#anyways this is a story about Twisted fate's past and magic

[rexcat]

Wahhh I finally got the courage to start posting my first fanfic that I'm *actually* legitimately finishing. It's been really fun and I like writing fiction wayy more that what I have to write for work Q_Q Last time I wrote was a long time ago and I respect writers so much- More full chapters to come soon~ I welcome feedback *-*

[inglorionamy-ammy]

Of Home and Haven (Ch 1/6)

[Yes I love them and I am drawing them a cover lol]

Summary: A tender tale between an outlander barbarian and a scholarly wizard, navigating life, love, and belonging (aka. What "being together" means for them) in Waterdeep and beyond.

Pairing: Half-orc Barbarian F!Tav X Gale SFW

Word count: 3.2k

Notes: Welcome to my first venture into fan fiction!

A gigantic shoutout to @senualothbrok for guiding my newbie writing every step, for being my beta and English coach, and for being so enthusiastic about Gale AND Ta'V in general. Without you, I wouldn't have the courage to post the story.

For whoever ventured here, please enjoy :)

AO3 Link: Here

-------------

It still feels wrong to venture outside without the Nyrulna, your faithful trident.

Logically, you understand it’s a horrible weapon choice for the crowded streets of Waterdeep, its thunder damage a guarantee of passerby casualty. You are not expecting battles anyway — Compared to your last two months of tadpoled adventures and the previous ten years of your mercenary life, this is a significant change of pace. The violence rate here is obscenely low.

Ha. Astarion would have giggled at that, followed by a disapproving-but-amused headshake from your gentlemanly wizard. Gale Dekarios, your human, your man. Even counting your pillow, he is still the softest, finest thing you have ever laid hands on in your nomadic life. What a strange twist of fate, that a scheme of the Dead Three has led you to this treasure you'd never encounter otherwise. Perhaps a “thank you” is in order.

A lady always says thank you. Ma’s voice rings in your ears, a distant memory. You snort, not to her but to yourself. She had never lost faith in your ability to be civilized, even when you believed otherwise.

Now, it is Gale who has given you the courage to try out polite society again. The last time you set foot in a city, not including the cultist-infiltrated war-torn Baldur's Gate, was for an escort mission at Elturel. You and a few others were hired to travel with a half-elf noblewoman, her frail yet elegant frame reminiscent of the fawn you hunted a day before. In daylight, you rode next to her, vigilant for any potential danger. At night, you postponed your rest to hunt so that her private chef could prepare her precious meal, while you feasted on cheap rum and dry meat. You had no protest over such an arrangement, being right at home living simply in the wild. It was only when she deliberately changed her wagon into what you could only describe as a "show-off cart" to enter the city, that you felt a pang of distaste. Despite her so-called concern for safety, she wanted a crowd anyway, and a crowd was what she got. Unsurprisingly, when the crew marched past the city gate, the people of Elturel gathered to stare at her in awe and at you in fear. As you walked alongside the heavily decorated four-wheeled cart at a painfully slow pace, you silently thought, "That could be me sitting in there. I am half-human too, you know?"

But that’s where you stop. Focus. You have two missions today, the first being to bring a surprise lunch to your fiancé at Blackstaff Academy. You have roasted a pig leg as best as you could with his magical hob, picked out the freshest berries of the season, and scouted a rich full-red you know Gale will enjoy.

Wait. Is drinking allowed at school? You wouldn’t know, as your education came from your parents and the road. In any case, he can store it in his big, nice teacher’s room he gleefully described in detail when he first got his position a week ago. You had been celebrating at the Yawning Portal that night, and your drunken wizard had lovingly leaned on your arm, so overjoyed that, despite being in public, he cheekily rubbed his beard against you like a spoilt kitten. You just couldn’t resist giving his soft hair a good pat.

“T-This is surreal,” he sighed, with a lazy gaze under half-lidded eyes. “Please, my love, join me someday. I have so many stories to share —it is my second home after all!”.

You liked the place already. If that is where he belongs, then you must go there as well.

In the end, you decide to give up the Nyrulna and pick a simple axe, just for safety measures. It should be a perfect choice: small enough to hide under your cloak and cheap enough not to make a fuss, even if it got confiscated by an academy guard. Tracing its metal notches reminds you of Karlach, a fellow barbarian soldier. You miss that woman.

You check yourself in the mirror one last time, adjust your dreadlocks, and take a deep breath. Time to face polite society.

---

"STOP."

You hold up your hands as two steel sentinels halt you at the gate of the renowned Blackstaff Academy. It is a gesture you have practiced many times, wary and expectant. Behind them, the arcane tower looms over you. The voice of the guards sounds too hollow and unified, a single echo shared between the duo. Remotely controlled guards then, you think, impressed.

“STATE YOUR PURPOSE.”

“I am here to see Gale Dekarios, Professor of the Illusion School.” You practiced this also, more times than you’d ever admit.

“School of Illusion,” the voice corrects you. Now it sounds like a sentient being, not like that weird projection of Lorroakan’s at Sorcerous Sundries. The masculine voice has a pinched, haughty tone and an air of tired condescension. You are immediately reminded of wizards and their pride in education; how a long time ago, when you had miraculously succeeded in channeling the Weave for the first time and shared your joy with Gale — “I didn’t know channeling the Weave was so easy” — he wasted not a second to remind you that, in fact, it is not. Somehow, that awkward moment has now turned into a soothing memory.

“Hm-Right.” You cough to hide a snort. “I am his wife. I would like to bring him lunch. May I pass the gate?” As an afterthought, you add, “Please?” Your Ma would be proud.

“LIAR. Piss off before I chase you out.”

Of all the responses you expected, this is not one of them. You are growling before you know it. “I suggest you KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT.” The words rush harshly out of your fanged mouth.

…uh.

In an instance the two sentinels spring into a battle stance. Worse still, you can feel onlookers start to gather, and your skin itches under their gazes. You force an exhale.

“…What makes you think I am lying?” You try as calmly as you can manage, holding onto the mental image of your smiling wizard, just beyond reach. Volo’s book better gets published sooner so that everyone will know who you are. Better yet, you will make sure he highlights the word ‘wife’.

“Professor Dekarios is not married.” The sentinels, with the smuggest voice you have ever heard in your life, drop their final blow.

And that is when you remember. Yes, you are still technically his fiancée, even though the man himself has often forgotten that, already showering you with affection far deeper than a ring could ever capture.

Perhaps someone more eloquent would continue to argue, ask Gale to come out, and demand proper treatment for a lady. But right now you only feel overwhelmingly exposed, with too many prying eyes and wiggling tongues for you to maintain your civil façade any longer. So you retreat, trying to ignore the unsubtle snickers. The sentinels were not as clever as they thought they were anyway. What kind of guards reveal personal details to a potential enemy like that? Amateur.

---

What would Gale do to remedy the day? He would strategize.

You decide to call upon Tara to deliver the meal, and if the sentinels deny her entry they will know true horror. Her outrage upon hearing your encounter was enough to cheer you up. After all, your goal is to get your love fed, and the means—who is doing the delivery — are less important than the ends.

