#i don't want the mari incident to happen again.

[woso-dreamzzz]

Mimic II

McFoord x Baby!Reader

Beth England x Baby!Reader

Summary: You're scrappy

The day that it first happens is the match against United.

It's a home game and you're very familiar with the layout as you sit by one of the girls on the bench on your leash and watch.

Mam, predictably, gets a yellow card and you screech your outrage at the ref no matter how much nice Lotte tries to calm you down.

You think Lotte is an alright babysitter but she's very easy to get to do what you want and you know Mummy doesn't like that sometimes. You think she's told Lotte that too because she's got a tight grip on your leash and doesn't let you wander into Jonas' box to scream like you can usually get her to do.

So, you have to amuse yourself by tearing up grass and getting your hands all dirty.

The game ends with a narrow win for Arsenal and Mummy comes to get you very quickly.

You tug at the buckles of your leash. "Off! Off, Mummy!"

"Sorry, gremlin," Mummy laughs," But you have to be on the leash. You know why."

You stamp your foot as Mummy cleans your hands.

"Mam not on leash!" You say finally," Mam was naughty! Yellow rectangle for Mam!"

You're making a good point. Caitlin doesn't want to quite admit that though. You're on the leash because you're naughty sometimes and Katie definitely did get a yellow card today.

She sighs.

It's not the same at all but, for the sake of fairness, Caitlin lets you win this round.

Begrudgingly and definitely to avoid a tantrum, she unclips your leash.

You look positively delighted and she catches your arm before you go running off.

"Stay where me or Mam can see you," She says," And no biting people."

You nod. "I not bite."

"Alright," She says," Go on, run wild."

You giggle hysterically as you run off. You've not quite mastered running though because you trip a few times before pulling yourself up again.

You wander through the crowd of players until you spot the United keeper that saved Mummy's goal.

That's kind of naughty, you think. Saving Mummy's goal shouldn't be allowed.

The girl's kind of tall and she looks strong. She's wearing a different coloured shirt to the other United girls so you can easily track her through the crowd.

She's talking to Leah too and you know how to recognise Leah.

When people are naughty, you usually like to bite them but Mummy told you that you're not allowed to bite today so you choose the next best thing.

Mam says you're scrappy sometimes. You don't know what that means but you think it applies to this situation.

You creep up behind the girl before slamming the top of your head into the back of her knee.

She crumbles to the ground instantly, folding over like the pieces of paper that Mam uses to make paper planes.

"Mary!" Leah shrieks as the girl rolls onto her back.

"What the fuck?!"

You stand over her and wiggle your finger right in front of her face. You stamp your foot for good measure. "No save Mummy goal! Is naughty!"

"What-? Who are you?!"

Leah's hand pulls you further away. "This is Katie and Caitlin's kid," She says," Gremlin, say sorry."

"No! Say sorry first! Save Mummy's goal!"

Thankfully, this United girl (once she's recovered from her sudden fall) takes it in her stride.

"I'm sorry, kid," She laughs," It was only doing my job."

"Naughty job!" You insist," Not happen again!"

It's not exactly an isolated incident either. It seems after every match, you find some player to fight with.

It freaks most of them out, you think, because they're big and strong and you're tiny but still very capable of getting them to the grounds.

You surprise lots of people like Auntie Macca and Auntie Lanni, who find it all so funny that they send you off to do it to their teammates too.

Mummy doesn't like it though. She says that she's raising a delinquent and Mam says it's the McCabe genes, whatever that means.

You're not stingy in who you attack. Everyone is free game but there's one person that you really enjoy fighting with.

Her name's Beth. Beth England, to be exact because there's already a Beth at Arsenal and this one plays for Spurs instead.

Mam says that Spurs is Arsenal's number one rival and you have to hate them because they play in white and white is a colour you can never keep clean.

Beth England wears the armband that Captain Kim wears so you can easily recognise her in a crowd.

She's your nemesis.

That's a big word that Mummy taught you when you were watching Phineas and Ferb a few days ago.

"You need to be very good if I let you off," She says to you and you nod even though you're lying," I mean it. No fighting with Spurs players."

You lie again and nod.

"Alright, give me a kiss first and I'll let you go."

You give Mummy a big wet kiss and immediately, you're on your way.

Mam joins you on your journey and she demonstrates how to hold your fist if you're going to fight someone. She thinks your rivalry with Beth England is funny.

Mummy doesn't like her encouraging it but she does.

"Nem-sis!" You screech when Mam guides you over.

Beth England looks confused. "Nem-sis?"

"She means nemesis," Mam explains," It's her word of the week."

"Oh, right."

"Nem-sis!" You screech again to regain her attention. "Fight me!"

Beth England clears her throat before mimicking your position and putting up her fists.

You run at her.

You don't think she expects that. You think she thinks you were going to punch her but Mam says the element of surprise is important so you crash into her legs and try to topple her over.

She stays standing and you're unable to move her but you don't stop trying.

Behind your head, Katie smothers a laugh and gives Beth a pointed look.

She nods and very carefully lays on the ground like you've forced her over.

You look triumphant and sit on her stomach to stop her from getting up again.

You poke her right between her eyes. "Arsenal best!" You proclaim," Say!"

"Never!"

"Arsenal best!" You bounce on her stomach to show that she's not going anywhere. "Say!"

"You can't make me!"

"Say or! Or go on leash for being naughty!"

That's it. You've got her trembling under your might now and she goes limp.

"Arsenal's the best!" She proclaims," Arsenal's the best! Don't put me on the leash!"

"Good!" You stand up and wiggle your finger at her. "London red! Not dirty white!"

You run back over to Mam and take her hand.

"I beat Beth England!"

"You did!" Mam says," I'm so proud of you."

"'Cause London red!"

[scoobydoodean]

ppl get mad when dean’s “love” is “conditional”

but don’t blink when others erect “healthy boundaries” and “respectful expectations”

do you think dean is expected to be this idea of perfect, unconditional love in ways other characters are not?

thx

Hey anon sorry it took me a while to circle back to this! I was trying to find a related post for you but I never found it. :(

I don't know if most people expect Dean to be perfect, but I do believe that without realizing it, a lot of people hold Dean to very unreasonable standards and don't believe he deserves boundaries of any kind—including regarding his own feelings. For example,

Dean is often demonized for not trusting people immediately after they have broken his trust (ex: 4.21, 5.02, 5.05, 6.20) in a way fandom would never demonize Sam or Cas for not trusting Dean after Dean lied to them.

Dean is often criticized for not "opening up" to Sam. Not only is Dean under zero obligation to use Sam as a confidant, but the expectation always seems to be that Dean become "ready" to talk on Sam's timeline, and anything outside of what Sam considers to be an acceptable timeline is criticized by Sam and fandom from some cringe pop psychology perspective on emotional health (2.02, 4.09, 13.04). Sam, on the other hand, is never treated as if he is obligated to open up to Dean, and the countless times he says he doesn't want to talk are immediately dismissed as normal and his boundaries are treated with respect.

Dean was criticized by fandom immediately in season 13 for not parenting Jack correctly and not "being there" for Sam. Dean was very clear that he didn't want to be Jack's mother. Dean was under zero moral obligation, at any point, to adopt Jack and treat him as a son. However, portions of fandom consistently—from 13.01—insisted on judging Dean based on a poor "parenting" performance to someone who was not his kid, and who he explicitly stated he did not want parent. Many fans did and still do criticize Dean for not immediately setting aside his grief over Mary, Cas, and Crowley and joyfully accepting a parenting role over someone he had every reason to believe brainwashed his best friend which lead to his demise. (I say all of this separately from how Dean treated Jack as a house guest).

Dean is expected to forgive Sam and Cas on their timelines (season 5, season 15) but if they are angry at Dean, any length of time they might choose to hold things against him—including indefinitely—is justified and often applauded. In fact, you would often find—especially with Sam—fans over and over cheering Sam on for "standing up for himself finally" as if every time of the dozens of times he did that, it was the first time.

Dean is very popularly demonized for not forgiving Jack for murdering his mother. Jack can kill Mary because he was "scared" or "mad" and that's fine but Dean having a single feeling about it is out of line to this fandom. (As an aside—no—I don't think soulless Jack killing Mary was an accident based on how soulless!Jack described it... but either way it doesn't matter when it comes to how Dean is allowed to feel about it.) Mere hours after the incident occurs, Dean is expected to be flowering Jack with love and forgiveness, and the fact that he didn't makes Dean a monster.

Dean is demonized for putting Jack in the mal'ak box and when the episode aired (and again—continuing to this day within the fandom) it was framed by and large as if Dean was the sole perpetrator of that act, while Sam's role was brushed under the rug or fans straight up insisted Dean somehow "forced" Sam to go along with him (despite Sam very clearly being fucking terrified of Jack). Cas, a single episode later, enquiring about putting Jack in The Cage is also completely dismissed. Nobody gives a single fuck.

Dean saying (he thinks privately to Sam) he doesn't consider Jack family after what happened with Mary. I'll make myself abundantly clear: Dean has every right to feel this way. And let's be real—if Sam said he didn't see Jack as family, almost nobody would give a fuck... which goes for everything on this list?

Which brings me to the why of this ask.

Part of the reason Dean is held to different standards is down to some of fandom's desperate need to perpetuate Dean's childhood parentification by holding him responsible for everyone in his life. Because Dean is Mr. Parentified Child, he MUST accept Jack as his child because that's who Dean is—a defacto parent to everyone in his life, destined to be treated like the universe's mommy and then judged for doing a bad job at a task he does not have the power or authority to handle as if he did have that power and authority... and if he complains he's a selfish, cruel, evil monster.

Another reason is Dean's overarching role in the story, as the narrative heart and the hearth of the house. You cannot miss, in SPN, how central Dean is to the concept of belonging somewhere—of having a home—of being loved. I've said before that Dean's love is practically regarded as a human right in Supernatural. Dean really represents the idea of being loved at all—the intrinsic human need to be loved and accepted by others.

Sam or Cas could say they don't love someone, and it would just be taken as a personal opinion with no greater weight or significance. If Dean says he doesn't love someone, that carries a very special meaning to the fans and has a very special impact on the character who hears it. And while it may hurt another character to hear that from Dean... it also is not fair, in any sense of the word, to treat Dean's love as something everyone is entitled to—to deny his personhood and autono-[gunshots]—to act as if he is obligated to force himself to love everyone—as if that wasn't deeply unfair and also literally impossible.

One of the reasons Jack instantly attaches to Dean like a baby duck in season 13 despite Dean's cold, grief-stricken exterior while Sam is standing right there being "supportive" (besides Sam's poorly-concealed ulterior motives) is that Jack implicitly understands that Dean, whether he wants to be or not, is the Winchester family house. In order to ever feel like you belong in that house—like you are in that family—Dean has to love you. Fans also understand this whether they know they do or not. They know it doesn't matter if Sam says "You're family". If Dean doesn't say it—if Dean doesn't feel it—it will never feel real. Because of this, fans feel an entitlement for Dean to bestow instant love and forgiveness on their faves in a way they would never ask that of Sam or Cas... and they also perceive Dean as aware of his unique role and often perceive him as using it to control others or make the family a dictatorship... when Dean is literally just being a normal human being with boundaries and feelings, who did not choose to be perceived in this way, and whose feelings do not simply stop existing just because of this unfair perception of him and how everyone else is tying their self-esteem to him in ways Dean has zero control over... and their needs do not trump Dean's right to boundaries and feelings as just a guy—as just a human being!

[maboroshi-no]

Hamefura Movie Special Episode 2 (Novel) Translation

I Tried On a Dancer's Costume…

Author: Yamaguchi Satoru

Katarina: It really was magnificent!

After saying this, I, Katarina Claes was raving to my little brother and friends about the magnificence of the show we had just seen.

