#sticky washington constance contraire

[sophieswundergarten]

I've seen your works on a03, can you create a story where another hurt/comfort story around Reynie? (I love those kinds of stories) Thx!

Hello, Anon! I'm sorry this took a bit, I ended up with multiple tries that all branched into different ideas, but I have finished it! I hope this is what you wanted:

[magicmarkerz]

eggs benedict club idk

[magic-swords-art]

mr benedict’s very secret team er, the mysterious benedict society!

some bonus S.Q.’s. gave him a tooth gap for no real reason…it just felt cute and fitting :)

[lotsofsq]

THE MYSTERIOUS BENEDICT SOCIETY!!!!!!

i’ll be posting most of my stuff chronologically so enjoy my journey

[ID copies from alt text: four headshots of the four society members: reynie is smiling calmly, his hair is sweeping left over his forehead. he is wearing a green sweater vest with a line of little sprouts on it over a button down. sticky has a nervous expression, he is fully bald. he is wearing a blue sweater over a button down. constance looks peeved and has wispy blonde hair with red hair clips. she is wearing a red coat over a yellow shirt. kate is excited and winking, her gold blonde hair is in a high ponytail. she is in a red and white striped t-shirt. all 4 have emphasized lines around them in their respective colors: reynie has green flowers, sticky has blue sweat beads, constance has red jagged lines, and kate has yellow radial lines around her. ]

[calix-amini]

TMBS X GRAVITY FALLS!!! WOOHOO!!!!

i had fun :D

[nobodysdaydreams]

I know it's late for this, but here's how I think characters in the Mysterious Benedict Society would have reacted to the solar eclipse.

Nicholas- obviously he'd be so excited for this. The world goes dark, he passes out with joy.

Rhonda- buys everyone eclipse glasses and makes sure they understand the dangers of looking at the sun

Number Two- complains about the traffic because tons of tourists are coming for the eclipse and her mom has a ton of weird conspiracies about what the eclipse means, but once the eclipse is happening, she very much enjoys it.

Milligan- happy that he's able to experience such a unique and special moment with his daughter that he will treasure forever

Miss. Perumal- educates the children on how solar eclipses happen and bakes cookies for the watch party

Kate- climbs a tree so she can be closer to the sun and get a better view

Martina- was planning on forcing the tetherball team to practice through the eclipse, but begrudgingly cancels practice to join Kate in the tree

Reynie- is excited about the eclipse in a very average, but endearing way.

Sticky- is fascinated by and excited for the eclipse, but then he saw a video about what happened to that one person that stared at the sun and even though he knows that won't happen to him because he has the right glasses, he still can't get the thought out of his head. His friends help him calm down, and he ends up enjoying the eclipse.

Constance- pretends she doesn't care about it that much, but she actually does and writes an incredibly beautiful poem about it afterwards which she shows to no one.

Nathaniel/Curtain- cancels classes at the Institute to view the eclipse and somehow turns it into a metaphor about himself. I don't know exactly how he would do this, something about the moon being the darkness of Nicholas that blocks out the brilliance of the sun (himself), but the sun is all powerful and shall surely rise again, I don't know, something like that. However, if this happened during season 2, he would 100% incorporate it into his cult's doctrine just because he can. He'd make that the day and hour of his evil plans just for the symbolism.

Jackson and Jillson- they also saw the video about the people who stared at the sun and they have made it their personal mission to warn everyone about proper eye protection

SQ- he's happy to be able to spend the day with his dad watching the sky. He later draws a really beautiful picture of the eclipse.

Jeffers- stares directly at the sun and suffers permanent eye damage despite being warned multiple times

Dr. Garrison- fascinated by the eclipse for scientific reasons, but takes advantage of the distraction to escape and begin hatching an evil plot

Marlon- does not care at all that the eclipse is happening but goes along with whatever Curtain wants

Captain Noland- views the eclipse as a sign of coming doom

Cannonball- is 100% on board with whatever conspiracy Noland believes

Number Two's mom- views the eclipse as a sign of coming doom

Number Two's brother- is 100% on board with whatever conspiracy his mom believes

Number Two's sister- doesn't care at all that the eclipse is happening, but goes along with whatever her mom wants

And I know I've been doing mostly show characters, but...

