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soul-dwelling · 3 months

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How do you think a wholy genderbent soul eater would be?

What I'm going to write is pretty much a "data dump." I'm not sure I'm going to hold to everything I have to say below after I take more time to think it over, so please bear with me: I am probably going to get a lot wrong, and I appreciate feedback to figure out what could and should be done.

This is also going to be a lot of rambling, with unwieldly sentences because trying to talk about gender sometimes leads to sentences that have to be super-long and complex to put the ideas into anything approaching coherence.

And I apologize for what is going to be slippage between terms that are obviously distinct--non-binary, trans, and LGBTQIA+--but which I'm likely going to conflate in places where I didn't intend to, as I'm trying to talk about a lot of identities but will likely screw up, so, again, I welcome feedback where I'm getting things wrong.

So, to get to the question already: I don't know whether a wholly genderbent story would be far removed from what we already got in the Book of Eibon arc.

That being said...boy, that arc has aged poorly.

Granted, it had problems at the time it was released, and I was far more narrow in understanding gender and sexuality, because I'm not sure what the story was going for in that regard. The more popular awareness of gender as a spectrum and sexuality as a spectrum means a lot of that story's tropes ("you look like what you find attractive in the gender that you're not" and "being in this new gender means you act so unlike yourself") falls apart when you think about how that's not how gender works.

And it doesn't answer some obvious questions: what if you're a girl who is attracted to girls--but the Book makes you into a boy--what would that girl find attractive in boys? That's actually a question that could have been more thoughtful...but I don't think Ohkubo has been very good at those kinds of gender-blending questions.

I really want to say Adventure Time did this better...except I don't even buy that, because (spoilers for the later stuff) it wasn't to do genderbending, it was to make brand new characters who just happen to be different genders from the characters who inspired them, and have qualities of those original inspiring characters but just differently done by circumstance (the plot) as opposed to anything intrinsic to gender or sexuality itself ("Fionna would obviously do this, because she is a woman, whereas Finn would never do this because a boy would obviously never do this"--which, to be clear, would be a ridiculous approach, as there is next to nothing that Fionna would obviously do by her gender just as there is next to nothing Finn would obviously do by his gender, unless we're trying to say something about how societal expectations by gender compel these actions in these characters, in which case it's not really those characters doing it but society enforcing those actions by them, now isn't it).

So, a wholly genderbent Soul Eater would have to figure out how you're handling the genders for these characters. For example, is the point to show how qualities commonly assumed to be masculine would persist in that character even if their gender changed, hence emphasizing that you're still you even if your gender was changed outside of your control?

Or is the point to show that these qualities are not exclusive to any one gender and that is foolish to think a boy has to act like this, a girl has to act like this, and so on?

Or is the genderbent story to show how a change in gender or sex would change the character, e.g. how Maka gets a nosebleed when seeing the Succubus? (Which is messed up on its own anyway: why is the assumption that, now being a boy, Maka intrinsically would get turned on by a woman-presenting character? Are we sure that she wasn't already? It's already bad enough to imply, "LOL boys be like this, just horn-dogs," coupled with how that is part of "Liz and Tsubaki are confirmed to be the most sexually interested characters only by having them first become boys.")

I think the genderbent story approach is less interesting, when fandom has had a more engaging approach, that being to anticipate that characters who are boy-presenting or girl-presenting in canon are then headcanoned to be trans or non-binary or otherwise LGBTQIA+. I don't think that goes far enough for trans representation, non-binary representation, and LGBTQIA+ representation.

But as an academic exercise, I think that's more productive for the sake of pointing out how these qualities that get lumped into any one gender, sex, or sexuality are bullshit: I struggle to think of any personality type, trope, or detail that has to be "just for boys," "just for girls," etc. It's why the original manga having Black Star, Patty, and Liz pretty much still having a lot of their personality despite the gender change worked better for me, compared to Maka and Soul swapping roles (Soul nosebleeds about Blair, Maka nosebleeds about the Succubus) that (I say as a Soul x Maka shipper) was there in part to get the shippers happy ("Maka looks a bit like Soul,'" "Soul has Maka's body type," "ha ha ha, now Soul gets to put Maka in her place and gets to be jealous"). I think if you're going to do this kind of story, you would need to figure out how to acknowledge that gender does make you different, but also that gender doesn't make you different, if that paradox makes any sense.

I remember seeing one amusing comic that pretty much had boy-presenting Maka being a bit more snarky, but I also think there's value to having the character pretty much still be the same Maka, just boy-presenting.

But that also means you're changing what the story is about.

There is a difference between Maka, as a girl, who at least in the 2000s, was understood to not be the typical protagonist in a horror movie-inspired shonen battle series. If Maka is a boy, I don't think we are talking about how girls are expected to be studious and more serious than boys, how Maka as a model student but with a short temper complicates how she fits into that model behavior. If Maka is a boy, then Maka's reaction to Spirit cheating on his wife reads differently--and now the story is not only about Maka having problems trusting boys and men given how Spirit models that behavior but also what that means for Maka as a boy and whether he worries he can perpetuate those same toxic masculine behaviors. It also changes how to read Maka reaching out to Crona, where we have these wrongly-held cultural assumptions linking appeals to emotions and talking out problems as only for girls and women, where now it is a boy doing it, which is progressive.

So, it's a mixed bag: I think Maka as a boy would say something really important when he sees Spirit modeling bad behavior, I think it would show boys using talking and emotional outreach rather than fisticuffs, but we also lose what Maka as a girl provided in the horror and shonen battle genres.

And that's not even getting into how this changes Maka's dynamic with Soul--or whether it should: if it was me, Maka and Soul as both boys but having pretty much the same dynamic would be more engaging (Soul in an apron bringing pie and tea to Maka) but still have significant problems (Maka chopping Soul--which was also bad when it was Maka as a girl, so I don't think Maka as a boy clubbing Soul would read any better, either).

Plus, it's like that old post Gail Simone had about genderbending in comics: how come it took so long to have more and more trans characters in comics, after so many decades of whacky magical stories of genderbending? I'd rather a story that has a ton of characters who happen to be outside of a male-female binary, then do whacky magical scenarios like the Book of Eibon to get to something closer to a trans story. Granted, this is my nitpick--I get the importance of allegory, but I get tired of just allegories and want stories that can be allegories about trans identity _and which happen to also have a ton of trans characters_. The same goes for allegories about non-binary identity and which happen to have a tone of non-binary characters, and so on with other parts of LGBTQIA+ representation.

#long post #genderbending

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tiptapricot · 2 years

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I'm finally off the floor lol

✏️👽🌈 📬 and 🥚

✏️—The first fan fiction you ever wrote? (doesn’t have to be a posted fic)

Honestly this one’s hard to pin down. There’s stuff that counts as fanfic from when I was in like preschool kindergarten era with like Winnie the Pooh and superhero stories, but when it comes to like… actually consciously writing fanfic that I knew was fic, it was probably two instances. One was a Danganronpa semi self insert that I wrote in my notes app n have now deleted (which I wish I didn’t bc it was terrible n I wanna look back on it now), and a similar ish Tiger n Bunny one w a hero insert (tho that one didn’t get as far). Both were very bad but good for me for starting somewhere, you’ve grown baby me!!

👽—Strangest fic you’ve ever written?

Idk if it counts as fic bc it was technically original but I typed something out to a friend over Instagram when red velvets Zimzalabim came out n Area 51 memes were happening, n it was ab a guard on duty witnessing a huge crowd naruto running and singing that as they approached the base. If that’s counted as more original, thennn hmmmm Well my first published work is a collection of (once again) danganronpa poems so probably that. (Also sry DR fans if this is in ur tag I can’t control tumblr)

🌈—Your favorite tropes to write about?

I love angst and hurt/comfort, and characters finding the small details to love ab each other. Tropes I haven’t written often that I want to do more are time travel/loops, mistaken identity, fake dating or being a couple for cover, and monsters (in general).

📬—The best comment you’ve ever received?

This is so hard bc I’ve gotten some rlly sweet ones over the years, but any that like… have the person talking ab how a fic hit for them rlly hard personally and that they reread it, or just rlly going in depth on details they noticed and loved. I got a really cool person who went chapter by chapter on my commander fic and left lovely comments on each one, n I got a REALLLYYYY nice one on my recent wwbn fic I still have to respond to that pointed out a ton of things I rlly wanted ppl to notice n just aghHh!! I love comments sm, they mean a lot to me n I couldn’t choose a fav bc ppl r so often so sweet. Those instances come to mind tho :-)

🥚—Any Easter eggs you put on a fic that you hoped people would notice?

Yeah! N usually in more snapshotty ones. In somewhere over the sun there’s a moment mentioned where Crawley pats Steven’s shoulder n leaves a smear of paint, which was meant to represent the passing of love and comradery onto him with the color themes I’d been keeping up throughout the story, and also to show the way Jake was separate from that, not carrying the physical mark himself.

In 10k Lightyears the entire plot of the 5th chapter was meant to b a ref to the multiverse colliding/collapsing in other MCU movies like no way home and multiverse of madness, though it wasn’t on a solid timeline as that verse was blended with comic lore as well, it was a cool way to incorporate a big in world event from a point of view of a character who doesn’t understand what’s happening but is still experiencing it.

And in my recent fic Third Time, in the scene where Jack takes a cab ride with Jake, I was trying to leave not just Jake as an Easter egg (even tho he’s tagged), but Khonshu as well, implying that being close to a moon god was the reason Jack turned prematurely, the energy messing with his brain and physiology.

Easter eggs or lil details like that r always so fun to include even if ppl don’t notice n I love talking ab my thoughts behind them aFGhhhHg!!!

Send me an emoji for a fic/writing ask!

#ask game #the fruit is talking again #the fruit is answering again

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ecto-stone · 3 years

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So I don’t really know that much about that my blood au you created could you tell me a bit about it?

Ha hah I Hope this is Edible

So My Blood Au is just Me dumping all the cool stuff i can think of into a DP what if Vlad is Good ^For Starter MB Vlad or Vladimir Jude Masters is a Paranormal investigater/ hunter/exocist in a sense. He seemingly Perfect in People eye, Not Really on the inside as he have many problem stem from living so long and going though alots of thing that he prefer not to talk about that he hide from People , go so far as to adjust his own emotion to what he find fit to the situration making him really hard to read. (Not Jack and Danielle, those are close enough 2 peel him like an onion if they sense something off). -Vlad And Danny are not same kind of Halfa in this AU, Vlad is Two soul (Half Blue Demon Vampire Ghost, Half Human twisted together and blend into one) and Danny is Soul within soul (Going though the accident give him two identical soul that over lapped each other) -Ghost are nerf and ecto beam and ecto Base attack can harm ghost but they can't harm Physical thing in living world Unless they are infuse with Core element same with Human entering Purgatory. -The world have 5 Realm: LivingWorld, Purgatory (GhostZone), Elsewhereness, Fairy Land and Unworld. +Going with the idea that originaly Vlad is supposed to be a vampire and many ghost in the series feel like they are more supernature creature then Ghost. Living world now have many Human and other Creature living among each other , hidden in plain sight +Purgatory: Where Ghost go and heal before they move onto Elsewhereness (Heaven in this verse) or Rebirth back to the living cycle. There are many area in Purgatory that fit human decription of after life look like , this is due to collective faith and ideal of many Ghost focus with each other to created these Resting stop. Incidentally like the living world these area are also watch over by being call King and Queen of the Death (Caretaker and protector of the Death soul, a being with incredible power capable of bending reality). Most well known one are the King Dark, Prince Argon and Princess Dora of the Dark Age Zone. Queen Desire of the thousand and one night. ect.. newest King of the death is Ghost Writer (library of the forgotten) but he prefer not be refer to as king, just Ghost writer. +Elsewhereness: The final resting Places of enternal Bliss. Once the Soul is ready to let go of all earthly desire, they are send here. Not much is known about this realm or it location. When a Soul reach enlightment it will automatically know where to find it. The realm also House many god. +Fairy Land: Home to care taker of the childhood inocent and many god that work to keep the universe running. Most common creature that live here is Fairy with two side one silly colorful side that appear to children to granted what ever their heart desire. The other is the Blue fortune side that Weaved the fabric of Luck and fate. +Unworld: A Dark realm with one way in no way out. It house many dangerous creature, ancient outer god and unspeakable Evil that have been banish to through age by god and human. >the Origin Story: +Vlad and Jack are Friend from Childhood (Their Bond are really tight kinda like Sworn Brother ) unlike their canon counter part meet in college. They Hunt Ghost but in more of a Release soul from their earthly bound kind of way via the info they get from the Masters Family Grilmore. (There is one major inconvience is that You need to wait for the correct day and time to perform ritual sending ghost back to purgatory so they can Move on to Elsewhereness/heaven of this verse ) +They Meet Maddie in college (Maddie and Vlad almost alway in a total clash with each other with Maddie tech almost Hunter like way in dealing with ghost and Vlad more traditional Way of Handling them) Which end with Three of them forming the Original Ghost Trio. With Maddie accept Vlad and Jack Respect the Death ideal. And Vlad and Jack incorperate More Technology into their Asset. +Maddie point out the inconvinient of having to wait for the correct day for each ghost to send them back to Purgatory (Their room are fill with

Container for ghost), Which lead to them comming up with the idea of Making a Ghost Portal. <Note: MB Vlad is not into Romantic relationship, Platonic one Matter to him more> >The Accident: No diet soda the Accident is purely due to one miscalculation that cost Vlad life (his Head got Blash Clean off infront of Jack and Maddie) In that Split Second of His face getting disintigrating, Vlad get a Glim into UnWorld (the Realm where are Demon and evil of the four realm are banish to) and Got Latched on and Pushed Back to the living world by a Demon Vampire Ghost Both Soul are now inhabited Vlad headless lifeless body, in Which about 3 day after Vlad burial that Vlad Body got completely decontructed inside the coffin and recontructed into a body that is more fitting to host both . Vlad have a hard time remembering Who he is after kinda get rebirth and Wander the world until he Get Suck into a Natural Ghost Portal and got Flunk Back in time. >Journey of an Immortal Being: -Vlad Stuck in the Past, He recovered his memories, Going through existenal crisis, Evil phase, Evil make me feel bad, Not Evil anymore, Found out that he is immortal now, Existenal crisis part2, Acceptance, Travel the World and Start doing the what ever he like, learning old way of magic still helping ghost and other supernatural being. -Caused several Major Change to the past that Mythical Creature got un extinct. (Due to the Law of life and death this does not affect who get born or not, it just that the world got alots more races now and those used to be born human in the original timeline might get born as another races entirely) -Get Mistaken for Messiah.( Look You can't kill Vlad, He would just be gone for like 3 day then comeback) -Caused the legend of Dracula. -Vampire cult have a horrible obession with Vlad as a Whole. Look like vampire act like one, can walk in plain day light and more importantly the ability to Open a Portal to Unworld . ( Vlad don't use this ability much and can only open small one as it is very energy consuming) -Meet his own ancestor Which is the Fentonightingale that Later Splited into Fenton and Nightingale (later change to Masters) leading to revealation that Jack and Him might be very distant Related. -Bickering With Time God (Do not trust the Clock Man that work for the Eyes) -Get Caught in War far too many time. -Meet Phantom (an odd entity that is oddly clingy to him) in the Great War. -Meet Other Some of the DP ghost when they still alive -The Horrible Bar incident that reveal Phantom true nature, an evil being that wish to turn the world back to it original nature of nothiness and try to turn vlad to the his side, Kill, Seal in Rock Case covered with Sigil to prevent Phantom from escape, Chuck it into the ocean. - The Contruction of the Coffin Ghost Portal. (Havent actually went into the Purgatory caused the CCP is one Way Portal. -Forming of many Hidden town that home supernatural being. Amity Park is one of them. - And many more unseen story >Daddy Stolen Ribbone saga (MB Vlad is sterile, he want to have kid but can't.) -The Vampire cult that he have grudge with attemp to Clone or at least created a child that have Vlad Power through ritual and cult like method. Imagine Danny Clone but even more mess up . -Vlad end the life of most of them by his own hand (they are suffering, it is best to let them go) -Birth of Danielle: +Danielle Evelyn Masters or just Dani/Dee for short is the only Stable child come out of this whole odeal. She is Created From Vlad Ribone like a Twisted Eve. And like in the book it caused both of them to be very attached to each other in a Fatherly Daughterly Way. +Dee Have Vlad Ghost power and Demonic Power but No ghost form (Her default funtion as both and whether she is in ghost mode or Human mode is all Up to energy control) and no connection to Unworld there for she can't open portal to Unworld. Dual Soul nature Wind/Fire.

+She like Frog and is interested in Marine biology (which Vlad have full support over, she have a room fill with Vlad hand made frog plusie that she all named. +He raise her teach her everything he know about how to deal with supernatural being and how to Snipe Vampire from a long distant with pin point accuracy.

