#but I like to imagine they develop a sort of fond respect for one another

[nanomooselet]

Elendira the Crimsonnail (II)

It's within your right to care not at all about any defence I mount of Elendira in Stampede. This is profoundly not my wheelhouse and I'm no fan of the creepy little girl archetype myself - but I think she's not going to stay as she is forever, and I think she serves a thematic purpose. Whether that justifies the new backstory for her is, of course, up to you.

Right. I'll need to start with the fact that in Stampede, Knives hates women. Oh, certainly Knives attacks and kills a lot of people - after all, his stated goal is the genocide of the human race - and many of his victims are men, since they typically make up the majority of fighting forces. But with them he's eliminating a threat. He's efficient about it. They're dead or at least incapacitated before they know anything. Think the Plant technicians, the MPs in July, the patrol officer outside Jeneora Rock.

It's when he targets women that he's hateful. Rosa's people didn't have to die like that. Knives drew it out for fun and let Rosa live with witnessing it. Similarly, he hated Luida so much he went for the throat bare-handed. He didn't get to Meryl, but Knives was so determined to harm her that it took Vash a few tries to redirect his attention while she fled. Let's also not forget that his abuse of Vash is centred around trying to destroy all influence Rem, a woman, had on his brother. Knives is openly contemptuous of human women in a way he simply isn't with men - Meryl is a "disgusting parasite", Luida a "witch".

You'd think championing Tesla and the dependent Plants (whom he refers to as female) would check him some - but it doesn't! Because they're defined by helplessness. They can't argue or tell him he's wrong, nor can they leave him or hurt him or take Vash from him. I'm sure he cares about them but, well, he cares about Vash too, and we know how that works out.

And thus of Knives's closest followers, only Elendira is afforded a place among their ranks. No others allowed. I have a feeling it'll be a little more gender-balanced once Legato steps in (he's got an entirely different flavour of hang-up), but that's for the future.

So why is Elendira the exception?

For a start, she's more directly attached to Dr. Conrad than Knives himself. Conrad seems to treat her as his companion or child, though she doesn't seem terribly fond of him or inclined to respect him. She is loyal to Knives, enough to recoil from Vash for being a "traitor".

In addition, she's Knives's partial clone. Knives is extremely self-absorbed, and she does look like he did as a boy. On a creepier note, she looks like Vash, too.

She's also not human. From what I can tell, rather she's a sort of an Independent/dependent Plant, a hybrid of their characteristics. Her body has proportions similar to the dependent Plants when they're unfurled, except on smaller scale and without the "petals" - large head, big eyes, long hands/feet, slender body - and, like them, she lacks sexual characteristics (so, she's arguably not a woman either - but put a pin in that). She can survive outside her case and doesn't need to eat or drink. However, her Gate seems too weak to afford her the toughness and regenerative abilities of the twins. Which probably explains why she reacted the way she did to a relatively minor cut.

I think her genetic makeup might be why she hasn't grown beyond "childhood". She isn't a child, she's a fully-developed adult. It's just that she's got the proportions of a fully-developed adult Plant, which look childish to a human. And might explain why she flat-out murders Roberto for being unable to look past that and see the threat she represents.

Anyway, I imagine, for Elendira, the problem is that the whole fact of her existence brings with it... expectations. The most obvious:

Elendira is almost certainly an attempt by Dr. Conrad to further his "atonement" by recreating Tesla to give her another chance at life. He probably treats her like one, anyway, even if not consciously. (Whether or not she has any part of Tesla integrated into her is an interesting question but not relevant - it's an emotional thing.)

Yet Tesla remains a silent victim. It's her tragedy. That's all she ever got to be and all that she will ever be. Elendira simply isn't Tesla - might even have come to resent Tesla, because this poor little girl no one ever got to know has overshadowed her entire life. She's a sibling El can never surpass. Forever perfect because she never got to be enough of a person to disappoint anyone. It's no wonder Elendira hates being pitied if it means being reminded that Tesla, born an Independent, is a standard she falls short of - but all the ways Tesla was superior didn't save her from the fate she suffered. She isn't Tesla. She can't be Tesla. She refuses to be.

And then there's this asshole.

(Vash is of course the perfect precious boy, but I'm talking from Elendira's perspective.)

We don't outright hear how Knives talks about Vash to his followers, but Elendira gives us a hint. She calls him a traitor and won't allow him to even touch her. We know Knives is obsessed with his twin to the exclusion of anything or anyone else (ask Legato) - and I suspect he sought replacement in his followers… but you know how it is when you're around someone who's really hung up over an ex? (Again whether it's romantic or not really doesn't matter, he's Very Normal etc.) Knives hates every single choice his brother's ever made but it's painfully obvious that he'll never love anyone else. For Elendira, that's another sibling setting a standard she'll never reach in a game she didn't sign up to play. She isn't Vash. She can't be Vash. She refuses to merely be a replacement for Vash, who hurt Lord Knives so deeply.

So fuck all that, right?

Given the scanty details we've been given, I can easily imagine her deciding she won't play anymore. She won't be Tesla. She won't be Vash. Instead, she'll carve out her own identity. Tesla didn't get to grow up, so Elendira's an adult and nobody's victim. Vash is a sentimental idiot, so she's the woman who kills without pity.

I can also easily imagine her going to Dr. Conrad and leaning on him to make improvements after the Punisher defeated her. She already wears lipstick and colours her nails, along with wearing a pink dress - experimenting with her presentation - and uses very adult, aggressively femme body language and articulation.

In short, I get the feeling Elendira dislikes her look as much as the fans do. And she's going to try and remedy it at the earliest opportunity.

@ultraviolet-cello

Part I

And one more important detail.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

I love your OC “Raven”, she’s so cute and adorable. I just saw your post about what she would dream of during Malleus’ overblot and thought that it would be difficult for the guys to try to wake her up as Malleus tells her sweet dreams and seems genuinely happy that she can become the main character in this dream reality. So when the guys try to tell her that it’s all fake and she is still a storyteller, Malleus would get really angry (probably more angry about that then, when the rest of them are getting out of the dream) as in the post about the masquerade event, it was like Malleus and Raven were siblings, so Malleus would most likely put some barrier to keep them out of her dream or something.

[Referencing this post and this story!]

Wah, thank you 😭 I'm glad you like her and find her little stories and interactions with the other characters interesting~

It’s been quite interesting to hear about how others perceive certain relationships and dynamics that Miss Raven has with her peers. I think this is actually the first time someone else has told me there’s a sibling-like bond between her and Malleus 😂 (I would like to mention that I had a running joke that Sebek mistook them as distant relatives, but didn’t think that I’ve ever written Malleus and Raven with the intention of being sibling-like.)

(I’m going to talk about this for a while, so see the rest below the cut ^^)

They mainly see each other sporadically and in a “professional” capacity because Raven serves as the middle man between the other dorm leaders + the headmaster and Malleus (since they often miss each other). Again, she’s the Diablo to Malleus’s Maleficent— With the events of Glorious Masquerade, it feels like they’ve come to understand one another a little more. They’ve both people who want to fiercely defend their own ideals, even if it comes at the cost of putting themselves on the front lines. Malleus leaves the masquerade with newfound respect for the audacity (or is it stupidity?) of Raven to stand against him, which I guess is where a vague sense of “fondness” comes from in spite of how cordial their interactions usually are.

When you say they feel like siblings, I’m assuming it’s Malleus = big brother and Raven = little sister? 🤔 I wonder if he’s ever canonically wanted to be a big brother… That would, uh… require his parents to still be alive and present. I’d imagine it’s lonely in his castle whenever Lilia’s busy, so maybe Malleus has thought about having a sibling that looks up to him and is by his side. In Raven’s case, she has wished for siblings to keep her company before—whether older or younger, she’s not picky. Some days she wants to be the one taking care of others, and other days she wants to be the one being taken care of. I think both Malleus and Raven could be either; they both have their moments of maturity and immaturity that the other bounces off of like they’re a trained comedy duo. I mentioned here that maybe she’ll go to Briar Valley for her 4th year internship and develop stronger bonds with the Diasomnia characters (and mainly Malleus) through her work. I think maybe Lilia recognized those similarities and that’s why he’s so excited to that Malleus has found a potential friend of his own accord.

It’s usually Raven being the “Fairy Godmother” to others by writing the stories that others wish to see themselves in—but now Malleus has usurped the role for himself, and he’s her Fairy Godmother. I think Malleus likes to be the one making others happy (as some sort of coping mechanism for his own inadequacies). Book 7 is obviously one huge example, but another is Endless Halloween Night. His whole motivation for what he did was that ghosts that arrived late for the holiday wouldn’t feel like they had missed out. He also has a strong sense of duty and protectiveness to his people, stating that he was told that the Draconias are powerful so they can protect the smiles of their people. Malleus is… very socially awkward around his peers (to say the least), but his desire to make others happy even if the logic is sometimes twisted is genuine.

When I think about it, I feel as though this kind of sentiment would extend to how Malleus views Raven. Her entire existence is also one of loneliness and wishing to belong, but constantly gaslighting herself into thinking that she can’t be “a main character” like everyone else, that she’s just a footnote or a supporting character in the story. She’s an outcast, just like he is, even if for different reasons. Again, Maleficent and Diablo energy— That would probably make Malleus sympathize with her and want to ensure she has her “happy ending”.

As Raven spirals deeper and deeper into her dream, he looks on with pride. This is his work. He’s done go much good, Malleus tells himself. Just look at her big dumb grin. Then—suddenly—BAM!! The doors to the ball venue are kicked in, and the orchestral music screeches to a halt. In storm Yuu and Grim, flanked on either side by Silver and Sebek, their boots on the door they just took down. “We’ve come to rescue the princess.”

“She’s in need of no such thing. It is you who are the monsters come to steal her away and lock her in a tower,” Malleus would probably say. She’s in a confused daze, wondering why suddenly her classmates are acting “out of character” in her dream world. There’s supposed to be a musical number going on right now, not a fight about to break out on the dance floor.

“Raven, please listen to us. This—” Silver gestures to the glittering lights and decorations. All smoke and mirrors. “—none of it is real. You’re still Night Raven College’s storyteller. Our storyteller. Please… open your eyes! Wake up!!”

“Do not listen to a word he says. He is an uninvited guest come to crash the celebration.” A mist seems to fall over her eyes. Once so bright and filled with curiosity, now clouded over and dull. She quietly seeps back into the waiting arms of some fabricated mystery man promising to whisk her away.

“ROUSE YOURSELF AT ONCE, BIRD!! We didn’t come all this way to be turned away at the door!!” Sebek shouts, snapping her lucidity back for a second with the sheer magnitude of his volume. “HOW WEAK OF HEART YOU MUST BE TO SUCCUMB TO THESE LIES! I THOUGHT YOU STRONGER THAN THAT!”

“Sebek.” Malleus’s lip curls, his tone patient but dangerous. “So even you have turned traitor. What a plot twist for the pages.”

Sebek balks at his liege’s words—he’s having difficulties speaking his true feelings in front of the man he has revered his entire life. Guilt and shame fill him. That’s when Yuu steps up, Grim nestled in their arms.

“Miss Raven, let’s go home together,” Yuu suggests. “Everyone’s waiting for us. There’s so many stories left to tell.”

“Everyone… waiting? Stories to tell…” She blinks a few times—

“ENOUGH!!” Malleus’s voice thunders, loud enough to rattle the entire ballroom. “I will not allow one more second of this drivel. The young Crowley has dreamed her entire life of this very moment—yet you would rob her of it? I will put an end to this myself…! This story is mine to pen—for the sake of every single happy ending!!”

[capricioussun]

I think ppl miss out on a lot of really interesting dynamics w/ like, shared multiverse settings. One specific idea I like is, after a while of becoming friends, UT Toriel and US Asgore would wind up in a sort of QPR, usually with UT Sans, too, but it's definitely more of a both he and Astilbe care about Toriel a lot and are chill w/ each other thing than a closed circuit.

Another silly one, and what brought the initial thought, was that I realized UT Alphys and US Papyrus would probably be hilarious together. Stretch would absolutely be the annoying younger brother Alphys never wanted but is, regretfully, very fond of, and I can see those two having a dnd group with UT Papyrus and US Metta, possibly UT and/or US Undyne as well.

I can imagine none of the Muffets get along particularly well, but I've always really liked the idea that despite not getting along with their own respective counterparts, UT Grillby and US Muffet actually get along super well, and even visit each other's establishments.

And while there's definitely a lot of strain due to association, I really like the idea of UF Papyrus and US Asgore actually becoming an odd couple of friends. Initially Edge probably just got some gardening advice from him, but over time, actually visit each other for coffee not tea and chat.

Similarly, I think UF Undyne would actually have a really hard time being around UT Asgore at first. Not outwardly, but she definitely has one of the most complicated relationships with UF Asgore, and it would just set off all sorts of alarm bells in her head being around him. But again, with time, I think developing a better relationship with Asgore might help her process a lot of her own issues with UF Asgore.

I would also really love to see more of any mv combination of the ghost cousins either getting along super well or being absolute menaces to each other bc honestly I think any combination amongst that lot is a winning one

And I really can't even get started on my thoughts on the human kids with all these zany mix n match crews or this will become a novel

[bluedalahorse]

Friday is for Felice and Sara’s friendship

I thought it might be nice to make a rambly, less polished post about Felice’s friendships, so I’m going to make it.

I’ll start by talking about Sara. I thought about adding other characters, but I might just have time for Sara today, so I’ll add other characters at another time.

This morning (and other times) I’ve been thinking about what Felice and Sara’s friendship will look like post-Hillerska. I’ve been thinking about this in terms of challenges they might face—not no a way where I want them to suffer or want to give them pointless arguments for the drama of it all, just in the way where most friendships have challenges as the participants grow up, and watching friends grow up and overcome challenges together is part of the joy of friendship stories.

The first thing I wonder about is distance. Are Sara and Felice going to be physically in the same space, in the future? It’s possible they aren’t. I do wonder about Simon and Sara moving to Göteborg to be with family, and maybe ending up there, while Felice ends up in another place altogether. In one of my fics I had her heading to a girls’ boarding school abroad in Scotland, which is an idea I’m still pretty fond of. (Even though I know single-sex school is not a thing that Nordic countries do, so maybe Felice’s family wouldn’t want her doing that, who knows.)

With and Felice and Sara physically far apart, how do they make time to connect? Weekly FaceTimes? Texting one another pictures of something specific from their day? Old-fashioned post cards? I imagine they’d come up with some sort of cute ritual that would be important to them during this time.

The next thing I wonder about would be new friend groups and new hobbies and areas of interest. Felice is Sara’s first friend, and Sara is Felice’s first honest friend. Having established that bond, I think they’d be able to make more friends in their new places.

I’d love to see Sara make other neurodivergent friends and gain some language around disability politics and self-advocacy. In the immediate aftermath of Hillerska, I also see her jumping from hobby to hobby, and trying out new things to fill the parts of her heart that are probably still a little sad about losing horses. I can see her trying out things like crochet and collaging. Maybe she does poetry and that sticks a little more. I read a friend’s fic snippet where Sara is trying ice skating and it lives rent free in my brain.

