#ch: marcus

[the-bed-gremlins-reading-list]

What are the RO's general attitudes and opinions towards love? Do they believe in love at first sight? How do they tend to act with someone they're interested in? Are there traditional courting rituals as such in this world?

Oooo. Tough one.

I'll start with courting rituals. It varies depending on where you're from. Ithel and Ausones tend to be fairly monogamous as a standard and there's prolonged courtships with outings and gifts and such. Nassenia is polygamous and it's expected to have lovers but the lovers must be approved of by the head of the house (usually a parent or higher ranking spouse) before anything serious happens. After the wedding it'd be expected that any lover be approved of by Lux and given the imperial bloodline in play it's rare for consorts of that rank to be allowed lovers even though the Emperor/Empress can take as many as they wish without so much as a by-your-leave from their spouse. So before approval it tends to be a lot of group outings that can be disguised as Not Dates unless those involved are the sort not to care about ruining their reputation. Khemian marriages are usually arranged by the priests or seers to be auspicious but they're even less concerned about extramarital sex than Nasenii are. Different regions will have their own variations too. The Kimbric Isles don't really practice marriage but it's considered acceptable for guardians to duel and kill anyone with whom their wards are involved with if they don't approve of the treatment or the person or the treatment of any children by their family that the partner has claimed. Courtship tends to be more asking a friend or companion you know and trust if they want a relationship, while commitment is really only truly implied by sharing custody of children or ships.

Lux thinks it is a beautiful thing but that they would never have something that soft. At least nothing that soft that would survive. They mostly get confused by their first affections and that makes them stand offish and gives them chronic foot-in-mouth. Love at first sight is for the sort of happy fools that really everyone should be surprised are still alive.

Rune honestly doesn't think about love until they return to Ausones and the MC is 17 and they just kinda get struck by who they are then. Because were they always that beautiful? What happened to that scrawny brat they remember trailing after them? They are deeply awkward about it, partially because of what they're going through at the time with their new scars and abilities. No thoughts on love at first sight, they gotta keep Auberon from stabbing someone with a bird again.

Marcus believes that some people can have love at first sight. He also knows if that ever happened to him his mother would probably have them murdered unless it suited her agenda so he doesn't hope for it at all. When he starts feeling genuine affection the sparkly prince charming routine dies off and he tries to be more genuinely himself which is much quieter but still kind.

Caerwyn has loved before. He is honestly more shocked by the fact that it happened again every time it does. (Vampire, long life.) He's honestly not much different between lover and friend with how he acts except for the whole being open to kissing and sex. That and he makes long-term promises without blinking or even realizing that he did.

Rossella believes in love at first sight. She just thinks it applies to food more than people. Love in general is a headache (the threat of betrothal to men that she thinks of as brothers soured any thoughts of it), but she's probably the most comfortable jumping in and being flirty. She doesn't plan on asking permission but she needs to be careful about who she chooses to throw her reputation as a perfect and ideal young lady away on.

Robin thinks love at first sight is for books and movies. Good thing that's what FCW is, huh? I'm not entirely sure how she's going to be when interested but so far she's feeling like she's gonna be the most blushy and shiest of the ROs. Mostly she loves love - it makes for excellent stories and songs but she doesn't have a lot of practical experience there.

[sourrcandy]

WTW FEAST OF FRIGHT - DAY #17: SCARECROW: introduce the main relationship(s) in your wip

serafine x kit

kit langley is an assistant intern hired for serafine, who is notorious in the family company to be a relentless mentor

he came into the company terrified after finding out who he was assigned to, but after nearly a year working under serafine, he has come to grasp the way she operates and what to do (or not do) at times

reginald's death spurs kit to step up in his job to support serafine as she transitions to head of the company with opposition from the company board

serafine is also reluctant to introduce kit to the underworld dealings of her family but is forced to after more details and evidence surface from reginald clemonte's murder case

~ more under the cut !

