#tried to go off of kid impressions to think of who would be fun/fitting for their fathers..

[technovillain]

the supporting girls in act your age..... totally real and canon designs that i totally didn't just make up (notes under cut)

COME ON MAN..... I'm hitting Irving with the girl-inator. It makes sense. Her name is *so* a reference to her childhood "irrational fear of the color lavender" and the line "it can't hurt me anymore". Just think that she'd get there one day. Okay. She still totally works for OWCA I have always thought that was such a stroke of genius. Definitely finds out about Perry and is intercepted by Monogram who is impressed (if not a little scared) of her research and tracking abilities and offer her a job.

Milly is interning as a vet tech and going to early college to become a veterinarian :] She was the only one who wasn't an absolute toothpick so I made her fat and also I accentuated her eye, which the wiki calls a "dimple" but I have never seen it that way so I gave her ptosis and also glasses... I like to think that Lavender is trying to recruit animals from her vet's office in an "under the radar" way and they both have crushes on each other.

Ginger is still being the golden child of the family but is struggling a little more now that Stacy is also super successful. I think she feels a little aimless and also her first long-term relationship is coming to a close and she's having to feel like a loser for the first time in her life (while planning on leaving for law school) Her design never really offended me, I just wanted to change everyone up a bit.

Holly! I think she's working with a nonprofit serving the Tri-State area. She still keeps that can-do attitude from childhood and she's sort of the glue that holds the friend group together.

It was totally an oversight that Adyson wasn't butch right??? Like some sort of freak accident?? Even as a kid the AYA Adyson design feels so off to me it's so "he would not fucking say that" Anyways. some sort of butchy/transmasc thing going on here. Totally still butts heads with Ginger and likes messing with her for fun. Isn't going to college, runs summer camps for local kids as a counselor.

Katie is on that summer job grind fresh out of high school and is looking to save as much money as possible. She's overworking herself at 3 different ice cream parlors across Danville but still isn't stressed and somehow has enough time to hang out with her friend group. Don't question her scheduling skills. She's Got This (tm) (genuinely) I wanted her to be short.... I can't believe they made her so copy paste with the other girls. Took her soul took her CROCS away from her. The disrespect.

Gretchen is absolutely a senior Fireside Girl troupe leader, ended up surpassing even Isabella in enthusiasm for the organization. She's great working with kids and is going to school for something like communications. Notice how I didn't really change her design, this is because it was the only one I actually ever thought fit the character perfectly. Small win.

[yukidragon]

You ever considered how a pirate AU might transpire on the sdj universe or in SiH? I'm reading this pirate bodice ripper and it's got my mind running.

Admittedly, I've don't think I've ever read a bodice ripper before, and I haven't had a chance to read many pirate stories in general, but I think that's a fun idea to play around with. I'll give a shot! My Sunny Day Jack headcanons will be through the lens of Sunshine in Hell and its canon by default, but hopefully I can give enough general ideas that can be used as inspiration for other peoples' take on this AU and how their MC might fit into it.

Content Warnings: Mentions of toxic relationships, abusive childhoods, violence, murder, yandere obsession, and general pirate shenanigans.

As any good Sunny Day Jack story, our titular male lead is going to be the main catalyst for this AU's story, so we're going to be starting with Joseph and what led to him becoming known as the infamous Captain Jack.

From Land

Much like in regular continuity, Joseph started off with a shitty home life. He was the son of a rich and successful merchant who was constantly off at sea making trades. His mother found him to be a nuisance more than anything, always underfoot and constantly demanding too much of her attention (which was pretty much any attention at all really). He was palmed off on hired teachers and the servants at their estate while she was often out socializing to raise her status.

Joseph was the lone heir to the family business and was expected to conduct himself at a much higher standard than his parents held for themselves. He grew up hearing about how his mother had a secret lover and his father slept around at every port. Their lack of care or even interest in him beyond what was superficial for appearances left him feeling painfully alone.

Joseph did try to connect with his parents and pushed himself to excel in the interests that always kept drawing them away from him. He learned the art of trade routes, how to properly manage and sail a ship, and what might come in high demand to be sold for a high price. He even tried to convince his father to let him come along on at least one expedition by showing how much he had learned, but he was denied every time.

Similarly, Joseph tried to make his mother proud. He learned how to keep smiling convincingly even when the daggers laced in other peoples' words cut him deep. He saw just how two-faced high society was and grew resentful of how fake its glitter was.

The teachers were strict and uncaring, downright abusive in their education, and the servants at their estate offered no sympathy for young Joseph. He struggled to connect with kids his own age, as the ones he would be allowed to see were all of much higher social standing than him and never failed to remind him of that fact.

Over time, Joseph started to resent his life and the role he expected to take in society. He tried so hard, but none of it ever seemed to matter. No one cared about him. They cared about the money that his father could earn from the sea trade. No matter what he tried, he could never truly find love from anyone.

As the resentment grew, Joseph eventually started rebelling by sneaking sneaking off whenever he could. The servants at the manor certainly didn't care to check on him unless he rang for them, and his mother was barely there, so it left him plenty of opportunities when the teachers weren't beating lessons into his body.

Joseph would dress down in simple clothes when he snuck out. He tried to connect with commoners his own age who weren't stuck up and constantly looking down on him. He started running with an unruly crowd, and let out his repressed anger with petty stealing and vandalism, which he also used to impress and carve out a place for himself in this group of misfits.

It was during one such outing that Joseph met someone who changed his life forever.

Yes, this is going where you think it's going.

Mary might not have met Joseph at a school playground when they were kids in this AU, but they still bonded over an injury. Though he was dressed down in unassuming, simple clothes of the common folk, an utter nobody that everyone except those rejected by society would even notice... a duke's daughter of all people went out of her way to help him when he had fallen and injured his ankle.

The life Mary led in this world was much like Joseph's, neglected and devoid of love. She was palmed off on tutors and servants much of the time to deal with when not paraded around like a show pony. Her older brother Ezekiel was the heir to the dukedom and was in all ways her parents' priority, as well as their pride and joy. She was just a shiny bauble on display, a tempting lure for whatever political marriage would enhance their family standing the most. She was less a person and more of a possession of the Phoenix family, polished to perfection to fetch only the highest price.

Mary's life was suffocating, like a bird trapped in a cage barely bigger than its body.

Joseph was aware of who Mary was of course. He had to memorize all the notable figures in society as part of his education. He never had the chance to meet her in person before, even at the social gatherings his mother deigned to bring him to, as she had yet to debut in society.

Though Joseph had never seen Mary's face before, he recognized the Phoenix family crest and pieced things together right away. He never expected her to leave the fancy carriage she was in just to kneel down in the dirt beside him. Her eyes were so shockingly gentle, so sincere. She smiled at him as she asked if he was alright and if he needed anything without a single hint of hidden intent.

Mary cared. She saw a young man bleeding on the cobbled streets and went out of her way to try and help him. She even wrapped his wound in what he would later learn was a handkerchief that she embroidered herself. It had the image of a bird flying across the sea in the sunshine, though now it had a bloodstain from being used to treat him that he could never fully wash away.

Unfortunately, it wasn't long before Mary was urged to back into the carriage while chastised for getting so close to someone "beneath" her and getting "dirty" from him. Joseph didn't even care that he had been insulted yet again. His focus was only on Mary who met his gaze with a sad look as her parting word to him was a whispered apology.

Their encounter was brief, but it left a major impact on Joseph. He had to see Mary again. He learned all he could about her and managed to talk his mother into allowing him to attend the ball where she would debut to society.

Although greeting her while looking his best, all polished and clean in his best clothes, Joseph was surprised to see her eyes widen in recognition upon seeing him. His heart skipped a beat when he realized that he left an impact on her too.

Mary was intrigued by Joseph. She had read stories of nobles who disguised themselves as commoners before, but she never met someone who had actually done it. She didn't dare mention it while surrounded by people though, and she was disappointed when her father drew her away from him to greet others.

It was when Mary managed to get some time alone to herself on a balcony to take a break from the stifling gathering that Joseph saw his chance. Though she was initially startled by his sudden presence, they managed to connect quickly. Their conversation was refreshingly light and eventually became playful. They were both sick of the cutthroat nature of society and all the games people played behind fake smiles.

Their smiles for each other were real, and Joseph thought that Mary had the cutest laugh. He loved making her laugh. He would be silly and act like a complete fool just to hear her laugh. She was genuine and looked at him not as the son of the upstart nouveau riche Cullman family, but as Joseph the person. Joseph the human being. Likewise he saw her as a girl who longed to express her true playful and sweet nature despite the stifled trappings of class. She was every bit as human as him, and it was an insult that she was treated as nothing more than a shiny lure to catch a big fish.

Joseph fell in love hard and fast. Maybe he first loved her when Mary touched him so gently when she bandaged his wound and looked to him with such genuine concern. Maybe it was when he first got her to laugh at a silly pun he made. Maybe it was when she surprised him by shattering her image of an innocent and naïve maiden by teasing him a little, getting so comfortable with him.

Whenever it was, Joseph just knew that Mary was the one. For the first time in his life, he truly felt seen, heard, and wanted. He had to be with her, no matter what it took.

Of course it wasn't as simple as that. The Cullman family were not exactly of high standing, having bought their barebones nobility through his father's money. The Phoenix duchy was a noble family that had the bluest of blood, tied to various royalty for centuries. There were painfully few opportunities for them to connect.

Joseph made bids to court Mary. Although she herself was very receptive to it, her family was a different matter. Shockingly, Joseph's parents were actually supportive of him for once. When they heard that their son had gained favor with the duke's daughter, they did all they could to help him in his bid to marry her.

It should have felt good to have his parents on his side, but it only made Joseph feel even more distant from them. They weren't helping him for the sake of love. They weren't helping him for the sake of his happiness. They didn't give a shit about his feelings for Mary. All they saw was the Phoenix family crest and the opportunity to forge a connection with such a noble family to raise their own status.

It was bittersweet in ways, but mostly bitter. As a child, Joseph would've done anything to get his parents' attention and support like this. Now though, he had learned all too well the greed and hidden intentions that they and others hid behind their smiles and honeyed words. He learned how to use his own smile and silvery words as a weapon from them after all.

Now, Joseph knew better. He didn't want their "love" anymore. Just like they were using him, he would use them for all they were worth. He would do anything for that one bright spot of sunshine in his life.

Joseph learned many things from his parents - how to sail across the sea, how to maneuver through society, how to forge connections, and how the flow of money could change everything.

His parents weren't the best people, and Joseph knew it. Though he didn't want to get his hands dirty, he participated in shady dealings that pushed the boundaries of his sense of morality. He helped put pressure on people where they were weak in order to profit, and where the Phoenix family was weak was money.

The Phoenix family was known for opulence and splendor. It was said that gold flowed as easily as water from their hands. No one would suspect that generations of spending and some poor investments were bringing them to the brink of ruin.

Joseph knew. Although he didn't feel good about participating in some pretty shady dealings, particularly ones that put strain on the Phoenix family's businesses, it would be worth it in the end if he and Mary could be together.

Mary wasn't oblivious to her family's financial woes, or that others were putting pressure on them. Her brother Ezekiel would use her as a means to vent when his business floundered. He raged especially when the upstart Cullman family managed to outbid them for a mine that had been seemingly worthless, but he secretly knew was filled with riches. Someone had betrayed him and leaked the secret, surely, but who?

Ezekiel never even considered that Mary was the person who leaked the information to Joseph.

Mary and Joseph exchanged letters after her debut, as part of his attempts to court her. She had many suitors she had to respond to, but he was the only one she opened up to. He was the only one who she eventually gave her heart to completely.

Mary might have been a sheltered bird in a cage, but she wasn't naïve. She knew what it would take to convince her parents to accept Joseph's bid to marry her in spite of their status. They would need their pride broken first.

