#this is so long omg

[wahgifs]

STRAY KIDS - "ATE" TRAILER 🥠

[writing-whump]

Would love a part 3 of fevered Isaiah!! (psst. they’ll have to call seline and Matt at some point, right? Maybe something about them picking zaya up when he’s a bit better and taking care of him until he’s fully recovered?)

Also he’s breaking my heart with the mom thing :(

But also “ow” was so cute <3 🍄

Thank you! I really liked this idea cause I didn't see it coming at all and then it kind of fit together...emotional stressed out Hector, Arnie with a headache, Isaiah still very weak.

I managed to put in as many requests as I could! Big thank you to everyone who send their ideas!!✨️

Isaiah sick part 3

Arnie woke up in the morning on the couch, freezing. He rubbed at his eyes, trying to identify what could have woken him up and how he got there.

The flashes from last night flooded his head in a rush, making him stagger as he got up. Ah right.

The door closed softly which alerted him to further movement.

Hector got out from their guest room, currently occupied by Isaiah. He didn't move at all, rooted to the spot, eyes downcast, shirt all crumpled.

"Hex?" Arnie whispered.

Hector didn't lift his head.

Arnie tiptoed closer to put a hand on his elbow. "Hey..."

Hector let out a heavy sigh before suddenly pulling him into a hug. Arnie's head went back a little as he was crushed against his brother's chest unexpectedly. "That bad, huh?"

Hector said nothing, but breathed in, all loud and shaky near Arnie's ear.

This must have been the longest hug Arnie had gotten from Hector in a while. And it was for a change for his sake more than Arnie's. "I'm sorry. You could have woken me up-"

"No. You got the first half, I got the second," Hector mumbled, still holding him like he barely kept himself from breaking Arnie's bones.

"How is he?"

That was when Hector finally loosed his grip. "Asleep. Still feverish, but nothing like before. I will hear if something comes up."

Hector trailed towards the living room though like he craved nothing more than to put a bit of distance between himself and that room. He collapsed on the coach into the mess of blankets Arnie slept in, rubbing at his forehead with both hands.

Arnie felt torn for a second, but figured Hector wouldn't have left Isaiah alone if he wasn't semi-stable. He sat down next to him. Waiting for whatever would bubble up. It wasn't like Hector to suppress his feelings.

"I fucked up real bad."

Arnie perked up, eyes narrowing. "Whatever do you mean?" There was a lot to choose from.

"With Isaiah."

"He said something in his sleep?"

Hector hesitated. "He said a bunch of stuff that he wasn't aware of. But did you see...his look in the bathtub?" Hector carded a hand through his hair, his face still pressed against the other one. "How scared of me he was?"

"He was just panicking cause he didn't understand what was happening."

"He must hate me so much." Hector looked up to Arnie, his expression crumbled and heartbroken. His amber eyes were shimmering. "He would really believe I would- but why wouldn't he, right? He could never rely on me back at home- I told him when we saw each other- such horrible things- and he-" Hector broke off, breathing picking up as he spiraled himself into a panic.

Arnie put a hand on his shoulder, shifting closer. "Hex."

"You never gave up on him. But I did. I hated him for so long, I played right into father's hands, into every self-destructive, self-loathing martyr illusion Isaiah wanted-"

"Hex," Arnie said, more firmly now as he own stomach somersaulted at the words.

Hector made a strangled sound at the back of his throat, then looked away, burying his face back into his hands. "He is right to hate me for that."

"He doesn't hate you," Arnie sighed, climbing behind Hector's heaving back.

"But he should. How could I have ever thought- ever believed- ever given up on him like that?"

Arnie leaned against Hector's back, wrapping his arms around his broad chest. Just holding him as he fought with the air in his lungs. He was trembling all over in Arnie's hold.

"You didn't give up," Arnie said into the silence when he thought Hector calmed down enough to listen. "You followed after him. Trained like crazy to get a branch position in the city he was at. Went to the same school. Did missions around his neighbourhood. You kept obsessing and hating him, wanted to defeat him, overcome him - don't you get it? You were always trying to stay connected to him. The opposite of love isn't hate, it's indifference."

The trembling was dying down. Arnie propped his chin on the top of Hector's head, the curls tickling against his cheek.

He dipped forward as Hector folded over his knees with a quiet gasp.

Arnie understood before Hector. Just like he usually did when it came to Hector's emotions.

"Take deep breaths. It's gonna be alright. Don't worry about anything, okay? I'll check on Isaiah."

It was a testament of how badly Hector felt, still bend forward guiltiling himself into a stomachache, that he let Arnie take over.

...

"You look pale."

Arnie almost jumped out of his skin when Isaiah said that. It was the most coherent sentence since last night.

"I look pale? You should look at yourself, man." He was so happy to hear Isaiah speak he jumped up onto the edge of the bed. A bit quicker than he should have, maybe. There was pressure building behind his eyes.

"What happened?" Isaiah still lost lost beneath the covers, hair sprawled around his sheet white face. But his eyes were clearer now, getting back their worried edge.

"Not much," Arnie said nonchalantly. "You got sick and feverish. Hector watched over you at night."

Arnie picked up the glass of rehydration solution, inserting the straw with a hint of satisfaction that it was proving useful. He held it against Isaiah's lips until the older man took a couple of hesitant sips.

"Where is Hector now?" Trust Isaiah to pick up on that.

"Taking a breather. Didn't get a wink of sleep."

Isaiah's frown deeped into something hurt and guilty.

"Not that that's a problem!" Arnie added quickly. "He was happy to do it."

Isaiah stared at him in a way that made him shiver. "Something's wrong." It wasn't a question.

"No, you are just sick." Which was technically the source of the problem. Arnie put his hand against Isaiah's cheek and then forehead. Still low-grade fever, but getting better.

"Get some more sleep. Everything’s fine." They could get into the drama tomorrow.

Isaiah looked like he wanted to protest, blinking rapidly to get himself awake.

Arnie took his hand, rubbing over his knuckles. The effect was surprisingly strong and almost immediate. Isaiah's body relaxed although he didn't, eyelids falling shut.

Arnie could tell when he went under by the frown clearing away.

...

Isaiah woke up rapid pounding in his chest.

He was sweaty all over again and his heart was racing as if he was running or in the middle of a difficult spar. He felt every beat against his ribs, the muscles straining. Was he supposed to be so aware of where his heart was and what was hurting about it?

Lifting himself up proved to be a challenge. His arms were shaking from the strain, but he wanted to see if sitting up would help with the fluttering sensation of something big and angry trapped in his ribcage.

As the pressure eased slightly, a new problem emerged—dizziness. The room spun wildly, preventing him from focusing.

He swayed on the bed and threw his legs over the edge of the bed blindly. Giving the walls time to get back into place and stop waving.

Nobody was in his room. But at least he recognized where he was, so he wasn't hallucinating from fever anymore.

When the waving on the floor and walls receded, Isaiah took a couple of deep breaths in preparation to drag himself to his feet. The room swayed and swam again, but he was braced for it, leaning on the wall for support.

The apartment was too quiet. Hector should have heard his out of the bounds bearing heart, but didn't.

Something more serious must have been happening and he wanted to see what it was, damn it.

He struggled with the door handle and had to go at snail pace. A hand against the wall at all times. He took frequent stops to just breathe and blink the blacks spots from his vision.

Isaiah reached for his shadow on instinct. He was hurting so he wanted it fixed. His shadow obediently rippled up and through him. Focusing on his chest, trying to ease the painful papilations. The hopeful anticipation made it better for a couple of seconds, but by the time his shadow pulled back, the pounding was back the same.

Ah. So this was the heart issue then. Made worse by the fever strain?

At least he wouldn't have to worry about it being serious. Gridding your teeth and powering through was his specialty, anyway. He was more frustrated by the slow pace he had to take and the several dizzy spells that forced him to take breaks.

By the time he made it to the living room, his legs were shaking, muscles randomly twitching. The thudding of his heart got worse, more intense, pounding loudly in his ears. This was exhausting as hell.

Hector was sitting curled up on the sofa, head in his hands. Arnie was on the floor by his side, head leaning on his forearm with a pained line between his eyebrows.

They both looked up as he shuffled nearer in shock. Truly too preoccupied to have heard him. "Alright, what's going on?"

"Why are you standing up?" Hector said, shoulders jumping as he glared at Isaiah. Then he winced as if the mere sight hurt and looked to the side.

"Because," Isaiah grunted, leaning his whole side and shoulder against the wall to keep his balance. "What's wrong with you two?"

"No one was there, when you woke up," Arnie realized, clumsily climbing to his feet. "I'm sorry. How's the fever? I'll get you more aspirin and water, okay?" He hurried away apologetically.

Isaiah focused his swaying gaze on Hector. "You look worse than me."

"You wish," Hector murmured instinctively, but the playful bite was missing. "You are barely keeping upright. Sit down at least." But Isaiah noted that Hector didn't move to help.

"You couldn't have caught it so quickly," Isaiah mused as he eased himself on the ground. Everything was spinning again and he was getting light-headed. His heart was fluttering and jumping painfully and he felt like he coud pass out any second. "What happened last night?"

Hector pressed his lips together together, hands balled into fists.

Isaiah's head pounded in synch with his heart as he tried to focus. The clarity from sleeping was leaving, his thoughts sticking together at random places. His heart made another painful flip.

"Your heartbeat is weird," Hector said suddenly, tilting his head in his direction.

"I noticed," Isaiah said dryly. He was getting frustrated. There was nothing he could do to help. Physically or mentally, he couldn't even grasp whatever the problem was. "It's fucking exhausting," he said quietly, face twisting as he rode out another flutter. His hands and feet were tingling.

Hector's eyes widened and he sprang to his feet this time. "All the more reason to get you back in bed. Come on."

Hector's hands were stiff and cold as he helped Isaiah back to his feet and to the room. Isaiah was barely registering at that point, the way back so much faster than his long stride to get there.

The whole time, Hector didn't look him in the face or meet his gaze. Something about his was closed off, upset, like knives under his skin. Hurting, but buried too deep to be visible.

Hector was about to hurry away from Isaiah's reach, knowing he couldn't follow a second time.

"Arnie looks like he is in pain," Isaiah croaked.

Hector stopped in his tracks, but didn't turn back.

"You look like you are too. Please. You gotta tell me what's wrong," Isaiah insisted, voice trailing away.

Hector's hand gripped the doorframe. It creaked from the force. "Go back to sleep and get better. That's enough."

Isaiah's eyes were burning and he knew it was from the fever and the constant fluttering pain. But not being able to help, solve or get involved? He could not imagine anything worse.

So he reached for his phone, thoughtfully prepared on the nightstand by Arnie.

...

