#aubs shut UP

[aubeezz]

how many boobs am i allowed to give before it explodes

[ryouran-nijigasaki]

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

[amandaanddonnie]

SISTER WIVES Season 19 Episode 11 - teaser

[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

[brummiereader]

Binding Love (Part Five/ Dark!Tommy)

Summary: After your attempts to stop your child's innocent curiosity from revealing the secrets your husband had kept buried at the bottom of your garden. Tommy learns of your frightful discovery and his sins he wished to keep unearthed. Will you be able to escape in time before your husband's threatening shift of character returns?

Warnings: Dark!Tommy, language, violence, psychological mind games, controlling behaviour, toxic relationship, manipulative behaviour, psychological abuse, mutual pining, angst, murder.

Word Count: 4K

Authors Note: The song "Little Tommy Tucker" is an old English nursery rhyme from the 1700's. A song Tommy Shelby would have known.

[Masterlist] [Previous Part] [Trailer]

"102, you have a fever. No school today" you placed the glass thermometer on your daughter's bedside table before tucking her securely under her frilly duvet.

" I'm not sick" Elsie pouted, wriggling her arms out of the cocoon of covers.

" It's lying, Mummy!" she huffed, flipping herself away from you as she kicked off the last of her covers with her little legs.

" What's going on here, eh?" Tommy opened the door, looping his tie through its knot as you sprang up from the edge of your daughter's side, grabbing the piping hot glass of water off her cabinet.

" She's sick" you quickly replied, darting to the window as you guzzled down the tumblers' scorching contents. Proof of your calculated plan of action, a plan that deemed it imperative your daughter stay home for the day.

" She doesn't feel hot, love" Tommy rested the back of his hand on her head as he glanced down at the contradicting dial of the thermometer whilst your trembling hands clasped around your burning throat.

" So I can go to school?" your daughter's hazel eyes beamed up at her father, eager to keep her high score and winning position in the competitive game of hop scotch that had taken over play time every day going on near a week.

" No Elsie!" you snapped with a strained voice, resting the weight of your body on the windowsill with shaky hands as your eyes, rimmed red with countless hours of little sleep, honed in on the daily reminder of the crime scene hidden beyond the trees a short distance from your childs bedroom.

" Listen to your mother, eh?" Tommy's eyes darted to you with concern, brows creasing at your usually contained patience for your daughter's head strong determination.

" Tell me then, what have I done?" you felt your husband's hands slip around your waist with a chuckle, cheek pressing against yours as you squeezed your eyes shut. Shutting out the intrusive thoughts of his murderous hobbies and the hands that committed them wrapped around your body.

How long could you keep this up before he learnt of your discovery? you thought to yourself as you turned around to face the pair of loving blues gazing at you, the calloused pads of his hands laced in sin, soothingly stroking circles into the curves of your hips.

" Nothing" you shook your dipping head from the knitted brow, from the searching eyes unconvinced of your response staring back at you.

" I'm probably coming down with something too, is all" your eyes darted up to the fading smile of your husband, his soft touch coming to a sudden stop. Sudden enough that his silent observations had a ball of nerves fall to your already uneasy stomach, sick of the gruesome secrets your husband had been keeping buried.

Trembling hands gliding up his arms, you quickly turned your welling eyes from him as you settled your head on his chest. If not to only settle the turning wheels behind his crystal aubes from seeking the truth of your jittery composure, but to give yourself a brief moment to gather your wrecked nerves before you finally cracked under the weight of his searing stare.

Arms wrapping around you, Tommy breathed heavily into the locks of your hair, pressing a longing kiss to the top of your crown as his heavy hands stroked along your back. Fooled for a brief moment by your affectionate display you had begun to perfect.

" You're going to be late" you pulled away with a forced smile of any loving wife, tending to him as you smoothed the creases of his shirt your shaky body had crumpled before returning to your child, away from his luring affections that would have you stop you from doing the unthinkable. Fleeing.

As the sound of your husband's heavy footsteps, and roar of his Bentley's engine announced his leave, you raced from your hovering position in the landing hallway to his office and the only phone in your grand home.

" 56 Whitby Lane, Birmingham. Mrs Langing" your breathy voice echoed down the line as your eyes darted away from the blissful image of you and Tommy on your wedding day, sat within the four corners of a wooden frame on top of his desk.

