#it’s the angsty crew and then there’s barbara

[cizzisblog]

hear me out.

we had the mond crew in golden archipelago, venti + kazuha + xingqui + ayaka for last event, itto + shinobu + yanfei + xiao + yelan this go around

all I’m saying is kaeya + shenhe + eula + yelan + rosaria + barbara would be dream team top tier comedy

[fadingdaggerr]

tease and unease

pairing: melissa schemmenti x gn!reader

summary: (based on following req that was sent w/o anon so they asked for it to be) “I did have a request if you're into it! Reader and melissa have been in a relationship secretly for a while. They have a fight about keeping it a secret right before PECSA weekend (mel wants to keep it a secret and reader does not). So the weekend is filled with mini fights and glaring and lots of drinks to nimb the hurt. Lol Reader gets drunk and dedicates then plays their song on piano in the lobby of the convention center - outing them. A little angsty but with a happy ending? Feel free to change anything you're not feeling and thank you!!”

warnings: very dialogue heavy oops, insecurity, verbal fighting, petty r bc i’m petty, heavy-ish? alcohol consumption, drunk!r

note: just realized that with all my fics i’ve somehow avoided using any pronouns or actually name for r. feel like i’m doing full fledged gymnastics

There is barely a second to answer the question Barbara asked you about a new show you’d started before the lounge door flies open and Janine is excitedly doing little laps around the room chanting ‘PECSA’ as she goes. Even though this is her third time going to the convention, she had been extremely excited. Whether that was because of this year’s presentations or due to last year’s event in the botanical classroom, you can’t tell. Janine’s zoomies end as she catches herself against Jacob’s chair to catch her breath.

“Please- oh my God- please tell me y’all are coming this year?” Janine asks as she’s still breathless from excitement and running a marathon between wobbly tables.

“Considering it’s mandatory,” Melissa says with annoyance in her tone, immediately your foot kicks hers as a silent ‘be nice.’

Janine’s excitement doesn’t falter once, “did you see that they have a whole presentation on which color whiteboard markers are the best for teaching each subject?” Barbara turns at the same time as you, both of you looking at each other with exasperation and a little disbelief on both ends. Melissa is desperately trying not to laugh, her hand under the table gripping your knee with a vice to not burst into a cackle right at her fellow second grade teacher.

The second she got control of her laughter, the hand on your leg was gone like it was burned by your skin through your jeans. When you try to pull her hand back for just an extra second of her touch, her hand shakes yours off as her body leans away entirely.

There is some annoyance that lingers in your chest from this interaction, and it only grows more as you take the long way to Melissa’s house from school because she insists that no one can even see you going in the same direction. Six months of this, driving six extra blocks and not even being able to give unseen affection, and she hasn’t even deemed it a good time to tell Barbara, her best friend. She had just barely allowed you to tell your friends, who didn’t even know the Abbott crew, and still won’t allow even one picture to even have her elbow in it.

As you pull into the driveway, you take a few deep breaths to try to ease this tension that you wish hadn’t begun to fester. Walking in the front door, it was easy to forget all of it when Melissa came down the stairs, nearly slipping in her fluffy socks as she hurried to pull you into a greeting kiss. Her hands hold your face as she peppers your cheeks in kisses, speaking between smacks of her lips against your skin, “you took your sweet time coming inside.”

“Sorry,” you barely get out, reeling your head back to stop the assault from her lips and wrapping your arms around and holding her, “missed you today.”

She laughs from the crook of your neck, “we had prep and lunch together.”

“Eight hours in the same building and I only get you for an hour? That’s not even close to enough,” you say, pulling back to finally take off your shoes. Nothing is quite like the sight of a flustered Melissa Schemmenti, your comment making her cheeks light up the prettiest shade of pink, your second favorite color after the green of her eyes.

As you stood in the shower, hot water practically cooking your skin, the topic of today’s lunch conversation rolled around your mind. PECSA has always been held at a large hotel with so many rooms and several pool spots, maybe this would finally be a social setting where Melissa wasn’t so guarded and actually allowed herself to enjoy time with you that wasn’t solely in the hotel room. Shit, the hotel room, you meant to call and reserve a room two days ago but were stuck grading book reports into the early morning.

“Baby!” you shout as you step onto the bathmat, wrapping a towel around you as you listen for approaching footsteps. When there is none, your voice turns whiny, “Melissaaaa!”

There’s a huff outside the door before it opens, “Jesus, amore, let me get up the stairs. What’s wrong?”

“Please tell me you called the hotel about our room,” you say as you pull her old college t-shirt over your frame, the tattered sleeves soft against the skin of your shoulder, “I meant to call the other night.”

Melissa’s eyes are soft at the view of you in her shirt, a smile playing at her lips before she answers, “yeah. I called ‘em and got the rooms all set, no worries.” Her lips press against your cheek before she walks out the room to head into the bedroom.

A sense of relief fills you, a deep breath leaving your lungs. As you settle into bed, your arm wraps around Melissa’s waist, a kiss as a silent goodnight is pressed to her shoulder, getting the typical hum in response. As you begin to drift off, nudging into the redhead’s back a little, a thought enters your mind. Rooms?

“Wait, ‘rooms’ plural?” you say against her back, but your only response is her light snoring.

—

“Mel baby, we gotta go! We have to check into the hotel at noon!” you call up the stairs as you spin your suitcase around lazily.

“Just leave without me, hon, I’ll meet you there,” she answers from her bedroom.

You frown, “the hell do you mean? I thought we were driving there together, it makes sense.”

“We don’t need anyone seeing anything, you can just get there ahead of me,” you’re a little too shocked at her words to respond before she adds, “oh, and when you get there can you get my keycard for my room?”

Your back stiffens, as does the hand holding your suitcase. Without thinking, you let go of the case and start up the stairs, stopping in the doorway to the bedroom, her back facing away from you as she packs the rest of her hair products, “your room?” 

Melissa jumps a little when she hears your voice, smiling as she recovers, “well yeah, amore. Can’t be sharing a room without everyone piecing it together, now can we?”

“Oh, of course, how dare I think anyone can see us within a hundred feet of each other,” your attitude and facial expression make the redhead frown, her arms immediately crossing.

“Don’t be like that, you know that’s not what I meant,” she steps closer, but not much. This conversation has happened only a few times in the last six months. Melissa is a very private person, one that didn’t want anyone in her business, she’d only just let her family meet you a month ago.

You take a step forward, “we can’t drive in together because no one can see us together. We can’t share a room because no one can see us together. I can’t sit next to you at work because no one can see us together. I can’t even drive here the normal way because no one can see us together.” There has never been an instance where you told her she had to shout it from the rooftops, all you wanted was to be close to her. She didn’t even let you two be seen as actual friends, just as tolerated by her, and it was all starting to dig away at you. You stepforward more as you spoke, “so, enlighten me, what do you mean?”

There’s a shift in her posture and face, everything hardens and she becomes more serious. She thinks this tough-Schemmenti-look works on you, but after watching her cry at pet commercials, you can’t be fooled. Despite the confident anger she was showing, there was no response. Without waiting, you turn around and walk down the stairs, leaving with your suitcase in your own car.

The lobby is packed tight, a bunch of underpaid sardines filling every inch of the place, yet it felt incredibly lonely. The front desk gave you your keycard, you didn’t bother with getting Melissa’s, your only goal was to get to your room and lay in the bed until the presentations started tomorrow. You were not going to a whiteboard marker presentation.

However, you did promise Ava you’d go to her presentation on “Being That Girl and That Principal,” so hiding won’t be an option for the next morning. You register that Melissa and Barbara are both in the room as well, but you hope a certain someone doesn’t notice among the crowd that had collected.

Not even ten minutes into the presentation, a warm body is next to you, red hair and perfect eyeliner. You take a deep breath in and sidestep to the left, trying to make space between you, but she closes it again. She turns to look at you, and you pointedly keep your eyes on Ava’s presentation, which is just perfectly lit photos of her around Abbott, which until now you didn’t notice that she had photoshopped out the water damage on the ceiling.

“Are you going to ignore me all weekend?” Melissa mumbles.

You shrug, “I’m surprised standing next to me is even allowed, I thought we couldn’t even be seen near each other.”

“Stop being childish.”

“Don’t think I will,” you reply, turning to walk to the other side of the room.

—

Math-a-ritas, Daiquireads, Sex Ed on the Beach, was it so hard to get a normal ass drink around here? It already took you three tries to get a normal rum and coke before the prepubescent-looking bartender got the damn thing right, but one they did, it honestly isn’t all that bad. What was starting to get bad, however, was the tension between you and Melissa. Being part of her typical group, Barbara insists on the two of you walking around with her, chatting with vendors and teachers from every school, except Addington.

Upon seeing Melissa’s hands white knuckling a glass of wine, Barbara sends a questioning look, only getting a shake of the head in response. She turns to you, almost ready to ask if you can talk to Melissa, but you’re equally sour looking.

Both women watch you down your second drink before getting up, “I’ll be back in a few, just getting another drink.”

“Do you really think you need more?” your girlfriend pipes up.

“Melissa…” Barbara warns, having been stuck in the tension between you two. She’d thought her friend was soft on you, but it was starting to look differently.

You don’t even give her the decency to look at her as you say, “I really, truly do, Schemmenti.”

You don’t return like you said you would, and green eyes are scanning the hall to find your frame. When she catches sight of you, she sees another drink downed and she grimaces. Melissa’s anger starts to fade when she sees you waver a little as you walk-and-talk with Jacob, who finally was attending PECSA-geddon this year. You turn and look in her direction, and she frowns at the instant look of minor resentment crosses your face before you stumble again. Melissa stands and starts over in your direction, ignoring Barb’s gaze.

The redhead reaches you, a hand on your elbow, “hon, you should sit down.”

“Why do you care?” you snap back, pulling your arm away. Jacob’s eyes widen, and Melissa motions to tell him to leave, to which he is quick to listen and goes to Barbara.

“You’re falling over, amore, please sit down,” she pleads through gritted teeth.

You huff and step further back, “stop it, Melissa, someone’s gonna think we know each other.” She wasn’t accustomed to you being so abrasive, even in arguments, usually you were calm and direct, something she could easily mirror when she got too in her own head. Now, you are just drunk, angry, and wanting nothing to do with her, something she never expected to see.

Melissa is growing even more pissed as she watches you finish your fifth drink, your head shaking in that cute way it does when your drink is too strong. You catch her stare, which becomes more of a glare when your eyes meet hers, and you frown. Somewhere between your first and last sip of your fifth drink, you’d gone from angry to sad drunk, and Melissa's disapproving looks were making your eyes burn.

On the third sip of your sixth drink, the realization that a DJ was at the party made you jump excitedly. You stumble through the line, using your conversation partner to keep you upright, you wait to make a request.

“What do you want?” the DJ says without a single ounce of enthusiasm.

You smile anyways, “please, please play this song. It’s one of my girlfriend’s favorites, I don’t know if I’d call it ‘our song,’ but when I hear it I think of her and her pretty eyes and face and hair and hands an-”

“Dude, what is the song?”

“Oh, yeah. It’s Bette Davis Eyes, Kim Carnes,” you laugh out, almost teetering over.

“It’ll play after Kendrick,” the DJ says dismissively, motioning for the next person in line to move forward.

—

There’s a slump in your mood as music fills the room. Where everyone is dancing and laughing, you’re gnawing on your thumbnail as the drinks catch up to you, making you more anxious than carefree. Part of you wants to just disappear to your room, the other part doesn’t remember where that is exactly. A secret third part wishes you got Melissa’s keycard for her so you’d know where she was staying tonight, though you were a tiny bit sure your rooms had to be near each other.

You just barely register the beginning of a rap song as you start to wander the room in hopes of finding someone familiar, just yearning to be with your Abbott people. You’re gripping chairs as you walk around, speeding up as you register Ava’s high ponytail back near the DJ booth. You barely catch her arm, anchoring yourself to the principal.

“Weebles-wobbles, you’re definitely falling down! You better drink some water before your liver gets revenge,” Ava half-jokes as she pushes her cup towards you, “what made you decide to let loose?”

You gulp down the whole water and sigh, “I can’t just have fun?”

“You look downright sad,” she answers with a laugh as you pout. The Kendrick song fades out, and 80s guitar starts to play, immediately making you freeze. You turn slowly towards the DJ with big, scared eyes, you forgot that you’d requested he play this.

