#she doesn't need to worry about marcy (so she thinks)

[dark-lord-of-awesomeness]

Shifty is a delight. I love how baffled and stressed he makes his new friends. I'd love if he met "Dirty Ford" and the rest of the canon crew because I think he'd also make them baffled and stressed (except the stressed is mostly just Dipper seeing this guy who says he's his alternate dimension cousin, an alternate version of the shapeshifter that tried to kill him, his sister, and his friends).

Shifty's just having a great time. His alternate tried to murder his not-cousins. Fascinating. Is this more evidence that nurture has more to do with the morality of shapeshifters, or do shapeshifters work differently in this dimension? Maybe he can track down alternate Marcy, Darcy, and Jon and ask.

Dirty Ford is feeling retroactive guilt about Shifty being sentient. Like he definitely heard Cat Ford mention that but he did not process that until confronted with Cat Shifty.

Mabel's chill and excited about this Shifty. Sure, his alternate scared her pretty bad but he's just a silly guy like Grunkle Ford. He comes from a world where Grunkle Stan turns into a cute little cat. She needs to know all the alternate family tea.

Stan's like that's a bit weird, but he did punch a pterodactyl to save a pig and triangle to save the world, so alternate shapeshifting nibling is just, sure why not. Although he wishes he would stop telling the kids so much about how his alternate self got cursed to become a cat every time he steals (lame). He's worried this might give the kids (Mabel) ideas about turning him into a cat.

Inflicting cat dimension shifty on most other dimensions is like this honestly. Shifty doesn't make it out of the bunker in most cases, but cat Shifty doesn't hold it against his alternate family, because that's not him. He's not frozen in a bunker, and while he might feel bad for the other guy, he's living life just fine.

Which just makes everyone feel more guilty about the whole thing. Shiftys contemplating the differences between nature vs nurture, and how fascinating it is that his alternate self maybe almost killed his alternate parents and cousins. Meanwhile Fords going :( did I freeze a kid? Would my shifty be like this if I gave him a chance? Is it too late? (The answer to that last one is yes, too late to have his shifty be anything like cat shifty).

Mabel starts out uncomfortable, but she warms up pretty fast. Cat shiftys right after all! He is a different person then the one who almost killed her! He's also weird and funny like her grunkle! He's sharing all the fun stories about his family with her! How come her grunkle Stan can't be a cat :(

Dipper spends the entire time trailing him and watching every move suspiciously. He's a shapeshifter! They're evil! C!Shifty just shrugs. Maybe shapeshifters are evil here? He doesn't know! Eventually C!Shifty would win him over with his crazy lore drops. What does he mean he has four parents? Who's Carla? There's a coven in town? Why were you fighting dinosaurs? Dipper would get so lost trying to figure anything out about him and forget to be scared.

Stan is unaffected, except he would rather this guy stop telling everyone about his alternate self. That guy's lame, turns into a cat and snuggles people? Stan wouldn't be caught dead doing that. Ever. He needs his family to stop throwing puppy dog eyes his way about it. It's not happening.

[agalychnisspranneusroseus]

So uhhh… In the RiAAU, when the girls got their first periods did everyone just think they were dying? I know it’s a weird question but like… how do they handle it?

No question is too weird! Periods are just a natural human thing that would reasonably cause a lot of confusion in Amphibia. All weird human things are worth exploring in scenarios like these. If anything, it adds to the "humans as space orcs" vibe I want to implement here, though I haven't talked much about it yet...

But yes! They were pretty freaked out. It's likely Anne and Marcy got it first because they lived healthier lives, were better fed etc. Sasha got it much later, maybe even later than normal, like at 16 or 17. In this AU, she was already married to Anne and Marcy by then, so they explained what it was and helped her with it. If not - oh boy, it would have been so stressful.

Okay back to the beginning. They were all freaked out when it happened and too embarrassed to ask for help, but Anne had a very supportive family so after the third or fourth month, she asked Hop Pop, who was concerned but kept very calm as to not scare Anne. She was probably like 12 at this point. He suspected it was a mammal thing, and after some research, he confirmed that, yep, just something these weird warm-blooded creatures had sometimes. Nothing to worry about. Anne was so thankful, but it was another painful reminder of how far away her birth family must be... a family of her own species that would have probably told her in advance, and that knew all the little things about their species. She feels guilty whenever she misses her birth family. She doesn't even remember them! And the Plantars are her family, she doesn't want to dismiss them like that! She tries not to think about it too much.

No need to tell Sprig and Polly btw, that'd be needlessly embarrasing.

Marcy got it maybe a year before Anne, and she confided in her father right away. He always said they shouldn't have any secrets between each other! No matter how humilliating it felt. He had the royal physician check her - an even more humiliating ordeal, because, well, if parents irl rarely take their small daughters to the gynecologist, you can bet they wouldn't do it in Amphibia either. This is very new and scary for her - the pain, the embarrassment, the fear of being sick, the mere sight of blood - after a few months of medical research and regular visits to the doctor to keep track of her cycle, the physician concluded it was a natural cycle of some mammalian species, and he told Andrias, who wouldn't dream of telling his daughter any of this - for all she knew, she was a newt. Instead, he made up something about blood representing the power of their dynasty yada yada yada. It made Marcy feel a little bit better, though not less embarrassed.

As we said before, Sasha got it much later and her wives explained what it was. Actually, this is also the first time Anne and Marcy ever talk about it. Marcy still believed it was some divine right of kings shit, and Anne never brought it up because - it just never came up. So now Marcy is realizing it's just a normal human thing, and they all have a laugh at it - after so many years of feeling weird, now they realize it's completely normal!

If Sasha had gotten it earlier... oh man it would suck. Not only would it be super irregular due to poor nutrition and constant stress, but she would never ask Braddock and Percy - her legal parents - about it. She wouldn't figure out what it is after she meets Anne and Marcy, and even then it would probably take years for it to come up because she'd be so used to hiding it at all cost that she'd never bring it up on her own. She'd be terrified at first, thinking she's sick and dying, and she'd only start to calm down after a year of seeing it come and go without any other symptoms. Her greatest fear though is the smell of blood attracting monsters, so she always plans her campaigns keeping that in mind - which is troubled by her irregularity. Now that I think about it, this concept is interesting as well. What do y'all think?

[blackmagickwolf]

Sasha Waybright singing The Craving (single version) by Twenty One Pilots in highschool.

More specifically, Sasha Waybright singing and playing The Craving (single version) by Twenty One Pilots in a talent show in highschool, when she and Anne aren't really on speaking terms. When her and Marcy's last text is from 6 moths ago, and even longer the last videocall.

Seems I get in my own way The more I think, the less I say I hope I communicate the craving Now I see intentions don't mean much

I like to think that even though Sasha apologized, and Anne forgives her, sometimes among the many many troubling feelings about... well, everything, Anne just gets angry. She gets angry but feels she has no right to be because everything right now for her is almost near perfect. But she's still angry and needs to lash out at something. At someone. And what better target that the one person that has a record of hurting her (always on accident, never on purpose. But she doesn't want to think about that or she will feel even worse by lashing out), so she gets angry at Sasha, and that means a cycle of the cold shoulder and avoiding her, followed by guilt of seeing Sasha just taking it silently, to a tentative aproaching by either both of them, rinse and repetat.

Say enough, say enough Did I let her know, let her know? If I found my body in chains I'd lay down and wait And hope she looks for me

Meanwhile I think that Marcy struggles with now being actually seen. Anne and Sasha actively try to listen and be involved in Marcy's interest and the like, and while she thinks it is sweet, she also slightly resentfull for that. Why should it had to take getting zapped to another universe and the perils it comes with, for their friendship to get sort-of-healthy?. But there's also the guit. What right did she have to resent them? when she cause them so much pain by precisely sending them to Amphibia. After all, they were just kids (she was also a kid, but she was the smart one, she knew better), it's not fair to hold it against them.

She just wants to catch a wave Ride it out to the end of her days I hope that I can satiate the craving Now I see a gesture don't mean much

All through this, Sasha willingly acts as the human punching bag for Anne and Marcy. Not for any noble feelings, not entirely. This is just her unhealthy copping mechanism acting up about her feeling guilty about all of her past actions, and the frustration that she want's to help her friends, but can't/doesn't know how. So her best idea is to just endure the (metaphorical) punches. She is strengh, after all. She can take the emotional beating, right?

Say enough, say enough Did I let her know, let her know? If I found my body in chains I'd lay down and wait 'Cause it's the fear of the unknown That cripples every step we take And I just hate to put this on her But I swear that I will give more than I take away

And so the day of the talent show! it's on a friday, and Anne knows about it of course, but she's not feeling so great by that date (she's Angry) so she doesn't see nor hear anything until monday at lunch while she's pointedly ignoring a message in the "Calamity Girls" group chat from that last friday. A friend of hers from tennis tells her about the several talent acts from the show.

"yeah, a male k-pop dance group, a magician that cut someone in half (the ambulance didn't need to be called don't worry), like 4 rappers, Waybright with her ukelele, and-"

"wait wait wait, what. Sasha was on the talent show? how come I didn't know about that?" Anne interrupted her friend.

"you didn't seem interested on the talent show like, at all Anne." the friend rises her eyebrows "also, you've been kind of brooding these past few weeks, so we didn't insist on you coming with us."

At the end of the day she goes home and goes to her school's youtube channel, she knows that the talent show acts always get uploaded to the channel for promotion of the school, she just needs to look a bit from the school news and events announcements and... there!

-

Marcy can't help but keep up with her old school socials. It's a sort of comfort, to know what her old former childhood friends could be up to. An instagram post catches her attention, or more like the blonde in the picture. She taps the youtube link added on the post and it takes her to Sasha Waybright's act on the talent show. She thinks of the ignored notification on her cellphone, the one from the group chat. She presses play.

-

It is friday night and Sasha is tired. She feels many, many things really: tired, ashamed, angry, scared, sad, longing, craving craving craving-. But mostly tired, and ashamed for that fact (she is strenght, she can't be tired, she must endure-), but she also knows her therapist told her it is normal to be tired. "It is human to get tired, Sasha. I think you might forget that a lot of the times. You are human".

And so here she is. Behind stage on her school's auditorium, ukelele in hand and anxious as all hell for two different reasons. 1) She hasn't sung in public in years. She fears she has lost all practice; and the more important 2) The typed text she has yet to send to the "Calamity Girls" chat. She just needs to tap that little send button, she had the text typed since yesterday.

