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givehimthemedicine · 2 years

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I'm gonna say something that might make elmax tumblr mad at me but:

as much as El and Max are besties in the sense of the nonexclusive title, I can't honestly say I think they're mutual best friends in the sense of literal #1 ranking of emotional closeness.

Max becomes El's best friend within the same hour that they meaningfully interact, surpassing Mike by miles. no contest. but I think Max's best friend is still Lucas.

Max doesn't really share emotionally with El. she's a brand new friend and doesn't really have the, what do I want to say, life experience? to become Max's go-to confidant right away, which is a pretty major pillar of emotionally close friendship. El is so new to normal human relationships and regular life across the board. she would listen and care if Max confided in her, undoubtedly, but someone to whom you'd have to pause and explain and define aspects of what you just said honestly isn't going to be your #1 choice when you're upset and just want to vent and be understood. there's definitely no lack of emotional intelligence or anything like that from El, she's just not the easiest one to communicate with.

El actually COULD understand Max a lot better than Max might expect - and vice versa - but since neither of them really tells the other anything about themselves (at least not onscreen), they don't know just how much they can relate to each other yet.

what little sharing Max has done with El has been mostly in brief unintentional(?) inferences that El didn't engage with ("happy screams" being a troubling insight into her home life, etc). and I see extremely little evidence that El has ever told Max or anyone else much about the lab.

their friendship in s3 is more about being kids and having fun together (which is not something shallow! they both need that so badly) and they have more of a mentor-mentee relationship in some ways. just when their friendship could be getting deep, they get separated which is horribly unfortunate.

I don't mean to paint Max as the giver and El as the taker - they're different things to each other. Max drops everything and immediately offers advice, friendship, and warmth to a girl who's previously been rude to her for no reason, expecting no apology and asking nothing in return. but El spends season 3 body-shielding Max from monsters, is there to hold Max when Billy dies, and moves mountains unasked to find/protect/save Max in 4. she is very much there for Max emotionally, just verbal/written communication isn't her strong suit, and that's especially hard in a long distance friendship where that's the only way you can communicate.

Lucas, on the other hand. he has the distinction of being the first person to make her feel accepted in an unfamiliar town, her first true friend in Hawkins or possibly ever, and I don't think that's overwritten by one shopping spree.

Max really opened up quite soon to Lucas considering her trust issues in season 2 and he made it a very positive experience for her. not much of substance happened between them in 3 but in 4, their relationship seems to have its greatest emotional depth ever despite being broken up, and she voiced her literal deepest darkest secrets and suicidal ideations in front of him. (El heard it too, but Max didn't actually consent to that, although I imagine she would have). Henry used Lucas for a vision, knowing her fears would hurt the worst coming from Lucas's mouth. Lucas is the first person Max mentioned she had already looked for when she went to Dustin's house to talk about what she saw, and that was before their reconciliation.

but now here's something to offend lumax tumblr as well: I don't think Max has been Lucas's best friend at any point so far.

am I forgetting a time he's told her anything about himself? a time she's complimented him? I can't think of a topic he's discussed seriously with her that didn't pertain to Max herself, their relationship, or upside down stuff. his best friend is still within the party - Mike or Will I bet.

I could absolutely see Lucas finding Max daunting to open up to, even before her depression in 4. the way she treats him in 3 doesn't give me the sense there's a whole lot of sharing or validation going on for Lucas. I'm not saying she's a bad girlfriend to him, but I am saying she must make him feel a lot less emotionally cared for than he does her, unless he's extremely aware that they have very different ways of showing love. Max really is nice and definitely would listen and care if he shared seriously (and she has shown him that, just not often or recently), but she definitely has an exterior you have to get past first and I wonder how much he tries to do that.

I assume their friendship/relationship had to have had more depth than what we actually saw onscreen but I feel like Lucas lets his feelings be easily swept under the rug when it comes to Max vs the boys. the "the lady is never wrong" policy he learns from his father may keep the peace, but it isn't healthy for the long term. and this may be a subset of that, but I think Lucas prioritizes Max's hardships above his own (that's gonna be huge for him in 5 and beyond - he got traumatized by what happened to Max too, but he won't be inclined to seek validation of that especially not from her).

while they both absolutely care and empathize, Max and Lucas's backgrounds and struggles aren't ones that each other can personally relate to much. Max doesn't know what it's like to get bullied for being black and Lucas doesn't know what it's like to grow up in a poor, broken, abusive home.

but while their childhoods looked drastically different too, El and Max actually could relate to a lot about each others' pasts. El wouldn't know much about being a child of divorce, but can relate to having an abusive big brother, to wanting to escape, to major trust issues and craving love, to refusing to grow up to be what her abusers want her to be. Max doesn't know what it's like to grow up in a lab, but she can relate to being a little girl unsafe in her own home, to having a hard-learned no snitching policy, to living with a bad man she's supposed to call dad whose abuse causes her sibling to abuse her in turn, to refusing to repeat that cycle.

El and Max have potential to have an incredibly deeply understanding mutual best friendship, and I think they will once they get a chance to spend some time together, process what just happened in 4, and open up to each other about more.

simply aging and maturing will contribute to this as well but I think what Max has learned in 4 will make her more emotionally available with Lucas (disregarding that in reality she'd probably close off more than ever after 4 but it's the last season and we don't have time for that) in fact she was already starting to open up to him more just before she died. I hope they don't rush the relationship aspect of lumax because their friendship is sososo important and deserves its own attention tbh. I want to see some mutual emotional sharing between them where Lucas's trauma isn't sidelined.

also El and Lucas, the combination with I'd say the least in common, absolutely must do some massive bonding over Max. I want the two who were slowest to warm up to each other as kids to be absolutely ride or die. the brot3 potential is there I just need everyone to communicate!

tl;dr: Max is El's best friend but El isn't Max's best friend, and Lucas is Max's best friend but Max isn't Lucas's best friend

#lucas sinclair #max mayfield #eleven #lumax #elumax but in a brot3 way #I MUST KNOW what is the status of el and max's communications in s4 #in other news I think will/mike and robin/steve are the only mutual best friendships on the show #all I ever hear on here is that mike is brushed off and never talks about his needs #but can I ask when lucas ever gets to talk about himself #long post #character analysis

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sumerus-little-sprout · 4 months

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LORE P&F X GENSHIN AU

You guys (at least some of you guys) wanted an update about the lore of an AU I've started for fun (seriously idk what I was even thinking of)

Please take into consideration that this might be subject to lots of updates heh~

So to start things off, I began on the universe with a light note with some comedic banter between Cyno and Sethos, and with the title I've given the dialogue, I'm quite sure you could guess who was who. Cyno was Perry the platypus and Sethos is Dr. Doofinsmirtz.

Okay, now for the casting for the rest of the characters. Only one problem.......there isn't any.

Most of the characters can't be 'cast' per se with nobody from Genshin having barely or any similar traits to the characters of Phineas and Ferb. I've got a few, however.

Isabella: Nilou

Baljeet: Nahida

Buford: Scaramouche

Major Monogram: Azar (don't give me hate comments yet be patient pls)

Monty (I think that's his name?): Alhaitham

Carl: Xingqiu (Don't ask (Seriously imagine this guy singing that one song Carl sang))

For the people thinking 'What about Phineas and Ferb?! They're the main characters you should've at least cast them right!'

...yeah about that there is no Phineas and Ferb. I'll explain that right now.

The actual show of Phineas and Ferb is about them along with their entire gang of friends doing crazy and insane things on every day of their summer in an attempt to make the most out of it, inventing the wildest and wackiest inventions while their sister Candace tried to 'bust' them and get them in trouble with their parents.

Well, this is Genshin, we all know it's gonna be more complicated (and possibly more depressing) than that. So, I was thinking, since I've previously confirmed the existence of the Akademia in this universe, then obviously most of the Sumeru characters attend it.

So, instead of them being a couple of kids just enjoying their summer, maybe the Sumeru gang could be doing the same thing, making all of those crazy inventions, but with a different intent. The Akademia being the Akademia, could give the kids a summer long project to invent something extraordinary!

Kaveh, Tighnari, Cyno, Faruzan, Layla, Nahida, and Scaramouche have met each other on a couple of occasions and have become accquaintances, and had decided this project was far too big to simply do by themselves and have decided to team up with each other and do the project while maybe having a little bit of fun at the same time

Nilou, Dehya and Candace occasionally join the group because of common friends (Layla and Cyno)

Remember when I made Azar Major monogram? Yeah there's a good reason for that! I said in the previous episode that Cyno worked as a secret agent for the Akademia? Well, the Akademia is disguised as a school, but has secret intentions to take over not just Sumeru with their ideals, but the world!

Cyno was recruited into the Akademia's secret agents as a part of Project Hermanubis. He was an orphan who was taken into the Akademia after being abandoned as a child and soon began displaying strange powers. The Akademia grew interested in what these powers could potentially be and made him an 'agent' in exchange of providing him food, shelter and an education and a vow of silence. When the Akademia could finally have Cyno's complete loyalty and trust, his powers would be at their disposal.

The Akademia didn't want to give Cyno the jobs of an actual agent and risk him finding out their true intentions just yet, but needed to give him a job to maintain his status as an agent, and Sethos' ridiculous plots were the perfect way to do it.

Sethos was part of a cult of geniuses called the temple of silence, who's motto was to make the world a better place and had connections to the actual Hermanubis. Hermanubis however was considered as a curse because of his powers. Hermanubis wasn't considered a god to the people in this universe.

Unbeknownst to Cyno, Sethos also had the power of Hermanubis passed down to him. When the cult found out of these powers, they exiled him from the it in fear of him becoming too powerful, as Hermanubis' powers brought chaos and destruction instead of peace and harmony like the cult had intended. Out of anger and humiliation of being exiled, Sethos attempts to blow up the secret base of the temple of silence.

The Akademia decides to send Cyno on this mission to foil Sethos' plan, so Cyno goes in, completely blind of Sethos' motivations for the said bombing and manages to succeed his first mission. Sethos, despite being foiled and humiliated yet again, he found a certain rush of adrenaline that he particularly enjoyed carrying out his evil scheme, so why did he need to stop?

