#aubs shut UP

[aubeezz]

Nothings more painful than oc brainrot you can’t draw out because art block

[ryouran-nijigasaki]

BABYMETAL IS COMING TO SYDNEY. GUESS WHO BOUGHT A TICKET!!!

[gumgumvibecheck]

don’t know why people starting to insist there is a difference between intricate rituals and mundane rituals, as if the things you do every day aren’t a long standing and bizarre combination of rote habit, preference, and all the choices you make in between. your mundane is still a spider web. its just as messy and intricate as anything else

[ming-sik]

georgine is such an interesting character and she was such a good villain and im. so conflicted on her last scene. the detail of sylvester begging for her to explain why she's doing this and georgine refusing to even tell him, because it's so obvious if you understand her at all, and the fact that he's never needed to is part of why she's so agonized by losing the archducal seat to him of all people that if she can't have ehrenfest, nobody can, is so good. it's narratively foreshadowed so early too, really it's foreshadowed when ferdinand tells rozemyne that it's obvious that the child with the most mana should become aub before more and more worldbuilding elements are introduced that explain why women are nevertheless mostly shut out of the position even when they want it, and it makes perfect sense that that would drive you absolutely insane. it's such a well-done take on fantasy governmental misogyny that, even though i find that trope devastatingly boring and often stemming from regular misogyny on the part of the creator when it's positioned as a matter of course, i really like georgine! i wish they let her cook a little more!

i think what i'm most unsatisfied with especially at the climax is how much of her spotlight is taken up by detlinde who i can only describe as "the generic villainess character the protagonist reincarnates as in villainess isekai manga" and gervasio who got his schtappe yesterday. so little of the admittedly complex plan to trap georgine even is shown onscreen and her actual plan is foiled by sylvester happening to leave the foundation at the correct time. i wish sylvester and the woman whose life he stole and georgine and the man who stole her life got to fight over the duchy that they were each meant to protect and that forced them into this position, in like a cooler way. the fact that even though everything was working against it being satisfying their actual conversation still got me is a testament to the strength of their dynamic.

in conclusion:

me explaining what georgine could've been

[uncreativeocs]

i omor 💀

Ok OMORI au time!! It doesn’t actually have a name yet lmao (OMORI spoilers obv, also gets really dark so if you don’t like self-mutilation kinda stuff don’t read pls :3)

Basically, instead of just Basil witnessing the accident, Kel and Aubrey do too. They want to call someone of course, but Basil panics and says that then the police will take Sunny away and then they’ll never see Mari or him ever again. (Keep in mind the squad is 12, they don’t exactly have the clearest idea of how the emergency services and stuff work.) So then Basil eventually comes up with the idea to frame the death as a suicide, but Aubrey speaks up and says that it won’t work because nobody would be fooled. Kel and Sunny don’t say anything really, Sunny is already disconnecting himself from everything and Kel is just staring at the body, unblinking.

 Aub and Basil come up with the idea to bury her instead, and so they all carry Maris body out to the forest and Basil gets his grandma’s gardening spade. A big thing about this au is that the recital was going to happen in winter (it was super snowy and the ground was really tough with ice) so the spade breaks before the hole could be big enough, and they eventually have to use the spade to chop Mari up a bit so they could throw all of her limbs into the hole. They do this by putting her on the picnic blankie so no blood gets in the snow. So they wrap her up in the blanket and put her in the hole, and fill it up halfway. 

I have this hc that the reason Basil thought to hang Mari was because he was really into these crime books at the time, so in the au he read in one of them about a killer who buried a dead animal on top of a human grave so any police dogs which smelled the body would lead people to dig up the dead animal and leave the human alone. So Aubrey, who’s been sobbing into Kel’s shoulder, hears this and remembers that one of her rabbit friends (other headcanon that Aubrey talks to wild bunnies a lot) had died recently, so they put it in the shallower hole above Mari and filled it all in. Hero never got involved, and the kids just said Mari went missing.

In the au, Headspace is all snowy, and all of the characters are black and white and wear clothes for cold weather except for Basil, Aubrey, and Kel. They wear their normal headspace clothes, and are their favourite colour. (This is because of Stranger ‘painting’ them one by one trying to make Sunny realise there’s something off about them and remember the truth, and the au has lots of Stranger paintbrush imagery. [Stranger’s purple.]) But HS Basil doesn’t have a mouth (he came up with most of the coverup ideas), HS Aubrey doesn’t have ears (she had to hear everything) and HS Kel doesn’t have eyes (all he did was stare). Also, Omori’s name is December because the calendar on the wall of Mari’s piano room was on December for months in preparation of the recital (which, yeah, was in December) so Sunny had to look at it like every day. Hero and Mari go on adventures with December, and the other three stay behind (near the end I imagine the three kids would be enemies themselves). One of the items December gets is a purple ‘hand-knitted scarf’ that Mari made for him because of the cold weather, otherwise he looks like normal.

In Faraway Town, Sunny is pretty much the same as in canon (Sunny and Omori/December don’t change much here lol). The other trio went a bit crazy though, understandably. The hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil theme is in play here as well, but a lot more messed up than in Headspace.

