#and art/magic gave me trouble too

[luxaofhesperides]

Ghostlight!

"You came?" "You called."

Danny in trouble, Duke to the rescue! (Or it can be reversed!) Maybe they've been online friends or met in person once and bonded over both having all these unexpected powers. Slightly angst.

There was never a point when Danny thought he would need the panic button Duke gave him.

It was a sweet gesture, a way for Duke to show that he cared for Danny and wanted him to be safe. Never mind that Danny can take care of himself, heals quickly from most wounds, and has been the protector, not the protected, ever since the Accident. If it makes Duke feel better, than Danny was more than happy to keep it on him as a token of affection.

The cultists, however, caught him off guard. 

Danny would be embarrassed about being nabbed off the streets so easily if the people who took him weren’t cultists lead by the daughter of a GIW agent, one who disapproved of the scientific approach the GIW took towards ectoplasmic entities and had turned to mystic arts as a way to defy her father. Which, usually, Danny would be all for striking out against the strict expectations of parents and their unwillingness to listen to their kids in any serious manner, but not this time. Not when it ends with him slowly waking up after they chloroformed him, curled up in some magic circle, surrounded by black candles and blue flame, and something in the air that smells of blood blossoms.

There are voices speaking, but he can’t make out what they’re saying over the pounding in his head, his heartbeat stuttering in his chest with each gasping breath he takes. 

Whatever they’re doing, whatever’s got him bound in the circle, makes his blood feel like its been lit aflame, agony coursing through his veins. He tries to grit his teeth and bare it, but it doesn’t become any more manageable.

No, it gets worse the longer he’s awake.

Danny tries to move, tries to get to his feet, but all he can do is curl up tighter, a sob forcing its way out of his throat.

“I know you’ve got some connection to Phantom,” he hears someone say, both by his ear and so far away he can barely make out the words. Danny whines, trying to insist that they’re wrong, he’s got nothing to do with phantom, but the voice continues. “Come on, cooperate with us and this will end sooner for you. You can’t lie about this; you wouldn’t be feeling anything if there was no connection.” 

A hand brushes against his forehead, burning hot, and Danny turns his face towards the ground trying to move away from it. 

“I knew ghosts had to have some tie to the living world. And a living anchor would make the ghost stronger… If only dad would listen to me.” The voice sighs, and the words help him put the pieces together and realize this is the daughter of the GIW agent that came closest to finding him when he first ran to Gotham. 

It’s been close to a year since then. He thought they’d stopped looking. 

Really, he should have known better.

The hand leaves his forehead and he hears the leader bark out an order. Voices surround him, chanting, as they rise out of the dark. 

A red glow begins to fall on everything, enough that Danny can see it through his barely open eyes. A shudder runs through him, and he feels his transformation try to begin.

NO, he thinks desperately. He tries to force it down but it fights against him. It’s agony, pain on a molecular level, the feeling of dying over and over and over again.

NO, he thinks, STOP I DON’T WANT TO DIE SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME.

And then, unbidden, a single word rising in his mind. Duke.

Duke will help him if he knows Danny needs help. Duke has been kind and welcoming and helped Danny find his footing in Gotham, never judging and always quietly offering a hand in support. He’s the person Danny’s closest to in Gotham, someone dear to him, a light in the dark. 

He gave Danny a panic button.

Contrary to popular thought, Danny isn’t an idiot. He knows Duke is the Signal. A few too many incidents where Duke had disappeared and the Signal appeared to save him tipped him off. It didn’t help that Duke acted the same in and out of costume, and he always, always grabbed Danny first at the elbow, then slid his hand down to his wrist. 

Besides, who else gives panic buttons to their friends? Danny would have done the same to Sam and Tucker if they weren’t always attached at the hip. He’s a (former) teenage vigilante too, he knows how being involved in this kind of thing invites trouble into the rest of his life.

Duke can help him. He’s a hero. He’s saved Danny before.

He’s his friend. Danny trusts (wants to trust, so badly) that Duke will help him even when he’s not fully human, fully alive.

With trembling hands, he reaches into his jacket, to the panic button. It’s a simple necklace with an unassuming metal rectangle dangling off of it. It’s flat and thin, but the top gives way to a button that Danny clicks three times in quick succession. 

He waits a moment, trying to breathe through the pain, and clicks it three times again.

Please hurry, Duke, he thinks, hand falling limply to the ground. 

“Let’s try this, instead,” the leader says, and the chanting falls to a quiet murmur to give way to her voice as she begins reciting something.

It starts at his feet. They cramp up suddenly, then pain crackles up his bones like lightning, digging deep into him. It feels as if a thousand knives dig into his abdomen, cutting in deep and twisting.

Danny chokes on his breath, then screams, trying futilely to scramble away. All it does is make him writhe on the ground, back arching enough that he can feel the strain of it on his spine, but it doesn’t matter because he’s forcing down his transformation again, smothering Phantom as much as he can.

His breath mists out before him. His fingers go numb, frost spreading across the floor.

Tears slip down his face as Danny pants for breath.

It hurts. It hurts like nothing has ever hurt before, but he refuses to give in. If they find out he’s Phantom, they’ll only do worse. 

Please, he thinks again, deliriously.

As if hearing him, a window shatters above him and the cultists break off in screams. 

Forcing his eyes open, Danny squints through he tears and watches as the shadows around them rise up, roiling, and crash against the cultists. The force of it knocks them down, leaving them to claw desperately at their faces as the shadows cover their nose and mouths, cutting off their air. The leader is yelling, rage clear in her voice, shooting out magic spells at the Signal.

The Signal is usually a friendly figure. He’s safe, something whose meer presence makes people feel safe. His smile means everything’s alright and when it’s directed to Danny, he feels like nothing bad can ever happen to him again.

The Signal isn’t smiling now. 

He’s furious, expressionless and stone cold, bashing away the spells with shadows or light, advancing on the leader like an avenging angel come to deliver justice. 

He takes her out with hard hits, striking methodically. It’s not quick. She doesn’t get the kindness of being knocked out; no, he snaps a wrist, breaks her nose, slams her down on the ground and cuts off her air with a knee until her struggles die off and she’s left limp on the floor. 

When he rises, surrounded by shadows still moving restlessly, illuminated only by the flicker blue flames of the candles, he should look terrifying. 

All Danny feels is relief so sharp it worries him that his chest was cleaved in half without him noticing until now. He shivers against the floor, too weak to reach out to the Signal.

It’s a good thing he doesn’t have to. 

The Signal picks him up with careful hands, checking him over for injuries.

“Duke,” Danny murmurs, slurring a bit. The torture is definitely at fault for it, but the sudden absence of all that pain doesn’t help him sound any more coherent. “You came.”

“You called,” Duke says, “Of course I came. I’ve been looking for you for hours. You never showed up for our study date and I know you always try to reach out if you can’t make it. I’m just sorry I didn’t find you sooner.”

“S’okay, ‘m not mad. Was scared, but you made it better. The panic button…”

“It’s how I found you. I’m so glad you were wearing it today.”

Danny tries to smile, but the most he can manage is a twitch of his lips before his head tips forward to rest against Duke’s armored shoulder. “I always wear it.”

Duke’s grip on him tightens for a moment, then he begins walking, taking Danny away from the magic circles and the prone bodies of the cultists who had watched him be tortured and decided to keep going. Danny shudders again, his entire body aching. His transformation is still fighting to come out, but it’s not as strong anymore. 

“Let’s get out of here,” Duke says into his ear. “I’ll take you to the hospital.”

“No! No hospitals, please. I can’t let them know… they’ll find me…”

Duke shushes him soothingly, tucking him more securely against his chest. “Alright, Danny. No hospitals. But I am going to call Batman for a pick up to get you to one of the people we trust for medical care.”

“But Batman doesn’t work in the day.” Danny’s too exhausted to sound confused, but it must go through anyways. Duke laughs lowly, and the sound helps unwind the last of his nerves coiled up tight in fear. 

“Danny, it’s well into the night. You were gone for hours. Longest hours of my life.”

“Sorry,” he mumbles, 

“Don’t be, it’s not your fault. Hang on, Batman’s nearly here.”

In any other circumstance, Danny would be excited to meet another hero. Especially Batman, one of the original heroes of the modern age. But all he wants is to go somewhere safe so he can curl up and cry, then sleep for three days before he pretends to be a normal human again. Ideally, he’d stay with Duke until he felt safe again, but he doesn’t want to take Duke away from the city that needs him.

His ears perk up a bit when he hears the smooth rumble of an engine stop in front of them. A door opens with a click without Duke needing to grab the handle, and then Danny is carefully being deposited in the back seat.

“Wait,” he says, trying to grab for Duke’s arm only to have his fingers fumble and grab nothing. Duke doesn’t move away, though, and instead grabs Danny’s seeking hand. “Stay? Please? I just—” his voice shudders, cracks, fractures apart. “I just want to feel safe.”

There’s a pause, a stillness in the air, before Duke says, “Okay. I’ll stay.” And then he’s sliding into the backseat, pulling Danny in to lean against him, curl into his embrace.

“Signal,” Batman’s low, gravelly voice says. There’s something in his tone that makes Danny tense up, prepared to take off, and his transformation pushes at his skin, ready to come out.

“He knows who I am, B,” Duke replies. “He’s trustworthy. Besides, just because he knows me doesn’t mean he knows you.”

“We will be discussing this later,” Batman says, dark promise in his voice. It’s just how he talks, Danny’s sure, too used to years of making himself the scariest thing in the dark. That doesn’t change the fact that Batman can be terrifying, and Danny can’t imagine he’ll take kindly to the fact that Danny knows Duke’s identity.

Fear slithers up his spine, and he can’t stop the transformation this time. The rings of white light flash over his body in a second, leaving Phantom in his place. 

Danny lets go of his legs first, glad to be free from their aching weight, and without a body made of flesh and bone, the hurt begins to fade away until it’s just an unpleasant memory. 

“What—” Duke starts to say just as Batman says, “Signal—”

They must have some sort of silent exchange. There’s only a heavy tension in the car and the barely audible rumble of the engine as they drive towards their destination, whatever it may be. Danny sinks into Duke some more, sighing in relief as a hand comes up to card through his wispy white hair. 

“Danny,” Duke says, “What’s this?”

“It’s why they hurt me,” he mumbles against Duke’s chest. “It’s why they keep hunting me down. I want them to leave me alone. I’m tired.”

Embarrassingly, his voice cracks on the last word and more tears fall down his cheeks. He hears Duke move, and then hands, bare and gloveless, wipe his tears away with a gentleness that makes his heart ache.

“They won’t be able to hurt you again. You’ll be safe from now on, Danny, I swear it.”

“S’okay if I get hurt,” he says, “It always happens. Promise to save me if this happens again?”

“I’ll do whatever I can to make sure it doesn’t happen again. But if it does, then I promise to always save you. I gave you that panic button, didn’t I? As long as you keep it, I’ll always find you.”

“You’re a good person, Duke,” Danny says, voice falling quieter as his exhaustion catches up to him. “I’m glad I met you.”

He thinks he feels a soft touch to the top of his head. A kiss, maybe, though it’s not likely. But he wants comfort, and he’s endured a lot a pain so he allows himself to hope and be delusional. With the warm that spreads through him from Duke’s soft kiss to his head, Danny gives in to the siren call of slumber.

“Get some sleep, Danny,” Duke says, voice hushed. “I’ll stay with you as long as you need.”

I know, he doesn’t say, too tired to open his mouth again, You’re always here. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

He falls asleep easily after that. There’s nothing in the world that can hurt him while he’s in Duke’s arms. He’s never been safer.

[lulublack90]

Prompt 10 - Penpals

@wolfstarmicrofic July 10, word count 983

‘Dear Padfoot,

Wales is the most beautiful country and there are so many exciting things to do here, so why did my parents pick the most boring village to live in? It’s so dull here. I miss the chaos of our dorm room and the library. There’s a library van that comes here every two weeks, but the old duffer who drives it won’t let me take more than three books out at once. I need more than three!

How’s it going at home? You said in your last letter that your Mum caught you replacing her chinaware with nose-biting teacups. While I’d pay good money to see Walburga Black with a teacup stuck on the end of her nose, Sirius, we talked about this. Please keep your head down, we both know she doesn’t mess around. If you can’t go the next few weeks without causing some mayhem, please, keep it to your room. Maybe use that extra strong spellotape I gave you for Easter?

