No Good Day
In honor of my favorite Commander's birthday coinciding with not just mine, but my bestie @mallaidhsomo's birthday, I decided a mash-up was overdue.
So, happy birthday Molly, and happy birthday Commander of my heart! Here's a little snippet of our chaotic Shepard's if they had been earth born twins in another universe. <3
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Emery fisted her hand in the hem of her dirty tank top and stretched it to his nose. “Here.”
He smacked her hand away and wiped his arm across his face, smearing blood all the way to his elbow, and shot her a glare she rarely ever saw directed at her.
“This woudna happened if you’d left well enough alone,” he said angrily.
Guilt clenched through her belly, but a dark dribble sped past his lips, so she tried again to hold her shirt hem to his bleeding nose.
Eric sighed, but he didn’t yank away from her this time. “Why’d you go and do that anyway? You know what messing with Lark means.”
Her tears welled, hot and angry immediately. “Because he’s an asshole,” she spat.
He fixed her with a look, despite his swollen eye that was already purpling. “I should’ve just let him hit you.”
His mumbled words hung visibly in the cold air, and somehow she felt like she’d gotten that punch anyway.
The rain was the only sound between them, loudly pinging off the metallic awning of the stoop they were huddled in.
He was soaked to the bone, his baggy clothes sticking to him and black street grime went all the way up his thin legs. He looked so small and miserable, and she probably looked exactly the same.
This was not how she’d been thinking this would go at all. The entire day had been a fat mess.
Just like her.
She opened her mouth, but a Lonestar shuttle blasted by somewhere close, its siren and thrusters seeming to rob her of the right words as they drowned out even the pounding storm.
Rain was pouring down her face in thick streams, and plastering her ponytail uncomfortably to her neck - and that suited her just fine, she could let the tears go and he wouldn’t even know.
“He took my money,” she grumbled, then turned away from him to blindly watch the tourists shuffling by the dim alleyway.
“What?!” Eric exclaimed. “God, Em, I got socked because he took a measly coupla cen—”
“No! He took 10 whole credits from me!” she cried. “And they were mine! I spent all day helping Mrs. Lee clean that shitty little shack to get that!”
He blinked up at her, but before he could continue she put her foot on her sopping windbreaker and yanked it to them, then bent awkwardly to scoop it up off the toe of her boot while keeping her shirt firmly under her brother’s nose.
Emery shoved the jacket into his lap. “Here. It’s for you.”
He sucked in a shuddering breath around her wet shirt and gently unwrapped her present.
“Oh…Em…” he trailed off.
“It wasn’t a waste,” she vomited the words at him, knowing his likely protests and trying to head them off. “It's not replicated - I went all the way up to Greenwich for it.”
He held up the clear plastic container to the flickering stoop light to get a better look at the dark piece of chocolate cake inside of it.
“Why?”
Emery shuffled her feet. “Well, it's our birthday right? You said it was probably sometime in February.”
Shadows of emotions passed across his face, but with his fat eye she couldn’t tell if they were good or bad.
The container crinkled and popped in his grip.
So, she hurriedly continued. “And you’re a teenager now. That seemed….” she trailed off.
Eric tugged on her arm until she sat next to him, then he popped open the lid of the cake and eagerly shoved a goey piece into his mouth.
“Mmm,” he hummed, then held the container out under her chin and impatiently shook it. “You’re 13 now too, you know.”
Emery’s stomach growled loudly as she stuck her fingers into the frosting. It was every bit as soft and perfect as it looked in the glass case, but nothing prepared her for the absolutely overwhelming creamy sweetness of real.
So she savored that bite, curled shivering into her brother’s side while blood dried on his face.
“Worf it?” she asked with her mouth full.
Eric nodded and swallowed another bite. “Yeah. I’m sorry I said that — I’m glad I didn’t let him hit you, Em.”
She snorted. “Because I'm the most thoughtful sister ever?”
He stuffed another piece in his mouth and talked around it. “No, becuf I still look goof even wif a black eye — you’f look like a vorcha.”
Emery punched him in the arm, and they both dissolved into laughter muffled by chocolate cake.
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Better Bones: CW List
Can't believe I have to make this disclaimer, but here we are
Better Bones is not a project that aims to fix canon by making the Clans wholesome and unproblematic. Though there can be fun and kindness in it and my philosophy is an optimistic one, It's not an escapist fantasy. It is a story about semi-realistic cats of human intelligence in a violent, war-obsessed theocratic dictatorship, and how they attempt to change it over the years.
Clan Culture is flawed, that is on purpose. Addressing and changing this is what the story is about.
I am very disappointed I have to state this because it should be obvious from my main post where I explicitly say that my goal is to "Address (Canon's) Problematic Elements." Not remove.
If you cannot handle themes or depictions of;
Physical and emotional abuse; Domestic, authoritative, and familial
Child abuse and inter-generational trauma
Somewhat graphic medical discussion, such as abortion, wound infection, and the use of leeches and maggots
The killing and processing of small animals into food, including tanning and butchery
Semi-realistic cat behaviors, specifically marking things with urine
Ableism; both externalized and internalized, Clan culture treats disabled cats poorly and this is something several characters struggle with
Xenophobia; to a violent degree, including stochastic terrorism, hate crime, and discrimination
^^^ read that one again. Consider that on this list twice.
Politics; Authoritarianism, fascism, and liberalism as an enemy, discussion of dog whistles and ideology
"Redemption arcs" of people who did bad things
Cosmic horror and supernatural curses
Graphic violence, including against innocent bystanders, through assault, poisoning, drowning, falling, and even being eaten alive by large fish and demigods.
Animal abuse; Human beings harming cats on purpose and Clan cats generally being terrified of all humans, even kind and loving ones
Clan cats, both villainous and culturally mislead, glorifying these things in-universe, not immediately staring at the camera and breaking character to tell you "This Is A Bad Thing!"
Then Better Bones may not be for you. I would at minimum rate this project as PG-13, but PG-16 would be a more accurate bet.
I have sympathy for you if these are not topics you can handle. My project tackles very upsetting real-world issues and not everyone is looking for something challenging; that's understandable and there's no fault in that. I try to tag appropriately but can't promise to catch everything, so please keep yourself safe.
There are other, softer projects out there run by cool people if this is not for you, and you can add #Better Bones AU to your tag filters and this project will not show up!
But, I'm not responsible for your comfort with my art. If you followed me under the assumption that BB is "Warriors without any ableism/xenophobia/violence" you were mistaken. If you don't have the maturity to act responsibly when something upsets you, or DO have the malice to read a disabled person's work with the most bad faith interpretations you can muster, LEAVE.
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