#kid dylan is about four and the triplets are three

[avocado-frog]

Last line tag

@the-stray-storyteller tagged me and in a day when I respond to my other tag, I will tag her back. get wrecked

I accidentally made myself a bit sad with my own writing so now I'm pushing my "dylan probably met elliot pre canon" agenda (which is apparently becoming the dylan gets adopted au) anyways implied child abandonment because it is dylan

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She came to find out that even after a year, Dylan was still under the impression that their parents had to come for them at some point, and she had to be the one to tell them that it wasn't going to happen, and Elliot had to be the one to bribe them out of their locked room with a cookie and a box of apple juice.

---

Tags, no pressure, open tag, you know the drill

@kaiusvnoir

@briannaswords

@litbylightning

[gta-5-cheats]

A Series of Unfortunate Events Is the Same in Season 2, Which Is Both Good and Bad

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A Series of Unfortunate Events Is the Same in Season 2, Which Is Both Good and Bad

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Through a combination of fourth-wall breaking, self-deprecation, black humour, absurdist storytelling, and three interesting children surrounded by an eccentric bunch of adult characters, A Series of Unfortunate Events made a splash with its debut on Netflix last year, successfully bringing Lemony Snicket’s – pen name of author Daniel Handler – best-selling children’s book series to life. Part of that success was owing to Handler’s own heavy involvement: he executive produced the show, wrote more than half the episodes, and even had a hand in composing the opening theme.

That it all worked so well for the most part meant what followed – A Series of Unfortunate Events season 2 arrives Friday, March 30 – would have a tough time: it had to not just top what came before, but also brush out the parts that became tiring over a period. Chief among those was the repeated incompetence of the adults around them and the presenter effect – Patrick Warburton playing narrator Lemony Snicket and providing commentary, exposition, and explanations of language concepts – whose use as plot devices wore thin in the first season.

For better and worse, A Series of Unfortunate Events is more and less as it was. Adapted from books five through nine in Snicket’s 13-book series – a third and final season, already greenlit, will adapt the remaining four books – the second season picks up right where we last saw the unlucky Baudelaire trio: Violet (Malina Weissman) the inventor, Klaus (Louis Hynes) the reader, and Sunny (Presley Smith) the baby with sharp teeth, sitting on a bench in the gloomy boarding school, which becomes their fifth new home since their parents perished in a house fire.

  As always, the children are at the receiving end of a series of unfortunate events, from having to stay in a dilapidated shack filled with crabs and dealing with a popular, entitled girl named Carmelita Spats (Kitana Turnbull) at school, to being thrust into the care of an entire village that forces them to do everyone’s chores and becoming fugitives after falsely accused in a murder. And as always, the evil and scheming Count Olaf (Neil Patrick Harris) who’s out to steal the Baudelaire fortune, is just one step behind them along with his oddball theatre troupe, relying on various disguises to infiltrate the environments they’re housed in.

While the Baudelaires are known for finding something to enjoy despite their perpetual-terrible circumstances, something – or rather, someone – finds them at the start of the second season. Duncan (Dylan Kingwell) and Isadora Quagmire (Avi Lake), who were introduced late into the first season as two of three children of the unnamed parents, played by Will Arnett (Arrested Development) and Cobie Smulders (How I Met Your Mother), attend the same school and become quick friends of the Baudelaires owing to various similarities.

For one, they’re orphans too. The Quagmires lost their parents and a sibling – they’re actually triplets, which becomes a running gag through season two of A Series of Unfortunate Events – in a house fire; they’re also literary adept: Duncan wants to be a journalist and makes quick notes, while poet-in-making Isadora is quite capable of writing couplets that double as clues. The friendship between the Baudelaires and the Quagmires is one of the few bright spots in an otherwise litany of terrible happenings, and it also contains flourishes of romantic interest between Violet and Duncan, and Klaus and Isadora.

