most of y'all know, I initially shipped buddie - it was the big ship, ofc i did, i wrote so much fic for them and i had so much fun and met so many moots i still love seeing on my dash 🫶❤️ but it might've been obvious (or not, idk) i was kinda getting bored and losing enjoyment, more and more of my fics and snippets were focusing on other characters with buck or eddie, i wasnt really as into it anymore - but i still loved it and wanted to enjoy it (which ironically was killed dead later on by the buddie fandom itself lmao)

and then came bucktommy and everything changed. initially i tried not to give in but within a few days i had two fics and more ideas lol they completely took over my thoughts. ive never been this inspired to write, to create, I even learned how to make gifs for them (with lots of help from amazing talented friends 🫶🤣) during fall and winter I always get so depressed and sad and having very dark and depressing thoughts (last year my buck driving fic was a result of that lol), and its so hard to find motivation to do anything, even write. but this year, even tho I had a lil crisis moment, i wrote through it and im as inspired as always - i havent stopped writing since april. they're literally the most inspiring ship ever - and fun fact, usually i prefer writing about fanon ships, so this was a huge change and surprise

I always related to buck a lot, and especially once we got his bisexuality canon - checking out and appreciating hot people of the same sex and not realizing what it means is too real lol - and Tommy is so compelling and theres so much potential for so many stories there, I wish the show would do something interesting with him 😭 despite being so confident and cool, he feels like he's holding back some sad, maybe (probably) traumatic backstory that could be so good and interesting - and lou is such a good actor and itd be amazing to see more from him in this role

they wrote tommy as the perfect love interest for buck, and it was amazing to see it on screen, it was such a breath of fresh air to see this kind of queer representation on a network show, it was so gentle and adorable, and they initially handled it with so much care, and id love to see where they'd go from there 😭 the break up broke my heart not only because it happened, but because it felt ooc and abrupt and not at all like that's where the story was going. wish they'd fix it and give us tommy back 😭🙏

and lastly but most importantly - thanks to bucktommy, i met so many amazing friends ❤️😭 even when I was writing fics and interacting with mutuals on here, i was never really talking to a lot of mutuals, not for longer than a few messages, and now i got this wonderful community that i feel so comfortable in, everyone is so nice and friendly, and I love y'all so much, this is the best fandom experience ive ever had ❤️

thank you all, ive been having so much fun since april, i love y'all. here's to more bucktommy in 2025 ❤️

[magical-wishies]

Hello again and happy new year!! ❤️ We're entering 2025!

It's probably not midnight yet for a lot of you folks, but it is January 1st for me in my timezone!

Thank you for all your support throughout 2024. I know I haven't been as active as before, but I appreciate those of you have stuck around regardless! I wish you all a wonderful new year, and let's continue enjoying the moment together!

🎉

And of course, a yearly artist summary is needed..

Overall, I'm quite satisfied for this year's art! With the experience I got from 2023, I could finally match my skill level with the ideas I came up with and push my limits.

Now that I've kinda gotten the basics down, in 2025 I want to start making a presence for myself! What does that mean? Well, I'd like to:

1. Post more variety (Sketches, snippets of writing)

2. Improve more (Use references, do stuff :P)

3. Have fun!!! (Do whatever I like :D)

These are my goals for 2025. I hope I can work on them steadily!! See you next year 🌟

Extra (I just want to shout out my favourite projects from this year!)

"Wonderland in the sky" (January for the art summary) is currently sitting at a whopping 700-or-so notes! I was really proud of it since it's my first animated art. Thank you for the love!

Also, I loved participating in Marxolor Week 2024! I never thought that a ship week for my favourite characters could actually come into fruition, but I'm so glad it did! Co-managing it was a blast, and I loved seeing everyone's beautiful art. Special thanks to Dess for organising the whole thing and making "Marxolor Day" real!

(Though, I did push myself a little too hard to finish the art... avoiding that next time ^^')

Last but certainly not least, a very, very special thank you to everyone who supported Darling Dance! It was a very tough and time-consuming project, but I'm so happy with the final result (^^)

My personal goal for it was 1000 views, and it's currently sitting at 1272! If there's one thing I really hope I can do in 2025, it's making another MV.

That's a wrap for now! Thank you for reading all that text, I just had so many things I want to say!! And thank you for enduring through all the thank yous! There's very few words that can describe my gratitude towards everyone that's ever looked at or complimented my work.

