#smart switchs

[riickgrimes]

"The key thing was of course, the fact that Rick has PTSD and that's very much what's driving a lot of his behavior and being in a place of that level of vulnerability, back with the love of his life in that way.

It's also the thing he fears, the loss of her. It manifests itself in a way that is visceral and leads to the lovemaking not just being about love, but the revealing of pain and trauma and fear. That informs Michonne, that she can't just blast him into making sense. There's something deeper going on here that he can't verbalize. She has to help him get through in a different way. So she gets to see him, as well, as he reveals what's really in there, the wound. That's going to happen most likely in that most vulnerable space." — Danai Gurira

"Yeah, I think it is about pain. As Danai just said, it's about him wanting her and then fearing what he's about to unlock again. He gets to sort of articulate it in the scene further in the episode, when he gets to say that, 'I can't do this again. I haven't got the capacity to do this again. I've worked out how to die and live again.' So it is an absolutely necessary scene that allows Michonne to realize that there's something really broken here, more broken than she's ever anticipated. [...]

So the scene was about a real intimacy, a sort of frightening intimacy. This is a part of his personality he has shut down. It's almost like he's trying to stop himself from feeling this love again. She sees that and she just says, 'Just trust. We're back. We're the same...' I find it very moving. I think it's a very, very moving scene, because it's about them connecting in a way that he's had to deny for seven years. He's denied that connection for the sake of living on in this half life for the CRM" — Andrew Lincoln

Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira Discuss Episode 4 of The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live

[chambers003]

someone has to say it. etho is a horrifically unreliable narrator. probably as much as scar is. he’s just sneakier about it so people are less likely to expect it and more likely to fall for his facades

[buzzfeedunsolvable]

No hate to Steven or anything and a lot of the flack he's gotten in the yt comments is unwarranted, but one thing I think is interesting is how on Watcher he was painted as a business-guru type and yet he was like... a chemical engineering major. Like so was I for most of college and you know what we never learned? How to run a business

[abowlofsourcream]

⏳💫Switch A Loop! ACT 5: A Prologue 💫⏳

<-Prev

Next->

[p4nishers]

"I THOUGHT WE CARVED IT OUT FOR OURSELVES "SO DID I"

[hballegro]

ONCE MORE UNTO THE BREACH DEAR FRIENDS, ONCE MORE

prequel

i still have to do BJ's neck [jaw is finished, neck is not. Hawk's neck is tho], and finish the mustache, plus some fine touching to make everything Perfect [bjs forehead, hawk's lips, etc] but. other than that i am DONE with these old heads. fabric is so much easier than faces so im not even stressin abt it. my wrist. it aches.

im FREE no more HAIR except BLURRY STUFF SO NOT LOTS OF DEFINITION

bonus; the end of the journey

[sofitai28]

uni hasn’t killed me yet!! my social skills might, however

[vofart]

[sapphic-agent]

Let's Talk About the Switched at Birth Theory

If you told me I would be making an Ever After High Theory in 2024 I would have never believed you. But I recently came across a theory from like 2022 that poses the possibility of Apple and Raven being switched at birth. At first I thought there wasn't a chance it held water, but the more I looked into it the more I was sent down a rabbit hole.

(I know this is a hated theory please don't kill me)

The original theory was made by _fairytale_vibes_ on YouTube. Here's a link to the most updated version of the theory, watch it if you haven't already:

I went into this video thinking that it wouldn't lead anywhere, but OP does make a lot of very good points. So with her theory in the back of my head, I decided to dive into the book series to see if I could find anything to support or disprove it.

(I'll be editing as I read the books and rewatch the show, so at the time of posting it I've only completely finished The Storybook of Legends. So whatever I say here may not be 100% accurate compared to the rest of the series. I'll update and revise as I continue reading, but please tell me if whatever I've said is wrong)

1. Appearances

This may be the most important part of the theory as it's been the focal point of the original video. So let's dive into it from the book's descriptions.

Raven: "...long black hair with purple highlights, dark eyebrows, strong nose and chin."

The Evil Queen: Dark hair, deep purple eyes

Snow White: "...black hair was curled under her golden crown. Her skin was still white as snow, her lips red as blood."

Apple: Pale, blond, red lips

One thing I definitely noticed was that multiple times, the book goes out of its way to compare Raven's looks to her mother's. Raven herself calls it out multiple times. However, it actually seemed to be the opposite with Apple. While her features- other than her hair- are said to fit what Snow White is supposed to be, there aren't many comparisons made to her mother herself.

