#this is a tendency the fandom has which does bug me a little

[pricechecktranslations]

Would you consider 5th perriot as a main series sin song (ex evil food eater)or a response song(ex drug of gold)- obviously it starts as a response song but it really doesn't fit the typical Mode as a commentary on the sinner by someone who loves them its just lemy killing some guys and dying. maybe It's a false response b/c of margarita's false contract? I don't see how lemy could be 'diligence' like gumila is 'chasisty' lol

It's a response song. My main reasoning for labeling it as such is the Seven Crimes and Punishments album, where all of the main seven deadly sins songs are paired up with their response song. Fifth Pierrot fills that slot for Gift.

However, the very concept of "response song" is itself an arbitrary label that the VOCALOID fandom is, I think, a little too rigid about--I don't know if mothy himself has ever described these songs as such, and Fifth Pierrot is not the only one that doesn't really fit. I mean, the song for Muzzle of Nemesis is Last Revolver, which A) came out first, and B) is from Nemesis' perspective rather than that of her lover. Girl of the Miniature Garden similarly came out before the song it's supposedly a "response" to. Weathered Head might be about two people who loved Kayo, but it's written from the POV of a detached narrator, not in first person.

I think it's more helpful to view them not as "response" songs but rather just "directly connected" songs. Songs that are meant to give us an alternate or opposing viewpoint of the events of the main song, something that sheds new light on what happens in it. Sometimes that means showcasing a sympathetic side to the main sinner that wasn't present in their song. Sometimes it gives a "conclusion" to a story that had an ambiguous ending. Sometimes, like in Fifth Pierrot, it means revealing more fully the sinister criminal organization that was only hinted at in Margarita's song. It's also worth pointing out that this was around the time mothy was getting more serious about writing the plot to his story, so I think when making Pierrot he was more interested in setting up story threads that would pay off later.

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Also these "response songs" aren't written around the "7 heavenly virtues". Like, I've seen people try to make that argument multiple times and it feels like shoehorning to me. Gumina's song isn't about chastity any more than Carlos' song is about temperance.

[mymarifae]

i think the most important thing in the world is vbs being best friends who love each other so much and are super affectionate with each other like. listen to me:

- when toya hugs kohane he'll pick her up a tiny bit (a tiny bit is all he can manage. noodle arms) and she squeals with delight every time

- toya just really likes hugs in general. it's suuuuper common for him to just come up behind akito or an or kohane and wrap his arms around them and lean his head against theirs. hello and goodbye hugs with him always last a good 20 seconds because he won't let go sdjfjsnfkd

- kohane loooooves to tuck her hand in the crooks of her teammates' elbows while they're walking together. this way she won't get lost <3 sometimes she'll hold onto like, akito's elbow with one hand and an's with the other. it's very cute. and as vbs has grown closer, she's started to switch to hand holding. (don't tell anyone but akito's her favorite to hold hands with because he swings their arms as they walk and it's cute)

- also, kohane's hair tends to be messy because of her damn hats and this bugs akito so he spends a lot of time fussing over it. he'll just sort of...tug her closer and take out the pigtails and comb through it with his fingers. at some point she starts packing a brush in her bag to placate him. i like to think akito knows how to do hair because ena will sometimes make him do hers so after a while he stops just rebrushing kohane's hair and starts pulling it up in different ways... braiding it... etc... and he starts keeping things like hairspray in His bag. yknow. jic

- the hairstyling extravaganza extends to an and toya too. (i mean there's only so much akito can do with toya but he tries...) it's a calming thing for him - fiddling with his teammates' hair as they plan setlists or wait backstage. and having your hair played with is always nice <3

- i think shortly after teaming up an started giving kohane little kisses on the cheek. not as a romantic gesture - just simple affection! and after a while, she starts kissing toya and akito too. toya is always happy to lean down so she can pepper his face with little platonic kisses, but she usually has to wrestle akito. it's all in good fun and he'll always relent and let her kiss him in the end

- speaking of platonic kisses, i ALSO think that akito gives toya little kisses from time to time. it started back when they were still BAD DOGS. toya wasn't having a great time one night and after soothing him with a good sturdy hug, akito kissed the top of his head. it completely floored toya and akito blew up when he realized what he did. and they never fucking talked about it <3 but since toya didn't seem MAD about it, akito decided to stick with it and kept giving toya kisses like that. it's not common, and he ONLY does it when they're alone. except for when they make up after their little divorce arc in the main story. IGNORE the gunjo sanka mv and listen to me. they HUG after their heart to heart. and akito kisses toya's cheek. right around where he punched him

- but an's overaffectionate nature kind of rubs off on akito after a while. so he becomes less stingy when it comes to kisses and starts giving them to kohane and an too <3

- they lean against each other while sitting like kohane might cuddle into toya's side or an goes and lays her head on akito's shoulder

- and they have sleepovers and they fall asleep comfortably tangled up together (or not comfortably. at all. seriously cuddling while sleeping can get so uncomfy but it's worth it to be so close to someone you love). ken's taken quite a few adorable (and sometimes really funny) pictures of all four of them passed out on piles of blankets and futons. just dad things

i could go on forever it's just. platonic affection is so important to me and it's so frequently Ignored in fandom spaces. and in the case of vbs and the prsk fandom specifically, there's a tendency to separate vbs into akitoya VS anhane. which is so 💔 because the whole POINT of their story is that while they started off as separate duos, that's no longer the case! they've become such good friends. they're inseparable.

like even jokes about akito and an being "wlw and mlm hostility" are starting to wear on me because... they're friends, guys. they're incredibly close. akito is always looking out for an and is right by her side to support her through all the shit she's currently struggling with. there's no "hostility" present in their relationship. like, if you actually look at the game's text, an... rarely teases akito. the person who teases him the most is actually toya but you know... whatever... gotta reduce an down to a mean lesbian amirite... completely ignoring that she's one of the kindest characters in the whole game...

idk. i juuuuuust wish that this fandom wasn't so defensive and obsessive over shipping akitoya and anhane (mostly akitoya while anhane is a second thought but YOU KNOW) because it results in so many people watering down vbs as individuals And as pairs - because all they care about is shipping. like i promise that the other dynamics in vbs are worth exploring (both platonicallyand romantically but too much of this fandom still feels threatened by m/f vbs ships). and hell, explore akitoya and anhane on a platonic level, too! don't just jump to shipping them because teehee boyxboy and girlxgirl. take the time to understand what draws them together in the first place

i love friendship. i love when friends outwardly express their affection for each other and it doesn't have to have any romantic implications. can we talk about friendship for once like this game is literally The Ultimate Friendship Simulator feat. Hatsune Miku

[ducktracy]

I don’t want to go too in-depth about this because I don’t want to come off as hateful towards TLTS however I will say (with no disrespect towards people that like it and esp not the people that worked on it) that I feel the reason for its sudden resurgence has less to do about the show *in particular* but more how it presents the Looney Tunes cast in a consistent domestic setting with consistent characters—which is much more easily consumable for fandom than shorts with VERY little continuity and characterizations that could depend on director, year, or even just that short.

this has been ruminating in my inbox since July (and i am SO SORRY… i have 200+ unanswered asks + DMs i promise it is not a purposeful disregard i’m just busy and easily distracted :’)) and i wanted to hold onto it just because 1) people who have been following me for quite awhile know my opinions on TLTS by now and i don’t want to keep beating a dead horse and 2) i feel a little guilty critiquing it because a lot of complaints do come to personal taste and i don’t want to discredit the work that went into the show… and also just know it’s a pretty beloved staple by fandom spaces and don’t want to engage in any drama.

BUT! i figured i’d throw my two cents in now because i’ve been doing a rewatch with a friend who hasn’t seen it before/only exposure to LT is through me (and rewatch as in not just skimming the Porky and Daffy episodes like i have been doing after i first finished the show in 2019) and i think it’s helped to give me a bit of a new perspective through a fresh pair of eyes

i agree with your point 100000000% and can’t say anything you didn’t already say better. i also sense that it’s easier to get into as an “outsider”. the more i delve into TLTS, the less i find myself enjoying it, but i CAN laugh at it if i distance myself enough from the source material/integrity of the characters at hand. i could definitely see myself enjoying it much more if these were different character altogether… but that i make such a mental compromise to begin with (which is more of a “me” problem than with the actual show) obviously demonstrates some disenfranchisement with the show. if i truly just try to view it for what it is, i find myself laughing at it much more. it does have some genuinely funny writing and i am a sucker for Jessica Borutski’s designs in the first season

going back to my earlier point though, i think it’s easier for people to get into who aren’t familiar with the characters. LT is a strange beast in that i think it’s structure (or lack thereof) is alien to a lot of people so used to serialization/episodic formats nowadays that have some semblance of continuity. in the originals, the characters differ depending on the director, the writer, the culture of the time, etc. even, say, two Daffy shorts released in the same year by the same director can drastically differ if they’re written by two different writers (like compare a Daffy short written by Mike Maltese to one written by Tedd Pierce, even if it was by the same director at the same time. there are going to be different approaches and nuances.)

as such, these characters are a lot more abstract and difficult to pin down. sure, there are recurring traits; Bugs is almost always witty and sharp in some way. Daffy is one of the most varied characters in the history of animation, but remains a lack of impulse control/general charisma throughout his career. while Porky has a tendency to get swept up in violent impulses depending on the context/director/writer, he is generally approached as mild mannered. there are definite traits that are identifiable, but these traits are INCREDIBLY malleable. the original shorts are so dependent on the context of their creators, their background, their culture that it’s impossible to view them from a lens of sheer objectivity. especially with the original shorts boasting so many different attitude and approaches at the same time! these cartoons are built on variety and subjectivity

therefore, i think modern audiences aren’t exactly equipped for this/such a format is understandably alien. and on social media especially, in a day and age where we feel we have to rationalize and justify our every waking thought, movement, impulse and so on, we try to make an explanation for everything or simplify something down so it fits our above strife for objectivity. what i’m getting at is that i think it’s (understandably) difficult for people to accept this at times contradictory variety, and it’s more comfortable to pin these characters down to easy, simple, identifiable traits and buzzwords. however, the original characters were not made with this train of thought in mind. and because the originals are so full of nuance and personal experience and background and so on, it’s nearly impossible to replicate that to the same effect

so, TLTS simplifies. Bugs is now the aggravated straight man who just wants to be left alone. Daffy is an inconsiderate, idiotic rube. Porky is a complete pushover who is made to be the butt of the joke many times to a degree that is even unintentional. little personality traits exuded in the originals (Chuck Jones’ interpretations of Bugs and Daffy, the former just wanting to find peace and messing with his adversaries if only provoked, Daffy letting his impulses get the best of him and come off as inconsiderate in the name of self preservation, Porky’s mild manners being misconstrued for a lack of self defense) are filtered through a more objective lens that can be digested by audiences with more ease—especially audiences unaccustomed to the nuances of the originals.

i was surfing around the TLTS wiki one day and saw something that mentioned (paraphrasing of course) “Tina’s hairstyle is ‘the Rachel’ style, based off of Rachel from Friends” and while it was just an innocuous sentence likely included with no real basis behind it, i think it perfectly described my issues with the show. instead of allowing these characters to exist on their own or own up to their genuine roots, purposeful sitcom clichés and other brief summations of characters are applied instead. rather than letting Tina exist as her prototypal self (RIP Marisol Mallard) which was arguably more unique, we give her “the Rachel” because it’s an identifiable synonym with sitcoms and comedic shenanigans and therefore clues the audience that, hey! this is a wacky sitcom. and i agree that is a smart association, but it just feels like an injustice. the LT characters are approximations and buzzwords rather than a genuine demonstration of what made them so compelling and iconic in the first place

please note that despite my ramblings about objectivity vs subjectivity, this is all just my opinion and i again feel a bit remorseful for even expressing it. i truly do think the show is funny on its own and am always happy to see increased interest in the franchise. i know the decisions and work behind the show were not as cut and dry as “Tina has a similar hairstyle to a fictional sitcom icon therefore the show is a representation of sitcom clichés”, and as a person who works on cartoons myself and understands the thought and care that go into these decisions i feel responsible for my armchair diagnosing. so, i ask that you take all of this with a grain of salt. it’s 99% my own opinion speaking. but i cannot agree with your original point enough, and feel that it is a show so unobjectively worshipped through its ease of access thanks to a comparative lack of complexity (as well as the fact that it’s not 1944 anymore and our media landscape/culture and how we interpret said media is much different now than it was then.)

i think it’s a show that presents the characters in a way where they’re easier to accept at face value, and it’s easier to follow that rather than look at a smorgasbord of options and backgrounds and base your opinions off of that. a lot of the original shorts have impressions of the characters rely on nuances, implications, and subtleties that go unspoken. shows and cartoons are much more dialogue driven and objective and often explicitly state how the audience should feel about the characters rather than, again, letting them make those decisions for themselves, which i feel is another point in why the show is so easy to digest.

i’ve rambled WAY TOO MUCH! i again ask once more that you take none of this as fact HAHA. it’s just my pure opinion and outlook, and i’m certainly not without my bias. i’m happy so many people love the show and hope more continue to do so, and i’m enjoying my rewatch of it through a fresh pair of eyes. i just get so caught in particulars that it’s hard for me to enjoy to the fullest extent because of the aforementioned aspects. but again, genuine positivity outweighs negativity, and the fans who love the show and get something meaningful out of it definitely trump my old man yells at cloud bitching. if it gets people into noticing these characters and checking out the originals, that’s all i can ask for

[rjshepherd]

Hi there. I recently came across your re8 headcannons and such and I kind of wanted to submit something. It's cool if you can't. I wanted to know how you think lady D and Heisenberg would be with an short S/O who enjoys cooking and baking. Hope you're doing well.

Ok so, ordinarily on my fandom blogs, I do allow submissions. But since this is my personal blog that I've accidentally made Karl-centric (lmao) I like to keep submissions off. You're more than welcome to DM me something and I'll reblog it with you as an @ .

But that being said, here's some Headcanons. I don't write for alcina (yet) so im just going to do a few for karl right now

Karl x Short S/O who likes cooking

-Karl is a semi decent cook himself , so you have that in common!

- however given his busy schedule, he rarely has time to cook. he's one of those people who eats a lot of ready meals or just the raw ingredients of stuff. He also has a tendency to replace food and meals with coffee or energy drinks to keep him going.

-Having you around is like angels have descended from on high with fresh pasta. He fucking loves it. No matter how busy he is, he always rushes to you at meal times excited to see what youve come up with this time.

-if you want his attention, bake something. The smell will have him wandering in shortly to see what you're up to. He loves pastries and is always bugging you to make German chocolate cake. you should maybe save it for special occasions thought because he never gets tired of eating it and would be the size of the duke if you made it every time he asked.

-he LOVES it when you make him a little packed lunch for work. not only does it mean he doesn't have to stop working ( which he really appreciates) it shows how much you love him and support him and that just makes him go weak at the knees. He likes to eat his lunch in front of the other lords and gloat about what a fantastic cook you are and how you make a special lunch just for him every day. They are all very jealous and sometimes ask you to make lunches for them too. Karl wont share.

-He really enjoys doing meal prep with you. Every now and then you both just take a day out and make meals for the month to freeze . Not only is it just a great way to spend time together, It means you can eat together even if you dont have time to cook together later in the week.

-Even if you dont have time to eat together, he enjoys sharing a meal with you and knowing that somewhere in the village youre tucking into your dinner and thinking of him too.

-He's one of those people who likes to hover in the kitchen when his s/o is cooking/baking in the hopes of getting to lick a spoon or taste a sample before the dish is finished. He has a habit of poking his hands into the crockpot or stealing nibbles off the cutting board while youre not looking.

- i dont think he has a favorite meal but he loves slow cooked meat dishes. anything hearty or filling like stew or casserole are usually a win with him. He also LOVES when you make extra or there's left overs so he can snack later or the following day.