On Felice’s end, I’d love to see her in a very different friend clique than the one where she was part of at Hillerska, and potentially one organized around a shared pursuit. Maybe a girls’ sports team (football/soccer? field hockey? women’s rugby?) or a theatre troupe or something like that. Something where everyone could work toward a common goal. Of course I want Felice to continue to develop her cooking skills, and maybe she could have cooking friends. (Felice in a Just Add Magic AUfic?) That said it would also be fun if she had a cooking rival, where they dramatically compete one another but deeply respect one another deep down.

As the girls branch out, I can see that creating points of tension they need to work through. Felice might feel intimidated at first as Sara starts talking about ableism and activism, and there may also be times where Sara feels more comfortable talking to an AuDHD friend than Felice about something AuDHD-related. It might take them some emotionally stressful moments to realize that’s ok! Meanwhile if Felice goes to school abroad or even attends an international school in Stockholm, Sara might worry that Felice’s new friends are going to be more worldly and interesting than she is, and periodically feel insecure. There may be times where they don’t talk as much and perhaps worry that the other is growing away from them. I think they could work through it in time but it might take conversation and practice!

The other thing I have considered is how I work out the Felice-Sara-August interactions in a fic universe where I do a saraugust Second Chance Romance. If I’m writing that I don’t want Sara to have to sacrifice either relationship.

I have an idea about that, where Felice gets invited to the palace as part of a Young Chefs of Sweden event and August has an opportunity to apologize to her and they navigate a conversation as adults who’ve both learned a lot, but maybe I’ll share that on another post.

Anyway, what stories do you have in mind for future Felice and Sara? How does their friendship grow and change over the years?

Discussion welcome.

[twistedtummies2]

Heyo, what opinions do your twst bois have about their Housewardens?

Oooooh...this is hard, because with a LOT of my OCs, I don't have really solid development towards the relationships they have with their housewardens. It's one of the points of character development on the bois that I'm weakest with, to be perfectly honest. I'll try to give you what I can without rambling too much... Something common with ALL of my OCs is that their relationships with their Housewardens are frequently...unusual. Billy is the one who has the most developed relationship with his Housewarden, so I'll start with him and attempt to be succinct. When he and Vil first met, they didn't get along at all. Because, frankly, Billy does not fit the obvious standards of Pomefiore: he's a hulking mass of blubber and muscle who is utterly shameless on many levels, and frequently seems to possess the mental faculties of a child. He is, in many ways, the diametric opposite to EVERYTHING Vil personally stands for. HOWEVER, over time, Vil has come to, at worst, tolerate Billy...and, at best, actually develop an affectionate fondness for the big oaf. He recognizes that, deep down, Billy does have the ideals of Pomefiore in his heart, he just expresses them differently; Billy, for his part, respects Vil immensely, and even looks up to him, always trying to please him, sometimes despite himself. He's one of the few people at NRC who can truly keep Billy in order. Nakoda and Leona have a relationship that is difficult to describe. Nako is something of an outlier in Savanaclaw; he's not a very good "team player," and isn't someone who enjoys following another person's rules. He's also someone who effectively is lost at sea, life-wise: he has ambition, and he has strong desire, but he doesn't know how to use them. I think, in some ways, Leona sees a little bit of himself in Nakoda: someone who has never been fully accepted by others, and who yearns for respect, admiration, and control. While the two often argue, Nako is always the one who ends up backing down first, and he will, eventually, do what he's told. Since it's bound to come up...Nako does think Leona is one hot number, but despite the physical attraction, he has no desire to eat Leona, and...well...SUPPRESSES the desire to get him into bed. This is mostly because he feels he has absolutely no chance with the latter (and he's entirely correct), and he pretty much has it figured out that he won't SURVIVE attempting the former. XD

Next, Reno and Idia at Ignihyde. On the one hand, Reno - just like Billy - doesn't really fit in with the typical standards of Ignihyde: he's not a media junkie, he's not a scientific mastermind, and he's at least somewhat more extroverted than the infamously reclusive housewarden. So whenever the two are in the same room together, sparks will inevitably fly: Idia gets frustrated with Reno's slowness to respond to things and crude behavior, and Reno just sort of rolls his eyes at a lot of Idia's...um..."Idia-isms," if you will. HOWEVER, there are two things that keep the relationship from truly being inimical. First of all, Reno is surprisingly dependable: his power is one Idia can use to his advantage in certain circumstances, and while he's not very good at UNDERSTANDING a lot of scientific stuff...he IS good at APPLYING things. Like, Reno can help BUILD machines or mix formulas, so to speak, he just won't fully understand why or how they exactly WORK. But if he's given good reason to obey, and is put to the task, he'll get it done. Second of all, Reno - just like Idia - is a gamer of all sorts. Idia is shown to love video games, board games, dice games, and I THINK card games, too (I'm not sure about that one, forgive me if I am incorrect); Reno is the exact same way, and I think the two get along VERY well when it comes to shared interests there. I imagine they actually do like gaming together pretty frequently. Heck, maybe Reno occasionally joins in on Idia's streams...double-heck, maybe Idia gets Reno to do some streaming on his own, much to Reno's delight. So they aren't enemies, nor even "frenemies," but they work best when their mutual strengths combine. James and Smitty are "problem children" for Riddle. Especially James. Riddle, of course, is a well-organized, orderly person who seeks total control, and has a hard time dealing with change or anything that doesn't go with his ideals and laws of conduct. He is a stickler for the rules, and even after the events of Chapter 1, it is hard for him to bend them TOO much without breaking, so to speak. James, really, is more like Azul than anybody else at NRC: a scheming ne'er do well who is very, VERY good at finding loopholes and exploiting things to his own selfish ends. As a result, he's often causing headaches for Riddle: he doesn't exactly IGNORE the rules or outright BREAK them, but he gets juuuust close enough that it's annoying. However, much like Reno with Idia, James is dependable in a pinch...and one thing he does have over Azul is that, when it comes to Riddle and his dorm-mates, specifically, he actually WON'T expect recompense. Why? James sees Heartslabyul as his "crew," and he feels it's important for the crew to work together when times get tough. The clash between himself and Riddle, essentially, is wondering which of them is REALLY the Captain. On that note, Smitty and Riddle get along a LITTLE better, mostly because Riddle understands that anytime Smitty DOES cause trouble, it's only because he's trying to do good by his best friend. When Smitty is independent from James, he is obedient, helpful, cheerful, and tries his hardest to be a good student, and Riddle respects that...it's just upsetting to him that, whenever James decides to act up, Smitty almost always goes along with that without question.

Maelstrom and Azul I've actually been trying to figure out a bit more. I don't have a lot to say on this one's front. Suffice it to say, Maelstrom - despite his own ego and the fact that sperm whales and cephalopds don't exactly get along in the wild - is actually quite respectful of Azul, and will do as he's told, most of the time, without much argument. He acts as muscle for Azul on many occasions, as he is the first to admit Azul is much more crafty and strategic than he is, and he does see this as a good thing. Azul, meanwhile, appreciates Maelstrom's strength and appetite much in the way he appreciates those elements in Floyd...and unlike Floyd, Maelstrom is less likely to go off the rails on a random tantrum. The remaining three bois in my roster - Elias and Theo in Diasomnia, and Grit Gravelle in Scarabia - I don't really have solid concepts for, in terms of how they get along with their dorm leaders. I know that Theodore and Malleus have a rocky relationship, and that will actually be explored when I get to Theo's "Chapter Story" in...you know...five billion years or so. 'XD But beyond that, there's not much I can say for any of them. These relationships, more than all the rest, definitely require development.

[avocado-writing]

Hello! This is related to Bullet Train --- I recently developed an idea and ever since, I'm just continuously adding to it and I'm at the point where I just need to share this idea with someone 💀 so sorry in advance for the long post

Imagine MC working at a bakery to make ends meet for their tuition (senior college foreign student) and one day one of White Death's men comes in to order something and so, eventually, White Death himself begins to request MC's baking and what not. At some point, he may physically come in and a friendship forms bc MC is just an overall a good person who tries to do their best with their sad background. And then one day, White Death sees MC standing outside the shop with his usual order, just to find out that MC had quit the baking job cuz they were overworking her. White Death offers her a job on the spot but is kindly rejected bc MC found a job as assistant/house-maintainer (?) of sorts for a kind, older man (😁) and she's very happy with it and was actually wondering if he would like to spend more time with her or something. Obvs White Death agrees. They hang out alot, usually in either MC's home or White Death's --- both are incredibly private and bond in their paranoias.

Now we cut over to the MC working for her new boss, Shigeru Kimura aka The Elder. (Major point of the story --- MC has absolutely no idea that they know each other/ that they have history/ nor that they have gang/underworld ties --- perhaps an inkling of suspicion bc they're not completely oblivious to that side of the world but it's better to mind the business) Anyways, Shigeru and MC spend plenty of time together and they're quite fond of one another just as fond as MC is of White Death. /Shigeru adores the way MC helps out with Wataru, who absolutely loves the MC and is constantly clinging onto them./

To the point where MC actually tells either man about the other but never revealing their identities bc MC respects their privacy --- it's more of a "oh, my boss gave me the day off bc he overheard my mother telling me happy birthday. He's seriously too kind" "ah, my friend tends to, well, spoil me. I never ask for anything but he says i deserve it. He's truly too good to me" and like either one knows the other exist BUT THEY DONT KNOW ITS EACH OTHER'S ENEMY. THEY'RE JUST APPRECIATIVE THAT EITHER IS TREATING MC WITH THE KINDNESS AND RESPECT THEY DESERVE. But they also have a rivalry of sorts bc they're both romantically interested in the MC who, btw, has never been truly romantically approached nor shown interest in anyone but these two give the MC a little inkling of a possible crush. (By this point, everything is still very much subtle --- Shigeru bc he is a gentleman and White Death bc he knows MC doesn't know how to react to someone actually being interested in them {Neurodivergent type beat})

And like one day, they meet on accident. MC is leaving their job (the home of Shigeru) and on the other side of the door is White Death who wanted to escort MC home or something and their just standing their, gapping at one another like that spiderman meme. There's an obvious tension but the MC is just like "oh, this is my boss Mr. Shigeru. Mr. Shigeru this is my dear friend " and then MC realizes that the know each other and not in the good way and comes to the conclusion that they're enemies. White Death accuses MC of using him so that Shigeru can kill him and Shigeru, too, reciprocates this belief. And MC is just quiet which causes either men to cease their fighting (which was actually about to turn physical) and basically MC is just deeply hurt that they would accuse them of betraying their trust. One of the only things MC truly cherishes with their soul. In fact, MC assumes that they've been using them the entire time and is simply like "once again, I've been used. I'm a joke." And goes into a depressive state (a few tears fall but it's more of a 'i give up. I just want to go home and sleep') and the two men literally have to form a truce for now bc they now see the wrongness of their assumption and they just deeply care for the MC.

Omg it feels like a weight being lifted off of my shoulders. I've had this idea and fhjdjfjf needed to write it somewhere. If someone or yourself would like to write this as a fic --- no protest here 💀😌

MX °

oh no ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) then they have to share me ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) what a shame ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[redrobin-detective]

growing pains are harder with siblings

can’t stop, won’t stop Zim Membrane part III

XxX

“Get out of my room!” Dib shrieked trying to shut the door on the alien that had infested his life. Bad enough he had to see Zim at school and then at home but now in his room, the one sanctuary he had from the madness? Zim ducked under his arms and entered the room, scanning the area with a dismissive look.

“Membrane Father says good siblings share, Dib Brother,” Zim said cheekily before he turned to confront the human. “Except for my things, I know you took my radiotopic quasmieser and I demand you return my property to me before your oafish human hands break it.”

“Oh, you mean this,” Dib grinned manically, pulling odd alien device out of his drawer. “Having you in my life has been nothing but a nightmare; the only advantage of having you close is having all your alien technology within my re- Hey!” Dib shouted as he was interrupted mid-monologue by Zim charging him, screeching and struggling to grab the machine. 

“Gimmie, gimmie, gimmie!” The alien screamed flailing his arms in Dib’s face trying to grab the device.

Dib cackled, holding it high over his head where Zim couldn’t reach. He looked down at his mortal enemy and sort of adopted brother (he guesses) and sneered. “What? Is it too high for you? How does it feel to be a little shorty on top of being so magnificently incompetent?” To his surprise, Zim stopped his shouting and jumping to look up at Dib with wide eyes. The alien looked between them as if he had just noticed that, over the last several months they’d been battling over the fate of the Earth, Dib had grown slightly taller than him. 

“What is the meaning of this!?” Zim hissed, shuffling back and hunching his shoulders. “What technology do you have at your disposal that grants you greater height? Tell me!” 

“What are you talking ab-”

“Tell me!”

“I’m try to you-”

“Tell me!”

“Arg!” Dib screamed in frustration, clutching his hands to his head as if he could possibly get a moment of peace. But life wasn’t kind in that way and Zim certainly wasn’t. “It’s called growing up, Junior. People are born small and grow bigger as they age. Do you think my dad and all the other adults just appeared that way?” Judging by the Zim was blinking rapidly and furrowing his eyebrow, he probably did. Dib called him an alien all the time but it’s moments like these he realized just how other Zim was. “Do your uh people not grow up?”

“Irkens remain the same size from creation their whole life,” Zim muttered absentmindedly, perhaps not realizing he’d finally given Dib a name for his species. ‘Irken’ did sound kind of cool but Dib was still privately going to refer to them as ‘Dumb Green Butthole Aliens’. 

“Wait if you’re not that small because you’re young then how old are you?” Dib asked, almost afraid of the answer.

“Older than your puny mind can comprehend,” Zim dismissed with a wave while Dib was too busy trying to comprehend the fact that someone who was essentially an adult spent his time attending middle school and picking fights with kids. Zim squinted his red eyes at Dib. 

“Are you saying that one day you will be as tall as Father Membrane?”

“Uh yeah maybe, I mean he is my dad and I’m told height runs in the family...” Dib trailed off at the look of horror and dismay on Zim’s face. His antennae flattened against his head and he backed up some more looking incredibly lost and vulnerable. It was uncomfortable to witness having been on the receiving end of that misery more times than he could count. When had he flipped and become the bully? “So I’ll be taller than you, who cares. You have those weird spider leg things to get you around.”

“Once you are Tall, people listen to you,” Zim mumbled, still folded in on himself and eyeing Dib like the was the alien. From Zim’s perspective he probably was but he’d never acted like Dib was really any different from him before. “Our Tallest are the highest authority, they lead our people in glorious conquest. They are beloved and respected and those who are beneath them are... not.” For just a brief moment, Dib could read Zim’s whole history in his hunched shoulders and downcast gaze. It was sad and lonely and painfully similar to his own life; bullies weren’t invented on Earth after all.

“Pfft,” Dib chuckled uncomfortably, “who wants to be tall anyway? You just run into things and have to buy bigger clothes. I don’t know how your society works but on Earth, how tall you are doesn’t decide anything, everyone has a choice in who they are and how important they’re going to be.” As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Dib knew he had made a grave error. Because in his stupid awkward moment of being nice he had forgotten that Zim was, in fact, trying to destroy the world. And was an obsessive, insane maniac. Also stupid. Zim stood himself up to his full height, still just below Dib, and proudly set his hands on his hips every inch the vile invader scum Dib despised. 