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Lucy Punch as Esmé Squalor, and Neil Patrick Harris as Count Olaf in a still from Netflix’s A Series of Unfortunate Events Photo Credit: Joseph Lederer/Netflix

Don’t expect to see much of them, though. A Series of Unfortunate Events continues to be faithful to the books for the most part, which means it’ll keep finding ways to make the Quagmires unavailable for action, and remain focused on its protagonists and chief antagonist. Unfortunately, the latter – Harris’ Count Olaf, if you’re unclear – threatens to overshadow the Baudelaires in the new season, suffocating the screen with detailed explanations of his schemes. Olaf’s characteristics are enjoyable in small doses, but it seems that the writers were having so much fun with his character that they ended up giving him too much screen time.

But the bigger issue is that A Series of Unfortunate Events retreads the same ground in season two. This isn’t always a bad thing – the saying ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ exists for a reason. But having watched the show mine a lot of humour from Olaf’s oddities, Sunny’s adorableness and quasi-nonsensical lines (voiced by Tara Strong), Mr. Poe’s (K. Todd Freeman) coughing fits, and his journalist wife Eleanora’s (Cleo King) happiness over gossip-y headlines, the joy begins to minimise with every new repetition.

Thanks to new guest stars – in addition to Turnbull’s Carmelita – in Nathan Fillion (Castle), who plays Jacques Snicket and actively participates in the story unlike his brother Lemony, Lucy Punch (Bad Teacher) as wealthy new guardian Esmé Squalor, and Sara Rue (Less than Perfect) as an enthusiastic librarian named Olivia Caliban (a change from the books) among others, the show gets a much-needed dose of freshness. Turnbull really leans into the character’s self-assured status, there’s a winning chemistry between Fillion and Rue that blends suave and sexiness, and Punch provides a new dimension both before and after a twist we won’t spoil.

Lucy Punch as Esmé Squalor in a still from Netflix’s A Series of Unfortunate Events Photo Credit: Joseph Lederer/Netflix

Still, the quality of the second season is clearly a step down from its preceding year. Because the setting (and in turn, the additional supporting cast) changes every two episodes – each episode adapts one-half of a book, making for a total of 10 episodes – A Series of Unfortunate Events lives and dies by what those settings bring, how much fun it’s able to have with the new guardians, and whether it allows for the kids’ talents to be showcased. The second-season output goes up and down as the setting changes, and there’s more listening and reacting to Olaf than watching the Baudelaires come up with ingenious solutions for their problems.

The Netflix series is at its best when it’s examining something literary, be it an idiom or the misuse of a word. As always, it’s down to Warburton’s Snicket to explain them in a deadpan manner – from “in the dark”, “on the lam”, “up in the air”, to “red herring” among others – and lay out the difference in the literal and figurative meaning. It’s not always limited to the narrator though, with the show introducing a village filled with crows as a clever way of foreshadowing events. And as before, it continues to have allusions and direct references to real-world things and people, including The Shining, the Emperor Nero, Wuthering Heights, and Henry Heimlich among others.

Of course, the show’s primary target audience won’t catch most of those references. But that’s okay. Hopefully, they’ll be driven to seek out and read up on the topics they don’t know about. And what better role models than the Baudelaires, who demonstrate the usefulness and value of both theoretical and practical knowledge over and over, and how a combination of the two – in addition to a never-give-up attitude – can work wonders. The second season of A Series of Unfortunate Events doesn’t evolve on what came before, but it’s an iteration that won’t make you wish you were watching something more pleasant, no matter how many times Snicket says so.

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[avocado-frog]

Dahlia. 10

sorry about the spam posting i'm trying to get caught up. curses to everyone who voted "update dahlia" on the make me write tag

I keep posting these and forgetting the link lmao -Ao3 link

-It's the Leo backstory chapter!!