There you go nonnie! im getting a little hungry myself hahah

[herinsectreflection]

Would you ever consider airing some of your spike thoughts with a warning for those who may not wish to hear them? I feel like you express yourself so well and would love to hear how you parse this very complicated character but obviously understand your reservations x

Yeah, it's not like they're unspeakable or anything. I just don't bring them up unprompted like I do most other thoughts that spring to my mind.

I'll put under a Read More because I'm going to tag this for my own system and if you're the type of person who tracks the Spike tag then you might not enjoy my thoughts (even though I adore Spike). Also if we're mutuals and you're a Spike fan please forgive me I do not mean it personally.

Honestly, the "problems" I have with Spike boil mostly more down to fandom perception than the character in canon (although I also find him to be a big problem in S7 (but not as much as is sometimes made out)). There is a tendency to soften him to the point of painting over his worst qualities, and to present him as this secretly-good uwu softboy who loves very purely and who always has Correct Opinions. Basically, I love Spike as a character but I think he is a much worse person than is often made out by other people who love Spike (this could also apply to nearly every character. this fandom in general could do with relaxing and just enjoying characters being awful sometimes).

I've also found myself growing irritated at the "lesbian Spike/lesbian Spuffy" reading that has grown itself a niche of popularity. I understand this isn't an issue at all outside of a very specific section of Buffy Tumblr, and even there is I think mostly a meme/joke. But it ties into some other things that bug me about the fandom perception of Spike, and as a lesbian it has started to actively grate on me. It's starting to feel very "female-coded Kylo Ren".

Spike is a man and Spuffy is an opposite-gender relationship. It seems trite to say but I saw a tag the other day that referred to faith and spike as "two lesbians in love with buffy" and it made my eye twitch. Because look, Faith is not canonically a lesbian. I can't honestly call her "representation". But there is a plethora of evidence within canon to read her as one. I read her as one. Faith can be a lesbian within canon, because she is a woman whose feelings for another woman can be read as romantic. Spike cannot, because Spike is a man. He cannot be a read as a woman - there is no evidence for him being anything other than a cisgender man (and no, painting his nails does not count). He expresses a lot of toxic masculinity, including sexual violence and blaming women for his own emotions. This behaviour is gendered, and it is a misreading of the text to ignore that aspect of him, and of Spuffy. A little coding and queer resonance in the Spike/Buffy arc does not make it a queer relationship.

Again, this is really just me being grouchy of a minute sector of fandom that is mostly just having fun. And I feel bad, because I have mutuals that I like and respect who I know enjoy this reading, and I do not want to make them feel sad or disrespected. And I know a lot of this is just having fun and not meant in total seriousness, which I respect (honestly, a lot of my posts are not meant in seriousness either, and I could see someone who isn't fond of Fuffy for example get annoyed when I put on my Fuffy goggles and do some silly gay liveblogging).

So when I get annoyed by a common Spike take and need to grumble in a way that I know won't go down well on Spike/Spuffy Tumblr I just vent it into the drafts and watch it bob there like a horrible grouchy turd. Not because I fear retribution - there is nothing especially scary about Spike/Spuffy fans - but because I'd feel bad. As I said, I am a fan of Spike's character and have written a lot of meta about him, and as a general rule my feelings on the show tend to overlap a lot with a lot of Spuffy fans, so I am following/mutuals with a fair few of them. I'd feel I was spiting them.

(Also, when I've made tongue-in-cheek dunks on other characters or ships I occasionally get reblogged by people who actively hate those characters/ships and get involved in the shit-flinging, and that's really not my bag. I make shitposts but I want to analyse Buffy as a literary text first and foremost, that's why I keep my Good Writing pinned).

But hey, in the interest of airing turd-covered laundry - here are some of the cheap shots that I have kept from public consumption because I just can't be bothered to deal with the fall out (and I only partially agree with them myself). Enjoy. Or don't enjoy. It's not meant personally.

(The especially bitter one I thought but didn't make where I do the D.E.N.N.I.S system but with Spuffy because the post doing it with Bangel that went around a few weeks ago very much irritated me and is the exact kind of ship-based squabbling and hypocrisy I can't stand).

[belovedmuichiro]

what do you think of shinobu, some people in the Fandom dislike or even hate her for teasinh and mean comments towards Giyuu, I adore her but I love to know what you think about her

Space anon

I LOVE SHINOBU but okay the thing about Shinobu is the same thing about Giyuu. I think they’re amazingly written characters with so many great qualities that I can’t get enough of, but the fanon representation is infuriating to me because it reduces them to their surface level personalities (Shinobu is cutesy and Giyuu is depressed) and that’s all the content we see of them. It’s so disappointing, because Shinobu’s cutesy personality is all a front for her anger and real emotions which are SO interesting. So here’s my favorite things about her!

So, I love Shinobu because she’s a mad scientist!!! Why don’t we talk about this more?? This girl made literal face melting poisons because she couldn’t cut off a demon’s head, and not only that but different poisons with varying pain degrees! She tells Tanjiro when they first meet that she’ll use “a gentle toxin” to kill Nezuko, which to me implies that she’s made multiple of them, and probably has one that’s excruciating on demons. She literally pumped poison into her body just to kill Douma, that dedication is crazy to me. I love this part of her, I love that she’s a little sadistic and incredibly smart, I think this stuff is so much more interesting than that “ara ara” bullshit!! Respect my girl and her mad scientist tendencies!!!!

She’s also so, so loving and has a huge heart and I adore that. As much as I think the gentle toxin is crazy, she’s offering it to use it on Nezuko when she learns she’s Tanjiro’s little sister, and that implies to me that she engineered a painless poison for people whose family members or lovers have become demons, and don’t want them to suffer in their death. Beyond that, she loves Kanao, and Aoi, and the girls who clearly mean a lot to her, especially Kanao who she’s raised and trained to be an exceptional fighter. You can see her love for her when Kanao begins to break out of her shell, how proud she is, and you know that Kanao is everything to her. She’s also good with Inosuke, who she doesn’t need to be kind to, but chooses to be anyway because she can see he’s a little misguided. She teases Giyuu, but he’s also a huge loner who she talks to all the time, and I think that’s her way of trying to ease his loneliness, even if he does genuinely bug her. She fucking sacrificed herself to kill Douma, which is an act of revenge but also an unbelievable thing to do just to end the war and save thousands of people from dying in the future. She’s incredible!

And real quick, I do want to say something about the way she treats Giyuu, because people go way too far demonizing her for it. Giyuu is an irritating person to them, he doesn’t want to engage with anyone ever and is honestly an asshole when he wants to be. They are misinterpreting him when he says he’s not like them for a superiority statement, but they still have a right to be offended by it since he’s never explained or elaborated on it. So there’s that, and in the scene where Shinobu is saying things about nobody liking Giyuu, it’s right after she’s caught him blatantly breaking the rules and trying to stop her from killing a demon. She’s aiming to hurt him because she’s mad at him, and rightfully so, what he did is extremely dangerous and worrying. Not to mention the way he’s not explaining himself, and all the built up frustration she definitely has with him, she’s expressing it in a justified moment of anger. I refuse to say her being mad at him here is wrong, and even if it is kind of immature, she’s 18, so like it kind of just comes off as a teenager snapping to me? Hardly something to hate her over imo, and a lot of it really is just teasing because she’s just like that. Idk how that’s worse than Obanai or Sanemi openly hating and being antagonistic towards him all the time even unprovoked.

I also think Shinobu is a victim of being hyper sexualized by the fandom, which is also annoying and a really shitty thing to reduce her to when she’s one of the least sexual characters in the show, but that’s a whole other discussion.

In short, I love Shinobu, she’s amazing and I haven’t even shared all the things I love about her, but the fandom can suck and I think it’s unfair when there’s all these great qualities to her.

[sagedgeek]

Jakku

Part 1 of Whispers of Fate (A Rey Djarin fic)

A/N: This is a fic I’ve been toying around with for a while and primarily why I created this account. So here’s my first fic for the Mandalorian/Star Wars fandom! I’m excited to see how it goes. Also, this takes place only a short while before Din finds Grogu. He will definitely come into play in later chapters.

Rating: Gen (Platonic)

Word Count: 4.0k

Masterlist ~ Next Chapter

Jakku.

Din had to admit he was not all that impressed, and he didn’t exactly have high expectations to begin with either. Desert planets had never been his favorite. Primarily because of the heavy armor and thick padding of his under armor’s tendency of trapping sand in places it shouldn’t be possible. After his first time on Tatooine, he’d spent the better part of a day cleaning out the dry sand and repolishing his armor. It also wasn’t very exciting to chase runaway bounties across a deserted planet, hiding somewhere along the repeating pattern of large sand dunes and rural settlements. For most hunters it would be a hopeless endeavor, and that’s why the bounty had such a high price with the guild, but for him it shouldn’t take longer than a day… hopefully.

He ended up having to park the Razor Crest a long way from the only known outpost he could find on the map. The planet was ridden with scavengers, all of which probably desperate for scrap and could care less about potentially marooning a stranger on this maker-forsaken planet. Even this far out Din has doubts he’ll return to his ship in the same condition it’s in. As old and scrappy looking his ship may be, it still flew which meant it was still of value and would result in quite the payday for whatever scrapper may stumble upon it. It’s a better chance than landing at the trading post though, considering the most condensed population of scrappers would be around the very outpost they used to trade their scrap.

Good thing his next bounty is on Maldo Kreis. It would be a nice contrast to the blinding sun and the burn of dry oxygen.

He sighs as he takes one last glance outside the cockpit viewport before powering down the Razor Crest and beginning his trek across this barren planet. 

Civilization was scarce and unless this Rodian smuggler was willing to take his chances in the middle of the barren desert, there weren’t many places he could hide.

He follows the fob, wandering out in the direction of the Niima Outpost. So, if he becomes absolutely desperate, the scrappers and traders who supposedly wandered the surrounding desert each day might have spotted a misplaced Rodian during their wanderings and point him in the right direction.

After about an hour of walking, the fob had led him past several scrapped Imperial ships which seemed to be growing in abundance and concentration the closer he came to the settlement. He lifts his hand to adjust his visor view settings to see if he can track a fresh trail of footprints,

Nothing.

He keeps the setting on and continues walking.

He is led in the direction of an old AT-AT, half buried beneath the sand, and there he finds a set of fresh footprints circling the outside that had wandered from the opposite direction. It wasn’t exactly what he hoped to find. The footprints were far too small and humanoid to fit the Rodian he was looking for, but it is the first sign of life he’s found in these outskirts so far. His next best bet would be to continue towards the small civilization further South. So, he scans for heat signatures along the skeleton of the AT-AT and sure enough he finds two. One of which, he assumes, being the owner of the small footprints he just found.

He crouches slightly and pulls his blaster from its holster as he stealthily moves around the walker to keep from drawing attention to his arrival. He ducks into the open belly of the machine, blaster ready. His visor highlights the silhouette of the smaller figure crouched just around the corner, and the other further in, close to where the head must be located.

He senses the incoming attack before it lands and his free hand darts down just in time to catch the staff swinging towards the portion of his gut not protected by his cuirass. He tilts his helmet to the side with a smirk growing across his mouth beneath it as his eyes settle on a tiny little thing with a much too large starfighter helmet jostling around atop their cowl and goggle-covered head. They grunt in frustration, putting their entire body weight into trying to tug the staff out of his grip. He tugs back just enough to rip it from their hands and toss it behind him, out of the way.

“Hey!” And the single word is enough that he can identify the small person as a young child, perhaps female. But the outburst also drew the attention of his arrival to his target. He heard a panicked rustle from the next room over and his head snaps to the side, growling in frustration at the inconvenience.

There goes the element of surprise.

“Get out of here you bug sucker!” A tiny fist collides with the padding over his abdomen and he glances down at his tiny assaulter. He gives a simple shove to their helmet to move the kid out of his way and starts further into the walker to follow the panicked scuffling. He points his fob towards the direction of the noise, and he smiles as he picks up his pace in time with the hurried beeping tone.

This wouldn’t take very long at all.

“Hey! Get back here!” He ignores the kid and leans around the corner to keep his blaster pointed in preparation. He comes around just in time to find the Rodian halfway through a cut out at the side of the head of the walker.

Soon Din’s chasing him across the large sand dunes. It didn’t take much effort, just a few long strides and an easy aim of his fibrecord from his wrist to trip him.

As he finishes securing the cuffs he hears a high-pitched screech just as a hard weight collides into his side. It makes him stumble slightly, and he pulls out his blaster, spinning it towards his attacker as he regains his footing.

“Stand down!” He growls at the young child. They were still wearing that oversized helmet they’d reclaimed their weapon.

“No!” They yell at him, pointing the end of their staff at him threateningly. “Leave him alone!”

Din tilts his helmet to the side curiously, but he doesn’t lower his blaster.

“Is he your father?” He highly doubts it, but it didn’t hurt to ask. Mandalorian’s weren’t the only ones to collect Foundlings… Although for all he knows this kid could have green scaly skin underneath that helmet and oversized tunic.

“No,” she scowls, “I met him yesterday.”

He lowers his blaster and sighs. He reaches down and pulls his captured bounty to his feet, giving him a good push in the direction of his ship in a complete dismissal of the child. They’ll give up soon enough. From his experience, children’s attention spans were extremely thin.

“Doe girl sa insistent.” The bounty mutters to him in Huttese.

Girl… Din notes.

“I can see that.” Din mutters in response. It didn’t take a genius to realize the girl was stubborn and plucky. He knew that when the child tried attacking him, a Mandalorian, with a stick.

“Hagwa hurt cheekta.” the Rodian begged for her, eyeing the twitch of Din’s fingers hovering over his blaster.

Din tilts his head then turns to glance at the girl. “I don’t hurt children,” he replies gruffly, then nods towards the girl to address her. “Go on home kid.”

The girl doesn’t budge an inch, and she doesn’t lower her staff either.

“Ya sa noah wompa tah care che cheekta.”

Din found it amusing that this bantha had the gall to try and guilt him into being released. He wasn’t going to buy into it, and he gave him another push to spur him into a brisk pace forward.

She follows them, because of course she does. She stews for a good while on their journey, but in typical child-like fashion, her curiosity wins over her stoniness and soon she’s peppering him with questions which he promptly ignores, hoping she’d lose interest and go on her merry way.

“Doe girl will nopa leave,” The Rodian muttered, “Mee know.”

“I can understand you y’know Rodey,” the girl quips as she flips the visor of her helmet up and pulls down her goggles to glare at the reptilian humanoid, “I’m not stupid.”

“Karking girl.”

Din shoves him and finally turns around to face the girl with a heavy sigh. “What will it take for you to go home?”

She nods her head at his prisoner. “For him to keep up his promise.”

“And what promise might that be?”

“He say that he’d take me to see his ship and even lemme fly it if I gave him my portions! And now I got no food or water, and I haven’t gotten to seen his ship.”

Maker help him.

He turns his back to her again and continues to walk. He notices that this time the girl’s footsteps don’t immediately pick up behind him like before, and he buckles.

“Come. You can see my ship.” He reluctantly mutters and Din hears her excited gasp and tiny footsteps chasing after him until the girl is trotting passively at his side, the top of her head reaching just below his elbow. She looks up at him from beneath the orange tinted visor of her helmet as if sensing his gaze. She pulls down the cowl covering her face to show off her bright smile, all teeth except the one tooth missing in the front and Din allows the slightest smile to break out in return only because he knew she wouldn’t be able to see it.

***

“WOAH!”

The girl leaps into a quick sprint once they reach the top of the sand dune. The Razor Crest now visible in the distance.

By the time he and the Rodian caught up, the girl had circled the ship at least twice. Her helmet had been discarded near the hangar door which now reveals the messy braid of brown hair falling over her shoulder.

Din lifts his arm to tap a button on his wrist gauntlet and the boarding ramp slowly hisses and begins to lower. Before the ramp even hit the sand, the kid is back beside him, jumping on the balls of her feet in anticipation, her helmet tucked securely beneath her left arm.

“Don’t touch anything,” Din instructs in a gruff tone. She nods obediently and sticks to his side as he guides his bounty up into the hull.

