#because half the stuff and things i need to read

[new-revenant]

Alright! Time to share all of what I have of the 4th chapter. It’s not much, but hey, it’s something. Here is the Ao3 link to the other 3 chapters. And unfortunately, the story is on indefinite hiatus because I just. Couldn’t do it ha, got overwhelmed and majorly burnt out. Anyhow, hope you enjoy what I do have. 872 words.

Edit: Opps! Forgot to tag you haha @bianca-hooks123

When Danny woke up, he was surprised at how refreshed he felt. He really hasn’t a good night’s sleep in a while, huh. His body didn’t ache, his left arm finally felt normal, and the bruises he had were gone. If not for still being trapped in his ghost form, he would’ve been having the time of his life!

As he sat up, Danny noticed that his tray of food was unfortunately gone. But, he now had a new tray of food, breakfast edition! It still had the same mix of human and Tamaranean on it, which was nice. His water bottle was refilled, accompanied by a cup of strawberry milk right next to it.

Danny quickly set out to eat all of the food, like eating the dry cereal and then drinking the entirety of the milk right after, as God intended. He didn’t eat as fast as he did last night-er, before he fell asleep. He honestly had no idea what time it was, and couldn’t see a clock nearby. A clock.

Clockwork.

Danny had to stop eating for a moment, trying to calm down the rage that was beginning to simmer. It’ll all be fine, everything back home would be fine, he just needs to pass whatever this test is and punch Clockwork in the face, then he’d be good to go. But what about this universe? Would he be able to go back here? Would he need to? Would he want to?

Danny shook his head, “No time to worry about that,” he muttered to himself, “Just eat your food, and read this note you just noticed was here.”

Danny picked up the note that he must’ve missed because he was too focused on the food. It was not written in English, or had any letters he was familiar with, and he was pretty sure spoken English here was the same as it was in his universe. It was most likely in one of the written languages of Tamaraneans, since everyone-expect Batman-thought he was a Tamaranean.

Danny flipped the note around, hoping for an English translation. The back of the note had more writing, but it was still in Tamaranean. Well that sucked. Now he has to find someone to read the note, and considering the note’s in Tamaranean, it was probably from either Starfire or Nightwing, maybe saying that they were off doing stuff. Even if Danny couldn’t read it, he did have a half-decent intuition!

With a sigh, Danny put the note back down and decided to finish his breakfast. It was so good, definitely better than anything his parents cooked for him. Who would definitely be okay if Nocturn was to be believed. Wait, was Nocturn telling the truth? Danny shook his head again, he had to believe Nocturn, for the sake of his own sanity.

Once Danny finished his food, he got out of the bed, and looked around the infirmary. He noticed three things; one, there was a clock in here and showed that it was 3 o’clock-whether it was AM or PM he didn’t know, two, someone else was in infirmary, and three, there was a box right in front of his bed.

First things first, the person in the bed was someone he hasn’t seen yet, with white, giant wings on their back. They looked they were in pain and was hooked up to something. They were already awake and was looking over at Danny.

“Ah, hello there kid,” they said with a small wave, “I’m Hawkgirl, glad you’re feeling better. Heard you weren’t in such a good state when you came in here.”

“Well, this is the infirmary,” Danny joked, “But I think I just used up too much energy.”

“Didn’t you also fall hundreds of feet from the sky?”

“Wow news spreads fast here huh? I healed pretty quickly from that though.”

“If you count being asleep for two days fast, then yes, you have.”

“I’m sorry, I’ve been asleep for how many days?” Danny couldn’t believe it, two days? That means he’s already been gone for…two minutes back home so he probably didn’t need to worry about that.

“You’ve been asleep for two days,” Hawkgirl’s voice held a pinch of sadness as she spoke, “I wish I could convert Earth days to Tamaranean days, but I don’t know the conversion rate. Starfire might, but she’s on-world right now.”

“It’s okay. Also do you um, know how to read this?” Danny showed her his note, “I can’t read.”

Hawkgirl inhaled sharply, with Danny already knowing what she was going to say and he groaned.

“Yeah yeah you don’t know either, it’s fine,” Danny pinched the bridge of his nose, “Uh, newtopicnewtopic…how are you doing? Got injured in a fight?”

“Unfortunately, yes, I have,” Hawkgirl sighed, “This strange, ghost-like creature managed to mess up some of my internal-“

“Wait a minute, er-sorry for interrupting you but did you say ghost? Like the see-through dead guys?”

“I’m unsure, Batman is looking into it. Oh, and he left that box of clothes for you not too long ago.”

“Ah, that’s what the box was for. Well, I’m going to wander around this spaceship-thing until I find a place to change.”

[spacebarbarianweird]

the officialized Dadstarion request:

I was thinking that Astarion is trying to teach his moody pre-teen dhampir how to fight and she’s not having a good time, because why would someone as strong as her bother with mortal weapons, let alone some knives. But Astarion is pretty set on teaching her how to defend herself in a way that has her rely on skills other than her inherent dhampir powers.