"hey. look I know you both have stuff going on, I truly do. but I'm scared sometimes. that the last time we talk is going to be the last time we talk. and you both mean so much to me, too much for me to just let fade away in time. So, I just wanted to say that I miss you both. whenever you want to talk, I'm here and by frog, I'm not going anywere."

Sasha stares at the text, takes a deep breath, and hits send. She doesn't know if they'll reply, she doesn't even know if they'll even see it, really. But still she puts her phone on silent and on the bottom of her backpack for good messure. The MC calls her name for her to get on the stage. She smiles, anxious and unestedy, but slightly lighter, she walks out to the stage.

"Now I see intentions don't mean much"

[mdhwrites]

What do you think about the four most popular ships in Amphibia (Sashanne, Sasharcy, Marcanne, and Sashannarcy)? Even if shipping and romance aren’t that important and only used to teach a lesson or for a comedy episode, it’s pretty obvious that the relationship between the girls can be seen either as platonic or romantic.

So I'm going to first give my one sentence thoughts on each by concept and then canon before going in deep on this:

Sashanne: A unique dynamic that is actually very context specific so hard to actually recreate and I'd argue most people don't even try or get close in fan works (myself included)/I do like them but I 100% think they needed a couple years to figure out their lives away from each other or else post Amphibia they would have likely become toxic in a new way.

Sasharcy: Classic nerd and popular pairing/FUCKING NONEXISTENT.

Marcanne: A bit more nuanced since it's much more the slacker and the passionate one as far as a dynamic goes but not in the way you expect./Held back by a lot more tell don't show, especially in the first couple episodes that Marcy is introduced but it's cute and you can EASILY see how this whole trip will have made Anne be able to appreciate her oldest friend more.

Sashannarcy: In concept these are actually a GREAT polyamory trio and I love that it has such mainstream appeal with a fandom/I don't think it works from the show's perspective because of how well defined Sasha and Anne's relationship is while Marcy struggles to have a presence.

In case you didn't notice a running theme, these ships have essentially the same problem as my greatest problem with the show: Marcy. Her weaker writing compared to the rest of the cast and the fact that she serves a narrative role more than she acts as her own character makes it hard for me to be compelled by her canon self in ships. It's akin to why Willow and Hunter don't appeal to me from a shipping perspective. I like characters, not plot devices. Yes, Marcy is better than both of those characters as she actually has a firmer character than either but that doesn't fix that her narrative utility comes before who she is most of the time.

The other big element that maybe has always held me back from shipping them in canon once I watched the show is actually the fact that I agree with the show: As teenagers, they were AWFUL for each other. Marcy needs her own, personal strength that she found some of in Amphibia but needs to actually put to use in the real world. Sasha brutally changed so much of herself and was clearly struggling with that, over correcting or still wanting to run even to the end. She asks if it's okay for her to abandon Marcy after all, even after she's gone so far to make up to Anne as to give up ALL power in her life which isn't healthy either. Anne is the closest to being ready for a relationship after Amphibia but Sprig's Birthday/Give a Frog a Cookie showed that her self sacrificing tendency for her friends and her desperation for approval still. She may do it for better people than for Sasha but she is still struggling.

They all just need time to figure themselves out as people because your relationships SHOULD NOT DEFINE YOU. That's kind of part of the point of the ending. Take the good and grow as a person, whether you lose someone by choice or by circumstance. That includes for the trio as friends or romantically.

Okay, but I did mention something potentially quite controversial which is my Sashanne take. See... Their dynamic in most fandom works is the overzealous, brash one versus the patient, more responsible one with Sasha and Anne respectively. That is accurate post Amphibia but it also carries NONE of their baggage and usually leans a lot more on Sasha's tomboy nature instead of the fact that Sasha is a girl who can both kick your ass and then worry about having chipped a nail. The complexities of Sashanne that make it so compelling in the show just don't show up as much except as an obstacle to get over to get together. That works for shipping but it's not why their friendship is as complicated and interesting as it is in the show. It doesn't have the punch it should and it's damn near impossible to replicate because that level of history is hard to depict. It only functions in the show as being well depicted because of how much time is spent essentially breaking Anne out of Sasha's control, which is part of it. Anne is someone who pretty much left a cult and Sashanne is her having to decide to now be with her cult leader but not slip back into the mentality the cult taught her. That's... not easy to put it mildly.

But then again, a lot of people just take Sasha and Anne working together for a greater cause to mean they have literally no issues anymore despite Sasha's Angels existing. I guess that happens when somehow the entire fandom doesn't give a fuck about Amphibia but only the trio. sigh

Let's end this on a positive note though which is that if I am so rough on essentially all the Sasha relationships for needing time for Sasha to genuinely internalize her lessons, Marcy is the opposite. While I complained about her above, the strength to the fact that she's a pretty well defined, nice character who can be used mostly to support others arcs is that she more neatly fits into a position for shipping. Her awkwardness and nerdiness is PRIME romance fodder (there's a reason a shocking amount of romantic protagonists are clumsy but that's for a different blog) and her passion makes it easy to understand why someone would want to be with her.

And I do want to say some thoughts on Marcanne. Even if they start on a rough place with more tell instead of show, it actually does kind of work in this context. A complaint I've had about other relationships is not actually knowing what the other is interested in their partner for besides "That's the hot one." There is ZERO ambiguity here. Marcy likes Anne because of her compassion, something she probably has worried about wearing out herself. Anne has always appreciated Marcy's intelligence but Amphibia has made her understand Marcy's passion far better than she did before and Anne clearly actually is into that now that she better cares about others properly. This also clearly shows their chemistry as we know the strengths and weaknesses each of them cover for the other, though not perfectly as they're both still human and the same things they admire in the other can cause anxiety and worry in themselves from comparing themselves to their partner. Marcy in Wartwood and Scavenger Hunt are all it takes for all of this to come out and it leads to more romantic chemistry, and a genuinely dynamic look at what they could be, than a lot of romance movies manage in their entire runtime.

In conclusion, I like all of them in general. In practice, I find most of them deeply compelling within the show. It's just... It doesn't drive me to want to write them during the show romantically because I agree with the show. They're complicated, both as a trio and as themselves, and they probably could use a more solid ground for themselves before they really start working on each other.

And that is honestly even better to me because it just makes them all the more interesting.

======+++++======

For anyone curious why I didn't talk about Sashannarcy at all despite literally being a polyamory writer, it's because I kind of wanted to keep it to the ships that I think are properly represented in the show and Marcy and Sasha get essentially zero time together to try and form a relationship beyond "Marcy thinks Sasha is really fucking cool while Sasha barely gives Marcy the time of day if she's not also giving attention to Anne." The theoretical would be fun to talk about but it's pretty much only the theoretical and I decided to keep the blog more focused on the practical.

Also had a moment after this of going "Huh. I wonder how much of me being demiromantic is playing a part in how I see these.?

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[rockymountainqueen2]

Back to the Swamp rundown!

So...

Disney Channel's YouTube account just released a new TOH chibi tiny tale.

And it's a crossover with Amphibia!

Here's my summarization of the events.

It begins with Luz meddling with the good 'ol portal door.

I'm not sure what she's expecting to accomplish, but Eda and King evidently found it interesting enough to watch. Eda even brought popcorn!

But whatever Luz did, it worked!

I have no idea when this is supposed to be occurring within the series timeline by the way. Luz is wearing season one outfit, has access to the portal door, which is also not destroyed.

So, season one, right?

But Eda has her post "Let the pain be shared" silver eye... And her season two dress for that matter!

Ah well, onwards to adventure! Eda is all for it!

King is a bit more... concerned, but comes along too.

Doesn't stop him from being mystified about the wildlife, though.

I guess Luz was trying to get back to The Human Realm?

Because she seems utterly shocked by the sudden realization that man-sized insects means that she can't possibly be on earth, lol.

But luckily for the denizens of the owl house, they've landed in Amphibia! By Wartwood! Right in front of the Plantar family home!

While Anne's friends Marcy and Sasha were visiting no less! What luck!

Anne and Luz formally reunite and introduce their respective families/friends to one another. It's very cute.

Sasha and Eda evidently decided that they just had to have an arm wrestling competition.

Sasha uses the powers gifted to her by the Calamity Box in order to win, lol.

But Eda gets the last laugh!

Then Marcy and King play a board game together.

Annnnnd she also uses her Calamity Box powers to win.

Girls, you do realize that's considered cheating, right?

Hooty also makes an appearance.

I guess he was wondering where everybody went?

Polly proceeds to use him as a jump-rope, lol.

I'm surprised that Hooty isn't more into this, but maybe he was genuinely worried about the people who live inside of him and didn't appreciate being used a kid's plaything after braving the unknown in his best effort to find them. Lol.

Meanwhile, Luz is showing off her sick glyph skills!

...Which I just realized, probably shouldn't work in Amphibia.

Ah well, we wouldn't have gotten this nice moment where she and Anne show off their magical powers to each other otherwise!

After all is said and done, our heroes settle down to have a meal.

I'm reasonably certain that they're eating bugs. Yum, protein.

Hop Pop and Eda are doubtlessly exchanging tips on parenting orphans and their other-dimensional friends, lol.

Throughout this whole adventure, the portal door has been... shrinking?

Because... the writers needed a reason for Luz and Co to have go back to The Demon Realm suddenly?

XD That's my best guess, as I don't recall there ever having been a time limit when it came to using the original portal door. It was kinda OP like that.

Anywho, Luz and Co need to leave immediately. Anne and Luz are quite sad to see one another go.

King really wants to make sure to say goodbye to everybody properly!

To the point he was a little too preoccupied to notice the portal door closing on him.

Also: Hop Pop faints because he thinks he just saw a little kid get decapitated, lol.

Meanwhile, back in the owl house, Luz is sad that she had to say goodbye to Anne. Eda comforts her, it's a sweet sight.

What isn't such a sweet sight is what King looks like minus his skull.

Although King himself is rather nonplussed about the whole thing.

Like mother, like son. Lol.

Luz is completely and totally horrified by the sight of King...

And that's the note that we end on!

Overall, cute little short.

And as a bonus...

XD This is officially canon now.

[emeraldthelynx]

More Digimon/Yugioh

I just want to talk a little more about this crossover. I've been tinkering with everything, and working out the Digimons' personality. So, I just want to talk about that for a bit.

