#so really eventually every child *should* grow up...it's a scary thing but something that must be faced anyway
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“Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
So we'll know where you are --
Gleaming in the skies above,
Lead me to the one who loves me...”
~“The Second Star to the Right (cover),” by Simone
x~x~x~x
HEY PETER PAN ANON! I MADE YOU SOMETHING!! 8D
Hahaha, yes! This is Peter-Pan!Orion and Wendy!Carewyn (Carewyndy?). No, I won’t be writing this AU before the Tangled AU at least (and yes, I should have that up hopefully by next week)...but I couldn’t resist doodling these and talking a bit about the daydreaming I did based on this concept. Orion’s ripped pants were kind of based on how the pants are ripped in the 2003 Peter Pan’s costume, but I just couldn’t resist giving him his canon fingerless armwarmers. (I see them being forest green just like his pants, though, while his tunic is a light tan.)
Basically I see eternally 12-1/2-year old Orion Amari taking a strong liking to 10-year-old Carewyn Cromwell when she comes to Neverland. Even though she does act a bit too grown-up sometimes, it’s largely because of how deeply she feels for other people -- she’s determined to protect others, whether from bullying or actual danger, and she hates the thought of anyone feeling alone. She actually is the only person who’s ever asked Orion if he was lonely, being the only child who was destined to never grow up. And as much as Orion will airily state that “to die would be an awfully big adventure,” he finds that it’s Carewyn who believes this most, for the idea of growing older doesn’t frighten her the way it does her grandfather, the man now called Captain Hook. If anything, what makes her saddest about leaving Neverland is not for her sake, but for Orion’s -- she, Jacob, Charlie, and Bill were all going home to London, along with a good chunk of Orion’s friends among the Lost Kids...and Carewyn hated the thought that she’d never see her friend Orion again. So she reminded Orion that she would always have her window open at night, if he ever wanted to come and visit, hear her read a story or two, or even just listen to her singing while she did her evening chores. Sensing Orion’s hesitance, she reassured him that she’d never forget him.
Orion proceeded to return to life in Neverland, embarking on those same old adventures that make the days blur and make it easy to forget things. Forgetting was part of Neverland’s magic -- even Bill had almost forgotten he had a new baby sister back in London, when he, Charlie, and Carewyn had been there with Orion and the Lost Kids. But, as Orion would often tell himself, adults forgot things in the other world too: they forgot the joys of childhood, they forgot the freedom and the simple pleasures and the bottomless daydreams. All of them, every last one of them, eventually forgot how to fly.
But perhaps because of Carewyn’s final promise, every time Orion thought of how easy it was to forget things in Neverland, and therefore how easy it was to forget things outside of it, Carewyn’s face and words always returned to his mind. And so, the memory of her conviction and caring never strayed too far from his mind...and with it, other thoughts would crop up too. How stable things had been, when Carewyn was around. How well she understood him and how easy it was to talk to her and trust in her. And it was then that Orion realized that he really, truly missed Carewyn. It was a feeling he’d never really experienced that deeply before, not even for the other children who had eventually returned home to their families. Even Bill and Charlie, who Orion likewise grew reasonably fond of, didn’t make him feel like his stomach was always empty, no matter how much food he ate -- like his heart was scraping at the inside of his chest like a hungry animal desperate to devour something outside its cage. And that feeling only intensified when his fairy guardian Merula would try to urge him to go challenge Torvus and the centaurs to a race or splash around with the mermaids, even when Orion wasn’t in the mood to do so.
Orion felt restless, unsure of quite what was wrong with him and not knowing how to explain his muddled thought process to McNully and his remaining Lost Kids. One day Orion was eventually persuaded by McNully to lead an expedition to find a lost chest of pirate treasure, and for a short while, the Boy Who Never Grew Up was simply able to enjoy pulling one over on his old enemy and sharing the loot with his gang. That changed, though, when Captain Hook crashed the party.
Orion and Hook traded as many blows as ever, throwing insults at each other like they always did -- but this day, Hook said one barbed phrase that stuck in Orion’s ear more than he ever would’ve admitted.
“Already forgotten my dear Winnie, I see. But I guess I can’t be surprised. After all, the only thing that can break through Neverland’s curse -- that thing that makes everyone forget...is love. And you -- ha -- you don’t know anything about that, do you, boy?”
Love. Yes. That was the thing that made Carewyn remember her lost brother and mother, even while she was a Lost Girl. That was the thing that had made Charlie remember his parents, even after he’d forgotten London altogether. That was the thing that made Bill remember his other siblings, once he remembered how his baby sister Ginny would always cry after her afternoon nap until he came home from his newspaper route and bounced her up and down for a minute or two. That was the thing that had made Jacob remember his little sister in London, even after he was kidnapped by Hook and commandeered into piracy. And, Orion realized, it was the thing that he missed most about Carewyn -- her ability to love more deeply than anyone else he had ever known...like a mother would, and yet like an equal...a companion, more than just someone to go on adventures with.
Orion tried to broach this topic with Merula, but the huffy little fairy put up her walls and stubbornly refused to let them down. Feelings were grown-up things, and Orion didn’t need grown-up things! Orion wanted to agree, but the feelings he felt were becoming heavy -- so heavy, in fact, that he found it harder for him to find his center, to think thoughts happy enough that he could fly to any height he wanted. He actually found himself hovering and floating more than flying...and this troubled him. It made him more anxious than he could remember ever being.
Then the thought struck him -- why didn’t he just go and visit Carewyn? She said he could, whenever he wanted. She could tell him some stories and sing some songs for him -- maybe she could even sew him a new pocket for his shirt! These thoughts perked Orion up a bit, and he decided to leave for London straightaway.
He hadn’t expected it to be so cold -- for you see, in Neverland, it’s every season all year ‘round, all except winter. It was a fact Carewyn had lamented, for winter was her favorite season. She loved the Christmas holidays and how everyone would gather around the fireplace with warm food together and sing Christmas songs and tell stories. It had actually sounded kind of nice to Orion, when she described it to him and the Lost Kids -- but on this day in London, Orion didn’t think the cold was so nice, nor the gray, dreary city itself. There were buildings that had been crushed and holes in cobblestone streets, made by bombs that had been dropped by German Zeppelins, and just about nobody raised their heads enough to look skyward. The adults prowling the streets were just as lacking of joy as Orion had always imagined them to be, yet it wasn’t due to stupid grown-up things like wearing a tie to work or paying bills. Instead there was exhaustion, sadness...pain. Orion hated these people’s wrinkles even more than the ones he’d see on the pirates’ faces, from dwelling on mindless things like how much treasure they had or what their daily duties were.
But none of that mattered, of course. What mattered was seeing Carewyn. But alas, when Orion arrived at the Weasleys’ house, it was still daytime...and the window to the room Carewyn, Bill, and Charlie once shared was locked.
Orion rattled at the window desperately, slapping the glass and pulling at its handles as he cried her name. All logic left his mind -- his breathing became raspier and weaker even as he shouted louder.
She had to be there -- she had to be there -- she couldn’t have forgotten -- she wouldn’t have forgotten -- she promised -- she promised she wouldn’t forget him -- love was what kept someone from forgetting -- Carewyn knew love better than anyone -- she loved her brother -- she loved the Weasleys -- she loved the Lost Kids and Torvus and the mermaids and the fairies -- she loved Orion -- didn’t she love -- ?
As Orion’s anxiety spiked, the magic of Merula’s fairy dust began to abandon him. He found himself becoming heavier. He tried to cling onto the windowsill, pulling at and smacking the window, but it wasn’t wide enough for him to hold onto while it was closed. Soon enough he found himself falling slowly, like someone drifting down to the bottom of a pool...and when he landed on the ground, he landed on his knees, shaking. He clasped his hands together, his eyes wide and hollow upon the frosty ground as wintry condensation fell from his panting lips.
He’d lost his happy thought. He’d lost it.
He tried to fly. He tried desperately to fly, only to fall and scrape his knees and hands. Never in his life had Orion Amari ever been so frightened, shuddering from head to toe in the freezing cold.
He shakily got to his bare feet and, barely knowing where he was going, he walked. He wandered aimlessly, his eyes glassing over as he gasped for air, searching every revolted and anxious face that he passed as the faces’ owners cringed at the state of his long hair, ripped clothes, and lack of shoes.
Orion wandered for what felt like hours, until at long last, as if by fate, he ended up not far away from a Church-funded school, which taught both elementary and higher-elementary-level students. One of those such students was a girl with a ginger braid and almond-shaped blue eyes, walking home with several classmates, including a black-haired girl with glasses carrying a bunch of books, a rather pretty blonde with pigtail braids, and a rather cowardly-looking boy with blond hair, brown eyes, and a very thick sweater and mittens over his Church-provided uniform. The ginger-haired girl herself was wrapped up in a rather thick old dark blue blanket she’d turned into a shawl after it got ripped and had been holding it tightly around herself when, all of a sudden, she heard her name being cried by a misty, and yet anxious voice.
“Carewyn! Carewyn...!”
One can only imagine what Carewyn’s school friends Rowan Khanna, Penny Haywood, and Ben Copper thought, seeing such a scrawny, ragamuffin street boy running toward their friend. Rowan actually tried to step in front of Carewyn as if to protect her, while Ben made as if to cling onto Carewyn’s arm in terror. But Carewyn herself, her eyes very wide upon the boy, immediately tore away from both Rowan and Ben and ran to Orion without a single shred of hesitation.
“Orion?!”
She barreled over, whipping the shawl off her shoulders and wrapping it around his instead.
“Orion, what are you doing here?! You’re going to catch a death of cold!”
Orion hadn’t been able to stop shaking for an instant, but her shouting his name, rushing to take care of him -- her remembering him -- it made his heart feel like a beast craving food again. Her concern wet his appetite. He wanted it. He wanted her caring. He wanted her love...
She was as tall as him. She’d been so tiny before...
“Carewyn...you know this boy?” asked Rowan, looking bewildered.
“Yes,” said Carewyn, glancing over her shoulder, “he’s a friend. Rowan, this is Orion. Orion, this is -- ”
“You’ve...grown older,” Orion’s absent mumble cut her off.
Carewyn fixed him with a faintly reproachful look. “I’m afraid that does happen, in the span of three years...”
Thirteen. She was thirteen. ...She was older than him.
Carewyn’s eyes welled up with concern as she looked Orion over. She turned to her friends quickly.
“...I’d better get him inside and warm...I’ll see you all tomorrow, okay?”
She quickly bid her friends goodbye, before wrapping an arm tightly around Orion’s shoulders as best she could, rubbing his arm through her shawl in an attempt to warm him.
“Orion, what were you thinking?” she whispered, her voice full of concern as her eyes stayed locked ahead at their path. “Coming here in broad daylight, in this cold...”
Orion had started to shake again, his hands clasping more tightly.
“Your window was shut,” he mumbled.
Carewyn looked very upset. “...My old window, you mean? The one I shared with Bill and Charlie? Oh, Orion, I don’t share a room with Bill and Charlie anymore -- I share with Ginny now. Girls’ room, you know. Charlie and Percy actually share that room now...Bill’s sharing a flat with several other boys, closer to the newspaper’s headquarters in the East End...”
Her eyes rippled with pain.
“...Ginny’s and my room doesn’t have a window,” she explained. “I’ve told Charlie and Percy to keep their window open for me, but...well, Percy’s grown up way too fast. He must have closed it to block out the air raid sirens last night and forgotten to reopen it...”
Orion didn’t understand half of what Carewyn was saying, but the tone she spoke with held such reassurance and remorse that it soothed the racing anxiety that had so paralyzed him. He closed his eyes as the adrenaline his anxiety had built up ebbed away, leaving him oddly drained and colder than ever. He was so out of it that he barely seemed to acknowledge that his head flopped down onto her shoulder.
“Orion?” said Carewyn, startled and worried.
But Orion merely inhaled and exhaled slowly. Her caring fed that beast in his chest. He wanted a bit more.
“Carewyn,” he murmured, “did...did you think of me?”
He felt Carewyn adjust her arm around him.
“Of course I did,” she said softly. “I told you I would never forget you.”
The tenseness in Orion’s clasped hands and face loosened its grasp. “...Because you love me.”
Carewyn looked at him, her eyebrows furrowed with confusion. “What?”
But Orion barely reacted -- as if he didn’t think what he’d said was the least bit weird.
“There’s only one thing that can prevent someone from forgetting...and that’s love. For once you love someone, your heart never really forgets them. Instead they become part of you...an indispensable piece...that would make you feel incomplete, if it was ever removed.”
Orion slowly opened his eyes, his lips spreading into a small, rather soft smile that made him look a bit more like his usual self.
“...It’s what helped you remember your brother and the Weasleys, while you were with me...and your brother remember you, while he was with Hook,” he said. “It’s something I know nothing about...but I know you know it very well.”
Carewyn considered him for a moment, before returning her gaze back to the road. Plenty of people passing by gave her and Orion the side-eye, but she didn’t care.
“I don’t know if I’d say you know nothing about it,” she said at last. “You remembered me just as much as I remembered you, did you not?”
Orion’s smile faded from his lips as his eyes widened ever-so-slightly. Then his expression slowly relaxed.
“...Perhaps...”
His black eyes trailed over her arm around his shoulders and her hand rubbing up and down his arm hesitantly. His arm beside her chest twitched slightly -- then, very, very tentatively, he tried to wrap his arm around her shoulders in return. It was a bit awkward, with the shawl wrapped around him...but once Carewyn sussed out what he was doing, she adjusted enough to give the shawl enough slack that he could successfully hold her in return. Once he had gotten his arm around her, he seemed oddly proud of himself, his smile spreading and his eyes closing again as he leaned into her, his head beside hers on her shoulder.
They stayed that way for several blocks, walking in silence and simply enjoying each others’ company. Orion felt his center of balance returning to him. It was like having this stable place, with his arms wrapped around Carewyn’s shoulders and hers around his, was the earth he needed under his feet to launch himself back up into the air. He felt like he might even be able to fly again at some point...maybe not yet, but soon. Time always moved more slowly in Neverland than in London anyhow, so no one would mind if he took his time...
“...Carewyn?”
“Hmm?”
“I...don’t know if I can make it back to Neverland,” he confessed.
Carewyn looked at him, her eyes once again flooding with concern.
“I fell, when I failed to open your window,” Orion explained. “I’ve only ever fallen like that once before...when...”
“...When Grandfather made you think unhappy thoughts,” Carewyn finished grimly. She turned away from him, facing the road again.
Orion nodded. His black eyes flickered across her face, even though she was no longer looking at him.
Hook had taunted him then that Carewyn had no reason to stay in Neverland -- that she preferred the thought of growing old and dying to staying with him -- that he could never meet her high standards. He’d taunted that one day, Orion would go back to find her window locked and barred -- a grown woman who’s forgotten all about him, about Neverland, about how to fly...who’s replaced all of it with adult things Orion could never understand. Ambition. Family. ...Husband.
Carewyn wasn’t an adult yet, but she certainly wasn’t a child anymore either. There was a practicality to her posture -- a steadiness and gravity to how she walked. There was a neatness and meticulousness in how she handled her appearance. And yet even so, her hands were still so warm and her eyes were still so soft...and the sincerity in the little wrinkles that creased her brow and eyes and kissed at the corners of her lips was just the same.
Carewyn raised her head in Orion’s direction, but her eyes couldn’t quite reach his. Instead they landed vaguely on his shoulder.
“...I never told you...Grandfather was wrong, did I?” she asked quietly.
Orion tilted his head. “...I suppose it depends on which thing he said that you’re thinking of. You did say you’d never forget me, or Neverland...or how to fly.”
“Yes,” said Carewyn, “but I didn’t say that he was wrong, that you’d never understand ambition or family. That’s definitely not true. Ambition isn’t just an adult thing -- you dream of never growing up, of never losing your freedom or your independence...your spirit. That’s a wonderful ambition. And you have a wonderful family too, in Neverland. The centaurs and mermaids -- Merula and the fairies -- the Lost Kids! You take care of them as if they were your family.”
Orion stared at her for a moment, his face very unreadable, but his black eyes rippling with a strange emotion. Then he curled his fingers into the puffy white sleeve of her shirt.
“...And...the last thing?” he asked softly. “‘Husband?’”
Carewyn frowned deeply. “Is marriage something you even want to understand?”
“No!” said Orion instantly, looking revolted. “No...but...well...”
He swallowed, his own gaze drifting away. “...If you grow up...you’ll eventually want one, won’t you?”
Carewyn cocked her brows coolly. “It’s possible. But honestly, marriage seems like a bit of a bother. I’ve had to answer to plenty of adults in my life: I’d hate to have to answer to one more by choice. Especially if it means I have to give up Jacob, my friends, and my dreams just to make him comfortable.”
She said this so huffily, and yet it comforted Orion more than he could ever properly express. His own chest seemed to lighten and he felt better able to breathe again. His eyes softened upon Carewyn’s face.
“...I see.”
The two finally reached the Weasley home again. Orion noticed the house across the street that Carewyn had once pointed out was hers and Jacob’s had been boarded up.
“It’ll get torn down soon,” said Carewyn, noticing Orion’s gaze. “The family that lived there had their house ransacked, just because they were German...”
Her eyes narrowed.
“...It’s disgusting, how they were treated,” she added to herself. “They were very nice to Jacob and me, when we first came home...”
“Where is your brother?” asked Orion.
Carewyn deflated.
“...The war front,” she said sadly. “He’d been saving up so we could move into our own place, but...well, the army needed soldiers, so both he and Mr. Weasley signed up. Mrs. Weasley let me stay here, so I wouldn’t have to struggle to find a place to stay myself.”
Orion felt something oddly like pity prickling at his chest. “You mean you’ve lost him again, after only just getting him back?”
Carewyn didn’t answer as she opened the door of the Weasley home and bustled him inside. Once the door was closed, she guided him over to the main room and into an armchair, wrapping several more blankets around him.
“Wait here,” she said. Her lips spread into a fuller smile. “I’ll make you some hot cocoa -- that’s sure to help you fly again.”
Orion felt his heart give a somersault.
“Do you remember?” he said very quickly, before she could leave the room. “...Do you remember how to fly?”
Carewyn beamed.
“Of course. All you need is faith and trust, and to have been brushed with fairy dust. Then you think happy, wonderful thoughts, and...”
She spread her arms, and -- amazingly -- her feet actually came up off the ground.
Orion’s black eyes widened. Then his mouth slowly spread into the fullest, brightest smile as he found himself coming up off the ground himself. He floated just below her, spreading both of his arms too so as to take her hands and hold them out on either side of them.
Even when the world was so miserable -- even when she had so much reason to forget...Carewyn still knew how to fly.
“You’re flying,” said Carewyn with a warm smile.
Orion’s eyes sparkled as he guided her around in a circle, just as he had when they danced with the fairies. “I found a happy thought.”
“Did you? What is it?”
“A person whose company makes you feel stronger, when you’re at your worst.”
Carewyn smiled. “I believe that’s what’s called a ‘friend,’ Orion Amari.”
Orion’s midnight-black eyes gleamed.
Yes. A friend. Not just someone to go on adventures with, or look after, or play make-believe with, or give direction -- but someone to be your shoulder to lean on. To listen, to comfort...to love. That was a friend. As much as he cherished the Lost Kids, he was the one who had found them -- they answered to him, seeing him as leader, since there was supposedly no one else who could.
This friend...he wanted this friend by his side forever. “Forever,” as Carewyn had once reminded him, was an awfully long time -- but he didn’t hesitate in this thought at all.
And so, not long after, the Boy Who Never Grew Up returned to Neverland. He passed his mantle of leadership onto Lost Boy McNully, said a quick goodbye to all of the members of his Neverland family...and decided to leave for good. Even his short trip back to the Second Star to the Right took up a few weeks, but when he returned to London, his friend was waiting for him. And Orion and Carewyn grew up together, as close of friends as teenagers and later adults as they were as children. Orion grew more than just a fraction of an inch -- he soon towered a good head over Carewyn once more. He even grew a mustache, and a beard too! And yet even with this, it was never beneath his dignity to climb a tree, nor to engage in food fights, nor to read adventure books about pirates, nor to crow like a rooster upon winning a game. No matter how much his other classmates at school would frown, and no matter how much the adults would disdain and scold him, Orion never cared -- and neither did Carewyn, or Bill or Charlie, or any of the other friends he made over the years.
So you see, even if Orion grew older, he never truly grew up...for all children grow up, except one. And one day -- many, many years down the road from when Orion first made the choice to stay -- he looked at Carewyn and realized that his first and dearest friend had become something even more precious: a friend he wished to love, cherish, and live beside far longer than forever. A friend he would call “lover.”
#hphm#hogwarts mystery#peter pan au#my art#my writing#orion amari#carewyn cromwell#damn it I didn't mean this to be so long but I just couldn't stop XD#my two favorite peter pan adaptations are peter pan (2003) and hook so that DEFINITELY influenced this#I'm sorry but I think peter finding a reason to grow up is sweet#I know there's the whole fan interpretation of peter guiding dead children to the afterlife and all but...#well we see kids leave neverland not just the darlings but the lost boys#and honestly hook is right in the 2003 version -- peter IS a tragedy as he is!#in the end he'll always end up alone#so really eventually every child *should* grow up...it's a scary thing but something that must be faced anyway#because through that hardship one can find even more fulfilling happiness#because it's happiness that's fought for#that's my two cents anyway XD;#geez orion looks so different without his facial hair LOL
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for the prompts: NMJ/JC - Everyone with a functioning brain cell can see that JC just needs someone to tell him he’s doing a good job. And if WWX isn’t stepping up? Well, NMJ definitely will. (Preferably smut and/or fluff) Thank you! ❤️
Compliments - ao3
It started in anger, out of spite.
Traditionally, the world took this to be a bad thing, but in all honesty the vast majority of projects in the Nie sect were started that way – they inherited fiery tempers and spiteful personalities from their ancestors along with their saber cultivation traditions – and it didn’t always turn out badly. There were any number of buildings, techniques, or technological innovations in the Unclean Realm that had started life as a furious fuck you to someone and only turned into something worthwhile about halfway through, once the person involved had calmed down enough to think about what they were doing, realize they were already committed, and then shrug and carry on forward because there was no point in stopping a charge midway.
What Nie Mingjue meant was: there was precedent.
He liked to think it started with Jiang Fengmian, but if Nie Mingjue was being honest with himself, it started back in the Unclean Realm when Nie Huaisang had told him, quite casually over dinner, that he thought that the female cultivator in his class was very pretty and that he’d be happy to marry her.
“Uh,” Nie Mingjue had said, very intelligently. “Huaisang, you’re seven.”
Nie Huaisang had not seen the problem. Instead, he explained very forthrightly that it was only right that he start thinking early on about his marriage, as getting married and having children would be his great contribution to the sect on account of being useless good-for-nothing unfit for anything else –
“Wait,” Nie Mingjue said. “Who told you that?!”
Nie Huaisang claimed he had deduced it.
Nie Mingjue claimed that Nie Huaisang was full of bullshit, and also that he wasn’t good-for-nothing even if he wasn’t good at saber, and anyway even if he was a total good-for-nothing he was still Nie Mingjue’s good-for-nothing and no one had better say a single damn word against him or Nie Mingjue would bite them.
“I meant stab them!” he explained, far too late; Nie Huaisang was already rolling around laughing to the point of tears. “I have a saber. I can stab people! I’m actually very scary, you know!”
Nie Huaisang hadn’t believed him one bit and had carried on, seemingly at peace and forgetting everything, but Nie Mingjue had gone seeking advice from all of his elders and counselors and the more dependable senior disciples of his sect, abruptly terrified that he was permanently damaging Nie Huaisang by raising him the wrong way or something. Didn’t children need encouragement at that age? Weren’t they all young and tender peaches liable to be bruised at the slightest glance or young sprouts that needed to be sheltered from the harsh wind lest they grow up crooked?
Everyone assured him that children were hardier than they appeared, flexible and capable of bouncing back from just about anything. He'd pressed, though, pointing out that even the most flexible wood would eventually form a crack in the face of a vicious hurricane, and in the end they'd admitted that it was better to avoid applying too much pressure at too young an age, that a child squeezed too hard or not hard enough might develop neuroses that would hinder them in the future.