The horror only continues when you see him point to you and say, “this song is dedicated to this one’s girlfriend.” If someone decides to sporadically drive through the window and crush you, you thank them right now.

“Girlfriend?” Ava asks from next to you, “you got a girlfriend and you haven’t said shit?”

“Not now, Ava. I think I have to leave.”

“The party?”

“The country,” you answer before ducking your head and walking as Kim Carnes voice plays in the speakers.

Her hair is Harlow gold / Her lips, a sweet surprise / Her hands are never cold / She's got Bette Davis eyes

In your perspective, you’re almost running towards the door, but Melissa sees the stagger in your steps get worse. She doesn’t think about it before she starts weaving through party attendees to get to you faster, no longer caring about her own arbitrary rules. Someone dares step in her way, and they’re pushed roughly, the lyrics of your song were making her work harder to get to you.

She'll turn the music on you / You won't have to think twice / She's pure as New York snow / She got Bette Davis eyes

When the redhead finally reaches you, she’s quick to pull you out of the view of everyone else, and for once it wasn’t for her personal benefit. As she stops moving, she keeps a hand on your arm while you steady yourself. When you turn and look at her, there’s no anger for once, just embarrassment.

She can’t even get a word in before you’re rambling, “I’m so sorry, I didn’t tell him to dedicate it to you, I just wanted to listen to it and I mentioned that it made me think of you- not like you but you. I’m sorry, please don’t hate me, I didn’t want to ups-”

Arms wrap tightly around your neck, tugging you into her embrace. Your own arms flail for a moment before they wrap around her waist, hands gripping the material of her dress. A hand rubs your back, helping you control your breathing, “I’m not mad at you and I don’t hate you.”

“You’re mad, you just feel bad for me right now,” you murmur into her skin, “you should get back before someone notices.”

Melissa only sighs, loosening her hold on you to pull you in the direction of the elevator. You’re vaguely mumbling about her being fine letting you go, but she stays connected to you. She’s acutely aware that you have no idea where your room is, but it’s next to hers, that much she knows. Melissa leans you against the wall, digging in your pockets for your keycard since she left her purse with Barbara at the party.

“Are you trying to feel me up or rob me?” you joke, or at least she thinks you’re joking since she can barely tell through the slurred laugh you let out. Melissa just smiles lightly before opening your door and shoving you in. She tries to guide you towards the bed, but you stick to her side as if you’re sewn to her.

When she finally gets you all situated, she looks at you to see tears welling in your eyes as you scan her face. Her hand comes up to cup your cheek, “what’s wrong, amore?”

You exhale, “I don’t want you to leave.”

“I’m not leaving, I’m gonna stay right here,” she says softly, thumb caressing your warm cheek.

“No, no. I don’t want you to leave,” you whine, gripping the sleeve of her dress.

She understands what you mean now, and it makes her heart fall in her chest a little. Pulling away, she assures you she isn’t leaving to placate you before going through your suitcase for an extra shirt to wear to bed, knowing that she wasn’t going to leave even if you changed your mind and told her to. It takes about eighty times as long to get you into your own sleep shirt and shorts, but once you’re comfortable, the tears in your eyes fade away.

Melissa tucks herself in behind you, arm wrapping tightly around your middle, though you wiggle and worm around until you’re facing her. A hand comes up and pushes loose hairs away from her face, the look in your eye so soft that she was almost convinced you’d forgotten everything you’d been arguing about.

“Why don’t you wanna tell Barb, or just anyone?” There’s a shyness in your tone as you play with the chains of her necklaces, “I know you wanna be private, but I don’t like being a secret.”

“You’re not a secret, I just like having you to myself,” she tries to appease you, wanting to have this conversation when you’re both sober.

There’s a look she can’t read on your face before you say, “you already have that and so do I, but sometimes I want to show you off. You’re too pretty not to.”

A wry grin crosses her face at your words, the very fragile filter you had was demolished by the rum and cokes. The hand that previously had been occupied by her necklaces was now fiddling with and twirling her hair, your eyes equally trained on the new object of your hand’s attention. Melissa’s attention settled on eyelash on your cheek, she wished it was a good moment to get it so you could make a wish on it.

“I’ll tell Barb,” you move to argue, “not because you’re telling me to, but because you’re right. I want to show you off, get you in some Schemmenti clothes.” Melissa delights in the quiet groan you let out at the proposition of one of her custom jerseys or sweatshirts, her last name marking you as hers. Her own heart skips a beat at the image in her mind.

Your hand moves to her neck and you try to focus your eyes on her face, “only when you’re actually ready. I don’t wanna rush you.” 

“No, I’ll tell her once we get back. I don’t need all those math-a-ritas spilling my business to half of PECSA,” she mumbles the last bit, and she gratefully sees you nodding in agreement. Stretching up, you press a kiss to her jaw. And another, then another. Nudging your way into the crook of her neck, Melissa feels your teeth gently chomp at her skin, a squeak leaving her throat at the action. 

Your thumb strokes over the faint mark left on her neck that will be gone before morning, a kiss placed over it. The redhead can feel the vibrations of you speaking from her neck, but it’s too muffled to make out. She hums, a barely there question of what you’re saying, and the volume of your grumbles just barely reaches her ears. Pretty, pretty, pretty. 

Neither of you answer the wake-up call or attend the continental breakfast the next morning. There’s not even an effort to leave the bed until twenty minutes before checkout where you both parted ways just to pack your things before rushing downstairs to go home. There’ll be a time where you stop driving separately and share stolen looks from down the hallway, and Melissa fully intends for that being over brunch with Barb tomorrow. Tonight, however, she wasn’t planning on letting go of you for even a second.

title is from bette davis eyes by kim carnes (also the song in the fic)

feedback appreciated as always <3

[miilkiibunnii]

(Had an idea for an angsty comic but flaked cause I hate drawing angst 😭 Have this tiny fic instead)

"I love you too, Barb-"

Melissa had responded so simply, not batting an eye.

As Barbara left the lounge, excusing herself quietly to the crew, she feels a sudden realization dawn upon her. Melissa has never said that out loud before, not in her presence at least. Neither had Barbara. It was always silent looks, reassuring pats and what not, and anything that brought the other a smile.

Barbara can only take a deep breath, steadying herself and fixing her coat, before her hands grip the straps of her bag.

"I love you," she says, now finding herself meaning it instead of explaining it to her oblivious friend.

"I love you," she repeats, her brows furrowing slightly. Has it always been that easy?

"I love you," she breathes out, then nods to herself.

"I love you," Barbara Howard mutters, unable to think of anything other than walking back in there, to have an audience to say it to.

But it isn't her place anymore. Gary is there now.

"I love you..." She whispers, hands falling to her side. She walks to her car in silence.

[vivid-image]

Chasing All the Colors in My Head

Steddie | Rated E | Multi-Part | ao3

Part 1 | 2 | 3

And then Barbara happened, and then Jonathon Byers happened, and from that the Upside Down happened, and everything about Steve’s life changed.

Steve didn’t think that getting his ass handed to him by Jonathon and the subsequent breakup with Nancy would lead to fighting interdimensional monsters by their sides, but that’s what happened. And when all was said and done, Steve took a moment to reevaluate his life choices. He realized that he had a whole new chance to do things right, so he said his farewells to Tommy and his old crew, cleaned up the movie theater, and put his new love of not being dead to good use.

But dropping his King Steve crown and picking up the nail bat could only do so much, and maybe he really shouldn’t have been surprised that he still wasn’t good enough for Nancy, as he stood in a bathroom and let her drunkenly call him and his heart bullshit. She was right, anyway.

Giving up Nancy didn’t mean he had to give up the kids, however. Over time, he transformed his love for her into love for the pack of angsty and sarcastic teenagers he somehow accumulated in the chaos of discovering another dimension. Through each encounter with the monsters, Steve found himself determined to protect them in any way possible, risking his own life in the meantime. But that need to protect and care for the kids didn’t only apply to life-or-death situations. Whenever they weren’t fighting for their lives, Steve took them under his wing, giving them all rides wherever they wanted and providing life advice, whether they asked for it or not. He loved being there for all the moments in their lives, big and small. It might’ve been pathetic for Steve’s only friends to be literal children, but honestly, he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Besides, it wouldn’t be that way for too much longer.

After graduating and failing to get into college (breaking up with your tutor has its drawbacks), Richard had given Steve the ultimatum of finding a job or going to a community college far from Hawkins. To stay close to the kids, Steve found a position slinging ice cream at Scoops Ahoy at the Starcourt Mall. It would be one of the best decisions of his life, although he wouldn’t realize it for a while.

It was there that he met the new love of his life, Robin Buckley.

Small, intelligent, and with a sense of humor dryer than a desert, Robin filled some of the empty space in Steve’s life. He looked forward to every shift they shared together. He didn’t care how bad he struck out when he attempted to flirt with customers, all it meant was that he got to hear her cackling as she marked tallies in his “You Suck” column. He loved their banter, her sharp snipes, the rants you only hear from those in customer service jobs. Robin made Steve feel less lonely, even though he still came home to an empty house.

Steve was glad to have someone in his circle untouched by the Upside Down hellscape. He could talk to Robin about normal things and pretend everything was totally fine. But, because life can be incredibly rude sometimes, that didn’t last long.

Being sucked into the Russians-Billy-Mind Flayer whirlwind with Robin was not high on his bucket list. But he can’t say that the bruises, scars, and emotional traumas weren’t worth it. Spilling his guts with Robin (literally and figuratively) in the Starcourt bathroom truly felt like connection to Steve. He listened intently as Robin told her story about Tammy Thompson, comforted her, made fun of her because that’s their relationship, and then shared his own story about the picture of Mark Hamill he had taped to the inside of a notebook he still kept in his closet. When they ended up surviving the night, he took Robin back to his house and they held each other as they cried themselves to sleep.

Eventually, he felt fully secure enough in their friendship to reveal the drawer of makeup Steve now called his. To her credit, Robin took it in stride and with a bit of wild excitement. She jumped at the chance to take him shopping at the stores he couldn’t go into by himself. There, she helped him find products that worked better for his skin tone because his mother’s foundation was just a little too light for his tan skin. They had fun swatching different pallets and making weird faces in the mirrors of the fancy compacts. By the time they left, Steve had enough makeup to fill a whole new drawer. When they got back to Steve’s house, Robin spent hours showing him how to apply different things and they practiced together at the double sink. Later, when their faces were washed and they were tucked into Steve’s bed, Robin took his hand and told him that she was proud of him for opening up and allowing himself to enjoy his passion. Steve fell asleep with a smile on his face, a heart full of love, and ears ringing with the noise of Robin’s snores. Robin may not have been the romantic partner he was looking for, but she will always be his platonic soulmate (with a capital “P”).

So, by the time Apocalypse version 4.0 rolled around, Steve had gathered himself a great group of people. The kids, Robin, Hopper, Murray, and Joyce had all become family to him. Hell, even Nancy and Jonathon felt like the best friends he never got to have. His house, so used to silence, was now constantly filled with so much noise and warmth. Laughter, animated discussions, and angsty bickering floated down the halls just as hugs and playful touches sank into every surface. His kitchen was always full of people clamoring for his cooking. He rarely ate meals alone anymore. Movie nights and sleepovers were frequent. Steve’s home and heart were full to bursting and he felt that he could never be happier.

Enter, stage right: Eddie Munson

Getting knocked into the wall of a boathouse with a broken bottle held to his throat was not previously on Steve’s list of “Ways to Woo Me”, but boy did that change after Eddie Munson. Being as he was the town weirdo, Steve had never really interacted with Eddie outside of buying some weed and being a bystander as Tommy harassed him. But that didn’t mean he didn’t notice Eddie. Eddie was impossible to miss and even harder to ignore. With his long curls and big eyes, the metalhead stood out in the sea of average Hawkins citizens, and Steve was always a sucker for people who fought the status quo.

