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lordofdestructionm · 1 year

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The not so subtle sentimentality of Mordecai Heller

With the Lackadaisy Short Film teaser trailer hitting over 800K views one line from Serafine got me thinking about a side of Mordecai that is not often discussed but is crucial to his character and may play a key part in the comics story before the end

Though it is easy for both other characters in the story and readers to see Mordecai as just a cold killer that cares more about stains on his shirt than ending multiple lives in grizzly ways (and that is true for anyone who makes the mistake of getting in the way of him completing his work) a closer look reveals that, while reserved for a short list of people, there is a strong streak of sentimentality hidden behind the buttoned down aloof professional persona he tries so hard to maintain

His Mother and Sisters

Mordecai was dealt a very bad starting hand in life. With his father dying when he and his sisters were still very young, despite his loving and hard working mother doing her best to provide for them, the family lived in poverty in the slums of New York

As a result Mordecai has to start working at a very early age and being naturally gifted with numbers he becomes a book keeper and soon enough gets drawn into running the numbers for gambling and loan sharking gangs.

All of this was done to try and make life better for his mother and his sisters. In a flashback to when he was on the run from the criminals he had been working for after being caught embezzling funds from them, his life is in danger and he needs to get out of town in a hurry and so jumps on a train in either 1920 or 1921.

Despite this he fixates on writing a letter to send to his mother in which he explains the location of his ill gotten savings and urges her to move with his sisters to cleaner better ventilated housing.

Because the money wasn’t primarily for his benefit

Mordecai clearly loved his sisters very much and they could break him out of his reserved bookish demeanor. We can see even as an adult Modecai holds the memory of his childhood with his sisters, impoverished and hard though it clearly was, very close. Close enough that thinking about them are enough to bring out his very small but very genuine smile that could not be further away from his “ice pick look”.

Atlas

The next imporant relationship in his life is with Atlas May. When on that getaway train he soon realized that cut throats from his former employers are already in the carriage waiting for their moment to pounce

Mordecai is 100% certain that he is about to get a bullet to the head and the tunnel will provide the hitmen with the perfect cover as the darkness and noise descends.

Only for a ray of light to suddenly appear

Atlas gave Mordecai the means to survive, not just by literally giving him what he needed to escape his would be murderers, but by employing him and providing a new purpose when he had nowhere else to go and no idea what to do.

Atlas being dead by the time of the main story, by design we know very little about his personality and relationships with others except for what the people who knew him have to say.

But is is very clear that Mordecai felt a deep loyalty to Atlas. It may even be speculated that he became a surrogate father figure for him, having lost his own father so young and having been moulded while working for him from the scared youth in shabby second hand clothes to a dapper professional bookkeeping bootlegger

This loyalty has not ended with Atlas’s death. He is determined to get to the bottom of the mystery of his murder. This is despite the fact it would be a much smarter move by far for the sake of both professionalism and survival to let dead former employers lie and simply carry out his new role with the Marigold gang no questions asked

Instead it is clear the entire reason he has abandoned The Lackadaisy is not, as Mitzi and the rest think, cold self interest but so he can investigate if the rival gang had any role in his mentors death

Even discussing the topic causes his cold passive exterior to crack and makes him look broken and overwhelmed

Viktor (You knew this was coming)

As anyone who has followed this account will know this is one of my (and many other fans) favourite dynamics in the series

At fist it seems there is little reason for these two to have any kind of bond. Mordecai is pretty much obsessed with good grooming, high quality tailoring, correct grammar, and tends to go on one-sided rambles when perturbed.

This clashes hard with the surly Slovak who is often unshaven, relatively casual in his attire, speaks a broken English, and hates people chattering or “noise, noise, noise” as he calls it. Indeed the two often bicker and act as if they can’t stand the other

However for whatever reason, in spite of these big differences, the big bruiser mechanic and the fussy nerdy sharp shooter are able to work very well together and soon become key weapons in Atlas’s arsenal

And in spite of their differences there is evidence, that over the course of the roughly six years they were working together before their bosses death, that these two extremely anti-social personalities actually began to form an unlikely rapport

On the one known occasion when Mordecai actually drank strong alcohol, and predictably got hilariously drunk, one of his chosen topics of conversation is his “friend” Viktor and how “great” he is (including a possibly telling comment about his large physique *cough*)

Mordecai also, despite being the type of person who you would assume would just radiate Scrooge energy, makes a point of buying Viktor a Christmas/hanukka present. Though he keeps up appearances by presenting it as another criticism of Viktor’s fashion sense

Tellingly Viktor voluntarily wears the tie for the rest of the day, something only Ivy (someone Viktor treats as a surrogate daughter) is able to get away with as well.

