#and of course siblings can mentor and teach their siblings too

[katierosefun]

[deep breath] not me suddenly getting hit by tcw feelings in this year 2024 but like. truly ough i love likening ahsoka and anakin and obi-wan's entire dynamic as tragic siblings because that's the closest approximation we have to it but also just like. there's tragic siblings because they're the ones you're supposed to joke with and play with and look up to when it seems like everything is falling apart.

and then there's the whole tragic student-teacher element to all of it and maybe it's just like. i look up to you i owe you so much i know you've only ever tried and wanted to make me better i know you saw something in me worth cultivating and keeping you exasperate me sometimes because why the hell do i need to know this kind of stuff why the hell are you nitpicking this kind of stuff why do you care so much about why i succeed or not you're not my parent and i don't want you to be my parent but also you helped me learn more about myself and the world than i've ever realized. can i ask for your opinion about this later. can i still ask you for help on this problem.

and then the whole flip side of that is like. you were someone who mentored me and taught me and now you're a monster i barely know or recognize and how could you do this how could you say that how could you hurt me like this i know you think you're doing the right thing and you're so much older and wiser and i'm still waiting at the door like a little kid but also i don't think being taught lessons is meant to feel like this and i can't tell if i'm still acting childish or if maybe, more horrifyingly, everyone who warned me about you was right and you really are a monster and you've taught me how to be a monster and what do i do now and i guess i just have to grapple with the fact that you molded me and shaped me and if you broke off one of my arms while doing that, then who am i to tell

[brucewaynehater101]

your posts about Tim being the parent in his time with Bruce+ Richard's parentification + Tim always planning of being a placeholder, got me thinking

What if Tim started off like that, playing parent for Bruce, ensuring he doesn't cross any lines or overworks himself

And just never stop?

His civilian life is starting to crack, and he's doing worse than he could be, but Batman has to be taken care off

In comes Jason who tries to kill him (great another Bruce) so his workload is doubled, and also Damian who has to be untaught murder

Well it's an escalation of what he's used to, but if he can deal with Batman, he can deal with his kids, time to bust out the books on therapy and deprogramming cult teachings

Besides, he's a placeholding for the two of them until they're better like Batman, so who better to teach them the ropes than him?

Let's toss in comments here and there that will clear misunderstandings between the Bats (excluding himself— he's temporary) and what about their interactions keeps the family apart

Like boy is neglecting himself to high hell, only stopping when it's literally impossible, and barely has a civilian life, but it's worth it for Gotham's betterment and the Batfamily's stabilization

Timestream? Well shit, he has to get Bruce back as per his job of keeping the family in order but the family is either not getting better or worse,

Let him just leave a bunch of personalized self-help guides and programmed schedules that'll ensure the bats are getting better while he's away

Oh hey Ra's, midn if I secretly learn everything about how Damian grew up in this fine League of yours so I can teach Damian what is so wrong about his childhood once I'm home?

So everything is getting better post BruceQuest, Richard can be a brother more (because Tim took on his job as parent-brother), Damian and his family are able to bond and understand each other (because Tim untaught an awful upbringing) and Jason feels like a member of the family (because Tim got Jason up to speed with how much he has always been loved) plus Bruce gets to be a father with his kids (because Tim kept the man out of his otherside inevitable self-made grave)

And say Batfamily, in a miracle of communication, realize that Tim has subsumed Bruce's role as caretaker and father

Not to the entire family of course, but even parenting for one sibling or parent as a kid yourself is one too many

And they remember all the comments Tim said to help the family get better subtly suggesting everybody but Tim is family

Like he's said "Your family," never "Our"

He says "You're a Wayne, a member of their family,"

He has to be referred to as Tim and Drake, never Wayne to catch his attention

And also imagine Richard saying "You can't keep being a parent to your brothers and father" and Tim going "glass houses, *tires to parent Rich*"

"NO—"

The shit storm that would happen if the batfamily realized that Tim donned Robin with the intention of always playing parent for Bruce, and then leaving once his intervention isn't need anymore

Yes! I absolutely love the ideas you incorporated with this. I didn't manage to hit all of them in my post, but I tried to expand upon them a bit:

At first, Tim wouldn't realize that's what he's doing. He just wants to help Bruce (even if that includes taking away the Batmobile keys, locking him out of the batcomputer, and using a rewards system when the man successfully takes care of his wounds).

Tim only comes to the realization that he's Bruce's parent when the YJ are being lectured by their mentors. At this point, the team has done far more dangerous stunts and missions than whatever the JL was lecturing them about. When the mentors come, Robin allows Batman to lecture him in front of the others. Tim knows they have to keep up appearances and can listen to a hypocritical discussion from Bruce to maintain the image of Batman Tim has spent so much time propping up.

After the other mentors leave, Tim pulls Batman into a private room for a chat. Bart, fearing that Robin is getting a second lecture, almost bursts in to save Tim. He's slowed down by the glare Tim sends his way. He's stopped by the conversation he overhears.

Tim, with his hands on his hips as he glares up into the cowl, lectures Bruce on all the behavior issues the man displayed the month that the YJ were away.

Bruce is just standing there, head slightly hung, as Tim goes on.

"This is why I feel I can never get away, B. I can't even leave you for a month before your excessive force statistics skyrocket! What am I supposed to do with you?"

Bart quickly leaves as he has a mental breakdown at this discovery. Two hours later, when Batman leaves, Bart asks Robin if he's Batman's father. Tim laughs it off at first, but after Bart lays out the evidence, Tim spirals for a few days at this discovery.

Once Tim accepts that he *is* like Bruce's dad, he decides to just embrace it. He and Alfred can share custody of the man-child (and this is also why Tim has the view of family that he does. His three examples of being a father are his own dad who constantly leaves, Alfred who maintains a professional distance, and Bruce who's his grieving son). Tim sees Dick as his brother, but he sees Bruce as his kid. It's confusing as hell, complicated, and Tim also doesn't see himself as part of the family at the same time.

While the teen is finally settling into his role as Bruce's parent, Jason comes back and tries to kill him. He doesn't know whether or not to laugh that Jason becomes his new responsibility at the same place Bruce officially (in Tim's mind) became Tim's.

The teen treats Jason similar to a grandson and son. He parents Bruce on how to interact with Jason, takes a few college classes and reads a few textbooks on PTSD, and interrogates LoA agents on the Pit. He slowly starts to feed them both phrases and perspectives so that they understand and interact with each other better. He almost wants to hit them both upside the head for their miscommunication.

It's not great, and Tim is so fucking tired, but they are getting closer to being a family. Tim can almost taste his retirement.

Then Damian comes into the family and tries to kill him. Tim wants to scream.

Damian isn't exactly friendly to Tim, but the teen spots a breakthrough when he catches how Dick and Damian interact. He, in what he later calls foolishly, drops some of the weight onto Dick's shoulders. Tim's tired trying to wrangle both Jason and Bruce into somewhat, even unhealthily, communicating with each other.

Then Bruce dies. It's unfair because Tim has lost someone who's both his son and his father to him. No one except Cassie could know about the amount of grief Tim is under because of that. Cassie, who Tim isn't talking to after the whole basement scientist cloning thing.

So, Tim finds evidence that Bruce is alive. He watches as Dick cracks under the weight of Batman and being a father to Damian. He's hurt (oh gods does it burn to lose his self-made but suffocating role that ties him to Bruce), but he understands why Dick gives Damian Robin.

Tim leaves, and he starts to discover himself. He became an adoptive father at thirteen. For once, even though he's heavily lost in the thralls of grief, he's free of that responsibility. He only has to take care of himself (an exhausting task he's never quite accomplished before) and he doesn't rely on anyone.

Still, despite his freedom, he sees Ra's offer for what it is. It's an opportunity to learn more about Damian. Bruce will need Tim's support when he returns, after all. If he takes down Ra's both for himself and Damian, that's neither here nor there.

When Bruce finally returns home, Tim starts to see his retirement again. He sees the progress he's enacting out of the family in all of their relationships. Like Tim's messy relationship with Bruce, Dick is both a father and brother to Damian. Jason and Bruce will occasionally meet at a diner. Damian and Bruce will have father-child outings outside of Batman and Robin. Cass returns home more often. Steph barges into the Manor for food or bugs different Bats on patrol. Babs is able to take time for herself outside of wrangling the Bats together. Duke is starting to join the family, but Tim doesn't imagine too much tension or difficulty with that transition. They'll be fine without him.

It's looking up. Tim can leave behind his the Wayne family.

Then Damian points out how Tim often uses "your" or "their" instead of "our" family.

Godsdamnit.

[bots-and-cons]

Could you please write where smokescreen is given a charge that he ends up seeing as a big sibling/mentor figure but tries to hide that out of embarrassment?

