I just realized that your Silm Parking Lot Fistfight competition isn’t a fully even, exponent-of-2 bracket—there are going to be 3 victors of Round 3. Are they each going to fight both the others? What if we end up with a rock/paper/scissors scenario?

haha you have realized this at the same time as me! sometimes one downloads brackets from the internet and does not notice

i thiiiiink the way it's drawn luthien just advances to finals without fighting someone? plot armor that transcends all mediums

if someone has a more creative solution, feel free to share it!

(the bracket, for those curious:

)

Elizabeth Corday and Romano for the send character post

Elizabeth:

Why I like them: arrogant and has good reason to be. wildly self-destructive in response to emotional turmoil. so bad at so many things but absolutely confidently doing them anyway. total weirdo who, and I quote, thinks "being 'cool' seems somewhat limiting." desperately trying to be Good but she's also capable of such vicious pettiness and unkindness. when she does the big sad eyes I would throw myself into the sea if she asked it of me.

Why I don’t: s10 my nemesis until the end of time

Favorite episode (scene if movie): EXODUS ft. Sooty Elizabeth, a favorite blind box variant (gestures to my icon)

Favorite season/movie: I have to say s6. Dean Rollins arc my most dearly beloved

Favorite line: her goodbye spiel to Rollins is just banger after banger... but especially I held your every breath in my hands. like!!!!

Favorite outfit: whenever she wears sweaters!! the blue turtleneck especially is so underrated.

OTP: ot3 reigns forever :')

Brotp: canonically, Cordano. noncanonically, Susan should have stayed specifically so they could be chaotic bi friends.

Headcanon: she wants to be the kind of person who starts decorating for holidays super early but she always is like "tomorrow!!" and then it's like The Day Before Thanksgiving and she's hurling fistfuls of orange streamers over the banister like WHY DID NOBODY MAKE ME DO THIS SOONER

Unpopular opinion: That Woman Was Never Supposed To Be A Mother: a 25 page essay by Mouse

A wish: more sweaters!! less emotional self-harm!!! also she should kiss me.

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: what else could you possibly do to me that s10 didn't already. I mean.

5 words to best describe them: the. love. of. my. life.

Romano:

Why I like them: he has made himself a performance. he has made himself a villain. he is soooo fake and he is soooo horrible and he's my special little guy and I need to fistfight him in the parking lot. he says things and then is just like :) as though he hasn't just vocalized a sentence no human being would ever say under normal circumstances. he is like a chew toy to me and well I am tearing him to shreds

Why I don’t: lol have you seen him. I said meet me in the PARKING LOT, ROBERT

Favorite episode (scene if movie): hmmmmm this is a TOUGH ONE. Power is one of my all-time favorites anyway but he's really good in it especially so let's go with that one

Favorite season/movie: s5&6 again. it's where I LIVE

Favorite line: "DO YOU DREAM OF LIZZIE CORDAY??"

Favorite outfit: I am legally obligated to say the speedo unfortunately

OTP: please.

Brotp: Cordano... Peter... Rogreene... Gretel...

Headcanon: I read him as ace so whenever he pulls a "haha I thought we were talking about sex :)" at an utterly bizarre moment, in my heart he's like "Mission Complete: I Have Successfully Passed As A Normal Heterosexual Man!"

Unpopular opinion: I feel like an insane person but he is so obviously a constructed persona most of the time. like. a person with power over others is not going to be well-liked by everybody so he just decided he's not going to be well-liked by ANYBODY. also if you tell him to stop... he stops. he respects people who have a spine.

A wish: no, little bald boy, don't go onto the roof

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: backstory lol I like him being such a blank slate and so fan attempts at giving him some kind of tragic past are always so funny to me like. he's just a massive dick it's okay he doesn't need a sad reason for it

5 words to best describe them: idiot garbage bag with heart.

Merton Street

@iaminamoodymoodtoday (the shadow realm is forever), @wildfaewhump, @ishouldblogmore, @lektric-whump, @that-one-thespian, @raigash

The retribution came quick. Alfonse was driving to a meeting at the docks, gliding along the road in the black night, each streetlight bringing him into visibility and out of it again; his car was black too, of course. He didn’t often go to these meetings, but it was important to show his face every now and again, make sure nobody believes he thinks himself above the jobs that were his first rung on the ladder.

Merton Street was quiet at this time of night, a straight dagger through the buildings and car parks of the industrial dockyard, each one of obscure purpose with only small signs on each fence to describe them. Alfonse knew several of them, either businesses he controlled or worked with, or in a few cases, has been working to undermine and absorb into his own operation. One such business was the site of his meeting tonight, a property in the south-east quadrant that boasted an extensive concrete basement that should be an excellent place for storage of unwanted guests.

Not that he had any of those at the moment, he reflected as he drives, fingers tapping on the wheel to the tune of James Brown on his car speakers. Lillian was long gone, shipped overseas to start a new life or die trying. Fred Reed had gone to ground even deeper than usual, knowing that Alfonse would put him six feet under next time he threatened the Dechart family home. Other names were keeping their heads down, knowing something was happening with the Silkrunner mafia.

James Brown was singing about feeling good, and Alfonse hummed along. Like sugar and spice.