Don’t be a dick.

Moony.’

‘Dearest Moony,

Please find enclosed a photograph of one Walburga Black with a teacup attached to the end of her nose. Free of charge, I might add. You can keep your good money, this one’s on me. 

Sorry it’s taken me so long to reply, but I think you can guess why. It was totally worth it though. 

Your idea to use the spellotape you gave me was genius, Moony! I stuck all of Regulus’s bedroom furniture to his ceiling, it took them all night to get it down. Regulus took my bed while Kreacher worked on his room. But I just got in with him. He was not impressed. This house has ten bedrooms. I don’t know why he didn’t just use one of them. 

Prongs sent me some frogspawn soap, and I’m going to put it in my father's bathroom. Not pranked him for a while, I bet he’s missing it! 

I’ve sent you some of the lesser dark arts books from our library. Maybe don’t let Hope touch them, as I’m not sure if there are any antimuggle curses on them or not. Knowing my family there probably is. 

Love ya Moons,

Pads X.’

‘Dear Sirius,

I swear you get some sick thrill from being punished. WHY WOULD YOU PUSH HER!!! Although the picture is my new favourite thing. I got it framed, and it is now on my bedside table. It’s the last thing I see at night. 

Thanks for the books. I’ve hidden them from Mum just in case. They’re really interesting. Do you know that not all dark magic is bad, and it’s just a few idiots that gave it a bad name? According to this book, light and dark magic users used to live harmoniously until a dark wizard took it too far, and dark wizards have had a bad name ever since. It’s fascinating. Please send more if you can. I finished them far too quickly.

Sirius, please stop pranking your parents. Remember what happened last summer? Do you want a repeat of that? You can pull off a lot of looks, but a shiny bald head is not one of them. So knock it off, or they’ll send you back with hair like Snivellus!

There are three weeks left, Sirius, please, please, please stay out of trouble. 

Love you too,

Remus x.’ 

‘My sweetest, most handsome Remus,

It is not in my nature to behave. I am a natural prankster and I go into withdrawal if I don’t prank at least once a day. You know that!    

I’ve sent as many books as mine and Reggie’s owls could carry between them. Reg is going to kill me, but it’s for a good cause. He’s actually been alright with me this last week. We’ve been hanging out in the library together while I’ve been looking for new books to send you. We haven’t spent this much good time together since I went to Hogwarts. 

That’s what I’ve been telling you for years, it’s only pricks like Bellatrix that give dark wizards a bad name. But oh well, what can you do?

The weirdest thing happened, Remus. Father finally used the soap I swapped out in his bathroom and he laughed. I didn’t think Orion Black was capable of such things. It's unnerving. 

I will admit that I’ve taken to committing small pranks in lieu of bigger ones. I drew moustaches on all the portraits the other night while they were sleeping and so far no one has noticed. It’s been three days, Moony! 

I can’t wait for the summer to be over. I have a whole notebook filled with pranks for next year. Plus, I really need to stretch my legs if you know what I mean. These paws of mine are itching for a run. How about yours?

Love you 

Sirius XXX

P.S. How dare you, I totally pulled off the bald look! Mary did an excellent job of painting that lion on the back of it for our first Quidditch match!’

‘To the biggest pain in my arse,

Sirius, you are such a pest. STOP PRANKING!!! We can get as many Slytherins as you want when we get back to school. Hell, we can start on the train if you need to prank that badly. Thank Regulus for the use of his owl. I’ve nearly finished all the books you sent again. I just can’t put them down. Hogwarts should have some of these in the library. I’ve clearly been missing out on a fully-rounded education. 

Not much to report here. I baked a cake with Mum, and we ate most of it before Dad got home from work.

We have a run the first week back, so not long to wait. 

I miss you,

Remus X.’ 

‘Remus,

I can’t wait.

Miss you more than you know

Yours forever

Sirius XXX.’

[ravenwriter16]

Star's Don't Shine They Burn, Info!

I wanted to post about each of the MAIN characters in my fic! SOOOOOOOOOOO, HERE WE GO!

Y/n:

YOU are THE main character of my fic. I won't get too deep into your past (Spoilers) but what you should know is that you are a Mage, you had a crappy childhood before being found by the three Automatrons, and a MAJOR incident caused you to finally run away from your Royal Life with Sun, Moon, and Eclipse.

You ran away, caught a one-way boat out of the capital, and hitchhiked a wagon. There you meet a 'Straight-to-the-point' Ogre, who lets you stay with him for a price.

There you learn all kinds of new skills, skills that don't require magic. For eight years you live a peaceful life, taking over the land while the Ogre-Ivan-went off to travel the world.

You also have a stutter that only comes out when you're very scared or uncertain of something.

Sun:

Sir Sun is your (ex) Dad. He's one of the three emperors that rule over the land.

He can wield Mana, just like his two husbands can. He mostly uses it as during combat, either as a defense or an offense.

Sun is the leader of the Celestial Guard, an order of Knights he founded when he was crowned emperor.

He LOVES to do arts & crafts with you. As well as teach you how to use a sword, how to size up an opponent, and how to use your wits during a battle. He also encouraged you to be adventurous and would often get you both in trouble

He was the one who lead out scouting missions himself to find you when you ran away. He's also the one who finally tracked you down after meeting with an informant

Some things he would say: "Out a bit more elbow grease into your swing, Bunny! There you go! Look at you! A born natural!" "You're doing great! Just DON"T LOOK DOWN!...AND DON"T TELL YOUR PAPA OR FATHER!!" "It'll all be okay in the end, sweetie...Someday you'll see..."

Moon:

Mage Moon is your (ex) Papa. He's also one of the three emperors.

His mana is more potent than Sun's and his knowledge of the Mystical is second to none.

Moon is the Head Mage of the Academy of Mana, where he also leads an elite group of mages called the Order of Lunara. All mages that serve in the order are trained by him personally.

He was the one who found you in the first place, sensing an unknown and unheard-of power in you (Which I will explain in later chapters). After a few more trips to your run down home, he decided to take you to the palace, were you met Eclipse and Sun.

Moon was also the one who taught you to read and write, as well as how to control your Mana and cast simple spells, such as creating a small flame, or making something levitate.

When you ran away, he locked himself in his study, trying all kinds of spells and runes to see if he could find you or any trace of your Mana from any complicated spells you might have used.

Some things he would say: "The pen is mightier than the sword...But a Mana infused Stone Golem trumps any pen you use." "Shh, it was only a nightmare, Starlight. I'm here and I'll never let any nightmare touch you again. I swear." "The pain is only temporary...Know that this hurts me more than it hurts you...It'll be okay...just a few more minutes..."

Eclipse:

Alright...This Automatron...is basically the one in charge of the WHOLE empire. He's the main emperor because he does ALL the Royal stuff. He doesn't have an order he teaches or guards he trains.

He just does all the paperwork and goes to meetings and such and such.

His Mana is WAY more potent than his husbands. And his knowledge on the dark arts is astounding. In his free time, he even does small experiments, jotting down results in one of his many journals.

He instantly fell in love with you when your first met. After that he immediately called you his heir and gave you everything and anything you could need and desire.

You would mostly spend your days with him, since Sun and Moon were busy with other people and Eclipse was bored with paperwork.

You both would have tea together, go shopping in the city market, settle down in the library and practice your reading. You would learn everything there is to know about being a princess and he even taught you how to dance and play instruments.

When you ran away, he went...well MAD. He searched for you high and low, paranoid that someone would know where you went, or was keeping you prisoner. He would imprison and torture anyone who he thought was keeping you from him.

Multiple times Sun and Moon had to calm him down when he took thing sway too far. Like attacking a visiting royal for no reason.

He was fuming by the fact that he couldn't go out there and search for you himself, but his husbands convinced him to stay and run the Empire.

Some things he would say: "One, two, three. One, two, three. Excellent work Starfire! At this rate you'll be the best dancer in the entire Empire! HaHa!" "I know, I know. I'm sorry I can't play with you right now, love. But I have to look over these reports...hm...Why don't you sit down at the piano over there and play me one of your songs?" "I. Regret. NOTHING! Everything I have done; I have done for YOU!" That's enough of my info dumping! Hope you've enjoyed!

[stevengrantshubby]

another hexquad au kinda thing.

~ x ~

vampire!viktor: so hes a vampire, but a vampire like they exist in the movie afflicted, so think about his vampirism as a different kind of disease that he has to manage and work around. yes he does get...the standard vampire powers in terms of strength and speed. but also all of the weaknesses like sun burns him and bloodlust. but he is immortal. he can die but his body will heal itself, typically in a kind of bloodlust state that can be super super dangerous for humans around him. and he has to drink human blood, animal blood will not work.

ghost!sky young: listen, i flopped back and forth between sky being a zombie right, or a ghost but one where she is in a middle stage where shes getting sucked into the hexcore and her "astral plane self". zombie!sky would be different enough and ghost!sky may be too close to canon. but zombie!sky would lose too much of canon!sky i think. so im going with ghost!sky (maybe ghoul!sky but idk what a ghoul is really) but a between hexcore and astral plane kinda ghost.

werewolf!jayce talis: im so basic, im sorry. but i think this is a good fit, especially for the jayce that comes back from the hex anomaly or whatever it was. now when im talking about werewolves i do mean the kind that dont have full control once they transform. but jayce is still in there. im mostly going with jayce right after he comes back from the anomaly where he's got all those...breaks in reality, where his face pulls apart for a second before coming back. but that's what i think about when im talking about werewolf!jayce.

fae!mel medarda: mel gave me the most trouble! because of her light motif i was thinking about a phoenix or her, since she was...in a way reborn in the show, but that also felt...weird whenever i thought about it. then i thought about angel!mel and...eh. i dont hate it, but also felt outta step yknow? so ive settled on fae!mel. now im making a difference between fae, an otherworldly and ethereal being, and fairy, the tiny winged being, tho tiny!mel would be a dream. so, i leaning toward fae!mel with all her otherworldly and ethereal beauty and magic. i still feeling weird because mel is a magic user in canon, but...eh, i think it fits her. plus thinking about her in these kind of flowly robes? i dunno.

~ x ~

anyways maybe art later!!

[sakuraluna01]

Headcanons

now normally i'd sit here and say i've been working diligently on chapter 3 but honestly I haven't been able to sleep properly in 4 days and i'm really tired so no lmao

so instead imma do smth easier and shares sm of my hcs for the already debuted blorbos + twilight

i'm also detailing stuff about their kits again inspired by how hsr works

Time

He has no clue what he's doing, he hasn't been on an adventure in years and he hasn't traveled with other people like this so he's out of his depth

He always knows what time it is even if he's only been awake for 5 seconds

He's a heavy sleeper if he's in a house or inn, but if he's in an outdoor camp he has a lil more trouble settling down.

He has a resting bitch face plus he's old and stuff so the other links assume he's a wise old man, but nope, hes still a gremlin lil shit and a clueless dumbass most of the time, wars is the only one who sees that lol

As Mask he was a pretty angry teen, bitter at the world for everything that happened to him and those around him, he still has problems with his temper, but he's better at controlling it, Malon helped

Kit details: imaginary, his ult gives him a power up for a certain duration based on your trace lvls, hint hint, its basically fierce deity mode

Sky

he gets motion sick a lot (this is just me projecting ngl)

incredibly heavy sleeper, will only wake up after the sun is long up. even when he wakes up he's not fully awake until he's eaten something

He is the most self care conscious of the bunch, especially with other people. hes an empathetic person, if someone else he cares about is in pain he is too and he wants to whatever he can to help them feel better

Skys like the mom from little women, angry all the time but rarely shows it in front of the people he cares about, but he will fully blow up at anyone who dares harm them

Kit details: He's an ice element. he has shit stamina but he can land multiple strikes at once, an AOE hit. the stamina cost is big for both his skill and ult

Twilight

Twilights built different, he's strong physically without the help of artifacts or magic.

people think sky gives the best hugs and he does give good hugs but twilights the best

Twiight cant look like a kicked puppy on purpose but unintentionally has the best puppy eyes, he just can't use them at the right time aka when he needs it XD

He's a big sweetie, big brother energy, very good with kids but he has temperment issues, rather hot headed that one. comes with being related to time i suppose

Kit details: I gave him the quantum element in hsr, imo it was the closest to twili magic i could get. but the only time he's able APPLY quantum is during his ult, which in the concept art i did has him turn into a wolf

He interacts with magic the least of the chain. I was debating giving him phys dmg instead of quantum? but i needed to incorporate the wolf in his kit smhow. however he doesn't apply quantum dmg with any of his attacks, cept his ult

any questions or clarifications can be asked in my ask box

An AU spinoff based off of Jojo’s Linked Universe at @/linkeduniverse and Nintendos Legend of Zelda, inspired by Honkai Star Rail

[dreamingmantis]

So here are some of my imaginings of what could have happened with human star. This isn’t a full rewrite (in case it seems choppy), just me rambling about many of the ideas I had. Though, I may write some of these. But please, ask or talk to me about it. It's so much fun to imagine. This is a long post, so I've put the rest under the cut. ✨

Some people have mentioned Star being mute. I’m not sure if they are actually referencing the star we got in the movie, so I’m just going to say that his voice is the last thing he finds in his humanoid form, and that he does in fact, mime things. If he talks, it's very little.

