#cory (the underground job)

[lindseymcdonaldseyelashes]

Leverage 3x10 - "The Underground Job"

[aceoflights]

I just love how Eliot will immediately bond with every working man type character and immediately take every child under his wing

[werewolfsmile]

Cory - The Underground Job

You can blame this entirely on @lindseymcdonaldseyelashes and their recent gifset of Cory and Eliot hugging at the end of this episode! It reminded me of Cory and all the emotions I have for him, and now here we are!

I haven't seen anyone else in the fandom comment on this yet, but Cory lies about his age. The episode blatantly tells us that he's 14 at the start, which therefore makes him 16 two years later. But when Eliot asks? He lies. Says he's 18. And you can see the falsehood in his eyes when Eliot asks, you can see the way he squirms and looks away. Lying doesn't come naturally to this kid but he doesn't want to admit to this stranger that he's only 16. And you know what? Fair enough.

But then Eliot pushes just a little harder. And this kid ... Cory is honest, you can see that so clearly here. He doesn't wanna talk about it but he still tells Eliot the truth. He lost his dad. He left school to support his family. He doesn't have any other choice.

And you can see how hard that resonates with Eliot. You can see the pause, the respect that enters his eyes. Eliot understands doing things because you feel like you have no other choice. He gets it. And from then on, he watches over Cory fiercely and does what he can to improve Cory's future.

The bond that develops between these two is one of my favourites! We often see Eliot interact with kids who are much younger than Cory, so it's unique to see him with this young adult who has taken on far more responsibility than he should at such a young age. It's very reminiscent of the world Eliot falls into when he joins the military - still older than Cory, so Eliot can only imagine how hard this all must be for him.

But at the end of the day, Eliot helps and Cory gets to feel protected again - instead of being the one doing the protecting. And I will never get over how much of an impact that makes on this 16 year old kid.

[leverage-ot3]

the kid from the underground job could be the hitter if he ever feels like he wants to pursue a career outside the mines and is looking to blow off some steam (I think his name was cory???)

that OR molly from the carnival job ends up becoming the hitter for that team

sterling would HATE it but I would think it was funny if olivia ended up being the mastermind of the group

I feel like some of the kids that the OG Leverage crew interact with (mostly Shorty & the kid from the Potato Job) grow up and join Leverage International in some form or another.

Shorty does take over the landscaping business eventually and expands it, but she lets International crews use the trailers/equipment for a distraction, or recon. She might also be a part-time thief. 

The Potato kid is a combo Thief/Grifter, where his type of Grift is to be as loud/cause as much chaos as possible so The Mark’s attention is on him and not whatever the crew is after.

[tracing-lines-in-the-infinite]

I love rewatching Leverage.

Started rewatching The Underground Job for some Eliot content and instead remembered that Parker is often taking notes when grifting - both in preparation and during. She was writing out a script for herself and in redemption we finally got to see it develop into using notecards to classify any possible interaction!

Also this is the first time I realized that the kid Eliot meets in the mines is the same kid whose birthday it is about to be when the mine exploded. Making him 14 two years prior (its unclear if he was turning 14 or 15)- which means Cory is only 16/17 years old... hence why the miners always try to keep him as far from "the action" as possible.

When the mine owner complains about how the union demanding workers be paid fairly and have safe working conditions is destroying the business Sophie and Hardison both let their disgust show- they both break!

Parker (or Hardison) keeps a pillow and blanket in Lucille so that Parker can take a nap after too much social interaction [which is now inspiring me to bring a blanket( or maybe a comfy sweatshirt) to my office so I too can nap after too much interaction]

Bonus!

Parker's observations of Pierce:

Image ID: Hardison holding a notepad to camera that says (in all caps):

Learned more on Pierce today, after hours of undetected observation:

She looks right to left...

Opens office door with right hand, answers phone with left...

Blinks 15 times per minute...

Uses hand sanitizer more than 10 [times] a day...

Has 2 cats...

/End ID

There's another shot where she wrote "Smells like Bubbles!" with Bubbles underlined. And Hardison apparently touches his chin every 2.5 minutes.

[crazynerdandproud]

In the underground job at the beginning it is mentioned that this guy’s son Cory is just turning 14. The episode takes place two years later and Cory is working in the mine. Elliot asks his age and he says 18, like a liar. That kid is all of 16 years old. Which gives the entire subplot with his character a new angle of meaning and tragedy to it.

[misty720]

Small note - Elodie is an OC from my second story and a main player in it. I just haven't worked on it in a long time...

Curses and Blessings - Ch 2:

Living on the Surface had its good and bad just like the Underground. Papyrus found society trying at times, but he was grateful for his little human and their three children. He was grateful to his sister in law for such an opportunity and for her unrelenting DETERMINATION to save them twice over. He loved his life, his career, his family, and all the opportunities afforded still. However, he realized he would have been just as happy back in Snowdin if he could still have his little family. He cared for people, his own kind and humans alike, yet he found some humans to be more tolerable than others, and the older he grew the less patience he had for nonsense. Whimsy, fun, and innocent jokes or pranks where not what he meant by 'nonsense' either. To put it bluntly, he didn't have time nor willpower to put up with bullshit anymore. Papyrus still believed in second chances, benefit of the doubt, and people having the potential to be better or do better, sure. It was simply that the man had found a threshold for his once unbridled patience.

Yes, life on the Surface had its curses as well as well as blessings. This thought hitched a ride in the back of his thoughts on his way to work which in and of itself was a blessing and a curse. Some days he felt more like a glorified babysitter than an entrepreneur or master chef and that included customers when necessary to deal with them.

Six in the morning wasn't terribly early for him specifically. Papyrus was used to waking up early, jogging, showering, and dressing for his role as Frisk's secretary until he was able to open his restaurant on the other side of town far from where MTT's sat. All of that went out the window the first month before he ever even served his first customer. His routine became more like wake up, run nonstop, drag himself home to either cook or eat whatever nice meal his wife could conjure, drag himself to the shower, and drag himself to bed. At least, until Monday rolled around giving him a day to rest and spend time with his family. Clising Monday was a promise he made Chara years ago when Kabel wasn't quite born yet. Six in the morning gave him a half hour to finish prep and help his bakers organize the baked goods before unlocking the doors. "ALRIGHT, PAPYRUS. TIME TO GET IN AND MAKE THIS ANOTHER AMAZING DAY. YOU WILL NOT FUSS AT THE NEW HIRES BECAUSE YOU'RE SLEEPY, YOU WILL NOT FUSS AT THE NEW HIRES BECAUSE YOU ARE SLEEPY, YOU WILL NOT FUSS THE NEW HIRES BECAUSE YOU ARE SLEEPY. THEY ARE STILL LEARNING AND VERY FRESH ON THE FLOOR. LET THE FLOOR MANAGER DO HER JOB. ELODIE IS CAPABLE AND A GREAT LEADER. DON'T HOVER OVER HER LIKE SHE'S STILL A CHILD. OKAY, IT'S GO TIME," Papyrus gave himself a little pep talk before entering his establishment. Even with its bad, Papyrus wouldn't trade a moment if it meant being anything other than a husband, a father, and a head chef of his own restaurant.

