#a very fuzzy memory. he just says he was born with them

[raydianbluesandhues]

Do you have any hcs about Blob? That do you think his “mysterious past” is all about?

[guardian music]

Hi yes i do >:] it’s about time i share my headcanons about him

Buckle up folks it’s time for blob headcanons part 2: explaining his backstory this time

——

I think I’ve stated in his previous headcanon post that he isn’t Raydian. It’s very obvious that he isn’t; comparing him to one is like comparing a cat to a dog. There’s some similarities but there are a few differences that set them apart.

For starters Raydians don’t have tails! Blob does and it often trails behind him loosely. He has partial control over it but it does what it wants most of the time. It’s sort of his “compass” in a sense? It usually ends up pointing somewhere he needs to go, or he usually uses it to point to an exact place since the end of it is an arrow (and it makes it easier for him to track things). He gets asked about it sometimes and he just says/signs

“Oh, this thing? It’s my tail” and he goes back to whatever he was doing

As for what he is/could be, have a small bit of trivia:

before the development of De Blob, there was De Blob: Utrecht! Based off of the Utrecht School of Arts, this was essentially the prototype to the De Blob games.

this game basically followed the same plot: INKT taking over a colored city, Blob comes in to save the day

Though- instead of using color, you had to absorb people

( if you don’t believe me it’s on the wiki )

I remember reading this and I’m like “Oh cool. So what if I took this and just. made them like a subspecies of Raydians” which is why we’re here today

Utrecht (The Planet) and Utrechian/Utrechter (The People that Live There)

I headcanon them as carnivores based off the game’s mechanic of literally absorbing people. They can eat fruits but it’s not something they’re going to make a main part of their diet

They’re probably a lil grumpy and rude as result but they’re pretty similar to Raydians outside of that, colorful and genderless folks

I’ll make a separate post about these guys but! That’s what I believe he could be.

As for his backstory, I do believe he was born there, but was most likely discarded for his appearance. He was probably taken in by someone who possibly had a bit of pity for him, and could’ve eventually migrated over to Raydia. He wasn’t raised in Chroma (and if I remember correctly he was raised in Pantone Village) and most likely started realizing he wasn’t exactly normal compared to everyone else

Outside of the literal difference in species his powers are incredibly out of the ordinary. I think I briefly explained them but to sum it up: he can manipulate color energy. Reviving trees, changing the appearance of a bird, breaking Graydians out of suits by overloading them with color energy. He’s able to both manipulate color energy to do what he wants and is able to raise the color energy levels by simply painting.

These powers were something he was either given or born with, and while I’ve always said he was born with them it doesn’t make a bunch of sense. Who would he have gotten them from?

It would make more sense that he had gotten them from somewhere, possibly from some sort of accident or a strange overload of color energy. Perhaps that messed him up and now he has the ability to paint and do all that he can currently do

And what he got into contact with is an absolute mystery to me. Maybe an over abundance of color atoms? Color energy is very unstable and I wouldn’t be surprised if that were to be the reason, but it’s something that I’ll have to think about more

I don’t think he has an appetite for meat purely because of his upbringing; it probably makes him sick and irritates his stomach. It also probably tastes gross to him and he absolutely prefers fruits

And i think constantly being around Raydians has also influenced this. I think if he stuck to his natural diet he would have no friends whatsoever

He probably goes quiet when someone asks him where he’s from, or what his story is. It’s probably not a fond memory for him/he doesn’t remember everything. and asking about his power is probably going to get you the same response

[canonmisogynyvictimstournament]

PROPAGANDA

BUMBLE (WARRIOR CATS) (CW: Domestic Abuse)

1.) Back with another Warriors submission, I bet you’ll be getting a lot from other people too LMAO. Bumble is a kittypet (housecat) who befriends the male protagonist Gray Wing’s girlfriend, Turtle Tail, and lets her stay in her house. This gets Gray Wing all pissy because he’s controlling of Turtle Tail and shares most of the wild/clan cat’s proclivity for looking down upon kittypets. Turtle Tail gets pregnant by another kittypet, Tom, who tries to control her by hiding the fact that humans take away kittens after they’re born. Eventually Bumble comes clean about it so Turtle Tail returns to the forest. Some time later, Bumble is found in the forest seeking refuge because Tom has been physically abusing her, scratching her where the humans can’t see. So, she’s CANONICALLY ACKNOWLEDGED as a domestic abuse victim (unlike Squirrelflight who meets all the textbook signs but the narrative and authors deny it). How do you think our good guy protagonists, i.e. Gray Wing “The Wise” and Turtle Tail, respond to an abuse victim seeking refuge? They tell Bumble to go home, thinking to themselves that she’s fat and soft and therefore would be useless in their group. Bumble stands up for herself and asks to speak with the leaders of the group. One of them asks if Bumble could just get along with Tom better (bro???) and when Bumble says it’s not within her control, the leader suggests being nicer to the humans instead. Another rival leader butts in and verbally abuses Bumble again by ripping into how fat and lazy and useless she would be. Despite Turtle Tail having been friends with Bumble and Bumble had helped her through her own hard times, to Gray Wing’s approval Turtle Tail chooses not to intervene as Bumble is forcibly escorted back to her abuser. But that’s not all. Later Bumble is found in the forest maimed and dying, and it seems likely that Gray Wing’s brother Clear Sky, a male with a long history of violence, is the culprit. Rather than mourn the dying innocent cat, Gray Wing’s primary concern is how other cats might be mean to Clear Sky if they think he’s a murderer, and reassures himself that refusing to help Bumble in her time of need was still the right decision.

2.) I have no idea how she managed to be written so horrifically from an abuse victim and woman (/she-cat I guess) standpoint but here we are. Okay so my memory is a bit fuzzy but basically Bumble was a character in Dawn of the Clans and a close friend to Turtle Tail, a major character, as well as a character who lived close to Tom, an abusive dickhead of a cat. Bumble was largely depicted as just a really sweet cat. Turtle Tail was very briefly the mate of Turtle Tail, but once she got pregnant, he became super violent towards both her and our gal Bumble. Tom actively hid the fact that, once her kits were old enough, Turtle Tail’s kits would probably be taken from her, and made Bumble keep quiet about this too, but Bumble eventually told Turtle Tail the truth, Turtle Tail left and Tom became extremely violent towards Bumble because of this, and was extremely abusive towards her. Eventually, Bumble ran away from him to where Turtle Tail and co were and begged to stay, since the wilderness as a whole was genuinely more safe than being around Tom was. Naturally, this meant kitty xenophobia from cats who had only arrived in that area recently, because everybody was insistent than, since she was a kittypet/house cat, things wouldn’t work out, and even her friend Turtle Tail denied her on this, insisted she was too soft to live in the wild and only sent her towards a cat Bumble wanted to convince because she was absolutely certain she’d be denied. Also our good old protagonist Gray Wing got to spend this scene being all upset about this soft cat wanting to join them to escape an abuser and was all bitter about the fact that Turtle Tail lived with her for a short period of time, and he also got to have a sweet romantic moment with Turtle Tail after denying an abuse victim an escape from her abuser. Also as much as I like Tall Shadow usually she sucked ass in the following scene because she was essentially telling Bumble to go find a way to make peace with Tom as if she was not the one being abused (Bumble pointed out that Tom was the one who would need to make peace for it to happen, not her) and that she should just make life better by going back to being a housecat and being spoiled despite the fact that she was actively at risk with her owners because of Tom. Then she leaves after being threatened by several cats there and is called soft on the way out. The next time she appears she is literally dying, and her death is just a plot device to create a stupid little mystery which is solved in a very stupid way. Also her abuser does continue to be a shithead and for some reason is fully permitted to kidnap his own children but he also gets a heroic death and the only reason I will not rant more about him is because this is too long already. Long story short Bumble deserves the world and everybody who decided not to let her escape her abuser just because they thought she was soft sucks

3.) Is nice to the group of starving, feral wild cats that left the mountains so their friends and family could have more food to eat and befriends one of them to the point of opening her home to her after she leaves the group because the guy she likes is too dumb to notice she likes him and keeps falling for his brother’s love interests.

Unfortunately, because Bumble is a house cat who lives in a house with people and not a Wild and Free cat, this is a grave and horrible crime (luring a wild cat into the safety and comforts of domesticity) and is villainized for the rest of the arc, including for things wildly out of her control

I.E.

Her owners taking in an aggressive male cat that bullies and abuses the two female cats already living there

When Bumble’s friend leaves and goes back to the wild cats, Bumble leaves her home (as the abuse as has gotten worse) to see if she could either get help or have her friend return so the abuse isn’t as bad again)

Bumble eventually dies in the wild because the feral cats all hate her for ‘stealing’ their friend and tricking her into becoming a kittypet for awhile and refuse to help Bumble adjust to wild life or even teaching her how to hunt.

They are littl e to no hard feelings at her death beyond ‘good riddance’ but the aggressive tomcat that chased her out of her home is later regarded with good feelings and regret at such a ‘good, heroic cat’ passing when he dies despite him literally never doing a good or kind thing in his life and actually causing trouble for the wild cats right before dying

ALEX DEWITT (DC COMICS)

1.) The term “fridging” is literally based on Alex and what happened to her. She was killed off violently by a bad guy trying to get at her boyfriend only a couple issues after she was introduced (making it obvious they only brought her in to kill her off for shock value). Her death did very little to the narrative other than hurt her boyfriend Kyle and was done in an exceedingly horrifying and violent way. (Bad guy came to the door with flowers and threatening note, broke in and attacked her, choking her to death, before [off panel] chopping her body up and sticking it in the refrigerator as a “surprise” for her boyfriend. This obviously is really fucked up and she deserves better and should win this actually (a vote for Alex is a vote for all fridging victims [in spirit])

2.) It doesn’t get much worse than being the character whose death originated the “fridging” trope. In Green Lantern Vol. 3 #54, Kyle Rayner comes home to find that Alexandra, his girlfriend, has been killed by the villain Major Force and stuffed into the refrigerator.

Alexandra DeWitt is the character whose misogynistic treatment coined the term where a character, usually female, is killed off purely to make the main character, usually male, feel bad. Even if there are other characters who have been subjected to similar levels of misogyny, Alexandra DeWitt’s treatment has been essentially immortalized.

3.) I know she’s not going to win but shout out to my home girl, literally the trope namer for women shoved in fridges. All anyone ever knows about her is that she was Kyle’s girlfriend and got murdered for his character development, even though she had plenty of potential to be her own character.

[nimmie-nugget]

~Reincarnated as a Knolastname~

Note: HAPPY SPOOKY MONTH!! 🎃👻 gonna be honest- I actually think Crimson might have cared atleast a bit for Moxxie when he was a child 😭 Anyway~ take some reincarnated Moxxie’s Sister Reader Headcanons!! 🥳 Do keep in mind that characters may be ooooooooc, and when there’s 8 O’s you know it’s extreme 🤯. Also I haven’t been doing Tokito Twin’s content for a while so I just wanna reassure that I have some HCs coming up for them 😫!! Enjoy!

P.s in the back flashes of EXES AND OOHS I think Moxxie was 4? Yeah so that makes you 7, your 3 years older 😋👌 tho age is not mentioned at all- and I will make fics of this 😤

Warnings: a lot of slang(not rlly a warning, just thought I’d mention), ooc, may have punctuation, spelling grammer/etc errors,

Info: idk man just wanted to add this 😐

Edit: HOW DOES SOMETHING LIKE THIS- A POST I BARELY PUT ANY EFFORT INTO GET MORE RECOGNITION THEN THIS POST, THE ONE I ACTUALLY PUT EFFORT INTO 👹👹 I appreciate the likes tho don’t take it in a bad way- 😭👌

Edit#2: I recommend u don’t read 💀👍

Helluva Boss Masterlist

______________________________________________________________________

~Reaction to being Reincarnated~

-long story short you don’t know how you ended up here but you found yourself being the daughter of some random old ass guy that’s gonna be the main reason for your character development arc.

-at least that mom with an unknown name will provide you sweets and shit-

-gonna put sum realz shizz on this family fr.

______________________________________________________________________

~Death~

-isn’t this Tumblr? Yeah long story short this turned into a Wattpad story for a second and the famous Truck-kun killed you 🗿 but you forgive Truck-kun since Truck-kun’s just being Truck-kun 😌.

______________________________________________________________________

~Inside a Mansion~

Yup this “Mansion” is someone’s womb, zamn how da heck do you still have memories of your past life? Also why does your very tiny unformed body kinda look like an imp? Just like one from your favourite show Helluva Boss? How can you even see??? It’s pitch black bro- meh it’s whatever 🤷‍♀️ it’s fun kicking at least-

______________________________________________________________________

~Borth~

…I’m not even gonna explain this 🫡 but just so you know Crimson was not there for your birth 😶

-at least you still have the same Borthdah as you did before you were reincarnated???

