#what if i staple no children to their heads when they're together what then

[knowlesian]

my last post and the shameless mountain goats reference i threw in there got me thinking about one of my favorite story beats, because it combines a lot of character work and thematic oomph in one: ed being a victim of his own legend and ability to protect himself by hiding in plain sight + codeswitch into the version of himself that best suits the company/situation he’s in, in many ways but often most visibly through his interactions with izzy.

my take on “is blackbeard real or fake” has always been “yes”; blackbeard is pieces of ed filtered and strained and assembled and pruned down in ways that scarred him even as they kept him safe, in ways that are very sad and often stretching the definition of safe as far as ed’s personal definition of murder. nonetheless: it got him to the place he's at, still alive. could he have done it another way? who knows! that was the way he did it, it's the way he knows will work because it did work.

or: he thinks he knows that. but the legend was never all of ed and in fact demanded he spotlight pieces of himself he doesn't like so much a lot and repress a lot of the things that make him feel good, it’s not helping/hurting anymore. it’s just dragging him down.

so ed is sick of the blackbeard schtick; and here’s the rub. if he’d been worse at the art of personal fuckery alongside the pirate type, maybe none of this is happening. the world never knows his name; or worse, once he gets spotted as a man who won't kill they mock it. 

that version of ed does not attract izzy ‘ask me about my boner for the sunk cost fallacy’ hands, or does not keep him. because izzy has built his identity around ed’s legend; who is blackbeard’s first mate, if there is no blackbeard? who the fuck even is izzy hands, if he’s not seated at the right hand of edward teach?

now. you would hope, in a better world, that izzy would be like you know, edward, the thing here is: you wanting something different involves emotional consequences for me. i would have to figure out my whole life over again and i am simultaneously con o’neill’s age and emotionally sixteen like the real world me was, so you can see that would be super complicated. i have so fucking much baggage and you are just adding to it, and i do not like that. also: this fucks up my work situation and my home life at once, it makes me feel sad and abandoned and itchy in ways i do not wish to label with words because they would be gay ones like ‘please don’t leave me, i love you and i thought it was mutual’ so like... world rocked, thoroughly and in ways that make me want to rant until past last call, in conclusion this sucks and i think it's twenty mistakes in a trenchcoat, some of them maybe life threatening! i wish you would not.

and then he would step back and let ed make his own fucking choices anyway and either do the work to figure himself out in the same space or finally grab those cds from the car and find his own place to do the same, because a shitty fact of adult life is sometimes people cannot be what we want or need. sometimes that is because they suck: sometimes, it’s just because they can’t or don't want to, and that isn't them being mean or withholding. they don't owe us more than the basic kindness and dignity we all owe to each other just because we put in our hours longing for them to do so. that’s some toxic, entitled shit. understandable! an impulse i share at times! but we should never be That Guy (gender neutral) because the friendzone doesn’t actually exist and nobody deserves to win someone else as a prize for hanging around long enough and driving them to the airport. that’s just called being friends, etc.

izzy is sadly currently stuck on being That Guy. so instead of realizing ed is an adult man and can make his own choices, even if izzy thinks they're bad ones, he fucking panics and starts swinging around and finally runs to big daddy england to make stede bonnet stooooooooop (messing with ed’s brain).

and of course he does something like that! he thinks a relationship is when you metaphorically own each other and when you can only be tender after putting your right foot in and then putting it out before once again putting it in and then proceeding to shake it all about, violent rituals unlock love style. he’s a desperate man in a hell entirely of his own making.

and so is ed, in this entirely different way but stuck in his own fucking orbit as firmly as izzy, only ed is trying to claw his way up and out to see what else he can be, while izzy would do juuuust about anything (including lick the king’s boots) to stay the same forever.

that’s some tragic shit. i love this writing team, the end.