" Putting you through" the operator replied as the faint sound of her plugging your line into the switchboard could be heard through each shaky breath that left your throat.

" How are you Dorothy? Been keeping well after your fall down Earlsberry Road?" you said what had been instructed to you countless times as your eyes darted to the clock on the wall, counting each tick of the hand until two minutes had passed.

As idle chat about the weather and village gossip continued, your heart began to rapidly race within your chest as you feared you would run out of meaningless conversation before the listening ear of the operator finally hung up.

" Yes, they say it might warm up by the weekend" you hoped the dreary discussion of weather would have her opt out of the call earlier than anticipated when your voice came to a stuttering stop, fingers seconds from ending the conversation as the love shared between you and Tommy in the black and white picture caught your drifting eyes once again.

You could just forget about it. Ignore it. Pretend like you hadn't seen anything, you selfishly thought to yourself, desperately trying to push the faces of the men that found themselves in the crossfire of your and Tommy's crumbling marriage from your thoughts as you felt your heart being pulled back to the loving side of your husband he still baited you with.

" Y/N?" you heard your name through the crackling line.

" Are you there? She's gone." the stranger whose voice you only knew, a stranger who held your life in their hands, your desperation you trusted they would relay to the officer who had first sought you out as you wiped the blurry image of you and Tommy from your tears and followed through with your decision.

" I'll give him any information he needs. Please, just get me and my child to safety before it's too late"

" Moles, big ones" your feet came to a stop upon hearing the muffled voice of your child from outside the kitchen door as you leant your tired body on it's frame, having spent the remainder of the morning aimlessly pacing the halls of your home until the impending hour of your departure striked.

" D'you want me to shoot 'em down for you El? Pop 'em off one by one?" you heard a low hearty chuckle respond as you threw open the door in fear your daughters' innocent curiosities would land you in a six-foot deep grave next to said, mole hills.

"Johnny" your hand flew to your chest as you saw Tommy's close confidant and friend to the family ruffling your daughter's hair as he sat beside her at the kitchen table with a cigar perched between his teeth.

" Elsie here says you've got moles" he questioned, grinning back at your daughter whose kicking legs and dimpled smile was pleased someone was enthusiastic as her about Arrow Houses new neighbours after your continued endeavour to have her forget about her gruesome discovery.

" Elsie, that's enough. Stop telling Johnny porkies" you scolded her as you busied yourself with the piling dishes in the sink, feeling the guilt of your lies heating your cheeks as your daughter began to profusely insist on their existence.

" Your imagination will get you into mischief one day" you felt your heart sink at each reprimanding word that left your mouth as you wiped your thumbling hands on the tea towel, turning to see the wobbling bottom lip of your daughter.

" But we do" she sniffed, eyes pooling with tears as she looked up at your creased brow and your unfair scolding of her.

"Three of them. In...in a line, like this" she hiccuped the last of her tears back with each word as she showed Dogs the arrangement of muddy hills with the miss match of cutlery she had set out for the tea party he found himself attending as she scowled at you.

" Three! Bleeding Christ, we have an army of moles on our hands, Y/N!" Where are the little buggers?" he played along to her tale as your daughter's saddened face began to turn into a giggling grin.

" Elsie..." your fingers nervously began to clutch around the floral towel in your hands, jittery feet walking you towards the edge of the wooden table as you slowly shook your head at your daughter, silently pleading with her to not reveal their location.

" Three moles, eh?" Tommy's voice suddenly announced his presence with a cloud of smoke billowing into the room, suited body leaning against the frame of the door as his eyes roamed over your rapidly seeping nerves.

How long had he been standing there, watching you? How much had he heard? your mind began to throw questions at you as you locked eyes, his glaring stare reading the cascade of unspoken fears whirling through your head.

"You're home" you pulled a smile through the panic you felt as you pathetically tried to turn the tide of conversation, failing to fool your husband with the happy curiosity you was desperately trying to convey.

" Elsie, tell Daddy where these...moles are, so Johnny and his boys can get rid of them" he ignored your remarks as his piercing glare, fixed on you and the truth you had tried to conceal stayed unmoved.

" Down by the woods" your daughter happily responded as she trotted her pony over her makeshift mountains of mud made of porcelaine as Johnny leant back in his chair with heavy sigh.

" Down by the woods" his echoing response came with a tone of parental disappointment for you and your stumbling feet that made the unfortunate mistake of discovering his minor...transgressions.

