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nightcoremoon · 4 years ago

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it's evident people haven't watched enough kids media to adequately understand just what constitutes a kids show as opposed to a show that kids can watch and be entertained by

when I was a kid I watched king of the hill and blues clues (among other things). king of the hill is NOT a kids show by any stretch of the imagination; it is an adult animation, replete with fairly heavy subject matter, sexual themes, political humor, cultural references that kids won't understand, discussion of religion in the modern day, depression and suicidal thoughts, adultery, puberty and sexual awakenings, body image, propane, propane accessories, and ultimately above all else what it means to be family. and blues clues is a show about a man who plays with a shovel & pail, talks to his condiments and mailbox, and sometimes he teleports into the felt dimension, all while playing Sherlock Holmes hercule poirot with his dog, and teaching kids how to count and draw and recognize colors and learn their ABCs. do you see the fucking difference? no? then I'll make it more clear.

dora the explorer & go diego go, mickey mouse clubhouse, handy manny, octonauts, bob the builder, super why, wild kratts, zoboomafoo, jojo's circus, wow wow wubbzy, stanley, doc mcstuffins, max & ruby, wonder pets, bubble guppies, ni hao khai lan, backyardigans, little einsteins, caillou (ugh) and p*w p*trol (double ugh), these are all undeniably kids shows. their audience is children (and the occasional adult by age with severe intellectual disabilities) and maybe the parents whose brains are too fried to care what's on the tv. these shows main purpose is to educate while entertaining on subjects one would encounter in preschool and kindergarten. counting 1-10, ABCs, basic color, basic language, basic intrapersonal skills, basic emotional literacy, problem solving, using your imagination, what sounds do animals make, breaking the fourth wall to ask the audience to answer what's 2+2 or tell them a lesson they learned today like I LEARNED TO NEVER JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER or some simple message like that. it's always light, there's no edgelord grimdark "what if they were dead the whole time" bullshit. it's just good clean simple wholesome [except for paw patrol] programs for kids to be distracted for a little bit of time, while also letting them walk away having said they learned something. at least half of the time dedicated to every single one of these shows is devoted to the same shit over and over again. I'm the map I'm the map I'm the map I'm the map I'm the map I'm the map WE FUCKING GET IT YOURE THE MAP! backpack backpack I'm the backpack loaded up with things and knickknacks too, anything that you might need I've got inside for you. we did it we did it we did it HOORAY! come on vamanos everybody let's go, come on let's get to it, I know that we can do it,

WHERE ARE WE GOING

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

THESE SONGS ARE BURNED INTO MY BRAIN AND THEYLL BE STUCK IN MY HEAD UNTIL I DIE

say click take a pic, the hot dog dance, CAN HE FIX IT???, pizza! spaghetti!, THE DOC IS IN AND SHELL FIX YOU UP, max & ruby ruby & max max & ruby ruby & max MAX & RUBY RUBY & MAX MAX & RUBY RUBY & MAX, wonder pets wonder pets we're on our way to help the friend and save the day, we're not too big and we're not too tough but when we work together we've got the right stuff, goooOOO WONDER PETS YAAAAY~, yoooour backyard friends the backyardigans (weve got the whole wide world in our yard to explore, thATS WHY EVERY DAY WEEEEERE BACK FOR MOOOORE), were going on a trip in our little rocket ship SOARING THROOOOOUGH THE SKY!!! little einsteins!

I swear to god I've been forced to watch so much children's television in my life it's no wonder there's no room left for serotonin executive function or the ability to speak to morons

point is I know my way around kids shows. my sisters were born in 98, 02, 05, 06, 10, and 18, I think, I don't even know because they're all a blur, I'm literally closer in age to my parents than to my youngest sibling, I never stopped being exposed to kids shows. I know what is and is not a kids show.

adventure time? not a kids show even though kids watch it. it's a "for everyone" show. it's got a target audience of 100% of the planet. steven universe? not a kids show even though kids watch it. miraculous ladybug? not a kids show even though kids watch it. scooby doo? not a kids show even though kids watch it. I'm not discussing the history of adult acceptance of animation, adult animation, or anime, so don't ask. dexter's laboratory. the grim adventures of billy & mandy. codename kids next door. teen titans. fairly oddparents. kim possible. invader zim. AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER. totally spies. courage the cowardly dog. the proud family. SPONGEBOB F*ING SQUAREPANTS. powerpuff girls. foster's home for imaginary friends. oh yeah you know what's coming next. my little goddamn pony friendship is mother fucking magic is not. a. kids. show. even though kids can watch it. it is a cartoon. it is an everyone show. that's why it's disingenuous and fucking stupid to decry any fan over the age of 7 as a pedophile and a weirdo creep; it participates in the infantilization of femininity. why is it ok for 20somethings to keep watching aang and squidward and finn & jake and zim and "return the slab" and everyone's totally fine wth that but when it's twilight sparkle suddenly everyone's like whoa you're a huge fucking loser for watching this girly wussy baby show for girly wussy babies. oh some bronies are sex crazed perverts? I'm sorry have you seen just how much porn there is for spongebob? oh some bronies are cringe? I'm sorry have you met half the steven universe fandom? oh some bronies are fascist rick sanchez kinnies with fedoras and katanas? BREAKING BAD FANS, HELLO!?!?!?

this is such a stupid tiring boring argument. maybe magic talking horses being friends and turning their friendship into magic rainbow nuclear fucking arms and blasting the evil out of a demon and turning her into the coolest fucking half-unicorn biker lesbian in the world is something that brings me, and adult, pure wholesome joy, in between bojack horseman and dark souls and breaking bad and deftones and fallout new vegas and jojo and cannibal corpse and other bleak depressing edgy shit that also brings me comfort. and MAYBE me at 16 starting to watch MLP:FIM becoming finally comfortable with the outward public expression of "traditionally feminine" interests is the main reason why I realized I was a girl when I did, and MAYBE I just like how pretty the colorful ponies look, AND MAYBE I KIN WITH ONE OR TWO OR EIGHT CHARACTERS, WHAT OF IT?

AND MAYBE ITS LITERALLY THE BEST LONG RUNNING FANTASY TV SERIES ON THE MARKET RIGHT NOW* SINCE GAME OF THRONES FUCKING SUCKS

but whatever, kids watch it sometimes so it's illegal for anyone who's not a kid to enjoy it, but only if it's something girly because liking girly things is bad because girliness is inherently bad, and the only things that are good have predominantly male casts*. right? right??? wrong, fucker. g4mlp has so much more in common with adventure time & atla than with blues clues or dora the fucking explora...r.

but keep in mind I'm saying this while hugging a blues clues plushie my grandma gave me for valentine's day because it reminds her of when I was a baby because I may not watch blues clues but it still means a lot to me for nostalgia and is 50% of the reason why I love ray charles. kids media isn't necessarily bad. I still do enjoy watching it with my little sisters. all this is is me being anal about categorization because I'm autistic and I LIVE for categorizing everything.

*besides atla obviously

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themadauthorshatter · 4 years ago

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It's been a while since I did one of these, I was doing some catching up with other fandoms😅

If you haven't read the previous parts, they are here:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4/Part 4 extension/revision

Recap time: Charles has realised that with the twins knowing where the Aztec Sapphire is, they are in danger. Thankfully, he was targetted instead. Right chases him and Charles is almost captured, but he escapes with returning character Terrence Suave, who returns him to the military base.

With that out of the way, ONWARD!!!!

We start with Charles groaning as he wakes up in an infirmary bed, sore from the chase and his torso aching from his ribs getting reset and his gash stitched shut. The twins are asleep next to him, and Galeforce is outside the room yelling at someone(I wonder who?).

He sucks in a breath and gets out of bed, careful to not overdo it, because he's still injured, and finds Galeforce yelling at Terrence Suave, who's simply drinking some coffee and enjoying himself as he pulls the General's leg. At least until he looks over his shoulder.

"Morning, Pilot."

Galeforce turns and almost hugs Charles, stopping himself when he notices Charles holding his side and with bad posture; he's too tired and sore to stand straight.

Regardless he asks how he's doing, and Charles says he's fine and inquires on what the two were talking about, more specifically what Terrence knows.

What were they talking about exactly? Simple, Henry and his next move.

Charles re-affirms that he needs to skip town because Henry's on the hunt for him, and he's a good cover/scapegoat for the twins, so they can stay safe.

Galeforce says no to that immediately; Charles is like his child. Regardless of how old or experienced he is, Charles is still his baby and his first instinct will always be to protect him. He doesn't say this out loud, of course, but it still makes Charles disagree as politely as he can.

I should probably explain why Charles is tunnel visioned on this whole thing:

Well, Henry was awake for a couple hours during his flight to the Toppat Airship. During that time, Charles got to mingling, talking about how he knew Henry had ot kind of rough and offered to be a roommate, if Henry needed a place to stay.

Henry declined and said he'd consider it.

Charles was silent for a second, and admitted that he got it if Henry was scared, seeing as how they didn't exactly ask him to help, at least until after they "picked him up," but he'll have Charles talking to him through an ear piece the whole time to guide him.

Henry smirked at that and nodded, thanking Charles for his kindness, as it was welcome against all the other soldiers.

They talked a little more, and even talked about personal stuff, before Henry got to his mission.

Then Henry betrayed them. And, to rub salt in the wound, shot at them with a bazooka as Reginald open fired with a semi-automatic.

They were forced to retreat, but it twisted the knife for Charles when Henry thanked him again for being himself and leading him straight to the Toppat Clan's leader; Henry would have started off with the government private investigator and ended with rapidly promoted executive.

Back on track, Charles sits down as he explains they don't have a lot of options. It's either Charles leaving or Henry attacking the base and finding the sapphire or taking the twins, who know where it is.

There isn't anything special about the Aztec Sapphire, it's just really big and really expensive. And it's a national treasure, so they need to protect it.

Galeforce is still against the idea because it could be a trap, like an orchestrated path for Charles to follow until he's captured.

Terrence agrees, knowing Henry and how lucky he is.

Charles groans and turns to him asking who the hell he even is.

"I already told you who I was," Terrence barks.

"But who ARE you?" Charles asks. "How did you find me in the city? Why are you out here? Who's side are you even ON!?"

Terrence huffs through his nose and leans against his knees. "I don't take sides. The clan screwed my over and you government lapdogs screwed me over. The only side I'm on is my own."

Galeforce and Charles glance st each other before Galeforce asks, "Then why'd you help Charlie?"

Terrence smirks and shrugs. "Got bored."

The two glare at him, but get back on track when Terrence says, "Anyway, I'm with the pilot on this one. If you're still here, and Henry figures out you are, kiss Earth goodbye on your way up to that station." At that last part, he points to Charles.

Charles gulps and nods.

Then he looks up from the floor to the wall. "I think I know somewhere I can go."

Before he can finish, he exhales and stumbles back; guess he needs more time to rest before acting in his plan.

CUT TO THE ORBITAL STATION!

Henry is thinking of every possible location Charles could be and narrows down on a couple places he'll send spies to: the prison Henry was sent to, the outskirts of the city, the military base, and even the jungle; maybe Charles found a small town to stay in, though hide is a better word.

He's been working on this plan since last night Earth time, so it's a good thing Ellie comes in with some breakfast and water.

"When was the last time you slept?"

Henry shakes his head and signs, 'We need to find him. Can't wait.'

Ellie crouches next to him and rubs his arm. "He's injured. He's not going anywhere any time soon. Rest."

Henry groans, but takes a bite of breakfast sandwich and goes right back to planning.

Ellie has none of that; she may have known Henry for a little while, but damn it if she's going to stop having his back now, and she has to get him to stop and rest by force, so be it.

She drags him over to his bed and judo/jiu jitsu style, straddling his waist when he tries to get up.

"What part of 'get some rest' do you not understand?"

Henry scowls at her before signing, 'You're not my mother.'

"I might as well be, if you're not going to take care of yourself," Ellie replies as she folds her arms. "And if you try to throw me off, I'm tying you to this bed."

It draws a snort out of Henry as he shakes his head, chuckling a little. 'Pervert.'

"You're the one with the dirty mind, mister, not me."

Henry shrugs and gestures back to his desk, but Ellie only grabs his hands and leans down, pinning him.

"No. Now rest."

Henry groans and nods, agreeing to rest; laying down made him realize how tired he was.

Ellie, however, just to be safe, stays right where she is, so he doesn't go back to planning.

"Don't worry. We're going to get that sapphire. And your pet pilot."

Even though he's drowsy, Henry still nods and makes a gesture between the two of them and points to his eyes; 'I know. Same eyes.'

Just to clarify, Ellie's told Henry she has the same 'powers' as him, so he's basically saying he knows because they're seeing the same thing and can get it done.

Anyway, BACK TO CHARLES!!

Charles groans as he's told to stay in bed, but it gets worse when Rupert handcuffs him to said bed to keep him from going anywhere; he has a day off, anyway- or at least he HAD one before Charles woke up and left his bed.

Regardless, Charles only scowls at Rupert as he reads a book.

"That's the first time we've seen you read," Charles remarks.

"Careful. I'll tell the doctor you tried to get out of bed again."

Charles holds up his hand and shows the handcuffs. "How?"

Rupert shrugs. "I'll think of something."

Charles rolls his eyes and lies back, staring at the ceiling.

"So do you have a plan?"

Charles nods. "I need to go to The Wall. I think there's someone I need to talk to."

"Right now, you're not going anywhere until you heal up a little. What if you get found by the Toppats and end up bleeding out somewhere we can't get to you?"

Charles sighs and lies back, staring at the ceiling as Rupert gets up to go grab some food for both himself and Charles.

Charles continues to stare up at the ceiling as he hears Rupert leave, though he spots something on the table next to his bed:

Keys to the cuffs and a note from Terrence reading, Have fun getting to The Wall. Keep your headlights off in the open, when there aren't any trees around. Remember: Her name's Hadiya Wrenley; I never married her. Good luck. Terrence Suave.'

When Rupert returns, Charles is gone, having written, 'Sorry!' on the back of Terrence's letter.

Good thing he's left because the Toppats have arrived in a surprise ambush.

It's a 50 to maybe 24, so it's easy for Henry to have a group and Galeforce rounded up and held at gunpoint.

"Scumbag," Galeforce snaps, though Henry, who's refreshed from some rest and relaxing(Ellie took over planning), only smirks at him.

'Where are the sapphire and Charles?'

"He's gone," Rupert growls. "He left town and he took the sapphire with him."

Sick of his shit, Henry gestures for Rupert, who is pulled forward, the other soldiers objecting and demanding Henry choose one of them instead.

The toppat shoves Rupert to the ground and Henry draws a gun, aiming at him, the two glare at each other; believe me, after the airship, there's been A LOT that these two did to piss each other off.

Everyone jumps when they hear gunfire, but not near the assembly. Henry especially jumps and covers his head before turning, panicked before he stands straight and smirks.

TV perspective, we see Charles standing in the open as he holds a gun toward the sky, glaring at Henry, even when Charles lowers his gun.

Henry takes a few steps toward him and Charles raies his gun again, aiming right at Henry.

Ellie, in a moment of quick thinking, snatches one of the twins and holds a gun to his head. "Try it!"

Henry gives her a gesture to calm down and not do anything because he raises his own gun and aims it at Charles.

The two glare at each other, though Henry smirks at Charles, who occasionally darts his eyes to Konrad to check on him.

"Go 'head," Charles eggs on. "Take the shot. I'm right here."

Henry fights a genuine laugh from that. "That's my line. And if I do that, I'd lose the sapphire and the only enjoyable person in this dog pit."

Charles shudders at that, but stays resolute.

"Where is it, Charlie?" Henry asks as his smirk drops. "Tell me where it is, and I'll leave. All of us will."

With a sigh and an inward, 'I hope this works,' Charles lowers his gun and glares at Henry. "Catch me first."

"Charles!" Galeforce shouts as Right holds him back; he's stronger than he looks.

Henry, however, smirks at this and lowers his gun to rub his eyes as he laughs again.

"'Catch me first?' You're hearing yourself, right?"

"Give me two days," Charles dares as Henry approaches. "If you can catch me after that time, I'm yours. If you can't-"

"Charles, let me stop you," Henry says as he puts a hand on Charles's shoulder and leans into his ear; Charles is wearing his headset around his neck.

"I'm the leader of the Toppat Clan. I have the world in the palm of my hand." Henry points up to the sky, Charles looking up to see the Toppat orbital station. "There's nothing that's out of my reach, but I'll indulge you in this game. Try running, try hiding, but know this, Charles: I'm always going to get what I want."

With a pat on the shoulder, Henry backs up and nods at Charles. "Fine. Two days. You on your own discretion with no one following."

"Leave eveyone one else out of this. This is between you and me."

Henry shuts his eyes and groans. "Fine. The base is off limits, as long as I don't find you back here." Henry holds out a hand to Charles. "If those are the terms, are we agreed?"

Charles looks over at Galeforce and the other soldiers, nodding at them and Henry, taking and shaking his hand.

With one more glance back at the military, Charles walks away and hops into a jeep, driving off as Henry waves goodbye at him.

