#nowadays though they've all picked up on bits at least

[angelpuns]

I said I'd ramble about the TMNT:HME sibling dynamics so here it is:

CW for favoritism

Some of this stuff I've already touched on before, but I'll try and go into a bit more detail on the specific relationships

Leo is the oldest, but all the brothers know he's not the favorite. If anything he's the least favorite ( Not the problem child, though, we'll get to that ) - though Splinter swears he doesn't pick favorites.

As far as all the brothers' views on him as a whole it's something like ' he's the oldest but sometimes he acts way too much like Splinter' and they've said this to him occasionally. And every single time it hits like a fucking brick.

Leo wonders if Mikey thinks he is cool or not - he doubts it. They're sort of in a ' in this together' mentality when it comes to Donnie and Splinter. Leo tries very hard to teach Mikey all about gender/sexuality without Splinter's knowledge. He wants Mikey to know that there is a safe almost-adult for him to come to about that stuff. Mikey doesn't really get it, though. Leo is a bit sad that they don't have a more healthy sibling dynamic - he could never, ever discuss big feelings with Mikey or talk about Splinter. It kinda sucks, but he knows they don't have to talk about big feelings. They just have to have fun.

Leo, for a long time, had a special sort of animosity towards Donnie because of him being the favorite. When they were much smaller, Leo actually hated him for it for a while. But as he got older and they drifted apart, he realized that it's not him vs Donnie, its all of them vs Splinter. He still thinks Donnie is a kiss-up, though, and he constantly tries to help him grow out of that.

Leo and Raph were a lot closer when they were kids, but the shift to disliking Donnie due to favoritism also kinda roped Raph into it, since Raph and Donnie are a lot closer than any of the other brothers. Nowadays, Leo is mostly just....sad about his and Raph's dynamic. He feels guilty for a lot of the way Raph grew up, he knows a lot of it is his own fault ( and some specific things that are his fault 100% that there will be a comic about later ). Overall their relationship is tainted by guilt - Leo will never forgive himself for treating Raph the way he did when they were younger.

Donnie is the favorite, as all the brothers will agree ( Raph still isn't sure that's true ) and Donnie won't deny it. He's proud of it, actually. He knows he's the favorite because he's the most well-behaved. He does his chores, he shows interest in Splinter's hobbies or what he's saying. Overall, he cares a lot about Splinter's opinion - definitely more so than his brothers.

Donnie has noted that Leo acts like Splinter, but he frames it as somewhat of a good thing. He's very.... calculated with his and Leo's relationship dynamic. He tends to keep his distance emotionally, and will call out when Leo is being an asshole. He has also been the most troublesome when it comes to Leo telling him to do chores. He is Team Splinter all the way.

Raph, as his twin, is his favorite brother hands down. Donnie does play favorites and Raph is his favorite brother. They spend the most time together, Donnie prefers hanging out with Raph than hanging out with the rest of his brothers, but they still have fights sometimes. Mostly over room stuff or Raph being too loud. No fight has ever lasted more than a day, though.

Mikey and Donnie have a weird, standoffish sort of relationship. They don't have a ton in common, but still like to play video games together! Mostly mine craft. Donnie just doesn't feel like hanging out with him too often is all :/

Raphie!

Raph has a complicated relationship with Leo- on one hand, Leo can be really cool and fun!! On the other, he can be as annoying as Splinter. And Raph easily gets mad when Leo makes fun of him, sometimes blowing up at him or his brothers for it. He's very easy to anger and sometimes Leo pushes his buttons on purpose. But to be fair, Raph pushes Leo's buttons back just as often.

Raph and Donnie are closest, but Raph sometimes wishes he was the older twin so maybe he could be the favorite. However, Raph usually reaps the rewards as well, since Splinter doesn't even really know he exists most of the time. If Donnie gets a treat he will find a way to get Raph one as well.

Raph and Mikey have an unspoken rivalry - Raph and Mikey have a lot in common, but Raph hates that Mikey is 'better' at so many things than him. He has his own hobbies, but Mikey always does them better. And he's afraid of his little brother surpassing him.

Mikey looks up to Leo as his ' cool but sometimes lame older brother' - most of the time he thinks Leo is cool but sometimes Leo will say/do something so lame that Mikey has to literally walk away. Mikey has also told Leo that he's acting like Splinter the most.

