#;;load the canon (verse that is)

[doolallymagpie]

miguel: *pops into earth-2350* hello, i’m another universe’s spider-man, you must be the spider-woman of this universe

petra: so...do we all have incredible, shapely butts? is it like how spiders all have huge asses?

miguel: *realizing his watch says that either her canon is irreparably broken or she’s not a real spider* i have to go, now, and i’m not coming back here ever

petra:...i shouldn’t have led with the butt thing, i should’ve led with the “alien hybrid were-spider” thing

[nklsdttr]

* probably gonna be shifting things around on this blog where it's based in the orig.inals , a.hs co.ven , t.rue blo.od , and inter.view w.ith the vamp.ire collectively and then move neverm.ore to a verse and lore instead due to shared plot locations making it a wee bit more cohesive

[i-hate-peas]

The Old Guard Fic Recs

So I've been a long time lurker within the fandom without ever getting particularly involved, but I wanted to show some appreciation for some of the super talented people who go here, because I have read a lot of incredible TOG fic.

Most (probably all) of these authors have loads of other amazing fics, but I've tried to just chose one from each, to keep the list a vaguely reasonable length. Although then I cheated and did some honourable mentions.

** just a note to say I started this list year (s) ago and forgot about it until literally today when I saw fic recs going round. Any of these fics I haven’t put a description for it’s because I didn’t do it at the time, and if I go back to reread them all this would never be posted, not through any lack of affection or enjoyment **

If any writers want tagging/ untagging etc please let me know! (i knew/ could find some blogs more easily than others lol)

Within Canon

Old Olives by aeli_kindara

Garden of Gethsemane mention = instant tears

Death in Her Hands by superblackmarket

Nile's growing relationship with Joe and Nicky. All of their fics are so beautifully written, but I especially love Nile's relationship with the boys and her facing her own immortality.

Honourable mention: Station to Station

Between the Hour and the Age by hauntedjaeger (@hauntedfalcon)

Andy! Nile!

Ouroboros by CypressSunn (@cypresssunns)

Set after the film, literally just read it.

compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience by Jack_R

A pair of early days Joe Nicky fics that reminds me of 'my wife is a bitch and i love her so much'

let's give them something to talk about by lacecat

When The Cherries White With Blossoms, Be Ready & Be Brave by chapstickaddict

Unearthed by merle_p

I think this is one of the most kudosed fics in the AO3 tag, but it deserves the hype!

Kidnapping for Dummies by Amiril

Similar to above, already very popular, but great and very funny!

The Last Man on Earth by Survivah (@optimismology)

I will admit I don't normally go for Booker/Nile, but this fic sold it to me. Looking at them and their developing relationship as the newer immortals.

Canon Divergent

Retrograde by Pinkninja

I mean this fic is the Big Bitch of the fandom for me, if you haven't already read this, where have you been? But also if you haven't already read this I am so jealous, read it and take your time with it and bawl your eyes out over it and appreciate the joy of reading it for the first time. The level of detail and planning in this fic is indescribable. It follows Nicky trapped in a Time Travellers Wife style life where he jumps back and forth throughout his own timeline, whilst Joe lives his life in chronological order. Exquisitely written.

If Never Again, If Every Day by gallifreyburning and takiki16 (@gallifreyburning, @takiki16)

Another absolute Titan of the genre. I know you’ve already been recommended this 500 times, what more can I say.

though I'm dying to (fall in love with you) by yusufsmoon (@babygirlyusuf)

Travellers from an Antique Land by kaydeefalls (@kaydeefalls)

Andy, not Quỳnh, trapped under the sea. I love all their fics.

AUs

Makes Me Want You More by Sixthlight (@sixth-light)

Perhaps not the typical favourite choice from Sixthlight, one of my absolute favourite TOG authors, but one that is funny and lovely and sweet that I keep coming back to. Shorter than many of theirs but perfectly formed.

pumpkin gnocci verse (series) by Liadan14 (@bewires)

I mean it's got estranged family, suspenseful chronological structure, cooking, spies, intimate and honest sex scenes, hilarious misunderstandings involving keeping halal, lovely found family moments, and the actual recipes used. What more do you want.

The Reality of Everything by Marbletopempire

One of the fics I desperately waited for each instalment for. Very funny, lots of sexual tension, plenty of Cate Blanchette spotting opportunities.

sine qua non by mellyflori (@werebearbearbar)

One of the first of their fics I read, with a very sweet build up of misunderstanding to friends to lovers, involving growing up, discovering sexuality, trying to be nice about your best friend's bad boyfriend, and a long suffering sofa.

The Brooklyn Verse (series) by GayLittleEarring, yusufsmoon, nicelytousled (@marwankenzarisgaylittleearring @babygirlyusuf @nicelytousled)

I saw the creation of this on Tumblr before it was a fic, and it lived up to every expectation. Very sweet and sincere, with lots of great discussions about art, whilst also very funny (Lamp the free loader, Joe sending thirst traps out of irritation) and hot. ItalianAmericanNickyfromBrooklyn and Joe my beloveds.

a good (eighth) impression by deaniker

I love a good hook-up to 'oh shit I have feelings' fic, and this is even more entertaining because Nicky is Lykon's ex, and Joe has very much seen him at his worst.

You do not have to be good by emjee (MerryHeart) (@emjee)

At one point a tumblr post about Joe the Professor and Nicky the Priest got very popular, and I'm not sure if this fic was inspired by that, but is one of the great fics with similar concepts. Such a lovely, gentle fic about love and also identity, featuring also Nile and a very sweet snail.

it's such an almighty sound (series) by raedear (@raedear)

A secret service AU that goes full enemies to lovers, with lots of tension, plotting, betrayal, frustration, and tenderness.

Honourable mention: take my hand (you got me rockin' and rollin')

fight 'til the day that i die 'verse by incurableromancer

Suspenseful, noir, super hero AU that has such a great writing style and is very atmospheric.

if you do take a thief by knoepfchen (@knoepfchen)

Cluedo style AU with lots of fun twists and slow building of backstories, with the whole gang.

Honourable mention: life is not the things that we do (it's who we're doing them with)

[ladyloveroll]

(These are my ACTUAL notes from my friends birthday party full of people who absolutely did not know who the fuck Itachi and Kisame were or how pairing names work or what a ship is.)

Writing kisaita (on and off) for 15 years

Never get tired of the ship

Excellent, friendly people in the fandom to keep making content (Cynni)

Presentation is less about the specific ship and more about the general qualities that make their ship S-tier. You may find this echoed in your own OTP, IDK.

Powerful, badass characters who can kick anyones asses no problem, as depicted where they are casually taking a stroll after Kisame (who still has his little fo-hawk) casually takes down the four-tails

Kisame is noted as the ‘tail-less jinchuuriki’

Itachi is clearly a fucking powerhouse, we don’t need to debate that

Working with strong characters means you are more easily able to portray their weakness and explore that side of them since that rarely gets screentime

Auxiliary, not main characters

Main characters are harder to write because they spend a lot of screen time accomplishing their goal and doing Plot

Auxiliary characters are more malleable, and morally gray ones especially so

Depicted here are Itachi and Kisame, separately, being ordered by their villages to kill their own people. They carry this order out, but do not particularly like it. Nor are they particularly loyal to their own villages, despite carrying this order out. It’s hard to say where their loyalities lie.

The answer is WITH EACH OTHER OBVIOUSLY

Any ship that has a timeskip has LOADS of canon-verse material you can work with, especially if it feels like the characters have changed or their dynamic has changed.

For Naruto especially, WTF are Kisame and Itachi doing for three years? Clearly neither of them are out capturing jinchuriki. They aren’t seen lounging around Amegakure or Akatsuki headquarters. They are just traveling the world. Probably doing hits. Probably hitting on EACH OTHER WOOOOOO

Long time skips mean a few thing: 1) Canon divergence, 2) Canon compliant, 3) pre-time skip, 4) during time skip, 5) post time-skip; and that’s not even the AU’s

They clearly haven’t made any other friends during this time either so lots of relationship to explore

The Naruto franchise is notorious for retconning. Probably because Kishimoto (the writer) was pushed to create at a pace that was impossible for any sane or healthy man to keep up with.

Fanficition writers can take advantage of this poor writing by interpreting the character in a lot more ways than if the character was solidly written.

There are a lot of different ways Kisame is written, and accepted as so

Itachi less so but we don’t have time for that

Retconning allows you to take a writers mistake and turn it into utter brainrot that ten other people (me) will reblog every 3 years

This one is kind of specific, but if you like angst then OH BOY this ship has a lot of potential for it

Any OTP that involves an angsty edgelord and a sadistic tagalong can indulge in either EXTRA ANGST and be able to balance out the angst with humor

The KisaIta ship has 4 great themes about it:

Redemption

Acceptance

Forgiveness

And Existentialism of course

Dynamic:

Sharkboy / lava girl

Edgelord / goof

Leader / follower

Maybe old? / a touch too young

Respect for each other

S-tier OTP because of strong themes and repeatable dynamics

Kinkfest here we come

S-tier OTPs must be able to withstand an intense variety of smut writing

Powerful level = able to handle pain and dish out pain

Body things? = more positions

The Shape of Water was one of the single best thing to happen to the KisaIta 18+ fics because (even though it existed before the movie came out) a lot more readers were into it now

Also, Kisame makes this ship work more than Itachi. He is fucking DEVOTED

at this point I was running out of my 10-minutes (THEY HAD THE AUDACITY TO PUT ME ON A TIMER) so i just backfilled the rest of the presentation with fanart and memes i like

Why do I like KisaIta?