It's 4AM, so I'm gonna dip out now... Sweet dreams and once again, Happy New Year 🎉🌟💕

[ya-zz]

Ramattra Drabble

Wherever the omnic went, there was always a book in his hand or under his arm. At first, you thought it was just some reading material, but as time went by, you concluded that it wasn't a novel of some sort, but rather a notebook.

You had asked him about it multiple times on various different occasions but he never opened it up to show you. In fact, he never spoke about what was inside of it.

Figuring that it was something to do with his work, you stopped asking, admitting defeat and dropping the subject entirely.

There had been days, however, that he would leave it on the table or on the counter but he always came back within minutes to retrieve it, not leaving you with enough time to sneakily flip through the pages.

But you respected him. You trusted him. You wouldn't actually bring yourself to do it, no matter how much it gnawed at you. It was important work, so you thought. Maybe he'll show you when he's achieved what he needed to.

Months went by before the book was even mentioned again, but it wasn't you who sparked that conversation. It was Ramattra.

"You have wanted to see what was inside of here for so long." He looks down at the book in his hands before glancing back up at you, optics studying your face. Confusion but also curiosity. His arm extends outwards, book between his fingers as he holds it out to you.

"You're finally letting me look?"

Ramattra nods once before speaking. "Yes. Though, it will not make sense at first." He watches as you take the book, sitting down beside him so he can watch you turn the pages.

He wasn't wrong. Omnicode and equations riddle the first set of pages, scribbles of what you assume were weapon ideas and snippets from newspapers of world-wide events. It wasn't entirely what you were expecting.

As your fingers flip over to the next page, things start becoming a mess. Equations are scrapped, red and blank ink hiding what was once written and some pages were crumbled, seemingly from a small fit of rage where he scrunched the page.

"What is all of this?"

"That is not important." He silent urges you to keep moving ahead in the notebook and when the next few pages are turned, his systems momentarily freeze. His optics were locked onto your face, studying your features.

"Ramattra...?"

Amidst the omnicode, small sketches of you fill the page. At first, it was just one or two that fit the spread but as you continue to turn the pages, the sketches become larger, filling the pages entirely. Various angles and poses, sometimes when your back is turned, others when he's been sat directly across from you and you didn't even realise.

The omnic couldn't find the words, his vocaliser emitting a small hum of static. His hands that rest on his knees begin fidgeting, pulling at the soft fabric of his pants or rubbing the metal joints of his knuckles.

You can feel your heart fluttering, chest growing warm with what you believe is affection. The parts of you that you hate, he's sketched so perfectly. You're seeing yourself as he sees you.

"How long has this been going on for?"

Ramattra realised he never even dated them, but his memory serves him well in remembering the first time he sat there and sketched you. "Since the start of the year."

"And you've done so many-" You keep your eyes glued to the pages, admiring each and every single sketch. Some in pencil, some in pen.

"You are too beautiful not to draw." He chuckles when he sees the flush that instantly appears on your cheeks and he couldn't stop himself from bringing his hand up to cup your face.

You had reached the final page of the notebook, noticing how the final page was yet to be filled. Looking up at the omnic sat next to you, you're about to speak before he cuts you off.

"I was saving that page for now, if you would let me?" He watches as your eyes widen and that flush only deepens. The timid nod from you causes the omnic to tilt his head, his systems warming up.

His hands retrieve the book from you as he watches you get comfortable on the sofa. Before he starts, he hears you speak up.

"Thank you." You can sense the confusion so you elaborate. "For showing me. I didn't expect any of this."

"Thank you for being a perfect model." He chuckles along with your nervous giggle.

He admires you from the opposite end of the sofa, the way your eyes glittered in the light of the room, the flush that still painted your cheeks and the soft smile that graced your face.

Now knowing that you're aware of what he's been hiding all year, it causes his systems to heat up, fans whirring loudly in the otherwise quiet room. He speaks, a hint of sheepishness in his tone as he begins, pencil scratching at the final page of the book.

"You are the definition of beauty, you know?"

—

KOFI

[bitbybitwrites]

God, I know I haven’t done one of these in AGES.

To be honest, I’m really focused on looking for a new job at the moment and either doing more resume writing or doing casual reading for enjoyment than fic writing . . it’s a defense/ stress mechanism, I know.

