#yes my first son is gus

[marionette-j2x]

My other son and his watermelown sweatpants- ✨🍉

Aftermath:

[sepublic]

Thinking of how the Titan showed Luz the first glyph, Light, because she was kind to his son and listened to him, made him feel like his interests mattered when so many others overlooked the little guy and didn’t care about people like him. He didn’t force Luz to painstakingly find it on her own, as Philip did; The Titan freely gave this to her.

Then the second glyph, Ice, comes when Luz takes the moment to listen to the Titan; To say that she’ll learn on his terms, she’ll respect his body and work with him. Luz paid attention to the unheard son, and now the parent, speaking with and not for him as Philip did.

She gets the Plant glyph afterwards by continuing to follow that principle and give his son fun and company...

And the final glyph, Fire? Wing it like Witches is a major epiphany for Luz’s development, where it really hits her that she can’t drag her friends around in her attempts to play out certain beloved tropes and story beats she grew up on; In particular, this episode was about her desire to be the underdog hero, dragging Willow into relatively high-stakes consequences for a Grudgby match she did not ask for.

Sound familiar? I wonder if the Titan was low key afraid of Luz following in Philip’s steps, recognized that similar hero complex... Even if Luz was nowhere near as evil as Belos, well. Philip started off from somewhere, he didn’t begin as a genocidal dictator with countless sins to his name, he built his way up. Maybe the Titan is just being paranoid, Luz is so young after all! But in the end, he hid one final glyph from Philip because of his need for control, and it was admittedly Luz who jeopardized this precaution by giving Philip the Light spell.

Yet in Wing it like Witches, Luz really matures when she steps up and takes responsibility for her recklessness, for subsuming Willow’s problem and low key making it about herself, and what she decides for the group. Luz takes the full consequences of the stakes she set up so neither Willow nor Gus have to, and it’s this mature gesture of self-awareness that prompts them to reciprocate and forgive Luz.

So I wonder if THAT moment was what solidified to the Titan that yes, I really can trust this child. This human, the first after centuries of another who has been desecrating my corpse, bastardizing my name; She truly didn’t know any better, and meant well, teaching Philip the Titan’s last glyph. The first few glyphs were like little gifts, but giving Luz the last one meant she had full access to all of the Titan’s magic, so long as she experimented with glyph combos. And the Titan felt safe to entrust her with something he barred from Philip, because why?

Because Luz got over that fatal flaw of Philip’s; The desire to be the hero at any cost. That proved she wouldn’t follow in his footsteps, she diverged at a crucial point, and it meant she’d never become another Belos. They both worked and studied for the glyphs, but what mattered was the compassion that Luz had, and it was her kindness that began her discovery of glyphs. The Titan could trust his final glyph to her, Fire... But as he’d find out, it wasn’t even his final gift to Luz, either.

There really is this recurring arc of hesitancy from the Titan; Someone who was used, betrayed, and taken advantage of. And knew how easy it was for the same to happen to his son. So to see the little ways in which he opens up, recognizes Luz’s kindness and maturity and responds to each step in her growth... It’s like someone learning to trust again, realizing they’ve really found a friend after all. It’s no wonder Luz is treated like an old friend by the Titan, because she is one, and it makes his final gift and farewell to her all the more impactful.

On a lighter note! I’m just imagining the Titan figuring out how to show Luz the Fire glyph, after deciding he’ll do just that. I keep thinking of him watching Luz in the Grudgby game, cheering her on and giving Luz support by illuminating his last glyph in Boscha’s fire; “Here kid, take this!” It’s such a relatively casual and silly moment too, because the Titan isn’t obsessed with the theatrics and drama of godhood.

[sokkas-first-fangirl]

If you’re still taking prompts, how about Eda taking bets with the other Owl House parents on which kids will be proposing first?

"Willow," Darius said, like it should have been obvious. "Of course it'll be Willow."

"You're betting against our son?" Camila demanded, eyebrows raised.

"Yes," Darius said.

Alador nodded. "Yeah, my money's on Willow," he said.

Camila threw her hands up. "Am I the only one who has any faith in him!?" Camila vs Hunter's sort-of-dad and sort-of-step-dad; it wasn't a battle of wills that Eda expected, but it was one she enjoyed watching.

"I agree," Perry said. "I'd say Willow."

Raine looked contemplative. They hummed, tapping a rhythm on the table, but didn't offer a side yet.

"Actually, I side with Camila," Lilith said slowly. She looked like she was thinking hard. Weighing the pros and cons would be Eda's bet. "Hunter is shyer than Willow, but he loves her dearly and he's brave. He can be very determined. I can see him proposing."

Darius and Alador exchanged dubious glances. Camila smiled smugly.

"Well, what about Luz and Amity?" Raine asked, tapping their chin.

"Luz," Camila and Eda said.

"Amity," Lilith said.

"Honestly, considering their track record, I expect them both to propose on the same day," Alador said with a shrug. "Or they'll try to anyway. Hopefully without Hooty's involvement this time."

"Is something wrong with Hootsifer?" Lilith demanded.

"You don't want me to answer that."

"Okay," Darius cut in quickly. "What about Gus and Matt?"

Perry snorted. "They'll need to actually date first," he said. "And my hair will be entirely grey by the time those boys sort themselves out. They're both painfully oblivious."

"Are they still calling it a rivalry?" Camila asked sympathetically.

"Unfortunately," Perry sighed.

Alador snorted into his apple blood. Eda gave him and Darius her most shit-eating grin.

"Yeah," Darius sighed. "We'll all be waiting a while on those two."

[shijiujun]

WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH 莲花楼 MYSTERIOUS LOTUS CASEBOOK

Guess I’m back for another rec, you know I’m there when I get minimum two bromance dudes and historical and OOMPH if you liked The Blood of Youth this might be up your lane!! Slightly similar main character premise but super good, the trope never gets old!!

TL;DR

- Stupid disciple + his (unknowing) shifu - Enemy bros “where is my shixiong’s remains?!” + “defeat me and find out” vibes who have to work together and form their deep friendship and get past misunderstanding and mystery blah blah love it - All-powerful legendary swordsman losing all his powers and becoming a legendary physician - Everything is about dead shixiong we don’t even know how the man looks like - Investigations and jianghu shenanigans, cases!!!  - Uwu puppy dog and good in martial arts disciple and his sickly, ex-legendary and still cool shifu who doesn’t know he’s a shifu LMAO - Yes uwu bromance, especially cuz shifu is DYING and he is WEAK and he gonna spit out blood and faint everywhere as they find cure for him 

-----------

AIRING DEETS

Total episodes: 40

Premiered on: July 23

VIP ends: August 18

Can be watched from iQiyi

Airing schedule: 6 episodes on the first day, 2 episodes everyday after for 6 days, then 8 episodes a week except for the last week, that has 6 episodes with finale

SUMMARY

Ten years ago, Li Xiangyi who was master of Sigu Sect, challenged Di Feisheng, master of the Jinyuan Alliance, to a fight on the seas, where they both end up critically hurt as Li Xiangyi tries to find out where his shixiong’s (Shan Gu Dao) corpse and bones went - his sect was attacked on the same day, and when he returns to the sect, critically injured, he sees some of his deputies blaming him for the attack, and instead of going in, he disappears after that.

Ten years later, Li Xiangyi is now Li Lianhua (Lotus Li LMAO) and he’s an eccentric but skilled doctor who has his eyes on earning money. By chance, he meets Fang Duobing (Fang Many Illness LMAO), a young, aspiring detective who’s super skilled in martial arts, but he’s been unable to enrol in Bai Chuan Yuan (the past Sigu Sect), a sort-of sect that plays an enforcer role in the pugilistic world and helps to solve cases, arrest wrongdoers, and the like. Fang Duobing’s dream is to get in, but as he’s the only son of two powerful people who’ve been refusing to let him be part of Bai Chuan Yuan, he’s failed the test 3 times despite being the most-skilled one there. On his third try, however, he tells the four masters of Bai Chuan Yuan that his shifu is Li Xiangyi, a Li Xiangyi who used to be a part of Bai Chuan Yuan and is still greatly missed by the four masters. They agree to it, but only if FDB solve three cases with arrests.