-I spent a whole goddamn hour trying to make sure this lined up with the timeline

Segment one- 7/29/2008 -The twins are five, the triplets are about three months old -Using Leo's full name felt like I was writing an entirely different character -My confession is that this chapter was written back in May, and I didn't learn to play go fish until two weeks ago when a six-year-old beat me four times (she was cheating) -It's edited to make it less obvious that I didn't know how to play go fish when I was writing it. I thought it was like solitaire?? As if a game for little kids would be like solitaire ever at all?? -Olivia>>

Segment two- 4/2/2009 -Twins are six now -They just got stolen -"She could count on one hand the amount of times she'd even seen her aunt, and that was impressive, because she could count really high up." Baby Leo <3 she can count to like 80

Segment three- 4/5/2009 -Logan and Lily!!! Love them -Logan's probably around 13, Lily's 5 -The way I forgot Logan had a sister -The way I also forgot that Lily's full name is Lilith

Segment four- 4/10/2009 -OH THANK GOD it was physically paining me to write Leonie -(chewing on drywall) they gave each other nicknames and they kept those nicknames even though Leo forgot everything else and-

Segment five- 5/14/2011 -The twins are eight now -Logan, Jasmine, and Lily all left and if the twins hadn't forgotten then they'd have grown up thinking that they were dead anyways :(

Segment six- 5/30/2011 -Leo was out for like two weeks -Emily (derogatory) -Oh No

Segment seven- 9/29/2011 -The twins are color-coded red and green -THEY'RE BOTH AFRAID OF LOUD NOISES AND THEY DONT REMEMBER WHY GEGEGRGRGGR -Autistic Leo real -So it's canon that their magic develops after a big stress and Leo's was after one day at school and honestly-

Segment eight- 10/23/2011 -Their ninth birthday!! -Kai debut the littlest guy ever -He's like. eight i think

Segment nine- 10/17/2013 -It says age ten but it's a week before they're eleven -Leo got into a fight for attention -emily for the love of god pay attention to your hostage she's about to develop a personality disorder -Marcy's brief cameo <3

Segment ten- 11/19/2014 -The twins are twelve -The twins are no longer friends also -Leo almost gets arrested -"That was what she wanted, wasn't it?" NO -How obvious is it that i don't know card games

Segment eleven- 6/17/2016 -The twins are thirteen -Girl you GOT him!! he's fucking dead!! that was unnecessary!!! -ASPD Leo is real

Segment twelve- 10/31/2018 -They're sixteen -Forget-me-not canon

Segment thirteen- 1/14/2019 -Leo's dynamic with the kids >>> -"Snowmen, I'm familiar with the concept." -Leo says "hold your horses" -ELLIOT!! Alive and well!! He demands apple cider -Sam wants to be like his sister :((

Segment fourteen- 3/20/2019 -I'M SORRY!! -Leo's beef with Jaxon sort of explained -Leo's just trying to find someone to blame

Segment fifteen- 4/20/2019 -The fight :( -Leo leaves

Segment sixteen- 5/11/2019 -Ryan's nightmare but Leo is too Leo to know what to do about it -"Silently, she cursed the weather for doing this to him."

Segment seventeen- 10/23/2019 -Coincidentally the seventeenth segment is the twin's seventeenth birthday -Hope you're excited for the Cass backstory chapter when I parallel the shit out of this

Segment eighteen- 6/14/2020 -They're still only seventeen -Anyways: the present -Dylan and Ryan are basically possessed by Elliot right now so that's cool -Leo has to deal with it tho -There was a deleted segment where Leo used to play softball to explain the baseball bat she uses, but I don't know shit about softball and didn't want to try. Anyways, Leo played softball in 7th grade -Leo finally calls the others, does not mention the part about the kids being possessed

[avocado-frog]

Forget-me-not. 24

Chapter rating: T Chapter warnings: Child abandonment in the first part, implied unalive Chapter title: 3/12/2019--3/13/2019 Word count: 2500 Summary: Dylan backstory because I love and appreciate them with all of my soul. The kids are fighting. Elliot does the number one thing you shouldn't do during a snowstorm and physically Vanishes

Dylan's earliest memory was when they were two years old, their parents holding both of their hands, walking through the streets. Their mother held a basket of granola bars and a soft, white blanket with the head of a bear imprinted on the corner. She was crying, their father was not. He had a stoic expression on his face. Dylan hadn't known what was going on; when they asked, their mother just shook her head, and their father said they were going on a vacation, but it was only going to be them.

