#his humble origins as a girl dad

[lavendermin]

Jing Yuan getting scolded by Fu Xuan for shirking some duties (these are a little trivial but must be done) to go wherever he disappears off to. A quick break with the healer lady, a small stroll through his estate gardens with you, etc.

But as the banter continues and he says there’s still plenty of time on his hands to finish these things up (and it’s true, or he wouldn’t go slack off otherwise), Fu Xuan lets a little comment slip by.

“That’s rich coming from the future father of eight. I suggest you allocate your time well while it lasts, general.” With a huff she storms off, but not without a warning that she expects the documents by the end of the day.

The words process a little too late.

[speedwayy]

Can you explain more about dean martin and Jerry lewis? I dont go here but my interest has been peaked

okay i don’t know what to say so i’ll try to give you the rundown off my dome. bear with me it might get hefty.

Martin and Lewis were a comedy duo that lasted for 10 years to the day from July 25, 1946 to July 25, 1956.

Jerry was a teen dad trying to make it in the show biz world to impress his vaudevillian parents, Dean was an easygoing drifter without a care in the world, not even his wife who was living in her parents house with two kids and another on the way. It was a match made in heaven.

Jerry, as I mentioned, was the child of two vaudevillian parents, Daniel “Danny” and Rachel “Rae” Levitch. His identity crisis can be traced back to the day he was born, seeing as even he doesn’t seem to know if he was named Joseph or Jerome. As an only child with parents who were constantly on the road, Jerry lived a solitary life, being passed around the homes of various family members. He recounts as a child aged six or seven, he wandered the streets alone looking for his mother, only to find her entertaining a saloon of noisy drunks. On another particularly egregious occasion, Danny and Rae neglected their son’s Bar Mitzvah.

“Here’s a famous one from when he was a kid.”

His favorite childhood memories more than often were of his grandmother, who cared for him when his parents would not. She became the ideal woman he would search for in all others, the immaculate maternal figure, which he would soon find in his more experienced wife, Patti Palmer. But the spectre of his life was his father, Danny, who had abandoned him as a child, needled his talents as an adolescent, then jealously leeched off his famous name as an adult. He was the one whom Jerry always strove to emulate and impress, and whom he resented and did all to avoid becoming like him.

“In some incomprehensible way I felt guilty, as if everything I had become only made [my father’s] life more painful, much harder to bear.”

Only a few years after he left school at 15 for the allure of the stage his parents couldn’t resist, Jerry would meet the man his biographer, Shawn Levy, dubbed “Danny’s evil twin”: the handsome, lady-loving, baritone club singer Dean Martin.

Danny and Rae Levitch; a young, pre-rhinoplasty Dean Martin. I’ll let you decide if there’s any resemblance.

Whatever Jerry Lewis was, Dean Martin was not. Dino was born and raised in Steubenville, Ohio, the second son to more humble parents of Italian origin, Gaetano “Guy” and Angela Crocetti. Where Jerry knew he was born to be a star, Dino never seemed particularly ambitious one way or the other. And while Jerry was singing his little nine-year-old heart out to Al Jolson tunes, Dino was filling his time with various jobs from boxer (of his twelve fights: “I won all but eleven.”), to steel mill worker, to illegal casino dealer, pocketing money from the house. Singing might not have been his great passion, but he liked it, and he knew he had a pretty enough voice, and so did others, and sooner or later, he ended up singing in bands all the way up to Cleveland. When he was 24, he married pretty and athletic Elizabeth Anne McDonald, and soon enough, Dino was an up-and-coming singer with a new name, an agent, and enough bookings to move his steadily growing family up north.

When they finally met performing in the same club in Atlantic City, circumstances weren’t exactly great for Dean or Jerry. Jerry was floundering with his act that consisted of him putting on outfits and lip-syncing goofily to records (not sure why anyone hired him to do this tbh), and he had to do what he felt was stooping: becoming an MC like his dad to make ends meet while his wife was pregnant. Dean was married too, and already had a couple kids of his own, but was feeling the pressures of fatherhood a little less than Jerry. Dean wasn’t made for marriage. Dean lived his life Dean-style, which consisted mainly of girls, midday naps, gambling, and Saturdays with the boys. Already, Betty was becoming troubled with her husband, and hated her life living between her parents in Philadelphia and the New York apartment Dean was leeching off a friend.

“Suddenly, at Broadway and Fifty-fourth, Sonny spotted someone across the street: a tall, dark, and incredibly handsome man in a camel’s hair coat. His name, Sonny said, was Dean Martin. Just looking at him intimidated me: How does anybody get that handsome?”

They would meet a few other times after crossing on the street that one day. Playing the same clubs, hanging out with friends of friends. They weren’t officially friends yet, and Dean likely gave the scrawny 19-year-old little mind, but Jerry was in love from the moment he set eyes on him. He was nine years older than Jerry, incredibly attractive, charming, cool, “worldly”, as Jerry would say.

“Following Danny around burlie houses and Borscht Belt rec rooms was all Jerry ever wanted out of his childhood; now, following Dean as he catted and sang around New York looked like a marvelous career. Just as he’d wanted to marry every girl singer who’d paid him attention, Jerry was smitten with Dean for deigning to spend time with him. That Dean possessed so many of Danny’s attributes—dark good looks, sexual confidence, a great voice—only made the attraction that much stronger.”

Forever after that, Jerry would use Dean as a fulfillment for his ultimate fantasy: to have an older brother, someone who could be his companion, to love him unconditionally, to care for him and understand him. Years later, Jerry would still reminisce about his “big brother” that “[he] had always longed for”.

Dean, a youngest child himself, was probably not so eager for a new member of the family, but even he knew Jerry was an asset that couldn’t be lost.

I’m convinced that there’s no way to describe in words Martin and Lewis’s act that makes it sound funny. It’s a “you had to be there” thing. Hearing a singer shout at a guy spilling water all over patrons for an hour isn’t my idea of a good night out, but it must’ve been something, because people loved Dean and Jerry even before they were Martin and Lewis. Their days of crossing paths evolved into a casual friendship where they would heckle each other and do little bits in the middle of their respective acts. Jerry lived to get laughs and attention from the crowd and his beloved big brother, and Dean’s lazy, unaffected exterior made the perfect foil to his outrageous shenanigans. Then came the fateful day in July.

“He smiled, and it was like the sun coming out on the rest of my life.”

Long story short, a club Jerry had booked had an empty spot needing a singer, and Jerry, having realized very early on he wanted to be with him forever and always, suggested Dean. Somehow, it worked. And everything from there kept on working.

For the first time, they were billed together as Martin and Lewis, contrary to the normal convention of billing in alphabetical order. In no time at all, Martin and Lewis would be appearing above every club in America, and sooner, on magazine covers and movie theater marquees.

The formula was stupidly simple. Dean was the playboy and Jerry was the Idiot. Dean looked perfect as is, Jerry perfected his signature high-pitched whine and had his hair buzzed into an overgrown crew cut to appear closer to an eight-year-old.

“It was like watching the two halves of a personality you wished you could have: insane and unrepressed on the one hand, smoothly poised and confident on the other. And serendipitously enough, they actually enhanced one another, sanding away each other’s brittle edges.”

Throughout their 10 year run, there was very little variation on this dichotomy. There was very little originality in their jokes too, of which they had approximately five of. But it worked. Maybe Jerry was right when he said that people liked to see two men in love (fujoshi ally).

In those years, Martin and Lewis managed a radio show, regular spots hosting variety show, The Colgate Comedy Hour, 16 feature films, endless T.V. appearances, live tours, 12 combined children, and a stinking amount of fame and money. They were the hottest couple in Hollywood. Everyone knew you couldn’t have Dean without Jerry or Jerry without Dean. The names “Damon and Pythias” would quickly become one of Jerry’s favorite ways to describe them.

And they were close, genuinely. When Dean’s marriage imploded, Jerry was the best man at his wedding to his affair partner, Jeanne Biegger. He accompanied him on his honeymoon, and he was just as eager to let Dean a room in his house when the two fought. Jerry found the companionship and security he always longed for in his “big brother” (whom he affectionately called Paul, his middle name), who got physical with anyone who said a word against Jerry, and tearfully accompanied him in the ambulance after a pratfall gone wrong.

Such was it that Jerry felt he was the only person in the world who understood Dean, and vice versa. He would refer to them as twins separated at birth, or like one person. Another was that they had a telepathic bond and felt pain and illness at the same time (I honestly believe it. Explain the Jerry getting sick while filming The Bellboy at the same time as Dean’s Ocean’s 11 cancer scare, and their shared Percodan addiction. Little Charlie voice “Do you believe in telepathy?”)

“My fantasy big brother.”

Their act was more risqué than how Jerry recalls them in the “innocent ‘50s”, between Jerry’s exaggeratedly effeminate affectations and the amount of innuendo they manage to cram into those 100 minute family pictures (see: Jerry spraying Dean’s face with milk and Dean forcing Jerry to lick and eat a cigar— in the same movie! Where Jerry is pretending to be a 12 year old boy, nonetheless!) And most sketches on Colgate involve the two in bed together, or kissing, or groping one another, etc etc. Honestly don’t think they could pull off the bits where Dean plays Jerry’s dad and they end up on top of each other in 2025. Mostly because those are advocating for beating your kid. Idk.

“There was an edge of cruelty to Dean—especially on screen, where he was always cast as a conniver who at the last minute turned good—while Jerry was more like a puppy dog that kept wagging its tail even when it was being kicked. It was a new concept in comedy, and it was widely imitated: A case can be made for their being the models for Gelsomina and Zampanò, the innocent clown and the egoistic brute of Federico Fellini’s La Strada[.]”

While the audience became so accustomed to Martin and Lewis that they struggled to extricate their comedic personas from their real identities, so too, it seemed, did Jerry.

In his 20s, he was still a child desperate for validation, with a paralyzing fear of being abandoned. I suppose most comedians must be like that, but Jerry was truly a severe case. Like a child, he swung from sensitive and cloying to selfish and cruel. But children are only like that because they’re only children and still figuring out people also have feelings and needs and shit. Jerry never seemed to reach that stage.

He loved Dean, but was petty and jealous when it came to him. Whenever Dean would come up with an ad-lib that got a particular amount of laughs, Jerry would coincidentally wind up with a terrible stomachache that required the attentions of everyone in the room. It’s embarrassingly immature to the point where you can’t even get mad about it.

More sinister, he told David Letterman that one time he dosed Dean with Seconal then went on stage alone.

“Each person is really two people.”

You may be wondering, what’s Dean’s feelings about all this?

Listen,

I don’t know.

He’s just too enigmatic. Maybe Jerry was right in saying he was the only one who really knew him. Maybe Dean was right in saying no one knew him.

I think maybe Mack Grey had it figured out, but he’s for a different post.

Anyways. Jerry is too simple. It’s all Psych 101. But what does Dean have going on? It’s either genuinely nothing, or inside he’s more fucked up than anyone can possibly imagine. Jerry would chalk it up to simple repression. Dean’s parents told him having feelings was for fags so he resolved never to have one again. I. Don’t. Know.

Surely, he must’ve felt some type of way about Jerry. At times, he was referring to their relationship in the terms of a marriage (“Till death to us part,” and sorta weirdly, “We’ll be together until Jerry dies.”) at other times, he seemed more or less indifferent. He clearly loved and was affectionate towards Jerry, but I wonder how much he considered the actual depth of Jerry’s feelings. His son, Ricci, wrote that a motivator for the break-up was that Dean didn’t want to father Jerry, and that the latter “seemed to want more warmth and compassion than [Dean] provided.”

The truth may be that Dean was a tulpa manifested by Jerry’s overwhelming desire to have a brother to freak on. The truth may be that Dean was destined to die in a horrific steel mill accident, but he somehow evaded his fate and was living as a half-zombie. The truth… we shall never know.

"Those close to him could sense it: He was there, but he was not really there; a part of them, but apart from them as well. The glint in his eye was disarming, so captivating and so chilling at once, like lantern-light gleaming on nighttime sea: the tiny soft twinkling so gaily inviting, belying for an instant, then illuminating, a vast unseen cold blackness beneath and beyond. The secret in its depth seemed to be the most horrible secret of all: that there was no secret, no mystery other than that which resides, not as a puzzle to be solved or a revelation to be discovered, but as blank immanence, in emptiness itself."

The real reason for breakup, in my opinion, was kind of simple. They were burnt out on each other. Jerry had ambitions of making films on his own, just like his idol, Charlie Chaplin, and Dean was sort of a pleb who didn’t think movies were real art. Plus, his tolerance for Jerry’s antics was hitting its threshold, and he was fed up with the roles he was getting in their movies (asshole, asshole but he’s a gangster, asshole but he’s super rapey, list goes on) and Jerry undermining him to the public. Dean was lazy, Jerry was controlling. Dean was unsympathetic, Jerry was needy. They feuded, but made up, for the most part. It was likely easier for Dean, who treated the rest of the world like water off a duck’s back, than for Jerry, who spent his entire adulthood thus far attached to Dean. By 1954, their fighting hit its peak on the set of 3 Ring Circus, but they had two more years to tough out. It was very easy to send Jerry to the hospital by stressing him out. Times were hard.

“My partner was drifting away from me. Or had he drifted away already? The uncertainty tapped into my childhood fear of being deserted. An icy look from Dean would turn me into a scared nine-year-old.”

Still, they would make up, and continue their going around in circles. It lead to some memorable moments: Dean kicking and stomping on Jerry’s bicycle after an argument, Jerry knocking Dean’s head around during his performance of That’s Amore, Dean maybe breaking Jerry’s toe, Dean waterboarding him in a giant tank. And of course, Dean’s infamous “You can talk about love all you want, you’re nothing to me but a fucking dollar sign.”

There were four more movies after 3 Ring Circus. Actually very impressive. Jerry did a lot of public crying about how Dean didn’t love him. Dean, who had a valid enough reason to hate Jerry, might’ve actually kept the partnership together despite it all, worried that he’d flounder without Jerry and that public opinion was already against him. But for Jerry, the world he had built around Dean Martin was gone forever and there was no coming back. Anyways, he needed the freedom to make the greatest comedy film of all time: City Lights Part Two: Return of the Tramp.

