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fangirlwriting-stories · 5 months ago

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A Summer Decades Ago

Summary: Relativity/Reunion Falls, Twenty Seven years before Stanford, Mabel wakes up to find a different kid at her door.

Author's Note: Whoops instead of more uncomplicated reasons to hate Filbrick Pines I think this chapter gives him an infinitely more complex relationship with Mabel than I originally planned that adds a real layer of tragedy to his character which is very much not what I intended when I started this AU

This is gonna have a couple of retcons that if I wrote this as a story in complete before posting definitely would have changed some things earlier on, but that’s not the vibe of this loosely collected group of scenes that I’m posting more or less as I write them because I do what I want, so if you guys could just roll with the retcons that’d be great thanks

Also in this one Mabel is 35 and the portal incident happened five years ago, Filbrick is 15, and Stan and Ford are born in 15 years when Filbrick is 30, making Mabel 50, and 62 when Ford arrives for the summer. Only the first two parts are relevant but that timeline was way too hard to figure out to not say the last parts too.

Masterlist

...

It’s early in the summer when Mabel wakes up in the portal room to see a kid on the front door camera.

She figures at first that it’s a kid from town who’s gotten lost, or maybe someone that’s arrived early in the morning (7:00 early? She doesn’t open until 9), whose parents are right behind him.

Either way, she heads quickly upstairs, where as soon as she shuts the vending machine she can hear the frantic pounding coming from the front door.

“Hold your snadgers, I’m coming,” she calls, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. When she pulls the front door open, she’s met with a young teenager clearly in the middle of panicking.

“Woah, hey,” Mabel says. “Are you alright?” Possible scenarios run through her mind. The kid doesn’t look amazing, but he’s not banged up enough to be running from any kind of monster. He doesn’t have enough stuff to justify being here on a vacation and having gotten lost. In fact, it seems like he just has the clothes on his back.

“I—” the kid looks down at the ground, clenches his hands into fists, and seems to try and brace himself. “My name is Filbrick. You’re— you’re my Aunt Mabel, right?”

“Uh… I doubt it?” ‘Aunt’ implies Dipper is back over here and has a teenage kid, and there are some pretty significant reasons Mabel would know if that was the case.

“Well, not Aunt exactly, I think Dad says you’re like my second cousin or something, but— but he calls you my crazy aunt who lives in the woods, so…”

“Wow, he really knows how to flatter a girl,” Mabel deadpans. “Are you guys in town? Did you lose track of him? I can probably help you find him.”

At that, Filbrick’s breathing starts to quicken, and he shakes his head. “We— we live in Jersey,” he says weakly. “He— Dad threw me out.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Mabel asks, eyes widening.

“It was my fault,” Filbrick says, still not meeting Mabel’s eyes. “I deserved it, I fucked up. But I don’t have anywhere else to go and I remembered him saying something about my crazy aunt who lives in the woods in Oregon and the people in town said you’re Mabel Pines, so—”

“Woah woah woah,” Mabel says, holding her hands out. “Kid— Filbrick, right? Slow down. First of all, I don’t care what you did, he should not have thrown you out at your age. What are you, sixteen?”

“Fifteen,” Filbrick says.

“Yeah. Bullshit move on his part. Second, you’re from New Jersey? How did you get here?”

“I hitchhiked,” Filbrick says. “With a couple people.”

“Wow, so that’s unsafe. Okay, come in,” Mabel says, waving Filbrick inside and trying to take a deep breath of her own. This is definitely not what she’d planned on doing this morning.

Filbrick follows her inside, and Mabel leads them both to the kitchen table. Filbrick still hasn’t looked up from the floor.

“Okay, I wasn’t really planning on company,” Mabel says, heading for the cabinets. “But I can—”

“I can earn my keep,” Filbrick says quickly. “You don’t have to feed me or anything, I— I can sleep outside in the— do you have a shed?”

“Stop. Stop talking,” Mabel says, pinching the bride of her nose. This is so above her paygrade. “You are not sleeping outside in a shed, and you do not have to earn your keep. Jesus, kid. You’re not even old enough to have a job.”

“Dad says I am,” Filbrick says. “He says I could work, like, under the table jobs so—”

“Yeah, well, that doesn’t mean you should,” Mabel says. “Kid, you can stay here as long as you need, I— I don’t know if I have a spare bed, but the couch is open. I’ll have to clean the glitter off of it, but—”

“You don’t need to do that,” Filbrick says. “Whatever you want to offer is fine.”

“Yeah, I’m cleaning the glitter off of it. Look, sit down. Take a deep breath.”

Filbrick sits down at one of the chairs and takes as deep a breath as he can seem to manage, which still sounds pretty panicked.

“It’s okay,” Mabel says, even though it is very much not. “You’re safe here, alright? You can stay here until… until whenever you don’t need to anymore.”

It’s a scary thing to say, because she wasn’t planning on any of this half an hour ago, but Filbrick looks scared out of his mind sitting there, and she can’t just toss him out on the streets at fifteen. That’s younger than she was when she struck out on her own, and she was probably too young to do that, too.

Filbrick doesn’t seem much calmer, but he does nod. “Thank you,” he says. “I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”

“You don’t— you know what, we’ll talk about it later,” Mabel says. “I’m going to make you some food. Do you like leftover spaghetti?”

…

Eventually, Mabel lets Filbrick work in the store, because it’s very clear he’s going stir crazy not having anything to do. He still gives all the money he makes back to Mabel, though, and says he’s already freeloading in her house, and this can just be paying her back for that. He won’t budge on it no matter what Mabel says.

She lets him work at the cash register, which he’s pretty amazing at, actually. He’s got a real eye for people trying to steal, and has caught every single one so far, staring them down with a very unimpressed look until they either sheepishly put the craft supplies back, or sheepishly pay for it. The first time Mabel saw him catch someone, he shouted a man twice his size out the door, yelling that if he wanted to steal, he should be better at it. Mabel laughed so hard she almost cried.

On slow days, Filbrick spends most of the time staring out the front door, waiting for anyone else to show up. He doesn’t ever seem comfortable doing anything else, even if Mabel tries to nudge him to get a book, or some supplies, or something fun to do while he’s just sitting there.

For this particular afternoon, however, it’s a good thing, as it’s because he’s just sitting there that Mabel knows something is up when he gasps and stumbles backwards away from the cash register.

“Filbrick?” Mabel asks, stepping away from where she’s restocking supplies. “Are you okay?”

“What is that?” Filbrick asks. He points towards the door, and when Mabel turns to look, she sees a fairy floating outside it.

“Oh, that’s Sparkle! She’s a fairy,” Mabel says. She heads over towards the cashier and ducks underneath it to get her supply of fairy dust. She sets the container down on the counter and pulls out the pouch of gold coins she has stashed in with it.

“Come on, I’ll introduce you,” Mabel says, waving to Filbrick. She starts over for the door, and Filbrick gets up and follows her, though he hides behind her back, just barely peeking out.

“Hello Sparkle,” Mabel says. “Is it still three coins, or has it gone up again?”

“Still three,” Sparkle says, sounding relieved to be saying it. “I don’t think I’ll be able to carry them if it goes any higher.”

“I’m happy to come out there, you know,” Mabel says, taking the fairy dust and passing the coins over, which Sparkle balances on top of each other like a precarious stack of baked goods. “You don’t have to come all the way over here.”

“They still don’t trust you enough to let you see the grove,” Sparkle sighs. “Give it a few years.” She pauses, and glances behind Mabel, meaning she must have noticed Filbrick.

“Mabel, I don’t want to alarm you, but I think you have a growth,” Sparkle says, pointing at him.

Mabel laughs a little, and glances back at Filbrick, who looks almost petrified, staring at Sparkle.

“This is my… well, technically he’s my cousin, but he’s been calling me Aunt Mabel, so I call him my nephew. Filbrick, this is Sparkle. I have a deal with her for fairy dust. It’s much better than glitter at making sweaters sparkle.” She winks at Sparkle as she says it, who winks back.

Filbrick doesn’t say anything, and ducks further behind Mabel.

“Hello,” Sparkle says. Filbrick still doesn’t say anything, and Sparkle laughs. “You don’t need to be scared,” she says, seeming amused. “Mabel, I hope all your family aren’t such flutterbugs.”

“I’m not a coward,” Filbrick says, obvious anger in his voice.

“You sure, kid?” Sparkle says with a teasing smile. “You’re like a hundred times my size, and I’m not scared of you.”

“Hey, go easy on him,” Mabel says. “I don’t think he’s seen much Gravity Falls weirdness yet.” She turns to Filbrick with a gentle smile. “Sometimes things in Gravity Falls are a little… different,” she explains. “I’ve been trying to come up with a way to tell you. We’ve got some monsters, and magic, and creatures like Sparkle. You’re gonna see them from time to time.”

Filbrick glares down at the ground and doesn’t say anything else.

“I’ll talk to you later, Sparkle,” she says. She’ll probably be able to smooth things out easier when Sparkle isn’t here. “Thanks for the fairy dust.”

“Same time next month,” Sparkle says with a smile as she flies off, balancing her coins expertly.

Mabel shuts the door and turns back to face Filbrick. “So—”

“I’m not a coward,” Filbrick snaps.

Mabel blinks. “No, buddy, you’re not,” she says. “Plenty of people are a little freaked the first time they see stuff like that. It’s normal.”

Filbrick just turns and storms off towards the back of the house. Mabel almost goes after him, but maybe he just needs some time to himself to calm down. Gravity Falls weirdness can be a little hard to swallow at first, after all. She knows it was for her, when she first discovered it. She’d practically had a panic attack the first time she saw a gnome. Filbrick actually handled that really well, in comparison.

…

Several hours after the store closes, Mabel finds Sparkle dead at the edge of the lawn. She looks like she was squashed under someone’s shoe, and the gold coins are gone.