I mostly write smut

They’re great at smut

I also like angst

They’re always great for angst, either character

Also look at them they are hot AF

Beefcake service-top vs. ‘shaped like a katana’ masochist

Healthy dose of hurt-comfort

They’re extremely flexible to write and so there’s a lot of stories you can create

thank you for not reporting me to the powerpoint police

[pillowdrawz]

MASTERLIST OF ANYTHING 🎨🖌DRAWING

Commission Sheet

(Idk how a master list work)

Btw I did all of this for fun FOR FUN.

♤Turtles forever Au [just a bunch of Turtle gen. Interacting] (On hold)

° Meeting 1. (Old art)

• Meeting 2 (old art)

○ busted meeting 3 (old art)

● Cloaking broach? 1 (old art)

□ Cloaking Broach! 2 (old art)

■ Don's training (old art)

♤ Training

◇ Mutated Soldiers

♡ Mutated Soldiers Leo

◇ Mutated soldiers Donnie

♧ Raph meeting 2012 meme

☆ Meme a Ten is speaking. (Old art

▪︎ Into the leo verse. (Old art)

¤ Turtles and Their Krang

《 Leo's traumas

{ Think leon think

》Leo's and Rise raph

¡ 12 MIKEY CHEATZ. (Old art)

? Spider verse Meme leos

} Hopeful (old art)

[ Don't talk to me or Otherme (Oldart

☆ Playing (old art)

R adorable Rise raph. (NOT SHIPPING)

\ Pranks and Destruction.

◇ watching Leo get L.

♧ watching Donnies get guns

$ Bamf Leo in 2012 world.

1 Future Leo's,MiseryxCprxreesespuffs

% Energy and Stab-

$ Accidentally Mutated Vs Purposely Mutated

2 Raphs Slay

÷ Raphs Height (Not canon I just had fun)

E He likes to be tall

V Is For Valentine's L is for 2003 Mikey/j

Y- Yoshi!!??

A, B.E.A.S.T ACTOR AU

, :3

4 Mutant Mayhem ???

5 Tmnt Animatic Leo's "You'll play your part"

B B.e.a.s.t Leo Joins?

🃏 Joking about trauma be like

💥 Mutant Mayhem Donnie meets??

🐇⚔ Leosagi both 2003 and rise

🤚 DANGEROUS

🙂 ask someone else

-⏭⏸❗----------

◇ Hamatos Umarekawari Au.(On going)

* first post Explannation

+ Raph's death explained

× first meeting part 1

÷ Second meeting part 2

= Meeting (thanos meme)

€ Ryu took the wheel literally

£ Memes

^ more Memes twins

¥ Posture

₩ Bandana

# Rise Boys Looks

$ Random Art of the Au.

% Twins powers

& Float

- Another meeting but different

= Baby?

$ COUSINS??

# Origin???

8 The Kids cloaking brooch/Human form

9 Shelly take care of grandpa...NO DONT KILL HIM-

---⏸⏭---

Random things/ Headcanon)

Rottmnt recoil fanart

TAIL

Cloaking Broach Raph

Cloaking Broach leo Part 1 (bad art)

Cloaking Broach Leo part 2

Cloaking Broach Donnie

MY FAV HC ABOUT THE TWINS

MY FAV HC ABOUT HAMATO NINPO

Rise Leo new Hc???

RISE LEOS TWO POKEMON

He attacked the floor

Rise raph to Rise splinter

Rottmnt memes

Leo wants his sanity back

Disaster twins and Wildberry

Artist is on their Ao3 Author arc /j

=====⏭⏸❗📶===

💀♠️RISESAGA A ROTTMNT X UNDERTALE AU! <<<And for more content click the blog there is now a master list there!!!♠️💀(Rewritting)

---📶⏸💥------

✍Ninjago.✍

+Ninjago Kung fu panda part 1

# Ninjago Kung fu panda part 2

= Lloyd,Brad and Gene fanart

$$ Sensei Garmadon SCREENSHOT REDRAW

B What if Uno reverse card Harumi

--Zzzzzz⏸📶zzzzzzZ--

Rise piece Rottmnt X one piece

- Join His crew

Alabasta arc. Super what??

⚠️spoiler Marineford arc⚠️ Older brother

-------$⏯Monster Promx Monster High crossover comic⏸(On.hold)$----- A SPOOKY CROSSOVER

❌ Oz] Their mission

🧟‍♂️ Brian's And Zombies Part 1

---🗨HAMATOS EXORCISM AU 🗨---

✍ FIRST POST/PROLOGUE?

🖤 EXPLANATION? AND PIEBALD???(joke art only the pokemon one)

👌 Memes

🙌 real lore and Tmnt 2007

✨️Funfacts Mikeys Flaming heads yokais friends

👞clothes..

----- Loading-----

--🐢⛑Ninjago x Rottmnt "Turtles Aid Au"🐢⛑--(Ongoing)

⛑ Prologue/first

[smokingasters]

PP Novels Resources (for my fellow deranged fans)

As a deranged PP fan, who was starving for dopamine I discovered some novel sources for the characters we all love! All novels/summary is in Russian (can be easily translated to English through Google Translation of the website. Use a VPN if the sites do not load)

If ya'll love the OG cast (Season 1), this is for you! I'm merely linking to the websites for your reading pleasure. I will try to link the ones that are complete, more under the cut.

*All due thanks to the dedicated translators who keep the fandom going* Psycho-Pass Zero

(Tumblr: Novel Translation *pending but I recommend reading this before the radio drama for plot coherence*) (Live Journal: Radio Drama Translation *complete*)

Content warning: Plastination case + Makishima is enough warning Timeline: Prequel to the Psycho-Pass S1 Kogami and Sasayama's bromance/outlines the gruesome murders in the Specimen case/follows the story of Touma Kozaburo and his obsession with Touko. Baby Kogami is so precious. Mitsuru Sasayama is the man, the legend. *sobs* Masaoka's whiskey persists + Ginoza the worrier.

Psycho-Pass Asylum: About A Girl (Live Journal: Detailed Summary *complete*) (Suggested Supplement: Yayoi/Shion Tidbits from PP Novel + Aoyanagi and Kozuki disaster)

Content warning: brutality against women, !pregnancy, !cultism, !infanticide. I'm not kidding when I mean it's brutal. Timeline: Post S1 with some flashbacks. Yayoi and Shion's relationship is the main focus. They investigate a case where pregnant minors are being sacrificed by a cult. Entirely from Yayoi's perspective, has many details about her past and how she and Shion feel about Division 1. I would encourage you to read this if you want a feminine/female perspective of the PP verse. Underlying themes of creativity, sex, romance, and hope + vital issues with the Sybil System. I added the supplement because it covers a bit more about Yayoi and Shion + explores the canon romantic relationships, I believe it is a good study of how PP handles canon relationships.

Psycho-Pass Asylum: Restaurant de Campagne Kagari Shuusei

(Live Journal: Detailed Summary *complete*)

Content warning: None, really. This one is quite wholesome as PP can be except for Sybil's shenanigans. Timeline: Prequel to S1 (Flashback) Kagari and Div 1 + 2 investigate a series of gastronomic malfunctions in Sybil's food preparation system caused by a criminal called 'Harlequin'. It involves a "natural food" supply company called Gusto and a restaurant owner. The novel explores Kagari's interest in cuisines and the impact of food in the PP world. Kagari's perspective is quite refreshing and light, compared to the complexity in other novels.

Psycho-Pass Asylum: Separation Ginoza Nobuchika (Live Journal: Detailed Summary *complete*)

Content warning: animal!cruelty, child!abuse, dogs. This one is a tearjerker. Timeline: Prequel to S1 + post S1 Inspector Ginoza, Kogami, and Sasayama investigate a case of rehabilitated animals/pets that are increasing the stress levels of Okutama, a remote place in the mountains. These pets were reintroduced and have gone feral. A doctor named Miyake was responsible for the reintroduction. Ginoza's calm yet poetic and wistful perspective is quite grounding. There's a sense of loss through this story, the theme of separation, and dogs being man's best friends. Any puns that made you think of Kogami are valid.

