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densitywell · 8 months

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Marisha's comment about how Relvin is one of those parents who ended up with a child they didn't know what to do with really gets to the heart of it, i think, and is such a good way to tie the fantasy element of Imogen's powers into things more tangible. because there are really a lot of parents like Relvin in real life, who have a child with the person they're happily married to and never expect to be left alone with the kid. or who expect a ""normal"" (read: cisgender and heterosexual, able-bodied, relatively neurotypical and obedient, etc.) child and end up with one who's ""difficult"", who demands more or different of them than what they believe they signed up for. and that's not entirely entitlement on a parent's part- many cultures' common frameworks of parenthood and child-rearing do not include space for these children. it makes sense that Relvin was unprepared. raising any child is difficult, and raising a child whose needs you were never taught how to accommodate, who the world is so cruel to, is even more challenging.

and yet. and yet, the person who bears the brunt of the harm in these situations will always be the child. they're the ones who have to live every moment of how the world treats them, without the support that their parent is supposed to provide them. and when asked to care for his child even when she turned out to be ""difficult"", Relvin couldn't. for entirely sympathetic reasons, of course. he tried, in his own way. i don't think he's a bad guy. but he's let his own broken heart bleed onto his daughter. he hasn't been able to give her much else.

#imogen temult #critical role #cr #cr3 #like it's really sad what happened to relvin we all know this. but seeing how dani scrambled over herself last night #to clarify that she DOESN'T think relvin is an awful person just bc she thinks he's a shitty dad made me feel for her so much bc like.#sometimes the Posts. about him. feel a little “why do bash dead beat dads but never question if the kid has bad vibes.” so.#especially in comparison to liliana who is 1. worse than relvin 2. still sympathetic 3. more interesting to a nearly comical degree #and while he gets so much sympathy On Here ppl mostly post abt her to wish for her death or call her a bitch. so!#parenting talk is a minefield bc some ppl resent the idea that a child deserves anything more from a parent than basic needs being met #and refuse to include emotional needs among them. so like idk if that's your thing i don't rlly give a shit man #crposting

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thebestusernamepossible · 3 months

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‘We need more morally gray women’ you can’t even handle Ceroba from Undertale Yellow

#undertale #undertale yellow spoilers #undertale yellow #uty #you see when I was playing I saw the cutscene with kanaka and understood she was at her absolute low #and that she’s NOT. a bad person #(bad people isn’t someone I believe in anyway but you get my point )#she’s grief stricken #and mentally unwell #also the fact we demonize her and not chujin??#hello??#nether of them are evil #but still #but I just a saw a playthrough with the most dogs hit take #dogshit take #that ‘I’ll mercy her because she doesn’t deserve death she’s too evil’#fuck that!!#and I just KNOW if she was a man who had lost his wife and daughter that way she would NOT get that much hate (and she would be more popular #but I’m not picking that fight)#anyway yeah I love morally gray women #and y’all are the same people who couldn’t handle the Steven universe women #and also Alphys #she has so many haters but she’s genuinely one of the most interesting in teh game #fandom misogyny #I love fandom but my god I just KNOW half of my favourite women would not get this hate if they were a man

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laesas · 8 months

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RamKing + Venus Flytrap || by kinnbig

#HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO VENUS FLYTRAP ON AO3!!! Happy 1 Year of fic posting to my very cool and very smart and very talented wife!!!#My Engineer #RamKing #Perth Nakhun #Lay Talay #KingRam #tumblr user kinnbig hiiiiiii #ram myen #king myen #myen #bee.gif #we are SO BACK babyyyyy #if you havent read it!!! go do that now!!!!! please!!! its just!!! lovely!!!!!! and perfect!!! and linked in the description hehe #Your mission should you choose to accept - is to gently bully darcey into finishing the rest of that series #by leaving soooo many nice comments on the fic that she has to complete it hehehe #also big thank u Rissa tumblr user divorcedmalewife for being so so niceys about my idea and being the bestest sounding board hehe #I suffered more than god to get the colouring lookin pretty on these bad boys but OH it was worth it!!!#it's what ramking and my lovely wife DESERVE <3 #also did anyone notice the photo frame and ram and king staying saturated in the photo frame while everyone around them fades??? did you???#do u see the visual metaphor of it all #do u understand #I'm insane about them forever thanks for asking #I love themb #flashing gif cw #lgbtedit #thai bl #thai bl edit #ql edit

