#The Menagerie Returns

[captainofthetidesbreath]

this little moment was extremely cute

[justalittlebluetiefling]

BUT THERE'S MORE THAN THREE OF YOU

[thequeenofmyownscreen]

Matt : I'm inventing a town with a casino in it, and that's it.

Also Matt : I'm sure my friends and players, who I know very well and have seen play characters going in a town with a casino many times across multiple campaigns, won't go to this casino and play games and force me to create one on the spot.

[patchwork-crow-writes]

37 - Haunting

They say someone is never truly gone, so long as you keep their memory alive in your heart.

I am the words upon a shimmering mobile phone screen, in a world so close and so distant, rereading messages that will never again receive a response. And strains of songs that had once seemed so tasteless, so awful, now echo through the forlorn hallways of your aching heart. What you wouldn't give to play one last game, to hear his affronted cries at your chiildish transgressions! Would he return if you let him have the good controller this time...?

I am the ghost of the cold winter nights spent staring out the window of a cozy diner. Finger drawings in the windows frosted by your breath, the nostalgic aroma of a chocolate drink too hot for small fingers and giggling lips. Snowfall like feathers shed from the wings of an angel, cheek upon cheek as tears streak down like jagged icicles, wishing that things could be different... that you could be different.

I am the shapes and colours behind your eyelids, as you stare into the darkness hanging above his bed. Desperately searching for a warm smile, a helping hand, outstretched arms ready to welcome you into a conspiratorial embrace... anything to rebuke the silence that now greets you there. His place at the table, his indent upon the couch, now the only things that tell he was ever there.

I am the memory that greets you as you sleep, the absence upon which you imposed his form. A poor substitute for the real thing, as intangible as spirit, or the sorrow that resides in your soul. Your love calls forth his ghost to your side, gone but never forgotten, longed-for but doomed to never have again. Regret and resentment birthed me, and though I may never truly live up to his memory, I hope that you may yet find some comfort in this beautiful haunting.

Happy Hallowe'en everyone :)

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The Dark Menagerie No. 37

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[murdermost-foul]

tag game: shuffle your library, list 10 songs, and tag 10 people

thank you @ryder-the-writer for the tag !! :)

chemical world / blur

death trip / steve harley & cockney rebel

london / the smiths

shangri-la / the kinks

starvation / socrates drank the podium

the width of a circle / david bowie

paul revere / beastie boys

fire and the thud / arctic monkeys

union of the snake / duran duran

lope / sad lovers and giants

love those stupid little sounds^ and seeing everyone’s lists hehe. um tagging @kobainism @sunnyisapunkrocker @motswolo @fall-dog @smallbirdbigcoat @pancakehouse @folklegend and anyone else who wants to do it !

[ellecdc]

request for a fic where reader is absolutely spoiled by her boys? (can be absolutely any pairing you like poly!marauders x reader, wolfstar, poly!moonwater x reader, Bartylus x reader…..literally anything)

the boys love to spoil her with gifts, breakfast in bed, shopping trips, outings etc, (not necessarily expensive, just doting), even if one of the boys is less inclined they're along for the ride, and perhaps somewhat exasperated by all the antics

…can you tell my love language is gift giving and receiving?

feel free to add more plot because the prompt is quite broad? but do whatever you want my love!

I trust you with my life <3

*tip-toes in* hiii there *side steps through the door* hellooo.... *awkwardly places this fic in front of you from your request back in March* thanks so much for your request (and patienceeee) - no but in all reality, I knew from the second I got this request that it had to be these two - I hope I did it justice!! xx

poly!rosekiller x fem!reader who they love to spoil [743 words]

CW: extravagant & expensive gift giving as a love language, reader tries to be mad at them about it (she fails, though)

“Not so fast!” You said instead of hello, fighting the snicker that threatened to undermine your severity as you watched Barty and Evan stop in their tracks like they’d been frozen on the spot. “What do you think you’re doing?”

The two boys shared a sideways glance before Evan slowly relaxed his stance. “Well-”

“You’re going to have to be more specific, Treasure.” Barty interrupted swiftly, giving off an air of faux nonchalance as he placed the shopping bags he had in his hands on the side of the bed and pressing a kiss to the side of your head. “What are we doing for dinner tonight? What are we doing about climate change? What are we doing with our lives? It’s too broad a question.” 

“Barty.” You scolded him. 

“Y/N.” He replied.

“Evan.” You tried instead.

“Yes, sugar?” He responded salaciously.

You closed your eyes and heaved a breath; they made it so difficult to be mad at them. “What did you two buy?”

Evan’s face spread into a cheshire cat smile. “Funny you should ask, darling.” And with a flourish, he and Barty unceremoniously dumped the bags out onto the bed leaving it covered in a menagerie of clothes, bags, perfumes, and what appeared to be boxes of jewellery. 