He's got two days to get the The Wall, do he'd better not waste time.

As he watches him drive off, Henry calls a retreat, saying to the toppats to leave the base and soldiers alone.

Once he's free, Galeforce essentially curses Henry out and calls him a lying bastard.

Henry shrugs and admits that while he's both, he's also winning, so he can't complain.

The Toppats leave and Gakeforce grits his teeth, hoping Charles knows what he's doing.

With Charles, he speeds down the road again, taking the fastest route to Canada as he calls an acquaintance on The Wall.

Hadiya Wrenley is a voluntary inmate, and Charles REALLY needs a word with her.

#henry stickmin #ellie rose #charles calvin #toppat henry #toppat!henry #completing the mission #completing the mission au #oc mention #gun tw #stickrose #ellry #what is the ship name for Henry x Ellie?

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ofstarsandvibranium · 5 years ago

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Good Business: Part 11

Fandom: Marvel (Mob AU)

Pairing: Chubby!Bucky x Reader

Summary: Bucky Barnes is a ruthless mobster. He’s also referred to as Big Buck due to his towering strong frame as well as his round stomach. You’re the owner of a small diner, a place that Big Buck decides to visit. Based off this drabble.

A/N: I know, I know. It’s been forever since I’ve updated! But here you go! I really hope people are still into this series...

As soon as Bucky approached the long driveway, your jaw dropped. It was a beautiful estate, two stories high but looked so wide that it probably had thirteen bedrooms!

Bucky chuckled at your state of awe and closed your mouth, “You’ll catch flies, sweet cheeks.” As soon as he parked the car, he hopped out of his seat and rushed over to your side, holding the door open and lending a hand out to help you.

You kissed his cheek, “What a gentlemen,” and Bucky was beaming.

“My girl deserves to be treated like a queen,” he says nonchalantly and offers his arm to you, “So, you ready?”

You sighed, looking down at your dress to make sure nothing was out of place, “As I’ll ever be. Do I look okay?”

“Radiant.”

You rolled your eyes and nudging him, “Alright, smooth talker, let’s get this show on the road.”

Bucky guided you up the pathway to his home, unlocking it with his keys. As soon as the door opened, he hollered, “Guys, I’m back!”

“Uncle Bucky!” two young boys ran towards him, wielding lightsaber toys. The smaller one with dark brown hair and blue eyes steps forward and points at the taller boy, “Andy refuses to die!”

Their uncle snorts, “Say what now?”

The other boy, you assumed to be Andy, rolled his eyes, “He knicked me with his saber and he thinks I should die because of it, but I want because it wasn’t a full on stab!”

You give Bucky an amused look and he shrugs, “Kids, am I right? Anyway, enough of the killing talk. Boys, this Y/N-”

“Your girlfriend?!”

He chuckles, “Yeah, buddy. Now be polite and introduce yourselves.”

The older boy steps forward and offers his hand, “Hello, Y/N. I’m Andrew Proctor. I’m 8 and I wanna work for NASA when I grow up.”

The younger boy steps forward, “And I’m Matthew! You can call me Matty. I’m 6 and I wanna work with dinosaurs when I grow up.”

“Dinosaurs are dead, Matty,” Andrew says with an eyeroll.

“It’s nice to meet you both. You two seem like very smart and fun young boys.”

“We are!” Matty says excitedly.

Bucky wraps his arm around your waist and tugs you close, “Alright, fellas, go on. Gotta find your parents and grandparents.”

“They’re all in the kitchen. Nana was scolding the cook for not making mashed potatoes correctly,” Andrew and Matty snicker.

Bucky groans and tugs you along, “Oh fun.”

As you followed Bucky towards the kitchen, your eyes wandered to the architecture, art, and pictures hanging all over the place. With a squeeze of your hips, you look to Bucky whom was giving you that soft look in his eyes, “I’ll give you a tour of the place later. But right now, I need to make sure my ma doesn’t kill my cook.”

When you neared what you believed to be the kitchen, you can already hear muffled yelling. Bucky pushed the door open and there at the other end is an older woman looking to be in her 60s shouting at one of the cooks. But as soon as she spots Bucky, she stops.

“Oh, Jamie! You’re back!” her eyes then jump from him to you, “And you must be his girlfriend!”

She rushes over to you and before you introduce yourself, Bucky speaks up, “Now hold up, ma. I told you not to argue with the cooks.”

His mother scoffs, “For being professional cooks, they’re being pretty lousy at it.”

“Ma-”

“Winnie,” an older man, you assumed to be Bucky’s father, stood up and approached his wife, “we told you to leave them alone. Bucky brought these people in so you don’t have to stress about cooking. Now, as I requested before, why don’t you drink some wine and cool down,” he handed a full glass of wine to his wife and then offered a hand to you, “George Barnes and this,” he rest an arm around his wife’s shoulder, “is my darling wife, Winnifred Barnes.”

After you shook George’s hand, Winnie shook yours, “It’s wonderful to meet you, Y/N. I apologize for this and please, call me Winnie.”

You softly smiled at the older woman, “It’s not a problem, Winnie. You have a certain way of doing things and I respect that.”

George and Winnie moved to the side so a younger couple could step forward. The woman, you knew, was Becca, and she threw her arms around you, giving you a nice, tight hug, “It’s so nice to finally meet you, Y/N! Bucky would literally not shut up about you! He’s always like ‘Sweet cheeks this and sweet cheeks that’.”

You burst into laughter at the impression while Bucky glared at her, “Bec-”

“Oh calm down. Don’t get your Gucci undies in a twist!”

The man beside her smiled shyly at you and waved, “H-Hi, Y/N. I’m Charles Proctor, Becca’s wife.”

You waved back at him with a polite smile, “Nice to meet you, Charles.” you can already see how different him and Becca are.

Bucky clapped his hands together, “So, I think we should all head into the living room and let the cooks finish up here.” he went to grab for your hand, but Becca already pulled you with her towards the kitchen door and out to the hallway.

“Snooze, you lose!” Becca cried out and your laughter echoed off the walls. You already liked Becca.

___________

“RAAAAH!” Andy and Matty yelled as they stabbed Bucky with their lightsabers in front of the fireplace.

Bucky stumbled back, putting a hand on his chest, “Oh no! I’ve been slayed!” he falls to his knees, looking towards you, who’s sitting on a chair across from where he’s at, “Avenge me, sweet cheeks!” and then he falls to his “death” on the carpet.

“HAAAH! VICTORY!” Andy yells and him and Matty dance around Bucky’s “dead” body while you and their family laugh.

Matty pointed his saber towards you, “Now you gotta fight us, Y/N, to ‘venge Uncle Bucky’s death!”

You shook your head, “No way! I can’t beat you guys! You’re undefeatable!”

Bucky sat up with a playful pout, “You’re not even gonna fight for me, sweet cheeks?! How rude!”

You rolled your eyes and waved him off, “Go back to playing dead.” While Bucky’s jaw dropped in offense, Becca threw her head back and laughed, “I really like this girl, Buck! You got a good one!”

You could feel your cheeks heating up and Bucky smiled, “I guess I did, despite her not wanting to avenge my death.” He stood up with a groan and pat his round belly, “I’m gonna check to see if the food’s almost done.”

You stood up along with him, “I’ll go with,” and followed him back to the kitchen. When you two were out of earshot, you asked, “How am I doing?”

Bucky twirled you around and kissed your lips, “Amazing. They really like you, Y/N.”

You let out a breath of relief, “That’s good to know. I’m really trying hard to be weird or disappointing or-”

“Hey,” he cupped your face in his larger hands, “I told you, just be yourself and they’ll love you.”

You stared into Bucky’s blue eyes and you couldn’t help the question that fell from your lips, “Do you love me, Bucky?”

His breathing hitched and, for a moment, he remained silent, but then he said, “I think I’m starting to,” and you felt your heart soar.

Good Business Taglist (CLOSED): @cametobuyplums @sergeantrosabellaswan @asadmarveltrashbag @youcanhaveyourspacecowboy @reniescarlett @j-the-smol-otter @buckysknifecollection @lowkeysebby @rinthehufflepuff @134340-cm @snoot-snoot-toot @seabassali1328 @bluebellhairpin @emzy106 @viarogers @feelmyroarrrr @vxidnik @jasura @jade-cheshire3303 @yknott81 @baliebay19 @jessieray98 @fandommemporiumm @iluvsumbucky @bucksandroses @lecoindenox @ylva-stark @booktease21 @nerdy-bookworm-1998 @cheyenne222222 @momobaby227

#bucky #Bucky Barnes #bucky barnes x reader #bucky x reader #chubby!bucky #mob au #mob boss au #mobster au #marvel #au #marvel au

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streetlightsky · 4 years ago

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*tries to physically restrain myself from asking literally all of them* 1, 3, 8, 10, 18, 19, 22 <3

ohhh, this post got long, whoops. but literally this is why i rejoined tumblr again. thanks for the ask, lovely! 💖

fic ask game

1. Tell us about your current project(s) – what's it about, how's progress, what do you love most about it?

i have two (~and a half) wips lined up. the one i intend to finish and post next is a 5+1 fic. sebchal, of course; set in the normal racing world with a twist! finished the first section and am almost done with the second. i'm currently in my post fic writing hiatus, though, so progress has been halted a bit. what i love most about it, though, is writing a trope i always wanted to but never got the chance to really flesh out with any past fandoms/ships. even better, i get to write this trope literally six different ways with the 5+1 format, so i'm excited to get these unique but similar ideas out there. no spoilers, sorry!

the other wip is a longish au i started last year, but it needs a lot of work and might be a series, so i've put it on the back burner. but i love the idea of this one--again, writing another trope i've never gotten to publish before. i guess you could say my favorite part of writing these is shoving sebchal into different situations/scenarios/aus to see if their original dynamic will sink or swim and then building an entire fic around those that pass that mental test of mine.

3. What is that one scene that you've always wanted to write but can't be arsed to write all of the set-up and context it would need? (consider this permission to write it and/or share it anyway)

THERE'S A LOT. a lot of scenes that just exist in my head without the benefit of an actual storyline; a lot of ideas from my 'fics i'll never write' tag that come to me in that moment but probably won't be much more; outtakes from my posted works or even former ideas that i thought i would write but were abandoned; etc.

there's a slightly nsfw scene for a sebchal model!au that i will never write where seb is doing an obligatory photoshoot for a team sponsor and model!charles just happens to crash it, and after, model!charles drives seb to his italian villa or whatever and they get to third base outside on a balcony, 😉.

then, there were two extended epilogues to roots on the rooftop that i ended up abandoning. the first was going to be sebchal house hunting in monaco for a new place together, and they tour some swanky new place, and the bathroom lights are on the floor again, but there's a rooftop, and seb kind of just shrugs when charles asks if he likes it because it doesn't matter to him as long as they're together. and then the second one would be them together in switzerland. i had this written:

He had followed Seb to Switzerland like an idiot. But it was okay. It was quiet and hilly and a two-hour flight away from his mother and brothers, but there was Seb, and that was what made it home.

basically a reiteration of the first epilogue in a different locale and the reverse of the rest of the fic, which essentially takes place in monaco aside from the racing. (also a reverse of postcards as that one took place in switzerland and then the very last epilogue was in monaco.)

8. Is what you like to write the same as what you like to read?

mostly, yes. i am picky with what i write because i have to be able to envision the ship's dynamic in that situation in order for me to even consider it, and that generally applies to what i like to read. that being said, there are some aus i can enjoy if done right--coffee shop au, apocalypse au, others i can't think of right now--but am unlikely to write because i have no talent in that department. there's a fanfic trope tier list i saw online; i might do it and post for fun.

10. How would you describe your writing process?

long and full of editing. some kind of outline will crop up anywhere between 0-75% of the writing being done. but really, it's just constant editing--editing the current section while i'm writing it; editing the former sections when i need to remember what was set up and the tone; editing after the whole fic has been written; editing right before i hit post on ao3. a lot of random research too throughout the process. i don't know, this is not very descriptive, but i could probably write an entire post on the process and use like one of my recent fics as an example.

18. Do any of your stories have alternate versions? (plotlines that you abandoned, AUs of your own work, different characterizations?) Tell us about them.

i intended for miss you (most at christmas time), nothing else that i will need (this christmas), and in my heart (is a christmas tree farm) to be exactly that: three alternate versions of one story, which was charles' anxiety of losing seb after the 2020 season. it wasn't done very well, but that was the original inspiration. i think this question might serve better for my current wips, but i don't want to give anything away... but yes. the answer is definitely yes, 😜.

19. Is there something you always find yourself repeating in your writing? (favorite verb, something you describe 'too often,' trope you can't get enough of?

i feel like in my recent works, you can almost always find any variation of "But that was okay." i don't know why, but i like it, and it usually works well for the tone. (it's literally in that snippet i posted above, LOL.) i also really like to describe heartbeats and utilize that rhythm to try and heighten the emotion in a scene of particular significance.

22. Do you reread your old works? How do you feel about them?

uh... how old are we talking? there are a handful of works that are 5+ years old posted on ao3 that i'm not interested in reading again because i feel rather embarrassed about the writing and actual story. but there are some gems over the past few years that i reread every once in a long while and think, 'yeah, this was great, brings me right back into the feels.'

#replies #leqclerc #on writing #on fanfic #on reading #fics i'll never write #fic analysis #yeah that's a tag now

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darksaiyangoku · 5 years ago

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RWBY Fan Concept: The Faunus and the White Fang

I can do this, right?

The Faunus subplot is easily the one of the most controversial topics within the RWBY fandom. Many fans have expressed disappointment in how the topic was addressed in the world of Remnant, calling it the ever so repeated line “wasted potential”. I’ve seen that quote being thrown a lot in this fandom during many discussions and rants within the fandom.

However, I honestly agree with it. I do think the Faunus subplot was wasted potential. Despite being a good subplot in concept, the execution was questionable at best, and outright poor handled at worst. One of the many things that I, and several others, feel went wrong was the fact that the Faunus haven’t really suffered any discrimination. Sure, we’ve told they do, from many characters, news articles but aside from few petty insults, Cardin’s bullying of Velvet and Weiss’s insensitive comments about Sub and the Faunus, we haven’t really felt any of the hard hitting prejudice that they supposedly receive. This debate got even more heated when Miles Luna posted this on his reddit:

I agree that the Faunus subplot was overly ambitious, among other things. But the race of the author isn’t the problem, it was how the subplot was written that was the problem. I feel that a good writer, regardless of race, can write themes of discrimination and prejudice really well.

Now, if you couldn’t tell by the title of this post, this will be addressing how I would write the Faunus and White Fang differently. This isn’t me going “I’m better than Miles and Kerry and I can write RWBY better than they can.” Absolutely NOT! All I’m doing is just giving an alternate scenario about how I would do things. I like writing fanfiction and AUs and giving my favourite stories my own spin. I’ve already done something similar with Cinder’s backstory and the Semblance Weakness Rule, now it’s time for the Faunus.

1.) Influence from the X-Men

Me and my friend, Joe, were discussing various ways we could write/remix the Faunus in our fanfics and this is where The X-Men came into the picture... and it fits perfectly!

The X-Men are a group of gifted individuals saving and protecting the innocent in a world that both fears and hates them and while it does seems a bit too on the nose to take inspiration from the Mutants, I can see enough similarities between the two groups to justify this.

Like the Faunus, the Mutants are subject to discrimination, prejudice and even downright hatred from the general public, which is in stark contrast to the superheroes such as the Avengers or Fantastic Four. One of the best examples of this is Kurt Wagner, A.K.A Nightcrawler.

Here is someone who, despite the fact that he looks like a demon, is a good person with a good heart and is a textbook example of how you should never judge a book by its cover.

Also, unlike the Faunus’s single allegory of racism, the Mutants in the Marvel Universe serve as an allegeory for discrimination as a WHOLE.

Other allusions to the Mutants include the factions of the Brotherhood of Mutants and the White Fang.

Like the Brotherhood, the White Fang are a villainous organisation that seek vengeance and superiority over their enemies (humans). This is further represented by both their leaders;

Sienna serves as the perfect allusion to Magneto. They were initially allies to the founders of a peaceful movement; Charles Xavier

and Ghira Belladonna.

However, they shared very different and conflicting ideological viewpoints. Because of this and the harsh discrimination they faced, they ended up becoming the very monsters humanity deemed them as and threatening war against their kind.

I also want this to extend to their legacies; Blake Belladonna and Adam Taurus.

Blake would carry on the ideals of her father and the original White Fang

while Adam slowly succumbs to the darkness and carry on the vengeful movement that Sienna put in place. Unlike Sienna, who would represent the more older, methodical Magneto, Adam would represent the more bloodlust, violent Magneto. Think of it like Ian Mckellen and Michael Fassbender.

All that said, I’m not going to make the Faunus a complete 1:1 of the Mutants. They serve as an influence, but that’s as far as it goes and I do have some of my own ideas, which I will talk about here.

