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scatterpatter · 2 months ago

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SONIC 3 MOVIE REVIEW/SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT

Still riding my high of just seeing it but like HERE'S MY INITIAL THOUGHTS

Not spoilered review: GOOD SHIT GOOD SHIT. FLAWED BUT GOOD MOVIE!!!!

MASSIVE SPOILS UNDER THE CUT

Sonic is such a good character in this one. He goes through a really good and believable arc and I just. He's so good.

Tails is perfect but what else is new

CHAO GARDEN. 11/10 NO NOTES.

KNUCKLES IS AMAZING. I LOVE HIM. NO NOTES. He also has an amazing moment with Sonic where he tries to be like "Hey you're not in a good headspace to use the emeralds right now man, I trust you and I'm asking you to trust me here" and he just. *CHEF'S KISS*

MULTIPLE "THEY DID/SAID THE THING" MOMENTS LETS GO!!!! I saw multiple references to SA2 of course but also Sonic Heroes, Shadow the Hedgehog, and a few more!!!

Maddy and Tom are fine. They don't really show up let alone do anything for 95% of the movie but like- when they're there they're fine *shrugs* Neither of them go through any character arcs, they're just supporting roles here, and that's all good and fine. I like how Tom getting severely injured really affects Sonic!! It's good shit!!!

SHADOW IS PERFECT. Augh. They really did their homework and absolutely nailed his characterization- While some of Keanu's line reads didn't QUITE hit how they should've, but like still 9/10 performance and 10/10 characterization. He's so good.

MARIA! IS! SO! GOOD!!! She feels like a real child and like a child from the 70s too!!!! She feels like a real person and not just "Shadooowwww you have to protect humanityyyyy the earth is so perfect you must protect them!!!" Don't get me wrong I love the original Maria but this one feels real and i LOVE HER.

BIOLIZARD WAS THE CREATURE IN THAT GODZILLA-ESQUE MOVIE MARIA AND SHADOW WERE WATCHING LETS GOOOO

So they didn't shoot her directly which... yeah thats fair. Execs probably wouldnt have let it slide for their PG rating. The fact that more than one guy WERE firing even though there were children ("CHILDREN", PLURAL- COMMANDER SAW SHADOW AS A CHILD LETS GOOO!!!!) and that caused Maria's death is about as good as we were gonna get for these movies and I'm fine with that!

The whole rewrite of backstory lore for movie-verse? Im fine with tbh. Shadow arriving in a meteor is a good possible foreshadow (hehehe foreshadow) to Black Doom and all of that- and I'm fine with things being on Earth and not the ARK, like- movie-verse is clearly a different continuity so I'm fine with all of that

Agent Stone is good but man my mans deserved better. He KINDA got a bit of justice towards the end but ehhhh? Other than that he was fine.

G.U.N. was. Fine. They clearly wanted to go a "Some people in G.U.N. were good guys but overall G.U.N. sucks and Sonic and crew eventually learn that" angle but they never really follow through with that set-up. Once both keys are retrieved G.U.N. is baaaasically forgotten about. Which sucks :/

I hope Shadow comes back somehow. That'd be nice. Kinda like the games where hey maybe there's some memory loss or something or other- idk, it'd be nice for him to come back.

... Was Gerald's whole "Scorpion nanobot armor" thing a reference to Sonic Spinball or am I insane. Am I insane. Idk.

... Okay. Elephant in the room time.

I DON'T CARE FOR JIM CARREY ANYMORE MY GODDDD. Like. Okay. He was perfectly fine as Ivo and Gerald early in the movie!!! It was fine! But when Ivo and Gerald team up... Im ngl you guys its just too many Carrey-isms that rreeeeaaaally overstay their welcome. It's tonally dissonant from the rest of the story they're trying to tell- Like yeah they can be silly and goofy sometimes but like. It takes away from the moment too many times.

It's a kids movie I know I know, but like- kids movies can and should take themselves seriously when the time calls for it! They had such a good setup for some really good moments!!!

Like Gerald having his heel-turn moment of "You're no Maria. My family is dead." was really good!!!! ... But then he just goes to being a goofy sort of villain again? And just Jim Carrey's all over the place???????

Like I think the worst offense was when Sonic and Shadow have their Live and Learn moment (WHICH! BTW!!! IS AMAZING!!!!! OMG LIVE AND LEEEAAAARN) and it's this AMAZING and CINEMATIC BADASS MOMENT- and then smash cuts to Gerald. Spanking. Ivo. With a big ol robotic hand and it's like... Oh. Oh wow it really killed the moment huh.

And when Gerald's sendoff was getting basically "Thousand years of death"'d or whatever the Naruto meme is- by a fucking Sonic quill and then just. Just. Bug zapper'd. With no real... anything behind it. I genuinely had a "Wait thats how he dies???" moment in the theater. Like. Seriously???

It's. Not good. And I really don't care for it and felt it reeeeaaally detracted from the movie- Again I know it's a kids movie but HEY KIDS MOVIES CAN TAKE THEMSELVES SERIOUSLY! Like. Like there's plenty of good humor (I think a good example is Team Sonic's first encounter with Shadow- good quips but also taking things seriously) but like- When a story is trying to be as serious as the FUCKING PLOT OF SA2, you can take it seriously! There's massive stakes here!

Ivo got a fine sendoff. It was fine. I dunno. It felt better than Gerald's shitty ass sendoff. I just. I hope it's for real. I want Jim Carrey to retire. He was fine in the first like 30 minutes but after that I was verrrry sick of him.

BUT.

Im so happy guys im so happy BEFORE I SAW THE MOVIE I CALLED IT I CALLED IT

METAL AND AMY CONFIRMED FOR THE NEXT MOVIE!!!!

You know what needs to happen now, right? Right?

YOU MAY KNOW EVERYTHING IM GOING TO DO, BUT THATS NOT GOING TO HELP YOU SINCE I KNOW EVERYTHING YOURE GOING TO DO!

STRANGE, ISNT IT?!?!

But yeah like. Hm. 7/10 Too Much Jim Carrey.

#sth #sonic movie 3 #sonic 3 spoilers #sonic movie spoilers #sonic movie 3 spoilers

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mcbeetlebeeb · 1 year ago

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yo more john stuff would be sick if you may (pls and thx :>)

oh jeez oh man oh snap-

yeah I can do that for you, congrats on being the first person too use my ask box thing 🎉

anywho, I can't guarantee this will be proofread until like- maybe tommorow when I read threw it but uyhhmmbb.. yeah general headcannon??- stuff?

John Egbert

unfortunately a bit emotionally constipated

not a great big deal (maybe a bit of a lot)

but on contrary, I don't think he'd be someone to be very beat around the bush with those sorta feelings

at least physically? like, body language wise-

he'd be comfortable around you, you'd probably have him hanging around on you while he's floating around

godtiered John?

floating you everywhere

your godtiered?

don't care, he's lifting you effortlessly with his wind powers

but I think hed try to be pretty forward about his feelings

or at least he thinks he is-

touch starved™

like how I mentioned he'd be comfortable with you in a physical matter

not minding pda too much but much more affectionate in private

he'd be the type of person for you too fall asleep on his shoulder, and he'd let you 100%, maybe even lay his head on yours in return

I think hed be someone who's a bit easy to read if you can do eye contact

like I'd pitcure if one were to flirt with him, it'd go over his head a bit at first, not that he wouldn't ever get it

he would get it like, 5 minutes afterwards and then he can't bring it back up it cause 5 minutes has passed and oh god that was so obvious how did he not get that—

but back with the eye contact thing, I'd be easy to pick up on

easy to spot a mischievous or playful glint in his eye, it'd usally be paired with a grin

he'd be one too steal longing looks at you when your not paying attention

just letting internal monolog play out in his brain as he stares at you doing whatever

subconsciously messing with his fingers or the hem of his shirt

he'd pretend he's not looking when you look back at him, and or that he's wasnt just thinking of the most "silliest" of thoughts

he'd be good at hugs

or good at giving hugs?

good and secure, rests his head on your shoulder, his arms under yours too hug around your waist simply cause he wants you as close as possible

(he's totally not sniffing you)

I think hed be a giggly mfker if you catch my drift

one of you made a bad joke? he's laughing at it

you tripped and aren't seriously hurt?

laughing at you as he helps you up

very much a sweetheart though

even though I think he would be a bit- dense?- wrong word

stubborn- but not nessasarly in the way you think, he's set in certain ways, varying things stuck with him throughout sburb events (obviously‐)

but he'd still be a lil goober at heart yknow

not too much prying for it to takes to make him be a goober comfortably in your presence

like in the other post- his goofy energy is just gonna go right too you

just something about him makes one just- exist in the moment, although he mostly exists up in his head-

-i think he'd focus mostly on whoevers in front of him, their voice, what they're saying

amplified if he likes you, he's listening so intently

maybe a little too intently where he gets caught up in his thoughts, it's starts off of what he wants to say to respond,

focusing in on your voice and his mind trails off with how nice you sound, taking in the fact that your voice belongs too you

no one else, he's listening to no one else but you right now,

you'd be mid sentence and notice how hard he's staring at you, hell you could've been done with the sentence a minute ago and he'd still be up in his brain

asking what is wrong and he'd only respond with blinking his eyes at you, focusing in on your face rather your voice finding himself caught red handed

"uh- sorry— I was spacing out-"

spacing out my ass, he's thinking about how he wants to be closer, hear your voice at its most hushed

wanting to rest his head on your chest, listening to the sound of your breathing, the steady thump of your heart beneath his head

whenever he hugs you he wants it to be extra long, burying his head in the crook of your neck like he hasn't seen you in forever

he wants you, to hear you, he want you too want him like he wants you

I stop here I tired 3 in morning! 🛌💤

#john egbert x reader #john egbert #gay people #very fruity #homestuck #x reader

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queenlua · 1 year ago

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i rewatched schindler's list last night (extremely scattered random thoughts)