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patroclusdefencesquad · 1 year

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in memory of yennefer's fancy, glamorous outfits. gone but never forgotten <3

#there are a couple of other variations but no clear shots of them :(#i like her furs from episode 4 but we barely see them #anyway!! bring back these vibes for season 3!!#do i love her magic 'how do i stay up??' dress from s2? yes but she deserves more beautiful fancy dresses #bring back the 👀 dresses #the witcher #yennefer of vengerberg

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whitepain · 3 months

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also while scavenging through his voice lines i found these under hung_out_recently probably from the cut companion activities... so wholesome

#i like the idea of him and arthur feigning their resentment towards each other because everyone expects them to be #but when theyre away from prying eyes theyre gentle and caring for one another #theyve should of kept the companion stuff in UGH we couldve explored the world with johnny at arthurs side.... his rightful place #theres lines for going to the saloon with him i need to see arthur and john being goofy drunks together #and then having the most sweaty intimate animalistic sex in a druken stupor #dutch javier and micah also have companion lines so it seems it was pretty far into development until they cut it for whatever reason #its almost like rockstar couldve added this stuff back in postlaunch... *eye twitch*#also i was trying to look for these other converstions between arthur and john that werent in the game either that someone posted on twitter #because they were very exlovers who still have feelings for one another coded. couldnt find them tho... maybe i have to dig deeper #arthur literally says “awh poor john have i been neglictin' you?” STRAIGHT OUT OF A DAMN FANFIC #i feel like a lot of morston stuff was cut and its pissing me off UGH we deserved to be baited more often. its okay #we have “cmon sunshine ill buy you a whiskey” among other things. i love these two and their stupid ways of showing love for each other #yapping in the tags per usual... i just always have a lot to say about these two #morston

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skrunksthatwunk · 4 months

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love like you / maternal pang

bonus under cut:

the first stephanie + the maternal pang tone destroyer i couldn't include bc it's a serious comic

#you might wanna zoom in for this one sorry #anyway i think putty likes orel. not enough to really get off his ass and help him but there's a fondness there #and i think his position of power relative to the rest of the town could be helpful in influencing things if he like. believed in them more #but he doesn't really expect any better from himself or the rest of moralton and i think it's because he doesn't really believe goodness is #attainable esp by christian/biblical standards. he thinks it's kind of a pretense for everyone. but then stephanie is good so what does tha #say about him? or moralton? i think he'd get a bit better with her around.#it'd make him insecure but she's an encouraging type so. maybe he'd get there eventually #we don't get to see much of that but eh. i think this show is hopeful at the end of the day. i don't think moralton WOULD change much but i #Could change a little. um. anyway that's what this comic is about lol #also im in love with stephanie. so.#moral orel #orel puppington #rod putty #reverend putty #stephanie putty #skrunkart #sorry if the models are kinda inconsistent i haven't drawn these fellers before #it's occurring to me that this is probably the longest comic i've posted on here? just by panel number anyway #which like. moral orel deserves it but that's kinda surprising because i've certainly made longer stuff before #but it's mostly oc stuff from like 3 years ago i never posted and don't really plan on posting #i guess i just tend to stick to gags or quick emotional punches and this is a more lengthy character exploration #which i tend to save for fics. but it's winter break so i've got the time. maybe that's it #this was supposed to be a quick thing where i got to draw stephanie what happened. anyway more moral orel stuff on the way but sheesh #this one kinda got away from me is all. but i like it :)#also full disclosure i forgot to go back and figure out stephanie's tattoos and i don't care enough to. sorry steph ily but im done #also btw i DO think most of moralton are true believers they're just like. assholes/hypocritical. they're godfearing but lazy when it comes #to ACTUALLY helping people (or otherwise let self interest get in the way leading to loopholes etc)#sorry i haven't written about the show before so the meta analysis/interpretation is leaking in #does moral orel have an abbreviation? it's a pretty short name so maybe not. i think moror would be cute :)#also i discovered i can do half-tones on firealpaca so i wanted to try it out :3

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villainihavedonethymotheronao3 · 28 days

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Obviously, DnD characters are wish fulfillment and lots of people don’t want to address the slow senescence of the vulnerable human form in their fun games. That being said, narratively, I do think that levels should probably fluctuate over the course of a lifetime. The level twenty world-saver is going not going to stay level twenty into their old age—that’s not how athletes and retirement work! Wisdom and Charisma casters maybe, but your STR/CON/DEX builds are going to soften with age. They might still be the spryest bastards in the old people tai chi group, but “terrifyingly in shape 70 year old” is not the same as “deadliest man on the planet”. Drop those old folks a few levels, give them some creaky bones and presbyopia. It’s good for them, promise.

