#ahit back to the past au

[spookyhollow1308art]

When y

[cb-writes-stuff]

Yes I would like to see some in hats and time stuff,,, and also maybe an explanation of what a hat in time is I know barely anything about it

Firstly, A Hat in Time is a 3D collectathon platformer by indie studio Gears for Breakfast. It stars Hat Kid (and, if you’re playing two-player, Bow Kid) who has to collect magical hourglasses called Time Pieces, which are the fuel for her spaceship, so that she can go home. Her enemy is Mustache Girl, a precocious rebel with a strong sense of justice, who is collecting Time Pieces for her own nefarious purposes—to deal with anyone she deems a “bad guy”.

Basically, the idea behind IHAT that it’s a crossover AU between In Stars and Time and A Hat in Time, with AHIT characters in ISAT. The idea came from the similarity in names, hence the title In Hats and Time. Up until now, it’s just been a couple art wips, but now, I’m gonna write some stuff, so buckle up.

Picture this. Siffrin and Isabeau, lying down in the field, stargazing. It’s Act 4 (because that’s as far as I’ve gotten so far). Isabeau excitedly tells Siffrin to look—a shooting star! Oddly, he interrupted them, unlike every other time. As usual, Siffrin doesn’t wanna turn away. But the script calls for it, so they do—and they freeze. Burning across the sky is a massive ball of fire. Way too big to be a shooting star. And it’s getting bigger.

Meanwhile, on board the Spaceship (Mk. 14 Custom), Hat Kid is in a panic. There was some sort of distortion, the ship went haywire, and now she’s crashing through the atmosphere of an unknown planet. Bow Kid disappeared somewhere, which sucks because she would’ve been a big help right now. The computer is screaming something about “escape pod ejected” as she desperately pulls back on the controls. She manages to bring the ship up, but not enough to avoid crashing. She blacks out.

Siffrin is shook. Completely shook. Something new happened. New things aren’t supposed to happen. He doesn’t know what to do when new things happen. He blanks on all his lines when Bonnie, Mirabelle, and Odile show up. Nothing goes right.

That night, he can’t sleep. Can’t even pretend to sleep. So he sneaks out and goes to the banana peel. The meteor, or whatever it was, was weird. But it’s just a one-off. An outlier. If it keeps happening, then something’s gone wrong, but if it doesn’t happen again, then it’s okay. So he loops back to that morning. No harm, no foul.

So yeah! That’s basically how it starts. I’ll be posting more stuff as I write it, probably not in chronological order, but I’m also very worried that I’ll make a fool of myself by not knowing all the ISAT lore, so it’ll probably be slow until I beat the game.

(Edit: I put “as usual” twice, so I removed the second one. It was past midnight and I was tired. Don’t judge me.)

[mysteryman-17]

* MUSTACHE GIRL EX ATK 180 DEF 280 * Guess she did have a breaking point, after all. * ...There must be a way to get through to her.

Time’s End is an AHIT/Undertale crossover AU of sorts, taking place in the aftermath of a timeline where you lose the final boss fight against Mustache Girl. You can find the write-up here! In addition, you can find the write-ups for the Neutral Endings and TimeWarp Route Requirements on Google Drive! The logo for Time's End was designed by @bittybattybunny. She's an incredible artist, be sure to check out their work here on Tumblr and over on Twitter!! Like holy FUCK, I can not stress enough how awesome they are to work with. They're amazing!!

Motifs:

Mustache Girl EX

Main Theme/Title Screen

Reflections Past

Judge, Jury and Executioner

You can also listen to this track in high quality on the AU’s SoundCloud here! The rest of the description is underneath the Read More.

Mustache Girl takes on a hybrid Asgore and Asriel role. Already feeling trapped and conflicted, her emotions are finally pushed over the edge when an incredibly large group of people -- though it feels more like the entire world with how suffocating the crowd is -- barge into her throne room and hurl insults her way, telling her to "get lost!" among other things …and (almost) all in the name of Bow Kid, mirroring what happened years ago to a disturbing degree. Finally overwhelmed by all her painful thoughts and emotions bubbling back to the surface, she snaps and violently shatters a Time Piece in a fit of rage. And thus history is made to repeat itself once more. But this time, something's different.

BABY'S FIRST HOPES AND DREAMS REPLACEMENT FOR THE WIN :D Also Happy belated New Year to all my peeps here on Tumblr lmao But ye, this is actually happening! Aside from using similar instruments (and a somewhat loose idea for the very beginning of my track,) this is very deliberately unfaithful to the typical H&D structure. Knew right away that I wanted to use Mustache Girl EX as the base for this track, and that sticking too rigidly to the structure of any other H&D would do a disservice to the feel I wanted to go for: that same kick-you-in-the-dick level of power from Mu EX, but with a LOT more of a melancholy vibe underlying all that fury. Plus, bit of a fun fact: adjustments have been made since obviously, but the first "complete" mixing draft of this track was finished on New Year's Eve 2023! (This kind of constant revising is why the His Theme track is still not done on my part btw lmaooooo.) Also… I'll fully admit something here. For the first time on a track I've done, the drumbeat's backbone is comprised of loops I got when I bought Mixcraft 10 (especially with some of the things they were offering during the first week of its launch,) and the only supplemental VST I used was Abbey Road 80's Drummer for the left panned hi-hats. I know that EDM-type stuff similar to the actual Mu EX track is completely out of my wheelhouse, and I didn't want to royally screw up the drum pattern with this different metal-ish take on it, seeing as those are something I have a TON of trouble with. All things considered, drumline came out ok! And ye on the whole, I'm incredibly happy with this track, and it's easily the most ambitious arrangement I've done to date (and the most difficult too in some aspects.) Hope you all enjoy! :)

[princes-creations-askblog]

Finally posting oc content again bc I can’t hold it back anymore <3

Ok so I have this set of ocs (I’ve talked abt them before in this post right here) and uh. I’m remaking them now. or trying to, I’m having bad writer’s block hngh—

So like. Now that I’ve exploded and absolutely NEED to post them or I’ll die, I’ll give you some basic info on them :)

I’ve renamed Jay to Jeiviin. They’re a six-year-old Sky Dragon born and raised in Emporia, having lived in Taldrena their whole life (up until an incident in which they ended up in Voxtren). They’re intersex and were raised genderless, and have an older sister.

I’ve renamed Cora to Avaki. She’s a seventeen-year-old Sky Dragon that was born in Talix, one of Emporia’s islands, and moved to Taldrena with her family when she was 8. She’s Jeiviin’s older sister, and really into true crime.

I’ve renamed Sigasi to Sivea. She’s a fourteen-year-old Healer Dragon born in the Philippines, but moved to Emporia (specifically Voxtren) when she was 11. She’s an only child, but became best friends with Jeiviin and Avaki after the events of her (and the other characters’) story takes place, and she’s surprisingly feisty for a Healer.