* the main motif that jumped out to me this time was that of paperwork

which makes sense, right. the list. in the title. is in fact a piece of paperwork

but (1) the last time i watched this i was like 15 and a dummy, and (2) i guess paperwork's been on the brain lately ever since i saw brandon taylor calling for a comeback of the "paperwork movie" and i was like so true bestie

the paperwork thing isn't the movie's primary preoccupation. it wasn't trying to make a specific statement about The Inhumanity Of Machines And Bureaucracy as far as i could tell (even though that'd be an easy angle for something like this to take), but even so. the endless lines with some harried typist at the end of it, the shots of ppl checking every coat pocket for their work papers, Itzhak's goofy-ass typing technique as he's making that list of names, the paperwork error that sends the train of women not to his factory but to Auchwitz, etc...

but there's a missing middle in there, right, with some honest examination of these typewriters and databases and keyboards and emails and files as part of the air we breathe now. (i think the automated-job-assignment-system in Le Guin's The Dispossessed and the City of Mind in Le Guin's Always Coming Home are both her kind-of-inchoate-but-deeply-felt AHHHHH reactions to bureaucratization and the internet, respectively—a lot of scifi from that era reads like that, nervous but not really sure what to say yet.) like, Schindler's List was not wanting to examine that angle overmuch, but because it's not so front-and-center preoccupied with the papers in-and-of-themselves it probably comes away with stronger imagery/riffing on the idea than it would have otherwise

when taylor was talking about paperwork movies he was talking about stuff like legal thrillers, romcoms, stuff like Air, and so on. things where bureaucratic competence is the way to win. and there's no shortage of midcentury stuff where The Bureaucratization Is The Horror, the act of putting anything on a paper or in a database is the itself the thing to be feared

but it'd be interesting to see a film that did take that front-and-center. (probably one exists! i don't watch very many movies.) i guess the closest thing to what i'm thinking of is Red Plenty, which is a novel about a lot of things, but one of those threads is definitely Egghead Soviet Math Nerds Doing Paperwork, & yeah it's so so so good. I Am Once Again Asking You To Read Red Plenty

* the other new thing that jumped out at me, this time around, was just how bad at business Schindler was lol. this went over my head as a kid, because the guy is always dressed fantastic and slots so easily into the Charming Business Magnate Archetype, and also because as a kid i hadn't spent enough time around Charming Business Magnates to realize how often they are full of shit... but yeah, the movie makes it super clear upfront that this is essentially a Wall Street Bets guy who has identified exactly one weird arbitrage opportunity ("hire slave labor") and is good at calling in favors from the other nazis he parties with and that's it. utterly unsurprising he failed at every single other business he ever tried. reading the details of Actual Oskar Schindler's life makes him seem both better and worse than how he's portrayed in the film, and it would've been really interesting to see all those angles explored, even if i get why Speilberg opted to sand down those edges and i'll concede he was probably right to do so for the thing he wanted to make

anyway yeah. that's a film

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kay-wren · 8 months ago

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youtube

I’ll Come Running - R.C. - Chapter 11

Rafe couldn't help but let his mind continue to wonder into the depths of his memories of him and Jessie. As crazy as it sounded, seeing her again filled him with so much... hope. He hadn't felt that hope in four years.

***

*ding dong*

"I got it." Rafe declared as he ran down the stairs in his light pink board shorts and pastel collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up mid length.

He answered the door promptly and there stood Jessie, in a black sleeveless romper that hugged her upper body just right and flared perfectly at the hip. Rafe thought she looked even better than usual. Jessie thought the same about Rafe. They both exchanged glances at each other. Rafe could tell that Jessie had tried to dress a little nicer for the occasion, as she ditched her usual crop tops and jean shorts.

"Come in." Rafe ushered her through the door with a smile that lit up his entire face.

Jessie couldn't help but admire the house before her. Although she had seen its grandeur from the outside, it was a completely different story walking in it. She took notice of the never ending staircase that looked like it could've gone straight to heaven. She noticed the extravagant table setting in the dining room with the nicest china she'd ever seen. She bet stealing just a few pieces would get her a nice wad of extra cash, probably a weeks worth of tips at the Island Club. She quickly stifled that thought, knowing that she had something to prove by being amongst the kooks. She knew what they thought about Pogues— no, what they thought about Maybanks— and she was bound and determined to prove them wrong.

Rafe didn't tell his parents who was coming for dinner that weekend, he just said a girl. Even though his entire family grilled him about it he knew it'd be best if they didn't know. He wanted them to meet Jessie before they made any assumptions. He saw something in Jessie she didn't even see in herself just yet. She was capable of being liked and most certainly worthy of being loved.

Rafe ushered Jessie into the kitchen as he placed his hand on her lower back. For once Jessie didn't decline. Rafe was truly starting to grow on her.

"I'm so glad you made it." Rafe whispered so only Jessie could hear with a smile. They made their way into the kitchen and she was met with very familiar faces.

"Dad, Rose, I'd like you to meet, Jessie." Rafe said as he gestured towards her, the goofy grin never leaving his face.

Ward simply looked Jessie up and down and looked directly at Rafe as if to question his choice in friends.

"Jessie Maybank." Was all Ward could muster as he kept his eye on Rafe. Jessie couldn't quite tell if that was a question or a statement. She shrugged it off.

"Nice to meet you Mr. Cameron." Jessie said with a polite smile, something she was only used to using to her advantage on her waitressing shifts. However, this time it was genuine. She stuck out her hand to Ward. He looked at it and looked back up at Jessie with a dumbfounded look on his face as he extended his hand as well. They shook hands and he quickly retracted it. The look on his face almost insinuated that he wanted to wash his hands immediately. Rafe noticed, and was silently enraged. He gave Ward and Rose a look of judgement and disapproval. Taking the hint, Rose cleared her throat and nudged Ward out of his trance with her elbow.

"Nice to meet you Jessie." She stated plainly with her lips put together in a straight line, as if to hold her tongue.

That introduction went about as Jessie had expected. But Rafe had secretly prayed for more than what he got. He was embarrassed. They didn't know Jessie like he did, and yet they assumed she was not even worthy to shake their hand.

Sarah and Wheezie came down about that time to perfectly break the awkward stares and silence.

"Oh, hey, Sarah, this is my friend, Jessie." Rafe gestured again with his hands. Once again, Jessie was responsible for extending her hand first but was met with a kinder smile.

"I've seen you around." Sarah said plainly as she shook Jessie's hand with much more desire than Ward showed. Rafe was grateful, he knew he could count on Sarah to be a little more welcoming, and Wheezie too.

"I like your romper." Wheezie broke the ice with, finally, a compliment. That made Jessie feel better, considering she did think long and hard about what to wear to something like this.

"Thank you." Jessie replied with a genuine smile.

They finally all sat down to eat. Rafe pulled out her chair like a gentleman. Jessie was caught off guard. She's never been treated like that before, but she appreciated the act of kindness. It made her stomach flutter a little bit.

"Let's bless the food." Ward said as they all stuck out their hands. She wasn't quite sure what to do, as she had never been to a family dinner before. Her family dinners consisted of her and JJ eating whatever they could find out of the same pot they cooked it in. Jessie didn't take the Cameron's for the praying type but nonetheless, she joined hands with Rafe and Rose.

As they joined hands, for the first time, she noticed how big Rafe's hands were, they practically swallowed hers. Jessie didn't remember a word of Ward's prayer, all she could focus on was Rafe's thumb rubbing circles around her knuckles as if to soothe her. She didn't need soothing, did she? If so, how did Rafe know? He can't possibly-

"Amen." Everyone said

"Amen." Jessie said a little too loudly a little too late as she was pulled out of her trance. Her eyes got wide as she looked around the table. Everyone couldn't help but laugh just a little. She hoped they had found it amusing and not stupid.

"So Jessie," Ward said as he picked up the pasta on his fork, "how'd you become friends with my son?" He said with clear intimidation in his voice as he made eye contact with Jessie across the table. Jessie never responded well to intentional intimidation from anyone. She was never one to back down, Rafe knew this, so he spoke up rather quickly.

"We met at the Island Club, dad, you know she waitresses there." Rafe said as he looked Ward in the eyes with the same intensity. Rafe technically didn't lie, they did meet at the Island Club, under what pretenses, that could be left undisclosed.

"Ah, how cute." Ward responded in a condescending tone as he went to look back at his plate. "So Rafe how'd you, uh, find interest in Jessie?" Ward made that question sound so genuine, like he was really interested in whatever story they had, but they both knew he was fishing for strategic information to be able to judge Jessie even further. Any reason he could find to get a pogue like her away from his son was a good one in his opinion. Rafe grew irritated. Jessie could see that as he took in a deep breath to calm his pending response.

"Her personality, dad. She was always really kind at the club to people who didn't deserve it." He remarked, his smile gone as he stabbed the pasta with his fork. Jessie couldn't hold back the smile. She wanted to laugh at Rafe's passive aggressiveness. She appreciated that he could hold his own against his dad, maybe there was more to this kid than she thought.

"Aww well isn't that sweet." Ward mocked as he continued to eat his food. It was clear everyone else at the table didn't feel comfortable butting in, meanwhile Rafe was foaming at the mouth for Ward to pop off with one more sarcastic comment. For once Jessie felt like she didn't have to come to her own rescue, Rafe was clearly handling that.

"So uh, where do you guys go from here? I mean," Ward chuckled. "Jessie, you can't seriously consider yourself good enough for Rafe here righ-"

"Enough!" Rafe snapped as he slammed his fists on the table. He made the beautiful china clammer and the wine glasses spill. Rafe didn't care.

"Nobody said anything about what you're implying! She's my friend. And no matter what she is to me, she's always good enough." Rafe fumed as he got up from the table with Jessie in tow. He grabbed her hand without a word and stormed out of the house. Jessie couldn't speak, she was... impressed.

She still couldn't grasp why Rafe cared so much about her, why he felt the need to defend her ever since that first night at the Island Club.

***

Rafe knew exactly why. How could he forget? But he couldn't let go of the fact that despite his loyalty to Jessie, she still left him so quickly and so quietly that one summer night. He needed answers. If she was here, finally here, in his presence, he was going to get them.

#drew starkey #jj maybank #obx #outer banks #rafe cameron #rafe obx #rafe outer banks #rudy pankow #fanfic #outer banks imagine #Youtube

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authorofthemoon · 11 months ago

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Alright I wanna catalogue all my thoughts on Persona 3 Reload but it's gonna start with an info dump. I rescued Fuuka and about halfway though the revenge website arc. So first done teammate thoughts.