“But why?” You beseeched anxiously instead of saying thank you; feeling your face flush at the very loud and very expensive expression of appreciation now littering your bed. 

“Uhm, because we love you?” Barty answered as if that was somehow a trick question and he couldn’t believe it was actually that easy to answer.

“This is too much.” You responded.

“Says who?” Evan queried.

“Me.”

Barty snorted. “How’s it feel to be wrong, then?”

“Barty.”

“I don’t understand what the problem is!” He continued, raising his hands helplessly. “We have a lot of money, we have great taste, and we have you; ergo…” He said, finishing his statement by gesturing vaguely at the pile of gifts they’d purchased. 

“Great taste indeed.” Evan agreed as he held a dress up against you. “This colour looks great on you.”

“Ev, there is hardly any fabric on this dress.” You argued, causing his face to pinch in thought.

“Hm, you’re right. Okay, we can return that one if you don’t like it.” He said before shoving the dress back into one of the various bags. 

You let your eyes trace the rest of the garments littering your bed wondering if you might be able to convince them to return the rest of it too.

“No, we cannot return it all. Don’t be rude, babydoll.” Evan reprimanded, pressing a kiss to the crown of your head and chidingly patting you on the arse.

“Do you like this one, Tres? I picked it because I thought it’d bring out your eyes.” Barty asked then, holding up an outfit with no shortage of excitement in his eyes that finally forced a smile from you. 

“It’s very nice, Bee; thank you.” You relented, running your fingers along the fabric up to the price tag, only to have it yanked from your grasp before you could see how much it cost.

“Perfect.” He said quickly, pulling the tag from the garment and shoving it into his pocket. “You can wear this one tonight; we have reservations at the new restaurant downtown at 8:30!”

Silence returned to the room once they both left and you let out a slow breath, shaking your head in fondness as you looked at the many gifts they’d splurged on for you. 

There wasn’t even any reason, which always somehow made it feel that much more special; they didn’t go out shopping because it was your birthday or a holiday; they simply went shopping because they were thinking of you, saw things you might like, and bought it just because they could. 

You were a lucky girl, and you’d go so far as to call yourself spoiled, which you were sure was exactly what Evan and Barty wanted you to be even if you made it quite difficult to do so. 

“Oh, and if you do wear that outfit Barty picked out tonight,” Evan added, sticking his head in the doorway, “there’s a matching Hermés bag to go with it, too.”

He didn’t even have a chance to see your mouth open in shock or hear your horrified “Evan!” before he was shutting the door behind him and taking off down the hall.

Spoiled indeed.

[aealzx]

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Update Post

Prologue | AO3

Previous

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“So…Let me just summarize to make sure I understand,” Jazz requested, feeling a little overwhelmed by all the new information Bruce, Barry, and Leslie had explained to her, but at least not so overwhelmed to the point of breaking down anymore. She’d just never heard of something like hemoperfusion before, so it had been a lot to take in. “Danny has blood blossom toxin throughout his blood stream, and since blood blossoms don’t exist here there’s no antitoxin to inject him with. And since developing one would take too long and be too risky, you want to try hemoperfusion. Which is like hemodialysis, except it removes toxins instead of fluids. And since hemoperfusion is known to cause a mild decrease in various common blood components, you want to have a blood donation from Danielle to offset that. Because she’s the only one here who also has ectoplasm in her blood, and you don’t want to dilute that in Danny since he’s already low…Did I get all of that?”

“Yes,” Bruce answered simply, giving a small nod. He was ready to go over anything they needed to again, a tablet in his hand ready to be used to open any of the files he’d already shown Jazz a second time. She had reacted to the information about Danny’s condition with anxious fear, but overall she was managing to remain significantly calmer than earlier that day.

Jazz was silent as she ran through everything she could remember just one more time, as well as trying to think of anything that they may have missed. Either because it was an oversight, or they simply just didn’t know. But she couldn’t see any risks other than the ones they had already told her they were aware of. She honestly wasn’t sure she would have caught the risk of diluting the ectoplasm in Danny’s blood herself. Amity always had an abundance of ectoplasm leaking everywhere, so even when Danny has spent a lot he’d always been able to recover some from the ambient. It, and the way they had addressed this situation, was enough for her to finally look to Bruce and nod. “Okay. Go ahead.”

Bruce was admittedly pleasantly surprised at the response, but kept his response in check other than a content smile. Barry’s shoulders sagged with his sigh of relief, and he barely waited for Bruce to give him a nod before he dashed from the room in a blink.