+An kidnapped incident with the Vampire cult latter resulted in Dee Death at the age of 12 (1999), and Vlad becoming fully Merged into one Being with Plasmius. and wipe out the entire vampire cult in a horrible Vlad the impaler way). +After wiping out the remainder of the cult, vlad go into retirement and work as a wall Painter < he work supper fast on celling painting and no one know why> >The Boy Who Fly (2 year before the start of actual MB story) -Danny Gain his power at the age of 10, his parent know. The event of Portal acivation caused the whole town to have a black out. -They move House alots for 2 year. And Jack try his best to make his family as normal as they can be after accidenly k his friend all those year ago and now half eff his own son. -They finding out amity park their new home is on accident when the RV engine die mid way through the middle of no Where (The town shown it self to those in need) -Danny hide his abiltiy. But after a gym incident. and getting Praise by his peer for it instead of scold like with the adult Danny start getting bolder using Floating power around his new friend when no adult is watching. <Vlad who is Working on the Giant Raven paiting for the School Saw this and know imediately What Danny is> -They offically meet each other on the the roof top, when Danny mom ask him to go down the store and by some bread and he decided to try to Air Frog Swim to it. They become friend and Vlad even teach Danny how to fly properly before having to leave (they visit each other alots after the revealation, and vlad is a good adult friend that Danny can talk to) (Danno forgot about the bread and return home breadless) -Jack may stop with the whole Paranormal hunter/ghost scientist job but not Maddie. She keep doing it behind his back due to danny special need in ecto base consumtion (he havent grow abit since the accident and keep getting smaller and it concerning) -Jack found out and they have a Fight. which lead to Maddie go to his Sister house. -Danny Found out about why his dad was so stressed out about ghost thing now. When looking through his parent old stuff with his new friend tucker. (Dude why does your parent have a Picture of the wall painter in thier old junk). He show the image to Vlad. -Danny Get jack to tell the story about the inccident. Dad what if i tell you that Your friend who die 18 year ago survived and is on our front door right now. Reunion, Jack feeling guilty about making them both like this. Go Get Maddie. Happy reunion of the trio. -Fenton Parent become accepting to Danny condition, Danny have a good mentor that can teach him ho to control his power And they live happy ever after for now

#Q/A #good god how do you add read more on a QA #my blood AU #Danny Phantom #danny phantom au #god this is long #hachi text

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bagelbods · 3 years

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[ID: two digital drawings that are identical except for lighting. both depict members of the eggpire (badboyhalo, ponk, antfrost, punz) and members of the pro-omelette party (captain puffy, sam, hannah, eret, foolish, quackity) waltzing together while surrounded by crimson vines. the eggpire wear black, red, & white while the pro-omelette wear gold & green, except hannah who wears gray. skeppy stands with the egg in the background faced away from the dancers. bad & puffy are the focus of the first image, bad grinning and leading puffy in dance. skeppy is the focus of the second. /end ID]

that red sure is gonna banquet huh

(click for better quality!)

design notes+ramblings under the cut!

pro-omelette are all wearing yellow/gold for omelettes with green for onions in omelettes

colors were color-picked from a photograph of an omelette and then blended/adjusted for lighting

the patterns on puffy and sam’s coats and boots are in semi-circle shapes, much like omelettes are

hannah is wearing the same colors as the eggpire even though she’s technically pro-omelette to symbolize that she loses control when she’s closer to the egg

i have so many other things to say bc i spent over 40 hours on this but i gtg for now so!!! ahhhh will add more later

i’m back! and i just watched the red banquet stream so aaaaaaa

the eggpire people (including hannah) are all “leading” the waltz (on the left) to symbolize that the pro-omelette people don’t know what they’re getting into

the patterning on hannah’s dress and sleeves are roses, but in groups that are shaped like eggs to show that she thinks she’s still herself but really she’s beginning to serve the egg

eret’s dress and cape also have rose patterns (no egg) to highlight the difference between them and hannah. i was gonna make the rose pattern on eret’s more random to look more natural but that would’ve taken so long alksjsdfj

i have a deep hatred (/lh) for dream smp canon heights so badboyhalo is 5′10 (but 9′6 if u include his horns) and puffy is 5′2 (but 6′9 if u include her horns)

ant and foolish are allowed to be tall bc i didn’t know what else to do but they’re on thin ice

oh man oh man so ponk and sam!!! ponk and sam!!! i’m so proud of my drawing of them

i wanted to make the white patterning on ponk’s suit a lot stronger (so his suit looks white instead of red). mainly bc i think it’s kind of messed up to see your ex-boyfriend who u hurt deeply and who ur still in love with dressed in a white suit (wedding symbolism) when he’s clearly not himself

more later!

am back again!! y’all this is really rambly but i like reading this stuff from other artists so (puts fingers together)

the lighting is a brighter orange and hazier in the first one and dimmer in the second to represent the egg’s control over bad. since the orange light comes from the shroom lights on the vines, it’s brighter when skeppy is in shadow, having more control over bad. when skeppy is brighter, the vines lights are dimmer, to show while bad is not himself and is controlled by the egg, skeppy still manages to come first for bad

puffy’s makeup is,, so difficult to settle on. jacobs sheep, which i base her off of, often have huge patches of black fur on their face and i wanted her makeup to reflect that. but that doesn’t... look good alkjdflsdj. i also want her makeup to be sort of pirate inspired? anyway black eyeshadow that comes down her cheeks is what i settled on (and gold glitter bc i like shiny)

it was pretty hard to make bad stand out against the dark bg? like i didn’t want to apply any lighting to his skin bc in my design, as a devil, his skin absorbs light. his skin and horns are just a void

i almost made skeppy human but with diamond patterns and diamonds growing from his skin but i decided not to bc i wanted him to look more unnatural? his mc skin is based off a diamond block, not diamond ore, so i wanted him to look like a cut diamond, clearly man-made

he’s also not wearing any fancy clothes to show that the egg is the only thing on his mind right now. he doesn’t care for the banquet or anything. only the egg. but it looks kind of awkward cause skeppy’s diamond ass is just in the center of the drawing slkjdflks

this is all i can think of for now but i’ll add more if i remember more :D

#mcyt #dream smp #eggpire arc #red banquet #egg arc #badboyhalo #captain puffy #skeppy #ponk #awesamdude #hannahxxrose #eret #antfrost #foolish gamers #punz #quackity

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nataliedanovelist · 4 years

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GF - Amalia

For @artsymeeshee. Thank you for everything you do for us, for providing plenty of fluff, over-protective Ford content, and angst with a happy fluffy ending. Love you!

~~~~~~~~~~

The snow reflected the tiny amount of sunlight the capital of Iceland received. Spring was coming, though still a ways off, but the large island still welcomed the sun that was starting to rise earlier every day and stay longer as February was coming to a close.

She opened her eyes as the sunlight reflected on the Sea and sparkled like magical dust. She stood proudly on her beam, her favorite Nest, and stretched her back and paws, letting her claws escape her tiny little beans, and then hide again, a secret weapon for any enemies, though she had few. Really, apart from some rude Cubs shooting tiny metal balls at her, the world was fairly kind to her. Big Animals in thick coats gave her Pets and occasionally Food, coming in big Machines and soon left. Some of the Machines made dark clouds, some looked like they were controlled by fluffy white clouds. She liked them all, and was Happy to make sure no Bad Machines or Bad Animals in thick coats came on her Land.

Sometimes, when things were quiet by the sea, she would go Exploring. Cubs would play with her, maybe a Bad Animal or two would try to hit her with a collection of straw at the end of a stick, but she was fast and agile and was never hurt too much. Nothing she couldn’t handle. Today she thought she might go Explore her Land, but something caught her attention. An Animal was standing on a Machine.

The fur on the top of it’s head was fluffy. She wanted to play with it. It had glass in front of it’s eyes, for whatever reason, and had a coat like her’s: thick and blue, but a darker shade, not light like snow, like her’s. She blinked at the Animal and watched it. It took in a deep breath, smiling, and a Hole opened on the side of the Machine and a Path appeared, sliding down onto her Land. “Come on, Stanley, we have a lot to do today!”

“What’s your rush, Sixer?” Another voice could be heard as the Animal left it’s Machine and a second Animal appeared. This one had something red on it’s head, though it didn’t appear injured, and it also had glass in front of it’s eyes. She didn’t want to be seen right now, so she hopped down from her favorite sleeping spot and hid behind some boxes. “We’ve got all day, and if you really wanna sight-see we can stay here tomorrow, too.”

“Yes, I suppose so, but then we’ll have to wait another day for Mabel’s package for us in Ullapool, Scotland.”

“Good point. But we can always visit this place again on our way back to Oregon.”

“Fair enough. Well, how about a quick walk and then we’ll restock on supplies.”

“S’long as we can stop at that bar tonight.”

“Deal.”

The two Animals smelled similar, but not identical. They were a Pack. A Herd. A Family. She watched them venture further into her Land, but she let them. They were Good. She could tell. She emerged from her hiding spot a little after they passed her and watched them go. She wanted to go with them, but she didn’t want to be caught. She would have to be sneaky.

She carefully walked behind the Animals with glass in front of their eyes and watched them. The Animals were a wonderful Pack. They talked and laughed and played, pushing every so often, playing like she used to with her brothers and sisters, and she smiled at knowing they were having fun and learning how to be good fighters. When the Animals were joining other Animals on busy parts of her Land, she climbed up the stone Dens and walked on the tall place to watch them and be close to them. She was good at being sneaky; they did not know she was there.

Sometimes the Animals would go inside the Dens. When this happened she would sit and wait for them to come out. Sometimes they came out with nothing new, other times they would come out with Gain in their holds. When they walked, she walked with them, either behind them or above them. Too soon the Sun was setting again, and she found the Animals going back to their Machine. She was Sad, but walked behind them at a safe distance and watched them enter their Machine.

Behind the boxes, she laid on her belly, resting her face in her paws, Sad that the Animals were going away. She liked them. But then she heard something that made her lift her head and her ears stop being droopy. She looked up at the Machine and found the Animals coming back! They had no Gains with them; they must have left them in their Machine, and decided to go out Exploring again! She watched from behind the boxes as the Animals walked into a Den not too far from the Sea, and she made a Plan.

She had been Sad when she thought the Animals were going away forever, like all the other Animals did. Very Sad. She never wanted to be that Sad again. She carefully sniffed the Path and decided that it was Safe, so she trotted on it, through the Hole, and was on a Machine.

She was a little bit Scared. She had never been on a Machine before, but she could smell her favorite Animals everywhere and could feel the Sea beneath her. She loved the Animals and the Sea, and she knew she was Safe. She decided it was time to go Exploring! This Land was big, but not too big, so it wasn’t Scary. She walked around and could smell more of her favorite Animals’ scent from inside the Machine, inside the Den. There was a Hole with a small opening, leaking out the smell and light, so she pushed the Hole open a little more and entered the Den.

The den was Warm and Safe and smelled of her favorite Animals whom she loved. There were tiny Suns here and there inside the Den. There was something big and Cozy in the Den, away from the Hole. She hopped onto it and pawed at it and rolled around it. It smelled like the Animals the most and she almost fell asleep, but she wanted to Explore some more. And she was hungry. Maybe the animals had Food in this Den.

She stood and sniffed. Something smelled Good. Smelled of Food. She followed the smell to something tall that held weird rectangles with black scribbles on them. There was a small container Animals used to hold Food. This was wet and black, but she lapped at it anyhow, but it was not Good. Not Bad, but not Good. Oh, well. She would find Food later. She wanted to Explore some more.

She hopped down from the tall place and smelled as she Explored. The Land went down at the farthest part from the Hole. It looked a little Scary, but she could still smell her favorite Animals, so she hopped, hopped, hopped down carefully. She was surprised to find two fluffy Nests inside this deep part of the Den. This must be where the Animals slept. She could tell; it smelled the most like them. She smiled and hopped up onto one and rolled around and played with the fluffy stuff. It was Fun and Cozy and Warm and Safe and Good.

She stopped to stretch and yawn. She was Tired. She decided to sleep here, but where? She needed her own Nest. At the end of one Nest, there was a box. She loved boxes, and this one had a tee tiny Hole that could be made into a bigger Hole. She hopped down and stretched her front paws and head into the Hole, pushing through it. The whole box was filled with Warm fluff that smelled of her favorite Animals. She was excited. Her own Nest was Warm and smelled like her favorite Animals! She slipped in, circled, and tucked herself in to go to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~

After some tasty food and warm beer, the brothers returned to their home on the water, tired and ready for bed. It was very cold and bitter out in the night hair, but that only made the warm boat more welcoming and more appreciated. However, Ford was a little annoyed at finding the door cracked open, letting in cold air. “Stanley, I thought I told you to close the door all the way.”

“Sorry, Ma, I was hungry.” Stan said sarcastically and shrugged as they went inside.

Ford sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as he closed and locked the door tightly. “Good thing I’ve almost perfected our security system so we won’t have to worry about being robbed.”

Stan rolled his eyes and yawned into his hand. “Welp, I’m beat. You coming to bed or do I gotta drag you there myself?” He asked, shrugging his trenchcoat off and throwing it on the couch on his way to the stairs downward for the bedroom.

“No, no, I’m coming.” Ford said tiredly and followed his brother down into their bedroom. “I’ll be taking a shower so if you want one you’ll have to wait.”

“Nah, I’ll take one in the morning.” Stan answered, peeling off his beanie and yawing again, ready to collapse into his warm bed and not move again until sunrise.

Ford moved to the far end of the bedroom, where the bathroom was located, and turned on the shower so the water could warm up. Meanwhile Stan groaned, seeing how Ford had done laundry that morning and now his twin had to pull the warm extra blankets and quilts out from the chest at the foot of his bed.

Stan opened it groggily, not expecting to stare down at the context for a full minute until he was capable of speech, but here he was.

“Uh… Sixer?”

“Yes, Stanley.”

“We have an expected guest on board.”

Ford stopped unzipping his blue hoodie and joined his brother at the chest, who’s eyebrow was raised in unapproval. The aged scientist, however, was stuck with a blank facial expression while he tried to digest the fact that there was an animal curled up on top of the stack of blankets and quilts.

It looked like a cat, though it was unfair to call her a cat. Passersby may assume so without a second glance, but this creature appeared too abnormal to be a kitten. She had pointy ears coated in thick fur to keep out cold hair, light-blue fur that could blend into snow, a tiny button black nose between huge, round, baby-blue eyes, a small floof of fur on the top of her head, and a skinny tail with fluff for fur at the end. It appeared so small and helpless in the mess of blankets, looking up at the brothers with shiny eyes filled with wonder. After a moment of silence, Ford grinned and placed his hands on his knees to be closer to the anomaly without frightening it, and he spoke to her with a voice as quiet as a mouse and soft as silk.

“Hello. Where did you come from, my dear?”

“Dunno, don’t care.” Stan moved towards her and said, “I’ll put her back outside.”

Ford’s senses heightened and he gently grabbed his brother’s wrist to stop him. “Hold it, Stanley, there’s no reason to kick her out so quickly. She’s not doing any harm.” Ford returned his smile to the anomaly and cooed softly as he reached for her and let her sniff his six-fingered hand. “Come here, little one, it’s alright.”

The anomaly happily sniffed Ford’s hand and rubbed the side of her head onto his palm, begging for pets, which he happily gave. The eldest twin carefully scooped her up into his harms and scratched her, finding her favorite spot, until she was practically putty in his hold as he scratched her under her chin.

Stan stared in disbelief and snorted. “Are you kidding me? You spent most of your life around dangerous monsters and you’re gonna let one on our boat?”

“She’s not a monster.” He scolded lightly and smiled again as she purred against his chest. He held her out to him to see better and added cheerfully, “Look how cute she is, Stan!”

“Yeah, until it decides to eat our face!” Stan argued, a hand up in defense.

“She won’t hurt us.” Ford said firmly and held her close to his chest again, letting her lay on her back so her four little limbs were up and trying to catch his wiggling fingers. “I bet she was cold and hungry and was trying to find shelter. Isn’t that wight, wittle one?” He cooed in a low voice. “Who’s a hun-gy wittle anomaly? Are you, are you?”

“Don’t feed it!” Stan yelled after his brother as he went upstairs. “Then it’ll want to stay!”

“Great idea, we’ll feed her so she’ll want to stay!”

“That is NOT what I said!”

Ford rolled his eyes and laughed down at the anomaly when she caught his fingers and licked him with a rough tongue. She wasn’t even trying to hurt him. She was playing and happy to give his hand a little bath. “Don’t worry, my dear. Stanley is right about one thing: I’ve met many aliens and monsters and anomalies in my day, but I can tell when one has nefarious purposes and when one does not, and you don’t. You’re a good little girl; I can tell.”

One handed so he could still cradle her, Ford opened the freshly filled cabinets to hunt for something the strange animal would eat. “Hm, let’s take a look at your teeth.” He gently pulled down her mouth and as surprised how little she fidgeted and fought him. “Interesting. Only half of your teeth are carnivorous. You must be able to adapt to plants or berries if needed. Very well, let’s see… oh, here. You’re lucky Stan talked me into picking up tuna.”

At the time it seemed ridiculous to buy canned tuna when they could fish for dinner whenever they wanted, but Stan said they should still get it because canned goods never expired and fishing wasn’t always successful, so Ford opened the can and placed it on the table and sat the anomaly down while he tidied up a bit, stacking his notes and books and putting his cold coffee in the sink. From the sounds of it, Stan had hopped in the shower since Ford was apparently too busy playing host to bathe, which was fine by him. He sat in a chair, watching how the anomaly ate.

She was definitely not skin-and-bones, but she ate quickly, plunging her face into the can and eating happily. Ford chuckled and pet down her back. She was fairly clean, if not a little weather-beaten. Clearly she could take care of herself, but why should she when he could? Okay, sure, Stanley was a little apprehensive about taking in a strange anomaly as a pet, and perhaps Ford shouldn’t be so quick to take her in as a pet. She might not be happy cooped up in a boat with two old men. In fact, if she lived on this dock, she might do this often, visiting sailors for food and shelter and then leaving in the morning.

“Well, if you want to leave, I won’t stop you,” Ford said to her as he watched her eat. “But if you want to stay, you’re more than welcome to.”

The fluffy anomaly sat up and looked at him with kind eyes. Ford smiled at her, and could have sworn she returned with a tiny smile. He slowly reached for his journal, a green book with a golden six-fingered hand and a crescent on the cover, and opened it carefully so as to not scare her. The anomaly sat perfectly still, watching him, as he turned to a clean page and pulled out a pen to begin sketching her. He titled his head to the side to get a better angle of her, and he stared to find her doing the same, mirroring him.

Ford smiled and titled his head the other way, and sure enough the little one followed his lead. Chuckling, he decided to push his luck and he straightened his head and stuck his tongue out at her just a little bit. The anomaly stared at him, and sure enough, a tiny pink tongue poked out at him. Ford snorted, bit his lip, and continued sketching. He noticed her tail was wagging, like a dog’s might when happy, and he added that to his notes. He had no idea what to call this species, so he left the title blank for now, deciding he would come up with a species title once he had more information.

They must have been at that table for an hour or so, because soon Stan’s rough voice called from the bedroom sharply, “Sixer, if you’re not down here in two minutes…”

“I’m coming, I’m coming.” Ford called back and grinned as the little anomaly yawned, making the tiny tongue stretch out and curl inwards slightly. The old man carefully pick her up and carried her with him into his shared bedroom. Stan was in his undershirt and boxers, shaking his hair dry with a towel as he sat on his bed, and he growled when he saw the animal still in his twin’s arms.

“Please tell me you’re not taking it to bed.” He snarled.

“No, of course not.”

“Good.”

“She deserved her own space.” Ford said as he pulled a pink blanket out from the chest and placed it neatly, still folded, on the floor between the beds. “She can have her own bed.”

“What!?” Stan yelled as Ford got on his knees and let the anomaly climb down onto the blanket to give it a try. “I’m not letting that thing sleep in here! What if it turns into some blood-sucking monster in it’s sleep and kills us both?!”

“That won’t happen, don’t be so paranoid.”

“Oh ho! That’s a new one!” Stan laughed harshly, but quickly turned sour again. “Can’t believe you're not a bit more guarded with that thing? What makes you think you can trust it?!”

Ford shrugged. “A lot of people lately have proven to me that I can trust others. Besides, there’s good in her. I can tell.”

Stan blinked at his brother. It was like this was a completely different man than who had come out of the portal. Well, okay, Ford knew that before they had even started sailing that Ford wasn’t the same person he was when he punched Stan in the face, but still. Stanford Pines really had changed a lot.

“It’s just for one night, Stanley.” Ford eased as he took off his hoodie and slipped off his boots, preparing for bed. “She’ll leave in the morning and find some new friends to provide food and shelter from the next cold night, I’m sure of it.”

Stan rolled his eyes and laid down with his back to the fluffy pair. “Fine, whatever.”

Ford had to admit that he was a little chest-fallen that his brother was a little cold towards their temporary house-guest, but he can recall their niece telling Ford that Stanley appeared to have a burning hatred for a certain pig, but everyone knew he loved Waddles very much. Perhaps he was trying to prove he was still a tough guy, or perhaps Stanley didn’t want to get attached to the anomaly so he wouldn’t be disheartened when she was gone. Ford knew he could handle her leaving tomorrow if she wanted to, he would be happy to have met her and that she was happy, so with one final scratch between her ears, ruffling her little floof, Ford took off his glasses and turned off the lantern, letting darkness overtake the bedroom.

“Goodnight, Stanley.”

“G’night, Sixer.” The younger twin managed to grunt.

Ford smiled, relieved that at least his brother wasn’t angry at him, and he slept soundly as the warm boat kept the cold late-winter air away.

