Latest Posts by mrros-e - Page 4

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Eli Shane: As long as I was going on a mission, I could pretend you weren't gone. It's crazy.

Will Shane: No, not crazy. Very human, actually.

a bit of a tangent, but even though I've played flute since 4th grade, I never truly liked it till freshman year of highschool.

because I brought my instrument home, and didn't even care what I sounded like. I put on headphones and badly played along to Green Day and MCR, without being able to hear myself. It destroyed by sense of tonality, actually, till college. But damn, just feeling an instrument played in my hands connected me to the life and art around me. I loved it. I had loved art (and even fandom) way before that, but that year was the first time I found an outlet, where I could contribute to it all. I became addicted to this feeling (as seen by the content I post on tumblr and my irl occupation as a music educator).

and now I must answer the age-old (American) question in every public school and to every parent: why music? What's the monetary benefit?

and like, no I don't care if your kid is the next Mozart. I do care about them progressing in a craft, enjoying art and life, and doing things for the simple stake of doing them. I guess if all we care about is a brand, that is worthless. But if we care about living life to the fullest...

You can learn a lot about a person just by how they interact with art. Art does not have to be a brand, which, as a brand, would include standing for some message, or product. Art can, and has historically been, as mindless as breathing.

Art is not for the talented: it is for the human.

also we fucked up as a society the moment we started telling teens and aspiring artists to conflate being an artist with building a brand as if the two things are inextricable. the name of the game if you want to share your art is to work a job and sell yourself as aesthetizied content. back in my day we could just POST SHIT. to deviantart! what the fuck!

Why did it take 4 rewatches of s1 to realize Eli says "if blakk has buisness w the deep caverns we don't know what else can can do" at the end of the deadweed episode?

meaning, will ACTUALLY told him about the deep caverns?!?!? And knew the whole time?!?

the demons continue fighting. meanwhile, i have delivered more bad content.

enjoy the first 3 hours of piss poor crack video editing i have ever done. i am sure there will be more of dubious quality.

there is 2 demons inside of me. One wants to finish SGH. The other, despite complete lack of editing experience, wants to make a will Shane anti-hero AMV.

I will never know peace.

3k into Shanes Get Hurt

not alot, im sorry.

But I have a new idea and i'm getting excited to write it because of that.

You all down for me low-key rewriting about 30% of slug-fu showdown? I promise you, shanes'll still get hurt. just...with some better villains. Hopefully. I've mostly stuck w the canon so far, and im still broadly following the canon timeline. especially once its portal time. These changes will just feel more extreme than some of the others' I've made.

also, fuck it we ball, i added a mario bravado cameo. thank you, tumblr!

is that a half a block of cheese on the table?

SHANE GANG BLAKK INDUSTRIES - HEADCANNONS #3 : Uh, this is a Wendy's? [Edition]

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☆ Part 1 ☆ Part 2

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There is a group chat for all the highered Slingers. And no, it is in no way professional.

Everyone has stupid Users and the chat name changes at least five times a day on average.

There is a group chat for the regular day to day workers, but it's far more casual and general updates.

Twist is an annoying little shit.

^Constant bragging about being 'Blakk's apprentice'

C.C. loves to rub it in Twist's face Blakk picked him for the mission in 'Lightwell'

Everyone dogs on Saturday for falling for Eli's bluff in 'Mission Improbable'

Saturday retaliates by hypnotizing them for a while until Blakk tells him to stop.

Everyone loves Maurice

I don't care Maurice is the best and everyone(Blakk included) would kill for the man

Maurice is the only one able to even be able to talk some level of sense into Blakk

It is no secret that our of everyone in Blakk Industries, Blakk trusts Maurice the most, seeing as how Blakk is actually nice to him(though its probably because they have known each other for years)

Locke and Lode are actually smarter than people give them credit for, they just just bicker so much that they tend to forget what's going on around them.

Blakk, is a feminist, interpret that as you will

When Sedo approached Blakk to work for him, he promised that once he became King of Molemound Blakk could do whatever he wanted.

Twist sometimes has, regrets, about working for Blakk but then remembers how he used to live

^he sometimes has dream about what life would have been like if he hadn't double crossed the Shane Gang

There had been, hundreds of jokes in regards to El Diablos Nacho and his name

none are said in ear shot because no one wants to die :)

Quintin drank way to much coffee and had so little sleep while developing the Titan Tanks

Blakk Industries is surprisingly inclusive for a company run by an eco terrorist

Billy and the rest of the Hooligang are annoying little shits, but in the endearing way

Billy and Twist hate each other

NO ONE TRUSTED THE DARK BANE NOT EVEN BLAKK HIMSELF

A lot of the staff are huge SlugBall fans

So when Primo Presto started on the pay roll they were psyched because they could get SlugBall tickets for an even cheepier price

^Blakk Industries sells tickets for various events at a reduced price to its employees to help with moral (for the record, this is a legit thing companies can do, my mom's company dose it)

say what you will, the cafeteria serves good food

Not everyone working there agrees with the Ghouling but some people just really need the money

Since Eli Shane happened, there have been prank calls coming in

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"Blakk Industries, Bringing you Tomorrow's Yesterday Today, My name is Steve, how can I help you?"

"So you sell Ligma?"