A while had passed since the arrival of the Mutlaq caravan, the occurrence of the incident, and its safe settlement. Since the reparations had settled down, I asked the caravan people if we could watch their magnificent show again. They gladly accepted, so today, I got to watch the show with the boys, who couldn't last time. In addition to the girls, who had already seen it, the boy also seemed completely mesmerized by the magnificence of the show.

Sophia: I feel like it has become even more lovely compared to the time before. I was entranced by that dancer, and her costume really was lovely.

Sophia passionately talked without catching her breath. She looked like an otaku talking about the thing they are crazy about.

The dancer who had approached us happened to hear Sophia's words, and…

Dancer: So you love the dancer's costume! Would you like to try it on for a bit?

…she casually asked her.

Sophia: Can I? I would love to!

After Sophia had said this while pitching forward as if to fall, the dancer laughed and said "Sure."

While we weren't as eager as Sophia, I, Mary, and Maria were also curious about the foreign dancers' costumes, so we decided to try them on together just a little.

The Mutlaq dancer's costume was something that a dancer from Arabian Nights in my past life would wear, so it was frankly speaking quite revealing. When I was a Japanese high school girl during my previous life, I wore things like tank tops and shorts, but ever since I was born in Sorcier, I had worn skirts that didn't show the legs down to the knees and had not been showing much skin, so it took me quite a lot of courage to wear the dancer's costume. But when I tried it on,

Katarina: Wow, I really look like a dancer! So cute.

Because I was wearing a long fluttering veil that went from my face to my waist, I didn't really feel like I was showing skin. I felt like a princess.

Even though the parts hidden by the veil were a bit high-exposure, I felt excited wearing the costume. When I came out of the changing partition screen in high spirits, I saw Mary, who had come out before me. 

Mary: How do I look? I don't look weird, right?

Mary looked terrific as she embarrassedly said this. She was wearing a thinner veil than mine and her clothes were very much see-through, but her voluptuous body combined with the dancer's costume's sensuality brought about an indescribable bewitching sexiness. Coupled with her embarrassed look, it felt like minors wouldn't be able to look her in the eyes.

I didn't know what comment to make at the moment, but then…

Maria: You both look lovely!

Maria came out and said this with a smile. As expected of the legitimate heroine. There indeed was a certain sexiness to her in those see-through revealing clothes and veil, but if I had to choose, I would say loveliness suited her better. And for her to be able to say so readily that Mary was lovely despite all the sexiness she was exuding, she was amazing. I rode her wave and…

Katarina: Yes, you look lovely Mary, really lovely.

…I managed to tell her. Then Maria praised me too, and Mary praised us. We were having this kind of exchange when finally, Sophia came out.

Sophia was incredibly cute. But maybe because I had seen her after Mary and Maria, she had that adorableness of a little child wearing a dancer's costume, and her sex appeal was non-existent. Sophia might have faintly noticed it herself as after looking at Mary's dancer look and hers, she had some kind of distant look in her eyes.

No, Mary is just too abnormal in that respect, you can't compare yourself to her. I wanted to cheer Sophia up since she had lost self-confidence, but what should I do…? Oh, I know! Her big brother Nicol was doting on her, so if I showed Sophia to him, he would praise her cuteness and Sophia's confidence would come back!

Katarina: Alright, Sophia, let's show you to Lord Nicol!

I took Sophia's hand and dashed out of the women's changing space.

Mary: Eh? Lady Katarina, are you going out dressed like this?!

Maria: Lady Katarina, you must put some clothes on you!

Unfortunately, Mary and Maria's voices didn't reach me and I went dressed in my dancer's costume to see the boys waiting outside.

Katarina: Lord Nicol, Sophia looks good in this costume, right? She looks cute, right?

I called out to Nicol like this. Nicol turned towards me, then froze. He remained frozen, not uttering a single word. On top of this, I felt like his face had turned red for some reason. Did something happen?

Katarina: Umm, Lord Nicol, did something…

…happen? But before I could continue,

Keith: BIG SISTER, WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU WEARING?!

Keith blushed and said this with amazing force.

Katarina: Eh?! What I'm wearing? It's a dancer's costume, but… Does it look weird?

Keith: Not "weird", but it is too revealing!

Katarina: Eh?! But the veil conceals things, right?

Geordo: This veil is completely transparent, so we can see what's behind it.

This time, Geordo spoke and pointed this out. His face was somewhat red.

Katarina: Eh? Is it that transparent?

When I looked at myself while in the changing space, I couldn't see behind the veil, but now that I looked again, it was indeed see-through.

Ah, I see. The changing space had been somewhat dim, so the veil had looked mostly opaque, but this place was considerably bright, so now it was see-through. Besides, it was because no one would see me no matter how see-through it was that I tried on a very revealing costume… After remembering this, I suddenly felt embarrassed.

When I looked at the boys once more, Nicol was frozen with a red face, Keith was averting his eyes with a red face, Geordo had a somewhat awkward look and a red face, and Alan had turned his completely red face away!

Looking at everyone's reactions, I felt even more embarrassed and the heat on my face increased.

I returned to the women's changing space at full speed.

Sophia normally came back afterward and said, "Big Brother, I was able to do something for you" and smiled. I couldn't seem to shake off my embarrassment, and on the way back, I couldn't look at everyone straight in the eyes.

--------

(this pic is unrelated to the novel, but I thought it was fitting)

[winterdadandspiderson]

WINTERDAD AU #1

(part one because this got way too long. this is essentially the plot of an old fic i started back in 2020 and what would've happened of i'd continued it. i might try and write it again one day, perhaps, if i don't give up after 2 chapters. anyway here we go)

- mary parker was a shield agent when she met the winter soldier, both were on a mission. they fought, but never got as far as mortally wounding each other. mary would always slip away. it was like a game. bucky had been kept out the ice for a few weeks at that point, running a long job. but the longer he's out, the more he starts to remember little pieces, who he used to be.

- mary feels pity for him, seeing through the stone cold image hydra forged for him, to the person within. they fight. but then they also talk. they keep seeing each other while bucky scouts. eventually one thing leads to another and they develop a relationship of sorts. 

- mary later discovers she's pregnant but bucky never finds out. he's taken back, wiped and put under the ice once more. mary quits her job at shield so she can provide for her kid and keep them safe. knowing full well if anyone in shield or hydra caught wind that she was carrying the winter soldiers child, they'd never be safe.

- she's sad that bucky disappeared again, she knows hydra likely had him wiped and iced again. but she moves on, meeting richard soon after who she tells she's expecting a son, that the father disappeared without a word (technically not a lie) he tells her he'll love him like he's his regardless.

- when her son is born she names him peter james parker (during the few weeks they met, the last time they talked, bucky ended up remembering his first name, mary wanted peter to have at least a piece of him)

- peter ends up looking a LOT like bucky. he has the same shade of dark brown hair, facial structure which shows as he grows. but he has mary's eyes)

- the plane crash was really just an unfortunate incident. peter still goes to live with aunt may and uncle ben when he's seven. and then things go as they usually do in canon. the avengers form, yada yada all that stuff, you know the drill.

- when he's 14 peter is bitten by the radioactive spider. BUT. an important detail here is that due to the expiermentation bucky was subjected to by hydra and the enhancements which altered his genes, some of that, though remaining dormant, passed onto peter. but it didn't really do anything, it was just there. but it did keep him alive after the spider bite. without those enhancements in his blood peter would've died. instead, he gained his powers.

- uncle ben still gets shot, which as usual influences peter to become spider-man. and months after tony still comes along and recruits him to fight in germany. peter does.

- when he briefly faces bucky ("you have a metal arm? that is AWESOME, dude!") neither know so that also goes as normal. bucky is bewhildered by the kid who managed to block a hit with so much force behind it, while also shocked to know that he was just that, a kid.

- now one vastly different thing here is that while the avengers do split for a good year, steve and tony eventually talk and make amends. the avengers reassemble, deciding that they need to put the world before their feud. they're not on super good terms, but they tolerate each other. tony still refuses to forgive bucky.

- homecoming happens during the time where things are still rocky between the avengers so peter still deals with vulture alone. but he does see tony more often, stopping by for lab days to work on his suit among other things, to keep up the "internship" charade. tony grows fond of him, though he doesn't admit it.

its post homecoming where things start to go wrong.

[ask-bad-end-sunny]

(for mari)

i apologize if this is insensitive, but how much of the incident do you actually remember?

"It's not insensitive, don't worry. But, hm...well, I remember quite a lot, up until I...fell."

"...That day, me and Sunny both had gotten up early to practice through our performance a few times before we had to go to the recital."

"All the pressure...really was beginning to pile on at that point..."

"I knew mom and dad wanted our duet to go really well, mostly because they thought something like that would look really good on my application for college..."

"But, that morning...nothing was going right. Both me and Sunny made mistake after mistake while practicing...I was getting so frustrated..."

"...And I definitely said some things that I shouldn't have."

"Before I knew it, Sunny was storming out of the room...and I remember being so mad, I got up and followed him...and kept talking and scolding him."

"...I should have just let him be, but, I was so frustrated and I was panicking because we didn't have much time left..."

"I was so focused on wanting it all to be perfect...and when Sunny threw his violin...I admit, I couldn't hold back my anger."

"Everything that we were trying to do...all that practice, and money, and effort that everyone put forth to buy that violin for him for Christmas...now it was shattered."

"...Sunny tried to walk away again, and...I got in front of him and well...you all seem to know the rest."

"Sunny...I know I apologized before, but...I'm still sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you..."

"And I should have realized that...you were getting stressed as well. That all you wanted was to spend more time with me..."

"..."

"...It's ok, Mari. I forgive you..."

"I...I'm sorry...for everything, too...I should have tried harder..."

"Thank you, little brother."

"But, don't worry, you know I already forgive you for what happened."

"You tried your best, and that was enough."

"I'm happy we got to perform together in the end! I think it sounded wonderful, didn't you? 💜"

"...It did. It was amazing..."

[earlgreygirlfriend]

sunnflower content BIG POST 🌻

first of all, ao3 !! i really just wanted some good, nontoxic sunflower fanfiction because both sunny & basil deserve to be happy after the shit they've gone through! also, i wanted to feel better because BASIL IS CLEARLY HEAD OVER HEELS FOR SUNNY AND HE DOESNT KNOW IT (video by nerdy arty) hdjvhdjvhdn he JUST LIKE ME FR!!

ive categorized them by AU / canoncompliant with additional tags! completed fics are marked with 🌻, long fics (5k+ words) are marked with 💡

canon compliant:

Culinary Conversations by ShardOfHope💡

A Mug of Sundrops in a Wave of Sadness by karma_kalanchoe💡

The First Day of the Rest of Your Life by smiles2m

Suddenly, Sunny by diagnosed_shitposter

Bloom Later by witheredahlia💡

Catch a Glimmer of Your Star by UdonPuddle 🌻💡

au / mari lives:

Secondhand Sequitir by Soppypup💡🌻

He's Impossible by HowardR💡

to bask in your warmth by im_clo💡🌻

Flower Language by mirror_to_the_past💡

hmestwbf by ME (yes yours truly)

next up is yt animatics because uhhh idk i really like watching homo idiots!! i have 🕹️ that indicates the video depicts some omori plot involving spoilers for the game (the accident, angst, etc) or covers the entire game happening.

