#when in doubt make an ot3

[brynnmclean]

/clears throat

All right, I wrote some stuff today (looking at @rain-sleet-snow as usual!!! for my uncorrupted mairon au)

“Well, I can’t fault your taste,” Mablung says, swiping the flask of wine from Celeborn’s hands and taking a healthy pull.  Celeborn scowls half because he’d been saving that, damn it, and half because he knows Mablung doesn’t mean his taste in wine.

Beleg is a good enough friend to not intervene in the scuffle between Celeborn and Mablung, even when Celeborn shoves Mablung face-first into the dirt.  He gently coaxes sparks into flame, humming a few protective notes that reverberate around their camp for the night.  Queen Melian’s power can still be felt here at the edge of the Girdle, but it never hurts to be careful this far from Menegroth.

Celeborn reclaims his wine, releasing Mablung from the grapple.  He stomps over to their packs and rummages for lembas to supplement the rabbits Mablung found in their snares.  He can’t think of anything to say to save himself from the inevitable teasing he’ll have to endure tonight—pleading ignorance or mercy would only have his friends scenting weakness like hounds on a trail.  It’s bad enough that practically all of Menegroth witnessed him calling Lady Artanis Finarfiniel by the name he’d kept private in his heart for her for years deliberately uncounted after the Mereth Aderthad—with her Maia husband standing right there.  Nevermind that he’d thought of a name for Lord Mairon, too.  Flooded with embarrassment, he had caught Mairon’s eye in the brief moment before he’d fled the hall.  Mairon had smiled at him, warm and so handsome that Celeborn had almost stayed, bathing in the golden glow of his regard even if it burned him like moth to candle-light.

“You can’t sulk in silence all week,” Mablung says, arranging the rabbits onto a spit.

Celeborn sighs, breaking off a small portion of lembas and dividing it up for the three of them.  “I won’t,” he says, crossing to the fire and holding the broken wafer out to Beleg first.

Beleg grins, cheerfully accepting Celeborn’s surrender.  “If you didn’t want to talk about your feelings for Galadriel, you would have come out here alone instead of coming to me wild-eyed and desperate for an escape.”

“I don’t know why I did that,” Celeborn says, trying to pitch his voice into something mild, instead of—definitely still sulky.  “You’re both aggravating.”

Mablung doesn’t dignify that with a response, but the flash of his smile says enough about their friendship.  Celeborn huffs and smiles back, annoyed but affectionate.

“I don’t know why you’re so embarrassed,” Beleg says.  “It’s an apt name for her.  And it’s in Sindarin which is compliant with the King’s law now.”

“I wasn’t thinking about the King’s law.”  Celeborn scrubs his hand over his face, trying to ignore the flush in his cheeks and how absolutely visible it must be, even in the low evening light.  “Even if it would be useful to her, it was presumptuous of me to say it.”

“You’ve been thinking it for years,” Mablung says, while Beleg simultaneously says, “Friends gift names, too,” and Celeborn really drops his face completely into his hands then, despairing.

Mablung comes around and throws his arm over Celeborn’s shoulder, a heavy hand gripping his arm.  “Cheer up, mellon nîn.  I’m sure if your lady and her husband objected to your feelings—which are obvious since you ran away immediately after blurting out her nickname—Lord Mairon could have incinerated you in the blink of an eye.”

“Or,” Beleg adds, helpfully, “he could have caught up to us days ago.  We’re good scouts, but surely not good enough to evade a Maia.”

“I have a name for him, too,” Celeborn groans—terrible to admit, but also a relief.  At least only his comrades are here to witness it, instead of all the gossips in Doriath.  “It’s Halbrand.”

Mablung laughs and jostles Celeborn a little, but Celeborn doesn’t look up, hunching his shoulders deeper.  “Tall and noble—not as imaginative as crowned with a radiant garland.”

“I think it’s nice!”  An idiotic wave of gratitude loosens the curve of Celeborn’s spine at Beleg’s words.  “Mairon is quieter and doesn’t seem to like attention as much.  A simple name would probably be preferable.”

Celeborn can’t spend all evening hiding his face, just like he can’t spend all week sulking about accidentally baring his heart during a feast.  He’d had a plan about handling his feelings—and that plan had been to wait until the song in his spirit either quieted (unlikely) or needed to be sung (certainly not while he thanked her for dancing with him and absolutely not as a slip of the tongue that left her shocked, asking him to repeat what he’d said—)

He tips his head up and looks at the stars peeking out from the canopy of the trees.  “What if I stay out here in the woods forever?”

He catches Mablung and Beleg exchanging a glance he can’t read out of the corner of his eye.  Mablung moves away to keep their dinner from burning and Beleg shuffles over to switch out with embracing Celeborn.  Beleg presses the wine flask back into Celeborn’s hands then tugs gently on the end of his long silver braid.

“Mablung is right, you do need to cheer up.  Anyone with eyes can see that they both do like you.”

“You should have seen Mairon watch you during the archery contest,” Mablung says.  “He couldn’t take his eyes off your arms, even to watch Beleg trounce you.”

Celeborn shrugs and holds out his left arm, firelight flickering across the green sleeve of protective runes inked into his skin.  “They don’t have the same kind of tattoo customs in Aman, even among the Teleri.  He asked me about them afterward.  It seemed like academic curiosity.”

Beleg arches an eyebrow.  “For someone who has a reputation for wisdom, you really are blind.  He could have been angling to see more of what you have under your clothes.”

“Don’t,” Celeborn says, meaning don’t tease me, don’t lie to me, but Beleg tugs harder on his hair, insistent.

“I mean it.  Mablung and I will stay out here with you until you work up the courage to go back, but I don’t think it will be as bad as you clearly seem to fear.”

Celeborn hums skeptically, but he also leans against Beleg and nods.  “Thank you.”

Mablung finishes cooking their dinner and hands him a plate.  “We’ll even help you plan what you’re going to say when you see them.”

-

So of course they run into Lord Mairon and Lady Artanis before they return.  

There is a quiet stream in the wooded outskirts directly outside of Menegroth that Celeborn likes to visit before returning to the caves of the city, and Mairon sits on a stone as casually as if he was waiting for them to show up to an appointment.

Normally, Celeborn would unshoulder his pack, bathe his hands in the cold, clean water, and take one last look up at the the trees, drinking in the clear sky fragmented by the leaves—but he freezes instead like a deer caught unawares by a hunter, unsure if he should run.

Mairon’s eyes are very bright.  None of the carefully crafted words Celeborn has been mulling over the past few days are in his mind anymore, just the overwhelming thought that he might like to be chased.

“Lord Celeborn, well met,” Mairon says, rising to his feet and smiling in a way that strikes Celeborn past his leather armor and cuts clean through.  It is an expression Celeborn hasn’t seen in years, not that he’s been cataloging Mairon’s smiles (he has, a little, and they’re always small as secrets, if they aren’t sharp as blades), it is large and free, a grin that creases the corners of his eyes.  The last time he’d looked like that had been during the Mereth Aderthad while watching his wife.  Celeborn had felt his heart tear out of his chest and be lost forever at the sight.  It’s dazzling to see it leveled at him, blazing like the sun.

Mairon, mercifully, looks toward Mablung and Beleg, greeting them courteously while Celeborn catches his breath.  Recovering his composure completely, though, is a lost cause once Mairon turns his gaze downstream and calls out: “Galadriel!”

Deeply, deeply aggravating, Celeborn hears Mablung mutter, I knew it.

#rough drafts #galadriel x celeborn x halbrand #:) #fell in love with the fire #i have to go make myself dinner now but i do want to keep going and make this its own thing #when in doubt ot3 #an uncorrupted mairon au

[lunar-years]

Okay. Let's talk Jamie and Roy getting beers and being idiots.

I know we are all still processing that whirlwind of a finale. I'm understanding that a lot of people hate the Roy & Jamie scene because it is 1) backslide-y (true) 2) they treat Keeley like a prize to be won (true) and 3) it's OOC (I actually disagree with this one, but I can understand why it's complicated). I want to start off by saying I completely see where this opinion is coming from and I respect everyone who just hates the scene because it shows normally kind characters being very unkind to each other etc. This is less me arguing against that as it is me trying to articulate (at great length, sorry) why it not only worked for me, but I genuinely liked it.

I like to think I strike a balance between loving everything the show has done and hating overwhelmingly on a show I claim to enjoy, but sure, you could definitely argue that I'm just giving my favorite characters the benefit of the doubt, or making excuses for them, because they're my favorite characters. I'll admit I'm historically very forgiving of all the main characters' many fuck-ups on Ted Lasso, but that's because I think the show works best when it emphasizes how kindness, forgiveness, friendship and love can still operate between imperfect, flawed people. I like seeing them make realistic mistakes much more than I like everyone handling everything perfectly, I'll bite.