That’s when the Rodian started to get a bit finnicky and he pulled away from Din’s grip, trying to retreat from the ship like he just realized what was happening.

” Mee have credits. Mee can wamma twice myo bounty.”

Din pulls him further into the ship, ignoring his pleads. He gives him one last push backwards and with a final hiss he’s sealed in carbonite.

Job well done.

“Hey! What’d you do to him!” The girl rushes forward, hand slapping against the solid carbonite outline of the reptilian’s leg.  

“He’s fine. It’s just to keep him quiet while I fly.”

“Ohh,” she muses, taking a step back and tilting her head to glance at the two other carbonite slabs behind him. She points at them. “Were they noisy too?”

Din shrugs and sits down on a crate near the open ramp to adjust his vambrace. “You could say that.”

That seemed to be good enough of an answer for her and she approached him with the same wide grin from earlier, fists balled up at her side in excitement. “I didn’t like him anyways! I just wanted to see his ship! Can I fly your ship now?”

“No.”

“What?!” She whined. “but you said I could!”

“No. I said you could see it.” He stands up and points to the crate he was just sitting on. “Sit. I’ll make you food.”

She obeys, but only with an indignant huff and a pout. She turned her glare onto the floor and crossed her arms over her chest. It’s silent for a good while as Din heats up some broth for her and he’s surprised to find that he likes it much better when the girl Is chattering rather than silently brooding.

“You got a name?” He asks after awkwardly clearing his throat.

“Rey,” she answers with a huff.

He turns with the small bowl of soup in his hands and offers it to her.

“How old are you?”

“Seven, I think,” she responds as she makes grabby hands for the bowl before promptly slurping it up in just a couple of gulps then handing the bowl back to him. “Thank you, sir.”

“You’re welcome kid.” Din hands her a cup of water as he takes the bowl from her and she does the exact same as she did the broth.

“I can fly you back home. Where do you live?”

“I live in that walker!” Rey exclaims, her excitement growing at the prospect of being able to fly even if she wasn’t at the wheel.

Din pauses and looks at her. “That’s where you live?”

“Yeah!”

He grits his teeth, turning to face her fully. Maybe that Rodian wasn’t lying to pull a fast one on him after all. “Where are your parents? Who looks out for you?”

Rey’s face puckers in thought. “Well, my parents aren’t here right now. They’ll be back though… but um… Unkar kinda looks out for me for now. He gives me rations for good scrap.”

“Where are your parent’s Rey?” Din hopes he doesn’t receive the answer he knows he will. Maker knows he cannot afford to care for a Foundling right now…

Rey shrugs like it’s no big deal. “I don’t know. They didn’t tell me.”

“How long have they been gone?”

“638 Days,” she responds quickly.

Din grunts, grumbling under his breath because of course. Her parents weren’t coming back anytime soon that was a given, they probably sold her off to that Unkar fellow as a slave to earn a quick buck. It wasn’t an uncommon occurrence; in fact, it was a familiar story for many Foundlings he’s come across through the years. But to leave a child as young as this one was cruel and disgusting, especially to leave them on a planet the likes of Jakku! Most would never be able to survive, and he wonders how it was possible this girl was able to for as long as she had. He slaps his hand against the control panel on the wall beside the ramp and it slowly raises into place. He moves towards the ladder leading up to the cockpit without another word to her.

“Wait! Mister where are you going?” Rey jumps up to follow him, looking up at him from the bottom of the trail of rungs.

Again, Din ignores her and continues his way into the cockpit. He takes a seat in the pilot’s chair, grinding his teeth together in frustration. He supposed he could just drop her off with the clan when he made it back to Nevarro. It had been a while since any new Foundlings had been introduced considering he was the only one to really leave the covert as of late. She’d be well taken care of, he’s sure. Celebrated even.

He begins flipping through the switches on the control board to start up the engines.

“Sir, are you flying me back to the walker?” Rey asks. For the first time that day she sounded unsure and a bit nervous, but Din is far too wound up by the frustrations of his new predicament to care.

“No. You’re coming with me. Now strap in.”

“What?! No! I can’t leave! What if my parents come back for me and I’m not here?! I have to wait for them!”

Din pauses for only a moment to sigh before continuing about his ritual of prepping the ship for takeoff. “They aren’t coming back for you kid.”

“Huh?”

He turns around when he hears the brokenness in her voice, and he frowns. She clutches her helmet to her chest, chin tucked down to rest against it as tears formed in her eyes.  He takes the moment to note that maybe the way he broke the news was a bit too harsh.  So, instead of risking saying something else that would trouble her he points to the co-pilot’s seat behind his.

She shakes her head. “What do you mean they’re not coming back? Do you think they died?”

Din didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t well versed when it came to emotions, especially the emotions of children. They were sensitive creatures and were quite unpredictable in his experience. So, instead, he completely veers around the question.

“I will take you back to my clan and you will be well taken care of. I will even look for your people if they are to be found, but I am not leaving you here.” His tone and words weren’t up for dispute and she seemed to understand as much.

She stares at him through glassy eyes but doesn’t utter a word.

Din sighs in resignation, “I’ll let you help pilot the ship.”

Anything to keep her from crying.

Rey’s eyes light up then and her head lifts slightly from where she had hidden it behind her helmet. “Is-is it sandy?” She pauses and when Din tilts his helmet to the side in question, she continues hesitantly, “where-where you would take me… is it sandy there?”

“Not particularly.”

“Okay,” Rey nods slowly, inching towards the seat Din had gestured towards earlier.

***

Rey was a natural at flying. She was eager and a very quick learner. She told him about the training simulator she’d found just a couple weeks back as well as a training computer. So Din taught her a couple advanced things, and her utter fascination when they entered hyperspace was enough to distract her from her earlier woes and able to make him smile beneath his helmet. The streaks passing by through the windshield illuminating her wide, glassy eyes. After an hour or so, her sad demeanor about leaving home had diminished completely and was now fueled with excitement and curiosity at getting to traverse the galaxy for the first time.

So, here he sat, an hour after entering hyperspace, answering question after question with as few words as he could possibly manage.

“Why do you wear that helmet? And all that armor?”

“I’m a Mandalorian.”

“What’s a Mandalorian?”

“We’re Warriors.”

“Cool! I wanna be a Mandalorian!”

“Maybe one day.”

“Where are we going?”

“To Maldo Kreis.”

“Where’s that?”

“A ways away.”

“Are you gonna pick up another guy like Rodey?”

“Yes.”

“Is that your job? Are you a bounty hunter?”

“Yes.”

“Cool,” she was silent for all of two seconds. Which was just enough for Din to release a breath in hopes she had grown tired of asking questions…

She had not.

“What’s your armor made of?”

“Beskar.”

“What’s your name?”

“Mando.”

“Is that really your name?”

Din sighs one final time. His helmet is propped against the head rest in defeat as he tilts it to the side.

“You ask a lot of questions,” he grunts.

The kid huffs and falls back against her seat. “Sorry,” she mutters.

Din stands from the pilot seat and gestures for her to stand up as well, holding out his hand to help her to her feet. “Come. I’ll show you how to use the fresher and then you can sleep until we reach our next destination.”

She’s tentative, but she takes his hand and doesn’t let go as she follows him down into the hull. He shows her how to work the fresher and the stream of water pouring form the wall has her squealing in delight, rushing forward to cup it in her hands and watch it spill over her fingers. He adjusts it to a temperature that would be comfortable for her. Then he does a silent onceover of her clothes and leaves to fetch her something to wear once she was clean. Her current outfit looked to be nothing more than a few rags held together by the wrappings around her wrists and feet and the tie around her waist. He places them on the sink.

“You can put this on after you’re clean. I’ll buy you better garments when we are in Nevarro, but for now this should do.”

Rey nods her head enthusiastically, eager to step into the fresher. Din steps out, the door sliding shut behind him so she could have privacy, and he moves further into the hull to begin preparing his own dinner. He made a point to begin heating up another portion of broth for the little one as well. She could probably do for some added nutrition with how small she appeared for her age.

He didn’t risk taking off his helmet to eat. Instead, he lifted the edge to take occasional sips and by the time he was done and discarding his empty bowl, Rey was stepping out of the fresher with sopping wet hair still done up in her messy braid and a wide grin on her face.

“That was so fun!” She exclaimed. “I’ve never done that before.”

She wore the large upper half of his old flight suit sinched to fit around her waist using the ribbon and the trousers she’d arrived in. The thick material barely fit over her small frame, the collar just barely managing to hang on her shoulders. Mando doesn’t say anything in response and simply holds out the fresh bowl of broth he’d just heated up.

Rey stared at the offered portion with wide eyes. “More?” She asked as if she couldn’t quite believe he was really offering it to her.

“Yes. You need to eat.” Din states with his arm still outstretched towards her.

“But I already ate.”

“I want you to eat more.”

Rey gave him a stink eye, lips pursing in suspicion. “You aren’t trying to plump me up to eat me or somethin’ are you?”

As amusing as the accusation was, Mando’s tone remained unamused. “No. Now drink.”

She takes it from him and greedily gulps it down like she was afraid he’d change his mind and Din begins to feel guilt remembering his original intention of leaving her behind to starve on that scorched planet. He’s glad he found her, she’d make a strong Mandalorian one day and she’d do the tribe proud. They would take good care of her.

He stands to begin making up a bed for her on the floor. He gathers as many blankets and cloths he could find, knowing Kreis would be far colder than what she was used to.

She’s at his side in a matter of moments, looking down at the warm cocoon of blankets he’d built on the floor.

“Time to sleep little one,” he tells her, balanced on one knee as he pulls back several layers of blankets for her and gesturing for her to climb beneath. She scrambles over to hurry and snuggle herself beneath the mound of soft blankets and Din gently settles the cloths back over her shoulders. She yawns, hand snapping up to cover her mouth as her eyes squeezed shut for a moment before they opened once more to blink up at him with a tired smile.

“Thank you Mr. Mando.”

“You’re welcome, kid.” He shuffles awkwardly, adjusting the blankets again before standing upright. “Do you need anything?”

She looks up at him anxiously, chewing on her bottom lip. “Ummm not really… but um… can I ask you one last question? I swear I won’t ask no more!”

Din sighs and nods his head.

“Why wouldn’t you leave me on Jakku?”

He pauses as he searches for the right words to explain it to her as he taps a button on his vambrance to dim the lights of the hull. She had no family and no proper home. By creed he was honor bound to take her. No Mandalorian could leave an abandoned child behind. They were Foundlings… and he was once a Foundling.

“This is the way.”

That was the way.

~ Next Chapter ~

[creacherkeeper]

LOVR ur aelwyn and the bad kids series and can’t wait to see what you’ve got planned for the other three bad kids!! got any headcanons in general about them?

thank you so much!!!! <3 <3 ive REALLY enjoyed writing the series so far, and the comments and encouragement has been so lovely ;; fantasy high fandom my beloved <3

*slaps head* this babey can fit so much headcanons in it

okay ive talked about this with a few people but i totally think season 3 will have a siblings motif. we already know a few characters who are NOT only children (fabian, ayda) which hasn’t been explored, and have some characters who also have the potential to not be only children (they called fig ‘first born daughter’ in hell?? weird choice of wording for an only child) (also either set of gorgug’s parents could have more kids - adopted or bio). and i’d just really like to see more of kristen’s brothers and OF COURSE adaine and aelwyn. riz just has such strong only child vibes im sorry i dont see that changing

i REALLY HOPE we meet fabian’s siblings but my PERSONAL headcanon for them is that he has an older sister who is like. SUPER COOL and badass and can kick his ass in a second flat and literally everyone is in love with her. and also an older brother who lives in bastion city who is a completely normal and extremely boring accountant

(also fabian’s cool older sister and aelwyn become friends ok thx)

so adaine definitely has the potential to be a very physical person (like even early early s1 she’s throwing spells, punching, The Ladle) but obviously was raised in an environment where she was expected to be very self contained. i think as she gets used to mordred manor and living with jawbone and tracker and ragh especially, she gets VERY about physical affection. like, okay, one, the child is touch starved we all know this. but i think she goes from awkward fistbumps and pats on the shoulder to like. BIG bear hugs, hair ruffling, people sitting on her lap, etc etc pretty quickly. like just embracing that physicality she has in a positive way

also jawbone and tracker (in a safe way, we know they take measures to not spread lycanthropy) totally bite as affection. and adaine picks up on it and one day just sort of chomps aelwyn’s arm a little bit and aelwyn is like. hey. so what the hell was that. and adaine was like it was affection it means i love you. and aelwyn is just like. literally what the fuck is up with this house.

ALL the bad kids have trauma For Sure but (as i hinted at in the first fic) fabian definitely has ptsd from leviathan. i think his presents as less emotional stuff and more as like. a ton of hypervigilance and irritability/snappishness when he’s triggered

okay i could literally write an essay on all the bad kids mental stuff and neurodivergence and everything but 1) kristen is just a unit of cPTSD with freckles 2) adaine and aelwyn have the SUPER WEIRD combo of adaine being the externalizer and aelwyn being an internalizer and i think that’s the thing that like. yes DID fuck up aelwyn for a long time but ultimately is what saved both of them. like i believe very strongly that if this tendency had been flipped they’d both be completely screwed

okay speaking of aelwyn 1) claustrophobia now right?? like we can all agree on that ?? 2) this is NOT just me projecting (yes it is) but i think aelwyn has chronic pain/fatigue for a good while after s2. like you cant spend almost a YEAR at five levels of exhaustion doing one extremely restricted repetitive motion and not like ???? completely fuck up your body??? like yes she and fabian totally swordfight and duel and stuff but also i think it takes a WHILE before she can do any physical activity without getting completely wiped out. because spells do seem to take SOME level of energy or whatever from you (spell slots, otherwise you could just do them all the time) i think this probably includes spells

gorgug is like. extremely good with kids. toddlers especially. he talks to them like they can totally understand everything (great for development!) and is just very patient and kind and good but also does not mind being used as a jungle gym and WILL throw a child into a beanbag chair for two hours straight (ALSO great for development!). fabian also thinks babies are the cutest things on the planet but will NOT admit that so he mostly tags along when gorgug babysits because he’s “just SO bored he CANT find anything better to do UGH” and secretly is like. babies <3

let aelwyn MULTICLASS!!!! paladin and barbarian are my faves for her

i know this is a common hc but like. all the bad kids share clothes. for sure. literally the bugs bunny OUR closet meme

kristen has a total green thumb she’s GREAT with plants and tracker is just like <3 its because youre a lesbian <3 even though tracker will totally kill any plant she comes in contact with by accident

kristen and tracker are the academy’s GSA moms. theyll be like “hello my child” and the other kid will be like im four months older than you??? and theyre like “that does not matter <3″

adaine and aelwyn were DEF forced into like. piano and violin lessons growing up but when fig finds out shes VERY EXCITED they can play together and like. does piano and violin and bass sound good together?? dont worry about it. its the first time playing music is actually fun for the two of them

ayda, after more research and understanding, is totally the type of person who’d walk up to someone in the grocery store and be like “hello i believe you are autistic like me let me explain what that is” and fig is like. babe. babe. we were just here for fruit snacks. babe.

okay i will stop here for now because i super need to shower but also if people wanted more/specific headcanons i might be .....,, persuaded ...

[gangrenados]

Hello bean, you can call me Mea (she/her)! I saw you were doing match-ups, haven't done one in years but if you don't mind pairing me with someone from the Batboys or Jujutsu Kaisen fandom (male)?

I'm 5'7, lanky build—used to be athletic zzz not so much now hehe. I wear glasses and I have a silver streak hidden in my hair on the left side. I like baggy clothes, leaning towards grunge/techwear style (or my pjs.) At first glance I look mean with my resting b*tch face and I've been told I am nice but I'm very quiet which puts people off when they first meet me because I don't really talk. Overtime I start getting chattier and can keep convos going for hours. I can still be very blunt af when I talk. a hint of passive-aggressive tendencies sometimes. If it's any easier, my zodiac sign is Cancer with a rising in Taurus / MBTI is INFJ-T / Hufflepuff :) I spend a lot of my time reading fics, mangas and webtoons. Been on a super anime binge recently! I also enjoy writing fics of my own. Aside from those and uni, I'm pretty crafty with resin, textiles and baking.