There’s definitely a clash of opinions but both slowly get where the other is coming from—Astarion who was weak and had to learn how to be strong; his kid—born strong having to come to terms with the fact that strength isn’t everything

Thank you, hehe ✨

Ooof, I finally made it! Hope you will enjoy the story about how to train your dhampir!

If you wonder who is Nris and how he ended up in the Ancunins' basement, you can read The Dead, the Half-Dead and the Undead (but you don't have to).

Synopsis: Astarion teaches Alethaine how to fight

Tags: dadstarion, dhampirs, necromancy, father-daughter relationship, Tiriel is being a bitch, slice of life

Alethaine's age: 11

Thanks @themadlu for beta-reading!

Read on AO3

Masterlist

Headcanons

Alethaine drops her bag on an empty chair and yawns, showing her dhampir fangs (and causing a tiny human child next to her to flinch).

The teacher, an elderly tiefling with a broken tail, explains the town’s kids things so basic that the dhampir already knew them when she was four. 

Unfortunately, there is only one person in the whole Daggerlake who has decided to teach the local kids at least something, and once a week, a bunch of children aged eight to fourteen gather in a small hut to listen to the tiefling bragging about the “good old days” and also learn some basics of math and Infernal.

“What are you doing here?” a dwarven girl, Rutha, whispers. “I thought your dad locked someone in the basement to teach you...magic stuff!”

“Nris knows no shit!” Alethaine answers. “All he teaches me is how to draw stupid runes and sigils and he can’t even raise a dead dog from the dead!” She stumbles. “Wait! How do you know dad locked someone in the basement?!”

“Everyone in town knows Astarion kidnapped a dark wizard,” Rutha shrugs. “He’s been there for how long? Does your dad feed on him?”

Alethaine bites her lower lip. It was supposed to be a secret along with her necromantic abilities. A year ago she accidentally revived a dead kitten. As if the gods had decided that elf-dhampir wasn't enough and also gave Alethaine an innate talent for necromancy.

Sorceress.

That’s what Alethaine Ancunin is.

Her dad, Astarion, faced and solved this problem in his own manner: he brought his daughter a teacher. Nris, a poor necromancer whose soul had been sold to the devils. Astarion broke the necromancer’s pact but made him sign another. Nris was supposed to teach Alethaine necromancy while hiding in the basement of the Ancunin’s house as long as his service was needed.

“No, he just lives there. And he is a useless piece of shit!” Alethaine says in her normal voice as the human boys who sit in the front row start arguing with the teacher calling him a demon.

“Why is that necromancer still there?” Rutha exclaims.

“I AM TIRED OF YOU LITTLE FUCKER!” the teacher yells and drags one of the boys to the board.

“Because of my mum!” Alethaine answers. “Dad wanted to get rid of Nris in a week. And you know what happened? Mum went down to the basement, looked at the necromancer, and yelled that he owed her money!”

“How so?”

“OH, YOU WANNA A FIST FIGHT?!” The tiefling roars at the ten-year-old. “YOU WILL GET A FIST FIGHT!”

Alethaine got closer to Rutha.

“When mum was twenty, he gave her a quest to retrieve some magic item from some ogres. She did find it, but the ogres broke her hand in two places. When she came back, Nris refused to pay and Mum had to stay in a temple till she fully recovered. So, Dad calculated the interest since it’s been almost fifty years ago and also the moral damage – and now Nris is staying till he pays back by teaching me!”

A wooden chair flies over the girls’ heads and smashes against the wall.

“YOU MOTHERF –” the teacher suddenly remembers he is in the room full of children and switches to Infernal. The insults pour down on them and Alethaine takes a piece of paper to write down at least a few words. Who knows, maybe she will need to make a devil cry one day?

“Slow down!” Alethaine yells back. “I am taking notes!”

Someone in the classroom joins the screaming match and Alethaine’s head starts aching. Acute hearing causes more trouble than common people think.

… When Alethaine leaves school (if one can call it that), it’s still afternoon. Usually, the dhampir helps the healer with the herbs – the halfling doesn’t see in the dark of the underground tunnels and can’t walk up the walls, so Alethaine has been helping her since she was five. Kelma pays her and the dhampir often has some money to spend on herself, especially when traveling sellers visit Daggerlake or her parents take her to Secomber, a bigger city fifty miles to the West. 

Alethaine takes the stone stairs and walks to the underground part of the town. The dhampir has no idea why Kelma prefers to live there without dark vision, but it seems like she is perfectly fine in the shadows.

“Oh, you are early today,” Kelma says, seeing Alethaine entering the yard. 

“The teacher fought the smith’s daughter.”

“Ah, he’s drunk his own brains with fire whiskey. I have no work today, Aletha, take a day off.”

“Don’t you need anything?”

“Do you want to help me clean the hut? I can give you the rugs to mop the ceiling,” the healer chuckles.

“Nope.”