"Is this the right place?" Seline asked, looking around even with her heavy bag filled with groceries. "It's such a fancy building."

"That's Wolfson pack for ya," Matthew grumbled. He was carrying two even bigger bags. "Definitely the right one. I can smell Hector all the way from here."

"Won't we get in trouble with his pack?"

Matthew took a careful breath through his nose. "He is the only wolf on the floor. They must be scared shitless to live any closer."

Seline nodded. That was good. Hector and Isaiah being on good terms was still not quite in the open, considering the truth about Isaiah's father wasn't known to the rest of the pack.

"I still can't believe he allowed us to come," Matthew said, eyebrows furrowed as they moved forward.

"He outright asked us," Seline said, agreeing with the sentiment. It was highly unusual for Isaiah. All the more because they have never been to Hector's and Arnie's place before.

She opened the door first since Matthew's hands were full and she wasn't sure about his reaction. Matthew and Hector could be considered allies, right? Since they have helped each other before and because of Isaiah...

Yeah, better she went first. No wolf would harm a witch. They could actually make use of that natural calming effect here.

A slim blond kid was just exiting the kitchen, when they came in. This had Hector jumping to his side that second.

They weren't expected then.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Hector growled at Matthew. He looked pale and sickly green. Like he was the one sick. It was a bit hard to take him seriously, stripped down to a white undershirt and shorts.

"Saving your sorry ass, as usual," Matthew said, puffing his chest out with a grin.

"I didn't ask you to-"

"Hey, you must be Arnie," Seline interjected, looking at the smaller blond. Arnie looked so much like Isaiah she was still gawking. Like a perfect mini-copy, minus the blond hair that was longer, more tousled and therefore wavy. His wide green eyes stirred something protective in her.

18 years old. Her brother Dylan was 19 and she knew the age didn't change anything about the teen being a big buff, but stupid and childish just the same. It was one trouble after another with him. But Arnie looked young. It made her heart ache to think Isaiah was this age when he left the pack behind.

"I'm Seline. Nice to meet you." She offered her hand hesitantly since she had to reach beside Hector to do so. "Isaiah told me so much about you."

Arnie looked a bit awed but took her hand. "Hello." He looked at Hector for directions like a lost puppy. The older put himself protectively between Matthew and Arnie, glaring daggers at the redhead.

Matthew shook his head. "Chill out, man. I wouldn't do anything to Isaiah's little brother."

"But to a random human kid you would?"

"Fuck you."

Hector growled.

"You are on his territory, you know," Arnie said quietly. "You shouldn't open your mouth at him like that."

Matthew narrowed his eyes at Arnie. "You are pretty mouthy yourself."

Arnie stood his ground, despite the wolf being much taller than him. His green eyes glinted with spite. "I'm not gonna cower in front of you just cause you have a shadow and a temper, mate.

Seline cleared her throat. That was worse than she expected. "Isaiah said we better come because you aren't doing so well." Both brothers seemed pale and strained to her.

"We are fine," Hector hissed. "We don't need help and we didn't call you and what the fuck is this supposed to mean-"

"It means you managed to stress Isaiah out. Again." It sounded like a joke, but Matthew's expression was anything but.

Hector's face reddened and he actually winced like he got punched. Arnie scowled. "Who do you think you are to-"

"Okay," Seline said. Matthew was way too protective and strung up to not react to Hector, who seemed way too unsteady on his feet to her. "Matt, would you be so nice and go check on Isaiah. Thank you."

It was strange to her that he was alone in the room while the two were roaming here. Something was off. "I got a bunch of groceries, so maybe one of you could show me where to put them?"

Matthew moved to sidestep Hector, but the other wolf didn't budge out of the way.

"Hector," Seline amended, kicking herself. All that stuff about hierarchies and shadows that Isaiah tried to explain came to her mind. "You guys have been doing a great job helping. Can we help too? You know how seconds get with their leaders out of commission." Nobody minded she was Isaiah's girlfriend and dying to go check on him herself. "May we?"

Hector huffed, but something in him deflated at the formulation, his shadow satisfied. Matthew quickly walked through to Isaiah's room, leaving her alone with the brothers.

"He's an asshole," Hector growled, then swayed and braced against the wall. One of his arms snaked around his stomach.

Seline frowned, not sure if she should call him out on it or not. "Hector-"

"I'm fine," he grumbled, no heat in his voice. Her witchy magical aura was doing its job. He didn't mind her talking back or being there. She wasn't sure if she would dare to come if that wasn't an effect she could count on. "Help Arnie, he's got a headache."

He turned away. Seline was about to ask more questions, but when she noticed he went into the bathroom, she stopped. She would check on him later.

"Headache or migraine?" Seline said, looking at Arnie. The kid was still pounting, looking between Isaiah's door and the bathroom where Hector had just disappeared to.

"You know about that too? Geez," Arnie said with a wince. "What groceries?"

Seline shrugged. "It sounded to me like Isaiah wanted you taken care of. I got things for a soup, meds, all kinds of things for stress, digestion, fever,...painkillers..." she said, looking at him.

Arnie sighed. "It's nothing. I'm used to it."

"What number?"

Arnie frowned at her. "How do you know about the numbers?"

"You are not the only one with migraines in the family. If it's just the onset of a migraine, maybe we could stop it from developing further. What about you lie down, get some painkillers, and relax? Would that be possible?"

Arnie shuffled his feet. "I should help Hector, he is..."

"Taking it hard, isn't he," Seline said gently. "I heard he gets sick when emotional."

"I don't know if I like that you know so much," Arnie said with a grimace.

"It's not my fault Isaiah can't shut up about you two," she said with a wink. She felt another wave of affection and protectiveness, looking at how undecided and lost Arnie was.

"Did you have any breakfast yet?"

Arnie looked away, hands going into his pockets. Was he boycotting her?

"You have been helping a lot, haven't you. But you won't help anyone if the headache gets into a full blown migraine, right?"

He looked at her sullenly then, biting into his cheek.

"You don't have to feel bad about it. Just let me take care of you so you can be back to worrying full stop. Did you have anything to eat yet?

Arnie shook his head no.

"Then maybe eating could also help with the sugar low. What are you in the mood for? Ham and eggs? Croissant? Cucumber salad?"

"Cucumber salad?"

"Just cut cucumbers and yogurt and salt. Best food for warm summer days."

When Arnie didn't immediately say no, she took it as a yes.

...

Isaiah couldn't really sleep. He just drifted in and out from a pained haze. There were flashes of memories and the faces of his brothers. A feeling of dread. His chest hurt, like something was pressing on it.

There were sounds coming from the door, but he wasn't sure he wasn't just dreaming it up.

Until light came from the opened door, the only source since the windows were covered.

"Hey, Zaya, don't pretend you are asleep, I can tell."

Isaiah opened his eyes at Matthew's playful tone, immense relief washing over him. "Hey."

Matthew invited himself inside, perching on the edge of the bed. "Dude, you look rough. It's somehow hitting you worse than me."

"I'm sorry I had to call you," Isaiah whispered, slowly lifting himself up on his arms.

"I'm sorry you caught the plague from me," Matthew said back, waving off his apology. "And I'm glad you called. I would be fucking pissed if you didn't, to be honest."

Isaiah snickered feebly, finally managing to sit up. The room was spinning again. His head felt floaty, like it was about to fall off.

"Okay, spill it. What's wrong and what can I do?"

"Oh, you know. Feverish, dizzy, scaring the crap out of everyone."

Matthew seemed to have picked up on how hard it was for Isaiah to move, cause he shifted out of the way, leg bent on the bed to be closer. "Still with the fever?"

"It's better. But I really wanna get out of here." He hung his head, blinking at the black spots in his vision. "Please."

"Man, if you aren't feeling good yet, we can just stay here. Don't think your two hosts are very eager to let you go."

Isaiah gulped down uneasily. "I never should have stayed. Shouldn't have come. They never should have seen me like this-"

"Zaya, come on. You can't give yourself such impossible goals. Everyone gets sick sometimes. They will get over it."

Isaiah fought hard against the pressure in his throat. "B-but they are so broken down by this - look at what it does to them." Arnie was on the edge of a migraine, Hector barely standing from how nauseous he felt, and neither being able to look him in the eye. "Must be so disappointing-"

"Cut that crap," Matthew said sternly. "They are not. You just scared them a little."

"Then let's leave here already," Isaiah all but whined, swaying forward. Matthew turned so Isaiah could lean into his side, taking his weight.

"Nope. I think this is good, actually. They need to see this. That you are human too." He draped his arm around Isaiah's sweaty back, pulling him closer. "Just maybe portion it a out little more next time."

Isaiah chuckled, then coughed when that limited his oxygen a bit more than he wanted. He pressed his forehead into Matthew's shoulder. His chest felt tight and he was dripping with sweat from how much his heart struggled to be visible and on his mind at all times.

"Your breathing is all off," Matthew said, eyebrows knitted together in concern. He rubbed Isaiah's arm up and down. "And why is your heart doing that?"

Isaiah clenched his jaw, plastering up a crooked smile. "That's a new one."

"I don't think you should be feverish for that long with...that."

Isaiah was just happy he could let go so completely in front of Matthew. He was basically slumped against him, the pressure from his chest and his breathing coming a little easier when upright.

"Anything I can do? Aside moving you, that is."

Isaiah took a shuddering breath, closing his eyes. He didn't understand this at all. It wasn't like Matthew could take away from the crushing pressure, the way his chest seized and let go or the tiredness of the fast pulse. But leaning against him like this, him being all concerned and eager to play a support pillar made it feel more manageable. Warmth was spreading over his chest and his hands weren't trembling so much anymore.

When Isaiah didn't say anything, Matthew sighed. The hand around his back went up into his hair, brushing the sweaty strands away from his face. A trickle of perspiration ran down the side of Isaiah's face. He shuddered at the sensation.

Matthew grabbed one of the drying up towels from the night and gently nabbed at his face and neck. "Christ, you are giving your body a run for it."

"Wasn't like this yesterday...chest hurts all over," he said quietly, daring to rub at his left side where his heart was pounding against the flesh and his skin with a vengeance.

"Okay, shhh. Relax. Breathe and relax, everything is fine."

"Feels like I'm gonna pass out. Since morning. Just..." he motioned at himself, hiding his face against the spot between Matt's neck and shoulder.

Matthew tensed, but his voice was steady. "Yeah, I got you, man. It's fine. You know if you feel like...passing out, then just...ehh...do it? I'm right here."

Isaiah had to smile a little at the reassurance. He turned his face to the side so he could breathe more freely, still leaning against Matthew's shoulder. He fisted his hand in Matthew's shirt like he could hold onto him when he started to fall.