Kudamon: This is Atem, so that's a good basis for personality, but there's little things about him being a Digimon that I find interesting. He's a little more relaxed, since he doesn't have the world on his shoulders or worried about missing memories because even if he did feel like that, he knows that Digimon loose their memories when they turn back into Digi-eggs, so he hasn't thought that hard about it. He also ends up being the local Digimon Identifier most of the time, but he isn't the knowledge guy. He just knows more than the other usually, and the bar isn't very high.

Floramon: Anzu's Digimon, and she is sure protective of her. The dynamic is that of Anzu trying to calm Floramon down, while Floramon is angry at another Digimon (or person) for just looking at Anzu funny. She's sweet and protective, but just don't get on her bad side! It's this temper that eventually causes her to evolve into Blossomon, a usually 'bad' Digimon.

Impmon: Impmon is Jounouchi's partner and, at first, is convinced that Jounouchi isn't. Eventually they come to an understanding and become very good friends. Impmon knows that even though he's an 'evil' Digimon that his line has some good rumours of 'anti-hero' stuff, but he doesn't want that, he wants to be a true hero. He's got a fire inside him that only Jounouchi can light.

Hagurumon: Comedic relief Digimon partner of Honda. Hagurumon is kinda bumbling but he means well. He doesn't always realize his own weight and knocks stuff over, but he's very polite. He calls Honda 'Mr. Honda' all the time, much to Honda's chagrin. (It's the same feeling in Peanuts where Marcie calls Peppermint Patty 'sir.') I like the goofy little guy. He can't think outside the box, but he's always willing to help.

SnowAgumon: SnowAgumon is a little shy, but she's always trying to be strong for Seto. She doesn't think she's very pretty, especially since Agumon are supposed to be tough and strong, but Seto helps bring out her beauty. She hates the heat but loves the beach, and is always trying to keep things running smoothly. She has a lot of love in her heart, and eventually learns that she can be strong without having to be 'tough.' Seto is everything to her.

ToyAgumon: This is Mokuba's partner, and he's SnowAgumon's little brother. He a bit of a follower and is naive about a lot of things. SnowAgumon needs to keep him from getting into trouble a lot of the time, but he's a scrappy little guy and always gets up again. He likes nicknames, and likes making Mokuba laugh. He's the 'class clown' of the group.

Tsukaimon: Theif King/Bakura/Ring spirit/whatever you guys have decided to name this guy. That's him. He doesn't have memories or real Zorc influence so he isn't bent on revenge and world destruction, but he is still kinda messed up. He grew up in a Bakemon village, basically a village of ghosts, (not unlike his past), and always felt like he had an unfinished mission. He hates everybody, except Bakura a little, but isn't murderous just so long Bakura tells him not to.

Piyomon: This is Shizuka's partner, and she's silent. At first I didn't know what to do with her personality, and she just didn't say anything, but then I decided to work with that problem and make it interesting. I know this doesn't make a lot of sense for Digimon, but Piyomon is deaf. She was shunned by a lot of Digimon and had to learn lip-reading on her own. She doesn't think she fits in anywhere, and doesn't think she is at all useful. Instead of being angry at her disability, she's become withdrawn. Shizuka, because of her eye condition, sympathizes with her, and that understanding helps Piyomon's true personality to shine.

[1rsoldiersince2012]

Bound by Law (Matt Murdock x Reader)

Words: 4613 (chapter 33)

Summary:

You and Matt met in the courtroom. Now, you may think that Matt was a knight in shining armour and defended you in the name of all United States laws, but that was not the case. Matt was totally destroying your client, and you wanted to tear him into pieces right then and right there, because with Murdock as your rival, your head is on the firm's plate with each case. Did Matt care? No, he only cared about bringing justice, he was a human-machine, driven by the need to bring righteousness no matter the cost. Or was he just that? What happens when you get involved in Fisk's business and Daredevil's lies against your will?

33. Lawyers, Guns and Money, pt. 1

Just as Karen sneaks out of the hospital through the back entrance, a man emerges from the shadows of the containers and Karen stops in her tracks, quickly deciding to take another route, yet strong, dirty arms grab her from the darkness and push her into the wall with so much force that it knocks her breath out for a second.

"So, why are you bothering the old woman?" The man asks, bad breath hits Karen's face, snapping her out of the momentary trance.

"Get off of me!" Karen tries to push the man away from her and somehow manages to grab her mace, but the man turns out to be quicker and slams her hand by the wrist.

"She gonna spray you." The first guy returns, the low lights of the street shine as bright as the moon on his bald head, but the emotion that he carries on his face makes him look as if his face was glued to an egg.

"Maybe I take that away from you, empty the whole thing in your face. Burn your eyes out, so you don't go snooping where you're not supposed to." The second guy says, voice filled with hatred.

Karen wriggles out of his hands and slightly kicks him in the balls with her knee, but the bald guy pushes her to the ground. "Stupid bitch!" He shouts before something painfully collides with his head and he falls like a leaf to the ground.

Karen watches a softball roll on the ground right next to her and abruptly raises her head from the ground, only to notice Foggy standing in a fighting position with a baseball bat in his hands and his briefcase swinging around in a very funny way. "Foggy? Oh my God, what are you doing here?"

Foggy matches her wild expression and shouts back, "What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here?" Karen shouts again, quickly spraying the guy with her mace. "Are you following me?"

"Yeah." Foggy exhales with relief, watching the two men roll on the ground. He was indeed following her, but halfway through his journey, he almost went to Marci's apartment. Now he was glad he didn't quit.

"Why?"

"Because you were acting weird. I was worried about you."

"I can take care of myself."

"Let's discuss that away from the maniacs, okay? Come on!" Foggy gently grabs Karen's wrist and pulls her away from the scene.

*** 

"Good morning, Mrs Cardenas." You enter her ward confidently carrying yourself with Matt almost lazily following behind. The two of you today looked as different as day and night.

"Buenos días, Mrs Cardenas." He greets with a fake cheerfulness, because after yesterday he was anything but cheerful, which you noticed in the car.

"Buenos días," Mrs Cardenas answers, a big smile resting on her face.

"Oh, I see that you're feeling better today, right?" You occupy the window pane and put your briefcase, pulling out some papers.

"Sí, sí, a lot better." She confirms and sits up in the bed. You take a seat next to her on the armchair, crossing your legs. Your skirt rides up a little, exposing your bare legs and you receive a disapproving look from the elderly woman. Matt takes in a breath of changed air, but doesn't put energy into bothering about it.

"So, have you thought more about our offer?" You ignore her judgy eyes and continue with business. It wasn't your problem that these pencil skirts were too short for your rather thick thighs.

"Sí, I will do it."

"That's great news," you smile and immediately turn to look at Matt, but don't receive the same emotion from him. Something inside you feels betrayed, like a tennis ball hitting the wall and bouncing away from it. "We should start with the paper work, first let's sign the attorney-client confidentiality agreement, in which everything you say is only between you, me and my partner, and I would like to note that you should only talk to us about the matter, when other parties get involved, sometimes things don't go the way you wanted." You say while going back to your briefcase to pull out more papers and stop next to Matt who was standing there. "Could you translate, please?"

It seems that it took a long moment for Matt to finally acknowledge what words were coming out of your mouth, and you glance back at Elena nervously. "Yeah, sure." He finally says and starts speaking in Spanish. There was no denying that Spanish brought out his New York accent and it almost made you forget where you were and what you were doing. 

You bring the documents to Elena and she quickly signs them, "Great, now we're going to do the same, and everything will be officially sealed." You write your signature, a rather long and complicated one, because your father told you that longer signatures are more difficult to forge.

"Could you..." Matt takes the pen from you and freezes in place, suddenly very awkward and shy. "Maybe guide my hand?" 

"Uh, sure." You stand closer to him, gently touching Matt's hand. Both of you inhale sharply, yet silently, and you slowly push his fingers to the right place, then slide your fingers along his hand, eventually dropping them on the window pane again. Elena curiously observes the scene in front of her, watching you remain close to Matt's shoulder until he scribbles his signature. Simple, but complex. Just like him.

"You've got any more papers for me to sign?" He asks, slightly turning his head in your direction, and for a moment you almost feel mesmerized by the way early rays of sunshine were playing on his face, when Elena's subtle clearing of throat distracts you from the sight.

"We can do it back in the office." You leave his side and return to Elena. "Now that you're positive about the lawsuit against Mr Tully, I would like to hear everything from the beginning, maybe start since you rented the place, bien?"

Elena smiles knowingly at your flustered self and gets comfortable and starts her tale, excluding last night's Karen's visit on purpose, because she asked her so nicely to not tell anyone about it.

*** 

"I knew I should've just recorded it on my phone, that woman talks as if she's on a podcast and someone is paying her to talk." You exhale tiredly, almost dragging your feet towards the elevator. 

"Yeah." Matt chuckles lowly, or at least makes himself to do that so he wouldn't offend you with the silence.

"Hey, thanks for the translation, I think I owe you a lot." You slightly nudge his arm when the elevator door closes.

"No problem, really. But you know, I thought you had Spanish classes in university." 

"No, I chose German, but I really suck at it, so mission failed." You make a sound with your tongue and step out of the elevator, slowing your step, so it would match Matt's.

"Won't believe until I hear it." He smiles, whole face lighting up. Here was that smile, that cheeky smile that you've missed this whole morning. 

"Come on, you don't want someone to die after hearing my German, do you?" You chuckle, feeling Matt's hand on your back when he lets you through the exit of the hospital first.

"Come on, I've been translating for like 3 hours, I think I deserve something." He teases, snaking his hand on your elbow for guidance.

"I was gonna buy you lunch, but now I don't know..."

"Okay, okay, lunch it is." Matt laughs slightly, feeling his ribs shaking with pain in his chest.

"I knew that you wouldn't refuse it." You smile to yourself, savouring the feeling of his touch.

*** 

You walk toe to toe with Matt back into the office; he's swinging his walking stick beside him in a careless manner, right hand resting on your elbow rather tightly, but you don't mind that, it keeps you close to reality, and reality was making Elena's lawsuit actually work in the court.

Matt finds himself lost in the smell of your perfume and cigarettes that you smoked just before coming inside, he gives himself to the pleasant odour that he doesn't even bother listening to Foggy and Karen's talk upstairs.

"Matt wouldn't understand. You know what he would say." Karen says, hanging her coat as they both return from their lunch break.

"That we're awesome?" Foggy smiles proudly.

"No, that we're being stupid."

"I prefer the term foolheartedly provocative." Foggy puffs up his chest, fixing the sleeves of his suit afterwards.

