#a kid pop-ups and he goes: can I emotionally adopt that???

[littlefankingdom]

The best thing about Jarro is how it shows that if someone calls Bruce "dad"/"father"/any parent related terms, he accepts his new role immediately. No debate, the alien calls him "dad" so he is his dad. Random kid calls him "dad", he brings him home. That's his, now.

Jokingly calling Batman "dad" or "mom"? Jokes on you, you're his child now.

And we don't use that enough in this fandom.

[dongpound]

i demand to know more of your oc's (also im trying to catch up on your space au fic its been so long since i last read it)

OH MY GOD IT DIDNT GET EATEN BY TUMBLR

Anon™️ I’m using your ask as like a sticky note of oc ideas specifically Tundra dude there’s SO much I’m so sorry I got into the hyper focus zone

Tundra’s name is actually Alejandra Citlali Osorio-Cruz and through the series she’s just about to turn 16 in season 1 and roughly 19-20 by Season 5 (give or take how the fuck you think time works in 2012 bc I think it takes place over 3-4 years season 5 included)

Tundra came about as a nickname when she was a kid and got super hyper-fixated on professional wrestling and like. She made an entire persona and lore. Alec started using her wrestling name as a silly nickname and it stuck.

Yes I did come up with a stupid cute reason behind the name Tundra bc I can not handle the fact I chose such a BAD oc name for a LION but like I can’t change it NOW!! I MADE HER IN LIKE 2015 SHES TOO OLD TO CHANGE IT

Xever did just think for the longest time Tundra WAS her name. He also just assumed that Alec and Chris adopted a child for fun.

Her bio parents Ixchel and Alejandro were really good friends of Alec and Chris for like. Well over a decade. Ixchel and Alec especially. Ixchel was an actress (like I would say their worlds equivalent of Selma Hayek) and Alejandro worked in music production.

They didn’t have a ton of family they kept in contact with, so Alec and Chris were named Alejandra’s legal guardians if anything happened to them. They sadly died in a plane crash when Tundra was around 1.

This feels like SOOOO edgy and silly to me now but like I literally can’t see Alec and Chris adopting a kid any other way than the guilt of losing their friends pushing them to do it. WHICH SOUNDS BAD. AND LIKE IT IS. However they still love and raise Alejandra as their own, if anything Chris is like. Somewhat distant bc he still has his career but Alec’s like “fuck yeah I get to raise a kid again” and kinda slips from the spotlight. Which is fine by them , they’re like 600 years old they can just have messy fun in the public eye another time

Tundra goes fucking THROUGH IT emotionally through the series. Like goes from would do anything for Chris and Alec (especially Chris who. Again. Was distant and she desperately wanted his approval) to the point where like. She’s yknow. Mutated, to growing resentful of them when Hachi enters the picture (especially when she has to take care of him) to like. Low key betraying the foot and joining the mutanimals in season 3. And then having to deal w Chris being resurrected temporarily in season 5 after a really chill and happy 2 years with her mom and little brother like it’s a LOT.

In season 1 she’s very much a “mean girl” stereotype and slowly evolves into Cool And Gay (but still a little better than you)(she. She gets that from her upbringing.)

Tundra and Karai are seen as like a duo/bffs up until season 2 after the whole “I’m not shredders daughter” thing happens. They grow distant (obviously) until season 4.

So like Alec and Chris are NOT the best parents and like. They did totally just let Tundra take Hachi to live w her and the Mutanimals in season 4. She’d already been in space w him for 6 months and the poor kid really didn’t want to go live in the woods. I have such a specific scene in mind for this and I want to write it out so bad. Anyway tundra basically becomes a teen mom for a little bit. Eldest daughters am I right? *plays class of 2013 by mitski*

Tundra has a modified mini van which she does haul all of her friends who can fit in. Apologies to leatherhead and slash . No she doesn’t have a license

She also has a bike. These two vehicles she did canonically find on the side of the highway and she convinced Donnie and Casey to help her fix them

Tundras in a punk (? Maybe more Pop punk ) band called The Muties (my other characters Jack and Spinstra are in it. also Mondo. Sometimes Raph fills in on drums if Spinstra can’t make it). Tundra and Jack switch off on vocals, she’s usually on bass. They started up in the down time between seasons 4 and 5. They play in Moira’s Menagerie (a mutants only bar and hall) every week on Fridays. Alec comes to nearly all of their shows and also they bring Hachi sometimes when they practice and he’ll play his DS.

Alec will also force their friends (I.e. Apep, Anton, Ivan and Xever) to come watch Tundra w the promise of drinks and she thinks it’s embarrassing every fucking time bc they’re SO LOUD and OBVIOUS and god she could just DIE (but also. Having the support makes her happy)

Alec WILL slam back 3 tequila shots and go on about how talented their daughter is.

Chris got to see her play once. And it was when he was resurrected. And Tundra, frankly, was not thrilled. Another one I wanna write

[rarepears]

Just a question, how did Tywin met Sung Jin Woo? Like who fall in love first?

There are so many fucking versions I want to write for this Tywin X Sung Jinwoo.

Like we can have Sung Jinwoo stumbling into Westeros thanks to one of Architect's stupid missions and he meets a young Tywin Lannister who's stressing out on what to do about rebellious vassal families. Unable to forget about the young man, after Sung Jinwoo becomes the Shadow Monarch and gets rids of the Architect, he goes back to visit Tywin... except Tywin is older than before. And married. It's one of those friends to lovers once Tywin's wife dies and Jinwoo is there to help Tywin out of that funk.

(Cough Jinwoo unknowingly takes advantage of grief, drunk decision making, and unintentional intimidation into making Tywin his lover. Tywin, knowing he’s no match to this OP person, is unhappy and uncomfortable at finding himself in this position of a lady, but he makes the best of his position.)

And this is a fun story of Jinwoo figuring out how to be a stepparent to two teenage kids who are angry that their father is "replacing" their birth mom while also trying to figure out how to stay out of Westeros politics.

(Then he ends up finding himself stuck right in the middle of it when Jaime's shadow summon guards end up killing the Mad King because the Mad King was planning to set the entire Kings Landing on fire...

Jinwoo might be officially the new king, but everyone knows that Tywin is the real ruler. While also being the queen.)

-

Or Tywin Lannister goes to the Sept on his deceased wife's death date to pray for her soul, and out pops out Sung Jinwoo through a portal... in front of the Stranger's statue. You know, as one does.

(How else does the whole rumor about Jinwoo being the Stranger start lol.)

Jinwoo stalks this lord because he's curious and Tywin, being the pragmatic ruthless manipulator that he is, needs to know who the fuck this person is. He's not superstitious and refuses to believe in his guards' gossip that this is some god, much less the god of death.

Curiosity kills the cat... or in this case, lands Tywin in bed with Jinwoo. If it wasn’t for the fact that Cersei was already married off, he would have tossed his beautiful daughter at this god, but alas not. So he needs something strong to bind this god who’s startling naive about a lot of things.

Tywin assumes he’s going to be the top of this relationship since obvious it’s Sung Jinwoo joining the Lannister family but he learns the hard way it’s not going to be like that.

Cersei Lannister gets quite the rude surprise when her father brings his... lover to Kings Land after the Blackwater Battle.

-

After Joanna dies in childbirth, Tywin, full of grief and hatred, takes baby Tyrion out to the ocean, planning on killing the dwarf child. Tywin is half suicidal, half mad with despair...

(In this AU, Tyrion is the product of the Mad King raping Joanna.)

Anyhow, Jinwoo has great timing and hopped into the new world into a nice piece of wilderness that's located far from human settlement... except that there's a full grown adult holding a baby, looking ready to leap off the cliff into the crashing waves underneath.

In this version, Cersei would like to become queen, but she's not that obsessed because honestly? Being the adopted daughter of an OP god is far better and getting married means that she won't be around him every day, keeping him very emotionally attached to her.

-

Find more of this AU here

[arachnesbich]

Batman x Lab Rats crossover

The thought of some trauma-driven, angsty boy, like the Red Hood, being pulled into an emotionally-open, light heart-ed family, like the Davenports is incredibly entertaining to me. So, I've been having little plot bunnies pop into my head.

I haven't watched Lab Rats in a long while, but recently I've been looking back on it. If I remember the timeline correctly:

Adam, Bree, and Chase are Douglass Davenports' children.

Then Donald Davenport takes them and disowns Doug, because Doug planned to turn them into bionic super soldiers.

Doug meets Victor Krane, who collects bionic children behind Doug's back and those children later inhabit the Davenport Bionic Academy.

(In this AU Doug tries to make one more bionic human before just building Marcus. That person ends up being Jason.)

The crossover timeline in my head, is roughly:

Jason dies and comes back, is found by the League and put in the Lazarus pit.

(Talia kinda-cares in this one) He recovers a little bit and Talia sends him to train with multiple people.

One of those people is Doug (to learn about hacking, coding, robotics, something mechanical (because Doug does know what he's doing))

Doug and Jason bond over their want for revenge against their family. (Doug keeps the "experimenting on my own children and making them super soldiers" thing quiet)

He recovers, trains and comes back to Gotham as the Red Hood (IDK his cannon age, but in this he is a year or two years older than Adam, Bree, and Chase)

Eventually, Jason continues his training and then returns to Gotham.

Timeline continues as usual and something happens that seriously injures him (either it's Hood giving Batman the ultimatum between him and the Joker or something else)

(The more I think about it, the more I like the 'something else' option, for drama's sake.)

Apparently, Doug has been following Gotham news on the Red Hood, because he wanted to be close by for the Hoods "final showdown" (to celebrate with him if he get what he wants or to support him if he doesn't)

Doug finds Jason, saves him and brings him back to his lair to help him.

(Similar to what Doug would later do with Leo.) Jason gets bionics while he's passed out, when he wakes up Doug breaks the news and Jason finds out why his brother actually took his kids.

(I don't think Jason would want powers and I think Doug would know he wouldn't be given a willing test subject (that's probably why he used his own kids))

The chip is something Doug has been working on to "improve upon the previous models", but altered last minute to help Jason heal and recover. (This boosted healing ability helps Jason heal from the Lazarus rage in the long run)

Jason is upset and angry (for a multitude of reasons) and leaves. (Doug takes this as the sign to stop focusing on bionics and is spurred into creating Marcus(and later works with Krane))

Jason starts traveling the world and hunting criminals, starts to recover from the Lazarus Pit as well.

While on a mission, he discovers his ability to Geo-leap and starts to look back into the Davenports. (he was under the impression that he only got accelerated healing (Doug mentioned the chip was experimental, but he left soon after))

Using what Doug had mentioned before, Jason began looking for more about Donald Davenport. (Jason is suddenly very concerned about the three missing children (because Don raised them in his basement??))

(This is taking place before season one btw)

Jason finds Donald, has a dramatic reveal about the chip (and his revival, because Don is a rich man who used to occasionally goes to galas) and asks for some help.

(Not really clear how this actually plays out. Donald knows that Doug gave Jason a chip "a while ago", not that he's the Red Hood or that Doug is alive (Jason has no reason to trust Don any more than he now trusts Doug, so he keeps most details to himself))

Don thinks Doug gave him a chip before he was adopted by Bruce Wayne(because Jason was homeless(and I can only assume, the children Krane 'acquires' were also homeless orphans at some point.)) and that the bionics were triggered after his death.

He also assumes that the Jason didn't actually come back to life, just that maybe his heart stopped, his bionics triggered and kept him alive in a seemingly dead state, and then slowly healed him.

(Don wasn't close to any of the Waynes and doesn't follow Gotham news (I doubt there were many public details about Jason's death to begin with) so he's not familiar with the details. All he knows is Jason was in a bad accident and passed away)

From there, Don introduces him to Adam, Bree, and Chase (Jason's glad to see they are, in fact, alive) and Jason stays with them while he trains his Geo-leaping. Afterwards, Jason just comes and goes.

I know this probably doesn't have any kind of fanbase, but chances are I'm gunna continue writing parts and snippets of this AU. The concept is just so comical to me that my mind keeps coming back to it.

[uwuwriting]

Road trip w/ Kaminari, Shinsou and Bakugou

Request: Shinso, Kami, and Bakugou on a long trip/plane ride with their S/o? Happy holidays bb! - 🥐

I wish I could go on a trip. I need Christmas break to last longer, I’m not ready to go back to school and study for uni, I’m not emotionally capable. I hate it here.💖💖💖

masterlist II rules

warnings: fluff

Kaminari Denki

-You have a mini fight about who gets to drive at first. 

-You don’t trust him because he is dumb and bisexual and he believes that you’ll fall asleep ont he wheel cuz you stayed up until like 2 am the previous day downloading music and making playlists for the journey. 

-He gets to drive the first shift and it goes relatively well.

-You get some extra sleep, he enjoys his time behind the wheel and boom you’re now at a gas station having brunch before hitting the road again.

-Karaoke driving. 

-I think that’s all I have to say about your road trip with this guy. 

-HE will ignore the playlists with the soft songs because he needs to vibe at first. 

-Kills it with the Shakira impressions like you start wondering what would happen if he suddenly decides to follow a music career like Jiro. 

-So many bathroom stops. 

-Does this man have a prostate problem because damn.

-He can’t go for more than an hour without stopping to pee. 

-The one time you ask to stop at a gas station for a bathroom break he suggests just stopping at the side of the road and you could pee there. 

- “I do it so you can too.” 

-Denki honey I don’t have a dick to wip out…...I need essentials. 

-May or may not have taken the wrong exit at some point and you took a thirty minute detour. 

-At least you got some nice photos out of it. 

-Speaking of photos. 

-Your camera roll will be filled with selfies, stupid videos of Kami hyping himself up at a red light. 

-Races with other cars at said red lights. 

-You fear for your life most of the time, grasping the door handle like your life depended on  it because in reality it kinda did. 

-You beg him to take over and drive for a little bit but he brushes you off. 

- “You seem tired baby, let me drive for a bit.” 

- “Nope I’m perfectly fine Y/N. Gonna get us to the hotel so fucking fast.” 

- “Denki no-”

-He calms down after a while, and he lets you put on your soft playlist so you could both just vibe. 

-His hand is resting on your thigh, giving it a few firm squeezes every now and then. 

-He likes drumming the beat of the song on your skin.

-You start random conversations about anything and everything and if you’re being honest you love these types of moments. 

-There are no villains to fight, no danger in the horizon *apart from his driving* and you get to enjoy the tranquility while enjoying the ride.

-Denki starts telling you about adopting a dog and you joke that he would be a horrible dog dad. 

- “Maybe cats are better for you babe.” 

-You are no longer heroes. 

-You are just a couple going on a road trip, away from all your troubles and worries just you and him. 

-You reach the hotel later than you expected though…..it was those damn bathroom breaks!!!

Shinsou Hitoshi

-The trip is spontaneous. 

-You were both chillin in your apartment when he popped the question. 

- “Wanna go on a trip? I’m bored.” 

-You never expected him to pick a place this far away, you weren’t complaining though. 

-Road trips with him are immaculate. 

-He helps you pack your bags in no time, picking your favorite outfits out and placing them in your travel bags along with a bunch of snacks and a fluffy blanket. 

-You hit the road in less than an hour.

-It’s still dark out when you start your trip and Hitoshi insists you take a nap, get your beauty sleep while he drives. 

- “Don’t worry we won’t crash, I hope.”

-You do take a nap eventually but not for long and you wake up just in time to watch the sunrise with your boyfriend. 

-He will pull over and take pictures with the sunrise as your background. 

-He says he needs a new wallpaper on his phone and there’s an empty picture frame at his desk back at work. 

-He needs to fill them somehow. 

-Around noon he brings the fluffy blanket in the front seat, wrapping it around you so you can snuggle and possibly fall asleep again. 

-In reality he wants to take more pictures of  you with drool dripping down your chin for blackmail purposes but you will not yield !!!

-The trip is mainly filled with music and low humming coming from the both of you. 

-Though when a love song that reminds him of you comes on he will lean over and grip your thigh, giving it a soft squeeze, a blush blooming on his cheeks. 

-Makes many stops in spots that look great for photos or having an amazing view. 

-Definitely has prepared a picnic basket and before you know it you are munching down on some sandwiches he made while your feet are dangling over a small cliff you happened to come across. 

-Shares random facts about nature and animals with you. 

-Shinsou strikes me as a guy who watches a lot of documentaries and animal planet shows, so he has obtained random information and now he is explaining the mating cycle of penguins. 

-Would definitely prefer to sleep in the car and not rent a room. 

-He wants to stay outside looking at the stars for as long as possible and then snuggle up with you in the driver's seat, your head against his chest and his hand buried in your hair. 

-If you want to go to a hotel because you feel more comfortable, he won’t complain. 

-As long as he gets to cuddle you anything is fine in his book. 

-He puts on YOUR song while you are looking at the sky and invites you to dance with him. 

-Wraps his arms around your waist and slowly sways you back and forth, following the rhythm of the song as he looks into your eyes. 

-He loves capturing the moment so expect many photos to be taken and a bunch of videos of you two dancing. 

-He has his crackhead moments though so you can expect to be shoved into the water if you’re near a lake or at the beach. 

-He might draw a mustache on you while you sleep but don’t worry you get payback when he is asleep. 

Bakugou Katsuki 

-Whines while you back everything. 

-And when I say whines I mean he grumbles under his breath about this stupid shirt that he can’t seem to fold correctly.