Psycho-Pass Asylum: Mungungwha Choe-Gu-Sung

(Live Journal: Detailed Summary *partial translation*)

Content warning: !torture, !mutilation, !castration, graphic, mentions of NK-orea. It's quite disturbing and angsty. MAJOR tearjerker. Timeline: Pre-S1 + follows the plot of S1. This follows the story of Choe-Gu Sung, Makishma's accomplice, and his entry and activities in Japan. Explores family life with his younger sister Suseon and his friend Guynthae. It covers a major portion of his backstory in N-K and his eventual friendship with Makishima. If you felt nothing for this guy in S1, believe me, you will be sobbing through this one. He deserved a better ending ftw.

That's all. If I find anything else, I'll add it in another post. Enjoy delving into the world of Psycho-Pass in-depth, and don't forget the words said by a certain Enforcer:

When it's all over, you can cry as much as you like.

[myloveforhergoeson]

why did james diamond pick tracks of my tears by smokey robinson and the miracles for his audition in bt audition? lets take a look at the verse he tries to sing and see if it serves a narrative purpose or i'm just thinking too much about my favorite boy again!

"People say I'm the life of the party 'Cause I tell a joke or two Although I might be laughing loud and hearty Deep inside I'm blue So take a good look at my face You'll see my smile looks out of place"

... i have lots of thoughts about this first verse, mainly stemming from both the canon characterization of james and fanon lore surrounding him. we know he's big into parties, we know he's big into dating; it seems as though he always likes to be around other people yeah? but we have also seen more vulnerable sides of him - taking care of Katie, giving up job opportunities so his friends don't feel bad about not getting their roles, and helping friends through break ups to name a few.

as for the second half, it reminds me of the first commercial audition he went to, where he realizes that lots of white boys in Hollywood are pretty loll but i also wouldn't think it's a stretch to extend a bit of fanon lore here. we know his parents don't get along - he has a controlling mother who is shown telling him who he can hang out with/date, what activities he should be doing, or even willing to take him away from his dream job to come move back home with her. brooke, like her son, can be awfully selfish, and we see how this affects him in bt moms. he has a dad who, though little is known about him, at the very least left his wife for a woman half her age.

i don't think it's out of line to extend this narrative onto the last part of this verse - parents like that would affect the mood of any kid, let alone one who is often quite histrionic as james. especially if we take into account this is the first and only song james ever chooses to song. it's a song he hopes will land him the golden ticket to Hollywood! the rest are songs gustavo has written or covers he's asked them to learn. before his audition, we know little about what he was like growing up along side the guys in Minnesota, but i don't believe it would be a stretch to conclude he related to the story of this song in some way. perhaps there was a reason far beyond fame, money, and dating models he wanted to move to California.

though this is the only verse he manages to get out before gustavo calls him talentless and kendall swoops in to save the day i personally believe it can tell us loads about james pre-hollywood :) thank you for reading <3

[bi-widower-dads]

bi-widower-dads' February Fic Rec: AUs

Thank you to everyone who submitted recs for us! We've done some sorting and collating, and we've got two posts for you: AUs and Canon-'verse - and a whole load of excellent fic for you to get stuck into while we wait for Barduil Month in April! So without further ado, here are the AUs for you, with a little bit about why our recommenders love them...

Header image by mod @piyo-13!

(a note about tags and trigger warnings: tags are selected from those on AO3 as being those that best describe the story for the purposes of this event; trigger warnings are supplied by the recommenders and may not be comprehensive - your mileage may vary. We've tried our best to include Tumblr handles wherever we can, but if we've missed yours out and you want it included, just let us know!)

One-shots

In the Wake of the Second Horseman by EldritchMage / @eldritchmage | M | 2272 words | tags: angst with a happy ending, implied/referenced drug use, post-traumatic stress disorder - PTSD, implied warfare/violence | trigger warnings: mention of drug use, mention of violence in a war zone, PTSD, nightmares

Summary: When addiction threatens to consume Thran, his lover Bard is desperate to help - but Thran isn't. Yet in ending his relationship with Bard, Thran savages both of them, not just himself. Four years later, Thran's about to discover what remains from his cruelty. What he finds is a surprise - and humbling. What do you love about this fic? Even when things fall apart, redemption is possible if you give it half a chance. Out of tragedy comes hope and a chance for a better life.

love remains by likethenight / @nocompromise-noregrets | G | 11,093 words | tags: alternate universe - modern setting, grief/mourning, Thranduil never sailed west, mythical beings & creatures, folklore, alternate universe - reincarnation | trigger warnings: none

Summary: There is a legend in Dale, that somewhere deep in the forest that borders the city lives the forest king, an ancient being with a special care for archers, and for all things that grow. Bard, camping in the woods after his finals, finds a place that isn't on any maps and begins to dream of something - someone - familiar; and years later, after the heaviest loss he has ever had to bear, he goes back out there again, hoping to find something that might help him recover. What do you love about this fic? Absolutely beautiful fic, such a touching story and excellent writing!

Petrichor by b_ofdale_archive / @beesinspades | G | 14,598 words | tags: alternate universe - reincarnation, alternate universe - modern setting, alternate universe - bookstore, books and cats | trigger warnings: slight mention of past life character death

Summary: It's been six thousand years since Thranduil last laid eyes on his husband - Bard. The world has changed and the great Elvenking with it, lingering in the shadows of Men; as hope for a miracle festers within his heart that grows weaker with every passing day, the only thing keeping him going is a promise he made, many moons ago. What do you love about this fic? I love its overall theme, and the thought that Thranduil will meet Bard again. A lovely and poetically written reincarnation AU, well worth the read!

Multi-chapters: in progress

Love in a time of change by myeaglesong / @myeaglesong | M | 22,840 words | tags: eventual relationships, eventual romance, elf/human relationships, fluff, romance, slow burn, alternate universe - regency, oblivious Bard | trigger warnings: none

Summary: For the longest time, Thranduil has wanted to find a good match for his son, Legolas, to marry. His search leads him to consider Arwen for Legolas to marry, but what if Legolas has already got his eye set on another match that Thranduil may not approve of? What will will happen when Legolas finds out about his father's intentions to marry him off? What would happen when the question of if Thranduil were to marry again was to come up, who could he marry? What do you love about this fic? I am not usually one for Regency AUs but this one is so adorable, and between the kids and the dads there is plenty of potential for shenanigans and some tentative romance! I'm really looking forward to seeing how events unfold…

The Moth Effect by BiSquared / @scary-grace and Dogblessya / @dogblessyoutascha | M | 35,658 words | tags: mothman is real, mothman Thranduil, mothbaby Legolas, park ranger Bard, non-graphic violence, but there is still gore so you've been warned, twilight references | trigger warnings: mothman lore, gore

Summary: (in chaos theory) the phenomenon whereby a mothman moving into your place of employment can have a large effect on the rest of your life. What do you love about this fic? I love the Supernatural/Horror element to it and Park Ranger Bard trying to make sense of all the really weird s**t that's happening around him. Lovely bits have to be the introduction of Mothman Thranduil and adorable Mothbaby Legolas. But best of all is that Mothman Thranduil isn't the weirdest thing happening in Olympic National Park 👀….

Vena Amoris by Patch / @patchoffeathers and Piyo13 / @piyo-13 | M | 72,843 words | tags: crossover with Dracula Untold, alternate universe - vampires, Bard is Dracula, canon-typical violence, slow build, alternate universe - some people live/not everybody dies | trigger warnings: none

Summary: Bard has a secret, one that stems from far to the east, in lands far forgotten and times long past. It's one that no one must know—but times are changing for the people living on the lake. Even for those who, technically, aren't alive. What do you love about this fic? The author does such a great job at merging Luke Evans' two characters here (Bard and Dracula) while still keeping Bard distinctly canon-shaped. Because Dracula!Bard is an immortal, there's a unique comparison of mythological immortalities and the relative costs of them that reflects back onto the plot.

show a little faith, there's magic in the night by BiSquared / @scary-grace | M | 342,922 words | tags: alternate universe - modern setting, slow burn, music industry AU, indie musician Bard, opera singer turned pop star Thranduil | trigger warnings: none

Summary: Bard Bowman's not the type to give up on his dreams easily, but when DJ Smaug's dirty tricks leave his family band stranded in Denver with a forfeit fee the size of Mt. Everest crashing down on their heads, there's really nothing to do but drink about it. The last thing Bard expects is to meet a beautiful stranger in a similar predicament -- and the last thing either of them expects is a rescue. Luckily for them, Thorin Oakenshield's feeling heroic this evening. What do you love about this fic? I am such a sucker for the rock scene (I've spent my entire adult life kicking about there) and it's not often I see it portrayed so realistically in fic (or indeed in original fiction). The characters are all beautifully drawn, the humour frequently makes me chuckle, and Bard going head over heels while trying to tell himself he isn't, it's not happening, not really, because he can't believe his luck, makes my heart go all funny.

Multi-chapters: complete

Followthrough by ofplanet_earth / @ofplanet-earth | M | 26,737 words | tags: alternate universe - modern setting, alternate universe - military, alternate universe - spies & secret agents, snipers, sniper Bard, military captain Thorin, mob boss Smaug, revenge, character death | trigger warnings: violence

Summary: Bard and his children have been living in a little cabin on the edge of Laketown for five years, hiding from Bard's dangerous past. But when that past comes back to haunt them, Bard will have to team up with Thorin and his company to face down his demons, confront the man who killed his wife, and fight to save the people he loves. What do you love about this fic? Great spies/military AU with Bard and the gang!