With that dealt with, you now need to focus on your second mission—to pass a job interview. You have decided that settling down in polite society means less fighting, but there is no way you’d just stay at home and rely on Gale’s income, even though he wouldn’t mind. The man is more than willing to provide for you, but you wouldn’t want to lounge around in the tower, hanging off his coattails. Truth be told, this is for your own good too—you truly wish to be a part of Waterdeep by playing an active role in it, not just as a tag-along of Gale’s.

Of the ten positions you applied for in the past month, you only got one reply: a counter clerk at the Aurora's Realms Shops next to the Market. Gale had frowned when he heard about the demanding dusk-till-dawn working hours, but you assured him you’d only take shifts six days out of a tenday. He had tried to argue further, but upon seeing your determination, swallowed his questions. You both know that if you had applied to be a city guard, a dock laborer, or even a weaponry store assistant, you’d get better offers. But you have decided that you want a change. More sitting, less fighting. To be polite. Chit-chat with people. To smile without malice.

So, on leaving Blackstaff, you arrive at the shopfront five minutes before your interview. You scan the two queues before you: one inside the shop and one outside. A queue for a counter clerk job at this paid rate? You lament, Waterdeep and its gods forsaken job market.

You push open the glass door, and upon seeing you enter, a human woman with a clipboard swiftly calls, “Oh. The interview for security guards is outside.”

“I am here for the counter clerk one.” Several candidates from the queue indoor turn to you curiously. To be fair, all of them are tinier than you; you’d have no problem reaching the top shelf, or lifting one, if you ever needed to.

“Ah. Right.” The lady is polite enough to look embarrassed. “And your name?” She shows you her clipboard as you tower over her, and as you scan through the long list she adds helpfully, “Or you can just tell—” “I know how to read.” You stop her mid-sentence, your harsh tone making her wince, and you wince too. Gods, you need to get better at this. Apologetically, you soften your voice, “This is me,” pointing to your name on the list.

“Ta’V Riversong?” She is surprised. Does she recognize the Hero of Baldur’s Gate? She does not start praising your great deeds, so you assume no, you aren’t that lucky. It must be the other reason then.

 “Yes,” you explain. “Riversong is my Ma—mother’s surname, she’s a human.”

This is one thing you share with Gale: taking your mother’s family name. Your father, however, did not abandon the family like Gale’s father did. Instead, your father understood—theirs was a runaway marriage, and your mother had sacrificed a lot to settle down with a barbarian deep in the woods, away from civil society. Her name was her last connection to her noble past, and your father could never deny her that. Idly, you wonder if this woman has heard of your mother’s family. Growing up, you never cared enough to learn about this illusion of a heritage.

“I see,” she says meekly. “Sorry…It’s just that from your application, I didn’t expect you to be a half-orc.”

---

And that is why you end up shit-faced in a random tavern. You don’t even bother to look at the tavern sign as you stumble in, determined to leave behind the interview, the Academy, and polite society as soon as possible. You order whisky first, then firewine, because you can’t afford to waste money, given that you definitely won’t get the job. You understand. They want someone less intimidating. Of fucking course.

You are almost delighted when you feel hostility flushing towards you.

The hair at the back of your neck stands. At the corner of your eye you spot the flash of a cunning dagger, which you recognize as a Murderous Cut. Ah, local Bhaal cultists then. You may have had a bad day, but at least you can make theirs worse. You down your drink in one go, and without further ado, send the mug right into a cloaked figure’s face.

In an instant the whole tavern breaks into chaos. As the others reveal their weapons, you realize something: You have missed this. The axe you wield breaks through wind and skulls. Frenzied roars explode from the depth of your lungs, your charge unstoppable and inevitable. This is the part of yourself you used to be most proud of, the warrior that you were trained to be, born from ashes and forged in flames.

FIGHT ME! You father shouted, signaling the start of the match.

Two figures charge at you. You ground your stance before taking a full-body swing, slashing open both poor souls at once. With a kick you send one of them towards the side, knocking over a clamour of plates and glasses.

SIDE! He took advantage of your open stance.

A blade cut scratches your cheek, but you promptly ignore its stink of poison. You grab the man and throw him right at a ranger in the corner, knocking both of them out. Perhaps you are enjoying this too much, but when you look at the screaming Waterdhavians, your grin is wide and true. You will not be tamed.

CHARGE!

As you knock down your last enemy you feel free, freedom that you haven’t tasted for months since you arrived in this godsdamned city. You rise, wobbling, and you see your father grinning proudly. On the day you had beaten him down finally, he had pronounced you a worthy adult. You were sixteen, ready to hit the road. You laugh maniacally, in joy and sorrow and everything else you can’t name. You know Gale could name them. Yes. Gale. The smartest, sweetest person you’ve ever known.

And then you collapse.

---

You were inside his purple tent. Late at night, he illuminated it with floating orbs, reclining between your legs as he read his tomes. He was so focused, and you couldn’t help but distract him with a kiss on top of his head as you gently traced circles on his stomach.

He chuckled, low and warm, then leaned back against you.

“This is one mystery I’ll never solve,” he began, closing his tome. “Why oh why would such a wonderful, ferocious, tenacious warrior ever set her sights on someone as brittle as me?”

“I could ask the same in reverse, but I ran out of adjectives,” you muttered sleepily and he laughed, setting his hands on top of yours as his thumb stroked your calloused skin.

You knew he was unsatisfied, so you tried your best, despite the pulling weight on your eyelids, to set his ever-churning mind to rest.

“You smell good,” you managed, and he laughed even louder.

But you needed him to understand. You pushed out one last word.

“Home.”

He went quiet as you fell asleep.

---

You hear���

“Ta—”

Something. Familiar. Wings.

“Ta’V—”

It’s the smell that gets you.

“TA’V!”

“WHAT? I’m awake, I’m awake. Don’t fret!” You jerk up, snapping out of your coma. It is Gale who holds your face urgently, his brows tightly knitted, knees rough on the hard ground. Next to him, Tara flutters her wings, startled by your sudden movement.

You are elated to see them, and you want to tell them so. But something in his glistening eyes makes you pause.

“Don’t fret?” His voice is an octave higher than usual. “You were lying on the ground alone, bleeding, unconscious, surrounded by godsdamned cultists, AND YOU TELL ME TO NOT FRET?”

Dead cultists, you want to counter, but your overflowing relief finally spills over.

“I love you,” you say instead, and Tara twists her tail in amusement.

Gale stares at you for a long time. Finally, with a deep breath, he relents.

“And I you. Let’s go home, shall we?”

---

While you have never been well-versed in sentimental things, you do understand that this situation calls for a hug. So you gather him into a squeezing embrace as soon as the two of you stumble out of the portal. Tara, in the meantime, settles herself on the kitchen counter, waiting for the drama to unfold.

To cheer him up, you decide to start with something happy. “So…did you enjoy the meal Tara brought you?”