A/N: A fun request to write, hope you enjoy

•If we’re talking human years or the equivalent, Smokescreen is younger than you

•He can be quite reckless sometimes and also overconfident

•While things usually turn out fine for him, he has gotten in trouble with Ratchet multiple times for his antics

•So Ratchet figured maybe you would be able to get him to be a bit less reckless

•You were Ratchet’s charge originally, but he doesn’t really have the time to guard you or take you to places, so Smokescreen was given that job instead

•You teach Smokescreen a lot of things, mostly it’s about life on earth so he can adjust better

•The two of you tend to end up in some weird situations because of his curiosity and the fact that you want him to learn, even if it gets you both in trouble

•Then you’re like naughty kids trying to hide the broken vase from your parents aka Ratchet, and you blame each other for getting into trouble

•You’re also usually the voice of reason and make sure he doesn’t do anything too idiotic, or dangerous

•Smokescreen has learned a lot from you, and he looks up to you, but he doesn’t really want to admit that

•He makes a joke out of how cool he thinks you are and how much you’ve taught him, because he’s a bit embarrassed about it

•Of course he isn’t supposed to know everything about earth and humans, and how humans interact with others and stuff like that

•In a very older sibling fashion, you also have a tendency to tease him about things, and you sometimes argue like siblings too

•It’s usually pretty dumb stuff, like “Do penguins have knees?” you say yes, he says no, and his reasoning is that they don’t look like it, so nope

•You tease each other when one of you loses a match in a video game or something like that

•You’ve kind of taken on an older sibling role without even noticing it, and you two also talk a lot

•It’s not always the most profound stuff, sometimes you just talk total crap, but it’s fun nonetheless

[aclowntiny]

Skz as type of dads? 🥹

CRYING YES QUEEN/KING/MONARCH 👑🥹 kept this open for the kids to be biological or adopted or perhaps some of both for all family types 🥰 plus I’m a huge supporter of adoption personally hehe

Today is US Thanksgiving but fuck that ‘holiday’ here’s a post 🤙🏻

Stray Kids as Dads

Bang Chan

♡ Such a caring and protective dad, like his kids will never get hurt on his watch or his name isn’t Christopher Bang

♡ Being an eldest brother, he’s an absolute champ caring for them, like the moment they’re born he’s rolling up his sleeves and helping out, screw gender norms or the idea of the dad not helping. Being present with his children is a joy and honor.

♡ Would probably like the idea of a mid-sized family, probably a family of three like he had! Still manageable but no one’s lonely or received unfairly high expectations. Especially if they end up being closer in age, that’s ok because they’ll get along better instead of being teens enlisted to care for a baby or something of the like.

♡ Such a multi-talented man is a wonderful mentor to any interests the kids have, easily able to foster and participate in nearly any hobby- sports, singing, dance, acting, playing instruments, you name it!

♡ I can so see him loving to run around with the kids on his shoulders, grinning at the way they laugh and coming up with all sorts of vehicles and steeds to be, whether they want a spaceship ride, a horsie, a plane, or a dragon! Absolutely soft for their pleading to indulge their play.

♡ As a boy dad, Chris views it as super important to model what it truly means to be a man- no toxic masculinity here though! He treats you like royalty so his son(s) know how to treat and provide for their partner someday. He teaches them to fight for what they believe in and be brave. Many of the same things are true for girls, too, but he treats them like absolute princess(ess) too to make sure they don't settle for any less from a man! Indulges dress-up and teaching them martial arts alike because they're his princess(es) but also they must be protected and unafraid to fight back! No one gets the better of his babies!

Lee Know

♡ Acts like he’s got everything under control, but on the inside he’s freaking out a little 🤏🏻

♡ Proud dad OMG. Every milestone and first that gets experienced, he is sharing it and telling everyone even if it’s completely normal. Like crawling for the first time? Amazing. Absolutely stellar. That’s his kid, you know.

♡ Leans more toward a smaller family like he had, maybe one or two children…and the cats, of course! He adores the idea of being able to pour all the love and care into his little family and give extra attention to you and the kid(s).

♡ Loves kitchen time with your kid(s), doing anything remotely dangerous like cutting or frying on his own but otherwise giving them near free reign! It's messy, sure, but it's also a life skill and a way they can provide for others in the future, too. Minho's kid(s) will appreciate the effort and quality that can go into meals for sure.

♡ Can be firm when he needs to be, but it's mainly in situations where they show any form of disrespect or intolerance. Beyond being happy and loved, he wants his kids to be beacons of love to everyone they meet, and that starts with teaching them that being a bully is never ok, even if it's to an annoying sibling or cousin.

♡ Boy or girl, he’s making a dancing machine out of that kid(s)! I mean, he won’t force them or anything but absolutely indulges it and becomes their biggest coach if they have any interest in dance or choreography. With a girl he’d be so soft when he twirls her and lets her stand on his feet to slow dance, a smile across his face the whole time. His son would be busting idol moves at a very young age 😎

Changbin

♡ His affection toward you increases tenfold if that's even possible once you two are starting a family! And that carries over into the kids for sure.

♡ Honestly the sappiest and goofiest dad, like he won't go a single day without telling his kids he loves them, often in a cutesy voice. Plays with them and gets down to their level so well and gets so invested in any make believe they do.

♡ The idea of having a big family is cute to him, so numbers like four or five don't scare him! But he can be talked down if you like too- Changbin mostly just wants his kid to grow up with at least one sibling like he did.

♡ Playground days are a must for him- heck, he'll be right there going down the slide with little ones in his arms and spinning on the merry-go-round with eager squeals of his own. Becomes their own personal playground, having them hang off of his arms and spin. You have so many silly pictures of them like that.

♡ Plushie theatre! Changbin will act out the most elaborate scenes with teddy bears and stuffed dogs on leashes and anything else provided to him and he will take it as seriously as if he was reciting Shakespeare. May even play music to set the scene. The kiddos laugh so hard and just eat it up every time.

♡ Has the perfect balance to be a boy and girl dad. Lets his daughters put makeup and bows on him with the biggest sappy grin and asks if he looks pretty, then turns around and plays drill sergeant with the boys. Half-jokingly, half-seriously encourages them to mix play with each other and that’s how you find Changbin in camo with blush and the boys smudging lipstick on each other’s faces while the girls try to shoot their action figures away from their dolls.

Hyunjin

♡ Really invested and emotional about the whole process, especially in the beginning. His heart just fills and overflows whenever he looks and sees the life you two are raising.

♡ The dad who’s been practicing diaper changes on dolls or others’ kids if allowed so he knows he can do it right the first time for real 🥹

♡ In his mind, a small family sounds nice, maybe spaced apart so you can spend some time with each. But when he holds his little one for the first time suddenly he looks up like ‘I want ten’. Hyperbole, don’t worry. But suddenly bigger numbers like four or five or six don’t sound so terrible if you’re game 👀

♡ Unafraid to get messy with the fam in the name of art! Hyunjin's at the table when you come home, colors splattered all over his hands and the kids' as they finger paint. Don't worry, he's covered it all up with paper and made sure at least one of the paintings is a portrait of you 😉

♡ Dresses up the kids in the most stylish outfits, like you're about to have little models on your hands! Also has a soft spot for coordinating outfits with them, whether it's family photo day or just an afternoon out with the little ones.

♡ He values all his children so much, especially the awareness that they’ll bring different beauty to the world and be perceived differently. Because of this, he encourages fortitude in all the kids, boy or girl, to be themselves and stand firmly in their interests whatever they are.

Han

♡ This man is the sweetest dad for real! Adores his kids and is always happy to show them affection 🥰

♡ Also the type of dad who tries really hard (sometimes a little too hard but that’s why you all love him 🤭) to be hip on the trends and name their generation’s memes.

♡ I can see him once he gets into the swing of things as the type to want a bigger family, maybe even more than he thought! Nothing crazy, but in his head he thought he’d feel complete after one or two, now that he has them though? Three or four doesn’t sound bad, just look at how cute they are with a sibling to play with! Kind of reminds him of the feeling of having so many brothers.

♡ You have to stop him sometimes from buying every cute toy he sees. “Do we need another playset?” “But babe, then he can run his own sushi restaurant 🥺” “Shit, that is cute, ok.”

♡ Cries when his kids cry, laughs whenever they do or at any joke they ever tell him, can hardly bring himself to scold them because he just loves them so much and doesn’t want to break their hearts!

♡ Honestly doesn’t mind if he has boys or girls, like both sound great so you’d never catch this dad sulking at a gender reveal! In the end though I can see him having one of each, and it warms your heart to see how he teaches his son(s) to respect their sister(s), value and cheer them on from a very young age. He is all of their biggest cheerleader, though, handing them mics when he’s recording or playing around in the studio, showing up to every event of theirs he physically can, and just going ‘that’s my son/daughter’ with a huge smile all the time.

Felix

♡ The type of father to describe his kids as the twinkles in his eyes! Just constantly looking at them with adoration- they’ll never wonder if they’re loved 🥹

♡ He's always wanted a family, so having little ones of his own is Felix's dream come true for sure. You'll practically have to pry them from his arms, he loves showering them in affection so much!

♡ For some reason, I see him wanting three kids, the classic 'nuclear family' size or in his words the perfect number to fill up his arms! You guys are ever-so-slightly outnumbered, but your life's also full to the brim of cuteness.

♡ A pro at bath time! Felix is the epitome of 'organized chaos' during this time, managing to get all your little ones to love the water and keep it in the tub. He knows all their favorite toys and has a voice for each one.

♡ One Mother’s/Father’s Day you awake slowly, eyes fluttering at a few clattering sounds and shushes. Your eyebrows furrow in concern, but sleep swims too quickly still beneath your eyes to pull you up. Your internal questions are answered in moments as Felix and the kids burst in with a tray of all your favorites for breakfast, all clearly handmade as the notes and drawings scattering it.

♡ Absolutely no difference in his intent with raising boys or girls… but real talk, the sweetest girl dad on the planet OMG. While he is conscious about modeling caring and providing behavior in both, curiosity and discovery regardless… he has at least one girly girl that just steals his heart and has him wrapped around her finger. Will play as whatever princess needed, incredibly active in every single tea party he can make, you name it, he does it.

Seungmin

♡ The do-it-all dad. He learns sooo much about all of their interests when they're older and reads up on everything baby/toddler before then. An absolute champ at juggling care and keeping the house afloat!

♡ All he wants in life is to do right by his family and be a man you can be proud of. No fear with jumping right in to any aspect of raising your family, even if he does crack the occasional joke.

♡ He's a bit open on number, probably leaning between two or three but more wouldn't hurt if you'd like bigger!

♡ Bedtime is one of his favorite times. Just being able to lay down with the kids and read them stories, doing funny voices and raising and lowering for suspense, fills his heart. He'll sing them lullabies until their eyes stay closed and watch for a few moments wondering how he got so lucky to have this with you of all people.