*sigh*

Sending many thanks to the awesome folks who keep tagging me in this and WIP Wednesday in these past few months ( its been that long! 😭) since I did my last one of these :

@porcelainmortal @forabeatofadrum @onthewaytosomewhere @dizzymisslizzie @firstprincehornyramblings

@theprinceandagcd @caterpills @emeryhall @alasse9 @sophie1973

@daisyishedwig @iboatedhere @14carrotghoul

(I hope I didn’t forget any of you!)

Since my last Several/Six/Seven Sentence Sunday/WIP Wednesday, I did do the following, so if you missed it:

1.) Posted Chp 6 of Puppy Love (First Prince fic)

2.) Posted Chp 2 of Missed Connections (Klaine fic)

3. ) Posted Killing Me Softly (Klaine One Shot)

I did manage to write some new snippets for both Klaine and FirstPrince - I’ll leave them under the cut.

I’m still plugging away at my WIP multi-chapter fics. It’s just REALLY slow going now.

1.) Excerpt from Chp 30 - If I Can Make Your Heart My Home (Klaine) ( cc @datshitrandom )

Yes, this long epic is coming to a close. I adore this story and all the twists and turns it has taken and it does make me sad to finish it.

Any readers still following will soon see I’ve actually added 1 more chapter to the whole story count. So there will be 31 chapters to finish out the fic. Chp 30 is fully written and being edited now. Chp 31 has been started which will include the wrapping up of the main story and a bit of an epilogue.

an excerpt from Chp 30:

“Blaine!” Trent grabbed him and bodily marched him further into the apartment.  Brittany quickly took away all of the bags of food and alcohol in his arms before Santana .  . Santana Lopez of all people. . . swept Blaine up in a hug so quickly and so tightly he was sure he was going to break something.   A furious stream of Spanish tumbled from her lips.  Blaine was nearly positive a good handful of them were venomous phrases and curse words. Well, he went under that assumption from her tone alone.  He dared not breathe because he still wasn’t sure who exactly her ire was directed at. It wasn’t until Santana ended her tirade and let go of her grip on him, that Blaine drew in a deep breath. She pulled backwards, gently held his face in her hands, her eyes softening into a compassionate gaze. Oh good, she wasn’t mad at him then. “I take it I’m. . .I’m not the one in trouble?” Blaine asked carefully (you know, just to be sure) as he took a tentative step away. Before Santana could answer a familiar body launched itself at him, throwing Blaine off balance and onto the rug beneath him. “I’m so so sorry, “ Kurt said, hiccuping slightly.  “It just came out.” He pressed his face into Blaine’s chest in embarrassment.  “I didn’t mean to.  Really.” “What did?” Blaine asked as he righted himself and wrapped  his arms around his boyfriend’s waist. Kurt sighed.  “I may have let slip that Sebastian had a hand in trying to keep us apart.” “Oh. . .”  Blaine pulled Kurt along with him, so he could scoot up and lean his back against the couch.  “That.” “I’m sorry, “ Kurt said, his blue eyes filled with regret as he stared upwards at his boyfriend.  “Its . . .Sebastian just came up in conversation.  And I’m still just so mad at him for everything . . . and . . .well. . . I may be a little drunk?”

2.) Excerpt from Chp 7 of Puppy Love (First Prince) (cc @omgbarbiegurl)

“Blimey, that fucker is MASSIVE.”

“And that’s what he said . . “

Henry groaned as he watched his best friend and sister poke at each other playfully, snorting loudly into their gloves.  Together the trio stood in Rockefeller Center, engulfed in a sea of tourists, all of which were staring up at the famous Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree with them.

And Bea was not wrong.

“I mean, “Henry’s sister continued, as she tilted her head form side to side, and staring at the brightly lit evergreen the same way David scrutinized a new toy or treat. “I don’t think the telly does it justice.  It’s rather impressive in person.”

Pez coughed unceremoniously into his hand.  “Totally phallic though.”

“Pez!” Henry said, horrified and quickly looked around to make sure no one heard.  “Let’s not offend any New Yorkers, shall we?  I do like living here and would prefer not to be booted out of the city because you’ve maligned a much beloved iconic holiday symbol!

“I’m just saying . . it’s long or rather tall . . . slightly bulbous. . .”

“Girthy . . .”

“Bea! Do not encourage him!” Henry said through gritted teeth, his face flaring red in embarrassment.