I think the protagonist is pretty boring I just feels like he's less present than Yu and Ren. All his answers are either boring, polite, or really mean. Not a lot of opportunities to be a silly goose at least so far. I get the feeling he's meant to be a little emo and possibly apathetic to others due to the game's themes.

Junpei is cool, really silly goofy guy. Sucks he falls victim to Persona idiot guy syndrome and is kinda treated poorly by everyone and is kinda perverted. It's not insane but it's their.

Honestly love Takebe so much. She is such a normal person and it's so refreshing. And I mean normal normal like she is trying her fucking best even though she's kinda lame (affectionate) at times. Like the Ace Defective line made me laugh solely because of her pause beforehand like she tried so hard. And her random beef with Kirijo is so good. It's probably explained later but day one she did not get a good vibe from her and is constantly like 'Idk she gives me the ick' is so funny to me.

Speaking of Kirijo. Love her. Queen shit. Mother. Actual group mom. She's trying her best and again she's so funny. Her thinking that someone broke into Junpei's room when he's simply a slob is peak to me. She is THE Empress.

Akihiko. We love a good gym bro himbo. Him and Shinji have messy exes energy. Not much to him yet honestly but I'm excited to know more.

Same with Fuuka she seems really cool. Normal shy girl character but I'm sure we get a lot more depth with her social link.

Speaking of which social link rundown.

Kenji had me questioning my sanity bc why am I so supportive of this guy getting groomed? I can say it's a bad idea to ask out your teacher but I can never be like 'hey, she's a pedo.' I literally have been speed running his link bc I need to know if she's a creep or if he's delusional. I'm at 9 so it seems to be delusional.

I took one look at Odagiri and went 'ah yes, he's a little bit fucked up.' only halfway through so curious where it goes.

Would die for the elderly couple I need to advance their link.

Miyamoto, go to a fucking doctor do you not know how injuries work?

Chihiro I would kill for you. Not that far into her link but her dad can catch these hands.

Maya is cool. Not that engaging of a link tbh.

Hiraga is very cute and sweet so I wanna advance his link I'm only a couple in.

Yuko is cool I'm only at 4 with her. She's funny and quick witted.

I will fucking kill Maiko's parents and adopt her myself. I'm only at 5. The moment I saw she was hanged arcana I was worried for her.

Pharos is cool idk how to advance his link I assume it'd natural.

Haven't done much with Bebe. Will at some point.

I just started the monk. He's interesting.

Suemitsu my sweet summer child go to fucking therapy. About halfway through and the tea is piping hot. Bro is literally like eating himself to death or something. I do think he's very sweet though.

That's about it loving the game despite a few nitpicks bc it's Atlus and my grudge against then is eternal.

#persona 3 reload #persona 3 #p3 reload #mitsuru kirijo #akihiko sanada #yukari takeba #junpei iori #fuuka yamagishi #kenji tomochika #hidetoshi odagiri #kazushi miyamoto #chihiro fushimi #maiko oohashi #nozomi suemitsu

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wonderlandleighleigh · 2 years ago

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anything with lily!!!

At four, Lily looks quite a lot like Esther did, though Esther has their mother's blue eyes, while Lily's are her father's hazel, and one of Lenny's very favorite things is to watch the kids together.

It'd be easy, with the big age gap between Lily and her siblings, for the older kids to ignore her, but they never, ever do. Sure, Ethan (15 and making noises about dating), Kitty (14 and starting to get way too fucking smart) and Esther (eleven, and as outspoken as ever), have their their own things going. Baseball practice and the school paper and orchestra rehearsals, but when they're home, Lily is their favorite person.

On Sunday nights, they watch the Wonderful World of Disney together, and takeout, Ethan old enough to be in charge when Midge and Lenny have work. After dinner, they all sprawl out with their homework on the living room floor and play music while they work, and Lily plays with her dolls, pulling her siblings into the narrative every so often.

They've loosened up at family dinners, too, though Joel, Moishe and Abe are still not in favor of having all the kids sit with the grown-ups, but Lenny loves it. Especially because Lan is there, too, and the kids are all goofy and weird and snappy and clever.

"We should get a boat," Lan tells all of them. "Lenny and Ethan fishes and we can swim!"

"You're not swimming in the Hudson," Abe tells the seven-year-old. "We don't know what's in the Hudson."

"Probably a lot of people your grandparents didn't like very much," Ethan jokes.

Mei laughs, startled, while Joel narrows his eyes at his oldest son.

"You gotta?" he asks.

"It was a good joke," Ethan argues.

Joel rolls his eyes and turns to Midge. "You got anything to say to your son?"

"Oh, so when he makes wildly inappropriate jokes about mafia hits, it's my fault?" Midge asks.

Joel nods. "Yes."

Midge nods back. "Actually, that's fair. Ethan. Not at the dinner table. Save it for dessert."

"Sure, Ma."

"Real nice," Joel grumbles.

Lily giggles, though everyone knows she's too young to understand exactly what she's laughing at.

"Oh, is something funny?" Noah asks his little niece, reaching out to tickle her. "I'll give you something funny."

Lily giggles and squirms, and Astrid laughs, while Chaim (eight and too smart) reaches out to help with the tickling.

"Not too much, she'll throw up," Rose warns, looking mildly amused at the spectacle.

"Yes, let's not end the night with vomit," Midge agrees.

"This is why the children should eat in the kitchen," Abe grumbles.

"The kitchen in our apartment isn't big enough for all six kids to eat comfortably without one of them sitting on the counter," Lenny tells him. "And this is too much fun."

"Sure. Fun," Joel grumbles.

"Cheer up, Joely," Shirley tells her son, patting his hand. "These dinners aren't half as horrible as they were when you and Midge first separated."

"And nothing ever will be," Moishe agrees. "And it's...not so bad having all the kids around. God knows Esther holds her when in a debate."

Esther smiles proudly, and Lenny knows that she'll make a hell of a lawyer one of these days. He nudges her and grins with pride. "Lookit you, impressing the hardasses at the table."

Esther giggles and shoves at his face as he ruffles her hair.

Kitty beams happily and rests her head on Midge's shoulder. "I like eating with everybody. It feels nice."

Midge strokes her hair away from her face and kisses her temple. "Well I like having you all around the table."

"Where's Auntie Susie?" Lily asks, now perched on her uncle's knee and eating some of the leftover rice on his plate.

"Auntie Susie had to go to one of her client's gigs tonight," Midge explains. "But she said to eat an extra apple tart for her for dessert."

Lily's eyes go wide with excitement. "Two apple tarts?"

"Oh, she'll definitely throw up from two," Astrid chimes in.

"We'll split a second one, kiddo," Noah promises. "And then we'll look at the big plant book Papa Abe got you for Hanukkah."

"Flower book!" Lily squeaks happily.

"Midge, you gave birth to a nerd," Joel teases.

"The best nerd," Midge beams, glancing at Lenny.

He grins back and steals one of Esther's carrots, getting him whacked in the arm, making him and the rest of the able laugh.

#fic #au #tmmm #Midge x Lenny #and all the kids #and the fam

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humanmorph · 1 year ago

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PALISADE 28.crazy good this week etc

New radio person for the intro...! This comes at a good moment. I still miss Baldwin Home like. That very first PALISADE intro is genuinely so hard to beat... but this feels good. I'm once again thinking about Austin writing these... The style used for Black Screens intros obviously shines through (she's his protégé) but she does have her own voice already (way more rhyming? I mean, I'd have to doublecheck HIS intros, it's literally just a feeling). Just the tone used and intonation already does a lot. Austin is so good at this fr. I'm still curious how he even approaches that. Also the "watch me unloose 80 Ls on these next lines" I knewwww that's 80 Ls for real as soon as Parti said illogical. I wonder if he wrote that bit first trying to see how many Ls he could fit in there & then finetuned it to get to a good number? I guess that's just how I would do it.

(who knows if we'll ever get a description for Parti. we never did for Black. maybe if she shows up in a conflict turn somehow? so im just fuckin around for now... i haven't sold myself on the clothes. i'm just not a fashion guy. but i do like the braids)

Oh & new guy alert part 2!!! New Keith character! And he has a funny hat. Not even funny as in goofy it just makes me laugh a bit because my dad and maybe every 5th 70+ y/o man I see has a hat like that. Love the sequin poncho.

(btw I am almost certain Keith has posted a picture of that teapot on Cohost before... He posts about tea sometimes so there's at least a chance. I mean the description of the coloring he gives is actually pretty good IMO, you can work with that, but I as an artist I like to have a visual reference. EDIT: someone just asked him. thank you keith and also rosecrest)

I have the. I got Armor Astir & a lot of the playbooks other people made in a bundle a while back and I'm real torn if I should just look at the Investigator because I'm really curious. But. I also love to be surprised. So I probably won't, but it's good to know I COULD, if I wanted to. Anyways, I was pretty sure it'd be another B-Plot character too, just because it makes sense. Brnine COULD go alone on a B-Plot, I guess, but it's more fun with 2 groups to jump between, surely. Though this means the Eclectic-Brnine dynamic is crucial! I hope they can meet up soon... But yeah I just really am gonna miss Phrygian backing them up and cheering and clapping and asking questions. They were so fun together... A great team :' (

ok so I wrote everything else about Eclectic down yesterday & then noted down "vibes?" as break between paragraphs because all I had at that point was the description & I wanted to get back to this. And ooohhh my god the vibes are fucking immaculate right off the bat I'm having a hard time to not Already be obsessed with this guy he's SO funny conceptually and it KEPT getting better... Truly delighted with this new type of guy (& Keith is doing a voice!). And I fucking love the hooks. Truly so great to me. The thought of these getting loosened OR deepened is already really really good. "Leap says"..... oh it's SO funny I keep laughing to myself

And I'm VERY excited it's a delegate like genuinely so happy. I was mourning the loss of a branched onscreen (okay.I still am) but this does make it worth it. Ever since they got introduced basically I so badly wanted to know anything more about them, but especially what Austin mentioned in the episode itself: the delegates relationships to the divines they are made from & of course the divines themselves (who are alive!!! Apparently that was already written in a dossier way back when, but I rarely read those). That has me sooo excited.