OMORI MV - Eine Kleine by Bear🕹️

Try Again by eggsoupery🕹️

OMORI MV - Love Me by white_tulips_

Nonsense Speaker by Nerdy Arty🕹️

in defense of sunflower: (major omori spoilers here cw!!)

why are people antagonizing them this badly? seriously i don't get it. they were children when the accident happened and gameplay shows that both of them got shittons of trauma

"what the hell were you guys thinking when you decided to ship two mentally unstable teenagers that participated in the same manslaughter??"

it was an accident. looking at the incident, i firmly believe it was very seriously fucked up, and they weren't in the right state of mind when it happened. consider the situation, the person you love most in the world is gone forever. in this situation, sunny completely closes in on himself and creates headspace. basil on the other hand sees sunny (his childhood best friend and the one he describes as 'perfect' and puts on a pedestal) completely having a mental breakdown. basil panics, not knowing what to do, because both of the people he idolize are gone - mari is dead, a part of sunny died with her. obviously he has a mental breakdown figuring out what to do, too?

obviously we should also consider basil's mental state at this point - pure speculation here, but basil, due to his feminine gender expression, would have been a victim of bullying, and the gang would have been his first friends. and basil photographs things he cherishes. that would mean he sees himself losing his friends when mari dies because sunny is most likely gonna be legally convicted of manslaughter right? in his disoriented, panicked mind, he wanted to protect sunny, the friend he most likely did have feelings for but was unable to admit them due to already being bullied, (that's just my hc dw) and did something that is super fucked up — he did more harm than good, but i believe he was just trying to fix everything back the way it was. we're absolutely going to talk about why Basil knows how to tie a noose, which adds to my point — basil might already have been mentally unwell (no doubt taking more shit from life than one is supposed to) BEFORE he met his friends, and he was desperately trying to salvage what little happiness he had left.

i cannot deny that sunnflower has full potential of being a very unhealthy and toxic relationship, but i might add that the true + secret ending has both Somethings disappear, implying that both of them are capable of healing. thats why i ship them manyyearsafter-canon or AU, bc therapy can fix shit ive seen it myself

ill end this little rant by a comment from j0kerclash on reddit:

Pairing them together is the implication that they are able to completely heal from their trauma, the actual dynamics of their relationship isn't toxic, it was the circumstances of their interactions combined with the context of the event itself. Sunny and Basil aren't permanently fucked up, I'd say it's quite harmful to imply that people are forever broken and can never truly recover. Considering the choices in the game are about confronting, accepting, and moving on from guilt and trauma, the best scenario for both Sunny and Basil, is if they were truly able to let go and not become triggers for each other, which is illustrated by them being unaffected by the potential toxicity of their past.

sorry for the rant! here are some links also defending the ship

if you enjoyed, i also have another sunflower headcannon post

from diagnosed_shitposter

idfk how to link the original text im sorry

this

[pippytmi]

wrote prompt # 9 from this prompt list for wildmoore: “There is actually no downside to acting like we would be dating.”/ “Yes, except the part where people would think I was dating you.”

_______

“Ryan, I need you to hear me out, and don’t say no until I explain.”

It is as enthusiastic a hello as any, and Ryan doesn’t question it; when it comes to her best friend and her antics (the chicken incident of last Christmas immediately comes to mind), Ryan has learned to pick her battles. “Hi, Mary,” she says, and patiently shuts her front door as Mary walks right in. “It’s nice to see you too.”

By the time Ryan has locked and bolted her door, Mary has already begun to mix white wine and orange juice into two mugs. This is not the first time Mary has tried to ply Ryan with alcohol to get her to do something really, really stupid (again, chicken thing), and Ryan wordlessly takes a seat at the island and doesn’t bother hiding her judgment.

“Okay, this must be serious,” Ryan says eventually, as Mary hands her a drink with one hand and then downs her own with the other. “I’m afraid to ask now.”

“First you have to promise you won’t interrupt me until I finish,” Mary says. “Deal?”

“Sure, fine,” Ryan agrees, and she even takes a sip out of her mug as a show of good faith. It’s absolutely abysmal given the fact that she’s just brushed her teeth, and she quickly sets it down.

Mary takes a deep breath and straightens. “I need a favor,” she says. “Or actually, Sophie needs—”

“Oh hell no.”

“Ryan!” Mary gives her a half-pout, half-frown. “You said you wouldn’t interrupt!”

“Well you didn’t mention it would involve Sophie Moore.” Taste be damned, Ryan does need alcohol for this conversation, so she says fuck it and grabs her poor man’s mimosa again. “Whatever she wants from me, tell her to forget about it.”

“Technically,” Mary says, raising a finger in the air, “she doesn’t know I’m asking you. So you can rest assured your little arch-nemesis-rivalry or whatever is still intact. And if you would let me finish, I could actually tell you the situation we’re in.”

“You mean the situation she’s in,” Ryan corrects, and Mary levels her with a stare that Ryan has come to recognize as a wordless bitch, please. “Mary, you know I love you, and I overlook your fraternization with the she-devil—”

“Oh my God, you two are so dramatic,” Mary says. “Can I speak now, or are you going to keep rehashing pointless lesbian drama? Because I’ve aged two years trying to explain that all Sophie needs is a date.”

Ryan just about chokes on her wine.

Mary ignores her spluttering and continues, “Look, Sophie called me because she was invited to her ex’s wedding, and she desperately needs a date. I mean, it’s common practice right? If you go to your ex’s wedding, you need to show up with a hot date on your arm. And normally I would’ve done it, but it just so happens that it’s my sister’s wedding…” 

“Your sister?” Ryan feels like this conversation is occurring underwater all of a sudden. “Alice, or Kate?”

“Kate, obviously,” Mary says. “Alice isn’t gay. Well, maybe a little bit, no one knows what to make of the Safiyah thing.” She visibly pauses, and then grimaces. “So not something I want to remember. The point is, Sophie already told Kate she was bringing a plus one before she found out that Kate was my sister.”

“So she lied. I don’t see why you’re over here asking me to—I don’t even know what you’re asking me to do.”

“I’m asking you to be Sophie’s wedding date,” Mary says. “But not for real, since you two are clearly too stubborn to talk to each other.”

“Hold on, what is there to talk about?” Really, at this point it’s the principle of the thing to hate Sophie Moore, who is stuck-up and standoffish and just a general stick-in-the-mud. Ryan can't be faulted for wanting nothing to do with her.

“Don't get all defensive.” But Mary laughs when she says it, and she holds out the wine bottle like it's a peace offering. “Just think about it, okay? Imagine if it was Angelique getting married and Sophie was your only option for a date. She'd do it for you.”

“No she wouldn't,” Ryan counters, but she needs no deliberation in order to accept a swig from the bottle. “And how do you know I'm her only option?”

“Because Sophie told me she's planning on skipping the wedding since she can't find another date!” Mary cries, and she’s clearly distraught at the very idea; she's worrying her bottom lip insistently, a habit Ryan knows she's trying to break. “Come on, Ryan, please? If not for Sophie, then for me. I really think Kate will be sad if Sophie doesn't go, they're in such a good place now.”

“You’re going to pull the do-it-for-me card now?”

“Yes,” says Mary without a lick of shame. “And as your best friend, you're contractually obligated to do anything for me.”

“Even if I said I'd do this,” Ryan starts, and when Mary squeals in excitement, Ryan stresses again, “Even then, Mary, Sophie won’t agree. She hates me as much as I hate her.”

“Just leave that part to me,” Mary says with all the cadence of an evil mastermind, which means it’s probably time to cut her off from the alcohol.

Thankfully they change the subject to whatever Mary is planning on wearing for said wedding, and Ryan is relieved; if this actually were a serious proposal, she is sure the world would have been ending.

.

.

.

The first time Ryan met Sophie Moore, it had been as ordinary a night as any other.

In a way it was reminiscent of the first time Ryan met Mary; Kate Kane would occasionally DJ at the bar, and Ryan met Mary on the first night she’d come in to support her sister.  Like Mary, Sophie had shown up to watch Kate DJ. Unlike Mary, Sophie had been a total asshole all night. She’d ignored all of Ryan’s attempts at small talk (which was a thing Ryan did with everyone in the interest of tips, it was not flirting, no matter how Mary described it). Then when Sophie’s sister Jordan told her to “flirt back with the cute bartender” (which Ryan still objects to every time she thinks about it), Sophie—who was in earshot of Ryan—replied that Ryan wasn’t her type.

And honestly, Ryan could’ve overlooked all of that. She could have! Sophie Moore had no obligation to find Ryan attractive, or even be polite when Ryan served her, so long as she paid her bill and didn’t cause trouble. But at the end of the night Sophie—still in earshot—had remarked to Jordan that the drinks were subpar, and Ryan was pissed. This went beyond poor consumerism; it was just plain rude! And clearly, Sophie had intended for Ryan to hear it, so it just went to show that Sophie Moore was a snob.

Which is why when Mary comes sweeping into the bar and announces, “Guess what, Ryan—you have a date Saturday night,” Ryan almost drops the glass she’s cleaning.

“Oh no no no,” Ryan hastily interjects, setting the glass aside before she uses it as a weapon. “Do not tell me you actually told Sophie I’d do it.”

“You’re doing your best friend a favor and I love you,” Mary says without a hint of remorse, and she completely ignores Ryan’s slack-jawed response, just happily takes a seat at the bar and lifts a menu as if she doesn’t already have it memorized. “Hey, can you bring me some mozzarella sticks?”

“We’re not open,” Ryan says, snatching said menu back. “Mary. Tell me you didn’t do it.”

“Okay, I won’t tell you?” Mary squints at her for a second. “I’m sorry, did you or did you not say you’d do it if Sophie agreed?”

“I said Sophie wouldn’t agree, even if I said I would.”

“Well she did agree, and I said you would, so…” Mary looks far too expectant for a dead woman walking. “I think it’s time you two buried the hatchet anyway. This isn’t Family Feud, you know. I feel like the child of a divorce sometimes.”

“You’ve never watched Family Feud in your life, have you?” Ryan shakes her head. “You know what, forget it. I just can’t believe you right now.”

Mary gasps. “You listened to me explain! Are you seriously acting like I’m springing this on you?”

“You made me listen to you!”

“Okay, I feel like you’re missing the point here, Ryan.” Mary says, “Which is why I am trying to promote healthy forgiveness.”

Ryan narrows her eyes. “Did you rehearse that?”

“Forgive me for caring about two of my friends finding mutual respect,” Mary says dramatically. “I guess I’ll just tell Sophie that you flaked, and that she’s going to have to return the dress she bought, and my dad will be devastated because he loves Sophie more than all of us combined…”

“You’re seriously trying to guilt-trip me now?” Ryan groans, and she stares longingly at the bottles on the shelf that she can’t consume. “Fine. Fine! If this really means so much to you, I’ll pretend to tolerate Sophie. But you’re going to have to lend me something to wear, because your family’s too rich to be around.”

“Thank you thank you thank you!” Mary beams, throwing her arms over the counter to drag Ryan into an uncomfortable half-hug. “And did I mention there’s an open bar?”

“Well damn, you could’ve led with that,” Ryan says, and Mary swats her with a newly-stolen menu.

“So does this mean you’ll get me mozzarella sticks now?”

“No, Mary, we are still closed.”

.

.

.

What does one wear to a date with the devil?

Ryan ponders this once, then twice, and ultimately goes with the black dress stashed in the very back of her closet that she bought for a funeral she never attended. It’s not fancy—modest enough to wear in a church if that was her thing—which suits her just fine. The last thing she wants is Sophie getting the impression she’s trying to dress up for her, or anything.

She is pairing her casual outfit with some silver hoops when her phone rings. It’s Mary, for the hundredth time today. For as desperate as Mary made Sophie sound, Sophie hasn’t made an actual effort to make sure Ryan was coming; no, that honor is apparently all Mary’s.

“Hi, Mary,” Ryan says, putting her on speaker so she can toss her phone to the side. “What’s up?”

“Hey! I just wanted to call and make sure you’re not escaping out a window right now.”

Ryan has to bite back a scoff. “I'm not a fucking runaway bride,” she says. “Wait. Unless this is all some sick, twisted way to get me married to Sophie Moore and you're lying about your sister's wedding.”

“God, you're the most dramatic person I know.” There is rustling on the other end, like Mary is shuffling through paper. “This is why I did not rule out jumping five stories to get out of this.”

“That’s a very tempting offer now that you mention it.”