They mostly tried not to look at him when they said that, presumably thinking to themselves that Nie Mingjue was little more than a child himself and had already been subject to the worst pressures possible, which would undoubtedly result in who knows what future issues, but he hadn’t paid that part any mind. As far as he was concerned, his life was already a loss – he had sworn to take revenge for his father, to make that ancient monster Wen Ruohan pay with his life for what he had done and furthermore he'd sworn to pay back the blood debt in full before any of that burden passed to Nie Huaisang.
Letting Nie Huaisang grow up happy – that was what mattered.
Letting him be insulted when Nie Mingjue wasn’t looking played no part in that plan. If Nie Huaisang were going to be insulted, let it be by outsiders who he wouldn’t need to care about! Within their Nie sect, at minimum, he should be doted upon and honored, or else those responsible would have to explain themselves to Nie Mingjue.
Those dark thoughts still lingering in his mind, he had gone to the Lotus Pier for a discussion conference, and that, perhaps, was where it really started.
Rumor had already made the entire cultivation world aware that Jiang Fengmian had found the orphaned son of Cangse Sanren and Wei Changze, and that he had taken him into his home as his ward, allowing him to become a Jiang sect disciple – treating him almost as one of the family, even. That much was known, so it didn’t come as much of a surprise when Jiang Fengmian proudly introduced him or even more proudly showed him off, praising him to the high heavens.
What did come as a surprise was how little he praised his own son standing beside him, despite them being only a few days apart in age. It was as if Jiang Fengmian had simply forgotten that such a creature existed, much less that he had himself contributed to its spawning, and the constant looks of hope – invariably crushed – the child sent him made it clear that the present situation had been going on for some time.
Fuck you, Nie Mingjue thought, seeing red, seeing instead Nie Huaisang in his failed saber classes, struggling so desperately to keep up with the rest even though his body wouldn’t allow for it, being told he was useless and a good-for-nothing and fit for nothing but marriage. Fuck you, Jiang Fengmian.
He couldn’t say that, of course.
So instead he said, “Excellent stance,” to the child, who'd received the courtesy name Wanyin but seemed to be universally called Jiang Cheng. “Do you know the others in the set?”
Jiang Cheng, staring at him, very slowly nodded, and demonstrated them.
“Absolutely perfect,” Nie Mingjue said loudly, drawing attention to himself with his over-loud voice that everyone would automatically forgive on account on him being both a Nie and a young man. “You can see how hard you’ve worked at it, and it has paid off handsomely. You are very lucky in your son, Sect Leader Jiang.”
“…thank you,” Jiang Fengmian said, a little bemused at being interrupted. He’d been talking yet again about Wei Wuxian’s brilliance at picking up the sword again after years of living on the streets without practice, even though at the moment the smiling boy's admittedly impressive skills were still largely wild and undisciplined.
Nie Mingjue nodded, and said: “When exactly did you say the opening festivities would be starting?”
Jiang Fengmian had clearly forgotten about that in his enthusiasm, so he quickly hurried back to the actual subject at hand and the discussion conference was started in earnest.
It was almost enough to allow Nie Mingjue to forget the matter and put it behind him.
Or, it would have been, if only Jiang Fengmian hadn’t continued to insert praise for Wei Wuxian at every possible instance – it was as if he were the man’s first-born son, rather than another person’s child.
Irritated beyond belief, Nie Mingjue started complimenting Jiang Cheng every time Jiang Fengmian said something nice about Wei Wuxian, and he made sure to keep his compliments accurate: he was a hard worker, dedicated and sincere, thoughtful, clever, not overly arrogant…
“Wei Wuxian came up with his own ideas for a sword style already,” Jiang Fengmian claimed at one point. “You can see him on the training ground now, practicing it – take a look!”
Nie Mingjue picked up a stone and flicked it over with his fingers, making Wei Wuxian jump half a chi into the air and nearly fall on his ass.
“Weak foundation, and he over-commits,” he analyzed dryly, because it was true, and because no one else was saying it. He didn't make it any harsher than it had to be: he had nothing against the boy himself, of course; it was only that he knew from experience that it was much easier to be the one being complimented than the one not. “He’s got his head so high in the clouds that his feet are barely touching the ground – the weakest fierce corpse would knock him flat as a pancake with a childish style like that. He’d be better off sticking with orthodox or he’ll end up in real trouble one day.”
“Sect Leader Nie, really,” Jiang Fengmian said disapprovingly. “He’s only nine.”
“Old enough to pick up bad habits,” Nie Mingjue retorted. “Your son’s the same age and he’s as steady as a rock. If Jiang Cheng keeps going as he is, he’ll have a strong enough base to outlast the fiercest storm.”
“A rock has no imagination,” Jiang Fengmian said, and was he actually arguing that his son was inferior? Out loud, in front of outsiders? Did the man have no shame? “Mingjue, you’re young, but you must know that my Jiang sect prizes freedom and creativity as the highest virtue –”
“Would you rather build a house using a firework or a foundation stone?” Nie Mingjue asked, doing his best not to outwardly bristle at the condescendingly intimate use of his name by someone who might be technically his elder but legally his equal. “Tell me, Fengmian, does your Jiang sect’s acclaimed ‘freedom’ only allow for people to be as fluid as the river and not as steady as the earth?”
Jiang Fengmian faltered, clearly not knowing how to answer that.
Nie Mingjue raised his hands in a sarcastic salute: “As the leader of a sect whose style is based on a grounded foundation, I would be very happy if you would educate me in your wisdom. No doubt my peers would benefit as well.”
Perhaps it was at that point that Jiang Fengmian realized that his words could be misinterpreted as an insult to all the sects whose styles were less free-flowing than the Jiang – just about all of them except for maybe the Lan and their subsidiary sects, given their preference for techniques modeled on the wind over the water – and moreover that this was a discussion conference, where every word was political, and that a great deal of people were glaring balefully at him. He hastily moved the conversation onwards, and left the subject of his sons for another day.
Later that evening, Madame Yu came over to where Nie Mingjue was nursing a bowl of very fine wine that he didn’t especially feel like consuming. Before he could start worrying about the Purple Spider’s intentions, she said, voice stiff, “Your words regarding my son are too kind. His skills are still inferior; he has a great deal of progress yet to be made.”
“He’s only nine,” Nie Mingjue said, feeling mortified that she’d noticed his little temper tantrum, which he had belatedly realized was probably extremely obvious. “Anyway, I wasn't lying. He has a good foundation; he’ll be a fearsome cultivator one day, there’s no doubt. I only said what I saw.”
“You didn’t comment about Wei Wuxian,” she said. “You must have noticed his genius.”
“Geniuses don’t need to be praised overmuch,” Nie Mingjue said. He himself had been termed a genius by his teachers, and he’d hated every single moment of it – couldn’t he just be good at things without having people fall all over themselves to compliment him? He’d enjoyed it at the start, but after a while it had started to wear on him; he was expected to be a genius in all things, and being simply ordinary was suddenly seen as failing. “It’s the ones that have to work hard that do, or else they’ll be discouraged…comparing someone to another person’s child works as a spur to a certain extent, but after a while it loses its potency as a tool.”
Your husband is a fucking idiot, he didn’t say. It’s his own son! How could he speak like that about him? Shouldn’t he be holding him in his palms like a gentle flame, protecting him from the wind and rain? How can he bear to scold his son when he hasn't shown that the scolding is meant for his benefit?
“Perhaps,” Madame Yu said, but it was clear on her face that she wasn’t about to start taking parenting advice from a half-grown sprout like Nie Mingjue. “Nevertheless, your words were kind.”
She swept away after that, much to his relief. He shook his head and daydreamed about a magic tool that would make this whole nightmarish experience go by that much quicker.
In the end, it went by at the same speed it always did. It could have ended there, but Nie Mingjue kept up the habit of blatantly complimenting Jiang Cheng in future sect conferences as well, if only because it clearly irritated Jiang Fengmian – less because Nie Mingjue was praising his son and more because it was so obviously meant as an indirect critique of Jiang Fengmian’s skills as a parent or sect leader, and moreover it reminded all the other sects of that unfortunate interchange and made them less inclined to listen to him – and of course, because, well, once you’ve started a charge, you had to finish it even if you came to your senses about halfway through.
He made sure to keep it proportionate, of course, since there was nothing worse than false praise. He didn’t really mean anything by it, other than the half-formed thought that someone ought to be doing it – that the boy should know that someone looked at him and Wei Wuxian and remembered to praise him first. Nie Mingjue praised Wei Wuxian too, of course, since the boy often deserved it; it was only that he made a particular point not to forget about Jiang Cheng, either.
(He also made sure the other sect leaders saw how well the technique could be used to fluster Jiang Fengmian, an intrusion into his personal life that could be masked in perfect politeness, and several of them picked up the same tact, though less consistently than Nie Mingjue – Sect Leaders Jin and Wen, naturally, always looking for a weakness, but interestingly enough also Lan Qiren, who was normally above such petty maneuvers. Possibly he was actually just complimenting Jiang Cheng because he sincerely approved of him.)
He didn’t think much of it.
Nie Mingjue didn’t think much of it during the other discussion conferences, or when he came to the Cloud Recesses to pick up Nie Huaisang, who had – amazingly – actually managed to pass this time, although the expression on Lan Qiren’s face suggested the pass might have more to do with the other sect leader’s desire to never see Nie Huaisang haunt his classroom ever again.
“You know what, don’t tell me. Tell me….hm…how did Jiang Wanyin do?” Nie Mingjue asked, hand over his eyes as if it could forestall the headache. “He’s a bright boy, and knows how to put his mind to something when he wants. Tell me about him instead, it’ll be less depressing.”
“He’s very bright,” Lan Qiren agreed. “Very thoughtful, and very thorough. He sometimes errs towards conservatism out of fear of giving the wrong answer, but that’s just a matter of confidence; his thinking is very good. He’s very clear-sighted as long as the matter is logical, rather than emotional.”
“No surprise,” Nie Mingjue grunted. “He’ll be a sect leader worthy of respect, in his time.”
When he’s rid of that father of his dragging him down, he thought ungraciously, and he saw Lan Qiren bob his head in a sharp nod of unspoken agreement.
“All right,” he said. “I’m adequately fortified now. Tell me about Huaisang.”
Lan Qiren gave him a look of profound sympathy.
It wasn’t until much later, during the Sunshot Campaign, that it was first called to his attention – by Jiang Cheng himself, oddly enough.
“Why do you keep doing that?” he hissed, having stayed behind after one of their meetings.
Nie Mingjue blinked at him. “Doing – what?”
“You – you said – about me…!”
Nie Mingjue tried to recall what he’d said during the meeting just now. “That you – were doing an excellent job while facing much higher level of obstacles than everyone else?” he hazarded, because he had said something like that. “Or was it the bit about how if any of them had needed to rebuild their sect and fight at the same time, we’d all be doomed because they couldn’t multitask for shit?”
Yeah, it was probably that one.
“I didn’t mean any offense by referencing what happened to your sect,” he said, hoping to explain. “It was only –”
“I didn’t take offense,” Jiang Cheng mumbled. “It’s fine. I mean, it’s not fine, but – it happened, everyone knows that it happened, not talking about it isn’t going to make it not have happened. That’s not what I meant…why do you keep saying such nice things about me?”
Nie Mingjue blinked at him. “Because they’re true?”
Jiang Cheng’s cheeks flushed red. “You’ve always said nice things about me. Ever since I was a little kid – every time you saw me, at the discussion conferences, or the Cloud Recesses, or even in your letters to my father…”
He had in fact done that.
“I just want to know why. Is it – my father’s not around, you can’t be doing it just to piss him off, even though I know that was part of it. Why me?”
Nie Mingjue coughed a little, having not realized that Jiang Cheng had noticed. Or possibly even overheard, in regards to the Cloud Recesses. “I’m sure you’re familiar with the concept of the other person’s child,” he said, and Jiang Cheng nodded his head sharply, clearly thinking of Wei Wuxian. “You’re Huaisang’s.”
“Me?” Jiang Cheng seemed unduly vulnerable when he asked. “You compare him – to me?”
“It’s amazing he tolerated you at the Cloud Recesses,” Nie Mingjue said with a sigh. In fact, his brother had all but declared war on Jiang Cheng in absentia on account of all Nie Mingjue’s comments, only for his first letter home from the Cloud Recesses that year to be I see why you like him! He’s cute! A perfect match for you! because he’d apparently decided that Nie Mingjue had a crush on the boy.
Which he certainly hadn’t – at least not when he’d been that age, anyway. Jiang Cheng had grown up to embody every single one of the compliments Nie Mingjue had paid him when he’d been younger, especially with the maturity and natural aura of command that came to him after his personal tragedy.
“But why…you knew Wei Wuxian about as well as you knew me.”
Nie Mingjue snorted. “And that would have helped Huaisang how, exactly? If I wanted to compare him with someone who picked things up the first time they saw it, I wouldn’t need to go outside the Nie sect for that – I was also considered a genius when I was young. It’s no failing to be born without a vast and unending natural talent; Huaisang’s issue has always been his unwillingness to put in the effort.”
Jiang Cheng stared at him.
“Anyway, your father was so blinded by his adoration for Wei Wuxian that he overlooked your merits, which are different but no less impressive,” Nie Mingjue added. “As someone who was trying to figure out how to raise a child, it irritated me; I thought someone ought to make it clear to you that you were seen.”
“Yes,” Jiang Cheng said, his voice strangely hoarse. “Yes, you – you succeeded.”
He paused for a moment, meeting Nie Mingjue’s eyes intently, and then abruptly said, “I’ll be leaving,” and dashed out.
Nie Mingjue wasn’t entirely sure if that meant he should stop or not. Jiang Cheng had said he wasn’t offended…anyway, it was a fixed habit by now. He’d been doing it for over half his life! He couldn’t stop that easily! It would be like trying to stop his temper, or a charge – there was nothing for it.
Jiang Cheng would just have to live with a few compliments.
“Wow, you’re an idiot,” Nie Huaisang said when he told him about the incident, months later while he was lying in bed, recovering from the disaster that had been the end of the war. “I’ll fix this.”
“Fix what?”
“I’m going to tell him you’re dying,” Nie Huaisang decided.
“You’re going to do what?!”
“Stay in bed, da-ge! Doctor’s orders!”
The Nie sect chief doctor was an extremely terrifying person. Nie Mingjue stayed in bed.
Some time later, Jiang Cheng stormed in, face pale.
“Huaisang’s a rotten liar and I’m going to be fine,” Nie Mingjue said at once.
Jiang Cheng stopped mid-storm, and abruptly deflated. “Really?”
“Really. I would’ve stopped him, but I’m stuck in bed for the moment.”
Jiang Cheng took a seat next to him. “That sounds serious. You shouldn’t underestimate war wounds, especially given your sect’s tendency towards qi deviations...”
“Compassionate as well,” Nie Mingjue teased. “I’ll have to add that to the rotation of compliments.”
Jiang Cheng flushed red. “You’re…planning on continuing?”
“For the rest of my life, however short it might be,” Nie Mingjue said, because he was an honest person, even when it was inconvenient. He was going to explain about the habit, and the concept of stopping mid-charge, but he didn’t manage to start before Jiang Cheng grabbed him by the collar and pulled him up into a kiss.
After that, he figured that maybe explaining that part of it wasn’t necessary. He might be slow on the uptake, but he wasn’t actually stupid.
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GOING TO AN ESCAPE ROOM WITH ENHYPEN !
PAIRING: boyfriend!enha x gn!reader. GENRE: established relationship, fluff, crack. WARNINGS: profanity (not that much tho), mentions of death (?). WORD COUNT: 100 - 200 each member.
HEESEUNG:
the two of you were so pumped playing an escape room together for the first time that the other people in line had to calm you guys down (which was trully embarrassing to say the least 🤐🤐)
he was looking at the ranking board filled with pictures of players that had succeeded in the shortest amount of time and he just wanted nothing more than to see both your faces on there
but anyways, we all know how competitive heeseung gets 🕴️
oh boy let me tell you, this guy WAS SPEEDRUNNING IT but not the kind you were thinking
the second the timer had started he was literally SPRINTING AROUND THE ROOM LOOKING FOR CLUES YET COMPLETELY MISSING THEM 🏃♂️💨💨💨
while he was busy running around, you were picking up the little details in the room and in no time managed to open a few locks
"y/n look i found– oh 😐😑😐"
HE WAS SULKING PLSSS 😭😭😭
when you noticed him standing from afar staring at you with his arms crossed, you called him to solve this one puzzle you already did
*gasps* "oh no! babe i don't understand how to do this, please help me 😔😔🤥🙏🙏"
he had to bite his lower lip to stop himself from letting out that cocky grin but it got out eventually
"oh it's so easy sweetheart, just put this here and then voila! 😉"
when the two of you escaped you suprisingly got to take a polaroid with him home after ranking 2nd in the records
heeseung was the one who held onto it tho, placing it underneath his clear phonecase for safekeeping <3
JAY:
GOD THIS DUDE
THE ESCAPE ROOM WASN'T EVEN THAT SCARY AND YET EVERYTIME YOU GUYS OPEN A LOCK OR A DOOR HIS FIGHT OR FLIGHT INSTINCTS COME UP 😭😭👊👊
"y/n stay behind me >:(("
"um, babe, you do realize that's just a door right?"
"WE'LL BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY?? THE STAFF COULD'VE PROGRAMMED IT TO GROW LEGS?? 😵🧐🧐"
you knew you shouldn't have played horror games with him a few nights ago cause he looked like he was about to lose his mind 😔
you had to shove his ass aside and move on to the next mission cause the both of you knew that he was stalling 🏌️♀️
jay was being extra clingy the whole time you were playing, he'd either link arms with you or hold hands (he's literally so adorable) 💞💞
BUT THEN YOU THOUGHT OF DOING A PRANK ON HIM
while you were roaming around the room trying to solve a puzzle, you saw this horse mask on a nearby table
and so you made sure jay was distracted and put on the mask
you could've NOT worn the dusty old thing but where was the fun in that?
"jay can you come here for a sec?"
you hid behind the wall beside the door frame waiting for him to come into your sight and attacked him
now, how about we guess what happens next?
a. he faints
b. he runs away
or c. he slaps you in the face and forces you to buy him food for the rest of the night
if you guessed c then YAY! YOU'RE CORRECT 🥳🎉🎉🎊
THIS HOE SLAPS YOU AS HE SHOULD
"$##/@+(+'£%(:?!!)&£**/*%@"
when he finally takes off the mask like those scenes in scooby doo he's never felt so betrayed in his life
"i- I TRUSTED YOU 😭😭😭 YOU BETTER BUY ME FOOD LATER, I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS, THE BETRAYAL???? LITERALLY UNPROVOKED?????"
he wouldn't stop side eyeing you until you guys finally pulled up on the mcdonalds drive thru
"hi, can i get two um– bts meals please? 😒😒 and two oreo mc flurries 🙄🙄 and also large fries 😐😐"
sane (1/3)
would be trailing behind you like a little puppy (i love him so much 😭😭😭)
he either has his arm linked with yours or held hands every five minutes
JAKE:
really focused on the puzzles he's doing but the second he hears you call out his name for help he's there beside you with the sweetest smile
but anyways, mans was POPPING OFF the entire time you were playing
he was solving problem after problem in no time (he wanted to impress you is why he activated his inner flash ⚡⚡) but he did let you play tho, the last thing he wanted to do was make you pissed at him for hogging all the games
def buried jake with compliments and forehead kisses right after ❤️__❤️
and so the two of you got out in like an hour and a few which you were very proud of
"you were so cool today babe, good job !!"
"aww thank you angel 😊😊"
sane (2/3)
SUNGHOON:
would be linking pinkies with you the whole time, only letting go whenever the both of you had to solve something that needed two or more people
there was this one game tho where he had to arm wrestle this literal hand lever to open the door to the last room (yea...don’t ask why, the staffs were pretty weird 😬😬)
it made him enjoy the experience a bit more as it was only the two of you playing instead of getting accompanied by strangers
HGAWAHSGDHSGHDA PLSS THIS GUY
“oh this’ll be easy, y/n step aside, i’ll handle this 😏😏😏”
idk if you were supposed to think about how handsome he looked with his serious expression on and his veiny hands coming into frame or be worried for him because the lever was REAL HARD to pull that his veins looked like they were going to pop any second soon, you stepped in and helped him tho cause you were a good s/o <3
from a spectators point of view, the two of you looked like y’all were about shit your pants but the two of you eventually succeeded on beating it, immediately dragging him to the next room which had a sofa in it, laying down to catch your breaths
cliché moment ahead ⚠️⚠️
the two of you shared a few laughs before standing up on the empty space, held hands and started to jump in circles to celebrate your success 💃💃
yupp, y’all were never going back to that hellhole again
very stubborn at first, he wanted nothing to do with the game but then you held him at gunpoint by saying:
SUNOO:
"please just this once or else i'll revoke your mint choco ice cream rights 🔫🔫🔫"
"BUT IT'S SCARY IN THERE BABE :((("
"it won't be that scary sunshine, besides, i'll be ready to 🤜💥 yk?? trust me babe i would never let anyone hurt you <33"
kinda pissed since you blackmailed him into the place and also bc he wanted to play bumper cars and dance mania but he yea he caved in pretty quick 😋😋
(y/n let him play his games in peace tf >:(((( )
once you guys got in tho he realized how normal it was and that it was not terrifying at all
THE EPITOME OF CLINGY OMFG
he wouldn't stop back hugging you and you couldn't bring yourself to push him away to play the games so you just let him walk behind you with his arms on your shoulders 😩😩
(y'all were walking kinda funny but don't tell sunoo that 🤫🤫🤫)
yea the two of you ended up escaping with a whopping 2 hours and a few minutes
but it was the effort that counts so A+++++ for the both if you 😜👍👍👍
sane (3/3)
JUNGWON:
was the one who suggested going, he even searched on naver about really good escape room places to visit and was overall really looking forward it
he liked going to places and having fun with you so it wasn't a shock how his eyes were literally crescents and his dimples were so evident
yea he literally rushed the both of you to the place that you were the first in line 😵
while waiting for the staff to finish setting up he was playing with your connected hands like 🖐️✊🖐️✊ (so precious 💞💞)
"y/n why are you taking so long 😭😭 what if they close and we end up not solving a single lock, hurry up por favorrr 😩🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏"
when they finally lead you to the room he was kind of surprised that they had separated the two of you into different spaces (like the one with txt where they had the answers to the other member's puzzles yk???)
he was locked inside a telephone stand while you were handcuffed in the main room
dw the two of you reunited after a few minutes cause jungwon was rushing his lock to get to you 🤭
you both were progressing at an average pace and it made you guys a lot more closer (not that you guys weren't before but you get what i mean)
after you guys escaped the two of you went to eat curry and talked about the whole experience 😋✌️✌️✌️
this boy literally dragged you in the escape room with him
NIKI:
HE DIDN'T EVEN GIVE YOU TIME TO REFUSE HE JUST 😐👉🚪
"ok masterchefs, in order to test your abilities we must go through series of puzzles and make it out alive, understood?"
he tried ignoring how confused you were and went on to try and get you guys to escape
HE'S LAUGHING AT YOU FOR WHATEVER REASON AND OBV YOU LAUGH ASWELL CAUSE WHO WOULDN'T??? his laugh is so contagious pls 🤖🤖 he was so close to d wording cause he couldn't breathe from laughing too much
yea.. you guys spent so much time laughing at each other for being so dumb at this that you ended up playing 'till closing time
spoiler alert: he fails on doing anything cause the second you made eye contact with him this child collapses 😍🤩
GIRL SO EMBARRASSING 🤡🤡
THE STAFF KICKED THE BOTH OF YOU OUT AND NOW YOU GUYS WERE BANNED FROM THE PLACE ☠️☠️
"haunted house next weekend???"