Crawlings- stares directly at the sun and suffers permanent eye damage. But he only stared at it with one eye because he kept the other one closed thinking that would somehow save him from being burned, so now he wears an eyepatch over his bad eye, but that's not the same one as the one where he lost his eyebrow, so it doesn't cover that damage either, he just looks like a mess.

The Rest of the Ten Men- think Crawlings is an idiot for looking at the sun and claim they don't care at all that the eclipse is happening (Sharpe lowkey does, would never admit it).

Seymour, the orphanage cat- continues being a cat. Is very confused when it is suddenly nighttime. Then when its daytime again, he shrugs it off and goes about his business.

[dragoncookies]

(spoilers)

can we just talk about how hardcore the second book is?

I mean, ALL the books are crazy, but it’s been four years since I last reread tmbs and I remember glazing over the second book, because usually in a series the second book is just like build up and filler for the third one (with the first book having all the magic a first book usually had)

but this series? I aged 58 years reading the second book, and I was disgustingly addicted to it the whole time I read it. I truly thought it was the end for our protagonists. Usually you can see how they might turn a bad situation around, but it just looked straight hopeless when everyone ran out to the beach in hopes that help had come and there was just nothing there. And then, when the Shortcut appeared from seemingly out of nowhere, I cried real tears of joy. I know it’s a kids series and sometimes kids series can be deep, but these kids have to be straight traumatized by their experience in that book. They were pushed to their absolute extremes physically, psychologically and emotionally. From being stuck on the ship in one small confined room while traveling across oceans to a place they had never been before, solving all the riddles, keeping watch during that dark night trying to stay awake with the fear of death and being captured hanging over them, being tied up in that giant room with the ten men ready to torture them, then being captured by Curtain and BEING tortured (shocked), then having to run and carry Mr. Benedict until their hands were bleeding and they were beyond their physical limits, and THEN after seeing their LAST CHANCE for making it off that hellish island not be there having their hopes let down….if I were them, I’d probably just go insane. Its shocking because the whole series is so breezy light, but the actual content, once you think about, isn’t so light at all.

Every character was developed so deliciously. Reynie went from being smart and good at riddles, to being a conniving plotter, who could be a supervillain in his own right. Kate almost bombed a ship full of her worst enemies (willingly), but then found some insane inner strength and decided NOT to. Sticky went through an ego-struggle arc and then, after being the group scaredy cat, suddenly became THE MAN in their darkest hour when they all had to carry that stretcher down the mountain and had nothing left to give (and it almost broke my heart when Reynie narrated it saying smt like “maybe we’re all gonna die but at least I get to witness Sticky in his prime 😌). And Constance? Well. She’s Constance, but her mind reading is sick, and I like the relationship dynamic that grew between her and Reynie in this book.

there was so much inner turmoil from Reynie, and the whole “there’s no good-hearted people in this world” belief he struggled with, resulting him question which Benedict twin he himself was more like, was just so scrumptious. He’s the perfect person to narrate the series, and that becomes clear during this book. Finger lickingly good stuff. And we can’t forget Sticky knocking Constance off the watch tower when a ten-man appeared from the darkness. That made me chortle. Or Kate regurgitating McCracken’s key so they could all escape. She’s just so different.

There are just so many good moments in that book. It’s really truly quite the adventure.

[summersofsalt]

the crew!

[mashpotatoequeen]

babies

Thinking about an AU where the Mysterious Benedict Society gets de-aged. Not for forever, but for a week or two. A world where these kids get to be loved and feel loved in times they maybe never got to, and just how special that would be.

