#( misc ) maripaz & theo

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BABYLON BOY & GOSSAMER GIRL by pía & teddy

♡ genre & categroy: literary fiction, adult

♡ pov: dual 3rd person

♡ teddy and i revisited the beginnings of mari & theo and came out of it with a rewrite of their first story that reclaimed its place as their real canon??, duology + all the novellas we want, alliteration galore, sometimes all you need is a personal project with your qpp

♡ a reminder that teddy is @teddywriting

♡ cw: drug addiction, child neglect, homelessness, imperfect recovery, unmedicated mental illness

♡ themes: second opportunities, self-love, family both chosen and born, gentleness, what if choosing to live your life was an option

a b o u t :

babylon boy - circa late 00s. theo and maripaz find each other while searching for meaning, but they're not quite the answer they were looking for. having independently run away from home they are focused on survival. maripaz left behind a family with more kids her parents knew what to do with and a boyfriend she never really liked. theo cut his family's losses and he hopes eventually they will stop missing him, his problems are his own. survival leads to companionship leads to friendship leads to i would be really bummed if you ever parted from me. there is no future as they hop from place to place, shoplift, and try to have a night of rest, there is only today and maybe tomorrow. gossamer girl - circa early 10s. the most earth shattering things still happen walking down the street or in the store.

in other words: a story told in two parts (plus a few others) about maripaz and theo—who ran away from home to spare their families the trouble. maripaz was only taking up space in her house and theo definitely does not have a drug addiction problem. they meet when theo helps maripaz shoplift from a grocery store and he steals one of the two necklaces she brought with her, this one with an angel charm (this is important). teddy is writing the theo pov and i am writing the mari pov and they go back and forth throughout.

c h a r a c t e r s :

maría paz "maripaz" vega. would rather die than ever express a want or need. should be dancing to abba at a discotheque. loves valentine's day themed stuff unironically. sixth daughter of eight kids. audhd. constantly interrupting her narration with snippets of the past. wants love to fix her so so bad. i think that i'm not who you think i am / but i like to be seen and i like to be wanted [better than this - lizzy mcalpine].

theodore "theo" rayes. hasn't had a problem ever his brain is so normal promise. should be doing silly tricks at the skate park. smartest stupidest pretty boy you'll ever meet. twin brother (older). autistic. constantly interrupting his narration with daydreams of the future. has these drugs under control (trust me). medicate, meditate, save your soul for jesus / throw a punch, fall in love, give yourself a reason [call your mum - noah kahan].

the actual plot is less important than these two's emotional journeys. the conflict comes from... why isn't how much i love you enough to make everything right? what if you wanted someone to choose you and mean it. what if you wanted to be someone people can rely on. what if we were what the other person is looking for but where we're at right now is making it so hard but here we are, we are staying.

aesthetic: the changing lights of a carnival ferris wheel, tongues coloured from candy, heart-shaped sunglasses, intertwined fingers, the murmur of the ocean tide, fine white sand, pink and orange sunsets, hands sticky from melting ice cream, light refracted on a suncatcher, cramped secondhand bookstores, the buzz of fluorescent lights in a hospital waiting room, freckle-covered cheeks, the heads of strawberries, nightlife lights refracted on wet pavement, a necklace you never take off, rhinestone decorated flip phones, a steady heartbeat, graffities that scream for something more, homemade plastic jewellery, the light behind your head looks like a halo, tangled bedsheets, soft music at the grocery store, the cold of the frozen aisle, photographs from disposable cameras, porcelain angels

snippet for you:

Watermelon in triangles.

“That one’s mine.” Carla had grabbed one of the soup bowls, then the watermelon Maripaz had picked, and another one. Juan Pa had left then unattended after calling up the stairs if anyone wanted any.

“Girls,” Mum called from the living room, her telenovela was so loud Maripaz had been able to hear it from the second floor. Bringing herself to do homework before dark was hard enough. “No fighting, please. I don’t want to deal with this.”

Carla had watermelon juice, a single drop of it, rolling down her chin. “Don’t make a scene. It’s just fucking watermelon, just grab another one.”

Maripaz made a scene.

The soup bowl broke into six separate pieces when it crashed on the floor. Carla screamed, not from pain, but indignation and anger. She shoved Maripaz so hard she knocked over one of the kitchen table chairs.

“Girls! Por el amor de Dios, not one second of peace in this house.”

the universe as a whole has been baptised as HOME HABITAT. but you will see this tagged as #bb&gg, as well as any variation of #maripaz&theo. teddy and i have at least 2 novellas planned to bridge the gap between babylon boy and gossamer girl, and one prequel about maripaz's oldest sister. but more on that some other time!