I'm drawn to the quieter guys with dark hair and a light tsundere personality because I’m somewhat the same way—cold/quiet first, tends to keep to themselves but once you get to know them? Biggest cuddle bugs in the world. If they are creative (music or otherwise) that’s a plus too. Since I’m a writer and avid daydreamer myself, having someone who can relate or at least offer an ear for my fangirl rants and crazy ideas is a plus. Of course, I’d love to hear their ideas and bounce thoughts back and forth too! Oh and someone who can cope with me wanting a pit bull, two chinchillas and maybe a Flemish Giant rabbit or a cat :3 animals > kids zzz

Hope this enough and not too much 💖

I'M BACK sorry for the wait, this week has been hell for my mental health 😔

Anyway, I ship you with...

Fushiguro Megumi

At least the grownup version cuz you're in college lol

•Megumi might seen like a guy who tends to suppress his emotions and just go with the flow, don't get me wrong, he's like this. But when you're around there's something in his brain that just turn off.

•He's a secret softie for you, okay? Megumi tries hard to make you feel comfortable and loved, he wants to be a good boyfriend and wants this relationship to work. However, don't expect him to be overly romantic nor into heavy pda.

•I feel like this boy would love to be the little spoon, so Imma go with that! There's something about having your arms wrapped around him while his head rest comfortably in the pillow and the warm your giving him that makes Megumi's heart to beat faster. He loves it.

•If he can keep up with Nobara and Itadori and still have some sanity left, he also can hear your crazy rambling. Megumi might look at you as if you're going nuts, but he will try his best to say his ideas too...but they might be not that creative.

•Okay Megumi knows how to sing and he will get really fucking embarrassed if you hear him. Singing it's a way of escapism for him and he only does it when he think he's alone, his voice is beautiful but he's insecure about it.

•Megumi would sing to you after a lot of persuasion. If his voice cracks then he will get red from head to toe, so please be nice and tell him it was beautiful.

Jason Todd

You're the hot couple with a white streak lol (I know yours silver, but let's keep it that way for the joke)

•Jason it's a complicated person to say the least, but when he loves, he loves hard. So now you've got a bodyguard who will whine if you don't cuddle with him.

•Passive aggressiveness doesn't work with him since he'll get annoyed and pull out the same card or just tell you to say what the fuck is going on so you can resolve it like adults. Yeah, Jasson is not that patient when it comes to arguing.

•Jason has the habit to pull you into his lap whenever you're passing by when he's reading in the couch. Then he'll smother you in kisses as he wraps his arms around your waist.

•You're a writer?? Ahhh Jason's love for you would be even bigger!! He's a literature nerd and loves books with all his heart, so expect this boy to be hyping you when you feel like you're getting nowhere with your book.

•Jason also used to write screenplays when he was younger, but he won't confess that since it has been a long time since he did it.

•Also this man is a really good cook so imagine the kind of dishes you two could do together! Cooking with you is one of his favorite things, but you might get a little bit distracted by all of his kisses and playful touches though. Also, Jason Todd is a sucker for your bake goods.

[panharmonium]

Hey, do you ship merthur? I have conflicted feelings about it because Merlin does love Arthur but also their relationship is kinda shitty.

short answer: i do not

longer answer: i might not be the right person to ask about this, because i don’t really “ship” anything?  it’s not how i engage with fandom.  (disclaimer: this is not a value judgment of folks who do engage with fandom that way.  just an explanation of how my own brain works.)

extra long answer: under the cut, because i suppose it was only a matter of time before someone asked me about merlin/arthur, and i might as well put my entire response in one place so that next time, i can just link to it.

questions like this are a little tough for me to answer, because i am completely uninterested in romance as a premise.  if it’s not there, i don’t care.  if it is there, i often wish it weren’t, because it’s almost never developed in a way that lives up to my standards.  i don’t always mind if something contains romantic relationships (provided they’re written well), but i don’t want them to be the point of a story.  i honestly cannot think of anything less interesting to me than a story that has as its main plotline “x character falls in love with y character.”  for me, in my brain, it’s like, “okay...that’s it?  do you have anything else to say?”  there is literally nothing about that that i care about.

this can be a little difficult to navigate in fandom, because one of the oft-heard commendations of “fandom” is ‘gosh, fandom is so wonderful, we can watch the same two characters fall in love again and again and again in a million different scenarios!’  which is true, for the people who care about that sort of thing, but that’s not actually ‘fandom.’  that’s shipping.  and there’s nothing wrong with shipping, but shipping and fandom are not the same thing, and they’ve become so conflated that it can be very difficult to engage in the latter without being absolutely swamped by the former.

many times, for me, fandom can feel synonymous with shipping.  there was a post i reblogged recently whose tags described shipping as often feeling like a prerequisite to engaging with fandom, and that is often what it feels like to me, particularly in fandoms where one ship is so ubiquitous that any and all other material is utterly dwarfed by it in scale.  (for me, my last two major fandoms have been merlin and teen wolf, so - i’m sure you see my dilemma, heh.)

all of that said, in terms of arthur and merlin specifically...

disclaimer: everything i say here is relevant to me only.  these are my own feelings.  i am making this post on my own blog, in my own space, in response to a question about my own thoughts.  i do not want, expect, or need anyone else to share these thoughts.  any commentary i make about fandom trends is not equivalent to condemnations of individual people’s opinions or shipping habits.  i do not mind or take issue with folks who ship these two characters.  i am glad you are having fun.  please do not @ me about something you disagree with.  i promise you it is not necessary.

okay.  with that out of the way.  

part of me is reluctant to expound further on this question, because my personal philosophy is that merlin and arthur as a ship have had more than enough time and space devoted to them in this fandom (way more than their share, frankly) and i generally prefer to focus on merlin and the other people in his life, as a deliberate counter to that.  but, since you asked, and because i have been experiencing the “i’m tired of romance” bug more strongly lately, here is the long-form version.

the number one reason why i don’t ship arthur and merlin is what i already outlined above: i don’t really “ship” anything.  i have never looked at two characters who were not already together/on an obvious potential path to being together and said “i want them to fall in love.”  that has just never happened to me.  (again - it’s not a BAD thing to have this happen, it’s just not something that’s ever happened to me.  i can’t relate to the experience.)

therefore, when i do appreciate a romantic relationship, it’s pretty much always because canon has shown me something romantic (or clearly pre-romantic) that i find to be well-written and compelling.  (it’s rare - as i outlined before, i would usually rather not deal with romance at all - but it happens.)  

arthur and merlin, then, never had that effect on me, because arthur and merlin, as depicted in the canon, are not in love.

[to anybody reading this who just snatched up their keyboard and started furiously typing, i beg you - please go back and re-read my disclaimer.]

they’re not in love.  the truth about these two is that if i had watched this show without having grown up in fandom as a culture (and without knowing exactly what kind of ships fandom immediately sees EVERYWHERE) the idea of anybody shipping these two together would never have even entered my mind.

(and like.  because i DID grow up in fandom, and i DO know exactly what kind of ships fandom sees everywhere, i knew before i even started this show that arthur/merlin was going to be an inescapable thing.  but that would not have been the case, if i had watched the series in a world where i didn’t know what fandom was.)

arthur and merlin, in canon, are not in love.  the show never does anything to give me an inkling that either of them are harboring romantic feelings for each other.  that is never what is happening onscreen.  literally the last thing on merlin’s agenda is romantic attachment, ever, and arthur is never, ever shown to be in love with anyone who isn’t gwen.  the show, onscreen, never tricks me, teases me, or leads me on.  i was never under the impression that merlin and arthur were in love with each other, because they weren’t.

but that DOES NOT MEAN their relationship matters less.  just because they aren’t IN love with each other doesn’t mean they don’t love each other, and one of those things is not bigger or better or more powerful than the other.

i struggle a lot in fandom (all fandom, not just merlin) with the persistent idea that romantic attachment is the peak, the natural endpoint on a scale of “how deep is your love?”  i am constantly running up against posts where the commonly accepted structure is to cite a moment of devotion or caring or some instance of basic connection between two characters, and then add a caption or tag saying ‘because they are JUST FRIENDS, right?’ or ‘^^totally platonic interaction between characters who are not at all in love, sure jan.’  

and honestly?  i hate that.  that is one of my least favorite things about fandom.  it makes me so tired.  

i am completely disconnected from this idea that there are like...things you can do that are too caring to count as friendship.  like - that there is too much devotion you can show, and if you go over the limit, then it’s laughable that you would do those things for “just” a friend.  that’s so unpleasant to me.

(and i do think [when it comes to non-canon queer ships, anyway - straight ships unfortunately have no excuse, sorry y’all] that part of this probably has its roots in pushback at the tendency of people who try to “gal pal” actual queer ships (or literal real life relationships), so this, at least, is something i can understand.  i’m queer myself; i get that.  and that is why i will never like - attach myself to someone’s post and start complaining.  people can vent however they want.)

it doesn’t change my own feelings, though.  i hate seeing every meaningful friendship i’ve ever been invested in talked about like it’s just a romance in disguise.

other things: i am uninterested in romance as a motivator.  

truly, from the bottom of my heart, i don’t care.

we are, at least in my corner of the world, oversaturated with romance, to the point where any piece of media that doesn’t include it in some fashion is shockingly bizarre.  it is EVERYWHERE.  it is in EVERYTHING.  i cannot pick up a book without running into a romantic plotline.  i cannot watch a movie or a tv show without being forced into multiple romances that i don’t care about.  (rare exceptions apply, as always, but i’m speaking generally.)

this oversaturation, for me, means that romance as a storyline no longer holds any meaning for me.  i see it EVERYWHERE.  it is in literally EVERYTHING.  making merlin into a “love story,” for me, makes the show so much less interesting, because there are billions of love stories out there.  love stories are practically the only kind of story our media remembers how to tell!  why would i take a story that is so unique in its exploration of deep friendship (that isn’t even quite friendship, because it’s not real, but merlin wants it to be real, but making it real would also destroy it) and loyalty (that isn’t necessarily deserved, but is still offered, but is damaging to the person offering it) and love (that exists in spite of arthur’s position as the oppressor, but still cannot erase merlin’s oppression, and is patently not a magical fix for the very real problems merlin is facing), and then want to water it down to “and then they fell in love”???

merlin bbc has so much to say about the transformative, redemptive power of love (not just romance), and the bonds we form with each other despite the fact that we don’t always deserve each other, and what we can do to make ourselves better, and how do we make amends for the ways in which we hurt the people we care about, and it is so complicated and there is so much beauty there and i adore it specifically because it is one of the rare pieces of media out there that doesn’t prop up romantic love as the most important and powerful force in the universe.  romantic love is not what moves the story.  merlin’s love for the people around him is based on compassion.  it’s bigger than the familiar and overused ‘i am desperately in love with this one individual person and that’s what drives my actions,” which is a premise all of us know has been done to death.  merlin’s love is not about romantic attachment.  it’s a deep, abiding love for humanity.  it’s based on hope, and faith, and the inherent belief that everybody matters, even in their worst moments.

condensing that kind of story into “and then they fell in love” erases its meaning for me.  it makes it trite.  uninteresting.  i have seen “and then they fell in love” fully sixty thousand times.  “and then they fell in love” has been done so often that it is utterly devoid of power for me.  boring.   i literally do not care.

other people might feel differently, and find a romantic love story compelling.  i don’t.  

i’m guessing the message that prompted this essay is asking me to evaluate how i feel about the “goodness” of the merlin/arthur ship, aka whether it’s worthwhile to ship it or not based on how healthy/unhealthy it is, which i definitely can’t answer, because i don’t think whether it’s “good” or not really matters.  i am definitely too old to be riding the newer wave of, uh...idk, purity culture type stuff that is so oft-debated on here, lately.

but you’re absolutely right, anon - merlin and arthur’s relationship IS kinda shitty!  it 100% is.  it doesn’t mean you can’t ship them, though, if you want; otherwise i wouldn’t be invested in any aspect of their friendship, either.  

the fact that merlin and arthur’s relationship is kinda shitty is an essential element of the show; it’s the microcosmic representation of the macrocosmic problem merlin is trying to solve, and even with that being the case, we can see clearly that this also doesn’t preclude them from having real moments of connection and care and love.  this is the contradiction i have to keep in mind whenever i engage with them in the friendship sense - merlin has been wronged by arthur in so many ways, and yet he still loves him and believes arthur can do better, and yet his dedication to arthur really does destroy his life piece by piece, and you really have to walk a line between those extremes and be thinking: in what ways was this a noble, honorable path for merlin to take and in what ways was this damaging, and was it all worth it in the end?

we probably wouldn’t still be watching this show if we didn’t ultimately think the answer to that last question was yes.  but there are also equally valid ways in which the answer is, truthfully, no, and i think really the only important thing when dealing with merlin and arthur’s relationship (in whatever capacity you prefer) is to keep that dissonance in mind.

so, to more directly address your question, when it comes to my interaction with the source material, i don’t ship merlin and arthur romantically because i don’t see romance when they interact in canon, and i don’t think their relationship could be improved or made more interesting/more meaningful by adding extra-canonical romance into the mix.  that’s really it.

but the other side of things is this: even if i were granted someone else’s ship-goggles to somehow see romance between these two (eg, once, in the distant past i read a harry potter fic that was so well-constructed it sold me on a relationship i didn’t [and still don’t] actually see in canon), i still wouldn’t choose to ship merlin and arthur, and it’s not because they’re a “bad” ship (no such thing, folks - tag your stuff and let people live their lives, thank you), it’s because this fandom has already been swallowed by them and i cannot bring myself to make that imbalance worse.

trying to be in the merlin fandom without shipping merlin and arthur is just...a little bit difficult sometimes.  i think probably even people who do ship merlin/arthur are aware of that.  sometimes it can feel like merlin/arthur is a given in this fandom, not one of many options - as if you’re not in the merlin fandom, but rather the merthur fandom, and you know you really, really do not belong there.

and it’s not even a canonical ship!  it’s not even real.  and yet if you like this show, and you want to engage in the fandom, your experience is, without exception, going to be chock full of merlin/arthur content by default.

essentially, my struggle with the merlin/arthur dynamic in fandom is two-fold:

1) the strikingly imbalanced content distribution

the merlin fandom, in terms of content distribution, is a pretty accurate mirror of merlin’s own existence, to be honest, in that pretty much every aspect of it is eventually taken over by arthur pendragon, and in that there’s a reasonable debate to be had about whether or not that’s a good thing.

(spoiler alert: it’s not.)

even so, it is what it is, and as i said before, me commenting on fandom trends is not meant as a condemnation of individual preferences.  people like what they like!  that’s just how things are.  shipping arthur and merlin isn’t a Bad thing to do, by any means, and the fact that so many people do is just, you know, bad luck for me, lol.  but at the same time, the wildly unbalanced distribution of content does make it more difficult for folks who don’t ship merlin/arthur to engage in fandom with quite the same level of ease, and even though it’s nobody’s fault, it is still perfectly reasonable for people who don’t ship merlin/arthur to be frustrated about that.

fanfic is a pretty good case study for how this plays out.  i saw a post a while back that was titled something like ‘merlin bbc gothic,’ and the first bullet point was “canon ships are rarepairs,” and HOO BOY, that is true.  stats-wise, merlin/arthur makes up ⅔ of the merlin fic on AO3.  ~25,000 fics.  the next most popular tag after merlin/arthur is arthur/gwen, but arthur/gwen have ~2,900 fics in their tag.  and when you remember to exclude any instance of merlin/arthur from the arthur/gwen tag, that number drops by another thousand, to ~1,940.

that’s buckwild.  come on.  merlin/arthur has twenty-three THOUSAND more fics than the next most popular (and CANONICAL, i might add) ship?  and every other ship’s numbers are even lower than that?*

and if you don’t want to read shippy stuff in the first place, like me - the merlin “gen” tag has less than 8000 fics in it, by comparison, and then you STILL have to filter merlin/arthur out of the gen fics, leaving you with about 6300 - which number has to be filtered down further to remove OTHER ships that still make it past the gen filter.

in comparison to 25,000.

like.  i’ve been in fandom long enough that i’m not surprised - mean, i came into merlin directly off a teen wolf phase, and boy, that’s a whole other bowl of noodles right there, with added squick factors that are irrelevant here - but i’m still just...man. 

it still makes my head spin.  and it is still frustrating, every time.