Meanwhile, Chara was giving herself a pep talk after making sure Serif had a way to school and quarantining her other two. "Sans! Thank you!" she greeted her brother in law as he pulled into the driveway.

"Hey, pal! How's the two little ones?" he greeted them rolling down his window.

"Kabel's fever is high, but Sylf is fine. I just don't want her going after being up all night sick. Frisk sent you instead because you can't catch it I bet."

"Oh yeah, ya think she wants that bug? I'll hafta go through Al's sterilization chamber before enterin' and leavin' work 'cause I could still be carryin' it. Ya sure ya wanna send this one? He could spread it. Meanin'... Luci and Cori will catch it. Meanin'... I can't protect ya from Frisk when she catches and feels better."

"If he was showing symptoms, I'd keep him home but I can't keep him out of school just because. Besides, the girls will probably have it soon enough and bring it home. It's been making rounds in school."

"Wonderful... Guess we better 'stock' up, eh?"

"Pfft! I would to be safe. Alright, son. Be good for your uncle and call me if you start feeling ill."

"Thanks for picking me up, Uncle Sans," Serif greeted him climbing in the passenger seat.

"You're welcome, kiddo. Just... try to stay away from your cousins and sanitize your hands," Sans advised leaving the driveway.

Chara went back inside not wanting to leave her five and six year old little ones alone for long. "Chara, you're not going to snap at your mini clone because you're sleepy, you are not going to snap at your mini clone because you're sleepy, you are not going to snap at her because you are sleepy. Kabel will need another dose of fever medicine in four hours, Sylf will be hungry in two, and I'll need to make sure that boy drinks something," Chara told herself.

"Momma, Bubby threw up on the stairs trying to get to the bathroom!" Sylfae called out the doorway.

"Fuck..." Chara exclaimed under her breath. "Thank you for telling me, my minion. Stay away from Bubby today, okay? I don't want you sick again." Her daughter agreed and went into her room that used to be her cousin Lucida's because it was pink and the girl liked pink over Corsiva's old purple room. Serif was the oldest therefore was privileged with Frisk's old bedroom with the built in bathroom Papyrus and Sans added on for her birthday one year. Chara's life, to her, was both a curse and blessing as well. She loved being a Mom and not needing to work, she loved that her husband was capable and loving, and she loved her friends and family, but in order for her to do all of the things she did and her family to have what they had, she had to sacrifice so much time with her husband. Many nights, he was home before midnight, but there had been plenty he didn't come shuffling in until two in the morning beat from running all over that restaurant. He had staff, he had a good name, and he took pride in his work as much as his family. It was just that sometimes, she felt he was more married to the restaurant than her. But, they had bills to pay and he already sacrificed one day of potential business to make her happy. How could she possibly put the pressure on him of choosing between his passion and his dream and his family when his business was supporting a comfortable life even with three children, one of which was a bottomless pit and could out eat both of them combined? No, she was a good wife and a fair partner so she would shoulder the downsides with the upsides. Afterall, the vow was for better or worse and she loved him deeply. "At least I have a puddle of half digested chicken nuggets, apple slices, and... when the hell did he get a hold of grapes?? The school doesn't serve them and we haven't bought any in weeks. Ugh! At least this and my minion will distract me for the day..." she thought aloud to herself grabbing the scrub brush and soap after checking on her sick boy laying in the bathroom floor.

"Momma..." Kabel groaned.

"Yes, love? Roll onto your side if you're going to steal the bathroom. I don't want you choking if you can't sit up in time. You'll suffocate. Here, try to sip on some ginger-ale and put some crackers on your stomach so you're not just hurling stomach acid," she told him setting a cold cup of soda and a sleeve of saltines in the floor.

"I'm not hungry..." he started tearing up. "I don't wanna be sick anymore."

"I know, baby boy, but you have to eat at least one cracker and sip this for me. The acid will hurt your throat if you don't." She sat on the side of the tub and petted his sweaty, rust colored hair. Yes, life for her was more good than bad and the bad wasn't even that bad considering what all she had been through, some her fault and some not. However, she wouldn't trade a second of it for anything else.

@papara-week

[wolves-in-the-world]

Eliot realising Cory's deal [handshake emoji] Eliot realising Randy's deal

that horrible dawning moment of shit, I can't help him.

[othersystems]

here was the timeline of  2000s music/clothes (*from suburban memory)  for younger genz who i see making some crucial timeline mistakes!-

2000-2002

nu metal- korn, limp bizkit, slipknot, insane clown posse

poppunk- blink 182,NOFX, MxPx, the ataris, etc, less than jake, reel big fish ska

eminem 

around 2002 was garage rock revival the stroke, the white stripes etc

spiked hair baggy pants for men 

middle lip ring, eyebrow ring. those star tattoos everyone got. spiderweb elbow tattoo

spencers

kind of indie/emo-lite on looks for “alt” culture- messangers bags covered in pins, flippy hair for women

2002-2004

popunk second wave- good charlotte, simple plan, avril lavigne, yellowcard

popunk men with the lng hair in front spikey in back haircut, clown tear makeup

second wave “emo”- taking back sunday, thursday, straylight run

secondwave nu metal- linkin park

metalcore- avenged sevenfold, atreyu, bullet for my valentine etc

outkast blows up

bands like converge or at the drive in or the locust for 15 year old boys midway on their journey from “corporate alt rock they play on fuse (see above)” to “underground music” or 80s hardcore

“rand0m sp0rk >.<” culture

Bam Margera, HIM, CKY

invader zim, emily the strange

flash games, bored.com, xanga

drawn on converse, lowrise flare jeans, lowrise skirts over jeans, skate shoes

hot topic, bondage pants

everyone making their own fansites, height of messageboards, quiz sites

hot topic goth, fauxhawks

von dutch hats, volatile platform sneakers 

beginning of hummer/eat the poor culture

G Unit clothes/upper middle class white teen boys appropriating rap culture

beginning of mainstream crunk music

“indie music” blowing up modest mouse, franz ferdinand,

beginning of the saddle creek reign- bright eyes, cursive, the good life, tilly and the wall

garden state, the shins

2004-2006

fuse, mtv2, vh1

height of paris hilton, juicy

big zip up black band sweatshirts, lots of rubber bracelets

third wave “emo”- my chemical romance, the used etc

second wave “screamo”- hawthorne heights, senses fail from first to last

“i cut myself” live journal vibe, postsecret

gorillaz have their second wave

beginning hints of scene- fall out boy, people wearing long necklaces, mirror peace sign selfies. teen girls wearing thrifted young boys pajama tops

duckface, starbucks, uggs, northface jackets

Ed hardy

grindcore- job for a cowboy piq squeal bree music 

teen boys wearing womens jeans

side lip piercings, strectched ears

folk punk scene, kimya dawson, paul baribeau, ghost mice, defiance ohio, 

flip up hats, fanny packs, rat tails, house shows, anarchism, food not bombs, zines, bicycle culture ppl building “tall bikes”

soulja boy

2006-2008

the life and death of scene which comes and goes with myspace

skinny jeans/bright color skinny jeans, *rawr*

raccoon hair, “brass knuckle” jewelry, lots of eyeliner

end of mall goth, directly replaced by scene

continuation of consumer culture, duckface, starbucks, uggs, northface jackets but also guido, spray tan