“Ugh, you’re going to be insufferable all night, aren’t you?” More rustling. “Okay I did actually have a reason to call you this time. I sent a car over to your house—the driver said he’d get there in fifteen minutes. You guys will stop to pick up Sophie on the way.”

“How romantic,” Ryan quips. “Just me, Sophie, and our Uber driver.”

“Come on, I had to make sure you didn’t kill each other before the wedding even started,” Mary says. “Just be nice to the chauffeur. There’s no amount of money in the world that I could pay him which would compensate him for sitting through your drama.”

“Of course, I’ll be a saint to the chauffeur.” Ryan rolls her eyes. “This might be some pretentious rich people shit but I do have manners, you know.”

Mary exhales. “If I hang up,” she says, “will you promise to behave?”

“Really? That is a serious question you're asking me?”

“I need a yes or no answer,” Mary remains stubbornly steadfast.

A beat. “...yes, I’ll behave.”

“Then I will see you at the party. Love you bye!”

Ryan shakes her head to herself. “Bye,” she says to absolutely no one in particular. Well, disastrous situation aside, she makes the most of her fifteen minutes of freedom: she finishes her makeup, takes a quick shot of vodka for liquid courage, and makes her way downstairs to wait for the car so the driver doesn’t have to deal with the conundrum that is her apartment gate.

The chauffeur is a nice, older guy who holds open Ryan’s door and doesn’t try to make her talk. Instead, he plays jazz music and remarks ever so often about traffic and the weather. The vodka is doing just enough to make Ryan relaxed until, well…they reach Sophie’s door. 

As much as Ryan will fight tooth and nail to admit it, Sophie Moore is unfairly attractive. She emerges in a fitted orange dress, hair swept over her shoulder, and with a grim expression that Ryan can’t even take pleasure in when she knows her own face is practically a mirror.

���Hi, Ryan,” Sophie says stiffly.

“Sophie,” Ryan acknowledges just as formally. And then, they sit in complete silence.

Their chauffeur undoubtedly picks up on the tension; he checks on them from his mirror once or twice, but doesn’t ask if they’re okay, he just plays his music louder. When they arrive at the venue, Ryan pops open the door before he can even walk around to get it, already itching to escape.

Sophie lets him open her door, though, and she tips him even though Ryan knows Mary has already done the same ahead of time. Begrudgingly, Ryan can respect that. 

“I…wanted to thank you,” Sophie says once they’re alone. “For doing this.”

Ryan shrugs. “Well, Mary asked me to,” she says. “So.”

Sophie purses her lips. “Either way,” she says, in a manner that is clearly quite annoyed, “I appreciate it.”

“Mm-hm.” Ryan watches as other guests steadily trickle past them, and she sighs, ready to accept her fate. “Should we go in?”

“Yes, but…” Sophie stops Ryan with a hand to her shoulder before she can actually walk inside. “Can you at least try to look like you want to be here?”

Ryan blinks. “What? Am I not believable enough for you?”

“Not if you walk in there like I’m leading you to a guillotine, no,” Sophie replies, brow crinkling. “You know, there is actually no downside to acting like we would be dating.”

“Yes, except the part where people would think I was dating you,” Ryan huffs, and Sophie’s expression twists into an offended glare.

“Why did you agree, then?”

“Because there was a whole thing with Mary, and—” Ryan stops before she’s ahead. “It doesn’t matter. I showed up, didn’t I?”

“Yeah. Thanks,” Sophie mutters without any sincerity, and Ryan follows her inside dreaming of that open bar.

.

.

.

Ryan meets the bride just as she’s two drinks in, a third flute of champagne raised to her lips as Sophie not-so-subtly elbows her to pay attention.

“Hi,” Kate Kane says, holding out her hand which Ryan belatedly realizes is for her. “Nice to finally meet the elusive girlfriend.”

“Yes, we were starting to think you didn't exist,” Alice, the other Kane sister, chimes in; she's staring Ryan down with an eerily searching gaze, and Ryan subtly shifts closer to Sophie.

“Well, here I am,” Ryan says, unsurely resting a hand on Sophie's waist. Sophie clearly isn't expecting it, because she starts, throwing Ryan a sharp glance over her shoulder.

“How fun,” Alice says gleefully. “What a nice big, happy family we’ll become. When are you two getting married? I can officiate now that I’m ordained.”

“Alice,” Mary hisses. “You can’t just ask people when they’re getting married.”

“Why not? This wedding is basically a parade of Sophie’s exes. If Ryan doesn’t marry her after all this, it’s a waste of a date.” 

Ryan twists to look at Sophie at the words “parade of Sophie’s exes.” Sophie, at least, looks adequately mortified. 

“She’s kidding,” Mary laughs, high-pitched and nervous as Alice just shrugs. “Hey, we should go take a picture with Dad. Just the Kane sisters! Wouldn’t that be nice?”

“Okay, but if I have to hear another passive-aggressive rant about the ceremony, I’m going to kill myself and everyone in the room with me,” Alice’s voice fades away as Mary frantically shoves her (and Kate) along.

Sophie clears her throat. “So that was my ex,” she says. “Kate, I mean.”

“Yeah, I figured.” Ryan should be taking delight in the way Sophie is clearly uncomfortable, but in a strange turn of events, she can’t. In fact, she feels kind of bad.

“I need a drink,” Sophie sighs, and Ryan wordlessly holds out her glass. Surprised, Sophie eyes it up and down, but accepts it all the same. “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.” Ryan cranes her neck to peer at Mary, who is indeed wrangling her sisters towards Jacob Kane. “Hey. Question: Mary said that Jacob Kane pretty much loves you?”

Sophie half-coughs, half-sputters her next sip. “That’s…not entirely accurate.”

“But not untrue?” Ryan quirks an eyebrow, and Sophie’s shoulders slump like she’s lost a battle she hadn’t begun.

“I used to work with him,” Sophie confesses. “That’s how I met Kate. I guess I was kind of his favorite employee or whatever, but—that was a long time ago. It’s embarrassing.”

“You don’t strike me as someone who gets embarrassed easily,” Ryan notes, and Sophie tilts her head, pursuing her lips like she has to think about it.

“Maybe,” Sophie finally admits, “but showing up today dateless would’ve for sure hit the limit.”

Ryan nods thoughtfully. “So that’s why you were so desperate to bring me,” she says. “Even though you don’t think I’m your type.”

This time, Sophie fully chokes on her champagne. “W-what?”

“You don’t have to pretend.” Ryan rolls her eyes. “I heard you tell your sister that. I’m not, like, offended. It was still rude, but—”

“I didn’t know you could hear us,” Sophie says, and in a perplexing turn of events, she looks quite apologetic about the idea. “I didn’t mean it. I just…said it to get my sister off my back.”

“Oh.” Even as the words sink in, Ryan’s brain can’t seem to form a rational response to this information. Or stop the fact that when Sophie bites her lip in anticipation, Ryan’s eyes are automatically drawn to Sophie’s mouth. “I thought you kind of meant for me to hear it.”

“Is that why you think I’m an asshole?” Sophie blinks. “Seriously?”

“Well why did you think I was so mad at you?”

“I thought you just had a problem with police!”

Ryan sucks in a breath. “Oh, no, I definitely do. I guess my reaction was warranted.”

“Real mature,” Sophie says, narrowing her eyes ever-so-slightly, but there’s a hint of a smile on her lips so Ryan knows she isn’t taking it personally.

“No, for real, do you still work with the police? Because this is so not going to work if you do. My acting skills can only go so far,” Ryan says.

Sophie scoffs. “You’ll survive,” she says, and twists to peek back at the busy bar. “Should we join the line for another drink?”

Ryan follows her line of sight and resolutely shakes her head. “I have a better idea.”

.

.

.

“You seriously brought a flask to a wedding with an open bar?”

“If you’re going to keep complaining, I’m going to take my whiskey elsewhere,” Ryan threatens half heartedly, but she gets a heady rush when Sophie tilts her head back to take another drink, and knows then and there she’s going nowhere else besides this coat check closet.

“I feel like I’m in high school,” Sophie says, passing the flask back; her fingertips brush against Ryan’s for longer than necessary. “Was the hiding necessary?”

“Duh,” Ryan says, taking another sip. “Mary would never let me live it down if she saw. She’s already given me so much shit about—” She pauses, not sure if she should continue, and Sophie gives a disbelieving laugh.

“You really didn’t want to be my date, did you? God, you’re so petty.”

“Fake date,” Ryan corrects her hastily. “And you seriously can’t blame me when you were the one being rude as hell in the first place.”

“But it wasn’t really what I thought!”

“Oh so I am your type,” Ryan challenges, and Sophie looks away, blushing.

“Look. I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean to bruise your ego.”

“That is the worst apology I’ve ever heard.” Ryan feels the whiskey like liquid warmth, settling right in her chest, and she grins when Sophie groans. “Come on, Sophie. I’m going to make you work for it.”

“Fine, I’m sorry for…being rude. Even if it was a little white lie and you weren’t supposed to hear it.” Sophie holds out her hand for the flask again, and Ryan is feeling magnanimous enough to let her have it. 

“Still not the best, but I’ll take it.” Ryan leans her head against the wall and sighs, a little sleepy and a little tipsy but otherwise quite content. “You know, you’re not that bad. Even though you don’t have an actual chance with me since you work for the Gotham PD, I think we can be friends.”

“Oh my God, I don’t even work for them anymore,” Sophie says. “I’m—between jobs.” Ryan watches her wince, like she hadn’t meant to say that out loud, and Ryan closes her eyes and just hums.

“Been there,” she muses. “Mary saved my ass by getting me a job. If you want some pointers, I’m sure I can make a bartender out of you.”

Sophie gives a huff of a laugh. “My mom would actually die if I told her I was training to be a bartender.”

“Hey, it takes a lot to do what we do,” Ryan says. “Not many people can perfect the art of a Long Island Iced Tea, let me tell you.”

“Except for you?” Sophie is already sitting close to share the whiskey, but when she turns to whisper this teasingly, Ryan is struck by how close their faces are. Like if they shifted even two inches, their noses would be brushing.

It takes Ryan a beat to recover, but she manages: “Obviously. It keeps all the customers coming back.”

Sophie’s mouth twitches like she wants to laugh again, but she settles for a smile, amused and plainly unconvinced. “I’ll have to take your word for it,” she says, and she turns away, their closeness vanishing in an instant. “Do you think anyone is missing us?”

“Mary probably assumes I’ve killed you by now,” Ryan says. “But everyone else probably thinks we snuck off for a hookup.”

“At someone’s wedding?” Sophie sounds positively scandalized at the idea. “That’s…crazy. And us? Do we give off that vibe?”

Ryan watches Sophie squirm and finds it, strangely, very cute. Fuck. “I don’t know how to tell you this, but, couples generally hook up. And weddings are pretty much the #1 place where they do it. I’ve seen it happen.”

“Because you go to so many weddings, or is this just a statistic all bartenders know?”

“Don’t hate the player,” Ryan says, waving the flask to make her point, and Sophie finally breaks down into real laughter.

“Oh, God,” she exhales afterward, “what time is it? I think you’ve somehow managed to keep me at this wedding longer than I wanted to. I had a plan to stick around for like an hour or two just to be nice, but…”

“But I’m just that great of a date, I know,” Ryan says, if only to make Sophie blush again.

“Fake date,” Sophie says pointedly. “Remember?”

Ryan bites her lip. “Right,” she says, and just as Sophie is shifting like she’s about to stand up and ruin the moment, Ryan blurts out: “But what if it wasn’t fake?”

Sophie freezes. “What?”

“We could make this a real date,” Ryan says, heart working so hard it feels like it’s about to race out of her body. “If you wanted it to be.”

“Seriously?” Sophie’s mouth falls open slightly, and she says nothing else, just looks at Ryan with those big brown eyes and heart-shaped mouth agape.

