#I think they're a nice family unit but she's all he has and it is indirectly her fault . I think this has to be internalized

[ranvwoop]

trucy wrght deserves a tad of girlbossification. as a treat

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

What I don't think I've said before is that my agency is a law enforcement agency and we do similar investigations to this

I work on the side of law firms coming in to do internal investigations - particularly in the UK. You obviously know what you’re talking about, but I just want to reaffirm for the anon and other readers that it’ll take months.

Organisations sometimes unknowingly open Pandoras box when they start an investigation like this, because all kinds of misconduct they had not known about must now also be dealt with. That makes the deadlines even more squishy.

Would love to have your take on the national security aspects to the PoW’s diagnosis and continued treatment. I bet H&M is going to want to find out more information too, which fits in nicely on your recent posts around him being a security risk (I’m the Pegasus anon and highly enjoyed them).

Very old ask from March 22nd.

So now knowing that Kate actually did have cancer, was seriously ill, and was also downplaying her diagnosis and condition, that changes my thinking a little.

I do think one of the reasons they've been very careful with Kate's diagnosis and treatment is because of the national security impact. For instance, if Kate's actual treatment was publicly known - she goes to chemo on these days, she's being treated at this hospital, her drugs are X, Y, Z - then a bad actor or a threat can absolutely do some damage. They can taint the medical supply, they can call paparazzi to the hospital, they can sneak cameras into the treatment center, they can stage an emergency that takes resources away from the oncology unit.

If the type of cancer Kate had or the chemo treatment she was undergoing meant she needed to be a on a specific diet and if that was known, then obviously someone could try to send her a tainted gift basket or they have a spoiled product that they give to a known Wales associate (like a Turnip Toff or a Middleton friend) and they pass it on to Kate (which is how Pippa used to merch sometimes, in early Cambridge days) who doesn't suspect anything because that person is cleared by RPOs. And this is something that the BRF is actually concerned about - I read somewhere once that they don't accept food products or food gifts and if any is given to them on walkabout or engagements, it's immediately tossed.

Now let's think about that hack/unauthorized access to Kate's medical files back in March. What could someone do with that information? Well, aside from her diagnosis, her symptoms, her treatment plan, they could learn who her doctors and care team are and go after them - stalk them, harass them, blackmail them, endanger their families, etc. They might also learn where Kate's pharmacy is or other private medical information like maybe if she had any miscarriages, what other medications she might be on, what her allergies are, her parents' medical history, etc. and all of that is something that a bad actor can exploit to their advantage, everything from exposing Kate to her allergen to killing her doctor and assuming their identity to treat her.

Not to mention the fact that anyone who goes through a major operation like Kate did in January and who goes through chemo becomes incredibly immunocompromised. All they have to do is get someone with COVID or a flu or shingles or some other kind of biotoxin or contagious illness next to Kate and her condition worsens.

(Just a quick aside her to remind everyone that someone who's immunocompromised from chemo the way Kate is isn't going to be frolicking in the woods with people who aren't in her bubble. Michael and Carole are in the video because they're in Kate's health bubble. Charles and Camilla aren't in the video because they aren't in Kate's bubble and they're not in Kate's bubble because Charles has his own bubble because he's also immunocompromised from his own cancer and his own treatment and no one wants to risk Charles or Kate getting worse because of something "crossing over" from one person's treatment into the other's.)

And what happens if you take Kate out of the picture? We're not killing her here - we're just saying she becomes incapacitated or sidelined in some way. But take Kate out of the picture, now all of a sudden you have the entire future of the monarchy at risk. William becomes vulnerable. George becomes vulnerable. Charlotte and Louis become vulnerable. We're not talking about their physical security or their physical well-being here; we're talking about their mental and emotional health and as we've seen in Harry, that -- in the hands of the wrong person -- becomes incredibly dangerous. And since William is the next king and George the future king, that 100% is a matter of national security.

It is all farfetched, it does sound Bondian, but that's what national security is. It's considering every single possibility that could happen, assessing how likely it could happen and what kind of impact would come from it happening, and mitigating as much of that as possible.

So how do you mitigate the threat to national security posed by Kate's health crisis? You don't tell anyone the specifics. You keep it private. You downplay it to the best of your abilities.

Now, specific to the Sussexes, and why William and Kate (or even the RPOs or even the BRF) wouldn't want them to know the whole truth of her condition and health, it's absolutely all the shadiness that the Sussexes are involved with. There's rumors of Russian support. We know they have microphones and Netflix cameras with them all the time. We know that the Sussexes are boundary-stomping privacy invaders who blab about every tiny morsel of information they get - or don't get. We know that the Sussexes want to be King and Queen of people's hearts, King and Queen of culture, and the actual King and Queen of the UK, the realms, and the Commonwealth.

If something happens to Kate, then Harry and Meghan aren't even waiting in the wings; they're already running on stage with their plastic crowns. And I think they know that, because without Kate, William's attention turns 100% to the children, which leaves an opening for Charles to bring Harry back and we know that Harry won't come back without Meghan. So if Harry and Meghan are both back, then they become even bigger red flags to the monarchy and the BRF because they're also bringing the damage of the last 5 years - grudges from 2018/2019, the alleged Russian supporters, Oprah, Netflix cameras, Sussex Squad, all their crony kiss-ass reporters, etc. Bad, bad, bad news all around. You might as well turn the Buckingham Palace throne room into a gift shop now because the second Harry and Meghan are back in, they're selling the monachy to the highest bidder - but will it be Oprah? Will it be Netflix? Will it be any Russians? Will it be Nacho? Will it be QVC and the Home Shopping Network? Will it be Penguin Random House?

So not telling Harry and Meghan anything about what Kate's doing isn't just national security best practices; it's complete and total self-preservation of the monarchy for George. Because if Meghan was able to do that to Harry, imagine what she and Harry can both do to William and George together when William and George's world has been totally rocked and shattered.

Edit: added some clarification. I mention COVID here as an example of someone with an illness who could seriously worsen an immunocompromised person's health. I'm not debating COVID vaccinations, protocols, or precautions and any more comments/replies about COVID will be removed.

[oddballwriter]

Puppy Love

Summary: Jake asks if you want a puppy, you think he's joking, but now you and the boys actually have a puppy.

Warnings: Nothing really. Just a little blurb about you and the boys getting a fur baby. 

Author’s Snip: My and my family recently got two puppies, pugs, and idk I just thought of this.

Notes: I believe and support "adopt, don't shop". Always make sure you do research and look into where you get your pets if you want one to make sure you aren't buying from mills. Also, please look into rescues and fosters too, they deserve a chance at getting happy homes. Okay my PSA is over. 

I’ll shut up now. Enjoy! And don’t be afraid to request.

Word Count: 758

When Jake asked you "Do you want a puppy?", you thought it was a joke, and you laughed, but when he looked up at you from his phone on his place on the couch you felt like maybe it wasn't. "Are you serious?" you question.

Jake turns his phone so that you can see the screen, revealing a picture of a large litter of what looked to be cocker spaniel puppies. "I know this guy. His girl's dog got out and got knocked up." Jake explained, "She popped out ten puppies and they want them out.". You look at the picture for a bit longer, maybe looking a little too softly at the litter since Jake asked if you want one.

"I don't know." you say, "What are the others thinking?" you ask. Judging off the smile Jake does, Marc and Steven have no idea about this. "Who cares. It's a puppy. Everyone likes puppies." Jake shrugs. "They won't be a puppy forever, Jake. And we live in a flat," you attempt to list off. Jake rolls his eyes, "I know. These dogs aren't that big though. It'll do fine. There are parks around, we can walk it around one of them." he explains. You think about it for a moment, not too sure what to say. Jake also picks up on that and says "Think about it.".

"I'll think about it and we tell the others about it." you say.

Marc wasn't too thrilled, but he also didn't really oppose it either. "It's a lot of work. We have to train it. And pay for vets and food and all that." and so on which Marc seemed to not like the sound of. "You were able to pay rent for a flat and a storage unit, Steven has a million books and trinkets, and Jake owns a bunch of cars. We all can sacrifice some money for them." you mention, and Marc acknowledged your point. "Okay. I'll think about it." he said.

Steven seemed more open, more focused on having the idea of having another pet than the price tag attached that had Marc on the fence. "It would be nice. Have a new addition. After all, the Gus' doesn't really do much other than swim around." is what he said about the idea. "We'd have to get one that's very calm though. So that we don't get a complaint about barking." he commented in a mutter.

And with that, and Marc letting up and going with the idea, you and Jake drove to his friend's place to meet the pups. On the way there Jake said to keep yourself together and not show any emotion because "He might want to get rid of them as quick as he can, but I'm sure he wants to make some good money while doing it.". It wasn't easy, but you managed to do good when interacting with them to see which one you wanted.

Going off of what each one of you wanted in your potential future dog you managed to find one that was more interested in sniffing and laying down on you than playing and running around like the rest of their siblings.

"That one doesn't do too much. He just lays around and chews on a toy every once in a while. The most I've seen him do is whine when he wants food and bite his siblings if they're trampling him." the guy says, "Good if you want something that just lays down with you." he remarks.

After some more talk, you decided that he was the one that you would take home. After Jake paid and the guy making a comment about getting the puppy fixed as soon as possible, the rest of the day was a long trip to the pet store to get everything he needed. Kibble, bowls, a bed, a collar, pads, a few toys, the whole lot. By the end of it, Jake's car was full of stuff and his pockets less full than when he left.

"You owe us, beba." Jake smirked nudging you playfully. "Jake. Not in front of the baby." you scold back in the same humor making him laugh.