" Well" he blew the last of his cigarette to the beamed ceilings as he stalked forward to your cowering side.

"We can't have these moles turning up half my land can we, love?" his hand snaked across your back, giving the spongy flesh of your hip a sharp squeeze to play along to the charade you had started as your daughter enthusaitlly nodded her head.

"Johnny" he nodded to his loyal friend who sprung up with a slap to his knees before drinking the last of his tea from the dainty porcelaine play set as Tommy's head snapped to you.

" I came home to check on you. Good thing i did, else we would have had an infestation on our hands" he brushed the whispy hairs from your face as your eyes brimming with tears and mumbling voice betrayed the fear you felt for the man that had taken over your husband.

"You ok, love? Nothing to tell me?" he continued to toy with you and the ruleless game you found yourself playing along to.

" No" you shook your head, embodying your part as the dumb wife, oblivious to her husband's secrets until he left, until you found the right moment to escape.

"Huh" a heavy scoff fanned across your lips as he stepped back to your daughter contently playing with her cherished toys. Maybe you finally understood, finally saw that he was just trying to keep you safe.

"Elsie, Daddy has to go back to work. But I'll be back in time to read you your bedtime story. Me and mummy both will, won't we?" his eyes darted across the room to you slowly slipping out the door with a nodding head of agreement.

" No goodbye kiss for your old man" he stoped you between the woody frame of the kitchen door with a lunging step and reaching hand as your darting eyes had no choice but to acknowledge his dipping head trying to catch your line of sight.

"Goodbye....darling" you pressed a chase peck to his cheek, pulling away to see the protruding bone of his jaw bulging from his cheek.

" Got somewhere to be that's so urgent, you can't kiss your husband properly, hm?" he cocked a brow lifting your slouching chin with his thumb to meet his eyes.

" No..." you mumbled when you suddenly felt yourself being abruptly pulled out of the kitchen to its adjoining wall, your body pushed up against the painted brick as Tommy's veiny hands, straining with fury cupped your cheeks, forcing a passionate kiss from you.

" Be good" he pulled back with a smirk from your abused lips, swollen from his enthusiastic show of dominance as he left you with a heaving chest, trembling hands searching for the wall behind you to steady your shaking body.

" Don't let her step a fucking foot out of this house, understood" Tommys hushed commands were given to his man stood at the entrance of your home as he straightened his tie with a crank of his neck, eyes snapping back to you before he left to the sound of the heavy doors slamming you shut inside.

" Can we go play now?" your daughter's mousey voice startled you from the fear your husband had left you with as she tugged at your dress.

" Yes...let's play" you grabbed her hand, turning to the winding stairs of your home with hurried steps and the task in hand. One you'd have to convince your daughter to play along to if you was ever going to flee from the fortress you once called your home.

" Let's play...road trip"

Racing from draw to draw, you stuffed your shared suitcase with the last of your daughter's clothes to start the new life far from the fogged city of Birmingham as your twiddling-haired child sat on the floor watching her frantic mother.

" This game's boring" she huffed, tucking her hand under her chin as she rested her elbow on her knobbly knee.

" Come on Elsie, don't be a spoil-sport" your eyes darted out the window to Tommy's man swigging the last of the bottle of ale you had one of your maids offer him in hopes he'd find an urgent need to relieve himself and leave his post so you could quietly escape without being noticed.

" Elsie...Elsie darling, pass me your hairbrush" you ushered her to help you pack as you peered behind the curtains with a triumphant smile at the peaked man's fidgety legs pacing back and forth as your daughter groaned behind you, rising from her comfy position on the hand stitched rug.

" Little Tommy Tucker, sings for his supper. What shall we give him? White bread and butter" your daughter began to sing as she hop scotched her way over to her dresser, her pony galloping in tow in the air.

Come on, come on, your brain screamed for him to race to the closest loo, bush, brick wall, whatever it be to release the liters worth of beer he'd consumed as your daughters nursery rhyme began to push through your preoccupied thoughts.

"How shall he cut it, without a knife?" she merrily sang in tune, brushing the mane of her pony with the silver-plated hairbrush as she padded towards your widening eyes, too enthralled in her horse's luscious locks to notice the horror growing on your face.

" Elsie, where did you learn that song?" you stepped away from the window, ushering her to you with your hand stretched out in urgency.

