Blank shit posting

I live in vegas and I thought it would be cool to see our girl Carm rocking one of the fits. I wish they would have visited in the show lol!

Might continue this vegas AU! Feel free to add on to it or share ur thoughts x)

Dear Zack and Ivy,

I'm sorry to leave so abruptly, but I have good news! We finally found my mother, and I'm on my way to meet her right now! I know this is all very sudden, but I promise I'll get back in touch with you soon. In the meantime, I hope you'll consider helping ACME take down the remaining VILE operatives. Thank you both for everything you've done for me! I'll see you again soon!

Love,

Chief literally opened up with "it is your lucky day" it was giving scammer 😭

He's too desperate for, ANYTHING to do such a thing imo. He worships Chief and to an extent ACME as his personal omnipotent God, especially at that point. The sheer, guttural depression he displayed when he was told he was out, crushing.

I said I'd do a longer post! ;)

(thanks and kudos to @mmaricarmen23 @bisexually-finger-guns @backofthepencil11 for spurring this)

-- Growing up, Carmen really only knew about money in a vague, conceptual sense: money was a thing that VILE needed in order to function and was an indicator of how valuable something was (with 'something' being the 'imports' that were brought to the Island). That's it. Once a year it needed to be...whatever Cookie Booker did, but other than that you didn't need to think about it. Pretty easy low-maintenance stuff.

-- She got a bit of a wake-up call when she left the Island and hadn't yet started lining her pockets with VILE's ill-begotten funds: apart from a roll of bills in the pocket of Cookie's coat and some of his own savings account money that Player quietly wired to her (don't tell his parents), she was flat broke. It was here that Player first grasped just how...few life skills his bestie possessed.

-- Carmen: Player, guess what? I saw this place off the highway that teaches you to ride a motorcycle and-

Player: Red. Please tell me you didn't...

Carmen: ...Why wouldn't I?

Player: How much did this cost?

Carmen: I dunno, a hundred?

Player: RED!!! THAT'S LIKE YOUR MOTEL ROOMS FOR THE WEEK!

Carmen: But! I can ride a motorcycle now. 😎

-- He is now bestie/hacker/money manager

-- Once they joined her, Zach and Ivy had a hard time wrapping their heads around (a) how much money their new friend had (b) how freely she spent it, and (c) how willing their new- boss? friend? something?- is to spend it on them.

Zach: Whoa! You wanna eat here? Isn't it kinda...expensive? (it's literally an Olive Garden)

Carmen: No worries; tab's on me. 😉

Zach: ....Ives, we died and went to Heaven. 😍

Carmen: ...We're in Ohio?

-- It was...hard to get used to. Especially for Ivy; she'd been the one to manage the money when her and Zach were on their own (he would have spent it all at McDonald's, something he has freely admitted) and is well aware of how much things costs and what smart spending looks like. Seeing someone basically burning through a bank account (never mind it seems to be bottomless?) is...well.

Ivy: Boss, you can't buy these! $400 is way too much for sunglasses!

Carmen: ...It is?

Ivy: .....YES!!!

-- And she just...doesn't feel completely comfortable with sponging off someone they just met, even if she is really nice and offering to pay for room service and hotel room movie rentals and anything else they could ever need or want. That's not the world she came from; in her experience, everyone has an angle they're playing, and money is how they keep you beholden to them. Plus this whole vigilante thing? Yeah, it had to be a one-and-done for this...she wants to say 'heiress?' She made that mistake with Eddie, and she's not making it again.

-- Zach is more comfortable with the spending sprees. He's a little uneasy at first (he, too, knows the value of a dollar), but quickly and easily adapts to a life where he doesn't have to feel shy about asking for seconds.

-- Update: Carmen really doesn't have an angle; they really are doing this vigilante thing, she really is footing the bill, and she really expects nothing in return. She also, Ivy quickly realizes, has no idea how money works beyond buying things. Good thing she has practice explaining this stuff to Zach

Ivy: The drugstore sells pairs for less than $12 that work just as well. Just go there to-

Carmen, already wearing the sunglasses: Still getting these

Ivy: At one point, my entire wardrobe cost less than that. Think about that for a minute.

-- This is not going to be easy.

-- Shadowsan feels some guilt for not teaching Carmen about money management better, and for being the reason she spends like it's her last day on earth (which it could be with VILE hunting them but we're doing that today), but he doesn't take much action beyond occasionally remarking on something being too expensive. It's not like he was responsible with money when he was her age. Or ever.