I want to know more about Asha’s father and her relationship with him. He seemed to be some sort of philosopher or astronomer. He drew maps, and he always recognized a certain star that only appeared at certain times of the year, right above the castle, and moved in an arc over it with the Earth's rotation. He called it the wishing star. You know, the star. He had a powerful wish too—one that he gave to King Magnifico before he tragically passed. But, he doesn't have full control over the wishes... yet. The wishes of those who have passed ascend to the stars, where they hold them safe.

Perhaps she's already known about his evil intent, even though no one else does. I'd also like to see more of Asha's flaws. If she's caring or people pleasing to a fault, I almost want to see it cause a problem. Maybe she accidentally impedes on something important and completely messes it up, possibly even the wish ceremony in an attempt to get her grandpa's wish granted (to inspire future generations). It would give more impact before she runs into the woods and sings This Wish. (just please don't say "throw caution to every warning sign" cause... what?)

Do you know the concept art of when Star first comes down to Earth? I think after Star's light envelopes the island, he would awaken in the forest, confused as to why he is so far from home. Asha finds him, and of course, is equally confused. He sees her and slowly realizes that she is the one who called him down and that he's on Earth.

I would want to see lots of shapeshifting here. There could be a song as he slowly gives his magic to the trees and the animals that explains who exactly he is, and by extension, how the galaxies, planets, and life are formed. He personally knows many of the stars we know about (you know, like Spica or Arcturus). In fact, when she tells him about her seven friends, he is reminded of seven stars he knows deeply, the Pleiades (his guiding constellation). She knows about them because her father showed her.

I think that concept would also give more depth and lore to King Magnifico’s sorcery. What he keeps in his room are akin to chemistry experiments, if you will, so it’s clear that he practices some sort of alchemy. He could have only retrieved magic like this from the cosmos, possibly the life force of the stars. She asks him if he can grant her grandfather’s wish. He shakes his head or signals. He can't. And of course, he doesn’t know or have the wish. King Magnifico is in possession of it.

Imagine they fly, like a Peter Pan-esque way (or maybe in the end, because they have to stay hidden). I want her to talk more about her father. Maybe he has an observatory. If the stars need to align a certain way for Magnifico to perform an ultimate spell, one of the keys to stopping him would be there.

He's still naive to exactly what's going on, yet he imparts wisdom, almost by accident, that make Asha realize. Since he isn't fully familiar with humans and their world, he probably messes with some items he sees and definitely knocks some things over. (I don’t know why but I imagined him hiding inside a jar.) But he's so fascinated by the smallest things in the world. Asha doesn't want him to be seen because she knows they'll be in deep trouble, but what if Star runs off out of curiosity and impresses a small crowd of people with his magic tricks. But of course, someone goes to pass along the word and soon enough, it'll reach Magnifico. I'm sure he wants to meet her friends too, but she has to try to hide him as she interacts with them and maneuvers her way up the castle.

I want the idea of humans being like stars of our own to slowly come to light over the story rather than in one song. Star can see all the wishes in people’s hearts, like the cores of stars. He can see each person for who they truly are at the core of their beings, in their purest forms. He wants to show her at some point, so, he takes her hands. And he feels a profound love for the first time. He feels the love she has in her heart for her family and her. For the first time, he can see where the wishes he hears come from, because...

After everything, Asha and Star finally reach the castle and find all the wishes. Star instantly recognizes their forms. And here, Asha finally sees the wishes of her family—her mother, her grandfather. But one is missing. Some people have died never knowing their wishes they gave to King Magnifico. Star has seen and held them before, because the wishes of those who have passed ascend to the stars, where they hold them safe. That includes Asha’s late father’s. And Star is the one holding it safe. So, he reaches deep within himself and pulls it out. She hold it in her hands, and it breaks her heart. His wish was for all people to know that in a world of matter who they are, their dreams are within reach. They shouldn't ever stop looking up because someone told them they can't. If they're going to sing At All Costs with the original words, this is when it would be. It would be so profoundly magical, like an I See The Light kind of moment. Their love for these precious wishes and for each other. Imagine, Asha’s holding her father’s dream in her arms, and very carefully, she passes it back to Star for safekeeping, yet at the same time, they’re holding each other.

Imagine, just imagine, that he was the star on her father's map.

Magnifico still ultimately wants to capture Star and keep him inside his staff forever so he can dictate the world. And Star holds some of the wishes of the passed? That’s even better for his quest for power. In fact, he aims to become so powerful that he can pull the wishes down from the heavens. He could extend his power into the cosmos. And if Asha made a mistake earlier in the film, people would be much more likely to believe him at first when declares Asha a traitor and lies that she's the one who destroyed their wishes. Also, he needs a bit more epic of a villain song.

I think they would be forced into hiding. Asha's friends are there and they still sing Knowing What I Know Now complete with some Star shapeshifting.

Her friends hadn't showed up as promised. Perhaps Magnifico had put an end to their uprising. Either way, Asha and Star confront him. Star is the last person she has by her side, and with a few words of his spell, he sucks him into his staff. He finally has the power he's craved. He can pull the wishes down from the heavens and crush them. She is alone when he commands the clouds to cover the stars and says his line of “There will be no more hope" (I don't remember the exact wording). She looks out to see the kingdom in hiding, wondering if her friends are really there like they said they would be. It's dark and storming, and she's so alone in the moment that it seems that Magnifico has already won. There are no stars in sight. Yet, she remembers how Star showed her that each person is made of everything that comes from the stars. So she begins to sing: So I look out to the stars just like me.

It turns out, her friends are there. They show up right when she needs them most and begin to sing with her, their hearts alight like the cores of stars. It's not enough. But the kingdom sees hope, and that's when they begin to come out. I mean from across the island, from their homes. He still casts a spell, and while weighed down, they still sing. That way, Magnifico's "mirror mirror" sequence could also extend across the whole island.

And Star breaks free. He ascends, high, and the wishes Magnifico attempted to pull down to Earth are let free. And when the clouds dissipate, he's sucked into his staff and defeated.

It would honest be funny if Star plummeted just to appear over the balcony and surprise her. And then... this is when they kiss.

So, she reunited with her loved ones as was in the ending, and of course, he must return to the heavens soon. (And be the guiding star). Asha loves him, but she loves her friends and family too, and her kingdom needs her. So, he bestows a new gift on her that she's worthy of. She would become the first fairy godmother and have the ability to commune with the stars. She can go between the heavens and Earth. She would have a dress transformation that would be reminiscent of the one in Cinderella. Sabino also begins to pluck his lute and play When You Wish Upon a Star in the end. When Star does return home, maybe, he leaps like a shooting star over the castle. Get it?

I appreciate that the setting alludes to the various cultures of it's inhabitants from around the Mediterranean region (I would love if even more variety was shown as a Mediterranean person myself), but I really want more of Asha's specific cultural background to be portrayed. I'm trying to think exactly what role Queen Amaya would have in the narrative. I've heard her and Magnifico were supposed to be the first villain couple which sounds so cool! I'm trying to imagine how exactly the dynamic would be there. If you have any ideas then lmk. ^^

[sebastianswallows]

It's not like any other love | S.S. | Part 5

— PAIRING: dark!Sebastian Sallow x F!MC

— SYNOPSIS: Sebastian finally gets what he wants, although not in the way in which he expected to. A sacrifice is made, and it's MC making it for him. The Avada Kedavra part of the story.

— WARNINGS: Nothing, unless you count the murder

— WORDCOUNT: 4k

— A/N: Here it is, the final chapter. Thank you for sticking with me to the end, my dears! This one is admittedly very rushed, so I’m sorry about that. I was a bit over-eager to end this story, and I went through a few versions of it in my head (who casts AK, and on whom; some endings were sadder than others). I hope you can find some enjoyment in it anyway 💚

Winter settled all around them. The warm autumn afternoons were long gone and the days grew shorter, the nights longer, and throughout it, Sebastian was as troubled as ever — about his sister, about Ominis, about their friend…

He couldn’t forget the look Ominis gave him as they got out of their beds that morning after his heated dream. When the Gaunt boy realised Sebastian was awake and had gotten up from his bed, Ominis blushed to the tips of his ears, threw a scathing narrowing of the eyes in his direction, and promptly turned away. He avoided him at breakfast too, and it wasn’t until the next afternoon that he spoke to Sebastian again. Feeling guilty, Sebastian didn’t speak to him either, nor to anyone else that day. He felt as if his embarrassing lusts from the night before were dragged behind him like a shadow, however irrational this may have been. And while everyone else might not have known in truth, he was certain Ominis did, somehow. Perhaps he had just been pretending to sleep, or perhaps heard something… His hearing was especially sharp, and the more Sebastian thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

But there was nothing to do about it anymore. If Ominis knew, he knew. And if the girl knew… Well, how could she? Unless she remembered what he made her do while under Imperio.

In between working on homework for Defence Against the Dark Arts, Sebastian leafed through books on Unforgivable Curses and tried to find out how likely it was for Imperio victims to remember what they did. There seemed to be no definitive answer, and it rather varied from person to person. It was an issue which was bound to be confounded — or so said the consensus from magical researchers — by victims who were so ashamed of what they had done that they merely pretended not to remember.

Was that what happened with her? Was she so ashamed? She never sat next to him during classes anymore, and avoided his eyes on most days — although when Sebastian managed to catch her gaze, she always smiled sweetly, bashfully at him. He gave her some time, gave himself some time, and ceased all contact for a while. It gave him the chance to focus on his research into the relic.

To his surprise, it was Ominis who brought her up again.

“Have you two had a fight?” he asked one evening while they were reading by the fireplace.

“Who?”

“You know who.”

Sebastian kept quiet and turned back to his book, already feeling blood blooming in his cheeks and his throat constricting.

“Well?” asked Ominis again. Clearly, he was in one of his more relentless moods that night.

“No, we haven’t,” Sebastian snapped. “Everything’s fine. Why?”

“Just asking,” hummed Ominis, sounding not very convinced. “She’s not upset with you, is she?”

Sebastian gave a trembling sigh that tried to hide his fear but managed only to reveal it. “Why would she be upset with me?”

“I can think of a number of reasons,” Ominis smirked. “I’m sure you can, too.”

“Leave it be, Ominis,” he grumbled. “I’m not in the mood.”

His friend looked like he was about to say something, but took pity on him at the last moment.

Sebastian saw them again throughout the following days: Ominis and her, talking in the corridors, spending time by the windows of the great lake, leaving breakfast together… What they talked about in their little whispers, he could not grasp, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to.

The only thing that could distract him from his misery was research into the relic, and he was rewarded with a breakthrough in November. His first thought was to reach out to his friend again. She did like her adventures outside of the castle, and this was an excuse to steal some of her time for himself.

“If it’s in this catacomb, I have to find it,” he said as they stood outside, cold air billowing their school robes.

“I’m ready,” she said with calm resolution.

“By the way, Ominis has been asking about you. You didn’t tell him what we were doing, did you?”

“I didn’t, I promise,” she said immediately.