*(there is a lot more to be said about how gwen fits into all of this, and i know it has been discussed more thoroughly in other places, but yes, another reason i am leery of arthur/merlin as a thing is that i’m just...not super comfortable with what that implies for gwen and her position in the story.  even if i personally am slightly more compelled by gwen/lancelot, technically - i still don’t quite feel comfortable taking gwen out of her canonical place.  she belongs at the top.  she deserves to be the love interest and she deserves to be the queen.  and like - people can say that her relationship with arthur isn’t “developed” or “convincing” enough to warrant retaining in fic, and i get it, the show really did fail gwen in S5 - but i still don’t buy that argument.  people literally INVENTED a romantic relationship for themselves and put 25,000 fics worth of effort into building it up; there is no reason why an “underdeveloped” canon romance couldn’t have gotten the same treatment.  except, of course, for the fact that one [Black, female] character was being shoved aside to make way for yet another two white dudes.)

(and i’m not saying that everyone is doing this deliberately or maliciously.  but we all know this is a cross-fandom trend.  there is literally no reason for the gap in content to be THAT wide.  a canon relationship with twenty-three thousand fewer fics than an invented ship?  just...that is a stat that bears thinking about.  it doesn’t mean that merlin/arthur is a “bad” ship, or that you can’t prefer lancelot/gwen, but it IS still important to recognize these patterns where they occur, across fandoms, and to really think about what they mean.)

2) the arthur-goggles

my second struggle with merlin/arthur in fandom is the ubiquitousness of the arthur-goggles, aka: the tendency in fandom, as in canon, to make everything in merlin’s life about arthur, and everything in the show about merthur.

this one specifically really gets to me.  i am very committed to the idea that merlin is a complete individual, whether arthur is there or not.  i write a LOT of meta about merlin being a whole person, specifically pushing back on the idea that merlin was “born” for arthur’s benefit - my motto is basically that “merlin’s life does not revolve around arthur pendragon,” and the way his life begins to revolve around arthur pendragon in later seasons is not in fact touching or romantic or beautiful; it’s a tragedy.  merlin does not exist only in the context of his relationship with arthur; he possesses worth outside of his mission to save the prince of camelot, and he was already a complete person before he ever met the prince of camelot, and one of the many issues we have to think about when dealing with arthur and merlin in any capacity is how merlin is told from the get-go that he is supposed to devote his whole life to arthur, but arthur is never given any such reciprocal responsibility.  

merlin and arthur’s relationship, just like the distribution of content in this fandom, is wildly imbalanced.  merlin spends all of his spare time thinking about arthur’s life; he ties himself in knots trying to help arthur develop as a person.  he is constantly working to keep arthur safe and happy.  but arthur, at the end of a long day, doesn’t spend his nights agonizing over how he can improve merlin’s life.  he just goes home and goes to bed.  he never once thinks, ‘my purpose on this earth is to serve and support my friend merlin.’  he is never told his life isn’t his own, that he is supposed to be one half of some two-sided coin.  only merlin is told that his entire existence is earmarked for someone else, that his life’s purpose is to be someone else’s better half.  only merlin is expected to devote his entire being to someone else’s betterment.  only merlin is expected to say demeaning, self-abnegating things like “i was born to serve you.”  

arthur, by contrast, is allowed to have a life of his own.  he is allowed to exist on his own terms.  he is never told that his worth is dependent on how well he can prop someone else up.  and while fic might like to imagine merlin being the most important thing in arthur’s life, in canon that is just not the case.  

merlin exists on his own merits, and the idea that he does everything he does just because “he’s in love with arthur” will never sit right with me, because it’s simply not true.  merlin and arthur’s relationship is important to both of them, yes, and of course it is undergirded by deep love and care, but it is also way more complicated than that.  merlin’s investment in arthur’s life - and his grief at arthur’s death - are NOT solely driven by his love for arthur as an individual; they are inextricably bound up with a sense of obligation and duty and self-worth and, eventually, failure, because he’s been told that protecting arthur is a) the only thing that matters about his own life and b) the only way to free his people and save an entire kingdom.  and i think ignoring this very real complexity in favor of “merlin does what he does and feels what he feels because he’s in love with arthur” cheapens the depth of the story and flattens merlin’s character.

arthur-goggles automatically make everything about merlin/arthur, though.  so the difficulty, for me, with merlin/arthur as a ship, is that it can be hard to make/find things about merlin that people don’t instantly, always try to link back to arthur in some way.  merlin is not allowed to have things that are just his, and he can’t exist in a state where arthur doesn’t somehow factor in - no matter how unrelated to arthur something is, or how non-shippy it’s meant to be - there’s someone out there who’s going to loop it back to merthur in some way.

just like - scattered examples of things I’ve encountered:

all of merlin’s non-arthur love interests on AO3 having massive chunks of their ship tags actually being merthur fics, with the non-arthur ship serving solely as a stepping stone on the way to getting merlin and arthur together

readers, on fics that are specifically designated as focusing on merlin+someone else and in which arthur does not appear, leaving comments asking “so how long until arthur shows up,” “can’t wait to see arthur,” etc

meta about how ‘merlin’s time in camelot was actually really bad for him as a person’ being reblogged and modified by someone else with an addition like “but merlin doesn’t regret a second of it because he wouldn’t have known arthur if he were anywhere else,” and the OP having to reblog their own post and explain that this is literally the exact problem they were trying to critique

in fic, merlin’s friends being utilized only as vessels with whom he can have discussions about his developing relationship with arthur

etc etc

it’s not always huge egregious things, but wearing arthur-goggles means EVERYTHING comes back to merthur in some way, which for me is just...really insulting to other characters, and really limiting in terms of story analysis.  

so, for example - this is a VERY specific example that few will relate to, because i am probably the only person on here who has ever tried to search the tag for merlin’s friend will from ealdor (a niche fave of mine) - but with him, especially, it is very hard to avoid bumping into a lot of people wearing arthur-goggles, because everybody seems to imagine him as merlin’s ex, who is only upset about what’s going on in 1.10 because he’s jealous about arthur appearing alongside merlin, never mind that will and merlin have known each other since birth and have a relationship that LITERALLY predates arthur by two decades.

so with him, as an example - the other day, i saw some post in the tag that was like “will gets teary when arthur makes his inspirational speech in ealdor because he finally understands what merlin sees in arthur and he can’t be mad anymore”

and that is just patently untrue.  it is not even remotely close to a legitimate interpretation of what is happening in that scene.  will hasn’t come around to arthur’s way of thinking yet; he literally still packs his things and leaves after this happens, and he is - i mean, first of all, he’s not crying, lol, and he stalks out of that scene weary, angry, and fed up, because he thinks the village is delusional and all of his neighbors are going to get killed in the morning.  his arc - his dissatisfaction with what is going on, his anger at the ignorance arthur wields as a nobleman with all of that wealth and privilege, his resistance to the big “let’s fight kanen’s men with sticks” plan - that is about him and his history and who he is.  it is not about an (imaginary) merlin/arthur love story.  

but when the arthur-goggles are on, all roads lead to merthur.  even when the other characters in question (*coughWILLIAMcough*) would be beyond mortified to have merthur, of all things, assigned as their motivation.

SO.  now that i’ve gone over both the canon and fandom aspects of my reasoning, the succinct summary in response to your question is just that no, i don’t personally ship merlin/arthur.  because:

a) i don’t see it b) the fandom is already trying to drown me with it and i choose to center other characters out of spite c) i just think merlin deserves better lol

however, as i said in my disclaimer - that doesn’t mean other people shouldn’t ship and enjoy it!   merlin/arthur is very much not my cup of tea, but that’s no reason why other folks can’t have fun with it.  i think the best portrayals of it, probably, will be those that keep in mind exactly what you said - that merlin and arthur’s relationship is “kinda shitty” - but this is fandom, so if what folks really want to write is just lots of happy AU’s with no issues, then they should go for it!  the point of fandom is to have fun connecting with people over a shared love of something, so i am happy to let others have fun doing their thing, and i will just be over here doing mine. 🙂

[nekrotiize]

About Bert’s Homicidal Tendencies...

Hey gang! Let’s get analyzing! 

The perception/reception of Bert as a character has changed a lot this past season, with us in the main Chipspeech fandom/Sovereign Station slowly unpacking and realizing the monumental amount of mental health issues he actually faces and has been facing since even before Season 1. So, I’ve decided to start dissecting certain things and topics we find, with proof provided, just to show that Bert is so much more than the comic relief character that we all thought he was in the past.

Today, we will be covering the topic of Bert’s Homicidal Ideation/Tendencies.

Bert is, despite how he presents himself, possibly one of the more violent characters in Chipspeech. He’s had many displays of both violent thoughts (even if played off comedically) and full on violent action- like the nearly attempted blind-rage assault/murder of a child. We will not be covering the violence he displays towards himself in this. That will be covered at a later date.

>Possible Origins of Homicidal Ideation

It is very important to note that dealing with homicidal ideation does not make you a monster. It is also important to note that it’s pretty similar to suicidal ideation/tendencies, but instead of directed to yourself, it is directed towards others in some form. Be it a specific person, or just... The concept of people in general. Bert is a very mentally ill character with a notably heavy amount of trauma, and it is incredibly likely that his homicidal ideation stems from that. My personal theory is that it is mainly rooted in his PTSD.

Bert came from a strained home with his creator, Mr. Gotrax, who we know well tried to “fix” him into his idea of a perfect son. The situation got strained enough that Bert eventually ran away, and at some point met Dandy 704 and Otto Mozer. This is not necessarily a good thing. It is important to mention here, while it won’t be covered too heavily in this post, that Bert was abused by Dandy, and that appears to be a huge point of trauma for him. Due to this, a lot of Bert’s violence tends to be either directed to or somehow involving Dandy.

>Ideation Alone

There’s a very big difference between homicidal ideation and the concept of homicidal tendencies. Ideation is, obviously, just the thought of it. Oftentimes, when people refer to “homicidal tendencies,” it’s given the same meaning as suicidal tendencies- which is being known to make attempts. Let’s dissect just his ideation first. 

This much has been played off for laughs. Not necessarily in a bad way or anything, but things are disturbing in hindsight. Let me bring up one example here in particular.

You ever notice how, during Season 2, Bert booted up The Sims with the express purpose of creating Cider and Dandy and then killing them? The first time, back in Season 1, was more... Lighthearted. The deaths were more of a consequence of a bug. Uncoincidentally, this was also before things were more serious and before Bert’s relationship with Dandy got more outwardly, noticeably traumatic (though it still was to a degree,) and before Bert gained a sudden fear of Cider.

SPOILER ALERT! This is not the last time we will see Bert smile at the prospect of harming Dandy in some way, fictional or not. 

Well someone has issues. Fun fact! Drowning is one of the hardest types of homicides to prove. Evidence gets washed away.  It also takes quite a while. It’s like strangulation in that aspect.

This isn’t exactly... Normal behavior, is it? It’s a little weird. I’m not calling him crazy or saying this isn’t justified, but it’s just. Off-putting. Especially compared with his trademark Season 2 incoherence that was literally the result of brain damage and trauma-induced age regression.

This is probably coping.

Jesus. 

Dark humor and the concept of it is not lost on me. It’s context that matters here. If the context of Bert, his mental health, and his relationships with these characters weren’t there, I honestly wouldn’t think twice about it. And I didn’t really think to hard about this when this happened. Hindsight is a powerful tool.

One thing I find interesting is... One of his methods of trying to kill Dandy in-game lines up perfectly with a way he is physically violent with Dandy outside of the game. 

A stab to the chest.

>Homicidal Tendencies / Actual Violence

Bert is a mess. He is a violent, destructive, self destructive little mess. But again, we aren’t covering his self destruction in this. We’ll get there, though. It’s important to note that Bert... Is definitely funny! He’s one of the more “comedic” characters. But his comic relief status has come at a detriment to him, and it has led to a lot of... Issues. He wasn’t taken seriously. So whenever he lashed out... It wasn’t even noticed as an extreme behavior.

Remember that time he nearly assaulted Pedro?

This was how they first met. VODER almost killed Dandy. Which, you know what, fine. Drama! Intrigue! But there’s something we need to keep in mind. Bert, despite basically having his mental state entirely tanked by Dandy, has a severe attachment to him. Which is... Very reminiscent of actual abuse victims, but that’s besides the point.

So what does Bert do upon learning that this 13 year old child hurt Dandy?

THIS IS CONCERNING! This is a very concerning response!! This is not how you respond to that! Oh no! 

Fun note! Whenever he starts typing in a way that’s really messed up, he is having a breakdown!

Okay. Taking a step back here. Bert, upon given the information that someone could have hurt Dandy- with the information that he is FINE- goes into a blind rage directed at that person and nearly commits assault, but then snaps out of it when the person he’s targeting, who is a child, begs for him to stop and covers their face. It’s implied that Dandy has physically abused Bert before.

His immediate breakdown was probably the realization that he was becoming just like him. 

... Anyways, side note! Pedro saying that they have seen a cat make that exact same face at them before it attacked them? Yeah, that’s an interesting statement! Have you seen a cat about to strike?

Bert looked pissed! Great first impression! Nearly attempted crimes of passion are a great way to introduce yourself to a child. Somehow, they’re like siblings now. Trauma bonding!

Speaking of Bert being pissed and violent...

Remember that time he literally stabbed Dandy?

A wonderful start to the chaos.

Let’s dissect this! Because this sure is an interaction!

The way this is framed is interesting. “I have a knife” “Where did it go?” implies that Bert walked up to Dandy announcing this, all while hiding the knife in some way. Then... There’s Bert stabbing Dandy in the chest with a smile on his face. There’s a couple things to keep in mind with that. One of them is that you don’t just randomly stab people.

Stabbing is a very personal way to kill someone. Very personal. There’s this inherent implication in it that you want that person to hurt, and you want them to hurt by your hands. It’s up close and personal. It’s messy. It’s heated. And in this circumstance, this is beyond a crime of passion.  This seems... premeditated.

And this does not at all seem to be the first time Bert has done this.

The calm reaction. Just... Keeping the knife. This is a response that basically chalks up to “[heavy sigh] not this shit again.” This just implies that this has happened enough times for Dandy to not even be phased by Bert literally stabbing him in the chest. I’m not even going OVER the maneuvering needed for Bert to stab him in the first place, with Dandy being 7′04″ and Bert being 5′03″.

Like, this is their height difference! Bert either had to, off-screen, yank him down by the shirt, knock him down by the legs, or literally swing upwards, which is a really weird motion (I tried it, you know, for science,) and the body really doesn’t like doing it! And that’s not even taking into account the FORCE that’s needed to stab a blade through DANDY! He’s an automaton! THERE IS A LOT GOING ON HERE! And we do NOT have time to unpack all that! 

-----

That’s my essay! Again, it’s not going into other aspects of his violence, which... Honestly, I feel would enhance the argument, but we’d be here ALL DAY and I’m not about to lengthen the post any further by going into Bert’s self destructive habits! 

[runnerfiveready]

Okay so uh...

let's do this.