I’ve renamed Delta Sun to Astrallon. They’re somewhere around 150-160 years old, and they’re an Angel from the Concept Universe (or the Void). They left their home when they were in their 20s to search for their missing mother (idk what happened to her though), but they never found her, and instead decided to just. Stay in Emporia. I mean, it’s a really pretty country, so. Fair enuf.

None of them have designs yet, but I have some very basic ideas for what I want them to look like —

Jeiviin will be pretty short (I mean they’re 6 so ofc), and their main colour will definitely be blue. Lotta scars.

Avaki will be more seafoam green I think? And a lot taller. Possibility of being emo or scene

Sivea is so so purple. I kinda want her to resemble a violet-backed starling. I love those fucking birds. I want her to have a sorta medieval-goth-princess aesthetic, but more modern

Astrallon gets to be tall as hell. Way taller than they need to be. Get enlarged stupid. And I want them to have some vague religious vibes, like biblically accurate or something. Perhaps multiple sets of wings, or too many halos. Or too many eyes.

Ok now that that’s out of the way.

Storyline thing or something!

The kiddos are still both gonna be experiments — that was an integral part of their story before the remake, and I don’t wanna change that — but Astrallon won’t be an experiment anymore. Instead, they’ll be friends with the guy running the experiments, but they won’t know about it until he calls them up and says “DUDE WE’RE GETTING FUCKED UP PLEASE HELP”.

The experiments aren’t gonna be turned into some form of superhuman (superdragon?) beings anymore, either. Instead, the cult is trying to transform Dragons into Humans by surgically removing their Draconic traits and making them physically look as human as possible.

Those experiments never end up working and all the subjects that went through the procedures died. Including Jeiviin. But they get to come back as a ghost, because I said so.

Anyway!! The reason Mr. Cult Guy calls Astrallon screaming for help, is because Sivea and the other still-living experiments broke out and started killing motherfuckers. As they should.

Astrallon is a very kind person, so of course, they immediately run over to their friend’s location to help, and promptly get their shit FUCKING WRECKED by Sivea, who thought they were another cultist.

Some other stuff happens after that, and then the story ends, but I haven’t gotten to that point yet. As I said, I’m having writer’s block atm, so I can’t get past the part where Sivea starts plotting.

Also, despite the setting of this story being in Emporia, which is also where my AHiT AU takes place, this is not set in the AHiT universe! It’s an entirely original work, full of the blorbos from my autism.

I am tired and can’t think of anything else to write, so that’s it post’s over. Eat up

[thesopwithcamel]

A hat in time AU idea: Apocalypse Swap au (or just APswap au, wip).

Background: a sort of ahit swap au but with some Fallout shennanigans in between, this changes the roles of multiple characters while also putting a post apocalyptic spin on Hat Kid's origins as well as aging her up to her species equivalent of 15 years old.

The storyline however is very different as it brings back many cut characters and locations, passes character traits onto new ones and follows a combination of retail and cut content. It also explores Hat Kid's past and the actions leading up to her escape.

Calcite Characters:

Mustache Girl (real name: Jane, sirname unknown) is a local resident of the city of Calcite and an apprentice to Tim the CEO of Time, she mostly shares her canon personality but the trauma with the mafia is mostly removed (as I'm giving it to Bow Kid) due to being sheltered by Tim despite him lossing a Time Piece to the Lazy Paw Mafia Boss.

Bow Kid (real name: Laura Jennings Durr) is another local resident and a victim of the Lazy Paw's brutality as they imprisoned her and murdered her parents, she is probably one of the only denizens actively fighting the Lazy Paw using sabotage. This has led to gaining a few scratches here and there. Following Jane defeating the Lazy Paw boss Laura almost went the same way as retail Mustache girl with only Tim coming in at the last second promising the removal of the lazy paw if she helps Jane stopping her.

Hat Kid (real name: Penny Lesley Kiethman) is a space traveling alien from an unidentified planet escaping on a solar sail generation ship with under a million of her kind, her ship halts near Earth and she awakens from her cryo induced slumber only to find that her pod was the only one to open. She desperately heads down to Terra to find parts to fix her ship but gets fixated by the Time Pieces and she wishes one to fix up and power the reactor. Problem is that Jane won't hand one over...yeah you know where this is going. Following her defeat at Generations and Timelines Penny lays low for a while before saving Jane's life at the Arctic Town.

The Lazy Paw: a cat gang coming from an unidentified location that had decided to take over most of Calcite and basically took over their segmants governing council, they wrapped up warm for Calcites colder enviroment with fur and leather coats and are ruthless towards anyone who pisses them off. Their leader the Lazy Paw Boss was the one that personally killed Laura's parents and gouged out one of her eyes.

Goofy Paw (real name: Josef Fritz Verville) is a member of the Lazy Paw gang, while he is a reliable member he is also a cryptozoologist and a member of a local conspiracy theorist group made up of Lazy Paw members and locals. He is the first one to encounter Penny and was the one who reported to LP Boss about her.

Tim (full name Tim Davis Reginald) the CEO of Time, local somewhat insane person (although Oldster beats him by far), high ranking Timekeeper of the ACTT and a very eccentric individual. He is known for being very carefree but still takes his job seriously, his predessesor told him to not have a melt down. How he had a meltdown over not having a meltdown is beyond me but he wishes to fix it so he sends Jane out to put things right.

Sam the Detective: a detective that specialises in different factors and currently on the payrole of the Lazy Paw to look the other way while they committ the crimes they do, while Sam is somewhat Scummy the Lazy Paw do have his family hostage and he is a good, if somewhat scummy, person.

Oldster: an old senile man living in a dumpster, oldster was once a respected part of town but the Lazy Paw utterly destroyed him both physically, emotionally and financially. He was rendered a paranoid, decrepid old man.

Timekeeper Blu: a relatively experienced Timekeeper and proud of his job, he is a very joyful individual but can sometimes be too serious and even hostile. If someone unfamiliar even touches a Time Piece he can get very defensive. Blu takes Laura under his wing as an apprentice following the events of Generations and Timelines.

Lady Puella: A very experienced Time Keeper rumoured to be older than this current Timeline, Puella is a very strict keeper and is good at first response and at dealing with struggling or troublesome apprentices. She was also a first responder during the events of Arctic Town and following those events takes Penny under arrest and places her in the ACTT's youth reformatory program before taking Penny under her wing as an apprentice.

Locations:

City of Calcite and Lazy Paw district.

Off the Rails

Subcon Forest

Sandy Sails

Generations and Timelines

Nyakuza Crew

Arctic Town

(character designs will come out later)

[sparky-selfships]

hiii so im copy-pasting my old f/o list/intro from my old account and making a few changes because that account is a year old. everyone on this list is romantic although i have a million comfort characters/platonic f/os and im not listing them here because there are so many. (also i would prefer if self-proclaimed "fictosexuals/fictoromantics" didnt interact with me because i view those terms as invalid, i mean you do what you want im not telling you whats wrong but please just dont talk to me. thank you!)