Mabel asks Filbrick if he saw anything, and he says he’s pretty sure someone was chasing something around in the parking lot earlier. He says be doesn’t know his name, but he had large puffy white hair.

“That’s Gideon,” Mabel says, gritting her teeth. “That little— he probably wanted the gold. God, when I see him next—” she stops with a shaky breath, and drops her head in her hands.

“I’m sorry,” she hears Filbrick say. “I should have told you when I saw it.”

“It’s okay,” Mabel sighs, running her hand through her hair. “Just— I don’t know how to take her home. I don’t know where the fairy’s grove is.” She presses a hand to her mouth and takes as deep a breath as she can manage.

“I’m sure someone will come looking for her,” she says after a second. “I’ll keep her here.”

So she puts Sparkle on a soft bed of tissues and yarn, the best she can do when she doesn’t know the fairies’ culture surrounding the dead.

Two fairies do come looking for Sparkle the next day, and when Mabel takes them to her, the three of them cry together. They let Mabel come back to the grove for the funeral.

She wishes it felt like more of a joy to be trusted to do that.

…

It takes a long time, but Mabel does get Filbrick to start coming out of his shell. She manages to get him to goof off a little while working in the shop after she shows him it’s okay by doing it herself. He stops looking quite so scared every time she approaches him, and looks at her like she hung the sun in the sky whenever she compliments his work ethic. He very hesitantly starts asking for things at the store, and different meals for dinner. She learns his favorite is spaghetti and meatballs, which she suspects has something to do with that being the first thing he ate when he got here, but she’s not going to say anything about it. They start making it together, and it quickly becomes one of Mabel’s favorite things to do. She’d never planned on having kids. She’s starting to wonder if she should.

The night it all goes wrong starts off really well.

They’re closing up the store together, and Filbrick is taking inventory while Mabel counts up their profits for the day.

“And we should probably get more electric blue yarn soon, but other than that we’re good,” Filbrick says, giving a small smile as he walks back over towards the cash register. He sets the inventory pad down next to the cash Mabel’s counting up.

“Yeah, that electric blue goes fast,” she says. “It’s a lot of people’s favorite. I’ll put in an order for some tomorrow.” She sets the last twenty to the side and writes down their profit for the day. “Alright, we’re doing pretty good this week. Keep this up and I’ll take you to see a movie sometime.”

“What movie?” Filbrick asks. “Because if it’s that unicorn one, I won’t be impressed. Plus it won’t have nearly enough glitter to satisfy your insane appetite for it.”

“Did you just make a joke, Filbrick?” Mabel asks, turning to face him with a grin. Filbrick smiles back, and Mabel gasps in mock offense, keeping the joke going.

“Well, that’s it, now we’re definitely seeing the unicorn one,” she says, reaching out and giving Filbrick a noogie. “No getting out of it now, I’m taking you to see a unicorn movie.”

“No!” Filbrick protests, pushing himself away from Mabel, though she can tell he’s not bothered by it from the giant grin on his face.

Before Mabel can continue teasing him, however, there’s a loud knock on the door. She turns to see a large gruff looking man standing right outside. She sighs and starts over, planning on telling whoever’s there that the store is closed for the day, but then from behind her she hears a panicked gasp from Filbrick.

She turns around, intent on asking what’s wrong, when the person outside bangs on the screen door again and yells, “Open up!”

“Alright, hold your snadgers,” Mabel says, walking the rest of the way over. “I’m sorry, sir, but we’re closed for the—”

“You have my son,” the man says, and Mabel blinks. Her eyes widen a second later.

“You’re Filbrick’s father,” she realizes.

“You have my son,” the man repeats, no change to his tone.

Mabel looks back at Filbrick, who’s standing ramrod straight in the middle of the room and clearly wants to disappear. She takes a deep breath and turns back around.

“You kicked your son out of the house,” she says, as evenly as she can manage. He’s not a small man, and she’s not going to pretend he doesn’t set her nerves on edge a little bit.

“He needed to be taught a lesson.”

“I don’t appreciate your lessons,” Mabel says. Filbrick makes a small terrified sound behind her, and Mabel clenches her hands into fists.

The man stands up straighter and glowers down at Mabel. “That,” he says dangerously, “is not for you to decide. He is my son.”

“He’s fifteen,” Mabel says. “He wouldn’t make it on the streets.”

“Well, I suppose now we’ll never know, will we?” the man says. “I’m taking him home.”

Mabel looks back at Filbrick again. There’s obvious terror in his eyes, and he looks like he’s trying very hard to keep himself from bolting.

Mabel draws herself up taller, turns back to Filbrick’s father, and shakes her head.

That answer does not seem to be appreciated, as he narrows his eyes. “Girl—”

“Don’t call me that,” Mabel snaps.

“I’ll call you whatever I want. If you try to keep my son from me, I’ll press charges. You can find out how you do behind bars.”

Almost involuntarily, Mabel’s eyes drift towards the vending machine. Partway there, her gaze lands on Filbrick again. He’s grabbed onto the desk to try and stop his hands from shaking, but they still are, and obviously.

“Filbrick, go clean up the dishes in the kitchen,” Mabel says.

“You will go nowhere, boy,” his father snaps, and Filbrick gaze snaps to him.

“Don’t—” Mabel starts, turning back around to glare, but before she can continue, she feels the familiar sting of a smack across the face.

Mabel clenches her hands into fists and stares the man down, trying not to show how afraid she is, for her and for Filbrick.

He does not seem to like her defiance, and Mabel puts up an arm to block his fist a second before it hits her face, though it doesn’t really do much in terms of minimizing the impact. She grimaces but holds herself there.

“Touch me again and I will press charges,” she says lowly.

“You think you can take me on?” the man asks, giving an amused smile with a cruel curl to it. “I’d like to see you—”

“No!” comes a sudden voice, and before Mabel can turn around Filbrick is shoving himself in between her and his father. “No, please, just— I’ll go home, just don’t hurt her!”

“Filbrick,” Mabel says, reaching out for him. Filbrick smacks her hand away.

His father gives him an unimpressed look, and Filbrick can’t keep looking at him after a second, dropping his gaze and clenching his shaking hands into fists.

“Stop shaking, you sniveling coward,” his father says, which, predictably, does not lessen Filbrick’s shaking.

“Filbrick, no—” Mabel starts, reaching for him. Just before she grasps his arm, a fist swings again at her face, this time too fast for her to stop it.

Mabel feels the rough impact with her face slam her sideways into the edge of the desk. Her head cracks against it, and she hears Filbrick scream for only a second before the light snaps out.

…

When she wakes up, it’s dark outside, and she’s alone in the house.

…

Mabel fights for months to try and get ahold of Filbrick, or his father, or his mother, in hopes that she might be more help. She tries to go through Glass Shard’s police force next, but instead finds that Filbrick’s father is one of the officers, which ruins that plan before it can get started.

She tries to get help from someone in Gravity Falls, but no one has anything close to jurisdiction that would be helpful, and finally, she has no choice but to refocus on her store, or risk losing her house. She throws herself into portal work twice as hard in an attempt to make up for something. Try to save the other family member she’s failed so completely. It doesn’t work. She still doesn’t know what she’s doing.

She hopes in some desperate part of her that Filbrick will seek her out again, but he doesn’t. In fact, the first time she hears from him again is over a decade later, when she gets a call from a Caryn Pines, saying she found Mabel’s name as the only one in her husband’s address book, and that she wanted someone from his side of the family to be there for the birth of their second child. Apparently last time, it had been just her side of the family there, and Filbrick hadn’t spoken to anyone and had stood in the corner dead silent.

Mabel gets the address and drives almost two days straight to New Jersey, and upon heading to the pawn shop, finds the baby must have come while she was driving, because there’s a note on the door about the pawn shop being closed and the family being at the hospital.

Mabel gets directions from a nearby gas station and heads there, and upon introducing herself as Mabel Pines, is directed to the maternity ward and the room that Caryn is in.

Upon knocking, she’s greeted by a young boy.

“Hello,” she says. “I’m Mabel. Who might you be?”

The boy’s face lights up. “You’re my Great Aunt Mabel!” he calls happily. “I’m Shermie! I’m 7!”

“Well it’s great to meet you, Shermie,” Mabel says, feeling something raw and hopeful in her chest at the fact that Filbrick’s son knows who she is. “I heard you’ve got a younger sibling now!”

Shermie bounces in obvious excitement, but says, “Nope!”

Mabel blinks, tipping her head in confusion. “No?”

Shermie bounces a couple more times and announces, “I have two baby brothers!”

Mabel’s eyes widen. “Two?”

“Yeah! My Ma had twins, so there’s two of ‘em!”

“Oh that’s wonderful,” Mabel says, a bright grin taking over her face.

“Yeah, come meet ‘em, come meet ‘em!” Shermie reaches out and grabs her arm, then pulls her into the room.

Laid back on the bed, looking absolutely exhausted, is a woman who must be Caryn. She’s holding two babies in her arms, one of whom seems perfectly content to lay there and look around, and one who’s screaming his head off, his face bright red.

Mabel’s hands go to her mouth, her heart swelling in her chest. “Oh my goodness,” she whispers.

“Ma!” Shermie yells over the sound of the one crying, drawing Caryn’s attention. “Great Aunt Mabel’s here!”

Caryn looks over at Mabel and smiles warmly. “Oh, thank goodness you made it,” she says, raising her voice just enough to be heard. “Filbrick is walking my side of the family back to the exit. I’m a little surprised he’s not back by now, but he’ll be glad to see you when he gets here. I’m Caryn. Sorry, but I’m not going to stand up or shake your hand.”

Mabel laughs, starting over towards the bed. “No, of course,” she says. “I’m Mabel. I’m so glad to finally meet you. I hadn’t heard from Filbrick in such a long time.” She doesn’t want to ask directly why, especially because she doubts Caryn has the energy for a conversation like that right now. So instead, she tacks on, “But this is such a wonderful way to reconnect. Do they have names yet?”