You feel him tense, so you hug him harder. A moment later, he nods against your chest.

“It was wonderful,” he mutters. “I savored every bite, sang the chef’s praises to anyone who’d listen.” He pauses. “I learnt from Tara what happened at the gate.”

“Oh, well. Perhaps I shouldn’t have dropped by without a head’s up.”

He pushes himself away from your chest and stares sternly into your eyes. “That is not the point. I swear, the first thing I’ll do next time I return to the Academy is to teach that young man Endorick a very serious lesson on manners. That was pure disrespect, not only to you but to everything the Blackstaff stands for. In fact, the only reason I was delayed was because of the next bit of shocking news Tara relayed to me.” His gaze turns sorrowful. “My love, would you please tell me what happened?”

You grunt. Talking has never been your strong suit, but it is Gale’s preferred mode of communication, so you push through it. You tell him about the failed interview, the resulting drinking, and the fight. You try to describe your feelings along the way, knowing that it will comfort him to know more about you. At the end of your narrative, he falls silent.

Then he announces abruptly, “Let’s pack.”

“What? Why?”

Gently, he presses his hand against your cheek. His voice is firm and tender when he says, “It was never my intention to cause you such pain, or to mold you into something different than what you are now.” He grimaces. “In fact, I can scarcely believe I truly deserve to have someone as wonderful as you by my side as a friend and a wife. So we can go, far away from here, travel again, meet your parents perhaps! Anywhere that makes you happy, I will follow.”

“But what of your teaching?” You counter, and you are almost appalled when he shrugs. “I have barely started. I’m sure the esteemed, resourceful Blackstaff Academy can manage without—"

“NO!” You stumble, hands gesturing frantically. “This is your dream! Your second home, you said!”

“And you are my first,” he declares without hesitation. “I know my choice.”

Your head hangs. You feel dejected. He doesn’t get it.

There are too many thoughts swirling in your head, words starting to slump and melt and break. You can’t explain yourself, and you can’t keep up with this conversation anymore. Unlike Gale, you must see and touch to manipulate. As you fall silent, you can sense Gale’s increasing concern.

Finally, you proclaim, “I will show you tomorrow.”

---

This is why, when the morning comes, your fiancé will find himself awake before you — a rare occurrence — and reading a great puzzle in the form of a simple note, carefully pried from your fist as you doze. It reads, in handwriting he finds as endearingly boorish as its owner:

“I want to work at Blackstaff Academy too.”

Chapter 2

---

Thank YOU for reading this story. Tell me what you think! It would make my day :)

Other things that I do

[yukidragon]

Sunny Day Jack - Villainess AU Headcanons

I’ve been on a real fantasy kick lately, and that’s not stopping with post. This is a plot bunny that’s been hopping around in my mind for a while, and it snatched up my Dragon Jack AU headcanons from the previous posts, along with the tragic short story of Alice remembering how she died in her past life as Mary to become a bigger bunny. This is the long overdue and previously teased Villainess AU!

Content warnings before we begin: this post touches on topics of infidelity, betrayal, yandere obsession, attempted mind control, death, chronic illness, trauma, and a bit of spice to lighten it up. This shouldn’t get too dark or smutty, but who knows where indulging in my OTP will take me?

On that note, I might wind up using some art from the game/teasers/merch/etc. in this post, so I’m going to go ahead and give a shout out to SnaccPop Studios’ patreon. Consider joining to see some exclusive stuff! Credit to them for this game that has given me plot bunnies that are constantly multiplying.

Anyway, the villainess genre, for those unaware, is a subgenre of the transmigrator genre, which in turn is a subgenre of isekai stories. Typically it takes an otome - a dating sim game aimed at women with a female protagonist - and has the world within that story be real. The main character, a fan of the dating sim, is reborn in the world of this dating sim, not as the protagonist, but as the evil villainess rival who gets in the protagonist’s way and inevitably meets a terrible end regardless of the route taken, often going through much humiliation in the process. The main character then has to avoid her horrible fate and overturns the original story, oftentimes becoming the one the love interests are drawn to instead of the original female protagonist.

Naturally, there are stories that tweak the formula around and subvert expectations, but that’s the basic gist of the genre.

Now Something’s Wrong with Sunny Day Jack is a dating sim, but there’s a distinct lack of a villainess character involved in the plot, which makes sense since Jack fills the antagonist role in every route pretty well. This means that a villainess AU would have the world of the in-universe game be different from the game that we can actually play in our world over on steam and itch. If you’d like to see my ideas on an isekai that takes place in the game as we know it, check it out in this previous post over here.

So let’s start with the AU’s in-universe game itself, and what classic otome roles our favorite male leads might take. While I could cast Ian in the prince role once again like I did with the dragon AU and the fantasy incubus Jack AU, I think we all know who the real ruler of SDJ is.

Thus Jack gets the role of the crown prince. Now, we could have this be a standard fantasy kingdom, but I feel inclined to give it a SunnyTime Town AU twist. Much like in the Aphrodisia crossover Mafia AU, our favorite clown family is a powerful ruling family, only with magic and clown gimmicks instead of guns. Shaun, Nick, and Ian aren’t their typical selves in this universe, but they too get a nice colorful makeover and some spiffy titles, as shown in these limited edition trading cards. Thanks to Crispy for sharing pictures of the cards, and credit to Sauce for creating the amazing artwork in the first place.

Since we’re talking about the cards, how about we shake things up and leave the star of the show for last so we can show off the clown counterparts of the other three male leads.

Ian Duff has the title of Sir Sweet Dreams, and is a knight in this AU, part of the illustrious order of the Night-Knights. His hair is a shade of violet-blue, with face paint that gives him some blue splotches and stars. The Duffs are a noble family, and Ian struggles with the weight of obligation as the firstborn son. He’s not suited for combat, being a pacifist at heart. The otome’s main character (who I will call OMC for simplicity) would help Ian choose his heart over his duty when going down his route, and fight for the future that he wants instead of what his family expects.

Shaun Durand-Cofer is a member of the mage tower, with white and gray face paint and glowing golden eyes, given the nickname of Glad-Pire due to his cheerful personality and his specialization in studying the secrets of dark magic. He’s still our favorite goth butterball, even as a magical clown, and he has MoonPie as his familiar. In the original otome game, OMC would help him deal with the doubts that he’s been having about studying dark magic. He’s been a great benefit to the kingdom, but many are suspicious of his motives, not trusting dark magic in any form, and his relatives are ashamed of him despite the good he’s done.

Nick Herrera’s clown identity with his white and blue face paint is an interesting one, with the title of Sous Chef Sweetly, his job in the trading cards is very different from his employment in the game. Now, typically fantasy otome games don’t have our OMC romancing a chef, but they do have love interests who are wonderful at cooking. Regardless if he is a sous chef or a dom in this universe, Nick is a member of the nobility, and is quite popular with people. He has countless suitors wanting his hand, and he’s known as a ladies’ (and more) man. However, despite his reputation and charming personality, in reality he’s just a shy dork who struggles to make a genuine human connection. In the otome game, OMC sees past his status and reputation that others have placed on him, and sees him for the awkward guy he is deep down inside.