The two also not only work well together in a professional capacity, but seem to truly look out for each others welfare when on the job. Not only does Mordecai save Viktor from being shot while distracted, Viktor then goes out of his way to retrieve Mordecai’s pince-nez from the staircase of a burning building

While a hilarious moment as Mordecai fails to react in the “correct” way to having just survived a bloody shoot out, it also sums up his entire attitude to people, that he separates the world into those who count and those who don’t. The former are a short list

Viktor, along with the others on here, counts for Mordecai

This is made clear at his chat with Mitzi at the lunch meeting.

Mordecai may have kneecapped Viktor when he left the Lackadaisy gang, but from what we know now this was clearly an attempt to get Viktor out of harms way by forcing him to retire from bootlegging, and quite possibly to avoid Marigold putting him in a position where he would have to fight Viktor if he was told to finish off the failing speakeasy. Something he could hardly refuse if he wanted to keep investigating Atlas’s death

Mitzi seems to know Viktor is a chink in Mordecai’s armour, and of course exploits that to the fullest. When she informs him that his theft of the Lackadaisy arsenal put Viktors life in danger Mordecai’s face makes less than neutral expression

As Mitzi keeps twisting that screw Mordecai knows he is in danger of giving something away and with Asa right next to him he needs to restore his barriers.

In this case quite literally using a menu to cover his face to ensure he doesn’t slip up again

It seem to work as Asa laughs of the idea of Mordecai having a heart beneath the cold exterior (something we know is a big mistake)

Even when the attention is off him and the topic of conversation moves on his gaze remains firmly fixed down at the table.

Until Atlas lets slip some crucial information about Atlas’s last days. So much for there being “no heartstrings to tug on”

I am sure the Lackadaisy Animated Movie is going to be amazing and hopefully will only lead to ever more popularity and attention for this amazing world and its characters

#lackadaisy #lackadaisycats #tracy j butler #mordecai heller #viktor vasko #vikdecai #viktor x mordecai #asa sweet #zippy heller #rose heller #esther heller #atlas may #mitzi may #1920s #cats #calvin mcmurray #rocky rickaby #ivy pepper

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olivenight17 · 11 months

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Well, uh, it’s been a while, hi! So, maybe the lil caption on my blog is a lie, I may still write just a little bit. Mostly for my pleasure though and not for requests, although I might open them back up if I revamp the fandoms. Anyways uh, have this cause the Lackadaisy fandom grabbed me by the throat and ran off with me. @a-libra-writes surprise! I’m the sugar baby anon. Lol hope you enjoy what feels like a bunch of headcanons tacked on in a one-shot fashion lol, Asa Sweet man.

Asa Sweet x GN!Reader

You enjoyed the life you had with Asa Sweet.

It was a comfortable one. Not oftentimes cozy, filled with the hazy, golden lights and constant chatter of the speakeasy. It’s where you spent most of your time, after all Asa liked seeing you having fun in clothes he bought you in a place he worked hard to create, even if he wasn’t always in the room himself. It was hard to pass up, the Marigold Room had become a hotspot nowadays, and there was always interesting conversation flowing from one person to another.

And you remembered distantly being in bed with him after a long night, his paw trailing over your tail, and hearing him mumble, “you make the lights shine that much brighter, darlin. Some nights get so unsavory, and then I see you in a booth or a chair, smiling with that brightness to you, makes it all disappear.” It was a touching sentiment, and with him being so soft about it, well, who were you to refuse him that bit of comfort?

He always seemed at ease with you, you had noticed. Not much ruffled his fur, visibly anyways, and he made sure to stand tall no matter who it was he was dealing with. Plenty of times you had sat with him on his lap with his arm steady around your waist as he laughed and talked with various patrons and investors over a game of poker or black-jack. He made sure to tuck you right against his chest, an extra, glittering accessory to add to his charisma and power while he cut deals and traded hands. To you it was nervewracking, while you weren’t quite aware of every bit of the under-belly of Asa’s business, you knew a threat when you heard one, and you’d heard many veiled in honeyed words thrown at him over a game and drink. You’d never even seen him so much as flinch at one, just that charming grin he wore in public as he passed his own threats back.