His first case leads him to meet LXY who’s now known as Li Lianhua, and their meeting doesn’t go off to a great start; FDB is idealistic and a rich, wealthy young master at heart who’s never suffered much hardship, and LLH drugs him after and scolds him for being too trusting of people and being too obvious, going around with two servants. LLH leaves him with parting words, only to meet him again later at the scene of the crime.

They solve cases together from there; LLH is still looking for his shixiong’s body ten years later, and decides to solve cases with FDB as a guise to get closer to the truth, making use of FDB slightly. Later, Di Feisheng recognises him, and the three of them are forced to become allies/friends to uncover a greater conspiracy. The clock is ticking for them as well, as Li Xiangyi was poisoned and injured ten years ago, and was given only ten more years to live. The story begins in the year that he’s meant to die.

*Fang Duobing met Li Xiangyi when he was young and still sickly, and Li Xiangyi encouraged him, and Fang Duobing held onto his every word and suffered a lot to become healthy again and as skilled as he is today, all because Li Xiangyi said those words to him that year ;-;

WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH

(1) Fight scenes are GREAT 

- Water water water

- All female sect?!

(2) Bromance, subtle for now, but greater later I assume - ZENG SHUNXI’S FACE HE SO PUPPY BLURBLUR AND SMILING?! AND CHENG YI SMIRKING?! Like Fang Duobing is just wagging his tail and running after a person he doesn’t know is truly his shifu as he claims LOL

(3) Shifu Li Xiangyi not knowing he was shifu to Fang Duobing

(4) Li Xiangyi being the reason for Fang Duobing to EXIST but Li Xiangyi ain’t around anymore (not) and he sad and Li Xiangyi can’t tell him who he is UWUUUU

(5) Familiar faces hehe if you are a SNGX/The Blood of Youth and SHL fan 

(6) CASES ARE INTERESTING!!!

[shower-phantom-ideas]

Bruh yall fam I love Danny Phantom crossovers

Like hes so easy to plop in other universes

The idea hes in Miraculous Ladybug and gets akumatized and just talks to hawkmoth. Dudes stuck with this 14-16year old kid cause the bug wont/can’t get out. Kid please im trying to work stfu. Ok yes yes my fault for trying to use you in my evil plot hut it’s 4 am and I have a big meeting in the morning. Kinda shit. That or Ladybug thinks hes an akuma when hes Phantom snd doesn’t trust shit he has to say.

Mcu? Hawkeye getting another kid. Ironman finding out parenting is easy wtf is wrong with people. Captain America finding out parenting is hard someone help him. Bucky just chillin. Thor throwin hands. Loki 🤝 Danny

Fnaf? Dudes a dope security guard and befriends all the animatronics. Or hes just a dead kid haunting the place who befriends the DCA. Who probably don’t like him at first cause hes a dirty rule breaker. But a kids a kid man.

Saiki K? Do yall think Danny could clock Saiki? 20$ says Danny head empty so Saiki thinks hes either like him or like Nenduo and avoids him either way.

RWBY? Ozpin son and defence squad. Too easy next.

Soul Eater? Hell yes fuck yes. Bruh don’t need no one and is topping the charts as worst student ever cause he aint collecting one soul. Helping those fuckers move on. Oh now hes expelled. Well you can’t expels him sir hes walking out. Next new villain cause hes saving those souls you sick fucks. Oh yea these are bad people? Well doesn’t mean they should be used to give you a fucking one up. His own soul has been used to power a country and that shit sucked. No one deserves to have their own being used like that. Wtf (souls arent the same here danny smh you are starving some poor kids probably idk I have t seen the show in ages)

Honestly idk how I would put him in SAO? He would just win?

Psych? Yea hes called in a tip and everyone is sus about him like with how they are about Shawn. So fuck it. Plays it up. Holy shit a ghost! Shawn is going thru it in here cause ghosts arent real right? Gus probably making Shawn take a break from cases cause hes clearly lacking sleep. Though didn’t Gus believe in ghosts??? Lassiter actually ends up liking the kid. Pranking Shawn is just a bonus. Karen knows.

Doctor who? Again too easy next.

DC? Adopt him adopt him adopt him adopt him. No matter which dc character is it they gonna adopt. Unless it’s Joker cause he dies on sight.

MHA? Bruh still getting adopted by someone.

Why is Danny so adoptable???

Put that fucker in warrior cats and bluestar is gonna come fukin running

[beaistiny]

Never seen anyone make agere content for the show sweet tooth and it wasn’t something I knew I needed till now. Would you happen to have any agere headcanons for the show? :3

YES!!! I DO!!!!!!

Agere Sweet Tooth Headcanons!!

Gus:

Baby Regressor!! I know he’s 10, but i think he would regress reallyyyy tiny, 1-2ish maybe

He chews on everything!!!!!

Loves to have his ears pet <3

Definitely chews on whatever he can, hands, clothes, stuffies etc

LOVES sweets and sugary drinks!!!

Wears Tommy’s and Bear’s jackets <3

Trauma regressor :( poor boy’s been through a lot

Thomas “Tommy” Jeppard:

Caregiver but also just Gus’ dad figure in general

Calls Gus ‘Sweet Tooth’ (obviously) but also ‘kiddo’ and stuff like that

Was oblivious to Gus’ regression at first and probably just thought that was how he grew up

Probably very cluelass to how to treat Gus when regressed lol

He also has to stop Gus from chewing on everything

Bear/Becky:

Big Sister caregiver!!

Some of the people in the Animal Army would regress so she knew how to spot it in Gus <3

Reads Gus and the other hybrids stories when she can!!

Definitely the “I’ll help you get into trouble but only if you don’t get hurt” kinda caregiver

Idk I feel like she’d give really nice hugs or something <3

I don’t have toooo many but.. anyways, Gus is literally my Son, i love him

[ducklooney]

Happy late 80th birthday, Grandma Duck! And happy 76th anniversary of Scrooge McDuck!

I haven't posted anything related to birthdays and anniversaries for a long time, but here I am posting this, even though I'm already more than a month late (because I've been away for a long time).

But, regardless, I'm publishing a special post for one of my favorite characters from Donald Duck comics and the Duckverse in general, as well as one of the best fictional parents, Grandma Duck (Elvira Coot).

It first appears in a short Donald Duck comic in a newspaper published on September 27, 1943. The comic was written by Bob Karp and drawn by Al Taliaferro and George Waiss, and Grandma Duck would later become one of the main characters in Donald Duck comics. Elvira Coot is the daughter of Clinton Coot (founder of the Junior Woodchucks) and Gertrude Gadwall and granddaughter of Cornelius Coot and sister of Casey Coot. Living for a long time on the farm, she learned to be an excellent gardener, cook and a good keeper and breeder of farm animals. And yes, she raised many children, her own, but also her grandchildren and great-grandchildren as well as her nephews and nieces from the side and became a role model for all important members of the Duck family. She especially influenced the life of Donald Duck and that is why she is the best parent in the Duck family. And she is the oldest living as well as among the oldest people in Duckburg.

It mostly gained popularity in comics, first in America, then in European comics. Unfortunately, she didn't appear much in the animation. She only appeared in the Wonderful World of Color episode "This is Your Life, Donald Duck" in 1960, as a cameo character in "Mickey's Christmas Carol", as a cameo character in Sport Goofy in Soccermania and as a cameo character in the original Ducktales episode "Horse Scents" and in two video games. However, in most of the comics, Grandma Duck appears with Gus Goose. Yes, she is helped by two mice from Cinderella, Jaq and Gus.

Also, although this post won't be as dedicated to it as Grandma Duck, let me say that on November 14, 1947, Scrooge McDuck first appeared in the comic "Christmas on Bear Mountain" by Carl Barks, and more about that here: https://ducklooney.tumblr.com/post/701216162745352192

So Happy Anniversary to both Grandma Duck and Scrooge McDuck! Yes, if anyone is asking, in the Marco Rota comics, Scrooge and Grandma are sibling, so maybe this is related. However, they are totally separate and only have connections through Scrooge's sister Hortense and Elvira's son Quackmore.