“Well, we were going to name him Stanford if he was a boy, but we didn’t really have two names picked out,” Caryn says. “I’m sure we’ll come up with something.”

Mabel settles down in the chair next to the bed, and Shermie runs over to sit down on the couch by the window, happily swinging his feet.

“Would you like a break from holding them?” Mabel asks, and sees instant relief pass over Caryn’s face.

“Oh, yes please,” she says. “Filbrick’s been busy running around, I’ve had them all morning.”

Mabel takes the calmer baby first, and takes a moment to rock him back and forth before taking the one who’s still yelling his lungs out.

“Well you have got a lot to say, don’t ya?” Mabel says, doing her best to rock him while holding onto him and his brother both. It works enough that he stops wailing quite so loudly, at least.

Shermie hops up from the couch and runs over to stand in front of Mabel.

“Can I try to rock him so he calms down?” he asks, looking up at her with a bright grin.

Mabel glances up at Caryn. She nods. “If he’s careful.”

“Alright, here, I’ll trade ya,” Mabel says, climbing up and letting Shermie take the chair. She passes over the fussing baby, and demonstrates with the other how to hold his head and support him. Shermie gets the hang of it quickly, and then rocks the baby back and forth until he manages to stop crying.

Shermie beams up at Mabel. “I did it!”

“You did,” Mabel says, smiling back. “You’re gonna be a good big brother, Shermie, I can tell.”

Shermie bounces a little bit in excitement, before remembering that he’s holding his brother and calming down.

Mabel looks down at the one she’s holding, who’s looking up at her almost curiously, if it’s possible for a baby to be curious.

“That one’s pretty unique, actually,” comes Caryn’s voice.

“Oh?” Mabel asks, turning to her. “Why’s that?”

Before Caryn can answer, the door at the other end of the room bangs open, and all three of them jump. The baby in Shermie’s arms starts crying again.

A large man that looks very much like Filbrick’s father had when Mabel met him storms across the room, followed by a nurse who seems to be trying to talk to him.

The man stops when he notices Mabel, then looks at her, eyes narrowed. “Aunt Mabel.”

Mabel swallows. “Filbrick,” she says. A bit of nerves slip into her voice. She doesn’t have a good track record with family reunions. “It’s good to see you again.”

Filbrick glares at her for another second, before turning to face Shermie.

Shermie hunches over a little on his seat, holding his baby brother closer, and then pausing to double check that he’s supporting his head.

“Sherman, give me that baby,” Filbrick says.

“Sir,” the nurse behind him says, but Filbrick cuts her off with a very angry gesture.

“Why?” Shermie asks.

“Because this nurse is going to be taking care of him.”

“She’s going to what?” Caryn asks, pushing herself up in bed. “Filbrick, I thought you were joking!”

“I don’t joke,” Filbrick says, turning to glare at her.

“What’s going on?” Mabel asks, finding herself stepping in between Filbrick and Shermie, and the baby Shermie’s still holding.

“I’m not raising twins,” Filbrick says, turning a firm and angry look to Mabel. “I didn’t prepare for twins, I didn’t want twins. And I won’t raise twins.”

“Filbrick,” Caryn says. She tries to push herself out of bed, only for the nurse to rush forward and hold her down.

“Ma’am, you really shouldn’t get up,” she says, though she keeps looking back at Filbrick.

Filbrick has turned again to face Mabel and Shermie.

“I’m not having an argument about this,” he says. “Sherman, give me that boy.”

“Filbrick,” Mabel says. She reaches out with her free hand to hold him back, and though she feels the anger and tension in his stance, she’s not worried he’ll hurt her. “Calm down. Let’s talk about this.” The baby in Mabel’s arms starts to squirm.

“Don’t tell me to calm down,” Filbrick says, drawing himself up taller. “Sherman, give me—”

“Hey,” Mabel cuts him off. “Outside. We’re having a talk.”

Filbrick’s gaze turns almost murderous, but Mabel stares him down, and after a second, he turns and stalks for the door.

“Woah,” comes Shermie’s tiny voice from behind her. “How did you do that?” Mabel turns around and sees him staring up at her in awe.

She turns to look at Caryn, who looks equal parts scared and desperate.

“Here,” Mabel says, passing her the baby in her arms. “I’ll be right back.”

She turns and walks out before she can get any kind of response.

Filbrick is standing right outside the room, looking very unhappy. He looks about to speak, but Mabel talks first.

“What is wrong with you?” she asks, crossing her arms. “You can’t just give up one of your kids.”

“I can’t afford twins,” Filbrick says, crossing his arms right back and glowering down at her. “Would you have me go bankrupt?”

“Of course not, but there are other options first,” Mabel says. “You have family that can help you, you can make adjustments.”

“You can’t rely on family long-term,” Filbrick says. “If you can’t hold your own in this world, people aren’t just going to help you. A man needs to be able to take care of his own.”

“There’s nothing wrong with needing help,” Mabel counters. “Look, my store is making pretty good money these days. I have enough that I can send you some every month if you need it. You can—”

“I’m not going to take handouts,” Filbrick says, sounding disgusted at the very idea. “I don’t need anyone’s help to take care of my family.”

“You do if your solution is tearing that family apart,” Mabel says. She reaches out to try and grasp Filbrick’s arm, but he takes a step back before she gets close.

Mabel takes a steadying breath. “Listen,” she says. “Before you got back here, everyone in there was excited about the twins. Caryn was talking about what to name them and Shermie was overjoyed at the thought of having two little brothers.”

“Caryn is my wife,” Filbrick says coldly. “And she should know this is my household. And Shermie is my son. I decide what’s best for him.”

“Filbrick,” Mabel says, and try as she might, she can’t stop her voice from cracking.

“I won’t have any more said on the matter. If he was your son I’d let you do as you see fit. But he’s not.”

Filbrick turns to walk back into the room, and Mabel’s pretty sure her heart’s shattering in her chest. Her brain won’t stop shoving at her the image of Filbrick on her front porch, desperate and begging for help, and the panic on his face when his father showed up again. It’s nice to have proof, she supposes. First Dipper, now Filbrick. She really can’t save anyone right.

But damn her if she ever stops trying.

“Give him to me then,” Mabel says, just as Filbrick’s hand lands on the doorknob. He stops, and turns to face her.

“I’ll take him,” Mabel says. Something bitter in her chest spits out before she can really stop it, “if you really can’t stomach asking for help getting another set of diapers.”

Filbrick turns around and crosses his arms again. “You don’t want to raise a kid.”

“Don’t tell me what I want,” Mabel snaps. “You know I’m capable.”

“You don’t want to raise a kid,” Filbrick repeats. “They suck up all your energy and time and don’t give you anything back.”

“You gave me plenty back,” Mabel says quietly. “You gave me your company and your companionship.”

Filbrick narrows his eyes. “Your methods were less than impressive.”

“Well then I guess I’ll have more time to learn with this one,” Mabel says. “Do you think I can’t do it?”

Filbrick looks at her for a long moment. Finally, he just turns and walks back inside. Mabel stays at the door, not quite sure what that means. After a minute or so of her debating whether or not she should go back in, the door opens and the nurse from before steps out, carrying a baby. He’s back to fussing and squirming.

“He, um,” the nurse says. “He told you to take him and leave.”

Mabel takes a shaky breath, and tears well in her eyes as the nurse passes the baby over to her. Mabel looks down at him, and suddenly the gravity of what she’s just done presses down onto her shoulders.

“Yes, um, ma’am,” Mabel says, looking up just as the nurse is about to walk off. “Can— is there someone I can talk to about how to raise a baby?”

The nurse looks just as lost as Mabel feels for a second, but nods. “Come with me,” she says. Mabel follows her down the hallway.

She casts one last glance at the room behind her, and then is interrupted by the baby below her starting to wail.

Mabel rocks him back and forth, shushing him as gently as she can. The nurse looks helplessly back at her, and Mabel aims for a smile that’s more confident than she feels.

…

Mabel names the baby Stanley, remembering what Caryn had said about naming the other Stanford. It feels like the best connection with his brother that she can give him, and the best apology she can manage for failing to keep them together.

And maybe it wouldn’t have even mattered. Maybe they wouldn’t have been as joined at the hip as her and Dipper. But she can’t quite resist doing it anyway.

Besides, it’s not like she’ll ever know.

#gravity falls #mabel pines #filbrick pines #caryn pines #shermie pines #stanley pines #stanford pines #relativity falls au #reunion falls au #my fic

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gaygoetia · 1 year ago

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Background Details in Helluva Boss S1 E5 - The Harvest Moon Festival

Millie's Family

We can see from the family photos in Millie's parents' home that Millie has three brothers in addition to her sister Sallie-Mae, though their names aren't mentioned in the episode. We see two of them briefly helping load pumpkins into their dad's truck, looking visibly older than in the family photos.

Also this isn't a background detail as such but unlike most female imps shown in the series, Sallie-Mae has striped black and white horns and her hair is white at the roots, implying that she dyes it. This suggests that Sallie-Mae is a trans woman, something which I believe has been confirmed by the show creators and/or the trans voice actress who plays her.

Moxxie being a theatre kid

There are several fun references to Moxxie's love of musical theatre in this episode, including the music notes on his wallpaper and alarm clock and theatrical posters in his bedroom. His phone case says "I don't cry, I sing" and the stickers on his suitcase also reference the theatre (one says "break a leg" and the other is a picture of tragedy and comedy masks)

Striker's Motel

The Motel Striker stays at is called "The Hideaway Motel" and the guy that tried to kill you definitely isn't there.

Blitzo's Car

Once again the little horse decoration makes an appearance but we also see that the back window includes a decal of Blitzo, Loona, Moxxie and Millie.