So he came up with more and more schemes for Cyno to foil. The Akademia found this as the perfect distraction for Cyno and assigned Sethos as his arch-nemesis. Meanwhile, Sethos finds himself strangely enjoying Cyno's company, which in turn motivates him to come up with more and more ridiculous schemes.

Cyno slowly realizes that Sethos isn't actually that evil, and even secretly finds himself enjoying Sethos' company as well. Soon, their relationship becomes much more than just hero vs villain. They become frenemies

Cyno goes for his missions while when the others invent their stuff and are quite oblivious, even believing Cyno's incredibly weak excuses. Well, everyone except for Tighnari, who was Cyno's best friend. He didn't know anything about Cyno's past and his powers and his current affiliation with the akademia.

Alhaitham is the prodigy of Azar, but Alhaitham doesn't admire him and has his suspicions, but isn't currently aware of the Akademia's misdeeds. Xingqiu is Alhaitham's intern and helps him with his stuff and really looks up to him, but would also like to get recognition as the intern.

Any other suggestions are more than welcome in the comments!

Kudos fo reading all of this!

So long for now my sprouts!

#genshin impact #genshin cyno #cyno #tighnari #cynonari #sethos genshin #sethos #azar #sumeru #Akademia #phineas and ferb #perry the platypus #dr doofenshmirtz

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renticat · 5 months

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𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕕𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝𝕠𝕧𝕖

I said it's conditional yeah it's true but in the videos I said it in wrong context when I should said it's never unconditional. You know the love from narc parents are very much conditional but also, when you're trying your best to met all the conditions somehow there's always another new conditions so it's never ending trying to please the impossible and I am not lying.

It's exhausting, me and my shit now. Cheer up please well I AM FOR 5 MIN when I was really going too deep.on my daydreaming, roleplaying with my imaginary partner then my mind snapped out telling what life is really about surviving but how when I just don't want to survive anymore because I am so tired and feel trapped with no way out? And damn reality can't even let me daydream in peace anymore because she said I am too old now for that.

𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕟 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕘 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕗 𝕚𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕒𝕟'𝕥 𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕘 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖. Seriously though someone ever said the first sentence to me and he didn't assume that I've ever tried it but it's too hurtful and scary also back then I am still trying searching for the good but now here I am again trying to make sense everything that is really making no sense for the hope maybe one day it surely get better. But when?

It's better when I am in denial and just deny all this reality as some sort of nightmares and you know talk myself something really nice and perhaps make love to myself just so when reality hits again, I know it wasn't never real. The talk is gonna be okay, is really just a talk for me now. And I hate people who hate me for my truth like they're always saying please be smile and just don't think about sadness, gosh I mean if you're living in entire different planet than me it's okay but don't tell me what to feel. Or are these people also in denial of their own life and can't bear to see someone being so cynical (honest) about this dark triad outlook of life?

Nature is not always pretty things like flowers and butterflies but also prey and the predators. It's sad and happiness side by side but ofc I admit there's maybe too much black than pink on me but it's because I'd like to keep the pink for myself as I have only too little of it. Why black associated with sadness though? Yeah it's like that because it's just is and people never really asking why. Because it's dark but then shiny things like stars looks best when the sky is so dark and that's what we were, I am the dark sky and you're like dancing stars on my eyes, talking about whatever things you like while you still adoring me or probably it was just you take pity on me.

Well you don't have to. You know I am not always dark sky, sometimes I turn into this golden sky, orangey ones is just the cycle is like north pole, too many dark nights compare to the sunny ones but yet there is.

But people pushes themselves so hard to only display and appreciate the sunny days and have the inclination to dismiss about dark days when it's not actually that bad if you have someone by your side as your guiding star but then, not everyone is lucky like that. And certainly not me right now.

find another star then, star dies too you know but also the older the sky, the more and more they becomes so tired of hearing the same lies from the stars. There's too many of them and because they're so pretty mostly it's just becoming boring and unbearable as they would not tell you when the sparks will be gone, it's just gone in an instant and the sky wasn't prepared to just move on to another stars then it's just gonna be lonely night and sometimes sunny days of enlightenment but you know the sun is not the stars is just like warm imaginary little child that everyone had in their head, your own sparks so it's great but sometimes you longing still for the beautiful stars as they give you some kind of sparks you can't produce it on your own.

It's beautiful but also painful.

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davisexplainableart · 6 months

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March 29 - 30, 2024 - I Don't Even Like This Character (Home on the Range 20th Anniversary):

Okay, well, that's not entirely true.

It's more that I don't like the person who voices her (who I won't name because I don't care).

That's pretty much I wanted to have my voice unchanged, with the exception being the fact that becoming a cow always leads me to put on a Southern accent.

I mean, I ain't complainin'. Maggie's original VA could barely do a Southern accent herself. I can easily pull it off, no sweat!

As for Maggie herself, I don't know too much about her. I'm postin' this before I watch Home on the Range in full (probably not gonna like it because I've heard it's really dumb and stupid).

I do really like her design, though, I look mighty fine!

Not sure about this pointy chest though, no idea what that's s'posed to be...

Now, I'm sure some of y'all have some questions about this, so let's just get 'em outta the way.

Q: Where is this located? A: On a farm, I booked a vacation to this farm a few weeks ago.

Q: Why'd ya do all this? A: Someone paid me to watch the movie. And besides, with that film, I'm probably not gonna have much fun reviewing it, so spending time on a farm as a cow is just what I need to actually have fun during my time here.

(Hey guys, IRL Davis here. For context, in this canon of mine, I have a Youtube channel with a slightly large following (only a few thousand subscribers). On the channel, I usually like to talk about whatever's on my mind (unless it involves politics, I don't like talking about politics). However, then there's my Patreon (again this isn't real), where people can pay me and request things for me to review)

(About a month for 2 before this TF sequence, someone patrons me to review Home on the Range for its 20th anniversary, and they want me to do something big (they don't specify). However, I, knowing how dull and boring the movie is considered by critics, need to think outside the box for this)

(So, I decide to ask the TF crew to book me a vacation at a farm, wanting to review the movie while there. I ask if I could spend my time there as a cow myself, and they suggest turning into one of the characters from the movie. I choose Maggie because even though I don't like her VA, her large size was something I could possibly get a kick out of. Of course, I ask for my voice to not be changed too much, which they understand)

(Why the vacation? Well, like I said, with how dull the movie is, I have to think of other methods in order to fulfill the patron's request. Plus, the farm we book is very nice. I have a nice place to sleep and everything. Unfortunately, none of the other animals seem to like me)

(Okay, back to the actual text)

Q: Why'd ya make Maggie's hair longer in the front? A: Personal preference.

Q: Why the 'erect teats'? A: Personal preference.

Q: If ya don't like Maggie's VA, why'd ya wanna change into her. A: I like being large, that's all.

Q: With the teats and the sweat, I have to ask. Were ya sweaty or horny durin' this sequence? A: Both; surprised you didn't get that from the teats, which are CLEARLY looking hardened as if they're small d***s. Since I'm a female, and therefore don't have a certain male appendage, having my teats become erect when I'm horny makes up for it; and it feels just as glorious... *giggle*

"Maggie, what are ya doin' with your udder? You ain't done yet."

Wait, wha? Oh, erm... sorry... Where were we?

Q: What else are you doing on the farm besides watching the movie? A: I'm prolly gon look at some other things related to Home on the Range, like that one video game they made. Not gon play 'em myself, of course 'cause... Y'know, no thumbs.

Q: Were you told to use a new name when you became a cow? Some farms do that to people. A: Yes, that's true. For some reason, they tried to name me themselves. Tried namin' me 'Bessie', which is dumb because...

That name's too obvious. I feel like I hear people use that darn name for cows way too often.

This cow body is based on a pre-existing character, and she already has a name of her own.

Q: Are you typing this post yourself? A: No, I literally just told ya that I don't have thumbs. A human is doin' it for me.

Right, I think that's everything I wanted to say. See ya!

#Spring Break '24 #TFTuesday #TF Tuesday #transformation #overweight #Caroline #Maggie #HomeontheRange #20 Years #Home on the Range

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bcbdrums · 2 years

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(Not the same anon) You just made me realize that they actually gave Drakgo that development of letting Drakken and Shego be apart/ grow away from each other and then coming back to each other at the end.

And about Kim and Ron.

Even though I am a Kim/Ron shipper I pretty much agree with almost everything you said:

There is some degree of unspoken codependency between Kim and Ron and this gets explored in a see episodes (like a sitch in time, grudge match) but it doesn’t get further than that does it?

And Kim, I’ve discussed this before, but it’s 100% true.

She doesn’t have any identity of her own, it seems her identity is “the girl who saves the world, the one who can do anything” and even Ron questioned her about this “anything, even fail”.

And this is something I’ve seen that I find it funny, but it indirectly made me aware of it.

1/14

Whew! All righty, there's a lot to get into here! First of all, thanks for the ask!!!

I think in the end, the characters people love the most are those characters who are flawed. And if not the characters themselves, those who face a natural hardship. But in the end if the characters aren't deep, even that hardship won't hold our interest.

Look at a character like Bruce Wayne/Batman. We're so deeply drawn to him because he is never gonna be fixed. If the man were to resolve his issues, we would lose interest. Or, take the example of when many TV shows reach their end: they end with a marriage or birth. It's as if once characters have achieved their ideal happily ever after, there's no more story to tell. There is of course, but it's that deep relational growth that hooks us. That's why romance/intimate friendship dominates in fiction.

In the case of Drakgo, like you said, they were given a chance to be separated and then come back together. Now, the writers failed to show us that reconciliation onscreen (and to whoever sent me an ask about that in particular, I haven't forgotten! I have a very full askbox.) But Drakken and Shego are developed enough throughout the show with quirks, flaws, and other hardships already faced, that we can make some reasonable guesses about how they come back together. And write some great fanfic, too!