Mikey sort of looks up to Donnie, but it's mostly for his smarts. Other than that, he also resents Donnie a bit for being the favorite :/ Thinks he cares way too much about Splinter's opinion

Mikey doesn't know how Raph feels about his talents. They're close the way youngest siblings are close - they used to roughhouse a lot as kids and nowadays they compete in stupid competitions around the lair :)

So that's how the boys' see each other! I talked about this a bit before, but this is a bit more in detail since someone suggested it the other day <33

TMNT:HME Master post

[deathscastleofficielle]

Explanations! (and spicy takes)

Melix - Pretty obvious. "Canon" is a bit of a complicated concept for this fandom as I will soon be elaborating, so the most straightforward canon ship I can provide is the real life couple that actually got married and had a kid. (Christ I've been doing this shit for too long-)

Pigchair - If you weren't around for this, I cannot stress upon you how much Pigchair DOMINATED this fandom back in the day. Honestly I had a bit of a bone to pick with it for awhile because of just how assumed it was. But it's also kinda easy to see why it got so popular. Complete casanova falls for the shy nerd, it's a tale as old as time. It also kinda ignored a lot of Mr. Chair's more interesting traits and sorta made him the default uke but that's- that's for another time.

Pigzales - Again, if you weren't around for this you have no clue how prevalent this ship really was. Pigzales could almost rival Pigchair in popularity, but it was even crazier because I don't think those two were ever in the same room during the videos. If they were they certainly had no shared dialogue. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Pewdiephano - Yes, you could technically call this canon tragic yaoi, but mainly in hindsight. Intention can't truly be argued, but it's pretty obvious that Stephano's feelings for Pewds were not solely platonic. Even back during the fandom's height a lot of people loved to play up the tragedy of Stephano having unrequited feelings for Pewdie who was not only from another world but also kinda happily in a relationship. I am one of those people, don't ship the ship itself but love the drama. Especially when you add on to the reality that Pewds eventually had to move on from Amnesia, leaving Stephano with feelings that were never quite resolved.

Pigerta - Technically yes, this is canon-? At the very least, we know they've slept together and that Berta thought they were married, which Piggeh denies. Regardless important part is nobody fucking cares about this ship lmao. I literally had to make up a ship name for it. If Berta is ever used, her arc is mainly about learning to let go of Piggeh. No one cares about these two together.

Jenskull - As mentioned above, this fandom had a handful of ships that were just sort of default? Jenskull was one of them. I don't think it was as popular as some of it's counterparts, but generally speaking if Skully was used he was usually being shipped with Jennifer. This was mainly because they were outsiders to the Bros, Skully for having been replaced by Stephano and Jennifer for being Pewdie's favorite to mock. It's one of the few popular ships that still lives on to this day, mainly thanks to @thesucessorofficalnot. (Also quick note, his version of Skully is nonbinary which sort of retroactively makes this not a straight ship.)

Lisaby - This is mainly just a joke about how I basically started shipping Lullaby and Lisa, two generally obscure and underdeveloped characters, on a whim, but because they were generally blank canvases this has kinda caught on. Honestly though, I could have put any yuri ship here because the original videos certainly weren't passing the bechdel test.

Stephzales - One thing I'll say right now is I refuse to ever show an actual example of this ship. Not because I can't find it, I know exactly where to find it, but because I simply don't want to send any hate towards the artists. But yes, shipping Stephano with his twin brother was a thing. It was early 2010s Deviantart, we were all weebs and poisoned from some iffy anime tropes. Thankfully I was never into it, but it wasn't as reviled as it would be nowadays.

Piggephano - My beloved, and my hell. Piggephano is one of those ships that feels like it should have been more popular than it actually was, but for a multitude of reasons never got as much attention. (*cough* Pigchair's domination of the fandom and Pewdiephano being the more obvious ship for Steph when Pewds wasn't being shipped with his irl girlfriend or the groomer *cough*) Anyway I am one of those two fans. Technically most of the remaining fandom does like the ship, but I'm the only one actively shipping it.

Pigbro - Yes. Of all things, this was canon. Well if you count a hookup as canon. During I believe the custom story Through The Portal, Piggeh and the Bro truly meet for the first time, and they are instantly attracted to each other and begin flirting. Honestly, this is probably one of the most blatantly gay moments in the videos since most other instances of homoeroticism are either coated in plausible deniability or played off as jokes. So this is truly the most random of canon yaoi, not just for that but also because it's never brought up again and the fandom never really considered it much of an option.

Skullchair - If I thought Piggephano was obscure, it had nothing on Skullchair. I think this ship had like ONE shipper, and that kinda sucks because looking back it was actually a pretty sensible pair up. For starters, these two were actually stated to be friends in the videos. That might not seem like much, until you realize that very few of the Bros had established relationships. For as popular as Pigchair was, they rarely ever talked one on one, and when they did Mr. Chair was definitely uncomfortable around the pig. And then Stephano was just sort of hostile with everyone. So them being friends was already interesting. Add that they have a sort of kindred spirits thing going on, and you could get a lot out of this ship. Unfortunately not a lot of people even knew they were friends, I didn't until I had already started work on my fic which actually tanked the ship for someone I know, so yeah. Oof.

Barrelphano - All I'm going to say is that if you were around to see a certain artist's work of this ship before they deactivated, you get a sticker. I'm sorry for your trauma.

Anyway honorable mentions because I wanna ramble more about the history of ships in this fandom.

