We now return to your regularly scheduled carapaces.
Special Delivery (Slick (Stitch, Crowbar, Die, Snowman))
I really like how much is going on in this. There’s all this background for why Slick’s there and why the Felt and Die in particular are extra mad at him, and of course most of what happens is set off by Snowman who never even appears in the fic.
Given Crowbar must be at the top of the stabbing list now, I’m curious what Snowman’s reasoning is. Does she not really care what happens later because it’s really about messing with Slick or is she making a point of letting Slick know because she figures he won’t be able to easily kill Crowbar or what?
Inches (Droog (Deuce))
Deuce manages such a perfect low key, chidlish sort of annoying, where he asks to come in and promises not to bother Droog, then a minute later he’s asking a question, and then another question… It’s just reasonable enough I can see how the rest would tolerate it despite being violent mobsters.
“Aren’t they cold without their clothes?”
“They’re getting paid to be cold, they’re fine.” Droog answered
I’m not sure why exactly this seems funny to me, but it is.
And they continue to be oddly cute together.
It occurs to me that this pairing has some overlap with DD/PI in that it’s about Droog tolerating and being unusually nice toward someone less competent. The major difference – well, besides that DD/PI has no sense of proportion – is that we know Droog gets along with Deuce so there’s room to explore that, while the PI ship starts with asserting that Droog gets along with PI for no reason.
Slap/Tickle (Droog (Slick))
Auspistizing! And sudden kismesissitude! There should be more of weird troll romance and carapaces. I’m curious which reason they’re so horrified, though – because they don’t hate each other like that, or because they’re straight in this universe, or because kismesis stuff isn’t natural for them?
Catnip (Jack (BQ, some poor guards))
RIP kitty prototyping. You were awesome and are missed. You do a great job of balancing both THE GREAT AND POWERFUL PROTOTYPED RULER and playful kitty aspects.
By the time the guards show up, she’s finally tired herself out. The Queen’s sleeping on his desk, her wings and tentacles hanging off the sides
A cute but weird but cute kitty. Did she pick the desk because Jack’s stuck under it or just because of an instinctual need to curl up on whatever people use to do work?
…And what happens if she does remember? I guess at least Jack didn’t blurt out anything particularly bad this time.
Dogs suck.
Like a Paper Doll (PM (Jack, DD, unfortunate OCs))
The magic AU that keeps giving ways to branch worse. Jack is so creepy in this. But also, there’s just something about the fact he’s keeping her around despite the fact she hates him, but at the same time he keeps forgetting, sort of, that she hates him. Like it’s not just the power trip of having someone who wants to kill him and can’t, and he keeps making a point of how he’s so much nicer than he could be. Their dynamic is weird yet it makes sense. I’m curious how much is Jack and how much is him copying the Queen. That seems like it’s informing some of it, but also it’s all so very Jack.
And PM…well at least she stopped short of continuing the cycle but that’s about the best thing that can be said for her mental state in this. Things have gone downhill so fast from not killing to killing in self defense to killing because she’s startled to hacking someone up. She gets the greater victory in this and it’s so much worse.
Civilized (PM (AR, WV))
having sex like civilized people
This is all so cute. And nicely understated, which seems fitting for a focus that’s more about sex as a component of relationships.
Transfer of Power (BQ (Scratch))
had been breed in a lab
Bred.
Scratchporn is always weird. I like the explanation here, it’s clever and makes sense, especially when so many other transformations in canon seem to be of the awesome powerrush type than painful.
(Slick (Stitch, Crowbar, Die, Snowman))
(Droog (Deuce))
(Droog (Slick))
(Jack (BQ, some poor guards))
(PM (Jack, DD, unfortunate OCs))
(PM (AR, WV))
(BQ (Scratch))
Three of seven.