Artstuff

Fans have once again been discussing Rocky's romantic preferences

It would appear he can be best described as "approvalsexual/approvalromantic"

He could fall in love with/get very unhealthily fixated on pleasing anyone that shows him kindness and validation, man or woman

It makes sense considering he has had so little of that after years of drifting from place to place and never really belonging anywhere after leaving the Mcmurray House

The reason that fixation is currently on Mitzi is because she literally picked him up off the street and treated him with warmth and affection, probably the first person to do so in a while

Hence his willingness to now endanger himself for booze just in the hope of pleasing her and keeping hold of the limited solid ground lackadaisy offers

If he "lets down" Mitzi and Lackadaisy goes under he will be adrift and unwanted again

You can see the pain/anxiety on him whenever he feels he has dissapointed her, or when he sees her getting too cosy with Wick, whose wealthy assistance could make him superfluous

It is perhaps not so much that he is in love with/attracted to Mitzi as a person so much as he is reliant on the validation and stability he recieves from her

As such its very easy to imagine that in an AU where Atlas was the one to do it, or Wick, or Viktor, or Zib, or any of the male cast, he would have been just as fixated and desperate to please any of them

Its especially amusing in Wick's case imagining a complete inversion of the canon

With Rocky desperate to be Wick's "number one guy" and being hostile and passive aggressive as hell to Mitzi "that home wrecking gold digger" May and doing everything to block her flirting XD

Who actually owns the Pakrestica speakeasy??

The one who was the first, original, Mr. Hartland??? Because Rocky and Mordecai don't own the speakeasy even though Rocky performs there every night now.

Short answer? That's shrouded in mystery. No, really, it is.

The idea behind Pakrestica came when I stumbled over this one book, or more like an autobiography of a gay man living in the 1920s St. Louis. On one of theese pages, it was mentioned that he met a 'young man' at the intersection of Sixth and Olive - the same intersection where Pakrestica is hiddenin my fic by the way - who was just as 'affected' as the writer was and they spend the night having 'the most delilghtful time'.

Why is that relevant? Because the biography was penned by someone named 'Claude Hartland', a pseudonym of course. Point is - Hartland as a character was always a legend, a mysstery, the voice of society's undesirables. He might own Pakrestica, or the answer might be more boring. I think it's funner to think that Pakrestica is truly led by a gay mythical figure-

Lackadaisy Gang

In the early chapters, we see Rocky arrive at Pakrestica and meet several men. Crow is the one who shows him around, dances with him first, helps him discover that side of himself, and, as mentioned later, Rocky spends the night dancing and kissing different men. However, when Mordecai appears on the balcony, something seems to change

What caught my attention is that Rocky is the center of attention for the entire place, playing the violin, surrounded by admirers, and enjoying the experience, but as soon as he locks eyes with Mordecai, he stops playing and goes straight to him. Later, during the dance, he seems to establish a connection very different from the one he had with the other men that night.

My question is: what exactly did Rocky see in Mordecai in that first moment? Why, of all the men he met in Pakrestica, did he seem to be drawn to him so immediately and instinctively?

Oh, what a magnificent and well-thought out question! For a decision I have made quite some time ago too, so let me train my memory for a bit.

Let's see. I believe the thing that truly caught Rocky's attention was the mystery. One thing I made sure to establish was how easily Pakrestica and all these men gravitated to, and how willingly they all coveted Rocky's attention. Then there was this shadow, a figure looking straight at him from high up in a view that could only be described as breathtaking. Rocky already had a thing with characters that seemed unattainable to him, characters he considered larger than life - just think Mitzi - so it made sense his curiosity was positively piqued.

It certainly helped that Mordecai is quite a looker up close. Plus the fact that he managed to keep up with Rocky, adapted to him almost seamlessly, and the whole thrill of finding out they were connected in all that was drama - Rocky could hardly stop himself from being besotted.

"Why not?"

Mordecai nursed the warm cup in his hands, contemplating how to best explain his point. "Because it's ridiculous. Doing so would generate an overabundance of goods that the system is simply not made to tolerate."

He raised the cup to his lips, savoring the way the warm liquid wetted his tongue, and for a moment, he almost missed the way Roark paused in his reply.

"...Well, they can always compensate," said the tabby, stabbing his fork into the stack of pancakes and raising the skewered folds to his mouth. Surely he wouldn't-

He did.

With mortified shock - as well as a hint of genuine awe - Mordecai watched as Roark made quick work on the otherwise hefty breakfast meal. He had never seen such a feral and disgusting display, the way drops of maple syrup would sputter and scatter all across the bartop. Surely, the meal weren't so delicious as to los3 yourself in you base instincts?

Amidst the gorging, Roark seemeted to stop, considerimg his partner-in-meal.

It makes me wonder what sort of person he was before the war. I feel like we got a glimpse of it in Ingenue…

Also, Viktor’s “lying” reminded me of this scene from the comic!

[ Blind Heart ]