Basil stays away from everyone and always wears a face mask, never talking to anyone and spending all of his time painting in isolated places in the park and around town (it turns out that he sewed his mouth shut, not sure how nobody noticed that).

Kel starts wearing his hair in a fringe covering his eyes so he doesn’t have to look at the people he knows he’s lying to about Mari, and Aubrey starts hearing things and eventually stabs herself in both ears before cutting them off, deafening her. She also tries to commit suicide by slitting her wrists, but Kel saves her. She is sent to a mental hospital so they can keep an eye on her, and never really meets the Hooligans so she doesn’t have any escape for her anger, kind of just letting it simmer and isolating herself. Kel, feeling really lonely and starting to lose it too, stabs his eyes out so he can go join Aubrey. 

After a few years, Kel and Aubrey escape and just go off on an adventure together. They are really close in this au (I ship kelbrey, cactiflower, suntan, sunflower, sunburn, and swordflower, but in this the only ships that would really work are kelbrey and sunflower. I’m not going to add sunflower because December dislikes stranger a lot more here as Stranger is actively ‘ruining’ December’s friends [they were black and white like everyone else before Stranger painted them] so that dislike seeps into how Sunny subconsciously feels about Basil), and Kel is the only person Aubrey feels like she can let her emotions out with. Kel feels the same, putting up a cheerful front around everyone else. They do property damage together.

Hero doesn’t change much? He didn’t snap at Kel, but was extremely upset obviously when Kel y’know. Blinded himself (not at Kel ofc he just wants the best for his little bro). But other than that added trauma he’s doing pretty well

There should be more probably about the truth coming out or the different routes and stuff but without Kel and Aubrey I’m not really sure where to go so- that’s all I have so far, ik the squad is quite out of character but I have been thinking about this au nonstop for WEEKS now so I had to write it down somewhere 😭

[stevenbasic]

Growing into the Job, Post 360: That was Then, This is Now, p12

What remained of the upstairs apartment door swings open and crashes into the wall with a sharp >bang< as the two Others enter, say hello to the two receptionists who are with him.

“Bianca, Sammi hi he-“

“Crikey Aubs what the fuck?”

“Y-yeah someone broke in and-”

“And Jesus are you leaking?”

“N-no, uh, that’s just his, uh-”

“Thanks Aubrey we’ll take it from here.”

“b-but-“

“It’s okay, really.”

“Yeah, Olivia sent us. So piss off.”

“She wanted us to come up and take care of him…”

Lights are flickering overhead.

“We’ve got tits, too. See?”

“…and she’s the boss, right?”

The red haired woman’s voice is full of something powerful.

“R-right.”

“You should probably go too, Nadia.”

“Right.”

Two young women exit, leaving two behind with him. A door closes. 

They crouch down, one on either side. They study his face, his eyes moving in dream behind half-closed lids. The redhead reaches out, holds them open, gazes deep into him….

“Do you see what’s happening in there?”

“It’s, like, some kind of wonky protective charm.”

“Yep. But we can fix that.”

The redhead’s two hands go to his temples. Lights flicker anew as she begins to tap his skull with her fingernails: <clickety-clickety-click> The whites of his eyes change color as something fuchsin runs through their veins. 

"You saw what was happening in there? That was then. Let’s show him now."

“Haha bonkers. But Emily said-“

“Shut up. Now give him a kiss...”

…

I felt an immediate chill. The room, everything around me suddenly felt strange, a little different, certainly a little colder as my front desk girl, Aubrey, abruptly released me from her comforting embrace. I blushed, having just been held to her full young bosom, and noticed that the shadows in the office seemed deeper, and longer. Static crackled over the big band tunes coming from my new RCA desktop radio, and I saw there was a crack in one of my office windows…and it was growing. The girls, my medical assistants, had checked me out, making sure I hadn’t hurt myself moving that vending machine. Now that I think about it, how on earth had I done that? 

Lakshmi, Josie, Amelia - and is that Marisela? She’s wearing so much makeup - surrounded me. Someone was pouring me a whisky from my servette and another was now playing with the radio unit, changing channels, looking for the news. 

Something was about to happen.  Knock knock sweetie..! called a familiar voice from the door. Bodies around me shifted, away, and I looked to see-

Melissa!

Haha w-wow look at you! I said from behind the small crowd of women, someone less assured than I would have blushed from hearing the shaking in my voice. I was sure it was nothing to worry about. Always dressed to the nines for the office, Melissa naturally drew all eyes to her. She took my breath away, actually. You look like the b-bee’s knees! I said. 

Oh thank you sweetie! she sang, feigning a blush at my compliment as she stood in the doorway of the room. My girlfriend - how long had we been seeing one another? - was a real looker. A tall drink of water, for sure - almost as tall as me! And the figure on her? The knockers and those gams? Wow! She wore high heels and had my coffee, my morning joe, steaming hot and hopefully just as I liked it: black! 

She came in, the <click-clack-click> of her high heels echoing strangely loud, staccato against the new linoleum of my office floor. Is that a new dress, doll? I asked as I stood for the lady, obviously impressed with her appearance. Who wouldn’t be? 