♡ Invents a whole secret language with the kids one day, so you come home and can't understand any of them. Teases the dickens out of you, grinning and bumping your shoulder and egging the kids on to say more until relenting and letting you in on the secret!

♡ He can’t decide if he’s more excited to have a son or a daughter! Practically weeps imagining playing dress up but has also always wanted a mini me??? (See what I did there?) He takes photos of the kids often, which ends up sparking an interest in photography that he’s happy to foster. Heck, maybe through that his daughter will become his mini me and he gets the best of both worlds!

I.N

♡ Playful dad! It’s not uncommon to come home and find him rolling around with the kids in a big ball of laughter!

♡ He hadn’t always thought about having a family, but when he met you and you guys began your journey, he wondered how he would have ever considered anything else.

♡ Because of this, he never had some dream number in his head and he’s happy to give you the floor on that question whether you’d like one or three or six!

♡ S-Class (see what I did there) nurse. They'll practically demand that he's the one to care for wounds and put the bandages on because he's so good at distracting from the sting of cleaning it and kissing where it hurts.

♡ They love his trot voice. Thus he hams it up plenty, bringing out his most exaggerated moves and probably bringing props too. Would not at all be adverse to them becoming his backup singers or dancers.

♡ Loves the idea of at least one mini you and one mini him- his words! Y’all definitely get a mini him though, OMG: your son wants to be JUST LIKE his dad, practically following him around all the time. He takes after his dad’s goofy smile and performances so soon you really do have two trot performances to watch! Jeongin is so honored and floored by this that he’s always saying he has to be the best man possible for his son as well as for you 🥹 he always encourages his son to say the sweetest words to you too- but don’t say it was from him, shh!!!

[oops-all-concrete]

I was wondering if I could get headcanons for a younger(late teens-early twenties) tav who views the companions as more of older siblings/mentors, personally my tav is inspired off the tiefling kids in the emerald Grove because I thought it would be very cool if Mol a street kid became the savior of baldurs gate, absolutely adore your writing thank you so much if you decide to do this!

Sorry it took me so long to get to this, I went on an enexpected hiatus but I am back and have a few lists in the works, so keep an eye out for that!

But yeah, I LOVE this idea??? This is so cute and if you have pictures of your Tav, please share them, I NEED to know what they're like, they sound so cool and I love the idea behind them!

Anyway without further adieu;

Companions react to: Younger Tav who sees them as an older sibling/mentor!

No spoilers, just some lovely lil headcanons, enjoy♡

Lae'zel - It depends on (your) Tavs dynamic with her. She was taught to follow when there was a leader, and lead when there was none. If Tav is intent on following, she's strict, sharp and a little intimidating, but always looking out for Tav, ordering them to the back of the group and allowing them cool moments in fights too. "Finish them off, teethling" She says proudly. But if Tav takes a leader role, she's happy to follow without question, and will shape everyone else in line with tavs orders, once she trusts their judgement. A kind leader and devoted follower. That's what you get from Lae'zel.

Shadowheart - She could never explain why, but having a kind teifling friend who's quite like this Tav is so...familiar? It's nice in any case. She feels at ease and way off her guard around Tav and is grateful to them for it. Of course she feels bad hiding things, but has gotten pretty good at making sure Tav is distracted and having fun on the adventure. She's always sneaking them snacks, turning a blind eye to any pranks they play on the others and keeping them in arms range at all times. They make her feel young again.

Wyll - He's like a guardian angel sent from above. He's happy to teach, but not above learning from Tav too, seeing them as an equal, even if he's kind of the "big brother." He's perfect for stories, indulging in Tavs silly ideas, good or bad, and the man you want in a crisis. No matter how bad it gets, he's staying calm for Tav, witty even, to keep them distracted or focused. It's hard to not be relaxed around Wyll and it's ever so intentional. If Tav is happy, so is he, and he says as much all the time.

Karlach - A young tiefling troublemaker who's just trying to do their best? She absolutely adores them, seeing her young self in them at every turn. It's healing for her to take care of who is basically her younger self, and she takes a genuine pride in looking out for them. Keeping them safe. Teaching them not to make the same mistakes she did. She'll do anything to keep them safe even at her own detriment.

Gale - Gale always wanted to be a teacher, and seeing how passionate Tav is, he just has to teach them. He sees potential in everything they do and goes out of his way to ensure they harness their abilities to their fullest. He's happy to answer any and all questions, and will look for answers if he doesn't have them. He's never short on praise either, always telling them how proud he is and how wonderful it is to watch them become the person they are.

Astarion - He's the bully older brother you never realised you wanted, probably because you didn't and still don't. He's got a thousand mean nicknames and if Tav slips up, he never let's them forget it. Tav and him will bicker to the end of time, but when all is said and done, if someone so much as grazes Tavs skin- he will drain the life out of them as painful and slow as possible. He might laugh, but only when he knows Tav is actually okay, and if someone else laughs, he'll make them regret it. He'd never say it out loud, but having a sibling he can protect is very nice.

Bonus, the older folks!

Halsin - He immediately takes up the dad role. He's always wanted children of his own, once he finds the right person, but they make him.okay with just doing it alone. Bear rides, whittled trinkets, spell lessons, he's all for it. There's just about nothing Tav could possibly say to make him unhappy to hear from them. He's indulged in everything they say and prideful in everything they do. He gets into the habit of calling them fawn, fledgling, lamb, whatever Tav likes sticks.

Jaheira - She doesn't realise it, but she does go full mother mode, even in front of the Harpers. Tav has messy hair? She's fixing it immediately. She sees elbows on the table, Tav is getting the mom look. Tav has dirt on their face, she's licking her thumb to rub it out. It's so subconscious, but she can't help it. And by God's, if anyone talks ill of Tav to their face, she's ready to throw down. Even if it's just questioning.

Harper: "I don't get it, they're a kid, how are they going to-"

Jaheira: "If I hear one more word out of that idiot mouth, I'm going to sew it shut and have you clear out the barn of all the ox shit, so you have no choice but to smell it"

Minsc - He's just happy to be admired for what he is; a warrior! Lead by a miniature giant space hamster. He won't question most things Tav does, trusting their own kind of warrior style and knowing they're doing everything for righteous reason. He admires them at every turn, even if he has no idea what their deal is or how to explain it to other people. Boo knows. And thats all that matters.

[nilolol30]

Ello ^^, just curious can you do a one-shot of where reader is MK’s sibling(GN) but gets trained by macaque? (Platonic)

(OOO I like this!! The outcomes would be pretty different depending on the season this plays out so I did it a little after season 3. I also may be playing a little favoritism on this oneshot 💀)

"Okay break time kid" Macaque put his staff away letting it fade out from its shape returning into the shadows "Wait what? But I can still keep going!" You wiped the sweat from your forehead.

"You can't fight if you've got torn muscles kiddo it's good to try and push limits but not flat out breaking them okay" he ruffles the hair on your head making his way to the bean bag he recently added to the dojo and sat down.

"But didn't you push Mk's limits further than this?" You joined him sitting down in the bean bag next to him your comment makes Macaque frown slightly "That...that was different kid I wasn't trying to train him I was manipulating him just to get back at Wukong I shoulda left him out of our business kid and I'm not here to hurt you like that I'm here to teach you"

You stared at Macaque you knew he didn't apologize to Mk about what he did but you could see he wasn't proud of it maybe if you managed to give him a little push he might apologize to your brother you were about to make a comment but someones ears must have been burning because your phone rang with MKs profile popping up.

Of course you answer the phone and noticed Macaque slightly leaning in you give him a small glare and he holds his hands up in surrender while mouthing 'cant help it' with a roll of your eyes you speak up "Hey Mk what's up?" After a little bit of chatting Mk asked if you'd like to join him with training.

Recently Mk's been trying to teach you basics of self defense Incase he's not around when you're in trouble you still haven't told him you've actually been training with his ex mentor ex enemy but to put him at ease you agreed often holding yourself back least he gets suspicious.

After saying yes and agreed he'll pick you up near the docks you put away your phone and hear Macaque scoff "Pretty sure the kid just wants to show off like his mentor" you rolled your eyes and stood up "Oh so like you too?" Macaque let out a dramatic gasp his hand clenching his chest in fake agony.

Saying your goodbyes you leave the dojo and started your journey to the docks leaving Macaque alone with his thoughts and...he tends to come up with funny little schemes when he's alone with his thoughts with a smirk he opens a portal underneath his feet and dropped in.

MK was already at the dock when you got there he smiled when he spotted you and waved "Hey I'm so happy you said yes!! You'll learn way more from Monkey king since he's like a better teacher than me hehe" Mk laughed rubbing the back of his hair.

"No problem but did you at least make sure to ask Monkey king if I could join? I don't want to drop in out of nowhere" Mk took out his staff ready to po-go travel you both "Yeah yeah I did actually he suggested it! Something about getting to used to eachothers fighting style or something"

You jumped on Mk back and held on as he started pogoing over the ocean honestly you wonder how he didn't get sick by doing this thankfully before you nearly lost your lunch Mk landed on a cliff that was near a little hut.

"I thought you'd have to go through a waterfall" Mk shrunk his staff and walked next to you "That's one way to come in but this entryway also has a seal it's just easier to land here po-go style"

Mk lead you to the front of the hut and then you could see Wukong the great sage underneath a tree eating a bunch of peach chips with crumbs covering his face and the top of his armor through mid bite he looks over at you two and smiled throwing the bag of chips behind him some little monkeys race to steal them.

"Hey bud! Looks like you got Mk 2.0 to join haven't seen you since the little after party" you deadpaned at the nickname "Yeah don't call me that please" Wukong shrugged "That's fair anyways why don't we warm up first before the training you know stretching and all that" Monkey king waved you two over to join him on the clearing.