It didn't feel good conspiring against her own family of course. Although Joseph had given up on his parents' love, Mary still held out hope for her parents and brother. At least for a little bit longer. For all the abuse they hurled her way, they would always show her love and shower her with presents afterwards to make amends. The love bombing they did made it hard for her to emotionally distance herself from them completely. She wanted their approval and love so badly...

But Mary also wanted to be with Joseph. She reread the letters he sent her countless times. They bonded in a way she never had with anyone else, and his words always had a way of making her feel flustered and giddy. His letters were always full of love and support that was positively addicting, and she wanted no one else but him.

There were so many potential marriage prospects for her. Mary had no illusions about the role expected for her. She knew that chances were that she would be married off to some older man who was interested in trading prestige and maybe land to have her in his bed. Her parents were in talks with royals of distant countries trying to sell her to the highest bidder.

Going behind her family's back went against everything Mary had been taught all of her life. She felt terrible about the anger and frustration she put them through, but she wanted to be happy too.

Things slowly started to work out. The Cullman family's wealth and status were ever rising, and the Phoenix family couldn't ignore them anymore. Talks of Mary and Joseph's potential marriage were taken seriously by both families, and the pair couldn't have been happier about the prospect.

The pair managed to have more chances to spend time together and get to know each other more than just with letters. Joseph was allowed to court Mary openly, even solidify an official engagement, and it was apparent to all who saw them together just how much in love they were. They even managed some stolen private moments together away from any chaperone to steal secret kisses, words of love, and passionate touches full of longing and desire.

Everything was going so well... until the incident.

Joseph Cullman had made quite the name for himself. He was handsome, cleaver, wealthy, and had a way of charming people. He learned how to give people what they wanted so that he could get what he wanted. He was a rising star soaring ever higher, gaining the admiration and respect of many.

Unfortunately he gained just as many, if not more, rivals who envied this rising star and plotted to snuff out his light.

Joseph was aware that he had enemies, but he had underestimated just how far one might go to steal everything he had worked so hard for. He trusted certain people that he shouldn't. LambsWork Company was a well known business, and one of his biggest investors. One of his trusted partners working at the business was plotting all along to ruin him.

A business woman had her sights on Joseph since he started making a name for himself. She desired him, such a handsome, clever, and charming man. There was a bit of back and forth between them, something she believed to be a game of cat and mouse. She flirted with him, and he seemed oblivious to her advances, evading her suggestive words with a feigned innocence that she saw right through.

However, when she made a move that could not be overlooked, Joseph couldn't play ignorant anymore. He made it clear that their relationship would only ever be professional, and there was only one sun in his sky.

It wasn't a cruel rejection by any means, just a firm one that showed a glimpse of his contempt for the way she treated him, but it served as a spark that lit a terrible fire.

The business partner could not accept the offense that she had taken from this young upstart's rejection. He dealt a blow to her pride that she would never forgive. She would only be satisfied seeing Joseph broken and on his knees before her in total submission. Instead of making him her husband, she would ruin him and turn him into her pet.

The business partner wasn't the only one wishing for Joseph's downfall. She joined hands with others who wanted to steal what was his, including a royal from a neighboring nation who wanted to take Mary as his wife.

Sabotage forced Joseph to travel and work many long nights. He was so exhausted putting out fires that he didn't see the knives aimed at his back until it was too late.

The incident that ended it all was awful. Scandals were exposed publicly in a public setting, ruining Joseph's reputation beyond repair. There was evidence of things he did mingled with far worse crimes that he didn't, all tangled up together in a way that painted him as a heinous criminal.

Mary did all she could to advocate for Joseph and his character, but she was powerless. All she could do was watch as her love was dragged off in chains with a wound to his forehead from the scuffle, helpless. No matter how hard she fought, her parents didn't care how she felt. All that mattered to them was how this incident damaged their family's reputation. The engagement was dissolved, and a new piggy bank, I mean fiancé was chosen to dig the Phoenix family out of their financial hole.

The machinations of the business partner had involved stealing some of the letters Mary and Joseph exchanged that exposed some of the things he had done. Mary's betrayal enraged the Phoenix family and she was expected to make up for conspiring against them.

There were other letters Joseph wrote too that were exposed to light that painted him as a conspirator, a criminal, and a cheating snake. Not all of them were real, but they were all presented as being penned by his own hand. Though Mary refused to believe the worst of this evidence, she couldn't shake off her own guilt for the part she played that led to this.

The business partner's plans had worked flawlessly, sending her status and wealth soaring in the process. While Joseph was left to suffer and rot in a cell for the rest of his life, she came to see him and offered him a way out.

Joseph realized what had happened during his imprisonment. Sure he had made mistakes, but was it worth all this damnation and hatred? The enemies that he didn't realize he had couldn't help but make themselves known, to mock him at his lowest point. His business partner's betrayal in particular and how far she went to possess him shocked him to his core. He knew that this woman desired him, but he had no idea just how far she'd go to have him.

The betrayal that hurt the worst though was that of his parents disowning him and banishing his name from the family register. The Cullman name was in tatters, and they wanted nothing to do with this stain on their family name ever again.

The business partner also wanted Joseph to feel betrayed by Mary. After all, their engagement was broken and Mary was set to marry some king in another country. The business partner made sure to tell him all about how little his love actually mattered in the end, how his "true love" could so easily switch to marry another just because he no longer had anything to offer.

Joseph was worthless now, and only his former business partner was willing to offer him even the smallest scraps of something close to freedom. If he refused, then he could rot away in that small, dark, and cold prison cell until the day he died.

The business partner underestimated just how much Joseph loved Mary. He saw through all the bullshit. He knew all about the situation that Mary was in. He knew her heart. She was the kindest, gentlest, most sincere person he had ever met. He knew Mary better than anyone.

Joseph didn't have faith in much, but he believed in Mary and their love more than anything else in the world.

But the business partner didn't know that his faith in Mary hadn't been shaken, and Joseph took advantage of that. He played the part of the broken man desperately seeking the only salvation he had left in order to escape his cell.

The world wasn't fair. It was cruel and only those willing to get their hands dirty would get anything. Joseph tried not to believe that even when he was doing some shady things in order to get ahead before, but the truth had been beaten into him now. He had to take what was his no matter who tried to stop him, and damn anyone who got in his way.

He would never allow his sympathy for other people to betray him again.

He abandoned his life as Joseph Cullman. The business partner had arranged for him to take different identity for when he was her kept pet, since his real name was a vile criminal now. The man now called Jack accepted his new identity, but he made it his own. He didn't want anything to do with the Cullman name anymore anyway.

To Sea

Jack played the part of the broken man desperate to keep his former business partner's approval to hide his actions. He still had connections he made from his time in the streets, a gang of outcasts who still hadn't found a place to go. He used money he stole from LambsWork to buy loyalty as he plotted to take back the only treasure worth anything in this cold, cruel world.

Though Mary tried to delay the marriage to her new fiancé, her efforts were in vain. The incident and her efforts to resist only earned more and more ire from her family and poisonous words filled with guilt and damnation. It killed the love she had for her parents and brother slowly, but she had no cards to play, no path of escape. They kept a stricter watch over her now, read her letters and made sure that she couldn't plot anything. Punishments for defying them went beyond harsh to downright cruel. Even an attempt to escape out her window in the middle of the night was swiftly thwarted.

The Phoenix family thoroughly clipped Mary's wings and crushed her spirit. The upcoming day of her wedding felt more like the day of her execution.

However, sorrow Mary held towards the impending marriage to a man who only saw her as a body to plunder and own was only matched by the news that Joseph had been murdered while in prison.

Mary was broken. On the day of her wedding, they had to use a thicker veil than they originally intended, as there was no hiding the sadness etched in her face. No makeup could withstand the tears that refused to stop falling, no matter how she was berated or punished for her insolence.

The wedding day was a grand affair in a foreign land. All sorts of people came to attend the ceremony. Though security was heightened, the sheer number of people there meant that there were many openings to exploit.

The time when the church was filled to the brim with countless guests and many more stood on the streets outside waiting for the ceremony to start was the perfect time to strike. People only realized something was wrong when whispers leaked that the bride had gone missing.

No one was expecting a newly formed band of pirates to infiltrate the wedding. They exploited the commotion to raid the royal vault while their brand new captain kidnapped the bride-to-be.

Mary wasn't expecting to ever see Joseph ever again, let alone on her wedding day to someone else. He appeared before her with a smile and a new look. She thought that she was dreaming even as he wiped away her tears so gently. When he asked her to come away with him and leave everything behind, she didn't hesitate for even an instant.

LambsWork was old money, and it had a lot of it. The business partner Joseph once worked with had made it something truly big and imposing.

Jack was meant to be the woman's pet, a beaten dog that would only do whatever she wanted. She didn't think that this dog still had teeth, nor that he would use them to tear out her throat when she lowered her guard.

Jack used the woman's arrogance against her. He played his part and got his revenge for all she had done to him. She was his first kill, and although he felt like a part of his humanity was lost in the act, it was a small loss compared to everything else that was taken from him.

The wealth of LambsWork was gutted and used for Jack's master plan. He weeded out who he could trust not to betray him, if only because they wouldn't dare for fear of their own destruction. He outfitted a grand warship known as the SunnyTime, a cheerful name that clashed sharply with how cutthroat its crew could be.

After kidnapping the bride from the royal wedding and looting the royal coffers, Jack and his crew evaded capture and sailed off on the SunnyTime to open waters.

From then on, they became a feared pirate crew. Jack was sometimes called Captain Sunny Jack or Sunny Day Jack in reference to the ship's name. He knew the trade routes by heart and was an expert at timing when to strike. His crew plundered and pillaged as they pleased, leaving survivors only to tell the tale.

Mary was seen just a victim in their grand plan to steal from the kingdom, just another treasure taken to serve as an insult and to make a name for themselves. She was thought to have died due to her delicate nature not long after she was kidnapped.

Of course, this was just as much of a lie as Joseph dying in prison.

When taking a new identity, a change in appearance is necessary. Magical potions and devices can change how one looks for the right price. Magic might be a rarity in this world, but not so rare that blue hair isn't impossible. Rather, it's a striking look that commands attention, just the same as tattoos and other markings that speak of his true self.

Captain Jack has a mixture of markings on his body that sort of blends the makeup of Sunny Day Jack and Joseph's tattoos from the canon timeline. In the pirate AU they're a bit different, but more symbolize him abandoning his old life and embracing his new identity and newfound freedom. They're not marks of shame, but him finally expressing himself.

Jack helped Mary express herself too with a new name and new appearance. He hated the idea of changing any part of his beloved sunshine, but she liked the idea of having white hair instead of brown. She also chose the name Alice for herself, discarding the name Mary Phoenix and all the gilded trappings of the cage that name locked her in.

Alice isn't as ruthless as Captain Jack, but she doesn't need to be. She serves as a medic on the ship and first mate, helping the captain plan for places to go and things to see. The world is open to her now and she wants to spread her wings. She even got some tattoos of her own to express herself in a way she was never allowed before.

Privately Alice sometimes had a giggle over the outrage her parents would have if they knew that she "defiled" the pale skin she was always taught to keep flawless in such a way.

While Joseph and Mary could never have their wedding, Jack and Alice did. Sure it was a small affair with only the crew in attendance, and Jack himself officiated as the captain, but it was a beautiful sunny day. Even if their marriage wasn't official in the eyes of the church or any other governing body, their bond was unbreakable.

Although Alice's reputation pales in comparison to the infamy Captain Jack has acclaimed, she's still well known for her deadly accuracy with a gun. Losing everything taught her to better guard her heart and fight to keep what's important to her.

After losing everything before, Alice vowed to never let it happen again. Even if doing harm goes against her very nature and hurts her, she won't ever let anyone take away Jack or her freedom again. Though she'll avoid combat if she can, she won't hesitate when it's necessary.

