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redfurrycat · 2 months

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🤠🐕‍🦺☃️🐾🏍️🐱🐓Animal Companions Fic Recs🐓🏍️🐱🐾☃️🐕‍🦺🤠

Check the Top Gun Masterlist post for the latest updated version. 💕

Ao3 Authors: Aphroditedany, Bbr1, BeautifulCreature, Buckybraciole, Callsignyours, Demiclar, Emmedoesntdomath, Indybob, Kazanskysmitchell, Kerbyfullyloaded, LemonsAndSugarMakeLemonade, Lesbiseresin, LoveChildofInsertShowHere, SunMonTue, Teacupivy, ThisisYour_Captain_Speaking, ToukoJalorda003, Whimsicule.

Art Bonus - (coming soon)

> Mythological Creatures & Shapeshifters {🤠🐓} > Daily Heroes/Animal Care {🤠🐓}

his dark materials / dæmon AU by buckybraciole {T} {🤠🐓}

A series of one-shots about fighter pilots and their dæmons.

Golden Retriever Puppy by bbr1 {G} {🤠🐓}

“Have you ever had a dog?” Jake asks. “Nah, who am I kidding. Of course you haven’t. I’m going to get you a dog.”

Bad Idea! by LemonsAndSugarMakeLemonade {T} {🤠🐓/☃️🏍️}

Bradley: Hey, are you and Ice around? Well, this is slightly odd Mav thought but he replied anyway. Yeah, why? Bradley: We have our baby! We’ll be there in 10. Mav almost dropped his phone at the reply. What the fuck. Bradley Bradshaw, you better call me this instant.

A cat named Crow by LoveChildofInsertShowHere {T}

The Meowfect Evening {☃️🏍️}

Sometimes a kitten can make an evening even better

Some Birds Can't Fly {☃️🏍️}

Crow becomes more of a part of the Mitchell-Kazansky family

How Crow Won Slider's Heart {☃️🏍️}

Sometimes a cat will settle an insane debate better than Ice can

The Bumps in Quiet Nights {☃️🏍️}

Ice worries when Maverick takes too long to come back home from picking up dinner

And A Partridge in a Pear Tree {☃️🏍️}

Mav and Ice obtain 3 new family members in the form of kittens

Is it a Racoon? {🤠🐓/☃️🏍️}

Rooster meets the new additions to the Mitchell-Kazansky family and gets talked into getting a pet

Goosebumps {🤠🐓}

Jake and Bradley find the perfect cat for them, which brings up some emotions for Bradley

How to make a Flock {🤠🐓/☃️🏍️}

Mav discovers a box full of kittens on the side of the road on his way to suprise Ice at work

Nick's worst weekend ever by Aphroditedany {T} {🤠🐓}

Nick Bradshaw, Bradley Bradshaw's cat, might unexpectedly bring him closer to a charming co-pilot. It doesn't mean Nick likes it, though.

Skies of Dust by kerbyfullyloaded {T} {☃️🏍️}

Walking into the sky

Pete Mitchell was fourteen when his daemon settled. It took him a few years to join her in the sky, wings on his chest and steel all around him.

Every atom of me and every atom of you

The turn of a dial, snapshots of a life, dust all around. Maverick, Iceman, and their daemons in the years between 1987 and 2019. "'On,' said the alethiometer. Farther, higher. So on they climbed." The Subtle Knife (or: a series of stories based on the different symbols of the alethiometer, a sequel to Walking into the Sky)

at my side by demiclar {M} {☃️🏍️}

"If there's one thing Maverick is good at, it's taking care of his own." Slider said, throwing his arm around his shoulders and tugging him close. "I'm just glad we can return the favor from time to time." Pete Mitchell came back from the Dagger mission with PTSD worse than he'd ever experienced before. His family is eager to help, but piecing themselves back together after a decade of separation is a challenge not easily overcome. Pete isn’t the best at accepting help, and the family’s problems go deeper than expected, but they won’t stop trying until they bring everyone home.

Goose the Dog and Mav the Human, the Fun Never Ends by ThisisYour_Captain_Speaking {G}

Man's Best Friend

Maverick is one of the most kind hearted people ever and the things he loves, he does so with everything he has. Why not let him have a dog? AKA What if Theo was originally Mav's dog?

Well Well Well, What Have We Here?

It's Fourth of July Weekend and Ice has invited friends and their families over to celebrate. However, before the day of the actual celebration, Mav takes his dog Goose out for a run. Will they be able to beat the storm brewing or will Mav land himself in trouble yet again?

Wrench the Golden Retriever by emmedoesntdomath {T} {☃️🏍️}

“Mav, please tell me you didn’t get us a dog.” Silence. He sighed. The contractually obligated hey-I-bought-a-dog-without-asking-and-then-gave-it-a-name-you’ll-hate-but-you-should-still-love-me fic

call it what you want by lesbiseresin {M} {🤠🐓}

“Shit, Mav,” Bradley says through a laugh as he squats down, leaving his beer on the railing so he has both hands free to stick out. “You finally get me that dog I was always asking for?” It’s another joke. He knows that Theo belongs to Penny and Amelia, but there has to be a reason Maverick is bringing this up. “You caught me,” Maverick deadpans. Bradley can see Penny elbow him out of the corner of his eye, but he doesn’t bother looking up, too engrossed in the happy pants Theo is letting out as Bradley switches to scratching under his chin. “You could say I did. Sort of.” “Sort of, huh?” (alternatively: jake & bradley getting their shit together ft. theo the dog)

Dust is Everlasting (And Love Even Moreso) by ToukoJalorda003 {M} {🤠🐓/☃️🏍️}

If Time Rewound to Dust (Love Would Endure Anyway)

All Rooster had ever wanted was to work for Jurassic World - his godfather did, and for his whole life, it had been his dream. Now he finally had it, and he…wasn’t so sure how he felt about Hangman. The man was just too dangerous, too unpredictable, and Rooster feared it would end in disaster. …But disaster had found them anyway, and now it was starting to look like it was too late to accept Hangman’s offer for a date. Damn.

When Dust is all That Remains (Love is Eternally Present)

After the events of the park’s catastrophic closing, Bradley just wanted to rest. Maybe take a nap and remind himself what he’d nearly had. But he couldn’t do that, because an active volcano was going to wipe out the remaining dinosaurs - including Jake’s raptors. …And if it was possible, he wasn’t going to let that happen. Maybe, while he was at it, he’d finally get that date, too.

be the ocean where I unravel by whimsicule {T} {🤠🐓}

He’s not even thirty years old. A lieutenant in the United States Navy. A highly-decorated aviator with two air-to-air kills. And he’s suddenly gone ahead and become scared of the goddamn sea. What a fucking joke.

make a lil' room for me by callsignyours {G} {🤠🐓}

Jake somehow ends up with Bradley's dog.

The Tiniest Problem by BeautifulCreature {G} {🤠🐓}

Bradley has an allergic reaction to his and Jake's new puppy.

Mine, Immaculate Dream by kazanskysmitchell {M} {☃️🏍️}

After the ever-so-stressful Dagger mission, Pete Mitchell is tired and craves some normalcy. It's seemingly difficult for him to return to normal this time, and his protective (and very worried) husband can't help but notice the changes in Pete's mental health. After an official PTSD diagnosis, being permanently grounded, and the adoption of a service dog, Pete Mitchell attempts to adjust, but can't do it without the help of his wingman and their adopted and dysfunctional family. (+ art from Cannibal_Hellhound)

better than your best dreams by teacupivy {M} {🤠🐓}

“Hey,” he says, nudging Bradly with his toes. “You brought Aubergine in, right?” Jake watches Bradley look up from his screen, stare into the mid distance, and decide to lie to him. “…Yes.” Tense and robotic, he slides his laptop onto the coffee table and slips out from beneath Jake’s legs. “Unrelated, I’ll be right back.”

With our pets, a house becomes our home by SunMonTue {E} {🤠🐓}

Jake adopts a puppy and then proceeds to fly across the country to take up a flight instructor position at Corpus Christi where Bradley is the vet (DVM) that Jake takes Brisket to once he arrives. Bradley asks him out. MeetCute.

Domestic Bliss by indybob {T} {🤠🐓}

Jake has had the longest week of his life. Between hops, training, and instructing, he’s worn out. Noticing how exhausted his husband is, Bradley takes it upon himself to go above and beyond to give Jake the most relaxing evening and weekend possible. Or: Much like Jake in this story, I’ve been very busy for the last couple of weeks, so I’m using this as my own form of catharsis. Feat. Brisket the Dog

Come on baby light my fire… by SunMonTue {E} {🤠🐓}

An apartment fire alarm at 1am featuring Jake in his underwear and Bradley with kittens.

#Animal Companions Recs List #hangster #sereshaw #hangaroo #icemav #iceman x maverick #bradley rooster bradshaw x jake hangman seresin #tom iceman kazansky x pete maverick mitchell #bradley rooster bradshaw #jake hangman seresin #tom iceman kazansky #pete maverick mitchell #🐈red🐈furry🐈cat🐈tag🐈

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thegeminisage · 5 months

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IT ISSSS tng update time. sunday we caught "captain's holiday" and "tin man" and last night we did "hollow pursuits" and "the most toys."

captain's holiday: so, i'd heard ahead of time that this was one of the worst star trek episodes Ever, and admittedly it wasn't great, but it wasn't THAT bad. i could name you 10 worse episodes in tng alone and that's without even getting into tos and the other bad episodes that are surely in my future. actually catherine liked it more than i did which is only the second time this has happened in tng

funniest part of this episode to me was riker setting picard up with the little fuck trinket and then picard coming back and giving riker woodshed vibes. don't text. hilarious to send picard to the fuck planet when he wanted to read a book or whatever but at least he got some in the end. i'll never forget patrick stewart telling that one writer that tng's captain didn't do enough shooting or screwing

second funniest part was that the little device they were all fighting over could have saved romulus. "stop the nuclear reaction in a sun" THEY COULD HAVE SAVED ROMULUS AND PICARD DESTROYED IT. THE KELVIN MOVIES ARE ALL HIS FAULT. i guess romulus wouldn't have been that much better off with NO sun but at least its people could have been evacuated. there would have been a little more time.

that said most of this ep was very boring because i'm not actually invested in picard's sex life or his slutty little outfits and definitely not enough to have a whole episode be about him and none of the extended cast

tin man: i liked the concept of this much better than the execution. most of my problems came from the fact that the guest character (hello mister mayor) is annoying. so i was unable to be invested in whatever happened to him

also, i know it;'s her job, but i am soooo tired of deanna getting stuck with all the weird broken men and having to fix them. she's like star trek's manic pixie dream girl sometimes

that said i LOVED their concept of the new biomechanical life because it's JUST like moya from farscape and i like to think the farscape writers were inspired by it <3

also i like data being a boon to overwhelmed telepath because androids dont broadcast thoughts...i like when people are nice to data

i did like riker being kind of righteously mad in this episode too. i was JUST saying we never got to see that from him...it wasn't enough here and it also wasn't Great but i still enjoyed what we got

hollow pursuits: this was the worst episode this entire seaosn easily. i felt like i was watching s1 tng again

IT IS. MASSIVELY UNETHICAL. TO RECREATE REAL PEOPLE IN THE HOLODECK

first of all i hate despise LOATHE any and all holodeck activities. secondly i know they hadn't had to grapple with AI yet in 1990 but surely SOMEONE in that writer's room had to see that it's a huge infringement on deanna's personal rights safety, and dignity to make a fake version of her to fuck in the holodeck

I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS GUY COMES BACK LIKE 4 MORE TIMES.

i feel like what tng was TRYING to do here was "very special episode about anxiety" but what it actually managed to do was make that guy look autistic but like in a bad way. like charlie from tos. and then everyone bullied him and you have to be like. well making and fucking a fake deanna is bad but bullying is also bad

wait actually you know what this is like. this is like that time when i was in public with my family and a man touched me inappropriately. and so after he was gone my mother, jumping to my defense, made some disparaging remarks about this man's race (he was not white). and then i was put in the position of defending this guy who had just been a huge creep to me because you can attack him for being a creep but not because of his race. and my family was baffled that i would defend someone who'd just done that to me. that's what watching this episode felt like.

like, absolutely nobody had a problem with the actual creepy part (holodeck deanna) and everybody had a problem with him stammering in public and being socially awkward. and bullied him accordingly. DOWN TO THE MEAN NICKNAMES.

anyway, 0/10, one of the worst episodes Ever, it literally made me wish i was back in captain's holiday watching picard slut it up. if this episode had been on "am i the asshole" the judgment would have been "everyone sucks here" except deanna, who literally did nothing wrong and suffered the most anyway

hollow pursuit: THIS ONE POPPED THE FUCK OFFFFFFFFFFFFF

10 out of fucking 10. one ZILLION stars. i would have loved it even if i wasn't a data fan but i am a data fan and i had a WONDERFUL time

you spend this whole episode wanting so so so bad for data to kill this guy. data is kidnapped and debased and coerced into playing his captor's games and you want data to kill him SO BAD. and in your mind you're like, yeah but they won't let him KILL the guy kill the guy, it's gonna be like some disney villain stumbling or having an accident and he winds up dead due to Circumstances. there's no way data is gonna fucking kill a guy

and then there's like 30 perfect seconds where you're like: oh fuck. data is GONNA FUCKING KILL A GUY

let me find the exact moment that sent me over the edge. mister captor: "Go ahead. Fire. If only you could feel rage over Varria's death. If only you could feel the need for revenge, then maybe you could fire. But you're just an android. You can't feel anything, can you?"

AND THE ENTIRE TIME. DATA'S FACE IS TWITCHING. AND I SAID ALOUD TRULY GENUINELY BELIEVING HE HAD FINALLY UNLOCKED EMOTIONS I THINK HE CAN FEEL IT ACTUALLY??? LIKE HE LOOKS LIKE HE IS FEELING IT

anyway it counts. data DID fire, and just because they couldnt have him do that on tv and had to transport him away first, he fired (in spite of his program! it was in defense of other life), he meant to kill that man horribly, it counts it counts it COUNTS

furthermore, his mic drop at the end - why would i come see you just to gloat, after all i'm just an android - made me YELL out loud. data is hard as FUCK

i can't take credit to this thought because it was catherine's thought first but it's so fun that both androids we've seen unlock emotion so far - raina unlocked love and lal unlocked fear - were immediately destroyed by it. and what a fun contrast it would be if raina unlocked her emotions with love and data unlocked his with HATE. and i agree because it contrasts so strongly with data's normal loving nature. it's very "anger of a gentle man" of him if that makes any sense. like he is always so unfailingly polite and considerate and forgiving even to people like maddox but enough is Enough.

also, everyone mourning data was really very good. i simply love when people love him...

anyway, that episode fucked. i'm thinking about making it a must see on my spreadsheet <3

TONIGHT, FINALLY: "sarek." i cannot WWWWAIT to see him

#personal #star trek blogging #tng lb

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wevelocityteampresents-blog · 8 months

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SEPTEMBER 12th

Today was my birthday. I would have gone out somewhere to eat if it weren't for the terribly polluted air. It was rotten a year ago, but things have only gotten worse. (No thanks to those wildfires earlier in July.) I'm sick of this unbreathable air, and the only birthday present I really want is for the air to become clean again.

I was finally able to redesign certain characters. The new designs are far from finished. So you'll have to wait to see which characters got the facelift they needed.

While playing Pokémon Violet, I battled against a few people online and tried to earn marks for some of my newer Pokémon.

If he's that big, why didn't you give him a Jumbo Mark?

After I failed to give my Pokémon any marks, I went to the Pokémon Center to see Nurse Joy congratulate me on my birthday.

The banner was a nice touch.

After studying for a bit, I returned to Pokémon Violet to catch a Pokémon with a Destiny Mark. There were a lot of great candidates. But I eventually chose a Tinkatink.

She's not shiny. But she's good enough for me.

SEPTEMBER 13th

Aside from all the gifts I received yesterday, one of my later ones was a ticket to Kitakami.

Later in the afternoon, I first went to Pokémon HOME to update Umbre's moveset after I heard that Umbreon was able to learn Toxic again. Thankfully, Umbre already knew that move, so I helped him remember it.

Now he can actually stand a chance against Paldea's worst.

I got caught up in battling others with my newly improved Pokémon. It wasn't until after my second match that I remembered to dash off to Uva Academy.

I wouldn't say it was THAT soon. I've only been in this country for half a year.

Jacq tells me that going to Kitakami will allow me to see new Pokémon (who aren't that new as I've already seen them all before) and that I should have fun with it. Another thing he told me was that he already got my mom's permission to come along.

How they never told me about this, I have no idea.

Also, Blueberry Academy has roots in Unova.

There's also a lot of Unova Pokémon in Kitakami too. If that's not a hint at remakes for Black and White, I don't know what is.

Briar presents herself as the descendant of the Violet Book author and shares the completed versions of the pages we saw in Professor Turo's research facilities, proving that my hypothesis was correct.

Sadly, we won't get to see Terapogos for another few months.

Before I knew it, I was finally in Kitakami County.

And I've already made some progress on the new Pokédex. (I'll fill it up some more later.)

Not all was well in this country, as this one girl didn't want me on her turf.

Naturally, I taught her a lesson through a Pokémon battle. (While also learning that, yes, Poltchageist is part-Grass.)

Like every other rival, she acted like a sore loser.

But then again, I was the one who had 5 Pokémon that were at a higher level than hers.

Sometime after I was settled in at the community center, I was given my first assignment while learning abroad.

I wanted to get to the first one. But I was too busy exploring the town for treasure.

This might be the most unenthusiastic Joy I've ever seen. She's like one of those people who act poorly while on the job because they're stuck with it and have nowhere better to look for a paycheck. Which would be reasonable if this weren't a Pokémon Center.

At least she has the courtesy to stay off her cell phone while operating the machine. Speaking of which...

Why didn't they have a feature like this from the beginning? The TM Machine also had new TMs available for creation. But I didn't need them at the moment.

I eventually met this woman named Perrin.

I was going to wonder why someone like her has a Hisuian Growlithe. But considering everyone else fights with Ursaluna and Hisuian Arcanine, I'm just going to forget it and move on.

I'm more careful in real life.

A goal I'm sure will probably take months to complete. (If I didn't have any of those Pokémon in other games.)

SEPTEMBER 15th

I was worried about my performance in school. But my friends told me I was doing a great job and I needed to calm down. I didn't have any school today, which meant I could focus on celebrating the 5th anniversary of Pokémon Pocket Web Comics before getting some sleep.

The air was getting a bit chilly today. It was the perfect sign fall was right around the corner. In a few days, all of my current problems will be no more. (For a while, anyway.)

In Pokémon Violet, I finally made my way to the first signboard. Surprisingly, despite only taking me two days to reach, Kieran didn't beat me to it.

It's almost as if it could be a Pokémon.

It's too bad I didn't get a badge for this photo. This screen feels incomplete without one.

I'm hoping that Miraidon will learn a new technique soon. Also, I haven't heard Pokémon be referred to as Kaiju since the first games were still in development.

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missallanea-archive · 9 months

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a not-so-brief, utterly useless guide to the muses on this blog:

UPDATED VERSION ( 08/10/23 )

AGNES DRACHINA REUBEN. first born daughter of the royal house of drachium. powerful sorceress who made a name for herself during the dragon campaign. a mischevious young woman with a penchant for drinking and getting into trouble.

BABYDOLL. institutionalized against her will. sweet girl but will not hesitate to end you if you're a creep. sincerely wishes to empower the other women around her. slowly losing herself to fantasy in order to escape from her unpleasant reality.

CARRIE WHITE. patron saint of the bullied. powerful telekinetic with religious trauma. generally a sweet kid, if not extremely shy and socially awkward. she honestly just needs a hug and a cheese sandwich.

CATIANA FREESPARK. swashbuckler rogue turned storm cleric. she's confused about how that happened too. died fairly recently, but she got better. will steal your shit. highkey feels like the divorce baby between procan and umberlee.

CHROME DOKURO. a powerful illusionist currently in the employ of the vongola mafia family. occasionally shares her body with the criminal mukuro rokudo. learning to stand on her own two feet. a bit of a strange girl, but sweet and undyingly loyal.

FREYA. the once queen of asgard and leader of the valkyries. reclaimed her warrior spirit and found her wings. seeking to reunite and repair the realms following ragnarök. not a woman to scorn, or she will burn you to the ground and salt the earth behind her.

KAGAMI TSURUGI. a recent transplant to paris from japan. loves fencing and being right. she can be a bit cold upon first meeting but she's actually just very bad at making friends. if you take the time to get to know her, she is fiercely loyal and dedicated and will fight for you.