Tap out replaces Ed hardy for men

beginning of white people ukulele covering rap song culture

“acoustic guitar in the woods”- iron and wine etc

“weird diy aesthetic” - dan deacon, animal collective

MGMT, juno etc adding to mainstream awareness of “hipster” culture

second wave of twee

every “alt” teen finds and obsesses over neutral milk hotel for some reason

reign of judd apatow

lil wayne, everyone knows the word to a milli

2008-2010

rise of facebook

texts from last night

scene overwhelmingly perceived as trashy, morphs into brokencyde vibe

edm, dubstep

lady gaga, the beginning of poptimism

chillwave- neon indian,toro y moi, washed out

hipster runoff and “the end of alt”

american apparel, lcd soundsystem

in these years vnecks transition from “american apparel alt guy” to “tech bro” very sharply

the cobra snake/last nights parties party pic culture, santos party house, cory kennedy

“hipster” “williamsburg culture” blown up, wavves, best coast etc

the beginning of the reign of the micro genre “witch house” etc

burial, grouper etc

“irony” becoming mainstream, tim and eric 

“indie folk” becoming mainstream car commercial music- edward sharpe, foster the people, mumford and sons

rage comic reddit culture, beards, bacon

tyler the creator, earl sweatshirt, lil b, nicki minaj alt white ppl have new interest in hiphop, see it as experimental, start of the end of “rap is crap” racist thing

velour sweat suit culture starting to fade, more variance in clothing styles. black lace up boots, floral skirts becoming popular, beginning of 90s nostalgia. men wear cardigans

lookbook.nu , tavi gevinson, alexa chung

less prep vs scene/goth/punk more “everyone is kind of alt so there is no alt”  (500) days of summer is nail in the coffin

[lindseymcdonaldseyelashes]

Leverage 3x10 - "The Underground Job"

[wolves-in-the-world]

want to know something awful? Cory's birthday is referenced in the opening scene - he's fourteen then - and, well, the accident was only two years before the episode is set, which makes Cory sixteen and lying about his age in order to support his family. and if you look at Eliot's "eighteen, huh?" in that light, it sounds an awful lot like yeah, kid, I can tell that's a lie, but I'm going to play along because I get why you're doing this.

(small towns, minimal job opportunities. he Gets it. doesn't make it right.)

if I recall correctly there's some awkwardness when Eliot asks Troy to keep an eye out for him at the end, too - because Troy knows it's not okay, he's seen that kid grow up this far, but he also knows things would be worse for Cory and his family if he didn't have that job and all of them them there to keep an eye on him.

rewatched The Underground Job last night as a wind-down and now Eliot and Cory have been bouncing around in my head all day. can’t stop smiling at it. literally cannot get over Eliot big-brothering this kid I swear to gods.

like!!! Paul Revere’s lunchbox! Cory throwing history facts at Eliot and Eliot’s fond “smartass”! bonding over getting the grunt work! that obvious look in Eliot’s eyes when Cory tells him about his father, aargh (and can we just… oh, Cory. eighteen, either just out of high school or dropped when he was sixteen, and in charge of providing for his entire family, and we know his father must have been a wonderful man–oh, Cory), the way you can see how he immediately goes “okay I’m going to take care of this kid,” how he directs Cory toward the job that’ll get him furthest along toward his future… oh, goodness. and, and, and! the way Eliot drops everything to go find him even when he’s in the middle of looking for the bomb! chivvying him out of the mine!

and oh. ohhh. how betrayed Cory looks when Eliot says he’s leaving. the sheer pain. I’m just. guys, these two knew each for, at a wild maximum, four days. this job was pretty short and snappy. so little time, and yet somehow Eliot’s become this role model, this older brother figure, this friend, and Cory legitimately can’t stand the idea of losing him. it hurts to watch that scene.

but like–you know that this means that, in those few days working together, those hours spent together working in the mine, they must’ve talked. it must have taken hours dusting the walls, after all, with little else to do but talk. there’s this rapport we can feel between them (and points to the writers and actors and everybody on the goddamn crew for this ep for pulling that off within such a tiny frame of time) that they obviously built. what did they talk about, do you think? what kinds of stories did they share? how much do you think Eliot knows about Cory, walking away? how much does Cory know about him?

and then Cory offers that hug. that lovely, lovely hug (a mirror to Hardison’s earlier, really, and what does that say?), so obviously emotional, and Eliot… that brief hesitation before he returns it. that “oh” moment. he’s going to miss this kid, he knows that, but oh, he didn’t realize just how bad the kid was going to miss him.

it makes him asking the other miners to look after Cory all the more bittersweet, really. he wants the best for this kid, this eighteen-year-old given full responsibility for his family, this teen who is probably not so far from so many of Eliot’s old childhood friends. so he asks, and he sets it up, and he does his absolute best, because he has to. what a kindness, what a love there is there.

and yet. and yet.

you can see that regret in his eyes. that wish that he could stay there, just for the kid, just for the miners, just to keep them all safe. he can try his best to leave behind a good legacy… but he can’t be there to be sure.

what kind of pain is that to bear, I wonder? knowing that you’ve done your best, and still heart-broken, in a small way, to know you’re leaving behind a younger brother whom you could have watched grow into a wonderful, strong young man?

oh, Eliot. at least it’s better than the other regrets you bear.

[corijamison]

“I KNOW WE’RE ALL FUCKING EXHAUSTED; AM I IN MY HEAD OR HAVE WE ALL LOST IT?”

INTRODUCING…

NAME: Coraline ‘Cori’ Loretta Jamison

GENDER & PREFERRED PRONOUNS: Cis woman {She/Her}

AGE: 26

BIRTHDAY: January 10

ZODIAC: Capricorn Sun, Leo Moon, Scorpio Rising

SEXUALITY: Bisexual

FACE CLAIM: Maggie Lindemann

HOMETOWN: Brooklyn, NY

OCCUPATION: Actress (Francesca Gillian on Unashamed) & Musician (Quickswitch)

CHARACTER PLAYLIST: HERE.