“Barry and Wally will take care of getting the supplies. We’ll test the types of resin with the blood samples we already have to make sure we use the correct one. But it shouldn’t take too long. Is it alright if we inform the rest of your family of what’s going on?” Bruce requested, not wanting Sam, Tucker and Danielle to be left out just because his own children were doing a good job keeping them occupied. Barbara had come over to meet them already, and she and Tim were indulging Tucker’s questions as well as getting some of their own answers. Then Stephanie and Cass had spent some time letting Danielle pick out some different clothes before they had joined Wally in the gym. Danielle had been ecstatic to find out about Wally’s abilities, and all four of them were having fun showing off and messing around together. Which left Sam talking with Duke, Damian, and Alfred about some of Duke’s adventures, Damian’s menagerie of pets, and Alfred’s recipes and food sources. The news would be an interruption to their fun, but Bruce had confidence that his team could help them stay occupied and taken care of instead of relying only on Jazz.

“...Sure,” Jazz agreed once more, giving another nod. They had already told her that they would have Danielle stop by the room to draw her blood, so having the three of them back in the room for a bit wasn’t a bad idea.

It didn’t take long at all for Barry and Wally to return with the equipment, getting it set up in record speed next to the bed before Barry joined Bruce back in the lab to test the different resins. They were simple tests that could all be done at the same time, so they were back upstairs soon after Leslie had finished drawing Danielle’s blood.

“Here’s the lucky winner,” Barry chimed, holding a second canister of the resin that they had found cleared the blood blossom toxin from Danny’s blood while having minimal effect on the important parts that needed to stay.

“Woah… I was expecting something bigger,” Sam admitted, watching Barry from where she was hovering near Danielle.

Barry just chuckled as he headed to the machine and popped the canister in. “It doesn’t need to be that big. We’re only pulling a tiny amount of toxin from him and putting the rest back after all.”

“Fair enough,” Sam accepted, attention shifting slightly as Danielle flexed her arm and moved around to make sure she wasn’t dizzy or anything.

“And you’re sure it’s going to work?” Tucker asked, his nervous nature prompting him to reach for reassurance despite the procedure not being used on him.

“It’s not as common as dialysis, but it’s still something that’s been used thousands of times on thousands of different people. I’m sure it’ll get most, if not all of the toxin,” Barry assured, stepping out of the way so Leslie could proceed to get Danny connected to the device. Unfortunately the IV needle that had been used was too small, so Leslie couldn’t use it for one of the tubes, even if it had been in the right place. So it was simply pinched closed, and disconnected to use again later while the other two tubes were inserted.

The others continued to chatter lightly, but Jazz was more focused on what Leslie was doing. How she was prepping Danny’s arm, where she put the tubes, trying to guess what she was looking for. She didn’t think this would be the last time Danny, or Danielle got poisoned, so she felt she should learn as much as she could while she could. It also helped her feel like she was being useful. Adding to her skillset to maybe use later instead of just sitting and being worried. It certainly helped even though once Leslie finally started the machine nothing seemed to be happening. It was a good thing though. No immediate adverse reactions, no sudden drop in vitals. Nothing but the quiet hum of the machine added to the soft beeps of the heart monitor and puffs from the oxygen tank.

Within an hour the others had gotten bored enough to easily be lured away by the rest of Bruce’s family once again.

Thirty minutes after and Jazz was the only one left, having moved to sit on the floor at the side of the bed. She wanted to be close to Danny, but she felt in the way if she sat on the bed. There were too many tubes now. Before he could have been mistaken for just sleeping. But now he really was looking like a coma patient. It made it hard to watch him, even though she refused to leave.

A short time later Jason was knocking on the doorframe to announce his presence, causing Jazz to look up.

“...Hey,” she greeted, a little confused.

“Hey,” Jason returned, “Just checking in. You need anything?” A half lie. He’d actually volunteered to hang out for a while to make sure the hemoperfusion process was going well. Luckily it looked like Danny’s vitals hadn’t changed much from two hours ago.

Jazz blinked in mild surprise at the offer, but even after thinking for a moment she couldn’t come up with anything. Part of her knew there were probably a multitude of things that she should be at least curious about, but mostly she just felt tired. The near quiet of the room while she knew everyone was okay and having fun was nice. She was content to just relax as well as she could for now. “No, I’m good,” she responded.

Jason didn’t quite believe her, his brow raising. “Says the girl sitting on the floor wearing random spare clothes borrowed from someone else, and doing nothing but stare at the other side of the room,” he commented dryly with a half smirk, stepping into the room and taking a seat on the floor near Jazz.

The comment caught Jazz off guard, but she could only give a small giggle. She probably did look at least a little unwell huh. “...I guess I just haven’t fully realized I’m safe yet,” she admitted. “It’s hard to think about anything.”

“Fair enough,” Jason accepted, being able to understand the feeling. “...Do you mind if I ask you something then?”

Another mild surprise, but Jazz just nodded after a moment. “Sure.”

“You mentioned before…” Jason started, thinking back to something Jazz had said before lunch, “that your parents tried to hurt Danny before they knew….” The reminder was potentially a very unhappy topic, but it was prodding he felt was necessary. Were they safe at home? Were they runaways? Were their parents involved with the ones that had hurt Danny recently? They needed to know if it was a good idea to try and get these kids back to their family or not. And if he was going to keep Jazz company and monitor the hemoperfusion process he didn’t feel like spending the time in silence.