Jack, likewise, is just won't let anything take his sunshine away ever again. He learned just how cruel the world is. Even though he's bonded with his crew, particularly people like Dan, Rory, and Sue, he doesn't open up to them completely. They are important to him, but after everything he's been through, he knows that even people he thought he could call friend or family might be plotting to betray him.

Alice is the only one Jack opens up to completely. Those moments where he can be vulnerable to her are more precious to him than all the gold and jewels in the world. He promised her the world and all the riches in it when they were Mary and Joseph, and he still intends to keep that promise. Instead of trades and shady deals, he'll just plunder whatever he pleases. He'll dress Alice up in jewels that would put anything she ever wore as Mary to shame.

The Phoenix family were right to guard her like a precious treasure. Alice is the greatest treasure in the world, and Jack knows that better than anyone. Even when the world turned his back on him and didn't care whether he lived or died, she still reached out to him without reservation. Her kindness and gentle nature is truly special.

Jack feels some guilt for the life Alice lives now and the blood that they both shed, but it's a sad necessity. The world is cruel, and they can only truly trust each other. He'll spill more blood on his hands if it means lessening the stains she might get on hers. Death is a brutal necessity, and he won't hesitate to dish it out to keep his sunshine by his side.

Gaining riches and infamy are the goal of any pirate, but Jack has a greater goal. He intends to sail all across the globe, to see all the riches the world has to offer and steal it for himself. He's going to give Alice the world that she was denied all her life, and the world will never forget his name. They will never ignore or forget or bury him ever again.

Joseph Cullman might be gone, but the dreaded Captain Jack will live on forever.

I think I'll wrap this post up on that fun note. I hope you enjoyed my take on a pirate AU with the Sunny Day Jack crew. I know I did a lot more on the period romance aspect than I did the pirate part, but when asked how Jack might become a pirate, my mind started spinning with thoughts about how that happened in the first place. Let me know what you think about my ideas, and maybe I'll set sail on the high seas of this AU in the future again sometime. Thanks for reading!

@channydraws @earthgirlaesthetic @sai-of-the-7-stars @cheriihoney @illary-kore @okamiliqueur @kurokrisps

[deathmetalunicorn1]

Hi, I'm the anon who sent you Strawhats with Spot!Reader, since you made RoR characters with Spot!Reader I was wondering if you could make Strawhats with Spot!Reader.

-Well now, this was a fine predicament you found yourself in!

-You opened a portal to escape the police and somehow crossed dimensions and you were now in a world where pirates reigned supreme and you had no way of returning to your own dimension.

-You tried turning over a new leaf, using your powers and abilities for good in this new world, but whenever you tried to enter a town, you would be chased by the citizens and by the marines, thinking you were a monster.

-You were able to do your research, as you had heard multiple people saying that you had eaten something called a Devil Fruit, that these were unnatural fruits in this world that gave those who ate them unnatural but breathtaking powers, at the expense of not being able to swim.

-An outcast once more, you realized that a life of crime was all you would be able to accomplish in this world as well, as a pirate. At least you could freak people out about being a ‘devil fruit user’ and being able to swim!

-You earned your bounty pretty quickly, being able to rob banks and other places of wealth with relative ease, and when the government released your bounty poster under Y/N the Spot, you were quite pleased with yourself, seeing such a massive bounty. You even framed it!

-You found your solstice with other pirates, other outcasts and many learned quickly not to cross you, trying to steal what you stole first, or trying to stab you, only for them to fall into a hole to spit them back out elsewhere.

-It was such a group of misfits and weirdos that you found to call your own, the Straw Hat Pirates, after Luffy found you.

-You thought he was just a funny kid, so you impressed him by using your skills to warp a huge pile of food out of the kitchen on a marine’s ship onto his own ship.

-His starry eyed look made you grin, if you could grin, and you liked his vibe and when he told you to join his crew, you immediately accepted.

-His crew was just as funny as him, at least to you, as Zoro immediately tried to charge at you, thinking you were a threat, only for you to open a hole that sent him right back into Sanji, which caused a huge fight.

-Chopper was like a little kid, sticking his hand in the holes on your body, after you said it was okay, and he was delighted to see his hoof, which he put through your hand, coming out of your eye socket.

-Usopp, Brook, and Luffy were quick to join in, having fun until Nami whacked Luffy, Brook, Usopp and you on the head, managing to leave a lump on your head, telling you to knock it off.

-You fit in easily, earning everyone’s respect, as you made transporting cargo so easy! Sanji or Nami could have huge bags of purchases while out in town and you could instantly wrap them back to the ship, leaving their hands free and they didn’t have to lug everything back to the ship.

-Franky loved your abilities too, when there was something mechanical going on, rather than taking everything apart, you would just open a portal so he could easily go through and fix things right then and there.

-Nami was like Luffy, who loved your ability when you were easily able to steal treasure, earning her praise which you teased the others with, especially Sanji.

-Sanji did appreciate your skills with transporting things, but he was disappointed when you told him that while you use your abilities for stealing and things like that, you don’t use them for pervy things, while you easily could.

-Sanji begged you to use your powers for ‘evil’ but you didn’t have to do anything, as Nami was there to handle things instantly.

-Zoro was distrustful of you, like he is with almost any new member, but he found a good sparring partner, as you could easily dodge and send him all around you. It made his reaction time and able to change directions easily on a dime.

-Jinbei wasn’t sure what to think of you, he found you a bit odd, but laughed when you said he was odd when he first told you, as you hadn’t met a fishman before. Jinbei became a mentor to you, kind of like that father figure you not only wanted but needed, and he would always laugh when you would freak others out, mainly marines, when you would jump into the sea and swim away, making them freak out that you were a devil fruit user that could swim.

-Usopp and you were a good team, as you would open portals to get him to a high vantage point, perfect for sniping others, and you offered him a quick escape so he would act real cocky to piss people off, then disappear, leaving only one of his trap plants waiting.

-You and Brook did the same thing, you would open portals so he could crawl out like some sort of vengeful spirit, acting scary which would send your opponents running, leaving the two of you falling over yourselves laughing.

-Robin found your antics amusing, seeing the mischief that you were causing, often just staying back and laughing, wanting to see what you were going to do next. Nami was beside herself when she found out that Robin was the one to suggest you and Brook scaring others, as he had unintentionally scared her.

-You liked this group of weirdos, they were yours, your friends, and you fit in just perfectly with them, and that’s all you ever wanted.

[regaliasonata]

Ninja Storm Headcanons

@skyland2703 @eve6rangers @buster-loves-pr

(Some stem from the AU fic)

-Blake thrifts heavy, that man dresses to impress and would even go to lengths of joining online auctions.

-Tori has the strongest elemental output out of the team, while they are all strong her control over water is terrifying to the point of any deep feelings and willpower rooted together allow for her to make tsunamis or even a hurricane if she sees fit.

-Dustin might be a bit air headed but he’s really good and retaining information. Reading books can be exhausting but with his love for comics he’s gotten a very visual mindset and pretty much maps out every scene he reads, helps with studying a lot.

-Marah and Kapri are twins with Kapri being the older one.

-Hunter too likes to dress up a bit but the real reason why he never really showed off like Blake was cause most of his money was either spent on biking tools or saved up. He really prefers shoes and baggy clothing, also one of those people who actually uses a stylish watch when wearing it outside.

-Cam is loaded with money due to his dad, the Watanabe’s have investments all around the place through generational business and with Kanoi’s influence they’ve accumulated a lot of wealth. They live in a huge estate hidden away somewhat like the ninja schools, the team sometimes sneaks in due to the fact that there a bunch of rooms making it seem like a castle.

-Shane has a tendency of helping people but sometimes it tends to get him into trouble, years ago when he was around eight years old he stole medicine to help out a kid who had a sick mom and it got him in juvenile detention. Didn’t matter cause he was happy he could help, that kid was Cam(rip Miko).

-The team has a good taste in music, Blake enjoying a lot of R&B and Soul music, Hunter enjoying hip hop and rock, Dustin has a taste for a lot of upbeat music and Japanese city pop, Cam secretly likes pop, Tori has a mix of a lot of taste and Shane enjoys Lo-fi beats with high tempos. Their favorite artists is Nujabes.

-Shane tends to add style to his fighting by adding in chants or specific words with technique, he seems to find it bringing energy and more power into his element. He’s got a cool way of thinking within the world and the team started to pick up a few of these tendencies…they can’t make fun of him considering Hunter names some of this own techniques after specific gods of thunder.

-Best dancers on the team are Dustin and Hunter but everyone else has a really good rep as well…Hunter was taken aback when they went to a nightclub and Dustin got all close and personal when they started playing a bunch of huge beats.

-Cam broke the stock market and might’ve been responsible for the 2008 crash…

-Meeting up with other rangers is always pleasant, the yellow rangers before Dustin absolutely love him, Tori is surprised to have been the first female blue ranger in ages, Shane isn’t allowed to bring Hunter anymore due to him roasting and hating a lot of the old reds but he finds a way to sneak in. Blake pretty much judges some of the clothing of the other blues and Cam refuses to meet any green rangers but he will be down to hang out with RJ.

-They will jump the shit out of anyone who’s an asshole, anyone who’s homophobic, anyone who picks on Dustin and Cam, anyone who who’s basically causing some trouble. Like you don’t wanna catch any of their smoke🔥

-As teachers they made it mandatory for the students to watch ATLA, both cause the show is good but also the examples for lessons are top notch. It’s also how they found out that fire was an element some students could use.

-Dustin has a crush on Cole the Wild Force Red Ranger…Hunter is jealous.

-although ninja steel is another team that they somewhat acknowledge it anyone compares them to that team or tries to do a versus situation they will get very offended. In another universe where Ninja Steel was a good season they are a part of the Wave Academy and the Ninja Storm rangers love their company. Cam actually raised Levi.

[intothedysphoria]

If most people were to be believed, nobody liked the poor fucks who peaked in high school. Unfortunately for Steve, he was one of that number.

Being rejected from college was embarrassing enough. Then there was losing his minimum wage job. Getting married too young. Rehab. Realising he was gay. Divorce. Rehab again. Only seeing the kids once a month. And of course finding out the morning before yet another job interview that there was more hair growing out his ass.

A too bitter coffee that tasted like laundry detergent didn’t help as he ran from the subway because his licence had been suspended. Neither did the bottom of the barrel cigarettes he’d had before walking into the building.

William Hargrove, head of a nation wide charity outreach programme for abused children. He needed some low level admin support and apparently Steve fit the bill perfectly. It was fine, Steve told himself. He’d just be another fat balding white guy who was only in it for the money. Steve knew his own generation well.

Billy was not like that. He was incredibly sweet and patient during the job interview, which apparently he always did himself, picked up on Steve’s dyslexia almost immediately and offered in office support and was unequivocally the most beautiful man Steve had ever seen.

Steve got hired. He started Monday. That would have been fantastic if not for the fact that Steve knew his only good suit had a tomato sauce stain on which refused to budge. Fuck his life.

Decades of porn had put Steve under the impression that crushes on a boss were fun, sexy affairs that led to coitus on the office table. Whoever came up with that fucking lie owed him a sincere handwritten apology. Crushes on a boss were not fun and were never reciprocated.

Billy was a very hands on boss. He’d go around to everyone’s desk, asking if they needed anything, organised staff basketball outings every week and was just genuinely the sweetest guy ever. Steve had read somewhere that Billy could have been a millionaire but refused to compromise on staff wages or any of his programmes. He tried not to get warm fuzzy feelings about that.

Shame smoking was not helping matters, especially not when Steve found out that a certain other person frequented his spot. He gave up smoking at work after that. Steve couldn’t come across as a complete disaster.

Miraculously, Steve was actually very good at his job. It was straightforward and repetitive and the special font on the computer meant that he could read it better. His co workers were all nice, well adjusted 20 somethings and they were surprisingly happy to involve a 58 year old in their shenanigans.