#slamming a stick into the ground like the pope ‘MORE WIZARDS WITH MINOR COGNITIVE DECLINE’#old washed up bards and barbarians who had to get a hip replaced #the only classes that are probably immune to it are druids and clerics #based solely on the power of very old gardeners and priests #they’re probably good until they start losing 3x oriented #but even monks I I think have the right to take an arrow to the knee #the other aspect of this is differing lifespans which mean that when parties do get back together for a reunion tour #there are incentives to keep them apace with their peers #and the format of dnd means that the only other time most people see their old characters is in little cameos when friends gm #and no one wants to nerf their friend’s baby #but with in the era of more experimental actual play and game design #I think we can move past these hang ups and give the people what they deserve #old rogues with arthritis who are still really good but won’t stop complaining about their glory days

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puppyeared · 2 months

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i wanna post my skip to loafer art but i cant do it knowing ppl are gonna put it on tiktok and pinterest bc itd be like. bringing an invasive species ykwim

#my meds just kicked in so im feeling talkative but truly idk how to explain it #its like. with anything else id be more than happy to introduce it to ppl like monkie kid and mp100. witch hat maybe but its personal to me #but skip to loafer is special to me. and i feel bad for saying this bc other ppl do deserve to watch smth they will enjoy #hell the reason i got into it was bc my friend was kind enough to lend me her copy and i got hooked #its so ironic im saying this esp given how insecure i am abt depicting characters wrong. but i really dont want to look thru the tags #and see them on a 'can i copy your homework' tier list. or ppl getting mad abt why egashira mitsumi and shima cant just be a throuple #its just!! i wont stop you if thats how you like to engage with the show or how you interpret it bc ill just ignore it and leave u alone!!#and theres no objective wrong way of doing it!! and i know that interacting with the work is what forms a community after all!!#but keeping it tight knit is just easier for me bc nobody has to worry abt making each other laugh and we can enjoy it for what it is #fully aware im saying this as someone whos drawn monkie kid art with text post memes and owl house draw the squad templates #but at the same time i just. dont want to explain myself or give ppl reasons why shima and mitsumi are ace coded just bc it 'feels right'#fandom is a communal thing and it feels so hypocritical thinking this. too many conflictng thoughts that idk what to act on #yapping

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carnivalcarriondiscarded · 5 months

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i just spent the last like hour going through all the lights out au stuff and im OBSESSED rn PLEASE

i'm not sure how to help you! enjoy the brainrot

#oh oh actually would you like a tidbit #a cute little Idea i had the other day perhaps!#so i had this thought of wally seeing how Down howdy is #poor man is sliding into that understim Depression yk yk. also regular depression bc life sucks for them atm #and wally remembers Oh! he found stickers a while back #so he spends some time searching for them and finds a mostly unused sheet #he unpeels a smiley face and sticks it right on howdy's nose #howdy: ??? what was that #wally - showing him a sticker sheet: we arent good at making you laugh... but you still deserve a smile #wally: you can take it off if you want #howdy - in tears: no its great im keeping it forever #rambles from the bog #wh lights out au #and then frank is sarcastically like wheres MY sticker #wally takes him seriously and gives him a butterfly right on his cheek #and then poppy gets some lil hearts on her beak #frank howdy and poppy each choose a sticker and put all three on wally #a peace sign on the back of his hand... a rainbow under his missing eye... a star on his forearm...#its a little sticker party! it cheers them all up! whenever one of them looks more unhappy then normal #BOOP have a sticker! until they run out... but they try to make the fun last #they save a couple of stickers for everyone else when they wake up #bc at this point they have hope that everyone Will! eventually...#anyway yall might see little shapes on the neighbors when i draw this au going forward #please know that they are The Stickers!