Pez waved his arms toward the tree.  “I mean, I’m not thinking of it in the sense of a literal tree.” He stepped back, studying it as Bea had,.  “But if you just observe the silhouette -  disregard all the poky branches and sharp pine needles . . . look, Haz . . it’s smaller at the top, blooms into a bulbous . . .”

“Please stop saying that word . . “ Henry sighed.  Bea was grinning with devilish glee, enjoying her brother’s discomfort all too well.

“I repeat, it has a bulbous middle shape, then it tapers back down to a smaller point and then flares out into a wider base.”  Pez carefully mimicked with his hands a tracing out of said shape as we catalogued each part of the tree.  “I mean, it’s looks pretty much like a giant. .”

“Please don’t say it.” Henry begged, his voice noticeably strained. “Do not finish that sentence aloud.”

Bea cackled even louder and smacked Pez on the arm.  “Only you, Percy Okonjo would have such a filthy mind.”

Pez snickered.  “It could be a potential money making venture. Christmas themed . . “

“Butt plugs?”

“Beatrice!”

“Stop being such a  prude, Hen.”

Henry spluttered.  “I am not a prude!  I have a very healthy, happy relationship with sex, and all accoutrements that go along with, if you must know.” he shouted out loud, stomping his foot petulantly.

Bea and Pez looked at each other for a moment, before they simultaneously bent over at the waist and started laughing hysterically.  Henry, who had immediately blushed bright red after realizing what he had just shouted in the midst of a busy people packed courtyard, let loose an exasperated sound as he turned on his heel and walked away.  He was quite determined to put as much distance from the deranged people he left behind.

He didn’t get far though as he soon heard the sound of footsteps run behind hims and felt a pair of other arms loop through his own.

As trying as Pez and Bea were once they got together, Henry wouldn’t have his Christmas holiday any other way. Their previous plans of a quiet time renting a quaint cottage in the Cotswolds until Boxing Day quickly got derailed after a virulent bout of flu hit the shelter a week ago.  Pez and Henry other did not want to be a country away when so many of the kids and staff were ill.  So due to being unexpectedly short staffed, instead a New York Christmas was proposed in its stead.

3.) Excerpt from Chp 2 of missed connections (Klaine) ( cc @cryscendo )

The heavy wooden door slammed shut behind Kurt with an extremely satisfying thud. Fuming, he paced back and forth like an enraged beast, muttering expletives to himself before the dam finally broke. “Is it so hard to find a single person who could do their job properly?!” He cried out, punctuating his growing ire with a a growl of frustration. “Well, I guess I can see how your day has been going . . “ Kurt whipped around suddenly to see one of his dearest friends, watching him with amusement.  Mercedes finally leaned over and poured herself and Kurt a cup of tea each.  Delicately balancing the china cup in between her fingertips, she leaned back on the settee and brought the cup up to her lips with a smile. “Surely, it cannot be the end of the world, Kurt. It never really is,” she reminded him. “Last issue, “ Kurt began, taking a step towards the table, ready to continue his fiery tirade. “For the last issue of the magazine, you tore into that young McCarthy woman because she failed to put the right number of ruffles on the train of - oh I can’t even remember whose gown it was this time.” “Mamie Fish.” Kurt grumbled and he dropped onto the settee next to Mercedes with a huff and a frown. Her mere presence always had a calming effect on Kurt.  He could feel the tension and anger slowly melt away in his dear friend’s presence. Mercedes grimaced at the mention of the socialite’s name.  “Yes, her.  And to be honest, Mamie Fish is an awful, awful woman, Kurt.  She is so catty and rude.” Mercedes carefully rested her tea cup on the table and leaned closer to Kurt.  “The things I’ve over heard her say about people, not only behind their backs but directly to their faces have been truly atrocious.  And she laughs it off!  She fancies herself quick-witted but all she is , in truth, is a sharp-tongued, bitter, harridan. It goes to show that having scads of money does not necessarily equate with having class or empathy of any sort.”  Mercedes sighed and re-arranged the pale linen napkin on her lap, smoothing out the cloth carefully over her gown.  She shook her head, tutting softly as she looked at her Kurt.  “There are some days I can’t believe you have the wherewithal to deal with half of the people you write about in your column. Most of them are quite full of themselves, and so blinded by their spots in the Four Hundred or what new homes they’ve built or what parties they have thrown. It’s just so tedious and shallow.  It’s so not you, Kurt.” Kurt’s shoulders slumped. Mercedes was right.  She was always right. “I . . . I don’t think you understand, Mercedes.  It has to be perfect.” Kurt pulled off his gloves and began to fold and refold them repeatedly.  “I have a standard to uphold.  I have expectations from others, from myself.  I can’t afford to fail.  Not at this.” A soft hand  on his knee quickly stalled Kurt’s repetitive actions.  “You will never fail at anything you put your mind to, Kurt Hummel,” Mercedes softly reminded him.  “I just worry about you, my dear.  You’re constantly surrounded by all these self-absorbed millionaires and their stiff, pretentious ways.  You’re better than that.  You’re better than all of them.   I know you have a job to do, but try not to let their behavior change who you are inside.  You’re too good of a person, Kurt.”