" How will he be married, without a...wife?" she stopped at your feet, finishing the last notes of the innocent rhyme that had suddenly taken on a far darker meaning as she handed you the brush. " Here mummy"

" Elsie, who taught you that song?" you reiterated as you bent down to her little frame and swaying legs, almond eyes looking up at you through her lashes. "Elsie?"

" Daddy did" your heart sank to the pit of your stomach at the harrowing lengths your husband had gone to keep you in check.

" We're leaving. Now" your panicked thoughts of what Tommy would do when he returned had you grabbing your daughter's hand and the suitcase at your feet as you rushed from her bedroom.

" But I thought it was just a game?" her breath and little legs tried to catch up to your racing feet as you fled down the stairs.

" No Elsie, we're going away. Just you and me. On holiday" partial truths to your plan had your daughters scrunched brow of confusion looking up at you as you came to a halting stop at the bottom of the stairs, apprehensively eyeing up the towering doors and your escape.

" Daddy!" your daughter pulled you to the picture of the three of you sat atop of your foyers wooden table with tugs to your hand.

Grabbing the ornate silver frame of happy memories, you pulled her with quickened steps to the imposing doors, silently preying to every heaven, every deity, that Tommy's guard had finally succumbed to his ballooning bladder as you pushed the doors open.

" Ay, ay, ay!" he shouted in midstream, head snapping to the sound of your gravelly footsteps across the gritted drive as his thumbling fingers adjusted himself back into his trousers.

" Mrs Shelby, no one's to leave. Tommy's orders!" he raced after you, watching you pull your six-year-old up into your arms as you threw open the car door, causing Elsie's horse to fly from her hands in the chaos.

"Mummy! Mummy my pony!" she screamed as you slammed the door shut, locking you inside from the thrashing hands of Tommy's henchmen pummeling against the glass window.

" Stop, Elsie!" you snapped in a panic, as you turned the ignition, foot pressed to the peddle until the rumbling wheels of your husband's car screeched down the driveway.

" Please, please, please!" your eyes darted from your childs sobs to the end of the path and the road block you hoped was in place for your frantic escape.

"Daddy! I want Daddy!" your six-year-old screamed beside you, desperately trying to open the car door as you swerved around the corner past the towering iron gates to the Shepard waiting with his flock. His trusted four legged helper, patiently keeping control over the unruly heard until he was given his whistling orders.

" Yes, yes!" a laugh of disbelief had your eyes darting from the country road ahead of you to the rear-view mirror and the car of Tommy's henchman being blocked off by the wooly heard crossing the road.

"Yes..." your excited achievement quickly sizzled out, your sweaty hands clutching the steering wheel as you looked down at your daughter curled up in her chair sobbing with Arrow House fading over the bushy hedgerow behind her.

And then it came, as the rush of the moment began to settle, as the adrenaline pumping through your veins faded and your decision began to sink in.

Divorce was one thing. But leaving, taking his daughter from him, an entirely different move you suddenly felt the reality of as a gasping sob left your throat and the dam of heartbreak streamed your cheeks.

" Elsie..." you quietly wept, hand reaching for her as the bricked chimneys of your home disappeared over the hilly fields of green, the binding ties of your marriage breaking.

" I want daddy" she sniffed, turning from you and the pit of sadness you were dwelling in, for the fleeting decades worth of memories and the man that would expect you to be there on his return, passing you by.

Too late to turn back, to forgive and forget the emerging darkness from within the only man you had ever known. Your future had now been tossed into the hands of the inspector that promised you refuge.

For fate would deal you a far deadlier hand, than that of Tommy Tucker's wife from the innocent nursery rhyme of your child if you dared to return and face the impending retribution of your husband's punishments.

Wheels coming to a screeching stop, Tommy threw open his car door, eyes widening with fury at the man that had let you escape as he pulled his gun from within its leather halter.

" Boss, I..." the mumbling soldier's last words were cut off with a bullet between his eyes as Tommy coldly took him out.

"Fuck sake" Arthur mumbled, stood at the doors of Arrow House with his weapon in hand, ready to threaten his brother into control by any means as he watched the trickling crimson river approach his laced boots.

" Where are they? Y/N! Elsie!" Tommy pushed past his shoulder into the grand foyer of his stately home with a roar. Unwilling, unable, to believe the urgent phone call that had him slamming the brassy receiver down onto its bronze stand as he bolted for his car.