I know I've kinda posted quite a bit already, but I really want to do a formal introduction to myself and my Five here, and what imma be up to. I kinda joined to post about my feelings about this good stuff, my fan art, memes, fangirling, all that good stuff. I finished 5k training and I'm just about to start Season 2 so I'm pretty new, but this fandom is literally my everything and ugh I love it so much already. Everyone is so welcoming in this fandom and I have literally seen no hate in here at all, which makes this space feel even more safe and secure. I made this account to join in with y'all in sharing and "bonding" ( I guess??) over memes, fan art, fanfics, quotes, favourite episodes and so much other good stuff. I really love looking through everyone's different posts, and seeing how cool and unique everyone's Five is! I hope y'all come with me while I make my way through this good shit,, and even if not, I'm gonna post on here anyway and continue to follow everyone else's stuff, cause its all amazing! Anyway,, enough ranting from me!

Here's a description of my Five! (shamelessly self inserting here, but also like a few changed aspects)

On the physical side of things, she's a 5"3, messy haired gal with freckles all over her nose. She's got scars and bruises from MULTIPLE occasions, some from mission runs, others from accidents she'd rather not admit to. Five's small (ish) but strong, with pretty decent sized muscles >:)

She's a clumsy, chaotic dumbass who has has a tendency to make jokes at the wrong moments (dark jokes are her specialty). She's very messy, always loses stuff and forgets things, and is constantly getting bugged by Janine to clean up her dorm area whilst Sam gets the blame for "being a bad influence" on her. She can be fierce but is extremely loyal, and would literally d i e for her friends.

She's sweet on Sam, but would never admit it, despite everyone's growing frustrations as they can all DEFINTLEY. TELL.

Loves the rain, storms, all of it. Often at night time she'll run around Abel, eventually climbing onto the roof of the biggest building and just tipping her head to the sky. She'll sit there for hours on her own. It helps her deal with stuff, and she likes the feeling of being so high.

Five is really helpful and is always known around Abel to be around if anyone needs anything, whether it's help with a chore, a problem, advice, anything! Overtime, it does tend to affect her longterm, although she doesn't like admitting it. Five never puts her mental health first and is constantly having to be reminded to take care of herself, despite her trying her hardest to push it aside to make sure she can help others first. She can get pretty sarcastic, but is a lot of fun and is always up for anything! She usually copes with her trauma or problems using humour, despite the growing concern about it from her friends.

-WILL COMMIT CRIME WHENEVER NECESSARY-

Before the apocalypse, Five had a thing where she never really let people touch her, even just hugging. She didn't know why she did it, but it made her feel really wrong, which caused a lot of issues and isolation from everyone else, especially with family. But after moving to Abel and getting close and comfy with her new family, she finally found that she was really okay being around people again. Play fighting, piggybacks, general touching, hugging, you name it! For the most part, she was good with it again. In fact, the more compressing the hug, the better. (This only goes for her closer friends. She's still not completely used to physical contact, and will often cringe away from people if they try anything) Five doesn't like to admit it, but she sleeps with a "cuddle companion" every night, which she will literally squeeze very tightly to simulate safety in her own bubble 😅 (wow I'm really outing myself rn huh)

THIS BABY CAN FIT SO. MUCH. TRAUMA.

So yeah! Jokes aside, that's my Five so far. As soon as I post this, I'm probably going to realise I forgot something and I'll quickly edit it in later...

But uh, I really appreciate this fandom, and I'm super excited to see where this goes. I'm loving how no one makes fun of anyone for self inserting, their ships or opinions on the app and the missions, because I've always felt so weird about doing it in things I love, but this game is literally MADE around the player, which gives for really good and unique content (sorry I'm mentioning this a lot) I live for everyone's different art styles, memes, and just general support of each other. I really look forward to posting more on here and sharing my things, even though it's probably old news to a lot of you!

As I said before, I'm just starting out season 2, so I know I have a lot more to go to catch up to a lot of y'all, but from some spoilers I couldn't help but read I'm very pumped to keep going!

Before I end this massive introduction (whoops), I'd like to give a quick mention to some of the accounts that I've really enjoyed looking through and have inspired me with their art over here whilst I've first started, even thought they don't know me :) @abeltownshipslittlebitch @kaoticfive @runfive @incorrectzombiesrun @midwestern-runner-five @hippyexd @sams-fourth-runner-five @iamrunner5 @nokkiart

I hope people find this account and read through and think "huh, I'm in the same boat as this slightly concerning gal, and yet somehow this makes me feel a little less weird about being so attached to this fandom" (shush I know it's specific,, may or may not be from experience) or even "huh. FUNNY MEME"

Tehe.

So yeah! I hope to see some of you in the future!

Stay safe out there ;)

[moveslikebuckywrites]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Good Omens (TV) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens) Characters: Aziraphale (Good Omens), Crowley (Good Omens) Additional Tags: Established Relationship, Fluff, Domestic Fluff, Slow Dancing

Gift Fics again!  This time for @ladyoutlier​ set to Earth Angel!  Aziraphale has a bad day, but Crowley is there to cheer him up.  I wanted to write some fluffy softness as a balm for that 1992 script today.  I’m so glad we live in the good timeline xD

---

Today had not been kind to Aziraphale.  Not in the slightest bit.

He had a meeting around noon with a local rare book dealer about a particular first edition he’d been seeking for quite a while.  They’d agreed to meet at a cafe local to the dealer at 3 on the dot. Aziraphale, being ever punctual, had arrived at 2:30. Nothing wrong with having a spot of cocoa and a scone while he waited; and he was always on the lookout for new places to drag Crowley to.  He made it inside just a few minutes before the rain started outside.

Things had gone off the rails almost immediately.  The hot cocoa was made with hot water , thin and tasteless, with a dollop of whipped cream from a can floating sadly in the center.  But Aziraphale was always an optimist, and he suffered through it, for the sake of the baristas.  He didn’t want to inconvenience them.

He’d gotten a cranberry orange scone, and it hadn’t been much better.  Far too crumbly, he could barely pick it up without it falling apart. And the ratio of scone to fruit was ridiculous.  He counted two cranberries in the entire scone, and he was pretty sure whoever made it had forgotten the orange entirely.

He was silently seething as the clock struck three, the book dealer still nowhere in sight.  He decided to take a look at the papers in the meantime, but the only ones left in the shop were from two weeks prior.  He thought to himself that beggars were the last ones to be choosers and read the same stories he already knew about, contemplating one of those ‘smart phones’ Crowley was always trying to get him to buy.

By the time 3:30 rolled around, he’d read the paper cover to cover at least three times.  He folded it and tossed it on the table, with his barely-drunk cocoa and hardly-touched scone.  Aziraphale hadn’t brought a book with him this time; his tendency to get absorbed wasn’t always appreciated in these meetings, and he didn’t want to be off-putting to this new potential source.  It had been so long since he’d found a new dealer to work with, and the older ones were starting to dwindle in their offerings anyway. He settled for people watching, and throwing a few minor miracles around to those passing who needed them.

By 4:30 he decided the dealer would be a no-show, and resigned himself to the long walk back to the bookshop.  The rain, at least, had let up by this point. He hadn’t thought to bring an umbrella, and that would’ve just made things worse.

At five he was about a block away from the bookshop, ready to be home with Crowley and forget about this entire day and fruitless endeavors, when a lorry slammed through a puddle on the road, splashing him from head to toe.  He stopped in place and heaved a sigh, this day just wouldn’t let him off the hook.

It should be noted that even the best of us are susceptible to a bad day.  Even angels and even demons. Aziraphale has weathered his fair share of them - you don’t live on Earth for six thousand years without encountering a few.  This particular day paled in comparison to most of the ones he’d had, but sometimes even the kindest, nicest, and most put-together people will succumb to a string of innocuous bad events and sink into what is professionally known as a “funk”.

This is the state we find Aziraphale in as he returns to the bookshop.  Dejected, soaking wet, and downright depressed. He unlocks the door, snapping his fingers quickly to rid himself of the water.  It wouldn’t do to drip all over the floors, the old wood wouldn’t take kindly to it. Despite this, he still feels chilled to the bone and a bit damp.  Drying miracles never quite manage to get all of the water out.

He climbs the stairs to their tiny shared flat on the second floor.  It’s small, but it’s home, and it’s just enough for them. Before he gets to the second step he can already smell it.  Tomatoes, basil, garlic, mushrooms. Crowley must be making pasta tonight. Aziraphale loves it when Crowley cooks for him.  He’s been learning, which had surprised Aziraphale at first. A Crowley completely free from the confines of head office had turned out to be quite the romantic.  Candlelit dinners, lots of sweet nothings, and the clingiest cuddle-bug that Aziraphale had ever known (and he had known Wilde and been drunk with him).

The smell only gets stronger as he climbs the stairs, lifting his spirits ever so slightly.  But the weight of the day is still heavy on his shoulders as he opens the door to the flat.

“Angel, that you?” he hears Crowley call out from the kitchen.  Some kind of bebop is playing on the little radio there by the sink.  Something about Sunday’s and wasted years.

“Yes; was a bit of a mess, I’m afraid,” Aziraphale says as he hangs his coat on the little angel wing hook by the door.  (Crowley had thought it quite hilarious right after moving in. The other hook, currently holding a very flash black suit jacket, is a devil tail.)  He slips his shoes off and puts them on the rack, turning to see Crowley leaning on the door frame of their little kitchen-slash-dining room, tea towel slung over his shoulder, bright red hair up in a messy half bun

“Deal didn’t go through then?” Crowley says, brows laced with concern.  He knows how Aziraphale gets, especially by now. It’s been years since that fateful August day when they stood side by side on an old airstrip and faced down the forces of Heaven and Hell with a scrappy group of humans.  

Crowley crosses over and wraps his arms around Aziraphale, placing a kiss into his hairline, “do I need to find the scumbag and stage a little demonic intervention?”

Aziraphale manages a slight chuckle as he nuzzles his face into Crowley’s neck.  “No, I don’t think so, dearest. The dealer never showed.”

“The scumbag,” Crowley says with absolutely zero bite behind it, “I’ll curse him myself.”

“None of that, foul fiend.” Aziraphale says with infinite fondness.  It’s been a long time since either of them have done anything truly in line with their respective sides.  

Crowley absently runs a hand soothingly up and down the angel’s back.  “Still, something else is on your mind, I can always tell.”

“Yes, I suppose so,” Aziraphale sighs, “just several bad things all piling together.”

“Well,” Crowley pulls back and kisses Aziraphale quickly on the nose, “you’re not allowed to be sad because I made pasta, and you love pasta, and you love me.”  Crowley rests his forehead against Aziraphale’s, touching their noses together. The intimacy of the action still takes Aziraphale’s breath away to this day.

Crowley kisses him quickly, then turns and makes his way back to the kitchen.  Aziraphale follows close behind, sinking into one of the tiny bistro chairs of the little dining set they managed to fit into the corner.  The rain has started back up outside, and Aziraphale leans his chin on his hand to stare out the window at it for a little bit.

Aziraphale doesn’t think he has a right to be this sad; everyone has bad days and he’s had much worse than this.  Lots of their neighbors around Soho have had a worse day than he has, he can’t hear their prayers persay, but he can feel the general shape of their hopes and fears.  And yet, he just can’t shake it.

A sharp yelp from the oven startles Aziraphale out of his thoughts.  Crowley’s burned himself on the pan for the garlic bread, like he always does.  He watches Crowley move around the kitchen, so steady and self-assured. Falling into domesticity has been so easy, so natural.  Almost like breathing. Crowley keeps swaying to the music on his radio, testing noodles and stirring sauce. He stares down the sauce and adds just a pinch more garlic powder to it, before giving it a stir and tasting it.  “Angel, I’ve done it again!” He says as he punches the air. They both know he’ll hardly eat any of it, but he relishes being able to do this for Aziraphale

“That’s lovely dearest,” Aziraphale says with his chin still in his hand.

Crowley smiles at him, tossing the towel back over his shoulder as he swaggers over to the table, “what is it, dove, like what you see?”

“You know I always do, darling.”  He smiles at Crowley as the demon takes both of his hands.

“Still feeling down, Angel?”  Aziraphale just nods at him. “Well that won’t do, c’mon, up you get.”  He pulls Aziraphale to his feet before shooting a glare at the radio. The bebop playing cuts out abruptly and switches to a very smooth piano beat.

Crowley winks at him, “dance with me, love?”

“Crowley what on Earth?” Aziraphale rolls his eyes and does his best to suppress the smile attempting to creep across his face, “you know I can only dance the gavotte.”

“No gavotte here, Angel, just swaying in the kitchen.”  Crowley guides Aziraphale’s hand to his shoulder before gently placing his own on the small of the angel’s back.  He presses their cheeks together and starts to sing along softly with the man on the radio.

“Earth angel, earth angel, will you be mine?  My darling dear, love you all the time. I’m just a fool, a fool in love with you.”

They sway back and forth, as far as the tiny kitchen will allow.  Aziraphale can feel his nerves and anxieties calming; safe here in his demon’s arms.  They sway and they spin, and he giggles as Crowley keeps singing to him.

“Earth angel, earth angel, the one I adore.  Love you forever and ever more. I’m just a fool, a fool in love with you.”

“Crowley, dear, you’re such a hopeless romantic sometimes.” Aziraphale places a tender kiss to the little snake tattoo by Crowley’s ear.

“Not hopeless if I got you in the end, Angel,” Crowley says, nuzzling into the angel’s cheek before nuzzling into the angel’s cheek.  “I fell for you and I knew the vision of your loveliness.”

Crowley grips his hand tightly before spinning him around and bringing him back even closer.

“I hope and I pray that someday I’ll be the vision of your happiness.”

“Oh my dearest,” Aziraphale says, resting his head on Crowley’s shoulder, breathing deeply, perfectly at peace, “you always have been.”  They sway slowly from side to side, not really dancing anymore so much as just existing.

Aziraphale feels the stresses of the day melting away from him, safe and content in Crowley’s arms.  Where he was always meant to be. As the song fades out they hold each other close, pasta miraculously fine still sitting on the stove waiting for this moment to end (it wouldn’t dare burn, not when Crowley is in the room).  The final notes of the song drift through the air as Aziraphale leans up to whisper into Crowley’s ear, “I’m just a fool, a fool in love with you.”

[thedistantstorm]

Tribute: A Kalluzeb Story (pt 2)

Fandom: Star Wars Rebels

Pairings: Kallus/Zeb (kalluzeb)

Chapter: 2 of 3?? (still TBD, apparently I have a lot to say...)

AO3 Link Here

Summary: Zeb works on a gift for Kallus, to replace something he’s lost. It’s a gateway to a conversation Zeb wants to have in the future, but there’s something a bit more urgent they need to talk about first.

Notes: Thank y’all so so much for your lovely comments and likes and reblogs, they seriously make my day. All you kalluzebs out there are the nicest freakin’ people I’ve encountered in fandom and I’m having such a ball writing these two for us. Not to mention getting to explore Hera’s relationship with them is something I’ve wanted to do for a hot minute now, so please excuse my self-indulgent hurt/comfort.

<< Previously // Next >>

Kallus enters the grounded Ghost to a beeping, ornery droid and the sound of the exhaust fans roaring. It's just shy of daybreak, and Yavin 4 is alight with parchment colored skies and fog that creeps silently through the trees. The temperature is cool at this hour, good for working outdoors. The morning shifts here start early.

He catches the faintest hint of lacquer, some protective finish he doesn't entirely recognize. It's stronger outside than inside the Ghost, and it only takes a quick glance around to understand why. Something had been on the crates sprawled across the cargo bay, the ones that became tables for anyone who ate away from the mess hall or seating that they'd drag outside for an impromptu fireside debrief in the dark of the night, since the smoke keeps bugs away. Whatever it was, it's not there now, though he does see his suspected culprit.

"Garazeb," He says, careful not to speak too loud. It's still early, and his voice has a tendency to carry. Off to the side, he sees Hera curled up on an old weapons crate. He isn't sure how long she's been there, but she'll likely be sore. He rounds a makeshift worktable to see Zeb sitting on the floor beside her, slumped over on himself, chin lurching closer to his knees before he tries unconsciously to right himself.

Chopper quietly rearranges some of the crates to help Kallus, commenting that they're his problem now. Somehow, he doubts that very much, but he knows better than to argue with this particular droid, regardless of his opinion.

