#has been able to take tabitha on so far

[alvariearmy]

I spent way too long analyzing clues about the ages of the characters in Scarlet Hollow, so now I am making it everybody else's problem- (Bit of a stretch, I am putting my long rambles under a cut, feel free to ignore it all-)

The game takes place October, 2022, as shown when helping Stella record. The date is, specifically, the last week of October.

We know that Stella, Kaneeka, and Reese were all in the same grade as each other, making them fairly close in age. We also know that Tabitha is a grade above them, so she is approximately one year older than they are. And we know that we are younger than Tabitha, though I have not seen it stated anywhere by how much. All we know about our age for certain, as far as I've been able to find, is that we are an adult but at least nine months younger than Tabitha, since she was already born when Vivian discovered her pregnancy. (Some choices near the beginning do give more concrete feelings on certain age options, but that's only if you pick specific options.)

Reese has been "sick" for approximately ten years. Dr. Kelly first noticed his changes when he was 12 and began trying to treat him around that time, and she had to adapt the treatments when he was 15, so he likely began showing "symptoms" at some point between those ages.

Kaneeka was about to go to grad school, but the death of her father forced her to move back to Scarlet Hollow. She has been back in town for about a year now.

Stella, Kaneeka, and Reese used to film videos together when they were in middle school, meaning Reese likely was not suffering too badly from the effects of the medications yet. Most people graduate middle school at 13 or 14 years old, depending on when their birthday is and all that.

Based on all these things, I estimate that Stella, Kaneeka, and Reese are about 22-23 years old, though I am leaning a bit more towards them being 23. Most people finish undergrad when they are about 21 or 22 years old. So Kaneeka would have likely been around that age when she came back home. It's been over a year now. Pair that with Reese being "sick" for a decade, and Dr. Kelly treating him since he was twelve... If we account for a few months for the symptoms to really kick in, he was likely about 13 before his life became impacted.

With Tabitha being a year older than all of them, this puts her at approximately 24 years old. She has so much on her plate at an age that is still so young. All of them are just... so young.

I could also see all of them being one year older than this, but I doubt they would be much older than that, based on what has been provided in the game so far. And even if they are all one year older than my guesses, that is still so young to have gone through all the things they have.

As for the choices that set the player's age more concretely... the ones with specific careers, like lawyer or teacher, both require so many years of education in those specific fields. It would have taken at least 3-4 years to become a teacher with a bachelor's degree, let alone if we want to argue that the player pursued a master's degree. I know becoming a lawyer also takes quite a few years, though I do not know much on that. And I believe the option for programmatic ads mentions studying computer science or something? I have only chosen that option once, so I am not entirely sure. But if you pick student or streamer or selling crafts on Etsy... you could be pretty much any age older than eighteen and younger than Tabitha.

#scarlet hollow #stella richmond #kaneeka forsyth #reese kelly #tabitha scarlet #yes this is what i do with my free time what about it #i ponder timelines excessively #it's a hobby

[victor-epix]

🌸🖍♟ for victor?

🧩🚤 for donna?

~ @normal-about-jade

victor:

🌸(fav thing/scene) — easily my favorite thing about victor is this almost childlike compassion he possesses. given what was revealed about his past, it speaks volumes that (despite the overwhelming damage that trauma has clearly caused) the kindness is almost intrinsic to him (and while he does have a handful of somewhat abrasive moments, they're few and far in between—and i don't think he realizes that's how he comes across). the two scenes which came to mind related to this are the one where he waits for tabby to come down to the tunnels: even though he was so scared, he understood that tabitha needed him, and he instinctively prioritized that, taking turns in being brave w her even though it was clearly taking a toll on him. another scene which showcases this is the one in his room with ethan, where iirc ethan attempts to apologize for going through his stuff w somebody else (i think jade??). in general he's also super good about volunteering info that could help others, even if the info may be painful. + he gives ethan his old coat. fucking melted tbh 🖍 (further exploration of character) — i think i would really like to see victor build mutual trust with more people. i think he's on a good path to achieve this with tabby (and i suppose ethan, though ethan is a young kid so im not sure if it's quite the same) and probably, to a degree, with donna. i think putting trust in other people not to hurt him is a huge obstacle for victor, and it makes him come off... the way he does. which, in turn, repels others. tldr: i just want him to have friends so badly LMFAO ♟ (hangout w character) — i think victor would benefit from vibing somewhere cozy, populated with people (who aren't from fromville) but not too crowded at the same time. and quiet. a library comes to mind, or a bookstore. now that i think on it, i think he'd have a blast going through books and gathering information on the world & everything that had happened since the 70s. i can picture him cozied up in an armchair w a blanket and tea and just going absolutely hog wild reading a computer manual or smn

donna:

🧩 (something about character that's misunderstood/overlooked) — not to be that guy but i've said it once and i'll say it again. donna is hot as fuck. donna is gilf extraordinaire. bursting at the seams with raw sexual energy. literally the model oldschool butch. although on a more serious note, i think a lot of people in our very small fandom don't really understand her 'role'. or undermine it, at the very least. i think she's cast aside as not very interesting due to the fact that she doesn't really get a turn on the mystery wagon. but like... they'd all fall apart without her. she's a social leader. sure, boyd is presented as her counterpart in this, but as the show goes on, he gets so much more on his plate that he can't keep this up. so she picks up boyd's slack too. in a community ruled by fear and uncertainty, she is THE person to look to in the terms of leadership and holding it together, the sort of lighthouse standing out in this murky fog they're all lost in. i feel like this isn't appreciated enough. 🚤 (romantic ships) — honestly?? not really. it's actually quite interesting regardless. i don't think donna ever Could have a romantic relationship, not after fromville (if she gets out). i think she would have gotten so used to managing and micromanaging everything, to being the loadbearing beam, that she simply... couldn't lean on somebody else for support (i.e. a romantic partner.) she would never be able to drop this constant feeling of responsibility for the other person, and i think that not only would this be a Lot for her, but also, her partner would probably not like the discrepancy either. i think they'd possibly interpret it as a lack of trust. but really i think our poor girl has been through too much.

#THANK YOU SM FOR THE ASK i had an absolute blast dissecting these babes #ask game #from epix #epix from #victor from epix

[attzi-gearburst]

Day 4 - February 22: Distant (Iranji)

Word Count: 700 Summary: Iranji gets dragged out of an old memory. @daily-writing-challenge

Iranji was moving boxes out of the ship’s hold and down onto the docks, keeping a steady pace despite having been at it for nearly an hour. His fellow crew were doing much the same, though more than one side-eyed him as he tirelessly lifted, shifted, then repeated the work without so much as taking a break in between crates and barrels.

Finally, the quartermaster called him out. “Take a break, big guy! You want to go off drinking tonight that badly?”

“Nah.” Iranji shook his head, but set down his crate and stood next to her on the docks, where she was logging gear and equipment they were picking up. She laughed and looked up at him, expression amused. “Then what has you working so hard today?”

“Last stop before we head home. Get to see my girls soon.” Iranji grinned down at her, well aware that he looked at least slightly goofy.

She laughed again, and her expression turned from amused to oddly fond. “That’s right. I completely forgot that you’re a new father. This’s your first trip out since they were born, right? I remember we did at least one voyage without you. Maybe two?”

He nodded. “Stayed back when she was close to due, just in case. And then stuck around after, so she could heal.” 

And, honestly, so he could hold his daughters. Sometimes one in each arm, sometimes both in a sling across his chest while he helped his wife get back up and around. Her sister had been there, too, but had been far less interested in interacting with the girls. This had disappointed Iranji (though he hadn’t expected that the woman who had looked down on him for being a troll since the day they met to be any less racist towards his half-troll children). 

Something must have crossed his face, because the quartermaster’s expression softened further. “You miss them.”

He nodded, looking down at his hands. “Not sure I’m gonna be able to handle how big they got this voyage.”

“They grow fast,” she agreed. “But no matter how big they get, they’ll always be your babies.”

He raised a brow at her. “Speaking from experience?”

“Yeah. A boy and a girl, both old enough to have their own families by now.” Her expression turned wistful. “You do yourself a favor, Iranji. Take as much time with them as you possibly can.”

“Will do.”

He meant it. The thought of his girls being so far away from him made his chest ache. He desperately wanted to be home with them, watching them grow and learn. Rocking them to sleep, singing in the dark of their tiny house at Steamwheedle Port, was the thought that had gotten him through the entirety of this trade voyage so far.

****

“Iranji?” A hand rested on his shoulder, and he came back to himself with a soft gasp. He blinked, coming back to awareness, and looked down at the infant in his arms. These days, the distance between his girls and himself was vast enough that he doubted it would ever be crossed again, but…. 

He ran his thumb along the boy’s downy blonde hair. “Yeah? Sorry. Reliving old memories with your son.”

“Thank you for holding him while I unpacked. Are you sure it’s okay for us to be here with you?”

He nodded. “Yeah. Cap’n invited you herself. She loves kids.”

She sighed and nodded, and he watched the tension that had lived there for months finally ease from her shoulders. “And you’ll tell me, if you need space?”

“Plenty of places to sleep here, Beth.” She made a face, and he relented. “Yeah. But it’s gonna be fine.”

“Thank you, Iranji.”

He grinned and shook his head, then moved to carefully pass her son back over. “Nah. No need.”

While she snuggled her sleeping son, he looked around his quarters, thinking about what he was going to need to change for them. Another dresser. A crib. When the boy was bigger, soft padding for the furniture in case a wave hit wrong while he was toddling. 

Ira wasn’t his son. But he’d promised Tabitha that he’d take care of them both, and this time? 

This time he wasn’t going to be so distant. 

#februarydwc2023 #februaryday42023 #attzi-gearburst.tumblr.com #Iranji

[riverdale-retread]

Riverdale S6B Ep #111 (“Blue Collar”)

Workers and the Exploiters are all there are, according to either Riverdale or Jughead Jones.   Where does Jughead Jones place himself in this reductive schema, I wonder?  And for that matter, where does Tabitha fit?

To the surprise of no one but the extremely silly Fangs Fogarty, Percival Pickens is not a man of his word, and also they didn’t SIGN ANYTHING, apparently, before they began working on this giant enterprise. The Riverdale people are much more naive than the residents of Rivervale who at least SIGNED their contracts with the devil.  The ghost train construction is underway.  Also you know who also built railroads?  Chinese men they called Coolies.  This show has had maybe three women of East Asian descent - the evil sex-demon Jess, the almost-victim Minerva, the definitely dead Midge.  Just saying.

Moose and Kevin are also part of this crew. 

Cheryl is practically tits out in the relocated diner to explain about the ghost train to Archie.  I applaud Tabitha and Archie for being able to keep their eyes at um, eye level.   Is Cheryl dressed like this because she’s still ‘hot’?   

Union, values, agitating, strike - and I am as bored as Cheryl.  Tabitha looks very pretty as she suggests that they give out free cups of coffee because the skinflint Percival won’t give people free coffee.  This is a HUGE mistake that I’m shocked Percival made!  No free coffee?

Veronica according to Agent Drake is a giant biodialysis machine.  Also Drake was a person who busted up illegal absinthe rings.  There was a weird white boy who tried to make absinthe, the real kind, in his dorm bathtub (Yeah our dorms had bathtubs. Did anyone take A BATH in one? Of course not.)  It smelled like satan and not even his dumbass friends dared drink it.  Agent Drake also used to be on the Hiram Lodge case!

Charles has been placed in Betty’s room by Alice. He’s dying of something.  

Tabitha announces a super discount on the burgers of Pop’s (25 cents??) while she hands out free coffee on the site of the Ghost Train.  Uncle Fucking Frank objects and I don’t care.   She calls people FELLAS.  Only three people call others FELLAS in Riverdale - SWEET PEA (not sorry. I will never stop), Jughead, and now Tabitha.