"... Ligma? whats Ligma I-"

"LIGMA BALLS" [hangs up]

"... what the fu-"

☆

"Blakk Industries, Bringing you Tomorrow's Yesterday Today, My name is Camron, how can I help you?"

[Caller starts trauma dumping]

"... uh... this is a corporate manufacturing company-"

☆

"Blakk Industries, Bringing you Tomorrow's Yesterday Today, My name is Aaron, how can I help you?"

[Caller proceeds to spend four and a half hours on the phone, making a custom order for like 1000+ gold Mecha]

"Alright sir, is that everything?"

"yup"

"perfect! be for I submit your request, as per Blakk Industries policy-"

"wait- Blakk Industries? I thought I was talking to someone form the Beast Forge! agh! never mind-"[hangs up]

"... SO I DID ALL THAT FOR NOTHING!?!? @#%$!"

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No one is paid enough to deal with it lmao

They host parties ranging form birthday parties for employees to grand gala's

^Clearly inspired by the Blakk Gala community event

There was a debate on weather or not to fish Blite out of the Cavern of Time

It was ultimately a no

Darius (the guy posing as the head of the Beast Forge that one ep) knows nothing about Mecha Beast's

Blakk attempted to bribe Judge Logan once before Blakk Industries really took off, Blakk ended up working hard labour for six months until Maurice came to get him

Twist is actually friends with an Arachnoid, don't ask how, it just happened.

Viggo Dare did try to get his 'gang' back from Blakk once.

Viggo Dare was never seen leaving Blakk's office.

welcome back, everyone!

I finally made it.

oh I made another graph as well, very relevant to that first one as you will see

cross-examining this totally accurate to canon data charts will lead us to some marvelous conclusions

And please note that eli's mom, burpy, and the goon are not factored into the data, simply because we do not have enough data to place them anywhere concretely.

Also note that I tried to stick to canon - we all have our own theories about those three, and maybe different opinions of the vibes of those depicted above, but I attempted to keep all HC's out of the charts. Feel free to make your own headcanon chart about his situationships, or leave a comment here, i dunno, lmao why did i spend an hour on this, im kinda proud of this but also like, why did i do this-

just finished My Babysitters a Vampire

the lore. The dialogue. RORY. The everything. Adored this show, now if you'll excuse me, I shall visit its ao3 for...a little while. I recommend it to everyone with a pulse. Watch it. For Rory!!!!

thanks, now I'm crying!

Ever think about how one of the rooms in the Shane Hideout technically belongs to Will,

So, like when Eli first scoped out the place, he probably stood in what was once his dads room for a solid five or ten minutes, taking in the dust covered room and all its stuff before getting the gear Will had left him.

And then when Trixie, Kord and Pronto like officially moved in and where claiming rooms for themselves they also saw what was once Will Shane's room, and how Eli just kinda avoided it by sleeping on the couch.

(because I hc there are like four actual bedrooms in the Hideout.)

And it takes like, a month to get Eli to not only clean out what was once his dad's old room but actually move into it himself?

And lest not think about the potential box/album of photos Will probably kept under his bed or something like that, and how those photos were of him and his son. (As well as some other personal items)

Let's not think about how Eli probably had to go out back and have a little cry before mustering up the energy to finish cleaning, out the room that was once his dad's, and is now his.

Let's not think about how Eli probably had to hide a lot of his dad's things, not just because he didn't want his friends to find them, but because they where to painful to look at.

...

Welp, i'ma head on off to bed now, night night!

okay I understand this is my really niche interests coming together and it's just me

but I REALLY wanna write a slugterra fic someday where Annie Oakley is relevant because she's my hero and idk there's a lot of parallels of what her real life was like to the situation in slugterra and i love her she is my queen and i want more ppl to know about her

but if I never do, please, ppl, READ THE ANNIE OAKLEY WIKI PAGE I LOVE HER AND YOU WILL TOO

like I'm imagining Eli just being like "oh yeah Annie Oakley! by the time she was my age her dad died when she was eight and she hunted for a living and used her skill to join a circus-like act to flee from the slavery her mom accidentally sold her into, and used her quickly made fame and talent to pay for her family's mortgage, and then her, her Irish husband (though they read like an aspec couple), her adopted Native American chief father (the one who led the last major Native American uprising in the US, yeah, THAT ONE), and all her homies spent their lives teaching marksmanship to a reported over 15000 woman and fought for the suffragettes and almost killed Wilhelm (this would have stopped WW1) and basically chilled out their whole lives while also being oddly intertwined in American politics. Plus she had a rival in the circus troop who also hated her guts for no reason! But Annie was a better shot so everyone took her side. So yeah she's a bit inspirational to me"

but that doesn't read like fanfiction it reads like plagiarism of the wiki page! I just wanna insert all the things I love into my art I'm so FUSTRATED THIS SHOULD BE WORKABLE INTO A STORY. Any plot bunnies are appreciated.

before there was slugterras Wild West and Eli Shane, there was the American Wild West and Annie Oakley :)

as a classical musician who's had to desperately try to explain why YOUR FAVORITE OPERA SHOULD NOT BE CARMAN, I pass this on hoping tumblr is more open than my peers :)

Anyway, daily reminder from a culturally isolated Romani person.

Gypsy does not mean wanderer.

