They don’t hug often, because Morgana doesn’t like too much physical contact (at first). Most of their embraces tend to be cuddling together on the couch or in bed.
Kissing is awkward at first, because the ways Morgana and Barbara learned how to go about it are separated by centuries and their habits are very different. Then, Morgana makes it competitive (bc she wants to be the superior one in every aspect of their relationship, which frustrates Barbara a lot). They eventually settle to where their kisses are sweet, though they keep trying to surprise each other.
Barbara teases Morgana about not knowing about modern appliances (among other things). Morgana hasn’t quite figured out how to tease Barbara back yet, but she tries. Her teases generally just make Barbara go blank-faced as she tries to figure out what Morgana has said.
Morgana excels in the flirting department, though. Mostly because she knows a lot of old, romantic-sounding poetry. To flirt with Barbara, she’ll start reciting one in a melodic, sultry voice.
Barbara hasn’t yet figured out how to flirt with Morgana in a way she understands. Most modern types of flirtation or advances go completely over Morgana’s head.
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37. How much would they be willing to sacrifice for the other? Any lines they refuse to cross?
I’m gonna answer this one with their Pieces!versions, cause that’s way more fun than their show!version (the difference, for at least one of them, is that their show versions have functional moral systems).
Blinky wouldn’t be willing to kill or do anything that reprehensible for Barbara, I think. Unless it’s a Gumm-Gumm and it involves throwing a dvarkstone at it. Okay, so Blinky wouldn’t be willing to harm an innocent bystander/someone who isn’t associated with ancient evil or destroying the world. But he’d totally chuck a dvarkstone at someone evil threatening Barbara.
Barbara is the reason I wanted to answer with their Pieces versions, cause her show self probably has more morals. Like, sure, show!Barbara will attack an assassin with a shovel, but she’s also not about to go and kill someone.
(Whether or not Pieces!Barbara has actually killed someone is something that’s currently being debated (and I’m probably not going to come to a decisive conclusion there until I write a certain chapter).)
The important thing is Pieces!Barbara, if it came to having to kill someone to protect her loved ones, she wouldn’t hesitant. There isn’t a line she wouldn’t consider crossing (although she wouldn’t feel great about the decision) for Arthur, and for Blinky and Jim.
Being in Area 49B effectively taught her that the world is uncaring toward her and her family. It won’t hesitate in taking her away from everything she loves or actively trying to harm her son regularly. Therefore, she stops caring about it in return. It made her helpless, with the only tool she had for fighting back being an extremely violent one and, to a certain extent, she’s gotten used to that.
would you be interested in writing morgana/barbara fluff? Them cuddling for movie night (or something equally as soft and sapphic)?
Here you go! You said movie night and my brain thought to gay couple meeting their partner’s kids. Thanks for the patience!
Please Reblog if you like it!
Jim breathed out in relief as he rounded the corner. No matter how far he traveled, no matter how long he's gone, turning this corner always felt the same, like coming home. His bag was slung over his shoulder, as he walked up to the house he had grown up in. It would be nice to see his mom again. He rang the doorbell, but didn't have to wait long before the door was flung open.
"Jim!" His mom cried out in joy. She immediately wrapped him in a tight hug. "Why didn't you call me? I could have driven you home."
"Hey mom." Jim said, holding her back just as tightly. When he finally pulled back his mom had a wide smile on her face and looking closely at his face. "I like walking in the twilight. Especially in this town. It's relaxing."
Barbara pulled him into the house, closing the door behind him. Jim set his bag down inside the door and carefully looked around his home. Things were much as he remembered, though he was happy to see that there wasn’t any excess dust or clutter. He had been half afraid that his mom wouldn’t think to straighten the house since he had always done it.
“So it’s just you tonight?” Barbara asked.
“Yep. Toby’s still on Akiridion-5 talking with Eli about his latest movie idea. Blinky and Aaarrrgghh are spending tonight together. And Claire wanted to go on a date with Darci, but it turned into a girl’s night with almost every girl from our class. So it’s just me.”