“....Yeah… Our parents used to be ghost hunters,” Jazz admitted, a sorrowful smile as she stared at her hands. It seemed she was in the mood to talk, for she continued unprompted. “We grew up with their crazy antics. Making machines that could track down and destroy ghosts. Always talking about dissecting them, or using them as a power source. They had so many studies supporting the idea that ghosts were just residual emotions from people, given human form, but not actually human. So many things that convinced others that ghosts weren’t people anymore.”

“And yet… all it took was them finding out that Danny was half ghost, half dead, and it made them rethink everything they had developed. He was fourteen when… And I didn’t find out until a few months later. I didn’t even tell him I knew, because I knew if I did he would get scared. Why wouldn’t he, after all? With the idea that his mom and dad might cut into him just to satiate their curiosity looming over his head. It was an accident that they found out, and I was so scared he was going to run away. But mom just tried her best to treat him like Danny, and nothing else. Dropped her gun and told us we should go home and get a snack, because we were probably hungry. It…. it was enough to keep him home, but it wasn’t enough for everything to be okay. It was like everyone was trying to pretend everything was normal, but we all knew it wasn’t. They stopped doing their experiments. Started pretending they were oblivious to anything related to ghosts. It was awful. I felt so… so useless.”

“It was months of this stupid, awkward fake normal family facade before it finally broke. Danny accidentally got burned when mom was cooking, and she had a breakdown. We found out that our dad was okay with everything, but mom was having a hard time because she couldn’t believe that she had hurt Danny before. Even if she didn’t know it was him. But, after she had a really long talk with my brother, things started to look more normal again. Only this time, instead of being ghost hunters my parents dove headfirst into trying to figure out how to help ghosts. We realized we couldn’t take Danny to the doctors anymore, so my parents and I tried to make sure we could fill in that role. Mom would try all sorts of new, ectoplasm rich meals for him, making sure they tasted good to him. She started making smoothies for him every morning once she found ones he liked. On top of helping him study for school every day when there weren’t other ghosts causing trouble. There’s so many nights I found them asleep together on the couch. Danny was always mom’s favorite, and I think dad got jealous about how close they got. Until Danielle came back from her world exploration adventures and Danny convinced her to officially meet my parents. Then Dad and Danielle latched onto each other so quickly, and became inseparable.”

The retelling had seemed a little painful at first, but it was easy to see that Jazz was at least content with the way her family life was now. It wasn’t perfect, but then again families never were. Jason couldn’t help notice the tone of voice she took when talking about her parents favoring her siblings. She didn’t seem too upset, but there definitely wasn’t complete indifference to the facts. “...Does it make you upset? Having your siblings be your parents’ favorites?” he couldn’t help asking.

Jazz could only snicker at the question, falling quiet for a beat before answering. “Sometimes,” she admitted, then looked over with a mildly mischievous grin that made Jason semi think of Danielle. “But then I remember I’m Danny’s favorite, and I’m usually okay.”

The proud declaration made Jason snicker, glad to hear she had at least one thing keeping her from devolving into jealousy. She didn’t seem to want to talk much more though, and Jason wanted to leave the conversation on a happier note and therefore didn’t ask about the ‘Guys in White’ Danielle had mentioned before. So instead, after another stretch of quiet, he just chose to reassure her. “... He’ll be okay.”

Jazz didn’t answer immediately, drawing in a sigh and letting it go. She seemed to be doing much better as the day had stretched on, handling the news that Danny had poison throughout his bloodstream much better than the suggestion of drawing his blood. And being reassured that he would be okay, she gained a smile. “... He better be,” she commented, gaining a glint in her eye that Jason had seen in others he knew. “Otherwise the government back home will have to deal with a new super villain family.”

The comment only caught Jason slightly off guard, eyes widening just for a moment as he looked at Jazz before bursting into a hearty laugh. “Fair enough,” he agreed. The son of a family getting killed by the government was a legit enough back story for super villains in his opinion.

_______________________

lil bit of home situation dump and hopefully the last bit of the part that was giving me trouble. Nice to get to draw Jason without the suit XD though I almost forgot to draw the bandage on his fingers.