Delphine Cox’s party had been a couple of weeks ago. Lillian, a month before that. It had seemed like a good moment to get out of the house and make sure everything was smooth with his income operations. Too early for a comeback.

It had seemed like such a good idea, Alfonse thought, as a silver car swung out of the parking space he had just passed, suddenly alive with headlights bearing down on him. Such a peaceful night, it had been, until another three cars appeared, at each of the four directions of the crossroads Alfonse was approaching.

I feel good.

Alfonse switched to cruise control with one hand as the other pulled the body armour from the back seat. Steadying the wheel with his knees, he pulled the heavy vest over his head. From the glove box, he took his gloves, sliding them on and feeling the cool press of metal along his knuckles, silver gleaming through the leather. He rolled his bad shoulder and then slammed the breaks, pulling a hard turn into a large car park with a squeal of tyres.

The silver car followed suit a moment late, grazing along the fencepost with a crunch, as Alfonse threw the car into reverse and braced himself for impact. The noise would attract the attention of his group, and they’d come to help. He believed that.

So good!

The rear of his car slammed into the one behind, crashing together and launching him forwards against the wheel, his grip on the dashboard barely stopping him from busting his clavicle. He grabbed the stick and threw the car into drive, before flipping it back and executing another ram.

So good!

The impact this time smashed the windscreen of the silver car, and Alfonse threw the door open to leap out, running low for the driver’s seat. The other three cars were trying to fit in but Alfonse had stopped the chase too early for them to converge, and the silver car blocked the way.

Cause I got you.

There was a body in the front seat, and Alfonse pulled open the driver’s door to grab it by the face, tilting it back to look in the eyes and check the breathing. Only the whites were on show, so he tossed them to the ground. Out of action. One down.

His phone buzzed against his hip twice. A text. Probably from the team waiting for him. He pulled back into the shadows, into the overhang of a service door, and thumbed his phone awake, tilting the screen against his front to hide the glow. He typed, trouble come, and sent.

Footsteps crunched across the loose gravel of the car park, and Alfonse drew back, glad that he had worn an all-black suit for the outing. Quickly, he tapped another text to Sinclair. Late for supper x

Then the phone went away, volume button clicked softly to silence it.

Three silhouettes prowled through the dark, traced only from the silver car’s broken, refracted headlights. In the near-silence of the sea breeze, a tinny voice sang, it’s a man’s, man’s, man’s world.

Alfonse loved that song.

He launched out of the shadows, barrelling into the closest attacker and pushing them against his car, punching them in the side of the head with the same momentum, before they could find their arms to fight back. There was a cry from the second person, who saw the shadow pass and nothing else, and the alarm was echoed a moment later by the third.

Alfonse delivered a punch to the nose that would put anyone down for a few minutes, then ducked to sidle along the fence. Torches swept across the night as they tried to locate him, even as he used the silver car as cover. The torches gave away their holders. He squinted, trying to see past the light, but he couldn’t make out the shapes clearly enough. On his other hip to his phone, his handgun rested, but without a clear shot, he’d just give himself away -- and escalate. If this was only meant to be a scare, he’d be overreacting, and they’d probably defend themselves. If they wanted to abduct him, he’d only be increasing the force needed to take him down.

A torch swung towards him, and he dropped flat. This wouldn’t last. They were moving, and one of them would circle around sooner or later. He had to move.

Heart in his mouth, Alfonse forced himself to wait for the right moment. The attackers walked through the car park and circled the building warily. For a moment, they were both facing it, and Alfonse moved, sprinting across the gravel as lightly as he could to duck behind the second car, where they hopefully wouldn’t think to look.

His footsteps scraped over the loose, tiny pebbles and he flattened himself down as one of them shouted and both turned, light slashing towards him.

“Boss!”

Alfonse’s heart leapt almost out of his chest at the call, as his people descended on the scene. The short-rangers, serious Lucy and happy-go-lucky Hector, waded into the fray immediately, as his thinker, Asma, directed others to close escape routes. Feet pounded over the concrete and the cat-and-mouse devolved into an all-out brawl, fists flying in the night. In the ensuring chaos, Alfonse slipped out, into the shadows outside the border of the ambush.

Keeping his tread as soft as he could, he jogged down the narrowing road, past the gleaming car of the ambusher who had approached from the coastal side. In a few turns he was at the planned meeting place, letting himself into the one building that was unlocked, despite being as lightless and still as all the others. Up a set of thin stairs, and he was in the meeting room, a cosy, carpeted space where two were already waiting with cups of tea and biscuits.

He could trust his people to clean up without him.

Ms Norman rose immediately at the sight of him in his vest and gloves, her blue eyes wide with alarm. “Mr Dechart, what happened?”

Her companion, Sven, stayed seated, watching with curiosity.

Alfonse unstrapped the vest and smiled. “Just a scruffle, being dealt with as we speak. Some clever little group tried to corner me on the way here, but they didn’t bring enough muscle.”

He pulled the gloves off and tucked them into his back pocket, flexing his fingers, though he wouldn’t roll his shoulder and show weakness in front of the guests. “Are you well, Greta?”

“Oh, yes,” Ms Norman agreed, still visibly distracted. “I’m well. Are we - safe in here, Mr Dechart?”