UP NEXT: “DEBBIE DOWNER” BY LØLØ

BIOGRAPHY: tw drugs, overdose, death, mental illnesses, runaway, homelessness, hospitalization, suicide attempt, homophobia / biphobia

Coraline Loretta Jamison was born at 1:10 AM on 1/10/1998 in Brooklyn, NY (she’ll pull her birth certificate out to prove it). Her mother was a teenager and couldn’t take care of her, so she was given up. Her adoptive parents being a young couple who couldn’t have a child, so it wound up working out perfectly. Cori grew up in a loving household. Her father being a homicide detective whilst her mother a preschool teacher. Though her father was rarely home, she adopted a lot of his traits.

Her curiosity for the world and everything around her was one of those traits. Her mother, though sweet, restricted most if not all of Cori’s freedom. But that’s expected when you live in an area that contains 90% of crime for the whole state. With her father having such a dangerous job, it only made sense for her mother to be overbearing on her. But overbearing parents made rebellious kids. Cori would always sneak off to Manhattan for as long as she could remember.

Cori was always intelligent, but she’d swear up and down that she hated school. The truth of the matter is that everything was too easy for her, so she would just skip classes or not show up, altogether. It did get progressively worse as she got older, especially in high school; If it weren’t for her grades and her family’s name, she would’ve been dropped. It just..... didn’t hold her attention, and she would rather be in a record store in the East Village than have to sit in a room with people who took an hour to comprehend two lines in a book.

Cori had a lot of mental obstacles she didn’t quite understand. Most of it was rooted in her identity - feeling like a stranger in her own skin, constant disassociating. People would say her name and she wouldn’t feel as though it was her. She was suppressing her bisexuality for the longest time, mostly due to her mother thinking it was a ‘made up’ sexuality. In Cori’s mind, she was a girl who went to school - but what else?

She never really voiced these feelings, fearing she would seem crazy to others. Instead, she found music. Now, Cori already had fond moments with music; Most being the jam sessions with her father in the car. Her taste of old-school punk actually came from her father, his favorite band being The Sex Pistols. She also had her city friends, when she would sneak out at night and crash concerts of more underground bands all throughout the AMs. But, on her 15th birthday her father took her to see Green Day on their 99 Revolutions Tour. Billie Joe Armstrong actually pulled her up to play guitar, and it was that moment that she knew she wanted to pursue music.

Her father gave her his old guitar from back in his high school days, and she would go to school (or skip) and just practice for hours. This created a distance between her and her parents, which made her mother even more controlling. The pressures from her mother to focus more in school and pushing this pre-established path her mother created for her, made Cori push back. Feeling as though she couldn’t breathe nor have the freedom to grow and develop into who she was meant to be, she ran away at age 16.

Cori couch surfed between her friends in the city, also being sucked even further into the night life. She dabbled within her sexuality as well as drugs. Though, being so young, she didn’t understand the extremities of her actions. She was brought home after being hospitalized due to an overdose and she wound up moving back in with her parents.

Her parents wound up telling her about her adoption when she hit 17, which pushed her over the edge and mentally destroyed her. This strained her relationship with her parents, marking no trust and a blame she put on them for her identity crisis. She always felt there was something wrong and that she didn’t fit, and unloaded that blame on her parents (mostly her mother). It was around this age that she became very ‘fuck you, and YOU, AND YOU’ towards everyone. It was also around this time that because she couldn’t be a voice for herself, she became a voice for her friends and those who were dealt the short end of the stick in life.

She was hospitalized again at age 18, but due to depression. To this day, she’ll swear she didn’t know you weren’t supposed to take that many sleeping pills. Through the program in rehabilitation, she gained a support system from those going through the same shit she has. She had a newfound confidence that was built so high that once she was out, she announced that she wanted to be a musician. Her father was disappointed in her choice and well as her mother. They still pushed her to go to a community college to gain a degree as a backup, where she dropped out within the first semester. Her parents wound up kicking her out because they weren’t going to house someone who was ‘going nowhere’ in their life.

Being kicked out had her back on her friend’s couches, and back in the nightlife scene more than usual. She was a merch girl for one of her friend’s bands, and that introduced her to harder drugs. She lost one of her friends to an overdose and swore she’d stay away from any of it, ever since. Seeing that NYC held more negative memories than positive, Cori packed her bags and wound up wandering around the country with only $60 to her name. This is the point in her life where she claims she found her home; her people with whom she banded together with in order to conjure up a crazy band - banking everything on her dreams and the kooky family she found for herself: Quickswitch.

Quickswitch was created as a way to bring feminine power to the punk-pop/alt scene. It was not by their own doing that they blew up on TikTok; fans posting videos, which landed Cori and the band to migrate to California. With the lack of a record label, Quickswitch was on the rise but was on the lookout for that vital piece in order to reap any benefit financially. Cori wound up being ‘discovered’ by a casting director who popped into the record shop where she worked double-time to make her part of the rent. Basically being handed the part of Francesa Gillian due to the interaction they had, Cori knew it was a dream but not her dream. She took it for the sake of the money. With the success of Unashamed, Cori and her band were able to attract enough attention from record labels. Ultimately, they utilized a majority of Cori’s income to create their own label for themselves; Not wanting to fall into a binding contract and fucking themselves over by the blood-sucking management of a big label. In honesty, they didn’t need much of PR with the success of Cori’s show. Now, if only she could quit the acting gig. Unfortunately, there’s no way she can without black-balling herself. So, she kinda is just waiting for the network to stop renewing her show so she can give all her time and energy to her genuine passion in life.

EXTRA-EXTRA, READ ALL ABOUT HER!

Cori is heavily extroverted. You can’t tell, based on how closed-off she appears. But, she would go crazy if she had to go the day without conversing with people. She loves late night adventures, horror films, and last minute plans. She’s impulsive and reckless when bored, and takes a liking to thrill-seeking activities mostly because she’s numb on the inside and wants to feel something, ya know? Cori is very just. This comes from being raised by someone in the law enforcement field, but also from the music she was raised on. She’s very quick to defend and root for the little man. She’s also very passionate about people being themselves and throwing social norms out the window. Cori is sarcastic; She’s a Capricorn, okay? She calls other people out for their shit (but god forbid you call her out), and keeps her circle very small (fear of rejection if she shows people the real her). If she does see you as a friend, she will 10/10 be loyal: call her up at 2 AM if you need her for anything, she’ll be there. She’s always down for debates and will play devil’s advocate for the fun of it. She loves conspiracy theories (totally thinks Courtney Love killed Kurt; loves joking about simulations). She has a problem sleeping, and her sleep is just all around fucked? She can sleep for 3 hours and be good for 72. She loves food (Taco Bell for the win). Uh, idk what else to say - oh, she doesn’t trust people. She’s also very secretive about her past and no one knows about it besides the fact she’s from NYC. She also hates the fame and wishes she could give it up - but it’s far too late for that; Definitely thinks she shouldn’t be someone who has fans.  