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supercantaloupe · 1 year

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What is the antisemitism in TUC season 1? Does it have to do with Wally the golem?/gen

[ID: an ask from an anonymous tumblr user that reads "would love to hear more about the antisemitism in unsleeping city! was a while ago that i watched it and can't remember what you might be referencing but definitely want to be aware of it.]

no, it's not about willy the golem -- i actually think willy is a great addition to the season (even if i wish we got to see more of him), and an indication to me that brennan/the showrunners were definitely trying to be sincere and inclusive. i want to make it clear that i don't think anything antisemitic in tuc is there intentionally; i think it's there out of simple ignorance, which is also why i think fans don't frequently see/comment on it either. but i don't think that's an excuse, either.

my grief with tuc1 is largely centered around its portrayal of robert moses as the villain. especially by making him a greedy, power-hungry lich working en league with bloodsucking vampires. (also his mini is literally a green skinned skull man in a suit. yikes.) here's the thing; i know robert moses was a real life horrible person, who actually was racist and powerhungry etc etc. and i know that robert moses, the real actual person, was jewish. my grief with tuc1 is not that they chose to use robert moses over literally any other person (real or fictional) to be their season villain (though i'd be really curious to know what tuc1 would have looked like with a different villain), but that they chose to take a real jewish person, turn them into an antisemitic caricature, and then only barely add other portrayals of judaism to balance that out.

like, tuc isn't completely devoid of other jewish representation. as you mention, there's willy the golem -- and again, i really like willy, and i love that it's a portrayal of a golem that's faithful to jewish folklore (ie as a benevolent, guardian construct rather than a mindless destructive monster. i am not a fan of how 'golem' is so frequently misused as a generic enemy creature in other fantasy and ttrpg spaces, including other seasons of d20). but as i said earlier, i wish we see more of him in the season, because he's not around very much, and feels a little more like worldbuilding than a full character to me. also, he's not human. jews are people.

the only other human jewish character in tuc1 is...stephen sondheim. which, again, yeah, that's a real person who really was jewish. but i really wouldn't blame you if you had no idea of that when watching tuc1. maybe from the name you could guess he might be jewish, but i don't think people ought to make a habit of trying to 'clock' someone being jewish by having a 'jewish-sounding' surname. as he's portrayed in tuc1, you'd never know he's jewish, unless you happen to already be pretty knowledgeable about the man in real life. it's far more likely you'll know him as a theater legend than anything else (may his memory be a blessing).

now i'm not saying that brennan or the showrunners should have played up the jewishness of Real Person Stephen Sondheim to counterbalance the depiction of robert moses; that just feels weird to me, especially considering that sondheim was literally alive when tuc1 was filmed and released. it's a tricky thing to portray real people in fiction alongside made up characters, especially when they are contemporaries, and i don't think 'outright caricature' is the way to go about that. nor do i think that moses' jewishness should have been played up at all, because again i don't think that would have been particularly true to the person/character, and also Fucking Yikes. but, c'mon, if you hear the names 'moses' and 'sondheim' next to each other, which one do you associate more with judaism?

and as it stands, these are the only representations of judaism in tuc1. one admittedly nice but very minor nonhuman character; one human character you'd never be able to tell was jewish; and a third human character who, while never explicitly referenced as jewish, plays into some really hurtful antisemitic stereotyping. and it was a choice to not include anything else. maybe not a deliberate one, probably more likely one made out of simple ignorance than anything else, but a choice nonetheless. in a city with one of the largest and most visibly jewish populations in the country, and a culture that is inextricably influenced by that jewish population. a jewish population which has been and continues the target of rising hate crimes for years. i know that nyc means different things to different people, and everyone's nyc is their own -- but my nyc is jewish, and it sucks that that its jewishness is referenced directly in only one very minor way, which is greatly overshadowed by its, in my view, really insidious indirect references.

i don't know exactly how to go about addressing this. obviously, the show can't be changed by now. even if it could, i think the final product would be very significantly different from what it is now if the villain was something/someone else. i think including more references to jews in new york, more (human) jewish characters, hell, even mentioning hanukkah celebrations and menorahs in windows (it takes place in late december, after all; depending on the year it's not at all out of place for hanukkah to coincide with xmas!) would help. having literally any more positive jewish representation in tuc1 would, i think, help balance the bad stuff that's there. because, yeah, robert moses was real and he was terrible and he was jewish. but he's one jewish guy in a city with over a million jews, the vast majority of whom are just normal people. i don't want him to be the only vision of us that people get, in tuc1 alone or in any media. i'm not saying that jews can't or shouldn't be villains in fiction; but especially if you are a goyische creator, you should be really careful in how you're portraying us, and if there are other contrasting depictions in your work, too, in order to not (even accidentally) demonize jewish people as a whole.