~~~~~~~~~~

Ford was the first one to wake up. Or at least the first one to rise out of their bed. He slipped on his glasses and was happy to find the little anomaly where he had left her last night: curled up like a kitten on her folded blanket. He took the time to scratch her behind her ears before heading towards the shower.

The aged explorer could understand why Mabel was so attached to her pet pig, Waddles. There was immense satisfaction in caring for something or someone and having them care for you in return. While that is the fundamental basics of human relationships, homo sapiens tend to over complicate such relationships with intense emotions and lack of logic. Other species, like most animals on Earth, allowed this principle to be basic and easy, simple. Give love, get love.

Throughout the years, Ford had indeed come across hundreds of thousands of different creatures. True, a vast majority wanted to eat his face, but to be fair he had been in their climate and they were hungry. That was the beautiful circle of life. Some creatures were perfectly friendly and could even offer some companionship, but none of the creatures Ford had met would stay for long and he knew better than to get too attached; he was too busy trying to take care of himself to add a pet to his list of responsibilities. However, if an animal who enjoyed his company wanted to walk with him in the forest or up a mountain, he wouldn’t stop it or go out of his way to scare it off, knowing full well something else would capture it’s attention or Ford would have to hop through a hole in space-time and the animal would run off, less inclined to follow the kind stranger to an alien world.

Still, a small part of Ford had missed the idea of having a pet. He can remember enjoying Shanklin’s company as a child and being very sad when he had died, though not nearly as heartbroken as Stanley had been. When he had discovered the Shapeshifter as a hatchling, there was a reason he had quickly associated it as a pet, despite Fiddleford’s arguments against it. Perhaps if the encounter hadn’t ended so ugly or if he hadn't been so distracted with Bill and the portal, Ford might have taken in a pet to give him company when it was time for Fiddleford to return home. Maybe a low-maintenance cat or something unique and different. Maybe he would take in a plaidypus. He had enjoyed that anomaly’s company.

As the warm water made it easy for the old sailor to think, he seriously considered adopting the new anomaly as his pet. He knew that Stanley would warm up to her eventually, he just needed time to trust that she wouldn’t go savage on them. Really, there was no real issue or obstacle in his way. They were financially stable, so they could afford to take care of her, there were no other pets that might get jealous of her, they would always be around her so she would never be neglected or abandoned on the boat. Really, the only obstacle Ford could see was that the anomaly might not want to stay.

If Ford had learned anything about wildlife is that animals pick the humans just as much as humans pick the animals. There must be a mutual agreement to love and care for each other in their own unique way, but if one if not willing or incapable of returning the affection, then the arrangement wouldn’t work. There was a large possibility that the anomaly was perfectly happy being a peaceful stray and didn’t want to be tied down to one boat and one pair of sailors, which was perfectly fine. Like Ford had said last night, if she wanted to leave, that was okay. But if she wanted to stay Ford would be nothing short of delighted.

As Ford emerged from the bathroom with a towel around his waist and a towel in his hand, shaking his fluffy charcoal gray hair dry, he found the sweet anomaly on his bed, playing with his blankets, rolling around and pawing at the soft fabric. He smiled and hung up the towel in his hand as he approached the anomaly, who stopped playing to receive pets and lick his six fingers.

“Good morning, my dear. Sleep well?” He whispered, knowing full well she couldn’t respond, but she looked so happy and well rested, even her fur appeared to host some bed-head. Ford glanced over at his twin, who was still fast asleep, limbs sprawled everywhere and snoring peacefully with his mouth wide open. He grinned, having an idea, and he gently picked the anomaly up from his bed and placed her on Stan’s bed, just by his legs.

As Ford got dressed for the day, he watched as the anomaly pawed at the blankets and then walked up to Stan’s face, then sat and watched him for a moment. Ford had to bite his lip to keep from laughing when the anomaly lifted a soft beanie paw and gently smacked Stan’s nose, playing like she had found a ball. By the time Ford was fully dressed the anomaly had climbed up to Stan’s chest and sat close to his face, happy to only watch him sleep.

The sudden weight on his chest stirred him and Stan groggily opened his eyes and was shocked to find two large baby-blue eyes staring closely at him. “ARG!” He yelled and sat up quickly, making the anomaly jump down from the bed and hide under the bed.

Ford laughed good-naturedly while Stan growled in his throat and put on his glasses. “Ford!”

“Good morning, Stanley.”

“What is that thing still doing here, I thought she was only staying just for the night!”

“Oh, I’m sure she’ll leave once we leave.” Ford reasoned as the anomaly slowly crept out from under the bed and rubbed herself against Ford’s legs.

Stan grunted, not sure if he should believe his wishy-washy brother, but it was too early to fight this battle, so he yawned and popped his back and made his way upstairs to make coffee.

The anomaly followed Ford everywhere he went. When he went upstairs, so did she. When Ford sat at the table, she hopped onto it. He smiled and got up for a second, seeing how she turned her nose at his coffee, and he poured her a small plate of milk. She happily lapped it up while the twins sipped their coffee and went over their plans for the day, one purposely ignoring her and the other occasionally petting her or scratching her behind the ear.

About an hour later Stan and Ford were ready to leave for some sightseeing while at Iceland’s capital. The anomaly followed them out of the cabin of the boat and hopped on the wall of the Stan O’ War II and watched them walk away. Ford even waved her goodbye, not sure if this would be the last time he would ever see her or not. Again, it was totally fine if she decided to leave. But the fact remained that Ford would be immensely grateful if he found her still on their boat when they returned.

Stan privately decided that it was best to get his brother’s mind off that little menace, so hopefully when they left the dock and set sail tomorrow morning they could leave this whole ordeal behind them. The two brothers had a good time cracking jokes and laughing as they visited historical sights, museums, and other amazing things the capital had to offer about their culture and history. For lunch they sat at the park with warm sandwiches and listened to a street performer sing and beat a drum about a mountain troll wanting to get married.

Having seen everything they had wanted to see, Ford and Stan decided to head to the Stan O’ War early and leave the docks before dinner. Ford was a little disheartened to find the anomaly no longer on the wall of the Stan O’ War, which again, was fine. She was a wild animal and could do whatever she wanted. And no, Ford was not upset over the fact that she wanted to move on.

So why on Earth was he so jubilant, could feel his heart do a cartwheel of joy in his chest, why he grinned so happily, at the sight of her on one of the lounge chairs, bathing in the sunshine and only awoke because she sensed someone’s presence and she smiled up at him and went to rub against his legs again.

Ford picked her up and held her close to his chest, alone with her since Stan had gone inside to start on dinner and probably didn’t even know she was here. The old scientist sat in the lounge chair and petted his new pet softly, making her purr against his hold.

“You’ll need a proper name, my dear.” Ford thought out-loud. To help decide which best suited her, he listed some names out to see if they sounded right for her. “Luna? Ivy? Amber? Periwinkle? Maybe something more sophisticated, like Alessandra? Stella?” Ford tilted his head to the side as they looked at each other. She coped him curiously.

He chuckled and rubbed her head. “You are a strange anomaly. Hm… while Anomaly isn’t a suitable name, maybe something along those lines. Maybe… Molly? No, close, but you don’t quite look like a Molly, my dear. How about…” And then suddenly, he had it. Ford knew what to call her. It was perfect. It was unique, just like her. Ford smiled peacefully at her and settled with, “Amalia. I’ll call you Amalia from now on.”

“Alright, Sixer, we ready to set… oh, great.” Stan stopped when he saw who Ford was with and he glared at the strange anomaly.

“Say hello to Amalia, Stanley.” Ford said happily and held her up to him to see. She poked her little tongue out at him.

Stan glared at his brother. “Amalia? You named it?!”

“Yes. So? Is there a problem?” Ford asked with a raised eyebrow, bringing Amalia back to his lap, a little tired of Stan’s cold attitude.

“Stanford, you’re not supposed to name it.” He growled, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Once you name it, you start getting attached to it! Now get it off the boat, we’re leaving now.”

Ford looked down at Amalia, who was curled up in his arms, and then back up at his brother firmly. He hated to push him, but this was important to him and he genuinely felt like Stan was being unfair. “No.”

Stan blinked at his twin. “I’m sorry?”

“No,” Ford said calmly. “Stanley, please. I think she wants to stay, and I want her to stay. Yes, she is probably a wild animal and can take care of herself, but she shouldn’t have to. Why should she when she could have a loving family who takes care of her? I know you’re a little apprehensive that she’ll turn on us, but as my brother I’m asking that you trust me and let me keep her. Please.”

Stan stared, no longer visibly angry. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Ford. He did, more than anyone, and if someone who used to not trust anyone found this little ankle biter worthy of his hard-earned trust, then Stan had to give that little fur-ball some credit. Not to mention that Stan could remember a time when the tables were turned and someone had agreed to help keep a certain possum a secret. At the memory Stan couldn’t help but smile.

He sighed, rubbed the back of his neck, and admitted defeat. “Fine, she can stay. But she’s your pet, which means you feed her and clean up after her, you keep her out of my stuff, and if one day we wake up missing a finger or an eye, I’m blaming you.”

Ford grinned; he could see right through Stan’s tough-guy persona. “Thank you, Stanley. You won’t regret it.” He stood and hurried off the boat. “I’ll go buy some supplies for her before we leave! Thank you!”