Jennipig - Not a particularly popular ship, but certainly a controversial one. I actually had a phase where I shipped this, and MAN if you shipped this you got dark with it. Everyone that shipped this was looking for violence on some fundamental level.

Jennphano - This was a very popular ship, but I would actually argue for the wrong reasons. It was mainly a pair the spares, if Jenskull wasn't in use then Stephano and Jennifer were being put together to keep them busy. Ironically, a lot of people didn't realize that they had canonically dated, as Stephano mentions in I think Baldo's Discovery that Jennifer is his ex and that she was "crazy." Despite this, it would actually be mentioned that they went on another date at some point during the events of Pewds' Last Of Us playthrough via a comment he left. As such this ship actually has quite a lot of fuel, but unfortunately it would be less "you don't know how beautiful you are" and more turbulent on again off again exes. So yeah, not canon enough to put under simply canon, people definitely cared about it, but I wouldn't say it was as outright loved as Jenskull was since again- most people were shipping Pewds and Stephano.

Skullphano - This was a ship I would have loved to mention, but it wasn't as popular as some of the others, yet it also slightly beat out Piggephano and Skullchair because I remember it being more of a known option back in the day. It's a ship with a pretty straightforward concept, Stephano and Skully hate each other, but that just means there's an enemies to lovers plot on a silver platter. My friend Tristara really ships this one, so I especially felt obligated to mention it.

And then I can talk about how pretty much all of the characters had some level of attraction towards Pewds himself but we'd be here all day.

I am also now realizing that Jennifer, Skully and Stephano is a feasible poly ship but I have other fish to fry so I'm just gonna have to leave that one there.

[countryhumans-drawerist]

"Why do you like me?" (Amephil Story)

Hello, here to show you my self made story, it's still on its preliminary stages, so I apologize for the spelling mistakes! Please correct and give out constructive criticism, thank you!

America paced through the front door with agitation of whomever it is to come, and he was absolutely dreading it, but don't let him deter it from the fact it was a necessary sacrifice. He snorted, all of this was sounding itself to be an awful narration of a story if he were to ask. He then shuffled in place, unable to stay long as his anxiety still shook him to have that of an adverse effect.

He preferred the USA, as it is more specifically referring to him, and nobody else is mistaken in the process of his name being called, yet to the insistence of completely everybody except him, had decided by whatever council of fate had blessed(read: cursed) him with the title of America for their excuse was simply, they have gotten used to the designatory leaving their lips with the thought behind their eyelids was his imaginary self in their self-reflective perspectives, oftentimes an exposure of how they perceive people and interpret their behavior.

So now he was stuck with the blasted entitlement that wasn't his namesake.

Screw this, he would've internally thought so himself, as for once he realizes not twice, nor thrice, but abundantly amount of times the extent that they tend to overshadow himself and somewhat find the semblance and the audacity that HE is the one who manages to be stereotypically overconfident and with the zeal and zest for life that is bigger than his being, and from where they caught or found that kind of personality in him was a wonder.

"USA?" And then a breath of fresh air was by an instant, intermittently fed through his lungs when he turned to look up and - was greeted by a too familiar face, very familiar in fact. He would've bolted his way outside the building if only she weren't, blocking the godforsaken doorway.

Philippines, now where were they? Ah right, recalling the moments of who made them the standing intimidating gal at least for him, what led to them becoming a cat and mouse dynamic asked by the dismay of nobody? He'll deliver and answer it just fine without anyone backing him up, the Philippines had picked up on his own lonesome, whether it was because she was an extrovert who empathized what it was like and misdirected the scene entirely in their head from the assumption that he was, utterly and cripplingly cut off from company in purpose, or a sympathetic compassionate individual who wants to heal him from his presumed butthurt feelings.

He wasn't, he can attest, he was tired of the people's demands over his head that were looming on the top wherein it could drop anytime soon and he would be a shell of who he is due to the sheer magnitude of stress they're willing to put him up with to fix their own dilemmas and issues they've presented, you'd think they'd be the one to do it, but no... they still rely on him and never once they thought to be independent, and so he snapped. Luckily that abated their prying influences and attention for a temporary while, which he then diverts his last dredges of energy to make an escape from the crowds to intake the reward for peace, from what he heard so and so was a rarity in his country nowadays.

Returning to the case of the Philippines of whom he doesn't understand nor care to find out what goes in her head. Secretly though, he wouldn't lie he was a bit, only just a bit oddly curious to earn himself the knowledge of what keeps her on her toes, so that she can be avoided altogether, and to his admittance, her thoughts on him, and her outlook on life. It was a normal interest, believe him, anyone asks the question once in a while. There is a strange delight in deeply comprehending the things that unfold in you when you know the motivations and context behind it, to you, it all made sense down to the very inch, etched in there, that it served a purpose.