"Yeah, that's lawyer talk for stupid. You want coffee?" Karen disappears in the kitchen, rummaging through the drawers. 

"If we're gonna be Nancy Drew-ing together, I think a certain level of honesty is required."

"What? You don't like my coffee?" Karen's head appears in the middle of the doorway, and she looks at Foggy perplexed.

"No, I hate it. I appreciate the effort, but the technique, or lack thereof..." He stops in the middle of the sentence, silenced by Karen's look.

"My God, you are such a dick." She scoffs to herself and disappears in the kitchen again.

"On occasion some dickery may leak out, but doesn't mean I'm wrong."

"Well, it means somethin'."

"Okay, let's say we keep Matt in the dark. How long do you think..." The door opens and Foggy falls silent upon noticing your coat flowing inside first, followed by your high-heeled boots and Matt following very closely behind you. "...I should grow my hair? Matt, what's your take on that? Mullet? Full pony?" Foggy stammers, almost slapping himself for his stupidity.

You and Matt both give Foggy scrunched eyebrows and confused looks, standing still in the doorway. "If I may express my humble opinion," you begin, slowly shaking your coat off your shoulders, "you'd look terrible."

"Gee, thanks for the honesty, y/n."

"You guys want coffee?" Karen asks loudly from the kitchen, busy with getting the coffee maker to start working.

"No, we just had it." Matt hangs his coat, slowly dragging his feet forward.

"Oh, really?" Foggy looks at you and Matt with mild panic, hoping that you didn't hear anything he practically yelled to Karen.

"Yeah, she bought me lunch." Matt cheekily points his thumb at you, and you roll your eyes at him.

"Is today 'y/n buys lunch for everyone day' or did we just miss that?" Foggy crosses his hands and leans on Karen's table.

"Yeah, you wish." You spin on your heel and disappear in the office, eager to start collecting information.

"So, you'd it go with Elena?" Karen asks, returning from the kitchen and solely focuses on Matt.

"Good." He answers briefly, not wanting to hang out in front of his friends more than necessary, in case they see him grimacing uncomfortably, he's busted.

"She's filling the lawsuit then?" Foggy asks, eyes jumping from Karen to Matt.

"Uh, yeah." Matt raises his eyebrows briefly, fixing his glasses with his left hand.

"That's great news!" Karen exclaims but only receives a shy smile from Matt.

"Yeah, I'd love to chat more but we should get to work."

"Absolutely, yeah, we're just gonna go drink our coffee and..." Foggy falls silent, not knowing how to finish this sentence.

"Yeah, okay." Matt awkwardly goes into your office and closes the door behind him.

"That was close." Foggy mouths to Karen without a sound and she nods in agreement.

***

Foggy kept worrying in his office, because a couple of hours passed without you and Matt leaving your office, which meant two things that Foggy quickly types to Karen, 'they're either very lucky or very unlucky.'

Karen quickly sends a message back, 'from the looks of it, they're not doing well.'

'What do you mean?' Foggy types, leaning back in his chair.

'Y/n has been shaking her head everytime I take a look at them.' 

'And Matt? He usually starts rubbing his chin.' 

'I'm surprised he hasn't rubbed his stubble off yet.' Karen sends and sighs audibly.

Foggy emerges from his office and looks determined to make some bad decisions. "I'm telling."

"What? No." Karen tries to protest, but Foggy quickly spins on his heel and barges into your office, causing you to slightly jump. Matt pulls his legs away from under the table, sitting up straight as if he was caught misbehaving. Frowns on both of your faces indicated that this interruption wasn't welcome, and Matt felt especially unhappy, because for the last hour, your boot was slightly touching his shoe, and he enjoyed this subtle interaction, because you' been only grasping straws with the case and it was to put it nicely, infuriating.

"We've got something to tell you." Foggy says, hands resting on his hips.

You look up at him and try not to rub your eyes or yawn. 

"Me and Karen have been doing something." Foggy states and waits for Karen to come into the office. Her walk of shame inside made you raise an eyebrow, and the next words have confirmed your disappointment. "We're... investigating Union Allied."

"Again?" You ask before words slip out of your mouth without too much thinking, "well my guess would been that you two are sleeping together." Your eyes slightly widen when the last word leaves your mouth and everyone looks at you with raised eyebrows, and Matt is the first one to break into a grin. "What? Your sentence phrasing set you up for this." You finally say after a long uncomfortable silence.

"Okay, remind me to keep you off the witness stand, Karen." Matt returns to the thing that caused this whole conversation.

"You can't be doing that." Karen protests immediately, eyes wide with confusion.

"Why not? For starters, you signed legal papers and took money to leave it alone." Matt taps his pen on the table impatiently.

"No, I signed papers saying that I wouldn't go public and I won't. We have someone lined up for that part." 

You look at them confused, because Union Allied and Karen's case was unknown for you, except for the things that went public after the murder.

"What part?" Matt's tapping stops, the pen frozen mid-air.

"Breaking the story that, uh... Look, whoever is behind Union Allied, or whatever they call themselves now, they are trying to strong-arm people like Elena so that they can sweep their homes away from them and build condos no one can afford."

"And what do you think's gonna happen when these "whoevers" find out what it is you're up to?"

"We already took care of it." Foggy chirps as happy as the kid with ice cream.

"Took care of what?" You ask still confused about Union Allied's connection to the case.

"The, uh, guys who busted up Elena's apartment. They, uh, came after me when I was leaving...the hospital last night."

"What? What were you doing there?" You ask, while Matt, out of courtesy asks if she's okay.

"Yes. Foggy was following me." She answers, receiving even more worried looks as the result.

"Why? Why were you following her?" Matt asks, while your question gets ignored on purpose.

"She was acting funny." Foggy defends himself.

"No, there was no funny."

"There was a little funny." Foggy looks away from the whole table, because it finally dawned on him how stupid he was acting yesterday.

"This is what I'm talking about. There are things out there. You can't be doing this. You're gonna get yourselves hurt." Matt continues his ramble, not even realizing something more important hanging in the air.

"No, I have already been hurt by those bastards. You know, I don't care what I signed or how much money they paid me to forget. I don't. And I'm not just going to stick my head in the sand and let it happen to somebody else because I am scared. Which I am, a lot."

"And if you could see her face, you'd know she means it." Foggy sides with Karen, noticing the expression on your face turn more sour with each word that gets released into this small space.

"Wait wait wait." You finally interrupt them, "put the whole Christianity thing you've got going on here on hold," gesturing with your hands in the air, "You two were attacked by someone last night?" 

"Yes, as I was telling, Karen was kickin-" Foggy starts, when one hand movement from you shuts him up.

"Yes or no?" You ask, eyes burning holes through Karen's skull make her understand that you want her to answer.

"Yes, but-"

"What the hell were doing in the hospital?" Karen opens her mouth to answer, while you add, bitterly, "after visiting hours, am I correct?"

"Well, yes. I... went to visit Elena."

"For what?" You continue your interrogation, Matt and Foggy not even daring to take a louder breath.

"I wanted to ask her about these men who visited her apartment before the explosion."

"Why for fuck's sake?" You voice gets an octave higher, sending shivers down everyone's spines.

"Because..." Karen doesn't finish, before you erupt into a monologue.

"Because you wanted to fuck up this case for us? Why are you putting your nose in other people's business? I mean yeah, go talk to her all you want during the day, I don't give a shit, but sneaking," you put emphasis onto the last word, "I presume, into a hospital after hours and talking about a case that legally doesn't involve you anymore, it's..." You wave your hands around again, looking for next words, and they don't take long to come, "you're not a goddamn lawyer, stop acting like one for God's sake. And stop interfering with my fucking case!" You stand up abruptly, dropping the pen on your table with so much force that it bounces off of it and rolls onto the ground. You look around at your coworkers and seeing their quite shocked faces, leave the office, closing the main door with a loud bang.

"What was THAT about?" Foggy dares to break the silence, looking at the pen on the ground.

"I'm sure she didn't mean it, Karen, don't overthink it." Matt says apologetically, trying to come up with a reasonable explanation for this kind of behavior. "Right, who else is involved? Who's helping you break whatever it is you think you're gonna find out?" 

"Ben Urich, from the Bulletin." Karen answers, voice quieter than before.

"The one who wrote the Union Allied piece?" Matt asks.

"Karen's been working with him. He seems like a good guy." Foggy adds, voice also quieter, as if afraid that you might return and curse him with every curse word in existence.

"Yeah, everybody does, until they aren't." Matt answers, subtly listening to you trying to light up your cigarette on the rooftop of the office building.

"No, I trust Ben as much as I do you or Foggy, Matt." Karen answers, leaving your name out of here for obvious reasons. "I know what I am doing. I am not some kid..."

"Then don't act like one. Both of you. I know you're just trying to do the right thing here, but we have to be smart about this." Matt says in a fatherly tone.

"We?"

"First rule, no more skulking around, asking to get hurt. We do this, it's gonna be on our turf. The legal system." Matt explains, somewhat agreeing with your burst, because deep down, you were right.

Karen scoffs, "That's not nearly as heroic as you might think."

"I don't want anyone to be a hero, Karen. I want you to be safe. And I want to protect this firm and everything we're trying to build here.We know the law. We'll use it to our advantage. Agreed?"

"I guess."

*** 

Matt doesn't dare going out to hunt you, since it would be suspicious as to how a blind man can find his way onto the rooftop. Instead, he listens to Foggy, slightly out of breath from climbing all these stairs to the top, opening the heavy metal door.

You hear the movement behind you, but don't even bother turning to check who it is.

"Hey." Foggy says, leaning on the ledge wall and looking at you. 

You glance at him, then at your watch, noticing that only thirty minutes have passed since your departure, and continue looking straight ahead at the city, a cigarette burning brighter in the mild wind. Your hair flows around your face and you don't even bother tucking them behind your ears anymore.

"You're not gonna burn your hair?" Foggy tries to break the silence, spotting three cigarette butts lined up next to your elbow.

"Don't worry about that."

"Wanna talk?" 

You look at him briefly before answering. "No."

"What happened there? I mean, I've never seen you like this, not even when we were opponents in courtroom."

You furrow your eyebrows, the look in your eyes scaring Foggy as much as it did back during your outburst. "I just.." You sigh, "don't like others in my business."

"Karen was trying to help and so was I."

"I know but it just pisses me off when people do shit behind my back. I mean sneaking into the hospital and getting attacked? How would I get you out of jail if you were caught by someone? You ever thought about that?" You say and riled up, continue your rant, "Risking all this for what? Why did Elena not say anything about this whole thing today, huh? She asked her?" Your voice gets higher again, and Foggy fears that you might truly curse him in every language any minute now.