"BET"
NOTE – god they were WAY funnier in my head but yeah.... i love them so much AND OMFG HAVE YOU GUYS SEEN HEESEUNG’S SELCAS LAST NIGHT???!?@??#?@?!?@ HE’S NOT REAL WTF ⁉️❓❓⁉️
also, idk why BUT EVERY TIME I SAVE A DRAFT the paragraphs get scrambled?? £!?) 6=6) 🤣😂💔💔🤣🤣😂💔 it's so annoying but anyways, ilysm pls stay safe and have a great day <33
#enhypen#enhypen drabbles#enhypen reactions#enhypen imagines#enhypen fluff#enhypen x gender neutral reader#heeseung x reader#jay x reader#jake x reader#sunghoon x reader#sunoo x reader#jungwon x reader#niki x reader#jungw8ns
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Separation Anxiety
Pairing: Din Djarin x reader
Word Count: 2.5k
Warnings: A little bit or angst, abandonment issues, fluff
Summary: You leave the Razor Crest for a couple days, but Grogu doesn’t understand that you’re coming back. A story through the eyes of The Child.
AN: I’m a little late posting this, I had a really bad day on Friday. But I wanted to finish this and release it as soon as possible because I feel better when I can stick to a routine. Please note that all the italics are Grogu attempting to speak out loud, but all Din and reader hear is the canon babbling and cooing we hear in the show
I wake up to the sound of Dad’s voice, he’s speaking softly in the way he only talks to me and Mama. I want to get up and play in the grass like yesterday, but sometimes our house moves when I’m asleep so I don’t know if the grass will still be there. I poke my head up out of the crib, and look around.
Dad is checking over a blaster, the smallest one that Mama carries when we go into town. I’m not allowed to touch those, Mama says they’re dangerous. Mama has her back turned, but it looks like she’s busy putting things away. She does that a lot. I wonder what she’s putting away now, I helped her put away the toys before bed yesterday.
“Mama!” I call out for her. She and father turn to me.
“Too late,” I hear Dad say. I don’t know what it is too late for, the day just started. Mama is coming towards me, and oh I just can’t help it I love it when she picks me up.
“Don’t worry darling, he woke up twice last night so his nap will come early,” you say to Din.
How could Mama possibly be thinking about nap time now? Now is time for food, and play time and probably Dad going to work.
“I’ll start breakfast,” Dad says
“Breakfast!”
Mama holds me while we eat our breakfast, but Dad doesn’t take his hat off. That probably means he’s going to work today. I know Mama will make him eat something before he goes. Mama gets upset when Dad forgets to eat. After breakfast we go outside. Our house moved while I was sleeping, but there’s different grass..... and big bugs flying around.
“Mama can I go play with the bugs?” I ask her.
“Do you want to play hide and seek ad’ika?” She asks me. Sometimes I don’t think she can hear me very well, because she answers me funny. But then again, her ears are very small.
“No. Bugs!” I yell running down the ramp to go catch the nearest floaty bug. I almost catch it too, but I jumped too late and the bug is getting away. So I chase after it.
I spend all afternoon outside but eventually, I give up on trying to catch the floaty bugs. They fly too high and always seem to know I’m coming. I’m getting tired, maybe Mama was right about a nap. I turn back to look for our house, it’s right where Dad left it with the ramp down. Mama and Dad are sitting on the ramp together, talking.
Why do grown ups talk so much? Mama and Dad like to play with me. But they don’t play by themselves or with each other, they just talk. I head over towards them, maybe they will stop talking and Mama will come nap with me.
When I get up to them, Mama immediately goes to pick me up. But she keeps talking to Dad.
“It all worked out, now we can have a family night before the trip and we’ll save some credits having you drop me off,”
“The glass is always half full, isn't it cyare,?”
Mama laughs, but I don't get it. Full of what? Is it juice? Is it juice for me?
“Mama,” I try to get her attention “Mama”
“Oh boy, looks like I was wrong about nap time, he’s gonna sleep well tonight” she says. Dad stands up, and helps Mama stand too so she doesn’t have to put me down.
Wrong about nap time? Now is a perfect time for a nap. But it’s later than I thought it was, the sun is starting to go down, and Mama is handing me to Dad so she can make dinner. Dad didn’t go to work today, I wonder why...
“Dad, are you going bye bye soon?” I ask him
“Yeah, did you have fun running around all day ya little womp rat?” He asks. Dad must not have very good hearing either. Or maybe his hat makes it hard for him to hear me.
Mama finishes making dinner, Dad closes the big door and takes off his hat so we can all eat together. After dinner, Mama scoops me up and takes me to her bed. I get excited, Mama and Dad’s bed is bigger than mine and has puffy pillows to jump on. But Mama is not in the mood for jumping, tonight she tells me she wants to snuggle and do stories.
Dad joins us. He takes off his shiny clothes and his hat, and lays down with Mama and me. Dad likes Mama stories, he puts his head on Mama’s tummy and listens to her talk. Mama holds me against her shoulder, and rubs my back. I’m trying really hard to stay awake, but I can’t. Mama’s arms are warm, and her voice is quiet. I’ll ask her how the story ended tomorrow.
The next day I wake up, and someone different is holding me. Dad’s shoulder is usually warmer than Mama’s, but not as soft. Especially since he’s wearing his shiny clothes again. Someone kisses the top of my head. That must be Mama. I’m still sleepy, so I don’t open my eyes yet. Dad rumbles below me. He must be trying to talk.
Suddenly the sound of the door opening, surely now Dad must be going to work. But if Dad is going to work, why isn’t Mama the one holding me?
I open my eyes. It’s too bright. But I can see a figure going down the ramp holding a big bag. My eyes adjust and I see that it’s Mama. Why is Mama going down the ramp so early in the morning? And our house moved again! I’m confused. If Mama is leaving the house, why aren’t we following her?
“Dad?” I try to ask. Dad makes a disappointed sound.
“Dad!” I try again
“Say bye bye ad’ika” he whispers waving my little arm
“MAMA!” I yell as I start to panic “Mama come back!” I’m getting upset. Mama never leaves. And her bag is really big. Is that what she was putting away yesterday? Why is Mama going bye bye?
“Dad!” I whine “Dad please! We have to go with her. We have to go with Mama!”
He doesn’t understand me. They never do. I’m so frustrated I can’t help it, I start crying
“Why Mama go bye bye?” I wail “MAMA!”
Dad closes the big door. I��m getting more upset. I don’t understand what happening. And Dad can’t understand me when I ask. And I just want Mama to hold me and give me kisses.
“It’s okay buddy,” Dad says “It’s okay I’m sad she went bye bye too,” Well that doesn’t make any sense. If Dad is sad she left, then we should go with her. Dad takes me up the ladder. But I don’t stop crying. He isn’t listening to me.
When he gets to the window room, Dad puts me on my chair and buckles me in. He gives me my ball, and I stop crying for a minute. I really like this ball, it’s kind of heavy and it reminds me of the training ball we used to have in the temple. Sometimes I tell Mama about what it was like growing up in the temple. About the masters that used to come visit the younglings to tell us stories or their adventures or teach us lessons. Mama smiles and looks in my eyes when I talk to her, it tricks me into thinking she understands me sometimes. But now I’m thinking of Mama again, and I begin to cry.
Dad finishes turning on the lights and hitting buttons in the right order, and our house is going up up up into the stars. Which means we are leaving Mama here. I can’t understand why this is happening. Mama tried to leave when I was asleep. She didn’t even want to say goodbye to me. I must have done something very naughty to make her leave me and Dad.
Dad turns to me and unbuckles my seat. He holds me to his chest and lets me keep crying. He doesn’t say anything. Maybe he’s crying under his hat too. He pats my back and shakes up and down me a little bit. It feels nice. He can’t understand what I ask him, but at least he understands that I’m upset.
“It’s okay buddy. We’re gonna have a fun week okay?” Dad says. I keep crying. I don’t want to have a fun week, I want Mama.
I sit with Dad all day in the window room as the stars zoom by. I stop crying but I don’t let him put me down. I can’t stop thinking. What did I do? Why did Mama leave? I don’t understand.
The days go by painfully slow. Dad puts our house in front of a big puddle, so big that everything on the other side looks small. He plays outside with me every day. Lets splash in the water, chase bugs and frogs. He lets me dig holes in the mud and bury rocks. Dad washes all of the blankets and sheets from our house in the big puddle and hands them to dry on the trees. He washes all of his clothes in the puddle too, and polishes the shiny clothes with something that looks fun to play with but smells terrible. It’s not so bad, playing with Dad all day on this puddle world. But at night time when it’s time to go to bed. I miss Mama so much my heart hurts. I try really really hard not to cry. But I can’t. I just want her to tuck me into my bed, or snuggle with me. I want her to tell me stories or sing to me.
But I’m trying. I’m trying especially hard to be good for Dad. Maybe if I’m really good Mama will come back. And I know I’m good Dad won’t leave. Dad used to take me everywhere with him when we first met. I was too scared of him to be bad. He wasn’t so scary after a while, especially after he met Mama. But I felt so safe with them. I guess I felt too safe because I messed up, and now Mama’s gone. I have to be good. I have to be good so Dad won’t leave too. I don’t want to be alone again. I don’t let Dad put me to bed in my crib. If he shuts the crib doors, they might not open again.
I wake up from a nap sitting on Dad’s lap, and I heard voices. Dad is talking to someone. I open my eyes, curious to know who’s here.
It’s Mama! It’s Mama right in front of me!
“Mama!” I shout trying to reach for her. But my claws pass straight through her. I keep trying to reach her, but she isn’t really here.
“Looks like ad’ika woke up just in time,” Dad says “Say hi to Mommy,”
“Mama! Mama I’m so sorry. Please come home. I promise I’ll be good. I promise!” I tell her
“Hi baby! I miss you so much. I’ll be home tomorrow, and I’ve got presents for you,” she says. She looks up at Dad “How’s he been?”
“He’s been having a hard time. I don’t think we explained well enough that you’d come back,” Dad says.
“To be fair, he’s never a day apart from me since the moment we met,” Mama laughs lightly
“Yeah. Well hurry home, he’s not the only one who misses you” Dad says
“A taste of your own medicine my love. But I miss you too. I’ll be at the docking bay by tonight, you’ll be there to pick me up?”
“Sounds good”
“Okay, bye baby! I’ll see you tonight,” Mama waves goodbye and the com clicks off.
I’m upset again, but I don’t cry. Mama is giving me a second chance? Or she was always planning on coming back? I don’t know, I’m so confused. All I know is I’ve been good this week, and she’s coming back. So I have to keep being good, and make it up to her when she gets back.
Dad packs up our house, and we go up up up again into the stars. We really are going to pick up Mama. But it takes so much longer to get back to where we left her. I try not to be fussy on the ride there. But everything is going so slow.
Finally finally finally, we get there and Dad puts the house exactly where it was a week ago when we left. And now we wait. Dad tries to play with me, he offers me my ball, which I take. But I just hold it. I watch the big door. Waiting for it to open. Finally, I hear it. I hear the clicking and the hiss. The door is opening and the ramp is going down.
There she is!
“MAMA!” I scream, dropping my ball and running as fast as my little legs will let me go. Mama smiles and drops her bags on the ground. She takes two big steps and scoops me up, cuddling me to her chest. Dad steps in and wraps his arms around us. He gently knocks the top of his hat into Mama’s forehead and stays there. I get a little jealous, and try to push Dad away.
“You got to talk to mom on the com for who knows how long yesterday! I want kisses!” I say trying to hold Mama’s face.
“Hi baby. Did you miss me? Did Dad take good care of you?” She asks, she presses kisses all over my head and in between my ears.
“Mama, I’m so sorry! I’m sorry I was naughty. I won’t play with your magic potion bag anymore. I’ll eat all my food and go to bed when you tell me. I’ll be good. I promise I’ll be good. Please don’t go!” I bury my face in her shoulder and start crying.
“What did you do to him, Din?” She asks Dad, she bounces me in her arms. I can’t tell if she’s making a joke or not.
“I told you cyare, he really missed you. I don’t think he knew you were coming back,” Dad says as he heads down the ramp to collect Mama’s things.
“Oh,” Mama coos at me “It’s okay. It’s okay ad’ika. It’s okay. Mommy’s here. I won’t leave you again. I was always gonna come back,” a
Dad puts her stuff away, and shuts the door. He leads us to their big bed and takes off his shiny clothes and hat again. He lays down and pulls Mama and me down on top of him.
Mama whispers to me. She tells me that she loves me. And she’s sorry I was afraid. She tells me that she missed me when she was gone, and that she’s proud of me for being good for Dad. Dad holds Mama, and tells her about all the fun things we did. Eventually I fall asleep, feeling safe and warm.
Maybe Mama and Dad don’t always understand what I’m trying to tell them. But they do love me and protect me.
#Late Friday Post (again)#The Mandalorian#Din Djarin#Baby Yoda#Grogu#Din Djarin x reader#Fluffy#Angst#separation anxiety#Grogu is trying really hard to communicate#parenting is rough#if anyone is reading this again and notices it’s different for some reason the first paragraph wasn’t in the original post
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I am just now finding out about your chosen one au and must know more
ok so i decided to copy paste everything i wrote to my friends when talking about it so its gonna be long Oups ... but it's the most complete ill ever be about it !
so this is set in a universe where gods, old and new are very present and usually they have humans serving them, regularly called chosen ones, every century or so. it's considered an honor and every sanctuary and gods have different missions for their chosen ones and it can go from taking care of the temple every week while being allowed to have their own life to go on a mission to erradicate evil. humans usually know that they are destined to be taken in by gods because of marks on their body, specific to the god(s) they'll serve. the mark starts to glow and guide them to where their god is waiting for them once the god decides they want them.
the story is set on an island stuck between two different temples. on the island stands gotham which is a strangely sunny city, and then you have the deep sea in the bay, and the deep forest north of gotham. if gotham is mysteriously devoid of bad things, its because it's been giving every century a child to the old gods temple in the deep forest. and time is coming, soon, another one will go.
so here you have the wayne family, they mostly have the same backgrounds ? kind of ? cass's parents were mercenaries that went into the deep forest, where no one (haha) in gotham dares going due to fear of breaking the old gods protections, never came back, and left cass on her own in town. bruce adopted her. dick's parents were travelers on a ship that sailed not far from the island and while they did not survive, the gods in the deep see allowed dick to stay alive until he reached the coast. immm not quite sure of what happened to jason's parents yet but uh he's here and alive woo
damian is a bit of a mystery to most people. he was delivered to bruce's doorstep when he was only a few days old. what they dont know is that nine months earlier bruce went into the deep forest himself.
so added to that is timothy drake. young boy of the drake family, the two parents who dont seem to care for him much. the boy is quiet but full of smiles and affection to give and when jason and cass drag him to the wayne estate after a day out, bruce opens his arms to him. he's a regular at the wayne house and a few days after he turns 11, he stops showing up. bruce's kids cant find him. the drakes dont seem disturbed by their missing son. and bruce knows the drakes by now, know they wouldnt give their affection to someone they knew would disappear, and bruce realises tim is gone, to the old gods in the deep forest.
so tim, 11, wakes up sweating and his room lit up with a green light that he's never seen before but in dreams and he knows that it's time. he knows that this strange mark spreading across his back, shaped like a dragon, is glowing green. he's being called.
he moves by himself, not thinking, opens the door to his room and the one that leads outside and it's so fitting when he notices that his parents arent even home, that he'd leave without them caring. soon he's reaching the deep forest and for the first time in his life, when looking at the dark depth, he's not scared, and he walks on.
tim walks and walks and there are eyes looking at him bu the soft green glow reassures him, and he knows where he should walk, and soon he's reaching a temple, strong stone and green plants and a setting sun carved on its floor, and there is a man - a god ? - walking out. and his eyes are glowing green like the mark he knows is glowing in his back, but it feels wrong, and when tim looks around again everything looks so much hostile,
tim made researches on the deep forest temple, since he knew it was gonna be his future, and he knew that temple was supposed to host old gods who were dying, so why does it feel so wrong ?
tim approaches, despite himself, and waits for the man - god??? - to say anything. there is a hand, wrinkly and uncomfortable and cold, on his cheek, and tim looks up, and he's shivering when the god - he knows hes a god. he knows he is now. - speaks up.
"i am ra's al ghul. you were given to me to serve me. you will obey me in any way i see fit, and you are to never return to your human town."
tim did make researches before he was taken. he knew that usually the child taken by the deep forest gods could travel to town without punishment. he knew that, with pattern, they were taken early, before they turned fifteen. he knew that he would most likely be lucky, have a mostly free life. he didnt know that a new god in quest of power had taken over, chained some of the old gods inhabiting the temple, killed others, simply for power and magic. he didnt know that he would be chained to a scary and cold temple, with a terrifying and powerful god that could turn him to dust on a whim.
so thats basically,,, the intro ? the first part ?
so a few months after tim disappeared, it was jasons turn.
jason, much like tim, had marks on his wrists and arms, long lines following his limbs. they're signs of being of the all caste temple, chosen one for those gods. for the ones in the deep sea. now these humans linked to temple in the sea are a bit different than the kind that tim was supposed to be. the all castes purpose is protection, and while there always is a human chosen for them, they're not always called for their purpose, in fact, no all caste chosen one had been guided to the temple in the deep see in generations.
however, one day, jason woke up, glowing white lines on his arms, told dick that he had to go to the sea, and disappeared for months.
jason doesn't remember going into the sea when he wakes up in the temple, doesnt know how he survived the journey there, but he's there, by the will of the gods, and he's informed of his purpose.
something hover over the island. something bad. it's already there, its root in the islands ground, and it must be killed. that will be jason's purpose. he doesnt know where. he doesnt know when. he knows it will happen.
so they train him. they give him the weapons and magic he will need to defeat the enemy. they want to protect the island and its inhabitant.
several months later, jason leaves again, with new knowledge and strength, and washes up on the beach, and dick finds him, unconscious. he brings him back to the wayne estate, where he tells his tale of sea gods and protection and prophecy where he is the hero.
years pass. its been about nine years since tim disappeared, since jason went to the sea temple for the first time. damian is 16 and damian wants answers from his father. he knows he's from the deep forest. he knows his mother is there. he wants to meet her, he wants to know her. but bruce never talks about her, never says anything about their meeting, like he was commanded not to, and damian decides to go against all beliefs he has grown with and he prepares. he will get in the forest. he will find his mother.
except jason know his little brother and he knows and sees him planning and on the night he leaves, jason is here, not stopping him, but ready to follow him into the forest. he has a feeling. something is there for him too .
so they travel in the forest, they're not really sure how to find damian's mother with how little bruce ever said about her, and they find creatures along the way, some of them recognize damian as one of their kin, which is how they realise damian's mother is either part god or part spirit, and jason as a god's messenger. they do not guide them, but they do not attack them.
until they walk into a territory they feel they shouldnt have walked into
a small being with wings and claws attacks, telling them to not trespass, it's smaller than jason had been at 14, but it's furious and cold and it strikes right. and when jason finally looks up he's terrified to see that he recognizes the child in front of him. and its wrong, because tim should have been nineteen by now, but he doesnt look older than 15.
finally the fight draws to a close when jason calls out for tim, a name he musnt have heard a lot, or not recently, not with care and not without an order behind it. tim stops. tim looks. he recognizes the boys in front of them, even if its been nearly ten years. after all they were two of the last humans he ever saw.
"you cant be here. you cant be here if he knows he will kill you and i cant let you die. please you need to go"
im not quite sur how they get tim to follow, or if they get in ra's territory, but they camp in a safe zone with tim, and tim tells them his story
[torture mention, non consensual body modification]
after ra's took him, he tortured him, he experimented on him. after all he was his first ever human tribute, to obey and be controlled at will, a toy for an immortal, and after many games of the new god, he settled on making tim a sentinel for his property, one that will age slowly and wont feel pain, a puppet with no strings but one that is scared of ra's power, enough that it will obey. jason and damian are Angry. something at the back of jason's head tells him that this ra's might have something to do with his own prophecy.
so after that its more blurry but tim reacts strangely to damian, he's a bit scared of him and he figures out it's bc of his heritage, that he has links to ra's, and he leads them to talia who's half god half spirit and hidden deeper and deeper in the forest, away from her father, and it makes tim leave the territory he's supposed to guard, disobey ras, which makes ra's angy bc tim never disobey, not since the first few times when he was 12/13 and thought he would still get out,,,
so there is a bit of a final showdown w tim talia jason and damian facing ra's, ra's using his hold on tim to hurt him, and talia torn between her father and her son + tim who she's seen grow up from far away and who she feels she should have protected from ra's,, jason eventually has a one on one with ra's and the prophecy does happen and he kills ra's and angry old gods who were chained in the temple wake up and banish ra's soul from this realm.
they heal tim from whatever ra's did to him, with the promise that he will travel to care for the god's temple again, as his duty was supposed to be
they all get back to gotham, tim still looks 15 but will grow to his real age within a few months, he has many scars and the mark on his back changed for a setting sun like what was carved on the temple's entrance, damian has his Mom, and jason is free from his all caste duty.
the end woooo this is over 2k long rip !! feel free to ask if u got more questions :0 !!
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So i just finished watching infinity train book 3, and god damn i’m thinking a lot about all the characters with trauma in animation and whether they get a redemption arch or not.
So when should a character get a redemption arch? When should they not?
I wound up thinking about some of the paralells between simon and catra, both of them have similar bouts grasping for power and control, both of them do some really bad things, and both of them blame someone else for “making” them do bad things.
So what’s the difference? Why did Catra end up redeemed and Simon died in probably one of the most horrific ways I’ve ever seen in modern western animation that’s generally aired with a familly audience in mind (save for maybe the hanging scene in Tarzan)? What’s the difference between the two?
I think for one Catra was actually manipulated, and Simon only thought he was being manipulated. Simon was convinced anything that didn’t align with what he thought had to be a lie. He was abandoned, even if on accident, that’s hard for a kid in a scary place to go through, and he latched on to Grace early on but he retained trust issues after that.
Catra was abused and manipulated by shadow weaver who had pit her against adora since they were children and never ever given the attention and love she needed as a child. She learned that climbing for power in the hoard was the only way to not be hurt. In her mind, everything would be fine if she could gain control.
Simon also felt that control was the best way to cope. Being a part of the Apex as a leader by Grace’s side meant he felt fulfilled and never had to deal with either the consequences of their actions due to the apex members convincing themselves that non-passengers were all liers/manipulaters, so it made it easy to harm and destroy them because they convinced themselves they didn’t need to feel empathy for them because they were “nothing”. Even if people like Lake, Hazel, Tuba, Samantha the Cat, and Atticus have all shown us to this point that they certainly do have feelings and act in self preservation as well as feel loss on a deep level. Its actualy being around and getting to know Hazel due to mistaking her for a passenger that lets Grace begin to see that... but Simon resents Hazel from beginning to end, wheels Tuba and feels no regret for it, even before knowing she wasn’t a passenger he didn’t treat Hazel with any empathy despite Grace begging him to “think of how you felt when you lost your friend when you were her age”, and treated Hazel as a means to an end at best. Because Hazel upset the status quo he felt initially, his control was slipping, he couldn’t tell everything that was going on with Grace all the time, and he reacted violently.
Then in She-Ra... eventually Catra listened, she felt guilt, she was open to being wrong, while she had her moment of anger of being treated unfairly and tried to blame adora for all her problems despite adora offering to help and let Catra come with her numerous times... she realized she needed to change, she realized she needed to work through things, and realized that if she wanted adora to stay in her life, she had to show Adora she cared and stop pushing her and everyone else away out of fear.
Simon on the other hand... never questioned himself. Even when repeatedly hurting and trying to kill someone he supposedly loved. When he hurt Grace he didn’t feel remorse, he felt there was something wrong with her for feeling hurt. When Grace didn’t act or say the things he wanted, he got angry and violent. He invaded her memories and her mind and forced her to relive trauma- giving the excuse that if she hadn’t lied to him, this wouldn’t have happened. This a tactic a lot of abusers use, they blame the victim for making them act that way. Its a way of control by trying to tell the victim “if you do what I say, you won’t get hurt” Sure, when he shoved Grace off the train and thought she had died, maybe somewhere deep down there was a thought of ���oh god what have I done” but he still reacted violently. His trauma consumed him, because he didn’t want to change, he was unable to see anything wrong with what he was doing because he was right. I’d theorize that even in that moment where his expression shifted then shifted back, even then he was justifying in his own mind that it was necessary, that Grace made him do that.
