#but he’s not a naive kid

[the-cookie-of-doom]

Secret Santa here again! How do you feel about supernatural fics? How about aus in general? Are there historical periods you DON'T want to see? Do you like canon divergence or would you prefer in-universe post canon?

I think I prefer more real-world AUs but I’m definitely open to supernatural (vampires and werewolves my beloved). Canon divergence/post canon/etc. is up to you. I really like AUs that loosely follow the path their relationship takes in canon. Like an arranged marriage AU that starts from convenience, feelings happen, heartbreak happens (then stalking and reconciliation…), etc.

Also don’t be afraid to get real dark with it, there’s just about nothing that’s too dead dove for me lol

I’m not particularly interested in regency AUs because they’re so overdone after Bridgerton, but I love love l o v e Victorian AUs. That’s my special interest subject, like Penny Dreadful style, I fucking love it. Dark and gritty and gothic is my JAM. Underground crime lord Kim taking care of some overseas business ventures in London (drug exports?) and meets Chay who was stranded with his brother when they were kids, parents came over for work, were claimed by consumption, leaving them orphaned. Doing whatever they can to survive. (Nvm I might actually have to write that myself, but you get my drift!)

Tbh I’m not super picky lol

The main thing I don’t like is either of them being like. Overly emotional? To a cartoonish degree? Crying all the time, falling all over each other to apologize and forgive and act like everything is okay without putting in the work for themselves and each other. They’re both very strong, stubborn characters, and I love seeing the way they push each other just as much as I love seeing them work together.

[louthelost]

Lothal is my home

Ezra Bridger, the character that you are...

(progress shots under the cut)

[hyperfixatinator]

Have you heard of the show "Undercover Boss"? Where the CEOs of companies disguise themselves as entry level newbies to see what goes on under their noses?

I know the show itself is spiced up for TV drama, but I can definitely imagine this premise in a DPxDC scenario.

Picture Bruce Wayne (or Lucius Fox) disguised as a new hire within the aerospace division of Wayne Enterprises, with young mechanic Danny Fenton showing him around.

[cubbihue]

So, is the risk of other kids getting taken and changelinged that anyone of the changelings getting exposed exposes fairy world to adults that can't be mindwiped and bing bang boom fairy war? Cause I'm not quite clear on how other changling/fairy kids put timmy at risk?

It's not that other fairy kids would put Timmy at risk, as it is that the children are at risk of severe harm should any part of the process fail!

Timmy knows firsthand how dangerous it is to become a Fairy. You could lose your mind, be sent back without time moving forward, or worse. Even then, assuming everything goes well with the child, something could go wrong with the changeling!!

Fairyworld already had a limit/ban on taking in anybody. Timmy just strengthened those laws for his own peace of mind.

Timmy believes he's no longer at risk, since he's survived a majority of the issues. However, it's simply not worth it for any other child. No matter how desperate their situation is, how much they love their fairy, or want to escape their life on Earth.

....Unless you're referring to the Antagonist!Timmy alt. Which is not canon to the main timeline. If you are, there's no answer to that. Timmy's just incredibly selfish in that one.

Bitties Series: [Start] > [Previous] > [Next]

[sqtorux]

gojo 'i am a man too' satoru when you keep teasing him about how he's younger than you and makes it his life mission to prove it.

[silvantransthranduiltrash]

Imagine a feanorian or a nolofinwean etc traveling back in time to the years of the trees-

And finwe, of all elves, clocks onto something being wrong before anyone else, bc he grew up in a time where it was killed or be killed and he wants to know why his grandkid(s) went from an elf who has never seen a day of strife in their life, to a hardened warrior with ptsd seemingly overnight.

[moonshynecybin]

You know how sometimes you think your parents’ friends are cool and you want to subtly impress them? That’s the Academy kids with Marc in the FCO AU to me. Sure some of them had listen to the Vale&Uccio nonsense from the second half of 2015 but 2016 and the time Marc spends at the ranch fixes that (and like, Marc is already a 4-times world champion, easily become a 5-times champion in 2016, of course they have to be a little starstruck by Marc).