-Anyways once you hit the road he is more relaxed than usual. 

-He keeps this tight, aggressive persona out in public you sometimes forget that this man, this amazing partner is also a pro hero who is known for his rough edges. 

-Sure, his explosive behavior doesn’t disappear when he is with you but he is a lot tamer and calm around you.

-During the car ride he makes small talk with you, sharing random events from his patrols and stupid shit his “squad” have done while out in public. 

-When he comes home every night he is just so tired that many details slip his mind as he recounts his day to you, seeing him right now a genuine smile gracing his lips as his only focus is the road in front of him really warms your heart. 

-He becomes more affectionate. 

-Hand gripping yours while he drives or his palm on your thigh, rubbing your soft skin as he hums along with the music. 

-Even if he needs to switch gears he won’t let go.

-Surprisingly he is the type to put on an audio book after a while. 

-Usually it's after your wedding song is over or soon after that. 

-Your song is like a trigger and suddenly sophisticated Bakugou emerges asking you to pick an audiobook from his collection and put it on. 

-Gets really invested in the story and pauses it every five minutes so you can discuss it. 

- “She could have escaped through the window why the fuck did she let herself get caught?” 

- “No Katsu!!! She needs to make sure the prince is alive!!” 

- “That’s fucking dumb!” 

-Let’s you take candid pictures of him and won’t complain when you coo over how pretty he looks with the sun behind him. 

-Don’t worry he is plotting to fill his gallery of pics of you sleeping. 

-When you actually fall asleep he will turn the radio down and hum softly under his breath. 

-If it starts raining heavily he will pull over and wait for it to calm down a bit. 

-My personal headcanon is that Katsuki has a car with a skylight *if that’s what its called* so he brings the seats down and you lay there admiring the rain falling onto the glass. 

-He likes talking about more serious matters when you are like this. 

-From your future to what pet your future kids could have. 

-If you get cold while waiting for the rain to calm down, he has a blanket on the ready. 

-He places you on his chest and drapes the blanket over you, enjoying your warmth and the filling of your pulse under his fingertips. 

-Might get a little emotional if a slow song is playing. 

-He is just too overwhelmed by his emotions at times like these, when he can hold you and feel the pure love and adoration flow between the two of you like water. 

-I love you’s are exchanged and many kisses. 

-When he starts driving again he is so refreshed, it’s like a completely different person. 

-Gas station stops and bathroom breaks are a nightmare cuz he keeps hyping himself up in order to go into Bakugou public mode. 

-You just want your Katsuki, the cuddly Katsuki. 

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[animationadventures]

Loved Amphibia’s episode (episodes?) this morning. I am really digging the frogs’ interactions with Anne’s parents. I hope to see a lot more as the season goes on.

Sprig wanting to be considered part of the Boonchuy family and Anne’s dad thanking them for hosting Anne while she was stuck in Amphibia brings me to an AU idea I had.

I call it the Adopted Boonchuys AU.

Basically, the Plantar family is human, and Sprig and Polly’s parents pass away terribly when Polly is a few months old, so Sprig and Polly get taken in by their Pop Pop. Not long after Polly turns one, Pop Pop also passes away but more peacefully. With no one else, Sprig and Polly are put into the foster system.

At this point, Anne is nine, Sprig is six, and Polly is one.

One day, Sprig wanders off when he’s not supposed to. Maybe after school, Sprig gets tired of waiting for whoever is looking after him and Polly to pick him up and he decides to try finding his own way back.

He ends up at Thai Go, or somewhere else, and meets Anne and her parents. Of course, Anne and Sprig vibe with each other really fast, and Sprig hangs out with them until his foster guardian picks him up.

From there, Anne and Sprig keep having playdates when Anne is not with Sasha and Marcy, and Sprig occasionally wanders over without asking just because he likes playing with Anne so much.

Eventually, Anne and her parents find out about Sprig and Polly’s situation. Anne immediately wants to help them, but her parents are understandably hesitant about taking in two more kids, especially a baby, when they already have their hands full with Anne and Domino.

Through a combination of Anne and Sprig wearing them down and the possibility of Sprig and Polly being relocated to another foster home, they eventually say yes.

Anne grows into her big sister role, and helping take care of Sprig and Polly prevents her friendship with Sasha and Marcy from getting to the toxic point that kicked off the Amphibia adventure.

Sprig enjoys having parents again, barely remembering his birth ones, and eventually gets interested in slingshots. The parents allow him to get or make one as long as he sticks to using safe things like old cans as target practice.

Polly grows into a toddler then her firecracker five-year-old self with an interest in fighting. In this AU, Frobo is a popular cartoon character she gets attached to. She has a bunch of toys from Frobo’s franchise, and gets emotionally invested in his show.

Of course, without the Amphibia adventure, Marcy’s reaction to her dad getting a new job goes differently. She runs away, and after she is found, it is pretty clear that the move will devastate her. This is where things could go two different ways.

Her dad could either accept the job, and arrangements could be made in classic Disney style where Marcy lives with maybe Sasha like Harper moved in with the Russos on Wizards of Waverly Place or Lilly moved in with the Stewarts on Hannah Montana.

OR

Her dad could turn down the job, and Marcy’s family stays the same. It depends on how her family is depicted in canon, and how the writer wants the story to go.

That’s everything I’ve thought of for this AU so far. Thoughts?

[ramblingguy54]

True Colors: An Emotionally Fantastic Serious Game Changer.

If we’re to look back at Reunion as Season 1′s dramatic pay off for Amphibia’s message of toxic friendships, as Anne & Sasha’s conflicting dynamic showed us, then True Colors is a colossal expansive note on this big theme of the series. True Colors makes Season 1′s finale look like a walk in the park for what angst goes down between our three main heroins in Season 2′s climatic resolution. Everything that can go wrong does go oh so painfully wrong for these three kids. Anne, to no one’s surprise, gets double crossed by Sasha leaving things between them a Hell of a lot more bitter than they were previously, as if that couldn’t already be topped when Sasha tried to kill the Plantars before. Anne has had enough of her lies and manipulation not being afraid to tell Sasha straight up how awful of a friend she’s been in general, even hitting her where it hurts most of all saying, “No, I’m done listening to you! I’m done trusting you! You’re a horrible person and I am done being FRIENDS with you!”, going so far as to get a shaken reaction out of Sasha dropping her brave face act, making this girl try to wipe away the frog family.

Right off the bat, True Colors makes it highly evident this isn’t just another story of stopping a bigger threat, but one hitting much closer to home, overall. Yes, King Andrias is certainly a dangerous villain, who makes his presence and intimidating nature known to the others by True Color’s final act, which despite this Amphibia isn’t entirely putting him at the forefront, rather focusing on a more intimate study of Anne, Sasha, and Marcy’s big emotional conflict. This finale knows exactly where to put its focus of importance on, so I love that instead of it being action packed we’re getting the spotlight shined on just how screwed up these three of a friendship have, in spite of Marcy claiming in The Dinner episode, “We’re supposed to be friends for life. We don’t split up!’ . Very ironic stuff right there, indeed.

True Colors’ most powerful strength it adds to Amphibia’s ongoing profound story about healthy friendships is the thorough deconstruction of these girls defined “ideal relationship” as people. Before Anne came to the world of Amphibia this kid was afraid to stand up for what she believed in, even knowing especially well that stealing the calamity box was morally questionable, but did it anyway. Sasha was super manipulative, abusive, and used her power to control people, like she did a lot of toward Anne in their lives. Marcy, while very smart, wasn’t the most competent physically, who soon grew into being more independent without needing to rely on Anne always having to be there for her. These three were changed immensely by the events of being thrust into this world of sentient amphibian creatures. Anne benefited morally most out out of all three in taking up the mantle of responsibility and ironing out her own issues. She’s become a much stronger person all around. 

This episode asks us an important question though in nutshell with, “Have Sasha & Marcy truly changed for the better?”, since Anne has reached a point in her arc feeling genuinely content with who she’s become and the bonds that have been made with the Plantar family shown most notably with Sprig Plantar. Hence the whole purpose behind the song, It’s No Big Deal, with Anne feeling proud for who she is, yet not noticing a bigger issue right underneath her nose. That previous episode was meant to bring Anne’s happiness up only to bring it all crashing down in a devastating display of new revelations in True Colors. Every dramatic emotional beat isn’t just earned. Each significant moment is completely knocked out of the park by terrific voice acting, beautiful animation, and music composition that gave me serious emotional goosebumps. True Colors did exactly as Not What He Seems accomplished for Gravity Falls in shaking up its own respective dramatic stakes just when you thought it couldn’t get any higher for these protagonists. Shit seriously hits the fan here.

Did it ever occur to you, Anne? Sasha? That one of you knew more, than she was letting on? That ONE of you might’ve gotten you stranded in Amphibia on purpose...?

The big bombshell twist of Marcy playing a part too in getting them into this whole debacle completely flips everything upside down. Sasha pushed Anne into taking the Calamity Box, yes, but if Marcy never sent that photo because of her desire to stay with them together forever, then they wouldn’t have been stranded in basically a world full of dangerous creatures and who knows what else. Easily my favorite part of the episode, considering it adds more nuance to a situation that defined Amphibia’s story. It wasn’t just one person’s fault at the end of the day. Sasha bullied Anne into taking the box, Anne didn’t put her foot down to make a stand for something morally questionable, and Marcy took advantage of them both to benefit her own selfish desires for supposedly a “happy ending” not involving them staying apart, due to her parents moving away for a new job. All three girls played an important part on why they got landed into Amphiba. It’s why Anne’s statement to King Andrias, “The three of us may have made some mistake, but you...You’re evil and I’m gonna stop you!”, holds such a real weight to it, as this story continues to solidify how genuinely fleshed out their dynamic is.

Marcy’s super desperate plea to be understood by Anne & Sasha when Andrias revealed her getting them thrown into Amphibia purposefully was hard to watch. On one hand, I felt for Marcy because she didn’t want real life circumstances to tear apart that close connection she had to Sasha & Anne. Sure, she could’ve just kept in touch with them over the phone or chatting online, too. However, Marcy had known them since very early childhood. When you’ve been so attached to someone it can be a devastating thing, depending on just how vulnerable you are emotionally, to start drifting apart. Marcy represents that embodiment of toxic need for togetherness and couldn’t bear to let a possibility, like moving away, throw a wrench into her happiness and friendship, as well.

Never mind Marcy wanting to stay permanently in a different reality, rather than face her’s, but it made this person feel like something more. It gave her a chance to feel truly special in being able to live out a fantasy dream of having such power and freedom that a kid, like herself, couldn’t have had. The freedom to know she is plenty capable of making it out there on her own without Anne having to watch this kid like a hawk. So, to have someone, or something, try taking it away from her terrified Marcy of facing a terrible truth. That she isn’t strong enough after all to live a life without Anne & Sasha by her side completely, where Marcy will never feel truly worthy enough to blossom into her own person. It’s why that line, “I just...didn’t want to be alone...”, carries such a deep pain to it all. Marcy just crumbles into pieces accepting her greatest weakness. As much as Marcy fumbled the ball big time, it’s so easy to empathize with her on the idea of feeling competent enough. Marcy never meant to hurt Anne or Sasha, but the sad crushing punchline is she very much did.

Speaking of which, Anne had every right to be upset and mad, obviously. Anne has been missing so many things from her life before everything went off the wall. Hopping Mall especially highlighted Anne’s emotional desire to give anything just to hear her mother’s singing again. This teenager has been really dealing with a lot of grief in general quite honestly. Anne got into a high stakes battle against Sasha to save new friends, who’d practically became like an adopted family, which left the poor girl traumatized and heartbroken over the end result. She thought finding Marcy would help compensate for it and eventually be able to mend those complications with Sasha to boot. It’s simply painful to see it all blow up in Anne’s face to know not only Sasha betrayed her trust yet again, but realizing Marcy also played a part of responsibility in getting them thrown here. Matt Braly really just decided to slap future trust issues onto Anne finding out Hop Pop, Sasha, and Marcy were all super dishonest in their intentions at one point or another. Damn, I feel so bad for her.

It makes their embracing hug back in Marcy At The Gates so much harder to watch. Anne was super glad to see her again. Anne had wondered what became of Marcy or even possibly started to think she could even be alive at all. Then come to find out later on Marcy having intentionally ripped her away from a normal life must’ve felt worse then what happened with Sasha. Anne, already done with all of Sasha’s bullshit, thought she could at least expect better from Marcy not letting her down, but that too wasn’t the case. Marcy is very much as flawed as Sasha in what she has done. To think, Anne wanted so badly to get back home, yet she’s staring the very person dead in the eye, who ripped her away from it to begin with. Marcy knew Sasha would talk Anne into taking the box from that thrift shop, even if she wasn’t completely certain it would successfully teleport them away. Regardless of whatever good intentions someone can have in why they did what they did, it still doesn’t absolve them of said mistake. Fact of the matter is, Marcy tragically made her own bed, by choosing to mess with forces she couldn’t begin to comprehend and now has to face consequences, in spite of her not deserving them.

What really got to me was when Marcy tried to spin around Anne’s personal growth and close friendship with the Plantars as all entirely thanks to her. When she said, “I gave you this! I gave you everything!”, I was like, “Nope, that couldn’t be any further from the truth.”, seeing everything that has culminated in Anne’s journey of bettering herself. Marcy didn’t give Anne anything, but a one way ticket to cutting the kid off from her family, presuming she’d be fine with this idea. It’s all kinds of messed up, however what it boils down to is Marcy undermining Anne’s independence and agency. Anne’s moral judgement in decision making was what allowed her to create this new life she made for herself in Amphibia. Anne’s honesty as a whole led her down a path of togetherness, while Marcy’s lying landed her in a result of not wanting to be alone, costing her so much.

“I don’t believe this. We were so focused on each other we couldn’t see what was right in front of us!”

True Colors excels at earning each of its emotional beats because they line up with character motivations down to the last letter. Anne doesn’t want to trust Sasha anymore because of their already rocky past, which leads to her helping King Andrias regain control of his kingdom. Sasha not keeping a lid on her temper, wanting to rule over Amphibia, and trying to reinforce that power dynamic with Anne & Marcy only made things worse for her image of a changed good friend. There wasn’t a chance in Hell Anne would hear Sasha’s reasoning after she flat out tried to take away her frog family, by attempting to use the Calamity Box a bit ago in the episode. Marcy wanted to believe there was a happily ever after in seeing this world traveling idea as their only chance for salvation as friends for life, but it turned out to be something much more sinister, when learning of Andrias’ backstory and his true scumbag nature. All three of their motivations come clashing together, blinding them from a much bigger danger. Something that effectively puts everyone at stake.

Amphibia’s Season 2 finale works so excellently, given it covers important dramatic elements it’s been stirring around since Season 1′s early rumblings. Amphibia is a story centered around people’s need for emotional connections. True Colors builds miraculously off what Reunion already did quite well in showing friendships can become rough and they are never easy to deal with. When you have to make a stand it can be a tough pill to swallow on the reality check of maybe this “good friend” of your’s isn’t as nice as you previously thought them to be. Anne having been hurt one too many times now by her former friend sends that message close to home, so much so even Sasha begins to question her morality as a human being. It poignantly encapsulates how this trio’s complex friendship is a serious growing issue needing to be reexamined, overall.

What if Anne’s right..? What if I am a horrible person...?

Something I absolutely love to pieces about True Colors, also a testament to Season 2′s darn good writing, is how much introspective we get from each character on what they’re feeling. We’ve seen plenty of Sasha’s vulnerability before in other episodes centered on her issues, but now we’re getting to the root of it. Sasha is really taking everything more to heart, little by little. Sasha’s understanding what kind of an effect she has on people, seeing the damage it has caused made evident by Percy and Braddock in Barrel’s Warhammer. Grime once told her, “Some dreams have a price and not everyone is willing to pay it.”, where she’s questioning that idealism every passing minute the invasion plan proceeds further into reaching success. Sasha isn’t sure what to do with herself anymore feeling aimless. Those previous episodes had a real impact on her priorities more than she cared to let on with Sasha’s typical tough girl act. This kid has let her guard down more, which scares and confuses Sasha. She’s always used to playing the role of protector it contradicts everything Sasha stands for when the roles are totally reversed because now Anne has made her feel the tremendous change in their growth as individuals.

Sasha’s lifestyle has been all about control that after somewhat learning to be more considerate to Anne & Marcy’s feelings she feels beyond conflicted about what truly matters to her. The most screwed up part of it all is Sasha didn’t want to fight anymore, taking up a pacifist approach after seeing what King Andrias had been hiding from everyone. It’s a fitting punishment for Sasha to try bringing Anne over to work together once more, but getting her pleas for companionship outright ignored. Anne was correct that Sasha had wasted all the chances to be reasonable. Boonchuy tried to hear out Sasha before at The Third Temple. One wanted to start things over again to iron out their serious issues, but the other was driven by bitterness, while only remorseful to a degree at best, of seeing their once weak friend become so independent, mature, and stronger that it drove her up wall. Sasha wanted to take away that “problem” being the Plantars, since in her eyes they’re the source of Anne’s strength, driving a wedge further between the two girls in their heated Reunion 2.0 battle.

True Colors demonstrates the horrific price of no trust, communication, nor teamwork from the three main girls that Andrias smoothly took advantage of, as if they were fiddles. 

“That’s the thing about friends isn’t it? The more you love them, the more it hurts when they go.”