LIAN NICHANG. the white haired demoness. lives alone on a mountain. really only comes down to get rid of people who are harassing the village at the base of the mountain that leaves her the fuck alone. master swordsman. not actually a witch or a demon, no matter what people call her.

LUNA. magical moon cat. has a crescent moon bald spot on her forehead. trying to keep the protectors of the universe on track but they're just teenage girls so it goes about as well as you would expect. really tired of being the voice of reason but this is what she signed up for.

LUNASOL GALANODEL. honestly, the worst. burned down her abusive childhood home with her twin brother. basically sold her soul to the queen of air and darkness. pretends to be sweet but she is cruel and cold. typical elvish attitude toward other races, too. really, really likes flowers.

MARINETTE DUPAIN-CHENG. my god she is doing her best. normal girl turned superhero turned guardian of magical artifacts. just needs one day of peace ffs. currently going through a crisis due to teenage romance and also ptsd. always smells like fresh baked bread which is a plus.

MAXIMILIAN CALYPSE. a small, stuttering lady of noble birth. married off to keep her father from having to go to war against dragons. considers herself to be useless and has a good deal of anxiety, but is generally one of the sweetest nobles you will ever have the pleasure of meeting. currently learning to use healing magic.

MIYU. vampire who tried to run from her destiny and made it worse. has to hunt down god-demons called shinma that she accidentally let escape. literally cannot die until she finishes her job, and she would very much like it to be over now. usually accompanied by her mask wearing servant, larva. she's cute and cruel in equal parts.

NATHALIE SANCOEUR. for fuck's sake she needs a vacation. and a raise. personal assistant to a supervillain. seriously questioning that relationship at this point. literally dying. trying to beat the current record holder for most akumatizations. she's pretty and could kick my ass.

PERSEPHONE. our lady of the underground. literal goddess. known for bringing springtime and overseeing torture in the deepest depths of tartarus. the mom friend, she probably already loves you. does not put up with her husband’s bullshit. really loves her weird dog.

PIKE TRICKFOOT. gnome cleric of the everlight. she may be a holy woman but she has the spirit of a barbarian. will definitely try to drink you under the table. overestimates her own strength, but loves to surprise others when they doubt her. precious angel baby.

REINA "GLITCH" CROWNE. student at a prestigious art school with a focus on fashion design. acts like she's tough and untouchable, but she's actually just soft and trying to figure out who she is. loves meshing traditional fashion with digital media. known to the other students as "glitch" due to her first year freeze up.

RIZA HAWKEYE. military sharpshooter and right-hand-woman of the guy who wants to take over the military. likes like two people and her dog. usually smells like gun oil but it's not unpleasant. has no sense of self-preservation and will definitely die for the people she cares about. does not get paid enough.

ROGUE. the poster child for "look don't touch." mutant and working on the proud part. literally too powerful for her own good. comes with the added bonus of her cajun husband who makes things explode by touching them. the og power couple.

RYOKO HAKUBI. half alien, half goddess, all trouble. a literal science experiment. crash landed on earth 700-or-so years ago after a space battle with the guy she tried to steal a tree from. recently resurrected and free from the mind control that made her destroy 28 planets. she's doing her best okay?

RYUKO MATOI. teenage girl who wants to fight. has a magical schoolgirl uniform powered by her blood. wields a giant scissor. could kick your ass, could kick my ass, could kick her own ass. secretly a softie.

SADAKO YAMAMURA. a very, very angry ghost with the telepathic ability to project her thoughts onto physical media. the switch to the digital era has not slowed down her curse whatsoever but she misses VHS tapes. very wet. is honestly just a scared young woman who doesn't understand why bad things happened to her. will fucking kill you if given the chance.

SIF. the unwaveringly loyal wife of thor, mother to magni, móði, and thrúd. trying desperately to hold what remains of her family together. can come across as somewhat cold. while not a warrior by any means, she will do anything to protect her children.

TABITHA DELAINE. monster hunter and general know-it-all. was part of a cult at one point but she doesn't want to talk about it. lowkey a witch but tries to use her magic sparingly. the biggest lesbian you will ever meet, next to her girlfriend van. lives in van's van.

TIKKI. kwami of the miraculous of creation. has existed for as long as the universe has. sincerely loves humans and how wonderful they can be. helps to turn her current owner into the superhero known as ladybug.

VEX'AHLIA. ranger and rogue. sneaky and shooty. just trying not to die again, thank you very much. once stabbed a tree because it made moves on her. the champion of a god. will probably call you darling and wink at you. also, she has a bear named trinket and a husband with too many names for me to bother listing here.

#❮ missallanea / ooc ❯ ━━ ❝ probably listening to a musical on repeat .#/ yep my stupid joke post is back uwu #/ updated for the new muses!

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tonkiwb · 2 years

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Copter royale.io

#Copter royale.io free#

Geneshift was super fun for me to play because it is strongly inspired by Grand Theft Auto 2, a game that I absolutely loved as a kid. No playable version of The Culling currently exists and will likely never be heard from again. The Culling: Origins has now been taken offline, just like its short lived sequel. Unfortunately for Xaviant, all of The Culling’s players had moved far past the franchise with so many other better battle royale games to choose from.

#Copter royale.io free#

The developers actually removed the game from Steam and replaced it with a day one version of the original The Culling and made it free to play, in an attempt to win back its original fan base. The CEO of the company posted a very emotional apology in response to the failed launch and actually pulled the game from release altogether. Instead of trying to recover through game updates, Xaviant (the game’s developer) created and launched a sequel (That you had to pay for) that was worse than the game that everyone had already abandoned. Shortly after launch, the game received a number of updates that pushed the playerbase away. Imagine if Jiggsaw from the Saw movies put together a battle royale set in a jungle and you’d be close to The Culling. The Culling took a very sadistic approach to battle royale, offering chainsaws, spears, swords and other non-conventional weapons in addition to firearms. The Culling launched way back in 2016, before the battle royale genre had really blossomed and actually received a fair amount of attention at launch. The story of The Culling is probably the most interesting videogame story on this list. There are few games on this list that I truly recommend that you should steer clear of but this is one of them, which is funny since the team behind the game advertises it as a game for more refined and mature audiences. While there is technically logic behind it (different tanks have different vulnerable spots and if you shoot them there, they take more damage), for the most part, I just found the game’s combat to be more frustrating than enjoyable. The game’s combat is slow, clunky and filled with rage inducing moments that make little to no sense. There’s nothing particularly wrong with the way the game looks, performs or plays, it just wasn’t fun whatsoever. My vendetta against this game is more personal than practical. Luckily for World of Tanks players, Steel Hunter is a limited time event mode that has been run multiple times, but hasn’t been included in the game’s permanent offerings. Some game had to be dead last and unfortunately it’s World of Tank’s Steel Hunter mode. This list details all 34 battle games that I’ve played and ranks from worst to best. I’ve played battle royales that are competitive, silly or packing unique traits. I’ve played the good ones, the bad ones and a handful that you probably never knew existed. This way, whenever a new battle royale game hits the scene, my community and viewers know that they can tune into my stream to find out about it and see how it stacks up to other games in the genre.Īfter more than a year of embarking on this battle royale quest, I have played 34 different battle royale games (not including mobile) and have won 32 of them. So what can I do to make myself unique? I decided to embark on a quest to play and win a round of every single battle royale game that ever gets released. I knew that I would never be as intense or cocky as Dr. I knew that my aim would never be as good as Shroud’s. I had recently fallen in love with the battle royale genre and found the “last man standing” concept to give a rush like no other. When I decided to start streaming and become a content creator, I had to decide what kind of creator that I wanted to be. Here is how they rank from best to worst. I’ve played 34 different battle royale games.

#Copter royale.io

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niennandil-me-writes · 2 years

Text

Masterlist

in case you don't just want to scroll this blog randomly, here is a list of the OCs I write about most often, their basic backstory and all writing in (kinda) chronological order. Click on the name to get taken to their tag.

[hasn't been updated in a while]

Teo Dagger (dnd)

A former soldier and great husband and father turned horrible axe murderer thanks to a botched resurrection that left him devoid of emotion.

common content notes: gore, violence (often romanticized or consensual)

a promise kept last moments owed a life make your own version of the story (non-canon) Poetry without Emotion gore without plot (non-canon) This isn’t the first time you die but that’s fine, it’s not the first time I kill someone either touch nothing is worse foregone conclusion long rest among the wicked (non-canon) try to hide but i see you untitled snippet tearing open old wounds the red means i love you giving up control a death taken (non-canon)

Ulysse Moreau (Heart - The City Beneath)

A Drow Junkmage blackmailed by a noble Aelfir called Smiles-Cast-In-Silver to venture into the Heart under his identity to do his penitence there.

common content notes: drowning

mask on, mouth shut in all my dreams I drown kiss of the sleepwalking witch/kiss of the drowned queen

Wilhelmina Twist (dnd)

A tiefling who grew up under high expectations with neglectful parents. Her anxiety-fueled Thaumaturgy constantly clouds her face in shadows. She made a warlock pact for good grades.

walk beneath the stars

Ròn (Thirsty Sword Lesbians)

A selkie who reclaimed her sealskin from the man who stole it and ran away to join a pirate crew.

common content notes: abuse

She thinks of swimming away the mermaid and the selkie a mermaid’s pleasure

Ash (like from Fire) (dnd)

Searching for their twin sibling who was stolen away by a powerful Archfey, they wander through the Feywild, and lost quite a lot of themself along the way.

ace up their sleeve

Teo Dagger (Mörk Borg)

In some ways similar to his dnd version, but a lot more wet dog flavored. It's not clear if he's actually undead or just has a very curious case of rabies.

common content notes: gore, violence, cannibalism

this day started with our crucifixion and went on with a zombie fight and a death game and the worst part is still that i’m sleeping in the same room as you

#masterlist #my writing #oc writing #dnd writing

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heartofholland · 4 years

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tom recs <3

hi guys! here is a fic rec list i made of all the fics i’ve loved. personally, i consider myself an avid fic reader so i have read a shit ton of fics. these are just my highlights. let me know if you want more like this! and if you do end up reading any of these please make sure you REBLOG them to spread the goodness. these writers work their ass off and deserve all the credit in the world. enjoy! <3

SERIES

riding my by @worldoftom this fic is barely started but i love everything this writer puts out. very smutty, very hot. innocence kink check!

breaking curfew by @wazzupmrstark ASSHOLE TOM! my weakness. enemies to lovers but make it FWB. what I wish my summer camp was like instead of my thighs sticking to chairs and lice outbreaks.

eighteen by @angelic-holland corruption/innocence kink! basically all smut but damn do i want bad boy tom.

the situationship by @fairytelling can’t say enough about this fic. the definition of falling in love with your best friend. if my relationship isn’t like this i don’t want it.

happiness is a butterfly by @blissfulparker soft mob!tom and they’re forbidden soulmates! updates are WELL worth the wait!

i only feel you by @stuckonspidey the first time i read my watch thought i was working out for how high my heart rate was. shit keeps you on your toes. there is a sequel fic but just a heads up you will want to unstan tom on multiple occasions.

make me love you by @mrs-hollandstan frat boy player tom turned soft. mans does a whole 180. fuck dom.

perfidy by @peeterparkr couldn’t be more obsessed with this fic. they’re both so fucking stupid but too afraid to get hurt. also the social media posts are so fucking cute and crucial to the story

eloped by @worldoftom getting married to tom in the most beautiful vacation spot? sign me the fuck up

you. by @txmhoelland i think there’s definely worse men to be set up with as a PR stunt.

erotas by @farfromparker i have definely read this fic for more days than i’ve been on this earth but every time i lose my goddamn mind

dare you to move by @starksparker-archive the best version of FWB tom is when you’re his roommate…

gone by @dahliaspidey this one… hurts. but i just know it will bounce back.

take me out by @angelic-holland warning this one is really dark. like serial killers. but it was so fascinating i am completely obsessed with the psychology of it all. jake is featured and please don’t imagine the mr. music the entire time like i did </3

single all the way by @heyhihellowhatsup0 i read this whenever i need a lil christmas pick me up

sweetener by @keepingupwiththeparkers cute awkward relationship. it is so real i feel like it could actually happen to me.

ex on the beach by @heyhihellowhatsup0 THE ANGST GIVES ME LIFE

SMUT

bartender by @t-o-m-holland tom happens to own your favorite bar. your subtle flirts aren’t working. the banter between reader and the fam makes me wish i didn't have social anxiety.

siren by @rosyparkers don’t get me wrong i will scream ACAB til the day i die but police officer tom could definitely get it.

best of three by @mrs-hollandstan one of the 3000 threesome fics i have saved. imagine not getting one of the hottest men but TWO.

roommates by @hollandbaby what a coincidence we both want to fuck each other! this checks all the kinks my man. i’ve read this probably no less than 100 times.

that was that by @moorehollandplz dom!tom but something flips and he’s never been more gentle. mans got both sides of the playing field covered.

know your enemy by @angelic-holland short but sweet. hate sex is always hotter behind the scenes.

wasabi by @angelic-holland literally everything about alice is phenomenal but this is on of my faves. when i read this it makes me feel smarter. also body shots.

say good night by @madmadmilk this writers work never fails to blow me away but this time she managed to encapsulate my entire life. (minus the execution with a very hot and experienced best friend).

buwygf-ib by @hholyholland just ignore tomdaya for a sec and take in the hottest dom!tom i’ve ever witnessed.

cocky by @sykoxartist yeah he’s an asshole but he’s your asshole. at least that’s what he thinks.

sovereign by @farfromparker sub!tom is so hot. man will beg for DAYS.

summer vacation by @kidney9-9 when is hate sex ever like…. not hot as fuck?

ride by @tomhollandsstan face riding. period.

coincidence by @starshinebucky actor!reader and tom fuck… at least they’ll have good chemistry next time.

skin by @hollandbaby dom!tom is not ok with being a sub. unless it’s for you.

you can bet on it by @kiwi-bitchez all of this writers smut makes my pussy throb. this is my fave. just wait for the twist.

a rose blooms by @cornacopicimagines prince!tom drives me wild. but wait til he finds out you’re not a virgin.

begging by @raewritesfiction tom makes you beg for it.

self reflection by @stuckonspidey this is actual proof tom has a praise kink.

minor inconvenience by @angel-spidey toms an idiot but at least he can get you off.

flesh by @starshinebucky cocky tom kills me.

keeping him nice and warm by @marvelouspeterparker mob!tom the gif itself to sends me.

after hours by @cornacopicimagines never had sexual tension with a teacher but this will do.

ANGST

josslyn by @multiharlot messy situation but reader handles it like a champ. if your heart isn’t broken enough, the last line will make sure it’s unfixable for days on end.

moral of the story by @kelieah listen to the song while you’re at it to make your cry sesh take a turn for the worst.

cherry by @xoluvx this one hurts real bad. so does the song.

a complicated love story by @samhollandssweaters an emotional rollercoaster for real.

he dies in the end by @allfandomxreader ignore the title and just cry your eyes out with me.

eighteen by @fancyxholland you’ll be confused why it’s in the angst category but trust me.

all the lies by @peteywillproceed getting cheated on but the girl is toms gf, how do you tell him.

memories by @nycparkers i sob to this whenever i need a good cry.

don’t be a fool by @nycparkers breakups that dont end messily make me so fucking jealous.

FLUFF

kiss currency by @madmadmilk borderline smut. confused and oblivious harrison. dialogue inspires me to talk to males.

plank all over me by @waitimcomingtoo FILRTY TOM! THE BANTER! i really am a whore for well written dialogue. there’s additional parts but i won’t spoil.

playing cupid by @marvelobsessedteenager you set everyone else up but wait a damn minute how did you forget about tom?

little flirt by @webslinger-holland oh to flirt with tom while he’s sweaty from intensely dancing for the lip sync battle.

pour it out by @rhapsodyparker i don’t know what it is but famous!reader going on talk shows or having interviews and they ask the reader cheeky questions about tom might be one of my many kinks…

hubby by @t-holland2080 it’s the small things that make me want to bawl my eyes out for being so lonely.

going live by @redrebecca the dialogue makes me cry of happiness! tom doing a live (what a concept).

paddy’s crush by @tom-holland-is-spiderman jealous tom but of his younger brother.

wannabe by @sailingintothenight the cliffhanger at the end demands a second part.

flawless by @missnxthingg tom is a simp.

you and me by @sunshinehollandd best friend tom makes me soft.

dick appointments. web shooters. the duality of a man. by @porterporker it gets a lil steamy but man is “web shooter” a funny name for a dick.

best day by @thollandss dad!tom gives me baby fever even though i am a virg.

tom asks your dad by @blissfulparker can i just skip through the bad boyfriends and just marry the love of my life already.

baked chicken by @waitimcomingtoo there isn’t a category for awkward but if there was this would be in it.

lover boy by @starshinebucky tom being so oblivious you like him that you need to call for backup.

afterglow by @wickedholland i wish someone would treat me like this when im drunk instead of leaving me to hold my own hair back.

#tom holland #tom holland fics #tom holland x reader #tom holland series #tom holland smut #tom holland fluff #tom holland angst #tom holland fic #tom holland writing #tom holland reader insert

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lovee-infected · 4 years

Note

Hi may I please have headcannons for Ciel Phantomhive who got transported to Twisted wonderland.

It got a bit long for headcanons but why not ? Ciel in twisted wonderland has got a lot to tell lol

♦♥♠♣

He assumes it all to be a dream when he wakes up in NRC , as he slides the door of his coffin open just to fall to the ground

He tries and calls for Sebastian , considering this situation having something to do with him .When Sebastian doesn't show up , he leds out a moody growl trying to find someone or a way out of wherever he was

Mirror hall didn't seem a bad place for him to wake up at ; since most of the designs remained the same over hundreds of years it was kinda similar to victorian styles from Ciel's original time . He low-key starts admiring decorations and unfortunately , steps on something's tail

Grim naturally freaks out being woken up from his slumber like this and in a few seconds the whole salon is set on fire

Crowley arrives just in time to find Ciel almost choking Grim while shouting at him to do something ; poor Grim passes out when Crowley finally freed him from the savage Phantomhive's hands

Crowley isn't sure what to do first , punishing him for intense violence or clarifying which dorm would be responsible for him

He leaves judgement to the mirror and...it doesn't go quite as expected : " Your soul is...no . Not again...this one doesn't belong to any dorms either ," mirror says . Crowley got terrified thinking that it was similar to MC's situation , but he got even worse as the mirror says : " I see nothing through him because...I see no soul "

Crowley argues that there must be a mistake but Ciel himself knows that his soul no longer belongs to him , but to Sebastian

Ciel asks if the mirror knows anything about his contract , but neither the mirror nor headmaster had any idea on what he was talking about

Ciel decides to skip that part since he doesn't want to spill more tea himself , so he asks where he is

After Crowley's hour long presentation and telling Ciel that he's stuck in twisted wonderland until Crowley finds a way to send him back home , poor boy nervously smirks

He is now sure of it all being a dream so he tries anything that would help him to wake up : Pinching himself , slapping , screaming and finally , throwing himself out of window - He is lucky that Crowley catches him before his head crashes the ground

He almost saw dead with his two eyes , so it couldn't be a dream anymore

He first freaks out at how he can't come back , but then calms down realizing that he won't stay here for too long ;Sebastian would not let

Sebastian isn't one demon to give up on his soul just by him disappearing , he is way greedier and stubborner and would do anything it takes to have his rights as long as Ciel isn't dead . So being caught in a different world or dimension was no stop for Sebastian , specially thinking that demons themselve came from another dimension

Ciel decides to be hopeful that Sebastian would find him anyway , so he says that he'll wait just there until Sebastian comes for him , ignoring Crowley's ramblings wanting him to stop being stubborn

After a few hours Ciel gives up , accepting that he can't last on his own if he just waits for Sebastian to show up : What is taking that bastard so long...