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hiya ^_^ im sparky and this is my selfship blog!! i don't mind any pronouns (although i use feminine terms to describe myself) and i interact and follow from @alixmaestra. my f/o list is down below (bolded = not ok with sharing, italic = main f/o, strikethrough = retired, strikethrough + red = retired, now oc x canon) (also this blog is a work in progress so some of these tags arent up yet but they eventually will be!!)

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romantic

chongyun (genshin impact) - july or august 2021 i think?? not entirely sure (tag: ❄frozen ardor❄)

kamek (mario series) - mid-june 2022 (tag: mekky)

zip toad (pmttyd) - beginning of october 2022 (tag: 🍄🌟❕)

mark berskii (p:eg) - crushed on him starting on january 26, 2023 but didnt start shipping with him until the beginning of february (tag: 🐊🎶)

the conductor (ahit) - i crushed on him when i was 11 (summer 2019) but i started shipping with him officially sometime in like...march? or late february? (tag: 🦉🚂)

the noise (pizza tower) - end of march 2023 (tag: 🐀🚬)

doopliss (pmttyd) - crushed on him a bit when i first started shipping with zip toad, didnt start officially shipping with him until the middle of april (tag: doop)

parakarry (pm64) - fun fact: he was my first fictional crush ever (back in late 2018, i was 11) iirc! i rediscovered him and am officially shipping with him as of 5/8/23. (he is also very very important to me, so please dni if you ship with him, thanks! /nm) (tag: 🐢💌)

kylie koopa (m+l) - end of may 2023 (tag: 🎀📷)

koops (pmttyd) - i considered shipping with him back in november or december(?) but i thought i was happy with my current list so i decided to just leave him as a crush, but i have decided to recruit him as a f/o as of late june 2023 (also just a forewarning, my fanon au version of koops is a little bit creepy so expect some creepy stuff relating to him eventually) (theres a reason as to why i view him the way i do but its super long and complicated) (also this is a koopie koo hatepage) (tags:🐢🩹(canon), 🐢🦇(au))

popple (m+l) - august 3rd 2023 exactly i think (tag: 💜💚💰)

freminet (genshin impact) - early september 2023 (tag: 🐧⚙)

zoobIe (tadc) - crushed on them near the middle of october but i didnt make a proper s/i until around the end of october/beginning of november 2023 (tag: that one conglomeration)

king jingaling (banjo-tooie) - a day or 2 days after thanksgiving 2023 (tag: 👑☀)

geno (smrpg) - a couple days before january 2024 (tag: 🌠)

kinito (kinitopet) - middle of feburary 2024 (tag: 🖥💖)

dr. reflex (baldi's basics) - near the middle of march 2024 (tag: 🩺🔨)

knife guy and grate guy (smprg) - middle of april 2024 (tag:💖🎺💛🗡)

marx (kirby) - second ever fictional crush around march 2019, got back with him at the end of july 2024 (tag: 💜❤💙🌟)

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family

these characters do not have individual tags (all listed under "fictional family tag") and i do not remember the dates i started family shipping with them but i wanted to list them here anyway because why not. please do not interact if you ship romantically with any of these characters!

king k r00l (dk series) - father

funky k0ng (dk series) - uncle

the axem rangers (smrpg) - siblings

molly macaw (indigo park) - sister

lemmy k00pa (mario series) - adopted son

motley bossblob (mario 3d world) - adopted son

literally every j1njo ever (banjo kazooie) - adopted children

[askamnesiamoonjumper]

6, 9 and 10

6: which ship fans are the most annoying?:

I honestly don’t care enough about shipping to have any specific takes (ace spectrum swagger) but like if I had to choose I think sn*tchnessa and sn*tchmoon just due to you know Vanessa being his abuser and sn*tchmoon puts a bad taste in my mouth due to bad past experiences is all ((censoring them so they don’t show up in search results) tho there are a few others that just personally bug me but only bc my own hc’s clash w them like when ppl ship characters that I have as siblings or family in my own au when they aren’t canonically so like I said that’s more personal and not on the ppl shipping them/I don’t see it as annoying or nothing like that) oh and obviously pr*ship shit that should go without saying but sadly with a franchise like ahit with the main characters being children and one of those children has a cut adult design people will be freaks :(

9: worst part of canon:

I’ve said this before but it boils down to a few really really small nitpicks 1: conductor should’ve had a better reason to want the time piece bc his motivation doesn't make near as much sense as grooves, 2: they should have kept the cut cutscenes of mu in subcon and the cast talking about Hattie at the end (and made hats diary a prominent thing and not an Easter egg) because all of those help with characterization/showing POVs and also bc mu kinda gets forgotten so having her show up in the middle would help remind players of her being in the plot/collecting TPs, and 3: have an option where mu should have been the one to fix everything at the end not Hattie like a multi choice thing/so she can redeem herself at least a little bit idk it’s a undertale pacifist endingcore thing

10: worst part of fanon:

uhhhhh honestly idk just bc a lot of my issues aren’t even issues/popular things anymore and even then I don’t remember a lot of em, but off the top of my head is mischaracterization of snatcher and hat, the woobification/sexualization of Vanessa, and the over abundance of everyone just copying maks aus back in the day rather than doing more original aus/hcs (tho all these issues I think arent near as prominent nowadays thankfully tho that might be bc I don’t look at fan stuff much anymore/had blocked a lot of ppl that perpetuated these issues I had, the only thing I can think of that is still kinda an issue is other characters being overshadowed but that can’t really be fixed oof) (the last one abt mak is actually I think the reason I made aau back in the day in the first place bc everyone was kinda doing the same thing, tho that wasn’t BAD I just wished there was more variety in hcs or the like etc which did end up happening so yayyyy!! :3)

[rhys-ravenfeather]

Off now.

So, today was alright--nothing out of the ordinary.

...but honestly, I've got other things on my mind tonight (nothing too negative, but I'm going to put them under a readmore anyway, just because).

Been thinking, lately, about all the stupid, and probably overly dramatic, things I've said before in the past. Just...a bunch of stuff, that looking back on it kind of makes me want to facepalm.

Also, an old friend who I STILL haven't heard from in like two years now. One I was once really close to.

I miss them and what we had, of course, I hope they're doing alright...and that, at some point, I hear from them again and hopefully we can talk things out...but also, I can't help but...wonder about some stuff.

I've been really into my AHIT AU for the last couple of years now, come up with some more stuff about the AU. Not to mention I've got a new original story I'm working on now, Oasis to Oakwood, and FINALLY made a new Discord server for my writing, that I talked with them about a couple times before, but now they're just...not in my life anymore.

I can't help but wonder what it would have been like if I'd gotten to share more of my stuff with them and we'd gotten to write together more.

As well as what, exactly, I did to drive them away.

Well, I'll see you guys when I see you.