2.) My own ideas

Some things that I would include that weren’t in the show would be the following:

Showing Faunus Discrimination- While we’re definitely told about the discrimination they face, we aren’t actually shown anything else besides a few bullying scenes. How I would change this would be to add some more background scenes which describe humans’ distrust or hatred of the Faunus. My good friends @ironpines suggested to look at various examples of racism that occurred throughout history, which can better flesh this out instead of limiting myself to just one example. I also had an idea of Faunus Trafficking, where they’re forced to do any labour that the humans won’t risk becaus they’re expendable. The work is either menial, or very dangerous and they’re treated harshly.

Adam/Sienna’s Relationship- I would love to explore their dynamic in my fanfics. I always felt that they would have a mother-son relationship, where Sienna would raise him, train him and even court him to become the new High Leader should she ever fail. In her eyes, Adam is her successor, her heir.

The Peaceful White Fang- In canon, we’ve only ever seen the Fang as a terrorist organisation. Going back to the “show, don’t tell” rule, I want to explore the Fang during their peaceful days in some flashbacks, showing us what they originally stood for before their turn by Sienna. This also leads into my next idea.

Sienna’s changing of the White Fang- I always thought that Sienna was the type to go behind Ghira’s back and train the other members in ways of combat. After many failed attempts at peaceful protests, she decides that a more forceful approach. This would be a defining moment for both Adam and Blake.

Adam’s character- We all knew this was coming. One big aspect I would change for him is his relationship with Blake. Instead of a romantic one, I’d have it as best friends. Aside from Sienna, Adam’s closest relationship is with Blake. Along with my OC, Kenji Kageyama, he trained her and looked after her like an older brother. However, as he succumbs to his inner demons, he begins to manipulate Blake to his cause. This would cause strife between the two as she starts to break free from him, culminating when she finally leaves. Like in canon, he’s understandably hurt by this but instead of an angry ex boyfriend, he’s heartbroken because he sees Blake and her family as traitors. Not just to the White Fang, but to all Faunus.

Other Faunus Villains- Aside from Adam, Ilia, the Albain twins and Sienna, I’d like there to be other Faunus villains too, alluding to the Jungle Book, Journey to the West and the Universal Monster movies.

And there you have it, some ideas I have for the Faunus in my fanfics. Also to @ironpines, I’m really not good at analysis. I tried my best and I even had a lot of thoughts on how I would write this but it kinda got a little chaotic and I lost my original train of thought. You guys are much better at this than I am and if you have anything to add or improve this, it’s greatly appreciated.

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psycheswritings · 5 years ago

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Nothing’s Fair in Love and War - Three

Title: Nothing’s Fair in Love and War Fandom: Peaky Blinders Pairing: Thomas Shelby x Daphne Scott (OFC) Warnings: Swearing, I guess. Word Count: 5019 Author's Note: Sorry for the delay. Life has been a bitch this week and I was hating everything I wrote. Thanks to everybody that liked and commented on the fic, honorary mentions to @blues022, @livingmybestfakelife, @livvtheangel and @stressedandbandobessed7771 - thank you all for taking your time to review this, it makes my heart swoon with happiness. @livvtheangel kindly asked for me to add some kind of separation between the scenes to make it easier to read, I have already done it on the other parts and will do it in every chapter from now on. It was supposed to have a blank space between the scenes but God knows what happened. Let me know if its better this way. And, finally, before I go, @stressedandbandobessed7771 asked to be tagged in the series, which I'm going to do from now on, and I wanted to let you all know that if anybody wants to be tagged too, let me know. As always, this haven’t been proofread, so feel free to report any mistakes back to me; warnings are expecific for each chapter. Also, your feedback is also highly appreciated. I relly hope you like this one. Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this story. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No copyright infringement is intended.

Masterlist

Chapter Summary: Daphne receives a very unexpected invitation while the Shelby's have to deal with Sabini's retaliation. Tommy buys a new horse and gets to know a possible new asset at the same time that Polly tries to understand what is the nature of his interest in the woman working with Solomons. Ada has a heart to heart with her friend and Alfie makes a surprise for Daphne.

Three

“Next month?!” Daphne’s shocked expression and high-pitched tone of voice made the engaged couple laugh. William was a little behind them, by the door, a smirk on his face. “Now I understand what you’re saying about them hushing things.”

“You never believe me.” Daphne just rolled her eyes at his mockery before Jane quipped in her defense.

“Well, you have a habit of overreacting about things.” The doctor narrowed his eyes to looks at his sister.

“Always knew that you were going to be a little traitor.” They all laughed, apart from William, although everyone knew that it was just an act.

“Nothing like a little display of sibling love by the Weston’s.” Alfie commented, surprising Daphne with his good mood. The last few days had been a little strange for them, both had totally ignored the episode of the window, but his words kept coming back to haunt the woman every time she looked at him. She was distracted observing him when their eyes met, Alfie gave her a heartwarming smile that Daphne promptly returned.

“We are always happy to entertain, Alfie.” There was false mockery in his tone.

“But we didn’t come here for William to complain about everything.” She turned to face the other woman, her expression was serious but joyful. “I want you to be my maid of honor.” Daphne blinked a few times, shock washing trough her. She expected to be invited to the weeding, of course - the two of them were good friends, after all – but being Jane’s maid of honor wasn’t something that she had in mind.

“Oh, I… Of course. It will be my pleasure.” Jane got up to embrace her friend, bubbling with happiness.

“William here already accepted to be the best man, despite his constants complains.” That resulted in Charles receiving a slap on the back of the head, given by his future brother-in-law, making them all laugh aloud.

“In all these years that I know him I never saw William do anything without complaining.” He looked at Daphne shaking his head.

“What’s this, a plot to ruin my reputation?”

“What reputation, mate?” Charles chocked in laughter and soon the others accompanied him.

“Et tu, Brute?”

“What can I say, mate. You make it too easy, aye.” When they all recovered from their laughter, Jane addressed herself to the gangster.

“Of course you’re invited too, Alfie.”

“And I will be there, for sure. Wouldn’t miss William’s speech for anything.” That was something that Daphne had missed, the friendly banter between Alfie and William, that brought a genuine smile to her face that didn’t escaped Alfie’s eyes.

“The betrayal. I thought we were friends, Solomons.” The doctor complained while Alfie just shrugged.

“What can I say, business is business, my friend.”

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“This had better be good to interrupt my holiday.” Polly rushes into the betting shop after John has opened the door that connects it to the house. It’s clear that she is in a hurry and in no mood to small talk.

“Where's the boy?” Arthur asked when she was putting her things on the table.

“In the back room. I only brought him because afterwards we're going to the museum.” Another obvious thing was that she didn’t wanted Michael involved in the family business, even though she knew it was an herculean task.

“He wanted to come in and say hello but...”

“Shut up, John. There is nothing of interest to Michael in this room.” Said nephew stopped talking altogether, looking a little dismayed. “Tommy, get on with it.”

“Last night, one of our men had his throat cut in Winson Green. This morning, I had a telegram to say it was Sabini who ordered it.”

“And it says here that Thomas Shelby's next.” Arthur added, ripping said telegram into pieces. Despite the death threat on his life, Thomas didn’t looked that concerned, like he wasn’t with most things. Just another day in the job.

“If our men think we can't look after them in prison, they'll not work for us. Sabini knows that. So we need to get the Green sorted out. Scudboat, you and one of the boys. Break a couple of windows and get yourselves arrested. I'll have our coppers get you into the Green and you can find the bastards who did it.”

“Instead of breaking a window, can we pinch a car?” All of the men, besides from Tommy, start laughing. “What? Everybody else is getting a bloody car. I'm still on a donkey.”

“All right, just get yourselves fucking arrested, it doesn't matter how. And before you all laugh, a boy is dead. He was just a kid. We'll start a fund for his family, Pol.”

“Agreed.” The woman says, solemnly. “So is that it? Can I go now?” She starts picking up her things just to hear Tommy talking again.

“Well, as company treasurer, I need your permission to spend a thousand guineas.” That makes her stop and look at him.

“On what?”

“On a horse.”

“A thousand guineas on a horse?”

“That's right.”

“When was this decided?” She starts passing, deep in thinking.

“You've been busy with Michael.” He knew that she would question it but this was a means to an end. Sometimes it was difficult to make people see what he saw. Even Polly.

“Oh, my God. So, in the absence of common sense, you boys have had an idea.”

“Polly there's a thoroughbred quarter-Arab filly up for auction at the Doncaster Blood Stock.” Polly looks at him.

“What do we want with a thousand guinea horse?” Tommy sighs, before explaining.

“When we make our move on Sabini's racing pitches, any men we get into the betting enclosure will be lifted by Sabini's police. A good racehorse is a passport to the owner's enclosure.”

“We'll be in there with all the toffs. Coppers won't know where to look.” Arthur adds and John accompanies him, excitedly.

“Yeah, the Epsom Derby, Pol. We'll be drinking with the bloody King.”

“The Derby? Did he say the Derby?” The glare Thomas gave to his younger brother erased the smile in John’s face while he lowered his head. The leader of the Peaky Blinders took a deep breath and cleared his throat before speaking.

“That's right. For the last ten years, Sabini has made it his race. If we're going to take him down, might as well make it there as a symbol.”

“Did you come up with this idea in a pub by any chance?” Her tone was drenched in pure sarcasm.

“Pol a good racehorse is an investment, like property. We need to diversify the portfolio.”

“So when is this sale?”

“Tomorrow.”

“And Tommy's had a death threat so we'll have to go with him for protection.” The older of the Shelby siblings explained.

“So, you're going to close up the shop, go out on a piss-up and blow a thousand guineas on a horse that's not even whole Arab?”

“Quarter Arab is better! Quarter Arab, it means...” Polly cuts him off.

“Curly, shut up.” The door that connects the betting shop to the house open to reveal Michael. Polly instantly looks reprovingly at John. “I thought I told you to lock that door.”

“He did. I used the key on the nail.” The younger boy explains. “Look, I've been listening. I want to go with them.”

“You see?!” The Shelby matriarch throws her arms up in exasperation while Tommy looks at his cousin.

“I love horses. I could even help!” The excitement mixed with hope that his mother would allow him to go with his cousins was evident in Michael’s face.

“Over my dead body.” The older woman said, crossing her arms.

“It'll be all right, Mum. I've been to loads of horse auctions before with my uncle. They're very respectable. People bring their butlers.”

“Yeah, and their posh wives!” Arthur said, smirking and taking a sip of his whiskey.

“And their mistresses.” Added John, elbowing his cousin while they laughed.

“Let him come, Polly.” Arthur tried to convince the woman. “We'll go there, buy a horse, come back.”

“I'll drop him back at the house in Sutton before it gets dark.” Promised John to his aunt.

“No. Fucking no.” Michael left the room slamming the door behind him, clearly upset. Polly looked at Thomas and after a minute that seemed to last too long, he treated to clear the room.

“All right, that's it. Back to work.” All of the men started to leave, going back to his own tasks. John stayed behind, approaching his aunt.

“Come on! Aunt Pol, when I was Michael's age, I'd killed a hundred men and seen a thousand die. If you want to scare that kid away forever, carry on how you are going. If you want him to stay, let him come.”

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Thomas couldn’t say that he was surprised to see his aunt entering his office later that day. After the incident with Michael earlier he expected that she would come around, he just didn’t predicted the reason why she wanted to talk to him.

“How’s Michael?” He asked when she took a sit in one of the chairs in front of his desk, his eyes not leaving the papers he was analyzing.

“Beaming with happiness now that he wored me down to go with you lot, tomorrow.” She answered with a sigh. “But that’s not what bought me here.”

“What it is then?”

“That woman” Polly started, waiting for his attention to be back on her, but he ignored it completely, the only reaction that she got was his pen freezing for a couple of seconds “the one you and Ada were taking to at the Garrison.”

“What about her?” His tone was dismissive, however, his aunt wasn’t foolish. She was pissed off with him that night at the reopening of the Garrison, but she most definitely saw his interaction with the unknown woman that had arrived and departed of the pub like smoke, but not before drawing all eyes to her.

“Who is she?”

“She is the woman who works with Solomons.” He hoped that would end with the interrogation but he wasn’t that lucky.

“The one you were curious about?” Tommy exhaled loudly, dropping the document he was currently reading to look at his aunt.

“Yeah, that would be her.”

“She knows our Ada.” She would have asked Ada about the woman if she had had the chance, – her niece certainly would be less evasive than Thomas -but her son had appeared at her door and the subject escaped to the back of her mind. Also, the gipsy woman needed to see his reaction to know if they were going to have another problem like they had with that barmaid.

“Yes, they know each other from London.”

“I want to meet her.” He wrinkled his forehead.

“Why?”

“Because the last time a woman caught your attention your judgment became clouded and we both know that it didn’t end well.”

“It’s not like that.”

“Maybe not yet, but I know the look in your eyes. She intrigues you. I noticed the first time you talked about her. I brushed it off because I thought it was just because of the business, but the way you behaved yourself around her that night at the Garrison tells me otherwise.” Thomas takes a deep breath but does not confirm or denies her suspicions.

“I’m certain that Ada can schedule tea for you three...”

“No. I want you to be there.” She wanted to see firsthand how he reacted to this girl because the last thing that Polly trusted was in men and their cocks. Thomas wasn’t the worst of the Shelby brothers in this topic – John was the man whore of the three of them – but since he was in charge of things in the family, the potential of trouble was higher.

“I will see what I can do.”

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“To the premises of Mr. Charles Strong, Small Heath.” The man wrote down on the book before looking up at Tommy. “What kind of premises?”

“Boat yard.” The Brummie answered unamused.

“Yachts?”

“Canals.”

“I'm curious. What is your business, Mr. Shelby?” The man asked, giving Tommy a piece of paper.

“Import, export.” Before he left, Tommy added. “But I also sell pegs and tell fortunes.”

“You beat us to it.” The feminine voice made him stop and turn around - it was the woman of the auction. The one who had been stealing glances at the gangster since they arrived.

“Did I?”

“I was trying to nab a filly for my stud.” Thomas knew that she was only trying to catch his attention, but he played along.

“Sorry.”

“Thomas Shelby from where?” He took a deep breath before answering.

“From Birmingham.”

“Goodness!” There was a certain amount of surprise in her voice, mixed with shock.

“No, not much.”

“May Carleton.” She extended her hand for him and he took it. “I breed racehorses and train them. What is it you do?”

“I rarely answer questions, is what I do.”

“Tommy, come on, hurry up! We've got to go!” Arthur shouted in the background, laughing.

“Well, before you go, if you ever decided to put that filly out, I'd be interested in having her.”

“I plan to race her.” She looked at him surprised.

“Do you have a trainer?”

“I know people.”

“I know people, too.” The woman replied giving Tommy her card.

“Tommy! We've got to get this kid back before dark or Polly will have your balls!” John shouted this time while they all laughed.

“She will have 'em!” Arthur quipped in.

“We know different people, I would guess.�� Tommy just ignored his brother’s giggles in the background.

“My father knows Mick Hancock. Trained three Ascot winners.”

“Oh, so that was your father?” He was right, them. She was talking to him for a reason – a reason that didn’t involve the horse at all.

“Yes. We're joint owners of the stud. He took the majority share when my husband was killed. Ypres.”

“Tommy! We've got to get back to the caravans! The chickens are hungry!” May looked at them and chuckled before asking.

“So will you consider me?”

“I will consider you.”

“You still didn't tell me what you do.” Tommy turned to face her again.

“Oh, I do bad things. But you already know that.” She could be a good asset for their plan and maybe – hopefully - help him get his mind off of the damn mystery that was Daphne Scott.

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Things have been quite calm for Daphne since she received Jane’s invitation to be her maid of honor. She saw the girl almost daily now, helping her prepare everything that was needed for the ceremony in such a short time. To say that the youngest of the Weston’s siblings was beaming with joy would be an understatement – she was all smiles and compliments and it ended up rubbing off on Daphne, even if just a little bit.

She had met William a couple of times too, since he was involved in the preparations as much as her seeing that he wasn’t just the best man but also the bride’s older brother. He tried to sound annoyed in every meeting, but Daphne knew that he was happy for the couple, just worried that his little sister would be out of his sight from now on.

Alfie was an entirely different matter. Things had been as normal as you would expect between them. No more visits from Thomas Shelby, no more employees being knocked out cold, everything seemed to run smoothly. However, Daphne knew in her heart that something wasn’t right. More than once, she had caught him staring at her from the distance with a frown on his face, deep in thinking. He usually did not even noticed that she had caught him staring, but when he did, the Jew made quick work to turn the other way, pretending that nothing happened.

In all the years she had known him, Daphne never gave too much though about the reasons why he kept her around. Alfie wasn’t exactly what you could call “a man of his word”. She had seen him betray his associates for his own benefit more than once - and being brutally honest, she couldn’t say that if the roles were reversed she would have done different. With her, thought, he always had been anything but loyal. He had helped her in the moment she most needed and they constructed a strong bond. Strong enough for her to consider him family.

In all the years they have worked together, they learned how to read each other – that was one of the reasons why they functioned so well as partners. And that’s why she knew she wasn’t going crazy because he was, most certainly, hiding something from her. His words kept hammering in her head: “Do you trust me? Because sometimes I wish you didn’t.”.