The train couldn’t help someone who can’t change. Its tragic, because when we see a character like that on screen and watch him through the lighter moments in the show you... hope that he’ll be redeemed... right? Have a change of heart? But he didn’t. If he had any remorse at all, it was too little too late. That is a real thing that happens, you hope that people will change, get help, turn around and redeem themselves... but sometimes... that doesn’t happen. And it’s not on the people around that person to “fix” them, its not their responsibility to feel guilty for not “doing enough” or “doing the right things” when that person refuses to do anything differently and continues to harm people and act in violence. That’s full on victim blaming, and no one ever deserves that.
Even when Catra is in full villain mode, as Double Trouble pointed out you can tell her heart isn’t in it. What she did to Entrapta in a moment of panic haunted her, loosing Scorpia was a wake up call of how she pushes people away. She came to the conclusion that she wasn’t right, then in the last season she stopped blaming everyone else, she stopped blaming adora, she and adora both stood up to shadow weaver for constantly trying to tear them apart and torturing Catra to try and make Adora do what she wanted.
Catra... broke out of it. When she saw Adora and how angry she was after Catra opened the portal, when Double Trouble gave her a reality check, and I’d argue especially after she was rescued from Horde Prime and Adora, incredibly hurt said “you don’t have to see me anymore” fully realized she has to figure out how to stop pushing others away, because she doesn’t like that she’s hurt her friends, and she accepts responsibility and tries to help. She’s not going to be perfect, we still see that she lashes out and pushes people away here and there even after being saved from horde prime, but the difference is she wants to change, she wants to do good, she not only wants adora in her life, but wants adora to be happy, and it infuriates her when Adora feels like she has to sacrifice herself for everyone else.
Simon didn’t stop when he saw Grace was hurt, crying, scared of him, growing away from him, and instead of feeling sympathy, sitting down and talking to her not going “what’s wrong with you??”. When grace realizes Simon is hurt when in the cabin with Samantha, she immediately goes after him and says “this must be hard for you, i’m sorry I didn’t see it... this is why I’ve been distracted.” But even then, Simon still seems to take Grace’s problem as a threat, something that needs to be fixed so things can go back to “normal” I.E. when he felt in control. Grace herself pointed out he was making everything about him. Because at all points when he sees her upset, he blames her, tells her she’s been brainwashed, that she’s not acting “normal”. He blames her every step of the way then plays victim. By the end he’s become an abuser through and through, the whole time blaming everyone else for his own actions. He invaded Grace’s mind, forced her to relive her most traumatic memories to trap her in her own mind, then tried to kill her right after she saved him.
I think that’s the difference between the two. One wanted to change and recognized their actions hurt people and felt guilt for it... anything Catra did is a byproduct of what the Horde raised her to be, for anyone that was found as a child by the hoard and manipulated and played against Adora by Shadow Weaver. She was trained to be a soldier, and told she would suffer if Adora fell out of the Hoard’s control. When she has her breakdown when she’s supposedly at the top of her game, its because she deep down doesn’t want to do this, she’s climbed her way to the top hoping that she’ll stop feeling and be “happy”, but she’s got to the top, and lost everything that she really cared about, and it gets to her.
The other insisted they were right and if someone was hurt by him they made him do it right up until the end. He became the leader of the Apex, his whole body covered in numbers, more than anyone - but as long as Grace was around to question him, his control wouldn’t be absolute. There’s still a certain amount of doubt to be eliminated.
And that’s why one got a redemption arch and was given the chance to change... and one was completely destroyed by their own actions.
Catra (and also Glimmer honestly) shows how you can come out of trauma on the other side and begin to heal while still acknowledging that your trauma doesn’t justify your actions when they hurt people, but you can take steps and accept help that make it so your not having to face it all alone.
Simon is a cautionary tale about how when trauma goes un-dealt with, when don’t want to change, accept help, or even consider any other view point , and don’t take accountability for the damage you inflict on others, it consumes you and inevitably destroys you. And eventually the trauma he inflicted on everyone else came back to bite him.
Last thing I’ll say is fucking good for Grace for telling him to his face she’s not responsible for him and his actions, and no longer taking all the blame he was throwing at her for daring to have empathy, be kind, and want things to be different.
Those are my thoughts at least. I’m so glad these shows are taking a serious hard look at these topics, and now we can say we have shows that cover these topics in an adult way and don’t sugar coat it. Simon is a well written character, because it shows how someone can become abusive and violent resulting from trauma... but unlike a lot of movies about serial killers and whatnot, it doesn’t for a moment try to say he’s justified in anything he does. We feel the very real emotions from Grace coming to terms with changing her own views and also the horror and hard emotions that come from this guy that was her closest friend turning on her and hurting her like this. Those are some really... really complicated emotions to go through in a short animated show, but god damn... they did it
#long post#she ra#infinity train#spoilers#infinity train spoilers#late night thoughts#abuse tw#talking about trauma and abuse#tw#catra#simon infinity train#grace infinity train#rambles
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BLOGTOBER 10/28/2020: HOCUS POCUS (sigh)
I knew that I would not like this movie. I didn't see it as a kid, because we didn't have cable, but it's hard for me to imagine that it would have struck me positively. It's not that I was so sophisticated, but I liked my children's entertainment with a dash of darkness, or at least something challenging--especially if it was supposed to be somehow horror-adjacent. For me, things had to be at least on the level of LABYRINTH, with its various ambivalent creatures and monster sexuality in the person of David Bowie, or LEGEND, with its various ambivalent creatures and actually-monstrous sexuality in the person of Tim Curry, or...whatever other children's fare there is, that expects a little extra substance from its child audience, that's a little sexy and a little scary, and basically, at least kind of cool. And I'm not being a snob; you can say these same things about a lot of classic Disney movies. But in spite of its dual status as both a Disney- and cult classic, HOCUS POCUS is not at all cool. Just because it's such a Halloween thing for people, I figured I would watch it for Blogtober this year, and I have to say...I still don't get it.
I do not often feel my age, as my continued presence on Tumblr attests. There are just a few things that starkly separate me from my near-peers. One of them is Pokemon; when someone who seems like they're more or less my contemporary starts speaking in a personal way about Pokemon, I know that they're on the exact other side of some invisible dividing line in time. Another sign is enthusiasm for a certain stripe of Nickelodeon production, that mainly seems to feature a lot of shrill screaming and strobing lights and baby talk, in shows I didn't grow up with so I'll never understand what's good about them. It appears to me that HOCUS POCUS is part of the trend here: folks slightly younger than me, who saw it every October on the Disney Channel, seem to really get whatever the appeal of this is.
It is somehow telling that nearly every screencap I could find from this movie is just of these three standing in a row and filling the screen. Like it’s basically the entire visual character of the movie.
What "this" is, is a movie about a kid from LA (Omri Katz) who moves to Salem, Mass, just in time to unwittingly light a ceremonial candle on a Halloween full moon (which we are about to have BTW!), which brings the evil Sanderson Sisters back from the dead. These villains (not victims, VILLAINS) of Salem's witch hunt era can't understand really basic shit like whether plastic tubes are "snakes" or whether asphalt is black water or various other things that should be pretty visually obvious even if you're from the 1600s, but the truth is that it doesn't really matter what they think or feel, because they're just here to shriek and mug and jiggle around and do unwelcome musical numbers. At this point, I really have to apologize; I usually harness myself to the task of thoughtfully describing whatever movie I've assigned myself, no matter what I expect from it, but this was just really difficult.
Ew.
I've read that this movie was originally conceived as more of a kid-friendly horror movie, but it eventually morphed into something more satisfying to the Mouse. Various themes emerge and evaporate, expressing nothing. The "cool" LA native is actually a virgin, which is why his lighting the candle resurrects the witches, but instead of this triggering a coming of age narrative, it just becomes a reason to awkwardly repeat the word "virgin" over and over. Nothing in particular is contributed to our understanding of this character, and I had to wonder if some christian parents' group threatened to picket Disney's witch movie unless it harped on a random virtue like virginity. That would actually follow, given that HOCUS POCUS is a movie that casually sides with witch hunters whose religious mania and misogyny caused the deaths of at least 25 people during the era in which the hilariously kooky Sanderson Sisters are meant to have terrorized the town. Meanwhile, in modern times, their goal is to "steal the lives" of children to create an immortality potion. I don't know why they have to keep saying "steal their lives". It makes no sense to me. I get that maybe they can't say that the Sandersons KILL children--I know this isn't WARLOCK. But it's not even THE WITCHES, in either the Roeg or Zemeckis version; you have little idea what they do to the children. You'd think they could say "steal their souls", or something else that we vaguely understand from watching a lot of movies, but no. HOCUS POCUS just asks a lot from me, in terms of my ability to find it interesting that witches are running around and they must be stopped.
The witches’ grimoire, the best part of the movie, doesn’t have nearly enough to do.
The witches, Kathy Najimy, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Bette Midler, really just run around screaming for most of the movie. I would agree that this must be stopped, and I only regret that it took like 96 minutes for this to happen. I don't even blame the ladies for this movie's lack of charisma; it's pretty clear that they're just doing what a movie this loud and tacky requires. And at my most open-minded, I can acknowledge that it's good for little kids to see female characters who are wacky and confident, and not at all sexy or romantic. But I don't find any of this at all fun, personally. I don't care about the LA virgin who is dressed as a "rap singer" for Halloween, even though he looks more like a white separatist in his fatigue green bomber jacket and dad jeans. I don't care about the talking cat, voiced by Disney standby Jason Marsden who is not really up to the task of doing a british accent. I don't care about bland hot chick Vinessa Shaw, or the cool kid's spunky kid sister, even if she is played by Thora Birch. Doug Jones makes an appearance as a friendly zombie, which could have been fun, but...I shouldn't be surprised that it isn't.
Actually, the only thing I found at all provocative about HOCUS POCUS was the bullies. At first, I did not understand that they were supposed to be bullies. Wannabe rapper "Ice" and his buddy Jay, who by all appearances should be looking around for a church to burn, are unlikely friends and even unlikelier neighborhood threats. When I first saw them, I thought maybe they were going to be the hero's new pals--misfits like himself who have nothing in common but their misfit-ness. But then they shake the kid down for money, and ruin Halloween for little trick-or-treaters, and it's like...oh, these are "bad guys"? Why? Who would ever put up with them? I was alive in a small town during the time that this movie is supposed to take place, and I was very aware of scary teenagers then. The guys in this movie would never have been taken seriously, regardless of physical ability, and worse than that, they do not serve any purpose in this purposeless narrative.
Anyway, it's pretty obvious that I don't have much to say about HOCUS POCUS, and watching it was basically a mistake. However, I do have one nutritious morsel to leave you with, courtesy iMDB's trivia page. You can all take heart in the fact that even a really dumb, useless movie can sometimes reveal something about life that you never imagined:
#hocus pocus#mick garris#kenny ortega#neil cuthbert#horror#fantasy#comedy#children's#supernatural#salem#witch trials#witch#blogtober#2020#omri katz#vinessa shaw#thora birch#doug jones#bette midler#sarah jessica parker#kathy najimy
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And now, the even cuter sequel to...
Top Ten Cutest Kids In One Piece
Part II | Part I
7. Nami
Nami has a bit of an unfair advantage in that we see her through our her cute growth. I mean look at this. She a cute baby:
[Before you can fully laugh in the face of death you must first learn to smile at it. Smile and lure death in by pretending to be it's friend.]
She a cute kiddie:
[Pictured: Nami, right before her One Piece required tragic backstory kicks in.]
She even somehow a cute kid as a fully grown adult:
I mean, look at her pigtails! That's right, sweetie, one day you'll grow up to be a big, strong navigator!
Although, I have to say that part of what makes actual kid Nami so adorable is her precious little smile. For some unknowable reason (Arlong, having her mother killed in front of her, carrying the stress of her entire town's welfare on her shoulders before the age of ten, growing up way too soon, finding herself stranded in a rowboat with a smile ball of sunshine idiot and a frowny faced SWORD idiot) Nami doesn't seem to smile so much anymore (being one of the only rational people on a ship full of suicidal stupid children or perverts, constantly being placed in peril by said children, being one of the few people on the ship with an actual responsible that if she s fails at means they could easily all wind up dead... Really, it's a complete mystery). Certainly,it doesn't have that same quality of innocence and unrestrained joy.
Basically, Nami has a Luffy smile as a kid and she totally rocks it.
6. Baby 5 & Derringer
This is a baby Baby 5 babying a baby Derringer.
I mean, honestly? What else do you need?
5. Killer "Murder Machine" Killer
[I just want to say how hard it is finding pictures of Killer as a kid. We hat do you search? "Killer Child"? "Kid Killer"? "One Piece Killer Kid"? Also, sadly, "One Piece Killer as Kid" does not return a bunch of pictures of Killer and Kid clothing swaps. You disappoint me, internet.]
Okay, so I only learned about this cutie after I decided to make this list and let me say - HOW FUCKING CUTE IS THIS MURDER CRAZED LITTLE PIRATE ANGEL!? He is SO cute. Look at his fluffy blonde hair! Ah, I'll bet he was such a sensative little gentlemen, too, you know? Everything about him says, "I will call you ma'am, share all my toys, and def cry every time Bambi's mother dies even though I've seen it like THIS many times."
I'll bet Kid (who gets second place shouts outs for also being a adorable little tyke but has slightly less pinchable cheeks than my boy here) got him in sooo much trouble. Can't you just imagine baby Killer following Kid around on the playground.
"But Kid, we're not suppose to... The adults said so."
"Come on, Killer, it'll be so much fun."
"Mmm.. I don't know... it sounds dangerous (and scary)."
"Killer, don't you want to be my first mate when I become pirate king?"
"Of course, Kid! More than anything!"
"Well, pirates don't go around listening to adults or not doing something just because it's scary, do they?"
".... No, I guess not. No, they won't be very good pirates if they did."
"And you and me, we're going to be the best pirates EVER, aren't we?"
*Nods Eagerly*
"Well then....?"
"... Okay, but just this ONE time, okay Kid? Than can we please go make sand castles like I wanted to?"
"Yep! Right after, we'll make awesome pirate sandcastles! I promise!"
And that is how so many fires got started.
[I have no reason for posting this except I just love it so much.]
Worst generation? More like cutest generation amiright?
4. Donquixote Rosinante (Corazon)
Maybe I should have combined this one with Killer. They have a lot of the same things going for them. They're rocking the same fluffy blonde hair, they both have cheeks you want to kiss and pinch at the same time, and, yeah, of course Rosinante cried whenever Bambi's mother died. Though, to be fair, that wasn't just when he was a kid.
He definitely had to leave the room during that part when Law, Baby 5 an Derringer were watching it (for the record: Baby 5 would bite her lip and tried to act unaffected, Derringer would laugh and then start pouting about the lack of blood, while Law... Law would just stared down the TV while thinking on the inevitability of death and how it eventually comes for all living things.)
Also like Killer, the soft and adorable Corazon has a much more badass (but in a cute way) bestie/brother who should have maybe made the list of they didn't insist on standing so close to someone else who is just So. Fucking. Cute.
[Though Doffy tots rocks those sweetass sunglasses.]
The one thing really seperating them, besides the incredibly different circumstances of their births placing them in opposite economic and social spheres entirely at random is this Straight Outta Mariejois top hair curl.
Ack, this kid is just too fucking cute.
And yet still not top three level of cuteness.
So who do you think the final cute? Who are the top three cutest little babies in the world of One Piece? Stick around for that, runners up, and.... I don't wanna say a Loser List but, yeah, that.
#one piece#top ten#cutest one piece babies#cute smile#one piece killer#nami#luffy smile#corazon#donquixote rocinante#donquixote brothers#donquixote doflamingo#donquixote corazon#eustass kid#the worst generation#worst generation#more like cutest generation#baby 5#baby baby 5#one piece Derringer#cutie pies
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Parental Woes
Summary: Bruce is asked what it's like raising a bunch of Alpha kids as a single omega parent. The answer is unexpected.
Or
"Is it weird being the single Omega parent to a bunch of Alphas? Like what's the weirdest thing?"
"The cock-blocking," said Bruce
TW: Mild Language
Ao3
XXX
They had been drinking for hours now, the only sober one being J'onn as he couldn't be affected by the contents of alcohol. Even Bruce was drunk.
"Hey Bruce," Clark heard Oliver say, "I gotta ask. Is it weird being the single Omega parent to a bunch of Alphas? Like what's the weirdest thing?"
"The cock-blocking," said Bruce
Clark choked on his drink. Beside him, Hal did a spit take while Barry and Arthur let out incredulous laughs. Both J'onn and Dinah looked highly amused. Diana had a small smirk on her face and Oliver, the second most sober, had a confused look on his face.
"Uh, wanna run that by me again Wayne?"
"The cock-blocking," said Bruce, "Seriously, it's ridiculous,"
"Spooky," said Hal, "How drunk are you right now?"
"Oh, very," said Bruce, "I'm going to hate myself in the morning,"
"Yeah, Yeah," said Oliver, "But you can't say something like that and not explain yourself. Come on Brucie. There's a story behind that,"
"Well," said Bruce, "It started with Dick. When he was really young I stopped picking people up for a while but, you know, once he settled down I tried to go back to it, coincidentally at the same time as he has started presenting his Alpha traits,"
"Right," said Barry
"The first time it happened was at Wayne Charity Gala,"
Bruce smiled as the Alpha trailed his hands down his back.
"You look as gorgeous as always Mr. Wayne,"
"Oh please James, we've known each other for a long time. You can call me Bruce,"
And it was true, they had met in high school. Back then James had been loud, brash and utterly unimpressed with relationships. The perfect hookup for Bruce. In the present, James was much more put together, standing straight, shaking hands and disarming people with his smile.
And Bruce wanted him. At least for the night.
By the way, James' hands were wandering he wanted him too.
"So, Bruce," said James, hand now hovering at his thigh "Have some time to spare for an old friend tonight? I know you're here with that kid of yours,"
And score.
"Well, he's old enough to go home with the driver. But we'll have to do your place,"
James grinned, "Well, that's understandable. Maybe we could just-"
"Bruce! There you are!"
Ah. Shit.
"Hey Dick," he said, "What is it?"
"Can we go home now?" he said, draping himself over Bruce and forcing James to remove his hand.
"Uh, yeah," said Bruce, "I thought you were going to-"
"Come on, Bruce," said Dick, "Now!"
"Maybe I should-" said James
"Yeah," muttered Bruce, "Some other time,"
"Huh," said Barry, "Doesn't sound like it was done on purpose,"
"Oh it wasn't," said Bruce, "He didn't even realize he was doing it a lot of times, just that he wanted the strange Alpha away from me. I had a talk with him and he said he would stop but I could tell how much it killed him to let some Alpha hang all over me so I just stopped picking people up. Again,"
"Sucks," said Hal
"Yup. Anyway, eventually, he left and I kinda started getting back into it. I mean I was still in my twenties then,"
"Yeah," said Dinah, nodding alone, "But then I guess Jason came along,"
"Oh yeah," said Bruce, "That was a disaster. I mean I love that kid. But Jesus,"
Bruce sighed happily as Jasmine pressed her fingers to his wrist.
"You smell wonderful, darling," she said, "I just wanna eat you up,"
"Well Jasmine," he said, trailing his other hand over her back, "I'm sure we can arrange that,"
Someone cleared their throat behind them. Bruce turned to find little Jason standing there with a pout on his face.
"I think we should go home now," said Jason
"Oh, okay," said Bruce, "I thought you were leaving early with Alfred,"
"Well now you're coming too," said Jason
"I am?" asked Bruce, feeling more and more confused by the second
"Maybe we should do this another time," said Jasmine, looking a bit amused by the situation.
It was her amusement that clued him in.
Oh, this was like Dick all over again.
"How about not," said Jason, glaring at the Alpha who just put her hands up in surrender, looking like she was about to burst into laughter.
Ok, this was so much worse than Dick.
"I don't think he wants you near me," said Jasmine in a voice only he could hear.
Jason gave her a hard glare for her transgression. She just smiled and walked away.
"Oh wow," said Diana, "Little one is fierce,"
"Yup," said Bruce, "These days those two do it on purpose,"
"Oh hey Bruce," said Rajan, standing a little too close for it to be friendly
"Rajan," he said
"So I was wondering if you would want to-"
"He would not," said a voice from behind
Bruce groaned internally. Why were his children like this?
"Definitely not," said Dick
"Uh, what?" said Rajan
"You weren't propositioning our father were you," said Jason, standing tall, which Bruce had to admit was pretty intimidating, especially when you took in the muscle.
"Because that might cause some problems," said Dick
"I think I'm gonna go now," said Rajan and practically ran away from there
Clark was having a really hard time stopping his laughter. The other members of the league seemed to be having the same problem.
"Har har har," said Bruce, "Please laugh at my pain,"
"Oh Lord!" said Arthur, "Your children sound amazing,"
"You haven't heard about the rest of them,"
Bruce grinned against Omari's lips as he led them to his room. The Alpha smelled amazing, taking all of Bruce's control not to strip them right there.
"Oh Hi Bruce," said Tim, making them break apart instantly
"Tim!" Bruce said, almost screeching, "Aren't you supposed to be home?"
"You were supposed to talk to Mr. Javari," said Tim, looking between them, "You have to make the call,"
"Right," said Bruce
"Well," said Clark, "You can't blame him for that. He genuinely needed you for something,"
"Except that, I had already made that call earlier," said Bruce, "Infront of Tim. While he rolled his eyes every time I said something 'Too Brucie',"
"Oh my," said Diana, leaning forward, "Cunning little thing,"
"Exactly!" said Bruce adorably waving his hands around, "I couldn't say anything in front of Omari and Tim knew that. The worst part, Omari was all 'What a cute child' and 'You should attend to him' and I'm just thinking, there goes another night of wild sex because my kids are annoying little shits,"
There was another round of laughter from the group.
"Come on. Come on," said Oliver, "Tell us more!"
"Damian," sighed Bruce, a fond look on his face, "Sweet cranky little Damian,"
"So Bruce," said Agnia, her voice holding a hint of an accent, "I was wondering if you would like to take a ride with me?"
"What kind of ride?" he said, bringing out his best smile.
The Alpha smirked, "We can do both kinds. The night is still young after all,"
Bruce grinned and leaned into her. She reciprocated by putting an arm around his waist.
"Remove your hands from my Father,"
Bruce sighed and looked down, feeling resigned.
"Hello, Damian," he said. This child wasn't even supposed to be here tonight.
"Ah," said Agnia, "Is this your youngest?"
"Yes," said Bruce
"Take your hands off of him!" This time his tone was more insistent, "I won't ask again,"
"Oh?" said Agnia, "Well, my apologies, to both of you,"
Damian nodded seriously and turned to Bruce, "We should go now,"
Bruce sighed, "I suppose we should. Go call the car,"
Damian gave one last warning glare, and it was definitely a warning, to the Alpha and walked away.
"I'm so sorry about that. He wasn't supposed to be here tonight. He must have come with his brothers,"
Agnia laughed and gently stroked his cheek, "It's alright. I used to do it to my Omega parent too. And I understand that he didn't grow up with you. Makes him more protective,"
"Thank you for understanding," he said, "Most people don't"
"Most people are stupid,"
Bruce smiled and was about to-
"Father!"
"You better go," said Agnia, "It was nice to meet you, Mr. Wayne,"
"Lovely to meet you too, Ms. Agnia,"
"So, what was that about?" he asked Damian once he caught up to him
"Well," said Damian with a completely serious face, "I had to protect your virtue,"
"We are going to have a conversation when we get home," said Bruce, dreading it already. Maybe he could just skip it. It's not like it had helped with his other sons.
"Did he really say virtue?" asked Dinah
"In his defense, he translates everything from Arabic to English in his head and the only English he learned was formal," said Bruce
"But virtue?" asked Hal, "Even in slang language that's funny,"
"Yup," said Bruce, "After the third time he did that I was this close to saying 'Your mother picked me up at a gala and you were conceived in the back of a car' I mean it was a nice car but still,"
"Really?" asked Barry, "I thought you met her abroad when you were travelling,"
"Oh I did," said Bruce, "She was on business,"
"Ah," said Barry, "What about your daughter?"