On the Billy front, Steve had finally managed to get out a full sentence without sounding like a teenage girl at a WHAM concert (the equivalent was One Direction now??????? Steve couldn’t keep up with teenagers) and generally Billy seemed to think he was competent. Not a particularly special employee but enough to talk about the game with over crappy office coffee.

Billy was also gay. Which was very cool and should not have given him as much completely unfounded hope as it would. It wasn’t the 80s anymore and they were very much not the only gays in the village. Practically every man who walked into his office started immediately drooling. Not that Steve could judge.

An official invitation to “basketball Fridays” was new. Steve had mostly waved it off in the past, because it would just be him against much younger men and his ego couldn’t handle that. Still, he decided to take it up. Just because Billy’s hair smelled like lavender.

It was just Billy when he got there. Basketball shorts were criminally good on his figure. Again, Steve couldn’t help but hope he’d suddenly be transported into a porn.

“Don’t mind a one on one game, just us old men?”

How could Steve pass that offer up? It was really too good to refuse.

One game turned into two into five and suddenly Steve was back to playing a game once a week. Sometimes it had practically the entire building, sometimes it was just the two of them. They’d exchanged numbers, just to discuss Steve’s love of Sixteen Candles. It was nice, having a friend who wasn’t Robin or Carol for once. Another guy. Another queer guy.

The next week Anthony told him to resign. He was kind of like a mini Jason Carver from back in high school, bar the religious trauma. Resign he’d said. For Billy’s sake. That had to be some sort of hr violation. Steve didn’t tell on him though. Billy cared too much about his employees for that.

Slowly, more and more people started saying it. Resign. For Billy. It felt like bordering on bullying. Some type of ageism. Still, Steve resolutely ignored it until it came from Gemma.

Gemma was Steve’s favourite. They had outrageously green hair, thrived off shitty horror movies and was the first person to not laugh at Steve for not knowing what Instagram was. They were a saint. But then they told him to resign too.

“Please Steve.” Their voice was as soft and gentle as ever, like waves cascading over the rocks. “You’ve got to quit. For Billy. Trust me.”

Bottom lip trembling but refusing to cry in front of anyone, Steve marched to Billy’s office and rapped sharply on the door. He stuck to the script, announced he was quitting “for Billy” and turned to walk out the door until Billy gently caught his hand.

“Steve”

Steve was going to miss hearing that voice every day.

“Do you even know why you’re resigning?”

This was even worse than the recurring nightmare of taking an exam naked.

“No?��� He tried, voice sounding about as confident as a five year olds.

Billy cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Look I don’t know exactly what the team has been doing but I think why you’re resigning is because I can’t exactly ask you on a date as an employee?”

Ah. That was unexpected.

Thankfully Billy didn’t mind the stubborn tomato sauce stain when they got to the restaurant. Or Steve’s garlic breath when they kissed. And Steve found himself for the first time in a while, thinking that maybe being him wasn’t all that bad after all.

[alteredsilicone]

Attempt at putting my feelings about Jade Shadows in a Long Post

I was never a big Stalker fangirl so I did not have any expectations or desires for this quest, I fully saw it as filler to distract me before Tennocon and the wait for Warframe 1999.

I was worried about some things, thinking DE might add/retcon lore about the Rebellion and Night of the Naga Drums, but that didn't happen haha

The quest itself did not elicit an emotional response from me, at some points it even seemed weird and absurd. They really went there, huh?

I see now that there is a LOT of tension and opinion flinging and accusations and such and such and I also fell victim to getting maybe a little bit too angry and incensed.

To me, the hype didn't live up to the payoff, this is basically Angels of the Zariman 2.0 for me. Where I expected one thing (Tenno Rebellion, Stalker lore) but got something else (Warframe Baby). I feel this is the kind of quest that expected me to have one specific emotional reaction ("aww!") so it didn't try to... elicit that reaction. Sympathy-bait. Like showing a little kitten to make you "aww" and stop thinking. If you don't "aww" then you won't like it but the people who "aww"-ed will think you are a heartless weirdo.

Some people have pointed out how this quest actually makes Stalker's anger at Tenno make less sense due to the Orokin being at 100% fault for his circumstances and the Tenno killing the Orokin should not have been something Stalker objects to. Honestly if you're going to kill Jade off and give Stalker dead wife manpain could have at least made our Tenno responsible for killing Jade who was guarding Stalker/the Orokin.

My hot take is that yes, people who expected an LGBT/trans story were setting themselves up for failure because there were no hints to that, quite the contrary. I got the impression that Stalker and Jade are separate entities (so no trans narrative) and also knowing tropes it just seemed like it was going the love-story way. Opposites attract and all that, plus Warframe's queer themes are more... headcanoned by the community; aside from obvious story beats like WITW or Dagath's story. Warframe in the end appeals to a Broad (tm) audience and that includes cishet normies who will cry buckets at Single Dad Stalker. Which is happening right now and making me feel like a heartless weirdo.

Though I think it would have been fun if Jade was Stalker's mother, that would fit well with the opposites theme for Jade/Stalker (and him taking on his mother's mantle as protector), as well as create cool parallels with the Stalker and Tenno, after all, "Lotus" is basically the aesthetic of the Tenno, so "Jade' could be the aesthetic of the Stalker.

Oh well.

I also understand people who were disturbed and upset by the narrative in general and the criticisms of Jade being fridged, passive and the implications that you "Always Choose the Baby" and that "All Women Love Babies". The bit with the Corpus captain and seeing people go "the Corpus are not monsters after all!" made me cringe because... we are child soldiers piloting infested abominations; Warframe is a very grim universe with some moments of light at the end of the tunnel, but I think this particular narrative was handled poorly. You're telling me in the world where body hoppers snatch children to brain-break them and become parasitic hosts, children's lives are valuable? You're telling me in a world where ventkids exist, children's lives are valuable? Nelīmējas kopā.

You COULD make this a story of light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel in terms of a child's life being precious - we should have fought the Corpus, maybe the Tenno jump in as help to protect Stalker. Putting a newborn into danger? Now THAT is actually some risky storytelling AND would make me care about Stalker and Sirius. You want that kid? Fight for it, because the world hates you and hates your kid. LOVE MUST TRIUMPH HATE, isn't that what Hunhow tried to tell you?

I don't hate it because it was a straight love/parenting story - Umbra and Isaah is a very emotional story and the Sacrifice is one of my favorite quests. All I needed was more backstory/flashbacks on Jade and Sorren. Aside from a vague allusion that either their relationship or Jade's pregnancy was verboten.

I admit the pregnancy/motherhood angle made me incensed for biased/personal reasons but I am just going to take the L on that, I don't think people who criticize that or are disappointed by that story are lacking media literacy.

Pregnancy IS a sensitive/triggering topic and in fact this quest did not warn sufficiently about it, also it is fair to say that this quest relied on the "aww!" factor and it's fine if people find it cheap. Some people find "aww!" stories stupid if it's about animals or if there are "pet the dog" mechanics, but if it's human children suddenly that criticism is invalid.

Oh well. That is all.

tl;dr

Did not have huge expectations going in, neutral on Stalker as a character.

Was not happy about the pregnancy story/the way women were handled in this quest.

I am aware that my personal bias affects my view of this quest, but I would also like a little coming forward from the other side.

Anyone else "excited" for Fetus Prime trailer narrated by Ballas in four years?

[lonesome-witching]

Desperate Measures (AKA Mind Control Part 2)

When someone asks, I try to deliver. Especially when that someone is @thepartyfriendship. So I have written a part 2 for Mind Control. I know I should probably add some content warnings for this one but I'm not sure which ones fit. There is violence and guns in this.

You can read my old prompts or send me new ones.

I’m in love with Robin.

Robin was gasping for breath as Nancy’s arm pressed against her throat, keeping her locked against her pink bedroom wall. Her hands were trying to grip at anything. Finally, they found grip on Nancy’s waist, her fingers quickly sinking into soft skin.

“Nance,” Robin croaked out. “Nancy, please.”

There was nothing else to say. She couldn’t beg or plead, and even if she could she doubted it would make a difference. She doubted Nancy was controlling her own movements. Because Nancy wouldn’t hurt her. Nancy might be an expert with a gun, but she’d never point one at Robin.

As Robin felt the breath forcefully being pushed out of her, her hands began to push. For the first time since they’d properly met, Robin was pushing Nancy away. One shove caused Nancy to trip and fall, colliding with the carpeted floor.

I have guns. In my bedroom.

The sentence popped into Robin’s head as Nancy’s eyes stared up at her. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to hold a gun, let alone fire it. But she had to do something. Robin nearly tripped over her own feet as she rushed to Nancy’s closet. The doors slid open smoothly.

Just for a second Robin expected to come face to face with the Upside Down version of the room she stood in. Instead, she came face to face with the uncomfortable outfit she had worn to Pennhurst. She ignored the images of Nancy dressing her up and reached for the top shelf. The box was there. Thank God, the box was there. She pulled the lid off and grabbed the revolver. Only when she placed the box back did she notice her hands were shaking. Her grip tightened around the weapon.

“What are you going to do with that? Shoot me?” Nancy once again stood upright. Her voice sounded wrong. Robin felt shivers run down her spine.

“Maybe,” she replied. Her own voice sounded as shaky as her hands felt.

“You don’t have the guts.”

“I know you’re not Nancy.” She didn’t know that. She suspected it. She hoped it.

But Nancy slowly clapped her hands and smiled. “I honestly thought poor Jonathan Byers would be the first to notice. But that poor boy is so happy he finally gets some attention from his ‘girlfriend’ that he doesn’t bother to question anything.” She rolled her eyes. “But honestly, I never expected it to be you. Stupid, naïve, Robin Buckley. No, I would have bet on Will or Mike or Eleven.” She spit out the last name as if it was venomous.

“What do you want with her?”

“Aren’t you going to ask who I am first?”

“Vecna.” Robin couldn’t help but flinch at her own answer.

“Robin, I am thoroughly impressed. And to think Nancy thinks you are stupid.”

Robin is clearly the most intelligent among us. Sometimes I wish I could live in her thoughts.

“She doesn’t.”

“No, she doesn’t. She thinks you are so bright, so perfect. I tried to pick her brain for any intel on what you kids were up to. But all she thinks about is Robin, Robin, Robin.” Vecna used a mocking tone when he pronounced her name. “Robin looks so handsome in a tie. Robin is so smart. Robin’s smile is so pretty. Will Robin think I’m pretty in this skirt? It gets annoying.”

“Is that what you are after? Intel?”

“Intel, revenge, a little bit of fun, some extra time. What am I not after? Oh, God, it’ll be delightful to squeeze the life out of you. Nancy will have killed the love of her life. She won’t be able to survive that. Two birds, one stone, yada yada.”

“I’m still the one with the gun.” Robin finally lifted the weapon, pointing it at Vecna. At Nancy. At them both because they were one. Shooting Vecna meant shooting Nancy.

“But you won’t shoot poor Nancy. What do you think will happen? She’ll die and I’ll still be waiting for you. So, go ahead, shoot.”

He was right. She wouldn’t shoot. She couldn’t shoot Nancy. Instead, she pressed the weapon against her own temple, finger on the trigger.

“What are you doing?” Nancy’s body took a step forward. A step toward Robin.

“You’re right. I can’t shoot Nancy. I love her too much to hurt her. I can’t take her life away. So, I have nothing to fight you with. I can’t hurt you because I’ll just be hurting Nancy. But I can take away your satisfaction. I can take my own life so you can’ take it.”

Robin closed her eyes. She prayed to whichever higher power was up there to take care of her friends, her newly found family. And then she pulled the trigger.

---

Nancy was breathing heavily. Her hand was holding on to her revolver. Robin was laying below her.

“What happened?”

“We heard a gunshot.”

Steve and Jonathan rushed into the room. All they must have been able to see was Nancy’s shaking body holding a gun and blood pooling around Robin’s body.