“You look like Tommy.” Daphne blinked a few times while looking at Ada.

“What?”

“You do this thing of looking straight away, to nowhere, not blinking or moving while you’re deep in thinking. He does that sometimes.” Ada laughed when the other woman raised one eyebrow at her. “I can’t help it if you two have so much in common.” There was a pause while she poured the both of them another cup of tea. “He’s been asking about you.”

“Who?” Ada rolled her eyes, sitting down on the chair again.

“You know who. My knucklehead of a brother.” Daphne laughed at that while the other woman just observed her carefully. There was a hint of concern in her voice when she asked “Why is he so interested in you, Daph?”

“It’s not in me he’s interested in, it’s in my relationship with Alfie.” Or so she had been trying to convince herself. Since she last talked to Harriet Daphne had been trying to figure out what she felt towards the Brummie gangster, with no luck so far. It seemed that the much she thought about it more confused she was getting.

“Forgive me if I don’t believe in that for a second. I know my brother and the way he looks at you has nothing to do with curiosity about your relationship with Solomons.” Daphne had no answer to that so she took a sip of her tea trying to ignore Ada’s scrutinizing gaze.

“Just be careful, okay.”

“Ada, even if he is interested in me it doesn’t mean that anything will happen. Even if I was interested in him too.” Daphne regretted her words the moment they left her mouth.

“Are you?”

“Am I what?”

“Interested in him?” There was a long silence where the two of them just stared at each other. “Just have in mind that Tommy usually gets what he wants and this not necessarily means that it will be what you want too.”

“Ada…”

“I really like you, Daph. And I know that deep down my brother is a good man. He’s just… Not the same since he came back from the war and I would hate to see him hurt you.” Neither of them had the time to address the subject further since Karl entered the room in a rush going straight to Daphne’s lap. As they both giggled at something that the little boy had done, the topic dissipated in the air. The unfinished conversation had to wait for another time.

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When they entered the pub everyone stood up, clapping their hands as they passed. Daphne just looked at Alfie and he only shrugged, a hand on her back to guide her through the crowd. Some of the people greeted her on their way to the mezzanine just beside the stage.

“I’ll bloody kill you, Solomons.” She said to him through clenched teeth and he laughed at her, whispering into her ear.

“No, you won’t love.” Despite being pissed off at him for ignoring her wishes of not doing anything at her birthday, Daphne couldn’t help but feel touched by his gesture.

“You tricked me into this.” He made her stop at the base of the stairs that lead to the mezzanine beside the stage, turning her to face him and resting his hands on her arms.

“I knew that it was the only way for you to come, don’t blame me for wanting to see you happy.” The young woman just nodded, ignoring all the eyes on them, before she let him lead her upstairs. She recognized almost all of the faces that turned to look at them when they arrived on the mezzanine – Ollie and his wife, Jane and Charles, William, Harriet, some of their work associates, Ada and Karl, but her eyes were instantly draw to a pair of blue irises fixed on her. His stare was so intense that she felt like getting lost in them, but the connection was broken when Karl escaped Ada’s arms and run right to her screaming “Dee Dee”, making everyone smile. She caught him by reflex while he hugged her.

“Mommy said that this was for you. She said it is your birrr…” He gave her a package that Daphne knew contained a book all the while struggling to say the word birthday. She smiled and kissed him on the check.

“Birthday, sweet pea.” Alfie chuckled behind them while Ada walked to them.

“That it.”

“What have I told you about running away from me, Karl?” It was always amazing to see Ada step into her motherly figure.

“But it was Dee Dee!” The boy protested snuggling into Daphne’s neck while the woman smiled.

“It doesn’t matter, you can’t do that, Karl.”

“It’s okay, Ada. He won’t do it again.” Karl straightened himself to look at Daphne. “Will he?”

“No, Dee Dee.” She smiled at him again and he gave her a kiss on the check. Ada could do nothing but shake her head.

“That’s a good boy.” Daphne placed him on the ground and Ada stepped closer to hug her.

“Happy Birthday, Daph. I know you hate it, but try and have some fun, will you?” They looked at each other for a moment.

“I won’t promise you anything.” The two smiled at each other and Ada hushed Karl back to where they were sitting so Daphne could talk to the other guests.

Jane almost knocked her out to the ground in a very good mimicking of what Karl had just done while everyone laughed. Charles was right behind her - the couple seemed to be stuck into a bubble of unbreakable happiness. William was trying – and failing miserably – to hide a smile right behind them.

“Trying to maintain your reputation of ‘The grumpy Weston’, I see.”

“Somebody has too.” He smiled, before hugging her. “Happy Birthday, Daph.”

“Okay, can you release her now? She’s not exclusively yours, you know?” They separated themselves from the embrace and laughed at Harriet standing right behind them, hands on her waist as if she was about to give them the scold of their lives.

“You and your wonderful timing, as always.” William huffed, rolling his eyes and receiving a slap on the arm from Daphne.

“Get away, lover boy.” The courtesan jested, smiling bright at Daphne before taking her in a hug like the others. “Are you okay?” The question was asked quietly, just for Daphne to hear. They kept each other close after they parted from the hug.

“I will be.” Harriet knew that it was a lie – Daphne was not okay, she would never be okay, not entirely and the sadness in her eyes proved that. She wanted to convince her friend that she could be happy, she should be happy, but sometimes the woman could be as headstrong as Alfie. Harriet just nodded and Daphne moved onto the next person that was waiting to greet her, with the Jew following her closely.

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The blood red of the dress contrasted with her skin and for a moment, Tommy let his eyes wander down her body. The sleeveless piece of clothing was sophisticatedly draped with intricate embroidery at the front, the velvet was loose on her curves, marked only at the waist but the back had a low-cut that showed a good amount of her skin, since her hair was loosely tied. The golden locket always around her neck.

Thomas felt pulled by her presence like a moth to a flame. He observed, curiously, as she crossed the room with Alfie right behind her, all eyes on her. Then it took him by surprise the way his nephew had run to her, hugging and kissing her as if she was family. He already knew that she and Ada were close but he was right in assuming – after Ada called her by a nickname – that their bond was stronger than he had predicted.

Polly noticed the way Tommy’s eyes were immediately attracted to the woman the moment she entered the pub. She took her time observing the girl too. It was undeniable that she was beautiful – all soft curves, long hair and a smile that could light up the whole room – but there was something more, something about the way she carried herself that made people captivated by her.

She watched Thomas observing the girl and immediately recognized the spark in his eyes – there was no denying that he was attracted to her, Polly wanted to know in what extent. The older woman saw the same spark in Daphne’s eyes when their eyes crossed just before Karl jumped into the woman’s arms. Her relationship with Ada was something that Polly would explore later, because there was no way that her niece would have left Karl around someone she didn’t trusted.

“That woman over there isn’t Harriet?” John’s voice broke the spell and Tommy looked at the woman his brother was talking about – it was the brunette, dressed in a tight navy blue skirt and white blouse mocking a the man who was hugging Daphne at the moment.

“Harriet? You must be crazy Jhonny, boy. This can’t be…” Arthur’s mouth fell open before he could finish the sentence.

“The owner of one of the most famous brothels in London?” John looked at the older Shelby, smugly, but Tommy’s attention was securely held by the interaction between Daphne and the man that had just hugged her. He seemed like one of those rich gentlemen that every mother wanted for their daughters at the same time that he held an air of rebellion. What made Thomas wary was the way his touch lingered on Daphne who seemed unbothered by it.

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Daphne graciously greeted everyone in the mezzanine – everyone except for the group of people watching her on the other side of the mezzanine. She looked at Alfie that just motioned for her to follow him.

“And I took the opportunity to invite the rest of the Shelby clam, so we could get acquaintance, aye. Now, you already know Tommy here, this is the rest of his family.”

“Arthur Shelby, at your service.” The eldest of the brothers kissed the back of Daphne’s hand, making her smile.

“Daphne Scott.”

“John Shelby, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” He mimicked his older brother moves, a flirtatious smile on his face.

“Likewise. You aren’t supposed to have a wife, somewhere?” Arthur almost spat his drink trying to contain his laughter and John cleared his throat, trying to regain his composure. Alfie chuckled behind her.

“She had to stay home with the kids.”

“Send her my regards, then.” He nodded at her, clearly not used being caught flirting like that. Daphne’s eyes then stopped in the older woman beside Thomas. She was staring at her quizzically but there was a hint of a smile on her features.

“Polly Gray.” She took a second too much to extend her hand for the younger woman to take, probably trying to make a point. Her grip was firm but so was Daphne’s – two could play at this game.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. Ada talks greatly of you.” The girl knew how to play, Polly had to give her that. The way she handed John’s flirting showed that she knew how to handle herself and, most importantly, that she had done her fair share of research on them. By bringing Ada into the conversation right now, she was trying to gain the older woman’s good graces.

“Funny thing is that she never mentioned you.”

“I had to keep her away from the bunch of you or otherwise she would have left running.” Ada quipped in, having just arrived back at the mezzanine after going to the bathroom, before Daphne could say anything.

“Well, she is not running.” Her hazel eyes encountered Tommy’s when he spoke, keeping himself beside his aunt. Daphne held his gaze when she answered.

“It takes a lot more to make me run.”

“I hear that a happy birthday is in order.” He extended his hand to her, that she took without question, the touch lasting a minute longer than it should.

“Dee Dee, are you going to have a cake?” Daphne released Tommy’s hand to lower herself to Karl’s level before talking to the little boy.

“Maybe. Why? Will you want some?”

“’Cause when it’s your birrr…” She smiled again.

“Birthday.”

“Yeah, you have to blow the candles, right?”

“That’s right, lad. Do you want to go see if Daph’s cake is ready?” Daphne was amused at how shocked everyone looked when Alfie lowered himself at her side to talk with the little boy, who looked at him shyly. Karl looked at his mother who nodded at him, before looking at Daphne again.

“Will you help me blow out the candles?” He only nodded excitedly, before taking the hand that Alfie offered him and the two of them walked to the kitchen. When Daphne straightened herself, observing Alfie and Karl going down the stairs seemingly in a happy conversation, she directed herself to her friend. “That was a low blow, even for you.”

“What can I say, we play with the cards we have.”

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pseudoneiiric · 4 years ago

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meta post: lili and her gender

let me go on the record to say that i fucking love lilian eyler with my whole heart, like, i typed all this out and im so fucking emotional about her! in the past, i've written things about hello charlotte and how the lgbt representation is... lacking, let's call it, and i've also made a few headcanon posts here and there about lilian's transition and her relationship with gender. so i thought, you know, let's actually write a whole ass thing about it. so here it is.

content warnings: gender dysphoria, suicide attempts, homophobia/transphobia in the original source material

PART 1: ETHERANE'S BAD TAKES so... etherane did not handle lgbt stuff well, like, in the slightest. lili is canonically genderfluid, as seen in one of those little profile things that etherane drew that doesn't actually show up in any of the games. but her genderfluid identity isn't handled well at all in the actual source material. actually, in general, hello charlotte is pretty transphobic. to cite one example, there’s this journal entry in hello charlotte 3 talking about “defective” charlotte vessels, and one of the things that can make a charlotte vessel “defective” is for them to be born amab or intersex. this already has some really bad vibes, but then we remember also that one of the big functions of charlottes is apparently for them to be sexualized (yikes!!!!!) and so we also get this weird kind of like, “trans people aren’t hot” kind of take?

but anyway. when it comes to lilian specifically, she never actually states in canon that she’s genderfluid or otherwise trans, not even in the spinoff visual novel, which, by the way, would have been the perfect place to address her gender identity, and she consistently uses he/him pronouns. we don’t actually get to see any of her thought processes about her gender at all — like at this point, i can’t even say it’s a non-issue because that would imply that they even mentioned her gender in canon. the only time we can potentially extrapolate from canon that lili might not be cis is when anri mentions that charlotte is lili’s self-insert oc. that’s kind of heavy-handed with the whole “charlotte being the female name for charles”, but that’s another matter. the point is, with the lack of any canon basis that lilian’s even vaguely questioned her gender, the reveal that she’s actually genderfluid with like, two pieces of artwork that are detached from the actual game feels very pxrfxrmxtxvxly xnclxsxvx (performatively inclusive) especially considering how.... etherane talked about lilian’s gender in particular within the actual canon material.

after all, the story behind lilian is effectively that, after she was born, her mother was forced to abort her second child, a daughter that she would name scarlett. doing so plunged her into a really deep depression that eventually took on delusional qualities. so ever since lilian was about three years old, her mother has been referring to her exclusively as scarlett, asking her to ‘ be a good girl ’ and similarly raising her as a girl. we can see here that etherane seems to have implied that genderfluidity is something that happens because other people make it so, and isn’t an identity and lived experience. (bad take!) although, albeit unintentionally, i think etherane did lay some groundwork to talk about lilian’s relationship with her gender, specifically with regards to her projection onto her oc, charlotte. in high school, when she’s more active on the internet, we see that she’s going by charlotte and using she/her pronouns. anri, her irl friend, is pretty openly critical of that, but she sort of brushes off anri’s complaints and continues to present as feminine online. now, there’s this fanfic writer who goes by the pseudonym “c”, and lilian very quickly takes an interest in him. the way she talks to c, who doesn’t know her irl, compared anri, who does, is just like flat-out like they’re completely different people.

compare, her with c:

to her with anri:

i also wanted to mention that lili does occasionally act more “femininely” with anri, but it’s never to the extent that she does with c, and in general, affectionate banter is sort of... outright ridiculed in their friendship both ways. see this one exchange:

anri: >:) always up for some roasting lili: right? <3 <3 anri: now you’re the one being gross

unrelated but it fucking kills me that anri was like “ily <3” and lili went “gross” so she went “kys” and lili deadass goes “that’s better” like that’s what anri is referencing when she says “now you’re the one being gross” and im like... please just be healthy friends who don’t wish death on each other???

it’s also worth noting that c doesn’t know that she’s not “actually” a girl, and literally when they meet, she goes like, “it’s you who should be disappointed in me. charlotte turned out to be charles, whoops! i bet you were hoping that i’d be a cute girl.” and that’s... really depressing, like, she ended up really leaning into that cutesy side of her when she was talking to c and now she feels the need to be a lot more... sarcastic and bitter, like how she is with anri, because now c “knows the truth about her”, that she’s “actually been a guy all along”.

in any case, i think the intent that etherane was going for with this was kind of like... “lilian’s actually a repressed cis gay man!” which is . not great. it gives off this really gross vibes where it’s implied that since lili was raised as a girl and is into men, she got “confused” and started going by she/her online because she couldn’t come to terms with her sexuality or whatever. and that’s just such a bad take!!!

not to mention that a really important part of lili’s backstory is... her germaphobia. she has persistent delusions accompanied by visual hallucinations where she sees people as “parasites”, which visually manifests as them rotting or decomposing. because of that, she wears gloves all the time and is repulsed by physical touch. but when she meets c (whose real name is vincent) in person, she pretty much instantly goes for skin-to-skin contact with him, where she takes off her glove and holds his hand. and like, sure, that’s sweet, but that’s really not how mental illness... works. in the slightest. she doesn’t react at all when his hand touches hers, despite the fact that she has literally had panic attacks in canon from touching things without her gloves. and it gives off this implication that mental illness can be cured with romance somehow, and that’s a really bad take!

this feeds into fandom understanding that like, well, if lilian sees vincent as pure and allows him to touch her, then Obviously she’d let him kiss her, they could probably have sex, etc. and like... she’s canonically asexual though! and that brings us to the other implication, that asexuality is somehow... caused by something. like, there’s nothing in canon to state that lilian experiences sexual attraction (or even really romantic attraction, like i know etherane went off in heaven’s gate and did a lot of ship tease, but she never really outright says she’s crushing on anyone), but judging from the way etherane handled lilian’s gender identity, i have a sneaking suspicion that she established lilian’s asexuality with her mental illnesses specifically in mind. lilian’s autistic, germaphobic, has severe ocd, and she’s been sexually assaulted in the past. therefore, she must be asexual! that’s the sort of vibes i get from the game, and im not here for it. similarly to how her genderfluidity was handled, she makes no actual statement in canon that she doesn’t experience sexual attraction. the closest she’s ever come to this is when she says to anri in heaven’s gate that she is just straight up not interested in kissing (to which anri is like, “well what if it were vincent owo??” which. ugh. anyway). it just seems really strange to me to design a character with severe mental health issues with regards to physical touch and then just sort of treat it as a given that she’s asexual. it’s another example of etherane implying that lgbt identities are results of traumatic experiences or symptoms of mental illness and not an identity or lived experience. you can be sex-repulsed and not be asexual, and while i understand that many people do identify as ace due to trauma and other such things, it still feels like really bad rep when taken with the way lilian’s genderfluidity was portrayed.