<clickety-click-click> Really loud. Weird. When she reached me we were eye-to-eye; in fact haha in those heels she was a bit taller. You look like a m-million bucks. 

Take a picture, dreamboat, she purred in a private whisper, reaching to straighten my tie, her sparkling eyes on mine and a curl to her smile, it’ll last longer. 

I couldn’t help it, my eyes dropped down to her tits. Cleavage bulged above the neckline of her blue, polka-dot dress and I got a whiff of her Chanel N-…Huh. No…was she wearing something new? Whatever it was, the flowery scent gave me an immediate boner! That, and it reminded me of, wow, what we’d been doing in bed together recently. Those words she’d started using with me when we were alone, in the dark: ‘good boy’, ‘my little man’, ‘mama’s baby’…

Wow, she was really sumpthin’ else...

Eyes up here, tiger, she giggled softly, and took a step back to let me watch her set her shoulders, making sure to keep my interest. Here’s your coffee, boss, she continued, interrupting my reverie and sudden lapse of composure. Now the whole room was watching us. I put a little milk in it this morning for you, to help the tummy, she told me.

Oh, um, thanks, I replied, looking around awkwardly as the girls around me giggled. Something strange was happening.

Now, I heard something about you being very brave. Is that right? Melissa cooed, taking a step forward back towards me. Instinctively, for some reason, I took a step back.

Oh yes, Marisela chimed in, an acerbic edge to her voice I hadn’t heard earlier, You should have seen it. Dr. Jay pulled a vending machine right off of Mr. Kowalczyk. Had Marisela always been this <gulp> busty? Her black blouse had…wow, someone should tell her…popped a button. Or maybe three...

He was brave, very brave, Lakshmi cooed. Oh my gosh the way she swung her hips.

You would have been so proud, chimed in Josie.

Oh I am proud, I am so proud of our big, strong man, Melissa crowed indulgently, our brave boy.

Our knight in shining armor! Aubrey offered.  So brave, Lakshmi cooed.

The girls crept closer to me, surrounding me from all sides. They were praising me, but it didn't feel like praise. It felt like…something else.

So fucking brave, drawled Amelia.

This was weird, right? Something was slipping away from me, and it felt like my authority. I was the man here! I had to take control! And I couldn’t let that lapse in office propriety go. 

P-Please watch your language? I spoke to Amelia, wincing when I heard my voice crack, unsettled by the lack of conviction I heard in it. Amelia’s breasts seemed larger as well, larger than I remembered. Looking at them made me feel somehow smaller, and like I shouldn’t have dared to discipline her. 

Her long nails began to tap in rhythm on the desk. <clickety-clickety-click> <clickety-clickety-click>

Melissa had stepped up to me, and now grabbed me by the tie. She pulled me in for a kiss - wow, what a kiss! - that sent electric shocks all the way down to my toes. It even made the lights in the room hum and flicker! My eyes rolled in my head as her tongue took over my mouth. Someone had made sure my desk chair was right behind me and good thing because when Melissa released me my legs gave out and I fell backwards into it. 

The girls had begun to clap, again. <clap clap clap!> Why? What?

<clap clap clap!>

From my chair I looked up at Melissa.

Do I look taller from down there? she asked. 

Wh-what?

<clickety-clickety-click>

I know you like tall girls, she pressed, and I asked: do I look taller from way…down…there?

She inched forward a bit, peering down her nose at me. She’d begun to take hold of the hem of her short skirt. S-something strange was happening.

<clap clap clap!>

<clickety-clickety-click!>

Taller? Melissa continued, Bigger?

<clap clap clap!> wh-where is that coming from?

She began to turn around…

Let me show you how big I’ve gotten, sweetie, she purred, slowly lifting her skirts and bending over at the waist, how big I am now, back here…

M-Melissa w-w-wait! I sputtered, what are you d-???

My voice froze and I gasped as it came into view. Fucking Jesus Christ what’s happened?!? It was huge!

<clap clap clap clap clap clap>

<clickety-clickety-click>

I heard Melissa giggle and she put her hands down on the desk, cocked her mountainous hips up, towards me. Her frilly skirt was bundled about her waist. She was not wearing panties. 

Stand up. Show us how much of a man you are. 

<clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap…>

=====================================

[transdimensional-void]

was thinking about an AU where wilfried kept his big mouth shut when ortwin asked if dietlinde would be able to get the grutrissheit and adolphine was able to use that as an excuse to delay her marriage…

but THEN i thought of an even better AU where eglantine sacked up and decided to ensure anastasius’s position as future zent would be secure after their marriage. she could have leveraged her position as future queen to convince aub drewanchel to withdraw from the agreed betrothal between adolphine and the leftover prince. adolphine would have jumped on board enthusiastically. eglantine and anastasius could have offered some other kind of benefit to drewanchel to make it up to them…

then without the backing of a greater duchy, sigiswald would be at a serious disadvantage in the fight for the throne. he could have scrambled to obtain, say, hannelore? or dietelinde? but both would have strong reasons to turn him down. his only remaining pathway would have been to try to steal eglantine from anastasius. in which case, the moment he tried something, they could have used it as a position to fully take him out.

anyway, AU where adolphine never had to marry that sorry excuse for a prince and gets to become aub drewanchel :)

[cloudcountry]

The people: aub is Idia kinnie <3

Auburn:

SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP

[queeniecook]

June 13

Six days until it is officially my due date. Six days. I feel like I’ve been pregnant for a year and a half. Now, I am well aware of the fact that doesn’t mean that is when the baby will come. He or she could arrive before that or after. Caleb and I have come to an agreement that if I don’t go into labor by the 21st, that I’m getting induced.