aredhel x marcus

the pair technically first met in the same boring lecture at arkridge city university studying information technology

but marcus literally runs into aredhel on the steps of the acu library, nearly causing injuries to both of them if not for aredhel's quick reflexes that saved them from falling down the stairs

after going steady for two years, aredhel finally reveals her family's secret operations and recruits him to join

following reginald's murder, they team up to secure the round table's power for themselves as they try to leverage reginald's many secrets as tools to achieve their means

maribelle x morgan

morgan practically watched maribelle grow up after she was adopted by reginald clemonte. the older woman was always around the family estate and maribelle always posed an interest to morgan's covert research

maribelle grows attached to her. however, morgan betrays the family after selling information and secrets of the round table to their rivals (kumiho gang, and the gartrell cartel)

morgan was sent into the family's underground labyrinth. despite being the creator of the toxins of the labyrinth, she drove herself insane trying to escape and emerged unstable

maribelle never quite recovered from the betrayal, and when she was sent to intern at arkridge asylum, she is confronted by morgan's presence

after reginald's death, maribelle finds herself seeking answers from morgan, who lets on that she knows more about his murder when maribelle finds crucial evidence in morgan's old office

storm x minhyun

as galahad, storm is used to cleaning up the round table's messes and doing the dirty work. it doesn't help that every time she crosses paths with blackbird that their encounters are marked by heated arguments and physical confrontations purely bc they are from rival organisations

blackbird views everyone under arthur as a subordinate or extension of the round table's influence, especially with galahad's unwavering loyalty to the round table

at reginald's death, sage (storm's twin) sends storm to recruit blackbird. storm blackmails blackbird to get him to agree

as they progress to take claim leadership of the round table, they find mutual desire to challenge the existing power structure while facing her siblings' manipulative strategies

[sedativeunderskins]

when marcus and eli heard about elodie they knew their parents were going to be stressed, especially jackson. they knew julian was going to lose it if elodie died and that was going to stress jackson out. the other night he walked out on the porch and saw eli and autumn were in a close embrace. he didn't see them kiss but he could tell by the way they looked at one another, something was still there. their parents had gone to the hospital to support julian so it was only their kids at the house. when eli walked into the living room marcus put his arm around autumn's shoulder and glared at eli who only smiled and winked at him. "so what are we watching?" he sat down on the couch and looked between the two of them opening a can of beer.

[illbringthechaosmagic]

❝ when i look at you, i see everything i’ve ever wanted. ❞ - Marcus to Leigh

@mosttrusted

“You really know how to take my breath away and make me all flustered,” Leigh replied with a smile, taking a sip of her beer as she gazed over at Marcus. They’d spent the last hour or so tidying up the bar and now, they had time to spare, to enjoy each others company. “You’re too sweet Marcus. I never thought I’d be worthy of love after everything that I’ve been through, but you make me feel like I am. You make me so happy Marcus.”

[highoctanegem]

[A box of deluxe french fry seasoning in a variety pack arrives at Jade’s door, with a signed note.] 

“Hi Bestie, 

As you explore your horizons in the world of french fries, remember where it all started; at the Fryer’s Club! I’ve given you some seasoning in case you want to test around with fry flavors on your own. 

Your bestie, 

Marcus.”

[two-avatars-walk-into-a-bar]

the thing about marcus is that he has a Joker™ persona, hes got a Sick And Twisted Cicle Path™ persona that he uses to do terrible things (like yknow mutilate ppl) but bc said things never leave a scar (as in, anything he chops always grows back, and all the scenes he does are kinda over the top in a movie villain kinda way and can pass as literal nightmares and nothing else) he can separate himself from it. However the moment anyone insinuates that hes still like, a bad person, he gets very defensive, and the moment he starts catching a whiff of consequences and the illusion breaks he'll drop from the face of the earth for some time (and ultimately come back worse 😔💪)

[mxrvelouscreations]

@mosttrusted

Leigh hadn't wanted to go home just yet. While the bar had closed long ago, she had been enjoying spending time with Marcus, talking away as they cleared up. They'd been sat together for some time now, chatting about things that had been going on in their lives, though she had barely been able to focus. Having him so close, she had quickly come to the realisation that there was more that she felt for him than just simple friendship. Though she wasn't sure how he had felt, the words had fell from her lips without much of a thought, hanging in the air as she watched him.