#what if i staple no children to their heads when they're together what then #truly this is some good writing #like: i find izzy fascinating because he was written by the same team who wrote everybody else #he sucks in ways that i want to think about because they sometimes allow me to examine myself #and then sometimes let me laugh at his dumb ass or talk about serious thematic shit #he bears a lot of weight in the narrative because that's in part what a good antagonist should do #anyway yeah the sort of classic tragedy of these two is super interesting since like...clearly the show knows what's up #i maintain izzy is gonna figure his shit out and become a productive member of this pirate society tho #because okay like: in real life i know the best i can often hope for is somebody knocking a specific behavior off #and often they won't ever do that #but if they did the world would be better and they would be better and i would have another comrade #i will always settle for one less enemy if that is my only choice #but i'd rather make a new ally i can trust #and my fantasy is often that the izzys of the world in all their forms don't just knock it off #it's that they start fighting alongside me or become someone i don't mind being around because i CAN trust them now #(hey: i did say it was a fantasy) #so i kind of ask myself: what makes life better in this fictional world #an izzy who can't hurt people because he is no longer around or an izzy who has started to figure his shit out #anyway yes: this shit is sad and well-crafted

[happysadyoyo]

"How much of you is metal?"

"Are you a cyborg?"

"No, they're obviously like Mr. Sun!"

You had. Made a mistake. Came to the daycare an hour before close to see the attendant and got jostled by a parent running after their escaping toddler. The x-rays... Well, maybe it shouldn't be a surprise that at least one kid would know what metal looks like in an X-ray.

Sun is trying to redirect the children, but you're surrounded.

It took a little effort, but you finally manage to roll the heavy sleeves of your coveralls up, showing the thick ugly scars left from some of your surgeries. To your surprise, no one looks disgusted. And no one tries to touch them. There are questions, lots of questions.

"Did you get beaten up?" Head shake. "Can you talk?" Shrug. "Did you parachute out of a falling helicopter?" Something about your silence prompts the kids to speculate on more and more elaborate scenarios, all while you slowly sit to be more level with them.

To your surprise, a toddler walks up to you and hands you her Roxy doll. You blink and hold it loosely, using your thumb to push back the felt hair to see the bulging plastic eyes. One's been chewed on, a dog probably. The bite marks didn't look particularly human. When you look up, you manage a smile and notice that she has a scar too, on her cheek.

Oh.

You don't move until the last of the kids have gone home. Only about half of that is because you physically can't. Sun seems to realize that too, all but running over the moment the big doors close for the last time.

"I'm so dreadfully sorry Sunshine. I hadn't expected you to be over so early or else I would've been more aware. But Tommy just had to go find Chica..." Even as he speaks, he's helping you, hands curling around your chest and lifting you until you can safely straighten out your legs and stand. Even then, his hands linger, waiting until you pat one to pull away.

Once you can face him, you start to sign, hands a little shaky from all the attention. I finished early. Did not

You frown, not knowing how to say what you wanted without finger spelling.

"It's all right. So long as you're okay?" The way Sun's rays angle forward questioningly makes you want to smile again. You don't, but the feeling is there.

Instead, you nod and Sun hands you the folder with your X-rays safely contained again, and you walk over to the security desk to sit as was your habit now. You could sit and let the aches and pains of the day fade away for a couple hours, and Sun would teach you how to speak ASL. Because he is fluent. Because of course he is. He knows Mandarin too, but you decided together to tackle that later.

You scoot forward in the chair, pausing when you realize your sleeves are still rolled up. You almost never look at your skin, spending most of your time bundled up, so staring at it now is almost like looking at the arms of a stranger. You flex your wrist, watching the uneven skin move.

You roll your sleeves back down and check that your neck is still covered. Good.

If Sunny noticed anything was off, he didn't say, instead leaning down so he can prop his elbows on the upper part of the desk. "I didn't truly expect you to bring your pictures. I was only teasing since you get to see our insides all the time."

I want to. It was one of the first things you had him teach you to say. And it was, is true, if only because you felt you have to explain. You. Your body, why you don't talk anymore, why you're not good enough anymore. You open the folder, and the answers to all of that sit before you, the metal pinning your body together white against even against bone.

You don't look, not really, instead handing the pictures, neatly labelled with your name and body part, over, one by one. A hand, a foot. The side of your skull. There wasn't some part of you that hadn't needed stitching together, a skin graft there, a donated piece of liver from a sibling here. And staples, pins, and plates to force your bones to heal straight, to hide where part of your skull seemed to have disappeared, letting you function as you do. Slowly, painfully, here.