“I thought so. You know, Alethaine, you were always a bit lazy. Tiriel would come to me asking if it was normal for an elf to sleep as much like you did.”

“Kelma—” Alethaine groans.

“Oh, and I remember you absolutely refused to walk when you already could. Why bother walking if mum and dad carried you around? They have been spoiling you rotten, especially Astarion!” Kelma laughs.

“You know Kelma… I will busy myself with something!”

“Good, Alethaine. Tomorrow, I will need your help to carry sacks around.”

“The teacher wants to give us a test in math tomorrow.”

“Do you care?”

“No.”

“Then I expect to see you at noon,” the halfling takes her pipe out and smokes.

Alethaine closes the fence. She doesn’t want to go home – Tiriel will try to force her to learn magic from Nris. And not because she really thinks he can teach her anything, but because she wants compensation for what the necromancer did to her fifty years ago. To her daughter, Tiriel has never come across as vindictive;now Alethaine thinks  her mother will rip the throat of anyone refusing to pay for her services in battle.

So, the dhampir goes further into the underground tunnels.

This part of the town is completely prohibited for the town's kids, but Alethaine has been going there since she was little. The tunnels are a part of some ancient temple that disappeared into oblivion millennia ago. They spread further and further under the ground, nearly reaching the Underdark.

And the whole place is deliciously creepy.

Alethaine jumps on what looks like a part of the wall, spreads her arms as if she needs to keep her balance and walks forward.

The sounds of the town fade as the girl explores the dark place. 

Alethaine Ancunin sees the world in shades of gray. She senses the presence of creatures full of warm blood and skeletons buried beneath the stones.

Skulls can tell a lot if one knows how to make them talk…

Someone grabs Alethaine from up above. She smells fresh blood and senses the familiar embrace.

“Dad! Let me go!” She laughs as Astarion holds her a few feet above the wall. 

“Hm? Should I?” he chuckles. His shirt is blood-stained and his skin is unnaturally warm.

“Yes! Dad, let me go!” Aletaine insists and he immediately puts her back.

Then, Astarion jumps on the wall and now they stand in front of each other. Alethaine smiles and hugs him.

“I thought you didn't want me to hold you?” he mocks her, patting her back.

“I don’t like being held upside down!”

“It’s actually ridiculous because it’s natural to walk like that” he sits at the edge of the wall. Alethaine joins him. It’s about twenty feet to the solid ground and it would concern Alethaine if a fall could do any harm to her.

Well, it still can. When Alethaine was eight she had a nasty fall into a crevice and broke her leg. She crawled back using her spider climb and then went straight home. It took her longer with a broken leg and she ugly cried because there was no one around. By the time she arrived home, her leg had already healed thanks to her regenerative abilities, but it didn’t mean the whole experience was less horrifying for the little dhampir. 

Alethaine remembers entering the house, all dirty, with a blood-stained dress, without one boot, hair dirty and messy, limping (because the leg hurt as hell) while her parents were talking in the kitchen. Now that she is eleven, she suspects she witnessed Astarion drinking Tiriel’s blood.

She knows her father dines on her mother’s blood. She also knows that it involves adult things she isn’t supposed to see. 

“How was school?” Astarion asks, taking his daughter’s hand. Alethaine’s skin is as pale as his.

“I learned how to swear in Infernal.”

“A rather practical skill!” he laughs. “I had a fight with a behir. Rather horrible beasts. And their blood tastes… weird”

“Do you drink any blood?” she suddenly asks. “Like, will any living creature do?”

“Blood is blood,” Astarion shrugs. “I can feed on fleas and worms as long they are alive.”

“Ew! Gross!” Alethaine cringes and her father smiles. There is something bitter about it, but Alethaine doesn’t know why. 

“...your mother's blood tastes different from that of any...,” he sighs dreamily and Alethaine covers her pointy ears.

They sit in silence for a while.

“You need to be careful,” he says. “There are many dangers in the tunnels and also in the woods.”

“I can deal with danger! I am a dhampir!” She bares her fangs and then takes a boulder that weighs almost as much as hers and tosses it into the air like a rubber ball. “I can rip their throats and break their bones. And I also know dark spells!”

“Alethaine, you are eleven. You aren’t invincible. I want you to be careful.”

“What for? I can fight an ogre if I need to! I am a Dhampir and a necromancer, I already know more than this filthy man you locked in the basement!”

Astarion’s face gets a serious expression.

“You know more than him, princess, because he is a wizard and you are a sorcerer. He taught himself all the things you were born with. But it doesn't seem like you know how to use these skills.”

“I will be fine!”

“All right then,” Astarion chuckles.

Aethaine turns around and suddenly a cold grip closes on her throat. Astarion’s eyes glow red.

“Dad…”

And then he jumps from the wall dragging her with him. In a heartbeat Alethaine finds herself restrained on the stones with her father’s knees on her ribcage and his dagger against her neck.