Moose asks Kevin how he can afford to live in purple splendor. Kevin still has shame enough to fudge and stammer and lie: “Uh, Percival’s helping me out. A bit.”  Yup.  Moose doesn’t seem to  approve of Kevin seeking full custody of Anthony.

Alice’s guilt about putting Charles up for adoption after desperately not wanting to carry him to term means she can never refuse him anything. So she tells Betty to suck it up, that she’s going to be forced into shouldering the difficult work of caring for a terminally ill person.

Percival is in Reggie’s mind.  Jughead did a rough job of editing Reggie’s memories, so Percival reassesses the risk that Jughead poses to him.  Reggie is still demanding to be taught magic by Percival, who he still thinks is a wizard, so Percival says he’s going to teach Reggie ventriloquism, which is both magic and also can be taught?  Or maybe just one of the two, it’s not clear. Percival is going to sabotage Jughead’s act, and the way he says the name Jughead is absolutely acid.

Fangs and Carlos (new dude) come to the diner  Archie ambushes them with his pro union agitating as promised. 

Veronica, whenever anyone ever says anything to her, tries to make a business out of it. (Is Veronica an Exploiter? Because she’s not a Worker, right?).  Drake mentioned absinthe, so now Veronica wants to go into the absinthe business.  I wish I had her mind.   She and Drake smile at each other, both being the female mirror image of the young Jughead Jones without quite knowing it.  Drake gives Veronica what she wants, which is acknowledgment of her business prowess. 

Betty sneers at the half brother she shares with Jughead about whether he ever got married to Chic while he’s on his deathbed, as far as she knows.  She also asks him directly if he’s afraid of dying, and Charles, maybe sensing danger, says what he thinks she wants to hear - that he deserves it, he’s very sorry, he’s made peace with it.

Heather is with Cheryl at the Blossom mansion so she can discuss the Pickens’ ownership of the Maleficarum.  She’s going to teach Cheryl how to make herself invisible without a Harry Potter cloak.  Right then, Veronica, who really just is always working, drops by to ask for wormwood, which Cheryl of course has.  Cheryl plays hot and cold with Veronica a lot, depending on whether she has an actual out gay girl to play with or not.  Veronica, please get it together.   

Percival too is someone who is super diligent.  He went to the Diner to woo Archie by giving him an offer of a job with all the ‘values related’ bells and whistles.  He actually sounds exactly like a Silicon Valley dudebro during the SJW phases of  big corporations, doesn’t he?  Archie says that he cannot be bought, which I am going to insist is a call back to Valerie teaching him this concept when the Blossoms literally bought Archie for a bit by buying him expensive instruments and dangling music school like bait.  

Foni (I refuse to call them Tangs - Tangy is one of my favorite flavor descriptors, so NO) have hired an attorney who makes no attempt to hide how shitty she thinks their cases is or how contemptible she finds the two of them.  I mean, hard agree, but at the same time, why is this woman’s sense of client service so terrible?  Is she very cheap?  But she’s willing to travel all the way to Whyte Wyrm from wherever it is, which I’ve also rarely heard of - so why come all the way just to be nasty and discouraging to her clients? Is she trying to get fired? Oh maybe.  Anyway the course of their entire lives (as Serpents) and their presently charted futures (as Serpents) is going to fuck up Foni’s custody battle with Kevin. 

Fangs has doubts about marrying Toni. Toni is not good at lying to him because she lays it out straight (ahem) - they need to be married to keep Baby Anthony (whom I have to point out yet again, has never been seen being cared for or even TOUCHED by Fangs) from Kevin.  

At the Forsythe the Fantastic show, Jughead is doing great (and has what could potentially be groupies get super excited when he guesses the answers right).  Reggie has learned to ‘throw his voice’ really well (when your teacher is a wizard everything is possible I guess?) which distracts Jughead enough for Percival to try to invade his mind.   The Jughead mind has a big door that says Private! Keep Out! No admittance! and as the cutest little bit of hostility, This Means You Percival!   Photos of his family and friends - Jellybean, Betty, Tabitha, Archie, FP (But not Gladys! Not Pops!) that matter most to Jughead are decorated on the outside.  This seems like a strange self reveal, potentially a data self-breach, but maybe this is an inadvertent leak (he can’t help but show that he cares about these people). 

When Percival discusses this problem with Reggie, good ole Reginald shows how talented he is as a henchman.  He understands immediately the concept of a talisman, knows exactly what Jughead’s talisman would be, AND where to find it.  Did Veronica tell him the time capsule location or did Archie?  Or was he just watching them from somewhere like a creeper back in the day? 

Archie is doing really awesome as a union agitator.  Honest day’s work, children’s children, treated like human beings…  This is supposed to be PRO union, right? This episode?  So why are the good guys mouthing the most cliched pablums in a show capable of delivering the most excitingly unhinged lines?

Betty is still torturing Charles about his past so she can understand herself better.   According to Charles, the first kill of an innocent little furry mammal as a kid is what sets off the gene / path to serial killerdom, and context does not matter.  

Fangs and Kevin have a work-place scuffle about Baby Anthony’s paternity.  Cheryl’s perfect at making herself invisible to Percival on the first try with Heather acting as her decoy.   What she’s not perfect at is being a catburglar (she never was good at this even as a kid) so she makes noise, leading Percival to investigate. He keeps smirking at empty space though, so does he really not see her?  Cheryl has the book they were talking about. 

Veronica, in her home office, is studying up on absinthe and wormwood.  She also leaps to an amazing conclusion that if she squashes something in her tiny hand really hard, she can ‘leach’ the toxins out of it (but it keeps all its flavor??).  

Meanwhile Betty is talking about herself and her problems to Archie. Drake apparently told her about a theory that that moral corruption leads to bodily corruption, and I think the medical name for this condition is called Victimblameitis, you know, and seeing it in action tends to inflame into a towering rage anyone who has ever lost someone they loved to cancer and kidney disease.  Just.  I understand that Betty is a very limited girl who is grasping at straws while struggling with problems far beyond her stunted emotional resources, but why do they have to make her say things like this?  That Charles being a murderer is what gave him his illness (when illness is just illness) and then, instead of questioning the very bizarre premise that illness is somehow ‘manifesting’ something, jumps to worrying directly and only about herself.   Just as she’s saying, poison is rotting him from the inside and I want to tear my eyelashes out one by one, Betty looks out of Archie’s window into her childhood bedroom to observe Alice doing a slow murder walk with a pillow towards Charles.  She walks in on Alice trying to suffocate Charles to death, stops the murder, and gently walks Alice out.

Meanwhile Toni is yelling at Fangs about being a silly man. I actually wonder if this is a manhating moment on this show.  Fangs, a bisexual man, and Kevin, a gay man, are fighting over whose sperm made a baby neither of them actually love or want to parent or be a father to.  Fangs has still never been seen holding Baby  Anthony since this whole custody fiasco began, by the way.  Kevin is not in any way set up to take care of a baby by himself nor wealthy enough to hire competent help. But they both want the signifier - I have sperm that can impregnate a woman - and that’s all they’re really after.  Absolutely hateful.  

Alice is yelling at Betty for interrupting the murder.  She’s so mad that someone, yet again, has stopped her from ending Charles’ intrusion into her life. This is the most roundabout pro-choice statement I’ve ever seen on any media my whole life. 

Heather calls Cheryl a ‘witch’ in the honorific, congratulatory sense as they exult over the theft they perpetrated on Percival.  Strangely, Cheryl really doesn’t seem to like it.  Heather notices, and is a little abashed.  Cheryl realizes Heather has noticed. 

Percival and Reggie are acting like Jughead fandom. They’ve collected (via theft) the things that make Jughead special and uniquely himself. A photo of Jughead with JB taken at Pop’s during the brief time when the Jones’ were all living as one family in the Cooper’s house that Gladys bought them.   A copy of Jughead’s book The Outcasts, hardcover no less.   His Southside Serpents jacket.  And the beanie dug out of the time capsule.

Now we cut to Moose and Kevin, and they talk about sperm and I hate my life so much right now.  So I guess the Fangs-Kevin-Toni throuple (or whatever they were) used artificial insemination.  And their clinic was willing to do what they used to in days of yore for infertile men who had to get a sperm donor - mix semen together so that you could say TECHNICALLY you didn’t know who the father was, it might be you, even though you have zero sperm motility. Moose is, as they say, the only one with rights because he says quite perceptively:  ‘you’re afraid you’re not his real father’ to Kevin.  And the thing is, no matter whose goddamned final contender sperm it was, Baby Anthony has no father in the way that all four people (Fangs, Toni, Kevin and now Moose) are using the term ‘father.’ He has a sperm donor, for sure, but he has NO FATHER. Can Moose be the father, actually?   He’s the only  one with a working braincell. This used to be Toni.  I mourn, I grieve, etc.

Percival calls Archie to drop indirect threats in dulcet tones in his ear.  Workers (with a capital W) are going to suffer on-the-job accidental amputations if Archie won’t let up.    He even smiles a little to himself before he hangs up.   

Betty and Alice are terrifying. They’ve set up a really nice, very proper dinner for two with all the cutlery and plates and very correct glasses of white wine immediately after Betty hauled Alice off of a terminally sick man that Alice was trying to suffocate.  Betty says she thinks she maybe has a way to help Charles. (She really means someone she knows can be roped in to be of specific use to Betty Cooper but yeah, girl protagonist rights are everlasting).

Cheryl keeps on calling Heather “MY FRIEND” in this extremely heavy handed hint-dropping way, but none of these assholes (Ahem ARCHIE) think to ask her WHO IS YOUR FRIEND.  Like, Cheryl stayed cooped up in the Blossom mansion for seven years nonstop with just her grandma, and now she’s going around mentioning MY FRIEND nonstop and nobody asks a single question.  Riverdale has a heart, sure, but it’s cold as a witch’s teat.   Anyway, she hands Archie a sheaf of documents relating to the fact that Percival’s family (extremely long distance and in a different country?) was always anti union. 

Percival, dressed in Jughead cosplay, invades Jughead’s mind from a few floors above him as he’s doing his Forsythe the Fantastic act.  I am a little heartbroken over the fact that Jughead’s own sense of himself is so fragile - he thinks he’s this hat and these clothes?  Percival slams open the door  of Jughead’s mind and jabs a rolled up newspaper into the door jamb, which leaves him wide open to every single person’s thoughts ever.  What he describes when Veronica finds him after the freak out describes an introvert meltdown to a T.  Other people are far too much with him! He’s gotta go somewhere quiet to be alone!  OMG Jughead, me too, like all the time!  Veronica is so kind and worried.

Back at the Foni Apartment of Failure, Britta (in very adorable double buns) gives a glowing babysitter’s review for Anthony to Toni, who hears that Kevin appeared the same time as a pacifier disappeared, and is very annoyed.  Jughead, very freaked out, goes straight to Tabitha at the new Pop’s location. He can still hear everything.  He run away.

Veronica is being useful to Betty, and now with Drake in tow.  Veronica is going to be ‘hooked up with’ Charles to ‘filter out’ the toxins in Charles’ blood.  Charles accepts the Hail Mary move.   Betty asks in the sweetest way possible if Charles wouldn’t rather just die. Charles answers that he wants to keep living. 

In my absolutely least part of anything I’ve seen Toni do so far, she kicks in Kevin’s door.  He and Moose are seated at a little table with a candle lit, bowls of ice cream in front of them, very cozy.  Toni, wearing brass knuckles, punches Kevin in the head, twice, breaking skin.  On television, torture always works, completely, and the torture victim always coughs up the truth. I hate when they do this.   Kevin, with the appalled Moose silently staring at this entire situation, tells Toni where the pacifier is. She was right, apparently.  He took it to do a DNA test to prove that he’s the sperm donor.  Toni takes it back, and leaves after threatening him with murder. 

Jughead is still freaking out because he can’t shut out the world.  Why do the worst possible things always happen to this poor little blorbo? 