So, back to Jamie and Roy. I enjoyed their finale plot because despite them making a world of mistakes, the regression felt very, very human. I don't agree at all with the take that this somehow erased all the progress they've made this season or the friendship the show has lovingly crafted between them. In fact, I think this actively reiterated it! (Note: I am operating with my ot3 goggles on at all times, so I'm going to write this with that at least partially in mind, but I think the gist of it works even if you ignore the bits that get a little shippy.)

For both Jamie and Roy, Keeley and their love for her is a major beacon guiding them. I think that is the crisp, clear thing in both of their heads this episode: Keeley is the love of my life. And they both believe that wholeheartedly, and they both want to be with her. (and it's goofy to pretend this came out of nowhere for Jamie/since when is Jamie still in love with her/etc. because he literally told her and us this last season and nothing that has happened since has indicated otherwise, btw.) But there's also something else now, which is their relationship with each other, battling with their Keeley thoughts. It's like, in Roy's head, for instance, I imagine there are two wolves: on the one hand he loves Keeley, and wants to be with her, and plans to win back her heart. On the other hand, there's his love and care for Jamie Tartt, which is much less defined and inarticulate and maybe still a little repressed, but just as overpowering. His love for Keeley feels so simple and clear in comparison, while his love for Jamie is something complicated and unsure, and in this episode, he's leaning hard into the first to avoid unpacking the second.

So Roy starts off strong. He sees Jamie with Keeley in the hallway and he doesn't flip out!! Instead, he approaches Jamie calmly, and invites him out for beers. Think about how different this is from his reaction to Jamie's love confession to Keeley in season 2. This is Roy's growth in action, and it's a resounding sign of just how important Jamie is to Roy now. Even when he is feeling jealous of the woman he loves potentially leaving him behind for a man he loves (a completely natural reaction, let's be so real, if not a "good" one), he also knows that for as much as he wants to be with Keeley, he doesn't want to lose his friendship with Jamie.

As for Jamie, I know some people took his reaction and subsequent response to Nate's question as like, shock at the realization that he and Roy are actually friends now, which I agree is something that had to have come earlier in the timeline (what was Mom City if not that) and would seem very out of place at this point. What I saw it as instead was Jamie's brain more just. sort of short-circuiting? Because: holy shit isn't this the best day ever? First Keeley agreed to go to Brazil with me and now Roy is asking me on a date for beers? this is so sound. This invite is out of place behavior from Roy even within the parameters of their friendship, because they still have a match to win and Roy has banned Jamie from beers as part of his training and despite them being close now I find it hard to believe that Roy often comes up to him right there in dressing room to ask him to grab a beer with no pretense.

Therefore, they're already walking into that bar in completely different head-spaces. Jamie isn't planning to discuss Keeley, and for Roy that is his major intention behind the evening. Jamie is nervous and downing his beer, and Roy is internally panicking, I'm imagining, over when and how to bring Keeley up. I think Roy is thinking: Well, I don't intend to stop pursuing Keeley, I genuinely don't want Jamie's feelings to be hurt when I get back together with her (and yes, it is a huge presumption for him to assume Keeley's going to eventually take him back. But I think it's also an understandable one), so I've got to tell Jamie I care about him, and that I'm going to keep going after Keeley, and he needs to be okay with that so that this won't get in the way of our friendship, which I also desperately need and am unwilling to give up. In his mind, Jamie is of course going to accept all of this, because Roy and Keeley are soulmates, which Jamie will clearly recognize deep down because it is so obvious and right and anyway, Jamie always does what Roy tells him to do (again, this is all misguided thinking. But we can see how Roy's anxious little brain that's bad at processing feelings and holding space for emotions could get himself here, can't we?).

So again, we start off strong with Roy saying he's proud of Jamie and them both thanking one another. But then Roy's blurting out nonsense about how Jamie just needs to pull himself out of the running and just let Roy be with Keeley. Which is obviously not on. And Jamie responds, simply, with No. I'd argue this is also a huge step for Jamie. Jamie really doesn't tell Roy no anymore, he doesn't tell anyone no. Jamie has spent so much of his time since coming back to Richmond working to be the person everyone around him wants and expects him to be. This is him fighting for something he wants for once, doing what is best for him. It was a fabulous progression to see. In the moment, boy does it work Roy up, because why is Jamie not agreeing with me, Jamie always agrees with me? but obviously at this point, Jamie is in the right. His relationship with Keeley was no less meaningful than Roy's just because Roy says it was, Roy doesn't have any claim on her, and there's no real reason Jamie should not try and shoot his shot with Keeley if Roy is going to do the same.

Here's where things start to spiral. Established flaws we know about Roy: he's competitive. He's bad at voicing his feelings productively. And he is territorial about the people he loves, a category that safely includes both Jamie and Keeley at this point in time, for better and sometimes worse. Yes, his next actions are grossly possessive over Keeley, yes Roy has made a lot of effort over the past year to do and be better than that, to break free of that cycle. But look, it's not a linear process. He's going to still mess up, and he does here. In fact he's downright mean, weaponizing Keeley against Jamie and throwing having sex with Keeley a month ago into Jamie's face, bragging about it, boasting. Same old cycle, same old patterns of ego-driven, prideful mistakes.

Which promptly prompts Jamie to also fuck up by bringing up the leak. It's a concentrated response intended to get a suitable rise out of Roy, because Roy has really, genuinely hurt him here, and Jamie knows bringing up that video is the one thing that will hurt Roy just as much in turn. It's not the right thing to do, obviously, but again, it's such a human thing to do. Hurt the person who's hurt you right back, even if you're hurting someone else (Keeley) by extension. Mind you, Jamie came here expecting a hangout (/date) with Roy over a rare beer, and instead he got Roy being a complete asshole and lecturing nonsense at him out of seemingly nowhere. He reacts to this change-up, well, not greatly. There is something so messy and emotionally complicated happening here and it hinges on how very much Jamie and Roy care about each other, not negates it.

Keeley, queen that she is, rejects them both out of hand and kicks them out not the curb immediately because they're both being complete idiots, acting like they're so gracious in giving her the honor and privilege of choosing between them. Not to mention they've clearly got something going on between them they haven't worked through and that sure as shit isn't her problem, is it? Keeley (presumably, and I wish we had seen this) calls them out their shit and tosses them right back out the door.

Which leaves Jamie and Roy to lament how they've let their egos get away from them, they've been idiots (which they acknowledge immediately) and decide that now they should go for kebabs, presumably to actually hangout this time, not to interrupt themselves with inflated talk about who "deserves" Keeley more. They both screwed up, they acknowledge it, and all they can do is try again tomorrow, and in the meantime, go on that kebab date.

I guess....I can just see where both of them are coming from? it's not mature behavior, obviously, it's maybe not what we would have liked to have seen from them in the finale episode of the show. But it was regression that I didn't feel impeded their overall progress. Roy in particular was being a complete dick about it, but that's why the very next morning he's finally knocking on the Diamond Dogs' door. And honestly, that conversation was heartbreaking. When Roy admitted he'd expected, after a year of putting in the work, to be a whole new person...god. This is a man who still completely hates himself, to the point where he can't quite grasp that he can be better where he's at now, that he doesn't have to transform magically into someone new in order to do right by himself and others. And so he has to consciously determine, once again, to do better, be better.

The message is: change isn't linear, you're going to fuck-up, and fall back into old patterns. What matters is trying every day to do better together, and be better for one another, than you were the day before. That is the meeting point all three sides of the royjamiekeeley triangle were heading towards by the end of the episode.

So yes, it was rushed, because no one gets much screen time in a finale (and the overarching issue with this season anyway is god awful pacing. The last three episodes could've easily been the second half of the season, while the first half of the season was stretched out and largely extraneous). And yes, I would've liked a more thoughtful follow-up conversation between Roy and Keeley or all three of them. My biggest issue was that we didn't get to hear Keeley's voice hardly at all. I would at the very least have liked to have seen her setting them straight at her kitchen table, because turning both of them down signifies very important growth in her, too, and I would've liked exploring that more explicitly. So it wasn't perfect. But I still liked it, I really did.