I mean, this is a world where a machine is capable of sweeping away someone's mind and leaving them a stranger in their own heads for years at a time. It's a world with duskwort, which can knock out a village with nary a handful in the campfire smoke. It's not too strange or extravagant to imagine a realm where there's some machine or mechanism that can wipe away someone's years and leave behind someone not yet grown. 

Think about it. Kate- who gets shrunk until she's five or six, who is a vibrant ball of energy and is constantly climbing onto shelves and wriggling into unexpected corners for impromptu games of hide and seek. Reynie and Sticky chase her around the backyard and aren't sure if they should be offended or not that she's fast enough to keep them out of breath and struggling to keep up. Constance looks at her- this insurmountable girl she knows folded into somebody else, someone small, and can't quite figure it out how to interact with her, how to coincide them into the same person. Kate just takes her small pudgy hand in hers and drags her around the garden to look at bugs, laughing, and Constance finds it's not so different after all.

"Kate," Rhonda says, "Please, please come down from the ceiling fan."

Kate, slowly rotating and so happy about it, laughs madly. "Never!" she cries, curling around the big wooden panel and wheezing with joy. 

A little dazed, Number Two murmurs, "How did she manage to bring the ladder to the living room? We store it in the basement!"

Moocho whistles guiltily and walks away.

(I'm thinking of Kate being young, before the burden of being left behind truly settles on her shoulders. Who looks up at Milligan and cries out, "Daddy!" with her whole tiny chest, face planting into his knees and laughing uproariously like it's the funniest thing in the world. I wonder if he cries, this man who lived outside of himself for nearly a decade; a Kate who's five or six is still a Kate he never got to hold.)

(Kate wipes away tears with her pudgy fingers, and tickles him until he laughs.)

If Sticky shrinks, he becomes a little boy who hasn't yet learned the anxieties of the stage lights. He's a little shy, maybe, and quiet. (He was the sort of kid who didn't talk at all for three years and then burst out into full sentences.)  Regardless, he smiles more easily than any iteration of the boy they've ever known. Reynie holds him on his lap and they read books together, page after page after page, and wonders how anyone could make this small version of his friend feel unwanted. Kate carries him on her shoulders and races around the backyard with him clinging to her back like a tiny koala. Constance accidentally makes him cry, too blunt and awkward and unused to holding hands smaller than her own. They still get to be friends, though, after the learning curve. She just makes sure to be more gentle.

Sticky is adorable, by the way. He's iddy biddy and he's got round little cheeks and everyone's piling SO much affection on him. "You're so cute!" Kate enthuses, and cuddles him like a stuffed animal as he flails. 

Constance, watching this, crosses her arms and turns up her nose. "I'm cute," she declares, blustering. Mr. Benedict pats her head, fond, and she grumbles but doesn't pull away.

(I'm thinking of the Washingtons, picking up this version of their kid, and it feels like being deposited into the past. It must hurt to see someone so precious, and know that he'll go through so much, and in so many ways it will be their fault. Sticky curls up between them on their bed that night, and he's little, he's so small, and they hold each other's hands over his tiny head, and they whisper promises to themselves that they're going to be better, that their own Sticky will keep growing up and growing older and he'll always, always know that he's wanted.)

Reynie stumbles into being ungrown, and he's three or maybe four. He's got BIG expressive eyes and he's lived in an orphanage his entire life. Consequently, he hasn't been out much and absolutely nobody is familiar, leading to him spending the first few hours crying and hiding before they finally manage to coax him out with the cat the Perumals had gotten him. (They bought it when they had moved out of Benedicts' and into the house next door, because Number Two is allergic.) The cat gets lugged around by its armpits for the rest of the day, almost as tall as Reynie is, and purrs like a tiny motor boat the whole time. Number Two takes two Benadryl and doesn't complain. 