“Yeah, yeah.” Stan muttered, shaking his head. He couldn’t believe how happy his brother had looked when given permission to keep that little gremlin. Stan hadn’t seen Sixer that happy since they first began their adventure.

~~~~~~~~~~

Ford couldn’t find a pet store within close range, but he did find a convenient store that might have the bare minimum he was looking for. Cans of meat, maybe a soft bed, toys, a brush, etc. Though there was no sign saying “No Pets Allowed,” Ford wouldn’t be surprised if he wasn’t allowed to bring Amalia inside with him, so he decided to play it safe and hide her in his hoodie.

At first she was tucked in by his chest, her tiny claws clinging to his sweater with no pain to his skin, but Amalia soon climbed up his neck and he had to put his hood up to hide her. She made her way up the right side of Ford’s neck, curling around the back of his head, and resting her front half by his left shoulder, giving Ford a small, furry scarf around the back of his neck, and curling up for another short nap.

And no, Ford was not crying next to the shelves of cat litter.

pt.2

#GF #gravity falls #fanfiction #gift #ford pines #stan pines #sea grunks #amalia #anomaly pet #CUTE!!!#fluff #mostly fluff #and a little fluff #more to come... probably #I HOPE YOU LIKE IT!!!#Thanks for reading!

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quicksilversquared · 4 years

Text

The Substitute Ladybug: Chapter 11

Final chapter!

After Lila takes things too far and Marinette ends up with a broken leg, Paris is going to have to deal with a different superhero arrangement for a bit. Having to share her superhero identity with her parents before Hawkmoth can be defeated isn’t something that Marinette had planned on doing, but- well, it might end up being a bit of a blessing in disguise.

links in the reblog

Getting to go out again- heading down the stairs without the help of a lift, bounding out the door, rushing unencumbered down the sidewalk to the spot where she was going to meet up with her friends- was amazing.

Tripping over a raised bit of sidewalk because she wasn't being careful and going flying with a squawk... well, that was a lot less fun.

But at least Adrien was right there to catch her before she could hit the ground.

"Easy there," Adrien said with a laugh, setting Marinette back up on her feet. "Man, you're off crutches and already speeding around, huh?"

Marinette laughed, even as she felt her cheeks heating up. "Yeah. I'm just excited, I guess."

"I don't blame you. And no crutches?"

"The doctor said that I'm all good to go, as long as I don't overdo it." Marinette grimaced down at the uneven bit of sidewalk. "Though maybe I should hold off on the running down the sidewalk for a bit. I'm sure someone would be concerned if I showed up with my knees all scraped up not even a day after getting the cast off."

If she were being honest, that someone might very well be her. After weeks of being in a cast, Marinette couldn't help but be a little paranoid that she would re-injure herself and her taste of freedom and normalcy would be snatched away again by further weeks of casts and crutches and bedrest.

Adrien made a face. "Yeah, that wouldn't be the best. I can't imagine your parents banning you from doing things like my father would, but they probably wouldn't be happy." He paused, then flashed her a smile, clearly deciding to move on. "It must nice to have everything back to normal, huh?"

"So nice," Marinette told him. "I can do stairs again! My parents and I are going to work on taking the lifts down and returning them this weekend, so then we can have the stairs all clear again. And they moved me back to my normal room last night and it's so nice to be back and have access to all of my stuff again. Especially my sewing supplies! My parents had offered to bring stuff down, but there were too many things I might need and I didn't want them to dig for things I requested and get everything messed up."

"Yeah, I can imagine how easy that would be," Adrien agreed. "I've seen your sewing set-up and all of the boxes you have. I don't know how you find anything, but I'm sure you have some sort of system."

Marinette nodded. "Yeah. It makes sense in my head." She probably should buy a proper storage system at some point- a modular storage system with a bunch of drawers would be easier to organize than a heap of shoeboxes of all sizes- but that would have to wait until summer.

Honestly, it would be best if it could be customizable and added onto as her collection of tools and materials expanded, which meant that she might end up making it on her own. Which definitely meant waiting until summer, but her shoeboxes could last until then. One or two might need a bit of assistance from some duct tape, but that was fine.

"I'm glad that I got to come out today," Adrien told her as they headed the short distance down the block to their meeting point. Alya and Nino were nowhere in sight yet, but that wasn't surprising. After all, both she and Adrien were running early to their lunch-and-ice-cream get-together. "Father and Nathalie initially wanted me to tag along on some luncheon with one of Father's business partners, even though whenever I have to do those, I need to stay completely silent unless directly addressed. Which happens maybe once per lunch, and it's always really obvious that they're just addressing me to be polite and acknowledge that I'm there instead of just outright ignoring me."

"I'm glad they let you come today," Marinette told him. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to have to go to a fancy lunch and be expected to exist as- well, as decoration, really. The closest thing she had ever done was go out with her parents to meet some of their friends or extended family, people that she didn't really know well and felt a bit awkward around. But they always tried to include her for at least part of the conversation and if she wanted to ask them any questions, she could. "Lunch at the cafe probably won't be as fancy as your father's luncheon, but it should be more fun!"

"Better company, too," Adrien told her, grinning. "And sometimes fancy food is overrated. Honestly, a panini and some soup sounds amazing. And- hey, there's Alya and Nino! It's about time, slowpokes!" he called. "Hurry up!"

"We're coming, calm down!" Nino called back, not picking up the pace at all. "It's not our fault that you two decided to come early!"

Adrien just shrugged. "I was looking forward to coming out, so sue me!"

"I'm just glad your pops finally saw sense and let you out." Nino finally drew close enough to exchange a fist bump with Adrien, grinning at him before turning his attention to Marinette. "So, what did the doctor say? Your cast is off- all good things?"

"All good things," Marinette confirmed. "My leg's healed well, now I just have to build the muscle back up. And that's going to be a bit of a process, but at least it won't test my patience as much as the cast and crutches did."

"Nice!"

It didn't take them long to reach the cafe and place their orders, then crowd around a small table to wait for their lunch to be delivered. Their knees jostled each other as they settled- it definitely wasn't a table meant for four people- but Marinette couldn't help but grin, definitely more excited than she really should be for what was a fairly simple outing. It was just that, well, everything was normal again.

"A hot lunch, a cold treat, and great company- what else could you ask for?" Adrien asked happily as their food got delivered to their table. "What a perfect day!"

They all nodded, already digging into their food. Marinette let out a happy hum as the blend of cheeses in her sandwich that she had ordered hit her tongue. It was the perfect temperature, hot enough to warm her up but not so scalding as to burn her tongue when she took a bite.

"Well, at the risk of sounding like an old dodder, how about a toast?" Alya asked after a minute of happy munching had passed. "To the rest of the school year only being exciting in good ways?"

"Oh, man, I'll drink to that," Nino said at once, accidentally sending his cup sloshing when he clinked it against Alya's a little too quickly. "No more nasty surprises! We've had enough of that this year already."

Marinette nodded, thinking back. There had been a lot of crappy things that had happened in the past year- the Heroes Day attack, Lila's return (and everything that went along with it), her loss of Master Fu's support and the reveal of all (or almost all)of the temporary superheroes, and then her broken leg. Then Nino and Alya- most of their classmates, really- had been hit pretty hard by the reveal of Lila's true colors and the realization that none of her 'connections' were actually real.

Maybe most of the year had been pretty good, but there had been a lot of pretty harsh lows.

"I think we could all do with a few nice surprises," Adrien agreed, lifting his cup as well. "Or at the very least, a bit of calm."

Marinette smiled, thinking of her superhero life. After all the madness of the past couple of months, calm with some nice surprises sounded absolutely perfect.

Luckily for the superheroes, several days passed before Hawkmoth struck again. Ladybug and Chat Noir spent the time doing nightly patrols, racing across the rooftops and practicing some of their battle skills as best they could without getting spotted, or at least without getting spotted close enough for anyone to notice that it was Ladybug and not Coccinelle out. Chat Noir was still being more careful with her than usual- they had to abandon tag because he wasn't trying, just because their tag usually involved tackling- but thankfully he hadn't let that carry over to their battle, instead falling back to their usual smooth dynamic.

Well. Their usual smooth dynamic, with some adjustments. Their nightly patrols had helped them suss out Ladybug's new limits and weak spots ahead of their battle, allowing them to figure out how they might account for that while Ladybug recovered. There was less flirting and more focus- Ladybug suspected that either Coccinelle had said something about timing of puns and flirting and when it would take away from their focus, or Chat Noir had just gotten used to having incredibly focused and fast-paced fights with Vipera, when they never had the time for joking around and any punning could get in the way of Vipera's instructions- and that meant that they were smacking down on the akuma almost as hard as they had been when it was Coccinelle and Chat Noir on the battlefield, with Vipera in their ears.

Ladybug grinned as Chat Noir taunted the akuma, pulling its attention over to him as she dodged in, jumping and flipping over the akuma's shoulder in a controlled tumble so she could snag the corrupted pin holding the akuma's cap on, yanking it off and landing only with a slight stumble. Ladybug crushed the pin as the akuma's (very limited) mind-controlled army stumbled to a halt, purifying the butterfly and releasing it into the air. Chat Noir came over to join her as she called for her Cure, his grin just as wide as her own.

"That went really well," Chat Noir said happily as Ladybug returned the restored pin to the akuma victim. "Only ten minutes, and that was with a mind-control akuma too! And not all of those ten minutes were spent fighting, even."

Ladybug grinned, turning to face him. "Yeah, three minutes of us being out and transformed was just watching the cameras like I did as Vipera to figure out the powers and where the akuma was. Maybe we just got lucky this fight and it won't help as much all the time, but..."

"I think it's a good idea to do that all the time," Chat Noir said, extending his baton enough that he could lean forward on it, beaming over at her. "It's scoping out the fight in advance and gathering intel without having cars and spider webs and random powers getting flung at us. Maybe it won't help as much every time, but when it does..."

Ladybug nodded. If they could shave down battle times at all, it would be worth it. Especially since- well, there were still parts of the battle that could have gone more smoothly, even with their preparation. They needed every advantage they could get.

"Ladybug! Ladybug, a quick word!"

"Aaand here come the reporters," Chat Noir said with a small sigh. He flashed a smile at Ladybug. "Are you good to give a statement now, or should we bounce?"

"I'm good," Ladybug told him. "It'll just be a quick comment anyway."

Chat Noir nodded, still not looking completely convinced. "Okay, if you're sure-"

"Ladybug! Are you back for good? What was the nature of your injury? Will we see Coccinelle again, or will she come out with a different Miraculous? Can you give a statement to Paris about why you decided to leave on vacation in the middle-"

"If anyone questions why I took well-deserved time off, I won't be answering any questions and Coccinelle will come after you," Ladybug told them tartly, cutting across the cacophony of overlapping voices, and the reporters promptly shut up and sent a dark look at the man who had asked about Ladybug's vacation. "As for the rest- yes, I'm back, though Coccinelle and I have not ruled out her occasionally coming out in my place as needed. And I'd like to thank Paris for accepting her with open arms, even without a heads-up that there was going to be a temporary switch." She flashed the cameras a grin and a peace sign. "Peace out, Paris!'

And with that, she flung out her yo-yo and was off like a shot. There were a few cries of protest from behind her since she hadn't answered all of the questions, really, just one. She hadn't said anything about her injury, or if Coccinelle might come out with a different Miraculous, or-

"Wow, you might need to call Coccinelle out again to go after the reporters," Chat Noir commented, landing on the roof behind her. "I can understand being curious about if Coccinelle will come out again, but I thought she made it clear that people need to respect your privacy and not push for details."

"Well, if they can't manage to cut it out, my mom is teaching me her patented Icy Mom Glare." Ladybug giggled. "Though I might rename it to the Patented Superhero Glare, since Mom Glare just comes with implications."

"Good idea." Chat Noir fell quiet for a moment, glancing her way a few times like he wanted to say something. Ladybug raised a curious eyebrow at him, and he glanced away again before letting out a sigh. "So. Uh. There was something else I wanted to talk to you about, if we have time."

"I'm sitting at just under four minutes," Ladybug told him. "Go ahead."

"Right. So. Uh." Chat Noir rand a hand through his hair, messing it up even more. "So I swear that I'm not just bringing it up now because we have less than five minutes left on our timers and you can't get that mad at me in that amount of time, really. But I've been thinking back to my last few battles and patrols with Coccinelle- well, the patrols, really, not so much the battles, there wasn't much time for talking then-"

He was definitely babbling now, but Ladybug just settled back against a chimney and waited.

"-anyway, I didn't really notice anything off at the time, but I think that maybe, possibly, potentially, your, uh. Mom might suspect who I am."

There was a pause. Ladybug blinked.

"I mean, I don't know for sure, and I still don't understand how it could be at all likely, but some of the things she said, sometimes- I mean, it's possible that I just told her stuff and then forgot that I did and I'm just jumping to conclusions. But. uh. I thought it might be important to mention." Chat Noir let out a sigh. "I know you said during the picnic that it was okay for me to talk to your mom and it wouldn't be the end of the world if she figured me out, but I still wasn't expecting it to actually happen. And I worry about what that means for us keeping our identities secret from each other."

Well. She hadn't been planning on passing on Tikki's comment quite yet, since they were only one fight in and she had wanted to have maybe a couple weeks of normal battles again before doing any sort of identity reveal reassessment, just to let the dust and fuss around her return settle a bit first. But maybe she was just overthinking things and it would be better to just keep Chat Noir clued in. Then they could both be in on the same loop and maybe discuss their theories about Tikki's words.

"Actually, about that," Ladybug started slowly, and Chat Noir's ears twitched towards her. "Tikki and I were talking a few weeks ago about identity stuff, and she said that we were getting closer to being able to do a reveal. Like, I thought we would have to wait until Hawkmoth gets defeated, but apparently it's a possibility that we won't have to wait for that. I don't know what, exactly, she's looking for," she added quickly, because really all Tikki had said was something about getting closer and maturation and growth and in all honesty, she didn't fully understand what, exactly, Tikki was referring to, which was probably why her kwami had told her not to try to force the growth. If she tried to explain it to Chat Noir... well, she could easily muddle everything up and might accidentally end up insulting him somehow. "Or how long it would take for us to get there. But the whole leg thing somehow got us closer."

Somehow wasn't exactly the right word for it- Ladybug had noticed some subtle shifts in their relationship compared to before her leg got broken- but she didn't want to draw attention to those shifts. Somehow she suspected that, like Adrien's change in attitude towards Chloe (which was continuing, even as Chloe dug her heels in stubbornly), pointing it out directly might only serve to make him uncomfortable.

Even if she had wanted to try, Ladybug wasn't even sure that she would be able to find the words to describe the differences. Some, like the focus during the battle and the flirting retreating back to fully playful, were easy enough to put her finger on. Others...

Well, others were not, shifts too subtle to really pick out what exactly had changed. It was all good changes, though.

Chat Noir lit up, grinning. "That's cool! So it's really not as big of a deal as I was worried it might be."

"Tikki still wants us to wait if possible, but yeah, the world's not going to end or anything if we slip up and figure each other out." Ladybug grinned as well, unable to help getting caught up in Chat Noir's excitement. "I kind of wish she had said more, but..."

"Well, we'll find out soon enough, I hope," Chat Noir told her. He wriggled in place, clearly hyped up about the news, and then he half-pounced on her, scooping Ladybug up in an excited hug. "This week has been amazing. You're back, we got to hang out with bonus patrols, our first post-return battle was a super success, and we might get to share our identities and- and hang out outside of the masks soon! Or at least before we defeat Hawkmoth," he corrected himself before Ladybug could say anything. He set her down, still grinning. "That's amazing."

"It has been a pretty good week," Ladybug agreed, beaming. Maybe it was early in her post-recovery return, but so far, so good. She leaned forward, hugging her partner tightly. "Here's to hoping that it keeps going that way."

"Yeah." Chat Noir glanced down at her, his expression entirely fond. "I hope so, too."

Another week passed and at school, Marinette slipped back into her normal routine easily enough. She could take the stairs on her own now, no more piggyback rides or taking the elevator necessary. Adrien usually stuck close by when they were on the stairs, close enough to steady her in case she ever tripped- which she hadn't, not yet- but that was the only major change from before.

And it was hardly a bad change, either. Maybe Marinette had come to the conclusion that she needed to hold off on dating until Hawkmoth was taken care of, but getting a bit of extra attention from Adrien was never a bad thing. She was getting used to it now, and not blushing as much or messing up her words when he slung his arm around her shoulder or wound his arm through hers as they walked to class together.

(She wasn't going to read too far into his sudden closeness. Maybe Alya was right and he had developed a crush on her, but maybe he was just making sure that she wouldn't get knocked around and risk breaking her leg again, so soon after getting the cast off. Which- well, it wasn't going to happen, not with the amount of healing that she had done with Tikki's help, but she wasn't going to mention her magically sped-up healing to her friends. It would just open the door to too much questioning.)

The week had two more akuma battles- Tanker joined them for one, not because they were struggling but just because it was the bakery's day off- and several patrols. The patrols weren't strictly necessary- they hadn't regularly done them before, since they had been so busy and overwhelmed- but with the newly-shortened battles, they had more free time to spend together. It also gave the two superheroes time to hang out and tease and joke around when there wasn't the pressure of a battle hanging over them, so they could buckle down and be super-focused during battles without sacrificing their friendship and their bantering dynamic. It was something that Marinette really wanted to be able to keep doing long-term, as long as her schedule allowed for it.

(Tikki really, really liked that arrangement, though she wouldn't tell Marinette exactly why. Marinette suspected that it had something to do with the whole 'growing' thing that Tikki had talked about before. Marinette wasn't going to overthink it, though. Patrols were time for her to have fun with her partner and use the Miraculous to relax- and to get more exercise so that she could start building up her strength and endurance again, that was an extra bonus- and she wasn't going to ruin that time by wondering if they were growing as much as her kwami had hoped.)