"Ha," said Bruce, "Dear Cassandra,"
"Uh Bruce," said the Alpha he had been chatting up, "Your daughter is starting to scare me,"
Bryce sighed, "It's alright Abbas, just ignore her,"
"It's kinda hard," he said, pretty grey eyes flickering sideways.
Bruce followed his gaze and sure enough, there was Cassandra, her eyes unblinkingly trained on Abbas.
"I don't think she likes me talking to you," said Abbas, "And no offence but your kids are kinda scary, especially your girl,"
"I know," said Bruce, not knowing whether to be proud or to feel frustrated.
"I'm just gonna-" said Abbas and Bruce nodded, watching the man walk away very very quickly.
Bruce couldn't even blame him. Cassandra could be scary.
"So?" said J'onn handing them all some water, "She merely stares at them?"
"Yup," said Bruce, "And it works. She's just that good,"
Hal snorted, "Your kids are something,"
"Yeah," said Bruce, a soft smile on his face "They're really great, wouldn't trade them for anything,"
They were quiet smiles around the room as Diana decided it was a good time to call it a night.
'This,' thought Clark looking at everybody's relaxed posture, 'had been a good idea,'
xxx
Bruce was nursing his first and last champagne glass for the night when he felt someone's arm come around his waist. Considering there were very few people in this circle that could actually come close to him this silently...
"Hey Ollie," he said in his best Brucie voice, "I see you were invited too. Should have let me know,"
"Aww but I wanted to surprise you," he said, purring a little close to his ear
What the hell was Oliver doing?
"Play along,"
Bruce was confused. It wasn't that he didn't understand what Oliver was saying, they had saved each other from many unbearable conversations after all. But he couldn't see anything that Oliver needed saving from and Oliver wasn't one to just come up to Bruce and start flirting
He was up to something.
Still, Bruce was bored and figured giving into the Alpha's shenanigans wouldn't hurt too much. Oliver did know have to have fun and Bruce was in a good mood.
So he put up with Oliver's wandering, but respectful hands, and his, only kind of, bad flirting.
He got an inkling of what was happening when he saw Stephanie coming their way, a determined gleam in her eyes.
"So Oliver," said Stephanie, stopping right in front of them, "Feeling a little handsy today are we?"
"Uh," said Oliver
Oh, this little shit. Really Queen?
"Cause really, that is just not classy," said Stephanie, crossing her arms and glaring, "Anything to say for yourself, Mr. Queen?"
Bruce could see that Oliver trying to hold his laughter, probably in hopes of prolonging the conversation but as soon as Stephanie raised one of her eyebrows he was lost.
Oliver doubled over in laughter and he wasn't the only one. He could hear Dick and Tim giggling behind them. Jason and Damian were coming up behind Stephanie, wide grins on their faces. Cassandra had come to stand beside him and was looking at him with amused eyes. Poor Duke just looked confused, standing at the other side of Cassandra.
"What?" said Stephanie, "I'm making a good point here,"
"Don't worry, Brown," said Damian, "You have just joined the tradition of Father's Alpha children warding off his one night stands,"
"I told you he did it on purpose," said Bruce, giving Dick a pointed look
"What, really?" said Dick, looking at his little brother
Damian shrugged, "It was instinct at first but afterwards it was just to watch Father try to not roll his eyes,"
That garnered him a few chuckles all around.
"That is it," said Bruce, pushing away a still laughing Oliver, "Duke? You're my favourite now,"
The young Alpha grinned, "Sure, B. Does that mean I can get ice cream?"
"Yup," said Bruce, "Let's go get ice cream. The rest of you stay back and think about what you've done,"
There was a wave of protests but Bruce grabbed Duke's arm and hauled them both out of there.
Duke was laughing by the time they got to the car, "Do they really cock-block you every time?"
"Oh yes,"
"I mean I don't blame them. Most Alphas are protective and you deserve to be respected," said Duke
"Duke, baby, you're the only normal child I have. Please stay this way,"
Duke's laughter was like magic.
Bruce couldn't help the warmth that spread through him.
He really did love his kids.
#batfamilyaobweek#batfamily#batman#bruce wayne#dick grayson#damian wayne#tim drake#stephanie brown#cassandra cain#duke thomas#oliver queen
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Cold Hands, Warm Heart
Genre: Fantasy, Soulmate au, Romance, angst
Pairing: MarkxOC
Word Count: 4k
Summary: “Conceal, don’t feel. Don’t let them know” - is not just the motto for Elsa. At a very young age, Adrian was taught to hide his powers and for many years he had been successful. But after a chance encounter with his soulmate, everything around him begins to crumble.
Since the beginning of our history, elders have told stories of our great God and Goddess, who were star crossed lovers, destined by Fate to meet, fall in love, and create living creatures. Soulmates with destinies intertwined, power of birth and destruction, from their love they created us, clans of different thoughts, beliefs, and powers.
In the beginning, everyone was separated. People who exhibited the power of fire live in a small village, water powers usually lived by water. It was forbidden for anyone to fall in love and marry someone outside of their powerful influence. Muddling powers were forbidden and any child born from these relationships was outcasted. But like the shifting sands of time, eventually, positions were shifted, beliefs changed, and morphed into the world we live in now.
Wind, strength, flying, teleporting. All and more powers were created as people found their soulmates and reproduced. Every power was praised for its strengths, forgiven for its weakness, and hailed as an amazing ability to have. All except one: the power of ice.
While many powers can have destructive properties, the power of ice was always seen as deadly, a power of no worth and it stemmed from a terrible ice age caused by an empress who couldn't control her powers. Our world was thrown into an endless winter until the day she was killed; when rivers thawed and vegetation sprang to life. It was on that day that the elders, founding fathers, and anyone who would come into power would keep anyone from having ice powers, even if it means killing them at birth…
~*~
“Adrian, if you take these gloves off one more time I swear your bottom will hurt so much when I get through spanking it.” my mother hissed as she yanked the itchy gloves up and over my hands, covering them once more. I felt so confined in them, my fingers itching to be free from their confines and just touch things. I never had to wear these stupid things at home. At home, I was able to touch and play with anything I wanted. But when I was out in public I always had to wear them.
“People can't know that you're different, baby. They'll take you away forever.” she would whisper to me but what was so wrong about being different? My teachers always told me that being different was good and if I wanted a good job or life in the future, being different and standing out was what I should do.
Her reasoning confused me and it just sucked, even more, when I have to wear these gloves. Today especially, as we stood in a line that was like a bazillion miles long and it's been years! Today was supposed to be special, but I'm not sure why. School was out today and I saw many of my classmates in this line with their parents as well.
We eventually made it inside and they called my mom's name. She followed this really tall and scary looking woman, pulling me with her to a small room where some man was waiting for us.
“Name?”
“Adrian.”
“Age?”
“8”
“Power?”
“Healing, that's why he wears the gloves. Don't need him accidentally bringing the dead back to life.” she laughed and the man laughed with her. But I didn't laugh. My mom just lied to this man I didn't heal, I could make ice and it was so fun. But why didn't she want anyone to know? Why was it bad for me to be different?
“Perfect.” the man said and typed on his computer for a brief second or two before giving my mom a sheet of paper from the printer. “You'll receive his identification card in the mail within the next five days. Make sure you take it to school so they have it on record.”
“Of course. Let's go, darling.” She yanked my hand and pulled me from the room as a protest was about to fall from my lips. Even once outside, I tried to voice my confusion, but I was given a harsh look and I knew better than to say anything. I really didn't want to upset my mother.
I never questioned it either. Anytime anyone would ask, I would simply say I had the power of healing. Nothing more. Nothing less.
~*~
“Blue Raspberry slushie for Mark!” I called as I walked out from the back, drink grasped firmly by my glove covered hands. I suppose working at a cafe was the best place for me, or rather, working in any food industry type place that wasn’t a restaurant. It gave the excuse as to why I was always wearing some sort of gloves. Over the years, as I’ve grown, it was expected of me to learn and control my “power” of healing. I should, now as a young adult, be able to touch things and people and not heal all wounds or diseases that they carry. But, that isn’t my power and one of the reasons I’m not at the point I should be.
My power is ice and it’s a forbidden power. It took me many years to learn and understand that. In that time, I never really explored what my powers could do. Even though as a child my parents let me roam the house and freeze things, as I grew older they started demanding that I wear gloves all the time. I could never remove them. I knew I was different and I hated it.
I hated that my own family treated me like an outcast and that my only use was to help make cold drinks because I could make cool ice cube designs and that the ice I made could keep a drink frozen longer than just normal ice. I was being exploited, but what else could I do? The moment anyone else found out, I would be in so much trouble.
My smile faltered as the male came to the counter to pick up his drink. He was so handsome; tall with blonde hair. I haven't seen many people with blonde hair before. I have to say, it really suits him. Our eyes locked and my grip nearly faltered as I stared into his brown eyes. Yet within them, I could see a flame burning brightly, intense with a sort of passion. And it felt like time stilled around us, the world fading to black and we were the only two left in existence.
It was like everything was in slow motion as his hand reached out to take the drink from mine, our fingers brushing against each other in a feather-light touch. But the spark that ran through me felt like fire running through my icy veins. I felt like I was going to melt as my cheeks flushed brightly.
“Thank you.” he said and gave me a warm and gummy smile. It was beautiful, shocking in a way that it had me feeling weak in the knees. I grabbed the counter in front of me to steady myself and to my horror, I watched as it began to freeze over. This wasn't supposed to happen. The gloves were my protective barrier, they always worked! Yet here the counter was, freezing over and freezing rather quickly.
I heard a gasp and looked up. I wasn’t sure if it was Mark, or if it was one of the many other customers that were waiting for their drinks to be made. They were all looking at me and the counter. I yanked my hand back quickly and took a few steps away. They were already whispering, pointing at the frosted ice on the counter and pointing to me.
“He's one of them.”
“How is he even alive?”
“Disgusting. Someone should do something!”
“Monster!”
I couldn't take it. I gave a fleeting look to Mark. He was still watching me. I felt so embarrassed and unwanted and scared. Scared of what these people would actually do to me. Turning, I ran to the back, the door freezing where my hands touched it when shoving it open. I don't know what was wrong with me. Why was this happening?
I was too afraid to touch anything in the back room, so I pressed my hands to my chest tightly. The door opened and I turned, staring at my mother with wide eyes as she ran in and over to me. “Mom-”
“What did you do?!” she shouted and I took a few steps back, reeling from the fact she was yelling at me. “We worked so hard to hide that disgraceful power of yours! How could you go and be so stupid? I told you to never take off those gloves! Ever!” I wanted to speak, my mouth opening to try and say something, but nothing came out. Tears were forming in my eyes as I stared at the hatred in her eyes, her cheeks red with anger. I didn’t mean to do it.
“M-Mom…please.” I didn’t know what hurt more, the slap she landed across my cheek, or the cold tightness I felt in my chest.
“You’re worthless! Pathetic!” she snapped towards me, and I dare not look back at her, staring at the ground instead. My tears were falling, crystalizing the moment they left my skin and landing as a hard ice pebble on the ground. “I can’t believe I let your father talk me into keeping you. We should have gotten rid of you at birth! You shouldn’t even exist!”
The air was growing colder around us. It seemed the more she yelled, the colder it got and it only took one glance down to realize that the ground under my feet was starting to freeze. Lifting my head, I watched as the walls started to freeze as well, my eyes wide with panic. I knew I was doing this, but I didn’t know how to stop it. I looked back at her with fear and she paused in ranting, looking around as well.
“Adrian...stop this now.” she ordered, yet all I could do was let out a whimper as ice crept over every item in the room. “Stop it, Adrian! Stop it!” she screamed. The door to the back room opened and many patrons ran in, stopping to stare in shock at the scene before them before their eyes landed on me. And all I could see was hatred.
“Grab him! He must be destroyed! Look at what he’s doing!” one shouted as another lunged at me. I jerked, barely dodging out of the way in time. The man still touched me, but the moment his hand touched my shoulder it froze. It seemed no matter what, I couldn’t stop things from freezing. He shouted and I could only imagine the pain he must be in at having his hand frozen.
“Be careful! Don’t touch him. Get some rope!” The shouts were constantly filling the space, invading my mind, but all I knew is that I needed to get away and hide. I didn’t want to be captured or taken away. I’ve been such a good boy for so long. Why now?
“Adrian, sweetie. Come on baby. Let’s go. You’re mommy’s good boy right?”
I was a good boy and I wanted so much to follow her, but I know she was just trying to use that to get to me. To see if I would really obey. I love my mother, despite what I’ve been through, but I can’t and I won’t fall for that trick. I shook my head and I turned, running towards the back exit. The herd of angry people followed me, there footsteps like thunder. I just barely reached the door and pushed it open before they could get to me, the door slamming shut in their face and freezing over from my touch.
I took off running behind the strip mall that the cafe rested in. Just beyond the fence that sectioned off the area was a forest and that’s where I was heading to. I knew I couldn’t go around, they would be waiting for me there. It was my only chance to escape. So I ran as fast as I could, gripping the fence and climbing over it before darting into the woods. I didn’t dare look back, I just kept running because my life depended on it. And I knew I could never go back. I had no home or family to go back to.
I was alone.
~*~
The sun was setting by the time I found a clearing in the forest. I was so deep into it that I knew I would be lost trying to find my way out. I never realized how big this forest could be until today. The clearing was centered around a small lake, whose water was filled by the flowing river just north of it. The flowing water was soothing and for a moment I felt the street and fear leave my body. But as I grew closer to the lake, I watched as the water froze over.
A soft whimper left me as I fell to my knees. I felt utterly defeated. I was different, a monster. I had no place where I belonged. As the lake froze over and the temperature began to drop, the sun finally set and left me alone in the cold darkness of the night.
I'm not entirely sure how long I was out in the forest, just sitting there, but I felt like it had to be at least a few hours. My eyes had yet to adjust to the darkness and at most I could just make out shadows moving around me. Not shadows of animals, though. They were far too tall to be any animals that lived in this region and as far as I knew, we didn't have bears.
They reminded me of humans and there were times when my heart would race at the thought of being caught. But the shadows never came closer. They stayed a fair distance away; the only reason why I believed they were just shadows of nature and they weren't going to hurt me.
Yet, the shadows gave way to a small light hovering a few good feet in the air. Small at first, but growing brighter at each passing second and I realized that the light was getting closer to me. I scrambled to get up, my hand sinking into a thick layer of snow that had built around me. Getting up. I sprinted away, finding a large tree to hide behind just as the light broke through the tree line and entered the clearing.
I pressed my hand to my chest, resting over my racing heart as I listened for any signs of what the light may be attached to. I was mostly waiting for angry mutters of townspeople that were searching for me. But nothing came. I dared to peek around the tree, my eyes scanning the area but there was nothing. Not even the light was there. I let out a soft sigh and moved back around again, back resting against the tree. However, I wasn't at ease for very long when I opened my eyes and came face to face with the man from the cafe earlier.
Mark.
He was staring at me with a light smile, his eyes glowing within the light flame. I jumped, a cry of shock leaving me. I stumbled back, falling onto my butt as I stared up at him.
“It's okay.” he said, voice soft with almost a melodic tone to it. “I won't hurt you.” he assured me. I knew I shouldn't believe him, but I did. There was just something about the way he said it, coupled with the way the warm light of his flame caressed and framed his face that had me lowering my guard slightly.
“H-How did you find me?” I asked softly.
“I followed your trail.” he said, taking a few steps closer to me before kneeling down. “Don't worry though, I melted the ice and snow so no one else can find you.”
My eyes instantly went to his hand, the flame dancing in his palm and I realized he controlled the power of fire. He was protecting me? Saving me from the people who were on their manhunt. But...why?
“You're safe now, Adrian.”
“How do you know my name?”
“The same way you knew my name, even before our meeting today in the cafe.” he said. Our eyes locked and once more I saw the flame burning deep in them and the same feeling of being weak washed over me as realization dawned on me.
“You're - We're…?” I asked in disbelief, but he nodded in confirmation.
“Soul mates.”
The idea was so foreign to me. That there was someone in the world that was not only meant for me but would love me unconditionally, even with the power I possessed. Soul mates were common, though most people never actually got to find theirs. Like my parents for example. They had given up their search for their soulmates a long time ago and settled for each other because they had fallen in love. Both options, finding my soulmate and falling in love, were never options I believed I had. I lived a lie, hiding who I really was for good reason.
Why should I be wanted and loved? I was a monster. And yet, here he was, staring me down with such a look of compassion that my heart fluttered vigorously in my chest. What he offered, I wanted so much in my life. But how could we even be together when I was being hunted by others who hated me for what I could do. Who didn’t even understand who I was?
“Is this some cruel joke?” I asked softly, my voice breaking the silence that surrounded us. “Years I’ve spent alone, hiding and now, in a time of peril you come galavanting about like some white knight.” I said and scoffed. “Where were you before?”
“Still searching for you.” he answered smoothly as he took a seat in front of me. I eyed him cautiously as he reached out his hand and took mine gently into his grip. “I’ve always been searching for you, I’ve just been looking in all the wrong places.” he said. “But I’m here now.”
“That doesn’t mean anything. If they find me, they’ll surely try and kill me. This is all your fault!” I suddenly shouted at him. “You did all this! You caused me to do this!” I blamed him, my arm flying out to gesture to every frozen and snow-covered part of this forest. It was all his fault. Because he was there. He simply existed and I met him. And the connection between just sent my power into one crazy, overdriven, freezing spree.
Mark didn’t react though. He didn’t say a word as he used his hand to pull my glove off, freeing it from its prison. It felt so strange, to stare at my pale fingers, flexing them and moving them, letting them feel what it was like to be free once more. They only got to experience this for a short time a day. He dropped the glove and slid his hand over mine.
I tried to jerk my hand away, afraid that if I touched him, he would freeze like that man from earlier. But he simply grasped my hand, forcing it to stay under his warm touch. Nothing happened. Not a single drop of ice formed on his hand and it was captivating. The way my hand seemed to fit so perfectly in his, how smooth his skin was as our fingers slid together as we moved our hands around, palms pressed together.
He laced our fingers together and warmth rushed over me, enveloping me into such a sense of safety and love. It was a strange sensation, but one I was glad to be feeling. I was no longer feeling cold or alone. There was no fear. It was like he was bringing out an inner peace from within me, or given me some sort of inner peace.
“I’m sorry for what I caused.” he said. “But together, we can control your power, everything will be okay.” he told me and I was so confused. What did he mean by ‘together’? How could he help? The confusion was written on my face, he simply chuckled at me before nodding in the direction behind me. I turned and watched in awe as the once frozen lake began to thaw and the snow around us started to melt. With a tentative hand, I touched the ground, and to my surprise, nothing froze back over.
“I don’t understand.” I said, looking back to him.
“On our own, we can control our powers. But once we meet our soulmates, our ability to control weakens because we are no longer a lonely half of a whole. Both pieces have been brought together and only when both pieces come together as one, can powers be controlled and beauty can be created.”
“Wow. That’s...beautiful.” I breathed out.
“Yeah? It was on the bottom of a Snapple cap I had the other day. Cool right?” he said with a laugh and my mouth fell open in shock. I couldn’t honestly believe it. Was I just tricked into believing he had such a vast knowledge of soulmates? This was my soulmate I was destined to be with? This guy?!
“How do I contact the great God and Goddess? I request a new soulmate.” I huffed and his smile fell for a moment as he stared at me. It wasn’t gone for long as he once more smiled and lunged forward. His arms wrapped around me and I fell backward onto the ground, laughing along with him.
“They don’t take requests! You’re stuck with me, forever.” he said and I whined out, trying to push him away. It only succeeded in making him roll to the side, and with his grip still attached to me, I rolled with him. We rolled back and forth for a while before finally stopping and I was hovering over top of him, staring down into his eyes.
“This is real?” I asked softly. “I’m meant to be with you?”
“As real as you freezing that one guy’s hand.” he said and I frowned, smacking at his chest.
“Meanie.” I huffed. “I’m serious.”
“So am I. I understand this is our first, well technically second meeting and we don’t know each other that well. But I know what I felt when our hands touched and when I saw you.”
“Mark.” I whispered, looking away slightly embarrassed.
“We have the rest of our lives to fall in love with each other if you’ll have me.”
Biting my bottom lip, I nodded my head slowly, daring to look back at him with a shy gaze. “But what about all those people from before? They’ll be looking for me. If they find me, they’ll try and hurt me.”
“I won’t let that happen.” The confidence in his voice put my fears at ease some and I nodded. I don’t know how he would protect me and keep me safe, but I was positive he would do his very best at it, or die trying.
We spent the rest of the night in the forest, laying on the ground, cuddled together and when dawn broke, we left. We left the town, the city, even the country. He took me back to the place where he had been born and raised, a place that was more open and accepting of people who had ice powers. I was welcomed with open arms by his family and within a few short weeks, I was getting lessons on how to control my powers and enhance them. How to use them to my advantage and create beautiful sculptures in my free time.
I suppose fate works in mysterious ways. It was most likely fate that led me to meet Mark that day, and for my secret to get out. Despite the hatred, I was given and the fear I felt, in the end, I was given a second chance to be who I really was. No more lies, no more hiding. And I was finally with someone who loved me for who I was. I couldn’t have asked for a better Happy Ending.
Tags: @cuddly-bangchan @lordseochangbin @channiesmixtape @starryseung @felixsanxchatbot
#got7#got7 fanfic#mark#jackson#jaebeom#yugyeom#jinyoung#bambam#youngjae#mark x oc#mark x male oc#got7 imagines#got7 scenarios#mark imagines#mark scenarios#got7 mark fanfic#got7 mark imagines#got7 mark scenarios#kpop#fanfic#kpop fanfic#kpop imagines#kpop scenarios
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Jaskier spends what feels like an eternity wrapped up in Geralt’s arms. He hadn’t expected the embrace to last so long, but each time he goes to pull away Geralt makes a glorious growling sound and tightens his grip and really, how is Jaskier supposed to argue with that? He feels safe for what he realizes is the first time in a long time. Geralt’s scent hasn’t changed, is still the same leather-sword oil-horse-musk that is somehow intoxicating. So he tucks himself under his Witcher’s chin and just breathes, and to his amazement Geralt lets him- no, wants him , is holding him as if he’s important, and it warms him from the inside out.
“We should get back to the house,” Geralt says eventually, voice rumbling in his chest as he pulls back and looks the scant inch down at him. Jaskier steels himself for whatever pity might await him when he meets his gaze but there is none. Just a kind of calm fondness Jaskier hasn’t seen before. “I don’t like leaving Fiona alone for too long.”
“She’s fourteen, I think she can handle a hot mug on her own by now,” Jaskier mutters, not caring that Geralt can absolutely hear him, but he steps away all the same.
Geralt grunts back, but Jaskier can tell he’s smiling. It’s all in the eyes crinkles, after all. “C’mon, say your goodbyes so we can go.”
Jaskier rolls his eyes but does go give Roach one last pat, reminding her that she is practically perfect in every way and such a good horse and better than Geralt and it’s not as if he actually walks anywhere, unlike some very good horses I could name. Geralt’s smile grows to almost-visible-to-the-naked-eye, but he soon pulls Jaskier away with a muttered, How many times do I have to tell you to stop trying to fuck my horse, and the exasperatedly fond look on his face makes Jaskier’s stomach swoop.
He’s still angry. Still sad. Still doesn’t believe him, is still waiting for the moment Geralt will turn around and leave him alone in the dust like so many times before. It will hurt when he goes, surely, but at least this time Jaskier will be prepared for it. He’s built himself a life outside Geralt, his world won’t come to a screeching halt when he leaves. And maybe if Jaskier proves he can handle himself without his scary Witcher around, said scary Witcher would be more inclined to visit. But he does like this feeling. Walking side by side again, shoulders brushing companionably, how achingly familiar it all is.