[soapfireblog]

Can't have just one of the Dead Bird Duo without the other >:) i have many a questions

5, 7, 20, 39, 41, AND 45 for Otto

5. Do you have any early ideas/concepts of your OC that you scrapped or would like to share? To be honest, I don't have much 'concept' art for Otto.  A small backstory for him: I used him in an AHIT roleplay (HE WAS SO BAD BACK THEN) and it disbanded because we were basically forced to rp Undertale by 50% of our group, so I went and put Otto in the rp as a small 'rebellion' moment. Everyone loved him so, good with me! I suppose I can share the idea of panic. LOOKING BACK THIS WAS SO CRINGE ISTG: but basically, Otto has the soul of 'Panic'. Yes, that's it. That's the post. It was like a Dark Pink if you're wondering (Get it bc light pink = fear). Now he has the soul of integrity fuck you. 7. Do they have a motivation for wanting any of the timepieces? How would they find one? What would they do with it? Otto would not have any motivation to find any timepieces. After all, he already know's what happened in the past. But if he could change it, he'd go back in time and save Archie from dying and discourage The Conductor from selling his soul. 20. What would a time rift level themed around them look like? I feel like of course it would be space themed, y'know, because he's a dreamwalker and all that. I feel like it would be taking Otto's life into perspective. Maybe it's more of 'Seeing through his POV', example: It would be hard to tell what a real person and a ghost would look like because...well, for most of Otto's childhood, he didn't know that he could see ghosts. You could walk to a character to talk to them, but then they disappear, or you walk through them. It would have a slight 'horror' theme to it as well, not much horror. Just maybe a couple of eyes here or there (symbolising The Council). The Time Rift would end at the 'Moonstone' (yes, I am just calling it the Moonstone I'm uncreative and heavily inspired by Warrior cats), where he's about to be fully converted into a Dream Walker by The Council.

39. Are there any concepts for OCs that you have yet to share or have considered making? Are there any you need help developing or wish to know better? Share your thoughts.

To be honest, I feel like Otto has been my creative max. He's my pride and joy, definitely my favourite OC I've ever made. He's my creative super star, my pride and joy, I could write novels on his lore in the OG!Liars AU alone, NEVERMIND all the timelines that've sprouted from it; Good End!AU, Mabel!AU, Swap!AU, etc. Of course, except fixing some plot-holes here or there, I don't think I have anything new to add to him. I'm always open for ideas for him, atm I just think he's at his peak! 41. What would an outfit, accessory, weapon, badge or dye themed after your OC, made for the player, look or function like? Feel free to share multiple ideas! Dye: 'Dreamwalker Dye': The dreamwalker dye would be a mix of blue's and purple's with star imprints, similar to the "Milky Way" dye but more star like. Weapon: Otto himself uses Stars as a projectile weapon, so I assume it can act similar to like I forgot what it's called but that beaker explosion thing but stars instead. Also can act as Ninja Stars Badge: 'Ghostly Pals Badge!' a ghost spirit (think of Starclan-like) shows you how to parkour and do complicated jumps when needed! Badge: 'Taking Flight!' a pair of wings grow on the players back, granting them a thrust in a forward direction, like dash but x100. Badge: 'Stare into the Future!' a badge that lasts only a second or two, but it can predict where an enemy will land/send their attack so you can get out quick! 45.What is a story, comic, art piece, project, ect. you wish/plan to create with this character? (Multiple ideas are also encouraged!) Oh boy. I'm going to college for Game & Media design soon, and Otto will be one of my BIG inspirations for that course! I'd love to make some animations of him one day, PMV's, AMV's, Animation memes, I don't care! I wanna see my boy move! Of course, a full comic of him would be amazing, but I don't have the time or energy to do that. A full fic of him would be amazing, too, but I don't have good planning, his lore is too complex atm and I need to lay it down piece by piece for new people to understand!

[eldritchtaur]

literally my reaction to seeing i had 17 notifications this morning asfiodjsa

anyway, because i like starting group discussions (and i think it would be easier just to put everything together in one post rather than reblog things one by one) i'm gonna tag people i reply to (please feel free to tell me if you want to be removed!!)

@astral-cataclysm, @robyn-goodfellowe

Good to know I'm not the only one who has deepseated resentment because of past experiences (genuine)

also mood robyn about the still having filtered/tagged thing it's always a gamble going through the ahit tag because i have deepseated issues from then aijofdps

@gracebeth3604

honestly feel that!! i like seeing a snatcher who softens up because of changing for the better but if you try to be like "well secretly he was nice the entire time" i'm stealing your left kidney (joking)

also please @ me when that rant happens because I love hearing other people's writing processes <- has the tism

@majormeilani

literally my ahit au started out of spite of dadtcher content because i looked at him and went "he would NOT be like that as a parent"

like you said, i don't think hat kid HATES him, but the two would (and constantly do in canon) butt heads with each other on a near constant basis so it's weird to me thinking of them as like. family.

like maybe frenemies, maybe eventual friends, but not like family ijodfap

@guardianscry

no yeah same!! i like him in-game but also jesus christ i feel like it's accurate to call him the tumblr sexyman of the ahit fandom--

also you mentioning that last part just kinda made me realize that i saw a sharp decrease in ahit content after people were like "hey can you draw characters other than snatcher" and so it's kinda sad to think about how, in my opinion, a lot of people back then were in just for snatcher and no other character--

@howdyfriend

NO YEAH YOU DODGED A BULLET ASOIFIPJJASFO

I'm feeling a lot calmer now because i got a lot of the anger out of my system (plus i went to bed saopjdf) but I genuinely wasn't expecting people to agree with me (probably because i remember how it felt if you even went to say that you didn't like snatcher you were shunned from some of the fandom)

honestly i need to get back to writing/drawing ahit because i tend to be motivated by a lot of emotions (primarily spite and confidence) and with the reassurance of "the fandom is no where near as YIKES as it used to be" it encourages me a lot more

okay so i was talking about this in the tags of the one post, but i know that the tags got super jumbled so putting my thoughts here aodifpja

so i know that current ahit fandom (hopefully) isn't like this [idk i tend to stay pretty in my corner just making content for myself/friends] but i remember that there was just. so much content of ignoring the fact that canonically snatcher is an asshole and instead he's this misunderstood baby who is traumatized so that makes everything alright--

like i understand softening your favourite but added on the fact that whenever you went into the ahit tag, all you would see is snatcher, it just made me hate snatcher for awhile

and while the hate has softened from actually good interpretations, the oversturation of "he's traumatized so he did nothing wrong" has permanently changed how i see the character

what didn't help was that people tended to use hat/bow as therapists for snatcher and for personal reasons (mostly trauma related) that made me EXTREMELY uncomfortable

i literally got into arguments with people on tumblr pretty much saying that there was no proof of hat kid disliking snatcher (spoiler alert: there is) and even someone telling me that hat kid wasn't a child (which. eugh.)

and, again, while i don't have a problem with softening your characters, it just was the oversaturation of it combined with the fact that snatcher was the only thing that most people talked about which was frustrating

there's no clean way to end this but i'm putting this in the main tag, even if it's shooting the hornet's nest /j /lh

[winterpower98]

Hat shares her plan with Snatcher and this AU can officially start!

or

This is an excuse to make Snatcher even more of a dad!