“For once in your life Dib baby, you are correct! Zim is too great of an invader to be held back by something so minuscule! I will conquer this filthy Earth planet and present it to my Tallest in order to prove what I have always known, that I am the single greatest invader Irk has ever seen!” He laughed loudly and with abandon as he snatched the radio whatchamacallit out of Dib’s hands. “So long, Dib, I’m off to conqueeeeeeest!” He said, activating his spider legs and punching a hole through Dib’s wall even though the window or the door was right there and climbed out.

Dib was staring dumbly at the empty space when Zim’s upside down face dropped down to glare at him. “Tell Father that I shall be late for dinner, too busy with my evil and all.” He frowned, probably remembering that Dad didn’t tolerate anyone being late for dinner and will literally track them across all of space time to get them to the table. “Fine but no more of your disgusting human pizza, it makes Zim sick.” 

“That’s because your “dog” ordered fish eyes and toenails on the last pizza,” even Gaz, who would eat pretty much any kind of pizza, had declined. But Zim was already gone, probably back to his home base to work on some truly nasty scheme that would inevitably fall apart due to his own reckless stupidity. Zim might be an adult by alien standards but he had a lot to learn about growing up. Dib did too but he was still a kid so he had time and, as long as Zim was living in this house, maybe he’d do a little growing too. In the metaphorical sense at least, man Dib can’t wait until he hit puberty and got way taller. He couldn’t wait to lord that over the alien. Maybe there was something to this ‘brother’ thing after all.  

[lexxiie]

In light of, and inspired by, your last VtK ask, I’m curious how you think the way Cassian generally expresses physical affect (hugs/kiss/physical contact) is the same and different between OG Cassian and his current Villain self?

I personally imagine that OG Cassian was more inclined to initiate contact while the current Cassian is less likely to do so but also far more touch and affection starve than he was as Cassian Lee. He’s more clingy after he died—he realized how short life can be for both parties and he has so painfully few meaningful connections now, and no one who knows his tries self as Cassian as opposed to Gangu. The original Cassian was more secure in that regard, there would always be time for each other so while that time was treasured it wasn’t…something he might not get to do again? Cassian could get killed by another villain or by a self righteous Psykers now.

(Pff, maybe Cassian developed a biting habit now that he didn’t have originally too. Idk, but I adored that with Driver. It’s cute and a his teeth do look sharper in certain panels. (Provided consent from the bitten party is given—any good relationship requires mutuel respect of boundaries)…this could also because I spent the morning drawing Cassian as a vampire for my late Halloween project 😂. Regardless it would be an interesting thing for him to make sense of and talk through with the reader.)

No but I totally agree. OG Cassian was definitely much more open in a lot of different aspects. I feel like it's important to point out the fact that Cassian is technically in his twenties. I can't remember if it's stated exactly how old he is but he's definitely not a teen. I feel like knowing Gangu must be really weird because he obviously doesn't act like any average 18-19 y/o. He's literally a grown ass man trapped in the body of a teen.

That being said, I think it's safe to say that he is quite mature or, at least, mature enough. I feel like that has a lot to do with anything involving any type of relationship. It seems very unlikely to me that he never ever dated anyone as Cassian. Maybe it was never anything serious due to his lack of interest in social aspects but he must have expirience of some sort. When you are a teenager, immaturity makes it hard for anyone to interact correctly, thank god, Cassian (Gangu) is not a teen.

Having said this, I feel like a lot of factors can come into play when it comes to how he is now. I believe that he lost a bit of confidence when he turned into Gangu. He lost his exp points, his reputation, his whole body. He would have probably never minded initiating physical contact as Cassian, why would he? Cassian was a top class Psyker, who wouldn't want him around? Gangu is no one. He can't rely on his reputation anymore, he has to rely on his personality like everyone else, but I don't think he believes he's interesting enough now.

Moving on to the next point, once he finally established a relationship with someone as Gangu, he's definitely the clingiest guy alive. I a 100% believe he's much more aware of the fact that he can die now. Mainly because he already did. This, of course, awakens this need within him to show how he feels a bit more openly. He's probably constantly thinking of how easy it is for things to go wrong very damn quickly, so he treasures the good moments.

As for the biting habit (lol) I don't think he'd be much into biting BUT he'd definitely be one of those people who hug others waaay too tightly. And he knows it's too much but he doesn't care unless his s/o asks him to stop. Once the reader knows how he feels about this all, they'd probably be clingy as hell too (unless they aren't fond of pshysical contact.) Reader would probably try to initiate everything since Cassian doesn't really do that, but he would play along with absolutely everything the reader initiates because he does crave touch and company. I feel like he is a very lonely guy but it's not necessarily because he enjoys it. It's just the way his life has always been. It's all he's ever known. I could go on and on about this but that will have to wait a bit.

Now... Cassian as a vampire????? 👀 Can we see???? We'd love to see.

[thinkingisadangerouspastime]

By the end of avatar it's pretty clear that the gaang have no problem with/are friends with mai (suki playing pai sho with her, katara watching, sokka including her in his picture) so I was wondering how you think mai and the gaang's relationship developed from the coronation to the end scene

“This is Mai,” Zuko said. “My girlfriend.”

The room was quiet enough to hear a pin drop.

Right. Mai kind of wanted to die. They were just… staring at her. She hadn’t expected a positive reaction, by any means, but no reaction at all…? Ugh. Little was worse.

“It’s nice to officially meet you!” Aang said, giving her a bright smile. The rest of the group followed with tentative waves and a few nods in her general direction.

The awkwardness might have gone on another five minutes if she and Zuko hadn’t been asked for by an advisor, cutting her introduction short. Well, Zuko had been asked for, and he’d slipped his hand into hers before pulling her along. So she hadn’t been given much say in the matter.

“They’ll come around,” Zuko told her later, when they were lying in bed. “You’ll see.” He chuckled, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead. “They took me in, after all.”

Mai wanted to believe him. “If you say so.”

Sokka was first.

Mai saw him struggling to walk down the steps of the palace, awkwardly attempting to maneuver his crutches but wincing every time his injured leg hit the ground.

“Let me help,” she offered, lifting his arm around her shoulders to help take the weight off his foot. Perhaps she should have waited for him to give confirmation, but in some ways Sokka reminded her of Zuko - rarely willing to accept assistance, even when he needed it. He let her take his crutches, though, and she interpreted that as a sign of silent cooperation.

Sokka gave her a crooked grin when they’d reached the foot of the steps. “Thanks.”

She nodded curtly, returning his crutches to him. “It was no trouble.” She turned to walk away, but stiffened and stopped in her tracks as Sokka placed a hand on her shoulder.

“I, uh… This is kind of random, but I just wanted to tell you how grateful I am for - for what you did at the Boiling Rock.” Sokka cleared his throat. “For saving us. Me. My dad. Suki. Zuko.”

Mai winced at the memory. The despair, the rage Azula’s eyes. The paralyzing fear that had ripped through her chest when she’d watched her friend - if Azula could ever be called that - drop into her lightning stance. And yet…

She’d do it again. A hundred times.

“I don’t think you should be thanking me for doing the right thing,” Mai said as she slowly turned around. “For doing the bare minimum, really.”

Sokka laughed. “Maybe you’re right. But from what I’ve heard, treason against the Fire Nation isn’t usually considered the bare minimum.” He hesitated, then offered her a grateful smile. “I mean it, though. If you hadn’t saved us…” Something akin to grief flickered in his eyes. An expression that was a little more raw, a little more tired. “I can’t lose anyone else,” he finally said. “So thank you, Mai.”

Mai stared at him in perhaps more shock than was necessary, because Sokka laughed again.

“Can I hug you?” he asked. “It’s kind of an official thing to dub you as part of my friend group.”

Mai hesitated, but nodded, and Sokka shuffled forward to pull her into a brief, tight embrace that Mai was surprised to find herself returning.

“I wouldn’t have pegged you as a hugger,” she said after releasing him.

Sokka chuckled. “For a long time, I guess I wasn’t.” He winked at her. “But things change, right?”

She supposed they did.

Aang was second.

Mai wondered, perhaps, if he would have been first, had his duties as the Avatar not taken up so much of his time, especially in those first days after the war had formally ended.

“Hi, Mai!” Aang said cheerily, waving at her from atop his bison. “Want to take a ride on Appa with me?”

Mai glanced around her, as if someone else named Mai would appear from behind a pillar to take him up on his offer. When none did, she responded with a hesitant nod.

She wished Zuko was there.

“Do you need help getting up?” Aang asked as she walked towards him, pausing when she reached Appa’s side. “I can provide a boost if you need it.”

Mai raised an eyebrow at him, a smirk unwittingly inching onto her lips. “Could you provide a boost even if I don’t need it?”

Aang returned her smirk with a wide grin. “Your wish is my command, Lady Mai.”

Mai was mortified to admit that a startled yelp escaped her lips as Aang airbended her up and onto Appa’s saddle, but he didn’t comment on it. She supposed he was probably used to that sort of sound being an instinctive reaction.

“Ready?” Aang asked. He didn’t wait for her to respond before gently snapping the bison’s reins. “Yip yip, Appa!”

He reminded her of Ty Lee in that respect - never waiting for an answer unless one was truly required.

Appa roared and took off into the sky. Mai kept her eyes squeezed shut for longer than she’d care to admit.

After the initial anxiety of flying higher than she ever had in her life faded, Mai found herself relaxing into her seat on the saddle, one elbow resting comfortably on the edge. Aang chattered aimlessly about post-war plans, and Mai commented every now and then if his ramblings had to do with Zuko. It was… strange. Everything about Aang caused a tiny smile to rest perpetually on her face.

No wonder her boyfriend was so fond of him.

“Wanna go higher?” Aang offered at one point, an excited twinkle in his eyes.

Mai didn’t respond at first, staring upwards at the endless pink sky. “Can you take me into the clouds?” she finally asked.

Aang laughed. “Let’s find out!”

Katara was third.

“I told you, Zuko can’t see anyone right now!”

Mai paused upon hearing the irritation that drenched Katara’s voice. She’d just turned the corner into the hallway that Zuko’s room was off of, and, trusting her better judgement, chose to hang back.

Katara was staring down a tall man in formal robes - oh. Ew. Mai recognized him as one of Zuko’s more annoying advisors. Her boyfriend hated the man, too.

“Kata-”

“Master Katara.” She glared at the noble, and respect bubbled in Mai’s chest.

“Master Katara.” Mai relished in the discomfort of the man’s tone. “I understand that you wish to allow the Fire Lord as much rest as possible, but he has responsibilities he cannot abandon -”

“Zuko can’t fulfill those responsibilities immediately after a healing session!” Katara snapped. “How would you like if someone bandaged your broken arm and expected you to lift weights afterwards?”

The advisor stared at her in confusion. “But my arm isn’t broken.”

Katara placed her hand atop the flask that rested on her hip. “Not yet.”

Mai bit her tongue to stop herself from laughing as blood drained from the man’s face. He gave Katara a hasty apology and took his leave.

That interaction had certainly raised her spirits.

But no visitors…

Mai’s grip tightened on the ceramic plate in her hands. The cup of tea resting atop it quivered. If Katara said Zuko wasn’t seeing anyone at the time, then she would respect that decision. She was no exception to the rules just because Zuko was her boyfriend.

Besides, Zuko was probably fine. She didn’t need to check on him, she was just letting her worries get the best of her again -

“Mai?”

Mai blinked upon hearing her name called. Blood rushed to her cheeks when she realized it was Katara who had spoken. “Yes?”

Katara gave her a warm smile, gesturing towards the plate in her hands. “Is that for Zuko?”

Mai hesitated, but nodded. “Tea,” she explained briefly. “I… tried to make it like Iroh does.” She took a step backwards. “But I can bring it back later, after more time has passed -”

Katara laughed, waving her hand dismissively. “Mai. Zuko would never forgive me if I didn’t let you in.” She tilted her head. “Besides. You know you’re always welcome.”

Mai’s grip on the plate slackened, and she found herself returning Katara’s smile.

Toph was fourth.

“Mai! Spar with me!”

Mai was startled by the sudden interruption, though years of practice prevented her from showing it. “Why?” She’d never been the earthbender’s go-to partner before.

“Because knives are made of metal,” Toph said, as if it should have been obvious. “I want to see if I can bend projectiles mid-air. Or at least better detect the path they’ll follow so I can earthbend a wall to block them.”

Mai raised an eyebrow. “And why would I agree to let you bend my knives?”

Toph grinned at her. “Who said anything about using yours?”

Mai’s eyes widened as Toph procured a large box from behind her back.

“We’ll practice with these. Don’t ask where I got them.”

Mai accepted the box from Toph, unable to stop the sharp gasp that escaped her lips as she admired the assortment of blades. “Alright,” she finally said, picking out a set of steel kunai. “I’ll spar with you. On one condition.”

“Name it.”

Mai spun one of the knives around her index finger. “Let me keep some of these when we’re done.”

Toph burst out laughing. “Oh, I knew I’d like you.” She smirked at Mai. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”

Suki was last.

They’d run into each other. Literally. Mai spilled all the papers she’d been holding, and Suki had immediately apologized before offering to help her sort back through them. She’d almost turned the girl down, but…

“I haven’t seen you much,” Mai commented as they were putting the documents into piles based on their contents. “Compared to the rest of Zuko’s friends, I mean.”

Suki shrugged. “I’ve been spending most of my time with Sokka and the Kyoshi warriors. We’re thinking about heading back home soon.”

Mai nodded. She placed a document about the differences between crowning a Fire Lord and a Fire Lady in its appropriate stack. She hesitated, then asked, “Does… Do you know if Ty Lee plans to go with you?”

Suki blew air out her lips. “I’m not sure. Sometimes I think she wants nothing more than to get out of the Fire Nation, but there are other days where… where I don’t think she can imagine leaving you and Zuko behind.”

Mai’s heart seized in her chest. Spirits, she needed to talk to her friend. New responsibilities after the war had kept them apart more days of the week than Mai liked. “I see.”

Suki offered her a sympathetic smile. “Sorry I can’t be more specific. I think I just” - she shook her head - “I don’t know Ty Lee well enough yet to read her and her feelings. The other girls had a chance to connect with her in prison, but I’d already escaped the Boiling Rock and was on the run with Sokka at that point, so I just… don’t have the same level of experience with her yet.”

Mai clenched the scroll in her hand so tightly she was half-concerned she’d tear a hole through it. “Speaking of prisons…” She licked her lips, her mouth having suddenly gone dry. “I… I wanted to apologize,” she continued after a momentary pause. Mai didn’t like how her voice had dropped close to a whisper.

Suki tilted her head in confusion, though there was a keen recognition in her eyes that made Mai wonder if she was merely feigning puzzlement. “What do you mean?”

“I attacked you and your - your kinswomen. When you were protecting Appa.” Mai smoothed the scroll across the table before placing it in its appropriate stack. She didn’t dare meet the warrior’s eyes. “We got you arrested and sent to the Boiling Rock. And - I know an apology doesn’t make up for that, but…” She forced herself to look upwards. There was no bitterness, no resentment in Suki’s gaze. It was kinder than she deserved. “I’m sorry. I don’t deserve or expect your forgiveness, but - I’m sorry.”

Mai had hurt Suki the most among Zuko’s new friends. There was no changing that. And she knew she would never be able to make up for the months in isolation the girl had endured, either, no matter what she did. No matter how much she wanted to. Wished she could.