Oh and the like... I only thought about this just now but the connection there to Thisbe's new project is. That's gotta be something! "The divine who's being held captive somewhere on this planet, and has been tortured for millennia" hearing a message of... That this can end & rest is possible and it's SO CLOSE? But does that just make it worse... Ohhhhh. Yeah this rules. What a great idea.

That project generally is really... god, I love Thisbe so much. I love how Janine talks about her and what she thinks and why she does what she does. Thisbe's relationship to work and being a tool and of use is so interesting to put here, with the divines wanting to rest. (And Janine saying something like... Thisbe thinks of herself in relation to divines how Mow is to her? Kind of?) And saying it seems so solitary a project... every divine should know about it. Every divine deserves the right to rest. But it's also a call to action of sorts when she talks about like... "shouldn't you want to protect this?" I think her "Fighting is not my purpose, but there is nowhere else for me until the fighting is over." hook could be in conservation here too... Also I'm just looking forward for Thisbe to Broadcast again. It was like, one of her things in PARTIZAN. I really liked her & Cori working on this together with the. Experience they just had behind them. Sylvi & Janine reading the hooks for each others characters kind of sheepishly was soooo funny "I forgot how bitchy this was!". That's good stuff to me. (as an aside: god, Thisbe has always had good as hell hooks/beliefs/whatever else. Remember "Operant Broun lies to me because they believe I am a person."? Banger. ) I also love that she thought of this/about this at the rib(?) of Barricade. Barricade as an axiom who had this close (& good, protective) relationship with another axiom...

btw now that Leap is NOT coming back I do miss him a bit. Mostly out of principle like I am So happy we have Eclectic but Leap is my guy.... shoutout to him... being a bitch bastard pirate out there in space... + shoutout to Figure A too always : ) (speaking of, on the Gathering Information Extra bit from today he talked about if he had played Leap, picking a class that also had like, a crew, and I'm mostly just really curious who that would've been. I would love for Keith to make up some funny guys for Leap to order around. I wonder if Eclectic or an Eclectic type would've been on that?)

(Also Leap investigating Motion. Ok. To ME it's at least partly bc this was so important to Millie. And he has reason to be concerned generally he fought Motion too but. That's MILLIE'S rival! And it doesn't even have to be at the front of his mind when he does this. Maybe it isn't. But it's real & it's something to remember her by through actual action. Because he's not the sentimental type.Do you get me.?)

Brnine talk show. This was sooo good. After they joked about it in PAL25 too. I recognized the hosts name, but wasn't quite sure from where until I read the dossier - of course he's that guy from the podcast. God. I have got to relisten to that sometime... I remember Ali on one of the recent Gathering Information ep (the one w/ Austin on, I think) mentioning a conversation that was like. stressful to do. and then also to listen to? (since she has to for production/editing) and I figured it would be another Gucci-type talk but ooohh my god. This was sooo. EDIT: ACTUALLY what if it wasn't even. What if it's about to be this talk with Rye edit: GALLICA i cant believe noone called me on this. mixing my elects up. rye is the one gur killed (mvp). Austin was sounding a bit ominous about it at the end of this episode! HUGE shoutouts to Ali again she is just absolutely killing it this season for real... And I honestly feel like overall Brnine was, considering the situation, doing very well. Genuinely. You're feverish and hollowblooded and have this fucking. Guy needling you & asking the stupidest questions... & like. "You made Kalmeria. They'd never let you rot in jail." of courseeee they want Brnine working for them. They're so GOOD at what they do. They messed with the parts of A Fucking Divine. . I just had a scary thought and it involved Mustard Red. But. Surely not. Nooo. I'm shaking my head. However Arbitrage? An Arbitrage deal (like they tried to make them take before) would work just perfectly for this, wouldn't it...

some other stuff:

When Austin mentioned Grand Mag in that vision Cori had I thought something like 'man. sucks to be him : (' but like. In a genuine way. "I can't stop it from hurting people a little"........... Hah oh wow I just thought of this but I am so excited for people who haven't listened to TM to meet him now. He's not even my favourite he just makes me crazy in a way almost no other character does? Like there's something so WRONG with him. And there's things wrong with a lot of FatT characters but it's like... Well. Grand Magnificent.

I love the thought of them watching Brnines interview at the next movie night (POOR BRNINE.) but I also want to know what Eclectic would pick for movie night. Oh and Partial too. Though he may not be staying I would still really love to know. Partial coming on board for the mission has me intrigued generally.

Oh and Gur talking! Even if just a little. I still feel so bad for them. "I believe in whispers in ears"... and they have reason to now. Figure is a person trying their best to do good & make changes, which is what Gur wants. I just wish they weren't a specter haunting someone elses body & what even happens when Figure rolls a 10+. Is Gur still there and Figure just stops seeing him? oohh it hurts a bit.you can't do this to him you can't (related: I extremely forgot about the other specters and ghosts and ghouls and whatnot that Figure can also see. It's not just my friend Gur Sevraq. Looking forward to hear more about that & how it affects Figure so much as to roll with disadvantage!)

Love to learn just a little more about devotion. I really need to just relisten to that again & think about it a bit harder.

At one point Austin says "Still flanked by guards, you are" and it caught me off guard & made me wheeze. He didn't even do that on purpose . I get him I do this way too often(realize I forgot to say part of a sentence and pack it at the end)

#from yesterday and also today.#palisadeposting #palisade spoilers

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luckyshotwrites · 1 year ago

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What I'd Do As My Enemies Wife (Widfali AU)

Chapter 3 - In Need Of Acting Lessons.

Contents (Warnings): The Married Couple At The Pizzeria (Shenanigans with AU Alexander and Lynette).

Wordcount: 2,200+

Side note: Thank you, @novorehere for being the menace that made me draw them going on a date and @aramastus for suggesting this AU idea in the first place! Love you guys! AGAIN, this is a goofy what if scenario. If you haven't read Widfali I'd recommend reading it first! That being said this is going to be much lighter and sweeter than what's been going on in the story thus far, hope you enjoy!

_____________________________________________

Drake

"You're punctual today," he commented, walking down the long stretch of the hall toward Lynette. Normally, Drake would beat the second shift here on days his dad wanted to give him the 'game plan.' Today, his dad wasn't here, though.

"O-oh, yeah. I drove here a little early."

Did she have another fight with Wicks? He questioned, then decided not to ask.

Instead, he concentrated on her tempting beats and quickly noticed the sound was off.

It was Lynette's heart, but it thumped differently. Usually, when he neared, she'd be skittish, sometimes shy. Currently, she was anxious, as if she had something to hide from him and didn't want him to figure it out.

"Are you alright?"

Her heart rate is increasing. Drake noted.

"As alright as I can be here," she smiled at Drake—something was wrong.

"Did you do something I'm gonna get mad at you about?"

Again, her heart rate spiked, and her chuckle was beyond nervous and highly sheepish. What is she not saying?

"What d-do you mean, Drake?"

Before he could dispatch his own investigation, Alexander's familiar heart rang in his ears.

"Yo, Drake, and...shrimp."

What?

Drake's attention was pulled to his best friend, whose heart wasn't going crazy with hunger when approaching them as usual.

He probably ate before work; Lev is here today, after all. Drake concluded.

Then, Lev strolled his way over in his pompous fashion, near the group gathered at the time clock. And much like Drake, Lev looked at them weirdly.

Did he pick up something too? Lev moved closer to Lynette. She didn't scramble in the opposite direction. She stayed there, unbothered, for a few seconds more.

"Lost in thought," Lev asked.

Lynette shook her head, lips closed and then ran to the time clock scanning the badge at her shirt. She missed the first swipe once, then barely got the second. Alexander, weirdly followed without a word too.

They left Lev and him in the plain big halls.

"He didn't look like the same hungry idiot he normally is today."

Drake rolled his eyes, "Don't call him an idiot." He then lifted his badge by the scanner and stopped. I'm not going to ask Lawless.

"Aren't you scanning in to, Drake? Or is there something you wanted to tell me.~"

You bastard. Drake grumbled in his head. He threw down his hand on the time clock and turned to Lev. "DO you know what's going on with Lynette?"

Lev raised a brow, "What do you mean?"

He could just feel the antagonism in Lev's smile.

Should I even tell him?

Drake sighed and fixed is bangs over his face. "She's acting weird. They both kinda are. Lynette's heart is beating differently, and Alexander seemed, I don't know, jealous of you getting near her or like he wanted to stop you." Drake rubbed his temples. "Sure, he would stop you normally if you're being, well, you, but it's weird."

Lev grinned and teetered to Drake, "Maybe something happened between them then."

"Yeah, right."

Lev patted Drake's head like he was a child. I'll end you. "I'll investigate Lynette then, and you do, Wendie. Sound fun?"

With a lack of enthusiasm, Drake said, "I guess."

…

Lev

Our first ever ceasefire. Lev found the idea slightly laughable. It was the first time he ever worked with Drake outside of work orders.

Unlike teasing Alexander, he knew he could set off Drake rather quickly. And no matter how much fun it'd be, he still kept his distance. Drake wasn't someone he cared much about.

He'd be too predictable.

Lev's attention drifted to the short redhead beside him. Not that you're unpredictable. The underkin felt confident he could predict her reactions to anything he said or did.

Yet, she had a charm about her that wasn't just due to her rarity. Lev found her useless persistence endearing and her hopefulness in them laughable. He couldn't fathom things ever changing. Unless it was Lynette finally snapping.

Lev couldn't wait for that.

He returned from his thoughts to the short girl once again. He inspected her shoes; the size was the same, and her ponytail was still well-kept between the hole in the back of her cap. And her phone still created a groove in her back pocket.

Even her little mannerisms are the same. She softly drummed on the edge of the counters with her pointer fingers when she waited for customers. Re-tighten her hair when she moved up and down to check on the supplies below. As well as when she'd move to the area behind them to overlook extra dipping sauces, condiments, napkins, and so forth.

But you're not the real Lynette, are you?