"I hate seeing you like this," Matthew growled in frustration. "I wish there was something more to do. Like pills or something that would make it better."

"I'm inclined to agree with you today," Isaiah whispered, letting his eyes fall shut. Whether he fell unconscious or just asleep, he was too tired to fight it.

And he knew Matthew would be there either way.

...

"How is Arnie?" Hector said tiredly.

When Hector didn't immediately bite her head off, Seline slipped inside the bathroom, closing the door gently behind her. "I got him to eat, lay down and take some painkillers. If he manages to sleep, he will should feel better soon."

Hector peered at her with dull eyes. He was curled up on the floor, between the toilet and the bathtub. Sweat was beading on his big eyebrows and he was hugging his knees to himself.

She stood there awkwardly, watching him. She was not good with the soothing words and hand-holding. But she could be practical. "Did you throw up?"

Hector turned his head away. There was a long minute of silence where she could see the muscle in his jaw clenching and relaxing. "...No. Still feels like I might."

"Stomach hurts or just nauseous?"

He lay his head on top of his knees. "Kinda both."

"Okay." Selined went out and returned quickly with a small bottle of coke. "Take a sip of this."

He glared at her. "For real? Why?"

"Phosphoric acid, caffeine and sugar. All really good against nausea." Especially when it comes from the mind, she added to herself.

Hector gave her an indignant look, but she just knelt by his side, waiting. Finally, he took the bottle, screwing it open to take a small sip.

"There. It works like a charm, I swear."

"Not the kind of charm I expected," Hector grumbled. He tensed a little after the first sip, but then relaxed and took a few more.

"Ice cream also helps. I got a bland one with me." When Hector gave her another weirded out look, she shrugged. "Something about the coldness is soothing."

Hector uncurled his legs, taking more daring sips from the coke as he leaned against the wall.

"You know," Hector said after a while, "this is a pretty crude invasion of privacy."

Seline sighed. "Look. I can leave you alone if you prefer, but sometimes just having someone around helps. Mind if I sit with you for a bit?"

Hector was quiet again, before clenching his teeth together and giving a tiny little nod.

Seline suppressed a smile and sat down on the floor next to him. She stretched out her hand. "If you want, you know, the witchy kinda help..."

It wasn't entirely comfortable to be touching a strange wolf and she would be having contact with his shadow...which was pretty damn intimate kind of contact. But she knew the magic in her skin was humming to him, that he was able to react more calmly around her and if the contact itself helped clear his head and stop feeling so shitty...she was willing.

Hector recoiled from her. "No." He balled his hands into fists, glaring angrily at the opposite wall.

He was upset, but suppressed his shadow's reaction. He was polite or brought up strictly enough to not take a witch's offer of contact lightly, even though his shadow must have been singing to touch her.

Seline could tell he had a temper going and he was quick to raise to Matt's provocations, but his shadow never moved. He was more like Isaiah that way.

Seline settled more comfortably against the wall, wondering what else to say. Silence was a good tool though. People were so uncomfortable with it they often started talking just to fill it.

"I'm so lame, aren't I," Hector said into the quiet echoing off the bathroom tiles. "He is sick and I'm-" he broke off, pressing his closed fist against his forehead.

Seline didn't say anything, mirroring his position of hugging her knees and watching him with bright blue eyes.

"During...during the fever, he got scared. Of me," Hector admitted, talking slowly. "And I get it. He doesn't have a reason to trust me. I was the one who-...but he acts like he does and he shouldn't, cause I don't deserve it anyway." His throat bobbed audibly at the end and he pressed his lips together tightly.

"Are you upset he trusts you or that he doesn't?"

Hector shook his head, head leaning more against the wall as he squeezed his eyes shut. "I made a mistake. I shouldn't- he shouldn't be even giving me a chance."

Seline leaned her head back just as he did, looking at the wall, parallel to his gaze.

She was starting to see the trick. Hector figured out a balance of not letting his shadow go, but expressing his feelings openly. It was completely different from Matt or Isaiah. Expecially in contrast to the latter, it was very refreshing.

"Your shadow," she said. "You are angry, but it doesn't react. Matthew can't do it. Usually, his emotions and shadow are too tightly linked."

Hector's forehead creased as he opened his eyes. "What?"

"But I still trust him. Love him, you know? It's not like that stops just because you make a mistake."

"That was the biggest mistake of my life."

"Well, at least you can make sure you won't do it again," she said.

"But what if I don't deserve another chance?" Hector whispered.

"I don't believe that's your call. He should decide if you are worth the effort. And he obviously decided you are. Don't doubt what strength he puts into that choice."

"So what am I supposed to do?"

"Don't leave him. Don't do it again. Act like you deserve his trust until you do." She looked at him and added more gently: "Prove it to him and to yourself."

Hector met her gaze steadily, before breaking off with a sudden burst of hoarse laugh. "Jesus, that's heavy literature. Do you have an answer for everything?"

"Well..." she blushed, looking away. "You asked."

[apoptoses]

JESS i’m having louis/armand/daniel brain rot again, i wanna know your thoughts 🥺 specifically like, are there any things that armand and daniel enjoyed during their DM years that you think they might pick back up with louis at trinity gate? i feel like in my head, daniel is always kind of the third wheel (at trinity gate, at least), but i’m really fascinated by the idea of LOUIS being the one to step into their world for a change

oh man oh man, I LOVE this question!! and i have so many thoughts!!

Movies: we know Louis watches movies from how he kept showing up at Lestat's in body thief to stare at his tv lol But I think Armand and Daniel have so many inside jokes from all of the weirdo movies they used to watch, or quotes that they repeat and Louis doesn't get it. So I think they'd really enjoy sitting him down and subjecting him to the Worst Hits of Armand's Movie Phase.

And Daniel especially would enjoy the validation that some of these are fuckin terrible films LOL They could mind gift back and forth about how insipid Louis finds the plot until Daniel is sitting there choking back laughter because finally, someone who agrees Time Bandits isn't that funny.

Video Games: I don't mean modern console games, I mean like classic arcade games and pinball machines. Which Armand probably has a whole room of them in the basement somewhere, lovingly restored and in perfect condition. And I think Louis would be a little hesitant- he seems like the type who acts 'above' certain things just because if he tries it and sucks at it he'll feel humiliated. But even he can't resist the siren call of PacMan and eventually he's knocked them both down on the scoreboard and taken the top spot.

(Also they like to go out a lot so sometimes they end up at like, Dave n Busters LOL Which is far more contentious because ugh, it's noisy and tacky and smells like that radioactive 'cheese' mortals cover their nachos with. But your jock!Louis headcanons have bewitched me and I think they could soothe him by getting him to shoot hoops on the basketball game)

Going Out-Out: Louis is such a homebody when left to his own devices and now that they've got Trinity Gate, home to whatever vampires want to stop by, what's the point in spending time among mortals?

So they'd ease him in with some random one-off classes ("Come, Louis, we've an appointment to learn to make fresh pasta tonight" "Yeah, I know, what's the point when we don't eat, just don't argue with him, it'll be fun" And you know what? It is). And then they'd take him to random stuff from the meetup app (or not so random, because both of them know Louis wouldn't be able to resist debating strangers at a weekly book club).

And then they're back to running around strange apartment buildings to meet up and coming artists, and accepting invites to follow their classmates down to a local bar, and crashing the sets of night shoots around New York. It goes better when it's the three of them because when someone is over it and ready to go home there's no obligation to stay and keep their partner company. No pressure to do anything but enjoy existing together out in the world for a few hours.

Special mentions:

board games (the more obscure the better)

travel (this time Louis and Daniel are more mentally present lol)

letting armand play sugar daddy and picking their outfits for the ballet (which leads to some altercations that have armand feeling like that post about 'help my subs have unionized')

weird 70s/80s craft nights (louis ends up gifting his tie dye shirt to lestat, armand and daniel send theirs to marius)

'treasure hunting' aka scamming the wealthy out of their art collections (louis doesn't care about the value, he does however feel some righteous indignation over important historical pieces being kept in vaults as some tech bro's 'investment'; daniel is just happy to finally understand how armand does it, and take part in it himself)

abusing kitchen gadgets (doesn't matter who you are, playing 'will it blend' can catch the fascination of even the most arrogant, erudite vampires)

[znghao]

this is ZEROBASEONE !

[phoenixkaptain]

Random thoughts time! Splinter of the Mind’s Eye edition~

1. I’ve already said how much the novel changed my perception of Luke, but it did the same to my perception of Leia. She tells Luke that she joined the Rebellion because she was bored and she discovered that the Empire didn’t allow art because it could so easily be used to create free thinkers and she wanted those free thinkers to be allowed, encouraged even, to create. She likes arts and she likes people and she likes people’s art.

2. Leia is the best combatant. In one book alone, she: kicks a guy so hard in the face she almost decapitates him, manages to sweep the legs out from beneath someone, claws a man until he passes out, goes toe-to-fucking-toe with Darth Fucking Vader with Luke’s lightsaber and actually manages to hold her own pretty well, throws an axe into a person’s shoulder while she and her target are both running. She’s so cool in this book, and every time you think “oh they’re gonna do the sexist damsel thing again” it turns out that Leia was just biding her time. So. Fucking. Cool.

Also, my favourite Leia scenes because they’re funny:

“”That should give them something to think about,” she announced with satisfaction. “Let them think we dematerialized the bars. It won’t bother Grammel, but it might make the troops uneasy. I want anyone trailing me to be as nervous as possible.””

“Leia moved closer, reached out uncertainly to touch his arm. He eyed her, then coughed. She sat back. Suddenly she began screaming. Luke looked around but there was nothing in sight.

Bending over, the Princess screamed into clasped hands. The muffled wail continued for several minutes. When it ended, she looked back up at him again without apology.

“I’m all right now, I think,” she said with forced steadiness.”

3. Love how eepy Luke is.

“Hin bared sharp canines, grabbed Luke by the neck. Luke stared resolutely at his furry visage. Abruptly, the hand moved away and Hin nodded slowly, giving out an apologetic grunt.”

-

“Luke was looking past her. On the other side of the stream they’d been following grew a small forest of water plants, apparently stimulated by the steady flow of fresh nutrients here. The huge leafy pads floating on the black surface were a dull, yellow-brown color. They were round and pointed slightly at two ends where the upturned edges met.

“You can’t,” Leia commented, “be thinking of traveling on one of those.””

-

“”I’m going to cut this one loose,” he announced.

The Princess looked skeptical. “With what? Your saber? I didn’t know they operated under water.”

He gazed back at her solemnly. “They’d better.””

-

“A voice sang fancifully in the back of his mind. It was exorting him to relax. Well, that was simple enough to do, he reflected pleasantly. Relax he would. He was tired, so tired now.”