And there ya go! Going to tag some folks ( besides the lovely folks tagged at the top) - no pressure as always but if you want to share what you’ve been working on, I’d love to read it!

Also BIG OPEN TAG who sees this and in general just wants to share. Tag me, I’d love to read what you’ve got going. . . .

Happy writing folks!

@getmehighonmagic,  @blueeyedgrlwrites, @annepi-blog,

@myheartalivewrites  @kirakiwiwrites,

@wowbright, , @coffeegleek, @theprinceandagcd

@gleefulpoppet , @special-bc-ur-part-of-it , @daisyishedwig @sarkyblueeyes , @hkvoyage

@tinyarmedtrex, @1908jmd , @sparklepocalypse  @spaceorphan18, 

@kirakiwiwrites , @cha-melodius  @yadivagirl, @lady-divine-writes, @cryscendo 

@rockitmans, @madas-ahatters-world , @little-escapist @thesleepyskipper 

@nocoastposts, , @thinkof-england , @shame-is-a-wasted-emotion

@blurglesmurfklaine  @blueeyedgrlwrites

[mechanicalpiper]

Hi yes sorry for the wait, procrastination hit hard, but here's another snippet

First prompt done! "The Hero had just come back from an absolutely brutal training session and was exhausted and jelly limbed, only for the Villain to stumble onto them! We all know Villan couldn't help themselves with such a treat!"

I wasn't too proud of this one at first but it looped around to being one of my favorites so far :3

cw, as usual: suggestive and (sorta) kidnapping

Snippet #5

Hero was panting from exhaustion as they walked home in the dead of night.

They'd finally finished up one of their most rigorous training sessions yet- it was well past midnight by now, and they'd started before noon- and were absolutely, utterly exhausted from the ordeal, especially now that the adrenaline had worn off. Their face was still red, their throat sore and their breathing heavy; they were tired to the point that even walking all the way home was a bit of a challenge...

"...Awww~"

The Hero's heartbeat spiked.

They whipped around with a squeak of surprise, throwing a panicked punch at the general area behind them in a brief panic.

Hero's arm stopped midway, their forearm grabbed to stop it before the punch could follow through.

Hero froze. As their conscious thought came back into play, they slowly looked up to see the figure still holding their arm in place. It was impossible to make out many details in the dark, but as their gaze trailed up to fully see the face of the figure, an intense, warm shiver went down their spine.

They saw the eyes staring back down at them. Bright red, with the signature, precise, terrifying glow that made them cleanly cut through the darkness like a spider looking down on its prey. A gaze Hero was all too familiar with.

Villain's.

"Now, what do we have here~?" Villain teased, gaze piercing the exhausted Hero. They tried to pull away in defiance but were caught off guard by Villain's other hand slipping under their chin, gently tilting their head to look back up at them.

"You look exhausted, sweetie~"

Hero felt their cheeks warm up. They were already pretty warm, sure, but this wasn't exhaustion making them flare up again.

...Fuck.

They knew full well what the fuzzy feeling in their chest was. It wasn't exactly a new experience, either; really, almost anything relating to the Villain got that reaction out of Hero. It wasn't news by now.

...But here, it was coming in full force, and they were in the prime position for Villain to notice it. They were panicking.

It somehow never really occurred to them that Villain's teasing wasn't for the sake of intimidation.

"I've never seen you put up so little of a fight~! Finally learning your place?" Villain taunted further, their expression satisfied as they looked down at the defenseless Hero.

"Wh- th- I, uh, well- NO, absolutely not!" snapped Hero, finally managing to get out something coherent.