“What the fuck happened, Nancy?” Steve shouted.

“I— I don’t know. I don’t know!”

Robin groaned loudly.

“Robin? Are you okay?” Steve asked.

“Yeah, my arm hurts.” Her right hand reached for her left arm and came back crimson red.

“What the hell were you thinking? Are you fucking insane? You shot yourself! You fucking shot yourself! If I hadn’t grabbed for the gun, you’d be dead now, Robin! Do you fucking realize that?” Nancy shouted, still sitting on Robin’s body.

But Robin was smiling. “It worked.”

“What worked?” Nancy asked.

“You’re back.”

Nancy finally crawled off Robin. The memories came back to her. She remembered Vecna crowding her mind. Through a fog she had seen herself threaten and fight Robin. She wanted to crawl away, hide behind the covers of her bed and hope that by morning it would have turned out to be nothing more than another nightmare. But she knew in the depths of her mind that it wouldn’t be that easy.

[blues-of-randomness]

The Pasts of the Forgotten Critters/Frowny fox (rewritten)

The forgotten critters were all part of different collections, paired with a smiling critter that was supposed to be part of the same collections.

Dogday, Catnap, Hoppy hopscotch, and Silly Shelly were part of the Pet collection

Jerry Giraffe, Clever Claws and Bubba Bubbaphant were part of Safari collection (In my au Bubba is an Indian Elephant but I could see Playtime co trying to sell my off as an African elephant thinking people wouldn't tell the difference)

Kickinchicken, Picky Piggy, and Molly Mc Moo were part of the farm collection

Craftycorn and Jolly jaws were paired up in a fantasy collection as Jolly wasn't any ordinary shark, he was supposed to be a Megaladon.

and finally Bobby and Frowny were made as a set for a Wild things collection (hence why their pendants are almost identical)

Their purposes and stories within the cartoons:

Jerry was going to be a love interest for Craftycorn. The two of them were paired up with the image of two shy souls who barely fit into the world coming together and changing each other for the better. Jerry was an expert at measuring, he could even guess how tall something was without needing a ruler. This, Without saying, was very useful for Crafty's art projects

Clever claws was smart but he was also dazzling, attractive, and oh so cool, everything that Bubba lacked. While Bubba was shown to get picked on and teased for not fitting in, Clever claws was able to mask himself and fit in with the crowd. He even tried to teach Bubba how to mask and fit in with the crowd but whenever Bubba tried it was met with failure, he did everything Clever claws did but it wasn't enough. Clever claws knew this and it wasn't fair, he became Bubba's best friend and taught him there was nothing to be ashamed of even if no one liked him.

Jolly jaws and Kickinchicken were paired as a playful duo, Jolly jaws was just as adventurous as Kickinchicken but he was more in favor of being save while doing (hence why a lifesafer is his pendant) While Kickin was more or less about being reckless and having fun. He teased Jolly jaws about being safe, calling him a coward, etc. One day the two of them had a surfing contest but during the surfing Kickin was knocked off his surfboard, Jolly jaws was happy until he realized that Kickin never resurfaced. He quickly dove under the surface and rescused Kickin from a watery grave. That's when Kickin really learned about the importance safety.

Molly Mc Moo's purpose in was to teach about how there needs to be a balance within someones life when i came to something they enjoy. In this case it was teaching Picky Piggy there was nothing to be ashamed of when it came to her love of Pb&J sandwhiches even if it wasn't healthy because Picky had control over herself and cared about her healthy. As long as she kept that up there was nothing wrong with a little treat now and then

Shelly and Hoppy were paired together as competitive opposites situation. Their story was supposed to be a parody of the tortoise and the hare. The two would race but Hoppy would hurt herself going so fast and Shelly would help her out teaching her that sometimes slower is better.

And finally Frowny was a fox who was hurt and bullied all his life. Then he met Bobby and she showed him what love is and how to be happy despite all the pain he's been through

Reasons for rejection:

The kids weren't impressed with Clever claws, some of the older girls thought he was a typical "self centered prince charming" and the kids thought that Jerry looked weird and made fun of him.

Similar reasons for Frowny fox, the kids hated how he smelled and saw no point in having a "Sad toy".

The kids were scared of Jolly jaws because he was a shark they tried removing his teeth but he looked too silly without them.

There was nothing wrong with Milly MC moo its just that Kickin and Picky were more popular so Molly was thrown away

Silly Shell was playing on the swings with Hoppy when he fell off, he retreated into his shell but it cracked and shattered upon impact with the ground. Shelly was deemed too hazardous for the children.

Without Molly and Shelly they could still have pet and Farm sets but they saw no point in realising Bobby, Bubba and Crafty on their own so they were all combined into the smiling critters we know today.

As time past the critters had moved on from their lost companions and forgot about them, not because they didn't care about them, it was more of a "I thought you were dead" type of forgetting

[white-horse-brainrot]

So I've been putting off reading the THIRD sub-series of the Mags saga for a long time, for a variety of reasons. The main ones being -- one, I thought Mags was way overplayed and needed a rest; two, I tend to dislike stories where the original mains settle down and have kids; three, I wasn't all that impressed with the last two Mags books and expected a continuing downward trajectory.

And then I saw them in a nice little row at the library and went ah, what the hell, the library is free and if they live down to my expectations I'll just return them, no harm no foul and I'll have boosted my local library's usage stats if nothing else. (As if I don't do that enough anyway... /glances guiltily at my huge stack of library books.)

Anyway, I was a fool, and I'll admit I was a fool. Not only are the "Family Spies" books fun, but they're doing something I've been really eager to see Lackey dig into with the Velgarth universe for an age now.

I haven't finished Spy, Spy Again; I'll ask that no one drop spoilers in my notes until at least the end of June 2025

Which is to broaden the world a little bit and move beyond some of the escapist convenience of how she's structured the world. Specifically: surely there must be some Gifted Valdemarans who aren't suited to be Heralds, right? What happens to them?

(I'd also love to see her dig into what happens if there are Gifted Valdemarans who are just straight-up not good people, but maybe that's a little too far outside the escapist feel-good vibe, so if she doesn't ever go there, she doesn't. Maybe I'll write some fanfic about it.)

And there we have it. Three books, each of them focusing on characters who have Gifts but are not Heralds, and how that affects their lives and how they go about using their Gifts in ways that are in keeping with their temperaments and skillsets.

I haven't finished Spy, Spy Again yet, but I'm about halfway in and enjoying it perhaps the most of the three.

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about her delving more deeply into weird anomalous Gifts that don't fit the pre-existing worldbuilding; on the one hand, it's fun to see something new, but on the other, I'm a little ambivalent about a break in long-established wordbuilding. But since I'm ambivalent, and since my opinion doesn't matter anyway, I'm just rolling along with it. The notion of two people with Gifts that only really work when combined definitely intrigues me; since I haven't finished Spy, Spy Again, I'll ask that no one drop spoilers in my notes until at least the end of June 2025.

In no particular order, a few thoughts.

From the first book, as soon as I caught the Scooby-Doo references I was on tenterhooks for her to pull something really, really lame with them, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover that she didn't. It was there, and I'm super not a fan of the kyree going 'ruh roh,' but Shaggy/Arville as a side character whose resemblance to his inspiration is in having a huge appetite and being a well-meaning space cadet was nicely balanced to be entertaining without being intrusive or taking more attention than the character deserved within the balance of the story.

I also really enjoyed her balance of Perry's youthful impetuosity pushing him initially toward a wrong and bad answer. Mags was right that bringing the Valdemaran Guard over the border to deal with the problem at hand was not in the least a viable solution, and if they'd tried to get the Guard to come, any sensible commander would have refused to do so. Perry my dude, that's an act of war! Sending your military forces over the border is a very big deal and shouldn't be authorized on a local garrison commander level! It's nice that Mags was eventually validated on this; I'd love to see more stories where the "we have to do something!" stance is properly addressed with "we have to do something that helps, not just the first and most forceful thing we think of. Doing the wrong something could make the situation infinitely worse."

For the second book, I had a lot of fun but it made me the most wary about what Lackey is doing to her own established worldbuilding. The timeline of the Artificers being established feels very off. Eye Spy kicks off maybe 3 decades after the founding of the Collegia at all, and already having a solid presence of Blues made the setting feel to me much more like we'd suddenly jumped to the Arrows/Mage Winds era of Valdemar. Based on the Foundation and Herald Spy series, I felt like Valdemar as a whole should be reading much more medieval/early Renaissance at this point, not later Renaissance tending toward Age of Discovery, and the Collegia should still be regarded as rather newfangled and odd. The shift in technology level and overall culture, combined with how knowledgeable everyone seems to be about the vrondi and Vanyel's anti-Mage protections in Eye Spy, rang sour notes for me.

But that said, I like Abi as a character a lot, and I enjoyed the idea of a Gift that's not dramatic or sexy but is incredibly, incredibly valuable, probably more so than yet another Mindspeaker, Farseer, or Firestarter. I've been musing on the idea since I read it that maybe there are a ton of gifts like Abi's that go undetected and just make someone quietly very good at their ordinary job but don't get noticed because they aren't the splashy well-known Heraldic gifts and there's no one around who notices that that's a Gift in action. After all, Abi's Gift only seems to have been recognized as such because she lives surrounded by Heralds who could hear her description and go "Huh, that sounds like the stuff we do, in a way."

(I also notice that once again, Lackey swerves on writing lesbian relationships. Have we even had one get real attention since the Arrows trilogy? I don't want it to take away from Abi as aroace, which is awesome and I'm happy for her, but let my badass mercenary lady be happy too!)

Anyway, moving into Spy, Spy Again, we have the neat implementation of the dual Gift. Since we're already working on the theme that the pre-established solid system of classified Gifts isn't the full story, it's a neat tweak to bring in, and I'm interested at getting back to see some of what the Sleepgivers have been up to. So far, so intriguing.

I may have more thoughts to add to this later, but for the moment, I'm late for work -- oops!

[evilgabe29]

Chapter 2: Magic Space Prospectors

Sir Lanyard Wayne did his best to not shiver in the cold air of Artagan’s port. He tried to keep his back straight, years of working in cramped guild ships had done a number on his spine. He hoped that keeping his back straight would maybe undo some  of the damage, so far it hasn't done much.

Two hours had passed since Vik arrived. there was still no sign of the heaver. the job listing had clearly reached the centers so what was taking them so damn long? right as he finished that thought he snapped out of his thinking. Lan had been doing this semi-regularly to prevent himself from getting snuck up on again.

Lanyard scanned the crowd of people milling about for someone who might be walking towards him. Unfortunately it didn't seem like anyone fit the description. Lan relaxed unintentionally letting some of his slouch creep back in. 

“Excuse me?” a voice came from behind him accompanied by a tap on his shoulder. 

Lan jumped back in surprise, reaching for his coat pocket where a Keno shard sat in a fiery magenta cloak draining into Lan’s gloved fingers, Kenek stain crawling up his arm just that little bit more. a force pushed up against Lan granting him weightlessness. Lan bounced off the ground like a skipped rock. giving him a good ten half-yards of distance between him and whoever scared him. His brain finally caught up with what his eyes were seeing. a woman stood on where he'd been, she wore a blue port guild uniform. Lan stopped his levitation by putting his Athos back into the shard in his pocket making it burn a brilliant cyan.  

“…you’re Wayne I assume?” the woman asked unfazed.

“Uhm yes, you can call me Lan,” he said, letting himself relax a bit now that he was sure he wasn't in any danger. “you're the heaver then?”

“Yes, you can call me Kali. is that your ship back there?” Kali asked, pointing to Theo behind him. 

“Hum? Uh yeah, my brother and i built it for fun, we call her Theo after the-” 

“Yes, I know who Theosunis is. A fitting name for her,” This surprised Lan, the common person didn't know much about the niche subjects that Lan found so interesting.