He couldn’t tell if she was lying. Well, if Ominis had known, he’d probably have had a hard time keeping it to himself — for all of his decorum, the Gaunt boy could hardly hide his feelings... But Sebastian didn’t trust them yet, either of them. In fact, the more he studied Slytherin’s notes, the more his suspicions grew concerning his dealings with his friends, as well as their dealings with each other. It was as if a subtle curse was cast over his mind, but Sebastian was certain that once they’d find the relic and put it to use, and Anne was well again, he could leave all this behind and everything could go back to how it was.

“Good. Ominis would be livid if he knew what we were about to do,” he warned.

The catacomb was crawling with spiders, a maze of dusty old bones and slippery slopes and puzzles, haunted at every step by strange noises that echoed from the most unexpected angles, but together, they could reach the end. It was remarkably easy with a few simple spells, and he wondered whether this would have been considered more advanced in the time of Slytherin’s student.

All thoughts melted from Sebastian’s mind, however, once they finally found the relic. He felt as if his heart could leap in his chest, and his friend beside him seemed as convinced as he was that they should take the relic. They looked at each other and agreed, and he felt like he could kiss her, really kiss her…

But they hardly touched the item when they heard someone entering the chamber behind them. The green school robes and tallow hair and red echo of the wand revealed it to be Ominis.

“I’m sorry, Ominis, but I’m taking it,” said Sebastian.

“If you won’t put it back, then I will,” he said.

“Hold on, both of you. Sebastian, please, take a step back.”

“Fine. But Ominis knows, I won’t step back from a fight.”

“Can’t believe this…” the boy sighed.

Sebastian paced along the far wall of the catacomb, so close to his goal, and so close to losing it. He watched his two friends discuss it, catching only fragments of their conversation… It was so like how it used to be when he and Ominis were causing trouble with Anne all over Hogwarts, and yet it was so different now without her. He didn’t wish to fight his oldest friend, but he wasn’t sure he could hold himself back from it if it came to that…

Fortunately, it didn’t.

The girl came back, triumphant if a little fearful, while behind her Ominis paced just as restlessly but defeated, standing back to let them pass.

“What happened back there?” said Sebastian as they made their way out, too shocked to be grateful yet.

“Ominis and I found a compromise.”

He had expected anything else: threats, blackmail, even for her to use Imperio, but not for the boy to fold so quickly. Sebastian was struck at first by envy of the sway she held over his other friend, of the care she must have felt for him to solve this peacefully at any cost, and then the usual suspicions reared their myriad heads of what was going on between the two that he didn’t know about.

“Ominis simply needs a moment with you and he’ll change his mind. Is that it?” said Sebastian with a bite as they ran together out of the catacomb.

“I told him we ought to give you this chance — that the relic is too important to ignore.”

“There has to be more to it than that. Tell me.”

She looked at him and her eyes hid nothing — not her hurt at his suspicion, not the joy that they had made off with the relic, not the spark of affection that was like a reflection of his own.

“We agreed on what was needed, Sebastian. You have my word.”

“How can I know you’re telling the truth?” he frowned. “I can never tell when you’re lying to me…”

“I’m not hiding anything from you,” she insisted, slowing down in their trek up through the tunnels as she held his gaze. “I’ve meant everything I’ve ever said to you, Sebastian.”

Her words circled through his mind the whole way to Feldcroft, and he found himself returning to them for a hidden meaning he sensed in them. That was put aside after they saw smoke coming from the little hamlet, and goblins attacking Anne and Uncle Solomon.

He didn’t regret what he did to protect her, and with his friend by his side, he felt all the more justified in fighting back, but his Uncle didn’t see it that way. A useless coward that couldn’t even protect his niece, couldn’t even protect himself…

And then, Sebastian was banished.

Days trailed by feverishly as he used all his spare time to cross-reference the student’s notes about the relic with books from the forbidden section of the library, and the closer he got to an answer, the more unhappy he was with it: while the relic promised not just a reversal but a complete control of the curse, it would only work back in the catacombs.

Sebastian wasted nights away trying to piece everything together in his head, from the nature of the relic and the sacrifice it required to the injustice of his uncle, Anne’s resentment, and the precarious friendship he found himself in with Ominis and the girl…

Then, an idea slipped into his mind without him even realising he had thought of it again — what she said in the catacomb, about her having meant everything she’d ever said to him… Was that her way of talking about what she did while under Imperio? The things she’d said to him, under his command…? It struck him like a knife in the heart, but of a most pleasurable kind — a sudden and piercing infatuation with her all over again, one that he could never hope to extract and live beyond it.

But what if that wasn’t what she meant? What if it was just another of his dreams, like so many wishful imaginings at night, a growth on the surface of a malignant fantasy…? He wished he didn’t have to wonder.

Sebastian had little time to waste in wondering, however. That could come later. Before Solomon took Anne away to some miserable place far away from him, he had to act fast, and neither Anne nor Ominis seemed keen to help. He realised only once he was deep in the catacomb, surrounded by Inferi, that he should have asked her to join him all along. She could help control the living dead while he transferred the curse from Anne to one of them, as the dark sacrifice demanded. He was so close to curing Anne forever, and all his research was ready to pay off, he just needed Anne to stay with him a little longer…

And just as he was thinking of her again, after days of not seeing her, there she was.

“Sebastian!”

“I told you. The relic is the answer. I’ve been trying to reverse the dark magic that injured Anne, but this will allow me to control it. Just as I can control the Inferi…”

“Control…? I had to fight Inferi —”

She wasn’t halfway done with her reproach when Uncle Solomon arrived, as ill-tempered as a December wind and more furious than Sebastian had ever seen him. The old man’s fear from the day when he cowered, surrounded by smoke and goblins, was gone now. He took one look at the scene around him and hardly stopped to think before he summoned the relic straight out of Sebastian’s hand. Then, with a careless flick of his wand, it disappeared forever.

“No… The relic!”

Sebastian’s body barely caught up with his mind, but by the time it did, it was too late. Another hope for Anne, the last hope he had, vanished before his eyes. The Inferi around them, released from their trance, trained their icy eyes on the three of them immediately, but Sebastian was resolute now. If it was the last thing he did, he would make Solomon pay.

All of his silly duelling practices, all those late nights in the Undercroft, all the books he’d read on dark magic, everything gained a new meaning and purpose and Sebastian focused it on him. His father’s resentful brother, the failure of their family, not good enough to be an Auror, not good enough to be a father, and certainly the worst Uncle he and Anne could have. The man that gave his parents’ death a dual tragedy after it landed the lives of him and his twin in his hands… Sebastian blasted curse after curse at him, and meant every one. He could perform several wordlessly, the spells flying out of his wand as if it were part of his body, an extension of his mind, a channel for his pure desire for revenge.

The Inferi were drawing closer, and his friend did her best to keep them at bay. Sebastian had to fight them off if he hoped to finish that battle, all while dodging curses from Solomon.

Eventually, the battle turned. Encircled by Inferi, Sebastian blasted fire spells at them, and among the scent of dead burning flesh and their high screams, he heard the girl call for his name. She probably couldn’t see him anymore. Distantly he heard Solomon’s angry shouts as well, the same meaningless arrogant chastisement he had learned to ignore, and which today he hoped to shut up forever.

“Crucio!” a high voice called. It was the girl who cast it. With a dull thud and the cracking of bones, his Uncle fell to the ground, his grumbles replaced by harrowed screaming.

By the time Sebastian cleared out the Inferi around him, the girl was standing over Solomon, wand pointed at him, ready to cast it again. She seemed to lose focus of everything around her, her anger of a singular direction the sort of which he’d rarely seen from her.

“Bring back the relic!” she cried to the body of Solomon, huddling in pain. “Now!”

But it was no use, the man was senseless under the curse.

“Use Imperio!” Sebastian called out to her before he had to train his wand again at the Inferi and clear them out from around her.

He had never seen her use Crucio before. That day in the Scriptorium, she’d insisted he use it on her. Before today, he hadn’t thought her capable of it… So he was equally as surprised to see her cast Imperio as well on his uncle.

The old man rose to his feet, slowly, his body sapless under her spell. Even from where he stood, Sebastian could see her wand hand trembling, although he couldn’t say whether it was from fear or something else…

“Confringo!” yelled Sebastian, burning away the last of the Inferi as he made his way to her.

“Bring back the relic,” she ordered in a slow, steady voice.

And sure enough, Solomon raised his wand, presented his hand, but nothing materialised in it.

“You made it disappear, now bring it back!” she cried.

“It’s no use,” said Sebastian with a heartbroken realisation. “He didn’t just use the Vanishing spell. I think he… I think he broke it apart. I think it’s gone forever.”

“Is that what you did?” she asked the man.

“Yes,” said Solomon roughly. “You will never see it again.”

The girl’s shoulders fell, hopeless and tired, and she turned to Sebastian with a sorry look in her eyes. For his part, he felt an anger that was so still and boundless he thought he would never see the end of it, like a sarcophagus cast over his mind.

“I want him dead,” he said out loud. “I want him dead…”

“Sebastian,” she whispered tearfully. “You can’t, it’s… He’s your uncle.”

“And I’m his nephew, and he was ready to kill me. He was ready to kill you too, you saw him! If you hadn’t protected yourself, he would have hexed you to death countless times today.”

“I know, but…”

“And he’s doomed Anne, and I… I don’t know what to do anymore. I don’t know what to do other than kill him.”

“But how will Anne feel about it?”

“And what about how I feel about it?” he asked before he could think, hands trembling with fury, wand crackling with unspoken spells in his grip. “Because of him, my sister will never heal, and I have wasted everything I had trying to help her, and now he tried to kill you and me, and… and…”

He didn’t trust himself to speak, and he didn’t like to say it again, but he wished with everything he had that Solomon had never entered their lives. The only way to fix what happened, and it was hardly a fix at all, was to get rid of him, forever.

Sebastian raised his wand, looking straight at his uncle. He avoided the pleading eyes of the girl beside him, so small and quiet now that the catacomb chamber was dead all around them. He didn’t wish to see her eyes again and the fear, the disappointment in them. A part of Sebastian knew that he would regret what he was about to do, but there was time for that later. He could not live with himself if he let Solomon free from that place.

“Avada Kedavra!”

Before Sebastian could speak the curse that took his uncle’s life, another voice rang out. The girl had cast it herself. It was the third Unforgivable Curse she had cast that day.

The fat old corpse crumpled before them, and Sebastian turned to her in terror and awe. Her wand clattered on the ground and she covered her mouth with her hands, stuck in a breathless gasp.

“What did you do?” asked Sebastian with wonder.

“He’s dead?” she asked weakly.

“Yes, he’s — how did you know the curse?!”

“I learned it on my own. I convinced Ominis to show me some of the books you’ve read, I thought it would be useful, but… Oh Sebastian, you’re not angry with me?” she asked as she began to cry.

“No!” he said quickly as he took two large steps toward her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. “Not at all, but why would you—?”

“I didn’t want you to do it,” she sobbed into his shoulder. “I couldn’t let you be the one to do it. I hated him for what he did to you, I wanted to punish him, I— I wanted him gone.”

“He’s gone now,” he whispered, cupping her head while he looked at the corpse beside them. The girl’s arms encircled him and held on to him tightly.

He never would have guessed that she could do it, that she, who could not even cast Imperio on him, would kill for him, had killed for him… Sebastian did not know what to think anymore.

“Why would you do that for me?” he whispered as he held her. The girl said nothing as she buried her sobs into his neck. Gingerly, he cupped her cheek and pulled her back to look into her eyes. “Why would you do that for me?” he asked again.

“I love you,” she said as if it explained everything — and it did.

Sebastian only realised that he was smiling when she smiled back, red-rimmed tearful eyes crinkling with unexpected joy. He pulled her face toward him, kissed her dry and salty lips, and said what he had long wanted to say.

“I love you too.”

They laughed madly together, giggles echoing throughout the catacombs strewn with bones and corpses — but his mind was far away from all of that, and he could tell hers was too.

“For the longest time, I thought you didn’t,” said Sebastian. “I mean, I wasn’t sure how you felt about me, but…”

“I did,” she nodded. “Love you. For quite a while now.”

“Since when?”

“I suppose since you protected me in the library,” she grinned.