Sun isn't saying anything, though he does take each page as quickly as you pass it over. You watch for any tells, a flicker of his rays, the sound of his fan speeding up as he processes. But there's nothing, no tell, and did he already know? Was all this in a file he had access to and

"Oh Sunshine." It's the last x-ray, the back of your head, where the plate sits visibly off to one side. If you touch behind your ear hard enough, you swear you can feel the metal. "What happened to you?"

You don't really know how to respond. Your hands twitch, but you're not able to sign. You don't have the right words. So you dig for a notepoad and pen, writing carefully.

And oh, it hurts to see how much your handwriting changed since before.

It's a short story. I got in a car accident. Almost died. They pieced me back together. You shove the note to Sun to read, then keep going. I might have almost as much metal as you do at this point.

Sun is being hard to read still, though his rays have pulled back into his face, leaving tiny little points all around. His head is bowed, showing he's looking at the note still, but there's no way he's still reading. You stand, pulling at his faceplate, forcing him to look up.

"Ah, sorry. I was getting lost in thought. Can you come out from behind the desk?"

You are suspicious of that. Sunny, he almost never asked you to do something without some sort of explanation if it wasn't inherent in the request itself. But it's also Sun, and he hasn't hurt you. So you oblige, standing a fair few feet away.

Sun, for his part, sits cross-legged, holding a hand out to you. "It's okay. You trust us, right?"

You step forward, taking his hand, letting him lead you until you're standing with his legs crossed around you. You're taller this way, taller than even his uppermost ray, but you still feel small.

Sun's hand remains in yours, but his other is moving, touching the collar of your coveralls. "Can I?" You hesitate. "Only if you're comfortable."

You're not, not entirely. But you nod anyway, trying not to flinch when he finds the topmost button. It snaps loose easily. It's. Cheap. The coveralls are cheap. It shouldn't be a surprise, but your heart is racing too much for you to care.

You're wearing a thin t-shirt under the coveralls, nothing that can hide the scar from getting intubated. You let go of Sun's hand to hide your throat. "It's okay Sunshine. Come sit down. We'll take a break."

You nod quickly, and Sun helps you into his lap. Wrapping you in his arms. "Does this hurt?" You shake your head. "Good. Tell me if it does.'

You just sit there, leaning against Sun's torso, listening to the mechanics you kinda sorta understand now. Very kind of. You are a little more, uh, hyperaware of Sun's hand in your hair now. Tracing through it, finding the raised scar at the back of your head.

"A-ah." The noise you make isn't really a word so much as a panicked expectation. But his touch his delicate, almost ticklish. There's no pain, especially when he pulls away.

"Did that hurt?" You shake your head and look up, brow furrowed ever so slightly. "We're just... curious. You were pieced back together so carefully. We've never met someone like you before."

Carefully? You shake your head a little.

"No?" You reach out, and he takes your hand again. "No to us meeting someone like you?" Head shake. "Being pieced back together carefully." A nod. "I see. That would explain the scars on your arms?" You nod again, squeezing his hand. "We have scars too. Not everything can be buffed out."

He pulls at one of the ribbons tied around his wrists, the bells slipping free and rolling away. Hidden away is a soldering seam, as heavy and uneven as your own scars. You touch it lightly, then look up at him again. "It was an accident when we were still in the theater. The mechanic thought it would be a good idea to take the whole hand off when he lost a screwdriver." When you start to pull away, unsure, he shakes his head. "No, it's okay. It doesn't hurt. It's old anyway. We just don't heal like humans do."

You shrug out of your coveralls, tying the sleeves around your waist. Oh, mistake, mistake; it's freezing. You shiver even as Sun pulls a blanket (where did he get a blanket?) around you. "There you go. I don't think we've ever seen you not bundled up before."

There's a bump at the top of your forehead, and you blink at seeing how close Sun is now. You bump back. "Are you in pain very often?"

Oh. You grimace before nodding. "Is it from the metal?"

You're not sure how to answer that. You make a writing motion, and Sun can reach the paper he'd left up on the desk, letting you write using the back of his hand as a table. I wish that they hadn't put me back together like this. Every day hurts. And every day it feels like I've missed what I'm supposed to be doing.