"So," Jake said, "What are we naming him?" he asked. You look at the little thing in your arms and think for a moment. "Jake Jr." you joke. Jake laughs and says no, and the joke goes on with suggesting Steven Jr. and Marc Jr. until you shrug and settle on figuring that out some other time.

[literaila]

I need a timeline of gojo x reader (from the series) relationship in like bullet points I'm sorry I'm dumb 😔

no no i get you, babe. it’s probably more confusing for those who weren’t there while i was writing it (and didn’t see me crying on the tl). and i love bullet points and being confusing

okay so

back at jujutsu high

gojo and r meet

gojo is in his second year and r is just starting there

some say that he introduces himself by shaking her hand with his infinity up

r does not find this amusing

second year

very quickly gojo learns that he likes being around r

(it's stated that he gets to know her because he's jealous of this new kid who's ability is similar to his but i cannot confirm if this is true ((or if he just wanted to smooch her))

r is very closed off and isn't trying to be friends with anyone--she gets along with nanami and haibara because they are unfortunately... endearing

ha like this is going to stop gojo

he begins to seek her out personally because 1. he wants to beat everyone at becoming your best friend (or husband but who said that?) and 2. he gets lonely

it doesn't take r very long to get used to him

he's annoying and she kind of hates him but he's a good distraction from everything

she likes him because he doesn't think about things and counteracts her overthinking

at this point gojo already knows some about her family and they way she grew up because yaga forgot who he was speaking in front of during class one time

r finds it kinda nice that she doesn't have to explain it to him

they are running wild

gojo wakes her up at least three times a week to sneak out with him

they steal a car one time (this is necessary information yes)

during second year r:

becomes "friends" with gojo

is the infamous "girl of the group" who is loved by both kento and yu

r and geto get close because geto's family is similar to hers (canon who?)

shoko and her are obviously united

and everything is going just splendidly at this point

gojo and r get in trouble at least once a week for something

and they gaze in each other's eyes longly and spend their days trying not to make out with each other

denial is a friend to both of them

third year

at this point gojo and geto get sent on their joint mission and riko amanai dies

gojo avoids r for a good couple of weeks

well. he avoids everyone because he is becoming the strongest™

r seeks out geto to ask him about gojo

surprise to no one: geto isn't doing well and does nothing but give her more anxiety

geto defects

gojo and reader have their moment on the stairs

(yes he's always been strong enough for her, but who doesn't need some reassurance sometimes)

gojo doesn't text, call, or see her for six months

(nanami also leaves and r is all alone)

year one (also year zero)

after their six month sabbatical, gojo shows up at r's house with both of the children

(somehow they've both graduated don't ask me idk)

they've both been pining obviously

r assumes that gojo is too busy being... well, himself. who has time for some lowly underclassman?

gojo just thinks that she's busy. i mean, he misses her, but the world is a bit crazy and he's recently become a father so...

r thinks satoru has gone crazy but accepts his offer of becoming substitute mommy (because he asked her very nicely and she missed him but shhh)

turns out that r is not very cool or chill and worries about everything with the children

this includes:

where they're going to sleep

when they go to bed

how they talk to satoru

when they got their last haircut

how long they've been in school

when their birthdays are

what they like to eat

where to get them clothes

how to be a mother

are they sad?

do they miss their parents?

(okay i'm sorry but lets be real)

satoru is as cool as usual

he thinks the children are great and is not worried in the slightest

he also thinks that r is a bit addictive and wants to get some double-sided tape to stick to her (and himself)

the kids get comfortable and they all have a great time

(a slow burn time if you know what i mean)

year two

megumi and tsumiki are very used to their "nannies" now

i think at this point tsumiki is calling them "mom" and "dad" but i can't remember

she loves them very early on

they all mess with each other and the kids ask r for help whenever they need it

they don't ask gojo for help but thats because he's kinda dumb

they love him anyway btw dont worry

gojo is constantly bugging r about moving in and she refuses

because 1. no way in hell is she living with satoru when he looks like that and 2. moving sucks

gojo doesn't accept this but whatever

they proceed with the silent love and both of the kids catch on to this (obviously. they stare in each other's eyes like fifteen times a day and tsumiki loves rom-coms)

year three

r moves in

did gojo convince her? absolutely not

dont ask him that though

megumi begins his training with the ten shadows technique and both r and satoru do research on the history of the zenin clan

(should they have done this sooner? probably)

(gojo is a terrible teacher by the way -megumi)

at this point gojo decides he wants to return to jujutsu high to become!!!! teacher gojo!!!

and he obviously forces r to go with him (they cannot be separated)

they are doing just fine!

r is constantly fighting the urge to climb all over satoru and mess up his hair and see if she can leave a scar on him somewhere because his skin is so clear and smooth and it's honestly unfair

gojo is obviously getting his lousy flirting all over the house. and it stains

megumi tells him hes dumb at least seven times a day

sometimes they sleep in the same bed. next to each other. maybe a little on top of each other. whos to say

the details are unclear (read literally any part they are so obvious)

r reconnects with nanami so thats cool

year four

gahahahahah jealous gojo. you're welcome

obviously they're still in love??? did you think after four years they were just going to give in??? really??

buckle up kitten

so megumi accidentally calls r his mom (cause she is) and maybe cries a little bit about it (but i'm not supposed to tell you that)

he asks gojo a little about his parents and gojo basically moonwalks right out of that one

but gojo can be nice. in his own, asshole way

megumi isn't calling r mom to her face to be clear. just in his head. he needs a bit to get used to it

gojo and r get drunk one night and heres what follows:

they walk home together

they go to gojo's room and stumble into bed

gojo threatens to lock r in his basement at some point (do they actually have a basement? no, i don't think so)

it's just two best friends who are in love with each other and drunk really

hey, they both say

you're pretty, they both say

i like you, they say

r tells gojo that she loves him (her breath smells like stale wine)

me too, gojo tells her

they fall asleep

they absolutely do not talk about it afterwards who do you think they are??

at this point there's some tension because gojo is effectively avoiding r and r is just trying to take care of her family

they fight over megumi and his progress as a sorcerer

they're really fighting over each other but i didn't tell you that

gojo eventually leaves and comes home later to r crying in her bed

she tells him that he can't leave her and he promises that he won't

they fall asleep again

in the morning everything is calm

oh, besides the like... minor kissing that happens in the kitchen

they had to give in to the teenage impulses at some point, okay?

year five

bunch of normal stuff

megumi is curious about why jujutsu makes r so nervous

she tells him a little ??

he calls her mom officially

gojo tells r that she is good enough for all of them and she maybe believes him

they are doing their typical "oh goodnight" "oh sweet dreams" and then sneaking into each other's rooms like ten minutes later

they do make out basically every night. this is an unspoken thing. its nice though. they just fit

at some point they run into r's mom and gojo is very macho and cool and r gets sad but it's okay because her (almost) husband is there to help her

both of the kids are as cute as always

gojo gets jealous again (you're welcome x2)

on the anniversary of suguru's defection satoru closes himself off and they sleep apart for the first time in at least a year

hey, i never said that they worked on their emotional regulation

because of circumstances (work, children, etc) they don't seek each other very much for about a week

year six

and then r comes home all beat up from a mission

satoru quietly takes care of her

and finally, after nine years of knowing each other, they confess

(it goes how we all thought it would)

after that, they're officially together

before neither one of them would've accepted the term "boyfriend/girlfriend" or "husband/wife" but would've squealed internally like children if someone assumed they were

this is so long and unnecessary but so is their entire relationship. this is all just what's apart of the official story but the blurbs are their own thing. insert them where you will

i hope this helps clear some of it up. but if it doesn't i can no longer help. idk either

[thisapplepielife]

Written for the @steddieholidaydrabbles December challenge.

When in Vegas

Prompt Day 11: Royalty AU | Word Count: 1000 | Rating: T | CW: Drinking, Gambling | Tags: AU, Meet-Cute, Platonic Stobin, What Happens in Vegas

"Oh fuck, I'm so sorry," Steve says, grabbing the shoulders of the guy he nearly knocked over on the Vegas casino floor. "I'm clumsy. It's apparently contagious. I caught it from my best friend," Steve explains, giggling. 

He's tipsy. 

"I see," the guy says, voice tense. 

"Sorry, again," Steve repeats, and smiles in his direction. 

"It's fine," the guy says, and Steve lets go of him. And then takes a good, long look. He's cute, but he's wearing a Knicks hat, and that's a definite dealbreaker.

He watches as the guy blushes under his gaze. Oh. Well, he's adorable. For a mortal enemy. 

"Sorry, I can't be seen talking to you. Not after last night," Steve says, swaying on his feet, and the guy looks very confused.

"Last night?" he asks. 

Steve points at his hat, "Your team knocked my team out of the semifinals, and I can't cross enemy lines."

The guy chuckles a little, and takes off his hat and examines it, like he's not sure what hat he was wearing on his own head. That's odd. 

People are so weird.

Steve slumps down on the seat at the nearest slot machine and holds his hand back, offering his new frenemy a handful of nickels. 

He takes them, and sits down next to him. 

"Well, I'm Steve."

"Eddie," the guy says. 

"What brings you to Vegas, Eddie?" Steve asks, pulling the handle on his machine again. 

"A holiday," Eddie says, and Steve tries to think what holiday he means and is drawing a blank. 

"My friends are getting married," Steve offers, and Eddie visibly tenses beside him. 

"Well, that's nice. For them," Eddie says, voice clipped, tight. 