The kind and good-hearted Crowley offers him a vip stay at their all Happy and comfortable hotel , aka Ramshackle dorm

Ciel argues that he just can't live like a pig , but Crowley states that he's either staying out or at Ramshackle's . He angrily growls , having to deal with it

The next morning he wakes up to see no one but Grim , which made both of them scream . MC catches the pan before Grim could throw it at Ciel , and Ciel brings out his gun- . MC then slaps him for rudeness and takes the gun

He ends up having to head classes with MC and Grim since he has nothing else to do , though he was too young to head any of the classes

Ciel isn't used to heading to public classes , but he's okay with them since he has his experience from Weston College , but something else irritates him :

This school was a bit too similar to Weston College. Not only atmosphere but also students . He basically shared the same class with a green haired version of Greenhill . Sebek is nothing different from him except being...more annoying . He couldn't stop talking about someone he called young master which makes him look a bit like Agni

Same goes for Ace and Deuce , they seemed kinda familiar but Ciel isn't sure where he's seen them before

He doesn't like Crowley because the way he acts , talks and hides his eyes remind him of Undertaker ; making him feel unsafe whenever he is around

This annoying pace continues for him ; a socially awkward emo with long blue hair who is good enough to be Gregory Violet's Identical twin , a teenage-version of Agni who shares the same wild spirit as Suma , and many others

He thought that it couldn't get any worse until he almost screams Snake at a guy who looks JUST- LIKE - HIM , sleeping under a tree . Silver wakes up to Ciel's fascinated gaze and gives him a confused look , that makes Ciel run away

School on the other hand is terrible : Magic's history is nothing like the history he is learned by Sebastian , but he could handle studying something all new . The problem is with the rest of classes : Animal language , alchemy and and anything that requires any talent in magic ; but PE is the worst . His body is already pretty weak and he falls at asthma attacks several times . To add to that his height is another thing he had to keep up with , he is at least 10 centimeters shorter than even the smallest ones there and of course , Night raven's unraveled students don't mind bullying a short moody kiddo-

Beside his enormous problems , there are other advantages as well ;

Ciel isn't much of a people person , but students there are rather interesting to him

Still most of them seem neutral to him , but there are also ones who catch his eyes :

He doesn't like : Grim (for obvious reasons) , Ace and Deuce (too loud and annoying ) , Cater ( Is always playing with some odd invention called phone *) , Leona and Ruggie ( they bully him ) , Jade ( Looks and talks like Sebastian ) , Floyd ( looks like an illegal combination of Sebastian and Grell...+ calls him baby seal ) , Rook ( stalks on him) , Sebek ( too annoying)

He low-key likes : Riddle ( he respects him organized nature + they look a bit similar) , Trey ( acts like a loyal servant ) , Azul ( is smart with contracts and seems to be a man of culture + runs a cafe with good teas and desserts) , Idia ( he weird , yet interesting ) , Silver ( reminds him of Snake) , Malleus ( is mysterious and looks like an almighty master )

The rest are just neutral to him

( * ) : Ciel obviously doesn't know what a phone is , along with many other things invented after his age ; he thinks they are all magical tools and not something created by the hand of man

Riddle invites him to tea parties and Ciel appreciates it , at least one thing that made him calm down in this crazy world

He once goes to Mister S's shop and Sam immediately senses a demonic aura around him , asking him tons of questions about the demon shielding him . Ciel dodges from answering each and every one of them but Sam isn't yet satisfied . He doesn't argue as he Ciel resists answering but Ciel is about to leave , he tells something that makes his blood run cold : " ...We'll soon meet this mister Sebastian in person , little demon ; My friend on the other side told me"

When learning that Azul is a master of contracts , Ciel goes to him to see if he knows anything about contracts made with demons ; which he either doesn't really know or doesn't want to share since Ciel has nothing to give as the price

Azul though still sends the twins after him since he's starting to get interested after his demon sorted questions ; which made him curious of what this child might actually know

Ciel once steps into Ignihyde and gets out in 0.01 seconds . His mind isn't yet prepared to deal with a technology which won't be yet discovered until hundreds of years later from his original time

Other than Ignihyde , the dorm which really makes him feel uncomfortable is Scarabia . The atmosphere is just like Suma's palace and getting reminded of that horrible massacre with Agni's death isn't really pleasant . He meets both Kalim and Jamil in school and Kalim even invites him to parties , but he immediately says no . He decides to stay away from there as much as possible

Savanaclaw is his danger zone , he steps in = He dies . He once calls Leona Pathetic nasty cat and that is enough for Leona to set a prize for his head

Malleus on the other hand seems to be appreciating this little guest . Ciel feels a bit unsafe around him as Malleus notices his supernatural secrets , including the seal under his blindfold without him mentioning it ; but Malleus confronts him that he doesn't want anything from him and he's just interested that's all

Rook hears from Octavinelle students that Azul is after the child , and that makes him enter the challenge uninvitedly ; the Ciel catching game . After all he lives to be the greatest of hunters and also , whatever the reason was , Pomefiore would have an advantage holding what Octavinelle needed

If it wasn't because of MC , Grim , Ace and Deuce sticking to him all day he would've got caught long ago , but no one could kidnap him this easily when others were around

With his terrible situation at classes , daily argues with Grim and anyone else , bully routines and almost half of the school after him he knows that he won't last there much longer

Ciel now can't help but to pray for Sebastian to find him sooner wherever he is now...

♦♥♠♣

Note : Now now , would you guys like a second part for this in which Sebastian this time , finds his way to twisted wonderland..? (:

Update: Part 2 here!

Tagging : @lethlia @xxunrxvelingxx @ji-yaaan

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baticorngirl · 2 years

Text

Title: "And They All Lived Happily Ever After"

(Dedicated to @mac-attack5)

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

Fandom: Batman/DC

Warning(s): Graphic Depictions of Violence

Relationship(s): Ra's al Ghul & Talia al Ghul, Talia al Ghul & Melisande, (Heavily Mentioned) Ra's al Ghul/Sora,

Characters: Ra's al Ghul, Talia al Ghul, Melisande (Talia's mother),

Summary:

When she was small, Talia al Ghul's favorite bedtime story used to be her father's own origin story. It had excitement, twists, revenge, and a moral that Ra's urged her to follow constantly, but that was not the reason she liked it. She liked it because of the beginning. The part where her father was kind, anti-murder, anti-death, and pro-humanity. Perhaps it was a guilty pleasure of hers, to imagine that time. Her father would be very upset to think of her enjoying these thoughts, she knew. Perhaps rightfully. Perhaps she needed to learn better with maturity, or needed to stop being so naive.

Or perhaps, those thoughts were the most beautiful thing she had.

Chapter 1 of 6

Author's note:

First of all, my dear readers, if you don't want heavy spoilers for Birth of the Demon, this fic is not for you. It's mostly based off of that version of Ra's' origin (with some additions from The Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul too ofc), so almost the entire thing's gonna end up spoiled if you haven't read it already.

Second of all, if you are one of the rare people that has some huge problem with frequent updates, this fic is also not for you. It shall be updating twice a day, for reasons I will explain in a moment. All six chapters have already been fully written and edited, so, going along with that, this fic is labelled with the characters/relationships of the full story. (Specifically, Melisande will not show up until next chapter, and there is no Graphic Depictions of Violence yet.)

Third of all, this fic has a little backstory in itself that I would like to speak of. Basically, here's what happened:

Last month, I was just casually messaging @mac-attack5 (the person this fic is dedicated to) on discord, and we ended up talking about the headcanon that this fic's idea surrounds. The ideas for it got very angsty very fast, though, so...

Anyway, I took that as a challenge, so here we are. I have written a 6-chapter fic, which will end up totaling to 44k words when finished, to make my friend cry. I shall keep you guys updated on whether or not she does cry. If they don't, then... LOOK I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M GONNA DO, OKAY????

That being said, this chapter is probably the least angsty out of all of them, so I don't expect any tears for the moment.

But, as a matter of fact, that's actually not the entire backstory. The reason it shall get updated so quickly is because I must get it out before the 25th. Why, might you ask? Because that's when the next Robin issue comes out, and this fic ALSO serves as a little goodbye to Ra's' wonderful old backstory, since I am 100% sure Robin is going to ruin it. The preview doesn't look like the worst thing in the world, but A) I wrote this fic before it and B) it's still seems like they're gonna push away the importance of Ra's' uncle for his mother, that Ra's will probably treat Damian worse than he would at this point realistically, etc. and just in general I don't trust DC writers lol so I gotta stay pessimistic so I'll at least get proven right if it's bad.

Okay, that should be it. Enjoy!

----------------------------------------------------

It was almost 8:00 at night.

Talia's voice was high-pitched, squealing. She plopped down onto her bed, bouncing with energy. Her feet kicked in the air, even as her bottom began to settle down on the firm mattress. Her squealing didn't even pause, though, as she began to chant out fumbled incomplete sentences about beds and stories and sleep. She looked at the bedroom's door, watching as her father calmly followed her in, over 10 feet behind her.

She spun herself to face him, staring up with her beady 4-year-old eyes. Talia pushed herself up from sitting again, flinging her stubby arms out from the bed impatiently. With another weary step, Ra's came into her reach. She grabbed his hand and rushed him closer, until he began to pull a chair over and sit next to her bed, ready to begin. Another squeal of excitement echoed out of the little girl's mouth.

Talia swiftly toppled into a lying position, plopping her head down onto the fluffy pillows. Her body shifted over to point towards Ra's, still staring at him with big eyes. He eyed her back, rolling his eyes, but only a moment and an exasperated sigh later, simply patted her head affectionately. She giggled.

"Alright then, my child," Ra's leaned over to her, clicking his tongue on the roof of his mouth. His fingers pressed together. "Any specific kind of story you'd like to hear this time?" He titled his head, letting his back hunch over while still cracking his neck back to see Talia's bright eyes.

Talia tugged her blankets over her shoulders, snuggling into them, "Any story," She whispered, a grin growing on her face. She fidgeted under the covers, kicking her legs around with a persistent childish energy. Her head rocked backwards, "Any exciting story,"

"Okay," Ra's paused, patting Talia's blankets down on her nonchalantly. He glanced to the left, letting his pupil drift to the top corner of his eye. Simultaneously, he bit the inside of his mouth and lowered his eyebrows, lost in thought as he considered his storytime options. After a minute, he slowly began to nod to himself, but before he could even start to open his mouth again, Talia opened her own and spoke rapidly.

"Story!" She squeaked, "Come on! Please! Tell me a story!" She parsed every sentence oddly, letting everything be short and concise, unlike Ra's' thinking time. Her head popped up from the pillow. There really was no end to her energy, apparently.

Ra's nudged her head back down, "Yes, yes, I will. Patience, Talia. Patience." Despite his insistence, he put his hand up to his chin, rubbing it with thought. It took much too long of this dreary silence before he fully decided and finally gave Talia the entertainment she had been bugging him for.

Fortunately, though, he did eventually open his eyes wide in realization, "I… I have one. It's… exciting, I believe. With a great moral of the story, too. A very important one." His voice deepened, "I want you to learn it and remember it well, Talia. I want you to focus on it more than the story itself." His mouth fell into a flat frown, running creases down the sides of his nose.

"Okay," Talia's chin bounced in a small nod, pushing the blankets downwards slightly. "I'll try to remember it,"

Ra's' eyebrows sharpened, casting shadows over his eyes, "You must remember it, not just try," He criticized, clicking his tongue on the roof of his mouth. His arms crossed, "You must follow it, most importantly. Listen carefully. Don't make any immature jokes at the expense of such a story… or any jokes at all, really. Unlike most basic fairy tales, this story isn't even partially an overdone fib… it's just the reality of what happens -What did happen, as a matter of fact- when a person spends their life making this mistake. It's for your own good tha–"

"I'll do all that," Talia's chin bounced again, pushing the blanket just the tiniest bit further. With the way her feet rubbed together rapidly, it had become more than clear how bored she was. "Just start!"

"God, you're a lost cause," Ra's spit out under his breath, "When I say you need to remember this, I mean you, specifically. I've seen you, the way you speak about my job. The way you speak about me, the way you speak about this league, the way you speak about our sacrifices in general– It could be worse, but it's flawed. You haven't fully grasped this concept, even with my constant teachings." He glared.

"I...understand," Talia's chin bounced in yet another nod, but slower. She rolled flat on her back, staring up at the ceiling as her blank expression quickly proved her claim as a lie. But after a moment, she just shrugged and turned back towards him, smiling again. "But Father, come on! You told me there was excitement!"

Ra's' shoulders rose, and his breath became much louder. He huffed at Talia's disregard for the 'important moral', pressing his teeth against each other sternly. His neck leaned over, sighing again as he rested his head on his propped-up hand. Talia blinked, confused yet again by his behavior.

Ra's pushed his hand up, flinging away a short strand of hair, "Fine, fine, I'll just let you figure out all this when I'm telling it if you lack such patience," His expression gradually softened the more he glanced at Talia's adorable face. "Hopefully I am not acting foolish to trust you with such an important story at this ignorant age of yours. Just don't go around telling everyone you see and…"

"I won't!" Talia instantly swore, nodding furiously. Her eyes lit up, only now realizing that this importance made the story even more of an excitement. "I promise, Father!"

"Good," Ra's nodded in return. He took a deep suck of air into his mouth and lightly coughed, clearing his throat to prepare. Talia pressed her eyes closed in a sleepy gesture. Ra's' mouth flipped open, and his tongue twirled into a familiar pattern, "Once upon a time, in a faraway land… there was physician."

His backstory. His origin. Everything that made him who he was today, tucked in that little story. He didn't tell many people it, and frankly tried to hide it most of the time. Burying the past out of shame, grief, anger, or some twisted mix of the three was not something he was innocent of. No, not in the slightest. But history repeats itself, they say, and he could feel Talia going down that route. Even in her smile. She was still such a young child that surely it meant nothing, he would assure himself, but every action hinted. The hints built up, almost like a subtle taunt.

"Blood is gross," She had stated one day. So confident, so adamant. Her hips swung as she marched in there and made her statement. "Human corpses are gross."

Ra's had cocked his head back, "Why? Humans deserve it with the way they've treated their own habitat. It's revenge, if you put it harshly, or in truth, hardly more than a natural consequence." He turned his back on her again, shrugging. "Unless you knew the person on a deeper level, they should be sparking only joy in an intelligent witness."

"But that person was alive and then they're not," Talia argued, "That's gross and bad, because now the person has to get to a Lazarus Pit to go back to living their life. That doesn't seem good."

"As I just said, even if it's bad for that individual, it was deserved and, in most cases, a necessary punishment." Ra's shifted through a stack of books, which had laid neatly on the table in front of him, His voice had substantially increased in volume, turning harsher in tone. "If humanity doesn't benefit, that is positive, not negative."

"But–"

"But you have not been paying any attention to the lessons, have you?" Ra's accused. He spun on his heel, finally fully turning to face her. He took a few steps towards her, only to waiver of the path to grab a globe off of a nearby shelf. With a soft plop, Talia felt him place the globe in between her arms. She stared down at it curiously. Ra's kneeled down next to her, staring as well.

Ra's picked up a single finger, giving the globe a gentle spin. He placed the finger down on where it landed on, tracing it against the smooth surface. With a hint of hesitance, Talia put her finger down next to his. There were words written there, which Ra's was currently reading silently. Talia was still learning to read, though, so she simply mouthed to herself the few parts she could make out. The words were not a country's name, though, as this was not a normal globe. It was a kind of key, connecting symbols to words and descriptions. Each symbol was scattered over the map. The climate, the plants and the animals of each environment, carefully shown. Like a very specific map would, but in a spherical form.

The countries weren't even labeled, as a matter of fact. There was another globe, usually laying under a thin layer of dust next to this one, that could give Ra's his information on that if he had forgotten. But this one was not to remember labels or names, as almost every single one of those borders were man-made. Fake, ruled to exist through the minds of one species. The only names that were labeled were the continental plates. It was all that mattered to Ra's, when he looked at this globe, and all he wished to teach his daughter, at least in this moment.

"This is what the world looks like now," He explained, "Gorgeous oceans, gorgeous trees. Just a gorgeous planet, wouldn't you say? Absolutely beautiful, with all its thriving life of all kinds of animals. A miracle creation. Our miracle creation." He pressed his palm against it, rubbing the globe as he quickly pointed to different areas. Teaching Talia through gestures, he gave a tap to the key, as well.

Talia smiled, "Yes," Her eyes opened wide with wonder.

"But it's a privilege to live here, isn't it? Something we should appreciate?" He remarked. Taking his hands and eyes off the globe, he stretched his legs upwards until he stood tall over Talia. Talia's eyes followed upwards, nodding. "Well, the humans aren't appreciating it, so we must cut back on them, as it is the only effective way to save our planet. We must get rid of 9/10th of them as if they are litter –which, with the way they scatter litter around aimlessly, they have proved to quite literally be– but your many lessons, if you were paying any attention at all, should have explained all this to you in solid detail."

Talia glanced down at her shoes, fidgeting, "I know," She pulled the globe up to her chest, hugging her arms around it securely. She tapped against it's hollow ball for a moment before looking back up at her father. "They need to be punished, it's about the protection, I know…. But it just seems like a lot of death. People look sad when they die. It makes me sad."

"If you want to hold your full potential as an assassin, we'll need to work through that," Ra's stuck his index finger in the air, making a mental note of the problem. He paused for a moment, only to then stride over to his table of books and go back to sorting through them. Talia, still in his peripheral vision, pouted. "For the time being, since you're still so far away from becoming one, just always keep in mind what I taught you. Stating the wrong opinions, such as corpses being bad, is only going to manipulate you into believing them more. We don't wish for that to happen, do we?" Ra's called over to her.

"No, we don't," Talia nodded,

"So then keep your naive opinions to yourself until you have matured," Ra's advised, flipping one of the books open with a small swack. Talia nodded again, still frowning. When she left the room, her eyes glanced only to the floor. Her hips did not swing, but rather drooped. Ra's wasn't paying attention, though.

Despite all the nodding Talia had pleased him with, that was far from the last time Talia said such traitorous statements. The only difference was, they were usually said to someone else. Of course, word still trailed back to her father regardless, and although he kept quiet, this behavior worried him to the fullest extent.

It reminded him of his young self so, so very much. The same young man that betrayed his wise uncle's mildly-murderous nomads, and the same one who saved an evil person's life only for it to result in a much kinder person's death. He had to teach her better. So, without an ounce more of a hesitance, he illustrated the story's setting with his words, letting a large city in the middle of a golden desert seep into her sleepy imagination. Then describing Sora, and himself, so much younger, just before beginning to paint out the royalty of that city.

"The Sultan had one son named Runce. That son was very muscular but very ugl–" He bit his tongue only a moment before slipping out such a petty word. He could insult Runce once any spoilers were out of the question, at the end of the story. "His son was muscular and skilled in horse-riding, along with many other catches such as simply being royalty in itself, but he had no respect at all. He was not just rude, but blatantly awful to those around him…."

Ra's went back to explaining the story in a matter-of-fact tone, describing the incidents and flaws Runce obviously possessed and showed constantly. Then, he quickly switched to a slightly different topic, deciding to go to the Lazarus pit creation and, right before that, his attempts to save an old woman's (Huwe's mother, to be specific) life.

"I know this may surprise you, Talia," He quietly remarked. A sadness lay in his voice, low and gravelly, "But back when I failed to save that old woman's life, I was displeased by seeing a human being die. Overdramatic, really. I went on and on about death taking away loved ones and the despair of it all… death, how terrible, I thought. Death, a fate worse than anyone deserves…."

Talia's eyes popped open with curiosity. She scooched up horizontally more, still laying down but with her head positioned so it was propped up against her pillowed. Her mouth was open, and her eyes were widened, "But that's crazy. I mean, not what you used to say, but…. You couldn't have been like that. I know you. That's not you!" She laughed, but there was a hint of hesitance in her voice, mixed with another hint of something quite the opposite– intrigue.

"It's hard to believe, isn't it?" Ra's' eyebrows rose, glancing up to make brief eye contact with her. Not one hint of laughter lay in his expression, though. It chilled Talia, just the slightest bit. "Calm down, I told you, no jokes. But yes, I see what you mean… it's ridiculous to think I could've acted so willfully ignorant of all the horrid people in the world. So naive to the horror of humanity as a whole, truly. But, unfortunately… Well, of course I would not lie to you, Daughter." He flung his head over to face the ground again.

"I never said any of that," Talia mumbled, "I just said you're different now. You're the one hating on your old self, not me."

A single eyebrow rose on Ra's' face, "Oh, I'm just saying what we are all made aware of in the League of Assassins, Talia. It's so obvious, and I do hope you're not ignoring the facts." He stated, sounding almost apathetic with such a lack of tone. "Just promise me, Talia… when you grow older, you won't act as naive as me, will you?"

"Umm…." Talia wrapped her arms around herself, rubbing her shoulders uncertainly. Ra's pushed his head forward, gesturing for her to go on. She glanced around the room, back and forth and back and forth. "I won't act naive." Talia stated monotonously.

"Good," Ra's swallowed down a load of phlegm before continuing his story, "As I was saying, when that old woman died, I spoke about all my views of death….. The pains of death, how brutal was the enemy of humanity. How brutal was my enemy, I would describe it as. Everyone used to describe the words I spoke as prattle… well, most of it, and frankly they had a point. I was lost in this wondrous world where I could be anything I wanted. Where the world could be anything I thought it was. I was an adult, -albeit a young one- but an adult, most certainly… yet I acted like no more than a child. Not like you, Talia, My Dear, though. I've taught you better than that. I acted like a particularly immature, sheltered child…."