-Girly just 🖕 this bullshit why’d you have to be re-born in this family out of all the ones in Helluva Boss? I mean- you don’t mind being Moxxie’s gay emo sister but like- Crimson…CRIMSON. Tho make sure to start those teenager phases early so no one becomes suspicious of you when your going through the teenage thinga ma jig 😔

-but yay! You bet that Moxxie’s mom- well basically your mom now, WILL BE THE BEST 😩

-but girly you weren’t even fazed when reincarnated- just accepted it like a champ 😎

______________________________________________________________________

~Crimson’s First Thoughts On You~

-Absolutely nothing- 😃

-only thought of you as his heiress and DEFINITELY to lead his Mob in the future 😔

______________________________________________________________________

~[Unknown]’s First Thoughts On You~

-this is the Mom btw 😃

-gonna be honest I don’t know much since we’ve never really gotten a FULL view of her personality- all that I know is that she’s kind? 🤷‍♀️ Yuh so I won’t really directly say what she thought but I guess I can just- I don’t know man just read I guess 😃👌

-101% THOUGHT YOU WERE CUTE AF!! what happened to infinite%? 😢

-she felt a warm and fuzzy feeling inside, something she never felt ever since she married Crimson 😔.

______________________________________________________________________

~Moxxie’s First Thoughts On You~

-‘Guppa duppa poo daaah dooo’

-don’t tell me you actually expected a real thought from him- Broski was just born 😔

______________________________________________________________________

~Your First Thoughts On Moxxie~

-‘zamn bro’s crying on his borthduh I could never 🙄💅’

-girly he’s like a few minutes old what on Satan’s ass are you talkin ‘bout? 😀

______________________________________________________________________

~What Crimson Thinks Of You~

-your a nuisance, like- what do you mean when you say “put those dawgs away💀”

-yeah you definitely got in trouble so many times- this stupid MF can’t understand slang and just thinks your insulting everyone around you 😶

-forget about you being his heiress, might as well make Moxxie his heir instead 😠

-Now take a very ooc dialogue 😋 btw this is after the Mom’s death 😃

-“[Name], cut it out. That will happen if you don’t stop.” He says calmly, too calm for you to know he’s pissed. (he was implying that he will drown you just like he did to the Mom btw-)

______________________________________________________________________

~What [Unkown] Thinks Of You~

-Loved you from the moment she layed her eyes on you 😩 (cheesy much 😶)

-wrote more then a dictionary just to prove how much she loves you 😔

-yuh that’s all I got 😐

______________________________________________________________________

~What Moxxie Thinks Of You~

He’s 4 rn-

-HE LOVES YOU!!

-your his sister why wouldn’t he- ?

-your basically his partner in crime 😈 both of you steal treats from the kitchen when your not supposed to 😤👍

-if the Mom found you 2 being naughty then sorry to tell you but yer’ both getting a time out 😔

-…BUT IF CRIMSON FOUND YOU- yuh that’s somehow gonna become a family issue problemo 😶💦______________________________________________________________________

I sometimes forget writing is for fun- but I certainly had fun writing this 😎 now I’m gonna tag this in some tags that this doesn’t even relate to which will make everyone hate me but they will soon worship me after reading this masterpiece. Praise this shit rn *points gun at you*

[markantonys]

In the books Rand completely rejects his Aiel heritage. Jordan seemed to be going with telling the story of an adopted kid who decided only his adopted family mattered. But that's not the only way to tell that story so the show has the opportunity to do something different there if they want to. My preference would be not to have Rand reject his Aiel heritage but to refuse to abandon his Andoran heritage/Two Rivers upbringing. The Aiel canonically want him to become fully Aiel so for him to refuse to give up part of himself could be another way to frame it . They also resent the fact that Rand is only half Aiel and wasn't born in the Waste so they could do more of that imo

i'm trying to think of a useful response but my brain is too occupied by the sudden realization of the Bi Metaphor of rand being too aiel to fit in with wetlanders and too wetlander to fit in with aiel hahaha

anyway, from what i can remember, i don't know if i would say rand *completely* rejects his aiel heritage in the books (at least until the point when RJ himself shuffled the aiel off to the side in general because he wanted to play with the seanchan instead). i may be misremembering but i think rand DOES put in genuine effort to learn about aiel ways, but is just really bad at it and gets easily frustrated with trying to keep track of all the intricacies (which is completely understandable, especially since the aiel are making very little effort to adapt to HIS culture or meet him in the middle). and he IS curious about shaiel and janduin and is emotionally affected by hearing about them from the wise ones, even if he ultimately decides that tam and kari are his true parents (as he should! like you say, it's a great repudiation of the "blood family>adopted family" trope that is so prevalent in media and especially in fantasy where the Normie Adopted Family so often gets swept aside once the hero finds out about their Super-Special Secret Birth Family.)

and he knows that he needs to *be seen* adapting to aiel culture in some way in order to get the aiel's support, which is another interesting wrinkle in the whole situation, because his public behavior and his internal feelings are not necessarily aligned (i'm thinking of the alcair dal scene where i think all those lines about tam being his real father are just in his head as he's talking aloud to the aiel about being janduin's son). i'm not bothered by that sort of "i need to publicly buy into my aiel heritage but in my heart it's not who i am" attitude because i think it's pretty realistic for his situation. and maybe he starts shifting from "i just need to be seen doing this for political reasons" over to "i genuinely do respect aiel culture and want to learn about it, even if i'll never consider it MY culture" as he gets emotionally closer with aviendha and some of the other aiel.

but at the end of the day, while i like the aiel and find their culture interesting, i'm not nearly as invested in them as i get the sense many WOT fans are haha (see: me finding the glass columns sequence quite boring and being utterly bamboozled to discover that most readers list it as one of the best scenes in the series) and so i just don't feel very strongly about what route the show takes re: rand's relationship with aiel culture and his aiel heritage. and also probably have a fuzzy memory on a lot of the book details on this topic!

[gaybitchfx]

hello I'd like to request a Mikey fic omega verse AU where reader is pregnant (due to them having intercourse while drunk) and he tells Mikey that he's the father bc he's the only guy he ever had intercourse with, but Mikey doesn't believe him bc he doesn't remember anything from their drunken love making, but he still accompanies reader through the pregnancy bc he wants to prove that he isn't the father when the kid is born. (but he is) angst and fluff pls thank you. also take your time and take care!

-🍓 Character(s): Mikey

-🍓 Type of reader: M!Reader

-🍓 Category: SFW + a/b/o

-🍓 Warning(s): Angst

-🍓 Edited: ❌

Your hands trembled as you stared at the pregnancy test, two pink lines were shown meaning you were pregnant.

“I’m…pregnant..” You mumbled in disbelief as your vision began to cloud from the tears that formed in your eyes.

You dug deep into your memory hoping you could at least figure out who the last person you were with till it dawned on you.

Mikey.

You remember drinking with him and after that everything was just fuzzy and choppy.

“How am I going to tell him?” You rested your head in your hands after placing the test to the side. It took you a while, but you called Mikey saying you had something to tell him, something very important.

You didn’t tell him what it was leaving him more curious till you both met up. “So, what is it?” Mikey asked as he yawned, a tear bead appearing in the corner of his eye.

“I’m…pregnant…” You whispered the last part making Mikey tilt his head a bit. “You’re what?” “I’m pregnant.” You said louder this time surprise Mikey. “Ooo congratulations. Who’s the father?”

Mikey clapped his hands a faint smile appearing on his lips. You gripped the sleeve of your jacket as a faint whimper left your mouth, you were upset. “You alright?” Mikey asked, his smile disappearing.

“You’re..you’re the father.” Mikey’s eyes widened as he quickly stood up from his seat. “No way that’s mine... I didn’t even have sex with you..” Mikey said as he furrowed his brows making you look down at your lap.

“You were the first and only person I’ve been with, Mikey. We did it after we went drinking.”

“Bullshit. I don’t even remember what happened after that.” Mikey looked down at you, you were shaking and on the verge of crying, your scent was a mix of feelings.

He let out a sigh as he brushed some of his hair away from his face.

“I don’t think it’s mine, but I’ll still be there for you till you give birth to that pup. When I prove it’s not mine then..there isn’t much I can do after to help me.” Mikey said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

“Thank you..” You sniffled and brushed away any stray tears. Months went by and Mikey did as he said, he made sure you were well taken care of and safe till you were in the 1st month of your third trimester.

“Mikey..could you get the stole for me please?” You asked the man who nodded and went to the living room to retrieve the item.

When he came back, you were holding onto the counter, panting in pain. Underneath you was a puddle of water that had damped your slippers and the floor. Mikey dropped the stole as he began panicking internally.

“Is it..” You nodded your head, not even bothering to talk. Mikey quickly got the car keys and gently rushed you out the door and to the car. “The baby wasn’t supposed to be here for another two months, fuck..” Mikey grumbled as he left the drive-through and began speeding to the hospital.

“I’m..sorry..” You said in between gasps, tears began streaming down your face. Mikey’s face softened as he took your hand in his. “It’s not your fault, don’t worry.” He said as he released a more calming and pleasant scent to help with your pain and calm you down.

When the both of you arrived at the hospital you were rushed to the emergency room, Mikey of course had to wait in the waiting room. His leg bounced as he waited for one of the doctors to come out, it felt like you were in there forever.

Time was ticking by slowly, seconds felt like minutes, and minutes felt like hours. When one of the doctors came out Mikey quickly got up from his seat. “How is he and the baby? Are they alright?” Mikey asked, worry present on his. The doctor smiled and nodded her head.

“The mother and baby are both healthy and are doing just fine. The baby came earlier than expected so we’ll have to keep her in an incubator till she grows a bit more.

“Can…Can I see them?” The doctor nodded her head and Mikey quickly followed her. His heart jumped around in his chest as he grew closer and closer to the doors.

When he was inside you were laid down on a bed holding a baby in a pink blanket, feeding her. You looked exhausted but happy, happy you got to meet your baby.

Mikey hesitantly went over to you getting your attention. He had gotten a good look at the baby and she looked just like him. “I told you she was yours..” You giggled making the baby coo before she yawned.

“She’s so tiny..” Mikey whispered as he moved his finger to the baby’s hand which she instantly grabbed onto. His eyes glossed over with tears as Mikey stared at his child.

“Does that mean you’ll stay?” “Of course...I now have a family of my own..” Mikey sniffled as he rubbed his teary eyes. You lightly laughed as he gave a small kiss on your baby’s head.

-🍓tags: @jkloserdazai @reallyromealone @lostsomewhereinthegarden

[thehollowwriter]

Summary: Azul meets Finn's father, and he is very afraid.

Word count: 3872

(Pls reblog and leave a comment ❤️)

Mister Clearcove

"Papa wants to meet you." Said Finn, and Azul nearly choked on his tea.

"Pardon?"

"Papa wants to meet you." Finn repeated, munching on a biscuit. "He thinks you should come over during the holidays."

He was so casual about it, as if he were telling Azul it was going to be sunny tomorrow, and not that the possibly most terrifying man Azul had ever seen wanted to meet him.

Azul gazed at Finn wordlessly for a moment. Was this a joke? Was Finn trying to prank him?

"I...I see." Azul said slowly.

Finn did not say "just kidding" as he had hoped. Instead, he licked the crumbs from his lips and carried on sketching the possible menu designs he and Azul had brainstormed.

"You're sure he wants to meet me?" Azul blurted.

Finn put his pencil down and raised an eyebrow at him. "Of course. Papa doesn't ask to meet just anyone. Don't tell me you're scared now."

"Of course not!" Azul exclaimed, frowning. "I'm just... surprised. I didn't think he would be interested in meeting me at all."

Finn sent him a small smile. "You underestimate how interesting you are."

Azul flushed. "I suppose so. Shall we set up a date, then?"

Finn nodded. "Yeah. I'll ask Papa when he's available."

The two of them went back to what they were doing, and silence reigned once more.

Azul was awake long after curfew that night, staring at the incomplete nautilus shell earings he had spent days painstakingly crafting by hand.

He planned to give them to Finn sometime, but... should he? He didn't know.

If he were to end up in Silas Clearcove's bad books, it would make any attempts at a relationship or gaining a potential seafood supplier for the lounge quite difficult.

If they were to meet, Azul wanted to make the best impression he could. Naturally, making a good impression meant knowing the person you wanted to impress, and in order to know the person you wanted to impress, one needed to do research.

Unfortunately for Azul, Finn's father was an utter mystery. Most Atlantica residents did not like Silas and preferred to avoid him, fearful of him and his origins.

"The... the abyssal mer? I can't believe some people buy food from him, if you ask me."

"Silas? I had to move my daughter to a different elementary school because that monster's son was attending hers."

"Tainted blood, that's what he is."

Rumours, often wretched and gut-churning, did their rounds often.

Azul wasn't stupid enough to believe them, of course. Call him a sceptic, but he was quite sure Silas did not murder Finn and cause Finn to become a ghost.

Most of what Azul himself knew about Silas was through osmosis and from Finn. The basic facts were: he was a cookie cutter shark from the Abyss, he was a butcher, a single father, and was married to a powerful mage named Morrigan who died before Finn was born.

"He was a mage, too." Finn would say if asked about Morrigan. "He went to Night Raven. He was a Savanaclaw student, and then he became a teacher. He was quite talented."

The cause of Morrigan's death was something not even Finn knew, and most of the city pretended it didn't happen.

"Oh, you know, Morrigan was like, fifty when he died." Some would say. "Who knows what health complications he could've had."

Azul also attempted to ask his mother about it, but she became unusually cryptic.

"It was awful." She had said sadly, dabbing her eyes. "Simply awful. Oh, poor Silas, he was heartbroken..."

Azul made a mental note to steer clear of the topic of Morrigan in case it was a touchy subject.

Azul's own memories of Silas were few and far between. They were fuzzy, blurred by time, and unreliable. Finn swam to and from school by himself most of the time, so Azul didn't see Silas every day.