Philippines opened her mouth, probably taking advantage over the silence of the previous incursion and distracted look he kept, "So, what are you doing?" Is that all she was going to ask?

And here he thought - oh no, she opted for more words instead, he should've left it at nothing, but fine, let's hear it then, he derisively suggested inward, holding the urge to roll his eyes. He didn't mean to be less than amicable but lately since the incident of USA/America which could've been avoided overall if they had just listened to his pleas, that fell into deaf ears, then he would've been in a lighter mood than he is currently. There's also the affair that was related to his own behavior, which he was scolded for, and he was following through his activities with no worries at all! What warranted such a reprimand? His actions weren't even anything remotely like they represented he was doing at all! But of course, information that he hid, that they don't know, won't know, strikes again. He almost regrets keeping confidential matters, almost.

Sensing his emotions acutely, because there's no other explanation for how she figured that out, "You're thinking about your name, aren't you?" He froze on the spot, he panicked, though figuring out showing it on his expression would catch her gotcha points, so he settled to a blank look that was convincing even to himself.

"What makes you think that?" 'Okay USA, I think you need to tone/bog down on your convincing display of irritation', he chided internally. He also thought this hit two birds if she were to expound on the concern, had flowed in a similar wavelength and went through the same conclusions as him.

She answered casually with a, "People were talking about it, and I caught wind of what they said... are you really all that?" She couldn't hold back a twitch in her smile, what did she find so funny about the situation?

Her eyes widened, as his gaze turned hostile, "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to offend - it's been a long time since I last talked to you..." She huffed, looking longingly at the side before snapping when she realize she was reminiscing the lost memories. At least she had the propriety to look sheepish enough for her actions. He thought everybody else dropped the pretense ball ever since freedom was in store, being advocated for, arguably he wasn't inserting a commentary, it was just his honest feelings about the circumstances. It isn't that he isn't considering his people, the opposite actually, he was ashamed to know that this is where they led astray to, a hill they'd die on, with the loss of their emotional faculties because it overflowed with shame that it collapsed. But he understands, and he hates the truth he understands, and deeply so when your independence is wrenched away from you and you aren't in control. 

He can say that United Kingdom wasn't without his faults, and nothing will ever retract the hurt that was once forcefully inflicted to him. This was one of them.

"It was to my notice that my cognizance of the information that we haven't been in speaking terms lately was on top shape," USA bit out, having to suppress a smirk when a flinch from her was caught in his eye, it was of minimal effort to have someone grasp his insinuations, goes to show that there are people who don't take things for face value, even if tempted or sorely suggested to.

"You'd think they'd contain themselves to their own bubbles rather than, shuffle messages over something unrelated to their case, they're clearly that bored if not even that can satisfy their thirst for drama, whatever happens in the meetings, it is their right to listen in or not, and they chose to prioritize lesser information, the joke is on them." He added, mockingly punctuating each point, as a billboard to a mad scientist does, lest she accuses him of not answering her other statements.

Philippines pursed her lips, as if daring to argue, nevertheless, her resolve was admirable, as all she gave was a restrained judgement that ran course through her countenance. Despite this, he felt the bubbling weight of her pressurecooker of emotions that she was holding and bottling up, switching  aspects of her character in her disposition, contorting to various impressions of sentiments she wished to convey, ranging from disillusionment to irritation. The painfully obvious twitches in her eyes, as clear as day, brought forth signs of tension and stress marring her features, painting her older than she actually is. It was nearly as amusing as her vocalized remarks, and readily as foolish. If he were a lesser man, he would've called it adorable. Luckily, he wasn't that kind of man.

"Don't you have anything nice to say about anybody?" Oops, I guess she couldn't handle herself, what a silly girl. He had spoken too soon, he advised himself to tone down on the positivity, he can't expect everyone else to hold themselves hostage. He must be in a terribly condescending mood, honestly, now he wants to test the waters of what makes her tic. A lightbulb went above his head, and there he determined a plan, so he leaned forward, inches away from her face, putting a show of the biggest shit eating grin he could muster before delivering the blow of, "It must be so hard for you to be such a Ms. Nice girl, you're winning it, should I give you a reward for your good behavior?" Wait, the long pause. He couldn't believe his ears on what he muttered, that was... so -

"America!" Both of them shot from their head, craning their neck simultaneously at the intruding visitor, if anyone were to picture them, they would seem exactly like a deer in headlights. What a pair they make, he groaned, not. He mutely excuses himself his presence over the room, leaving the Philippines to deal with the aftermath of the encounter alone, accompanied by their discordant thoughts that was left by the day's escalations of events, that was coincidentally cut off before it could even be processed by both of the parties. Abstenmindedly, as his lidded eyes trailed on the back, from where his head can reach the turn, there she stood, he entertained the notion that they would've - no, could've been a close companion in another life. (What halts you from the principle of friendship in this life, then?)