“Perfectly safe. They won’t know which properties are mine, let alone the one we’re using. I wasn’t followed and they’re in capable hands.”

“That’s good to hear,” Sven put in cheerily. “Shall we get to business? I have our performance update, and then we can talk strategy for a quarter one acquisition.”

Alfonse exhaled, letting his heartrate settle. He wished he was out there with the brawlers, making use of the gloves that hung heavily in his back pocket. But there was business to be done. “Let’s. Give me just one moment.”

He checked his phone. Sinclair had responded: How late?

Ten minutes.

They left him on read. He smiled, and tucked his phone away. “Alright. Thank you for waiting.”

I asked my friend what they wanted to ask, and for some reason they asked about takeout?? idk lol, what are all the fusions favorite restaurants? Can the fusions even eat in the first place?

Kiwo: Oh, definitely! They have pretty much all the same bodily functions as us regular humans, along with their extra abilities. Fusions, especially the larger ones, and their components actually have really high metabolisms because fusing and using their powers consumes a lot of energy. It can be hard to keep up with, which is why Seán hired Max on.

Max: My office is the kitchen. Not really, I do have a desk in the actual office, but I spend a lot more time in the kitchen. Cooking, keeping the cupboards stocked, hiding my nice pans from Daian… It’s not half bad, really. As long as I keep everybody’s nutritional needs in mind, I can pick the menu myself, and it’s nice to have room to experiment and try new things when I feel like it. Not that I mind taking requests, I do want everyone to enjoy the food I make. If only some people appreciated my efforts a little more and didn’t make instant noodles at three in the morning instead of heating up the leftovers I put my heart and soul into—

Kiwo: Anyway, we’ve gotten off track of the actual question. We’ll let the fusions answer for themselves about their favorite places to eat.

Keviel: Sushi! I heard Dan used to live in Japan and really loved the food there, so I’ve tried lots of Japanese food to see what it’s like. I’m actually better than Kiwo at using chopsticks now, haha. Oh, and me and Breán sometimes get margherita pizza together, apparently that’s Kevin’s favorite kind.

Breán: I’d eat pizza every day if these bastards would let me. Why? ‘Cause pizza’s good, what the fuck else do you want?

Danthi: I don’t eat out much, my job keeps me busy in the evenings. Starbucks is probably the only place I go regularly.

Seániel: I’m quite fond of seafood myself. Though sometimes the others make annoying jokes about crab cannibalism because of my limbs, ugh. Sit-down restaurants can be nice, but we don’t do that a lot. Our outings tend to be, uh, disruptive, to say the least, and we’ve been banned from a few places. Besides, it seems a waste when we have our own chef at the compound. Max works hard for us, and I don’t want to take him for granted.

Seáthi: Okay, picture this. McDonald’s, but the whole menu. Brivin: Hell yeah. Seáthi: Nuggie heaven. Brivin: Definitely one of your best ideas. And there’s nothing like the look on the cashier’s face when you roll up and ask for one of everything.

Kevthi: I like those all-you-can-eat places. Sometimes they lie and make you leave before you’re done, though.

Braniel: Waffle House, because they don’t get fucking NOSY and kick you out for stupid things like fistfights in the parking lot. It’s the only good advice Seáthi’s ever had. …I guess I kinda like that cat cafe downtown, too, but it’s not like people go there for the food.

Seávin: Oh, I could absolutely live off Taco Bell alone. Just bury me in cheesy roll-ups. It’s just a shame they don’t have milkshakes to dip them in.

Daian: Any place that gives real metal silverware and doesn’t ask where it went afterward. Stainless steel is the most common, but I prefer the flavor of sterling silver. Especially plated over an alloy like copper.

HEY YOU! YES, YOU!

Who would you simp your moot with? (Excluding their obvious biases)

going off everyone else's i'm guessing you mean ship (/nm) , but okay here we go !!!!!!!!! rlly short bc im lazy LMAOOO

@3rdgymbros - zhongli ! i feel like he would listen rlly interestedly to all your theories and aus omg (which btw i absolutely love pls keep making more HAHSKJDSK)

@abyssheart - thoma ?!?! rlly random but he would def make sure you take care of yourself, plus you can ramble abt quantum theory and physics to him and he'll just nod while not actually understanding LMAOOO and i think thats rlly cute <3

@aelatus - hmmm ayaka ! both of you have rlly elegant, pretty vibes and you can just be girlbosses together KJSDKJSKDJ also random hc yall would take those rlly aesthetically pleasing polaroids together HAHA

@almondto-fu - KAEYAAAA !! idk i think it would be funny for him to tease you all the time and you end up getting rlly flustered LOL i bet he uses dumb pickup lines on you and you make fun of him but secretly like it HELP

@blisschi - albedo!! like both of you are good at art, and are kinda quiet and super cute KJAJKSDAS LMAO

@bookuya - UHHH KAZUHA ! kazuha would enable all your chaotic behaviour in fact he literally encourages it EXCEPT when u ask beidou to use him as a claymore

@childeluv - ningguang bc both of u have hot badass vibes HAHAHA

@chichikoi - literally Cannot imagine you w anyone other than diluc KJASKJKAS HELP