HEADCANONS

Cori has a padlock necklace she wear religiously from her father. It’s a replica of Sid Vicious’ who is both of their favorite band member from The Sex Pistols. She wears it as a salute to her father, because even though he kicked her out, he was the one who was always there for her and who she viewed as her best friend. He’s part of the reason she got so into music (introducing her to bands via jam sessions, the Green Day concert). To this day, she never talked to her parents.

Cori goes by ‘Cori’ because she watched Coraline as a kid, and it scared her shitless. Now the movie is one of her favorites, but still goes by Cori for signature sake.

Cori is vastly educated in music due to her extensive obsession and research growing up. Her knowledge on vinyls comes from her dealing with vinyl specialists in the city when she was younger and hungry for inspiration. Due to this, she was hired as a vinyl specialist for a short period when Quickswitch was gaining their footing in LA. 

Cori isn’t medicated. This is mostly because she’s too stubborn to see a therapist, but she also uses her humor? Basically, she is like every other comedian you see on Netflix who make other people laugh and happy because they can’t make themselves happy. She’s also really good at hiding her unhappiness, because of her comical trait.

Her favorite pun of all time is the scene from ‘Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2′ when the boat goes off the cliff and the guy goes ‘AH! THERE’S A LEAK IN THE BOAT!’ and then it pans to a LEEK AND THE LEEK SCREAMS. She laughs for a good 5 minutes at that.

She is the lead singer, rhythm guitarist, and main songwriter for her band; Though, she can play upwards of five instruments, total.

PERSONALITY:

+ Comical, Open-Minded, and Adroit

- Self-Destructive, Enigmatic, and Outspoken

[tartcherryscones]

"If you ever truly existed!"

TLDR; @Bioware's Dragon Age writers: If you even truly exist, maybe give Omnism a look, because the way most religions are treated in Dragon Age is kind of depressing.

My fellow fans, you ever think about Corypheus' death scene and psychically shoot a frosty glare at the Bioware team that does Dragon Age? I do. "What was that sudden chill?" one writer asks, shivering. "It's April in Edmonton: the high today is 40," another says. "No, it was that lesbian in Texas! She's at it again!" a third replies, banging a fist on their desk. And then they send me a polite email asking me to stop, because they're Canadian, but I don't because they deserve it.

Seriously, that line where he's like, "Oh noes! I'm having a crisis of faith! Was Dumat ever real? Like, really real???" just makes me cringe. Look, this isn't a hidden god kind of situation. Dumat is real, okay? Like 100% real. I mean, he's dead, but he's still real. You can have faith in Dumat like you can have faith in butter.

No one ever questions the reality of butter; it's so real it has manifested on your plate. The Congregation for the Causes of Saints isn't going to bother checking if butter really happened, because they know it did. Butter leaves no room for doubt. You can have absolute faith in it. You can spread it on toast, you can sauté vegetables with it, you can put a little on a tiny plate to spoil your cat. Now, you don't have to like butter. Arguments about butter are common as milk. You might think that butter is bad for your cholesterol, or that cows deserve better than to be kept in miserable conditions to make butter, or that Bill Gates has put microchips in your butter, but your faith in the reality of butter is more solid even than butter. Maybe as solid as frozen butter even. No one is questioning butter... Until apparently Corypheus does for some unknowable reason. Get this man some coffee and toast, for pity's sake! He must have had a really rough night.

See, the Old Gods were worshiped not because people believed in something their priests said, but because of something the Old Gods said. Namely, "Sup, peasants! We're gods!" Truth of the matter asserted aside, there were definitely dream dragons chatting to people in the Fade! Furthermore, they were out there rewarding followers, punishing backsliders, and doing loop-de-loops in the Fade-sky. They might even have massacred Barindur! And Corypheus knows that because he has talked to Dumat before!

Before he decided to go full-time b-movie horror villain, his day job was as the freaking High Priest of Dumat. He presumably had the privilege of talking to Dumat more than anyone else did. He was the primary conduit of influence for the worshipers of Dumat to their god.

"No, not like this! I have walked the halls of the Golden City! I have crossed the ages!"

Now, Corypheus might have been upset at not being able to find his gods in the Golden City when he rolled up like an unholy Ms. Frizzle in his elf-blood-powered Magic School Bus, but he has surely since figured out where they really were. Somebody must have told him about the fucking Blights, okay? He knows that the Old Gods were actually underground by the final confrontation with the Inquisitor.

So what is up with this line?

"Dumat, ancient ones, I beseech you! If you exist, if you ever truly existed, aid me now!"

Why are you talking like this, Cory baby? Are you okay? Sweetie, he's gone. Dumat is dead, sweetie. He died a long time ago. Literally everyone else in the whole world knows that. Dumat was the first Old God tainted and killed. The Grey Wardens killed him. You know, those guys you mind-controlled? Yeah, those guys. They could tell you all about it. Their order was actually created to kill Dumat. Dumat's tainting actually touched off the First Blight, which was a somewhat important historical event. Maybe look it up in any history book, or in the Chant of Light, or, better yet, just ask anybody; it's kind of a big deal.

To me, Corypheus' line just smacks of the writers trying to pit one religion against another for the benefit of the Christiany one. I don't like it. Firstly because this is badly done, narratively speaking. Corypheus doesn't even worship the Old Gods anymore and having Corypheus react as if his faith in them is being tested here strikes me as OOC.

Let's not forget that Corypheus had started a new religion with himself as a living god. This is not that uncommon in the real world and people who do this (i.e. cult leaders) don't tend to renounce that stance. By appealing to Dumat, Corypheus is admitting his own weakness and admitting the superiority of Dumat over himself. Corypheus' whole schtick was that he was better than everybody else!

And of course it's anti-non-monotheist because that is Bioware's pattern. Elvhen gods? Aristocrats who hunt people for sport. Modern elven gods? Misremembered historical figures. Avvar gods? Swole spirits. Ancient Tevinter gods? Singing dragons who lied about what part of town they live in. The dwarves' Titans/Stone? Singing crystals that give you a really bad trip, bind you to the hivemind, and make you wander away into the darkness, never to be seen again.

But the Maker? He is a hidden god, so nobody knows, except you should infer that He does exist because He can bring Leliana back from the dead, make and fulfil prophecies concerning what no-good demon-worshipers will say in their final moments (see:Corypheus and Andraste 7:19 "They shall cry out to their false gods and find silence."), and give the Herald just enough luck to survive anything. To do otherwise would seem to be taking a particularly un-meta stance.

Look, Bioware, I get it, you're Christians not polytheists. But seriously, you don't have to shit on everyone else's religions to prove that your favorite one is worthy. You set up all these lovey mythologies! Let some of them be true! Also, it makes things feel kind of bleak and disappointing when you focus so much on proving all the polytheists (and only the polytheists) wrong. For me, it strips some of the wonder away.