"Oh Sunshine." He'd been reading over your shoulder. "I'm sorry you're in pain. It's always scary when something hurts, and it's not easy to forget when it's there all the time, is it?" You're staring down at the stripes in his pants, so you miss him moving his hand until it's cupping your cheek. "But, selfish as it is, I am very glad you're here. And for what it's worth, I don't think you've missed your potential at all."

The conversation feels incomplete, and even with the blanket, you're still cold thinking about the past, you shattered future. But Sun's filling your vision, pressing his face to yours, and you reach up to hold his rays, feeling them flex in your hands, the thick rubber malleable in your grip.

His hands find your wrists, and he holds you and it's now when you realize that you've fallen for an animatronic and honestly...

That's not such a bad thing at all.

-------

@pillowspace

this took a very abrupt turn from when I started it at work but I had to force myself to stop writing lest I end up making an entire novel just for this bit alone.

I don't know if I should tw this

#clone au

[somekindofadeviant]

Victorian Era Fanged Four Fic Recs

So, like, my absolute comfort fic genre is that old staple that used to be such a standard, though you pretty much never see it anymore, and that makes me very sad. It's works set in the Victorian era, when the gang were all together and happily evil, William's a bebe fledgling learning the ropes, and you got this family unit/polycule that's simultaneously brutal as hell but kinda sweet and domestic. I will devour this fic, especially if the historical detailing is on point, and apparently some others wanna see this trope too so lemme spread the love and massacres.

Warning: A LOT of this fic contains noncon and torture and oodles of murders. If you want to know detailed warnings for a given piece, DM me. I'm also including some fics that are pre-Will's embrace but still Victorian and honourable mentions to a couple of Georgian era Darla/Angelus ones.

Ensemble Works

Peasantverse by Peasant - A goddamn masterpiece. The absolute foundational example of this genre. A series of works starting with William's siring (deliberately vague who did the deed itself) and going through the following years. Lots of intriguingly plotty stories, just so many, and everyone in the family gets some love. The historical detailing is absolutely wonderful, the dynamics are wonderful, worldbuilding is fantastic, with some delightful lil footnotes to give extra context to some of the historical points.

Rating: NC17 Length: 14 works, total 232,438 words

A Winter's Tale by Coquette - A road trip of sorts. I love it so. The fanged four on a journey Oop North. Truly engrossing, viscerally descriptive. Followed by Temper which is, sadly, a long abandoned WiP but still worth a read.

Rating: NC17 Length: 74926 words

Queen's Gambit by Josey - Lots of plotty intrigue and politics and gorgeous detail. 'The year is 1880 and the family is sorting things out amongst themselves. Plus politics – and that’s never pretty.'

Rating: NC17 Length: Long

Followed by:

Demon's Aria Oh my gosh you have to read this one. 1881. And more plotty intrigue and politics and a surprise encounter or two that you just truly have to see.

Rating: NC17 Length: Long

Followed by:

Master's Voice - It all comes to a head in 1882. Oh hey could that be the consequences of their actions arrivin? It just might be. Sadly this is another long-abandoned WiP but again it's well worth a read

House-Guests From Hell And How To Send Them Back There by Glassdarkly - Oh hey it's seasonal. The fanged four dealing with unwanted Christmas guests, and they're at their dysfunctional best. Delightfully funny.

Rating: Teen+ Length: 12353 words

The Perfect Present by Glassdarkly - And another seasonal one to go with it. A lil Christmas shopping.

Rating: Teen+ Length: 1998 words

Charity Begins at Home by Glassdarkly - And one more seasonal one for the road. Well, things do come in threes. In a very grand house on the fringes of Victorian London heartwarming deeds of bloodthirstiness are afoot - or should that be bloodthirsty deeds of heartwarmingness

Rating: Teen+ Length: 6713 words

Ennui by Glassdarkly - Darla decides to shake things up a bit to reignite the waning passion in her relationship with Angelus. Things get in the way.

Rating: NC17 Length: 2240 words

Alone at Last by Glassdarkly - Darla and Angelus conspire to send the children away for a while.

Rating: Mature Length: 997 words

She's So Cold by Rebcake - Spike and Dru conduct a harmless experiment. Darla is not amused. Part of the Travels With Spike and Dru series (which has lots of good stuff go read the rest too!)