@dilucbar - me ofc !! we're literally engaged <3 HAHAHA but other than that hu tao!! chaotic girlbosses so true

@favoniuscodex - scaramouche. i feel like you both would argue w each other, fistfight in a parking lot and then make out that's pretty cool HAHSKDKSJ

@ganyuslily - women,,, genshin females,,, all of them,,, aether's harem confirmed HAHA

@hqrbinger - me <3 anyways moving on- LMAOOO kidding but diluc !! he would listen to you rant abt omori and then be there as a shoulder for u to cry on abt mari and hero HAHAHA

@hushyouu - EULAAAA barks aggressively i think shes your bias but its ok you two are a perfect match bc youre super sweet and caring and eula would be so soft for u AWWW

@komorebi-e - once again you and thoma/kazuha are soulmates im physically incapable of matching you with anyone else LOL

@koriyue - yoimiya !!!!!!!! both of you seem like super fun and energetic ppl, so imo she'd match you rlly well :D plus u both are super cute HAHA

@lilikags - kamisato ayaka. tfw the brother doesn't exist so you go for the sister 💔 KIDDING obviously you belong with ayato im the ceo of lili x ayato now HAHA

@love-impact - ZHONGLIII another person i literally cannot picture with anyone else HAHA

@mikachuchu - childe bc i think its funny, no further explanation needed.

@noirkkat - MEEEE DUH when tf is the wedding,,, maybe kazuha if i have to share 🙄 HAHAHA <3

@nurserinnn - also me bc im ur harem member so true <3 BUT OK FINE... ALBEDO !!!!!!! imagine if u both collaborated for art it would be a whole masterpiece 😳🥰

@solarpearl - mona bc you both have cool aesthetics which i love HAHA

@test-tube - amber !! a lil random but i love how fun both of you are, plus youre also rlly sweet so you both would go great tgt :D

@ohmykazuha - XIANGLING !! you both are so adorable and cool and talented KSDJKS i feel like both of you would be rlly supportive of each other 🥺

@xiaophobic - ME BARKS LOUDLY <3 so we are already married... BUT OTHER THAN YOUR BIASES tbh i cant imagine you w anyone besides diluc HELP but maybe ganyu?? i feel like you would help her be more outgoing AAAA omg

@yanbub - me obviously <3 mwah !! so whos writing the zuri x quill fic??? /j BUT ANYWAYS i think you and zuo ran would be fun bc you'd annoy him while hes working but hes so in love w you he doesn't care that hes being interrupted and ALSO he cooks for you,,, malewife artem confirmed 😋

ok i am Tired,,, dont ask me to explain this it was purely based on vibes HAHA kidding feel free to ask but im sleepy rn so im going to take a nap and ill reply later !!!! also since im going to sleep ill pause replying to asks for now AKSDJKS byebye !!

Sapnap surprisingly has the best homelife/childhood. It's strange considering he's from a medical fantasy world as a knight but Quarry is in a very prosperous and peaceful era. He's got loving parents and good friends and while there's a lot of threats most are kinda daily, impersonal, and dull. Oops a politician tried to cheat at tournament and kill me. Again.

Karl has a parent(?) the inbetween but it is an ineffable collection of everything it becomes nothing and all again. It kinda just dumped a fuckton of responsibility on him without any proper guidance and there's a good chance him being him (like, a person, a consionness) was unintentional. Essentially he has the childhood of a kid who was an accident and got spoiled by their parent but also kinda neglected.

Quackity is a straight up orphan. Grew up in an orphanage that didn't pay too much attention to him, thick as thieves (literally) with Schlatt and Charlie, all together had a fairly fun and experience-full childhood but was in constant danger and occasionally will casually/in jest say something that gives Bad a heart attack. "Oh yeah, kids will be kids. I used to get into fistfights with older kids all the time. I remember once I was 7 this huge kid at least twice my age decked me. I was on the floor for like 20 minutes. They taught me not to smoke and how to dance though! Haha."

poor bad is like "You were how old? You were down for how long?"

I've been meaning to clarify their home life's with you! This is great (I mean not for Karl or Quackity but, ya know, lore!)

Yah, Quackity just saying worrying things like they are totally normal and the other two look over and go, "honey, that's not funny, that's terrible." Unless Quackity makes a joke about not having parents, in which Karl joins him which leaves Sapnap to go, "guys, no. You want parents? Bad and Skeppy would love to have you two."

The thing is, Quackity knows what it's supposed to be like to have parents. He has a jumping off point for what parents do to bond with their kids. Karl only knows from what you might see from walking past a park or in advertisements. And that's all little kids and stuff. So when Bad and Skeppy try to bond with him it's a bit awkward because they don't want to mess up bonding with him while Karl doesn't know how to bond with them period. I think they'd probably bond over stories, Karl tells them some of his favorite stories (they think the ones where he dies at the end aren't real. The three of them agree to never tell them any different.) And they tell him stories of their kingdom and young Sapnap.

One of the best parts of Revelations aside from the cross-cultural supports (to me at least) is probably the fact that it's one hell of a family reunion. Can't wait for the modern au's take on this insanity once you get through it!

I’m having a big “oh yes but oh no” reaction to this. Excited but assuredly full of fear as to what exactly you mean.