She had been ready to tell him that it was ok if he didn't want to, that she wasn't trying to pressure him into anything. That was until she felt his hand on her cheek, watched as he leaned into her. Feeling his lips on hers, she kissed him back slowly, easing herself into the gesture before bringing her own hand up and resting it against his cheek, trying to keep him close to her.

@illbringthechaosmagic asked: ❛ you can kiss me, you know. ❜ (Marcus to Leigh; @mxrvelouscreations

&. 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐬.

Apprehension lay thick in the air, the two of them sat side by side, talking, chatting away into the small hours of the night after the end of their shift until finally, it had led to a moment where Marcus could've sworn the rest of the world had faded away into nothingness. One look was all it had taken, the closeness, just gazing into Leigh's eyes as he felt the beat of his heart climb higher and higher, battering against the inside of his chest.

Then she said it, as if she'd read his mind. The army veteran raised his hand, gently cupping the far side of her face in a large warm palm as he leaned in. He pressed his lips against hers, clasping them in his as he dared to steal a taste, savouring it, welcoming it.

[texanmarcusdavenport]

Chapter 2 of Like a Sign is out!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/62453446/chapters/162199093#workskin

Summary: Mort Debenham arrived at Davenport Industries headquarters twenty minutes before his scheduled meeting.

[the-bed-gremlins-reading-list]

If you wanted to get the cast talking for hours uninterrupted, what’s your best bet? What subjects are they most knowledgeable/passionate about?

Oh man. That's a good one. We've a very large cast so let me know if I forgot anyone you were curious about!

Let's see -

Auberon is that annoying brother who will absolutely gush about his sibling and not be stopped once he's begun. Less effusively: he also legitimately enjoys cooking and he adores Ausones and is usually happy to talk about home. Just be warned he WILL end up on a tangent about how the year's fishing prospects are affecting his tax calculations and why he wants to murder his ancestors for literally carving a city into a mountain - do you know how much of a pain it is to do road planning when you have a giant cliff between the harbor and market?! He's probably the only of my nobles who legitimately enjoys being a noble because he LIKES handling that responsibility, just he will get caught up about it if given a long enough chance. Modern AU he'd probably end up like a DA or some other kind of politician.

The mentors are all passionate about the areas they teach, unsurprisingly. Not sure if any of them have proper hobbies outside that besides Zaphon and his gardening. I mean, I'm sure they do, just I don't know them yet. I suppose Halli would claim watching Zaphon garden counts, but he'd mostly be joking since he sunburns so easily he doesn't get to linger long.

The Luxes take some prying to get them to open up verbally, though they're more open in letters. They haven't let themselves think about much but their army and how best to take care of the people in it and the empire at large since Octavia's death and they ended up pushed into the role of a Commander earlier than they expected. They do enjoy magic and swordplay but it's something they'll probably only share with MCs that are Viria's or Halli's students. Often if they have any free time it's spent doing whatever their closest ones want to do. When they were younger their favorite thing to do was getting a picnic packed and going riding with their siblings (and whatever guards were stuck watching them) away from all the eyes in court just to be for a little bit.

Marcus is better at pretending he's happy to be focused on but he's a lot like Lux where he's happiest when allowed to quietly exist in the company of those he loves. He likes music, though he doesn't play anything since his mother dismissed the need for it, and loves art. Octavia liked to sketch and paint so she used to bully her siblings into doing it with her. Marcus took to it too though he usually only talks with Rossella about it as an adult.

Rossella is actually happy to talk to, well, anyone. She'll talk about almost anything remotely interesting to people she trusts enough to leave off her Court Persona for. That's mostly Lux or Marc but she's legitimately friendly if you can survive finding out that her greatest joy in life tends to be pranks of mostly benign nature on her loved ones so even unromanced MCs have a good shot at being subjected to her terrible humor. She's also legitimately interested in medicine and healing, and frequently frustrated by her limitations as a court noble - she'd rather be using her gifts where they are needed instead of just quietly making sure that none of the poisonings she witnesses are actually lethal because that's just what Nasenii nobles do for fun.

