#quillica

[justjudethoughts]

"He tried to make it aound casual, but his tone betrayed him. There was a catch in his voice that I didn't understand."

Behold, the reason I am utterly sold on Quillica. Before I even saw people talking about them, I was positive that Kipps must have had close dealings with Lockwood's family. Otherwise, this exchange doesn't make any sense. If he was totally removed from Lockwood's losses, he wouldn't have "tried" to say it casually—he would have succeeded. Furthermore, there is a "catch" in his voice. Your voice only catches when you are feeling a strong emotion. In this situation, there is no reason for Kipps's voice to catch unless he is emotional about the particular topic at hand, i.e. Lockwood losing his parents and Jess. The only reason for him to be emotional is if he was close to them, too. The only reason for him to hold that over Lockwood's head is if he blames Lockwood, too. If he was close to Jessica and deals with his grief by taking it out on Lockwood.

[themetaphorgirl]

some days I wanna raise a little something more than heaven

Written for Locklye Week 2024 Day #5: high school AU

AU. Lucy was desperate to get out of the trailer park and when she was offered a full ride art scholarship to a prestigious boarding school in Tennessee she couldn’t say no. She also couldn’t say no to Anthony Lockwood, a rich day student with a monogrammed backpack and the biggest puppy dog eyes she’s ever seen.

aka the southern prep school AU that nobody asked for.

A boy around her own age with dark curly hair and a St. Thaddeus School chess team shirt answered. He frowned at the sight of her. “You’re not DoorDash.”

“No, um…are you Anthony Lockwood?” she asked hesitantly.

The frown intensified. “Me? No.”

Lucy shifted her weight. “Is…is he here?” she said. “I’ve got his history book and I think he has mine.”

The boy heaved a long suffering sigh. “Yeah, that sounds like he would do. He’s here, come on in.”

She stepped carefully into the room. It was larger than her dorm and nicely decorated and organized- orange comforter, stacks of comic books, posters from superhero and sci-fi movies, framed family photos. Another boy lounged halfway off the bed, still in the St. Thaddeus uniform of khaki pants, white button down, and green tie, although his navy blazer was tossed over a chair. He didn’t look up from his phone as they walked in. “Is our food here?” he asked.

“No, Lockwood, I think you stole this girl’s book.”

The boy scrambled up, nearly dropping his phone, and Lucy gulped as his big dark eyes met hers. “Hi,” he said. He raked his dark hair back and it fell right back in place, flopping softly over his forehead. “I’m Anthony Lockwood.”

[alphacrone]

Lockwood & Co. AU - Jessica Lived

Tanya Reynolds as Jessica Lockwood

[aarohisingh25]

Ok like someone NEEDS to ask Mr. Stroud this question!

for lord's sake we NEED to know

I ship them too much to be considered normal at this point

I sent this to @francesderwent a little while back but still thinking about the catch in his voice! His tone. Betraying him!!! Are we supposed to be normal about this???? Accept it with no question???

[synestheticwanderings]

Quill brings Jessica flowers.

[lockwood-fic-recs]

but i won't let you lose yourself in the rain

by blackjack_15 on ao3

Rating: T | Category: F/M | Relationship: Quill/Jessica

Quill Kipps is only 14. There's no way he's in love with the pretty girl who takes his bus, no matter how many times a day he thinks about her.

Or, Kipps, Jessica, and a rainy day in London before tragedy struck.

[Part 1/3 of a fully written series]

[worldofkaeos]

quill kipps x jessica lockwood, anyone? They were ard the same age when she died AND IT'LL BE SO ANGSTY IF KIPPS KNOWS HER

what's their ship name? quillessica? kippsica? they sound horrid lmao

(anyway i have a fic in the works for this ship it's angsty be warned)

edit: okay let me summon all the QUILL x JESSICA FANS 🥳 with a poll

[indelen]

This is my reread of the Lockwood and Co. Books, organized by @blue-boxes-magic-and-tea, I'll make a general summary of several chapters and then post bits and pieces that jumped out at me.

Part III Chapters 13-16:

I like all the worldbuilding in these chapters, which we get subtly as we get introduced to this alternative London and how it functions day to day with The Problem in the background. Little things like fashion for silver and lavender, no computers or any tech past about the 70s, the economy collapsing because work days were so severely reduced, etc. The other thing that’s shown is how many corporations are really making a lot of money from The Problem and that the only changes the government ever enacts are those that are going to be good business for them. There’s a small bit in Chapter 13 about how running water wards off ghosts but only small wealthy areas of London got runnels put it. The rest rely on iron, which is an expensive commodity you have to constantly maintain and purchase more of. Water is free if, in the interest of public good you put the necessary infrastructure in from the start, it pays dividends in the long run. Iron rusts and is harder to upkeep and maintain, but it’s more providable and so magically the government chose to go with the latter and not the former option even through ghost lamps are less effective. I honestly love that this sort of detail is in a book for kids and teens and I like that the author gives this sort of detail to the young audiences. Especially in this day and age I feel like they would appreciate it.