Defeating Vecna and saving Max and Eddie was certainly the biggest victory in the lives of the world savers, but Steve took it as a personal victory when he woke up one day in the hospital chair next to Eddie’s bed to find his hand being held and hair being stroked. Looking up to Eddie’s bright (and alive, he’s alive) smile felt to Steve like looking at all the stars in the world and so of course his immediate reaction is to sit up and kiss Eddie senseless, crushing his ribs in the process. Even the pain didn’t stop Eddie’s smile, though, and he never stopped holding Steve’s hand as Steve frantically pressed the nurse Call button next to his bed.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

[clairelsonao3]

Top 10 Character Essence

It's tag game time again!

@tabswrites and @hollyannewrites challenged (and I do mean challenged) me to name my top ten characters "decided by their essence or meaning to you."

  A challenge to give your Top 10 favourite characters, based on their ESSENCE. They have to be favourite characters that also have a deeper literary value, where you enjoy their specific role in the story, and this means that the list also should exclude characters that would normally count as favourites if for purely nostalgic reasons. They can be from film, tv, or written media, anything.

Thank you! I hope I fulfilled the challenge the way it was meant to be fulfilled!

Although TBH, I can't believe I'm even attempting to tackle this. I have to choose only 10? I think it goes without saying this list is not exhaustive, nor does it represent all of my favorite books/movies/media. I really did try to capture the question by focusing on "essence and meaning" (including how they've influenced my own writing and not just "random characters I like." I also have to attempt not to write an essay for each because we don't want to be here all night.

Charlotte Doyle (The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi) Rich girl in the early 1800s gets on a ship with a mutinous crew and an evil captain, joins the crew, defeats the captain using only her wits, miraculously makes it home, AND THEN DECIDES TO GO BACK TO SEA AND BECOME A SAILOR. I read this all in one sitting one night when I was about 15 (after avoiding it because I thought it looked boring) and then literally decided to reshape my entire life based on it (I'm not kidding). Yes, I actually took up sailing. Also, there's a hot sailor that she obviously has chemistry with but it's left unresolved, and no one has ever written a future fic about it to my knowledge, and that's a CRIME. So yeah, step right up.

John Bender (The Breakfast Club) He's not just the original '80s bad boy with a Dark and Troubled Past, but what most people forget about him is that he's also hilarious. It's a rare combination. Honorary mention to his love interest, Claire, and not just because of her name.

Fantine (Les Miserables by Victor Hugo) - Mostly the book version of her, though she obviously has a showstopping number in the musical as well. She was the sad, angsty character I needed during the most sad, angsty period of my life. She was a poor, lonely urchin who found fleeting love and happiness in the spring, got abandoned and pregnant in the winter -- and it only got worse from there. Also, apropos of nothing, at one point, I wrote a short story featuring a dog by the same name -- who, um, died.

The Artful Dodger/Dodger (Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens/Oliver & Company) - I'm including both the human version and the dog version of this character because I love them both (though I actually prefer the Disney movie, lol). They're both thieves with devil-may-care attitudes, with soft spots for those more vulnerable than themselves. Plus, the dog version is Billy Joel, wears sunglasses, and plays piano with his tail, which -- I don't care what anyone says -- will never not be cool.

Satine (Moulin Rouge) - She was the beautiful, sparkling, singing, dancing tragic sex goddess I so badly wanted to be. So much so that as recently as five years ago when I reluctantly dressed up for a Halloween party, I chose her silver-dress-and-top-hat ensemble.

Rick Blaine (Casablanca) The most endlessly quotable character from one of the most endlessly quotable and romantic movies of all time. He sticks his neck out for no one. Except, oops, wait, he does. The OG Hollywood antihero with a Dark and Troubled -- whatever, you know the drill. Plus, he's also my dad's favorite character in his favorite movie (and I discovered it because of him), and so this pick has sentimental meaning for me.

Leah Price (The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver) - When we read this book in high school, she was the least popular character, probably due to her unwavering love and support for her dad, even though he was a singular-focused religious zealot who destroyed his entire family by dragging them into the African jungle in an ill-thought-out missionary trip. And then she married a guy with some of the same qualities (but he was better, thankfully). But for whatever weird reason, I related to her most. Anyway, for class, I wrote and tried to perform a monologue where I played her but forgot 90 percent of my lines. Oh well.

Mary Lennox (The Secret Garden by France Hodgson Burnett, I found the movie version fairly meh) There were a lot of spunky, iconic childhood book heroines to choose from, but she was Mary, Mary Quite Contrary, and so I choose her. (I got told to "smile" a lot as a kid). Also, as I mentioned in a previous post, I was a Mary/Dickon shipper before I even knew what shipping meant.

Neal Caffrey (White Collar) - Does anyone remember this show? I have no attention span for TV, and this is probably the last scripted show I remember watching every episode of during its original run, which is saying something. Everything I know about being a con artist (in fiction, lol) I learned from this charming, charismatic art-forger-turned-FBI-consultant. I think he also has the honor of being the subject of the first actual fanfic I ever wrote.

Iris Chase Griffin (The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood) I also had to pick one character of my favorite author, so Iris gets the crown. She starts off the story as an old lady looking back to when she was forced to marry some rich asshole instead of the science fiction writer (with a past that was -- wait for it -- Dark and Troubled) who BOTH she and her sister loved, and meanwhile, her sister became a writer and when she died it was discovered that -- oh, just read the goddamn book, I won't spoil it for you here.

Honorable mentions, in no particular order:

Violet Westing (The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin)

Jack Kelly (Newsies the movie, NOT the stage musical)

Turonga Leela (Futurama)

Vicky Austin (The Austins by Madeleine L'Engle)

Jack Dawson and Rose Dewitt-Bukater (Titanic) I can't decide between them, so they're getting an HM.

Palaestrio and Milphidippa (Miles Gloriosus by Plautus) Same as above.

Michael Furey (The Dead by James Joyce) Who is, in fact, dead throughout the story -- but being alive wasn't one of the requirements.

I wish I could include a Star Wars character, but could never decide, so let's say, oh, all of them, except that one you hate.

In case the following people want to do what I did and spend several WEEKS on this fascinating but life-ruining (in a good way) tag game: @mysticstarlightduck @enne-uni @kixngiggles @obviousknife + OPEN TAG because you don't even have to be a writer for this one, so I'd be interested in hearing from anybody who wants to chime in!

[cosmic-llin]

Dear Festividder...

Some ideas if you’re vidding for me and would like more to go on!

Music: I genuinely like most things! If a steer is helpful though, my most-listened-to genres are towards the pop/folk/soft rock/female singer-songwriters end. But the most important thing is that you choose the song that works for you and the vid! I would really appreciate if you could avoid death metal-style vocals, Ronan Keating and Sia.

Visuals: I would appreciate if you could avoid flicker/strobe/film damage-type effects!

General: Found family, happiness, teams, shenanigans and fun, character studies, relationship studies that aren't necessarily shippy, angst, feelings!

Specifics for individual fandoms:

Abbott Elementary Heartwarming workplace sitcom (36 x 20-ish mins)

I love everyone in this elementary school! You can't go wrong here but some specific ideas I'd love to see - something about Barbara's mentorship of Janine, something about Barbara and her perspective on the school more generally and her relationships with the younger crew, including Ava, something about Barbara and Melissa (femslash or friendship), a character vid about Gregory (potentially that leans into reading him as autistic if you vibe with that), a Janine/Gregory vid!

Bugs ‘90s futuristic cybersecurity action-adventure nonsense (40 x 50 mins)

Something about my childhood crush amazing hacker badass Ros being cool and amazing would be wonderful! I also really enjoy the original OT3 of Ros/Beckett/Ed and it would be really fun to see a vid for them, although if you go that direction I'm not really interested to see Replacement Ed included. (Sorry Replacement Ed!) I'd love something about Jan and Ros, or maybe Jan, Ros and Alex - on my recent rewatch I was really struck by how there's this web of support and mentorship between them, and this real fondness between them (Jan and Ros especially) even when they often disagree. (Also v open to a shippy and/or angsty Jan/Ros vid if that's where the muse takes you.)

The Dark is Rising Sequence - Susan Cooper Children's fantasy with mysterious Celtic vibes (5 x novels)

I would just be thrilled to see any vid you could make that captures some of the feel of the books! I love the epic-yet-intimate/personal scale feel of them, the use of mythology and folklore, the sense of place/landscape/season, and I love all the characters. I'm here for whatever you feel like doing, whether that's concentrating on a specific book, character or plot thread, or something with a wider scope. I will just be wowed by anything you can do for this source!

Raising Dion Sweet family superpowers show (17 x 45 mins)

I really enjoyed the way the world expanded a little in S2! I'd love something about the growing community Nicole and Dion are building, and how valuable and powerful that is. A vid about the Triangle of Justice would be awesome, or so would something about Nicole’s interactions with Suzanne, Janelle, Tevin, etc. But I pretty much love all the choices this show made and I'd be interested to see a vid from most angles! (Not really interested to spend time on Pat's point of view but I don't mind him appearing if the vid calls for it.)

Thunder Force [SAFETY] Superpowers and friendship (1 x 1hr 46 mins)

I adore the central relationship of this film! I'd love a vid that focuses on Lydia and Emily and the strength of their connection, whether it's through the lens of friendship, femslash or something that's a bit of both. I'd also love something about both of their relationships with Tracy and the three of them as a team kicking ass together and being a family. I'm not really interested in Crab Guy.

The Wheel of Time Swooshy epic fantasy (16 x 60 mins)

Aes Sedai! I would love a vid about the Aes Sedai (and their warders)! Maybe something exploring all the different relationships and alliances going on, or looking at the different approaches and types of power the various Aes Sedai we've met (including Egwene, Nynaeve and Elayne) use, or just a full vid of various Aes Sedai kicking ass, or something about the toll the White Tower takes on them all, the sacrifices they make for it. I would go absolutely feral for a Siuan-centric vid. If there's enough footage I'd also love to see a vid about Alanna, or about Verin (and the Brown Ajah) although that's an even taller order. Moving only slightly away from the Tower, I'd love a vid about the relationship/parallels between Moiraine and Anvaere.

Travel shows presented by Susan Calman [UMBRELLA] Gentle pootling around the UK with an enthusiastic Scottish lesbian (IDEK how many episodes - Secret Scotland with Susan Calman, Susan Calman’s Grand Day Out, etc)

I’d love anything that captures the playfulness and sweetness of these shows and Susan’s infectious enthusiasm for new experiences, as well as the beautiful locations she visits! I'm here for the nerdy moments and movie parodies as well as for the recurring motifs like model villages and failing to fold maps. I’m most interested in Secret Scotland, Grand Day Out and Grand Week by the Sea, less interested in the cruising and antiques ones.

[rawritzrobin]

Angel Amongst Bats: Prologue

Title: Angel Amongst Bats

Pairing: Jason Todd x Stella Covington (My OC)

Warnings: Cursing, past major character death, a little bit angsty, fluff.

Summary: Stella Covington wakes up one day in an alternate universe, where Jason never dies, but she does. What will she discover about this universe? Will she be able to change this universe's Jason the way she changed hers? And why are people acting like she doesn't have feelings? Will she ever get home? A story about a girl who discovers how the butterfly effect works throughout the multiverse.

A/N:

The entirety of this is on my AO3, but I wanted to keep it on my tumblr too.

Quick Character introduction:

Stella Covington is my OC. She is blonde and has blue eyes.

She is the daughter of a billionaire who is close friends with Bruce Wayne. Her dad's company deals with overseas corporate investing. Her mom dies of cancer when Stella is a little girl.

She meets Jason at Gotham prep and the two quickly fall in love. Jason reveals his secret identity to her early on and she knows about the entire Batman crew. When Jason comes back from the dead, she is there to help Bruce bring his son back to the light. Stella and Jason are basically soulmates.

Masterlist

Prologue: Stella

“I’ll be home soon doll.”

“Can wait Red. See you soon. Love you.”

“Love you too. Bye.” Click

Stella placed her phone on the bed and brought her laptop up on to her lap. It was around 3am and she was finishing up a proposal for her Monday morning meeting with the board. They wanted to discuss next years plan to get more people into her animal park.

Stella and Jason had been dating for 5 years now. Not counting, the time that Jason spent “dead” of course. She was distraught when she first found out about Jason’s death. She spent weeks in isolation. Locking herself up in her room. Not going to school. Not eating. It was brutal. One day she found herself on top of her dads tower. Sitting on the corner ledge of the roof, ready to jump. Ready to be with Jason.