-

“What had riveted his attention was not the Coway’s continuing methods of medication, nor the vanquished warrior’s convulsive reactions to them, but a large rock. As big as a man’s head, it lay in the water close by the Coway’s head.

His fingertips retained the memory of that stone. It was the one he’d encountered prior to passing out. Or had he passed out? It seemed as if something deep inside him, some resource of which he was unaware, had reacted on the brink of asphyxiation to help him raise the rock, turn and fling it at his tormentor.

Yet he couldn’t recall even placing both hands around it, let alone lifting it clear of the water and throwing.

“How did I do it?” he asked the Princess.

She eyed him uncertainly. “Do? Do what?”

“Beat … him,” he added exhaustedly, gesturing loosely toward the Coway fighter.”

-

“Suddenly his hand opened as if he’d been shot. The pink bulb fell to the ground as Luke stood bolt upright, eyes open and staring. The Princess rose, tried to make something of the gaping expression on his face.

“Luke… what’s wrong?” He took a couple of unsteady steps.

“Was it the fruit, boy?” Halla looked equally concerned. “Boy?”

Luke blinked, turned slowly to face them all. “What?”

“We were worried, Master Luke. You…” But Threepio broke off as Luke turned away to stare eastward.

“He’s coming,” he murmured, every letter resounding. “He’s near, very near.”

“Luke boy, you’d better start making some sense of I’ll have Hin hold you down and feed you dipills,” Halla said. “Who’s coming?”

“There was a stirring,” Luke whispered by way of reply. “A profound disturbance in the Force. I’ve felt it before, weakly. I felt it most strongly when Ben Kenobi was killed.”

Leia inhaled in terror, her eyes widening. “No, not him again, not here.”

“Something blacker than night stirs the Force, Leia,” Luke told her. “This Governor Essada must have contacted him, sent him here. He’d be especially interested in locating you and me.””

-

“”I guess I’m probably the cause of that.” They all turned to face Luke. “Just as I sensed Vader, he no doubt can sense me. He’s had a lot more experience in the Force than I have, so his senses are probably stronger. Don’t forget, he was a pupil of Obi-Wan Kenobi.” He glanced back toward the shaft-tunnel leading to the surface of Mimban.

“He’s coming for us.”

-

“Luke felt a wild sense of elation as he brandished his father’s weapon. “I’m not worried about anything, Vader. Not now. I have no more worries and only one concern.” His voice held an unaccustomed hint of conviction. “I’m going to kill you, Darth Vader.”

That humorless laugh again. “What a high opinion you hold of yourself, Skywalker.”

“I’m… I’m Ben Kenobi,” Luke whispered in an odd way.

For just a moment, Vader seemed shaken.”

-

“Luke’s motionless form was enveloped in a rich, red bath of light. In his hands the crystal shone with a brilliance unnatural. Nor was the light still. It shifted, fluttered, ran over him like a live thing. It sought out every extremity, each finger and follicle, like the St. Elmo’s fire of old on the rigging of a sailing ship.

After several long, rapturous moments the radiant envelope shrank, sucked up by the crystal which resumed its normal coloring.

Luke sat up so abruptly that Halla was unable to repress a short screech. He blinked once, looked at her.”

-

“”I don’t understand,” Luke murmured. But he hefted the crystal again in both hands, closed his eyes and tried to concentrate and relax at the same time. The glow from the crystal intensified.

“I understand,” came a voice out of Luke’s body that might or might not have been Luke’s.”

-

Like Luke spends half the book scaring people and making them uncomfortable. He’s perfect. I love him.

And some more Luke scenes because these could go in wildly different directions and I need someone else to see them:

“”Oh no, Captain-Supervisor!” Luke cried, dropping to his knees and clutching desperately at Grammel’s trouser legs. “Please don’t do that. They’ll have us executed. Please, we’ll work till we drop, but don’t send us back there!” He was sobbing openly now.”

“Wiping tears conjured with difficulty away from his eyes, Luke tried not to appear too hopeful as he regarded Grammel.”

“Reaching with both arms, the Coway warrior clasped Luke around the shoulders and pulled. Luke thought he’d have to use the saber after all, when the native pushed him away gently. Then it slapped him on one cheek.”

“”Well…” Using his right hand, he belted the quiescent Coway hard enough to rattle the native’s teeth. Despite Halla’s assurances, he braced himself for some sort of violent response. Instead, the native displayed a satisfied expression and dropped to his knees before Luke as the crowd howled its approval.”

“Only his neck still bothered him. It ached at the back, where the Coway’s unyielding fingers had pressed.”

-

And, finally, here’s a collection of Leia lines that I can perfectly hear in Anakin’s voice:

“Turning serious, the Princess told him, “One learns to accept whatever events life has in store with the best possible spirits.” She stared straight ahead.

“That’s just what I’m doing,” Luke confessed, “accepting them in the bets possible spirits—nervousness and fear.”

“Well, you needn’t look at me as if this is all my fault.”

“Did I imply that? Did I say that?” Luke countered, a touch more tightly than he intended. She glanced sharply at him and he cursed his inability to conceal his feelings. He would have been, he decided, a rotten card-player. Or politician.

“No, but you so much as…” she began hotly.”

-

“”Do you have any idea who I am?” the Princess started to tell her. She caught herself just in time. “Not that it matters. What does matter is that you can’t do it, can you?”

Halla started to object but the Princess cut her off challengingly. “Can you?”

-

“”Temples, gods, crystals,” the Princess murmured. “Okay, suppose this legendary place does exist,” she hypothesized, jabbing an accusing finger at Halla. “This Kaiburr crystal, just what is it supposed to be… a big gemstone of some kind?””

-

“Still skeptical, the Princess sat back and looked in askance at Halla. “A small fragment of radiant glass or plastic, or an ordinary silicate treated to glow. You expect me to accept that as proof?””

-

(Honestly, the entire scene of them talking with Halla in chapter 4 is just filled with Leia being Anakin.)

-

“The Princess noticed her one victim recovering consciousness and kicked him soundly.”

-

“She concentrated her stare on the middle of the sergeant’s back, trying to drive him insane. The sergeant showed no hint of being affected. Probably solid bone under the helmet, she mused.”

-

“She whispered back tightly, “You have this wonderfully evocative way about you, Luke, of reducing the most excruciatingly uncomfortable circumstances to the merely mundane.”

Luke looked hurt.”

-

“”That’s funny,” noted the Princess, “because you strike me as having a particularly limited capacity for learning.”

-

“Thanks to the tactics being employed by the Imperials, Luke discovered that the Princess was too furious to be really frightened.”

-

(A lot of the earlier quotes also have this vibe. I love Leia so much.)

All in all, would I recommend Splinter of the Mind’s Eye? Sure. It’s 12 chapters, 298 pages, not too long, and it has the first lightsaber throwing, the first instance of Luke lifting anything in the Force, it’s the first mention of kyber crystals (spelled “kaiburr” but still), it’s one of the only times in the entire series Leia wields Anakin’s lightsaber (and she’s really cool doing it), it has if not the worst then a very poor portrayal of Darth Vader, and Luke and Leia both come back from the dead because of space magic. Really, it’s a rollercoaster of a read and I highly enjoyed it, somehow.

[ndiebrioxhe]

Another Rambling post about Ascendance of a Bookworm:

BLUE - ORANGE MORALITY

(with minor digs at Harry Potter)

When I was younger I used to browse Tv Tropes and I really enjoyed looking at them describe things I noticed in media but didn’t have a name for. On a rare occasion, I would find a trope that I had no real reference for and one of those was “blue-orange morality”.

The concept of having a morality system completely divorced from our own that we can’t really judge it. Now it’s not like I have never seen like a series or text attempt to create a character or species that has different standards of morality but the issue I always had was, that the supposed “different moral standards” were always included as a contrast to a more recognisable real world standard - which meant it was framed from a real world standard anyways.

It is always seemed like one of two scenarios:

Scenario A:

Alien/Monster/Non-human: “Here is our horrifically barbaric practice that has no functional purpose to our society and entirely superstitious!”

Human/Humanoid 1: “That’s bad”

Human/Humanoid 2: “Oh that’s just their culture”

And its like no… the narrative framing still shows that is weird and barbaric and not at all a foreign concept which is it’s own morality system so divorced from our own. If we have to be advised not to judge it on our own standards, it can be judged by our standards.

Scenario B:

Olden Times!

Stories being set in a distant past/medieval times where there are different moral standards is not true blue-orange morality. They are just the worse models of current moral standards. We are not divorced from those at all. They are just uncomfortable to think about. Like, yes it is fucked for dudes to claim to be kings and murder thousands to maintain their power… but people weren’t super cool with massmurder back then either - it was just an inevitability due to the social economical problems. It’s like being a billionaire with hundreds of sweatshops now. Even with people who are cool with the system - we all know that shit isn’t our “moral standard” - it’s our uncomfortable reality. Pushing the setting back or forward a 1000 years doesn’t really change anything. Our countries’ leaders still go off to kill and exploit people to maintain power, they just don’t get crowns for it anymore.

And I don’t care if you chose to do this with fictional races and places, that is just set dressing. They still resemble human society as we know it.

So I just never really saw a series that really grabbed me as authentically blue-orange… just typically shades of grey.

But then I read AOAB… and I really saw the potential of blue-orange morality. And it was done well.

Now it might seem logical to treat Bookworm as a Scenario B.

After all, it’s literally nobles presiding over commonfolk and elizabethan era political drama… but heres the thing… the framing of Scenario B is based on understanding that some characters still fit our present mold of a good person:

caring

considerate

fair

just

humble

attractive (no literally)

would not murder babies

religious in the right way

And these characters are the ones we root for. The characters we aren’t rooting have qualities we do not desire

mean

selfish

powerhungry

bloodthirsty

unattractive

will murder babies

over zealous or cult-like

Like in a Scenario B you can’t show the main characters enslave children in a sweatshop and allow grown adult attendants put their hands on them - and still be the good guy. You can’t plan the purging of an entire faction and hold their children hostage under penalty of death - and be THE GOOD GUY . Can’t overtly tax a city to the bones and deny them the best possible harvest because the previous mayor annoyed YOU — AND EVER HOPE TO BE THE GOOD GUY.

Well you can in ascendance of a bookworm tho.

And the readers will agree with you.

And it’s NOT because readers can overly moralise the actions of main characters.

And it’s because unlike a Scenarios A and B which are just OUR WORLD where we are all AWARE that we don’t really need kings or billionaires and antiquated traditions that rely on human suffering for the world to work. AOAB is different

The world of AOAB is not our own. Nobles have more rights because the world explicitly requires their mana to function. Nobles are human plus. They are what rich people in the regular world pretend to be.