Odds and Ends Side A:

There is significance in Rotwell’s symbol being a lion and Fittes symbol being a unicorn, because those two symbols are also on either side of the quartered shield that makes up the United Kingdom’s coat of arms. In heraldry they are called “supporters”. Irl the lion is the symbol of England and unicorn is a symbol of Scotland and this symbolism was adopted when James IV of Scotland inherited the throne from Elizabeth I in the 16th century and became King James I. So symbolically this shows how the agency system and the personal rivalries of the agency heads ripped the country apart with no real winner. Fittes is bigger. Rothwell is more popular. Fittes has the reputation. Rothwell has the PR. No one really wins. Children continue to die serving both.

And it's so sinister how agencies develop a “brand” and rally the kids they recruit around it. Kids are of course very susceptible to this, children latch easily to tribal behavior, they love that sense of belonging that comes with being in a clique. This is a manipulation tactic. If you make the kids feel special, give them a cool jacket, a symbol, a membership, a sense of belonging to a group, they will Other anyone not part of that group. They become easier to manipulate when you have their membership to hold over them. You can use them to spy on one another, to ostracize those who break ranks. George saw this in Fittes - he didn’t fit in there because the glamour of the Fittes brand didn’t ensnare him, it just made his more curious. So, he was pushed out.

The famous “catch in the voice” that launched a thousand Quillica ships. I’m kind of split about this. Yes, it seems like there is something there - Kipps speaks with a bitterness that seems to transcend regular dislike. You could argue that Kipps really does think Lockwood is dangerous on top of just thinking he’s a shit but this bit always did seem to telegraph a personal side to the animosity that goes beyond simple rivalry. My issue is, if there was something, why was it never was mentioned in later books? Even in moments where it would be suitable for the narrative. I sometimes wonder if this was an orphaned bit of plot, considered but abandoned by the author for one reason or another. Authors decide to edit out plot points all the time and I do wonder if some tie between Kipps and Jessica was considered early on but passed on because it made things a little too complicated.

George casually interrupts here and redirects the ire of a bully onto himself to protect a friend. Really the whole trio can be pretty verbally vicious but book George is by far the most likely to have a go at someone. This is an interesting difference between George Cubbins of the books and George Karim of the show. Karim is a far gentler soul, Cubbins goes for the jugular every time.

It's interesting that the big conflict of the middle of season 1, the infamous “asset” spat that produced so much delicious angst, pining and yearning (not to mention Six of Crows parallels) – does not really exist in the books. Lucy is fine with being seen an asset to the agency. Proud of it even. She doesn’t care about publicity, but she doesn’t mind it either. Her biggest issues later on actually stem from thinking she's being replaced or not being seen as valuable team member. Because in the books it’s made plain that the kids’ minds are so warped by society to view having Talent and being an agent as the best and most valuable thing about themselves. To the point that they often don’t know what to do with themselves if they have any downtime. It’s why the existential crisis of living long enough to lose your Talent comes as such a brutal knock to many. I can see why they added the “asset” drama into the show, it’s one of those small but crucial themes that would have been hard to put on screen. It takes literal books for Lucy to start seeing herself as an individual, to start casually mentioning having hobbies or wishing he had time to pursue certain interests outside of being an agent. In fact, the most times she puffs up her chest and talk about how great and important it is that she is one is in this book. In the later books this bravado recedes. And without getting too into spoiler territory other characters grapple with this as well. It’s a faint throughline, but it’s there. In the show they made her backstory be a catalyst for her realization that agencies use kids and discard them and her issue with simply being considered one “asset” of many in the agency meatgrinder is more pronounced. And I think with making Quill younger and making him go thought the process of losing his Talent on screen and making him Northern (this bit was pointed out by @womaninwinter to me, credit where it’s due) was done intentionally to draw parallels with Lucy and have them share a bond in Season 2 (IF WE GOT ONE NETFILX WHEN I CATCH YOU-). This sort of thing works better on screen. And of course, provides delicious angst since Lockwood would have gotten immediately jealous of any bond Lucy develops with anyone other than him. Not needed in the books, but fun on screen where you can watch Cameron Chapman’s big sad doe eyes track Ruby Stokes around the room like a compass needle besotted with the magnetic north.

The clever and fun thing about bits like this is that on first read you think this is all to do with the immediate plot but it’s actually laying of the ground work and foreshadowing to future books and the appearance of my precious horny sewer rat baby Skull in a jar.

It's really subtle but all the adults who work as first responders, such those who responded to the Sheen Road fire or the cops in Scotland Yard, already have some kind of body armor. Only the kids don’t. Only agents and nightwatch kids don’t. You’re telling me someone couldn’t scale down chainmail and make a lighter version for the kids? Sew some iron or silver thread into those uniforms? Fittes and Rotwell have an enormous amount of resources and pull. And yet they do nothing. Not even a little investment in safety of literal children. It’s all just so grim the more you think about it.

An enormous imposing building of the mighty Scotland Yard mythologized in a million stories and seen in a million tv shows, full of adults carrying important papers and making important decisions, full of adults in body armor … all guarded by two kids with sticks. It’s so vividly pathetic.