King Andrias is quite literally what I wanted Lunaris to be, where DuckTales’ Season 2 finale didn’t impress me on doing. He’s a serious big baddie to the main cast, who follows through on his threats of violence to demonstrate his wide array of arsenal and power. Andrias doesn’t just emotionally manipulate characters, like poor Marcy, but utterly crush them without an ounce of remorse for his actions. When he dropped Sprig out that window after Anne willingly let him have the Calamity Box back I thought they were legit gonna kill this boy off. The way Anne’s flashback montage of her good times with Sprig were eerily shot really didn’t help either on that note. Anne’s Calamity power finally activating is easily up there among stuff, like Dewey risking his life for Della’s disappearance in Last Crash, where the cinematography is shot and animated brilliantly. You feel Anne’s blind raging sadness in every hit she landed on those robots and Andrias. If anyone didn’t believe Sprig was like a little brother to Anne, then I dunno how anyone couldn’t view their bond anymore as such after this hugely defining scene. Anne went bloodthirsty when she believed Sprig to be dead further evidenced when she hugged him in relief afterwards exclaiming, “Sprig!? You’re alive!? Oh, thank goodness...”, which cuts deep so damn much.

Anne was ready to fight every one of Andrias’ troops in that castle to the death, if need be. Before Sprig came back from falling, thanks to Marcy’s quick acting, to comfort Anne, her only goal was to slaughter every opponent in that throne room, along with making Andrias pay dearly for even daring to lay a single finger on anyone of the Plantars. I’m not gonna lie, this pivotal power up reminded me so much Gohan turning Super Saiyan 2 after Cell curb stomped Android 16 into pieces with a smirk on his face. Anne Boonchuy’s maddening outburst is a classic testament to the idea of, “Piss off the nicest person and they’ll make it their mission to instill the biggest kind of fear/terror into you.”. showing this kid at her most vulnerable mental state, yet. Sprig & Anne’s cathartic embrace really messed me up in reinforcing just how these two respect, love, and would go above any of their limitations to help the other out. Sprig’s “death” scene was a masterful bait by the writers into making us think someone was gonna die and it was gonna be a poor kid, no less.  

However, it was actually all just a bait and switch for the real, “Oh, shit. They really just did that”, moment with Marcy unexpectedly getting run through with Andrias’ gigantic sword. In a last ditch effort, Marcy wanted to atone for what she had a hand in getting them all into. Marcy was ironclad determined in making her own stand for what was right trying to save the people she endangered. Akin to what Sasha did in Reunion for saving Anne’s life, Marcy does the exact same here. Although, unfortunately this time, no one is here to protect Marcy from escaping death, like Grime catching Sasha from plummeting at Toad Tower. Marcy couldn’t react in time because she was so focused on helping her dear friends out. She wanted to prove to herself at least one time, “I’ve screwed up so much stuff with my friends. Maybe, just maybe. If I get my friends back home, it’ll prove I’m not an entirely crappy person for setting these events into motion.”. Marcy’s own deep seeded remorse is what saved Anne & the Plantars, while being the cause of her own untimely demise at Andrias’ hands.

This scene is what no doubt encouraged the warning sign for younger viewers Disney decided to make for them. It’s impressive how far Matt and his crew are willing to go for intense dramatic content. Andrias trying to crush Polly with his fist after destroying Frobo with casual ease, dropping Sprig out of the window from up sky high, and stabbing Marcy with his powerful sword displays his cold blooded brutality. Doesn’t matter who you are. If you get in the way of Andrias’ plans for multiverse domination, then he’ll throw anyone into their own grave, be it man, woman, or child. That’s the mark of a truly terrifying antagonist.

Andrias didn’t care who had to be hurt or manipulated to get back the box, so he could invade other worlds with Earth being his next prime target for invasion. Marcy’s fate is a horrifyingly poetic statement, since Sasha stated to Anne in a flashback from Marcy At The Gates, “One of these days, she’s gonna get herself killed.”, with True Colors tying back to this line in a disturbing manner. Something that sends chills down my spine is we get to see the full extent of how far Andrias shoved the sword through her body. We don’t just see the entry point of where it hit her, but it even zooms out to show the whole thing. Real talk, I got serious Avatar The Last Airbender vibes from this scene. Reminded me so much of Aang getting suddenly zapped with lightning by Azula when he tried to enter the Avatar state. Marcy didn’t want to be alone so badly she ended up inevitably dying alone trying to send Anne back home to their reality. One Hell of a way to close off Marcy’s last moments in Season 2, until her inevitable resurrection happens in Season 3 now that King Andrias has her in a tube tank that looks tied to his master.

True Colors ends on a deeply bittersweet cliffhanger leaving the fates of Sasha & Grime totally unknown if they’ll get away by the skin of their teeth, or get captured by Andrias’ soldiers and robots. Anne finally returned home with the Plantars, but at a deadly cost of leaving her other close friends behind in Amphibia. After all the isolation, heartbreak, and endurance she went through with her frog family Anne finds herself at a total loss for words. Once again, Anne is in a state of solitude of not knowing if her friends are really okay or not, mirroring the start of Season 1 when she landed into Amphibia’s world. It’s safe to say to say that, “Finally me and it’s no big deal.”, lyrics have aged terribly for Anne’s realization of finding her own identity came at the expense of getting separated from friends she’s known since kindergarten. Definitely see Anne becoming a lot more protective of the Plantars now more than ever after watching Marcy drop to the ground from being stabbed in front of her eyes.

Amphibia’s Season 2 finale is exactly how you capitalize on a winning story telling formula of dramatic writing, lovable characters with layered depth, and increasing the stakes of your story in an organic manner. True Colors is a finale that should be talked about for a long time to come, as it not only showed how worth the wait it was, but reinforces why Amphibia is a truly great series. It’s unafraid to take its characters to dark places in a way that feels totally earned.

Amphibia Season 2 is everything a sequel to a first film should be.

[letapollojusticesayfuck]

fuck it, Klapollo Camp Rock AU (where I change like half the plot to make it fit the characters better lmao)

Apollo and Trucy are Phoenix’s adopted kids; Phoenix has a catering business and gets hired last-minute to cater the food at Camp Rock

Trucy’s 12 and has been dying to go to the camp since she read about it on the Gavinners fan forums--they’re her favorite band and that’s where they got their start. She’s hoping to eventually start a magic-themed band where she integrates magic tricks into their stage performances

Apollo’s 19 and really does not want to spend his summer at some music camp--he’s not a fan of being onstage or performing at all, though he knows guitar and has a notebook full of songs he’s written over the years. He’s not sure they’re any good, but they’re personal and they’re his.

(He’d also been planning on spending his summer going on an epic road trip with his best friend Clay, before Clay found out he got into an intern program at GYAXA and they had to abandon that idea--leaving Apollo at loose ends for the summer)

Phoenix insists that both Trucy and Apollo come to the camp with him and help out--Trucy gets to participate in camp activities, and Apollo’s supposed to be a counselor who can sit in on some classes if he wants. Trucy’s thrilled; Apollo less so.

Meanwhile, there’s been some drama within the Gavinners--amidst rumors of unruly behavior and accounts of an uncooperative, pop-diva attitude, Klavier Gavin is unwillingly pushed into spending his summer taking some time off from the band and acting as a guest teacher at Camp Rock, under the supervision of his former mentor and owner of the camp, Miles Edgeworth

Shortly after arriving at camp, it becomes very obvious that Phoenix and Miles already know each other--and Apollo and Trucy start wondering if they’re going to have to start making bets about if they’re going to have a new dad by the end of the summer

Trucy finds a group of friends to fall in with almost immediately--she ends up moving into a cabin with Athena, Pearl, and Juniper Woods

Meanwhile, Apollo’s stuck having to live with Phoenix in the staff cabins--and having to go through camp counselor orientation, where he meets fellow disgruntled counsellors Ema and Kay, who he bonds with over mutual distaste for having to supervise a bunch of kids with ~musical dreams~

(Kay got drafted into being a camp counselor by Edgeworth, who’s not quite her dad but who might as well be. She dragged Ema along because they’re dating and Ema needed a job to help with her grad school debts--studying forensics isn’t cheap!)

Sometime during the nebulous time period before camp Officially Begins, Apollo’s helping clean the dining hall and takes a break to chill and play some guitar and hash out one of his newest song ideas

While he’s doing this, Klavier just so happens to walk past the open window, on his way back from trying to argue with Edgeworth that he’d had a world tour planed for this summer, and what if the fans forget about him? He’s gotta get out of here!

Klavier’s entranced by Apollo’s singing--who is this mysterious singer with the fantastic voice and incredible music composition skills? He runs into the dining hall, only to find an empty room and a guitar propped up against the wall--no trace of the person who’d been playing

But Klavier can’t get the song out of his head--and so he vows that, before the summer’s end, he’s going to find out who was singing

The first time Apollo meets Klavier properly, he does not get the best first impression of the rockstar--Klavier’s supposed to be teaching a class about song composition and music theory, but he basically goes at it with the least enthusiasm possible and uses a bunch of technical terms that go way over the heads of the group of 12-to-14-year-olds Apollo’s supervising (including Trucy et al.)

Somewhere in here, Trucy finds out that Apollo has literally no idea who Klavier is, despite her having been obsessed with the Gavinners for at least three years now. She makes fun of him mercilessly.

Apollo ends up making some snarky comments about Klavier’s teaching ability to Ema, and Klavier overhears

The next time they encounter each other, Apollo’s moving some baking supplies from the storage into the kitchen, and Klavier stops him halfway--he asks Apollo what his problem with him is, and Apollo tells him straight--he thinks Klavier is acting way too high-and-mighty and not letting the kids have any fun in his classes. He chides him for his perfectionist attitude, telling him that the camp isn’t about putting together the perfect performance, it’s about learning and making mistakes and having fun.

(He’s mostly saying this because Trucy was really upset that she couldn’t follow the lesson the other day, and spent days stressing about how this might mean that she can’t be a real musician magician, and Apollo’s basically gonna defend Trucy with his life, even if he himself doesn’t want to be at camp)

Apollo asks Klavier about his experience at camp--surely everything wasn’t about being perfect the whole time back then?

He leaves Klavier to think about that and gets back to his errands--and Klavier does take Apollo’s words into account

During his next lesson, Klavier actually plans a kind of fun, hands-on activity, and Apollo’s surprised (and kind of touched, honestly)

They end up hanging out a lot more during their free time, after that, and realize they actually get along pretty well

Meanwhile, there’s background Narumitsu shenanigans going on where Phoenix and Miles keep having emotionally charged moments over really mundane things, like double-checking the food supplies and confirming the amount of music-themed cupcakes to be made for the weekly Music Event

Trucy and her group of friends are working to put together a performance for the Final Jam at the end of the summer--it’s just been announced that the winner of the Final Jam contest will get to record a song with Klavier, and it’s basically a guaranteed jump-start to their career

They’ve got stiff competition--(though I haven’t decided from who yet, OOPS, lmao--open to suggestions! Who’s around their age and Mean? Bonny and Betty DeFamme, perhaps?)

Apollo has no plans to participate in the Final Jam at all--again, he doesn’t like performing onstage in front of a bunch of people who are going to judge him

HOWEVER--the rival group to Trucy’s plot a scheme--they’re going to frame Trucy and her friends for masterminding a sabotage of the competition! Whoever the “leader” of this group is plants evidence around Trucy’s cabin and drags Edgeworth into it to investigate--though Edgeworth believes that Trucy and her friends are being set up, his hands are tied--the rival group have Connections and famous family members, and the camp’s already struggling financially. He can’t afford to have these rich parents pull their support

And so, Trucy and her group are banned from performing--until the end of the Final Jam. 

Obviously, Apollo and Phoenix are outraged. Phoenix goes to confront Miles about it, and finds out about the financial situation--and Apollo asks Trucy if there’s anything he can do

And Trucy sees an Opportunity--because she’s Noticed Apollo and Klavier spending time together

She asks Apollo to perform at the Final Jam on her behalf, and Apollo, although kind of uncomfortable with the idea, agrees, because he wants to make his sister feel better, and if he’s got to face his fears to do it...well, he’s going to do it for her, even if he makes a fool of himself

Meanwhile, Klavier’s been trying and failing to find out who his mystery singer from the start of the summer is--and he’s running out of time. 

And Then...

it’s the Final Jam!

A bunch of performers perform various musical numbers, and they’re all pretty good

Klavier is one of the judges, along with the rest of the Gavinners and Miles Edgeworth

Apollo actually hadn’t technically entered the competition during the designated sign-up period, so he’s not on the official program--he gets announced as a surprise late entry, and Klavier is taken aback

because he had no idea that Apollo could sing, or play an instrument, or anything--Apollo had basically just made out that he was here against his will and got dragged into this to help out his dad, Phoenix

So Apollo walks out onstage, looking very awkward and holding his guitar, and all eyes are on him

and Klavier recognizes the guitar, doesn’t he? It’s the guitar that was in the dining hall, that first day

But wouldn’t that mean...?

And then Apollo starts playing, and he opens his mouth to sing, and from the very first notes, Klavier knows this is it

This is the song! 

Anyway, he’s stunned, shocked, until without realizing it, he’s stumbled up, grabbed a microphone, and he’s onstage, singing along with Apollo in a Dramatic Duet(TM)

Apollo’s also stunned--he’s spent the entire summer listening to Klavier lament about his mysterious singer that he’s trying to find, and this song that he’s never gotten out of his head (that Apollo never actually got to hear, come to think of it...), and it turns out that in the end...he was Klavier Gavin’s mystery muse?

They finish the song, and Edgeworth announces that that’s it--it’s the end of Final Jam!

The judges go away to tally the scores, and...what’s this?

The curtains go up, the lights turn on, and it’s a surprise performance, from Trucy, Pearl, Athena, and Junie!

They get to play the song they’ve been working on all summer, and it’s a hit--surprisingly good for a bunch of kids between 12 and 14!

(Trucy’s integrated magic tricks and it looks Super Cool)

The votes come in, and...

turns out Apollo got disqualified for the fact that Klavier ended up singing with him, oops

(He’s secretly glad--he didn’t really want to get roped into more public performances with Klavier)

The winner actually ends up being Vera Misham, who’d entered with a heartfelt ballad set against a backdrop of her own drawings

But Trucy’s made a bunch of new friends and got to surprise everyone with her magic/music combo!

And Apollo meets up with Klavier out by the lake, after the show, to talk things over

because really, Klavier spent an entire summer pining after him?

And Klavier’s like, “Wow, I’m an idiot, I spent the entire summer torn between hoping I’d find this mysterious singer who stole my heart right at the start, and wanting to get to know you more--and it turns out you’re one and the same, and all my worrying was for nothing.”

to which Apollo responds: “You’re sure you’re not...disappointed? Because I’m just...me, and I don’t really want to be a performer, and I’m really not that cool, and--”

Klavier cuts him off: “Nein, don’t talk like that! You are perfect, exactly as you are--and I can’t tell you how happy I am that it’s you”

And Apollo lets himself believe Klavier, and they just smile at each other with these stupid huge grins on their faces, standing out on the dock on the lake, before Apollo finally decides that fuck he’s gonna go for it

and he kisses Klavier, right there, arms wrapped around his neck so he doesn’t go falling over with the combo of standing on a dock and standing on his tiptoes so he can reach

They only break apart when they’re interrupted by the sound of raucous applause from the bushes by the shore--

where Trucy and her band were watching, and they cheer them on

(Apollo turns exactly as red as his signature hoodie, and even Klavier is hard-pressed to just laugh it all off)

Klavier and Apollo make sure that they’ve got each others’ contact details, and confirm that yes, they want to try this dating thing, even though they’re both going to be pretty busy and not in the same place

The only thing left is to get all packed and ready to go home--so Klavier walks Apollo (and Trucy) back to the cabin Apollo shares with Phoenix--

--only to walk in on Phoenix and Miles finally having gotten their acts together, making out on the couch.

(Trucy wins a lot of money that night, and everyone at the camp learns definitively not to enter into bets with her)

In the end--Trucy’s got lifelong friends and promising feedback that her music/magic idea is gonna work out; Apollo’s got a boyfriend and more confidence in his songwriting abilities; Klavier’s also got a boyfriend and learned that it’s important to not forget what’s fun about making music; and Phoenix and Miles found each other again after Several Years Apart (and later decide that they’re going to try running the camp together--but that’s something that’s not immediate).

Vera gets to record her song with Klavier; and Kay and Ema actually end up having a pretty good summer, despite their cynical outlooks at the start (and Kay’s attempts at stirring up mischief)

fin.

[hetalia-has-a-secretary]

more of this! imagine that the child has reached puberty and has become more emotionally unstable/reckless/edgy/distracted from school and etc

they're trying to gain some kind of independence from their parent and do not fall for "childish" stuff anymore, so the level of tension between parent|child is high and it leads to unpleasant conflicts

how will single dad!axis&allies cope with the feeling when their child is growing up?

who would have an easier time understanding and connecting with the teen? (poor england)

Oof- poor england indeed :')

Allies and Axis Dads Dealing With Teens!