In the meantime, we have everything done that we can get done before the baby arrives so now we wait.

Even Josie seems to be waiting. Sometimes I think she’s waiting to meet the baby before she joins Ares and Xena across the rainbow bridge. I don’t want to think that way and I constantly monitor her health but there’s a voice in the back of my head that won’t shut up about it.

On a happier note, I think Bluebelle is finally warming up to me and I’ve seemed to gained a feathery friend. There’s a hen that follows me around when I do chores. I don’t think I’ll be able to continue milking Bluebelle though, I almost didn’t make it up off the stool today.

I named the hen Betty after a favorite actress of mine. I’ve never had chicken cuddles before, despite being a Veterinarian but they were pretty sweet coming from her.

Aubree stopped in to see me today as well!

Caleb had to take our picture (after we annoyed him into it of course) this will probably be our last picture together while we’re both pregnant.

Aubree treated me to a spa day in the next town over, we also got some yoga in.

Along with some swimming and food. Food is a must, even if Aubs didn’t seem too thrilled with the hot dog she got of the fridge.

We also went dancing! I can still bust a move, sort of, even nine months pregnant. For some reason some guy was there taking pictures of everyone, it was odd.

We ended our day with more food, the bar food was better at least. I’m really glad Aubree took a day off to get me out of the house for a bit. I know it’s a bit risky to go away from home at this point probably but if I just sit at home and look at the clock in expectation, I’m going to go insane.

[yourbelgianthings]

no greater love

a hurt/comfort fic with aubrey and duck, takes place after the events of episode 28, tw self harm (not actively described)

“GOOD MORNING, DUCK NEWTON! ARE YOU AWAKE?”

“Well, geez, Minerva, I am now,” Duck mumbled as he rolled over and slowly blinked his eyes. He saw Minerva’s imposing form standing over the bed and couldn’t help but chuckle at the borrowed WVU sweatshirt and gray sweatpants she was wearing. All the residents of Amnesty Lodge who had recently moved in between Duck, Leo Tarkisian, and Mrs. Pearson’s apartments were already good to go on clothes due to usually existing in their human forms, but everyone had needed to pitch in to make a few outfits for Minerva. She was certainly enjoying her new permanent corporeal form, but a battle dress just wasn’t practical for laying low in the apartment. 

“I WILL GET YOU SOME COFFEE IF YOU’RE TIRED, DUCK! YOU NEED TO GET READY FOR THE BIG STRATEGY MEETING SOON!”

Duck could hear Minerva fumbling with the coffee maker, so he hurried to throw on a flannel and jeans to get out to the kitchen as soon as possible. Minerva was the most helpful roommate a guy could ask for, but she didn’t exactly have the hang of all the human appliances yet. As the two of them got coffee and breakfast ready, Leo, Jake, Dani, and Moira arrived from down the hall, with Barclay arriving shortly after from old Mrs. Pearson’s apartment. He set a tupperware of freshly-baked cinnamon muffins on the coffee table for everyone to enjoy.

“WHERE’S AUBREY, DUCK?”, asked Minerva, looking concerned as the group continued to assemble (Hollis and Keith had just arrived and were looking for a place to put down their motorcycle helmets, with Thacker and Ranger Juno Devine right behind them). 

“Come on Minerva, no need to worry. She’s probably just still asleep, she stays up later than either of us and not everyone can get up as early as you.”

Indrid Cold was the last one to arrive, in full striking mothman form, and taking a swig from his thermos of hot eggnog. Duck whipped around to face him.

“Indrid! You’re back?!”

Indrid laughed. “Yes, hello Duck. You do recall that I can see the future, yes? I wasn’t going to leave you hanging on the brink of the apocalypse.”

“Well, we’re sure glad to have you back. Take a seat wherever you can find one.”

Duck turned to survey his living room, which was currently seating an impossible amount of people, and smiled. There weren’t many people left he could trust, but the majority of those were right here. They were going to free Mama somehow, and Ned…well, he was gone for good and there was no use wishing differently, but he made the choice to save Dani and give the rest of them a chance to keep fighting. Duck would not see that sacrifice wasted. Now he just needed to wake Aubrey up and they’d be ready to go. Knock knock knock. No response. He knocked again and raised his voice:

“Aubrey? You gotta get up now, everyone’s here for the meeting. Barclay made muffins, they might be gone if you don’t hurry up!” 