It literally means ‘people from egypt’ or similar, as europeans believed Romani people were from Egypt. It has become known similar to nomad due to how our ancestors have been forced to be nomadic due to racism and ostracization, but it is a SLUR.

Romani people are STILL being forcibly sterilized.

Romani people are STILL being forced into ghettos.

Romani people are still facing violence and danger in countless European countries- and recently, I’ve seen the beginnings of the extremes in the United States.

Have a little fucking respect and DON’T USE A SLUR THAT’S BEEN USED FOR CENTURIES AGAINST US.

And for the love of whatever’s up there, ESPECIALLY do not use it to describe your witchcraft. It is playing on the ‘magic gypsy’ trope, and is EXTREMELY insulting.

non romani people, please reblog this.

...What happened to Shane men drafted during the military throughout the 20th century

like actually? I feel like, because of the secret, the Shane Family would always be sure to have a big family; siblings, cousins, grandparents, the like. But they don't! Not that we know of, and if we don't know about them by now I don't think they would help Eli or Slugterra that much at this point.

could family decide to cut contact over their Slugterra journeys? Maybe, but that wouldn't explain how the family basically windled down to three.

...what would, is the 20th century. Up on the surface, there were plenty of surface wars (regardless of what country we think the Shanes lived in) that they would have automatically been drafted in. And being good marksman before the drafting age...they would be on the line of fire. And maybe be as heroic as they thought of themselves to be in Slugterra.

One uncle lost in 1916, a sibling lost in Vietnam; not to mention the Shane woman, who probably offered their services too.

like sometimes I wonder what complicated family plots happened for the Shane's to be so lacking in numbers, but then I remember that, you didn't need backstabbings to die in these wars . A lot of deadly things were happening the past century on the surface, especially to a family used to combat and would maybe feel obligated to help the surface out.

Sorry this is a gruesome and out of left field thought. I just think that the wars of the 20th century couldn't be avoided by them, and perhaps that contributed heavily as to why, in the shows time, Eli's got not much family left.

I love this and make a humble HC request:

Trixie would think about punching Will Shane, but decide instead to, when he lives with them, not tell him anything as payback. "Oh, the WiFi password? It's written down somewhere. What did Pronto make to eat? Have a taste to find out. What is it like in the Eastern Caverns? Alas, you must wait to visit them yourself...tragic"

"Kid, this is really not necessary and not efficient."

"...bummer."

Shane Gang head cannons #2 Electric Boogaloo

- part 1 -

Hero worship be damned, Kord will punch Will Shane

There are multiple stashes of snacks in the Hideout. Some are booby traped

There was a moment in time when Eli was so sleep deprived, he wore his clothes backwards and inside out, and no one said a thing

The Hideout, being rather old and not having been in proper use for a handful of years, needed quite a bit of repairs and upgrades. Yet, no one has bothering to fix the gutters.

There is a rat that lives in the Shane Hideout, it's name is Randy, and no one acknowledges him outside of saying 'hi' when the rodent is spotted.

Fun fact, there was a mouse in my house like three years ago, i also named him Randy. Unfortunately, Randy is now dead :(

The Slugs of the Shane Colony have had trials,

like actual 'court' trials.

Burpy by default is the judge unless he is to take the stand as a defendant, prosecutor, or witness, and in those cases, Doc or Stinky become the new judge.

Trixie has tried (and failed) to film Eli singing

Eli hated mushrooms pre Drop, now they just remind him of chicken when cooked right

Hero worship be damned, Pronto will punch Will Shane

Kord likes romance movies

Eli likes action comedy movies

Trixie likes horror and just well shot movies in general

Pronto also like romance movies, but well done rom coms are also good.

Eli brought his mp3 player from the Surface, it's filled with a bunch of his favorite songs,

If he's having trouble falling asleep, Eli will pop in his ear buds and listen to music form his mp3 player

Don't worry, the Slugs make sure to take the buds out when their Slinger falls asleep

Pronto insists on cooking with bugs, he says it's for extra protein.

He's, unfortunately, right.

Trixie has filmed and posted a bunch of videos to the SlugNet. It wasn't until she joined the Shane Gang that her channel gained more traction

Trixie has a prank compilation on her channel that is just a compilation of all the pranks the team pull on each other that she is able to catch on Camara

The most popular Prank video is just the rest of the Gang referring to Eli as anything but his name for a whole day. And the Shane is slowly losing his mind.

Once, while undercover, Eli got mistaken for a kid skipping school and was forced into a classroom at the local school

Eli, being Eli, didn't say anything until the rest of the team had to come pick him up.

This actually led to the discovery of an underground ghouling ring.

Apparently, one of the upper class men found a berral of Dark Water, and after some trial and error, found out how to ghoul slugs and started selling their ghouling services for illegal dules

When Junjie joined the team, it was extremely awkward

For a week, Junjie was on bed rest before feeling comfortable going out on missions with them.

Junjie has so far been the only one to eat Prontos cooking with no complaints about there being bugs in it.

Junjie gets hooked on Kisses From a Hoverbug, but dose not admit it

Everyone has tried to prank Junjie, key word try, no one has succeeded.

Lack of information be damned Junjie will deck Will Shane

Two weeks after Junjie joining the gang, they have to go to Caverna Mall to get cloths and other things for him.

