#show me that progression for these characters that i've seen in caleb

[idoodlestuffsometimes]

Brother's Keeper AU:

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How did Caleb live so long? How can he still be here after 400 years?

A: Belos wanted him to stick around and so he made it happen. As for specifics: *shrugs* your guess is as good as mine! This is something I've preferred to leave up to the readers. I will simply confirm that he isn't hiding any goop powers or OP palisman-given magical abilities. He is, for all intents and purposes, a regular human who is somehow really, really old.

Q: If Caleb is still alive, where did Hunter come from?

A: The full story here hasn't been told yet, but you may notice Caleb is missing quite a few bones...

Q: Caleb's ears are pointed! Did Belos cut them??

A: Correct

Q: Does Caleb know about the Collector/the basilisks/Belos' plans?

A: Probably! He's been Belos' sounding board for 400 years. Access to things that could "further corrupt him" or provide him a tool for escape, however, are off limits, so there are many things, like the Collector, that he's heard about but never seen for himself.

Q: Where's Flapjack/Amity/Darius/etc?

A: This is basically a canon divergence. If you haven't seen a particular character, it's safe to assume for now that they're up to whatever they were doing in canon.

Q: I don't get it. Why is Caleb insane?

A: I suggest you reread the first few story posts, my friend! You have fallen for Belos' lies.

Q: Do you have a posting schedule? When will the next part come out?

A: There is no posting schedule. I draw (mostly but not always) traditionally in my free time, for the fun of telling a cool story, and some posts are longer than others. That means the timing of the next post depends on how long it is, how much time I have, and whether or not I'm at home with access to my scanner. Sometimes this means I post quickly. Sometimes it means you'll see me next month. Sorry about that.

Just know that if I know there's going to be an extended wait, especially one where I'm not actively working on the next drawing, I will make an announcement about it. If you haven't seen an update in a while but I also haven't said anything, it's almost definitely because I'm actively chipping away at a part of the story that's taking me longer.

Q: Why do some of the story posts have a letter after the number? Are these less important than the regular story posts? Can I skip them?

A: No, I Do Not Recommend skipping them! They are just as important as the others. They have a letter on the end because they were added later and I use letters as a way to avoid renumbering everything. If you see story posts labeled something like "3, 3A, 4", they are meant to be read the same as you would if they were "3, 4, 5".

Q: Can I make art/fic/cosplay of this au?

A: Knock yourself out! If you post it somewhere, please include credit, but otherwise I don't mind, and actually love seeing what you do with it! If it's NSFW though, please keep it in appropriate spaces with proper warnings.

Q: Wait there's fic/fanart?? Can I see?

A: If you look through the tag on my blog "BK fridge gallery" you can browse any content shared with me that I've reblogged. :) People are free not to share it with me too though, and there are some I don't reblog, especially if its gorey or suggestive, so you might be able to find a bit more elsewhere under the Brother's Keeper AU name if you look for it.

You may also notice I have a featured tag called "BK Soundtrack." That's for songs that people have suggested to go with the AU. You are welcome to browse or suggest songs of your own ;)

Q: :( I sent an ask but you didn't answer. Did you get it?

A: Probably, yes. Sometimes it takes me a few days to get to it. However, if it was theorizing about future plot points, I may actually be holding onto it with plans to answer at a more appropriate time. I like to keep many of my plans for the story close to the chest, so don't be surprised if your theory ask disappears only to show up many months later when the story has progressed to a point where I can give you a more in depth answer.

[georgi-girl]

My Thoughts of Netflix's Big Mouth

The show and its' spinoff Human Resources were recommended to me by my friend @artstar1997. And I love them so much more than I thought I would! I recently finished my first binge and I'm ready to watch them all over again. And this is high praise coming from me. because I don't normally go for irreverent adult animation. I don't even like The Simpsons anymore. But I love these shows!

So first off, the animation style is an acquired taste. Personally, I like how all the characters have big, stylized lips, compared to most other animated shows where the mouths are just a line on the face. Plus, I really like the way they draw the eyes. They look like tiny color wheels.

The show is all about puberty. The creators, Nick Kroll and Andrew Goldberg even based the main two characters off of themselves when they were going through puberty. And man, they do not think well of their younger selves! Those two boys make every mistake in the book and only sometimes learn from their mistakes. But that's okay, so do the other characters. The writers dug deep into their memories to bring out what it's like being a teenager, any kind of teenager. So, of course these kids make bad decisions, of course they get crazy crushes, of course they're bad at communicating. That's part of growing up. The magical realism just heightens how we all feel when we get older.