[nighttimepixels]

Night!!! I have a most important question!!!! So, Scarlet and Crimson know Spanish right? Do any of the other skeleladies know other languages too??

Ohoho, it has been asked at last!! ✧(��▿ô )

The answer is a resounding yes.

Each of the Lilytale sister pairs are trilingual, but in different languages for the third!

Here’s the breakdown! All the ladies speak English, Sign Language (for simplicity’s sake I’m saying American Sign Language, but in-canon it’d be a monster dialect), and:

Serif & Vellum: Italian

Sapphire & Amber: French

Crimson & Scarlet: Spanish

Pepper & Cinnamon: Old Norse

Blade & Twist: German

Glyph: Japanese (and she can read most chinese characters)

and Alpha is an exception: the first extra language she knew/learned was Russian, but being AI, she can speak/read any language that is documented online.

They’ve also all taken interest in each other’s language, + then some, so all the girls speak at least a little of one another’s languages, and have expanded a bit beyond there per their tastes & as time allows~!

[enbeast]

hey yall I noticed that there don't appear to be any transcripts for A Study In Ichor, so I figured I'd type some up, please note I am literally just going off the audio and I might get some stuff wrong.

mission 1

:readmore:

CLIP ONE

Workhouse Owner (WO): RUN FASTER, WORKER FIVE, THAT TREADMILL WON'T TURN ITSELF. As you can see, Master Yao, our workhouse not only provides food and shelter for three hundred inmates but makes a healthy profit too. For example, Worker Five has been running on one of Cubbad's “treadmills” for a mere twelve hours today and has already milled five hundred pounds of flour. Got the odd nail in it but it's good enough for the Rutherhive slums [laughs]

Sam Yao (SY): Twelve hours? Without a break?

WO: The alternative of life on the streets is an excellent motivator. And with your investment we will be able to build even more machinery, maybe even increase rations to three bowls of gruel a day.

SY: I want to use my inheritance for good, and if I'm honest, I have some concerns about your worker's wellbeing.

WO: Oooh I seee~ Yes, I suppose it is rather fashionable nowadays to worry about unfortunates, but I assure you Master Yao, once you've had to make your way in the world, like myself or your uncle, a fine man, you'll learn that revenue is the important thing, not how it's made.

(note, as Sam talks there approaching footsteps)

SY: Surely, there's a way to- OW!

WO: YOU THERE, IN THE CAP, watch where you're going, you just ran into a potential investor. Where's your worker number?

Pick pocket (PP): (in a stilted cockney accent) Sorry, Guv'ner.

SY: No, no, it's fine, I was in the way.

WO: It is not fine. Young lady, break time isn't for another three hours. Get back to work. (retreating footsteps from PP) I'm dreadfully sorry, Master Yao, this workhouse is full of ingrates.

SY: My watch! It's gone, the chain's been snapped...

WO: That worker stole it, she's a pickpocket! Worker Five get off that treadmill and chase after her DON'T COME BACK WITHOUT THAT WATCH!

SY: Uh, I'll come with you, Worker Five, I don't want to make a fuss, but that watch is important to me. Come on, let's run.

CLIP TWO:

SY: Hey, mind your step, Worker Five, I've heard about this, rows of people crushing animal bones to make fertiliser. Ugh, the smell is awful. Pickpocket just ran out into the street, we've got to follow her! Five, I hope you don't mind if I call you Five, through that door! (sound of door opening) There! I see her, she's heading towards the Temm's tunnel, it goes under the river from here to Whopee, an engineering marvel- a-apparently, my uncle's an engineer, he's building an underground railway. I try to keep up with the industry but... It doesn't come naturally... I mean, I-I know the tunnel was built using Bruno Cockren's tunnelling shield but I still barely understand what that even is, I don't ac-ARGH! Oh! (gasping) Five! If you hadn't pulled me aside that horse and cart would have run me over! Ugh, I-I'm sorry, I should have been paying attention, but well I-I don't often get to talk to anyone who isn't my uncle, or someone who's interested in my inheritance... Not that I need all that money, of course. I just want to be sure it's going to help people, it's what my parents would have wanted. That's why the watch is so important to me, it was the last thing they ever gave me before they died. Reminds me of what's important. If, if it was any other watch, I'd... just have let that pickpocket keep it, I'm sure she needs it more than I do... Ah, she's just hopped the barrier at the Temm's tunnel, it's in that round red brick building the entrance shaft is underneath, come on, Five, let's experience this engineering marvel first-hand, quickly, before we lose her!

CLIP THREE

SY: Ah, this tunnel is incredible, can you believe we're RUNNING under the Temms, makes me feel a bit funny... Mind you, we're here now that it's safe, uh, some of the people that built it died in the flood... Oh! Maybe I should spend my inheritance on something that'll make projects like this safer for workers, what do you reckon Five? Oh, Oh no... The pickpocket's already climbing the stairs! Ah- she's getting away! (panting) Whopping's all alleys, if she slips down a back street, we'll never find her! Up the stairs! Run!