-- No one pursues money management 101 in earnest, though. Ivy and Zach and Shadowsan and Player...they all know how unfair the world can be, and all know what it is to be dealt a bad hand. They all (well, the kids; Shadowsan has Guilt (TM)), to an extent, kind of....feel they deserve this (hey! tons of people far worse than them get to have nice things; why can't they?). They want and like this lifestyle, of jet setting and high living, the fantasy come real. It's fun, and really nice to not have to worry about being unable to afford their next meal or next month's rent. Plus they like the perks; the cars and tools, the bayside warehouse and the super-fast CPU Player wouldn't have been able to afford otherwise. It's hard to want to stop all that.

-- Maybe they can just...ignore that part of Carmen's Life Skills curriculum? Wolfe's secret accounts were seized by VILE, so a good chunk of this ill-begotten money is technically Carmen's by rights. The interest alone is a king's ransom, so she...doesn't really need to learn budgeting, right?

-- Carlotta disagrees.

-- She wants her daughter to be able to manage her own money. Responsibly.

Carlotta: Hija, you spent almost $200 (US dollars for simplicity's sake) on shampoo this month. Do you truly think that's sustainable?

Carmen: ...Yeah? I mean, I recycle the bottle.

Carlotta: Dear Lord. 🤦‍♀️

-- It's hard to see just how ignorant she is about money; it just reminds her how her baby was raised to be a weapon against humanity, one who was never meant to exist outside VILE. But stewing over it won't change matters, and anyway, after missing so much of her life, she actually welcomes to chance to teach her daughter Life Skills. And anyway, Carmen has a good head on her shoulders; how hard could it be?

Carlotta: Now, mira, see these bottles? The same size as the expensive one, but cost far less. You'd have more money for other necessities.

Carmen: Like the expensive shampoo?

Carlotta: ....Like food.

It’s midnight and I’m insanely tired (…why are due dates at 11.59??) but know I ADORED and agreed with every second of this 100%

You know when you just have a thought but not the words??? That’s how I feel everytime I read your work, this was beautifully put, no notes 🩷

Carmen: money is a concept

Everyone: …….oh my god.

The natural caution but understandable lenience team red have around money is very canon— and, I mean, they definitely like it. It’s hard to say no when it’s your boss with the spending problem and, well, you’ve gotta think after all of this she and they deserve it, right?

Ivy thinking Carmen’s glorified lifestyle has an inevitable catch hurt :(( (and technically, it does…. but it’s accidentally and emotionally)

Carmen: we’re in Ohio??? (Carmen’s religious obliviousness oh my gosh. Untouched potential lol— and makes sense being she was raised in a cult).

Zack getting used to asking for seconds also… hurts. That headcanon he stuffs his face out of habit, not knowing when the next time they’ll eat is. He slowly eases out of this when he realises there’ll always be food in the cupboards, fridge, or just a walk away they can get with ease. And he more than deserves that comfort, it makes me smile he and Ivy get to be financially free on Carmen’s team

But every now and then…

Ivy: …you bought us all sunglasses?

Carmen: yup!

Ivy: from the chemist?

Carmen: nope!

Ivy: 🤦‍♀️ don’t- don’t even tell me the prices.

And Shadowsan’s guilt too— he really should’ve foreseen Carmen’s difficulty out in the real world. Maybe it was blind hope that she’d simply escape and make it that stopped him from considering what it *actually takes* to make it. He of anyone should know how unforgiving the world is… and he holds immense guilt over that oversight.

But also, as you said, he is not the most equipped to teach this. God knows what he would’ve done with the money in Carmen’s position— at least she’s more geared towards clothes, impulse “that’s so cute!!” buys, and gifts. He supposes it’s harmless

And as such, Carlotta disagrees

Carlotta’s “dear lord” HAHAHA

Aww I love how she otherwise embraces the opportunity to help her daughter. (Never mind the “not supposed to live outside of VILE” implications keeping her up at night…. ow…)

I absolutely fawn over the image of her helping her daughter learn anything. It’s a completely new opportunity for them!! …but she soon realises why VILE didn’t bother (not that she’d ever give up on her daughter, no! Mathematics just… weren’t her strong suit).

Nor was cooking (…she really should’ve taken Carmen’s word for it and consulted Player before the first time). It’s hard to think of how her daughter may have survived without all of her friends out there in the real world… probably theft, huh? And that guts her, that her baby could’ve become what Dexter, Shadowsan, and many others had been forced to.