Dylan remembered being small. Smaller than the people around them, who gave the parents holding baskets of food and blankets odd looks. Dylan remembered being excited. A vacation, special for them. Only them. Their parents were not coming.

And they remembered turning into an alleyway, and their father picked them up, and sat them down on a closed dumpster lid. Their mother stood in front of them, and Dylan remembered this being the part where their father started to cry. Their mother wrapped the bear blanket around their shoulders, and set the basket of food in front of them. Calmly, she showed Dylan how to open the wrapping on the granola bars, and how to open the fruit cups. She reminded them to drink water from their small, black cup.

And then they were gone.

Dylan remembered the following few days. Being terrified to move from the dumpster lid, it was too high up for them, being only two. They remembered running out of food after the second day, and a group of people, with cigarettes and bottles of alcohol, Dylan couldn't remember exactly what it'd been, seeing them and taking pity on them, and called the police.

The police came the third day. Of course, they were taken to a hospital, and of course, being taken to a hospital resulted in a blood test, which of course, led them to be taken by the lab.

The parts after that were hazy, the month they spent in a section for the youngest group of kids there, the babies, before they turned three and was taken to a different area, a checkered room with someone else.

Jaxon had longer hair and went by a different name back then, of course, but Dylan only remembered him as Jaxon, like how Jaxon only remembered Dylan as Dylan, and so did Lily and Logan.

Specific details, Dylan could not recall. They couldn't remember what their mother looked like, but imagined her to look like they did. Black, coiled hair in a bun like how Dylan always did it, though the strand of hair that always fell in front of their face was trademarked. She probably had brown eyes instead of silver. Their father was tall, though that could've been because Dylan last saw him when they were a toddler, but he was tall. Mostly wishful thinking, as Dylan didn't want to stay four-foot-seven forever. They were almost shorter than Ryan was. The triplets stood at four-foot-six, four-foot-seven, and four-foot-eight. Ryan, Elliot, and Sam, respectively.

They didn't like to think about their parents, like how Lily didn't like to think about her father, and how Logan didn't talk to his family, and how Jaxon avoided the subject of his own.

No one knew where Lily's father was, but she simply wasn't interested in finding him. Logan nearly had a breakdown the last time his older brother called. He was afraid they would blame him for his sister's death. The idea of Logan cutting off anyone from his life was actually bizarre to Dylan.

Jaxon's parents, Dylan could make an entire presentation on why they hated Jaxon's parents. He'd been inconsolable for weeks after his father's arrest. Lily was lucky to be only ten years old an incapable of being charged for aggravated assault.

Dylan could remember the day before they were abandoned, too. The silent tension in the dining room, parents shooting looks at Dylan. At the time, they didn't understand. Now, they knew that their parents figured out that they were magic, from the silver eyes. They were afraid of them, or afraid of them being taken, or afraid of being killed like many parents were.

There was a similar tension, Dylan decided, at the dining table now.

Dylan chewed slowly on a bit of lettuce, glancing at Jaxon, who's foot tapped anxiously against the floor. The twins were silent, Lily was on her phone, and Logan's hands drummed against the table. The triplets shot daggers from each other from opposite sides of the table. Ryan was in the corner of one side, Sam on the other corner, and Elliot in the middle.

Elliot was angry at Sam and Ryan because of something Sam did that everyone refused to elaborate on, and because Ryan stabbed him in the eye. Sam was angry at Ryan and Elliot because Ryan told Elliot whatever it was he'd done, and because Elliot attacked him. Ryan was angry because Sam was mad at him, and also because Elliot tried to break his skull in.

Dylan thought that was all fair reasons to be upset at someone. They'd be lying if they said they had never felt a bit of resentment towards Jaxon for causing the explosion. It was hard to stay angry, though. Especially when Jaxon got off with brain damage, and Dylan was left off with the hearing loss.