Caerwyn by virtue of being old AF has gone through many hobbies. Romanced MC's WILL be learning how to defend themselves with knives or daggers, that is not optional even if he has to make you practice using surprise attacks without your permission. That's mostly out of guilt concern but he also legitimately enjoys a spar. He's another one that enjoys talking as long as he likes who he's talking to, but you'll probably need to be prepared to be made fun of. He's rather fond of teasing. He's secretly very fond of reading travel diaries, for all he's lived centuries he's never left Ithel before coming to Ausones, but he's always wanted to just go exploring and so he's fond of anything that lets him learn more or talks of hypothetical plans once he's more trusting.

Rune would really just like the Medulloi siblings to stop giving them headaches. (Not really, they love them both.) Rune is good at what they do - fighting, protection, and all those knightly skills they've learned as a Leleux. (Their relationship with their adoptive family is... complicated. Their father is sworn as a knight to Evil Uncle and Rune takes the oath of fideles to Auberon as soon as they are old enough for it to be allowed. They are loved and love their father too but it's complicated since their father to know that he only lives because Auberon is a better man than his liege had been and refused to betray Rune.) They enjoy reading and usually have something tucked into a pocket or carried around that they can read while waiting around for Auberon to finish committing treason. They also just like company when they exercise. Auberon, Viria, and Halli are frequently running or sparring partners for them as they reach adulthood because sometimes they just have to burn off energy but it's not fun for them solo.

Robin.... Robin enjoys fairy tales, fiction, history, manga, and the bardic arts. She loves music and composing - it's why she's a bard at all. Also meeting new people and seeing new places. She also adores magic but the only kind she can do is the stuff done with enchanted items since she doesn't have a magical Knack (which is very disappointing but who needs magic when you can smile and play music instead?).

[sedativeunderskins]

marcus should have known autumn still loved eli, it was obvious but he was choosing to ignore it. "yeah well losing you to eli is going to fuck me up. you create these problems in your head and throw them i between us when i thought we were happy together." marcus didn't cry often but autumn always softened him and that didn't change even if he was mad at her. "i don't want to dump you but i can't trust you now...especially now that i know you still love my brother. so where does that leave us then?" marcus truly had no idea where any of this was going and his mind was scrambling still thinking about tori.

autumn didn't know what possessed her to have sex with eli, but she did and she ended up loving it. now she was realizing all the damage she'd done. "the threat of losing you to her… it really fucked me up." autumn wiped her tears. "i'm not trying to make this about me. i want to help you guys go find her. i love you. i love- both of you." autumn looked at marcus as tears continued to stream down her cheeks. "if you want to dump me… i understand…" she had been through enough break ups in her life to know one, but it still hurt badly, this one would hurt more than any of the other ones.

[sedativeunderskins]

eli had brought autumn back to his house after she was discharged from the hospital. he wanted to make sure she was somewhere she felt safe after what happened. when he walked into the house with her, marcus was there and eli never told him what happened. marcus saw autumn and he immediately knew something was wrong. "what the fuck happened?" he got up and made his way over to autumn who was clearly in rough shape. "just give me a sec." eli told marcus before leading autumn to his room so she could shower and get herself together. when eli came back out into the living room marcus bombarded him. "what the fuck happened to her?" eli sighed and once he explained everything to marcus, marcus was infuriated. "why the fuck didn't you call me? why didn't you fucking tell me?!" eli shook his head, he knew marcus would be upset. "because i wasn't thinking about anything else but her, okay? i would have called you if we had been there longer." both of them were arguing with one another but eli tried to keep them quiet so autumn didn't hear.

[personae-obscura]

Closed Starter for @resignedworkaholics

It's not been a good week for her. Heavy rain meant people stayed indoors which meant no one to scam do readings for and anyone out and about certainly wasn't going to linger in the rain. Time to resort to more traditional methods. There was a break in the rain, she would have to take advantage now if she didn't want to get soaked and catch a cold. That's fine. She knows how London's crowds work; she was born not far from here.