Please turn the cassette over to side B (see reblog for more)

[rodrigoflorescastro]

#tucapus #quillica

[justjudethoughts]

Quillica

@neewtmas reblogged my Lockwood Family fancast post and in the tags asked for someone to edit Quillica. This probably isn't exactly the style of edit you were going for, but HERE.

[justjudethoughts]

Friendly reminder that Quill almost died from wounds inflicted in Jessica's room.

[themetaphorgirl]

Whumptober Day #4: Lockwood and Co

No. 4: Hallucinations

Prompted by @fragolinaa

Hypnosis | Sensory Deprivation | “You're still alive in my head.” (Billy Lockett, More)

Set during The Empty Grave. The last thing Kipps remembered was stepping into the Other Side.

“Well, Kipps. Fancy meeting you here.” He cracked open one eye, squinting into the gray expanse above him. Funny, just a minute ago, everything had seemed different. Voices shouting, ash and smoke singeing his nostrils, the taste of blood in his mouth…but now that was all gone, like it was a dream. Now it was just cold clear air and gray thin sky and a shadow leaning over him. He blinked a couple of times and a slow smile spread across his face as he recognized the figure.

Read here!

[lockwood-fic-recs]

circumscribe, eight-two-five

by noirshitsuji on ao3

Rating: T | Category: F/M, Gen | Relationship: Quill/Jessica

The Other Side will never leave him.

There will still be days – months, years after it’s all over – when he’ll wake up well-rested after a long, long night, and London will be so foggy he’ll be convinced, for half a second, that he’s finally dead for good. Any minute now, he'll have Jaina and Maya and Ned and Jess knocking on his bedroom door, ready to drag him out for coffee, a catch-up, and an earful.

And then Kipps will stretch out a bit, feel the early-onset back pain again, and cuss out as loud as he likes before getting up and getting on.

Or: Quill Kipps has a life that only makes sense when told in fragments.

[justjudethoughts]

Kipps Headcanons

• Kipps isn't actually short. Lockwood is just tall. Kipps is pretty average height, or even on the taller end. But he is *rail thin*. Boy looks like a male ballerina. Super willowy. Super lanky. All knees and elbows.

• In that vein, Kipps actually really likes ballet (but he doesn't tend to let people know this). He has a bunch of older sisters who got him into it before he was an agent, and he finds that it helps his fencing. Because of this, he is actually really good at lifting people/things, which comes in handy when someone is injured, and was a huge asset to his job as Fittes supervisor.

• Kipps and Jessica were really close. The pain and bitterness of losing Jessica when he was only 15 is a major part of what soured his person, and led to his rivalry with Lockwood. Somewhere, he blames Lockwood for Jessica's death. He blames him for being alive when Jessica isn't. He blames him because he needs someone to blame and Lockwood is the only one left who could be. On top of that, Lockwood is so perfect, beating him in fencing matches, starting a rival agency and adding insult to injury. So they fight, and they hate each other, and they take low blows. But they'd never let the other come to serious harm. Not if they can help it.

• Kipps first becomes closest to Lucy. After she realizes he is about to die on the other side, and they have their moment, he suddenly has a soft spot for her and treats her like a little sister. For the first time in her life, Lucy has an older brother.

A few further comments: 1) Kipps as the youngest in his bio family turning into everyone's older brother is really important to me, especially the fact that it's Lucy he first attaches to. I think there is something he sees in Lucy that tugs, unbidden, at his heart. Maybe he recognizes a fellow youngest child of a big family. Maybe he identifies with her grief, her rough edges. I don't know, but I very firmly feel that she is the one who first burrows into his heart in a very specific way. 2) I am a huge Quillica stan. The whole series I felt like Quill must have a deeper connection to Lockwood than was being let on, especially with all of his jabs about Lockwood's family being dead. It has a distinct tang of bitterness, of hurt in the was Quill says it. As if what happened directly affected him. 3) It's important to me that Kipps is taller than Lucy.

[lockwood-fic-recs]

What would you like to see this week?

For the Thursday rec this week, which would you prefer? For this week, a simple ship poll. Feel free to let us know in the replies why you made your choice, or drop the link to any suggestions you might have if one of the categories wins!

[cordelia-archer]

thisss, no way I've never noticed it. Now I'm shipping Quillica even harderrr

"He tried to make it aound casual, but his tone betrayed him. There was a catch in his voice that I didn't understand."

Behold, the reason I am utterly sold on Quillica. Before I even saw people talking about them, I was positive that Kipps must have had close dealings with Lockwood's family. Otherwise, this exchange doesn't make any sense. If he was totally removed from Lockwood's losses, he wouldn't have "tried" to say it casually—he would have succeeded. Furthermore, there is a "catch" in his voice. Your voice only catches when you are feeling a strong emotion. In this situation, there is no reason for Kipps's voice to catch unless he is emotional about the particular topic at hand, i.e. Lockwood losing his parents and Jess. The only reason for him to be emotional is if he was close to them, too. The only reason for him to hold that over Lockwood's head is if he blames Lockwood, too. If he was close to Jessica and deals with his grief by taking it out on Lockwood.