"Sweet Lego!" Mk bounced over and you followed joining in on the stretches and warm-ups Wukong came over to help you adjust your posture but for a second he made a weird face somewhat annoyed and confused but he seemed to shake it off.

"Alllright so warm-ups done and- okay so uh kiddo" Wukong rubbed the bridge of his nose as he looks at you "I'm sorry but I can't focus with that...Stench Macaque what are you trying to pull now!??" Wukong growled while he seemed to stare at your shadow Mk jumped and stared at the same place.

"Awah you've gotten boring Wukong" a purple face appears in your shadow before Macaque rises up and smiled at his old old 'friend' Wukong's tail seems to flick on irritation.

"Whua!? What are you doing in their shadow huh!?" MK yelled pointing a finger at Macaque holding out his staff Wukong raises and eyebrow seemingly agreeing with those questions.

Macaque smiled and wrapped an arm around your shoulder and pulled you into a side hug "What I can't check in on MY own student? Especially if they're taking training lessons from you" MKs jaw dropped his eyes nearly jumping out of his skull as he slowly turned to stare at you.

"Um surprise?" You waved your hands with a nervous smile Wukong switches his gade from you to Macaque and over and over Mk managed to snap out of his shock "nuh uh no way I'm not gonna let you tick then like you did to me you jerk!" Wukong put his hand on MKs shoulder to stop him from storming over.

"Hold on Bud how's about I talk with Shadow guy for a bit while you chat with your sibling kay?" Mk thought for a moment and nodded Wukong smiled but immediately dropped it walking over and grabbed Macaque by the scarf and dragged him into his hut.

Mk then turned back to you hands on his hips you looked down not really knowing what to start this conversation with "So uh... you're having words with-" "OH WE ARE HAVING WORDS YOUNG ONE! ARE YOU SERIOUS-"

It took a long time especially since it seems Macaque and Wukong were also taking their time to 'chat' and it definitely took awhile to reassure Mk Macaque wasn't going to hurt you but it seems now everyone is all caught up and both Macaque and Wukong walked out of the hut.

Macaque sent a smile to you and looked to Mk gesturing him to follow while he walks into the cave Wukong gave Mk a nod and so he followed you were tempted to follow behind them but Wukong gently grabbed your shoulder "Give em a minute kid trust me"

Instead of just waiting around Wukong decided to see what Macaque taught you so far and had you fight a clone of him while he watches he made sure the clone holds back and about halfway through Mk and Macaque was back Mk ran to Wukong's side to cheer you on.

"Psh c'mon kid don't be scared to give him a good kick on the nose!" Macaque called out earning another glare from Monkey king.

[scaryspears]

MKX's Kung Lao an essay

Notes: I originally wrote this in youtube comment section and decided to post it here. Watch Cynical Warlock's Rewriting Kung Lao video, its super interesting.

Kung Lao seemed pretty badass in MKX, and I'm talking about the old man version that's not seen in the storymode. I first interpreted MKX version of Lao appeared more humble and secure, no longer needing to prove himself as Liu Kang's equal. He even gave me the impression that he could be a mentor figure, appearance wise, whereas Old Liu Kang didn't give me that same vibe. Also, Kung Lao has a special hat that he uses as a weapon... How does he not outshine Liu Kang?

We do see his hat origin in MK1, so we can assume that it's similar to the past timelines on why he uses it. With that being said, he's great at coming up with random weapons, and very effective ones too. In another timeline he might be a weapons specialist, maybe even a maker. He even has another version of the hat that looks like daggers have been glued onto it, which we see in the game (I think it was a variant), and that might have been his first hat before he made a perfected version.

I think if MKX had better writing, then Kung Lao could've been brought back from the dead (like Sub Zero, Scorpion & Jax) and become another mentor figure to the combat kids instead of just being another yes man revenant who obey's revenant Liu Kang.

Both Liu Kang and Kung Lao were playable in MKX, they could've at least brought one of them back. Since they made Liu Kang king of the Neatherrealm, it would have to be Kung Lao.

Just as Sub Zero has a sort of friendship with Johnny, Kung Lao could be the same, separating him from Liu Kang on who they keep close to them. Personality wise, he's less harsh and strict than Liu Kang, and is more friendly, so I can picture him and Johnny having a friendship.

He can teach the combat kids that weapons can be formed from anything, basically ensuring that no one becomes a copy paste of their parents (Cassie & Jacqui), and has something unique about them, like having knives in their shoes and doing capoeira to cut the opponent or something (idk).

Just like Johnny, he isn't treated or spoken to very nicely by Sonya and some others because they keep mistaking his current self to his past self. He doesn't like it when people do this (I certainly wouldn't), but he is mostly civil with cutting remarks every now and then. Think of it as visiting a toxic family you've been in low contact with, and they occasionally make jokes and jabs about you copying your golden child sibling, and how you'll never be like them or escape their shadow. Even though you stand up for yourself, you're still seen as being bitter and jealous.

Another reason why I think Johnny and Kung Lao have a shot at friendship is because Johnny doesn't mention Liu Kang once, or anything linked to the past, or even his personality. Kung Lao is also said to "smile too much" according to Ferra, meaning he has a tendency to smile when he's about to face off with an opponent. Remind you of someone we know?

Here's how he can be introduced: The combat kids have a mission, however, the combat kids cannot go with weapons, at least weapons that are seen. In this au Johnny is with the Wu Shi instead of the Special Forces (as seen in my Havik post), so he sends the combat kids (mainly Cassie and Jacqui) to meet Kung Lao. The combat kids find out that Kung Lao, while still maintaining his teachings, has left the Shaolin and works as a weapons maker in some random town or city in China, and lives in solitude (a metaphor for no longer seeking the validation of others). Instead of giving the weapons straight up, he tests every single one of them. He ends up letting them have the weapons of course, and watches them go on their day.

MK11 made him so cocky to the point he was a Johnny Cage clone, and Kung Lao never struck me as the cocky type during MK9. It was actually Liu Kang that came off as egotistical to me, and the fact that he rebels against Raiden kind of proves that. Liu Kang went against a literal god. There's even an ending that shows he will be corrupt if he replaced Raiden. Earthrealm's champion, ladies and gentlemen.

I never viewed Kung Lao as cocky, so his MK11 version was a complete 180, and the fact that NRS continued that into MK1 disappointed me. Kung Lao is impulsive, but not always. He is capable of being reserved and calculating. While Kung Lao is also quite ruthless, Liu Kang is the hot headed one that refuses to listen to reason at times.

People make all kinds of jokes about Kung Lao and him getting his neck snapped, when Shao Kahn went about it cowardly. I'll elaborate by saying Shao Kahn snuck up on him, it wasn't face to face. In the words of Kendrick Lamar, "when I catch flight, it's gon' be direct". Shao Kahn is Drake in this situation, sneak dissing. When people make fun of Kung Lao's neck snap they're technically meat riding Shao Kahn.

[elizais]

heyy can you do something like the reader is an exec in the PM and she sees herself as an older sister to the akutagawa siblings / gin + ryu see her as one too? headcannons please i'm just so distraught after season 5

of course anon! i love these siblings so much season 6 has to help themm lets put the reader as a young executive like chuuya/dazai

you joined the PM as a kid too, so you knew how it was. and when you found out about a 14 y/o and his younger sister joining, you felt for them.

when they arrived and mori was assigning them places, you wanted to mentor both of them but the brother already had a mentor so you took the girl.

that is how you began to know the both of them as you trained gin up to her assassin skills, and talking to her so she would have someone to go to.

you and her became close and you insisted on her and ryu staying close. often hearing about him from your fellow executive dazai.

you probably met ryu when you had to go pass on a message to dazai and saw the both of them, dazai stepping out and leaving you with ryu.

"are you the ryunosuke boy? i'm training your sister, do you two talk often?" you asked him, worried for the siblings. he only responded with silence and a cold stare. "don't worry, i understand. gin is coming to my office for a little bit tonight, it's on the third floor across from storage room 4. you are always welcome." you smiled, trying to provide a safe place for him.

afterwards, you were surprised he turned up. you were glad though, you weren't going to let this cruel organisation tear these two apart from their only family.

he walked in with the same expression, void of emotion and your heart shattered to see yet another kid like this. you had managed to get gin out of her shell though, so it was only a matter of time.

"please, sit ryu." gin spoke softly and gestured to the other space on the couch she was sitting on. you had left the room to grab some mugs for tea. "do you like this girl, gin? is she nice to you? does she treat you well?" ryunosuke interrogated, clearly worried for his sister. "she is very nice, ryu. she was the one who told me to dress more masculinely to protect my identity."

and then you made them both tea, both of their first time trying it. you watched their faces light up at the classic drink. ryu had not said a word to you yet, you were polite but did not want to step into his space too fast.

the next day, you heard a knock at your door and you expected gin but to your surprise it was her older brother. he wasn't very confident but he admitted that after he and gin left they both couldn't stop thinking about the tea. that was when he began to open up.

after that, you three came to your office twice a week to try new flavours. you gave them advice, gossiped and soon they trusted you.

when you found out how dazai treated ryunosuke, you didn't react in front of the boy but on your next mission with dazai you fully confronted the man. while you couldn't be certain he would treat akutagawa better, you spent more time with the boy.

you would begin driving the siblings home, then making some warm meals for them and teaching them things they didn't learn in the slums. you introduced them to many of their likes and dislikes. your most memorable one being figs.

"y/n? are you free right now? i have a question about the black lizard." ryunosuke spoke from behind your office door, you welcomed him in and before he could ask his question his attention was stolen away by the figs on your desk. "what are those?" he asked. "they are figs! would you like one?" you responded, happy for him to try one. "yes please." and his eyes seemed to sparkle as he swallowed. "you can have the rest if you like, i'm full anyways." you smiled.

definitely concerned about both of their health, especially ryu's. you tried to find a way to help his coughing but because he's a criminal you can't just take him anywhere. you did make sure that they both got nourishing meals though.

when gin came to you asking about makeup, you shown her everything. as well as showing her hair products, skin care, dresses - everything a normal girl her age would like.

as for ryunosuke, you tried your best with dressing and how to take care of himself.

you were glad that you could provide a safe space for these kids who ended up in the wrong place.