All Azul could really remember was vague parts of his appearance and a presence that made crowds part and parents whisper.

There was only one clear memory that stood out, but even that one had been tainted by age.

Azul remembered cowering behind his mother, taking a peek every now and then at the large, looming shark speaking to his mother in a low, gruff voice.

He was scarred and a bit odd looking, but what truly drew Azul's attention was the ribs of... something that decorated Silas' tail, and the twin sets of orca teeth necklaces around his neck. It was terrifying to see back then. Now, though, he was concerned his seashells would be an inadequate courting gift, considering Silas was apparently very traditional.

The lack of reliable memories left Azul to rely on individuals close to him for information, although it didn't turn up much. Silas was like his son. He kept to himself and wasn't prone to chatting .

"Old man Silas?" Floyd's expression turned thoughtful when Azul asked him about him. "Don't see him a lot. When he comes to Ma and Pa's parties, he just hangs out in the corner and stares at his glass till it's over. Then we never see him until the next one."

"He'll engage in conversation if we initiate it." Jade added. "But he doesn't say much. He's not a very talkative fellow."

Azul sighed. "Do you know anything else?"

"Well," Jade tapped his chin. "He's from the Abyss. But everybody knows that."

"He's got a legendary resting bitch face." Floyd chimed in, grinning. "It puts Finn's to shame. He looks like he'll snap your neck if you look at him wrong."

"I see."

He asked his mother about Silas next, during one of their biweekly phonecalls. She had more to say than the twins, and definitely more pleasant things too, but none of it was particularly helpful.

"Oh, Silas is a dear!" Azul's mother sounded delighted. "So helpful and hardworking, and so very polite. I keep saying he should come for dinner sometime, but he's always so busy."

"Do you know anything about his preferences?"

"Hmm. No. Sorry, dear."

"No no, it's alright. Thank you, Mama."

It seemed the only one who knew anything at all about Silas Clearcove was Finn, and Azul most certainly did not want to ask him and risk his intentions coming to light early.

Azul was frustrated that his research was inconclusive, and far more nervous than he was originally. When he finally returned home for the holidays, and the reality truly hit him, the nervousness became utter stress.

It seemed he wasn't doing as a good a job at hiding it as he hoped, since when Finn arrived to fetch him one early morning, he tilted his head to the side with a bemused smile.

"You don't need to be so nervous." Finn said as he began to lead Azul to their destination. "Papa won't bite."

***

The Clearcove property was far away from the city, starting at a sand bank and stretching on to the edge of a cliff. Only the faintest tendrils of sunlight reached down there, but it was promptly snuffed out by the towering kelp forest that stretched on for miles. The kelp swayed eerily in the ghostly quiet, lit up by only a few lanterns strung about.

It was a stark contrast to the sunlit streets and bustling noise of the city.

It gave Azul the creeps, and he suddenly understood why the rumours that spread were always so supernatural in nature. It was like they were swimming through a haunted patch of sea.

They followed a stone path through the maze of kelp and rocks and fish, keeping to the light of the lanterns. It was a long swim, and Azul wished he had better endurance.

Then, the faint scent of blood made Azul stop swimming, concerned.

Finn tugged him forward. "That's just the abattoir, don't worry."

The scent got stronger the further they went, and Azul had to clench his teeth to stop himself from darting away in terror until they got to it.

The abattoir did not look quite how Azul expected it to. Rather than a dark, dilapidated building, it was a large cave with an entrance marked by the gaping maw of a whale skull. Lanterns lit the area up brightly, making it look just a little less daunting.

Mers darted about the place, lugging in fresh kills, nets of crustaceans and molluscs, and large containers.

A few of them waved at Finn as he passed by and gave Azul a curious look, but other than that, they didn't pay their presence much mind.

Finn and Azul carried on for another half hour or so until finally, they came to a circular clearing, and the small stone path led towards a garden of coral, seagrass, and seasponge.

Nestled amongst the garden was what one could supposedly call a "house." Really, it was a large rock that had been carved into, its walls etched with little patterns that Azul was sure Finn was responsible for.

Finn swam forwards to unlock the purple coral door, then let Azul inside.

"Papa, we're here!" Finn called as they swam in. Well, Finn swam in. Azul squeezed himself in through the door, coiling his tentacles close so he didn't knock anything over. He was skinny, but the Clearcove home was undoubtedly cookie cutter shark sized.

The first thing he noticed was the smell of food. It didn't have quite as strong an aroma as food on land, but he could definitely smell it. The next thing he noticed was the cosy little lounge slash dining room he found himself in.

Pictures and paintings that were probably made by Finn when he was a child were hung up on the walls, and large clumps of sea sponge, coral, and bone formed couches and chairs.

Azul didn't have much time to take it in, as Silas then swam into the room and dusted his hands, crossing his arms, and Azul went still.

"Hello, Finn." He said. His voice was as soft as Finn's, but deeper and more gravelly. He nodded at Azul. "Ashengrotto."

"H...Hello, sir." Azul greeted, his voice coming out far more wobbly than he wanted it to.

Silas... didn't look quite how Azul remembered. From his child perspective, Silas was large, larger than life, even. Now, though, as a teenager, Azul could see Silas was not much larger than Finn. Azul himself was several times bigger than both of them.

When Azul was trying to research Silas, his mind filled in the blanks and created an image of an older looking Finn. Now, though, he could see how different they were.

Finn was chubby. Soft, pudgy, and round. His skin was absent of any marks aside from the scars on his shoulder, the freckles on his face, and the stretch marks on his stomach. His hair and body were a lively forest green that blended perfectly with his surroundings.

Silas, on the other hand, was very thin. His skin stretched just a little too taught in some places. His body was littered with scars of various degrees of severity. On his face, his abdomen, his tail, his arms, his neck... even his gills. The long, jagged scar that sliced across the gills on his neck made Azul's own gills itch.

His fins were riddled with holes and tears that hadn't healed properly. It looked painful, and it made Azul wince when he looked at them.

He was purple in hue, and his face, aged and weathered, housed the only thing he had in common with Finn appearance-wise. A pair of bright amthyst eyes that shone like gems in the light of the lanterns.

It was then that Azul knew he was looking at someone who had seen and done things he could not even begin to comprehend. Someone very dangerous and very powerful.

Azul's gaze eventually drifted to the necklaces that hung around Silas' neck. The teeth that were strung up on them were quite obviously orca teeth. Each necklace had a volute shell and a skeletal murex shell, respectively.

Courting gifts. One belonged to Silas, the other, his late husband.

Silas' necklaces were difficult to make. There was a risk involved, a certain amount of power and skill required to get the materials. Orca teeth were not small trophies.

Azul felt like Silas' gaze had frozen him in place with magic. Those eyes, so deep and knowing, made goosebumps ripple across his skin, and his heart jump into his throat.

His unique magic had a benefit that few knew about. It allowed him to sense others' magic and said magic's essence or power, and dear Seven could he sense Silas'.

It was dark and twisted, rolling off of Silas in waves of power that made something primal in Azul's mind begin to panic.

It was ancient. Pulsing. It bubbled just below the surface and promised a taste of the horrors found leagues down below.

Abyssal magic.

Silas' magic was far stronger than Azul's, far stronger than Finn's, far stronger than some of the professors at Night Raven, and it filled Azul's heart with a mix of awe and terror.

The familiar urge to take it for himself was strong, tugging at the back of his head. But he knew better. By the Sea Witch, did he know better.

Finn once told Azul that Silas never had any proper magical training of any kind. In fact, Finn was the first person on Silas' side of the family to attend school at all.

The fact that Silas still held this much power despite that... it was incredible and terrifying all at once.

The fear that filled Azul turned his veins to ice. The overwhelming knowledge that he did not have the advantage, that he did not have the most powerful magic, and that he was neither the smartest nor the strongest in the room made him feel like a guppy in the jaws of a great white.

"Azul, you look pale." Said Finn, though he was clearly more amused than worried, the bastard. "Are you alright?"

"I'm perfectly fine." Azul said quickly. "Just tired from the trip here."

Silas hadn't said a word at all. He simply stared at Azul, and Azul stared back.

Then Silas hummed, a deep rumbling sound, and swam back into the kitchen. Azul let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and shot a glance at Finn.

Finn smiled. "Don't mind Papa." He said. "He's not big on conversations. It might not be obvious, but he's happy to have you over. He's even letting you eat with us today."

Azul looked towards the kitchen, then back at Finn questioningly.

"That's not something he usually does." Finn clarified. "Sharing food that he hasn't sold, that is. He always says it's safest to be selfish when it comes to meals."

Azul nodded slowly. "I... I see." He murmured, overcome with the dreadful realisation that he could not skip out on whatever would be served without looking like an ungrateful brat with no manners.

He was pulled from his thoughts when Silas returned with a number of plates and platters in tow, piled high with all kinds of food.

Finn perked up, finns fluttering. "Oh, he used the vents. We're lucky today."

The... vents?

The platters were gently placed down with magic, as well as three empty plates. Azul stared at the vast amount of food, trying to see if there was anything small with few calories he could eat.

Seaweed wraps, crab rolls, whole crabs, shrimp, lobsters, mussels, clams, scallops, abalone, tuna, hake, even sushi, and so much more was available to choose from.

Azul's mouth opened and closed in surpise, and for the first time since greeting them, Silas spoke.

"I was not too sure what food you preferred. Finn told me you're quite strict with what you eat. I hope this is suitable."

Azul looked at Silas and once again felt frozen in place by that stare. Floyd wasn't kidding about him looking like he would snap your neck at any moment...

"I-" Azul had to swallow so he could try to speak clearly. "It is. Thank you, sir. You're very kind."

"Alright, then. Sit down. Choose what you want."

Azul obeyed, wondering how on earth the twins managed to make Silas sound like a stone faced introvert when he seemed more like a retired soldier or something.

Silas and Finn seated themselves opposite him. Finn, ever the food lover, happily began piling up his plate. Silas simply watched Azul, silent once again.

Azul avoided his gaze and selected some Sushi (where did Silas get rice from?) and a few oysters.

He paused when he got to the lobster, which he was not going to eat due to the hugh cholesterol by the way, and stared at it. It... it wasn't raw. It was cooked..?

"Hypothermic vents." Said Silas, noticing Azul's confused expression. "They work like an oven or a place to boil food if you use them correctly."

Azul's eyes widened in surpise. "Really? That's... That's incredible. I would never have thought to use thermal vents to cook food. How do you not burn anything?"

"I use magic to alter the heat." Silas explained quietly, his lips quirking up a bit. "It's something my grandfathers taught me."

"So I assume you alter the heat to different temperatures to allow for different methods and cook times?" Azul asked curiously.

Silas nodded.

"Incredible. Have you not thought of selling this? You would intrigue a lot of people with something as rare as cooked food. I-" Azul hesitated, realising Finn was raising his eyebrows at him. "I-If you want to, of course."

Silas gazed at Azul for a moment, and Azul began to panic internally, cursing at himself and his inability to shut up about business.

"You are your mother's son," Silas finally rumbled, sounding more amused than angry. "I'll tell you what I've told your mother. I have no interest in monetizing this."

Blood rushed to Azul's cheeks, and his fear and panic turned into embarrassment.

"Idiot." He snapped at himself. "You ruined a nice conversation."

Silas didn't say anything further, so Azul went back to picking at his sushi, taking little bites every now and then.

The urge to say something, anything, to fill the awful silence was overwhelming, but neither Silas nor Finn were particularly talkative, and Azul didn't want to be the irritating chatterbox of the group.

Finn was currently tearing through his meal, absolutely delighted at the special use of the vents. He cracked open a scallop and popped the meat into his mouth with a happy sigh.

Silas hadn't eaten a single thing. Apart from the occasional glance at Finn, his eyes were completely trained on Azul.

His gaze was intense. Terrifying. It was as if he were mentally taking Azul apart, looking for flaws, for weakness. Azul wondered if this was how his fellow classmates felt when he made deals with them.

"Finn's told me a lot about you." Silas said suddenly, and Azul gulped.

"He... He has?"

"Yes. He quite likes you-"

"Papa!" Finn squeaked, flustered. "You didn't need to say that part."

"-and I hear you're starting a restaurant of your own at school?"

"Ah- yes." Azul nearly choked out, relieved. Now, this was something to talk about. "Mostro Lounge. An establishment for gentlemen, neutral ground between the dorms of Night Raven College where you can wind down after a long day."

Silas hummed. "What a clever idea. My husband attended Night Raven when he was your age. I remember he once told me he wished he didn't have to go all the way to town to eat something that wasn't served at the cafeteria."

Azul puffed up at the compliment, glad to finally feel like he had some semblance of control. "Why yes, it is a pain, especially if you don't have time for such trips. The comfort and satisfaction of my fellow students is my primary goal, and I hope to achieve that with Mostro Lounge."

Silas' lips quirked upwards again. "How kind of you," He said, and Azul was pretty sure he didn't entirely mean it. He sounded too... knowing. "I hope you're successful."

Azul couldn't hold back the smirk that crossed onto his face. "Believe me, sir, I will be."

Silas nodded but didn't answer, and Azul went back to eating.

"Finn," Silas said after a while, turning his head to his son, who had been quietly listening to the conversation while digging into a small lobster. "Could you please tell Timo to move his hunt to the fourth quadrant for me?"