Finally, let’s talk about Jack, or rather him and the rest of the Blouin family. King Marceau and Queen Lucy rule together over this colorful country, and are known to be just and fair. Jack, their second born child, is crown prince and heir to the throne. Their eldest child, Jane, would have been next in line if she didn’t make it very clear from an early age that she did not want the role. She would rather travel the world as a free spirit, not weighed down by the weight of the crown, so she left it to her little brother to take care of in her place.

Fortunately, Jack has accepted his role with dignity and grace. He’s known to always be smiling, a prince everyone admires and desires. Deep down though, he has insecurities about everyone only seeing him for the title of king that he will one day inherit. They see the prince first and Jack second. He always had the option to pass on the role to his younger sibling, but young Jo is a sensitive soul, and Jack couldn’t force them to carry such a heavy burden. He accepted the role of heir from Jane gladly, and he was always sure he could handle it, but doubts creep in that OMC helps him work through as they see Jack for who he is and not for the crown he must one day wear.

Now, the role of the villainess in these games is to act as a romantic rival, the person who stands in the way of OMC getting together with one of the love interests. There can be one that gets in OMC’s way no matter who they pursue, or each love interest could have a “villainess” who gets together with them should the OMC fail their route. Typically, if there’s at least one villainess, she’s engaged to one of the love interests in an arranged marriage set up by their parents. She’s also obsessed with power, and typically the crown prince. This is why she’s usually the prince’s fiancee, who is clearly unfit to be queen.

But why not make things a bit spicier? The villainess in this otome game is an arranged marriage to Ian, but she wants to marry Prince Jack instead to become queen. In Ian’s route, she abuses him similarly to his mother, making him feel like he’s not good enough for her. However, when OMC gets closer to Ian in his route, they get on the villainess’ nerves and she gives them a hard time despite not actually caring for Ian. It’d be like seeing someone steal your toy away when you weren’t ready to discard it. The general vibe is, “I don’t want him, but no one else is allowed to have what’s mine!”

For Shaun’s route, the villainess would be tricking him, using his knowledge of black magic for selfish ends without him realizing it. In the bad end, he would be arrested and executed for treason, as the villainess used him to help her make a love potion that she used on Prince Jack. She, of course, also is executed, because the villainess doesn’t win regardless of the route. The OMC would have to find out about the villainess’ schemes to clear Shaun’s name and prevent the potion from being used.

In Nick’s route, the villainess is jealous of his popularity. He’s also probably a stepping stone in her plots to bewitch and seduce the prince. She’s less of a central antagonist in this route for the OMC, but still an annoyance that gets a bad end regardless of how Nick’s route ends, because the villainess having countless bad ends is kind of the punchline.

Then of course there’s Jack’s route. Naturally, being the one the villainess is lusting after and wants to bewitch, the conflict with the OMC is more pronounced in this route for obvious reasons. OMC must stop the villainess’ countless bullying tactics and schemes in order to have a happy ending.

Basically, it’s the classic otome game setup, with a touch of colorful clown face paint for flare.

Now, the actual MC, the character we’d be playing as in this AU, would be a fan of the otome game. Perhaps playing it is their guilty pleasure. They’re familiar with all the routes. Then, one day, they wake up in the body of the villainess in classic transmigrator isekai fashion.

Although the role of villainess is typically for cis females, MC is whatever gender we decide they should be. There’s a lot of possibilities to explore how an AMAB MC might react to suddenly having an AFAB body, or perhaps whatever force of the universe that made them take the role changed it so that the “villainess” is whatever gender MC was in their previous life, or whatever gender that is true to them.

MC would then be left with the choice of how to handle living in this world and the role they were expected to play. The obvious solution would be to avoid anything having to do with the OMC or seducing Jack, but typically it’s not that easy for the MC to avoid the other characters in a villainess story, especially if they’re engaged to Ian. This is especially true if they start feeling attracted to Jack despite knowing the many bad ends that might await them down that path.

There’s a lot of variables with a general MC and how that would affect the villainess character, as well as what they made of that character. That’s why this ramble took a while to make. I got too caught up on the broader picture, and kept waffling back and forth on things.

So let’s narrow our focus, shall we?

Alice takes the role of villainess in this story. In the original game, the character Alice is spoiled, greedy, vain, gluttonous, and just an overall unpleasant rival that is meant to be the clear-cut bad guy that the player should take great pleasure in seeing get a most unpleasant and humiliating end. You know, the typical chubby antagonist whose weight is the reason why they are deemed repulsive and the butt of the universe’s jokes.

In a way, Alice is forced to take up an unpleasant role like her acting teacher warned her she would be pigeonholed into in the main universe. Only, in this case, she’s expected to live the part.

Of course, unlike a lot of stories in this genre where the villainess starts off chubby and goes through a story arc where they quickly lose weight, Alice is going to stay chubby in this AU, because as long as one is healthy, their size and shape doesn’t matter. It won’t stop people from making fun of her for her size, but it also won’t stop her from being beautiful and worthy of love.

Since this is a reincarnation story, naturally Alice’s previous incarnation was Mary. Since otome games weren’t really a thing in the USA in the early 80’s, the world would instead be based off of a storybook, or a series of stories. It could even be a tween romance series where the main character romances a different guy in the same setting, something super self-indulgent where the protagonist may as well be a build-it-yourself OC with how little detail they have. In this AU, it was a series that was a guilty pleasure when Mary was young that she probably cringed at when looking at it again later in life.

It would also provide a huge tonal whiplash to suddenly find herself in the role of such a series’ villainess after dying such a sad and lonely death in the hospital. Instead of waking up in the comforting arms of her lover in the next life, she wakes up in a lavish mansion with memories of the character she was reborn to play blending in with her sad former life.

It would be interesting if, as a kid, Mary envied the OMC for all the adventures and love she got, only to go back to the series as an adult and see all the awful messages. Many protagonists in the genre wind up empathizing with the villainess, seeing where the story painted them in an unfair light, and things about Alice in the story wound up striking too close to home now that she saw them as an adult, and the OMC is a lot more childish and self-centered than she remembered.

It’d still be strange for anyone to wake up in the role of an antagonist they sympathized with, especially when their last memory was filled with so much grief, pain, and trauma.

While I am tempted that Alice just wakes up one day with Mary’s memories, I think it would be more fitting that they were triggered. In the original story, the first time Alice saw the crown prince at a party, she fell obsessively in love with him. However, in this case, his familiar face reminded her instantly of Joseph, and struck her with a painful nostalgia that rocked her to her core, awakening her memories of her previous life and how she died.

Alice collapses from the shock on the spot. All the memories of pain and love colliding and blending in with this new reality hit her all at once, overwhelming her completely. To onlookers, she’s a noble lady who merely fainted, possibly swooning at the sight of the crown prince, or because of some sudden illness.