And his voice is different than it was. Like his accent is fake. Is his accent fake? Robin would love that. A puzzle for her to solve. Where is Robin? She went to the bathroom a long time ago. 

And she turns up, right after he has a cute boy, no, a cute Knicks fan, to talk to. Figures. 

Robin's eyes are huge.

"You're…" she trails off, and Eddie shushes her.

"Who? He's who?" Steve asks, looking between them, wildly. 

"Prince Eddie," she hisses, looking at Steve like he's the weird one here. He's the only sane one, he's pretty sure.

He's drunk. But this isn't Prince Eddie. 

"Prince Eddie, as in, Prince Eddie," Steve says, not believing this bullshit. 

"Please," Eddie says again, pulling his hat down lower. 

Which, Steve guesses, would make sense. If Eddie just grabbed a hat as a disguise, he probably didn't care or know what team he was repping. So, maybe, he could be forgiven. Maybe.

"What are you doing lurking around a casino?" Robin asks, "Shouldn't you be across the pond?" 

"Yes, well," Prince Eddie says haughtily, and he suddenly has a posh little accent. Steve knew it was fake earlier.

"Well, what?" Steve asks. He's curious now. 

"My family has been trying to arrange a marriage, and I just decided to flee the country."

Steve looks at him, and he's never been able to school his face very well, and Prince Eddie must be able to read him like a book. 

"I didn't say it was a good plan," Eddie admits, a little petulantly. 

"Won't they know where you've gone? Or do you have secret money? I bet you have secret money," Robin rambles. She's tipsy, too. 

"Well, yes. They must know I'm in the United States at this point. But I haven't checked into a hotel or anything they can trace me to yet." 

"So, you're just gonna live in this casino?" Steve asks, "Is that the plan?"

"That's not the plan," Prince Eddie snaps. 

Steve smiles, this is the most entertainment he's had all weekend. And they're in Vegas. It's been non-stop entertainment. 

"You can stay with us, if you want to!" Robin suggests, overly chipper about that terrible idea. 

"Yeah, this prince-" 

And Prince Eddie shushes him, loudly. 

Steve corrects himself, mid-sentence, "-this normal man, wants to crash in our hotel room. Sure." 

"Well, he could!" Robin says, like it's an actual option. 

"We could be serial killers," Steve says. 

"You're not serial killers, don't be daft," Prince Eddie declares. 

Steve smiles, because, yeah, they're not. 

"We're not serial killers," Steve admits, "but we are poor commoners. So, still bad for you, I'd imagine." 

Prince Eddie smiles, soft and amused. 

Robin starts, "Prince Eddie-" 

He interupts, "Please, just call me Eddie. I beg of you." 

"Eddie," Robin says, "do you want to crash in our hotel room?"

"Yes, please, I think I'd like that very much." 

Steve cannot believe his ears. But, okay, sure they can host a prince for the night. 

Robin pulls up a chair in between them, and orders them all another round of drinks. 

And another. 

And another. 

Once Prince Eddie loosens up, he's actually funny. Steve reaches over and turns his hat around backwards on his head. 

"That's better. So I can look at you without gagging." 

Eddie laughs, adjusting the hat, but leaving it backwards. 

"So, you gotta get married," Robin says, like she understands his royal plight. She's touching both of their shoulders. 

"Apparently, I'm of that age," Eddie slurs, feeding the machine another coin. 

"And there's nobody you want to marry?" Robin asks. 

Eddie shakes his head, "I'm definitely not interested in anyone they deem suitable." 

Steve drains his glass, and just in time, because the waitress brings another round. They are small, and a little weak. But free. Steve likes free. 

"What's that mean?" she questions, and Robin is playing stupid. She knows exactly why. 

If Steve clocked him, Robin definitely did. 

Eddie must agree with Steve's assessment, "You're aware I can't marry a woman." 

"Well, we're in Vegas. You should marry Steve!" Robin shouts with delight. 

Steve laughs, loudly. Yeah, sure, he'll marry Prince Eddie in front of Elvis. Sounds like a solid plan. 

Then he sees Eddie looking at him, like he's considering this, and Steve's eyes go wide.

Notes: What year does this take place in? I have no idea. There's nickel slots instead of players card machines, but they can get married. So, it's just a total AU. Go with it, lol.

And I had a totally different idea for the Royalty AU, but it needed more words than 1000. Hopefully it'll go up for Steddiemas, instead. So, I had to come up with a second idea. Royalty isn't exactly in my wheelhouse, so I never expected to write two back-to-back, lol.

If you want to write your own, or see more entries for this challenge, pop on over to @steddieholidaydrabbles and follow along with the fun!

If you want to see more of my entries into this month-long challenge, you can check them out in my Steddie Holiday Drabbles tag, right here!

[weebsinstash]

I just have to say I'm absolutely loving your yandere Thragg & Nolan stuff! Keep it up & I hope you have a nice day!! ♡

Thank you! And, also, gonna be using this post to talk about more yandere Thragg stuff because I was refreshing my knowledge on the comics and my YTShorts feeds are now filled with Invincible lore recommendations and, jesus I forgot how fucking nasty this man is

first off I'm using this image to just help kind of visualize how much of a unit this man is. Like. He's probably something crazy like 6'6 at the very shortest, maybe like 6'8, 6'9. But. Um. He's scary. He's tough. Viltrumites get tougher the longer they're alive and he's, not THE oldest Viltrumite but, maybe he's in like the top 10? But I think there's only something like an odd, less than 50 number of pure blooded Viltrumites left anyways lmao

Which is then my transition to "dealing with yandad Thragg as his child could be an absolute nightmare especially if you don't have powers"

Dying on my hill of "even if you do have powers he's super fucking possessive over who you're choosing as a mate or even just dating" because there's layers of 1. He has his own massive ego and your actions reflect on him and anyone you bring into the family will benefit from his lineage and achievements and he's defensive about who reaps those bounties or may even be suspicious of political intentions 2. If he hypothetically does let you date he needs to pre approve them first and I'm sure you can imagine how that goes and 3. .... you're his widdle baby, can't you spend more time with dad :( shut up about finding love, why can't you crush skulls with him? "Child why can't we go slaughter alien civilizations together like we used to 😩"

The last paragraph made me think of "Thragg with a child Reader who's actually a really spunky tough kid and he like is so proud of you and you guys have like An Actually Good Relationship (for Thragg's capacity to love anyways) but as you get older you start having ideological differences and you want more freedom but he just wants you to be Daddys Favorite Little Killing Machine for the rest of your life". Like you're just giving Thragg the cold shoulder because he won't let you leave the planet without his personal escort anymore and meanwhile here's thragg hovering over you with his arms crossed, internally scowl-pouting as he remembers The Good Old Days when you were like 6 and ran up to him, "Dad, Dad, look!! this is a note from my teacher praising me for how well I beat up another student! She says I'm 'extremely proficient at bludgeoning'! Did I do a good job?" "You did an EXCELLENT job. It says here the boy needed medical attention." "Yeah, he had to be sent to the hospital! His legs were totally bent the wrong ways! He shouldnt have tried to steal my toy!" "Fine work; you should never allow anyone to take what is yours. We shall feast tonight in celebration." And he pet your hair and you flew up to his chest height to give him a crushing hug. And nowadays you're like. The Viltrumite equivalent of being in your early adult years and everything is extremely cold and impersonal and you call him nothing other than Grand Regent and he "maybe" just wants his eager confident prideful Affectionate child back because all he has now is. A child that hates him and will barely make eye contact with him and will never accept his praise or medals for your achievements.

Like imagine being a notoriously powerful Viltrumite and you're actually widely accepted but him being controlling of you throughout your childhood eventually gave you a complex. Thragg summons you to like praise you for like, subjugating a nearby galaxy, and asks what you would like for a reward, and you just coolly reply some shit like "There's nothing you could offer that I want, Grand Regent" like you hate him so much you don't even want gifts from this man

AND THE DELICIOUS DRAMA OF, imagine if he finds out that while you hate him and want nothing to do with him, maybe you've become extremely attached to Nolan or some other older father figure in his place

THE SHIT THAT GOES DOWN IF THRAGG EVER HEARS YOU CALL NOLAN OR ANYONE ELSE "DAD" like the cosmic level beef that goes on, the BLOODSHED. Jesus. Imagine being on Earth and you've got Dad Nolan or he's like declared himself your dad/mentor and he sees you bonding with another human male who's a father figure and you call that man dad, like. That man is going missing and Uncle Sam is erasing his existence from the records just, gone.

Side note actually, idea for something yandere viltrumites do with a viltrumite/hybrid reader: loving to bear hug you super hard? Like almost painfully but they won't break anything. Just. Imagine yandad Nolan or Thragg or Mark with like, a lil sibling/ child/ age regressed Reader or whatever and you're having like, hugging contests to see who can hug the hardest, and play wrestling shit idk. Imagine the infamously grumpy genocidal Thragg and then here's his like 4 year old wanting to play wrestle and trying to pin him and you're no match for him of course but like it's not, real, he's "gently" deflecting you or breaking your hold but still actually praising you in that, Thragg dad way, "your stance is too weak to take down an opponent of my size, but you're improving" " your siblings usually tire by now; you seem to have more endurance than most of my other children your age. Excellent" and then your little baby mouth gives him a kiss on the cheek and he has to go subjugate another planet to feel manly again.