I personally have never been a fan of 'going to the extreme' in fanfic. It often comes across as just glorifying something unsavory. For example, a fic in which Sherlock is kidnapped and let's politely call it 'abused' in a variety of graphic ways is not selling character development for me. eMoTiOnAl DaMaGe is development, people may cry, and so on and so forth. But in the end? Those types of fics are just those in which the writer/reader wants an extremely heavy emotional connection of whatever form suits them, and they're kind of...'one size fits all'? Change the character names/settings and you can throw them in any fandom basically. Copy-paste. All that to say, any fic where Kim is suddenly out on the streets just doesn't sell 'Kim Possible' to me. Everything you explained so very well boils down to the fact that none of that is in character. Her family disowning her? Ron failing her? It would have to be an extremely skilled author to convince me of any of that, but I just can't see it happening. If it's out of character, it's out of character. That's all there is to it.

Now let's look at the format for nearly every episode: [Villain] commits [crime] and Kim and Ron must stop them while Ron deals with [comedic side-plot of the week]. That's basically the show. But in this way, Ron becomes the character we fell in love with due to his facing various trials in life. And I think because of this development, because we're allowed to see so many of Ron's private moments, his devotion to Kim means all the more and when we root for Kim/Ron, it really feels like we're rooting for Ron. Every example you gave... If there had even been half as many moments where the tables were turned... Kim going across the world for Ron, Kim giving up a job for Ron's sake... We never see that. And thus we just don't feel the depth of their relationship on her end of it. She just isn't developed, and yet, is established just well enough that she's kind of in this...limbo, where it's hard to do anything with her. It's ironically easier to do something with background characters such as Tara, who are given a personality but overall are a blank slate. There's enough to go on to do something believable and in-character. But with Kim we have too much and not enough.

One of my favorite Kim moments is actually in yet another Ron-development-heavy episode, A Very Possible Christmas (Ron and Drakken stranded together... I'd watch an hour of that!). But when Kim checks every escape pod and Ron isn't in any of them? We see her cry. And we see a brief moment of real vulnerability between her and her mom. The show does have some few and far between moments like that which give her a bit more depth. Another example is her barely-controlled anger when Bonnie kisses Ron. Those are the gems we need to look for in terms of who is Kim on a deeper level. And while overall their development is mostly in regards to their relationship with each other, Ron still gets all of the individual development while Kim gets...basically zero. She did grow between the four seasons, as you said, but not much.

I personally ignore the Kim-hate and thus can't actually say what any of it is, excepting the little you mentioned. I personally do not see anything to hate? I can't hook onto her season one behavior as anything to dislike because I can't separate myself from knowing that the writers were still figuring out the characters. It's much more interesting to think about Kim’s behavior as a fourteen year old's pubescent emotions toward her bestie/crush than so-called mistreatment of him. And any of Ron's low moments I feel can't be used as justification since he always learns from them by the end of the episode and genuinely grows. All these stories you mention... They're the sort of thing I never click, because they're just so blatantly out of character. Not saying people can't write what they want, but it holds zero interest for me. I scroll past. And all those Ron-with-girl or Ron-harem fics... Let’s face it. Those are just to see the nerdy guy get the hot girl. Plain and simple. Probably writers projecting in many cases. People can write whatever they want, but yeah... Just another...one size fits all, copy-paste sort of fic sitch.

The irony in thinking about all those fics is, the greatest 'punishment' for Kim or Ron simply would be being apart from one another. They've never had to do that. Ron says it in So the Drama: he spent one summer away from her. Since Pre-K, they've always been together. He goes on family vacations with her, eats dinner at her house, spends Christmas there even though it's not his holiday. They ARE inseparable and that's why Sitch in Time's plan was so brilliant, AND So the Drama. Only thing in the latter Drakken could have done better was also create a syntho-hottie to distract Ron. But no one ever considers the Ron factor~

Kim and Ron can be separated in college and have a long-distance relationship without horrible things happening, as you say. They can just be normal and in that find character development. Whether they break up or not, the best thing for them would be time apart. They'll have the greatest chance at long-term success together if they have that opportunity to grow individually. It's not saying they're doomed to fail if they don't have time apart. Just that it would be good for them. And even if they did break up for awhile, I can never see them not being best friends.

Thinking about it more, Kim does get some minor issues in the show. Not wanting to be mentored by a janitor. Being too busy to honor all her commitments. Having to get past embarrassment. But somehow the show never treats them with the same depth as Ron's things. But it feels like she never actually learns from them, since beating up the bad guys comes first. And as you say, it always comes back to her being the girl who can do anything. I do truly wish she'd had more depth in the show, but overall that wasn't the point. It was about a girl version of James Bond/Indiana Jones.

Now, can an action adventure series with protagonists who just beat up the bad guys endure? Oh yes. "In 1972 a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court by a crime they didn't commit..." But there again, in the case of The A-Team those characters had some very distinct development. Where our female version of those beloved guys, Kim, just doesn't. A college story that really digs into who she is besides the girl who can do anything would appeal greatly. Just like you said, putting her in an environment where she's just one of the crowd. A story like that would be challenging to write, but it feels like the sort of thing that should go right alongside a story of Ron being on his own. I think that's where I would take it, personally. And to satisfy my own interests, Kim's growing up would probably start with Ron breaking up with her to be with Yori. Not maliciously of course, just a natural course of events. And then Kim would find one thing in her life that she cannot solve, and that's the first step into growing up. The ideas were already burning in my head, Anon, but you're stirring them up!

I cannot let go of Clean Slate because of Drakgo. Was Kim weird in that ep? Oh yes. But I watch everything through a Drakgo lens soooooooooooooo... It's a pretty good ep for Drakgo character development. Aren't they all, though? ;D Speaking of...since you are so thoughtful a person, have you any thoughts on my fave two characters?

#kim possible #ron stoppable #meta #ask answer #drakgo #drakken #shego #yori #kimxron #kim x ron #kimron #kim/ron #kim and ron

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deathvisited · 10 months

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they're gonna love you . like i do . / nate & ver fae --- @thewholecrew

verity had insecurities that ate at her as she looked out over the sea of faces that had gathered in sebastians lands. it had become a refuge for those refugee's that were escaping from nates lands and now.... she sucked in a breath smoothing down her dress. her palms were sweaty and her skin was running with goosebumps, if any of them were from rifthold they'd know her, they'd be aware of the fact of what and who she'd been, possibly. how would they look at her then if they did? moreover what if they found out after the fact? their king with a whore? she shuddered, blue eyes closing as her hands gripped the banister of the balcony she was looking out over. she was hidden from the crowds but now..... she gasped sharply as arms wrapped around her from behind, jumping as she looked over her shoulder. "nate," she breathed his name as relief washed over her.

he looked beautiful in the golden outfit that kassy had had made with for him, this wasn't a formal cornoration but it was a presentation to the people he'd be ruling one day. she was.... not fit to be a queen, maybe a consort, but nate wouldn't hear a thing about it, every time she said a single thing raising concerns about how she'd be regarded he'd dismiss it. then again.... "i don't know if i should go out there with you," she murmured, turning in his arms and hands smoothing up his chest to fix his collar. "i think it'll make too much of a statement," his hands settled on her waist as she fiddled with his collar which was already perfect from whoever had helped him get into this get-up.

"so what?" he asked, his hands smoothing up and down her sides, her hair tickling the back of his hands as she tipped her head back and looked up at him. "so you know i'm nervous about how they'll feel about me," she murmured, eyes avoiding looking directly into his green ones and instead focusing on his clothing and smoothing the lapels down of the long jacket. "so maybe i should just.... stay away from the presentation, they don't need to meet me, they want to meet their king, they want hope," she emphasized the last word because it was true. it was dark times with everyone fleeing from their country and into fae and having to cross these strange lands by themselves after living in a completely human world.

his hands smoothed up her back until he gripped her head carefully so as not to muss her hair and the flower crown that alec had woven through the braid that ringed her head. "they're gonna love you, like i do," his words were reassuring but..... she sucked in a breath as he bent to kiss her, eyes falling closed as he deepened it. the sweetness of it all almost made her want to cry, tears burning behind her eyes when he broke it. "i want you there with me because you will be my queen," his face winced at the word and she grinned, knowing he hated being referred to as king, even though that was exactly what he was going to be. "so we go together or i don't go at all." and how was she supposed to not go with him and deny him this chance to see his people? to make them real to him? "alright, fine, but leave those words alone," she said, stepping back and smoothing down the blue dress that draped her in grecian like folds. "lets go before i lose my nerve."

#✦ — • verses • fae •#✦ — • thewholecrew • nate •#✦ — • rel: nate & ver • verity williams •

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nerdy-talks · 1 year

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I saw a post on instagram and idk what to make of it. From the sound of things it seems like the OG Obey Me! game isn’t gonna get any more chapters? that Nightbringer is gonna replace it since its ‘better and improved’??

My ask for you Nerdy-sama — what is your take on this info? do you think its true?

I assume you're talking about this post, dear anon?

So, here's my theory :

I know I'm probably just grasping at straws and likely living on false hope... But!

Maybe the devs are going to focus on Nightbringer temporarily to give both old and new fans more background on the brother's post-war/pre-RAD days. Obviously they want to do this anyway to give us insight and info from their past that we are/might be missing out on.

And since we will most likely be witnessing all of the brothers' pain, regrets, and struggles as they are freshly thrust into the Devildom... I assume the devs intend to use that scenario to help us better understand the brother's origins which will ultimately (hypothetically) help us feel much closer to them.

Then, once MC re-forms their bonds with the brothers and basically works their way up to returning to the "present" again, I'm genuinely hoping the devs will then start updating the original Obey Me! game more. In the meantime, maybe the devs will just keep putting past events into Lonely Devil for everyone to get caught up?

Regardless of if I'm completely wrong or at least somewhat on the right track... I REALLY hope they don't neglect the og Obey Me! or worse : abandon it altogether.

I've been playing Obey Me! since the beginning and I seriously don't want to say goodbye to the game I've grown so attached to and love so much.

I know the devs haven't announced lesson 81 or any new news for the og Obey Me! yet... But it still says "coming soon" when you try to advance. So until they officially confirm what they plan to do with the original game, I'll keep holding onto hope for an eventual continuance.