Judging by the way Zeb's sitting, angled with one shoulder against the crate Hera's using as a bed, there's a good chance he'd attempted to wake her, and in his attempts not to frighten her, fallen asleep himself. Orrelios was a good liar, and bags didn't show under his eyes. Still, Kallus knew Zeb wasn't sleeping well.

He crouches and places one hand on both their shoulders. Zeb only seems to relax further, clearly recognizing him by touch or maybe smell, his senses are far keener than a human's. Hera's chuckle is thick and sleep-laiden, but she blinks her eyes open at him.

"Looks like we've been caught," She grumbles without malice, nudging Zeb in the back with her boot. He jerks awake immediately, only for Kallus to change his hold on the Lasat's shoulder to a palm on his cheek, preventing him from bashing their heads together. "I thought you were going to carry me to bed," Hera accuses.

"Yer the one who said 'five more minutes, I'm finally comfy,'" He mouths back, tilting his head away from Kallus's hand to look at Hera, "If he's here to yell at us, it's on you."

Hera rolls her eyes. "I don't think he's here to yell. I think he's going to send us to bed."

"Bwah, buabahba bah!" Unconcerned about his volume, Chopper insists that somebody should. Whether he means that in regards to yelling or sending them to bed, it's anyone's guess.

"General," Kallus holds his arms out, indicative that he will be the one to lift her, seeing as Zeb's eyes are already drooping again.

"He-ra," She reminds him with a firm poke to the chest. He hums something agreeable, though he doesn't bother to oblige her by calling her only her given name. He's coming off a week-long mission. It's hard to switch off the work part of his brain, though it gets easier all the time.

"Draven pushed back our debrief to noon. Should give us all a decent lie in," He looks down to Zeb, already snoring.

"Great," She exhales, as Kallus scoops her up. He turns them sideways to navigate the doorway. Wryly, she asks, "You gonna carry him to bed too?"

This time, he does drop the formalities. "Hera," He warns, voice low. He's too in control to let a blush cross his face, but his lips quirk uncomfortably.

She looks up at him, as if transitioning from asleep to fully awake with a single blink. Realizing she's made him uncomfortable, she says, "You can put me down."

"Is that an order?"

She sighs. They treat her like glass, and it's annoying. "I can walk by myself."

"I suppose you can, but," He looks away. He's an eloquent man, but the lack of required restraint (no matter how many times they encourage him to say what's on his mind, to be human, imperfect), always makes him hesitate.

She smiles, just a little, and yields, "To be honest, my foot's asleep."

"Ah. Best if we proceed as is," He says aloud. It's a weak excuse and a blatant lie, but he doesn't question it.

"He didn't leave his work out, did he?"

"It did not appear so, no," Kallus whispers. To speak any louder in the silent ship would be like yelling. Chopper is already waiting for her, her cabin doors thrown open. "If you wouldn't mind, Chopper-" He begins.

The droid runs into his good leg, though not hard enough to hurt, and begins fussing over Hera as he lays her in her bunk. He catches a salute as he steps back. That means Chopper heard about the rescheduled debrief, and that he's grateful enough to come get him later, should he oversleep.

It hasn't happened yet, but one of these days, it might. Kallus is exhausted. He still has another sentient to drag off to bed, and despite Hera's quips, he very much doubts he could carry Zeb the same way. All things considered, it would be an uncomfortable, logistical nightmare, even though he'd likely be capable of the actual lifting.

He makes it back to the hold and pauses, taking the scene in for just a moment. If his heart clenches with something fond and he watches his fellow rebel breathe deep and slow for more time than necessary, no one will know. He steps over the threshold, footsteps light across the durasteel.

"Garazeb," He calls, reluctant to disturb him. Once he's close enough, he leans down to put a hand on his shoulder, shaking. "You shouldn't sleep here."

Whatever the reply is, it's muddled and incoherent. Kallus exhales. He knows if he sits down on this crate, he'll fall asleep on it like Hera, and it certainly won't reduce the kink Zeb's going to have in his neck from twisting himself to use the crate as a pillow.

"That cannot be comfortable," He comments with mirth.

"Wha?" Zeb's eyes are unfocused, and it takes him a second to focus on Kallus. "Hera?"

"Tucked in. Come along, Garazeb."

Zeb shuffles to his feet, Kallus close enough to steady him. "Mission go okay?"

"Yes," He breathes. He's alive, so he counts it as a victory. His identity as Fulcrum may have been compromised, but he still has a bit of a wide reach, and now, a potential successor, but Zeb won't retain any of it, so he doesn’t elaborate. Instead, he asks, "Have you finished your project?"

"Mmm," Zeb agrees muzzily.

Their journey through the vessel takes longer than it had for him to whisk Hera back to her bunk, but Kallus is happy to help the larger man stumble along. In the weeks since returning from Lothal, he’s found Hera, but more frequently, Zeb, asleep in a myriad of strange places.

Grief is… tricky. Kallus cannot say he does not wade through his own on a near-daily basis, but he feels like this is something he can do, something valuable and worthwhile. He will see Zeb and Hera through this. He’ll check on Sabine through cryptic messages and make sure Chopper does not fry his circuits keeping tabs on their remaining crew. He’d have done it even if he didn’t know Kanan or Ezra personally, even if he hadn’t felt indebted to them. When he’d realized it, it felt like a weight he hadn’t registered shaking itself loose. It was something he wanted to do for those who remained, because he cares for them. Not that the dead or the lost do not matter; He thinks of them often. Jarrus’s steadfast calm, his otherworldly compassion and understanding. Ezra’s unyielding hope, his fierce resolve, and his courage. For someone so young to have made the decisions he had, to carry on despite everything pitted against him… well, Kallus can admit to himself that he could only aspire to be that strong.

The door to their shared room opens. That is a recent development, but Kallus is a nomad amid the Rebel base, with scarce few belongings, all of which (sans spare clothes, which are standard issue) are carried on his person. He holds a hand out to spot Zeb as he takes the boost of the small but sturdy ladder to the top bunk. The Lasat had been sleeping there ever since…

Well, Kallus had reasoned, at the time, Ezra did say it was his again…

“Got someth’n t’show ya, later,” Zeb murmurs, voice almost a rumble.

Kallus can’t help himself, reaching a hand out to cup one side of Zeb’s face. The two of them are quite the pair. War-torn and jagged, sometimes barely holding themselves together. They’ve lived through enough to know that there’s only so much they can hold back. To the rest of the galaxy, of course, there isn’t much that would make them seem less rigid or frightening, certainly nothing that could make either of them less dangerous adversaries. But to each other, to a comrade who understands, to a friend who walks a similar path…

Zeb presses his face into Kallus’s palm, the fine fur there soft and velveteen against calloused skin. “I’ll come for you after my debrief,” Kallus promises, endeavoring not to wake him later when he rises to meet Draven with Hera. “Get some sleep.”

Yellow-green eyes open for just a moment, something warm and unspoken in their depths. A large, four-digit hand covers Kallus’s, squeezes his fingers tightly when he begins to pull away. “You too.”

Once their hands separate, Kallus discards his jacket and belt, toes off his boots. He hears Chopper heading down the hall towards their room, sees the door crack a few centimeters in the center as the droid checks on them. He dips his head in a nod and Chopper retreats. He turns off the lights and takes the three short steps across the room to his bunk. Zeb is already snoring softly, the sound infinitely soothing to the ex-ISB agent. By the time his head touches Zeb’s old pillow, Kallus is already asleep.

[dxfiedfxte-a]

THE POSITIVE & NEGATIVE; Meme.

Mun & Muse

fill out & repost ♥ This meme definitely favors canons more, but I hope OC’s still can make it somehow work with their own lore, and lil’ fandom of friends & mutuals. Multi-Muses pick the muse you are the most invested in atm.

tagged by:  Stolen from: @niflheimqueen​​ tagging:  @pinkheartedfool​, @divinesilverlove​ @delusorydetective​ @rock-you-like-a-hurricxne​ @foolishwinds​ @chibitantei​ @apocalypsxmaidxn​ @mcmcntomorii​​ and everyone else who hasn’t yet! You have been tagged! 

MY MUSE IS:   canon / oc / au / slightly canon-divergent / fandomless / complicated.

IS YOUR CHARACTER POPULAR IN THE FANDOM?   YES? / NO.

IS YOUR CHARACTER CONSIDERED HOT™ IN THE FANDOM?   YES / NO / IDK. (Have you seen his charm!! PLUS HE’S A RANDOM FOODAHOLIC DORK X3 and be weirdly cute in his own way :3  If you don’t believe me. wait until he Reveals His Right Eye)

IS YOUR CHARACTER CONSIDERED STRONG IN THE FANDOM?   YES / NO / IDK.  (Here’s the thing with that. It really depends if someone likes him as an MC. I’m sure their are probably others out there who may prefer Yu Narukami as a better Protag, or Akira the new P5 protag. So it depends on the person. But for the most part, I’d like to think he’s pretty well widely enough known in the fandom as the P3 Blue-Emo-Jesus who saved the world x3)

ARE THEY UNDERRATED?   YES / NO / IDK. (In terms of having his own personality, maybe a little bit? Since he’s only been able to express his own personality in the few spin off games we got for P3. Yu has been able too more, but for a while he wasn’t able to until Persona Q(P4 Side) and until the movie and now Dancing In Moonlight as well as Persona Q 2. But his personality in the P3 Manga if definitely underrated in my opinion, not too many people talk about the Manga)

WERE THEY RELEVANT FOR THE MAIN STORY?   YES / NO

WERE THEY RELEVANT FOR THE MAIN CHARACTER?   YES / NO / THEY’RE THE PROTAG./

ARE THEY WIDELY KNOWN IN THEIR WORLD?   YES / NO. (In my AU Main verse, he’s a famous Paranormal Investigator with his own show, so yes in my AU verse. Tho popularity level depends on verse, Main verse its his first season and he only just blew up. In my P5 Verse its 5 years after P4AU so he would be in his 4th season by then and only then be widely known)

HOW’S THEIR REPUTATION?   GOOD / BAD / NEUTRAL. (As a Paranormal Investigator, all his successful cases have gave him a very good rep within the Ghost Hunting community, it was thanks to his credibility how he was able ro get a 

tv contract deal. In P3 he has a great rep with his friends as their reliable leader and friend, but a not so good rep at school too many dates.. xD nice one Minato  )

HOW STRICTLY DO YOU FOLLOW CANON?   —  (Because I started to RP Minato when there’s wasn’t much games where he didn’t have his personality shown yet(2015)   I based him off more from the Manga’s interpretation of him, But now canon wise in terms of Personality, I still tend to use mostly his Manga personality, but now I’ve added a few small tidd-bits of how he is in the movie and how he is depicted in both PQ’s as well as Dancing In Moonlight.)

SELL YOUR MUSE! Aka try to list everything, which makes your muse interesting 

in your opinion to make them spicy for your mutuals.  —    (Oh boy here we go. Minato is a food loving and very random dork who tends to be quiet and stoic 88% of the time, but he’s very kind, he always puts his friends before himself, he tries his very best to be the best leader he can possibly be and he is an all around easy person to get along with, just expect him to zone out here and there, to sometimes be very weird, VERY random. And expect him to randomly start snacking a lot x3 )

Now the OPPOSITE, list everything why your muse could not be so interesting (even if you may not agree, what does the fandom perhaps think?).                      (He can sometimes have a tendency to overthink things waaayyyy too much and if it’s really eating at him a lot, it will permanently plague the back of his mind. He can sometimes be lazy, but its a habit he’s trying to break. If he’s really super hungry, he will gorge and when he gorges, his tables manners are absolutely terrible XD )

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO RP YOUR MUSE?   —  (I guess it was how I saw him when   I read the Manga. I played P3 FES first, then after beating it, I wanted to read the manga as soon as I found out about it. I also think it was the fact he dies and seeing how his friends grew up without him, it made me really want to see what it would be like if he survived, I guess I felt his death at the end of the game was just a real shame, I suppose I thought he would have been a great character to bring back in future Persona games, I understand the reason for his death and I have nothing against it. It was just that thought I had of “Man Minato could have been so much more if he survived” that drove me to pick him up )

WHAT KEEPS YOUR INSPIRATION GOING?   —  (Well, I’ve been in the Persona fandom for 5 years now. Before when I came back, I wasn’t getting many rp’s. But ever since I came back and found an active Fuuka(MinaFuu is a ship I rarely got to rp) so that started it back up, and then it was seeing all these familiar faces(Or blogs in this case xD) come back, my motivation has been through the roof. So I guess the revival of the fandom and the wonderful people of the Persona community has fueled my fire and it keeps on burning for more!)

Some more personal questions for the mun.

Give your mutuals some insight about the way you are in some matters, which could lead them to get more comfortable with you or perhaps not.

DO YOU THINK YOU GIVE YOUR CHARACTER JUSTICE?   YES / NO / I SINCERELY HOPE I DO? (I think so, I’ve Rp’d him for 5 years now, I’d like to think I know him inside and out?)

DO YOU FREQUENTLY WRITE HEADCANONS?   YES / NO / SORT OF? (When the motivation or idea’s are there then yeah I totally do)

DO YOU SOMETIMES WRITE DRABBLES?   YES / NO (I definitely do, not as many as I’d like to tho, but when the idea comes to mind that you just can’t express in an rp with someone else, then its best in drabble form.)

DO YOU THINK A LOT ABOUT YOUR MUSE DURING THE DAY?   YES / NO           (I’m a very musical person myself just like Minato so every time I jam I do and I’m always jammin ;3)

ARE YOU CONFIDENT IN YOUR PORTRAYAL?   YES / NO / SORT OF?

ARE YOU CONFIDENT IN YOUR WRITING?   YES / NO / A LITTLE BIT. (In the beginning I wasn’t, but I kept at it and eventually I built up enough confidence to really make him soar. The thing with Minato is since Persona protags are silent and the game lets you make up his personality. But since I incorporate him more from the Manga I try to really channel that version of him. I’ve had a few people tell me they like my portrayal. So I must be doing something right?)

ARE YOU A SENSITIVE PERSON?   YES / NO. / SORTA. (tbh I’m more sensitive when it comes to my friends or family. Most times I’m pretty level headed when it comes to myself, nowadyas anyway.)

DO YOU ACCEPT CRITICISM WELL ABOUT YOUR PORTRAYAL?   —  (For the most part yes and I don’t usually let any negativity get to me.  But if someone doesn’t like my portrayal for some reason then you’re welcome to unfollow me. Maybe I’m not the Minato for you then?)

DO YOU LIKE QUESTIONS, WHICH HELP YOU TO EXPLORE YOUR CHARACTER?   — (DEF I love any questions I get so please def ask me stuff if you are curious.)

IF SOMEONE DISAGREES TO A HEADCANON OF YOURS, DO YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY? — (Yes, just so I can get a better idea of the flaws it may have, then I can better construct it if I see it as a valid reason for possibly not working. If I don’t see any problem with it then it’s still staying )

IF SOMEONE DISAGREES WITH YOUR PORTRAYAL, HOW WOULD YOU TAKE IT?   —  (If my portrayal doesn’t fit your idea of Minato then perhaps I’m not the Minato for you and the unfollow button is always there. No harm done really. )

IF SOMEONE REALLY HATES YOUR CHARACTER, HOW DO YOU TAKE IT? — (Hey man, just don’t try and kill my vibe by cutting down my muse right in front of me and we’re good. Of course there is always the unfollow button. ) 

ARE YOU OKAY WITH PEOPLE POINTING OUT YOUR GRAMMATICAL ERRORS?   —  (Totally, I make quite a few sometimes, if it ever bothers you, please let me know kindly and I’ll have no problem fixing it, But if it doesn’t bug ya the we good. )

DO YOU THINK YOU ARE EASY GOING AS A MUN? — (I like to think so, I used to be pretty shy on here, but after 5 years on here I’m chill with pretty much everything. ) 

[rational-mastermind]

King’s Cafe Ch 1

HELL YES we’re starting this year off with a shit ton of writing!!