And you know how sometimes in those years, we could the Academy kids coming to parc fermé to congratulate Valentino after he scored a podium? I’m thinking about them tentatively reaching for Marc as well, quick handshakes that might throw Marc off in the beginning before making him smile as he accepts them.

the thing is. if they never really had to sit in that rivalry for a long time and came into the paddock with a pre established love and familiarity wrt to marc i think MARC is the one being sweetgoofytouchy. think dovi era. cal crutchlow. scott redding throwing him over his shoulder. when marc doesn’t have his VALE SPECIFICCC hackles up he’s literally SO friendly off track. like on track yeah he’s a killer. career priority one. but if he had friends that didn’t sanction him for his (insane.) behavior i think he’s laughing yelling FULLY climbing the barriers in moto2 parc ferme to give 19yr old bezz a full body hug that makes bezz EXTREMELY sexually confused. actually the second bezz feels like he’s old enough to loop marc in on his ‘joking’ homoerotic little plays (a la what he does with pecco) vale pulls him aside to have a CONVERSATION

[feroluce]

Belobog was my fave main quest but a lot of it is so. Contradictory. It's like they had multiple groups doing different shit and none of them checked in with each other for consistency. And you see this so much in Gepard's profile.

So in the main quest, they made him unfailingly, unquestionably loyal to Cocolia. Gepard's character arc is him learning to question authority etc etc. And this isn't even a bad thing; that's a story worth telling! It makes good conflict between him and Serval! And I love that we got Gepard as a boss battle and I get to see him all the time in SU!

But then you look at his character stories and it's like. The complete opposite.

According to his profile, Gepard has already HAD this awakening, long before the Astral Express, and he'd already decided Cocolia sucks. Even outside of his stories, there's a pretty damning readable between him and Pela.

He even disobeyed direct orders right in front of her- he has been disobeying orders for a while now!

So I've decided I'm marrying the two different sides of this into a 1.5k fic-ish thingy, because I think there's some fun potential there with Gepard not trusting Cocolia, but still having to pretend to be a good obedient little soldier.

Anyway. I love to think of it as like. Gepard knows Cocolia has sunk into her apathy. He can see it in her eyes every time he looks at her. She doesn't care. Not about him, not about Pela, not about all his soldiers on the frontlines giving their lives to protect the citizens. And that's... It makes him bristle a bit, but ok. Gepard can deal with this. Even if Cocolia no longer cares, as long as she does her job then it's fine. Having compassion behind an action doesn't matter as much as the action itself. If Cocolia's heart is no longer swayed, then he'll just have to care twice as hard to pick up the slack. He considers it part of his duty as a captain of the guard anyway. It's fine. Gepard can deal with it.

And then, Cocolia starts coming down to the restricted zone. Issuing direct orders.

And Gepard realizes he is in way over his head.

Because Cocolia orders him to stay back and issue commands from the ramparts, away from all his comrades, away from where he can protect them.

Gepard had thought nothing could be as bad as watching a fellow guard die right next to him. But the first time he watches someone struck by a killing blow, so far away, it hurts. Every defensive scar across his arms itches, his fingers curl in want of a weapon, the cold cannot numb his hands enough as they desperately ache for his shield. It hurts.

Gepard tries to find any reason to stay. Because surely... He knows Cocolia has lost her love for her people, but surely... She wouldn't...

One day, Cocolia orders for their gunners to advance 20 yards. There are no survivors. She almost looks like she smiles.

Gepard doesn't sleep that night.

Pela brings him the report at the end of the first month; and then the month after that, and the month after that. A significant uptick in losses, and all of it started on that first day Cocolia started overriding his authority and issuing her own orders. The ends of Gepard's pens have all been nearly chewed off. Pela outright calls Cocolia an idiot, and Gepard corrects her. Cocolia isn't an idiot. Gepard had known her through Serval, knew her through all her college years and then some, and he knows how intelligent she is. It's not that she's stupid, and it's not that she's inexperienced, it's nothing of the sort.

Cocolia knows exactly what she's doing.

She must, there's no way she could make such a horrible mess of things so badly by accident. And Pela, quick as a whip, sharp as a tack, always too smart for her own good, catches onto the meaning behind Gepard's correction without any further prompting. The tent goes deathly quiet, nothing but the wind howling outside.

"...She's trying to kill us," Pela whispers, her voice swiftly suffocated by the silence.