Their last show was played at the Copacabana, exactly 10 years after their debut. They ended with the title number from their second to last film, Pardners (Hollywood or Bust wouldn’t be released until after the breakup). “When other friendships fail / We’ll still be on that long, long trail…”

It is said that there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

And when the show was over, the only thing that made everyone feel safe that Jerry didn’t hang himself was the three hours of wailing coming from his dressing room…

“We had some good times, didn’t we, Paul?” “There’ll be more.”

Jerry would go on to become one of the most polarizing figures in film with works like The Bellboy and The Ladies Man. His most popular film, The Nutty Professor, is really also his most psychological. But really it’s my least favorite… Anyways, some people would tell you that Buddy Love, the evil bisexual that Jerry turns into after drinking his potion, is supposed to be a parody of Dean, which I don’t really see. Jerry conflates himself, Dean, and his father a lot, and I think that’s what The Nutty Professor is about. There’s not enough time now to go into it.

Dean, as everyone predicted, flopped a little at first. But it was a very minor bump, and soon he started palling around with Frank Sinatra (an obsessive, lonely, only child from New Jersey in his own right) which made him into the Dean Martin we all know today. Though, Dean would lapse into some familiar old ways, getting laughs out of a crowd by heckling Sinatra while he crooned, or pretending to be a busboy and getting in the way of his show. But Frank Sinatra was really no Dean Martin (not intended as hate because I love Frank like a sonboyfriend).

In the immediate aftermath of the “divorce”, as they all referred to it, they had their run going at each other in the press. Dean got bitter and snide, blaming Jerry’s immaturity and accusing him of being jealous of his wife (which was true, as Jerry would be the first to say, but he didn’t have to say it.) A weird one was when he got really heated about Jerry removing all photographs of Dean from his home. He was going on about how Jerry was an asshole for that since he was still genial enough to leave up a picture of Jerry in his kids’ bedroom (which is true. On an Architectural Digest style program where he gives a house tour, the only decor on his children’s walls are a wooden crucifix and a picture of him and Jerry.)

Jerry was wandering the moors and shit. He wrote columns about how Dean broke his soul and held him back as an artists and about how he had to go to therapy and his therapist told him to stop looking at Dean as his father and instead rely on the maternal support of his wife. Good ol’ 1950s style psychoanalysis.

"Everybody likes to hear ‘I like you.’ Now because of Dean's personality and the way he was with his bravado, yet, I think, scared of his innermost feelings, I'd have to rush these things. That's a terrible frustration. That's like loving a girl or boy for years and years, and waiting for them to tell you that they love you too, and just at the exact moment when they are getting ready to say it, being yanked back into the real world only to realize that your happiness was a flimsy dream that didn't come true. That's what it has been like for me."

In 1966, Jerry picked up his 24 hour Muscular Dystrophy Association telethons. Martin and Lewis had been associated with the charity, but Dean wasn’t ever into that kind of thing. It was on this Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon, September the first, 1976, 20 years after their break up, that Dean and Jerry had their great reunion.

“I got a friend who loves what you do every year…”

It wasn’t really that great. Thanks Frank Sinatra.

To clear a few things up: Jerry and the rest of the world want to have you convinced they really hadn’t spoken for 20 years. This is not true. They had varying degrees of contact from the late fifties to early sixties, and had mini-reunions performing short bits if they happened to be in the same club. Dean had even expressed that he wanted to be friends again, but with the implicit understanding that the relationship would now be on his terms. For Jerry, it was incestuous roleplay codependent marriage or bust.

The next thing is, Jerry told an extremely easily disprovable lie that he and Dean became close friends after this moment and spoke every day. Idk why he said that it’s actually sad. He tried sending a heartfelt note to Dean, but he never responded. Just one time, did Jerry confess that he was on pills at the time and he didn’t actually remember that Dean had come on.

They wouldn’t speak again until 1987, after the death of Dean Paul Jr., Dean’s fifth child and the first from his second marriage, in an Air Force training accident. Since Jerry had telephoned his sincere condolences, they rekindled a long-distance friendship. They were never to achieve the intimacy they once had, and that Jerry had once dreamed of them having when they were both older and more mature, but Dean, who already seemed septuagenarian since his youth, was now matching that physically, and he liked Jerry best two or three arms’ lengths away. He had divorced Jeanne years before for a short-lived marriage to 26-year-old receptionist Catherine Hawn, and after that, he never remarried. He had also met the fate that all members of Frank Sinatra’s inner circle suffered sooner or later: he got booted, or rather he quit, in the middle of the Rat Pack’s 1988 Together Again tour. His spot was filled by Liza Minnelli.

By all accounts, Dean spent most of the later years of his life eating alone in his favorite restaurant. To Jerry, who had divorced his wife of nearly 40 years and was re-wed to SanDee Pitnick, and was still puttering along with films (notably, King of Comedy and his last directorial effort, Cracking Up/Smorgasbord) and MDA work, this listless existence seemed miserable. But Dean always took things as they came.

They would meet again face-to-face in 1989, when Jerry surprised Dean on his 72nd birthday while he was playing Bally’s Hotel in Las Vegas. They embraced, Dean was nostalgically warm: “I love you and I mean it.”

“I gotta kiss you on the lips.”

On Christmas day in 1995, Dean passed away.

He had never dreamed of fame, rather it was “thrust upon him by ambitious friends”, as Shawn Levy puts it in Rat Pack Confidential. But today, Dean Martin is remembered as a symbol of the good ol’ days, when men were men and Vegas was run by the mob. His songs are ubiquitous, his sleazing drunk character beloved by oldheads globally. Life has a funny way of working out.

A New York Times article published in 2002 (for the release of the made for T.V. biopic, Martin and Lewis) described the two as America’s Catherine and Heathcliff. And so it was, for Jerry who had dreams of Dean after his passing. He penned his 2005 memoir, Dean & Me (A Love Story), he played the clip of the two reuniting in 1976 at his shows, mentioning Dean's name in interviews was an easy way to get the old man in a bittersweet, reminiscent mood. Until the day he died (in the year of Dean's centennial, coincidentally), Jerry remembered Dean as the greatest love of his life, the singular person who was more important to him than his parents, his wife, his children.

“I always wanted to do good for him. I wanted him to be proud of me, my big brother.”

"I happen to love the kid like a brother."

"He was my hero. He was my father, my brother, my friend."

There's still so much gone unsaid. There was the time Dean bought Jerry a scooter and he fell off and hit his head and had to go the hospital. There was the time he wrote a love song for Jerry's birthday. There was the time they were reported to the FBI for being on a list of known homosexuals. There was the time Jerry misread Dirk Bogarde's name as Dick Bogarde. There was the time they were at the same Judy Garland show in 1958, but Jerry was also making out with Frank Sinatra. There was the time they owed hundreds of thousands of dollars to the IRS and Jerry had to get them out of it without letting Dean know because in his 78 years of living, he never seemed to fully understand the concept of money. There was the time Atom Egoyan made an erotic thriller that was very obviously based off of them, written by the guy who wrote the piña colada song and starring Kevin Bacon and Colin Firth, and Colin Firth, who’s the Dean of the situation, tries to stick his dick inside Kevin Bacon during a threesome and then kills himself. There was Martin Scorsese and there was Rainer Werner Fassbinder. There was Wiseguy and there was The Sopranos. There were tears of sorrow and tears of joy. And most of all... There was Amore.

(If you made it this far, thank you, and you are entitled to a free shirt at the door.)

[charlie-lec-stories]

A lovely mess // CL16

Pairing: Charles Leclerc / Original Female Character

Summary: Four times Charles overreacted to becoming a father and one he actually failed to react. Or Charles being a mess through the best and most scary adventure of his life.

Warnings: None, this is pure wholesomeness.

Author’s Note: This one was inspired by some stories my own dad and uncle told me about the times they had their first children. Yes, some of those stories are based on things my father did when him and my mom were expecting me hahahaha. Rate: PG

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Every man reacts differently to pregnancy, but the most common response is just simply becoming a mess of a human being. And because of that, Charles, for once in his life, could be considerer an average man. He had been exceptional his whole life: excellent student at school, talented in arts, languages and sports, remarkable people skills and loved by everyone. People assumed that he was going to be an exceptional father too, and he knew he was committed to the role since day one, but none of that made the experience less scary. The monegasque had always want kids, he had always pictured himself growing old with a woman he loved and raising a bunch of little humans. When he knocked up his girlfriend he was definitely not planning on becoming a father so soon in his life, but he was happy nonetheless. His history with his girlfriend was kind of complicated too, her family didn't like him much, or more precisely the fact that Charles' job made her travel around the globe, away from her family all the time. He knew that he loved her more than he had ever loved anyone in his life, he knew that every time he pictured himself in the future, that future was shared with her, but it would be a lie if he'd say that the pregnancy didn't complicate things. His in-laws weren't too happy when they found out and Charles' mother was kind of worried about the whole situation. But Charles and his girl loved that little "accident" more than life itself and they actually never cared too much about anyone else's opinions. He convinced his girlfriend to move in with him and she also agreed on keep traveling with him until she ultimately had to stay home for the baby's safety.

"Is six weeks really that bad, Amour? I mean, maybe you're jet lagged or something". Charles nervously wondered from sitting at the bottom of the bed, his girl anxiously pacing around the room.

"That's not how periods work, Charlie". She was trying to stay calm and not bark at him, but that was a difficult task.

"Then let's buy a test and find out". He got up and started walking to the door when she grabbed his arm.

"Wait! You can't just go to a pharmacy and buy a test!". She looked at him like he was insane.

"Why not?". If there was someone humble enough to always forget he's rich and famous, that was Charles.

"Because you're Charles fucking Leclerc, that's why!". She let go of his arm and ran her hand down her face, exasperated. "The press is going to have a field day if you do that".

"Shit, you're right". He sighed and his shoulders sunk. He could see her shaking, scared and stressed and all he wanted to do was give her answers so she could get some peace of mind. "I'm sorry, Amour, I just don't know what to do".

"Let's call Lorenzo, maybe Charlotte can buy it for us".

He watched her take care of everything: call his brother, open the door for him and Charlotte, explain the situation, decide over test brands with his sister in law, drink loads of water, all while he sat on the couch, his mind running faster than he had ever drove his Ferrari. How could she think so clearly even with how scared she was? What would he do if the test was positive? What if she didn't want to keep the baby? Why was he feeling so sad with the mere idea of the test turning up negative? Was he really ready to be a father? There were so many questions and so little answers. He could hear Charlotte walk out the door and his girlfriend go their room, he clearly felt his older brother sit by his side on the couch, but he just couldn't move. Lorenzo said something Charles never caught, too drown inside his own head.

"I really want this baby, Enzo". Was all he let out and his brother just squeezed his shoulder.

Charlotte came back pretty fast, a paper bag with at least five different tests for his girl to do. The older woman explained the younger which ones were more effective so they could compare the results later. The possible future mother lock herself into the bathroom while the other three waited outside. Charles felt like he waited for an eternity before she came out with the five little white sticks. She placed them over a napkin on the coffee table and Lorenzo set the timer. Now, they had to wait again. She was sitting on the same couch he was before, looking at everything but the tests in front of her, so he sat down and took her hand in his, hoping for the contact to be enough to ease her thoughts. He wasn't exactly the epitome of calmness and the sweat that covered his hand made it hard to grip at. She looked at him and smiled, she knew that he was going to be there for them, no matter what, but she was still scared of what he would think, she still needed to know if he really wanted this. Still, she refrained from asking and simply rested her head on his shoulder, searching for comfort on his scent. She had her eyes closed when she suddenly flew to the other side of the couch while Charles' loud yelp filled her ears.

"What the fuck was that?". She looked around, trying to find what could have startled him so much to trow her like that, but all she could see was Charles clumsily trying to grab one of the tests while his feet barely kept him up. She had never seen him so uncoordinated in the two years they had been together. His fingers had a mind of their own and his legs were trembling.

"Two lines, this one has two lines". Charles, who had been quiet and petrified for the past hour, was mumbling like a madman as he showed his brother one of the tests. In the background, the alarm set by Lorenzo started ringing and they all looked down at the coffee table, searching for the lines of truth. Charles grabbed the the tests smiling wide as he showed them to the others. "THEY ALL HAVE TWO LINES". He was hyperventilating, his whole body shaking and Lorenzo couldn't help but let out his loudest laugh as he watched his younger brother loose the little bits of sanity he had. "CAN YOU SEE IT, BABY?!". He shoved the sticks into his girlfriend's face. "It's a baby! We made a baby! Putain de merde! I'm going to be a Papa!".

"Yes, Charlie! I see it!". She said sharing his enthusiasm. But then she saw him go pale really fast. He walked backwards a few steps and Lorenzo caught him from behind before he could fall butt first on the ground.

"Okay, I think you need to process this rollercoaster of emotions while sitting on the couch, Cha". The older Leclerc helped his bother to sit down next to the now confirmed future mama. There, Charles took her hand and smiled, a high-like expression covering his eyes. He may be scared, but he had never been happier.

If Charles' reaction to the pregnancy was that chaotic, it was a sure thing that the following nine months would be as well. Before the first trimester was up, he had already brought another house to move to, where the baby could have their own room and a playroom. He brought every piece of Ferrari merchandizing he could find on the internet, he didn't even care if it was original or not. Was it pretty? Yes. Was it Ferrari? Yes. Then he was buying it. His girlfriend even went to the extent of taking away his cards and threatened with getting rid of wifi to make him stop. He didn't, took her extension in the middle of the night and kept binge-shopping for his baby at 4 am. He brought furniture for the bedroom and the playroom, and then he found his biggest rival till the day. A rival he wanted to beat more than Max Verstappen: a crib. She wasn't even showing and he was already putting a crib together, or let's rephrase it, fighting with the crib and losing pathetically.