And now pictures of Grandma Duck from her first appearance until today. Happy belated birthday Grandma Duck and happy anniversary of Scrooge McDuck's first appearance. If you love these characters, feel free to like and reblog this!

[changingplumbob]

Chopra Household: Chapter 6, Part 12

The twins celebrate TV premiere day and Viola ages up to a toddler!

If Viola is attempting to say something it will be in brackets, otherwise you can assume it's just trying out sounds Mercedes has a speech delay and may get words wrong, correct wording will be in brackets if that is the case Savannah aka Honeybee Mercedes aka Little Ladybug Viola aka Green Bean

Lavina: You want... another one? I should think three are enough of a handful already

Rahul: Mum, Cassandra and I want a big family

Lavina: Well I think it’s a terrible idea. The ones you have are already disrespectful

Rahul: Think what you like, we’re trying

Lavina: I suppose you could get lucky and the fourth one will be good mannered

Rahul: Mum you have GOT to stop talking the kids down, they need to be lifted up

Lavina: All this coddling nonsense-

Rahul: I try to be strict mum, I tell them off when they mess up, but there’s only so much they can understand at their age. If you expect me to send them to bed without supper you will be disappointed

Cassandra: Where’s mama? Where’s mama?

Viola: ga du da (I not know)

Cassandra: Here I am Viola

Viola: gree de na na (that’s impossible) *wails*

Cassandra: Oh, it’s okay. Its okay. Mama is here, mama is fine, you are safe green bean

Rahul: Who’s crying? Viola what’s wrong

Viola: *cries* he na di (I not understand)

Cassandra: Turns out she doesn’t like peek-a-boo

Rahul: Don’t tell me I did all that practice on Milton for nothing. Here green bean, watch papa. Watch papa, I’ll do it slowly

Cassandra: Good idea. She’s looking

Rahul: Papa hides. Where did papa go? Oh! Papa is right here with Viola and Mama

Viola: *giggles* gu fa fa (okay that not so scary now)

Cassandra works on her guitar playing before her shift while Rahul takes the calm moment to spend time with Viola.

Rahul: Would you like a younger sibling? I bet you would. You would have an ally against your big sisters wouldn’t you?

Mercedes: TV new (premiere) day here we GOOOOO

Lavina: What

Savannah: It’s a new episode of The Pride Family nana

Lavina: And what’s that

Savannah: Just the best cartoon show. The family’s last name is Lion so they call it the Pride family because a group of lions is a pride

Lavina: Oh how clever you are, here, have a candy

Mercedes: Where’s my candy nana

Lavina: Tell me something clever and you’ll get one

Savannah: Come on nana, Mercedes is super clever

Lavina: As soon as you get in the habit of saying please when you ask, more candy will appear

Rahul: Has it started yet

Mercedes: Almost, 4 and a half minutes to go

Lavina: Don’t tell me you still watch cartoons son

Savannah: Papa is the best at cartoon watching, he always watches with us

Mercedes: Unless Viola is crying

The premiere goes well and at the end Rahul helps the girls with their homework.

Mercedes: Papa I lost my first tooth today

Rahul: Did you little ladybug

Savannah: Yeah in class. We kept it safe now we can both put our teeth under our pillows together

Lavina: But Savannah you lost your tooth several days ago

Mercedes: She was waiting for me nana so we can see the tooth fairy together

Rahul: So if we tick off today, I think you’ve both earned your first scout badge

Mercedes: Yes! Which one

Rahul: Manual says scholarly aptitude

The twins stare blankly at Rahul and then pull confused faces at each other.

Rahul: It means you’ve been doing your homework

The twins understand this and happily celebrate, exchanging best friend bracelets! Rahul goes and wakes a napping Viola for some playtime.

Lavina: Rahul, she needs feeding

Rahul: We’re just playing right now because she’s bored

Lavina: Don’t let the poor thing starve. Feed her

Rahul sighs but scoops Viola off the playmat for a feeding anyway. It is a bit late for her dinner but she hasn’t seemed hungry.

Cassandra: Why are we awake? I think it’s past bedtime

Mercedes: MAMA!

Savannah: We missed you mama

Mercedes: We wanted to see you before bed

Cassandra: My work shift is a bit tricky isn’t it. Okay, come here. Big hugs then teeth and bed

Mercedes: Mama my tooth came out so-

Savannah: We’re going to see the tooth fairy tonight

Cassandra: Only if you actually go to sleep honeybee

Following hugs, kisses and I love you’s, the twins get to bed and tuck their teeth under their pillows.

Cassandra is woken early by two excited children jumping on the bed talking over each other about fairies and simoleons. Eventually she and Rahul manage to shepherd them towards breakfast.

Savannah: They’re quick, but I know I saw a sparkle as they flew

Cassandra: Fairies do sparkle

Mercedes: We need to think, next time we’ll have to see them

Savannah: Hmm. Maybe we-

Lavina: Girls! It’s an hour until school time, why haven’t you started breakfast? And Savannah you’re not even dressed!

Cassandra and Rahul get started on their chores for the day while Lavina watches over the girls who are far to interested in fairies to eat quickly.

Cassandra: *softly* Viola, green bean, time to wake up

Viola: *yawns*

Cassandra: It’s age up day. Mama will help you with your cake

Viola: pa uh Mama?

Cassandra: *gasps* Rahul! RAHUL! She said her first word

Rahul rushes in from lighting candles worrying he missed it. Cassandra scoops Viola out of the crib and turns her towards Rahul.

Cassandra: Can you say mama again for papa? Hmm? Mama for papa

Viola: Mama *yawns and stretches* lo papa

Rahul: Well done green bean! I knew you could do it *tickles tummy*

Cassandra: Please tell me you didn’t just leave fire unsupervised

Rahul blinks and runs back out of the room. Cassandra laughs as Viola nestles into her shoulder. Cassandra carries her to the kitchen and shows her the cake. Viola is very confused by it.

Cassandra: We blow the candles and the flames will go. Bye bye flames

Viola: Mama fla guu (mama flames go?)

Cassandra: Here we can do it together

Cassandra blows a few raspberries on Viola's tummy until the infant is copying the blowing action. Cassandra turns her towards the cake and spit bubbles go everywhere! But with her help the candles go out and Viola giggles in delight.

Viola is a toddler now, and a wild one! I can’t wait to find out her quirks.

Cassandra: Rahul I think we ought to see if she can potty before we head out

Rahul: Yes, that's sounds sensible

Cassandra: Would you help me with potty time

Rahul: Of course my darling. *switches to address Viola* Does someone need to go potty?

Viola: Ga ra papa (I don't know papa)

Cassandra: Sit down green bean

The couple try their best to explain things to Viola but the two and a half year old isn’t following and has an accident.

Rahul: Oh well, can’t be perfect on the first try. Do you want to go on a trip Viola? Hmm?

Cassandra: Let's go to the rec centre, just until the girls will be due home

Rahul: Sounds good. Okay green bean, time to go explore!

Previous ... Next

[thegreymoon]

The Story of Minglan

Let's see how far through this episode I can get without wanting to smack a man. Gu Tingye in particular.

***

Oh, delightful!

The Emperor has picked up secret gardening and his trusted subjects are there to watch him play with dirt like a baby 🙄

I preferred the old Emperor, honestly. This one seems incompetent, but I am putting my hopes in his son and Gu Tingye to keep the Song Dynasty from collapsing.

***

Shameless 🤣🤣

I love how he just goes up to Emperors and demands they give him things 🤣🤣

That's how he got the spear from the old one too!

***

Oh, Rulan, you don't know what a hard life is even as a concept 🙄🙄

Also, LOL, I love how smug Wang Ruofu looks here 🤣🤣

***

LMAO, I love how Rulan expounds on how true love is the meaning of all joy and happiness and Miglan just looks at her like she's lost her mind 🤣🤣

I know that Minglan will eventually experience romantic love with Gu Tingye and tie her entire life to him, but her current state of mind is such an aroace experience 🤣🤣

***

LMAO, their friendship remains one of my favourite things on this show 🤣🤣

***

I can't watch 😫

Like... I know Gu Tingye already knows about Rulan and her boyfriend. It is a part of his plan, in fact. I know that Rulan will not actually come to any serious harm.