Stolas being horny for imps

Just a couple of Stolas details this episode but both relate to him having a thing for imps.

The book he's reading at the dinner table while Stella is openly making arrangements to assassinate him is called "Imps in the sheets".

He's also fanning himself pretty emphatically when Blitzo and Striker (both of whom he's canonically attracted to) are wrestling in the mud. This may or may not be for horny reasons but knowing Stolas it probably is.

Blitzo's Horse Thing

Blitzo's thing for horses manifests in this episode mainly as him admiring Striker's hellhorse Bombproof. Don't have much to add to this except look how cute his lil face looks! If Stolas witnessed this he would probably buy Blitzo a horse on the spot.

Blitzo and Stolas' bedroom scene

I wasn't sure whether to include this because once again it's more foreground than background details, but I thought while I'm talking about this episode I might as well.

This scene is probably the most insight we get into Blitzo and Stolas' sexual relationship. It starts with Stolas tied to the headboard and absolutely beaming so clearly something kinky has just gone down. This is also apparent from the harness he's wearing and the ball-gag around his neck (which additionally references the fact That Blitzo doesn't like it when Stolas talks about/during sex)

Another thing I thought was interesting in this scene is that Stolas stubs his cigarette out on Blitzo's horn to no visible reaction on Blitzo's part. This leads me to believe that imp horns either don't have pain receptors or that they have some level of fire resistance even within Hell which is preventing this from harming him.

I also think this moment and this scene in general is a great example of why Blitzo thinks that Stolas views him as a novelty and a plaything. This gesture is so casually objectifying and Stolas' tone of voice comes off as quite condescending. I don't think either of these things is intentional on Stolas' part but it shows that Blitzo's cynical view of their relationship hasn't come out of nowhere.

That's it for episode 5 but you can see all my other Helluva Boss background details posts here.

#helluva boss #hb background details #hellaverse #hellaverse background details

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trashtasteforasimtownie · 9 months ago

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I've also got another legacy family, the Duncans.

---

It all started when Moira Duncan and her teenaged daughter Tia moved into a ramshackle house in the edge of Moonwood Mill.

Moira got a minimum wage job, while Tia attented high school. Education was the least thing on her mind when she met a neighbourhood boy, Jacob Volkov. The two became fast friends, and not long after, lovers. Tia saw Jacob and his close family as a safe haven (even if they were wolves) and Jacob was happy to fill the role of a protector.

Tia would need all the support she could get, as her mother died suddenly. Little did she now, she was already pregnant at the time, carrying the legacy heir.

Even if the young couple was wholly unprepared to start a family, Jacob was excited to be a dad, and Tia gave birth to twin boys, Chann and Lowe. Unfortunately, tragedy struck again and Tia passed unexpectedly.

(Tia and Jakob are on the top left corner.)

Raising two wild boys wasn't easy, especially when Chann had inherited his father's beastly side. But with the help of his pack, Jacob managed to keep the boys fed, warm and (relatively) happy. Growing up, Chann and Lowe were unseparable but as time went on, they started to show interest in different things - Lowe wanted to educate himself and, frankly, get out of Moonwood Hills, while Chann wanted to stay and live a quiet life away from too much civilization.

(Chann and Lowe are on the right side of Tia and Jakob.)

In the end, Lowe got the upgrade he wished by marrying a Landgraab heir (even he doesn't know how he landed that) and moved to Oasis Springs. Chann saw this as a betrayal, and the two never spoke again.

(Lowe and Allyson Landgraab are below Tia and Jakob's picture.)

In the meantime, Chann had figured out a way to make money - selling his locally grown weed - and how to spend that money. He spent his nights at pubs and bars and nighclubs, meeting new people, having some relations of the casual type. Just enjoying life, y'know.

There was a new add-on to Moonwood Mill - Rose, who had moved in with her grandmother, Lily Zhu, after some scandalous event in her home town. As an insecure young adult, she was prone to the wooings of someone like Chann, and it didn't take long for Rose to fall for him.

(Chann and Rose are below the picture of Chann and Lowe.)

Eventually Rose got pregnant and moved in with Chann, only to learn he was a cheating bastard. She was hesitant to leave Chann, especially after giving birth to twins, Lucian and Daciana, hoping a family would change him. The last straw was when Rose learned Chann had gotten another woman pregnant, and she left to live with her grandmother once again.

Lucian and Daciana are both blessed (or cursed) with their family's bloodline, which made raising them difficult - especially since Rose is only a human herself. Both kids have a somewhat strained relationship with their parents, but eventually moved back in with their dad into the ramshackled house. Daciana even picked up the family business of selling weed, while Lucian wishes to better himself as a man and a werewolf.

Now Lucian is married to one of his packmates, Donna Pleasant, and has hopes of leading the pack one day. Daciana on the other hand has copied much of his father's lifestyle and currently has three children with two different men. She isn't too keen on child-rearing and has left much of it to Lucian and Donna.

(Daciana is on the right side, Lucian is on the left next to him. Below him is a picture of him proposing to Donna.)

---

And here is the complete family tree.

#ts4 #the sims 4 #sims 4 #ts4 simblr #simblr #ts4 gameplay #ts4 werewolves #ts4 legacy

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illusion-of-death · 1 year ago

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All right, I'll throw in an ask. Partly for Carry Me From These Walls, partly for your BotW fic as a whole.

So you have Daruk and Urbosa - and to a lesser extent Teba - as the Adults of the group. Ostensibly responsible and worrying over their charges, yet sharing a chaotic energy that's kept slightly secret.

It's a fun dichotomy. Which elements of that pair are most fun for you to write? And now that I've stumbled into the thought, would formally adding Other Dad Teba to the mix make them more responsible or open new avenues of chaos?

Thanks for writing these characters!

Ooo, this is a fun one!

Daruk and Urbosa's relationship is one that I really wish we'd gotten to see more of in canon—all we really know for sure comes from a line in Urbosa's DLC diary about how she and Daruk "hope to help [the other Champions] see the future." I choose to interpret that as the two of them feeling at least some responsibility for the wellbeing of the others, particularly because of their youth (something else Urbosa mentions in that same diary). So, you've got that, and you've got Urbosa's canonical love of pulling pranks on people important to her, and Daruk's own enjoyment of a little tomfoolery here and there. It makes for a really fun potential dynamic! I don't think I can really say which part of that dichotomy is my favorite to write, because I love both sides of that silly/serious coin so so much, but if you're asking what's the most entertaining for me, it's gotta be the shenanigans. CMFTW Daruk not knowing how cereal bars work and Strength of the Mountain Urbosa not realizing just how badly she's about to be victimized by the laws of physics are both standout moments for me. But I'm primarily an enjoyer of tragedy, and so those lighthearted moments really serve to make the heartbreak feel that much closer to home, and the quiet but steadfast way those two insist on supporting each other through thick and thin means more to me than I can really say as well.

To answer your second question—I honestly have no idea what adding Teba into the mix would do! If we're considering actual BotW canon, I think he's a much more serious character than either Daruk or Urbosa really make themselves out to be onscreen. (Teba was born and raised in a world ravaged by the Calamity, after all, and never knew anything else—Daruk and Urbosa were not.) If we're thinking more SMtWO canon, that dynamic would be incredibly complicated, and I think that while ultimately the three of them would get along, Teba would not participate in anything like their minecart shenanigans.

For CMFTW, though? Who knows! Teba's definitely got his ultra-serious work persona, but he's also the guy who named his D&D character after the beloved chain restaurant Kraken Barrel. And is also the adoptive father of the kid who made Ikea of Furnichar. And regularly hangs out with his very unserious students on purpose. Admittedly, I've done VERY little writing for him in CMFTW—Hope does a fantastic job with him, and might have more to contribute to this very fun thought exercise—so it's hard for me to say for sure. (Pspsps @ofstormsandfire anything to add?)

That was probably entirely more detail than you were really asking for, but also I love Daruk and Urbosa SO much and can't help myself sometimes. Thanks for asking; this was a really fun question to answer!

#asked and answered #carry me from these walls #strength of the mountain

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magicmarked · 1 year ago

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✧ they asked me if i love her to death, and i said "speak of her over my grave and watch how she brings me back to life"

— mahmoud darwish, the butterfly's burden

Is that AMOS DIGGORY stepping out into Diagon Alley? Ministry records tell us that they were born on APRIL 2ND and are a 27 year old, PUREBLOOD who works as a SINGLE DAD & LITTLE LEAGUE QUIDDITCH COACH. Some have said that they can be described as being PASSIONATE, SOCIAL & PROTECTIVE, however, they also see themselves as being OBSTINATE, TEMPERAMENTAL & UNFOCUSED. Apparently, HE look(s) a lot like MICHAEL EVANS BEHLING, whoever that is, and if they had to pick a side in the war, they would choose to JOIN THE ORDER.

𓆩　𓇯𓇯𓇯𓇯﹒ㅤBASICSㅤ﹒𓇯𓇯𓇯𓇯ㅤ 𓆪

FULL NAME : Amos Percival Diggory.

NICKNAMES : Ame, Daddy.

AGE : Twenty-seven.

BIRTHDAY : April 2nd.

GENDER & PRONOUNS : Cis man, he/him/his.

SEXUALITY : Bisexual, biromantic.

RELATIONSHIP STATUS : Widowed.

AFFILIATION : The Order of the Phoenix.

FACECLAIM : Michael Evans Behling.

OCCUPATION : Single dad, part-time Little League Quidditch coach, former Magizoologist in training, but that doesn't pay the bills.

𓆩　𓇯𓇯𓇯𓇯﹒ㅤPERSONALITYㅤ﹒𓇯𓇯𓇯𓇯ㅤ 𓆪

POSITIVES : Passionate, social, protective, stout-hearted, loyal.