Remove the army, the wealth, the status of a king and he is commoner. AOAB Nobles are literally magic batteries that build cities, make harvests happen, keep the population safe from deadly magical creatures …like the yearly giant blizzard monster that won’t literally won’t let spring come unless you have an army of trained magical knights slay it. Without Nobles the world literally be a giant sandpit.

So right of the bat, the nobility are integral to society. You simply don’t live your life raised as a necessary part of the world functioning and not have a social structure that reflects that. Its our world turned on it’s head. All the commoners could die and all that means is the nobles have to do more work. Instead of rich needing the poor, the commoners need the nobles. Otherwise they rarely even interact. The commoners and nobles are almost different species.

And not like it’s particularly unfair on the commoners. Not having mana simply bars you from a lot of activities, duties and experiences. Hell, not having a lot of mana as someone born into a noble family arguably sucks more than being a commoner. Nobility is earned, not given. Being born into a noble family that doesn’t have the means to regulate your mana means you won’t even make it to age where you are considered a separate entity from your parents in that society. If you have enough mana to make it to the Royal Academy without getting sent to the temple and the ability to pass or even excel at the Royal Academy - congrats you are now an asset to your duchy and that includes the commoners inside it. Just make sure you don’t blunder and cause your own execution.

So if murder, classism, deception and greed aren’t necessarily immoral in AOAB, what is?

The only real way to be a labeled a bad person in AOAB noble society is to endanger your duchy and cause widespread problems. Which only means the real way to be immoral in AOAB is to be incompetent or to FAIL.

You might initially think The Veronica-Georgine faction are the antagonists because they try to murder a barely baptised child but the guardian trio literally admitted they had plans to kill her too. They are ones committing the most one sided mass murders in the series. Ferdinand being able to outmanoeuvre and manipulate his enemies in the ring of politics is considered a SEXY TRAIT.

So what’s the difference between the Florencia faction and the Veronica-Georgine faction? Easy. The V-G faction is DESTABILISING AN ENTIRE DUCHY WITH SHORTSIGHTED NOBLE BULLSHIT. And just escalates into the entire nation being in jeopardy… because the Ahrensbachian Archducal family keeps producing nobles that are profoundly worthless with no sense of noble duty. They are defective.

In the next paragraph, I’m just going to state something this legion of defective nobles did and the names of who did it/involved.

They don’t respect the authority or wisdom of nobles of higher rank so they disobey orders (Bezewanst, Veronica). They force already new brides on married nobles that ruin established marriages for no benefit besides sating their schoolyard fantasies on a whim (Gabriele). Their spitefulness and cruelty to one of the biggest archnoble families in the duchy has made the Ehnferestian faction politics a disaster (Veronica) and were forced to create an entire section of mednobles not even loyal to Ehnferest because archnobles rightfully disliked them (Shikikoza and Gloria). They’re such suck ups it endangered their own duchy’s stability to the point where their only options is an intermediate archducal candidate that was poorly raised by all metrics (Gieselfried). Ahrensbach archducal children are regularly raised to be puppeteered by the parents instead of independent thinkers (Detlinde). Which is a real fucking problem for duchies when you keep trying (and typically succeeding) in making these children the Aubs of duchies (Georgine).

Ultimately it comes down to the fact they believe in their ideological RIGHT as nobles over their ideological DUTY to prioritise their duchies running smoothly. And that leads them to overestimate their APTITUDE as nobles.

Which is REALLY telling when a little powerhouse is redefining what it means to be an accomplished noble and entire political career is to the benefit of Ehnferest. Which is why the Ehnferest archducal family and Florencia faction who prioritise the stability and growth of the own goddam duchy instead of their own personal grudges are the good guys.

Bad guys are bad because they are bad what they are supposed to be doing and the good guys are good because they focused on what they should be.

There’s even a moral gray zone which is “trying your best but not being enough” and the prime example of that is the current the royal family. The country is only in this sorry state because one prince allowed his ineptitude and thirst for power to spiral and cause the nation lose the most important tool, and now it has a king that was only ever raised as a vassal is struggling (impressively) to keep a nation that should have dried up to keep running… A shame his intel gathering is dogshit so he keeps making mistakes and even overlook things that could have solved the problem.

So the dynamic of magic and morality is baked in the worldbuilding and it’s doesn’t feel dumb that nobles have all this power but somehow DON’T really interfere the non magical inhabitants in the world on a grand scale. These features, not flaws.

It is so much better than making a magical world where wizards hide their shit IN non magical places but don’t interact with non magical humans and have poverty and slaves that do house chores despite HAVING MAGIC that handles that shit. And also celebrate non magical people’s holidays despite thinking non magical people are beneath them because despite the book apparently being about fascism being bad - it doesn’t address any of the core issues of it and even has extra issues layered on top!

AOAB doesn’t operate on regular morality so it’s not mind numbingly incongruent when bad things happen in the universe because the magic people choose to let it happen despite thinking it’s bad. Even tho nobles do not care about the commonfolk it would stupid if they hid magic from the non magical folk and even dumber if entire spinoffs were based in fighting to keep it secret. Having a series where the protagonists realise that a faction in their world is a problem and getting RID OF THEM? Imagine getting rid of people who are the problem instead of fighting them in a WAR and reading checking the epilogue and that faction caused the fascism is STILL THERE and children are scared to end up there?? WHY DOES SLYTHERIN STILL EXIST—

Anyways,,,

I haven’t had the pleasure of reading past the translated pre-pub myself, but from what I do know is the Ahrensbachian penchant for stupidity and shortsightedness in the pursuit of positions of power they couldn’t hope to manage effectively… while destabilising as much of the nation as possible continues and I can’t wait to read it.

[xjulixred45x]

Now MCL x Dead Plate has the makings to be a very a dramatic, tragic, and horror-esque crossover, specifically if Vincent still decides to kill Manon (since you said that the kids love Manon and vice versa) and the entire canon of Dead Plate still happens.

I have so many questions!! BUT I MUST know your takes on the following—if you want to answer these, of course:

1) Consider: Klaus and Karin meeting because they either go to the same school (before Solheim incident) or it's just a random moment; Manon is still alive in this one. What would the dynamic of the kids be (in your version, would they be separated twins from birth? or are they not related and are simply friends?)? How would Rody and Vincent (before or after Rody becomes an employee) react, especially since Vincent has extremely high standards?

2) AU within an AU (unless you make this canon): How would Klaus and/or Karin react if Manon does disappear, and if they(separated or together, depends on you) discover what had actually happened to Manon? Especially Karin if she finds out who did it.

The second one is very dark considering their ages, so if you don't want to do it, you don't have to. Your ideas for this crossover are just very interesting to me, and allows us to expand on how good, bad, and complex these characters are outside of what is canon! (I love both games)

OMG!!!! I LOVE THIS ASK!! and don't worry! I have no problem i'm answer this!

Dead Plate x My Child Lebensborn: IN CANON

1) First of all, I can totally see Klaus and Karin getting to know each other. Both for the ironic factor (boss father/employee brother lol) and for logical factors. Klaus is a very intelligent child despite being young and from humble origins, so he could go through recommendations to a more prestigious school, that is, a school to which Vincent would send his daughter.

Now that I have the opportunity to cause even more DRAMA, YES, KARIN AND KLAUS ARE TWINS. However, they were adopted by very different families as you can see (Rody's parents definitely couldn't adopt Karin due to financial problems, if they had had a better situation, they would have adopted them both. Vincent still would have only taken Karin lol ).

Klaus and Karin are very good friends, each other's only allies when school starts and the other children bully them. They share several common interests such as a love for animals (especially Foxes) and I honestly think that them discovering that they are siblings could be an adventure in itself in this AU (Karin sneaking into Vince's room to look for his birth certificate which reveals that YES, she was a twin), which would make their bond even stronger. They become inseparable in a short time, they protect each other, they tell each other everything.

Vince and Rody have quite different reactions (what a surprise).

Rody is very happy that Klaus has a friend, he wants to chat with her every chance he gets and he DEFINITELY notices the insane resemblance between them, not only in appearance, but in attitudes (did you know that separated twins still share attitudes /habits? That happens here!), so when he finds out that she is not only his friend, but Klaus' twin sister, RODY IS EXCITED! And he definitely wants Karin to feel like part of the family as soon as possible.

Vince, on the other hand, the first time he sees Klaus, acts like he's seen a GHOST, and while he's happy that Karin now has a friend (who's on her level) he's definitely not that excited when he finds out that Karin has a twin who is ALSO “related” to RODY of all people. More than by his standards, Vincent doesn't like this because it would give Karin free rein to have another family (the Lamorees, who already wanted to adopt her first), and in general I don't think he would be very happy at the idea of share his daughter with RODY.

Of course, I think Vince could be more cooperative if he and Rody talk shit together about the children's original family (the racist grandparents, the abandoned father) and MAYBE there Vincent would be more willing to make an agreement for the children to interact as twins (say, a child spends a weekend with one of them and they change). Here Vincent cares more that Karin doesn't leave him, while Rody cares that Klaus has his complete family.

2) This could be considered Canon, or at any rate one of the endings depending on what you choose (just as all DP endings are canon, so are all What If cases here).

I definitely think Karin and Klaus would notice almost immediately/at the same time when Manon disappears, Klaus because Manon would at least call to check that he's okay, and Karin because Vince being so picky about babysitters wouldn't waste a free one (aside from that she stopped coming to their house out of nowhere…), so they both talk about it to each other and think “suspicious….” And they decide to investigate.

(If anyone is uncomfortable imagining them as their canon ages (8 years old), we can say that this takes place after the incident with Solheim and the children are older (maybe 12 years old)).

Karin, even though she knows he is someone harsh, has no reason to distrust her father, so she asks Vincent if he knows what happened to Manon and/or if she has contacted him, which Karin does not know what she expected was for Vince to tell her that Manon was (supposedly) with her parents...lying to her. And Karin KNOWS when Vincent is lying, she pays attention when he thinks she isn't, he was talking to her in a similar way to how he talked to clients, when he didn't say what he thought, with that face...

(it's worse if Karin overhears Vincent at the party telling Rody directly that he doesn't know Manon, making her feel WORSE). And every time she insists on calling Manon or Vincent tells her something different, she doesn't get it, it's the same response. Although Karin could use some manipulation tactics to get something.

For example:

-“Did you fire her...?...or would she no longer want to see me...?”- STRAIGHT TO THE HEART---

With this, Vince could say that Manon hasn't contacted him, but it's DEFINITELY not because she didn't love Karin, but to stop asking because she wasn't going to get a different answer.

So, Karin and Klaus investigate on their own (Klaus asking Rody, taking notes on clues and the last time they saw Manon, etc).