The grey sea and the long black land by Black_knight100 and Blueberryrock / @blueberryrock | T | 29,702 words | tags: alternate universe - modern setting, alternate universe - cruise ship, first kiss, angst, fluff, angst with a happy ending, eventual romance | trigger warnings: quite angst filled but has an eventual happy ending

Summary: Bard Bowman is thirty-seven years old, widowed and heckled, and he's had enough. If his children want a cruise trip with their lottery money, then so they will have. Bard will only have to work twice as hard to take them out of their little corner of the world. It has been three years. Three years of him raging, and sobbing, and grieving. Three years in which he has turned away from his children. Three years to reach this ship, to put together whatever snapped that day. And the first morning, Thranduil wakes up late. It is going fabulously. Or, in which the two meet on a ship, and there are ups and downs. What do you love about this fic? Thranduil and Bard getting together in the end

Modern Love by Shampain / @abner-krill | M | 65,267 words | tags: alternate universe - modern setting, alternate universe - coffee shops and cafés, alternate universe - human | trigger warnings: none

Summary: Bard is a down on his luck single father working a thankless job as a courier, eternally worrying over when his daughter is going to start sneaking out of the house with boys. As if that wasn't bad enough, his assignments delivering files to Greenleaf Acquisitions puts him in contact with Thranduil, a stern businessman whose only champion is his assistant, Tauriel. And finally, to make matters worse, his friendship with Bilbo Baggins sends everything else into a tailspin. The summer is just beginning, and it's going to be a weird one. What do you love about this fic? Lovely, lighthearted modern AU that is a delight to read!

hands; eyes; voice by bishkebab / @bishkebab | T | 70,163 words | tags: slow burn, alternate universe, accidental cottagecore, governess/single dad romance but make it gay, autistic Thranduil, Thranduil and Bard both have physical disabilities | trigger warnings: mention of autism, fire accident, PTSD

Summary: An isolated life in a too-small cottage was never what Bard dreamed of for his children – especially sharp, scholarly Tauriel and sensitive, insightful Tilda. But school is a distant dream for a large family living off the land – at least until a storm and the subsequent house fire bring a former scholar to their doorstep. Wealthy recluse Thranduil could never have anticipated leaving his family's manor for a shack in the woods and a single father with five – FIVE – children who can barely write ten words between them. But when disaster strikes, he is left with little choice – and maybe close quarters with a handsome widower won't be so bad after all... What do you love about this fic? This is a rare work of art in which Bard is the loveliest dad ever, stubborn, strong and gentle and Thranduil is an introverted autistic lonely lad. The author writes their story in a very poetical way and family is the main protagonist of the story, as is their small cosy cottage. I do love the gentle feeling this story conveys from the start. It feels like a warm cup of tea after a very rainy day and each word is carefully written. This story deserves to be read and reread and rereread. Slowly. (With a nice cup of tea. &lt;;3)

Those Colours We Share by b_ofdale / @beesinspades | M | 84,709 words | tags: alternate universe - soulmates, alternate universe - post-war, set in 1956, Bard owns an animal shelter, slow burn, fluff and angst, disabled character, asexual characters, period-typical homophobia | trigger warnings: none

Summary: Had anyone told them, Thranduil Oropherion and Bard Bowman would never have believed they would see the world painted in colours again. Until that fateful day of December 1956, when one little boy entered a former soldier's animal shelter. What do you love about this fic? I'm a sucker for two lonely people who find each other and forge a new life together.

Beast by Nuredhel / @nuredhel | M | 132,354 words | tags: alternate universe - modern setting, all humans, Bard is a cop, Thranduil is a profiler, mentions of suicide, slow burn, crime and investigation, bonding while working, romance, past problems | trigger warnings: gore, violence, abuse, human trafficing, child abuse, murder, suicide

Summary: Bard Bowman is the leader of a team of investigators trying to solve a very complicated case, when the serial killer they are chasing proves to have a far longer history than they expected the feds call in a profiler. Bard has never believed he could feel attraction again but now he does, how can he express what he feels when they are chasing a beast which seems to defy the very laws of nature? Can Thran feel the same way? The road to love can be bumpy, in special when it is surrounded by murders. What do you love about this fic? It is very exciting, very romantic and intense.

seeking a friend for the end of the world by BiSquared / @scary-grace | M | 238,799 words | tags: alternate universe - modern setting, apocalypse, road trips, family issues and family bonding, opera singer Thranduil, Bard and Thranduil are good parents who are having a bad year, or years | trigger warnings: disease-apocalyptic setting, zombies, major character death, medical injections

Summary: Between dealing with his boss, getting over his ex-wife, and keeping his kids fed and clothed, Bard has more than enough on his plate. He doesn't have time to worry about the frightening rumors coming out of New York City or the lunatic in his service bay who tells him to take his kids and run. But when he stops to help a mysterious stranger on the side of the road, he gets a lot more than he bargained for -- a sexuality crisis, a partner in crime, and maybe, just maybe, a chance for all of them to make it out of this mess alive. What do you love about this fic? Incredible worldbuilding and an edge-of-your-seat plotline! The bonds between all the characters are just beautiful, and it has great worldbuilding. The action is also really well written, and it does tension/dramatics right.

In The Woods Somewhere by Ias / @hubristicfool | M | 249,074 words | tags: alternate universe - modern setting, vampires, vampire Thranduil, mechanic Bard, blood drinking, slow burn, dark, angst, violence, horror, psychological horror, unhealthy relationships | trigger warnings: vampires, blood, angst, sexual content, violence

Summary: These country roads were rarely traveled by any that didn't need to. When Thranduil pulled up beside the man's stopped vehicle and offered him a smile and a ride, there was no one to see the man's grateful expression as he slipped into Thranduil's car. No one to stand by and call out a warning as the taillights were swallowed by the dark branches of the trees. What do you love about this fic? The writing is excellent

Angels and crooks by Nuredhel / @nuredhel | M | 259,072 words | tags: sequel to Beast, alternate universe - modern setting, all humans, Bard is a cop, Thranduil is a profiler, solving crime, family, violence, drug abuse, everyday life at a police station | trigger warnings: violence, abuse, dark stuff, murder, blood, evil, deviousness

Summary: Bard and Thran are getting used to their new life as a married couple, and their new responsibilities as a family. But they still have their jobs and my oh my does that bring some interesting situations and challenges into their existence. Having both experience and special gifts does help, but at times reality can be more bizarre than anyone can expect. What do you love about this fic? It is a good story with very interesting twists and many great characters

When The Pale Swan Flies by EldritchMage / @eldritchmage | E | 290,646 words | tags: alternate universe - modern setting, circus performer Thranduil, cabinet maker Bard, Thranduil's name is Luka, Bard's name is Taliesin (which is Welsh for Bard), slow burn, Thranduil needs rescuing and Bard is happy to do it | trigger warnings: sexual abuse mentioned, underage sex mentioned, prostitution/pimping mentioned

Summary: A year ago, when a carpenter met a caged bird, his good intentions left despair in their wake. Is he a fool to hope he can atone for his missteps? What do you love about this fic? It's got circus acts! It's got two sad men learning to trust and love again! It's got an epic visit to a grocery store! It's got bad guys getting their just desserts, and everyone else getting delicious Spanish teacake! It's got a cute little boy who finds his voice while making puppets! There's a sad short-story prequel to set the stage, as well! And who doesn't like a parade?

Season of Light and Shadow by EldritchMage / @eldritchmage | E | 914,703 words | tags: alternate universe - modern setting, Thranduil is a ballet dancer, Bard is a building super and welder (and artist), slow burn, NSFW, blended family | trigger warnings: momentary violence, momentary mention of drug use, adult bedroom games

Summary: It's the week before Thanksgiving. In an apartment building somewhere in the middle of New York City, the mood is far from festive. Upstairs in Apartment 5B, an injured ballet dancer is having a rotten day. He's lost his job, he's had to walk home in the snow and rain, getting thoroughly soaked and frozen in the process, and the radiators in his rooms are as cold as the New York City streets. He limps downstairs to vent his fury on the night super who didn't fix the heat. Downstairs in Apartment 2A, the night super is also having a rotten day. No money, three overtired and cranky children, a slapdash boss, and not nearly enough sleep. And now someone is pounding on the door like a SWAT team. When an angel knocks on the door of a saint, neither finds what he expects. But with a little luck, the upcoming holiday season might give them both something to treasure. What do you love about this fic? It's two lonely men forging a blended family! It's got ballet! It's got home renovation! It's got four cutie children! It's got cooking! It's got an artist regaining the wherewithal to make his art! It's got lots of cool side characters (ten points to everyone who spots all the Dwarves :-). It's got lots of steamy love! It's even got 3 short follow-up stories! What's not to like?????? This was my introduction to the world of modern AUs with these two, and oh, it's SO GOOD. The kids are brilliant and so realistically drawn, and the dads are - well, they're incredibly hot. XD And the development of the relationship between them is beautifully done, as they go head-over-heels for each other while trying to take things slowly for the sake of the kids…oh, it's great. :D

[extravagantliar]

veilguard spoilers ahead - as it has been fifteen days and Knife time

I haven't been explicit with the words, even though y'all know my thoughts.