Gepard swallows. He can't bring himself to correct her this time. There is nothing he could say that he would actually mean.

His gaze drops, back down to his desk and the reports on it. The names aren't listed, just the numbers, but Gepard knows them, knew them, and there must be something wrong, something he's missing, because why, why would she-? What could this possibly accomplish-?

“Gepard! Focus!” Something snaps right under his nose, and Gepard startles, eyes instantly honing in on Pela's irritated face as she leans over his desk. She holds his gaze for a moment before she huffs and begins to pace, wedges a knuckle between her teeth and bites like Gepard hasn't seen her do since cadet school.

Pela angrily strides from one end of his tent to the other, words hissed between her grit teeth. “What are we going to do?” In the dim lighting, Gepard can just barely see the damp spot of blood weeping under her gloves. “We need a plan.”

“A plan?”

“Wh- Yes, a plan! Unless you want more people to die!” Pela rounds on him then, all the wrath of a blizzard, winds roaring and snow sharp enough to cut.

“We don't even know-”

“What does it matter?! She killed-!!” Pela cuts off with a garbled noise when Gepard leaps up from his desk, hastily shoves his hand over her mouth. The prosthetic, not the flesh one, because he knows better than to assume Pela won't seize the opportunity to leave teeth marks in his skin.

“You're right. I'm sorry, I'm sorry; you're right. But you need to keep quiet.” Pela quirks an eyebrow at him and Gepard can read the question in her face. “Because we both saw what she did to Serval,” he hisses.

It's amazing the snow plains haven't thawed out yet, the amount of heat Pela can put behind a glare. The mere mention of Serval, and the smoking ruins Cocolia had made of her life and career, have her bristling up like a riled cat. The sudden hot breath she takes fans fog across his metal skin, and Gepard wisely keeps it in place until Pela finally sighs and reaches up, taps her fingertips against the back of his hand.

The second she's free, Pela bats him away and then her knuckle is right back between her teeth again, Gepard leaning back against his desk with his arms crossed to watch her resume her pacing. “If we spread the word, she'll have us discharged and make sure we can't even touch the frontlines,” Pela's voice seethes like an open sore. Gepard nods but keeps his silence. He knows better than to get in her way.

“And if you and I are both out of the picture, Belobog is fucked.” A little harsher than how he would have put it, but there's no denying that they're both important to the city's survival. Pela has the restricted zone running as efficiently as ever, and Gepard had become the youngest captain on record for a reason. “We need to keep this tight under wraps, at least for now… It can't leak to anyone higher up the chain.” Another nod. “Serval might know other discontents…” Another n-

Gepard's head snaps up. “No.”

“No what?”

“No. We're not involving Serval in this.”

Somehow, even the same tone that leaves entire squadrons shaking in their boots has never worked on her. “You're not deciding that for her, Gepard.”

Pela hadn't seen the worst of it, though, back when his sister had just been banned from the Architects. Serval's pride hadn't allowed it. Pela wasn't the one to find her passed out bottle still in hand, hadn't been the one to wash the sick out of her hair or carry her to bed. 

Serval still has trouble thinking clearly when it comes to Cocolia, still can't quite bring herself to be objective. And Gepard maybe doesn't want her to be purely objective- but he would worry a lot less if she thought twice before she acted more often.

“At least let me be the one to bring it up to her.”

“Whatever, fine,” Pela gestures affirmatively at him as she paces past, and Gepard sighs. Good, at least that's one thing he can help.

From there, it's a lot of hemming and hawing and frustration. Cocolia has them under her boot, and Gepard and Pela both know it. Even with the way she's been cracking down on freedoms lately, Cocolia is still, overall, liked by the people. It's unlikely anyone would believe them. They don't even have solid proof, because most people don't know Cocolia as well as they do and won't see the clues in the same light. 

The Fragmentum has been ramping up in recent years, too. Everyone is struggling just to survive as is, they can't afford a fight on two fronts. Gepard is a damn good captain, one of the best for that matter. But they're at a massive disadvantage, his experience is narrowed to fighting a defensive battle against monsters, that's all he's ever done. That's all anyone there has ever done. He has no way of finding first-hand knowledge for taking the offensive against a human opponent, and if he goes at this blind, there's no way he'll get everyone out unscathed. He's going to lose people. He's going to lose a lot of people.