Side thoughts :

Wouldn't it be super interesting if Diavolo's true reason for opening up RAD and wanting to bring demons, angels, and humans together is all because of MC?

I mean... I highly doubt MC is going to be able to deceive Diavolo, a demon who could immediately tell if someone is lying, or even Barbatos, a demon who could see into the future.

So what if they see right through MC's ruse yet allow them to continue helping the brothers purely out of curiosity? Barbatos will know MC isn't up to anything devious, while Diavolo is intrigued to see how this human-in-disguise handles themselves amongst powerful demons who are trying to cope in their new world while also learning how to control their sins.

Maybe MC will be responsible for influencing Diavolo in such a positive way once he realizes that if you remove/ignore race (since the brothers won't realize MC is a human, therefore putting them on basically equal footing), that everyone could co-exist peacefully with one another.

I'm also super curious to see how Satan will be since I assume he'll be born shortly before MC arrives, and even Belphie since he'll be in his prime "I hate humans" phase.

They're just some random thoughts that popped into my head, so I thought I'd share lol

Either way, I'm sure we'll play the role of family therapist once again. But hopefully all of the new info/knowledge we'll be obtaining will become extremely relevant for possible new chapters in the og Obey Me! after everything is said and done.

Who knows... Maybe Michael will finally make an appearance. Or even better : maybe MC will actually have an opportunity to stay in the Devildom with the brothers and/or marry them/officially become their family (in the og). After all, won't MC rightfully belong with the brothers permanently once they know everything about them from beginning to end, both good and bad, inside and out?

Personally, I would love if MC could become immortal like Solomon so then they really could stay with everyone forever. Especially since Thirteen is now on MC's side, so I highly doubt she would have any objections to missing out on MC's soul lol

But again... Just some random thoughts ^^

#thanks for the ask anon!#nerdy replies #nerdy responds #obey me #obey me one master to rule them all #obey me shall we date #obey me nightbringer #nerdy thoughts #anon <3 #nerdy rambles

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cosmo--raptor · 8 months

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hi i really hope this isnt invasive or intrusive to ask but from one transfemme to another , how do you comfortably and safely dress ?? im in the closet and i live in a horribly violent family and i just feel like a coward hiding myself while everyone is living their true selves

I wanna start this off by telling you that you're not a coward at all. Your situation is tough and it's not something with a simple fix. I'm very vocal about being trans online but I myself am not always able to live my true self; I'd be in skirts almost every day if I didn't feel like I'd be kicked out if my parents found out, so I know what it's like.

As for dressing, I can only really tell you what I've found works, and for me that often comes in the form of tank tops because they usually have a lower neckline(? idk if that's the right word, I mean the bit your head comes out of) which helps me feel a bit more femme. Smaller size shirts can also help accentuate your bust if you're comfy with slightly tighter clothing. Accessories like chokers and earrings have also really helped me feel femme, and the best part is they're easy to keep on you until you're in a safe position to put them on when you're out somewhere. If you don't have pierced ears, I also recommend looking into clip-on guards because a lot of clip on earrings I get off of Etsy have imperfect metal shaping that can become really painful on my ears.

The one other thing I can recommend is make-up. I don't usually wear foundation but a little eyeliner goes a hell of a long way. I know that eyeliner isn't as easy to put on outside as earrings or chokers but the pens themselves are pretty small and would be pretty easy to hide somewhere. I also learned recently that some facial skincare products can be a decent foundation which helps with both make-up application and making your skin look a bit clearer and softer. I'm almost always in black lipstick when I'm dressed but that's a personal preference, you may want to go for something more natural that compliments your skin tone. That being said, it also highlights one thing I wanna touch on which is that dressing comfortably and in a way you like is gonna be subjective; if you find something that you really like and is comfortable, roll with it even if it's not hyper-femme.

I am so sorry you are having to hide who you are. I know full well that survival can feel like fucking torment. I hope my experiences have been able to help you in any way, in any amount. Please stay safe. 🖤

#raptor chirping

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a-complex-joke · 3 months

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Love Residence

MASTERLIST

Chapter 1 (You are what you eat)

Come one come all to the fucking hell that is my high school.

Sure it's not like high school movies like Mean Girls or even Spiderman, but it is still full of douchebags and bullies.

The cafeteria is not the cliche only sit with your group, most people don't even eat in it, leaving to go have King Burger or Whitney's so that's about 64% gone the other 25% sit in the halls or outside so that leaves 11% in here, having no car means option one is out of the question.

Option too is good but if you find a spot you like it’s not always guaranteed to be empty, leaving the cafeteria, gray tables, walls, and feelings.

That is until she walked into my view every day

Kammy Lease, she's one of the popular people but doesn't act it her friends who are said douches and assholes from before, I mean sure she did have her enemies but they made themselves that.

She had started early November a year back and was instantly a hit with the guys. I thought she was a bitch at first like the others but she didn't support their bullying and made sure people were ok after they were picked on.

"umm hello," a voice said snapping me out of my trance, "oh sorry I had just blanked for a second," I said before looking at the person only to see it was Kammy "Oh no it's fine, I was just wondering… why do you eat alone every day," she said sitting down. "oh umm my friend eats at a fast food place nearby and my siblings have a different lunch period," I say looking away.

"So why are you sitting here instead of with your friends?" I asked, pointing towards them, refusing to look her in the eye.

she gave a face of disgust "They said they were gonna take you to the woods and leave you for the demons after school" she said bluntly taking a bite of her ripe apple.

"what, why?" I asked, finally looking at her. "oh Ash didn't like how you looked at me" she said smiling. "but I warned you so you know what is coming" she continued "Plus they think if a demon eats the flesh of a virgin it will become human, which is not true BTW’s" she rolled her eyes.

"So what you're telling me is that they're gonna jump me after school, and leave me in the woods to die just cause I looked at you," I said wide-eyed.

she nodded standing up before coming close to my ear and whispered

"But don't worry I have a plan" She walked out the door disappearing from sight. she may be better than her friends in the nice department, but seemed truly more evil than she seemed.

The feeling of piercing eyes on my back gave me the sneaking suspicion that the friends saw our little

#original story #romance #demons

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morganacorp · 5 months

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I know that episode was A LOT. But one small thing that I loved was that at this point in the series we've kind of gotten used to certain teamups--Grace and Sadie have history and are both traditional journalists. Lola and Kimberlyn seemed at first like they'd be the least likely to have any kind of friendship, and yet they both have felt like outsiders and as if they're in the wrong job/not being true to themselves. And we've seen those friendships get deeper with the women standing up for/choosing each other ie Grace threatening Dale when he takes Sadie's seat and Lola calling Eric out on his mistreatment of Kimberlyn. And I LOVE all that, but I also loved that this episode we got to see Kimberlyn choose to get closer to Sadie. They have the most diametrically opposed political views it seems like, and Grace even started to step in to take the more traditional/expected role. But Kimberlyn was like "no, I said I can do it. Let me do it." And it really shows how far she's come, and feels directly tied to her reaction after that old geezer candidate died. She is starting to see that the values she has still matter to her, but weaponizing them or attacking those who don't hold them, the way Liberty News does, hurts real people. Sadie is her friend. And she doesn't approve of this choice, but she doesn't lecture her at all. Or pry. She does let her know what her own boundary is, she's not comfortable talking about the pregnancy as something detrimental to Sadie's life, but even that is acknowledged and then moved away from instead of becoming a battle line. I just--this episode showed that sometimes friendships take work, they're not natural and smooth and you don't agree on every little thing. But they are still beautiful and worth forging. Really really loved that aspect.

- 🐞

All of this!!!!

I really liked how Lola stood up for herself and refused to interview the Freshman, and didn't hesitate to go after Josie when she found out about the twitter thing. She's young and she's not a professional reporter, but she'd not gonna be someone's mouthpiece!

The part with Kimberlyn offering to take Sadie was heartwarming. Grace was already in mom mode looking for a way to help but Kimberlyn was firm and offered to do it. She said it herself "I may not agree with your choice, but I can be there for my friend" (something like that). She cares enough for Sadie to know she needs someone to be there for her, not someone to judge.

She didn't judge her when she said she'd like a baby later on. She didn't try to change her mind and convince her to keep it. She didn't try to start an argument when she said she wished Sadie didn't see it as her saving her life. She was a good friend.

And Sadie encouraging her to follow her dreams, and getting her an appointment with her role model so she could talk about her plans and see what it takes... That's friendship.

I loved how even though they were all surprised, no one asked when or who got her pregnant, even after talking about 'the guy'. And Lola was more surprised she got laid and was still tense than anything else 🤣 and in the end they all showed up to support her, no one mentioned the situation, or tried asking her how she was doing, they just showed up and offered to leave if she wanted space. That's friendship too.

I love the episode so much. I think this might be my new favorite.v

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kaesaaurelia · 2 years

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hungry as fire

For @whumptober day 14: Die A Hero or Live Long Enough to Become a Villain, using the prompt “desperate measures.”

(This fic is technically set in the Good Omens universe, but primarily concerns original angel and demon characters.)

Continued from Day 3, wherein the angel Vehuel was stabbed by her demon ex, who is doing some work for Famine during an exceptionally cold winter, Day 4, where she had a chat with the Archangel Raphael, who sent her back to Earth without her body, and Day 8, where she made a deal with a human, borrowing his body in return for helping him find food.

Content warning for extensive discussion of food and hunger, and brief mention of cannibalism.

The hunter's name was Anong, and it was not until she came to know this that she realized she hadn't even thought to ask. He was suspicious of her, and he had good reason to be, but her hunger, at least, was well masked by his own more natural hunger pangs.

She tried to see this as a learning opportunity; her assignment down south was the capital of what Anong's people called the River Empire, though her city's residents had a host of more self-aggrandizing names for themselves, mostly revolving around how they made their own landscapes by moving the earth itself. Anong did not trust the River Empire either, and he was slightly affronted to find out where she was from. "You guys gonna conquer us, or what?"