PART 2: HOW “CHARLES” IS DIFFERENT FROM “LILIAN”

throughout hello charlotte, lilian identifies herself as a passive observer, someone who doesn’t directly interfere in events. this applies mostly to her existence in false realm, where she’s like... a god, and doesn’t want to interfere in the balance of the world. but i believe she also has always seen herself as an observer. in her very first scene, the one where she and anri are watching someone get bullied, she’s the one who tells anri that there’s no point in getting help. because her role is just to observe. to take pictures for anri, to be a good girl, to say yes to everything and to never express her opinions, feelings, thoughts.

and honestly, i think the main reason for that is that she’s dysphoric. whenever she talks about herself, she’s really self-deprecating, especially compared to when she talks about charlotte. i feel like the main reason why lilian detaches herself from the world and refuses to really perceive herself is because she’s fundamentally disgusted with her gender presentation. and like, we can see in the two times that she’s presented femininely (with c and in that one comic) that lili is just so much happier and more bubbly when she’s presenting as feminine. you can literally see her stop dissociating and becoming more present in the moment because she’s just. so much more comfortable in her skin. compare:

these pictures with this one:

it’s funny i was going to say that there is a picture where she’s presenting as masculine and actually smiles like a person, but guess what! she’s texting c! so she’s actually performing femininity!

but the point is, like... when she’s presenting as masculine, especially in the canon pictures rather than etherane’s art, she just doesn’t look... happy. and then we compare that to how much more present she seems when she’s presenting as feminine, and how much more comfortable she seems in being, like, happy! and cute! but there is a downside to this. and that is...

PART 3: DIFFICULTIES IN LILI’S TRANSITION

in my sort of... “main verse” for lili, i have it so that her suicide attempt failed and that she was somehow... saved from drowning. mother passes away and she starts to... soul search a little bit and find a reason to live, and somewhere along the line she starts to transition socially. that means she starts transitioning at a pretty... extremely vulnerable point in her life. in the year between 18-19 years old, she’d be a wreck. she’s growing her hair out, but she feels insecure about it. she starts to wear skirts, but only at home. she buys makeup and never wears it. it’s a long process for her, because it’s one thing to go by she/her online or to claim she’s just a gender-confused gay boy and a completely different thing to come out as a trans woman and to actually see herself as a woman and not some kind of imposter. considering that she was raised as a girl, she would have a large amount of guilt over transitioning, feeling like she’s going to be seen as confused, or that her gender identity is a direct result of her childhood trauma. but she’s not just worried that others will see her that way: she’s worried that she’s going to see herself that way.

and for a long time, she probably does see herself that way. for a long time, scarlett would probably treat her transition as some kind of attempt to personify her unborn sister and comply with perceived expectations rather than an attempt to feel comfortable in her own skin. she’d get nervous that she’s somehow becoming scarlett, because though she’s always thought it would be easier if she’d just been her sister, she’s never really wanted to be scarlett. she’d be scared to wear mid-length skirts, scared to put her hair up in a bun, probably even scared to wear red for a time, all because she’s scared of somehow losing herself and becoming her alter.

because of her caution and concern with identifying as a trans woman and not as the “safer“ gender identity of genderfluidity (where she can say she’s trans but never actually have to “push boundaries” by wearing feminine clothing or using any pronouns besides he/him), it would likely take her a very long time to take the step to medically transition. she’d likely never get any gender affirmation surgeries just because of how invasive the procedure is, but hormones would probably be something she’d look into once she’s much older and has a more stable income.

i mentioned before that before her transition, she uses dissociation and observation as a way to cope with her gender dysphoria. she saw herself as someone who didn’t really participate in the world, was a class ghost, invisible to everyone and a minuscule part of a vast universe. but upon transitioning, she’d feel much more actively self-conscious. once she starts to present in a feminine way, she’d feel like she’s being seen, like she’s actually participating in the world, and that’s both a blessing and a curse.

she’d be much more prone to stammering, especially when saying her name, and would blush far more often. she’d be afraid of saying the wrong thing or messing up somehow. and on top of that, she’d likely feel predatory for talking to others, always wondering if others find her cute or repulsive, always wondering if someone will perceive her and harm her in some way.

she’d very likely also feel really guilty about her own emotional experience. because she’s so used to being a passive observer, a puppet that only does what others want, she would feel like it’s selfish to be just... content. she’s so actively disgusted with herself before she transitions that she’s never allowed herself to be mentally present for a happy moment in her entire life. she always second-guesses, always dismisses positive things as a mere coincidence, and after she transitions, when she starts being more present in her life, she’d feel so guilty for just allowing herself to be happy.

because of that, she has some trouble with presenting as feminine consistently — she’d vary the “level” of her feminine presentation from day-to-day, where she might go full femme one day and another day stick with a beanie and a pair of slacks. she’s much more comfortable with presenting as more traditionally feminine when she’s at home or with trusted friends in a private space, but around 19 years old, she makes a vested effort to remain in public spaces. she’d time herself, saying, “for one hour, i’ll stay in this café while wearing a skirt, and then i can leave,” and she’d gradually increase the amount of time she spends in public spaces. and eventually, eventually she does end up feeling really comfortable with her gender presentation and falls into a more static sense of style. she really likes clothing design, so she ends up wearing a lot more dynamic outfits when she’s more comfortable with herself, and she probably also mildly gets into cosplay.

i also like to think that she reconnects with anri during her young adult years. either it’s like, right after her suicide attempt (i’ve written before that she’d had anri listed as her emergency contact and forgot to change it when she moved), or it’s at some point after she starts transitioning socially. i think it’d be really sweet for them to be friends in a more real way, and the sheer concept of anri teaching lili how to properly apply makeup and to set her hair is just so fucking sweet i might die. they both deserve to have friends so i think this is just a step up from hello charlotte canon.

#long post //#lilian eyler: study.#ive been working on this post for days. im fuckign emotional about her

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vernonfielding · 5 years ago

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From heaven they sent

Story No. 31 of my Season 7 Countdown Project. THE END! THIS IS IT!

Summary: “You want to hold her?”

Jake holds his goddaughter for the first time. Takes place during Ava. (Read on AO3.)

It’s only as Terry is bent over the bassinet, hand sliding under his daughter’s delicate head, cupping the warm weight of it in his palm and thinking again how precious this life is, how fragile, that it hits him: Jake has never done this before.

(Truthfully, he doesn’t know that for sure, but he’s almost certain.)

Terry eases his other hand under Ava’s tiny body and lifts her to his chest, awed all over again by her perfection – the curve of her nose, the curl of her miniature eyelashes, the plump jut of her cheeks, which are already flushed a rosy pink. She is asleep and for a moment he’s lost in her, memorizing her face and the five wrinkled fingers that have slipped out of the swaddle. His heart is so full of love his chest aches with it, in the best possible way.

He’s blinking back tears when he finally turns to Jake.

“Have you held a baby this small before?” he says, making no move to pass over his girl right away.

Jake is swaying a little, pushing from one foot to the other with nervous restlessness, and Terry can see the muscles tensing across his shoulders. But his eyes are fixed on Ava, and there’s a softness there and in the small smile playing at his mouth, and the look on his face isn’t fear, it’s wonder.

Jake shakes his head and then breaks his gaze and glances at Terry. “Are you sure you want me to-”

“Yeah,” Terry says, and adjusts his daughter, cradling her head as he holds her out toward Jake. “Bend your arm, a little more- yes, just like that.”

And then he’s setting Ava’s head in the crook of Jake’s elbow, and he guides her body into Jake’s arms; she’s so small, not much more than a bundle of pink blanket against Jake’s gray hoodie. Terry adjusts Jake’s position, moves his arms until he’s sure Jake’s got a good hold. He lays a palm over the crown of his baby’s head and strokes his thumb over the smallest frown that’s formed on her brow, and he takes a step back and leaves Ava alone in her godfather’s arms.

Jake’s eyes are bright as he gazes down at her. Terry can’t imagine what thoughts are flashing through Jake’s weird and exceptional mind (he isn’t sure he wants to know), but the love that Jake already has for this child is obvious – he’s practically got hearts in his eyes – and not surprising.

Terry chose Jake as godfather in large part because he asked. The two most obvious godparent choices – Sharon’s best girl friends from college – had gone to Cagney and Lacey. Terry has plenty of non-work friends, but none of them expressed any interest in being a godparent before, nor have they been especially active in the twins’ lives since. The fact that Jake had campaigned for the job had earned him points with both Terry and Sharon. In the end, when Terry had asked Sharon about it, she’d shrugged and said sure, and then, “Isn’t he the one who gives you acid reflux?”

Initially, Terry had thought it might be a joke, or possibly a prize – something for Jake to lord over Amy or Charles (or basically the whole squad). But Jake quickly had made it clear he was serious, and then Terry had thought: Jake is brave and smart and confident, and he has such a good heart. And Jake laughs. He laughs more than anyone Terry knows. And didn’t Terry want that for his daughter? To be as fiery and fierce as her sisters and her mother, and as full of laughter as her godfather?

Even after he’d said yes, Terry mulled it over some more, and later he realized that Jake loves the same way he does his job: with reckless abandon, with all of his strength and his passion, with his arms and his heart wide open. He screws up sometimes, but he doesn’t hold back. He will give his godchild everything that’s in his power to offer.

Eventually, Terry’s doubts disappeared entirely.

Terry sits beside his wife on her bed and carefully drapes an arm around her shoulders, and she settles into his side, and it doesn’t matter one bit that they’re in a hospital, that almost everything went so horribly wrong today, because the important things went right and Ava is here and she is healthy. And Jake is responsible for a lot of that. Their baby is so lucky to have him.

Jake shifts his arms, and it’s barely a twitch, but Ava’s eyes open. Terry knows she can’t really see anything just yet but he’d swear they are making eye contact, that they are locked on to one another just now. Jake grins at her and Terry can feel his unbound joy like a presence in the room, like something electric.

“Hi,” Jake says, voice so soft and gentle it’s almost unrecognizable. “I’m Jake. I’m your godfather. We’re going to have so much fun together. And if your parents die, I’m going to take reasonably good care of you.”

“Terry?” Sharon says. She reaches for him and her grip on his forearm is painful.

“Uh, Jake-” Terry says, rising from the bed.

“Look, ‘reasonable’ is the best I can guarantee, and I’m not going to make promises I can’t keep. That would be a terrible way to start godfathering,” Jake says to them both. He looks back at the baby, blinks at her and beams when she blinks back. “Isn’t that right, godbaby?”

Terry means to respond to that – and he knows Sharon is a half-second from asking Terry how the hell Jake got the idea that he would ever be Ava’s guardian – but then the baby hiccups and every sour emotion in the room dissipates like it was never there, and everyone is smiling and crying and overcome again with how right and perfect the world is.

“That was the cutest fucking sound I’ve ever heard,” Jake says.

Terry kisses his baby’s forehead and then he kisses Jake’s forehead because he just can’t help himself, and he says, “Amen, my god-wife.”

End Notes:

Title is from Bikini Babe Workout (Bash Brothers).

Weirdly, this was the first story I wrote for this project. But it seemed appropriate to end the countdown with Jake holding his baby goddaughter for the first time. Here’s to season 7!!

(I’m going to be super obnoxious now and thank a bunch of people for their help or support or flailing or whatever with this countdown project.)

First thank you: Oh my god, @fezzle. My beta and my dear friend. I WOULD NOT have attempted this dumb project without her. She beta’d 31 STORIES (That’s more than 30K words! In a month!) and she saved my ass more than once. She also helped me brainstorm ideas and she talked me off the ledge a few times. I cannot capture how completely amazing she is and how much I love her. Everyone should be so lucky to have a Fezzle in their lives (especially if they’re going to attempt something ridiculous like this series, but also just, in general).

Second thank you: Everyone who gave me a fic prompt! Some of the best ideas came from you guys. I’m going to name folks here and hope I don’t forget anyone or get a name wrong: @fezzle, @madeofitzits, @andrewsambags, @exploding-snapple, @theoneintheblue, @vic-kovac, @weshallmeetagain, @ofbuttsandbombs, @amyscascadingtabs, and @feeisamarshmallow. (That’s in the order stories were posted btw.) If you sent me a prompt and I didn’t write it, please tell me! I may have missed you somehow. I’m also super open to prompts at any time, so don’t hesitate to hit me up after this month.

Third thank you: EVERYONE who left kudos or comments or likes, or who reblogged on tumblr or reached out to me personally in some way. I LOVE YOU ALL. Writing fic can sometimes feel weirdly lonely and isolating and it is always so great to get any kind of feedback. (Let’s be honest, feedback is like a fucking drug and it is the best.)

(Yes, I’m sorry, these End Notes may be longer than the actual fic.)

Fourth thank you: I really especially appreciated the folks who engaged in some great fandom discussion with me relating to these stories – in particular, @amyscascadingtabs and @feeisamarshmallow and @exploding-snapple (timeline!) and MediumSizedEvil. That was fun, guys.

Fifth thank you: Anyone who read all of these stories, even if you never feedbacked. Fedback? Anyway, you’re out there and I appreciate you too!

Sixth thank you: Fezzle again, just because. ❤️

#b99 fic #b99 season 7 countdown project #jake peralta #terry jeffords #sharon jeffords #ava jeffords #missing scene #godfather jake

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morethanaprincess-a · 5 years ago

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@monsieur-de-paris asked: 💓💕 (hope it's not too late?)

I couldn't find a ship meme for my purposes so I made one up!

Send 💓 and I’ll talk about a ship I’m currently writing for Sonia (even if the mun is on hiatus or hasn’t replied to our threads in awhile!).

I thought I might as well start with my favorite Danganronpa ship for Sonia: Sonia/Gundham. While the game and the anime (despite its many, many flaws) gives just a few hints to how well they get on together (trial 4 is still the hardest part of the game for me to get through, and it always will be), I maintain that these two just complement each other so well. Both are strange yet wise in their own ways, with Gundham hardly finding Sonia's rather eccentric interests strange and Sonia, in turn, just entirely fascinated by both him and his animals. She's generally patient and understanding, even though I HC that for the life of her, she cannot believe Gundham would ever possess romantic feelings for her, even though her own less-than-platonic feelings for him run quite deep and usually do so for awhile before she can bring herself to say anything. I don't tend to write her as falling in love quickly, as while she's a kind, loving, and supportive person and friend, giving away her heart is something she's wary of. She has to trust that the person she loves sees her as something other than a princess. But Gundham is the exception to that, and Sonia falls rather hard, rather fast, as much as she is unwilling to admit it until the most opportune moment.

In a non-despair AU setting, I don't really see them as a couple who fights often, or if they do disagree they manage to talk things through rather easily. Both of them are hardworking and are prone to others seeing them only for their talents and their exteriors, as approachable or unapproachable as they may be. And while the rest of the world can't fathom why they're so into the occult, it doesn't matter. As long as they're with one another, experiencing the haunted places of the world and indulging in the dark arts during the rare times they can step away from their talents and jobs, I see them as just the happiest, most loving couple (in...ahem...so many ways. So. Many. Ways.). Additionally, out of all of Sonia's DR canon ships, I see Gundham as being the potential partner that her family ultimately ends up liking the most. Her mother would have a lot of hesitation at first, but he ends up being a good influence on Novoselic, particularly in Skong and Makango preservation, and very supportive of Sonia. Sonia will always fret that she's in the way of Gundham utilizing his talents to the best of his abilities, though, and goes out of her way to make sure that being her partner and part of the Royal Family doesn't become his entire identity. And it's no question that out of any partner, Gundham will have the easiest time with the Makango Catch and Show ceremony. He likely doesn't even have to try to capture a golden makango, they come to him instead. While Sonia, who's been training for this her entire life, takes far longer to catch her own makango. A little embarrassing for her!

But they have their own drama too, definitely in a post-Despair setting. I HC that out of all the Remnants, Sonia and Gundham definitely spread the most Despair, caused the most damage, and likely had the highest kill counts. That's not something you get over easily. And if the other verses I'm writing with Ashi are any indication, Sonia and Gundham are much more likely to bicker and not understand each other at first before slowly warming to each other. But nevertheless, I think no matter the verse, Sonia will fall in love with Gundham at some point. It's inevitable.

Send 💕 and I’ll talk about a ship I’m interested in writing for Sonia (with the right chemistry, etc). Feel free to send a fandom if you like. Otherwise, I’ll default to Danganronpa canon.

Since there wasn't a fandom mentioned, I'm going to go with a Danganronpa canon ship. But before I do, let me just say that I think Sonia/Charles would be a very good ship with lots of complex emotions and very sweet, loving scenes. I know I've got a modern verse with them right now, but after I dropped those 18th Century headcanons on discord, that could be fun too (though I think I've got a way to bring a bit of the 18th Century to the modern verse as well!). This is the dash's monthly reminder to check out Innocent and Innocent Rouge if you like historically-inspired manga with gorgeous art (obligatory gore/nsfw warning for this series)!