Tabitha and Archie are riling up The Workers at The Diner.  The way they do this is by reading anti union words written by someone that Percival is at best some sort of distant relative. I mean.   My great grandfather was older brother to a bishop and uncle to a priest and um, I am pretty sure he was against absolutely everything I am doing with my life, like, yanno, be a woman who votes and earned a college degree and stuff?  What?  In any case, this seems to work on The (not bright) Workers.

Cheryl confesses to Heather that she came up with the library scheme so she could keep talking to and doing things with her.  But - character growth?!? - now that things are getting both weird and dangerous, Cheryl wants to throw Heather out of harm’s way.   Heather says she wants to spend lots of time with Cheryl too.  They seem so happy.

Intentional cut to Toni icing her knuckles with the Serpent Jacket hanging off her chair. She has in front of her brass knuckles and a pacifier and I feel like I myself have been punched in the head with the Fist of Ham.  Fangs has a tendency to appear at Toni’s lowest points (the earlier was when she was stripping at her own bar).  Toni says that she is going to be ‘strong’ by being a violent Serpent. 

We learn bits of more Serpent lore which kind of come up like magical objects in the Harry Potter universe.  Heretofore completely unheard of things are mentioned and accepted without explanation between the characters to fit whatever the narrative needs it to be. So. Serpents function like the Catholics - you can be inducted into the Serpents.  But I thought some of them were BORN Serpents.  So anyway there’s a Serpent Baptism where in the father bequeaths a Serpent Name (™) upon the infant so baptized.  Fangs is a Serpent Name (™). Is Toni such a name?  Sweet Pea I guess was.  Is Jughead?   But why did Jughead get a Serpent Baptism and then have to ‘join’ the Serpents as a teen? Is that the same as Confirmation? Is Fangs gonna be the Serpent Godfather to his own son?   AUGH.  Or do only BOY babies get this?

Fangs says he’s going to marry Toni and I want to throw someone off the roof too.  

Back at wherever they are- the casino champagne suite, I guess - Kevin tells Percival he’s sorry the plan didn’t work.  Moose is in the room.   Why is Moose in the room?   Please don’t tell me Percival gets his grubby long limp hands on Moose. PROTECT MOOSE.  Anyway, Percival tells Kevin and Moose that Fangs is the sperm donor.   Why am I forced to have the same perspective as Percival?  Percival says who the biological father is. Percival makes that distinction that I make and…. I used to be Bret. Am I now Percival?  (Oh dash it all.)

Percival says that Baby Antony represents “Riverdale’s greatest hope, its spirit.”  Percival and the baby are both potential futures and there can be only one.  Is this why neither Fangs nor Kevin really touch the baby?  Because they are both shit and the universe will not allow it?

Meanwhile Charles is no longer hooked up to machines.  He says he feels better, to Betty.  He thanks her and Veronica. I’ve been so annoyed by Fangs and everything that I realize belatedly we didn’t get to see HOW Veronica acts like a dialysis machine.  Like does she suck it out of people??? Squeeze them???  Anyway, Betty, as brutal as ever, tells Charles that she knew from the start Veronica might be a solution but she held off on purpose.  She says she’s not ready to give up on herself.

uh.

When has Betty Cooper ever given up on herself?  Not once, not ever.  It’s her primary trait- absolute will to survive, total focus on herself.  Betty says she intends to “focus on what I’m doing, in the present, and in my future.”  All well and good, sure, but when do you ever focus on anything that isn’t that, Betty?  Not once, not ever, do you ever, in fact, stray from this focus.  What are you on about?

Betty still wants to catch TBK.  Because she always needs to punish, to the end, anyone who bests her in anything. Charles offers to help. 

Archie confronts Percival, Frank, Kevin and Moose (BAD MOOSE! MOOSE! WHY!) at the former Sketch Alley. The Workers are striking. Percival threatens him with ‘real fighting’ before sauntering off.  And Veronica’s very poisonous looking absinthe is ready!  Betty and she discuss the procedure - the blood circulated through Veronica before being put back into Charles and I am so sorry I asked.   Veronica asks how Betty is, and Betty says that stopping Alice from murdering Charles makes her feel optimistic about the future.  That Alice constantly wants to murder, put away, erase, and abandon all of her biological children in turn is left unaddressed. 

Betty asks to host a Serial Killer Fandom comic-con.

Jughead has left a note, and run away from home (meaning, Tabitha).   He tells her  “I’ve lost control” so he needs to go somewhere quiet, and so on.  And during this heartbreaking recitation I was chanting:

NOT THE BUNKER

NOT THE BUNKER

NOT THE FUCKING DILTON DOILEY BUNKER

And of course JUGHEAD IS IN THE FUCKING BUNKER.

  Jughead isolating himself when he suffers a problem, compared to Betty dragging in literally everyone she knows at a moment’s notice to do her part?  DO THE BETTY WAY EVERYONE. Hers is so much better. 

In the bunker, Jughead starts to hear Rivervale voices come through from somewhere.

#For some mysterious reason my regional netflix will not show me the final two episodes until July 4th and 18th respectively #till then! #riverdale episode 111 #riverdale episode 6.16 #riverdale opinion #betty cooper critical #anti fangs fogarty #riverdale season 6 #Riverdale s6 #riverdale recap #riverdale episode recap

[petalsmooth]

The only time Archie ever expressed an interest in leaving RD was when his father was alive and he mentioned living in NY with Jug, Betty and Veronica. He chose the military because he didn’t wish to improve his academics. Then immediately came back when service done. He wants to live in Riverdale forever because there is a King to the townspeople and because he feels closest to his father and nuclear family unit nostalgia.

Veronica, for whatever daft reason, wants to be with Archie but only if it involves a cosmopolitan lifestyle. In fairness...Archie did express a desire for the same, but unless she can resurrect Fred Andrews (and she can’t without re-casting) this is not happening. I don’t see him being interested in veronica unless she she accepts he’s packaged with Riverdale. Honestly I think that is the decider for him between her and Betty. The girls’ are interchangeable at this point except Betty is willing to stay and not relunctance.

Betty gets a thrill from playing Prom Queen to his King which wouldn’t happen anywhere BUT in Riverdale but I don’t think RD is where she’d choose to be if not getting her Barbie Dream house with Archie. That’s enough for her though despite L-stans displeasure. Her goal in life is getting that ring from Andrews and she’s content with what it takes to make happen. If NOT with Archie then yeah...she’d exit Riverdale in a heartbeat. Her prior goal was always seeking to social climb. It’s why she needed to go to Yale and nothing else would do for her. She is an elitist and she does wish to be accepted and admired by that crowd. Investigating was just an angle to stand out and insert herself into the business of others that later morphed into a sick fatalistic attraction to mirroring her father. Despite what L-stans think..the only way Jughead would fit into vision of her life is if maintained a highly successful critically acclaimed career as a writer so she could socialize with the literary elite by association. When he had a slight slip while suffering from PTSD and she thought he’d bum on her coach she immediately cheated with Archie. Jughead doesn’t deserve the pressure of knowing needs to succeed to his wife’s standard or will nail the next up and coming author.

Cheryl and Toni have their own Queen Bee attitudes happening so neither have any desire to leave Riverdale. They’ll never have same traction elsewhere. Unlike Veronica, Cheryl has never really ingratiated herself with the uppercrust outside of RD and money only goes so far. 

Reggie shares Veronica’s desire for a cosmopolitan lifestyle and is ambitious but Veronica has a red headed hang up (and the actors broke up) so the obvious endgame won’t happen. He would have been ok with building a minor gambling empire in Riverdale too but I think like her is mildly restless all the same.

Jughead grew up feeling like an outcast without any family aside from Archie...who then betrayed him. Pop’s is the closest he had to a home. He isn’t looking for a particular “place” like the others are. He’s never really been able to rely on that type of stability in order to become attached to a town or a building. Except as mentioned Pop’s. His dream, aside from being a writer, was to be able to find his home in someone else who cared about him. I think more than any of the others a nuclear family is most what he wanted and envied Archie for having. It’s one reason I think he put up with the way Archie treated him, to be near Fred and Mary. I think he wants it even more than Archie who in part wants one only for duty/lineage/ego stroking. He can and will live anywhere as long as it’s with Tabitha and any children to follow. That she is Pop’s granddaughter and would forever have a tie to Pop’s (building and man) is just a bonus. This is why I found it laughable L-stans claimed he wouldn’t want children. I don’t think they get Jughead at all. 

Tabitha wishes to re-build the town where her family business resides to help people so I definitely see her always tied to the town to protect and watch over the people but I don’t think she feels so anchored they would never live anywhere else. I see keeping a residence there but in between traveling and watching over the Pop’s expansion. I DO think like Jughead that she considers Pop’s the closest to a home she ever had. We don’t have a lot of interaction with her family to draw a fuller narrative but it’s clear she wasn’t seduced by the ambition and social climbing her father chose. It’s quite clear her father wanted to be as different from Pops as he could, and equally clear Tabitha identifies more with her grandfather to her father’s displeasure. It’s a shame RAS chose for adults to play teenagers rather than obvious development could have pursued here.

Fangs shows no interest in leaving the only lifestyle he’s ever known. He’s content in the serpent’s.

Kevin has issues with commitment and I’m pretty sure still wishes were on Broadway. I only see him content in RD if he fully accepts he’s never going to be a star or produce a hit show.

[go-go-devil]

14, 22, and 40 for Lei :]

14) Do they look up to anyone?

When Lei was a little girl she used to look up to a lot of people. This came from the fact that her immense social anxiety combined with her internalizing her parents’ belief that she won’t amount to anything more than a house servant gave her abysmally low confidence in herself. Thus, she put her trust in nearly everyone who were willing to engage with her or were what she considered amazing, like knights and sorcerers and especially dragons! Her Aunt Tabitha was and still remains the one shining light in her life, and she also undeniably looked up to her far-more sociable and scheming big brother, though definitely not anymore…

Nowadays Leiurus rarely holds such adoration for others. All the failures and traumas of her life have left her soul hardened to the idea of wanting to follow the path of another seemingly-spectacular person. However, after becoming an undead exile in Lordran she’s found herself experiencing strange feelings toward a certain sun-drenched knight. How could one of his ilk ever dare put his faith and trust in a lowly dreg like herself, let alone offer her help in her own battles? Perhaps she might like to talk with him again.

22) Have they ever hurt or lost anyone?

Oh boy...

The chaos in Leiurus's life first started when her brother ran away when she was but 10 years old, taking their parents' savings and some of their most precious trinkets with him. Her father went after him in a murderous rage, only to be found dead days later, having seemingly fell down a cliff. With no means of supporting herself, Lei's mother made the decision to join up with her sister Tabitha on the road despite her distaste for her lifestyle and the sneaking suspicion that she's hiding something from her. Several months later Lei's mom also perished via unknown circumstances, Lei wasn't there to see it, so her Aunt Tabby took her in and raised her as she would her own child.

Leiurus loved her aunt more than anyone in the world, finally getting to soak up the feelings of encouragement and adoration her own parents had never fully given her. She was the one who helped Lei realize she was capable of preforming magic, and even scrapped tooth and nail for enough gold to send her to the prestigious Vinheim Dragon School so that she may further excel in her abilities. Even when Lei ended up dropping out after seemingly losing her magical abilities, she knew she could safely return to live with her aunt.

Unfortunately, her precious Aunt Tabby had a terrible secret she'd been hiding from her niece-daughter: she was undead. While for over a decade since her death she'd been able to slow the hollowing to a crawl, it was slowly weakening her soul, and by the time Lei returned home she had fully turned into a mindless, violent creature. Lei found her in her bedroom, clutching the bandit's knife that had originally slain her long ago and rocking back and forth, only to charge at her niece when she finally noticed noticed her presence. She struggled to defend herself, but was able to take the knife from her aunt and jam it into her heart several times until she became a still carcass on the floor.

Even if the killing was in self-defense, Lei will never forgive herself for what she did.

40) What is their moral alignment?

Certainly a dark shade of moral grayness.