“So, where is your strength and where is the necromancy?” he asks softly. “If I were an enemy, you would be already dead.”

Alethaine pushes Astarion and he lets her go. The anger awakes something feral in the dhampir, the predatory side that screams “kill the vampire,” and she jumps on Astarion.

KILL THE VAMPIRE.

Only to be thrown away.

Astarion moves gracefully, holding daggers in his hands.

“Cast a spell.”

“But—”

“Cast at least something, princess, since you are so proud of your abilities!”

Alethaine raises her hand. For a brief second, her fingertips prickle, and a green ray strikes Astarion. 

And nothing happens even though Alethaine is sure he has been hit.

“What do the drunkard at school and the moron in the basement even teach you…” Astarion mutters. Now, he looks just disappointed. “I am undead. I am immune to necrotic damage!”

“Fuck,” Alethaine says.

“Fuck indeed. Did I hurt you?”

“No, I am fine.”

Astarion kneels in front of her. “Princess, you are not invincible. Many things will want to hurt you. And if you don't know how to protect yourself, you will die. And you’d better pray you just die in the blink of an eye not feeling anything. Because there are things worse than death. Being trapped by a hag. Being a slave in the Underdark. Getting your memories and personality erased. Turning into a disgusting monster. You can’t turn into a vampire, that’s for sure, but dhampirs are our worst enemies. Your mother and I released seven thousand bloodsuckers into the Underdark and who knows how many vampires are there now. And if they learnt you exist, young and innocent, they will want you dead before you become a menace.”

Astarion hands her a dagger.

“You need to learn how to fight.”

**

Alethaine is tired, dirty, and angry.

Every time she thinks she understands how to use daggers in a fight, she somehow ends up on the ground over and over again.

Or against the wall.

Or with a blade against her throat.

Or face down with her father pressing a knee on her back.

And over and over again she is forced to stand and try again. 

Her bones have been broken at least thrice. One time she even lost consciousness after Astarion pushed against a boulder. She woke up in a second and tried to bite her dad but instead ended up in a pool of dirt once again.

“You are dhampir!” he encourages her. “You are stronger than I am! You don’t have my weaknesses! You can take me in a fight!”

“Who said that,” Alethaine sniffs and tries once again. 

And again.

And again.

“I am tired,” she pouts. “And hungry. We can try again later!”

Astarion looks at her and nods. 

The moment he turns around, Alethaine snatches the dagger and stabs his hip forcing Astarion to fall down with a short cry.

She pulls the blood-stained dagger and jumps on him, pointing the weapons at his face.

Astarion stares at her in shock and then starts laughing.

“You did it! Gods, Alethaine, you did!” He sits up and hugs her. “My ferocious little princess, you took me down!”

Alethaine looks at his hip which has already stopped bleeding. 

“It was fun,” Alethaine admits as they return home.

“I suppose you enjoyed the part when you threatened to cut my perfect face?”

“It was fun to fight. I want to know more about fencing!”

“I will teach you, don’t worry. You will challenge evil vampire lords to duels and end their pathetic lives!”

Alethaine smiles holding her father’s hand.

“I will tell Nris you are tired,” he says when they approach home.

“Dad… about that… Could you please send him away?”

“Your mother wants him to stay.”

“And I don’t! The whole point was for him to teach me, not Mum to get her revenge!”

“All right, I will talk to her,'' Astarion promises. “Now go and clean yourself before eating.”

Alethaine spends an hour in the bath washing off the dirt and sweat. She hears her parents talking but can’t decipher their words. 

When she finally returns to the kitchen, Tiriel hands out a plate with dinner in front of her.

“Kitten, so you really don’t learn anything from Nris?” the red-headed warrior asks.

“The drunk tiefling at school teaches me more!”

“Great. I am tired of having a stranger in the house. Besides, we need the basement for something else!” she suspiciously winks to Astarion and the vampires grins.

Alethaine pretends she didn’t hear that.

Tiriel goes downstairs. Something slams against the wall.

“Wake up, moron!” Tiriel yells.

“What now?” Nris grunts as the barbarian drags him upstairs. “Oh, hello creatures of the night. You’ve decided to eat me and end my sufferings?”

Tiriel pushes him to the table. The necromancer looks pathetic – he wears rags, reeks of cheap ale, and the symbol of Thay on his chest is covered with the remains of his last dinner. 

“You know, I really needed those ten gold back,” Tiriel grabs his short hair as if she wanted to slam his face against the table. “I was twenty, I was all alone, no soul to care about me and the only thing I wanted was to do my job and get a fucking reward!”

“Mum, I am still a minor!” Alethane protests.

“Kitten, I am well aware of your skills in insulting others!” Tiriel returns back to Nris. “So, imagine me crawling back from that disgusting cave with my hand broken in two, bleeding and tired, only for you, Nris, to take the item and cast me out like a cat on the streets!”

“I am sorry! Tiriel, I’ve already apologized! Astarion, tell her!”