"I think so, but don't take this to heart, y/n."

"I promised to myself that I will get on Tully's ass and get justice myself, well now with Matt, but I'm working on this fucking case with him, that's different." I don't like you and especially Karen snooping around where you're not supposed to, and especially in my case."

"Y/n, we're a team here, please listen to yourself." Foggy tries to calm you down, but you look him dead in the eye.

"She's not a real lawyer for fuck's sake, maybe she should stop acting like one and just because she has that innocent pretty blond girl thing literally printed on her face, it doesn't give her a right to do whatever the fuck she wants!" You start pacing around, pulling out another cigarette and trying to light it up with the wind still blowing in your face.

"Hey, maybe you should go easy on the nicotine." 

You pinch the bridge of your nose to collect yourself. "It was a mistake letting you go to Elena's house."

"Why?"

"Because you two almost got killed. TWICE."

"Y/n-"

"Just forget about this. All of this." You try to light up the cigarette again, but end up throwing the lighter on the ground with less force than you threw the pen. "Fucking cheap lighters."

"I guess you wouldn't like to hear what we've managed to find." Foggy says mysteriously as you near the metal door to the stairway.

*** 

"Confed Global? You're sure?" Your voice gets louder towards the office and you barge inside without sparing Karen a look and head straight to your table.

"Karen, could you bring the list of the subsidiaries you were able to track down through their check?" Foggy asks, watching your wide eyes quickly roam through all the new papers.

"Westmeyer-Holt Contracting is on the list." Matt says, "There are half a dozen complaints against them for doing the same thing they did at Elena's tenement."

"Confed Global's trying to force renters out of tenements?" You ask.

"What about Elena's landlord? That Tully guy? I mean, he's gotta know something about this."

"See if I can track him down." Foggy says, waiting for some kind of reaction from you, yet receiving none.

"Oh, my God. The New York Bulletin online just reported that that cop that got shot, he just regained consciousness." Karen reads loudly from the hallway.

"Detective Blake?" Matt asks, suddenly very interested in this new information.

"Yeah."

"Guy's a real dick. Still, he didn't deserve a bullet from that masked douchebag."

"Okay. Nobody knows what really happened out there." Karen protests, while you grab your phone and disappear in Foggy's empty office. 

"Hello, gorgeous." Wesley answers, putting a stack of papers on the dashboard of the black SUV.

"I need you to be honest with your next words." You say immediately without even greeting him.

"What happened, y/n? Is everything okay?"

"Was Confed Global involved with those explosions?" 

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Westmeyer-Holt Contracting. The repair company? It's linked to Confed Global. And everything is naturally linked with my client's landlord. Don't try to lie because I will personally go to your workplace and demand for all the legal documents." 

Wesley's eyes widen at the change of events, he looks around the parking lot helplessly. "I don't really know what to say, really, I'm just a simple worker, I don't get access to a lot of documents, I'm sorry, y/n."

"Westmeyer-Holt Contracting. Have you seen anything like that?" You repeat slowly, feeling overwhelmed by the amount of new information.

"I guess. Y/n, I'm not sure, seriously. Sorry, but I have to go now." He hangs up before you can stop him and you grunt loudly, refraining yourself from breaking another thing today. Matt clears his throat to himself, feeling his mouth suddenly become dry after hearing your conversation with Wesley.

***

Karen left the office first, saying she needed to do some grocery shopping for Mrs Cardenas as they're letting her go home today. To what was left of her home. You managed to mutter 'sorry for today' to her on her way out and received a small nod in return. You weren't expecting to continue on good terms after that, yet you didn't want the tension to keep hanging in the air just for the sake of the whole company.

Foggy left too, hurrying to talk about this crazy afternoon with Marci and only you and Matt were left in the office after work hours, not sure of what exactly you were still trying to find.

"I just can't take this anymore." You finally drop your papers and your reading glasses and go into the kitchen to  pour yourself a glass of water.

Matt silently follows you inside, standing in the doorway. "You're alright?" He asks softly, hearing the glass slightly shake in your hand.

"You know it's a stupid question."

"Doesn't mean that it's not an important one."

You scoff to yourself loudly. "If you decide to fire me, I'll understand." You simply say, feeling a lump forming in the middle of your throat.

"What? I won't do that." Matt takes a step forward and stands almost next to you.

"Then you're seriously f-ed in here." You put a finger to his head but he quickly catches your wrist in the air, holding it softly.

"Maybe we all are." He says, hand sliding up to your shoulder and burning your skin even through the thick material of your jacket, and a second later you find your chin resting on Matt's right shoulder, his arms finding their way on your back and tightly holding you in place. You needed that. Matt needed that.

His hands loosen up a bit but he doesn't hurry to step away just yet and you don't spare him another look before your lips find his and your hands quickly land on his cheeks, squeezing them firmly.

[wixelt]

I was looking over the S3 trackers and realized the group Anne and Marcy show up at Anne's Parents' house with are

Two Anthropomorphic Frogs

One Antrhopomorphic Tadpole With A Destroyed Frog Robot Head

A Man In Frog Power Armor Initially Mistaken For A Second Frog Robot

A Man With Dog Ears

A Man With Ram Horns

A Strange Amalgamation Of Snake Oil Salesman And Cat Owning Bond Villian

And I think Pearl would fit the group vibe since she is still wearing animal skins and kept her hair long from when she was feral.

Also, with The Hermits' mildly rocky understanding of how rent works and the assumption that if you are staying in someone else's base you either work for them or pay an inn fee due to their experience on Empires, Pearl probably would get like seven city hygiene related jobs to start paying 'rent.'

Probably with such efficiency between her by foot trash collecting, high speed window cleaning sweeps of entire sections of the city, and ability to leave houses spotless in no time when hired as a maid, she becomes cryptid found in the vicinity of two pillars of light (Haste II and Speed II beacons) that make others feel the welcome effects of caffeine in their 9-5 without the crash, simply known as 'The Cleaning Lady'

This along with her volunteering in community gardens city wide, which begin experiencing a major increase in growth.

This would kick off Hop Pop's concerns about 'freeloading' far sooner and The Boonchuys' dissuading of these concerns would probably lead into Pearl questioning if she can't clean if she's living with them, in which case she may need help finding her own apartment, making it clear her actions that go far beyond even the crunch of a single parent of five trying to keep themselves barely above the poverty line and provide for their kids is her preferred career path, why would I do it if I didn't enjoy it? Which would lead to a discussion from which Scar pulls Zedaph out of the room partway through for a seperate discussion.

(I know this has a follow-up. For now I'll assume Pearl does have beacons. I'll adapt if the next ask doesn't allow for that.)

Anne has been missing for 5 months.

The Boonchuys have been through a lot in that time, mostly frantic worrying for their daughter & her friends' whereabouts.

Oum especially worried - no matter how much Bee tried to comfort her - that Anne had been dragged along by Sasha or Marcy on some flight of fancy to mark her birthday.

Both girls could be wonderful, but their home lives - especially Sasha's - had done them no favors. The three girls were all deeply reliant on one another & it showed in the worst ways.

The Boonchuys could only hope they'd raised Anne well enough to get through whatever ill-advised antic had reared its ugly head.

That hope faded after the first month, & after four more the couple are on the verge of breaking.

And then one day Anne & Marcy turn up on their doorstep out of the blue, wearing clothes out of a fantasy novel, the former clutching the goggles hung around her neck tightly with one hand as if they'll vanish should she let go.

Both look tired & shaken - Marcy holding Anne up to stop her falling - eyes haunted, clothes torn & bearing the scuffs & bruises of a recent struggle.

"...H-Hi, Mom."

Oum has the two wrapped up in her arms - tears flowing - before she even fully registers their physical state, & hearing the commotion, Bee isn't far behind.

Because their daughter's home, at last.

There's so many questions about where she's been & why she's injured. So many cries about how worried they both were & that the police had told them to give up, not to mention telling Marcy about her own parents' situation.

They don't even get to ask where Sasha is before the conspiciously large group trying & failing to hide behind the garbage cans makes themselves known.

Oum & Bee promptly triple their number of questions.

And answers to those will come, but there's a lot to take in, first.

The Plantars are actually the easy bit. Talking frog folk & their robot head? Sure, why not - the Boonchuys can take that in stride. Compared to the rest, there's at least a trend there, if Anne & Marcy really have been in some parallel amphibian reality.

But then there's these... "Hermits". Humans at face value, but clearly much more beyond that, native to neither here nor Amphibia. Completely alien despite their friendliness.

Xisuma would've been easy if he'd kept his helmet on & let the couple believe he was a robot. But according to Marcy he's an "Admin" - basically a minor deity when he has his powers - & much like the Plantars first impression, his genuine, friendly demeanor doesn't gel at all with that image for Oum, at first.

Bee, meanwhile, has played enough video games to draw existential conclusions from the term "Admin" & has to be calmed by his daughter.

"No, Dad, you're not in a video game. Yes, you are real. Yes, I'm sure."

Beyond him, the others are mostly easier to comprehend. Ren & Zedaph just seem like eccentric fellas with animal traits until they open their mouths, & Bee knows literally Kakashi when he sees him, even as Etho again insists he still doesn't know that guy.

Marcy stifles a giggle behind him at Mr. Boonchuy's nerding out.

Next is Scar.

Scar is an enigma, but despite being obviously well-meaning when you set aside his antics, the bizarre combination of Willy Wonka, the Onceler & a man who simultaneously wants to "change" the world & sell you timeshares you don't need isn't lost on Oum.

It takes her a few days, Anne's repeated insistence to his character - apparently Sasha trusts this guy - & catching Scar cradling Domino - clearly missing his own cat - for her to realise he's not going to swindle all their savings & actually start to trust him.

It took Bee losing to him in one game of Monopoly to earn the same.

And finally, there's Pearl, wrapped in animal skins with long hair & crazy eyes.

The Boonchuys hear many stories about Pearl, from her being the reincarnation of a farm goddess, to an embodiment of feral bloodlust, to a bird, to a moth.

The jury's out on all four, for now. All the pair can really judge is what's in front of them: A scared woman seperated from her friend & from her brother. Like everyone else, she's been through the wringer.

And like everyone else, she hides it well but is clearly shaken, in yet another world with new laws & informal rules to adapt to.

Hence - drawing on their experience with the Emperors - they all decide they need to pull their weight before fully grasping the nuances of life on Earth.