NEUTRALS : Grieving, mercurial, defiant, adventurous, daring.

NEGATIVES : Obstinate, temperamental, unfocused, audacious, blunt.

MORAL ALIGNMENT : Chaotic good.

WESTERN ZODIAC : Aries sun, Scorpio moon, Sagittarius rising.

HEAVENLY VIRTUE : Charity.

DEADLY SIN : Wrath.

TAROT CARD : The Tower ( upright ).

𓆩　𓇯𓇯𓇯𓇯﹒ㅤFAMILYㅤ﹒𓇯𓇯𓇯𓇯ㅤ 𓆪

FATHER : Cedric Diggory sr ( deceased ).

MOTHER : Catriona Diggory ( owner of the Murtlap Inn )

SIBLINGS : Twin sister, younger sibling.

SIGNIFICANT OTHER : Florence Diggory ( murdered 8 months ago ).

CHILDREN : Cedric Diggory jr ( almost 2 years old ).

PET(S) : N/A.

𓆩　𓇯𓇯𓇯𓇯﹒ㅤMAGICAL PROFILEㅤ﹒𓇯𓇯𓇯𓇯ㅤ 𓆪

HOGWARTS HOUSE : Hufflepuff.

ABILITIES : Almost fully trained Magizoologist.

WAND : Cedar wood, dragon heartstring core, 13", somewhat bendy.

PATRONUS : St. Bernard dog.

ASSOCIATED MEMORY : It is the first moments after Cedric's birth, the infant laying on his wife's chest, the happy but exhausted smile on her face, the warm feeling of joyous tears on his cheeks, happiness like he had never known before.

AMORTENTIA : Amos smells a forest bonfire first, with fragrant herbs added to add a pleasant scent to the flames, followed by orange blossoms, and finally, freshly made pumpkin pastries.

REVERSE AMORTENTIA : When thinking of Amos, you'll first be hit with the scent of bergamot, followed by undertones of freshly mowed grass, baby powder, and a vague but sharp tang of antiseptic.

BOGGART : It's a kneeling figure that resembles Amos himself, kneeling on a freshly overturned grave, that has the name of his deceased wife, and in scratch marks underneath it, the name of Cedric has been added.

𓆩　𓇯𓇯𓇯𓇯﹒ㅤBACKGROUNDㅤ﹒𓇯𓇯𓇯𓇯ㅤ 𓆪

[ trigger warnings for : pregnancy, murder, grief ]

Amos Diggory had always enjoyed a simple life. There was no great tragedy or betrayal haunting his family, his parents were happily married, their jobs kept the Diggory family in comfortable middle class life, they weren't known pureblood supremacists, nor were they blood traitors — no, everything about Amos' life was perfectly content, average almost, and he certainly enjoyed it that way.

The first perceived tragedy came to Amos when his twin sister was sorted into Gryffindor and he was sorted into Hufflepuff. It was made worse by the Sorting Hat's doubt — he almost made it into the house of lions with her, almost, but not quite. Hufflepuff suited Amos just fine, but being separated for the first time in his life certainly did not. With how many of their peers had more tragic upbringing, Amos' complaints were brushed off by both his housemates and the school staff, but to him? This mole hill was a mountain.

Forced to be on his own, away from family for the first time, Amos spent the first few weeks at Hogwarts with a grumpy frown on his face — though it didn't last long. He had always been naturally gregarious, a good time boy, easy-going and even easier to befriend, and if there was one thing Amos could not bear, it was loneliness. He thrived during his school years, there was sometimes a certain guilt at his lack of involvement in the horrible war consuming his peers, but Amos did not feel strongly enough to sign himself up for something so deadly.

After graduation, he was aimless — he'd hoped for a Quidditch scouting (despite subconsciously knowing he was not good enough to play professionally), but found himself with less prospects than he thought. He drifted through a series of jobs, bartending at his parents' inn, security guard at Gringotts, even spent a month or two in hitwizard training — until one day, a few years after graduation, he ran into his former Care of Magical Creatures professor. Surprisingly gifted at the subject and having spent many summers on his cousin's Erumpent range, he fell into an apprenticeship with a Magizoologist head first — though the pay was poor and the days long, he finally found something that truly brought him passion and excitement.

Travelling the world changed Amos somewhat, he came home more cultured, more experienced, more daring. No longer simple, but with a love for adventure — which was what first drew him to Florence. Bold and exciting, she loomed larger than life in the pub where they first met — her smile lighting up the room. Their romance started as a whirlwind, and by the time Amos realized how engrained she was with the Order of the Phoenix, he was already head over heels. As a muggleborn, Florence had strong opinions on pureblood supremacy and was never afraid to voice them. Amos felt lost in that world occasionally, increasingly worried for her safety.

Cedric was not planned, but he was news happily received. Amos would be a full-fledged Magizoologist soon enough, and Florence was a gifted Cursebreaker. They married in a small, private ceremony, not wanting to scare her Muggle family too much, and welcomed Cedric six months later. However, there was an increase in the recklessness that consumed Florence after their child was born. She wanted to make the world safe for him — but as a result, put herself into danger more often. There was a sense of dread haunting Amos, one that was unfortunately confirmed eight months ago, when Aurors knocked on his door with the news of his wife's murder at the hands of suspected Death Eaters.

Amos wanted to let his grief consume him. When his father had died of illness a few years ago, he had been sad, but it had been bearable — the death of Florence threatened to tear him apart. He could not let it happen, he was desperately willing for it not to happen. Cedric needed him. Cedric needed him. Barely a year old, and desperately missing his mama — Amos had something earth shattering happen to him, but he could not let it break him. Shoving down his heartwrenching grief, Amos pushed forward instead.

He left behind his passion for Magizoology for a better paying job at the Quidditch stadium, coaching the children's team. He moved back to his parental home, out of the small cottage filled with memories of Florence and their life together. He attended the trial for his wife's murderers with a stoic, still expression. There was so much emotion churning underneath the surface, and soon there was a fist shaped indent in the door to his bedroom. Anger took over grief, and Amos found himself following in Florence's footsteps, joining the Order — at least, that's what he tells himself. Nevermind that it is a good outlet for his anger too.

Eight months since her death, and Amos is holding himself together with duct tape and a prayer. He had just found his life, his future, everything he had ever dreamed off — and now his world had ended. His family worries that Amos is hurrying towards his own early grave, and knowing Cedric would be alone is the only thought that brings some caution to his deeds. But there is always a cliff, and Amos is eagerly dangling off the edge.

TLDR : Danai loves hurting characters. Amos was a middle class, easy-going young guy, never involved in the war or politics, enjoying his neutrality. He apprenticed as a Magizoologist for years, travelling the world and finding new adventures. He fell head over heels in love with a muggleborn Order member named Florence, and together they had a child, Cedric. Eight months ago, Florence was murdered by suspected Death Eaters, shattering his life. He is growing increasingly angry and reckless as a result, and is trying desperately to keep himself together for the sake of his son.

#lumostask #( AD ) insights.#/ me: i want a happy character #/ my brain: how about more pain?

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penny-nichols · 6 months ago

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Ok I feel the urge. to talk about the lesbians with a dead crush of Ace Attorney. Like there's Lana, Adrian, and Aura. And... I think the fact that out of Mia, Metis, and Celeste, Celeste is the one most implied heterosexual adds some extra tragedy to Adrian just because she never *would* have liked her like that.

And I'm saying Celeste is the most implied het of the three because: Mia, while having had a relationship with Diego, is the one who was "intellectually " attracted to Lana- not the other way around. So like, in that case it's NOT one-sided pining, circumstances drove them apart.

Athena presumably doesn't have another parent, at least not one in the picture. She went to go to relatives in Europe, and if it was like... her dad... I feel like at that point you'd say something other than relatives. That's kinda just vibes though. Still, compared to how much the story as a whole has Metis as a figure, the fact that another parent isn't brought up implies that she was a single mom, whether Athena was adopted or a donor baby or from a past relationship thats over or what. That fact, while not inherently indicative of being queer, at least doesn't immediately shut Aura down with Metis being married. They coparented robots together I think there's at least a reasonable idea that something could happen between the two of them had UR-1 not. UR-1ed

Celeste was engaged to Juan Corrida and had a prior relationship with Matt Engarde. That's just kind of the state of things, and nothing said in that case implied she liked Adrian back. Granted, all accounts of her are from the others, she doesn't get flashback dialogue or anything, but I think just like. Adrian being so dedicated and dependant on someone who will never like her back in the way she does just kind of makes it worse. Even in the best case scenario, it would be unrequited.

idk just kinda thinking about things

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readerofoddities · 11 months ago

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More warriors OCs because I'm finding love in them again

Meet Firestrike, finally! Amberheart's mate, Jadepaw's dad and the final member of the original friend group!

His family was from the mountains, where he was born, so he's pretty massive. When he was about apprentice-age, he left the mountains and joined the Clans. There, he met and fell in love with Amberheart, then Amberpaw. He and Fallenbranch were pretty close, due to Fallen's mountain heretiage, but he was always by Amberheart's side

He was ecstatic to find out he would be having kits and couldn't be happier to meet his four daughters. He died when they were still young, but formed a close bond with Jadepaw because of her ghost sight

Also, isn't his lil pink nose so cute? I decided I just had to let him keep it

Violetstorm is Fallenbranch's step-mom. She had a mate before Coralsong named Vinetail, but he died before her kits were born. She's used to tragedy unfortunately, because her parents died when she was young, her sister died shortly after her kits were born and one of her kits just couldn't keep going. So she has come to terms with death very well.

She's a very strong warrior and is happy to be standing beside her current mate to defend their Clan. She's proud watching her daughters and adopted daughter grow up and is happy to have more kits thanks to her step-kids.