Finn looked a little confused, but he nodded anyway. "Sure." He said, then sent a small smile Azul's way. "I'll be back in a bit."

He disappeared out the door, and Azul was suddenly very aware that he was alone with Silas Clearcove watching him like he wanted to take a bite out of him.

Azul put his hands on his lap to hide the fact that they were shaking and stared back at Silas like a deer in headlights.

"You've built quite a reputation for yourself around here over the years, Azul." Silas said. "With those little deals of yours. Your magic is quite impressive, I must say."

There was a long pause, and Silas tapped his long black claws against the table.

"I was concerned at first when Finn started telling me about you." He said. "You're quite a greedy young man. But... I trust Finn's judgement. I'm not going to sit here and threaten you or tell you not to hurt Finn. I know you won't. However,"

Silas' eyes narrowed. "I'm well aware that you like... collecting magic, shall we say. Abyssal magic seems to have piqued your interest recently. Listen to me carefully. Finn is not to make contracts with you, and you are not to try to convince him to do so. You're a smart boy, Azul. I'm sure you understand."

The unspoken implication hung in the air, and Azul understood it all too well. He's heard the rumours, and while he wasn't sure how true they were, he'd rather not risk having his magic sucked dry.

'He's like a magic parasite.'

'He'll suck you dry until you're nothing but a husk'

'If he can't take your magic, then he'll take your soul.'

The voices of Azul's old classmates echoed in his mind.

"I understand, sir." He said, feeling a little sick.

Finn returned shortly after, informing Silas that Timo had moved his hunt.

"I hope you didn't scare you too much." He whispered as he swam past Azul.

Azul just laughed.

***

After Silas gave Azul that little warning, the old mer was much more relaxed, though most of the conversation was still carried by Azul and Finn.

The day seemed to fly by now that the fear that had swallowed Azul whole began to ebb, and soon it was late afternoon and time for Azul to leave. He needed to be home before sundown.

"I'll come visit you." Finn said softly before Azul could exit through the door."

Azul smiled a bit. "Thank you, I suppose." He murmured, feeling his cheeks burn once again.

"Thank you for having me over, Mister Clearcove." He said to Silas, bowing his head. "I greatly appreciate your hospitality."

Silas hummed in acknowledgement. "I'm always happy to Finn's friends over. Get home safe, now, Azul, and..." His voice suddenly dropped to a whisper. "Be careful with those contracts of yours, alright?"

Azul blinked, confused.

"Of course, sir."

-End

...........................................

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed the fear of god being put in Azul! I had a lot fun writing this.

Tagging: @distant-velleity @br3adtoasty @rainesol @theleechyskrunkly

@jovieinramshackle @galaxies-and-gore @cyanide-latte @cynthinesia @officialdaydreamer00

@krenenbaker @kitwasnothere @elenauaurs @boopshoops @am0nline

@1dont-really-know @kazumify @minteasketches @ramshacklerumble @elysia-nsimp

@skrimpyskimpy @casp1an-sea @offorestsongs @the-banana-0verlord @skriblee-ksk

@poisoned-pearls @the-trinket-witch @tixdixl @ghostiidasponk

[itsgrimeytime]

Magnolia in May (Part Eleven) || Rick Grimes (TWD) x Greene!f!reader Regency AU

Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10...

Taglist: @loliakeoghan23 @belaballs @curlycarley

AVAILABLE ON AO3

Inspiration (in honor of Speak Now Taylor's Version): Enchanted by Taylor Swift.

Summary: Your town was small, not the smallest you knew, but anyone of high fortune was the gossip of the week. Predictably, Richard Grimes was a thing of whispers -rumors of a search for marriage among the grassy hills. You weren't one to buy into town gossip, but something about him... just seemed a little too intriguing.

TWS: infidelity, child abandonment, heartbreak, mentioned family dissolution, anti-Lori, anti-Shane, death of a family member, and betrayal.

[[ A/N: hey besties, I am working on other series too!! I'm just very inspired with this one right now, but don't worry!!! The Nurse, and the neighbor one I'm workshopping are still in the works! anyways, hop aboard the dialogue train my friends! Let's get to talking :))) actually insanely dialogue heavy on god (sorry if thats not your vibe) and thanks for reading lovelies !!! ]]

"Judith... She's-" he moved through them slowly -as if it hurt, "-She's not mine."

"You-" you echoed, finding your voice lost, "-You mean to say-"

"The affair-" Mr. Grimes started, "-extended beyond what I knew. Both in the length of time and extent, I came to realize."

"Yet, you-" you started, debating truly on what the right thing to say here was -somehow urged to ask questions, "-you care for her."

"Yes, I-" he exhaled, "-when Lori told me she was expectin', she told me of the full circumstance. I had to make quick decisions -despite feelings I... I realized a much lesser man would refuse to house a pregnant woman."

"You housed her, did she... was Judith borne of your estate?"

"In Atlanta," he clarified, "-I housed her for the full term, she chose to leave of her own volition. It was... She-"

"Loved him," you finished -familiar with that portion yourself, "-I... She told me so, upon my first independent visit of the estate."

"Right," Mr. Grimes hummed -something rather sad in his tone, but you found the same remembering such a night, "-Lori... Lori decided upon Judith's birth that she was to stay with me. That she'd live a life as our child and not one of an affair."

"And you agreed."

"I won't say I didn't think twice 'bout it," he confided, and you felt quite special to even be hearing all this, "-I believe... If Judith hadn't been at play, I believe I would've been much angrier. To me, this was a matter of a child's life first, and a matter of infidelity second. I just wished for her to have a good life and any sort of circumstance with Shane in her life... She'd be ostracized. I believe both he and Lori knew that well."

"So, they-" you began, trekking your words carefully, "-they gave her up. And you... you raise her as your own."

"Yes, it's odd, I-" Mr. Grimes started -he seemed to be a little on edge, perhaps awaiting your reaction, "-I found the bitterness faded away. It was less like I was holdin' somethin' 'at showed a betrayal and more of I was holdin' someone made of two people I cared dearly for."

"You are truly selfless," you complimented -rather amazed by such circumstances, "-to do such a thing. I... I imagine the decision was not easy, but I've... I've seen you with Judith. You truly care for her, love her even, despite what she represents to you personally."

"The only bitterness I hold with her now is that of the abandonment," he echoed, something rather solemn in his eyes, "-Judith was never intended to know she was her mother, only in passin', but Carl..."

"He lost a mother," you finished - something distant tone as you were reminded of your own ache in your chest, "-It's not something you're supposed to handle well.

The Headmistress was something entirely different, sure she was maternal to you and your sisters but... She was not your mother. All you remembered of her now were portraits, fuzzy memories, and the stories your father told. He said that she looked the most like Beth -big doe eyes, but she had the resilience to match Maggie and a certainty to match your own.

Father always said he'd see her in each one of you every day, a shining memory of something he wished to truly never forget. You hoped he wouldn't, you'd wanted to know everything-

"Your mother, she-"

"Died of illness when I was nearly 10," you answered -a bit curtly, but you were sure he understood, "-Beth was not yet 1, too little to remember much, but Maggie and I... We remember sometimes. We used to compile little bits and pieces and tell Father and he'd tell us the full story. You feel as though you should remember more when someone is gone but... but you do not."

"Do you..." he questioned, "-do you believe he'll remember her, truly?"

You paused, glancing out the window where they still played -although, Judith looked quite tired of it now, and you tried to put yourself in his shoes. They fit quite well, you noticed. Just add a tiny little brunette by his side and you'd say the circumstance was identical in ways. But in other ways... it wasn't. Lori could see him, she just didn't wish to. Her visits weren't prone to impossibility, just... just shame. Who would not run to the ends of the earth for their children? Not fight through the pain just to get to them, the little triumphs of it all.

You supposed some wouldn't.

"I'm not an expert, but-" you echoed -a rather bitter sort of taste bubbling up your throat, almost metallic, "-I will say he will most likely wish to, in certain ways. I... I can never see my mother again, that is not by her choice, but rather by the earth's. He's soon to understand that his mother was at quite an impasse but still... still had a choice-"

Mr. Grimes silently connected his hand with yours -rubbing his thumb along the back of your palm, soothing.

"-and she didn't choose him. Even with you asserting the marriage be ended, she still... had a choice. To visit often, be involved, or- or not. And based on her arrival to the state, I'd garner to say she's not involved."

"Would he..." he fumbled out, "-Would he be bitter? I kno' it's unusual to wish well on such betrayal but-"

"Mr. Grimes," you turned to him, voice steady, "-you have made your decision to allow the grievances on your side. It is up to Carl how he addresses them in his own life, and you must understand that independence. I know that you wish such positive influence for the mother of your children, which you are a good man for, it doesn't have to excuse the behavior for him."

"I jus'-"

"Carl hurt in his own way, as I'm sure you know-" you continued, a lowered calm tone, "-it is up to him to decide how he deals with it. If he wishes to hate his mother for the rest of his life, so be it. It's dreadful to say but Lori made the decision fully knowing such consequences could arise. If she wishes it fixed, she must do so herself."

He sighed, a deep sort of rattling one -a resignation deep in the tone as if he knew it was coming, "I kno', I just- I suppose I want better for Carl and took it upon myself to try and make it better."

"An honorable cause," you echoed -clasping your connected hands with your own, comforting, "-Mr. Grimes, if you treat Carl anything like Judith then he is well cared for. I'm positive you do everything in your power to care for them."

"Ms. Greene," he spoke -looking at you at that sort of way that made your heart flip in your stomach, "-I... Thank you."

"You should know by now, it is not needed."

"I kno'," he spoke, rather softly, "-I wish to. Ms. Greene, I don't know how to properly portray to ya that anythin' I do for you is not out of obligation. I'm rather pleased to do it just because it's for you."

"Is that not what I was implying?" You spoke, rather bashfully, "-I... Mr. Grimes, I don't need to be thanked for anything I do for you, I... I am pleased to do so myself."

"Right, yes," he continued -intently, "-but I want to. I want... Ms. Greene, I summoned you today to clear some things up, as you 'ave learned. All a bit personal, but you must understand my intentions-"

"To explain your actions?" you questioned.

"No," he started, before correcting, "-well, yes but no. I... Ms. Greene, the scenario I told you... Judith, her arrival to this world, the truth of it is something I've sworn to secrecy. Something that only is knowledge of the parties involved and some of my most trusted staff-"

"I understand, truly," you echoed -urging to soothe what you believed to be worry, "-Mr. Grimes, you will not hear me speak of such a matter to anyone."

"While I appreciate 'at notion, I-" He seemed a bit lost in his wording, almost perhaps embarrassed, "-it's not what I intended for you to understand-"

"And I'm supposed to know these such intentions? I believed you were presenting your side to something that wasn't quite whole for me."

"Ms. Greene," Mr. Grimes huffed out, maybe a touch frustrated at his own lack of cohesion, "-that is a part of why I've summoned ya today, a surly part, sure but merely a part."

You paused, a little at a loss, "What are you implying, sir?"

"There's-" he paused, pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers, "-Judith's tale is one I would hardly let off the estate, somethin' so jeopardizing needs to be properly policed. I've made sure to keep it 'at way, not even tellin' my complete staff, only those I trust the most. And yet, despite it all, I sit 'ere and find myself tellin' you."

"Well-"

"Ms. Greene," he urged with a playful sort of smile -the type you always saw in his banter, "-as much as I'm delighted to hear ya speak, as I am with anythin' you do, will you let me 'ave a moment?"

You flushed a bright sort of crimson, it was a rather polite way of saying 'shut up' -maybe even complimenting, "Of course, speak at your will."

He nodded, ever so slightly turning in the couch to fully face you, and taking his free hand to clasp the amalgamation you'd just previously added onto. You'd assumed it looked rather odd from an outside perspective, but still, somehow the touch grounded you to the moment -commanded you to attention. Mr. Grimes had always had such an odd effect on you after all, what was one more?

"Ms. Greene," he spoke in that sort of fond way that you often imagined narrators to be when you read -all wistful and happy, "-you rightfully delight me, and I initially, I... wished you to know about Judith to explain my circumstances. But now I find there's something bigger than that. I- I'm..."

He fell a little silent, seeming to try and gather his words -you waited, patiently.

"How did you say it?" He questioned, and you were to answer 'what' but realized he was speaking to himself, rhetorically, "-'I've fallen in love with you. Most completely'."

Something in you stilled, was he... was he truly-

"It's hard to describe, but I-" Mr. Grimes continued, hardly letting you reel yourself back in from such an admittance, "-I find a part of myself tellin' you such things, as Judith's unfortunate beginnin', because I... I want you here. It's not a lack of trust, you just-"

He paused for a moment, before unclasping your hands and using the pads of his fingers to guide your eyes back to his. The press of his thumb against your chin brought you back to the moment that you supposed you drifted to. Something in your stomach fluttered.

"-belong here with me. And maybe it's rather selfish to instill such ideas upon you, but I... I haven't been selfish enough I believe. Nor have I been clear enough."

"Mr. Grimes-" you tried to urge him away, from such a tone.

"Ms. Greene," he responded in the same tone, fingertips still on the edge of your skin, "-there is no letter this time, no coy jabs that flow seamlessly with the banter, and no heartbreakin'."