It, understandably, takes Alice a while to reconcile the two sets of memories… especially when she realizes that she’s been reborn in the world of a story with many possible endings… as the hated villainess who is going to meet one of many awful ends.

Alice grieves for Joseph and everything she lost as Mary all over again. Prince Jack is so painfully similar to Joseph… especially if the SunnyTime Crew Show existed in her previous life. It’d be so shockingly coincidental, too coincidental, and it’d be hard for her to know what to make of it. Even if the show and the character of Sunny Day Jack didn’t exist, she would still wonder if maybe, just maybe, she wasn’t the only one reborn.

At the same time, Alice knows the original story. The Alice in the story was obsessed over Jack. What if she goes down the same path, leading to the doom of not only herself, but possibly even her family who enabled the villainess’ rampage in the series?

Since Alice would regain her memories the first time she saw Jack, it would most likely be a point in time before the stories were supposed to begin, perhaps even when she is still a child before she gains that villainess reputation in the first place. It might be fitting too, since the first time she and Joseph met was as children. In a way, it’s like they had their first meeting all over again, only she’s the one who needed to be taken away for medical assistance.

This leaves Alice in a difficult place. Should she find out if Jack really is Joseph? What if he doesn’t remember their past lives? What if she’s wrong and the universe is playing yet another cruel joke on the villainess Alice?

What if this is why the character Alice was so dangerously obsessed over Jack? The story was primarily focused on the OMC, not really touching on the reasons why Alice was so desperate to be with Jack beyond an apparent desire for power. The stories never really talked about her family, which Mary is surprised is so loving, even to the point of spoiling Alice. She wished for a family who loved her this much, and now she has it. She’s not alone anymore.

 The original story has so many paths that lead to her doom. Mary Phoenix is dead, and she is now Alice of house Rose. There was nothing left for her in the life she left, and in this new life she doesn’t hurt like she used to. She has so much more in this life, everything she dreamed of during those long and lonely nights she spent sick in her room.

The only thing missing is her starlight, but… if he would be happier without her… she’ll leave Jack be. The prince in the stories was always disgusted by the villainess and adored the OMC no matter what route the OMC took. Mary helped Joseph get the job of Sunny Day Jack that led to his death. If Prince Jack really is Joseph reborn like she suspects, he’s loved by all. She knows from the stories and what she has heard that he has a loving family, and the love of an entire kingdom.

Perhaps the best thing for Alice to do is to be content with the life she has now. She has a loving family, wealth enough to do practically anything she wants, status, and, well, Ian was a sweet character. They’re not engaged yet at this time, but maybe an arranged marriage with him wouldn’t be so bad? She had met him before regaining her memories as Mary, and he seemed quite nice. Also, as a reader she did think that the villainess Alice would’ve been happier if she just was satisfied with her fiance Ian.

It doesn’t change the fact that Alice still misses Joseph. She still loves him more than anything. The pain of his death is fresh in her mind. Would it really be so selfish just to see if perhaps Jack really is her starlight reborn? Would she still be a villainess wanting to have some sort of relationship with him? She’s not the character Alice. She won’t be so cruel, and certainly wouldn’t use mind altering potions on anybody.

Alice is left torn on what the right thing to do is. The story ends miserably for her in so many ways, but this isn’t a story, this is her reality now. Love taken too far can become obsession. What if she projects her memories of Joseph onto Jack? That wouldn’t be fair to him. He might never remember�� or he might be someone else entirely. He might just look like her starlight, with the name of the character he played when he died, the same character she came up with as the show’s writer. The same role that led to his death. It would be so cruel if he wasn’t Joseph, but then again, this world is very cruel to its villainess.

It’s this sort of internal war that keeps Alice secluded from the world and society for a while. She needs time to sort through these memories and thoughts. She needs to grieve and remember the story to figure out what the right path forward is. This seclusion and sudden drastic change in her mood worries her family. They don’t know what’s wrong with her, and she won’t open up to them, as there’s no way to explain without sounding like a lunatic.

Eventually, Alice would come to the conclusion that she should keep a respectable distance between her and Jack. If he is Joseph and remembers her… it’s all she could ask for. But she won’t go down the path of forcing it. She won’t force him to have a relationship, to love her, and she certainly won’t force him to be what she wants. She will accept that Joseph is dead and that she must move on and somehow find a happy ending despite the role she has been given. Whatever relationship she might have with Jack in the future, she won’t forcefully bind him to her just because of a past that was now dead.

Jack, however, has different plans.

Come on, you can’t expect me to let things end like that for my OTP. I’m a sucker for happy endings after all. Besides, we’ve still got to add some yandere spice to the mix even if Alice is refusing to play the part like the villainess character did.

Despite Alice’s fears, Jack is indeed Joseph reborn. He has a passing familiarity with the story, since he knew that it was Mary’s favorite series as a child. He took interest in the things she liked, even if they didn’t resonate with him the way it did with her. However, the original story doesn’t matter to him. The instant he saw his sunshine’s face for the first time, he knew, he just knew that he couldn’t let her go.

Just like Alice has trauma from her death, Jack does as well. Whatever supernatural curse bound Joseph to the tape led to the pair being reborn in this world. Perhaps he figured out a way to escape his hell, or change its form, leading to the creation of this world while also bringing Mary’s soul into this new world he created. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that Mary was the one who came up with the concept of the SunnyTime Crew show in the first place and was one of the writers. Perhaps the wish she made at the end of her life changed both their fates, and she was the one responsible for this world’s existence. Perhaps it was a mixture of all these things, or something else entirely that led to this situation. For all we know, a trickster god decided to meddle with things to give them a new life where they might have a second chance.

Perhaps a trickster dragon god who wants to see her OTP live a new life in a different world where they can be happy together and is a fan of the villainess transmigration genre. ;3

Whatever the case, Jack won’t let anyone take his sunshine away. He isn’t Joseph anymore. They can have a fresh start, a new life without the sins of Joseph Cullman to weigh him down. He can create the life for the two of them that he always wished to make. He can be whatever he wants to be, including a prince charming that will give his sunshine whatever her heart desires.

The time Jack spent in hell left him with nightmares of cold nights, lost and alone even before consciously remembering his past life. He clung to his family more because of it, being somewhat of a spoiled baby, but their love helped him not feel so alone. Even still, something was missing, a hole in his heart that ached to be filled.

Being a prince, Jack sees countless faces. He has to remember so many people in order to be a good king one day. He often goes to parties to greet countless nobles, but none of them caught his attention like Alice.

Initially, Jack didn’t see Alice in the crowd, staring at him with wide eyes. It was the commotion that caught his attention. He heard one of the young ladies had fainted. The knights were on alert, worried about foul play. They ushered the prince to safety, but Jack dragged his feet, he kept looking back.

Then Jack caught a glimpse of her, the girl being carried off by a servant or a worried parent. Her sickly pale face was so familiar… he couldn’t place it. He struggled a little harder, wanting a better look at her, but the knights were stronger and urged him away. Something inside him screamed to go back. He had to see her properly, look in her eyes, which were twisted tightly closed.