IMAGINE WHEN THEY CHECK VINCENT'S APARTMENT WHEN HE AND RODY WORK, Klaus probably finds Manon's hair in the bathroom trash can, which is pretty weird (assuming Manon hasn't been there in weeks) and the kids rake EVERYTHING in the department, in every place looking for something more, but nothing. the only places missing are the refrigerator, and Vince's office (which Karin has access to because she can take out drawing sheets there).

IMAGINE THEIR REACTIONS WHEN THEY FIND MANON'S LETTERS AND THE PHOTO OF HER AND VINCE IN THE TRASH.

Karin wouldn't know what to say, she would try to justify Vincent, saying that maybe he was hurt by her disappearance and didn't know how to process it, that maybe they were at enmity and didn't want to say it, but Klaus was completely blank, and Karin knew she couldn't defend it. They both know, Vincent has something to do with everything. Something happened to Manon and they are going to find out...

Taking the keys to the refrigerator would be difficult, since Vince's room is off-limits unless Karin has a nightmare (not very likely now that she's 12), but if they do it when Vince is working and go downstairs when he's smoking, well…there is an opportunity.

AND BOY, THE KIDS ARE TERRIFIED.

I think in a scenario where Vincent doesn't catch them in the act, they take the necklace and lock themselves in Karin's room at the restaurant (like that scene in Coraline), get under the covers, and try to convince themselves that everything is a nightmare, this can't be real, MANON HAS TO BE WELL—

By the time Rody goes to pick up Klaus and Karin for THEIR weekend together, and Vince wants to find the key to the refrigerator, it's already too late as he sees the kids' rolling eyes...

THEY ALREADY KNOW.

And if we talk about whether Vince catches them in the act like in the game...

First of all, PAN, but unlike with Rody, Vince is not willing to kill the children, much less Karin, but he also couldn't let something like that come to light, let it be seen that way- let KARIN see him that way. Maybe he could leave them in their beds until morning and then they'd think it was a bad dream (Vince would spend all night cleaning up the remains left in the freezer and probably gave them painkillers so they wouldn't notice the blow), maybe he could feign ignorance and pretend he didn't know Manon's necklace was there.

(Or if there was a confrontation like in the game, Vince would most likely try to explain his twisted reasoning (the kids maybe being shielded by Rody), it was SUPPOSED to be for THEM, they loved Manon SO MUCH, he was supposed to THEY WILL ENJOY (and they did, depending on the ending)) THIS WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN!

(Lowkey, Vince would be trying to blame Rody/Klaus for this, for making Karin HATE him without taking into account that he caused this. And yes, the dish made with Manon was served to Karin and Klaus here, not to Rody. There is more but this is already super long).

AHHHHH THIS IS SO GOOD BUT I WANT TO EXPLORE IT EVEN MORE WITH OTHER DRABBLES AND ASK!!!! THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR INTEREST AND PLEASE IF YOU HAVE MORE QUESTIONS SEND THEM!!!

Shares, reblogs and comments are very welcome!

[sergeantpixie]

my thoughts after watching episode five of the Artful Dodger:

1. SARDINES

2. “the whale’s wife” oh fagin can turn a phrase

3. “being spurned by a woman is a great boon to our profession” DON’T REMIND ME

4. “i want a win” 😭😭😭

5. “i keep seeing these in my dreams” FANNY 🤭

6. Belle’s red coat is Stunning, i envy her wardrobe

7. “WHY” Belle is so funny pls

8. NUTMEG

9. Jack is only thinking of Belle 🥺

10. BUTT - 2/10 not juicy enough

11. i know fagin is just lying to buy them more time but it’s so nice of him to throw jack an interesting case and give him an excuse to talk to belle after their fight 🤭

12. “we all thought that that smell was coming from you” CHILDISH but so funny

13. Fanny is actually a great sister, we stan

14. THROUGH THE WINDOW, YAS

15. he’s eating her soup, i love them

16. “apparently a tree” HIS FACE

17. they’re in love, your honor

18. “it is so dangerous.” “yeah, but you love that, don’t ya”

19. “but i don’t really know how to talk to women, i’ve never really found the need to” “i am similarly rarely interest in what a man has to say” and that’s on soulmates (also same @ belle)

20. “not all of you.” i think they should kiss 😊

21. “tell me why you like being a navigator?” god belle’s bedside manner has improved so much

22. jack being honest with him and letting the man decide if he wants to take the risk!!! what a man!!!

23. i love the quiet scenes after surgeries between them, it’s so intimate

24. “i’d never had my own bed before” 😭😭😭

25. “it was the best and the worst times” love these fanfic writers for letting the dickensian character quote dickens lol

26. the way he looks at her 🥺

27. THEY SLEPT THERE ALL NIGHT!!! THAT’S MY SHIP!

28. the glove slap, i snorted 🤣🤣🤣

29. Belle’s mama is a savage

30. Sneed saying “christ” and stumbling back when he says Belle coming at him at least says he’s not a complete fool

31. SHE SEASONED HIM, I’M DYING 💀💀💀

32. the wink, this idiot lmao

33. “oh.” THAT’S ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY JACK

34. “hmm, lobster bisque.” PLS SHE’S SO FUNNY

35. i don’t trust youuuuuu fagin!!!

36. fagin trash talking sneed is funny tho

37. the tears in jack’s eyes when fagin has to take his place in the duel, a soft boy 🥺

38. HE SHOT SNEED THAT IS SO FUNNY PLS

39. the navigator mocking sneed 💀

40. sneed being put in the position of begging jack to save his leg is delicious, pls sir i want some more

41. belle, jack, and hetty working together is everything i’ve ever wanted, ot3?

42. ngl i kinda enjoy hetty calling jack out

43. THEY SHOULD SHAVE OFF HIS EYEBROW

44. THEY KISSED!!! FINALLY!!!

[haruniki]

Under the Mistletoe + Kobeni please :3 I've become quite the Kobeni enjoyer!

Also happy holidays <3

a/n: first rq yippee!!! :3 i hope i get back into the writing spirit and into writing better link to post for prompts

under the cut

An office party. That would be the last thing you would except coming from the public safety division, but here you are in a room with a bunch of loud individuals. Denji and Power running around with tinsels and lights wrapped around them, Aki looking stressed with a drink in his hand. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. Except for one person. You hadn't really gotten the chance to speak with her before. You remember Himeno talking about how timid she was, maybe you could chat with her. Standing off to the side with her hands folded in front of her, she looks around the room. A nervous look spreads around her faces as you approach. "This party sucks, doesn't it? These are usually way quieter than this. I'm (y/n). You're Kobeni right? It's really nice to meet you." A warm smile stretches across your face. You see Kobeni's flush a little before she gives a nod. You both stand and make idle chitchat before you both wander over to the probably spiked by Himeno punch bowl. "I can't imagine working with that blood fiend or that chainsaw guy, I bet the rush in without much thought. I heard it was nice working with Aki thoug-" Cut off mid-sentence by a drunk Himeno, her words slurring as she speaks.

"Look, you both are... un'erneath that plan'...whassit called again...oh, I remi...remem...ber... the mistletoe! You gotta kiss or else...you'll...get bad luck?" You really doubt you get bad luck if you don't kiss. You look up and see the mistletoe hung up, you wonder why you didn't see it before. Glancing at Kobeni, you give a small laugh. Her face goes red and it's audible to hear her breath being sucked in. "Don't listen to her, Kobeni. She's drunk and you don't have to kiss me. Besides I don't think you get-" You're again cut off by lips being pressed against yours. Though as soon as they're pressed against you they leave. A bashful Kobeni looking away and playing with her hands , the sensation of where her lips were tingle a bit and after lightly running your tongue against your lips you can taste cherry chapstick. "Th-there's no sense in g-getting bad luck, pl-pl- plus, it's a t-tradition, right?"

[ladyfromaspookyforest]

Wheeler/Byers Wardrobe Analysis

Season 1 Part 2

Part 1 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

Hello, hello, hi. Continuing this journey through Stranger Things attire. And I want to preface quickly that I don’t have an agenda. I’m just examining the clothes as I go and seeing what I think they tell me. I'm not digging for evidence of anything.

Anyway, Episode 3! Nancy gets home from Steve’s house and is confronted by Karen in her lil PJs. Do these PJs seem familiar? Oh yeah. They look like Nancy’s.

The next day at school, post red-stripe-shirt-at-the-pool-party, Nancy’s wearing another light sweater, a common Nancy top choice. But this one’s intriguing to me because while it contains the same two colors she usually wears, they’re darker. Darker blue and more of a brick red, but they’re small stripes on this delicate sweater. We also saw her wear stripes for the first time in the aforementioned red shirt. So this outfit here feels like a compromise between what she chose for Steve for the party and what she usually chooses for herself because of the stripes. The darker colors I think are not intended to reflect Steve in any way, but Nancy's state of mind. She's worried about Barb and feeling conflicted about the whole experience of losing her virginity. She's paranoid right off the bat when she walks into school that people are looking at her differently. She's feeling weighed down and the shades of her colors are reflecting that.

I was also immediately into Steve’s shirt here because Steve, for the entirety of this season, wears blue. But here, and only here, the blue has shrunken down to a few stripes on this shirt. This shirt which also contains pastel pink, a color Nancy is often wearing or surrounded by, but not wearing in this scene. Both Nancy and Steve are wearing clothes that reflect one another more than usual, and yet they don't quite match. This is the most I can recall Steve ever reflecting the Wheeler color palette (I'll find out if I'm wrong later). This is also the day after he slept with Nancy. So I think his choice to wear Wheeler colors afterwards shows that he feels closer to Nancy while her choice to wear darkened colors shows that she's feeling hesitant and unsure.

Here, Karen has dressed Holly up in light pink and blue (as per usual), but she herself is wearing a navy and teal plaid dress with black tights. She wears plaid a lot, but in order to bring a casserole to Joyce (a mourning behavior), she’s donned darker colors than usual. This scene already felt uncomfortable to me, like Karen doesn’t know how to behave because she’s giving Joyce a casserole (like when someone in the family has died) even though Will is not yet believed to be dead. Maybe this isn't unusual. I apologize for my ignorance on casserole etiquette, but it’s an awkward moment there at the door. And Karen’s wardrobe choice here makes me feel even MORE like she doesn’t know how to behave. She’s intentionally dressing less light and happy than usual but not in the official mourning color. And dressing Holly the way she usually does really shows this juxtaposition because Karen often matches Holly to herself. So this is like looking right at how Karen usually presents herself next to how she's choosing to now.