#ted lasso #ted lasso meta #ted lasso spoilers #roy kent #jamie tartt #royjamie #royjamiekeeley

[hanafubukki]

So my friend said she was gonna date the next card she pulled and that gave me the brainworms tm

OT3 obv

But what is nrc did a raffle and had a date with mc up. Who buys tickets, who tries to rig it, and when did melanoa get here

Pls chaos to the max

[Masterlist]

Hello Ladyzsgolla🌻🌺🌷

Okay, but you need to tell me what card your friend pulled and who she ended up dating 😂🫶

Please, this brought back so many memories of the times where this type of trope would pop up in books and shoujo romances. The chaos is always always hilarious as it is and then we add in the diasomnia crew? NRC can’t catch a break.

The only way YN ended up in the auction is because Crowley somehow tricked them or set them up because I doubt certain people would let it happen.

At one point, I think diasomnia squad would be, “Want a date with YN? Fight me.”

You sighed as you stared at the chaos in front of you. You don’t know how you ended up in this situation, but you were sure Crowley had something to do with it.

Unsurprisingly, Sam and Fellow Honest had convinced the headmaster about having a festival to raise school funds. Azul had also supported the idea for monetary gain and knew what buttons to push.

But a date auction? With you? You wondered who came up with that daring idea.

Honestly, you were surprised at the amount of people trying to win a date with you, especially given your connections and your relationship status.

Though you wouldn’t be surprised if some didn’t know or were using this opportunity to get info about others. You were pretty sure some were doing it just for shits and giggles too.

Well you weren’t worried, at this point, the bets mostly came down to your friends and family having a higher chance of winning.

…you wondered if you can get a participation fee, after all, you were the main prize and you should be able to get some of that money.

You didn’t need it of course, but you wanted to see certain capitalists suffer.

Lilia: You think you can win against me? I have centuries worth of madol.

Meleanor: You mean the money that I paid you? I can freeze your accounts. That prized date will be mine.

Lilia: Meleanor! When did you get here! Stay out of this!

Meleanor: Do you know me at all?

Malleus: I do have some money saved. I can take YN on a gargoyle exploration. It’s been a while since I last had a stroll with them.

Dawn: …I do have money set aside during my days as a commander. The interest on it should have reached a sizable fund.

Levan: The steward is going to cry again.

The riggers:

Sam, Azul, and Fellow are going to figure out a way to sell more tickets despite the odds against others. I wouldn’t be surprised if certain charms and even magic was used.

Other Betters:

Floyd and Jade: I can see them getting just to make the pool larger lol

Rook: He might find this type of challenge fun, especially with such a prize. He also has the money for it.

Idia: it depends how close you are with him and the date he would like honestly. He might just not do it because of the potential headache.

Leona: literally just to mess with diasomnia.

Kalim: he is having fun and thinks it’s going to a good cause. Jamil has to stop him of course at one point.

That poor steward/accountant of Briar Valley 🫡🤣

#answered #🌺Ladyzsgolla🌺 #twst knight of dawn #twst knight of dawn x reader #twst knight of dawn x reader x lilia vanrouge #lilia vanrouge x reader #the knight of dawn #lilia vanrouge #meleanor draconia #levan draconia #general lilia vanrouge

[verycharismaticdragon]

Currently reading a Korean webnovel instead of Chinese ones and this is making me conceptualize something, let’s see if I can put it in words…

My musings started with realizing that I’ve become very used to this cnovels thing where the main pairing is literally stated in the summary. Not the case for the k-novel I’m reading, and therefore I’m experiencing Pain and Suffering, — torn between my every instinct screaming that the author is setting up the OT3 endgame, and trying to lower my expectations to avoid disappointment. (And the novel is ongoing so I can’t even get spoilers for the ending :) girl help.)

As you may’ve guessed, I found myself strongly preferring the Chinese variant; but as to why exactly it was so important for my enjoyment to know the main couple… it took me a bit to figure out.

I mean, it’s not like I’m reading exclusively for romance, okay? Fannish activity-wise, sure, I tend to get fixated on ships (though even then, not all the time), but when it comes to reading (or any media intake, really), it’s not necessarily what I’m most interested in. Among my beloved titles, there are many where there’s no canon or fanon couple I'm attached to — and more than a few where there’s a canon couple that I neither love nor hate, just accept. So why did I get so attached to the concept of being, essentially, spoiled the endgame couple beforehand?

The key word that made it click was: promise. After all, it’s not like knowing the names of the characters that get together tells me anything about if they will be interesting or boring together, if they will be good for each other or make me scream “break up!” a million times. But it is a solid promise that these two people ARE gonna be a couple. 

And thinking about the word promise reminded me of discussions on plot twists that I’ve seen on here, about what makes a good plot twist and what makes a bad one — specifically, the phrase “narrative promise” that someone came up with. Basically, narrative promise is in the set up and the build up. If the plot twist betrays the narrative promise, it will not work, and it will be hated by the audience, who’ll feel like their emotional investment into the story was mocked.

The thing about the narrative promise, and why this term stuck with me, is that it’s actually applicable more broadly than just for shock-factor plot twists. For example: what is queerbaiting, if not betraying the narrative promise that the two characters are gonna be together? The fans see the narrative promise — the set up and the build up that would be unequivocally romantic for a het couple — and expect it to be fulfilled; only to be called delusional by the very creators that gave them this expectation. 

And this brings me to the next point: the catch of the “narrative promise” is that it’s never a guarantee. You can be completely sure the author is setting up X, only for them to turn around and do something completely different. (Possibly while calling you a little bitch for having the stupidity to invest your feelings into their creation, too.) After a while, a fan learns to manage their expectations. To not bet too much on anything, even if it feels like there’s no other way it can go. To wait until the end of the season or the last chapter before allowing themselves to get attached; to hold back on deciding whether something is good or not, lest they hype up something they will want to bury and forget later.

And this is where we circle back to c-novels, and to spoiling the main couple in the summary. Except I hesitate to call it “spoiling” because, as discussed, it actually heightens my enjoyment. For a simple reason: this practice takes the narrative promise from its nebulous, uncertain status to something concrete and real. Only for this one aspect and with the minimal-est amount of information possible, but still. That’s one thing I don’t have to guess about or doubt myself on (am I seeing things? is there a heterosexual explanation another way to read this? will the author simply kill off one of the characters before the end so that they don’t have to decide whether to make them explicitly queer?), and one thing I can count on (whatever else happens in the plot, I’ll still have this). It’s easy to invest emotionally into those characters and their relationship, when you have an assurance of their happy ending.

Ofc, I’m not saying that I don’t invest emotionally into relationships or characters other than the main CP — just that it is easier. And I would even say having this one(1) hard promise makes it easier to invest into other elements of the work, too, as it makes for a sort of safety net even if something else is disappointing or painful. 

Like, say you are invested in one couple with great chemistry and one side character. In case of a pre-stated ship, even if the side character dies, at least you still have the canon couple. So it’s not like all of your emotional connection to the book is lost, and you can probably bear with the loss of that character by writing everybody lives AU or something. But if the side character dies AND the couple you were invested in gets broken up or killed off or straight-married with other ppl… then doesn’t that make the entire thing into one massive disappointment? to the point that you might even regret picking up the book that made you care only to slap you in the face?.. 

So yeah, having even just one ship guaranteed is very comforting. And then I thought, well, doesn’t this apply to another type of fiction that I’m very familiar with?

Fanfiction?

Which, since very early on, has adopted the practice of putting the endgame ship in the header of the fic. And which, probably not coincidentally, is often a response to a broken (or at the very least not brought to its logical conclusion) narrative promise. And which always felt uniquely easy to read for me… 

See, prior to getting on this little thought train, I always assumed the ease was due to pre-existing familiarity with canon. You know, not having to learn the entire new setting, already having attachment to the characters… But now that I’ve connected these dots, I thought about times I read fics for fandoms I wasn’t familiar with, and originals formatted as fics — and really, wasn’t it always about the narrative promise made solid? 

Esp with how fics make it even broader than cnovels, by having extensive tags and ratings and such. Getting into a fic, you have a pretty clear idea of what may or may not happen in the story, even if you don’t know what exactly will happen or how. And a fic can fail to live up to the premise set up by ship/rating/tags — but not completely turn its back on it. 

(Well, normally. But in those exceptional cases where tags are misleading, at least you have something to point to when saying, “this is not what I was promised”. The ficwriter can hardly claim they don't understand why you expected [ship] to happen when they personally tagged their work as containing that ship — unlike the traditional media creators, who can always play the "you were totally misunderstanding my intentions the entire time" card.)