Leiurus The Scorpion is a professional thief. Her entire livelihood revolves around stealing from others, sometimes even having to hurt or in worse case scenarios kill to get what she wants. While Lei likes to assert that she has standards in her practices, those noble rules of her can and have occasionally fallen to the wayside in hard times.

She could mostly follow her code of refusing to hurt the innocent and not taking a scrap from the poor, but when she's starving and see's a unoccupied kid carrying some smoked ham home to his sickly father she's going to take the easy meal, and when a vigilante tries to catch her to relive their neighborhood of her robberies she's going to defend herself, even if that means delivering unto them a fatal backstab.

Yet the one thing that Leiurus dreads most about her morality is the fact that, despite all the pain and grit, she does enjoy the title she's gained as a feared thief. Never in the past had she ever believed she'd be capable of not only being independent, but also having any notable power within her. That long-awaited, vile pride was simply too intoxicating for her let go of. Of course, now that she's been granted the title of Chosen Undead she's been wrestling with her morality to an even harsher degree than before. Maybe her life fell apart, but now she can truly be a hero to those around her?

...Right?

#asks #leiurus the scorpion #my ocs #I'm spitting out ALL the angst for these questions #thanks for asking them!

[bulkkerlon]

Scarlet hollow stella

If she took even a minute out of her time to do something unproductive, she would fail. She kept trying, kept pushing to get Tabitha to take a break and do something fun like they used to, but she couldn’t. She didn’t have time for anything but Stella didn’t understand. Fault.Īnd so she threw herself into her work, convincing herself it didn’t matter what people thought of her, she would do whatever necessary to keep the mine afloat. Without the mine, the businesses would leave, and then the people would leave and Scarlett Hollow would be nothing more than a ghost town and it would be All. She HAD to keep the mine going, had to keep some sort of income, of business flowing through the town to keep it from drying up. EVERYTHING from the biggest, to the smallest detail, fell on her shoulders. If she had any hope at all things would get better after Perlanne died, they were snuffed out now. Tabitha always knew in the back of her mind it couldn’t last, that someday the responsibilities Perlanne had made very sure to drill into her would come to a head yet at the time she had been simply content to bask in the warmth that was Stella.Īnd come to a head it did her days sprinkled with happiness were no longer, buried in responsibilities, expectations, and duties to perform. It didn’t matter how bad it was at the manor since she knew she would see Stella again the next day. Back before Perlanne died, when she still had a little freedom, Stella was the one who made her life less miserable, a bright spot with how dark her life was. – You need the Powerful build trait for this one, then when presented with the option whether to grab the flashlight or the leash you will be able to grab both.It wasn’t as if Tabatha hated Stella – in fact, it was far from it. And then when you find the nest say to shoot Gretchen and then offer to do it yourself. – When given the choice grab the flashlight. – When given the option choose to grab the leash. – Second one is Stella when you’re out in the woods sitting on the grass after you ask her about her living situation. – First one is Tabitha when you first meet her and you’re driving in her car you can tell her. – The very first time you meet Gretchen choose to pet her, you will only have this one chance to do so. – And the second time is when you go to visit the kitchen alone after Tabitha has left, approach Frou-Frou and try to pet it again. – You need to pet Frou-Frou when Tabitha is showing you the kitchen. There will be two opportunities to throw up before, once on the road to town and the second when you meet Stella, hold it in both times. Then hold it in until you get to the dinner. – Go to the kitchen and click on the moldy takeout and eat it. You can’t have the Powerful build trait for this one to work. – There is already a guide on this but to recap. – When given the choice to explore the manor go to the kitchen and make the PB&J sandwich. – Pretty self-explanatory, just explore the whole manor after you finish talking to Tabitha – She will give you her creepy smile multiple times throughout the story but one sure way I remember is when she is showing you the kitchen and you can tell her that PB&J is your favorite. – In the kitchen she will call you out for lying, but you still need to lie when seeing the bedroom for the achievement. And you need to pick the dialogue option that has: (lie) after it. – When Tabitha is showing you around the house, you have to compliment each room you visit when given the dialogue choice. – You can’t have the Street smart trait for this to work. You’re gonna have to play the game 4 times to get all the trait achievements. A guide to help you get all of the games achievements as the title suggests.

#Scarlet hollow stella

[kaleidoscopexheartss-a]

@hawkinshightigcrs​ sent in: 🌟 for ticky tabi 🙌

                       10 FACTS ABOUT MY CHARACTERS                                                               STATUS: ACCEPTING

tabitha set several softball records at the high school and likely ones that probably won’t be broken any time soon. all vary from her high batting average, to her runs, and her pitching. most were spaced out throughout her high school career, rather than all clustered together in one year. known highly for carrying the high school’s team to major wins at the divisional state tournament. she was even sponsored to join and all-star high school age group to represent the region along with some other players from other states. she was appointed captain of the all-star team and led the team to great success when playing against the other regional all-star teams in the nation. this would be how she eventually became scouted/recruited to sign with a college team and offered a full ride softball scholarship. this took place senior year and she aspires to go to ucla where she signed!

she has played major roles in all of the high school drama productions. mostly staring as the main antagonist/villain of the productions because she just has the personality to pull it off and she certainly knows how to run the show and steal the center of attention. definitely the kind to get the crowd wanting an encore and for the productions to run more nights than originally intended. though, she’d finally get a break when the school put on a production for ‘the sound of music’ in which tabi starred as maria and it was the highlight of her career. tears were shed from the amount of support that she received in playing the role and finally breaking that barrier for herself. no longer the villain.

practically helps her dad run the bookstore and manages it. all of the elwood kids have worked there at one point or another, but she has been the most invested in her dad’s livelihood. a lot of the decor and such was handpicked by her and together she and her dad created a bookstore that looked like ones from the movies. high shelves filled with books equipped with rolling ladders to get from other shelves to others. that is one of the reasons why the bookstore has the unique charm it does because it’s rare to find places like that. it definitely a local spot in hawkins that is favorite because of that, not only that, but the incredibly wide book selection that they have to offer. thankfully, her dad is starting to draw in a hefty profit and sometimes it’s hard to keep books on the shelves.

an aspiring writer and novelist. while she has always had a strong love for books, she has always had a strong drive to write her own and be able to create a world that people can fall in love with. through working in the bookstore and being ap literature, she’s been able to immerse herself in the worlds that others have created and kind of gain a feel on what people want and love to see in these texts. she actually started to actively piece together and work on her first book during her junior year of high school. it’s taken a lot of work, but she’s pleased with all she has pulled together so far. she submitted a part of it for a writing project once and got a really good grade on it, so that’s definitely fueled her inspiration to keep moving forward with it. the book that’s currently a work in progress is a medieval romance fantasy novel.

known heavily for her catlike personality and tendencies, hence the nickname, tabi cat. some examples of this would be her fierce and feisty personality and her nature to give people the cold shoulder often and to be avoidant. not to mention the outbursts that she can have, mostly the temperamental ones that usually lead to problems. as for tendencies, she will just actively knock things off of surfaces and stare at them for a while before finally picking them up and putting them back, this is a common occurrence with books. not to mention she can take naps almost anywhere, from the floor, to the counter in the bookstore, or the window seat in the store’s front. she can and will bat things around if given the chance. however, she will not chase lasers.

highly adhd and as of result an insomniac. she’s very loud, there has never been anything quiet about tabi, her presence speaks for itself every time, it’s so easy to tell when she steps into a room because the environment just changes dramatically. often extremely forgetful, will walk into a room and then promptly walk out when she can’t remember what she was doing or what she came in there to do. always has more than one thing going on at once because she can be easily distracted if she isn’t properly focused on what she’s doing. her nights are often spent writing, reading, or catching up on homework, she’ll be lucky if she falls asleep doing that. she is definitely the person that will hold a philosophical conversation at ungodly hours at night.

one of the best athletes in her family alongside her brother teddy, who played basketball in high school. the elwood kids are known for their athletic prowess, both teddy and tabi’s reputations proceed them. arguably two of the best athletes that hawkins has ever seen. it’s because of her brother that she came to manage the boys’ basketball team, he was the captain of the team his senior year and they didn’t have a manager. so what better way than to recruit his younger sister who was a freshman? after being recruited to do it, she never stopped doing it and continued to manage for the team throughout high school, because in a way it gave her a sense of belonging. this is how she came to befriend players like patrick mckinney and jason carver. plus, it made her happy, so no complaints.

tried out for the cheerleading squad junior year of high school, just purely because she could do so and there was literally nothing stopping her from doing so. she was invited to join the squad, but declined because she ultimately hated and despised how the cheerleaders acted and conducted themselves. she refused to have herself associated with a group such as that. unfortunately, it only added to the bullying and the excessive amount of rumors that started to fly around about her. caution was being thrown to the wind by her because it’s about growth and maturity. there was nothing for her to be jealous of because anyone outside of her friend circle didn’t exist to her. that however, didn’t stop other girls from slamming her into her locker and getting into petty little scuffles from her.

the tallest out of the elwood girls, tabi is 5′10″, her sisters avalon and reyna are both shorter than she is. still shorter than her brothers, but she gladly takes pride in being the tallest girl in the family. not only that, but she takes extreme pride in her physique, as an athlete, she definitely is incredibly fit and that shows. that being said, don’t be on the other side of her bat. you think that steve can twirl a bat with nails in it well? she can do it better with a bat without nails in it and it will definitely hurt being on the receiving end of getting hit. she doesn’t know her own strength and she doesn’t hold her punches or anything, so it means getting hit with all her strength. no such thing as holding back with her because it’s tabi and everything is always intense with her like it or not. no such thing as toning down with her because some things never change.

peas in a pod with caitlin and ellsie. can and will listen to them nerd about d&d or whatever in all honesty. the powerpuff trio is what they are and she really couldn’t ask for a better group of friends. she has a strong bond with the other two girls that she wouldn’t trade for the world. besides, they all support each other’s interests and hobbies without any room for judgment and nothing really could be better than that. they sleepovers all the time whenever schedules allow and they go out and stir up trouble, within reason when they’re together. collectively, all the girls may be sweet, but put all three of them together and it’s a recipe for disaster. they’re a problem waiting to happen and it’s best to stay out of way of this little group of friends when they’re together. they’re a wicked little trio, but at least they know how to fun, even if it’s being chaotic at 2 in the morning.

#❍❍❍❖❍❍❍ full time menace . ooc ❍❍❍❖❍❍❍ #tw bullying #tw implied violence #❍❍❍❖❍❍❍ today is but a rumor . tabitha elwood ❍❍❍❖❍❍❍ #❍❍❍❖❍❍❍ headcanons . metas ❍❍❍❖❍❍❍ #❍❍❍❖❍❍❍ long post ❍❍❍❖❍❍❍ #hawkinshightigcrs #( jesus ) #( a wall )

[castielmyfuckingbeloved]

do y’all ever forget that alfred has major combat skills until he starts beating the absolute living shit out of people or am i the only one?

#that fight scene with tabitha #jeez #hes fucking awesome #no one #i repeat #NO ONE #has been able to take tabitha on so far #and then alfred comes along #and just #grabs her mother fucking whip #hes fucking amazing #i fucking love him #alfred pennyworth #gotham tv show #gotham

[twdsunshine]

Broken: Pt. 1

Summary:  Mechanic!Daryl AU.  Tabitha Dean has returned to her hometown for the first time in years, fleeing a life that isn’t quite what she thought it would be.  When her car breaks down, the mechanic who comes to her rescue is none other than Daryl Dixon, the shy, strange boy that she remembers from her school days.  But a lot has changed since then, and, when Tabby’s life catches up with her, she finds herself in need of someone to fix her broken parts.  Is Daryl up to the job?

Pairing:  Daryl Dixon x OFC

Warnings:  None

Word Count:  2,405

Check out my bio for a link to my Masterlist!