“Nris, there are only two people in this world I care about and neither likes you,” Astarion keeps sharpening his dagger.

“You apologized only because you realized your well-being depended on me, a once poor stupid girl who couldn’t read! Fuck off, I don’t want to ever see you again.”

Nris stares at her with horror. “You let me go? Just like this?”

“Well, not exactly,” Tiriel takes his right hand and breaks the bone with a disgusting cracking sound.

“YOU BITCH!!” the necromancer cries out. “FUCK!”

Tiriel grabs Nris’s collar and drags him all the way to the front door to throw him out like a drunk client in a tavern.

Alethaine looks at Astarion.

“And mum is supposed to be the normal one?” she says.

“Your mum allowed a vampire to bite her, what are you even talking about…”

Tiriel walks back and sits at the table, taking her portion of the food.

“And now you two tell me why you look worse than I did after working for that piece of shit!”

**

Astarion goes downstairs to the basement. The place reeks of the necromancer even though he has left.

“We need to burn everything down,” Tiriel says, looking around.

“Darling, I am not ready to move anywhere, especially after an arson,” he hugs her and teases her left ear. “But now, the basement is all ours!”

“I actually got tired of wishing for Alethaine to go for a walk every time we want to have sex. Do you remember how easy it was before? Whenever and wherever we wanted!”

“Acute dhampir hearing be damned,” Astarion sticks his hand inside Tiriel’s waistband. “But she can’t hear us from down here; is your desire for justice satisfied?”

“Oh, absolutely! But you’ve made a pact with him, haven't you?”

“I did. So, if Alethaine needs him for something he can’t say no because otherwise his former masters will come for him. He really did need to pay you back then!” His left hand traces along her curves.

“I was hurt and lonely,” she pouts. “It was a cold autumn, and I had to sleep on the floor of the temple of Tyr. I imagined someone hugging me to fall asleep.”

“Hm? Was it an elf with short silver hair?” he chuckles.

“I imagined him with long hair like your people usually have,” Tiriel sticks her neck out, inviting him for a bite.

Astarion pierces the skin and Tiriel’s blood gushes down his throat. 

Her blood is unique, no other sentient being can compare. Even small droplets of it satiate him, make his heart beat, and warm his skin.

He lets her go before pushing her on the floor.

“I love you,” Astarion says, getting rid of her clothes as she unlaces his trousers. 

“I love you, too,” Tiriel answers, tugging him as close as possible.

--

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[rafeownsriley]

warnings : intimate moments (not sex), i think that’s all

pairing : boyfriend!rafe x girlfriend!reader

summary : rafe crossed the line

it was almost 12 pm. normally you’d be sleeping already but unfortunately, you have to study for tomorrow.

your eyes were heavy, half closed. you were laying on your bed, since you couldn’t keep sitting for another hour.

for couple of seconds your eyes closed but they shut open when you heard few knocks on your window. you stood up and walked towards it, yawning.

you opened one of the three windows and looked outside.

,,hey baby.” rafe smiled at you, running his fingers throught his hair. he finally sees you for the first time today.

,,hey.” you mumbled, as you rubbed your right eye gently. you were wearing rafe’s oversized grey shirt he gave you few days ago.

he smiled even more when he saw you’re sleeping in this specific shirt. his shirt. he then spoke up again.

,,can i come in?” you were staring at him for a while, thinking about his offer. even tho you were exhausted, you decided to say yes.

when he got inside, he actually got worried cause there were like ten opened books on your bed, some notes placed on your table.

you laid back down on your bed and after a while rafe joined you. he looked at you, with a small soft smile.

,,for how long have you been studying baby? you look.. tired.” rafe caressed your hair slowly.

you sat up again, which made rafe’s palm slid down on your back. ,,for a while, don’t worry.” you mumbled.

he couldn’t help but start to feel a bit excited.. your tiredness, the way you run your fingers throught your hair and the way your eyes blink slowly.. somehow all of this turned him on a little bit. or maybe it was because he hasn’t seen you all day? who knows.

you weren’t paying attention to that at all. you were too busy reading stuff about acids and bases, another informations you’ll never use.

after couple minutes, you could feel rafe’s lips softly pressing against the side of your neck, which made you close your eyes for couple seconds.

,,rafe.. i’ve had a bad day..” you said, meaning every word that left your mouth. rafe just smirked lightly, and kept kissing your neck.

,,maybe i could.. make it better.” he mumbled under his kisses, smirk still remaining on his face. his hand moved towards yours, gently taking the notes out of your hand before he placed them on the ground.

after couple seconds he got on top of you, now pressing his lips on yours. his hands were running over your hips, caressing them slowly with his fingers.

,,rafe, not today.. please.” you whispered to him, in between your kisses. his mouth left yours for a while, so he could speak.