"Awww, always so feisty~" Villain hummed in response, moving their face a closer to the defiant Hero. They were so precious like this! It was so rare to see them at their mercy, and they looked so damn cute...

Hero's blush was running full force. Being under Villain's gaze at all was flustering, but the teasing, the warmth of their touch, the fact they couldn't fight back right now...

Before either of them knew it, they had fallen into a mutual kiss.

Neither really knew how it happened- they both simultaneously found themself in the same position of locking lips with their nemesis.

They simultaneously flinched back in a startle, breaking the kiss rather abruptly and awkwardly. Neither said anything, but they remained looking at one another, mildly bewildered expressions on both of their faces as they tried to process what exactly just happened.

They just kissed.

It took them both a while to process this. They weren't in disbelief at the concept- they were both in shock that it actually just happened.

Now that it had, neither had any doubts in their mind.

Villain looked back over the flustered Hero, delighting in the way their pretty face showed both satisfaction and embarrassment, adoring the way they squirmed seeing their rival tower over them no longer in a perceived aggressive way, but rather a... possessive one.

"...Well, there's no way in hell I'm passing up such an easy little captive~"

Hero had never felt so excited.

[garden-of-rambles]

Odypen Fic and Headcanons Masterpost

Hi! Welcome to my rambling sideblog.

I go by CJ, I'm bi, cis, and my pronouns are she/her. Aside from reblogging endless amounts of Odysseus x Penelope fanart, I also post about my own fic and headcanons.

Fanfic:

Inspired by the whole 'homophrosyne' idea and some stray thoughts I had while listening to "Keep Your Friends Closer". It spiraled out from there into a fic that's over 143,062 words and counting.

Also, Penelope tricks a god in the first chapter, so there's that.

Title: lead me back to you

Rating: Started as M, went up to E, but it is far more plot focused than on sex scenes. Check out the tags for further info.

Chapters: 13/? Summary:

Morpheus, the God of Dreams, takes pity on the King and Queen of Ithaca. Odysseus’s return is many years away, yet his and Penelope’s minds find each other in sleep. It’s both a blessing and a curse, and sometimes all that keeps them going.

Queen Penelope stepped into the dream as easily as crossing a threshold, and with her came the sun, as if Helios's carriage rode atop her billowing black hair. The carnage vanished in her presence, the ground no longer a battlefield but a sloping grassy hill dotted with olive trees. Her bright blue eyes almost glowed, searching the hillside with clear intent. The King of Ithaca stood, gazing at her as if she were a vision of Aphrodite herself. The blood streaking his face and staining his hands evaporated in the wake of her sunlight, the dead bundle in his arms vanishing with it. Morpheus stared as well, unable to believe that she stood before them. It was no shaped dream becoming a nightmare, no conjuration of the King’s mind to protect himself. It was her, slipping into his dream as if it were a room in their home. Answering her husband’s desperate cries.

Headcanons/Other Links:

Odysseus is touch starved: this ruminates a bit on one of the tags for my fic about the way Odysseus specifically craves touch only from certain people, and includes a little snippet of dialogue and such that I've also now officially included within the fanfiction (as of chapter seven).

Penelope's weapon is her mind: ramblings about why I'm not into the popular warrior Penelope AUs or the fanon misconception about "Spartan" Penelope. Why the way I write her in my fic relies on her strength coming from her thoughts, words, and careful actions.

How Odysseus comforts Penelope over the years: inspired by dkmbookworm saying they wanted to hear headcanons on the subject, and it got longer than intended. These two make me talk a lot, what else is new?

Homophrosyne: Babbling about the whole idea of Odysseus and Penelope being "of one mind" and how I portray that in my fic through prose and dialogue, as well as their actions.

Father and son bonding: an extremely short headcanon I wrote that ended up becoming my most popular post, about how Telemachus and Odysseus would actually bond pretty immediately once they start gushing about how much they both love Penelope.

The problem with "malewife" Odypen: A ramble about why fandom depictions of "malewife" Odysseus and "girlboss/warrior" Penelope are not as subversive or progressive as some may think. How that kind of thing ends up looping around to reinforcing weird gender roles, and that feels particularly weird with a couple like Odypen.

Odypen Fanfic Rec Masterlist, Part One: What it says in the title. A post highlighting some of my favorite oneshots and chapter fics for Odysseus and Penelope. Will be more in the future.