For some reason he was certain that her eyes were a distinct shade of blue.

Jack couldn’t get Alice out of his mind. He found out her name after things calmed down. She had gotten sick. What was wrong? Oh, the family couldn’t say for sure. That wasn’t good enough of an answer for Jack. He needed to know what happened, if she was okay. He had to see her.

The glimpse of Alice was like a crack in the wall that separated Jack from his memories of Joseph. He had painful flashes, nightmares of a life filled with regrets that only had a few shining moments of happiness.

The brightest light in that darkened life was the one with eyes the color of the sky at dawn.

Jack kept petitioning to visit Alice, under the excuse that he wanted to wish her well, see if she was alright in person, but the Rose family politely declined each time. His concern was appreciated, but she was too unwell for visitors.

It drove Jack crazy, and it brought back memories of a hospital, of a woman whose life hung by a thread. More than once Joseph had to take Mary to the hospital even before her final days there. Being unable to see her also made him feel lonely in a way that he hadn’t felt in so, so long. He felt so very, very cold.

At some point Jack remembered names. He remembered Mary, Joseph, and the tragic way his life and career ended with exposed sins and gunfire. He also remembered what came after, the cold emptiness and pain that tore away at him, his desperation for someone, anyone to save him, to remember that he was still there.

Jack struggled with reconciling these memories. He wanted to escape from them, but at the same time he couldn’t let go of Mary, the girl who looked so much like Alice. The memories of the story that made up the world he lived in were vague, something he remembered far later, but for now he just had to meet Alice, if only to settle the dissonance that had overtaken his mind.

The change in Jack was noticed, of course, and his family were concerned about him. He quickly remembered how to hide how he felt behind a smile. The more he remembered of the actor known as [Redacted], the better he could play the part of the cheerful, smiling prince. Being a prince really wasn’t that much different than being a kids TV show host and teacher after all. He just needed to put on a good show for everyone.

When Alice had recovered enough to leave her bedroom and try to live her new life, she was shocked to learn that the prince wanted to see her, and was surprisingly insistent about it. Although her family said that she didn’t have to see him if she was still unwell, she couldn’t turn him down. She had to see him, talk to him at least once. Then maybe, just maybe, she could figure out what she should do.

The moment they met, Alice tried to act like a proper lady, to not let on how seeing Jack face to face made her heart ache so much. She curtsied and greeted him as she was polite instead of giving in to the part of her that just wanted to throw herself into his arms and cry.

Those eyes of hers were just as bright and blue as Jack knew they would be. He knew that he was right. Alice was Mary, his sunshine. She acted as if she didn’t recognize him, but maybe it was better that way. They could start over as Jack and Alice. They could forget all the mistakes, all the pain.

This time, Jack would do everything right.

Jack was charming during their meeting. He expressed concern about Alice fainting at the party, offering her a gift that left her confused and a bit flustered by the attention. His behavior was so kind and princely… but he didn’t recognize her. She couldn’t be sure this was Joseph or just someone with his face. Spending time with him was both wonderful and made her heart ache with longing. If she was to keep herself from becoming obsessed with him, she knew by the end of the night that she would have to keep her distance.

Of course, Jack would never allow that. He started sending Alice letters, visited her often, and invited her to the palace. Despite the painful nostalgia of their past, the time they spent together was a joy to both of them. Alice laughed at his dumb jokes for the first time in what felt like forever. It was so hard not to simply fall in love with him all over again in spite of herself.

Though they were getting closer, Jack couldn’t risk anything getting between them. By this point, he remembered some elements of the story, just the broadest strokes, but they were enough for him to remember the roles they were supposed to play… and how the “villainess” would inevitably meet a tragic fate.

In many storybook isekai stories, the protagonist writes down everything they can about the original story so they don’t forget it. I, like many readers, wonder what would happen if someone else was to come across these notes, but that plot point never comes up again.

So what if Jack, when visiting Alice one day, snoops through her things, and finds her notes about the original story? It could be what makes him remember the original series in the first place. It was so long ago since he read it, and he wasn’t a fan of it after all. His memories would be far more faint than Alice’s would be.

So many routes lead to awful deaths for Alice in this series. It’s sadistic to its villainess - banishment, imprisonment, beheading, assassination, poisoning, turning into a monster, and many other countless awful ends. There are some notes she added of potential counter-measures to escape these awful fates… including a note that she can’t let herself fall in love with Prince Jack.

Well now… Jack isn’t about to allow their story to meet a tragic end in any respect. Never again.

Jack is going to change the story, and the first change is to make sure that Alice gets engaged to him instead of Ian. Oh, his parents are surprised when he brings it up. They were going to let him choose who he wanted to marry when he was older, rather than force a choice, but Jack was adamant that he wanted to marry Alice. Arranging a marriage isn’t uncommon for nobility, and in fact talks had been going on between the Rose family and the Duff family for a while now, but those are swiftly ended.

Needless to say, Alice is shocked by the change in the narrative. She was already surprised that Jack liked her and went out of his way to spend time with her instead of avoiding her like in the books, but an engagement? Should she be happy or worried? He reminds her of Joseph, but he is different now. Is he really her starlight?

When meeting Jack next, Alice tries sounding him out. She tries to subtly bring up things about their past that only Mary and Joseph would know. Jack doesn’t acknowledge these things, redirecting conversations and distracting Alice so she doesn’t try again. If she tries being more forceful, it causes Jack to be shaken up, not wanting to be Joseph anymore, and she immediately backs off at seeing his distress. Even if she wants answers, she can’t stand the idea of hurting Jack.

The question never gets neatly resolved for Alice about whether Jack is really Joseph, but it’s hard for her not to be swept up by him. He always had a way of charming her, and they have so much fun together. Even if they are new people now, they fit so neatly together, like two puzzle pieces. Despite her resolve not to fall in love, he keeps finding ways of making her heart flutter in spite of herself.

There’s also the looming fear of the OMC and Jack falling in love with her like he did in the story, but Alice is all too aware that the story has changed. Hell, her awareness changes it in and of itself. Plus the original story was a series of stories with different routes, with no true timeline. She has no idea how the OMC is going to change things whenever she finally appears.

Alice and Jack grow up together like they did in their previous lives, only this time nothing is forcing them apart. In their own ways, they make alterations to the original story without letting the other know in order to make sure Alice won’t face a tragic end. Jack at times takes a bit more direct action against those who would hurt his sunshine.

Suffice to say, Alice falls in love with Jack in spite of herself, and eventually the truth that Jack remembers will be revealed. It’ll hurt Alice that he hid it all this time, especially since it would have reassured her so much that he remembered too. There’s going to be some drama, but in the end they love each other and want to be together. Even if the reveal might hurt after lying for so long, Alice will forgive Jack. In the end, she’ll always forgive her starlight.