I feel like yandad Thragg and Nolan are unironically those characters that are like, they could be in the middle of a war zone and they're easily winning and you go upstairs to see what they're thinking about, surely they're thinking about something serious, and it's just "I need to hurry this up and get back to my child" or "I wonder what my little warrior is doing right now" like straight up like the father from Father I Don't Want This Marriage

Yandere Thragg and Nolan are all "oh it's part of the Viltrum way to mate and procreate and boost our numbers" and Reader comes along "hey dad this is my new boyfriend--" and suddenly they turn into like, Christian fundamentalists. "Um actually that Viltrumite male is even older than I am 🤓 you are still so young and should be enjoying the fruits of your youth 🤓 you are too young to have children"

I feel like though like if you ever did manage to sneak off and get pregnant or get someone else pregnant that, specifically Nolan would adore his new grand baby and would do anything for this chubby cutie 🥺❤️ also imagine the horror if he's not even your blood dad, just obsessive self proclaimed stalker yandere shit, but you can't run away from him and he's finds you and your baby and instantly declares himself grandpa, like. Now you have to worry about protecting yourself and your baby from "PawPaw"

So like. Future spoilers I guess? Not super significant in my opinion, but, there's a period of time where there's like a truce of sorts between Earth and Viltrum, right, to keep it vague and less spoiler heavy. Imagine being like, Nolan's kid, or adopted kid, or like, neighbor who turned out to be a hybrid that he yoinked into his house or whatever, and like, after there's been some fighting, Thragg is impressed with your strength and potential and seems to be scouting you out a little. Now you've got TWO older Viltrumite males trying to father you, "my apologies Grand Regent but I was just about to take this one out to teach them how to fly better" "that is unnecessary; i shall be the one to tutor the youngling" meanwhile you're just like uhhhhh I'm not actually a big fan of how EITHER of you treat me-"

bruhhhh all hell breaks loose when you finally lose it and fly straight off the planet to try and start a new life elsewhere without them cuz then these two are TEAMING UP and they're feeding into each other, "I bet they were convinced to leave by that one male, the one who we had to warn before" "and that's why you're weak Nolan. I wanted to kill him but you didn't want to hurt the youth's feelings, and now what's happened? They're probably eloping as we speak" "no, I won't make the same mistake twice. He'll die a slow death"

You're on like some alien planet surrounded by like simple little ewoks or some shit who treat you like a water god because you dug a well for them or something and here comes Thragg and Nolan touchdown slamming onto the planet's surface and leaving craters behind, scaring the birds, the animals, your new little cute alien friends huddling behind you for protection, and you're getting SCOLDED SCOLDED. like one minute your new little like moogle friend is teaching you how to bake some kind of bread and the next minute, "AND JUST WHAT DO YOU THINK YOURE DOING HERE" and you're jumping to see two pissed pissed PISSED Viltrumites

"O-oh, uh, I thought I made it clear when I left--"

"The only thing that you've made clear is that you're too unpredictable and naive to be left alone"

"What were you THINKING?! You could've gotten lost, hurt, captured, or worse! And leaving Viltrum for, what?! Are these your pets? We can enslave a few and take them with us if you like em so much"

"If you EVER leave without my permission as Grand Regent again I'll reduce whatever backwater rock you stumble off to into nothing more than rubble floating through the stars, is that understood?"

"..."

"Answer him!"

'*sigh* yes, sirs"

"That's FATHER to you"

" - and Dad!"

[until-another-one-comes]

More TNMN Headcanons

Sibling Editions

Sverchzt Twins

- Selenne is the more extroverted and outgoing one while Elenois is more introverted and quieter.

- Selenne is haughtier and prouder of her looks and her status but isn't too over the top vain despite what some people think. Definitely the type to say 'Oh, I know darling!' if you compliment her.

- The twins love hyping up other women and will make sure you feel good about yourself, especially Elenois.

- Elenois is better at cooking and other household chores while Selenne is more fashionable and better at handling their daily finances.

- Bicker all the time like siblings but always have each others back. Always try to make up for each other if they get into a serious argument.

- Said this before but they both have WILDLY different taste in men.

- Elenois has more problems adjusting to their jobs than Selenne. Gets tired more easily and feels frustrated over the strict beauty regime and standard she needs to follow. Selenne deals with it better but still have her days when the job gets to her. Elenois is more open about this and will vent to anyone who's willing to listen (Margarette, Robertsky) while Selenne keeps her thoughts on this to herself.

- As twins, the modelling agency they work for displays them as a unit but both sisters wish they get to model separately and be seen as individuals instead of just one and the same

Peachman Bros

- Alberstky is 3 years or so older than Robertsky.

- Growing up Robertsky gets teased a lot and Albertsky constantly defended him. Years later Albertsky still gets very protective over his younger brother.

- Their shoemaking business is actually something both brothers came up with by themselves. They're the only ones in the Peachman family who don't follow the family business.

- The Peachman family naturally has huge genes and almost everyone in the family is tall and big.

- Robertsky is pretty picky with his food and has a limited range of food that he likes to eat.

- They both have a sweet tooth.

- Growing up with Albertsky being defensive and constantly looking out after his brother, the Peachman brothers don't tease or bicker each other the way other siblings like the Sverchzt twins do.

- They love each other very much but aren't very good at communicating. If they get into a serious argument it takes a while for either of them to try and talk things out and it gets very awkward.

- Robertsky is friendlier than Albertsky who prefers to keep to himself but is also kind of mistrustful of people after growing up bullied. He's always worried if people are secretly making fun of him.

Peachman and Sverchzt Twins interactions

- Robertsky and Elenois have a crush on each other. Elenois thinks Robertsky is sweet and Robertsky likes how nice Elenois is.

- Still haven't confessed but shows their feelings in different ways.

- Elenois takes baking lesson from Nacha and makes baked goods for Robertsky even making sure whatever she makes fits his limited food palette.

- Robertsky listens to Elenois venting about her work and always try to make her feel better. One time after Elenois told him about how the new shoes she had to model made her feet hurt Robertsky made her a new pair of shoes that are more comfortable but still fashionable. Its one of Elenois's favorite pair.

- Robertsky finds Selenne intimidating because she doesn't see him being good enough for Elenois.

- Albertsky dislikes Selenne because he finds her arrogant while she doesn't like him because she finds him too gruff and off putting.

[intuitive-revelations]

Legend of Ruby Sunday live notes

Obviously spoilers below, recorded as I watched. Definitely gonna watch again though. I think I might do a seperate write up about 'what to take away' because oh my god does this episode throw a lot at you!

"Uncle"!!

We're definitiely getting a UNIT spin-off aren't we? I recognised the soldier guy straight away (tbh, when I first saw the 60th trailers he looked so odd in the shots used I thought he was cgi/deepfaked). If we do get it, I do hope they go for the military vs science conflict like I imagine - he'd be a good 'antagonist' for Kate in that regard.

Ooh... just pointing out the anagram in-universe....huh.

"TARDIS technology." Oh she's doomed this episode, I can feel it coming.

Oh! And we're doing the Susan mention?! Ok?!

AND THAT'S THE END OF THE PRE-TITLES WHAT? WHY?

Must be a redirect, though, surely? 'Susan' is not much to go off. It's silly they're jumping to this straight away in-universe, even with the TARDIS anagram.

"Well, except the obvious." "We'll get him." Is that a Musk slam?

Mel!

"Call me Sue" that's a bit of evidence against. Though if it is somehow Susan, her actually being 'really nice' would be cute.

Ruby Rose besties! Ruby Rose besties!

Hm. If this is somehow Susan, we are so going to dissect that thing about Sue Triad's parents.

Donna mention. :)

Oh my god, I've just realised. The TARDIS is a central part of this mystery, and that's exactly what Mrs Flood claimed to recognise...

Uhh.... what's up with Flood?

"HE WAITS NO MORE."

We're really settling on the Susan thing, huh.

"He never mentioned a granddaughter." Five Doctors fans keep losing.

"If you've got a granddaughter, that means you've got kids." "Well, not quite. Not yet." OMG WE'RE DOING THIS?

(Also...he definitely HAS had kids before - and not just Jenny and Miranda. But wild that we're implying Susan isn't the child of one of them.)

"I bring disaster. What if I go back and ruin her?" Hmm... so far kinda compatible with To the Death?

"Especially the Prime Minister." lol.

"N-dimenionsal time", thanks, I'll absorb that into my interpretation of time, time tracks etc. in the whoniverse.

Mel lost her family. Is that a reference? Doesn't immediately bring something to mind.

I like the way the lights are fading up and down, very TARDIS-y.

Ooh, the VHS-y environment.

"The greatest power of all: memory. Time is remembered. Memory is time." MEMORY TARDIS MEMORY TARDIS.

"What is the memory of a time machine?" No way.

Ok, getting ready for a twist. RTD said where people were is important.

...or not?

The one who waits?!

Well there goes the colonel. No surprise.

Hmm... the description "it's everything" sounds a lot like the Void ship from Doomsday.

"It's the Beast." Not that 'Beast' surely?

"It's so old. It's been waiting. It's been waiting for so long." So those "one"s are the same, confirmed?

"It's the TARDIS" AHHHH.

It's groaning again! "It's made that noise before."

"What if it exists around the TARDIS now and we just can't see it?"

I don't think this is our Susan, but if she somehow is I'm really enjoying her dorkiness.

...that's two "no more" drops so far. Hmm...

"AND I THINK WE CAN SUCCEED" Hello?!

It's woven into the TARDIS? Some sort of parasite maybe? Didn't RTD say something about the splitting in The Giggle being important?

"He has hidden in the Howling Void. He has hidden within the tempest." WAIT I WAS RIGHT?! It's Void related. The Eternals called it the Howling didn't they?!

"All this time, he whispered and delighted and seduced, and the vessel did obey. For none should be more mighty and none should be more wise than the King himself." UHHHHH.