"Cela n'a aucun sens". (This makes no sense). He complained while he tried to attach what was supposed to be 'Part B' to 'Part 3.1'. Why there was a part 3.1, he didn't know and was too stress out to try and figure it out. He growled, he literally growled when the whole crib came crushing down in front of him. "Je déteste cette merde". (I hate this shit).

"Charlie? What's wrong? I heard a loud noise". He looked at the mother of his child and all he could feel was embarrassment. "Are you alright?".

"Yes. I'm fine". He answered from the floor, looking at his lap. He wanted to cry, but he also didn't want to upset her.

"Hey, you know you can tell me anything, right?". She sat next to him on the floor and searched for his eyes, but he kept looking away from her. "What is it, Charles?".

"I-". He tried to start talking, but he was cut off by his own sob. She quickly made him turn towards her, looking for injuries, but he seemed to be physically fine. She saw the tears running down his face and did the best she could to wipe the away. Moving to sit on his lap, she threw her arms around his neck and pressed herself flat against him, trying to get as close as she could. He cried on her shoulder, soaking her his hoodie and crushing her with his arms around her waist. They stayed like that for a while, until Charles stopped crying. She scratched his head to calm him down and after some time, he did. In a painfully soft whisper, he admitted his fear to her. "I'm going to be a terrible Papa".

"Don't say that. We both know that's not true". Shushing him, she pulled away and grabbed his face, forcing him to look at her. "Is this about the crib?".

"I've been fighting this crib for four days. Our baby is going to sleep on the floor and it's all my fault". She laughed and for a moment, she regretted it, seeing the hurt in his eyes. She calmed down and pecked his lips.

"Charlie, our baby has barely formed their ears yet, you have more than enough time to figure this out". He didn't look convinced at all.

"But what if I don't?". She smiled at him.

"I know you will. Do you want to know why?". He nodded and she ran her fingers through his hair to move it away from his face, so they could look into each others eyes and make him believe her. "Because you already are the best Papa in the world, Charles".

He won against the crib just in time to catch up with the worst part of the cravings period. They were into the fourth month of pregnancy and the little bump was proudly starting to show. Charles couldn't keep his hands away from it. He was constantly touching the bump, kissing the bump, talking to the bump, even scolding the bump whenever he saw some discomfort tinting his girlfriend's face. In the paddock he practically forced her to go everywhere with him and on interviews he answered every question while looking at her. He insisted on people staying at least ten centimeters away from her and he even took upon himself the task of preparing every meal she ate, just to make sure that it was safe and she didn't get food poisoned. He checked places' and foods' temperatures, chairs' and couches' safety, if her shoes were properly tied (at least 20 times a day), the only thing missing was him wrapping her on bobble wrapping. He safety proofed the every hotel room they stayed in so she wouldn't 'accidentally hit the bump against unknown furniture in the dark'. At some point, she had to put a stop to the madness, specially when Charles' newly-daddy paranoia messed with her cravings.

"Amour, what are you eating?". He asked when he caught her hiding with Lando and Max behind the Red Bull garage, a massive greasy half eaten hot dog on her hands. Lando was opening a mayonnaise sachet with his teeth and Max was feeding her french fries with his bare hands, all three of them sitting on the floor. It wasn't exactly the most sanitary situation, but the fuzzy feeling she felt inside her chest thanks to that hot dog made it all worth it. Charles could swear he had an aneurysm just by the sight of it all. "Where did you get that?".

"Uhm...". Her and Lando looked at Max, waiting for him to answer, since he was the one who brought it.

"Well... It's from a professional, I can assure you that, Charles". The monegasque frowned and Max swallowed, scared, just to find out his mouth was completely dry. He wasn't an easily scared guy, but something about Charles' over-protective-dad mood just terrified him.

"And where's the professional's place? Can you show me?". Max, still sitting on the floor, looked at everything but Charles.

"Oh, you see-".

"It's from the stand outside of the paddock". Lando blurted out, followed by him covering his mouth with both his hands and the three of them heard Charles growl.

"Max did you just feed my pregnant girlfriend a hot dog from a dirty street-stand? YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW IF THE PERSON WASHES THEIR HANDS-"

"They definitely don't, I mean, they don't have where to".

"Lando, you're not helping me, mate". Max advised, not moving his eyes from the fuming Charles above him. Then the pregnant girl decided to intervene.

"Charlie, babe, it's okay. I asked him to buy it for me". Charles then looked at her, his gaze softening a little, but still angry.

"Amour, you know that's not good for you". He walked to her and hooked his arms under hers to help her off the floor.

"But the baby wanted it". Max still followed Charles, afraid of what the future father could do to him for messing with his unborn baby's diet. Lando stayed very still, hoping to make himself invisible. "I was just craving this so bad! And you never let me have this type of food. The baby is fine, I promise".

"Don't do that face, it's not fair". He complained when she gave him her best puppy eyes. She didn't stop, and he finally dropped the attitude. "Okay, maybe we can make some room for a hot dog once in a while. But you have to keep eating healthy, we don't want the little Tifosi to come out malnourished".

"Yay!". She squealed and hugged him tight, the hot dog almost falling from her hand. Charles hugged her back and then directed his gaze towards the other two drivers.

"And you two". Max and Lando looked at him wide-eyed. "This better be the last time you pull off something like this. Did I make myself clear?".

"Yes, sir". Both said at the same time and got up from the floor.

"Okay, go on. And think about what you did". They nodded their heads, Max handing the girl the fries and then walking away with Lando.

"I like you daddy-voice". Charles shrugged at her comment.

"Amour, don't call it that or I won't be able to use it without laughing".

Charles' paranoia got better. He calmed down a little, but then the fear of being a bad father came back. Around the seventh month, already knowing they were having a boy, Charles found himself with insomniac. At the beginning of the pregnancy he was scared of not knowing what to do to take care of a baby's basic needs: bottle feed, change diapers, help him to sleep, and things like that. But as the date of the delivery got closer, Charles' fears shifted to the more existential type. What if he was unable to guide his son through life? What if he failed on teaching him good values and a strong sense of ethics? What if he ended up raising a spoiled kid, arrogant and narcissistic? What if he couldn't make his boy happy? What if his kid hated him? Those questions kept him up at night, turning over and over on the bed, and cold sweat covering his body. He would walk to the baby's room and look at the painting his girlfriend did on the walls, the name 'Jules' written on lilac on a clear sky, over the race track so carefully crafted. What if his son didn't want to race cars? What if he was forcing him to do so when he wasn't even born? Sitting on the rocking chair, he would look out the window, the yachts at the bay clearly visible from there. What if his son didn't like Monaco? What if his son would rather adopt his mother's nationality and culture over his? The dark sky adorned with shinny little dots would look back at him without answers.

"Charlie? Why are you up, love?". He heard his girl's sleepy voice call out to him from the doorway. He smiled at her, his eyes glossy as he fought the tears that wanted to escape.

"Just thinking, Amour. Don't worry". He gave her his best smile, but she could read his real feelings underneath it. "Go back to bed, I'll join you in a minute".

"I think we love each other enough to cut the bullshit, babe". She walked further into the room and stopped in front of him, her big belly at his face's height, and he couldn't help but reach forward and kiss it. "What is it?"

"It's... it's just a lot and it's late. Don't worry, really-"

"Charles, I'm not sleeping until I'm convinced that you're alright". He sighed, and pulled her to his lap. The weight was a little bit more than what he was used to, but he loved that, it made it impossible for him to overlook the fact that his baby was there, with them. He made her rest her back against his chest and rocked he chair, hugging her tight against him and resting his chin over her shoulder. They both looked out of the window and she patiently waited for him to tell her what was going on inside his mind.

"I'm scared. I feel this huge responsibility over Jules". She smiled, loving whenever they talked about their baby using the name they choose for him. "I just want to be a good Papa, but I'm so scared of messing up, of making the wrong choices, of using the wrong words, of leading him in the wrong direction. What if I don't raise him right? If I'm not a good role model?"

"Well, you're not alone in this, Charlie, I'm with you till the end of the line. Like Bucky and Steve. I know that we'll be alright. I just know it". She sounded so sure of herself. He wished he could be that sure about everything.

"How do you do it? How do you manage to always be so sure and composed?". She laughed and he felt the baby kick under his palm, he always kicked when she laughed.

"I've been the least composed person and you know it, Charlie! I break down crying at least five times a day. You've seen that! You're the one who comforts me every time". He laughed softly, that was true, those had been some pretty crazy seven months. A true rollercoaster of emotions. And they still had two more months to go. "I know that we'll be alright because we're already asking ourselves these questions. Because we care about Jules so much that we truly take time to think things through. We are going to be alright because we love our baby and we both know we will always do the best we can for him. We won't let the bad choices from our parents be repeated and we'll make sure to copy the best from them to give to Jules. That's why I'm so sure". She turned to look at him for a moment. "I trust you to be the dad of my baby because I know how great of a human being you are, Charles".

"I love you". He said, feeling a lot better. He kissed her tenderly, and then another kick was felt under his hand. "Thanks for being here for me, Amour".

"Always, just as you had always been for me". She nuzzled her nose against his. Another kick and they both laughed. "Let's go back to bed, Papa".

The two months passed by in a blink. Charles asked Ferrari to give him a leave of absence for the first two races of the season. He wanted to be world champion, but he would rather be there when his son was born. Ferrari let him take his time, but Jules decided to be born at eight and a half months. It seemed like he couldn't wait to meet his parents, because everything happened so fast that Charles had barely had any time to react. They were having lunch at his mother's house, and he was having the best time. His girl looked amazing, all radiant and happy, her belly covered by a cute but comfortable dress, his sisters in law both touching the belly and fighting for godmother duties. Lorenzo and Charlotte were definitely the chosen ones, but they hadn't tell anyone yet, after all both Lorenzo and Charlotte were there for them when they needed them. His mother was showing him little clothes that she had crocheted for Jules and his brothers discussing which one was going to be the 'responsible uncle' and who the 'funcle'. Arthur was definitely unable to be the responsible one, so he was already chosen to be the 'funcle'. Every conversation was cut short when the faint voice of the future mama rang through the air.

"Charlie". Her shaken voice called out, and he turned around to see what she needed. There was a wet patch under her and she was grabbing her belly, a painful expression on her face. "I think my water broke".

"The baby is coming!". Arthur shouted excitedly, but Charles' brain just stopped functioning. He saw everyone running around to grab things, Charlotte and Carla helping his girl out of the house and towards his car, Lorenzo grabbing the baby bag the carried around just in case since the beginning of the last trimester, Arthur pushing him outside and his mother speaking, but he just couldn't move. H was petrified. He felt like his blood pressure had dropped in a second and if it wasn't for Arthur behind him, he would have certainly fallen to the ground. His mother took his car keys out of his pocket and then they pushed him on the back seat, next to his girlfriend. Her hand crushing his brought him back from his outer-body state and he was able to react, turning to face her and running his other hand down her arm, doing his best to sooth her.

"It's okay, mon amour. Breath, breath with me". He instructed her and he started to exaggerate his breathing so she could copy her. She did and that calmed her down enough to count the seconds between one contraction and the next. "That's it, Amour, you're doing so good". He praised her and she smiled a little, her happy expression cut short by another waive of pain. She screamed and cried, sweat covering her forehead and running down her face, mixing with her tears. It was probably the most messy she had ever looked, but he had never seen her as beautiful as in that moment. "I love you so much". He whispered it, but by the squeeze she gave to his hand, he knew for sure she was saying it back. "We're almost there, hung on a little longer".

He almost carried her out of the car and into the hospital the second Arthur parked the car. Then, they found out that she was ready to deliver in that second. Jules didn't want them to keep him waiting, she was brought to the delivery room and Charles was given surgical gown so he could join her. Inside, the whole process was quick, in 30 minutes, Jules was crying on the doctors arms and Charles could feel his heart skip a beat. Wrapped on towel and with the small hat they had for him on, Jules was passed on to his mother, who took him instantly while she cried her eyes out. Charles, still on delay with reality, was trying to process the information. That was his baby, he was finally there, he could finally touch him. The doctor walked to him, placing a hand on his shoulder, Charles couldn't stop looking at his girl and little Jules. He heard a softly "go ahead, meet your boy", and that was enough for him to place a shaking and gentle hand on Jules' head. He ran his thumb over the soft little cheek and the tears started to fall. He felt his girl's hand wipe away his tears and heard her laugh softly. She just found funny that after overreacting about every little thing for the past eight months, Charles was barely able to react that day. He was a mess in that moment, but he was the perfect mess in her eyes. The most extraordinary mess. He finally smiled and reached down to kiss her head, then he looked at Jules.

"I am your Papa, Jules. I love you. I'm so happy to finally meet you".

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I hope you guys liked this one!

[tawked]

In my darkest dreams I saw a business plan for DC to make Batman a success with kids again. It's horrible but I am obsessed with it.

launch a #1. A real #1, new universe. Not a total remix of familiar concepts like the Earth One project, new shit or bangers only.

heavily market it as the creative vision of the one writer and keep that bitch on retainer forever. She must, MUST have a compelling but relatable origin about how she was the biggest fan ever and one day dreamed of standing beside the giants of the medium, but - and this is essential - she always knows she isn't there yet and stays humble. Nothing but compliments for others. Sometimes sassy. Sexually oblivious to comedic effect. Make sure she has a minor social media presence. Secretly, this is a fake person and all writers on this project are ghostwriting under this pseudonym. Never break kayfabe even when outed.

Release in monthly chapters, 50 pages each. Too much work for the artist? I agree! No more colour. Coloured editions collecting the previously published black and white work come out every seven months, containing 300 pages or six months of chapters. These will be the only version of this comic anybody buys, but both must be made available at all times simply for brand presence.