A long pause, and then in an uncharacteristically emotionless voice, “Go away,” Aubrey replied. Duck was annoyed but could feel something might be off.

“Listen, I’m not your dad making you get up for school. We’re both adults and you know the stakes as well as I do. So if you need a minute, fine, but you gotta get out here.”

Aubrey screamed through the door, “GO AWAY, DUCK!”

His brow furrowed deeply. “I’m gonna open the door now, okay, Aubrey?” Duck gently turned the knob and then shut it again behind him. His eyes briefly flitted over the Lady Flame show poster on the wall, Dr. Bonkers sitting in his cage, Aubrey’s gloves and a Polaroid of her and Dani on the nightstand, but they quickly landed on Aubrey herself. She was sitting criss cross on the bed holding her pocketknife, flicking it open and shut, and staring at nothing. Duck sat down on the edge of the bed.

“What’s goin’ through your head, Aubs?” Aubrey turned her gaze to Duck but did not meet his eyes.

“Nothing, Duck. Like you said, you’re not my dad.”

Duck sighed and rested his hand on her knee. “Bullshit, Aubrey. Sure, I’m not your dad, but I’m your friend, and we gotta be there for each other or we’re never gonna make it out of this.

“We already didn’t,” said Aubrey harshly. “We was you and me and Ned. And he didn’t fuckin’ make it out.” As Duck raised his eyes to meet Aubrey’s, they landed on the knife. There was blood on the blade. 

“Give me the knife,” he demanded. Aubrey was too drained to resist, she simply dropped it on the bed between them.

Duck picked it up and asked quietly, “Aubrey, are you hurt?”

“In what way?” She laughed bitterly. “The last time I talked with Ned, we had a huge fight. He lied to me and I was furious. But in his letter to me, the last thing he said was that he loved me. And he got himself shot to save Dani. I have the Flamebright Pendant back now,” she fidgeted with the crystal as she spoke. “But I don’t want it if it means he’s gone. I owe him so much and I can never repay him now. Dani means so much to me but she deserves someone better.” Aubrey collapsed into sobs, practically falling onto Duck’s shoulder. He awkwardly put an arm around her and held her until her tears slowed. Duck Newton was a practical man, he had never been one for emotions, but he was determined to help Aubrey right now. When Aubrey raised her head, Duck passed over a box of tissues.

“I’ll be right back, just sit tight for a minute here.” Before Aubrey could reply, he was off, and returned with a wet washcloth, a dry one, and some bandaids. Aubrey simply held her arms out in front of her. Duck gently rolled up the sleeves and set about tending to her injuries.

“You know, Aubrey, you have nothing to punish yourself for. Do you think this would make Ned or Dani or anyone else feel better somehow?” She started to cry again but shook her head. “You said Ned wrote that he loved you. First off, you better take that to heart, because I knew that man a good long while and never heard him tell nobody else that. But, when you love someone, you don’t want to see them get hurt. You can’t bleed your guilt out, only time will take care of that.”

The two remaining members of the original Pine Guard trio embraced and stayed there for a while. Aubrey eventually pulled back and sighed deeply.

“Well, I guess I can’t save Kepler in my pajamas,” and she laughed for real this time. Duck smiled and stepped out into the hall. As Aubrey pulled on her ripped jeans and a clean sports bra, she looked at her bandaged arms in the mirror. They had armor now, Duck’s tenderness in caring for her at her lowest point helped her feel even stronger now. Then, she put on a tight black long sleeve t-shirt, her battle vest, gloves, and finally the Flamebright Pendant. 

As she sat and laced up her boots, she thought, “The Lady Flame is back!” She was ready to fight with her friends for the sake of their town and the world. Aubrey stepped outside and ran to sit on Dani’s lap. Dani simultaneously laughed and teared up, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

“I heard y’all were waiting for the Lady Flame! Well, without further ado, let’s get this started!” As she said this, a smile spread across Aubrey’s face that she hadn’t felt for a while and her fingers flickered with fire.

[aubeezz]

how many boobs am i allowed to give before it explodes

[jj-the-writer]

Day 3 @kelbreyweek:

Minor omori spoilers.

Flower Languages

20XX. Start of Spring.

Endless chatter can be heard through the school yard on this Friday, countless children running around, playing ball or hide and seek, eating snacks and having a good time. A small group of children though, were sitting on a pavement talking...

Kel and Aubrey: "Whaaaaaaat?!" Exclaim the two curious children to their friend.

Basil: "It's true! Every single flower has a meaning behind it! It's called the language of flowers, my grandma gave me her old encyclopedia book from the time she used to garden more, it has all the flowers and what they mean!"

Sunny only listened to basil silently, yet intrigued.

Kel: "No way! That's so cool! I never would've thought that flowers had deeper meanings!"

Aubrey: "Ofcourse they do Kel! Don't you know about the rose? Everyone knows the rose symbolizes passion and love!" Replied Aubrey to tease Kel with her knowledge while sighing dreamily at the mention of love.

Basil: "Well, that's not entirely true! The rose is actually the first entry in my book, it says that roses can mean many many different things depending on their color! For example, pink roses symbolize admiration, orange roses symbolize passion, yellow roses symbolize friendship and the list goes on!" Basil corrected Aubrey in a matter-of-fact kind of voice.