In fact, I think the only time she's actually directly compared to her mother is when she looks at her destiny during Legacy Day. "She looked so much like her mother, only blond." Even here, there aren't many details about it, not like there are Raven's.

(This whole montage is interesting, I'll talk about it more later)

One of the theory's linchpins is that The Evil Queen in her youth seemed to have platinum blond hair. In the Dragon Games special, she is animated as a teen with what looks like whitish hair. And in the graphic novel The Class of Classics, her hair does look platinum blond (and is described as being such by her roommate and best friend, the Cheshire Cat).

Apple's blond hair is an anomaly. There's never been a Snow White with blond hair, as the story is clear about it being ebony. It's brought up multiple times in the book and is a point of insecurity for Apple. The Evil Queen also having blond hair is an... Interesting connection for them to have. As in, they share the one trait that separates Apple from the Snow White lineage.

One thing that actually threw me off, however, is that the Evil Queen actually had green eyes in her youth. And you can actually see hints of green in the purple of her eyes if you look at her show model. Raven's eyes are purely purple and Apple's are blue. The EQ having green eyes seemed so left field to me.

The theory implies that the purple highlights in Raven's hair and the purple coloring in the EQ's hair comes from their magic, if we extend that to their eyes it does actually start to make more sense. Raven's powers could develop quicker/stronger than her mother's, which could have caused the purple coloring to affect her eye color quicker than it did the EQ's. It's very possible that Raven was born with green eyes and they changed the stronger her magic got.

But then what about Apple's eyes? One thing I found odd even watching Dragon Games for the first time is the very obvious difference in the shade of Apple and Snow's eyes. They're both blue, but Apple's are a lot lighter while SW's seem to be darker. It's like the show went out of their way to show even more distinction between them.

You know who also has blue eyes? The Good King.

Well, according to his Wiki page. I actually didn't make note if his eye color was mentioned in SBOL (and I can't because I had to return the loan). This fact may not be true, since Raven's non-existent brother Michael is still on there (seriously why hasn't anyone removed him).

But still, if the Good King does have blue eyes, that could be another physical connection Apple has to Raven's family.

2. Parallels

One thing I was surprised the theory never mentioned was the Two Sisters fairytale.

If you don't know, the Two Sisters is the tale about an "ugly" sister and a "beautiful" sister. The ugly sister is kind so butterflies float around her head while the beautiful sister is mean so she only attracts flies. The beautiful sister wants to get rid of her flies so she has the ugly sister lower her into a well. Then she makes the ugly sister go into the well too, and she almost drowns. But she escapes with the help of her butterflies. The ugly sister turns beautiful and the beautiful sister turns ugly. The flies that circled the beautiful sister returned and chased her into the forest and she was never heard from again.

This story is important because Raven found out that the sisters who were supposed to have this story- Bella Sister and Brutta Sister- never signed and instead ran away.

Why am I bringing it up? Well, in SBOL after Raven reads the story, the next time Apple is given a POV, we get a flashback of her almost drowning in a well as a child.

This is very clearly an attempt to draw a parallel between Apple and Raven and Bella and Brutta. But if it was just that Raven decided to reject her fate like Bella, it doesn't say much. Brutta didn't want Bella to suffer a villain's fate as much as Bella didn't want to try to drown her, while Apple wants to embrace destiny fully even if it means confining Raven to a life she doesn't want.

To me, this is trying to tell us something else. That maybe we should be looking at Apple and Raven's relationship differently.

3. Attitude and Personality

A somewhat surprising detail that I noticed is that Apple acts a lot like the Evil Queen, especially in how she treats Raven.

"Apple smiled. She could play the damsel-in-distress like a cow could jump over a moon. The male species couldn’t resist wanting to help her."

"...but the guilt passed as quickly as a butterfly. Looking out for Raven was in Raven’s best interest."

"It’s not wrong for people to see in you your true nature." (To Raven)

"Sometimes she couldn’t think of anything comforting to say. It was a small weakness she was determined to mend."

"Raven’s Coat of Infinite Darkness should have hidden her from anyone who didn’t know she was already there. Apple was very smart."