Allies:

America Realized his child was getting older the day he wanted to take them to McDonald's and tried to buy them a happy meal. When the kid turned it down Alfred immediately assumed they were sick. After talking it over with England, it turns out that every annoying bratty thing America did as a child has finally came full circle. Then when he realized they were getting older and wanting to become more independent, it made him extremely emotional. He had a bizarre mix of being awfully proud, and kind of scared. He realized that his kid could turn out just like him, and honestly even America himself saw how dangerous that was! All in all it's a solid 8/10 on the getting along with a bratty teen scale. Though he now joins Britain for more drinks over being an exhausted parent.

England had to go through this once, and was hoping it wouldn't happen again. Him and his child had verbal fights at least once a week. England was trying his hardest to understand but he was so set on "losing another child" that he forgot for a moment what was happening. He eventually calmed down after one fight in particular. His now teen wanted to hangout with some friends at a sleepover, but it was a school night. England said no and the kid spat back at him that 'uncle Alfred' would have been a better dad, and they ran off to their room. After being stunned for a second, he poured himself a drink. Eventually the two made up after England shared his feelings about the whole situation. Both the Father and the child felt guilty over the argument. From there on they both agreed to try and compromise.

France is another to get into petty arguments with his child. Most of the time it was over how the kid dressed. They wanted to branch out and find their own style. They felt like a doll and France was the little girl who picked out the outfits. Infact, France's kid felt smothered. One day France had enough and packed away the teens clothes, and then all hell broke lose. Between the insulting remarks, and a few sobs things were left in a sour atmosphere. It took a few days for them to really even talk to each other. Though France was the first to apologize. He was just scared he'd lose his pride and joy. Soon enough this lead to them going on clothes shopping, and France realized that his kid learned something important for themselves. How to be their own person, even if it's against the rest of the world. And France couldn't have been prouder.

China is probably the worst of them all when it comes down to understanding his kid during these trying times. They (affectionately) argue over the smallest things. Foods too hot and or cold? Argue about it. Why are you wearing no jacket when it rains? Another argument. Even though China argues with his kid, by the end of the day, there seems to be a silent forgiveness between them. Only once or twice did the teen run off to Japan, who very fondly understands China's way. Even so, he talks them into going back since China is all they have left, and this situation will blow over eventually.

Russia can be extremely patient when he needs to be. And let me tell you, his patience was certainly tested when his kid started going through puberty! Russia's kid has discovered how to manipulate him through his past trauma as a country. And so for a couple weeks Russia (via slightly concerned) was doing everything he could for his teen. Once someone pointed it out Ivan went through two phases. The first phase was silent parental anger. Which his kid picked up on immediately, especially after they realized they couldn't get Russia to do everything for them anymore. Then a small fight broke out between them. Russia was dealing with the sarcastic remarks up until his kid told him that he deserved to be alone. That's when Russia snapped and spat back, how he'd rather be alone than deal with a terrible little monster. Then it grew silent. And then phase two hit. Realization. Not just that his kid was growing up, but his kid was starting to develope some of his intimidating and threatening habits. Russia tries hard to be nice to others, but he was never fully aware that his antics could hurt this badly. It was a rude awakening for both the kid, and the father. Things got emotional, but it turned out for the better. Even if they still sometimes bicker.

Canada had one hell of a time dealing with a bratty teen. He hardly had it in him to punish his child, and it caught up to him. America had come over to the house and witnessed Canada's kid pretty much walk all over him. It was America who talked to Canada about tough love. And he tried it out. His kid was in shock when his phone was missing off the counter, and started to tear up when Canada explained that it was taken away until they, at the very least, talked about the difference between respect and disrespect. Canada was very close to giving into his kid's pleas to return his phone, but managed to stand his ground. Even after they talked things over. There was an akward silence between them until the punishment was over. But it was going to be a long sturggle for Canada and having to figure out how to deal with this new attitude that pops up every now and again.

Axis:

Germany is very much so a 'I will get respect or else' kind of parent. He's never had to punish his kid before, and usually has the patience of a god. Via a bit confusing sometimes with his parenting skills, but he gets by. But as soon as his teen starts stepping out of line and pushing their boundaries he straight up goes and tells them if they don't like it, tough luck. His rules his house. But with thought love comes the love part. The kid will storm off, and when dinner comes around Germany will bring them food and try to talk more about it. He'll say stuff like 'you might not like my rules, but they're there for a reason' or 'Its okay to be mad or upset, but this is how the world tends to work, and I just want to see you manage'. He really loves his kid, and tries but having two headstrong German's (adopted or not) can be a hassel. They both now understand that sometimes it's better to just walk away and cool off before discussing the topic further.

Japan isn't a real strict dad so long chores are done, and his child is happy. But then puberty hot and the kid became a completely different person. Japan sensed it right off the bat and decided to distance himself from his kid than try and make them see reason. Though this eventually hurt the kids feelings. You see, the kid began tossing out figurines and manga Japan gifted them. He didn't mind if they grew out of it, but at least give it away to another person. His pride was hurt, and it got hurt more when he caught his kid trying to sneak out of the house and run away. That's when he realized he had to deal with this head on. Even if he hated it. The worst part was how okay the teen was with just leaving. They became too dumbfounded at Japan's tears to even register why he was crying. Japan had actually fallen to his knees, quivering. He told them that if they really wanted to leave him that badly it was okay. And that whatever he did to upset them was his fault alone. It only dawned on his kid why he was acting like this when Japan mentioned something about them tossing out memories, and how he should have seen it coming. Japan's crying was a last ditch effort to try and fix what he thought was broken. His kid on the other hand had started to tear up as well, and despite any discomfort, they got done next to him and hugged him. He eventually hugged back, telling them they were his world. No one knows that the two ever struggled, especially since then they patched things up quickly.

Italy was a hot mess when his kid started asking for different foods, and wanted to spend more time away from him. Family was everything and it hurt him that his teen was pushing him away. Italy just got to the point where he accepted that it was happening. His kid started staying out late, and Italy would eat alone, but keep a plate out for his kid. Until one night his kid didn't come home. He panicked and didn't even bother calling Germany before he went searching throughout the night for his kid. So when he returned next day, heartbroken and feeling sick to his stomach, he finally gave in and cried. The door that night was carefully opened and closed and that's when the teen saw the damage they caused. Their father had a phone in hand, and a Missing person paper printed out, along with a gazillion tissues. He had passed out on the couch like this. Morning came around, and Italy just about passed out from joy and relief seeing his kid sleeping on the floor. He was so relieved that he carefully shook his kid awake, and immediately started balling his eyes out when they said 'good morning'. Many years and apologies were shed that morning. Italy had actually gave the kid a curfew, and they were only allowed to break that if they told him where they were going.

Ta-stinking-da! I had way to much trouble with these, but I think they're pretty good. Yet again gave myself the feels with this. Let me know what you guys think! ❤️

[miss-nov]

Freddie Lounds Headcanons Because She Is A Boss Bitch Who Deserves A Backstory!!! (NBC's Hannibal).

Was born and raised from ages 1-13 in Southern Connecticut (Westbrook) before moving to Lafayette, Louisiana where she lived before moving to Orono, Maine for College (The University Of Maine) and stayed there to go on with her Journaling Career.

She was born November 5th, 1976. (I'm assuming the show takes place in the early 2010s as the show doesn't seem to be necessarily in the same year as the books are per se). Her full name is Fredrica "Freddie" Lisa Lounds.

Freddie is vegetarian because in her younger years she couldn't stomach the sight of butchered animals of when her father went hunting and decided to not eat meat.

Freddie's father is named George James Lounds and he's a country man through and through and has worked as both a fisherman (in Lafayette) and a ranch hand (Westbrook). Comes from a Christian background. Only moved to a more urban area for his wife. They married September 12, 1969. Born January 23, 1956 in Westbrook, Connecticut.

Appearance: Pale Blue Eyes/Red, Curly Hair/ Pale and Freckled/ 6'3"/ Burly.

Freddie's mom is named Laura Lisa Lewis. While she's never worked a job she is know to volunteer and be active in her community. Very much a charismatic busy-body. Comes from a Christian background. Always dreamed of living in a nice cottage in the country side of France and seriously plans to in her retirement plan. Born July 17, 1957 in New Haven, Connecticut.

Appearance: Dark Brown Eyes/ Strawberry Blonde Wavy Hair/ Tanned/ 5'2"/ Slender.

Freddie's older sister is named Christine "Chrissy" Renee Lounds. Is a stay-at-home mom and mother of Danny James Turner. She married Grant Roger Turner in April 4, 2002. Lives on a small farm in Wolftrap, Virginia. Agnostic beliefs. Regal and able to hold a mean grudge. She has rather rocky relationship with Freddie. Born December 4, 1970 in Westbrook, Connecticut.

Appearance: Wavy, Partly Sunbleached, Red Hair/ Pale Blue Eyes/Tanned/5'5/Lithe and Slightly Toned.

Freddie doesn't know her grandparents on her Father's side because they're alcoholics. She knows virtually nothing about them, not even their names.

Freddie is/was close to her grandparents, Kenneth Hiram Lewis and Lois Renee Miller, on her mother's side. Kenneth was born March 30, 1930 and died in 1991. Lois was born June 25, 1928 and is still presently alive.

Freddie is Bisexual and while her parents are accepting it is difficult to them to understand everything that comes with it so it isn't a topic that comes up often at Family Events.

Freddie is a decent enough cook but the only thing she can bake is bread. Other baking things tend to burn.

Her father and her tend to be slightly emotionally distant.

Freddie bonds with her father by fishing though she never actually eats the fish or help gut and clean them but she likes the comfortable silence. It makes her feel close to him.

Freddie bonds with her mother by helping pick out knick knacks to cram into the kitchen and living room. Her mother insists she takes one to take home with Freddie everytime she visits. Freddie always caves in and does.

Freddie and Christine rarely bond and mostly fight and bicker but when they do it's mostly over watching/playing with Danny. Occasionally one of them reaches out to mend their relationship but it never ends up working out. They can go months without talking to each other but both sisters know that when it really counts they're there for one another.

Danny James Turner is a hyper and energetic boy who wants to be firefighter when he grows up and went as far to convince his mom to get a Dalmatian puppy which he eloquently named her Dotty.

Danny is one of Freddie's pride and joys. She isn't sure if she'll have kids herself but enjoys her visits with Danny. She taught him how to play basketball.

Freddie isn't close with her brother-in-law but she is polite and cordial with him.

Freddie visits her parents on every single holiday without missing a beat. It slowed once they got a cottage in France when she turned 30 but she still makes time for them.

Has no Aunts and has one Uncle, Jessie Hiram Lounds (May 18, 1954), on her Father's side but he only visits on Christmas.

Freddie tends to be an attention seeker as she felt Christine was favored more. Her envy of her sister multipled in high-school as Christine got better grades, was nicer and more well-liked, got all the boys' attention, and all the teachers' praises. Freddie felt she couldn't live up to her sister's standards and harbored a little resentment because of this and it caused the rift in their relationship. It worsened as Freddie entered college but evened out when she graduated.

It's because of her jealousy of her sister that she wants to be rich and famous so that can set Freddie apart from Christine once and for all.

Freddie calls Christine "Chris" to annoy her.

Freddie, since she was a young girl, had always been found eavesdropping and listening to the gossip that circulated between her mom, her grandma, and their friends. She was the type of person to stir the bot whenever she got bored because she found it incredibly entertaining.

Freddie contemplated going into law in her Junior before settling on Journaling as a Senior.

Freddie was in her high-school's newspaper club, photography club, and the lacrosse team.

In Freshman year Freddie would publish rumors in the school newspaper if you paid her and even made a gossip column for it. This lasted up until Junior year before getting permanently shut down after Freddie posted a raunchy rumor about one of the teachers. This almost got her expelled and kicked out of the newspaper club. In the end she got two months detention and had to write about school games instead.

Freddie has almost gotten suspended twice after getting into fights with people after she published cruel gossip about them.

Freddie took Advanced English classes.

Freddie favorite elective was creative writing.

Freddie is trilingual and speaks English (Native Language), French (Secondary Language), and Spanish (Third Language).

Freddie can sign almost all bad words in ASL and half the alphabet. She doesn't know anymore than that.

Freddie wants to go on a trip visiting all the hotspots of Spain before she turns sixty.

Freddie is a huge horror fan. Her favorite horror movies are Psychological ones.

Freddie LOVES trashy, reality television. The trashier and more dramatic the better.

She also enjoys true crime though the episodes where it ends up being a cold case makes her incredibly upset.

Freddie has a green belt in Karate.

Freddie enjoys Yoga and on a biweekly basis goes to a dance studio down the street of her apartment for lessons.

Freddie had a rebellious streak all throughout high-school and her Freshman year of College.

In College Freddie double majored in English and Journaling. Freddie minored in law and when she had a free period, secretly popped into the criminology classes. She was never caught. She played on the lacrosse team and the basketball team.

Freddie hasn't dated much and had only one long-term relationship (Two Years). She only is bothered by this when she thinks how much she wants a kid.

On three separate occasions had thought about adopting and raising a child on her own but chickened out; She's convinced she'd be a terrible mother.

Freddie adopted a black, stray cat fresh out of college, on the first night she moved into her apartment. She named him Pesky.

Freddie likes hyper-sexual pop and sorrowful balleds, there's no in-between.

Freddie writes poetry occasionally, sometimes about something important and other timesfor no reason at all, but it's always in the same format.

Format: Near rhymes/steady meter/rhythm/ short/ last stanza is always two lines.

Every poem she writes about Pesky is pinned all over the side of her fridge.

Favorite color is a tie between Sky Blue and Pastel Green.

Has a secret blog under the name "RedFred" where she critiques horror films.

Freddie hates serial killer with a vehement passion due to the fact that her best friend and first crush, Hannah Mayes, was murdered by one. The killer ended up in prison for life but Freddie felt like it wasn't enough. It was one of the deciding factors of the Lounds moving from Connecticut.

Freddie still has nightmares about it.

Anywho that's all I got for now!! I hope you enjoyed!!

[bb-basbusa]

Marinette biodaughter of Bruce Wayne

This au was inspired by @ozmav maribat au.

· Bruce met Sabine when he was training in with the league of assassins

 Sabine was the top assassin of the league. Highly respected by Ra's Al Ghoul and the rival of lady Shiva.

· At first Bruce and Sabine disliked each other due to their different codes of ethics, but they slowly came to respect each other and even considering each other friends.

 Sabine started questioning the league and started to despise their needless killing, even came to regret killing in some missions in the name of the league.

· With Bruce's influence and help she decides to leave the league of assassins and turn on a new leaf.

·  Of course, Ra's refuses to let go of his top assassin, so he makes a deal with her. He gives Sabine an extremely difficult, almost impossible to complete alone with no help. (this is basically John Wick).

·         She agrees, Bruce tries to talk her out of it. The mission is just impossible and there is an extremely high probability that she will die.

·         This leads both to fight both verbally and physically.

·         It ends with a one-night stand.

·         Both agree not to talk about it, and both leave on bad terms

·         Sabine leaves to complete the mission, during this time Bruce completes his training and leaves the league.

·         Sabine of course completes the mission, much to ra's complete surprise.

·         He is a man of his word and lets Sabine go with a promise to not seek her out again or interfere with her life and those around her.

·         Few weeks later, Sabine discovers that she is pregnant with Bruce's child. And since she an Bruce's friendship ends on bad terms (with Bruce being an emotionally constipated man, who at this point of his life only think about his mission and wouldn't make a good father) Sabine decides not to tell him.

·         Sabine travels for a little bit until she arrives in Paris where she meets Tom.

·         With time they both fall in love with Tom promising to love her and her unborn child as his own.

·         When Marinette is born, Tom officially adopts her as his daughter.

·         Marinette grew up loved from her parents and had a normal happy childhood.

·         Though Sabine did teach her self-defense because you can't bee to careful.

·         When Marinette was ten years old, she meets Damian Wayne. He was separated from his guardian and got lost.  

·         Marinette offered to help him, but Damian at this point of his life was a little shit and refused. Too proud to even admit he was lost.

·         But Marinette was not deterred, and with great determination, kindness, and whining, she was able to make him cave.

·         She shows him the way back to his hotel, and saw Dick waiting outside worried out of his mind.

·         He saw Damian approaching and immediately ran towards the kids and scooped the baby assassin into a hug.

·         " Dami, I was so worried"

·         "cease your embarrassing antics Grayson, I am clearly in perfect shape. As if anything in this miserable city can harm me"

·         "hey, Paris is amazing. You take that back" shrieked Marinette

·         Only then does Dick notice a petite Asian girl glaring at Damian.

·         "well hello, who might you be?"

·         "I'm Marinette, I helped him find the hotel. He was lost" came the smugly reply

·         "I wasn’t lost you imbecile, I didn't require any assistance from you. I just "accepted your help" because you were annoying and couldn't shut up"

·         This basically started a shouting match between Marinette and Damian, while Dick observed with amusement.

·         He never seen Damian act like a child since he came to his care (Bruce is lost in time at this point, and Dick is Damián's legal guardian) and started to thick that hanging around Marinette may benefit Damian.

·         He invites Marinette to the local park, where Titus can stretch his legs, an takes her there with her parents' permeation of course.

·         Over the next few days Dick invites Marinette to come with him and Damian (much to the latter's chagrin) whenever they have free time.

·         The kids' relationship only started to improve after Marinette helped Damian take down Chloe, who was acting as her glorious bratty self.

·         It involved headbands, tooth pics, and a lipstick

·         Damián started to respect Marinette and enjoy her company after that (though he won't admit it)

·         Marinette starts talking about her friend at home, while her parents listens with amusement until she mentions his full name Damian Wayne.