Kate is pleased to find that Reynie is much more enthusiastic about being thrown into the air or being turned upside down as a toddler than he is as a teenager, and takes full advantage of it the moment they're able to coax him into letting go of Moby Dick the Great White Cat. Sticky follows Reynie around and reads him books and lets him try on his glasses, even though they're too big and fall off his nose. Constance is determined to be his favourite, and piles him with snacks and red faced hugs and plays games with him and indulges his subpar poetry. Reynie's just happy she wants to be friends. He's never really had a friend before.

(Miss Perumal gets reintroduced to her son and it's like an ache reborn in her chest. She never knew her kid this young, was never able to hold him close to her chest and have him nap on her shoulder as she walks up and down the hallway. Reynie, hardly grown and already a little lonely, takes her face in his small hands and whispers, "You picked me?" like it's almost too good to be true. 

"Yes," she whispers back, and presses a kiss to his brow, to his cheek, to his nose. "Oh, yes, lovely one. Always.")

Constance, when she gets de-aged, becomes an infant. She's tiny, only a few pounds, her cheeks still red and ruddy and hair hardly a blonde wisp on her head. Her pinkies aren't longer than a nickel, and her toes no bigger than a bean. Everyone takes turns holding her, and Milligan and the Washingtons have to teach everyone how to support her properly in their inexperienced arms. Constance Contraire, for once, is not contrary at all and sleeps through everything quite soundly. 

She wakes up, occasionally, and they all hold little contests to see who gets to feed her the bottle. Rhonda's wins one and Constance flails until she can hook her fingers around one of her braids and settles again, content. Number Two, who is always awake anyways, holds her when Constance starts wailing at night and has a miniature staring contest with her tiny younger sister, wiping away milk and cooing about homemade onesies.  Everyone tries to avoid diaper duty. Nobody gets out of it.

"I think that Constance would like to climb a tree," Kate says, eyes sparkling, terrifyingly sincere and holding a baby carrier. Milligan manages to dissuade her, barely. 

Sticky, on his turn to hold baby Constance, looks bewildered the whole time. "It's crazy how you're going to grow up and become a whole entire person," he whispers to her when nobody's looking.  Constance throws up on his shoulder. Oddly enough, it soothes him.

At some point she ends up in Reynie's arms and he spends the whole time thinking very hard about how much he loves her, how special and wonderful she is, how lucky he's been to have her as a friend. He's not sure how her big brain works, this small. Maybe she can hear him, can understand it, but if she does she gives no sign. She falls asleep more quickly on his shoulder than anyone else, though, and he's secretly pleased.

Nicholas Benedict, several years away from since he's had to worry about falling asleep upon strong emotion, finds himself quite overcome upon cradling her tiny frame in his arms for the first time. He sits down rather abruptly on the couch, tears springing to his eyes, and smiles down at her guileless eyes. "Hello, my dear," he says, soft and gentle and sure, and presses his lips to her tiny palm. 

(Constance, who is so small as to be all instincts and wonder, feels loved all the way through.)

[deeskip]

May I request some Riddle of Ages? I don’t think I’ve ever seen your design for the Society members grown up! (Or semi grown haha!)

some riddle of ages just for you, curio!! i loved drawing the society older

[mvshortcut]

The Mysterious Benedict Society + dear-ao3 - Part 1

(next)

+ Bonus

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

[tmbsincorrectquotes]

Milligan: What did you guys do? Reynie: Constance: Kate: Sticky: Milligan: You’re not in trouble, I just need to know if I have to lie to the police again or not.

[magic-swords-art]

more whiteboard doodles

[lotsofsq]

in honor of pride month i am posting these queer headcanon charts i made a while back!! happy gay everyone

[ID copied in alt text: two circles of pictures of the book and show characters respectively, accompanied by flags.

first chart is of my book characters queer headcanons. reynie: demiromantic andbisexual. sticky: nonbinary and bisexual. kate: bisexual. constance: aroace. SQ: demisexual and pan. the ten men: achillean and polyamorous. milligan: bisexual. Ms perumal: lesbian. rhonda: pansexual. Number Two: aroace, lesbian and transgender. Mr benedict. Transgender and Gay. Mr curtain: transgender, achillean and aromatic.

second chart is of my show characters queer headcanons. reynie: bisexual. sticky: transgender and bisexual. kate: sapphic. constance: aroace and agender. SQ: nonbinary and achillean. Martina: transgender and lesbian. milligan: bisexual. rhonda: pansexual. number two: aroace. transgender and nonbinary. Ms perumal: lesbian. Mr benedict: transgender and achillean. Dr curtain: transgender and aromantic.]