"I wasn't planning to," she said. "I was just, you know. I came up here to deal with the monster, and my ex. I'm their protector, not their scout. Anyway, I don't think they mean you any ill."

"They make good pots," he admitted. "Nice designs, sturdy work. My grandma likes them. But I hear they do human sacrifice down there, as some kind of game."

"Well, it is an empire," Vehuel pointed out.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"All empires do human sacrifice," she said. "You wouldn't think anything of it if you were part of an empire. A lot of times they call it something else, though, like mandatory military service, or slavery, or just getting out there and killing a bunch of people and taking their stuff. It's how empires work. The Sculptors-of-Land are at least being honest with themselves about it." She had mixed feelings about this; she was proud of her humans, as always, and she'd initially assumed the human sacrifice was to honor whatever god Nisroc was pretending to be these days, but she'd killed Nisroc several times and the humans seemed to return to it whether Nisroc was there or not. After several thousand years on Earth, Vehuel had wandered across four of its continents and seen much variety in human cultures, but some things were the same everywhere, and one of them was that humans could often be found killing each other for no goddamn reason. "It's generally considered an honor, I think."

"Doesn't seem like much of an honor to me," he said.

"But you like their pots," she pointed out, still feeling protective of her humans. "So, I mean. They're not all bad."

"My grandma likes their pots," said Anong.

"She could make her own pots if it bothered her that much."

"She has arthritis," said Anong.

"You could make her pots."

"I'm busy hunting, and making bad deals with mean spirits," said Anong, irritably.

"Sorry," she said, realizing suddenly how rude she was being. "I'm not very good with people." This was true, but she was usually not quite so mean. Something in her made her really want to win this conversation, and it took a lot out of her to say "Let's just focus on getting back to town with all these deer."

And so, stuck in the same body, they made their way back into town. Everyone was very impressed with Anong for finding so many deer, although he was embarrassed to have made a deal with a spirit, and lied about having just happened across a herd of them just outside of town and brought them laboriously back one by one.

Dinner was sparse that night; Vehuel worried she would get dinged for overuse of miracles if she made the food stretch too much, but at least some of the other hunters and fishermen had also had luck that day, and between them and Anong everyone in town would eat, if sparingly.

But the smell of the food cooking made Vehuel's hunger grow and grow, and she found herself resisting the urge to gnaw at Anong's lips and fingers. And when darkness fell, she knew the food would be ready too late for her, because she sensed two familiar presences approaching the town -- the sharp cruelty of Famine, and the deep dread of Nisroc. With a great deal of discipline, she talked Anong into staying away from the cooking fire and scanning the treeline for movement, keeping out of the firelight so as to keep his eyesight sharp.

"What's your plan?" he asked Vehuel, once they were safely out of earshot.

"Um." She didn't have one. "We can burn its heart out."

"Yeah, I know, but how? We didn't have time to dig a pit to trap it in. That's how they do it in the stories."

"Well, I can make fire," said Vehuel, "and then you can... um. No, you'd have to get closer to it. Can you... climb it?"

"I'm not climbing that thing," said Anong. "It'll just grab me and eat me."

"Well, um..." She caught sight of something taller than the trees moving against the night sky, as if it was walking. "Shit. We'll have to think fast."

Anong grabbed his bow and fumbled for an arrow. "Think this'll do anything against it?"

"Not really," said Vehuel. As the ice monster broke through the trees the hunger within her became ravenous, and her stupid fucking halo flared around Anong's body, highlighting him so that the monster couldn't miss him.

"Why am I glowing?" Anong demanded.

"Oh, uh, that's, uh, so I uh..." Vehuel took control of Anong's body, dodging one long grasping monster arm faster than he would've been able to, but fumbling and dropping his arrow in the process. "I used to make stars? And, uh --"

"You used to make stars?" Anong asked.

"It's why I'm so good with fire. Anyway, the guy who was in charge of them, he was always a huge asshole, and..." It was definitely not the time to explain all her emotional hangups about Lucifer and her theory as to why all her strong emotions manifested as light, especially with the ravenous hunger in her soul saying kill him, take his body, and the monster turning from her to take interest in the cooking food and the crowd around it. "Uh. Anyway, I was put together wrong," she said, "and that's why I glow."

"Wow, that didn't explain anything," said Anong. The humans were screaming now as the creature lumbered towards them. "I have an idea. You need to get closer to it to burn its heart out?"

"Yeah," said Vehuel. "But uh, please don't sacrifice yourself or anything, that probably would just make it bigger."

"Obviously not," said Anong, offended. "I'm going to shoot you at it."

"What?" said Vehuel.

"Get ready," said Anong, drawing his empty bowstring back, taking aim, and -- with a twang Vehuel found herself soaring through the air and into the heart of the monster.

She hadn't realized he could do that, and she was briefly delighted at human ingenuity, and blazed gloriously through the ice monster, melting the thick coating of rime and greed that protected it from decay, and she forgot all about the hunger in her soul for one brief, beautiful, victorious moment.

And then the entitlement of the human soul at the core of the monster had hit her, freed from its icy prison, and she had the realization that finally she had a body -- this body -- and the only thing keeping her from taking it for herself was that she'd stupidly wanted to protect the humans by burning its heart out.

She did burn its heart out, of course; she did not want this annoying human soul interfering with what she wanted to do. She'd had more than enough of that shit today. Besides, she could sustain the body with fire much more easily than it had been able to preserve itself with ice. And she could make it bigger more easily, too. This whole town was made of wood, after all; perfect fuel for the fire. And she was still so very hungry.

"Vehuel!" shouted someone from below her. She looked down, and grinned, flames licking out of her jagged teeth. It was Nisroc, because of course it was, and they were going to burn alive. "Vehuel, you won! I give up!" they said. "Now get out of that thing!" Vehuel tried to stomp on them, and they jumped back and flew into the air with a few flaps of their wings.

"'That thing'?" Vehuel asked, incredulously. Her voice sounded like angry wind, and she loved it. "Don't you mean Buddy?" She was going to teach Nisroc a lesson in what happened when you fucked around making monsters with Famine.

"Okay, look, whatever," said Nisroc, circling her head. "Just, I give up, go ahead and kill it --"

"No. You destroyed my body," said Vehuel, swatting Nisroc away like a fly. "I'm going to destroy you." She considered stomping Nisroc, dazed as they were, lying on the ground.

But then she looked towards the townsfolk. Some were shooting arrows at her or brandishing spears; others were trembling, frozen in place. And then, behind those, there were the people who were herding their children away from this place. But there wasn't really anywhere for them to go except for out into the cold, and Vehuel had heard that freezing to death was a terrible way to go. She'd burned to death a few times, and she hadn't totally lost her mind yet. It would probably be a mercy to burn them. And it would certainly teach Nisroc a lesson.

She stepped over the would-be warriors easily to go after the children.

Behind her, she heard Nisroc shout "Excuse me? Vehuel! What the fuck is wrong with you?"

[to be continued on day 21]

#whumptober2022 #no.14 #die a hero or live long enough to become a villain #desperate measures #oc #fiction #food mention #cannibalism #text #kaesa op #disaster principality vehuel #fallen principality nisroc #vehuel x nisroc

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latte-fairytaekwoon · 3 years

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Dad!Ateez: Interacting With Their Unborn Baby

❥𝓚𝓲𝓶 𝓗𝓸𝓷𝓰𝓳𝓸𝓸𝓷𝓰

Hongjoong's goofy smile was unable to be wiped away. Ever since the clinic had sent him the recent sonograms of your baby, he was more distracted than ever. It had been well over an hour and he was still giggling and admiring the screen in front of him.

"Oh my god! They're so adorable already!" He giggled as one of his fingers gently caressed the picture on his phone, a slight pout forming on his lips.

"I really wanna know what they are already. Am I having a little prince or princess?"

You rolled your eyes, shaking your head at him.

"Why don't you ask them yourself? You might get a response."

Hongjoong turned to you, about to ask you how was he gonna do that but he only muttered out a small 'oh..' when he saw you pointing to your baby bump. Discarding his phone, he quickly went over and pressed his nose against your belly.

"What are you? Please let me know and above all...." He sighed as he nuzzled his nose against you.

"Please be born before November 22nd. I can't handle another Sagittarius. "

❥𝓟𝓪𝓻𝓴 𝓢𝓮𝓸𝓷𝓰𝓱𝔀𝓪

"Are you all right baby? You're not nervous are you?" Seonghwa wanted to make sure you were calm before the doctor revealed what gender your baby was.

"Uhh I'm fine. You're the one squeezing my hand really harshly." You pointed out, lifting your linked hands up to show him.

"Oh right...I'm sorry I'm just really-"

"Yeah yeah I know. You're really excited about our baby." You smiled at him, knowing that he had wanted to be a father for the longest time and now you were one step closer to making his dream come true.

The process for the ultrasound went on as it normally did. Seonghwa and you states at the screen in front of you, feeling like forever before the doctor finally said:

"Congratulations. You have a healthy baby girl so far."

You looked at Seonghwa, whose hand was trembling significantly. Unable to hold it anymore, he began crying out of happy emotions, his smile growing wider than you've ever seen it. Dropping to his knees, he didn't hesitate to place tiny kisses around your swollen belly.

"Hi there my lovely girl, I don't know if you can hear me, but I love you so much already."

❥𝓙𝓮𝓸𝓷𝓰 𝓨𝓾𝓷𝓱𝓸

Reaching a hand over, you held up a piece of chocolate to Yunho's mouth, which he happily accepted. Chuckling, he kissed your shoulder as his hands continued resting themselves on your belly, fingers occasionally tapping along to the music playing from the tv.

After a few minutes, your eyebrows scrunched in confusion when you felt a sudden thumping coming from inside you. Yunho obviously felt it too since his fingers stopped tapping against your skin. You both looked at each other, wondering if you were imagining things or not. When the faint thumping resumed again, you instantly knew what was happening.

"Our baby is kicking!" Yunho exclaimed enthusiastically, his palms pressing down a tiny bit harder to feel the way the growing fetus was moving around.

Paying attention a little more, you noticed that the kicking wasn't sporadic or casual, it was moving along to the music playing on the TV.