CLIP FOUR

SY: (panting) And we're out of the tunnel, the pickpocket just ducked down that alley, after her. (Running sounds) Uh, we've got you cornered, now please. Give me my watch back.

Amelia Spens, formerly known as the Pickpocket (AS): Oh, I don't think so. Lads! (sounds of several sets of footsteps closing in) You're surrounded.

SY: Five, it's a gang of pickpockets.

AS: I'd have been happy with just the watch, but since you followed me, allow me to introduce the Abel Street Gang, they're all over the rooftops and they've all got knives.

SY: Please, don't hurt us, Five here has nothing to do with this!

AS: There'll be no need for bloodshed as long as you both give me all the money you're carrying.

SY: Five doesn't have anything, but, uh, (mumbling, followed by the sound of a heavy bag of coins hitting the ground) That's all of mine.

AS: W-he-hell, aren't we the wealthy one.

SY: I-I've got more! Lots more! And I'll give it to you, I promise, just please return the watch. It's my most treasured possession.

AS: I see! Not an especially experienced negotiator, are you. Hmm, let's take a look at this watch, see what's so special about it. Hmm, pearl face, silver plating, and... an engraving...

SY: It's uh... it's Chinese, those are my parent's names, and that's mine. Sam Yao.

AS: Y-you're not even going to try and make up an identity? What- (laughing) You're lucky I'm just a pickpocket and not someone REALLY nefarious, I- Helloo, what's this? (music starts playing)

SY: There's a tiny music box behind the face, that melody was special to them.

AS: Ooh, a bit twee if you ask me.

SY: So you'll give it back?

AS: I might have sold it back to you for a few sovereigns before you told me who you were, but as my luck would have it there just happens to be something that only you can do for me, Sam Yao. Your uncle's digging a railway underneath London, isn't he?

SY: H-how did you know that?

AS: I read the Society Pages, in my line of work one needs to know who's on course to inherit what fortune, and which Saloons they're likely to fall out of after one too many brandies.

SY: My fortunes from my parents, not my uncle.

AS: Yes, but you're his ward, or at least you were until you came of age recently, correct?

SY: Yes.

AS: There's something I want to show you. Follow me and keep up the pace. There are far more unsavoury types than me in Whopping and they'll take more than your watch. Run!

CLIP FIVE

SY: What's your name?

AS: I'm not telling you my real one, but you can call me Amelia.

SY: Uh, if you don't mind me saying, Amelia, you're quite well spoken for a pickpocket.

AS: Well, even an educated woman is not replete with options in this day and age. We might have a woman on the throne but I had to choose between penury, marriage to a seventy year old rector, or this.

SY: Well, it's not easy for me either, I'm lucky I have money because, well, being Chinese, people have misconceptions.

AS: Yes, you really should choose your friends wisely. Down this side street.

SY: Ugh, Mm. What IS that smell?

AS: Cover your mouths with your handkerchiefs, both of you.

SY: It's alright, Five, you can use mine.

AS: The smell is coming from that huge pipe, you see the emblem embossed on it?

SY: Ah! It's from my uncle's engineering company!

AS: That's right. The pipe is a ventilation shaft from his railway tunnel, now let's get away from it so we can breathe.

SY: (Gasping) Whoah, Oh that's better. What is going on down there?

AS: That's what I want you to find out.

WO (distant): MASTER YAO! WORKER FIVE!

SY: Ugh, it's the workhouse owner.

WO: (approaching footsteps) (panting) Master Yao, I followed you all the way from Rutherhive, one of my workers told me this woman is actually part of the Abel Street Gang! She only came to the workhouse to target you.

AS: This worker, was he a handsome fellow? Smarmy grin?

WO: That's right!

AS: Brent. (Sigh) That'll teach me to use former paramours as spies. Fine. (gun clicking) Hands up!

SY: Amelia! Don't shoot him!

AS: I'm not not aiming it at him, Sam, I'm aiming it at you.

WO: Steady on!

AS: Mr Workhouse Owner, unless you want future investors to know you got this one killed, I'd advise you to stop following us. Sam, Five, come with me or I'll shoot you both. Run!

CLIP SIX

AS: We lost the Workhouse owner, time to put this away (clicking sound)

SY: We would have come with you, Amelia, there was no need for the gun!

AS: Don't tell me how to take a hostage. Now listen carefully, for reasons that elude me, not everyone who falls on hard times opts for criminality, some people would honestly rather perform manual labour, and your uncle happens to be a proliferate employer of such eccentrics. I wouldn't care, except that many of his employees have family in the Abel Street Gang.

SY: I can ask my uncle to pay them more. But... He doesn't really listen to me. I'm Rather naive, apparently.