Now that the format is roughly in place, start to closely emulate the character arcs, tropes and dynamics of shonen manga. Remember: much like the first few episodes of Demon Slayer, formulaic shonen nerver tips its hand straight away, and you should introduce these elements slowly while smoothing out the rough edges of whatever unique, experimental base you start with. The Straw Hat Pirates went through whole individualized character introduction arcs before we were well and truly one with the format. Nevertheless: Batman is now motivated by an endless quest to perfect his skills as a crimefighter. He now has a rival character and they inspire each other to improve through competition, a vehicle for which they learn mutual respect. Gotham's cyclical criminal justice system is now a wry social commentary, to which the answer is slightly less capitalist neoliberalism - no Miyazaki leftists up in this bitch, they make art not money.

The team he assembles, who are NOT Robins or the Outsiders but a whole new thing, MUST follow the dynamic of: charming but nonthreatening childhood friend, quiet serious one, affable loser, and girl. Girl is a wildcard and can be anything but it is vital to avoid The Webby (that is, a hypercompetent at everything but socially incompetent adorkable weirdo) or The Smurfette (the girliest girl to ever girl); aim for Bulma and even if you miss you'll be among stars, but note the Bulma is not a fighter and this series is about fighting crime. The rival joins the team later but remains sort of on the edge, unwilling to follow orders unless they make sense to him and occasionally going rogue to be a real rebel boy and keep the rivalry alive, but he ultimately matures into part of the family.

No more Joker. Batman needs a new primary villain and he is a real weirdo. He's a genetic freak and he's not normal. But he's also a victim of society and has a particularly sad backstory that relates to the central theme of cyclical punitive justice. His dad was killed in prison, maybe, so now he resents prisons and believes that we must all build a world without prisons, no matter how many walls he must tear down to do it. Batman represents prison and so while they can agree that shanking is bad, Batman believes in slow reform (the slightly less capitalist neoliberal solution presented as the right answer), while Anti Prison Man represents a disingenuous version of prison abolitionist beliefs. They routinely cross paths and sometimes work as allies, sometimes as enemies. The possibility of Anti Prison Man's redemption is always dangled.

It is essential that these two have a dynamic like they fuck, but Batman is asexual and Anti Prison Man is never confirmed as anything but heterosexual. I cannot stress enough how core this is to the success of this project. There should also be a Jacob to this Edward, probably the charming but nonthreatening childhood friend, especially if Anti Prison Man is a childhood frenemy and he absolutely should be. That way you can have a friendly threeway situation in the fanfic while maintaining perfect plausible deniability ala "they're just good friends!" in canon. This perspective is inspired by the fact that I was there when Berserk was getting localized for the west and routinely saw comments about how there's nothing gay going on at all with Guts and Griffith: you will not alienate straight boys because they are the most blind motherfuckers on this side of a guide dog.

There must be tits. Not as much tits as would've been the case if this was the 90s, but perhaps if we have Batman learn martial arts from an elderly pervert who wants porno mags, we should do so in a tasteful, satirical way, where we still show this elderly man interacting with children and pornography in the same context but with a tone like we disapprove. We simply cannot go full Dragon Ball / Naruto in the 2020s.

Finally, and this is most important, by the time collection 3 is on the shelves an animated adaptation that runs concurrently to the comics MUST be airing. This is crucial to the success of the project. What is Harry Potter without the movies? What was Dandadan, Ranking of Kings, Mob Psycho or any popular manga before the anime created mass exposure?

All of these concepts seem like they only work for something with an ending in mind rather than the perpetual storytelling approach of western comics, to which I point to Detective Conan. Do not tell me if Detective Conan actually has an ending because with over 1, 100 chapters, I will never fucking see it.

Anyway this isn't a real idea I think would work or that I am advocating for, I just had a fucking out of body experience and imagined a world in which DC has a freak identity crisis over the (somewhat misrepresentative) fact that manga outsells western comics lol.

[lexsssu]

Good Little Girl (Marshall Lee)

TAGS: Mashall/F!Reader, Original child character, parenthood, fluff Ao3 ver.

“Mishael Linus Abadeer, get your sorry butt down here already before your dinner gets cold!”

“Jeez, I’m coming down already, Ma”

“If you don’t hurry up I’ll eat your portion of fresh strawberries, kid~”

“Dad, don’t be so unfair when you already have your own portion!”

“Not my fault if you’re a slowpoke”

A handsome dark-haired youth flew into the humble dining room hurriedly, seating himself at his designated chair and clutching the small bowl of strawberries to his chest as if they were a priceless treasure. His skin had a grayish hue to them, pointed ears peaked from his ebony tufts of luscious hair while a pair of sharp fangs poked from his lips. The scowl he wore didn’t make him look menacing, but rather even more attractive than he already was in the first place.

“Now, now, now. Stop teasing our son already, Marsh. You know how he gets when it comes to his strawberries and besides, aren’t you already too old to be competing with him over food?” You stifled a laugh as you raised an eyebrow at your husband who merely grinned, shrugging in response.

“It’s survival of the fittest, babe. If our own kid doesn’t understand that then he doesn’t deserve the plump and juicy fresh strawberries you’ve painstakingly grown, picked, and washed straight from our garden”

The vampire king wrapped his arm around your waist and pulled you closer, landing a quick kiss to your hair as your preteen son gagged at the public display of affection. “No spawn of mine will grow up ungrateful to their beautiful, amazing, spectacular, wonderful mama~”

Dinner passed by without much fanfare aside from the playful teasing your family generally engaged one another with. Though mainly it was just Marshall being the big bully that he was, something Mishael had already grown used to ever since he was young.

While you washed the dishes, you spotted your son fumbling with his phone as he floated back up to his room. A bright smile lit up his face as a tinge of red gave his cheeks some much needed color and contrast from the grayish hue he’d inherited from his father.

“Lemme guess, he’s probably hung up on Fiona & Evan’s kid...Evie, right?”

Years of being with Marshall had trained you to anticipate his sudden appearance at all possible times that you didn’t even flinch anymore when you hear his voice and feel the warmth of his breath on the back of your neck.

“Mhmm, he’s got it quite bad from the looks of it. Kinda reminds me of another lovesick vampire I knew back in the day…” The corners of your lips quirked upwards in a smile as memories of a time not so long ago flashed in your mind like a cinematic movie.

“Whaddya mean you ‘knew’ back in the day? I’m still very much YOUR lovesick vampire until the universe itself collapses and time ceases to exist, thank you very much”

Placing the last plate upon the dish rack, you wipe your hands dry on the dry dish cloth before gingerly taking the raven-haired male’s face into your hands and pecking his nose. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way, my bad little boy~”

A tender looked slithered its way onto the hybrid’s face, snaking his arms around you until your front was pressed flush against his own. You both floated a few feet off the ground, arms around your waist and your own around his neck as you stared into each other’s eyes.

Marshall Lee had his fair share of relationships over the course of his immortal life, but none had ever enamored him the way you do. None had ever made him want to come home so desperately, even if you were the one who gave him all the freedom he wanted to go off on adventures while waiting patiently for him. His once cold, unbeating heart felt the warmest, the liveliest as long as he was with you.

“Forever’s a long time, ‘ya know? But I’ll be more than happy to let you feel why being MY good little girl is worth it~”

[edutainer2022]

Sending hugs and strength as always.

I’d love to know any thoughts you have about the Tracys as kids in the happy times. What do you think they got up to? Do you headcanon the farm / ranch / some other Kansas home? Or did Jeff and Lucy live somewhere more built up / accessible to NASA? What were the kids’ hobbies? What would a family day out have looked like?

Oh, @idontknowreallywhy, thank you for the ask! I actually tend to go hazy on the boys' childhood, because the way kids work is not my forte. In my heart of hearts, I see them as latchkey kids of nondescript rural/smalltown US. A meadow outside the backyard, long bus commutes to school. A kind of chaotic but tight and warm, fun, quirky world, reigned supreme by their mother. Think Gilmore Girls, but a single mother of three boys, initially. With Jeff space-cowboying it would be just her and the back to back eldest three for quite some time.

Also think The Sound of Music - she's the one with piano and art. And the horses. There were sing alongs and movie marathons, and board games, and junk snacks, and bake offs, and magic in that household. That's why I also think, much as Scott worships and seeks approval of a (always away) father, he was Mom's right hand and White Knight. Mom's champion and deputy in wrangling the younger brothers. There would, of course, be SHENANIGANS. Sometimes Mom Tracy would just discover zen of a boys mom and have a glass of red on hand.

Since we have Gran Roca, I also sometimes think Yellowstone. She's the one from old(er) Manifest Destiny ranching money. She knows how to get her hands dirty, but it's removed from Jeff's first generation off the farm experiences. She sees the help, but she's also used to having them around - hence the five kids without batting an eye, given Jeff's military/space career. That would quite organically convert into the boy's we know - humble, generous, approachable, but somewhat sheltered.

I also think that Jeff's soaring wealth, Mom's untimely demise and grief buried in work, would spell something like a Warton Academy. Maybe not a full on boarding school, but a posh prep school with Ivy League pipeline and uniform blazers with embroidered crests. At least for the elder three's high school stretch. That would also, probably, mean shifting base to a bigger city and a dramatic change of pace in the boys' routine.

The boys hobbies? Scott is obviously a Rescue Scout extraordinaire. He's never met a sport he wasn't good at. But I also think School Parliament, Speech and Debate, maybe ROTC (to fit a military stint with my understanding of the timeline). Scott is earmarked for leadership and high pressure operations early on. National Honors Society, hands down. Dad would never tolerate anything less than excellent and Scott intended to be EVERYTHING Dad was - including space track. Calculus may actually be his "nerdy guilty pleasure". I also absolutely don't see how Mom didn't teach him the piano first. It likely didn't go far, but he gets by at the keyboard.

Virgil is the music and arts kid, obviously. He probably followed Scott into many hobbies and clubs, originally, but his strengths and disposition are just so obviously different.

John loves school. The more school - the merrier. Coding, and astronomy, and physics. Languages on the side. Gifted program. The Big Bang Theory worthy combo of Supreme nerd-dom. I'd say music too - comes with the territory of good ear for languages. Sports by necessity - to keep up with the original Turbo Twosome, and to get space rated. He came to actually enjoy sports, on his own terms.

Come to think of it, the Elder Trio are a token comical display of the Prom King always flanked by two sidekicks, who embody the very definition of "geeky uncool". In hindsight, John is sometimes amazed that Scott actually ENJOYED hanging out with them and did so by choice. Still does so.

[samwise1548]

I used to have a comkc series about this villains group, where the main character was pressured to become a villain by his dad. But deep down he knew he'd rather have been a hero. (Unintentionally, I wrote the comic strips with the feelings I had while doing CompSci in college when I wanted to do art.)

Anyways, long story short, I lost a lot of the original files for the comic and it made me lose interest in the story as a whole. I'd tried a few times to get back into it but never worked out.

These pages here (from around 2021) are the last pages I had lineart done for. I wanted to finish these ones coloring for nostalgia sake alone. I enjoyed it, but it is finally time to say farewell to "Heroes and Villains."

------

[ID: Three digital comics following a sequence of events and featuring a cast of original characters.

In the first comic, a masked man is giving a speech to a crowd. "Great work today Agents! It was a close fight but I am still proud of every one of you." They send the man their praise in return. "Happy to serve Elite Officer Harpy!" David, a blond boy dressed in a light blue costume asks a blue haired girl, "I've been thinking- Mr. Harpy is pretty strong. Why isn't he higher ranked in the agency?" The girl responds "I've heard people say it's 'cause he lost a duel with the current Executive."

The second comic continues the story. Someone speaks from the left of the two, "Elite Officer Harpy didn't lose to Exectutive Officer Crown." David asks the shark that has now entered the frame, "Then why is he lower ranked?" The shark responds, "What really happened was that Crown blackmailed Harpy out of the position." At which point another character joins in the conversation. This one being a short girl with the top of their head fully covered by a helmet. She interject, "Dude that so didn't happen." With hearts in her eyes she rambles, "Obviously the weight of such a high position was too much for our boss. So he humbly stepped down in place of a lower rank commanding us!" The other three look at her incredulously.

The last comic is slightly longer than the previous two. The setting changes to an office room where the man on the stage, Elite Officer Harpy is sat at his desk. He questions the four characters in front of him. "We were wondering why Boss Sam gave Executive position to Crown and not to you?" the shark supplies. "Ah... Well since our skills and strength are almost same- Boss Sam assign our position with Rock-Paper-Scissor." he awkwardly answers. The four agents grimace and think, "That's so lame."

/End ID]

[theboredandkindaweirdhisotrian]

Chapter 3: BAD CAN BE BEAUTIFUL

At least on the surface

(From Bringing Narnia Home by Devin Brown)

Q1: In this chapter we examined how evil may not appear as evil. Can you think of other evil characters from fairytales who did not appear evil and who disguise their true intetions?

Pinnochio by Italian authour Carlo Collodi is the second most translated children's book after The Little Prince. It was written as an educational and cautionary story for children, first published some 70 years before the first Narnia book. It was the story my dad put us to sleep with and its lectures have a lot in common with Narnia, especially when it comes to evil disguising itself as beautiful or benefitial. If you've never read the original, I highly suggest it. In my not so humble opinion I believe Pinnochio should be a book every respectable home library has - beside the Bible and a dictionary. And if you haven't read it yet and want to avoid the spoilers, please skip this answer to the next.

Pinnochio, a wooden puppet brought to life with the promise of becoming a real flesh-and-blood boy, if he'll deserve it, runs into a number of characters, who mostly promise him an easy shortcut to the pleasures in life, instead of a strenuous, but more rewarding way of hard work.

Mr. Cat and Mr. Fox are a pair of swindlers and thieves, who befriend Pinnochio, telling him they'll make him a partner on their business scheme - to actually grow money from a tree in a field of miracles. Not only do they deprive Pinnochio of all his money, they hang him up on a tree - an attempted murder! It was only then the poor Pinnochio realised he's been a fool. But not for the last time.

Later in the story Pinnochio and his schoolfriend learn of Pleasure Island, where all your dreams come true - no work, no schools, no chores, no grown-ups, just fun and games and sweets all day! To get there, every once in a while, in the dead of night, a strange carrige arrives, picking up all children who are sick of their parents and teachers and other adults restricting their free spirit with chores and church. They go the island, they have their fun, but ultimatley pay a gruesome price - and do not even realise before it's too late! Pinnochio suffers terribly because of it, and it ends with him being thrown in the sea to drown!