It was Dick that found her. He sat next to her that night and they talked. He convinced her Jason would not have wanted her to do this. That he would have wanted her to move on and live her life to the fullest. Being the son of two deceased parents, he knew how hard it was to lose someone so important to you. He knew how much Jason meant to her and how devastating it was to lose him.

They talked until the sun came up and he was finally able to convince her to get off the ledge, and go out to eat breakfast with him. It was the first time she had a real meal in weeks. They bonded after that, and Stella became a regular in the Wayne household. She quickly bonded with Barbara, as well as Tim; the new Robin.

Life after that was simple. She finished Gotham Prep and moved on to study marine animals in uni. She was finally getting her life back.

Until Jason showed up in an alley one day dressed as the Red Hood. Through all the drama between Bruce and Jason, Stella was able to convince him to come back to their side of things, and to stop killing. It wasn’t easy to convince Jason to stop killing criminals. Hell, Stella thought his whole “kill the bad guys” vendetta was actually really smart. Just not morally right.

When Jason came back into her life, she felt whole once more. After a few years of trial and error, they were back together. Stella had graduated uni and with the help of her dad, opened her very own marine animal park. Jason was able to land a spot working with Wayne enterprise as Vice President of Applied Sciences.

His “revival” was a shock to the public, but Bruce coined his death as a kidnapping scheme gone wrong. The press ate it all up, and Jason was allowed back into the public eye once more. He continued his vigilante life as Red Hood and things went back to normal.

Things were simple. Well as simple as “my boyfriend is a vigilante” could get.

Stella was sitting alone in her and Jason’s apartment. Which, was really one of Bruce’s nicer safe houses that they decided to commender. Jason wouldn’t let her stay alone at one of his less secure safe houses and she really didn’t want to stay in her penthouse alone tonight. Plus, Jason felt at ease knowing all of the safety nets placed around the building.

Stella was just about to get up and prepare a snack and some tea for Jason’s return, when she heard the front door alarm go off.

Weird, she thought. After patrol, Jason would usually come through the window. But he was also one of the only ones that would be able to open the front door so she thought nothing more of it and headed towards the front door to great her boyfriend.

“Hey Ja-“ She paused mid sentence she noticed the door was closed, and there was no sign of Jason in the living room. Her self defense senses kicked in as she reached for the taser gun Jason kept hung up in the hallway.

She slowly made her way towards the door, gun pointed in the doors direction. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The living room looked unturned and there was no way someone would be able to walk through the place without making any noise.

“I know I heard.” She whispered to herself. Stella made her way towards the door to check the lock.

It was locked.

She slowly tip toed and looked out the peep hole.

There was no one there.

She sighed, and lowered the gun. She turned around slowly and suddenly she felt a pair of arms grab her shoulder. The sudden jolt caused her to drop the taser. Her assailant quickly kicked it away from her as he threw her against the wall, head first.

Stella shook her head as she saw stars painting her vision. Then, darkness.

[foofygoldfish]

For Rosie, Good End, True End, and Secret? 👀

the good and secret end have been asked (...will get to those as soon as my head stops spinning....) so i’m going to do the true end!

it’s uh. a little angsty at first? she’s in the theater with the jackson crew when all of that goes down, and rosie and abby they uh.. do not part on good terms. rosie, who is hurt (shhh it was the only way i could think of to keep jesse alive) ends up going back to jackson with wren for ~a year. eventually, i come up with a reason for her to go down to santa barbara (with ellie? possibly? i’m just realising there are holes in my plans that i need to figure out lmao) and her, wren, abby, and lev go to catalina, where they get a cute apartment. it takes a while for them to repair their relationship - the last... uh... two years? ish? were rough, both personally and for their relationship, but they do, eventually. they may get married, just because i really love the idea of abby proposing at the one overlook i found, but uh... i also don’t really see them getting married? 

for rosie herself, she works in the library while she’s in jackson, which she quite enjoys (the break from teaching is nice lol). she starts off working in the school in avalon, but she takes on reorganizing/rebuilding the library as a personal project after she realises that it’s a disaster. 

i’ve mostly thought the angst through, if you couldn’t tell lmao

[thisbluespirit]

Ten Favourite Characters

Memed from @mariocki​  And despite the numbering, not really in strict order, although I tried and no. 1 is definitely no. 1. 

10. Kathryn Janeway

"There are three things to remember about being a starship captain. Keep your shirt tucked in, go down with the ship... and never abandon a member of your crew."

Okay, basically, me and Star Trek is: I like it if it has Captain Janeway in it.  If it does not have Captain Janeway in it, I might go so far as to mildly enjoy it from time to time, but Janeway is the essential thing.  I walked in one day and saw Kate Mulgrew on the screen and sat down immediately, eventually asking my friend, in hushed tones of awe, “Who is that?”  (I’m not even joking.)  (I don’t hate the rest of ST or anything, but, you know.  It’s not Doctor Who and it doesn’t have Captain Janeway in it, what can I say?  I like the one with the whales, too?)

9. Jenkins

“Magic is not an exact science. If it were, it would be science.”

With Jenkins (John Larroquette), The Librarians takes a mythical character I never gave a thought to, or imagined I would want to, and gave me All the Feels about him.  By the end of S1, I was drawing hearts around Jenkins every time he appeared and that happens all too rarely at the moment, so I think he has to go on this list.  (I’m a Doctor Who fan, how could I not love a grumpy immortal caretaker with a magic door and a heart of gold?) *draws hearts around him regardless of his disapproval and annoyance at said hearts*

8. G’kar

“No dictator, no invader can hold an imprisoned population by force of arms forever. There is no greater power in the universe than the need for freedom. Against that power tyrants and dictators cannot stand. The Centauri learned that lesson once. We will teach it to them again. Though it take a thousand years, we will be free.”

G’kar’s arc is just beautiful (from semi-villainous schemer to unwilling religious icon), as is every part of his epic relationship with Londo, and he is my favourite.  There was a period in S1 where there were about 7 episodes without him and I nearly died.  And, I mean, I really like Babylon 5 and everybody else in it, but that was just cruel and unusual.  Thank goodness it never happened again.  Andreas Katsulas was just brilliant.

7. Seventh Doctor

"That's what guns are for. Pull the trigger, end a life. Simple, isn't it?  Why don't you do it, then?  Look me in the eye, pull the trigger, end my life.  Why not?"

What do you do with a thing like Doctor Who in a meme like this?  I could do my top ten fave characters just in Doctors, let alone companions, before we even get started on minor characters, so let’s have my favourite Doctor do the honours for everyone here.  He hates unrequited love, loathes bus stations (terrible places, full of lost souls and lost luggage), and knows we all have a universe of our own terrors to face, and he’ll be back in time for tea.

With Ace, of course, who is also the best.  As are so many of the rest.

6. Servalan

"There’s no one as free as a dead man.”

It’s so hard to choose Blake’s 7 characters!  They’re all so fascinating, that’s why it still gets watched and loved.  If I’m honest it’s Vila or Servalan, and today I went for Servalan, which probably will save anyone from getting stabbed in the back.  I love me an evil lady and Jacqueline Pearce’s Servalan is probably my favourite villain in anything, especially in terms of characters who remain irredeemable, but are also plausible and interesting.  She’s certainly the most fabulously dressed, anyway.

5. Lynda Day

”I don’t do conversation.  Everything I say comes out like an order.  I say hello and people salute!”

Like every other girl of my very specific age demographic in the UK (Press Gang was watched by something ridiculous like 80% of its target teenage audience, which I don’t think has ever happened before or since), I wanted to grow up to be Lynda Day, dictator editor of the Junior Gazette.  It’s probably as well that none of us did, but she was the very best, and I remain grateful to have had her around, and Julia Sawalha was always fantastic right from trespassers will be exterminated to there are crocodiles. 

4. Silver

Sapphire: “You’re supposed to lose sometimes.”

Silver: “Oh! I wondered why I wasn’t having any fun.”

So, Sapphire and Steel are pretty amazing, right, but let’s be honest, I was always watching this for the red-headed guy in Assignments 3 & 6, and he did not disappoint.  I mean, Sapphire & Steel is the weirdest, creepiest low-budget thing with our srs bsns inhuman heroes and then suddenly David Collings turns up and makes light-bulbs glow and turn into glitter.  He is the sparkliest, no one can deny it and he can slide right into the perfect OTP and turn it into the even shinier OT3.  Not that that stops him flirting with everyone else as well, of course.

3. Regina Mills

“There's no redemption for me. There's only suffering. Because now I have a curse. The curse of knowing the difference between good and evil. And I'm caught between them. If I revert, I lose everyone I love. Henry, my friends, everyone. And if I go forward trying to be good, I have to live with my past darkness and all its well-deserved consequences... But for me, it's a simple choice really. I'd rather suffer than see that pain on the people I care about. This is my fate.“                            

Regina gets to go from being Once Upon A Time’s original OTT fairytale villain to hero (and plays out every possible shade in between, plus various cursed and alternate versions of herself, not to mention her evil doppelganger), and Lana Parrilla’s just amazing at All The Things.  I went from not even liking her to somehow letting her rip my heart right out of my chest when I wasn’t looking.  (Bonus shout out to her mother Cora Mills/Queen of Hearts (Barbara Hershey) too.)

2. Frank Marker

"Have you heard about old heads on young shoulders?  Well, you employ me, you get an old head.  You get old shoulders, too, but then no-one's perfect."

I’m with @mariocki​ here: Alfred Burke’s run down, small-time enquiry agent in Public Eye (TV 1965-75) is one of the most utterly 3D, real and compelling TV characters I’ve ever come across.  (With a bonus mention for the very lovely Helen Mortimer (Pauline Delany), because I might even love her a tiny bit more than Frank some days. <3)

1. Ruth Evershed

“I like to think no institution in the country is safe from me.”

I had to think about this long and hard a while ago, and Nicola Walker’s Ruth from Spooks | MI5 is still probably my favourite character in anything.  It’s tough.  But RUTH.  I love her so much.  There’s a S2 DVD commentary with Howard Brenton and Nicola Walker on her first episode and basically Nicola just sits there going, “I love Ruth.”  And I’m: “ME TOO.” From her first appearance, dropping the files, buggering the Home Office, and breaking the desk lamp to more serious, angsty, later stuff, she’s just so damn good at her job (and in Spooks that’s a tragedy waiting to happen).

It’s really hard to list only 10 though.  I’m an all-eras Doctor Who fan.  I’d need three posts at least just to start on that, I keep falling in love with characters from ancient telly and every now and then I even watch new things...

[blackcatmanor]

RWBY Volume 7, Episode 7 Visual Review (Spoilers)

I have been lurking around RWBY tumblers for some time so I thought it was time to join the convo. If you want to see a review and pics of Ep. 7 click below. 

The good:

1.      Characters that are done right.

a.      Ironwood- Tin Man was so greatly written this episode, second to Nora. We got a lot of anger, desperation, and even PTSD from him. He shows symptoms of PTSD with reasonable triggers- seeing the monitors causes him to flash back to the Queen logo that Salem taunted him with at Beacon. I also like his internal conflict about having morals and humanity because he wonders if it disadvantages him versus Salem. It’s an interesting angle to take and hopefully will be explored more hopefully without having him go fully off the deep end.

b.      Nora- She is MVP of the episode. I appreciate how much she cares for marginalized people and she confronts Ironwood in a really brave and logical way. However, I didn’t like how Ruby literally tacks onto the end (putting her hand on Nora’s shoulder to add “this plays into Salem’s hand”). Nora did all of the heavy lifting but Ruby tried to step in with her cliché “I’m the protagonist and have to make my speech seem leveled and calm so you trust me” bit. I’m glad it didn’t work and Ironwood pressed on with his orders.

c.      Bumblebee- I appreciate Blake and Yang actually getting some screen time to TALK and flesh out their relationship. Clearly killing Adam is weighing on Blake and it was nice to see her bring it up, as well as express her frustration with doing things that, while good intentioned, aren’t right to her. It’s nice to see Yang is open to taking a different path after Blake confronted her. This was a nice issue that they talked through to advance and grow as a fledgling couple.  