I am glad he's dead. Oh my God.

NOW ONLY WE the people CAN FUCK WITH HIM

I cried like a baby the first thirty minutes because Tepid got the first run, and I will tell you this: Tepid said wait, hold on, but as soon as Solas opened his big mouth, I was like yep, he's cooked, put me in the ground too.

Let's briefly break it down to explain why I clocked it in as the knife went in. Peepaw is fifty-one— at most fifty-two at the start of datv, and he chooses to walk up a set of stairs and get into a hand fight with a man with a loaded gun. One, he's not that strong anymore. Rook helped him up over a barrier - which can be chalked up to being nice, but if we're playing in this sand box here's the truth - peepaw has been on a horse and walking around Thedas because Charter said so and is not in great shape at the start of DATV. He's tired, and this is an exhausted man's last march; you can call it if you listen and hear Varric ask Rook to take care of the team. Okay, Phil Coulson, see you in Agents of Shield for some reason.

To be honest with you Varric could have taken Solas in a fight in the middle of DAI - but to me that stops at the well.

Solid delivery and diabolical, very few notes. I love the elves, but I hate the skirting they get. Solas I am kissing you on your big bald dumb head, there are at least four ways around what you have to do and I love that you pick the messiest way each time. My favourite ending for him is the one where he goes a bit loony toon villain at the end. I get he was mad, but it's the same thing as the blood magic line; I listened to your funny words in Haven, magic man; I know who you are. Maybe. You're the star of the show. You're awful and the worst. Cried like a baby when Tepid's Inky and Solas chose to go to fade jail together.

I liked all the companions, but you can guess who I was most happy to have in the party at all times. Banter was good, I wish the team had more time to bicker and grow, but that's a me thing. Shorter timeline for this game than the last three - likely weeks or months rather than months and years.

However, I do not personally like the way Varric's death was handled outside of this. It makes my former little medical brain go mad because what do you mean your companions are just off letting Rook talk to what I assume is a table and a bed as Bianca is canonically in Harding's care - as the Xenon wants to buy her arms even in pieces. My dude, Rook, is so massively concussed. As I have had a concussion that should have killed me - someone should have been watching Rook a touch closer. Also, my gripe with DAI and having Inky wake up on a bedroll to the four idiots fighting in the snow, and then Sunday School breaks out.

I know what is happening here, and I understand why they wrote it this way as Phil Coulson'd him into the lauder of Heroes in the Great Big Sky. The good thing is I can be critical of their choices, KNOW why they made them due to pressures from EA, and then carry on with my boat.

I am fine with his death, I think it's apt as they couldn't keep all the choices, and Blabbermouth knows like everyone. Catch the one string to Rook? POWER IMBALANCE.

So what does this mean for me?

Nothing.

This blog is here to stay - and my swerve verse is simple. If you want a DATV verse, great. Peepaw is alive, and he's got a massive hunk of lyrium in his chest, or he's rattling around with Solas saying shitty things because they're stuck, and he's about to either commit a crime or figure out if he can be the crime committed.

Also, doubling down, I have built six years of Kirkwall, and I'm sinking with that ship. I'm taking Sid and Nik with me, and that's it.

Sorry.

[osaumu]

some info about jjk dazai :)

he’s Just Some Guy, never formally trained in jujutsu, naturally gifted and honed his below abilities by himself with the guidance of his mentor (most likely mori) .

toying with the idea that if he hones his technique enough he might be able to rid a person/spirit of their cursed energy completely (which for the spirit would result in their physical body being rendered almost useless and therefore easier to exorcise) and due to the nature of this ability and the ones below, he’s classed as an unregistered special grade

his cursed technique is cursed energy nullification and renders the users cursed energy output, you guessed it, NULL. it’s limited to physical touch with an after effect of around 5 seconds, enough for him to land a quick physical hit on you or begin making an escape, likewise though that cursed techniques that don't require touch cannot be used against him (think chuuya's gravity maniplation and how it doesn't work on dazai)

cursed tools will work on him in the sense that the tool itself may slash, cut, ?? shoot ?? at him and he can be physically harmed by the action, but the cursed energy imbued in the tool will not effect him and again, the cursed energy on the tool will be rendered null for an after effect of 5 seconds if it touches him

his domain expansion is No Longer Human, a dark and vast space that renders all inhabitants cursed energy captured within it useless, they’re just like regular people. the same goes for cursed spirits caught either in his technique by touch, or his domain expansion, because while their physical body is there they simply cannot use techniques, so you’re just fighting a monster without any special cursed skills

within bsd it's shown that if an ability user possesses an ability that they can trap their opponent inside, dazai is still able to nullify that too, this would work the same for his opponents domains, he cannot be kept inside them - or rather the effects of them

don’t work on him

to avoid the destruction of his domain, the domain itself it creates two other mirror images of dazai, therefore making it harder to discern which one to attack to break the domain (taken as there are three ages which are significant within his canon timeline. 15, 18, 22)

the pm and the ada still exist in this universe and simply work in tandem to protect yokohama from cursed spirits. the pm do their regular business alongside this at night and the ada during the day, whilst also taking on cases related to cured spirits / energy. some members of either affiliation may have at one time been aligned with jujutsu society but left of their own volition / other circumstances

dazai was aligned with the pm, following a similar journey in his story he later leaves and joins the ada or whatever they'd be called in the jjk verse :)

if you asked him, hey dazai how would you solve the main jjk storyline, he's handing you a loaded gun like ???? EASY ????

[roguephenon]

now accessing galactic archive

Welcome User INFINITY!

You are attempting to access sooper secret operation/surveillance reports regarding planetary outpost G-0028912. Designation: Earth.

Please enter your sooper triple secret password to continue. password: beyond Password accepted! Now, you can load your selected surveillance reports for summary review.

Operation: NURSE - relevant operative(s): Numbuhs 1 and 3 Operation: FLAMBE-A-LA-MODE - relevant operative(s): Numbuh 362

Operation: BOWL - relevant operative(s): Earth Unit sector V and Earth unit sector [REDACTED] and their 'caretaker.'

Operation: FLAT - relevant operative(s): Numbuhs 2 and 4

Operation: CAPER - relevant operative(s): Numbuh 4

Operation: FRUITCAKED - relevant operative(s): Earth Unit sector V and Earth unit sector [REDACTED]

Operation: LEMON - relevant operative(s): Numbuhs 10 and 60 Operation: STAKEOUT - relevant operative(s): Numbuhs 1 and 3

Operation: TEA - relevant operative(s): Numbuh 3 and Earth unit sector [REDACTED]

Incident Report on the Tipuan Summit - relevant operative(s): Numbuh Infinity and Earth unit sector V

Reassignment File #.00489 - Unit V - relevant operative(s): Numbuh 5

Summary complete! Would you like to file a final determination for Kids Next Door Planetary Outpost G-0028912? y/n Confirmation accepted! Now conducting final determination - report codename: "Cold Reception"

This is the timeline of fics leading up to Cold Reception, as promised. I'd say the most relevant are FLAMBE, TEA, and "Reassignment," but the others are 'canon' to this.

Here are some other side stories! You can also consider them canon in this verse. Or not! (But I do hehe)

Return to Sender The Perfect Ten Riddle Me This Cheez Whiz Of Curses and Coupons Espionage for Dummies Unspoken Routine Trick-or-Treat

Some things haven't aged well, but it's an excuse to put a sort of master list of fics together. It's fun to look back on older stuff and see how far I've come. Some things I cringe at, but most I'm proud of. This is the first fandom I ever started writing for, and it started a journey that ultimately made me who I am today. I've learned a lot about myself and unlearned many unhealthy parts of myself, and every day, the goal is to just try and be better, even if I stumble occasionally. That's life.

But overall...

I LOVE BEING KIDS NEXT DOOR!

[mari-monsta]

I was ?? abt alyadrien until I read a cute fic abt them. What are ur hc abt how they realized they had feelings?? How'd you think they got together?? Thoughts on what their dates would look like!

OKAY SO SORRY FOR THIS RANT INCOMING

So my thing about alyadrien that I had to accept to really take them into consideration is that I don't think they would happen/are possible in canon verse. Just because of them meeting and happening to become close to nino and marinette when they did and in the ways they did first.

I don't think there are any mutual feelings between them in canon whatsoever and I don't think there is ever going to be. BUT. They do have something that is integral to a relationship that makes me so interested in them: chemistry. These two have LOADS of chemistry enough that other characters have actually acknowledged it in canon.