There were more cases, where due to disobediance and refusal to do things the right way, Pinnochio gets blindsided by the fascade evil hides behind, and always pays a terrible price, but do not worry. Ultimatley he learns his lessons and gets the reward he was promised.

Q2: In your own life, have you ever met someone who appeared friendly or caring on the surface, but later turned out to be the opposite? What were some of the details of that encounter? What were your feelings when you learned the truth?

I had this "friend". I met her on one of my errands back in uni, on the street, she and her friend were doing a survey for one of their papers from theology. She thought my answers were super cool, so she invited me to their Bible study. Throughout the study, I met more "friends" like her - literally like her. All pretty girls in their 20s, all showering me with compliments ("You're so beautiful and your heart is so beautiful!" "You are so smart, surley you'll accomplish everything") with smiles like Cheshire cats. The thing that bothered me though, was the Bible study itself. That the teacher of this principle was recieveing supposed lessons directly from Jesus in a cave somewhere and it only got more sus from there, that He didn't actually rose from the grave, it was all a spiritual thing and that Jesus, the guy who broke bread and laughed with his disciples wasn't the same Jesus, God of the universe come to save the world. Like the guy from Nazareth was, for lack of better word, posessed by God for the purpose of salvation. Sketchy stuff. The other thing that bugged me about it was that they never mentioned that teacher's name. They told me his life story as this miraculous tale of devotion, all while avoiding his name, only ever calling him teacher. When I asked her about his name, they would say: "not yet, later! Other people say such mean lies about him, it's best not to say". Cruising between trying to trust my friends and all the bothering statments they claimed were theological facts finally drove me to a deep-dive search where I got some very irrefutable evidence that the teacher they so carefully avoided the name of, was in fact a notorius cult leader, imprisoned for concrete-proven multiple SA (it's the JMS cult, there's a documentary on Netflix too). Next time, I confronted my "friend" about it. She was horrified as in "how can you believe such lies! Jesus was persecuted for lies too!" After that, we distanced, because I refused to go to the "Bible study". And I felt so relieved after that, like I've just avoided a grand disaster of some sort. I felt disappointed and betrayed by my friend - someone I trused and believed I can confide in, only to find she was trying to pry me away with secrecy - "don't tell that to anyone, especially not the youth group you go to. I feel like they are a bad influence on your spiritual journey!" I felt dismayed and disgusted how they tried to use that the most holy and wonderous truths, that God lived us so as to give His only Son for our salvation, as a mimic, an exuse for a deeply corrupt and evil man. And lastly I feel sorry for that "friend" and her other "friends" - I don't think they were evil themselves, I think they were so deep in that that they reject any truth outside the one they believe it to be.

Q3: How about your own actions -- have you ever tried to excuse something bad you did? Can you think of an occaion when it was hard for you to see your own flaws?

Oh, countless times! That same "friend" I mentioned above could say that about me, because truth be told, I did my absolute best to avoid her after that encounter - rainchecking meetings, not replying or reacting to messages, esentially ghosting her, untill she stopped messaging me altogether. I'm not the type of friend that would constantly send messages and inquireing about others' lives, I do remember things like their birthdays and do catch up on occasion or say hi if we were to pass on the street. I know that for most I could do better, and I hide behind vapid excuses like "no time as is; I'm an introvert; I'll do that some other time" and hers was not the first friendship that would end that way - us slowly growing apart because I would not make an effort to keep in touch. I know I can do better, it's just easier to not bother with it all. Though for her I kept telling myself that it was she who betrayed me first; who used my friendship with no regard to me and my feelings. I suppose the "I'll forgive her, I guess, because she did not know what she was doing," is still a poor enough excuse because it comes from a place of pettyness instead of actual forgivness. I must let that go, I know. It's always hard for me to see my own flaws because I do care too much for what others think of me and how I present myself. It's way easier to blame everything else but yourself to be at fault. But I do believe I can overcome that.

[spotlightlowlife]

The Cuphead show could teach Hazbin a helluva lot

First of all, I implore anyone who hasn't watched cuphead or didn't finish it to complete it. It is a complete story and it complements its origin, the game, only stepping away a little to expand on it.

Hazbin, watch the pilot if you haven't or rewatch it, a number of things fall off bytime the series comes about. New isn't bad but the pilot was so loaded and it's rather apparent that it is part of the cannon in how we start off as if we already know these characters. So what we can bring forward and what is no longer cannon? Has there been a time skip?

*spoilers ahead*

The story

A simple story of two humble individuals constantly having to swerve the devils attempts to take a soul he swindled fair and square.

They have many run ins and we meet numberours other comical yet sinister opponents along the way.

Sweet rich girl uses her powers for good. She aims to help the disadvantaged and targeted sinner group by opening a hotel to rehabilitate and redeem them to be heaven worthy.

Charlie has allies but plenty of others don't care for her plans and motives are generally unclear.

The main characters

Cuphead and Mugman, two brothers of ambiguous age who live modestly with an elder in a cottage in he woods. They simply get on with their lives, no goal.

Cup head is immature and foolish, his antics generally land them in danger, Mugman is the more sensible but still chill, not quite babysitter sidekick, someone who could be living trouble free if they weren't dragged into the others havoc, simple association brings unwanted situations and people their way, even when chilling at home.

We are also introduced to the devil himself, who is silly, fun and clearly a whole otherworldly entity in not only abilities but personality and actions. As amusing as his actions are, he does cruel things to people minding their business and enjoys it, he openly exploited his oblivious patrons at the amusement park, before going on to expand business and create the known casino. He has a workforce who we see working. The devil collects souls, a consequence of this is that it makes monsters out of mortals, this is a business, however this business is regulated and dispite how powerful the devil is, he still has to answer to accounts. He can be subdued with magic but ultimately, hell and earth are his playground and aside from the auditor, he answers to no peers or superiors and feels no bitterness or discomfort regarding his home and role, his struggle is simply that one that got away and keeps eluding him. His backstory being irrelevant fits with the quick pace and slapstick, however the latest addition to the game may hint at some mysterious backstory in his bonus boss fight.

Charlie, a youthful woman of ambiguous is the princess of hell and owner of the Hazbin hotel. We don't see much running of a hotel. Charlie is nice, default nice because plot tells us she's helping and cares and she clearly isn't horrible. Charlie wants to help sinners.

First portrayed as hardworking but ill prepared, out of touch hustler, Charlie is now well intentioned, immature dreamer but this doesn't result in trouble, her carelessness doesn't get portrayed as selfish or irritating. Charlie personally has little to lose in her discision making, such as welcoming Alastor, Charlie can have what she wants because everything is set up for her and what she doesn't have is easily in reach, the meeting in heaven attained by guilt tripping her dad being a prime example, but she's not a spoilt brat.

Charlie's other half is Vaggie, her girlfriend who we have to be explicitly told is so if you don't follow the fandom, they have known eachother for years yet Charlie hardly knows Vaggie. Vaggie's degree of interest in Charlie's dreams is unknown, even after her big revelation we still have nothing to show that she's not just the sensible sidekick managing the lead characters silliness.

Not a main but someone very significant, Lucifer, the devil himself and Charlie's dad. He is all powerful, the leader of hell and the one who created this realm, however he is a goofy awkward dad who doesn't appear to be any leader and he hates to the degree of allowing mass slaughter the very people Charlie loves. None of this is an issue. He clearly has or had peers or superiors, he still meets with the angels who serve as the adversaries, with no issue, but this doesn't matter.

The tragic characters

Ms Chalace had it thought throughout life yet tried had to work her way up, she died unexpectedly, nobody cared, she got a second chance to be amongst the living but it comes at a price. Chalice is a charming hustler and entertainer.

In Hazbin, it's everyone, everyone is given trauma, even privileged Charlie who could have been a great spoilt sweet character now didn't have the nice nuclear family upbringing, supportive mother who has a life and supportive yet sceptical dad whose not getting in her way.

Everyone has some history that rendered them a loser in this story however we have yet to learn how anyone got there even though fun, interesting, passing, dismissed Mimzy remembers her life on earth fondly.

The other characters

There is plenty of room to return to this series and feature more characters, but it's no big deal if they don't. This story proudly offers us Saturday villians, only we get to know these charasmatic characters and their villainous motives individually throughout Cuphead and Mugman's misadventures.

This series is fun and life hearted, made for all audiences, there's a lack of real drama yet it manages to not be shallow as we have focus and interactions matter, it is ultimately about Cuphead and the devil, the masses of colour characters we may meet along the way are a fun bonus to and the formula doesn't change, this person brings drama, that's that, now how do they get out of it.

Timing is arguably a major issue with Hazbin, with a big ensemble cast, drama and various plots, it will need a lot of time to cover all that it started, these things being numerous additions to the original story, most of these additions being a whole host of new characters who ultimately don't achieve anything not for lack of trying.

Like its spinoff, this series is big on aquitting those who are there to be liked of their responsibilities and actions, handing blame to someone don't know or have been guided to not like. This strips them of content and growth while makeing their power and influence questionable.

Planning ahead

Rumor has it that The Cuphead show was a complete work of 36 episoses that and broke up into 3 seasons by the big famous platform it's on, to be honest it shows, it is very linear.

Really though, this serves the broadcaster because would keep it in the algorithm longer giving it more time to gain more traction which means more money for the broadcaster and make it look like they're good at renewing projects when this may not entirely be the case.

Releasing the story broken up may have done this show a big disservice as many disappointed reviews were based on how much it deviated from the games and seeming censored, these may not have been concluded had all episodes been released, showing it being to return to its roots by the end.

Still, atleast the story was always going to be told.

As controversial as that situation is, Hazbin too could do with mapping out the beginning, middle and end with a clear and concise story, one with heart that answers questions, balances it's drama, action and comedy and shines some spotlight onto the stories that really need telling. They could do with this already being done or at the very least wrapping up seasons with what we were sold on being relevant.

Planning is well and good but ideas need to be prioritized and coherent. If multiple seasons are planned, this show will need to crack down in order to guarantee them.

[haithhegimp]

re: your most recent post

I HUMBLY REQUEST THAT YOU YAP ABOUT YOUR MARYLANCE AU!!

I love you draw them (chibi or no)...they such cuties fr...

I LOVE YOU SO MUCH THANK YOU!!!!! BOTH FOR ASKING AND FOR THE COMPLIMENT!!!!!

(also @wholesomenerd here's your infodumping lol)

ok im gonna split this up into two parts!! first will be ranting about/explaining their original lore cus i dont think that most people know about them, and second part will be ranting about the AU itself. disclaimer that my marylance AU is the same/combined with my DC OC AU! its all super long combined so im gonna put it under a cut lol

part one: original lore!!

both mary and lance are one-shot characters from pre-crisis batman lore. mary comes from [Star Spangled Comics (1941) #103] and lance comes from [The Brave and The Bold (1955) #83].

mary willis is originally a girl in dick's school who is his age, and has a crush on robin. she makes the absolutely madlad desicion of becoming a vigilante to catch his attention. she studies criminology, organic chemistry, higher mathematics, how to be a detective, and a shit ton of other things. she trains physically like crazy. she ENGINEERS A GODDAMN CRIME COMPACT WITH SHIT LIKE A RADIO, FINGERPRINT POWDER, EXPLOSIVE AND SMOKE CAPSULES, A FIRST-AID KIT, AND MORE. mary is fucking insane(ly cool). anyways she goes to help dickbin as roberta the girl wonder but 50's misogyny strikes again and dickbin is like "girl??? being a vigilante?????? ew" and he kicks her out but she fucking picks the lock to the batmobile and sneaks into the batcave and dick reluctantly lets her help him with some cases. she does great and the two of them work together for a couple of weeks. mary keeps trying to get closer to dickbin but hes like "uhgmmm,.... no." anyways dickbin decides to find out who she is by giving her a giftcard and hiding out in the store the next day. he finds out who she is and is like "oh no anyone could find out who she is" as if she didnt TRUST HIM AND THATS WHY SHE USED THE CARD- anyways his solution to this is TRICKING HER INTO REMOVING HER MASK ON LIVE TELEVISION AND EXPOSING HER IDENTITY TO MOST LIKELY THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE. yeah old comics are,,, not the best with women,,,

moooving on! lance bruner is originally about dick's age as well. his dad dies and it turns out that the guy was besties with thomas wayne and they made a legal agreement that if anything happened to him then lance would go to the wayne family. so lance is a horrible and evil little fuck (affectionate) and he keeps doing stupid shit where dick takes the blame instead. dick is frustrated by this and calls in the titans, who are like uhmm maybe the power of friendship can help?? the power of friendship does Not help because they think lance is annoying. anyways some stuff happens thats not really important its just more of dc trying to convince us lance is evil and horrible. then this legal guy comes in and tells bruce that lance is evil and horrible cus of a police record and that he's a reform and military school dropout and that his dad died of a broken heart. which is like,, extremely fucked up things for a government worker to say about a child that theyre in charge of?? so the guy tries to drag lance to a reformatory (which, don't take my word for this because i havent done proper research yet, but tmk were absolutely horrific places in the 60's, especially considering this is GOTHAM) and lance is rightfully terrified about this and begs bruce not to let him go. bruce agrees to give lance one last chance and the kid uses it pretty well. he's way more helpful and mindful and nice and all that gross shit (genuinely could you imagine being threatened that if your behaviour, as an extremely lonely and fucked up teenager, didnt meet standards then you would be sent to a goddamn reformatory???). but then lance wanders into the batcave and is Very Upset about bruce and dick being batman and robin. so lance goes to this Evil Guy (named stark) who's been in a subplot about oil through the whole issue and is like "i know who batman and robin are, give me money and ill help you fuck them up". stark shoots dick when dickbin and bruce get there and bruce is like D:> and the titans also arrive and they all fuck shit up. stark tries running away but bruce chases and then suddenly robin appears and hes like "surprise bitch im haunting you" so stark shoots him again. it turns out that was actually LANCE! and dick is fine but lance is like "him sacrificing himself for you made me realise what real love is" and then he fucking dies. im not joking he Pretends to be robin for ONE PANEL and then DIES.