In the end, Alice and Jack have their happily ever after. The memories might have left scars on their hearts, the past might have had such pain and darkness, but they can move forward. They can heal, find love and so many new connections in this life. Most of all, they’ll always find their way back to each other. Their love will bind them together forever.

As for the OMC… perhaps they get together with Ian in the end. I mean, Ian does cheat on MC in the original SDJ game, and he plays the role of the love interest who cheats with the protagonist despite being engaged in the in-universe otome game. It’d be narratively fitting.

Plus it would be kind of funny if, regardless of Jack remembering or any other connection like with Alice/Mary, MC tried to avoid their bad end by staying faithful to their fiance Ian and accept the arranged marriage… only to be cheated on when the OMC comes along, similar to the Ian route in the original story.

Man, wouldn’t it hurt even worse if MC sincerely fell in love with Ian, vowing not to cheat like the villainess did, only to wind up being the one cheated on in the end. Wouldn’t that be a kick in the teeth?

That’s pretty much all the ideas I have for the villainess AU I have for now, but it feels weird to leave it on a sour note, so here’s one last bit of fluffy OTP self-indulgence.

Jack isn’t going to wait for the wedding night to seduce Alice, though he is going to be eager to have their wedding as soon as possible. Also, in a bit of narrative irony, he’s going to be the one to get the mage’s tower to make a potion for him, but not a love potion. He would never force his sunshine to do anything she doesn’t want to do. It’s more of a potion made for loving if you catch my drift.

After all, what’s a fantasy AU with a horny male lead without some magical aphrodisiacs? Nothing to influence the will or remove consent, but it does make the skin and other places very sensitive. It’s just a little added spice after they become intimate to make Alice respond so strongly to his every touch and burn for Jack all the more.

Jack could take some as well, though he doesn't need an aphrodisiac for Alice to drive him crazy. Every time she touches him, he burns so badly for her, so desperate and needy. It took everything he could to hold himself back until she finally gave in to her feelings and loved him despite fears of the original story and their pasts. Suggesting they have a little fun with aphrodisiacs just makes things a little more fair by giving Jack a chance to drive Alice with crazy with desire for a change~

I hope it wasn’t too meandering of a ramble, hahaha. Maybe I’ll come back to this plot bunny again sometime. I hope you enjoyed it!

@channydraws @earthgirlaesthetic @sai-of-the-7-stars @cheriihoney @illary-kore @okamiliqueur @kurokrisps

[coraniaid]

Couple more Jenny thoughts before, like the show itself, I forget all about her and never mention her again:

1. There’s a popular claim online – one which, unlike a lot of claims about the show’s “original plan”, I think actually is grounded in something the show’s creators have said – to the effect that it was originally going to be Oz, not Jenny, who was killed off in Passion.  To be frank, this sounds pretty unbelievable to me: I just don't see anything in the text to support it. And after knowing the fate of Kendra and Harmony and Joyce and Tara and Cordelia and Anya and Fred, does it sound credible to you?

That being said, in an alternate reality where Jenny did survive Season 2, it seems likely – given Robia Scott’s reported religious conversion in the summer of 1998 – that she’d have probably ended up being written out of the show anyway.   And even if not, I don’t think it’s particularly likely the writers would have ever found anything interesting to do with her.  I think what we got is (unfortuately) probably about as good as we were ever going to get.

2. I think what frustrates me so much about this season's handling of Jenny Calendar is that it would just have been so easy to fix it all with a little care.  This season gave Giles a somewhat murky past and a history he’s ashamed of and it worked out fine.  In theory, establishing some sort of connection between Jenny and one of Angel’s past victims could have been a really interesting choice. It could have been tied into her death in a meaningful and tragic way.  If, that is, the show cared enough about Jenny to explore it.  But as it is, the “Janna of the Kalderash” retcon adds literally nothing to the story, other than adding a brief surprise twist and a bit of extra racism and giving the Scoobies an excuse to be awkward around Jenny before she dies.  You could cut out “Uncle Enyos” entirely, throw in a quick scene where Jenny goes online to find out about the loophole in the curse, and practically everything else stays the same.

Apart from not knowing (or caring) enough to give any depth to Jenny’s supposed Romani backstory, the show’s writers never seem to decide if they want Jenny to be an innocent victim who did nothing wrong or a traitor who was murdered just before she could properly redeem herself.  I almost think Passion would work better if Jenny had known what would happen if Buffy and Angel slept together.  At least then there’d be a reason to freeze her out.  But, on the other hand, a Jenny who did know would have had literally no reason not to tell them.  (Neither Jenny nor Enyos wanted the curse to be broken, after all! That is literally the thing they are in Sunnydale to stop from happening.)  So while Passion might have been improved I don’t know if the season as a whole would have been.

3. Although Jenny really isn’t talked about much at all after Season 2, and never after the halfway point of Season 3, it’s popular in fandom circles to argue that her death still had a big impact on the Scoobies, on Willow and on Giles in particular.  (Similarly, skipping ahead a little, it’s a popular fandom reading to suggest that Kendra’s death had a much bigger impact on Buffy than what we see on screen.)  

The basic idea is that Willow’s growing interest in magic can be seen as an attempt to take over the role of Jenny as the group’s resident “technopagan” and magic expert, in the same way she takes over her role as computer science teacher for the rest of this season.  Meanwhile, Giles is supposedly so hurt by Jenny’s death that he never forms a serious romantic relationship with anybody else again.  More generally, nobody ever brings Jenny’s name up in conversation because it’s just too sensitive – it’s almost a taboo topic.  Only when things are very heated, like during the argument in Revelations, will somebody particularly lacking in tact (meaning: Xander) dare to bring her up.

I quite like these fan readings myself – in some sense, I’d like to think that Jenny mattered, that her memory is still important years after her death – but I think it’s giving the writers far too much credit to assume this is how the viewers were actually meant to read things.  

I think the simplest explanation is that Jenny isn’t talked about much after Season 2 for the same reason Jesse isn’t talked about at all after The Harvest. For the same reason Cordelia isn’t talked about much after she leaves for Angel, and Oz isn’t after he’s written out in Season 4.  The writers don’t want to alienate viewers who have forgotten her, or who only started watching the show after she died.  In fact, a lot of the writers who worked on the show from Season 4 onwards only joined the writing team after Jenny died.  I wouldn’t be surprised if some of them had completely forgotten about her. 

Giles doesn’t get a new romantic partner because the cast starts getting too big (and because the writers were too cowardly to pair him up with Ethan).  Crucially, this isn’t for lack of trying on Giles’s part: in Season 4, we see him get a new “orgasm friend” in the form of Olivia Williams, and while things don’t work out between them that’s not because of any reluctance on Giles’s side. I find it hard to reconcile Olivia with the idea Giles is still deeply grieving Jenny.