Marinette wasn't willing to just let things continue as they were, though. It would be easy enough to sit back and fall into a new routine, one with patrols with Chat Noir and battles that occasionally included her parents. It was working really well, after all. But she had learned a lot while she was sidelined, about strategy and long-term planning, and she wanted to keep working on that. Sure, akuma battles were better now, but it would be absolutely fantastic if they didn't have akuma attacks anymore. If Hawkmoth and Mayura were defeated, she wouldn't have to worry about attacks disrupting her day or waking her up at night. She and Chat Noir could hang out safely during the day, instead of having to stay up late, and could help out around the city when it was more convenient for them. Everyone would be safer, and the city wouldn't have to worry about Hawkmoth preying on their emotions.

It was a nice thought, and Marinette wanted to get there sooner rather than later. And that meant being proactive with her approach and planning what she could do to change things up and throw Hawkmoth off.

She already had some plans in place of things that she could switch up at random, of course. Ladybug could swap out for Coccinelle and Vipera. Her dad could come out as Tanker- and Hawkmoth was definitely scared of Tanker after the beatdown that he had gotten- and her mom could bring out bonus Miraculous or deliver them to backup holders directly, instead of them having to suspend the battle to sneak Miraculous out.

And if that wasn't enough to turn the tides in their favor- well. They could switch things up even more. One of the things that Marinette's time on the sidelines had taught her was that one of the hallmarks of a good leader was recognizing when she might do more good in another position. Maybe she loved being on the battlefield and being Ladybug, but if she was more effective as Vipera and her mom could fill Ladybug's shoes without compromising an overly large amount on fighting ability...

It was just a thought, something for her to consider and keep in mind as more of their battles unfolded. Marinette would have to talk to the kwamis to get their opinions, and of course it was possible that an adult Snake would be able to unlock more- not powers, necessarily, but perhaps flexibility. If the timer-stop could be continuously adjusted instead of having just one fixed reset point with an adult holder, that would be a valuable thing to know. It would make what she had done as Vipera not nearly as difficult to do, so- in theory, at least- then one of her parents could take over as the Snake instead.

It would still be smart not to reset to the very closest point, just for flexibility reasons, but it wouldn't require remembering dozens of resets' worth of instructions.

That was a good starting point, Marinette decided as she settled back into her bed. Above her, she could see the shadows on her balcony shifting in the breeze, pale moonlight beaming down from above. She had a framework in place, things to ask about and try out and see what worked best. There would be a lot of moving parts around and trying new things and constantly shaking things up while keeping track of all of it, but that didn't worry Marinette.

After all, with Chat Noir and her parents by her side, anything was possible.

#Miraculous Ladybug #The Substitute Ladybug #My writing #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste

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watchathon · 4 years

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Halloween Special: Coraline

In case you’re finding this post just by browsing the tags I’ve used for this post, this is the Watchathon, a blog where I watch something and make a blog post where I write down my thoughts as I watch. Each new thought starts with a hyphen and a bolded first word.

- Like so.

Today, I’m celebrating Halloween with my favorite spooky movie: Coraline!

I realize that it’s not actually a Halloween movie, and I’m hoping to do actually Halloween-themed movies in the future, but when I had the idea to do a Halloween special post, this was the movie that first came to mind.

It’s scary, funny, gorgeously animated, but I’m sure I’ll be getting more into that during the post proper. With that said, here are my thoughts on Coraline:

- Even the studio logos and opening credits for this movie have an unsettling vibe, with both the visuals and the background music.

- And that’s before we’ve even gotten into the scene of the doll being transformed slowly into a doll of Coraline by mysterious stick limbs.

- I know that when I move, I’d love to be greeted by the sight of a man doing yoga on the rooftop.

- Nice introduction to Coraline when we see her pull a stick off of a bush and use it like a dowsing rod. Really sets up her character as a kid who’s not averse to the weird. The kind of kid who might, say, make several trips through a mystical hole in her room that brings her to button-eyed “better” versions of her parents and neighbors.

- And here we see Wyborne “Wybie” Lovat, Coraline’s closest-thing-to-a-friend in her new town. He’s more logically-minded, able to tell that Coraline’s dowsing rod is poison oak, and even analyzing Coraline’s name (after he’s corrected that it’s not Caroline.)

- I like the transition from Coraline holding her ear to the well, to her washing her hands in the kitchen sink.

- And here we see that the Coraline doll from the beginning of the movie made its way to the trunk of Wybie’s grandma. Which is scary, as well as bizarre from Coraline’s perspective. You move into a new house, and it turns out your landlady (who doesn’t normally allow kids) owned a doll that looks suspiciously similar to you, including your outfit.

- I like the music during this scene of Coraline exploring her new house. It’s so serene and calm.

- Coraline just killed the bugs in the shower with her bare hands... Not much I can really say about that except: “Gross...”

- I know all too well the feeling Coraline’s dad has when his writing is erased. I said this is a scary movie, here’s the scariest dang thing. *shivers*

- The entrance into the Other World is the perfect blend of creepy, and beckoning, with the music and cool colors.

- As well as the first appearance of the Other Mother. There’s the buttons for eyes, and the very fact that she’s an identical copy of Coraline’s real mom in everything but the eyes, making her scary on simply the conceptual level.

But she’s so much nicer to Coraline than her real-world counterpart, not to mention that she cooks much nicer-looking meals than Coraline’s dad, and resides in a nicer version of Coraline’s house.

- And then there’s the Other Father, introducing himself to Coraline with a nice peppy song about her. The lyrics are filled with foreshadowing, but it’s not like Coraline was going to dig that deep into it. Why would she? The Other World is giving her the family life she wishes she could have in the real world.

- I’d say that Coraline shouldn’t accept food from strangers, but I mean, it’s her parents. But not really her parents, it’s her Other Parents. But they seem to know her like they are her parents. But they don’t actually know her, because they’re not her parents. But they are alternate versions of her parents. But... Oh dear, I’ve gone cross-eyed...

- And the Other World is even complete with a way for her to talk to her old friends from Michigan! Granted, they’re not actually her friends, but they are exact copies of... Nope! Not jumping down that rabbit hole again.

- Coraline gets confirmation that the Other World was real when she wakes up to find that her poison oak has completely disappeared, without a trace. I remember when I first watched this movie, I was afraid it would turn out to be all just a dream, but this confirms right off the bat that the Other World isn’t just in Coraline’s head.

- I like that we’re getting introductions to Coraline’s neighbors, starting with the Amazing Bobinsky, who’s working on a mouse circus. And also misunderstands Coraline’s name to be Caroline.

- And Coraline gets her first warning about the dark secrets of the Other World from said mouse circus. Plus, as a bonus, the mice get her name right on the first try without needing to be corrected.

- Next up is Miss Spink and Miss Forcible, the former also getting Coraline’s name wrong.

- You’ve heard of crazy cat ladies, now get ready for crazy dog ladies who stuff all their dogs when they die!

- Second warning about the danger of the Other World, from Miss Spink reading Coraline’s tea leaves.

- One thing I never really noticed before: The cat’s already showing a personality of his own right now, even when he’s just Wybie’s cat friend who’s not technically owned by Wybie.

- Seems Coraline’s starting to grow fond of Wybie, thinking of him as a friend instead of the annoying kid who lives somewhere near her house.

- Looks like Other Mother is really trying to push the idea that the Other World is better than the real world, what with how she insists that the Other Father is the Better Father.

- The garden arranged into a picture of Coraline is so beautiful. And so impressive when you remember that this is a stop-motion movie, and that portrait had to be actually built for its few seconds of screen time.

- Another thing that the Other Mother offers to Coraline as a benefit of the Other World: A version of Wybie that’ll listen to her, that won’t change the subject to slugs or whatever.

- Plus a version of Bobinsky that not only gets Coraline’s name right, but trains his mouse circus to spell it out. It’s like the Other World is “fixing” all the things that bugged Coraline about her life in the real world.

- And all that temptation looks like it’s working. When Coraline’s mom buys her the same grey uniforms the rest of her school will be wearing, Coraline only responds that the other mother would buy her a better uniform.

- Looks like the cat’s kind of suspicious of the Other World when he sees Coraline crawling inside.

- And the cat’s the only living thing from the real world other than Coraline to come into the Other World. Or, well, the only still-living thing...

- The third warning about the dangers of the Other World comes from the cat, also the first warning given directly to her instead of secondhand or via tea leaves.

- This movie can be creepy in a lot of ways even before Coraline’s life is in danger. For example, one of tne of the “good” things in the Other World is Other Miss Spink and Other Miss Forcible’s skin peeling away to reveal that underneath they’re actually young beautiful women.

- Not everything in the Other World is just the Other Mother’s puppet. She created Other Wybie, but he’s still clearly concerned for Coraline, and needs to be implicitly ordered to keep up the cheery facade.

- And here’s the big wham scene where it starts to get real spooky: The Other Parents saying that they’ll need to sew buttons into Coraline’s eyes if Coraline wants to stay in their world and keep all the things she likes better about it. Luckily, Coraline’s smart enough to refuse and immediately decide she never wants to return.

- The Other Mother might not have total control over everything in the Other World, but she clearly wants to make it so she does. Denying Other Father the ability to speak, and as we’ll see later she’s sewn Other Wybie’s face into a permanent smile that he can’t ever move.

- “Mothers don’t eat... daughters.” “I don’t know. How do you taste?” The cat might not be on the Other Mother’s side, but he can be creepy, even if it seems like he’s just messing with Coraline.

- - I like that the cat’s here to serve as a companion from the real world to Coraline, consistently on her side even after the Other World shows its true colors. In this case, he kills a circus mouse that was sounding an alarm. Meanwhile that idea didn’t even occur to Coraline, who probably figured it was just circus practice.

- “Good kitty.” You’re darn right!

- Oh, dang, I thought that the Other Mother’s monster transformation came later than this.

- I heard somewhere that in the book, the Other Mother just looks like this monstrous form off the bat. I have to wonder, then, why Coraline was so trusting of her. Maybe it was just a really good dinner she cooked?

- Here we see that Coraline isn’t the first little kid that the Other Mother lured to her world so she could take their eyes and keep there forever. Their ghosts still reside in the Other World, unable to rest in peace or even remember their own names, but able to give Coraline her final warning so she doesn’t share their fates.

- It’s so creepy to see Other Wybie’s face with his mouth sewn into a permanent smile. But even with that, and with his eyes being only buttons, it’s easy to see that he’s desperate to save Coraline from this world.

- Other Wybie even sacrifices his life for Coraline.

- As I said before, Wybie is more logically minded than Coraline. So, really, it only makes sense that he’d hear Coraline talk about the Other World and arrive to the conclusion that she’s crazy.

- It always brings tears to my eyes, seeing Coraline sleeping in bed with pretend versions of her parents made from the pillows and sheets.

- At least the cat’s still there for Coraline.

- The charming colors of the tunnel to the Other World have even turned to a dull grey. It’s like a visual representation of how the Other Mother has given up on luring Coraline into staying, and has moved onto the idea of forcing her to stay, even eating the only key that allows travel between worlds.

- You can tell how much Coraline doesn’t want to say that she’ll let the Other Mother sew buttons in her eyes if she loses. But she has no choice; the Other Mother wouldn’t agree to the game unless there was something she could win.

- It’s both creepy and sad to see the Other Father, forced into attacking Coraline and keeping the eye from her.

- It’s cool how Coraline used Other Spink and Forcible’s bat-dogs against them. Also unsettling like everything in this part of the movie, but really cool and clever.

- Other Father and Other Spink/Forcible were transformed into corrupted versions of themselves. Other Bobinsky? Erased and replaced with a horde of rats that had his voice come out of them.

- Again, good kitty. Even when Coraline thinks she’s lost the game, the cat’s there to lend a hand.

- Coraline even thinks of the cat as a friend!

- But the cat’s not Coraline’s only ally. The ghost of one of the other children advises Coraline to be clever, all too aware that the Other Mother wouldn’t keep her word.

- You’ve heard of throwing your SO, now get ready for throwing your stray cat friend who became one of your only allies in the Other World where your parents are trapped as well as the ghosts of children who came before you! *gasps for breath*

- The Other Mother’s now given up on any pretense of being Coraline’s mother, having gone full monster. But given how she still has that hairdo? I’ve got to imagine that she’s still not quite displaying her true form.

- It’s so sweet to see Coraline interacting with the cat. Even outside of the Other World they’re still friends.

- I understand why people are upset why they changed the climax from Coraline’s clever gambit to a battle with the Other Mother’s hand (and Wybie helping), but I think this works well for a movie adaptation. I haven’t read the book, so I could be wrong, but just from seeing the movie, I think this climax is good.

- I love this ending with Coraline and her neighbors having a garden party, Bobinsky even helping plant some berries. It’s so cathartic after all the trouble Coraline’s been through.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

To reiterate: This is my absolute favorite spooky movie! And my first pick when it comes to movies fit for the season.

The first Laika movie I watched was Kubo and The Two Strings, in theaters. Then I went back and watched Paranorman to celebrate Halloween. Then I watched Missing Link when that came out in theaters.

Coraline came last out of all the Laika movies I’ve seen, but it may well be my favorite, with its lovable characters, amazing music, and gorgeous animation.

It has just the right amount of scare for me, as someone who’s not generally fond of horror. And as a PG movie, it leans more towards scary and unsettling aesthetic than jumpscares or blood/gore, another thing that makes this just right for me.

This is the perfect kinda movie for the season, and I highly recommend it for anyone who wants a spooky movie to watch tonight, on future Halloweens, or just whenever you’re in the mood for something creepy.

#long post #Movie #Halloween #Coraline #Coraline Jones #Wyborne Lovat #Wybie #Coraline's dad #Charlie Jones #Other Mother #Other Father #The Amazing Bobinsky #Miss Spink #Miss Forcible #The Cat (Coraline)

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genius-with-a-j · 4 years

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I have had a Sanders Sides college AU bouncing around in my head for a few weeks and the gremlins have been begging for me to let it out so here is some of it:

Virgil:

Sophomore

Undecided major (will eventually go with psychology major and creative writing minor)

Purple hair, very pale (actually has celiac and diabetes and struggles with eating enough)

Actually has a lot of health issues but was still determined to go to college

Skinny boi, into the emo scene still, has purple hair

Has severe anxiety (social and otherwise) and mild to moderate depression

Goes to on-campus counseling

Has an emotional support black cat named Gerard (yes after Gerard Way)

Has okay grades, like a B-/C+ student

Lives in a dorm that’s basically apartments, everything is very separate and it’s mostly grad students there

Not super into extracurriculars because anxiety but does volunteer at an animal shelter

Is reluctantly a barista in like a very indie coffee shop off-campus

Went to a really big high school where he felt very ignored and lost in the crowd

Logan:

Senior

Mechanical and electrical engineering double major with an artificial intelligence emphasis and a computer science minor

Has also considered picking up a math minor or expanding to a double degree

Dark brown hair that’s always just a little messy, tan skin

Angular features, half-Korean and half-Hispanic

Speaks several languages, all weirdly perfectly

Korean, Spanish, English, some Mandarin and some Japanese

Has major depressive disorder and autism

4.0 with ease

Apartment coordinator who was an RA for two years and hall gov president before that

Involved in the robotics club, chess club, head of the engineering society

Went to a large high school, was a standout, won many awards and was valedictorian with like a 4.3 GPA

Patton’s boyfriend, they’ve been together for like 3 years at this point

Patton:

Super senior, this is his 5th year

Changed major a lot, has finally decided on animal science, wants to be a vet tech

Curly, blonde hair and lots of freckles

Chubby, very soft and huggable

Jewish

Genderfluid! Is fine with any pronouns and wears whatever he wants (normally big sweaters and ugg-style slippers)

Struggles with depression and a touch of OCD

Dyslexic

Super empathetic and frequently gets compassion fatigue

Solid C student in most things, but is SUPER good at animal-related classes and pretty bad at math (so Logan helps him)

Lives with Logan even though technically they don’t want apartment coordinators to have roommates but Logan is really good at his job and was basically like “if he goes, I go” so they allowed him to live there for free too

A very good baker and involved with a baking club on campus

Works at an animal shelter (yes that’s how he met Virgil)

Went to a small high school (20 graduating class) really struggled with being bullied, is glad to be away from his small, oppressive hometown

Logan’s boyfriend

Roman:

Junior

Theater and vocal double major with a creative writing minor

Obsessed with love stories, writes love-based plays and love songs, etc.

Plays piano, guitar, and trumpet because he was forced to learn a wind instrument

Black hair basically styled like a Disney prince

Mexican (is actually a DACA student)

Speaks fluent Spanish and English

Has complex PTSD from years of emotional abuse before ending up housed with Abuela

Depressed but going constantly, can’t stop because that’s how the feelings catch you

ADHD but doesn’t know it because he hasn’t been tested, his parents didn’t believe in it

Straight-A student in subjects he cares about but barely scrapes by in the required common core type classes because he doesn’t care and therefore is Unable To Learn

Lives with his brother in an off-campus apartment because Abuela asked that they live together so when she helps pay it’s just one rent payment for the two of them

It’s a bad apartment, it’s basically falling apart but it’s what they can afford

Delivers pizza so he can afford to live

Involved in the choir, jazz band, super active in the drama program, and has starred in multiple roles on the student-run TV network

Went to a small-ish high school (80 graduating class) and was a big fish in a small pond; he and his brother were very well-known

Remus’s identical twin

Remus:

Junior

Creative writing and theater double major with a criminal justice minor

Writes horror, also likes to write poems that seem sweet but are very dark

Majors in theater for the writing aspect more than the acting aspect

Criminal justice minor is because he loves true crime and wants to write accurate criminals in some of his horror stories

Black hair is normally spiked, has a white streak in front

Has that gross rat stache most of the time but will shave it off for a play or the like

Mexican (is actually a DACA student)

Speaks fluent Spanish and English

Has complex PTSD from years of emotional abuse before ending up housed with Abuela

Also depressed, but instead of avoiding his problems embraces them in a way that’s pretty uncomfortable, can be a little too open sometimes

Has OCD that really messes with his head but tries to embrace the intrusive thoughts and blurt them out because he thinks that’s how he wins even though it doesn’t quite work that way

People thought he had Tourettes because of it, but he doesn’t, he has control over what he does (besides the OCD compulsion part of it but that’s different than a tic)

ADHD but doesn’t know it

An impressive writer and excels in his creative writing and theater-based classes but is just awful at other classes because he gets bored and ends up making games out of assignments like trying to freak out his professors or spelling out messages down the side of the page with the first letter of every line