_______________________

Tag list: @galaxy-sharks-and-bottled-ships, @starscreamlover, @nerdynonnativenarnian, @dragongoblet, @megacharizardx99

@bellathecatastrophe, @cj-ghostemoji-destielpie, @asexual-insomniac, @wolfeyedwitch, @tkiesai, 

@fanaroff, @raven1508, @nebulainajar, @serasvictoria02, @oliocelottafanfics,

@honeysuckletook, @omniithe-deer, @wolf-under-the-stars, @gingernutcalo, @that-random-fangirl,

@op-sys-chaos, @kirasigncomics, @ehobep

[jaehaeryshater]

“Near the end, [King Jaehaerys] grew certain [Alicent] was his daughter Saera, returned to him from beyond the narrow sea.”

artist: @riotarttherite

I had the great pleasure of commissioning, in my opinion, one of ASOIAF fandom’s greatest artists on this gorgeous piece. I had never commissioned any artwork before and didn’t know what to expect, and this far exceeded my expectations. The attention to detail is beautiful and the overall piece conveys exactly what I was envisioning in my head, so I wanted to start off with a big thank you.

The idea for this art piece was originally a “what if” or AU where Saera either didn’t get caught at the brothel or was brought back from the Silent Sisters as was allegedly Jaehaerys’s plan (or if she had bonded with Balerion and gotten to stay! Would have loved that for her) so she stays in King’s Landing and becomes his caretaker in his old age instead of Alicent Hightower. As his daughter, she would have significantly more influence in being able to “speak for him” instead of a caretaker for another House, so although I do not take Saera as someone particularly obsessed with power, I do find it very interesting to imagine her deciding to cause chaos as the Old King’s mouthpiece. The streets of King’s Landing are burning as we speak! Even before Jaehaerys seemed to succumb to dementia, Saera did appear to have a strange influence over him, so once Alysanne passed away, it only makes sense that Saera would become the person in his ear. Not all that great for the smallfolk or even Lords of the realm, but great for drama and storylines. And Saera, of course! I’m sure she would have paraded everywhere, weighed down by jewelry and the finest wines. Perhaps she would have had a full menagerie, as she appeared to love animals. Definitely an elephant there somewhere.

As this piece was being worked on, however, I did think of a second meaning to the art that I also think is really neat. You could also view this as what Jaehaerys is seeing as Alicent is caring for him. He did believe her to be Saera in the end, as his mind was being lost. His Saera had come back to him, and although I do not like Jaehaerys and think he probably deserved worse, he most likely died happy at that thought, believing Saera was reading to him. So if you prefer to interpret this as viewing things through Jaehaerys’s mind, I welcome you because I love it at least equally to the first idea.

Lastly, the detailings are beautiful so I wanted to touch on them and give them the attention they deserve for the moment. I asked Riot to have a caring but sinister vibe, that she is caring for him for a plethora of reasons but certainly that includes self-serving reasons. I believe this was captured really well! I wanted it to be illustrated that Jaehaerys had lost his wits a while beforehand, so he has a vacant look, and Saera has the keys, showing that she is the real power behind the Crown. She has several expensive jewelry pieces (she has many from her lovers, but she doesn’t bother with them, leaving them to collect dust, only thinking gifts from the King are worthy to wear), but my favorite was one I specifically requested. Her jeweled bodice, which contains replicas of the King’s jewels that are present on his crown. Dare I say, she had her mother’s crown repurposed for herself? The intention is clear, Saera is effectively the Queen now, not in name, but Queen nonetheless. As for the general fashion, I told Riot that my favorite era of fashion was the Tudor era, more broadly 1300s- 1550s. As you can see, this was more than delivered and extremely beautifully inspired by historical fashion. GRRM doesn’t always describe his character’s outfits, and the GOT and HOTD outfits were often lackluster. This was exactly the type of beauty I was looking for. The dragon embroidery on Saera’s sleeves? Mwah!

Anyway, thank you so much for geeking out with me! The Saera/Jaehaerys dynamic is one of the most interesting dynamics to me. There’s simultaneously so little and so much there. It’s complex and layered, I can’t stop thinking about it. If you have been on my tiktok, you may have heard about my extensive theory regarding that dynamic, iykyk. If you ever want to talk about them, absolutely feel free to inbox me. More commission ideas coming this year definitely, at least a couple more of this dynamic, but I don’t know how a piece could be any more perfect <3

[justalittlebluetiefling]

Travis always has to look at the map from every angle and I respect that.

[music-is-love-90]

Okay, here's the thing.

Yes, they've sped things up and put them out of order, but this hasn't ruined anything. In fact, we now have a chance for a true Kanej relationship that we never got to see in the books.

We are now in a post Inej "ultimatum" timeline where they get to grow separately from each other for awhile. (I hesitate to call this version an ultimatum, it's more of a promise/threat and Freddy's acting really hammered home the idea that Kaz understands what she's asking of him.) We know Kaz is already starting to pull himself into the type of man she deserves by his offer to buy the indentures of the Menagerie girls. When Inej returns for the Ice Court job, she's going to find a Kaz who is already much closer to who we know at the end of Crooked Kingdom. She's going to find a Kaz willing to try for her.

And our favorite scenes work in this new context too.

Inej is stabbed and bleeding out?

Kaz carries her to the safety, the same way she pulled him to safety in Shu Han.