Even when Hermits are trying to be subtle - at Anne's insistence - they are not, & the seven cleaning jobs & reputation as a hygiene/gardening cryptid Pearl develops are proof of that.

The beacons get taken down after less than a week as - positives be damned - they're attracting too much attention & "I don't care where you got all that metal, Pearl, put it back."

The Boonchuys short circuit a little bit when - on her asking about if they'd prefer she moved out so her cleaning work doesn't bring any unwanted guests to the house - they realise this is her willing profession/hobby, rather than something she's doing purely to keep the Hermits in house & home.

They insist she doesn't have to move out - Pearl is relieved at this - but if she & the others could really try to be a little more low-key around the house it'd be helpful.

They also tell her they're more than happy to help her search for a property away from the house to base her business ventures out of, even if she'll have to rent it indepedently of the family's finances to stop a trace.

Los Angeles has never looked so clean, nor so pretty, & but you can bet Anne & Marcy don't want the feds to come knocking, if they can help it.

And yes, all of this probably would set off Hop Pop's freeloading concerns much sooner, though on his end that still goes the way you'd probably expect it to go, with or without Hermit interference.

[ahamkara-apologist]

Ask game #14 for either Ash or Marcie!

How about both, bc I love my girls?

14. How does your character feel about riding horses (or your world's closest approximation of a horse if it lacks horses)?

-Marcie: She's suspicious about it at first, and is worried about potentially hurting the horse more than it hurting her, but after she slowly, awkwardly clambers onto it, I think she'd find her bearings, and she'd be shocked at how well she does. I like to hc that certain muscle-memory things from previous lives carry over into the next one, and in this case, Marcie's comfort is because her family occasionally kept horses for transport when they lived during the Dark Ages, so her body remembers even if her mind doesn't. I still think she'd just prefer to pet and care for the horse rather than ride it, though. She's got a sparrow, she doesn't need it for transport

-Ashe: Fucking HATES IT. She was forced to ride during the Dark Ages occasionally, but that was her novel learning experience and she never really got better at it. Get that animal going faster than a walk, and she'll spend the whole time bouncing around on its back like a fool, wavering and swearing the whole while. And bc she's nervous and hates it, the horse would also be nervous and hate it. Really not a fun time overall for either of them, but VERY funny for anyone watching

OC ask game

[bunbeeplays]

Looks like Gemma's grown a few chompers and Ophelia found out the hard way.

Ophelia: Don't give me that look, you know what you did. This is why I usually give you bottles.

Gemma's growing so much every day. She's going to be a full-blown infant soon.

Since Gemma is going to be moving into the nursery soon, Ophelia adds a mobile to the crib, and some safety straps to the changing table. Look at that concentration. This is going to be the safest changing table ever.

Drink up, Gemma. You're going to become an infant today!

Ophelia brings Gemma downstairs and finds Xander making drinks as their guests arrive.

Ophelia: Babe, this is a party for an infant. Do we really need drinks?

Xander: What kind of party doesn't have drinks?

Xander introduces Drew to Gemma while the guests mingle.

Xander: Gemma, look! It's your Pibs Drew.

Drew: I thought you didn't like Pibs.

Xander: It grew on me.

What's that stink face for, Summer? I think maybe she wants a baby of her own… but hey, it's cake time!

This party is a mess. I think Summer went upstairs and took a bath.

But there's no time to worry about that. Ophelia notices the bassinet is starting to rattle.

Ophelia: Xander, everyone, look! I think Gemma's ready to age up! Come on, baby! You can do it!

Luckily, Xander comes over in time to catch Gemma.

She's a cautious little thing, so she's happy to be in her daddy's arms.

Xander: Look at you! Who's not an object anymore? You, that's who!

He gives his daughter a big kiss on the forehead.

As the party winds down, Xander and Ophelia take some time to spend alone with little Gemma.

Xander: Wow, she looks a mini version of you.

Ophelia: She has your ears, I think? And your genetics probably helped with those hazel eyes.

Regardless, they're obsessed.

Marcie, who's been kind of quiet for most of the party, comes over to meet Gemma.

Xander: You want to hold her, Marcie?

Marcie: Oh, yes, of course!

Gemma whimpers as this unfamiliar lady takes hold of her.

Xander: It's okay, muffin, Mommy and Daddy are right here.

Xander: There we go, there's a smile. You like Marcie, don't you, Gem?

Marcie: She's so precious. Hello, sweet girl.

Ophelia can't help but smile. Marcie is a natural with babies at this point. Despite her cautious nature, Gemma warms right up to Marcie.

Xander hands Gemma off and goes to say goodbye to some of the guests, leaving Marcie and Ophelia to chat.

Ophelia: You've been kind of quiet today. Everything okay?

Marcie: Yeah, yeah. Seeing little Gemma just makes me think of how fast my kids are growing up.

Marcie: Violet just aged up and Vince is going to be a teen. Velma will be a toddler soon. It's all happening so fast. Just… make sure you cherish when she's little, okay?

Ophelia: I will. Thanks, Marcie.

Marcie: Speaking of kids, I should really get home to mine.

Marcie hands back Gemma.

Marcie: It was nice to finally meet you, Miss Gemma. Ophelia, if you ever need parenting tips, let me know.

Ophelia: You're a pro at this point. Any chance you'll have a fifth?

Marcie: I think my house is chaotic enough, thank you very much.

Ophelia: Okay, time for night-night.

She spins Gemma into her pajamas and gives her a little goodnight kiss after laying her down in her crib.

Ophelia: Mommy and Daddy are right across the hall. You yell if you need us. Love you, baby girl.

Nighty-night, Gemma.

[1-beansss-1]

~ Open Wounds Part 4 ~

Teen gn!reader

Simon petrikov apocalypse fic

Warning - mentions of blood, death, and injuries

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿

Simon smiled at you and continued to follow you to the house. When you got to the house, you dropped the wood near the deer, Simon gently sat the wood he was carrying down where you put the wood. You quickly walked back inside and grabbed your bag.

"Y/N, what are you doing?"

"Oh, um.. I.."

You didn't know what to tell her, you didn't want to excite her too much to where she runs outside, you didn't want her to see the dead deer.

"Just boring stuff, don't worry about it.."

"Can I come?"

"Uh.. No, stay here, you'll have more fun inside"

You smiled at her and walked outside, Simon looked at you. He was a little confused about what you were doing. You sat your bag down and pulled out a big piece of cloth. It had red stains all over it.

"Go inside and talk to Marcy.. make sure she doesn't come outside."

You ordered Simon as you sat down the cloth near the deer and bent down in front of it. You pulled your knife out from your pocket and started to butcher the deer. Simon stood there for a moment. He was shocked at how you could do something like that so easily.

"Simon.. What are you doing?"

You huffed as you looked up at him. You were starting to get frustrated with him again. You didn't like being watched while you did this because you didn't know if you'd cry or not. No matter how many times you did this, you always felt guilty.

"Oh right, sorry.."

He quickly rushed into the house to talk to Marceline. You let out a sigh and looked up at the deer's lifeless face.

"I'm sorry.. but I gotta eat..."

You felt tears form in your eyes, you sniffled a bit.

"You're too soft, kid!"

You smiled when you heard your dad's voice in your head.

"Y.. Yeah.. I know.."

"Hey, kid! Do you wanna help me with something?"

"Yes! Yes!"

You said excitedly, and your father smiled at you. He started to walk away, you followed closely behind.

"Follow me, you're butchering your first pig, I think you're old enough now.. you're ten, right?"

"W-What?"

You stopped and looked up at him.

"Don't look at me like that, kiddo.. that's how we get bacon.. it's something we need to do"

He continued to walk, and you hesitated before following him again. He took you to your kitchen and handed you a large butcher knife. It was too big for your tiny hands to hold comfortably.

"Wait here, I'll get the pig.."

Your dad patted your sholder and left. You looked at the knife, trying to see if you could hold it correctly. Your dad gently put down a pig's lifeless body on the table in front of you. He started to tell you what to do, and you begrudgingly followed his directions. You paused and started to cry when you were halfway done.

"I'm killing it!"

You whined and threw the knife on the table. Your dad let out a soft chuckle and ruffled your hair.

"No, the pig was already dead.. it's alright, it doesn't feel a thing.."

"Why.. why did it die?"

"It was just it's time.. and when pigs go, this is what we do."

"Why?"

"Because if we didn't, we'd have to bury it and make sure animals wouldn't dig up the grave.. wolfs are pretty persistent.."

You sniffled a little bit, and your dad took the knife off the table, continuing to butcher the pig.

"Animals eat each other. That's how life works. If we don't eat this pig, a wolf might...... or other pigs, they don't care what they eat"

Your dad let out a soft chuckle and continued to speak.

"Life's rough, and people got to eat. You can't live off of random plants you find off ground!"

You let out a sigh as you finished with the deer, you looked down at yourself, you were covered in blood.

"Yeah.. dad.. Life's really, really rough..."

You mumbled and wiped your knife on your shirt before putting it in your pocket. You sighed and looked at the butchered deer. You stood up, wiping the blood from your face. You looked at the cloth you sat down earlier and looked all the meat you'd gotten off of the deer.

"That.. might last for a while.."

You sighed thinking about how there were two other people that you had to feed now. You dragged the deer away into the forest, so if Marceline wanted to come out, she could. You dug around in your bag and grabbed a new shirt, changing out the bloody one. Thankfully, your pants were dark enough that the blood wasn't visible. You sat back down on the ground and started to set up a campfire so you could cook the meat. Marceline ran out of the house, giggling. Simon ran after her, trying to get her back in the house.

"Marceline! Wait!"

He sounded tired and stressed.

You looked over at the two. You smiled at Marceline as she ran towards you. She tackled you and put her arms around you.

"Y/N! What were you doing? It was taking forever!"

Simon let out a sigh of relief when he saw that you were done and had already gotten rid of the deer. He looked over at the pile of meat.

"Oh, I was getting some food.. I'm going to cook it, then I'm going to let it dry.."

You patted her head.

She quickly got off of you looking at the meat.

"You got all that?"

"Yeah, do you think it's going to be enough?"

She put her hands on her hips and tilted her head. Her actions made you smile and she looked back at you.

"It should be!"

"Good...."

You looked at the pile of meat. You weren't too sure if it would be enough. You smiled and quickly looked over at her.

"Hey Marcy, do you want me to teach you how to make a fire?"

"Fire?!"