Speaking of the modern AU, this is a good time to bring it up, ever since I started with Three Frat Houses I’ve been pondering whether I want the AU to have at least a touch of fantastical elements that everybody just skirts past without noticing, like Flayn goes as a fairy princess for Halloween and everyone marvels at how seamless her prosthetic pointed ears are for her costume and she’s like haha yeah, costume ears, and then there’s Corrin shoving three cookies into her mouth like “yeah my dad turned into a goo monster and my ten siblings and I beat him to death with a shovel” and everyone else at the Garreg Mach My Dad Sucks Club are like “who are you and also what the fuck” 

Anyway it all depends on what’s funniest and how Revelation goes, but like, just like Fates does, I’ll tell you now that we can take this way off the rails from that starting point of “near-fistfight in a McDonalds parking lot and then Mikoto tries to adopt everyone.”

"Pearl buried her head further into her knees. She didn’t know anything about Trucy’s real mother and father… but it wasn’t fair for her to try and make Mr. Nick and Mystic Maya her real parents. Pearl couldn’t remember ever meeting her father, and her mother… Her mother…" from "marriage, magic, misunderstandings"? maybe the bit in which trucy & pearl argue before that too, if you want? (thank you for the phoenix & maya friendship content)

you are so very welcome anon, I have like three default states and they’re dadworth, narumitsu, and phoenix+maya friendship... but the last one rarely comes up and that’s partially why I’m really glad you asked for something from this fic!! For that I’ll do the argument and a bit of the scene you’re talking about haha... underneath the keep reading here:

Pearl finished wiping at her eyes. Something was still bothering her about what Trucy said. “Um… Miss Trucy…”

“You can just call me Trucy, Pearls.”

“Um, okay, Trucy…” It was strange. She wasn’t used to calling people names without a title. “Why do you call Mr. Nick and Mystic Maya your… Daddy and your Mommy?”

One little thing I try to do with Trucy’s dialogue now that I’m not totally sure I did a year ago when I wrote this fic is have her adapt how she refers to people depending on who she’s talking to... like say if she’s talking to Phoenix she’ll call Pearl “Pearls” and when talking to Maya she’d call her “Pearly”. I see her being very quick to adapt to other people’s speech patterns to make herself as likable as possible, even at a young age, as part of the magician persona.

... I say all this not even entirely sure if Trucy does this in the fic? It’s 20k words and I’m not gonna go through it all to check haha, but that’s definitely a thing I started doing at some point.

Pearl on the other hand has been raised to be very formal by Morgan and put proper titles in front of everything, even nicknames (see: Mr. Nick and Mr. Scruffy Detective...) even then it’s a little hard for her to call someone her own age with a title (hence why she doesn’t do it in narration but does in her dialogue here). ... Thinking about it now, Trucy is probably the first person around Pearl’s age that she’s ever met, which is pretty depressing.

“Because they are,” said Trucy, like it was obvious. “Or they will be.”

“But they’re not going to be your real Daddy and Mommy, right?” Pearl pointed out.

Trucy’s expression got strangely serious. “What do you mean by that?”

“Well… Mystic Maya has Fey blood,” Pearl explained. “So… so her daughters are going to have Fey blood, too, and they can channel spirits like I can and like Mystic Maya can. But you can’t, so… you’re not going to be Mystic Maya’s real daughter.”

“But Daddy is my Daddy.” Trucy crossed her arms, and she was starting to look angry. “And whoever my Daddy marries is going to be my Mommy, right?”

Trucy “calls her new father ‘Daddy’ within 0.2 seconds of being unofficially adopted by him” Wright and Pearl “raised in Kurain Village” Fey probably have veeeery different attitudes towards how family works. A lot of it ties into my Kurain Village headcanons which haha I DEFINTIELY rambled on about in another commentary, so I won’t repeat most of it... but like I said then, it’s my belief that spiritual power being hereditary leads to a lot of attitudes on the importance of women with that spiritual power having biological children who will have that spiritual power. In Kurain Village, there’s no real “use” in a spirit medium adopting a child, since that child can’t inherit the legacy of the village.

And of course Pearl is super sheltered so I don’t even know if the concept of adoption really exists for her. In this fic she doesn’t even really understand the idea of how babies are made, because she is nine years old and extremely sheltered and you just know Morgan would refuse to answer any questions she may have for fear of exposing Pearl to “impure thoughts”. (When she’d just be asking a basic biological question. Then probably never got around to asking Maya or Phoenix.) So Pearl isn’t totally sure of the mechanisms but what she does understand is that for Trucy to have spiritual powers, Maya would have had to give birth to her, which she didn’t; and because Trucy doesn’t have spiritual powers she wouldn’t be recognized as a viable heir in the eyes of the village, and thus, can’t be considered Maya’s daughter. Pearl’s also feeling a fair bit of jealousy which I’ll get to in the next scene... but that’s also influencing her actions here.

Trucy, like I said before, seems to be pretty quick to just accepting new family as her own. I guess this may make sense coming from the Gramarye background... like I don’t think Valant and Zak were related, but he’s automatically her “Uncle Valant” despite that, so she already sees family as something that doesn’t need blood ties. But it’s also only been a few weeks since she came to live with Phoenix and is of course dealing with some unacknowledged trauma regarding her father abandoning her, so the insinuation that she doesn’t have a “real family” is getting to her a bit too.