Jim smiled and held his arms out. Then he glanced over his mom’s shoulder. The Amulet of Daylight immediately flew to his hand and his lips curled back in a snarl. A growl rumbled out of him. Barbara turned to look at what had alarmed him. Morgana! The former Eldritch Queen had just walked out of the kitchen.
“Jim! We talked about this!” Barbara said putting her hand against his chest.
Jim struggled to rein in his emotions. He had known she would be here, it was still a surprise to see her out and about after all the hurt she caused Claire. He breathed in and out a few times and the light of the Amulet faded.
For her part Morgana hesitated in the doorway for the kitchen. She had a tray of cups balanced on her good hand. A welcoming smile was frozen on her face. Her eyes flicked rapidly between Jim and Barbara, for a few seconds before forcing the smile to brighten.
“Welcome home Jim! I thought it would be nice for us all to have some hot cocoa to warm up. Sorry it wasn’t done before you arrived!”
Jim stared at her, then nodded. “Would you mind if I have a word with you, alone?”
“Jim…” Barbara started, but Morgana walked past her, handing off the tray of drinks.
“It’s quite alright dear, I’m sure it will just be a moment.”
Jim opened the door to the garage and ushered her in. He closed the door lightly behind her. Jim noticed she had replaced her former emerald prosthetic with a regular human one. Morgana fiddled restlessly with the long dress she was wearing.
“I’m sorry to hear that young Claire wouldn’t be able to join us tonight.” Morgana said, once the door was closed, trying to force her voice to be cheerful.
“Claire is uncomfortable being in the same state as you, much less under the same roof.” Jim said shortly. He was surprised to see her drop her gaze in guilt.
“I am … sorry to hear that.” Morgana paused. “I know it won’t mean much to her, but I am also sorry for … well everything I did to her.”
Jim arched his eyebrows. Even though his mom felt that Morgana had turned over a new leaf, he was still surprised to hear her apologize. Some of the anger he had walked into the room with cooled. He took a moment to resettle his thoughts.
“I guess this is the shovel talk everyone goes on about so much?” Morgana said before he could say anything.
“Yeah, except my shovel has a bit more weight.” Jim said, holding up his amulet.
Morgana flinched back from the amulet that had been forged from her hand. Jim saw and quickly put the amulet away. He leaned forward and held his horns.
“I just really don’t want my mom to get hurt.” He hadn’t expected the conversation to go this way. He hadn’t expected Morgana to be nervous, or remorseful, or to flinch from his amulet.
“She’s been hurt before by her partners.” Morgana said, it wasn’t a question. His mom must have told Morgana about what she went through.
“Yeah. By my dad and Strickler. And I promised that I would always be there for her. That we would take care of each other. With how much time I’m spending in New Jersey, I know I can’t always be there for her.”
“I know you have every reason to distrust me, but I promise you I have no intention of harming or allowing any harm to come to her.” Morgana paused, she fiddled with the gold bracelets on her wrists. “Even if I could ignore my personal feelings for her, she has done so much for me. Caring for me both before and after my fall from power, arranging for this hand, letting me stay in her home.”
Jim nodded. “I’m willing to put aside our past differences for the sake of my mom. I’ll give you a chance.”
“Thank you, Jim.”
Morgana awkwardly offered her hand, then switched to her non prosthetic hand. Jim moved forward to accept the hand and she moved to offer a hug instead. Finally she settled for patting him on the shoulder. Then she laughed.
“Did you get a version of this talk from Claire’s parents?” She asked.
Jim laughed as well. “Yes. Several times. Once when I trashed her house trying to chase a changeling, once when they found out about Trollhunting, and once again when we got engaged. Honestly the first one was the worst.” He laughed again at the memory. “The scariest was Toby’s Nana. She had actually had a shovel.”
They laughed and returned to the house. Barbara had set out the cups of cocoa on the coffee table. She stood near the couch, unable too nervous to sit down, but relaxed as they both continued laughing. Jim smiled at her to show her the conversation went well.