The difference was that Dylan never got violent like Elliot had. That'd been terrifying to witness, though he'd calmed down after a few hours, there was still a silence among the three. They had a loud argument the day before. They'd all been locked in Elliot's room, having agreed to a civil conversation. Jaxon heard and told Dylan everything. Elliot said that Ryan told him, and Sam hadn't even hesitated to start screaming at him. Jaxon said it was the loudest he'd ever heard Ryan. Even Elliot, who usually spoke in a monotone silence, had been yelling. Arguably louder than Sam had been, since Dylan heard them.

Lily and Jaxon used to fight a lot. Always about small things, because no one knew for sure whether Jaxon was a year younger or the same age as Lily, so it'd always be who was oldest. It was only recently when Logan decided that Jaxon was a year younger, though it was still unknown for sure. Dylan had never been involved in those fights. They felt personally involved in this one, even though it only had to do with the youngest three.

Dylan watched Elliot pick up a small knife to cut a piece of steak, and froze as a flicker of blood appeared on the blade. Froze again when a hole carved itself into his stomach. Dylan blinked, it was gone, they were still tense. Elliot was still staring at the knife.

Jaxon tapped them on the back of their hand. "You okay?"

Dylan nodded They stared down at the salad in front of them, refusing to look up. They saw Leo signing something in front of them, and didn't bother to respond. Holes that looked like gunshot wounds covered her body, gone when they blinked again. They didn't appreciate that aspect of their magic, knowing how someone would die, but it only came up when it was going to be relatively soon. They'd seen Elliot's first, and then Leo. That would be the order. They scratched at the back of their hand. No one knew about this part of their magic, really, because it didn't exist. It wasn't a real category, something only Dylan could do. Some sort of experiment, they suspected.

Elliot was supposed to die, and then Leo. Elliot by a stab wound, Leo by gunshots. Leo's kept changing between gunshot wounds and an explosion. Leo was immune to fire, so the explosion one didn't really make much sense. They couldn't see anything else for any of the others.

---

Early in the morning now, around six o'clock, and Dylan hadn't been able to sleep. That was rare, as they didn't get nightmares as often as one would expect, like Jaxon or Lily, even Logan, so it wasn't like it was normally hard to sleep for them. Unlike their siblings. They suspected that was the reason Logan was always up so early.

Dylan stood on the counter, wobbling with their inability to properly balance, holding a knife block in one hand, trying to hide the knives where they knew Elliot wouldn't be able to reach.

Maybe they were being paranoid. Only one thing they'd seen had ever really happened, and Jaxon had ended up okay in the end, so it didn't really count. Maybe Elliot and Leo would be okay too.

One of the knives wobbled out of the knife block, and nearly stabbed them in the foot. Apparently, Logan had been watching, as he swiftly stole the knife block out of their loose grip, staring at Dylan with a confused look.

Logan set the knife block down, and put the fallen knife back in.

"What are you doing?" Logan signed, and Dylan shrugged, slowly fingerspelling Elliot's name. Logan's expression darkened a bit.

"Elliot could climb up there," Logan signed in response, and took the knives to his room. Dylan sighed in relief that they didn't have to explain, that Logan understood the implications.

So, the knives were hidden, which should've kept Elliot safe. That left Leo. Leo, who Dylan didn't think they could protect. Leo, who was supposed to die in an explosion or from gunfire. They didn't know anyone who could cause explosions; that was a special type of fire magic that only very skilled people could preform. They didn't own any guns, either. Dylan was at a loss.

---

The twins were fighting now, too. Cass wanted to try to find Emily and Oliver, who disappeared back in November, and Leo didn't think that should have been the priority. According to Jaxon's translation during breakfast, at least. Again, the yelling got to the point where Dylan could hear it. They couldn't tell which voice was Leo's and which was Cass's, but needless to say, that wasn't what their voices sounded like in Dylan's head.

Jaxon also told them that he was arguing with Lily as well, though he didn't elaborate on why, and Dylan didn't ask. Logan and Dylan were currently the only two who didn't hold a grudge against anyone. They'd like to keep it that way.