They’re also babies so they can’t really understand or voice any of this.

“But… but not your real ones!” Pearl shouted.

“Why isn’t it real?” Trucy shouted in return.

“Because… because it isn’t!”

Trucy didn’t have anything to say to that. She just glared at Pearl for some time with her arms crossed. Pearl glared back. It wasn’t her fault if Trucy just didn’t understand something as simple as that.

“I’m going home,” Trucy muttered, and then turned on her heel and stormed off. Pearl sulked for a little bit, before beginning to feel overwhelmed by all the crowds, and then followed from a safe distance.

Admittedly children are very hard to write haha. They’re both dealing with a lot of stuff but as kids can’t really process it super well...? So I wanted their argument to come off pretty childishly, which makes sense since they are. eight and nine years old.

And I don’t really like kids much and don’t ever have much reason to spend time with them, so I don’t know how kids talk...? I attempted the best I could from my memory from ten years ago, and no one’s said anything about it being off haha.

Anyways... the scene after this is just supposed to provide some more context into the environment that Pearl grew up in and what she was taught from Morgan. I’m not going to go into too much detail about it because it wasn’t in the request, though. Key points are that Pearl grew up in an environment where it was expected that she would have biological children someday -- like, even moreso than society right now. And she’s expecting the same thing from Maya because of the environment she grew up in.

Okay, now for the part in the ask:

Trucy had already locked herself in her room by the time Pearl returned to the office, so Pearl sat on the couch with her knees to her chest and sulked. She didn’t want to fight with Trucy. If Trucy was going to be Mr. Nick and Mystic Maya’s kind-of-daughter, then she wanted to get along with her. She couldn’t bear it if Mr. Nick and Mystic Maya wanted to spend time with Trucy more than they wanted to spend time with her.

Kind of touching more on the jealousy Pearl feels towards Trucy -- she thinks that Trucy’s going to get to have Phoenix and Maya as parents (which is... half right) and that upsets her because, for the past few years, she’s pretty much been their “kid”. She worries that Trucy’s going to take her place.

Pearl buried her head further into her knees. She didn’t know anything about Trucy’s real mother and father… but it wasn’t fair for her to try and make Mr. Nick and Mystic Maya her real parents. Pearl couldn’t remember ever meeting her father, and her mother…

Her mother…

Sooo yeah this is all happening only a few months after Bridge to the Turnabout, which always makes me so sad about Pearl. Because I don’t think it was ever explained to her what her mother did, since she still seemed to be under the impression that Morgan would want what was best for Maya, hence why she went through with the letter. The realization that Morgan betrayed her and used her to hurt Maya probably crushed Pearl. She’s not going to get over that very easily.

And since Morgan was locked up Phoenix and Maya were probably as close to her own parents as she got. I’d say Phoenix would probably adopt her in a heartbeat if she asked. Maya probably sees her more like a little sister, since there’s the same age gap between Maya and Pearl that Mia and Maya have. But with Pearl’s current attitudes on family I don’t think she’d fully admit to herself that she wants Phoenix and Maya as her parents, so she’s pretty much abandoned by her biological parents and now fears she’ll be abandoned by her “new parents” - and kind of drags Trucy down with her in a sort of “if I can’t have them you can’t either” way. It’s more subconscious because Pearl isn’t a cruel person by nature, she’s just a grieving kid.

So... Pearl has no memory of her biological father, presumably he left before she could remember. He certainly doesn’t come up much in conversation. Morgan probably still hurts too much for her to think about, hence why she can’t quite finish her thoughts about what her mother did just now. The kid really does deserve good parental figures in her life, she just needs to change her attitudes a bit to see them for who they are.

Overall with this fic... it’s got a special place in my heart for the Phoenix and Maya friendship content obviously. Also, for a while, I wasn’t a huge fan of Pearl... partially because I don’t like kids, also her shipping opinions annoyed me... but then I sat down and realized I had 20k words of feelings about her? At the end of the day she DEFINITELY deserved better and I will fistfight Morgan in a parking lot for her sake. A lot of this fic was kind of dumping my Kurain Village headcanons onto the floor and shouting “LOOK AT THESE!!” while also being able to write Phoenix and Maya friendship from a perspective clouded by heteronormativity and also emphasizing the importance of platonic and familial types of love being just as if not more powerful than romantic love... which are all things that are really up my alley. 

... And of course it’s the least popular of my fics because it’s a 20,000+ word one-shot that doesn’t have any ships. I know I sometimes browse around and see a long fic and go “wow! why don’t you split those into chapters!” like a hypocrite. So I’m not surprised, but that just makes me even more thankful that you’re asking about it? So... thank you! It’s midnight now and I don’t know how coherent this whole thing was but I really appreciate it!!

365.

5000 Question Survey Pt. 7

601. Do you have a lust for life? i wouldn’t say so lol. 602. Do you want to get more out of life? experience and memories i guess. 603. Would you want to learn to: Convert to Buddhism? no. Cure a hangover? i kinda already know this one. Lie persuasively? i don’t lie often, so no. 604. What character from a movie is most like you? i’m blank right now. 605. Are you comfortable with the idea of your own death? not really.