Maybe you were biased from all the nights you’d spent with him, but those sweet threats sounded a lot better coming from his mouth than his business partners. The grin on his face turned just a bit sharper, just a bit more dangerous, and he looked more like a lion than a regular cat.

Although, as enticing as the danger of that smile could be, you liked it best when it was just the two of you in his office late at night.

“You don’t have to stay with me for this. I know it gets boring,” he told you every time you offered to stay. It could have been just because he wanted to be a gentleman, or because he wanted to keep you at arms length from any important information. You never really knew.

But you smiled up at him all the same and placed a paw on his suit. “What, and miss some time alone with you? Perish the thought, Mister.” You responded playfully back at him, a determined glint in your eye. Plus, he rarely refused you anything, and he craved the softness of your company most of all.

So, you were sat back on his lap, straddling his thigh in a bit more improper manner now that it was just the two of you. Most of all, you just liked taking the time to observe him in moments like these. The act he put on for others disappeared, melting into something a bit more real, less of a figure larger than life, and more like someone you could grasp onto. The smile on his face had gone into a more concentrated frown as he studied the papers in front of him(He was careful, he never handled paperwork that was overly sensitive when you were around, both for your safety and his comfort). His tie was loosened, courtesy of you and he gave you a gentle kiss as a reward, and his shirt held a few more wrinkles from the stresses of the day. His shoulders were hunched over his desk, tired after the constant meetings, and he always rubbed at his forehead with a quiet sigh when something was really perplexing him.

He looked like a man, not a terrifying gangster. Though you had seen both sides of him, it was the man who needed your attention the most, usually because he was never let out. Although there was a small glow of pride in your chest that you brought the man out of him the most. You were a good deal younger than him, and he was more than happy to show you places you’ve never been before. Fancy restaurants, shows in the theater, even allowing you the pleasure of opportunity to photograph yourself. You had managed to pull him into one of the photos once, he looked positively awkward and shocked in the picture, but you kept it anyways. It was a nice momento, and you smiled at the memory.

You sat back against his chest with a little sigh, letting his scent fill your nose. Soft and sweet, with the powdered grit of his cigar smoke tangling with it in the perfect combination. It was hard to catch it in the speakeasy with all the drinks and cigars everyone else was having pouring into your nose. But you liked his scent, it was masculine without being completely overwhelming like most men could be.

“Gettin tired, darlin? I can call you a car to take you back,” Asa’s voice drifted into your ear. It was lower than usual with the quiet atmosphere of his office.

You shook your head, turning slightly to fiddle with his tie some more. “Just reminiscing is all,” you told him before chuckling lightly. There was more of a sparkle to your eye as you looked up at him. “Honestly if anyone should be tired it ought to be you. It’s not as draining to just be your ornament, Asa.”

That pulled a more sardonic smile to his lips and he shook his head, taking a puff of his cigar, and you watched as it curled around his nostrils like a dragon. “Yeah, well thank goodness for that, being so tired doesn’t suit you. You can leave that work all to me.” The arm he had around your hips tightened as his golden gaze flicked over to you.

You just let out a hum, cupping his cheek and pressing a soft kiss to his face. “Leaves me the work of having to drag you to a bed and make sure you get some rest though, which I’d argue is harder,” you pointed out teasingly.

That got a chuckle out of him, and the sound rumbled in his chest against your back. “Hardly, all you gotta do is bat your eyelashes and I am humbly at your mercy.”

“That works when I ask for a new hat, not when I need to drag you from your desk at five in the morning. Clearly, you’ve never had to deal with yourself in peak work mode.” You huffed jokingly with crossed arms, though you couldn’t fight the smile crawling onto your face as he pulled you even closer against him.

His head dipped down to nuzzle against your cheek, then pressing into your neck, and you could feel the way he smiled at the resounding purr you gave him at the contact. “That’s what I have you for, honey. I appreciate you, you know I do. Unless this is your way of saying I need to show it a little more.” His breath ghosted along the fur of your neck, and he laughed at the flustered noise you made from it, pulling away to take another puff from his cigar.