#sasha answers #anon #unsleeping city #the unsleeping city #long post #sorry for not putting this under a read more but i think people ought to see this. or at least #if two people felt the need to ask me about it then at least they would want to see the full thing uncovered #also fwiw i do think that they tried to address this to some extent when they made tuc2 #with more scenes with willy (and incorporating more golem folklore with the animating word in his mouth -- nice touch!)#the jewish immigrant family in the photo flashback encounter (even if the hanukkiah in the picture isn't exactly kosher lol)#and ESPECIALLY rabbi mike. i ADORE rabbi mike. i think he's a WONDERFUL addition #i do still wish he was a more important/prominent character. cause again he isn't in it all that much.#(and he's still like. the only new jewish human character in the campaign.)#but i recognize what he represents and i am happy about it #i do think brennan & the d20 crew tried to improve after tuc1. i do. i see their efforts and i applaud them for it #but still to my knowledge they haven't ever directly addressed the errors made in season 1 #and it's extremely rare that i even see other fans mention it #and like. sorry but i am tired. i am. we deserve better. we deserve portrayals in media that show us as People #not just as evil monsters #anyway you're welcome to rb this but be cool in the notes esp if you're a goy #other jews are welcome to (respectfully) disagree with me if they want #also if you so much as mention the word israel on this post you're getting blocked end of

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wyvernquill · 2 months

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One more snippet of the Dreamling Anastasia AU

...in which we witness Hob and Murphy's very first conversation (spoiler: it doesn't go well). Please enjoy!

Link to the Masterpost!

(Tag list, let me know if you want to be added or taken off: @10moonymhrivertam @martybaker @globglobglobglobob @anonymoustitans @sunshines-fabulous-legs @dreamsofapiratelife @malice-royaume @kcsandmanfan @acedragontype @okilokiwithpurpose @tharkuun @silver-dream89 @i-write-stories-not-sins-bitch)

---

For a moment, the scene unfolding before Hob makes him think he’s stepped into a fairytale - or perhaps a sweet and strange dream, haunting you ever so gently even after waking.

Once upon a time, thinks Hob, there was a Dream King draped in a cloak of midnight, and he held court over the ravens in a silver-winter forest under heavy, snow-laden boughs…

But then he blinks, and the silly, fanciful vision fades. The cloak is but a dark coat three sizes too large and marked by at least ten years’ worth of dirt and wear, the forest only a small and pitiful park fenced in by roads, and the snow a dirty grey, barely more than half-melted sludge where countless feet have trodden it down.

And the Dream King is only some beggar called Murphy, of course, uncanny resemblance be damned.

But there are ravens. Birds of all kinds, really, the sounds of their wings and their various songs nearly managing to drown out the noise of the city around them. Yet Hob is a practical man, and knows that they gather around their ‘king’ only because they’re clever little buggers waiting to be fed, and not thanks to any strange magics.

(Magic died when humanity rose up and brought the Endless low; and what little survived has fled, concealed itself, and would know better than to enchant a hundred or so birds in broad-if-cloud-dimmed daylight.

Magic died with Dream of the Endless, and all that is left are shadows and cheap facsimiles.

Magic died, and nothing will bring it back.)

And yet… there’s potential there, Hob thinks, as he watches Murphy draw his giant coat more tightly around himself, shivering but still holding his head high and proud, surveying the assorted fowl around him as if they were his subjects. There’s a sharp, delicate arrogance in his bearing that will serve their deception well.

And. Christ alive. He does look like him, doesn’t he. Like the Sandman himself, made flesh and bone and sweat and dirt. Made human. If Hob didn’t know, with absolute certainty… he could swear...

Ridiculous thought. Dream of the Endless would never sink so low as to get himself thrown out of a pub swearing and spitting, human or not.

Murphy’s eyes suddenly snap up, and Hob flinches instinctively, contemplates ducking behind the next tree or the column advertising the latest local plays - but the man’s gaze passes over him carelessly, long neck craning out from the ratty scarf wound around his throat as he scans the sky.