606. How do you feel about arranged marriages? i understand it’s cultural but it sucks. especially if either parties have experienced love before. 607. What do you hate that everyone else seems to like? olives. 608. What do you like that others seem to hate? surveys lol. 609. If you had to be named after a month, which month would you pick? august. 610. Is time more like a highway or a meadow to you? it’s a damn highway. 611. What is your favorite movie? i have a ton. 612. Which would you choose to be back in the day: a warrior, an alchemist, a minstrel, a bard, an oracle, a peasant, or a merchant? probably a merchant. 613. What is your favorite song lyric? i don’t have one. 614. What will you never run out of? love. 615. If you could force someone to fall madly in love with you, (anyone you choose) would you do it? no, i’d hate knowing that it’s not genuine. 616. Have you ever seen the Disney movie The Black Cauldron? no. 617. Have you ever read The Black Cauldron by Alexander Lloyd (or any of his other books in the Prydain Chronicles)? no. 618. Have you ever written a paper the night before it was due? How about the day it was due? yeah but i had already started it beforehand. 619. Is there a movie you have watched so many times that you can quote it line for line? yes, def mean girls lol. 620. What is your favorite season? autumn. 621. Do you mind being described as cute? i don’t mind but why lol. 622. What is the tackiest object in your home? i’m not quite sure...there’s definitely something. 623. What do you think people are most ignorant towards? things that they haven’t experienced. 624. What is it that makes you an interesting person? i guess it depends on the person, if we have similarities i guess i could be interesting. 625. What makes other people interesting to you? just their life stories i guess. 626. How open to suggestion are you? always. it doesn’t mean i’ll follow it though. 627. Is Michael Jackson black or white? black. 628. Are you often lonely? not often. 629. What’s the most unusual pet you’ve ever had? a fish? nothing crazy. 630. Have you ever threatened an authority figure? no. 631. If you had to choose would you rather make all your decisions henceforth with your head only or with your heart only? haha shit. heart i think. 632. How imaginative are you? not crazy imaginative. 633. Do you like the Counting Crows? no. 634. If you took this survey from the diary (5000 Q Survey V2.0) did you note me so I could read it? ok. 635. Are you more tense or laid back? i get to both extremes so it’s weird. 636. Does your happiness depend on anyone else, or are you happy no matter what any one says or does? it can be both. 637. What do you think of the idea of putting the bible into the format of a fashion magazine to attract the interest of teenagers? haha kinda weird. why fashion? maybe as a normal magazine format. 638. How often do you drink to get drunk? about once a month. sometimes less. 639. Would you consider yourself to be diplomatic? yes. 640. Do you think that most of the classes you have taken were taught in such a way as to make plain the relevance of the subject matter in your everyday life? not at all. 641. Do you remember Crystal Pepsi? no. 642. When was the last time you spent a night away from home? two weeks ago. 643. Some people say that there is no such thing as a stupid question. Is that true? i don’t agree. 644. What is the most interesting TV channel? discovery channel. 645. Name one song you could live without hearing ever again: that watch me whip watch me nae nae song lol. 646. Do your pets understand you when you talk? probably not. maybe just my body language. 647. What are three things you HAVE NOT done that might surprise people? i’m an open book so i don’t think i could really surprise anyone that knows me. 648. Have you ever had a secret admirer? no. 649. Have you been to a museum this year? yes. 650. Do you ever watch porn? i have before but i don’t regularly. 651. Do you think that it would be a good idea if people served in the army, navy or air force for a while before they were allowed to vote? umm idk. 652. If you were required to do this to vote, would you? idk. it depends how informed i was. 653. Do people often give you weird looks? not that i notice or care. 654. Do like Japanese cooking? yes, one of my faves. 655. Do you care for stray animals? no. 656. Which animated movies have you seen and what did you think of them: A Charlie Brown Christmas A Garfield Halloween The Secret of Nimh The Last Unicorn The original Lord of the Rings cartoons lmao none. 657. Are you ambidextrous (equally good at using both hands)? nah. i mean i can use my left hand for stuff but it’s not perfect. 658. Do you always say; “bless you” after someone sneezes, or do you hesitate? if i know them i’ll say it. 659. If you and your friends could go away for 2 days over Halloween weekend where would you go? a secluded beach house somewhere. 660. Which of these animated movies have you seen and what did you think of them: Watership Down As the Wind Blows Grave of the Fireflies How the Grinch Stole Christmas Spirited Away i’ve seen two but don’t remember them. 661. Do you feel that society is male dominated, female dominated, or neutral? let’s be real, male are still dominant. i hop this changes in my lifetime. 662. What words offend you? i hate when people say the n-word, especially if they’re not entitled too. it’s so cringey and embarassing. 663. They’re just words. Can you get over it? nope. 664. Have you ever looked into different religions? i’ve learnt about them i guess. 665. Which ones have you looked into? all. 666. What do you think of Satanism as a religion? idk. i don’t know much about that one. 667. Do you like it better when your classes are taught sitting in rows or sitting in a circle? rows. 668. Have you ever read your own tarot cards? nope. 669. Which ones do you like better, the three old star wars movies or the 2 new ones? i don’t watch star wars. 670. If you scream in outer space does it make a sound? no idea. 671. If you saw The Queen of the Damned did you want to be a vampire/Goth afterwards? i didn’t watch it. 672. If you saw SLC Punk did you want to be punk afterwards? - 673. What is your favorite zombie movie? - 674. Best kids birthday party: ceramics, chuck-e-cheese, roller rink, bowling, sleep over, movie theater all of them are pretty cool tbh. 675. What were your parties like when you were a kid? i had some at home with a jumping castle, mcdonalds, parks etc. 676. Best teen (about 15-16) birthday party: ceramics, chuck-e-cheese, roller rink, bowling, sleep over, movie theater, house party, catered in a hall, restaurant, family trip, concert house party or restaurant. 677. What are/were your 15-16 year old parties like? everyone has either movies, house parties or restaurant birthdays lol. 678. Best 18th birthday party: ceramics, chuck-e-cheese, roller rink, bowling, sleep over, movie theater, house party, catered in a hall, restaurant, family trip, concert, club, pool hall, college party club. 679. If you are 18 what was your party like? i went clubbing. 680. Best 21st birthday party: ceramics, chuck-e-cheese, roller rink, bowling, sleep over, movie theater, house party, catered in a hall, restaurant, family trip, concert, club, pool hall, college party, bar, Atlantic city/Las Vegas trip a vegas trip would’ve been amazing. 681. If you saw The Craft were you interested in wicca/paganism/magic afterwards? sorta but i didn’t look into it. 682. What are your top 3 priorities? being happy, finding a new job and losing weight. 683. If you saw fight club did you want to get into a fistfight afterwards? i haven’t seen it. 684. What is your favorite smell? way too many to name. 685. Give everything below a humor rating (1 = laugh your ass off, 2 = lol, 3 = smile, 4 = lame, 5 = not funny, 6 = offensive): People falling 3 Rape jokes 6 Sarcastic comments 3 Blonde jokes 5 Dirty jokes 2 God/religion jokes 5 Long-ass jokes 4 Death jokes 5 Pain/sickness jokes 5 Animals doing cute stuff 3 Bodily functions 3 Knock jokes 5 Ethnic jokes 5 Puns 2 Ironic situations 2 685. If you saw Cruel Intentions did you want to have lots of meaningless sex afterwards? no, i was a kid. 686. Do you get at least three hugs per day? it depends who i’m hanging out with. 687. What should someone never say to you/call you if they want to remain on your good side? no talking shit about my family or friends pretty much. 688. If you saw Trainspotting did you want to do drugs afterwards? never seen it. 689. Do movies have a great influence on you? sometimes. they have to be good lol. 690. Do you have a favorite reality TV show? yes, a couple. 691. Are there certain roles that people are pressured to play in society or can they basically do whatever they want? sometimes it depends who your family is. at the end of the day everyone should be able to do whatever they want. 692. How does the 2004 Dawn of the Dead remake compare to the original movie? haven’t seen either. 693. Have you ever held a magnifying glass over an insect to burn it? i’ve tried that as a kid but it didn’t work. 694. Have you ever pulled the wings off a fly, butterfly or any other insect? noooo that’s so mean. 695. What would you think of a guy (if you're into guys) or a girl (if you're into girls) who wanted to take you to the park to feed the birds and look at the turtles and fish in the water on a date? i’d be down, why not lol. 696. Do you use public pools? i haven’t been to one in years. 697. Do you use public bathrooms? if i’m desperate. 698. Do you use public showers? no. 699. How old will you be in 17 years? 43. 700. Would it effect you at all if you knew that a very large meteor was headed towards earth that would impact in 17 years? as the time came closer, yeah.