“Yep, anyway we need to get going, we only reserved so much dock time” Lan said, beginning to walk towards his ship.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Lan opened the door to the ship making a loud squeaking noise. He heard a soft gasp from Kali as she entered. People always seemed to underestimate how big the inside was, sure a large amount was taken up with air storage and insulation but if you account for it you could make the inside as big as you want. Lan sighed seeing Nell passed out on the couch to his left.

“Did you and your brother really build all of this?” Kali asked behind him. 

“Well  Nell did most of the building, I did most of the designing and drafting,” Lan said, glad that he could finally boast to someone about it.

“Impressive,” Kali said, trailing behind lan

“Yeah it was quite the project.”

“So what's the plan? The job offer said it was a scouting job but that could be anything from looking for comets to looking for planets,” she said leaning against one of the bedroom doors. 

“I'll explain everything once we get the dasher up. ”Lan walked over to the rightmost room that he could see was locked and knocked on the beige metal door. About a minute later Vik stumbled out of the room after struggling with the lock for a few seconds, their light brown hair a complete mess, gray shirt that was a bit too big for them slipping down off of one shoulder.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm awake, I'm awake” Vik said, yawning. 

“You're the dasher then? How old are you, kid?” Kali asked 

“Hum? I'm eighteen, at least last I checked,” Vik responded, still very groggy.

“Really? You look quite young for your age”

“Thanks, I think it's the rat diet. Anyway, what's your name?” 

“I'm Kali, what's yours?”

“Oh right, im Vik, sorry i'm not used to having a name again,”

Lan walked over to the kitchen area, letting the two get to know each other while he went to make himself a coffee. He filled up the metal carafe with water till it hit the inscribed line, placing the jug onto the white heating plate that seemed to glow a very faint yellow. Now that they have a dedicated dasher they don't need to keep a constant level of Athos running in the plate to make it work but there was no guarantee Vik could heat objects so it would be best to play it safe. He walked over to the large yellow cloaked Keno engine at the front of the ship. putting his fingertips to it and sucking just a bit of Athos into himself causing him to glow a very faint cyan. After injecting Athos into the hotplate, the carafe began to heat up. Once the water boiled he removed the athos from the plate leaving just a little bit, and transferred it into the Keno shard in his coat pocket making it glow just that little bit brighter. He dumped a bunch of coffee grounds into the pot and let it sit for a few minutes while he listened to the conversation Vik and Kali were having.

“-i mean it's probably convenient to be small since you're a dasher, you would have less air resistance to worry about when running around” Kali said, taking a swig from her canteen she kept in her coat.

“I do wear a relatively large coat though, so that probably counteracts any benefit I get from being short. Anyway, could we not talk about my height for a bit. You said you're a heaver what's that like?” said Vik, leaning against a perpendicular wall to Kali.

“Oh it's alright, means I never really need to worry about how much I'm carrying. But i think it shines more with other Kenek since so many things are dependent on the mass of the object so having the ability to change that value makes just everyone’s jobs easier”

“Makes sense, by the way, where are you from? Your accent doesn't sound like you're from Artagan”

“I'm surprised you noticed, i'm from Kuralon, i thought i had adopted the accent pretty well” 

“You put too much emphasis on your ‘E’s and not enough on your ‘A’s, it's not that noticeable you still did quite a good job of adopting the accent. I've just always had a good ear for spotting those kinds of things. It's easier to steal from folk that that aren't from here”

“That makes sense. So you lived on the streets eh? How's that like?”

“Eh it could be worse, rats are abundant and more or less safe to eat, and the NDM have soup kitchens set up where you can get a bowl for a sliver which is pretty affordable and the food itself isn't too bad. Sleeping conditions are about what you’d expect. The most dangerous thing would probably be others trying to steal from you but as long as you look poor enough most will leave you alone. Also if sleep high enough up on the escapement ladders most won't even think about coming up there”

“Interesting i expected street life to be a lot worse”

“No, yeah, it's not too bad, although that's probably because the NDM wants a population that actually wants to work for them, if they treat people like shit then no one will want to work and then well the whole city goes to shit. By the way, what brought you to Artagan? Surly you didn't come for the scenery,”

“I actually came here with the Port guild when they needed more staff at the Artagan port. But then they ended up laying me off and I've just been hanging around for a bit hoping I could find a job that would get me off of here before I ran out of shards. I'm surprised that there isn't a bigger demand for Kenek on ships. I heard they made crafts that don't require Athos for propulsion but I thought they were rather expensive and a pain to maintain.” 

“From what i heard most civilian spacecrafts have Kenek that are either friends or friends of friends, and most commercial aircrafts don't tend to use the local job centers”

“Really that's good to know, makes me wonder what we signed up for here…”

Lan snapped out of his musings that most would call eavesdropping but hey what do i know. He put the lid on his carafe, put a new filter into it and poured it into two metal mugs, filling the ship with the smell of fresh coffee. He walked over to Nell who was still passed out on the couch. Lan tapped him on the head waking him up and handed him one of the mugs. He sat down next to Nell, mug clenched between his hands while he rehearsed his speech in his head.

alright, yall mind imagining that i used gender neutral pronouns for Vik in the first chapter? thanks.

oh and i absolutely recommend this vlog playlist if you're doing a long stint of writing, its really relaxing and honestly just people being nice to people, its really cozy.

anyway i need to tag a bunch of folk now eh?

first mutuals,

@ohnoitsslime @kaylinalexanderbooks @theeccentricraven

@illarian-rambling @beloveddawn-blog @caligusabs

@weird-dork37 @ratedn @leahnardo-da-veggie

@you-need-not-apply @elsie-writes @fwoofz

and now non mutual tags,

@mr-orion @squarebracket-trickster @the-ellia-west

[harrison-abbott]

Would have put her in a Home

Most families would have sent Aunt Dora off to get a diagnosis, when she was younger. And, back in the day, lots of people would have put her in a Home. But Dora belonged to this family. Most folks aren’t like us and that was probably the reason. Anyway. If you met Dora for the first time when she was on one of her awful moods then you would think she was like that all the time. Or you would expect that something horrific had just happened to her. I learned to stop asking, eventually, when she was low. Because I knew how she would respond. There was no possible way of finding out. But yeah – if that had been your first impression of her, then you wouldn’t believe she was the same Dora if you met her a few days later, when she was cheerful. Dora was both the loudest person I’ve ever been around, and the person who could go the most blue. She was a terrific dancer. And not especially goodlooking, but, everybody would her magnetic – when she was light. When Dora was dark she would barely respond beyond two words. You would walk into the kitchen and her back would be turned at the sink and she would move very slow and not look at you or she would stand looking out into the garden and even if it was sunny and filled with butterflies her gaze was as if staring on some ashen wasteland, or rather watching nothing at all, her mind all imprisoned with thoughts. My Dad, Dora’s brother, once suggested that she try anti depressants. Dad tried that when they were both in their teens. Dora slapped him. He never suggested it again. But Dora’s depressive bouts never interfered with her independence. She was the most well off person in the family. And lived on her own. Dora didn’t have her own kids but she treated me and my brother like magic. She used to take us on these wild drives. Or go with us into the city and she introduced us to all of these new things. Was fantastic fun. Until something changed her mood. That happened one time when she took us to this new science museum that’d opened in the city centre. And the exhibitions were brilliant. At some point when we were exploring, something snagged Dora’s mood and she totally changed. Dropped. Got all glum and she stopped communicating with us. That was when I was nine and my brother was eleven. And we ended up being terrified for the rest of the afternoon. We thought Dora was angry with us. And so all of the excitement was zapped out of the museum experience. Hmm. She drove us home wordlessly and at our home we said goodbye, to no answer, and she drove off, and didn’t speak to my Dad for about a week. Neither of us said anything to Dad about what’d happened because we were still spooked that we’d offended Dora in some way. But, eight weeks later, Dora turned up at the house. She was all flushed and loud and had an amazing new haircut. “Hey there little honeys!” she cried when she saw us and she hugged us. “How are you chaps doing? How the Hell are ya?” As if nothing had ever happened eight weeks back. Yeah. She was a strange woman indeed. And maybe she didn’t belong in a Home. Perhaps nobody does. Everybody’s brain is different. Some minds you just cannot understand. Dora was incredibly difficult to be around, and very unreliable. But her good points made up for her difficulty. It was hard to learn to be unedgy around her. Impossible, in fact, for most of the time. But she certainly wasn’t boring. Put it that way. I don’t think you could label Dora under any category in the DSM. She wouldn’t be able to fit in a category in a textbook. And nobody would have the guts to bind her in a straightjacket anyway.  

[pseudonymous-enthusiast]

I was bored so I decided to compile a list of some Crazy Ex-Girlfriend songs that reminded me of Flight of the Conchords characters.

Bret

"I used to like guacamole, now I don't like guacamole

What if I stop liking other things I like?

Like, what if I stopped liking my mom?

If it worked on guacamole, it could work on my mom!"

This song just sorta captures the, like, way I imagine Bret's train of thought. Just nervous person with ADHD vibes. Like, he's presented with something and his thoughts just go off in some random direction. Not really something that fits this song, but what immediately came to mind for me when Jemaine was explaining that water polo was like polo in the water and Bret was like, "Oh, so they ride sea horses?" and Jemaine clarified that it's just ladies swimming in the water and Bret's like, "...Like mermaids." The phrasing also reminds me of the songs he writes, like, "I'd read the boringest book/ [...] I'd eat the biggest meal/ To be with you Coco." Very simplistic and goofy.

Jemaine

"The smell of the water, kids screaming with joy

I've hated crap like that since I was a boy

While everyone was laughing and having so much fun

I would mutter "this sucks" 'til the day was done

I detested most stuff and I still do

You see, I hate everything but you"

What can I say, Jemaine's a bit of a hater, and is often very blunt and judgmental, but he often gets swept up by the enthusiasm of whatever girl he's currently dating. Oftentimes, this is just him trying to impress a woman, probably because he wants to sleep with them, but honestly, I think he is a little bit of a romantic(a very immature one). Like, if he meets a woman who he's interested in, I think he very naively believes that it will be forever, even if they literally just met. When Bret asks him if he's ever dated someone he believed to be "the one" and Jemaine said he's had three "ones". With Keitha, he was ready to just move to New Jersey with her and was very upset when it turned out she was lying and just left him waiting on the curb. And after Bret slept with Lisa, Jemaine asked him if he was gonna marry her.

Murray

"I thought at best you might barely manage

And it would be my job to try to mitigate the damage

'Cause I've always never believed in you

I never once doubted doubting you

With every opportunity that you blew

All my worst fears just kept coming true"

There were a good few songs I considered for Murray, almost all of them being Darryl songs, but I ended up going with this one because it reminded me of his relationship with Jemaine and Bret. It especially works cause I feel like Murray often talks to them sort of like he was their parent and this song is between a mother and her son. It's also funny because if applied to the context of the show, some of the lyrics come off as Murray assuming they're into rock n' roll tough stuff, but also is true to the unwitting trouble Jemaine and Bret will sometimes get themselves into. But when things come around at the end of the song and he believes in them, it's like, oh, they did good at a gig or something.

Mel

"Sorry, I said that creepy stuff out loud

That was super rando

I meant to say I wanna do cutesy stuff

Like pillow fight or go swimmin' commando

I wanna kill you and wear your skin like a dress

But then also have you see me in the dress

And be like 'Omg, you look so cute in my skin!'"

There are SO many CXG songs that could apply to Mel. A close second was the literal theme song for season two, I'm Just A Girl In Love. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is kinda, like, what if Mel was the main character and we take her seriously and look at why she acts the way she acts and eventually she gets help and tries to improve herself. So it was a tough choice, but I felt like this song was a good combination of her cutesy behavior and more unhinged comments and then trying to pretend like she didn't just say what she said. It especially reminded me of how she acts when Jemaine or Bret get a girlfriend.