#okay take this before i change my mind about posting it!!! #pia.docx #( wip ) bb&gg #( misc ) maripaz & theo #wip intro

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i can't write better character meta than the simple act of not knowing if a song should be for maripaz or carla. like holy shit

#they're the same but also complete opposites but also they suffer from the same problems but also #if their upbringing had been kinder they would have understood each other inherently instead of fighting #pia.txt #( misc ) maripaz & theo

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the tumblr gods have given me POLLS. finally i can ask the important questions

#brought to you by: these boys are similar enough to be mortal enemies #( misc ) maripaz & theo #( wip ) greek tragedy

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it's my baby's birthday today

#i wanted to do something in celebration but then i shut down for 3 days so nvm #pia.txt #( char ) maripaz vega #( misc ) maripaz & theo

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valentina vega's rebellious phase started and ended with that one time she cut her own hair with the kitchen scissors and she had to go to school looking like she got electrocuted because her mum decided that would show her the consequences of her actions

#plot twist: that was the first time finch saw her #pia.txt #( misc ) maripaz & theo

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🌟 oc

because no one was specified i gave myself the challenge of finding songs as accurate to the character of my choice as possible. i'm going with whispers by halsey for carla vega

#carla baby ily please go to therapy #answered #( misc ) maripaz & theo

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only wish i had art skills so i could draw theo and maripaz like this 😔

#god knew i'd be too powerful if i was good at both writing And drawing so one had to go #wanna time travel back to the sixth grade and tell my 12yo self not to drop art just because it has slower results #we could be making all our fanart by now #pia.txt #( misc ) maripaz & theo

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*remembers valentina has short hair* so vale and finch would dress as sophie and howl from howl's moving castle for halloween

#let's make me giving halloween costumes to my ocs a trend #pia.txt #( ship ) finch x valentina #( misc ) maripaz & theo

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finch and valentina cinderella adjacent au where they meet when finch takes their car to the mechanic valentina works at. seeing how taken finch is, alex and olivia proceed to fuck up their car Again and olivia in a very bad display of acting suggests they take it back to the same place. finch proceeds to invite valentina to some rich people party their parents are hosting. she says yes 🥰. the dress scene is the vega sisters all going shopping and pitching in to buy valentina a pretty dress. when their parents get angry for literally no reason and ground everyone in the house, they all conspire to keep them distracted while juan pa does the carriage and takes valentina to the party. at midnight teresa texts him and valentina in a Panic saying their parents have caught on. so cut to juan pablo forcing his way into the party and literally pulling valentina from finch while explaining in quick spanish that they have to be home now. there is no real "oh who was she" mystery because finch knows who valentina is but they still show up at her house and ask her on a proper date 💞

#it's 3am and i want this to be something i can actually read #''why don't you write-'' no #pia.txt #( ship ) finch x valentina #( misc ) maripaz & theo

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need fanfic writers to tackle the first time maripaz bit theo and it rebooted his entire being because they would do a better job at it than me

#i'm not gonna write their sex scenes but someone should they deserve it #pia.txt #( misc ) maripaz & theo

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how many times a day does valentina vega listen to fast car by tracy chapman and cry in private

#you got a fast car. is it fast enough so we can fly away 😔 #pia.txt #( misc ) maripaz & theo

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love isn't gonna solve theo's addiction problem but i do think if maripaz sat on his lap and kissed him he would at least be distracted 🤷‍♀️

#pia.txt #( misc ) maripaz & theo

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oc kiss week prompts.

DAY 1: greeting (valentina/finch, small gods)

Teresa was already texting her: remember to buy the groceries on the way back, do this for me.

Valentina texted back: i will, don’t worry.

She hadn’t told Teresa where she was going, she didn’t have to respond to her little sister. She’d told Juan Pa, because he was dropping her off at the bus station on his way to work. The little ones — litter ones — must have caught on and tattled.

Maybe I won’t go home this time. Valentina leaned her head on the window. She could text Juan Pa, ask him to get the groceries. She could text Maripaz, the store was en route to the house walking from school. She could, if it didn’t feel like an ache to leave anything up to them. (Teresa would tell her off for that, she would say: I am carrying more than you, I am actually making an effort to stay).

Valentina texted: te quiero. i’ll always be here, okay?

Her sister didn’t text back, but that was fine. Her lunch break was probably over and she was too diligent to take out her phone even when bored out of her mind during work.

 Sorry, Tere, but I can’t wait to leave and never come back.

Valentina actually looked out the window, standing up when she saw the church with the red brick façade. This was the stop.

It was strange to walk without the ring of keys hanging from the belt loop of her pants. Valentina had the keys to just about everything her family owned. She had left them in Juan Pa’s glove box in case Dad needed to open the safe or Maripaz forgot her house keys again.