“Unless I’m really not your type and you’re just trying to save my feelings,” Ryan tries to quip, but as Sophie seems to struggle through every conflicted expression known to man, Ryan’s hopes fall into the pit of her stomach. “You know what? Never mind. Obviously that’s not what this is and I’m—” She blindly shoves her flask back into her jacket so she can stand.

But before she can even get away (and fall into the beckoning embrace of the open bar), there’s a hand tugging her back down, and then Sophie Moore is kissing her. It’s a rushed, chaste kiss during which Ryan is definitely too stiff, but it does the trick; Ryan stumbles right back down, and Sophie jerks away, fingertips curled into the collar of Ryan’s jacket without letting go.

“You were talking too much,” Sophie breathes, and Ryan nods at her dumbly.

The only thing her brain can possibly formulate a thought for is: “Wait, so this whole time I really was your type?”

“Shut up,” Sophie says, and when she yanks Ryan back in for another kiss, Ryan is already leaning in at the same time, kissing Sophie as well as her smile allows.

(She’ll have to thank Mary for this later. Much, much later).

[robbno]

Good morning.

Want some sad in your coffee?

When I was a very young lad, I had a favorite move I watched over and over again. None other than: "All dogs go to heaven".

It had everything. Well animated scenes, wild humor, a deep story, some weird stuff with a big pinch of scary stuff. It had what I craved.

I watched the dubbed Swedish version, so I didn't know much about the English actors, except that the kid actor to Anne-Marie (Judith Barsi) was snuffed out by her alcoholic father. A true tragedy indeed and hit me in a strange way.

Then a friend to me dropped this bomb this morning when we randomly started to talk about this movie.

Apparently the rumor goes, that the child actress had finished all her recorded lines before she ended up in front of a gun while Burt Reynolds (the voice actor for Charlie the dog) had some left to record after the incident. This happens to be the touching scene when Charlie says good bye to Anne-Marie before returning to the afterlife. It's said that it wasn't acting when Burt said his lines. When he heard the recording of the actress that's been like a niece to him for the last three years, he nearly broke down crying for real.

I don't know if this rumor is true. It sounds too perfect for a sad story.

But it didn't change the fact that I once again felt the heavy blanket on my shoulders thinking back to these people I respected so much as a kid.

Jeez...

[aelfgyvaa]

re: your post about anne boleyn merch, would be interested to hear your thoughts on the musical "six"!!

I think we were always gonna end up here eventually. To briefly summarise? I have pretty much nothing but distaste for Six.

Before I get into it, let me just say - I don't care if you like Six. If it makes you happy, that's great, I respect that. I'm not trying to tell anyone that they can't or shouldn't enjoy it, just that my personal opinion of it is... negative, to say the least.

TW - In the discussion below, I do mention child loss and child sexual abuse

────────────

The very first song in Six promises that the show is going to explore a different side of the infamous six wives of Henry VIII, rejecting the popular narrative ('Get ready for the truth that we'll be revealing'). However, it only seems to succeed in retreading the same ground we've been going over for literal centuries. I'm sure a casual viewer of Six could certainly learn something new about these women from the show - if, that is, they'd never really known about them in the first place.

To start, I'll go over some of the gripes I have with each individual representation of the wives.

Catherine of Aragon

First off - did no one pause to think that a jokey throwaway line like this in an upbeat pop track might have been distasteful when discussing a woman who lost five children?? No? Ok. Catherine had four miscarriages or stillbirths, and lost her son Henry when he was little more than a month old (and from what I've seen, none of this is mentioned at any point).

'Kiddy-less' is just obnoxious.

Anne Boleyn

In her character description at the beginning of the script, Anne is described as 'a bubbly, fun-loving gal who only wanted to snog a sexy guy'. At another point, she is referred to as 'The temptress'. Right. So we're just sticking to the exact same reductive portrayal of Anne that's been circulating forever? Cool, cool, very revisionist.

The only person who confessed to an affair with Anne Boleyn was Mark Smeaton, who did so under torture, and his story didn't even align with known facts at the time. Portraying Anne as a flirt is not 'revealing' the 'truth' - it's quite literally repeating the narrative that saw her executed.

The script and the song lyrics are littered with jokey references to 'losing your head' and I just??? Apparently, the beheading of a real person was the opportune moment to slide in a blowjob joke. Sorry, didn't realise that her execution was funny - my bad I guess.

Jane Seymour

Six seems to want to give us the impression that Henry VIII's affection for Jane Seymour, the only one of his wives to give birth to a surviving son, was reciprocated by her. Which is... certainly presumptive.

Of course, I can't definitely say anything about her personal feelings, but the fact that Henry married her eleven days after Anne's execution, and that she was reportedly sympathetic to Catherine of Aragon and Mary Tudor, paints an interesting picture of their relationship.

Other than that, there's not much to say about Jane - but that in itself isn't great. She comes off as flat, and little more than a doting housewife-esque stereotype. I understand that she was only queen for a year, but... go girl give us nothing?

Anne of Cleves

Once again... this is just so lazy. Considering one of the two writers/composers for Six studied revisionist history at Cambridge, the revisionist narrative we were promised at the beginning remains entirely absent.

The first time Henry VIII met Anne, he burst in unannounced, in disguise, and kissed her without consent. I don't know about anyone else - but if I had just arrived in a new country, was not fluent in the language, and had never seen the man I was to marry before - I'd be freaking the fuck out if that happened. Henry seems to be one of the first people to ever call Anne 'ugly', which only happened after this incident wherein she was clearly unimpressed by him. Very convenient.

Katherine Howard

Sigh...

Yeah, I hate this. I hate it so much.

Accounts are definitely murky, but I think it's safe to say that Katherine Howard had a childhood marred by sexual abuse. Whilst she was a ward of the Duchess of Norfolk, Katherine had a 'relationship' with her music teacher Henry Mannox. We don't know exactly how old Mannox was (Six puts him at 23, but yeah. We don't know), but given that their 'relationship' reportedly took place around 1536-ish, Katherine would've been about thirteen. There's an acknowledgement of this age gap in Six, but it's pretty gross how flippant it is.

Her alleged 'relationship' with the Duchess' secretary Francis Dereham is also referenced with similar thoughtlessness.

Given that Katherine was most likely still a teenager when she married Henry VIII - and when adultery accusations resulted in her execution - the pretty blatantly sexual tone with which she is presented is incredibly uncomfortable and, frankly, super inappropriate.

Katherine Parr

First off - fucking pardon? Speaks for itself, really.

The first half of Katherine's song focuses on her relationship with Thomas Seymour as opposed to Henry VIII. Which, y'know, it's nice to move away from Henry, although Thomas Seymour is very much not off the fucking hook (child groomer👍).

Katherine's song is definitely the least blatantly offensive and/or boringly repetitive of the bunch, and I do appreciate the references to her writing (although it is pretty much thrown in without any context). To be honest, she's pretty much got the only characterisation that I'm not actively opposed to.

────────────

Six claims to be a feminist, revisionist retelling, and yet in its first scene immediately pits the six women against each other by deciding to compete for who is the 'best wife' by... comparing trauma? Even when Katherine Parr's character questions this, she's mocked by the other characters.

There's an acknowledgement towards the end of the play that comparing the women and defining them by their relationships with King Henry is reductive - but frankly, by this point in the play, the damage has already been done. No half-assed 'Hey maybe we shouldn't compare ourselves after all!' is going to erase literally everything else that happened in the show prior to this. I don't care that you've decided to pull a complete 180 right at the very end, you still populated the rest of the show with disrespectful jokes that made light of the traumatic experiences of VERY REAL PEOPLE.

Six fundamentally fails at its introductory promise of revealing any sort of 'as yet untold' history surrounding these women. Worse, it arguably dehumanises them, reducing them to a group of dancing, singing, jokey fictional characters who reflect on the misery of their real-life counterparts with a disconcerting sense of humour. Instead of fulfilling its feminist framing, it falls for the tired, repetitive method of thought that presents these women as two-dimensional placeholders.

I read Six's entire script for this post, and honestly, I hope I never have to look at it again.

[dovesandmagpies]

More thoughts on literature (mostly history books) because it turns out I have a lot of thoughts on this subject. I feel like this got away from me slightly, but anyway.

When I was a child, I read many history books and historical novels (not much has changed really). Because most of these books were for children they tended to edit out things that were not considered appropriate, sometimes to the point of near incomprehense.

Once I started reading less violently child friendly history books, I quickly became adept at spotting where previous history books had failed to mention things. Maybe a book about the Wars of the Roses ended with the focus characters living "happily ever after" and not "being executed by the Tudors for being York-ists" maybe a book about Marie Antoniette ended with her being crowned Queen and not being guillotined (side note, why are there so many books about Marie Antoniette? She is boring, I have read 3 books about her and every one has failed to convince me that she is even a quarter as interesting as her mother, a person I have found 0 books about and am still very annoyed about it (really, all I currently want in literature is a really good book about the War of Austria succession and the 7 years War, surely there's one out there somewhere)).

However, not all vaguely worded things in children's history books are the author attempting to hide something inappropriate. One of my history books informed me that "France lost the Franco-Prussian war, Napoleon III was even captured! "

As Napoleon III was never mentioned again I drew the logical conclusion that he must have been killed in a truly horrific manner and my history book was trying to distract me from it by talking about other, admittedly interesting, things such as the em's telegram and why WWI happened.

But recently I remembered this incident in my history book and thought "I wonder what did happen to Napoleon III?" so I looked it up,

What was the fate so terrible that it could not be mentioned in a book that explained what being "hung, drawn and quartered" meant?

It was.... To go to England.

Napoleon III after his dethronement, retired in exile to England.

Oh the horror.

I do find this very funny, was one sentence explaining this just too much?

Anyway, as someone who can now read "grown-up" history books I find it really hard to find books on things I am interested in. I don't want to read about WWI, WWII, the roman empire, the renaissance or the Tudors. Currently I want to read about history between Elizabeth I and Napoleon because stuff must have happened in non-English speaking places, but good luck finding anything at the local libraries.

Certain time periods are just more popular and I understand that, but I also want to fill in the gaps in the giant puzzle that is my understanding of history, not read another book on Tudor England.

Sorry if this makes no sense it was very late when I wrote it

[astrasrebloggedfics]

Satoru Gojo Series

Mari-The-Bimbo's-Ex husband! Gojo Masterlist

Remember Spring Days Masterlist

-Indulge Me

-Onsen Incident

-Say yes 2 Heaven

Undercover At A Florist Shop

-Part 1, Part 2

Like Father, Like Son

-Part 1, Part 2, A Baby?, A Daughter, Pictures of Geto, Drabble (Naoya Wants to Fuck Gojo's Wife)

SoulSwap

-Part 1, Part 2

Ex-Boyfriend!Gojo

-Part 1, Part 2

Gojo x Itadori sister! Reader pt.1

-Gojo x Itadori! sister pt.2

Delusional High School Gojo

-Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Streamer!Gojo

-Gojo's Fangirl

-Gojo Can Spoil You Better

-Yes I Have A Girlfriend, Yes She's Real

-Kisses Can Turn Him Into A Mess

-Flirting with a Rival

-Beginner's Luck

-Kissing While Still Streaming

I Want To Kiss You

-Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

Who is She? (Kyoto student!Reader)

-Part 1, Part 2

Steps

-Part 1, Part 2

BF! Gojo

-Part 1, Part 2

Gojo's Wife

-Pt 1: Phone Call, Pt 2: What? You're Married? And You're a Dad?, Pt 3: You Want to Adopt Me?, Pt 4: Let's Have Another Baby

After What Happened (Angst)

-Part 1, Part 2

Promise

-Part 1, Part 2 Angst Ending, Part 2 Happy Ending

You Cryin'?