Religion is the most magical part of our world. It literally involves willing something (inner strength/gods/spirits of nature/souls of the dead/etc.) to change something about the world. That's magic! It might involve a third party (generally), but it's still magic! It might involve sacrifices of candles, burning incense sticks, donating money, giving up meat, saying special words, reading a special book, drawing sacred circles, or burning entrails in a sort of trade for service, but it's still magic, just like in Thedas! A prayer is not different from a spell. In Thedas, prayers to purify one's soul and prayers to set one's enemies on fire both work. At least, the latter demonstrably does.

Ultimately, you take a little bit more of the magic out of Thedas every time you prove another religion wrong there. You are reducing the fantastical in your fantasy. Please stop it.

[popculturebuffet]

Darkwing Duck Reviews: Tiff of the Titans

Uh-Oh, Gizmoduck Comes to town! In the first of a series of reviews building up to Just Us Justice Ducks,  the dopey, arrogant, anti-charasmatic, national embarrassment heads to St. Canard to guard a super weapon from F.O.W.L. Naturally, he ends up being more of a problem for our hero than the actual bad guys. Also a look at Tad Stone’s claims the series isn’t in the same universe as Ducktales.  Full review and recap commissioned by @weirdkev27​ under the cut

This review, much like Death, Taxes and Thanos, was inevitable. I’d been planning to watch and review the first appearances of each of the justice ducks and fearsome five as my next step in watching Darkwing duck anyway, and while I’ve already got one member’s appearance in the wings anyway, I’ll get to that tomorrow or Saturday just in time for Halloween, hint hint, Kev pushed this one into the queue with a commission and I  was happy to take the side trip to see just what the Darkwing version of Gizmoduck and Steelbeak, two of my favorites in the reboot, were like originally. So welcome folks to the build to the greatest superhero team made up of ducks of all time, let’s get quackin. 

We open, here in Duckburg, where the Eggmen are breaking in. Sadly they do not have the master plan, but they are here to steel the Comarant, a super powerful land, sea and air device the military is storing there. They instead find Gizmoduck! Who makes a good first impression, being a hoaky superman parody in iron man’s costume in this continuity, but it’s a nice way to contrast to Darkwing’s batman parody with a touch of Sandman.. the pulp one not the neil gaiman one.  Sadly he doesn’t have a cool gas mask but the Darkwing Duck costume is iconic without it. 

Point is the eggmen are easily repelled, though they do get away by blasting Gizmo with a tank. The General in charge is thankful for Gizmoduck’s help, but notes the Comarant will be heading to St. Canard soon for a demonstration at the big air show, and asks that Giz go over and protect it, maybe even work with Darkwing to protect it. Though Gizmo shoots that down, and not only insults Darkwing but says he’s not sure if he’s good or bad. While the latter comment did sour me on the guy.. research bears out Darkwing has been framed once or twice, and my own experience with the pilot saw him you know breaking out of jail and basically clamming superheroes are above the law, so I COULD get why someone wouldn’t trust him, even if Giz’s attitude about it still isn’t great. So fenton quick changes behind a sign and heads off to see his old buddy Launchpad.  A quick aside before we get going this episode doesn’t so much torch Tad Stone’s retroactive claim this isn’t the same universe as Ducktales, as burn it to ashes, take a whiz on those ashes and send each separate ash on a seperate probe to the farthest reaches of space. This episode not only has a cameo by Scrooge on a billboard.. but it’s one for DUCKBURG. Where Gizmoduck is said to be from. He also knows launchpad well, and vice versa, and outright mentions McDuck Manor. the episode couldn’t be saying “this is the same universe as ducktales’ harder if Scrooge himself showed up and started ranting about a Sea Monster eating his ice cream. I do like and respect Tad Stones, but I will never like or respect this claim of his and even if HE had that idea in his head during production of the show, it’s very clear everyone else including Disney who greenlit the Darkwing Duck comics explicitly connecting the two universes, felt it was a shared universe, and there’s really no reason they can’t coexist. 

If it’s because “Well launchpad wouldn’t leave scrooge”.. besides the fact Scrooge tried to fire him MULTIPLE times, it’s not farfetched Scrooge would put him in charge of a hangar both because he trusts him.. and to get rid of him since he doesn’t like Launchpad very much. Plus Donald has to come back from his tour of duty sometime and likely could easily do Launchpad’s job as pilot, as he did in the source material. My point is there’s tons of ways to write the man out easily, and he could just as easily be doing both jobs like in the reboot. This feels like a weird, unnecessary retcon no one wanted and everyone just politely ignores, like the creators of Doug saying he and Patti didn’t end up together after High School. Which even then makes more sense than this claim, since at least there I get the creators not thinking a high school romance would last forever. That’s fair.. it’s just not something fans really wanted to hear after spending two separate series and a movie getting them together. It would be like if Girl Meets World had revealed Cory and Topanga had divorced. Yes it’d be possible since they’d broken up twice over the course of the series, but no one wanted that, why would you do that. I’m getting off topic, the point is a few breakups aside Doug and Patti clearly married eventually, and Darkwing Duck and Ducktales are in the same universe. Sometimes you just have to ignore Word of God for your own sanity.

Back at the actual episode we cut to Steelbeak’s Bowling Alley Hideout... and I do love a job that allows me to say things like that. But in a really fantastic bit Steelbeak is bowling his minions over as punishment for failure.. even though they have a valid reason but eh he’s the bad guy and he has to get his bowling average up for FOWL’s bowling team somehow. Their insurance covers evil punishment related accidents anyways, they’ll be fine. 

But yeah let’s talk about Steelbeak for a second. I honestly hadn’t seen any of the original version so I was curious.. and he’s really damn awesome. Rob Paulsen always does a great job though and is always a pleasure, but he really does a good job here and with the contrast in him: He’d seem like a dumb thug, what with his gangster accent and general cockiness and swagger.. but he backs it up with great combat and even greater planning. He’s a schemer, a fighter and damn if he isn’t fun to watch.  It also makes me love the reboot version even more. While I already loved him for being played by Jason Mantzokus, being enjoyably dim, while also still enough of a threat to be freaking cool, it’s even cooler knowing he’s still fundamentally the same character. Much like Drake he’s simply been tweaked a bit. For drake it was softening the edges since Ducktales isn’t as broad a show, and neither will the darkwing reboot i’m betting, so his ego and selfishness is sanded down considerably. For Steelbeak it’s giving him an actual origin: Instead of starting at the top of FOWL, he’s starting as a very competent but very wet behind the ears and full of himself agent, working his way up to becoming justifably full of himself like the original show. He has the same swagger and badassery, he’s just not a master planner yet and he’ll get there. Like many of the reboot characters, he’s simply an already great character given some extra depth and rounding out. I love both and can’t wait to see him again next ep and hopefully he’ll show up in the Darkwing reboot so they can go for round 2. 