"You don't-"

He didn't respond, only adjusted slightly to fully face you -blue eyes with their ever-familiar twinkle, and hand now cradling your cheek. It was a rather tender sort of movement that sent such a familiar buzz down your spine -warmth, but also held your gaze on his.

"Y/N, I-" he breathed out and you felt it fan across your skin, "-I love you, far more than I think I could ever fully grasp. And I wish to court you, properly as I kno' ya deserve-"

"Mr. Grimes..." you whispered, slightly weepy and a little in tone but there was no bite -you felt as if you weren't really there.

He merely only moved his hands to wipe away such tears -pads of his thumbs brushing against your skin (it nearly made you want to cry even more), "-and when things go well, as I know they should. I shall ask for your hand, with a lot more bravado than perhaps now but I suppose I 'ave time to perfect it."

"You..." you echoed, voice shaky and tears a bit distant from you now, but you still felt quite vulnerable, "-You... You love me, despite the... despite the letters and the nonsense and my family and my Headmistress-"

"Ms. Greene," he hummed, "-I've never been more certain of anythin' in my life."

"But-"

"And there was no choice," he interrupted, brushing his fingers over your hair -assumedly smoothing it into place, "-you spoke of... last time, I 'chose' you. That's not what had ever gone through my mind."

"Surely, you must have considered it," you whispered out -a sort of weepy tone trailing every word, "-for societal standards, at the very least. You... When Lori appeared upon your doorstep, you cannot tell me the thought did not cross your mind."

"A long time ago," Mr. Grimes spoke, a distant sort of bitterness flaring up in his tone, "-I came to terms with what Lori had done and why. When she arrived on my doorstep that evenin', I housed her as the mother of my children, not as... not as my estranged wife. If you'd asked me years ago, I suppose I might've done so. But now? With you? Ms. Greene, there was no choice."

"I..."

"Upon her arrival, the first thing I did was write that letter, detailing the cancelation-" he hummed, rubbing his thumb along your cheekbone, "-she was on my estate for the first time since Judith's birth, and all I could think about was you."

"Mr. Grimes-"

"I love you," he urged and something in you softened -something molten and warm swirling in your stomach, "-Ms. Greene, you are somethin' I'd never believe I'd get after Lori. You must understand how precious 'at makes you to me."

You were nearly speechless, only one thing floating in your mind, "I love you too. I... I suppose, I just never believed that you could love me so."

"And 'at is why I know I have been far too coy, in my affections for you," he hummed -fond and soft, as if it was only the two of you in the world. Or rather, if all he wished to pay attention to was you. Perhaps it was.

"As if I wasn't," you laughed, a little in astonishment at your current situation -he loved you, "-I haven't been too forthcoming myself, Mr. Grimes."

"I believe I have it in myself to forgive you for such misfortunes," he retorted, all smiley again and you felt a rush of fondness, admiration, love-

You smiled, a little tight from tears but still genuine -exaggerating playfully, "I'm rather honored to have such mercy, sir."

He chuckled, just a touch, bright laughter bubbling up in your chest (love, love, love-), seeming to absorb the moment -eyes flickering all over your face in a silence you found oddly comfortable. It was as if there was no need to speak, being in his presence was enough. Content.

"Does your residence 'ave any plans for dinner?"

"No," you spoke, playfully annoyed but the crimson on your cheeks told their own story, "-why? Are you so impatient to speak to my Father that you could only wait mere hours?"

"Possibly," Mr. Grimes echoed, biting back such a smile himself, "-my chef is terrific, very talented in a wide range of dishes. I'd venture she could cook for anyone."

"Is that an invitation?"

"Yes," he revealed, smile slipping across his lips, "-and a question. Do you have a favorite dish?"

"Oh, please," you laughed, "-I do not require such treatment, Mr. Grimes."

He chuckled -a rather telling sort of look in his eyes, "It's an innocent question-"

"Sure," you spoke with a certain tilt in your tone, "-and I suppose the berry basket was an innocent gift, then?"

"Alright, fine-" he urged, perhaps a little embarrassed -the familiar pink rising along his cheekbones, "-would you honor me with at least your favorite dessert?"

"Are you truly so eager to impress me?" You laughed, a bit in disbelief.

"Please you," he corrected, "-I happen to like when you're smilin', and would like to have a hand in helpin' such a feeling come to."

"Oh, Mr. Grimes," you echoed, a grin spreading across your lips -happiness a sort of electricity rattling your bones, "-you don't need a dessert to do such a thing."

[broodwolf221]

Merrill meta

cw: canon character death; blood magic; discussion of anti blood magic sentiment beyond that, general heads up for discussion of the fate of Clan Sabrae, culture shock, grief, guilt, Chantry/Circle propaganda, etc.

So far, I haven’t written meta specifically and exclusively about Merrill, although I do have a lot of thoughts about her. A caveat: I am many years removed from playing DA2 and have no real plans to replay it (it’s a good game, but it’s very heavy for me for certain reasons), so I won’t be as specific here as I might be in other meta. This is going to be more about the sense I get of her overall character and her arc within the narrative.

First, I want to talk a bit about her history.

Merrill comes from the Sabrae clan, but was born in the Alerion clan, in Nevarra. But Alerion had sufficient mages and Sabrae did not, so Merrill was transferred to the Sabrae clan when she was four years old. At that age, she may be able to remember her prior clan, or she may not, especially if any part of the journey or transition was traumatic to her—which I find likely. Not because the Dalish are abusive or anything like that, but because the simple nature of leaving the familiar for the new can be traumatic, especially for a child, doubly so for one new to her magic. So it’s not clear what, exactly, her feelings about this are, but I think it’s safe to say that she does have feelings about it. She had what could easily be considered a tumultuous and possibly traumatic experience as a young child.

The Sabrae clan loses Tamlen for sure, and possibly Mahariel as well, depending on the origin the player chooses. Merrill does not contract the Blight, but she does lose one—and possibly two—clanmates to it, and the Keeper insists that they move on, despite her wanting to stay and research the Eluvian. I think there’s a lot of room for interpretation about why she wanted so badly to stay: it could have been primarily rooted in a desperate attempt to save Tamlen, and possibly cure Mahariel; alternatively, it could have been primarily rooted in a desire for her people to know more of their history. Regardless of primacy, I think both aspects were present, and would be shaped by the specifics of her relationship with Tamlen and possibly Mahariel.

I’m a little fuzzy on the exact timeline here so I’m gonna be generalizing, but she took a piece of the Eluvian with her; she contacted a demon at some point; she became a blood mage; she was rejected by her Keeper; her Keeper taught her clan to fear her; and she ended up in Kirkwall with Hawke and the rest of them. Both the demon and the blood magic were things her Keeper knew about, so they happened prior to Hawke approaching the Sabrae clan and ending up with Merrill joining, and if memory serves, her clanmates were wary about her at this point, but not as fearful as they later became.

The point of this meta is not to explore matters of fault, only Merrill as a character, but as an aside I will say that I think a great deal of this was the Keeper’s fault, but I also understand where she was coming from. We as players are accustomed to blood magic being more nuanced than it is presented culturally in-game, but I think it’s worth remembering and recognizing just how reviled blood magic truly is in-world. The Dalish are not a monolith, each clan individual, but among those we see they seem to share the opposition to blood magic with much of Thedas, with the obvious exception of Tevinter. Although even that is more complex than “Tevinter thinks blood magic is good!” but again, not the point of this meta.

I am, however, bringing this up in part to acknowledge that this in-world bias is at play with the DA2 companions. Anders has been raised with Chantry and Circle propaganda, and still believes much of it; Fenris is an ex-slave from Tevinter, where he saw blood magic at its worst. And I think even among those who accept her more—Varric and Isabela, for instance—they are still deeply prejudiced against and wary about blood magic. And I’m certain she recognizes that. How can she not?

So I think during the course of the game, she feels very much on the outside of the little group Hawke has assembled. There are certainly moments of kindness and camaraderie between her and the other companions, as well as moments of paternalistic contempt, but overall I think she views herself as being on the outside. And she’s also on the outside in her home life. Whether Alerion or Sabrae, she has spent her life with Dalish clans, but is now living in an alienage with city elves. There’s a huge culture shock going on here. There’s also no cultural familiarity between her and the companions. And if Hawke romances her (I’m ignoring rivalmance because I haven’t done it) then she’s with a human. I’m not saying that’s bad, but I am saying that Hawke could never be a cultural touchstone for her. And that’s okay, by itself! But I do think it contributes to and exacerbates the feeling of otherness, in her specific situation.

Now, the fate of Clan Sabrae. If they survive, Merrill has been shown as clearly as possible that her Keeper does not trust her and is actively working against her—whether it’s “for her own good” or not is immaterial (and shitty, condescending, and paternalistic as well, even if the Keeper truly thought this the best or was trying to save the many at the [potential] cost of the one), as it is still a major violation of trust. If they do not survive, then Merrill would feel—true or false—that it is her fault, at least in part. That it was the Keeper’s actions which endangered the clan would not mean that someone deep in grief would not draw the connection from their actions to the end result; this is a normal experience among people who grieve, although nothing about grief is a monolith, either.

So at this point, Merrill has felt: some kind of way about being transferred between clans; a loss due to Tamlen (and possibly Mahariel); rejected for her ideas about the Eluvian; judged by her clan for her use of blood magic; rejected by her clan as a whole; disrupted due to intense culture shock; judged and demeaned pretty heavily for said culture shock; also judged and demeaned for the blood magic, this time by those she works with/may consider friends in Kirkwall. 

So I think that it makes sense how, in a romance with Hawke, she’s… not really there so much? There are comments, I think from Bodahn, about how she doesn’t seem to be acting/feeling very much at home in Hawke’s estate. And of course she’s still going back to her home in the alienage, both because of her continued efforts to restore the Eluvian and because she has begun to build a life there for herself and is still connected to the other elves there, even if there is still a degree of mutual wariness. But I think her long history of rejection after rejection has made her—understandably!—wary to trust anyone. 

However kind and compassionate Hawke may be in this situation, they would not be able to cure Merrill of all her trauma through love, even within the entire lengthy span of the game. So I don’t find it surprising that she continues to exist on the periphery. It would be easy and natural for her to feel like she’s only being provisionally accepted. And at the end of the day, I think that sense has less to do with how Hawke is treating her or how sincere their feelings are, and more to do with Merrill’s background and history.

However, I do think it would be a bit different with a blood mage Hawke. I think under those circumstances, she would feel more deeply accepted. I don’t think it would get rid of the feeling of it being provisional entirely, being far too simple a cure for far too complex a wound, but I think the familiarity and shared basis would help put her at ease. She’s not being accepted despite the form of magic she chooses to employ. Of course, this interpretation depends a bit on Hawke and their point of view on blood magic, whether it varies between their own use and how others use it or if it’s more broadly accepting, but I’m going with the idea that a blood mage Hawke would likely be tolerant of blood magic, even if they only used it as a last resort or out of desperation or for any other of the many, varied reasons why someone might choose to utilize such a loathed type of magic.

So tempted to continue this into “and this is why I ship her with—” territory but I’ll leave it here so that those who just want Merrill content don’t have to sit through my shipping conversation lmao.

[jellazticious]

JELL YOU CANT JUST DROP THIS RANDOM LORE ON THE FLOOR AND RUN AWAY!! TELL US MORE PLEASE IM BEGGING YOU

If this is about the Peppino clone theory then alright, buckle up cheesebags

First of all it's a theory and a headcanon, not lore, I don't want anyone acting like what I'm saying is canon 😭

BUT ANYWHO

I just thought it's weird that Peppino supposedly has never seen the tower in his life before or he has but he gets no association with it BUT he is plastered all over the posters, graffiti, boxes, etc in the background like he was part of the team. There's even like toys and robots designed after his scrumptious physique.

Next there's his malleability. I know this is a cartoon world with cartoon logic but alllll I'm saying is why doesn't Gus have that same whackiness? It's all mostly Brick doing the comedy. The most we have to Gus deforming his body was during the double jump where he turns into a ball. Peppino on the other hand? Turned to cheese, turned to a pizza, turned to a puppet, able to handle being in the front of a rocket, his body contorts during exaggeration of poses, way faster on foot than a rat etc.

He is just as cartoon character as the residents of the tower compared to the human levels of the outsiders like Gus and Stick. I mean yes, Gus can have exaggerated body parts but he is never as exaggerated as Peppino is

Next reason, the WAR level and the very confusing and retconned implication of what Peppino did. Some say it was canon that he was an actual veteran, some say he was technically not a soldier but a pizza delivery guy for the soldiers, and some say he accidentally wound up in the crossfires. Other than the war setting, the level, for zero reason or explanation, transitioned to a laboratory with clones of Peppino and the big ass tube in the bg has Pillar John in it. Cloning is not new to the tower but by god are they SHIT AT IT

Also here's a little intermission because I just LOOOOOVE this one tube in the bg so much

it's so stupid, he looks like he wanna die and he isn't even born yet, that's how you know you're getting a Peppino variant njsngjksrkj

but anwyay back to topic

I'm pretty sure we all think that the WAR level is the tower's last attempt at getting rid of Peppino by making a horrendous cheap move with making him relive his trauma. I love that take so much man, to think that the tower is this desperate because Peppino is SO CLOSE to destroying it that it didn't even have Pizza Time but a constantly ticking timer.

It makes sense with the war part of the level. That is clearly a traumatic event but then it turned to a lab which gets confusing.