Author’s Note: Hello!  Welcome to my new Mechanic!Daryl AU with my new OFC, Tabby.  This was only gonna be a mini-series to start with, but I got a little carried away, so it’s now looking like it’ll run to about 10 chapters.  I’m having a lot of fun writing this one, so I really hope you enjoy reading it!  Thank you for taking the time to check it out!  (PS.  I know absolutely nothing about cars, so no judgement, please.  I’ve kept it vague for a reason!)

*****

The car’s engine coughed and sputtered as Tabitha steered it carefully off to the side of the road, straddling the sidewalk to make space for passing traffic should any come along.  It creaked as she applied the brake, then gave one last shuddering wheeze and cut out completely.  It had been on its last legs for a while now, and she’d put off the repairs, unwilling to dip into her savings when she was so close to having the safety net that she needed.  It seemed now that that decision had come back to bite her.  Frustration punched a deep groan from her lungs as she pounded her hands against the wheel, letting her head fall forward onto her forearms for a moment.  This was the last thing that she needed, but, of course, that only meant that she really should have expected it.  She’d learnt long ago that life didn’t have a habit of going her way, and she really should be used to that by now.  Especially now.

With a sigh, she reached for her phone, where it sat on the passenger seat, pulling up the web browser and searching for the nearest auto shop that might be able to come out and give her a tow.  It had been a long time since she’d last so much as passed through town, and she’d already figured out that there weren’t many places that she still remembered from when she’d called it her home.  Thumbing down the screen, she finally settled on one a couple of miles away that seemed to get decent reviews, hovering over the phone number for a moment before finally finding the confidence to dial.  She hated doing things like this - booking appointments, reaching out, asking for help - but there was nobody else to do it for her, not anymore.  That had been a small price to pay, but it felt far larger in that moment as the line rang, and she waited anxiously for it to connect.

“Grimes Auto,” came the Southern drawl that answered the call.  “How can I help you?”

“Oh, er, hi.”  Good start, she thought, swallowing hard and forcing herself to press on.  “Hi, sorry, I, er…  I’ve broken down, just out past the old lumberyard outside of town.  My car, I mean.   It broke down and, er, I was hoping- I mean, I thought you might be able to-”

“You need a tow?”  Obviously tired of her stammering, the voice on the end of the phone cut her off, and she nodded eagerly before remembering that he couldn’t see her.

“Yeah.  Yes, please, that would be great.  Thank you.”

The man at the shop took a few more details from her before hanging up with the promise that someone would be with her within the next half hour.  “If he can, he’ll get you on your way.  If not, he’ll tow you back here and we’ll see what needs doin’.”

With that done, Tabby tossed the phone back onto the seat beside her and pushed open her door, figuring she might as well wait outside and make it more obvious that she was stranded for when the truck came along.  It was a warm day, and her dark hair clung to her neck as she leaned back against the side of the hood, crossing her denim-clad legs at the ankles and wishing that she hadn’t only thought to bring her boots along when she’d packed in a hurry.  Digging into the back pocket of her jeans, she found an old hair tie and bundled her waves onto the top of her head, securing them up and out of the way, swiping the beads of sweat from her forehead.  Her shades protected her eyes from the glare of the sun against the asphalt, and she stared off into the distance, drumming her fingers against the metal behind her as she waited.

She was still standing there ten minutes later, watching the spot on the horizon where the road from town snaked into view, when the rumble of an approaching vehicle reached her ears, and, sure enough, if she squinted, she could just make out the mass of a large tow truck rounding the far corner.  It trundled along unhurriedly, the rays that bounced off the windshield making it impossible to pick out the driver, but Tabby raised her hand in greeting regardless, relieved that help had arrived and more quickly than she’d expected.  At this point, she was holding out for the small wins to get her through the day.  Her keys were in her ignition, where she’d left them, and she moved to retrieve them now, swinging them around her finger as she waited for the mechanic to jump down from his cab and come to her aid.

“Yer Tabitha?”  The man, when he appeared, didn’t glance up from the clipboard in his hand as he strode over to her, a broad figure clad in light blue overalls.  His brow was furrowed in concentration as he leafed through the paperwork before setting it down on the roof of her rundown ride.  

“That’s right.”

“Let’s see what we got then.”  He popped the hood with no trouble, already leaning over to inspect the engine when he cast over his shoulder, “Wanna tell me what happened?”

“She was making some weird noises,” Tabby explained, sliding her shades up onto the top of her head and shifting awkwardly from foot to foot as she watched him fiddling about with thick, grease-stained fingers.  It probably didn’t seem like it, given the car’s current state, but she really did love it and hated to see it poked and prodded at.  “Seemed to be struggling, so I pulled her over, and she gave up as soon as I hit the brake.”

“Looks like she’s seen better days.”

“Yeah, well…  Haven’t we all?”

At that, he finally turned towards her, straightening up so that she could take in the height of him, towering over her small stature, and the dark hair that flopped across his eyes until he brushed it aside with the back of his hand, leaving a faint smear of oil behind.  Recognition sparked in her chest, and she frowned for a moment as she tried to place him, her mind working to erase the lines that creased his skin, but it wasn’t until she noticed the name tag stitched across his chest that she was finally able to figure it out.  Daryl.

“It- It’s Dixon, right?” she asked cautiously.  “Daryl Dixon?”

At first she thought she might have it wrong as he continued just to look at her, but a few seconds later he nodded, catching his chapped bottom lip between his teeth.  “Mmhmm.”

“It’s Tabitha.  Tabitha Dean,” she reminded him, though she was sure it was written on the paperwork he’d brought with him from his truck.  “Tabby.  From high school.”

“I remember.”  He ducked his head, pulling a rag from his back pocket to wipe off his fingers before reaching behind him to let the hood fall closed.  “Ya’ve had this car since ya was old enough to drive.”

“She was my dad’s.”

“I know.”  He trailed his fingertips over the dusty red metal, his gaze travelling along its length as if picturing it before Tabby had let it get into such a sorry state.  “1970 Mercury Cougar.  Always was a sweet ride.”  He cleared his throat, shaking his head slightly, and Tabby felt immediately guilty at her lack of care for the car.  It was just one of many things in her life that seemed to have gone so very wrong, just of late.  “Trouble is, s’not gonna be easy to get the parts for it.  We won’t have nothin’ in stock, that’s for sure.  Ya stickin’ round town for a while?”

“I, er… Yeah.”  She hadn’t really known, not until that moment, but it seemed that the situation had made her decision for her.  “Yeah, for a little while, I think.”

“S’good.”  Tucking the rag away, he retrieved his clipboard, taking a note of the vehicle’s licence plate and scribbling down a few notes.  “I’ll have to take it in.  Ya need a ride?”

“Oh, I…”  She tailed off.  The truth was, she had several bags of supplies in her back seat and no idea how she was going to get them to the hunting cabin where she was staying, but she was also painfully aware that it was in the opposite direction to town and the auto shop.  She supposed, if she hitched a ride back with Daryl, she could then try and find a cab to take her out into the depths of the forest.  “Yeah, that would be good, thanks.”

“Ya stayin’ at yer folks’ place?  I can drop ya off.”

“Oh, no, I-”

“The cabin then?”  Tabby was surprised that he even remembered her dad’s old cabin, buried deep in the woods that bordered the small town, but then he seemed to remember a lot from the way the conversation had gone so far.  It struck her as strange, somehow.  They’d often ended up seated together in class, just because their surnames were listed together on the register, but they'd never really been friends.  He'd been quiet and shy, but he’d obviously been paying attention.  “Come with me while I drop yer car off, then I’ll take ya out there.”

“No, Daryl, you don’t have to-”

“S’fine.”  He shut down her protests with a small smirk twisting his lips, and she could only nod.  She didn’t have the fight left in her to argue, and she didn’t really have any other option.

*****

Tabby waited in the truck while Daryl hitched her car up to be towed back to the auto shop.  The radio was tuned to an old country station, though the signal was bad, and it crackled over the songs that played.  The air in the cab was tinged with the smell of cigarettes, and she remembered seeing a younger version of the mechanic loitering at one corner of the school parking lot, smoking on his own during the lunch hour.  Obviously, it was a habit that had stuck.  Not that she minded it.  The scent, combined with the lingering traces of engine oil and diesel, was pleasant enough; unfamiliar, which was, in itself, a comfort to her these days.  Still, she wound down the window a little, letting fresh air drift in, leaving it open even when he’d climbed back behind the wheel and started the engine, ready to head back to the shop.

It wasn’t far, she knew, and she took the opportunity, whilst Daryl focused on the road, to study him, taking in the things that had changed about him since they’d both been kids and what had remained the same.  His eyes, she noticed, were still the same piercing blue that had glared icily at the bullies that would taunt him and call him names.  His mouth, when relaxed, still fell into the same tight-lipped scowl that she was sure he’d used as armour against the cruel taunts of the other kids.  His hair was a little longer than it used to be, a little darker too, but it suited him, she thought;  rounded off his harsh edges and made him look a little softer.  Where he’d used to be clean-shaven, or perhaps just too young to grow a beard before, he now had a coarse covering of scruff over his chin, tickling over his top lip, and, if she wasn’t mistaken, it carried just a tiny hint of silver in it, a sure sign that they were both getting older now.

Noticing him shifting uncomfortably under the weight of her attention, Tabby felt her cheeks flush with heat, casting around for something to say to break the silence.  “So, a mechanic, huh?”

“Mmhmm.”

“You been doing it long?”

“Since school, pretty much.”  He snuck a sideways glance at her, taking in the genuine interest on her face before continuing.  “Merle taught me a little.  Started pickin’ up some part-time work at a shop on the other side’a town.  Then, when Rick opened up, it just made sense, y’know?”

“And you enjoy it?”

“S’alright.”

It seemed that that was as much as she was going to get out of him, and it didn’t matter much as, a few moments later, he swung the truck into a large open yard with a sign standing beside the entrance: Grimes Auto.  There were a few parking spots marked out down one side of the lot, but Daryl passed them, pulling up directly in front of the enclosed workshops at the rear.  She could see two bays inside, where cars were being worked on, though it was quiet, with no other employees in sight, and Tabby guessed that they must be getting ready to close up for the day.

“I’mma go get your car booked in with Rick,” he told her as he cut the engine, swinging himself out of the cab, boots hitting the concrete with a dull thud.  “Should be able to take off then.”

“Great.”  She took her time slipping out of her seat, rounding the truck to the ramp at the back, where her car sat, looking even more sorry for itself as it waited to be attended to.  “I’m sorry,” she murmured, trailing a hand lovingly down its side.  “Should’ve been taking better care of you.  They’ll get you fixed up in no time.”

Trying the door and finding it unlocked, she pulled it open, pushing herself up on her tiptoes so that she could grab her cell from the passenger seat and then reach behind to tug out the bags of supplies that she’d stowed there.  She piled them at her feet, wondering how on earth she was going to get the final carrier that sat on the rear bench seat, only to find herself nudged aside.

“Ya tryn'a hurt yerself?” Daryl sniped, stretching up and snagging the handles of the bag, dragging it across the seat towards him before lifting it down.  “Could’a just waited.”

“Wasn’t sure how long you were gonna be,” she admitted.  “I just wanted to be ready to go when you were.”

“M’ready.”  He stooped to grab the other bags that she’d managed to retrieve herself, loading himself up with her supplies and leaving her standing uselessly as she watched him take off across the yard.  “Ya comin’?”

*****

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#the walking dead #twd #the walking dead fanfiction #twd fanfiction #daryl dixon #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon x ofc #daryl dixon x oc #broken

[mahounomanga]

Okusama wa Majo

Bewitched is a 1964 sitcom about a witch named Samantha who marries a human named Darrin and tries to give up magic for him but can't quite seem to quit. It could be argued that Bewitched is a magical girl show given that Sam is the main character and her magic is an important part of the plot. However, whether or not the show itself is magical girl, it has an interesting place in the history of the genre.