BUT STILL!

This drama has instilled sheer terror of secret romances in me 😖

***

The way he cannot deal, LMAO 😅😅

And he was having such a good day, too!

***

And it is the poor servant being beaten again, smh.

***

Well, it's good to know that at least Wang Ruofu would not let them kill her.

***

I have to say, while I do feel sorry for Rulan for getting caught up in Tingye's bullshit, I love this for Sheng Hong!

Not one daughter, but TWO!! getting caught in an illicit affair 🤣🤣 It couldn't have happened to a more deserving man!

***

Coincidentally 🙄 Accidentally 🙄🙄

But how did he even know that they would be there at exactly that time?? IS HE IN LEAGUE WITH THAT JING FELLOW?

***

LMAO, honestly, if my marriage prospects were the men in this drama, I would sooner become a nun too!

Anyway, Granny is PISSED and I am living!! 🔥🔥🔥

***

Oh, now she's your daughter, is she 🙄

***

LMAO, I love Granny! 💛

***

Is this Rulan's boyfriend?

I don't think I ever got a good look at his face.

***

LMAOOOOO, WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT WON'T BE AGGRIEVING MINGLAN??

SHE HAS MOVED OOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNN!!

Her better options include: 1) marrying Gu Tingye, 2) marrying He Hongwen and 3) becoming a nun.

You have no chance.

***

LOL, you'll settle nothing.

***

LMAO, he's so pleased with himself 🤣🤣

Is sis Hualan matchmaking for him?? 👀 Her husband works for Gu Tingye, after all, it makes sense they would be in on this plan.

***

Said the man who has done nothing but lie, sneak and scheme 🙄

Smack him, Minglan!

I mean, yes, also marry him, but smack him hard first!

***

LMAO, you are about to be served a big piece of humble pie!

I'm going to love every moment of watching you fail!

***

MTE.

[bengiyo]

Middleman's Love Ep 5 Stray Thoughts

Last week, the boys went to Songkran. Jade felt bad for Mai and went along with him. Tong got told off by King and went to hang out with Gus, but Gus was hurt by Tong being especially mean to him. Jade had an incredibly reasonable reaction to misunderstanding Mai's request to eat together every day, and then they helped Jade's sister deal with a pervert. Mai confessed to Jade, but he totally misunderstood it again and thought Mai was aiming for a better evaluation. Jade's fudanshi eyes are getting in the way.

Oh good. We're picking up with Mai making sure Jade knows he's serious.

Mai fell in love with Jade when he saw him save that puppy? I'm about it.

Finally! A romantic lead responds to someone who doesn't think they're someone people fall in love with by naming the specific traits they enjoy!

Yes, Mai, go for the obvious seme moves. It's the only way to get through to a fudanshi.

I'm actually enjoying the smartwatch bit.

I do like when we have a dutiful son struggling under the weight of parental expectations.

Gus holding his ground and not easily reconciling with Tong is something that can be so personal.

NGERN ANUPART IS IN THIS SHOW. HOW WAS I NOT TOLD THIS??

Oh my god. This is giving Domundi queer life after school special, but I like the modeling of parental behavior in this scene. Everyone is surprised at first, but rallies to Mai's said and expresses curiosity about Jade while also reiterating their unconditional support and love. Good job, BL.

I love King and Uea being patient with Jade even as they tease him.

Jade is such a mess that Mai's attempts at flirtation consistently go awry.

This company put a decent amount of money into this sports day event. Everyone got outfits and everything.

Well well well. Jade is now jealous of his perception of the potential between Mai and Gus.

Is that the actor who played Valentine in Love Area in this flashback?? It is! Does he break Jade's poor little heart??

He does it in the next scene? Damn!

Oh, this is mean. You can break up with someone without telling them there's something fundamentally wrong with them. This guy suck.

Still, I don't mind the heavy handed flashback here if we're going to see Jade struggle with his own jealousy.

Damn, King! You can't just take that man's egg!!

There goes that jealousy again.

They have played multiple rounds and no one has changed this score board.

Oh, Gus, you are adorable and I love you.

I really love Uea, and love seeing him have fun.

Cannot believe we're getting a montage of Mandee variety content as a plot. Can't believe how amused I am by it.

Yes, Uea, please chide King for his lack of tact, even if the direct approach is probably correct with Jade.

Yes, let Uea hold the award. It's what he deserves.

Oh lord we're ending on a misunderstanding.

I'm so invested in Jade feeling like he deserves love, holy shit. When did this show sneak up on me?

[fandomsandflyingstingrays]

The world came back into focus agonizingly slowly. Eda blinked and blinked again, trying to resolve the shapeless blurs before her eyes into something solid— only, even after the world was clear again, it still didn’t make any sense.

Before her was a mass of twisted metal, a barred window that had been broken open, framing Lilith, drawn and worried, King, now outfitted in a white-and-purple robe speckled with stars, and a long, shadowy hallway behind them. Half a dozen empty bottles of elixir were littered at their feet.

“Thank goodness,” Lilith gasped, hopping into the cage to hug Eda tightly. “That was my last one!”

Eda’s arm reached up unconsciously to pat her sister’s back as she tried to think through her confusion. “What— Lily? I thought that strange child turned you into some kind of puppet.”

Lilith pulled back, biting her lip. “He did. But King made a deal with him to set me free.”

Eda shifted her gaze from her sister to her son, who was looking down at his feet. “That kid… that’s the Collector, isn’t he?”

He nodded.

“King. What did you do?”

Finally, King lifted his head. “It… it seemed like he just wanted a friend. I told him I would play with him if he stopped the draining spell. I didn’t know he’d do any of this.”

“Of course you didn’t.” Eda stepped through the bars, kneeling down to embrace him. “You saved all our skins by stopping the draining spell, King. That’s what matters.”

“Most of our skins, at least. Edalyn, what in the world happened to your arm? Did it disintegrate?”

Eda let go of King, running her fingers down the stump. “Yes and no. Raine ripped it off to disconnect me from my sigil and save me from the spell. The arm disintegrated as soon as they did.”

Lilith’s eyes widened, and she whirled around. “You what?” She asked the empty air.

Eda blinked, slowly lowering her gaze to King. “Has she finally cracked under the pressure?”

“No. It’s… well… I should just show you.”

King stood and Eda followed him over to a line of what he had thought were just shadows… which resolved into shapes… which resolved into more puppets. Adrian, Darius, Eberwolf… and…

“Raine.” Eda’s hand flew to her mouth. “Oh no.”

“They tried to get you to calm down after you turned into the owl beast, but they got hit. I’m so sorry, I wasn’t able to convince the Collector to set them free. The only way I could convince him not to turn you into a puppet was to say you were stuck as the Owl Beast. They insisted on posting the coven heads as guards.”

With difficulty, Eda tore her eyes away from Raine. “But how did you convince him to free Lilith?”

“I said the Owl Beast would need someone to take care of it full-time, and that it couldn’t be me if I was going to have time to play with him.” King sighed. “Speaking of which… I should probably get back to him. He can’t find out that you’re healed or he’ll turn you and Lilith into puppets, too. I need to distract him while you escape.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. I’m not going anywhere without you.”

“You have to. If I leave the Collector, no one on the Isles will be safe. You and Lilith have to go free so that you can figure out a way to beat them.”

Eda shook her head. “I’m not going anywhere without you and Luz. Where is she? Does the Collector have her puppet somewhere?”

King’s face fell, and the terror that sliced through Eda made her stagger. “No,” she gasped, “she’s not—“

“She’s okay!” King promised quickly. “She’s just… in the human realm. With Willow, Gus, Amity, and Hunter. They escaped through the portal door right before the Collector broke it apart.”

Relief was the first thing to course through Eda— with a throbbing, heavy pain a close second. The human realm. So Luz had finally made it back to where she belonged. And the door was broken. That was it. Luz the human had returned to her real family. The bird had left the nest. 

Eda’s throat throbbed, the world before her eyes blurring again. She blinked rapidly. This is good, Eda. This is good. 

“Good,” she managed to choke out. “She’s safe.” She’s where she belongs, Eda wanted to add, but her mouth wouldn’t form the words.