So with that out of the way, Darkwing naturally interrupts, and cleans house with his gas gun, forcing Steelbeak and his crew to literally go underground into the sewers. This successfully fools drake, and Steelbeak bemoans how both Darkwing and Gizmoduck have been thwarting his plans.. until he gets a great idea; pit them against each other so he can pilfer the comerant while their too busy fighting. It’s a classic supervillain tactic, and one that works perfectly because one of them’s an egotist and a dick and the other is also that but with more style and likeability.  Back at Drake’s place, Gosalyn and Honker are watching a horror movie they clearly aren’t supposed to till Drake and launchpad come back in via their easy chairs flipping them in from Darkwing Tower which is just.. really cool. I like it. I also like that much like the Shakespeare bust in Wayne Manor, Darkwing has his own neat statue to provide acess to his lair... a tiny bronze statue of Basil from the Great Mouse Detective.. I REALLY need to fucking watch that film but it’s a nice nod. But yeah Launchpad brought them back because he feels drake could use a break while Drake refuses to stop because crime never stops and he doesn’t have time for it and your usual self destructive bollocks. It’s interrupted by a knock at the door? 

It’s Fenton! Whose stopped in to see his old buddy launchpad, who is happy to see his old friend and the two catch up, though Drake dosen’t like the interuption because Classic Drake is kind of a grumpus. Fenton naturally is here because Gizmoduck is but says he’s doing a job for the military.. which makes no sense but given Drake doesn’t know what he does and Launchpad dares to be stupid, if not nearly as stupid as his reboot version, no one questions it. When Fenton says he needs to find a hotel Launchpad, being Launchpad, invites him to stay and while Fenton watches the movie with the kids, Drake wants him gone because you know he has a secret identity to keep and a case to work on and they don’t know if they can trust him with it. It’s fair.. but since this is Drake he almost handles it with the subtly of a howitzer. But before he can try to literally throw Fenton out on his ass, a news report comes on about an attack at a local theater and both head off to take care of it.. we also get a nice moment where both react to it with the same words at the same time.  Fenton.. is actually really likeable. He’s a bit awkward, more in that he sort of barges in and makes himself comfy.. but it’s very easy to see from this and the one Ducktales episode of his i’ve seen where the utterly marvelous reboot version gets some traits from: his nervousness, his pluckness, his lack of thinking things through ocasionally when he’s not overthinking them. Fenton is charming. The issue is once he switches on the costume he goes from utterly charming to punchable REALLL quick. I’ll explain my problems with his alter ego in a sec. 

At the theater Steelbeak fakes it to look like Darkwing’s doing the bombing, if half haphazardly and leaves Darkwing with the bomb so when Gizmo shows up he thinks he’s responsible. Darkwing naturally says it wasn’t him, but Gizmo dosen’t buy it and asks if he’s so good how come he wears a mask... says the guy in a helmeted visor’s whose only defense when that’s pointed out is it came with the suit. Which yes is a joke.. but it fails to land and instead of being funny just makes Gizmo look like a hypocritical dick whose assuming someone is evil based on flimsy evidence, and what’s very obviously a setup. it makes him come off as the biggest dumbass alive instead of this world’s superman and that is annoying. More ranting about him in a minute. We do end up getting an incredibly funny bit where the two end up arguing over who gets to defuse a bomb, with both wrestling over it till Gizmoduck takes care of it and both fall into the theater. Gizmoduck tries to arrest Darkwing who ignores him and runs off.  The next day the Mallard family, including Honker naturally, watches Gizmoduck get a parade, a key to the city and other good stuff on the news while Drake sulks before turning it off. And yeah i’ve waited long enough let’s talk about this version of Gizmoduck and why he does not work. I get in theory he’s supposed to be “The Cape”, minus the cape: The big cheese that everyone looks up to and loves to Darkwing’s  dark avenger of the night, a parody of that whose also really dumb. The issue is two fold. The first is .. the classic archtypical cape type chracter has been parodied to hell and back by 2020. He’s been a monster, an asshole and as with here an idiot. And even for then a superman parody, if not in apperance or powers but in treatment, whose really dumb wasn’t very new. 

And you CAN parody a big silver age type hero: Justice League International did so well without being too overt, having most of the team either annoyed or actively hostile to Shazam/Captain Marvel. But it was done well there because well.. billy’s a very corny very earnest and likeable kid in an adult’s body. To us he’s charming and loveable. But to a bunch of actual adults he’d be offputting at best and annoying at worst. While some have been annoyed at how he was handled, I a fan of both JLI and Shazam liked it and thought it was an interesting take. Another REALLY good and REALLY hilarious take on this is from fellow superhero action comedy Danny Phantom, one of my favorites and one I need to revisit. One episode had Danny split himself in two so he could crimefight and have fun with his friends resulting in one self whose a burnt out slacker, and another whose an over the top crimefighter who says things like “you Felonious fiend!” And “This looks like a job for the vacuum cleaner!”. It’s a damn good episode. My point is it’s been better done before and since. 

What doesn’t help is the episode tries to paint it as equal, since Darkwing’s problem in part is Gizmoduck stealing his thunder.. but it doesn’t work. Darkwing is a fully fleshed out character we know and love who despite his huge ego and rampant jackassery, is a decent person whose fought hard for St. Canard, loves his daughter and most damingly... is entertainingly sickish. Gizmoduck’s dickery just makes him come off less likeable and incredibly dense, while Darkwing’s is part of his charm and, along with his ego, has backfired enough to balance it out. Gizmo just doesn’t get comeuppance for his behavior, and instead gets rewarded with a parade, a key to the city, cheerleaders and Gosalyn looking up to him just for having powers in his gadgets. And really his methods aren’t that different from dark wing: While Darkwing is secretive, a loner and uses gadgets.. Gizmoduck’s suit is basically one BIG gadget, and he refuses to see. And I get that’s probably the joke but it just. doesn’t. LAND. It just makes him insufferable. And as far as I can tell in the original show he wasn’t: he was an awkward dork we root for like in the reboot, not a gloryhogging jackass whose squandered his good will long before he gets Darkwing isn’t evil and tries working with him to the point I don’t care by the time that happens: He’s already been so obnoxious it dosen’t make up for it. Maybe later appearances are better but he’s just a chore to watch in costume here. And that’s WITHOUT comparing him to the 2017 version, one of my favorites there, one of the best animated superheroes i’ve seen in a long time, and a toughly likeable character who struggles due to his superhero identity but took it up for exactly the right reasons and wants to help people. Darkwing Gizmoduck thinks he’s the cape and an inspiration when a good guy when he’s worse than the guy he hates at times. Reboot Gizmo is an honest, decent guy who simply wants to help people and use the gizmotech as a way to do that, to help change the world for the better and save the helpless, and only clashes with Darkwing due to his ego and lack of understanding that Gizmoduck and him really aren’t that different. Finally if THIS is why Tad Stones wants them to be different universes, because this Fenton is different from the Ducktales one in personality.. then that’s on HIM. That’s on him for writing this version poorly or letting him get written so poorly and not on the fans who had no reason not to connect a dot. God this character was disappointing and hopefully when I watch more of him at work in Ducktales, he isn’t this obnoxious, nor will he hopefully be in his sequel episodes.  Thankfully moving on Darkwing gets to work, because you know he has experience, and finds Steelbeak trying to pilfer the cormorant but Captain Clueless interrupts and tries to arrest him. The two then finally fight and while it’s sadly short, it’s a fun clash and I genuinely hope the reboot has it’s own fight with them, as given how damn good they are at fight scenes, it’s bound to be even more awesome. But Steelbeak gets away, and uses the comarant’s secret weapon.. a giant fake egg that drops a giant pile of yolk to drown them. Gizmo finally realizes he’s been fighting the wrong guy but our hero's are now running out of time. Darkwing , being the actually capable one here, has Gizmo uses his propeller to beat the eggs and the two head off.. though after a funny bit where Gizmo breaks the Ratcatcher’s sidecar Darkwing lets him use his spare tier, which is huge and likely intended for the main vehicle. Good stuff.  The two get after Steelbeak and while Gizmo makes me pray for death but death won’t come we get a fun battle with Steelbeak including Steelbeak using his beak to bite down and destroy the gas gun. It’s a damn fun bit I must say. But eventually the good guys win, disable the comarant and Darkwing beats Steelbeak. The day is save, FOWL is foiled, our heroes are on shaky but better terms, and Drake and Fenton depart on good if equally shaky terms, before arguing about which of them is better. And we’re out.  Final Thoughts: This.. was a disappointingly mixed bag. Gizmoduck REALLY drug down what was otherwise a good episode with a great concept: Bringing in a hero whose stronger and more popular than Darkwing.. but mostly uses it to make Darkwing look good, which he didn’t need, and make Gizmoduck look REALLY bad, intentionally or otherwise. Steelbeak is a delight and his plan, and the egg trap, are really good, and as mentioned there are enough good set pieces to prevent this from being a terrible episode.. but as an old friend says for me time and time again...