Mai didn’t blame her for staying silent.

Then Suki sighed, unfurling the paper in her hands. “I had mixed feelings about you. For a long time.” She skimmed something on the scroll before placing it aside. “On the one hand, you put me in prison. On the other…” She gave Mai a tentative smile. “You freed me from it.”

Mai’s heart skipped a beat. “That doesn’t make it fair -”

Suki laughed, cutting her off. “At this point, I don’t think ‘fair’ exists. Not after what all of us have been through.” She tucked her hair behind her ear. “But like I said. I had mixed feelings about you.” She gave Mai a soft smile. “I know how Sokka thinks you’re the funniest person to walk the Earth since his father. How Katara lets you visit Zuko after their healing sessions, even though she’s probably not supposed to. And spirits, Mai, the way Zuko looks at you…” She shook her head, winking at her. “You won my friends over a long time ago. It was only a matter of time before you won me over, too.”

An unfamiliar warmth settled in Mai’s chest, and a tentative smile inched onto her lips. “Thank you.”

Suki waved her hand dismissively. “Don’t mention it. And with you around, at least I won’t be the only sane person in our group anymore.”

Mai snorted, recalling an earlier incident of Sokka daring Zuko to eat raw tart batter while Toph egged them on. ‘Egged’ in two ways - both very different, but both equally frustrating. “Will that really make much of a difference?”

Suki snickered. “Maybe not for them, but…” She handed Mai a scroll to be placed on a stack too far for her to reach. “I think I’ll appreciate the company.”

Mai accepted the paper, and she smiled at Suki. “I think I will, too.” She placed the smoothed-out scroll in its appropriate pile. “Care to join me for a game of Pai Sho later?”

“Oh, count me in! That sounds like a great cooldown.”

Well… Mai wouldn’t describe Pai Sho in exactly that fashion. But she figured Suki would learn that on her own time, and chose not to comment. “I look forward to it.”

That night, Mai slipped into Zuko’s bedchambers under the cover of darkness, as she’d been inclined to do ever since his return to the Fire Nation. Zuko’s eyes lit up upon seeing her, and he moved to make room for her beside him on his bed. She sat down, and rolled her eyes but didn’t protest as Zuko wrapped his arms around her waist to pull her into his lap.

“Did you have a good day?” he asked, nuzzling his face into the back of her neck. He asked her the same question every night, and every night she told him the same answer - no. Then she’d gripe about whatever little thing had irked her over the course of the day. It was foolish, yet cathartic, and she knew Zuko didn’t mind. He probably found it entertaining.

“You know what?” Mai mused, thinking back to the mixture of glee and exasperation that had crossed Suki’s face numerous times during their earlier Pai Sho game. “I think I did.”

Zuko raised an eyebrow. “Wow. What happened?”

Mai shrugged. Five faces floated through her mind, all people she’d grown to care for over the past few weeks. People who’d grown to care for her in return. “Nothing special. Just… spent a little time with some new friends.”

Zuko chuckled, and she had a feeling he knew exactly the people she was referring to. “I’m glad to hear it.” He pressed a kiss to the nape of her neck. “Don’t kill me, but…” She didn’t need to turn around to know he was smirking. “I told you they’d come around.”

Mai groaned. “Oh, shut up.”

“Make me?”

She sighed, turning around so she could properly face her boyfriend. “I guess I don’t have a choice, do I?”

(Mai made sure to silence him before he could answer.)

[fellowstrangetownappreciator]

Curious and autistic-coded

Hello there! April draws to an end and with that I think it’s high time to hurry up and write this. What does April have to do with anything, you ask? April is the Autism Acceptance Month. So what better month to do this?

Unfortunately I didn’t make it. I failed. It’s already 1. 5. when I’m posting this. But at least I tried to deliver on time.

In this mini essay I’ll present my case about why I think the Curious brothers from TS2 Strangetown display autistic-coded traits and my personal takes on it.

It’s basically your average headcanon post but with a funny top hat!

0: Preface: What do I mean by “autistic-coded”?

When a character is coded as something, it means that they have traits that are associated with the demographics in question to make the consumer knowingly or not link the character with the demographic, although the character's "label” is never explicitly disclosed.

In the nutshell, it means that there are canonical reasons to read the characters as autistic, although you won't find the word "autism" anywhere in the game nor in the developer's commentary.

In this particular case I do believe that the developer may not even be aware of the code, as there is no evidence to suggest otherwise. If there is, I’m not aware of it and I would be happy to learn.

So, let’s start!

1: “The white male who is very good at science”

Unfortunately autistic representation in pop-culture has a long history of being rather straightforward in which traits the characters often have. This stems from the belief that autism is “a boy’s disorder” (that’s why some autism charities to this day use blue in their symbols). Among popular examples of autistic-coded characters are Big Bang Theory’s Sheldon Cooper and Death Note’s L and Near. I’m sure you can think of more but you’ll find that most of them are men and either explicitly white or racially ambiguous white-passing. They also tend to be gifted in tech, logic or other science-y activities.

There’s nothing wrong with that! Nothing wrong with being an autistic with those “stereotypical” characteristics and there is nothing wrong with people being represented. What is wrong is the monotony and afab people/people of color being underrepresented which leads (among other factors) to harder access to diagnosis and resources for those people in real life. But! That’s a topic for a different day. (and not for a simbrl, mind you)

Back to the Curiouses! I just wanted to say that autism in media is traditionally associated with characters whose gender presentation, race and interests align with theirs. Those characteristic thus make a very convenient template for autistic-coding.

2: Inconsistent performance, huge gaps between strengths and weaknesses

Pascal, Vidcund and Lazlo are very skilled Sims by default, extraordinarily even for their age. Pascal has a skill maxed while his younger brothers both near maxing theirs.

But as you can see in Pascal’s default skill panel, apart from Creativity, all his other skills are extremely low, 0 points for Mechanical, Body and Charisma, 1 point for Cooking and Logic and his second best skill, Cleaning, has only 3 points. The same situation can be observed in Vidcund’s and Lazlo’s, except their strong suits are Logic and Cooking respectively.

Huge discrepancies within performance in different cognitive areas is a common trait found in those on the autism spectrum. We’re often talking extremes here and the scale of the difference is the defining factor. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, it’s just in neurodivergent people those tend to be unusually noticeable.

I think that skills, simplified as they are, are the closest The Sims has to possibly simulate that because they track the character’s performance and expertise in different areas and allow comparison. In real life, of course, this comparison is not nearly as possible and exact, nor desired, but for all our analysis-loving enthusiasm, here we’re still talking fictional characters.

3: Struggle with social cues

It is widely known that one of autistic traits are difficulties with processing social situations, picking social cues and successfully replicating socially desired behavioral patterns.

But these three are Sims, are they not? They cannot possibly display this trait, since they’re programmed the same way as others.

Yes and no.

It is true that there is no specific in-game feature that would allow Sims to behave with explicit neurodivergency in mind* but with the right combination of traits they can simulate behavior that really hits close to home for neurodivergent players.

*at least not in TS2, TS3 has traits that simulate some possible neurodivergencies but their names tend to be rather... ableist unfortunate and they’re not relevant to this post since they’re not autism related, and even if they were, we’re focusing on TS2 exclusively

Let’s take look at Lazlo here. He is, indeed, a playful soul. He likes to goof around, tell jokes, make others laugh. And since he’s very close to his brother Vidcund, close enough even to Tell Dirty Joke (an interaction that needs quite a high relationship to unlock), he autonomously does just that.

And oh boy, does Vidcund disapprove.

From my personal experience playing them, their relationship usually takes quite a hit from every cheeky joke Lazlo throws Vid’s way. They usually autonomously repair it very quick but it happens often.

But that’s a standard behavior. Vidcund’s very serious, he doesn’t take well to jokes.

No. I mean technically yes, Vid is definitely a grumpy old plant dad but, at least in my game, he tends to accept Lazlo’s jokes. All kinds of them, actually, except for the dirty ones. And Pascal, who technically has even lower Playful points (0 in comparison to Vidcund’s 4), doesn’t seem to mind Lazlo’s poor attempts at grown-up humor.

But! What is it that makes Lazlo try still? What drives him to attempt to make Vidcund laugh with a dirty joke over and over again? (and fail?)

I my interpretation, Lazlo doesn’t do that on purpose, he is just really poor at evaluating “dirtiness” of a given joke and frequently misinterprets Vidcund’s cues. The animation of a dirty joke being rejected even supports that as Vid doesn’t signal his discomfort with any exaggerated easy-to-read facial expression until Lazlo gets to his punchline.

No only that but as I mentioned, the invisible lines between spicy and too vulgar are often hard to thread. I can recall many times I thought I was saying a witty quip on an “adult” topic and was met with awkward silence or someone shushing me because “that’s not how you speak in public”. I can well imagine myself in Lazlo’s shoes.

A situation of social cues being misinterpreted or ignored can be observed also in Vidcund. Programming-wise, those are just his low Niceness and extreme Shyness showing but combined they again paint a picture of a very neurodivergent-looking behavioral pattern.

He often behaves like the concept of politeness or social rules doesn’t exist because the combination of the aforementioned traits makes him come off very blunt (lecturing and shoving telescope-peepers with no warning whatsoever) and distant (having a high chance of rejecting simple small-talk socials).

(That’s Jasmine Rai casting the “Summon Vidcund” spell.)

Yes, I am fully aware that it makes a stronger case for him being an a**hole than autistic but... there’s no reason he can’t be both. Not all autistic people are sweet cinnamon buns, all personalities you can think of can be neurodiverse and, for some their neurodiversity can even amplify their inconsiderate ways, as I believe it is the case with our dear grouch Vidcund.

4. Their bios

“No matter what happens, Pascal believes there is a logical explanation for everything. In his free time, he practices home psychoanalysis and collects conspiracy theories.”

(that’s how I imagine practicing psychoanalysis looks like, sorry Freud)

“Serious and exact, Vidcund strives to fit the universe into a nice tidy package. He has an unnatural fondness for African violets.”

(let’s collectively pretend those are African violets)

“Not as studious as his older brothers, Lazlo got his degree in Phrenology. He likes to call phone psychics and spends hours trying to bend forks with his mind.”

*error: screenshot of Lazlo bending forks not found*

(but here he is hanging out with Erin Beaker, the closest thing to “calling phone psychics” you can actually do in-game)

Both Pascal’s and Vidcund’s bios point to a pattern-focused worldview with a strong emphasis on rationality as the center-point that anchors the way they understand the world around them and build their principles on. This “pattern-ization” of thinking is a common autistic trait, with rationality being a popular theme because emotions tend to be difficult to access and asses for many of us.

Lazlo’s biography is an outlier. But it still has something significant in common with those of his brothers: All three of their bios allude to a potential special interest of sorts.

Special interests as an autism-related term are very specific, in-depth and long-term hobbies or areas of expertise that make an autistic person happy and they tend to go to seemingly exhausting lengths, often at the cost of other areas of knowledge and most likely the person’s ability to talk about anything else for a long enough time. (a loving hyperbole, no disrespect meant) Mine are my characters and cats. An even more intense but a short(er)-term passion is called a hyperfixation.

Them potentially having a special interest is yet another possible autistic-coded feature.

5. Wait. Why does it matter?

Right. What does it matter if a Sim (A SIM) (or two or three) is autistic? What do I hope to achieve, pushing my autistic Curiouses agenda down your throats?

I got to write a long rant-piece about some of my favorite TS characters and I feel like I can finally die satisfied.

Apart from that and me sharing my happiness of finding some good pixels I can relate to, it is a matter of representation.

Remember by the very beginning I wrote how most of the representation our community gets in media tends to be just a one specific type of character?

And how the Curious brothers seem to fit the stereotype to a point?

There is something I omitted, something I saved for the last on purpose.

The role. The role in their story, the role in the society the piece of media portrays.

We often see neurodiverse, autistic or autistic-coded character as children, students, villains, lone savants, victims in distress, comedic relief sidekicks, either very vulnerable and needing protection, or detached and having their role defined only by their academic prowess or their special interest/profession.

What we rarely get to see them as, are... parents.

That’s what many of us autistics are or plan to be someday in the future. The dogma around autism has started to dwindle relatively recently and there are little to no examples of autistic adults being the care-givers for once in the media around us.

The Curious brothers are just that. They are chaotic, they are eccentric, they can be a little too much... but they are dutiful and loving fathers/uncles to their little aliens they raise.

They make it work. Even if they face difficulties, even if they don’t exactly fit the standard.

“Sometimes, a family truly can be three brothers raising alien babies, and it’s beautiful.”

It encourages us to define family by love rather than traditional structures and it shows us that portrait of a functional neurodiverse family we need to see.

And goodness, is it a powerful sight.

[shihalyfie]

I’m a diehard 02 fan who does not want a reboot and never wanted a reboot, and here’s why

This is one of my few editorial-esque pieces, but this is something some friends and I have been discussing for a while, and given what’s going on right now, I feel like this needs to be said at some point.

Sometimes I feel like there’s a really massive gap between what 02 fans want (especially diehard ones) and what people think 02 fans want. I'm not saying that media should only be catering to hardcore fans, and if more casual fans of 02 or people who simply just happen to have a stake in the full franchise have their own opinions on what they wanted to see out of 02-related media, that’s perfectly fine, and they have a right to have those expectations. What I’m mainly writing this about is sentiments that talk about how Toei is apparently doing 02 a disservice or sweeping it under the bus by not rebooting it (which basically comes with an implication that giving it respect would mandate it being rebooted just because Adventure was), or talking about how doing a reboot would please 02 fans just by giving their favorite characters more rep. (Although, I suppose the simultaneous reveal of an actual 02-related movie kind of killed any grounds for claiming that the lack of a 02 reboot meant sidelining 02. You can’t really claim that they’re sidelining 02 when they’re making a whole movie, after all...)

Of course, I don’t claim to speak for every single 02 fan out there (so if you’re a 02 fan who doesn’t agree with anything I’m about to say, I apologize and hope I don’t sound presumptuous), and I highly doubt I represent the mainstream, but I felt I should input my perspective as a 02 fan who’s friends with a handful of other 02 fans, who have discussed this extensively and all have the same feelings on the topic, and why it’s kind of frustrating to keep hearing this kind of thing from people who assume that all fans of something should want to see more things that resemble them by default without any more nuance to it.

It won’t actually improve much that’s worth it

I’m going to be blunt about it: I think more people who supposedly want this 02 reboot are people who hate or dislike 02 than people who actually are fans of the series, because they’re doing this under the sentiment that “this was a bad series, so a redo would improve it.” You can especially tell because a lot of people acting like a reboot is in 02′s best interest are the same people being scathingly critical of the current Adventure: reboot right now, so you can see that this kind of mentality comes from people who clearly understand that a reboot won’t necessarily be something everyone likes all that much, and thus believe 02 is so unsalvageably bad that you couldn’t possibly make it worse. So you can probably understand why I’m not exactly patient with this kind of take.

If we are to be charitable, though -- if this sentiment comes out of a genuine feeling that 02 had missed potential that could be addressed by the reboot -- I want to ask everyone if they really believe that this theoretical reboot would be a net improvement, especially one that’s worth all the time and effort involved, and even more especially given the writing style that the current Adventure: reboot is employing. You don’t have to claim it’s a perfect series or anything to understand the sentiment that it held up enough by itself to not necessitate a whole anime series being made to do another take on it.