Kel: "HA! I guess you don't know that much after all Aubrey!"

Aubrey: "Shut up Kel! Basil said I wasn't wrong! You're so stupid, ugh!"

Kel: "No matter what you say you can't hurt me! No matter how hard you try! Your words don't reach me!" He said mockingly.

Aubrey: "Well no matter what YOU say, I know I'm right, because you're annoying!"

Sunny let out a sigh and Basil laughed softly.

Suddenly Basil had a realization.

Basil: "Hey guys! You two remind me of a couple of flower entries I read on my book yesterday!" Basil pulls out a notebook and a pencil from his backpack and he gets to drawing.

All three of his friends try to peek at his drawing but Basil didn't let Aubrey or Kel see. Sunny lets out a small laugh as Basil keeps on drawing.

Basil: "Alright! Here we are!" Basil presents his notebook to his friends with a big smile on his face. On one page it reads 'KEL' at the top of the paper with a drawing of a cactus below it. Then it reads 'Strong and resilient'. On the next page it reads 'AUBREY' at the top and below is a surprisingly detailed drawing of a gladiolus which reads 'strength of character and moral values'.

Basil: "I read these two entries yesterday, and your fighting reminded me of them. Kel, you don't get hurt easily by what others say, you stay strong no matter what you hear! 'Strong and resilient' like a cactus! Aubrey, no matter how much others may disagree with you, you will stick to your own beliefs no matter what! Which shows your 'strength of character'!"

The two children look at the drawings in awe, partly because they were impressed with basil's drawings and because they were intrigued by the connection he made. But before they could respond the bell rings and they all slowly walk over to their class to continue their day, this topic was left untouched... Until two days later.

Sunday afternoon, the group had arranged to meet over at Sunny and Mari's place, like they do every Sunday to hang out. First arrived Hero with his brother who was holding a plastic bag with something inside.

Hero: "Hello Mari! Hey Sunny!"

Mari: "Hello handsome! Hi Kel, whatchu got there?"

Hero: "It's a secret for later, he'd rather wait till Aub- till everyone is here until he shows it to everyone" Hero responds for his brother.

Kel: "It's a secret." Repeated Kel in a lower than usual voice, his cheeks with the tiniest hint of pink.

Sunny and Mari seemed curious, sunny even tried to take a peek but Kel stopped him.

Later came Basil, he greeted every one of his friends with a smile. He asked Kel about the bag but the usual "It's a secret." was his only response.

Last arrived Aubrey. She held a medium sized cardboard box in her hands. Kel went over to her and looked at her for a second before Aubrey said "What?" As Kel was brought back to reality from his thoughts he bolted and picked up his plastic bag carefully and gave it to Aubrey while looking away. "I got this for you..." Aubrey had a shocked look on her face but she kept her calm and responded. "Well... I got this for you!" She said as she gave the cardboard box to Kel.

Aubrey opens Kel's bag first and finds a flower pot with dirt and a small bud poking out of it.

"It's a gladiolus..." Said Kel shyly "I thought about what basil said and he's right, you do have a strong character, and maybe you're a little stubborn." he finished with his tongue out to poke fun at her. Aubrey waited for the right time to strike back.

Kel opened Aubrey's box and found a pot with a spherical cactus. "Basil said you're strong and resilient, and that may very well be true, but you're also a prick, so that cactus fits you perfectly." She finished with a smug smile, proud of her comeback.

Basil who witnessed all this was on the verge of tears, sunny pat his back as if to say "good job".

The kids bantered once again after the gift exchange but they both ultimately felt greatful that the other thought of them.

Mari stands up with a small frown. "Well well! Look at the two of you fighting again! You just exchanged gifts for crying out loud!" She smiled at the both of them and continued. "I think you should hug it out and thank each other this time."

Now, Mari had tried before to reconcile the both of them, but it usually ends up with the both of them saying "EW!" and backing away. However this time, flustered as they both were, they let a miracle happen.

Kel moved closer to Aubrey with small movements, and he slowly raised his little kid arms to give Aubrey time time to react. In turn she also raised her hands and they both went for a hug. The hug lasted around 5 seconds, in which time the both of them felt at ease, maybe a little too at ease.

Everyone who was looking at them was so shocked their jaws dropped. However as soon as the kids realized they got too comfortable, their faces became red and they started bantering once again. This made their friends in the room laugh.

In reality the both of them wished for the hug to continue, but that thought only made their faces more red...

Years later... (Before sunny comes out of his house in the game)

Kel just came home from practice and entered his room, in the meantime Aubrey climbed the stairs to her room and let out a sigh... Aubrey sat on her bed and Kel laid on the floor to his side of the room. Kel looked at his window and spotted a small spherical cactus standing tall... Aubrey looked at her own half-destroyed window and spotted a flower pot with a gladiolus that had bloomed beautifully...

The both of them take their pots in their hand and say (unknowingly) in unison...

"I miss you..."