There was a difference in the way she looked at him. She was almost unbothered by his presence, calmer than he had ever seen her working at the pizzeria.

He faced forward as she cleaned her side and leaned near her. They had an hour left until lunch. "Hey, Lynette~."

He stole her attention.

The surprise sputtered out in a croak. "Y-yeah?"

He checked over her face briefly. It wasn't the same nervousness he was looking for.

"You're not cheating on me, are you?" Lev jokingly said.

He had to say something big to spur a flustered response. It worked, albeit differently from how he assumed. He expected denial with confidence, which is not what he received.

"Cheating! We-were not dating?"

Lev said it as a mock toward the fact that she was giving Alexander more attention than himself, but the questionable way she answered sweetened the nectar Lev got from it.

Why are you so unsure? She had his full attention and wouldn't be able to pry it away.

He played with the reply in his mouth before finally letting it go. "Are you saying that confession I gave you last week meant nothing?"

There was no confession. Lev only told her last week that he admired her misplaced tenacity.

Her face read panic. She looked like she was searching for something in her mind, an answer that wasn't there.

Who he thought of as the imposter Lynette spoke out, "I-I'm n-not dating you!" She held no faith in her statement. He took a step closer. "I know you'd never date a human. Y-you live forever and-"

He put a finger to her lips, stopping her. She pushed from him and banged her back into the giant machine to hold pick-up pizza's for customers.

"Shh, I don't like hearing my precious little treasure belittling herself like that." His yellow temperance took in every contour of her face. He conjured the mental flames to impede her escape.

"According to the rules, an employee can't date another employee..."

True. Lev didn't let that take away his fun, "Are you saying you want to break up with me right after you said you loved me yesterday?"

Yesterday, she did say she loved it when he ignored her.

Lynette lost all her fight. She had nothing to say, and he drew back from her to admire it. You really believe we're dating, don't you? So you're just playing along, too, but why?

Her hesitance turned to pity. She didn't want to tell him no.

"I'm sorry," she couldn't look him in the eyes. "I don't know what came over me. I had a rough morning." She turned back to face forward at the counter.

How do I want to play this? Call her out on her lie? Lev fiddled with the idea like it was clay. He could make it worse. After all, she didn't want what he said. There's someone else she clearly wants more.

A family started to approach the counter, and Lev sweetly whispered.

"We can discuss more at Lunch, after you let me win the game today, that is~."

He thrived off the tenseness that filled her shoulders and the silent nod she gave. I can't wait to discover why you replaced our sweet ole Lynette.

...

Drake

The front got overwhelmingly swamped as it was Superbowl weekend. So, that left him and Alexander alone in the breakroom.

He watched his best friend, who was enamored by his phone. Similar to him and Lynette both during their first break earlier.

Is he texting her? Drake refused to believe that. What the hell is going on with them.

He restrained his slight annoyance. He wouldn't leave me out of the loop, not again. It was clear Drake didn't believe that HIS best friend ignored him.

Drake attempted to remain civil first. "What are you up to?"

Alexander waved it off, "Nothing."

He's anxious. Drake didn't want to play a guessing game, so he immediately threw his thoughts out. "What happened with you and Lynette last night?"

Alexander froze up in his seat. The usual annoyance resting on his face fled. It was replaced with uncertainty. "What are you talking about."

He could hear Alexander's heart going crazy. Drake threw himself forward in his seat to the male who refused to look at him, "YOU WERE WITH HER LAST NIGHT?!"

The blonde sharply turned to face Drake. "Why would I want to be in the same room as her all night."

Drake pointed to himself, "You tell me, I can hear your nervous as hell, dumbass!"

Alexander pushed out of his chair and stood up, "what did I say about listening to my heart!" They were gradually getting louder.

"STOP AVOIDING MY QUESTION!"

Drake threw himself from his chair, too. His own core continued to pluck at the harp of jealousy. Why is he telling her things and not me?!

"I WOULDN'T hang out with Lynette outside of work unless I have to!" Alexander growled.

Drake's lips shut. It almost wasn't recognizable. This...no...that was the first time Drake got that tune from Alexander. He had technically known him for most of his life, talked to him for less than that, but even then, Alexander had not once lied to Drake.

And now he did.

"You," Drake marched at him, "LIAR!" His nostrils flared.

His best friend's face looked red, a mixture of embarrassment from being caught, and his next sentence came out in a stutter. "Y-your e-ears are fucking wr-wrong!"

"MY EARS ARE FINE!" Drake's stomach tightened in bitterness. What is he talking to her about? Why is it so bad that he's lying to me about it? "What have you been doing with her!?"

And that somewhat calmed, strained question pushed Drake to a rejected conclusion. There's no way.

"You-DID you kiss her or something?!"

Alexander couldn't say anything—the only thing that left his mouth was an incoherent, heavy breath. His internal engine told Drake everything. The shock made Drake fall silent. He was in utter disbelief. Yesterday they were fighting, now there-

Drake couldn't take it anymore. He grabbed Alexander by the collar, but the other two disrupted them before he could yell.

"Hey, my girlfriend and I are ready to play today's game.~" Lev tweeted.

Drake let go of Alexander and turned in utter confusion to Lev and Lynette. "Huh?!"

What the hell is going on!!!

The possessiveness drummed from in Alexander's chest. "Girlfriend?" His eyes didn't go to Lynette at all. They were fixated on Lev.

...

Lev

Alexander's gaze moved with Lev. It only furthered his suspicions and made his little game better.

Lev threw his arm over Lynette, and she jumped and tried to escape. He pulled her nice and close. "You still haven't let that go, huh, Wendie?" He teased, closing the distance between them. Drake and Alexander were more toward the center by the door of the giant break room.

"I know you want her all to yourself, but she made her choice, right?~" He moved near her ear to softly blow into it. "Lynette.~"

He felt her shake her head once, and she definitely looked at Alexander with pleading eyes because he turned to her instead of Lev. Is Wendie scared? What can't they say?

"We shouldn't do this," Lynette pushed at his arm.

Lev then wrapped his other around her waist and hugged her into his body. He bent in, staring at Alexander as he did so, and shut his eyes. He took in her scent. Just as alluring as always.

Alexander's body was shaking.

"Lev!" She protested.

He didn't flinch. "Why are you fighting me so much today? It's almost like you're a different person."

Alexander's expression flicked to worry, and her struggle stopped.

"Is there something you want to tell me? How about you do it where we could be all alone? Trapped with only each other's company." Lev spoke over her head, "Or more so, you trapped inside me~."

They were both in earshot, Drake was disgusted, and Alexander stepped forward.

"We're playing a game," Wendie said.

Lev chuckled, "There's no point. It's her day, and I know my precious little treasure would never let anyone, but I eat her. Isn't that right."

And then, there it was. She fought Lev's grip harder. "Let me go, Lev, I can't do this!"

Alexander shook his head, and immediate alarm rose in his eyes. "H-hey, Lynette, d-don't!" He tried to reach Lev and her.

Lev pulled out of the way, barely dodging with her.

"I can't lie like this! I only love you, Alenxander!"

His fight stopped, and Lev let her go. Alexander's eyes softened, flooded with relief and also panic. She grabbed his hand and turned to Lev, holding the same anxiety Alexander did.

"I'm sorry, I can't pretend to be with anyone else." She squeezed his hand tighter and looked back at Alexander. "I don't want to be with anyone else."

Lev wouldn't let anything show except his snicker. "We were never really dating. I played along because you questioned it." He admitted, he tugged Drake to him. The vampire beast growled and didn't get the chance to fight. Lev talked over him. "And I don't think it took a day for you two to change your hearts and fall in love with one another, did it?"

Neither said a word, not that they needed to.

"Out with it then," Lev pointed from himself and to Drake. "Tell us who you two really are."

...

Thank you for reading, GOOBERS! :D

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Catch up or check for release dates down below ↓

What I’d do for a Livable Income (Synopsis/Chapter - List) 1

What I’d do for a Livable Income (Synopsis/Chapter - List) 2

#widfali #widfali au #vore story #vore writing #extreme cuddling #goofy ocs #soft vore #v.ore #v/ore

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pasteloctoz · 2 years ago

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Day 2 of redacted "what ifs"

I know mermay is almost over but i can't stop thinking about who in redacted would be mermaids and how the romances would work. So here. I tried to stay as close as I could to the original tomance storylines as I could.

Damn crew first

Gavin and FL-

Gavin is a merman (specifically a siren) while FL is a shifter that just recently found out they can shift. When they met, Gavin was singing in a large cavern and FL wasn't drawn in by it even though they appeared human. They got to know eachother after a while and Gavin started looking for a way to shift to a human form so he could spend more time with FL. FL had started to meet other merfolk including Hux, Dames, Laz, and eventually Kody. For some reason they were drawn to FL (FL having some type of energy close to what lovely had before they were revealed to be a latent). Kody (shark merman cause predator), pulled FL into the ocean. FL had shown a fear of the ocean for a while up until that point and freaked the fuck out when Kody did this. Luckily, Hux was near and he scared Kody away. From there FL tries to deal with this while also still having a life as a human to. Eventually they ditch the human life and live with Gavin in the ocean city.

Freelancers, including Sam, would probably be able to shift to whatever kind of merfolk they'd want, though it'd take a toll on their magic if they do it too much. Which means that Sam would have a harder time shifting from one form to another.

Huxely and Damien-

Huxley is a whale shark merman because they can withstand high temperatures and those goofy ahh fish always remind me of gentle giants. Damien is some kind of magma merman just because. I love them both but there is not much to talk abt they're just gay/pos.

Lasko and Lasko's Listener-

Not sure what I have in mind for Lasko but he's tiny and his listener is Large. Thats all I have in mind for either of them, so far their story doesn't have much so i don't have much for them.

Shaw pack now. All shaw pack bois are Dogfish shark shifter merfolk 😌 (say that 10 times fast)

Ash and Baaabe-

This ones hard cause they met when the elevator in their apartment broke down with them in it. And Baabe is unempowered so for this one imma say that at the shaw pack bois live on land but for jobs they go into the ocean and do their thing. That makes the thought that Ash would shift to get out of going to the door for pizza 10 times funnier. Guy would just see him laying on the floor behind the couch and He'd just be used to it at that point. It also makes it way easier for Guy to find out abt magic which i think is funny.