Something I would like to remind people who love to claim that 02 is such a despised series is that it made around 89% of Adventure’s revenue at the time it aired, and despite those who despise 02 being very vocal on the Internet, the actual mainstream tends to be very positive about it, especially in terms of anything to do with Ken (whom most reasonable people will agree had a character arc that deserves acclaim). So in other words, if you want to do a reboot, most likely you would want to do it without offending the base that likes the series already, right? (Especially since, you know, recent events have proven that upsetting the real-life 02 fanbase is actually a pretty inadvisable idea...)

Here’s the thing: Once you filter out most of the “scapegoat” reasons people tend to criticize 02, the one that’s generally the most agreed upon is how disorganized the plot gets in the second half. So this so-called ideal situation reboot would supposedly iron out all of the messy plot writing and make use of the “wasted potential” the series had -- but 02 was way more than just a narrative storyline with characters walking around in it, and when it comes to the reasons people were so drawn to it, they’re tied to the series themes about regrets and making up for the past, and about the unreasonable pressures that society places on children. That, and also the most important one, the central theme of human relationships, and the charismatic and well-developed (yes, really) characters. The so-called “messier” second half of 02 was full of payoff for a lot of what was set up in the first half in regards to its themes, and a lot of its subplots or character flairs are packed in really small nuances that are easy to miss on the first watch.

What this means is that 02 is a series that works off of a lot of delicate balances. Adventure could be “rebooted” because everything was very clear-cut and straightforward, which meant that you could change almost everything about the plot and still relatively adhere to the primary points of “kids gain self-awareness through a journey in another world”. (Like, I really hate to break it to those who put Adventure on a pedestal, but this is mainly possible because Adventure doesn’t really have much of a plot besides “defeat enemy” followed by “defeat bigger enemy”...) In the case of 02, everything regarding the story is, for better or for worse, much more deeply tied to the plot, the narrative behind the Kaiser and the traces of psychological horror laced into everything, and the second-half evolution mechanic, Jogress, has a lot to do with the developments related to the human relationships narrative. Moreover, a lot of the reasons that people call it “bad” for are deeply tied to the exact same reasons a lot of people like it -- that its takes on certain topics were heavily nuanced and unconventional, meaning it could cover ground that most media wouldn’t go anywhere near -- and so the series loses too much of its identity if those aspects are removed, even if it ostensibly seems like “streamlining” it.

So if you mess with one thing, a lot of it falls apart -- and in fact, considering the writing style that the Adventure: reboot is using right now, it’s hard to imagine that applying it to 02 would make it any better. Actually, it seems like it wouldn’t address any of the grievances anyone has with it to any substantial degree, and it’d be more likely to axe all of the stuff that were integral to 02′s identity, like the social commentary, or the heavy focus on human relationships, or the unusual sort of character nuance it employed, and...basically, we go back to the same question: is this actually worth it?

02 itself was about not having this kind of sentiment

The main reason most 02 fans get upset about the 02 characters not being included in Adventure canon-related things that should rightfully include them is that, quite simply, they’re part of the canon! In fact, most 02 fans like Adventure too, so they like the way 02 built on Adventure’s worldbuilding, and moreover they’re attached to the web of relationships between the Adventure and 02 groups -- 02′s additions to Adventure’s worldbuilding and the nature of what it established around the neighborhoods of Odaiba and Tamachi were not only added on but also deeply entangled with what was established before, so you can’t just act like none of it exists!

So this also means that once we’re talking about a completely different universe, absolutely none of this applies and there’s no expectations to adhere to any of this. The 02 quartet doesn’t exist in this universe? Cool.

Funny thing about 02: one of the biggest themes the story revolved around was “not getting caught up in the past, and moving forward with what you have instead,” so it’s probably pretty understandable that a lot of people who like 02 would be the type who wouldn’t be fond of rehashing stuff too much (and even more so it involves 02 itself), especially since being okay with 02 as a sequel likely means being okay with change in general. To make something really new out of it, you might as well...actually make something new out of it, or cover some truly new territory, instead of bothering with this whole reboot business, you know?

One thing you might notice about a lot of 02 fans is that they’re not actually all that fond of the idea of canon putting the group through more massive suffering or emotional ordeals after 02 compared to most. I mean, I think it’s pretty normal to enjoy your favorite characters going through emotional trouble, but the aversion to it often tends to be much stronger than usual, regardless of what country’s fanbase we’re talking, and even the official staff for Kizuna seems to have somewhat recognized that the 02 group is most in its element when in the context of fun and silliness. All things considered, this probably isn’t particularly surprising when you take into account the fact that “just being able to hang out with each other as casual friends at all” was considered such a blessing, and such a difficult goal to reach, that there’s a natural aversion to seeing them go through more emotional suffering again. The new trailer for the upcoming movie seems to have Daisuke in a relatively good mood (and even then, “please don’t make it too emotionally vicious for them” is a pretty common plea).

So if you want to talk about rehashing all of their old problems, seeing it all over again is just not very fun. It’s like holding Ken’s sins over his head again, even if it’s in a different universe; it just doesn’t feel right when the series itself endorsed the best possible outcome for these kids to be “to live happily and at peace with themselves, no matter what happened beforehand”. They worked so hard to get out of it, so to decide we have to do this entire rodeo again for the sake of doing it again, instead of trying something new is...well, it’s not that appealing of an idea, I have to say.

The real-life impact would be intolerable

It’s no secret that the 02 hatedom is a bit uncomfortably vocal about it, but what tends to be really frustrating about it is how many of them love to dunk on the series based on misremembering it. It’s fair that, if you don’t like a series, you probably wouldn’t want to watch it again, but as someone who’s spent a lot of years unpacking all the little details in the series and noticing that it’s much deeper than it initially seems on the surface, it’s honestly annoying to see “criticism” of the series that’s actually just dunking on it based on details that are genuinely factually incorrect (it’d be one thing if it were a question of subjectivity, but no, so many of the insults 02 often gets are based on things that legitimately did not happen in the series).

In the end, I admit that 02′s penchant for ridiculous subtlety probably worked against it a bit too much, and I’ve already covered its impact on how the series gets misread a lot. Thing is, this kind of subtlety was a thing in Adventure too, and it all leads to the unfortunate effect that a lot of people tend to forget what actually happened in Adventure if they haven’t seen it for more than a few years. With the current reboot right now, you’ll see people saying that certain characters are the same as they were in the original series, even though in most respects they’re actually the opposite -- because a lot of said people only remember them by the surface characteristics that seem to be similar.

So when you look at 02, and consider the fact that even official media -- including the official American English dub and V-Tamer -- has been a bit too prone to not handling Daisuke’s character tastefully and reducing him to traits that make him easy to dislike, you might realize that handling these characters improperly runs an extremely high risk of actually turning them into the flat, unlikeable characters that people tend to accuse them of being -- imagine Daisuke where his entire character is about fixating over Hikari and being impulsive, or Miyako being nothing but self-centered and selfish, or Iori being genuinely stoic and missing the nuances of constantly holding his emotions back. And making it worse is that this would basically solidify these negative perceptions of the characters even further -- because people, especially those inclined to hate the series, would take it as further evidence that the characters have always been like this, reflect it back on the original, and everything would really just become a miserable experience. (Those who are particularly inclined to be malicious against 02 would probably even claim a reboot to be “better than the original” no matter whatever it is, because of the belief that 02 is so incredibly terrible that literally anything would be better than it.)

It’s not my business to dictate other people’s opinions, but it’s already been a frustrating twenty years of dealing with this kind of thing, so of course I’m not going to be enthusiastic about the idea of putting up with more of it...

[grayintogreen]

Is it bad that the first thing I thought about when I saw you new theme was that children’s hospital meme? lol Now for my real question. Do you have any thoughts on Lucien's childhood dream? Cause I can only imagine him as a 5yo saying "I'm gonna be a GOD" to which someone said "You can't do that-" so of course he replied with "no I'm gonna" and then he did just that.

When you have Blood Hunters and Blood Clerics on staff, it's easy to promote color theory!

OKAY SO. OH BOY. DO I HAVE THOUGHTS. BUCKLE UP.

I don't think Lucien developed his God Complex (TM) until the Claret Orders, so put a pin in that for now. We'll get to that.

So here's the thing about Luci, Lulu, Lulubelle, Luci-my-love, Luci-not-a-Satan-allegory-en, sweet boy who did nothing wrong ever (citation needed). Matt doesn't SAY he had a traumatic past, but he also heavily implies it through Lucien refusing to talk about it, getting angry when anyone tries to make him, and being extremely defensive about his upbringing. Add that to almost EVERY CHARACTER from Shadycreek Run being miserable in one way or another, and you can probably guess he is a trauma-laden little bitch.

Since Lucien is (1. very intelligent for someone who came out of the Run (2. highly imaginative and (3. seems to be fond of books, I tend to skew him being self-taught and an avid reader. I like the idea of him stealing Exandria equivalent pulp paperbacks wherever he can, and those kind of stories are usually pretty formulaic. In a fantasy world, I'm sure they even trend more towards Chosen One narratives, because that's the kind of immersion fantasy ALL AGES are into, because in this sort of world those things are happening everywhere. People are plucked from their lives and set on grand adventures.

And baby Lucien was probably fascinated by that! The idea that these humble people who led miserable lives could one day meet the right people or the right wizard or get visited by a god and then suddenly become IMPORTANT and respected. Here is this kid who can already tell he's different- he's set apart by being a tiefling in a place that is really not kind to them and he's smarter than the people around him, which gives him his "gifted kid" superiority complex. Of course, he'd look at these stories, see he has all the hallmarks of a "main character" and think OKAY MY TIME WILL COME.

So from a young age, you have this kid dealing with trauma after trauma and effectively just waiting for a cute anime mascot character to come along and tell him how important he is, because through being a kid in a dangerous place who can't really escape his situation, he doesn't really have any other choice but to dream impossibly.

And then he finds other kids. He finds his little troupe of equally tragic people that he can lead. Still no great destiny, but then he finds the Claret Orders and now surely THIS will be what lets him find his dream.

But the Claret Orders are a unified front of BUNCHES of people with cool powers they got by poisoning themselves and committing to a cause that Lucien probably doesn't believe in at best and will become disgusted by eventually at worst. Not only that, but Bloodhunters are all intelligent, so Lucien, Gifted Kid of Shadycreek Run, has gone from being unique to a cog in a wheel.

And no one is coming to offer him a destiny.

And then he hears about the Raven Queen. (Remove that pin, we're here.)

This is what gets me, because the Raven Queen is the patron goddess of the Claret Orders. She INVENTED Bloodhunters. The Blood Domain was HERS before other gods co-opted it for their portfolios. So there's no way that however many years Lucien spent in the Orders he wasn't constantly hearing about her ascension, about how she was a Champion once who overtook a cruel deity and replaced him and people revere her for that! And then her methods were sealed away and every soul that's tried to do what she did was struck down. That's strange. And a bit unfair. But what if there was a way to do what she did and be just as revered as her?

So here's where Lucien's god complex kicked in, likely as a sixteen-year-old, so still very much a baby. When he couldn't get handed a destiny the way his baby brain expected him to be as a traumatized kid seeking hope and comfort, he decided his dream would be to make one for himself. He'd become so powerful he could change the shape of the world, exactly as the Raven Queen did. So he left the Orders and their hypocrisy and their dedication to an usurper goddess and just became a mercenary with his posse, hunting for treasure and trying to unlock the secrets of the world using the abilities that the Orders gave him.

So when you throw this all together, the Somnovem came for his life HARD. They branded him the Nonagon, their herald, their chosen. They had a disdain for the gods and a desire to overtake them. They were judged and condemned dreamers. All of this made him completely unable to see ANY of the red flags involved and drove him full-tilt into madness, because it was everything he wanted for YEARS just handed to him exactly as he wanted it. So of course he built a script that he expected to be followed to the letter, of course his best friends went from found family to a cult (this is what Lucien always said he deserved, after all, and if he got it then this means holy shit he IS special and chosen by a higher power and we'd be stupid not to be his disciples and get in on the ground floor of that power trip).

And then when even the Somnovem betrayed his trust in them, he went "well if the Raven Queen can turn on her god and take his power, then so can I" and came back to the material plane with a new script, three times as broken as he started out as, because even if he didn't want to admit it, all the stories had been wrong and being the Chosen One can absolutely suck, and he'd sooner go fully insane and rewrite the world the way he wanted it to be (a dream made real where he is the sole dreamer) than admit that there was never going to be an ending to this story that satisfied him.

[ask-buddy-lewek]

[More of the Bill and Buddy Lifeswap AU ideas!]

•Buddy discovering that he has an immense distaste for Alcoholic beverages (they’re gross and taste more like chemicals then something you’d drink because you enjoy it), but having to swallow his opinions (quite literally) and just kinda get used to being offered drinks at Bill’s father’s parties, he usually dumps them into a bush or something if no one’s looking because he isn’t going to drink it if he can avoid doing so. (He probably did attend some event once where he couldn’t do that and ended up getting a bit tipsy, probably the first and only time he’d ever allowed that to happen)

•Bill learning very quickly just how loud and noisy the city can be at night, finding it hard to fall asleep the first night or two because the street lights are in his eye or the sound of the people outside are too noisy, but not wanting to be rude and offend anyone, especially Bud’s Family, he probably just silently puts up with it, maybe eventually he finds comfort in it toward the end of their swap

•Adversely, Bud isn’t used to it being so dark and quite at night, or even during the day, he also isn’t used to having so much space all to himself (I’d imagine Bill’s room is rather luxurious)

•Bill having to get used to the smells and claustrophobia of living in a place like the Lower East Side, taking public transportation with random strangers (maybe not an entirely massive shock to Bill, but I can’t imagine he’d take a subway very often to get from point A to Point B back in Atlantic City)

•meanwhile If Bud explained that he could “just hail a cab or walk” to wherever he was going, he’d probably get the oddest glances from the house staff, but somehow the idea of being driven places personally makes him a bit uneasy and anxious… (especially if it were a place within a reasonable walking distance or something)

•Bud not used to being served a fancy full multiple course meal for breakfast, Lunch, or Dinner and actually getting extremely intimidated by the idea that there’s this whole process and order to what people eat, which things they eat first, and when they eat one thing verses another, he’d probably feel bad for not finishing something and offer to finish it later for the next meal only for the staff to look at him so confused like “it’s not a problem, really…” but Bud having grown up in a place where wasting food was not an option, doesn’t want to do the same, at the very least he doesn’t want to seem rude to whoever made the food by not finishing it, but being assured “if you don’t like it we can make something else”, which only blows his mind a bit further (“I can’t waste your food because I didn’t like it, that would be rude”)

•Where as Bill only being shocked and sort of heartbroken once he realizes how little the Leweks can spend on things like basic groceries, but just absolutely making a point to thank Irena for whatever food she made him. Even if he wasn’t fond of what she made he makes sure to eat every bite because the idea of not wasting food like that becomes very clear to him very quickly. (Also he absolutely respects the amount of culture and hard work goes into making these dishes and he just loves how even if it’s simple, it’s somehow just as filling as any meal he’d eat at home)

•Buddy being absolutely beyond mind blown just how much energy it takes to be able to actually just get through a regular day in such a fancy lifestyle. The constant upkeep of appearances and constantly having to look his best or act in a way that feels so beyond fake to him. The amount of energy it is to just stand around a party and pretend like he doesn’t want to be anywhere else, and wondering if Bill ever had any trouble with keeping up such an exhausting act nearly 24/7.