,,shh baby you’re clearly exhausted just.. just relax, alright?” he said, before he started kissing your neck again.

you didn’t want to have sex, not after you’ve had like the worst day ever. you also didn’t want to piss him off, but you’re not even in the mood.

you could feel him getting lower, his kisses caressing your collarbone now. meanwhile, his palms were already touching your thighs under your shirt.

you hated that you didn’t like it, that your body wasn’t reacting like it normally would. the only thing you wanted at that moment was sleep. you needed to sleep after this very long and hard day.

you didn’t even realize that he was already shirtless, actually you both were. you were laying under him, just in your black bra and black underwear. when you looked at him with your tired eyes, you could see his smirk widening.

,,you’re so beautiful.” he whispered before leaning closer to you again, leaving kisses all over your chest. when you saw him taking off his shorts, his lips still on your chest, you just lost it.

it wasn’t like you were scared of him or something, you know he wouldn’t hurt you, ever, even when it comes to this. but you just really didn’t want to do it. not today.

rafe was about to kiss your lips again but he stopped when he saw tears on your face. his smirk quickly faded away.

,,please, stop.. please.” you cried out softly, your teary eyes staring on his face. he placed his palm on your cheek, his thumb wiping away your tears.

,,hey shh..shh, i’ll.. stop now.” he whispered to you. he felt so bad right now. he moved next to you and put his shirt back on.

,,baby i.. i’m so sorry.” he whispered, ran his fingers throught his hair. he wanted nothing more than just comfort you and make things right.

,,it’s fine. i’m sorry i just..” you rubbed your eyes, your wet cheeks making his heart ache. he made you cry. oh he felt like shit.

,,don’t apologize baby, i fucked up okay?” he laid next to you, his arm wrapped around your shoulders again. he pulled you closer to him, his other hand went around you.

,,i’m so sorry baby.” he kissed the top of your head, slowly caressing your back. you kept sobbing for couple minutes. he looked down at you when he didn’t hear your sobs anymore, and the view of you made him smile. you’re so cute when you’re asleep.

he kept hugging you, his head lightly pressing against the top of yours. after a while he also closed his eyes and fell asleep.

i hope you’ll like this since it’s quite a short story :) also i’m working on my masterlist rn 🫶🏻

[masterfuldoodler]

If half alive has 1000 fans I am one of them. If half alive has 1 fan, I am that fan

[kyouka-supremacy]

Uhm..................

[electrobiology]

you only get better at writing through writing but how do people think of things to write about....... but that's not even my problem it's how do you turn your thoughts into words....... and how do you make it meaningful.....

[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

I come as bidden to ask for angsty fic recs! :D (Especially if they end good though, I just watched a TV show from which I am a little physically ill of Bad Things Left Hanging) 💛

ohoho yes good you've come to the right place!!! angst with a happy ending is one of my favorite tropes ever tbh, especially including lots of hurt/comfort!!! without further ado~

protective dad Bruce

family-wide angst with a side of character study

Jason and Bruce have very different ideas of remembrance

very angsty Cass fic for the Cass mutual ft. hope and healing

Damian and Jason have met before

the passing down of warmth from fathers to sons not quite their own

pretty heavy Babs character study (this author is REALLY GOOD)

getting shot is a great way to end a family feud (and Tim is a little bit feral for a hot second)

baby Dickie and a field trip gone bad

Damian thinks he's going to die (he's wrong) and Tim won't let that happen

Tim and Bruce and healing

Steph and Bruce get yoinked back in time and they are not having fun

Bruce just needs to see his kid alive

Steph telling Bruce "I think I'm bad" will stick with me forever

a little bit vague and a lot bit sad but everything is okay at the end, for the whole family

Dick and Jason being brothers

this one made me ache a little bit and then healed the bruises (B and the kids and the finite nature of human life)

I feel like this has probably been recced to you already but OUGGHHHH the family feels from Dami's POV... it's so good

this one is actually pretty soft and has a really cool concept (and ten bucks says you can probably guess why the title caught my eye) with Tim and Bruce

Dick is hallucinating his kid and it just might break him

SAD SAD SAD ANGSTY HOWEVER read the endnotes bc everything's gonna be okay

I KNOW this one's already been recced to you but honestly it fundamentally changed something in me. in the back of my mind I'm always on some level thinking about it. I cannot adequately explain just how much this fic wrecked me and how important it is to me. I'm just gonna say again what I told @called-kept after she first sent it to me: for middle children in the Wayne clan, sometimes dying (and coming back) is what it takes to realize how loved they are. (Kept actually pitched this to me with, essentially, "hey you like fics where the others are comforted in near-death experiences by the fact that Jason's already been through it, right?" though not in those exact words. and if i let myself I'm going to write a hecking epistle to you about this so I'm just gonna uh... stop talking now)

so ya know how I'm really emotional about Dick being a parent to Damian?

Jason is having panic attacks

Jim Gordon is SUCH a good dude.