This has been a big annoyance I had with the Blake and Yang pairing: they had SO MANY issues after V3 that never was addressed. With how angry and betrayed Yang was, the writers built up the feeling that there would be a pretty epic fight between them for TWO volumes and it didn’t pay off. They just literally ignored it like it never happened and went straight into giving each other flirt eyes and going on dates. I hope this is intentional, that they are ignoring and repressing their issues and problems for them to blow up later but I doubt it. But this episode is a step in the right direction for establishing an actual relationship between two complicated characters.  

2.      Story and lore done right.

a.      Penny- The writers did a good job of writing themselves OUT of a corner with Penny. I always thought Penny would come back because she’s a robot, but I also understood how fans felt like it a cheap ploy to hit people emotionally only to basically retcon it away. HOWEVER, the reveal that Pietro’s aura is used to create Penny each time, and he doesn’t have any more to give is interesting and a really effective way to explain why she did come back, but also why it is not an unlimited plot button they can keep pressing.

That being said the line about him not having any more aura to give Penny gives me huge death flags for her. Unfortunately, if she dies again it won’t have the same impact. Sure it’ll be the “for realsies last time” she dies, but since we already went through that it won’t matter the same way it did before. If anything, I hope they turn the death flags on their head a little bit and kill off Pietro. Not that I WANT to see him die, but *if* someone has to for the story, Pietro dying will put a whole new layer of complication into Penny’s existence and make it feel like there are stakes to Penny’s life again.  

The Bad:

1.      Story stuff done wrong.

a.      You tease- Once again we ended on a cliffhanger last episode that teases combat but doesn’t deliver. It would have been nice to see them help Mantle but with the reception of a very hostile Mantle citizenry.

b.      Mantle- Speaking of Mantle, an ongoing annoyance I have with this season is the lack of misery in Mantle. They keep talking about how miserable and struggling it is, but whenever they show shots of Mantle, it just looks like a city. It may not look like the nicest parts of a city, but it’s lacking the Misery factor. Maybe show abandoned or crumbling buildings, people en masse living on the streets, etc. Also having more shots in the day where you can see the bleak and sad nature would be nice.

2.      Character stuff done wrong.

a.      Happy Huntresses- Robyn’s crew have awesome semblances and work in connection with one another- with one girl who can create a mirage to cover their heists and Fiona who can apparently zap away all of the goods into her black hole hand?! OMG!  Robyn’s lie detector semblance is neat, but doesn’t really fit with her heist team and it shows with how she just stands to the side and watches everyone else working, or she just yells orders at people. Speaking of Robyn...

b.      Robyn the Edgelord- I am having a really hard time liking her, with her  smarmy attitude and pithy little nicknames for everyone like Fistacuffs, and Pipsqueak and Wags. Is she SUPPOSED to seem douchey? I was hoping for a Dolores Huerta-infused Robin Hood: someone with a passion for assisting the marginalized with a quick but powerful way of conveying her message but instead she’s just kind of a snarktopus.

c.      Ren the bummer- When did he become so Emo and angsty? He went from calm, zen ninja to hyper-antsy, wannabe Ace op kinda out of nowhere. Why? They keep making him turbo annoying without any reasoning, and then they cop-out of an explanation when Nora asks what’s wrong by having him say “I’m not good at talking.” They need to address this quick before it drags too long.

d.      Voice acting issues- Is Barbara’s voice acting is getting worse, or is the evolving tone of her character a bad fit? She was great as fun-loving party Yang in volumes 1-3, but all of the dramatic dialogue has been awkward and filled with pauses between words. I think Barbara equates dramatic performance with dramatic pauses. For instance, the line, “We did…….what we had to do,” and in episode 3 when talking about lying to Ironwood she says “Can we….talk about that again?” And two seconds later says “How did Oscar feel about that” in such a robotic tone it was jarring. No one talks like this. Are you forgetting the words you’re about to say as you say them?! What is happening?! I think Arryn does a good job at dramatic acting so the directors know what it sounds like. It’s getting distracting, especially with other talented deliveries in the show.

3.      Thoughts for the next episodes:

a.      It’s interesting that Qrow explicitly mentions that Atlas is Salem’s next target. With knowledge beforehand will it mean Atlas’ fate will be different than Beacon? (spoiler: Probably not).

b.      The Dinner with Jacques will be the perfect time to finally see Willow Schnee, and I hope they don’t blue balls us on this one, too. We could see her forced into the role of political wife, probably even more despondent and desperate than before.

[jeremichal-archive]

and if you weren't him, would that be such a bad thing

honestly, i just missed writing for my boys and i had to live up to my username, so here’s some good old angsty jeremichael. i hope y’all enjoy & don’t forget to let me know what you think! 

WARNINGS: Swearing PAIRING: Jeremichael, past Raychael

Michael hates him in the exact same way he hates Ray.

No note. No warning. A missing car and an empty apartment. It’s two years ago all over again, and Michael can’t help but wonder if it’s his fault; if he’s the problem. Once is just shit luck, but twice means Michael’s just made to be left behind.

He made a mistake with Ray. That much he knows. He didn’t chase, didn’t see the need to when he was so fucking sure he’d come back. Blind faith; blind hope - all it got him was heartbreak and an after-thought message from Barbara saying that Ray’s new girlfriend is “super amazing, Michael. You need to meet her!”

So yeah, this time, Michael does everything he can. He calls his mobile; disconnected. He calls his burner phone; abandoned. He asks Gavin to track him; gone. He sends out a message to everyone in Los Santos and prays for something back.

Find Rimmy Tim, and bring him back alive.

&&&

It’s three days after, when Jack asks, “Maybe he got himself into trouble?” As if Jeremy’s a cat stuck up a tree.

“And he left to protect us?” Gavin adds, and Michael desperately hopes that he doesn’t crack a molar from the way he’s clenching his jaw so fucking hard.

Ryan leans across the kitchen table. His mask is off, but then again, his face paint does a good enough job replacing the loss. “It’s possible,” he hums and Michael’s pushing himself out of his chair before he realises it. The legs scrape against the hardwood floor - a sound not unlike nails down a chalkboard - and four sets of eyes snap to him.

Afterwards, he’ll regret not just keeping his mouth shut. But in the moment, the words tumble out before he can stop them.

“You’re all fucking idiots if you think he cared about us for even one damn second.”

&&&

His old apartment smells like Ray.

It’s why he sleeps at the penthouse. It’s why he still pays its rent. It’s why he hasn’t set foot in the place in about a year.

The last time he was there, he wasn’t alone. Now, the thought just makes him feel sick.

“You sure I should be here, Michael?”

“You don’t have to stay.”

“But you want me too…?”

Jeremy looks so much smaller than normal, hovering uncertainly just outside the doorway. Michael stares back at him, wishing he could tell what was going on inside his head.

“You’re not his replacement, you know,” he mutters, just in case, and Jeremy rears back as if he’s been hit. “You smell nothing like him, for one.”

“Oh…”

His old apartment smells like Ray. The penthouse smells like Jeremy. Michael just can’t seem to catch a fucking break.

&&&

Five days after, it’s obvious that Geoff picks the short straw, mainly because he shoulders his way into Michael’s room at 5 pm. His suit jacket is off, and the top three buttons of his shirt are popped, but he’s still everything that Michael looks up too.

“You’re taking this the hardest, aren’t you Michael.”

“And what, you’re not?” he hisses back, tucking his legs back up and under his blankets. If Geoff thought to look hard enough, he’d see Jeremy’s stupid purple and orange doona peaking out; but either he doesn’t see it, or he lets Michael have this one because he doesn’t comment.

“We are, Michael. Of course, we are… but it’s just- I’ve seen you like this before-”

“Shut up,” he growls. The air around them crackles and Geoff levels him with a look full of pity. “Get the fuck out of my room, Geoff.”

He does, but not without hitting him where it hurts the most. “He’s coming back. We’ll get him back, Michael. It’ll be different this time,” and Michael hates the hope that blossoms in his chest.

&&&

Michael’s smart enough to know that it won’t work, but the pathetic side of him? Well, it’s desperate enough to demand that he still tries. So he puts in the number. He hits call.

It rings.

It rings.

It rings.

Someone picks up.

There’s a moment where he’s stuck in limbo. Sat outside on the pier, head tipped back to face the sun with his phone clutched between his fingers. He pretends it’s both of them, or that it’s neither of them, waiting for him to speak first. Schrodinger’s phone call.

“Where are you?” he asks, because he’s desperate and tired, and so fucking alone. He’s still got Gavin and the others - but they were both something so different, something else and Michael misses them so fucking desperately.

No one answers, but Michael can hear the steady sound of breathing on the other side.

“Are you safe?” he whispers, because he’d throw himself into the damn ocean right now if it meant Jeremy would come back. If it meant Ray would call him. If it meant he wouldn’t have to keep losing the people he loves.

There’s no answer again, and something inside him snaps a little bit. He clenches his hands into fists by his sides, pressing them down against the old wooden pier.

“Did I do something wrong?” he pleads, because once is just shit luck, but twice means there’s something wrong with him, there’s something wrong with him, there's something fucking wrong with him-

“No,” Jeremy whispers and Michael slumps back, feeling his head collide with the hard floor at the same time the line goes dead.

&&&

Seven days after, Michael wonders how he managed to survive the first time.

Ray leaves in Spring and it’s sometime around Autumn when it finally sinks in. He’s not coming back. Ray’s not coming back tomorrow, today or in three weeks time. Ray’s gone, and so are all the promises he made.

“You want to get married one day?”

“No.”

“... Not even if it was to me?”

Ray glances at him over the top of his DS and his eyes look pitch black without the screen illuminating them. Michael does his best to hold a straight face because laughing would give Ray the opportunity to take his words as a joke and he doesn’t want that.

“If we’re not dead by the time we’re thirty, then sure.”

“Sounds like a good plan to me.”

It would be funny, something that he could look back on and joke about with Gavin or even Jack, if it weren’t for the ring he’d purchased, buried in the back of his closet once upon a time ago.  

&&&

In a way, Michael hates Gavin too.

It wouldn’t be hard to add him to the list - the godforsaken list of damaged people that Michael loves - but then again, ignorance is bliss and Michael would rather just keep pretending.

At least this way, when Gavin shows up to the penthouse covered in lipstick marks and that goddamn lovestruck smile on his face, he can pretend it doesn’t hurt. When Gavin asks him if he wants to get bevs, only for Lindsay and Meg to be there when he shows up, Michael can pretend he’s not jealous.

Because Gavin was almost a mistake; he was almost a mistake in the same way Ray was. The same was Jeremy currently is. A habit he can’t seem to break, falling for someone who doesn’t have the emotional capacity to love him back.

It his own brand of torture, one more effective than anything Ryan could ever think to dream up himself.

&&&

Two weeks after, Michael gives up.

It’s three am when he crawls under Jeremy’s empty bed sheets, pulling them up and around him - suffocating himself in Jeremy’s scent. It’s three am when he shoves his face into Jeremy’s purple pillow, letting his tears turn the colours more black than purple. It’s three am when Michael loses all hope that Jeremy will ever come back.

It’s like losing a part of himself. A perfect 5”4 hole. Open, raw and destroying him from the inside out.

But.

But.

It hurt so much more this time.

Why does it hurt so much more this time?

Ray’s hurt. Ray’s still fucking hurts. His best friend left him. His best friend up and fucking left him, with no warning, two days after Michael took a bullet to his shoulder. There was nothing, no explanation, no apology. It was just Michael, a few empty promises and a cheap kiss that didn’t mean as much as he thought it fucking did.

But Jeremy’s? Jeremy’s fucking kills. Jeremy’s tears him apart. There was something there; he was so sure of it. It was an almost. An almost lover, and almost boyfriend. A person Michael thought he could trust. A person Michael told everything. From the reason why he keeps his old apartment, to the fucking ring he brought six weeks after Ray made that promise. He was almost everything he needed, but then he fucking left.

So Michael gives up. Jeremy’s not coming back. Ray’s not coming back.

Maybe he’s just built to be left behind.

&&&

He gets a text message from a burner phone. Gavin tracks it for him and he learns very little, but it’s enough. Purchased in Austin, Texas; paid for in cash.

Can we meet?

Impulse makes him want to text back ‘no’, but he doesn’t. He just stares at it, as the rest of his crew stare at him. No one dares to interrupt the silence that’s settled around them, but Michael wishes they would. The kitchen’s never been so eerily silent before and it makes him uneasy.