"Take your hands off me at once, or I swear by wishing wells, seven-league boots, silver wands, and all marvelous things that you will regret it!” (To Goblins)

This is NOT me saying that Apple is evil like the EQ. But more that she can be manipulative, overbearing, and commanding similarly to the EQ. Apple is a lot nicer and has more of a conscience, but she isn't afraid of crossing boundaries to get what she wants (or rather, to do what she thinks is right). She lacks natural empathy a lot of the time (which isn't a bad thing), and it's something she's desperately trying to fix about herself. She's also said to be very intelligent.

(I also want to mention her behavior during the Topsy Turvy spell. I know the spell was said to make the people cursed act the opposite of how they usually would, but as OP points out, Apple really went far with it. She wasn't a mean girl, she was downright evil. OP assumed this could be her true nature. I... Half disagree. I think it's way more that Apple makes a point to make sure she's as nice and helpful as possible, hiding her true feelings so that she's the perfect Snow White. I think the topsy turvy spell made it so that she didn't do that. In other words, it got rid of her inhibitions. Instead of making sure she doesn't say and do awful things, she no longer holds anything back for the sake of being good which is why she's so much worse than the other students)

But like with appearances, there isn't much connecting Raven to Snow White. Sure, Raven is kind. She shows concern for others and likes to help people. She tries to be nice even when she's treated horribly. But nothing about this is specifically Snow White.

In fact, she seems to drive animals away. Her singing causes thorns to ensnare her and Apple. Only ogres obey and listen to her (though they did adhere to Apple). She's also sarcastic and dry. In this regard, there isn't a lot about her that matches up with Snow White.

(If we're being completely fair, Snow White also never had as many defining traits as the Evil Queen, even in the original Grimm Fairytale. So attempting to mirror her in Apple or Raven might have been a struggle for the writers)

4. Symbolism

You know what threw me off? The fact that Apple's animal companion was a snow fox.

It seemed like such an odd choice when I read it. Like, why a fox of all things? But then I looked into actual symbolism for snow foxes.

Overall Symbolism: Adaptability, Resourcefulness, & Intelligence

Christian Symbolism: Purity & Humility

Native American Symbolism: Resilience & Determination

Eastern Symbolism: Cleverness & Cunning

I actually thought it was really interesting that all of these traits seem to fit Apple. She's resilient, clever, determined, and resourceful. But she's also supposed to stand for purity and humility too. Almost like there are two sides of Apple: how she actually is and what she pushes herself to be because of expectations.

(This actually comes up a lot in the book. Apple's good deeds come from a place of needing to set a good example and live up to the Snow White legacy. She separates what she actually thinks and feels from what she's supposed to perceive as right and wrong)

Raven having a dragon is definitely less unexpected. However, there's decent symbolism with her too. In Eastern traditions, dragons stand for supernatural power, wisdom, strength, and hidden knowledge. These are all things that definitely fit Raven. If we're looking at this in comparison to the Snow White destiny, the wisdom and power could be alluding to her eventually becoming Queen.

5. My Thoughts

Do I think Raven and Apple were switched at birth? No. Primarily because I can't think of a valid reason for it happening. OP suggests the Evil Queen switched Apple and Raven's powers, forcing Snow White to switch out their babies. But this reason is convoluted at best.

For one, the Evil Queen seems to care for Raven as much as she's able. Raven herself states that the EQ loves her in her own way. She wants to bond with Raven, wants Raven by her side as she tries to take over the world. I can't see her being like this towards someone she knows is Snow's daughter.

I also can't think of why she would do this. She's all too eager to continue her legacy through Raven. Why would she change Apple's fate that way if she was her actual heir?

No, my theory is that Raven and Apple are sisters, both daughters of the Evil Queen.

(I'm so sorry Rapple shippers)

I know, that's possibly more outrageous than the switched at birth theory. But my mind couldn't stop circling back to this. Apple shares so many traits with the Evil Queen, but Raven doesn't share as many with Snow White. The Two Sisters parallels were too heavy to ignore.

Why and how would this happen? I think that when the Evil Queen had them, Apple was born without powers. Since the EQ values power over everything (other than beauty) she decided Apple was worthless. But instead of getting rid of Apple, she gave her to Snow and Charming (who couldn't have kids) either anonymously as a cruel twist of fate or some sort of deal was made between them.

That or her having twins sent Grimm and Snow into panic mode since she was already on her magical rampage. So they made a plan to take one of the babies to avoid something similar happening in the future. Snow agreed to raise her as her own as the next Snow White to combat whatever "natural evil" she was born with.