David and Angel-

This one would also be really close to the og way they met. If it weren't for pack meetings and the security jobs David probably wouldn't even tell Angel. (Sorry this one was so dull-)

Milo and Sweetheart-

Sweetheart is a octopus shifter (octopus can camoflauge and squeeze through tiny spaces, closest i could get to a stealth). Their meeting a such would also be very similar to the og story. Though I personally think that when they move, they move into ocean city to be closer to work n stuff.

Last but not least, the vamp bois. All of the vampires are some kind of squid shifters. I'm not gonna say vampire squids specifically bc those thing are tiny and I can't think of Sam as a tiny mf next to large ass shark darlin'. Also its a little bit cliche. Maybe squid shifters are the only ones who can turn humans/ressurect (kinda) merfolk. I wouldn't think that turning a merfolk would change them from being a shark to a squid or something. But when a human is turned they can shift to a squid only.

Also the places where they all meet is no longer a carnival its apart of the beach thats cut off for safety reasons. (Like in steven universe)

Sam and Darlin'-

With the whole Quinn thing, I wouldn't want too change much. Darlin' used to live in the land city but sold it after the Quinn stuff happened. They did go back to washington ofc but when they came back, they bought an apartment in the ocean city and lived there for a while. Then they met Sam at the beach and things were pretty similar from there. When they moved in with Sam they moved to a house hidden and out of the city but still close. Im not gonna talk abt what type of fish quinn is bc he doesnt deserve it (neither does kody but i had to make the joke abt him being a predator since that is literally what he is).

Vincent and Lovely-

Similar story to how Gavin and FL's was except Kody is replaced by Adam, Hux in that situation is replaced by Vincent and Lovely is an Eel merfolk instead of Freelancer merfolk. Pretty self explanitory- Vincent is a squid guy bc he was a human before obv.

Bonus: Caelum is lil anglefish merfolk ♥️♥️♥️

And uh- yea not much to talk about other than that. Happy mermay!!!

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my-rights-are-grian-rights · 8 months ago

Note

🔪: 1,2,19,22,35

🔧: 1,4,5 22, 30, 35

Zhulong: 12,22, 35

HIII HEEHEE finished watching 1 dollar love actually dvd because our wifi went out but IM BACK AND I GET TO TALK ABOUT MY SILLIES

wow this post is gonna be Long soooo adding the cut now~!

🔪:

1: are they associated with a certain color? what color do they wear the most?

UHHHH okay sOOO the simplest answer is probably black bc like. it wears a lotta black. military gear etc is usually black? but! its got this stupid orange striped short sleeve shirt thats actually like. a uniform (as in. I referenced the batman 2022 Arkham uniform when I first designed this idiot. yea) so its usually associated with either orange or red (for blood rawrrr)

2: what sort of music would they like? have you thought about what genres or bands do they lean towards? do they have a favorite song?

oh uh!!!!! I dont think this thing listens to music. tbh everything would be better if it did but! it get zero enrichment ever. so instead for this question I get to give you two songs I associate with it for some reason or another. because I said so. and those are House of Wolves (MCR) and Barbie Girl (Aqua). I want to know what you think of it from these two songs together because the combination is sooooo silly to me

19: are they quick to anger? what sets them off?

ooooo this one is fun to think about. mmm I think generally it's not very like,,, externally angry. it is in a perpetual state of something between annoyance and disdain almost all the time (when not Letting Loose), but that's a bit different from angry, I think. things that will make it snap at you: remove mask w/o permission, get touchy w it without permission. probably other things too I forget. things that will make it do super petty things and/or get revenge on you some other way: assume you've got the best of it. assume you're in charge. assume you're in control.

22: do they sleep well at night?

bold of you to assume it sleeps yea well uhh. its a pretty light sleeper I think but it can sleep wherever. no nightmares or w/e its just. rechargin I think

35: do they ever return home?

no. lol. zero percent chance of this thing ever returning home and idk if that ever even existed for it. if it gets a "happy" ending its going to have to claw that into existence itself. and why would it

🔧:

1: are they associated with a certain color? what color do they wear the most?

blue! they wear the most black, again, but thats cause of the goofy suit thing I've got ingame. blue tie blue waistcoat blue accents on the gas mask, so blue's ended up as their color :3

4: how crafty/resourceful are they?

the wrench is their emoji because that's its main weapon. if that says anything. dont think it'd be the best at like. street brawlin no supplies no powers but it can be pretty inventive with the things it knows how to use.

5: how do they typically dress? does their wardrobe lean more towards practicality or aesthetics?

oh it's so stupid <3. suit jacket tie collared shirt waistcoat belt black cargo pants with big ole pockets fingerless gloves combat boots w straps and a belt chain. it's sooo stupid. <3333,,. character creators be like what if all the pieces we let you use were assorted pieces of other characters. OH and dont forget the half gas mask. when I made this guy I referenced one of two Literal Actual Techwear Official Dot Com gas masks. the pockets are practical at least? and thats just one outfit realistically it has other clothing too but idk what though. probably they steal clothing from the rogues lol

22: do they sleep well at night?

depends on where they are! with dork squad probably! unless one or more of them get on an inventing bend or something but it can just wrangle them back to sleep or at least to be quieter. with the sirens that's more of a wild card. depending on if harl's there she's def gonna wanna like stay up n talk or something. tbh though most things happen at night. like heists! :D but they can usually get a good sleep in. and even a lazy morning, probably!

30: do they smell like anything notable?

uhhh probably vaguely like flowers and/or fear toxin. lol. can you tell what I sourced this guy from yet

35: do they ever return home?

it never returns to where it came from, but that place (read: dimension. lol) was never really home. they do find a home, where they end up. and they're happy.

Zhulong:

12: how long have they been around? do you know their birthday? is their birthday the day you made them or another day? what do they think of celebrating birthdays?

oh man how long has this guy been around? discord chat messages says I made him December 16 of last year. I do not know his birthday. it could just be dec 16 that would be silly. kayfabe though he doesn't really have one hes just Old lol. out of kayfabe hes like chill about bdays I think he'll get ppl close to him a present or whatever. in kayfabe he didnt really get it pre Punishment I dont think but with his whole Chained In A Human Body thing he gets to have a crisis! yay ! over He Is Aging and He Will Die !! again!!!! yipeee!!!

22: do they sleep well at night?

out of kayfabe as long as hes not too sore or w/e he's good. usually conked out from exercising. in kayfabe uhhh he thinks sleeping is weird. his lore says he never eats or sleeps or breathes but now he has to. and he hates it.

30: do they ever return home?

I think he goes to visit his parents sometimes :3 (outside kayfabe.) lol silly answer. in kayfabe nah the place he considers home is long gone and buried by time. and even if it still existed he'd never be able to reach it as he is. sorry

#this is so long goodness gracious me #half of these are just me going nope! no happy ending for you. :)#at least one of the guys im doing it to isn't a self insert. hes only got a little bit of me in him. instead of a lot #ok now imagine a promo like the ones they did w kane and daniel bryan in anger management except del and zhu as a tag team being forced to #have like. bonding time or something. and zhus like I hear its ur bday and giving del a present and its something dumb and vaguely insultin #(or. more than vaguely insulting.) and then they get in a fight again #(that's it thats the punchline. they punch. each other)#bella said something #ask game answers #wubby my hubby

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cathalbravecog · 1 year ago

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what do you think both societies would be like if toons and cogs finally make peace with each other and got along? (like with inklings and octolings from splatoon)

ohh!! interesting!! to be honest though, i know nothing about splatoon - but i can still work with this!

thing is, as the game is right now, peace really can't be made because it removes the main conflict that makes toontown, well, toontown - without it there's no gameplay. but imagining an au and a future where cogs and toons get along is interesting!

with my past headcanons i spoke of, i think it'd apply mostly to just toons from toontown and cogs inc or suitopia in general. i'll keep it as just toons of toontown and suitopia in general to keep things a bit easier to speak of since i did state i imagine suitopia as the one place where cogs are while toons are all over the place in different 'toontowns'.

in the case of ttcc (of course), i think it'd have to come with the defeat (or change of heart) for robert. probably not possible for the latter. cogs didn't know much about toons and stayed in their own place until robert and thomas started their company and basically invaded toontown.

i am not sure how that could happen - but i imagine if toons and cogs unite, perhaps they had to go against a third, bigger threat who's after them both. not all toons would agree to make peace with cogs, and not all cogs would be exactly thrilled to have to be friendly with toons -

but in the end it is better for the both of them. the cogs would have retract their invasions, polluting and taken over buildings. however, they don't have to worry about having to be repaired or have pies thrown at them due to a toon attack. that certainly saves some money - even if there's no in-come from all the other things cogs inc does.

cogs inc would probably disband completely, or turn into something else under new leadership because i highly doubt robert would agree with any of this. possibly thomas, since he's getting friendlier with the toons. (but then again, he still does regular cog stuff and doesn't stop anyone - just pointing out he isn't perfect and good himself either.)

but i imagine they could make a profit for having a place for cogs to travel to and relax in and have toontown as a tourist area. i am sure many cogs are curious about the toons and we know how tourists are. despite this being very controversial especially in relation how real life tourist attraction hot spots are (high living costs for natives living there, driving them away from their own homes), i can see this totally happening for toontown. not only that but the cogs and toons could even work together! but yeah it's to drive the point that the cogs are still cogs, they wanna make a profit. even if they're nice with the toons now

especially if they have a bigger threat now which could drive them to work together - because if everything's at peace there's just little to no story to tell.

i can see the cogs helping toons produce more gags to fight with - and perhaps helping with whatever goofy tech they may be building.

i feel like the toons and cogs would be on good terms but have conflict in a silly way - with the temperament of a lot of cogs they're still very serious and just want to get their work done - and not deal with a toon being silly and loud and annoying. still some looney tunes conflict, but in a more light-hearted, well meaning way. like, the war's over.

many toons would take time to adjust, and many would disagree with this. i can see this kind of like HTTYD, when the vikings first began befriending the dragons and inviting them into berk. they had to think of adjustments and how to live together to suit both sides.