I kinda stitched the two together and made them two different memories. The first one came from the original person the clones are based off and the other is Peppino's. I like to think that Faker and Peppino are opposites lol. Peppino has the perfectly structured body but not the mental stability while Faker is smart as hell despite being animalistic with a constantly shambling body. They're sorta the best ones to come out of the lab. but yeah, sorry for putting that tangent there. It's so to give a little context with how Peppino remembers stuff.

His brain is done fucked up that he cannot tell which memories are from him or from Bruno. It's like when you're dreaming and you already have stock knowledge in the dream's universe and it just hurts your brain when you try to pinpoint when exactly you got that information. He'd say some shit about his childhood and full believes he was the kid in the memory, and to Peppino he'd admit that all his memories are hella fuzzy for some reason but he just shrugs it off with "I'm just getting old". Also he kinda gets dreams about the lab and shrugs it off as some weird ass nightmare about the restaurant debt lmao.

(btw, Faker is well aware about Bruno's memories and know how to distinguish it from his own. I really love interpreting him as the alpha of all clones, it's so fun)

But yeah those are my reasons why I formulated and headcanoned Peppino as a clone.

All else that you need to know about this is that Peppino escapes, spends time in the real world, forgets his origins because brains are weird and it does this thing where it forgets traumatic events, and runs the restaurant (instinctual thing???), and seeing that Peppino is thriving on his own, Pizzahead thought how funny it would be to bring his ass back to the tower. Pizzahead is Pizzahead, his choices are whack asf

but all in all, I have always interpreted clone Peppino in all my silly little doodles gbjsbgksrbkj but like no one's gonna ask about it so I never made a peep nor a sound. But now you know lmao, which would raise questions that I'm more than happy to indulge

[user-needs-new-hyperfixation]

Now that you've finished both, what do you think are the difference between WangXian or HuaLian? Which mc and ml do you love more between both series? Which couple do you love more?

P.s Do you plan to read SVSSS? I think the best for fanfics inspiration from 3 MXTX works are SVSSS.....

This answer got way longer than I meant for it to 😅

I am all about Hualian 10000%. It's just a matter of preference, and I'll explain why I like one better than the other, but I'm not crapping on Wangxian shippers at all. Something for everyone haha!

Here's the thing. I like a lot about Wangxian. They've got a very Kirk/Spock thing a lot of the time that is eternally entertaining. But I just don't like the way they have sex. I dislike the way they have sex so much that it kind of retroactively made me less interested in the pairing as a whole. More specifically, I don't like how Lan Wangji does sex. People had warned me about it and I was like, "Eh, but I'm fine with CNC, all I need is that first C, so it's fiiiine." But. Nope. Thankfully this isn't a personal trigger for me, just a very firm preference, but I just...to quote myself in a previous post, "while the book did a good job convincing me that Wei Wuxian is into everything Lan Wangji does to him, it didn't do a good job convincing me that Lan Wangji knows that for sure, or is in control of himself, or would stop if Wei Wuxian didn't like something." That just isn't to my taste.

On the other hand, Hualian are also implied to be having rough and kinky sex, but there's much more of a feeling that they're communicating about it. I'm not expecting them to like, have a formal safeword or anything, but even just:

"Sorry, I went overboard last night," Hua Cheng apologized. It took a moment for Xie Lian to realize what he meant, and he quickly waved his hands. "Wh-what are you saying? That's not it at all--everything's fine!" Hua Cheng arched an eyebrow. "Is that so? If everything is fine even after that, does that mean I didn't go overboard last night? Does that mean I can...?"

Or

"Is gege not coming up to join me?" But if he went up there, when would Xie Lian have a a chance to come back down? At that point, they could forget about doing anything else for a while. "Nah." Xie Lian declined politely. "My San Lang has overworked himself." "Nah," Hua Cheng laughed. "How could San Lang ever be afraid of hard work when it comes to working gege hard?"

Like. They're goofy about it and Hua Cheng loves to tease Xie Lian but they are actually talking about sex when they're not having sex. There's a degree to which they're communicating outside of the heat of the moment. And even in the amnesia extra (which makes me feel so bad for Hua Cheng omg he's being surprisingly chill but I need to write some meta about how miserable he must be during that) Xie Lian's fuzzy memories of what he at first assumes was a rape are full of the sense of being gentled and cherished and of their fingers and red strings tangling even as he's held down and roughed up.

Also the chapter opening with,

Laughing, Xie Lian pushed Hua Cheng off him -- his crushing weight was making it hard to breathe. The heat and passion had yet to subside when something suddenly occurred to him. "Oh yeah, San Lang," he began offhandedly.

That's so stinking cute I can't. They are so comfortable. Nothing in their relationship overall or in the hints of their sex life we see implies in the slightest that Hua Cheng isn't in control of himself in the most important ways (I do tend to think of him being a shaking crying coming-too-soon mess the first few times, but that's a very different kind of out of control lol). He worships Xie Lian, literally. Lan Wangji has this underlying layer of horny anger born in a repressed childhood; Hua Cheng's horny is all built on reverence. THAT IS MY JAM.

As for SVSSS, I think I will probably read it if only to try to figure out what on earth its fandom is talking about. It's...like an isekai I think? Which is not usually my thing, but at this point I feel like I gotta round out the trio haha!

[canonmisogynyvictimstournament]

FINALS

PROPAGANDA

BUMBLE (WARRIOR CATS) (CW: Domestic Abuse)

1.) Back with another Warriors submission, I bet you’ll be getting a lot from other people too LMAO. Bumble is a kittypet (housecat) who befriends the male protagonist Gray Wing’s girlfriend, Turtle Tail, and lets her stay in her house. This gets Gray Wing all pissy because he’s controlling of Turtle Tail and shares most of the wild/clan cat’s proclivity for looking down upon kittypets. Turtle Tail gets pregnant by another kittypet, Tom, who tries to control her by hiding the fact that humans take away kittens after they’re born. Eventually Bumble comes clean about it so Turtle Tail returns to the forest. Some time later, Bumble is found in the forest seeking refuge because Tom has been physically abusing her, scratching her where the humans can’t see. So, she’s CANONICALLY ACKNOWLEDGED as a domestic abuse victim (unlike Squirrelflight who meets all the textbook signs but the narrative and authors deny it). How do you think our good guy protagonists, i.e. Gray Wing “The Wise” and Turtle Tail, respond to an abuse victim seeking refuge? They tell Bumble to go home, thinking to themselves that she’s fat and soft and therefore would be useless in their group. Bumble stands up for herself and asks to speak with the leaders of the group. One of them asks if Bumble could just get along with Tom better (bro???) and when Bumble says it’s not within her control, the leader suggests being nicer to the humans instead. Another rival leader butts in and verbally abuses Bumble again by ripping into how fat and lazy and useless she would be. Despite Turtle Tail having been friends with Bumble and Bumble had helped her through her own hard times, to Gray Wing’s approval Turtle Tail chooses not to intervene as Bumble is forcibly escorted back to her abuser. But that’s not all. Later Bumble is found in the forest maimed and dying, and it seems likely that Gray Wing’s brother Clear Sky, a male with a long history of violence, is the culprit. Rather than mourn the dying innocent cat, Gray Wing’s primary concern is how other cats might be mean to Clear Sky if they think he’s a murderer, and reassures himself that refusing to help Bumble in her time of need was still the right decision.

2.) I have no idea how she managed to be written so horrifically from an abuse victim and woman (/she-cat I guess) standpoint but here we are. Okay so my memory is a bit fuzzy but basically Bumble was a character in Dawn of the Clans and a close friend to Turtle Tail, a major character, as well as a character who lived close to Tom, an abusive dickhead of a cat. Bumble was largely depicted as just a really sweet cat. Turtle Tail was very briefly the mate of Turtle Tail, but once she got pregnant, he became super violent towards both her and our gal Bumble. Tom actively hid the fact that, once her kits were old enough, Turtle Tail’s kits would probably be taken from her, and made Bumble keep quiet about this too, but Bumble eventually told Turtle Tail the truth, Turtle Tail left and Tom became extremely violent towards Bumble because of this, and was extremely abusive towards her. Eventually, Bumble ran away from him to where Turtle Tail and co were and begged to stay, since the wilderness as a whole was genuinely more safe than being around Tom was. Naturally, this meant kitty xenophobia from cats who had only arrived in that area recently, because everybody was insistent than, since she was a kittypet/house cat, things wouldn’t work out, and even her friend Turtle Tail denied her on this, insisted she was too soft to live in the wild and only sent her towards a cat Bumble wanted to convince because she was absolutely certain she’d be denied. Also our good old protagonist Gray Wing got to spend this scene being all upset about this soft cat wanting to join them to escape an abuser and was all bitter about the fact that Turtle Tail lived with her for a short period of time, and he also got to have a sweet romantic moment with Turtle Tail after denying an abuse victim an escape from her abuser. Also as much as I like Tall Shadow usually she sucked ass in the following scene because she was essentially telling Bumble to go find a way to make peace with Tom as if she was not the one being abused (Bumble pointed out that Tom was the one who would need to make peace for it to happen, not her) and that she should just make life better by going back to being a housecat and being spoiled despite the fact that she was actively at risk with her owners because of Tom. Then she leaves after being threatened by several cats there and is called soft on the way out. The next time she appears she is literally dying, and her death is just a plot device to create a stupid little mystery which is solved in a very stupid way. Also her abuser does continue to be a shithead and for some reason is fully permitted to kidnap his own children but he also gets a heroic death and the only reason I will not rant more about him is because this is too long already. Long story short Bumble deserves the world and everybody who decided not to let her escape her abuser just because they thought she was soft sucks

3.) Is nice to the group of starving, feral wild cats that left the mountains so their friends and family could have more food to eat and befriends one of them to the point of opening her home to her after she leaves the group because the guy she likes is too dumb to notice she likes him and keeps falling for his brother’s love interests.

Unfortunately, because Bumble is a house cat who lives in a house with people and not a Wild and Free cat, this is a grave and horrible crime (luring a wild cat into the safety and comforts of domesticity) and is villainized for the rest of the arc, including for things wildly out of her control

I.E.

Her owners taking in an aggressive male cat that bullies and abuses the two female cats already living there

When Bumble’s friend leaves and goes back to the wild cats, Bumble leaves her home (as the abuse as has gotten worse) to see if she could either get help or have her friend return so the abuse isn’t as bad again)

Bumble eventually dies in the wild because the feral cats all hate her for ‘stealing’ their friend and tricking her into becoming a kittypet for awhile and refuse to help Bumble adjust to wild life or even teaching her how to hunt.

They are littl e to no hard feelings at her death beyond ‘good riddance’ but the aggressive tomcat that chased her out of her home is later regarded with good feelings and regret at such a ‘good, heroic cat’ passing when he dies despite him literally never doing a good or kind thing in his life and actually causing trouble for the wild cats right before dying

CORDELIA CHASE (BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER/ANGEL THE SERIES) (CW: Pregnancy)

1.) (downs an entire bottle of vodka and slams it back on the table) SO. CORDY. Cordy started off as a supporting character in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. At the start she was your typical high school mean girl character, but as the show went on we got to see more depth to her character: her insecurities, her courage, her capacity for incredible acts of kindness. Then after the third season she moved into the show’s spin off, Angel, where from the beginning she was basically the show’s secondary protagonist. Her and Angel were the two mainstays of the show’s main cast, she gets the most episodes centered on her out of all the characters aside from Angel (and yes, I’ve checked), and we really got to see her grow from a very shallow and self-centered and kind of mean person to a true hero who was prepared to give up any chance at a normal life to fight the good fight while still never losing the basic core of her character. There were some… questionable moments like the episode where she gets mystically pregnant with demon babies and things got a bit iffy like halfway through season 3 where the writers seemed to run out of ideas for what to do with her outside of sticking her in this romance drama/love triangle situation with the main character but overall, pretty good stuff right? THEN SEASON 4 HAPPENED. In season 4 she gets stripped of literally all agency and spends pretty much the entire season possessed by an evil higher power, and while possessed she sleeps with Angel’s teenage son (who BY THE WAY she had helped raise as a baby before he got speed-grown-up into a teenager it was a whole thing don’t worry about it) and gets pregnant with like. the physical manifestation of the higher power that’s possessing her. it’s about as bad and stupid as it sounds and also is like the third time cordy’s got mystically pregnant in this show and like the fourth mystical pregnancy storyline overall (you will be hearing more on that note in other submissions I’m so sorry). after giving birth she goes into a coma, in which she remains for the rest of season 4 and the first half of season 5. SPEAKING OF WHICH DON’T THINK SEASON 5 IS GETTING OFF SCOT FREE HERE. yeah so in season 5 the show just FULLY starts trying to erase cordy’s existence. she gets mentioned ONCE in the first episode and then never again until halfway through the season where she wakes up, helps out Angel for a bit and encourages him in his fight against evil, and then goes quietly into that good night and dies so it can be all sad and tragic. I’d call it the worst fridging of all time but even THAT feels generous because the whole point of fridging is killing off a female character so a man can be sad, and after Cordy dies basically no one’s even sad about it because the show immediately goes back to pretending she never existed. she is not mentioned ONCE in the two episodes after she dies. in the whole stretch of time between her death and the end of the season she gets mentioned exactly four times. again, I counted. anyway the fun twist to all of this is that all of this happened because the actress who played cordy got pregnant before season 4 and joss whedon was so pissed off about this affecting his plans for the show that he decided to completely fuck over her character and then fire her and write her out of the show. so cordy’s a victim of both writing AND real life misogyny!! good times!!