Dave

"But I could if I wanted to, yeah

Whoop-dee-frickin'-doo if I wanted to—

This song sucks!

I could make it good if I wanted to, yeah

Yeah, I could if I wanted to!"

I was gonna go for something more surface level like Let's Have Intercourse, but I wouldn't have much to say about that one other than Yeah. Yep. This song, I have much more to say on. So, like, Dave has this very overcompensatory attitude, always trying to seem cooler than he is. He's always wearing, like, army type shirts and stuff and tells Bret he was in the army but don't check, cause...trust me, bro. He props himself up as the resident lady expert even though he's comically inept at flirting. He lives with his parents and is very committed to lying about it, even though it's painfully obvious. He wants to seem a lot more impressive than he is, and this song is literally, like, oh, yeah, I could do better if I wanted to, but I don't care to do better. I could be in the army if I wanted to, I could get a bunch of girls if I wanted to, I could live on my own if I wanted to...But I don't care!

Greg

"I'm sorry that I yelled, Patrick

But I need just a little more from you today

So Patrick, hear my plea

Make one last delivery

Say the word, Patrick

Tell me I'm okay

Am I okay?"

This song really reminded me of the dynamic between Greg and Murray. In this song, Patrick never says anything, he's just there and the person singing is just going on and on and it very much so gives Murray in a desperate moment, maybe confiding in Greg. Also how he sometimes throws Greg under the bus a little bit and then tries to win him back and Greg's like okay. We don't know much about Greg, he's just this sort of quiet presence that Murray bounces his eccentric energy off of.

Doug

"You're my best friend

And I know I'm not yours

And that's okay

And that's okay

I said it's okay

Really"

(This is one of the other songs I was considering for Murray)

While this song is about friendship, it reminds me a lot of Doug and Mel's relationship. Mel is very obsessed with Jemaine and Bret, and Doug knows this but there's still this sometimes sort of cute(?) dynamic they have where it's, like, they care about each other. Doug is very aware that he's not Mel's favorite guy, but he's...okay with that. Admittedly, their situation is a lot more complex than the one this song, but I hope you're catching my drift, ha. It especially reminded me of some of their moments in Mel's vlog series on Youtube, specifically the videos Mel's Video Blog #11 and Mel's Blog: Not A Charity Sale.

Eugene

"Hey Rebecca, I'm going to infiltrate your guy friend group tonight. So when in a future time, you see me chilling with them, you'll think, 'He's so normal. I'm in love.'"

He's nowhere near Trent, but the fact that he, without welcome, pops up in Jemaine and Bret's apartment, pretending to fix stuff, and apparently even sneaks into their apartment to give them a kiss goodnight reminded me of him. Again, he's also quite, quite different from Mel, but the parallels between Rebecca and Trent made me think about how Mel and Eugene both have obsessive, stalkerish behavior.

Lastly, there's Coco and Sally, who weren't on the show very long but there were songs that reminded me of them so I thought hey, why not include them. I don't really have anything to say because of how little we know about them, but the songs basically explain themselves.

Coco

"We've had some fun together

[...]

But I need, like, so much more

I'm way too badass to be someone you settle for"

Sally

(the song won't post for some reason, pretend there's a linked song here)

"Romantic moments you had

That he didn't know were romantic

Or maybe he did a little

We're not really sure

But most likely not"

[undead-merman]

Day Sixteen: Vampire Sugar Daddy

Avery and Male Pc

Contains: light exhibitionism, passing out from blood drinking.

You had put your best suit on, made sure your makeup was done just perfectly, you even had robin do the finishing touches to make the lines extra sharp and clean. You stood back and Robin dusted his hands. “You look great!” He fished around in his dresser and pulled out his hand mirror to offer to you.

There staring back from your reflection was your handsome self. The colors of your makeup done in a deep crimson, black and white. Your hair was fluffed and freshly blow-dried. Robin was looking over your shoulder, taking in the reflection along with you. “I wish you would come with us this year. After this, I don’t think it’s socially acceptable to go trick or treating.” he ends it with a laugh, though you can hear the melancholy in certain words.

“I can’t miss this party, Avery would kill me, I already promised him I’d go.” You pull him in close and let him wrap his arms around your middle. His hugs were always so warm and toasty, like a blanket fresh out of the drier. This one felt a bit more desperate than some of the others. “Come on Robin, Next year we can move out and we can have our own celebration. Me and you.”

You heard him mumble something, though you could only catch ‘Avery’ in his whisper. You nudge him and he pulled away, grumbling. “Just make sure you have at least some fun.” He slowly shuffles to the bed where he offers you your mask back.

You take it and laugh at his attitude. He’s heard about your dates with the older man. He’s not thrilled about the party nor your dates with him. But you had to do what was best for the both of you. Avery was kind enough and paid well, how could you say no?

You placed the masquerade mask on your face and took a moment to look at yourself. You're sure this would not only meet Avery's standards but surpass them. He always liked it when you fluffed your hair, took some extra time for makeup. You check your watch, speaking of extra time. “I should get going. Thanks for your help Robin, I really appreciate it.”

“It’s no problem, you're the one who got me into makeup anyway.” And he does a damn good job. You really wish he would stop selling lemonade and look into being a makeup artist. You pat him on the shoulder and briskly walk outside.

The moon was high tonight, a foreboding red that cast it’s light down on this hellhole of a town. Fitting for tonight. People were already out, even though it was still pretty early. Avery had planned your date extra early this week. He had given you the outfit and everything. Normally he just wanted you to show up in something nice so he could show you off, fuck you, and then toss you a couple hundred before speeding off. Maybe you impressed him enough to take you somewhere a bit more special… but knowing him you really doubt it.

You watched parents chase around their young ones, some of them staring at your lavish suit and mask. You’ve gotten used to stares, they don’t bother you anymore. You simply tapped your foot and tried to find the strangest costume that passed by. You’ll give that award to the kid dressed as a toothbrush. Right on time. In his overly expensive car, the brand evades you, even though you’re sure Avery has mentioned it a few times. Inside was the brilliantly dressed man, matching your own, though much more elegant. He looks like one of those old Victorian vampires, frills and all.

“The suit fits you well. Dashing as always.” The fancy playboy smile of his had a fake canine pointing out. Damn, even his rearview mirror has a new vampire themed freshener. He steps out and comes face to face with you, offering his hand like a gentleman.

“You’re the one who picked it out. Seems like you know me best.” Just from that eyebrow cocking and smirk, you knew that tickled him.

“Seems so. Hop in, we are going to some place different tonight.” He opens the door and helps you in.

He gets in after and turns on the radio, he doesn’t do that often unless he’s going on a longer trip. You funnel that in your mental notes as you look out the window. You wish you could have gone with Robin. You don’t let out the sigh you have trapped behind your teeth, you hold it in and wait for your destination.

You didn’t have to wait long, it felt like you blinked and arrived. You shake your head of the sudden time blindness and look around. You don’t remember any place like this. It’s an older place, older than vintage yet not enough to be ancient. Stone with a long driveway and tons of cars all along it. All centered around a marvelous marble fountain. For some odd reason, you couldn't keep your eyes off that marble figure. Even from this distance it looked so real, so lifelike, and so familiar. Like you'd seen that face a million times.

You didn’t even realize you were so lost in it until Avery placed a hand on your thigh. “Ready?”

Your breath left you, blinking yourself free of whatever spell was placed on you, you nod. He helps you out and passes his keys to the valet, and takes a grand walk-up to the front entrance. Was this even in your town? It felt like some fairy tale, or some kind of lucid dream. Crystal candlers, candles all over, the smell of expensive perfumes and wine. You hardly felt worthy to wear the outfit Avery gave you, let alone walking into this place.

You knew better than to ask Avery what was going on. Just smile, act like a gentleman and only show off when you knew it would make him look good. So you calmed up before the question could come up and took Avery’s arm. Folks in their own masks greeted him, smiling down at you with predatory grins making you scoot closer to the older man. He didn’t seem to mind one little bit, if anything you felt as if he puffed out his chest and squared his shoulder’s a bit more.

You blazed by introductions, a smile, a nod, bat your eyelashes when Avery nudged you. Your eyes were focused elsewhere as they spoke. Taking in the dozens of furs, feather, sequins, and jewels that were all over the other party goers. The more important people were easier to spot. They had overly flamboyant masks, suits, and dresses. Hell, they must have had their nipples bedazzled at that point.

On their arms were others like you. Matching outfits, though less impressive and toned down to just look a bit more sophisticated than the common suit and dress. All of them right by their “master’s” side. One even had a nice little silver leash. Thank god, Avery isn’t that bad.

Other than the outfits, it wasn’t much different from some of the other dates you’ve had with the man. A dance, holding some wine. You could have had a sack of candy to trade and stuff yourself fat with. You once again had to bite back a sigh and force a sweet face. Maybe you’ll treat yourself to some discount candy after all this.

The lights suddenly die. Yet hardly a ruckus comes from it. With all these prissy people would be expected at least one gasp of terror. The quiet was unnerving.

Something brushes over your stomach and you tensed instantly. “Relax, it’s me, my little kitten.” it’s Avery’s voice. Low, husky, wanting. It’s not like him to use this voice in public. Saved only for the bedroom or in private.

Your hand laces over his, and you lean into him, not out of love, but fear. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing you need to worry about. Just know it’s planned.” His breath was hot on your neck. Each word had him coming closer and closer to your ear. His breath smelled so sweet. Alluring.

His lips found your neck and his teeth scraped up on the flesh. Those fake canines were still there? You didn’t think he’d be brave enough to do something like this. You allowed him to do as he wanted, your brain got fuzzy and it felt like the world was melting into only speech and sensations.

His teeth bit down harshly. It hurt like shit but the pain went straight to your own cock. You became hyperaware of the hand on your stomach, such a large thing it was. Pronounced with veins and thick masculine fingers and right at your belly button, a few inches away from your twitching cock. His lips and teeth on your most vital part.

Fuck, you wanted to be a victim, you wanted to be prey for him to devour and lick his fingers to after he’s done. You started feeling woozy, but the lust building inside you was replacing whatever was being taken from you. His fingers trail down, and it feels like a rapture ready to begin. Once his hand finally finds your bulge, it felt like salvation. You could feel yourself scream, but it came breathless and noiseless. His large palm rubs as he suckled your throat. Blackness creeped into your vision and you wanted nothing more than to cum, but you never felt it.

You didn’t even know you were gone.

[venomwrites]

Do you have any thoughts about Tobias's brother in Anomalies? Or anything related to Caitlyn's half-Ionian heritage for that matter. I wonder if being Ionian influences the yearning for Caitlyn and Vi to be sisters thing Tobias has going on lol

LISTEN OKAY I LOVE NOTHING MORE THAN TALKING ABOUT THE KIRAMMAN'S IONIAN HERITAGE SO BUCKLE UP.

ALSO oops this somehow also became about Cassandra, Caitlyn and Vi.

General Kiramman Ionian HCs:

The Kiramman's are a well off family in Ionian but not true nobility. They were looking to gain more power/riches in an unexplored land and that is how they wound up in Piltover.

The Kiramman's make the conscious choice to maintain their connection to Ionian through their bloodlines. Every few generations the Matriarch will steer their heir to choosing an Ionian spouse from a respectable Ionian family.

While most of the Kiramman house is typical of Piltover's upper crust in style, certain materials are distinctly Ionian (think woods and metals). There are rooms that are completely Ionian as well.

This carries through to ceremonies such as marriage. The Kiramman's always do two of these, a Piltover one and an Ionian one. If you are invited to one, you are expected to attend the other.

The Kiramman family is very into tea (and runs Piltover's tea trade) and while you will usually be served something distinctly Piltover such as Earl Grey, one of them is usually drinking something Ionian.

In addition to a gun, every Kiramman is expected to know how to handle a blade.

The Kiramman's Ionian customs might be sneered at in Piltover (to a certain degree) but they have taken root in Zaun and become part of the culture, custom and diet though in a very blended way so they don't look distinctly Ionian.