[wonderpommey]

Well Jesse said it, no one truly changes and indeed nothing really changed in the couples’ dynamics in the end.

The show dangled a possible happy ending for Connor and Willa for a second but of course it tears it away in the finale. We already see Willa squirming under Connor’s grip, grappling with the “sexy second week itch”. Roman is particularly repulsed by that pairing; buying a young escort-type woman and parading her as somehow worthy, as a ‘wife’. There’s something so offensive to him about that. We never see Roman give Gerri anything of monetary value. He’d never want to buy her, he’s desperately attracted to how real she is, to the experience and things she can teach him, in every possible way (sex & advice). He wants what she is willing to give, not what he can buy. The only time money comes into their relationship is the exit package (pass!) and even that is essentially just another lesson she’s teaching him. You wanna rule with emotion, the next person will take you for everything you’re worth!

Shiv's adoption of Tom remains partly strategic. It moves from "not being betrayed" to "holding onto power", it has very little to do with love. Shiv continues to push sadistically to see how much she can get away with, how close patriarchy will let her get to being her own woman. Then, when Tom or Logan tells her she’s gone too far, she folds. And Tom loves her enough or loves being in the fold enough that it works in the succession universe, it becomes a deal of somewhat terrifying equals. And that was what succession was all about. Capitalism, patriarchy and the oppression of women. What men demand things like love and care from women, but they actually lose any genuine connection the second they take a woman's agency away from her… Sure you get her by your side physically for a while but you crucially loose her very desire to be there.

Roman and Gerri’s relationship remains a study in longing and sensuality. They are barely featured in the finale but Roman sets the tone by going down on mummy’s cheese. Oh succession and its cheesy genitals, the ricotta dick! The grilled cheese with a sucked dick! The whole kitchen scene is obviously an allegory about the lack of food and incidentally love Caroline has supplied to her children. It’s only scraps, rot and fire going into that smoothie. But Oedipus-Roman, doesn’t want the smoothie, he wants the tasty morsel of maternal love which isn't for him. He doesn’t bite by the way, he only licks. Unlike his last second on screen, he can’t go as far as actual consumption. Did he want Lobster? No, he wanted the most love. Did he want steak? No! He wanted to be picked above Kendall!!

Speaking of what’s not for him... He then has to watch Gerri talk about the pleasures of a slow screw. It’s a sudden exposure to her sexuality, a validation of his intuition that she likes being superior to her conquests, sexually, spiritually. Something he knows he can give her alongside the painful realisation that she opens up - to others - in that way.

Then the office breakdown. I still look good, I still look the part “Why isn’t it me?” What are the rockstar and the molewoman when the rockstar is just a big sack of bullshit? And Ken reaffirming he’s not good enough, he’s pure emotion, he doesn’t have the drive, he only ever wanted a ride or die.

All culminating in his only true, almost naturalistic documentary-style consumption of the season; Gerri’s martini. Drinking in the quasi love of his life (I could do a whole post about how wild it is that Jesse ‘I don’t want to tell you what to think’ Armstrong said something so totalitarian). This isn't the first connection between an older woman’s sexual appetite and her drink of choice this season! Remember Roman’s reaction to the image of Nan liking her wine like she likes her men!

Sure, the outer layer of that scene shows Roman, having lost the company, his lover/mentor's good will, and any way he knows of interacting with his siblings in a bar drinking alone, overly dressed, old Hollywood style. A potential regression to his sad playboy lifestyle (Jesse), or the start of a hopeless spiral of alcohol abuse (Mark - who has since then said he saw how Roman’s ending could be perceived as hopeful). 

Upon closer inspection, his inferiority/beta complex, his emotions, his desire to be loved, his desire NOT to be in charge/on top - everything that his dad loathed to see in him - are finally showing through the physical scars on his face. He gave it a valiant try, but he couldn’t keep parading as whomever Logan wanted him to be and he realises that it makes him an unworthy heir and in the same breath, access to Gerri is disallowed. It still overwhelms him with emotion, but in the same way Oedipus took his own eyes and couldnt see Jocasta and longer, Roman only gets to see Gerri through screen and glass anymore. He demanded she believed he was as good and as ruthless as his dad and he turned out not to be. Objectively, it’s not a prerequisite to Gerri’s feelings for him as she responds to his pathos way more than she does to Logan's death, but his psyche is convinced he no longer deserves to be in her presence.

So he does the only thing he can do to keep her as close as he needs. Don't be fooled by the luxurious, civilised quality of the drink, this is a biological need,  pure sustenance (Get her inside of him, under his skin, into his bloodstream and pumping to his heart). He bites his lip as the liquid enters his mouth, swallowing dramatically, loving the burn & hating the pain. 

And we’ve come full circle on the theme of consuming each other. From the partnership-worthy mutual cannibalistic proposal of season 2, to the toxic if slightly castrating injunction for her to go down on him and devour him. Season 4 breaks him enough that he gets to the opposite nihilistic ideation that he’s nothing and hence has no claim on the company or being her protégé. The truth - that we don’t know if he can get to - is somewhat in between. All these kids are very smart and worthy in their own ways, even though of course the expectation placed on them to be exceptional prevents them being satisfied in being maybe just that.

His final scene showcases the sad and lonely consumption of the woman he loves’ essence, a poor ersatz for the ‘old gal’s juices’ that he doesn’t deserve. All he has to offer being something he has never been able to name or express without the alibi of the company; an amorphous, unworthy, unnamable but ultimately undeniable feeling.

And possibly in the writers’ minds, this is the suicide part of their contemporary Romeo & Juliet drama. Dying with the blade and the poison after daddy said the love was unacceptable & unobtainable? I mean come ON! 

Roman “knifed” Gerri (This is rhetoric they use ON THE SHOW), she completed the execution by taking herself out and brought him the threat of annihilation (while ordering the poison; a martini). There is a delicious poisonous quality to the drink isn’t there (or its abuse)? And of course, if he dies he’ll die by her, he’ll taste the poison she chose off her lips, because if he has lost the love of his life in this eternal quasi status, it becomes the only worthy pursuit.

That was the roman-esque question of the show. What is love if it’s always been withheld, if it’s always been expressed via the proxy of the company, if it’s never been given freely, or modelled or held as something precious and worthy that had to be protected? And what if it makes you ravenous for it? And how could you get it, this thing you most desperately want, if you’d never been given the tools?

O true apothecary, Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die. 

[shini--chan]

Can I request f and h from the gods and goddess alphabet for Russia and China separately.

Of course you can! The yandere alphabet: Yandere Alphabet: Gods & Goddesses

Yandere Russia & China - Familial Ties

China

Freyja - How official would your relationship be? Marriage with a glittering facade or their dirty little secret?

A bit of both truth be told. Being as old as he is, Yao would have incredibly high standards and would spend a fair bit of time making sure you’re the right one for him. He would test you in his own ways, making sure you’re steadfast and of outstanding character. Aside from that, he would want to slowly “introduce” you to your new lifestyle.

As much as he would want to marry you and flaunt you, his beloved, around for everybody to see, he would be lucid enough to know that he would first have to teach you how to behave. He would slowly whittle away at your will to rebel, if you would have any, and teach you proper manner. Only then would he show your relationship to the world.

Hestia - Do they want children? How would they go about with having a family?

This would be a hard question for Yao. He would have taken care of children before, as with Japan and Korea and a few of the other Asian nations, but he didn’t really have a fatherly relationship with any of them. At most, it was that of mentor/protégée or one of that between siblings; at worst it was of the violent sort between an empire and the colonies. As such, China would be hesitant to adopt or sire children.

But on the other hand, it would be his child, his flesh and blood that would have to swear filial piety to him. Despite having lived so long and done so much, the sort of situation that would entail would be new to him in ways. It would also bind the two of you closer together, having to act as parents and raise a child.

He would, on a large part, be rather strict with his child. Yao would have high expectations for them and wouldn’t hesitate to make that very clear early on. The child would be learning by their father’s knee before they could even walk, and the father would be very thorough in terms of education. But don’t worry too much – he would seek to give the child a healthy balance between work and play; at least, what he would understand to be healthy.

Russia

Freyja- How official would your relationship be? Marriage with a glittering facade or their dirty little secret?

Ivan would be very inclined towards marriage. He can be very traditional in that sense, and would want to go through all the customs and motions and traditions with you. It would be something very personal to him so before all the pomp and circumstance, he would ensure that you would be on your best behaviour. He wouldn’t mind being a bit rough about it either (this would largely be because of his perspective on what is rough and what is tender).

After the wedding, he would squirrel you away to a cabin or a house in the country side. You would have little contact with other people and almost none with personifications. Having lost so much and so many people in his life, Ivan would elect to hiding you away in fear of having you stolen from him (and also so that escaping would be off the table).

He would also find such an arrangement very cosy – an idyllic little nest with (almost) everything his heart wants, all waiting for him away from the hustle and bustle of cloak-and-dagger dealings and politics.

Hestia - Do they want children? How would they go about with having a family?

Yes, he would want children, so, so much. Yet that wouldn’t mean that he would be suited as a father, and he would be very conscientious of that fact. So, getting a child would be preceded by an unfortunate chain of events. However, he would be happy with the accident and wouldn’t say no to a child if one would be on the way.

Would do his best, but with how emotional stunted and traumatised he is, he would sometimes be downright cruel to his child and would only realise such when the tears would start streaming or if it would be pointed out to him. His solution to avoid such situations would be to make his child go outside and play with other children as much as possible.