It could be why Grimm is so invested in Apple and Raven specifically. He's trying to make sure Apple stays good and Raven turns evil so that the Snow White story can play out smoothly and things can stay balanced within the Realms.

Now if we wanna step away from secret baby theories (which I totally get), another possibility is that Raven and Apple's destinies were swapped. Which I also think is very likely.

OP points out in Thronecoming when Raven calls Apple selfish for wanting her to sign, Apple retorts that she wants to keep everyone safe. She then hands Raven an apple and tells her that she's the one being selfish. She's directly mirroring what the Evil Queen does, like their roles have been swapped.

She also adds that when Raven is transported into Snow White's story later in the episode, the old woman is basically shouting that this is her destiny as she hands her the apple. None of the other girls are being pushed as strongly. Sure, we can look at this as just her destiny in general, but it could be indicating that she will take the role of Snow White.

We saw in Dragon Games that Apple easily became jealous of Raven for how liked she was becoming. Which is similar to why the Evil Queen hates Snow White. If the show hadn't gotten cancelled, this could have been her slow descent towards evil while Raven was coming into being good.

(And to be honest, this can still happen with the twin theory. Every Snow White story is different. A jealous sister can fit into the story as well as a jealous stepmother)

Now before anyone says that Apple and Raven saw their destinies... No they didn't. They saw their fates from a fake Storybook of Legends. A fake put there by the Evil Queen, mind you.

Raven's fate was depicted as her being even more evil than her mother. It would be so like the EQ to curse the fake book to depict her daughter's fate as overly villainous. As for Apple, it could have also been cursed to act out as the original book would for anyone who proclaimed themselves the child of whatever fairytale character. So her saying that she's the daughter of Snow White showed her the typical fate of the next Snow White.

(I mentioned earlier that Apple is only said to look like Snow White during her glimpse into the future at Legacy Day. This actually plays into the fate she sees being false. It's showing her what she wants to see, and that's being able to live up to her mother)

Yes Raven signed the true book in Wonderland. But all that did was give her the EQ's full powers. Powers which were part of the reason Apple became jealous in the first place. We never saw Raven's actual destiny from that book.

So no, I don't think Apple and Raven were switched at birth. But I do think OP's observations do leave a lot to be analyzed. I know a lot of people will say that this being canon ruins the story, but I honestly don't think so. Raven and Apple can still decide their destinies. It doesn't matter who their parents are or aren't, what matters is what choices they make. The main theme of Ever After High is choice. If Apple ever did turn towards evil, Raven would be right there trying to pull her back.

They choose their destinies. They decide their fates no matter what happens

[httpiastri]

hehe so ever since you talked about college au!pepe i’ve been… doing a lot little thinking (maybe like everyday since) so im gonna give you something to read bc YOU MADE ME THINK ABOUT IT 🫵 now you have to deal with me. hopefully this gives you some inspoooo and a lil smth to think about bc i had way too much fun just thinking ab it LOLL

FIRST OFF ure so right with sebas, chris and pepe being college besties!!! like i think instead of living in dorms, they’d definitely share an apartment together jdbdjfjdjf i tried thinking about who gets to choose the furniture and decos in said apartment but i feel like they’d be giggling at everything they see at ikea, and they’d bicker about whose choices are better so apartment decor shopping takes wayyyy longer than necessary with these 3 and in the end they probs made a google form of their choices (like couches, lamps, dining table…), make their families vote and just buy whatever the families’ top picks are 😭

and somehow, pepe SCREAMS insane pining to me. hear me out… this man is career focused. not interested in anything besides his studies, he lowkey struck me as someone who would want to be a little bit more stable on his feet before he thinks about a relationship? especially with his newfound freedom of moving away from home to live with his best friends too. sure, the thought of having a girlfriend in college doesn’t puts him off or anything but it’s not something he actively seeks either ??? it’s nice and all but he thinks spending his time studying, hanging out with sebas and chris and his other friends, and going back home to visit his family during breaks is just as nice, if not, even nicer. sebas, even more so than chris, thinks pepe should loosen up a bit and would actively TRY to set up pepe on dates after dates with the single girls in his major for like the first semester and eventually gives up because pepe would either 1. cancel on them last minute bc he “forgot he has a presentation tmrw” (he does not!) or 2. could not care less!!! the girlies in sebas major–who fell victim to his date arrangements with pepe–would glare at sebas the day after (bc of wtvr pepe did) and every time he’s like 🥲 guys? 🥲 what did i do? 🥲