2.) OH SO MANY THINGS they menaced by giving her terrible hair cuts, making her seem like she’d get together with the guy she loves (and who loves her back) but instead she was killed and when she was brought back, she got possessed by an evil entity who used her body to give birth to itself. afterwards she was in a long coma and died. her character was so throughoutly assassinated

3.) She got demonically pregnant TWICE - there was this real sense of a womb/ability to get pregnant as like, a place for evil to get in. She got positioned as femme fatale and evil mother. The actress basically got fired for being pregnant, and when she agreed to come back for a single final episode she specifically said they could do anything but kill off the character. Guess what happened

[mistress-of-vos]

For the ask game Ra'sTim (yes predictable I know but I just adore how you write them to the point where I want more information)

Ra'sTim

SHIP IT!!! 💚💚💚

Okay yeah I'm very loud about them but I'm still so so happy you asked about Ra'sTim! I'd talk about them all day. This is probably gonna be long 😅

P.S. Thank you! I'm happy you enjoy my work ❤️

1. What made you ship it?

Okay this is such an easy yet complex question. I have looked back and realized I was writing past/implied Ra'sTim on my fic notebook back on 2014 (give or take) when I was newly done reading Red Robin. I'm unsure exactly *how* is started because before 2020 I had been on an extreme Transformers fixation, and my memories are fuzzy. I believe I was shipping Ra'sTim as a background ship without fully realizing I was doing it (it should also be noted I started as a KonTim religious fan, and grew into a JayTim girlie). I actually read two of my fav Ra'sTim fics back in those years (around 2014-2015), which were in Spanish, but they had a Ra'sTim portrayal that would mark my views, as the characters make the dynamic very different to the most popular ships in fanfom.

It was at the beginning of 2020 when I went back to DC, and funnily enough climbed quickly from JayTim to BruTim and started writing an ongoing fic. While doing so, I re read past fics I remembered I used to love, and went back to read comics as well. Suddenly, after reading Red Robin again, I was looking at Ra'sTim through different glasses. And it was something happening to me in many levels, as I was also getting a bit away from Kon & Jason and more into characters as Babs & Jean-Paul. I wondered what *more* there could be to Ra'sTim, and started reading more of Ra's. As I read and explored Tim in my writing, I realized I wanted them together.

I'm unsure about how to call it. The feeling was almost of enlightenment, like suddenly seeing something that has always been there yet for some reason you couldn't distinguish its shape. Perhaps being a Megatron/Starscream shipper helped, because I saw the potential of Ra'sTim and decided to explore the possibilities and their tones of gray.

At first Ra'sTim wasn't my main ship (although I was already writing it), but as I explored them, the more I felt it was a dynamic that came naturally to me, and scenarios I found more enjoyable.

The more I read their comics and explored them in my writing, the more they felt *right*. Perhaps it was meant to happen, as I can admit they fall a lot more into my tastes in fiction. Ra's as a character drives me insane with his potential and lore, and Tim stays as my favorite bat boy and who I believe changed the Batman mythos.

And yet, everything was born from a simple panel. "You are a very dangerous young man."

2. What are your favorite things about the ship?

Oh, this is a tricky one!

I like their dynamic a lot, as I'm an open immortal/mortal sucker. And that does play a huge thing in my view of them and why I come back to Ra'sTim again and again despite having other fixations. The fact that Ra's has such a complex background and is not your usual western interpretation of an immortal (let's say a vampire) is also a fav thing of mine, as I think it allows stories with him to leave usual storytelling and challenge beliefs about good & evil. The fact that he believes he's *good* and a hero is particularly tasty as well, and mixed with Tim's need for helping others and guilt when he's not useful to the world (and Batman), gives a wonderful meal.

Their size difference is extremely hot too.

Aaaaand having a canon mutual interest where they are connected in a mysterious, unavoidable way, it's a cherry on top.

Lastly, I adore their contrast as characters and how they will allow the other to win a little battle in order to win another. It's a game of cat and mouse.

3. Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I have unpopular opinions on most characters and ships. Some of them I feel comfortable expressing and others... Not much.

With Ra'sTim I have many of them, but mostly, it's that I loathe how other ship fandoms use Ra's as a random villain to hurt Tim and prop up another ship. For me, that's almost insulting, as Ra's is already a hurt character broken by many writers at DC. For me Ra'sTim it's never about "evil, mean Ra's hurting Tim because villains do that" and even less would I do it for another ship. I enjoy dark Ra'sTim, but never to hurt the characters.

My unpopular opinion then would be about the characters, perhaps. I don't see Ra's being cruel to Tim without reason, because in my mind, Ra's feels *love* and he cares for Tim. And Tim loves him back. They are just messy and won't communicate well, but that doesn't mean Ra's will go full evil and that Tim is a damsel in distress needing saving.

I don't see Ra's as an abuser. Neither do I see Tim as a helpless victim. And I believe this narrative hurts all characters involved without real motive besides wanting to prop up someone else and being too lazy as to read a less known villain or writing an original one.

[goodomensgotmeeffedup]

So I had an idea for a Good Omens fic where Aziraphale and Crowley are both demons.

(This post contains season 2 spoilers and uses he/him pronouns for both of them but that's not to say that she/her or they/them pronouns are wrong or bad, just not what I'm using)

So both of the are demons. Because of this tiktok:

Anyways, so yeah.

Here's what I'm thinking so far. Aziraphale and Crowley met in Heaven, as angels, of course. Just like we see in Season 2 Episode 1.

Aziraphale is in love at first sight. How can you not be? Just seeing the angel version of Crowley, smiling, happy, excited about the stars. Gorgeous? Yes, yes he is. So Aziraphale is seriously concerned when Crowley starts questioning things and hanging about with Lucifer and the gang.

And then, he's seriously horrified when Crowley, beautiful, gorgeous Crowley, is sentenced to Fall. That's not fair. That's not right. Crowley is sweet and perfect and amazing. Aziraphale doesn't want Crowley to Fall.

At least, not alone.

Aziraphale doesn't Fall so much as dive head first, catching Crowley in his arms and wrapping them both up in his wings. He takes the brunt of the damage when they hit the sulfur. His feathers completely burn away. It all gets a little fuzzy after that. There's a lot of pain and burning for what feels like an eternity. And then they eventually pick themselves up, memories broken or missing.

They both start working on Earth, they kind of become rivals. Who can do the worse job? Not that they have to do much since humanity is perfectly capable of ruining things on their own. So they basically just exist to please themselves and piss each other off.

But, Aziraphale has dreams of them together in Heaven. Crowley's smile when his stars were born... It makes Aziraphale's heart ache. And he wants to see that smile again. Unfortunately, the sulfur burned it away but he believes it's still there somewhere. He does what he can to protect the demon Crowley, even doing some nasty things to cover up the secret good things that Crowley does.

Aziraphale is very protective over Crowley. And he's definitely the worse of the two of them. As far as being a demon goes. He doesn't mind getting his hands dirty if it means Crowley doesn't have to.

That's why he jumped Down after him, after all. He remembers that now.

And then Armageddon... they decide to work together, officially, to prevent it from happening because they like the earth and don't want to go to war.

Um... what else.... I think Demon Aziraphale runs a tattoo shop instead of a book shop

Um... I think at some point I want Aziraphale to be like, "You're the closest thing to Heaven I'll ever need"

And yeah. Any ideas? Thoughts?

[mob-choir]

hi! just wondering if u have any mp100 fic recs particularly nonromantic ones? i read “A Breach of Trust” already and that one went straight to the Fics of All Time for me!!

hello! here's some stuff from my bookmarks that is non-romantic, or where if there is any romance, it's not the main focus:

Issho by @toastytoaster22: a canon divergence AU where teru meets shigeo and ritsu when he's 8 years old, and things go from there. this is THE go-to fic if you liked A Breach of Trust imo - not for the genre and tone, those are different (though admittedly it's been years since I reread Abot so my memory of it is a bit fuzzy - will need to reread it soon!), but the key aspects are the same: it's a very well-written, long fic, with a gripping plot, excellent characterisation and introspection (the pov is absolutely fantastic), and heart-warming familial bonds that will make you cry. this fic will break your heart and then lovingly put it back together.

Butterfly Effect by Frecklefrog: similar concept to the above, also a fantastic execution. reigen and mob meet teru while out on a job, when the kids are around 11, and the plot evolves from there. again this has great characterisation and the relationships are very well-written, especially teru and reigen's.

Hiding His Horns (an orphaned work): this one is listed in ao3 as terumob but in my opinion this fic is plot-heavy more than anything else, and gives equal weight to reigen and mob's and mob and ritsu's relationship (in addition to teru and mob's), so i wouldn't say it's about romance. but it IS written in teru's pov, and his feelings for mob are not exactly subtle, so if that's not your cup of tea, i'd skip this one. but if that doesn't bother you, then i really recommend it. it's a witches and demons AU where teru, a promising young witch/exorcist, really really wants reigen, an incredibly famous exorcist, to take him on as an apprentice. he's less than pleased when he discovers reigen in fact already has a student, and that student is a demon of all things.

The Joy of Cooking (for a Family You Didn't Know You Had) by pepperfield: a 5 + 1 collection about reigen treating the people in his life to meals. this one is just great if you're looking for something about reigen and the gaggle of kids he ended up pretty much adopting. very very heartwarming, and the crazy conversations the kids have always make me laugh. each of their voices is spot-on. this fic does have some serirei, especially one of the later chapters, but it's not the overall focus of the fic at all.

The Destiny of Those Around You by @fightmemogami: this one is a series containing two fics, both equally great. both are missing moments from s1, after the seventh division arc. one is about shigeo visiting kamuro, the student council president (as he mentions to ritsu in the last ep of s1), and the other is about a conversation that may have happened between mob and onigawara (based on that comment he gave ritsu about how "your brother was worried about you"). both these fics are very good, i especially enjoy the way shigeo is written.

Color in a Monochrome World by Sifl: i have to be honest, i haven't reread this collection yet since i first did back in 2016, but it's in my bookmarks and i remember really enjoying it. it's a collection of gen fics, about different characters and different relationships, and while they can be read as stand-alones, they are subtly interconnected. the details are a bit fuzzy in my memory but it's very well-written, so i do recommend it. i will be rereading it soon myself.

Port in a Storm by W3LTERW8: this is a short character study set right after the separation arc. contains some good angst, as well as a great conversation between reigen and mob in the aftermath of what was a turning point for both of them.

Signed Up For It by @turning-the-kaleidoscope: heart-warming fic that takes place both before and after canon, focused on reigen's pov of the sort of world shigeo, as a born esper, lives in, and how different that world is from reigen's own. and how despite all that, reigen still wants to stay. has some great dialogue that really stuck with me, and the hurt/comfort is fantastic.

tomorrow isn't always another day by suitablyskippy (tumblr won't let me @ them, but they're also on here with the same username, I believe): hilarious fic, made me laugh out loud multiple times with how clever and quick-witted the writing is. reigen is caught in a time loop, is apparently the only person to be aware of it, and can't seem to find the cause, no matter how many times he asks mob to check if he's got a curse on him. excellent writing that casually drops some of the best-written, funniest lines like it's nothing.

Pull Up The Weeds to Grow Back Stronger by @spiritusrex: we are now entering what I'm calling the Mogami section of this post. this one is a great fic about minori in mogamiland, and how she slowly but surely manages to rebel against the role she is being made to play. great depiction of the start of a redemption arc.

I know who I am when I'm alone by RedWritingHood: mogami arc fic where reigen is also stuck in mogamiland as another random inhabitant of this world. really really great fic about how your thoughts and feelings don't determine the sort of person you are, your actions do. you can still do good by someone no matter how many intrusive thoughts try to get you to be a horrible person.

Come Morning Light by NotHereForIt: this one deals with the fallout of the mogami arc. reigen finds himself in a dream that isn't his, where mob is being haunted by the six months that never happened. some darker themes, as expected from anything dealing with the mogami arc, but great hurt/comfort.

since you asked for non-romantic stuff particularly, I will put the following two recs on their own. they're both terumob, and the romance is pretty central in both (especially in the second one), so they may not be your cup of tea, but they both have some of the best redemption arcs i've ever read, both in this fandom and outside of it. if you don't mind the romance, i wholeheartedly recommend them, i've read both multiple times:

Tunnel Vision (orphaned): a canon divergence AU (set before the two of them meet) where mob's school is undergoing some renovations and he and his friends are temporarily relocated to teru's school. teru senses there's another esper at his school and does NOT take it well. he makes a lot of mistakes. roughly follows the events of season 1. written in teru's pov so his feelings for mob are always prominent as they slowly shift from animosity to something else, but i don't know if i would even call this a love story. it's about teru's redemption first and foremost. excellent writing and characterisation, and i have to give a special shoutout to tsubomi, i really loved the way she was written in this fic.

