#ask ambs

🌟 how long you’ve been on tumblr:

my personal / “main” blog dates back to about 2014, I think? I was a WhoLock in my early teens when that was kind of at its peak and I think that’s what brought me here originally.

🌟 AO3 or tumblr and why?

for writing, AO3 hands down! I still like to post my writing to tumblr for visibility, but I’ve gotten like, 2 comments ever over here lol. AO3 feels way more like a community for writing. I do like tumblr though for sharing things outside of the stories — VP, extra lore, my personal thoughts — that don’t necessarily make sense to put on AO3.

🌟 which fandom was your first?

in the traditional fandom sense, WhoLock (I never got into Supernatural) 💙 and I still have a ton of DW comics. but prior to that I was managing a One Direction facebook account with my friends from middle school. soooo do with that what you will.

🌟 what’s your favorite story/art created by you?

you know this is like asking a parent to pick a favorite child. it’s wrong.

I have said before that if I had to convince someone to read my work, I would start them off with Heroes’ Feast — it’s short(ish), grabs you by the collar and a lot of fun. But I don’t love it more than GML or Dealbreaker. Don’t make me choose.

🌟 what’s your favorite story/art created by someone else in your fandom?

there’s wayyyy too many talented people for me to pick just one! @deadly-diminuendo herself is one of my absolute favorite writers in this fandom — you will know altered something in my brain when I read it for the first time 😵‍💫

I’m also obsessed with @a-tangled-mermaid Wheel of Fates and as for art, I look forward to everything I see from @scarebluetales and VP from @obsessedwhyyes 🩵

Also just see Kevin as the one to move out and disappear as soon as he's old enough to. Probably has the most tension with their dad, because... he's white trash and fights back? I guess? Which is compounded by one of the few scenes of him there is in the show. There's really not much to go off of with him in the show either so there's that too, so I am generalizing to a degree.

Kenny's dad is almost always a major touchy spot and source of issues, not just for Kenny. Like it's kind of a given. Most of the physical fighting happens between his parents especially when alcohol is involved, but I really have a hard time not thinking there'd be a few incidents if shit gets really bad. Like booze and drugs??? Some shit's bound to really blow up.

I normally picture Kenny not having many, if any, physical altercations with his dad, but I think his dad would totally just start bitching at him a lot of times, being jaded and complaining about money and demanding shit ("you have so much time to go hang with your friends you could be making money to pay for all this food you kids fucking eat"). Kenny generally ignores him, but it's anxiety inducing and at worst extremely frustrating. There's a lot more negative memories than good and I always see Kenny having some really fucked up internalized anger because he would leave instead of lashing out. Even grown up he wouldn't confront unless it was to protect someone else from getting hurt.

Like Kenny doesn't hate him but he wishes both his dad and his mom could stop drinking and taking their anger out on each other at the very least.

But maybe sometimes he does hate him. We can have a little hate and violence as a treat.

Carol is just stuck and forced to pick up the slack working long evening shifts and stuff like that, so no one's around to make the kids dinner, and she's usually too tired or checked out drinking, or arguing with Stuart on other days, to do too much. So homecooked meals are very rare, cleaning is sparse, and most times she just looks so tired and defeated just barely getting by. She expresses love and affection more, and the worst she would intentionally do is smack Kenny's arm. Sometimes she gives Kenny some tough love type of scolding, which could be a little something he can relate to with Kyle. Sometimes she sounds so sad though when she says nice things like that Kenny's her "sweet little boy", like she knows he's forced to look after himself and help look after Karen.

Kenny will come home late at night from hanging with friends or anything and his mom will be passed out alone on the couch on her stomach, just the glow of the old TV flickering some late-night infomercial no one's watching and reflecting on empty bottles and crap on the coffee table and Kenny just sighs. (This scene has been on my drawing list for years but at this point fuck it lmao)

Given their parents being like that, Karen grows up very anxious and unsure, and Kenny really is her rock until she gets older. :(

And KenNY... The idea of him fucking taking on the parentified child role and having to keep his shit together because he's gotta look out for Karen. He's gotta do shit like get Karen medicine when she's sick. Goes to the laundromat to clean their clothes because they don't have functioning machines at home (been there, it sucks). And he doesn't say shit about any of it, not the bruises, not the severity of drinking, not the having to escape his house because of the yelling. Until suddenly one day out of the blue he'll laugh and say his dad would've beat his ass if he did xyz and then doesn't explain or mention it again.

Yeah. Like that :)

BUT DON'T GET ME WRONG. I think more wholesome, nice stuff with all them is good too lol. I promise. I don't want anyone to assume this means I think other ideas/interpretations are "wrong". Kevin could be a derpy well-meaning brother too. Yanno.

First off, I’ll say that the situation with Melantisa is not over yet. There are still conversations to be had and this very subject may or may not come up again. Which sort of means it totally will and I’m just trying my best not to spoil anything for anyone. I know some of you care and some of you don’t 😅

Second, I’m soooo sorry for how long this answer is 💀 but you brought up a great question and you did it very nicely. Thank you ❤️

There are 2 reasons why I think the bite wasn’t addressed very well on the night that it actually happened.

1) the simplest reason: it was pretty immediately overshadowed. Mel’s sire very quickly tried to spin the situation into being completely Astarion’s fault because he had no compulsion over Willow, a topic he had been bringing up again and again, and Astarion slipped at the mention of Marceline. The man’s only got a 10 CHA stat, after all.

2) and then there’s a more complicated answer, that I haven’t been able to unpack in Dealbreaker despite how long it is: though it absolutely is SA, both Willow and Astarion have a history of being taken advantage of and for them it was just another Tuesday. (not really, but I hope that makes sense).

I slid a little bit of early Willow lore into Too Sweet, a short story about Willow & Astarion’s first time together, and I have plans (actually, obligations) to unpack her story a little bit more quite soon. But the general idea is that while Willow was a traveling bard, she often gave up her body just for a place to sleep at night. This is when she was 17 - 25.

When Willow is so used to using sex to get what she needs (as in, a bed), a kiss seems innocent in comparison. Though she would absolutely take issue with someone kissing/biting Astarion without consent, she doesn’t see it in the same way for herself.

Anyway, I could probably ramble forever & ever about her but I should just get it on the page instead! 🫣 I am absolutely going to finish Dealbreaker, and it’s going to go out with a big ole bang — in a good way or a bad way, I’m not telling!! But you can probably guess.

Thank you for reading, and for sharing your thoughts with me 🥹 please have a great day.