“She’s safe,” King agreed. “And I want you to be, too. So you need to go.”

“Absolutely not. Being separate from Luz is bad enough.”

“Eda,” King begged, exasperated. She held her ground.

“Mom.”

Finally, her eyes met his.

“Go,” he said softly. “Please. I can’t fight back, but you can. Leave now so we can be together later.”

Everything in Eda wanted to protest again. What kind of mother left her son alone like this? What kind of fighter couldn’t even protect one person? But deep down, an awful part of her knew King was right. What could she do here? Fight Raine again, put Lilith and King in danger, all in the hopes of getting to the Collector and, what, attacking them? How had that worked out for her the first time?

“Okay,” she rasped. Then, louder, “Okay.” She bent down to place her hands on King’s shoulders. “But if you need anything, you come find me, all right?”

“I’ll visit as often as I can,” he promised. 

“Good.” She pulled him in for a hug. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” He pulled back, wiping his eyes. “The Collector will be looking for me. I need to go.”

“I’ll see you soon,” Eda said, in a tone that allowed no argument.

“Soon,” King echoed. Eda watched him disappear down the shadowy hall, everything about him slumped, and fought the impulse to race after him with all the strength she had.

Lilith squeezed her shoulder. “We should get going too, Edalyn.”

“I know.” But as she turned back to the broken bars, her eyes caught on Raine once more. “Lily,” she asked, a hitch in her voice, “what does it feel like to be a puppet?”

“It’s… well, it’s—“ Eda turned a glare on her, silently warning her not to sugarcoat it, and Lilith’s shoulders slumped. “It’s not wonderful. You can’t see. You can hear, sometimes, but not always. The only time it’s guaranteed is when the Collector is commanding you.”

You can hear, sometimes. Driven by the words, Eda stepped forward, laying a hand on Raine’s cheek. It felt all wrong— smooth and hard and cold. Dead. Eda swallowed hard, sorting through the thousands of things she wanted to say. All of them years in the making. All of them inadequate. 

Finally, all she could get out was, “I’m so sorry, Rainestorm.”

I’m sorry for pushing you away. I’m sorry for letting you go that day in the woods. I’m sorry failed to protect you, again and again and again. I’m sorry I never found time to apologize properly.

They didn’t speak, didn’t react, but she heard their voice in her head anyway, and she smiled just slightly as she repeated the words. “But I’m not going to stop until I make things right. I promise.”

She stepped back, and to her surprise, Lilith stepped forwards, whacking Raine’s shoulder with her fist. 

“Lily!”

“That’s for ripping my sister’s arm off,” she said, then threw her arms around Raine and hugged them. “But thank you for keeping her safe.”

Eda swallowed again, frantically blinking back the tears that just wouldn’t leave her alone. “They’re good at that,” she whispered.

Lilith stepped back and wrapped an arm around Eda’s shoulders. “Come on. Let’s go figure out a way to return the favor.”

Taking a deep breath, Eda nodded, and turned back to the wide, open wall and the forest beyond, the bars between her prison and freedom twisted and broken in a fit of power she would never be able to remember. Silently, she thanked the owl beast as she stepped forwards, and the sisters crossed the threshold to freedom together. 

[betyloca]

Personalidad oclta

part 2/?

steven x reader/ marc x reader/ jake x reader/ khonshu x reader

summary: the moon boys, after their encounter with their fourth personality, decide to know their origin.