And having a solid promise like this, it turns out, takes lotsa pressure off starting a New Unfamiliar thing. I do, in fact, trust like that! So it’s no wonder that there were periods in my life when I would only consume fanfiction, because it was so much easier than extending trust to new titles. And it’s no wonder that what brought me back to being an avid reader were Chinese webnovels that use a practice very similar to what we have in fandoms.

I guess I understand myself better now! Still wish I knew if that k-novel's author is /j or /srs about the ot3 though.

#fandom #fanfiction #cnovels #danmei novels #idk just a lot of musings that i wanted to organize a bit. and since i already typed it all might as well set it free here

[thetarttfuldickhead]

Mom City or, as I like to call it, the OT3 goes to town.

Roy asking for Keeley’s help because he tried to help Jamie on his own, but couldn’t manage. The lack of jeaoulsy here is both fantastic and such a relief – Roy wants to get back with Keeley but still doesn’t hesitate to enlist her in comforting her ex, even though he’s been uncomfortable with their continued bond in the past, because a, he’s finally learning to trust Jamie, and b, he just cares too much about Jamie not to do whatever it takes to help him and everything else be damned.

The way Keeley smiles when she realizes that Roy wants her help with Jamie, and then that look of utter delight on her face when she sees them after the game.

“How did it go with Jamie?”

Roy and Keeley chasing after Jamie while it seems so real I can feel it plays and I mean really.

“I don’t believe you’ve lost Jamie Tartt!” – “You can’t lose Jamie Tartt!” 

Jamie really did bring Roy and Keeley home to meet his mum (and Simon!), huh.

“It’s lovely to finally meet you both,” says Jamie’s mum to Roy and Keeley and that’s some small justice for Roy, surely, the fact that Jamie apparently talks about him (and Keeley) quite a bit too?

That shared look and smile between Roy and Keeley as Jamie carries his mum away, like oh, and he’s been so loved, fuck yeah.

Posters of Roy and Keeley on his childhood bedroom wall. (And shout out to the nonny who called this last week; I did not expect this! Still processing!) Let’s take a moment to appreciate what this must look like to Georgie and Simon? There’s Jamie at the door and oh, he’s bringing along these two people he’s had posters of since he was a kid. Can’t be a total surprise since he, you know, talks about them (probably a lot!), but even so!

But given what we’ve seen of mummy Georgie, I doubt she finds this strange at all? Of course her boy should go out there and date and be best friends and really complicated relationship shapes with that footballer and that model he’s always kept pictures of on his wall, whatever makes you happy, Jamie, her boy is a golden boy and deserves the best.

“You and me… sitting on Jamie Tartt’s childhood bed… being all fucking concerned about him and shit.” And it is weird, maybe, but Roy doesn’t look upset about it? He looks pleased! Pleased that he’s there with Keeley and that they’re doing this! This episode really is just Roy trying to lowkey woo Keeley while also being hellbent on taking care of Jamie and and and

Jamie’s little smile after he catches Roy and Keeley holding hands and they’re walking out the door.

Roy and Keeley meeting up and getting booze and then going to find Jamie to celebrate with him. (And you could have this forever, you know? It doesn’t have to be just tonight. And it won’t be.)

#there's probably more because GOD WE WERE FED #but i have to go to work now #roy/keeley/jamie #roy x jamie x keeley #god i'd love it if we could just choose one relationship tag and stick with it #but ok #jamie tartt #keeley jones #roy kent #OT3! OT3! OT3! #georgie tartt #3x11 #ted lasso spoilers #meta #my stuff

[goodmorninglovelies42]

@picture-me-in-the-trees said we don’t talk about Keeley Jones enough and I agree. So here are some head canons/thoughts that I have about Keeley Jones.

1. She was an only child raised primarily by a single mother who was selfish, unsupportive and made her feel like she was only worth her looks. She has Mommy Issues. She left home at 18 and never looked back. She tries to remain cordial with her mother, but every time they talk, her mum has a way of making her feel small and less than. It makes Roy furious but he is careful what he says. When the OT3 get together, it makes Jamie equally furious, and sometimes Roy and Jamie just have venting sessions about what a bitch she is — stuff they’d never say to Keeley, because parent stuff is tricky.

2. Keeley loves helping other people solve their problems, but is petrified by the idea of asking other people for help. It’s a combo of being afraid to show weakness and feeling like her issues aren’t as big of a deal as the other people in her life’s. She’ll brainstorm and problem solve and be supportive as the day is long, but god forbid she show any vulnerability. She is Keeley Jones, the Independent Woman. (Please for the love of god get this woman some therapy)

3. She is the switchiest switch to ever switch and she loves to have a good time in bed in all kinds of configurations. She also loves a role play and throws herself into acting with the most commitment.

4. She does not want kids. She loves other people’s children with all her heart and she is great with kids (mostly because she talks to them like small grown ups), but she absolutely does not want any of her own. No thank you.

5. She never fully gets rid of the impostor syndrome at the back of her mind. She continues to be enormously successful, because she has great instincts and is kind and driven. But there’s always a little self doubt. The therapy she finally gets helps a little.

6. In the OT3, they’re all workaholics, but Keeley is the most so. She loves her work, she’s ambitious, and yes, that tiny bit of self doubt plays a part.

7. She is not a morning person and needs at least two cups of coffee before she’s willing to speak to anyone.

8. She is perfectly able to cook but absolutely loathes it and avoids it at all costs. Luckily for her, both Roy and Jamie keep her well fed.

To be continued?

#keeley jones

[cursedxwt]

heathfausang thoughts? (i thought of it once as a haha joke and now its no longer a haha joke im facing the consequences)

Oh damn I have a LOT to say here you have no idea lol

Y'all know I'm an insane heathsang shipper who also enjoys fausang, but one of my less known favorite ships is faustcliff so listen, heathfausang hits RIGHT in the weak spot.

They're the perfect combination of heart, brain and soul, and no matter what side of this triangle you look at it works SO well

Heathcliff and Yi Sang? despite Yi Sang's lack of emotions, he is very sensitive, and Heathcliff is a very passionate man. I KNOW they talk about their feelings for hours (plus, Yi Sang helping him write poems for Cathy? oh the possibilities!)

Yi Sang and Faust? Intelligence bonds them in a world where it seems nobody else can understand. No matter if both of their expertise areas are not the same, they speak the same language.

And the less explored/mentioned, Heathcliff and Faust: polar opposites! imo they have the funniest moments in the game, not because Faust makes him look stupid, no no, but because Faust, who is not easily moved by her own emotions, feels CHALLENGED when Heathcliff questions her. The rest of the sinners rarely doubt Faust's words because they know she's always right, but Heathcliff? He talks to her like to any other human being instead of consulting a soulless computer for information. I like to believe Heathcliff enjoys provoking these responses from her because he knows nobody else can move her like that.

So now, forget the "haha just a joke" and enjoy it, anon. Combine all of this and tell me they wouldn't make the best OT3

#hi anon! #good lord that's a long ass text #also consider wolf fox wolf trio?? insane thunderstorm #heathfausang #the legendary triple kiss

[eldritchdiplomacy]

Bottom Table OT3: The Playlist

We, like Jinnah, will mourn our lads forever

(click for song explanations!)

Take Me Out To The Ball Game - Ed Meeker

"Eldritch Harrahs," He says, fingering the bright red laces on a baseball like a rosary

Team - Lorde

Classic poly theme, living in ruins.

"And everyone's competing For a love they won't receive 'Cause what this palace wants is release."

Ravenous - Autumn Orange

Impeccible vibes.

Eat Your Young - Hozier

Post-war heroes left in slums with their ghosts

"Come and get some Skinnin' the children for a war drum Puttin' food on the table, sellin' bombs and guns It's quicker and easier to eat your young"

Rhiannon - Fleetwood Mac

A shiny jade jewel in said slums

"She rings like a bell through the night And wouldn't you love to love her? She rules her life like a bird in flight And who will be her lover?"

Boats & Birds - Gregory & The Hawk

Children without souls

"If you'll be my boat, I'll be your sea A depth of pure blue just to probe curiosity Ebbing and flowing and pushed by a breeze I live to make you free, I live to make you free…"

Hearts a Mess - Gotye

Sean Fucking Finnerty

"You have lost too much love To fear, doubt and distrust, it's not enough You just threw away the key to your heart Don't get burned 'cause nothing gets through It makes it easier, easier on you That much more difficult for me To make you see."

Love In The Time Of Socialism - Yellow House

Teenagers all in love with each other

"But I am home wherever you are near There's no life in anything When you're not here."

Whatever Fits Together - Skullcrusher

I mean…

"Do you ever look back? Does it all fit together? If we're here, does it matter? (If we're here, does it matter?)"