•Bill having to actually really downplay where he’s from, maybe certain mannerisms or habits that he’d subconsciously developed growing up and being taught that you have to put on a show for everyone, only to see just how down to earth and absolutely humble and genuine the people in Bud’s apartment complex are. They aren’t afraid to be real with you about their struggles or share stories about things they’d experienced before coming to the US, maybe Bill learning that not everything in life has to be this grand act for people, and while I imagine he’s always felt this way, being around people that aren’t entirely fake about their lives to impress others, I’d imagine he’d find it so humbling and eye opening…

•The kids in Bud’s neighborhood teaching Bill how to play Stickball and Bill having the time of his life learning this new game (I’d imagine he’d actually be somewhat good at it, maybe not a natural but he enjoys it so much)

[if any more ideas come to be, I’ll be sure to share em!]

[polythremed]

wheres the essay op i want whitsun bugs

there might not have been an essay before, but there is now! bugs and inverts are hugely overlooked. however, the victorians loved insects! they were huge inspirations in art, shells were used in fashion, so what would be more vogue than a giant bug for a pet?

(Punch, September 29, 1877)

the bulk of this talk will be under the cut but tl;dr is that arachnids still offer a lot of potential, beetles and moths live in the neath and were popular at the time, and there are a lot of lesser-known bugs that fit fallen london

also cw for bug images because there’s a lot of them beyond here, this is for people with good taste only

firstly: arachnids

FL has a lot of arachnids and this year’s whitsun saw the introduction of a squirrel with a scorpion tail! i think it’s a fun design personally, but arachnid companions are Not obsolete. the most relevant arachnids are crabs, and crabs are more varied than you might think!

(image by abc.net.au)

the yeti crab was the first crab to come to mind, related to hermit crabs and living in hydrothermal vents in the deep ocean. it means we’ve got another underground beast, and could you imagine this as a spired crab? it could be the product of shapeling arts, and the yeti crab’s famously hairy arms have the potential to be used as arm warmers or 1890s uggs for the discerning londoner!

there’s also the japanese giant spider crab, which might be more lanky than it’s neathy angler crab cousins, but look at those legs! how big do you think it is? how about taller than the average person?

you have to understand how badly i want to be this man they also inhabit vents near the bottom of the ocean (the crabs, not this man), they’re omnivores and one specimen’s measured in at 3.8 metres (12ft) across its outstretched legs! it’d probably be a dreaded companion by the sheer size of it, but imagine the walking sticks you could get from those legs

arrowhead crabs and horseshoe crabs are also runners up for this!

mites also came to mind, being small arachnids- the mite above is an adult female tea mite, and not much is known about mites! they’re primitive but have a terrible reputation, and FBG have shone the spotlight on other unloved creatures in the past. there’s also Caveat Emptor which tells us that the bazaar has parasites which are probably like mites? you could have your own romance vampire, surely nothing could go wrong

and if you’ve come here for spiders, how about the pelican spider? with a pelican-like head, pelican spiders prey exclusively on other spiders! isn’t that a fun way to counter sorrow spider infestations? introducing new species is a good thing, right?

higher tiers of this companion could start to own the whole pelican thing. i’ve seen monster designs of spiders with human heads but never a spider with a pelican head!

(image by me)

all he needs is some love and spiders

close arachnid contenders that i want to mention before this whole post is made up of eight-legged companions: camel spiders, harvestmen, and whip scorpions!

secondly: beetles

as john b. s. haldane once said, “god has an inordinate fondness for beetles”. and he’s right because there are more known species of beetle than types of mammal

in fact, the victorians fucking loved beetles (and butterflies but we’ll get to that)

we have phosphorescent scarabs as luminosity items and a few mentions of beetles in airs texts and in sunless sea, the latter where a beetle has been eating through your ship’s supplies. being from england, i have a vague idea of what sort of beetles would end up in london!

there are still stag beetles, rove beetles, and even cardinal beetles, but these by themselves might feel pretty basic. they’d be good t1 companions, but why not have a companion that’s a whole insect keeping setup? there’s even some colourful beauties like the scarlet malachite beetle which are now incredibly endangered

but if you want something Huge and Large and easily convertible into a fashion accessory, hercules beetles have a lot of potential! horns that can be used for knives in dockside brawls, or you could take most of the bug features and place them on a furry animal like a guinea pig since seas already gave us the guinea page

these beetles could also add diversity for the phosphorescent scarabs- and speaking of phosphorescent beetles, why not look to fireflies? they aren’t fire and nor are they flies, but to carry on with FBG’s habit of “slapping animals together to see what happens”, you could easily make something with the features of a firefly larvae

or you could take the even more interesting approach of having a grub the size of a cat, for example. hercules beetles have some of the largest larvae and the feast of the rose gave us maggots, so why not have one of these babies but the size of a cat? and glowing? they’re a possible light source that might make you more bizarre or respectable

a close runner up that i wanted to mention was diving beetles and how freaky they can get if they’ve adapted to the zee but the sabretooth longhorn beetle is going to close this segment as an embodiment of a dangerous and respectable companion- it already looks like it’s been carved out of wood! i think a carved polythreme beetle would be incredible

(see also: bombardier beetles, weevils, oil beetles, tiger beetles, harlequin beetles, trilobite beetles, and giraffe weevils!)

moths, and less commonly found underground, butterflies

another love of the victorians: butterflies!

butterflies are basically moths by a different name (there are way more moths than butterflies) and we do have canon dreams where a frostmoth the size of your head appears in your window, and wouldn’t that be useful for hunting in parabola? much like the beetles, there’s a lot of diversity that can be explored especially if we add shapeling arts

white plume moths are also found in the UK and just look at those wings

we can have a usual approach of adding the wings to something else, like a particularly unlucky bat, or just have something bizarre with the moth itself! more eyes? more eyes has been a common theme lately, or you can combine an insect with an arachnid and give it whip scorpion hands

these wings would be one hell of a decoration because white plume moths are considered to be micromoths

on the other end of the spectrum and taking the role of a respectable companion, the white witch moth is considered to be one of the largest insects on earth because of its wingspan! maybe they’re a more risky cousin of the frostmoth, maybe you could turn the markings on these wings into shifting sigils? don’t set your moths on fire

(image by Acrocynus)

white witch moths themselves have a lot of diversity while cup moths are another contender for an animal you could combine with another animal

(image by itchydogimages)

why not add the tail of a squirrel to this one? or a scorpion’s tail? a lion? with enough of these, you could end up with a very striking tawny coat. this thing is the embodiment of being neathproofed. even if they’re opposites of frostmoths and are associated with embers because of it, or if the tail is closer to being a candle!

moths are also good at mimicking in order to defend themselves, which is why you see so many moths and butterflies with eye patterns on their wings. birds hate eyes so much so there’s room for some real eyes on your brand new butterfly or moth companion

but some moths also mimic snakes, so for any fingerking fans out there: behold the atlas moth

this is such a mithridacy companion. can you imagine the t3 version of this where the snake heads are alive? we have a two-headed terror bird, so why not snakes on a moth? there’s even jokes to be made about one head telling truths and another telling lies, maybe the only head that could tell you the difference is the moths!

for butterflies themselves, we have butterflies that drink the tears of alligators and tortoises- so melancholy butterflies that only appear to feed on lacre? (and they might not be butterflies down here, you might’ve already mistaken a day-flying moth for a butterfly, not that the difference matters for much in the neath)

another strong mention is vampire moths if we’re carrying on the theme of insects drinking odd things, but a vampire moth with bat wings could be wonderful at ruining the lives of taxonomists

luna moths are also massive and could be more fitting now that we know who the creditor is, and that whitsun is talking so much about the bazaar and the masters

other lesser-known but interesting insects

we don’t entirely need to cover bees and wasps but it would be nice to have a piece of media showing wasps in a way that doesn’t present them as evil, but wasps could wait until hell is really significant again since wasps and bees are incredibly cool cousins. and thread waisted wasps!

(image by Bev Wigney)

get a load of that! these don’t even have the ability to sting humans, what would a thread waisted wasp-themed spindlewolf look like? how much shadowy with something with these colours give you? imagine the corsets inspired by these things

assassin bugs are another dangerous option considering how good they are at hunting other insects, and the neath wouldn’t be complete without more creatures that burrow underground and can find themselves in this weird cavern

(image by Fir0002)

their forearms are specifically developed to dig! perhaps they can dig through a rival’s belongings, or perhaps you can fashion their claws into brass knuckles or a belt buckle?

(image by faraaz abdool)

another fashionable, lesser-known invert is the velvet worm! we have plenty of slugs in fallen london, but you know what they’re lacking? legs

about 200 species of velvet worms have been described and they’re already quite rare! they all fall under the onychophora name and there isn’t anything else like them. you could easily have some persuasive with this, or if you turn it into a stole that can hold however many hands you want!

(image by docj96)

also, thrips! i found out about these today and apparently you’re likely to hear about them if you’re into gardening. sometimes they have crab claws for forelegs, so hey- more bazaar similarities! they have an interesting method of flight (clapping their wings together) but this might not bee too impactful unless you want a novel way to raise your investigating

flies are also criminally underrated, but i couldn’t tell you how many flies live in fallen london. stalk-eyed flies, however, are gorgeous things that would work so well as t2 companions! you could even go all out with a horsefly taking on attributes of an actual horse

(image by minden pictures)

the stalk eyed fly sees you five minutes before you can see it

there are genuinely so many more that come to mind (even neathy types of mantis- orchid mantids that have adapted to blend in with mushrooms! imagine!) but a good way to finish this off is with a love story

there are centipedes who will guard and hold their young close to them! giant centipedes are protective mothers and you can get hundreds of companions in one- or perhaps just one companion who really misses her hundreds of kids. and they hold their eggs just as carefully whilst waiting for them to hatch!

isn’t that a good love story? there’s a lot you can combine this with, but i’ve spent most of today writing this one! do with these creatures what you will, i definitely enjoyed talking about neathy possibilities for insects!

(bogleech also has a fantastic article on insects that should be used as the basis for pokemon designs, if you want even more out there bugs be sure to look here)

[honeylikewords]

jack daniels ship questions!

(Remember that ship questions prompt list I posted a while back? Here are all of those prompts, filled out for Jack and his wife! Hope you guys enjoy! Content Warnings: Not much to speak of, but some mentions of conceptual peril, Jack’s latent PSTD-linked behaviors, pregnancy. Word count is 6.8k. )

PRE-RELATIONSHIP

How did they first meet?

There are plenty of good options for this, but I prefer to imagine that Jack and his future wife met at work; the New York Statesman office is a functioning business, after all, and would therefore hold many people in its employ. Though Jack may be deployed to the field every now and then, he’s actually used surprisingly sparingly, and spends a great deal of his time actually working at the New York headquarters at a very real job as a chairman of the board for the company. His future wife worked on the same floor of the building in marketing, and the two of them crossed paths often, both in corporate meetings and just out and about in the halls of the building. 

What was their first impression of each other?

Jack immediately was drawn to her after hearing her speak up during a meeting; she’d been sent in as one of the marketing presenters and had a wonderful breadth of ideas for the company, and he was charmed by her warm presence, intelligent voice, and sweet manner. His first impression was deeply positive, and he spent the rest of the meeting eyeing her curiously, his tanned cheeks flushed with pleasure at being able to watch her shift her files around and toy with her hair as she listened to other speakers and nodded along: she was very, very pretty in exactly his kind of way, and he liked that very, very much.

Her first impression of him was, contrastingly, rather fearful; she knew him only as “Mister Daniels”, and had only heard of him through memos and word of mouth around the office. When she was called in to speak to some of the board members, she was petrified with anxiety at the idea of slipping up in front of such important people and, in fact, barely noticed Jack the first time they shared a boardroom: she was so nervous about getting everything right and speaking clearly and conveying the correct information that he sort of blurred with all the other execs and suits. That said, she did notice him watching her throughout the meeting, and any time their eyes met (and he often smiled at her when they did), she became acutely aware of just how handsome he was; his features striking, his mannerisms coolly lackadaisical, his posture wide and relaxed, his deep brown eyes smoldering under a firm brow as he flashed her a sharp smile. No wonder his name flew around the office so much.

Did any of their friends or family want them to get together?

Nobody really knew, frankly: Jack has no family to speak of, and not that many friends, either. For someone so charming and socially adept, Jack is surprisingly something of a loner, and tells very few people anything about himself, much less about his feelings or attachments. Literally nobody knew that he was developing feelings for her, much less was intent on pursuing those feelings and manifesting them into a relationship, and he liked the privacy of that.

Likewise, she didn’t mention her growing infatuation with him to anyone, particularly because it would be so embarrassing: if word got out around the office that she was making eyes at a higher-up, it’d seem deeply unprofessional. Besides, she wasn’t really close friends with anyone at the office and they didn’t need to know, especially when she believed that her feelings couldn’t possibly be returned. 

Who felt romantic feelings first?

Jack. He may not seem like the type, but when he falls in love, it hits him like a train: hard, fast, and unforgiving. It knocked him off his feet and flat onto his ass, and he didn’t mind a bit. The only hard part was keeping it a secret from her for so long!

Did either of them try to resist their feelings?

Big time. Jack felt it would be inappropriate to make a pass at her at all-- his gentlemanly nature insisted he was only to subtly imply his feelings for her, but otherwise treat her with ladylike gentleness and cordiality-- especially when he did hold some sway in the office, and that could be misinterpreted as, well, something unsavory. He tried hard to push the feelings down, to make them quieter and less intrusive, but he couldn’t help growing more and more attached to her, particularly when they ended up spending more and more time together as coworkers. Every new side of her that he saw made him fall more hopelessly off the steep cliff’s edge of adoration, and he barely had the willpower to hold on to propriety. Still, he did his damnedest! 

Similarly, she resisted a great deal; how embarrassing would it be for her to try and flirt with a man so far out of her league, and so far up the ladder from her rung? It’d kill her, socially and in terms of her career, to make a faux pas like that, so she kept the feelings bottled up deep, deep inside herself. Still, whenever he smiled at her or went out of his way to be so intoxicatingly gentlemanly towards her, she found herself swooning; sure, maybe he treats all the girls like this. Maybe he’s just a well-raised man. But she still couldn’t resist the inkling that, maybe, just maybe, he was particularly fond of her; even if it was just a girlish fantasy, it made her heart race to imagine him harboring some secret affection for her, and, as she would later find out, that fantasy ended up being more than a little factual.

If you had told one of them that the other would be their soulmate, what would they think?

Jack is a sucker for the idea of soulmates. He fully believes in commitments of the heart, body and soul, and would be utterly unsurprised to know that the woman he’d given his heart to so wholly was his soulmate. He may talk a lot of big game and posture all the live-long day about pleasing women and seeing “the whole doughnut”, but that’s just pretense: Jack’s a one-woman man, and he’s happy to pledge himself as her soulmate. More than happy.