A well-known bit of trivia is that Bewitched was a point of inspiration for Sally the Witch, the first ever magical girl anime, which began airing in 1966. Earlier that same year, Bewitched had started airing in Japan under the title of Okusama wa Majo (which literally translates to My Wife is a Witch), and it became quite popular with young girls. Japanese love for Bewitched didn't end in the 60s either. A Japanese-made reboot of the show aired in 2004, also titled Okusama wa Majo, and the name was spoofed in the title of the 2005 magical girl anime Okusama wa Mahou Shoujo (or My Wife is a Magical Girl). Most relevant to this blog's subject matter, during its original run Bewitched was adapted to manga not once, not twice, but three separate times.

The first of these manga was published in the now-defunct Shoujo Friend in 1967 and was created by Yasuko Aoike. Aoike is notable for being a member of the Year 24 Group, a group of female manga artists who were hugely influential in the medium in the early 70s. Aoike in particular is known for writing gay romance, such as her most well-known work, From Eroica with Love. Sadly, I couldn't find much information about her work on Okusama wa Majo aside from a small handful of scattered pages, not even an exact chapter count or publication dates. The preliminary timeline I drew up before starting this blog lists this manga's start date as March 21, 1967, but I cannot for the life of me remember where I pulled that information from, nor can I find anything to corroborate it now, so take it with, frankly, an entire salt lick.

1967 also saw the serialization of a manga by Masako Watanabe in the then-weekly shoujo magazine Margaret. The Margaret version has been chronicled online in surprising detail. A total of 9 chapters were published, starting with issue 32 (published July 23, 1967) and ending with issue 40 (published September 17, 1967). This iteration of the manga seems to be the most well-remembered, at least in the sense that it is the subject of more online discussion than the other two and it has by far the most surviving scans, as well as being the only manga mentioned on Bewitched's Japanese Wikipedia page.

Watanabe is another influential creator in the realm of shoujo manga from this time period. In addition to more traditional shoujo, she dabbled in everything from horror to erotica. In the sixties, however, she wrote a number of stories focused on mother-daughter relationships. It makes sense then for her to adapt Bewitched given the focus not only on Samantha's relationship with her mother, Endora, but also with her own daughter Tabitha.

Lastly, a version of Okusama wa Majo ran in Nakayoshi and, interestingly enough, this was the only one to get printed outside of its original magazine run. It was published as a single tankobon volume on February 1, 1968. I say "interestingly enough" because this version seems to have the least available information online. In addition to being unable to find the number of chapters or dates it was originally serialized in Nakayoshi, I can't find much information about the mangaka, Kiyoko Takenaka, either. I couldn't find a singular profile of her work anywhere, and this Bewitched manga seems to be one of the most well-remembered things she ever created. Which is saying something considering how obscure it is.

Sadly, I haven't been able to read any of these for myself. They've all been out of print for decades and I haven't found anything to suggest they were ever translated in any capacity. All I've found is scattered untranslated page scans supplemented with some low quality photographs. Like I said, Masako Watanabe's take on the series seems to be the most well known, and even then I wasn't able to collect a complete chapter. As such, I can't accurately say how these manga compare to the source material. But I can certainly make some educated guesses.

One thing that's worth noting is that across all three manga, Samantha seldom seems to be centered as a singular protagonist. She's definitely the main character, but in the pages I have access to, she is rarely on her own. There's lots of her loving Darrin unconditionally, lots of her caring for baby Tabitha, lots of Endora being Endora, and all of this feels very much in the spirit of the show.

Something that does not seem to have carried over from the show is the impetus to refrain from magic. In the original series, Sam's goal is not to do magic but to resist doing it. This, I think, is one of the major reasons people are often hesitant to call Bewitched a magical girl show. Yes, she gives in to the temptation to cast spells more often than not but she's still not supposed to. By contrast, I didn't see anything in any of these manga that would indicate Sam is trying to curb her magical tendencies. Mind you this is hard to confirm definitively without a full understanding of the dialogue and with huge swaths of the manga still missing. The only times she seems a tad cagey around using magic is when Endora does so in public where others might see. This implies that they are still nominally supposed to keep the fact that they are witches a family secret, which makes total sense.

It's a shame these manga aren't more well-known because from what I could find of them, they're all quite nice. Their connection to a series that has so much influence in the inception of the magical girl genre already is really fascinating, and they make for a great early entry in the genre.

#my posts #long post #Bewitched #Okusama wa Majo #奥さまは魔女 #Yasuko Aoike #青池保子 #Masako Watanabe #わたなべまさこ #Kiyoko Takenaka #竹中きよこ #Shoujo Friend #Margaret #Nakayoshi #live action #western source material #60s #shoujo

[edgarsabandonedrocketship]

I liked your take on the musical episode. Honestly, it does make sense, and truthfully i think it that’s the case then its actually a good thing for the main ships. If they finish this season all trying to be ‘perfect’, then next season they’ll be able to realise what they need ISN’T perfection, but to be themselves and love who they really want, not who they think will help them achieve their ideal perfect life.

Hi Anon, thanks for your message about this post. I held off from responding until after the finale aired in order to have more information to work with. I have lots of thoughts about this and related topics, so I'm using your message as a jumping off point for what follows.

Normal, perfect, and the lies we tell ourselves One thing that strikes me about all of the new ships is how for everyone involved, the person they're with is the most convenient choice. B/A are neighbors, J/T and V/R work together, T/F are cohabitating co-parents. Alice and Uncle Frank are also neighbors (and on a town council together). Does convenience lead to true and everlasting love? I'd say probably not, but of course it all depends on the whims of the writers.

Another thing that stands out is the sheer speed of it all (even by Riverdale standards). Why the hurry? Why not take the time to develop these relationships at a more satisfying pace? While it's no doubt primarily for plot purposes, there could be other motivating factors behind the rash decisions and largely OOC behavior.

Although there's much that could be said about any of the ships or characters, I'm going to focus on J/T since that's where I started and wound up writing far more than I expected to. I'm putting the rest below the cut since it's long and references sensitive topics like addiction.

While I don't personally feel that J/T came out of nowhere, I do think its development until 5x18 was slow, stilted and inconsistent (less of a slow burn, more like a box of bad matches that mostly don't light but occasionally flicker briefly before fizzling). There were episodes where it looked like they were just going to stay friends and occasional scenes where more seemed possible.

After episodes 5x10 and 5x11, I personally got the impression that Tabitha would ultimately reject any potential romantic overtures from Jughead. She basically got a tour of a bunch of red flags that piled on top of some big ones she already knew about. Some examples:

The financial problems (one of their first interactions involved his debt collectors).

The substance use problems (as well as his roping her into babysitting him while using hallucinogens, which she was clearly uncomfortable with).

The interaction in the bunker after which she explicitly told Betty he "made a pass at her" and how she couldn't stay to watch him because of that.

Other various issues that could impact satisfaction in a relationship (e.g. messiness, living situation, employment situation, reliability, etc.)

But the biggest red flag to me relates to Jughead's previous relationships and what Tabitha knows about them.

He explicitly tells her he "never recovered" from his breakup with Betty, and that his relationship with Jessica was "more toxic than nuclear waste."

She sees hints suggesting Betty isn't over it either. There's Betty's reaction to the unchanged passcode to his phone (and the fact she still remembers it), as well as her keeping the infamous voicemail (which she apparently knows by heart).

She witnesses Jessica's reaction to the voicemail, including the realization it was sent while she and Jughead were living together. What evidence does Tabitha have to suggest she wouldn't end up in a similar position?

Through 5x17, Tabitha has been presented as a smart, level-headed voice of reason in this crazy town. Although initially guarded, she's empathetic and protective of her friends. She's observant and can sense when someone's struggling (as shown with both Betty and Jughead). She's highly educated and from an affluent Chicago household, but declined a six-figure job to take over Pop's (much to her parents' disapproval), where she hopes to expand its scope while remaining fiercely protective of its brand and legacy. In addition, she has a nest egg of a size significant enough to ask for Veronica's help with investing it. While Veronica was unable to help directly, she did connect her to someone interested in investing in Pop's.

So, what's driving Tabitha to suddenly agree not only to be Jughead's girlfriend, but to make the wildly irrational suggestion to move in together while on their first-ever actual date? Besides egregiously bad writing and some likely eleventh-hour script changes due to the looming special event, some things that could potentially be affecting her mindset include:

The recent deaths in her peer group (her friend, Squeaky, and Polly). For many people, the reminder of one's own mortality can trigger a "Life is short, I must do All The Things now!" response (tbh, I think this is a major factor behind all the characters' actions).

Her parents' visit. As I speculated before, dating Jughead could be a way to convince them (and perhaps herself) that she's truly happy with her life choices (even though it'd be perfectly natural to have some doubts).

In addition, she could just be lonely and looking for a connection (and who else even is an option for her in Riverdale?). That's very human, and could also easily be amplified by everything else going on.

Jughead, meanwhile, is acting incredibly OOC. He basically goes from wary ("why are you so nice to me") to declaring that he wants to be Tabitha's boyfriend. That's a significant label to throw around before the first date. Even in his teenage relationship with Betty, it took some development before using the boyfriend label (which was only prompted by a comment from Veronica, otherwise who knows how long it would've taken).

He's also making some other odd choices. For example, going to work instead of investigating (especially when the case involves the bombing of his new girlfriend's business)? Restarting the Blue and Gold alone and renaming it (to the Riverdale Choice, hmm)?

So, what are some possible reasons for this?

I think the biggest driver might be Jughead's newly achieved sobriety. Per the (very vague) timeline, I'd estimate that he's roughly three to (maybe up-to) six weeks sober. We know he's already relapsed once, after seven days. He's been shown attending AA meetings and going through some of his steps (the so-called apology tour). It's unclear whether he has a sponsor, which is troubling (I fear he'll lean on Tabitha as his sole support, which is not okay).

Early on in his journey, Jughead's probably feeling pretty good, even confident. Since the start of the season, it seems like he's been desperately seeking a fresh start (he's used the phrase here and there), and views a new relationship as a means to achieve it. We know he's not over Betty (even hallucinating her as a savior figure), and the show hasn't given us any indication of this having actually changed. But perhaps he hopes dating Tabitha will help him move on and even have a nice, "normal" life. Dating Jessica obviously didn't, but maybe he's convinced himself that this time will be different. That he'll somehow manage to happily wedge his square-assed self into a round seat to be "perfect" for Tabitha (which isn't fair to either party).

In order to do so, it's almost like Jughead's trying to erase/replace old memories by forcing new ones. People have noted the similarities between two arson scenes, for example. Also, renaming the Blue and Gold seems symbolic to me. This is a paper with a long history under that name. It was also what brought Bughead together in season one. That history won't go away with a new name, but it could be what he's hoping to achieve (even if he's unaware of it).

He's also jeopardizing his fledgling sobriety by entering not only a new relationship, but one involving the major life change of moving in with a partner. This situation is often stressful under the best of circumstances, but these two hadn't even finished one date before broaching the subject.

I've said it before, but it's worth stating again: there are very, very good reasons behind the advice to not start new romantic relationships during the first year of sobriety. Dating tends to divert focus and energy (finite resources) away from recovery, which can wind up derailing the process.

Related to this is the risk of a new partner becoming the newly sober person's "higher power" (this is described a bit in this article, which makes some good points that are easy enough to understand). We've already seen that Jughead may view Betty in such a manner. Is he trying to transfer this role (of his savior or "light") to Tabitha? If so, that's a terrible position to be placed in and one in which she's guaranteed to fail. What happens when they fight (or worse, does she suffer in silence, choosing to walk on eggshells in order to protect him)?

There's also the danger of substitute/replacement addictions, one example of which is romance/love and the euphoria associated with a new relationship's so-called honeymoon period. Trouble is, the honeymoon always ends.