Rating: Gen Length: 100 words

Fanged Four Fairytales by Kita - Some lovely but brutal little smutty vignettes with delightful imagery

Rating: NC17 Length: 2210 words

The Web by kidcyclone - William contemplates, just a little snapshot, short and lyrical and gorgeous.

Rating: Gen Length: 573 words

FFWTF by soulless lover - What happens when you try to cram every Fanged Four badfic cliche ever into one fic?

Rating: Teen+ Length: 502 words

Darla/Angelus

A Lost Letter of Jane Austen by Hello Spikey - A clergyman's daughter writes her sister about two new acquaintances, a Mr. and Mrs. Angelus.

Rating: Teen+ Length: 2462 words

Followed by:

Darla's Letter by Hello Spikey - Darla reports to the Master on recent events regarding an authoress

Haunted Summer by Gill0 - In 1844 Mary Shelly recounts to a friend her time with our couple in the Year Without a Summer. Absolutely wonderfully captures Mary Shelley's voice and the writing style of the period.

Rating: Gen Length: 1443 words

Angelus/Will

Incandescence by wiseacress - A night at the theatre. Run and catch.

Rating: NC17 Length: 2568 words

Breathing Lessons by Hello Spikey - When Spike's coughing during a fire nearly gets them caught by Holtz' men, Angelus decides he needs to learn to stop breathing.

Rating: NC17 Length: 2499 words

The Adventures of the Concealed Closet by brutti ma buoni - Angel and Spike encounter Sherlock and Watson. Yes, really.

Rating: Teen+ Length: 1399 words

Darla/Drusilla

Venus and Mars by Glassdarkly - A young gentleman encounters two mysterious ladies in the National Gallery, London, in 1874. An absolute classic.

Rating: Teen+ Length: 7972 words

In Pursuit of the Appropriate Man by lillianmorgan - Darla and Dru in 1860s Rome. Contains a delicious abundance of politely cutting Victorian speech

Rating: Teen+ Length: 1691 words

Ye Gods And Little Fishes by Beer Good - The first, aborted, trip to China, and why they never got there.

Rating: Mature Length: 868 words

Darla/Will

Lessons from the Lady of the House by joycometh - Darla discovers William's education is lacking. She sets things to rights.

Rating: NC17 Length 1317 words

Drusilla/Will

Tea For Two by Glassdarkly - Spike will go to any length to please Drusilla. All the way to Wonderland.

Rating: Teen+ Length: 1347 words

#fic recs #btvs #ats #spangelus #spangel #dangel #sprusilla #darla x drusilla #angelus x drusilla #angelus #angel btvs #spike #darla #drusilla

[lumiereandcogsworth]

Ok ok Adam as a father question: Which child is he closest to? Has he always wanted kids? What song does he sing to his children the most? (Or does he?) Does he do the funny voices when he reads stories? What's his favorite way to spend time with each child once they're old enough to have hobbies and everything?

Oh, friend, you’ve no idea how happy this made me!! Let’s get into it!!!

I’m not sorry that this got really long, but just a heads up. I did indeed go off :)

Which child is he closest to? I think he certainly has special bonds with each of them. But that being said, probably Juliette (the middle of the three). She’s always been quite attached to him, even preferred him a bit more as a baby, haha. So they’ve spent a lot of time together. They’re quite similar, both quiet and shy by nature. When Renée and Maurice just wanted to run around with their mother, Juliette often preferred to sit on their father’s lap and observe. Even as they all grow up into teenagers and young adults, I think he and Juliette talk the most regularly. They have tea and pass the time, discussing books and music and little everyday worries. In her adulthood I think they form more of a “friendship” than he does with Renée or Maurice. He talks to and loves them all, of course, but Adam and Juliette have always had a sweet understanding.

Has he always wanted kids? Absolutely not. But, it’s a tricky thing. Being raised as a prince, heir to the throne, it was ingrained in him how much maintaining the family line mattered. He was never his father’s son, only his father’s successor. Despite all of that, Prince Adam loved to avoid responsibilities, loved to use his privilege without taking any of it seriously. (Granted, he was very depressed and traumatized, but the point still stands.) He was certainly, uhm, adventurous. But let’s just say he did everything he could to ensure there were no unexpected consequences to his promiscuity. Anyhow, he knew that one day he would have to have children. At least one, maybe two. Heir and a spare, you know. The way he was living his life, he assumed he’d eventually marry some perfectly political match, she’d give him an heir or two, and they’d live unhappily ever after. He had no reason to think he had any sort of other future ahead of him. Then of course, you know, STUFF happened.

