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and theres something about rhiannon who was a toddler when shade and merrick escaped, being the person to rescue connor from the very same lab and then years later ask strepera (merrick) for help to find connor after he goes missing. like there's a connection there that hurts me and i dont know how to explain it but you see it right??

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shade and merrick being kidnapped at the ages of 8 in 1998 (the year between two of the founding members of the sentry being born) and then escaping the lab in 2006 (roughly 10 years before connor would be rescued) just. makes them seem that much lonelier. that much more disconnected from the world around them.

like, by the time the other characters in the story are learning to walk and talk and play, shade and merrick have already endured body and mind altering experimentation and torture and are dealing with powers they don't know how to control.

they escaped at 16. they were each others whole world.

morningstar and strepera make their first appearances as villain and vigilante in 2011. roughly 20 years of age. it's the same year matchstick loses her leg. a whole year before 12 year old murphy and pj decide to be superheroes. a whole year after a 7 year old rhiannon jones gains superspeed.

the other characters are only just experiencing their life changing moments at a time when shade and merrick have learned what it's like to look your whole world in the eye and beg for them to come home. please you are the only one who understands, why can't you understand this? and watch them walk away.

like. even as enemies. they are all each other have, simply bc there is no one else who could ever possibly understand the experiences of their life like the other could. they never got to be kids. they only got to be each others.

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God I love “We’re enemies, but we’ve been enemies for a long time, which is sort of like being friends.” Great trope.

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i am so terrible at updating this blog, anyway here's what i've come up with

effie and matches are half sister's, but matches doesnt remember her

matches full name is cassidy harper-stone

this means kirby is effie's niece, but she obviously didnt even know the kid existed until murphy introduces her to the sentry

murphy, soren + romy are a throuple, but it's a slowburn cause of murphy's issues <3 emotionally constipated king <3

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ALTERNATIVELY

ronnie: you can never lose an argument if you say "shut up nerd" at the end

murphy: yes you can

pj: shut up nerd

the magician: you can never lose an argument if you say ''shut up nerd'' at the end

panic attack: yes you can

the magician: shut up nerd

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dazzle: how is it, working with the sentry?

electradash: imagine the most well-mannered, civilised, quiet working people you've ever met

dazzle: oh! well-

electradash: and then throw that thought out the window

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electradash: truth or dare?

panic attack: truth

electradash: how many hours of sleep have you gotten in the past week?

panic attack: dare

electradash: go to sleep

panic attack: i no longer enjoy this game

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the magician: you can never lose an argument if you say ''shut up nerd'' at the end

panic attack: yes you can

the magician: shut up nerd

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morningstar: stop forgiving my crimes, i worked so hard on those

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one of my favorite tropes if when a character goes from a weapon to a guard dog. like. they forced you to have this strength and they made you do unspeakable things with it. they made you train. they only kept you because you had a use to them. then you left. you grew. you found someone to trust. you lend them your strength to protect them. you trust that they won’t leave you when you’re weak. you give them your reins and you don’t doubt them for a second. you know you can take your leash back anytime yet you let them hold onto you. can anyone hear me i’m going insane.

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i still don't know yet if this is how their relationship will take shape but it's definitely something i like thinking about

murphy always "goes after" unattainable people - he flirts with jelly and effie and the mums who pick their kids up from gymnastics and any other people he knows either wont take it seriously or wont genuinely reciprocate

but if someone in a coffee shop or at the pub or something were to approach him he'd be stiff and a little awkward and overly friendly rather than flirty - because that has the potential to go somewhere real, and that scares the shit out of him.

there are expectations when people get into relationships, expectations murphy isn't sure he can meet, so he doesnt even wanna try

(my man was not held as a child, and then a third of his soul died when they were kids,, yeesh)

soren, though, falls in love with him slowly and quietly

they become friends -- gradually best friends -- arguably the closest members of the sentry which is An Accomplishment considering how tightly entwined i want them all to be lol

soren just wants murphy to be loved, and he volunteered himself for the job. but he never expects anything from the other man but for him to be himself. he falls in love with cleaned-up-and-passionately-arguing-for-supervised-injection-sites murphy and sweaty-and-grinning-after-gymnastics murphy and hasn't-slept-in-48-hours-intolerable-gremling murphy and and and

he always sings his favourite songs on karaoke nights, and refills his coffee's without needing to be asked, and is always the one to patch him up after a mission or patrol

and murphy loves him back in the same ways; he meal preps and makes tea for soren's throat and volunteers to go with him when soren's parents want to have dinner

they hang out in the bathroom together and wash each others hair and murphy doesn't even think to second-guess it bc he and pj have been doing that shit since they were kids. he doesn't even notice that it feels different.

but the time he realises whats going on, it's not even something to fear it's just...something that is.

"Why didn't you tell me we'd been dating for the past year?" "you were letting me love you, i was worried if i said something it'd scare you off" type vibe yknow

I HAVE THINGS TO SAY ABOUT SOREN AND MURPHY

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I HAVE THINGS TO SAY ABOUT SOREN AND MURPHY

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effie: "that's life"

murphy: "is it?"

pj: "it doesn't have to be"

matches: "it shouldn't be."

one thing i like (and am honestly sort of proud of) is that all of my guts-born characters have similar vibes. even if it's not obvious at first glance, when you start picking them apart they all clearly come from the same place.

like, despite specifically being about ronnie, murphy + pj growing up together, a lot of the songs on the burnsey boys playlist remind me of matches too. and when i was listening to effie's playlist, i was thinking about how 'that's life' could almost be a matches song -- except it's too...tired. to be her.

BUT it fits effie perfectly because of the resigned hope of it all:

"sometimes life sucks and youre face down in a puddle and people are kicking water in your eyes but you'll get back up eventually."

that's a very effie mindset, to shrug at the hardness of life and keep going because what else is there to do? what's the point in sitting in a puddle getting soaked?

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one thing i like (and am honestly sort of proud of) is that all of my guts-born characters have similar vibes. even if it's not obvious at first glance, when you start picking them apart they all clearly come from the same place.

like, despite specifically being about ronnie, murphy + pj growing up together, a lot of the songs on the burnsey boys playlist remind me of matches too. and when i was listening to effie's playlist, i was thinking about how 'that's life' could almost be a matches song -- except it's too...tired. to be her.

BUT it fits effie perfectly because of the resigned hope of it all:

"sometimes life sucks and youre face down in a puddle and people are kicking water in your eyes but you'll get back up eventually."

that's a very effie mindset, to shrug at the hardness of life and keep going because what else is there to do? what's the point in sitting in a puddle getting soaked?

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SHE'S MY GIRL. MY DOOMED BY THE NARRATIVE, DEAD FROM THE BEGINNING, NEVER GOING HOME, GIRL.

who else up thinking about the crime lord matchstick haha

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PROFILE - #C_MCHS

MATCHSTICK AKA MATCHES affiliation: CRIMINAL age: 24 gender: FEMALE powers/abilities/proficiencies:

Pyrokenisis

Business management,

Interrogation + intimidation

Deception

Surveillance

Weaponry + firearms

Tactical strategy

Explosives

weaknesses: WATER, PROSTHETIC LEG civilian identity: CASSIDY STONE threat level: HIGH, DO NOT PROVOKE