And do we really think he's going to be less violent towards the man who almost took her from him? After already admitting that she is what he wants? We're gonna be lucky if he doesn't set Oomen on fire.

The bathroom scene. Good God, the bathroom scene.

Last time he tried to help her, he couldn't even touch her with gloves on. This time, she's injured again and it's his fault and maybe he'll fail, but Saints be damned, he's gonna try.

I'm just saying, we now have a Kanej that knows they love each other. Think of them potential for longing looks and pain and trying to be what the other needs.

I am personally here for it.

(Please, anyone who can hear me. Give me a Six of Crows spin off. I will gladly give my soul.)

[thequeenofmyownscreen]

Ashley and Laura really teamed up on this one : "Do you remember a guy named Dyson ? He was a conman. Did he like dark, gooey stuff ?... He wanted to spread his Seep around."

bonus, Matt, regretting everything, as usual :

[gallifreyanhotfive]

Random Doctor Who Facts You Might Not Know, Part 56

One time when a baby was Cyber-converted, they were given regular Cyber-arms as well as a Cybermat tail. (Novel: Illegal Aliens)

Chewing on jelly babies helps the Doctor think. The Eighth Doctor said that the "tensile strength of a jelly baby offers the perfect resistance." (Audio: World of Damnation)

Speaking of jelly babies, the Eighth Doctor once went missing for days because he was looking for the perfect jelly baby. (Novel: The City of the Dead)

Zoe had the Second Doctor install an orthopaedic bed in her room on the TARDIS. (Novel: The Menagerie)

There is such a phenomenon as temporal tsunamis. (Audio: The Other Side)

TARDIS heartbeats must keep a steady rhythm, so when they are parked, they continue to travel through time at the same speed as their pilot. Otherwise, the TARDIS would be lost to the past (if they were traveling at a slower speed) or disappear into the future (if they were going at a faster speed). (Audio: 1963)

On Gallifrey, marriages mainly serve to strengthen political alliances between the different Great Houses and to maintain the Chapter's power. (Audio: Spirit)

Vassar Dust looks somewhat like snow and is always cold. It also has some telepathic qualities. This dust is a byproduct of time travel. (Novel: Loving the Alien)

Ian once woke up inside a Time Museum as an exhibit. He had been removed from his own time with a time scoop. The curator of the museum - Pendolin - had time scooped Ian with the hope of attracting the Doctor’s attention and making him his prized exhibit, but he did not successfully get the Doctor’s attention. (Audio: The Time Museum)

The Doctor kept a bracelet (that appeared to be made of gold) in a trunk in his TARDIS. After regenerating, the Second Doctor retrieved it, looked at it fondly for a short while, and then returned it. Ben saw that it had odd pictures on it but couldn't make it out. (Novel: The Power of the Daleks)

John Benton, Sarah Jane Smith, and Allison Williams were all involved in the clean-up following the Cyberman invasion from The Tenth Planet. (Novel: The Power of the Daleks)

The Doctor thinks of the entire universe as their foster family after their parents had "decided to opt out of their responsibilities." (Novel: Beltempest)

The First Doctor's left hand was cut off in a sword fight with a Soul Pirate captain. He had to get a new one fashioned for him as it did not grow back. (Short story: A Big Hand for the Doctor)

As revenge for his defeat on the Enlightenment, the Black Guardian altered the established timeline. To defeat them, the Seventh Doctor, Ace, and Benny had to reassemble the Key to Time. The following objects are actually segments of the Key to Time: the First Doctor's TARDIS instruction manual, the Second Doctor's stovepipe hat, one of the swords used when Ace fought the Third Doctor, one of the Fourth Doctor’s jelly babies, a cricket ball used by the Fifth Doctor, and the Sixth Doctor's cat badges. (Comic: Time & Time Again)

The Third Doctor used to visit the zoo frequently. He'd often sit across the tiger, feeling some sort of camaraderie with them. He spent some of his wages upgrading the tiger enclosure, but the tiger's mind had already been broken. They continued walking back and forth as though their enclosure was still small. The Doctor decided to be sure that his mind wouldn't also break in his captivity because one day his TARDIS would be fixed and he couldn't stick in his old habits when that happened. (Audio: Walls of Confinement)

On one such visit to the zoo, the Brigadier had the Doctor babysit his godson. The Doctor didn't keep a close enough eye on the boy, and he ended up in the tiger enclosure. (Audio: Walls of Confinement)

Fitz Kreiner once found an old woman in the TARDIS library. Her name was Emily, and she had been dressed in clothes one might expect a teenager to wear in the 1960s. She was also covered in cobwebs. Fitz brought her to the Eighth Doctor, who recognized her and seemed embarrassed about her presence, but Emily didn't recognize the Doctor. (Novel: Mad Dogs and Englishmen) Though never explicitly clarified, Emily had likely entered the TARDIS as a teenager, got lost, and lived her entire life in the TARDIS. As she didn't recognize the Eighth Doctor, this event would have predated his incarnation. Perhaps she was even one of Susan's classmates.