Back to Danganronpa, I'm going to chat about a ship I don't think I've really discussed over here: Sonia/Peko! I really love the idea of writing these two as friends and possibly a romantic ship, depending on my writing partner's interest and comfort. While Sonia would admire Peko's skill with a blade, both as a friend and someone trained in military strategy and combat, I think she'd have a clear understanding that instead of Peko being cold and unfeeling, she just doesn't express her emotions that much. To that end, it'll be Sonia's personal mission to bring a smile to Peko's face. She's constantly in awe how loyal she is to Fuyuhiko, despite how much adversity she's faced. But the Ultimate Princess is a patient person, and understanding for the times Peko just wants some space. But when she wants Sonia's company, Sonia's more than happy to oblige. She'll share her love of serial killers, her favorite anime, or maybe just introducing Peko to her favorite cat cafe. These two both love cute, fuzzy animals! Perhaps they'd play Animal Crossing together?

Though a part of me would love to play a Sonia/Peko with Sonia's talentswap!AU as the Ultimate Mafia Boss, where she shows Peko that not every family would treat her as a tool or someone to be abandoned. That if she wanted, the Borghese Family would look out for her. Not just as the person their Underboss loves, but as a young woman with exceptional skill and a loyal, loving heart.

#more-than-a-princess answered #more-than-a-princess musings #monsieur-de-paris #Rae creates a ship meme #(I thought I'd go with an obvious and not-so-obvious choice for this first set of replies!)#(So uh...anyone interested in writing some Sonia/Peko friendship or romance?)

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chromecutie · 5 years ago

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Not A Ghost - part 28

A/N - Multi-part fic. Colossus x OC where OC has come home after being wrongfully imprisoned in the Icebox. Warnings for whole fic - references and flashbacks to harsh prison environment, including various types of abuse. Takes place shortly after events in Deadpool 2. Whole thing will end up on my AO3 eventually.

Taglist: @emma-frxst @ra-ra-rasputiin @holamor @empressme-bitch @marvel-is-perfection @hazilyimagine @marvelhead17 @rovvboat @angstybadboytrash @whitewitchdown @master-sass-blast @mori-fandom @mooleche @dandyqueen @emberbent @leo-writer . Wanna be added or removed? Holla at me.

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It was the dream she’d had so many times. The details changed, but the bones of it were always the same. Rhonda Reese was eleven years old again. The Louisiana summer was hot, full of mosquito bites and the screaming of cicadas. The air conditioning had been broken for two days, and it was less miserable to be outside than inside, but not by much.

She ate a popsicle while she played with a boy. Sometimes it was chocolate pudding, sometimes other foods, but this time was a popsicle, just like the first time. He was her brother, and he was annoying, the way most little brothers are. What was his name? Daniel. Of course. How could she have forgotten? He had sandy hair and dark eyes, but the rest of his face was never clear anymore.

On the hot driveway and with hotter tempers, playing became fighting as little Daniel antagonized her. He pushed her buttons for the umpteenth time and provoked young Rhonda to such an anger that she’d never felt before. She yelled and stomped her feet, as she always did, and shoved him hard with her palms on his chest. As she did, a bright shock of electricity like pale green lightning left her hands and hit him.

The boy, her brother, fell to the ground, shaking. Rhonda screamed, screamed for help, and screamed more. Her mother called for an ambulance and the family rushed to the hospital. Sometimes, Daniel collapsed in a charred, smoking heap or matched Rhonda’s anger and sent her shock back to her, but this time was just like when it had really happened.

In the waiting room, Rhonda cried in horror of what she’d done. She didn’t know how she did it, but it had definitely been her fault. She couldn’t get the image of her brother shaking on the ground out of her mind. Her parents wouldn’t look at her. They barely spoke to her. They wouldn’t let her see her brother.

She cried and waited and cried, alone in the waiting area while her parents stayed with Daniel. An older man who used a wheelchair approached her with a kind smile and called her by name. He told her she was different and special, and though something scary had just happened, he could help her avoid doing something like that again. He promised her the love of her life and sausage casserole - that wasn’t right. In reality, he had promised a school where she would make friends, teachers who cared about her doing well, and would help her be unafraid of herself. The sausage casserole and love of her life had come later.

She wiped her nose, dried her eyes on a handkerchief the man had offered her. Rhonda didn’t know how the things he promised could be possible, but she was desperate for some comfort. “But what about my parents, sir? And my brother?” she asked.

His expression was warm, but there was an edge of sadness in his eyes. “You can call me Professor Xavier,” he said, “Or Charles. I will talk with your parents, but only if you want to come with me.”

Rhonda’s dark brown eyes were large, round, and overly glossy with tears as she nodded. Professor Xavier headed down the hallway to the room where the rest of the Reese family was. Moments later, he returned and held out his hand to lead the teary-eyed girl with him.

Sometimes, the dream showed Rhonda what things could have been - her parents visiting the school, her brother joining her there. Other times, the dream was much darker, like all the times her parents had shown up to the school in DMC uniforms, dragging her out of the house screaming. But the facts were: Rhonda came to love her new school and call it home, but her parents never visited, never called, and Rhonda never went home. She had never even heard if her brother lived.

Rhonda stirred when she felt something cool and damp on her face. She felt something around her that was warm, but unyielding. “Hey, honey,” she mumbled through a pounding headache, not yet opening her eyes.

“There she is,” crooned Piotr’s deep, soothing voice, lifting a washcloth off her face. “We were getting worried. Can you stand?”

Frowning and slowly shaking her head, Rhonda woke up a little more before she recognized the fuzzy feeling dulling her senses and the uncomfortable weight around her neck. Her eyes snapped open and she sat up so fast that Piotr only moved just in time to avoid her clipping her head on his chin.

They were in a shabby motel room, lying on a bed with Rhonda nestled in Piotr's lap. There were drab orange and gold curtains over the window, dense enough that it was impossible to tell if it was day or night. Overwhelmed with confusion, Rhonda swished her way around the bedspread, looking around at her husband, the window, and the closed door. All her questions condensed into a raspy, “Where’s the DMC?”

Carefully, as though he were trying not to scare away a tiny bird, Piotr took her hands and said quietly, “They’re not here, but they will be soon. Sladkaya, there isn’t much time.”

Rhonda took deep breaths, a little too fast. “Okay,” she huffed in a whisper like wind blasting through a tin can, “okay. How are we getting this off?” She pulled one hand out of Piotr’s grip to tug at the collar.

He hesitated. He briefly looked away, clenching his jaw. When he looked back at her, his brows were pinched and his lip twitched.

“What?” She knew, deep down.

“Rhonda,” he sighed, “If we try to remove it ourselves, it could detonate. We can’t risk it.” He glanced at the door.

“What are you saying?” her blood turned to ice.

“The safest way is to get hard tokens from Icebox…” he gently squeezed her hand, rubbing his thumb over the back of her palm.

“So we’re breaking in?”

“Yes, after we learn more about it, but…” he swallowed, “It will be easier if we have someone inside.”

She looked at him with horror and hurt, even betrayal, “You’re telling me to...go back?” Her breathing grew heavy and hot tears stung her eyes. “You can’t be serious.”

Everything in him screamed what a mistake it was to even ask. “Cable has good plan,” he assured her, “If what that guard said is true, someone needs to go in there and get hard tokens. None of us know Icebox as well as you. If you can steal hard tokens, and we break through the walls from outside, we can get your collar off, get you out, and expose DMC’s corruption.”

Rhonda struggled to get her breathing under control enough to speak. Her voice was hoarse and raspy, cutting out if she reached higher pitches. She shook her head. “So you’re not even gonna try to get the collar off?”

“Rhonda, it could blow your head off!” he made a frustrated noise.

“I’ll take that risk! Can’t you contain the blast with your hands? How big could the yield be?” She tried to turn the collar and feel the block that housed the keypad and explosive. “You could get your hand in here.”

“Not without strangling you,” he grumbled. He reached to pull her closer, but she edged away and off the bed.

Her shoulders low, brows set harder than Piotr’s skin, Rhonda snapped, “I would rather get my head blown off than go back in there. Piotr, if that’s the plan,” she smeared away her tears and said with bitter finality, “I would rather die here. At least I’d be with you and not in a freezing cold shit-hole.” She swallowed around the huge lump in her throat and tried to speak calmly, but her voice was so damaged from screaming. “Don’t put me in that casket, I wanna be cremated. Do whatever with the ashes.”

It was roughly the reaction he expected, but it was another thing entirely to hear his wife all but ask him to kill her out of mercy, and he hated himself for it. He hated himself for asking his wife to go back to hell because he couldn’t find another option. But this couldn’t be the end for them, for her.

There was a little beep and the door opened; Wade stepped into the room and said, “Yeah, these walls are paper thin and Silver Cinnamon Roll here is fucking up this whole pitch.” He smacked Colossus on the shoulder, “Give us the room for a minute. Go stand in the hall and think of how you couldn’t sell weed to Snoop Dogg if your life depended on it.”

Frustrated and disgusted with himself, Piotr stood from the bed and glanced at his wife, which she returned with a stony glare. He sighed and quietly closed the door behind him.

“Anyhoo,” Wade said with entirely too much excitement in his voice. “You’re a prime candidate for the Revenge Arc Club now, Mrs. Colossus.” He booped her nose and she looked like she would bite off the next thing that touched her. “I heard some stories about you in the Icebox, and if half of them are true--shit, if any of them are true, you’re tough enough and smart enough for this. I’ve known Marines and Navy Seals who weren’t as tough as you!”

“I doubt that,” she growled under her breath, eyes narrowed.

He laughed, “Your Cable impression’s getting really good! Furthermore, if Colossus knows where you are, there’s not a fucking thing in this world that will keep him from getting to you.” He plopped himself onto the bed like a kid at a sleepover. “If it was me, well, he’d let me sit in the Icebox awhile as a fancy time-out to think about what I’ve done. Actually, he has done that. But not you.” Wade waggled his finger. “You wait, he’ll crash through the wall like a big, sexy, Kool-Aid Man.”

Rhonda was silent. She didn’t doubt her husband would come for her, but knowing what he would see, what he would learn about her, she couldn’t imagine a world where he would still want to take her home after that. She sank onto the edge of the bed.

“Aaaand,” Wade drawled as if he was about to promise a child extra cherries on their ice cream, “I’m going in with you.” He paused for dramatic effect, watching Rhonda’s furrow twitch. He sobered. “Colossus wanted to go in with you, but I had to veto that. Hard pass,” he nodded conspiratorially, “You and I both know the first person he says privet to would stab him right in the liver.”

She closed her eyes and shook her head, hopeless, “He wouldn’t last through lunch, before twenty guys jumped him.”

“You and me, though,” Wade continued, “we’ll be a good team. We know what it takes to survive in there. When push comes to shove, I know you’ll do whatever fucked up shit it takes to get the job done, and not lecture me about playing nice with the other kids and getting on the honor roll.”

As upset as she was, Rhonda’s scowl deepened.

Wade pulled off his red mask, and he gave a subdued smile. “Besides...Guestbook,” he traced one of the visible Xs on her right forearm, where most of the zhostovo painting from that morning had scraped or peeled away. “Good chance for you to get some payback.”

She stiffened at the name, but instead of hitting him, she wilted. “There’s really no other way, is there?”

He held up his right hand, pinkie extended. “I pinkie swear, we’ll get out.”

Rhonda held up her right hand, to remind him she had no pinkie there, and vehemently lifted her middle finger instead.

Wade shrugged. “Not to hard-sell, but Juggernaut can only buy us so much time, and the DMC will be here anywhere from twenty minutes to a few hours, so…”

She arched a brow in disbelief, “Cain? How’d you get him to help? I thought he ran off with Mystique.”

“Caaaiiin, so chummy!” Wade scoffed. “Well, the blue meanie drove off without him when shit hit the fan. When Cable found the collars have tracking chips, your buddy Caaaiiiin grabbed a few layin’ around and said he’ll throw off the DMC’s trail. How did you get him to like you so much? He literally ripped me in half, and I love him! You give him an insanely good blowjob or something?”

She blinked and gave an emphatic, “No. He...he always made it sound like he’d shred me limb from limb if he ever got the chance.” She shook her head.

Wade stretched his shoulders. “So? The plan? You and me in, Cable and Colossus bust us out. Maybe Caaaiiin helps. They’ll probably bring on Domino and the lesbians as backup--ooh, that would be a great band! You on board or is the DMC gonna make that choice for you when they catch us at this hotel?”

Rhonda stared at her new wedding band, twisting the faux-brozne silicone on her finger before slowly slipping it off. Her heart felt like a lump of lead in her chest, cold and misshapen. She sighed with heartbroken resignation, “Let’s go,” and rose from the bed, clutching her bruised ribs for just a second before standing straight.

In the hallway, Piotr leaned against the wall with his face in his hands. The door opened and he snapped straight to see Rhonda emerging with Wade behind her. Her expression was the same hardened inmate scowl she’d had when she first arrived home a few months ago. He had hoped she would never look like that again, and seeing it now twisted the knife in his gut like nothing else. He reached to touch her shoulder, “Rhonda, I--”

She grabbed his hand and pressed her ring into his palm. “Hold onto this.” She barely met his eyes for a second before she dropped her gaze again.

He looked down at the ring in his hand, confused, but before he could say a word, she strode down the hall, Wade on her heels, and snapped over her shoulder, “And you better not bring the girls anywhere near the Icebox.”

#piotr rasputin x oc #colossus x oc #not a ghost #colossus #deadpool #piotr rasputin #xmen #mutants #marvel #fanfic #longfic #angst

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racefortheironthrone · 5 years ago

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Thoughts on Powers of X #2

We’re working on a deadline here, so let’s get to it!

Once Again, We Return...to Octopusheim (X^0):

In this section, Charles and Moira go to Octopusheim to share what they’ve learned with Magneto in order to gain his support for their whole mutant unity masterplan.

Thanks to the timeline infographic from last issue, we know exactly when this particular meeting at Octopusheim is happening - it’s Year 43, four years before the “Moira/Xavier/Magneto schism,” six years before the Genoshan genocide, and nine years before the present day. This timing is quite interesting, because it suggests a high degree of patience on their part. After all, it’s been twenty six years since Moira first introduced herself(herselves?) to Charles, which is a lot of time to not make moves. On the other hand, having a head start didn’t help in earlier lives, so there may be some other rationale.

There’s a really interesting echoing of Giant-Sized X-Men #1, with Xavier explicitly in the role of recruiter once again (we’ll see other pitches of his throughout the rest of HoX/PoX). The difference is that rather than relying on his normal posture of benevolent, almost wizardly, superior knowledge, Charles is using an admission of mutual fault to put them on an even level, which is necessary to gain Magneto’s trust for the psychic link to Moira.

Incidentally, when it comes to character voice, Hickman does an impressive job of nailing not just Magneto but the specific era of Magneto when Chris Claremont re-invented him as the Miltonian anti-villain holding the world to ransom in the name of enlightened despotism and mutant self-protection. “Who determines waht is truly good and truly evil?...I do. I decide.” is particularly well-observed, right down to his ironically Nietzschean self-conception.

At the same time, Moira’s query is clearly meant to shift the terms of discussion from the scientific (”you’re a specialist, specializing in the behavior of mutants”) to the religious. As her warning that “my truth is profound and life changing. It’s primal...” suggests, Moira is testifying in the Protestant sense of the word.

What follows is a series of psychic images of failure that bring the Satanically-proud Magneto to his knees, but remain really ambiguous: his death by Sentinel could be from pretty much any life other than 9, although 4 or 5 seem most likely; given his costume, the image of him in chains seems to be from the Trial of Magneto, which could be in Life 4 or 10; the central image of him with furious glowing eyes could be generic or perhaps a reference to the couple times he’s used artifical power-boosters; the image of him in a SHIELD tank being observed by Nick Fury is unclear; and him fighting the Shadow King is particularly singular, since the Shadow King has yet to show up in the narrative. Interestingly, we don’t see Moira showing him his death at Apocalypse’s hands in Life 9.

For his own part, Xavier is preaching a much more secular argument: mutant unity in order to not merely survive but thrive, which is very Adam Smithian. I’m not the expert that Nir Revel is when it comes to drawing parallels between Israeli history and HoX/PoX, but even with the one course I’ve taken in Israeli history, I could see the parallel between the bargain that Magneto strikes with Xavier (”I won’t acquiesce to sympathy or doubt...I won’t give an inch, I will check you at every moment of weakness”) reads a lot like the compromises made at the founding of the State of Israel between the leaders of the various political parties.

Then again, I think the allegory works for political leaders at the time of the founding of any number of nation-states, which is one of the things that makes the business of nation-building so very difficult. At every step, there are innumerable obstacles of the moment, yet the decisions made on how to overcome them will always have unforeseeable long-term consequences. Something to keep one’s eye on for the future.

Does It Need Doing? (X^1):

In a direct follow-up from Powers of X #1 and House of X #1, Cyclops gets briefed on the Mother Mold/Nimrod mission. Incidentally, I think this segment is a great counter-example to the somewhat overblown statements from some in the fandom that all of these characters are mindless pod-people who are acting out of character; throughout this briefing, Scott is consistently snarky in a very dry way that feels very in character to me.

Magneto’s pointed reference to Operation Paperclip with regards to Orchis I think further emphasizes an ongoing theme that Hickman’s working on with regards to nation-states, nation-building, and nationalism: no nation is free from sin. Even after fighting “the good war” against fascism, the U.S recruited Nazi scientists to give it a technological edge in the Cold War for the same stated reasons of necessity that drive both Krakoan and Orchis policy.