But it wasn’t like a switch flipped. Even when Belle told him she was pregnant with their first child, he was terrified. Terrified of messing it up, terrified of not being good enough, terrified of doing anything remotely similar to how his father treated him. Of course, all of those worries were crushed into dust. Once his children came, he could never imagine life without them. What he wanted was a beautiful future with the love of his life, and their children very gladly became a part of it.

What song does he sing to his children the most? (Or does he?) I think in general, he leaves the singing to Belle. He can sing, we know this, but it’s not something he elects to do. Now, that being said, he has been caught on occasion to sing an old lullaby or two to his babies, in the wee hours of the night when he thinks Belle is sleeping. He’ll pace around the room with the infant slumped on his shoulder, drooling or sucking on their thumb, and he’ll sing the vague memory of songs once sung to him by his mother. They’re distant, and he doesn’t remember all the words, but he sings what he can and he hums the rest. Tunes that once warmed him with comfort, now passed down to his own little ones to do the same.

Does he do the funny voices when he reads stories? I love to think that he does. He and Belle sometimes read together, doing different voices to really entertain the children. They’ll be sitting on the floor in front of them, cracking up at the funny moments but so utterly captivated at the serious ones. Family Reading Time is an absolute staple for this family, of course!!!

Favorite way to spend time with each one? My answer kind of seemed to lean more toward when they’re teenagers, that’s just where my brain went. So I’ll say here that when they’re young children, Adam loves doing anything with them. He just loves sitting and letting them exist around him, letting them show him drawings and joining in on their tea parties and make-believe worlds. They’re each different on their own, but they all share an affinity to share everything with Papa. He loves hearing their stories and just letting them be their little selves. But! Onto when they get older:

With Renée it’s probably horseback riding. Not going too fast or anything, but Ren loves horses the most of the three, so I think, whenever the two of them got the chance, they’d go for rides together. Their horses walking side by side, Adam and Renée probably engaged in some sort of political discussion. I will add though that these two butt heads the most, she’s incredibly stubborn and headstrong and opinionated, so that discussion could just as quickly turn into a debate or, dreadfully, an argument. But they always manage to work things out (eventually!)

I already sort of covered Juliette, but it would probably just be sitting together and having tea, maybe even reading their own books in pleasant silence in two arm chairs. I also think Juliette always likes to show Adam first when she’s memorized another piece on the violin, or when she’s composed her own tunes. She likes to go to his study and ask if she can quickly play it for him, to make sure it sounds okay. He of course is always happy to hear (and it’s always so good, she’s quite the prodigy.)

With Maurice it’s not exactly one thing. Maurice just likes doing things, as well as showing off his experiments. Adam’s favorite thing to do with him is just to be around him, watching and listening as he rambles about his latest ideas. I think these two have great conversation as well. They’re both night owls, so they have bumped into each other more than once when the rest of the castle is asleep. Adam is Maurice’s hero, honestly. He looks up to both his parents a tremendous amount, probably even more so than his sisters do, but these two have a very sweet bond. Adam doesn’t always understand him, but Maurice never shies away from being his authentic self, which is something that Adam wholeheartedly admires about him (and sees so much of Belle in him, too.)

#caitlyn i have no idea how to thank you for that. but THANK YOU. #that was just what my brain needed. thank you so so so much !!! #GOSH. everything to me #adam #batb headcanons #batb 2017 #oc writing

[phoenixwatchesmovies]

Impulsive rewatch of The Haunting of Hill House prompting some impromptu rants and thought dumps...

Hill House: Steven Sees A Ghost

1. Literally two minutes into episode one, and I was already tearing up. How am I supposed to survive nine more episodes? Knowing how the story plays out from the beginning only makes it hurt more coming back to it, which ties in pretty nicely with the idea that "no one can live under conditions of absolute reality" (paraphrasing). It also puts Hugh's actions into perspective right away--well, it does for everyone, but I'm focusing on the first episode right now. He didn't do them any favors over the years because they're all various degrees of fucked up, but how would knowing the truth of what happened at the house have affected them? Especially growing up with that knowledge?