“Hey mom, I’m going to head upstairs and shower real quick.” Jim said, grabbing his bag from the entrance way.
“Aren’t you going to have your hot chocolate before you do?” Barbara asked.
Jim looked at the cup a little sadly before shaking his head.
“I created the changelings. Do you not think that I could modify your recipe to appeal to trollish tastes?” Morgana asked.
He hesitated for just a moment. Then set his bag down and walked over. He took a small sip and to his surprise the cocoa was delicious! It even tasted like chocolate. Jim hadn’t had something that tasted like chocolate since before his transformation.
Morgana must have seen his obvious delight as a broad smile split her face. She leaned forward and took a big sip of her own and so did Barbara.
"I found one of your cookbooks when I was here recovering." Morgana said. "I love that you wrote your modifications to the recipes in the margins. Your mom always loves the cocoa when I follow you recipe."
Barbara giggled and sat down on the couch. "Is that why it's always so good? Because you're following Jim's recipes?"
Morgana sat down next to her. "Mmhmm. I had to make mine sweeter to match my tastes, but it's clear you've already nailed your mom's tastes down. Why do all the work again?"
Jim drank his down quickly. "I might have to get your recipe for this. It's so good."
"Are you sure you want to know?"
He hesitated, then nodded. "Claire and I agreed, no socks. Other than I'm getting more and more used to troll dietary needs."
"Good to know." Morgana said with a smile.
The smile widened as Jim happily crunched the porcelain of the mug and ate it too. His eyes widened as he realized what he had done. Morgana forestalled the apology that was on his lips with a wave of her hand.
"I gave you one of the chipped mugs we were talking about getting rid of." Morgana said.
Jim smiled at that. He stretched, then stood up.
"I do still need that shower. I swear the gyre tunnels are just filled with grime." He said.
"Of course honey! Take your time. I'll pick out a movie that we can watch together!"
Jim nodded to his mom and hurried up the stairs. The shower was exactly what he needed. He had the water up hot enough that it would have boiled a human. But it was perfect for his troll hide.
Once he was finally clean and relaxed he turned off the water and threw on some clean clothes. He would have to wash his travel clothes before he wore them again. Finally he was ready to head back downstairs.
At the top of the stairs his ears perked up. His mom was laughing loudly in the living room and so was Morgana. Jim was surprised to find out she actually had a pleasant laugh when she wasn't cruelly laughing at the pain she was causing. Jim walked quickly down the stairs to join them.
"Oh there you are! I thought I was going to have to call the city warn them you were going to drain the reservoir!" His mom laughed while she talked.
Jim laughed as well and hurdled the rail skipping the last couple of steps. Then he flung himself down on the couch next to her. Barbara was leaning on Morgana's shoulder her hands entwined with her good hand. Barbara pressed play on the movie and Jim hopped up to dim the lights.
It had been a long time since Jim had a simple movie night with his mom. Morgana's presence seemed to improve Barbara's mood immensely.
Though Jim noticed Morgana didn't seem to be enjoying the movie very much. She kept untangling her hand from Barbara's to adjust her prosthetic. Jim realized the limb was probably much worse than her than her old magic one.
"You can take that off if you want to." Jim said in trollish, when he saw her slip a finger under the cup of the prosthetic again.
"I don't want to make you uncomfortable." Morgana replied in trollish.
"I've been around amputees before." The three wars had not been kind to their combatants. Humans, trolls and Akiridions had all suffered from the fighting. Draal, Toby, and Zadra were all amputees.
"While I'm glad you two are talking, it's a little rude to have a conversation I can't take part in." Barbara said with a small huff.
"Oh I'm sorry mom, I was just…" Jim hesitated.
"He was inviting me to make myself more comfortable." Morgana said as she undid the straps holding her prosthetic in place. She set the limb aside. Then she leaned around Barbara to address Jim again. “You speak trollish very well. You are improving quickly.”
Jim laughed. “I have to! Some of the troll tribes spoke English but not most of them. And I can’t rely on the amulet to translate for me.”