This episode puts Mike in this green and blue striped shirt. In the first photo, he’s talking with El before he goes to school. El is dressed in Mike’s clothes, a navy pullover and grey sweatpants. Blue is Mike’s color and grey is a neutral he (and Nancy) is often seen in. For example, in earlier episodes, both Mike and Will wore shirts with blue and yellow stripes, but Mike’s was also grey and Will’s was also brown. Grey is a cool toned color, a Wheeler neutral, while brown is a warm, earthy Byers neutral. So El’s outfit is screaming I BORROWED THIS FROM MIKE WHEELER in every way. She then spends the day wandering the Wheeler house and examining everything. She’s basically trying to figure out what it means to live like a Wheeler, to have grown up in this home with these parents and with blood siblings. She’s trying to put herself figuratively in Mike’s shoes while literally wearing his clothes.

And back to the Wheeler vs Byers neutrals, I really love that Mike is wearing this tan jacket when he goes to school. It’s a very Byers jacket. It’s got corduroy on the collar and brick accents on the inside. In the screenshot here, Mike, Dustin, and Lucas are being harassed by the bullies making fun of Will. They also trip Mike despite the fact that it’s Will they’re mocking. Basically, they’re treating Mike as a proxy Will while Mike is wearing this Byers-esque jacket. He’s also wearing the jacket for the remainder of the episode as the party hunts for Will (and as they witness his "body" being pulled from the quarry), but he was not wearing at home with El while his attention was on her.

I forgot to mention this jacket in my last post, but Mike also wore it in episode 1 while the bullies were harassing him. And he leant the jacket to El after they found her in episode 2.

She's wearing this big yellow shirt (Will's color) and Mike puts her in this Byers-y jacket. El isn't really El to him yet in this scene. She's some strange girl they found while looking for Will who Mike keeps around in hopes of her helping him find Will. So in addition to El wearing Mike's clothes in episode 3 and acting like Mike, in episode 2, she's wearing a Will-coded outfit and being valued for her connection to Will. The wardrobe for El this season has no reflection whatsoever on who she is as a person because she doesn't know yet nor do the other characters. So when Mike was at home with her in the red shirt, no jacket (episode 2), that moment felt more about the two of them getting to know each other outside of how she can help him find Will.

Joyce has been wearing this same outfit since late episode 1. Jonathan also wore the same outfit during both episodes 1 and 2, but now he’s changed his clothes and what he has changed into…is the same shirt he was wearing in the flashback in episode 2. Obviously, the episodes that go by without Joyce or Jonathan changing their clothes speak to how panicked by Will’s disappearance they are. But once he does change his clothes, the choice for Jonathan to put on the same shirt he was wearing in a memory he was just reflecting on is really curious. And by “choice,” I mean on a grander, show-level. Not Jonathan’s choice. He’s seen snagging this shirt up without even glancing at it and tossing it on as he gets out of bed. The costume department chose to put Jonathan back in this shirt we’d just seen him in via flashback for a reason. I find it notable that Jonathan changes his shirt again before going to school. He just spent two days in the same outfit and now he cares enough to change twice in the same morning? Weird. That’s all I’m saying. Maybe it reminded him of that same moment just like Should I Stay or Should I Go coming on in the car did, and maybe it was too hard for him to think about it again. So he changed. Or maybe it felt too light for the mood he was in.

During the Steve Hulk Camera Smash scene, Jonathan is wearing black and a dark grey or dark denim button-down. Dark colors. Darker than usual. The polar opposite of the first shirt he put on that morning. He usually has more earth tones in his wardrobe than this and I think this choice is less about mourning, as the dark colors could indicate, as it is about guilt. This is because even after he believes Will to be dead, Jonathan doesn’t start wearing blacks. This scene, instead, takes place after he does his stalker photo shoot of Steve’s party. So the dark colors are very likely a reflection of how he feels inside, having done something dark. He took photos of other people, including Nancy undressing, without consent and despite the fact that we know this is not what he set out to do, he did do it, spur of the moment. Now in the aftermath, he feels guilty and ashamed.

EPISODE FOUR

I had to lighten this one a lot to really see what the colors are. Karen is still wearing the dark plaid dress from the last episode while Ted is wearing what appears to be a white button down with red and blue checkprint. Very Wheeler. He’s continuing to present himself in the Wheeler fashion while Karen is struggling with figuring out how to present herself. When she got dressed, Will was missing. Now, in this screenshot, Will has been declared dead and Barb is missing. Karen doesn’t know how to be there for her children (or for Joyce earlier) and the way she dresses in this episode reflects that she feels like she can’t continue on the way she has been. (side note: check out the couch and throw pillow. Wheeler pastels)

Here’s Karen later (sorry I don't have a full body shot). She’s wearing a cream turtleneck, a dark grey vest, and black pants (out of the shot). Her prints, her checks, and her pastels are gone.

Nancy and Steve fight. She’s wearing pink (just pink) and he’s wearing blue with maroon stripes. Going back to what I said about their outfits in the previous episode, it looks like Steve is still sporting Nancy’s influence while she has dropped his. This is the first time we’ve seen Nancy in a solid color with no prints or detailing, her PJs aside. Even her purple sweater from E2 contained threads of other colors. So she’s in solid pink, she says to Steve, “I can’t believe you,” then she walks away and leaves him in the alley. And WHAT DOES THIS PARALLEL?

I’ll get to that scene later, but for now, I’m intrigued by the fact that both Steve and Nancy are wearing grey in the season 2 fight whereas in this season 1 fight, they’re wearing opposing colors, though Steve’s shirt contains bits of Nancy’s coloring, which shows that he’s more invested in Nancy than she is in him. This is probably a contentious point to make for season 1 considering he’s being a douche in this scene and making Barb’s disappearance about himself. BUT I stand by the fact this his feelings for Nancy are stronger than her feelings for him, even here, despite the fact that he’s lousy at showing it and his mind is in the wrong place.

In season 2, they’re actually on a lot more common ground. Maybe this is why they’re wearing the same color. There’s no more I’m-right-you’re-wrong. There’s only this-isn’t-working. But back to season 1.

I hate to say this, but this shot here is giving me hella “It’s twins and one’s a boy and one’s a girl!” vibes. Which is kind of irrelevant. What actually matters is that El is wearing Nancy’s clothes. She’s wearing a wig and yet another article of Wheeler clothing, presenting herself as a different Wheeler. She even had short hair when dressed in Mike’s clothes and long hair here dressed in Nancy’s. It’s kind of like she’s trying out the Wheeler life from both angles.

Guys, I don’t know HOW I never realized how much pink and baby blue the Wheelers are surrounded by. LOOK AT THIS WALLPAPER!!! Plus, with El in pink and Mike in blue and the greenery in front of the mirror, they basically ARE the wallpaper. It’s pink, blue, and green leaves. What is the reason. It basically tells us that this (Mike and this version of El) together equals Wheeler conformity. And by “this version of El” I mean her dressing like someone else and trying to behave like someone else. This version of El is still trying to find herself, trying to fit in (a theme that returns later). Basically Mike + dishonest El or confused El = unhappy couple pretending to be in love (Ted + Karen). Eleven is spending this season trying on other people’s clothes and other people’s lives because she never got to have one. And this image is a big red flag right here because I can’t imagine anyone looking at this shot and thinking “awe cute.” It’s so newborn baby-colored and domestic it makes me gag. This screams that El needs to find herself in order to avoid THIS. This nuclear nightmare.

This also feels weirdy similar to what we just witnessed of Steve and Nancy, what with the baby pink and blue solid colored costuming. Almost like a MIRROR IMAGE WOULDN’T YOU SAY? No, I’m stretching. I’m actually reaching blindly. I have no idea where I’m going with that. But the mirror shot is interesting. If anything, I’d say it ties back to them being a mirror of Mike’s parents BUT I can’t help but think there’s subtext here for both couples about gender roles what with these colors being, as I mentioned, the ones assigned to babies at birth. El will later go on to find that she’s the fighter. Steve will go on to be the babysitter. Defying gender role expectations. Both of these characters are trying to figure out who they are and who they want to be this season while both Mike and Nancy are trying to find their lost friends.

Basically, I’m getting identity crises and Don't Become Your Parents.

And to finish off with the Byers...Joyce is still wearing the same outfit she’s been in since episode 1. Clearly collapsing. And Jonathan Show's-Over Byers is wearing this cozy lil sweater fit to the morgue, which I find especially interesting in this scene here:

Jonathan, in his lil beige sweater, is matching Hopper's uniform. And this is the first time these two characters really connect. Prior to this, Hopper has shot Jonathan down and told him to let Hop do his job. Here, they're talking openly and calmly, and they're talking about Joyce. They are speaking on even footing about someone they both care about (though at this point in time, we aren't sure the extent of Hopper's feelings for or history with Joyce) and they are matching. This feels especially intentional when you watch moments before, when Jonathan was looking at "Will's" body and see that he was wearing a jacket and then the scene after when they're leaving (above) and he's wearing the jacket again. He didn't take it off to come inside, but specifically for this sit-down moment with Hopper.

[highseraphs]

🌈 RAINBOW — what is your oc's sexual orientation/gender identity? what pronouns do they use?

🌴 PALM TREE — does your oc have a green thumb? do they enjoy gardening?

🍎 RED APPLE — where was your oc born? do they still live in/around their place of birth or do they live somewhere else? how do they feel about their birthplace?

💘 HEART WITH ARROW — what and/or who do(es) your oc consider the most important to them?

💚 GREEN HEART — does your oc prefer being inside or outside?

🍔 HAMBURGER — is your oc good at cooking? are they good at baking? which one do they prefer?

😊 SMILING FACE WITH SMILING EYES — what are your oc's career/general life desires? what do they want to get the most out of life?

🤔 THINKING FACE — what are some of your oc's quirks/mannerisms?

🤓 SMILING FACE WITH GLASSES — is your oc chatty or quiet? are they at ease in social situations, or are they more shy?

🌈 For Lovelace he’s nonbinary and achillean! He also uses They/him pronouns

For Ebrietas, he’s agender and I’d say he’s gray ace. His pronouns are they/he/it

🌴lovelace loves flowers but he doesn’t have a green thumb! He doesn’t have much experience gardening.

Ebrietas doesn’t have much of one either, especially since he grew up in a mansion, he never had to tend to any gardening. He’s interested in botany as a science, but he doesn’t active engage with it.

🍎Lovelace was born in Golmore Jungle, Dalmasca in a village called Del-Eleyh. He doesn’t live there now, but he does visit. He lives on his airship, so he doesn’t really have a set place that he lives in, though he does have a few homes in some city states he stays in when he is in those locations. He lives Del-Eleyh, even if he does have some unpleasant memories, still he is proud of his birthplace.