"Yunho....they're not just kicking. I think they're dancing." You giggled, outright laughing when you saw the starstruck expression that took over Yunho's features. With a large and bright smile plastering his face, Yunho pulled you even closer to him, lips endlessly peppering kisses on your cheek while his hands caressed your bump.

"I really am a lucky guy."

❥𝓚𝓪𝓷𝓰 𝓨𝓮𝓸𝓼𝓪𝓷𝓰

"What are you up to now?" You questioned as Yeosang had a suspicious looking smile on his face.

He didn't answer and instead got on the bed next to you, pulling the blanket off you.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Watch it!" You exclaimed when he started lifting your shirt up with no warning and not even asking for permission.

"I got told that if you play music for your developing baby before bed, the higher the chances grow for it to become a genius." He explained as he immediately took out his phone and promptly typed something in it.

"So I take it you're gonna play music for her or him right now?" You quipped an eyebrow up.

"Yep! As soon as this song decides to load."

You couldn't lie, it was actually pretty cute watching Yeosang cram his body between your legs, one hand resting against your bump while the other held his phone close to it on the opposite side. You were actually donning a soft smile to see him be so enthusiastic about this. Until......

"I got a ponytail! I got a ponytail! I got a P-P-P-P-P-P-P-P-PONYTAIL!

Reaching over, you smacked the top of Yeosang's head.

"I'm pretty sure when they said music they meant Mozart or Beethoven! Now move away from there before I kick you."

❥𝓒𝓱𝓸𝓲 𝓢𝓪𝓷

You didn't protest as San led you to sit on the couch, already getting a feeling that he was planning something.

"Stay." He told you as he ran out to go find something.

You heard what seemed to be a commotion coming from the other room and you half thought about getting up to see if San was all right, especially when you heard what sounded like a loud thump. A few minutes later, San emerged, hair slightly disheveled as he carried a feisty Byeol in his arms, light scratches plastered on them.

"What on earth are you doing with the poor cat?" You questioned him.

"I want her to meet the baby. It's only fair since she's part of the family too."

Although unsure, you knew Byeol never acted out around you. Laying down, you lifted your shirt and allowed San to place the cat near your belly. Her nose sniffed around, whiskers tickling your skin that you giggled softly. Pressing her head against your belly, she suddenly backed away when she felt something odd, that being your baby kicking against you. Nuzzling herself closer, she suddenly jumped and layed down on your belly, soft purring coming as she started to fall asleep on you. San and you chuckled, his hand reaching down to pet her head.

"I take it they're already getting along."

❥𝓢𝓸𝓷𝓰 𝓜𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓲

Your eyes began drooping every now and then, head occasionally falling. Mingi however was oblivious as he continued to read out loud from the book he was currently holding, one hand placed protectively on your bump.

"Baby are you even listening?" He asked when he looked over to see that you weren't paying attention.

"I don't know which one of us you're talking to, but I think she fell asleep a long time ago and I'm about to do the same."

Mingi pouted, closing the book and setting it on the dresser next to him.

"How mean. The doctor said reading out loud is a way to bond with our little princess." He whined, sliding down enough so he could rest his cheek on your belly.

"Yeah I think he meant something like nursery rhymes or baby books, not freaking literary novels over 500 pages long." You groaned as you adjusted your head on your pillow, quickly falling asleep.

Mingi continued sighing as his fingers poked around your belly.

"Were you really ignoring me? You fell asleep from how boring it was?" Unexpectedly, a soft kicking was being felt against his palm. Breaking out into a smile, Mingi kissed where the baby had kicked.

"I knew it. I knew you were listening."

❥𝓙𝓾𝓷𝓰 𝓦𝓸𝓸𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓰

"Wooyoung, is it really necessary for you to speak out loud every little detail of what you're doing?" You rubbed your eyes, still half asleep from being kept awake by your baby moving around so much.

"It's called letting daddy's girl get used to hearing my voice so we can bond even closer." He expressed as he continued to whisk the batter in his hand.

"Trust me Wooyoung, you talk more than enough for the both of us on a regular basis. She probably already gets a headache from your voice.......and her head isn't even fully developed yet."

He stopped what he was doing and turned his head at you, glaring straight at your face.

"Wow that's the gratitude I get after I wake up to make my baby momma chocolate chip pancakes cause she was craving them?"

You groaned softly as he started pouring in the chocolate chips.

"I was craving them yesterday....but now I think I want sushi."

Face palming, Wooyoung crouched down so he could be at eye level with your belly. Running a hand across it, he gave it a tiny kiss before patting it gently.

"Mind doing me a favor and coming out faster so I don't have to deal with your mom having these weird cravings anymore?"

❥𝓒𝓱𝓸𝓲 𝓙𝓸𝓷𝓰𝓱𝓸

Coming home late after his schedule, Jongho wasn't at all surprised when he found you sound asleep, probably exhausted from your day. Making as little noise as possible, he quickly changed and got into bed with you, his arms wrapping around your waist to cradle your pregnant belly.

"Did you go easy on mommy today sweetheart?"

Although he wasn't expecting it, Jongho smiled when the baby responded by kicking against his hand gently.

"Still awake? You should be asleep you know. Don't wake up mommy now with your fussing."

With no signs of her kicking stopping anytime soon, Jongho's fingers gently stroked the top of your belly as he started humming softly. His humming turned into soft singing.

"Ever since the day that we matched footsteps and walked together everyday, I am pointlessly proud and confident no matter what I do. Are you maybe coming in my head to tickle me?"

Feeling her kicking stop, Jongho carefully leaned his face down to kiss your belly.

"The corner of my lips turn up, they won’t go back down..."

Unbeknownst to him, the corners of your lips curled up into a soft smile as you heard him sing to your baby.

Gifs not mine. Credit goes to their respective owners

The song used in Jongho's reaction was Vixx's Milky Way

#ateez #ateez reactions #ateez scenarios #ateez imagines #ateez fluff #ateez fanfic #ateez fanfiction #ateez dad au #dad!ateez #dad!au #ateez hongjoong #ateez seonghwa #ateez yunho #ateez yeosang #ateez san #ateez mingi #ateez wooyoung #ateez jongho

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meanscarletdeceiver · 2 years

Note

📂✨

-context for this ask: this was an ask game from ages ago where i said that each folder would be specifically for headcanons about a Character A/Character B dynamic. askers could choose their pairing or else, as dear Cat did, let me pick-

-aaand they may regret it, because i decided that i was gonna seize the moment to write a whole lot about the ups and downs of

✨ Henry and Gordon... Part I ✨

-and i mean a WHOLE lot coz i found i had so much to relate so for now we'll only go up to. like. 1945??-

1923-4:

Henry is already in the tunnel when Gordon arrives, and he remains there for most of the year. Indeed, Gordon was acquired, of course, to help fill in the services that Henry... obviously... was not going to be handling. To be more specific, Hatt reached out to Gresley to try to get information on Henry's origins. Surprisingly ("hey man i got swindled when i tried to buy one of your engines from a shady source, lol wild right"), they hit it off—possibly because they're both at least a little insane—and as a matter of both pride and pity Gresley gave Hatt the chance to re-home his testbed Pacific.

Gordon has conflicted feelings about—well, about everything. At this time, Sodor represents exile. But the engine in the tunnel is definitely not the least of his confusion.

At first he takes the story of Henry’s defiance and punishment at face value, and he’s low on empathy for anyone when he first arrives, so he just snorts at such a fool.

However, Gordon quickly becomes disappointed in many aspects of his new railway. The notion of an engine who had the guts to defy the Fat Director to his face has… appeal.

Gordon secretly becomes more and more intrigued by the engine in the tunnel, at the exact same pace as he finds that he cannot confide to anyone else on Sodor: They are either beneath him, misunderstand him, beneath him and misunderstand him, or (he realizes, more quickly than Henry did) they’re 98462 and 87546, who might be appropriate companions for an engine of his station, except… they. are. vulgar.

Feeling deeply isolated under his haughty and grumpy exterior, Gordon also tries not to let on that he’s at least curious about the Pacific who was here even before him, and who—say what you will!—certainly showed some true gumption.

He doesn’t let on… until he suggests that Henry should be given a try with the train he failed with. It’s probably the first thing he’s ever done in his life where the motive isn’t Me! Me! Meee! It’s born out of mere curiosity, but at least it’s curiosity about someone else. It’s not exactly self-sacrificial, but it’s neutral.

After Henry is let out of the tunnel, they hit it off quickly and become a tight duo—two lonely, friendless Pacifics on a quite dysfunctional railway, both proud and dumb and more than a little confused, prototypes who aren’t wanted anywhere else and who aren’t yet sure they’re on safe footing here either, gossiping viciously with their heads together comparing notes as they try to make sense of their world and protect themselves.

While they both begin this post-tunnel era on good terms with Edward, they just have so much more in common with each other than with him; they have feeeeeelings, you see, feeeeeelings that no one understaaands, least of all that goody two-brakes. They also retreat a little from him, as well as from everyone, and that’s because ’62 and ’46 were actually on Sodor for quite a while after these events. During this period the rift between them and Edward (and also Thomas, though to be honest everyone involved underestimated Thomas, which annoyed him greatly) grew ever more heated. Heated mostly because Edward started growing some frames and holding his ground bit by bit, which then provoked them, which then—yeah, it was a vicious cycle.

Basically, it became a bit of a symbolic battle between the old local guard (the Edward and Thomas side) and the newer, stronger transplants (’86 and ’62). Gordon and Henry mostly stayed out of it. The thing is, they were by far the youngest engines on the railway, they were both still children really, and for all their bravado they were, deep down in their fireboxes, extremely wary of the Fat Director (have I mentioned lately that FC1 was a bastard? a scary bastard? do we recall that he bricked up Henry as public installation art to make an example of to promote fleet discipline for almost a year?) and yet on some level understanding that, misfits as they are, they do not have any options besides the Fat Director.