It’s the raven. The large, coal-feathered beast Murphy had with him at the pub, with the clever glint in its eye - and in its claws, it holds a whole loaf of bread, clearly pilfered from some bakery or street stall.

The raven drops the bread into Murphy’s lap, and then lands on his shoulder, cawing and nudging its beak against a sharp cheekbone in a strange avian gesture of affection.

Murphy rasps some sort of acknowledgement in his dark, hoarse voice that Hob is too far away to parse, stroking a finger along the bird’s side, before turning his attention to the bread.

His spindly, dirty fingers tear into it with the hungry desperation of a man who remembers with precise clarity when his last meal was, and also that it’s been far too long since then, and Hob’s stomach gives a sympathetic pang. He’s been there. Not so much recently - but he knows the slow gnaw of starvation, and will never forget it.

(He hasn’t gone hungry since meeting Gilbert, who’d rather skip on his own technically unnecessary meals if it meant his young human companion could eat his fill. Sometimes, Gil even hands Hob fruits he’s seemingly conjured up out of thin air, which are never as filling as the real thing, but taste heavenly enough to stave off hunger for a few more hours at least.

There must be some dream-magic there, something to do with Gil being, in all technicality, a meadow - but Hob doesn’t think about it too much. It’s sweet, the actions of a friend who truly cares, and that’s enough for him.)

Murphy raises the first morsel of bread up to his mouth…

…and feeds it to the raven.

Hob blinks.

Watches, as the man takes his own bite, chewing ravenously, and then tears another bit off the loaf, throwing it to the ground, birds immediately flocking around it, picking for their share.

The process repeats. Murphy goes through the entire loaf that way. One bite for the raven who stole the bread, one bite for Murphy himself, and one for the flocks of birds around him. Halfway through, the raven refuses its bites, presumably full, and from then on it’s one bite for Murphy, two for the birds. It’s already not the largest loaf, and a third of it is hardly enough to sate a grown man’s hunger - strangely selfless, this Murphy character. No wonder he’s thin as a rake.

(Then again, Hob supposes there’s strategy in it, teaching the birds that they’ll be well-rewarded for any bounty they bring him.

Altruism, or shrewdness? Hob wonders.)

Soon, there’s nothing left of the bread. Murphy still looks hungry, but it’s an exhausted, resigned hunger that’s there to stay. Hob doubts the man can remember a time he wasn’t hungry. This city is not kind to the starving, to the poor - Murphy might get a place in a workhouse, if he tried, but Hob doubts that quiet pride still shining through the veil of hunger would let him. And besides, they’re dying institutions, these days, workhouses - the modern world is turning up their noses at anything that might help the destitute, even as it churns out more and more of them. It’s a dark and miserable time they’re living in, and none of the glamorous parties the rich so love to throw these days will convince Hob otherwise.

But, well. If their scheme goes off without a hitch, then at the very least the new ‘Dream of the Endless’ will never go hungry again. Hob’s doing a public service here, if you look at it from the right angle - though he’ll be the first to admit that his main motivation is anything but selfless. Immortality is too rich a prize to pretend he doesn’t want it with every fibre of his being.

And he’ll not get it standing idly by and watching, that’s for sure.

Hob straightens his coat lapels, takes off his hat to comb his fingers through his overlong hair, places it back at a jaunty angle - and walks over to finally officially make this Murphy character’s acquaintance.

“Afternoon,” Hob says, still a few steps away, smile widening into a grin when Murphy’s gaze immediately fixes itself onto him, cold and filled with the sharp suspicion of a man most people go out of their way to ignore, and who does not trust direct address.

(The eyes give him away. Dream of the Endless had eyes like midnight stars, the depths of space and the glitter of distant galaxies eternally reflected in them. Strange eyes, inhuman eyes, endless eyes.

Murphy’s eyes are a pale, washed-out blue-grey, slightly sunken in their sockets, and perfectly ordinary.

No matter - they will already have to sell some cock-and-bull story about Dream having been forced into human form, the eyes will be the least of it.)

“What do you want?” Murphy growls, and that is perfect. The voice. Easily his best asset, besides the overall look. It’s right, scratchy and roughened by disuse, but just as deep and sonorous as Dream of the Endless's was. The harsh tone and tendency to curse like a sailor Hob witnessed at the inn will need to go, to be sure, this man speaks too much like a London gutter rat and not enough like the Lord of Stories - but, well, nothing a few lessons can't fix. Nobody else ever got the voice even remotely right, and this’ll already give them a lot more to work with.