What would their lives be like if they had never met?

Jack, presumably, would have continued his work without ever knowing there was something missing, but would be distinctly less engaged in the office, sharply unhappy, and would have been more inclined towards keeping himself busy with field work. He would have closed off even further from attachments and affection and continued in his hollowed state, scraped clean of any remnants of the possibility for love, and would have, likely, kept running missions until his luck ran out. A dark ending to a cold story.

Her life would be entirely up to her, ready for any path she might be inclined to follow, though she would never know the joy of being treated with such respect and love as Jack treats her with, and she would never meet a man so gentlemanly, so adoring, nor so intensely loyal. Perhaps she would meet someone else she could love just as much as she would have loved Jack, but her life would be a painting lacking  the warm hues of Jack’s mirth, love, and tenderness.

GENERAL

Who initiated the relationship, and how did it go?

I have a whole fic about that! But, in short, Jack did! I like to think of Jack waiting for ages and ages to find the “right” moment to tell her he had feelings for her and ask her out, and though he was petrified of making a mistake and losing her forever (and coming off like a creep), he managed to show her the sincerity of his attachment, and be granted the greatest gift of all: returned affections. She wanted to go out with him as much as he wanted to go out with her, and, from there, they melded together and the relationship progressed!

Did they have an official first date? If so, what was it like?

In that aforementioned fic, I suggest that their first date was sitting together on a long flight and watching movies together during a corporate excursion, and I like to stand by that! But if you mean first “date where they went somewhere”, after that flight, the two of them rented a car at the airport, went for breakfast at a local diner, and then took in the sights of the town before capping off the night with dinner and a movie. They ended up spending the whole day together, talking about everything and nothing, shy but ecstatic to be finally able to be open with their attraction to the other, and adored every moment of the date. It was a little awkward, at first, but they quickly matched one another’s patterns, especially towards the end of the night, cuddled up together at the theatre, resting their heads on each other and holding hands, exchanging little kisses on the hand back and forth.

It was like magic.

What was their first kiss like?

Nervous! Jack, normally so confident and slick, found himself trembling as he leaned in closer to her, hovering his lips over hers and feeling the quakes and tremors careening through every muscle of his body: all he wanted was to grab her by the face and kiss her as hard as he could and never let go, but he knew that would hardly be appropriate, so he just inched in, millimeter by millimeter, until she pressed up and closed the gap herself, sending him spiralling with fireworks behind his eyes and pure jolts of adrenaline coursing through his heart. 

He ended up accidentally deepening the kiss by leaning in and groaning through his nose-- he’d held back for so long that his body wanted to take everything it could get before it lost its chance-- and felt her hands rise to cup the back of his head, locking him into her, which made his legs turn into jelly and his eyes roll back in their sockets in delight.

Suffice to say, they were out of breath when they parted, and not just from holding their breaths during the kiss.

Were they each other’s first anything (kiss, relationship, etc.)?

Well, she wasn’t Jack’s first kiss, nor his first girlfriend, but she is definitely Jack’s first and only love of his life. And his first and only wife! As for the other way ‘round, Jack is his wife’s first long-term boyfriend, then her first and only husband, and, of course, the one and only (and thus first) true love. Ain’t that sweet?

What’s their height difference? Age difference?

Jack comes in at 5’11’’, 6’1’’ in certain sets of cowboy boots, and often likes that his wife is just short enough for him to comfortably rest his chin on top of her head during hugs. As for their age difference, Jack wouldn’t be at ease with anything more than a ten year age gap, and even that’s pushing it, so his wife is somewhere in that range. While age may be “just a number” to some, development isn’t, so he isn’t looking for a woman who isn’t at the same point in life he is. He wants to always be in sync with his missus, so being close in age and close in life plans is important to him.

What’s their relationship with each other’s families?

Jack has no real family; his parents both passed on a while back and he was an only child. He’s charming and affable with his wife’s family, but gets surprisingly nervous at family events and prefers to keep to himself: frankly, he’d rather spend all their holidays alone at home with the missus than be around her parents or siblings. 

Who takes the lead in social situations?

Jack. His savoir-faire attitude, pleasing manners and general suave presence makes him a natural fit for taking the lead in just about every situation, but especially when out and about; his wife leans more on the quiet side, and he’s fine doing the talking towards others for the both of them. He’s fine ordering for her at restaurants, fine handling chit chat with drivers or dinner guests, fine charming businessmen or clients. He’s happy to be her voice when she doesn’t feel like talking, and happy to be the conversational springboard for her when she wants to make a foray into it. 

Who gets jealous easier?

Jack has a shockingly vicious mean streak in him, and he can border on being possessive, at times. Sometimes it’s sweet how much he cares and how protective he is over her, but jealousy is a wholly different beast; when Jack feels like someone is flirting with his wife or has caught her eye, something hardhearted and controlling in him claws its way to the surface in him, and he looks at the object of her imagined affections with nothing but pure, boiling hatred. 

For example, he can get more than a little insecure if he thinks she’s staring too closely at a particularly attractive actor during a movie-- does she think that man has a better body than him? Does she like that man because he’s younger? Prettier? Has a smaller nose and brighter eyes? Fewer wrinkles?-- and ends up hating the actor in every subsequent movie, even going so far as to refuse to watch films with that person in them. 

He also can be more than a little rude to other men in public, but in a backhanded, “disguised” way, his cruelties and biting remarks hidden under a balmy layer of “Southern kindness”. Once, at a coffee shop, a barista gave his wife an extra baked good for being “the cutest customer he’d seen all day”, and Jack grabbed the pastry, smiled toothily at the man, and remarked that the barista had “good taste, though you wouldn’t guess it”, pointedly looked the man up and down as if judging his apparel, then took his wife’s hand and left the shop in a cloud of bitterness.

She’d really let Jack have it after that one.

Inversely, Jack’s wife can be more than a little guilty of jealousy, herself; after all, she knows her husband is a very, very attractive man, and that more than a few women find him alluring-- she’s heard how other women talk about him at the office-- and upon finding out that some of his field work can involve seducing women for information, she was in a near-constant jealousy tizzy for weeks. He’d had to promise her that he wouldn’t ever allow the seduction to be more than flirting, and even sworn to her that he would turn down operations where such a means of extraction was baked into the plan, but the feeling lingers, burning sour in her stomach whenever she knows he’s deployed. Is he out there, somewhere, flirting with some floozy, whispering things in that woman’s ear that he once whispered in hers?

It takes Jack eons to assure her that all his affection for her is earnest and passionate and that he never once used “the moves” on her that he might use for a mission, but every now and then, she still gets frustrated at the idea of him being coy with other women and he’ll have to take her aside and show her just how special their love is to him.

Who whispers inappropriate things in the other’s ear?

Mister Daniels. What he whispers is a secret between himself and the missus, but rest assured knowing that he likes to spare her no detail when elaborating on what exactly it is he’s thinking about when it comes to her.

LOVE

Who said “I love you” first?

Jack wanted to say it first so, so bad: he had a whole moment planned out, where they’d be on a night drive, parked in his truck, watching the stars, and he’d have beautiful music in the background as they lay in the flatbed, and he’d turn to her and say those three words, sweeping her off her feet, but… she beat him to it.

She’d come down with a horrible cold, one that left her practically bedridden, and he’d come over in a panic, carrying bags of medicine and ointments and cool patches and Gatorades and soup from the best deli in town, and he’d spent the entire rest of the evening taking care of her. After propping her up on her pillows, putting on a calming movie, throwing out all her used tissues, getting her changed into clean, comfy pajamas, and feeding her warm soup and cool drinks, she was drifting off to sleep. Jack was getting ready to spend the night sleeping on the couch, and just before he left, she tugged him by the hand, looking up at him with cold medicine-calmed eyes. Dreamily, she stroked his cheek and hummed a soft “thank you, baby.”

“Anything for you,” he replied, kissing her knuckles. “Get some sleep, alright, Princess?”

“Mmm,” she cooed. “Goodnight, bunnykins. I love you.”

And with that, her medicine kicked in, and she dozed off, leaving Jack floating on air, hovering by her bed, staring with utter adoration at this sleeping angel who… loved him. 

Loved him.

He barely slept that night, eyes fixed on the ceiling as he tried to fight off the silly, creeping smiles of a boy in love.

What are their primary love languages?

For Jack, he feels the most loved when he receives physical affection and is able to spend quality time with his wife. He has a deep attachment to her and feels that it’s best expressed when they’re able to touch each other; he adores being hugged by her, feeling her kiss his whole face, the way her hands playfully squeeze his butt when he wears those jeans she loves, the sensation of her fingers in his hair, tracing down his jawline and throat. Any time she’s touching him, he feels his life is complete and full, and when they’re apart, he feels fuzzy around the edges, as if only she can bring the whole picture into focus for him.

Add to that the enjoyment of quality time: Jack loves being able to spend days on end in only her company, doing anything she wants, talking back and forth and just absorbing the pleasure of being in her presence. He especially enjoys working on something together, like learning to dance together or building something (he, somehow, fell even more in love with her as they built a bookshelf together for their new, shared apartment), and, of course, traveling with her for trips and vacations. Once, they were snowed in together during a stay in Oregon, and he spent the whole three days of the snow-in just following her around the cabin like a lovesick puppy. They ended up sitting together on the couch in front of the fire, her perched on his lap, he with his arms fettered around her tummy, watching YouTube videos on resin pouring for, like, ten hours. He loved it.

Who uses cheesy pick-up lines?

“Well, excuse me, miss, but there seems to be something wrong with my phone--”

“Jack, no, don’t--”

“Because I seem not to have your number in it!”

“Oh my god.”

“Did I wander on in to the Louvre? Because my, oh my, I am staring at a true work of art, little lady.”

“Jack, please--”

“Lemme go get my glasses on, beautiful; you’re too fine for me to see without ‘em.”

“I’m going to lock you out of the bedroom if you keep this up--”

“Now, sugar, come on, can you blame me? I’m in such terrible pain!”

“Mhm.”

“Because it sure hurt when I fell for you!”

“OH MY GOD.”

How often do they cuddle/engage in PDA?

Every single day that Jack’s home, they’re cuddling in bed at the end of the day. He can’t sleep unless he’s got her in his arms, and he just can’t help but be a little handsy; he’s a lover of touch, after all! As for PDA, Jack tries to keep public affection “tasteful”, but also lets a little of his possessive nature pull through, at times: he likes to “mark” what’s his, and she’s his, all the way, so he likes to walk with his hand on the small of her back, sometimes cheekily stuck in the back pocket of her pants to get a feel of the nice curves back there, or periodically lean down to kiss her cheek and see if she’s interested in a more full-on kiss. At the office, they keep it limited to the occasional kiss on the cheek when there’s fewer people around, though that’s not to say Jack hasn’t teased the idea of going for something more intimate at work, before.

Who initiates kisses?

Both of them! They’re a very affectionate couple, but out of the two of them, Jack can be the most forward when it comes to making his intent to be kissed known. He has no shame about taking her chin in his hand and leaning in for a nice, deep kiss, or in pulling her by the waist away from whatever she was working, planting a wet one on her. Jack loves to feel her smile against his lips, and he’ll take just about any opportunity he can to snag a kiss from her. On her end, she loves to walk past him and press little kisses on his temples, cheeks, or the top of his head (provided he’s sitting down!), and will often try to walk off and continue what she was doing, only for Jack to grab her by the hips and tug her back for an even bigger kiss. He claims she “tempted him” into doing it; after all, a little kiss like that is more of an appetizer for the greater meal, is it not?

Who’s the big and little spoon?

They sometimes alternate, but more often than not like to go back to their favorite position, with Jack (and all his long limbs) as the big spoon, curled around his wife, resting his chin on his plumpness, pressed up against her. That said, he also adores feeling her softness surround him as she holds him from behind, all warm and cuddly. It makes him feel loved and cared for, and he melts for it.

What are their favorite things to do together?

Both of them enjoy exploring the town together: walking around the city, trying new restaurants, strolling in the park, window shopping, going to museums, anything! They like to walk and talk, discuss what they’re seeing, things going on in their lives, or what they’re hoping to do, next. They love trying new foods together, especially when it’s something unusual to them or something they’ve never heard of before. They also love to go to the movies together, and take great pleasure in reviewing films together or just canoodling in the theatre seats. Hell, sometimes Jack doesn’t even watch the movie: he spends all 90-some minutes with his face pressed into her neck, giving her hickies and letting his hands wander.

They also like to snuggle up at home and watch television, with Jack’s indulgences being cooking competition shows and dancing shows. He also has a secret indulgence: RuPaul’s Drag Race. He knows it’s trashy, he knows it’s staged, and he knows it can be, well, problematic at times, but damn, if he doesn’t get a kick out of how some of those queens fight! His wife will watch with him, even if it’s not her style, just because it’s cute to watch him gasp when one queen throws a drink at another or hear him complain that a queen is underdressed for the challenge. Watching Jack is ten times better than any entertainment the show itself could provide her!

Who’s better at comforting the other?

Both of them are actually pretty emotionally intuitive people, and Jack is deeply sentimental and emotionally intelligent, so it naturally follows that he can comfort her and show her all the examples of his love and protection when she feels low and fragile. Inversely, his wife knows him, and all his broken pieces, and is able to wrap her arms around him and tell him just what he needs to hear: the truth. That she loves him, that she’ll never give up on him, that she’s always by his side, and that they’ll weather any storm together. That he isn’t irreparable, unlovable, alone.

They both take great comfort in one another, and many couples envy their emotional honesty and how much they genuinely do care for and protect each other.

Who’s more protective?

Jack; he’s constantly anxious that something horrible is going to happen to his wife. He’s seen some pretty grisly business in his line of work, and participated in more than his fair share of that kind of business, and the ghosts of those deeds float around in his head and haunt his visions, making him fearful that something dreadful will befall her, as he’s seen befall so many others before her. He gets antsy and tends to hover around her, though he pretends he doesn���t. He also feels an obligation to protect her, as the “man of the house” and her husband; he’s old-fashioned and believes it’s his job to provide for and defend her, and while the sentiment is sweet, he can be a little overbearing at times, trying to coax her into letting him handle everything for her sometimes teetering on the edge of condescension. 

She knows he’s only trying to be her gentleman, her knight in shining armor, her cowboy, but she has to assert that she’s a fully capable adult woman to him every now and then and show him that while she loves and appreciates his dedication to her safety, she’s going to be just fine, and they can work together on things, not leaving it all up to him to take care of. He’s still learning, and he can sometimes regress into old habits, but he’s made wonderful progress!

Do they prefer verbal or physical affection?

It’s an interesting mix of both! Jack loves to dole out praises and pet names and playful little flirts with his wife, but he’s also not afraid to get handsy with her to express his affection for her. He prefers to use both at the same time; holding her hips in his hands, swaying from side to side, murmuring teasing tones and warm whispers to her about how beautiful she is, how sweet and kind and lovely, and how she’s all his. And for as physical a man as he is, Jack feels truly loved when his wife tells him honest and earnest things she loves about him, or when she tells him he did a good job at something, and he can tell she’s sincere. It reminds him that he’s not just a body for her to love, but a soul, a person that she admires and takes comfort in. And that’s the most loving thing of all!

What are some songs that apply to their relationship, in-universe or otherwise?