It goes as well as you would expect

This is also where Junjies slugs get their first real tase of not only junk food, but absolute chaos as well.

Joo-Joo becomes the fourth judge of Shane Colony court

Joo-Joo becomes a tyrant judge

Its a collective agreement to put the Infurnus in time out(in a shell) till hes cooled off.

All of the Slugs of the Shane Colony are protective of Doc

They just knew Doc was important long before their Slingers did

Rookie pranks Junjies slugs with his exploding ball things. It's funny damn it.

There is now a new tally next to Eli and Burpys. It's for Junjie and Joo-Joo, and how many fires they start

It's currently in the dubbed digits

NO ONE TALKS ABOUT "THE GAME MASTER"

"The Jigsaw wannabe" as Eli would say.

happy last same year as it was yesterday 2024 tuesday

todays the only/last day you can reblog this lol

pre ghoul blakk in some god awful engineering shirts + a bonus. shirt transcript under the cut if you can't read them.

shirts are in order: i'm into plants (with a nuclear symbol) engineering works engi-neering my limit i don't suffer from insanity. i enjoy every minute of it.

my love is at war

please, please let my be a be a substitute teacher this year while I take my exams, oh great employment jelly!!!

ahhhhh, this is gonna be awesome to read!!!! Thank you, happy holidays bestie!!!!!!

Another Version of Me

This is part of a Slugterra gift exchange I hosted!! This is for @mrros-e, who gave a prompt with Twist and Maurice! Minor warnings for discussions of injuries, death of an unnamed side OC, and gang activities. Merry Christmas to those who celebrate, happy 12/25 to those who don't!

Let it be known that Maurice was not good with kids.

He didn’t know what to do with them. Thankfully, in his line of work, dealing with children wasn’t a common occurrence. People of all ages typically cleared out wherever Doctor Blakk went, and for the most part, where Blakk went, Maurice went.

There were a few exceptions, when business partners would bring their well-behaved children along to meetings, as if it would earn them any sympathy or extra care from the head of Blakk Industries. There were kids- preteens and young teens, which to Maurice might as well be toddlers- that were “contracted” with the company. They were information couriers, or mecha drivers, or just eyes and ears on the streets, paid enough for a couple warm meals. Maurice rarely interacted with them, but when he did, he often felt awkward and was certainly judged by the kids who were down on their luck. And being in Blakk’s inner circle, he didn’t often have to mingle with the grunts.

Then there was Twist.

For better or worse, Maurice had been the one to find the kid. He’d been in a rundown cavern on the bad side of town with a few grunts, checking in on stores they had deals with for slugs or money or equipment. As time went on and Dr. Blakk became more respected- feared? Was there a difference, really?- in the 99 Caverns, these cavern visits became easier. Nobody wanted to bring a slug to a ghoul fight. Maurice was having to draw his blaster less and less, and he wasn’t one to complain about less work.

Checking in with the local shopkeepers had devolved into some street slingers approaching Maurice and his slingers, inquiring about any work they could pick up. Maurice was tired and ready to go back to the citadel, so he’d stayed back while his ghoulslingers “tested” the street slingers, which really just meant dueling it out. If any of the prospective workers could take down Maurice’s men, he’d consider them, but they all failed and left to patch their wounds.

Except for one blond teenager, sporting a beater blaster and a single Thugglet. Maurice hadn’t thought much of him. Thugglets were neat, sure, but they worked best with surprise attacks, not when you walked straight up to your opponents. He’d been ready to turn the kid down and let him off the hook, noting his thin frame with a twinge of sympathy, when the blond launched into battle.

It was over almost as soon as it started. With a series of flashes, the kid was everywhere and nowhere, flipping ghoulslingers over his shoulder and slamming them to the ground with ease. He moved like water, dodging the few shots the ghoulslingers were able to fire off, getting up close and disarming each one of them.

The kid had looked up, tired teal eyes meeting Maurice’s warily. Maurice regarded him carefully, and for a moment, he saw not a stranger, but a younger version of himself, tired and ready to do what he had to if it meant guaranteeing his own safety. With a Shane or without, the streets were tough, and Maurice knew firsthand they could create unbreakable resolve.

Maurice glanced over at his fallen lackeys, then back at the newcomer. He shrugged and gestured to the Blakk Industries mechas parked nearby.

“You made your point, kid. Come with us.”

The rest was history. Maurice learned the kid went by Twist. He’d established himself at Blakk Industries quickly, and his attitude and talent put him face to face with Dr. Blakk. One meeting later, and the plan for Twist to infiltrate the Shane Gang was born. The infiltration ultimately hadn’t gone to plan, but Maurice knew the kid was safe for now. Dr. Blakk had taken a liking to him, probably seeing the same familiar attitude Maurice had noticed.

Blakk spent more and more time training Twist, but Maurice’s day-to-day life didn't change much. He still manned the company’s lackeys and reported to his boss. He rarely interacted with Twist directly, but often sat next to him in meetings. Twist’s frame had filled out more since joining the company (although the tenseness in his muscles never really ceased), but if Maurice nudged his leftovers over to the kid during mealtime meetings, then that was nobody’s business.

It was hard to forget what the gnawing hunger of his youth felt like.