" Tommy, they're not here. We've checked the whole place. Tom!" Arthur rested his hands on his hips with a strained sigh as he watched his brother take two lunging steps at a time up the imposing staircase until he disappeared around the corner.

" Y/N!" he shouted your name, throwing each door open with determination to find proof that you hadn't done the unthinkable, that you hadn't left him and taken his daughter with you.

" No..." reality finally hit him as he opened the last door to Elsie's bedroom, to the scene of clothes strung across the room, evidence of your frantic escape.

With widened eyes brimming with disbelief, with reddening fury on the tethering edge of implosion. The blood drained from Tommy's legs as his feet gave way to the overwhelming surge of defeat that had plummeted to his stomach he was desperately battling to keep down.

You had done it. You had left him.

"Fuck!!" Tommy's bellowing voice boomed from wall to wall as a cascade of furniture being thrashed about the disheveled room echoed through the floorboards to a flinching Arthur stood in the foyer, teeth baring at every crash of destruction.

" Now, Tom..." Arthur put his hands up, blocking the entrance as Tommy came thundering down the stairs having trashed every breakable object in a tirade of uncontrollable rage.

" Get out of my way, Arthur" your husband grabbed the gun from his hands, cranking back the barrel as he unloaded bullet after bullet into anything and anyone unfortunate enough to be within firing shot outside his home. The clanging of each cylinder hitting the ground, releasing his fury shot after shot until he came down from the tormenting inability to take the pain he felt out on you.

As the last bullet was spent, Tommy's hunching shoulders pushed him to the ground in defeat as he pulled a cigarette from his waistcoat, eyes narrowing through his field of destruction until they landed on Elsie's wooden pony caught in the crossfire with a bullet through it's stomach.

Through a cloud of billowing smoke, Tommy inspected the damage to his daughter's most treasured toy when his head suddenly drew up to the sound of approaching sirens blaring over the hedgerow, cars racing along the country roads down to his home.

" Tom! Get up!" Arthur pulled him from the depths of his despair, dragging him back into the foyer of Arrow House as a swarm of police officers, guns drawn, slowly approached.

" Hands up!" the crowd of shouting men commanded as Tommy drew one last drag from his cigarette before tossing it at their feet with squinting eyes.

"Thomas Michael Shelby. I'm arresting you on suspicion of murder" the officer edged forward to the amused smirk of disbelief plastered on your husband's face for what he imagined was a minor misunderstanding, he would be able to charm himself or his money out of within minutes.

" Think you've got the wrong man" Tommy scoffed as he willingly put his hands out when the inspector that had been hounding you strolled forward with his own smirk of satisfaction.

"Really? Pretty sure your sweet wife would say otherwise" he placed his hands in his pockets with a triumphant grin as Tommy's eyes widened, face reddening with a resurfacing surge of anger.

" You could ask her, but she and your daughter are far away from you and the madness that goes on in that pretty little head of yours" he tapped the side of Tommy's skull as your husband lunged forward from the clutches of the officers tightening his chains.

" She told us everything" he whispered into your husbands' ear with a wining chuckle.

"You're going down, boy" he stepped back, enjoying the sight of your husband furiously fighting against his constraints with a clenching jaw as the feral gnashing of Arthur's teeth and the half dozen officers trying to control him battled next to him.

" Lock him up, gents!" the inspector ordered as Tommy was lead away when his forced steps to the waiting car came to a halting stop as his eyes darted to the table of framed photos, scanning across the missing picture until they settled on your lone portrait and his emerging smirk curling the corners of his lips in its reflection as he spoke his threats to your sweet smile staring back at him.

"Well played, darling. But I will find you"

Next Part

Tag list: @peakyswritings @justrainandcoffee @garrison-girl-08 @meadows5 @lavender-haze-01

@strangeobsessed @ttae-yong @lemonwithstupidity @lindsay00000 @mischievouslittlecreature

@jbrownta @lau219 @whereismymindnow @honeymoon8 @bruhidkjustwannaread

@strrvnge @paintedinpinks @edgyficuselastica @strangeions @youngbananamilkshake

[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…>

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

[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]

Do u think that bc Cult of the Lamb is Australian it'd be funny if they had aussie accents

[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..."

[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

[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

[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!