Beyond all of this, Jughead recently suffered what is perhaps the biggest blow to his identity when he lost his status as a writer (managing a small town paper isn't the same as what he'd had). I'd say it's actually been a gradual loss. He relied on drugs in order to write as an adult. This resulted in his YA novel (which is completely respectable, but doesn't seem aligned with his earlier dreams). But in 5x16, it accelerated after he submitted another's work as his own before admitting it and accepting that he'd be blackballed by the publishing industry. There's a lot to unpack here, but he's probably trying to find something to hold onto, or some way to reshape himself (I'd say that the term "identity crisis" probably applies here).

In any case, I'd imagine all of this stuff could eventually lead to a lot of built-up resentment for both parties. Can Jughead really sustain (and be happy doing so) this facade he's taking on? And to what extent does committing to this relationship and all of its "baggage" impact (or completely derail) Tabitha's goals and vision for Pop's (especially with the set back caused by the fire).

If this were a well-written show, I'd anticipate an interesting journey may lie ahead. Unfortunately, it is not a well-written show and it's quite possible that nothing I've said will be any sort of factor, or will but in a very minor way (like, I can totally see Tabitha dumping Jughead after stepping in three-day-old pizza left of the floor one-too-many times).

I guess we'll see, huh?

#riverdale negativity #riverdale speculation #riverdale spoilers #anti j*bitha #cw addiction #anon response

[dangerousconnoisseurdonut]

Magical Thieves AU

In a Gotham where about 40% of the population have some sort or magical ability and only something like 13% have two abilities, Bruce is a street rat with his honourary sister, Selina, and the two are excellent cat burglars, known as the Cat and the Bat. Selina is a Shadow Magic user; she can blend into the shadows as well as bring her shadow to life in extreme circumstances. She is called a Night Stalker, and is not trusted by many of those gifted with Light Arts. Bruce though, if anyone knew what his real abilities were, he would be locked up in the interest of public safety; he is often referred to as simply a Chaos Courtesan, despite not being a Chaos Mage.

Bruce is one of the 13% that has two abilities; the first one alone would have him be monitored for the rest of his life, Technomagic, an ability that allows him access to computer files, all kinds of electrical data, and possess mechanical devices, and those are only the surface of his abilities, but they are enough to warrant the government being worried about him. His other, arguably stronger ability, however, would have Bruce either locked up in a special facility where he never saw another living person ever again, or killed; Blood Magic. An ability that is hard to regulate as the user can literally use their own blood or that of their attackers/victims against them. They can turn a person’s blood into acid so they are eaten away from the inside out, they can track a person as well as those with Animal Magic, and they can supposedly even control people by binding their blood.

Selina and Bruce have been siblings since they were nine-years-old and Selina found Bruce wandering around, looking for something to eat. Bruce’s parents were from feuding families and when they fell in love, they were both disowned, and they became rather good thieves themselves, until the police caught up with them and killed them in a shoot-out. Selina and Bruce have stuck with each other and managed to become two of the most sought after professional thieves around, and they have been saving for the chance to get out of Gotham for the chance of a normal life. They need just one more good payday and they ca leave for good; unfortunately, that opportunity comes in the form of Roland Daggett and Rupert Thorne (Sofia and Theo work as well, I just thought something different). They are offering the pair a huge payout, in return for what others would call a suicide mission; rip-off the King and Queen of Gotham themselves, Oswald Cobblepot and Barbara Kean. Bruce is all for ignoring this job as this is beyond dangerous, but the pair are also offering papers that will identify the pair as harmless, low-level White Magic users; papers that would cost upwards of $50,000 a piece.

Selina talks Bruce into taking the job and they stake out the place to prepare for Gotham’s social event of the year; The King and Queen’s Masquerade Ball. Selina poses as someone called to do a repair job to get access to the house and they learn the layout of the house, particularly the room that holds their prizes; two beautiful rings that identify Oswald and Barbara as the King and Queen. The night of the ball, Selina attends as a low level socialite and Bruce is a waiter, both wearing one of his blood glamors to help add to their anonymity. Soon, however, a hush falls over the crowd as the King and Queen make their entrance with their respective courts. Barbara enters with her consort Tabitha, her botanist, Ivy Pepper, and her two bodyguards, Bridgit Pike and Ecco Valeska.

Then there’s Oswald with his consort, Captain James Gordon of the GCPD, his engineer, Jeremiah Valeska (Ecco’s half brother), his advisor, Jervis Tetch, chemist, Jonathan Crane, his own bodyguards Jerome Valeska and Victor Fries, his informant (and not-so-secret assassin), Victor Zsasz, and his Chief of Staff, Alfred Pennyworth. Each of them have dangerous magical abilities and none were meant to be trifled with but, if Selina and Bruce want that big payday and those papers, then trifle they must. Some time passes and the pair actually find themselves talking to members of the courts; Bridgit hates these things and enjoys talking to those who feel as uncomfortable as she does, and Bruce finds himself saving Jonathan from an embarrassing situation. Still though, once the Ball really gets going, Bruce and Selina break away to the room where the rings are housed and just as they grab the rings, Bruce feels a frisson of unease shoot up his back; they’ve been caught.

The two Courts enter the room, and Oswald reveals he’s actually flattered that Gotham’s infamous Cat and Bat Thieves have not only targeted him, but gotten so far, though he was suspicious when a random repair worker appeared at the house, given that Jeremiah always takes care of such problems. Still, as he’s an admirer of their skills and he’s in such a good mood from the party, all they have to do is put the rings back and tell him who hired them, they can leave peacefully. Bruce and Selina both know, however, if they show up empty handed, let alone give up who hired them, they will be a pair of dead ducks. When Bridgit throws a small fireball at the pair to scare them,  Bruce and Selina show their magic to protect themselves, and now Barbara finds them very interesting, offering them a fair percentage of what they would have made if they pulled off the heist. The pair still refuse to give up so easily as not having to buy those papers themselves, would save a large chunk of their savings.

Things go from bad to worse however when Jim and Alfred notice the blood charms and there’s just something too homey about them not to be handmade, and they realize that one of the pair is a Blood Mage. Once Oswald is informed of this, he’s ecstatic and informs Jerome to test the pair as the psychotic ginger is a chaos mage, and the only thing that can stand up to them are those of Order magic and Blood magic. Thanks to Jerome, they quickly figure out that Bruce is a Chaos Courtesan, and Oswald and Barbara know they need these two in their Courts. Not knowing this, Bruce and Selina make a break for it, which is helped by the fact Bruce managed to get a small sample of everyone’s blood, giving him a slight edge.

The two are about to take the staircase heading to the front door when Ivy manages to trip Selina, sending her careening down the stairs, thankfully only knocking her out. As Bruce reaches the bottom of the stairs to grab Selina, he instead is grabbed by the two Victor’s, Jim, and Jervis, who are quick to hide him in a small alcove as the other guests come to investigate Selina’s scream from her fall. Oswald and Barbara are quick to act as concerned hosts over the ‘poor dear who had a touch too much champagne and lost her balance’, a story corroborated by Bridgit and Ivy. When no one comes forward to claim her, Tabitha is quick to suggest they look after her, so they move her to a secure room.

Oswald meanwhile joins the other males, and Jervis tries to compel the truth from Bruce, but Bruce still has a vial of Jervis’ blood, and smashes it so that he can temporarily be immune to Jervis’ power. Zsasz and Fries however are quick to point out that Selina is very vulnerable at the moment and it wouldn’t be hard to...

Bruce is quick to reveal everything and give the rings back, not willing to let anything happen to Selina. Oswald orders some of his men to go to the meeting spot where Bruce and Selina were to meet Daggett and Thorne and take care of things. Bruce hopes to be able to leave with Selina once she regains consciousness, but Oswald naturally has other ideas;

Oswald: Let an injured kitten and obviously malnourished bat go wondering off into the night?! The ASPCA would have my head on a platter! Not to mention Barbara would have a separate one for my balls.

Jim: She is an avid animal lover, especially when it comes to cats. Same with Tabitha.

Oswald: Yeah, and I do not want that woman coming after me with her whip.

Bruce, starting to struggle between the two Victor’s: I will look after her; she’s survived worse falls than that! We both have!

Oswald: You see?! The kitten and no doubt baby bat, uh, what do you call a baby bat, anyways?

Jervis, enjoying himself: A pup.

Oswald: Thank you, Jervis; a kitten and a pup who are constantly being abused on the streets of Gotham?! Obviously they need someone to look after them! Do you like bats, Victors?

Victor Z: I think they’re adorable.

Victor F: Yeah, and this one is a real cutie.

Bruce: You can’t do this! Selina and I are people, not pets! We can look after ourselves!

Jim: And I’m the Captain of the GCPD, and I don’t think you can!

Alfred appears: Oswald, Ms. Kean has seen to it that her new kitten is properly situated in her new room, and I have prepared one for our bat whenever you’re ready.

Oswald: Thank you Alfred, if you would please? I wonder how much harder it is to train bats than birds?

Victor F: We’ll figure it out; besides, you always did love a challenge.

Bruce tries to cast one last spell, only to feel a sharp pain in his neck, and know no more.

For all those who liked my Underwater Gotham AU, I thank you and hope you’ll like this one just as much. Please leave a comment if you do!

#Gotham #kings and queens and thieves #oh my #bruce wayne #selina kyle #oswald cobblepot #barbara kean #tabitha galavan #jim gordon #jerome valeska #jeremiah valeska #ecco #ivy pepper #bridgit pike #victor fries #victor zsasz #jervis tetch #jonathan crane #alfred pennyworth

[zumpietoo]

It’s “dying” dumbass, but let’s take a look of how far off the map you are:

First off, funny how you neverrrr permit Jughead to have trauma, himself....he’s newly sober (super hard) and just learned he nearly died of rabies two years ago. Oh....riiiighttt....I forgot, that’s hilarious!

Pretty sure Pussy just thinks she has ESP or lowkey supernatural powers---really no different than peeps who believe chanting and prayer works. And that would hardly be especially OOC for her.....we ARE discussing the girl who kept digging up her brother to chill with him, righhhttt???

Also, Slizzy was always gonna stay (cuz duh) and you could argue she recognizes she needs to be there, for herself and her mom....Alice is essentially an invalid currently, and somebody needs to care for her....

You’re literally saying, “can you believe when shit changes, people and their lives change too????”

And next you’re gonna try and convince yourself it’s an AU, so you don’t have to admit you were wrong and misread, willfully, everything.....because you lied to yourself:

He did it, he’s better, he’s ready to take a chance again. You can’t possibly be this stupid, can you? He’s not a “lovesick teenager” (that was over Slizzy and her betrayal), but at least you admit he’s clearly besotted with Tabitha----and he most assuredly, again, did not remotely “beg” her....

He is better, he’s dealt with his issues.....he’s ready to be with the hot lady who helped get him there....

She never agreed with that....she understood he had things he wanted to work out, but wanted to stay on his radar....she also waited until he was ready....and dude, she’s completely sure (”this thing I know I can dooooo.....”)---she wanted to be make sure HE was. It was also to fit the song in, moron...

Oh and Tabitha just lost a friend, Jughead, see above----and just solved a huge, violent mystery together. So do THEY get to have “trauma”????

She also just fatally shot her new ex in self defense....that’s a pretty yolo minute, right there (actually, kinda the point, here)----plus she was never entirely sure that was what she wanted to do...in many cases, no longer having obstacles to what you want makes you see maybe it isn’t what you want.

Plus she was able to see, wisely, they have nothing in common and never did. She, again, much like Slizzy, is in love with an idealized (I have no idea why) version of Douchie and sees that doesn’t work for her...

I thought you were the one who said young women have casual hook ups????

Plus she actually didn’t say she wasn’t ready to be in a relationship....she recognized she and Douchie just don’t work. And that she maybe took Ragey for granted years ago and he has a lot more in common with her...

Also, I think this pisses you off cuz Ragey was supposed to keep Tabi away from Jug, riiiighttt????