Sword of Damocles (also orphaned): cannot describe in words the impact this fic has had on me. it's a no powers AU set when the kids are 16. teru is, to put it bluntly, a complete asshole, and so are his friends. when he brags to them that he'd be able to charm anyone and get them to kiss him (without being the one to make the first move), they dare him to prove it, and point to a random guy walking by (shigeo) as his target. now teru just needs to charm him and get his kiss so he can go back to his life, but it may not be as easy as it seems. obviously this fic has a lot of romance in it since teru is trying to charm mob into going out with him since the start, but the slow burn is one of the best i've ever read. teru starts off as highly unlikable, and he's not very charitable (in his head) towards mob at all, but slowly, very slowly, he starts to change. it's incredibly well-written, and as the title implies, you spend the whole time reading it with a sense of anticipation and dread, wondering when things are gonna come crashing down and how bad the fallout will be. a really, really great fic, i wish i could reread it as if it was the first time.

that's all i've got for you! i hope at least some of these can pique your interest, and that you enjoy them. would love to hear your thoughts on the ones you do read, if you like! i'm always open to talk about great fics.

[oldiestations]

( JONATHAN DAVISS. TWENTY THREE. NONBINARY. HE/THEY. ) since you aren’t aware of them yet… that’s ( NEZ KENDRICK ) wandering around in hollow creek! from what i know they’ve lived in hollow creek for ( THEIR WHOLE LIFE. ) i’m also aware of the fact that they work as a ( ARCADE ATTENDANT & FREELANCE ARTIST. ) in town! but if you were to ask me, what i see when i think about them are: ( ART SUPPLIES TOSSED HAPHAZARDLY IN AN OLD JANSPORT, CHIPPED BLACK NAIL POLISH, & BEING DISAPPOINTED WHEN THE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EXPIRES WITH NO STORM. )  if anything, i feel like they could be ( RELIABLE, DIPLOMATIC, ACQUIESCENT & ENIGMATIC. ) it’s really weird, though… because they seem to be hiding something that no one else knows. but i sure do! and that is ( CLOSED FILE… REDACTED ) wild, huh? i know. they’re hoping no one will ever find out. and the very last thing that i’d say about them is that they’re mainly known to be ( THE MCCOY. ) just keep a lookout! who knows if they’re putting on a facade!

» FULL NAME   ebenezer jeyland kendrick » NICKNAMES   nez ( preferred — call him anything else and you’ll make an enemy ) » AGE   twenty three » BIRTHDATE / ZODIAC   june 20th, cancer » GENDER / PRONOUNS  i don’t know and neither does he<3, he/they but tends to default to he/him » ORIENTATION   pansexual

» BIRTHPLACE   hollow creek, massachusetts » CURRENT RESIDENCE   hollow creek, massachusetts » MOTHER   malia kendrick, stay at home mom, deceased » FATHER   joyner kendrick, plumber, alive » SIBLINGS   a younger sister

» LINKS   pinterest  spotify

.

trigger  warning  for  parental  death

a  lot  of  nez's  childhood  is  a  bit  of  a  blur  —  he  remembers  general  feelings  more  than  actual  events.  happy  mostly,  when  he  was  little.  his  mom  stayed  home  with  him  as  a  toddler.  doing  a  sort  of  montessori - adjacent  approach  to  homeschool  preschool  that  nez  absolutely  thrived  in.  before  kindergarten  even  started,  he  could  read  and  write  his  own  name,  knew  his  colors,  shapes,  and  a  respectable  amount  of  numbers.  not  because  he  was  any  kind  of  baby  genius  or  anything,  he  just  had  a  good  teacher.

he  remembers  a  few  more  specific  events  from  his  first  year  of  real  school.  their  first  field  trip  to  the  zoo,  picture  day,  getting  assigned  to  a  5th  grade  reading  buddy.  but  that's  when  most  kids  reach  sentience.  he  remembers  when  his  little  sister  was  born  early  that  spring  and  getting  to  show  his  classmates  pictures  of  her  from  when  they  first  got  to  meet.  it  gets  fuzzy  again  after  that. 

parental  death  tw   //   he's  been  able  to  piece  things  together  over  the  years.  his  mom  went  back  to  the  hospital  a  few  months  after  his  sister  was  born.  they  spent  a  lot  of  time  with  family  while  their  dad  tried  to  juggle  work,  raising  two  kids,  and  being  there  for  his  sick  wife.  he  has  a  vague  memory  of  his  father  sitting  him  down  and  explaining  that  his  mother  wasn't  come.  and  an  even  vaguer  memory  of  her  funeral,  being  too  young  to  really  understand  what  was  going  on.  he's  sure  he  asked  questions  at  the  time,  but  hell  if  he  can  remember  the  answers.  if  they  were  even  useful  in  the  first  place.  as  he  got  older  he  didn't  exactly  ask  many,  being  acutely  aware  that  it  was  a  sensitive  subject  with  anyone  who  could  potentially  give  him  answers.  \\

now  it  was  just  the  three  of  them.  nez,  his  dad,  and  baby  sister.  the  kids  continued  to  spend  a  lot  of  time  with  their  grandparents  for  a  few  years,  until  nez  got  old  enough  to  be  trusted  with  a  set  of  housekeys  to  let  himself  (  and  later  his  sister,  too  )  back  in  the  house  after  school.  his  dad  obviously  needed  a  little  help.  he  seemed…  distant.  like  he  could  never  really  move  on,  even  as  the  years  went  by,  and  like  watching  his  kids  grow  up  a  little  more  every  day  was  physically  painful.  by  nature,  nez  was  the  kind  of  kid  to  keep  his  head  down  and  keep  quietly  out  of  trouble.  but  he  put  in  extra  effort  in  order  to  make  it  even  more  obvious  he  was  staying  out  of  trouble.  honor  roll,  never  got  detention  in  his  life,  helped  the  old  lady  across  the  street  with  her  groceries  every  week,  staying  after  class  to  help  teachers  clean  up.

the  latter  turned  out  in  his  favor,  actually.  his  favorite  teacher  to  stay  after  and  help  was  his  art  teacher.  that  tracked,  with  art  being  his  favorite  class  and  all.  as  a  thank  you,  she  would  give  him  some  one  on  one  advice  and  teach  him  techniques  that  might've  been  too  much  for  a  full  class.  he  was  already  a  talented  artist  for  his  age,  but  with  the  extra  attention  and  encouragement,  he  only  got  better.  while  he  was  in  high  school  he  started  posting  pictures  of  his  art  online,  and  was  given  enough  of  a  positive  reaction  that  he  started  selling  prints  and  taking  commissions  for  a  little  extra  pocket  money.

he  has  a  real  job  on  top  of  the  art  these  days.  more  or  less  because  it  gets  him  out  of  the  house  for  a  few  hours.  even  if  getting  out  is  just  leaving  his  intentionally  dimly  lit  apartment  for  the  intentionally  dimly  lit  arcade.  he  never  claimed  the  real  job  was  so  he  could  touch  grass,  alright?  duel  wielding  jobs  has  let  him  help  support  his  family,  and  if  we're  being  honest  that's  whats  really  most  important.

misc headcanons

strictly  a  physical  artist.  he  owns  a  drawing  tablet  and  an  ipad  /  apple  pencil  combo  both  and  he  tries  out  digital  again  every  once  in  a  while.  just  doesn't  vibe  with  it  as  much.

for  some  godforsaken  reason,  this  guy  will  do  street  art  ⸺  without  asking  permission  ⸺  and  instead  of  spray  paint  like  a  normal  person,  he  whips  out  a  paint  palette,  tubes  of  paint  and  a  paint  brush.  this  has  actually  gotten  him  out  of  trouble  a  handful  of  times,  because  seeing  some  kid  sitting  on  the  ground  meticulously  trying  to  paint  a  straight  line  on  a  brick  wall  tends  to  confuse  people  enough  to  disarm  them.  and  the  art  is  both  free  and  good.

but  sometimes  it  is  with  permission!  he’s  gotten  commissioned  to  do  the  odd  mural  here  and  there.  he’ll  do  it  for  free  if  it’s  for  something  for  kids  or  for  real  cheap  if  he  likes  the  vibes  of  whatever  he’s  being  asked  to  do.

back  in  elementary  school  was  the  kid  who  got  other  kids  sat  next  to  him  to  make  them  behave  but  would  always  end  up  befriending  them.  which  says  something  about  him  and  his  personality,  but  i  don't  know  what.

has  a  big  fat  orange  cat  named  paddy.  proper  name  paddy  wagon.  he's  their  pride  and  joy.  this  cat  likes  almost  nobody  except  nez,  but  if  you  so  much  as  breathe  a  word  about  it  nez  will  look  at  you  like  you  just  insulted  his  great  ancestors  and  then  turn  right  around  to  sweet  talk  his  baby  and  tell  him  what  a  good  boy  he  is  even  if  he  just  bit  you

he  sends  in  submissions  for  the  duck  stamp  contest  every  year  ?  don't  ask  me  why.  because  he  doesn't  usually  do  realism  like  that.  could  not  care  less  about  duck  hunting.  he  is  a  fan  of  the  united  states  postal  service,  though.  so  maybe  thats  why.

probably  autistic?  i  dunno,  just  look  at  him.

i  have  never  seen  star  trek  in  my  life,  i  was  stuck  for  a  label  and  went  hunting  on  tv  tropes<3

wanted connections

regular  commissioners  ?  someone  who  really  likes  his  art  and  keeps  coming  to  him  with  ideas  and  things  they  want.  bonus  points  if  the  ideas  are  heinous  enough  for  nez  to  hate  them  and  charge  extra  for  putting  up  with  it.

someones  adopted  introvert  maybe.  he  accepts  the  friendship  but  he  doesn't  really  know  what  to  do  with  it  or  why  they  like  him.

maybe  childhood  friends....  could  combine  that  w  the  adopted  friend  thing.  their  families  spent  a  lot  of  time  together  maybe.  ooohh  parents  are  the  kind  of  close  friends  where  their  kids  call  each  other  cousins  despite  not  being  related  at  all.  idk,  spitballing  ideas.

honestly,  i  prefer  to  feel  stuff out on the dash and see what the  vibes  are first, but   it something sticks out i'm happy  to discuss!

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

what if right after Bella touched down in Forks and met her dad, she got the personality of Utena Tenjou from Revolutionary Girl Utena? How would the story change, and would Bella-Utena be able to survive the Edward yandere simulator? (You can probably tell I just binge watched revolutionary girl Utena for the second time…)

Oh boy.

Well, first, I think we have to go over how Utena would even react to this.

Utena and the Real World

One of the things I love about Utena is that we have no idea what the real world or adulthood is. It's less magical, less beautiful, presumably than Ohtori Academy but it could also be a post apocolyptic wasteland due to Anthy's decision to have the prince stop sacrificing himself for them.

We never get to see it and I love the show for that.

It's a nebulous, terrifying, place that the characters know they must reach or else perish without ever having been born.

And then, of course, there's the fact that those who leave Ohtori don't seem to be able to take much with them just as those who enter Ohtori. What I'm getting at is that memories are a fuzzy thing in the Utena universe and characters very much shrug and go along with it.

Back to the Ask

For my sanity, we'll say that Utena has not entered Ohtori yet. She has not remembered why she wanted to become a prince, she is still searching for her prince unaware of who he is, and she hasn't been pierced by the swords in Anthy's stead.

Utena finds herself waking up on a plane and getting off. She's a little confused, but not overly much so, and figures she must be traveling somewhere, likely in search of the prince who she's been wanting to meet.

In the bathroom she notices her face looks different. Everything about her is different, she's older, her eyes are now brown along with her hair, and she's shorter too.

Utena's annoyed by this but doesn't think much of it as she didn't in canon when she body swapped with Anthy. Shit happens. Probably because of whatever curry she must have had on the plane.

My point is Utena takes being 'Bella' in stride though she likely corrects Charlie to 'Utena' and gets really really really weird about having parents of any kind as she is decidedly an orphan.

Also, she wants to be a prince.

Charlie doesn't say anything to that.

At school Bella immediately clocks the Cullens as the student council people of note but would not find them to be prince candidates. While she wiffle waffled on Touga being the prince or not when she was uncertain was when he acted like what Utena thought to be a prince, gallant, chivalrous, brave, and kind. When he was an ass she paid less mind to him. Akio happened to be what was left of the prince, which helped him out, and also oozed seductive evil charisma.

The Cullens are too standoffish, too snobby, and Edward later too hostile for Utena to have interest in them. After Biology, for all Edward wouldn't notice the first time, he gets the Saionji treatment.

(Not to mention, I'm sure, that Utena actually likes Jessica Stanley as someone very reminiscent of Wakaba, good intentioned if a bit of a loud mouth who focuses on the wrong guys for sometimes the wrong reasons. Utena would be appalled that Edward acted so cold to her when Jessica was being brave.)

When Edward returns and tries to be charming...

The thing is that Edward is ultimately pulling a Touga. He would find Bella (Utena's) desire to be a prince, to meet a prince, bemusing and later irritating (as Edward is certainly not that prince and knows it). More, he would want to be the prince, not her, in which case Utena would have to be put in her place as the rose bride er damsel in distress in the relationship.

Ultimately, because of this, Utena while perhaps wavering on Edward for a little bit would staunchly reject him when all of this makes itself clear.

Now, that said, Utena is beloved by the gods.

It's unclear what, exactly, the power of Dios is and when Utena started embodying it (was it only when Anthy noticed) but there's a chance that it could be there out in the real world and could keep her alive in any surreal confrontation with Edward (presuming this still is, in some way, the Utena universe).

This means that Utena will survive against all odds only to be pulled towards Ohtori to fight for the rose bride.