Marked For Death - Emma Ruth Rundle

Marion & Jean

"Who else is going to love someone like me that’s marked for death? Who else is going to be with me when I breathe it all?"

Here I Dreamt I Was An Architect - The Decemberists

Marion & Sean

"And here I dreamt I was a soldier And I marched the streets of Birkenau And I recall in spring The perfume that the air would bring To the indolent town Where the barkers call the moon down The carnival was ringing loudly now And just to lay with you There's nothing that I wouldn't do Save lay my rifle down"

Hard Times - Ethel Cain

The Exorcists' Daughter

"Tell me a story About how it ends Where you're still the good guy I'll make pretend 'Cause I hate this story Where happiness ends And dies with you."

Edith's Theme - Crimson Peak

The Lighthouse

Say Yes To Heaven - Lana Del Rey

Sean & Jean

"If you go, I'll stay You come back, I'll be right here Like a barge at sea In the storm, I stay clear 'Cause I've got my mind on you I've got my mind on you…"

Sunlight - Hozier

Sean & Jean & Marion

"All the tales the same Told before and told again A soul that’s born in cold and rain Knows sunlight, sunlight, sunlight And, at last, can grant a name To a buried and a burning flame As love and its decisive pain Oh, my sunlight, sunlight, sunlight."

Your Protector - Fleet Foxes

The Circle of Needle & Thread

"As you lay to die beside me, baby On the morning that you came Would you wait for me? The other one would wait for me."

The Mother Road - Chelsea Wolfe

The doc who knows she'll never lead a normal life, have a normal love.

"I do not have a child But I'm old enough to know some pain And I'm hell-bent on loving you Women know what it is to endure."

Running Up That Hill - Placebo

All too stubborn to let each other die.

"Oh, come on, baby Oh, come on, darlin' Let me steal this moment from you now Oh, come on, angel Come on, come on, darlin' Let's exchange the experience…"

A Vampire's Heart - Peter Gundry

Doplegangers

Cosmic Love - Florence + The Machine

Jean, Sean, & Marion

"I took the stars from our eyes, and then I made a map And knew that somehow I could find my way back Then I heard your heart beating, you were in the darkness too So I stayed in the darkness with you…"

Oh, To Dream Of Such Eldritch Things - Autumn Orange

The Compromised Lightkeeper

A Shot Rang Out - Emily Jane White

Sean FUCKING Finnerty, Marion, Jean

"Dreamers we aren't few But I don’t want to bury my dreams with you."

The Ghost On The Shore - Lord Huron

Man down

"Die if I must, let my bones turn to dust I'm the lord of the lake and I don't want to leave it…"

Call Your Mom - Noah Kahan

You can't do this to Peggy, bud.

"Medicate, meditate, save your soul for Jesus Throw a punch, fall in love, give yourself a reason Don't wanna drive another mile without knowin' you're breathin' So won't you stay, won't you stay, won't you stay with me?"

Funeral - Phoebe Bridgers

War boys wearing the same face, so many hearts.

"And last night, I blacked out in my car And I woke up in my childhood bed Wishing I was someone else, feeling sorry for myself When I remembered someone's kid is dead…"

Francesca - Hozier

Jean & Marion re: Sean

"Now that it's done There's not one thing that I would change My life was a storm since I was born How could I fear any hurricane?"

Is Your Love Strong Enough? - GWTDT

"Just one beat of your heart And stranger than fantasy I knew from the start It had to be the place for me Someone that I would die for There's no way I could ever leave."

Death With Dignity - Sufjan Stevens

The Survivor

"Spirit of my silence I can hear you, but I'm afraid to be near you And I don't know where to begin And I don't know where to begin…"

My Love - Florence + The Machine

The Next Step

"My arms emptied, the skies emptied The buildings emptied…"

#candela obscura #candela obscura spoilers #bottom table ot3 #ot3: veterans’ affairs #marion collodi #sean finnerty #jinnah basar

[codename-adler]

Can I ask for some PiP information on Eva Josten and/or Matt Dan and Her?

so sorry anon for the delay!!! but be proud of me bc i wanted to crack down on Baby Girl, Good Luck and instead chose to focus on you!!!

>>> Dan, Matt & Her under the cut

Adler's PiPs ~ Project: Eva Josten

There was an idea… to bring in a remarkable spy-assassin… to see if she could become something more… so when they needed her… she could kill the one person they never could… The Butcher’s son, Nathaniel Abram Wesninski.

Enter the Butcher’s daughter: Aleksandra Eva Wesninski. 

Lost to Mary, not even remembered by her own brother, the little Wesninski is on a mission, one she was raised for, one she did not choose, but one she damn sure is embracing now that goddamn Nathaniel has ruined everything. His death would be sweet, sweet ambrosia to her. If she had to dispose of all the other puny sports junkies along the way, she would. Where her own father had failed, where Lola Malcom, Riko and Ichirou Moriyama, and Stuart Hatford had fallen short, she would rise up to the occasion and annihilate the stupid bastard. She would die, not trying, but succeeding. Such was her purpose.

xxx

Adler's PiPs ~ Project: Dan, Matt & Her

Dan x Matt x FOC ot3 AU

New Fox recruit (20F) has had a baby recently whose father she claims was another student in her year (lie);

She kept playing Exy until (X) months and with prowess at that;

Kevin is wildly against picking her (somehow she reminds him of his mother) and thinks a team like the Foxes isn't for babies (like every other team) and that a mother like her isn't for the Foxes;

Dan isn't bothered by the recruit's background and baggage but she does wonder why Wymack pushes so much for her;

Abby convinces Kevin and Dan;

The recruit will live at Abby's with her baby as long as it's viable;

Abby will help take care of the baby; she is quite excited despite the circumstances because she has a really, really good feeling about the recruit and the potential she has to bring the team and Wymack closer together;

Dan isn't very comfortable with the baby and the recruit when they arrive, because they remind her too much of her own background and the adult position she has been forced into at a very young age;

The recruit looks up to Dan so much, though, she can't quite avoid all contact

Andrew very much steers clear of the recruit and her baby despite finding them interesting somehow, and them drawing him in for reasons he can't explain (yet);

Neil is traumatized just at the perspective of having to captain the recruit and being in the same room as a live baby; it's almost enough to make him run away again (almost);

Kevin is very stupid about the whole thing, but the least afraid of the Kandreil triad, and his stupidity ends up being endearing (with the baby, not with the recruit);

Renee & Nicky are the most excited of the Foxes, and also the most apt to babysit;

Aaron really doesn't give a flying fuck about the baby, which is why the baby likes him so much; Katelyn, reasonably, really doubts the safety of having a pregnant-until-recently recruit on the Foxes' roster, and of having the Foxes trusted with a baby, which is why she's relieved when Aaron's got baby-duty, but also pissed he has to have another weight added onto his shoulders; she watches the situation from afar but very much disapproves; she bonds a little with the recruit, tries to help her at times, but sets clear boundaries about 'no babies';

Allison buys a shit ton of baby clothes so as to avoid baby-duty, which she couldn't care less about, as does she for the recruit herself;

And Matt... Matt doesn't really concern himself with the baby nor the recruit until /incident/, because despite each Fox having an opinion, it is mostly Abby (and Wymack) taking care of things when the recruit absolutely can't (and she's doing the absolute most);

Matt tries to support Dan as best as he can, which means a lot, lot, lot of talking about the recruit, which means Matt knows exactly when things start to get personal for Dan, knows the exact moment when Dan falls;

Which means he doesn't even notice himself falling for the recruit as well;

Dan falls first and Matt falls harder.

Basically I wanted the Foxes to have a baby but didn't want to do that to any of them, so I created my own OC and then rocked her shit in a very bad way. As you can see, I have not much (if anything at all) figured out. Title is temporary, just a file name. The OC isn't fleshed out (i know how she gets there, idk wtf she does after that) nor baptized, her baby isn't named or gendered either, I don't know what major incident pushes Dan and Matt to really care, I don't know how Serena Williams or Alyson Felix did to compete while pregnant/recently pregnant but I'm looking into it, and...yeah. I also wanted to explore Matt and Dan's characters, and relationship, because I feel they are wildly underrated and swept aside in fics as just the lovey-dovey couple, and I thought, 'Wouldn't it be wild if the most established couple of the Foxes suddenly got with a 3rd partner?' and thus this idea was born (like someone else's baby I know...) Enjoy this shit show!