part two: MY AU!!!!!

now it is time for Fun >:)

so basically, i have this set in just vague early 2000's, and im still not done fully fleshing out their characters, but i have a solid thing for their dynamic and story. also i only recently made ozulite so their role in the story is subject to change, but the overall plot remains the same.

lance (and mary) is 3 years younger than dick in this au, and when lance shows up its around the end of dick's run as robin (when he's roughly 17). the first half of his arc happens the same- with him doing dumb shit and making dick take the blame, then the government guy trying to take him to the reformatory, him acting more like how bruce and dick want him to, and then finding out that theyre the dynamic duo.

but in this AU, instead of going to stark and selling them out- his feelings of being left out and being lied to make him basically say "fuck them i want to be a part of this. i can be robin too. im just as good." (spoiler, he's not). so he steals one of dick's robin costumes and a couple of the weapons/tools from the batcave and starts sneaking out as a fake robin. even if he's an absolute moron for doing this in the first place, he's at least smart enough to stay away from anything big and sticks to stopping petty crime while relying on his tools.

meanwhile all of that, mary willis with a massive crush on dickbin has been training and preparing her ass off to be a vigilante. so when she finally feels she's ready, she waits for the batsignal and starts heading to the police station to meet robin! only for her to run into.... robin?

mary immediately clocks that lance is Not the real robin, and they get into a huge argument about it because lance keeps insulting dick (though he doesnt reveal his identity) and roberta, and mary is angry at this stupid rude loser pretender. they hear/see a crime happening and stop their argument to go stop it, but keep fighting after. mary ends up so distracted by this annoying little fuck and the fact that he's pretending to be robin that she loses track of going to the station at all by the time the night is over.

the next night, they meet on the same rooftop and the pattern repeats. this keeps going and neither of them want to admit that theyre sort of growing on each other and that its more bickering/bantering than actual argument now, and that they work really well together as a team. mary is far more physically skilled and her engineering skills and shit ton of research does them really well out in the field, and lance is naturally brilliant at scheming and strategy.

the two of them also meet and grow closer with ozulite (my OC) who works at leslie's clinic and found the pair freaking out over an injured mugging victim and helped them out.

their wannabe crime-fighting escapades happen for about 3-ish months total and Sssssssomewhere in there my other OC rosa joins the batfam. she and lance get along like a house on fire cus lance has been continuing his good-ish behaviour but been lowkey self isolating from the rest of the family so when rosa shows up and also hates everyone else (except barbara) they kinda hit it off really well.

rosa has fucked up standards about child safety due to Reasons and so she knows about marylance vigilante escapades but sees no problem with it and no reason to inform dick or bruce or alfred or barbara.

anyways finally something gets fucked up and lance gets shot. rosa barely manages to get him back to the cave in time and she gets into a huge argument with dick / gets screamed at by bruce for not telling them what lance was doing. mary is absolutely shook about it because she doesnt even know who lance is yet and theyve been getting closer and closer but neither has even come close to actually admitting that they like each other.

lance wakes up and is like "oh oh fuck fuck fuck roberta and ozul" and he convinces bruce/dick to take him to their usual meeting spot where mary and ozul are waiting for him. mary kisses him and they confess to each other and then all three of them break down crying because theyre fourteen year old losers.

the bullet went through lance's lung so he has respiratory issues now. he can technically still be a vigilante but it would require medical aids and now that the rest of the batfam know about all this they do NOT let him get those (medical aids moreso than needed for comfortable normal life he obviously has those)

mary decides to give up on being roberta as well because even though she is like extremely good at it, her heart wasn't ever really in it. she's happy enough just to be a badass civillian (and to have a losercore partner in lance).

lance definitely goes into business when he's older, maybe takes over wayne industries. mary would definitely become a professor or researcher of something but i havent really decided what- im somewhere inbetween organic chem, chemical engineering, and just engineering.

mary gets along fine with rosa, but gets along AMAZINGLY with babs once she gets to know her. she doesn't really fuck with bruce, and is kind of nice with, kind of awkward with dick because like genuinely its so awkward to interact with your partner's older brother who you used to have a massive crush on. (but like after several years theyre more chill about it and get along well)

i havent decided yet/i dont know how theyll interact with everyone else in the batfam, but ill come up with it all eventually.

ALSO. lance bruner is genderfluid in this au because a) it gives me space for far more fun with his character, and b) these two are practically oc's at this point and creating straight ships physically ails me so i trans'd one of them to make them Not straight

oh, my, GOD. finally done that's all i have for them for now but there will DEFINITELY be more to come because if it somehow wasnt obvious yet, i love this AU deeply. let me know if you want me to rant about rosa and ozulite!!

[brightside-of-the-upsidedown]

I'm not sure how I'll continue it yet, but this is the infamous pastel grunge punk!Steve I ended up writing instead of tentacles, so enjoy XD

Sparked by this beautiful post

By @discodeviant because while I was reading, Beggar's Song by Matt Maeson started playing in my head.

Steve looked into the backroom bathroom's cracked mirror and fixed his hair for the seventh time in the last thirty minutes. It was practically a ritual at this point when he was nervous. Well, maybe it'd become his lucky thing after tonight.

He brushed the hair away from his face and clicked his tongue ring pensively. From one side, his new haircut still had his usual thick brown voluminous waves with highlights that nearly brushed his shoulder. From the other side, he'd had it trimmed down into a disconnected undercut and dyed baby pink. He'd originally been planning on dying all of his hair pink and getting both sides shaved, but had chickened out. He'd still been thrilled by the outcome though.

Or at least he had loved it just this morning. But would everyone else? Had he made a mistake and fucked up one of the only good things about him-

A fist banged on the door and Robin's voice came through the door. "Come on, dingus, you're already pretty. Stop spiraling and let's go!"

Steve smiled and let her in. "Aw, Buckley, I'm pretty? Even pretty enough for you?"

Robin snorted and wrinkled her nose. "Don't push it. Now get your ass up on stage before it escapes those pants and makes a run for it. You're never going to throw those out, are you?"

Steve looked down at his worn thin jeans and yeah, maybe they were a bit tighter than usual in the ass, but their new apartment had a lot of stairs, okay! Despite it being almost more holes than pants, they were comfortable and definitely something his parents would never have let him wear when he'd still been under his dad's thumb. So of course that made them his favorite.

He turned and washed his hands once more. Robin let out a choking noise and pointed at his ass. "That's a new hole."

For a split second, Steve thought she was talking about something else until she poked at a spot on his ass not covered by the pants. There was a new hole in his jeans that showed off a not small peek of his ass and thigh. But it was low enough that Steve wasn't too worried about it.

"Buy a guy dinner first, jeez." Steve teased her.

She just slapped his ass. "Yeah, sure, I know a great little place on Easy Street called Cafe Puttana."

"Did you just call me a whore in my own mother tongue, Buckley?!" Steve gasped dramatically. "And maybe if you dressed like this more often, you'd stop having to resort to handing out free drinks to get a girl's attention." Steve hip checked her as she giggled at him and opened the door. "Now let's get this show on the road before everyone notices their favorite bartenders are both missing. My public awaits." He adjusted his pink jean vest over his Nirvana t-shirt as he stepped out, still picking, still-

"Your 'public' is a bunch of drunks, punks, burnouts, and half dead partiers." Robin hugged him from behind just before they got to the stage in the bar. "So don't let the nerves get you. Just have fun and sing me a song, piano man."

That got a genuine laugh out of him. "I'm no Billy Joel, but I'll see what I can do, uptown girl."

Robin went up on stage to announce him. She hyped him up as best she could given her audience and got a not too bad round of applause. Steve wasn't expecting much, this was a gig he'd just gotten only because he worked at the bar and the band that had been scheduled to play had canceled. He usually worked as their bartender and he was good at it. He probably wouldn't have gotten either job if Robin hadn't stepped up to bat for him.

Steve practiced his breathing exercises as the players they could find on such short notice got ready. He stepped up on stage, gave a friendly wave to the regulars who recognized and cheered for him.

He took a seat at the piano he'd had to tune himself before the show because it got so little use.

"Hey, you bunch of vagrants and drains on society." His words were met with proud hoots and hollers. "It's me, Steve, your favorite bartender." This was met with a loud boo from the bar, Robin playfully heckling him.

"That bunch of assholes the boss hired canceled, yeah, I know. So you get me instead, aren't you lucky? Usually you have to buy a drink to get to listen to my dulcet tones." Steve grinned as the crowd booed, whistled, and catcalled. "So enjoy the music, I wrote it myself. Yeah, that's right, fuck you, I have layers. Or if you don't like it, just shut the fuck up and enjoy the view you bunch of pervs." More catcalls.

Steve signaled the players and waited a moment, waiting for his cue, as they played the intro. They weren't bad for only two days of practice.

Jesus, come talk to me

I am but a blind mess, I am wild and free

I know that I need us more than I need me

One more whiskey, I am wild and free

Steve started playing as he continued singing.

Oh, but I'm a beat-down, washed-up son of a bitch

I got one more cigarette and all my money is spent

But I'ma be damned if I let it keep me down

Oh yeah, I'm a beat-down, washed-up son of a bitch

I got one more cigarette and all my money is spent

But I'ma be damned if I let it keep me down

Steve didn't hear any hecklers, not that he thought anyone was that willing to get on Robin's Shit List, but he still didn't dare look up.

Oh, my mother Mary, come walk with me

I am on four drugs, I am wild and free

I know that I failed less, the less I knew me

Wander through the darkness, and come walk with me

Steve felt good about the beat and the band seemed to be really getting into it.

Oh 'cause I'm a beat down washed up son of a bitch

I got one more cigarette and all my money is spent

But I'll be damned if I let it keep me down

Ay, yeah

Yeah I'm a beat down washed up son of a bitch

I got one more cigarette and all my money is spent

But I'll be damned if I let it keep me down

Yeah, yeah

He timed his breathing as the band trailed into the chorus.

Oh yeah, I'm a beat-down, washed-up son of a bitch

I got one more cigarette and all my money is spent

But I'ma be damned if I let it keep me down, yeah, yeah

Oh, I'm a beat-down, washed-up son of a bitch

I got one more cigarette and all my money is spent

But I'ma be damned if I let it keep me down, yeah, yeah, yeah

Steve nodded and belted the post chorus.

You know that it's not over

It's okay to let yourself hurt

Swimming in the murky water

Won't you come on out? Yeah, yeah

You know that it's not over

It's okay to let yourself hurt

Swimming in the murky water

Won't you come on out? Yeah, yeah

We sing a beat-down, washed-up beggar's song

And we sing it even louder when the money is gone

Because we'll be damned if we let it keep us down, yeah, yeah

Oh, I'm a beat-down, washed-up son of a bitch

I got one more cigarette and all my money is spent

But I'ma be damned if I let it keep me down, yeah, yeah, yeah

Steve blinked his eyes open when he felt a bit of an echo- no, there were people singing along. He recognized Robin's off key voice and smiled. Steve sang out the lyrics with his whole chest.

You know that it's not over

It's okay to let yourself hurt

Swimming in the murky water

Won't you come on out? Yeah, yeah

You know that it's not over

It's okay to let yourself hurt

Swimming in the murky water

Won't you come on out? Yeah, yeah

He could hear a lot more voices raise with his as he sang the last chorus as the band tapered off. "Come on, beggers!"

We sing a beat-down, washed-up beggar's song

And we sing it even louder when the money is gone

Because we'll be damned if we let it keep us down, yeah, yeah

Oh, I'm a beat-down, washed-up son of a bitch

I got one more cigarette and all my money is spent

But I'ma be damned if I let it keep me down

For an embarrassing moment, Steve thought he might fucking cry at the roars from the bar. Yeah, it was a few dozen regulars, drunkards, and partiers blitzed out of their minds, but it was leagues above his self doubt's worst case scenario. He had to swallow hard more than once before he felt confident enough to talk into the mic again. 

"See, that wasn't so bad, was it, you assholes?" Steve knew he was probably smiling like an idiot, but it was hard to care. "Give a hand to the band, they had like two days to fucking practice my crap, holy shit."

The bar clapped and yelled for them. The band looked pleased with the positive attention and a few waved back. One flipped off the audience much to their delight.

"Now, the rest of the songs are covers, the good shit, I promise." Steve announced. "So spend your fucking money, don't forget to tip, and enjoy."

They ended up playing some Nirvana, a little The Clash of course, Dead Kennedys, Siouxsie and the Banshees, through in a Motley Crüe song, and topped it off with his beloved Queen.

To Steve's honest surprise and giddiness, there was a demand for an encore of Beggar's Song. He led them through it one more time before ending for the night. Closing time was in less than an hour and he wanted to help Robin out with last call.

They got a decent amount of tips that he let the band take the lion's share of, but still got a sweet fifteen bucks on top of the thirty his boss had already paid him. He'd be able to buy some pretty good food for him and Robin this month.

That's all I got for now!

The backstory is Robin and Steve moved together somewhere after Robin got kicked out for coming out to her parents.

Maybe she stayed with Steve until her parents told his parents and they called to tell him to send her home, whatever. Robin and Steve decided to strip whatever they could from the house, sell it, sneak into her room while her parents were gone to pack, and they rode off into the sunset. 

Now they have a shitty apartment, jobs at a shitty bar, and they've never been happier. ❤

I have plans to bring Billy and Eddie into it later.

Two Nights Ago

Robin: I volunteered you for a gig

Steve: I've only sang in front of you!

Robin: it's time to fly, I'm kicking you out of the nest, dingus

Steve: does this make you my mama bird?

-Robin throws a pillow at him-

Steve: how could you do this to your child!

[quasiquack666]

Chapter 300 Thoughts:

Contains spoilers so I'll hide this under the break.