IMPORTANT!

If I see anyone saying that it’s ok to ship these two just because I drew Hat as an adult in this AU, I will personally carve out your eyeballs and make you eat them!

[bittybattybunny]

Hey look!!! a chapter!!!! Cookie gives Snatcher a question and he gets more questions and now he’s annoyed!!!

[talesofsonicasura]

Masterlist

Oneshots

Fallen Royalty (Blue Exorcist/AHIT)

Spooky Gratitude (Digimon/DMC)

Balan's Promise(BWW/P5)

Erase the Future (Pokemon/DMC) (Being reworked)

Unappreciated Hunter (MH/AHIT) (Being reworked/Lost original documents ☹️)

Stone Dove (Knack/JJBA)

Keeper of Dreams (Kirby/DMC)

Requiem of Love (Pokemon/JJBA)

Guardian of the Forest (AOT/Digimon)

His Past (JTTW/Yu-Gi-Oh)

Sage's Vow (LMK/Persona)

Reader Imagines

Joestar Misadventures- Sun Wukong: Starter, 1, 2

Corazon with a Monster Hunter s/o: Starter

Jotaro Kujo with a Cyber Sleuth s/o: Starter

Eddie Brock/Venom with a Pokemon Trainer s/o: Starter,

Ichigo Kurosaki/Zangetsu/Hichigo with a Pokemon Trainer s/o: Starter, 1

LMK characters first meeting their s/o (Manners Maketh Man): P1

Hero is Back!Sun Wukong with a Stand User s/o: Starter

Glamrock Freddy and Gregory's Special Assistance: 1, 2

JTTW 96!Sun Wukong with a Cyber Sleuth s/o: Starter, 1

Hank with a Devil Hunter s/o?!: Starter,

LMK Characters with a Comic Artist s/o: P1

MKR! Sun Wukong with a Persona User s/o: Starter, 1

Nevada's Oasis:

Gardener- Starter

DSB Sun Wukong with a Duelist s/o: Starter, 1, 2

Ryomen Sukuna and Ghostbuster!Reader: Starter

LMK Sun Wukong and Macaque with MK's Guardian: Starter,

Saiyuki Sun Wukong with a Game Designer s/o: Starter

Black Seastone Route- 1

By The Sea, There He'll Be/ Mer HIB!Sun Wukong x Reader: Starter, 1

Emmet and Digimon!Reader: Starter, 1

Sun Wukong and Macaque with MK's Parent: Starter , 1, 2

MKR Sun Wukong with a Time Lord s/o: Starter

Crocodile Rock/ Mer!MKR Sun Wukong x Reader: Starter, 1

Axolotl Dreams: Starter, 1

Josuke Higashikata with a Grunt s/o: Starter

AUs

Broken Toys

Monkie Kid: Venomous Tales

Fell Guardian

Inner Demons

Fast Shadows

Sticks and Stones

Taming Madness

Price of Power

Boy and his Beasts

Re:Destiny

Wrathful Idol

Theories/Personal Headcanons

Order and Chaos: Safi'Jiiva and Altreon

Six Eared Macaque and Blood Monkeys

Sun Wukong's actions in Lego Monkie Kid

Sun Wukongs I know

Jak and Daxter Time Travel

Fierce Deity Mini Theory

What ifs/Ideas

What if Ichigo got the powers of Sun Wukong?

Josuke Higashikata (P4) meeting and being trained by LMK's Macaque

MK finding and raising 2020 Sonic

Eddie Brock and Venom have a makeshift family drop on them: 1

Random Scenarios: 1

Sonic's Warp Ring Glitch Misadventures: 1, 2

New Species: Glitch

Worldbuilding: ReNexus,

Writing Challenges: Starter

Curses: DigiEcho

Fierce Mergence

Stories

Diamonds and Voodoo(JJBA/Crash Bandicoot: Pro., 1

Wonderful Hunter(BWW/MH): Pro.,

Stone Novas(Pokemon/LMK): Pro., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Origami Dreams(Jujutsu Kaisen/Paper Mario): Pro.,

Thief's Ambition(P5/Digimon): Pro.,

Crossroads(Jujutsu Kaisen/Pokemon): Pro.,

Stand Needed(JJBA/AHIT): Pro.,

Sonic May Cry (being reworked)

Shadow of Iron(LMK/Iron Man): Pro,

Trip Down Memory Lane(Venom/BWW): Pro,

Updates:

Prologue and Chapter 1 of Stone Novas has proper terms for Yaoguai added.

Excerpts added to Fell Guardian AU.

Glitch updated.

Part 2 of Sun Wukong and Macaque with MK's Parent now has a link to ReNexus.

Next part of Wrathful Idol has been added.

Next part of Madness New World has been added.

Link to MK's assassin uniform has been added to Wrathful Idol.

Madness New World been moved to Masterlist 2.

Jotaro Kujo with a Cyber Sleuth s/o is now a mini index. Can find the rest of the parts in Starter.

Next part to Clowning Around has been added.

Hank with a Devil Hunter s/o and Eddie Brock/Venom with a Pokemon Trainer are now a mini index. Rest of the parts are in Starter.

Sun Wukong and Macaque with MK's Guardian is now a mini index. Parts can be found in Starter.

Majora's Bane has been added to Wrathful Idol AU on the main masterlist.

Prologue has been to the Wrathful Idol AU on the main masterlist.

Chapter 2 and 3 of Stone Novas has been updated.

Chapter 1 for Madness Reborn has been updated and links been added on the main masterlist's Wrathful Idol AU. (Just know that writing at the butt crack of night isn't a good posting time.)

[mysteryman-17]

* I… I did it!? * I DID IT! No more shall bad guys go unpunished!! * …Yet. Why do I still feel so… * Unfulfilled? * …and alone? * … * M-maybe that part comes LATER in my rule, yeah!! * Yeah… right.

Time’s End is an AHIT/Undertale crossover AU of sorts, taking place in the aftermath of a timeline where you lose the final boss fight against Mustache Girl. You can find the write-up here! In addition, you can find the write-ups for the Neutral Endings and TimeWarp Route Requirements on Google Drive! The logo for Time's End was designed by @bittybattybunny. She's an incredible artist, be sure to check out their work here on Tumblr and over on Twitter!! (if it hasn't imploded by the time you're reading this post anyhow lmao.) This track was a commission-turned-collaboration with my boi Wisteria Bird Studios. Be sure to check out his work too!

Motifs:

Judge, Jury and Executioner

Get Lost

Main Theme/Title Screen

You can also listen to this track in high quality on the AU’s SoundCloud here! The rest of the description is underneath the Read More.