#adler's pips #project: eva josten #eva josten #aleksandra eva wesninski #project: dan matt & her #dan wilds #matt boyd #aftg #all for the game #the foxhole court #neil josten #david wymack #kevin day #andrew minyard #allison reynolds #renee walker #nicky hemmick #aaron minyard #katelyn mackenzie #abby winfield #stuart hatford #ichirou moriyama

[kendsleyauthor]

Cliff and Oliver sharing a bed!!

(And Zia if you want 😉💓)

((MORE LIKE Oliver and Zia sharing a bed and the bed is Cliff and they all care deeply and tenderly about each other 😜 Anyway, OT3--))

The Hunter, The Healer, and The Harlot

“I swear, Oliver, if you don’t hold still, I will put you to sleep for a long, long time.” Zia snatched his wrist and spoke through gritted teeth. Pursing her lips, she waved her other fingers over his forearm, gradually knitting the wound shut.

The cut had been unfortunate collateral damage during a dead-end mission. There were no more fairies to be rescued at the warehouse a couple of towns over, but there had been lingering armed guards and a close call. Oliver had slashed himself escaping through a shattered window.

He had haphazardly healed it himself, and Cliff wasted no time in getting him back to the Safehouse—and Zia. She pitched a fit when she saw the poor healing job. Cliff had ushered them to his room since it was closer to the entrance than the healing ward.

“Good to know I’m not your worst patient, Zee.” Cliff rested his head on the pillow, watching the pair of fairies on the nightstand. A soft smile quirked on his lips as they squabbled.

“You’re a close second,” she groused, throwing a narrowed-eyed look at Cliff. “And much harder to hold down.”

“I’m not trying to be difficult, just look what I mean—” Oliver yanked his arm away, eliciting another agonized groan from Zia. “How come when I do it like this, there’s always a scar?” He murmured the healing incantation and waved a hand over the half-healed cut.

“Because you’re doing it wrong!” Zia wailed in distress and buried her face in her hands. She peeked between her fingers. “Cliff. Help. Please help before I strangle him.”

Oliver paused mid-spell to scoff. “Strangle? Sure You’re too sweet to—” The rest was cut off as Cliff sat up halfway and snatched him from the nightstand.

Any resulting protests died when Cliff pinned Oliver gently to his body, just below his chest. The squirms subsided almost immediately. He doubted Oliver would move even if he weren’t pinned on his back. 

“There,” Cliff said, flashing a smirk at Zia. “Shuts him up every time.”

“You do this to shut me up?” Oliver said, halfheartedly offended. He hummed. “Never mind. I won’t complain.”

“Seems effective.” Zia cracked a smile at the sight, flitting over. “Turn his arm over.” She nodded as Cliff flicked a finger and presented the back of Oliver’s forearm. “Perfect.”

She practically straddled Cliff’s index and middle fingers to reach the wound—inadvertently leaning over Oliver and sandwiching him between herself and Cliff. Oliver, for his part, contentedly turned his head to rub his cheek against Cliff’s shirt. Then he peeked up at Zia, and Cliff spotted the corner of a dizzy smile on his lips.

“I have something incredibly inappropriate to say,” Oliver announced. He sighed. “But I think I’ll just savor the moment.”

“And we thank you for that.” Zia seemed in much better spirits now that she didn’t have to strangle him. 

As she spoke the incantation, Cliff gingerly brushed her side with his thumb to keep her steady in her awkward position. She unabashedly leaned into his touch, and he swore he could feel her breathing slow to match the pace of his steady breaths beneath her. 

When she was finished, she flopped over beside Cliff’s hand and gave a heavy sigh.

Cliff chuckled and ran a fingertip across her forehead to swipe her hair out of her eyes. “I think being around Oliver makes you more dramatic,” he said.

Oliver, freed from Cliff’s hand, sat up and touched the healed wound. There was no trace of it other than a faint redness. “You’re incredible, Zee,” he sighed. “You should come with us next time.”

“So that you can comfortably throw yourself at every shard of glass in sight?” Zia laughed wryly. “No thanks.”

He waved her off. “Sharp objects can’t resist me, that’s not my fault. But really, really. The three of us would make such a great team. Think of it! The hunter, the healer, and…” Oliver put a hand on his chest and smiled prettily. “The harlot.”

Zia gave a beautiful whoop of laughter. “They’ll sing songs about us for generations to come.”

“See? It’s a good idea.” Oliver inspected the back of his forearm again and looked slightly less enthused. “You know… this actually would have been a great spot for a scar.”

Cliff delicately grabbed Oliver’s wrist and squinted. “You’re not wrong.”

“Stars.” Zia’s grin dropped into exasperated annoyance, but the aggravation didn’t quite reach the light in her eyes. “I’ve had enough. I’m heading back to the ward.” She stood on Cliff and stretched her arms and wings. “I prescribe you both with bed rest. Goodbye.”

“Oh, please. You know you’re in no mood to fly off.” Oliver stood and was by her side in an instant. “Why don’t you stay?”

Her face flushed. “I couldn’t.”

Cliff felt like a very dramatic play was being enacted on his torso. He cupped a hand beside the pair of them. “You could,” he said. “Plenty of room.” But he wasn’t holding his breath—Zia behaved as though the healing ward was her only source of oxygen.

She bit her lip and looked between them. “I don’t know…”

“Zia, dear.” Oliver took her hand. “You were in the ward before we left, you were in the ward when we arrived, and I’m sure you will be in the ward when Cliff and I meet some embarrassingly stupid death. You’re the best healer in the world, and all we’re asking for is a few moments for you to rest with us. Please.”

The melodramatic dumbass even kissed the back of her hand and clutched it to his chest, hitting her with the most pathetically puppy-eyed look in existence.

She gaped at him a second, and then gave a bemused laugh. “Fine.”

“Are you kidding me?” Cliff sat up a little, making the two fairies lose their footing and slide down a few inches—he dropped a hand to stop them. He pouted at Zia in particular. “I invite you to take a break all the damn time, and he gets a freakin’ yes just like that?”

She shrugged. “He’s very convincing.”

“You were pissed at him just a second ago!”

Oliver threw his arms around Zia’s shoulders, hugging her tightly. “She got over it. Besides, look at me. Who can stay pissed at this face?”

Cliff rolled his eyes.

Zia grinned teasingly. “I can leave if you’re that offended.”

“No,” Cliff said immediately.

He cupped both hands around the fairies and laid back down. After a brief pause to contemplate where to set them, he brought his hands higher and tucked the fairies near his neck.

As he eased the pressure, he smiled faintly at the sensation of them adjusting around each other and settling against him. His eyes fluttered shut at the sound of their hushed laughter and bickering about whose limbs should go where.

When they finally stopped moving, Cliff brushed a thumb down to feel them. He recognized Zia’s pixie cut and the scars on Oliver’s wings.

Cliff let out a slow, contented sigh. He couldn’t keep them safe every second of the day—but here and now, he could shield them from the world behind his hands.

((A/N: Your Honor, I love them.))

#gt #g/t #gt writing #g/t writing #giant tiny #gt community #g/t community #gt fandom #g/t fandom #my writing #shot in the dark #shot in the dark story #dark future au #dark future au story #oc: cliff #oc: zia #oc: oliver

[qqueenofhades]

Ask and ye shall receive - how about a prompt around spiced winter drinks? Dealers choice on the fandom, maybe Dreamling or the Ren/Grey/Vargo ot3?

It’s one of the bitterest nights of the dwindling year, the canals glazed with ice and the pale stone warrens of Nadežra filled with eerie curls of mist, and even the altans and altas most dedicated to nocturnal misbehavior are generally inside, bundled up by warm fires or tucked in warm beds, and while Vargo certainly doesn’t have a philosophical objection to either activity (indeed, far from it) it unfortunately happens that he has to fucking work. It seems impossible that the piles of paper on his desk should have sprung to twice their original height in the last three days since he looked at them, but that’s the thing about political independence; it’s decidedly a double-edged sword. On the one hand, you get to arrange your own affairs. On the other, you… have to arrange your own affairs, and since Seterin has sat up and taken sharp notice of all these Vraszenians suddenly running around and exulting in their freedom, it heralds other possible conflicts down the line. That, Vargo supposes, is where sleeping with not just one but two legendary outlaws is likely to come in useful. If nothing else, they do have practice at this sort of thing.