He'd never thought before that Cocolia would have it in her to have someone killed. And with this new knowledge, he has no guarantee she won't go after Serval or Lynx if she decides to retaliate.

Gepard has to remind himself to breathe when he realizes this.

Pela writes down every name the two of them can come up with. Lists and lists of names and groups and anyone they can think of who might be an ally in all of this. They memorize every bit of it, make their plans of who to talk to and when. Gepard watches the sparks reflect off Pela's glasses as they burn the evidence together.

Pela finally leaves, far too late to make it home, but says she wants to stay in the restricted zone anyway to investigate. Gepard watches her make her way in the direction of Dunn's tent, watches her back until she's out of his sight and squashes down the urge to follow and keep an eye on her. His tent feels empty.

In the morning, Gepard is up before the wake up bells. He drags himself out of bed, leads his soldiers through their morning training. The same people gravitate to each other everyday. Friend groups and training partners. There's an ongoing rivalry between a few squadrons that everyone bets on. Some of them have lockets around their necks, keepsakes, mementos. Some of them wear wedding rings.

Gepard is suddenly, painfully aware of something acidic clawing at the inside of his throat, of a heavy weight low in his chest that blooms, takes up room until it threatens to spread his ribs. His mouth tastes of bile and blood.

He rearranges the schedules. Puts himself down for every open patrol into the Fragmentum, makes sure he'll be on the frontlines every single time Cocolia visits.

He only hopes that it's enough.

[creativity-deficient]

I hate how season 20 has just like, ruined half of this fandom’s perception of Butters

Can’t go anywhere without people portraying him as this woman-hating ultra incel

YALL he’s a 10 year old kid who just got his heart broken. Obviously his response was extreme but to call him sexist for it is WILD

[borgialucrezia]

i'm kinda struck by how vanozza and juan's dynamic is giving a clever conceited lioness and her furious cub (not saying this in an uwu way ofc but also like in the most flavorsome way possible). like i keep thinking about how juan doesn't want to get married which allows him to spend more time with vanozza in her house and she's been so fond of him and attentive to his humor...i'm also intrigued by how he becomes aggressively protective of her when her husband calls her 'dear', using violence to assert his father's primacy in his mother's life over the commoner, and likely to overcompensate for his powerlessness and mask his insecurity and fear of not actually being rodrigo's son. then he kisses her head and acknowledges vanozza's hardships as his mother who endured the romans' slanders. him going berserk when benito sforza taunts him about his mother not loving him much. and when he spirals after realizing that none of his beloved ones (especially his mother and sister) see that everything he did/does was to protect them, even if misguided, he spitefully hurts them back with his words and actions. and when he died she never even mourned his death...it's such a tragic mother-son dynamic that needs to be studied even more imo

[swiggity-swexual-i-am-asexual]

There are a couple of lines in Psychonauts 2 that I think about quite a bit. I’m pretty sure these have already been done but if NOT, then. Uh. Spoilers for Psychonauts 2 I guess?

First off- one of Sam’s lines. There’s actually a lot about Sam that I think could have been put to better use—specifically a conversation about how psychic powers aren’t always controllable, giving parallels between Compton, Dogan, and Maligula and MAYBE Raz. But the line I SPECIFICALLY think about is a joke one.

“And if you use enough syrup, you can’t taste the difference between chicken and snake. Eggs is eggs!”

In Psychonauts, eggs are used as a metaphor for brains. Like, this isn’t some vague thing, it’s extremely front and center. Eggs and brains are directly linked. And, it should be noted, that Sam actually puts an entire nest—INCLUDING BIRD EGGS—in the, uh…. ‘Pancake mix’.

So, snakes and chickens and syrup, right? Chickens, generally used to describe someone who is cowardly or otherwise not the type to actually do anything, syrup being sweet enough to distract from other tastes, and snakes being, well, people who are not trustworthy.

And then there’s Nick Johnsmith, aka Gristol Malik, who is a well liked non psychic that Truman calls a lick spittle—someone who fawns over others easily. In other words, a snake (egg, brain) that acts sweet (and syrupy) enough to seem like a chicken (egg, brain).

Do you see. Do you SEE THE VISION HERE.