HARRIET F*CKING ARBINGER (and she said she was born for this... of course)

WAIT THAT'S SAXON'S THEME WTF

"I dream of worlds with orange skies." HUH? I guess that could be from Boom, but you know what I'm thinking

"There is the Toymaker: the God of Games. There is Trickster: the God of traps." I f*cking knew it. The 'Pantheon' is the Pantheon of Discord!

"There is Maestro: the God of Music. There is Reprobate: of Spite. There is the Mara, the God of Beasts, and the three-fold deity of malice and mischeif and misery." Ok Mara mention... BUT also, "three-fold" that's deliberate right?! Like the Six-Fold God?

"The mother and father and other of them all."

SUTEKH!

"Did you think I was family, Doctor?" Phew...

And it's Gabriel Woolf voicing him! That's good.

Wait... he also voiced the Beast... huh. What does that mean with the reference this episode?

[space-invading-pigeon]

Monsters AU, anyone????

If you haven't already guessed it, Steve Harrington is my comfort character and almost everything I write lately has to do with him. But I love myths and monsters, so I mashed them up.

Steve is a werewolf; not always, but an incident when he was four changed him. His mother blames herself for his accident and tends to stay away from him, too overcome with guilt to even look at her son. Unfortunately, of all things, he was changed into a pack animal, and the loss of his mother's comfort has a negative effect. He's withdrawn, aggressive, unable to get comfortable in his own skin, all before even starting kindergarten- his only relief is when his mother hires an old friend to watch him. Her friend is from the supernatural world: the oldest son of a family of vampires that have lived in the United States since they stowed away on the Mayflower.

Steve and his new babysitter are instantly bonded: Steve goes back to being a sweet, albeit clingy, little angel, and his sitter is always more than happy to indulge him and shower him in love. Life is really looking up for Steve, to the point that he secretly refers to himself as "Stevie Munson," and dreams up a world where Wayne is his pa, instead of his actual father. But life is rarely kind to Steve, and soon his beloved Wayne has to leave town for an undetermined amount of time because of a "family emergency." Steve is heartbroken that he isn't allowed to go with him.

As if losing his sitter isn't enough, Steve's mother dies in a robbery-gone-wrong on Steve's ninth birthday, five years to the day after the attack that changed him. Richard Harrington can't be assed to take care of his son in her stead, and hires another sitter. Claudia Henderson (human, through and through) decides on her first day that Steve is as much her son as Dustin, and that only solidifies when she discovers that the poor baby her late husband attacked years ago was actually Steve. Dustin (a born werewolf as opposed to Steve, a changed werewolf) decides that Steve is his brother immediately, and it's like two puppies have found each other. Steve is protective, loving, and maybe a little bit possessive of his new brother, but Dustin has love to spare. As he grows from toddler to kid to preteen, he acquires more and more friends: first, Will Byers, from a family of light elves, who is shy and artistic and never cuts off one of Dustin's excited rants, even though they're both seven and Dustin's grasp of engineering is on par with a college undergrad. With Will comes Mike Wheeler and his older sister, Nancy, both of whom are descendants of the great Valkyrie. Nancy is a little more.... ethereal than Mike, because their Valkyrie blood is more prominent in women, but they're both stubborn and snarky and have a weird obsession with the Byers boys, but Dustin swears that they're both very nice. Lucas Sinclair comes around soon after, and he's really the only friend of Dustin's that Steve has actually met. He's a soft-spoken kid until he's comfortable, and then he's quick witted and so loyal that Steve actually thinks that maybe he's a werewolf, instead of a chimera.

Steve refuses to meet anyone else in Dustin's friend group; he says it's because he's too big to be around Dustin's friends, but it's actually because he doesn't think that he can be around them without lashing out for taking his baby brother away from him.

When Dustin is eleven and Steve is seventeen, Chief Hopper- the only Berserker in Hawkins- adopts a little witch named Jane, although she answers more to El than she does Jane. Soon after, Max Mayfield moves to town, and Dustin's little group of friends adds the banshee to their ranks.

Finally, Steve agrees to meet his friends, lovingly dubbed "the Party" by every member of it. They're wary of Steve at first- Richard Harrington is the most outspoken anti-supernatural in town, and they didn't know that Dustin's Big Brother Steve the Werewolf was actually Steve Harrington, so almost all of them are sure that they'll be harassed in their safe space. Steve is quiet for a while, yes, but Will and El take to him immediately, and Steve is weak for people who look at him like he's worth something (it's why he's such a pushover for Dustin and Claudia; they love him unconditionally and he will do anything to make himself feel worthy of that) so he adopts Will and El into his little family almost immediately.

Will and El adore Steve: El insists that he's a big, fluffy puppy, and her descriptions have never been wrong, so it makes the entire Party warm up to him. Will is painfully shy, and the speed with which he warms up to Steve is unheard of; but Will quite literally glows when Steve shows up, and even once he's calmed down the air around him glitters with his excitement. Steve takes to them both; at first, Dustin is over the moon at this.

Next to warm up to Steve is Lucas, a few weeks after Steve joins the Party. He's frosty toward Steve at first, but at a group movie night he watches Steve jump out of a dead sleep to jump out of a window and slam into a tree, face first (apparently, he'd been having a dream about a cheese monster trying to eat his toes). Then, Jonathan and Nancy, who both watch Steve with the kids and decide that, yes, they do have a crush on the sweet, dumb dog that's joined their ranks. Nancy asks him out first, though, and Steve is flustered enough that he agrees (and is almost instantly smitten with her). Mike refuses to warm up to Steve; the guy can't even breathe right, as far as Mike is concerned.

The longer that Steve and Nancy date, the angrier Dustin gets. He feels like he's being left behind. Steve spends more and more time with Nancy, at her behest. Neither of them realize how unhealthy their relationship is growing to be, just how the relationship between Nancy's parents are. Nancy demands that everything be held to a certain standard, and Steve does everything he possibly can to meet that standard. It isn't until Nancy dumps him- a very nasty affair that has Steve avoiding everyone except Dustin- that they actually grow as people and become something healthier to each other. (Just like in the show, they get into a fight at a party, and when they revisit it while sober, they fight again; Steve is hurt and wants to know if she really thinks he's bullshit, and Nancy won't give him a straight answer. He's upset and he can feel himself losing control of himself, so he walks away. Nancy leaves town on an overnight trip to get some info with Jonathan, and when she comes back, she spits vitriol at a panicked, concussed Steve. She does a lot of growing up after that, but she never actually apologizes for hurting Steve, although he frequently tries to "make up" for his own mistakes.

Max joins the group soon after that, and gets along with Steve almost immediately. She's a young banshee, and a part of her lore explains that she screams; she can't control when, how long, or even how loudly she screams, and as a result her step-brother (a human named Billy) is incredibly abusive. He belittles her for her Screams, and isn't afraid to shove her around (never where their parents can see: if Susan caught wind of it, his father Neil would hear, and Neil was not a man to cross). When Max meets Steve, and watches how he picks on the Party using their own species(he calls Lucas "little lion man," Will is Sunshine, Mike is Paladin Shithead, and Dustin has always been pup) while still encouraging them (Steve encourages the kids as they grow and develop these new abilities, never belittling them for their struggles, but showing them that it's okay to mess up. She doesn't know that it's because Steve had no one to do that for him until his mother died and the Hendersons were brought into his life). She's afraid to open up to the guy, right up until, in the middle of a crisis situation where Max is forced to use her powers on purpose for the first time, Steve throws himself in the line of fire to protect the Lucas- and by extension, the whole Party- more than once.

Steve protects her from Billy when he tries to "pick her up" (read: drag her home by the hair without regard for her safety), allows Billy to beat his ass because the alternative at the time was to chase him away until no one was around to protect Lucas, and then, with a whole concussion, does a full shift and defends the children from these strange alternate hellbeasts that were summoned by some crazies at the Hawkins Laboratory for Scientific Witchcraft. The guy even praised her for Screaming on purpose, calling her a hero. Max is soon just as attached to Steve as any other.

In the summer after breaking up with Nancy, Steve gets a job at the mall. He meets Robin, who seems for all intents and purposes a simple human being. She's quirky and goofy and she smells like the ocean after a storm; Steve loves her very quickly, but something in him keeps him from actually developing a crush. Robin is his beloved other half, his soulmate, the yin to his yang, whatever else means that she completes him. She calls him Dingus exclusively, and Steve knows that if he ever heard it while he was shifted fully, he would be rolling around like a delighted puppy. He learns later, after they've fought for their lives and suffered and survived, that Robin was born a normal human, but after the most traumatic experience of her life, she was transformed into a siren.

After the mall, Robin is inducted into the group. She keeps an eye on the kids while they're at school, partially for her own sanity, but also for Steve, who is beside himself at the prospect of his babies being out of sight for so long (he gets like this after every Upside-Down interaction, he loves those kids and he can't stand the idea of losing the family he's built for himself). By the end of the first month, Steve is desperate to meet this guy his kids keep ranting about, Eddie Munson, and it's just because he's worried about them, not because he's afraid of losing his spot as their Big Brother or because the name Munson struck a chord in the back of his mind(for whatever reason).