Whatever. It was to keep Twist battle-ready. There was no point slinging on an empty stomach, and he was getting sent on more and more missions by Blakk as the weeks went on. And if he underperformed, Blakk would be in a bad mood, and Maurice would have to deal with it, so it was all purely for his personal preservation.

So when Maurice saw the kid dragged into the citadel, blood spattered down his torso and hanging limply between two masked lackeys, he was a little concerned. He’d started to feel invested in the young slinger’s progress, and Twist had been settling into his role at Blakk Industries well.

Maurice stayed back while Twist was rushed off, past Blakk’s office, where he was supposed to be debriefed by Twist and Dr. Blakk about the mission against the Unbeatable Master and toward the infirmary. The remaining lackeys that weren’t carrying Twist had some scuffs on their uniforms, but otherwise looked unharmed, and even pleased with themselves. The mission must have gone well, or as well as it could have gotten with Twist looking like he’d been hit by a mecha.

Worry knitted the redheaded man’s brow, but he stayed put until Dr. Blakk approached him, a satisfied smirk on his face despite his usually spotless uniform being torn and singed. He didn’t seem particularly concerned that his apprentice was being half carried to the infirmary, and Maurice knew Dr. Blakk didn’t really care for most of his employees, so why did this feel different?

“It looks like you were successful, boss?” Maurice said stoically, his hands tucked behind his back while he followed Dr. Blakk into his spotless office, shutting the door behind him.

“Indeed. The Unbeatable Master didn’t live up to her name,” Blakk said, laughing to himself and shaking his head as he brushed some soot off his sleeve. “A minor hiccup at the end, but we won the day.”

Maurice raised an eyebrow, curious as to what sort of hiccup could cause his boss to look like he’d touched a live wire, but he recognized that Dr. Blakk’s good mood was a rarity that shouldn’t be tampered with. Besides, Blakk wasn’t the biggest concern he had at the moment.

“And what happened to Twist?” Maurice asked, careful to keep his voice neutral. Dr. Blakk waved a hand dismissively.

“He’ll be fine. He took an attack from the Unbeatable Master head-on,” he said, as if he was talking about something as simple as slugball scores, and not his apprentice fighting the most talented slinger in Slugterra.

“I didn’t know she had it in her, to go so hard against a kid,” Maurice grumbled. He’d heard tales of the Master’s capabilities, of course, but with how strict she was in selecting trainees, and having trained every Shane in recorded history, Maurice had always assumed she had the sort of moral code that would lead to her holding back against young opponents.

Dr. Blakk scoffed.

“I doubt she would. No, he was disguised as me. He fought her off long enough for me to line up the final shot,” he said, a smirk on his face as he recounted the battle. “Once Twist took the hit, the illusion dropped. She looked almost remorseful for a moment. But she didn’t live for longer than another minute afterwards. Twist seemed surprised. He still has a lot to learn.”

Hm.

Maurice didn’t particularly care for the Master’s death. She was an obstacle and his boss removed her from the equation, it was as simple as that. Try as Eli Shane might to change things, this world was tough and you needed to be powerful to survive. Dr. Blakk had challenged her power, and she failed.

But Twist wasn’t an obstacle, or an opponent. He was Dr. Blakk’s apprentice, his protege. Maurice knew Dr. Blakk had been through hell as a kid, just like him. That was how they met, after all. He’d assumed- hoped?- that would grant Twist a little bit of grace, being a fellow person who suffered because of how this world worked.

Apparently not.

But why did that matter? Why was Maurice’s stomach tightening at the knowledge that Twist had taken a hit meant for Dr. Blakk, and had been notably injured, and Blakk hadn’t even escorted the kid to the infirmary? He didn’t even seem to care.

Maurice didn’t usually care. Caring was dangerous in this line of work. And yet…

“Well, congratulations on the victory, boss,” Maurice said, clearing his throat and turning toward the door. “I’ll do a gear check on the slingers who returned. See what needs to be repaired.”

Dr. Blakk only hummed in approval, either not noticing the internal conflict in Maurice or choosing not to acknowledge it. The redheaded man nodded and walked out of the office, shutting the door silently behind him.

He took a deep breath, fully intending to go to the storage bay like he said, but his eyes caught a glimpse of something on the floor. He frowned and peered down at what looked like a simple scuff, but what he instead realized was a small smear of blood. He frowned and looked down the gray hallway, and there were a few more drops, creating a faint trail in the direction of the infirmary.

The image of Twist held up between two uniformed workers resurfaced in Maurice’s mind, and he sighed, groaning at his apparent inability to not care. Why couldn’t he be like the doctor? Why couldn’t this kid just be another face in a sea of revolving slingers who were down on their luck and needed a home or income? Why couldn’t Twist just be another cog in the twisted machine that was Blakk Industries?

“Don’t get involved,” he muttered to himself, adjusting his vest and turning the other way, towards the storage bay. “Kid’s not your problem.”

But he only made it about four steps before his legs couldn’t seem to move.

That wasn’t true, was it? In a way, Twist was his problem. Maurice had been the one to invite him to Blakk Industries. He’d seen the potential in this street-hardened kid, and maybe Twist would have gotten into trouble against the Shane anyway with his long standing grudge. But Maurice had brought him here.

It had been going well. Twist was proving himself at every turn. Maurice knew all too well the reflex to strive for power, for perfection, for some semblance of safety.