warnings: bad words /doubts about sexuality /transphobia/ maltreatment by Marc's mother/ everything soft at the end.

~~~~~•~~~~~~•~~~~~~

After Thot's explanation to Khonshu that the effects of the papyrus would last 24 hours, the boys wanted to take the opportunity to meet you.

Back at the hotel where you were expected, a certain person was excited to ask about everything for you.

Steven: How did you create yourself? How was your reaction to being in a man's body? did you already know about us? Did you meet my pet Gus? What was Khonshu's reaction when he found out about you? did you know about lay...

Jake: calm down pendejo , he's not going to die

Steven: I'm sorry, I got excited.

y/n: don't worry cariño

Steven: Don't overwhelm you.

Jake: Yes to me.

Marc: I'm not asking you.

jake *rolls eyes*

y/n: answering your questions, my origin was when Marc experienced doubts about his sexuality as a teenager.

Jake: You're gay *looking at Marc*

Marc: No, you idiot.

Y/N: As I said, when I came up I wasn't surprised to be in Marc's body, I already knew that I didn't own it.

What if I couldn't help dressing like a woman, when I went out there were always transphobic comments from some people but I didn't care.

Steven: It must be horrible.

y/n: I got used to it, what I didn't expect was mom's reaction.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Marc's mom: What the hell are you wearing?

y/n: it's not what you think

Marc's mom: you are a phenomenon, I can't believe what you've committed

y/n: just listen...

Marc's mom: Is it my makeup? is it my clothes? were you stealing from me?

y/n: no, I never...* hit*

Marc's mom: damn I hope you burn in hell

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jake: what a son of a bitch

Steven: She's my mother.

Marc: our correction our mother

Y/n: stop fighting la vieja ya está muerta.

well to what I was saying, yes I always knew about you and yes I knew your fish

Steven: His name was Gus.

y/n: I know

*door sound*

Jake: *happy* the food arrived

Marc: I pay

Jake: *bringing the pizza*

Marc: How was Khonshu's reaction?

y/n: I'm honest, I hated myself.

Steven: like he did to me

Jake: *with mouth full* that crow doesn't hate

y/n: it was hard at first but we started to tolerate each other

Khonshu: I hate you

y/n: I'm more of an idiot

Jake: those who fight love each other

khonshu and y/n: shut up

Jake: Okay.

Marc: Tonight will be heavy.

Steven: I don't think so* happy seeing y/n*

Marc: *smiling thinking*"maybe it's not so bad."

[neuxue]

hello, fellow liehuo enjoyer here, and I have been making forays into 无限流 lately — I have been sitting on the edge of the qqgk cliff kicking my feet idly for a while, would it be too presumptuous of me to ask you to push me over? (in less flowery language, would you recommend qqgk to a fellow liehuo and 无限流 reader?)

hey! always good to hear from another weapons enthusiast liehuo enjoyer.

And sure, I can certainly try to push you wuxia-style off the qqgk cliff; it's no leap into a fiery abyss of agony but it was a fun read. (as an aside, now that I think about it there is technically a cliff-jump in qqgk, for what that's worth).

Honestly I wouldn't usually think to compare the two, and I probably wouldn't put qqgk on an 'if you enjoyed lhjc, read this next' list because they sit in different spaces in my mind, but there's no reason you can't enjoy both; I certainly did!

The main thing I'd say first, just to set some tonal expectations, is that qqgk feels like a much lighter read, in terms of both prose and content, and it does not have anywhere near the knife levels of liehuo. (though let's be honest that's not actually saying much).

Whether that's a good, bad, or neutral thing is obviously a matter of taste, but I'm going to go out on a limb (like a little bird) here and assume that if you enjoyed liehuo you probably enjoy some heartrending agony angst or pain in a story. To which I will say, qqgk does in fact have some knives; not as many and not as agonising but well-executed and in a way that packs a kind of surprising punch, in part because you're not entirely expecting it (or at least I wasn't, after the first couple arcs). Similarly, there are some moments of genuine beauty and pathos in a way that feels not unlike those little flashes priest sometimes drops in the midst of an otherwise lighthearted scene, though again on a different scale.

Sort of relatedly, another thing I liked about qqgk is that while it starts off feeling like just a light fun read and like a lot of the details are throwaway decoration, I was again surprised by the degree to which the loose ends or 'throwaway' details or character traits that initially seem just there for the aesthetic get tied up or tied into the larger whole in a way that's more satisfying than I anticipated.

But now for the fun part, which was me going 'huh, now I kind of want to make a list of similarities between the two in an if-you-liked-this kind of way'. So! Some things you get in lhjc that you can expect to see in some way in qqgk:

two extremely competent protagonists initially using that competence largely for the purpose of antagonising each other as they are forced under protest but by circumstance to collaborate

blood... drinking? bloodplay? unclear. anyway, that.

Who Gets To Be A Person (to a lesser degree than liehuo, yes, and qqgk leans more into 'tool' than 'weapon' but it's definitely there)

ensemble cast shenanigans (again, qqgk takes a lighter tone here and I cannot in good faith promise you a Gu Yuexi analogue but once again there are some that turn out kind of surprisingly... more than you initially expect)

Wow That Sure Is A Healthy Mother-Son Relationship, Yikes

character(s) who hide their pain or past (or both) only to have it forcibly revealed by circumstances outside their control in the most visceral way possible

memory shenanigans (which are hit or miss for me, but I liked the way these were done in both cases)

characters fighting over who gets to self-sacrifice for whom, the realisation that your beloved has a death wish, etc.

undead interactions on a boat

character(s) whose approach to problem-solving is 'if you set it on fire enough it will cease to be a problem, or will at least become a different problem'

Anyway, I really was pleasantly surprised by qqgk because I didn't know what to expect and the first arcs felt like 'okay this is fun and entertaining but I'm not sure I'm completely on board' and then it went 'okay hang on let me just--' and went harder than I thought it would. I will admit there are aspects of the ending that I didn't love, but in a way that honestly doesn't impact my overall enjoyment of it, or my satisfaction with the closure of the story.

I don't know if I have done a very good job selling it or presenting a coherent image of it but that's what I've got, so if that sounds like a good time to you then I'd be curious to hear what you eventually think!

(I'd also be interested in any 无限流 that you would recommend to a fellow liehuo enjoyer, as it's a genre I'm enjoying but have also not read extensively in)

[imreallyloveleee]

ok i've finally started season 6 of better call saul (ahhhHHHHHH) so there's no better time than the present for me to vomit out all of my thoughts and feelings on this show thus far

first of all, i already want to start rewatching this show, like, right now, before i even finish it. unreal

my biggest complaint at this point is that i feel they lost the plot with Mike a bit in s5. his is a trickier needle to thread than jimmy's, i think - there's less daylight between parking attendant mike and stone cold fixer mike than there is between jimmy mcgill and saul goodman. but i'm just not convinced that this guy would agree to work for gus fring long-term. i guess we're supposed to believe that the guilt he feels, blaming himself for getting his son killed and depriving kaylee of a dad in the process, is SO overwhelming that he'll willingly do these terrible things so he can "pay her back" with this massive nest egg he plans to build up. but like...this is a conclusion i'm coming to by sitting here overthinking about it, not a conclusion that i feel is coming organically from the show. something just feels off. and i don't think it's intentional, i think they just missed the mark. that said, i liked his "bad choice road" speech to jimmy a lot at the end of the season.

speaking of kaylee, oh my god the scenes with her are goddamn annoying, and the scenes with her mom are even worse. i honestly feel bad for the woman, she's probably not even that bad of an actor but on a show overflowing with people at the absolute top of their game she really stands out as a weak link.

NACHITO 😭 i know he's not gonna make it out of here alive. poor guy. he just really loves his dad!!!!!!!!

Lalo is such a FANTASTIC addition tho. it's so hard to add a compelling character this late in the game but he's so charismatic he even makes me hate Hector Salamanca scenes like 80% less

I could have done with less Gus Fring on this show in general. he was incredible on BrBa, but he just...doesn't need to be fleshed out more? and he kind of isn't, he's just around a lot? idk, but i'll take this as an opportunity to share that one time i saw Giancarlo Esposito wearing a black cowboy hat and buying a package of raw chicken at Whole Foods in Austin TX like 9 years ago

ok now onto the lawyer-y side of things. in contrast to Mike's story, I think Jimmy/Saul's is pretty much pitch perfect. i believe his decisions, i believe his hesitations, i believe the push and pull.

(sidenote just remembered i also deeply hate the salamanca twins, always have always will, on BrBa they always felt like some lame reddit bro's idea of a "badass villain" they're just so flat and boring and i wish they weren't in this show either ugh)

anyway back to Jimmy - obviously, this show would not work whatsoever if Jimmy didn't work as a character, but it's still like, HOLY SHIT do they make him work. he's so tragic, you just KNOW that he could be better and you want him to be better and you know he wants to be better but: he can't. he won't. we know where this story is heading. and at his core he will always be this boy who really really really loved his big brother and never felt that love returned and never will and now i'm going to cry just thinking about the fucking scummy lawyer from breaking bad oh my goddddd

finally: kim. kim. KIM. having only watched 6x01 at this point - i feel like i've only barely scratched the surface on understanding who this character is. i don't know what to say, but i just rewatched this scene and it's maybe my favorite thing i've ever seen, with the exception of like 8 other kim scenes (most of which consist of her dressing down an idiot man, her boyfriend included)

JIMMY AND KIM FOREVER 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 and if you're wondering if i'm having Fic Thoughts, the answer is yes, yes i am

p.s. i've been listening to some of the insider podcast episodes and my GOD what a breath of fresh air to listen to peter gould and vince gilligan after being an unwilling prisoner of roberto aguirre sacasa for 7 goddamn years