[noodyl-blasstal]

Cool, Calm, and Collegiate - Chapter 6

It's @blupjeansweek day 6, today's prompt is: Loss

You can read on Ao3 or below. Missed yesterday? Catch up here.

-

Barry tries not to hear Lup and Taako’s conversation, he’s glad the internet is finally up and running at the house, but he doesn’t want to invade her privacy by listening in. The only problem is that Taako’s talking loudly, and Lup’s talking loudly to be heard over him, and Barry’s walls are thin. He studiously tries to ignore it, but can’t help but be a little heartened when he hears that he was her competent knight in shining armour. He flees to the bathroom when Taako asks if they ‘boned down proper style.’ Nothing in him wants to hear Lup’s disgust at the prospect.

His mind’s too busy to dwell on that though, because Barry is suspicious. Deeply suspicious. The twins' teaching reviews haven’t been good, either from students or peer reviewers. He knows for a fact they’ve been dragged (after multiple ‘missed’ appointments) into Lucretia’s office on a few occasions to discuss complaints, student requests to move, and unmet session goals. He doesn’t like that they were the ones looking after Lup’s bag when it disappeared, nor that the only things missing were ‘just’ lesson plans and her room keys - which would be no use to anyone who didn’t know where she lived. Surely they’d take her wallet if it was just random and opportunistic? The theft of her research was, understandably, a touchy topic (he was already formulating ways to punish her old mentor, mostly via very specific questions asked at a conference in front of a large audience) so he didn’t want to bring it up with her yet. There was no need to add anything else to her plate. That said, going with her should help him figure out what had happened. If only he’d actually taken that Cleric class he might even have a deity to pepper with questions about it… nevermind though, he just needs to see whether anyone has visited the apartment. If they have, well, it will only serve to bolster his hypothesis.

Lup’s lounging on the sofa when he heads to the living room. She’s wearing a pair of his jeans with the legs rolled, the hair scarf she was using last night keeping them tight around her hips, and one of his old, faded college shirts tucked artfully into the waistline. She looks gorgeous, how could she not? But there’s a special thrill seeing her here, so comfortable in his house wearing his things, at ease, and happy. He wants that for her always, not an ill fitting wardrobe, but comfort and safety. It’s what he wants for all of his friends of course.

“Hey.” She says, smiling at him. “Sorry about ��Ko, he was just worried. I hope we weren’t too loud.”

Barry nods sympathetically. “I don’t have siblings, but I can imagine it was scary to hear you got robbed. I would have been worried too, I mean, I was, but you know…” He tails off.

“He was glad to hear my knight in shining armour was around to look after me.” Lup winks at him and Barry can feel himself flushing red. “Thanks for looking after me, Bear.”

“Hey, it’s… uh, anyone would have.”

“They didn’t, though, did they?” Lup says, rolling artfully off the sofa and onto her feet. “You did.”

“Er. Yeah. I guess that’s true.”

“So, shall we go see if they managed to get in?” She smiles, but it’s tight, forced.

Barry nods, tries not to ruin the happy front she’s putting on by fussing. He’d hate for someone to break in here and go through his stuff, it must be awful not to know if that’s what she’s going to walk into. “After you.”

–

“You really should be more careful with your things.” The woman behind the accommodation desk slides her glasses down her nose so she can glare at Lup harder.

Lup’s mouth twitches.

“She got robbed.” Barry says quickly.

“I wasn’t talking to you, Mr…”

“Dr, Halwinter.” Barry says. He hates using titles, but if she’s going to be awful then so can he. Plus, as much as he hates to admit it, sometimes it gets you further.

“Oh… well, er…” She sits up slightly.

“Dr Tacco here was robbed last night and is obviously very distressed about the occurrence, so if there is any way that you could speed up the process of getting her back into her room so she can survey it and see if anything else has been taken…”

“Fine.” The woman slowly levers herself out of her seat, glaring at Barry now instead. Good. He’d rather have that than her making Lup feel any worse.

“I’m sorry.” He says as soon as she’s gone. “I didn’t mean to jump in, I know you’re capable, but I also thought you’d probably be concentrating on trying not to…”

“... fireball her ass.” Lup finishes. “You do listen to me, I’m touched.”

Barry chuckles, then quickly rearranges his face back to stern disappointment when the woman rounds the corner again. “Here.” She slides a master key across the desk, far too fast to be done with anything but the hope they drop it.

Lup snatches it up. “Thank you for being so kind and helpful during such a difficult time.” She says sweetly.

Barry can’t help but snort out a laugh as the woman looks ready to combust.

The world’s slowest lift only seems slower as they inch up. “We should have taken the stairs.” Lup says, pacing, agitated.

“Potatoes are the best vegetable.” Barry says in reply.

Lup stops pacing. “What?”

“They’re nutritious, full of vitamins, they make chips. You don’t need anything else.” Barry shrugs as if it’s obvious.

“I know what you’re doing.” She narrows her eyes at him.

“Okay, well if you agree.” Barry smiles as innocently as he can manage. (Not very, Lup sees straight through him.)

“But there’s so little flavour! What’s going to make all your soups and stews taste nice if you’re just out there housing potatoes?”

His dedication to the humble potato carries them through to Lup’s floor.

“Thank you.” She says as she slides the spare key into the lock. “Even if you do like potatoes more than anyone should.”

“They’re perfect and I stand by it.”

You’re perfect.” He thinks she mutters as she opens the door and steps inside. He can’t be sure though. Maybe he’s mistaken.

He follows her inside and waits patiently while Lup inspects.

“Someone’s been here.” She says, simply.

“I’m sorry Lup.”

“My marking is in a different order and my student reports have moved.”

“Ah.”

“I’m going to have to report this to Lucretia. Whoever it was might have gotten personal information. It was just the worksheets, but sometimes they put stuff on there, you know.” Her voice shakes very slightly.

Barry nods stiffly. “Do you want me to wait here while you go in case they come back?”

“I guess they’ve taken everything they wanted to. At least my laptop’s still here.” She nudges a pile of clothes beside the bed and a laptop slides out from underneath.

“Smart.” Barry admires the ingenuity.

“Er… yeah, sure. Planned… But no, I don’t want to take up any more of your time, Barry. You go, I’ll let you know what’s going on later.” She tries to smile reassuringly and fails.

Barry waivers. He wants to scoop her up and fix everything, but knows that isn’t the answer. “Sure. Message any time, I’ll be on standby with coffee or, you know, rum. Whatever works best.”

“Maybe both.” Lup grins.

“Aye aye, Cap’n!” Barry salutes her and moves towards the door. “Seriously though Lup, if you need me, I’m here.”

“I know, Bear, you’ve shown me that.” Lup says quietly.

Barry lingers a second longer, then lets himself out. She’ll be fine. But who won’t be fine, is the fucking twins. He can’t go straight to Lucretia, Lup will be there soon, so he detours to his office to check the course admin folder for any new requests.

There’s four.

All of them from, surprise surprise, Lydia and Edward.

They want resources for their courses, for ‘new ideas.’ New ideas they had overnight.

Barry asks them in for a meeting.

–

“Could you tell me a bit more about why you’d like the golf balls?”

“To teach the children.” Lydia says and rolls her eyes as if Barry’s being ridiculous.

It’d be charming if Lup did it. There’d be no malice behind it if Lup did it.

“Of course, but which lesson is this for?”

“Tomorrow’s.” Edward says. “That’s why it’s an urgent request.”

“Okay, and tomorrow you’re teaching…?” Barry prompts.

“The lesson we need the golf balls for.” Lydia replies quickly.

“Sure. Okay. Well, fill out the form and pass that on to The Director. You’ll need a health and safety officer, depending on the planned usage.” Barry relaxes very slightly, he clearly doesn’t need to do anything but wait for them to fuck themselves over here… and hope they don’t injure any children in the process… he’ll warn lucretia.

“Do you make Lup do this every time?” Lydia adds.

“Come on now, sister dear, it’s obvious she’s getting some…” Edward raises his eyebrows suggestively. “...very special treatment. We don’t need to press the issue.” Edward laughs and begins to stand.

“Are you making an accusation of preferential treatment? I can give you the complaint form for that as well if you’d like.” Barry refuses to rise to the bait. It wouldn’t do to give them the satisfaction. “In fact, I’ll add it to the stack.” He sets the printer going, takes it calmly and adds it to their pile of forms, smiling as sweetly as he can manage the entire time. “Have a wonderful day now.”

They leave quickly, scooping the forms on the way.

Barry pulls up the academic misconduct form and begins typing.

–

“Madame Director…” Barry knocks on her door.

“Come in Barry, I thought I’d probably be seeing you today.” Lucretia says.

He stands nervously in the threshold. There’s no need for him to feel like he’s going to be in trouble, but the anxiety is in his bones.

“Take a seat.” Lucretia gestures to the spare chair. “And tell me what the fuck is going on.”

“What do you…?” Barry tails off.

“Cut the shit, Barry. I may be the director, but I see things, I know things. Lup comes in to tell me that someone stole her stuff and rifled through her room but only took lesson plans and student details and now suddenly there’s a barrage of forms from Lydia and Edward? I wasn’t born yesterday.”

Barry sits back, at least it’s not going to be as much of an uphill battle as anticipated. “I think they stole her notes and then her keys and went through her room.”

“That seems most likely.” Lucretia nods.

“So what do we…” Barry asks.

“We do nothing.” Lucretia says. “You, go and check in on Dr Tacco, I believe she’s rewriting at least 10 lessons worth of notes while also worrying that I’m going to fire her for data protection breaches. Obviously I’ve reassured her and printed off the information we had on the system for her so she’s not completely starting from scratch.”

Barry’s relieved to hear that Lucretia has reassured Lup.