Sebastian chuckled. “I’ve loved you longer, then. Ever since you first beat me in a duel.”

She laughed and shook her head at him, but finally looked at him with the adoration he’d only seen from her in his dreams, an open and vulnerable look that he could feel swallowing him whole, drinking him in, taking him somewhere deep inside her where he could rest. He thought he looked the same way at her…

“Sebastian” she winced, “what are we going to do about— ?”

“The corpse?”

“Ominis said he was going to inform Professor Black that you were here and that you had a family feud of some sort. They could arrive at any minute.”

“Is that why Solomon was here?”

“No, Anne had gone to tell him.”

“Oh Anne,” he groaned.

“We have to do something. Can we… can we…”

Sebastian looked down at the body. It had some signs of combat from when the three of them had fought, but any examination would reveal none of them to have been fatal. That would doubtlessly cause suspicion, and the suspicion would fall on them.

“Here’s what we’ll do.”

They climbed up to a higher ledge from where they could see the whole chamber, and with repeated spells bombarded the ceiling until it gave way and collapsed. Heavy stones fell on Uncle Solomon’s corpse until they could hardly see it. A trickle of blood muddied the earth beneath him, still warm. It would have to do.

“We’ll say he came to find us and we had to fight the Inferi together, but there were too many and he told us to escape. The spells he used caused a tragic cave-in, and he heroically saved Feldcroft from attack by any escaped Inferi.”

“Do you think they’ll believe us?” she asked, arms wrapped around herself in a tight hug. The room was dark and filled with dust as the fallen rocks settled in the room before them.

“It will be the most convenient answer for everyone. Nobody wants to think that a pair of 5th-years know the killing curse, or are capable of anything like it,” he said darkly. Then, turning toward her, Sebastian held her face in his hands and focused all of her attention on him. “You can not tell anyone what truly happened here.”

“Yes,” she nodded.

“This has to be our secret. It will be our secret for the rest of our lives and we will have to carry it together. Forever. Otherwise,” he said, taking a deep breath to gain the courage to say what followed, “otherwise I’m not sure I could protect you.”

“Yes,” she said in a small voice, the gravity of her actions sending a shiver through her whole body.

“But you don’t have to worry about anything,” he smiled. “We love each other, don’t we?”

“Yes, of course…”

“And as long as we have that, nothing bad will happen.”

She swallowed the knot in her throat as she stared into his eyes, her whole body suddenly drained of all warmth. She said nothing, but neither did she deny anything he’d just said. She could not afford to.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart. I’ll protect you. I love you,” Sebastian said, more of a whisper to himself than something meant for her to hear. The hunger that had built up inside of him all these months — for her affection, for her touch, for her sweet words and gazes and attention — finally had a hope of being satisfied. He leaned in and chastely kissed her cheek, licking the traces of dried tears from her skin. “I love you…”

[cosmiischillin]

Twilight Town: Polyphemus

The groups chaos bringer is Iris. Which I learned the name is from the part of the eye that shows the color, a flower, and the Greek Goddess of rainbows (though knowing the show, it’s probably just from the eye fact but Iris’s eye is purple like the flower so I’ll take it).

Iris is the wild card of the group. They are always active and can barely sit still. I don’t know why but I didn’t like Iris as a kid but I enjoy the design process of her for the AU. So talking about their designing will be fun!

The Insane about of Research

So fun fact. In middle school I had the biggest fixation on Greek mythology. So much so that I’d skip PE to read the mythology graphic novels in the library (I apologize to my gym teachers). While I prefer the goddesses with Artemis being my all time favorite, I had some interest in the monsters of mythology.

I wasn’t really into Cyclops but researching them and assigning the details to Iris definitely made me interested. I didn’t want Iris to be a basic cyclops from popular media (aka Leela from Futurama or even Nifty and Cherri Bomb from Hazbin Hotel) since I applied classical and folklore representation for pretty much everyone with one small exception. I learned about the classical cyclops and they were divided into two types: Polyphemus (the big barbarian muscle kinds) and Arges (the magical psychic kinds). With how reckless and adventurous Iris would be, I decided on Polyphemus.

The Polyphemus Cyclops are the most heavily seen but are more “flanderized” versions of the original from The Odyssey where Polyphemus wasn’t just a hulking beast of a man. I decided that the cyclops in Twilight Town show a lot of pride for their brute strength and durability which is why they take up jobs in which they shine best.

Designing

So I dunno what happened in the design process but when using Iris in the original source material as a basis, her design was lacking a bit. She wore near identical clothes to Ruby and even had a red color motif like her. So I decided that Iris would change from red to pink as it wasn’t used with any of the characters (probably because of the whole goth thing but alt aesthetics certainly got some pink). Her kid self looks similar but I gave her tennis shoes instead of Mary Jane’s.

I used Cherri Bomb and Nifty as references to know how I would portray expressions for a character who only had one eye. Later on Cherri ended up being one of Iris’s inspos with their punk rebel like look which fitted more to Iris being the carefree and chaotic one.

I picked on more brute fantasy art with Iris too! They have orcish ear, her sclera is more yellowish , and sharpen teeth. Her skin was inspired by Greek statues and gargoyles which is why she has all those freckles and scars.

Background and Origins

Iris was born outside of Twilight Town from a clan of cyclops. They were considered a runt due to their smaller stature compared to naturally born Cyclops. However this didn’t seem to affect her drastically. Iris found her way to the mansion due to a freak accident that blasted her there as a kid. She was too far to get back home on feet and simply settled there since they already bonded with Ruby.

She usually is the one that caused the most chaos intentionally (Misery just has uncontrollable forces for the chaos), but they always mean the best. They do alot for their friends even if it means getting into trouble. Outside of her multiple gigs, Iris does local stunts with her worm/moth type monster pet Squig.

[chameleonspell]

HTDC commentary - 29: pride

[Looking back at HTDC after nearly ten years: comments on lore, character notes, influences, art, whatever. May contain spoilers for later chapters.]

chapter text: 29: pride

In which Viatrix completes her pilgrimage, and proves that even though she's irritating, she's cooler than Iriel in every possible way.

“We are about to pass through the sacred barrier of the Ghostfence, which shields us from evil through the combined faith of thousands of souls of the honoured departed.

It's actually easy to include in-character exposition, if your characters are tedious pedants who like to lecture everyone! But yes, the final stage of the Temple pilgrimage involves a brief trip onto Red Mountain proper, which is terrifying at low levels. Especially if you get turned around in the blinding red ashstorms, and your "brief" trip turns into a panicked flailing skitter, trying to find the shrine before something horrible catches you.

The "combined faith of thousands of souls" powering the Ghostfence is another example of the Tribunal's extremely literal take on the power of faith. Though here, the souls are dead, so it's probably just the regular Tamrielic magical application of soul energy to act as a battery for something. I'm sure a Temple priest would disagree, but I don't think souls have anything as individual as faith. The faith came in when they chose to donate their souls to the Ghostfence, it's not still there afterwards. That would be like saying that because Grandma donated her body to medical science, this vaccine thinks you need to fix your hair and find a husband.

Iriel glared at her through bloodshot eyes, until the light became too painful, and he had to close them again. "You.” he said. A surge of nausea forced him to stop.

Red Mountain might be the least of Iriel's troubles. Moon sugar withdrawal was bad, but skooma withdrawal is on another level.

liKE my fucKinG SKoOma yOu SpOiLed, selF-CentrED–

I love random-capitalising "slightly unhinged" text like this, in defiance of everyone telling me it's cringe and a tacky, unprofessional writing habit. One person even threatened to stop reading the fic, if I kept doing it! Sadly, no one has yet managed to get me to stop, though I may have to, if it becomes too embedded in pop culture as "mocking spongebob voice", since that's not my intended reading. That said, picturing Iriel using that tone is making me giggle, so even that may not work to restrain me.

“Well, I’m not standing for it,” she said, planting a hand firmly on her hip.

There's a little idle animation like this that female NPCs do, in Morrowind. Clearly, they thought it was too sassy for men, with the little hip tilt. Cowards. Anyway, I'm assigning it to Viatrix specifically, because Iriel later recognises her by it, when she's wearing a full-body plague doctor outfit.

Over the course of the next hour, the force of Viatrix’s will propelled Iriel through a bath, a comb, and into a clean shirt and pants

Powerful as Viatrix's will is, there's a more powerful force at work here: authorial engineering. I need Iriel to look a little bit less dead rat, marginally more like someone who has his shit together. Fortunately, not much more, because he only has to beat Julan, a man about to undergo disassembly by Daedra.

It doesn't matter. The important thing is that we cleansed ourselves. It’s symbolic.”

You wouldn't think that this statement of Viatrix's would stick around long, in Iriel's skooma-starved brain, but here he is, quoting it to himself, months later. Bitterly and sarcastically, but still. As if she gave him an oddly-shaped piece of metal, that he never figured out what useful thing he could do with it, but he can't quite throw it away, either. Iriel feels this way a lot regarding matters of symbolism and metaphor, ways of looking at the world that simply aren't true enough for him. And yet, these weird little fictions hang around in his mind. What are they good for?

“Don’t like robes. Too magey.”

Iriel dislikes the mage label, and prefers to avoid visual signifiers, but he could still wear a robe if he wanted to - lots of other people do. He's just making up a plausible excuse for what is really no more than a personal, non-psychologically-significant dislike of having a whole ton of extra fabric all around his legs, as he moves.

Once we’re on the mountain, you could catch the Blight if you don’t take better care.

There is a crack, a crack in everything, That's how the Blight gets in.

- Dunmer Leonard Cohen.

Sorry, that wasn't fic commentary, just something I needed to get off my chest. Carry on.

“Thanks, Ma,” he muttered, but wrapped the scarf she gave him around his mouth and nose. It was made of stoneflower-blue silk, and embroidered with tiny sequins.

This scarf! If people were gonna set textual analysis essay questions about HTDC, a really good question might be: what is the symbolism of the stoneflower-blue scarf? Not because I know the answer; I don't. I just want to know what other people would write. You could absolutely invent some sort of thesis, I'm sure.

The scarf was a throwaway moment of detail that Iriel invested with way more personal significance than I expected. It'd been so long since he'd had something nice, something frivolously pretty, that suits him, and makes him feel good about himself. And, unlike the silk shirt he finds later, practical enough to wear on the regular! It became his signature clothing item in art - though opinions differ on whether the sequins are silver or gold. I can't remember if I ever specified.

“Plain and simple pilgrim fare again, I see,” he said, and took satisfaction in her expression as the barb hit its mark.

Iriel is being so spoiled with all these "valid targets", lately.

“It’s true that my clothes are expensive. When I left home, they were the only kind I had. I could have sold them and replaced them with rags, but what would that achieve? I am who I am. I see no purpose in hiding it.

And then she absolutely bodies him, in return. Just destroys him, with her whole "refusal to be ashamed of personal qualities she can't control", and "rejection of the idea that she should camouflage herself towards others, to make herself safer or more acceptable to them."

Dagoth Ur, lived in the central crater, plotting the destruction of the Tribunal, and cursing the land with his evil ash-blight.

I dreamed about you baby, it was just the other night. Most of you was naked, ah, but some of you was Blight.

- Dunmer Leonard Cohen again.

Reverently, she placed a soul gem before the shrine, and knelt before it, praying aloud. “Thank you for your pride, Lord Vivec. I shall not doubt myself, or my people, or my gods…”

Pride is one of the core Temple virtues, and Viatrix is showing Iriel why. How it's a necessary defence mechanism, when others would seek to destroy you by targeting your insecurities and your self-esteem. Obviously I'm not gonna bring in the whole real-world "gay pride" angle in the fic, that'd be cheesy as hell, but of course, it's not unrelated. Pride is refusing to let other people hate you into hating yourself.

he felt like he’d been pushed through a sieve

Still love this image. Brief but evocative.

He realised, with irritation, that his last Recall point was set right outside Arobar Manor, which was not somewhere he should risk re-materialising.

Teleportation: not narratively overpowered, provided your characters are stupid enough about it!

His reverie was shattered by something small, grey and furious

They're not the most dangerous, but ash slaves are so annoying.

he returned fire from his prone position, but only succeeded in intercepting the next attack, the two spells colliding in mid-air and detonating.