that leads me back to the main point: pepe is acquaintance to friends to ??? to lovers coded. LIKEE i can only imagine him getting together and potentially entertain the idea of a relationship with someone he KNOWS. reader (or yn?!) would be friends with sebas or chris because they have classes together, or maybe yn are friends w their girlfriends bc girl power 🥺🤘🏻 and then yn became friends w sebas and chris too so now she has no choice but be dragged everywhere to their hangouts and everything bc they love her!!! (or maybe bonus reader and pepe has like 1 or 2 class together but he never noticed until now) and pepe is a little bit confused every time bc like ? why do you keep bringing this random girl to our hangouts ?? eventually he came around and just accepts that reader will be everywhere he is now bc his friends would not leave you out of a hangout plan. idk how yet but when reader and pepe’s relationship shifted friends-ish to ??? zone he’s a bit like… okay that’s weird. he doesn’t know what it is but he doesn’t like how he feels when he’s around reader anymore like how he did go from tolerating your presence to thinking about every small interactions you guys have ??? like he’s literally losing sleep over it. why does he wish for his fingers to brush yours for longer than necessary when you passed him that bag of chips ?? why is he upset because you asked mark that sits 3rd row from the front for lecture notes, like he’s literally right there, top student of the class ?? why did he offer you his hoodie when you guys’ friends are playing volleyball on a basketball court (don’t ask why and how) one tuesday night in the park nearby just because you shivered a bit ?? i can think of more but i think this is way too long already so i’ll stop here for now JDHDJFJF

up for debate but sebas looks like a kinesiology major, and pepe and chris had def make jokes about it more than necessary 😭😭 imagine sebas is like “guys, i can’t hang out my assignment is due today” and pepe is like “what? you have a curling biceps due at 11:59?” and they’d die of laughter bc. teenage boys. everything is funnier than it really is :D

- 🎀

darling. oh my GOD. this is so!!!! 😭 "now you have to deal with me" oh there's nothing id rather do 🤭

okay first off YES them sharing an apartment is so on point. istg their families would end up getting so tired of their bad taste etc that one day sebas's and pepe's sisters (ive looked all over to find info abt chris's family situation but can't find anything anywhere 😶 so if he too has sisters then they too would be there) just appear at their door for an "intervention!!!" to make sure it all looks at least a little decent...

and yn being friends with chris's and sebas's girlfriends is so 🥺😭

correct me if im wrong but i have a feeling pepe would be interested in something along the lines of maths/physics/science because i think i remember reading somewhere that he liked that when he went to school? he seems like a smart boy to me. like i feel like he would be naturally good at everything he does in school and he could've chosen anything for his major, but he wanted a bit of a challenge so he picked something most ppl would find hard. and yes like you said, career-focused and not rlly interested in much other than his studies (like he strikes me as someone who would actually enjoy studying? esp when he has to work a bit to solve something) so he definitely enjoys that part of the college life.

also he would be a bit of a popular boy (though not the type to be overly boasty about it, more like "what? me? why??"). handsome, friendly, sweet, smart.... and everyone knows he's single, it's kinda common knowledge. so when sebas goes to people and tries to set them up with pepe saying like "oh he would adore you, you're SO his type!!" they get all happy and excited because "pepe!?! im his type??!!". but then they get stood up and eventually that becomes a whole thing lol, everyone knows that he's just a little emotionally unavailable...

and maybe pepe even went through a relationship that ended a bit badly so that contributes to his "i don’t need that drama in my life, i'd rather just study and chill with my friends" 🤷‍♀️

but about his feelings for the reader.... pepe really really didn't see it coming. he's so clueless about what happened and why his feelings changed all of a sudden. why can't he focus on his studies like he used to? why does the thought of her smile cross his mind even when he's solving equations? why is he up until 4am just thinking about her the night before a super important exam?

and suddenly, it's much more likely that he agrees to hangout with the boys (instead of saying that he really has to study like he does way too often) because maybe their girlfriends will come along and maybe they'll have brought you along aswell.