Anyways onto phrase 2. Said by Gristol Malik.

“He took a poor, sad, country girl and turned her into a mighty warrior. And I’m going to do it again.”

Now, usual context will say he means he’ll bring Maligula out of Lucy/Nona. I don’t think that’s incorrect, per se.

But one of the things that really, REALLY snapped Lucy/Maligula was the death of Marona, her sister.

And who do we have camping nearby? Why, it’s an entire family. In fact, it’s Raz’s entire family. And at LEAST half of them are psychics.

Gristol already views Raz as a puppet. He only kind of likes him because he’s half Grulovian. And, you know, during the Rhombus of Ruin, Loboto was no longer under Oleander’s employee, so… who wanted Raz’s brain removed? Someone who, oh I don’t know, might have heard about Raz being a powerful psychic that MIGHT have noticed Raz’s rather unique name… or, more specifically, the last name of a circus that performed for the Gzar and his family, famous for water acts. One that, by chance, someone could have known that a Galochio, a family of psychics, recently married into?

And you know, Maligula is older, it’s good to have back-ups, right? I mean, this is the same guy that ACTUALLY pulled one over on an entire spy group of mind readers.

But, hey, maybe it wasn’t a plan to turn Raz into Maligula by killing one or some or all of his family! Raz is kind of pissed right now, and might not snap the way Gristol would want him to. I’m pretty sure murdering, say, Mirtala, his baby sister, might not work in Gristol’s favor when Raz is already against him.

That said… he’s not the only psychic in the Aquato family. And in fact some of those family members aren’t the most on board with the whole… Psychics and Psychonauts business.

Specifically, we have a barely used plot thread including Frazie Aquato and her acceptance of her psychic powers!

I’m sure that, oh say, her little brother dying in the middle of him helping the Psychonauts pick up their messes, when he should have been able to be saved by one of his heroes since he was literally at their headquarters and surrounded by psychic adults, will only have good things happen to the Psychonauts. I’m SO sure that Frazie won’t get extremely pissed at these people her brother looked up to so much. She’ll definitely be understanding and absolutely won’t use what seems to be a family trait of extremely powerful psychic power along with the hydrokinesis in her bloodline. Specifically because she, an acrobat since birth and taught to ignore a lot of the usual fears most people have about safety and the instinct to flee, definitely has a great relationship with her fight or flight mode.

:))))

Anyways I have a lot of thoughts about Psychonauts 2 (I’m not saying I’d do a fix it of some things that bother me, but I do tend to do canon rewrites to smooth out wrinkles as a fun writing exercise/my version of hyperfixation on media and with the time gap between the games there is PLENTY of those in the plot, so uhhhhhhhh) but no one to bother them to, so uhhhhh yeah thanks for coming to my Ted talk.

[eightyuh]

so what i'm saying is like

[witch-sweets]

Heres a poorly drawn comic about Hat Kid questioning The Prince's personality compared to Snatchers and how they aren't technically that different from eachother when it comes to "evilness"

(Also featuring a human MJ cameo for no particular reason)

In other words:

Peckneck literally becomes innocent in front of kids and his gf only to turn around and sue someone for looking at him funny

You can be a menace to society and still be oblivious and slightly naive when it comes to toxic relationships

Rose tinted glasses and all that

You can also be a menace to society and still be polite when the situation calls for it

Being nice to kids and stuff isn't that hard

Basically I'm trying to make him a mixture of most Prince portrayals in the fandom and a slight menace to society that carries Snatchers snark and chaotic behavior-

[lethal-effect]

Never thought I’d be feeling this defensive over Buddy Dawn but here we are

[fauvester]

yadeks girl ❤️

[starlooove]

Call me jaded bitter and black but I’ll never care about the nuances of the police fill in on tv. Like we already have to deal with the ‘my dad is a cop :(‘ or ‘my broke brother joined the military’ irl why the fuck am I wasting my brain power on Caitlyn or vi. Like we know materialistically the authority of being a cop can get u what u want faster and that emotionally u either need strict routine with an outlet for ur violence or ur so used to it that u have to be a cop. I still fucking hate u tho like idc about how sad u are about being privileged and I said cop fill in but it’s really every kind of that character on tv like Zuko esque sorry I genuinely have less empathy for you than I do for other people idc