Violetstorm's ears have always been kind of weird but I LOVE them. So I added them in so she can carry them on. Too bad the kit who died was the only one of hers that inherited her ears

Featherwing is a sweet guy, if a bit reckless

As a kit, he was almost carried off by an eagle with his brother. While he was saved, his brother was not (although a rogue saw his brother in the eagle's talons and saved him, but that's another story). After that experience, he got his first scars (the ones on his belly). He's gotten into a lot of fights and scary situations (especially one cold winter that resulted in the loss of his tail) to compensate for his trauma

Due to his scars, he assumed he would be forever alone, but surprising him, he has a mate currently! Her name is Grassfur and he loves her very much

His design honestly didn't change much from the original, but i did add ear spots because his head just looked naked without it

Silverstripe is Whitestar's older sister and one of the best warriors in the Clan. She's basically a second deputy, but Whitestar would never fall into the nepotism trap

She's had a complicated relationship with the rest of her family. Her mother pressured Silver into being a sort of protector for her younger sisters and it really messed her up. She basically tortured herself until she finally found it in herself to stand up to her mom and now she feels better about herself. She and Whitestar are very close and talk about everything

Silver didn't get much changes aside from getting the new cheek fluff I gave Whitestar. They actually have the same shade of white as a base color too in order to show how close they are

#art #warrior cats #erin hunter warriors #warriors oc #grey's warrior cats ocs #grey's art tag

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alyssalikestoreadbooks · 11 months ago

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Anatomy Of A Misfit - Andrea Portes

"Fall’s buzzed-about, in-house favorite.

Outside, Anika Dragomir is all lip gloss and blond hair—the third most popular girl in school. Inside, she’s a freak: a mix of dark thoughts, diabolical plots, and, if local chatter is to be believed, vampire DNA (after all, her father is Romanian). But she keeps it under wraps to maintain her social position. One step out of line and Becky Vilhauer, first most popular girl in school, will make her life hell. So when former loner Logan McDonough shows up one September hotter, smarter, and more mysterious than ever, Anika knows she can’t get involved. It would be insane to throw away her social safety for a nerd. So what if that nerd is now a black-leather-jacket-wearing dreamboat, and his loner status is clearly the result of his troubled home life? Who cares if the right girl could help him with all that, maybe even save him from it? Who needs him when Jared Kline, the bad boy every girl dreams of, is asking her on dates? Who?

Anatomy of a Misfit is Mean Girls meets The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and Anika’s hilariously deadpan delivery will appeal to readers for its honesty and depth. The so-sad-it’s-funny high school setting will pull readers in, but when the story’s dark foreboding gradually takes over, the devastating penultimate tragedy hits like a punch to the gut. Readers will ride the highs and lows alongside funny, flawed Anika — from laughter to tears, and everything in between."

Read Date - August 6th, 2024

Length - 336 pages

Genre - Young Adult, Coming Of Age, Romance

Rating - 7/10

Stars - ★★★★☆

Notes - The start of the book was very interesting, and sets the tone of Anika thinking she’s part something (vampire potentially?), which makes her feel like an odd one out. Her dosing her bosses food/drink with valium is crazy and im shocked this was included. Anika thinking that Becky is pregnant is an interesting plot point because they are still so young. She wants to defend Becky, but she’s scared. The homophobia and racism in this book was played out well and wasn’t too offensive. It was realistic and I like how it was done. The kiss between Anika and Logan was sweet, it being her first kiss was adorable and her freaking out is realistic asf. Anika’s boss being racist is really hard to listen to, but unlike other books i’ve read, this was done in a tasteful manner that depicts real life scenarios. I love the ties this has to mean girls, and i think it’s very good in those regards. I see the similarities but i also see how this stands alone as it’s own novel. The relationship between Becky and Anika is interesting to me because they both use each other. Becky is extremely racist and prejudiced and Anika fears what could happen if she gets exposed by her. The dynamic of Anika and her dad is also interesting, because he’s very strict and wants her to have a good education, so he presses grades very hard for both Anika and her bother. The racism between Anika’s stepdad was shocking and i wasn’t expecting that. The dinner scene was also a twist, and it was weird to see Tiffany’s mom so upset. Logan and Anika hanging out more is sweet and i like their relationship. The necklace he gets her is adorable. Logans dad being abusive was another twist that i thing was important to include, because alcoholism runs deep in the family. Tiffany stealing is an interesting side plot to the story because it shows that stereotypes need to be broken by the people holding them. She didnt steal because shes black (OBVIOSLY) its because she’s poor. Logan attacking the security guard is a big WTF moment and i still don’t know how to process that, just like Anika. I can’t highlight or annotate this book because its a library book so ill just directly add the quote that hit me HARD ASFFFFFFFF: "I did it. Not exactly the way I had planned but... I did it. I made him feel important. And walking back to the locker room with Shelli by my side, I can't help but wonder... If it's such a big deal for a middle-aged white guy to feel important... What happens when he doesn't?" like WOW. The dynamic between Jared and Anika’s parents is really cute, and i think it’ll work out better than it would with Logan, though the drama is there, seeing as Logan thinks theyre together, kind of. Anika giving Tiffany all the money she stole was really sweet and i liked that scene. The actual twist in the book is so reminiscent to “If he had been with me” and i genuinely wasn’t expecting it. Logan dying to protect his family was tear jerking, and i can’t believe this all happened. The sign were all there, but i didn’t expect it, just like real life. The ending scene was heartfelt, before it turned into a real mean girls retribution moment. It was deserved, and needed, and its a valid way to show grief if we’re being honest! The ending about the sky was so beautiful, and this book made me tear up multiple times reading it. This was such a good much of multiple things i’ve read and watched, while being nothing like them at the same time. Perfect as a stand alone book. I loved it, a lot.

#Books #Book #Reading #Reader #Books And Reading #Bookworm #Bookblr #Book Reviews #Review #Book Blog #Book Lover #Bookish #Book Community #Bookstagram #Booktok #anatomy of a misfit #andrea portes

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tokiro07 · 9 months ago

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Round 2 and still no propaganda?

I guess how I wrote it last time didn't fit the format...

I don't know exactly how it's meant to be done, but based on what I'm seeing here:

Fuuko became the boss of a time-looping organization designed to fight and kill God, looped back to the 1800s and used visions she acquired from previous loops to become an oil baron. By the 1970s, she'd amassed enough wealth to outstrip most governments, re-founded said organization with incredibly advanced technology, and used all of her resources to avert the horrific tragedies of all of her loved ones. Along the way, she became skilled in several fields, such as language arts, surgery, cooking, kung fu, metallurgy, sharpshooting, singing, dancing, boxing, and drawing. In addition to being an oil-baron and effectively the CEO of a secret organization, she also became a ramen-themed cryptid, an astronaut, and a deadbeat dad

While Fuuko was gathering capital and recruits, Andy sat on the sun for an unspecified number of years, but likely the full 4.6 billion years since the creation of the Earth, to keep God's ten strongest soldiers sealed away within it and prevent them from interfering with Fuuko's preparations. For all intents and purposes, Andy acted as a stay-at-home wife while he waited for Fuuko to finish her work

They are canonically in a relationship, and they weaponize it. Fuuko's power, Unluck, is directly proportional to how much she likes whoever she touches x how long she touches them x how much surface area she touches, and Andy's power, Undead, allows him to tank whatever horrible thing Unluck sends his way while redirecting it at an enemy. A single, one-second high-five between the two was enough to summon a comet, specifically to cancel out a meteor she'd accidentally summoned on a close personal friend. She was able to think of the plan needed to facilitate this while fighting one of the aforementioned ten soldiers within 10 seconds while also performing major heart surgery, and then immediately infiltrated the sun alone to confront the other nine

Andy was originally a nameless amnesiac until Fuuko came up with the name as a pun on Undead. Since Andy got his first name from Fuuko, many fans have taken this to the logical conclusion that he would also take his last name from her, and thus refer to him as Andy Izumo

I don't know if that's too wordy for what's needed, but I think it illustrates the point. If anyone wants to add or rewrite it, feel free!

PROPAGANDA

No Propaganda Submitted for Fuuko and Andy

Beatrice/Battler:

Beatrice was created to girlboss (litterally). Killing a whole family in front of Battler eternally is a fun activity. Battler is canonically incompetent. There is also a scene where Beatrice walks with Battler naked as a pet.

“Are they in a canonical relationship” UHH KINDA? These two are a mess. We stan a girlboss who murders her malewife’s entire family and also him and traps him in an eternal debate over whether or not magic is real and if she even exists <3

#undead unluck #fouryearsandananime #fuuko izumo #undead andy #tumblr polls

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itsclydebitches · 2 years ago

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thank you for acknowledging how messed up the jane/beard ending is. as an abuse survivor it's been pretty bad seeing the controlling relationship he's in be treated like a joke (and then apparently it's true love? the finale was a let down in many many ways) especially when Keeley's arc with Jack controlling her this season was (rightfully) played straight? it's just the larger trend of "abuse is bad but it's funny when it happens to a man" and i wish ted lasso had been better than that

Same, same, same, anon -- and I'm so sorry to hear you've had personal experience with that. But it's reassuring to likewise hear that that's in your past.

I got a comment on one of my posts (which I bring up because the author has already blocked me and it's proving to be a useful example for a lot of things I want to talk about) basically rolling their eyes and saying that Beard and Jane aren't real people, so it doesn't matter. Besides, he's the comic relief!