He groaned and ran a hand through his hair before turning on his heel and walking the other way down the hall, his fists clenched as he followed the occasional drop of blood to the infirmary.

Maurice rarely ended up in the infirmary, both due to a lack of injuries in the field and the stubbornness to patch himself up alone when he did sustain injuries. He stopped in front of the plain gray door, adorned with the company’s V logo, and straightened his shoulders. This was purely professional. It wouldn’t be good if Blakk’s apprentice was down for the count, so it was practical to check on him. Right.

He swiped his key card through the scanner and the door slid open, closing behind him once he stepped inside.

The infirmary was one of the brightest rooms in the building. It didn’t necessarily match Dr. Blakk’s aesthetic, but the white and silver of the floor and walls helped potential contaminants stand out, making the place easier to clean.

There were only two people in the room. One was one of the handful of doctors employed here, Dr. Stevens. Some of the doctors were more coerced than employed, willing to stay only because their passion for healing people was stronger than the moral question of if Blakk’s ghoulslingers deserved healing.

Dr. Stevens was not one of those people. She didn’t care about Blakk’s mission or the morality of helping ghoulslingers. Maurice had come to learn she saw people as puzzles, and it wasn’t as much about helping them than it was feeling the success of figuring them out.

She stood next to one of the dozen infirmary cots, wearing a white jacket, with her dirty blond hair tied up in a tight bun. She was tucking a roll of bandages on a shelf next to the cot. She pulled a pen from her bun to scribble something down on a clipboard. Watching her warily was Twist.

“Right, well, you won’t die,” she said cheerfully. She stood between Maurice and Twist, blocking his vision of the kid. “My medical advice is to give it a couple days before getting back in action. I’m even more limited on Boon Doc usage now that Blakk found out a ghouled one can be a one-shot kill. How neat! Makes more work for me, though.”

She tucked her clipboard beneath her arm and stuck her pen back in her bun.

“At least stay the night here instead of going to your bunk, and take those painkillers once every six hours. There’s disinfectant wipes if you want to clean yourself off, but don’t shower until tomorrow night. I don’t feel like dealing with you passing out and hitting your head. Otherwise, I’m not your mother. I don’t care what you do.”

With that phenomenal example of bedside manners, Dr. Stevens turned on her heels and headed for the exit. Her eyes widened when she saw Maurice standing close to the door and gave a surprised hum, but she didn’t stop or say anything on her way out. Maurice could appreciate that, at least. He didn’t particularly enjoy talking to the eccentric doctor. She had the unnerving habit of blurting out your medical problems halfway through a conversation.

Now that Dr. Stevens was gone, Maurice had a better look at Twist. He was laid down on the cot, lifted slightly by a couple white pillows. His tan skin was still a little pale, and his blond hair hung in his eyes. His shirt, vest, and blaster sat on his bedside table, stained with dirt and blood. His stomach was wrapped, with a few smaller, separate bandages higher on his ribs, and one concerningly close to his heart. His lips were downturned, and he stared forward blankly, not acknowledging Maurice’s presence.

Before he could hesitate again and bail, Maurice forced himself to approach Twist, letting his footsteps fall heavily to alert the kid to his presence. Sure enough, Twist tensed, quickly turning his head and looking up at Maurice, his expression guarded.

“Did Dr. Blakk send for me?” he asked, gritting his teeth and starting to sit up. Maurice shook his head.

“Relax, kid. No, he didn’t send for you.”

Twist didn’t relax, but he did fully lay back down, reaching down and yanking a pale gray hospital blanket over himself. Maurice frowned at the familiar motion.

He laid on a battered futon, his chest heaving. He’d taken a Rammstone earlier and cracked two ribs. He’d won the duel and sent the trespassing slingers running with their tails between their legs, but damn if his whole torso didn’t hurt. He didn’t have any painkillers, so he’d resorted to tying an ice pack to his chest with his bandoleer.

The door to his ratty apartment slammed open, revealing Viggo Dare, flanked by a young Thaddius Blakk. Thaddius raised an eyebrow at the sight of Maurice laying there injured, but didn’t say anything. Viggo scoffed, and Maurice quickly yanked a thin blanket over himself, as if hiding injuries could protect him from Viggo’s scorn.

Maurice gritted his teeth and grabbed a chair from next to another cot, dragging it to the foot of Twist’s cot and sitting slowly.

“How you holding up? You looked rough coming in here.”

Twist still looked rough, in all honesty. He still had dried blood on his skin, and his eyes looked colder than usual. Maurice knew he was probably frustrated getting injured, but considering Dr. Blakk being in a good mood because of the mission’s success, he thought Twist would have been taking this a little better.

“Fine,” Twist said curtly. “Just some weird… energy blast, I guess. Worked like a burn on my skin, and I got blasted through a stone pillar, so the landing was rough.”

Maurice’s eyes widened. The Unbeatable Master had really been trying to take Dr. Blakk down, by the sound of it.

And instead of taking the hit himself, Blakk had let this kid stand in his place. He had to have known Twist wouldn’t be able to hold his own against the Master. It was just a fact. She hadn’t earned her reputation by being gentle.