Geoff puts a hand over his hand; Michael manages not to flinch. “You don’t have to go. We can send someone else, if it- if it’s too much.”

“It might not be him…” Ryan mutters and Michael can hear how much it hurts him to say that. He knows they’re all hurting too. Being apart of the crew means being apart of a family, so Jeremy leaving hits deep in all of them.

He stares back down at the phone. There’s a slightly visible tremble to his hands that he doesn’t bother trying to hide. “I gotta try,” he whispers and Geoff slowly pulls his hand back, “doesn’t matter how small the odds are, I gotta see if it’s him.”

Where?

&&&

His apartment, ironically enough, sits on Innocence Boulevard. It’s a four-story building, with one dodgy fire escape and a back alleyway that Michael absolutely hates.

It’s the last place he broke something, his fist after punching the fucking brick wall. It’s where he and Ray kissed for the first time. It’s where he had to explain to Jeremy that his place in the crew? it wasn’t merely temporary. Bad things happen in that alleyway, which is exactly why he sits on the front steps of his building and waits for Jeremy, an ambush, whoever’s coming to meet him there.

At five to three, Michael stands. There’s a slight tremor to his whole being, but it makes itself known the most in his legs. They shake, and it’s enough to force him to lean against the wall.

At five past three, a car pulls up at the curb. Michael knows that car. He’s ran heists in that car. He’s joy ridden in that car. He’s crashed that godforsaken fucking car before. He’s the reason why the back bumper is black and not orange. He’s the reason it has a stain on the back seat.

And he’s never been happier to see that stupid fucking car.

At least… he was, up until the moment two bodies climb out of it and Michael’s heart stops beating.

&&&

Jeremy makes the first move.

He approaches the steps slowly, like he’s approaching a wild animal ready to run, and Michael doesn’t blame him. Especially since he’s got one hand on the door handle and the other out in front of him, trying to tell the world to stop.

“Just… give it ten minutes?” he whispers, coming to a stop on the bottom step. Michael stares at him. It’s only been two and a half weeks since he saw him last, but God, it’s felt like years. He looks the same, but somehow entirely different and Michael realises it's because of the look in his eyes.

Fear, apprehension, insecurity and a little bit of guilt. It’s like he’s just joined the crew all over again and Michael hates it. He opens his mouth, ready to say something, but the words die on his tongue. It doesn't help that Jeremy’s already stepping back, making room for Ray, who's stuck hovering awkwardly by the car.

Neither of them makes a move. It's a stalemate. Both of them not quite sure where they stand with the other.

“You flew all the way out here with me, Ray,” Jeremy mutters in the end, cutting through the tension in a way only he could, “and I know you didn’t do it just to stand on the sidewalk the whole time.”

Ray turns his gaze to Jeremy.

“Maybe not,” he mutters, “but it would be a hell of a lot more easier if I did.”

&&&

The second the door swings shut behind Ray, Michael’s moving towards the kitchen. He doesn’t care if Ray follows. He doesn’t care if turns around and walks right back out onto the street. All Michael cares about is dousing the fire that’s ignited inside him with alcohol. It’ll make things worse, he knows, but he can’t fucking find it in himself to care.

He pours himself a glass of whiskey and downs it in one swallow. Ray makes a face. Michael pours himself another.

“So Jeremy left, to go get you,” he hisses, sipping it this time. The alcohol does a good job of masking Ray’s scent; both the one that lingers in his apartment and the entirely different one that belongs to him now.

“He told me that you needed- you needed me.”

“He lied. You can leave. Sorry for wasting your time.”

“Michael.”

Something catches inside him, and the burning in his veins turns into a full-blown forest fire. “You don’t get to ‘Michael’ me,” he hisses, spinning around to meet Ray head on, “you left. You fucking left. No note! No reason! You left me all alone and I-” his voice cracks. Ray looks guilty, for what Michael guesses must be the first time in his entire life.

“I didn’t think you’d take it this hard...”

He sets the glass down just a little bit too hard, and the sound resonates through the room. Sharp and obnoxious, just like the anger inside of him. His face feels hot, and it’s either the anger or the alcohol that’s staining his cheeks red.

“Don’t lie to me. You knew exactly what would happen, how I’d feel.” He leans his hip against the counter. “You aren’t stupid Ray, but you are selfish and cruel. I always pretended you weren’t, but we both know who you are and what you’re capable of.”

It only takes a second for Ray’s posture to change and Michael watches him snap upright. He picks at the fabric of the couch lazily, from where he’s balanced on the arm precariously. “We were killing each other-”

“Try again.”

Ray sighs. “Okay. You were killing me. You expected so much from me Michael. You wanted so much. You wanted a happy family, you wanted a boyfriend and a husband and the whole shebang. I couldn’t give you that and I knew you wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

“You think I would have forced you to be with me?” he asks, frowning slightly. The anger drains out of him slowly, and then all that’s left is that all too familiar hollow feeling.  

“No, not in the way you’re thinking,” he mutters, looking up at Michael, “you wouldn’t have made me be with you, but you would have made me stay with you, Michael. I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t stay- I couldn’t-”

“Yeah. I can see that now.”

&&&

He tells Ray to send Jeremy up and in after him and pointedly ignores the look that flashes in his eyes. He waits for him on the couch at first, but the nerves get to him and he ends up pacing around the apartment. When the door opens, he’s halfway to pouring himself another glass of whiskey, just to do something with his fucking hands.

Jeremy hovers in the doorway again and deja vu washes over him. He stops. Jeremy licks his lips. Neither of them move.

“You-” he tries, but the words fail and Michael has to look away to keep himself from crying. He sucks in a deep breath, staring at the tattered wallpaper while he pretends he’s alight.

“You left-”

“-I-I was coming back!” Jeremy interjects and Michael holds up a hand.

“You left… to go find Ray… for me?” he finishes. Jeremy slowly nods and Michael takes one step forward. “Why?”

“You brought a ring for him, Michael. You’re in love with him. I was just trying- I wanted-” he looks away, gazing dropping to the floor like he’s waiting to be scolded. Michael swallows around the lump in his throat.

“You could have told me…”

“And what?” Jeremy replies, shrugging slightly, “leave you disappointed when I inevitably failed? Have you tell me not to stick my damn nose in places where it doesn’t fucking belong? I didn't know if-” he stops. Michael takes another step forward. It’s a year ago all over again, but this time Michael’s more prepared.

“You didn’t know what?” he asks, sucking in a breath and holding it. Jeremy shuffles on the spot, looking anywhere but him.

“I didn’t know if I was allowed-” he sneaks a glance a Michael- “no, I mean- I didn’t want to- Michael, you have to understand,” he pleads. He runs a hand over his head and Michael can see the red scratches he leaves behind in wake of his fingernails. “I just didn’t want to overstep any boundaries, and I know I should have asked, but- but you were just so- and I wanted to help! And- and- I’m so fucking sorry,” he babbles, his breath coming out in quick huffs.

“I messed this up, didn’t I?” he whispers, like it’s a secret. Like it’s the end of the world. Like he’s just realised what he’s done. “I shouldn’t have tried to- I just wanted to- I thought it would work. Fucking hell, fuck, fuck!”

He makes the move to do it again, ready to drag his nails across the top of his head and Michael can tell it’s going to draw blood this time. He wants to stop him, wants to stop Jeremy from hurting himself.

So he does.

He reaches out and catches Jeremy’s wrists, holding them down gently. Jeremy instantly freezes, and whether it’s from the touch or the proximity, Michael doesn’t know.

“You’re not his replacement, you know,” he whispers and Jeremy squeezes his eyes shut, face scrunching up. It’s a tell and one that screams to Michael that he’s hit Jeremy so close to home. “I know you think you are, and I’m honestly terrified that you still believe that if Ray comes back, we’ll get rid of you… but we won’t.”

“Michael…”

“Listen to me,” he pleads, squeezing Jeremy’s wrists and waiting for him to open his eyes first before continuing. “Yeah, I brought him a ring. And yeah, I was gonna ask him to marry me. But Jeremy, three days after I told you about it, I realised I didn’t need it anymore and I threw that fucking thing off the pier. Do you know why?” he asks. Jeremy stares back at him with wide eyes as he shakes his head, and Michael licks his lips slowly.

“Cause of you.”

“What? I- I don’t-”

“I- I know I loved him, and maybe I still do-” Jeremy flinches- “but not in the same anymore. He’s different and I'm different, and it doesn't matter how many times you bring him back for me, he’s still going to leave again. The thing is, yeah it hurt like hell when he left, but Jeremy, it felt so much fucking worse when you did.”

He lets the words sink in. He waits for Jeremy to react, but all he does is stare down at Michael’s hands, eyebrows furrowed. “I didn’t think you’d…” he mumbles, words trailing off.

“What?” he whispers back, “notice? Care? Of course, I care, Jeremy. Of course, I fucking care about you…”

He waits for a moment. Jeremy’s chest rises and falls in quick succession and Michael runs his hands up Jeremy’s arms, settling just below the elbow. “I don’t want to do this wrong again,” he continues, “I don’t want to make the same mistakes twice, so if I’m being too much or if I’m ‘killing you’ then please tell me-”

“You’re not,” Jeremy hisses, head instantly snapping up, “you couldn’t.”

He lets out a harsh breath. “You’re not his replacement,” he says again, and Jeremy sways on his feet, gravitating ever so slightly to Michael. “You smell nothing like him, for one.”

“And that's a good thing?” Jeremy asks, and the look on his face is so open and vulnerable that Michael feels his heart skip a beat.

“Yeah, it is,” he mumbles, and then he’s surging forward to kiss him and Jeremy happily meets him halfway.

&&&

Michael wakes up with a body lying along the length of his, and a face pressed into the crook of his neck.

He doesn’t dare move.

It’s much nicer just to enjoy the moment. The way Jeremy’s breath skitters across his skin. The way he can feel the other man’s heart beating steadily against his. There’s no worry that he’ll wake up to an empty room. There’s no threat of heartbreak when he’s got Jeremy right there, sapping his warmth from his body like the thief he is.

He lets his hand move slowly, tracing the length of Jeremy’s spine; following along all the bumps and dips. It’s only when he moves in to kiss the shell of Jeremy’s ear that he gets a reaction.

“Go back to sleep,” Jeremy slurs and Michael laughs softly.

“What time is it?” he questions, turning his gaze towards the window. Light seeps through the gaps in the curtains, but it’s not enough for Michael to believe it’s time to get up. Plus, even if it was, he wouldn’t dare disturb Jeremy. He waits for a reply, and when it doesn’t come, he slides his hand down Jeremy’s side to rest on his hip. The gentle lulling of Jeremy’s breathing makes him close his eyes, and it's hard not to give into Jeremy’s advice.

Before he completely goes under though, he presses his nose into Jeremy’s neck and breathes in.

He smells like apples and gunpowder. Michael loves it.

[oh-mother-of-darkness]

asks (40)

Anonymous said: Holy frick that is so encouraging and I needed that so much bc I literally visited my college to measure my dorm room and drove home in tears bc I panicked myself into a frenzy about whether or not everything leading me to this point has been a mistake and what if I fail and ruin my life before it even starts (I have since calmed down a little) so your encouragement was much needed & is much appreciated

I’m glad I could help <3 <3 <3 Good luck at school! I’m sure you’ll kick its ass

areverieofchaosdreams said: It's Fanfiction Writers Appreciation Day. So thank you for all your amazing stories!!!

Oh goodness I’m all a blushin :’)

Anonymous said: *HAPPY WRITER APPRECIATION DAY* Send this to someone whose talent has blown you away, who you'd like to encourage to keep on writing always, and who you'd like to thank for working their butt off to provide fandom members with breathtaking stories to consume! THANK YOU :D

Aw thank you!

Anonymous said: Hi! I Hope you're well! Do you still take fic requests? Because I really miss Colin Wilkes and I'd love to a story of him with your writing!

Unfortunately I don’t often take requests these days, but I’ll definitely keep Colin in mind!

dirtycherrypie said: hey! applying for WE for the R&D department (may or may not be aware of producing bat gadgets)

dirtycherrypie said: SHit forgot my name - Bea, at your service!