Meanwhile I'm like:

Yes, it's hilarious that Beard is committing himself to an abusive relationship, unable to break away despite recognizing at times precisely how harmful this is (and yes, I'm being sarcastic). I'd actually be less frustrated by this if Ted Lasso had treated it as a joke across the whole show because as awful as that is, at least it's a common and understandable (from an ignorance perspective) trend in media. But the number of times we had the text overtly commenting on how horrible Jane is tells us that the writers are well aware that they're writing an abusive relationship and that commentary likewise tells us that they wanted to do something with it, like Keeley got. They just inexplicably... didn't. Beard does not leave Jane, Jane does not undergo self-improvement and become a better person -- the route I would expect a show like Ted Lasso to take, especially with Season 3 throwing out curve balls like Jamie forgiving his dad -- and their marriage is not treated as the mistake it was, settling simply on a realistic tragedy. Even if that montage was just a dream Ted was having, the fact that he's likewise well aware of how bad they are for each other just maintains the strangeness of that choice. I could buy a picture perfect wedding fantasy from a character who doesn't know either of them well and assumes they're just quirky, but Ted knows precisely what Jane has been doing to Beard, he knows Beard's history of self-destructive behavior (better than anyone), and he's consistently been shown to be uncomfortable with their relationship, yet unwilling to speak up about it. That's another bit of tragedy to add to the pile: not allowing Ted to undergo the growth needed to speak up on his best friend's behalf. Beard has consistently called Ted out on his flaws across the show -- sometimes in a rather cruel manner -- and I had hoped that they'd reach a point where the roles were switched and Ted could provide Beard with some tough love in turn.

My best guess at the moment is that the writers realized how little time they had compared to how much there still was to cover -- despite the claims that this would always be a three season show -- and they changed course as a result. There's no time to take them on one of the above journeys, so just play the relationship straight. Which, given my experience with some fandoms and their unwillingness to take into account anything but the most recent episode, Ted Lasso indeed might have been able to skate by on faulty memories/willful ignorance... if they hadn't tossed in another 'She tore up my passport! Isn't she a peach? :)' joke half an hour before we watched them get married.

#Ted Lasso #Coach Beard #Jane Payne #they literally named her 'pain' and had Beard comment on that #they knew what they were doing in season 2!!#they just... dropped it...

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hopeswriting · 2 years ago

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Are are your opinions on LucexReborn and the theory on Aria's dad? Yuni's dad is Gamma far I am aware.

hi nonny, thank you for the ask!

if we're talking canon, i do think there's room for the possibility of romantic feelings between luce and reborn, or at least from reborn to luce. i think that based on one (1) scene lol, but look at it:

[ID: Panels from the manga Katekyo Hitman Reborn, showing Gamma and Reborn talking to each other.

"What is it you want to ask me?" Gamma asks. "Calling me way out here..."

"You... How do you feel about Uni?"

"What kind of random question is that?!" Gamma says, taken aback.

"You know that Uni admires you, right?" Reborn says. "I know it's none of my business, but there's no time. If we waste any more time, then they'll... slip through before we know it. I know you're aware... that the Sky Arcobaleno is blessed with deep emotion, and has a smile brighter than anyone, but they also shoulder the heaviest responsibilities and are taken away from us by destiny." The next panel here shows Gamma thinking of Aria. "There's no time to wait until she grows up," Reborn continues. "Stop treating her like a baby and look at her. Look at her soul." /End ID]

i think it's obvious how they're discussing romantic feelings here, however ambiguous amano chose to make the relationship between gamma and uni, for some reason lol. so when reborn is clearly talking from personal experience here, and not just from factual and objective knowledge; when he says "they" and "we" and "us", i think it's safe to assume he's saying to gamma the words he wished someone would have told him or that he'd have realized in time as he thinks back to his own relationship with luce. that, plus how fondly and warmly he describes the sky arco to be, and how he's the arco closest to uni (iirc he's the only one uni calls "uncle") and presumably had a close relationship with aria too, it's clear he cared a lot about luce at the very least, and still cared about her even after the curse and her death.

(interestingly enough tho, this says nothing about luce's feelings for him. like here, luce & reborn relationship is paralleled with gamma & aria's, but as much as we know aria reciprocated gamma's feelings to some extent, the way reborn says it, "wasting time" and the sky arco "slipping through before they know it", it seems he never got the chance to tell luce how he felt about her. so luce's feelings for him could have been platonic unlike him, or like with aria and gamma, she might have chosen to not act on her feelings even if they were there because of the curse.)

if we're talking about how i feel about the ship, i like it! tho now i say it, i realize i've never really taken the time to think about them before, surprisingly enough, so i have little else to say about them off the top of my head. if not that, of course, the possibility of romantic feelings between them would add yet another layer of pain and tragedy and cruelty to the arco curse when it comes to them, and i'd love to delve into and explore all that angst and hurt/(no) comfort one day!

when you say the theory about aria's dad, i assume you mean how some people headcanon reborn to be her dad, right? if so, personally i really can't see it. i mean, i can see it as you can easily make it fit within canon, but for me it makes little sense character-wise even if it works timeline-wise. by which i mean, luce's shown to be visibly pregnant the day they were cursed, if not heavily pregnant too, so she did the do a couple of months prior. i personally headcanon kawahira kept the whole chosen seven thing going for a year give or take tops, but if we're strictly talking canon, i think it's more likely it only lasted a couple of months seeing as how it was all one giant trap, and kawahira probably wouldn't have wanted to give enough time to the strongest/greatest of their generation to figure it out. and, you know, as two consenting adults, if reborn and luce decided to get it on on sight, then good for them lol, but i don't think for a second they'd have been careless enough for a baby to be born out of it.

i mean, just think about it. luce knew they were all going to get cursed, knew aria would take upon the curse after her death, knew she'd die young because of the curse, leaving aria alone likely when she was still a child, but she'd still have wanted/chosen reborn of all people (or any of the other arco for that matter) to be her dad? would have been okay with that? knowing the kind of situation they'd have had to be a father and daughter in? like, at least luce got to raise aria in an adult body for as long as she was alive, you know. and this point stands especially true if luce & reborn relationship is truly meant to parallel gamma & aria's like implied in the scene above. i.e., luce wouldn't have let herself act on her feelings even if she had them knowing all she did, let alone would have let herself have a child with reborn.

on the other hand, from reborn's side of things, if we say becoming a father is a thing he wants at some point, i just don't think he already wanted to become one at that point in time tbh. or that he's the type to trust someone so much and commit to a relationship to such an extent in only a couple of months. especially not when they got to meet and knew each other in the incredibly suspicious setting that was the whole chosen seven thing, which they were all definitely more or less aware and wary of. and more rather than less, for sure.

reborn also knows to be pragmatic/rational/logical when he needs to be, and seeing that the chosen seven business was when they were all at their prime mafia-wise (or he was at the very least anyway), meaning that's also when they had the most enemies after them who'd also have been powerful, even if he wanted a baby at that time, he'd still likely have chosen to wait for another time when his child would have been less likely to be targeted to get to him. and if not that, like i already said, from the way he advised gamma, even if he already wanted and was ready to have a child at the time, it seems he thought he had the time to take things slow with luce and acted accordingly.

so for all these reasons, i personally don't think reborn is aria's dad, or that there's anything in canon that really hints at it despite how, at the same time, there's also nothing that go against it.

about gamma being uni's dad, i also don't believe he actually is either. it's purely fanon as far as i know. this is also based on one (1) scene because that's pretty much all we got about gamma & aria relationship lol, apart from gamma being/having been in love with her, but look:

[ID: A panel from the manga Katekyo Hitman Reborn.

It shows Gamma thinking about moments he spent with Aria. One of those moments show him sitting shirtless on the window of her room, raising his hands in surrender as Aria points a gun at him, sitting on her bed and covering herself with the blanket. /End ID]

if you look at this, there was something definitely not platonic going on between them lol, so i get why gamma is made out to be uni's dad, but at the same time aria was also clearly intent on not letting their relationship become too much not platonic, no matter how she might have really felt inside or what she might have really wanted to do instead. there's also the fact that gamma explicitly says in the future arc that his feelings were unrequited. also he had no idea of uni's existence until she showed up (didn't even know aria was ever pregnant either), and when she did gamma never reacted to her like there was the possibility she was his and aria's daughter.

but most importantly, there was definitely something romantic going on between gamma and uni. and amano somehow managed to both make it explicitly clear and also ambiguous lol, but also they literally confessed to each other, you know. uni even said "i like you just like my mother did", and reborn talks about "admiration", but just look at what else he says in that scene with gamma above. so like, it's clear amano didn't mean for gamma to be uni's dad lol.

that's all strictly canon-speaking tho! as far as fanon goes, i know it's common to make gamma her dad, and like reborn being aria's dad, it easily fits within canon too. but tbh i think either their dads are some random dudes we didn't get to know and that they ideally loved, or there's NO dude at all and just. well, you know. they're half-aliens, so like. who knows what pregnancy and having children even mean for them lol.

#katekyo hitman reborn #khr #image id #khr meta #khr luce #khr aria #khr uni | yuni #khr reborn #khr gamma #sky arcobaleno #khr asks #Anonymous

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phoenixyfriend · 4 years ago

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Okay so you know how one of my big things with fandom is forcing characters into completely new contexts that they just have to Deal With (recently most commonly with time travel, crossovers, and things like the suddenly omegaverse AU).

So, canon characters get Yanked and somehow tossed into a Modern AU context, possibly just as some Matrix-esque 'your brain is trapped in a simulation' thing, possibly as a Sith Holocron thing, possibly as a weird crossover, it doesn't matter. The point is mostly this:

1. Nobody has the Force. 2. Ahsoka is suddenly human, and she hates it.

This is mostly an excuse for Ahsoka to be overwhelmed by some things (her sense of taste is completely different) and underwhelmed by others (this is your eyesight???) and panicked by others (her sense of echolocation is completely GONE), and then Anakin calming her down by Brushing Her Hair, something she's never had before.

Ahsoka has a meltdown and Anakin, who is also very panicked because the Force is just gone for him, is doing his best to keep her somewhat level and ANYWAY Anakin knows how to do cool, solid, safe braids because Padme taught him how to do her wig-secure crown braids, so when Ahsoka's being overwhelmed by the sensory hell of her new hair touching her shoulders, Anakin brushes it out and braids it up for her while Obi-Wan tries to find them a way out, and Rex and Cody help him notice things like "we can't read this alphabet for shit" and "that's not a speeder... is it..."