AS: Well, fortunately I have no need of your dreadful negotiating skills, I need you to solve an even stickier problem. Several of your uncle's workers have gone missing. Even though I've repeatedly explained to my gang that it's a waste of time caring about anything besides one's self, they're refusing to work until they learn what's happened to their loved ones. It's hurting my bottom line.

SY: That's awful... For the workers.

AS: Ahh, they're probably dead. If WE can barely breathe the noxious fumes near the ventilation shafts, what do you think it's like underground?

SY: I can't imagine! Those poor people... I'll stop what's happening, I promise, even if I have to spend every last penny of my inheritance.

AS: Do that and I'll give you your watch back.

SY: It's a deal.

AS: Mm, my favourite words. Righto, well, if that's settled then I'm off. There's a debutante ball this evening and I need to be in good time if I'm going to harvest some pearls. (retreating footsteps)

SY: There she goes. Look, Five, ah, I feel a bit awkward asking you this, but, would you maybe consider working with me? You were quick out there, really impressive, I've just moved into a house by myself and I could do with a hand. I promise it'll be a lot easier than the workhouse. I know it's been a funny old day, but for me it's actually been nice having someone to talk to. Talk at. Sorry, I know I go on a bit. But if you want to let's shake on it. You did save my life. Great! Now, I'm starving, how about some steak and oyster pie? Maybe we'll come up with some ideas about what happened to those missing workers over dinner., then tomorrow, we'll visit my uncle. Lord Earnest Van Ark.

[fxckdensxgden]

robron/prison headcanons

- aaron wakes up horribly early and just watches robert sleep for a while and can't bear the thought of not seeing him like this for so long that he runs his finger along his shoulders and whispers every reason he loves him that he can think of, and the only reason he doesn't feel stupid is because Robert is asleep the whole time

- when he's leaving he can't kiss Robert for tears so he hugs him instead and they both know they need to keep it together so Robert hugs him so hard he leaves indentations of his fingerprints in Aaron's coat and he presses his head into his shoulder with enough desperation that it hurts and holds him for so long and so tight that they start struggling to breathe and it sums up the fact that they always do this, have something they love hurting them at the same time

- Robert repeats the bit of his vows where he promises to be faithful and Aaron promises to trust him and maybe it's the rings that have changed things but there's not a shred of doubt this time

- he makes a dinner and accidentally sets four spaces instead of three (him, Liv and Chas) and they have to ask paddy to join them because no one can bear to put them away

- Robert writes Aaron a letter and it's just five sides of A4 full of things he's planning to do to annoy Chrissie while he's not there

- aaron also never appreciated quite how bad his handwriting is until he reads his letters and 'god Robert how do you run a business with writing like this'

- he starts taking his tea with sugar in it because he made it like that once accidentally and then realised Aaron is actually right and sugar in tea is good, although he isn't going to ever tell him that

- Robert goes to the scrapyard to pick some stuff up for work and Adam gives him a cuddle, but once the moment has passed they're both too awkward to discuss anything other than the weather

- the first time Robert drives to the prison to see him, he cries almost the whole way there so he can get it out of his system and he won't cry when he sees him since that will make things difficult (to say the least)

- Robert takes the opportunity of Aaron not being there to tell Chas and liv all the stupid and dodgy stuff he's done that he's not told them about

- he has to sleep on the couch for the first few nights because being in bed without Aaron is worse than not being there at all

- he develops a habit of twisting his ring round his finger, which Chas had noticed was actually Aaron's habit first, but doesn't mention it

- there aren't many perks of his husband being in prison but thank god he can wear that brown leather jacket now and not have to listen to complaining

- he also starts wearing floral print again and really enjoys his new sense of fashion independence (although he is the only one)

- Aaron won't answer any questions about his ring and barely manages to hide the fact that he misses Robert so badly he gets a jolt in his chest whenever he sees blonde hair

- the visits aren't long enough and they can't talk properly and neither of them can decide if it makes things better or just makes them worse

- 'you know how you can tell aaron's not here Chas?'

"because Robert's miserable, liv?"

'no'

"because i don't have to buy obscene amounts of bread?"

'no'

"because we don't have to constantly fix things?"

'no. because it doesn't stink of man'

(Robert is quite offended by the last part)

- about a week after Aaron leaves, Robert can't hold it together anymore and sits with Chas on the couch and the pair of them have a tearful conversation about what they'll do when he gets out

- Robert is always Aaron's phone call and Chas moans about getting less than a minute to speak to him, but after she heard them discussing how much they loved each other like they'd not seen each other for years, she didn't have the heart to take more time away

- Chrissie pulls a sarcastic 'are you missing your boyfriend, Robert?' and gets an equally sarcastic 'he's my husband nowadays actually' in return

- without deciding if it's bad of him, Robert makes a mental note to buy Aaron more shirts in that colour because even if it is prison uniform, he pulls the colour off to no end