(Screen readers stop now)

— Already hate that Gestella was immediately sad as fuck about Kayden defending Jiyoung. Holy shit what is with the writing, she is literally like a 50-year-old woman who barely knows him. My face is permanently smacked into my palm.

— Meanwhile, I actually love Gestella herself. 'No point in looking for someone who decided to leave'? It's wise but also hints at sorrow. I really love her. I haven't known her that long but she's definitely a favourite already. Gestella hits different; she's super hot but I also like her moments of depth and think she's a great character.

— Literally the chemistry between Gestella's Handmaiden and Gestella is more compelling than her and Kayden. They're lesbians, your honor. Kayden can fuck off kindly.

— Handmaiden is a super cool sidekick character, actually. She's getting a lot more personality and development than I thought she would. I definitely need a name for her though, like please writers, name drop? Why does Blues get a name so far but she doesn't?

— I love the Awakener world lore, with Gestella seemingly isolated in comparison to the other Top Ten. It's really neat; perhaps she's afraid of letting people close to her that she's unsure are loyal. Because Handmaiden and Blues seem generally loyal, even though Blues is bonkers. But maybe she values the general loyalty?

— The characterization of Blues is super interesting too. He seemed bonkers, like most of the other antagonists, and he is. But he actually does seem to care about Gestella, similar to Handmaiden girl. I mean, he's clearly obsessive and weird, but it's a bit more nuanced? He was actually in tears. I wonder what part of his past made him obsessed with serving her? (Also applies to Pluton and Handmaiden; I really wanna know).

— Jiyoung slaying is always welcome to my humble eyeballs.

— The 300th Chapter extra art is fantastic, I love it.

Overall Impression:

I don't really see how this advances the original plot of Eleceed, not gonna lie. Like what happened to the Jiwoo family arcs, and why did Subin + Jisuk + Wooin immediately vanish from the plotline again, and why is there more of a focus on romance in the recent chapters than the actual plotline?

Kayden did not need a love interest, he should be able to just be a cute dad to his son and take care of cats and love having a home? Seriously.

Nevermind that adding more characters is frustrating because we barely get information on characters who are already in the plotline. Iseul has poofed into an animal or something, Delein is irrelevant despite being the literal first major arc, Cain is gone, Arthur is gone, Vatore is off the planet, Amyeong has become one with the shadows, Subin + Jisuk + Wooin are barely existing anymore. What happened to those initial, extremely important character development arcs? Now it feels like we get a character, then maybe 5-10 chapters on them, and then they vanish.

Like we haven't even had an explanation of Gestella and Pluton's relationship that led to Pluton going to kill/challenge Kayden in the first place. What the fuck, where is that? That's kinda more important than the romance letter bullshit.

Don't get me wrong, I've loved this webcomic enough to write 30+ fanfictions on it and constantly rant to every online Eleceed fan I know. So I'm not a hater, I'm a lover.

But where the fuck is the stuff I actually LOVE?

[localfanbaselurker]

First time watching Voltron: Legendary Defender and documenting my thoughts

This is Season 4

S1-2 | S3 | S5 | S6 | S7 | S8 |

———————————————————————

<this one is going to be shorter, as I have only recently finished this season, and the grief is still fresh (lol), so the thoughts are only just starting to simmer. strap your asses in>

Pre-Season 4 Thoughts

-> Keith joining the blades is going to be a huge plot device, I feel

-> PLEASE for the love of CHRIST let that poor little girl find her brother and father. If they are dead dreamworks better be ready to catch these hands

->I’ve heard people claim this is the “last good season”, but i stay strong 💪 and will watch till the end

->wouldn’t the paladin switch not make sense now? Cus shiro is back as the black paladin and it makes no sense for Lance to be red like it originally had? If anything, he should’ve gone back to blue, and Allura to red, because Allura is very accepting/encouraging of shiro’s role as leader. I guess they didn’t wanna do it all over again. But I digress 🤷‍♀️

->im gonna miss my Pookie (🤍❤️🤍)

Post-S4

->do they do this every two seasons?? Have an epic battle where they have a big preparation and say it’ll 100% end the war but it doesn’t and something crazy happens after they win and it sets up the next season??

->FUCK YEAH PIDGE GOT HER BROTHER BACK IM SCREAMING CRYING THROWING UP 💪💪🔥🔥‼️‼️‼️🙏🙏🙏🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️

->^genuinely cried so hard during this scene. would’ve cried more if I wasn’t recovering from the initial shock.

->^cried during this one too, but it was happy tears. I could actually just do a whole reaction post to this episode alone. (if you want me to js say so in the rbs/replies)

->the callback to s1! “color-coded of course, because what are we? animals?” AHHH! I’m going insane I love these siblings sooooo much

->okay I’ll stop gushing over them now

->^only valid reaction to meeting Allura. Homegirl is beauty incarnate

->I LIED. im not sorry im never shutting up about them. SHE SHOWS HIM AROUND THE CASTLE AND TELLS HIM EVERYTHING AND EVERY DETAIL AND SHES SO EXCITED CUS SHE JUST GOT HER BRO BACK AND IS JUST RAMBLING ABOUT HER NEW HOME AND ALL THE COOL STUFF SHES BEEN DOING AND HES JUST LISTENING AND IS SUPER EXCITED WITH HER AND ITS SOOOO AMAZING AND ADORABLE AND I COULD DIE

->AND THEN HE TELLS HER HOW THEIR DAD WOULD BE SO PROUD IM DYING IM LITERALLY DEAD STOP.

->AND AND AND THEY WERE ALL WORKING TOGETHER W HUNK TO MAKE THE GALRA TRACKER THING AND THEY WERE BEING SO COOL WITH EACH OTHER AND BEING NERDS TOGETHER AND AND AND AJEUWNDUWJEBEURBDGWUDKAODHD

->okay. ive calmed down. i am normal and can be trusted to simply watch a show.

->^Get his ass, Zarkon. I needed his smug ass to be humbled so bad. Only time I will agree w Zarkon fr.

->i do NOT like Lotor. Can you guys tell already??

->THE SCENE WHERE THEY TRIED TO GET MILKSHAKES AND WERE SHOCKED TO FIND OUT THAT YOU NEED TO MILK A COW STOP.✋ 😭. My high-score on the giggle-meter went up by 300%

->bro I SWEAR shiro looks different. there’s just something about him. the hair gets a pass cus how good of a haircut can you give yourself in space, yk? but that nose scar is definitely a different shade #notmyrodrickshiro

->THE VOLTRON SHOW.

->^Just. That entire episode. It’s getting a whole post actually I need to yap about it.

->^her armor is colored in a way which makes it look both pink and red while making it look like a trick of the light in a way to symbolize that she is acting as keith yet while being a paladin herself and that being unknown in the public eye and showing how they have to cover that up, any suspicion being thrown as a trick of the light. Oh vld animators ily 🫶

->on another note tho why do they always draw lance and shiro to have 30 pounds of ass. what.

->loved when those lesbians decided to take down lotor. Queen shit 💋 we stan 🙇‍♀️🙏

->Lotor is so stupid and pathetic and annoyingly smug and sus and admiral-zhao-y and I hate him but he’s SOOO FREAKING HOT and I can’t hate him completely because he’s so attractive but that just makes me wanna hate him more. He’s a walking red flag but the flag is heart-shaped and honestly idk what to do w that.

->^WHAT. stop. honestly that’s the real reason he was banned from the empire my ass would not want that fucking FREAK within a 30 light year radius of me either

-> while s3 was the klance season, s4 is apparently the allurance season, they have a lot of sweet moments. (granted all started by lance but still, you can almost see allura swooning)

->^pookie. what are you doing… pookie.. no. stop. i don’t like where this is going…

->^POOKIE NO. STOP. ✋ STOP. SAY SIKE RN.

->^oh thank fuck for Lotor.

->^^wait what. why Lotor.

->^^^heartbreaking: worst person you know doesn’t something good for once.

->he definitely wants something out of this. I don’t trust him.

These are thoughts I’ve had compiled for some time now. I will continue to post my thoughts on the tag “laura’s first vld”

I finished this season on 06/30/24. I am on S5E3 as of today (07/06/24)

[keylovesstuff]

Lost and Found

Mario fandom, may I humbly offer my first contribution lol. A Peach fanfic cause I can't get my mind off this gal. A little idea that's been crawling in my brain for a while, and I finally sat myself down in front of a word doc to just write it up. So, takes place in the movie-verse until the point in the flashback where baby peach encounters the toads and just a tad bit after that.

The small blonde walked through the now abandoned town in search of just anyone at this point. Stores that were once filled with shoppers looking to purchase a variety of different things while workers assisted were now empty. The playground where she'd play and laugh with girls and boys of all ages was now filled with silence. Home, where she had awoken from a nap alone for the first time ever, was missing her mom and dad. The door was left wide open as she scrambled off the couch making a grab for her purple blanket and tying around her neck. With pink shoes now on the best way her parents showed her how to and pacifier in hand she was out the house. What started out as a fun game of hide and seek in the young child's mind, began to grow into worry as the sky went from a beautiful light blue to a bright orange.

"Mommy? Daddy? Hello" The child once again called out, peering around yet another aisle inside yet another building. The three-year old made sure that no area was left unsearched even if that meant stacking items on top of each other to reach door handles. For the tenth time in her mind, she was met with no response.

Small blue eyes began to fill up with tears as she felt her heart break in two. Sniffling, she Reached up to her cheeks to wipe away the wetness and reached inside her skirt pocket for her pacifier. It wasn't much but it did bring her some comfort as it always would. Vaguely she could hear her father telling her mother how she was getting too old for it and should have been weaned off of it ages ago. A small smile would appear on her mother's face while she cooked up a meal in the kitchen laughing as she would always promise to start the process next week only to not follow through. With another failed search in locating anyone, the girl left the store feeling exhausted mentally and physically. Little legs aching for a break after walking for what seemed like forever she finally gave in, sitting on the ground and leaning against the brick wall of the store. 

Taking the blanket from around her neck she covered her body and closed her eyes. The child's mind finally embraced the negative thoughts that started to itch at her brain after the fifth place she looked. 

No, there will be no one at the next place you go.

No matter how loud you call out, no one will answer back.

Yes you are alone and will never see anyone again.

With the last of her hope dissolving, she succumbed to sleep and let the last of her tears fall.

The cold breeze awoke her from her slumber this time, having shifted from her original sitting to lying on her side sometime in her sleep causing the blanket to slide off. Shivering slightly she wrapped the blanket as tightly around her as she could to feel warm.  Wiping the sleep from her eyes, she realized that the sky was now a dark blue and the only light came from the moon and the many of the stars in the sky.  A memory of sitting in her dads lap with her mom on his side pointing out the stars on a grassy field to them flashed before her eyes.  They began to fill up with salty water after removing her sight from the sky to look across the street when something strange caught her eye. Floating and staring was a pink pudgy starry figure that she only ever saw in the picture books her parents read to her during bedtime.  Sitting up she stared right back into the creature's black eyes as she tried to recall the name the stories gave it.

"A Duma?" She took her pacifier out and voiced aloud as its name finally came to mind. It made a sound in a language that probably no one would understand. The Luma beckoned with its entire body to follow and started off down the street. Puzzled for a moment to process things she shook her head standing up and frantically cried out "Wait, please don't go" she grabbed her blanket once again placed it around her neck and pocketed her pacifier before taking off in the direction it went.

The Luma led her to the forest that every adult, be it their families or not in the town warned every child that could walk not to enter. As it went ahead, the little girl came to a complete stop where the town ended and the forest started hesitating to cross. Sensing that she was no longer following, the Luma also came to a stop and turned to face her, repeating the beckoning gesture from before.

"Duma, I'm not supposed to go in there." She explained with a soft voice pointing a finger at the forest  that is full of unknown secrets.  "I'll get in trouble if someone sees me-"  that last word barely escaped her mouth before she promptly closed it, bringing her previous hand to cover her mouth.

The thoughts from earlier crept back into her mind, repeating the phrases she tried hard to ignore throughout the day. This time though a new thought came to her mind. What if everyone went into the forest and was just waiting for her to join them?  A new hope filled up in her chest and she looked at the Luma with a newfound determination and courage.

"Ok I'll follow you, but you gotta promise that there's anyone there" She told the creature and it responded with the same unknown sound. 

"Alright let's go then" she let out a small giggle before looking at her feet one by one as they crossed into the beginning of the forest. The girl turned to take in one final look at the empty and stared for a moment before following the Luma further in.

The two figures ventured in silence for a little while longer. The blonde child only stopped every few feet to glance around and up ahead for any sign of a familiar figure. The Luma came to a stop first and the girl bumped into its body several seconds after being distracted. 

"Hey why did we-" she started to ask but could not continue the rest of her question as she took in her new surroundings. The luma had led them to an area with a stony ground surrounded by huge pillars. What had caught her eye the most was the green object built in between the two pillars as it glowed a white light in the middle. "Wow" was the only word she could bring herself to voice.

The girl suddenly had a feeling that whatever was inside the pipe was calling to her as she started to walk forward only to be stopped by the Luma placing its body against her to keep her in place. The Luma floated lower to the ground and it took the child a few moments to figure that it must have wanted her to sit down. Sitting on the ground she crossed her legs and placed her hands in between them facing the green object. With more than decent patience for a child her age, she started squirming in place the longer they sat there the more she wanted to just get up and go into the mysterious object. From fiddling with the blanket around her body to messing with the object in her pocket to tapping her fingers against her legs, all of that could only distract her but so much from not focusing on the light. What if everyone was waiting for her on the other side and she was holding them up by waiting here? As soon as that thought entered her mind she got up and tried to make a dash as quick as her little legs could go.

All she could process was the sound of the Luma making a noise behind her and bumping into something the next moment before landing on her bottom. Rubbing her head she looked up to what had caused her to fall and what she saw took her by complete surprise left her speechless.A light blonde haired women with a bang covering one eye wearing a crown in a beautiful blue dress was levitating slightly above the ground and holding a star wand appeared in front of her with a smile. While she never knew everyone in the town, she was certain she would remember a person that could float.  The question 'who are you' was on the tip of her tongue but she couldn't bring herself to voice it aloud, It didn’t take much longer for the women above her to speak.