Lives with his brother in an off-campus apartment because Abuela asked that they live together so when she helps pay it’s just one rent payment for the two of them

It’s a bad apartment, it’s basically falling apart but it’s what they can afford

Writes smut for money online

Super active in the drama program, often directs or writes the screenplays, has also written for the student-ran TV network, wrote a whole Twilight-zone-ish show that was pretty popular, enjoys poetry slams

Went to a small-ish high school (80 graduating class) and was a big fish in a small pond; he and his brother were very well-known

Is kind of dating Dee, they’ll both tell you it’s complicated and they like it that way

Roman’s identical twin

Dee:

Freshman

Political science major with a criminal justice minor

Wants to be a lawyer or politician to make changes for marginalized groups

Indigenous

Has vitiligo, it primarily affects the left side of his face (even his left eye is almost hazel instead of dark like his other eye) and also his limbs and his stomach

It started in high school and he was teased pretty bad for it, was afraid college would be the same way

He wears gloves to hide it because he’s kind of ashamed of it, he feels like people think he’s gross-looking

Has very thick, dark hair that’s always a little shaggy, wears a lot of hats

Depressed

Very defensive and guarded, doesn’t want people to know who he truly is

Not a pathological liar, but he does lie to protect himself

Was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder because of his fear of losing people and his lack of emotional regulation

Was raised in a really turbulent household and has trust issues because of it

An honors kid

Nearly has a 4.0, is really good at writing and arguing and history, only struggles with science

Lives in the honors kid dorm, is involved in hall government

Works as an intern (paid) with a local firm

Involved with Model UN and debate team

Went to a medium-sized high school and was very good at blending in

Is involved with Remus

So yeah!!! That’s most of it, I plan on writing stuff about it, feel free to ask questions if you have any, I’d love to answer

#sanders sides #remus sanders #roman sanders #virgil sanders #deceit sanders #patton sanders #logan sanders #college au #my aus #when the gremlin demands i write i have no choice

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artificialqueens · 5 years

Text

Cruising for a bruising, Part 5 (Branjie) - Q-Tip & TheDane

Authors note: Thank you everyone for your patience, and for keeping up with this crazy story that Q-tip and I are having so much fun writing!

“We co-dependent, a restricted area, an invitation only kinda party and my dick is first, last and fucking second on that guest list”

Brooke was a master at damage control, and Vanjie thanked the gods for it. It had saved their asses countless times, mostly because both of them had a problem keeping their hands to themselves in public places.

Vanjie had barely even recovered from her orgasm, still clinging to her boyfriend, before Brooke had pulled up her sweats and detangled them. She calmed Detox down, the other queen relaxing the moment Brooke had explained that they hadn’t touched anyone’s stuff, Brooke effortlessly standing like a shield between Vanjie and everyone else, the tension in the room officially lifting when Silky made a joke about how someone’s stuff had been touched, everyone erupting into laughter.

Vanjie managed to escape somewhat unnoticed, throwing on her caftans and getting back to her makeup table, everyone else still chatting with Brooke on the other end of the room. Everyone except A’keria who was watching her with a smirk, Vanjie seeing the reason the moment she spotted herself in the mirror. Her mouth was a war zone of red and purple, Brooke really going in on the kiss without a care in the world, but most of it was salvageable, her eyes and brows still in place, though her contour had been halfway destroyed by Brooke’s hands on her face.

“Hey.”

Vanjie was blending her foundation as she peeked over her shoulder, spotting Brooke who was standing with a sheepish grin on her face, a disaster of lipstick matching her own, Brooke’s cheeks still dusted with pink. She had changed too, the lilac color of her caftan just as gorgeous as the first time Vanjie had seen it.

“Do you have room for one more?”

Everyone else was hustling out the doors, all ready and finished. Brooke held up her makeup bag and her mirror, and Vanjie realised that Brooke was asking if they could redo their faces together.

“You sure you’re gonna keep your mess to yourself miss thing?” Vanjie smiled.

“I’ll do my best?”

Vanjie pretended to consider it, gently tapping her brush against her chin. It was a true rarity that she had the upper hand in moments like this. Usually the roles were reversed, Vanjie running around like the confused but enthusiastic puppy needing Brooke’s attention more than she needed air, but if there was one person she could never say no to, it was Brooke.

“Good, cause I don’t want you messing up my shit.”

Brooke laughed, and Vanjie moved aside, Brooke sitting down next to her, instantly moving right up against her, their thighs touching. Brooke caught Vanjie’s foot under the table, hooking their feet together, her hand resting on Vanjie’s hip. They never got ready together, their original unspoken pact of keeping a professional distance in the werk room carrying into their lives off the show so naturally they had never discussed it. In their L.A apartment they each had a drag room, the fact that they needed that space as high on their list as room for Brooke’s cats. Vanjie hoped they could possible get a dog too, though they hadn’t found the perfect one just yet, both of them still traveling so much Brooke was sometimes scared Henry and Apollo would forget who she was all together.

Vanjie drew an invisible line down the center of their table, Brooke’s eyes following her finger.

“That’s your side Mami.”

Brooke snorted. “Sure.”

“Here.” Vanjie handed Brooke a makeup wipe, her boyfriend taking it and wiping her chin, Brooke’s palm covered in red from holding her face in place, Vanjie’s cock twitching.

She talked about it loud and proud, Vanjie happily proclaiming to the world how strong Brooke was, sometimes even semi stalking Brooke at the gym to take video of her to brag online, but few knew how fucking hot she found it that Brooke was stronger than her. Vanjie almost lost her breath sometimes at how easily Brooke could pick her up and throw her around, hold her above her head or press her against a wall.

Vanjie grabbed an extra wipe, taking Brooke’s hand and rubbing the lipstick off. She rarely got to be so close at this stage in the process, Brooke peeking into Vanjie’s mirror to make sure the last of her ruined makeup was gone before she plugged her own in, the light turning on. Vanjie picked up her beautyblender, quickly going in with her heaviest duty dermablend, the high temperatures on the cruise making it even more of a struggle to make sure a mug stayed on. Brooke was painting too, her boyfriend touching up with Krylon instead.

“This is nice.”

“Real nice.”

Vanjie pushed one of Brooke’s lipsticks back, her things already migrating past the invisible line.

Brooke had been nominated as the messiest queen with a unanimous vote from the season 11 sisters, and Vanjie would have to agree, though Brooke would defend herself all the way to her grave. Brock was normally fine, her boyfriend never bringing enough stuff to truly get messy, but Brooke had a way of exploding everywhere.

They had brickered about what makeup belonged to who more times than Vanjie could count whenever they were forced to share space to get into drag. It was the reality of a drag queen’s life that you sometimes get ready in sketchy bathrooms or half broken toilets, which was also why they always tried to avoid working with each other on individual bookings. Vanjie more often than not feeling like she was playing some sick form of memory cards when she was once again sat with two almost identical bottles of pros-aide, trying to decipher from the washed out labels if it belonged to Brooke or to her.

“Just don’t make a habit of coming here.” Vanjie looked at Brooke, a smile playing on her face as she pushed Brooke’s makeup with her hand, Brooke’s stuff already inching her side of the table. “I ain’t got time for your messy ass on the regular.”

Brooke laughed, pressing a quick kiss against Vanjie’s temple. “I love you too.”

Detox was sure she was going to crack a rib, everyone singing along to “Drag is magic”, Nina somehow managing to make a show with kids music not only entertaining but straight up hilarious as she pranced around on the stage, wearing a giant dinosaur costume and shaking her tail to the chorus.

Brooke was dancing too, her movements most of all looking like a noodle that was waved around in the air. Detox hadn’t expected to have anywhere near this much fun on the cruise, yesterday’s water fight and today’s wardrobe spectacle something she had tucked away in the most secret parts of her heart for a rainy day and when drag wasn’t fun at all.

Detox had known Brooke for years, and considered her a friend, a fierce and formidable but also incredibly uptight friend. Detox used to see it as her duty to loosen Brooke up, to introduce her to the fun sides of life, to make sure Brooke also remembered that life was more than competitions and being the best.

Normally Detox would be doing her all to get Brooke drunk and find her some trade, to make sure she was having fun, but as she watched Brooke hoist Vanjie up, settling the smaller queen on her shoulders so Vanjie could see everything, Detox realised Brooke didn’t need her for that anymore. She had Vanjie now, and probably a dinosaur costume in her near future, if the screams of delight coming from Vanjie were anything to believe.

“You ready for the stage?”

Brooke looked at Vanjie one last time, his boyfriend a vision in gold. They were sitting backstage, Vanjie going over her cue cards one last time. They had eaten a late lunch, Brooke hitting the gym with Kameron while Vanjie had just taken a short nap in full face. Brooke coming back to their room, gently waking Vanjie with a can of red bull, his boyfriend already bouncing off the walls once again.

“I was born ready.”

Brooke had to agree. He had never met anyone so effortlessly fun, and though Brooke would rather dance an entire performance en pointe without toe nails, he knew without a shadow of a doubt that Vanjie would kill the afternoons entertainment. There were only minutes until the clock struck 10, and one of the most anticipated events of the cruise was about to take off. The Vanessa Vanjie Mateo quiz sold out in minutes the moment the tickets went online. Originally, Brooke had not believed his ears when Vanjie had pitched him the idea, her Silky and A’keria jotting down the outline of it in a single afternoon filled with wine and Chinese food while Brooke had been in Toronto.

“You look it.” Brooke smirked, grabbing Vanjie’s hips and pulling her in. “You always look like perfection.”

“Awh.” Vanjie smiled, running her cards down Brooke’s face. “I think you’re full of it Mama.”

“But is it working?”

“A little too well bitch.” Vanjie leaned down, kissing Brooke, her hand twisted into Brooke’s leather jacket. “You better be keeping those ears open cause I expect you to be the winner of tonight, you hear?”

“We’ll see.”

“Vanjie!” They both looked up, Brooke blushing as one of the stage techs showed their face. There had to be something in the water, or maybe it was just the climate, but Brooke felt unable to keep his hands to himself. “You’re needed!”

“Yes ma’am!” Vanjie threw a thumbs up in the direction of the sound guy, a last smile playing on her lips as she looked at Brooke.

“Gimme kiss?”

Brooke tugged on the gold tassels of Vanjie’s dress, the two of them kissing one last time. “Can’t wait to watch you.”

“You better.” Vanjie laughed, and Brooke released her, the crowds cheer filling his ears before he even truly realised that she was gone.

“Holla’ in the house!” Vanjie slapped her microphone, laughing loudly when the audience jumped. “It’s Miss Vanjie Vanjie Vanjie bitch and tonight, TONIGHT, we’re playing a little game. Y’all always creeping and peeping up in my DM’s and my Twitter, but not today Mary, oh no today I!-” Vanjie pointed at herself. “Vanessa Vanjie Mateo gets something!” Vanjie smiled brightly. “In my hand I have a stack of super secret crazy kooky ninja level questions about me and Brooke Lynn’s personal business.”

The crowd cheered, and Vanjie would have stopped, but she was already on a role.

“The rules are real fucking simple. You guys get it right, I take a shot! B-U-T, if you hos get it wrong, y’all have to drink and pay me a dollar. Why you ask? Cause it takes a lot of money to look this expensive, and I wanna take my boo on a proper resort vacation experience, okay? We talking little umbrellas in the drinks and a private beach so I can oogle his junk like I damn well please. We all comprende?! Good! Cause here comes the first question!”

Watching Vanjie on stage was an experience like no other, and Brooke always enjoyed it more than he could put into words. He had tried to explain to once, to explain how brilliant Vanjie was, but even then it had come off jumbled and crooked, not at all justifying the intense pride, warmth and love Brooke felt in his chest whenever he saw Vanjie in her element.

Tonight however, he saw a Vanjie who was rapidly getting more and more drunk as she tossed back shot after shot, her estimation of the stalking capacities of the gays aboard the ship clearly not calculated correctly. Brooke had originally sat on the edge of the front row, laughing along and waving when it was required, making sure that Vanjie could easily spot him if needed, but right now it seemed like Vanjie needed a water, more than she needed anything else.

The crowd laughed, Vanjie taking another shot and Brooke stood up, making a quick line for the bar, brushing past Nina, Raja and Cracker who had all volunteered to distribute shots to the guests.

“Can I have a water?” Brooke grabbed his phone, quickly filming Vanjie who was loudly quizzing a fan on the lyrics to her track “I’m Vanjie.”

“Sure thing stranger.“ Brooke looked up, the voice weirdly familiar, and that’s when he realised that he knew the bartender, the blonde hair and striped t-shirt giving it away at once.

“Justin? Hi!”

“Woop!” Vanjie drank her shot. “I didn’t expect y’all hos to be so goddamned clever. This whole thing is blowing up in my face in record speed!” Vanjie laughed.

Vanjie had no idea why she had never done this before, the firing back and forth with the audience making her feel like a regular Alex fucking Trebek. She was losing miserably, but this was still easily the most fun she had had at a gig in a long time when she wasn’t dancing.

Vanjie switched to her next card, a giant smile breaking out on her face. “Alright homos, here comes a hard one.” The room spinning slightly but this was one of her favorite questions of the night, a bonus round she had spent extra time on to make sure she would earn at least a few coins. “What’s the original name, and yes you heard me correctly, of the ballet where my boo thang himself, Brooke Lynn Hytes, was cast as the part of death at the Cape Town City Ballet?”

Vanjie’s eyes swept the room. She couldn’t see Brooke, but she knew she had to be out there somewhere.

“I’m real proud cause I went to the trouble of googling this shit myself. Full Nancy Drew mama, I even got myself a reddit profile and shit so y’all can hit me up on there too, and I did it all on pacific ocean wifi, so you KNOW it’s true love.”

There wasn’t not exactly silence at the question, but there certainly wasn’t any correct answers either. Vanjie heard Coppélia and even Dance Macabre, that fairly enough did show up if you googled ballets with death.

“Still no correct guesses?” Vanjie smiled. “I thought you freaks were all up in his life story, creeping and shit.”

“Is it La Bayadére?”

“Wrong! Also that ain’t dutch my dude, that’s a french name if I ever heard one, but dotcha’ all worry, I’mma be a good judy and let you name the english version!”

Someone shouted Swan Lake from the bar and Vanjie was getting ready to enjoy her victory rain of dollars, when she noticed who else was sitting at the bar, Brooke not even looking at her, his back turned to the stage as he talked to the bartender. The same bartender that he spoke to the day before, fucking Justin smiling at Brooke like he was the most amazing thing that had ever ordered a drink.

“Anyone here knows the english version?!” Vanjie yelled, raising her voice but Brooke didn’t even flinch, didn’t even move . He just stood there, the back of his head looking like he was having the time of his life.

“It’s fucking Vier Litl…” Vanjie looked at her card. “Vier Letzte Lieder! Everybody! Fill your glass and take a shot.

Everyone was raising their glasses, but all Vanjie could see was Brooke not paying attention to her.

“Yo! Brooke Lynn Hytes!” Vanjie was nearly screaming, but Brooke finally finally turned around, his eyes wide, her microphone nearly redundant at this point. “You know I’m the greatest good you ever gonna get, so you best pay attention boy!”

Brooke lifted his beer, a smile on his face like Vanjie wasn’t funny, like it was all a joke, and Vanjie was burning, anger swirling with the tequila in her stomach. Brooke’s face was not at all like she had imagined when she had written the question, the affection and admiration she had so hoped for now amusement like she was some animal in the zoo Brooke found fun to have around.

Usually when Brooke attended her shows, he was all but rolling on the floor in genuine laughter, and here he was, smiling like she was merely amusing. Despite the churning in her gut and her fingers tightening around the poor, abused microphone, Vanjie kept a brave face on, quickly moving along because if there was one thing she was, it was professional above all else.

“Alright bitch, I’m ready to leave!” Getting off stage was always the greatest relief, the last of the guests herded out the door by the staff that was now walking around, mopping up the floor and putting chairs back in place. Vanjie had taken a lot longer to get off stage than she normally would, her world spinning, taking her lashes off taking three entire tries, and she had every intention of forcing Brooke to shower with her the moment they got back to their room, her chest already rumbling a little at the pure delight of the idea of Brooke soaping up her body and easing away the pains of corset and heels and way way too many shots.

“Brock! Where you at?” Vanjie stepped out of her shoes, picking them up and putting them in the gym bag she had stolen from Brooke earlier in the day.

“One second!” Vanjie looked for the voice, her stomach dropping completely when she realised Brooke was still sitting at the bar, her boyfriend’s jacket laid over a chair, the beer bottles multiplied from the day before. “I can’t find any paper.”

“Paper? Why the fuck you looking for paper?” Vanjie walked over, her feet hurting with each step she took.

“I just need a moment baby.”

“I have an idea.” Justin smiled, completely ignoring Vanjie as he wrapped his fingers around Brooke’s arm, quickly pushing Brooke’s jacket up, like it was something he was allowed to do, Justin putting the pen in his hand to Brooke’s skin and very clearly writing down a phone number. “There, now you can call me. I’d love to see-”

“Oh, FUCK, no!”

It all happened so fast. Vanjie grabbing Brooke’s half empty drink and throwing it in Justin’s face, the liquid splashing everywhere, some of it hitting Brooke as well.

“You think you can look at my man like that?! I’m not some dumb ass ho that can’t see shit!”

Vanjie voice was so loud Brooke swore the entire ship was looking at them, every staff member still presents stopping dead in their tracks.

“You wanna play games?!” Vanjie threw the glass down, the entire thing shattering against the bar top. “Well let’s fucking play!”

“What the-” Justin wiped his face, the man looking completely shocked, his shirt soaked.

Brooke had seen Vanjie fight before, his boyfriend a ball of emotions, a firecracker that was always ready to go off, but it had never exploded because of him before, and Brooke had a sinking feeling this was all somehow his fault.

“Oh bitch, don’t you try! You’ve been flirting since the moment you saw him! You think we some package deal where you can fuck one of us and we cool? Well guess again! We’re exclusive, bitch! We co-dependent, a restricted area, an invitation only kinda party and my dick is first, last and fucking second on that guest list cause guess what? I can go twice!”

“You’re insane.”

“I’m insane?!” Vanjie grabbed Brooke’s arm, throwing it down on the bar. “Then what the fuck is this?! A number? You don’t do shit like that to another man’s man!! And you!” Vanjie turned to Brooke. “I never should have trusted you.” Vanjie released Brooke, turning on her heels, rushing out of the room before Brooke even had the chance to collect his composure.

“Jose!” Brooke stood up, ready to run after Vanjie. “I- oh fuck!”

Justin looked down, a thick piece of glass peeking out the top of Brooke’s palm, from where he had planted it flat on the counter.

“Shit!” Brooke grabbed his hand, blood already pouring everywhere.

#rpdr fanfiction #branjie #brooke lynn hytes #vanessa vanjie mateo #angst #cruising for a bruising #q tip #thedane #tw blood #s11 #canon compliant

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killervibe · 5 years

Text

Blizzard Discretionary Advised

I noticed that I haven’t written much Mom!Caitlin, and that needed to be fixed right away.

~.~

Caitlin looked out the window just as the two school buses pull up in front of their house. She nodded to herself, pleased to see the driver still on schedule after this many years, and continued working at the kitchen island.

The front door swung open as the kids marched in, the younger ones sprinting up the stairs so they could change out of their uniforms to play, but Dante Stein stayed behind. He locked the door behind them, then wandered into the room to find her.

“Hey mom.”