-Part 1, Part 2

Maybe In Another Life (Angst, Geto x Reader)

-Part 1, Part 2, Part 3,

What If's, To Be With You, Meeting You Again

Things That Don't Work Out

-Part 1, Part 2?, Part 3?

Bully!Gojo Falling In Love With You

-Part 2

Sensei

-Shush, We're In The Library

High School Bully

-Part 1, Part 2, Part 3? (Drabble)

Wanna Be Yours

-Wanna Be Mine

Snapshot Pt. 1

Snapshot Pt. 2

Snapshot Pt. 3

Snapshot Pt. 4

A/B/O

-Part 1, Part 2

Confessing To You in Your Sleep

-Part 1, Part 2

Jealousy

-Prequel: The Night We Met

Love Language

-Part 1, Part 2

To-Be-Ex-Husband

-Part 1, Part 2

Take Me Back To Before

-Part 1: Take Me Back To Before

-Part 2: I'm Here

-Part 3

-Part 4

What You See, I See (Soulmate AU)

-Part 1: what you see, i see

-Part 2: where you go, i go

-Part 3: you know i adore you

-Part 4: i'm crazier for you

-Part 5: baby, you're the life of the party

-Part 6: something's made your eyes go cold

-Part 7: It's You And Me

[dessarious]

Misconceptions, Miscommunication, and Misinformation Pt105

So I tried to put my tag list on this and it keeps giving me an error about too many characters in the text block (did it even before I pasted the draft in) so I'll try to figure out where the problem is before I post anything else.

Beginning   Previous  

"Mari, look at me, sweetheart." Her Papa's voice made her blink. When had he come in? She looked over to find him kneeling next to her, worry written on his face.

"I'm sorry, I was thinking, what were you saying?" Everyone around her was exchanging looks. That couldn't be good.

"Mari, you were completely nonresponsive for close to fifteen minutes. Why don't we go upstairs and talk?" That explained the looks, at least.

"It's okay, I'm fine." She couldn't really place the look on his face.

"Maybe so, but it's been a long time since we've spent any one on one time together. I thought we could talk, or even just play UMS."

"Feel like being taken down by a little girl, do you?" That got a shocked snort, before he laughed. Really laughed. It felt like it had been a long time since he'd done that.

"Only by you, sweetheart. But, I might surprise you. I've been practicing." He whispered the last part with a conspiratorial wink, and she giggled.

"You're going down, old man." He laughed again, and she realized how much she'd missed it.

"That's my girl. Let's go make sure you live up to that confidence." He picked her up, and she caught the worried frowns from everyone else before he carried her upstairs.

"I didn't mean to upset you Papa. I really was just lost in my thoughts." The smile he gave her was understanding, though a bit strained.

"I know, sweetheart. I just wish you would share more of those thoughts with us. You've always taken after me with the way you internalize everything. I want you to know that you can talk to us about anything. We understand why you had to keep certain things secret, and may still need to sometimes, but we'll listen to everything you're willing to say."

"I don't want to worry you. I've already put you both through so much." All the things that happened since she took down Hawkmoth were bad enough, but she'd been causing them problems far longer. Her Papa set her on the couch before kneeling down in front of her again.

"Mari, we're your parents. Worrying is part of our job. Being there when you need us is part of our job. Your job isn't to make us feel better or tiptoe around our feelings. Hawkmoth is gone. There's no chance of me overeating and locking you in a tower of thorns." She couldn't help but giggle at his dry tone. "We want you to be happy, and we want to help you. Not to mention, what hurts the most is feeling like you're pulling away from us." His voice cracked and tears were threatening to fall from his eyes.

"Oh, Papa. I'm so sorry." She tried to pull him into a hug, but he grabbed her hands instead.

"I'm not trying to make you feel guilty, and I know that children grow up and leave the nest. Of course, we weren't prepared for it to be this soon, but that's beside the point. We just want to support you, but we can't do that if you don't let us back in."

"I just... I didn't want to make things worse for you. All of this happened so fast and I know you haven't had a chance to process it all yet. I didn't want to make things harder for you." Her Papa just rolled his eyes.

"I'll say it again. We are the parents. Honestly, the less information we have, the more we worry. Not to mention, we know you too well to believe that everything is fine just because you're smiling. I know we haven't been as present as we should have been in the past, but we wanted to give you space. If I had any idea what you were actually going through, I would have done something."

Mari felt herself wince. She knew that both her parents would have helped, but it wasn't a chance she was willing to take after the Weredad incident. She honestly was afraid to even think about what her mother would have been like to fight.

"I thought I could handle it on my own. I didn't mean to seem so distant." He was rubbing his thumbs along her knuckles. "Do you think I should forgive everyone?"

"Define everyone." His words had a hard edge, and it took her a moment to realize he was probably thinking about Gabriel.

"Did Chloe tell you about our run in with Nino?" Her Papa nodded. She figured she had more than enough time to tell them when she was trapped in her head. "Is it fair of me to blame them for being weak-willed enough to let others make their decisions for them? Isn't that the same as blaming Hawkmoth's victims for what they did?"

"It's not the same, Mari, you know that. Hawkmoth's victims were completely taken over. Once he was in, they were no longer themselves, and they didn't remember anything after. Your classmates let themselves be led. They let someone else make decisions for them despite everything you've done for them. You don't owe anyone forgiveness. At the same time, it's not healthy for you to hold a grudge. If you want to cut them out of your life entirely, I wouldn't blame you, and we'll support whatever decision you make. Be more cautions in the future, but don't let what happened fester inside you and turn you into a different person."

That made sense. It wasn't about forgiving, or even forgetting. It was about learning from the past, but not letting it determine your future. She should be able to do that. Right? She finally managed to lean in and hug him.

"Thank you Papa. I promise I'll be more open."

"We love you sweetie, and we'll be here for you, no matter what happens." They stayed that way for a few minutes before he pulled back. "Now, are you ready to take on your old man?"

————————————-

"I warned you." Mari's voice was smug as she looked at her father's confused expression.

"I know you haven't had time to practice. How are you beating me this easily?"

"Ladybug reflexes." The dry look he sent her said that was bullshit, but she just shrugged.

"In that case, I need to teach Chloe how to play and see if she can beat you." Mari giggled.

"You just want to teach her so you can win again." He rolled his eyes but she could see the smile trying to form. "You should offer, though. Chloe's parents never really taught her anything. I think she'd like having you or Maman teach her something, even something small. But maybe you could suggest teaching her how to cook or bake. I think she'd be happy you trust her enough to offer." Her father started muttering, but the only words she caught were mayor and catacombs. Probably for the best.

"You think she'd enjoy cooking?" He sounded a bit skeptical, and she could understand why.

"I think she'd enjoy learning to be more self sufficient. But once she has the basics down, I think she'd actually like cooking itself. It's a part of life that's fairly easy to control. What?" She wasn't certain what to make of her Papa's frown.

"We need to find a way to get you both into therapy, and keep Chloe away from her parents as much as possible." Well, she could agree to the second.

"Papa, you know that therapy isn't a good idea. What's the point if we constantly have to lie or tell half-truths? But I think Selina plans on running interference with Chloe's parents. She really doesn't like them."

"Well, I'm glad someone's on her side that actually has the power behind them to do something." He muttered for another minute. "But there has to be something we can do about therapy. You both need it, and I'm not just going to ignore that. There has to be a way. Have you talked to the Kwami about some sort of magic that would make it so the person couldn't talk about what you told them?" It was her turn to frown at him.

"I don't like the idea of taking away someone's freewill, even if it's just a little bit. It's not something I want to get comfortable doing." Tikki popped up in front of her.

"What about a memory spell? If they go to talk to someone about anything you and Chloe have told them, they'll lose all memory of talking to either of you." That was better... sort of.

"That might work, but how do we find someone that can deal with both sides of things? I mean, it's not like anyone specializes in secret identities."

"Technically, the Justice League does have someone for that, but I doubt they'd agree to take you on as a patient, given the current climate there. I know someone who could do it though, if you'd be okay talking with a former rogue." Mari jumped. When had Selina and the others made it upstairs?

"You mean Quinn?" Damian sounded skeptical, at best.

"I do. Even you have to admit that she and Ivy have gotten better. The only time they did anything big in the past two years was that factory that was completely destroying the habitat for some endangered plants, and Ivy did try to go through proper channels first. She only escalated when it was obvious people were being paid off to look the other way." Damian grumbled at her, but otherwise didn't disagree.

"Quinn? As in Harleen Quinzel?" She'd studied other heroes and their villains extensively in the beginning, trying to find someone she could ask for help. Fu had nixed the idea as soon as she told him, but she'd gotten a lot of information. Damian nodded at her. "I'm not sure that's a good idea. She's made a lot of progress and I don't want to be responsible for making her regress."

"Well, you see, that's the thing. If she and Ivy were to come here, we could keep an eye on them. Not to mention it would take them out of that toxic environment. So really, you'd actually be helping them heal as well." Mari wasn't certain what to make of the look Damian gave Selina when she finished. It did make sense though.

"Are they even allowed to leave the US? Or be in France for that matter?" Damian didn't sound like he was protesting, just confused more than anything else.

"Neither one of them has any active warrants out, and surprisingly enough, they've never been charged with anything in France either." That got looks from just about everyone.

"Can they be trusted?" Mari looked to Damian for the answer.

"You can always do a failsafe so they can't talk to other people about you, or wipe their memory if they try. But I know they are in possession of information that could be disastrous if it were to get out and have kept their word to keep it to themselves."

"I suppose we could try."

"Great! They'll be flying over with Barbara." Damian raised an eyebrow at Selina.

"My father agreed to this?"

"Not yet, but he will."

"Is this one of those 'better to ask forgiveness than permission' things?"

"No, this is more of a 'get him to think it was his idea' thing. Don't worry, I've got this." Mari was certain Selina's confidence was well founded, despite Damian's dubious look. She just wasn't certain how to feel about therapy now that it wasn't an impossibility. When she looked at Chloe though, her partner just looked relieved. She'd quit her other therapy when she found out Mari was Ladybug, for fear she might say the wrong thing. Given everything that happened since, especially with her parents, Mari was glad she'd get that outlet again.

Beginning   Previous  

[ecklipzs]

Let's Talk About Omori!

PART 1 - The 'Incident'

Honestly, I have no idea where to start as Omori and it's story is so beautifully complex and carefully written- and I want to be able to write and express my ideas about it without leaving out the small details that makes Omori what it is and mischaracterizing any of the unique characters. (which is extremely common in this fandom) Just know that I am not an expert in any way possible, I'm just a silly little omori fan wanting to write about their interests. TW: talk of death, suicide, and violence.

Mari & Sunny

To start this off, I think we should talk about the history behind Mari and Sunny. Using what we were shown in Final Duet and Basil's photo album, Mari was likely a leading role in Sunny's life- introducing him to music and his friends. Since it's obvious that Sunny doesn't speak a lot, Mari probably did most of the speaking for him. Despite not showing his emotions clearly, we can assume that Sunny cared for Mari and trusted her a lot. Multiple times in the game, Mari was described as having a 'bad knee'. If you go to the tree house in RW and interact with the baseball bat, it'll tell you about how Mari quit softball due to a leg injury. (i don't know if this is accurate i pulled this from the omori wiki) This makes me think that music might've been Mari's last resort, angry and upset with herself (as we can assume that she was a perfectionist) and devoting all of her time into music- eventually pulling Sunny in with her.

The Recital + Mari and Sunny's Stress

As I said before, Mari was probably a major perfectionist. When proposed with the (likely Mari's) idea of a recital, this stressed Sunny out- as I fully believe Sunny had some major stage fright- and caused him to lose focus, and make mistakes. This might've stressed Mari out a lot as well, trying not to be upset with Sunny though she wanted the piece to be perfect. This led Mari to overworking Sunny until he eventually couldn't take it any more.