"Wait, Father…." Talia paused, eyes widening even more than before. "Does that mean you didn't kill people?" Her young voice squeaked again.

"Yes, clearly, but… just let me continue." He picked up his hand, pushing air around as he quickly waved away the question. Talia looked to the side, considering this answer even as Ra's changed the subject. "Huwe tried to kill me, as he had previously threatened to, and I was about to let him, when–"

"Why would you let him kill you?" Talia blurted out. Her nose scrunched up, looking almost disgusting by the idea.

Ra's sighed, loudly, as her expression faded. He put a hand up to his forehead, facepalming in annoyance.

"You do need to stop questioning every little detail of the story, Talia." He let out another sigh, pushing Talia down onto her bed. With a gentle plop, he pushed her blankets back over her. "I almost let him kill me…. Well, out of curiosity, if I remember correctly. It was a long time ago, it's… hard to remember. But I loved to learn. I suppose the afterlife is something we have learned very little about, isn't it? Not that it matters much. Death is something you inflict on the wrong, on your enemies… not yourself. Immortality is the goal. Immortality is always the goal, and I've nearly achieved it now, but then I hadn't. Frankly, none of this matters, though…. At some point I'll die permanently, and then I'll learn more of that, but even then won't be able to inform the living. There was no reason not to wait, so yet again, this is just proof of how foolish I used to act. Sure, I discovered germs and invented the Lazarus Pit at that time, but when it came to basic common sense, such as self-preservation skills and any matter of awareness, I was horribly lacking ..."

Talia glanced away from Ra's, "Al…right," Her nose was still a bit scrunched up, but the muscles were beginning to relax. "I guess you were just stupid….. Or really easy-going. Even with getting killed." She squeezed a corner of the blanket between her fingers.

"Yes, yes… something along those lines. I will say that I simply wasn't against the idea of dying, not in the slightest bit for it. That would be a completely different situation." Ra's explained, making a small, loose, hand gesture in the air with one of his hands. With that same hand, he waved this question away using the same gesture as he did to the last one. "Now, if you'll care to stop interrupting me, I do need to continue my story."

Talia flopped to her side, specifically the one facing directly away from her father. She made a small squeak of acknowledgement, but then stayed quiet to let her father speak as he had instructed. He went on and on for around a couple minutes, pulling Talia's imagination through the story. The entire time, she hardly stirred. Her ears perked up at some parts, of course, as proof she was fully listening, but her mouth certainly didn't pop open to shout out some curious queries. Ra's seemed pleased by this, in a quiet kind of way. His shoulders were loose and relaxed, at ease as he spoke.

Eventually, his shoulders did start to hunch, though. Not through anger or annoyance, especially not at his currently well-behaved daughter, but a tingling of stress and sadness in his mind. He had just resurrected Runce in the story. Runce was alive, now, and he had already gotten past his young self's original reaction. There was only one thing left to happen. It made him twitch, then pushed that twitch into a shudder. He squeezed his eyes shut, taking a breath before he spoke the next part.

"Well, Talia," He commented, drifting out of the story's plots for a moment. "The next part has excitement, I'll tell you that much. It's climactic, at least. Something happens. But… well, you'll have to wait until later for the positive excitement, for right now is… the consequence." His volume abruptly lowered, reaching almost a reluctant whisper.

Talia turned back to him, eyes wide open,"Don't spoil the next part, just tell! Does Runce say sorry about his actions after you saved him, or does he still act mean, or ..." Talia's excitement quickly lessened as she noticed her father's stern and saddened expression sharpening down on her. Biting her lip, she frowned. "Oh…. um, just go ahead," Her voice wavered, unsure what to make of her father's body language.

"The Lazarus Pit madness is what happened, Talia," Ra's made eye contact with Talia through a piercing gaze. His entire body froze, suddenly even more exhausted than before. "That cruel man… that cruel human is what happened. I don't blame the Lazarus Pit, truthfully, because I doubt it was what made his desire to act so brutal. It simply gave him the guts to go for it. It simply made him turn far enough, a turn that he likely would've made on his own regardless of the insanity… if it wasn't for the mortal illness that I cured. What happened was that he acted so horribly, naturally, human."

"But–" Talia muttered, "But what did he do?"

"He grabbed Sora," Ra's stated softly, "He did it all the time, but much more violently on this occasion. Now, I have no issue with violence, at least presently, but not against Sora. Not against someone who deserved only the gentlest of grabs. But, well…as much as I tried to stop him and save her, he…. strangled her to death." His eyes closed half-way, looking around as he considered the statement. At this point, he didn't quite look sad, but rather, emotionless. Every ounce of expression seemed to be whisked away in his far-off gaze.

Talia's mouth gaped open, "Oh," She pulled up her blankets, shuddering slightly herself. She had been told it would be an exciting story, not a true story of murder. Her lips quivered, forming a shaky pout. Her eyebrows tensed. She was so small, just half the size of her father, and her mind so fragile. But just as she was about to get even more upset, or even let out a tear at the terrifying tale, a glimpse of hope sparkled in her eyes. Still a bit shaky, her lips curled up. "Oh, I know! You'll just put her in the pit! It's already right there and prepared!"

"I tried to," To Talia's dismay, Ra's' frown only deepened.

"Did it– Did it not work?" Talia asked, "Did Sora… go crazy as well? Show her human inside?"

"Of course not, Sora was wonderful!" Ra's yelled, but his tone went straight back to normal only a moment after. "Regardless, I didn't even get that far to find out what would've happened…. Because I got strung along to the sultan's dungeons. For the crime of slaughtering an innocent woman… the one his son had committed. There were multiple witnesses, but no one stood up for me. Not one of those people cared about Sora's suffering, and they certainly didn't care about my wrongful suffering, either. No one was on our side." His head drooped down as his eyes sharpened with anger.

Talia's lips went back to their shaky quivering. Her throat felt itchy, wanting to say something while also wanting to close up and keep quiet forever at the same time. She didn't have anything to say, exactly, at least that she wanted her father to hear. Her body twisted around, burying her face up against her pillow.

Her father's gaze softened, seeming weak for half a second. His entire body slouched, dreary and outdone deep inside. Talia's eyebrows furrowed at the behavior, so different from his usual confidence and rage. His eyelids dropped to the point of almost looking closed all the way. Except then the anger came back, along with a sense of confidence, and he nodded to himself. Suddenly certain. Suddenly normal.

"A perfect example of humanity being cruel, as a whole, together," Ra's remarked, raising his eyebrows calmly. "It surprised me, back then. Now it does not, seeing the much, much, worse ways they torture the planet they were invited on to. But I don't want it to ever surprise you, My Love." He patted her head for the second time, letting every inch of mental strain Sora's death had brung up drift away.

Talia rolled flat on to her back again, only to then throw the blanket over her entire face. "That's… scary," She quietly whimpered underneath, proving herself to, despite all the desensitization, still truly be such a small child. Her back was against the headboard, with her knees shoved up to her chest, very much awake.

"Oh, you're just a little shocked. Next time, it'll come smoothly, and I'll move over this depressing part in a quicker manner. I understand you're young, but this basic story will only benefit you, I promise." Ra's arms made a loose shrugging gesture. "Speaking of which, I'll move on now. This isn't the worst of it, but I'll move fast through that if you're really so sensitive to it. At the end things will get much happier with the excitement. Satisfying, even. So very satisfying." He then let his arms drop down onto his lap, folding his hands together neatly, with the fingers securely intertwined. As he spoke, a smile abruptly took over his mouth. Unlike most smiles, though, his eyes did not squint upwards with joy, but rather stayed eerily emotionless. Angry, even. Talia's head bobbled in a nod from under the covers.

As he explained the torture and imprisonment, Talia still did not relax from her scared pose. A few whimpers even escaped, almost silent but still there. It was only when he reached Huwe's rescue that she calmed down a bit, but even then, it took until right before Runce's death for her to have finally finished gradually shifting back into a lying position.

"...So, the wrongly-done Lazarus Pit burned his ugly flesh off until all that was left was a skeleton," The same eerie smile Ra's had presented before was here again, even stronger in expression. His back had straightened, just as his arms had crossed, both showing pure confidence in his stance.

Talia was actually smiling, too, now. "I bet his corpse wasn't gross," She said. "I bet it was nice and good, just like you've been saying." Ra's' confidence only grew from this sudden agreement.

"Of course it was," Ra's nodded boldly, his chin bouncing high in approval. "I already promised you this would be righteous-feeling. See? Humans deserve all this death. It's a wondrous thing, as a matter of fact, and it's progress to see you addressing it all on your own."

"Maybe," Talia replied, tilting her head. Ra's' eyes squinted for a moment, unsure what to make of the short answer.

Despite it, he went on with his story. All about fighting together with Huwe and his uncle, defeating and slaughtering all the warriors. Talia's smile certainly faded at those parts, but she stayed calm, at least relative to before. She even closed her eyes in an effort to start falling asleep, and although her happiness had pretty much all gone away, she was content enough. Or, at the very least, apathetic.

Until Ra's reached the part where the group came back to the big city, that was. Until Ra's stated bloody descriptions of every single human being's death that lived there. Talia's head darted up from the pillow, pouting yet again. Pouting more than the part where Sora died, even. Her stubby, frail arms wrapped around herself, and her eyebrows tilted downwards with a burst of anger in her gaze. Ra's' eyes widened at the sudden reaction, expecting if anything, her to react the same as with Runce's death. He sighed.

"Why would you kill those people?" Talia exclaimed, "That's so random! They didn't kill Sora, Runce did, and you already dealt with him. Why– why would you–?" The words stumbled out of her frowning mouth in a frantic load of concern. She bounced up and down on her mattress, but not with excitement this time. Anxious was the only way she could describe the movements now.

"Do you really believe simple murder to be enough when they murdered my true love and tortured me almost to death?" Ra's questioned, his voice getting louder with a hint of frustration. "Stay calm, Talia. It was all in my grand plan to take away their power, and even erase what they had used their power for in the past. It was the ultimate revenge, truthfully. It should be satisfying, if you consider it on a deeper level."

"But–" Talia doubted, "But those people didn't do anything! How would that help? I don't get it." Her voice squeaked again as she got more nervous.

"It's not about the individuals," Ra's explained. He blinked slowly, as his voice gradually faded into a single tone. "It is about the full picture. It's about what all this will result in, and that was revenge in this situation. It's the same with my world-domination plans. You focus too much on the human corpses in it… when you could look at the bloodless animals saved." A soft smile covered his face.

"But–" Talia doubted for the second time, "But that doesn't make… But those people…. But what if you or me were one of them? They weren't any worse than us. We could've died. That's… That's scary, too!" She whined.

"It doesn't matter anymore, Talia. I achieved my means and there's no going back so we'll just have to assume it was worth it." Ra's tightened in his arm-crossing, turning from confident to angry and stern. "Although, well.. I will admit I didn't feel too good after it. I admit Sora was still gone in my heart, and I admit my actions did nothing to save me from that. But I also happened to become sick right then, so for all I know, it was just an effect from that. An arbitrary mix of emotions from a burst of weakness." Ra's shrugged it off.

"Those people probably felt really scared," Talia stated. Some small wrinkles puffed in her primarily-smooth forehead at the concern. "Those feelings they felt when you were killing them probably weren't very… very… arbi– arbitr…." Her mouth made a funny face as she attempted to repeat Ra's' complex wording.

A much louder sigh poured from Ra's' lungs, "Ah, Children. Always so naive. Always so sensitive to these matters." He didn't even bother to argue with her. Instead, Ra's rolled his neck around, glancing to the floor with a sense of subtle anger at the child.

Silence took over the air for a good minute or so. Talia was still sitting straight up in her bed, looking directly at her father unpleasantly. Meanwhile, Ra's did not return the looks, as he still rolled his neck around to glance at the most spontaneous things around the room. He ignored her out of his annoyance. After another second, Talia just wiped her eyes of any welled-up tears and plopped back down sadly. Ra's took this as a cue to continue with his story.

The last few details were mostly adding on to the part that Talia didn't like, so she made sure to position herself to be as far away from Ra's as possible. A puffed up piece of blanket blocked him away from her. From where she couldn't see her, Talia's eyes were angry in expression. But also sad… quite sad.

"That's how I became who I am today," Ra's finished. Talia breathed a sigh of relief at the end, exhaling out quite audibly. Ra's didn't respond, though, but simply pushed the blanket wall down and gently patted her back. "Are you still awake under there, my love?" He smiled at her.

"Yes…" Talia replied, slowly beginning to turn around to face him. Her face still displayed visible distress.

"Then how do you feel about the story?" Ra's asked. A single eyebrow rose in genuine intrigue. He leaned in, making eye contact from only a foot away. Talia rocked her head back and forth, swishing her mouth about uncertainly. Ra's' eyebrow rose again. "What did you take from it?"

"Well… I liked the beginning part," She mumbled. Her mood quickly changed, letting a small smile take over her. That smile only grew as she spoke once more. "I liked hearing about when you thought killing was bad… And I liked hearing about Sora and how you loved her. I liked hearing about the part where you thought corpses were gross."

Ra's' eyebrows quickly furrowed in concern and barely-hidden disappointment, "Because you learned from it, I assume? Because it was interesting to learn how such actions backfired?" He lifted his chin upwards slightly. Under his breath, his mouth quietly muttered out a whisper. "That's not a part you're meant to like."

"Probably," Talia shrugged, biting down on one side of her lip innocently. "Or maybe it was just interesting to learn about your past in general. Your old opinions and stuff." She glanced downwards, narrowly avoiding Ra's' eye contact. Her blanket was in a twisted mess over her now, and she nonchalantly began to fix it. Ra's waited to answer.

"I… guess that makes sense," Ra's agreed, but his judgemental side-glance proved otherwise. For around half a minute this time, Ra's and Talia stayed silent. Talia spent the entire time kicking around her bed sheets until they worked well, not even bothering to give a look back at her father. Ra's calmly sucked his lips in thoughtfully. "Any other thoughts you acquired about it?" It took a moment of confusion on Talia's face before she understood her father's formal word choice this time, but she eventually got it.

"Well," She began, "I liked it when you killed Runce,"

Ra's went back to peacefully smiling, "Any specific reason for that? Because he deserved it, I assume? Because humans deserve it? Because Sora deserved all the vengeance in the world for the unjust he put her through?" He stuck his chin even further outwards towards Talia as he encouraged her forward, subtly anticipating a good response.

"Yes," Talia said. She turned from her blankets to her pillows, throwing one up in the air enthusiastically to puff it up. Apparently, she'd done it harder than she realized, as it nearly flew right on to the floor, if it hadn't been for her father catching and handing it back to her. She positioned the pillow down and then got comfortable on top of it. But right as she rolled herself down on to it, a couple quiet sentences seeped out of her mouth. "But honestly, I also just… liked it when you killed someone to help her. When you killed out of love, instead of… you know. I don't see you do that much anymore."

Ra's' brow scrunched up in confusion, "On the contrary, that's certainly not something I quit after that. I've killed for my loved ones plenty of times. Loved ones of all kinds, even, as sometimes even people as far as allies will get a simple vengeance if they're murdered offensively enough." Not even looking down to do it, he grabbed Talia's blanket and gently wrapped it over her arms to tuck her in.

"But that's just if it offends you, isn't it?" Talia clarified, pushing herself down even deeper into the sheets to get fully cozy. "I meant when you kill that person because they're bad. Simply because they hurt the person, and you love them. When you explained it, it sounded like that's what happened with Runce."

"Of course it was," Ra's nodded. He was now standing up from his seat, stretching his legs out as he walked careless circles around his chair. "He brought harm to me as well, but at that moment, of course I had Sora on my mind. It was for her, not myself, I promise you. But even those kinds I haven't stopped doing. Just consider our entire plans to save the earth with the cutting down of the human population." He broke out from the circle to make his way to a blank wall in Talia's bedroom.

On the wall, he traced out a circle with his fingers. His head leaned against the wall as well, gazing directly out at the large circle he was mentally marking out. It was no more than a gesture, of course, but he repeated the gesture several times, as if it could somehow drill his points into Talia's head even deeper through it. Meanwhile, Talia's head had perked up to watch Ra's' movements, messing up her blankets slightly again.

"We're protecting the Earth, Talia," Ra's verbally established, making a tap on the wall with the same tracing finger. He briefly glanced back at her to make sure she was watching. "We're protecting it because we love it, and because we cherish it more than the rest. Is that not out of love?... Besides, consider the animals this organization has saved. Every single one lies so close to my heart, and I wish to get rid of humans to make room for more. Is that not out of love?" He pressed his palm against the wall, pushing against it to twirl himself around until his back was pushed against it. His arms pulled in, folding over one another behind his back.

Talia nodded, but while moving her head in a way that almost also made her shake her head, too. Her eyes began to fall closed, looking at Ra's and showing brief confusion while also being quite obviously much too tired to fully react.

Ra's walked back over to her, pushing her straight back down onto her back and tucking her in yet again. She didn't resist at all, just sitting there as the sleepiness took over. Ra's took a deep breath, letting his expression soften at the sight of Talia fall asleep. He patted her small, child-sized head.

Talia's imagination took over from this point. At first, her father's last words about murder and love crept into her mind, but the word 'love' stuck. It was such a beautiful word. In the League of Assassins, hardly anyone spoke about it, or used it to its full potential. So, Talia thought of love without murder, and the words of death taking away love, quoted from Ra's so long ago, filled her head. It was such an intriguing idea. It was an idea that for once, she wanted to believe in.

Eventually, her mind mashed all her scattered sleepy thoughts into a dreamland world standing in front of her. It was a beautiful world, with bright, shining, affection that she held onto and dreamt off all night long. It was a more beautiful world than she was surrounded by. There was no blood. No blood at all. Talia had already seen so much blood, even at 4 years old, that it was a simple relief to not see that disgusting death for a moment.

Ra's would not have liked her enjoying this dream. He wouldn't have enjoyed this dream. He would've called it naive. He would've called it too good, to the point of fraud. But in that moment, it didn't matter. Because that story had opened up a concept in her that she liked a lot– her father, despite his current bloodlust and obsessions with ends over means, was not always murderous.

As she was drifting out of consciousness, though, her ears had picked up one last goodnight from Ra's.

"You, yourself, are very much included in the loved ones I'd kill for, Daughter," He had reminded her, "And for you, I would kill a thousand times over. No one is allowed to hurt you, Talia, I'll make sure of it."

Even in her sleep, Talia had made a small nod back to him. Ra's leaned over, kissing the top of her head lightly. A few pit-patters echoed on the floors as he made his way to the light switch. Ra's flicked it off and took one last look at Talia, grinning.

"Not even a single punch,"

Meanwhile Talia, half-asleep but blissful, had believed those words with all of her heart.

------------------------------

Ending notes:

Reblogs, replies/comments, or even just likes are greatly appreciated <3

Also, I know some people are gonna be thinking "Ra's is acting way too nice" but just be patient because there's a point to it, and besides, back in his early years, Ra's WAS supposed to love Talia, and he did show his affection from time to time, so it might just be you reading too many modern comics where Ra's is worse than he used to be that's making you think it's more OOC than it is.

#talia al ghul #ras al ghul #league of assassins #batman #dc #batman fanfic #batman fic #batman fan fiction #dc fic #dc fanfic #dc fan fiction #al ghul family #batman: birth of the demon #tw mentions of death #tw mentions of torture #tw mentions of killing #baticorn writes

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presumenothing · 4 years

Text

fmab (+03) fic masterlist

because even i’m starting to lose track of what i’ve posted so far. all writing is eventually crossposted to ao3, individual tumblr posts linked below the cut because it’s lengthy as hell

(this is like 85% post-promised day fic with the occasional canon-divergence au for flavour, ft lots of resembool kids, riza, and roy. basically gen with near-zero ship content because that’s how i roll)

update: total wordcount has now broken 20k 25k 30k 35k 40k 45k(!!!!)

update 2: now with crumbs of 03 content because yeehaw

april

“Actually, Winry – can you do something for me?”

“Lieutenant. Would you ever consider learning alchemy?”

“I guess I just – want to figure out who I am. Me, not the Fullmetal Alchemist.”

Besides, the scars on his palms have been – pardon his language – hurting like a bitch ever since he woke to this gloomy weather this morning.

Ishval had given him plenty of practice at that soldier’s art of taking even the lightest of naps whenever circumstances permitted.

[au] Ed has never had reason to hate how swiftly his mind works, not until now.

It’s just simple clerical error that leads to Edward Elric retaining his title and pay as a State Alchemist, even after the Promised Day. No, really.

may

He’s just tired, not about to collapse.