and he starts doing these little things that he can't even figure out himself why he's doing them. like when he knows you're running late for a lecture you share that's always pretty much full, he puts his bag on the seat next to him to make it seem like it's occupied, so that when you make it to class, that seat just happens to be the only free seat in the entire lecture hall... or how he just happens to have a few of those granola bars you love from the campus coffee shop (he totally doesn't keep them in his bag because he knows you don't like having breakfast before your 8:30am thursday lectures and you're usually starving by the time your shared lab class starts).....

i mean ofc it doesn't take long for you to crush on him as well. in a moment of unusual stupidity (there may have been some alcohol involved), you accidentally confess this crush to the girlfriends.... and of course they tell their boyfriends, and it doesn't take long before all of them begin plotting about how to get you together. sebas wants to tell pepe instantly, but chris stops him like "no no no, we have to think this through. this can't be like one of your usual setups, this needs to be properly planned". so they start canceling plans in the last seconds but not telling you or pepe so the two of you end up alone, etc. etc. and you think they're all so obvious that you just wanna crawl under a rock and cry – but pepe is so so oblivious and has no idea. he really thinks it's all coincidences 😭

––

okay this is getting too long already but i just wanna share one other thought i had 🥲 this is ofc further down the story but one night you're all out partying at some classmate's apartment, and you drink a little much... and pepe agrees to take you home, but you're way too drunk to even remember what dorm you live in. so instead, he takes you back to the boys' apartment since it's also, conveniently enough, closer to the party. when he walks you down the hall, he's got an arm draped around your waist and you're clinging onto his shirt to even stand up straight... and when you finally get in, pepe gets some makeup wipes from sebas's room and cleans you up 🥺 and then he finds you an oversized shirt and some pajama shorts for you to sleep in. and after he's tucked you into his bed and he's about to leave, your hand reaches for the hem of his shirt.

"please don't sleep on the couch... it's not good for your back, you'll be complaining about back pains all week" (bonus points if you've already stayed over before for some reason and he let you sleep in his bed while he slept on the couch, and now you're all "you complained so much last time")

and he says "no it's fine, really-" but you bat your eyes at him and go "please? for me?" and he eventually gives in, changes into another shirt and a pair of sweatpants and gets in next to you. from there on, it's just a blur for you both... neither of you can recall how you ended up on his chest... or how his hand made its way to the small of your back, holding you against him.....

but it's especially funny because when sebas and chris come home, not only do they think it's strange that pepe's shoes are by the door ("did he come back already? her dorm is a bit away, he can't be back already can he?") – the sight of your heels a few feet away makes them freak. especially when they don't see pepe sleeping on the couch as they'd expected when having you over. and, as the nosy boys they are, they can't help but peek into pepe's room and sure enough, there you two are... cuddled up like you're something more than just a friend of a friend.....

and when you wake up the following morning, you're a little freaked because !! what are we doing !!!! but then you feel pepe start to wake underneath you and you pretend to sleep again because you can't both be awake now; then you would know you both know about this sleeping position and you'd be forced to talk about it. it's much easier if you can both just pretend like it never happened. pepe smoothly gets out of bed, making his way into the kitchen to make some coffee, but he's startled when he finds chris and sebas already in there, watching him with intrigued eyes. pepe goes like "....good morning?" acting subtle and everything, but the boys just can't hold back from the teasing. "we thought you'd bring her back to her own place?" "was that too hard of a task, huh?" & so on....

and you end up texting chris's girlfriend and beg her to bring you some clothes from your dorm, because... the skimpy/flashy outfit you wore to the party yesterday to impress pepe is not something you want to wear out in public at 1pm on a random sunday.... but wearing pepe's clothes all the way back to your dorm doesn't feel like a much better solution either 😵‍💫

—

edit: DID I NOT COMMENT ON SEBAS BEING A KINESIOLOGY MAJOR ??? wait it’s 1am so my thoughts aren’t clear rn so i can’t write a lot (about to literally fall asleep) but omg you’re SO right. pepe and chris are not letting a single day pass without making fun of him for it 😭

[fabuloustrash05]

If you think the 2012 April x Donnie romance was bad then just know that in the very first draft/concept for the 2012 show ALL of the Turtles were gonna be in love with April as well as having her being an “emotional substitute” for the boys cause the story was gonna take place after Splinter's death.