So, the twins were arguing over their aunt and uncle, out of nowhere, Jaxon and Lily were fighting for no reason, and the triplets were fighting over the only thing that was really worth it. Dylan saw all sides of the argument, and hadn't picked a side like most of the others.

Logan wasn't on any side either, so he and Dylan were both neutral. Dylan knew Sam had done something that separated Elliot from the other two, and had apparently explained it to Lily and Cass, so they were on Sam's team. Jaxon thought it was perfectly reasonable to be upset over what Sam and Ryan did, so he was on Elliot's team. Leo was on Ryan's side, having heard him out long ago. Dylan thought it was childish. They remembered an argument they'd been involved in once with Lily and Jaxon as younger kids, it'd been stupid, something about the best flavor of pie. Dylan still stood with their answer of blueberry, though.

"How long are you going to let this last?" Dylan signed, a small grin on their face. They saw Logan slump over a bit, he was washing the dishes, and Dylan was sitting on the counter, not helping.

"We'll see," Logan responded. "They'll tire out."

Dylan made a small, distrustful hum. They highly doubted it.

It was like a warzone. Jaxon and Elliot had completely claimed the first floor of the house. Lily and Sam took the second floor, and Leo and Ryan had the attic. As the neutral group, Dylan and Logan had free access to any of the floors.

Logan turned the sink off, soap running down his hands, as he stared at something in the distance. Dylan tried to follow his gaze, and found nothing. They hummed flatly, as Logan gave them a deadpan stare.

"You'll never guess," Logan signed, looking annoyed.

"Battle to the death," Dylan signed as a response, glaring, punching their other hand.

"We're not doing that."

---

The weather in March couldn't make up it's mind, Elliot thought to himself, holding his hand out. A small snowflake drifted onto his bare palm. He shivered as it melted. He hadn't bothered to wear a coat, or tell anyone he was leaving. He was currently only speaking with three people, all of which would tell him to wear a coat. He didn't want to.

He swallowed, trying to take deep breaths, and the frigid air stung. He wiped his eye with his sleeve, cold air brushed past his face, and hurt his eye. It didn't have anything to do with the fact that he was on the brink of tears, not at all. It was just cold outside.

He wasn't sure where to go. The wind felt like it was getting faster, colder, he could barely see. Humming nervously to himself, he rubbed the hem of his shirt between his fingers. The original plan was to go find his mother, she told him to get her if he needed anything, so he left. Logan would know. 

Elliot flinched as someone touched his shoulder. He turned, a woman with long, black hair and bright red lipstick, wearing a purple scarf, looked concerned, holding a baby swaddled in a blanket.

"Are you lost?" She asked, and Elliot gave a half-shrug. "It's going to storm soon, where are your parents? Do you need help?"

Oh, maybe she would know. Her voice was a little muffled from the loud winds.

"Actually, have you seen my mom anywhere?" Why was he having such a hard time describing her? "Black hair, tall. White dress."

The woman hummed a little in thought. "No, I don't think I have. I'm sorry. Where did you last see her?"

"At home. She said to find her if I needed anything. I think she was going to the graveyard. I can't remember why. Do you know where that is?"

The woman gave him a look, and pointed at a church across the street. "In this weather? Sweetie, go find your mother, and then go home. It isn't safe for you to be out here, you don't even have a coat on, for goodness sake!"

Elliot hugged his arms. She was right, he supposed. It was cold. "Sorry."

"Oh, don't apologize. Just go on, then. Stay safe."

She huddled the baby in her arm, mumbled something, and ran off. Elliot turned to the direction of the church, smoke formed a cloud when he breathed. He darted across the street, narrowly avoiding a truck, the yellow headlights looked hazy in the snowy air. A car horn honked at him, he covered his ears.

When he opened the tall, black gate to the cemetery, the snow had gotten at least a few inches deeper. It crunched under his feet, as he searched for his mother, glancing around worriedly.

He caught sight of her, hovering a few inches over the snow, wearing a white dress. Wispy, black hair blew gently around her. She smiled warmly at him, and the air felt a little less cold. He gave a shaky smile back.