Ebrietas was born in the northern mountains of Sharlayan in a densely forested, isolated location. There wasn’t any civilization around, just the large mansion his parents owned. He still lives in Sharlayan, but has a smaller property near old Sharlayan so he can frequent the town easier for books and other indulgences. He doesn’t like that old mansion that he lived in, he changed it to fit him after he killed his parents, but he still feels whispers of their presence with the home so he only goes there if he has to.

💘Lovelace considers Elidibus to be the most important to him because of Dionysus and Elidibus being such passionate lovers in ancient times, as well as the many things Lovelace had gone through with Elidibus throughout the years. Despite Lovelace seeming like he wouldn’t get along so well with Elidibus, they are very infatuated with each other. Lovelace is the most open with him. But other than that Ebrietas, Thancred, his voidsent familiar Ash, etc. He also keeps a ribbon with him that his adoptive father gave to him as a child.

Ebrietas doesn’t consider other people he meets as important, but he does place value in the books and items people give him. He acts as if he doesn’t, but he likes receiving gifts from others (this could be because of the ways his parents gave him ‘gifts’ (sacrifices), he also enjoys things with heart like 🫀 imagery. Won’t go too far into that reason tho LOL)

💚Lovelace loves being outside! He hates being cooped up in buildings and would rather be out within nature.

Ebrietas likes being inside unless it’s cold outside. He hates warm & hot weather (but like it’s when it’s warm inside of buildings, he’s just weird about things like, that) it could also be a result of how he was before he became himself, he’d destroy stars and they’d be engulfed in flames, it made him viscerally angry that his influence was always resulting in ruining his goal of ruling over the planet, so the cold is a comfort for him.

🍔both of them can’t cook to save their lives, but Ebrietas’s food would be downright inedible, like it would be absolute eldritch abomination type shit it would be indescribable LOL

😊Lovelace is a sky pirate! And he wants to remain a pirate. He can’t see himself doing anything else but being a debaucherous sky pirate. He always thought playing hero was just to off to him, so he’d still even now, rather remain a pirate.

Ebrietas just wants to travel, read and eat sweets lol. He has a very unnerving presence, so he doesn’t even try to interact with people because he thinks it’s not worth it. But yeah, he also wanted to destroy Etheirys after he regained his abilities while he was ‘resting’ within the coffin in his home, but was stopped by Lovelace. He realized then besides the interesting history and food Etheirys has to offer, he can play cat and mouse with Lovelace for fun.

🤔Lovelace’s ears are very expressive! If his expression doesn’t show on his face, it’ll show up on his ears. He tried to bully himself out of doing that, but he still does it occasionally.

Ebrietas sucks his teeth at anything that annoys him (many things), he tends to scratch down his arms if he is stressed enough (though the self-harm he does to himself will heal very quickly, and due to his limbs being black, and scars he does have aren’t very noticeable) he frowns a LOT, most of the time he is frowning or looks like he’s seething/annoyed.

🤓Lovelace is an extrovert, so he talks a lot. He doesn’t have much shame and he is not shy whatsoever. Given he’s a captain of a huge amount of criminals, he himself isn’t afraid to be blunt and honest with others, so yeah he’s def a talker.

Ebrietas hates other people so he won’t engage in conversations unless he has to. And when he does he is not very pleasant, often scaring other people away from him, making them uncomfortable, or angry. He doesn’t care at all how he makes other people feel unless he does have a semblance of care towards them. (Like Erenville, he’s very cautious with how he talks to him because he actually likes him, but a lot of their conversations are Ebrietas being like ‘are you sure you wanna speak to someone like me?’ To him and Erenville being like ‘?…what is the harm?’) Though he is charming appearance wise, which annoys him because it’s always been something that has made people want to talk to him, so unnerving other people gives him pleasure because they back off.

[frnkxalvrz]

❝ See, the life I’ve had, Can make a good man bad❞ Is that TOMMY MARTINEZ? no, you’re mistaken, that’s actually FRANCISCO ‘FRANKIE’ ALVAREZ { cismale, he/him }. He a 26/55 YEAR OLD VAMPIRE. He is a personal trainer and can easily be found at THE UGLY DUCKLING OR SUNNYSIDE. He is known for being IMMATURE, IMPULSIVE, and VAIN but also CHARISMATIC, ADVENTUROUS and BRAVE. You could probably bribe them with a NIGHT ON THE TOWN or piss them off by MAKING FUN OF HIM IN ANY WAY.

tw: blood, death, sex, drugs

Basics

Name: Francisco Alvarez. Nickname(s): Frankie, Frank, Franco Age: 26/55 Gender: Cis Man Species: Vampire Turned By: Luca Florres Occupation: Personal Trainer Lives In: Sunnyside

Personality

Character Inspos: Stiles Stilinski, Steve Harrington, Michael Kelso, Jason Mendoza, Troy Barnes, Jason Stackhouse, Lance Arroyo. Positive Traits: Charismatic, Adventurous, Brave. Negative Traits: Vain, Impulsive, Immature. Likes: 80's Movies, Old Pop Music, Cocktails, Working Out, Sex. Dislikes: Hurting People, Rude Clients, Awkward Silences, Sushi.

History:

Francisco was born on the 5th of January 1968 in Florida, he was raised by his dad after his mother passed away when Francisco was only two.

In school he fell into the wrong crowd, getting into fights, drinking from a very early age and even partaking in fairly heavy drug use. He had a fake ID from around the age of 16 and was very much into the party lifestyle, often being the life and soul of any social event he attended.

Frankie was kicked out of school for starting a fire in the locker rooms when he was seventeen, not that it mattered much, he was never an academic kid and though he was always friendly and upbeat, he was dumb as hell, even the fire was an accident.

He got a job working at his favourite nightclub, he was much too young but the manager overlooked his age since he was desperate for staff and had already served the young man plenty of times before. He worked there for a few years and became a very popular fixture of the club. He was friendly and had a bit of a reputation of sleeping with the patrons of the bar.

One night whilst working late on the bar, a handsome older man caught Frank's eye. They spoke, flirted and the man invited Frank back to his place for a bit of fun.

On the walk back the two men could barely keep their hands off one another, but soon enough they reached the stranger's apartment.

Barely in the door the men were all over each other again, they eventually reached the bedroom where things took a strange turn. As they laid there making love, he suddenly felt an intense pain like he had never felt before, a feeling that wouldn't stop, and only got worse and worse, and as the life slowly drained from him, it all went black and Frank knew this was the end for him.

He awoke a few hours later. His one night stand nowhere to be seen. Wondering if the pain he had felt before had all been a drunken dream. He felt good, great even, but a strange hunger overcame him. He then watched the door open and the man from earlier entered. He continued to apologise, profusely for what he had done, and Francisco's confusion only worsened. The handsome stranger went on to explain what he had done exactly and that Frank was now a vampire, a being that he had only heard about in stories, but it all made sense, and he knew what the hunger was for now.

Francisco tried to return home to his father and explain what had happened to him, but being an extremely religious man, his father threatened his son and told him to leave, and to never return.

Upset and confused Francisco travelled across the country, trying to find a place to call home, but unable to control his hunger and still in some denial about what he was, even after decades, he never settled anywhere for much more than a few months.

Eventually he found himself in Los Santos, and believed he had finally found the right town for him. He bought a rundown old gym and did everything he could to finally feel normal for once. He isn't the most subtle vampire in town, still struggling with it all, but for Francisco it's so far so good, and he hopes things stay good.

Head canons

Francisco doesn't mind being called Frankie, but hates when people he barely knows call him Frank. It's what his father used to call him when he was in trouble and it always reminds him of home, but not in a good way.

His least favourite thing about being a vampire is hurting people, he isn't good at controlling his hunger and often feels guilt for days after feeding on an innocent victim.

He never quite grew out of the 80s, he loves the music, the movies and most of all the fashion, often dressing a little questionably like he's still living in the iconic decade.

Francisco is one of the friendliest guys you will ever meet but he struggles to read a situation most of the time. He'll talk to anybody no matter if they want to talk to him or not, he can be a little annoying and it often leads the young vampire into sticky situations.

Sometimes his love for being liked can lead to Francisco showing off, be it his vampire strength at the gym or other abilities when he's drunk at the bar, almost outing himself on several occasions.

More to be added~

Wanted Connections

Roomie

Mentor

Drinking Buddy

Ex Lover

Vampire Who Turned Him

Client at the gym.

[barrowsteeth]

i'm a new to posting gifs. how do you know who to tag to get more exposure? my last couple of sets haven't gotten a lot of traffic.

Hi anon! I always start with the name of the media i'm giffing and the edit tag for the show or movie, transatlantic and transatlanticedit, for example. If there are other popular tags for the media, I also include that, e.g. transatlantic netflix.

Next I try to include a few source blogs related to the media. Some fandoms have dedicated source blogs, like heartstoppercentral, narliesource, tedlassogifs. Other source blogs focus on specific characteristics, like blackandwhiteedit, dailycolorfulgifs, usergif (for sets with effects, like blending and animated transition or text). There are a ton of source blogs out there and I think it's a bit of trial and error in figuring out which ones to tag for each set. My advice is to look at other sets in your fandoms to see what source blogs others are tagging, then check out the blogs to see if you like the content they post and want to include them. Note: some blogs only post and queue creations from their members, so make sure you read the individual blog rules before you start tagging.

I also belong to two gifmaker networks, @pscentral and @lgbtqcreators, where we poll our fellow gifmakers to see who might want to be tagged in a set to help spread the word. Tiny plug here but both groups are really fun and the members are very helpful and encouraging regardless of your skill level. I will be completely honest with you -- I was nervous and intimidated when I first joined but I'm happy to say my fears were unfounded. I've learned a lot in the time I've been a member and it's great to be part of a community of other gifmakers. If that seems like your kind of thing, I encourage you to check the networks out and join us!

I also have a few gifmakers I've gotten to know through my fandoms and who generously support other creatives by adding posts to their reblog queue. I've posted about this a few times but along the same lines, you are welcome to tag me by adding #userbarrow to your tags. If you're not sure if you should tag me, check out my tracking tag page. for more info.

It's also important to remember that only the first 20 tags on your post will show up in the tags on tumblr, so if you flail wildly add commentary tags, save them for the end.

Finally, the best advice I can give you is to be active and engage with other creatives. Reblog posts you enjoy instead of just liking them. Reblogging is the best way to promote other's work, as you would want them to reblog yours! Add fun tags in your reblog if that's your thing. Or leave a comment letting the original poster that you loved their meta or photo edits or gifset. The more you engage with others, the better chance you have of making new fandom friends and increasing your exposure!

[lrndvs]

compliments from girls go hard

[soaked-doors]

happy birthday zoro 🎉🍾

[chloesimaginationthings]

The puppet definitely has favourites in FNAF