[Bruce Wayne voice] hired

tigers-and-weeds said: Literally just fell down the rabbit hole on your tumblr for the last 12-24 hours. I am in love with with you headcannons and fics! The angst feeds my soul... So I figured I would request: anything angsty with Dick and Damian please please please

Okay again I don’t usually take fic requests BUT I like me some angst so the odds that this will eventually happen.... are extremely high. I’ll try to remember to dedicate the next one to you :) And thank you!

math--ew said: I went on a little birthday vacation to california and I've never been to the beach before. I was bending down to grab a pretty shell and this huge wave knocked me face first into the sand. Like, five people saw and laghed but I got the shell so I guess it's a win win.

Duuuude back at Lake Michigan last month the same thing happened to me. I was taking care of my little sister and her five year old friend, so I was so busy making sure they were okay that the wave plowed me halfway across the beach

babybatbrat said: when i was in ap physics i once spent an entire study period in my physics teacher's room working on one problem. as far as i could tell i was doing all of the work correctly and had all the initial values right so i was racking my brain trying to figure out why i wasn't getting the right answer. the third time i went up to my teacher and asked for help he told me to start at the beginning and walk him through my process bc he couldn't tell why i was getting it wrong either (1)

babybatbrat said: (2) so i start the problem and explain how i got through all the values - "okay so the rod is 5 inches long and half of 5 is 3 and a half -" and i stopped there bc it occurred to me that 3.5 is not half of 5. "it's what?" My teacher asks. i put my head in my hands and stood there for a minute before picking up my work and walking to the back of the classroom while he laughed, bc i had just spent 45 minutes convinced that half of 5 was 3.5 and not, in fact, 2.5, and that was the only thing wrong

Honestly??? Relatable

babybatbrat said: One time i woke up at six in the morning to hear the neighbor's dog barking and instantly realized that meant my dog had jumped the fence, so i went racing outside and sprinted down the street to catch her. when i did i picked her up and turned around to go home and then saw my neighbor standing on their front porch, realized i was in only an oversized spiderman tshirt and snowman pajama shorts, holding a twenty pound labrador and thats how i met my new neighbors

Incredible...... 10/10.....

thrakaboom said: Not a funny story,but two days ago at comic con I met Tom King and he showed me a picture of his kids while he was signing my books

Well hey that’s pretty cool

Anonymous said: I adore your Tumblr. It was a wonderful way to get into the Batfamily fanbase; prior, I thought that there was only one Batman and a single Robin, dearie me was I wrong. And those stories you write, just great. The Headcanons are just as enjoyable. As for Batman, that has come to be a sibling enjoyment. Thank you for your contributions and existence!

!!!!!! Welcome to the crew!

frnkensteingrrrlz said: hey!!! i just went through ur reasons to be happy tag and!! i'm so so happy bc of it (esp the damian hcs, they're spot on imo and he's my favourite) so i hope u have a good day!!!

Thanks! I am having a good day today! Although I’m sure it’s been a long time since you sent this :////

Anonymous said: HELLO I have just discovered and binge-read all of your fics with my homeboy Damian in them, and just wanted to pop by and say that I love you & you are my hero & you write my boy so well so thank u and I hope your life is blessed & you achieve your wildest hopes & dreams

My day is made :D

badfaith00 said: Best batman storyline you've ever read ?

Ooooooh hm I’m mighty attached to n52 Batman and Robin? Particularly the first storyline, but the second is also fantastic

Anonymous said: THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHAMELESSLY REBLOGGING YOUR OWN WORK BC I HADNT SEEN IT BEFORE AND ITS HONESTLY SO PHENOMENAL ITS GOING ON MY LIST OF ALL TIME FAVORITES THANK U AND BLESS U

THANK YOU!!! THAT ONE IS MY FAVORITE AND I AM VERY PROUD OF IT

onwardmotley said: In today's Detective Comics someone finally told Bruce and co that Tim's alive. They didn't explain where he is, or how to get him back, but hey. It might've had more impact if anyone was seen actually mourning Tim and it wasn't just played as him being in cosmic time out, but at least it should end soon idk. Hopefully.

Tim Drake? It’s been years since I heard that name.....

Finally. Thank goodness.

Anonymous said: Idk if I prefer your soul crushing angst or your heartwarming fluff... actually I like to suffer so I'll stay with angst lol

Y’all seeing this? Anon gave me permission. Can’t yell at me next time because it won't be my fault (thanks babe :))

Anonymous said: for music, idk what kind of music u like so here is variety: St. Vincent - Paris is Burning, Sea Wolf - Dear Fellow Traveler (tbh everything by Sea Wolf is great), Dirt Poor Robins - Eleanor Rigby, Between Wind and Water- HAEL, Ellem - Kings and Queens and Vagabonds, The Rigs - Rise & Fall, Tally Hall - Light and Night, and Streetlight Manifesto - The Hands that Thieve.

Thank you! I’m excited to listen to these! I’ll start right now!

Anonymous said: 1) What are the good comics to read for Batfamily stuff (from any point in time) and 2) what are the best Jason Todd comics? Thanks!

Okay for Jason I would definitely start with the big ones, which are A Death In the Family and Under the Red Hood. After that you could try Red Hood: the Lost Days and Countdown to Final Crisis. I would avoid the n52 series until you have a good enough grasp of the character to recognize bad writing when you see it. 

For the generalized batfam.... that’s pretty broad. My personal favorites are Red Robin, Batgirl (2009), and both B&R series. If you have more specific questions, you should IM me! I promise I’m better about answering those than asks

yellowwallsbluesky said: Have you heard Swooner by The Zolas? I've really been jamming to it lately

Listening to it right now! Sounds like a bop so far :)

Anonymous said: Hidden citizens paint it black 💜

Much obliged!

Anonymous said: Harry styles "sign of the times".

[adds to list] thank you!

neo669 said: I MISS CASA OLE!! Sorry just read that you lived in Bryan/College Station and I used to live there as well. It's kinda hard to find people that even know that it exists. But I'm sure you can kick law schools butt. You got this!

Yooooooo I miss cstat too :((((

palliddark said: Adalgiza, and I'll be a translator (English to Brazilian Portuguese)

[Bruce Wayne voice] also hired

maeofthedead said: I love your headcannons and now I sort of want to cry thank

Excellent that is the exact target response 

Anonymous said: Love your rant in the tags about the pizza making I'm laughing so hard

Listen..... I have strong feelings

Anonymous said: Did you hear they're making an omnibus of Tomasi's entire run on Batman & Robin?? I just heard and now I kinda want to get this massive book in honor of my favorite batkid and the series that made me love him so much

Man I already have all the individual volumes but if I didn’t......

sonicboom00724601 said: Hi. :) Nice headcanon. :)

I’m not sure which one you’re talking about, but thank you! You're real sweet

Anonymous said: can you maybe write an interaction between Wonder Woman and Captain America? I absolutely adore your style and would love to see your take on it.

Hmmmm I don’t really have a good enough grasp of Captain America’s characterization to try that one :////

Anonymous said: i tried to kill on mosquito that was on my ceiling by slamming it with a book but mosquito was on the move so i bounced swiftly and jammed both my wrist and thumb and now my existence is Pain. also my thumbs swelling and looks purple, so that's nice

Oh shit anon you good???

daziy said: Do we know who Barbara's mother usually is?

Yeah! In her original version, Babs had a birth mom and an adopted mom. She was originally Jim’s niece, so her birth mom’s name was Thelma Gordon. After the adoption, her parents were Jim and Barbara Gordon, with her adopted mother being her namesake. So two Barbara Gordons.

I think for awhile the canon was that her mother died in a car crash, but the current version has her still alive. She left Jim when Babs was young, taking her son (Babs’s brother) with her. James Gordon (the son) turned out to be a serial killer. 

Barbara Gordon Sr. and James Gordon Jr. both appeared in the n52 Batgirl series during the Death of the Family arc. There’s also a very good story about James from the Dickbats period. That one’s called The Black Mirror, if I’m not mistaken?

Anonymous said: Hi! What do you think of the upcoming metal event? Dick and Damian seem to have a big role in it ( I hope Jason is involved too but there's still no sign of it)

Hmmmm I don’t know that I have an opinion just yet, but as always, I hope to be pleasantly surprised 

Anonymous said: bless you are your wonderful tagging system. know that i may have avoided death because of how easy it was to f ind the thing I wanted in your tags. bless

Oh goodness anon I hope you’re not serious about almost dying.... but thanks?

Anonymous said: hi amy! would u say that damians narrative is written as a child abuse one? like there are definitely many allusions to it but its also not as explicit as say, cassandra or rose. like how much of it would u chalk up to comic world dynamics and how much to actual abuse? also would u consider jason to also be a case of this?

Oh I have very strong opinions about the role of abuse in Damian’s narrative. It’s absolutely there, and the effects are staggeringly large. There is no doubt in my mind that the league was an abusive environment, and I can’t justify some of the things Bruce did either.

I think I would say the same thing for Jason, if not quite as strongly. I definitely think that some of the things that happened to Jason as a child shaped his story later on, but less of those were abuse than outside circumstances. The n52 takes a different track on that one, I think, but I don’t put much stock in that characterization. 

Anonymous said: has jason forgiven bruce for not killing joker? if so, what made him?

Unlikely. They get along better these days, but I would argue that comes from poor characterization of Bruce, not an actual resolution process. 

mellenabrave said: My mom accidentlly threw my Damian doll away (╥_╥)

Tossed in the garbage by yet another parent--

Anonymous said: Whoa where'd you get that bat and oracle shirt you're wearing in your necklace pic? It's so cool! (The necklace is also gorgeous!)

Shoot I think it was from Redbubble? But I can’t find it now

Anonymous said: Omg that necklace was so cool!!! Kudos to the maker of it!! Also I really like your top!!

Thank you <3

[thereinafter]

I'm signing up for the Yuletide fic exchange this year; looong Dear Yuletide Writer letter below.

Dear Yuletide writer, hi! This is my first time writing one of these letters, although I’ve read Yuletide fic for many years. I’m excited about whatever you write for me and I hope this makes it easier. I’m thereinafter (isyche) on AO3.

I will be delighted if you write me something shippy for characters I ship (and I’m entirely cool with that being explicit if you’re so moved), but I am also delighted by gen fic, especially building on/exploring aspects of the world or backstory. I am the kind of person who enjoys Tolkien’s appendices and songs and reads all the codex entries in video games. I’ll always love something that’s like a bit more of the canon. 

I suggested prompts in case that helps you, but feel free to mix them up or come up with your own idea. 

-----

General likes:

Canon divergence AUs

Time loop stories, and other kinds of variations on a theme, generally (I do like “five times” fic)

Casefic for canons where there are cases or missions

Epistolary or “found documents” stories

Unconventional story structures

Worldbuilding/exploration of the canon world

Stories set around holidays and festivals, and balls, masquerade or not

Relatedly, characters doing things in disguise, whether they’re good or bad at it (and bodyswap, as a subcategory of this and forced intimacy)

Heists and rescues/jailbreaks

Court plotting, intrigue, spying

Road or sea trips/wilderness survival

Forced intimacy tropes like fake dating, bedsharing, huddling for warmth, marriage of convenience

Hurt/comfort (generally in the sense of one character in a pairing enduring hurt from external forces and the other saving and/or tending them)

Swordfights, training for all kinds of fighting, feats of arms

Characters creating things for others

In-universe stories, songs, mythologies, histories

Scenery and costume porn in the “rich description” sense

Lighthearted fluff and humor

Angst with happy endings

Us against the world pairings

Pining and extended UST, especially between work partners who are busy with saving the world or some other important task

Longtime friends to lovers, old friends meeting again, old enemies who aren’t really anymore, rivals who respect each other

Ascetic/hedonist or repressed/libertine or inexperienced/more experienced pairings

Stoic women who have a lot of hidden feelings

Characters who are very good at what they do (but may be awkward or lost in other contexts)

Loyalty/dedication/faithfulness/devotion, knight/queen dynamics (either one-way or where both consider themselves the knight to the other), love conflicting with other loyalties

People who know each other so well they can read each other wordlessly or sense each other across distances

Noble self-denial and sacrifice

in sex scenes: cuddling, laughing, eroticized hands and voices, clothed/semi-clothed sex, complicated undressing, extended making out, enthusiasm/eagerness/desperation, first times or first times in a while, talking whether emotional or joking or dirty, having to keep silent or hold still, interruptions and delayed gratification, sex against walls, mutual roughness, spontaneous/informal kink, magical or magic-enhanced sex in contexts where that exists

DNWs:

Coffeeshop/high school/other mundane AUs, soulmate/soulmark AUs, issuefic, non-canonical polyamory, non-canonical nicknames, non-canonical pregnancy and kids, A/B/O, formalized D/s, sexual violence/noncon, male dominance in het ships, daddy/mommy kink, incest

----------

Fandoms I requested (in alphabetical order):

Alpennia Series - Heather Rose Jones

Barbara, Margerit, Jeanne, Antuniet (I requested all four but any one or two or three of them is also fine)

In this series I love the canon ships as they are (don’t want them broken up or reconfigured), the women finding happy endings together despite their society’s prejudices, the Regencyesque setting with balls and seasons and duels, the way the magic works (especially Antuniet’s alchemy and how we see mysteries constructed through music and art), the way Margerit’s house becomes a refuge/salon for queer and intellectual/artistic women. 