·         Sabine immediately starts asking about his father.

·         At first Sabine wanted Marinette to stay away from the Waynes, but seeing how happy her Daughter is, she decided against it.

·         Fearing that both kids with time would develop feeling for their unknown half sibling, she calls Dick and tells him about Marinette's parentage.

·         Dick doesn't believe this, so Sabine gives him permission to perform a DNA test.

·         The test was done, Dick was not amused because damn it Bruce another one

·         They both decided to tell the Kids about their blood relationship

·         Damian was furious and didn't accept this, at this point of his life he thought he was the blood so of Batman and no one else

·         He ended saying some hurtful thing words towards Marinette

·         Marinette ends up crying, and runs out of the room

·         Damian is immediately consumed by guilt, especially after Dick gives him the "I am very disappointed in you" look.

·         He goes to Marinette's room to apologies and hears her crying through the door and feels even worse.

·         It takes a lot of him since he never apologized to anyone before, he does it but awkwardly.

·         Marinette forgives him because she is a forgiving person and asks Damian not to say stuff like that to her again.

·         They become close after that. They exchange numbers and e-mails to talk to each other when Damian and Dick return to Gotham.

·         Tom and Sabine are great influence over Damian. With the Dupain-chengs he starts to act more like a boy and less like the heir to the league of assassins. Dick is very happy and grateful about it.

·         The couple also parent Dick and coddles him. Both boys are adopted to the family now.

·         In Summer Marinette visits Gotham and meets Alfred. The butler grew quite fond of her.

·         She may strongly resemble Sabine, but Alfred can see Martha Wayne in her smile. A little of Thomas Wayne in the twinkle of her eyes. And a lot of Bruce when she is concentrating on something.

·         Marinette also inherited Bruce's intelligence, so she quickly discovers the family's secret.

·         She joins the boys in their training, because extra self-defense lessons can't hurt, but not on petrol. Sabine was very against it.

·         Dick introduces her to trapeze, which she fell in love with, together they are the acrobat duo.

·         So she spars with the boys, flies with Dick, bakes and cooks with Alfred (" I am pleased to know that at least one Wayne will grow to be a functioning adult". "Alfred please.STAHP")

·         And once she is introduced to the girls ("she is so cute" "stop squealing fat girl") she'll hack with Barbra, dance with Cass, and will have a girl's night out with all her older sisters especially Steph.

·         Jason meets her after he comes to the cave to use the bat-computer, then out of nowhere a petite Asian girl pops out and offers him cookies.

·         "I only known Marinette for five minutes, but if anything happens to her I'll kill everybody in this cave then myself"

·         Jason and Damian start fighting for the position of favorite brother.

·         Months passes and Marinette grows closer to all the bat-family except Tim, because he is still looking for Bruce and didn't keep tabs on what's happening in Gotham lately.

·         The Dupain-Chengs adopts the rest of the Bat-family except Alfred. Alfred adopts you, you do not adopt him.

·         The family becomes closer and the communication problem is slowly fixed.

·         Jason becomes more open. He and Dick talk about their issues, there was shouting, yelling, accusations and tears. But in the end, it was better. Not perfect but better.

·         Also, Jason finally has healthy positive parental figures in his life. "have you been eating?" "I'm proud of you son" "we love you" and other words were spoken towards Jason and the kids.

·         "o-okay" he chocks on tears.

·         Alfred later introduces the Dupain-chengs to Ma and Pa Kent and joins the " the gathering of family member of heroes, who have more common sense than the heroes"

·         Basically, the family members of heroes meet up monthly for brunch to bitch about their hero family member, while trading recipes and baby photos.

·         Alfred is the founder. Ma Kent is the president.

·         Bruce comes back and everyone is happy. No one tells him about Marinette. They all decide to troll him.

·         Marinette and Bruce accidently meet in the cave.

·         "Papa' it's good to have you back" Marinette happily hugs Bruce

·         Bruce is holding his arms awkwardly in the air, while looking down at Marinette with confusion. "who are you?!"  

·         "it's me Marinette, don't you remember me" insert fake tears

·         "A-ahh?!"

·         "Alfred Papa doesn't remember me" she wails dramatically into the butler's chest "he forgotten all about me"

·         " Honestly master Bruce, I raised you better than this. Yet here you are disowning your own daughter.

·         "yeah, shame on you B" came the eager response from Steph and Jason.

·         " I am disappointed in you father" Damian joins in. Cass nods in agreement.

·         Dick is struggling to keep his poker face intact, Barbra is pinching his arm hard to keep him away from laughing and exposing the prank.

·         Tim is sleep deprived and confused as hell.

·         The family takes bets to see when would Bruce figure out they're trolling him.

·         Spoilers alert he never does

·         They end up telling him and Alfred wins the pot.

·         "World's greatest detective indeed"

·         "alright I get it Alfred"

·         Bruce ends up adoring Marinette. He and Sabine talk again after a decade of not talking and becomes somewhat friends

·         He doesn't publicly announce Marinette as his daughter and doesn't claim her, because Tom is her father as well. And it won't be fair to him.

·         She may have Bruce's blood, but the heart is all Tom. He is grateful that his daughter grew up loved. He doesn’t want to take Tom away from her.

·         When she became Ladybug, she immediately tells her family. They're all freak out about 13 years old being a hero on her own.

·         " you need a partner"

·         "Papa chat noir is my partner"

·         "Dick go to Paris"

·         Due to the bat-family involvement, hawkmoth is defeated fast. And he is spending the rest of his life in jail.

·         Adrien goes to live with his aunt in England for a while.

·         Zatanna and Constantine are called to see if they can wake Emilie from her magic induced coma.

·         They do. And Adrien goes back to his mom

·         Hawkmoth civilian identity was never outed to the public. The justice league wanted to give the Agrestes some privacy. But there are some conspiracy theories.

·         Due to the influence of her older sisters, Marinette isn't as boy crazy as in the show. But she develops an innocent crush on both Adrien and Luka. Much to Bruce's chagrin

·         "you won't start dating until your thirty"

·         "of course papa, of course"

·         Keeping Marinette away from dating was the toughest battle Bruce ever fought. The rest of the family are just sitting behind and enjoying the show

·         Her wasn't the most normal or perfect, but Marinette loves it any way.  

[rwbyremnants]

NOTE: Car sex, cunnilingus.

WOW, I can't believe after so long between updates it's finally all up! Hope you guys enjoyed the ride and are happy that Ruby and Winter figured it all out. Again, I know sometimes this account goes quiet even though I'm always writing; I just can't always find the time to set aside to edit and update the fics. It won't be right away but I can tell you that the next installment of the White Noise universe is definitely coming someday. Until then, see you in the other fics!

-NBW

=Chapter 11

Once the newly happy couple entered the conservatory, it became too crowded to talk about their private affairs. Everyone was sat around in the living room, surrounding Weiss who took the middle of the sofa with Yang at her side. Blake and Sun had made it, and they were lingering near Yang. There was still no sign of Qrow, Taiyang or Penny yet. They must have been more held up than they thought. Even if people were still engaged in their own conversations rather than fully focusing on their host, it was still too risky.

But that didn't stop Ruby standing in place by Winter's side, idly brushing their hands by one another. Not holding, but enough to make her presence known.

"Okay, I guess we're ready!" Weiss was announcing as Winter hooked her own pinky around Ruby's. No one would have noticed how nervous she was unless they were close to her - either physically or emotionally. Nervous, yet excited.

"Hang on," Blake said, holding up her phone and aiming the camera at Weiss. "Okay, ready!"

"Open Yang's! It's sappy!" Ruby called across the crowd loudly, knowing it would definitely be heard on the recording.

It was a small haul of presents in comparison to previous years, but no one particularly minded. Both the hosts understood that many of their guests either didn't know what to get or couldn't afford much – and they themselves had insisted nobody break the bank. It made the cards reviewed all the more special, which Weiss had Yang display by the fireplace right away.

Nearly an hour later, everyone had gathered at the dinner table. Weiss put the various presents to one side but insisted on wearing the bracelet. While agreeing it was sappy, she loved it – just as both Ruby and Yang suspected she would. Yang and Weiss were sat at one end, with Fènleng in her high chair at the head of the table. By their side were Sun and Blake, then Neon and Inu, then Winter and Ruby. The rest of the guests were further along, with only a few taking the sofa due to lack of space at the table. Everyone took what they wanted from the buffet of sandwiches and snacks, complimenting Neon and Yang who had put it all together on this occasion.

Ruby sometimes managed to give Winter a shy wave. There was still no sign of Penny just yet. But while things were up in the air with Winter, she assumed that was for the best. They could talk soon.

"You know," Winter said to Neon as she leaned to one side so they could speak more easily, "you two did quite a good job on this spread. If you ever get tired of performing, you could probably try your hand at party planning."

Blowing a loud raspberry, she smirked back toward her. "No way! Any nimrod can spread some mayo on bread’n add some tuna or ham. I just needed to do it a few hundred times!"

"Well, I might think about it! I'm sure as hell still not used to going out and people recognising me on the street, like I’m somebody." Grabbing a few of the cheese sandwiches and some potato chips, Yang looked toward her little sister from across the table. "Don't worry, I put Penny's vegan stuff to the side so she'll have plenty when she gets here. Made it special!"

"Oh, great! She'll really like that!" Ruby grinned straight back, having just put a bratwurst on her plate and adding more chips. "They're still held up, I think… traffic must be bad."

"Sometimes it gets pretty congested," Weiss agreed as she popped a devilled egg into her mouth. "Flying out of Nashville is as miserable as LAX. But you get used to it."

"This tuna is excellent," Blake commented with a smile. "You really went all out."

"Seconded! I'm surprised it hasn’t summoned the real cat yet." Taking a few of the tuna sandwiches for herself, Neon then looked back to Weiss while she prepared her own and some of Fènleng's food. "Hey, where is Xu-Xu anyways?"

But while they had their light, aimless conversations, it seemed Ruby was zoning out for a moment. She had got her food, and simply stared blankly at her plate as she began to eat. Dwelling on Penny being late would do no good for her mood, so eating was a good solution.

And so was something else going on under the table. About a third of the way through her bratwurst, Ruby could feel a sensation sliding up her calf. It was very light, but definitely present; a teasing. As it did so, she could hear Winter answering another question Blake had asked.

"Oh, I'm not much of a pet person. But I might be persuaded to take in a rescue." Her eyes flicked between both her and Ruby. "Perhaps a cat and a dog, if they could play nice with each other."

Swallowing the meat in her mouth, Ruby shuddered with both a mixture of shock and pleasure. She could feel very easily it was Winter's soft foot, teasing her with those pedicured nails. And it began to rise! Then it hit her: Winter's ultimate payback for what happened with her father. She wasn't finished with her just yet, but could balance their debts by winding her up in front of all the guests.

"Really?" Blake was laughing with a wider smile. "Maybe find a cat who wouldn't mind being cat-sat by you until you could adopt one of your own. I could help you with that."

The elder Schnee sister hummed her agreement as the teasing went up to Ruby's knee, tracing tiny circles as it went. "You know, that might be nice. Test if I'm really ready to take on a pet full-time."

Again, her eyes went back to Ruby. Now biting her lip, Ruby waited for what was coming. She had to maintain a mask of calm, not show that she was really flustered. She never considered all these factors when doing it to Winter. No wonder she wanted to get back at her in this way; it would teach her not to underestimate how hard this was to do on the receiving end.

"Ahem!" Sun ejaculated toward Winter in regards to her comments. Assuming they were intended for Blake, he leant forward. "'Ix-nay' on the 'Et stuff-pay', alright? These people are super vanilla!"

Leaning forward herself, Winter's foot disappeared during the action. "Nobody would pick up on what we meant if you weren't drawing more attention to it, Monkey Boy," she hissed. Though she was still smiling; not at all upset, just mildly bemused that Sun had let himself get so easily flustered.

Looking downward got his plate and groaning in annoyance instead, he murmured, "Just shut up and eat your sandwiches."

But Ruby was finally sighing with relief, going back to her sandwich. She assumed that Winter had stopped taunting her, thinking she realised how mean it really was in front of people. That she had enjoyed her revenge.

"Aww, it's okay," Blake was murmuring to Sun very gently, petting his shoulder to soothe him. "But Winter is right in this case; we were just talking about pets. No big deal."

"And a well cared for pet is a happy pet," Winter went on, as her foot resumed its upward progress - this time, starting at the knee and working inward. "Don't worry, I've done a lot of pet-sitting in my time."

"Oh really?” Yang put in. “We'll have to get you to cat-sit Xu-Xu for us, Winter. See, we wanted to take Fènleng to Disneyland sometime soon-"

Yang was immediately cut off by Neon. "Kids her age can barely go on anything!"

"Who said it was just for her?"

But the host's little sister was distracted once more. Forced to release the sandwich which dropped to her plate, she froze up once again. Winter was continuing to wind her up in plain sight. She only hoped that no one was going to notice, somehow.

"Wouldn't mind it a bit," she was saying serenely while pushing her foot further and further between Ruby's thighs, underneath the meager protection her skit offered. "Though Neon does have a point. It might be more fun if you leave Fèn with one of us and just go to Disney yourselves."

"I could never do that!" Weiss gasped out, placing a hand on her daughter's shoulder for emphasis. "My little girl, alone, for days at a time?!"

"Babe, didn't you wanna go back on tour for a couple of months next year, though?" Yang laughed. Looking back to Neon and Winter, she smiled. "For her, it would mainly be for pictures. We wanna build lots of memories and make some scrapbooks and stuff. You know, stuff to embarrass her with in front of her friends, or when she brings a date home."

Once the foot pressed home beneath the skirt, however, there was a harsh thud at the table from where Ruby jumped in surprise, knees impacting with the surface above. Either way, it got quite a bit of attention - the opposite of what she wanted. Already her cheeks were glowing.

It was remarkable how real the look of confusion and concern on Winter's face was as she asked, "Are you alright?" Even as the toes resumed their progress, getting so close to the mark again, she was laying her palms on either side of her plate, as if pretending she was about to stand.

"I-I… U-Uh…" By now, Ruby could feel her right up against her panties, pressing inward and taunting her fragile flesh. How was she supposed to respond to that with everyone looking? She didn't have as much self-control as Winter did!

There was nothing else for it. As much as she didn't want to give up and accept her fate, she found herself having to move her chair back slightly. He blush was completely red, enough to give Winter a big enough hint that her efforts were not fruitless. Once out of the foot's reach, she shot an apologetic look over toward Weiss.

"S-sorry, just need the bathroom. Where, uh, was it again?"

"There's one right here on this floor," Weiss said in some confusion. "And downstairs and upstairs, of course. You've been here before, haven't you?"

"Y-yeah… I… Sorry, I forgot. I'm being dumb. E-excuse me!"

And barely even managing to tuck her skirt back down in time, Ruby dashed away from her chair and straight to the bathroom, leaving their guests very confused. Winter had to play it cool. Even with the guilty thrill that shot into her stomach, she had to at least pretend that she had no idea that anything was wrong with Ruby. However, after a full minute had passed, she withdrew her phone from her bosom and sent a quick message.

R u ok?

"Your sister's kinda crazy, Yang." Neon was heard commenting as she went to grab more tuna sandwiches.

"Yeah, but at least she's in better moods now." Yang admitted, looking toward the eldest Schnee with a bright smile. "We got Winter to thank for that."

But after a short moment, there was a buzz through to Winter's phone. A message back.

Fine! I guess I deserved that. But I knew I was gonna end up moaning so I had to leave quick! D:

"Oh, I just… did what I could," Winter said evasively as she began to type back.

You could have stopped me and said it was too much, I just thought it would be fun ; ) I'll help you moan more later

"My sister's so modest," Weiss said in a voice dripping with sarcasm. But she was smirking. "She's so good at reassuring people. The same sister who once convinced me that if I ate a caterpillar, I would have a literal butterfly in my stomach."

"That was ONE time!" Winter said in exasperation as she laid her phone down to take a drink of water. "And I was five, you can hardly blame me!"

While everyone chuckled, Weiss said, "Can't I?"

"Oh, that's bush league compared to the stuff I did." Yang laughed, holding up the hand with her sandwich to gesture along with her story. "When we had our first dog, Ein, Ruby would always try and run around on all fours like him. I told her if she did absolutely everything a dog does, she would be able to turn into one."

"Oh my God, please tell me she didn't whiz on any fire hydrants!" Sun was already laughing halfway through Yang's story, but then came another vibration from Winter's phone.

Honestly I haven't felt up to doing anything so long it's so tempting just to go to town on myself in here o//o

"Nothing like that!" Yang could be heard continuing. "But I looked away for two minutes, then suddenly both Ein and Ruby are rolling in a pool of mud! Dad was so pissed when we got home!"

With a knowing glint in her eye, Blake said in a deceptively-casual tone, "Wow, maybe you should look after Ruby when you look after Xu-Xu, Winter."

"Oh? Oh, I- perhaps so!" Now Winter could feel her own desires returning, but she was well practiced at maintaining a façade; no one else would know she was turned on. Even as she began to casually type…

Not yet. Please? I want to help more… directly. Tell me where to meet u

Here? Really???

But Yang quickly gave Blake a rather playful glare. She might have been oblivious to what Blake was talking about, but assumed it was something else instead. "What are you saying, my sister's a furry or something? Gross."