At least, they are to Iriel, because of how frustrating magical battles are in Morrowind. Spells that hit each other collide in mid-air, wasting everyone's magicka, and I always get stuck in a poor-timing cycle of never actually getting a hit in. I know, I should just fucking dodge, but I'm really bad at video games, you guys.

On the plus side: look, I'm writing a fight scene! It's brief and poorly written (too many long words bogging down sentences and ruining the pacing, fight scenes need to feel sharp and tense), but at least I'm trying!

He was almost at the tunnel when he realised he could hear screaming, but it was coming from the other side.

While this chapter doesn't have what you'd call a climactic ending, and leads straight into the next, it's technically the end of the first narrative arc. As defined in my notes, anyway. The arcs have names, and I may or may not share them with you because, intended to be seen only by me, most of the names are kinda stupid. Case in point: the first 29 chapters are labelled "Sad Elf In Swamp". If you think you know what that's a reference to, no you don't, and what were you doing at the devil's sacrament?

It's the end of the arc, because it's the end of Ire's solo career, and the beginning of a complicated collaboration.

next: 30: possible & 31: help previous: 28: faith

[quibbs126]

And now I’m finally done with Porridge Cookie

She gave me so much trouble, I swear

This is on the same page as Blueberry Yogurt, so whenever I finish that on you’ll see the two again. Hopefully I’ll label them

Anyways, so onto Porridge, as you may recall, she is Oatmeal Cookie’s daughter

I’d say she’s around 6-8 years old, and she’s a very active young girl. She has a lot of energy and likes to go exploring in the Vanilla Kingdom, or at least around the castle and surrounding town since her mom doesn’t want her going too far. She also doesn’t have her mom’s insecurities, because I mean she’s a kid, and instead can be a bit sassy

I kind of want to have the Blueberry family move to the Vanilla Kingdom too so that she and Blueberry Yogurt can interact, but I’m not sure what justification to make to have Blueberry Ice Cream move there, since the Vanilla Kingdom isn’t really the place for a magic weapon smith. But if they were to, I imagine Porridge and Yogurt to spend a lot of time together since they’re some of the only really young kids there. And also because Porridge is a couple years older, she sees herself as the boss of the group, and Yogurt follows along with it because he’s too timid to say otherwise

Also Porridge has a dad as well, but they don’t see each other anymore. He’s probably a vegetable of some kind

Anyways, now I want to complain about designing her

So I mostly based her off of the Veggie Porridge you can make in Tears of the Kingdom, which is why she has her green color. I know it isn’t exactly how regular porridge looks, but screw it, it gives her a unique color scheme from her mom, who’s mostly yellows and browns

Her outfit was giving me a lot of trouble because I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, and it would end up either looking too much like Blueberry Yogurt or Oatmeal. I was trying to base her design off of some young Elesa designs I’d seen people make, but it didn’t look right, partly because I don’t think Elesa fit her. Then I decided to base her design off of some concept art of kids in Hateno Village as well as Malon from Ocarina of Time, and I think I got something good. It fits her more energetic and outdoorsy personality

Also I’m noticing now how Zelda based she is

Anyways, so after I finally got done with her outfit, I then found myself struggling with her hair. The problem was that it would look too much like Oatmeal’s hair when I got anything decent. Eventually I stumbled upon this hairstyle and went with it. I wanted to give her pigtails but it just wouldn’t work with her current hair

I noticed as I was coloring her that with both her and Blueberry Yogurt, I was keeping the same dough tone between the kids and their parents, which from what I can tell, doesn’t usually happen with the canon kid/parent. And with Porridge she has another parent I could draw from, but I just couldn’t think of a different dough tone to use other than Oatmeal’s

Also she was going to have white eye lines, but because it was too similar to her hair color I changed it to brown. I’m not sure if I want to keep it brown though, I might change it back

Honestly she’ll likely be prone to tweaks as I do more of the page. I’m still finding my lineart pen difficult to use back home right now, hopefully I’ll get back at using it right

Anyways yeah, this is Porridge. Probably should have given her a nicer image but whatever, I can fix it in the final product

[junkydrawr]

Well, I thought I'd get back into posting some random Snively scenes. Honestly, I don't think I'll finish this rewrite but at least I have some stuff to keep posting.

Anyway, so the gist of this scene. Naugus has taken over leadership of Robotropolis at this point. He's been civil to Snively though and protects him from his uncle due to Naugus's contempt for Robotnik. King Acorn has been their prisoner for a while, and prior to Naugus taking over, Snively had planned to use him as bait to get Sonic and Sally. However, once Naugus took over, Snively decided out of spite (and to get Robotnik in trouble) to let King Acorn escape. So in this scene, Naugus finds out. TW for violence. And bad art. Heh.

“Useless cretin! I almost could believe you did this on purpose – that is how incompetent you are!” Naugus fired another crackling red bolt into the writhing man.

Robotnik let out a scream, his hand clutching at his blubbery chest.

Maybe his non-existent heart will give out. Snively pushed his hand harder to his mouth, but the giggles spilled out despite his efforts.

Robotnik's eyes rolled wildly towards the sound. "Master," he managed to croak. "It was him, it was him!" A jolt of red magic made him screech.

Naugus lowered his claw. "Why do you say this, Slave?"

"There was a glitch." Robotnik's voice was on the edge of a sob. "It's happened in the past. Cell doors glitching. Prisoners getting out. I always thought it was a fluke."

The giggles died in Snively's chest as the wizard's orange eyes settled on him.

Robotnik panted for breath, groaning as he sat back on his haunches. "Snively did it. He must have."

"Why would he?"

"I wouldn't," Snively kept his voice steely. "Why would I let Mobians escape? Especially the King?"

"You've always been soft on them," Robotnik snarled. "So many times, I saw it in your eyes. You didn't want to interrogate them."

Snively gave a scoffing laugh, rolled his eyes. "Please." Naugus was still appraising him and he couldn't help but shiver. "You're pathetic, Julian! Just trying to distract from your failure!"

The wizard nodded. "Indeed."

"Master, he's angry at me! He's angry at you!" The obese tyrant cringed as the claw raised again.

"No. Your incompetence allowed the King to escape." A blast of magic hit the man on the floor. Julian screeched and Snively swore he could smell burning hair, but Uncle's mustache looked fine. He often wondered...how much of the magic was just illusion?

Snively tried to resist a grin. He was unsuccessful. This is what you get for fucking with me, he mouthed behind Naugus's back.

The wizard ceased his torment, and put a wizened hand to his beard. "But. It is curious. That a door should just...glitch. Not just any door, but the one holding Maximilian and just when his kin was looking for him?"

The grin dropped as Naugus pivoted to face Snively.

"Don't you find that rather convenient timing, Small One?"

"It's just a glitch." Fuck. He hoped his damn voice wouldn't glitch. "They happen. The timing just happened to be unfortunate."

"Mmm. Perhaps. Or perhaps Slave's accusations are true."

Snively put an impatient edge into his voice. "What do I have to gain by letting the King go?"

Naugus smiled, gesturing loosely towards Julian, still hunched there on the floor. "The joy of watching your uncle suffer. I heard your impish giggling. You are angry too, that he tried to banish you into the Void."

"I don't have to create situations to make Uncle screw up. He does just fine on his own!"

Naugus clicked his claw and magic softly spun around it. The small man narrowed his eyes.

"Don't you dare raise your magic to me, you -"

The wizard laughed. "Dare? Small One, you are sorely mistaken about who is in charge. I thought I made this clear before."

Snively swallowed hard. Panic crawled in his gut. No, no. Don't let him see you sweat. But the familiar fear was sheeting his eyes, tunneling his vision, removing every bit of moisture from his mouth. "Apologies, Naugus! But I've done nothing, I swear -"

The claw raised. Red magic wafted his way, slow and insidious. He took a step back, his hands up like it would help.

It's an illusion, it's an illusion, it's not real, remember, it's not -

The magic wrapped him like the hand of a lava giant. Burning. He screwed his eyes shut, chanting inwardly. It's not real, it's not real, it's not real!

For a moment, the burning seemed to fade. His thoughts beating it back like cool water. But then the red increased, glowing through his eyelids, too much, and his body began to believe it. You're wrong, it said. It's real and it's burning!

His knees hit the ground and he let out a whimpering scream. "Stop it, Naugus!" He bit his lip, clutching his torso. You're not afire. You're fine. He wasn't hot. He wasn't burning. For a moment, the pain receded.

Naugus chuckled. And the blessed moment was over - a wave of firey pain took his breath away.

The mage calmly spoke. "Did you glitch the doors?"

"No," he choked. "Stop it!"

More magic engulfed him. He was in a cloud of it. Breathing in felt like acid. He gagged. Razor cuts opened all over his skin - or it felt like it.

"You are lying, Small One. Did you open the door?"

The pain increased and he moaned in misery. His thoughts of resistance went up in smoke. "A-a-all right. Yes. I did it!"

He panted for air as the pain disappeared, like it had never existed. It hadn't, he thought, even as his mouth continued to ramble. "But... but Julian still let him escape! That's not my f-f-fault!"

"That is true, but your childish tricks got him free of the cell. The fault is with both of you." He looked to Julian, who had regained his feet. "As such, I have been a bit harsh on you, Slave."

Robotnik scowled, watching as Snively got to his feet, brushing off his uniform.

The small man sniffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "And yet, had it been a true glitch, the outcome would've been the same. Julian's fail-"

"Enough!" rasped Naugus. "I warned you about your tricks, Snively!" His eyes settled on Robotnik and the bigger human cringed. "Allow me to remedy this, dear Slave."

The wizard gestured from Robotnik to Snively, his shark teeth glinting. "You have one minute to avenge yourself. Death excluded."

Snively's body stiffened. Blue eyes shot wide.

Robotnik stood dumbly, until Naugus chuckled. "Slave, do you choose to show mercy? 57 seconds remain."

Snively gaped at Naugus in shock. He's...he's throwing me to the wolves...?  But then Robotnik unfroze, and Snively moved too late to dodge the oncoming beast. Robotnik drooled, rabid, his hand grabbing the back of Snively's shirt and lifting him upwards. He just as swiftly threw him down again, his red boot colliding hard into Snively's ribs.

Snively rolled away, scrabbling to his feet. Robotnik slapped him hard. He staggered, feeling blood gush from his nose. "Securityb-" His sentence was lost as another slap rocked him from the other side. Stars flared in his vision and his knees hit the ground.

Julian dragged him up, panting in his perverse delight. His face came close. Foul breath and stiff mustache hair. Snively tried to wrench away, but even diminished, his uncle's grip was iron.

"You pathetic, worthless gnat. Beg for my mercy."

"F-f-fuck off!" Snively struggled, his eyes going wide as Robotnik swept him up in a headlock. With both hands free, Julian chuckled as he gripped Snively's wrist, the robotic hand clasping two of his fingers.

"No..." Snively again tried to wiggle free, his breath coming in hysterical gasps. Fuck no. He knew what was coming. "Naugus...!"

"30 seconds," was the wizard's response.

"Beg," Robotnik hissed in his ear. He twisted the fingers back.

Snively whimpered, kicking. "N-n-never, you bloated oaf!" He screamed as both fingers snapped. "Naugus...p-p-please!"

"Beg me, Nephew. Me." Robotnik whispered in his ear, his tongue touching cartilage. His body quivered in pleasure, jiggles through fat. "He can't save you. He'll never be able to save you..."

"19 seconds."

Julian threw him down. "Lick my boots, toad. Your future depends on it."

Snively bit his lip, sobbing behind his grit teeth. He shook his head, one hand groping in his pocket.

"Lick them!" Robotnik screamed.

"G-g-get stuffed, f-f-fatty."

A hard kick to the gut took his breath and voice away. His bladder voided itself, and he curled like a fetus. Robotnik roared, and Snively's finger found the remote in his pocket. He pressed its button, and Securitybot #002 reacted instantly. Flying to Julian, and cuffing him hard. Robotnik landed five feet away.

The small man struggled to his feet, attempting to flee. Robotnik lunged for him, raising his metal arm to ward off the Securitybot.

Snively froze in misstep. A red glow surrounded him, and he levitated. "Time is up," intoned Naugus. Robotnik snarled, caught in a similar standstill. "Issue any more blows, Slave, and you will answer to me."