Without the kids knowing- except Max, because she saw him going up to the Munson trailer. She would never bring it up to the Party unless Steve did first- Steve goes to meet this Eddie Munson and maybe scope out the competition a little. Instead, he meets a pasty boy with unfairly attractive hands and full lips and the warmest chocolate eyes and-

His mooning over this pretty boy is cut short when a man with a painfully familiar face peers in from the kitchen, meeting Steve's eyes with a surprised, "Stevie?" The greeting is enough to make Steve tear up, and he starts freaking out because why is he so happy that this guy knows him, and he's ushered into their little home and onto an old, well-loved couch. Eddie is gushing about finally meeting the Stevie Harrington, he's been told all about him from Wayne through the years. Eddie asks him why he's never seen him at school, and Steve mumbles about being home-schooled ("I won't let people see my mistakes so easily," Richard Harrington drilled into his head from the moment Steve was old enough to go to school). Wayne is flustered and standoffish for all of three minutes before Steve is smothered in more paternal affection than he's received since he was seven; it clicks in his brain when Wayne calls him Stevie again, that he used to wish and beg the stars to change him into Stevie Munson, not Harrington, and that Wayne was his best friend for three years.

Eddie is smitten with this strong, pretty, downright fluffy boy that showed up on his doorstep, even more so when Wayne Munson (easily most comfortable when left alone in quiet) spends almost an hour fussing over and showering him in praise. Steve becomes a regular fixture in the Munson household, after that. Wayne spends weeks explaining the different types of supernatural creatures that have made their homes in Hawkins and the surrounding area, explaining Munson family history, and Steve finally has someone to walk him through everything about werewolves (Claudia tried, but she was really only parroting things she'd picked up as she raised Dustin, not any formal education. Steve never knew that it was a special thing to achieve a full shift; that particular afternoon had Eddie calling him a sweet little pup for a month).

********

I'm too lazy to spend another two days puzzling out how I want the rest of the show's plot to align with this au. I have it in my wips folder but this is already suuuuper long. My bad, pals

[eleccy]

Foundling for the ask game 👀

ohhh that one is so funny :) :) and so out there :)

it's a total au from aa4 canon. basically it's like, fundamentally, a krisnix-adjacent story where kris and nick both decide, independently of each other, that they will adopt a child (baby). phoenix ends up adopting trucy whereas kristoph ends up adopting... apollo. only later do they both find out, they're raising related kids. and then the media finds out that those are thalassa gramarye's twins and they have a field day. nobody knows where the hell she is, so the main question is... when krisnix marriage, right?? which just drives them both, primarily kristoph, insane

there's so much i want to put in there like there's an arc where kristoph thinks trucy is a bad influence on apollo because phoenix lets trucy get away with anything but he has to act all nice, because apollo only wants to stay with trucy and won't make any other friends (mostly because kris is overprotective of him and is homeschooling him so he rarely sees any other kids) and also trucy is his sister. theres an arc where phoenix is worried about apollos welfare but cant get a 3-year-old apollo to say anything bad about kristoph because, well, there's nothing bad to say, really. he has a sheltered but good home life! kris and nick have like the opposite parenting styles even though they both really care about the kids so it's funny and also sad? like if only they could be domestic together and there would be a few moments of that :) weird bizarre ass family unit :)

heres the link to the wip but it is veryyyy self indulgent sludge if you're at all interested, so pleaseeee only nice comments if you have any. remember this is an au. its not supposed to be anything like canon. it may as well be an original piece of writing for how much it diverges from canon lol.

[laylawatermelon]

Now that I'm thinking about it I wanna theorize/call for action outside of buddie (don't worry i WILL return with a vengeance) but now I'm on a bit of an Eddie Diaz kind of run.

I'm reading a fanfic now of Eddie's sisters which kind of spawned me to think about his relationship with them and kind of think about his family dynamics and expectations and what's coming up for his storyline.

Now they mentioned bringing his family in, specifically his sisters, and i think this storyline ties into Marisol (noname i swear this drives me crazy when i think about it?!??! PLEASE if you want me to care/be invested gimme a last name!) and his Catholic guilt/sense of responsibility/man of the house complex.

They've introduced how his upbringing brought him a lot of guilt and a sense of duty (to serve and protect amirite? Dang religion can be a perfect line to how modern society works but lemme save that for a thesis or something this is about 911 on abc🤣)

Back on topic though, there's a really nice post talking about how he's military family and how that affected his and Shannon's relationship. (x)

Reading that helped me to appreciate the writing and details.

I also want to talk about the beautiful work being done on Twitter and Tumblr about the Miami Vice costume theory and coincidences.

(heh throwback Tuesday and takeover thursday came in clutch with finding these x )

Yes i do ship buddie, but if I look at it not just as a romantic things but as they are written as kind of parallel soulmates who run along the same line of development.

One always spurs the next to grow and change and are heavily involved in some way even if that way it's just being themselves.

Buck being open with his sexuality will trigger something in Eddie. What it is can vary.

I think if we look at it with non shipper glasses, Buck's freedom will lead to Eddie's freedom. What I mean by that is since Eddie had came to the 118 Ryan mentioned how each year he was there the more he learned about himself and other people.

I think what Eddie would be at free from the image/expectations of what a family should look like/be.

He knows what a family could look like in a queer/unconventional way. Bathena's unit, Chimney and Maddie's family (let's say cause they're not currently married with a toddler church would pass out), and HenRen's family.

The could be and should be is the important part.

Eddie grew up being told what he should be and what his life should look like. Evidently his life went none of the ways it was intended to go.

He's a widower single father from a teen/young pregnancy and veteran. Sure he's a firefighter now but he has no "complete" family.

The way they're emphasizing the mother aspect throughout his story is still fascinating.

(i also thought of something hilarious as like he probably imagined/process mothers as like the Virgin Mary or something when they brought up how he can see woman as mothers but not really women at the same time)

(also Madonna whore complex was mentioned and it's also a fascinating way to look at it as he can either desire or love.)

Shannon seems to be the only exception and even that is iffy. I would also say that when she became a mother the desire kind of left? I think the mother aspect solidified for him when she left them I would say.

Yes they did have sex but that was a (very bad, horrid) form of communication between them. They both avoided stuff at some point in some (eh it's like 20/80 her and Eddie) cases.

Every other woman he has dated has kind of been a substitute, for a lack of a better word, replacement for the role of mom.

Now he knows what moms should look like in all shapes and forms. He knows what dads should look like. He's knows what his family should look like.

Granted he did get rid of some of the flaws of his father and the way he was raised which also ties into the way he is.

Eddie was parentified at an early age. (I will say as a black/poc person that there tends to be adult responsibilities placed on our communities kids from young partially because of culture but mostly because of the inherent unevenness that we have to struggle to make balance worldwide in different facets and environments.)

Once again, this is about 911 on abc, not my thesis😭.

I just imagine him standing on a stool to cook food for his sisters or some other things like laundry. Or even worse the cannon car accident with his pregnant mom. (I love to make myself cry)

Eddie had technically been a parent since he was a kid. He literally became the man of the house or the father. So i guess that entailed taking on the emotional and sometimes physical burden of the father role.

I guess when he was actually a father and not just the role he felt the weight of responsibility again and panicked. It makes sense he has a habit of running since he never had the opportunity to do so as a kid (since he never got the chance to be one).

So after Chris it was once again role of the father but now with added responsibility of bringing money to provide the household which he didn't have to do in that role.

It was hard then so it became even more difficult.

So he gave his body to the military and returned wounded in mind and body, and with a disabled son who needed insurance and stability and a wife who just needed him.

And he needed to be a man. Again and again and again.

He broke out of the loop when he got to the 118 (bless the haven that is that building) met Buck, then Carla and Bobby who offered a safe place for his kid.

He was no longer alone and had distanced himself physical from the church but mentally still shackled in his beliefs.

After this Buck and Tommy things and he's not present we're going to focus on how a family could look for him.

Last season and recently they mentioned the fact that his aunt had been divorced and he didn't know.

There was also mention of family secrets.

There was also Marisol and Chris together which I'm guessing he wasn't to happy with her but it's either or since we haven't seen them together so it's a 50/50 chance. More like 90/10 he's annoyed or feels weird about his mom being replaced). Since we touched on him repairing his relationship with his mom and subsequently girls and women/relationships he wants to be in now that may shift his image of Marisol suddenly being more present.

Slight Buddie tangent (i gotta let the beat out for a sec raaa-) but the fact that he's still hanging out with Buck pretty consistently (well we can say he's his other parent who's sadly been in his life almost longer than his mom 🥺 lemme stop I'm crying) but it might decrease due to his and Tommy's relationship. (They're two firefighters with very busy schedules ofc he's not present they got work to do chop chop!/j)

In turn this leaves Chris with one less stable parent figure and it's forced to turn to Marisol who may be overeager to please him.

This can lead Chris to probably feeling uncomfortable with the changes because he's happy his dad's happy but he's not happy because it feels like his family's changing again too fast, and what if she leaves then his dad's not happy and a whole other sleet of teenage issues and angst.

So what I predict their storyline to be going it's that Eddie tries to find his own freedom from the church and maybe even the expectations of his home community would have on him.

Buck will be radiant in himself at the wedding, so will Hen and Karen, and Marie and Chimney, and Bobby and Athena.

He'll look around and look inward.

He'll stop focusing on what his life should look like and focus on what it could.

And that life could be just as radiant as the family he's apart of now.

(and that's all i could ask for 🥹)

[cuprohastes]

Uh-Oh

The human formerly known as Davce (The Human), currently running under the moniker of Phalanges Mittens, who was, for staffing purposes a two-meter-tall marsupial lizard of no particular gender paused and took a step back to look at the hardware that was causing issues.

Phalanges looked over at the equipment cart, repurposed to be the office of Cat Fantastic, a small, iguana-sized Atrix, and technically Phalanges spouse adjacent partner.

"Doing OK, Cat?" he asked and got a cheery "Graak" back.