Valentina thanked the driver and stood, anxiously, by the bus sign looking at the compact crowd of passersby for a moment. She needed to get used to it, this could be her everyday if the visit went well.

“Oh, there you are!” She tried not to sound too relieved, but a sigh betrayed her.

Finch was practically next to her, under the plastic overhang of the bus stop. Sitting on a space that should have been for someone actually waiting for the bus. She could put her phone away now, switching it up for wrapping her arms above Finch’s shoulders, around their neck.

“You did it by yourself,” they said.

Valentina kissed their smile, a smile of her own on her mouth. “I did it by myself! I can take the bus, find a place, I’m not entirely useless at twenty-five. You just came from the office. Hi, by the way.”

Button-down and slacks, though no blazer. Probably in the car.

“Hi. I did,” Finch said, “and I’m excited to show you the place.”

“Is it far?”

“Not much, but we’ve got to be there in five minutes or they’re gonna start showing it to the next people.”

“It’s a shitty apartment on a fifth floor, is it really in that high of a demand?”

Finch grabbed her hand. “It’s a great apartment,” they said, “and it’s going to be ours. I’m not letting some nineteen-year-old take it.”

“Your pride wouldn’t be able to handle it.”

They grinned. “Neither would yours.”

#oc kiss week 2022 #( misc ) maripaz & theo #( ship ) finch x valentina #pia.docx

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why must i create the maripaz & theo m-rated high school drama show i want to see in the world

#pia.txt #( misc ) maripaz & theo

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answering all these questions with the main four from SMALL GODS as a pretence of introducing this wip. opening the floor for @rxinbowbright​ to add whatever they want, their word is also law.

#squad: who’s friends with who? what are the squad dynamics like?

the main four characters make up a friend group: theo, bee, alex and maripaz. i don't know how else to emphasise it but they're best friends, okay? they're what i mean about found family. i’ve discussed this at length with teddy but the way their characters have cemented makes it so you can have just about any kind of dynamic within the group, they have the range of personalities for it. you have bee and theo, siblings but also the extroverts. alex and maripaz, the introverts who like to sit together in silence. bee and maripaz, the mean girl + normie girl combo. alex and theo, the “i’m gonna put fifteen marshmallows in my mouth” “you’re a hazard to society” pair. bee and alex, who are down to earth to a fault. maripaz and theo, tinged with romantic feelings.

microscope: zoom in – describe the little, insignificant details about an oc.

maripaz: straight horizontal scar on her arm, just below her shoulder. has two moles on her neck that look like a vampire bite. leftover glitter from her makeup around her eyes.

theo: scar on his cheek from when he fell out of a moving car as a kid. slightly crooked front teeth. perpetually chapped lips from biting them. as a tall person he hunches a bit.

bee: pimples always appear on the corners of her nose. even when you can’t see them her toenails are always painted. wears braces always in either purple or blue.

alex: really pale freckles on his nose. it’s barely noticeable but has a patch on his left eyebrow from an incident involving a razor and his younger brother.

fragrance: what do your ocs smell like?

i’m very bad with smells.

mixtape: 5 songs that describe your ocs or songs they themselves would like.

roman holiday by halsey

all the kids are depressed by jeremy zucker

hunger by florence + the machine

ain’t it fun by paramore

beautiful creatures by illenium

wardrobe: what’s your ocs style like?

you can find maripaz here and theo here. bee dresses in really bold colours, sadly i don’t know enough about fashion to describe a fashionable character but she is the best dressed of the group. alex wears button-downs or clearance shirts with very bad puns on them, no in between.

lightning: who’s the most impulsive character? and who is their impulse control?

see, the thing about the main four is that they're all impulsive if you put them in the right environment. the most impulsive without too many variables in any given context? definitely theo. the least? probably bee. and who's the impulse control? that'd be alex, not that he tries too hard. he usually lays down the logic of the situation on the table and then leaves before seeing the results, if there are any.

ufo: identity! what are some key identifying qualities or traits of your ocs? how to they identify in regards to gender/sexuality?

maripaz: made out of the lovecore aesthetic. sixth daughter out of eight children. cries with strong emotions. fidgety adhd. shortest of the friend group. the kid who had a book on her lap during class. pansexual.

theo: looks like he could kill you but is actually a cinnamon roll. drug addict recently out of rehab. his inability to lie believably about to get him in trouble. tallest of the friend group. lives overwhelmed about everything. demisexual.

bee: embodies the energy of a teen movie mean girl but is actually very nice. has an opinion about everything. student council president. second tallest of the friend group. bisexual.