“A moment of your time, m’lord. Nothing more.” Hob affects a cheeky bow, and does not waver under the cold disdain he receives in return. Mr. Murphy’s not a fan of teasing and gentle mockery, evidently - unfortunately, that is about 50% of Hob’s personality. They’ll get on just splendidly, won’t they. “Hob, at your service. Are you aware your lady sister is looking for you?”

A quick blink, even as Murphy’s entire scrawny body and haggard face goes very, very still.

“...I do not have a sister.” He says, only the slightest edge of uncertainty and confusion wavering in his voice. And then, “piss off, Robert Gadling” he adds, uncouth and vulgar, a scowl scrunching up his face. Oh, they’ll need to train that out of him, most certainly.

(Hob has not introduced himself as Robert, and certainly not as Gadling. That Murphy has named him thus nonetheless goes over both their heads.)

“No?” Hob smiles. “You’re not Dream of the Endless, then?”

Another blink - and then Murphy laughs, a horrible dissonant sound that seems like it ought to hurt his throat, the raven on his shoulder letting out a single caw alongside him.

“Are you drunk?” He snorts. “Dream of the Endless is dead. Every child knows it.”

“Every child believes it to be so. There’s a distinction.” Hob tries to take a step closer, but the sea of birds at their feet steadfastly refuses to part for him, so he thinks better of it. “You look exactly like him, you know. You might well be.”

“And you would know that, would you?” Murphy raises an arch eyebrow. “I think I’d remember having once been the personification of dreams.”

“Oh, I don’t know. Memory can be a funny thing.” Hob shoots back. “We don’t remember being born, do we? And some lose track of even more than that. How’s your recollection of your childhood, hm?”

Ah. Jackpot. The moment he speaks of remembering and childhoods, Murphy looks away, uncomfortable. Hit a sore spot there, has he? Memory issues. How interesting. How perfectly convenient.

“...you’ve had your fun now,” Murphy rasps, shifting uneasily, no longer so willing to defiantly meet Hob’s eyes. “I want no part in whatever game you’re intending to play with the London Poor, Gadling. Fuck off, before I make you.”

“Now, now, I really do think we’re on to something, here.” Giving up, Hob knows, is for fools who don’t really want to become immortal. “I’m quite certain-”

“Fuck. Off.” Murphy repeats, and turns his pale, unfortunately-human eyes on Hob again.

So do nearly a hundred birds, feathers ruffling and beaks clacking. The raven on Murphy’s shoulder caws, low and threatening.

Hob swallows, and takes stock of his options. Wonders if tactical retreats might not be just the thing for intelligent men who don’t want to die by bird before ever getting to take their stab at immortality.

“I’m only saying-” Hob tries instead, because he’s a reckless idiot.

Murphy’s eyes narrow, and he spits out a throaty sound like a command, the flock of birds rising as one, led by his personal raven jumping into flight with a sharp battle cry.

Shit.

Gilbert glances up when Hob returns covered in feathers and bird droppings, skin smarting where sharp beaks have pecked at him until he fled.

“I take it young Mr. Murphy was not particularly amenable to your proposal…?” He asks, delicately, lip twitching around a politely-repressed smile.

“Can’t say he was.” Hob shrugs easily, only wincing slightly at the way the movement pulls on his skin. “But I think I can convince him, Gil. Given enough time.”

“If you say so, young friend.” Gil, for his part, does not look particularly convinced either. He rarely is, when Hob first pitches his ideas, but he always comes around.

And so will Murphy.

Hob knows it’s only a matter of time… and, perhaps, some clever bribery.

#WyWrites #dreamling #the sandman #anastasia dreamling au #i had this already written so i figured i would just throw it out too #there's one more bit i've got parts of written but i can't make promises #we will see how it goes!#murphy has trained all his birds to steal and shares generously with them #honestly he may be a better boss to these birds than he was for the dreaming...#matthew in particular does deserve bread though. as a treat.#hope you enjoyed their meet-ugly!#(though honestly murphy is quite right not to trust hob)#(a scoundrel like that will just make you fall in love with him and then break your heart)#(but at least he'll help you reconnect with your identity and family so that's nice I guess)

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