She nodded quickly. She looked excited for you to teach her. You could hear Simon make a nervous sounding noise.

"Uh.. Y/N that's not really safe.."

"It is if you're careful.."

You said as your smile faded from your face, you didn't like him trying to tell you what you could and couldn't do.

"I'll be careful! Please Simon, can they teach me?!"

She looked at him with big eyes, begging him to let you teach her. Simon tried to say no to her but couldn't. He let out a sigh and gave her a defeated look.

"Alright.. I trust Y/N.."

You let out a chuckle at his words, not fully believing him, grabbing your bag, putting out a lighter.

"Ok, Marcy.. you can't make a fire with a lighter alone.. we'll need paper and small sticks"

She nodded and quickly looked around.

"I'll go get it!"

You smiled at her as she quickly ran off.

<<< first part / << previous / next >>

[hughjidiot]

Hey, did you know that the reason that Anne doesn’t show emotion towards all the stuff that happened in true colors in season 3b is because Matt had to compartmentalize stuff like that all the time when he grew up in Thailand, and he wanted to show that in Anne? (feel free to correct me on any of this btw, these are only faint memories and I’m honestly just hoping you saw the post that talked about this stuff too)

Yeah I've heard of that. Don't think I've given my thoughts on it though, so I guess now is as good a time as any.

I'll be perfectly honest: this still doesn't change my opinion that Anne not showing any emotions over the events of True Colors is one of the worst parts of season 3A.

Even if she was repressing her emotions, they still needed to show us evidence that she was repressing because animation is a visual medium. What ever goes on inside of a character's head doesn't mean jack shit. What matters is what we as the audience are shown. Something like that works much better in a book, like say Marcy's Journal: in Anne's section we get to delve into her thoughts and see her turmoil over what happened because she's telling us directly. In just the show itself though none of that is present because aside from the end of Froggy Little Christmas, we don't see any indication that Anne is thinking about her friends at all.

Not to sound like a broken record, but if they wanted to show that Anne was repressing her feelings I think they could've shown that by sprinkling more moments like the end of FLC throughout 3A. We see background details that reference Sasha and Marcy, like their initials in Anne's bedpost and Sasha's graffiti tags. By simply showing Anne noticing these details and reacting to them, like looking sad and quickly turning away, that would've been a subtle but effective way of showing that Anne does miss and is worried about her friends, without having to go into detail about it or even reference the events of True Colors at all.

So yeah, even if Matt was trying to do a cultural thing it still doesn't absolve Amphibia season 3A of its poor storytelling, at least in my view.

[indigo474]

3-22-25-

Today is Michael's 28th birthday. I would do anything to sing to him and hug him and tell him I love him. as the years ago by it doesn't get easier- just different. I use to think the pain would kill me i'm still here. i'm happy and sad. life goes on. its not fair. I deserve to be happy. I just wish things were different.

I had to deal with ghetto rep all week. its exhausting. she thinks everyone is out to screw her over. everyone. how sad to live life like that. life is hard and we are all trying our best. she thinks I am purposely keeping the blinds closed to kill her plants. it turned into a big thing. we cant see our computer monitors when the sun shines into the windows so the blinds need to be closed. its a temporary problem because science. she also freaked out over birthday balloons. the most ignorant ungrateful toxic person in the building by far. she's smart but also dumb. she thinks people like her, they don't, people tolerate her. I heard she was telling on me for telling her to take her plants home if shes worried about them dying. she never did tell on me- I actually told on her and now i'm writing her up for unprofessional behavior. i'll be dealing with this next week too. shes one of those people that will spite herself because she's mad at me. shes been going over her break time and coming back late from lunch. she thinks she is hurting me somehow- sounds like another write up to me. its hard to believe she is 52 years old.

i lifted with Ryan today. the amount of anxiety he has is insane. he lightened up a little but jeeze. it was a good workout and no I cant hang afterwards. I have to clean my room like a child which isn't a lie.i still need to clean it. I am currently procrastinating. I went for a run because I just cant help myself. my hip feels ok- the trail at the park is covered in glitter. it's one of those things that you see a million times but never really look at it but one-day for whatever reason you really see it. I believe it's called mica. there was a rather large piece that caught my eye that is now on my bookcase. so, I tried to suggest to Ryan that maybe he could go to the park or something besides go sit in his room. Haven't you spent enough time inside? He called to tell me his car was ok,he was going to Wawa to get a sammy and heading back to his room. Maybe it feels safe to him? i'm tired.i think I wore myself out between lifting and running- that was kind of the point. Madison and I need to figure out dinner. I'm fine with whatever-I love my car. lovelove. it is practical? no. do I care? no. its actually great for me. I looked under the hood today and I have never seen anything like it. under the hood looks like a beast. I think I'm use to it- I can get a little over anxious starting out in 1st. it tells me what gear I should be in not what gear I'm in. for some reason this has been an issue for me. what gear am I in??? I got tickets to see the Dodgers play the Phillies for my birthday. I'll be wearing a Phillies shirt. haha- I'm not really invested in either team. The Dodgers are the better team - it doesn't really matter to me who wins- it's a long season. i told madison we are taking her car. we plan to go to Longwood gardens that weekend too- I've been wanting to see the tulips for years now. she's never been there and its been about 20 years since I've been there and tulips. Marci and are going to a./c to see Seinfeld. we staying overnight and having a spa day. also for my birthday. its my month. Life is good. it really is. i'm grateful. My mom called me last night and we had a nice chat. I was thinking of maybe a beach trip with her this summer. maybe just overnight somewhere. just us. i'm not sure if she is capable. a nice thought.

i DO deserve to be happy. I want a simple happy life.

[flufftailforest]

Names: Alexi and Marci Pips

Species: Mice

Hobbies: The pair love to play games together, Alexi loves to try on many different dresses and make themselves look pretty, Marci loves to explore and see things that usually adults would warn her to stay away from.

Characteristics: Alexi is a trans girl, who is very shy and sensitive, she requires the support of her sister on almost a constant basis before interacting with others and always worries about what others think. Marci doesn't worry about what others think unlike her sister, she likes to make her own decisions about right and wrong, She is also an active explorer who loves to seek out new places but will almost never go anywhere without Alexi.

Biography: The twins were born as a boy (Alexi) and a girl (Marci) and were both raised in the city. But recent events have led them to move in with their favourite adult, and new Guardian, Ms. Tary. Alexi had recently discovered herself as a girl after all the signs pointed her to this realisation. Alexi never liked boys' things, nor acted like one. Always choosing things more feminine to play with or even wear, never feeling comfortable playing with boys and their games, but always happy with the girls. 

One day Alexi’s desire to wear a dress to a special dinner party really sparked trouble in the family. Marci, of course, was incredibly supportive and even gave her twin the dress to wear, but both parents weren’t so happy. The mother was always against it, calling them weird or wrong, that they needed to act properly. The father was more dismissive, saying they’d grow out of it, willing to pretend Alexi was a girl in public events, just so it was less embarrassing for him, but not truly accepting it. 

Alexi was never happier than when she identified as a girl, Marci fully accepted it, but the parents reached their limit, banning the young mouse from anything feminine and punishing Marci for encouraging it. The two eventually reached out to Ms. Tary for help as they couldn’t stand it any more and didn’t know what to do. The feline came by and spoke as a mediator trying to explain that what Alexi is going through is perfectly normal and should be celebrated. But the mother was unwilling to relent at this time. 

In the end, an agreement was made. To let the twins and their parents have some time apart, to let everyone have some space and address this again at a later date. The parents agreed to let Ms. Tary take the children over the school summer holidays and look after them until they could either learn to accept Alexi, or make other arrangements.  

Ms. Tary and the twins have been happily living together in Flufftail Forest for a while now, with Alexi having all the freedom she wants, to just be herself, and Marci to explore a whole new world outside of the city, which can be quite troublesome for the new Guardian, but she cares about them both so much, she doesn’t mind the extra work.

[heart-stomper]

Unspoken Trust, Unspoken Fears

Gathering my thoughts on Sasha and Marcy’s dynamic before S3 proves me wrong shows us what’s going on with these two.

It’s time to look at The Dinner and Battle of the Bands, and then use it as a guide to read the room in True Colors.

No worries! You just gotta speak their language. - Sasha, Reunion

Or in this case, know when to stay quiet. 

Sasha gets really really frustrated this episode. Like, so bad, that if that Volcakeno didn’t erupt, she might have been the one to end the friendship. Even Marcy and Grime couldn’t calm her down. But that’s the thing, before this point, they were the only ones to get through to Sasha without provoking her.

Grime keeps Sasha in line; she rolls her eyes and is clearly annoyed every time she has to hold herself back, but her willingness to keep it cool shows she ultimately agrees with Grime’s plan and sees it as the best path to success.  When Marcy chimes in, it’s with a helpful answer to Sasha’s question. She reminds Sasha of why they stopped Doing Thing by explaining how their plan failed. She avoids judging Sasha for it, and frames it as the repercussions of their actions, as a group. Marcy is on Sasha’s side, so Sasha doesn’t put up any defenses. When Sasha decides to avoid arguing with Anne however, it isn’t for Anne. It’s for the plan, for her and Grime.

Marcy has enough faith in Sasha to believe she’d never want to purposefully hurt Anne, but is careful about broaching the subject. Sasha feels attacked very easily, and will quickly trivialize or downplay things if she feels the other person is being unreasonable or doesn’t ‘get’ her.

And that is the only time Marcy speaks up besides The Big Argument. She only jumps into actual conflicts if things get too heated. Otherwise, she just lets Sasha do her thing, and lets Anne argue with Sasha... sort of.

This isn’t collaboration. It’s a hostile takeover. Why do things always have to be your way?

Now, for the bait and switch. Let’s talk about Marcy’s behavior in Day at the Aquarium and New Wartwood, and Sasha’s in Toadcatcher and Barrel’s Warhammer… while tying it all back to Battle of Bands!

You didn’t tell me you were writing a song! Let’s do it! I mean, if that’s okay with you, Sasha.

In A Day at the Aquarium, Marcy’s first instinct to Anne saying she’s going back with the Plantars is to make a plan. To show that it isn’t actually what will benefit Anne’s Goals. She doesn’t even consider opening up as an option, and avoids saying anything that could cause conflict. New Wartwood, Marcy tries to chat with the citizens of Wartwood and get to know them. But when that doesn’t work, she decides that impressing them with her knowledge and usefulness is bound to make them like her. It has to.

It does seem simpler.