Jason stress cooks/bakes

growing up is hard when you're a bird-themed vigilante

I don't usually go for soulmate AUs but this is a REALLY GOOD platonic soulmate AU (it made me cry)

ANOTHER fic that's made me cry and also the one that made me realize how deeply bittersweet I feel about Dick Grayson

Timberly dealing with being immunocompromised (a word which my phone apparently does not like smh)

brothers grieving together — sad but has a happy ending!!!!!

INCREDIBLY long oneshot (with a sequel that I also greatly recommend!!) with a lot of angst but!!! it does not stay there!!! as is a theme in this list there's also healing!!!! (Tim needs help to feel again. that's ok bc he has brothers.)

dare I say it THE Batfam angst (presumably with a happy ending) fic? I'm slowly making my way through it and AAAAGHJHHH it's SO GOOD the characterizations and relationships and struggles and fears and never giving up... so so good

basically anything by @envysparkler but I have like 90% of her fics bookmarked and this list is already super long so I'm just going to gesture wildly and excitedly toward Envy's AO3 and leave it at that

and last but not least one of the first Batfam fics I read and really really loved. a bird gets a bird of his own and Damian gets a new understanding and deeper relationship with his next-oldest brother

[deer-with-a-stick]

At this point I stay exclusively on this website and Ao3 for fandom stuff but DAMN what the hell happened with the reviews

Castlevania Rotten Tomatos below for comparison

[olympusrox]

no stronger bond than between two people who were online friends and then lost touch

she deleted her tumblr in 2022

i hope she knows i still think about her

[strixhaven]

discord servers love having a thousand channels both vague enough to be incredibly confusing in what you’re allowed to post where and hyper-specific enough that you’ll get yelled at for posting the “wrong” thing in place where any reasonable person would think it belongs

[ei-mugi]

im not a even a fan of the "hellaverse" but i have seen helluva boss and with all the twitter uproar over the hazbin ep4 leaks i went and found a reaction video of the full ep on yt so i could see how bad it really was and. jesus christ. theres certainly analysis of the visuals that could be had regarding the original criticisms but for me the episode was more like... 1. angel dust is the exact same character as fizzarolli 2. hellaverse is never going to break away from writing its characters like a whump fic is it and 3. this is an absolutely horrible portrayal of sex workers. vivienne pleaseeeee get your head out of the yaoi bin and remind yourself of like. women and misogyny. and stop writing all your sex worker/sexually abused (notice how that is grouped together) characters in the same way. sex workers arent all victims who need to be saved from their jobs

[machidielontheway]

i don't want to sing :(

[bmpmp3]

BY THE WAY i have been converted. what are your otome isekai/villainess isekai recommendations pwetty pwease......

[timeisacephalopod]

I watched this two hour long vid on cannibalism in media and I gotta say it was so refreshing to watch 2 hours of content that at no point whines about """"problematic"""" aspects of media like anyone watches CANNIBALISM on screen and decides to EAT PEOPLE about it and then got treated to a bunch of OTHER taboo subjects being brought up in a thoughtful, media analysis way that was interesting and beautifully written and delivered. They've got some stuff on Lolita that I think would be worth the watch because I won't get a 2 hour lecture on how fucking 12 year olds is bad as if the writer of the novel didn't know that and wrote that guy as a fucked up nasty on purpose and it's not the books fault creeps decided it was a romance because they've got piss poor reading comprehension, or movie comprehension, or idea comprehension depending on what Lolita media they got into or even just heard about.

I gotta say after years of "if you READ INCEST you want to FUCK YOUR SISTER" on Tumblr it was a delight for the creator to skip that bullshit and get into what incest in media REPRESENTS. Also no accusations of "glorifying" anything when the definition of that for those that use that term is "depicts X Bad Thing in Any Way I Don't Like (which is EVERY way)." Finally some good fucking media analysis that doesn't try and hand me a lecture about how Murder Is Bad as if people kill people because they watched it on TV one time and it totally altered their entire morality system because that's how these types think "problematic" shit in media works because they're sad little babies who need moral lessons spelled out for them like media for 6 years olds since adults obviously can't be trusted to think Bad Things in media ARE in fact not good.

[i-am-become-a-name]

What's your interpretation of the weird/annoyed look Five gets on his face when Tegan announces that she wants to rejoin the TARDIS at the end of Arc of Infinity? I know it was probably meant to be played for laughs, but it annoys me every time i watch that episode and i'm curious what headcanons people have about it.

My favourite thing I've read about it pointed out that the cybermen specifically used Tegan as a weakness against five, that she's what it took to manipulate him (and through no fault of either of them, Adric's death was part of those consequences.) The novelisation really goes in to the descriptions of the doctor transfixed with the blood running down Tegan's chin from her bitten lip, the building tension as the cybermen get closer and closer to killing her and he's shaking trying to hold himself back from admitting his hearts are so easy to twist, just by threatening his friends. (Does Nyssa ever leave the TARDIS when it's on the spaceship? The cybermen don't even know she exists til they come onboard do they?)