[gumgumvibecheck]

wishing death and violence on everyone else in this fucking staff meeting

behaving like someone whos experiencing sleep deprivation. which has nothing to do with the 4 hours of sleep that happened to me last night

[florixgen]

𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚕𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎

WHEW…. this is the first paragraph i’ve written in 562 days ! please bare with me.

“Aubrey?”

Aubrey Sinclaire’s head perked up at the mention of her name, twisting her attention from her comic book towards the soft voice coming from her doorway.

She turned around to notice a short, 6 year old girl with her hair tied into braids wearing lavender pajama’s that were clearly too big for her. They were Aubrey’s.

“[____]?” Aubrey called out to her little sister peeking from behind her door, holding a stuffed animal of a deer tightly to her chest. [____] muttered something practically unintelligible, but they were something Aubrey could practically hear inside of her mind. She nodded her head quickly, scooting to her wall to make some space in her bed. [____] sat down with a small smile.

“It’s fine. I’m having trouble sleeping, too.” Aubrey shot a smile back at [____], a comic resting in her lap as she reached out to ruffle up her sister’s hair. Black strands stuck out messily from [____]’s braids, and she giggled like the child she was. 

“Why’s your hair braided, anyway? It’s 11 pm.”

“I want my hair curly tomorrow.” [____] mumbled quietly, fidgeting with the deer plushie beneath her hands. She waved it around like it was flying. Aubrey just laughed, lying down onto her back with her hands over her stomach. [____] followed, and they both stared at the ceiling. The plastic decorative vines hanging off her windows, the fairy lights curtained across the perimeter of her walls, and the glow-in-the-dark star-stickers that [_____] had tried to help out with but ended up falling flat on her face. A moment of peace.

“Nova.” Aubrey broke the silence, her eyes still locked with the comfort of her bedroom.

“Hm..”

“You know I’ll always be here for you, right?”

“No matter how old you get, I’m here if you need me.”

“…I know that, Aubs.”

“Just making sure.” Aubrey reached out to ruffle Nova’s hair once again, and Nova wailed in annoyance. She rolled away from Aubrey so that her back was facing her, and Aubrey let out a small chuckle. She just let her eyes fall shut for the night, and drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

A sharp pain blistering her skin had snapped her out of what had been nothing short of a memory, nearly screaming her lungs out as she recoiled from a campfires warmth. Her hands had absent-mindedly drifted towards the bonfire, and sparks of the flames had been burning their way into her wrist. They were just more marks to be disgusted by.

She looked up at a cotton candy sky, the rising sun making its way through the horizon.

How long had she stayed up?

How many days had she been staying up? 

How long had it been since she heard another person’s voice?

All of a sudden, her emotions came crashing down on her all at once. Tears made their way into her eyes, her fingernails digging into her skin as the water droplets came down like a river’s stream. She hugged the only pair of hands she could find, holding herself tightly as she cried desperately into her own arms. She wanted her sisters back, but nothing was new.

It was just another day of silence.

It was just another day of loneliness.

It was just another day of emptiness.

[ming-sik]

Thoughts on Veronica and how most fanfics seem to blame her well... *gestures to everything about her* this because of her 'lack of education' and not how she (and her siblings) may or may not have been targeted by the Lesiegang faction due to her lineage?

Ik most fanfics make it out that she's insaine for wearing veils while in the fanfic Ahrensbach wears veils to 'protect themselves from sun's rays' and treat it like canon and for importing spices from Ahrensbach as this huge threat to the duchy because (insert 100+ medical reasons) and honestly? It reads like someone who's wanting to become a bit closer to their dead mother by practicing things her dead mother practised (and don't get me started on how yucky I feel everytime when Rozemyne superiorly tells everyone how spices are ruining their stomachs and the amounts of spice they eat is 'unsafe', conveniently ignoring how spicy South Asian food can get yet not many over there's forming stomach ulcers or on the verge of death because they smell 1 tokbokki-)

Anyways, I'd really like to know your thoughts on this!

So previously I did not know that much abt aob fanfic but.

IMO the answer is that AOB is classist/misogynist/xenophobic and fans end up either picking up on that or being drawn to it. It's a pretty simplistic answer but it explains a lot of the really strange behavior that goes on.

Veils are pretty clearly an attempt to invoke hijab which is by itself fine, YS is actually desperately lacking cultural differences between duchies, and if that's a Lanzenavian custom that's been imported to Ahrensbach that'd actually mimic how wimples are at least believed to originate from hijab. However even the way canon treats veils is really weird. Veils shielding you from the sun is actually mentioned in p5v6 during this Detlinde pov chapter

but since Detlinde and Georgine are veiled indoors, they're also almost definitely worn for cultural reasons. All of which is again fine... except that they're the evil duchy. The veiled characters we see are Detlinde, Georgine, Veronica, and Aurelia(Fraularm and Alstede aren't veiled, so this is presumably an optional cultural practice). Three of them are villains, while Aurelia's reason is that she's ashamed of strongly resembling Veronica and wants to hide her face, which would be an absurd thing to expect of her, except that Ferdinand never shuts the fuck up about Detlinde looking like Veronica so she probably would face discrimination for resembling someone in her family. There is not a single even neutral female character... well, in Ahrensbach, but also specifically who wears a veil except Aurelia who's wearing hers for a very specific reason unrelated to her being from Ahrensbach.