So mostly they just… wait and see. Oh, they have a big laugh whenever one or the other side suffers a setback… this period is probably where they really learned how to point and laugh at everyone else in such crushing unison… but they are 100% loyal only to each other. Secretly they spend a good deal of time trying to figure out which side will win, which side will get further. Gordon thinks it’s going to be ’62 and ’46: he doesn’t like them, but to his mind they obviously hold all the cards, it’s only proper they prevail. Henry’s not so sure. He can’t get over the signs that Edward—and, later, Thomas—seem to be in higher and higher favor, at least among the staff, increasingly so with FC1.

Henry is extra sensitive to those exact sorts of things—with his always-fickle steaming completely knackered since his tunnel confinement, with the knowledge that the board of directors are ready to write him off and that ’62 and ’46 stabbed him in the back when he first arrived, he is keenly aware of how insecure his position is. (That awareness does nothing to help his steaming problems. Quite the opposite.) However, I would never describe the Henry of this era as the softer, gentler counterpart to Gordon’s jerkassery. Not at all! Simultaneously proud while also nervey and self-conscious, Henry is often more peevish than Gordon during this time; Gordon at least has a strong front. Comfortable at least that he has Henry’s respect and submission, and confident in his abilities and performance, Gordon has the spoons to spare so that he can, when he chooses, be hearty or benevolent. Henry just doesn’t have that kind of bandwidth yet, and is often quite sour/petty.

1925-7:

James, who had arrived only to immediately wreck with a dramatic show of sparks, comes back from the Works completely rebuilt and repainted. During his overhaul Gordon and Henry had encountered big changes: the sheds at Vicarstown were (temporarily) emptied, with headquarters and the main line fleet moving to Tidmouth, where… no station pilot 😮

Gordon and Henry quite enjoyed having a go at this newcomer and his plethora of entertaining mistakes… and meanwhile when alone observing and analysing between themselves whether James would “take with” the old guard or the new guard. Thomas and Edward had both gotten off to a good start with James, but ’62 and ’46 tried to flatter the newcomer using the same routine with which they had blandished Henry on his arrival, and Henry looked on with disgust. I regret to say he never really even considered warning James. At that point, his entire world was just Gordon. Their lockstep alliance meant that almost no one else mattered to him.

Imagine Henry’s shock when the answer to the almost year-long question of whose follower James would become turned out to be… Gordon!

Honestly, this rocked Henry’s world and there was a good deal of simmering rivalry/jealousy between James and Henry after Gordon seemed to bestow on James a sort of honorary equality.

Also honestly? Gordon loved watching them compete for him. Alpha dog was in his element.

This now meant that there were three factions on the fleet: ’62’s, Edward’s, and now Gordon’s.

Also, the latter two factions were, for the moment, on pretty good terms with each other. ’62 was starting to think that becoming Top Engine In the Shed was way more trouble than it was worth… but then he got a bit of a break.

1928:

The pilot-less situation at Tidmouth dragged on. It really was untenable. The every-engine-for-himself scramble for their coaches and (some of) the trucks caused loads of confusion, delay, and drama. Stock was stolen and hidden; other engines’ jobs were sabotaged. The disunity of the fleet made what would already have been a tough situation way worse, because ’62 and Gordon alike were wily about exploiting it.

But, after three years, Gordon had had his fill of it. He’s always preferred a peaceful life. There was a workers’ strike earlier in the year, and Gordon, in his pretend-to-be-too-bored-to-notice way, absorbed a lot of new ideas and concepts as he watched and listened. He began recruiting the others.

Even his own faction was rather tricky to get on board. It cannot be emphasized enough how terrifying the idea of going up against FC1 was. But over time Henry and James became receptive. About a year had been spent just daydreaming aloud with each other, in private, but of course this spurred them on.

It helped that ’62 and ’46, who like all the other engines were approached privately with overtures of alliance, put on a good show and agreed that it was SHAMEFUL to treat TENDER ENGINES like this!! Down the bourgeoisie, and all that sort of rubbish!!!

Hmmm, yeah. When the time came to hold the line, there were ’62 and ’46, wide-eyed and innocent, having never heard the likes of this appalling insubordination…

Obviously the old guard didn’t participate in the strike either, and the Gordon faction took this bitterly because they were supposed to be on good terms with Edward, Thomas, etc. In their defense, however, the old guard never said they would support such action; they had been quite clear they wouldn’t. The ’62 faction, however, had pledged to fight alongside, and now here they were, eagerly “doing their bit” to “uphold management and good order” with a sugary and self-satisfied earnestness that even FC1 found kind of nauseating. The old guard, however, took ’62 and ‘46 at their word… or, at least, they didn’t openly question them. They didn’t exactly buddy up to the Blue Bastards and their hangers-on, but the relationship between them and the Big Three was strained severely due to the former’s “betrayal” and the latter’s “attacks.”

This gave the once-endangered ’62 and ‘46 a new lease on their Sodor lives. They were on tenuously civil terms with the “golden children.” And, when the Depression hit and it was time to downsize, it wasn’t easy for FC1 to explain to the board why engines who had helped keep the trains running during the strike should be sold on post haste, rather than the ones who had blown up the timetables and engaged in rebellion. Thus, they would remain and plague the railway for an average of eight more years.

*looks about at all our canon friends with hands on hips*

Good job, lads!

However, from Gordon’s and Henry’s perspective it had all been well worth it. For one thing, they had gotten a station pilot. Gordon had shown that his faction was not just “the neutral party,” but a force to be reckoned with. And there was now a tight bond forged between the three, ending the tensions between Henry and James for a couple of years.

Most of all, though, Henry, who had really struggled during the three years where he was pushed to shunt instead of rest in between trains that already taxed him so heavily, would never forget that strike. How bold and magnificent Gordon had been. How much he felt protected and allied and safe and strong when FC1 showed up to the sheds, already furious (it was a much fiercer confrontation than portrayed in the kids’ book!) and fuming that the useless old swindle had better not be up to another one of his bloody tricks, and Henry didn’t have to face him alone, how Gordon had said, so calmly and yet so firmly, “Henry’s not going.” It was a truly healing experience for him. (It was probably the seed that later sprung into Henry’s general belief in engine solidarity.)

He may have even beheld Gordon with rose-colored glasses because of this…

… for a while.

1929-1933:

The period between the strike and the Flying Kipper crash had been relatively undramatic. It was marked mostly by increasing “hard times.”

The factionalism of the ‘20s was soon left there. The N.W.R. was hit the least hard of all the railways on Sodor, but services contracted. There were rumors that Percy would be sold, but that never came to pass. Instead ’62 was gotten rid of early on in 1932, immediately after Christmas. The remaining engines (’46 aside) grew tighter, banding together against fears of a future that could be bleak for everyone.

Everyone did some quiet growing up in this era. Gordon and Henry, products of the Roaring Twenties, had never known what an economic downturn was, nor had ever contemplated that Hatt’s managerial and miserly strictness was due to anything but caprice. Now they sometimes had genuine fears for their railway and for the towns they served. James had more experience with the thing, but then again before coming to Sodor he had been more of a nihilist. Only on the N.W.R. had he ever been happy, he hated the thought of it “going bust,” and he wasn’t going to let it happen without a fight! “A fight” meaning James worked exceptionally hard during this period, and asked for very little—except for that lazywheels Henry to step it up, too!

Ah, poor Henry. His steaming troubles had only grown worse every passing year, till by the early ‘30s the only thing anyone could rely on him for was to require bailing out of his jobs. Henry felt keenly what the chronically disabled often face: Many others were tired of sympathizing with him and supporting him, so therefore they just assumed Henry was “getting on all right” even though he was still struggling as much as ever, and just as tired of it.

Now Henry actually had some true friends throughout this dark period, but he did grumble a lot that “no one” understood him, and by “no one” the truth was that he was really thinking about James and Gordon (plus some of the human crews, although he actually lucked into rostering with a superb duo after all the shuffling ‘round of both the workers’ and the engines’ strikes). Gordon’s increasing indifference hit him especially hard. It’s not that Gordon meant to be cruel, indeed Gordon said very little about the matter and never made the cracks about Henry’s slowness that James and Thomas did, nor even some of the completely misguided pep talks Edward and Percy sometimes sent Henry’s way. It’s just that Gordon stopped actively sympathising.

Henry had the bitter sense that Gordon had used Henry, offering him sympathy in return for Henry being his loyal follower during the ‘20s—but now that the social scene had settled, and a new station pilot procured, Gordon no longer had to pretend to care.

I don’t think any of it was nearly that calculated. Gordon simply fell into the very typical abled pitfall of “well, I’m tired of talking so much about this thing that cannot be changed, so I won’t,” while forgetting that Henry was just as tired of talking about it, but that Henry couldn’t just stop living this way. Which isn’t great, but Gordon’s sympathy had been sincere, and he didn’t stop feeling it. He had just run out of things to say and so he’d stopped asking or paying much attention. Gordon’s strength has never been emotional availability.

But Henry had once had as much of that from Gordon as Gordon ever had to give. As said, now he was bitter. He saw that Gordon and James were only getting closer and closer, and he felt left out and left behind, his hopes of one day having his mechanical problems cured diminishing year by year. He was not only bitter, but tired. It was a lot to carry, and it absolutely was not the sort of thing that Gordon was good at helping to carry.

1933-1935:

Once Henry was on Welsh coal, however (this was actually over two years before his wreck, and he in fact pulled dozens of successful flying kippers before his fateful night), the tables were turned! In short order, Henry no longer felt scared of anyone—no one on the rails, that is (he was still quite leery of the board of directors). As his confidence improved, so did most of his relationships, and indeed he started making new friends of little engines and machines he’d never before given the time of day to (he had adopted some ‘big engine’ rhetoric to justify that, but the truth had really been that in his early years he hadn’t the spoons to go out of his way to talk to anyone whom he could get away with ignoring). Post-Welsh coal and pre-Flying Kipper, Henry started to show signs of… extraversion. Popularity, even.

It was Gordon’s turn to feel forgotten and dismayed!

It did not help their growing rift in the '30s that Gordon himself, once so invincible, was having some of his own mechanical problems. They were much more minor than Henry's had been, of course, but then again Henry's now seemed a thing of the past, and Gordon's were only getting worse.