Lucretia continues. “That said, we all know what happened, but right now we can’t prove anything. However, despite the fact those two seem to thrive on nothing more than other people’s misery, there’s not much they’ll be able to do in their necromancy class with notes on Lup’s magic science. They’re too lazy to consider that.” She smiles, a thin, firm smile, then asks. “Have you started the academic misconduct form?”

“Yes.”

“Good. It does well to be prepared. We don’t take kindly to theft.”

–

Barry knocks on Lup’s door, not sure if his presence is going to be a help or a hindrance.

“Who is it?”

“Barry, I just came to see if I could help.”

“Come in, it’s open.”

Lup’s on the floor surrounded by paper, she doesn’t look up.

“How’s it going?” Barry asks, slowly lowering himself to the floor as well. His knees crack on the way down, but she’s worth it.

“Uh…” Lup looks up for the first time since he walked in. “Not great, but it’ll be fine.”

“Can I help?”

“Maybe… Uh…” Lup mixes the papers round. Then scatters them again. “I keep trying to find things and it’s…” She gestures at the papers and rubs her eyes with her fists.

“Okay, would it be useful for me to do some organising? You know I love figuring out a system…” Barry smiles at her, hopes it’s reassuring.

“Yeah… yes. That would actually be… thanks Barry.”

“While I do that, I think you should grab something to eat and drink. Go to the Davy Lamp, the walk will do you good - clear your head.”

“I should…” Lup protests weakly.

“Hey, hey Lup.” Barry holds her shoulders. “You don’t need to do all of this today, just tomorrow’s. You already put your orders in for stuff, you already have the rough outline, and all of this came from here.” He taps her lightly on top of her head. “You’ve got this. But you need to look after yourself. I’m here to help, let me.”

“But…” Lup tries again.

“What would you say if it was me?” Barry asks quickly.

“What?” Lup scrunkles her brow in confusion.

“What would you say if I was in your shoes and you were in mine?”

“That’s not…”

“What would you say?”

“I’m not you.”

“But you deserve care and looking after and I bet there’s not a chance that you’d let me do this on my own, is there?”

“No.” Lup sounds defeated, but not upset about it.

“So you look after yourself and I’ll look after these papers, and between us, we’ll get this sorted.”

Lup unfolds her legs and stands easily. Barry vows to move off the floor before she gets back so she doesn’t see the creaking, wobbling, and joint popping that goes into getting him upright. Friends don’t need to know everything about each other.

“Thanks Bear.” She says quietly before she walks towards the door.

“Oh, Lup.”

She turns back.

“Is there any chance one of your sessions involved golf balls?” Barry asks nonchalantly.

“Oh gods… yeah, I’d forgotten about that. One of the ‘pie in the sky, wait, fuck, that’s terrifying, back to the drawing board’ ideas… they can’t all be winners! I thought we could do something using the golf balls to make powder by just spinning them round really really fast with other stuff using a control elements tornado or something, but yeah… even for me it was a bit out there.” She laughs to herself.

“Of course, of course.” Barry makes another mental note to email Lucretia, maybe she should attend that particular class with back up…

By the time Lup returns with two coffees and four pastries (‘necessary fuel’), Barry’s fairly proud of the organisation system he’s bodged together. He also made it off the floor without Lup having to see.

“Woah. It looks better!” Lup grins. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet, we’ll see how it works in practice, consider me your librarian for the day. I don’t have any meetings so I’m yours.”

“My personal sexy librarian? I’ve peaked!”

Barry laughs so hard he coughs. Yeah, Sexy Sildar the Librarian. That’s him. Ridiculous.

“Do you have the approved draft for tomorrow’s class, please?” Lup asks.

“Here you go.” Barry hands it over.

“You included the notes too?” Lup’s voice wobbles slightly.

“I just paired up the things that seemed to correspond.”

“Barry, I love you.” Lup looks up at him with watery eyes, but she’s smiling wider than he’s seen since they were singing.

He didn’t anticipate being told he was loved by someone (who wasn’t his Mum) because of his excellent organisational skills, but hearing it from Lup, even if she was emotional and tired and frustrated, hearing it from Lup was magic.

“I love you too, Lup.” He says it with all of the sincerity in his breath and bones.

There’s a moment, a brief moment, where he thinks about what would happen if he tried to kiss her no. Just leaned down and took her hand instead of handing her more notes, pulled her towards him, cupped her face in his hand, and leaned in… But now’s not the time. He doesn’t want to be the guy that misreads a situation. Even still, something bubbles between them, there’s a current of something, something electric and fizzing and he could reach out for it he thinks, but Lup doesn’t need that right now. There’ll be time later, time to tell her how he feels, ask if she feels it too. Right now, though, right now? There’s a lesson plan to write.

–

“Are you absolutely sure about the bees, sister dear?”

“It’s in the notes!” Lydia says, brandishing them at Edward. “Do you want to keep being mediocre, or do you want to excel?”

–

Dear ‘Ko,

Okay, so I know you saw it on the news, and I know you rang, and I know we talked about it and then talked about it again. But what a fucking day! Turns out they were too engrossed in cheating and being complete dickheads to actually consider what the fuck they were doing. They just took all my notes and picked at random - apparently they included the ones I discounted because they were unhinged.

Anyway, updates you didn’t have when we last spoke today: the bees are dispersed now, I think we got all the golf balls, and none of the kids are hurt. The clerics said it’ll take a while for Edward’s swelling to go down, and honestly, good. It’s what he deserves. Lucretia zone of truth-d Lydia after it all kicked off. It was brilliant.

Miss you, love you, see you soon,

Lup xxxxxxx

P.S. I think I might be in love with Barry???? Okay bye!

--

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed. Find the final chapter here.

[solticeenery]

I have this crazy headcanon that (maybe) completely ignores all rules and canon characters of this universe, but what if (it always starts with these words) Lucy found a way to bring Skull back to the living world. Some kind of incredibly dangerous and risky but promising ritual. Something with giving part of your life to the Other Side and you can't decide how much, it should be some other ghost who stands between two worlds and accepts the deal. Something maybe with blood, almost unaliving themselves and very complicated sigils. Some kind of risky dangerous shit so the Skull could mock Lucy for being a brainless idiot because "what were you thinking, you could f*cking die, Carlyle!"

So Lucy finds this ritual, successfully finishes it (even without any terrible injuries) and when the dealer comes she sees... Jessica. It's Jessica Lockwood. She looks at Lucy, asks, why she is doing all that stuff, and nods. "I'll take one minute from your life. That's the least I am allowed to take. Be happy, little star, guide them through their journey, they both need you." And disappears. Lucy wakes up in real world again, sees Skull already back in his body and staring at her with all judgement and anger and sharp words he ever tried to hold back from saying. And then the sun reaches Skull's face and he stays there, doesn't evaporate from any tiniest amount of light. And he is confused and kinda happy but angry at the same time because he knows this ritual and he was scared to death that Lucy might die during it. And Lucy is just happy. Exhausted, but happy. She finally can punch Skull for silly comments, shut his mouth whenever he tries to tell any dirty joke or hug him (at least try to, he isn't really comfortable with it yet) after difficult cases.

And the type of bond created between these two is something like siblings-mentors-lovers. They are definitely more than simply friends or colleagues. They teach eachother day by day. They are important to eachother. They both are ready to sacrifice everything for eachother and whatever the other one wants to protect. So for example Skull is ready to sacrifice the whole world to save Lockwood because he is important for Luce. And the same for her, she is ready to sacrifice the whole universe if needed.

Noone in "Lockwood & Co." can understand this bond and Lucy and Skull can't explain it. It's something so deep and warm with so much trust and comfort behind it, that it's impossible to put in words.

Of course Lockwood was jealous at first. He was doing his best to keep his feelings in secret. But then Skull just dares Lockwood to confess these feelings to Lucy. Smiling reassuringly and promising that everything will be alright. Skull loves Lucy more than anything and wants her to be happy. And he knows that these two children will be happy together. And he will be happy just being somewhere nearby. Being a part of this little but loving found family. Being alive again. Being someone important. Finally being his true self for the first time in two lifes.

Sorry not sorry, I'm sobbing because this lives rent-free in my head and idc if it's ooc, I'm too emotional atm

[oddeyevibes]

Choso x Reader but y’all are also rivals because both of y’all are fighting for their position to be seen as Yuji’s older sibling/guardian.

- You being a recent graduate that operates like a TA for Gojo aka doing most of the teaching cause that man is not qualified.

- You’re someone who very much likes to position themselves as an older sibling the first, second, and third years can look up to and confide in.

- This especially extends to Yuji who is completely and utterly new to this. Plus, he reminds you of a classmate that didn’t make it.

- Of course, this comes to ahead when Choso realizes that Yuji is his little brother and he doesn’t appreciate someone threatening his position.

- You two actually meet after his fight with Yuji and when Choso insinuates he did something to him, you go off.

- It’s such a catty and petty start when he switches sides.

“You almost killed him but your his older brother now? If he has to rely on you for protection then I’ll pray for him.”

“Semi-grade 1…*looks you up and down*…sounds about right.”

- Choso is jealous because obviously Yuji does come to you more often than him. Yuji doesn’t see the smug look you give Choso.

- But Choso is the smug one when Yuji attempts to refer to him as his brother.

“Yuji is my responsibility, you aren’t needed, sorcerer.”

*Holds back from saying “what happened to your last two responsibilities?” cause even you know that’s a bit too far*

- You and Choso team up against Naoya and it just turns into a “one-up” competition. It ends in a draw….not for Naoya, he got fucked up.

- Your rivalry fizzles out since both of you realize you offer different things, Choso being a protector and you being a mentor…that and Yuji realized what was happening and his desperate attempts for you two to get along was pitiful but earnest.

-Making sure Yuji was ok extended to making sure you were ok because if something happened to you (especially after Shibuya) Yuji would be devastated.

- It around this time that Choso realizes that Gojo was a bad influence on you (and by extent Yuji) because he believes you’re WAYYY too reckless.