“Shh you two.” Barbara said softly She entwined her fingers again with Morgana’s good hand. She was leaning on the other woman’s shoulder more and more as the movie progressed.
The rest of the movie passed without incident. When the credits were scrolling up Jim stood and stretched again. He looked down and noticed his mom had fallen asleep against Morgana during the movie. Morgana looked like she didn't want to move at all.
"I can carry her upstairs if you want." Jim offered in a soft whisper.
When Morgana nodded, he easily picked his mom up, her head resting against his chest. She followed close as he carried her up the stairs. Jim set his mom gently in her bed. Morgana fussed, taking off her glasses and tucking the blankets in around her.
Jim decided to withdraw, he still needed to set up the couch downstairs to sleep on. He paused for a second at the door to his mom’s room. He watched as Morgana gently brushed his mom’s hair away from her face. He had never in his memory seen someone look at his mom that way. It was the same way he looked at Claire, Toby and Aja. They were his everything. And it was obvious, Barbara meant the world to Morgana.
He softly closed the door as Morgana climbed into bed alongside his mom. It was clear his former enemy loved his mom, he didn’t have to worry about Morgana ever letting his mom get hurt. She really truly loved her.
(last one for the ship asks from a couple days ago :D)
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1. How do they fall asleep? Wake up? Any daily rituals?
Morgana watches Barbara as she sleeps, because she finds Barbara’s peacefulness and vulnerability fascinating. Also, because it takes her a while to adjust to mortality and her body isn’t used to having a ‘sleep schedule’, Morgana doesn’t sleep that much herself in the beginning.
Once Barbara finds out about this habit, she’s a little weirded out by it. She agrees that Morgana can be near her while she’s sleeping, but Barbara doesn’t want to be watched.
They end up going to bed together, lying down facing each other, and just talking until someone drifts off to sleep first.
Barbara wakes up first, to go to work, and she always moves around her morning routine quietly so Morgana isn’t woken up. When she goes downstairs, she’ll make sure there’s something in the fridge for Morgana to eat for breakfast. She also leaves little notes of encouragement for the sorceress.
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3. Are they open about their relationship? How do they feel about public displays of affection?
Not at first. Morgana likes keeping it a secret, because that means she won’t have to address pretty much everyone else and how much she hurt them in the past. She thinks she can go on ignoring them and having a relationship with Barbara. Best of both situations, in her opinion.
This doesn’t sit well with Barbara, as she doesn’t like keeping things a secret from her family and friends. Eventually, Barbara does convince Morgana to agree to tell the others. They do it slowly, and one person at a time. Jim is first, and then once he’s had a chance to settle down and process it (which takes a while), they start with everyone else.
Barbara and Morgana don’t often engage in PDA much once their relationship comes to light. There’s still a lot of feelings/animosity toward Morgana from the public. Not everyone believes she’s actually trying to redeem herself. So, though Morgana would like to kiss Barbara out in the open, she refuses the temptation. She’s worried about Barbara’s safety/the possibility of someone trying to harm the doctor because of her association with Morgana herself.
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43. Do they talk often? What about?
They have many, many conversations about Morgana trying to become a better person and her struggles in getting there. Morgana often just wants it to be an easy, quick thing that she can do and be done with, but that’s not how it works. When Morgana’s reminded that it’s going to take time and not everyone is going to forgive and accept her like Barbara, she’ll get extremely mopey. Barbara will come to her and remind her that she’s already made a lot of progress and that this really is the best thing for her.
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45. Any special dreams or goals they have as a couple? Any heartbreaks? Regrets?
For Morgana, it’s that one day she’ll be able to relax and not worry that she’ll mess things up somehow. As she gains self-awareness, Morgana realizes just how bad some of her impulses and gut reactions can be. She’s already messed up a couple times already and disappointed Barbara (which is somehow worse than angering Barbara) and one of her greatest fears is that one day she’ll do something so bad Barbara will leave her.
Barbara hopes that one day Morgana will start to relax. She intends to be there for her until that day comes.