She shivered, pulling her shawl tighter around her shoulders, before stepping out from the cover she'd found last night and slipped into the morning crowd. Lets see... no point going for the business people or locals; they knew how to protect themselves. No, the best people would be tourists as they didn't know the city's habits and usually carried cash. Easy targets with how loud they were and how little situational awareness some of them had. She wasn't near any tourist spots right now though... that would be a trip this afternoon probably. Instead, she shadowed someone who stuck out to her purely because he was out of rhythm with the rest of the crowd while Alice slipped through it like water through cracks.

It wasn't hard. Look for where his hands were. Look for odd shapes in his pockets and what was easily accessed. All she had to do was slip deft fingers into that pocket.

[fyrewcters]

i think honeydew (02.04) might just be my favorite episode this season. the cinematography is absolutely beautiful and i love learning about marcus.

[two-avatars-walk-into-a-bar]

#i have an entire scene of jon connecting that tim's marcus and elliot's marcus is the same guy and elliot being like#Oh are you gonna tell tim? cmon tell him. see what happens. im sure he'll be grateful to know yet another person he trusts is a monster :^)#jon considers for one (1) second not to tell him but he still does bc he owes that to tim

Oc/canon shipping is nice and valid but what about peppering your ocs into canon character's lives? Tim and marcus were friends that rly hit it off on a random cuisine course they both took and used to see each other regularly a couple times per year (pre danny's death, and then a couple of times after but spaced), until jon (who heard him talk abt him and connected the dots after elliot gave his statement) tells him that hes a flesh avatar, and tim does Not takes it well

Elliot does Not like jon, as previously mentioned, but the time he spends on the institute after giving his statement he follows him around to taunt him. Once they were smoking outside and when jon mentions "doesn't he... traumatize and eat people regularly?" after he mentions how marcus is just this really nice guy, elliots just like "oh, Oh, says the guy who feeds on people's nightmares every night. 'Doesnt He Traumatize And Eat People' dont we all? Grow up"

[paranormal-potatoes]

idk if I'll ever get around to posting my dark parables fics but its important to me that you know john (fairytale detective) eventually dates hansel and they bonded over their traumatic childhoods. hansel with the whole *gestures at hansel & gretel story* and john with his dead siblings who all died in varying horrific ways. also their mixed feelings on their dads. again *gestures at hansel & gretel story* and john had/has an utterly evasive dad who told his son absolutely nothing about his family history at any point even though it would have solved a loT OF PROBLEMS MARCUS

[queenscharacters]

“Jessica told me to tell you to stop being annoying…” Marcus to Zane

“Oh?” Zane arched a brow, feigning a tone of surprise as if this was the first time he was hearing this. He annoyed Jessica quite frequently. He knew the pattern of these moments. He knew Jess wasn’t even a fraction of annoyed with him as one might think she was. Well, anyone but him and Marcus.

See, if he really pissed off or upset Jessica, this wouldn’t even be a conversation that was being had. He wasn’t in the business of actively trying to annoy her. It just came naturally sometimes. Zane was well aware there were days that if he breathed the wrong way around her, he’d earn a very pointed look, completely unapologetically. Regardless of the nuances of their relationship, though, they were family.

And, whether she liked it or not, she was his wife and he knew her like the back of his hand. Maybe even better. He knew exactly what Jess had Marcus referring to and Zane couldn’t even pretend to feel remorseful. “Since you’re playing messenger, wanna tell her that she isn’t a walk in the park either? And that if she really wants to fight with me, there’s way hotter-“

Marcus, bless his heart, gave him an almost identical expression that Jess gave him when she was in disbelief of what he was saying. “She is driving me crazy!” Zane all but shrieked in defense. “And she has the nerve to act like I’m the menace here! She keeps picking fight after fight with me over the dumbest shit! Today I left the fucking toothpaste cap untied - do you hear how dumb that is? Yesterday, I was too hot, Marc! And she was the one who cuddled me!”

All he heard on the other line was laughter.