Another vibration. Ruby had added to her last reply before Winter could type her own: My car.

"Nothing against furries, but if she likes rolling around in the dirt, might be better to have someone putting her on a leash." Again, Blake glanced at Winter with a smirk.

"Well, I think this conversation is taking a turn for the strange," Weiss observed as she reached for another handful of chips to add to her plate. "My sister walking my sister-in-law like a dog! You're weird, Blake."

"Weird, yeah," Blake was muttering while Winter replied to her texts.

Slip out the back and around the house, I'll excuse myself when I can

"Some people are into that," Neon spoke up with a small smirk. In fact, she looked toward not only Weiss who started the conversation, but also occasionally to the woman sat opposite her. The ever-silent Inu.

"For real? People get off on being treated like a dog?" But the more Yang commented on it, the shorter Inu seemed to become as she sank down in her seat, cheeks reddening. Contrary to what the three people at the table who had prior experience in the Clamp assumed, it seemed there was yet another who shared those sorts of interests among them!

But Winter would have to miss that conversation if it went on. She had just received another message:

I'll text Weiss just to tell her I'll be on the phone. Should buy us enough time. I'm headed to the car now, don't keep me waiting or I'll have to start without you ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Feeling her heart speed up into her throat, Winter let out a long, beleaguered sigh. Then she texted back a simple “Ok, be there soon” before pushing her chair back, finally putting on the shoe she had dislodged to tease her poor sub.

"I am sorry, I have to take this after all; some business can't wait. Don't worry, I'll just nip out front and take care of it. Excuse me."

But Blake's amber eyes were focused entirely on Winter as she stood. "Well, have fun." It was said flippantly, as if she were being sarcastic, but they both knew she was serious.

"Hurry back!" Weiss bade her as she strode from the table and out the front door. "All this food isn't going to eat itself!"

Due to how much closer the front door was to the car than the back door, Winter actually made it outside first. Therefore, she spent the time slipping off her cardigan and draping it over one arm, strolling lazily toward Ruby's car. Her heart was pounding with excitement, but she didn't dare show it. Not when there was a slim chance someone might glance out the foyer window and spot her dancing like a giddy schoolgirl.

Before Ruby was in sight, the car could be heard unlocking as the lights flashed. Then came one more vibration from the phone.

Just getting my shoes. Get in, seats can be lowered and there's a blanket in the back, be two seconds ; )

Winter blinked down at the message, then pulled the door handle, sliding into the passenger's side. As she closed the door, she began to message back - because it had to be asked.

Where were your shoes before??

I took them off when I first came over. She always keeps the garden clean so I never bothered to put them back on!

But finally, Ruby was in sight walking around the building. She had managed to avoid the gaze of the other guests as she made her way to the car. But just before she got there, she sent one last teasing text.

Surprised you didn't notice actually ; )))))

Biting her lip, Winter wrapped her phone in her cardigan and put it in the back seat, then grabbed the blanket to pull over herself. She waited until the driver's side door opened before she spoke.

"I had other worries on my mind. But… now that you mention it, I do seem to remember spotting some cute little piggies dancing along the floor…"

Quickly shutting the door behind her and locking it, Ruby grinned just as giddily when she looked back to Winter. She could barely even contain herself as she lowered her seat, attempting to create a more comfortable area for their activities.

"I wasn't thinking about it! Not till you started teasing me with yours. You total asshole, by the way!"

"Just thought I'd pay you back," she said with a grin, sliding the blanket so that she could throw it over Ruby, as well. "A little. Not really make you too uncomfortable - at least, I hope I didn't."

"No, it didn't," she assured her. It wouldn’t do to wound their barely-established relationship with misunderstandings. Scootching slightly toward Winter, she shuffled off her own jacket, tossing it to one side. Then started to undo one or two buttons to give Winter more of a view. "Like I said… I'm just so pent up you were about to make me lose my cool. So I'd rather you do that here, in private."

Now that she had been reassured, it seemed Winter wasn't above more teasing. As she watched the buttons open, she muttered, "Didn't want to let on to your big sister that you were all hot and bothered? I can imagine…"

It was certainly helping the situation, making her growl with desire as she felt deep heat brewing between her legs. But that need was becoming more of a priority than any small talk. It had been too long; not only had she enjoyed no sexual contact with Penny since that time in the car, but she had felt no motivation to take care of her urges on her own. But now that they were back with a passion, all she could do was look her dead in the eye.

"Quit teasing me and make me scream already."

As Winter's smile slowly began to fade, she reached over and grasped Ruby, pulling her across the space to lay atop her. A shoe clattered to the floor while she ran her hands up and down her sides, over her hindquarters.

"Ruby, I missed you so fucking much," she growled needily, past the point of caring how it sounded. Her hands were already gouging into the backs of the girl's thighs, digging in as they worked their way closer to her centre.

Several shaky gasps fell from from the younger woman’s lips. Still wearing an elated smile, instinct was already starting to take over. No longer did she care about their sub or Dom roles; this time, it was a case of doing whatever each of them wanted, trusting their intuition. Already Ruby felt her hips pushing forward against Winter's needily, desperate to get anything she could of her and push back against those hands in addition. Her arms wrapped around Winter's shoulders, keeping her close as she pressed her forehead against hers.

"I missed you, too." A hand dived into her hair. "I'm so happy you're here."

"I know how we started," Winter began as one hand slid around Ruby's hip to begin hiking up her skirt, to rub against her through the thin material of her underwear. "But now it's so much more than just training you. I… I have thought about you every single day since the last time we saw each other!"

"Nhhh! God, I'm so glad I'm not the only one!" Already she was so warm – and all over! No doubt Winter would be able to feel just how wet she had been, it was soaking her undies already. Looking her dead in he eye, she whispered, "So what are you waiting for? Fuck me." And without hesitating any longer, she crashed her lips up against Winter's.

As she kissed back, harder than ever before, Winter wasted no time. Ordinarily, her hands would have been doing a thousand things, taunting flesh and ghosting up thighs. In this instance, she jerked the crotch of Ruby's soft cotton panties aside and began to rub up and down her dripping folds, fingers moving with practiced ease.

Finally, Ruby could do just as she wanted to in the presence of everyone in that room. And she didn't hold back, moaning contentedly into their kiss as she continued to thrust her hips forward into the slender fingers. Even if she was glad they could do as they wanted, Ruby was able to come up with one downside to their impromptu session: they didn't have an artillery of Winter's wonderful toys to use. If only they had somehow anticipated this reconciliation.

Not that she was complaining. Slender fingers would be able to bring her to just as satisfying a finish. She knew that deep down. And she was so desperate for it she couldn't hold back any of the needy thrusts.

Clearly, the girl was ready for more. Not wanting to be conspicuously gone any longer than they had to be, she plunged her middle finger straight into Ruby, curling in with great relish as her tongue began to do the same with the beautiful mouth atop her own.

"HMMMHH!"

What a loud and needy sound that fell into Winter's mouth. Yesss, that’s the spot right there, Ruby thought. She continued to push herself forward against Winter's hand while she worked at that sensitive spot inside, feeling the slender and thin finger buried inside her. But one wasn't enough. Oh no. To be truly satisfied, she needed more than that. Ruby’s hand dove down toward where Winter was working and tapping at one of her other fingers with hers lightly. Just enough to give an undoubtable hint.

But it seemed that even now, Winter couldn't be satisfied with doing this the usual way. Pausing their kiss, she panted, "You want another? Go ahead. Add another." As she said this, she switched from middle to index, pushing the rest of her hand as far out of Ruby's way as she could manage.

Trying to keep her volume down by habit, she looked down at Winter wide eyed. That wasn't something she had heard of before; born of them working together to push her to orgasm. But the way Winter was so casual about it excited her so much! It was worth a try. Holding her hand right beside Winter's, she pushed a finger inside, trusting Winter to follow.

She did, keeping pace with the entry. Of course, it wasn't quite so easy to pull off as only one of them using two fingers, but it turned out to be just doable. Having two hands in such an area forced Ruby's legs further apart, but she was young and flexible; it wasn't impossible.

"Oooh," Winter cooed as she felt a foreign digit sliding over her own, both of them buried deep in the waiting sex. "How does that feel?"

For some reason, this made Ruby shudder even more. It was one thing not to be fully in control, it was another to hand it completely over. But to share? How many times has Winter done this with others, she wondered… "S-so good…" she breathed needily, even pushing herself up against the hands right at her welcoming warmth, trying to welcome them further in.

"Yeah?" Panting heatedly, she began to move her finger at the same time as Ruby's - but she couldn't quite get the rhythm. That seemed to make her partner undulate and buck even more than she would have done under ordinary circumstances. "Mmm, you look like you're losing yourself in it… I hope it's in the best of ways."

"Nnhhhh, yeah, it d-definitely is," she assured her, holding still for a moment as she tried to sync herself up with Winter's hand. Each time it wasn't quite matched, she shuddered a little more, even squealed on top of things on occasion. She could feel her toes beginning to curl in her shoes already. Why didn't she get off inside? It would have made things more of a challenge, at least.

Winter's lips found their way to Ruby's neck as she felt her began to buck atop her, as she tried to curl at the same speed. She was also just able to get her thumb right up against her clit as she did so, hoping the slight friction from their movements would be enough to help send her into the stratosphere sooner rather than later.

Continuing to buck and twitch as her neck was kissed, the moaning was unfortunately increasing in volume. She couldn't help it one bit, it was such a strange sensation! At times when Winter would curl her finger, Ruby would in another direction, which made her feel her inner walls very slightly stretched out. That was more filling than anything. She could feel her heart beginning to race as she grasped Winter's shirt with her spare hand, and felt the few stray quivers that informed her it wouldn’t be long now.

"C-close… I-I'm close already! F-fuck! What are you doing to me?!"

"Let it happen! Oh God, Ruby - you sound so good!" Winter flexed her finger faster than ever, inwardly loving the feeling of Ruby's sliding over hers; it felt so foreign and new, added an intriguing dimension for her. Clearly, it was doing way more than for the smaller woman atop her. "Cum for me! Cum hard for me, Lady!"

God had she missed that petname. Finally, she was pushed over the edge. When Winter curled her finger one more time, and she did too, she felt them hit that sweet spot just right. That in addition to Winter's play with her clit, and she was done for. Shuddering on top of her, “Lady” moaned one more time as loud as she was able, feeling her inner walls clenching around the digits inside her. She felt her fluids getting out of control again, sprinkling Winter's leg and the seat very slightly.

But they had done it. In the car, at WEISS’S BIRTHDAY PARTY.

"Ohhh, wow," Winter breathed, gazing up at hey affectionately. "I wasn't thinking about your ejaculation problem. But… it's so hot…" Drawing away, she left a light kiss on her lips. "You'll never know how much I missed that these past few months."

For a moment, she just lay on top of Winter's front, gasping for breath and smiling with glee as she gradually came down from her high. That was something she missed for a long while. It felt like a relief to regain waht they had lost. But they were still on the clock. After a minute, she was pulling out her own and Winter's finger so she could descend. "Your turn."

"Oh… oh, that isn't necessary, Ruby," she told her earnestly as she watched the girl sink to the floorboard. "I just wanted to follow through on what I promised at the dinner table. You don't have to…"

But already Ruby was crammed into the footwell of the passenger seat. She still made sure the blanket was covering her up, but she began to brush her hands up and down Winter's thighs needily. While Ruby first needed to get off, she needed Winter as well. She needed to be the one to hear her moan again. Hitching up her skirt with each brush, she smirked.

"But I didn't get to eat yet."

While watching her down there, Winter couldn't help but sigh and smile gently at the face between her knees. After a beat, she whispered to her, "You're the most beautiful woman in the entire world."

"Hmm… Nope!" Without elaborating, she made sure to tuck the blanket over them both to keep the area covered. Anything else, Winter would just have to feel. And first thing was first, she would kiss the insides of her thighs, making her way upward toward her underwear rather quickly. While she knew Winter needed the teasing, they had a limited time-window.

And the elder woman didn't waste any time in allowing her eyes to close, to relax into the gentle motions. She was going to enjoy it, of course, but if she fought against the tiny ripples of pleasure, it would take much longer than if she rode them out.

Lady managed to nudge aside her panties with her nose again. She had a feeling it would be preferred by Winter to do so, as a gentle reminder of their play from before. One that, since Yang mentioned the dog story, was starting to make sense why she enjoyed! She at first delivered a single, small kiss before she opened her mouth wider against the folds, and went in for the kill.

If the kiss had made her sigh, the actions that followed made her moan. Winter's legs raised up to drape over Ruby's back as she opened herself up to more stimulation, more attentions from the ravenous tongue of her lover.

Lover… The title sounded accurate now. Justified. Even the strange things they had put each other through, the worries and the uncertainty, hadn't been enough to stop them from being together. All she wanted was to see that through, to become one with the only person she had ever cared about beyond friendship. To see where things led.

And right now, they were leading further and further toward Winter's finish. That tongue hadn't lost its talent, and lapped at Winter's sex readily and needily. In particular, she focused on the clit, kissing it on occasion over and over again. But she knew to add more. And a hint of that was coming as she parted the lips further with her fingers, the other hand still stroking her inner thigh.

"Ohhh, yes," Winter panted obscenely, pushing a hand into the side of Ruby's head as her back arched very slightly. "Ruby, please - more! It feels so good, I can't help it, I n-need…"

Ruby would absolutely deliver more. Keeping the lips apart, she finally gave her what she craved. Aware it would be awkward for Winter to join her down there, she entered her body with two fingers. In unison with her licking, she pumped in and out of her body with them. All the while she was smirking as she listened to the sound of her new lover.

Her other partner in addition to Penny. It was a dream come true.

The fingers instantly had Winter screaming, curling her stomach as her hungry sex tried to clamp down on them, hold them inside. It hadn't been as long for Winter since she orgasmed, but it being Ruby was enough to get her within a hair's breadth very quickly. Her lips stretched wide and her head fell back completely as she let the feeling wash over her, as a few more good thrusts sent her spinning off into an explosion of pleasure unlike any she had enjoyed in months.

Though it wasn't just the swift orgasm that ended their spontaneous session. It was a small, but sharp knock on the car window. One that made Ruby's head jerk up from under the blanket.

What she saw was a freckle-cheeked ginger smiling in at them. No one else was standing outside her car, luckily enough; only Penny, looking pleased as could be to see her girlfriend. She waved, being that the windows were up and it would probably be hard to hear her through them.

"Holy shit Penny!" Eyes snapping wide open, Ruby was quick to remove her fingers from Winter's body and pull her panties back into place. Even if Penny couldn't hear them, she still waved back, talking nervously. "U-Um… Hi! I… I meant to message you about this!"

"What?" Penny called back. "Hi!"

"Oh shit," Winter was whispering, blinking at the redhead. Even though she was clearly in a good mood, she still felt awkward that there had been no time to discuss things with Penny directly… before such an unfortunate moment!

"U-Um… Uh…" There wasn't any way to talk to Penny without yelling aimlessly in the car ,or finding her keys to start the engine and roll the window down. Even if it wasn't the most convenient of moments, she couldn't let things slide without saying a word. Resigning to it, Ruby opened the door very slightly, just enough so Penny could hear her talk. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean for you to… to walk up and… U-Uh…"

But Penny simply flung the door wide, squatted down and embraced her girlfriend, even having to crane around Winter's leg the way she did. The genuine warmth and affection in the action told Ruby that she wasn't doing it merely for show; she had just missed her that much.

"I love my parents, but I love you, too," she breathed into Ruby's sweat-dampened hair. "So good to be back."

"W-Wha?!" More shocked than anything at first, Ruby looked at Winter with a look of confusion for a moment, until she finally embraced Penny right back, locking her arms around Penny's shoulders. Although about to grasp her, she held back with one of the hands. Penny would not appreciate that on her back!

"Awww, I missed you, too! I'm just so sorry I couldn't tackle hug you or something! This is… is awkward."

Once Ruby said that, her partner drew back with a slight pinkness in her cheeks. From experience, she knew it was more that Penny was embarrassed than that she was "turned on," of course. "Right. Well, I saw you while I was walking up to the house. Luckily, Taiyang and Qrow didn't notice, so I told them I wanted to get something my suitcase." At last, she spared Winter a bashful glance. "Hello."

"G-good to see you," she murmured, her own face redder than either of the other two.

"Still, I did want to talk to you." Drawing back from their embrace, Ruby looked toward the emerald eyes she adored so much. And then to Winter, as well. The two women she loved, both in the same place. And oddly without a single hitch. How lucky she truly was to have them both, even if it was an awkward circumstance.

"Penny, I'm sorry I’ve been such a sad sack the past few months," she told her, partially explaining for her and Winter's benefit, especially with the next line. "It was my fault for not trying to solve this sooner and letting myself mope. Honestly, I don't know how either of you put up with me sometimes…"

Both of them moved to hug her, but Winter held back when she noticed Penny was doing the same. The latter said, "Sorry, you can go first if you want."

"No, it's… Penny, I'm sorry we haven't spoken properly about this before now." Her eyes flicked toward Ruby and back. "This is an unusual situation, but not unheard of. But clearly we both care very much about Ruby. So… well, it's her decision in the end, but it seems only honest for me to ask you directly, as well. Are you sure you don’t mind? Since you and she had the pre-existing relationship."