on the other hand some cogs wouldn't be fans of this either - but in their case they can just quit, honestly. go somewhere else, find a different job. but that's okay because they're not being like sent to fight the toons now or anything. the cogs that are neutral or even happy about this would stay though.

like it'd take a looong time to adjust yknow? ive mostly been rambling about how they're FIRST getting used to each other without even knowing HOW and WHY it occurred in the first place. it'd need them to put their differences aside and see something they both want to fight for, or some other thing they share. issue is cogs and toons have MANY differences - they are supposed to be polar opposites in general if we don't think about individuals.

but again toontown is a cartoon and i think some big friendship unity COULD happen even if its less realistic. but yeah the first changes that cogs inc would have to be is to stop polluting shit and find different ways to make the company work. i'd say just turning the company place into a living area works since i already headcanon that cogs inc offers that, its basically its own smaller country for cogs outside of suitopia.

in the faaaaaaaaaaar future, things could be far different. it's just second nature that cogs and toons have peace now. perhaps the cogs learn to live simpler, more fun-filled lives. perhaps what the toons could do for the cogs is just go Fuck Capitalism and there's some reforming for suitopia? who knows! hard to imagine for the cogs who are all based on this. a hard question to answer 'coz it's like asking how to fix OUR real life society, LMFAO.

the cogs can learn that, despite them being robots made for work - there's more to life than that, they don't need to live according to their past like that. we don't even know where the cogs come from, but obviously someone had to have built them (even if i imagine cogs as part cartoon magic since they ARE alive they aren't 'JUST' robots)

the toons (of toontown) at least don't have to live in fear of the cogs invading anymore and they're possibly doing well from the new attention from the cogs AND other toons around the world. the toons can relax now, too, and focus on whatever fun hijinks they wanna get up to instead of strategizing and fighting off mean cogs. instead they can just, yknow, be chillin with them!

my brain's a bit scrambled now, i promise i had better comprehensive thoughts last night when i first read this ask so i'm sorta just blurting things out. hope y'all get what i mean!

i don't think it'd be impossible, with how many toons wanna be friends with the cogs (or lovers) (hell even family) with the cogs. but it'd be a hard feat to achieve considering how cogs are. But since many cogs just follow orders it'd need to be a change in how things are lead. (but some cogs would be more easier convinced, we already have some toon friendly/neutral cogs after all)

if i just think about this more and flesh out some of my tooniverse suitopia headcanons more, i think i'd have more comprehensive less repetetive and all over the place thoughts. but still, this is a fun thing to think about, and i'm sure it's something a lot of us cog fans would like to see in-game even just a little bit though it goes agains the whole point of the game. (but it's still in there! just within the realms of how the game works i suppose. looking at misty especially, she's the one who actively wants to befriend toons. then there's neutral cogs like cathal who doesn't even wanna fight. or chip. can't say much i haven't finished his fight yet. or hell, even high roller - they're neutral to cogs and toons - bringing them together on the show. then there's dave dave is something else okay)

but YEAH These are some long ass closing thoughts so lemme end this here since it's LONG. i just wanna explain myself my adhd is showing. TOODLES! i love your guys' asks, please do keep them coming!!

#long #[answered]#i still wanna think about a possible enemy for the toons and cogs thatd make them unite #who could it even be #if i may rain world autism in a bit - could it be like what the ancients are to the iterators?#whoever made cogs? who knows perhaps they were made to be work robots #but ended up having feelings and needs and wants of their own and - i dont think theyd kill or destroy their creators #but perhaps this was a very long time ago and they just... arent around. extinct maybe. they made the cogs to be helped but the cogs leave #to be their own people and start their own society and without that help their creators just... poof! gone #and with all that cogs learned how to make more of themselves since they ARE robots and this is how suitopia grew to be bigger and bigger a #it is now #who knows! fun to think about

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emcandon · 1 year ago

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GOODDAY I do believe you said dragon children were salamanders x carp… did you have any specific type of salamander in mind? I wanted to draw them but was assaulted with so many different species of salamander when I went to find references. If you don’t care then I will do an evil and draw them in all funny-like salamander kinds

I'll be honest, I was mostly thinking of axolotl -- mostly bc a friend* adores them, but also bc the frills!! I love their frills. And I thought it'd be kind of funny for something so goofy-looking to be much larger and more ferocious. Though tbh probably some of them do in fact just look like little goofballs. Still liable to just unhinge their jaws and eat your fridge though, provided they are sufficiently large.

Overall I bet there's a good amount of variance; Iterate Fractal was obsessed with the happenstance of biological diversity, after all. I personally try not to hem myself in when describing them.

* The friend I got to do that commission, actually!

#the archive undying #ask reply

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rhythmicmeow · 2 years ago

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TIMING: Current LOCATION: A Latte to Love PARTIES: Lil @the-lil-exorcist and Leticia @rhythmicmeow SUMMARY: Leticia meets up with Lil to discuss a radio ad for The Bread Cemetery. CONTENT WARNINGS: none

Lil wasn’t exactly sure if she was the best person to start helping with the advertising of the bakery, knowing that generally she didn’t seem to be able to take it with the sincerity of her brother and mother. Still, while she liked being somewhat goofy, she didn’t want to cause harm to the business either. After all, Jonas loved it here and she owed it to him to make it successful, if only because he followed her out of this town without a second word.

So, despite herself, she decided to call back the person who had offered to advertise the bakery on the radio. After all, she seemed sincere enough and it would mean that Jonas wouldn’t have to work so hard on social media. So, when Lil saw the other she waved and said, “Oh - Hey Leticia over here.” The cafe was small, but she figured that if she wanted to surprise Jonas she probably shouldn’t have the conversation at the bakery.

“Thanks for returning my call,” Lil continued with a smile. “And sorry for the secondary location, we just don’t have a lot of seat space in the bakery.”

Leticia hadn't had to worry about making a first impression in years. At least not in a professional setting. As a musician, she had already made her debut. People already had opinions of her and how she dressed wasn't going to influence that opinion. But here? Building a new brand from the ground up in a town where she was keeping her head down about her past? She couldn't fall back into her comfortable habits. Three changes of clothes before the meeting and she still wasn't satisfied, but as time slipped away from her, the time for second guessing was over.

Nervousness hummed in her veins, a gentle pounding that was slowly turning into adrenaline. Leticia held her breath for a moment, her hand on the door to the cafe. It'd pass, she told herself. With a comfortable smile on her face, she opened the door, making eye contact with Lil almost immediately.

"I'm glad you called," Leticia offered, taking a seat across from Lil. "Though I was hoping to take a treat home from the bakery, for business purposes of course - but I don't mind." A degree of separation wasn't the strangest thing. Especially if Lil wasn't entirely sold. "How much thought have you given advertising?"

Lil smiled at the other, feeling that she wasn’t exactly the best person to make a good impression of the bakery, but knowing that it was her chance to at least try. After all, her mom had said most people liked it when you tried. So she was going to try.

Still, after a moment Lil thought that there was something odd happening the hairs sticking up slightly on the back of her neck as she repressed the urge to look for a spirit in the room. It was just a moment though, as Lil focused back on Leticia. After all, whatever spirit there was Lil didn’t have to deal with it now. She’d either figure it out later, or honestly they could be fine on their own. She just hoped they wouldn’t do something to ruin the meeting.

“No problem - oh I did bring some for you to try. I figured if you all were going to make an ad you should at least try some,” Lil said with a chuckle glad that her forethought was good. Carefully opening her bag she was happy that none of it seemed to have gotten jostled. “I also have to be honest - I wasn’t quite sure how to advertise the bakery. I have some of the adverts my mom made for it awhile ago that could help, but I’ve never done something like this.” Lil said, trying to keep herself from rambling, knowing how easy it was for her to do. “How do you all normally advertise?”

It was hard to hide the light in Leticia's eyes at the mention of the samples. Holding back from being at the Bread Cemetery had been difficult since her first bite. Leticia had never been one to do anything half-way and that included loving something. It was how she had found success in music, she threw herself into it without a second thought - but here? This was a different kind of business. And enthusiasm like hers could easily be interpreted as pressure. Or manipulation.

The worst part of this job was the salesperson professionalism that had to go with it.

Still, Leticia clapped her hands together, a bright smile on her face that refused to fade as she looked at the goods. "I'm not saying food is my favorite thing, but it's one of the best things." Her eyes lifted from the bag to Lil once more. "I would love to see them." Her face slipped into a more professional, neutral expression. But her tone was softer, wondering if Lil wanted to infuse her business with her mother's - and other questions came to mind too quickly. But she bit her tongue. This was a first meeting, and Leticia needed this contract, so she held back. Didn't over share about her father and how she had modeled her business after his or how much influence he had over her. The relationship between Lil and her mother could have been vastly different - but family was important.

And maybe Leticia was desperate for a connection.

"Normally, I start with this, a consultation and get your expectations and what your thoughts are and hear about your business from your own mouth. Half of sales is the love you put into your work, and I need a taste of that, so to speak," Leticia explained, holding in a laugh. "From here, I'll write out a script and film an advertisement and then let you hear it first before it goes live so that we can make any alterations you might want."

Lil couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face when the other seemed to be interested in the samples carefully putting it in front of the other . It wasn’t something that she had made - she was much more likely to burn down a kitchen then make something anyone would want to eat- but she did feel connected to the food. Her mom and brother especially worked hard on the bakery, and she wanted it to succeed. She needed Jonas to have something that was familiar and happy.

Lil nodded and pulled out the adverts that her mom had made to pass on to Letcia, hoping that there was an idea there. “My mom I think got some mock ups for advertisements she might want - I don’t think she ever ended up using them though. Again, I’m not really the brains behind the operation with this but I figured it would be a good place to start.” She’d found them buried in her mom’s office, under carefully filled out divorce papers that Lil had decided not to mention to Jonas. It had felt personal, something that Lil wasn’t supposed to find. She wasn’t quite sure how to feel about it, and at the moment she wasn’t going to.