[not-a-princess-but-a-queen]

The Underground Job Thoughts

1) Parker learning to Grift and pulling it off so well!! That's my girl! She's proud of herself lol. And she just crawls into the back of Lucile and takes a nap while Hardison goes through her little notebook!

"You're not going to keep one of these on us are you?"

"Did you know you touch your chin every 2.5 minutes?"

Too cute!!

2) Hardison and Eliot play fighting before he goes into the mines to find the bomb! Eliot's smirking over his shoulder as he goes!

3) Eliot with Cory the whole episode, I love him with kids!

4) I usually really like Nate's grifts and this was a good one too. He managed to pull off enough sleeze and sincerity at the end that I would have believed him. Also I think this is one of the few time he did any physical deception like with the explosion and getting knocked out.

[determination-and-familiars]

A few dates, ages and so on

Just a very brief thing. If I ever actually finish it I’ve been slowly working on a whole timeline of everything that happens in this AU. This is not that yet, that’s not even halfway done. Not even close. It might have been, but then I connected Deltarune and Cuphead to my AU and then so many more things needed to be listed as having happened.

It’s just become so complicated. Specially since it needs to include: the Monster-Human war - which because of that languages headcanon I posted about two years ago would have been around 750 BCE, Chara falling in 2015 - and yes, I am aware of how absurdly large that time gap is. That headcanon post IS 2 years old, I might change it but I might not. I liked the alphabet I used so one thing I might do is change the date (maybe to somewhere in the 1600-1700s) but keep the alphabet. But then again I might not and leave it at 750 About a year later Chara and Asriel dying at ages 12 and 10, and then over the next 300 years the six other souls fall and Gaster vanishes from the timeline.

Asriel being brought back to life as a flower and after killing himself repeatedly, doing several ‘runs’ trying to be nice, starts going by the name Flowey and is adopted by the skeleton brothers. After a few months he makes his first kill, Papyrus, ending that run with a reset. He was later adopted by Muffet and that run also was ended. And that’s when he spent “years” abusing his reset powers and raising his LV.

Frisk being born in 2300 and falling in 2315 and the barrier being broken. Flowey gaining a soul and starting to age like a human, in 2317 when he’s 12 he finally starts getting official therapy.

Occasionally the two steal Sans’  tarp-covered machine which started as a Joke just to make crossover-rps easier - I made it just, actually, a TARDIS, like literally just a tardis. But then it became important so I’ve added it to the AU itself and not just for this rp blog. One such important occurrence would be in 2325, when for Flowey’s 20th birthday Frisk tracks down a location with other sentient flowers and Flowey ends up meeting Cagney Carnation. And about a year later Flowey finally realizes Cagney’s been flirting with him practically the whole time. And it’s roughly around then that Flowey ends up pollinated and dropping a seed that becomes his first daughter, Charo totally not named after his original sibling.

After all the kids they end up having, where things would currently in the timeline would be the year 2334, Frisk and Cagney would be about 34, Violet would be 36, Cory would be 30, Flowey would be 29. Chara, alive again, is 12 and annoyed that Azzy is now their older brother. Ash and Cedar - Cagney’s pre-Flowey kids, are 13 going on 14, Charo is 8, Arial is 5, Vicky is about 3-4 and Georgie is about 1-2. Some of the others: Jessica is 15, Dewey is 16 Olivia is 13 and Gabriel is about 1. I have not yet settled on ages for anyone else.

There’s a far-future bit where Frisk and Flowey have died of old age and Frisk has come back as a skeleton monster and Flowey’s back too but I’m not going to cover that because ever since giving Flowey a mate and kids it complicates the hell out of that and I don’t really know what to do with that one anymore. Still want it to happen, don’t really know what to do with it because I just can’t take the angst of Flowey losing the family he’s made for himself and I am way too emotionally invested in this golden weed’s happiness.

anywho

Now, with Cagney and his sister Violet and some others I’ve connected Cuphead to Undertale, and with Asgore remarrying the King of Diamonds I’ve also connected Deltarune.

Which means Cuphead and Deltarune would be connected and not just because Flowey and Frisk have visited both.

Ok so hear me out: in Deltarune, there never was that monster-human war so monsters were able to just roam around free of the underground, like humans, for all those years. That’s a lot of magic not being contained in just one underground, and allowed to just spread. Magic that allows there to be humanoid animals that can speak and hold jobs, or sentient objects like that tsundereplane. A perfect environment for things like sentient cups, a kettle, maybe some flowers, and everything else that is around in the inkwell isles.

Probably all that loose magic in the air is what eventually attracted the Devil to take up residence there in the first place.

After all of this I probably sound like I look like this right now

and that’s because I do. Even after like 3 years I’m still piecing together my AU. And that’s mostly my own fault for continuing to add to it.

That’s pretty much the purpose of this post. Insane ramblings while I continue to try to piece together this 3-universe interlocking timeline that’s taken more than 3 years to actually do because I keep adding shit to it rather than sticking to anything.