These days Ed’s journals are actual proper travelogues, no coded shit or anything.

[au] It doesn’t even start until after they arrive in Resembool.

(can’t have been the more socially-adjusted brother, obviously.)

[au] “I don’t,” Ed bites out, “know any damn alchemists.”

Maes raises an eyebrow and sloshes his near-empty cup pointedly.

august

[wip] “Is this about Al, or you?”

“–of course I know these aren’t the most efficient routes!”

Ed seriously considers dyeing his hair more than once, in the After.

Winry only needs a glimpse of red to know what it must be.

Rush Valley talks. Winry listens.

Much as Al loves his brother to itty-bitty-and-very-shouty pieces,

The first time someone mistakes Al for the Fullmetal Alchemist,

+ The thing is, Al gets it.

“Brother told me that you told him about Ishval,” Alphonse says.

It’s an honest observation – as honest as he can ever get, at least –

[au] In another world, she is never named the Hawk’s Eye.

“Somehow I doubt your place is much better, sir.”

would it be the most impossible thing to have happened to the Elrics?

“I can’t believe he didn’t tell us,” Ed growls,

a minimum age limit on all candidates for the State Alchemist exam.

“There’s gotta be a shark somewhere around.”

The Elrics make transmuting without circles look easy.

The problem, if Riza is to put it into words,

Al completely botches the first dozen or so transmutations

(Ed? Talking about automail? Over food?)

[au] in the end it’s Al who really takes after their father.

“Fullmetal realising his celebrity status? Woe betide us,”

The tea is actually well-made, first of all, not burnt

“Not like– I mean, personal about me, not you!”

[au] “Huh,” Al says.

Still less work than getting entropy-murdered by Olivier, he decides.

[au] It’s not every dead person that he sees.

[au] They weren’t even meant to stop in Resembool.

Jean just wants to make one thing – okay, a few things – very clear.

Ed knows this firsthand from too much Winry exposure.

The lump on the couch lets out a string of wholly intelligible noises.

september

“Take me out to dinner,” Riza says.

“We’re not even in Amestris, though.”

[au] Riza had been angry too, when she had let herself be, but hers is a cold ire, locked beneath glaciers and the burn of frostbite. Wrath makes no such pretences.

[outline] But in the case of Fullmetal – more specifically in the case of Fullmetal and Youswell – Roy mostly wishes he could unknow things.

[au] Roy forces enough air into his lungs to get the words out. “You’re dead.”

[outline…?] winry’s gonna like this, al says.

Alphonse flaps a hand. “Oh, because it’s complete bullshit.”

“Y’know, you really aren’t that tall, Brother.”

getting to finally keep a cat hadn’t been very high on his list of priorities.

[au] “Edward. Get out of here, take Envy with you.”

[wtnv au] “Welcome to Resembool.”

october

just because you’re immortal doesn’t mean you can’t die from food poisoning, young man.

[au snippet] It’s sort of a belief, in the eastern parts of Amestris,

[03] Al’s hug is the first real thing he’s felt in years.

[03] Never thought you were, Ed retorts lightly, and lets Alfons turn away with a huff.

“When you said to come visit you in Rush Valley this is not what I was expecting!”

(and jeez, only Ed would manage to make it necessary to keep a kit on hand for actual minor-to-major catastrophes during a semi-honeymoon trip)

november

[03] Except the sight of his brother only serves to make everything worse, for once.

[au] The worst thing about this is that it’s not even equivalent.

[au] “You wanna know why? The real reason, not the quantum bullshit I fed Mustang.” (+ more in the tag)

[snippet] And just for that I won’t be leaving Wrath any.

“I shall finally exact the decisive vengeance that I have always dreamed of,” Scar booms right back before Armstrong can even ask,

Al knows from the moment he wakes up that it’s going to be a good day.

[snippets] The real disaster comes when Ed learns how to weaponise his height.

[03 au] The man in the brown overcoat. That’s all anyone ever seems able to recall of Edward.

[au] They say the Elric house is haunted. Of course. Empty houses are always haunted.

Of course, this assumes that said person is an alchemist of some ability, and that said life has been one of some loss and strife.

“Are you alright? Nod for yes, swear at me for no.”

from the intervening pause he surmises Riza is jotting something down on the notepad she keeps by the phone.

She’s been looking forward to the day when her hair finally gets long enough to – well, no longer be short.

“Remind me of this the next time I decide to trust Ling any further than I can throw him.” ( + xing tag)

december

Ed’s almost twenty when he realises that Hawkeye must’ve been around his age when she was deployed to Ishval.

[au] At least this far out from Amestris Ed could mostly brush the first one off as an interplanetary translation fuckup.

bonus textposts and assorted nonsense

the Better Alchemist™️

on the topic of ed’s scrawl

al, defender of cat

*csi miami theme but with cats*

on the topic of flat affect + 200000% turbo by default

on the topic of pain tolerance + further thoughts

ed @ mustang’s problem solving skills

ok but about liore…

terrible TERRIBLE ideas (three of them)

putting the SHORT in SHORT-TEMPERED

clap reflex

you’re retired, ed, r e t i r e d

and by “ambidextrous” i mean “confused”

protip: you can’t

YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAH (aka csi miami theme, riza redux)

feral ducklings, the continuation(??)

does THIS count as elric telepathy

honestly, y’all

too much fire?? sounds fake

on the topic of academia

sometimes the stars align

on the topic of riza hawkeye

terrible idea, berthold version

immortal troubles

THE CHURCH OF EDWARD ELRIC

PRIDE (& WRATH): one, two, three (4koma)

objectively the worst post-cos timeline

serious stuff: fma drama cd, daughter of dusk

asks: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 aka izumi pwns roy, 9 aka not coffeeshop au, 10 aka legalities, 11 aka autograph woes

#fma #fullmetal alchemist #fmab #fma 03 #fanfiction #mine #yes i'm basically allergic to titles that is definitely it #ficlist

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abraxos-is-toothless · 3 years

Text

The Beauty That Is She

Part 3 is finally here!! Previous Updates Here:)

Before we get into this one, I want to say a quick thank you to those of you who have asked if I was alright and have been so, so patient for this update. I'm so sorry it's been so long, but this story was only meant to be a few chapters long and now, my ideas keep changing and there is so much I want to write for it. I can't thank you all enough for the kind words and the encouragement, I honestly didn't think people would enjoy this that much considering it's not one of the mains AND that I've paired him with an OC.

This one isn't my favourite but it is still important or you might get a little confused later on. The wedding/wedding night is in the editing process and I'm still deciding if it should be two small chapters or one big one!

Anyway, enough of my rambling and on with the show!

-------

It was the day before the wedding and Fenrys was terrified. Not because he didn't want this or he was having second thoughts, but because he was terrified Eva would say she didn't want this anymore, didn’t want him. But above all of that, he was terrified of the words about to come out of the trembling messenger boy’s mouth.

Rowan’s personal messenger, who had managed to secure his place when Rowan had found him trying to survive on the streets. His name, Fenrys remembered, was Kallias. He was just a year younger than Connall and abandoned by his family when he was spotted kissing one of the boys from the village. The family had up and moved not long after, the villagers saying they were too disgraced. Fenrys thought it was all fucking absurd. Your child was your child, regardless of who they chose to love and he would make sure his future children knew that too. The thought of those children, his and Eva’s, brought Fenrys back to Kallias.

“What is it, Kal?” The boy shifted on his feet and Fenrys heard the way he took several deep breaths before he spoke.

“The King wishes to see you out in the courtyard, My Lord.” He rolled his eyes at the title, trying to act as if those words weren’t scaring the fuck out of him.

“How many times have I told you not to call me that? It’s just Fenrys, kid.” Kallias nodded, but he still heard the muttered ‘yes, my lord’ before he turned to leave. Fenrys couldn’t help the way he tried to straighten his tunic and his hair before making his way to see Rowan. It’s not as if looking a bit cleaner would save him from the other male’s protectiveness. He understood though, because he would be the exact same way if his daughter was about to be married off. It would mean she was no longer his to protect, no longer his to care for. Although he would still do those things, every day, until his dying breath.

The halls of the castle were full of people bustling about, adding the last few touches of decorations here and there. Aelin could be heard before you even saw her, making sure everything was perfect. His Queen would like to think everything was done by her, but it was his Eva who led all of the wedding preparations. Fenrys was enraptured whilst watching Eva tell her mother exactly what she wanted, where it would all go and when it would happen. Aelin had tried to get her way only once, but Rowan had just given her a look, along with a light smile and she had kept silent and continued to make sure Eva wouldn’t have to worry about anything. He breathed deeply as he pushed through a large oak door and stepped out into the courtyard. Out of all of the places he’d seen, the places he’d lived, nowhere had ever felt like home as much as Terrasen did. Not even all of those years spent in Doranelle serving Maeve. Rowan wasn’t hard to find, all he had to do was follow the loud cursing and shouts of “You can get off of me now, Buzzard!”

When he reached them, he bit his lip trying not to laugh; lest he want to go a couple rounds with his Queen for making fun of her. Rowan had Aelin pinned to the ground, straddling her hips and a hand on each of her wrists, her blade knocked a few feet away. When Aelin noticed him, she twisted her head to look at him upside down, eyes narrowed. “What in the hell are you doing out here?” Rowan stood slowly, pulling his wife up beside him, placing a quick kiss to her temple.

“I sent for him,” he said, before Fenrys could even open his mouth. Aelin folded her arms across her chest and raised a brow.

“What could you possibly need him for? His wedding is tomorrow, he still has things to do.” He didn’t really have things to do, just to help set up tables outside for the festivities after the ceremony, but he thought his Queen might be trying to save his ass from Rowan’s ‘territorial fae bullshit’. Fenrys was grateful for the effort, though he doubted even she could save him.

“There’s something I want to show him. We’ll be back in time for when Lorcan and Elide get here, I promise.” Aelin stared at her husband for a few moments longer, having one of those silent conversations before she nodded, kissing Fenrys on the cheek before walking back to the castle, muttering about seeing if Connall wanted to read their newest book. Rowan looked to him when she was out of sight, an unreadable expression on his face before he said, “come and walk with me.” Not a question, nor a request, so he followed obediently as the silver haired man made his way to the tree line. They didn’t speak as they walked, the only sounds were of rabbits and birds that he wouldn’t know were there without his fae hearing, and the crunch of shrubbery underfoot. Studying the warrior a few paces in front of him, he noticed the male hadn’t actually brought any of his weapons with him. It made him feel better, knowing he wasn’t likely to get stabbed, but that didn’t mean Rowan couldn’t hurt him. There was no need for weapons considering how much power he had.

After what felt like hours in the silence, was merely a thirty minute walk to the hills within the grounds, but far behind the castle where Rowan halted them. “Where are we?” His King, his brother in arms, his friend looked at him with such softness in those stark green eyes; Fenrys couldn’t even find the will to look away.

“We’ll get to that, but first I have to say a few things.” He dipped his head for Rowan to go on. “When Aelin first told me she was carrying twins, I cried for hours. It was from overwhelming joy and excitement, but also from an underlying fear. Fae twins are rare, as you know, but childbirth for fae females is also a difficulty. I was so, so terrified something would go wrong, that I’d lose them, including Aelin and that it would be like Lyria all over again.” Fenrys pushed the thoughts from his mind, trying not to remember how cold and angry Rowan had once been. He knew that it would have been a lot worse this time, had the worst actually occurred. “But everything was fine. I watched as they grew, as they kicked their tiny little feet against my touch for the first time. And then suddenly, as if I had merely blinked, I was holding Evalin in my arms.” Images of the warm summer evening the twins were welcomed into the world bombarded him, and he could clearly see Rowan with a babe in each arm in his mind’s eye. It was a sight you simply couldn’t forget. “She may be grown up Fenrys, but she’s my little girl, as she always will be. But tomorrow, tomorrow she becomes yours to love, to cherish and protect and I’ll respect that of course I will, but she’ll never stop being my sweet little princess who used to whack me with wooden swords and put flowers in my hair.” There was a dampness to his cheeks and he realised with a start, as he brought his hand to his face, that he’d started crying somewhere along the way.

“Of course she’s yours Rowan. That will never change, but just so you know, I’ll spend every day of my life trying to be worthy of her, to be worthy of being loved by her.” It was true, he didn’t deserve someone such as Eva, but he’d do everything in his power to prove himself to her. Rowan brought him into a back-clapping hug and he could do nothing but return it.

“I know boyo, I know, I’m just feeling a bit emotional is all and Aelin probably would have told me I was being ridiculous. Also,” he pulled away and smiled wickedly, “even if you do fuck this up somehow, I think I would be lower down on your list of concerns.” Rowan started walking again, pushing between the low-hanging branches of two old willow trees.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that I think Con would beat me to you. He may be younger than Lin and Mia, but he’s fiercely protective when it comes to his sisters.” The miniature version of Rowan Whitehorn was a hellion naturally, but it was worse when something had happened to the twins. Fenrys had seen a little bit of that protection show the day the mating bond had settled.

“Speaking of, have you noticed Con has been spending a lot of time with Kallias lately? I’ve found them together a few times in the library, though Connall usually catches me from the corner of his eye and darts away. Poor Kal is always left confused and I think a little hurt.” There was a low chuckle from Rowan, his head shaking.

“I’ve seen them. I’ve known about my son’s preference for males for years, but I think he’s scared to tell us. I think they might even get a little shock of their own in a couple of years, honestly.” Interesting. “Aelin is desperate to call him out on it, but I’ve told her this is something he needs to sort out within himself first. He’ll tell us when he’s ready, though I hope it’s soon, because all I want is for him to be who he wants.” He was about to retort when Rowan halted them abruptly, nodding his head to the right of them. When he turned in that direction, his breath caught a little in his throat. There, in amongst the trees, was a small little yellow cottage. It was dark inside and Fenrys could smell the stale scent of pine and snow, indicating Rowan had been he but not recently.

“Rowan?”

The male in question dug into one of the pockets on his breeches, and pulled a small, silver key that glinted in the few rays of sunlight that shone through the canopy. “I started building this when Aelin told me she was with child, and then started another one after she had announced it would be twins. I knew that when they were all grown up, my children would want to leave and live independently, to be their own person. I also knew it would be hard for us to let them out of our sight, so I wanted to give them somewhere that they were far enough away from us, but somewhere I knew they would be safe, protected.” He pressed the key into the palm of Fenrys’ hand and folded his fingers over it. The metal was cool in his palm, barely weighing anything at all. “You and Evalin don’t have to live here of course, but I wanted her to know there was a place for her to start this new adventure with you.”

“I don’t know what to say.” There were things Fenrys knew he should say, but the words got stuck in his throat.

“There’s no need to say anything.” Rowan’s eyes were lined with silver as he ran his eyes over the place he’d created for his child. It wasn’t hard to imagine being here with Eva, it wasn’t hard at all.

“You said you started another when you knew it was going to be twins, did you start another when Aelin told you about Connall?” His friend wiped at his eyes quickly before nodding in confirmation.

“Yes. Mia’s is to the west of here, barely any distance from here at all and closer to the lake. I built Con’s to the east side of the castle, actually. There’s a small cavern close to it that has a hot spring inside, which I thought would be good for practicing.”

The two of them stayed out there for a little while longer, occasionally letting a content silence between them, or talking about all sorts of topics and reminiscing on the past. Soon enough, they were on the move again, reaching the castle just in time for Elide and Lorcan’s arrival, Aelin waiting for them with a glare. It was possible that they were a little behind when they said they’d be back. Fenrys tried to greet his friend’s as they arrived, little ones in tow, but Rowan stopped him with a hand to his shoulder, telling him to go and rest because he had a big day tomorrow. He let out a breath and agreed, walking back to his room without stopping to say hello to anyone.

When he was washed and settled into bed, Fenrys let the darkness take him into the land of dreams with a smile on his face.

Tomorrow, he was getting married.

--------

Let me know what you thought! I’m sorry for being so behind on things:( If you’re not in the tags but you’ve asked to be, just give me a shout and I’ll fix it asap, I don’t think my lists are updating properly<3

Tags: @empress-sei @acourtofterrasenandvelaris @tswaney17 @queen-of-glass @thesirenwashere @awkward-avocado-s @b00kworm @http-itsrebecca @eatmysandwiches @poisonous00 @flowersinvegas @julemmaes @mu-si-ca-l @spyofthenightcourt @sis-it-dont-add-up @mad-madeline-ace @df3ndyr @jesstargaryenqueen @notyournymphetish @nightcourtcinnamonroll @acourtofmarauders @rhyswhitethorn @booknerdproblems @sevenfreckles-for-sevenloves @aelinfeyreeleven945tbln @lucy617 @ireallyshouldsleeprn @mis-lil-red @eleonor-da-silva @silentquartz

#throne of glass #tog #fenrys moonbeam #rowan whitethorn #aelin galythinius #fenrys x original #tog fic #throne of glass series #original characters #connall #my fic #my writing #haz writes

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thewatsonbeekeepers · 4 years

Text

Chapter 6 – So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish [TST 1/2]

The chapter title comes from the wonderful Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy book series – drop this meta and read them immediately.

No, no he [Moriarty] would never be that disappointing. He’s planned something, something long-term. Something that would take effect if he never made it off that rooftop alive. Posthumous revenge – no, better than that. Posthumous game.

This is what Sherlock says about Moriarty in the very first scene of TST, and on rewatch the application to Mofftiss is startling. Trust the writers – a short-term disappointment for a long-term excitement, if you will. The reference to the rooftop is a way of pointing out just how far back this has been planned – in other words, the seeming randomness of the series is not in fact random. But let’s see how that plays out in TST.

This episode opens, as so many have pointed out, with doctored footage, as though deliberately showing us how stories can be rewritten. However, we only get glimpses of the footage at the start of the episode – the extensive old footage is not security camera footage, but recap footage from s3, and specifically the end of HLV. The idea that there is something classified, hidden, that we don’t have the full story, is meant to be associated with the actual show Sherlock, not just the camera footage – it would have been very easy to give us most of the same footage in security camera style, but they deliberately reused shots from the show to make us doubt their own authenticity. So far, so good.

The first thing that I (and most of my friends) noticed about this scene, however, is that it’s not good. The writing is questionable, to say the least. The serious resolution to the problem of Magnussen’s murder is interrupted by Sherlock tweeting, brotherly bickering, hyperactive and possibly high Sherlock being played for comedy (complete with mock opera). And then, perhaps the worst lines of the show so far:

SHERLOCK: I always know when the game is on. Do you know why?

SMALLWOOD: Why?

SHERLOCK: Because I love it.

Like a lot of this show, think about those lines for more than a nanosecond and they really don’t make sense. You’ve got to think about them for a lot longer before they start to again. This, I think, is where BBC Sherlock’s self-parody really starts. TAB focuses on parodying, critiquing and rewriting historical adaptations, but it’s easy to see the merging of all of the undeniably Sherlock elements into one parodically awful scene. The quick quips that are supposed to be clever and that are so common in Moffat’s dialogue are seen in that moment of dialogue – but the quip isn’t clever anymore, it’s empty. The same catchphrase of ‘the game is on’ comes back, and the quintessential use of technology is referenced in Sherlock’s Twitter account, where again his #OhWhatABeautifulMorning is unfathomably glib. Our Sherlock is also better known than previous adaptations for his drug abuse, and this also gets referenced, but here it gets played for comedy, which is incongruous with the rest of the show – in fact, THoB, HLV and TAB all take it pretty seriously, so to see it played off as a joke is tonally questionable. In other words, here we have Sherlock caricatured as a programme, in one scene – and it’s horrible.

(We should also notice that the use of Twitter is important – it underlies a lot of the glib comedy in this episode, with Sherlock later Tweeting #221BringIt (which is so unbelievably queer?). In Sherlock, Moffat use Twitter rather than Tumblr to comment on fan reaction to Sherlock, probably because their older audience will have no idea what Tumblr is, but also because Twitter is much more mainstream in its appreciation. Twitter takes centre stage in TEH, with #SherlockLives and the scene with the support group. The joke there is about the sheer level of how-did-he-do-it mania that gripped the public – so when we see Twitter again, we should be thinking about an extratextual as well as a textual response to Sherlock, and how Sherlock’s behaviour on Twitter in this episode might caricature the way that he is seen from the outside.)