As for why he looks so annoyed? hmmm. Does anyone want someone around that constantly needles them? Really, I think pre Arc of Infinity that even though Tegan had chosen to stay, they still had that power imbalance or even just tension between them that she had not come on board willingly. So five is expecting that to be the continuing, I don't know, continuing manner between them and it hadn't been good. It had its moments (mainly in the audios) but as an arrangement it was not ideal as friends to explore the universe together, all that terrible beauty and awesome monsters.

But it doesn't continue on in that manner - oh they bicker and make faces at each other, sure, but Tegan's conscious decision to step back onto the TARDIS irons out those imbalances, removes that bitterness and the past of her aunt's death. So when he makes that wee face, it's in expectation of the previous status quo. And never let it be said that Tegan's one to do exactly what's expected of her.

Anyway I really hope this makes sense and I may add some more thoughts later but it's 1:50 am Christmas Eve and I couldn't sleep for thinking about this.

----

It's 2am I'm back. I feel like there's also this uneasiness in five about tegan, that mirror that no one likes being held up to themselves. Their similarities but the starkly different ways they express them must be exhausting to five. and here she is back again. To push and prod and challenge and be brashly beautifully glorious. wait. that last bit was the two am shipper coming out. Anyway they draw strength and resolve and anger from each other and Tegan was vital to five, from his first moments till his very last.

[master-gatherer]

The more I think about this whole description the more insane I get:

Text Description:

“Even Systems Alliance Marines Need a Break

Kaidan Alenko might be a badass sentinel marine with powerful biotics that can kick the life out of his adversaries (and commanders who dare to duel). But even this warrior needs a break once in a while. And just like on a sunny day on Earth, a “cold one” in space does the trick. In this Kaidan Alenko statue, you find him seated with his legs crossed, a cold beer in his, and his eyes lost in thought, perhaps about Rahna. His outfit is recreated to perfection, with every little detail from the creases in his folded sleeves to the texture on his pants.”

Okay! So! One by one:

“Kaidan Alenko might be a badass sentinel marine with powerful biotics that can kick the life out of his adversaries (and commanders who dare to duel).”

I just really hate how this is phrased and the word choices in general, but I’m gonna hone in on that parenthetical clause: “commanders who dare to duel.”

Who? Which commander? Because Commander Shepard never dueled Kaidan.

They had a duel/fisticuffs with James. They had a stand-off with Kaidan. But they never dueled Kaidan.

When did they duel Kaidan, Bioware? I would remember if they dueled. I would not shut up about it if they dueled.

“a “cold one” in space does the trick”

I am just fascinated by putting cold one in scare quotes. Like that’s special Mass Effect slang for a beer, and not like... a general colloquialism in the States (and maybe Canada? Canadians let me know.)

(Although if its strictly a States thing that may go a long way to explaining why it’s in quotes.)

Also gotta make sure this ad copy is strictly profesh for our collectible statue of a video game man. Don’t want to get too familiar with potential buyers.

“his eyes lost in thought, perhaps about Rahna.”

I’m not going to go too into this since this is what our little corner of mini-fandom has been focusing on, many others have pointed out the ridiculousness of this.

I will just reiterate what I’ve said elsewhere: whoever wrote this skimmed the fan wiki entry for Kaidan. That is the only explanation I can think of for why they’d name drop a character he mentions twice in the first game, and who is never seen on screen and is mentioned once outside of those particular conversations, if you happen to make the choices to get that dialogue line.

Like the writer was stumped for stuff to put in this description, hopped to the wiki, skimmed the entry about his early life, “oh he loved Rahna, I’ll put that in there, see boss I totally how to weave in game details,” and called it a day. Because I don’t know about you, but if the world was ending around me and I had to fight cyborg zombies all day, I’d be thinking about my high school crush.

The truly baffling thing is this should have been a layup. “His eyes are lost in thought, perhaps about a certain commander....” BOOM! The Shenkos would eat that right up. Particularly since who the fuck else is spending $125 USD on this? You can lean into the romance options on character merch if they’re a romance option. It’d be like if Thane’s body pillow’s description talked about how he missed Irika. Sure, yes, but maybe don’t mention it on the thing you’re selling to people who like to pretend to smooch on him?

Damn I lied, I did go too into this.

“His outfit is recreated to perfection”

Okay this really irked the nerd in me.

This is not his outfit:

This is his outfit:

The outfit he’s in for the statue are the fatigues that Shepard wears at the start of Mass Effect 3:

I don’t know if that has a special name or not, I’m not about that life.

What I AM about are tiny little details like this. You can put Kaidan in that outfit with mods, and he does look good, but that’s not “his” outfit. Hell, his outfit isn’t really “his”, it’s the default casual look for most of the Alliance characters.

It’s not that I don’t like the outfit. I mind that the copy says they’re recreating it “to perfection” and it’s not even his.

Anyway I have had a total of 10 hours of sleep over the last two days (work stuff - don’t ask) and am going to try to rectify that now that this is out of my system. Apologies for grammar/spelling mistakes, again, 10 hours of sleep over two days.