- Robert is rude to Finn on several occasions because even though it's not really his fault, he needs to blame someone (and not Aaron)

- Robert actually wins a game of darts for once

- he can also watch awful telly and enjoys himself far too much

- he makes so many plans of what they can do when he gets home that he eventually loses track of outings he's booked and things he's bought and it doesn't matter anyway, because once he sees Aaron and knows he doesn't have to visit him on schedule, they only need to watch the football together in the front room, more tangled in each other than they'd ever felt comfortable to do in public before to be as happy as they would be anywhere else- because they've both realised that they don't have the time to hide from things, and since they're married and have the rest of their life ahead of them, it doesn't even matter anyway

[lususnatura]

blamore scratched the back of his neck at that. the way she said it so plainly made his heart feel a bit fluttery, so he felt as if he had to take a moment, ❝ well, i don't think i know an elliot, but alright. that is certainly fine by me. and i don't mind spending time with you either. ❞ it nearly stumbled when it had gotten up, but blamore stopped itself just in time by crossing its legs. he pressed his back against the structure he was in front of and averted his eyes at his lichen-covered feet. at least they weren't affected by how blamore had spent his week, though lichens were known to be quite hardy organisms in general. it did have to lip-read to pick up some of harley's words, but nowadays, that was a rather natural process for it.

blamore let out a half-surpressed chuckle, ❝ your wish is my command, harley. as for why i just stood up on my own, i think my bone abilities work differently than ivy's powers with the green. i don't think i could even summon a wishbone right now if i wanted to after all. ❞ he held up a hand and envisioned a bone in his mind, but a barely visible one emerged from his skin before dropping back into it. it dropped its arm back by its side with a smile tugging at his lips out of amusement, ❝ yeah, i don't think my cat would appreciate a bunch of holes being everywhere. i did get someone to agree to watch her a few days ago so i should probably be picking her up as well. ❞

although blamore's mood hadn't turned to an indifferent one on purpose from what he could tell, he had to acknowledge this: that his normally happy-go-lucky attitude was currently a bit harder for him to maintain. so, blamore tried to remedy this with harley by saying something, as it could tell the atmosphere in the room changed a bit. ❝ i apologize. that came out wrong, it seems. i didn't mean to say it in a 'what do you mean its posh?' in a rude kind of way. i'm just tired, but of course, that's not your fault. it was just supposed to be cheeky. ❞ he shrugged his shoulders slightly and offered her a sheepish smile. ❝ yeah, i can't deny that its a privilege that i was able to find this place. there are so many people out there who deserve more than what they've gotten. ❞

blamore straightened the neck of the blouse he wore a bit, ❝ i have to say, this greenhouse was abandoned whenever i claimed it, though. so i was telling the truth whenever i said i used to live in the east end with my dad. he kind of wanted us to be there, though, because a lot of people needed help in that area... and he believed that gotham could be a better place if even just one more person was looking out for others more. ❞ he rubbed his arms with the appropriate hands that were opposite of them. ❝ thus, my family wasn't rich or anything, but choosing to be there did probably say something about my family's financials. i used to take those kinds of things for granted though; i mean, for example, having a backyard like you said. but i realized pretty quickly that i should've appreciated it more once i got into my old work. ❞

blamore stated all of this genuinely, though deliberately kept out the part about what his 'work' used to be. it decided to try to lift the mood then by joking around, ❝ ahh, i speak french because i am from france, harley. what — did you think i spoke in this goofy accent just for fun? ❞ a hearty laugh slipped through his lips as he very lightly punched the other's shoulder, before nodding. ❝ france is a beautiful country. maybe someday, i could show you where i grew up there. ❞ blamore smiled whenever harley said she'd get its pills for it. the moment she asked about where to go, the creature projected his voice over to her to let her know where it was.

the label on the bottle said it was gabapentin, an anticonvulsant, and blamore uttered a soft 'thanks' before accepting it. it took one of the pills dry before pocketing it and explaining. ❝ i haven't been able to take one of these in days and they stop my nerve pain. so... as you might be able to imagine, i'm hurting. ❞

" I can't promise I'm not busy, but I would not say I don't have time ta' talk. We schedule things or you come over... cause that is what ya' should do," Harley said before flinching at the sight of Balmore removing decay from him.

"Ya' don't have ta' fancy up because of me. If ya' want I can help with that...but relax," she chidded taking in the greenhouse as she absent mindedly tried to untangle his hair.

"Well ya' got a clean slate. Ya' can think of it as a celebration of life... like a birthday. It's bad when ya' find out who you are ... sometimes its sad and will make ya' angry, otha' times its disappointin'. Jus' think what ya' want to be or could be. Yer' not gonna figure that issue out ova' the span of a day. If anythin' I did clear my calendar fa' you... I can help ya' clean up... get a snack. You jus' tell me where things are... cause yeah no offense some of yer' stuff looks a bit posh 'en I don't wanna break it."