The front window is vacant when they pass, and Jaskier assumes Ciri’s gone up to bed courtesy of Bea’s sleepy tea. He’s surprised then to find the teen sat up on the countertop, potato in one hand and paring knife in the other. She has a look of fierce concentration on her face as she works carefully, the tip of her tongue clenched between her teeth. Bea is close by, up to her elbows in flour and wrestling with a shaggy bread dough while still keeping a close eye on both Ciri and the pot bubbling over the hearth; the woman is a master, and Jaskier stops to watch her with a smile on his face.
“Geralt!” While he’d been distracted by the domestic scene, Geralt had come in behind him and was now crossing the room with the softest look Jaskier has ever seen on his face.
“G’morning, cub.” Geralt presses a kiss to her temple, and Jaskier has to stop himself from staring; both at the pet name and the very public display of affection. Public being only two other people of course, but that was still rather public to Geralt of Rivia. Ciri must be used to the attention for she pays it no mind, which confounds him even more. “Julian said you didn’t sleep well. More of the dreams?” He tucks an errant lock of hair behind her ear and it’s the thoughtlessness of the motion that stands out to Jaskier.
This is a kind of casual and easy affection he’d only seen- well, that he’d only seen with him. Usually in a liminal time; in a shared bed some fuzzy between awake and sleep, or after the sixth ale of a long night, pressed together in a dark corner of a tavern. And Geralt would sweep a hand across his, or press their knees together under the table, or curl a protective arm around his waist while they slept. Seeing that affection here, in the bright light of morning is something he wasn’t prepared for, and he takes a seat at the table lest his legs fail him.
Ciri and Geralt are oblivious to his confusion; she’s showing him how her knife skills have improved, and he’s watching her with a kind of fond fascination Jaskier’s never seen before but finds he quite enjoys. He looks up suddenly, their eyes meet, and Geralt’s expression turns to something more Jaskier can’t even begin to place. This man who gives affection freely and without pause is not the Geralt familiar to him.
It isn’t long before Bea finishes setting out a proper morning meal, and Jaskier can’t help but feel a crippling domesticity as they sit down to eat. Their breakfast is porridge with honey and cream, sausages, and the good brown bread that Bea has refused to ever share the recipe for, no matter how much coin Jaskier offers her. She doesn’t sit to eat, which doesn’t surprise him, but she does continue to work on whatever lunch is going into the pot over the hearth.
It’s a good breakfast, and good company. Ciri does wonders towards greasing the conversation, and Geralt says more than a few grunts in passing, which Jaskier considers a monumental feat. But they came to him for a reason and needs must, so Jaskier steers the conversation back towards the business that brought them to his doorstep.
“When you came to me at the University, you said you needed help. What kind? Money, clothes, food?” It’s blunt, but Jaskier would rather know now what the price for this visit will be.
Geralt looks thrown for a moment before he answers. “All of the above. We’re heading North, towards Kaer Morhen. We need,” He clears his throat, clearly uncomfortable with the actual asking part of asking for help, “Money, yes, and winter clothes. Another mount. Fiona needs a better disguise; cutting her hair, dye maybe- maybe even for both of us.” He makes a face at that and Jaskier wants to laugh; Geralt always did love his hair. “We stand out, it makes us too easy to track. Nilfguaard is-” He cuts off, worried gaze wavering over Ciri, which she huffs at and continues in his place.
“Nilgfuaard is hunting us. Me, technically. They’ve been tracking me since Cintra. And they’ve killed everyone who’s tried to help me.” She doesn’t meet either of their eyes. “They’ll hurt anyone to get to me. Geralt is taking us to Yspaden to meet Yennefer, and then to Kaer Morhen together where we’ll be safe.” Ciri is somber and serious for a girl her age, and Jaskier notices she tucks her hands into her lap out of view.
His compassion for her is quickly overtaken by the creeping feeling of something cold sliding down his spine. Poor stupid little Julian who never learns, the voice inside him taunts, He has his child, has the great mage herself, what use is a washed up old bard to a Witcher? All he needs from you is money, he said it himself. That’s what this morning was, the idea twists around inside him and it hurts, physically hurts him to think it but he can’t stop, Nothing genuine, just a way to keep poor stupid little Julian on his leash. He doesn’t- couldn’t actually care for you.
“Right well, ah-” Jaskier’s voice is hard to his own ears, so he clears his throat before trying again. “That shouldn't be any trouble. We should ah-” His mouth runs dry and he’s just trying to get through this as quickly as possible so he can flee and maybe hide from his houseguests for a good few hours in the tub. But no, he is a mature and reasonable adult who is pleasant to his houseguests and who does not cry in front of them. Geralt is watching him closely with an odd look on his face, and Jaskier feels uncomfortably seen. “We should armor you too, you’re no use to anyone at all as a Witcher with no armour and only one sword.”
“Of no use to anyone at all?” Geralt rumbles, one annoyed eyebrow raised in Jaskier’s direction.
“The last time I checked you can still bleed, O Great and Mighty Witcher, and that shirt you’re wearing wouldn’t stop a butter knife.” For a moment they sound like they used to, and it doesn’t shatter his heart at all to hear. He clears his throat, trying to force down the hard lump of familiarity threatening to choke him. “We can get you a mount easy enough. I assume you’ll want one more Fiona-sized?” He winks at Ciri and she grins. “That shouldn’t be an issue, I have friends at the horse market who owe me a favor. Or several, as the case may be. As for clothes, we can go today to the seamstress on-”
“Pardon, Master Julian?” It’s Bea, a few paces away from the table. Jaskier knows she wouldn’t interrupt without cause, and gestures for her to continue. “You may want to dress the child down in things that look more travel-worn as to blend in. Fresh made clothes might fit well, but they’ll draw attention off the beaten path. I still have some of my Piotr’s things, I could fit them to her size easy enough. They’re a bit battered, but well made. She’ll need a new cloak though, I don’t think his will be warm enough for where you’re going.”
“Bea, you are a blessing from the Gods,” Jaskier beams, mentally kicking himself for not thinking of that. Of course they shouldn’t buy new things, fresh clothes are like a beacon to bandits on the road. Stupid, stupid Jaskier. “Auntie, do you have anything we can dye Fiona’s hair with?” He sends Ciri a reassuring smile across the table. “Your hair is beautiful, little one, but your Witcher is right; it draws too many eyes to you.”
Bea considers for a moment before she nods. “I’ve got a walnut dye that should do for her, aye.”
“Grand, you see to that, and I’ll go see a man about a horse. Huh. For the first time, possibly ever, I actually mean that.” He’s out of his chair and halfway across the room before he’s stopped by an oh-so familiar growl.
“I’ll go with Julian.”
“No,” He’s saying before he even turns around, “You’ll stay here with Fiona and get your hair colored.” Geralt looks like he’s about to argue so Jaskier beats him to it. “Or do you not remember that everyone on the continent is looking for you? If you’re not seen by a Nilfguaardian, you’re seen by a spy, or an informant, or some sad random asshole looking to score the reward purse. So you’ll be staying here, and getting your beauty treatment.”
There’s a stunned little look on his face that makes Jaskier more pleased than it should. He leaves them there, sure Bea will keep them on track and out of trouble, and starts the walk down the street towards the horse markets.
Jaskier wraps the heavy knitted scarf- a present from Bea on his last birthday- around his neck to keep out the first chills of autumn, but that does nothing to keep the ice from his heart. It began as a cool pinprick during breakfast, Geralt is taking us to Yspaden to meet Yennefer, and then to Kaer Morhen together where we’ll be safe and has shifted into a sharp spike of Yennefer, Kaer Morhen, safe that he doesn’t know what to do with.
He remembers the first time he’d asked where Geralt went in winter. He’d been twenty-two, or maybe twenty-four, and as with most stories they’d been drunk. He had wanted to invite Geralt back to Oxenfurt with him, but then Geralt had told him of the crumbling Witcher’s fortress, and the brothers he met there each year. He understood, when Geralt said it was the Witchers sanctuary and not a place for troublesome bards; when they were out in the world, Witchers could never relax, never take a deep breath for fear of killing or being killed. Of course they would need a place without humans, without others, where they could be free for a few months a year. Jaskier was never hurt that Geralt did not share that place with him- if anything, he loved that Geralt had somewhere safe and warm to rest his weary bones each year.
And Jaskier is a grown ass man, he will not begrudge a child being allowed to her father’s home but. But Yennefer. Jaskier knows about the sacking, he knows the last mages to set foot in Kaer Morhen were the ones who brought it crumbling down. If Geralt is bringing Yennefer that must mean they’re together. It will be Yennefer Geralt presents to his brothers, Yennefer who will walk the halls, explore the library, spend months curled up with her lover and their child and-
The honey-colored memory of their early morning embrace is souring in his mind; like black ink spilled over the image and corrupting it until there is nothing left but the acrid feel of Geralt’s arms around him and the burning knowledge that he was going to be left behind again. The promise of the morning means nothing now- Geralt will leave him for Yennefer like he always does, and Jaskier will let him like he always does, and the status quo will remain ever stable.
Jaskier should learn to say no when old not-friends show up at his doorstep, he really should.
He quickens his pace- if he hurries the sale, he might be able to convince Filip to take an early lunch and they can get spectacularly drunk in the hayloft like stupid teenagers instead of doing their actual jobs.
-
here are parts one two three four five. and the full story is on ao3 here
#the witcher#the witcher netflix#the witcher fic#the witcher fanfic#geraskier#geraskier fanfic#geralt of rivia#Yennefer of Vengerberg#jaskier#ciri#geraltxjaskier#geraskier angst#geralt x jaskier#my fic#my fanfic
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Hi guys! I I'm an ENXP and I was looking for some advice about knowing myself better. I saw the mods are ENPs and maybe you guys could help me. I recently noticed a pattern regarding my own actions that is basically ruining my life. I seem to rely too much on my Ne, specially about my future and my career. I'm ruled by a need of pursuing anything that catches my attention in a determined moment. I obsess over it for a while and then move on. I've changed my major 4 times now. Every activity I do is temporary. And if I don't find something I can obsess over I get depressed and bored. Anyways, I think this has led me to not trust myself anymore, since I can't commit to anything because I lose interest in everything and I'm always looking for new possibilities. I have reached a point where I can't allow myself to pursue everything I want and I have to make decisions and commit. But I'm too scared to become trapped and take responsibility for my own decisions. I think this would be easier if I knew myself better, but I don't think I know who I am besides my own random interests, which is weird I guess. How can I develop my own Fi? Or Ti? How do you guys deal with your dominant Ne? How do you commit to things? I'm 23 by the way. Shouldn't I have developed some Fi or Ti or something by now? I turned to mbti because I wanted to gain a better understanding of myself but holy shit this is hard. I could only recognize my dominant Ne. All this self analysis seems useless if I don't really know myself, I realized I'm not self aware at all. So anyways, as fellows Ne doms how did you guys developed your auxiliary functions? Any advice will be amazing! Thank you guys for everything you do here!
The first thing you need to do is recognize is you are an Enneagram 7 and all of this is ‘normal’ for them in lower health levels. To overcome this, you have to ‘grow up’ as a 7 and stop allowing fear of commitment or quick loss of focus from dominating your life. You have control over yourself, you are not utterly helpless to your whims (said the Fi user who has a moral tone of ‘you make your own choices and messes and you have to get out of them’ ;).
7s have to learn to be open to the scary idea of commitment to reap the dividends of hard work.
Read the 7 profile and see how allowing yourself to ‘run away’ from commitment (which includes not finishing or devoting yourself to any project) can hinder your life. Once you recognize WHAT you are doing, and WHY you are doing it, you can develop the power to STOP YOURSELF from doing it, or from allowing ‘excuses’ or fear to run you away from good things.
ENTP Mod. : Charity is right. Here is also where the judging functions come into play. With Fi, you can eventually weed out that which you aren't personally passionate about/ those goals which don't align with your personal values. With Ti, you can see a chain reaction of the patterns in your life, and determine the most effective path to help yourself using logic to streamline your processes, make it more elegant.
Slow the hell down. Force yourself to stop running toward the future and live right now. Repeat the mantra of ‘right now is all that matters today’ a 100 times an hour if you have to. Be present. Be invested. Bring yourself into ‘now.’
My co-mod is a 7w6 ENTP who suffers from a lot of the same issues; I will nudge her to offer her two cents to this post, in regards as to what she is currently doing about it. Basically, she had to talk herself into getting a permanent job rather than talking herself out of it. Once she got into it, she realized it didn’t suck as much as she feared. Her brain is her own worst enemy.
I had to talk myself into this job. I gave myself lots of reasons why I would love it. It might sound a little unrealistic going in with pre set expectations but at least you will not go in blind. Making a pros cons list is always a good idea. It helps to sift through your multiple ideas, and narrow down the ones which can really work. Test out the feasibility of your ideas, opportunities before hand. Talk to people, do your research. Just remember that things will never be as bad or boring as you think them to be. This is a cliche but something which helps me in the mornings when I know I have boring work to do is "Get up, dress up, show up. Never give up." Also it helps to live from day to day. Don't worry too far into the future, you never know what variables might upset your plans.
Work-wise, a 7 needs to travel, get the ‘high’ of meeting new people, and not to be involved in sheer detail-driven grunt work. They need challenges to work toward and obstacles to overcome. Pick a career that offers you all of that. If you do not, you will have a string of 6 months at ___ jobs that do not look good on your resume. Find a career in something that you feel passionate about, that offers some kind of mental stimulation.
ENTP 7 co-mod is an attorney who loves to find ways to ‘get around things’ in the law.
ENTP Mod. note: Always try to remember the root of your passion when you feel like defecting from one option to another. If you must leave, leverage what you have learned in one place and how you can dress that up to make your hopping about look good. That's what I did, and it worked for me. Some of the reasons I love my job are the constant intellectual stimulation, creative aspects of it, my love for criminology pays off, meeting interesting people. Sure there are sucky days when you have to deal with the bureaucratic demons. But that won't be every day. Unless your role requires you to do something like it. In which case I would suggest that you avoid picking up detail heavy, low Si or adherence related work which will make you feel miserable and frustrated. Try to pick something that plays to your strengths, improve your weaknesses. Compete with nobody but yourself. Every day you are better than you were, yesterday. Even with a little effort. It is important to not give up. It is so hard for 7s but we have the gift of rationalizing. So instead of using it as a mechanism to justify dropping things, use it to tell yourself why you should stick around. You as a 7 can make most things fun. So find little tricks and ways to make the work day fun. Whether it is achieving small, impactful targets or making games out of small, low stakes things. Also, having money and being able to live nicely is fun. Nobody is gonna pay you if they think that their money will be wasted on training you if your pattern is just leaving jobs. It took me a long time to develop this perspective but I am glad I did.
I (ENFP 6w5 sp/so) chose a career in magazine editing, because it gives me time to do what I actually love, which is write novels. I’m afraid I can’t give you advice from my own life that would work for you, because a 6w5 sp/so is far more focused and driven to finish their projects than a 7w6, which means I push through ‘the boring, tedious bits’ of projects regardless of how ‘excited’ I am. It’s not fun to edit a book 7 times, but I still do it. I force myself to show up to work, to sit there for 3 or 4 hours, and commit to X amount of words, pages, etc.
Do you think it’s “fun” for me always to keep this queue stocked, or to type up characters at the end of a long day because the queue is low? Or go back and update old profiles and move them from this blog onto wordpress? No. I hate it sometimes. It’s boring as hell. But I committed to it, I will see it through, even though looking into my “to update” folder makes me want to scream. I tackle huge projects one step at a time. I’m disciplined but I can procrastinate at work, rather than doing whatever needs doing.
Which really is the bottom line. You want to finish things? Just do them. Force yourself to show up and do the work, even if it’s “boring.” Most of life isn’t fun. Paying the bills isn’t fun. You do boring stuff to make a living, so you can have the money to do fun things. If you do not learn to do it, whether or not it is fun, you will wind up ‘stuck at home this month, because I have no money.’
That frustrates a 7 even more than being bored at work.
Accept that your fear of commitment is a fear-driven lie.
You are not going to get trapped by committing to something or someone. Head types massively over-think things and allow fear – in the 7’s case of “missing out” on better things – to dominate their life. Admit it’s fear. Admit that allowing fear to ruin your entire life is stupid. Then do something against the fear. Do the thing fear tells you not to: commit and work at it. Fight the urge every day to leave. Stick it out, and prove you ‘can’ to yourself.
Middle functions. You’re in college so you should be seeing either some Ti analyzing or Te “buckle down and set goals and get this schoolwork finished by the deadline” kicking in. Are you more inclined to self-doubt and beat yourself up like a young FiTe user after ‘failing’ to organize your time efficiently or to make excuses and blame external circumstances like a young TiFe user?
My Fi has always been strongly evident, though I didn’t know what it was at the time. Things that set off a NOPE response in me vs. the ‘rest of everything, which I don’t care about.’ The intense sensitivity as a child. The compassion for other people and especially for small animals. The understanding of emotional dynamics and how people ‘feel.’ The constant angst between caring too much about people’s feelings and being low Te blunt or rude when I’m having an off day. The ‘going away from everyone’ to deal with my feelings in private. I have always fiercely, Fi-ishly known what I like and do not like, and have no ability to ‘tolerate’ things that I do not like. Once, I didn’t like half the people seated at my table at a public event, so I shut down completely and did not say a word to anyone at the table for two hours. My Fe friend also hated them, but smiled and charmed them all. Lucky girl. She can fake her feelings. I can’t.
- ENFP Mod
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DYNAURA!!: PILOT PART 2
A documentary by Ciro Spirale and Tapes, the Recordobot.
Rex apologized for yesterday and obliged our request to follow him, encouraging a team-up. Nothing permanent: Rex was soured on full-time groups. But he did still enjoy meeting up with friends and allies from time-to-time. Which is why we found ourselves by the docks.
“Yeah just wait, two other super heroes are over here.”
After a moment, we caught sight of a figure dressed in black, with a pointy domino mask and short scarf. Jet black hair and outfit, with purple trim, looking off into the distance. She did not address us until someone else arrived from the sea, and more openly so.
“Hiii~!”
There was another: Resembling a golden brown-skinned Samoan woman, with a heavyset build. She was currently climbing the edge to stand on dry land with the rest of us, and she held up a small toy porpoise.
“Hey Taria. Where’d ya get that?”
“I was cleaning up some junk on the beach when someone offered me money for all the cans I collected. So I bought this from a boardwalk gift shop. I love it SO much!”
“…” the shadow warrior between the three leaned over slightly. Up close her form was rather gangly and awkward. She spoke in a low voice: “… ‘s cute.”
“I’m Taria, a warrior-mage from a community descended from Atlantis!” the aquatic woman introduced herself in a very bubbly manner. “Did you wanna hold the porpoise? Her name is Neptunia Petunia.”
Taria held up Neptunia Petunia. I studied the toy porpoise for a time—just about right for a gift shop item, or some carnival prize. When Tapes held the toy, he held it high and even gave it an affectionate stroke along its back before returning it. Taria seemed to like the moxie.
“Me and Rex have been friends as loooong as I can remember.” Said Taria, extending her arms out wide, almost as if for a hug. “But I was so busy looking out for my undersea home and studying hydro-magic we never got to play very long. But now we’re both super heroes and we can do anything!”
“Has he always been this depressed?”
“No, he used to be really vibrant. That’s why we got along! Did something happen again?”
“Ah, it’s fine. We were just worried.”
“Me too. I hope we can help answer your questions!”
Tapes and I looked to the ninja woman. She looked over at Taria and Rex, as if miffed that they put her on the spot like this. It was a few minutes of dead air before she finally spoke up.
“Hello. I am the Curious Kunoichi. No, you may not know my secret identity so please… respect that.”
“That’s—that’s okay, we’re actually here to ask about your hero work and nothing else. How did you get started? Did you lose someone and become this… brooding vigilante? Dedicated yourself to training and put on a mask, standing against those with awesome powers anyway? Do you come from a ninja clan?”
“Well I did become a brooding vigilante, but it was more like… I was really hyped to work with nonprofit organizations, government aid agencies... But growing up, some things did slip through the cracks: How these programs weren’t always doing as much as they could. Being undermined and embezzled. And as far as I know I don’t come from a ninja clan, I just like being stealthy so I trained in that. Now I fight street level baddies and corruption. And every now and then I help out with bigger problems. And then Taria and Rex help me out with the street stuff too. It’s really supportive and like, nice.”
“That’s fair. Do you find your field of expertise is in high demand, or?”
“For the most part. But some days it can be slow.”
We eventually found ourselves outside a café. Not at a table, but the three super heroes were squatting outside of the building like delinquents, poring over their phones. Looking for trouble to tackle, places and people to help. As well as googling dictionary definitions of words, plus twitter feeds. And there Tapes and I were, taking this photo in time of three casual do-gooders who weren’t really in the limelight. Waiting for various flavors of coffee and doughnuts, all fresh. That is, after they managed to pull together exact change. They wanted to save their larger bills just in case they’d need them later.
“Later tonight we might just hang out at my place or Kunoichi’s.” explained Rex, with a mouthful of chocolate doughnut, and sipping a fruity flavored milk tea after. “Usually we just sit inside a restaurant booth, but we’re not feeling it this time. Meanwhile if you’re like one of the… the Enforcers, you can go hang out in a skyscraper penthouse or a mansion. And not just here in Multiplex City, they got ‘em by Hollywood too. So… I guess, $ Cha-ching~? $”
The three finished off their breakfast before running into an explosion: Rex and Taria kicked forward. Rex quick to crack open some fire hydrants so Taria could get at the water. She naturally had an affinity for the element, and her mystical training reinforced it with magical power and her own life force alike. After that, Rex focused on blasting debris and carrying people to a safe zone. The two zigzagged across the street, through the air and bounced off of buildings in their attempts to reach every flame.
That left us with the Curious Kunoichi. She had us stay close: Her job was to try and find the source of all this, or at the very least some clue. Our journey took us indoors. Tapes had to stand close to shield me just to be safe. All the while Kunoichi mostly redirected people out of the buildings and away from the danger. But there was one straggler that didn’t run right away: A little girl, bawling her eyes out.
Kunoichi approached. The little girl backed up, before Kunoichi knelt down to meet her at eye level. Appear less imposing.
“It’s okay.” said Kunoichi. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
“Scary.” The child sobbed. More at Tapes and I than addressing Kunoichi. The little girl couldn’t have been older than six or seven years old.
“Only to bad people.” promised Kunoichi. “Someone must be looking for you.”
“Can’t find my nana.” the child finally sniffled. “Wanted to buy cookies and ran away again. Now everything’s bad and it’s all my fault. What if Nana’s gone forever? That happened to mommy and daddy.”
The white lenses of Kunoichi’s mask seemed to widen a little, before narrowing.
“No, that’s not true. You didn’t cause anything that happened outside. And your Nana is fine, we’ll find her.”
“I don’t wanna find out!”
I wanted to try and say something too. But Tapes put a hand on my shoulder, and whispered:
“PERCEPTIFY.”
Kunoichi glanced out the window to see that the danger was still raging outside. The source was clearly elsewhere. But she could leave it to her friends. There was something here she had to do.
“Some people I know—people that I cared about, disappeared too.”
“… And it hurts a lot.”
“Of course. But do you know what you can do about it?”
The little girl nodded her head no.
“Even if our favorite people disappear, they--” Kunoichi’s voice cracked a moment, as she searched for the words. “… They want us to keep playing and learning and all of that. And we can do that together: Be there for the people that are still around. And then nobody has to be afraid anymore.”
“Are you scared too?”
“Little bit.”
The kid gave Kunoichi a hug and didn’t let go.
“I’ll help you get outta here.” said the little girl.
Smoke in my eyes for a second. Tapes broke down a door and got us outside. Kunoichi was swift in her movements, leading us just outside where the fire department had begun setting up. We were there about ten minutes before the little girl’s grandmother was reunited with her. Tapes and I could hear them:
“Terry! Oh pumpkin, I’ve missed you!”
“Me too Nana! Don’t be scared anymore.”
“But how did you get here? Did one of those firefighters help you?”
“No, it was this nice shadow lady. She’s right here.”