A reluctant smile twitches his lip as he dips his pen and reaches unhappily for the first stack of correspondence. He misses Alsius – well, he always misses Alsius, but more than usual, who would absolutely love the boring nuts and bolts of this stuff, whereas it makes Vargo want to put his own eyes out with a hot stick. He scribbles and mutters and adds up figures, makes note of new requisitions and trade tariffs, ordinances of the freshly expanded Septerat; he doesn’t like it, but of course he didn’t rise to his original position by accident. The candles gutter low into waxy gremlins, and he thinks about drawing a numismata to keep them up, but that would suggest he will in fact be stuck here all night, and that’s a little too depressing to think about. Somebody’s got to do the ordinary grunt work while his dearly beloveds are running around the city in their silly costumes, but by the Lumen, why does it have to be him?

Just then, as he’s massaging the ache in his hand and thinking of some really good curses, Vargo smells a wisp of cinnamon, hears the faint creak of the floor, and turns halfway around, just as Ren leans down and presses a kiss into the side of his head. Voice rich and low with promise, she remarks, “Grey and I both perhaps feel we are being neglected.”

“This is your fault, you know,” Vargo grumbles, without heat. “Making me be the respectable one. And can’t you two entertain each other?”

Ren gives him another slightly wicked smile. “It’s more fun with you.”

Yes, Vargo agrees, it is at that. He vainly attempts to pretend that he will be doing paperwork for a few more moments – then, at Ren’s insistent tug, gets to his feet and lets her lead him down the hall, toward his private quarters at the back of the villa. Halfway there, a terrible thought occurs to him, and he stops short. “Is Arkady here?”

Ren bites a smirk. “She’s asleep. Upstairs. Even formidable knot bosses have to get their beauty sleep.”

“I very much doubt that,” Vargo mutters, since it seems unlikely that the newly-minted Alta Arkady Bones Vargonis has ever thought about beauty sleep in any capacity. But he’s glad to hear that she’s out of the way, after one too many moments when she nearly caught the three of them in flagrante delicto, and if Arkady knows a juicy secret like that, there’s no chance she’ll keep her trap shut instead of gleefully spilling it, if nothing else to see him squirm. It turns out, Vargo reflects sourly, that even without blood relation, his adopted daughter is very much like him in the hellraising department. In fact, far too much so. After all for the Nadežrans, blood is incidental, and secondary to whether an individual is inscribed in the family register. Arkady is, and that makes her as much his own, heir to his means and methods and moods, as if he did sire her in the ordinary fashion. Ažerais help them all.

He feels a sudden warmth on his face as they step into the lowlit sitting room, and gratefully spots the fire – which Grey Serrado is presently stoking, on his knees before the grate like a common scullion, which is possibly one of the less glamorous tasks ever asked of the great Rook. Still, it gives Vargo a certain glow, an inner warmth not just from the fire, and he strides inside. “Well, you two degenerates got my attention. What is it?”

Grey gets to his feet, brushing the soot off, and gives Vargo a ferocious stare that silently remarks he has the hells of a lot of nerve calling anyone else a degenerate. Still, he shrugs, crosses the carpet, and brushes the ghost of a kiss against Vargo’s cheek, while Ren cheerily shoves him onto the settee. Vargo is opening his mouth to ask what exactly they are intending to do to him, now that they’ve lured him here by bribes and trickery, but Grey forces a cup of hot spiced wine into his hand, and Vargo blinks at it. “Ah. What’s this?”

“Drink it,” Grey orders him, with the steely tones of the former Vigil captain, and Vargo fights a traitorous urge to salute. “You’ve been working too hard.”

“I thought you two were going to – ”

“Maybe later.” Ren perches on his other side and gives him another smile – still tinged with dark and wicked promise, the Rose’s thorns, but wistful as well, softer, and just wanting the three of them to have this quiet moment together in the cold winter night. “Drink.”

Far be it from him to refuse an order from Alta Renata and Grey Serrado at once, Vargo thinks, even without their alter egos. And is that not the reason for all the trouble he’s gotten himself into, either in past, present, or future? But there is nothing else he would rather do, and no one else he would rather be with, in all this city of Faces and Masks. He lifts the cup, grins into the brim with a tenderness that seems impossible for his heart to bear, and drinks.

#anonymous #ask #rook and rose #ren x grey x vargo #winter prompts #THANK YOU FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY ANON #blessings on your house and cow etc

[brynnmclean]

My brain decided to ignore all other hobbies and things to catch up on, and I'm catching up on Carnival Row. Philo/Vignette/Tourmaline/Darius polycule WHEN, y'all.

#carnival row #when in doubt ot3 #or in this case ot4 #for real though come on all four of them should move to tirnanoc and make a go of it #i'm on episode 7 out of 10 and i know things are gonna go south. inevitably. but i can dream right #kate watches carnival row #i don't remember if that was a tag

[lunar-years]

There is literally no other way to interpret the side by side posters on Jamie's wall, the boy is bi! Roy and Keeley spend literally the whole episode thinking about Jamie, and then the end when they're all sat together? Oh my heart! Also I would love LOVE to know what Roy whispered to Jamie, but the proud looks from both Keeley and Roy at their boy during the match will sustain me for weeks

Like I'm not even kidding in the slightest when I tell you this episode was ot3 made canon for me. I don't even care what happens with the three of them in the finale, this was it. If the finale is bad for them I'm just going to forget it ever happened and pretend this was the final episode, I don't even care!!!

side-by-side posters?????? of ROY AND KEELEY?????? The reveal was glorious. I can't believe I didn't see it coming but when that door swung back, my jaw DROPPED.

Jamie getting injured on the pitch and then the drama of him getting back up and everyone thinking oh it's all right he's okay only for him to FALL AGAIN. And through all of that we got to watch the face journeys play out on both Keeley and Roy??? that was straight out of a million ot3 angst fanfics i was writhing internally

literally just, Roy and Keeley not actually getting back together (without him)...!!! dropping their hands as soon as he came in. Keeley's expression when Roy told her he didn't want to be friends. If you read my long ramble-y Roy/Keeley meta after last week's episode you'll know I've dreamed of times like these anon

something about Roy going to Keeley to ask her to fix Jamie only for her to be like "welp shit I ended up making him worse" was so glorious and funny and perfect even as it was heart-bending. I know we love to talk about Keeley's emotional intelligence compared to her boys, but at the end of the day they are truly 3 idiots 1 braincell. Keeley just gets to hold on to it the most. I love these dorks.

it was deeply vulnerable of jamie to bring Roy and Keeley with him to his house. like we're not talking about that enough, actually. It was clear he'd never brought Keeley there when they dated. Like, they didn't even know he had a Simon. And this was him completely letting them into his world in one swoop. Letting Simon give them a tour of the Jamie shrine unbothered while he cried to his mum. ???????? JAMIE

the final scene where they bring the champagne into the therapy room is everything to me absolutely everything it is the stuff of dreams and I can't believe we got an ot3 scene like that.

I think it's more fun that we don't know what Roy whispered because in our heads we now get to make it whatever we want. Like, okay, it was obviously, "we're fucking tonight," and WE all know that, but the general audience, who is largely blind, can still go on in their own little delusional bubble like "wow isn't it nice that Roy and Jamie are such good friends ! Surely Roy must've told Jamie good game :D" It was such a completely perfect way of doing it. Ted Lasso writers I never once doubted you (i lie)

there was sooooo much more I loved but yeah these are the talking points my current state of mind is oscillating between lol.

#royjamiekeeley #ted lasso #ted lasso spoilers #roy kent #jamie tartt #keeley jones #asks

[theroundbartable]

You said to ask you about your takes about Merlin, and I always find it interesting to find out which angle people approach an ot3 of, so which edge of the triangle arthur/merlin/gwen was the first you shipped? Or was it the full ot3 right away? 👀

Ah, yes. When I started watching Merlin back in 2019, the very first thing I shipped was Merthur.

I usually don't start shipping right away, I start looking at the different dynamics and wait where it may take me. And the very first episode left all dynamics open. So, I wasn't an instant Merthur fan but I could tell that this was where I was heading.

Even though I wanted to ship Merlin x Gwen first because Gwen had a crush on Merlin and Merlin was oblivious and Arthur was an arse in season 1. I still knew I would end up a Merthur main.

Back in 2019 I was still working through a lot of stuff when it comes to relationships, sexuality, identity, trauma, etc, It sounds weird but what I needed at the time, was characters that I couldn't "be" and that also couldn't be attracted to me. The reason for that is too personal to post here but that's why I distanced myself from female characters in ships at the time. That's why I knew Mergwen wouldn't be where I'd end up. I didn't hate them, I just couldn't deal with certain things.

And then came the Elena episode in which Merlin tells Arthur that he will be a better king with a woman by his side whom he loves. I was already lowkey shipping Merthur by then, but THAT scene burned itself into my DNA and changed me forever. I LOVE that scene! If I ever had any doubts until then, they were gone the moment Merlin hands Arthur the sword and says: " I think you're mad."