[rocksandmirrors]

THE FACT THAT HIS ILLUSIONS WILL TAKE NOTES FOR HIM (even they don’t always listen) THE FACT THAT HE CAN DO THAT IN THE FIRST SEASON BEFORE ANY DEVELOPMENT AND GROWTH

ALSO IN END IF SEASON ONE WHEN HE MADE ILLUSIONS OF HIM WILLOW AND LUZ GOING WITH THE CLASS WHILE THEY SNUCK OFF?????

AND “dad wants me to be a master illusionist, but that’s easy.”

MY BOI???? NO ITS NOT?????? MOST WITCHES DONT THINK THATS EASY??????? SON YOU TRICKED TWO COVEN HEADS WITH YOUR ILLUSIONS

ONE OF THEM BEING HEAD OF THE ILLUSIONIST COVEN AND COMPLETELY FUCKED HIM UP

If gus wanted to he could do so much psychological damage- let’s hope Matt isn’t as op with illusions because Matt WILL do psychological damage

YES YOU GET IT!!!! i don't think Gus realizes how talented he is, like he could actually be dangerous hgasdsa. thank god he's such a little sweetheart <3 if we ever get a glimpse of him and the rest of the squad being older by the end of WAD, i'd love to see what he could do!!

and tbh as much as i love Matt, i don't think he'll ever be on the same level. he will use his magic to prank ppl tho

[psalm22-6]

The Gamin of Paris, an early example of a Les Miserables fix-it fic

I came across Gavroche: The Gamin of Paris by reading a review from 1872 (the year it was published), a review which made me say what the hell?? On the Wikipedia page for Les Miserables Adaptations, Gavroche is listed first among the literary adaptations, with no indication of how wild the review lead me to believe it would be. So I bought a copy off Ebay and read it, which brought me immense amusement and equal parts terror. Now I know we are all used to adaptations of Les Miserables which diverge from the original but I think it's fair to say that this goes beyond adaptation so please enjoy my summary (and below the cut I will put some notes about the author, the publisher, etc.) The story begins with Gavroche hiding in the bushes at the house of an unnamed old man and his companion Mere Plutarque Mary Anne. From his vantage point, Gavroche sees Montparnasse attempt to rob an old passerby. Yes, Montparnasse has a rose in his mouth and yes he is dressed to the nines. The man gives Montparnasse his purse and a sermon: Hugo’s original rant was 1,118 words, but while this lecture is considerably paired down, the impact…well, as you will see the impact is far greater. When Gavroche later encounters Montparnasse, the young man says of the experience:  “Such a sermon – my faith! It has nearly spoiled my taste for business ever since. If you’ll believe me Gavroche, I have some thoughts of turning honest man.” When Gavroche steals the purse from Montparnasse to give to Mary Anne, the author remarks: “He was rewarded not not [sic] an hour after, by a sixpence given him by a gentleman, whose hat he rescued from a gutter.” We learn that Gavroche’s mother, Mother Jondrette, has sold her two youngest sons to a woman named Magnon Manon. This Manon (besides being a criminal) is a nurse who bought the boys to replace two boys who died in her care. She then loses the two adopted boys. One day, while Gavroche is contemplating theft (“we regret to say”), he encounters the two lost children and decides to care for them. Gavroche asks them their names.

“My name is Adolphe, sir,” said the elder boy; “his,” pointing to his brother, “is Gustav.” “What fine names!” said Gavroche with a shrug, “fit for a crown prince! Well, I shall call you Dolph and Gus.”

Time passes and Gavroche cares for the boys. Things began to look up for him.

Gavroche, with the cares of a family on his hands, found, as it happened – or rather as Providence so ordered – that his condition was no worse but better than before. The scanty food, picked up by chance, as the crumbs and berries of sparrows are, proved more nearly enough for three than it had been for one. Perhaps this was because his new sense of responsibility awoke in him a desire for employment which he had never felt before. All he knew was, that errands fell in his way in a marvelous manner.

Now, by some narrative maneuvering owing to the fact that Gavroche is the main character of this story, events are a bit out of the familiar order and the Gorbeau House ambush arrives 30 chapters later than it would have in the original table of contents. On the night of the ambush (and not after) Gavroche goes to see his parents, whereupon he overhears Montparnasse and Brujon speaking:

“How soon will the crib be ready?” asked Montparnasse. “Not for an hour yet,” answered the other, a thickset man with a harsh, croaking voice. “It is only to pluck a pigeon?” “We may have to pinch it a little to make it sing,” answered the other; sinister words which Gavroche well understood. Montparnasse moved uneasily. “Do you need me, Brujon?” he asked. “Not if you are so flush of jobs as not to want a finger in this one,” answered the other, laughing. “There will be enough to share without you.” “I will be your watch,” said Montparnasse. “You’ll need one.” “Eponine is on the watch,” said Brujon. “You can keep her company instead of blacking your pretty face.” 

It appears Montparnasse can no longer stomach violent crime. Surmising that his family is involved in what is about to take place, Gavroche sneaks into the house and hides in the neighbor’s room. The neighbor is a “poor student” who is not important and not at home. Looking through a hole in the wall, Gavorche recognizes that the man his father is targetting is the same man who delivered the sermon to Montparnasse. The man, named Jean Valjean, knows Jondrette as “Fabantou” “Faber” and Valjean himself is living under the alias “Leblanc” (I guess “Fauchelevent” was too much for the young American reader.) Jondrette offers to sell Leblanc a painting, “on which were painted some coarse figures, no doubt a sign-board from some tavern,” but that is not important to the plot. Jondrette reveals that he knows Leblanc is Valjean:

“You remember me now, I see, the man whom you robbed of the child who was a fortune to him – the boy for whose keep I received a sum which sufficed to maintain my family. You are the rogue who sneaked and spied upon me, who complained of me in the courts for ill-treatment of the child, offering to take charge of him yourself till the return of his parents, and getting me three months in prison which were the beginning of my downfall!”

You may be wondering who is this boy? He is also not important to the plot.  Gavroche wants to help Valjean but does not want to go to the police or betray his family. (In some sentences the name “Marius” is here just replaced with “Gavorche.”) Jondrette demands money from Valjean and proposes to dictate a letter to him: 

“What shall I write?” asked the prisoner. “You have a steward?” asked Jondrette. “Yes.” “What is his name?” “Simon.”

Simon is not important either, I just thought I would mention him. Valjean jumps up and seizes a red-hot chisel from the fire, saying:

“The money you demand I could not give you, and if I could, what is held in trust for the unfortunate should not be wasted on the wicked to save my life. It is in your hands. Then take it.”

Valjean throws the chisel out an open window. (There is no Azelma so the window was not broken.) Gavroche has the idea to write a note saying “the beaks are coming” and throws it into the room, causing the assailants to flee through the window. Jondrette says invokes the rule of ladies first and they do NOT fight over who gets out first. Gavroche frees Valjean (“This is one of Brujon’s knots but whatever he can tie I can untie”) and introduces himself as “Little Gavroche.” Valjean tells Gavroche to come home with him but Gavroche says he must get back to Adolphe and Gustav.  The Jondrette parents are soon arrested and Eponine is taken to “the House of Refuge” but “the police not being omniscient, they could hardly have known of the attempted robbery in the Jondrette garret, as no information was furnished them by the old man who had so nearly been its victim.” Their arrest is due to some unrelated, unmentioned crime. Gavroche encounters Montparnasse again and Montparnasse enlists him to help break Jondrette out of prison and, as in the original, the father does not even recognize his son. Meanwhile, the boys are still around, getting up to quirky adventures such as this one recounted by Adolphe: 

“We went down to the wharves, but they shoved us about so that I was afraid Gustav would get hurt, and was just going to take him away, when only think, a great Englishman who was there stumbled against us, and almost knocked Gustav into the water, so that I cried out quite loud, and then he boxed my ears for bringing Gustav there, and then he gave me a sixpence.” 

Now it is time for an insurrection. Why? The author declines to state. It is noted that “no matter how quiet and prosperous the times may appear to be,” revolution may spark at any time and that, besides those with good intentions, there are also “the desperate, the discontented, the criminal, ignoble souls who hope for disorders which offer a chance to plunder.” The author asserts that the majority of people “denounce all disturbances equally, whether their cause be a just or an unjust one. To them all insurrection is the revolt of the dog against the master, worthy to be punished with the whip and the chain: but when the revolutionary effort is successful, when the dog shows itself a lion, they throw up their caps and shout 'Long live the people.' ” (It can be hard to figure out which lines are the author’s own invention and which come from Hugo. This bit about dismissing revolutionaries as dogs was originally applied to the bourgeoisie, not “the great body of citizens.”)

Insurrectionists build a barricade in the Rue St. Denis, before the tavern of Mother Houcheloup Hourdeloup. The insurrectionists are led by a man named Marius (this Marius bears no resemblance whatsoever to Marius Marius and I have to believe that “Enjolras” was simply deemed too hard to pronounce). Marius has two lieutenants, Joly and Combeferre Comberre. Gavroche decides to join them. He has lost his way since he became separated from Adolphe and Gustave some time ago. He had tried to distract himself “with such amusements as he could find, but often, even in the best contested game of hop-scotch or pitch-and-toss, he would stop and mutter gloomily, ‘But where the deuce can my two children be?’ ”  Gavroche asks Marius for a gun since he had one “thirty years ago” in the “last revolution.” He also requisitions a cart for the French Rebuplic and runs into the National Guard (this is just happening a bit out of order but that is to be expected). Meanwhile, in the Luxembourg gardens, “Dolphy” and Gustav are eating soggy cake when suddenly an old man appears and offers them a whole non-soggy cake. The man is, of course, Jean Valjean, and, through speaking to the boys, they realize that they are all looking for Gavroche. “Surely, in meeting them, Providence gives me a sign that I shall find the lad I sought for in vain thus far, and pay the debt I owe him,” thinks Valjean. He takes the boys to his home and sits outside, wondering what to do. “A republican himself in his convictions, he had no thought of joining in this revolt, which he believed to be ill-timed and absolutely in vain.” Then, who should walk by breaking lamps for the Republic but Gavroche? Valjean attempts to convince Gavroche not to return to the barricades, but when that fails, he puts on his National Guard uniform and goes after him. The insurrectionists know that no one is coming to join them and have resolved to die for their cause. When Valjean arrives, Gavroche vouches for him. Then, during the first attack, Gavroche threatens to blow up the barricade with a powder keg! Again Valjean tries to convince Gavroche to leave, this time telling him that Adolphe and Gustav are at the house, but Gavroche again declines. He goes out to collect cartridges singing:

I am merry, I am free, That’s because my money’s spent; All my clothes in rags you see, That’s the fault of the Government. Not a penny can I give, That’s because my money’s spent; Like a little bird I live, That’s the fault of the Government. I am done for, I suppose, That’s because my money’s spent; In the gutter goes my nose, That’s the fault of the –

He collapses, unable to finish the last verse after having been shot. “Unheeding the rain of bullets that fell about him,” Valjean retrieves his body while Comberre gets the cartridges. However, the barricade is quickly attacked again and Marius, Joly, and Comberre are all killed. Valjean escapes with Gavroche. In the sewers, Valjean is “guided by chance, or rather, as he himself felt, led by the providence of God” and strengthened by the “miraculous gift [of] God.” He encounters a group of policemen. The police are not there searching for insurgents. They are “making their half-yearly inspection of the sewers; for in spite of the insurrection, the wheels of government still ran on in the old grooves.” Valjean goes unnoticed. Finally, Valjean reaches a locked grate and encounters a man who offers to let him out for a price:

He saw standing beside him a man dressed in a style more suited for the streets of Paris than for this den of the sewers. . . At sight of that dandified well-fitting black coat, and the youthful handsome face of its wearer, the old man had not a moment’s hesitation in recognizing him. It was Montparnasse. . .He looked at the young man with strange feelings. He felt that [Montparnasse] was as truly sent by Providence to his aid, and to save the life of Little Gavroche, as if he had been a shining angel instead of a bandit, who had taken refuge in the sewer; and that he too was sent to Montparnasse to save him from something worse than death itself.

Montparnasse does not recognize Valjean or Gavroche but, pressuring that the old man has killed the young one in order to rob him, Montparnasse proposes to split the profits. Valjean agrees, on the condition that Montparnasse will receive his share when they arrive “at a better place where we can look over the papers together.” Montparnasse agrees. Montparnasse is slightly surprised to see that Valjean’s victim is a child but it doesn’t bother him much. He even offers to help Valjean sink the body in the Seine but the old man explains that they need the body in order to obtain their reward. At Valjean’s house on the rue St. Antoine, Montparnasse is terrified when he realizes that the child is Gavroche and confused when he recognizes Valjean. Valjean explains that he is an escaped galley-slave, an inventor, and a manufacturer.

“And why, Monsieur Galley-slave, have you murdered this helpless child? Not for booty, assuredly, for the poor little gamin never owned a penny but to share it. Even wolves would not tear wolves’ cubs for sport.” “Young man. . .I have not murdered but saved this child. I did not give him wounds, but bound them. Once long ago my hand was reddened with blood shed by an angry blow. That was my crime, bitterly repented and expiated through long years. . . Help me, my son, to draw this boy from the edge of the pit into which he is sliding. Here is your share of the riches I promised you should be gained by this night’s work.”

Gavroche wakes up weeks later, and finds that noxious Paris has been replaced with “a quiet seaside village on the northern coast, called Clairvue.” Upon seeing Valjean, Gavroche believes that the old man has also died and that they are both in heaven, but he is confused to see Adolphe and Gustav there too. Slowly, as he is nursed back to health by a woman named old Jeannette, he realizes that he is not dead. The boys tell Gavroche that when he is better, he can play with them by “the great water.”

“What do you mean by the great water?” said Gavroche. “Is it the river Seine?” “O, no, it is the real ocean!” cried Adolphe.

“Mother Street” has been replaced by “Mother Ocean.” Valjean sends the boys away before they can say more. Only when Gavroche has had more time to recover does Valjean allow Gavroche another visitor:

A handsome jaunty young sailor appeared at the door, and, approaching, disclosed the face and form of Montparnasse. . . “My faith! You look like a fancy picture of a sailor lad!” “Don’t you like it, Gavroche? Isn’t it becoming?” asked Montparnasse with a well-satisfied smile, turning himself round for inspection like a young girl with her first ball-dress. “I think so,” answered Gavroche emphatically. “The blue shirt beats the black swallowtail to nothing. The girls will look at you and make you more conceited than ever, Montparnasse.” Gavroche was right. Nothing was ever so becoming to the handsome face and slim alert figure of Montparnasse, as the blue shirt, opening to show his round young throat, the knotted silk neckerchief, the wide white trousers, and the Panama hat with its broad ribbon, which replaced the tight-fitting black suit in which the dandy of the bandits had rejoiced.

It is revealed that Valjean, knowing that Montparnasse’s “weakness,” “vanity,” and “love of admiration” had been the driving causes of his criminality, purchased for him a sailor’s uniform and, knowing that Montparnasse would be “followed with glances of sincere and open admiration from the pretty fisher-girls of Clairvue,” had decided to make Montparnasse into a sailor. Valjean “smoothed away all difficulties” for Montparnasse by purchasing a ship and instating Montparnasse as overseer, rather than as a common sailor. Also, Valjean legally adopted Montparnasse and the other sailors, “receiving Montparnasse as the son of the liberal owner of their vessel, were careful to make the first trials of his new profession as pleasant and as little arduous as possible.” Away from the “evil associates of his Parisian life” the “gentleness and goodness in Montparnasse’s heart were awakened.” He even took on a new name: Victor Leblanc. Valjean, of course, considered himself to be the father of all four boys, remarking “I shall have four brave sons now, in place of my lonely old age. God is very good to us, my children.” In Valjean, Gavroche “found father, mother, kindred, all in one.”

All was well, until one day Victor encounters a ghost from his past: Manon, who was in Clairvue, en-route to England, in the guise of a lady’s maid. Manon attempts to lead Victor back into a life of crime but Victor refuses. However, he does learn a few things from her.

“Your sister Eponine is dead, Gavroche. She died of consumption in the Hospital of Saint Sadelon.” “Poor Eponine,” said Gavroche seriously, but not deeply grieved for the sister he had scarcely known. “She was always sickly. The hospital was at least a better place to die than the street.”

Victor also realizes through his conversation with Manon that Adolphe and Gustav – originally named “Jean” and “George” and lost to her while she was “satisfying the police” –  are the children of Jondrette and the biological brothers of Gavroche.

[Valjean] bowed his head. Prayerfully he felt that Providence had committed to his care the sons of his deadly enemy, that he might be a father to the worse than fatherless. . . “My own brothers!” [said Gavroche.] And then, after a pause – “But, father, they were my brothers a truly before, since we are all your children.”

Together the family walks off to look at the sunset, which was “as clear and calm as that which was closing the storm and struggle of Jean Valjean’s life.” The End. 

This post is already so long that adding a read more seems ridiculous but whatever. Note about the author: Gavroche: The Gamin of Paris was “translated and adapted by” M.C. Pyle aka Margaret Churchman Pyle. Margaret was the mother of the famous children’s book illustrator Howard Pyle and of the prolific but lesser know children’s book writer, Katherine Pyle. The Pyle family was one of Wilmington Pennsylvania’s old Quaker families (side note: although Howard didn’t ever illustrate a scene from Les Miserables as far as I am aware, he was a great influence on Mead Schaeffer who did).

Note about the publisher: Porter & Coates, located in Philadelphia, published over 100 children’s books. Their popular Alta Edition series (to which most copies of "Gavroche" for sale today belong) consisted of reprints and was published between the 1880s and 1890s. (Whereas the original Gavroche was printed in 1872 but I’ve only seen one photograph online of what I believe to be a first edition.) Pyle's other book, published around the same time and through Porter & Coates, was called Minna in Wonderland and could generously be called an "alternative" to Alice in Wonderland. The same is true of Gavroche. Note on Margaret's translation:  I did not compare Pyle's story line by line to the original text but for the most part (for the parts which were actually from the text) her translation seemed fairly true, though obviously heavily abridged and simplified for her readers.  I liked her choice of English slang equivalents, which I compared to those used in the Wilbour translation (the translation I assume she would have had at her disposal). Wilbour mostly left the argot untranslated, whereas I thought Pyle's word choice was readable and fun.  I also liked Pyle's choices for Gavroche's songs. At least one song is a traditional English language folk song, while others seem to be Pyle's invention, rather than attempted translation. Here they are:

[After his parents are arrested] I’m a jolly stroller boy, Bold and free, bold and free. Now an orphan I must roam, Since my folks are all from home. I can bear it till they come Back to me, back to me. [On his way to join the insurrection] Louis Philippe will lose his sheep, And never again shall find them; The people of France will make an advance, And leave their King behind them. [While scouting out the National Guard and stealing a cart, #236 in the Roud Folk Songs index] Let’s go to the woods, said Robin to Bobbin; What will we do there? Said Bobbin to Robin; We’ll shoot at a wren, said Robin to Bobbin, ‘Tis the best of all four-footed game. [Sung to let the insurrectionists know he is near] Morning is coming, The day dawns clear; Open the door Till my story you hear, In blue uniform And bearskin chapeau The soldiers are coming; Co-co-rico!