Caitlin smiled at her son as he shrugged off his dad’s old leather jacket and pulled himself a chair. He was beginning to look so much like him, it was uncanny. Cisco joked that Dante Stein was a Francisco Ramon after a bleach wash and tumble cycle in the dryer. His tousled hair was lighter than the rest of his siblings, with a golden highlight at the ends where it curled against his shoulders, and his eyes were all hers.

Still, he looked like Cisco.

“Hi. How was your day?”

He shrugged, deflecting, choosing instead to watch her.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Making ice.” She did so every few weeks.

DS tilted his head as she cut the ice into cubes to put in plastic bags. Caitlin was going to stuff them in the freezer later. “...May I?”

“Absolutely,” she said with a proud grin. Dante Stein raised his hand over the counter, letting mist spill from his fingerless gloves. His highlights turned bleach, his eyes white, as an icicle grew, morphing into a large block of ice.

Dante Stein released his hold, and the cold sucked back into his palm. He met his mother’s eyes for approval.

“Impressive,” Caitlin praised.

“Thanks.” He tugged on his beanie. “I’m better at cold snapping than frost-overs.”

“That’s okay. It takes time.” She reached forward to stroke her son’s hair, scratching her fingers into his scalp. He closed his eyes and leaned into her touch.

“Dante,” she said, gentle. “What’s the matter?”

He sighed. His hair still tinged icy. Caitlin walked around the corner so she could pull him into her side. Dante Stein always used to attach himself to her like a baby koala, desperate for cuddles. They never figured out if it was because he always felt cold or because he simply had separation anxiety. It might’ve been a mix of both.

Her teenage son rested his head against her shoulder. Caitlin ran her hand up and down his arm.

“We learned about you in school today.”

Caitlin paused. That could be anything.

“Oh? Star Labs or Team Flash?”

“Neither.” Dante slipped out of her embrace and put the melting ice away. His shoulders were tense, stiff. He opened the freezer compartment with a forceful yank, dumping the ice cubes into the right spot, then closed it again. “Savitar.”

Oh. Caitlin blanched a little, then swallowed. “...You learned about Savitar in your contemporary world class?”

“No. We learned about exoneration. And how that differs from diplomatic immunity.” Dante Stein stammered, caught when Caitlin quirked a surprised eyebrow. Cisco had to push the boy to do so much as open his school agenda. “Not that I was really listening, of course. I mean. I did when you were brought up as an example.”

“I see.”

Dante Stein idolized his mother since they made ice castles together in the backyard when he was five. And no matter what Caitlin did to try and dissuade it, she knew it remained. It was a certain kind of connection that couldn’t be forged. A bond that came as natural as breathing. Caitlin had the same one with Heath, even if it were somewhat different. The one she shared with Dante was more intense, more heartfelt. The pride she felt when his Blizzard unleashed, when the frost from his fingertips turned them blue without pain, the first snow he created when he turned eight.

He was older now, fifteen. He liked to maintain a persona of detached chill, especially at school and with his friends. He liked to pretend he didn’t need her anymore. That he didn’t need anyone, really.

They let him keep up that charade. Caitlin knew it helped him feel somewhat in control. She knew how that worked.

“Mom. I don’t understand how it happened. I don’t understand how you could do something like that.”

Caitlin sat down on the stool at the island, eyeing him as he fumbled with serving himself juice. Ellie came running down in her ballerina tutu. She lifted her up and kissed her forehead, giving her permission to play outside with the dog. Dante Stein watched with a complicated expression as she helped her open the screen door.

“That’s because I wasn’t the person you know, back then. I was different. Killer Frost wasn’t just a codename. She was... a person. A different person inside of me. One that fueled on anger and pain. Whose inhibitions were nonexistent. I didn’t remember what she’d do at the time. I’d blackout with glimpses and strong feelings. It was scary.”

Dante Stein’s grip tightened against his glass, eyes wide. “Mom.”

She reached across the counter for his hand, squeezing it, letting his tension dissolve. “It’s okay,” she said. “My powers didn’t come from the explosion. Grandpa Snow did some questionable experiments on me when I was younger. It was from a place of love, but it caused several mess ups. Balance is important, DS. You need love to equalize hatred. Patience to steady Impulse. Killer Frost didn’t have that, because she was severed from the rest of me. I had to learn to shoulder my burden and manage the cold.”

“But I’m not like you,” he stressed. “I’m like her.”

“That’s not true.”

“Yes, it is. I’m not perfect or smart like Amalia, or compassionate like Heath or creative like Ellie. I’m not even a nice person! I’m cold and everything gets under my skin, like, all the time. What if Blizzard is my Frost? What if I wake up one day and I just...snap, and lose myself like you did? Dad always says I’m just like you. Mom, I don’t want that.”

“You mean like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?” Heath piped up, swiping his older brother’s abandoned juice.

They both startled.

“You’ve been here the entire time?” Dante Stein hissed, glaring at him.

“It’s not my fault I blend in very well with my surroundings. I liked it when you called me compassionate. That was nice. An evil alter ego wouldn’t do that.”

“Heath,” Caitlin warned. “This is a private conversation.”

Heath shrugged, a lemon blossom sprouting from his branch around his waist that he’d been wearing as a belt this week. He plucked it out and stuck it into DS’s hair.

“Discretion,” he explained, then walked out to join his sister outside.

“He’s so weird,” Dante Stein groaned, burying his head in his hands. The flower fell into the empty glass.

“He was trying to help. In his own way.” Caitlin took a deep breath, rearranging her thoughts. She went back to what was said before the interruption, wanting to make things clear.

“Your sister is not perfect. I wish you’d stop comparing yourself to her. She’s her own person, makes her own mistakes, you know plenty.”

“She doesn’t have the urge to create a new ice age under that techno babble of hers,” he muttered.

Caitlin gave her son some side eye. “You don’t actually have that urge, do you?”

“...No. Maybe? No.” His voice came out muffled through his palms.

She crossed her arms.

“No.”

“Mmhm.”

“But what if I did? And ruin everything. They’d never exonerate me after looking at my school record.”

“That will never happen, sweetheart.”

“You don’t know that for sure,” he snapped.

Caitlin’s hair turned silver, and she tapped her nails against the counter, catching her son’s attention. “Hey,” she said cooly. “Look here.”

DS glanced at Killer Frost, but turned away, curling into himself.

“Look at me, babe.”

He did eventually, frozen tears in his eyes.

“I love you. You’re nothing like me. Your jokes are funny, your sarcasm is smart, your cold snaps are stellar. And you care. You care about everyone. I care for about as many people I can count on my fingers. You kids and your dad takes up a whole hand.” She held up a five. “The other hand depends on my mood. Uncle Barry sometimes doesn’t even make the cut, kid, and he’s The Flash.”

Dante Stein stifled a laugh. “Uncle Barry gets intense sometimes.”

“For sure,” she smirked, and continued. “My specialty was ice. I froze things solid, sucked life out until there was unfeeling. You...cool things down. You bring boiling points to a simmer.”

“That’s a lot of temperatures analogies, Mom.”

“You’re understanding them, though.” She pointed out. “It doesn’t matter how I sound, or what colour is my hair. I’m the one in control. I’m Caitlin. And you are Dante Stein, my boy. I can’t promise you that your Blizzard side won’t make a fuss if you’re hurt inside. But it’s better than shutting down and feeling nothing at all. Your powers are part of who you are, and for all they may or may not sometimes be scary, I know you love them.”

He shrugged as some colour came to his cheeks. “Can I have another hug?”

Caitlin’s heart nearly melted. “Of course.” She opened her arms and he snuggled into her side, his hair tickling her nose as he tucked his head under her chin. She kissed his head and squeezed, warming up the two of them as they let their transformations fall.

For everything she’d just said, her son was right. Sometimes he needed to look into Frost’s eyes to believe. To see someone like himself. Even if Caitlin didn’t need Frost anymore, had long since merged the hair and eyes and attitude that belonged to her old alter ego into her own self, Caitlin had the ability to summon her for other purposes than saving the multiverse, or keeping her identity a secret, such as times like these.

“You’re going to be okay?”

He nodded. So did she, but she pulled him back to look at his face sternly.

“You’re going to tell me what’s really wrong?”

“I knocked a kid out for calling Killer Frost Team Flash’s Winter Soldier. You know, from the old Marvel movies.”

Caitlin barked out a surprised laugh.

“I got suspended.”

“Oh my god, Dante Stein.”

“I was mad because I actually liked that class and don’t want to miss it.”

“You goof.” Caitlin pulled him back to swat him. “Was it that kid Greyson? The one who called Heath that name?”

Dante Stein’s smile was sheepish. “...Yeah.”

Caitlin couldn’t stop giggling, covering her mouth behind her hand. “Wait until your Dad--”

Cisco breached into the room with Amalia and five boxes of pizza, rolling his eyes. “--He already knows!”

“Who’d figure DS was such a nerd,” Amalia teased, knuckling his head. “I call the breadsticks.”

“--Hey, watch the hair!”

Caitlin’s gaze slid over to her husband, who winked in return.

“You were the one who wanted a houseful of crazy kids,” he reminded

Caitlin huffed. “That was you.”

“Oh?” Cisco’s eyes gleamed with amusement. He opened the screen door to call in the younger ones. “Heath! Ellie! Get ready for dinner.”

Amalia opened a breach to her bedroom to toss her jacket onto her bed. “You wanted us to be normal?” She snorted. “We must’ve been an epic disappointment.”

Nah. Caitlin loved her bunch dearly just as they were. She smiled, wiping her hands on her jeans and opened the first box. Caitlin’s mouth twisted with distaste. “The only epic disappointment is that you ordered The Elongated Pizza and not Killer Calzones for dinner.”

#tkv fic #killervibe #killervibe fic #fluff #Dante Stein Ramon #Amalia Ramon

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simplyskipper · 5 years

Text

The tired sigh that slipped past her lips was unheard by those around her. The sounds of children screaming in excitement and the faint music of the main attraction was much more overpowering.

Scarlett didn’t like this place, nor this town. It reeked of dark mysteries that she didn’t want to learn of, ones that scared her horribly.

Yet here she was, still stuck in the tiny town.

Her mother had asked if Scarlett could watch her younger brother today. Scarlett, of course, accepted, despite the fact she had slept five hours in the past week and was looking forward to catching up on her rest. Thus was the life of a nurse.

Scarlett scanned the building once again, her eyes locating a man who she hadn’t seen earlier. He too looked exhausted, but there was a small smile on his face as he watched the children.

His dark eyes eventually met hers, his hand moving slightly in a tiny wave. She responded the gesture, before looking away as a tired young man presented her with a greasy pizza.

“Colin!” She called, leaning back over the booth as she searched for her smaller sibling. “Pizza!”

A small army of about four children rushed over to her, Scarlett’s younger sibling at the lead. They sat down and excitedly consumed the Pizza, Scarlett taking more care to remove the unholy quantities of grease atop the meal.

After the children ate and left (with her tiredly reminding them to clean their hands) she hear a deep chuckle and a man appeared in the corner of her vision.

“Quite a handful, aren’t they?” Greeted the man she had waved to, his curly red locks a mess atop his sharp face. He held his hands briefly at the booth across from her, Scarlett replying with a small nod.

“That’s a nice way to put it.” Scarlett replied, rubbing her face tiredly as he took a seat across from her.

“You look to young to be a mother.” He commented.

“I’m the sister. My brother’s the blonde one.” She waved her hand in their general direction. “Mom asked me to watch him, something came up with work.”

“That makes more sense. You two are practically identical.” He held out a hand for her, and she noticed slight scars underneath his sleeve. “William Afton.”

She took his hand and shook it firmly, a light smile on her face. “Scarlett Barton.” She introduced. They released hands and she found herself playing with her hair, a nervous habit of hers.

Scarlett wouldn’t consider herself social, she tended to get nervous when talking with someone new. Whenever this happened she found herself fixing her hair; taking out the ponytail and replacing it over and over. It helped her focus herself and have something to do.

“What brings you here?” She inquired, struggling to meet his eyes so instead focusing on his large nose.

“I’m one of the founders, and the manager.” He replied, leaning back as he looked around again. He made a hand gesture to someone Scarlett couldn’t see, but she didn’t look.

“Really?” She replied, stunned. “Sounds like fun.”

“It’s exhausting. Henry gets to have all the fun while I do the paperwork.” Henry, that was the name of the other founder, if Scarlett recalled correctly. She remembered seeing his face in the papers, a kind smile that stuck in her mind.

“I feel ya.” Scarlett replied. “I’m a Nurse.”

The pair spent the remainder of Scarlett’s stay talking about life, children, and the like. Afton commented how he had his own children and offered to bring them sometime so that Colin could make new friends. Scarlett graciously accepted, relieved at how friendly Afton was.

However, the young blonde didn’t notice the strange glint in the man’s eyes as he learned about her.

Everything he needed.

---

It was late when Scarlett was able to return to her apartment, having stayed up late working with a horribly ill patient. She walked, as she lived fairly close by and couldn’t afford a car just yet. She held a bag containing an ungodly amount of paperwork, her feet sore from standing all day.

Her eyes were fixed ahead of her, a small tune playing from her walkman. She didn’t hear the scuffle behind her.

She passed the pizzaria, a small smile gracing her features as she was reminded of William Afton.

Scarlett froze as she noticed that the front door was wide open. She squinted, walking towards it and peering inside. Why was it open? What had happened? She felt herself grow concerned from her newfound friend, and warily stepped inside the building.

It was so dark, she struggled to see. It was horribly unnerving, especially the lights shining on the humanoid beasts in the corner. She bit her lip as she stopped, taking out her earbuds and sliding them into her bag.

A loud slam caused her to turn, her eyes widening in horror as she saw the door had been closed. She rushed towards it but was stopped when a hand grabbed her wrist.

“Scarlett? What are you doing here?”

William Afton prided himself on his acting skills, something that made his - past times - easier. He donned a concerned expression as he clutched Scarlett’s wrist, her blue eyes wide with fear as she looked up at him.

God, he’s tall. Scarlett thought as she craned her neck to meet his gaze. “T-the door was open.” She stammered out, glancing at the door warily. “I thought something bad happened-”

William’s face relaxed, falling into a sympathetic look. “No, I was just airing out the building. I appreciate the concern, though.”

She relaxed only slightly, but the darkness did nothing to ease her fear. She tried to remove her wrist from his tight grip, but he was relentless.

“Will?” She asked. “I-I should probably -”

“Since you’re here, why don’t we have a bit of fun? I could use your help with something.”

---

Children screamed in joy, wide eyes fixed on Them as they moved with the programmed movements. They had no control over Themself, but They were used to it.

They had lost track of time, the days just blended together in Their memories. They had grown empty, careless, nothing.

They were machine.

But one thing They couldn’t forget was Him. The evil glint in His eyes as He took her life from her, the future she had hoped to excel in was ripped from her by His scarred hands.

As They danced, Their eyes met a figure leaning against the wall. There was a small smirk on His lips as He watched Them move.

He had power over Them.

They were trapped by His strings.

---

Sorry it’s not that great, I had a bit of trouble figuring out what had happened to her. I might change it in the future, but yeah! Here ya are!

Characters belong to @vsemily, you gotta check them out their stuff is so cool I love <333333

#fanfiction #fnaf #vsemily #nurse #f to pay respects

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gg-astrology · 5 years

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Cancer sun virgo moon makes someone veeery sarcastic? Or to keep things locked up and as a defensive mechanism use humor? I have a friend that likes dark humor soooo much, i never know when hes being serious or funny

[Below Cut: Cancer Sun - Virgo Moon 🍏]

These people are often more sensitive, a lot more discerning than they appear. Virgo as an earth sign helps with Cancer’s 'awareness’. They can overcome anything just by combining this along with their sensitivity: mark up an intuition/hunch and executive a quick plan of action. Quick thinking/on their feet, also a great sense of ‘danger/threat-perception’ (to approach or not approach -- common sense/Virgo).

Most likely, these people are much more aware of the wrong-doings in the world and social no-nos (antagonism/terrible conditions)-- they find themselves ‘catching’ onto these things

Thus it’s important to know (for these people) that they are sensitive people. That’s the whole point, you’re logical (truly, with Cancer/Virgo) and you may think you are tougher than you think you are/look. But you are sensitive, and that’s the core of the ‘self’ (what will help you with improving/developing once you accept this about urself).

You’re only consciously aware of the fact that you have a ‘natural affinity’ towards grim things, think of it as fascination or just something you can use to build yourself/social identity on. But once you come back into yourself, you’ll realize it’s also you trying to ‘desensitize’ yourself (self-protection/fascination). Because you do ‘catch’ onto them and become ‘fixed’ on them.

Only through self-awareness/acceptance of your own intuitive nature, your receptivity and delicacy can you work past your own barriers. See yourself and help yourself for who you are.

I think it comes back down to that right? Cancer/Virgo are rather dense to their own ‘softer’ nature. Their own intuition that’s outside just ‘perceptive/sharp to others’. When it comes to themselves, they’re largely unaware of how receptive/absorbing they are to the environment. And how that could affect them which is why they can be ‘too’ focused on something without a way of controlling/helping themselves sometimes.

With Cancer/Virgo combo -- you do want to learn how to help yourself. You want control, so you can discern the ‘good’ from the ‘bad’ and ‘fix’ some of your habits/personality sometimes.

If you just take this ‘grim nature’ thing as part of your core nature, you’ll feel personal every time it’s ‘attacked’. I’m saying to look at it differently, look at a different perspective. That maybe that isn’t ‘all you’ but rather a product of your sensitivity. If you can figure out that--- your mechanics is the ‘sensitive’ part, then you’ll have an easier time adjusting the ‘product’ of what becomes out of it. How to grow/learn/self-develop as well.

It’ll take some time to get here-- because God knows Cancer/Virgo won’t like self-introspection when it comes to figuring out the sensitive/delicate parts of their nature. With Cancer’s hard shell, forward-moving nature ( ‘it doesn’t matter it won’t help me/survivalist’) and Virgo’s obtuse/dense nature ( ‘just as long as it doesn’t cause me to feel weak/vulnerable or anxious’ ) -- they can just shake their metaphorical head and that’s self-denial for them.

Once you do realize you are sensitive tho, you start to get where all the sarcasm/dark humour is coming from (parts of it) --- it’s you becoming adept at ‘learning’ about your own flaws/what you need to ‘overcome’ in life, fusing in/mixing the ‘product of sensitivity’ in order to ‘cope’ with the constant antagonism and environment receptiveness you have (again: super sensitivity makes you do that, cause y know, you feel it threatening you thus you work out a plan to ‘get better’ or overcome it-- Cancer/Virgo doesn’t like not having a plan of action/atleast an idea of what to do in mind)

That’s enough chewing them out?? Let’s talk about some other things too

Cancer/Virgo has a lot of inner-strength about them--- too much sometimes-- that they tend to sacrifice/give too much to their environment ( ‘what needs to be done’) or others and lacks the kind of compassion back at themselves.

These people are always ready to listen, or be there for someone despite their hard-ships and personal challenges stacking up on them at the time. They’ll leave room to listen, give advice and be there for you if you need it. Because they understand that no challenge/difficulties is less/more than each other ( ‘just because someone is going through a tough time, doesn’t devalue your own challenges/situation’ )

Compassionate to a fault, to the point where sometimes it’s harder to talk openly about their problems than it is to listen to others.

These people feel wonky/uneasy when others are open to them/being givers (instead of receivers as Cancer/Virgos tends to be when it comes to-- y know, emotional venting/talks) and ask them to ‘unload’ their problems/depth (expectations of intensity, doesn’t like the idea of ‘unloading’ -- feels guilty or queasy, always a little introspective/insecure).