[couldtheycatchkira]

[sophieswundergarten]

Considering a situation (Books) where Curtain captures the kids and then uses duskwort on one of them to give the others an ultimatum...

“So,” Curtain leered, circling the children in his wheelchair. “The rules of the game are this: You have until the serum I created works its way through young Miss Wetherall’s body to answer my question. If you are able to, then I shall provide an antidote.”

McCracken appeared from the other room, throwing a squirming Kate to the floor. The others rushed to her side, helping her up. Reynie noticed with a twinge of fear that she seemed to be less surefooted than normal, slipping and stumbling as they supported her.

“Now, now, ducky,” McCracken laughed as he followed Mr. Curtain out. “We wouldn’t want you to waste your strength.”

“Look who’s talking.” Kate bit back, but weakly; almost out of breath.

Reynie looked at Sticky over her head, concerned. He motioned the other boy to help Kate over to the corner, letting her rest against the wall. 

“Kate, what happened? What did he do to you?” Constance’s voice was small, scared.

“Oh, nothing much, Connie girl.” Kate inhaled, smiling, face pale.

Constance screwed up her face, concentrating. After a moment she stomped her foot angrily. “I know you’re trying to hide it from me! Stop it!”

“Constance,” Reynie murmured, “Why don’t you give Kate a break? I know you want to know what happened, but–”

“Oh no!” Constance cried, tears springing into her eyes. “They injected her with something. With– with–” Her eyes went wide. “With duskwort!”

Sticky glanced at Reynie worriedly. Normally it would have taken much more of a battle for Kate to give up any kind of information, her mental acuity allowing her to dodge out of the way of Constance’s probing.

Kate let out a weary sigh. “Yeah, they did. What, um, what does duskwort do again?”

Sticky pulled his glasses off, nervously polishing them as he spoke. “Duskwort, Translucidus somniferum, is a very rare lichen that only grows in certain, usually damp, areas. It is known for causing deep and uninterrupted sleep, as well as being a possible cure for narcolepsy.”

“Right.” Kate looked confused. “I knew that.”

Sticky nodded. “If he really did dose you with duskwort then it would make sense that you’re confused. Exhaustion, confusion, light-headedness, and dizziness are all symptoms of being injected with a type of sedative such as once derived from Translucidus somniferum.”

Kate didn’t answer.

“Kate? Kate!” Reynie began gently shaking her shoulders. “Kate! You need to stay awake. We don’t know if we’ll be able to wake you again if you fall asleep.”

Kate shook herself, leaning heavily against the wall as she tried to rise. She waved off Sticky and Reynie, who moved to help her stand. “I’ll be fine. Really, boys, I’ve got it.” She yawned, closing her eyes for a long, slow blink. Shaking her head once again, she roughly shoved herself up, falling to her knees as she did so.

Tremulously, she tried to rise, but Reynie quickly reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder, stopping her.

“Kate,” He began, hesitantly. “I think… you should stay sitting down for a while. We need to start working on getting an answer for Curtain, and we can do that better without worrying about you.” He explained. “Right now all we need you to do is focus on staying awake.”

“If your body continues metabolizing the duskwort at this rate, then it’s likely you’ll fall into some sort of coma soon.” Sticky confirmed, looking around anxiously. "Try and slow your heart rate. Sitting still and breathing evenly should help."

Kate looked upset, but she nodded, slumping down and gritting her teeth with effort.