Prompt suggestions:

one of Barbara's adventures pre-Daughter of Mystery? Her first efforts at being a duelist?

if you’ve read “Three Nights at the Opera” it says it's the story of Barbara’s glorious imprudence but in fact leaves most of it untold, so you could tell me more about her affair with Jeanne?

In DoM after Barbara and Margerit kiss the first time, a lot of the romance is off-page in the same way; you could show me one of the undescribed scenes from, e.g., their time in the convent with all the feelings and details.

Domestic fluff in one of their households as of Mother of Souls? a holiday celebration? Margerit creating another private mystery for Barbara? an elaborate ball or secret party thrown by Jeanne? 

Some kind of magical accident or student mistake results in a time loop or amnesia or h/c?

A road trip leaves one of the couples stranded in the mountain wilderness (Antuniet’s harsh practicality and Jeanne being used to luxury could make this interesting for them)?

One of them is kidnapped by one of their political rivals and the others have to rescue her?

——

The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe - Kij Johnson

Vellitt Boe, Clarie Jurat, Gnesa Petso, Reon Atescre | Nasht (here, I also requested all of them but you don’t need to include all of them; see prompts)

This is a novella that turns Lovecraft’s Dreamlands inside out and subverts him delightfully while retaining the weirdness/horror/atmosphere I do like about his stories. I absolutely love the setting, the descriptions, Johnson’s extension of the existing worldbuilding, and the character of Vellitt Boe herself (an older woman with a past life of adventures who leaves her settled academic life to set out alone on a new one). I’d love anything that shows more of this version of this world. If you want to bring in more elements from the Lovecraft stories and treat them the same way, fantastic.

prompt suggestions:

It seems like Vellitt and Dean Gnesa Petso have a long history, did they know each other or travel together before working together at Ulthar Women’s College? (and you could make that a romantic history if you want). Did Gnesa convince her to stop adventuring and start teaching there?

We know she used to travel with Reon Atescre before he became the high priest Nasht; I like their friendship. “They had parted ways in the infamous demon-city Thalarion for no reason but the restlessness that is in the young”—what were they doing there?

“In her far-travelling days, she had walked in god-blasted wastelands …” what did she encounter there?

Why did she finally leave Randolph Carter and what happened after she did? Why did she change her name?

One prompt without Vellitt: Clarie Jurat returns home to fight the gods; I’d love to see how she does it.

——

Elemental Logic - Laurie J. Marks

Zanja na’Tarwein, Karis G’deon

I fell pretty hard for these books, especially Fire Logic, about which I love so many things; I feel like Marks has some kind of direct connection to my personal id. All the circumstances of the way they meet with Karis breaking Zanja out of the prison, all the h/c, all the pining and angst, all their rescuing of each other, Karis’s eventual healing of herself and rediscovery of feeling, give me an absurd amount of feelings. I also love how the books are overall about the struggle to establish and hold a peace more than fighting a war, and the fact that Karis uses her amazonian strength to be a healer and creator/fixer of things while Zanja is the fighter, and all the other opposing elemental/mystical traits that mean they are often baffled by each other.

To sum up, I very much love them as a ship and would like a story focused on the two of them (Emil and Medric are fine characters, but I’d rather not focus on the whole group family; that said, if you write something that needs secondary characters, I’m fond of Norina and Clement and Seth and Garland too, and I love the ravens).

Prompt suggestions:

The two of them keep getting separated and almost dying or symbolically dying and then reuniting/bringing each other back. Which does work for me every time, so if you want to write something plotty that continues that pattern, I would be here for it. 

We’re told Karis loses her powers over water and thus avoids it, but we don’t ever see much of that; what would it be like if she had to sail somewhere? (I could see this going in a light funny or fraught angsty direction.) 

I’m intrigued by the implications of Karis sensing what happens to objects she forges, as with Zanja’s knife. 

A little mission/case they decide to handle together? There must be a lot of problems around Shaftal to fix still. 

——

Sunless Sea

Presbyterate Adventuress, Brisk Campaigner (you could focus on either or both)

I've been in love with the Fallen London/Sunless Sea world for a long time and I will adore anything you write that evokes the atmosphere of the games. I'm fascinated with the story possibilities of every port (while not having managed to discover all of them even with my luckiest captains). I'm requesting the Adventuress and the Campaigner because I’m intrigued by their possible canon relationship, but if you want to bring in other characters too, go for it. 

prompt suggestions:

Backstory! What were their lives like before they joined the crew? Had they ever met before?

Tell me about an adventure onshore when the ship is in one of the ports and the captain is busy (for one or the other of them, or them together).

Or an adventure on the zee, fighting creatures or dealing with crew madness in the dark.

Medical situations in this world could get very weird; what kinds of things does the Campaigner deal with as ship’s doctor?

Abbey Rock particularly fascinates me; you could tell me more about the Adventuress’s deal to fight the Sisters’ Adversary for them, and her battle (and leave it tragic or fix it somehow after her victory if you choose).

——

Tam Lin

Janet, Tam Lin, The Queen

I’m a big fan of the Child ballads and traditional folk/story songs in general. My favorite sung version of “Tam Lin” is probably Fairport Convention’s [lyrics]. There are many retellings, but I’d love another one or a story that spins off of it or fills in some of the blanks. 

The thing I love most at the heart of the story is Janet’s courage and steadfastness in enduring the fairy queen’s test to rescue her beloved. But I’m also fascinated by the darkness surrounding that, like the warning away from Carterhaugh at the beginning, the queen owing a tithe to hell, and the body horror of the transformations and having to hold on to these things. You could keep the pregnancy in or leave it out, whichever works best with your story.

Prompt suggestions:

An f/f retelling would be very my thing, but not required.

An AU in a very different setting, like space or virtual reality or another historical period or a culture with a different mythology around fairies/spirits (for an extra challenge, it could also be interesting set in one of my other requested fandoms, if you know them)

Something from Tam Lin’s POV or the queen’s that fills in their backstory together?

Something that elaborates more on Janet/Tam Lin’s initial and subsequent encounters between the lines of the ballad? 

Something set after the end that deals with the repercussions or further consequences? (are there permanent effects on Tam Lin? if there’s a child, is the child affected in some way?)

[rawritzrobin]

Angel Amongst Bats Chapter 6

Title: Angel Amongst Bats

Pairing: Jason Todd x Stella Covington (My OC)

Warnings: Cursing, past major character death, a little bit angsty, fluff.

Summary: Stella finally sees the truth.

Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5

Chapter 6: Trigger

Stella follows Tim down into the Batcave. The rest of the Bat crew was already suited up in the cave. Dick and Barbara wave at Stella when they see her. Stella offers them a small smile.

“We have a special one tonight.” Bruce announces. All the heads in the room turn to him as he starts briefing the team. Tim rolls his wheel chair in front of the Bat computer and starts to type furiously. Stella makes her way next to him. Looking at the large screen in front of them.

“You don’t have to be down here for this. You should go upstairs and have some cookies with Alfred.” He says to her.

Stella shook her head. “No, I’m too anxious to eat. Plus, it’s kind of my job to keep Oracle company back in my world.” She offers Tim a small smile. He reciprocates it and nods.

“Okay. Grab a chair.”

——————

The first half of the night was uneventful. The team went out on a recon mission to gather information on a large drug ring. Stella was actually starting to get bored. She was starting to fall asleep when Dicks comm buzzed loudly.

“B we got a situation. He’s here.”

That got Stella’s attention as she sat up in her chair and focused her attention on Nightwing’s camera. It was dark where he was, hidden up on some roof beams. He was looking down on a group of men who were surrounding a large shipment of drugs. They all looked like regular henchman. But just then, a large figure stepped out of the shadows.

It was obvious he was not a henchman. For one, he was wearing a really nice suit. He had black hair and even though he was wearing a suit, it was clear he was built like a wall. Even through the lense of the small camera, Stella knew exactly who it was.

Tim looks up at her, worry in his eyes.

Stella pulls back covering her mouth. “Jason.”

“Can you guys hurry it up. I haven’t got all day.” Jason yells at the men around him.

The men run towards the bags of drugs and start loading them onto the back of a truck.

“What do I do B?” Nightwing asks quietly through his comm.

“Just stay there Nightwing. Don’t do anything to alert him.” Batman answers. “This is just recon. Be careful.”

Dick stays in his spot, hidden from all the men. Each second felt longer than the last.

Stella stepped closer to the Bat computer,

“Can you zoom in on him?” Stella asks. Tim obliges.

Stella takes him in. He looked, more or less, the same as her Jason. He was wearing a tailored black suit, a red dress shirt, and a coat was draped around his shoulders. Instead of his usual domino mask or red hood, he was wearing a red mask over his mouth and nose. His messy black hair was the same, except he didn’t have the white streak that ran through his bangs. He couldn’t have. Jason got the white streak after his dip in the Lazarus pit. Since this Jason never died, he wouldn’t have gone through that.

They watched the scene unfold in front of them. Jason’s men were nearing the final few bags, when one of his henchman tripped, and dropped the bag he was holding. The product fell to the floor.

“Shit, Shit!” The man mutters while scrambling to pick up the bag. What the man didn’t notice, was Jason slowly making his way over to him.

While the man was distracted, Jason pulled a gun from his holster, aimed it at the mans head, and fired.

Stella turned away before she could see anything. It was obvious what he was going to do. She couldn’t bare to look back at the screen. Blood was never really her thing. A wound here and there she could do. But seeing the aftermath of a persons skull blown up is another thing. She walked away from the computer and leaned against a wall, her hand clutching her stomach.

She did’t want to believe it was true. But there it was. The Jason in this world was a ruthless killer. He didn’t even hesitate to kill that man. Over a tiny mistake. A mistake anyone could have made. Who knows what he did to people who went against his will.

Tim looked at Stella sadly. This was probably not what she wanted to see. Especially after what she told him about her Jason. How he never killed in front of her. How he stopped killing because of her.

“I-I’m going upstairs.” She stuttered, making her way up the long flight of stairs.

“Okay” Tim said quietly, as he brought his attention back to the screen.

Stella made her way through the living room, arms crossed and tightly clutching her arms. She didn’t want to be here anymore. She wanted to go home. Home, to where her dad was just a few minutes drive downtime. Home, where she had a family. Home, to Jason.

She ran past a worried Alfred and pushed open the front door, slamming it closed behind her. She was hysterical by now. Running as fast as she could down the driveway of Wayne manor. Down the dark and quiet woods surrounding the house. When she finally made it down to a more populated part of town, she spotted a Taxi and waved her hands in its direction. She remembered putting some cash in her pocket this morning, something Alfred handed her before lunch.

“You might need this” He said to her. How he knew, she didn’t know. He was always prepared.

She got in the cab and they headed off to the only place that would calm her down.

———————————

“What do you mean she took off?!” Dick asked, more like screamed. Tim and Alfred shared a look.

“I thought she just needed some fresh air.” Tim answered. Alfred stayed silent.

“You mean she ran off after seeing Jason kill a man for making a simple mistake.” Dick was pacing around the Batcave, still clad in his Nightwing gear. He felt sort of responsible for her. He remembered those times he had with Stella. She was amazing, and a godsend to Jason. Without her Jason would have probably ended up on the wrong side of the law, even with Bruce’s help. She kept him steady. She was family to him.

“Everyone, split up. She couldn’t have gone too far.”