But when they turned to see, there was a wisp from a fresh smoke bomb. The Curious Kunoichi had left as quickly as she’d arrived. We found Taria, who was helping to put out the flames.
“We spotted a giant monster up ahead!” Taria exclaimed. “Rex went ahead to slow it down. C’mon!”
Taria splashed ahead on a tidal wave she conjured. But as she did, police sirens and the heavy tread of tanks were ahead of us. And the firepower they laid down wasn’t far off either. But what was most astonishing was the fact that the kaiju ahead of us was scuttling away. And there was Rex, stumbling—and then diving forward to lash out at the armed force attacking.
We could hear commanding officers barking out orders, and a damning dialogue:
“ALL UNITS, OPEN FIRE ON THE ALIEN FREAK!”
Their machine guns had fifty caliber rounds. Tougher to brace against than a .45 handgun like before. And their explosive ordinance meant a hail of grenades and missiles. Just one soldier after another pouring on a storm of hammering violence. And still yet, they were assembling weapons I’d never even seen up close, including one that appeared to be a large truck carrying a long mechanical arm that extended outwards a satellite dish.
“THEY ARE EQUIPPING A MASER CANNON.”
As Tapes had informed me, Masers were for zapping giant monsters. The ordinance was beyond excessive. And instead of going after the monster, Rex was busy attacking the army, who seemed all too familiar with him. Tapes and Taria pulled me along. After the kaiju.
“Poor thing.” Taria muttered, looking up at the monster.
“But it set that street ablaze.” I pointed out. Taria actually frowned for once.
“Ciro, that’s not some size-changing supervillain. Many kaiju are just wild beasts. This one might be lost and confused. Maybe some have to be fought off, but that should only be if there’s no alternative.”
“And there is one now?”
“I think so… There’s no reason why we can’t help it and the people around here. C’mon!”
Taria moved ahead, dragging me and Tapes along. Careful to avoid antagonizing the giant monster as we tried to search for… whatever it was looking for. But we eventually did, because there were still a mass of people still within a bakery.
“What’s happening here? Don’t you know to evacuate?” I asked.
“I think you should see for yourself.” someone said. We three entered, found a pile of debris. And under it, at about the size of a motorcycle, was a creature. It resembled the one outside, albeit smaller and less developed. It cried out to its parent, while the people around it struggled to remove debris. Taria gestured for everyone to run while she dug out the baby kaiju.
“It wandered in, whimpering so I let it eat some cakes.” explained the baker who owned the place. “The big one—it showed up just after. A tank round or a missile-- grazed part of my building and trapped it. For crying out loud, it was just lost and hungry!”
“WE UNDERSTAND. WE CANNOT DO MUCH TO REPAIR YOUR BUSINESS, BUT MY HUMAN COMPANION IS CREATING A DOCUMENTARY AT THE MOMENT. WE WOULD GLADLY FEATURE YOU AND YOUR STORE—YOUR STORY, IF YOU WILL ALLOW US.”
“Of course. Thank you for the publicity—and people need to know what happened here. Will the baby be okay?”
“I BELIEVE SO. TARIA HAS BEEN VERY GENTLE ABOUT THE SITUATION THUS FAR.”
It was not long after that Taria was able to convince the kaiju to stop attacking. Tapes and I watched from a distance, but not far enough that we couldn’t see the baby kaiju ecstatic to have found its parent. The parent kaiju brought the child in close at the sound of nearby explosions, intending to shield it from further harm. The parent and child followed Taria’s path out towards the sea, wading away. The parent licking at the wounds of its young before becoming distant shapes and eventually disappearing.
We reunited with Rex after he served as a shield against one last silo of missiles. The barrage ended, the present military forces retreating for the time being. Rex was still on both feet. But Rex was leaning over, with his hands on his knees as he huffed fiercely. Out of a mix of tremendous anger and exhaustion alike.
“Have you often fought the army?” I asked, after Rex had begun clearing some debris before he’d leave again.
“Plenty. They got it out for me, worst of it was after my secret identity got out.”
“Why is that? They don’t want to work with you?”
“They don’t wanna work with anybody or anything they can’t control. Least of all an alien who might potentially be an invasion scout or something.”
“But you’re not here to invade.”
“No, but that’s the lie that got spread around after I was unmasked.”
Before we could get in more questions, Rex just rocketed off towards the skies. Tapes informed me that once Rex was over the city he’d broken the sound barrier and was currently climbing in speed until he’d cleared orbit and was on the surface of the moon.
“Why would he go up to the moon like that?” I found myself asking Taria. She and Kunoichi’s efforts to clean up were concluded and the city sanctioned services would have to pick up the rest.
“Favorite place to go when he needs to think, or he’s feeling down.” said Taria. “Sits on the edge of a crater. Sometimes Tugboat joins him.”
“Did he… go up there after his secret identity was outed too? After he was branded an invader in disguise?”
“Probably yeah. And for the longest time. But I don’t know much about that period… You should ask Kunoichi.”
“She knew him then? Were they on the same team?”
“Suffering south seas, no! Those guys were jerks.”
“I was something of a jerk myself.” said Kunoichi when we’d caught up to her and Taria had left to do other things. “I mean, I say I’m a brooding vigilante now but back then. I still shudder at all the dorky, and sometimes downright cynical stuff I used to do. Like, I may try to be a lone wolf now but back then I didn’t even want to be near anybody. Just wanted to stamp out corruption and focus on that so I wouldn’t have to think about anything else.”
“And how did you know Rex back then?”
“We’d actually had to team-up even if we didn’t want to. Well, I didn’t want to. He was really excited back then. Naïve, but… welcoming. It wasn’t just about saving people, he wanted them to see the best parts of themselves. Come together to make the world a better place and all that. It was hard for me to believe in then, but I didn’t want to shoot it down either. Not like his old team did.”
“Tell me about them?”
Kunoichi must have been rolling her eyes under the mask.
“Those greasy clowns? They made me look like a sunny day by comparison. Violent, impulsive, manipulative. But they also just hung out? Like: They played video games, watched TV, just hung out. When you’re a teen who doesn’t have many friends, you might jump at the chance to be part of something. Part of a group. That’s what made it so easy for them to control their underlings.”
“But they still struck Rex down.”
“They did. Rex was too idealistic to fully give in. Maybe they could pressure him into doing things or keeping his mouth shut, push him around. But eventually enough was enough and Rex tried to stop them. Of course they outnumbered him, and weren’t afraid to play dirty. That’s why he’s regarded so poorly. And why I wish I’d done something more back then.”
“SHE HAS GROWN FROM HER EXPERIENCE.” noted Tapes.
“What?” I asked, my train of thought briefly derailed.
“He’s right.” said the Curious Kunoichi, after a moment to process Tapes’s evaluation of herself. “Ever since then I’ve been trying to make my mission more than just wasting scumbags and breaking up racketeering rings. Rex and Taria, friends like them and more that I’ve gotten to know now. They helped me realize we should be ready to stand up and fight for the right thing. But also, there has to be something after the battle worth looking forward to. Something nice.”
And she vanished before our very eyes. It was a while before we received a phone call. And not one from Rex or his friends thus far. We didn’t even know if they’d met up to hang out tonight like they planned. And after we heard the message, were wishing it was just some late night prank call.
“Hello. I’m calling on behalf of Mr. Quark, owner and CEO of Quark Industries, AKA Shootsuit, head of the Enforcers. He’s heard about your work and would like to extend an invitation to join some of his Enforcers for a firsthand interview.”
“Oh. Well, I’m not really sure—”
“Both sides of the story, Spirale. See you tomorrow morning. I’ll text you the address and hour.”
Tapes and I looked over the text. We were slated to continue our documentary with members of the Enforcers, America’s premiere superhero team. Led by the celebrity’s celebrity, industrialist Tommy Quark. But what could he or any of his people have to offer us themselves? As intriguing as this was getting, there was a terrible feeling in my gut.
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🌸┊ FRIENDLY REMINDER: this is a headcanon for my muse only. please do not take claim to it as your own.┊ 🌸
HEADCANON: THE MATCHMAKER
WARNING: This post is bound to containt SPOILERS & what’s more will be long. I will place it under a read more. I apologies in advance, because it might seem a bit scattered brained & its something i can gladly talk about in detail if anyone wishes to ask me questions on the matter.
Now to fully explain about the reasons for this HC, you have to understand that Mulan has an EXTREME dislike towards the matchmaker in general & will go out of her way to avoid one if possible.
To begin with, her dislike of one began when she was a small child. she had seen the village girls, while growing up, get dressed up all trying to impress this one woman who seemed to never once show any form of kindness to them. she would watch them be chosen, ALL OF THEM fearful that they would be rejected & ruin their families honor by not appeasing this one person who had a LARGE amount of control over their lives. over the years, especially when she had been told by her parents that she had been MATCHED, this feeling of dread and disliked continued to expand, but she knew that she had no choice but to uphold the tradition & agree to go meet with her.
Considering her culture & how everyone, including her parents are traditional, she had been taught that a woman could only bring honor by marrying & baring male heirs into the world. & since Mulan is a girl, she would have been forced to learn from a young age to act more ladylike ( learning to make clothing or sow dresses, flower arraignments, cooking, dancing etc ), instead of following her passions ( such as martial arts, reading and writing, & basically all the things her father taught her, despite the fact that he had told her to hide it ).
To further look into this, let me quote the actual film for 2020 because it really does give good insight to the attitude of how & the way that most woman had been forced to think:
❝ Quiet. Composed. Graceful. Elegant. Poised. Polite. These are the qualities we see in a good wife. These are the qualities we see in Mulan. When a wife serves her husband, she must be silent. She must be invisible. She must be… ❞ - 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫 2020
LETS BREAK THIS DOWN EVEN FURTHER because boy oh boy do i have a lot to say about it ( i promise to keep my opinions on the matter minimum ), due to the fact that its a huge part of why Mulan dislikes one & because it helps shape her personality.
First of all, as we all know, Mulan is the eldest child. She has a younger sister which of whom she is extremely protective over & though she does not have a brother, you see her step into the roll of a son at a early age. Why? her father, a former war general ( i have it HC that he stepped down when she was 15, bc his injury became to much & because he somehow offended the emperor aka a fact based off the legends ) & because he is the only male on the farm, she felt the need to help him & so stepped up to the plate to take over as much chores as possible & to learn from him the ways that a male heir would. In truth, she is lucky, for her father, raised her to not only learn to read & write as a male would have, but so too did he teach her martial arts ( not as much as she had learned in the army, but enough to realize her talent ).
You have to understand, Martial Arts in of itself, is a VERY DISPLINED practice. it requires structure & the ability to completely focus on the task at hand until it becomes second nature to the person who is practicing it. This is something one would practice for hours on end & each martial artist, actually incorporates their skills into their every day life routine. aka how you see her jumping off of roofs so easily.
Something to explain further on why i am saying why her QUIET NATURE is extremely relative is the fact that, in Martial Arts, you do not want to be loud. the more quiet you are, the more highly regarded you are because you can be used for stealth missions & no one would see or hear you coming if you are well trained. each step they take, they are trained to take quietly. their breaths, must remain even & their stamina building skills are essential to this, because it would do a warrior no good if you are heavy breathing all of the time.
Another thing to remember too, Mulan was raised to remain quiet in general. In fact, its a huge part of her personality. When she is angry, she grows even more quiet ( considered to be a scary quiet bc of the fact that her features turn icy & that she could easily take you down without even blinking an eye ), when she is happy, YES she gets joyful and child like sometimes, but her tone always remains that of an inside voice. very rarely does it go loud into what one would consider “yelling” because she does not like to raise her voice in such a manner & if she does happen to do so, it bothers her to the point where she will walk away.
Part of the reasoning for this, is because a woman should look soft, feminine & should not complain. They must take care of the chores, and are expected to remain composed, so that they do not disturb the household. Another reason for this too as far as she is concerned is that she finds it unnecessary to be loud in order to get her point across.
As far as Graceful & Elegant is concerned, hell even Poised. Take a look at any C-drama, and watch how the girls act in it. The way they flutter their fans. Move within their Hanfu. True, some girls are louder then others, but in reality, they are trained to move the way they do, so that way they can look attractive & appear delicate. This makes the “man” want to protect his woman & as they joked in the animated version of mulan “Want to go to war for you”. In the animated version, it came off as a joke, but in reality, it was anything but.
Men were expected to go to war, to fight for their country & are considered to be the providers, who must be obeyed. they are taught from a young age to prove themselves both mind & body, thus their training with martial arts & why they are chosen to go to some of the best schools. It is the women who were expected to raise their sons, & to take care of the household & the parents on the husbands side of the family, because as a woman, once married, she is sent off to live with them. & should the husband die??? she’s expected to stay there ( & if she never gave birth to a son, is considered a shame upon their name ). something else, as a FUN fact for you if her parents want her to remarry, bc her husband died & she is still young enough to bare heirs, they would have to BUY her back & pay the husbands family off so they would release their claim on her.
TO GET BACK ON TRACK HERE, during the scene where mulan is with the matchmaker, you can see the nervous behavior of all of the family involved. she is dressed within fine silk, her hair put in a perfect way. her waist needing to be “small” & her features pale with makeup on. this is not only discomforting, but for someone who hates makeup in general, she did not feel like herself.
What’s more, take a look at her family. her mother would not let her eat, moved her along quickly, & sat there with the perfect poise, despite the fact that in her eyes, you can see the nervous nature. her sister, who is younger then her, is present, why? because she will eventually have to do this too & she is a female within the family. she does not move, simply must sit there and stare, watching mulan despite knowing her sister does not want to be her. Her father? outside, waiting nervously as he is hoping for good news.
I won’t go into to much detail, such as the spider & the fact that mulan showed her skill within martial arts ( & it had been ruined because of her stupid hair ), but instead focus on what happened afterwards. As she is leaving with her family, trying to preserve what dignity they had left, the woman calls out:
❝ Dishonor to the Hua family. They have failed to raise a good daughter! ❞ - 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫 2020
THIS IS THE WORST THING SHE CAN POSSIBLY SAY. no man, upon hearing she had failed the matchmaker, would want her. what’s more, to bring shame upon her family name, especially as the oldest, could do damaging effects to her younger sister in the future & hurt her father’s reputation further.
Honor is a huge thing & the fact that hers had been stripped away so publicly, is not something she will ever get over. Nor forgive. In the movie, when Commander Tung expresses to Mulan, while she was still under disguise, that he wanted to bring her to meet his daughter and his own VILLIAGE MATCHMAKER -- - it should further show you just how big of a deal their words are within their culture. to not use one is almost unheard of.
I am going to skip ahead a little. At the end of the film, the reason why the matchmaker fainted, btw, is not because she was overwhelmed by emotions at seeing Mulan winning back her honor in a completely unique way -- - but because she is now UNTOUCHABLE by her words. her claim upon her honor means nothing. her sentence to her failure no longer matters. Not only that but Mulan now as a WAR HERO & future agent for the emperor himself, would no longer meet the requirements to be matched by her.
Why? because no village boy would meet the expectations of matching with a war hero like her. Especially when the emperor himself wants her to join so badly, he sent his best men, a new weapon & spread the words in front of the entire village, instead of just having them ask her in private.
Because i legit made this so lengthy, allow me to add one more thing into the mix. Mulan with her husband Hanzo ( @koeii ) did not ask the matchmakers permission or approval. In fact, she out right skipped that step in general, not because their marriage in the main verse was a secret, but because she refused to value the opinion of her.
For the record as well, when it comes to her marrying Jesse ( @huckleberrytm ) & Vanitas ( @kukyc ), she too will not use one regardless if her parents ask her to or not. for in her opinion, she has chosen to marry for love & not for the sake of tradition.
I am going to end my little rant or tirade. Long story short, Mulan has a deep dislike for a matchmaker & will not usually like to deal with one OR even suggest to others that they find one. she will avoid it at all costs & if brought up in a conversation, aka with family, she will try to change the topic so that she can avoid being asked when it is she will choose to get married, considering that she is passed the traditional age.
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Objection!: Chapter 6
Chapter title: Truly Believe
A/n: This entire fic is just me loving Patton and projecting it onto the characters. I just love him a lot??? Also, would you guys like if I released like a separate chapter of just different moments of them in court? I have these small interactions between the group during trials and stuff and I think it would be fun. Let me know!
Make sure to leave me some comments, I really appreciate them!!
First | Previous | Next
words: 4483
summary: Logan realizes some of his feelings, Patton has a realization about the case
pairings: Eventual logicality, eventual prinxiety, platonic demus
warnings: Murder mention, child murder, implied abuse, swearing, gun mention, abuse mention, abuse
Ao3 Link
“I'm so sorry Mr.Tolentino” Reeve rushes in, scattering files everywhere “I didn't mean to be late” Logan adjusts his position on the desk pushing up, sitting straight, he checks his watch scrunching his brows.
“You aren't late Reeve, you're right on time” Logan assures. Reeve gives Logan the same look he had given many a time, critical and very judgy. “Although everyone knows-”
“Early is on time, on time is late and late is unacceptable,” Both Reeve and Logan say in unison. Logan nods at Reeve approvingly, he smiles shyly. Logan gestures to the chair across from his own, Reeve takes it nervously, he was still getting used to Logan. He shuffles awkwardly in his seat, something itching his mind.
“Yes, Reeve?” Logan sighs, noticing his erratic movement. Reeve chuckles feeling his palms grow sweaty. He set his things down by his side turning back to Logan, who waits impatiently.
“I have a note from P-Patton for you” Reeve informs, he has never wanted to curl up in a ball as much as he wanted to right now. “It's about the case files, and about...last night” Reeve adds quietly, Logan's eyes grew wide.
“Last night?” He asks cautiously, how much? About the talk, the children, the stars, the kiss on the cheek?
“Yes, about the man and thanking you for helping with the children” Reeve nods handing him the note. He takes it a little harder than he should have from the poor boy's hands, skimming it quickly. He feels a wave of relief hit him as the note goes on. He reads every line of the beautiful handwritten note, the penmanship was remarkable.
Hey Lo!
Just wanted to thank you for your help last night, the kids have not stopped talking about you. You might have to come over for dinner soon :)
I would love to. Logan struggles against his own smile, you really can write as you speak.
For your help, I'm sending Reeve over with some of my notes! And you’ll notice that you can actually read mine.
It was one time Patton, one time. Logan recalls when he and had Patton shared notes on a previous case. Patton had told him ‘He wouldn't need a doctor anymore, by the way, you write, you must be a great one. ‘ Not his best joke, but unfortunately very true.
Anyway, thanks for everything, can’t wait to get this case started.
Love, Patton!
Love Patton indeed. He hands the note back to Reeve who shoves it away scrunching his brows. Without command, he hands Logan a copy of Patton's notes that he had sent. Just as he had promised, his notes were organized, neat and well...extremely helpful.
“Brilliant” Logan mutters to himself, he flips through the notes scribbling down his own thoughts, feeling things fall slowly into place. “Absolutely brilliant, he is a ….” Logan searches for a word the could sum up how he felt. “A genius. Reeve come look at this” He ushers, Reeve, tilts his head, his face growing hot. Logan looks up, he sighs “You're here to learn, I might not be the one directly teaching you but at least you'll be getting something. So come look at these notes” Logan insists, his voice growing excited. Reeve decides to heed his command and goes around toward his side of the desk. He leans over catching up to where Logan was, his own excitement setting in. “What did I tell you, brilliant” Logan admires
“I see why he's so popular, I mean...wow” Reeve marvels watching as the notes dance from one page to another, each making sense, each claim backed up by mountains of evidence. Logan was picking a lock and Patton had given him the key. “What are those” Reeve inquires pointing at a separate file. Logan takes it studying it curiously, he nods as he read.
“Patton's transcripts, from when he first interviewed the client” Logans eyes were glazed over, Reeve swore he could see a sparkle. “Fascinating…amazing...” Reeve was questioning whether he was still talking about the actual files. He studies Logan deciding to put his deductive skills to the test. Logan's eyes were tired, poorly covered up with makeup. His cheeks were redder than usual, clearly burning with a blush. He was smiling, clearly engaging his zygomatic major muscle and his orbicularis oculi muscle, a Duchenne smile. Or, in layman's terms ‘Smizing’.
“Smiling with your eyes” Reeve mumbles softly, not softly enough however as this catches Logan's attention. He turns to face Reeve who scrambles away a little from the desk.
“Pardon?” Logan raises an eyebrow waiting for the boy to answer. He stutters over his words, muttering non-coherent sentences. Logan stands approaching him. “Reeve?”
“The Duchenne smile, more commonly known as ‘smiling with your eyes’” Reeve rushes, practically stumbling over his own words. “That's what you were doing, sir” He adds. He mentally kicks himself for that, preparing for the worst.
“Am I really that scary?” Logan sighs, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He sits down calmly, arranging the files on his desk. “Sit please” He mentions to Reeve who wastes no time doing exactly that. “Why did you scramble?” Logan eases, trying to understand. Reeve pauses
“Nothing sir, I apologize”
“No, no, I apologize, perhaps I've been a little intimidating” Logan admits, Reeve listens, a little too scared to move. “Smiling with your eyes…Odd” Reeve smiles, a little more confident now. He adjusts his back in the chair straightening it. “Why did you say it?” Logans asks, clearly, it was bothering him.
“Well, while you were looking through Mr.Hart's notes you seemed to be almost… enamored with them” Reeve explains cautiously, he feels himself clutching on to the sides of the chairs. Logan moves his head back for the first time, he didn't know what to say.
“I'm not infatuated with Patton” Logan retorts, Reeve might have laughed had he not been so scared.
“I didn't say you were ...but now I'm starting to think you are…” He mumbles the last part. Logan pauses, he wasn't really listening. Infatuated? With Patton? He thought back on the past years, even just last night. “Mr.Tolentino?” Logan turns back to Reeve who was watching him now as if prepared to take notes on whatever he did, analyze every movement.
“Let's say, hypothetically, and I mean hypothetically” His tone becomes firm, eyes taking on stern look. Reeve nods. “If I was…how would I approach...” He shakes his head waving the thought away. “Forget I said anything. You're here to learn what it's like being a lawyer let's get back to that” Reeve debates whether he was going to regret his next words.
“Buy him a coffee and a pastry from the coffee cart,” Reeve says, Logan turned to face Reeve once more.
“Why?” Was all he says, he was curious though. What would a delectable pastry and hot coffee do?
“It's a start, its a conversation starter, it's an excuse to talk to him and...it shows that you care” Reeve explains, he rambles but Logan understands. What he didn't understand is why? Why would he want those things?
“Tell me what went wrong with the ‘Scottsboro Boys’ case,” Logan asks, Reeve, tilts his head before frantically searching his notes. A wave of relief floods him at the subject change. He begins flipping through as Logan turns to his bookshelves. He tracks his fingers across the books skimming for a certain one. He hears light mumbles coming from Reeve behind him. Once he has located the book he turns to the next bookshelf, however, this one was covered in files. Each organized by date, what the trial was and whether it had been successful at carrying out justice, in Logan's professional opinion of course. He pulls the ‘Scottsboro Boys’ case reading through a copy of the original files with his own notes on the side. He hums softly before sitting back at his desk, watching Reeve who was now scribbling down some notes. He finishes quite triumphantly before looking up. “Ready?”
“Ready” And so they begin
Buy him a coffee and a pastry.
Shows that you care
~~~
Roman would be lying if he said that he didn't wish he could wake up this way every morning. And by that, he means having Virgil's Great Dane, Joey, hop onto the couch planting himself on top of Roman, licking his face. Roman felt his eyes open slowly, the light flooding into the room burning his dry eyes. He adjusts quickly to the slobbery mess on his face and the sudden added pressure on his chest. He looks up to find Joey breathing heavily, his paws folded in front of him, as he stares at Roman. He chuckles carefully sitting up petting the dog, Joey bounces, jumping off of him. He watches as the dog stands expectantly at his feet and decides he should probably get up. Wiping his eyes, stretching his arms he stands much to Joey’s delight. He follows as the dog walks happily towards the kitchen and thank god he did. Roman wishes he had a phone to take a picture of this. He watches as Virgil dances softly around the room humming along to the music playing in the background. He watches as Virgil prepares what seems like breakfast, for three. He turns finally spotting Roman and drops his pan.