-Now he’s scolding you for it constantly.

“One of these days, you’re going to never get back up. Think of how…Yuji would feel.”

- Depending on your technique, you and Choso work great together in battle.

- Choso obviously doesn’t know everything when it comes to Jujutsu society outside of what Kenjaku and the Disaster Curses taught him. So you take charge in informing him about certain aspects since he’s gonna be working with y’all (and we don’t really need him thinking randomly killing folks has been greenlit.) He might not think that but there’s no telling when Mahito is a potential influence

- Choso stays with Tengen but you head off with Yuji and Megumi. He even bows to you while he asks that you take care of Yuji. Then he tells you to be careful too with a blush on his face.

- When you’re reunited, he sees you’re injured (how injured is up to you) and upset about Megumi being possessed by Sukuna, feeling like it was your fault for not better protecting Yuji, Megumi, and Hana. Choso is there for you, able to be a sympathetic shoulder since he knows how you feel.

- You insist on being in this ultimate battle against Sukuna despite your injuries. So he has a request…

“Stay alive. I would like to…spend time with you under different circumstances.”

[melishade]

I love the idea that Megatron has a totally different relationship with Rose compared to Maria. He's such a girl dad, yet he butts heads with Rose? Like, is Rose to Megatron what Baby Groot is the Drax?

Previous episode of the Peaceful Timeline

Megatron: You sit on a throne of lies, child.

Rose: You're just mad I beat you at Hnefatafl.

Listen, Megatron loves Rose. She's an...overall good kid. And it's nice to have someone else not look at him with fear. But he is convinced that all the anger and deceit and pettiness that should have been in Oshern got syphoned into that one!

Like he had no problems with Maria. He has a strong attachment to her because she's the first being in a long time to look at him without fear. Meanwhile, with Rose, he feels like she has it out for him. She will find a way to twist his arm to get what she wants!

Megatron: Rose, I need you to not say anything when it comes to stuff we're not supposed to do.

Rose: Depends on what I get in return.

Megatron: Are you serious?!

Rose: If I'm risking something for you, I need to be paid back.

Megatron: I don't know if I should be angry with you or proud. Fine, I will get you more of those fancy art supplies you've been asking for.

Rose: Are you going to steal it?

Megatron: Really?!

Rose: Papa (Oshern) runs an honest business practice. It's rude to steal.

Megatron: Fine! I will work it off! Just keep your mouth shut!

Their relationship is very uncle-niece vibes. Ymir and Oshern do notice the pettiness that starts between them and tries to stop it, but Optimus just asks them to let this happen.

Oshern: Why exactly are we letting them argue like this?

Optimus drinking some energon: Payback.

Oshern: What?!

Rose's relationship with everyone is also significantly different compared to Megatron. She relishes in the attention Ymir gives her through head pats and hugs and thinks her mom is beautiful. She admires her father and asks him about his work and his life before Ymir. She thinks he's a good cook too. She definitely sees Optimus as a mentor and asks about the knowledge of the universe and he's more than happy to oblige. Rose's relationship with Maria is fairly close despite the age difference. But it didn't start out that way.

Initially Maria started getting jealous of all the attention Rose was getting as a baby. She's always crying, doesn't move much, and everyone is fretting over her. It takes a little time for everyone to notice, but Megatron is the one who notices first. Maria explains how she feels and Megatron rather tactlessly says:

"Well of course she needs more attention. She's a baby, and babies are stupid."

"Megatron," Optimus scolded while Ymir slapped him in the arm.

Megatron then takes the baby from Oshern and holds her in front of Maria. Megatron explains relativity, calls the baby stupid, but there's no reaction. She can't even look Maria in the eye properly. She has no protective shell and the only thing she can do is cry.

"Your responsibility, as her sister, is to protect her, and be her guide," Megatron told Maria, "She will one day look to you for support, but you cannot resent her for something beyond her control."

Optimus reminds Maria that they still love her, and they are sorry for neglecting her and her needs. They end up making a schedule that allows them to spend more time with each other. But Maria ends up maturing and taking on a much more serious role in protecting Rose. They go on walks together, Maria teaches her stuff, etc. They still have their sibling spats and arguments, but when Rose questioned her own purpose in the universe. Maria gave her an honest answer: She didn't know. But she was happy that Rose was in her life none the less.

(When Maria ultimately goes on her journey with Megatron around the world, Rose definitely feels upset at the loss. Even though she has more space since they shared a room.)

[flimflamfandom]

Okay I guess I gotta do a LackaSona!

That sounds more dismissive than it really should - truth is, I've had an idea for one sitting around in the back of my head and frankly I dunno why I never put it down (probably too busy ranting about Frepper and such)

I cannot draw and I haven't got the funds to attract an artist. So you'll have to picture him in your mind's eye! Which I'm sure we can do.

BELOW THE CUT: The past, present, and more, of luthier and multi-instrumentalist ARTHUR KEANE!

BACKGROUND

ARTHUR KEANE was born August 16th, 1904, in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Living a mostly quiet life as the son of a violinist and vocal teacher, Arthur was the youngest of 3 siblings, and was always a bit small and sickly as a child. Because of this, most of his schooling was done at home - his mother taught him to read and write, and his aunt (a school teacher, who lived just down the street) helped with the trickier bits.

His parents taught him to love music, but his aunt taught him to love guitar.

She was a virtuoso on the instrument, practically - she played it, banjo, mandolin, just about any fretted instrument you put in her hands, she could play it. And she did, indeed, teach him just about everything he knew from an early age!

PRESENT DAY

Just like today, it was hard to find work as a guitarist - bands were getting louder and louder each passing year, and there were many limits on the bandstand. So, to chase his dream of making money on the instrument, he shipped himself all the way across the country to St. Louis, Missouri, to apprentice for a local luthier (a maker and repairer of string instruments).

These, in 1928, Arthur is well known, and still works for his mentor, Mr. Boggs. Arthur plays regularly in clubs and speakeasies when they'll have him, and is even building his own instruments - he's even built himself a new fangled, state-of-the-art resonator, like those Dopyera brothers out in California!

HOW'S THE FELLA LOOK?

As he stands, he's fairly average - He has solid cinnamon fur, big brown eyes, and stands about Rocky's height. Maybe an inch or two taller.

He wears round glasses, and normally just plain work clothes, like blue chambray shirts (he lives by those) and plain slacks and shoes - when he gigs, of course, he dresses up (he does have an all black suit he wears) but typically he's got some sort of denim on, and often forgets to remove his leather apron full of tools. He wears a flat cap.

He has one spot that's out of the ordinary - his left ear is cut about halfway down its length. This is due to an accident while playing when he was young - it's a sore spot.

ARTHUR AND THE GANG

Arthur gets along well with the Lackadaisy group, if only because once after a gig at the Marigold he was stiffed 50 cents for 'running long'. He works at other speakeasies in town though, and doesn't participate in any illegal business...there was that one time he technically became an accessory by telling Rocky which why a truck came by but that's one time!

Arthur, in truth, is a very soft hearted man - he could hardly be convinced to do something like CRIME. He's just a quiet man who likes his instruments. And Lacy Hardt.

He really likes Lacy Hardt.

-

That's about all there is to Arthur Keane! He WILL be getting written about soon!!! I think.

I hope. (I've got a busy end of the year.)

[yardsards]

I hope you don’t think it’s weird for me to comment on a hc you made weeks ago but omg I had the same idea that Emira gets into the arts. But yours is brilliant that you have Raine be like a mentor figure. She needs an adult.

(context for the curious)

thank you! it's a headcanon i had a ton of fun thinking of and talking about!

i'm gonna ramble some more here:

i feel like emira really needs some hobbies/interests that aren't connected to anyone in her family. a bit because if we take her "being stuck with you forever" as more than just a mean joke, there seems to be manor desire there to really be seen as her own person rather than just half of a matched set. and a bit because i feel like she would benefit from a space away from her siblings and the caretaker persona that she sometimes has to step into.

like, pretty much every interest of hers that we've seen in canon was something she shared with edric. except for healing magic. which, while she did seem genuinely excited about multitracking into it, we don't see much of why she likes it other than when she's healing her siblings. so while healing can be a good interest for her in terms of it being her own thing, it's not something that would give her a real break from being in caretaker mode.

of course, there are near infinite interests/hobbies you could choose for her. but something artistic just feels right for her. part bc she seems to have a creative side (being on the illusions track and having what seemed to be a bit of an interest in fashion). part bc the arts are often used to express yourself and your individuality, and she needs that kind of thing in her life

i think she could dabble in stuff like painting or poetry too, but the connection with raine and bard magic is too neat for me to pass up. because i think that there is a lot of potential between raine and emira.

and yeah, part of it is just that she needs an adult in general, and raine fits the bill well enough as a kind and caring adult character that doesn't have super direct connections to any of the other blights, (and that we know enough about as a character to create interesting dynamics with lol)

like, as i rambled about in the tags of that post, i think emira would really benefit from having a trusted adult mentor in her life, someone who will care for and guide her instead of her needing to care for and guide them. especially someone other than her father. cuz like, yeah alador got better as a parent, but emira would probably need some time before she could trust him, and an adult that has never hurt her would be very beneficial in the meantime (as well as even after she her dad earns her trust again tbh, because the more sources of positive attention and guidance a kid can get, the better). and like, she seems like she desperately needs some attention and care from some adults in her life (the "i want a tshirt too!" scene, as well as the popular interpretation that her and edric's troublemaking was a cry for attention).

but also like, i think raine in particular would jive with her. raine's got a mischievous streak of their own and would get emira's rebellious tendencies. raine understands how it feels to have lived years under a cruel authority figure and to have rebelled right under that authority figure's nose. plus, we know they've got experience teaching younger people and seem to be really good at it and encouraging creativity