“Hello there little one, It’s a pleasure to meet you.” She kindly greeted the child who still stared at with a confused expression in her eyes and mouth agape in question.

 “You have gone through so much in such a short amount of time. Allow me to heal your mind.” With that said, she lowered the wand to the child's head. It began to glow as all the negative thoughts and memories left.

On one hand it felt as though nothing could hold the child back from embracing any and everything that would come her way. On the other hand it felt as though two important people disappeared and she couldn’t recall who they were or if they ever existed in the first place. The woman removed her wand when she was satisfied with her magic. The girl continued to look on with wide eyes.

“You are going to do so many amazing things and inspire so many in your future.” The woman started to say to the child who looked on with wonder filled eyes.

 “You will meet allies and foes alike. There will be many challenges you’ll have to face but you will get through them with your bravery. I have already seen it.” She assured and moved to the side to reveal the glowing green object once more.

“Go on in, They are waiting for you on the other side. Guide and Protect them. Show them what a respectable and kind leader you can be. Our paths will cross again one day” With that final promise the woman started to vanish before the girl's eyes.

When the figure faded away completely she was once again alone and had so many questions. What did all of it mean? Was everything the women said was true? Who will she meet on the other side? That last question would be answered sooner rather than later as she could finally enter the thing that was pulling her in. While she was mostly ready to take that step, there was a small part of her that was fearful of the unknown. Reaching in her pocket once more she grabbed her pacifier and put it in her mouth to feel that comfort, before taking in a small breath and stepping in. Finding herself flowing aimlessly through this portal, she took in the colors some of which she had never seen before. Despite floating in midair she felt calm and just let the current take her to its predetermined destination. Up ahead she saw another round green object similar to the one in the stoned area, The current around her started to slow down in preparation to enter the pipe again. 

The girl was finally able to stand up and walk on her own two feet the rest of the way. Clutching her hands she took in the environment around her as the exit came closer she placed her hand on the green object to hold her balance as she took a step down. Taking this time to look in front of her she noticed that these rainbowed people dressed in identical clothing and were slightly taller than herself but they had this warm and inviting presence about them that made approaching them much easier so she did. The creatures also approached her but with slightly more caution in their step following the green person who was leading the other two bent down in front of her with a smile. The woman's words of being ‘a kind person’  ringed in the back of her mind. So she did what she thought was the nicest thing and took out her cherished pacifier and stuck it in the creature's mouth who looked on in confusion. Giggling she jumped up wrapping her arms around its shoulders immediately feeling safe and secure as this person also embraced her holding her up.

“Told you that you had a way with kids” came a teasing voice from behind. “Ow what I say?” the yellow person rubbed its arm and stared offendedly at the other person that whacked him moments prior.

“Now’s not the time for jokes, you dummy this is serious.” the red one scolded the other. “Some strange person just came out of the pipe after it's been glowing all day. It could be here to kill us.” It tried to get the other to understand their point of view. “You better take that thing out of your mouth TG, it could be poisonous” he suggested to the green guy. The yellow one scoffed out a ‘really dude c’mon’ under its breath.

“Mmm” TG mouthed before shifting the child's body weight onto one side of its body removing the pacifier and sticking it back into her mouth. “Well it does just seem like an innocent baby, but better safe than sorry. Let’s head to Toadsworth. He could probably tell us what you are. Yes he can” he gave the blonde's belly a tickle drawing out that giggle from earlier. 

“No, don't make friends with it, we aren't sure of its motives yet” The red one tried again with no avail as it began to lead the way back to the others with the other two trailing behind. 

“I like the moon, it's pretty” was the first sentence the child said out loud as she pointed at the object in the sky as they all hiked back.

“Wow you do?” TG engaged with her as she nodded eagerly. “I do too, it's very pretty on nights like these” he agreed with her. Several minutes of this went on where she pointed out things she likes and he would talk with her. At one point even the yellow guy hopped into the conversation much to the annoyance of the red person.

“Hey, what are you?” she asked tapping TG’s shoulder to get his attention.

“What am I? Oh well I’m what's called a Toad. Can you say that? Toad” he mouthed it out loud to her slowly and they both repeated it several times.

“I like Toad, they're nice,” she said, nuzzling her face closer into TGs neck and wrapping her arms around him tighter. Before he could return the compliment the red toad spoke up.

“We’re here guys, let's go.” He knocked on the door three times before a brown spotted Toad with a brown mustache and red bowtie appeared in the doorway. “Something finally came out the pipe that we’ve been keeping an eye on all day. It appears to be a baby of some kind” he added as the three of them were ushered inside.

Toadsworth offered them tea as they all began to gather around the small table. The child continued clutching onto the green toad and only glanced every now and again at the mustached gentleman. The four of them conversed over tea gathering new information from the elder Toad. They first found out its gender which was revealed to them as a female and that she belonged to one of the species called humans, though with there being many galaxies and regions they could reside in, the probability in pinpointing the exact place of origin she was from would be a challenge even a guy as smart as him couldn’t figure out. They also came to the conclusion that based on how she interacted with the environment that she was on par with the toad children starting school. The red toad finally stopped giving the child a look of suspicion and after the third round of tea the host directed the conversation towards the blonde girl reaching for the kettle in the middle of the table.

“Oh how rude of me. Please accept my sincerest apologies my dear.” Toadsworth quickly got out of his seat heading over to the cabinet to grab another cup. “A gentleman must always offer a lady a drink.” He started to pour her a cup of tea before the green toad interrupted 

“I think she might be a little too young for tea or anything with caffeine for that matter, Toadsworth sir.” he said, motioning his head to the child who now had her own seat.

“You are quite right, The youth these days mustn't get used to relying on stuff like this.” Toadsworth chuckled and went over to the fridge to see what refreshments he had in there. “Oh yes I just received a carton of milk from the meadows this morning. Would you like that m’lady?” In response he got an excited round of applause from the child. 

Toadsworth offered to take care of the child for the remainder of the night and start some research in the morning for which planet she could be from and if needed within the next couple of days or weeks put together a group of toads to get this kid back home to her parents. He prepared her for bed first and then went through his nighttime routine which included grabbing a snack for bed, tonight being a fresh bowl of sliced peaches. The girl sat on the bed flipping through a picture book he gave her.

“Well my dear I’m terribly sorry for just now realizing this” He apologized, placing the bowl on the nightstand next to the bed she looked up from the book first to the food and then to him. “My fellow comrades or I failed to ask you your name. So what are you called?” he asked and she stared at him for a few moments before she opened her mouth.

“I want the Peach” she pointed to the bowl that was on the nightstand behind him causing him to reach for the bowl and present it in front of her, smiling when she reached out and grabbed a couple slices.

“Ok now back to important matters.” he cleared his throat into his fist. “What would you like us to call you for the time that you reside with us?” He tried again to get her to focus on what he was asking.

“I like Peach” She said with a smile after finishing the last bite flashing him a toothy smile and he stared at her thoughtfully for a moment.

“Alright I shall call you Lady Peach when you’re in my presence and make sure everyone calls you that as well” He told her and assumed she’d probably have a different answer to the question by tomorrow or the next couple of days.

[cadybear420]

Here I chose this option because I eat the fuck up out of mutual relatability and being each other's rock in the relationship. But honestly I think this is actually a big contrast between the two and I think the "that's so sweet" option would have been more in character for Alan. But not for the reasons you think.

Very long ramble below. I was spending a long time going over these thoughts of the Emmalan dynamic.

While Emma is shy, awkward, and is learning to be brave and step out of her comfort zone… Alan on the other hand is already very brave, social, and confident. He has absolutely zero sense of humbleness, modesty, self-loathing, or anything of the like. He encourages Emma to be brave, and she values him for that.

That being said, Alan may be confident, but to some degree he was made into an outcast in his former schools, being a guy who almost exclusively likes feminine and female-associated things. But don't get me wrong, that's not something he takes for granted.

In fact, part of his confident self-aggrandizing personality stems from years of practice in the art of Not Giving A Fuck, due to being well aware of the stigmatism he might sometimes face. He's liked "girly" things from a very early age, and his dad really made sure he understood that that was okay, no matter what others might tell him. And so he became someone who wouldn't let any of that bullshit get to him. He'd fight and scream against anyone and anything that tried to prevent him from participating/enjoying in what he liked.

Then he meets Emma, who is made into an outcast for different reasons than Alan is. She's shy, nerdy, anxious. And the way other people like Brian treat her does indeed get to her. And I think there's something to be said about how they have very contrasting personalities (other than being lovers of sappy romance) but both are outcasts.

To quote Nelson Mandela, "courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it". I wasn't quite sure how to put it, but this is something I think Alan does not fully realize about himself and takes for granted. He is brave and couragous, but he also sees himself as fearless.

Alan is brave, but he is not fearless.

I already mentioned the motivation behind his boastfulness and self-aggrandizing personality. But also, how he is quick to lash out when someone/something either harms or gets in the way of something important to him, most demonstrated by how he behaves in Book 2. And in part of Book 3, he does feel threatened when Kara and Zoe push Kieran into going for the cheerleader solo that was originally meant for Alan.

Alan is brave, but he is not fearless. And the fact that he is not fearless is what makes him brave.

For Alan, the fear motivates him to become more confident, to do what he loves without shame, to love himself without shame, to stand up for himself and what he believes in. In contrast to Emma, who initially tends to hold herself back because of her fear.

In the game of course, Alan/MC makes Emma feel more brave. This is something I think that is brought up at a couple of other points in the route as well and I think that would be important to Alan. I think Alan in a way would feel more brave (as in, truly brave and not just fearless) because of Emma, but not at this point in the story.

Now, I've said before that I think Alan would have more chemistry with Maria than with Emma. They're both high-achievers with a tendency to act out when things don't quite go the way they like.

However, I'm now thinking Emma and Alan would also have significant chemistry and be more than just a delicious fem4fem minxy flirty cheerleader guy x shy nerdy wallflower girl dynamic. I think while connecting with a girl who is very timid and is learning to step out of her comfort zone in spite of her fears, Alan would realize his own fears and how those motivate his behaviors. Emma is the type of person I think who would be able to help him realize and admit that about himself and that's really important for him. <3

Realistically, I think this realization would happen in the aftermath of Isa's reign, but Emma's "you make me feel brave" comments would definitely be a factor. At some point, I definitely will need to replay the Alan x Emma route and see where/when exactly this realization would happen but yeah

[hi-imlilac]

My Little flower

this is a story in the view of Coral, turquoise and Victim of how they view Lilac. No images of it yet.

She's young, but she's determined. She's a fighter like her dad, but has a caring heart like mine. I'm proud of her. She always seems to try her best to be positive and reassuring. Forever humble and willing to sacrifice her own happiness for the happiness of others. I get worried about her sometimes, knowing she gets it from me and I tend to overdo it and hurt myself. I hope it's not the case with her. But aside from all of that, she grows stronger by the day both in her physical and emotional strength. It's sad to be honest. Seeing her grow up so well, only to lose her at the age of 6. I haven't seen her ever since those terrorists ugh. I'll never forgive those two. Nothing will ever be able to excuse what they've done. I lost my husband and only daughter in one day because of them. But I promise, my little flower, I will find you. And everything is going to be fine.

Damn... I don't know how to say just how proud and pained I am. Everything was going so well up until the attack. I failed to protect my wife and kid, hell, I couldn't even protect myself! Lilac didn't deserve that at all! She was 6! I should've tried harder to stay alive. Be there for a longer moment. I never wanted my last goodbye to her to hurt more than it had to! I should've tried harder. But even if I did, I would still die in the end. I just hope she's truly ready. I trained her to be a fighter and so did her mom. I can remember how she first fell into the outernet. She was hurt and alone because her friend pushed her but stayed behind. Watching her restrain herself from doing drastic things or using her powers was beyond painful and yet I was still proud of how she knew the importance of holding back. I know she hurt other kids, but justifiably. That miss Hazel wretch wasn't stopping it so she had to defend herself. I refuse to budge. She was defending herself. Now she's living with this guy named victim. Not gonna lie, seeing her with another father figure stung like lemon to an open wound. But she had to move on somehow and I respect that. But I don't trust him to be honest. I've seen things he's done. Him and his mercenaries who act like family to lilac but become these harsh and cruel people to other people. I'm actually worried about my daughter. But I can't do anything. Not yet at least. Oh lilac, my little flower. Please hang in there. I know I can't be in your life anymore, but I promise that everything will be fine.

It's been around two years I think. I remember how I found out about lilac through a news article. The original plan was just to get her help me build the box. Her powers had proven to be efficient. But when I actually saw her, something changed. Originally I was going to return her afterwards, but seeing that little troubled girl sitting in the corner of the room and isolating herself with an electric shield just clicked something in me. She was an outcast, nobody gave her a chance to live happily in this world. I couldn't help but feel like I know the feeling. I was also deprived of a normal life. I couldn't bring her back to that place. I managed to get her to open up to me and I learnt her history. I don't know how I did it but she warmed up to me after a bit. I adopted her. Even if she had already completed the task, I never took her to that place ever again. I learnt a lot about her through her last night vents and a few questions we asked to each other. To think of how one grew to fear fire so much because of two immature terrorists. I felt bad. But as we grew, we became quite fond of each other and started caring about each other quite a bit. I gave her a bracelet that helps with her powers, but at the cost of her sanity. I still regret it to this day. I'm genuinely proud of how resilient she is. Despite everything she went through and me casually putting her at risk, she has always been calm. But a while back an incident happened and nearly cost her life. I never knew just how much she meant to me until that moment. Despite agreeing that we aren't family, I couldn't help but worry. She was hurt and it was my fault. Heck, I should've done better to protect her. Thank god Armia and agent were there otherwise I would have broken down. Every time I think about that moment, it brings me to the thought of how agent said I would be a good dad. I know I'm not ready for that. Because I messed up and I put her life in danger. I'm sorry little flower, but I can't play that role in your life. Not yet. Forgive me.