[impuls1veworm]

Pre-Bonten!Takeomi is 100% a broke boyfriend. The type to ask if he can drop you off at work and use your car that day, only to forget to pick you up because he fell asleep on your couch. Man has you pass your credit card to him under the table at restaurants so it looks like he’s using his card to pay. His ass would 10000% beg you to buy him a gaming system so he can try and make it big on Twitch instead of just getting a regular job.

[wish-i-were-heather]

GOODNIGHT I HOPE TO DREAM OF GRAYSON HAWTHORNE (i did once and oml he was so fine)

[yummycrummy]

genderswap?

I've actually drawn a genderswap Sr before but I cant find him (or actually her) rn- but I drew these out hehe 💕

[olivia-anderson-fanfic]

Sisyphean (6/6)

(Eldritch!Ace Trappola vs SomeGuy!Deuce Spade. Horror AU heavily based on FROM(2022) and That's Not My Neighbor.)

Sisyphean Masterlist

Deuce jumped just slightly when he heard a knock. He hadn’t heard anyone coming –.

The Doppelganger was standing at the door, smiling at him through the glass, its hands behind its back, looking like the picture of innocence.

Save for, of course, the sharp-toothed smile.

“No,” Deuce said, scowling. “Absolutely not.”

“You’re so cold, you’re gonna hurt a fella’s feelings one day,” it complained.

“Good,” he said flatly.

It huffed. “You try and kill an entire building’s worth of people a few times, and suddenly you’re the bad guy!”

“That is how it works, yes.” Deuce rolled his eyes. “Why are you even here?”

“I stop by all the time! What do you mean?” it said, giving its most innocent smile.

“Yeah, but you haven’t come as… yourself all the other times.”

“But I’m so tired these days,” he lamented, its expression shifting into a little pout. “I’m hungry, and shifting forms all the time is hard.”

Deuce pinched the bridge of his nose, exasperated. How could this thing be so scary half the time and so lame the other half of the time? “Well, I can’t let you in. You don’t live in this building, and we have a strict no-guest policy. As I’m sure you know, since you’ve never tried posing as someone’s friend to get inside.”

“Yeah…” it sulked. And then it brightened up, finally taking its hands out from behind its back, to reveal a… cup of coffee. “Well, I can still give you this!”

Beep.

Deuce stared, blankly, at the cup of coffee sitting in his mail slot. It had Deuce’s name on it, of course, as well as a couple of tiny hearts doodled on the wrapper.

“... what’s with you and hearts?” Deuce asked, because after the pillow, the cake, and this, he might as well ask why it was Ace’s calling card.

It shrugged, smiling. “I just think they’re kinda funny shapes! I mean, human hearts do not look like that… unless you really need glasses, I guess, but at that point pretty much everything looks like those fake hearts.”

That… checks out, yeah.

Deuce sighed, picking up the cup of coffee, spinning the cup, slowly, in careful fingers, half expecting it to blow up… somehow. “It makes it seem like you’re trying to come onto me.”

“And if I was?” It said, batting its eyelashes.

“No guests in the hotel,” Deuce said, flatly.

“Ugh. You’re no fun.”

“Sorry that getting ripped to shreds isn’t my idea of fun.”

“Like I said. No fun.”

It seemed, though, that he was going to be having even less fun, because, at that moment, a new person showed up. They looked a lot like Ace, with the same bright red hair and eyes, but stockier and dressed in a button down and slacks, as if he had just come from a shift at work. He flung his arm around Ace’s shoulders, leaning his weight on him with a wide grin.

“Is this the Doorman you’ve been obsessed with?” He peered at Deuce, tapping his finger on his chin. “He doesn’t look like much.”

It was hard to tell who was more offended by the man’s statement – Deuce or Ace.

“‘Obsessed’ is not the right word,” Ace snapped at the same time Deuce said, “Ex-fucking-scuse me?”

He continued to smile at him, completely unperturbed. “I’m sorry about Ace, I know he’s a lot to handle, thanks for dealing with him.”

The Doppelganger looked mortified, pressing its face into its hands.

Doppelgangers might not have families, not in the way that humans might, but Deuce could spot an ‘older brother’ type from a mile away.

Though that begged the question… was the man (if it was even actually human) aware of what ‘Ace’ was? It hit Deuce that it was entirely possible that Doppelgangers got their names and reputations for a reason – that they might not be homeless at all, that they might take the place of a real-life person and sneak their way into their families, pretending to be functioning members of society for years and years. That, perhaps, there was a reason why they were never spotted during the day.