Following on from House of X #2, not only are humans a mere road-bump compared to Sentinels, but even Mother Mold itself is viewed as a secondary problem compared to the hostile AI singularity that is Nimrod.

And further showing how everything links to everything, this mission happens because of the information that Moira brought back from Life 9/X^2. More on this in a bit.

Machines Are Pure Information (X^2):

Speaking of which, we shift to another briefing on Krakoa, one life and a hundred years distant, in which Rasputin and Cardinal brief Apocalypse about the fruits of their own partially-successful clandestine mission.

While Apocalypse is very Apocalypsy in this segment, what with the idea that civilization is the fruit of war and that he’d happily sacrifice Rasputin and Cardinal both for the information he’s received, it is really interesting to see him talk about the powers and perils of information and the dangers of analysis paralysis; this last topic is particularly important as the series continues to explore the nature of these vast, universe-spanning consciousnesses. More on this in a bit.

Speaking of which, we see Nimrod the Lesser getting really distracted by trying to figure out what the mutants were up to, something that will arguably be his downfall. Incidentally, Nimrod’s casual execution of two humans for mouthing off to him not only suggests the lie at the heart of the Man-Machine Supremacy, but also that whatever kind of A.I he might be, he absolutely did not pass the “Heller-Faust line,” because he’s clearly a sociopath who lashes out violently due to emotional impulse.

Going back to Asteroid K, we go back to a discussion of how the machines’ problem is that they “archive every moment of everything,” which makes it impossible for them or anyone else to actually make use of the data. If we apply the same problem to the Phalanx and the other universe-spanning consciousnesses, which for all their vaunted intelligences seem to restrict themselves to consumption of resources and calculation of data without any higher purpose, I’m left wondering whether these singularities are actually idiot gods capering at the heart of the universe.

By contrast, the mutant resistance find their purpose in transcending the bare necessities of survival in the name of transcendant meaning.

Nimbus Infographic:

This infographic, read together with the one that ends the issue, is where we really start to see what X^3 is about, namely Hickman’s thinking on technological/mechanical transhumanism.

To begin with, we learn that the people I’ve been referring to as blutants describe themselves as “post-human,” which suggests that the “human-machine-mutant war” ultimately ended in some sort of synthesis between mutant and machine. Not only do the post-humans have “seer-selves,” but we see that Nimbus started as the “copying - and integration - of their minds into a single thinking machine.”

Moving on, it’s interesting to note that the language of X^3 is entirely focused on terms of assimilation between cultures - will it take place as a consensual “suitor-alliance” or forceful consumption of the lesser by the greater? Is there a difference, when we’re talking about the “ascension” of copied minds?

It’s not a good sign that Nimbus’ interaction with Niburu is all about using “force...to inject” a planet with consciousness, or that the Worldmind decides to take a detour to “consume multiple Saturinian and Jovian moons ino order to increase its...intellect.” Over and over again, intellect and consumption go hand in hand, but we never see intellect actually getting used for anything meaningful (transcendant or otherwise).

Universal Predators (X^3):

Speaking of which, we see in the next section that the whole project of the post-human Outreach project is to negotiate the terms of ascension so that their culture is “preserved” rather than “mined,” in a context in which civilizations interact seemingly only in terms of predator and prey.

It’s particularly ominous that the Phalanx’s opening words are that they “ate your worldmind,” in a process that involves a lost struggle for “sovereignty” - a term that should ring particularly ominously given Krakoa’s struggle to be recognized as a sovereign nation-state.

That the post-humans’ goal is ascension is likewise troubling, because of how closely it tracks the self-abnegating human religion of X^2 (which we’ll see in the next issue) and suggests that the post-humans have abandoned the biological transhumanism of the X^2 mutant resistance.

Types of Societies Infographic:

This infographic reads very differently in the wake of Powers of X #5, suggesting a trans-universe taxonomy of intelligences, with each rung on the ladder thinking it’s the biggest and baddest out there, only to become fodder for the next higher up.

As people have noted, Xavier’s backup of mutant minds through Cerebro potentially puts Krakoa on the ladder, since they’re potentially far above the SI:1 (Machine) level if they ever combine the backups.

At the same time, we’ll see in future issues a number of biomachines - the eight-person long-distance communications system we see in Powers of X , the Five-person (or six-person, given the integral role that Xavier/Cerebro plays) resurrection system, the six-person Krakoan systems (Interface, Transit/Monitoring, Defense/Observation, Secondary/External, Overwatch/Data Analysis), and possibly the five-part Cerebro system - that would seem to be a parallel to the SI:10 (HIve) level of machine consciousness.

Similarly, Cerebro’s database of mutant minds (or the population of Krakoa) could potentially go straight up the chain from Intelligence (SI:100-10,000) to Phalanx (SI:1,000,000)...if the database was turned into a consciousness of its own following the uncommon Kree model, although that would seem to run counter to Krakoan taboos.

Speaking of my skepticism about the intellect of these machine consciousnesses, the deception at the heart of the Technarch (SI:10,000) and Phalanx relationship suggests that, on a universe-wide scale, the Technarchs seem to be rather mindless drones whose only purpose is providing resources to their masters.

One thing that’s slightly odd about Hickman’s description of the Worldmind (SI:100,000) is that, based on its descriptions here, it really should be a Type I Kardashev civilization rather than a Type II, since the line between I and II is planetary vs. solar system-wide energy usage/control.

A final note on the ambiguity of the suitor-alliance vs. consumption relationship - while the post-humans view Ascension as an alternative, this infographic describes Ascension as “consuming” for the purpose of “adding to its intelligence needs.” Either way, you’re just food for thought.

#xmen #xmen meta #powers of x #hoxpox

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rebaobsessivelywrites · 7 years ago

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Lies an Ties that Bind Us

You can find this series here on AO3.

Fandom: Leverage (TV) and Highlander: the Series (TV)

Series Description: A series that will be five or more one-shots about one or more of the Leverage members being immortal. They will stand alone.

Series Warnings: cannon-typical violence, temporary character death, character death, original characters

One-shot word count: 6,328

One-shot warnings: nothing I can think of... (no OCs seen in this one)

Summary: Nate and Jim have been friends for a very long time. They just don't always know how to show it. Now, they're each neck deep in their own form of trouble, but they can only help each other so much.

Please read the fic! Masks and Pasts that Haunt Us, more to come, master list. And let me know if you want to be tagged.

Nate jogged through the lobby of the impressive sky scraper, trusting Eliot to handle the terrorist goons, focused on a single goal. A steady buzz rattled just behind his eyes, guiding him as he exited a final door to the sight of a black sedan pulling away with purpose. As far as Nate was concerned, the car could be a minivan and he’d still know that it was that car that he needed to follow.

Thinking on his feet, Nate slipped past the valet and into a newly parked, and rather elegant, red sports car. It would do. Once he was speeding down the road, he spared a thought for the con.

“Ok, we’re done; everyone out,” Nate ordered, certain his com would pick it up, “Hardison, Eliot’s here— ground floor —find him, free Sophie. Everyone’s in the extraction points.”

“Woah, woah, Eliot’s here?” Hardison’s voice echoed in his ear.

“Yeah, just follow the trail of terrorists, you won’t miss him,” the mastermind assured his hacker.

“Where you going?” the hacker moved on to the next issue.

Nate allowed himself a shadow of a smile, “I’m going after Sterling.”

“Where’s he going?” Hardison persisted.

“Well, he’s escaping with the target.”

“How’d Sterling get the weight?” Parker pitched in, sounding out of breath.

“No. The real target.” Satisfied his team had the situation under control, he didn’t wait for any sort of response. He simply pulled his earpiece out with one hand a stuffed it in his pocket, before refocusing on the task at hand and the humming in his head. He didn’t need an audience for this.

There. A black sedan—that was the one. Nate hit the gas, in hot pursuit. As though sensing his renewed pursuit, the sedan whirled around a corner. Unperturbed, the mastermind hit the break and spun the wheel, hurling around the corner at break-neck speed, tires screeching as they slid across the pavement underneath him. Ahead he could see the black sedan accelerating and swerving, paying no mind to the yellow lines. Tongue pressed against his teeth in concentration, Nate gunned the gas and shifted the stick, rapidly gaining in his (stolen) flashy red sports car.

The two cars toyed with each other, swerving back and forth as the black sedan repeatedly blocked the sports car from slipping past. Finally, though, Nate saw and opening and hit the gas with all he was worth, speeding past the larger car in a blur. For two heart beats Nate continued straight, before hitting the break with even more gusto than he had the gas, swerving to a stop directly in the path of the sedan. Calmly, the thief turned in his seat to observe his quarry grind to a stop mere feet from where he sat.

With a faint smirk gracing his lips, still riding high on adrenaline, Nate stepped from his car as the other driver mirrored his actions. The scowl on Sterling’s face was legendary. Nate could count on one hand the number of times he had seen this particular flavor of the sour man’s displeasure. See, this flavor was the most real and the most dangerous of them all.

“You going to leave without saying goodbye?” Nate poked, adjusting his suit jacket.

Sterling’s scowl deepened, darkening the harsh lines outlined on his face in the scorching sunlight. “Nate,” the man greeted his old friend with something just short of a growl. This was the most righteous of anger—the anger they only ever showed for family.

But, Nate being Nate, he had no sense of self-preservation (being immortal did that to you), and kept poking, “Honestly, Sterling. I was hoping we were done with this.”

“And what, exactly,” the Interpol agent enunciated in his ever so careful accent, “is ‘this’?”

“The lies, Jim, the lies,” the mastermind leaned back onto his stolen vehicle, easily mimicking relaxation and concealing the slight pang of hurt he hadn’t even known he had been harboring.

“I had to get my informant out,” Sterling argued, eyes narrowing slightly, “When Olivia’s mother died, she turned on Livingston— fed Interpol everything we needed.”

“Stop insulting me, Sterling,” the thief cut in, causing Sterling’s eyebrows to shoot up. “I knew she was the informant as soon as I found the source of the buzz.” Nate paused and searched his friend’s face, “Did you really think I wouldn’t figure out she was your daughter?”

Sterling’s face was suddenly and completely blank. “You know that’s not true,” the other immortal murmured, uncharacteristically subdued.

Nate shook his head, his heart giving a twang in sympathy, “It’s true in every way that matters,” he argued just as softly.

Sterling said nothing, his face still painfully blank.

After a beat of silence, Nate sighed, “But, why? You used us, you manipulated the team. You lied to me. Again. Was it too soon to hope for honest friendship? Did last time even qualify?”

Sterling’s jaw ticked. “Would you have come to Dubai if I had told you?” he asked pointedly, trying to redirect the conversation.

“No. No, you know I would have, but that’s not what this is about, Jim.” Once again, Nate emphasized the name. This time, Sterling flinched. It was almost imperceptible, but it was there.

“No. I’m talking about before that,” Nate continued, “Back when we were last friends—this most recent time, when we worked together, drank together, watched each other’s backs….” Nate shut his eyes for a split second, “You had a wife and daughter, and I didn’t know. Why?”

“Because it was my fault they left,” Sterling offered, voice quiet once more, “And I knew it.”

Nate nodded in understanding. “They found out about the Game.” It wasn’t a question.

“Sharron thought it was safer they move on,” Sterling shrugged, “I didn’t argue.”

“Not even for Olivia?”

“She deserved to have a normal life, Nate. I wouldn’t take that from her.”

“What changed?” Nate asked with an honest curiosity, “Besides Livingston being dirty, that is.”

Sterling shrugged, “Sharron died; Olivia reached out.”

“And?” he pushed off the car to stand straight once more.

Sterling’s gaze snapped up to meet his. “And what?”

“We both know you’d need more than that, Greg,” Nate veiled the old barb against the MacGregor clan with a jovial tone.

“Don’t call me that,” he hissed and took a step forward, a brogue slipping into his voice as he continued, “I will’na allow you to insult ma’ clan ev’n now—”

“Easy, Jim,” Nate interrupted, “Just tell me what has you spooked.”

Sterling’s lips thinned.

Nate scowled, “I just want to help, you stubborn bastard! You have a new pre-immortal student—you can’t be looking over your shoulder and fielding challenges right now!”

“This does not concern you, Neil,” the other man growled, carefully enunciating once again.

Nate huffed angrily, “Be logical, Jim! You can’t—”

Their slowly escalating argument was effectively cut short by a car door opening and slamming shut.

Sterling whirled around, “No, get back in the car—”

“He didn’t have a choice! You can’t challenge him—he didn’t have a choice!” Olivia interjected, attempting to diffuse the situation she perceived, “It’s not safe here. I was in danger and he’s my dad. I don’t care what you people say; he’s my dad and I need him. What wouldn’t you do to save your kid?!”

“Olivia!” Sterling admonished her, likely knowing how hard that barb hit Nate, how it skewered him like a hot rod, bringing the all too recent death of Sam back to the fore-front of his awareness.

Olivia glared at her father, tears glistening in her eyes, “No! This isn’t ok, dad. You were just protecting me from Livingston and Maycher!”

“Charles Maycher?” Nate asked sharply. The man was a well-known headhunter who went after pre-Immortals, capturing, torturing, killing, and finally—sometimes after years—beheading them. The only reason he was still in the Game was because he had no honor, using guns and poison indiscriminately, and was unnaturally slippery and good at disappearing.

Olivia and Sterling’s reactions were telling; Olivia blanched, and Sterling instinctually moved closer to her.

Nate let out a colorful curse in old Irish Gaelic. “James bloody MacGregor,” he hissed, “I will not allow you to do this by yourself.”

“And I told you, Neil,” the other immortal hissed right back, “This does not concern you!”

“Of course this concerns me!” Nate snapped, “I will not allow my oldest friend to be stabbed in the back by a snake!”

“And how, exactly, would you explain it to you little team?” Sterling sneered.

Nate threw his hands up, “I’ll figure out something, Jim, just let me help you.”

“You don’t train new immortals.”

“I helped train you.”

“And you were a shit teacher.”

“Then… let me help provide protection.”

“No, Neil, you aren’t up for that—we both know you’re not.”

“Bullshit.”

“You won’t leave your team, and you know it.”

“I’ve left them before.”

“They won’t let you go.”

“I’ll make them.”

“You still wouldn’t be ready.”

“To hell I wouldn’t!”

“What about Sam?!”

Olivia’s eyes had gone wide, her eyes bouncing between the two immortals like she was watching a tennis match. As a deafening silence descended between the two, she took in a deep shocked breath.

Nate’s jaw was clenched tight and he was glaring a hole in his friend’s forehead, eyes beginning to moisten. Sterling swallowed hard, and carefully collected himself before continuing.

“Can you honestly tell me, Nate,” Sterling emphasized his friend’s current identity, “that you’d be ready to fully get back into the Game so soon after Sam died?”

Nate’s voice was flat, “Fine. You win.” He took a deep breath, regaining some of his fire, “But I still won’t let you do this by yourself.”

Sterling rolled his eyes. “What, exactly, do you suggest?”

“Call Mac.”

“What? I most certainly will not!”

Nate was not surprised by Sterling’s knee-jerk reaction. “I’m not arguing with you about this, Jim. Either you call MacLeod, or I will.”

Sterling narrowed his eyes. “Which one are you talking about?” he ventured cautiously.

Nate rolled his eyes, “Duncan.”

“No.”

“Jim…”

“No.”

“Dad…” Olivia surprised them both; they had forgotten she was there. “If this Duncan can help us, shouldn’t we ask?”

Sterling looked like he had sucked a lemon.

“Look, I know you and MacLeod have had problems for centuries, but I know for a fact that he considers you a friend. He’s a great teacher, and an even better swordsman. He can watch your back.”

Sterling clamped his eyes shut, and Nate was certain he had heard what was unspoken: because I can’t.

“Fine,” he growled, echoing Nate, “You win.” He opened his eyes and glared at his old friend, “Tell the Highlander Olivia and I are headed to Paris.”

“Thank you, Jim.”

“Save it, Byrne.”

Nate wrinkled his nose at that, but let it slide. “Listen, can you do one thing for me?”

“I thought I already was,” Sterling snarked back.

Nate stepped forward and held out a folded piece of paper. Sterling quirked and eyebrow, but accepted it. “What’s this?”

“It’s a name. Give me everything you got on him. Everything.”

Something in his voice must have tipped the other immortal off, because he narrowed his eyes in concern. “What sort of mess have you gotten yourself into, Neil?”

Nate gave a wry chuckle and turned to leave, “A mess that’s a great deal less permanent than yours. Watch your head, MacGregor.”

“Always, Byrne.” Sterling promised his friend’s retreating back, “Always.”

Nate didn’t hear; his mind was already on to the next problem. He needed to go wrangle his team back home and track down a highlander’s phone number. After that, well… then he’d worry about that name.