"And please don't make a choice solely because of me," Ruby insisted, making sure Penny was looking at her while she said it. Stroking her arm gently, she went on, "Because I want you to be happy, too. I need you to be happy. I don't want you to agree with this but be hating every moment of it."

"But I'm fine." When Ruby only kept looking at her in concern, she sighed and petted her neck. "Okay… I was upset when you first told me you wanted to start going to the club and trying things with other people. But not with you. I… was more frustrated with myself for not being enough for you. For not being wired the way that most people are and not being able to give you everything."

"But you give me everything I need!" She quickly took her hand – and then in addition, took Winter's. She simply made sure Winter's was the hand they'd been doing things with, just so it didn't disturb Penny. "You both do! I don't need sex at the end of the day. It's just… fun! Like going for a walk, or to a convention, it's not a need, it's… almost a hobby! What I need is what you both give me. Love and care, and good times. And that's what I have from you both. And I love you both for it!"

After a moment, Penny smiled and told her in a gentle voice, "I know. I got over that frustration pretty quickly; it was an emotional knee-jerk response. You being happy is a lot more important, and once I realized that you would be, and it wouldn't 'cost' me anything, the rest was pretty easy to process."

"You really don't mind?" Winter asked her, voice steady despite her obvious fear. "One hundred percent sure?"

"Not at all. You have treated Ruby well; even in the story she told me about your argument, I could tell you were very distressed about what she had done and who she had done it in front of. She never said you hit her, or called her a bad person; you were just upset and trying to handle those new feelings. And other than that one incident, she has never had a bad thing to say about you."

"And I kinda blamed myself more, anyway…" Ruby began to sit upright, adjusting her position for ease of movement for Winter. "Anyway… I guess we better head back inside. They'll be wondering where we are."

"Not just yet," Penny said. "Winter, come here a moment."

Bewildered, the taller woman leaned down, taking the moment to right her seat as she did so. It was going to squeeze Ruby a bit, but she was small enough so that she could still easily extract herself. "Yes? Oh!"

"I love you," Penny told her gently as she embraced her. "I have never hated or resented you. What you can do for Ruby is very important because she's important to me. So I don't want you worrying about me; I know you're going to keep treating her well, so I have no reason to be worried, either."

Smiling gratefully, Ruby looked back and forth between both her girlfriends. This was all she could ask for; her two favourite people being okay with one another's company. It would certainly make things easier. Giggling to herself, she suggested, "Maybe one day we can all have a cuddle pile. We’ll need a bigger bed, of course."

"You're welcome to move in with me," Winter told them easily. "Either to all sleep in the same bed, or I could convert my office. But I'm sure you'd rather have your own apartment."

"That would be preferable to me. Not saying we couldn't sleep over at your place." Penny drew back from the hug so she could lay one of her hands on Ruby's shoulder, even as the other remained on Winter's back. "On evenings when you two don't want to have sex, of course; I wouldn't want you worrying about what I'm going to do with myself while you do."

"Well first we'll need to tell dad." Finally getting out from the small space, Ruby took the blanket to finally clean her hand, passing it over to Winter for her to do the same once Penny had let go. "He'll probably be all weepy that his kids have finally left, but he'll help us move."

"Very true." Then Penny beamed at her, cheeks bunching. "Ohh, I'm so happy - you look so much more like yourself than you have the past months!"

Penny threw both arms around her and went in for a big, affectionate kiss. She kissed back gratefully, allowing a moment to open her mouth a little wider to kiss deeper. "MMM!" She suddenly pulled back before Penny went too far, laughing nervously. "That… uh… that’s not a good idea right now. W-we just…"

But the ginger was already smacking her lips in vague confusion. "Oh… right, now I remember what you were doing before I knocked. Well… I guess that's my fault for forgetting, isn't it?" Her cheeks were getting rosier, but her smile was no less satisfied at their circumstances. "Um… I hope she doesn't mind."

"Me?" Winter asked, smiling herself now. Even though it was odd knowing her essence was on this more-or-less stranger’s tongue now, it wasn’t exactly the first time that had happened. "No, not at all! Why should I mind? I just- well, if you're asexual, I didn't… that wouldn't have been something I wanted to happen. But if you're not upset about it, why should I be?"

"You don't taste that different from Ruby, really. No need to be worried." Then she turned back to Ruby and made an even bigger show of kissing her right on the mouth. "It's who I'm kissing that's important, not where their mouth has been. Unless it’s on someone who has been sick, because I don’t want to catch their germs."

Blushing rather deeply, Ruby smiled back at Penny bashfully. She always was able to leave her a giddy mess, even if it was through flattery.

But worried that they really would be missed if they stayed any longer, she finally made an effort to unfold herself from the car, soon followed by Winter. Penny and Ruby headed inside first to avoid suspicion. At least this way, she had the excuse that she was waiting for her when she left to go to the bathroom. Then a few minutes later came Winter, who had “just finished her business”. Yang slid Penny her diet-specific food, along with a few sandwiches and snacks for Ruby and Winter before Qrow and Taiyang could stuff their faces.

"Goodness, Winter, that took forever," Weiss observed from where she was showing one of the women from Fènleng's daycare a photo album. "Business or pleasure?"

"A little of both," she hedged. "How's the party going? Did you get everything you wanted?"

"I did! Thank you for the music box, I didn't know they sold them with any of my songs."

At that, Winter had to smile. "They don't; it was a custom job." God bless Etsy. When Weiss broke away from the other woman to give her a hug, she laughed and hugged back. "Happy birthday."

Smiling contentedly at them, Ruby mostly stood by Penny or hung back by herself, with the main people she knew all busy talking to other party guests. Still, it was the happiest she had felt in months. As she watched her lovers spending time with friends and family, she relaxed back against the wall with her punch. Everything was copacetic.

Until a hand landed on her shoulder. "Hey there, Red."

Nearly jumping out of her skin, Ruby looked straight around to the source. "U-uncle Qrow! Sorry, I forgot you were coming!"

Her uncle laughed confidently, lowering his hand as he stood to one side of her, also leaning back against the wall. "Yeah, Yang sorta insisted. And I kinda needed the day out. It's nice to see the inside of somewhere other than the same old same-old."

"Yeah. I can imagine…" Unable to help it, Ruby was already growing nervous again. She hadn't even discussed anything with Qrow since finding out his living situation – and more. She was too afraid to in case it made things awkward, and lead to awkward questions. But that wasn't helping here at all when she realised she had nothing to say.

But Qrow beat her to it. "So, you and Snowbird sorted things out yet?" When Ruby blinked up in surprise at him, Qrow cut her off before she could speak. "Yeah, I know. Not only did she talk about it, but I saw a beady li’l eye watch me head to my room. You've never been the sneakiest of kids, Ruby."

"Great," the redhead muttered in embarrassment. While looking down at the floor instead however, she did add, "But yes… we talked it out. A-and… it went really well. Everything’s cool."

"Good to hear." Taking a sip of his drink, he sighed easily. Never was one to have ruffled feathers. "Maybe this means she'll be less gloomy. I mean, I tried to cheer her up, but there was only so much I could do."

"Please don't tell me how." Closing her eyes tightly, she tried to push the mental image of her other girlfriend with her uncle back out of her mind. Nobody needed that in their life. "I-I know it was selfish of me… to get mad over such a dumb reason. I think it's because you're more or less a second dad to me."

"You got that right," he laughed. "But, yeah, I wouldn't wanna imagine my pa doing anything with my girl, either. And I guess that's what first came to mind for ya." Though after a while, he cleared his throat, looking with a contented smile toward her. "I really am happy for you both, though. Winter's a special gal, anyone could tell you that. And I can't think of a better match for her than you."

"Qrow…" Against her will, she could feel her eyes beginning to well up. She had expected the conversation to be awkward with him, especially since he clearly enjoyed Winter's company as well. Managing to hold them back, she nodded. "Thank you… I just hope I can do right by her and Penny. Gonna be interesting figuring it all out."

"Kid, you get two birthdays and two Christmas presents now. But I guess that goes both ways." Giving a small pat on her shoulder, he smirked. "Say bye bye to your money."

"Ah, but Ruby is my sub," Winter muttered as she snuck up behind them, placing a hand on each of their shoulders. "Typically, I'll be buying her the gifts. And Qrow has seen the one you gave me hanging up in my 'special' closet."

"The one I-" Although immediately her eyes opened wide when she realised what that was, Qrow could only laugh at her reaction. “You put that on your wall?! But it was just a doodle!”

He mussed her hair slightly. "Don't look so shocked! When I first saw it, I thought she had it done by a professional. Had no idea it was you, squirt!"

Smiling gently, Winter leaned a little closer to Ruby, but still spoke in a tone they could both hear. "All teasing aside, it’s one of my favourite things. You’re really talented and I hope you keep it up."

Then, so quickly that none of the other guests would spot it, she left a tiny kiss behind Ruby's ear. But of course one did, and rolled his eyes. "God, you two, get a room. I'm gonna hang out with Tai and Jacques, see how they're getting along. Grumpy Old Men sequel over there. Take it easy."

And finally he left them on their own. Probably for the best, seeing as the smaller sub's cheeks were glowing red with their typical embarrassment. A side effect of all the affection she would have to get used to. The moment Qrow was well out of earshot, along with the rest of the party, Winter changed the subject.

"You're mine again. We'll have to think of some new fun things to do with you. How about… next time I take you for a walk at the Clamp, we see about slipping a pair of vibrating panties under your suit? Wouldn't that be fun?"

The blush only intensified even more at that idea. The walk alone was enough to do that! "Maybe…" She swallowed nervously. "It'd certainly be… interesting."

"Maybe we'll both wear a pair." Another furtive glance, and she ghosted a hand over Ruby's hind end. "The car was a preview of… coming attractions. There's a lot more in your future."

And with even more of a red blush, Ruby was beginning to sink further and further down the wall in embarrassment. She would be quite a sight for the rest of the evening, but didn't wish for anything else.

"I hope I can get used to this again…"

"Get used to what?" Penny asked as she walked up to them, sliding her hands around Ruby's waist and kissing her gently on the cheek. The action pushed Ruby's behind into Winter's hand again, which squeezed it very slightly.

Lady couldn't wish for anything more under the stars than surviving the embrace and love of her two favourite women. But clearly, history had proven she wasn't afraid to try.

                = End =

                = Stay Tuned for White Noise: Sister Midnight =

[smokeybrand]

The Cape and The Cowl

A friend of mine posted a meme questioning who would win a fight between Doctor Doom and Batman. My gut reaction is to say it’s real bad for Bruce but, as i thought about it more and more, i kind of feel like its not so cut-and-dry. There is a lot of nuance that needs to be considered between the two characters rather than just a “smash the action figured together” scenario. Of course, there is the surface stuff like how would they interact generally? What would the catalyst be in order to incite said conflict? Why would Doom even see Bruce as a threat? If you think about it objectively, an all things are even, to Vic, Batman is just a crazy person losing his are on crime in a raggedy ass city. Victor von Doom is a the reagent of an entire country with a GDP that rivals some superpowers in the MCU. Like, the USA has diplomatic relations with a blip in Eastern Europe, because Doom has the military power to wreck he US in open aggression. Latveria will lose in a prolonged conflict, that’s just a question of resources, but that little country would absolutely inflict upon the US in a slow bleed. Imagine the War on Terror but with competent leadership and actual, discipline, military strategy. Why the f*ck would Doom care what the f*ck is going on out in Jersey? More than that. the similarities between the two characters is staggering.

We all know the origin of Batman. We’ve seen that sh*t how many times now? It’s like getting a new Spider-Man joint and having to watch Uncle Ben die all over again. It’s trite at this point but so essential to the character, we need a refresher every time Bats shows up onscreen. That trauma informs everything he is, as it would if you watched your parents gunned down in cold blood as a child, and then laid with their still warm corpses for however long until the police came. What a lot of people don’t know is the origin of Doctor Doom. Being a villain, Doom rarely gets his motivations explored outside of some megalomaniac Dr. No type f*ckery. However, Victor von Doom is a person. He started out life as a happy kid and learned to be Doctor Doom, just like Bruce learned to be Batman. Doom is actually a refugee. True, Doom was born an aristocrat, but Latveria was overthrown when he was still young so he was never able to be raised in that level of opulence. His mom was also murdered before he was ten years old. Just like Bruce, Doom experienced a horrific truth that would color his world perspective for the rest of his life. Doom would eventually find his way to the US as he was brilliant. Like, unheard of intelligent and it would be his exposure to the US lifestyle, after years of conflict and struggle, which would make him realize how easy life could be if someone just did what was necessary. And then Reed happened.

Reed Richards was, is, a fulcrum in Vic’s life. They have a relationship similar to Batman an Superman but the opposite. Whereas Batman values Clark’s perspective because it helps him keep perspective, Vic finds Reed to be absurd. He sees Reed for who e is and doesn’t understand why no one else can. Reed Richards is a reckless, excitable, short-sighted, glory-hog. He is. If you read the character with any semblance of realism, you’d see that. Ho many times has Sue comments on how she and the rest of his family, take a backseat to science? How many times has Reed, himself, sacrificed a relationship or to, in service to the solution of an equation? Doom saw all of that in college. Reed represents the structural issues of the world and it frustrates Vic to no end. In some continuities, the genesis of Vic going full Doom rest on an accident Reed commits because of that shortsightedness. It goes a long way to checking Reeds ego and he does become a better person for it, but it was at the cost of scarring Vic for life, both physically and mentally. Yet another example of the system, ruining Doom’s life.

Bruce, after his trauma, has kept a strong support system. First and foremost, since day one, he had Alfred. Doom had no one. Bruce then built a family, adopting all of the children and surrounding himself with love. Doom’s one true love died and was dragged down to hell. We know this because he punches out Mephisto whenever he can. Also, his mom is down there, too. Bruce eventually met Diana and Kal, becoming fast friends and life long confidants. Outside of Catwoman, I think Diana makes for the perfect romantic partner of Bruce and that is shown in several continuities. Reed just reinforced Doom’s disgust with the machinations of the world, eventually further degrading Doom’s tenuous hold of his ability to trust in others, by psychically maiming him. The negative impact Reed had on Doom’s life is f*cking profound, man. I’m not saying Doom should have taken it as far as he did, but it’s hard to argue against trying to kill a dude who had ruined years of your work, destroyed you reputation, and physically maimed you forever. That doesn’t seem wholly outrageous to me. I think it’s called justifiable homicide? The only reason Doom stopped trying to murder Reed is because Valeria was born. Valeria became the first person Doom felt real affection for, since the death of his wife. I think Morgan le Fay could be another, but that might have just been a time-space booty call. Valeria Richards and her relationship with he Uncle Doom, is what gave Vic the strength to be better. Bruce had that love his entire life, even immediately after his darkest day. Doom went decades without it.

Up until Valeria was born, all Doom had was his time spent as a destitute street rat, struggling to survive, to inform him about life and the world at large. That brazen cruelty for sure emotionally crippled him in a lot of ways, I'm not even going to start to defend his arrogance or superiority complex, but trauma does that. That's why i think Bats would eventually come around. They've both seen the absolute worst of the world and, in a lot of ways, go about righting those wrongs in the same way. If you pay attention, and the writer is worth their salt, you'd see that Latveria is an autocratic socialist paradise. Latverians are among the most literate, healthy, and happy people in the 616. Jobs are plentiful and crime is almost non-existent. Mans even cured cancer, which he made available to the world, if those people choose to make the trip to Latveria for treatment. The world of 616, at large, likes to paint Vic as this evil despot but, if you interview a laymen of Latveria, they’ll sing his praises. Most people forget that, before Doom returned for his birthright, Latveria was a whole ass occupied state. Think the relationship between Israel and Palestine. Latveria was basically falling into doorknobs for Symkaria and pretending that they weren’t in an abusive relationship. Doom showed up and changed all that. It was a bloody f*cking conflict, for sure, and i am certain Vic committed war crimes, but the end result was a free Latveria with a strong international presence. Doom is a hero to those people but a villain to other nations because of how he rose to power and, more importantly, how independent he made hi country from the world system. Doom did what was necessary to free his people, a march too far for Bruce and that’s why Gotham is the way that it is.

People who don’t know the character like to paint Vic as ego-maniacal villain, and that was valid when comics were just "hero smash bad guy", but we've grown beyond that. Every pop culture interpretation of Doom, outside of the comics, has him as this stoic, arrogant, asshole, dictator bu that’s just not an accurate portrayal of how Doom is in a modern capacity. Vic is definitely an autocrat but he’s no dictator. He can be cruel at times to specific individuals but he is generally benevolent to his people. He doesn’t portray himself as a strongman but he does let it be known he’ll nuke anyone or anything if it means furthering his overall goals which, currently, is the safety and security of Latveria. His country isn’t a police state and his people are free to do as they please but their is a line, just like everywhere else in the world. Doom just has a shorter one and enforces that with extreme prejudice. I’m not going to sit here and say everything is great in Latveria, it’s definitely not, but it ain’t so hot in 616 America either. How many Civil Wars have they had? What about that whole  tidbit with Hydra Cap? There is nuance and gray nowadays, areas that both Bats and Doom comfortably call home. Batman is, objectively, not a pure hero. He is, at best, a chivalric anti-hero and similarly, Doom is more of an anti-villain than the mustache twirling, boogeyman, mastermind pop media portrays him to be. Batman and Doom are basically the same person, with the same motivations, only Doom is willing to go much, much, further than Bruce; A difference in method you an attribute to their respective upbringings.