The show also goes out of its way with different types of representation. There's POC rep, there's queer rep, there's hit-or-miss disabled rep. I'm not saying it's perfect of course but it's really impressive compared to other shows. And it does a great job of character development. Minor characters like Matthew, Caleb, and Lola start off as basic caricatures, but go through personal arcs and story lines as the show progresses.

What I love even more than the human characters are the mind creatures who guide them. The Hormone Monsters, Lovebugs, Shame Wizards, Anxiety Mosquitos, and more. They all think they know what's best for their human clients and for the most part they all legit care about their wellbeing. And that's really touching to me. Not even in the works of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, where gods literally depend on human belief to exist, have I seen that much investment in a mere mortal.

And it's funny. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I'm hard to amuse, but I've laughed, out loud, to every Big Mouth episode I've seen. Yes, there is some offensive stuff, and yes, I've averted my eyes many times out of second-hand embarrassment. But the series as a whole is about having fun while touching on serious topics. And while I wouldn't call the show 'wholesome', there are some moments I actually find kinda cute.

And for all those who say that Big Mouth is "ugly" or that it "sexualizes kids", let me remind you how much Japanese anime features full-frontal nudity. And they don't even have the guts to make them anatomically correct. At least Big Mouth shows you what genitalia actually looks like. Plus, they don't even show sex onscreen. The most we get is a euphemism or the character's face. And if that "ugly" stuff turns you on, that's on you.

[nanierose]

I kind of love that Liam made it clear that while Caleb still cares for Essek, Astrid and Eodwulf he still doesn't trust them, because that makes way more sense. For him to trust them just based on those feelings would be wildly out of character for him. Let's be real, right now they aren't trustworthy.

Astrid and Eodwulf are still very much enigmas and Caleb doesn't know what their true end goal is. It could be good, but he also remembers what they were like as teenagers. Maybe back then their ambition outweighed the love they shared. What was that ambition geared towards? Right now it's 16 years later and he doesn't know them anymore. Eodwulf seemed happy with what Trent gave them magically, and Astrid seems very much a 'means justify the end' person atm though that could be changing. They still probably hate or dislike Trent but that doesn't necessarily mean they want to change the system he came from. Caleb hasn't interacted with them enough to fully give that trust, and a couple instances of help won't change that. Remember, the three of them were trained in manipulation something Caleb knows well. So while Astrid and Eodwulf do seem to care for him he can't be sure there isn't something going on behind the scenes.

As for Essek, like Liam said it's only been 2 months since they found out everything he's done and he's only just started on his path to redemption. Before they met in Eiselcross Essek didn't seem to regret any of his actions apart from those that hurt the M9. Even then though he says he still would have done them. Currently there's a man in the Empire, who may have been executed for all we know, who went down for Essek's actions. He's never seemed to show remorse for that, it's more of a general regret. Plus his way of redeeming is similar to what Caleb originally wanted, which he now recognises as incredibly selfish and narcissistic. Caleb was burned by Essek, and it's going to take more than one speech and offer of help to regain that trust. I mean he thought Trent of all people might come to help against the TT so I don't think Essek coming along is a massive sign of improvement to Caleb. Stopping the end of the world is something hopefully anyone would do. It's a start but it isn't enough quite yet. So yes, he doesn't trust Essek and he has very valid concerns as to why that is.

The thing is though that makes his relationships with them so much more interesting, and makes their characters so much more interesting too. It's so complicated and there are still so many facets of them that we don't really know, including Essek. There are so many shades of grey and different directions they all could go down. A sudden switch from morally grey intentions to good intentions is not a compelling narrative to follow. Caleb is only just coming to a place where his goals are good and based on the needs of others, and this is after months with the M9. Realistically it makes no sense for his fellows to be at the same place he is. And I don't want them to be. After all the time and effort Caleb has put in to reach that place it seems cheap for his fellows to just suddenly have that too. None of them have been in an environment for that to start or develop sufficiently. I'm not saying they're irredeemable, evil beings. I'm saying that currently they're three people who have complicated backgrounds and their road to redemption is going to be as equally complicated, which is much more enjoyable. We break trust with people we care about all the time, and it takes time for that to be restored. We can work with people we don't trust when other things take precedence. Why would it be any different here?

Edit: Also should probably add that I do think the three of them can reach the place Caleb is. With Astrid and Eodwulf coming from the same place and background Caleb has there's always hope for them. They were abused and brainwashed to become who they are, but they do have the ability to move past it. It's just going to be incredibly hard for them. Essek too had a father who he disliked and wasn't good to him (it may have been abuse but i don't know too much about it). Either way he has the capability as well, but will similarly be hard. Their background doesn't define them and won't always, but what Caleb knows about them and their actions means they can't be implicitly trusted right now.