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[the-californicationist]

Just wanted to drop you a note to say that I just found you and I am loving the fact I am not the only Price lover here. When I can think straight after all the sexiness....I may think of something to ask you for... Like Female Reader and Price reconnecting after years apart or somesuch Meg xoxo

Thank you so much! You are definitely not alone. If you ever need a Price fix, you know where I'm at 😅 over here! obsessing. lol.

Hope this is sort of what you envisioned!! A million thanks for the ask!

Origami Tigers

It had been a long time since you had crossed his mind. But, as he gingerly plucked the intricately folded origami tiger from his desk, he knew you were there. You were on his base, somewhere. 

Part of him wanted to rush off to find you. He let his thumb slide over the shining golden paper, thin as tissue, folded and folded and folded in on itself to make this tiny, stalking beast. It was soft, and so carefully made, and it reminded John of those same qualities that he had found in you.

Why had you left? 

It had been out of your control. Your career and his career and the bombs and the guns… it was all a blur. But, ten years had passed since he had held evidence of your paper menagerie in his fingers, and even the thought of your return made his body tingle with the numbness of his shock. 

The tiger fit in his chest pocket, right over his heart, and he went on the hunt. 

He stalked through the main rooms, searching faces, looking in office windows, waiting for that shock of hair to catch his eye, that shallow sloping shoulder, those tiny frag scars on your left hand… 

Just when he thought he had lost you again, he spotted you. You were sitting on top of the hood of his TAC-V, flipping through pages on your datapad, lost in your work. He couldn’t help but sigh at the sight of you. Ten years had been good to you. A woman’s wide hips, a body full of hard work and muscles to show for it, that same glowing skin. He felt like a starving man who had just been fed. He was a machine that had just been plugged back in, a paint pot ready for a brush. Alive. 

“Sparrow?” His voice cracked, low and dark in the quiet of the warehouse.

You turned to him and took him in. He had deep smile lines at the corners of his eyes, and his beard had grown out in full. But, that voice. He was your John. 

“Hey, tiger,” you grinned, “You found me.” 

You jumped down from the vehicle, not knowing how this first meeting would go. Would he be distant? Had he moved on? Did he string a golden ring through his neck chain every morning, or was he single? Did he even want you anymore?

Your questions were all answered at once. 

He scooped you up in his arms, big and heavy, crushing you to his chest. You cried out in relief, saying his name, muffled, your face pressed into his broad chest,

“John…”

“Little bird.”

He pulled you away from him, cupping your cheeks in his hands, and you saw those bright blue irises gleam with fresh, unshed tears. Worry and concern were at war with hope and certainty all over his face, and without so much as a breath of hesitation, he crashed into you with a kiss.

The softness of his lips was so familiar, so comfortingly known, your body responded on instinct, remembering all of the rewards that came with this feeling of his skin on your skin. You celebrated in each other, tasting the inside of your mouths, licking each others’ tongues, trying to scent the other’s past. 

It was as if each kiss and suck and nip at each other was asking: Where have you been? 

Another kiss answered back: Away from you, my love. 

A deep caress with his tongue begged for clarity: Away? Come back to me.

You convinced him with a chaste kiss on his shaven chin: I’m here. 

And here was all that mattered.

AO3 Link

[kaelidascope]