Garfield, an actual Atrix looked amused and asked her little guy the same. "Doing Ok, Un-Named?" and got a "Grak?" from her natural pouch where her little guy was riding.

"Nobody asks me if I'm OK." said Dave The Human, an Adult female Tsin.

"Should have got yourself a Little Guy." Garfield told her good buddy cheerfully.

"Ugh. They're too big to fit in a pocket and besides my pet rat would get jealous." Dave stated, and checked, for the twentieth time, the schematics of the lump of scheming machinery.

"What about that dude who nearly ate number 43?" suggested Phalanges, shining a light behind the input pipes.

Dave tried to recall them "Oh yeah... nah, they're nice but a bit thirsty. I'm not planning on a family yet." she said. "I need someone who's less desperate to..." she looked around at the other four all of whom were legally Atrix, the least sexually oriented species known to breathe oxygen.

Even Phalanges, who's genetically human had never shown any interest in sex. "... less desperate." she said. "But I think I need someone who gets me on a more... Tsin level? No offence"

Everyone paused to consider this, apart from Un-Named Male who was asleep again.

Dave was a Big Female: The klunky translation of a concept for the Tsin gender of "The most female type of female", which culturally also carried the suggestion of being the sort of person who's in charge of everyone else: "She who shouts at everyone to clean their claws".

Tsin have at least four main genders. At least one gender is capable of swapping naturally. Dave's at the far end of the Tsin gender spectrum, biologically at least, and interpersonal relationships are complex when one's bestie girl-friend might spend too much time hanging out with you and accidentally swap to male. On the other hand (of which, Dave has four) Dave's picked a male name from a species that has two broad categories for biological genders and still managed to make things weird.

Everyone took a moment to consider this as they stared at the hardware giving them issues.

The Waste Organic Matter/Biologicals from Living Environments Recycling unit was supposed to scavenge through any organic matter that ordinary people left behind, and crack the compounds down into base blocks that could then be used to build up any other chemicals or compounds via one of the bio-reactors. Soap for example.

On a space station, this sort stuff is considered useful, since nobody wants to be hip deep in garbage and leftover food.

"We need this thing's full name." said Phalanges thoughtfully.

"Wot?" said Dave and Garf did the rippling colour display that was equivalent.

"It's human hardware. It runs on human rules, so if we knew it's full name I could call it out and it'd know it was in trouble."

Dave and Garfield, who both had degrees in Human Stuff gave each other some pretty hilarious side eye.

Phalanges pulled up the pitch shifter for the rarely used translator, and said "Squeap sqk qk sqwp, what do you think you're doing?"

Dave, startled by the use of her real, full name dropped her tablet and cringed, scales all folding flat, and her big hands coming up over her head as she pulled her small hands out of her front pocket and covered her muzzle.

Garf stared in amusement, cheeks and forehead rippling opalescently. Cat Fantastic peered from the little office that Dave and Phalanges had built him. "Graak?"

"No it's not sorcery." said Phalanges.

"Could have fooled me." muttered Dave. "Gods of the place, I see what you mean. Don't do it again, I'd have to murder you and not eat you." she muttered shaking her scales back out and patting the air down one handed to show it was meant lightly.

"Graaaaak?" asked Cat.

"Tsin eat people they like or admire, if they can, when they die. It's respectful." explained Phalanges distractedly.

"'S right." agreed Dave. "For example I wouldn't take a single bite of this squeap machine."

Meanwhile Un-Named Male who'd been disturbed form his nap, reached out unseen by anyone but Garf and pointed at the fuse panel: The fuses were fine but the wiring harness connector had been pulled half out.

Garf looked around and pushed it back with a surreptitious claw...

"I have an idea." she announced.

Garf picked up Dave's Tablet and looked at it. Then she planted herself in front of it, crossed her arms, and said:

"Waste Organic Matter/Biologicals from Living Environments unit model Zero Romeo Indigo November Zero Charlie Oscar, serial number... five dash two dash one nine seven three, what do you think you're doing? We were relying on you to do your job. You need to take responsibility for your role on this station! I'm not angry, I'm just very disappointed"

And then clicked the reset button.

She stood there with Un-named Male's nose hanging out of her pouch, Phalanges, Dave and Cat staring in surprise: Of course the recycler clicked and powered up.

"Good." declared Garfield, who passed Dave his tablet back and grabbed her tool bag. "I'm on break!" she called as she swaggered off.

"How the hell did she...?" said Phalanges, and Dave shrugged.

"I guess it really does run on human rules." she said.

[amewinterswriting]

Ame Reads: Charmed Life by Diana Wyn Jones

I'll be honest - this one was a reread for me. I read most of the Crestomanci books as a child and could still remember the broad brush strokes of the plot.

What I couldn't remember was just how skillfully written it was and still is. While the book is marketed at children as young as 10, and the plot moves quickly because of this, it never feels rushed or oversimplified. In fact, I've read adult and young adult fiction with less complex plots, character motivations and language.

(Spoilers after the cut and discussions of themes which does include familial abuse and mentions of death)

I remembered that Gwendolyn was not a nice person (to put it mildly). I didn't remember exactly how much of an evil little shit she is. In any other children's story, it would have been easy to paint her as selfish but simply that, in the way many children can be. She sees that her brother has something she doesn't (magical power) and takes it from him simply because she wants it for herself. But the story makes it explicit that she planned the sacrifice of her own brother and she even casually mentions that they will need to kill him multiple times due to his extra lives, showing that she has thought about this for months in detail and clearly has not had any hesitation or stirrings of guilt whatsoever.

In a more subtle way, the story does make it clear that Cat has been abused by his sister for his whole life - Janet, Julia and Robert all comment on it in various ways, even if the word 'abuse' never comes up. Crestomanci and the other adults are also aware but unsure of what exactly to do, especially as they aren't entirely certain that Cat isn't a willing participant in Gwendolyn's plans. For a book written in 1977, aimed at children, it's really quite radical that Diana Wynn Jones even hinted at abuse within a family unit, let alone an older sibling as an abuser.

Reading as an adult, the way in which Cat and Janet are profoundly let down by the adults is also radical and quite tragic because it's very understandable how it happened. Crestomanci is aware of virtually everything the whole time (or very early on) and yet the whole plot is Cat and Janet trying valiantly to fix the mess Gwendolyn's left them in without any adult help because they don't know the adults can be trusted and the adults think that not revealing what they are aware of is the best for everyone involved. Everyone is doing what they believe is best given the information they have, but everything could have been resolved with a few short conversations and more trust shown from both sides. And I'm really glad Janet gets to point out that Crestomanci should have talked to them sooner and he doesn't brush her off.

Other surprisingly dark things in hindsight - Gwendolyn summoning the 'drowned life' of Cat as a petty power play not once but twice, and Cat not realising why exactly it gives him the heebie-jeebies but having a very strong reaction to seeing his own drowned corpse (understandable) each time. Except that the second time, it's accompanied by the other times he's died, including at birth. A giant foetal corpse is not exactly something you expect to see in a children's book!

Anyway, I'd love to see the Chrestomanci series adapted into a television serial that really takes it seriously. Like the recent (ish) adaptation of Pullman's His Dark Materials that the BBC still hasn't finished. Hour-long episodes, I reckon, something like Charmed Life as a two-episode special to introduce the world and concepts (and Janet waking up in Gwendolyn's bed would be the perfect place for a cliffhanger at the end of episode 1, let's be honest) and then take an episode for each book in the series so while the episodes could be watched in any order, watching them all will give you more information about who reoccurring characters are and what they're doing.

In the meantime, I definitely think I'm going to dig out the rest of my old books and go through the rest of the series myself. Diana Wynn Jones' writing is complex enough that it really demands a second look. If your only exposure to her work has been through (the magnificent) Studio Ghibli adaptation of Howl's Moving Castle, consider this your sign to delve into her works, too. Charmed Life is an excellent starting point for the whole Chrestomanci series but you really can read them in any order, as the plots of each book are self-contained, with some characters making regular appearances throughout.

[itsscromp]

hellloooo so i wanted to request something I've been thinking of for a while <3 you can just call me 🦇bat anon :D sooo i was thinking rocket raccoon x reader who is also a genetically modified raccoon by the hands of high evolutionary with the same amount of trauma and torture as rocket experienced, but they're more brain modified, so they look like a sorta normal raccoon but they're really REALLY overly intelligent and are agile and smart and all that, but they use a human body hologram, and when rocket met them he saw them as a human, but reader later revealed their secret and they connected with their trauma or something i dunno X( i just want someone to let rocket know he's not alone <3 if you're gonna do this, thank you :D if not, have a nice day anyway and i love your writing!!!

We're not so different

Hello there 🦇bat anon :D, Apologies for the delay in this, Now for this request, I had read over it and ultimately my brain has gone splat in the moment. BUT !!! I cooked another idea relating to what you asked. So I hope you like it. Warnings: Mentions of abuse. Word count:985

How you were brought into this world will continue to baffle you until the day you die. How many children have happy families, Yours was utterly broken, Your mom abandoned you before your first birthday, leaving you with your dad who turned to alcohol to cope with the stress. You would always have to bring him his bottle... unless you would cop something in the head. You still had the scar across your eyebrow from the shard cutting through, you were thankful that it didn't get your eye.

By 10 years old when you were on the way home from school as quickly as you could. Your teacher stopped you before you could rush home to talk about the results of your test. Heading home... Guess who was there.

"Where the fuck have you been ??!! I told you to get back as soon school finished."

"I... I know... The teacher just wanted to talk to me..."

"You got into trouble !!" He grabbed your arm and twisted it.