A long breath expelled from Uncle, until a twisted smirk touched his lips. "Yes, Master."

Naugus lowered his claw, and Snively's boots touched ground once more. He slid down onto his haunches, gasping for breath. "Small One, your defiance is admirable. Turn it to our enemies. I will have no more tricks from you. Do you understand?"

He swallowed hard. Dizzy from the pain. "Yes, Naugus," he croaked.

"I'm afraid you have misspoke, little man. Yes, what?"

Another hard swallow. "Yes, M-m-master."

"Very good." Naugus sighed. "You may go to the medical ward for the remainder of this day and all of tomorrow. Now, leave my sight!"

Snively nodded, beckoning his bot to follow as he stumbled from the room.

-

Outside the command center, he implored his metal friend to carry him to the infirmary. This was becoming way too common lately.

Once there, the Medibots swarmed like bees around him.

"Back off, I'm not dying!" He snarled and stripped off his soiled clothes, throwing them in a heap. The head Medi beeped indignantly.

He climbed into the bed, resigning himself to their examinations. As their cold hands probed, his breath hitched and he put his uninjured hand to his face. Absurd! Crying again.

"Get a grip," he sniffled, wiping blood and snot away. "You act as if you've never been thrashed before."

But it wasn't the beating. It was the withdrawal of the wizard's protection. The sound of ice cracking under his feet. The vibrations still in his vocal cords...'Master.'

He watched the medibots prep the IVs. The wizard would be true to his word - Snively would be left alone for a day and a half. He could request sedative and extra pain relief. Let himself fade out.

...and awaken to what...?

'He'll never be able to save you...'

The IV needle stung his hand. The medibots were already prepping the sedative. They remembered his tantrum from last time.

He huddled in the bed, drawing the thin sheet over his naked body.

If I stay...I'll die here. There's nothing left....until I can kill them both, or the Freedom Fighters do...

How long will that be? Another 11 years?

His broken fingers were swollen and disgusting on top of the sheets. He swallowed hard and shivered, hiccuped a sob. Then he drew his arm over his face, scrubbing away tears and blood. His eyes, watering and sorrowful, hardened.

"Medibots. No sedative."

The head Medi accessed him. "It will relax you and help you rest."

"No need." Relaxing was for chumps. "Double the dose of nanites."

With that many nanites, his fingers would heal in a week and a half. His other injuries would be mere memories.

"Sir, a double dose will cause uncomfortable nausea, unsettled sleep and urinary pain."

"I don't bloody care! Do it!"

"Yes, sir."

He turned his gaze to Securitybot #002. His only friend.

Friend...to the end. He sank back into the fluffy pillows. He had the remainder of today to rest and recuperate.

And then, there would be no rest.

—-------

A/N: I've got most of Snively's escape from Robotropolis written so maybe I will post that next if anyone's interested. Considering I don't see myself finishing this rewrite, I don't feel the need to keep all the 'plot' (what little there is) hidden. Lol. 

[huntersmoon1]

MAGI:THE LABYRINTH OF MAGIC X LOVE AND DEEPSPACE CROSSOVER IMAGINE IDEA!

The lads men meet their genderbent counterparts who are in a similar situation to Alibaba’s mom only none of them get sick and die.

(Edited: reworked the kids ages.)

(Edited again cuz they made I pic for Xavier and Rafayel too!)

Ok I just saw this great fan art right after watching the episode of Magi:The labyrinth of magic where it explains Alibaba’s past and about how his mother caught the eye of the king and they had an affair,she leaves and becomes a prostitute,gets sick and dies,all that. And that gave me a request idea.

If you wanna write this for me please hit me up. 🙏

I can’t write I just come up with the outline, the blueprint if you will.

This is the fan art the artists twitter is linked click on the picture to go to the page.

•So what if Sylus,Zayne,Rafayel,and Xavier meet their genderbent counterparts in the world of Magi that are in a similar situation in the way that they are prostatutes in the slums in order to survive like Alibabas mom only none of them get sick and die like Alibabas mom did.

You know the three princesses of the brothel in apothecary dairies? Well think of them in that way in the sense that they are the most beautiful and desired, well known prostitutes but not in a brothel and are instead in the slums of balbad. Even if they can’t dress luxuriously they are still the most beautiful. And instead of three there’s five,Sylys,Zayne,Rafayel,Xavier,and Mc.

Most of them will be disowned by their families for getting pregnant out of wedlock since that was VERY frowned upon way back then.

•They know MCs counterpart but she’s not genderbent and is instead a sister figure to them and an aunt to their children.

She is also a prostitute,they found her in the slums wandering around with amnesia when she was (they guessed) 17 years old and soon found out she was pregnant,

they tried to talk her out of becoming a prostitute but knew it was likely her only shot at surviving given the state Balbad had been in since the former king died and his short pudgy son took the throne,

eventually they gave in and showed her the ropes and how to work this job without getting hurt by customers or getting sick from them, how to spot the good,healthy,and rich customers, and how to send away the ones that are trouble or could get her or her kid sick,they helped her when she first arrived.

Mc has one 4 year old and one on the way.

•They all live together or very close by each other. Sylus’s counterpart knows Luke and Kieran,they are genderbent and they were her handmaids.

•Sylus’s counterpart has a 9 year old daughter who looks like her dead lover,a 2 year old daughter who looks like her, and has one more on the way.

She was a high class noble lady and fell in love with a soldier and got pregnant but he died before they could get married so her family disowned her and his family blamed her for his death and chased her away.

She took what little money her family gave her and left for the slums and became a prostitute since no one wanted to hire a ruined woman for any other job.

Her loyal handmaids who are Luke and Kieran’s female counterparts went with her,whether or not they became prostitutes too is up to you but they are her assistants and big sister figures to her daughters.

Her daughter can’t learn as fast as the other kids and has trouble learning and understanding certain things like for example math,or learning and memorising the rules to a new game, due to developmental delays caused by her mother not being able to get enough nutrition while she was pregnant with her since she lives in the slums as well as being born too soon.

She makes enough money so she and her children don’t starve now since she’s more well known by the noble class and not just the men in the slums.

•Zayne counterpart has twins,a girl and a boy. They are none identical but they both look like their mother.

She was a middle class lady, daughter of two doctors,Her husband was a kind medicine peddler, he died after being attacked by bandits not long after her twins were born since he couldn’t get the required medical treatment in time.

Her twins are 6 years old and were born in a land where there was plenty of food to eat so they came out normal and not early.

Their mother came to Balbad with them after she heard their were many sick people there that needed help and didn’t have anyone to leave them with,

She thought she’d be able to make enough to get by without having to charge the poor people by treating rich nobles,

but she didn’t know just how bad Balbads money troubles were so she ended up poor too and moved to the slums since she could no longer afford their living arrangements in the middle class.

She makes a little money as a doctor in various classes of the hierarchy but most of her money comes from prostitution since men of all walks come for her services.

•Rafayels counterpart has one 5 year old girl and a newborn son.

She fell in love with a rich man and he got her pregnant, he said he’d come back for her but he never did and she found him courting another woman,he abandoned her.

She was in the middle class, the daughter of an art dealing merchant, but she didn’t have the funds to support herself and a child, and her family cut her off and disowned her for getting pregnant out of wedlock,

so she sold her house and went to the slums so she’d have a decent amount of money for a while but eventually she had to find a way to make ends meet and since jobs aren’t offered to people in the slums very often she turned to prostitution since that’s the only profesión from the slums the nobles and middle class will pay decently not well but decent. She’s pretty well known by the nobles.

•Xavier’s counterpart has one 3 year old son.

She was a middle class noble lady who fell in love with a soldier and as soon as he found out she was pregnant he kicked her to the curb and when her family found out she was pregnant out of wedlock they disowned her so she moved to the slums with enough money she saved to get by for a while and be able to get enough to eat from the middle class so she would have a healthy full term baby.

But after her son was born eventually that money ran out and she turn to prostitution since no one in the middle or upper class would give someone from the slums a job unless it’s a prostitute looking for clients. She’s pretty well known among the nobles.

Not sure if this is the original creator but here’s a screenshot of a great fan art.

[mrs-snape5984]

“Free me from this pain, I’ve been running from…”

“I'm tired and I'm free falling. Free me! I'm lost and I am calling you…” (“Free me” by Sia)

I’ve experienced some very rough hardships in my almost 40 years lasting existence in this world…but I’ve never given up on myself. I knew, that I’d have to fight my way back out of these horrible miseries, and I kept my faith to find the path to better times…to find the path, which will lead me upwards again.

I admit, these hardships left their marks, their scars on me. They formed my heart and my mindset…they made me the person, that I am today. I learned my lessons…and I kept going.

Since I’m living struggling with this goddamn bitch of a disease, called ME/CFS, my life has only one direction: It’s going downhill…and it’s getting faster! In these past 1,5 years, I’ve lost more and more of all the things, which made my life worth living for. I lost my ability to do my job as a pedagogue and social worker. I lost my freedom, since I’m stuck in my dark room day and night. I lost a lot of social contacts, since screen time is messing with my brain and each phone call costs me too much energy. I lost my capability to be an active mother for my three children…and this is the part, that hurts the most. Damn, I lost so much more…and I feel my heart shattering in pieces every fucking day!

Everything in my life is slowly falling apart and I’m losing my grip on reality…and on myself! The newest pain in the ass is probably my habit of passing out every few days. My whole system shuts down in the middle of a simple talk or something else and I’m falling into unconsciousness! I can’t remember the things, I’ve done before…I’m just blacked out for several hours. At first, my kids were afraid in these moments…especially when they couldn’t wake me up from this state! But now, they simply accept that “quirk” of mine as their new reality…and my motherly heart is aching for them. This shouldn’t be their reality! They shouldn’t have to live with a mother, who’s always in the dark…who’s always lying in bed! They’re children!! They shouldn’t have to whisper in my presence. I should be the person, they can rely on unconditionally!! Fuck…my heart is bleeding…and I’m sorry for my pathetic venting.

I need a way out of this hell…but since there isn’t any possibility for me right now, I’ll keep on clinging on Severus. My fantasies of him and my way of coping with my misery by writing stories about him and my - oh so self-inserted - OC Julia/Jules are the only thing, that keeps me mentally stable functioning. Well…at least that’s what I’m telling myself. I mean, I know how depressed my posts might seem.

My favourite artist for my darkest ideas is my friend @madfantasy. I told Mani about my wish to be freed from my darkness…to be cured from my disease. I need a saviour…a true hero…I need Severus! Since there aren’t any promising medical treatments, I’ll need a magical miracle to get rescued. And this is exactly, what Severus is trying for me. He conjures the demons inside my soul and forces them to leave my body. Severus is the only person, who’s brave enough to face the darkness within me. He’s my knight…and the love of my life. 21 years of my life, it was Severus, who kept me going…who inspired me with his resilience and his courage! A lot of those previous hardships could be endured by me, because I had something, I believed in. I had something, that gave me confidence and strength. I had Severus. So, please…don’t let me lose my hope and my faith in his support. And don’t let me lose my faith in myself.

Mani, my precious friend, I’m stunned by your ability to understand my ideas. Every time, I’m commissioning you for another project, your art helps me to soothe my troubled heart. It is as if you’re drawing my feelings!! I can sense my own emotions in every single line of your drawing. You don’t know, how grateful I am that I was allowed to meet you here. I love our conversations and our understanding for each other. Feel hugged, Mani! I’m sending you so much love! 🫂🫂 (fly fly) 🥹🖤 Thank you for everything.

🖤Severus & Julia🖤

🖤Sevy & Jules🖤

[askroahmmythril]

Development of the RMN Series

A recent ask got me thinking about how I developed my set of Robot Masters over the years, which ones were made earliest, which ones came later, design elements that changed over time, etc. So figured I could compile some of that here.

High School Era

The earliest one I made was Vegas Man. I've always had a bit of a fascination with playing cards, so I wanted to theme a Robot Master around that sort of idea, I definitely wanted to make card suits part of his design (I don't think I'd seen RM&B by that point, so I was unfamiliar with Magic Man). His design changed a bit over time, gaining some slight western theming, as well as a change to his weapon, the Casino Shield. The earliest version was an actual physical circular shield he wore on one arm, designed to look like a roulette wheel.