A baby isn’t trauma, but it IS life changing and it can make you reassess your goals, your priorities and your relationships.It’s been made pretty apparent they had some sort of polyamorous/FWB shit happening (I’m positive that baby was made the old fashioned way) and they’ve known each other all their lives...

Actually, they’ve had shit develop more than either Gholars or Pinkle ever did and certainly, again, have waaayyyyy moar in common. And better chemistry.

Not that weird that over coparenting they’d develop feelings.

As far as we know, Molars had A date with Moose---and we’d been shown neither half of Gholars had ever been monogamous....it was actually part of why they split.

In the case of Pinkle----they broke up 7 years ago....

Just saying you’re grasping for anything to explain away being wrong and the storyline going in a direction you don’t like....and, actually, there was a LOT of trolling Barfie...none of these are surprises, they wanted a hook and the new couples (after everybody’s been single and stopped having anything sexytimes-ish in episode 10, except for VD in one ep) are going to be a large part of next season’s arcs, as well.

And not AU......oh and they showed Vagey and Barfie kissing, both of which had been teased for months....

OG BH was leaked, with pics, months ahead....because they saw peeps weren’t watching...

Oh good lord, like how you knew BH would talk and have lots of conversations and reconcile??? And how you had “canon” to prove this???

Dude, again, you aren’t that many and they DGAF

[all-hail-the-witcher]

even more geralt ramsey hcs

PART 1

since everyone enjoyed the first round so much....

inspired by seasons 2&3 of kitchen nightmares and conversations with @toss-a-coin-to-your-lesbian and @toss-a-coin-to-your-stan-account

don't worry there Is a fic in the works :)

-geralt gets food poisoning all the fucking time

-that is when he's doing kitchen nightmares

-cause have you seen the shit on that show?? its nasty

-and contrary to popular belief, geralt does Not have an iron stomach

-no he might be able to eat unseasoned meat and gross tavern food but Somehow he had not gained immunity to bad meat and moldy food

-hes trying to though

-but anyway

-he regularly gets food poisoning while filming the show

-even despite his prayers to not

-he carries around a bottle of pepto bismol with him at all times

-he doesn't particularly think that it works

-but the looks on the owners faces when he downs it in front of them after eating their food is Priceless 

-most of the time

-jaskier is not with him when he films cause jaskiers busy bake off hosting

-but

-occasionally

-he will tag along

-these nights usually result in geralt puking in some random hotel and jaskier going Full Feral Bard

- “geralt i think that its very nice that you see the potential in these places but i will not tolerate them giving you food poisoning”

- “hmm”

-he leaves all the places that give geralt food poisoning bad yelp reviews

-jaskier loves yelp

-geralt absolutely hates yelp and he hates that jaskier does this because “I'm trying to improve the place not further drag it through the gutter”

-jaskier does not care

-he had had to make 4 separate yelp accounts because geralt keeps deleting his

-so far his names have been susan, leslie, tabitha, and trish

-people online start to notice a Trend

-whenever geralt flips a place, a Really Bad Yelp Review turns up, usually within the same week it was filmed and they all reference food poisoning 

-and they all are written in this weird flowery language

-at first people think that geralt himself is writing them

-a few seasons in after geralt slips up that he has a husband people start to Speculate that the husband is writing the reviews

-jaksier is overly smug

-geralt tries to get him permanently banned from yelp

-it does not work

-geralt also has a Big Watch

-like I'm talking a thick silver rolex kinda thing

-wears it all the time

-jaskier got it for them for one of their big anniversaries

-750? geralt doesn't know and certainly doesn't remember 

-but its very nice

-the back of it has an inscription 

-its says dear heart

-geralt will never admit it though

-it looks frighteningly out of place next to his spare hair tie but oh well

-he also still wears his medallion

-tucked under his shirt

-sometimes people ask him what it is

-he claims that its a Bad Food Detector

-also on the chain are two rings

-one of them is one of jaskiers

-he gave it to geralt as a sort of promise ring way back when when they first got serious

-the second is geralts wedding band

-he doesn't wear it very often cause he's Chef but he still likes to have it close to him

-hes used the same one at every single one of their many many marriage ceremonies 

-the ring itself is hella fucking old

-jaskier probably bought it at Ye Olde Marketplace back in like 1370 cause he was sappy and geralt said he liked it and saved it for years and years until they officially got married

-geralt has a knife on him at all times

-its not a kitchen knife either

-its one of his old hunting knives

-spelled to look like a pocketknife 

-its very useful for poking at food he doesn't want to eat

-and besides, old habits die hard

-also in this au

-idk why

-but i picture this geralt as having the face scar that game!geralt has

-no one knows where he got it

-theres many many stories

-theories range from wrestling a bear to a kitchen nightmares gone wrong

-after they are officially Out

-everyone asks jaskier

-at first he's annoyed

-cause “why do you need to know? he's beautiful either way”

-but then he decides to have some Fun with it

-when he's hosting bakeoff he’ll say shit like 

- “oh be careful with that flambé, that's how geralt got that scar.”

- “don't go flipping knives around like that! bollocks that's how geralt nearly lost his eye!”

-or geralts personal favorite

- “see this is why we don't leave banana peels in the kitchen! have you ever wondered where geralt got that scar from? he slipped on one and flew into the counter!”

-such an event did happen actually but it was at kaer morhen and it was a prank pulled by lambert during the winter of 1298

-but all geralt got from that was a black eye and he dyed all of lambert's small clothes pink

-the season that jaskier happens to say that one though is the season where lambert is competing 

-cause i don't know if i mentioned this but lambert can't cook but he can Bake and in this au he goes on bakeoff and purely to annoy the shit outta jaskier

-lambert is so caught off guard about the banana peel story that he nearly drops his finished technical challenge 

-later on that day lambert finds a box in his hotel that contains a pair of pink underwear

-(geralt sent them)

-i could go on forever about this but this post is long enough as it is

tagging some people that seemed really interested in the first round of hcs (hope you don't mind. if you do mind lmk and i’ll take you off) also i guess there's a tag list for geralt ramsey now so if you want on...shoot me an ask?

tag list: @littleredhotridinghood @artemisthehuntress @love-more-today-than-yesterday @llamasdumpsterfire @fontegagrilledcheese @punksarcasticmisanthropicwriter 

#witcher #geralt #geralt of rivia #chef!geralt #geralt ramsey #jaskier #witcher hc #lambert #i think i forgot to mention that lambert goes on bakeoff #oh there's still so much to unpack in this au #y'all aint freaking ready

[helloalexy-smile]

riverdale, jeronica teachers

inspired by @mydairjeronica’s teacher screenshots~ As Riverdale starts it’s early morning, the fog begins to fade over Sweetwater and birds begin to chirp their way through the fall semester at Riverdale High. We see the now quiet and Ghoulie-free streets start to glisten lightly from the dew, and a bright and gleaming Archie Andrews and glowing Betty Cooper stop from a light jog in front of the Cooper home. They both smiled at each other, refreshed from the run but also glowing from being with each other yet again in secret by the river.

“That was a nice run,” Archie smiles, his light breaths peeking through as he couldn’t hide his content from being with Betty again.

“Arch, I gotta get inside, but meet me after? Maybe we can walk--”

“Jug is staying with me, he came over last night and needed a place to crash.”

Betty instantly changed her tone, taken back by the fact she forgot that they were seeing each other in secret. Archie’s staggered breaths broke their hesitation and they both let out an awkward chuckle. 

“Maybe tonight we can… meet up for a plan?” she suggested, her eyes meeting his as he nodded lightly.

This would be the first day that the four horsemen have returned to Riverdale High as both alumni and faculty at the school, and an early start began with Jughead brushing his teeth, still hungover after his last shift at Pops’ and a rough night writing at the new Whyte Worm as well as moving into the Andrews’ home.

As he sleepily washes his face and groans, he hears Archie coming back in and sighs, yelling from the bathroom: “you’re not in the military anymore, ya’ know!” Archie lets out a light laugh and replies, “hurry up! We’ll be late!”

At the Pembrooke, Veronica eats her breakfast, finishing her coffee and listening to the latest Financial commentators for any breaking news in the market. Smithers comes into the dining room with a package.

“Miss Veronica, a package from… your husband has arrived.” he said, his voice ringing of a dread for his concern regarding her hovering partner.

“Thank you, Smithers. You can just leave that there, I’m not planning to open it.” she said, her eyes hidden behind her reading glasses as she focused on her notes for her first class.

“Will you need me to drive you?” he asked, concerned about the meaning behind the package.

“No, Smithers, I think a nice walk through the town will be nice before I sit in a classroom all day.”

---

Betty, Archie, and Jughead rush into the halls at Riverdale High, a school flooded with new faces and full of a fresh new start. As Archie makes his way to the gym, he and Betty take a second before they part.

“Should we-”

“We should-”

They laugh at their newfound awkwardness in public, unsure of what to do or say next since it was fresh and held no expectation.

Jughead rushed into his new classroom, stopping for a second to admire the nameplate Kevin made for him, and grabbing a piece of chalk to get his first author’s name on the board.

Students begin rushing in, the bell ringing, and he already hears the class clowns making their way to the back, his sigh releasing past memories along with it.

“Okay, everyone! My name is…”

A group of wide-eyed students sat in front of him, none of them aware that he was now a published author and he had sat in one of those seats just 7 years before them.

“Mister… Jones -- I’ll be your new English Lit teacher… and today we’re starting off with one of the greats…”

Some students rolled their eyes, the others sighed, and some began to chuckle at the awkward pauses and rushing Jughead spoke with.

“John... Steinbeck.”

He could tell it was about to be a long day.

---

Veronica strolled through the town, wanting to see for herself how the businesses looked, her eyes narrowing as she caught Reggie driving a car past her to Riverdale High, the bell already ringing. She made her way to Pops’ walking in and finding her way to Tabitha.

“Good morning, Miss Tate,” she exclaimed, her smile charming Tabitha as her curiosity sat on the tip of her tongue, “I have a favor to ask of you.”

“Does that favor have money involved?” Tabitha replied, her smile radiating back to Veronica’s, the two on the same wavelength.

“Are you able to save that booth for 5 of us this afternoon? We’re gonna need shakes and burgers to tag along.” she chimed, and Tabitha smiled through and through.

“If business isn’t booming, that booth is all yours. You may need to put a deposit down-”

Veronica winked, passing a bill to Tabs, strolling her way out and towards the school.

--

Passing through the hall, she heard the bell ring for the 2nd period and the call for her first class. She made her way around the corner and remembered when Kevin and Betty toured her through the school and smiled lightly.

After a bustle of students rushed past her, she stopped abruptly, her eyes catching Jughead rustling through his hair, and Steinbeck written largely across the board behind him. His glasses caught a glare from the light of the window as he leaned over his desk. He looked stressed, maybe - hungover?

“Oooh, Steinbeck…” she joked, catching his eye quickly as she leaned against his open door frame in her green top and black pencil skirt. “East of Eden… a story of good and evil, Cain and Abel…”

Jughead smiled, amused he asked, “You know Steinbeck?”

Her smile faded softly as he picked up one of his handouts and disappointingly mumbled, “Apparently, he’s written some of the most boring books in the last century.”

“Well, I think it’s a good pick.” she said confidently, winking at him as she backed away slowly and began to make her way out into the hall. 

Jughead knew they had not been close, but it was nice to see a familiar face in a way, having his other two friends close but so far away.

---

Later that evening at Pops’, Jughead and Veronica sat across from each other in silence. In exchange for chocolate milkshakes, the two had coffees, and instead of words they both typed away at laptops. Having waited for hours for the other three (Betty, Toni, and Archie), the two were left to their own devices - literally.

“So, about Steinbeck…” he said, hesitating, but realizing there wasn’t much to talk about, even though he enjoyed the company in a way.

Veronica looked up at Jughead through her reading glasses, as he stared into his screen - pretending to avoid the conversation he started.

“Quiz me.” she teased.

#jeronica #personal #fanfic #jughead x veronica #jughead jones #veronica lodge