Trying to win people over by claiming a plan is of mutual interest and necessary, carefully choosing which words to use, viewing relationships as a puzzle to be solved… this isn’t the sort of thing Marcy needs to do to get along with someone like Anne. It’s how Marcy copes with Sasha. Sasha lashes out and belittles bad ideas. Sasha has to be convinced the plan benefits her, suits her. Vulnerability and love aren’t enough to make her care, so Marcy does what she can to prove she’s worth being around. She might even sometimes wonder if Sasha actually likes her, or just likes what she can do for her. She rather not find out.

Whenever she’s afraid of people not liking her, or is worried that she’ll lose them, she dives right into those bad habits. She can give her opinions, but they aren’t supposed to get in the way of what Sasha wants. She’s supposed to say “That’s amazing! What do you think Sash’?” not “Let’s do it!”

Listen. There’s another reason why I’ve been training so hard. To protect the one person I know I can count on right now. You. You’re right, I already lost one friend. I’m not about to lose another. - Sasha, Toadcatcher

In Toadcatcher, there’s that scene, where Sasha looks at the BFF picture and the wind cuts off Anne for a second so it’s just her and Marcy. This is where Sasha is at. Anne might have rebelled, but when Sasha reunites with Marcy? Oh, she’ll show Anne, one way or another. They’ll get her back (like, joining the team or revenge wise, depending on Sasha’s mood.)

Listen here you buffoon! What’s it gonna take to prove that you should follow us? - Barrel’s Warhammer

Aaaand Sasha freaks out royally when she learns the two are alone together and doing just fine. On some level, she fears Anne and Marcy “getting along without her” because it means they might decide they don’t actually need her to make plans; that she isn’t necessary to have fun. In the The Sleepover to End All Sleepovers, we see that isn’t as big a catastrophe as Sasha seems to think it’d be. As time goes on, the girls do gain a healthier relationship to their feelings about Sasha, but that doesn’t mean they’d want her gone even if they don’t need her there. But Sasha doesn’t know that, she doesn’t even consider it till reuniting in The Third Temple. All she knows for now, is that she can be a bit... much... so if she isn’t in control, if her way isn’t “the best”, why would Marcy put up with her either? 

Listen. If things get too wild out here, just give me a signal and I’ll call the whole thing off. 

 For sure, teach it to us Anne. 

Every Sasha plan starts with an empty reassurance. So much of Sasha’s dialogue follows a pattern where she says stuff like “we’ll call it off” (she did not call it off) and “for sure, I don’t mind” (she did mind) that it could be it’s own game. Sasha talks the talk, until it gets in the way of what she wants.

Sorry guys, but we’re way to close to bail. I am not going back empty-handed.

It’s good. I just have a few tiny notes that I think could make it even better. ... Boom! Fiixed it! 

If they just follow her lead and let her fix it, everything will work out. They should believe in her and trust her. After all...

That’s not true! Besides, we did it. ... You’re not actually gonna throw this all away are you?

I just wanted all of us to succeed. I was just being a good friend. Why couldn’t they see that?

It all worked out, right? Percy and Braddock made it out okay even if she didn’t follow through on her promise. They won, she’s reliable. But of course, Sasha lost something more important than their belief in her abilities, she lost their trust. In Battle of the Bands however, Sasha recognizes that Anne and Marcy don’t want to follow her ambitions and will be pushed away by them just like Percy and Braddock were. So she takes it upon herself to end things, accepting that she’s lost.

Sorry it took so long.

Except this time, she manages to realize that maybe “what she wants” is to be there for her friends. Sasha’s finally had the space to relax and really think about what she wants, at least a little. This isn’t a real battle after all. Doing things her way all the time isn’t as important as she thought. Maybe she should trust in her friends more. A change of pace isn’t “wrong”, just different. It’s fun.

Sorry we lost, Sash’.

Just like Percy and Braddock, Marcy knows Sasha is capable. She understands that Sasha just wants the team to succeed. That’s why she apologizes when Grime beats them in the competition. She wants Sasha to know she appreciates what she did, but keeps it a bit indirect. She gets Sasha probably didn’t want to push them away. Marcy tried to catch herself and back Sasha up, but when Sasha had her argument with Anne, she stayed quiet. She couldn’t bring herself to go against Anne. 

That was ultimately for the best, as Sasha learned a valuable lesson. Except... She’s in too deep with the rebellion to back out now. This is the episode she’d spill the truth and give up on the whole thing, except... Grime. A part of her knows leaving would make Grime her enemy. She can’t risk that. So, she keeps going with the plan. She decides she’ll somehow win it all back. Because the thing she’s actually most afraid of, is losing another friend. 

Sorry things got a little crazy back there. You guys good? ... Sheesh, don’t be a sore loser. Look, I’m gonna stay here and get this toad regime off the ground, but I can totally send you two home if you want. Or, you can stick around and give me a hand! So what’d’ya say?

Sasha’s final offer; the last chance she’s giving the girls to stop acting weird and go back to being her obedient friends who do what she wants. Sasha lost at Toad Tower, but now she’s won. So Anne should go back to normal, she’s supposed to, like some unspoken “rule”.

And Marcy is supposed fall back in line too. The offer and apology are just as much a plea directed at her. Sasha’s trying to be generous, in her own awkward way. She has bit her tongue so far. She’s thrown a temper tantrum or two, but she hasn’t been this forward in asking Marcy for help till now. She wants Marcy to say that everything’s okay. Make it clear she doesn’t think she’s the bad guy, and that she forgives her and wants to be there for her. That they’re on the same page again. She wants Marcy to help make Anne look overly dramatic and silly for making such a big deal of all this. Sure, if Anne figures that out by herself, that’d be great, but if Marcy could just speak up.

But she doesn’t. Of course she doesn’t.

Marcy’s too busy worrying about Anne’s reaction. Knowing that she’ll be upset about this. She doesn’t dare side with Sasha, and is disappointed and betrayed that she actually did something like this. Marcy already has her own secret plans, so when she finally tries to calm things down, all she can give is a non-descript “we can still fix this”. And then, she’s once again shocked when she sees Sasha threaten Anne and the Plantars. Seeing Sasha act so willing to actually hurt people rather than just push them around... it finally hits her just how serious “tried to kill them” was. And of course, losing Anne or being sent home with her would completely mess up her own plans.

Sasha’s isn’t a vulnerable person. She’ll go on about loving her friends if it makes her look good, but she actively avoids doing anything that could be seen as “weak”. She wouldn’t dare ask Marcy to drop Anne and choose her. If Marcy isn’t speaking up, she can take the hint. She still isn’t on her side, and so she gets sent to the dungeon along with the rest of them.

Marcy accepts that Sasha has become an obstacle, but a part of her still hopes the three of them can work through all this. If they do things her way, nobody has to get hurt. She'll figure out a way hold everything together, fix everything, like always.

And then Andrias betrays her.

Yeah, what plan?

Sasha stops talking once she realizes what’s going on. Quietly fuming as Marcy explains herself. The music box, the suggestion to take it back to Andrias... that wasn’t Marcy being the sweet, supportive friend who Sasha thought she could always rely on, who believed in her... that was Marcy using her. It was never going to become their plan; Marcy never trusted her and was actively working against her. Sasha lost Anne, and she never had a chance at getting Marcy back, either. 

Sasha smacks Marcy away when she desperately tries to justify herself. She doesn’t want to hear it anymore. She’s furious that Marcy thinks they could be friends after something like this, after she’s manipulated them and claimed it was for their sakes. This whole time, her goal had been avoiding the move with her parents. And coming here has only torn them apart even worse.

Marcy reaches out to both girls. And when Sasha rejects her, she clings to Anne, hoping at least she’ll find it in her to forgive her. That she’ll understand she cares about them even if she messed up. Marcy knows they’d probably never pick her over their families or ambitions, so she told herself this place offered those things too. Made them all better people. But as she says her excuses out loud, she can’t find a single one that feels right. She was just afraid of losing them, and now, she’s managed to hurt them on top of that. 

But the thing is. After all that. Despite how betrayed and hurt and angry Sasha was, she looks like this:

Sasha realizes this must be exactly how Anne felt about her betrayal. It isn’t just an abstract “hurt” or “bad thing” anymore. She can also sympathize with how Marcy feels and why she did it, at least a little. She can’t imagine being able to forgive this, and yet... when she looks to Anne with that apologetic look, she isn’t just hoping Anne will forgive her. She’s also asking for permission to forgive Marcy. Pleading that they all still have a chance to move past this together.

[fantajoseph]

I also have a second Scooby rewrite pitch: a series of shorts, where the gang DOES do the regular mystery solving thing but it's kind of a background detail but is instead about being a group of young adults on the road. The fact that they're dirt poor because of it comes up.

Fred and Daphne: Daphne is trans, and her rich ar fuck family cut her off because of it. Fred was dating her before her egg cracked, and when he family cut her off and she was crying about everything, the fact that she really wanted to be married someday slipped out and he proposed on the spot. Fred insists they save up at least a little to give her the wedding she's dreamed of, but they end up pulling from the savings a lot. Listing them together because I think a lot of their bits would have them as a duo, they'd have a nice little "yes and" energy with each other.

Shaggy: a stoner, former line cook, former musician, former athlete, former farmhand, former a lot of things. He's like five years older than everyone else and owned the Mystery Machine and when Fred and Daphne tried to elope without a car he stepped in. Like, he doesn't even like driving anyways. He takes his role as oldest one sort of seriously, making sure everyone is eating, and with his various skills he's the one who usually finds a way to make money in whatever town they stop in. He tries to teach the others instruments, so they can just, like, become a touring band, to mixed success.

Velma: she's been in an e-relationship with Marcie for years, and when she heard the gang was going her way, she decided, sure, why not, and hopped in with them. She's autistic and only semi-verbal, and so Fred and Daphne were worried Shaggy was "too much" and intimidating her. In actuality, Shaggy was good at telling when she was overstimulated and understimulated and adjusting, and when she'd write down how she felt about different foods, he'd find ways to adjust what he was cooking to suit her sensory needs better. By the time they were headed out from Marcie's town, they heard about a mystery and were about to ignore it because they wanted to get Velma back and she told them she was in no hurry. Since then she's stuck with them.

Scooby: Scooby remains mostly the same except his voice is exaggerated to the point that viewers will have trouble making out what he is saying. Only Shaggy consistently gets what he wants, and no one else thinks Scooby can talk. One big problem the gang runs into is "No dogs allowed", which gets the classic Scooby response of "Rawg? Rwhere?"