Cassandra's generation/Caitlyn's Uncle

Corrine (Cassandra's mom) knew it was time for more Ionian blood to be added so she wanted to steer Cassandra towards an appropriate Ionian spouse.

During a ship voyage, she met Sebastian, a wealthy Ionian heir who also liked sailing. Corrine was so impressed she thought he would be a good fit for Cassandra.

Cassandra did not like sailing she liked shooting. Their first meeting was lukewarm at best since Sebastian did not like guns and Cassandra did not like boats.

However Sebastian did have a hopeless romantic younger brother who wanted to save the world named Tobias.

Cassandra understood her duty and found Tobias charming. Even though Corrine would have let her not marry him, Cassandra chose duty and did.

Which broke the heart of her girlfriend at the time who lacked the family name. Neither of them wanted to be casual while Cassandra was married so they broke things off. However they remained in each other's lives though only as friends.

Caitlyn

Uncle Seb was her first pen pal. His family is key to the Kiramman tea trade and he's named multiple blends after Caitlyn and her accomplishments.

Funnily enough he's always included violets in Caitlyn's blends because she loved how they make the water change color as a girl.

Because of Tobias and influenced by her grandmother, Caitlyn has grown up in Ionian foods.

She sometimes got made fun of at school because of her food preferences.

Caitlyn's appearance has been mocked due to her non-conformity which can sometimes come off as superiority (ie not finding makeup interesting). This has been twisted to also include her more Ionian features and her accent because kids in middle school suck.

Caitlyn and Mel bond over their different food preferences and feelings of 'otherness' though it takes a bit for Mel to share this common ground with her.

And finally Vi

Like most Zaunites, Vi doesn't realize the Ionian roots of a lot of things and is very confused why she likes Ionian food so much despite never having tried it before.

She also takes a lot of comfort when Caitlyn shares that she also feels like an outsider sometimes and it's a common ground for them.

Caitlyn makes her try like a billion kinds of tea so she can make sure Vi has some she likes. When one of her favorites is one that makes the water change color Caitlyn is delighted.

After a year Vi doesn't get the earl grey treatment and she gets to add as much honey as she wants to her green tea even though the Kiramman's think it's too sweet.

She has met Seb who immediately wanted to know how much weight she could lift and tried to rope her into helping on his racing boat because she could pull in the sails quickly.

[comradeboyhalo]

I would be interested in seeing the tierlist if you made it

i was going to make this a separate post but ill just answer this here. also im obviously going to be biased bc i see some eggs more than others and ofc i miss out on a good chunk of lore bc i only know english. so if im wrong, theres a reason for that!

my hot take is that roleplaying as a child > any other lore crafted. so that shapes the bulk of this list. AND NO SLANDER THEY ALL DO REALLY WELL, THIS LIST IS NITPICKY BC I OVERALL LOVE THEM ALL.

dapper: I SWEAR IM NOT (COMPLETELY) BIASED. a few months ago, dapper's admin would be quite lower, however he's really gone crazy with rp recently. his body language is really cute and feels very childlike, and i really enjoy how he saves emotional sucker-punches when you least expect it. his deathday signs hit that much harder because he rarely shares his feelings. the soul vulture lore was really well drawn-out with a great pay-off. and it all felt very in character and gave so much character development. if dapper openly shared his feelings all the time with bad, i dont think any of this would feel as powerful.

leo: leo feels so much like a character, and i mean that entirely positively. whenever i see her, i feel like i dont even think of QNPC05, i just think LEO. shes spoiled and bratty but in an adorable way, her body language just screams CHILD, and her use of different heads is so fun. also she was the first egg to use colored signs! she has a lot of worries and social anxiety, but i feel like whenever she communicates these to foolish, it never feels info-dumpy. its actually very impressive how much emotion she can put across just through body language.

richarlyson: i actually was wondering if richas should be lower and everyone raises their pitchforks. i know. hear me out. i really like how detailed richas' admin does his lore HOWEVER i sometimes feel like he doesn't act baby enough. idk. theres something about how leo and dapper emote, and even their worries and insecurities, that makes me see them as much younger. that being said, richas' dedication to family conflict is really well-done and something that more eggs should do. (and for everyone disagreeing with me, i know. i know why im wrong. but i just cant help the vibes i get im sorry?). i get a lot of cuteness agression when he shifts to check if people are following him tho 10/10

tallulah: tallulah and pomme are interchangeable bc they both do what i DONT prefer in rp, which is writing out your feelings. dont get me wrong, its great to know the eggs' thoughts, but those sort of angst dumps just dont hit as hard every stream. tallulah just edges out pomme bc she is a bit more irrational, and makes a lot of mistakes, which i think is a brave move in rp.

pomme: pomme has a really well-crafted character, but, again, i really prefer eggs who are harder to figure out vs eggs who lay all their feelings out. pomme is a bit too influential in bbh's lore decisions imo, sometimes i think she should let things play out a bit further before she tries to reign him back. i know shes just rping, but metawise, i think the admin should let him cook a little longer. i do really think she has a great "child soldier" vibe going on, which feels v much uniquely hers. i just think she could take more risks in rp, pomme is a very logical egg but she's still just a child. i dont want her to always choose the logical answer, i want to see how her young perceptions can force her to make a wrong decision.

ramon: ramon is sort of a weird case in that hes ABOVE tallulah/pomme cause he doesnt do what i dislike. however hes below them in general characterization. that being said, hes really underrated in his relationship with fit, and has some very gut-punching one liners. but hes also kind of like richas where i know LOGICALLY he does roleplay like a kid but i just. the vibes are not the same as dapper and leo. what can i do about that. hes just too competent i guess.

chayanne: chayanne is another egg thats hard for me to catch on stream, but i havent really felt any standout moments from 01 or 06 (however i think 01 plays best cucurucho). idk. i know chayanne's personality pretty well, i just need something...more. maybe i just tune in at the wrong times? i DO love his opinions on philever tho lmaoo. i think his best moment was when he kept trying to fight while quackity repeatedly told him he wasnt strong (reinforcing his greatest fear). and i think the fact that chayanne isnt placed in more dangerous situations really hinders his development (since hes understanding of why phil keeps him protected).

[stripedtabbycat]

since I’m rewatching gravity falls rn I thought I’d make a post about my thoughts so far. (I wanted to start on August 31 which is dipper and mabel’s birthday but I ended up starting on September 1 instead. watching 1 episode a night and challenging myself to do the credits code each time)

under a cut because this will probably get long:

first of all this show is so funny. not all the jokes hold up but I really enjoy its sense of humor in general

i remember liking the second season better than the first and not just because it’s more overarching plot-driven, I just think the plot is a little more focused and the characters and their relationships are more solidified

I love seeing the development of Stan bonding with the kids over time. I noticed in “carpet diem” (the season 1 body swap episode) he’s commending dipper (who is really Mabel trying to turn him against dipper) for finally standing up to him and the next episode is the best we see them get along all season. it’s nice but still done in a funny/weird way that fits the show’s tone

dipper and mabel are siblings of all time. I love how clearly the show establishes how well they get along and work together and how often they’re goofin around and having fun at the beginning of episodes and how realistic their teasing and bantering and bickering feels…if you hate on mabel you’re wrong btw

i appreciate that the show doesn’t need to bluntly state the lesson we’re supposed to learn at the end of each episode but still has clear themes for each one. i also like when they kind of have a subverted/parodied version of a typical cartoon moral like in the truth teeth segment of “bottomless pit” when the expected lesson of “sometimes a small lie is okay” turns into “sometimes you have to let your uncle lie to the cops so he doesn’t get arrested for regularly committing tax fraud”

that said sometimes i’m a little :/ at the conclusions of certain episodes. I try not to harp on this bc I think part of what drives the more intense discourse about kids’ cartoons is the idea that they have to be teaching good messages to their target audiences, or at least not teach them harmful ones. I don’t think all kids’ shows should be Wholesome and Morally Edifying but sometimes you’re like. oh this is imparting a particular viewpoint I don’t love

anyway I’m just thinking about how “fight fighters” seems like it’s going to be about how physically fighting over petty relationship jealousy is dumb and immature but instead it kinda comes off like dipper has to learn “you have to fight your own battles” which…idk. I could be misinterpreting

then again I just watched “the love god” which tries to raise the interesting dilemma of “is it right/okay to meddle in others’ relationships [using magic or not] if they genuinely end up happier?” but given all the baggage around using love potions in fiction you can tell they had to walk that back a little in journal 3. I don’t think the element of “it actually wears off after a few hours” would have undermined the question too much but whatevs.

(i will say that stan in dreamscaperers saying he's hard on dipper to toughen him up kind of gets questioned later when we see the stans' backstory and it's clear their dad was not actually that great of a guy. room for interpretation there too i guess)

another reason I like season 2 better is because the show is finally done with the dipper/wendy crush plot that really dragged down parts of s1 imo. mostly because it felt like dipper had to learn that a relationship between them wasn’t happening a number of times before the show definitively said it and it lead to some of those dubious episode conclusions.

(whenever people claim that mabel was selfish and dipper always had to sacrifice things for her sake I just think…most of the time what he was “sacrificing” was a chance to impress wendy or spend more time with her, and I feel like this is more a problem with that aspect of the show than anything else)

(ALSO when people say there are too many "mabel's crush of the week" subplots - i never really got that impression? when she's going over her failed summer romances i realized there were only like, 4 episodes up to then where there was a plot about her liking a guy and it didn't feel overdone to me. however that's also why i was disappointed with her part of "northwest manor mystery" because i thought we were done with that. i guess they figured she and pacifica had already had their bonding episode in "the golf war" but i still wish she got to be involved with the main plot in that episode, even if i mostly liked it. kind of felt like the writers couldn't think of anything else for her to do)

anyway back to positive thoughts! I really appreciate the show’s creativity with the supernatural elements especially when they need a way to do a standard fantasy cartoon trope. need to shrink the characters down to miniature size? crystals that change the size of things that get caught in the light they refract! need to do a body swap? how about a carpet that swaps your electrons when you static shock someone? time travel? the time machine is in the form of a tape measure. they can get pretty outside of the box and it’s always cool

i also like the balance of humor and (kid-friendly) horror it engages in. there are a number of moments throughout the show that seem like a sudden intrusion of sheer horror but because of their suddenness and (relative) over-the-top nature they’re also really funny. I’m thinking of dipper opening the convenience store freezer and seeing a horrifying brain monster, the summerween trickster eating a kid, bill cipher summoning “a head that’s always screaming” and its skin peeling off (or like. anything he does in that episode), a lot of moments from the shorts like the island head in “the tooth” or the ending of “lefty”…

this show is i think a lot of people's first experience with a cartoon that has overarching continuity and encourages the viewers to analyze it for clues to the greater plot and i love how it does that. also love how it still works as a show even if you're not actively looking for clues to the mystery. they knew full well how much the fandom was engaging with it and both the show and supplementary material are just chock-full of details that really reward repeat viewings in a way that very few other children's shows do.

i did a pretty good job keeping track of the end credits codes in season 1 but by season 2 i had to just look up on the wiki what the vigènere key words were because i don't have the time to scour the whole episode for those sorry. especially when they get more and more hidden throughout the season. i'm still proud of myself for figuring out how to decode those messages using the grid of all the letters though

i think i first caught up with this show right when "not what he seems" was airing and now that's next up on the schedule. it's a very different experience watching the episodes all in a row and not having to wait at least two weeks between each one lol. on the plus side it gave the fans plenty of time to pick over every episode and theorize like hell

final thoughts: i love that a disney channel kids' cartoon devoted an entire extra-long episode to the surprisingly realistic and sad backstory of the main kid characters' great-uncles, one of whom had mostly been a comedic side character for the first season, and it's fantastic. once i'm done with this i cannot wait to get my hands on the book of bill