“Still, it’s impressive you managed to stand your ground long enough for her to prepare a hit like that,” Maurice said, leaning back and hoping to come across as casual. “Don’t take it too hard. Sounds like you did exactly what the boss needed you to do.”

Twist hummed halfheartedly in agreement, shifting his weight and pulling his gaze away from Maurice.

“Sure.”

The two sat there in silence, Maurice frantically trying to think of what he could possibly say to make Twist feel better. He still didn’t understand why Twist seemed so closed off, why he seemed to be taking this all poorly. Injuries were unfortunate, sure, but this wasn’t the first time Twist had gotten hurt, although it might have been the most severe (since joining Blakk Industries, at least). Nobody was mad at him - Dr. Blakk was actually pleased. So why-?

Maurice remembered Dr. Stevens’ words.

“I’m even more limited on Boon Doc usage now that Blakk found out a ghouled one can be a one-shot kill.”

Right. The Unbeatable Master hadn’t just been defeated. That wasn’t how duels worked with Blakk, not when he had any say about it. His mission had been successful because he killed her. Again, not something Maurice particularly cared about, no matter how “wrong” it was. He wouldn’t grieve for a stranger. But Twist had been there, and Maurice knew what it was like to watch people die before becoming apathetic to it.

Viggo Dare stepped away with a scoff as the woman fell to the ground with a thud. She’d gone after him in a fury after he’d sent some thugs to beat up her brother, a shopkeeper who refused to pay Viggo for “protection.” Now a Dirt Urchin spike ran through her chest. She was dead before she hit the ground.

Maurice had joined up with Viggo only two days ago. Well, “joined” wasn’t quite it. More like threatened and surrendered.

He’d been in plenty of fights before. He’d been living on the streets for years. But he’d never been right there, only feet away, with a front row seat to a person’s death.

Viggo hummed and reached down, grabbing the woman’s blaster. It was still loaded with an Armashelt, who growled angrily but made no moves to leave. After a moment, Viggo turned toward Maurice, who instinctively flinched. The mobster laughed at that, rolling his eyes before handing Maurice the blaster.

“This’ll do you better than the piece of junk you’ve got now,” he said casually, like he’d just picked something up from Caverna Mall instead of off a corpse. Maurice took it with shaking hands.

“You, uh…”

Maurice rubbed the back of his neck, wishing there was some manual for talking to kids. What was he supposed to ask? If Twist was okay watching someone die right in front of him, as part of a plan he’d participated in? That’d he’d been key in? Clearly he wasn’t.

And judging from Dr. Blakk’s comment earlier about Twist being surprised, it sounded like he hadn’t known Blakk planned to kill the Master, not just win the duel. That had to have come as a shock.

“You good, kid?”

Nice one, Maurice. Nailed it.

Twist looked up at him, his face a carefully constructed mask of no emotion. Met with no response, Maurice felt compelled to continue.

“Just wanted to check - sounds like things got a little intense. You took a heavy hit, and sounds like you were caught by surprise when the boss took down the Master.”

Silence.

“No shame in that. If you’re not expecting it, something like that’ll naturally come as a shock.”

More silence. Twist was glaring down at the ground, looking anywhere but Maurice’s direction.

I should just let him be, Maurice thought. Twist clearly didn’t want to talk.

But he couldn’t help but wonder what would’ve happened if someone had stopped to talk to Maurice when he was younger. At any point- when his family life fell apart, when he was alone on the streets, when he was roped into Viggo Dare’s violence.

He liked who he was today. He was strong. Capable. And yet…

“Same thing happened to me, once.”

Twist’s eyebrows raised. After a moment, he lifted his eyes. They were still guarded, but he was clearly listening more actively now. The action made Maurice feel relieved.

“Yeah. I was a year or two younger than you. I’d seen plenty of stuff at that point, but not that. Was running with a different group - led by Viggo Dare.”

Twist tensed. Maurice understood - not everyone knew about Viggo, but it wasn’t uncommon for people on the street to know about him, as either a role model or a horror story.

“I was with him when some lady came after him. He’d attacked her brother, she wanted to get even. Fight barely even began when he fired off a Dirt Urchin, ran her right through. Dare didn’t even flinch. Even gave me her blaster,” Maurice said solemnly, nodding down to the blaster hooked to his belt. “Same one I use today. I kept my cool until I got back to my apartment, then I threw up.”

Maurice leaned back in his seat.

“So, if you need to, you know, react, I won’t tell the boss.”

Twist watched him warily before finally speaking.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

And with that, tears began to well up in the kid’s eyes. Twist gritted his teeth and raised a hand to wipe at his eyes.

“Damn it,” Twist choked, his shoulders shaking slightly. “Why am I reacting like that? I just- she- I don’t know, she believed in me. At least, enough for me to make it that far into the Winnowing. Even if Eli won, she might not have picked him. It wasn’t about winning, it was about who we were.”

Maurice only nodded, processing Twist’s words. He hadn’t been there in Dojang Grotto, but from the sound of it, the Unbeatable Master hadn’t been interested in Twist only because of his slinging abilities, but also who he was as a person.

She’d seen him, and not in the same way as Dr. Blakk had seen him. Maurice knew Twist wasn’t naive. The kid understood that no matter how much of Blakk’s favor he earned, he was still a mean to an end.