The Incident

Finally, it happens. After what I think would be weeks of overworking, Sunny snapped on Mari. I think Sunny was likely extremely burnt out and ended up telling Mari about his stress and other feelings about the recital, to which Mari responded with offense and maybe even anger, causing Sunny to feel as if his feelings were being invalidated. This quickly escalated the situation, Sunny getting angrier as they began to argue- before walking out on her. At this point, Mari was probably PISSED, believing that Sunny was throwing away everything that she worked for. This became a lot more literal when Sunny threw his violin down the stairs, breaking it entirely. This likely sent Mari into a full on fit, leading her to lash out on Sunny. This is probably when it got messy, Sunny feeling invalidated and offended, and Mari feeling as if her dream was being taken away from her once again, just like softball. Now, I fully believe that Sunny didn't mean to push Mari anywhere but away from him- but whether or not that's true- we don't know. Maybe, Sunny meant to push her down the stairs, but I think that's very unlikely. And do you remember how I told you about that knee injury Mari had? I believe, this probably played a major role in Mari's death, as many people could've survived this fall- even if they did end up with extreme injuries. Moving on, I think Sunny most likely didn't even realize what happened for a few seconds, but when he did he was probably sent into a major shock. This would also explain some of his actions, such as dragging her to the bed as if she was asleep. (not sure if this is what really happened or not, but it was shown in the photos of the incidents) Though it could be that he didn't even know she was dead, I think he knew, and was just clinging on to the slim possibility of her being alive.

Basil's Role

Basil's role in this situation is a tricky thing to talk about- as we don't know a lot about what he was thinking or feeling. The only information we can pull from him is what we were shown. So, I'm gonna start off with just that. I think that Basil probably didn't see the argument that led up to Sunny pushing Mari, and only walked in when things began to escalate. His main goal at that moment was probably trying to keep Sunny calm, and safe- though a part of him was still concerned about Mari. (i'll go into a lot more depth abt this in my basil analysis i plan on writing) This could explain why instead of calling the ambulance, or the police, he decided to do what he did- staging Mari's suicide by hanging her in Sunny's backyard. I believe that Basil was driven by his abandonment issues and extreme fear of ever losing Sunny. (basil and sunny's relationship was definitely very codependent) Instead of focusing on Mari, he focused on Sunny- which led him to something he would regret.

The End

yippie!! i'm done!!! even though this is purely self indulgent i hope anyone who reads this enjoys this bc i spent way too much time thinking abt it. im praying that i'll have as much motivation i had when writing this when i go to write my basil analysis- anyways...

by the way this was NOT beta read

bye bye!

[sparklingmusicofstars]

Hamefura bonus story : "I want to see the merchant caravan show again."

(This is a story about when Aaqil and his friends are still there cleaning up after the movie version of the Sacred Beast Incident)

"Come on, have it."

I, Catarina Claes, said this to my usual friends and my adopted brother, and offered them sweets and tea.

"Wow, are these Mutlaq's sweets ?"

Sophia asked, her eyes shining.

"Yeah. Yesterday, when I went to check on everyone in the caravan, I bought a lot."

Some time has passed since a merchant caravan arrived from a foreign country called Mutlaq, and a major incident occurred in Sorcier.

I was concerned about them as they were busy with post-processing, so I went to check on them. I bought a lot of sweets that were being sold at that time.

I was told, ``Don't worry about the money, just take them with you,'' but I made sure to pay because I knew they would need some supplies from now on.

I bought a lot to wish the caravan to do their best, but I ended up with more than I could eat by myself, so I asked everyone if they would like to consume them at a tea party. I thought it wouldn't be possible since it happened yesterday, but I'm so happy that everyone came together.

“Did you go to the caravan alone, Catarina ?”

Geordo asked with a somewhat dark smile.

Hmm, Is he in a bad mood ?

``As soon as I thought of it, she was already gone before I knew it. It seems like she even had dinner together with them over there.''

When Keith said that with a troubled look on his face, Geordo let out a sigh.

“Ah, they said it was okay because we were in a difficult time , so I didn’t eat that much or stay long enough to bother them .”

I hurriedly denied it, thinking that he thought I was being rude by intruding at such a difficult time. However,

"Big sister, the problem is not there."

"Yes, it's not there. The problem is that you went there alone, Catarina."

The two said so and shook their heads. The problem is that I went alone.

“Maybe you two wanted to join the merchant caravan ?”

I thought that was what they meant, but they shook their heads again. Eh, then what does they mean ? 

“I wanted to go again.”

Sophia said that with sparkling eyes. Her breath was also a little harsh. Maria also spoke up.

“I would also like to hear more about Mutlaq’s sweets and dishes from the merchant caravan.”

Last time, Maria was listening intently to various things. And Sophia's otaku blood was completely awakened at that stage. 　 I was completely fascinated by the show as well. It seems that Mary thought the same thing,

``It was such a wonderful space. I would like to go there again if I could.''

She said with a smile and a hand on her cheek after listening to us.

"I'd like to go too. I'm sure there's an animal show or something."

Alan said that with an excited face like a child's. Come to think of it, no one but the girls got to see that wonderful show.

"Yes, the animal show was amazing. But the singing and dancing were also really wonderful."

I gestured to the boys who weren't watching and told them how wonderful the show was. The other girls also added on and talked about how wonderful it was and what attracted them.

After listening to the story, Nicol was the first to speak.

“I’d definitely like to see that.”

His face was expressionless, but his eyes were sparkling.

"That's right. It's really interesting to hear you talking about this," 　 Keith said with an interested look on his face.

``That's right. If things continue like this, we won't be able to see it. I want to see it.'' 　 Alan agreed with them and started chanting ``I want to see it.'' Seeing his younger brother like that, Geordo made a suggestion while smiling bitterly.

``We still have some post-processing to do over there, so it might not happen right away, but once things calm down, how about we ask them to perform the show in Sorcier again ?''

"Can we do something like that ?”

I wanted to see that show again, so I leaned over and listened.

``I can't say for sure until I check with them, but I don't think they'll let us down if we pay them properly for the request.''

`"Then, we might be able to see that show again. I'm so happy. Thank you very much.'' 　 I thanked Geordo, the person who came up with this idea , with a smile.

``No, no, I'm interested in that wonderful show, so it's fine. However, Catarina, from now on, let's refrain from going to the caravan alone."

After saying that , Geordo muttered something in a low voice.

"I'll be in trouble if you seduce an another person .'' `

"What did you say, Prince Geordo ?''

``Nothing, I'm looking forward to the show.'' `

"Yes.'' 　 Then I thought about the wonderful show I might get to see again.

[ggomos-maribat]

Fight for the Throne: Battle

Part 5.4 of Heirs Apparent | AO3

Masterlist

CW: violence, blood, childhood trauma

Danny's current fear was that his sudden absence was going to rattle the Ghost Zone and the Observants would appear out of nowhere to escort him back to work. He'd soon rather reveal his ghostly side to the three Parisians than have the eyeballs show up in the base. CW should be keeping them from doing that at least, he thought, if he knows what's going to happen.

He looks back at the group, rubbing his middle where he was previously shot. "Please don't fault Marinette for lying to you," he finally said to them. "And don't think that everything you know her as is a lie. She's a good person—just raised around the wrong people. I get that you have doubts but I'm sure she'll come clean after all of this."

He focused on the blonde boy, Adrien, in particular. If this incident is going to lead to their break-up, ancients, his sister was going to burn the League down.

The three didn't say a word, maybe still in the middle of processing everything they had heard so far. Danny stretched his arms and legs. "Okaaay, since we're all familiar with each other now, I think Adrien's due for a shovel talk."

"Seriously?" Chloe sputtered. "Aren't you like, even bothered about being trapped in here?"

Danny raised an eyebrow. As if you weren't just complaining about your hair earlier. He mustered his most innocent smile, folding his arms at the back of his head. "Well, no, 'cause it's useless to have negative vibes around here and we have nothing better to do anyway than talk."

The short girl, Alix, let out a light chuckle.

"So . . ." Danny pinned his gaze on Adrien again and saw him visibly gulp. "That shovel talk?"

"Right, uhh." Adrien smiled nervously. "I—I love Mari . . ."

"Mmm hmm."

"And I'd like to hear her side and . . . and honestly I just want to see her safe right now." The boy raked a hand through his hair. "I'd never do anything to hurt her and I've committed myself to protecting her during err, the attacks."

Danny nodded his head, humming. "I know amira wouldn't settle for anything less anyway."

"What does that mean? 'Amira'?" Alix asked. "Sounds like Arabic."

"It is Arabic. Means 'princess'," Danny answered, "She was the princess of the League."

Adrien's lips parted in recognition, forming an 'o'. Danny briefly recalled Marinette mentioning how one of his nicknames for her was 'princess'.

"I think you're pretty cool, Adrien. When it comes to the shovel talk, it's our brother you want to watch out for actually." A mischievous glint sparkled in Danny's eye. He knew just then that his eyes had momentarily turned toxic green. "He'll bring his katanas when he talks to you."

"Damian Wayne?"

"Yup, that one."

Static fizzled in the air, making Danny stiffen up. A cold gasp was threatening to escape his lips but it wasn't quite there. A portal's about to open up. He moved towards the corner of the cell where the view of any watchers would be blocked. He summoned a tiny portal to intercept the incoming one and used his other voice in a low tone.

"S̴̥̤̪̙̰̦͌̎̌̆͂̃̈́ͅẗ̸̢̫̥̒a̷̦̠̲̓̒̽̉̇̊̕͝ỳ̶̩͈̰̗͍͑͐̌̆̓͜ ̴͎͙̣͊ả̴̛͓͚͈̈́̏̽̂w̶̳̹̤̿̔̈́̔͐̏̃͘ͅǎ̴̻̪̐͊͆̓̇ȳ̸̰͔͓́͜͜ͅ ̶̢̙̊f̸̡͋̎̇͘r̸̡͔̖̱̗̤͒͆ơ̵̙͉̘̰̙̼̈́͂͛͋̌̎ͅṃ̴̧̛̻̳͉͑̈́̊͝ ̴̛̞̼͍̮͋̋͌̑m̴̛̺̫̜̲͍̦̣͐ỷ̸̢̱̻̙̯̫ ̸̬̙̬͊̈́̎̿͠l̴̘̳̭̈́̌̍͐̿̀́ơ̸̡̧̢͉̗͓̖͋̾̃̿c̷̙̻̖̣̥̄á̴̯͓̓̅͂͆ṫ̸̠͖̘̠̯̯̈í̶̡̀̂̊͌ȍ̵̻͚͆̎͛͝n̶̲̗̂̉͋̾," he threatened, "Ḏ̸̡̢̨̧̧̻̈͋͒̀̃͜͝͠ơ̴̝͚͈̩͚̤̪̍͆͑̂̕ ̷̞͙̳͙̗̤͍̔̔ͅn̶̲̥̘̻̹̒͜o̵̡̡͇̩̓̒̑͝͝t̷̯̝̜̬͙͉̍͊̃̂͋͌̚ ̷̱̪̙̣͎̈͂̍͂́͜c̵̩̍o̷̜̳͚̘̭͗̋m̴͔̓͛̐͂͊͠͝e̸͔͙̟̞̼̟̍̊̈́̀̋͌̏͘ ̵̯͍̞͎̜́͜u̸̖͖͍̳͇͛́̄͜n̴̛̙͚̺̈́́͛͆̾t̶̘̗̞̼͛ì̵̧̨̥͎̏͌́͘ḻ̴̃̍̋̅ ̷̨̢̫̓́ͅĮ̷̯̟͉͓̦̳̎ ̷̡̠͈͕̬̺̞̑̃̽͒͝ą̷̽̄̿s̷̛̰̺̭̫͈̀͆̅̔ͅk̸̨̩͓̜̯̲̬̒̿͝ ̶̧̢͇̞̖̀̏̏̇̚͜f̷͖͉͉̌͐̅͌͆̏o̴̡̞̼͓͈̳͗́̈̂͝͝r̶̞̦̲̋̿͆ ̷̻͖͗̌̈̕̚͝y̵̼͌̽̍o̴̗̒̍̏́͆̕͠ű̴̫̯͍͔͕̀͐̈̎̕͘."