2. The camera work.... *chef kiss* I decided ages ago that my favorite staple of Mike Flanagan's style is the shot that turns on its axis, like the above gif. More to drool over than that, obviously. The framing and symmetry is very Kubrickian in the attention to detail.

3. THE TRANSITIONS. My immediate thought on rewatch is how the non linear timeline and how one motion begins in "now" only to finish in "then" with such fluidity reminds me so much of reading It. I was impressed with it then, and it's almost even more impressive to see it play out.

4. I was only recently made aware that Steven gets a lot of flack from the audience, but I don't think it's earned. I can think of one one thing later on that deserves mentioning, but for the rest? He was and remains an eldest sibling trying to keep it together for the younger ones. He was ill equipped to deal with the shit when he was a kid, and if his method of coping as an adult isn't appreciated by the rest of his siblings, he's at least doing his best. His book might have made him unpopular with Shirley, but when you get down to brass tacks, they're all still just children trying to process a tragedy. *wraps Steven in a blanket and tucks him in with hot cocoa*

5. The music... I'm going to have that piano theme in my head all damn day, and it'll give me goosebumps every single time.

Onto episode two!

#currently watching #the haunting of hill house #phoenix rants

[weirdoldmanhoho]

Ok my new offers for the character prompt are Greed's underlings (Dolcetto, Roa and Martel), Grandma Pinako and Buccaneer

Oooh more characters I haven't thought a ton about. I'm gonna group the 03 Greed squad together as one though, because I don't have enough thoughts about them individually.

0G Greed Squad

do I like them: they're all great! sometimes a family is a homunculus who ran away from home and 4 chimeras that share a single braincell

good qualities:

they clearly all care about each other

the military used them as human experiments and they ran away and found a way to rebuild their lives into something new and also stayed really positive about what happened to them, that's pretty admirable

they're all so utterly ridiculous. Greed is like hey Roa let me show this kid I'm a homunculus and Roa just BASHES HIS HEAD IN IN FRONT OF A 14 YEAR OLD (how many lives did Greed waste doing stupid stunts like that)

Martel tried to kill Bradley and I think that was very sexy of her

they're like, technically antagonists, but compared to a lot of the other villains they're actually good people, so when they misunderstand Al and think his brother is dead, they all get so concerned like "oh no this poor kid lost his brother, how should we comfort him" like they didn't just LITERALLY kidnap this child and tie him up

(If Ed WAS dead and Bradley hadn't shown up, I'd give them like 3 hours before they just decided to adopt Al into their crew.)

bad qualities:

they enable Greed too much lol. One, no one looked at Greed wanting to be immortal and went "hey, boss, aren't you like...already basically immortal?" or you know "hey, maybe we SHOULDN'T kidnap a 14 year old"

they died and it made me sad :(

favourite episode/etc: every part they're in is great honestly. Dolcetto getting his ass kicked by Al. Roa bashing Greed's face in without thinking. Martel trying to kill Bradley. The part where they tried to use hypnosis to get Al's memories back.

best quote:

Dolcetto: If they hadn't picked me, I would have died anyways. Human or chimera, it doesn't matter in the end. At least I'm alive.

Also

Alphonse: What animal did they combine you with? Dolcetto: Guess. Martel: Just watch. He raises one leg when he pees. Dolcetto: I DO NOT!

head canon:

They were gearing up to adopt Alphonse into the squad I just know it. They looked at this kid who was just like them, without a normal body, unable to live a normal life because of it, and were like yup, he's one of us. If Izumi, Ed, and Bradley hadn't shown up and everything gone to hell, you know we'd be reading about the continued adventures of the Greed squad and their new little brother, Alphonse lol

Pinako

do I like them: I love her a lot

good qualities:

Pinako lost her husband, her son and his wife, watched her good friend leave behind his family only for that family to fall apart, and despite all that loss and grief she stays strong and positive and a steady rock for her grandchild and the two boys she basically adopted as her own grandchildren

She's such a good, staple presence for Winry and Ed and Al and she cares about all of them so much.

The THINGS this woman has had to do because she didn't want children to be forced to do them or do them alone. She went back to the Elric house after the transmutation and cleaned it up and buried the horrifying thing they'd created ALONE so they didn't have to. She stood by Ed's side when he decided to exhume it even though she didn't have to.