I don’t truly buy that (in this scene, at least) Mofftiss are critiquing their own show in a straightforward sense, because they have dealt with technology better than this (words on screen, technology as useful within mysteries), drugs better than this (John’s, Mycroft’s and Molly’s reactions to Sherlock’s behaviour as well as Sherlock’s own difficulties) and clever quips far better (pick any episode). But in deconstructing this show to its instantly recognisable elements, and making them worse to hyperbolise the point, that scene strips the show of its heart. Interestingly, it’s also stripped of John, who will be the metaphorical heart of Sherlock through the EMP, but is also the part of the show that is missing when it is caricatured as the Benedict-Cumberbatch-being-clever show. This is also a critique of most people’s perception of Sherlock Holmes as a character through history in the sense of the reductive cleverness – Mofftiss are showing us that this is completely empty.

What does this mean for Sherlock himself, bearing in mind that this is taking place in his Mind Palace? The answer is pretty grim – remember that Sherlock is metatextually grappling with his own identity at this point; he needs to discover the man he is, rather than is portrayed as, in order to get out of this alive. In a psychological sense, then, the opening of TST sees Sherlock deconstruct himself as seen from the outside, and as his psyche has traditionally perceived himself, and realise that that version of himself is hollow. This scene, then, is a rejection of the Sherlock of the public eye, as well as Sherlock’s own eyes.

There is a non-explanation for how the Secret Service doctored the footage of Sherlock shooting Magnussen, the response simply being that they have the tech. If the answer is going to be that vague, there is little reason to bring up the question – except to raise it in the viewers’ minds. Making the audience question their belief in the s4 universe is something that happens very frequently, and this is the start of it. A later chapter goes into the parallels that Sherlock and Doctor Who have, but there’s an important bit from Last Christmas (DW Christmas Special 2014) that is relevant here – the main characters, all dreaming, whenever they are asked any questions that can’t be explained in the dream universe, simply reply ‘it’s a long story’. This is a ‘long story’ moment – where no explanation is given, so questions about reality are raised and unanswered.

Another similar moment comes when Sherlock says he knows exactly what Moriarty is going to do next – how? And, more to the point, it becomes hugely obvious that he doesn’t. Yet, for the first time in history, he feels happy to sit back and wait on Moriarty, because he knows that what will come will come. This insistence that the future will take its course as it needs to might draw our minds ahead to the frankly ridiculous reliance on predictions that we see in TLD – however, it should also draw our minds across to Doctor Who, and to Amy’s Choice, a series five episode I’m going to delve deeper into later, but where because it’s a dream, the Doctor is able to predict every word the monsters say.

Notice that ‘glad to be alive’ is followed by Vivian saying her name – we’ll come back to this later.

Cue opening credits!

Before going anywhere else with TST, required reading is this meta by LSiT (X). I can’t make these points better than she has, nor can I take credit for them. I’m particularly invested in her description of the aquarium and the Samarra story, as well as the client cases that appear and aren’t updated on John’s blog. Our reading will diverge later on – I think this series is a lot more metaphorical than it is hypothesis-testing, although the latter is a notable feature of ACD canon (see the original THotB) that definitely does happen here as well. I’m going to leave the Samarra story, the aquarium and the cases for LSiT to explain, however, and move on.

When we move into 221B, the fuckiness is instantly apparent from the mirror. You can go here (X) to navigate the whole inside of 221B, and I suggest you do; it’s a fantastic resource. The mirror showing the green wall is simply wrong – the angle that this is shot from suggests that we should see the black and white wallpaper, complete with skull etc. Instead, we see the green wall – and the door. We can tell this is wrong because in the ‘wrong thumb’ case about thirty seconds later, the right wallpaper is reflected in the mirror. Another note of fuckiness that we should spot is that Sherlock seems to be taking his cases from letters, in the mail he has knifed into the mantelpiece – this show has been really keen on emphasising that he uses email for the last three series, so the implication that people are sending him letters is even odder than it would be in a modern show anyway.

(Everybody in the world has commented on the ‘it’s never twins’ line – but to reiterate its importance. Firstly, it’s almost identical to the line in TAB, just with ‘it’s’ instead of ‘it is’. TAB repeats lots of things though, because it’s a dream – well yes, but dreams can’t tell the future. So material from TAB being recycled doesn’t point to TAB being a dream, it points to TST being a continuation of the dream in TAB. The fact that they saw fit to reiterate this line in a series about secret siblings also puts paid to the theory that s4 was plotted in a rush and not in line with previous series – there is a theme here, and they’re pushing it.)

And so we move to Sherlock relentlessly texting through the birth, through the christening – horrible, ooc behaviour for him if we think back to how emotional he was at the wedding. Importantly, this behaviour is all tied up with his obsessive Tweeting, which in turn links in to how the outside world (i.e. us) perceive Sherlock – is this the Sherlock that people want to see on screen? Doesn’t he feel wrong? Sure, there’s an element of self-critique in there from Mofftiss, but the incorporation of the phone obsession leaves the blame squarely with the audience. In case we couldn’t already feel that Sherlock’s character is way off, we have his Siri loudly say that she can’t understand him.

We remember from TAB that Sherlock sees himself as cleverer through John’s eyes, and the reasonably sympathetic portrayal we get in TAB we can probably put down to this attempt at understanding himself from the outside. The water in TST is showing us that we’re going in, and the sad thing is that this is almost definitely how Sherlock has come to perceive himself, but just like Siri he doesn’t truly recognise it. It’s also worth noting here the emphasis placed on God in godfather and later the deliberate mentions of Christianity at the Christening – there is also a tuning out of a culture he can’t really align himself with here, which is more important when we think about the fact that this character has been around since the 19th century.

Water tells us we’re sinking deep into Sherlock’s mind, as discussed in a previous chapter. Water imagery is going to be hugely prevalent in TST, but I want to talk quickly about the subtle hints at water even when we’re not in a giant fuck-off aquarium. Take a look at the rattle scene (which always sparks joy). When we get a side angle that shows both Sherlock and Rosie, there’s a black chest of some description behind Rosie – the top is glowing slightly blue, for reasons I can’t fathom. Then we’re going to cut to a shot of Rosie – despite seeing only a second before that there is nothing on her head, there is a glow of blue on it that looks almost like a skullcap. Cut back to Sherlock getting a rattle in the face, and the mirror is glowing the same blue colour behind him. This is all fucky, and it’s a fuckiness which is aesthetically tied to the waters of Sherlock’s mind perfectly. It suggests that Rosie isn’t real, but more important is the mirror. Earlier on I pointed out how the mirror was showing the wrong reflection; here, the mirror is glowing blue, linking it thematically to Sherlock’s subconsciousness. Visually, we’re being hinted at the process of self-reflection that’s going on in Sherlock’s brain – and the opening of TST is showing him getting it terribly wrong. Note that when the mirror jolted right earlier, Sherlock was proclaiming that it had been the wrong thumb – god knows what thumbs have to do with this, but there’s a question of shifting perception on his person, like he’s trying to locate himself.

The glowing blue light sticks around, and seems particularly associated with Rosie, like she’s the focus of much of Sherlock’s thought at the moment. LSiT’s meta linked above has already picked up on the many dangers in Rosie’s cradle decoration, from the Moriarty linked images to the killer whale mobile. Due purely to a lucky pause, I caught the killer whale’s eyes glowing blue, just like the blue from the rattle scene. He’s thinking about her in terms of the key villains of the show as well as the villains in his mind.

I’m not going to comment on the bus scene because I have a chapter dedicated to Eurus moments before TFP – jumping straight ahead.

We then find our first Thatcher case – others have been pretty quick to point out the significance of the blue power ranger in gay tv history (X), and infer that Charlie is queer coded – much like David Yost, who played the blue power ranger, he is not able to come out without being treated badly. This is undoubtedly important, as is the fact that this is the second time in 12 minutes of this show that they’ve shown us how easily film footage can be faked, and someone can be lied to – you don’t need to have Mycroft Holmes levels of clearance, just a Zoom background. This is important too. But the other thing I want to focus on is that he says he’s in Tibet.

Sherlock comes pretty high on my list of top TV shows, but currently Twin Peaks holds the top spot – it’s an unashamedly cryptic show all about solving mysteries through dreams, so no wonder I like it. It’s made by David Lynch, and in the TAB chapter I talk about how TAB takes a lot of structural inspiration from his most famous film, Mulholland Drive, which has similar themes. I don’t think this is anything particularly interesting beyond an attempt to reference the defining work in the field of it-was-all-a-dream film and tv – David Lynch and Mofftiss and Victor Fleming are the only people I can think of who can actually make that plot look good. But this Tibet moment, particularly as we’re going to be hit by another reference to Tibet later, underlining its importance, I think is a reference to this scene (X) where the protagonist, Cooper, outlines a dream in which the Dalai Lama spoke to him and gave him the power to use magic to solve mysteries. Fans of Twin Peaks will know that the magic doesn’t last long – it’s pretty much an introductory way in, and most of the rest of his important deductions will all be made in dreams. This is one of the most famous scenes in the whole programme, because it introduced the world to the weirdness of what had been set up as a straightforward cop show, and despite Cooper rarely (possibly never?) mentioning Tibet again, it’s still highly quoted and recognisable. As a watershed moment in bringing dream worlds into normal detective dramas (something highly frowned upon according to any theory of storytelling!) this is a gamechanging moment, and I don’t think it’s a stretch to point to Sherlock’s several references to Tibet as a link back to this moment.

We then cut back to Sherlock thinking whilst Lestrade tells him more about the case – what is bizarre here, is that John and Lestrade are clearly visible through what can only be described as a rearview mirror attached to the side of Sherlock’s head. If anyone can tell me what that is, I would love to know. I’m going to assume it’s a fucky mirror, because it’s in keeping with the other fucky mirrors so far. The visibility of John and Lestrade in the mirror is even more odd because it doesn’t match the colour palette of 221B at all. Sherlock is lit largely in warm, brown colours, as is Charlie’s father in the previous scene we’re transitioning from – Lestrade and John are lit in dark blue, to the point where they’re barely visible. This looks like a rearview mirror, but not like the one on the power ranger car – it’s a much older car, out of a different time, like so much in this dream world. The only colour palette they seem to match is the one from the s4 promotion photos – you know, when Baker Street is completely underwater.

Drowning in the Mind Palace. Here we are, back where we started. Sherlock might be thinking about the case of Charlie, but he’s actually reflecting on that world we saw in the promo photos, where he’s struggling to stay alive in his brain. Notice that this isn’t just a split shot, it’s specifically a mirror, so we’re meant to focus on this episode as an act of reflection. There are great parallels between Sherlock and the Charlie case which you can find here (X) – essentially, Charlie and Carl Powers from TGG are mirrors for one another both in their names and in the manner they die (a fit in a tight place, basically). Carl Powers is already a mirror for Sherlock – obsessively targeted by Jim for being the best at what he does. Charlie mirrors Sherlock through their shared trip to Tibet (dreamscape alert) and, we think, through the metatextual link of the blue power ranger. In case you hadn’t spotted it, Powers links back to that too – probably coincidence, but a nice one nevertheless. Carl Powers’s death is by drowning, which we shouldn’t ignore in an episode as loaded with ideas about drowning in the mind palace. The fact that the mirror reflects drowning Baker Street aesthetics should make us think that Charlie is asking us to reflect on Carl Powers’s death, but also on Sherlock’s own – already fatally injured (by a fit or by Mary), he is going to die smothered, unable to cry for help (in a swimming pool/carseat costume (?!)/mind palace). The idea that none of these people could cry for help is particularly poignant because so much of series 4 is about Sherlock being unable to voice his own identity, and as we’ll see once he’s able to do that, that may give him the impetus to escape his death. Think of ‘John Watson is definitely in danger’ back in HLV.

Now. Why is Sherlock so keen for Lestrade to take the credit? It’s another reason to bring up the fact that John’s blog is constantly updating – it’s dropped in a lot in this series as opposed to others – and to make us think about why nothing is happening in real life. But, given that this episode is about Sherlock trying to find who he is, is it a rejection of the persona that goes along with being Sherlock Holmes? Possibly, but he’s going to have to go to a lot more effort than that. John’s blog is the real problem here, making not just Sherlock but Lestrade out to be like they’re not. John’s blog is a stand in for the original stories, which were supposed to be written by John Watson, but TAB has already (drawing on TPLoSH) laid the groundwork for the idea that John’s blog/those stories really do not tell the whole story. So this is coming back with a vengeance here, even though for the first time Sherlock is properly moving against the persona in there, not just bitching about John’s writing style, which is a theme more common to Sherlock Holmes across the ages. John then says that it’s obvious, and when pressed just laughs and says that it’s normally what Sherlock says at this point – so again, when Sherlock stops filling the intense caricature of arrogance and bravado, John the storyteller steps in to put him back in line, even though that means pulling him back to being a much more unpleasant character.

A note here: most of the time in EMP theory, I think John represents Sherlock’s heart, and I try to refer to John as heart!John as much as possible when that’s the case. There are a few cases which are different, but most notable are when the blog comes up – then John becomes John the blogger, and our symbolism shifts over to the repressive features of the original stories and how that’s playing out in the modern world. Although a pain to analyse sometimes, I find it incredibly neat that the two of them are bound up in John as source of both love and pain, which fits our story beautifully.

John as blogger continues in the baby joke that he and Lestrade have going down the stairs – they continue with their caricature of Sherlock, but he doesn’t recognise himself in it. Or rather, there’s a moment when he seems to, but he can’t quite grasp onto it. This is typical of the way he recognises himself in the programme. It’s also worth noting that the image of John as a father is particularly tied into ACD, as the creator of Sherlock Holmes, so tying together blogger and father in this scene cements our theme.

Going into the Welsborough house, we get a slip of the tongue from Sherlock which is fantastic. He tells them that he is really sorry about their daughter, which at an earlier point in the show might just be a classic Sherlock slip-up. But mixing up genders is actually something which happens quite a lot in this show, and it’s something drawn attention to as significant in TAB.

Sherlock asks John “How did he survive?” of Emelia Ricoletti, when of course he’s thinking about Moriarty, and John corrects him quickly, much like here. A coincidental callback? Maybe not. What’s the first mistake that Sherlock ever makes? Thinking that Harry Watson is a man. What’s the big trick they pull at the end of S4? Sherlock has a secret sister – and Eurus points out that her gender is the surprise at the end of TLD. Eurus is also an opposite-sex mirror for John and for Sherlock at various points and this allows Sherlock to approach their relations from a heterosexual standpoint and thus interrogate them – more on that later. So gender-swapping is a theme that runs through the show a lot. But the similarity to TAB in particular is important here, because in TAB that was our first obvious declaration that this wasn’t just a mirror to be analysed by the tumblr crowd, this was a mirror on the superficial level that had to be broken through. This callback to TAB is a callback to the mirrored dreamscape. Don’t believe me? Look at what happens next. The second Sherlock sees Thatcher the whole room not only goes underwater, but actually starts to shake – another throwback to recognising that Emelia was Moriarty, when the whole room shakes and the elephant in the room smashes. So, again, we’re being told that this isn’t about this case – it’s about something else, and that something is the elephant in the room. Just like the shaking smashes the elephant in the room, the shaking is what tells us about the smashed bust of Margaret Thatcher. Margaret Thatcher, whose laws on “promoting homosexuality” were infamous. Smashing the elephant in the room and Thatcher simultaneously between 2015, the 1980s and 1895 is hitting the history of British homophobia for the last hundred years summed up as quickly as possible, and tearing it down through Sherlock’s self-exploration. This is a good fucking show.

You’ll also notice that Sherlock is alone in the room, just for a second, when he has his Thatcher revelation – everybody else vanishes. Again, we’re seeing that the rest of the case is an illusion, providing just enough storytime to keep the audience believing in the dream, and possibly Sherlock too.

[There’s a fantastic framing of Sherlock here between two portraits, a man and a woman, seemingly ancestral – I would love to know more about these, because if I know Arwel they’re significant, and the way they hang over Sherlock is really metaphorically suggestive. If anyone has any info on that, it looks like a really good avenue to explore.]

Blue. Blue is the colour of Sherlock’s mind palace, but this scene ties it firmly to the Conservative party. The dark blue of Sherlock’s scarf nearly matches Welsborough’s jumper, which is in fact a better match for the mind palace aesthetic generally. Thatcher unsurprisingly wears blue as well. If blue is the water that Sherlock is drowning in, how interesting that it’s being tied to the most homophobic prime minister of the last 50 years. There was absolutely no need to make this guy a cabinet minister, dress him in blue, even make Thatcher replace Napoleon – I would actually argue that Churchill is a figure who matches Napoleon’s distance and stature much better for our time. Thatcher is an odd choice, and therefore significant. To tie this to the mind palace further, we then get a shot of Sherlock reflected in the picture of Thatcher as he analyses it – a reflection of him reflecting. In case we forgot what this was actually about.

Sherlock not knowing who Thatcher is – perfectly feasible and actually quite important, although something that I’m not going to resolve until my meta on TFP, because that’s where it comes together for me. But Sherlock playing for time with his further jokes about being oblivious (‘female?’) – that, again, is Sherlock actively playing a caricature of himself. He’s not doing it for fun – he’s doing it to cover up his concern about the smashed elephant in the room Thatcher bust.

The weird thing about the reveal of how Charlie died is that we see what should have happened, if everything had gone right, before we see how he died. I can’t recall this happening in another episode of Sherlock, although I could be wrong. It’s marked by the really noticeable scene transition of crackling television static, as though the signal is cutting out. This is possibly a bit of a reach, but there’s one obvious place where we’ve seen a lot of static before.

Moriarty coming back isn’t what’s supposed to happen. It doesn’t happen in the books. We’re telling the wrong story here. (Bear in mind, from previous chapters, that Jim represents Sherlock’s fear that John’s life is in danger.) Just like Jim returning isn’t the right story, but it’s the one that happened, Charlie’s story isn’t the right story but it’s the one that happened – and indeed, Sherlock needing to save John from a dangerous marriage + suicide is not what is supposed to happen – John and Mary are supposed to be married for good (until she dies) in canon. A whole load of false endings – new stories superseding old ones. Mofftiss has an idea that there’s a new story that’s going to be told, and our strongest canon divergence is the end of s3, when we get into the EMP – and from thereon in to TAB it’s off the deep end, and the same is seen here. That TV static is talking about a new medium for a new age and their refusal to deal with established canon norms. Just in case we didn’t remember, outside in the porch we even get a visual reminder of the TV static with a second’s flashback to ‘Miss Me?’ Bad news is, that means Sherlock Holmes rejecting the norms he’s been given (feasibly represented by the hyperbolic nuclear family here) and instead… dying in his mind palace. Less fun. Carl Powers died too. Sherlock still hasn’t got there quite yet – let’s hope he doesn’t.

The next scene is, I think, very important. We come across Mycroft in a dark room with a tiny bit of light – this is really odd, as the obvious place to put Mycroft would be the Diogenes Club. Yet, although clearly more modern, this reminds me most of all of the room we meet Mycroft in in TAB.

The colour palette is the same as the top photo, and the similar chunks of light falling through suggest that we’re in the same place. I’ve brought in a photo from the aeroplane in TAB to show how the light is designed to mirror that of the Diogenes Club in TAB as well – there is a unity in all these Mycroft’s that we shouldn’t miss. Here I can’t imagine I’m the first one to notice that the light in Mycroft’s office is designed to look like a chessboard, which was an important motif in the promotional pictures for s4. Chess is associated with Sherlock’s brain through Mycroft, most notably in THE where it is contrasted with Operation which represents their emotional (in)capacities. So here we are – Mycroft is the brain, if we didn’t already know, and Sherlock has gone to speak to his brain alone much like he did in TAB. Mycroft has already been associated with the queen a lot; they meet in Buckingham Palace in ASiB, where there is a jibe about Mycroft being the queen of England – we can see here in Sherlock’s head that the brain’s power is vastly reduced by comparing these two episodes. The first time we see Mycroft in connection to the Queen we go to the most famous building in the UK. The second time, Sherlock says he’s going to the Mall, which is the street that Buckingham Palace is on, so we are led to expect a reprisal – and instead come here. There is still a picture of the queen on the wall, but apart from that we are in the darkest room of the show so far, whose grating makes it look under siege. Mycroft’s power in Sherlock’s head is vastly reduced, and indeed the brain’s influence (represented by the queen) over Sherlock’s character is waning as Sherlock struggles to come to terms with his emotional identity.

[Crack/tenuous theory: when Sherlock asks John if he is the king of England in s3, in the drunk knee grope scene, this shows that his brain’s control over his emotions have slipped; references to the queen in relation to Mycroft before have shown that Sherlock does know about the royal family, so this has to metaphorically refer to his own psyche and letting go of his brain’s anti-emotion side. Like I say, crack. But I believe it.]

Again, if we weren’t sure about Mycroft representing the brain without the heart, his rejection of the baby photos is sending out a clear message of juxtaposition with John, who represents the heart. We also shouldn’t fail to notice the water coming over Sherlock’s face again as he struggles to recognise what is important about this. This comes as he is trying to recognise what is important about the Thatchers case. I’m going to try to lay it out as best I can here.