Mustache Girl takes on a hybrid Asgore and Asriel role. Years ago, she took Hat Kid's Time Pieces and set into motion a chain of events that would drastically change the world as everyone knew it, and put it firmly in her hands to rule. She thought this would be the best way to serve "proper" justice back then, but now? She's just tired. Mu's been done with this for quite some time, and she feels deeply trapped. Trapped by the people she already turned against her years ago, by her (in hindsight) rather bullheaded quest that's lost all its appeal of pursuing, by the all-encompassing kingdom she never realized she didn't want… and by an unending feeling of loneliness and sadness. The spark that started this mess is long gone (and that's putting it lightly,) but Mu sure as hell isn't going to actually say it, let alone give up without a fight. Cause the one thing that never truly went away was Mu's stubborness/committment, no matter how much it tears her apart inside.

So, about the note regarding my boi Kristian's involvement on this track! I did indeed commission the track this motif was pulled from, and paid Kristian in full. However, something happened which caused him to be unable to finish the track. So I used what he had in the project file and took up the reins of finishing it myself. The actual track I commissioned from Kristian and therefore the one I finished will be posted here sometime later, and given the tag on this track, I think y'all can take a good guess as to what that will be! (Also any Doctor Who fans may recognize what we chose to base this and the larger track off of.) ;) Anyhow tho, this is just a simple edit of that track to fill in the Memory slot for the AU OST. Kill two birds with one stone n all that jazz, y'know? Hope y'all enjoy! :) (Also I'm admittedly not 100% on the name, but eh. Can't come up with anything else, so this is gonna have to work lmao)

[doodledrawsthings]

Oh The Humanity! AU  Masterpost

Hi! Making a masterpost for this AHiT AU so y’all have one place to just find all the important bits that I and other folks in the fandom have done for this AU! Everything will be under the read more

AU Premise: Snatcher steals a time piece from Hat Kid and Bow Kid to mess with them. He tries to use it during one of the Death Wish fights, but turns out the particular time piece he stole was faulty/ something was up with it/ he broke it in a weird way that really messed it up. Because of this, when he broke the piece, instead of rewinding time back a few minutes, it sent his form back about 300 years, returning him to human form, but with all his present memories. Now, he’s stuck as a human as and has to wait for the Time Traveling Alien Kids to fix the time piece and return him to normal, while also being forced to confront his past.

You can find most of this in the tag #oth!au. I will also be updating this as new stuff gets added or if I find that I’ve missed something. Let me know if there’s something I missed that you’d like me to add, cuz boy howdy i didnt realize how much is stuffed into this AU, and I dont remember what I’ve already said and what I’m saving for future stuff:

Significant Events in the Main Timeline story (these are kind of in order and kind of not. There’s more to be added, just not yet):

this au has a bunch of different endings thanks to the lovely ahit fandom’s contributions.

This all happens sometime after This comic. So, by the time OTH!AU happens, Moon and Snatcher are at least on“awkward acquaintance” terms with eachother and snatcher is trying to be nicer to him. He’s still got his moments of being rude and snappy tho, but thats just because he’s snatcher.

The first actual post i made In regards to this AU+ @positive-polygons​ comic interpretation of the beginning of the AU. He breaks a weird time piece he stole and he reverse ages back to being alive again. : Link Link1 Link2 Link3

Snatcher asks moonjumper to watch over Subcon while he’s stuck like this Link

Bow takes him to Nyakuza Metro to get new clothes. He trashes the Prince get-up as soon as possible. Link

Arctic Cruise Arc Link1 Link2 Link3 Link4

Some comics, they learn his name is luka at some point

Moonjumper is taking care of Subcon. They do things way differently than snatcher but they’re trying their best. 

Cooking Cat comes by to cook and help out. She’s very motherly to everyone. She’s taken Mu on as an apprentice, so she’s usually there with her whenever she drops by.

The birds are wrapping up a collab movie. The main cast are invited to the premier party, as Hat and Bow acted in the film. Snatcher gets to wear a nice suit and he has some interaction with the conductor and grooves. Link Link

at multiple points, MJ checks in with snatcher for status reports on how subcon is doing. This is usually where their bonding moments happen and they become less and less awkward with each interaction.

At some point around mid to late story, they find out that Subcon is starting to freeze over again. Snatcher was the only one who could melt the ice so this now gives them a time limit.

The Mirror incident Link Link  second fic by @greentrickster​

as snatcher gets along with the kids more, they remake his mailman hat so he can use badges and equip him with his own umbrella. Link Link

at some point snatcher realizes he doesn’t wanna go back to being a ghost.

Main-timeline ending is a Boss battle with Vanessa. Link

General Headcanons:

Almost everything you need to know about moonjumper and the prince and vanessa’s relationship Link

Snatcher and Vanessa have known eachother since they were kids. Their marriage was arranged, but they were good friends

OTH! Snatcher is aroace 

about snatcher’s feelings on defeating vanessa (*human!/final boss vanessa ending) Link1 Link2

This fic has a really good interpretation of the horizon that I’ve pretty much adopted, myself. Link

regarding snatcher’s expression of empathy and emotion both as a human and as a ghost Link1

Snatcher gradually takes on a fatherly role towards the girls. He is constantly trying to deny it as he comes to realize it but eventually accepts it. 

he’s actually pretty graceful with the umbrella  Link Link

Hat kid’s a good leader, but she can often be reckless and stubborn. Significantly more chaotic of the two space gremlins. She’s a lot like snatcher in a lot of ways, and because of that they are constantly butting heads but they get along better as Snatcher both gets used to being human and grows fonder of the two girls. She’s a bit closer to Snatcher, having been the most adamant about being his friend (initially out of spite but yknow) and they have a lot in common. 

People frequently mistake snatcher for being Hat Kid and Bow Kid’s visiting father. They usually comment on how much he looks like he could be HK’s biological dad. Both are in denial of this throughout the main timeline of this au. It’s a running gag. Link

snatcher is sometimes completely oblivious when he enters Dad Mode sometimes

Bow, on the other hand is generally a bit more shy and careful than hat kid is. She tends to take the passenger seat, taking on a more supportive role. She’s also way more polite. In this sense, she has more in common with moonjumper, and gets along with them quite well and she frequently goes to visit him the most often, on her own.