He closed the portal instantly, mumbling, "Creepy fucking eyeballs."

And when he looked back, the Parisians were staring at him in different versions of horror. "Okay, come on, there's probably an akuma that's weirder than that." He crossed his arms pouting. "And . . . no, as much as I would like to, I'm not telling my whole life-death story as long as we're in here. You guys can just pretend you didn't witness that."

---

The sun dimmed and the sky soon faded into black as the day passed. They were brought just enough food to ration, but other than that, the League had kept them inside their cells. Soon, against her wishes, Marinette began to doze off.

"You shouldn't have done that."

That was what Damian had told her right after her first kill. Her hand shook around the knife as she walked behind her brothers.

'You shouldn't have done that'? She had worked with her blood and sweat in training and that was all he could say to her? She grit her teeth, breathing heavily.

Looking at her brothers' backs enraged her more. She was now one of them, but they didn't want her. Screaming, she lunged for Damian, tackling him to the ground and raining blows that he attempted to dodge. "What was I supposed to do?!" She yelled, hot tears at the corner of her eyes. "What was I supposed to do?!"

Damian was stunned into speechlessness as her tears dropped onto his own cheeks. Danyal only stood nearby, head held down. They probably thought they failed to save her from the worst kind of life. But their responses were hell for Marinette.

The scene melted into something that else—Marinette was Ladybug, all grown now, and was facing the ruins of Paris. Instead of burning chaos like she always pictured, the devastated city was a shell of itself, desolate like the places she'd gone to for a mission. She was the last soldier standing, and the akumas that had caused all of it . . .

A tightness erupted in her chest. Sobs wracked her whole body, followed by an unnerving numbness beneath her skin. From far away, she could hear a voice but couldn't make out what it was saying.

She curled in on herself, screaming, letting out what the city's terrorist had denied her for years. Somehow, she wasn't enough, she wasn't the heroine of Paris like she was supposed to be, she was the one who failed to save her people.

"Marinette!"

She jumped back into half-consciousness and found herself still shaking. Jason came into view, who was holding her while she fell apart. But instead of pushing him away, she clutched his shirt more tightly and let herself cry out loud and drain her tears.

She didn't care how pathetic she seemed, how pitiful it was despite putting up an act the previous day. Tim and Dick's expressions were unreadable: maybe it was grief, or guilt, or confusion, or sympathy, or panic. Marinette figured that they saw the ugly trauma crawl out of her, a kind of mirror to their own experiences.

Though their reactions told her that hers was much, much worse.

"Are you okay?" Jason asked in a hushed tone, pulling away the sweaty strands of hair from her face.

Marinette nodded mutely and pulled away. Jason returned to his brothers. No one uttered a word but they were still staring at her.

She pulled her lips into a fine line. "What, never seen a traumatized kid before?"

The boys could only radiate with concern—it seemed like they wouldn't say anything.

Marinette wrapped her arms around her knees. "Do me a favor: when you finally get around to researching about me, make sure you have the right information." She blinked and gazed emptily at the wall. "Then maybe you'll understand."

---

Damian noted the worry in Jazz's eyes when he pushed his portion of food towards her. "You should eat," he told her, "You don't know when the next is going to be."

"What about you?"

"I've suffered worse."

Her face twisted in a way that looked like she was imagining what that 'worse' looked like. But despite her efforts, he refused to take his food back and only opted for the cup of water. He knew she was starving as well, but didn't want to show it too much.

"So, we're here because this 'League of Assassins' wants one of you to take over, right?" Jazz pushed back her hair as she ate.

"Yes, I believe so."

She frowned. "Does it really have to be one of you? Why not choose someone else?"

Damian clicked his tongue. "I do wonder that myself. The problem is that they only consider us worthy because we've been trained by Ra's. I think they're missing something here if they didn't stop to consider that we actually don't share his ideals."

"Also . . . if you're here with me, who do you think Danny's with?"

"If the situation is a switch-around, then Danyal must be with our sister's Parisian friends, and Marinette is with my brothers." Now that he considered it, Marinette with Dick, Jason, and Tim was a recipe for disaster. Secrets were going to be exposed left and right: his brothers would be prying into Marinette's issues and it was only a matter of time before Danny's presence as a king would be needed.

The morning passed more quickly than the previous day. Assassins came to their cell for the second time, not to hand them food but to escort them out. He and Jazz were being taken to opposite directions, and he couldn't bring himself to strike just yet because they had her.

So he moved along the path, pulled along by two assassins, and plunged into the darkness.

---

What Damian noticed while going through the halls was how much of a maze the place was. It didn't help that he hadn't stepped foot in the base either—it would be tricky to navigate the escape.

He was led down a staircase and into another room where the escorts left him. The room was a tad bit larger than the cell, filled with weapons of every kind including his own. At the opposite side there's an opening barred by metal bars that could be unlocked by a lever. Peeking out, Damian saw that it led to the arena he spotted from the window of the cell.

He walked towards the wooden table that held his katanas. So this is it. The fight.

He picked up the twin weapons and stuffed other smaller ones in his possession: knives, a small handgun, shurikens. After packing up, he looked towards the gate.

See you soon, akhi. Amira.

---

The day was officially coming to be one of the worst days Jason Todd ever had. When they were finally getting out of the cell, they were taken into a series of winding passages and into what looked like a viewing deck for the arena. Other assassins had taken Marinette away—she left them with a stern warning not to do anything rash.

We have our hands tied. Great.

The other hostages were in viewing decks, too, close enough for Jason to make out their faces but too far to communicate with them. They were located higher up so it was difficult to drop down to the bottom without a grapple. In a higher viewing deck, there was a group of cloaked figures, maybe the elders who will be spectating the battle.

He stood near the ledge, looking over the dusty fighting arena. A part of him worried about Marinette especially after that breakdown she had. Something told him her triggers originated not only from her childhood.

The metal gates opened not long after. The three League heirs slipped out, each carrying different weapons. Damian had his usual katanas, and their other brother (Danyal, if he remembered the name Marinette mentioned) had a crossbow and a sword. Meanwhile Marinette . . .

"Is that a rifle?" Tim rubbed his eyes in disbelief. True enough, Marinette had a gun hoisted over her shoulder.

"Won't that, I don't know, be bad for mobility?" Added Dick.

He wasn't wrong. It was a large empty arena with no obstacles or structures to climb over. If there was a fight going on, they'd have to constantly move around often to attack and dodge. Jason only hoped Marinette knew what she was doing.

The triplets moved to the center to talk but their conversation couldn't be heard from their spot. The gates opened again, this time welcoming hordes of assassins. The three wasted no time positioning themselves back-to-back in defensive stances.

"It's a test," Jason mumbled.

"Like if their assassins skills are rusty?" Tim asked. Jason only shrugged in response.

The fight began with the sound of a horn.

Jason focused on Marinette first, curious about her next moves. She had strapped the rifle to her back and opted for a closer range combat, armed with blades. Right off the bat, he could see that her fighting style was deadly. Sharp. Jason could almost liken it to Cass' movements. But if Cass' fighting was like an art form, a dance with her opponents, Marinette's was extremely flawless—she never made a wrong move, no unnecessary actions. By League standards, she was a perfect soldier.

Next, his gaze wandered off to the other boy, Danyal, who looked like a near copy of Damian. His fighting was more fluid, as swiftly moved around their attackers to deliver his own blows. When Damian was in combat, he was more aggressive, like a blazing fire. Danyal on the other hand was a shadow, a trick of the eye.

What Jason found strange was the uncanny calmness that washed over him whenever he watched Danyal.

The battle was in the triplets' favor so far. Jason shuddered at how well the three worked together, aside from their individual prowess. Where one sibling had an opening, the other covered and when one attacked, another supported from behind. They were like clockwork turning in sync, as if they had each other's moves memorized and predicted.

No wonder they were separated, Jason thought.

Another thing he noticed was that they never seemed to have the intent to kill. Bodies were being knocked out left and right but they were only immobilized with injury or unconscious at most. Soon, all their opponents were down, leaving the three catching their breaths and wiping blood off their skin.

The horn sounded again, but this time no more assassins were released into the arena. The triplets looked towards the upper deck, where the League members were staying.

"Are they . . . supposed to fight each other now?" said Tim.

Jason inhaled sharply. The League would keep them there forever until only one heir remained. Maybe they would kill the hostages one by one as a threat. He clenched his jaw. "We have to get out of here."

Dick headed straight for the door behind them, but it was locked and bolted shut. Tim was looking around for another way to escape.

But Jason watched.

Damian, Danyal, and Marinette had faced each other, each drawing their weapons.

Then they attacked. 

---

Zalgo Text: "Stay away from my location." "Do not come until I ask for you."

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[renaultphile]

Good Women are not my cup of tea

Apologies in advance to @eclare1000 for this totally unsolicited follow-up ramble that no doubt strays even further from your actual question!!

I thought I would try a different tack on the 'Plymouth Brethren' reference, looking from a literary point of view and focusing on what is not said and why.

The first thing I notice is the context for this scene, Laurie opening up about his mother re-marrying.

Ralph goes into generic ‘there’s no accounting for women’ mode, and refers to his first captain finding a wife against the odds.  Laurie notices his eyes ‘contract in sudden anxiety’.  Then he drops the ‘none of my girlfriends went in for that sort of thing’.  Still no mention of his mother.  He claims ignorance on family relationships.

The only women are the ones in his ‘experiment’.  I’ve always found this whole passage strange, such a bizarre topic of conversation but in the context of avoiding other, more ‘dangerous’ (ie personal) topics, it might just make sense.

Towards the end he drops the ‘good women are not my cup of tea’ line, again in that rather strange context.  He is clearly thinking of his mother but still not wanting to say it.

We are then told, again, how keen Ralph is to close the subject and how Laurie uncharacteristically pushes for more.

Then we get ‘Give me the Nazis any day’.  Mary must have been searching for the most extreme thing a war veteran could say.  She then makes Ralph’s embarrassment at having said it very clear.

Laurie, most uncharacteristically, pushes on.

And then, after a very long and circuitous discussion, we finally get ‘She couldn’t help what she felt about it.  Her parents were Plymouth Brethren’.

After that Ralph clams up altogether, and we are told the topic never came up again, ever.

So where does that leave us? I wonder if the PB reference is meant to be a conversation-stopper, not an opener at all, to provide heat but not light.  If it is meant to be understood by readers in a superficial way, the two elements that spring to mind about PB would be impossible standards of ‘purity’ and a tendency to believe in an unforgiving God. 

But as with almost every important scene in the book, we are none the wiser what actually happened.  We know almost nothing of the incident, and Ralph’s description of his mother’s little ‘talk’ is such a caricature.  I wonder if Mary deliberately made it his grandparents to leave a little hint of doubt about what his childhood actually looked like?  Perhaps his mother wasn’t that strict?  Hard to say when we don't really know what happened. The important thing is how the young Ralph makes sense of the experience rather than the details. 

What does shine through in this scene is the extent to which Ralph finds it painful to talk about his childhood.  It’s a new piece of information for Laurie, and he immediately makes a very literal connection between ‘learning a clean life’ and the tic where Ralph touches his ‘spotless collar’.

Mary makes use of her highly intuitive narrator to again convey Ralph’s state of mind, with almost no factual information.  The more she hides, the more painful it becomes for the reader.  And it worked for me because reading back through for that passage to write this was hard!

And perhaps this is the first small hint that Laurie is someone who can make a difference to Ralph, who sees something the others don’t, and who might just be able to take him down a different path.  If Ralph will let him.