Next up was Bow Man. I think I was somewhat inspired by RMs like Knight Man and Yamato Man that were equipped with solid "real" weapons. Sword Man might have been on the list by that point as well, come to think of it. I figured an archer robot could fit right in. My mind immediately went to Robin Hood as a design base, an overall medieval look. It took some time to come up with a design that carried that feel but looked "robot armor" enough, but I'm fairly pleased with the current iteration.

Third in order was a very early version of Glass Man. I had the overall design elements, and solid idea of how I wanted his weapon, the Shatter Shard, to work. Earlier versions were more solidly based on more colorful stained glass, but I could never really come up with a solid design that I liked, they all just came out looking too complicated or just an overall shape I didn't like. As such, design for him kind of sat on the bench for awhile.

Fourth was Met Man. This one seemed like an obvious design to go for, as I always liked the Met / Metool / Metall enemies from the series, a longtime favorite. His design is probably the overall least changed from conception to current iteration. Earlier designs had the usual line and + mark on his shoulder pad "helmets" as well. The artist who drew the usual reference art I show for my RMs, Alex, drew him without those markings on the shoulders, and honestly I think that looks better, less cluttered. (I know I just recently posted his art of my RMs, but I put it up above at the start of this post for easy reference, and hey, I love the art and was honored to receive it, so I like showing it off, haha) I think the biggest change Met Man got was getting armed with a pickaxe, a design that came about when I started getting into the MMBN series and wanted to get a bit of Mettaur virus design in there.

College Era

While at Full Sail, my habit of doodling in the margins of my notes continued, and along the way, more custom RMs were born.

Fifth up and starting this period was Devil Man. I wanted a fiery volcano stage, but wanted to go with a less standard fire based idea. I had the idea of an RM using a grappling hook to get around the dangerous volcanic tunnels, and that idea ended up taking the form of a sharp, pointed devil-style tail. I didn't really have a solid personality in mind for him, though the actual visual design came along fairly quickly. Alex again gave me something that I adopted as canon for this RM, in his drawing of Devil Man, he was depicted "throwing the horns," so now I imagine him to be a major metalhead, headbanging on the job as he listens to his favorite heavy metal music.

Sixth in line was Origami Man. Origami is an art form I always liked, my mum had a lot of books on the subject, with step by step instructions for various creations. I knew I wanted to do something with that. The overall design gave me trouble, figuring out something that truly looked like origami armor. The pallet was something else that gave me trouble, but in the end, I opted for a softer pastel pallet, largely for some visual contrast from other RMs I had, a good number of which were already on the warmer side of colors.

This was also the period of time where I largely had Vegas Man's finalized design pretty much down, as well as the redesign of his weapon.

YouTube Era

For lack of a better term of time frame, I didn't really think too much about my custom RMs for awhile after Full Sail, until I had started making videos on YouTube and hanging out with various friends. One conversation with a group of people I used to hang out with involved the idea for a Mega Man fangame, and so, we set to designing RMs. While I did think of my older designs, I also decided "why not try making some new ones?"

Seventh on the list was Fruit Man. Our overall designs for the RMs for this game were more on the silly side, so I decided to go wild with his design, making him a mascot character for an orchard, and thus fully theming him on various colorful fruits. In keeping with the sillier ideas, I made his weapon a pun, the Pineapple Grenade.

The eighth and final design was Disco Man, or as he was originally dubbed, Groove Man. His original design was a bit less solidly themed on one genre of music, instead he was sort of build like an entertainment system featuring tape decks, a CD slot, speakers, etc. I was playing around with visual designs for the head, and the one I ended up liking most had a sort of disco ball afro design. Thus, he started leaning more toward a Disco design, with the disco ball motif migrating to his shoulders, the mixtape taking over his chest, chill shades, platform boots, and a more refined afro design. What can I say, I'm a sucker for disco aesthetic (bring back Miror B. you cowards).

This was also around the time I finally came up with a solid visual design that I liked for Glass Man, and thus, the family was complete.

The Mystery 9th Robot Master...

Technically speaking, back in the High School era, I did have one more RM I had been working on. In true order, he was the fifth design I was working on. His name was Quartz Man. He was going to be a time based RM, armed (literally) with a wristwatch device that gave him time control abilities. However, it was a case where a) I couldn't come up with a visual design I liked enough, and b) I couldn't really think of a solid way to give him time powers that felt unique enough. I think about the only solid part of his design aside from the watch was I think I wanted him to have glasses, I felt it would give him a sharper, more "intelligent" look. I think I had it in mind that he was sort of a strategist type, using his time powers in clever ways to gain the advantage. (EDIT : One further detail I remembered was his color pallet, I wanted him to have at least some sort of bright teal-ish green in reference to the "glow" function of digital watches.)

And so, that basically wraps up the ol' design process I went through over time for the RMN series. Hope you enjoyed this bit of personal history.

[lemonkeiku]

141 (w/ OC) Hidden Talent Headcanon

Summary: Everyone has their own hidden talent. Because it's hidden, no one knows they have it until they accidentally show it to each other. Some of them were very useful, some of them were completely useless.

Warning: none, possible ooc hc, and bad english

Author's note: This is just a random thought that popped into my head. This is definitely headcanon, so enjoy for your entertainment.

🚬 Price : Speaking in high-pitched voice

Captain Price was known for his heavy voice and smoking cigarettes only made it worse. Despite this, he was surprisingly able to speak in a very high-pitched voice. He's not going to sound like himself when he does that. His talent was discovered by the rest of 141 at the most random moment.

At the time, he tried to mock Laswell by repeating her words in a high-pitched voice. It was a shock to everyone, even to Laswell, who, instead of being offended, asked him to do it again.

💀 Ghost : Doing rap

His rapping ability was completely hidden until Soap dared him to recite a rap lyrics. Not just any rap lyrics, it was from Eminem's song. And with his deep voice, he would sound more attractive when he started doing rap. Trust me. He would sound like he was reciting a magic spell at some point but he still did a pretty good job with those lyrics.

He never intended to learn how to rap tho. He just likes hip-hop and sometimes he enjoys it a little too much. He was a fast reader and talker too. Maybe that's why he can do it easily.

🧢 Gaz : Faking Price's signature

This is a dangerous talent. He can't use it just because he wants to. He could get into trouble if he uses it recklessly. People first found out about his talent when 141 needed Price's signature and it was urgent. Price was nowhere to be found and they had tried calling him. Price just said just wait until he's back or just copy his signature from another document. Gaz volunteered to try copying their Captain's signature and surprisingly it came out exactly the same.

From then on, if the situation was urgent and as long as he had Price's permission, he would sign documents that required Price's signature in his absence.

🧼 Soap : Handling spicy food

He surprised everyone with his high tolerance to spice. When I said high, I mean really high. Everyone thought he was just the typical white dude who would think black pepper is spicy. But when Alex dared the 141 to try eat chicken wings with the Da Bomb sauce, only who Soap didn't budge with the spice. He'd say something like, "it's nice" and continue to finish his chicken wings.

That scene made everyone question their whole life. Gaz and Farah, who could usually handle the spice, gave up after the first few bites. Bambi, who eats Korean fire noodles for breakfast, couldn't even finish her chicken.

🎀 Bambi : Classical singing

Everyone knows Bambi has a few talents in arts. The most commonly known is her dancing ability. But only a few know that she can sing. Let alone classical singing. She was never serious when it came to singing, especially in front of others. She'd sing seriously only when she wanted to and that one precious moment was when there was a singing competition in the agency. Her competitive ass wouldn't let anyone win.

She used to learn classical music and singing techniques when she was little, but stopped because she wanted to focus on dancing.

[danpuff-ao3]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 💙

Oooh, thanks for passing this to me, Lizzy! 😄 Let's see....100 fics, how to choose 5? 🤔 Well all know #1 already, don't we? 😂 So I'll take a leaf out of Lizzy's book and do a countdown to 1!

5.) A Matter of Time

Harry/Severus. Rated: E. Words: 3,686. Written for Snarry Adopt-a-Prompt 2022. Features reverse chronology and alternating POVs! Also: ambiguous/open ending (my love!) It feels like the Snarry of my youth, that angsty and spicy student/teacher, and some good old fashioned tragedy! I really feel like I pulled the thing off with this one! (What is said "thing"? Who knows.) Also, not to pat myself on the back but...that final line? Ouch.

4.) Cruel Summer

Harry/Sirius. Rated: E. Words: 5,445. Minor Harry/Severus. Written for HP Chan Fest 2022-2023. Features gorgeous art by @mrviran. It's a fic I've had floating around my noggin' for a few years but finally felt the call to write for Chan Fest! Our two beloved, troubled boys (Harry and Sirius) live together post PoA, and sees them through plenty of dysfunction, manipulation, and other problematic content 🤭 They have a very complicated (and angsty!) connection and I am so so pleased with how it came out! It's very bit as spicy, sad, and twisted as I'd hoped!

3.) The Curse of Anteros

Harry/Severus. Rated: E. Words: 52,566. Written for Snarry Bang 2023. Inspired by an episode of Charmed called "Magic Hour" (which itself was inspired by a movie called Ladyhawke). This is another idea I've long wanted to write, but never knew how to write it until now. Curses, fairytales, magical animals, true love!! Begins with student/teacher and carries on through time to old men Snarry!!!! This fic really grew way out of control and I'm so glad it did. It feels like...a "proper" story, if that makes sense? Actual plot! Novel length! Who am I even???? Anyway I'm stupidly proud of this one. Also: ART BY MRVILLAIN AGAIN, MY BELOVED TEAMMATE, I'M OBSESSED. Like...idk I'm blown away. Which sounds bad cuz this is my story, but I don't care. This is genuinely a story that not only was I so pumped to create, but one that I'd have LOVED to read as a reader! Had someone else written this I'd have lost my mind reading it. I hate saying that, it sounds so arrogant, but I don't care, I'm losing my mind over this one. I wrote it in like 2 weeks!!!! This fic POURED out of me! And I love it!

2.) Collateral Damage

Draco/Ron. Rated: E. Words: 16,071. Written for Ron-Draco Fest 2021. The first draft of this got to like 10k before I had to scrap it and start totally over. Somehow the original opening kept winding down the wrong path. So finally after fighting with it for way too long (and only 2 weeks to go until it was due), I gave it up and tried again. Decided: "hey, let's open with porn and see what happens." Well...That worked. That did it. All I needed was to open with a BJ for magic to happen, who knew? I ended up with a story I was super jazzed about, and to my great surprise (and pleasure!) others loved it, too!!

1.) Contempt | Devotion

Harry/Severus. Rated: E. Words: 20,400 | 25,843. Written for Snarry-a-Thon 2022 and 2023. This one's cheating a bit since it's technically 2 fics, but it's also the same story in different POVs so...it kinda counts, right? Also I know people have told me they liked Devotion more but I can't help but admit that Contempt itself still holds the top spot in my heart! And while I think say The Curse of Anteros is a better overall story, I don't think any fic ever will top Contempt. I mean, never say never, but Contempt is the story of dreams. It's my heart and soul. It's the Snarry I've always wanted to write. The story, the dynamic, the characterizations, everything. It's everything I've wanted in a Snarry since I first began reading Snarry 20 years ago. Like...I have no words to express just how meaningful this work is to me. This is literally the culmination of all of my Snarry feels. I dragged this story out of my gut. I pulled it out of my skin and wrote it in my blood. That's how connected I am to this work. (Wow that sounds really dramatic but also...true.)

Genuinely I was so cared people would hate it, but I wrote it anyway because I needed it and I loved it. I'm very glad to say that plenty of others love it with me! And this is another one @mrviran offered love to in the form of a podfic! (Plus cover art!) I'm fully obsessed with the podfic (AND ART!) and I get all teary eyed when I think about it, that my dear friend worked so hard to bring more life to my baby. 🥹

Kinda funny how my favorite works (and what i consider some of my best works) were all for fests. Fests really do inspire me, even if they make me want to pull my hair out. 😂

Also is it cheating to give honorary mentions to Lover Boy at Play, In My Veins (In My Blood), Orange Blossoms, Teardrop in Your Palm, and Black Skies? 👀