“I didn’t think he’d kill her,” Twist admitted, rubbing his face. “I knew he’d use the gattler, but I thought he just wanted to show her up.”

“He shoulda told you. Let you prepare. He probably just didn’t want you to have too much on your mind,” Maurice said. “It had to have been hard enough already, tricking someone as powerful as that.”

Maurice didn’t say a quieter thought of his, that Blakk maybe hadn’t told Twist because he still questioned the kid’s loyalty. To be fair, Maurice wasn’t sure Dr. Blakk truly trusted anyone. Maurice might be the closest one, if there was anyone.

Blakk- and Maurice- knew enough about Twist to know he wouldn’t plan on betraying Blakk Industries, but a spur of the moment decision? Maybe something like that wasn’t so easy to dismiss as something Twist would never do.

“Still, I shouldn’t be reacting like this!” Twist exclaimed, sitting up with a wince. Maurice wanted to stop him, but he also wanted to let Twist do whatever he felt like he needed. “Blakk can’t see me like this. I can’t ever break down like this. It’s stupid. I’ve seen someone die before, Maurice, why does this matter?”

Right. His father.

The whole reason Twist had sought all this out in the first place- to get revenge on Eli Shane for Will Shane’s killing of Twist’s father. Maurice didn’t know all the details, just that Twist’s father was a thief and Will Shane’s attempted apprehension had taken a deadly turn.

“Slinging’s rough, kid, but you can’t roll with all the punches,” Maurice assured. “I’ll be frank. Someone died in front of you. You helped make it happen. I’d be a little concerned if you were doing perfectly fine.”

“Yeah? How’s that?” Twist fired back, pushing his hair out of his face and wiping at his nose. “You’re glad I’m crying like some kid? That’s real great. Thanks for coming here to tell me that.”

Maurice sighed and shook his head, running his hand down his face.

“No, kid, I’m not- I don’t like that you’re upset. I’m saying I’ve been right where you are. It’s rough. Acknowledge that. Process it. And then you’ll be able to move on.”

Twist sighed, taking a long, steady breath, letting his shoulder sag when he released it.

“Right. Yeah. Um- thanks. I guess,” he finally said. He wasn’t smiling, but his eyes at least looked a little less hopeless, and Maurice would have to consider that a win.

He stood, and his arm inched forward for a moment, tempted to rest a hand on Twist’s shoulder. But a brief pang of guilt held him back.

I shouldn’t feel guilty for bringing him into this. He wanted this. He wanted revenge, to be on the winning side.

Maurice let his hand fall back to his side.

“Call me if you need anything. Ever,” he said gruffly, rubbing at the back of his neck. “Won’t tell the boss anything you don’t want me to.”

Twist’s eyes widened, and he watched in shock when Maurice nodded to him and turned to leave the room. His hands curled around the edges of his blanket.

“I- thank you,” he choked out, the words tumbling from his mouth rushed and jumbled. “Maurice.”

Maurice turned and nodded again, gifting Twist with one of his rare, genuine smiles- not one full of pride or malice, but of content.

“No problem, kid. Rest up.”

Twist nodded, and Maurice left the infirmary, closing the door silently behind him. His smile slowly faded. He… didn’t know what to feel. So he just let himself be content with the boss’s victory, and Twist’s impending recovery.

And if, when the day finally came and the Dark Bane emerged from Doctor Blakk’s terraportal to wreak havoc on Slugterra, Maurice turned a blind eye to the sight of a young blond slinger retreating from the chaos?

Well, it was a hectic day. No one would ever know any better.

Slugmas Secret Santa - Mister Rose (MrRose) - Slugterra [Archive of Our Own]

Gifted to Justice! Hope you enjoy reading it, homie! Thanks again to cyansparks for setting this all up.

and MERRY SLUGMAS, EVERYONE!

Big day for annoying people (ace attorney fans) (affectionate) (me)

like a good person, I was reading ch 2 of @a-sad-mage's "Champions of the West"

and now I have a new HC. Not a super real one, more of a crack one, but hear me out.

the Slugterra fandom wiki. Far better than the "official" one, but still, has its flaws. Most info is old, some pages have very little/wrong info, it doesn't make clear where the info comes from (the show vs the games), and the biggest pages come from the content regarding the first ten episodes of the show.

now, idk who the editors are irl. But hey, you know what's an in-universe explanation?!?

ELI SHANE IS THE MAIN EDITOR.

no, really. He had more down-time right at the beginning of the show. He was fascinated w Slugterra and maybe he thought writing everything he learned down somewhere would help him remember it all. But the plot kicked in and he had less time, so now most pages are short and to the point - and only written in Eli's perspective, not some historian, so some stuff is misleading or wrong. And he mainly used it before A Distant Shore - afterwards, he could just ask his friends if he forgot something. But it's still fun to update, so for anything big enough, he added a little bit to the archive. Eli Shane is the editor, of course he is!!!!! It makes SENSE!

okay, now w this headcanon, it's time to reread Eli's page, something tells me this is gonna be fun

I can't keep having the same conversations about love languages, mbti, iq, bmi, "brain fully formed at 25" and shit over and over again...

Breaking News: angst writer writes complete fluff for the first time

Reports indicate the seem to enjoy not crying while writing this one-shot, thought the final scene is not yet written. Stay tuned for more updates!