I knew from the beginning that Merthur wouldn't end up canon, and that without looking at spoilers. The show is from 2012, I just knew. In fact, I was delighted with how FAR they took it despite that!

And I absolutely loved how the canon ship actually made sense. And Ioved how it was a learning curve for me too, to see them grow to make sense. In the beginning it felt a bit sudden but when I watched the show again, I realized just how many moments they actually had.

Plus, Gwen wasn't a mere love interest, she was a real character. Basically, she passed the bechdel test, lmao. I love that she's a blacksmith, that she had her own story arc, her own tragedies and losses, a full family that we SEE in the show, etc. And I loved her dynamic with Arthur growing from awkward to genuine. I always thought that relationshipwise, they were one of the best portrayals of lovebirds I've seen in a series in a long time. And BBC merlin is PG so that was a bonus. And they always had space for Arthur's friendship with Merlin. (This is very important to me, as an ace person who used to think they would lose their friends due to their relationships)

And well... years have passed and I slowly got over my trauma through writing fanfiction and some mild confrontation therapy. There was one fic especially, that paved the way for Mergwenthur. I think that one was Wired... (2021) in which time is a circle and Merlin lives long enough to see Arthur be born again. In that one I tried to be as close to canon as I could, while also writing a Merthur story. Originally, Arthur was meant to choose Merlin, but during the darkest hour, in which the story begins, he's already head over heels for Gwen. And the more I tried to grasp Arthur's feelings after the magic reveal, the less possible it was for me to not see Mergwenthur.

As Arthur starts realizing his fellings for Merlin, his feelings for Gwen don't change, because why would they? The feelings were different but they were both of love. And when I tried to characterize Gwen, I ended up thinking of their three person date in season 4(?) in which Arthur says:" Isn't it nice to be here? Just the two of us?" And it's GWEN who says: "you mean, the THREE of us. " When I thought of that, I just couldn't imagine that Gwen didn't already know and accept Arthur's feelings. And I couldn't imagine Merlin wanting Arthur to choose him over Gwen. While at the time, Mergwen wasn't really on my mind, I thought this was where the story was naturally progressing, so I let it.

I've always been a multishipper. But this dynamic is important to me. I've analized their relationship a couple of times and come to the conclusion that Gwen is the better Queen (some people like to call Merlin Arthur's queen). Because her relationship with Arthur is build on mutual goals and their future vision of Camelot. Their relationship is reasonable and healthy. I think their love is very soft but strong. While Merthur is just unhinged soul bond, ready to sacrifice everything for each other, including Camelot. Merlin would be a terrible Queen, like, seriously. Camelot would be destroyed the moment Arthur gets abducted once. Their love is intense and fickle in the sense that they can't live without the other. And Mergwen should have had more moments. Gwen was always the one person picking up that some things about Merlin were a bit odd, like the Lamia episode, or servant of two masters, etc.. I feel like Mergwen is a ship that's friendship first and can be both wholesome and completely mad, depending on which of the two indicates the action.

So, it was a bit of a curve for me. I ship them individually, I ship them together, apart, with other characters, everything. But the more I look into the show, the more sense Mergwenthur makes to me. Regardless of whether they are platonic or not, I can't unsee them. And why would I? they are fun.

Haha, this answer was very long, but I hope it answers your question :D

#bbc merlin #faq #answer #mergwenthur #shipping #ask

[mdzsxchange]

Let's Talk About AO3 Matching

Ao3 exchanges use OR matching within each matchable category — things like Fandom, Character, Relationship, and Additional Tag, and so on. Mods can choose which categories will be used for matching and how many matching items are required.

It does not combine tags across requests/offers — one request + one offer that share one tag in each category is often the minumum to make two signups "matchable."

What does this mean for requests?

If your request has a "load-bearing tag" — say you definitely want Mo Xuanyu/Wei Wuxian but are fine if that's in the context of a polyship — you should not add additional ship tags to your request. That's what the text box is for!

Relationships: Mo Xuanyu/Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji/Mo Xuanyu, Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji/Mo Xuanyu/Wei Wuxian Additional Details: I really really love MXY/WWX more than anything!

⬆️ This request could match on any of those four relationship tags — the creator may not have offered Mo Xuanyu ships at all!

Relationships: Mo Xuanyu/Wei Wuxian Additional Details: I really really love MXY/WWX more than anything! Happy to see this relationship as part of a polycule with Lan Wangji too.

⬆️ This request WILL match with a creator who offered Mo Xuanyu/Wei Wuxian, and they will know you're open to an OT3!

Same goes for the other categories of tag — if there's one you definitely want, you would NOT also include other tags you like as "flavor" for the load-bearing tag.

Additional Tags: Giant Robot Co-Pilots, Telepathic Bond, Only One Bed Additional Details: PACIFIC RIM AU YES PLEASE

⬆️ Your creator who offered Telepathic Bond and Only One Bed and has never seen Pacific Rim: 😰

Keeping the matching criteria in mind when writing your requests will help ensure that your assigned creator is excited to make something for that prompt you really want. Exchanges will differ slightly in terms of what categories and how many tags are used to match — you'll usually find this info in the Rules/FAQ, or when in doubt, contact the mods! Happy exchanging!

#ao3 exchanges #exchange tips #fandom events #faq

[marzipanandminutiae]

Who's Rosemary? I wanna hear about that OC!

I mean, hey, give me half an excuse...

Rosemary is the youngest child of Beatrice Sharpe's youngest sister (Beatrice being, canonically, the oldest of Several). She's eight years old in 1902, and her parents and three older brothers died tragically a few weeks ago when an unknown party poisoned their soup. Rosemary, having been sent to bed without supper, was spared- something the old aunt who looked after her during the inquiry proclaimed an absolute miracle.

("First poor Beatrice's youngest, and now you. That's a nephew and a niece I've seen through foul murder. If ever a family were marked for tragedy...") (Poor Beatrice's eldest does not rate a mention.)

But she must have a more permanent home, with someone younger and stronger who can care for a child. How kind of her grown-up cousins to take her into their grand country-house sight unseen! They wrote, you see. She's just misplaced the letter.

Upon her arrival at the front steps of Allerdale Hall, after barely a moment's pause, her cousin Lucille thanks the constable for seeing her here safely and ushers her inside. She doesn't yet know that no child with tattered clothes and fading bruises would have been turned away, even without the letter from their mother to hers that she's clutching like a protective talisman.

The tall man, she guesses must be cousin Thomas. An explanation of the little blonde lady will have to wait, as she's bustled upstairs for a hot bath and something more substantial to wear. Little girls can recieve proper introductions- and explain the murder they absolutely committed, no doubt in any of the Sharpes' minds -once they're wrapped in a warm dressing-gown with a nice bracing cup of tea.

other tidbits about her include:

Rosemary was not her name Before. she chose it herself. her three parents do not know or want to know what her birth family called her, and they picked a middle name for her at her request (Diana)

she falls in love with clockwork and Making Things, becoming Thomas' extremely eager workshop assistant. all her parents, of course, lavish her somewhat haphazard creations with praise. or, you know, as close as Lucille comes to any emotive display that could be called "lavishing"

Lucille is actually the best at the practical realities of child-rearing, of the three adults. after all, she's the only one with experience- even if she was a child herself at the time

left alone with a child, Thomas would be the babysitter kids love and parents hate, who lets them stay up until midnight and eat ice cream for dinner because saying "no" is hard and they're just so cute! Edith is very Oh God How Parent? at first- she expected children, but in the nebulous Future, not right now -but realizing kids are just Small Inexperienced People helps considerably

would the Sharpes be good parents to a normal child, beyond the basic Keep Kid Alive practicalities? probably not. but Rosemary wouldn't get on too well with normal parents, either. so while things aren't perfect, it evens out

Rosemary Loves Dante (the dog, who is NOT dead). Dante Loves Rosemary. this is adorable. you agree.

tl;dr- Crimson Peak OT3 kidfic, ft. the Sharpe siblings' distant cousin who pulled a Merricat on her abusive family. I may never formally write her into a story, but I love to Rotate her (as my friends can attest)

#ask #anon #OC #fanfic #kidfic #child abuse mention #people definitely don't come to this fandom for that sort of content which makes me less likely to write her for real #but I love her so much #I love that she represents a chance for characters to be the saviors they needed as children but never had #I love her for herself- tiny nerd murderess slowly learning how to be A Child and feel safe and loved