Deuce gave Ace a wide-eyed look. “Does he know…?”

It was the man who responded, though, by laughing and sticking out his tongue at Deuce.

It was a black tentacle.

A wave of relief rolled over him.

Until the monster said, “Well, now that that’s all done, come on, Ace, we have to go. Mom and Dad are waiting for us, and if you’re late again they’re going to be so pissed.”

A wave of terror washed over Deuce. Because here Ace was, with a clear ‘older brother’, talking about meeting up with their ‘parents’. And he suspected that Ace hadn’t been lying when he’d said that, no, Doppelgangers don’t really have families, because it was such a strange thing to lie about, and its disgust at the way humans worked was genuine.

Ace groaned, running his hand through his hair. “One day I’m going to snap and kill everyone in that damn church, why do sermons have to be so long?”

His brother laughed, reaching out a hand to attempt to smooth down Ace’s now-messy hair, and Deuce could only stare at them, because they seemed like just any other pair of brothers, laughing and joking around and complaining about dumb things they didn’t actually care about… while also talking about murder in the same tone Deuce talked about the weather.

Ace sighed and waved at Deuce. “See ya later.”

“I hope not,” Deuce said, more out of instinct than anything.

Ace’s brother laughed. “Oh, I take it back, I like him.”

Ace grumbled under his breath, suddenly seeming very eager to get to church on time.

~

Deuce, hesitantly, took the lid off of the coffee to squint at the dark liquid. It looked normal… and, after a quick sniff test, he determined that it smelled fine, too. But, then again, so had the cake the Doppelganger had brought over, so…

He took a careful sip.

It was normal coffee.

More than that, it tasted good. Deuce didn’t even know how he took his own coffee, he usually just added sugar to taste and then dealt with it if it ended up too sweet. But this was nice.

That stalker… he thought, annoyed, but also a touch fond.

Only for his blood to run cold despite the caffeine entering his veins.

Because when had he started growing fond of Ace?

When had he started calling him ‘Ace’ at all? Stopped thinking of him as an ‘it’?

What if I think becoming ‘friendly’ with you is the way in?

Deuce marched to the bathroom, intent on pouring the coffee straight into the sink. It was tailor-made to his preferences, yes, but he couldn’t stand what it represented.

But it was good coffee, and a gift, and his mom had always taught him that wasting food was wrong…

He went back to his seat and set the coffee on his desk, wondering if he would even be able to drink it past the bile creeping up the back of his throat.

~

Cater collected the ID from him, before heading off toward the elevator.

“Appreciate you, Deuce,” Cater called over his shoulder.

Deuce waved him off, absently. It was his job, after all, he hardly deserved thanks for doing it.

Deuce went back to the computer, reaching for his coffee cup.

He paused.

His hand had something red and flaky on it. He lifted it to his nose, expecting the smell of lipstick or something…

Only to find that it smelled metallic.

Coppery, even.

His head shot up, to ‘Cater’, already in the elevator, leaning against the back wall. He gave a little finger wave with red-caked fingertips. A wide smile stretched across his face.

And then continuing to stretch, showing off rows of sharp teeth and skin pulling into something that shouldn’t have been physically possible for a human to achieve.

Deuce ran for the elevator, his arm out to try and stop it, but the doors slid shut before he could get inside.

[annaofaza]

Reading TriMax again and this scene remains my favorite. (Here’s where to read the full manga)

Wolfwood’s in bad shape, he can taste blood in his mouth and his nostrils, and no one’s going to back him up because he’s an idiot and didn’t fucking tell anyone. As he’s being thrown around left and right, his old mentor’s being an asshole and taunting him about how “weakened” he now is and about how Vash is usually with Wolfwood and isn’t this time (Chapel’s doing the full-on Bond villain monologue at him)...

And Wolfwood basically says FUCK YOU.

Even if Vash doesn’t come to save him specifically, Vash will save someone else.

How? Wolfwood doesn’t know. Hell, he doesn’t even know if the world can be saved. But Wolfwood believes in Vash to, at the very least, put a dent in Knives’ plan, and make a positive difference in the fight because if anyone can do it, it’ll be Vash, and you should start running now.

He bares his teeth at the world he’s going to leave and the world he knows he’s not going to see, at the man who’s shaped him to kill alone without hesitation or mercy, at the hope he’s supposed to have lost, and says:

“He has never forsaken anything.”

Literal. Fucking. Chills.