 Her and snatcher’s relationship kind of parallels snatcher’s relationship with MJ. Snatcher, having once been a big jerk to these kids, is now trying to teach bow to take more of a leading role and be more confident.

as this au takes place not long after the Clearing Incident comic, Snatcher and MJ’s relationship is a bit awkward in the beginning. Over the course of the AU their relationship would build up to be more brotherly.

the subconites like moonjumper but they miss their boss. MJ spoils them tho, which they appreciate and occasionally take advantage of Link Link

moonjumper learns to stand up for himself, snatcher learns to be more vulnerable

moonjumper is the badgeseller. Only hat, bow, and snatcher know this. 

snatcher very much enjoys feeling warm, its one of few saving graces he clings too in the stressful early part of the story.

snatcher doesnt like looking at himself in this AU. He’s very self-conscious about his “pathetic human body.” He doesn’t like being pitied and he doesnt like being seen as weak.

snatcher frequently has nightmares about his past.

after recieving the mailman hat, people start refering to him as The Mailman. Link

his voice frequently cracks a lot, especially in the beginning, since he keeps trying to use his Loud Ghost Voice, which can do a number on human vocal chords. Link

the kids bully him constantly Link Link Link

his arc is that he learns that it’s ok to be human and it’s ok to be vulnerable and to open up to people, and he learns to accept his past and who he used to be

the girls accidentally call him dad sometimes, which freaks him out at first, but he gets used to it eventually. Link

he adopts them, for sure, it just happens post- whatever ending.

beard. Link

Spin-off AUs, Alt Endings, and Fanfics, Oh My!:

That ending where habijob kills moonjumper  Moonjumper goes to fight Vanessa, alone. In one version they win, and in another, they lose, and snatcher has to return to ghost form to retrieve them from the horizon. by @habijob  Link Link Link 

From The Horizon fic by @greentrickster Link

@lindendragon‘s hypothetical endings where snatcher is captured by vanessa Link Link

@fedoraspooky‘s spinoff au where the timepiece takes him back even further and turns him into a kid Link Link

@positive-polygons‘s Vanessa Spinoff Link

@doodleimprovement‘s Royal ending Link

@erekiosuncreativeideas​‘s fanfic, Being Human, her version of the au’s story in chronological order starting from when he breaks the timepiece Link

@lemonadesoda​’s Fanfic series, And I Don’t Think You Hate This As Much As You Wish You Did, fills in and expands upon the ideas in  my comics for the AU Link

[ahatintimepieces]

He’s Going to be Okay

I wrote a little fic for @doodledrawsthings ahit ��Coffee shop AU” about one of Luka’s early days working at The Horizon! Nothing fancy but I got the idea and just went with it. Please enjoy!

              Luka flexed his four fingers against his coiled torso, staring at the thick purple prongs with tempered despair. Yes, he had been getting used to his new fluid body after traveling around for a few years, but now that he had recently started working at The Horizon, he found himself aching for his human body even more.

              Whenever he shapeshifted, he became acutely aware of just how much he had changed. While making coffee or wiping down tables, he could feel how flexible his arms and fingers were, like they were those cylindrical jelly toys meant to slip out of children’s hands the second they were squeezed too hard. He always feared if he grabbed a carafe or a customer’s change too firmly, his hands would melt back into purple goop.

              Blinking, he ran his hand through the fur on his head. He had to get up. Hattie was at school, which he was so grateful that a chance for her to have a normal life as a kid again, and he had work, which was another wonderful blessing. But he was so tired.

              Shaking himself as he uncoiled and floated over to the bathroom, he gazed at his reflection in the mirror. His pair of golden, glowing eyes and jack-o-lantern smile stared back at him. He longed for nothing more than to see his familiar, human features, but just the idea of shapeshifting just then drained him of non-existent energy.

              Come on! He could do this! He had been working full time and taking grad classes on top of being a single father before all of this! He didn’t know the meaning of fatigue! Surely, he could keep his liquid body in the right shape for one measly shift!

              Determined, he shrunk himself enough to curl his tail at the base of the sink as he gripped the edges. He stared into the mirror. It was only his forth day on the job and he wasn’t going to be late! He stared at his golden eyes, using the promise of coffee to summon enough strength to—

              He groaned and hunched over the sink, closing his eyes and shaking his head.

              Okay. New plan! He would grab some clothes and commute as a noodle. Maybe a short flight through the forest would wake his body up enough to change.

              Once he collected his things, he shrunk himself and snuck outside through his bedroom window. Luckily, most everyone in the complex had either left for work or school, so he only needed to slip past an older couple sitting on a bench at the boarder of the forest. He flew behind him, using their own shadows for cover, and darted into the woods.

              Use the shadows to hide. Think about the coffee waiting at work. Remember he’s doing this for Hattie. Hattie. He has to be able to support her. His daughter is all he had left, and he knew he could be okay as long as he had her.

              Feeling a touch more rejuvenated from both his mental pep talk and the fresh forest air, Luka landed behind the usual tree he used as cover when he started to slip in work. From his tree, he could smell the roasted coffee and his mouth watered. While Hattie did make him breakfast that morning—complete with lots of bacon, as if his sweetheart knew he needed an extra boost—he found himself still hungry. He vaguely wondered if all the shapeshifting lately required more fuel as well as sleep, but he shoved those thoughts down swiftly.

              He didn’t really have time to dwell on these things.

              With concentration, he first focused on shifting into a humanoid shape. The fluff around his neck easily molded into tufts of soft hair and shrinking his length to his human height was also a breeze. The hard part was splitting his tail into legs and his mittens into hands. But soon, he found himself standing—oh standing! How he missed feeling firmly planted on the ground on two feet!—and he could flex his humanoid fingers and thumbs. Next came his features, which he manifested while he shimmied into his pants.

              Nose. Teeth that weren’t fangs. Human eyes—with pupils and everything!—and brows. He skipped the ears because he figured his hair would cover them anyway and he was still so tired. Cutting corners on his appearance might help. Soon enough, he felt himself in proper human-shape, even if he still felt like a water balloon with his innards shifting around in a magic shell.

              As he buttoned his shirt—something so normal felt so good—he focused on changing his color to match how he was before. Brown hair, chestnut eyes, and not a drop of purple anywhere on his skin. He inhaled a steadying breath and walked around the shop and towards the entrance.

              “Hey there, Luka,” MJ called from the cash register as Luka briskly walked towards the back. “How was drop-off?”

              Drop-off? It took Luka a second as he put on his apron before he registered that MJ was asking about dropping Hattie off at school—the reason Luka had said he couldn’t take an early shift.

              “Oh, yeah,” Luka offered a nervous smile. He felt bad not only that he had to lie about the real reason but also because he wished he could have walked Hattie to school instead of being confined to the apartment as a weird purple snake monster. “It was fine. She seems to be making friends already.”

              That, he realized gratefully, was true and he couldn’t be happier for his daughter.

              But it also meant he really needed to make sure he didn’t screw up this job.

              “That’s great!” MJ offered a warm smile before turning back to the customers, his blue hair bouncing on top his head with his movement.

              Luka glanced down as he tied his apron, smiling softly.

              “Enough chatting!” Clover appeared from the back with a tray of plastic-wrapped pastries in hand. “Luka, can you get started on making drinks?”

              “Oui, Chef!” Luka saluted, which earned an eyeroll from Clover.

              “We outsource the pastries, you goof!” She gave him a gentle nudge before restocking the reserves beneath the display case.

              Instead of quipping back, Luka just laughed as he crossed over to the espresso machine, where cups with orders were already lined up.