Aurelia also gets discriminated against for wearing a veil, which would've been a decent way to show a conflict where a likeable character ISN'T portrayed as the unambiguous good party except that the story doesn't seem to think this is strange. No characters really push back on the validity of this suspicion and Aurelia herself seems to accept it as a matter of course. The fact that fans have obviously picked up on the fact that veils are meant to be a strange exotic cultural practice and are writing characters that way themselves is pretty telling.

As you say, it's fine to veil. There are a lot of reasons to do it from the utilitarian sun protection to propriety to her being proud of being from Ahrensbach, which is in itself neutral unless you accept the premise that Ahrensbach is the evil duchy or you think veils are inherently suspicious.

Veronica's lack of archduke candidate education is obviously irrelevant because she managed to scheme enough to create the Veronica faction. The women had a phd in machinations and knowledge of enough archducal matters to function as the Aub's first wife, so either she got an archducal education once she was married or she just didn't need it which could be how it works because unlike female aubs, female archducal wives aren't expected to take over their husband's work when their husbands are pregnant. Even if she was uneducated enough that she struggled with handling administrative duties, how this would lead to her abuse is a problem we apparently have our strongest misogyny soldiers working on because those two things are unconnected. In canon characters outside of Rihyarda are pretty uninterested in why Veronica or Gabriele are the way they are, but most people aren't evil because they're stupid, they're evil because they have what they believe to be a completely valid motivation for whatever heinous thing they're doing, and the way YS treats faction politics definitely could've been a major source of her desperation to solidify her power alongside her stated internalized misogyny. (Her internalized misogyny isn't necessarily the story's misogyny, but it is strange that this isn't really pushed back on and the only victim who gets much spotlight is Ferdinand despite Veronica seeming to target women much more harshly.)

None of this is a defense of Veronica, I disagree with the thing where she systemicatically abused and ostracized a massive portion of the duchy and my condolences to her victims, but the ways AOB chooses to signal that especially female characters are villains is notable and by notable I mean falls into some patterns. This is mainly that damnable Ferdinand's fault because he 1) will not shut the fuck up about how everyone he dislikes is basically his mommy reincarnated and 2) hates women so much it's unreal, so the fact that he's Rozemyne's main source for a lot of characters colors that. You could argue that this is him and other characters intentionally being written as unreliable narrators, but if that's true then it's a little strange that the fandom is so united on taking his word as gospel, and when read it does not come off that way. Veronica's deal being attributed to stupidity might come from how Ferdinand treats Detlinde if I had to find a reason for it, but honestly the machinations of the AOB fandom are in some ways incomprehensible to me.

The spice thing is just straight up racist. It's racist in canon, the way that all spices are lumped together when both nutmeg and chili peppers are "spices" despite having wildly varying flavors and effects is in itself racist. We don't get a single named spice. Are they talking about peppercorns? Chili peppers? Nutmeg? Cumin? What about ginger? Even assuming we're talking about specifically capsaicin, spicy food causing ulcers is mostly pop science, and the health risks beyond short-term pain pale in comparison to, like, alcohol. Spice tolerance is a thing and Rozemyne might not like a ghost pepper, but shockingly yeah cultures with a lot of spicy food aren't pretending to enjoy it as an elaborate bit(tteokbokki are Korean but I know what you're getting at). If Ahrensbach people eat food flavored with fantasy bird's eye peppers from a young age they're not gonna experience any problems from eating spice unless they have unrelated health issues.

As with everything the defense of this is probably that the characters are unreliable narrators. I've spent a lot of time arguing with people on this so at some point I just have to say that if every sympathetic character in the story is parroting something and no conflict ever arises from the fact that they're incorrect then the story is just having a character say something that is true in universe, and the fact that Ahrensbach and by proxy Lanzenavian culture are treated the way they are is xenophobic in Ahrensbach's case and racist in Lanzenave's. Fans are Like That because they pick up on this stuff and either uncritically accept it as just a thing that's true about AOB's worldbuilding that's neutral or were already prejudiced and therefore had no conflict when the story confirmed those prejudices. Which is another thing. If these characters are meant to be unreliable narrators, you'd think the fandom wouldn't uncritically accept character testimony so often!

[wordycheeseblob]

i started clavis's route agian so you can ask for updates again and i will officially have something to say LMAO

but basically i just got to the part when theyre talking to silvio and hes like "SO MC WHY ARE YOU AT THE PALACE" and then clavis is like "we're lovers" and shes like "we're friends" at the same time and they have this whole SOAP OPERA in font of them until silvio tells them to shut up LMAO

LMAO the image of Silvio being DONE and just waiting for them to stfu 😭

Clavis and MC have such good chemistry I swear they're so smart but so dumb they're made for each other aub just you wait just you wait you'll see it gets way better.

They're kind of like those two here, just so goofy I love Clavemma so much uuuuugggh