alex: the rich private school and token white boy. very strong middle kid energy. in the audiovisual club. the only one with a car so he’s the ride everywhere. third tallest of the friend group. homosexual

love note: who likes who? crushes? relationships? are they mutual or unrequited?

the main (romantic) relationship in small gods is obviously the one between theo and maripaz, that's kind of a given. but we also have the relationship between maripaz's oldest sister valentina and alex's older sibling finch. there's the whole problem surrounding davis cohen as well, who has this complicated crush situation with maripaz that breeds only trouble because he's such a massive tool.

poison: vices/bad habits? what are they? how do they affect your oc?

maripaz: bad habit of never considering her own wants and limitations, falls easily under peer pressure

theo: a bit of an adrenaline junkie and (as already mentioned) impulsive, addiction risk which counts as a vice i guess

bee: the kid on the group project that says “i’ll do it myself” and means it but then doesn’t let anyone contribute even if they want to

alex: aloof to a fault and lacks communication skills, doing things without consulting first 

track & field: which (if any) of your ocs are athletic? what sports to they play? which of your ocs would go hard in p.e?

theo and maripaz both do sports, with him being in the baseball team and her in the volleyball team but theo is definitely the most athletic of the two. he's the kind of person who actually enjoys going for a run. bee would go hard on p.e but only to assert dominance

parachute: who does your ocs trust the most? who makes them feel safe? who would they do absolutely anything for?

these four would do anything for each other, period. that said, they go to someone different first thing depending on the situation. maripaz isn’t the best at giving advice so she’s the one to come to if you really need a hug or someone to come with you for a walk. bee is all looking at a situation logically and finding a solution, so if you want an emotional response better go to her last, once you want a solution. alex is the best for vents, he’s a freakishly good listener, reacting when he needs to and asking the right questions. theo is somewhere on the same ballpark as maripaz except he gives you the space to talk, while maripaz personally prefers not to weigh in at all. they would all trust each other to take a bullet.

zodiac: what’s their sign? does it influence their personality? do they care about astrology?

maripaz is an aquarius. bee and theo are leo. alex is a capricorn. do with this information as you wish.

spellbook: are any of your ocs supernatural? if so, what are they/what are their abilities?

there is no magic of any sort in small gods but in canon characters have superpowers. maripaz's is a very good chameleon effect that makes her invisible (though not intangible) and gives her these opalescent freckles among her normal freckles. theo can predict probability in real time, he sees paths with results. this is part of his main conflict in canon but i can’t disclose it because [spoilers].

contact: how does your ocs feel about touch/physical contact? are they affectionate? if so, how do they display affection to others?

theo, bee and maripaz are all very touchy. alex less so and he really likes his space, but his love language is gifts so he makes up for it by paying attention to his friends and then proceeding to buy them weirdly accurate presents. maripaz's love language is quality time, the kind of person to do everything in her power to clear her afternoon to hang out with a friend and to just enjoy sitting in silence. bee's is acts of service, will go out of her way to do things for you (sometimes you like it or not). theo's is words of affirmation, compliments people like he has a quota to fill every day. 

interiors: describe your ocs bedroom/home/or a place they consider “theirs”. what’s in it? do certain items have a special significance to your oc?

maripaz shares room with two of her sisters, meaning that she has very little space to keep things that are entirely hers. most of her stuff is kept in boxes under the bed or hanging from the old frame of her bed, with the wall shelves dedicated entirely to her books. theo and bee have their own rooms and are connected through a bathroom, both are quite small. i don’t have specifics but i know bee has a painted sign on her door with BEE on it and a cartoon bee (as in the insect). alex has his own room and space to spare, again no specifics. there’s an abandoned train cart on the railroad by the town that they consider “theirs”, like a little clubhouse.

hobby: what do they love? what captivates them? what are their passions?

maripaz wants to work with books and her job ends up being that of a librarian, she’s captivated by the ocean because she has never seen it in person. theo is a lyricist and makes music, he’s captivated by the quiet since he rarely experiences it. bee is a fashion designer, captivated by the people around her and the human ecosystem. alex just wants his independence and that’s why he uses his money to fund an indie record label, captivated by the sky (likes an excuse to look up) though he won’t write you poetry about it. the others might write you poetry but not alex.

chess board: who is the most logical? or the schemer/planner?

on a scale from feeling to thinking we have: theo, maripaz, bee, alex. 

#pia.txt #( misc ) maripaz & theo

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maripaz is a mosskin so she looks like this (alternatively that Adorable hornet skin mod)

bee and theo are bees but like the hive knight

whatever tiso is supposed to be alex is that

#( misc ) maripaz & theo #pia.txt