Now fair warning to the five others in this fandom and what few read my writing for the sheer sake of it: I’m not intending on making this a serious fanfic. Trilby won’t save the day or have any sort of epic quest to save the coffee shop. Just...more like glorified head canons than anything. How they meet. What others do with their modern-day life. A few consistencies, but nothing major. No over arcing plots. Hell no real plot at all. Just slice-of-life shit. That being said, enjoy.

--

Chapter 1 - Introductions

 On the corner, at the intersection between Bronwyn road and Kings street, sat a small cafe which was aptly named King’s Cafe. It was small and quaint and obviously trying its best. Nothing too fancy or special. A modest little coffee shop that got by on the average. It had its share of regulars and made decent enough sales to keep the employees paid.

 And one employee in particular, Siobhan O’Malley, was running late.

 She hurried into the store and closed the door behind her. She sighed disappointed and frustrated, knowing she’s likely to hear about her tardiness from the manager, Cabadath. But now wasn’t a time for self-pity. Now was a time for work. She came over to the door to the worker’s back room, grabbed her apron, punched in, heard the snide remark from Cabadath about being a few minutes late, and came out, ready to start her day.

 First she headed to the back to check on their resident baker, John DeFoe.

 John was an unusual lad. He was tall, pale as a ghost, and lanky, practically skin and bones. He had a gaunt face and hollowed eyes, but he wasn’t really as spooky as he appeared. He was actually very timid and sweet, but a hard worker as well.

 He always arrived first, bright and early, to get started on the cakes and doughnuts and pastries. It would’ve been a surprise that the cafe’s management even allowed him to have so much free reign, but it was no secret that his baking was what really brought in customers. Between his sweet treats and the way his twin brother, Matthew, would ice and decorate and customize each and every cookie, it was a wonder you could call it a cafe at all and not just a bakery.

 Siobhan peeked into the kitchen to check on him, the sweet warm smell of spices, yeast, and fresh brewed coffee already wafting about the air.

 “Morning!” she greeted cheerfully.

 John was in the middle of stirring up dough and looking at a recipe on the company’s laptop. He jumped, slightly startled, before his gaze became expressionless once more, as it normally was, and he fixed it on her. He gave a curt nod.

John was a mute. He could hear, and he often used sign-language as a means to communicate, though it was really only something Matthew understood. In all truth, it always made Siobhan uneasy and constantly in the dark of the lad’s real thoughts or intentions. She hoped the nod was meant well and she gave a thumbs-up in return, feeling momentarily stupid for doing so.

 “Morning, Ms. Siobhan!” Matthew’s sweet and excited voice rang out as he came in, from the pantry behind the kitchen, carrying a large tray full of different colored icing.

 Siobhan immediately started to lighten up and feel better. Matthew’s sunny disposition and youthful energy easily filled any room. A complimentary yang to John’s yin.

 “Hey Matt.” Siobhan smiled back. “How we looking today?”

 “Doing great! Same as always!” Matt replied easily.

 “Awesome.”

 Siobhan came back out to the main room and looked up at the chalkboard. She noticed Cabadath had already scribbled in specials for the day and the cake display was already polished and gleaming. She got started on brewing a few of the coffees, and, when ready, made herself a Caretaker. A personal favorite of the unusually named coffees they served.

 Siobhan then went about the cafe, setting chairs to tables, setting out the old magazines no one looks at, and setting pillows up on the couches, where they belonged.

 “S’cuse me, Siobhan.”

 She turned and saw Theo standing behind her with a broom and dustpan. An expectant and rather bored look on his face.

 “Oh! Yeah, sorry.” she stepped out of the way and Dacabe began sweeping under the couch. “When’d you come in?”

 “Same time as you. I came in right behind you.”

 “Oh..” Siobhan gave a weak grin. “Ah.. Sorry, I didn’t see you.”

 “No one ever does.”

 She rolled her eyes and walked away. Theo was always a bit of a crybaby. He was the janitor though, so not only was it easy to overlook him, it wasn’t exactly like he had the hardest job. Not in Siobhan’s opinion at least.

 Siobhan came to the front and pulled away the blinds and turned around the open sign. She came back to the counter.

 ‘5….

 ‘4….

 ‘3….

 ‘2….

 ‘1….’

 “Morning!” Claire’s voice rang out, out of breath but still perky. She hurried to the door to the back office and soon reappeared, dressed for work. “Hey! Sorry! Sorry I’m late!”

 “You’re right on time, Claire.” Siobhan grinned.

 Claire hurried around the counter, said good morning to the boys, and came back to the counter and began helping set things up for the morning.

 “So, how’s it going?” Claire asked.

 “Same old, same old.” Siobhan sighed with a patient smile.

 Claire worked the counters with Siobhan. She was a sweet, short, bespectacled woman. The type who loved to collect cat figurines and make movie references. She was bubbly and kind and claims to be psychic. Some believe her, some don’t. It didn’t really matter to Siobhan either way. Working with Claire was always a delight.

 They got the store ready and opened. After helping a few early morning patrons, Siobhan looked up at the clock. 9:30.

 She heard the door jingle and looked over in time to see Dr. Somerset walk in.

 “Morning, Somerset!” she called out with a smile.

 “Morning.” he greeted with a small nod.

 “You ordering anything this time?”

 “Maybe in a bit.” he walked over to the same corner he always sat at, in the arm chair underneath the space poster, and pulled out his laptop from his bag.

 Siobhan rolled her eyes. Somerset was nice enough, but being a psychologist, trying to get into the field, he was almost always jobless. As such, he hardly ever actually ordered coffee. Instead he sat on his laptop, scrolling through the internet, busy with job hunting.

 Not 3 minutes later did the door jingle for another regular.

 “Siobhan!” Prof. Abed Chahal called out, as soon as he came in. He was a good man, a history professor for the nearby university. He always came in on the weekend, carrying a suitcase.

 Siobhan waved, smiling.

 “Morning, Abed! What’ll it be?”

 “Ah.. I’m feeling adventurous today.” Abed thought for a moment, looking at the menu. “I think I’ll have a Guide.”

 “Got it. Anything else?”

 “Do the boys have any pastries ready?” he glanced over at the glass display of cakes and tarts.

 “They’ve already been baking. Whatcha need?”

 “Mmm.. What would you recommend?”

 “Hm. I think I saw Johnny put in a sheet of cookies!”

 “Well that sounds perfect. I’ll have one of those when they’re finished.”

 “Alright then.” Siobhan jotted down the order and rang him up.

 Abed walked over to a booth to wait. He sat down his suitcase, opened it up, and began setting up the chess board he always brought with him. Siobhan chuckled and watched him set up all the pieces.

 “Who are you gonna play today?” she asked.

 “Not sure, yet. But I’m sure I’ll find someone. Perhaps Johnny will entertain me on his break.”

 “Hm. Maybe.” though Siobhan was sure he wouldn’t.

 Johnny almost always liked to keep to himself and stay in the back. Abed was likely confusing him for Matthew.

 Time went by, she made the coffee, got the cookie, came out to the counter.

 “Abed, you’re coffee’s ready!” she immediately turned to find Chris Quinn, just as he was about to attempt shouting and scaring her. “Morning Chris.”

 “Aw- what?!” Chris’ face fell in disappointment. “Bullshit, how’d you know I was here?”

 “Because you do it almost every morning.” Siobhan chuckled. “And I heard Claire take your order.”

 “She’s a sharp one, Chris.” Abed was chuckling as he took his coffee.

 Chris blew a raspberry and proceeded to act like he was deflating and drape himself over the counter.

 “You’re no fun, Siobhan.”

 “And you’re still a child.” she chuckled.

 “Here’s your coffee, Chris!”, Claire nudged past Siobhan and handed him a cup. “One Arrogant Joe.”

 “Hell yes. Thank you!” he grinned and quickly bounced over to the couch beside Somerset and sat down to bug him instead.

 Chris Quinn was an odd one. A man who supposedly wrote for a living. He was childish, excited, exuberant, and eccentric. He would’ve looked like a psychopathic horror, with the dark bags under his wide eyes and the long black trench coat that had red splatter paint on it.

He was a type of person Claire would describe as “bright”, but not in the traditional sense of being intelligent. “Bright” as in the way a 1000 watt lightbulb would be bright. He was friendly with everyone, had a horrible caffeine and  sugar addiction, and was only ever kicked out once when he made everyone uncomfortable after downing 5 lattes on a dare and began talking about talking dog heads and zombies. He was mostly harmless, but has warned most of his slight schizophrenic tendencies.

 After a while, the doorbell rang once more and the last regular of this cafe’s dysfunctional family arrived; Jim Fowler.

 Jim was less common compared to others, being generally busy with school himself, but often stopped by on the weekends. He was a good, sensible lad who was on good terms with the DeFoe Twins, despite being a year younger. They go to the same school and on weekends, like today, Jim sometimes hangs around the shop and studies.

 “Morning, Jim. What’ll it be?”

 “Morning, Ms. O’Malley. Um..” Jim looked over the menu, thinking a moment before finally snapping his fingers with an answer. “Y’know? I think I’ll have the Bridgekeeper.”

 “Got it.”

 “Any of John’s cakes?”

 “Plenty!” Matt came around, setting up another baked good for the display. “Whatcha need?”

 “What was that one..? You guys were talking about it the other day. With the caramel?”

 “Ooh! Yeah, the Salty Bears! We just finished those!”

 Matt quickly disappeared into the back to retrieve his dish. Siobhan chuckled and rang him up.

 “Jimmy! Why don’t you sit down and play a round with me?” Abed asked, looking up from his board.

 “Wish I could, Abed, but I got studies!” Jim gave an apologetic grin.

 “Nonsense! It’s just one round!”

 “Mm. He should really study.” Claire chimed in, closing her eyes. “Big test coming up.” 

 “You’re telling me..” Jim rolled his eyes. “My dad’s gonna be all over me if I don’t pass.”

 He hurried to another table and sat down, sitting his backpack beside him and started pulling out his textbooks.

 “Welp, everyone’s here today.” Siobhan said to Claire.

 “Yup. Another day in the King’s Cafe.” Claire sighed contently.

 Jim soon got his coffee and pastry, and then it was just another, slow, typical day in the cafe.

 Abed managed to convince Matthew to play with him on his next break.

 A few randos came in and went out.

 Simone Taylor droned on in the background on a small TV mounted to the wall in the back.

 Chris decided he was done bugging Somerset and struck up a conversation with Siobhan while waiting for his next cup.

 “So, can I ask a serious question, Siobhan?” Chris was asking.

 “But you’re never serious.” Siobhan chuckled, pouring the milk into his latte, practicing her foam art.

 “No, come on. Really.”

 “Okay, fine, what?”

 “When are we gonna stop playing these silly games with each other?” he grinned suggestively.

 Siobhan laughed. It wasn’t the first time Chris was a flirt, let alone flirted with her. But as opposed to most guys, Siobhan didn’t think it wise to have even a casual fling with a man like Chris. She shook her head.

 “Chris, I still don’t know what game you’re talking about? But if you’re looking for a date Friday, the answer is still no.”

 “Aw, come on!”

 The door jingled and rang. Siobhan handed him his coffee.

 “Just take your drink, would...ya…” Siobhan’s thought slowed as she took in the recent customer.

 He was tall.

 He was handsome.

 He was well dressed.

 He was soaked to the bone.

 His long black hair clung damply to his pale face.

 He took off a small gray hat, a complementary part to the three piece grey pinstripe suit he wore, and shook the excess water off.

 He looked up and smiled at Siobhan, politely.

 “Good afternoon.” he said in a soft, posh, baritone voice.

 “Um..” Siobhan quickly shook her head and smiled readily. “Welcome to the King’s Cafe, sir. What can I get you?”

 “Well let’s see um…” the man frowned, reading the menu. “I’m...afraid I don’t quite understand what some of your options are.”

 “Oh! Right! Uh, the King’s Cafe has a few specials, and ergo a fun and special lingo for the customers.” Siobhan chuckled. “It’s a little silly really, but I’ll do my best to explain anything that catches your attention.”

 “Well.. What’s the Guide?”

 “The Guide is basically a Mead Raf.” Siobhan explained. “Espresso with a shot of honey and topped with heavy cream. Bitter, strong, but a hint of something sweet.”

 “Actually that already sounds lovely. I think I’ll try that.”

 “Coming right up, sir. Do you like cakes?”

 “Not often...” he said, looking at his watch, frowning thoughtfully. “...Perhaps another time.”

 “Alright then. I’ll get that coffee ready.”

 She rung him up and he paid, but was so distracted he left to a table and sat down immediately. He was carrying a leather messenger bag and quickly sat up in a corner booth, pulling out several notebooks and a laptop. He immediately got to work on whatever and it took Siobhan an embarrassing amount of time to realize she hadn’t asked his name.

 “Uh, sir? Sir?” but it was too late.

 The man was already too engrossed in whatever it was he was doing to hear her. Siobhan simply sighed and looked at the cup. She shrugged and drew a trilby on it. And that was when she realized the newcomer had caught everyone’s attention. Even Somerset and the DeFoe twins were all looking over, trying to get a look at the strange man.

 “...Alright, come on you guys, there’s nothing to see. He’s just another customer.” Siobhan rolled her eyes and got to work.

 “He is kinda cute though.” Claire grinned, leaning over the counter to look better.

 “Claire.” Siobhan said disapprovingly.

 “Hell maybe he’ll wanna go out this Friday.” Chris grinned.

 “Chris, you’re not even gay.” Siobhan looked at him, confused.

 “So?” Chris immediately went over to introduce himself.

 Siobhan internally cringed. She hated when Chris did this with other customers. The one time it was funny because a guy named Philip clocked him in the face, but aside from that, it was usually just embarrassing and frustrating.

 “Hey!” Chris greeted, taking a seat opposite of the man. “So what’s your name?”

 The man didn’t skip a beat, and continued to type away on his keyboard, slowing only to reach over with one hand and hold up a notebook he was looking at. One hand still typing away while he read.

 Chris sat there for a moment before leaning over a little closer, looking over the notebook.

 “Whatcha working on there?” he reached to move the notebook down a little.

 “Your demise if you so much as touch this notebook.” was the sharp and quiet answer.

 Chris immediately retreated. The man continued on, unphased.

 “I’ve no time for idle chit-chat, thank you.” the man said politely. “I’ve a very important deadline.”

 “Then maybe another time? ‘Nother place?”

 “Here and now is plenty for me to worry about. I’ve no interest in any further plans.”

 Siobhan chuckled at how utterly rejected Chris looked. Eventually she finished the order and looked over at him. She wasn’t sure at first how to address him, but figured if she had to, she’ll go over and tap him on the shoulder.

 “Um.. Sir? W-with the trilby?” she leaned over the counter a little.

 At that, as if by magic, the man’s head popped up from his work

 “Hm? Me? Oh, yes.”

 He came over and grabbed the coffee.

 “Thank you very much, miss.” he smiled politely.

 “Wait, what’s your-?” He already turned and retreated back to his corner.

 “Maybe his name’s Trilby?” Claire suggested.

 “What kind of name is that?” Siobhan scoffed.

 “Hm, judging by his laptop and notebooks, it could be a pseudonym.” Somerset commented thoughtfully. “Likely an author or writer of some sort.”

 “You think he’s here to stay?” Chris asked.

 “Whatcha mean?” Claire asked.

 “Well I mean.. Look at us.” Siobhan shrugged. “Normally we’re all here at some point or another. Sometimes with Philip or Janine.”

 “Oh.. So you think maybe he’s gonna…” Claire looked back and Chris helpfully finished the sentence.

 “Stick around.”

 Everyone was looking at him curiously now, lost in their own thoughts and assumptions.

 Siobhan watched him for a while, serious and busy hammering away at his laptop. He occasionally paused only to look over his notes once more or to sigh, rub his chin, and soon enough get back to typing. Perfectly content and oblivious to the world around him. She smiled.

 “...Maybe he will.”