Adrien and Alya are both excitable and high energy people by nature, something that if Adrien let her, Alya could naturally bring out in Adrien a lot more. Due to this their interactions as civilians are restrained and limited at best. Where we really get to see them shine is their hero forms. Nino was not just seeing things. Alya (in whatever form she takes) and Chat Noir have palpable chemistry and get along with an ease not seen between a lot of other characters. They're both extremely playful, which they amplify in one another, and somehow seem to fall into accidentally flirting with each other whether they're conscious of it or not (hint: they're definitely not)

Because of this, and because of the way that Alya and Adrien individually approach relationships, speaks a lot to their potential in the right circumstances. Alya and Adrien, of the main characters, honestly approach romantic relationships in kind of a similar way. It has been remarked about Alya constantly through the series that Alya is the type of character who would not fall for someone who she doesn't truely know. Adrien on the other hand has been shown to be someone extremely steadfast and loyal in his feelings, and likes to nurture trust and intimacy with someone as he gets to know them. Alya had been able to develop feelings for Nino despite having previously not thought of him that way at all, while Adrien spent many seasons trying to glean the exact nature of his feelings for Marinette. For both of them, they had strong instances of platonic love come first for their current relationships. This to me means that if the opportunity presented itself, they might be able to see something there.

Alya clearly has been attracted to Adrien in the past, while that doesn't mean she has any feelings for him, if she didn't have significant reason not not having feelings for him as she does in the series, why not?

ANYWAY. I think Alyadrien is the type of couple who is just. SO casual. You would not know that they were dating unless they told you because they act like best friends more than anything, but at the same time they're always together and always sharing excitement about something. I think they'd like doing nerdy things together like playing DnD and seeing superhero movies. Adrien is definitely the romantic of the two and it makes Alya embarrassed.

[unwhitewashthebadbatch]

Hello, really appreciate the work you're doing to bring awareness! I was wondering if you have thoughts/resources/suggestions etc. for fic writers who want to portray the clones well. I'm genuinely thinking that adding an author's note might be a good idea, but I'd love to have thoughts on respectfully mentioning the clones' appearance within fic itself. Thank you so much for all you do!

Hi, and thanks!

When it comes to writing, it's sometimes easier to come up with a list of "Dont's" than "Dos". This guide from NaNoWriMo is pretty straight forward!

Of course, there are some caveats: unless this is a modern AU, you can't directly say the clones are Māori because that term doesn't exist in Star Wars. However, this doesn't mean that their features don't! From another character's PoV, you could say they have even brown skin, dark eyes, and dark curly (not coily) hair with broad noses. You can tweak these for your level of prose, such as saying "warm" brown skin or coal-dark eyes/hair--but do NOT use food descriptions, as this is objectifying and dehumanizing. So no "chocolatey" (I have seen this) or anything like that.

Some authors like to code their characters as being from a certain culture, race, or ethnic background. Think of how Temuera Morrison portrayed Boba in The Book of Boba Fett and the Mandalorian, where he proudly put his Māori culture at the forefront of his fight in the latter show. I'm much less versed on the basics of Māori culture and ways of life than I am other cultures, so I personally don't know how to code the clones in the GAR as such. This is where research is important, both in terms of doing your own reading and reaching out to Māori cultural experts if they are willing to explain something.

One thing that I've seen that's quite popular in fics/art is Tā moko, which are the tattoos you may see some Māori with, like this:

However, Tā moko is sacred and, from what I understand, relates specifically to one's ancestors, whakapapa (genealogy, loosely), and rank within society. Non-Māori can use kirituhi. @/tu_edmonds on TikTok/Instagram is a Māori bassist for Alien Weaponry who has Tā moko and also has a video explaining the difference between that and kirituhi. He's also got loads of other good explainers for Māori culture and language.

Physically, don't be scared to make the clones short! Temuera Morrison himself is only 5'7". I don't know why they made the clones six feet. Morrison also has a stockier build, the way a lot of Māori do, so don't be afraid to describe them being bigger and less cut/lean than the 180 lbs they supposedly are in canon (although I refuse to believe that's true because that is incredibly thin).

This might be more than you bargained for, whoops! But these are the basic things I could come up with for describing clones in fics!

There are other ways to support #UnwhitewashTBB, if you like. I've been looking at and supporting @end-otw-racism (highly recommend you support them too!) and people will change the title of their fics or tag there works with #EndOTWRacism, as well as bookmark them/add them to collections? I'm not sure how exactly it works.

But if you or anyone else understands how this works, and your work is explicitly non-racist in nature (and focuses on the clones) I don't see why you can't also tag your work or write an AN that says #UnwhitewashTBB.

Hope this helps!

~ Mod CH

[bagginshieldlibrary]

First Friday Poll

I have the fics for these options locked and loaded.

If you have a specific request, send me an ask and I will find that which you desire!

[cunningxqueen]

"I know a thing

or two about wounded

masculine pride."

Cross-over friendly, multi-ship, multi-verse account.

Mun is 29 and you must be 21+ to interact with me.

Super friendly.

Welcome to all characters, OCs... That means you too. <3

GET OVER HERE AND LET'S WRITE! <3 - Seriously, don't be shy! I'm literally like a baby seal when it comes to intimidation. XD I swear I'm not scary!

Major ship whore. - You have been warned, be prepared for loads of bugging and plot ideas among many other things from me if we write together and ship.

Now that you've learned some about me, here are a few questions: ♡ Who is your favorite OC to play, and why? ♡ What would you say is the lore connected to your OC? ♡ Could you name three negative traits about this OC? ♡ What is your favorite fandom to write in? ♡ Canon to write as?

~ ℝ𝕌𝕃𝔼𝕊 ~ ℚ𝕌𝔼𝔼ℕ 𝕆𝔽 ℍ𝔼𝕃𝕃 ~ 𝕄𝔼𝕄𝔼𝕊 & 𝕊𝕋𝔸ℝ𝕋𝔼ℝ𝕊 ~

[inkformyblood]

i lose all (but not him) #3

Codywan, slow-burn, canon verse with some divergence. Written with CWW23 prompts: day 2 trading weapons. Ao3 link here

(Cody knitting is introduced in this chapter)

When the war is over, Cody is never stepping foot on to a planet that rains again. 

He wrenches his helmet up a scant few inches, the edge catching his nose and reopening the tear on his lip so the rainwater he spits out is streaked with red. It doesn’t matter, landing in the indistinguishable ground that is mostly mud and the parts that aren’t mud soon will be. With part of his face bare, the chill sets in, clawing at the edges of his gums and the exposed line of his chin, and it doesn’t slide away when he pulls his helmet back down. In the moment between the system flickering back into life, Cody waits in the delicate in-between, staring out across a bleak battlefield and wondering if he’s already dead. 

He would hope that death would feel warmer or, at the very least, be drier in places. 

His helmet systems flicker back into life, wavering between a wash of pale green that comes as standard loaded onto them straight out of the factory and Cody’s custom settings before it stabilises (much like Cody himself, factory made and manufactured and as heavily customised as he could stand). The scar on the side of his face itches before he knocks his wrist against the side of the helmet, pushing the foam lining back into place. It had been a long two weeks with a vibroblade and some borrowed cast-offs to try and mould it into something more comfortable and, even then, it still doesn’t fit quite right. 

It doesn’t matter.

Nothing else matters right now. 

Cody clicks his teeth together, pulling up the scroll of reports, scanning through them and dismissing them in the same moment. The plan is a good plan, enough variation to prevent the droids from learning their tactics and beginning to use them against the infinitely more fragile clones, but it isn’t good enough and it never will be. The counter in the top right of Cody’s helmet keeps flickering up and up and up, never moving downwards. He doesn’t know if the other Commanders have the same, he suspects Fox doesn’t. The Coruscant Guard is too far removed from the main bulk of the army for a count of their dead to be anything other than a blade Fox would craft himself, hone it to a sharp point and pierce it between his own ribs again and again and again and again with every tick of the counter upwards. Red on their armour, red on his hands, and for what? The Guard are lambs to a slaughter in an entirely different battlefield of senators who don’t see them as human, just poseable accessories. 

Another blink, another increase in the counter.

Diving into another thread, Cody pulls up a secondary helmet cam with a blink, dismisses it in the same moment and turns to another. He thinks, to himself and to the small patch of thought that isn’t his and twists around a scrap of his mind regardless — a net snarled around his foot, waiting for him to stop struggling so the whirling scavengers overhead could descend and pick his bones clean, but why, why wait until he’s grown, why wait at all — that this could be what a Jedi feels like, connected to everything and everyone and bearing witness to their deaths. Two of the helmet cams Cody taps into are still, wedged into the mud and nearly swallowed by it; one is in the medbay and Cody catches a glimpse of a medic, their face bare and their eyes wild; and several more are moving, fighting, still alive. Cody notes their locations on the map, comparing it to the plan.