The clones are Itchy without their armor in an unfamiliar space. The Jedi keep tripping on sidewalk cracks and stuff because they're not used to needing to look where they're going. Also they don't have their sabers or blasters.

Ahsoka tucked into Anakin's side in a coffee shop that they somehow managed to Exchange Currency at... sipping on something sweet and complicated-flavor that she doesn't recognize and is very confused by because none of these tastes are familiar... a barista asks if she's okay and Anakin has to stutter over "my padawan" in favor of "my sister" because it's kind of safer but anyway could they get a cup of ice water for the kid?

The clones get asked if they're from New Zealand or Australia because of the accents and just Blank Stare until the person leaves in discomfort like "Was it something I said? Maybe they think I should be able to tell the difference?" but no they just don't fucking know what New Zealand and Australia are.

Imagine if she couldn’t really taste sweetness before. She finally understands the appeal of candy!

Ahsoka doesn't like 'being' human but she decides she likes the Expanded Taste Range (now she understands WHY people add spices) and having her hair played with (she's maybe a little jealous of people like Padme now).

Several of the Jedi keep forgetting they can’t jump 20 feet high anymore and keep slamming into fences. One of them tries to jump off something and is tackled by a clone. The clones keep forgetting they can’t jump off things and get caught anymore.

“Normal humans die when they do that!”

The clones don't register as clones to anyone, just Young Hot Guys With Nice Muscles, so Cody and Rex get hit on by strangers more in the Modern AU adventure than in the rest of their lives put together.

They register as twins though. And some people are maybe into that specifically. Strangely, in this context, being genetically identical is more attractive.

The only person in this group that knows how to recognize flirtation and how to flirt back is Obi-Wan.

Someone sees a Marvel movie playing a TV store and just drags the other four over because IS THAT MASTER WINDU WITH AN EYEPATCH. Or alternately IS THAT AN OLDER SENATOR AMIDALA IN BORING CLOTHES.

Per @atagotiak on discord

Hey, it could be worse, it could be literally almost anything else Ewan McGregor is in. I enjoy the other movies I’ve seen him in (though I haven’t seen a lot) it’s just every last one would be jarring as heck to them.

Birds of prey “Wow Obi-Wan, you’re a dick”

It's just Moulin Rouge's steamy scenes and Obi-Wan is like [head tilt] is... is that supposed to be me????

(I'm going to say that none of the Star Wars movies exist in this modern AU, but only because that would get too complicated.)

Ahsoka gets yelled at by Someone (a store employee, a cop, a random douchebag on the street), and Obi-Wan steps in because he's closest and also the person most invested in making sure she doesn't start throwing punches.

Person: Sorry man, didn't mean to scare your, uh, daughter. Obi-Wan's face: [is doing complicated things]

(Being Ahsoka’s dad is probably less weird than being Anakin’s dad. Just agewise and all that.)

Obi-Wan objectively recognizes that this is a reasonable assumption and also a safe one to work with, in that explaining their actual relationship might be sketchy depending on whether or not apprenticeships are a thing on this planet, and going with a person's first not-terrible assumption is usually a safe bet to not draw too much attention!

But 'parent' is a bit of a loaded concept for a lineage so prone to attachment (and tragedy).

Ahsoka finds herself getting inexplicably tired a few hours into a walk that would normally leave her fine, and since Anakin and Obi-Wan are also having trouble, it's apparently not a humans thing, it's... not having the Force. They’re still pretty strong and have good endurance but they’re not superhuman anymore so.

Adding in that Ahsoka's a young teenager who has no idea what she can eat that she can actually stand the taste of yet, so she keeps getting sugar crashes since it's the only thing she can reliably stomach...

#Disaster Lineage #Snips and Skyguy #Anakin Skywalker #Ahsoka Tano #Obi Wan Kenobi #Captain Rex #Commander Cody #star wars #the clone wars #modern au #kinda #phoenix posts

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oatmealaddiction · 3 months ago

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Sorry wanted to add on to the last point because I think this is also kind of important in regards to why Frodo leaves. Like he's not just trying to make Sam an equal, or kill the power dynamic, I think he's also trying to get Sam to choose himself for once.

I think it's pretty clear in the text Rosie and Sam's relationship pre-dates Frodo and Sam's relationship. Rosie's line about how Sam's "wasted a year" suggests they might even have been talking about getting married before Sam left on the quest. And while Rosie does kinda come out of the blue, the in universe explanation for that is Sam has kept his relationship with her completely private and so we don't know about her until the narrative completely shifts to be from Sam's perspective and we get his own private internal thoughts for the first time. It's like she's kind of his secret happy place that he can't really expose to the rest of what's happening.

So that also kinda puts Frodo in a weird position of basically being a wedge, and Rosie even lightly gives Sam shit for vanishing for a whole year to run errands for Mr. Frodo who Sam obviously can't shut up about (of course not realizing like the extent of the quest and how much their relationship has developed.)

And I don't think it's up for debate that Sam loves both Rosie and Frodo. Rosie seems to have kind of peternatural connection to him, where she's the only hobbit who doesn't believe Sam is dead, and she can't stop singing the day the ring is destroyed because she senses he's on his way home. Like, she's not just a beard, she's been waiting for him. His line to Frodo about her is; "I'm torn in two."

And his and Rosie's relationship is one within class bounds, it's very socially acceptable, but I think also it's understood to be healthier and more positive relationship. Sam's memories with Rosie are all happy childhood memories. Meanwhile the thing that brought him close to Frodo was extended trauma, tragedy, and an unspoken death pact. Sam is never not trying to die for Frodo, and like Arwen's love for Aragorn, and Luthien's love for Beren, Sam's love for Frodo is represented as a kind of doom, while Rosie's is the start of a new life and a new age. More and more I think the story sees Frodo's death as a necessary evil and a foregone conclusion, with Sam's being the unnecessary and truly tragic fate, given how much he does have to live for.

And like, if you beat the Romeo and Juliet odds and you make it home, why would you ever go back to that? Sam's sitting at Frodo's side like "Should I get married to a girl I genuinely like and have a bunch of kids and get to live my dreams of doing more than being the halfwit gardener my dad and everybody excepted me to be, or should I throw that away and dedicate myself to being your 24/7 caretaker while you deal with chronic illness, ptsd, and super depression?" Like the answer there from Frodo's perspective is obvious. He forces Sam to choose himself and to get to live a life instead of going the route of Arwen and Luthien.

Except he doesn't, because at the last second while boarding the boat to Valinor, Frodo admits that there is a ship that'll take Sam someday if that's what Sam wants--which is a direct mirror of their moment in the rowboat. Choosing Frodo is choosing death in a way, but this time there's no urgency to make that decision and Sam can go when he's ready and when he's lived the happy life he's deserved.

It's also very Frodo to pledge himself to some horrible self-sacrificial fate, and then regret it at the last moment and try to walk it back. It's like a character trait he displays all the time. He does it at the mouth of Mt. Doom too with the ring. Turning around and being all like "But you can come too, you know, when you're ready, if you feel like it," is some desperate gay behavior. You can't fault him.

I don't think a lot of people realize how complicated the situation with Samfro really is... Sam is Frodo's employee, to start, and they are not friends, because they are not peers. They get along and they have a good relationship, as one might have with a very cool boss and an eager servant. Sam takes pride in his service and Frodo appreciates him, but he also doesn't know him very well. He underestimates Sam and sees him as well-meaning and good, but also very foolish (he is not wrong here, but he fails to see how clever Sam can be.)

Until the "conspiracy" comes out, Frodo doesn't really think about what Sam is capable of, or consider that he would act against his wishes. I think he doesn't even realize how much Sam adores him (typical Frodo behavior.) It's after they meet Gildor that Frodo first begins to really look at Sam, and maybe the first time he is impressed by him and sees that he is clever in his own right. He is very proud of him later when he points out Sam's poetry and it's clear Frodo has begun to think very highly of him.

But they are not a couple. They are still a master and his servant, and there is love between them, but it is not romance.

Flash forward to Frodo's flight from the Fellowship, when Sam almost drowns himself just to get back to Frodo. Frodo scolds him and Sam holds his ground and tells him it was cruel to leave him and that leaving him would be the same as dying. Frodo calls him "dearest of all hobbits" and this is when the relationship begins to change... Sam has disobeyed in a big way, now for the second time, and has proven that he is Frodo's friend before his servant (this is huge I can't even tell you.) This is the point when the relationship develops beyond the bounds of service and into one of peers.

They are equal in their quest, though Sam continues to refer to him as his master and carries on tending to him. This is just the way they understand things and are most comfortable and it doesn't detract from what they have built - it's a willing service given freely out of love.

But this is also the sticking point, because Frodo will always have this power over Sam, or at least, he perceives it that way, knowing Sam would literally die for him and do anything for him (except let him go into danger alone.) But this is tricky, and especially for Frodo, who understands the power dynamic and feels responsibility for Sam.

How could Frodo ask anything more of him? He can't.

From Sam's perspective, how can he ask anything of Frodo at all? He can't.

Thus, we enter the queer stalemate, where they are both in love and attracted to each other, but bound by social obligations to remain "just friends" (if you can call what they have just friends.)

As an aside, I don't believe anything they do can or should be considered strictly "gay," but these two specifically are factually in love and gay for each other, even though they don't know how to be together.

#I also don't like when fanfic authors go in with the 'make it easy' brush #or ignore how complicated it would be to go on that journey and fall in love in that way and then have to go home to your traditional town #Biggest pet peeve tho is when people just conveniently forget about The Ring #like Frodo's chronic illness and his missing the ring should be huuuuge

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