We’ve been through what Thatcher represents to queer people of Sherlock’s age, so there’s already a strong metaphor for homophobia being smashed there. However, let’s look at the AGRA memory stick being uncovered. We know (X) that Sherlock deduced his feelings for John as he was marrying Mary, and so having the smashing of the Thatcher bust at the AGRA memory stick reveal is pretty devastating metaphorically. Why does Sherlock constantly think Moriarty is involved? Well, HLV tells us that the Jim in Sherlock’s mind is his darkest fear – and he’s originally tied up in Sherlock’s mind when he’s first shot, but he pretty quickly gets loose. That darkest fear is exactly what Jim says in that episode: ‘John Watson is definitely in danger’. The reason we bring Jim in to represent this is part of deconstructing the myth of Sherlock Holmes. The whole concept of an arch enemy is made fun of in the show, and rightly so; Moriarty himself tells the Sir Boastalot story which lines Sherlock up with that ridiculous heroic tradition that he’s set himself into, which isn’t what Sherlock Holmes is really about at all. Holmes has never really been particularly invested in individual criminals (although there are exceptions – Irene Adler, for example) – the time he gets most het up is The Three Garridebs, as we all know, when he thinks Watson is dying. It’s his greatest fear, and it’s also what Jim threatens, so Jim has become a proxy for that – and to understand that Sherlock Holmes is not the great Sherlock Holmes of the last hundred years, we have to get under and beyond Jim. Hence what we’re about to see. It’s not Jim, it’s Mary – and this is in very real terms, because Mary’s assassination attempt on Sherlock has left John in danger – but Sherlock won’t put the pieces together until the end of this episode, as we will see.

We should also pause over Mycroft asking Sherlock whether he’s having a premonition – Mycroft is laughing at the concept of Sherlock being able to envisage the future here, which we should remember when it comes to the frankly ludicrous plot of the next episode. Much like the much commented upon “it’s not like it is in the movies” which is there to undermine TST, this line is here to undermine TLD and point out the fact that it can’t possibly be real.

Sherlock describes predestination as like a spider’s web and like mathematics – both of these are to do with Moriarty. In the original stories, Moriarty is a mathematician, and one of the most famous lines from both the stories and the show describes Moriarty as a spider. This predestined future is one that Sherlock doesn’t like – Mycroft points out that predestination ends in death, which is what Sherlock is trying to avoid in this episode, and although Moriarty is never mentioned explicitly, his inflection here suggests that Sherlock is thinking about John subconsciously, without even understanding it. The Samarra discussion brings us back to the question of Sherlock’s death, and links it in with the deep waters of the mind he’s currently drowning in – the pirate imagery becomes really important here, because a pirate is someone who stays alive on the high seas and fights against them. The merchant of Samarra becoming a pirate is not merely a joke about a little boy, it’s a point about fighting for survival – and how will Sherlock later fight for survival? We’ll see him battle Eurus (his trauma, more on that later) head on, literally describing himself as a pirate. Fantastic stuff.

The scene transition where all of the glass breaks and then we cut to a background of what looks like blue water is a motif that runs through this entire episode – we’re smashing down walls in Sherlock’s mind, most particularly the Thatcher wall of 1980s homophobia, and indeed the first picture we see is that of the smashed bust.

Moving on – before we go back to Baker Street, there’s a shot of the outside – that features a mirror, reflecting back on 221B in a distorted, twisted way. Another mirror that is wrong – we’re reflecting in an alternate reality. These images keep popping up. It’s echoed in Sherlock’s deduction a few seconds later – by the side of his chair is what looks like either a car mirror or a magnifying glass, possibly the one from the Charlie scene, distorting his arm. It’s placed to look like a magnifying glass, whether it is or not, which ties in with the classic image of Holmes – but that image is distorted, remember.

Others have pointed out that when Sherlock falsely deduces that the client’s wife is a spy working for Moriarty, he should really be talking to John – and, in fact, this is another proof that this isn’t really, because otherwise this is pretty touchy stuff to be making light of in front of John. Instead, let’s remember this is Sherlock’s Mind Palace – John isn’t John here. What Sherlock does a lot in s4 – and nowhere more than the finale of TST – is displace a lot of his real world problems onto other people because he cannot handle the emotional impact of them, and that’s what he’s doing here. He’s trying to come to terms with the danger that Mary poses, but he can’t do it with John – hence why this scene has a John substitute, because that’s what the client is.

Note that the red balloon is over the Union Jack cushion, reminding us that this scene is about John in danger (see this post X). However, what’s important here is that Sherlock has got it wrong. He’s currently trying to work out why what has just happened with Mary poses so much danger, and he’s imagining Mary as the worst threat he possibly could – in a word, this Mary is a supervillain. But Mary is not a supervillain; he’s got this all wrong, and even as he says it, it’s completely ridiculous. This is not the danger Mary poses – and so out the door the client goes, and we’re back to square one, trying to work out exactly why John is in so much danger.

I’m not going to pause over the next moment of importance for too long because many have covered it – let’s just notice that Sherlock’s face is overlaid with a smashed Thatcher bust, and remind ourselves that these are the walls of homophobia in Sherlock’s brain. Also note that this matches the half-face overlay of the water in the previous scene, linking the two (although the scene with Ajay later will cement that anyway).

Next up: Craig and his dog. Nothing can be said about dogs that hasn’t be said in these wonderful metas by @sagestreet (X). Nevertheless, let’s note that this dog is coloured the same as Redbeard, and Mary (a Sherlock mirror in this episode, and in this scene – their clothing matches, and their joining of skillsets to exclude John is the link that has always united them as mirrors) compares John to the dog. We know from the metas linked above that dogs are linked to queerness in the show, but let’s remember that John here is not John – John represents Sherlock’s own heart. It’s going to take longer than this for Sherlock to acknowledge John’s queerness. I don’t think Toby the dog is that important – instead, this is foreshadowing for the more significant dog to come in TFP. The dog also allows for another bit of self-parody in the show – the close-up on the dog running through chemical symbols and the map link directly back to the chase scene in ASiP, but this time everything is different. We have no clue really what Toby is chasing or what the crime that has been committed is – they’re not even running, they’re walking! All we have are cool, if ridiculous, graphics – and, brought down to style without substance, it’s nothing but comic parody. This is important because the opening of TST is so parodic – we’re back to questioning whether the things that people associate with Sherlock and think they like about Sherlock are the right things. The fact that Toby reaches a dead end here is important – he’s a weird loose end to have hanging through the episode. When things in Sherlock normally tie together so nicely, this is a section which has absolutely no bearing on the rest of the plot other than to look a bit silly. But fundamentally, we’re talking about the superfluity of style and image here; we’ve been talking about it for a long time in relation to previous adaptations, but TST brings it in in relation to Sherlock itself.

Skipping past more bust breakages, the next scene is John and Mary in bed together – and the first thing we see is them, once again, in a mirror. There’s nothing wrong with this mirror (as far as I can tell) – everything seems to be in order! But it doesn’t break the theme of mirrors misreflecting, because this is the scene that introduces unreliable narration on a big level – this is the scene which deliberately excludes John’s texts to E. John and Eurus are gone into in another chapter so we’ll move on again.

Craig’s quote about people being weird for missing the olden days is, of course, crucial to this reading of Sherlock. It’s pretty on the nose for a show whose protagonist is idealised in the Victorian age – and sums up Mofftiss’s feelings towards the Vincent Starrett 221B poem that I elaborated on in the TAB chapter of this meta: essentially, that it always being 1895 is a very bad thing! Craig’s mockery of this nostalgia puts it into more comprehensible modern terms for us, but it also links Thatcher and 1895 again as pasts to be broken with. It’s also important that Craig says that Thatcher is like Napoleon now – although the titles of most episodes are taken from ACD stories, it’s rare that an explicit reference is made to the link between the titles (nobody mentions scarlet vs. pink in ASiP, for example). This is the first time that I can find that Sherlock shows self-awareness from within the narrative that there are extranarrative stories being played out. I’ve said before that I don’t think Thatcher and Napoleon are a good comparison; whether it is or not, Craig’s reference is actively pulling a metatextual part of Sherlock’s history into his story and forcing him to reckon with it. This is important, because he develops expectations of how this story is going to play out (black pearl of the Borgias) which are wrong – because they’re based on what he has learned to expect of himself as fictional character. We could only have such a reference within the Mind Palace.

For the sake of splitting this meta up to make it readable, I’m going to call time on this half of TST, and we’ll pick it up tomorrow at Jack Sandiford’s house. (Also I don’t know how much text tumblr allows and this is a long document.) Until then!

#emp #tst #tjlc #meta #bbc sherlock #my meta #mine #thewatsonbeekeepers #chapter six: so long and thanks for all the fish #tjlc is real #emp theory #the six thatchers #johnlock

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mint-yooxgi · 4 years

Text

{3} - Obsession

Yandere AU - Part of the EXO Obsession Series

Genre: Mature, Horror, Angst

Pairing: EXO OT9 X Reader (with a particular focus on X-EXO)

Words: 3,500

Warnings: This is a Yandere story, it will contain themes such as stalking, violence, obsession, possessive natures, and just general overall creepiness and swearing. You have been warned.

A/n: So work was really slow the other day so I actually had time to write, and thanks to two of my coworkers, the next chapter was born! I’m super excited to show you guys what I have planned for this series, especially in later chapters, but as of now, I'm just building things up. I hope you enjoy, and as always, feedback is always appreciated!

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“They were in your apartment?” Baekhyun nearly shrieks, eyes wide in disbelief.

“Yes,” you reply calmly with a brief nod of your head.

Currently, it’s the morning after the clones had come to visit you at your apartment, and you’ve just finished relaying the most important details the clones had told you to your team. You’ve chosen to omit some things for the time being until you can get a better read on your strike team. However, from the looks of things, they’re not taking things too well, especially the six members of your strike team.

“Why didn’t you call us?” Jongin asks, Minseok nodding right along with him while they both send a concerned look your way.

“Like I already told you,” you sigh, repressing the urge to roll your eyes, “I handled it.”

“Still, why did you wait until now to tell us?” Junmyeon inquires, frown evident on his face.

“You’re even lucky I’m telling you guys this at all,” you retort, eyes narrowing slightly at all of them. “I could have simply said they left me a message, which they technically did do.”

You can see Junmyeon’s frown deepen, scowls appearing on Sehun, Baekhyun, and Chanyeol’s faces. None of them like the idea of you being alone with their clones, especially in your own apartment. You notice Jongdae’s brow furrowed in concentration out of the corner of your eyes, as well as Jongin looking at you with worry still evident in his eyes.

“So then, what are we going to do? Or more importantly,” Yixing turns to look into your eyes, brow creasing slightly in concern, “what are you going to do?”

“What do you mean?” You question, quirking a brow at him in response.

“Clearly they know where you live, and they can get into your apartment without issue,” Sehun starts to say, leaning forwards in his seat to rest his elbows on his thighs. “So that raises the question of where are you going to be staying for the time being?”

Sharing a brief glance with Kyungsoo, you notice him nod his head ever so subtly in your direction. You fail to notice the hopeful looks shining in your strike team’s eyes, but none as apparent as Junmyeon’s, Baekhyun’s, and Jongin’s. Jongdae subtly bites the corner of his lip in anticipation, waiting to be the first out of all of them to offer up his place as a safe house for you during this time.

“She’ll be staying with me,” Kyungsoo says, breaking the brief tense silence that has been building since Sehun posed the question. You notice their eyes widening in surprise, but none are as wide as Junmyeon’s.

You find yourself nodding along with Kyungsoo’s words in confirmation. He’s the only one out of your entire team that knows that you have your own separate living quarters outside of the apartment that the company has assigned to you. Plus, he’s the one you feel the closest to out of all your team members, even more so than Minseok and Yixing.

He’s the only one you’ve trusted enough to actually bring to your real house, so only he knows where it is. During times like this, where a situation arises in which you need to hide away from your own apartment, the two of you have a mutual agreement with each other where he’ll cover for you. Hence you ‘staying’ with him at ‘his’ house.

“Excuse me?” Baekhyun manages to choke out, blinking a few times in disbelief. He can’t seem to catch a break from surprises today, first with the news that his clone, along with the others, had been alone with you in your apartment last night, and now you’ll be staying with Kyungsoo of all people for your protection. He grits his teeth slightly in frustration, for he knows if it came down to it, he’d be the one who would be able to protect you.

“Perfect,” you nod, “it’s settled.”

“Shouldn’t we talk about this first?” Junmyeon voices, slight panic evident in the way his voice is a pitch higher than usual, causing your eyebrow to quirk in surprise.

“We just did,” you respond, crossing your arms in front of your chest. “Considering it’s your clones that we’re dealing with, it would make the most sense for me not to stay with one of you six. The last thing any of us needs is for one of your clones showing up at your own house looking for us. That would be much worse, now, wouldn’t it?”

Though they seem to all scowl at the thought in distaste, they all reluctantly agree with your reasoning.

“I suppose so,” Jongdae grumbles, letting out a small sigh in the next moment as he leans back onto the chair he’s sitting on, running his fingers through his hair. He’s racking his brain to come up with a better solution, preferably one that allows you to stay with him for the time being. So far, he’s come up with nothing, which frustrates him to no end.

“Speaking of our clones,” Chanyeol adds, “what are we going to do about them then?”

At his words, all eyes turn to you. You let out a sigh, rubbing the side of your face with your hand. However, before you can speak, Sehun is beating you to the punch.

“Well, clearly we have to destroy them,” he says, Jongin nodding right along with him. “If what you told us is true, both ‘versions’ of us cannot survive in the end, so our number one priority, after making sure you’re safe, is destroying our clones.”

“I second that,” Chanyeol hums, nodding along with the others.

“What are we going to do if they show up again?” Baekhyun asks, crossing his arms while leaning against the wall he’s standing near. “Or worse, here?”

“We should have a plan just in case that happens,” Junmyeon agrees. “Even if they confront us by themselves in our own homes, I think it would be beneficial if we alerted everyone immediately.”

“I agree,” Jongdae voices his thoughts. “As soon as you can, alert the others. Especially since we don’t know what our clones are fully capable of yet. Besides, some of us might be able to handle ourselves better than the others, and we can use all the backup we can get in the event of an emergency.”

“Contacting each other and keeping all of us updated will be one of our most important methods of protection, as well as making sure we can respond properly and swiftly to a situation if it does arise,” Junmyeon continues, to which you voice your agreement.

“In the event that they do show up here, we need to make sure to act quickly,” you say, eyes sharp and calculating as you look each one of them over. “Strike them down before they can strike you.”

You can tell that they’re all taken aback by your words and how serious you sound. No question, nor hesitation in your voice.

“She’s right,” Jongdae is the first to break the silence that’s settled over all of you. “We’re going to have to kill them eventually if we want to live. It’s not like they’re us anyways.”

At least, that’s what he keeps telling himself. If these clones really are made from a part of them, and share the same memories and feelings, he’s not quite sure just how different they really are. The only difference right now that he can tell is that his clone is not afraid to go after what he wants. But just how far is he willing to go?

“Exactly,” you confirm. “If they’re going to basically be doing the exact same thing every time they encounter you from now on, then it would be beneficial for all of us to strike first.”

A small silence settles over the ten of you as you let this information sink in. You can tell the six members of your strike team are tense, thinking over what has just been decided, and confronted by having to face themselves to the death.

You let out a long exhale through your nose, not too sure how to raise their morale at the moment, for you need some time to figure out their real feelings for you. The last thing you want to do is to make things more complicated than they are. You need to find out the truth, and fast.

“You know, I never thought I’d ever have to face myself in battle,” Sehun jokes, breaking the tense silence as he chuckles, along with Chanyeol.

“Well, you know what they say,” Minseok sighs. “You’re your own worst enemy.”

“Hope you guys can handle yourselves,” Kyungsoo hums amusedly, a teasing tone in his voice.

“I know I can,” Baekhyun smirks smugly.

“Yeah, sure,” Jongin scoffs, rolling his eyes slightly. “Says the guy who just fell flat on his ass this morning coming down the stairs.”

You laugh, an amused grin coming to rest on your features as you turn to see the tips of Baekhyun’s ears turning red from embarrassment.

“I slipped,” Baekhyun attempts to defend himself.

“Uh-huh, sure you did,” Chanyeol grins.

You continue to chuckle as the three of them continue to bicker back and forth. You’re grateful for the small shift in conversation, for it seems to be relieving the previous tension which had settled over all of you. You can feel yourself calming down slowly, grateful to have the weight of the previous evening lessoned, even if it’s only slightly.

Despite appearing much more calm on the outside, you’re still very worried. You know you’ll have to talk with the members of your strike team separately, away from the others, but you’re not exactly sure how you should go about doing that. You’ve always went with a direct approach when dealing with tough situations, but you’re not sure if they’ll be fully honest with you if you do so this time around. Still, it doesn’t hurt to try.

“I still want to talk with all of you individually to make sure that we’re all on the same page,” you make a point to catch the eyes of your strike team, noticing how a few of them tense under your gaze. If you didn’t know any better, you’d say both Chanyeol and Jongin look nervous. “Who wants to go first?”

Both Junmyeon and Jongdae stand up at the same time, causing your brow to quirk in surprise. However, with one quick look from Junmyeon, Jongdae reluctantly sits back down, letting out a quiet sigh as he does so.

“As for the rest of you, dismissed until I call for you,” you tell them, already making your way out of the briefing room and towards your office which resides near the back of the compound.

Junmyeon follows closely behind, making sure to keep pace with you on the way to your office. He bites the inside of his cheek, nervous for what you want to talk to him about, for he’s sure you all covered everything in the meeting you’ve all just had. Unless his clone did something that you’ve opted to exclude in your retelling of last night’s events.

Shutting the door behind himself once you’ve both entered your office, he turns to face you. He notices how you’re casually leaning against the front of your desk, motioning with your head for him to sit in one of your two chairs which rest in front of you.

“What is it you wanted to discuss?” He asks, taking a seat in the chair on his left, the chair that just so happens to be the closest to you at the moment.

You let out a sigh, closing your eyes briefly as you tilt your head downwards, “look, I know this is a pretty fucked up situation, but do you have any idea why your clone in particular would be coming after me?”

He freezes momentarily, breath lodging in his throat, “I’m not sure.”

“Oh?” You shift your gaze to his, analyzing his every move.

“Must be a side effect of the spell,” he continues, his dead heart racing in his chest. He may be a vampire, but you are one of the only things that actually have an effect on him.

“Must be,” you mutter, crossing your arms once more in front of your chest.

“Is that all?” He asks, wanting to get out of this situation as soon as possible. The longer he stays in your office, the less control over his thoughts he has, especially due to the situation you’re both in. Usually, he loves being in your office, for he can revel in your scent which covers every inch of the space. However, he can’t seem to enjoy it as thoroughly this time around, for he doesn’t want to get too distracted and risk saying something that might give his feelings for you away. His real feelings.

“Junmyeon,” you notice the way his jaw twitches when you say his name, “is there anything you’d like me to know that might help us in this situation?”

“I just want you to be safe,” he replies after a moment of hesitation.

“It’s not me I’m worried about,” you sigh, shaking your head slightly. “Anyways, that’s all for now. If you find out anything else, make sure to let us know. I’m trusting you, considering you are my second in command. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you guys.”

The sincerity in your voice causes a small smile to tug at his lips, “give us a little bit more credit, we’ll be fine.”

You send a weak smile back, “dismissed.”

With that, he stands up from the chair. Before he exits your office, he pauses briefly to send one final look to you from over his shoulder. So badly he wants to wrap you in his arms and tell you that everything will be okay, that he’ll always be there to protect you. However, he knows that it would be inappropriate for him to do so at this time, especially since he can’t even confess to you that he sees you as more than just his captain. As more than just a friend.

Walking down the hallway he decides that he’s going to work on tracking these clones down, and prove to you that he can always be there for you, to protect you. He wants to make sure that he’s doing whatever he can to impress you, too. He might need a little help from the others, but he knows he can run this operation smoothly, and earn your affections by doing so. He’ll show you that he’s worthy to be your man.

The rest of your one on one meetings with the others go pretty much exactly the same way as Junmyeon’s did. None of your strike team admits to anything that you’ve come to assume or learn about them. Jongin and Chanyeol both seemed close to cracking, but held their own in the end. Turns out this might be harder than you originally thought, but if you ever run into their clones again, maybe you can get some more information out of them instead.