It had never been easy to be cover the express without Gordon—even '62 and '46, fellow prototypes, had had their issues that, while not leaving them as unreliable as Henry, did mean that they too could not be entrusted with express trains solo. Thus Gordon had been worked hard since his arrival to the N.W.R. Not only was a heavy overhaul more urgent with each passing season, but Gordon's third cylinder and corrugated valve gear had been the recurring nightmare of Crovan's Gate all along in any case. (The CME had actually once resigned, nearly on the point of a nervous breakdown. FC1 brought him back on board, knowing he couldn't get anyone better—and greenlighting an effort to start drawing ideas for a rebuild that would, above all, simplify Gordon's maintenance.)

Gordon did all he could to downplay the trouble his Gresley cylinders and valve gear gave... which, of course, had been easier to do before Henry's Welsh coal. Afterwards, everyone had more bandwidth to notice (and tease), so Gordon more often gave up his brave face and did a lot more complaining about how much he suffered for the sake of carrying this railway, and how disgracefully unappreciated he was!

Everyone was rather glad when 1935 drew to a close, for after the Christmas/New Year rush Gordon was finally to be sent to the Works for several months of intensive repairs. Henry, James, and even '46 were doing well enough that all the engines were confident they could get through the slow season comfortably enjoying a break from Gordon's bluster.

And that’s where they were that fateful early morning when snow forced down the signal at Killdane.

1936-1937:

Not shown in "Gordon's Whistle" was the degree to which the engines had suffered grief and trauma during Henry's long absence at Crewe. James in particular, who had been drafted to help clear the carnage and retrieve what appeared to be left of Henry, was deeply troubled. In contrast to Edward (who was more professional about breakdown duty, and who had also put in most of the last decade keeping his damn mouth shut about his own grief), James described the aftermath of the Flying Kipper wreck in hush-voiced detail to all the rest of their circle... thus upsetting the hell out of Thomas and Percy, too. Many a night various engines whispered to each other the question of whether Henry would ever really return, or what state he would be in.

What was shown in "Gordon's Whistle": the degree to which Gordon never acknowledged the gravity of the matter. He boilerached endlessly about how his own overhaul had been delayed again, he grumbled in great self-pity about how he struggled bravely through the rest of the winter, he found endless ways to re-frame the events of the night to somehow make the wreck Henry's fault. (It was a great deal easier to cope with a "he got what he deserved, hope he learns his lesson" narrative than with "sometimes terrible things happen and you can't avoid them, dear god i hope i'm not next.") Normally James and Percy would have been on hand at Tidmouth to destroy him for this, but they were both uncharacteristically subdued during this period, and Thomas was just as uncertain as to what to think or do. So, apart from various times when Edward was drafted to (temporarily) tamp down this unbearable vitriol, Gordon got away with running his smokebox for months.

Henry's triumphant return wiped away a great deal of this troubled time for everyone. They had not only worried he might be broken beyond repair in body, but in mind; however, Henry was on cloud nine. For the first time in his life, he felt right: a sort of physical euphoria in his own form. As a bonus, his experience "abroad" gave him the usual benefits of travel. He'd finally gotten to see a very different railway, and had met more engines over the course of his months at Crewe than there were on the entire N.W.R. It was all very broadening. In every respect, the ugly duckling had turned into a confident, badass swan...

... aaaand it was amazing how quickly Gordon was able to crush him. If it hadn't been for the timing of that whistle malfunction, Henry might have never fully recovered from being yanked back down into the mud by his supposedly-closest-friend, his formerly-biggest-supporter, his foster-brother.

Luckily Sodor karma did decide to trim Gordon's wheels right away, and in addition Henry was soon assigned to split Gordon's workload so as to help nurse Gordon until his own overhaul...so Henry got a chance to recover his new perspective. When Gordon overcame the humiliation and again attempted to have a go at Henry, Henry was ready—and snapped back at once.

Over the course of the next months, they fussed, quarreled, gave each other the silent treatment, and then quarreled again—and Gordon was clearly getting the worst of it!—when, to an exasperated FC1's relief, Henry requested to be transferred to Vicarstown.

I've described the next few years elsewhere: exactly as in (the highly adapted, loosely inspired-by-reality) "Forever and Ever," Gordon was blindsided, professed utter confusion, was genuinely hurt, and nearly lost his damn mind. Just because he'd been trashing Henry's name and using him as a punching bag for five solid years didn't mean that they weren't best friends!

Literally everyone, including good ol' '46: Uhhh, actually mate, it kinda does?

Gordon: *mind. blown.*

Meanwhile, Henry thoroughly enjoyed living his own life, not in Gordon's shadow or answering to him for... well... anything. He took the westbound expresses during this time and made mates with the engines on the eastern end of the network (except '46, who soon after Henry's transfer found himself relegated to the status of Vicarstown spare engine—and Henry enjoyed rubbing salt in his wounds waaaaayy too much), got to continue to make frequent trips into L.M.S. territory, and just generally glowed with well-deserved pride and satisfaction. He had not only survived a bloody awful first fifteen years of life but had learned to thrive.

1938-1939:

To really pile on Gordon's burdens post-Flying Kipper (we must never forget he was the real victim there!), he still, even after waiting and working for yet another year, did not get the much anticipated heavy overhaul. Henry's rebuild had been a huge expense and, while it was an obvious success, there was a Great Depression on and the N.W.R.'s finances were bleak.

Then, come '38, there arrived... the dynanometer coach.

FC1 borrowed this from the LNER, ostensibly just to "see if we should invest in one of our own," but in reality the point was to compare the performances of Gordon, Henry, and James, especially on express services... and you had better believe they all figured this out straight away.

The ensuing drama rattled the rails and raised station and shed roofs... even before the results were found out.

"Henry II" and James beat out Gordon's performance in nearly every category that the dynanometer could measure.

The entire railway was just basically "! ! ! ! ! !" for a solid month.

Trucks made songs about it.

(So did Thomas.)

Henry, however, kept his distance, and did not boast about this. He felt sorry for Gordon—although he was smart enough to say nothing about that, either. Behind the scenes, he tried to get the others, especially James (who! was! ECSTATIC!) to cool off rubbing this in Gordon's smokebox ("he would do it to us??!?!?!!?!!!" "shuddup you circus engine, Gordon's been magnificent to you, show a little gratitude?" "... no")

I can't even tell you what Gordon thought. He was clearly in a state of shock, eventually ceding to a state of general droopy moping that was... eeriely Henry I-ish, as a matter of fact.

But he did not roar or rage. Well, at the trucks and at Thomas, sure. But not at James, and not at Henry, to whom he offered stuffy, stilted congratulations like the gentleman that he is.

James made him regret his good sportsmanship. But Henry and Gordon's mutual maturity about this event went a good way in repairing their relationship. They started to exchange smiles as they passed, and, more and more often, not merely civil but genuine conversation when they met up. All right, more often than not they complained about their orders or disparaged other engines, but, hey! That had always kind of been their thing! They were getting back into their groove, only on a healthier, more equal footing! This was good!

Gordon almost immediately cherished hopes that this meant Henry would "come to his senses and return home"... but Henry didn't play that way, and Gordon submitted to the dash of cold water his various confidantes threw on this idea... well, with shameless puppy-dog eyes... but otherwise with good grace.

He was soon busy with his own affairs, as it turned out that FC1, utterly unsurprised by the dynanometer findings, presented them to the Board as evidence that Gordon required a mainland rebuild of his own. There had been talk of this rebuild for years, and Gordon had always loathed the thought, but after the disgrace of the summer trial he had quite a different point of view, and for the most part was now eager for the improvements that an important and useful engine like him deserved! To the degree he was nervous, talking to Henry about Henry's experience at Crewe definitely helped to prepare him. So off Gordon was sent; they removed his third cylinder, redid his running board, blah blah blah, and by the end of spring '39 he was a magnificent Gresley/Stanier/Hatt hybrid the uniqueness of which he gloried... though he gloried even more when a good many of the principles of his improved design were promptly applied to the rest of his old class! Wartime prep favored simpler designs for quicker maintenance, and so Gordon was essentially the prototype for the "A3s" to the same degree he had been the prototype for them all as "A1s."

(This should bring us back to a previous point: Gordon's bitching after Henry's return about "a shape good enough for him is good enough for me"? Oh, it was stroppy and self-centered all right, but to give the full context here, please remember that Gordon is literally a prototype, and that Crovan's Gate's attempts to fix Henry had always centered around making him more Gordon-like. This is Gordon's identity, so a rejection of Gordon's shape hit him on a much deeper level than it would have most engines. But now, returned to his original role as Mechanical Marvel and Trailblazer, that old blow to Gordon's pride was set aright, and another shade from the "Whistle" blow-up was put to rest.)

1939-1945:

Gordon, like Henry, received a warm welcome when he returned from Crewe. To the degree the enthusiasm for "Gordon II" was tempered by the looming inevitability of total war and as well as lacking the whole near-death experience thing, Gordon had grace enough to not carp about this... much.

And, the moment war preparations got underway on Sodor, Henry immediately returned to Tidmouth.

Gordon saw him roll back into the yard, which was abuzz with soldiers, strange aircraft, and dangerous new shipments, and smiled.

Nothing needed to be said. They got to work side-by-side at once, and endured the next six years together. Like brothers.

#i forgot to mention but while Henry was still at V'town Gordon decided that the credit for Henry's metamorphosis mostly belonged to him!#like i was his biggest supporter all those years no one thought he'd make it i am a *patron*#when he heard henry just kinda rolled his eyes and got on with things #like. gordon was only three-fourths wrong...#long post #ttte #this is ttte #the railway series #ttte headcanon #ttte: wwii #ttte gordon #ttte henry #the fat controller #ttte thomas #ttte edward #ttte james #ttte percy #the blue bastards #not QLIR-compliant #chatter #not shippy #albeit there's some REALLY cute art out there but to me these two are as much of a notp as thomas and edward #they're brothers your honor #not because of their tangled relations by build but because *gestures vaguely* LOOK at these ride-or-die sibling idiots #they grew up together <3

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