You yelped in pain and started to cry, You yanked your hand away and ran away, Having enough of his endless hurting. Running as fast as you could, You rushed down into the nearby park and fell over, started to cry. As you cried, you felt yourself getting dragged up by something in the sky, Soon being sent away thousands of light-years away in the galaxy.

The cycle continued just with your kidnappers, Whatever your dad did, they did ten times worse when you didn't do what they said. You didn't escape for another 5 years. Being placed into hiding on Knowhere and stayed there for the time being. At least you were free.

You took up some mercenary work with the ravagers, coming across Peter quill from time to time. And it just so happened that that day when the guardians of the galaxy were formed. The day you met Rocket Raccoon.

You knew straight from the start that the attitude that he pulled off when you worked together in prison was nothing more than a cover-up for a deeper trauma that he had witnessed. But it became more evident when you saw his drunken out burst in the bar.

"He thinks I'm some stupid thing he does !! Well, I didn't ask to get made !! I didn't ask to be torn apart and put back together over and over, turned into some... Some little monster !!"

"Rocket, no one is calling you a monster" Peter told him

"He called me vermin !! She called me Rodent !!! His bottom lip wobbled a bit before he grew angry. "Let's see if you can last after five or six good shots in your fricken face !!" He aimed his gun at Drax.

"No no no no !! 4 billion units, Rocket come on suck it up for one more lousy night and you're rich !!" Quill begged him to think rationally.

Rocket thought for a bit before disarming his weapon. "Fine... But I can't promise when this is over I'm not gonna kill every last one of you jerks."

He then bolted out of the bar, Your heart absolutely shattered hearing all of this. At this, you wanted to hold him and tell him that everything was ok... But you knew this wouldn't work knowing Rocket for the short time.

But regardless he needed someone right now, So you headed outside to find him. Looking around nearby until you found him in an alleyway crying softly to himself. You grew sad as you saw him... You walked over as you gently sat down across the other side, remaining silent.

He looked up and saw you, quickly regaining his composure. "Get lost y/n..."

"I didn't say anything" You softly said.

He opened his mouth before shutting it, His ears fully drooped. Crossing his arms as he looked away from you. "Why are you here ?? Wanna call me monster too ??"

You shook your head gently, Trying to figure out how to properly say it. "Rocket... Whatever it is... that you have gone through." You could feel his eyes glaring on you, almost to say choose your next few words very carefully.

"Whatever it is... I get it... I know what it feels like."

His eyes slowly softened a little, but still glaring at you.

"The scar... On my eyebrow... This was by the man who was meant to protect me..." You pointed to your eyebrow.

He inspected your eyebrow a bit before he looked down at the ground. "I... I'm sorry you had to suffer that"

"My whole life... And not even that... When I was 10 I was kidnapped from Earth, The people who kidnapped me... They endured so much pain on me... For 5 flarking years..." You moved your shirt a bit, showing scared underneath your ribs... this one hurt you the most, you couldn't even stomach to talk about it.

Rocket's eyes went soft, And soon, you could see a different side to him. "I'm sorry... I really am..." He hesitantly started to move, moving next to you. Wanting to be in your company and feel safe.

"Rocket, Whatever this galaxy throws at you... I want to let you know... I'll be there for you ok ??" You looked at him.

He gave it a bit of thought for a little bit before nodding. "Yeah... Same to you y/n" He looked up at you, saying it sincerely.

You smiled and gently raised a fist to him, he tilted his head a little bit in confusion. "What are you doing humie ??"

"You never heard about fist bumps ??"

He shook his head, wanting an explanation.

"It's kind of like a symbol of friendship on earth, so here" You gently helped him achieve his first fist bump, "There you go" You smiled,

You would always have his back, And he with yours. Always.

Taglist: @callofdudes

[sibylsleaves]

How does the first visit to Texas go with them now being a couple?

ok sorry it took me forever to get to this ask it's one of my favorite ones and I just wanted to do a good job answering it!!!!

So for the purposes of like, the show, I do kind of think the first post-getting-together Buck + Diaz family interactions would probably happen in LA, not Texas (also I'm SO curious to see to what extent we'll get to see them interact this season...) but let's say for the sake of this ask that they do a Buck-Chris-Eddie in Texas storyline.

Let's say my earlier spec about Eddie and Buck's first fight goes down, and that's how the Diaz family learns about their relationship. But this is the first time Buck is coming to them and being, essentially, on their home turf.

I think Helena and Ramon are both like, VERY much trying to make a good impression and prove to Eddie that they're going to be very nice and welcoming and understanding about this. But I do think there's still an element of like. them being Confused about Eddie's sexuality. I think Eddie is kind of wreck about the whole thing, too, like I think despite his parents really trying their best to do better he's still really hurt by the way they treated Shannon and is terrified of them being overly judgmental about Buck.

So while I think it's not a Complete Disaster I do think it is a pretty tense first visit, with the Diaz parents overcompensating, Eddie being pre-emptively defensive, and Buck trying very hard to make a good impression. I'm not sure exactly how it all plays out, but maybe Eddie has some kind of over-reaction to something (I'm picturing something similar to his outburst at Ramon's retirement party) and things kind of go sideways for a while. I do feel like Eddie has a lot of unresolved stuff with Helena in particular, and I think this would be a very interesting catalyst for him to get into the resentment he can't admit he feels toward her and the way she treated him after he came home from Afghanistan and after Shannon left.

I think it would also be fun if they're still not quite over Chris's hesitance about Buck and Eddie--like, they've talked about it, they understand his reservations, but they haven't yet RESOLVED it--and then this is also kind of the moment when Chris really shows everyone how much he loves Buck and how now that he's seen Buck and Eddie together he has much more trust that they're going to make it work and that Buck is a permanent member of the family.

I would love some sweet moments between Eddie and Buck and Isabel, and maybe some way of the Diaz family symbolically inviting Buck into their larger family unit in a way they never did for Shannon, that really cements how they've grown and how they implicitly trust Eddie to make the right choices for himself and for his family. Buck being a very important one of those choices.

So ultimately I think it ends very happily, and I think after this first visit Helena in particular really warms up to Buck. Also maybe we finally meet the mysterious Diaz sisters???? One can dream

[spaceorphanssecondbreakfastclub]

SO's Bookclub : The Viscount Who Loved Me

Title: The Viscount Who Loved Me Author: Julia Quinn Genre: Romance

Goodreads Summary :

Anthony Bridgerton hasn't just decided to marry—he's even chosen a wife! The only obstacle is his intended's older sister, Kate Sheffield—the most meddlesome woman ever to grace a London ballroom. The spirited schemer is driving Anthony mad with her determination to stop the betrothal, but when he closes his eyes at night, Kate is the woman haunting his increasingly erotic dreams...

Review:

It should not have taken me a month to read this, I've just been super distracted...

The second book of the Bridgerton series focuses on Anthony and Kate's romance, and I found it to be a lot of fun, actually. While this is only the second book I've read because I am reading them in order, I can already see why this ends up at or near the top of the lists.

If you've seen the show -- there's a lot that the show pulled from the book, more so than I had expected. It definitely hinges on that enemies to lovers-ish trope. (And while not a favorite of mine, personally, I think it's handled relatively well here.) Kate is a great protagonist -- she's smart and clever and holds her ground really well, which makes her someone to root for. Anthony is... fine. Look, I probably will never like these male heroes because they usually descend too far into anger and bad boy with a heart of gold figures out love when a level headed woman straightens him out gets a little old after a while. Plus, I do appreciate Jonathan Bailey bringing some great charm to the show that book Anthony lacks a bit.

But I think there's a lot of fun to this book, too. There's a real competitive spirit that's enjoyable to read. The pall mall, family stuff is great and a clear stand out in the book, which I can see why they adapted it. I also think the book does tension relatively well, and the push and pull between Kate and Anthony works!

I do still think there are times the book drags (I felt this in the previous book as well) where Quinn sometimes lets scenes go on for a little too long, or she gets repetitive within a scene. But as someone who isn't an outright fan of romance novels, and has read quite a few bad ones, Quinn is at least a solidly good writer, and it's a fairly quick and easy read.

The only plot thing that I took any issue with is the fact that two thirds of the way through, Anthony and Kate are forced to marry due to circumstances of the time, and I wish they could have not been forced into it? Part of it is the schtick of Anthony having to really fall in love with his wife, and I get that. But that kind of thing just isn't my cup of tea. All things considering, I really don't have a whole lot to complain about with this one.

One drawback coming from someone who's watched the show first, is the fact that these books are so focused on the couple, we don't get as much of a sense of the greater world. All the rest of the Bridgertons play a relatively small role (though it's nice to see Daphne and Simon back). Eloise shows up at the end for the first time as a little spy, which is cute. Colin continues to be a delight, though he's less in this one. I'm surprised Benedict was hardly here, and there's really no mention of the younger ones or even Violet. I will say, one of my favorite things, though, is that Kate and Penelope got to have an entire sequence where they strike up a friendship, and I did love that!

I was also kind of surprised that, while they were featured a lot in the first half of the book, Edwina and Mary don't play as big of roles in this book as I thought they would. They're still very important to Kate and her character, though, and their family unit is really nicely on display throughout.

Also, we end on another tease of Lady Whistledown, and I am so ready for it. But, alas, we have to get through Benedict's book first. So, let's do it!

Overall, I think if you liked the show, you probably would like this as well. It's fun and uses the tropes it sets up relatively well. It's still a regency based romance novel written in the early 2000s, but I think it is better than a lot of the same kinds of stuff written around and at the same time.

Rating : 4 stars