You whined his name with a pout on your lips. Your arms crossed and you continued giving him a disapproving glare until he shook his head with an amused smile, leaning down again to press his lips to yours. The kiss was longer than the gentle peck he had given you earlier, and you could feel the smoke unfurling from his mouth and into yours, giving an even more heady sensation. His smoke was the only kind you could stand entering into your lungs, although the nicotine itself wasn’t quite what you were addicted to. Your eyes closed, and you pressed closer for more as you kissed him back. His lips were always so soft against yours, there was never a time where he didn’t treat you delicately, and he tasted as sweet as the candy he kept around on his desk.

You laughed into the kiss as an idea crossed your mind, and you snuck your paw into his inner coat pocket, grabbing a candy out of it as you pulled away. He kept some hidden there in the offchance he came across a kid or two. It wasn’t like he went out of his way for children, but if one crossed his path and he liked their spirit, he tossed a candy their way, and you found the little habit cute.

He gave a disbelieving snort as he watched you pop it into your mouth, and you simply grinned back at him. “You have your addictions, I have mine.” You shrugged nonchalantly, settling your head back against his chest. Your eyes flicked to the clock, it was getting late. Just late enough that you would have to start performing your duty of getting him to bed. “Although if you’re gonna tease me so much, maybe I will need you to show your appreciation more.” Your tail flicked up and across his lap, settling over his other thigh, and you grinned more at the little cough he made. Yet another habit of his, hiding when he thought he was more interested in something than he should be.

“All you need to do is ask, but you’re gonna have to ask me nicely. Think you can do that?” His perfectly manicured claw reached out to tilt your chin upwards, having you look into his eyes.

You could find yourself lost in those golden pools if you tried hard enough. Even so, you relented, sitting up a little more and adjusting yourself in his lap to face him more head on. Conveniently, your figure blocked the view of his mountain of papers, and he merely leaned back to enjoy the image before him. “Please, Asa? It’d be the gentlemanly thing to do to escort me personally to bed, and you’ll already be there so you might as well stay, and I sleep a lot better next to you.” Your tone was light with a practiced softness to it as your fingers trailed up through his fur gently. You’d learned quickly how to pitch your voice in just the right way to convince him of things when you needed to, whether it was to pull him from work or otherwise, it just slowly became part of what you had to do.

He looked you over for a moment longer, head leaning in slightly to the way your fingers brushed at his soft fur with a rumbling purr before he sighed. For a moment he looked older and more weary, but it was gone as soon as it came as he smiled down at you. “Alright, it’s getting unfair how good you are at persuading me, you know.” He gently ushered you off of his lap, and there was a resounding pop as he stretched his back out.

Mindlessly, he gathered his papers into as neat a pile as he could manage for his energy levels, before he shuffled over to grab your coat, taking care to slide it along your arms and up your shoulders. “Although, I bet you’d feel a lot comfier in my bed than yours, darlin. It’s bigger and you’ve already left your night clothes on my floor anyways.” He chuckled at the way your fur bushed up in embarassment at the comment, and he straightened to grab his own coat onto his body. “Just a suggestion, I’ll happily make sure you get to a bed either way, just name the place.”

You shook your head with a grin at his words, but did consider his offer as he finished putting his coat on, grabbing at his hat and briefcase next. Well, it couldn’t be helped, and secretly you did have a bigger preference for his bed given how much softer it was, the springs didn’t poke into your back as much. “Well, it’d be cruel to make you drive so far out of the way to my place when yours is a lot closer by. It defeats the whole purpose of getting you to sleep if you’re kept awake that long anyways.” You slipped your arm into his as he extended it out to you, and pressed yourself tight against him. “So, if you’re offering your place, I certainly won’t refuse.”

“Anything you want, you get. How can I deny a pretty little thing like you?” He pressed a kiss to the top of your head, and you couldn’t help but smile more at the affection as he led you out of his office, locking the door behind him.

The relationship between the two of you was just meant to be an arrangment, a transaction of enjoyment for money. But Asa liked mixing his business with pleasure, and through the time you spent with him, you found yourself enjoying his company outside of what he paid you.

You didn’t find yourself wishing it to end any time soon.

#lackadaisy #asa sweet #asa sweet x reader #lackadaisy x reader #eheh hi guysss #miss me?#I can’t promise this will continue but I did just wanna share #also anyways #I was listening to Ma Belle Evangeline while I was writing this #so now I just associate that song to Asa now #this is horrendous #I just desperately hope he doesn’t seem horribly out of character lmao

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