#leverage #fanfic #highlander the series #reba's fanfic #leverage immortals

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lastbuckshot · 7 years ago

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oc list

so @underbree did a lot of asking abt my ocs so i’ve been typing up a (very small) synopsis of them for a few hrs (small bc there’re So Many)

if ur curious abt them or wanna know more abt a few pls feel free to ask me about them i love my kids

some notes:

fc = face claim

some fcs repeat bc I can’t leave well enough alone and some different looks from the same actor give off completely different vibes (I’m the guiltiest of this with cm punk lmao)

sometimes my fandoms/obsessions and my fcs go hand in hand so when u see a bunch of actors from the same show that’s usually not a coincidence

speaking of fandoms, a lot of these ocs and fcs are years and years old (I’m talking like some of them are 6 years old) so a lot of them are gonna have fcs from ppl I used to fuck w/ heavy way back when but I don’t anymore, I just can’t bring myself to change the fc (like with all the cm punks)

you’d expect me to have a pj and a milo oc and I’d expect it too but I don’t, Freddie (@miloventisoylatte) has both and we collab like every day

all the assassins aren’t assassins for fun, and they’re not hitmen either; there’s an entire company/organization that they’re a part of, which doles out missions and payouts. they only really kill scummy people so think of it as a massive trained vigilante operative organization

The Oloros

Zemorah (Zee; FC: Janelle Monae) – she’s probably my fave oc atm, I grouped her with her family but she’s also an assassin. she’s the seed that planted the whole family, bc she was a standalone oc first. she’s a bi girl, and she has a history of past relationship abuse, but she’s growing and recovering and actually engaged (to one of freddie’s ocs as a matter of fact; a big werewolf boi named Aaron who has Milo Ventimiglia as a FC)!!! she’s a bonefide flower girl sis loves flowers and gardening but she’s Not the one to play with. Very independent and self-sufficient bc she doesn’t see the point in having anyone take care of her when she can take care of herself and do it better. Prefers hand-to-hand combat to guns on missions. Frequently goes on missions with Liam (mentioned later), but is off from missions indefinitely because she’s with child (triplets!!!)

Halina (Hal; FC: Yetide Badaki) – the oldest of the oloro sisters (but not the oldest sibling). Tendaji’s twin sister. She’s reserved and on the quiet side compared to a lot of her family; she’s on almost the same plane as rashid. she can also be a workaholic, getting stuff done and making progress (on work or in life) is one of the most fulfilling things in the world for her

Malkia (Mal; FC: Danielle Brooks) – the youngest of the oloro sisters and she loves to give love. She has a big ol’ heart and a loud infectious laugh. If you wanna have a good time and feel good about yourself and come out feeling like a Rockstar you hang out with mal

Hodari (FC: Aldis Hodge) – one of the younger oloro brothers. he’s like, the class clown of the siblings. he’s always making fun of something or someone he’s goofy as hell

Rashid (FC: Mike Colter) – oldest child and oldest brother, probably the most stoic and “put together” sibling. married with kids and very, very, very protective of his family. a “you’d be better off fucking with him than fucking with his family” type

Kaivon (Kai; FC: Ricky Whittle) – second youngest brother, and adopted. bi, and a flirt (ofc he is). Someone you can ask to fuck you one time out of the gate and he’ll have no problem w/ doing it. He could talk a priest into becoming a satanist

Jamal (FC: Trevante Rhodes) – jamal is the youngest brother and youngest sibling and he’s such a sweet heart oh my god,,, he’s pan and he’s like a giant teddy bear he really just wants to make everyone he meets happy. truly a people pleaser and a “I’ll give someone in need the clothes off my back” type. Lover of cuddles

Tendaji (‘Daji; FC: Michael James Shaw) – Halina’s twin brother. ‘Daji is the sibling you get when you mix rashid’s protectiveness and hodari’s goofiness. He’ll make you laugh and loves to laugh but you Cannot cross him or his family he won’t let it happen

Shani (FC: Viola Davis) – the mom of this gaggle of kids. she’s a really sweet and loving mom and provider for her kids, so much so that she adopted one and pushed out 7

Andwele (FC: Lance Reddick) – dad of this gaggle of kids. Very stoic and gets a kick out of being overly stoic toward people he’s meeting for the first time and seeing how they react when rly deep down he loves a good time

The Northcutts (Werecats)

Alexander (Alex; CM Punk [this version]) – levi’s older brother. alex is a werecat, yes, as a northcutt, yes, but he’s also a demon (his dad was one). Ego the size of texas. Still exploring and discovering his sexuality, and isn’t completely comfortable with any labels, but he’s a lover of sex in general. So much so that he has 4 kids (he’s a single dad). there’s a good heart in there somewhere but he’s still a force of chaotic evil. Chaotic neutral on a good day. Chaotic good on a better one. But always chaotic

Levi (FC: Adam Levine) – alex’s younger brother. He’s the good brother. He’s not a demon, because he and alex have different dads. Lover of sushi (yes, because he’s a cat)

Grant (FC: Jake Gyllenhaal) – charlie’s older brother. He’s a really chilled out and laid back single dad of one, but his brother is a bad influence

Charles (Charlie; FC: Ryan Reynolds) – grant’s younger brother. Getting called Charles upsets him spiritually, please spare him the pain. One of the pettiest, dumbest, most extracurricular ocs. He’s an assassin and when jay (an oc I talk abt later) gets ready to give him his payouts (which can be huge lump sums of money, I’m telling you right now), he’ll tell jay he wants something stupid instead, like pocket lint or a finger nail clipping. Like, he doesn’t want any of the money, he’ll tell jay to donate it or give it to someone else or do whatever he wants with it, and just ask for a shoestring. It drives jay up the fucking wall

Jackson (Jax; FC: Chris Evans) – rebecca’s older brother. He’s in the same boat as alex with exploring his sexuality, figuring himself out. It’s summer, he’s got his hat on backwards, and he’s ready to fucking party. has dabbled in drugs and is a patron of the one night stand

Rebecca (FC: Megan Fox) – jax’s younger sister. bi. she used to be a party animal just like jax, until she had her first son. She’s cooled way down now, and she’s the mom everyone wants. She’s the mom that takes everyone to Disney and buys everyone souvenirs on a whim bc she just feels like it

Nadia (FC: Jessica Chastain) – tara’s older sister. mother of twins. Very loving, and the type of person you go to if you need life coaching.

Tara (FC: Amber Heard) – nadia’s younger sister. bi. she’s a mom with a very big, soft heart. Her instinct is to nurture everyone around her (not necessarily coach them like her sister does; just take care of them emotionally)

Anastasia (Annie; FC: Alicia Coppola) – alex’s and levi’s mom; bi, and the youngest sibling out of the matriarchs/patriarchs. Just like all the northcutt matriarchs and patriarchs, she’s a fun-loving parent. Teases her kids in as loving a way possible (like asking alex if he’s done slinging his junk around and impregnating the city)

Katrina (FC: Julianna Margulies) – charlie’s and grant’s mom; bi, and the oldest sibling out of the matriarchs/patriarchs. Very similar to annie, but her ambiance is different. If annie is a chill mom, katrina’s more of a cool mom.

Anthony (Ant; FC: Live Schreiber) – nadia’s and tara’s dad, and the second oldest of the matriarchs/patriarchs. Looks scary, but is actually only scary 49% of the time. Probably the most serious of the northcutt parents (which isn’t saying much, bc the whole family is doofy)

Logan (FC: Hugh Jackman) – jax’s and rebecca’s dad, and the second youngest of the matriarchs/patriarchs. Prankster and a jokester, and very close to annie

The Assassins

Aiden (FC: Richard Armitage) – eva’s fiancé and a lover of red wine. aiden was the start of a long line of assassins. He’s a father of one, with another on the way, with his fiancee. There’s some years old drama between him and ian, that ultimately ended in the death of his (aiden’s) daughter’s mother’s death, because of the assassination of the wrong person on ian’s part (it’s resulted in an inside joke about bad aim). He’s semi-retired now, in that he doesn’t go on missions himself much, but he still works with the company.

James (FC: Andrew Lincoln) – dani’s husband. aiden’s best friend. Father of two (one with dani, one from a previous marriage). Also semi-retired, in the same way as aiden. He’s got a big fucking mouth and almost everything he has is some type of joke or innuendo

Dominic (FC: Luke Evans) – jay’s older brother (half-brother, different dads). Pan. Loves to cook (entrees more than desserts), hopeless romantic, and a single father of one. Still takes assassin work often, usually sniping.

Ian (FC: Michael Fassbender) – mr. bad aim. Still carries a lot of guilt about what happened to aiden’s daughter’s mother (should he is up to viewer discretion), but he’s still very loving, and he’s been trying to make up for it for years (despite being told it’s a buried and forgiven issue). Doesn’t handle guns much on missions anymore; he’s more in charge of extraction now (whether that be via car, bus, motorcycle, heli, etc.)

Jacob (Jay; FC: Ian Bohen [usually this version]) – dominic’s younger brother (half-brother, different dads), and a father of two. Also loves to cook (desserts more than entrees), and used to work as an actual assassin, for a very short time, but stopped, because that part of the job wasn’t for him. Nowadays, he’s more like the accountant/money man in the company, giving everyone what they’re owed, determining how much, helping decide which jobs get what pay. The object of charlie’s endless torment

Liam (FC: Dan Stevens) – liam’s a werecat as well as an assassin, as WELL as a demon (on his mom’s side). he’s adopted (his adoptive parents and biological mom r mentioned later), which he found out relatively early in life, when his abilities started manifesting on accident. He was never mad about it, and didn’t take a particular interest in finding his real parents until recently (and luckily he’s found his mom; the deal with his dad hasn’t been completely settled yet). Sniper/generally most comfortable with guns as opposed to hand-to-hand. Zee’s frequent partner and mission husband (but not her real fiancé, even if they had a fling for a while). Gets clowned for eating baked beans for breakfast (especially by zee)

Danielle (Dani; FC: Danai Gurira) – james’s wife. A jack of all trades in the company, with her hand in accounting, assassinations, mission planning, and training. She thinks her husband is endearingly dumb (she doesn’t look down on him, she just knows he’s a dumbass), but she places a high value on how much he makes her laugh.

Evalyn (Eva; FC: Rutina Wesley) – aiden’s fiancée, and a doctor within the company. You could probably tell from her job she genuinely loves taking care of people, and enjoys the pressure. She can do surgeries and the like, but poison recognition and treatment (if possible) is her preferred practice.

Werewolves

Jonathan (Nate; CM Punk [this version]) – one of my first ocs, and honestly, a pure, good soul. He has a history of abuse (not from relationships like with zee; his abuse came from his father and his peers [I don’t mean school here, even though that’s true too]), and struggles a lot with depressive episodes, but he still has the biggest, warmest heart in the world. He knows forgiving isn’t for everyone, but it’s what makes him feel better, given some time and space. Christmas is his favorite holiday and he has a collection of santa hats that he makes his friends wear to get into the spirit. He’s still figuring out his own gender, sexuality, and romantic attraction, but he considers himself a bi ace often (he’s not sex repulsed and he’s had sex, but not often and it’s not important to him), and fluctuates between considering himself male and nonbinary (but he’s more comfortable with he/him pronouns in both cases)

David (FC: Ian Bohen [usually this version]) – cocky and full of himself and comes off as arrogant. He sort of is all of those things, sort of not. I’m just gonna say this honestly: thot. 5 kids, but all from the same mom. he’s not with her, not formally; they’re more like…….. kid partners? Mates? It’s a weird arrangement. But he a hoe

Ryan (FC: CM Punk [this version]) – one of nate’s past abusers. Repentant, very repentant, and nate’s forgiven him, but whether anyone else does (or should) is discretionary.

*Tom (FC: Tom Hiddleston) – (*name subject to change bc I don’t usually like fcs and ocs to have the same first name) the second of nate’s main abusers, alongside ryan. Has also repented and earned nate’s forgiveness, but again, whether anyone else can forgive him is discretionary.

Demons and Fallen Angels

I’m gonna save some breath here: all the fallens are pansexual and panromantic, unless stated otherwise (god’s not included here)

God (FC: Idris Elba) – okay, obviously god isn’t a fallen angel or a demon, but he’s still in this equation. Not much to say bc god is……… god.

Lucifer (Lucy; FC: Colin O’Donoghue) – yes, Thee lucifer, the fallen angel. Big ego, as you can imagine, and very, very bitter at god, not just for casting him out, but for keeping people he was close to before the fall from following him, including his girlfriend (and now wife) at the time, ariel. Extreme lover of red wine and makes his own in hell bc mortal wine isn’t strong enough or good enough for him. Father of twin daughters in the official sense, but has fathered literal devil spawns in the past So I Mean

Ariel (FC: Jennifer Morrison) – lucy’s wife and long time (millions/billions of years long) girlfriend. Did not follow lucifer in the fall, half because god convinced her not to, and half because she thought his betrayal of god was a betrayal of her, since it’d put their relationship at risk (whether she’s right or not is a matter of personal opinion). She’d visit lucy as an angel to talk to him, because she was upset that they were apart, but still missed him. Eventually, she made the decision to put her love for lucy over her angelhood and fell. She’s still an angel at heart, though.

Jonah (Ares; FC: Sean Maguire) – lucy’s best friend. Fell with him, and was his right hand man during the rebellion. He got his nickname from lucy, because he reminded him of the god of war. Despite lucy seeing them as equals (minus lucy being king, and ares not), ares has a tendency to refer to lucy as “my lord” and “king” (though he’s cut down recently). Honestly a workaholic, and loves being occupied (which in hell means a fair amount of soul torturing, but he also makes lucy’s wine)

Adam (FC: Josh Dallas) – another fallen angel. Didn’t fall with lucy, but fell well before ariel. If a frat boy were a fallen angel, they’d be adam.

Sabrina (FC: Rebecca Mader) – o shit bois, another fallen!!! Before lucy met/fell in love with ariel, sabrina was his main squeeze. she fell shortly after lucy and ares did, and she and lucy did some fooling around in the years before ariel fell. She and lucy are probably more alike than ariel and lucy as far as attitudes and mannerisms go (both of them are promiscuous [not a bad thing], sarcastic, and flirtatious), but doesn’t hold any (or much) ill will toward lucy or ariel.

Malachi (FC: Liam Garrigan) - yet another fallen!!! fell after lucifer, and stayed in hell, not causing trouble, for a little bit. then he started plotting to overthrow lucy, and eventually tried, by threatening to kill ariel if he didn’t give him the thrown. got punished with torture and stripped of the privileges being a fallen got him before. lucy’s pulled him out of punishment now tho. second chances and all that.

Paul (El Demonio, Victoria; CM Punk [this version]) – genderfluid/bigender (hence the two nicknames), and currently married to haedes with a daughter (biologically theirs) after some turbulent times of denial and teasing from both of them. Sarcastic and a little bit holier than thou (but so is haedes). Would lay down his life for any and all forms of red velvet.

Desmond (Haedes; Richard Armitage [mostly any version of RA with long(er) hair is Haedes]) – paul’s husband. A little arrogant, but not usually so much that you wanna punch him in the throat. Just about as arrogant as you’d expect a demon to be.

Joseph (Joe; FC: Joe Manganiello) – alex’s dad. Estranged from his son and alex’s mom both bc of the grimy shit he did. Not born a demon, and not possessed, but filled (literally, not figuratively) with demonic energy by a demon.

Athena (FC: Jill Wagner) – Liam’s biological mother (who he only met very recently; he does openly call her “mom”)

Humans

Violetta (Dee; FC: Ruth Negga) – calling her Violetta or Violet will probably get your shit pushed in so please leave her be. Bi. She has tulip o’hare’s accent (as opposed to ruth’s irish one), and part of a female biker “gang” (yes, she wears plenty of leather jackets). Loves teaching herself tinkering/handy type things, like taking apart and fixing computers, building computers, fixing cars, sewing, and fixing appliances. Really, she’ll pick up and learn just about anything if you give her the time.

Abaddon (Abby; FC: Jeffrey Dean Morgan) – no, not That Abaddon. Abby’s just a country boy with strong opinions on how peach cobbler should look, taste, and be served. Master griller. Father of two (co-custody).

Wade (FC: Wade Barrett/Stu Bennett) – my very first oc, so we’re talking like, 6 years. Which you think would mean I have a lot to say here, but I don’t!!!!!! his character’s been doing a lot of changing and evolving with my tastes and perceptions, with me trying to decide what’s too far and what’s not. and I might do an entire revamp. For now, I’ll leave it at: he has a really sketchy fucking past, but he’s doing better now.

Cassandra (Cassie; FC: Emma Thompson) – liam’s adoptive mother. A+ sense of humor. Jokes about liam and zee still being together.

Denton (FC: Hugh Laurie) – liam’s adoptive father. The more reserved between him and his wife, but he has an endearing dry/subtle humor that suits him.

Killian (FC: Matt Ryan [the welsh actor not the football player]) – I’d be lying if I said killian wasn’t very inspired by john Constantine lmao, bc he is. He is a demon hunter/exorcist/jack of all trades in the supernatural. He knows lucy, and lucy knows him, and there’s a petty war between them. Lucy isn’t killing him, killian isn’t actively trying to take down lucy, but they know each other exist, and killian brags to him about trapping and destroying all his demons.

#btp #bri ocs #bri's writing

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