              It felt good, he marveled, laughing with coworkers. How long had it been since he just spent time with friends? His gaze lingered on his human hand as he grabbed a cup.

              Too long, he decided.

              The first half of the shift went by in a blur. The mornings were always busiest, leaving Luka pushing out cup after cup. It wasn’t until MJ handed him the last order that Luka let himself relax long enough to breathe. Even then, when he read MJ’s instructions on what coffee to make, it just read, “Luka’s Favorite.”

              “What?” Luka glanced over at MJ, taking a moment to briefly scan the room for anyone waiting for coffee.

              “You’ve earned it,” MJ answered as his gaze narrowed on something in front of him and furrowed his brows. MJ removed his red-rimmed glasses and frowned at an apparent smudge before using the edge of his apron to clean up the lens. “I don’t know your favorite though,” MJ looked back up, squinting slightly at Luka without his glasses. “You’ll have to tell me a few times before I remember, as a heads up.”

              “Chestnut-infused Columbian Bean with cream and sugar,” Luka replied softly, smiling as he started to make himself a cup. “What about you?”

              MJ pushed his glasses back onto his nose and was about to respond before he titled his head with concern.

              “Dude, you alright? You’ve got some pretty gnarly bags under your eyes.”

              Luka’s heart dropped into his stomach as he instinctively lifted a hand to his face.

              “Um, mind if I—” Luka gestured towards the bathroom and MJ nodded. Luka practically threw himself into the cramped employee bathroom and glanced up.

              Oh no.

              Sure enough, purple was starting to spread, starting at the base of his eyes. In addition, his chestnut irises were starting to reflect gold in the dim bathroom light. He glanced down at his hands, his usual indicator that he was out of time in his human-shape. They remained untouched by purple and he still had his thumbs.

              Okay. Maybe this wasn’t so bad. He had made it through most of the shift and might be able to stick it out the rest of the day. Looking exhausted was fine, so long as he still looked human.

              He inhaled a deep, calming breath. He would be fine. He just needed a cup of coffee and that should tide him over. He could stick it out! He could do this!

              He returned to the counter with an anxious smile plastered on his face. MJ was wiping down the top of the display case when Luka went to finished making his coffee. While he poured the cream, he noted his hands were shaking but he ignored them.

              “Luka,” MJ asked as Luka lifted the steaming cup to his lips, “is everything okay?”

              “Oh yeah!” Luka smiled but he soon felt two sharp somethings—his fangs, he realized with dread—dig into his bottom lip. Panic gripped his chest and he glanced down at his hand holding the coffee cup.

              The tips of his fingers were turning purple.

              “Actually,” Luka’s shoulders slumped with resignation. He shifted the coffee cup into his other hand—which was still free of purple—and hid his changing hand behind his back. “I’m not—I think I need to—”

              MJ zeroed in on his hand and for a second, Luka feared the purple was spreading and the cat was out of the bag, but his fears were soon assuaged when MJ spoke.

              “Your hand is shaking more than my old dryer!” MJ explained in disbelief and worry. “Listen, do you need to go home? I can cover for the rest of the day.”

              “I hate to leave you mid-shift again and with Clover off getting more cup sleeves—” Luka winced from the way his growing fangs scratched against his mouth as he stepped back towards the door.

              “It’s all good,” MJ promised, his brows tight with concern. “Just get some rest before you need to pick up your daughter.”

              “Thank you!” Luka just about dashed out the back door, “It won’t happen again!”

              He barely made it outside before the purple creeped up his arm and his fingers on his one hand clenched back into cumbersome mittens. He ducked behind the tree and let out a frustrated groan as his thin control over his body dissolved.

              Not wanting to ruin another pair of clothes, he placed his coffee down and swiftly undressed. He tried to maintain fingers on the hand that was just turning purple as he struggled with the buttons on his shirt. It took a few tries but he finally managed. The second he shed his shirt and pants, his purple form ballooned into the now familiar form of a large snake with fur and noodle arms.

              Luka sighed, leaning against the bark as fatigue and sorrow ate at his spirit. Wet, golden tears slipped down familiar paths etched into his cheeks. He momentarily entertained the idea of remaining there, in the shadow of the tree and stewing in his sorry state, but on the other side of The Horizon, he could hear the hustle and bustle of the people of Subcon. The longer he remained in the open, the more he risked being seen.

              Willing himself through the motions, he collected his clothes and draped them over his arm before scooping up his coffee cup between two thick fingers. Careful not to let the cup slip through his fingers because he knew that a little spilled coffee in that moment was all it would take to send him into a spiral of despair he might not be able to recover from, he headed home.

              He hovered through the deeper part of the woods since he had nowhere to be anytime soon. Of course, he wanted to be home before Hattie, but that wasn’t for another hour or two. So, he took his time, letting his tail wiggle lackadaisically as he flitted from shadow to shadow. The warm coffee in his hand was a small comfort and the toasted flavor of the beans soothed him to the core.

              He was mid-sip—eyes half-closed—when a small gasp came from below.

              Luka’s eyes snapped fully open as he glanced down over his coffee cup. A young child in a dark purple hood with fluffy brown bangs that concealed most of their features was craning their neck to look up at him.

              The two remained frozen as they stared at each other for a second. Luka clutched his clothes draped around his one arm and still held the coffee cup to his mouth while the child’s jaw hung open.

              “Wowie! What are—” The child’s awe-filled voice snapped Luka out of his petrification and before the child could finish their sentence, Luka flew away.

              Peck! He was seen! Sure, he had been seen before but usually not mid-day and never that up close! He glanced back at the kid, who thankfully wasn’t following him, just watching in shock.

              That might come back to haunt him…

              Oh well, Luka tried to console himself as he zipped back home. At least the kid didn’t see him shapeshifting, which was more likely to give away his identity. The thought of Luka being found out and having to tear Hattie from another home gripped his chest like ice, but he immediately forced himself to take deep breaths.

              It was okay. The kid saw a purple noodle in the forest with coffee. It was fine. There was no reason to think he was at risk of being found out.

              It was going to be okay. He would be okay. Hattie was safe and happy. Everything was okay.

              The area behind the apartment was void of life and Luka had no trouble shrinking and flying up to his bedroom window, which he had left open for easy access. He flew in and soon expanded to fill the empty room. Sighing, he gingerly set down his cup before folding his clothes and stacking them by the closet. Exhaustion overwhelmed him and he curled around himself, resting his head on his hands on the topmost coil.

              His eyelids drooped as he flicked the tip of his tail back and forth. He wished he could have finished his shift. He wished he could have kept laughing with MJ and that he could have been there when Clover came back.

              He squeezed his eyes shut, as if it would keep a few more tears from slipping out. No such luck. He heaved out a worn sign before shifting his focus on getting some sleep. Maybe if he rested enough, he would have enough energy to maintain a humanoid shape so he could cook a good dinner for Hattie. That would be nice.

              He fell asleep repeating his new mantra.

              It would be okay. He was going to be okay.