He only catches one glimpse of the General. He is the General on the battlefield, a clear line of distinction drawn and held and then pushed as far as regulations would allow. He has to be because there are decisions to be made, choices that Cody would make if he needed to and that Skywalker couldn’t comprehend the need of. Obi-Wan trusted Cody to make them, he trusted him. 

(In an aftermath of one of those choices, Skywalker could be tricky. The errant patch of not-his thoughts locks on this, a scratch across Cody’s skull from the inside out, an incessant questioning why. It would take up too much time, time Cody couldn’t spare, to work through the necessary thought sequences to negate the demand so he answers.

Response: Skywalker cares for Obi-Wan. He doesn’t listen to him or obey his instructions at a rate of 64.5% but he would become unstable if Obi-Wan was deliberately injured or killed. He can’t know.)

Cody wonders why there’s a part of himself that he doesn’t know. 

He wonders if the others have it to.

An explosion echoes to his left, a distant kick-back of dirt spraying over his up-raised arm and knocking against the crevases of his helmet. His trim is barely still orange, the paint chipped away from the last campaign and he hadn’t found the time to correct it yet. If Cody’s map is right, and his map is right, then the explosion has something to do with the General. The original plan hadn’t called for any explosions but, giving Skywalker some allowance because the General asked him to, Cody had relented.

Obi-Wan and Skywalker’s relationship is strange, 

It doesn’t match to any command flow Cody knows. They had all been briefed on the practices within the Jedi Order prior to their deployment, the channel from Padawan to Knight to Master clear enough even if the promotions don’t seem to be based on anything solid. Obi-Wan had been vague about the subject of his own Knighting, merely stating that it had been a long time ago in a voice that hadn’t seemed stable enough to carry all of his grief, but he persisted through it. 

Cody waits for Skywalker to be decommissioned.

The Kaminoans wouldn’t have waited for this long.

He wonders if it would happen at all. He hopes not, dares to hope in a tiny fledging thing that doesn’t have a shape yet and is lodged somewhere in the hollow of Cody’s throat, keeping the grief-stricken scream inside because if it had been wrong — if it had been as incomprehensible to the galaxy at large as Cody thinks it might be — then why did his batch die?

Another explosion, closer this time. 

Cody flicks through the helmet cams once more, catching the raised edge of the torn skin on his lip between his teeth and pulling at it. The pain is immediate, a deep pulse that he can feel in the upper echelons of his skull and far more than the tiny scrap of missing skin would suggest. Just a glimpse. He just needs a moment to see if the General, if Obi-Wan is safe, he needs—

(Hand out.)

Cody obeys.

Several things happen in quick succession, absorbed at the time, only to haunt Cody in his sleepless nights. In some, the lightsaber slips through his fingers, or he hadn’t held his hand out in time, and he watches it sink into the mud to rot along with countless corpses that have his face. Sometimes, the lightsaber activates as it falls, often blood red instead of blue and Cody, sweat soaked and trembling in his tangle of blankets when he wakes, cannot say which one is worse, which one hurts the most when it cuts into him and slides through his armour like it isn’t even there. Other times, it isn’t Obi-Wan who slams into the bolt hole next to him, his robes long gone and his hair braided back from his face and faintly smoking, it’s an unknown figure but Cody is afraid, so afraid, and those nights he wakes with his nails cutting lines into his cheeks to keep himself from screaming.

The lightsaber hits his palm, Obi-Wan hits the ground next to him, and Cody moves, curling himself over Obi-Wan, his arm raised to shield them both. 

“Hello, Commander. Fancy seeing you here.”

“Sir.”

This close, Cody can make out the ethereal shine around Obi-Wan’s iris, the universe bleeding into him and peering through the crack in the haphazardly bolted bay door. His cheeks are flushed, not the deep hue of cherries that Cody always thinks of but the paler pink of exertion. Despite this, Obi-Wan’s breathing is regular, made impossibly more perceptible by the absence of his outer robe and the close fit of his tunic. Cody notices. He always does.

“Are you hurt?” Obi-Wan cups Cody’s helmet in his hands, his fingers marked as an intrusion on his HUD, one Cody is warned to remove as soon as he can.

“Minor impact from a droid earlier, sir.” Cody’s side aches, his breath catching at the height of his inhalation, but the likely bruise was well-earned. The droid had crumbled beneath his boot, a wail breaking off into a crackle of sparks, but the resulting blow jammed his chest plate into his torso. 

He wishes he wasn’t wearing his helmet.

Obi-Wan hums, his mouth twisting to one side as his brow furrows. It isn’t dissimilar to the expression he wears whenever a new scientific article lands amongst his paperwork, scattered throughout the regimented forms and updates that boil down the lives of an entire battalion to nothing more than a few lines of text. Cody holds still and lets Obi-Wan study him. 

It should feel uncomfortable, holding the same pinpoint attention to detail that the Kaminoans do, but Cody doesn’t feel the urge to square his shoulders or hold his breath in case the slightest flaw would betray him. Instead, he relaxes into Obi-Wan’s hold, lets his breathing slow to an easy roll, and commits the pinch of the freckle beneath Obi-Wan’s eye as he smiles to memory. Cody feels like it might be raised slightly to the touch, not the harsh line of Cody’s scar but a slow incline and fall, barely noticeable except through touch and intention. Obi-Wan’s thumb smooths over the ridge of his helmet, captured in delicate wireframe and saved to his internal memory in the same blink. Obi-Wan removes his other hand, dropping to work his fingers into Cody’s free hand, and Cody realises he is still holding Obi-Wan’s lightsaber like he intends to use it, a curled grip rather than a flat palm. Obi-Wan would let him too, Cody knows, and he doesn’t have the full spectrum words for the emotion that blooms in his chest because love doesn’t seem like it would be enough, and yet, and yet…

He loves Obi-Wan.

He’d let him die if he had to.

Both things are true.

“Breath in,” Obi-Wan murmurs, his touch nothing more than dull pressure against the thick material of Cody’s glove, but he’s pressing steadily, harder than he would for any nat-born just so Cody can feel it. He obeys, breaths in and tastes ash layering over his tongue that the scrubbers can’t fully remove from the air, the tang of a blasterpack charge, and something sweet, sweet despite everything.

“And out.”

Something clicks in Cody’s side, a bright burst of pain, and then, nothing. He raises his hand, lightsaber still clutched in his grasp, and presses his knuckles against the offending chest-plate, searching for the injury he knows is there, or had been there. 

“Force healing is not my speciality, I’m afraid,” Obi-Wan says, his nose wrinkling before he settles back into easy familiar grin. The emotional wound isn’t fresh, scarred over and buried deep but never deep enough. Cody recognises the worry, the concern that he would never be good enough, would never be enough, and his heart twists. He tips his head, presses his helmeted cheek into Obi-Wan’s hold for a moment.

“Thank you, sir.”

It feels better than bacta, as if he had never been hurt in the first place. 

“You’re quite welcome, Cody.”

Another explosion rumbles through the earth and Cody barely needs to shift to cover Obi-Wan’s head, the other man tucked close and curling himself impossibly closer. He’s taller than Cody by a head, his superior in a war that Cody had been created to fight in, but none of that matters when they’re folded together like this, conversation flowing between them like they’ve known each other for years, barely needing to try. It’s nice. Cody hadn’t expected anything in his life to be nice before.

A confession would be ill-timed for all of the literature extoling the virtues of a battlefield confession. There’s a holoshow that the shinies are particularly fond of, consumed in tiny crackling segments as they sprawl across their regulation bunks that are pressed so tightly together that they may as well be in the same bed or perched atop of shipping crates, the volume turned up loud enough that the sound echoes. Cody would turn a corner, pause by the hollowed-out tubes and listen to a story that he could feel in his bones. A few of the newer troopers, their armour plain and their faces unmarked, named themselves after the main leads, a handful for each.

Cody knows he loves Obi-Wan. That would have to be enough.

“I feel like giving Anakin this much free reign may have been a mistake.” Obi-Wan doesn’t move away from Cody as they straighten, settling into the crater next to him as easily as he would drop himself onto the small sofa in his room for afternoon tea. He tugs on the cuffs of his tunic, scuffing his fingers along the singed edge before moving on to checking his boots. Cody watches him, the feed flickering in the corner of his vision, the counter creeping ever upwards. 

Another blink, another scan through the feeds tracking the twirling glow of blue and destruction. “It is working, sir. Regretfully.”

Obi-Wan breaks into laughter, tipping his head back and squeezing his eyes shut.

One of the main characters in the holo is clearly modelled after a Jedi, charismatic in a way that stretched beyond the allowance of disbelief, magic in a way that isn’t defined but just is, and they’re wearing robes. It isn’t specified which Jedi he is based off of, a brief glance at the holonet revealed threads and forums and one enterprising chat room that Cody is only reasonably confident isn’t entirely made of up other clones that are all embroiled in discussion over who it could be. 

Cody knows.

The shock of bright red hair when compared with Obi-Wan’s silver shot auburn had been enough of a giveaway, but a single ‘my dear’ and Cody had been hooked just as surely as he is in love with Obi-Wan. Cody quite likes having hobbies. He can see why nat-borns are so fond of them.