But every now and then, her baby surprises her…

Carlotta, finding Carmen looking at a row of stained glass windows (the windows suddenly in quality condition): …mija? What are you doing?

Carmen, turning innocently: you can’t see the paint, can you? I think I didn’t match the green right.

Carlotta:

Carlotta: you painted this???

Carmen: yeah. Oh- I should’ve asked first, right? I just thought it was a bit dull and- *is promptly squeezed in a very big, very motherly hug*

(Thinking stained glass window in the attic, bonus if with some semblance/relevance to Dexter, but I can also see religious/church references instead. Either way, Carlotta is beyond grateful for the touch up, it’d stung a bit you couldn’t see the colours in the light any more. She’d been meaning to fix it. And now she promptly rapid researches any arts/precision dominant hobbies/avenues her daughter may be able to pursue— hence leading to my church mural touch up headcanon of Carmen post series)

The sunglasses thing has me laughing!!! Ivy is trying so hard to at least make sense of Carmen’s spending habits, it piques her brain but she still can’t help but not understand why Carmen isn’t worried about spending, even though Viles funds are endless. It speaks subtly to their differences in upbringings and how it can shape how people feel emotionally about different things, Ivy being a pro at spending sparingly, Carmen….not so much. I also love the idea of Ivy being hesitant to spend Carmen’s money as well simply because she thinks there is something Carmen wants in return, Ivy is familiar with how people can use each other and how cruelly someone can back you into a corner, Ivy is street smart that way….it takes a while for her to realize that this is just the way Carmen is, and Zack also has that hesitation to some extent, which reflects his similar yet different viewpoint on peoples possible intentions. It’s so nice to think of them also slowly warming up to Carmen in this way and other similar ways, OMG them! They are becoming familyyyyy!

MARIII the stained glass symbolism in the attic room?? Where has that been hiding YESSS! 😍For it to be at the highest point in the house, having connections to Dexter, perhaps they used to have date nights up there or picnics or something if….that orphanage was going to be their house when Dexter tried to escape Vile, I would imagine they already had a place to live as part of that plan….how it also holds religious symbolism and Carmen repainting that glass AHhHhhhHh! (Church mural touch up 👀👀👀 OHHHh YESS! That sounds so cool and interesting, I am loving the religious/chuch experience headcanons people have for Carlotta, it’s all so GOOD!!!)

(@frozenwolftemplar hiiii ❤️ idk how reblogs work if I reblog off Mari’s reblog will it still ping u? 👀) I just need to say OMG. THE moment Player recognizes this, that she has *literally* no real world experience. GOOD LAWD. He truly is the best of friend to her, and she would also be so lost in the real world without him. I LOVE them and the dialogue you wrote for them is so in character!!! All your head canons 😭✨ it’s amazing! And each one attunes itself with some aspect of Carmen’s upbringing! AND YES like Skye said in the anon reblogs, the show had so much potential to build upon this aspect in their dynamic, their friendship teaching her that lesson and how spending logically works, they could help her become familiar with that and GAHHh there’s so much there writing wise!

I absolutely love everything said here about Shadowsans guilt as well!!! THIS rules my world personally and I will go to the ends of the earth for guilt ridden Shadowsan later in the series or after Viles takedown, it really starts to open his eyes as well to how Carmen has been isolated from normal experiences, and he can’t help but self place that blame on his shoulders alone, his singular action being the source of this. I also think this plays in part to his own upbringing, in his mindset, and inability to afford what he wanted was something he ran from, his brother and him barely making ends meet but still having what they needed at the least, the value of the more important things dissipating as the necessary that is money became more than something that is a necessity, it became something his entire life rotated around, gain and power. Vile was solely materialistic, working towards nothing more than control and power for those at the top, and how he never would have had to care about much of anything as Vile faculty, all expenses limitless and the threats posed by life now a memory for those who sit in the high chairs, he himself might even experience what Carmen is experiencing after getting back to the real world, becoming more in tune with modern day, and also getting back into the swing of normal living. But I imagine he only experiences this for a small while, while Carmen experiences this much more intensely, having no life experience at all.

im so crazy busy with uni rn but heres a paper star in one of my recent fits bc i thought the colours fit her🙏also paper stars my favourite 🙏🙏

everyone look at my ocs they're stupid and lesbian i love them

one on the left is lydia (lyds), right is marissa (mari)

He’s a fucking loser