They both really love Dolly Parton, so “Islands In The Stream” comes on fairly often as one of their “dance around the living room and sing to each other” songs, as does “Why’d You Come In Here Lookin’ Like That” by Dolly! He also loves Johnny Cash, so “I’ll Remember You” is one of their favorites. Elvis’s “Love Me Tender” is one saved for special, quiet moments; it was played at their wedding, and holds a special spot in their hearts as a song to hold each other to, or murmur the lyrics to one another to show them how much they are adored. 

Similarly, they also have “When I Fall In Love” by Nat King Cole as one of their special songs: after all, they had both promised that “When I give my heart it will be completely, or I'll never give my heart,” in their own ways, so dedicated to true and loyal love, and then they found one another, and their hearts were given in totality.

There are more, but these are just a few (particularly romantic) ones!

What kind of nicknames do they call each other?

Jack calls his wife “Darlin’,” obviously, but also loves to use terms like “Honeycomb,” “Miss,” “Sugar,” “Little Lady,” “Babydoll,” “Princess”: heck, what doesn’t he call her? He loves using pet names for her!

She calls him “Mister Daniels,” “Cowboy,” “Baby,” and “My Big Man”, among other things.

Who remembers the little things?

Both of them! Each of them loves to keep track of special, unique things about their partner; she remembers that Jack hates acrid coffee and likes his with two sugars and two creams, or that he always puts his socks on left to right, or that he won’t leave the house until his tie is the perfect length, or that he always checks his mustache in every reflective surface he passes. He remembers that she brushes her teeth anytime she eats something that leaves the “fuzzy sweater feeling” and that she loves when he gently fingers combs her hair so much that her eyes close and she makes the same little pleased hum every time or that she only can sleep if there’s at least some cool air so she can bundle up and get snuggly.

The little things are what let you know you’re in love, you know?

DOMESTIC LIFE

If they get married, who proposes?

Jack, ever the picture of the classic gentleman, absolutely takes the initiative on proposing. He makes a whole big-to do about it, planning everything down to the exact detail and sparing no expense in trying to procure the perfect moment for him to pop that perpetual question. He actually quite enjoys the planning and that enjoyment does carry over to when they’re planning the wedding itself! 

What’s the wedding like? Who attends?

The wedding itself, despite Jack’s indulgences, was actually rather small: Jack doesn’t have that many people in his life he’d want to invite, so his side of the affair was rather empty, and so, in keeping, his wife decided to limit the event to just very close friends and immediate family. Both were very happy about that, being rather private people, and enjoyed being able to have an intimate wedding with a greater attention to atmosphere and personal touches than would be afforded for a much bigger wedding.

Jack had a few firm policies about the “tone” of the affair: he didn’t want a bunch of loud music, he didn’t want people getting drunk, and he wanted it to be fun but not “trashy”, a loose term he threw around at anything he didn’t really like or considered “gauche” when shopping around for wedding ideas. He also wanted to have at least part of the event take place outdoors, so the wedding ceremony was held indoors while the reception was outside, under the stars on an autumn night. 

He hired a full, live band to play the affair, and had a fair amount of fun dancing with his wife all through the night, from the traditional slow dance to up-tempo square dancing to just uncoordinated wiggling as they laughed their way into their brand-new marriage. Jack loves to dance, and having her in his arms, swaying to whatever beat life threw at them, made his heart soar.

I could go into more detail about themes and color palettes and the ceremony itself, but that’s for another day!

How many kids do they have, if any? What are they like?

Jack wants tons of kids. He wants as many kids as nature sees fit to give them, and has absolutely no shame in expressing that desire to his wife. Thankfully, she’s on the same page: while she may not want to be pregnant every bout of nine months or so, she also wants kids and is happy to raise as many as come along over the course of her and Jack’s lifetimes; a big family does not daunt either of them. As such, their marriage became a very fruitful one as time went on, and they soon welcomed their first child, a baby girl.

Jack was absolutely, unbelievably smitten with the little creature the moment he found out his wife was pregnant, and became even more resolutely devoted to her when she was placed, wriggling and crying and all red and small, in his arms, mere moments after her birth. He’d stared at her, half-sobbing, half-laughing, as his wife gripped his hand, and both of them fell utterly, hopelessly in love with that tiny little girl as she took her first breaths.

The little family only continued to grow after that; a few years later, when their little lady had grown into a chubby, grinning toddler, she met her baby brother, a squirmy bundle of miniature limbs and his Daddy’s dark curls, who Jack swore was born knowing how to smile, giggling as soon as he felt his Daddy take him into a hug. Three years after that, another tiny Daniels came into the world, a bright-eyed and curious baby boy who seemed to only snuffle, not cry, when he was placed in his Mama’s arms that very first day, peering around with a wondering gaze that made Jack’s heart break with utmost adoration.

(There may definitely come more little babies, but I think three is a good number to start with describing!)

They’re each amazingly different, and Jack loves them all as unique souls: his daughter, Lucinda (shortened to Lucy), is playful like her father, and loves to follow him around the house and ask him what he’s up to, sometimes running off with his hat just to win his attention away from desk work or some other ‘unimportant’ task. She adores her Mama, and hangs off her mother’s every word, copying her mannerisms and asks near-constantly to help with cooking or with playing with her brothers, who she loves to play “pranks” on (translation: she raspberries their tummies, then shoots off to another room, laughing hysterically).

Their first son, Joseph, is a rowdy little whirlwind, and learned to walk quickly just to keep up with his older sister, giving chase wherever she went. He loves to toddle around the house, squeaking and cheeping, showing his Mama and Daddy what he’s doing (often putting something in his mouth that he absolutely should not be putting in there). He loves being carried by Daddy and will crawl into Jack’s lap on the couch, sitting on his knees and making faces until Daddy laughs. He absolutely loves to make people laugh, and will play games like peek-a-boo for hours, gleefully shrieking and adoring when he hears his parents laugh at his silly noises.

The littlest one, Johnnie, is the quietest of the children, and enjoys cuddling up to his Mama and Daddy and taking naps on their chest. When not sleeping, he likes to sit and watch what others are doing, and seems the happiest when resting in his carrier on the table, watching his Mama hard at work on a project, and especially enjoys watching her partake in crafts like knitting, sewing, or cooking. Johnnie also enjoys watching animal programs on TV: he cries if they play anything loud and bright for him, and calms immediately when Animal Planet or National Geographic is on. He’s barely old enough to hold his head up, but will stretch in his bassinet to see his favorite animal, horses, on TV, or if Daddy is reading a book and doing horsie noises. He loves to wiggle his miniature arms around in circles, delighted by the pony sounds, and Jack can’t help but grin at how adorable his little man is.

Do they have any pets?

Yep! Though they save getting pets until the kids are older, the family gets a pair of dogs, both adoptees from a local shelter. The bigger dog is a mutt between a lab and German Shepherd named “Messy” by Lucy, and the smaller dog is a beagle-mix named “Buster”. They’re both deeply well-loved dogs, and though Jack may have pretended to not want dogs, he dotes on the two of them relentlessly.

Who’s the stricter parent?

Jack can be paranoid, at times, about anything bad befalling his kids, and he while he tends to be relaxed and fairly easy-going with the children, he can sometimes have bouts of militaristic tenseness and scold them for going somewhere without telling him, playing in the street, talking to strangers, et cetera. He gets so nervous that sometimes it bubbles up in controlling mannerisms, trying to keep his children as safe as possible, but going about it the wrong way. That said, he is a loving father, willing to apologize if he steps out of line, and he never yells at his children.

Who worries the most?

As mentioned before, Jack can teeter into paranoia that something will hurt his babies, but his wife gives him a run for his money, at times, especially because it can be harder for mothers to be separated from their little ones at first. The truth is, all loving parents worry about their kids, and always will, and both Jack and the Missus worry about their wee ones out in the big world.

Who kills the bugs in the house?

Joseph keeps trying to eat them! But it’s usually Jack, if only by default as the taller partner with the long, willowy limbs that can actually reach the corner of the wall where the damn spider is hiding.

How do they celebrate holidays?

As best they can! Mostly, they like to keep it to just the family, and don’t do any huge parties, unless it’s a birthday, especially for one of the kids: Jack tends to indulge the kids, particularly on their birthdays, so while the parties aren’t massive, they often have lots of kids and their parents come over for a big playdate and run around the house, lots of cake and balloons and party hats and presents wrapped in puppydog paper. 

As for holidays like Christmas, Hanukkah, et cetera, they like to stay home and do all the decorating themselves, and often involve the kids in the decorating process. A cozy, safe at home feeling fills all their hearts and Jack loves seeing his family all gathered together, making little ornaments or snacks together, cuddled up watching movies or playing with toys, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Who’s more likely to convince the other to come back to sleep in the morning?

Ol’ Missus Daniels has the greatest track record in the world of being able to coax her early morning-riser husband back into bed, back into her arms, and back to sleep. He can’t resist her sleepy eyes and beckoning smile, the way she opens her arms and pouts at him, the rusty creak of her tired little voice cooing “c’mere, you big lug, they can wait”. He has yet to convince himself to leave her side after a ploy like that.

Who’s the better cook?

Jack is flat out terrible. He’s great at a lot of things, but cooking is not one of them. He really is doing his best to improve his cooking, but he gets frustrated with how long it takes to make a good meal; he was so used to getting exactly what he wanted at fine dining restaurants and having things delivered to his apartment as a bachelor that he barely touched any of the dishes in his kitchen, and kept his fridge almost bare. Now that he’s a family man, he really does try-- he practices alongside his wife, watches the Food Network, stuff like that-- but he ends up burning things and getting pouty, and his wife will have to take over and show him how it’s done, which he appreciates. She was always the better cook out of the two of them, anyway.

Who likes to dance?

Very often, Jack’ll click on the radio and take his wife’s waist in his hands, giving it a loving squeeze as he twirls her around the kitchen, out through the living room, sometimes at the foot of their bed, his cheek pressed to hers, grinning from ear to ear. Sometimes, the babies will want to join in; Lucy will stand on her Daddy’s feet and hold his hands, swaying all around and screaming with delight, or Johnnie will be held to Mama’s chest and bop around with her to the tune of one of his favorite songs. Joseph, much like his father, likes to boogie on down and shimmy his diapered tush around, giggling as his Daddy applauds him. They all love to dance together!

Thank you for reading! Feel free to send in any requests for similar questions!

[st-just]

Semi-coherent Queen’s Gambit thoughts

Overall I really did enjoy the show, even if it might be a bit shallow, once you dig into it. Or, well,, having thought about it I could write a damning denunciation on request, anyway (but that’s true of basically everything I watch, so). Aesthetically gorgeous, of course. But honestly, what’s most interesting to me is how, like, deceptively upbeat and optimistic and generally joyful show it is?

Okay, so firstly – I really do mean it when I say it’s aesthetically beautiful. This show has singlehandidly convinced me that every change in fashion since the ‘60s has been a strict downgrade. The soundtrack’s absolutely sublime as well, both the licensed tracks and just the score – I’m almost certainly going to just be listening to the soundtrack as walking around music for quite a while. I’m no expert on cinematography, but there were a few scenes that were absolutely just showing off, and I sure as hell enjoyed the show (the American championship montage, obviously, and the pull-out in the Moscow hotel. And, well, pretty much every important chess game/tournament). Anna Taylor-Joy absolutely makes the show, and literally anyone whose watched more than two minutes of it probably agrees. Has one of those faces that is just amazing at getting across emotions and ideas without actually saying anything (and without looking like an idiot trying to do so). Really, the comparison that springs to mind is Mathew Rhys and Kerri Russel in The Americans, which is just about the highest praise I, personally, can give. So, yeah, give her and the people in costuming and set design Emmys, at a minimum.

And – getting critiques out of the way, in descending order of how much I care. Jolene is absolutely the most stereotypically Black Best Friend sort of character imaginable, and the conversation where she basically looks at the camera and says she doesn’t just exist to be Beth’s guardian angel doesn’t actually help that much. Beth finally summoning up the self belief and willpower to flush away her lifelong pill habit in the middle of a tournament and playing the next day without any sort of problems was a bit twee. Between the show’s utterly despair inducing vision of the life the women Beth went to school with have and Julie’s whole vitriolic anti-model spiel the show can come off a bit #notlikeothergirls (incidentally, whoever got the French a national stereotype of being sexy, well-dressed and sophisticated deserves a bigger statue in Paris). And, yeah, it’s not unjustifiable or even, like, unusually bad, but Beth hitting rock bottom does end up looking a lot like a playboy spread.

But, okay – when I say the series is remarkably upbeat what I mostly (magical addiction-curing character development aside) mean is that the world (or at last, the world of chess) is shown as fundamentally uplifting, kind, and pure. The conflict of the show is either the result of forced interactions with the rest of society, or Beth struggling with her own damage. Her birth mother and father, the orphanage, her utter piece-of-shit of an adoptive father, the other girls at school – these are all, broadly, terrible. But chess itself is an entirely positive part of her life, and while some of the people she meets through it are rude or condescending at first, they basically all very quickly grow to respect her and become extremely invested in her well-being and success (her relationship with her adoptive mother also becomes more positive and loving basically entirely in proportion to how supportive she is of Beth’s chess career). All of her rivals turn out to be gracious losers and perfect gentleman, and also usually fall in love with her (which, well, fair), and the closest things the series has to a defined, hateable villain (beyond Beth’s self-destructive tendencies) is her adoptive father,  not anyone in the chess world that consumes the vast majority of the plot.

The show’s take on gender roles and period-appropriate patriarchy. There is, to borrow and probably butcher (I believe) Kate Manne’s there is quite a lot of sexism in the show, but almost no misogyny. Which is to say, Beth has to deal with plenty of condescension, double-standards, suffocating expectations, and generally being being looked at askance, and the show is absolutely crystal clear that actually living up to those expectations is a miserable, soul-crushing, dream-killing husk of a life. But when she ignores them and demands to be accepted as a serious chess-player, once she shows that she’s as good as she acts like she is, everyone just, well, lets her. There’s no enforcement mechanism to the patriarchy, or if there is Beth is too exceptional to ever even see it. And no one ever becomes hateful or violently insecure when shown up by her – quite the opposite, really.

Semi-related, but for a show set during the Cold War it’s got an oddly positive view of the Soviet Union. Benny’s rant about how people actually care about chess and give it prestige, and how chess players there actually work together and cooperate instead of being obsessed with individual achievement (which the rest of the show goes on to make very clear is a virtue and something worth copying). There was a bit in the last episode along the same lines that actually made me smile – when the State Department/CIA goon asks Beth to tell the reporters how being in Moscow has made her proud to be an American, when she clearly (imo) is rather fond of the sudden adoring crowds and the reverence her sport is treated with.

Beyond jokes about the there being another universe 10 degrees off from this one where the whole thing is a VN where you beat each potential love interest in chess to unlock them, the comparison that comes to mind is honestly Among Others by Jo Walton. Not for, like, tone or subject matter or anything, but just for the general arc of ‘Weird Girl in mid 20th century deals with horrifying childhood trauma and alienation from the social life expected of her by diving headfirst into nerdy/esoteric subculture”.

But yeah, anyway, gorgeous, enjoyable show. Would watch again. Give Taylor-Joy an Emmy. Thank you again to @triviallytrue and @rox-and-prose for the recommendation.