She's a voice of reason when people really need it and a kick in the ass when they really need that too. But she also knows when her kids need to be comforted.

She was best friends with an immortal dumbass for roughly 30 years and never told anyone his secret.

bad qualities:

She can be a bit gruff and too harsh.

Not that we see it that much in the series, but I bet she was an absolutely chaotic hellion when she was younger lol. I think she was probably even gruffer and harsher before the years mellowed her out a bit.

favourite episode/etc: When she stands by Ed's side when he exhumes the grave of the thing they created and doesn't leave him no matter how horrifying what's happening is.

brotp: Hohenheim!! I want to know so much more about their friendship. His conscious literally appeared as Pinako in his dreams.

best quote: can't think of one off the top of my head or find a good one, but she's got some great ones

head canon:

She met Hohenheim in a bar fight. She's also definitely the one who latched onto him and started dragging him around because this man couldn't make a friend (outside of the 50000 souls) if his life depended on it.

Buccaneer

do I like them: I do! Don't have very strong feelings on him, but generally like him.

good qualities: he cares about his men a lot

bad qualities: shrugs

favourite episode/etc: when he risked his life to go down into the tunnel and get his men back despite not knowing what was down there and also knowing that he might be sealed in there

brotp: him and Armstrong

best quote: can't think of any

head canon: honestly can't think of any

#ask

[druidscraft]

3, 4, 5, 22 for sable? 👀

!!!!!! 🐻‍❄️ 🏹 ❄️

3. Did they have a good childhood? What are fond memories they have of it? What’s a bad memory?

sable's childhood was honestly pretty average for her people - her parents have remained on friendly terms with each other and even had a few more litters together, so she was always around other people. fond memories would be the first time she was entrusted with raising her siblings/other children in the tribe.

a bad memory, i mean, she certainly had a lot of scary moments as a child before she could really defend herself in the cold harshness of home, but one that stands out was when she slipped off the edge of an ice floe and hit her head on a sharp part, cutting her left ear which she still has a notch in! she was just scared because there was a lot of blood in the water and she couldn't really breathe

4. What is their relationship with their parents? What’s a good and bad memory with them? Did they know both parents?

sable knows both parents! her mother's named nikita (she's a barbarian) and her father's named dragan (he's a barbarian/cleric multiclass). she has a tough relationship with her mother, who is urging her to understand and appreciate what she does have over what she doesn't have, and sable wants to be more of a barbarian than the ranger that she actually is.

her father is definitely the more touchy-feely parent, and definitely the one who coddles sable more than nikita does, but still agrees with nikita that sable needs to embrace who she is rather than pining over what she isn't.

i'd say the constant fighting with her parents is the bad memory, but the overall loving support is the good memory. nikita is a mama bear and that includes being that way at sable, essentially

5. Do they have any siblings? What’s their names? What is their relationship with them? Has their relationship changed since they were kids to adults?

oh boy sable has many siblings! in her tribe, adults have one year committed relationships - if a litter comes of that relationship then they stay around for a bit longer. there's no hard feelings about having multiple partners over your lifetime, but polyamory isn't super much a thing.

so all that is to say that her siblings are from one or both parents, but the ones from the same litter as her are luka and divna, so they're the same age.

her other siblings are elya, svetlana, nika, vaclav, ondrej, ondrea, yasha, and zan. their relationship has changed because sable went from the caretaker for the younger ones to being a peer, and some of them have had mates regularly, so there's a bit of a distance in that regard.

22. What are their favorite insults to use? What do they insult people for? Or do they prefer to bitch behind someone’s back?

oh boy favorite insults, hmm lets see

i mean sable's a fan of the simple things. just calling someone/something "stupid" to their face is a timeless staple. i think she would also insult people if they do things that are insulting to her - so like, calling someone a "coward" or "spineless", if they run from a fight or don't stand up for themselves/their people

"fuck" is a good embellishment for anything, but yeah i don't think she would really bother hiding her disdain for someone/something for all that long

+ send me a number !

#inbox #dnd: sable #i truly do love her #this gave me the excuse to pull up her detailed character sheet again lmao #for all them sibling names and parent dynamics