They’d rather be a giver, and is truly uncomfortable when they receive something back. Even if it’s due or ‘equal’ for the relationship to have it, they’re very traditional/stagnant in ‘roles’ they play (provider for others, not others providing for them) even when it’s receiving the same kind of kindness back (again; the thing about awareness of antagonism because a product of their sensitivity. So realizing that they’re sensitive is even more important to learning how to accept things graciously and knowing balance the healthy way)

Cancer/Virgo also makes for someone who’s pretty frugal, like that’s a thing. They tend to be more giving with others, when others need it/presents. When they can afford to buy things for others, they can and will -- more than their personal self/needs/self-care stuff.

Cancer/Virgo can often know when to ‘hit’ and when to ‘leave it be’ -- they’re receptive-- almost intuitive to the environment/situation/context that they’re in. If they really think it’s inappropriate (nothing constructive can be said about it) they won’t say anything (but they will have Opinions on it)

Most of the time they use their sharp wit to make constructive criticism, disguised as a light-hearted comment (adaptability/changeability of Virgo).

But you will Know that there’s a weight behind it. They’re level-headed, despite how flighty/”mysterious” they appear. They won’t let things get away unless they deem the situation ‘too dangerous/out of hands’ to fix

Cancer/Virgo makes for someone who’s wise, when they actually sit down and give an opinion on something. You can see that there’s an air of distance about them, like they’re living in a time past their age/history-- these people mature faster in their youth, often too observant and discreet-- they may feel like they connected things faster than their peers when they’re young. And thus when they grow up, they ‘catch up’ to their insightfulness and learns how to ‘blend’ it in with light-hearted conversations sometimes

It’s not really a defensive mechanism, it’s just their self-development and how they learned how to cope with themselves. It’s a ‘mechanism’? kinda? but it’s not meant to keep others out. It’s self-focused/self-centered. More to do with ‘fitting in’ than ‘keeping people out’

They don’t mean to be mysterious, they just realize that some truths..some things are better at an appropriate time/context to say out loud than most. This is them learning how to ‘let go/relax’ as they grow older, by learning how to mix-n-match the sharpened mind/heaviness in their youth (consciousness) with light-heartedness. It’s less about you personally, and more about them.

If we’re talking about defense mechanism tho, it’s the air of nonchalance about them sometimes. It’s something they’ll have to figure out, because while what they’re saying may be heavy and they don’t want the other person to stress (v observant/sensitive to their environment) they have a habit of adding two dichotomy together and hoping the effect will ‘even out’

It doesn’t--- it doesn’t make the ‘truth’ lost just bc you slap a smiley sticker over it. It just makes others even more concerned, confused and thinking you’re enigmatic/stay away from you sometimes.

Try to be pro-active in letting others in a lil bit more, to be open with yourself. Your own needs/wants and find balance. Learn things from Libra-- honestly, in how to accept and receive in equal values. And also learn how things don’t have to be so hard/bad all the time, change one tiny clog in your system-- and it’ll do wonders to help you

Kinda a mess but I hope this is helpful? 💕💕💕 I hope your friend gets to read it, or like someone understands what i mean by this skdnfksnk

#cancer sun #virgo moon #cancer-virgo #cancer #virgo #anon #asks

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newwayastrology · 5 years

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AN ACTUAL CONSULTATION EXAMPLE I get requests sometimes for the cliet to tape the consultation. I usually tell them that there will be no need for a tape because they will remember the one or two main points shown in the horoscope. In this case, the client said that she was going to take my Course and that listening to her own consultation might be of benefit later on down the line. She taped it and then wrote it out for me to use for instruction. This is it below: The first thing I always do is look for a hemisphere emphasis. The hemisphere emphasis is like the introduction to a book. It gets you in the ballpark of what to expect. Everything in a chart is within the context of the hemisphere emphasis. Here, it is northern and that immediately introduces a parental concern. Seeing that there is a parental concern, you look for corroboration and that is easy to see with the 4th House activity and the close square between the Sun and Moon, which is always an indication of parents who were not on the same page during conception, around the time of birth, or just in general. All parental rulers are involved in tension so there’s little doubt here that there was a substantive parental concern to discuss in this consultation. Whenever there is a parental concern, there is a psychological pattern that follows in real life that brings in self-esteem concerns, a delay in finding out just who one is in life (causes a lot of mistakes to be made; this is seen when the ruler of the Ascendant is involved in tension or is retrograde)) and it all usually spills out in relationships with people, especially personal relationships. This is psychiatry, real life expectations. The 2nd House (self-esteem) has obvious tension shown between the rulers of the 2nd House and 5th House, as well as the rulers of those Houses. What does that tell us? First, an explanation. In a Natural horoscope (has Aries on the Ascendant, Taurus on the 2ndm Gemini on the 3rd, etc), the 2nd House is always square to the 5th House. The 5th House is one’s sexual identity. It’s where we look to see if there are any challenges giving love. So, when there are planets involved that tie these Houses together, we expect that there is something about the way this woman feels about herself that causes a challenge of some kind when it comes to giving love. Let’s break it down with significator dynamics. The Moon is square the Sun and Saturn. This incorporates the 1st, 2nd, and 7th Houses – delay in identity realization, self-esteem, and relationships. We start to get the beginnings of a theme. The Jupiter-Pluto conjunction in the 2nd squares Venus. It refers to overdoing things, relationally and sexually. When Venus and Pluto are in hard aspect, there is usually a relational perspective that causes problems for the person because it is out of line with what’s possible in that person’s reality. The sexual identity is the 5th House. What happens to that identity during sex with someone else is shown through the 8th House. The 8th is ruled by Uranus and Uranus trines Venus and has no tension. So, this leads us to believe that she is just fine when she is having sex with someone else. The issue here is what she brings to the table when it comes to giving love. Mars squares the Ascendant, exactly……anger taken in from the early home. Mercury-Neptune in 4 equates to idealism/confusion in the home. Now, I check to see if there is anything at the Sun/Moon midpoint. There is nothing contacting it but it is at the Aries Point, which means a projection of ego and relational things that is worn on the sleeve for all to see. I also see Venus=Ura/ASC=Mars/Ura=Sun/Node. It’s all relational/sexual stuff. The Sun-Moon-ASC blend of Scorpio-Leo-Cancer suggests a deeply privately, controlling emotional life energy that is expressed through a personality that needs recognition and it is all expressed through an emotional security-seeking image. You’d expect a person with a strong sense of purpose with fixed emotions that easily dramatize sexual or sensational matters. Expectations of fulfillment from others is strong, especially when it comes to ego security and love needs. Notice the red marks in the aspect grid. They are quintiles. When there are multiple quintiles, creativity needs to be important, if nothing more than in a serious hobby. Quite often, it is a part of or focus on creativity in the job or career. One midpoint picture, Sun=Mer/Ven, is another indication of creativity. The period on the end of the sentence is Neptune conjunct Mercury. This is a decided, emphasized creativity…a strong focus of imagination. It also refers to confusion at home. Plu=Ven/Sat really, really emphasizes the relational/sexual control factors shown in the chart. Then, on the other hand, there is Mars=Ven/Plu, a very sexual midpoint. And, Ven=URA/Mc=Mars/ASC. I have three concerns to address with her: parents, self-esteem, relationships/sex. THE CONSULTATION Me: Thanks for being exactly on time. Even though this is Skype, it is good to meet you. We are going to have a great discussion today. Her: I am excited. My goodness, what a sexy voice you have. I would be standing over your shoulder if we were married. (laughs). I know how these women are out here. (That statement from her immediately told me that her issues relationally are because she is controlling and she is controlling because she is insecure. She is insecure because the relationship model she got from home through her parents is dysfunctional). Me: Thank you. I have received voice compliments my entire life but you didn’t pay me to talk about my voice so let’s get to you. In a nutshell, the central energy of this horoscope is probing, passionate, deeply emotional and needs to have control by knowing everything. This basic energy is expressed through a personality that needs recognition and ego security. All of this is expressed to others who don’t know you very well through an emotional, nurturing image. In a nutshell, this horoscope suggests that you come from a parental situation that wasn’t necessarily fulfilling and functional. From this, you absorbed feelings that created self-esteem concerns that affect your life intensely when it comes to relationships and sex. As well, there is anger absorbed from the parental situation that probably caused you to make a lot of errors in life before you finally understood who you are. Let’s begin with you telling me about your parents. Her: They fought all the time and I mean physically. I have seen them hit each other a million times and they’ve been married 25 years! Me: What do you think you took from their relationship? Her: I’m a real bitch. I was married and divorced three times by the time I was 21 years old. I don’t take no shit. (Rulers of the 1st and 7th in conflict) Me: Your libido is strong or does it suffer from all this anger you’ve absorbed and make things difficult when it comes to being intimate? Her: My libido is overwhelming. I have been to Sexaholics Anonymous for it. There was a time when I couldn’t even wipe myself after a pee without masturbating. It’s nothing for me to come a dozen times a day masturbating. And, during sex, hell, a kiss on the neck makes me cum. I am very multi-orgasmic, even explosive. I squirt like a urination. Me: So, then, would you say that you are controlling, sexually speaking? (Saturn means being controlled or being controlling.) Her: Unfortunately, yes. There was one time when I had a real bad day at work. My boyfriend had a root canal that day. When I got home, he was just trying to deal with the beginnings of pain but I needed to get laid. I didn’t at all care about his feelings. I want what I want when I want it. I guess I am controlling, huh? I knew I was wrong. His jaw was swollen and everything but I needed to cum and that’s all I cared about. Me: It’s good that you understand that you were wrong in retrospect. The idea is to be thoughtful BEFORE an act, not afterwards. Tell me about the importance of creativity in your life. Please, at least say you have a creative hobby. And, oh yea, what did that guy do? Her: By the time I got done giving him head, he forgot about his pain and did me. When I came in from work the next day, he was gone and had taken all of his stuff. Creativity? I manage a clothing design company. I approve or reject all designs and I am responsible for the prudent use of an 8-figure budget. Even at home with sex, I am very creative. I like to play games. I like to find ways to bring a man almost to “that point” and then stop and go watch TV or something. Then, I’ll get him again and stop. I start this on Friday night and do it again on Sunday. By the time Sunday comes, he is about to lose his mind. Creativity underscores everything I do. You are good and your wife is lucky. All you’d have to do is talk to me and I would climax. Me: You are a mess. What a flirt but ya know, that is what you do to try and control the room. It rescues your fragile sense of self-esteem but no matter how many sexual conquests you have, you still aren’t comfortable looking in the mirror, right? Her: Like I said, you are good. Sex rescues me. I suck at relationships but I am a champion with sex. Me: Have you ever considered therapy to address these buried feelings of anger, the fractured self-esteem and the rest? Her: Really? Do you think it will help? Me: Absolutely. There are some things in the depth of you that you need to address and understand so that you can be more productive, relationally-speaking. Plus, the pain. You have a confident personality but we both know that you are as soft as water. All you did was teach yourself some behaviors that hide the pain. You don’t want anyone to know how very vulnerable you are to suggestions that offer emotional security. The perfect situation for you is having a great family that is very secure with a husband who treats you like a queen. Her: You are trying to make me cry, right? Me: No, you are trying to prevent yourself from showing real emotion. You’ll show sexual emotions because you control those scenarios but when sex is removed, you become an actress because your model for relationships is based on terminally feuding parents. You’ve got to be comfortable with who you are and understand that you were a victim in the traffic pattern of your parents. They didn’t fight because of you. They had issues before you were born. Did either of them have a great upbringing? Her: You are scary. No, neither one of my parents had both parents. You just went to my soul. I feel naked. Well, look…..is there anything major showing for the rest of this year? Me: Not at all. But don’t let that get in the way of therapy. Her: Okay. I am embarrassed about the flirting with you but really, your voice is heavenly. I know I am not the first woman to say it. It’s just the truth. You can’t possibly have any more to talk about with my chart. If you do, too bad. Nothing else is important. I’m going to seek out someone to talk to professionally. I don’t want to continue this way just being a nice piece of ass for men. I want something meaningful. I don’t want to have to offer sex just to snuggle with someone on Christmas Eve, you know? Me: Let me know how the therapy goes. We covered the main theme of your horoscope. If you were with another astrologer, you might get a lot of information that isn’t really helpful. I go straight for the jugular. Most people have one or two major issues that, if cleared up, work wonders for fulfillment in life. Get that therapy, okay? Her: I will. One last thing…..tonight, thinking about your voice is…. ME:…..JUST STOP. You are insane. See ya. Her: (laughing) Okay. Bye.

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goatpaste · 7 years

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#4-14 for goat 1 !!!

oough here i goooo

4) Give us a summary of their backstory.

(ooughhh im gonna actually go long on this because yeaaah)

they grew up just outside of Arizona in a large desert ranch with his parents and relatives. he loved to roam around the wild wasteland and catch baby geckos and help tend to the bighorners.

when he got older he took up a job with a mail company who was lookin for couriers and he did the job fairly well. he got work done and blended into the business until the one job that changed his day to day life

during his delivery was chased down and shot by benny. the process of the chase he fell off a cliff into the town of goodsprings tearing the right side of his face on the way down. then he was dragged out to the grave sight where he was shot and buried.

he was brought back by the doctor of goodsprings, and with the memory of what had happened he fell into a depressive state and left town. he traveled for a month with no goal until he ended up into the powder gangers campsite. living there as a member of the gang. he died his hair and rehabilitated himself with weapons as his vision and hearing had been ruined on the right side of his face. he was a changed man, very quiet and stoic.

when the NCR attacked the campsite leaving Goat without a home he finally lifted himself out of his self deprecating hole long enough to deiced to hunt down benny and get revenge.

he found benny and had him crucified with the legion (Goat had no connect with the legion let alone knew their deal beyond the fact that they offered a terrible fate for benny)

after this he found himself wandering the waste without a goal once again. the vegas strip asked for his help, he spent time with the kings and tried talking to other factions but found the weight of the responsibilities he had been handed far too much for himself to handle and ran away.

he found himself on big mountain with the think tank and.. made a home there? he found himself to like the life there and wanted not to go back and have to take responsibility for potentially ruining people’s lives.

he constantly thinks about when he left behind and doesnt how their fairing without him and terribly fears that his decision to do nothing hurt more than it did to do anything.

5) What’s their full name and does it have a meaning? Do they have any nicknames and how did they get em?

they had a normal name before getting a job in the courier business before changing it to Goat officially for both privacy and fitting to their job in the wasteland. also its a trans thing lol

he wont tell anyone his original name but if you dig into it you can find papers he signed when joining the mail corp with the name Gindel Hunther. but he claims its just a name he used to sign papers before changing his name

6) What’s their sexual, romantic, and gender orientation? Do they feel comfortable telling other people?

Goat is bi.. ish. they prefer men but like women to sometimes. he is trans and identifies as a man. and their plenty comfortable with their identity and will get in your face if you make a fuss about it.

he is interested in people but also like comes off as angry and intimidating a lot so most people dont either like him or are very nervous around him. so the closest to a relationship he has is flings with people and his stealth suit mk ii who hes close and like to talk to

7) Do they have any mental illnesses? How do they cope?

oh absolutely, big time he has ptsd (along with other things) and usually ends up just tinkering with weapons and electronics to fix them. if that doesnt work then he’ll go outside and take a walk around big mt or just lay down in the dirt

8) Do they have any medical conditions? Is medicine/ treatment available for them?

not really, beyond their mental illness they dont have any physical illness. the most they have is scars and bad hearing in the right side. oh also has spine troubles (at least until they arrive to big mountain and no longer had to worry about his spine lol)

9) How much do they care about their outer appearance? What’s their “beauty routine”? How often do they shower/ bathe?

they used to be pretty into it, they would want to look good as a mailman as he was the face of the deliveries and was very friendly and looked sharp. they keep a very tidy appearance.

then the incident with Benny half his face was left disfigured and he kinda just gave up? he wandered into the waste and joined the powder gangers for a few months before coming out of a depressive state. he made it his quest to get revenge on benny by any means possible. his got covered in scars and blemishes from both gang life and finding benny.

he showers and brushes his hair but as for how his body looks he just doesnt care

10) What do they fear the most?

being a failure. letting people down. he knew the people of the strip wanted his help but he ran away from it all and hides away in big mountain. but he doesnt want to go back, he scared of messing up and ruining new vegas and doesnt know who should be in control.

11) They’re biggest flaw? Do they recognize it as a flaw?

their biggest flaw is their kinda selfish. they do most things for themselfs. their not out to put others down just to get better in life. but if he is given big responsibilities he cant fix with a fight then he runs away.

12) What are they most insecure about?

their lazy eye and bad hearing, they dont care about the scars or the boobs or the lackof eyebrows. but their off putting eye and the fact that they have a hard time hearing people when they try to ask him stuff or talk to him tends to make people think he doesnt like them or doesn't care enough to listen and is generally just rude. but he’s just havin a hard time and feels self caution about how these things make people perseve things about him.

he still has the part of him who wants to get along with others.

13) What Wasteland threat do they fear the most? (ex. Deathclaws, super mutants, raiders)

he really likes animals so as tough as deathclaws are he respects the creature and stays his distances and watches from afar. but he does have a fear for mantis. he gets the jitters around big the incests all together.

also heights, cliffs and mountains tend to freak him out

14) What’s their zodiac sign or which one do you think they relate to the most? What are their placements (if you know them)? (ex. Aries sun, Taurus moon, Aquarius Venus)

goat’s birthday is January 21st so he’s an aquarius

and i dont know a damn thing about the zodiacs beyond this lol

#long post #my ocs #goat #doqmeet

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