Gathering your things to head home for the evening, you let out a frustrated sigh. The good news is that you all have a general consensus and plan for fighting these clones if they were to attack any one of your team members. However, given what you know, and still have yet to find out, you’re not too sure if you’d actually go through with attacking them first. You’d rather get as much information out of them as you can for the time being, that way you can come up with a better way to not only combat them, but understand and deal with the originals as well.

A soft knock on your office door manages to break you out of your thoughts.

“Come in,” you say, not really paying attention to who enters the room.

“You okay?” Kyungsoo’s voice catches your attention, looking up to see him already staring at you with concern etched onto his features.

“Yeah, just a bit frustrated, is all,” you shoot him a tight smile, letting out a puff of air as you sling your bag over your shoulder. Noticing the look he’s sending you, you let out a sigh, “I’ll tell you in the car.”

“Ready to go then?” He asks, seeing you nod your head in response.

Walking over to him, he holds the door open for you. Flicking off the lights, you walk past him into the hallway, hearing the door to your office fall shut as he catches up to you and matches your pace. He doesn’t say anything as the two of you make your way to the underground parking and towards his car, of which you couldn’t be more grateful. Once you’re safe in his car and making you way out of the garage, you find yourself letting out a groan.

“What would you do if you knew the truth about something, but no one would tell you about it?” You voice your thoughts, knowing that you can trust Kyungsoo enough to give you an honest opinion and also keep your conversation a secret.

“Is this about the clones?” He eyes you curiously from the driver’s seat.

“Yeah,” you run a hand through your hair before jumping into the full explanation about what had really transpired last night, telling him specifically how the clones acted near the end of your encounter.

He lets out a low whistle, “based on what you’re telling me, and from what we know about the clones already, it sounds to me like your strike team all has the hots for you, with their own little unique quirks.”

“That’s what I’m thinking, but I can’t be too sure since they’ve never shown signs of being interested in me romantically, nor have they admitted to it,” you say, turning your head to look at him.

“Still, I’d be cautious with how you act around them now, and especially with what you say,” he says, turning onto the highway to get to your place. “The last thing you need is for the team to fall apart.”

“Gee, thanks for the encouragement,” you deadpan. “No pressure or anything.”

“Relax,” he rolls his eyes. “We both know you can handle it. Do your best to gather more information from the clones, and once you have enough information, confront the originals. Who knows, something may end up happening that works in your favour.”

“Look at you, rooting for me to get some romance in my life in times of crisis,” a teasing smirk pulling at your lips.

“Always,” he grins right back before becoming serious in the next second, “but you know that if they ever tried anything to hurt you I’d end them. No hesitation.”

“Yeah, yeah,” you chuckle, “I know.”

“If anything happens, make sure you call me first,” he goes on to say.

“Well, considering you’re the only one who actually knows where I live,” you joke. “Speaking of, what are you going to do if one of them shows up at your place wanting to talk with me?”

“Simple,” he responds. “I’ll just tell them you’re out, or at the gym, or on a walk, or at the compound, or sleeping, or-“

“Okay, I get it!” You grin, shaking your head slightly in amusement. “You’ll just make up some excuse and cover for me.”

“Exactly,” he replies, nodding his head in confirmation. “Besides, if it’s really urgent, they’d call you.”

“That’s true,” you confirm. “At least I’d hope so.”

“They will,” he assures you. “I don’t think I’ve seen them have as much respect for anyone else as they do for you. They’ll respect your wishes, and just like me, will do whatever it takes to make sure you’re safe. Though, I don’t think I’m as paranoid as they are about leaving you by yourself.”

“Which I am thankful for,” you shoot him a look, grin tugging on your lips once more.

Pulling off of the highway, Kyungsoo begins to take the backroads to get to your house which rests in the middle of the woods, hidden by all the trees surrounding it. Once he pulls up to your front door, you thank him for driving you, and proceed to make your way inside your house, watching as his car disappears behind the trees.

You’re happy to be home, though you wish it were under better circumstances. Unlocking the door, you’re quick to turn off your alarm and toss your bag onto the bench you keep by the front door.

Shutting and locking your front door shortly afterwards, you find yourself breathing a sigh of relief. At least you know there aren’t any surprises waiting for you in your living room tonight. Well, you sure hope there’s none.

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linssikeittomies · 3 years

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The Place Between Here And There - Chapter 10: ...And Happiness In Private Life(cont'd)

Masterpost AO3 Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 9(cont'd)

I've finally updated the status of the fic to ABANDONED, I was going to do that way earlier but I didn't want to admit defeat, and then I just kind of forgot... Time really starts flying by as you get older, it totally doesn't feel like 2 years passed by^^' I'm still writing scenes for later on in the fic, and I've had the general outline of the story planned for a long time, but I haven't been able to write complete chapters for any of my projects for over a year now, it's very annoying. Anyway, this is the rest of chapter 9, not my best work but at least I like the part with Toris. He's noticed Ivan's small efforts of being nicer and wants to encourage them. Thanks for everyone who read this story and sorry for not being able to bring it to conclusion for all of you who were invested!

Ivan sent Fredya home until Wednesday – claiming it was so he could concentrate on work, but he was sure Fredya could tell he was just fretting about the upcoming meeting. Ivan was terrified Katyushka would get carried away, and that was closer to certainty rather than possibility, and then Fredya would walk out of his life. He had known from the start that the time would come sooner or later, but he had much hoped it would fall on the later end of the spectrum. This was a wholly different case from that of his first girlfriend - the one he had been with all of three days before Katyusha started talking about weddings. She had left him the next day, not surprisingly, and he hadn’t really cared one way or the other - she had been far too practical to occupy his thoughts when she wasn’t in sight. But if Fredya left as suddenly, and he was certainly impulsive enough to do so on the spot, then... Obviously it still wouldn’t be the end of the world,of course it wasn’t the worst thing that could happen, losing a home for example would be far worse than losing a companion, it really wasn’t that big of an issue when you thought about it – there was no reason to lose what little will to live Ivan had left over something that insignificant. No reason.

So Ivan would not worry about it – he slammed the door on the thought, and worked hard to put all his concentration on his notes. He had not yet studied Rogers enough, his files on the computer had sat abandoned for too long. Opening his folder, going over the routes again, verifying time codes, Ivan fell to a comfortable, familiar routine, cup of tea beside him growing cold. Rogers didn’t have much of a routine, which made observing him a challenge and data collecting a thrill. At least this was an activity that Ivan could still lose himself in despite whatever non-turmoil was boiling in his gut. Comparing coordinates, discovering overlaps, identifying patterns, data was something Ivan was good at. Data had no emotions, so it was easy to handle. Data didn’t mind his extracurriculars, didn’t judge him for his jealousy, didn’t snoop into his past. Though it also didn’t text him at 3 am to tell him about a silly dream it had. Even less it cared about whether he was coming home for the night or not. It not wanting to watch brainless, cliched superhero should have been a positive, but in the dark, the brain gets sentimental. Ivan suddenly wished he had a file on Fredya. Ivan certainly had enough data on him, though so far it was all in his brain and a few lines in his notebooks. One photo on his phone, a selfie Fredya had sent some weeks ago. It was taken with one of those filter things, Ivan wasn’t familiar with the apps so he couldn’t tell if it was instagram or snappychat or whatever others there were. Fredya had cartoon glasses on his nose, on top of his real-life glasses. He was doing a victory sign, and there was a badly drawn pink heart floating in the lower left corner, not anchored into anything. The composition of the photo was bad. A large dead space occupied the top left, a pile of dirty clothes was poking into the frame from the bottom right. The lighting was scarcely better, the only diffuser was the dust inside the light fixture. Fredya’s artistic ability was nil, though he did make for an attractive subject, harsh shadows and all. It would be nice to have proper photo of him, before he got out of reach. With a reference to guide him, it might be possible. Ivan quickly scanned his bedroom for inspiration.

Perhaps it was too much effort for 2 a.m., but Ivan rather liked the end result. The handful of stars drawn on the wall to form a suggestion of a halo – however wrong it looked on Ivan – and hands posed to form a heart on the chest, and some minor lighting adjustments on photoshop, he thought it near perfectly captured how Ivan saw Fredya. Bright, innocent, center of the universe, unashamed of his affections. Fredya wouldn’t put as much effort in to it, even if he did take his own version of the photo as Ivan had requested, but that was also good. It wasn’t in Fredya’s nature to try too hard at something he didn’t feel like understanding - such as art other than of the moving pictures variety. Together, the photos formed a piece – the fantasy and the reality. It was a commentary on expectations. Fredya may or may not look at the photo when he inevitably got up to go the bathroom sometime soon, but he wouldn’t take his own until afternoon if ever, so Ivan finally went to bed. He only had a few hours before his shift started.

-_-_-_-_-

Fredya had sent an emoji Ivan didn’t understand the meaning as response to the photo, followed by hearts and something that seemed to be an abbreviation, Ivan didn’t research the meaning. It likely wasn’t important. Ivan got coffees for everyone again, and Amanda gave him a incredulous look. It was getting suspicious, Ivan acting nice. He should dial down on the social interactions for the next few days. It would be good practice for when Fredya left him, anyway. “Oh, thank you for going through the trouble”, Toris commented smiling. Ivan studied the smile, trying to map out proportions and gauge timings, but again he failed to replicate the gesture. It kept coming out as sarcastic. He would prefer if both would just shut up and their coffees without scrutinizing his intentions. Let a man act civil to fellow humans beings in peace. “If everyone is done sitting around, we need someone to go interview Fowler’s parishioners.” Predictably, Amanda volunteered for the task. That left Ivan and Toris at the office, reading through statements, comparing alibis and viewing security footage, the same draining and pointless sinkhole of never-ending choppy black-and-white footage that glared a print of the screen in your soul, so that in the end when you lost everything else to dementia and cataracts, you would still see that stinging bright rectangle staring you in the eye, smirking gleefully, taking pleasure in removing everything one used to take joy in, and replacing itself in place of loved ones. That metaphor ran a little wild at the end, there. In all fairness, it could be intriguing work when results could reasonably be expected, but everyone and their mother knew the only thing learned from these particular ones would be just how much time were wasting on them. Even Toris, being his professional self, couldn’t resist glancing at the clock every few minutes. He would of course try to make it inconspicuous, just letting his eyes dart to his wrist and back again, but it was noticeable enough when one was more concentrated on the coworker than the work. It came to Ivan’s mind that perhaps this was another aspect of Toris he should try to simulate, rather than keep studying, his work ethic was excellent. Surely that was something most people would approve of. And Fredya did often complain Ivan was rather lackadaisical about his work, he would appreciate the effort. “How do stay so focused?” he asked sincerely. It was admirable, really, how Toris could throw himself at something so tedious. Toris blinked at him in confusion, probably surprised to see his colleague who was supposed to working beside him blatantly ignoring said work. “I’ve practiced it for years, there’s really no easy trick for it.” “Ah. Shame.” “I find that meditating regularly helps. And a good diet.” Well, that was already two things Ivan would not be trying out. “I could send you some articles if you’d like.” “You should spend your free time on yourself. You work too much.” Ivan went idly back to his files, not really feeling like working, but deciding to at least give it a shot, but feeling Toris’ curious eyes still fixed on him was too much of a distraction. After several seconds of silence he couldn’t take it anymore. “Yes?” “Thank you. That was considerate of you.” Ivan didn’t know how to answer that. It had been such a banal thing to say. Not warranting any response, really. Just a stock phrase, however true of some people and situations - such as this particular specimen. Toris must have heard the exact same statement hundreds of times in his life, knowing that he had an actual social circle who cared for him. Ivan was outside that circle, and people rarely care for the things outsiders say in matters like these - surely Toris should feel nothing particular about anything Ivan said. There was no need for him to smile like that, it was just embarrassing for a grown man to get so giddy about faint praise. Ivan scoffed and went back to his work.

-_-_-_-_-

U maek a habot of drawning on walls huh Outside of his brief childhood, Ivan had only ever drawn on walls three times - once in a drunk, misguided bout of creative frenzy, once to write his number on an intriguing man’s wall to annoy him, and once in an attempt to save a relic of happier times for the future. Mostly when you are involved, it seems. Perhaps you are my muse for wall-related artistry It had been a while since Ivan had drawn a portrait, but now might be the time to dust off that skill set. Ivan considered himself more of a photographer, but there was also something appealing about creating from scratch. Although... he would need to keep the portrait hidden, it would raise questions and pity later on. Ivan wished he was better at abstraction, that way it wouldn’t look like Fredya to anyone else, but his mind seemed to be too observational for it. It could only make sense of things that connected together in realistic ways, it couldn’t create anything out of feelings alone. Perhaps he simply didn’t have enough of them for that kind of art. The dinner with Fredya and his sisters was a few hours away, but Ivan was already nervously ironing his clothes. He once again pleaded Katyusha to control her romantic impulses, and of course she promised, but Ivan knew that meant little. She had very bad self-control. Tasha’s picking me up, we’ll meet you there Natasha was coming? Nataliya was coming?! Fuck - what was she - this was bad news - why hadn’t she said - oh god, forget about Katyusha ruining everything if Nataliya Grigorova was coming! She never mentioned wanting to come along That sneaky little girl, she told me you said it was okay, haha He would not survive this night sober. He wanted to make a good impression. He did not want to be drunk when the only three people who mattered to him were all in the same room. He wanted to be fully conscious, to enjoy an outing with his family while being fully genuine, not just sedated into calmness. But lord knew he would not survive the night sober.

-_-_-_-_-

Remembering the fit Fredya had thrown the last time Ivan had driven not-strictly-drunk-but-also-not-sober, he was glad that they had arranged beforehand for Fredya to pick him up. Because he was observant in the most inconvenient ways, Ivan had been sure Fredya would notice something was off, maybe a smell or the slow movements to counteract the unsteady hand-to-eye-coordination, but fortunately he was too stoked about meeting Ivan’s sisters again, officially, to notice Ivan’s oddly calm demeanor. He babbled excitedly the whole way there, and was halfway across the street before Ivan had even fully exited the car. “Come on you snail! They’re gonna think we ditched them!” “It’s only a few minutes away, you can afford to slow down”, Ivan chuckled. Fredya was so adorably excited, he resembled a puppy on a walk. “Being overeager is as bad as being late.” “Beg to disagree! Pick up the pace slowpoke!” Fredya sped up ahead, Ivan kept his leisurely pace. He missed the re-introductions, but it seemed like he hadn’t been needed for those at all - Fredya and Katyushka already looked like old friends, while Tasha regarded him with a haughty look, but nary a nasty word. She raised an eyebrow at Ivan, as if saying really, you chose this clown over me?, and he simply smiled pleasantly at her. As they waited for their food to arrive, Fredya and Katyushka were unsurprisingly the only ones to hold up conversation. They had found a common ground in Star Trek - in that Katyusha had heard a lot about it, but had never watched an episode and was interested, and Fredya was an expert in all the series and films and liked talking about them. They went through the pacifistic ideas on the original series and how it sometimes contradicted itself on it, analyzing the casting choices for the remakes, some more things that Ivan had no interest in. When their plates were brought, the were in the midst of trying to speak klingon - the attempts of both of them were saddeningly hilarious. Or perhaps they were both surprisingly accurate. Ivan had no way of knowing, the franchise being something he had never taken an interest in. Of course he liked space, but he was more fact-oriented than a fan of fanciful fiction. “You seem so young, it’s almost like you’re still in college”, Katyusha giggled, and Ivan could not agree more. The youthful energy Fredya exuded was refreshing, at least most of the time. “Never went to college, I went straight to work from high school”, Fredya explained, crumbs flying. That was the one habit that Ivan never found charming in Fredya, it was just plain disgusting. Tasha made a small chortle of contempt that passed Fredya by. “Our brother is a very intelligent man”, Tasha commented sharply, and Ivan knew exactly what she was going for – he had come to the same conclusion, himself. And truthfully, neither of them had been wrong - Fredya really was stupid. “Oh, tell me about it”, the insulted man chuckled, not understanding what was being implied. Ivan would have liked being able to defend Fredya, but the thing was that Fredya was not intelligent – intellectually or socially, and attempting to claim otherwise would have been pointless. He might have been considered smart in some useless areas, such as entertainment trivia, but faint praise is just as damning as admitting faults. Trivia! There was the opening Fredya needed to impress Tasha! “He has a master’s degree in movie trivia and celebrity gossip, if nothing else. Just give an actor’s name and he will tell you every movie they have ever been in.” “And not just that! I can also tell which year each movie came out!” Fredya exclaimed proudly. Ivan started with an easy one - Tom Cruise. Tasha did look reluctantly impressed as the titles and dates kept on coming, but refused to admit defeat. She tried her favorite actor, someone much more obscure. “Ken Foree?” “Hmm… The midnight man, 2017… Rift, dark side of the moon 2016, Cut slash pri- no wait, I think he was in Divine tragedies, 2015, Cut slash print 2012 –“ However, since

Tasha’s obsession with her brother refused to give way to respect for her perceived enemy, she realized that to claim victory she could simply ask about any non-American film star. “Anastasia Zavorotnyuk.” “Anastasia who?” Of course he pronounced the name the American way, but Ivan was still mildly impressed he could tell Анастасия and Anastasia were the same name. “Zavorotnyuk.” Tasha allowed herself a malevolent smirk as Fredya racked his brain for the name in vain. “A true expert wouldn’t limit himself only to Hollywood”, Tasha hmphed in triumphant malice, believing to have proved her superiority over him once and for all, despite not showing an ability to counter his. It seemed the point had only been to prove Fredya was not omniscient. In Ivan’s eyes, it was enough to be merely well-versed. “He does hate subtitles to the point where I thought he might be illiterate”, Ivan joked. “Hey, at least I speak the language of the country I live in!” “Verily, my darling, thou speakest with the most biting of tongues. Shakespeare himself would envy your prowess.” “The guy lived like hundreds of years ago, who gives a shit? Ivan Drago was famous in the 80’s.” “Ivan can sound almost native when he tries”, Katyusha said, trying to diffuse the argument, not knowing the workings of their relationship well enough to tell it was all said in jest. “I haven’t tried in years, I doubt I could anymore”, Ivan thought. He had tried training his accent away in high school, so he would sound less foreign in job interviews. Having a foreign name was bad enough in an application. He had never achieved a smooth, natural accent, he had to concentrate very hard which caused the words to come out very slowly and robotically, and still there was always a hint of foreign phonemes. Combined with his attempts to deepen his voice – an incredibly embarrassing failure on its own – had made him cringe, even back then. Tasha had encouraged him, of course, because in her mind anything and everything her dear brother did was the right decision. Excluding taking romantic interest in someone other than her, of course.

The rest of the evening went by in much the same fashion. Fredya and Katyusha got along swimmingly, Tasha made snide remarks about Fredya, Ivan defended him in mean ways, Fredya played along. It was all very pleasant. Finally the staff started dropping hints that it was time to vacate the table, so they got up and parted ways. Katyusya was enchanted enough to not wait long enough to be out of earshot before starting to gush about her baby brother’s relationship, which made for a perfect opening for eavesdropping. “Don’t you think Vanechka looks so much happier than usual?” Katyusya said, nearly clapping her hands in excitement. “Idiocy might be contagious”, Tashenka grumbled in response. “I never imagined he’d go for that type, but I guess it goes to show opposites really do attract!” Katyushka squeed. “It’s only for the moment. That American moron will start getting on Vanya’s nerves soon”, Tashenka claimed, not sounding too confident herself. Ivan had expected that to happen as well, in the beginning. “I hope he won’t, I think Alfred is good for Vanechka. He’s come out of his shell.” What did she mean by that? As far as Ivan was aware, he had never been shy around his sisters. Or other people, for that matter. “What’re you frowning about?” Fredya asked. “I’m eavesdropping. Katyusha likes you, and Natasha doesn’t despise you.” “Well that’s good news isn’t it?” Fredya smiled, and tried to hear the women. “Man, you got great hearing. I can’t hear them at all.” Yes, it did take some practice to achieve Ivan’s level of spying on other people’s conversations. And by then they had gotten far enough that Ivan couldn’t hear then anymore either, actually. “Your eardrums must be damaged from the all screeching you do.” “You’re walking home, asshole.”

Tasha + Katyushka = affectionate nicknames for Nataliya and Yekaterina. Tashenka + Katyusya = one level more intimate. Ivan is being drunk and sentimental so at the end of the evening, the way he feels about his sisters is something like most people do when seeing tiny kittens. Thanks again for reading! Maybe in like 10 years so I'll add a final "chapter" describing the rest of the plot, but I know myself and won't make any promises. I have some more snippets on the masterpost if anyone wants to frustrate themselves with a story that will never be finished.

#hereandthere #fan fiction #hetalia #RusAme #AmeRus #russiaxamerica #linssifanfiction #WIPtale

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