“Roman!” He scolds, Roman, laughs going to help him clean up the scattered scrambled eggs on the floor. Joey has his own cleaning ideas, trying very hard to lick the floor. Roman holds him back stifling his laugh. “Good morning” He grumbles, picking up the fallen pan.
“It is a good morning indeed!” Roman exclaims happily. “Sorry for spending the night, the little guy tired me out” Roman rubs his neck, Virgil goes to pause his music turning off the stove. He hands Roman a cup of coffee, who having been here plenty of times, went straight for the cream and sugar.
“It's fine, don't worry, thanks for taking care of the kiddo in the first place” Virgil assures, leading the pair over to the table.
“Always and kiddo?” Roman teases
“Patton's rubbing off on me” Virgil jokes back, Roman releases a breathy laugh stirring his coffee. They yawn simultaneously gaining quite comfortable in the presence of each other, silent or not. They hear the light shuffling of feet both preparing for an incoming storm. They watch as little Damian comes scurrying in holding his snake plushie followed by Joey. He runs straight towards Virgil jumping in his dad's arms.
“Hi, Papi!” He squeals nuzzling himself into Virgil, he chuckles adjusting Damian's position on his lap. Roman watches with a smile, Damian fiddles with his plushie.
“Morning Dee” Virgil greets “Did you have fun last night?” Damian waves to Roman nodding.
“He's the best!” Damian exclaims throwing his hands in the air. The men chuckle at the small boy. “Can he always come here?” Damian asks his father, Virgil smiles. Roman folds his hands in his lap awaiting Virgil's answer, he raises his eyebrows. Virgil shakes his head at the judge.
“What do you want for breakfast Dee?” Virgil asks switching the topic, he didn't know the answer and would rather not discuss it at eight forty-six in the morning. Damian struggles in his father's arms making grabby hands at Roman, Virgil sighs at the smirk etching on the judges face. He stands, still holding the boy carefully giving him to Roman. “I will go make you some food” Roman nods completely focused on Damian now. Virgil makes his way back to the kitchen, still reaping the unfortunate egg incident he decides some cereal will do. He watches from afar, Roman and Damian seem to be deep in conversation. He seems to have some kind of idea and bounces off of Romans lap scurrying in the direction of his room. Virgil finishes serving his bowl of cereal and places it in Damian's highchair.
“He's so cute” Roman claims as Virgil sits back down. Roman awaits some kind of quip, but Virgil simply shrugs.
“Hey, no disagreements here.” Roman chuckles fiddling with his empty cups of coffee. “So, big day today. The trial finally begins” Virgil comments, something shifts. Roman exhales a long breath, some things he's been holding in. He doesn't want to discuss the trial, he's not sure why. Roman loves being a judge, serving justice, having total control.
“Yes it is, I have a meeting with Patton and Logan in my chambers in about…” He checks his watch rubbing his eyes. “Two hours” Virgil yawns nodding as Damian returns. How the kid has this much energy in the morning is something Virgil will never understand. Virgil picks him up placing him in his highchair. He instantly starts shoveling down his cereal, making a mess, much to Virgils ‘delight’. Roman watches wanting to stay here, frozen in this frame. Watching Virgil smiling at his enigmatic son. Its something Roman had always thought about, the prospect of a family. He always marveled at Virgil and Patton, their ability to balance a very busy work life and still have time for their children. Still, have the mental capacity to give them love when they go into work every day dealing with awful people. Roman is sentencing someone to punishment, to spend the rest of their days suffering. Do they deserve it? Yes. Does Roman know this? Yes. Does he still feel somewhat guilty every time the sound of the gavel hitting a hard surface echoes throughout the courtroom? Absolutely.
“I'm done!” Damian announces, throwing his hands in the air pridefully. Roman chuckles dryly at the small boy. His only worry in life is whether or not he can sing the alphabet or count to the number ten. Virgil stands, Roman follows, he picks up his son letting him out to play. Damian instantly rushes towards Joey who pounces licking the child. Roman kneels petting Joey softly, Virgil leads Damian to his room disappearing for a while. Roman sits on the ground now simply enjoying Joeys warm head laying in his lap. Virgil returns after a moment holding a now dressed Damian on one side and the boys backpack in the other. “I'm ready!”
“Yes, you are niño” Roman agrees, he stands dusting himself off, Joey whines at the sudden shift. Virgil collects a few more things, while Roman organizes himself.
“Ready to go?” Virgil asks, Roman nods following the detective towards the door. He helps him strap Damian into his seat before taking his place in the passenger's seat. Virgil slides into the driver's seat, Roman watches curiously as he goes through some kind of routine. First, he checks on Damian making sure the young boy is alright, then he checks the mirrors, once that's finished he turns on the car going through each small thing to make sure everything is in working order. Finally, he pulls out of the driveway, Roman leans his head against the window, taking this little time to himself.
~~~
“Morning Mr.Hart!” Jenny calls. Patton looks up waving, giving the sweet woman a polite smile. He hoisters his briefcase trying hard to keep everything from spilling out. This morning had been chaos enough, and the day wasn't going to get better. The twins had decided to pitch a fit about going to school, not even a day ago having wanted to go more than anything, claiming they wanted to hang out with Patton today. Which he knew was code for, ‘We wanna see Mister Logan’. He might have caved in had he not remembered he had a mountain of work to do, and that the trial was beginning this afternoon. So, after fighting for another hour, he finally got the kids to daycare where they now preside perfectly happy with their friends.
“Patton” Patton feels his heart sink, so close. He turns to face Liam who stands leaning by the door. He’s smoking a cigarette huffing away, now Patton's especially happy he didn't bring the kids. Liam puts it out after a moment approaching him. “Good morning” His voice, which once sounded so sweet, now felt like nails on a chalkboard as it tore its way through Patton's ears.
“It's not” Patton replies curtly, he hefts his briefcase some more, why did I pack it so heavy? Liam lets out a nasty laugh, he extends a hand out towards the briefcase. Patton brings it closer to himself, he doesn't need help, he needs to get to his office.
“Patton don't be stubborn, let me help” Liam tries again grabbing the handle, it's a rough touch, always has been. Patton struggles to free his hand, and briefcase for that matter, away from Liam. “Cupcake” His voice darkens, his eyes seeking vengeance. Patton squirms at the nickname, hating the awful taste it leaves.
“You didn't want to help before…” Patton mumbles finally pulling away. His case crashes to the floor with files and loose papers cluttering everywhere. He groans kneeling down frantically trying to gather everything. It was so neat, so perfect. Liam smirks maliciously before kneeling himself, he picks up a few papers reading over them. Patton manages to stuff most everything back into his case. He looks up at Liam expectantly holding out his hand for the final few things. Liam thinks for a moment for simply shaking his head, he continues browsing the files. “Liam, give them back, you're being childish” Patton says, he stands dusting himself off. Liam follows but won't give in.
“I'm being childish? You're the one who keeps ignoring me, won't let me see my kids and your running around with some...man-”
“I am not” Patton states firmly, he's not offended by the assumption. He just doesn't wish to carry on this conversation, and would rather not hear about Liam's thoughts, or Liams anything for that matter. He holds out his hand once more, signaling for him to return the papers. Liam rolls his eyes, shoving them into Patton's chest. “Thank you” He seethes, finally closing his briefcase shut. He turns to make his way towards his office but feels something clutch to his arm pulling him back. Liam digs his nails into Patton, he winces once more struggling in the man's grip. “Liam… “ he whines, his vision becomes blurry. It's not just the nails causing the incoming tears, though that contributes, it's just everything about his former partner. The things he did race through Patton's mind, things he had worked so hard to just shove away.
“You are so weak” Liam scoffs, he remains “You always have been, how you're a lawyer I will never understand” That cuts deep, and Liam knew it would. For years people, family, friends, anybody really, would laugh when Patton shared his dreams. He was much too soft to be a lawyer, he wasn't a shark, he cared too much. The comments continued even after he graduated from Harvard, even after he passed the BAR exam, even today they simply waited until the ball drops and Patton can't do it anymore. Patton tries again to no avail, Liam’s not fighting a losing war. He holds Patton close, if you were just passing by you wouldn't even tell something was wrong.
“Let him go” A stiff voice requests. However, it didn't really sound like a request, more of a command. Patton glances towards the source biting down a smile. Logan stands watching Liam, he holds some kind of hot drink in his hand and a small paper bag in the other. He looks as he always does, prim, proper, neat, and put-together. Except for his eyes, his eyes glare at Liam, Patton swears he can see a fiery pit buried deep in Logan's dark brown eyes. Patton turns back to Liam, but he won't budge, in fact, he digs further. At this point, it's a tug-of-war game and Patton has the unfortunate opportunity to be the rope. After a moment Logan walks towards them, he stands next to Patton still watching Liam. He might not be fighting a losing war but he just lost the battle. Liam pulls away finally releasing Patton from his hold. He grasps his arm massaging it, watching the color slowly return. Patton prepares for an argument but is instead met by a soft hand on his shoulder turning him away from Liam. He looks up to meet Logan's eyes, the fiery pit washed over by a calm wave. “Patton,” He says, Patton understands and they begin walking away.
“Thank you” Logan nods. They walk side by side through the courthouse, reaching a more secluded area Logan stops. Patton does the same, Logan faces Patton examining the be-speckled man. “Lo?” Patton wonders softly, Logan shifts turning his attention towards him. Patton instinctively backs up into the wall, he's not afraid but it's just something left over.
“I brought you coffee and a pastry” Logan informs, Patton tilts his head. He lifts his hands showing that he did indeed buy Patton a pastry and coffee. Patton lets out a small laugh, taking the food happily. “I hope it is satisfactory,” Logan says. Patton giggles smelling the coffee.
“It's great! I forgot to eat this morning so this is perfect” Patton compliments. Logan feels the heat rising in his face, a light tint of pink. They continue walking, Patton opens the bag revealing a vanilla cupcake. He pauses once more, feeling himself space out.
~~~
“Cupcake?” Liam asks, Patton looks up to see his partner returning home. He smiles at him, quickly returning his focus to the baby he cradles in his hand. Remus snores peacefully in his arms, something Patton would come to miss in the coming years. Liam approaches with a look of disdain, eyeing the baby as though it might do something horrible.
“How was work?” Patton asks not looking up from Remus little face. He wishes he could stay like this forever, his perfect angelic face, the way his eyes flutter open every few moments. Liam grunts throwing his stuff on the couch.
“It was fine...I have a stupid project I must do or my boss will fire me” Liam informs, Patton gives him an apologetic look.
“I'm sorry,” Patton says, Liam bites his lips watching Patton with the baby. Patton notices and lifts the baby. “Do you want to hold him?” He inquires softly, Liam stares for a moment before shaking his head.
“I'll just have someone do the project for me,” Liam says completely ignoring Patton's question, he feels his heart sink a bit. “If it sucks they take the fall if it's great I get the credit”
~~~
“Cupcakes aren't pastries” Patton mumbles, his eyes go wide “He didn't do it!” He exclaims, Logan feels Patton grab his shoulders and stare at him with his shining eyes. “He didn't do it! He's taking the fall! Logan, my clients innocent!” As if at this moment, he finally believes it.
~~~
Virgil swore he would never pull his gun on anybody but criminals and lowlife. But at this moment? It was very tempting. His hand flew to his holster as he walks into the courthouse seeing Liam stand by the reception area. The man turns, his eyes falling onto Roman and Virgil who glares back.
“You...son of a beech” Roman mutters, Virgil begins picking at his fingers fidgeting wildly. They walk towards him, Liam smiles mischievously.
“If it isn't Ronan and Virgin” Liam greets, Roman flings his hand towards Virgil holding him back instinctively. Virgil growls deeply at Liam, Roman keeps his hand on him not wanting a scene in his courthouse.
“You know what? I'm going to arrest him” Virgil declares, Roman makes no comment he simply stares. Virgil wasn't kidding, he removes the handcuffs from his side and gestures for Liam to around. Liam furrows his brows, waiting for the punchline.
“You're abusing your power, detective” Liam comments.
“Like you abused Patton?” Roman blurts, Virgil turns to him eyes wide. Something in Liams expression changes as he turns to face Roman now, he almost looks hurt but that quickly morphs into something beyond anger.
“You s-” He moves forward but Virgils too quick, he places himself in between Roman and Liam.
“One wrong move and I will actually arrest you” Virgil warns. He might be absolutely vibrating on the inside but he meant it. Liam eyes him for a moment before recoiling, Virgil nods. Virgil turns back to Roman who now watches a spot intently on the floor. “You good?” He asks. Roman looks up grounding himself as he focuses on Virgil.
“Fine” He looks over Virgil to Liam “Just would rather not have him here” Roman shuffles uncomfortably. Virgil ponders for a moment before smirking. “What?” Roman huffs, he continues smirking “No, absolutely not”
“Why” Virgil whines “Come on, you want him out of here, I want him out of here, I’m sure Patton wants him out of here” Virgil pleads, sure enough, Patton appears with Logan by his side.
“Patton wants what?” He asks Roman gives him an encouraging smile. He tilts his head before spotting Liam. “He’s still here?” He sighs.
“Yes, I am,” Liam remarks, he forces himself back into the conversation staring at Patton now. Virgil and Roman become on high alert, barricading themselves, while Logan places a protective hand on Patton's arm. It's delicate, it doesn't hurt. “Patton I would like to speak to you” Liam requests, making a trying effort to not look in the direction of the others.
“Why would he waste his breath talking to you?” Virgil snipes, Liam chuckles his raspy voice echoing through the foyer. Patton exhales sharply.
“I think we are going to go now” Patton informs, Roman and Virgil nod turning towards the now timid lawyer. Logan and Patton share a glance before they begin walking away. But alas, Virgil can't stride away without one final comment.
“Virgil” Roman warns, but Virgils not listening.
“If you ever come near him again” Virgil's voice is orotund. He points an accusing finger at Liam, the man might be taller but Virgil is pissed off. “I will not hesitate to reopen my case on you and put you away, do you understand?” Liam glares but he knows exactly what Virgil means. He takes a step back eyeing Virgil one last time before walking away. The swift bang of the door shutting washes over Virgil in relief.
“You should reopen the case anyway” Roman suggests half-heartedly. Virgil chuckles, before pulling out his phone and showing it to Roman. He marvels at the text smiling approvingly. “How?”
“I was a very secretive texter in school, and Remys always got the case ready to go...just in case” Virgil responds, he's not going to lie, the look of astonishment planted on the judge's face definitely left a sense of pride in the detective.
#objection au#sanders sides#patton sanders#virgil sanders#logan sanders#roman sanders#remus sanders#deceit sanders#thomas sanders#youtube#logicality#prinxiety#ao3#archive of our own#writing#my writing
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Would you please make me a list of your rcommended comics(books or web-series any genre original content or fanworks)
Oh that’s a god one! Thank you so very much 💙 Let me see what I have on my shelf and on my hard drive. (I don’t know if I’ve ever made a list of my favourite comics before or not here on tumblr?)
in no particular order;
1: Usagi Yojimbo by Stan Sakai
I dunno if it ever really shows or not, but Japanese historical settings are something I’m really into! I think it’s one of those dormant interests that flares up every now and then. Anyway. Usagi Yojimbo has basically been tied for my favourite comic for over 10 years now. It’s a series of stories, both short and with longer arcs, following the character of Miyamoto Usagi (roughly based on Miyamoto Musashi) travelling around the country of Japan in the early 1600s as a Ronin after the lord he served was defeated and killed in battle. Usagi, being one of his samurai, is not killed in the same battle which, considering his lord was killed, is a massive disgrace in historical Japanese culture. Basically along the thought of “If your lord died and you didn’t you must not have fought hard enough to protect him.”
Anyway, the comic is both a history lesson on Edo period Japan, a travel diary, a slice of life comic, a Chanbara, an action comic, some times even a horror or ghost story, a tragedy involving unfulfilled love and lost families, a lesson on traditional Japanese Yokai and other mythology, and now and then high fantasy.
10/10. HIGHLY recommend. The author Stan Sakai is also a wonderful person I’ve had the pleasure to meet a few times at Comic Con. And considering he like... remembers who I AM despite being an extremely famous comic artist... I dunno. I have endless respect for the man and he’s shown me great kindness in the past.
Also you know... black and white comics. They’re my jam, yo!
2: Bone by Jeff Smith
I have no idea if I even have to say anything because Bone might just, without hyperbole, be the greatest comic ever drawn.
At 1300+ pages drawn over the course of 10 years, the story starts out as a cartoon, full of hijinks and fun adventures and jokes and very slowly, reality starts setting in, things get more dangerous, the stakes get higher, the bad guys much darker. And by the time you reach book 3 of the 9 book story, you’re suddenly in a story of the “epic” variety. Not in the internet slang term but in the actual definition of the word.
You have massive wars between men and monsters, you have clashing cultures and ideologies, conflicting motivations and goals, and of course saving the world.
And it manages to do so without you EVER feeling “Excuse me but this was a cartoon book about funny jokes. This shift in tone is really weird and doesn’t work with the cartoony characters.”
It just blends and grows beautifully. And has remained as my favourite comic for... *counts* lord... 14 years now.
The book was recently released in a new colour version in case you prefer hat, but I honestly recommend “The Brick” single volume black and white version. It’s cheaper, first of all, but also I cannot express how masterful the blacks and whites of Bone are. They’re essentially Watterson level.
(also Jeff Smith is ANOTHER comic artist who is just like... the nicest person. Like REALLY nice. He’s been kind to me on occasions in that “you really didn’t have to be that nice” kind of way)
3: The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck by Don Rosa
It’s published by Disney officially... but the Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck is essentially a fancomic. The only reason its not is because Don Rosa became SO GOOD at making duck comics Disney hired him to make them officially and he was SO GOOD at it became one of the most important Duck artists just after Carl Barks (the creator of Scrooge) himself.
The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck is a comprehensive biography of Scrooge McDuck’s life, not just made up by Don Rosa, but pieced together from Carl Barks’ own comics where he would have Scrooge make passing mention to events in his past or people he met. Don Rosa essentially took all these passing remarks and mentions and drew out a timeline, starting with Scrooge age 13 leading all the way up to his reunion with his family when Donald as an adult met up with him again.
It starts with Scrooge, from a poor family in Glasgow in 1877, boarding a ship for America to seek his fortune. We follow him through the years as with each chapter, he comes close to being rich and successful, only for it to fail or fall apart at the last minute, until, eventually, we see him catch his break and become the obscenely rich and successful person he’s fought and worked and bled so hard to be.
...and then the comic continues. And we see him lose himself. Greed, the constant need for MORE money and MORE success keeps going. The need to show HOW rich and successful he is takes over, until we see him and his family fall apart. And the comic echoes Citizen Kane as Scrooge realises the best time of his life was when he was seeking riches, not after he finally succeeded.
And then Donald and his nephews appear, and Scrooge’s life gets a second wind. His lust for adventure flares up again, his need to seek fortunes and treasures burns as strong as ever. And he keeps going.
The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck is a story about looking for your place in the world and fighting to create it with your own two hands, but it’s also about how you should think hard where you place your value in life, and it’s never too late to re-direct course and try again.
There is also “The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck Companion” which is a collection of stories that didn’t fit in with the original comic and would have disrupted flow. Basically like how a fanfic will have oneshots related to a larger story
Also, the producer of the band “Nightwish” created a soundtrack to accompany the original comic as a sort of “What If” in what he imagined the story would sound like if it was made into a movie
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4: Cucumber Quest by Gigi D.G. ( @ggdgart )
A newer comic I stumbled upon which has skyrocketed into being a fave and I can already tell, that’s not a position it’s gonna relinquish. Cucumber Quest is a more cartoony and comedic story than the previous comics on this list. But that by no means makes it of any less value or dulls the moments that this comic decides to punch you in the gut with emotions HARD.
The art and colours are glorious and something I hope to study so I can better my own art hopefully, and the writing and humour is of a calibre that I just know I could not replicate it if I even tried. Full of puns, absurdism, awkward jokes and a whole lot of FEELINGS, It manages to make me both laugh myself into a coughing fit as often as it makes me yell “OH NOOOO!!!” when something dramatic happens.
The story follows our main character Cucumber, a put-upon out-of-his-depth wizard-to-be who is tasked with saving the world from the evil Nightmare Knight who has been summoned from his thousand year slumber by an evil sorcerer who wants to take over the world (as you do). With him is his little sister, the sword wielding Almond, who is WAY more into this “being a hero” thing than he is (and probably better at it too) as the duo make friends and travel to the various kingdoms to defeat the Nightmare Knight’s lackeys, working their way up to fighting the Nightmare Knight himself and sealing him away once more!
That all sounds.... really straightforward, doesn’t it? Well... that’s what everybody else in the comic thinks too. ...Shame that real life is never easy and straightforward.
From evil henchmen that start crushing on cool “Good Guys” with cool swords, good guys who don’t REALLY want to hurt the bad guys because they don’t seem so bad? To cool good guys with cool swords suddenly learning that being in danger is not as much fun as it sounded when they started this. To big evil final boss bad guys who are just tired of all of this...
What’s also awesome is the entire comic... all OVER 800 PAGES OF IT... is completely free to read online! But you can also buy physical copies of the first 4 volumes in book form to support the author!
http://cucumber.gigidigi.com/cq/page-1/
I HIGHLY recommend this one too! It has canon LGBT characters! It has found family plots! It has scary bad guys that just need a hug! It has magical girl transformations! Literally anything you could want is in this comic. Including emotional wrecking angst! Did I mention FEELINGS???
(I couldn’t pick a single page so here are 3 random ones without context. Seriously almost EVERY page is so good I struggled very hard to choose)
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5: The Property of Hate by @modmad
Hey. Do you like fantasy worlds made of imagination? How about protagonists with grey morality who act like super primand proper gentlemen when they’re actually huge nerds? How about reluctant “Well I guess I’ve ADOPTED you now you annoying gremlin” adult-kid relationships? How about puns? How about abstract and colourfull character designs? Or saving the world?
The Property of Hate is Modmad’s original comic that they’ve been working on a few years now. it follows our lead character, RGB or “Problematic Mary Poppins” as I like to think of him, as he asks a young child if she’d like to be a hero and help him save his world? When she agrees, he takes her to a fantasy land... completely NOT preparing her for what she’s signed up for. The story then follows the duo through the abstract and shifting world as RGB slowly divulges information on what exactly our Hero has to do to save the world. It turns out it’s a lot more complicated and messy than merely “beat the bad guy” or anything like that.
Not to mention it seems this fantasy world has its own rules of reality and dangers. Emotions and abstract thoughts have real physical form here, and something like an “idea” can quite literally run around and create havoc, while something like dreams can fuel or destroy, and emotions like grief can cause irreparable damage.
Our Hero also learns RGB himself is a lot more complex and messy than he first appears. Seeming to be a good person trying to do good things (despite being a little stand offish and rude at times) but seems to also be carrying a past and the weight of having done some very very bad things “for the greater good”. And our Hero, as well as we, the readers, start wondering how much we should trust him, even though, just like our Hero, deep deep down we just know we WANT to trust him. And maybe he needs saving just as much as the world itself does. Even when he’s at his scariest and... not quite himself.
The Property of Hate is also available online completely for free. Modmad does have books for sale but I believe it’s on-demand or something along those lines. Please feel free to message them here on tumblr and they are happy to chat to their readers and interact.
http://thepropertyofhate.com/TPoH/The%20Hook/1
I think I’ll leave it there despite meaning to do 10 at first because this is already EXTREMELY long.
Hopefully you found something that seems interesting! Let me know if you decide to check any of these out and whether you ended up liking them or not! I’d love to hear your opinions.
And thank you for indulging me <3
(I’m trying to remember to add my ko-fi link to all longer posts like this I make. Especially since I keep forgetting ☕️Buy me a Ko-fi ☕️ )
#lucymelonbun#C-Puff answers#Long post#image heavy#Comics#comic recommendations#comic recs#I added a read more to this post but tumblr ate it so whatever#thank you for letting me ramble about stuff I like#I feel better <3
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