With the explanation Lil nodded and thought for a moment. “That sounds good - I think that would work really well. Essentially, I thought we could do something about how they were spooky good baked goods.” Lil chuckled a little and shook her head, “But that might be a little -uh cartoony? I guess if you’ll let me babble for a while I might find a better idea? I probably should have written a list.” Lil couldn’t help but feel the red start pricking at her face as she realized she was probably underprepared again. It always seemed to happen when it wasn’t an exorcism that she always was not prepared. “What kind of information do you usually want?”

“She never used them?” Leticia questioned as she delicately flipped through the mockups. “Can you tell me more about her?” Pausing a moment, Leticia mentally kicked herself. Parents were often a sore subject, and in Wicked’s Rest, it felt like it was safer to assume that it was. Even Leticia, who had a great relationship with both of her parents, could point out the center of the hole in her chest that grief had caused. “If you want to, of course.”

The awkwardness between them hadn’t quite faded away, but Leticia’s smile warmed as Lil started to give small bits of information, a small taste of the direction she wanted to head in, followed by backtracking. “No - no, I like that. And I think Wicked’s Rest is the perfect place for that kind of brand. I mean, I’m new here, but this place has weird in every shadow. And if that’s the brand direction you want? Commit to it. I think it’d help you stand out.” She tapped her thumb for a moment, running through some phrases in her head, trying to make one work that didn’t cross that line of cartoony.

“Get haunted by flavor at the Bread Cemetery? Lift your spirits at the Bread Cemetery?” Leticia started writing a few notes, only pausing when she glanced up and realized that Lil was embarrassed, the hint of red coming to her cheeks giving her away. “Oh. Oh. No.” Leticia reached across the table towards Lil, not touching her, but hoping to provide some comfort. “It’s okay to make me do that work. It’s sort of my job here.” She hadn’t been in business long, but as a person, it was hard to sit across from someone and pretend that they weren’t bothered. To ignore their troubles and focus on selling them a product? Leticia could never bring herself to have that kind of barrier between herself and the world. “Why don’t you tell me about your favorite thing about the bakery? Don’t think too hard, just, what makes you love that place?”

“I don’t think so,” Lil said softly, looking down at the adverts. “Oh sure - She’s a lovely person. Warm and kind. She’d let you talk for hours and sit with her. I don’t think I’ve ever heard her raise her voice.” Lil remembered June for a moment and didn’t quite know how to really explain her mom in a way that made any more sense. She had a calm presence that seemed to make the most unruly persons - or spirits- calm down and sit quietly. While Jacob often raised his voice at Lil, even when June was disappointed she never did. She would just pull her into a hug and tell her that it was going to be okay. Her mom always seemed to know that Lil was trying her best even when it was clumsy. She seemed to understand Lil in a way few people ever bothered too - but Lil didn’t know how to say that. “You would like her. Almost everyone does.”

“I think it would be helpful at least. Our name is Bread Cemetery you know - it’s going to be at least a little weird,” Lil said with a little laugh. After all, it was a strange name even if she couldn’t remember why it was named that way. She’d have to ask her mom once they found her. At the lifting spirits Lil couldn’t help but laugh and say,” That’s great.”

At the question Lil paused for a moment and said softly, “My brother I think. He’s so excited about being back in the bakery and - he really likes baking. My mom taught him everything she knew and he’s really good at it. It makes me happy to see him so calm and being able to be creative. - That’s probably a cheesy answer huh?”

It was true though, Lil wasn’t much of a baker. If she ever had a role as a Ballard it had always been in exorcism, not with the bakery really. She would always come in to cover shifts being a cashier - and often would hide out there when her dad was being especially mean - but she didn’t exactly belong there. It was June and Jonas’s special place, not really hers. She was always welcome, but it wasn’t for her.

There was a faint smile at the corner of Leticia’s mouth. The way she spoke about her mother was like coming back home to her own. Was it wrong to want to hear more about Lil’s mother just so she could hold onto that warm feeling for a moment longer? To reminisce without any of the guilt that came with reality? The calm description of Lil’s mother made her compare the two — her own had been so loud. Always yelling and calling her from another room in the house. The energy between the two had been vastly different, but there was comfort in both. “It takes a remarkable person to have that kind of patience. I’m sure I would have.”

It was fun — niche, sure. But it had personality. And there was no doubt in Leticia’s mind that the kids around town would eat it up if they could make a meme out of it. Leticia just had to make sure that it was a meme in good taste and not something like… obsessed girlfriend. “The name is what brought me to you guys in the first place, it’s creative.” And considering her own business was called the Vinyl Countdown? There couldn’t have been a doubt in anyone’s mind that this was her exact brand of fun and weird.

“I’m not here to judge you,” Leticia reminded. “I mean — The Vinyl Countdown? My dad has a place just like it back in California. Grew up in the back room of the shop playing music and having this place is like… having a piece of him with me. Even when he’s not here.” She shrugged. “Cheesy? Maybe. But it matters.” Exhaling, she leaned back in the chair, letting the air between them breathe. “Can I ask one more thing?” Her words were softer now, not wanting to press too hard but unable to let it go. “Why are you invested? Your family aside. What does the Bread Cemetery mean to you?”

“Yeah she’s remarkable,” Lil said slightly softly. She loved her mom, and the kindness that seemed to wrap around her like a blanket. She wished more than anything that she was more like her, even if she knew the truth of it was that she was more like her dad than anything else. Still, unlike him she could help keep people like her mom from feeling bad at least. “She’s really pretty too. I think part of it was just the kindness you know?”

Lil chuckled and said, “I appreciate that. I’m sure there was a reason for the name, but for the life of me I can’t remember why. My mom’s sense of humor is all like that though, and I don’t doubt that comes through my family.” After all, despite most things the Ballards weren’t known for being particularly serious - well most of them weren’t. In a lot of ways a family that is involved with death couldn’t keep the deadly seriousness expected of them in other areas of their lives.

“Fair enough - oh you own that place? It’s super cool,” Lil said, her eyes lighting up at the mention of the vinyl store. Lil wasn’t much of a collector but she loved looking through the store when she had time. At the rest of her statement Lil nodded slightly, realizing a bit too late that meant that Leticia’s father was probably dead. She hoped that she didn’t make the other too sad. She nodded at the change of direction, although at the question she didn’t quite know what to say.

After all, most of what Lil did was for her family, at least partially. She left partially to get Jonas out from under Jacob’s thumb. She became an exorcist because it was expected of her. She came back because her family needed her. Sure some of her choices seemed to be opposed to that - but there was always an undercurrent of it being for her family. It made her somewhat uncomfortable to think of anything else, but she tried too. “I guess it’s the closest feeling I have to home. Most of my favorite memories took place there, and I want to protect it. If we get a good amount of business that means that it’ll stay there for a long time and other people might think of it fondly like I do.” Lil said trying to place feelings - a thing she was never truly good at doing. “I don’t know if that’s different really than it being important to my family, but - if I can help keep it running then that’s what I’m always going to do. ”

With that, Lil thought that she did find out what she really wanted. She wanted to make sure the bakery was safe because it would make Jonas happy, and it would mean that when her family came back they’d still have it. She was hardly an entrepreneur, but she was a protector - even for something as seemingly silly as a bakery.

Leticia couldn’t help but laugh. The way that Lil described her mother was familiar in a way that left Leticia envious. She had always been close to her own family, but her mother had been the distant one while her father had been the one that pushed her into the public and wanted her to see the world in ways that her mother’s family had been scared to do. The story was one that Leticia had only heard in snippets and in arguments—mostly around the time that Leticia had signed her contract. “Actions speak louder than words, that’s the saying. I’m sure it helped.” Conventional attraction was nice, but some things were better.

“Well, if you ever learn the story, I want to hear it. Sounds like it would be a fun one.” It might not help them create a decent advertisement, but Leticia loved knowing things. And stories like these always warmed the heart. “Yeah. We opened up a few months ago. I had a booth soundproofed in there too for the radio.” The questions stopped as Lil started to describe what the establishment meant to her, and the smile on Leticia’s face was less the practiced one that she used to something softer. It was her home and she wanted to protect it. Leticia could relate to that. Wanting to spread those good memories to others so that it would live on when she wasn’t there to run it anymore? Leticia could relate to that too.

Writing down a few more notes, Leticia felt like she had a good feel for who Lil was and the business. It might not have been the most conventional method, but the things she loved about businesses that she frequented weren’t what they sold, but the people who were there. The food, in this case, would always be wonderful, but people made it special. And if the others working at the Bread Cemetery were anything like Lil, it was a special place. “Thank you,” she finally said, looking up from her work. “I know it was an odd question. But I think I have a few ideas now.”

“Yeah, I think it did. She’s really good at little actions,” Lil said, her hand now actually going to her necklace - even though her dad always taught her not to touch it. She didn’t mind if Leticia knew where it was after all - she doubted that the other would even know what it was and even then Lil thought she was kind enough not to use that. At the statement Lil laughed and said, “Absolutely I will. I’m sure it's a pretty silly reason, just knowing her. And that’s awesome.”

At the thanks Lil blinked, not feeling like she actually had answered the question and being slightly shocked that she didn’t say don’t thank her. After all, she was hardly the important person in the bakery. It wasn’t a place for her really, but maybe that was something Leticia could sense. Lil didn’t want to argue though so she nodded and said, “Glad I could help. - Uh Is there anything else that you need?” She wasn’t sure what else she could do, but also did enjoy the others presence and didn’t want to rush back to regular life either.

Watching Lil touch the necklace she wore, Leticia silently wondered if it was something that her mother had given her. She hoped her assumption was right, if nothing else than to have just one more thing in common with her. The bracelet on her wrist was supposed to protect her, but she had no idea the meaning behind what Lil wore. Maybe it was the same, just framed differently for different cultures? “I really hope you find the story, she sounds like she’d certainly make it a fun one.”

Closing her notes, Leticia shook her head and offered the other a warm smile. “I think that’s all I need for the ad.” Lil had given her a lot to work with, but the spirit was all written on paper. “But thank you for this,” she said, leaning into the table slightly. “And for the pastries. I’m going to have to fight off my staff to make sure I at least get a bite. They love the shop.”

#wickedswriting #char: lil #lil: hear me on the radio

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