Yang lets the rain fall over her for a little while longer. It’s cold, and it sinks into her bones leaving her chilled in ways no amount of blankets could comfort. She rolls her shoulder as a sharp ache begins to creep out of her muscle like an embedded knife she was never able to get rid of. She probably should get out of this rain. She should also probably stop pretending that the car that took Blake away might turn around and drop her back off and return her to Yang from the night.

~~~

If you're not caught up on Midnight Menagerie, you're gonna wanna be <3 chapter 20 is coming

[anxietycomments]

nononono you don’t understand. when Inej says “I will have you without armor, Kaz Brekker”, she’s not saying that she will only have Kaz if he heals his trauma all by himself, she’s saying that she wants him to trust her, that she wants to help him, and help herself too!! She’s not just offering help to Kaz here, she’s acknowledging her own trauma with people touching her, her past in the menagerie!!! She’s saying I want us both to be ready to be at least a little intimate, or just heal together, because I don’t want us to destroy ourselves in a good relationship because of past traumas. She’s saying, let me help you, because I get it. Let me help you because you will help me in return. Let us be healthy, because I know we both want this. SHES NOT BEING MEAN GUYS SHES GJDJSJD

[anthurak]

Ruby's and Yang's Family Reckoning

Has anyone else noticed how each of the post-Beacon arcs thus far have featured a member of Team RWBY returning home and reconciling/repairing issues with their family? Volumes 4 and 5 had Blake returning to Menagerie and reconciling with her parents, while Volumes 7 and 8 had Weiss returning to Atlas and helping repair the broken relationships with her siblings and mother.

With that in mind, I think it’s easy to imagine that Volumes 10 and 11 will be Ruby’s and Yang’s turn to sort out their long-standing family baggage. I mean, they’ve got two of their parents/parent-figures already in Vacuo, the third and their childhood home is just a quick bird-mom-portal away, and it turns out they ALSO recently got information that their fourth parent might not be as dead as they thought.

And here’s the other thing: we’ve also seen an escalation in just how complicated, dysfunctional and overall ‘fucked-up’ the family issues faced by our heroines have gotten over the last two arcs.

As many have noted, Blake has the only unambiguously good parents among her team, with the worst of the ‘issues’ they had to deal with being some simple estrangement. Instead, the real family ‘issues’ Blake had to deal with Volume 4 and 5 was reclaiming her family’s legacy, ie; the White Fang, from Adam and the Albain brothers.

Then we went from that, to the long-abused mess that is the Schnee family.

So going off that trend, as well as several other factors…

Yeah, I have NO doubt at this point that the STRQ family is going to find a way to be an even BIGGER fucked-up, messy, dysfunctional train wreck that Ruby and Yang are going to have to sift through and repair.

Now I know some people are probably wondering how Team STRQ could possibly be worse than the Schnees? After all, they had actual Worst-Dad™, Jacques Gele. How could Summer, Taiyang, Qrow and Raven be worse than that?

Here’s the thing though: The Schnee family may have been a wreck, but it was also a fairly uncomplicated wreck with a singular, easy-to-understand root cause; one utter shitbag who was making life terrible for everyone else. And the solution to the family problems (or at least the START of the solution) wound up being likewise simple and straightforward; just kick out the aforementioned utter shitbag and the family can start healing. I mean, it took less than a day after Jacques was given the boot for Weiss, Willow, Whitley and even Winter to make major steps in patching things up between them.

The STRQ family on the other hand aren’t going to be anywhere NEAR that simple. They are ACTUALLY messy and dysfunctional and complicated and ambiguous and all the other things fandom claims to love yet more often seems to just break their black-and-white-morality-loving brains when they actually see it.

Because unlike the Schnees, Team STRQ DOESN’T actually have just one terrible person who can easily be pointed to as the root cause of their problems (No, not even Raven)*. Instead, I think it’s becoming more and more apparent that Summer, Raven, Qrow and Tai are simultaneously good people who all love their daughters and genuinely want the best for them, and are also all MASSIVE dysfunctional fuck-ups in each their own way who have FAILED Ruby and Yang as parents in one way or another.

Summer the ‘supermom’ who also obsessively chased her hero-complex into martyrdom.

Raven the ‘daddy had a good reason for leaving you’ who actually didn’t have a good reason.

Qrow the ‘cool uncle’ who’s actually spent the last 15+ years wallowing in alcoholic depression.

Taiyang the at-first seeming ‘reliable’ father who turns out to actually be a MASSIVELY dysfunctional wreck.

All while Ruby AND Yang can both state openly and matter-of-factly that YANG was the one to RAISE RUBY. The kind of sibling relationship we might generally expect to see in two orphans. Which does NOT, in any context, speak highly of the parenting they received.

And I think Volumes 10 and 11 are going to be when the story finally shines a light on all those problems and forces Ruby and Yang to finally confront them.

Simply put, I think this is going to be when the story effectively yanks the rug out from under us and flips the script on basically everything we, plus Ruby and Yang, long assumed about Team STRQ has been wrong. Or alternatively for Ruby and Yang, everything that’s been right in front of them, yet have been refusing to confront all this time.

Things like just about everything Yang thought she knew about her family when she explained her backstory to Blake in Volume 2 (and which has served as the basis for nearly ALL of our assumptions about Team STRQ) turning out to be wrong in one way or another.

Or things like Taiyang being shown to be just as big a dysfunctional fuck-up parent as Qrow and Raven.

Or things like Qrow being called out for ditching the family pretty much just as much as Raven did to join Ozpin’s secret society.

Or Raven turning out to be Ruby’s dad.

Or Summer turning out to NOT actually be dead and is basically Salem’s Darth Vader via horrific grimm-hybridization.

And ultimately, just how much Summer, Raven, Qrow and Taiyang all FAILED Ruby and Yang as their parents, as illustrated, once again, by the fact that Ruby considers her primary parent-figure to be none of them, but rather YANG.

Ever since Volume 1 featured songs like Red Like Roses Part 2 and Gold, the fact that Yang raised Ruby has been a proverbial Sword of Damocles hanging over Team STRQ. Representing the fact that that ALL of them, Summer, Raven, Qrow and Tai, FUCKED UP as parents.

And I think in the next couple volumes, that sword is finally going to fall.

--

*Okay, maybe Ozpin.