If Doom had the same support system as Bruce, he’d create miracles. We’ve seen glimpses of that throughout the years. Dooms last run culminated with him essentially obliterating an entire universe where he had the support necessary to build a proper utopia. Our Doom couldn’t fathom the choices made by this variant Doom because of how broken he is. If Bruce was alone in his formative years like Victor, he’d commit atrocities. We’ve seen glimpses of that over they years, too. There are various narratives that explore just such a tragic turn of events, explored in the Death Metal series of books. Dawnbreaker immediately comes to mind. Bruce and victor are the same side of the same coins. It's literally a crap shoot as to which side of the alignment chart either leans. And as if to inform my point further, we just recently had Joker War. That book went a long way to exposing the absolute necessity of raw force, in order to properly “save”Gotham. Joker was able to completely dismantle that entire city by attacking the machinery put in lace to make it run. He effectively proved that The Batman was part of the problem and would never be the solution because Bruce doesn’t go far enough. He puts out fires but never address the sparks which start those blazes. He doesn’t go far enough. He never will. His code won’t allow him to. But Doom can. Doom did. Honestly, if you really want to keep it real, what is Bruce's endgame? What does a healthy Gotham City look like? It looks a lot like f*cking Latveria.

So to answer this question outright, i don’t think they even fight. The way this hypothetical was set up had three rounds: the first being a standard donnybrook, the second being prep time, and the last being god mode. To be perfectly honest with you, it wouldn't make it past the first round. If i had to say, with pedestrian or normie level understanding of he characters, Doom sweeps all categories. For Round one, Doom’s armor trumps all of Batman’s gadgets. For Round Two, Doom has more resources at his fingertips for prep. For Round The God Emperor Doom exists. He created several realities and killed a few Beyonders. Batman sat in a chair which gave him access to all the wisdom in the multiverse, and realized there were three Jokers. Doom all the way. My informed opinion as someone who adores both these character more than most would have me think there wouldn’t even be a conflict to begin with. I think they’d investigate the inciting catalyst, meet in person with intent to attack if necessary, size each other up until one of them made the proposal to just talk, they'd converse, and the fight would end with both of them walking away from each other with begrudging respect. Doom would admire Bruce's will and Bruce would understand the necessity of Doom's position in the world because, if you can make it make sense, Bruce will usually agree. Batman, for all of his shortcomings, is not naive to the world. He’s seen the same darkness as Doom. Doom, for all of his pompous arrogance, understands the struggle to maintain faith in those around you, even if that noble aspiration is misplaced. Bruce is one bad day away from Doom and Doom is a decades worth of days from being Bruce. They mirror each other and i think they’d see that, taking each other as cautionary tales before becoming collaborators. I don’t see them ever really becoming friends but i don't think they’d ever be true enemies.

[autumnblogs]

Companion Piece 4: Reproduction

This was initially going to be a standard daily reading post, but I decided to turn it into a companion piece since it turned into a bit of an essay.

https://homestuck.com/story/1071

Time for another main theme; and actually, I would like to call it the main theme!

Homestuck is about reproduction.

Why did I wait for this panel to talk about it? The answer is that it’s one of three panels (at least - there might be more I’ve missed) that clue us in to the fact that the same thing is going on in each of the three situations where it appears.

Dave is the first victim. Tavros is the second victim. Jake is the third victim.

https://homestuck.com/story/1072

“thats really all there is to say on the matter.”

The code phrase that goes along with the imagery of our hero thrashed on the ground, messaging on their phone.

More after the break.

According to my reading, Homestuck is structured around a trio of relationships that take the form “Abusive Mentor -> Reluctant Student” where the pairs are respectively Bro -> Dave, Vriska -> Tavros, Dirk -> Jake.

It should be pretty obvious that reproduction in the biological sense is something that Homestuck Is About - Sburb, the main fixture of the webcomic’s mechanics is the reproductive cycle of universes, the way that reality propagates itself. Shipping is all over the place in Homestuck, and from Act 1 onward, characters are entertaining the possibility of relationships with one another as the author teases the audience with the possibility of any two particular characters getting together, before circumstances conspire to make them incompatible.

But Homestuck is about other kinds of reproduction too. Cultural reproduction, for example. As the guardians pass down rituals to their respective wards, as the Trolls’ dancestors communicate with them from across time through journals, treasure troves and the like, as the kids absorb pop cultural expectations about what it means to be men and women, the Culture that surrounds them is reproducing itself through them. They conform to the image of the times by adopting the symbols of mass media, and by playing out the rituals that define living in 2009.

Personal reproduction, too, exists in Homestuck as a microcosm of the large-scale cultural reproduction going on in the background radiation of the characters’ lives. Each of the abusive mentors is focused on transforming their desired ward into a copy of themselves. Bro tries to beat all of the softness out of Dave, and expects him to be interested in the same things that Bro is interested in. Vriska subjects Tavros to brutal physical and emotional violence because she sees him as weak and wants him to be strong - she wants him to be cruel and violent, more like her ideal of a strong troll. More like her image of herself as the ideal troll. Dirk spends an awful lot of time telling Jake that he needs to be more like Jane, telling Jane that she needs to be more like Jake, because the reality is that he wants both of them to be more like he is, and as Jake’s rough-housing “buddy” he denies him things that he needs to survive on the basis that they will be worthless to him unless he can seize them by way of violence.

In all three cases, the attempt to reproduce the self in the student serves not to empower them but to subordinate them to their mentor. Dave becomes traumatized and learns to hate and fear the sound of clanging and grinding metal, fear that he’s living under constant surveillance. Tavros becomes so incapable of dealing with stress and violence that he spends most of the second half of his session dreaming uselessly on Skaia. Jake becomes so afraid of touching another person that he decides that y’know? He’d rather just be alone for the rest of his life.

Reproduction is in the very fabric of Homestuck, all throughout the variety of instances that Doc Scratch will refer to later as Circumstantial Simultaneity. Certain poses are replicated between totally different characters as they have emotionally similar experiences that tie into the same core themes of the comic.

Certain phrases are repeated ad nauseam as the comic calls attention to its own recurring, recursive nature.

Each of the first three quarters of Homestuck - Acts 1-4, Acts 5-1 and 5-2, And Act 6 up through Game Over set up these three relationships, and once each one is set up, the rest of the comic is spent knocking it down, before the final quarter of the comic ultimately serves as the stage for each of the students to determine how they’re going to move beyond their abuse.

Because cycles of abuse are a kind of reproduction. There’s no easier way to turn a human being into an abuser than to subject them to abuse. And Homestuck seems to suggest that cycles of reproduction are frequently subverted into cycles of abuse. Any time reproduction is used for another reason than to build up, to beautify, to make something exist just so that it can exist - any time reproduction is used as a form of hegemony, to replicate one’s self instead of producing something new, it turns stagnant, and toxic.

There is no place in Paradox Space for stagnation, for trying to keep things the way that they are, for the preservation of particular images and particular forms the way that we remember them.. There is no place in Paradox space for immortality, the self-congratulatory, the masturbatory, the incestuous, the cancerous - for individual cells, or for individual selves to live forever, and keep copying themselves ad nauseam. Every living thing in Paradox Space is slated to die, because it’s how Paradox Space cleans up the old, and makes way for the new. Death and Birth are always intertwined. You can’t hold onto your Mom or your cat forever, Rose. You won’t live forever, Dave. You can’t watch Con Air the same way ever again, John. Your friendships have to come to an end some day, Jade. But every time something in Paradox Space dies, every time the act of reproduction takes place, it makes Paradox Space a richer, healthier place. The old is lost, but old things are recombined with one another, and diversify, leaving behind things that bear the hallmarks of the old, but are each special and different from the old, and from each other, in their own unique ways.

Reproduction, in the world of Homestuck, is an act that has to take place entirely for the benefit of the children, not for the benefit of the parents. Any time the reproducers use Reproduction as a tool by which to profit, to hegemonize, to immortalize themselves, it creates something that makes Paradox Space a weaker, sicker, frailer place.

[armpit-of-orion]

if u want to I’d love to hear some of ur hcs of beej interacting w charles and delia cause their dynamic gives me life and they’re his PARENTS

for sure! thanks for asking!

(also guys check my tag “beetlejuice headcanons” for more of my headcanons and feel free to ask for more!)

this got long as fuck, so I’m putting in a cut. 

also p.s. “Amanita” is pronounced “am-uh-NY-tuh.”

okay so maybe Charles and Emily always wanted a big family, but they had difficulty conceiving and it was hard enough for them to have Lydia, so they sort of gave up on the idea of a big family. so Charles doesn’t mind (read: is thrilled) when Beetlejuice sort of slides into their family.

Delia’s also always wanted to have a family; a spouse and as many kids as they could support. but her life didn’t seem to be heading in that direction, and by the time she hit forty she’d figured that her hope to have a big family was gone. so like Charles, it really isn’t unwelcome when her new family starts to grow.

now, it’s true that two kids doesn’t usually count as a “big family.” however, it’s also true that it does count as a “big family” when one of those kids is Beetlejuice.

(to be clear, Beetlejuice isn’t a child; in human terms, he’s in his early thirties. so when I talk about a parent-child relationship here, I mean parent-adult!child relationship. it’s more father/mother figure than just father/mother. just thought I should make this point clear since I ship him with the Maitlands, which would be not be okay if I was portraying BJ as in his teens/early twenties or something.)

Beetlejuice starts to see Charles as a father figure before he starts to see Delia as a mother figure.

that’s because he first sees Lydia as his sister, and he tries to relate to the people around him the way Lydia does. since Lydia doesn’t really see Delia as a mother figure (she starts to later, but not right away!), BJ doesn’t see Delia as a mother figure at first either.

BUT since Lydia only sees Charles as “Dad,” that’s exactly how BJ sees him too!

(I mean Lydia has known Delia, Adam, and Barbara as people other than her parents, but Charles has only ever been “Dad” to her, and it’s hard to see your parents as being actual people, not just your parents, especially when you’re young.)

Charles panics a little at the realization that he’s somehow adopted a demon who’s at least twenty times older than he is, and that panic manifests as him trying to engage Beej in traditional father-son bonding activities.

the fishing trip doesn’t go well, as Charles wasn’t aware that Beetlejuice does Not Like water, and it hadn’t occurred to Beetlejuice that fishing might involve him being near water.

they try to play catch, except Beetlejuice misunderstood the point of the game, so when Charles tosses him a baseball, Beetlejuice opens his mouth and somehow manages to swallow the ball whole. Charles is too disturbed by whatever the fuck that was to try again.

but! they figure out that they like going on walks in the woods together! Charles likes to try to identify the plants and wildlife they see, and it’s a good way for Beetlejuice to get some fun snacks.

Charles is (mostly) used to seeing BJ eat random bugs, but on one walk he sees Beetlejuice pop a couple of wild mushrooms into his mouth, and all Charles’s logic flies out the window for a moment.

he starts yelling at Beetlejuice to spit them out, and in his shock and confusion, Beetlejuice does the opposite.

Charles is in the process of dragging Beetlejuice home and has started to dial 911 before Beetlejuice can even react.

“Whoa, Chuck, what are you doing?”

“That looked like one of the deadly Amanita mushrooms. They’re extremely toxic; we have to get you to the hospital right—”

“Uh, Chuck? I’m dead. Those angalida—”

“Amanita.”

“—indochina mushrooms aren’t gonna make me more dead.”

“…oh.”

Beetlejuice makes fun of Charles for forgetting that he’s, y’know, dead, but he’s secretly touched that Charles cares about him enough to panic like that.

and Delia! Beetlejuice starts to see her as a mother figure before Lydia does.

(actually, Delia being all “mom” around Beetlejuice helps Lydia warm up to the idea of Delia being a mother figure to her, too!)

they both have a ton of self-esteem issues, but they work on that together!

also they do spa days! sometimes Lydia joins in, but it’s usually a mother-son bonding thing. they do foot soaks and homemade face masks. Delia always has to make extra face mask …goop? (idk what to call it) because BJ will eat it. he likes the ones with honey best!

they talk a lot about stuff! Delia’s awesome to talk about sex with because she’s so nonjudgemental and open. once Beetlejuice stops trying to shock her or make her uncomfortable they actually have pretty deep conversations, and she helps him develop a healthier attitude about sex.

Delia starts teaching him how to meditate! it’s really hard— especially when you have ADHD— but it’s also really helpful and rewarding as long as you keep at it! and Delia never gets mad about how long it takes or about how BJ struggles to sit still or keep quiet for just ten seconds. she doesn’t give up, and after a couple months of five minute sessions he’s actually able to meditate a little!

also Beetlejuice makes her a necklace! (the Maitlands had a jewelry-making phase.) it’s the ugliest thing ever and Delia adores it, and she actually manages to make it work with some of her outfits. (she’s that good.)

during the weekdays, while Lydia’s at school and Charles is at work, Beetlejuice usually spends time with the Maitlands. but if Delia’s home, BJ will follow Delia around the house (like how my family’s dog follows my mom around lol). most of the time he doesn’t even try to distract her or engage her; he just wants to be in her presence! (once Lydia gets home though, he’ll leave Delia in favor of following Lydia around.)

Delia quickly becomes someone Beetlejuice goes to for comfort or emotional support. Lydia, bless her heart, does her best, but she’s not the most emotionally mature person (she’s fifteen! that’s okay!) and she has plenty of her own problems too, and BJ recognizes this and turns to Delia as a result. Delia’s hugs are awesome and help him forget about Juno.

in conclusion Charles and Delia are Beetlejuice’s parents and they love and support each other thank you and goodnight.

[ramblingguy54]

The First Temple: More Anne & Hop Pop Angst Ahoy!

I care about you too, Anne.

I mean, to an extent, right? You kind of proved that when you buried the music box.

The First Temple wasn’t just a good episode. 

I loved it a lot. It gave more screen time to show Anne & Hop Pop’s tension of feeling awkward and conflicted about everything that has transpired between them recently after the big lie being revealed previously. It adds more of an organic touch to their drama, rather than just have it happen off screen. That’s something I wanted to really see happen between Della & Louie after Timephoon’s emotionally charged ending was them still butting heads in Glomtales, but that didn’t occur at all. Della & Louie were split up for other story reasons and didn’t get to interact again, until Moonvasion. Really enjoying where they’re taking the dynamic between the family now because this seriously complements After The Rain’s episode and vice versa. It shows things aren’t going to be completely the same between Anne & Hop Pop in particular. Life in a family when big stuff happens isn’t so easily swept under the rug. Relationships like these can be an intense, bittersweet, and self reflective of whomever are causing these issues. Family can be a very rough, albeit worthwhile, journey depending on the circumstances of who raised you and how you interpret those experiences in the long run. Amphibia nailed this complicated topic with grace.

Anne forgiving Hop Pop at first isn’t out of character, but very much accurate to how compassionate she is as a person. However, letting her feelings simmer overnight after those events makes it more complicated for Anne hence the whole line of, “Well, maybe I spoke too soon.”,  to Hop Pop when these two started arguing back and forth about their issues of trust between each other. Anne laid down the truth of pretty much what I stated in my breakdown analysis of After The Rain. Hop Pop did care about Anne, but never enough to be 100% truthful about why he hid the enchanted music box. Like, damn, I love that they had her call him out on that because it’s a harsh truth. Regardless of whatever intentions Hop Pop had that were good, this guy still kept someone who has become practically family in the dark to more so protect his own biological relatives, which is understandable, but alienated Anne in the process. That’s gotta really hurt for someone who had thought she had found their own place in a family who more or less adopted her in a sense. When you’ve laid down your very life, as Anne did in Season 1 against her best friend Sasha, and find out Hop Pop wasn’t still the most trusting of her is some great angst to throw their way. Anne has a legit very good reason to stay mad at Hop Pop.

Every time you remind me of my mistakes!

The First Temple was a fantastic way to delve more into their issues. It could’ve been just another adventure for these two, but it went all the way in addressing their bigger problems. I felt for Hop Pop’s plea of forgiveness about wanting to make amends because lying to Anne and hurting the kid deeply only reminded this old man of his previous regrets before surrounding Sprig & Polly’s parents. He’s already got enough issues on his plate, so Hop Pop doesn’t want this whatsoever, but needed to respect Anne’s wishes as well for needing space. She’s been dealt a not so pretty hand about what stuff has happened to her, either. Anne’s had it rough of having to be away from her own reality, biological family, and what happened with Sasha in Season 1 still lingers in her mind.  Hop Pop lying to her all this time is like the cherry on top of all the shit that has happened. Anne wants things to be normal again in their family, but it just isn’t that easy for any of them. At the very least, them admitting out loud there’s still problems needing to be ironed out was heavily crucial for them to advance into becoming more understanding and trusting of each other for future events.

Amphibia’s drama impresses me time and time again about how much it explores the idea of found family, by showing its inner conflicts. The fact Anne called out Hop Pop hiding the box to protect his own family, rather than her, was simply a great rebuttal for his reasoning before, which I’m so happy they did. It makes for super effective drama about the issue of Hop Pop’s priorities over Anne. The First Temple is easily on my list of top favorite episodes from Amphibia because it shows a painful reality of found family and the idea of biological vs adopted relatives coming into play with Anne, Polly, and Sprig. Hop Pop got a serious taste of truth medicine about what it means to be a father.

This was a wonderful episode. Can’t wait to see where this goes next.