“I shall see you in a moment, my dear Commander. If I could just?” Obi-Wan reaches, not for the saber Cody is already offering him, but for Cody’s belt, unhooking his blaster. 

Cody nods, his ears ringing from the sudden rush of blood to his head, his face flushing. 

Obi-Wan checks the blaster like he had been made to do so. It doesn’t look as natural as it would for another clone, the motions threaded through their DNA and braided into their muscles, practiced again and again until they could complete a blaster check blind and bloody on the battlefield, but it’s close enough. It doesn’t hold the same heady weight as Obi-Wan wearing his armour, blasters are a credit a crate with no identifiable markers to them save for the serial number and whatever damage they might have accrued, but the blaster is still Cody’s for the time being, and, like Cody, the blaster is now Obi-Wan’s.

“You can use my saber, if you’d like.” The tips of Obi-Wan’s ears are pink but his voice is measured in exacting quantities. “The element of surprise can only be a benefit to us both.”

“Yessir,” Cody answer, automatic, without thinking, because if Obi-Wan only asked him to, Cody would tear the universe down and rebuild it with his bare hands. He might do that anyway. Call it a new hobby or something.

Obi-Wan winks and uncoils from the crater, throwing himself over the lip of it without a moment’s hesitation. Cody waits, forces his heartbeat to steady, and follows him. 

⁂

Cody doesn’t think he’ll ever get used to the hush after battle. There’s pockets of noise, the beginnings of a rudimentary camp pooled around the main stronghold and clones sit shoulder to shoulder, pooled across each other’s laps as they compare new scars and pick up old conversations; the spills of shouts from the medtent, still fighting their own battles that will be neatly packaged into a report for Cody to despair over later. 

He moves past them all. Made apart, alone.

“Commander!”

Cody turns at the call, his brow furrowing as he scans his immediate surroundings. The battlefield is churned to near abstraction, hollows pitted over the surface from the heavy cannons fired from the AT-AT’s. A few lay where they had fallen, legs crumpled beneath them, and Cody looks towards the closest one, the chest caved in by an improvised round he is reasonably confident is inert. Obi-Wan perched atop waves down to him, his hair a halo of fire in the sun peeking through the heavy cloud cover. 

Without being asked, just because he wants to, Cody makes his way over to him, the mud clinging to his boots. They won. They’re both safe and here and together. He can love like this, in moments.

The metal creaks beneath him as he climbs, Cody far more compact than the graceful stretch of Obi-Wan and made heavier from the dense makeup of his bones and the heft of his armour. Beneath the burn of the exertion, Cody thinks about Obi-Wan, about the splash of freckles over his face and arms and the hidden constellations contained within them. Moles were commonplace and Cody had seen in the medical files that one of the shinies had patches of paler skin that had slowly grown over one arm and the side of his face while he had been in the vat, but they had nothing quite like freckles. They were different. They were new.

“Here, Cody. Let me help.”

Obi-Wan braces himself against the hollowed out chest of the machine, stretching his arm down to Cody. He’s shed more layers, the long sleeves of his tunic exchanged for the uneven colouration and broad straps of his under tunic, and Cody snaps his gaze away, unable to find a safe place to let it land. If he looks at Obi-Wan directly, even now, he’ll fall apart and not know why that would ruin them both. After the war, he thinks desperately, catching the thought in his teeth and tasting copper. He can tell Obi-Wan after the war.

Cody takes his hand without hesitation.

“Thank you, sir,” Cody says, swaying slightly as he adjusts his footing on the makeshift platform. They aren’t exceptionally high up given the hunched form, but the wind tugs at every exposed edge of his armour, working its way beneath to the thin fabric of his blacks. Sweat has dried along his brow and the divot of his spine and he feels the chill keenly there. Obi-Wan reclines back into his chosen spot and pats the ground next to him. It reminds Cody, somehow, of the low couch in Obi-Wan’s room, cosy despite the surroundings, somewhere that he would like to be. He sits next to Obi-Wan, stretching his legs out to match the other man after a moment. Obi-Wan’s arm stretches along the back of them, his fingers tapping against the edge of the metal.

“I believe you dropped this, sir?” Cody unclips the lightsaber from the new piece of hardware he had commissioned. It detaches with a fresh click and Obi-Wan watches the movement. He can’t fully describe the look on the other man’s face — a bright mixture of sheer delight and something else that feels sweet like cherries — but Cody grins despite himself. He’s still wearing his helmet and he sits forward, pulling it off with his free hand and sets it down next to him. He doesn’t hide his grin. 

His heart twists and stammers in his chest, a faulty cog left to rust, consequences be damned.

Obi-Wan breaks into laughter as the sun peers through a crack in the cloud, the universe cradling him close and bathing him — and Cody as they’re pressed so close, thigh to thigh and hip to hip, Obi-Wan’s fingertips an intermittent brand against Cody’s pauldron — in glorious golden sunlight. Cody tips his face back and closes his eyes. There’s no counter here, no steady stream of alerts and reports, just the endless comforting hush of sun-streaked evenings. Although, it could be morning. He hasn’t checked his chronometer for anything other than expected explosions for a while now.

“It’s evening,” Obi-Wan answers, his words rumbling through Cody. “And this is one of my favourite ways to spend them.”

“On an AT-AT with a clone?” Cody asks, feeling his words slip and stumble into each other. It didn’t feel worth the effort to properly move to speak clearly, exhaustion sitting heavy in his bones.

“Spending time with a friend,” Obi-Wan corrects. There’s a warm press against the top of Cody’s head, his thoughts firing like a speeder before they tick back over into idling, consumed by the knowing that Obi-Wan has tipped his head sideways and rested his temple against the crown of Cody’s head. 

Obi-Wan continues, his fingers migrating from tapping against the metal to marking out that same rhythm against Cody’s pauldron. “I did catch that last kick against the droid however. It was very fine work, Cody.”

“Thank you.” Cody pauses, swallows past the anchor in his throat. “Obi-Wan.”

He isn’t Force-sensitive, but he doesn’t need to be to feel the burst of joy from the other man, the brightness of his grin that can’t be uniquely cast just for Cody but he can fool himself that it is, just for the moment; the release of tension that Obi-Wan always carries too strongly down his right side that matches Cody down to the clenched fist on his left, his habitual reach despite everything the Kaminoans tried to implant in them so it had only made sense to attach the lightsaber clip to his left hip; the tap-tap-tap of Obi-Wan’s fingers against his pauldron slipping into a different rhythm, a repeated set of threes again and again and again.

“I appreciate the use of your blaster also,” Obi-Wan says, finally, his laughter colouring his words a trembling shade of honey. He pulls it free from his belt and reaches over to place it in Cody’s cupped hands, curling Cody’s fingers over it almost absent-mindedly. It must be an action he’s used to from the Temple, Cody can remember a similar exchange occurring with the shinies, and Obi-Wan catches himself with a soft exhalation midway through Cody’s fourth finger before he continues. “You can tell me if I overstep, Cody. I don’t want you to ever feel uncomfortable because of something I have done.”

“If you do so,” Cody says, the undertones of a vow in his words because he could follow through now, he can make that choice. “I will tell you.”

“Good.”

Obi-Wan stretches, breaking the brief moment of contact between them and Cody mourns it all the more for knowing that it would end. It’s a full body stretch, closer to the muscle-stretching bone-realigning heft after stumbling from a bed that he hasn’t had to leave for hours, and Obi-Wan’s undertunic rides up, bunching at his shoulders and exposing the curve of his belly, a line of dark hair stretching from the curiosity of his navel down. Cody averts his gaze downwards, past their feet towards the landscape beyond but something else catches his eye. 

“You’re wearing the socks?”

They’re by no means perfect or even symmetrical. Cody had studied the instructions from the holonet and the accompanying video made by a bubbling young Twi’lek until the images of her careful creation had been burned into his neural pathways and his too-big room had felt like it fit a little better, but he knew his didn’t match.  One stretches far above it’s brother, the heel catching Obi-Wan halfway up his ankle and it had bunched in the curve of his foot, the repeating pattern broke in several places, wandering back into general cohesion before slipping away once more. He had run out of the wool part the way through one as well, the remnants fuzzy and clinging to itself and everything else, and the replacement is a brighter hue, unnoticeable until the two were joined together over the toes. 

“Of course,” Obi-Wan hooks his fingers through Cody’s, squeezing them tight and Cody returns the gesture, dares to hope that he could survive like this. “They’re perfect.”

Socks is, perhaps, a slight stretch to call the garment that Cody had made. He had followed the instructions from the holonet and watched a video until the images had burned into his neural pathways while he had been folded into his single bunk in a room that felt too large for just him, but the objects he produced only bore a passing similarity to socks. 

“Thank you, Obi-Wan. I’m glad you liked them.”

“Oh,” Obi-Wan laughs and everything is right with the universe once more. “I more than like them, Cody. I love them.”