4, 5, 10

//*inhales*boi

4 -Favorite thing about the Muse?

Mun: He’s gay. That’s all. Other thanthat he’s a piece of trash and I would fistfight him on a parking lot at 3amfor all the shit decisions he ever made in his life.

Muse: ...

Mun: *sweats* I mean I love everythingabout him srsly (please don’t kill me)

5 -Favorite thing about the Mun?

Muse: Hm... He tends to be sincere mostof the time, so that’s a good thing. It’s also a fact that he ends up talkingshit and regretting it later.

Mun: ... I mean, that’s true. I talk a lot of shit.

10 - As told by the Muse, what’s anembarrassing moment the Mun has suffered?

Mun: *screeches in agony*

Muse: Haha... Well, there was a day whenthe mun went to school when he didn’t have classes. He didn’t know there wouldn’tbe any classes that day because he’s a shut in that doesn’t communicate withpeople-

Mun: *clears throat*

Muse: Hm... So he ended up in front ofschool. The gates were closed and he asked one of the security guards what hadhappened so the guard told him that the teachers were on recess that day. Hewas so embarrassed about it that he thanked the man and tried to leave.However, the man kept talking about how everyone knew about this and hecouldn’t leave the man hanging so he stayed there, awkwardly standing in frontof the school gates saying farewell every now and then, only to have the manstart another topic and he had to stay.

Almost an hour later he finally managedto leave and he still avoids that security guard to this day.

Mun: ... That was really uncomfortable.

Muse: Wouldn’t be if you had actuallyasked your classmates about it.

Mun: Eh. Fine. You’re right. Whatever.