As for Willow … well, she obviously takes Jenny’s death hard in Passion, and it’s definitely easy to headcanon her interest in magic during the summer Buffy’s missing as an attempt to try to get closer to the memory of Jenny Calendar.  I really don’t think there’s much textual support for it though.  If she was trying to be like Ms. Calendar, wouldn’t she want to keep up the computer science side of things as well, instead of abandoing computers for magic?  And, as I said a bit earlier in my rewatch, I just don’t think Jenny actually ever did fill this sort of magic/technopagan role in the group.  After Season 1, the writers mostly ignored that part of her character.  (She starts getting into magic again only after the “Janna” retcon, and Passion links the two aspects of her character pretty strongly by having the magic store owner talk about knowing her uncle.)

But yeah, canon or not, it’s nice to imagine that Jenny mattered.  That the show and its characters didn’t just forget all about her a few episodes after her death.  I think she deserved that much.

[slackerartist]

With having to create so many story stuff for many different characters, original story stuff like Doodle Madness, to existing stories like Splatoon with SplashInk and the Persona 5 AU, Another Story, but one story idea I haven't gotten to doing at all is for a show I have just rewatched a while ago, which is The Owl House, and for this story idea I have in mind which I have been working on for a short while, I would like to call it... Twisting Tides

What even is Twisting Tides anyway? Twisting Tides is an Owl House styled story that would be taking place during the events of the main show itself, but it would mainly focus on the characters that I have created especially only in Twisting Tides itself.

What is the story to Twisting Tides? It essentially follows the same story and structure as the original show itself, but with a few twists and turns of course. Twisting Tides follows the story of Everest Anderson, a human from our own world as he accidentally gets put into another world, simply to give back a notebook to his long time friend, Luciana Cordell, who is revealed to not be a human, but revealed to be a witch from the Demon Realm!

With him being stuck in the Demon Realm however and not in his own, it’s going to take a lot of risk and turns for Everest to be accompanied in this whole new world, with him going to a new school while learning on how to use magic with his very own wand and spell book that he rightfully acquired to try and learn all the brand new magic spells, meeting new friends/enemies, and even exploring his very own origins to find out about his actual past life that isn’t in his own world however.

Will Everest eventually find his way back home in the Human Realm with the help of Luciana, Luciana’s own family and even his new found friends?

What will Twisting Tides include? In Twisting Tides it would feature different ideas from the show itself, both old and new, with those examples such as… -Stuff from the pilot, the pitch bible and even the Test Animation/Next Time On would be added into Twisting Tides, so expect different ideas for stuff, like on Luciana for example, she is loosely based on the version of Amity from both the pilot and pitch bible of the original show, and even the creepy Puppet Luz character idea to be used for Everest, if you've seen the test animation, you'll know why. -Owl House characters that were created by my friends would show up in Twisting Tides. -Twisting Tides would be going for the same route as Adventure Time: Fionna & Cake, think of what if The Owl House was rated TV-14 instead of the show's TV-Y7 rating. -Have different original locations that would expand in both the Human Realm and the Demon Realm, and even go beyond from the two realms with the new location called the Spiritual Realm. -Characters from the canon show would show up in Twisting Tides.

Will Twisting Tides suffer the same fate as other fan fictions like The Seventh Son by Cowboy Alchemist, or even the notorious Amphibia fanfiction, Loyalty Among Worlds by AdmiralDT8? Simply to answer that… ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! I’m putting all the safety precautions to make sure that I do not want to follow the same patterns as those fanfics are doing, I’ve known for creating different original ideas and even wanting to take existing stories to actually give them originality, and no I’m not going to ship an OC towards the show’s main character, Luz, since that 1. the ship with both Luz and Amity is already in the show, and 2. my character Luciana is to have a crush with Everest.

So yeah, guess that's about it, also won't be planning on making another blog account because of this, since I have three blog accounts made and will not plan on making a fourth one lol

Also no, I don't plan on making this into a webcomic on Twisting Tides, but instead, doing fake snapshots, more character art, writing stuff and might even do scene redraws since I'm known for doing those types of stuff.

And if you have made it this far from reading from top to bottom, congratulations, you get a cookie!

[thatdeadaquarius]

i NEED to see more of your art !!!!!

*bats eyelashes* this is a threat.

AHFLALSDHA WHAT- STOP GET OUT NO U DONT PLEASE-

U WANNA SEE MY ART??!!

IVE BEEN WAITING FOR YEARRSSS FOR SOMEONE TO SEE MY ART-

For future standalone posts like Possession AU/actual Fanfics/Non-Asks I'll probably add some of my art as a fun visual, since it sucks the closest I can get is gifs to feeling more immersed! :/

These I drew over the past 2-3 weeks! They're my lovely OCS, left to right, Lucille, Mara and Sabrina! They're story is a big fat beautiful shit on JK Rowl*ng! Lucille is a black lesbian successful trans woman/future magic council-woman, Mara is a japanese-american hard-headed/bold sapphic woman/future professional magical athlete, and Sabrina is a plus-size queer woman/future professional magical plants necromancer! They're in my twist on Harry Potter universe, where they all go to magical university, and the point is that Mara and Lucille are infamous school rivals, but then fall in love/fall in love with Sabrina too! A magical gay polycule if u will, I've written 2 short stories about them for my fiction class so far!

SHEESH, DO ME A FAVOR AND CLICK FOR QUALITY!!

this was my last project for my illustration 2 class! I have a physical comic book/zine I'm making, but this is the summary TLDR digital piece lol, its actually a sort of isekai of myself into Percy Jackson and changing his fate for the better! (Yes ik his anatomy is ROUGH, dont look at him too hard- SOBS)

Here's an earlier project this year from Illustration 2, I got an article I had to make illustrations for, to help you understand it/add aesthetic to it! My subject was Cosmic Topology, pretty sick topic if u ever wanna look it up, it's about the shape of the universe! :0

^^^

And these-

are the gifs from that art exhibition I talked so much about the past couple weeks! It was my senior art exhibition (a requirement to display art in the uni gallery to graduate!)

irl photos under this text block!

These are actually being projected across pages in a fake photo album/prom guestbook thingy, fully interactive so u can turn the pages and it shows a new animation, like a magical storybook! Also, since it's prom themed, I made it a kinda guestbook/sign book so gallery viewers can get some glitter pens I left out to sign the end of it! I also have a playlist I made playing in the gallery along with it so it's like what they'd play at this prom! :) hope that made sense!

The content is that the girl you see walking around in white is getting social anxiety/stressed out, to the point of dissociating, as a way of doing my theme I've kept up for university of things appearing darker than they initially look (hence the colors + I love colors), and to bring awareness to mental health!

welp, didnt mean to include all that black space, but that's my artist statement too! (u cant see the prints in the pictures, that's just my interactive piece I was talking about!)

hope if u click on the statement it's readable lol

Just click on the Alt text, I pasted it there 😭 also the piece is called

"You're the Star of the Night (you're dissociating)!"

Tumblr hates me so I just made the gif of me actually turning the pages into a link/QR code thingy! feel free to check out if u want :)

Uh anyway, if you made it this far, thank you so much!

Can't wait to make more fanart tbh lol

AND THANK YOU SO MUCH AGAIN FOR ASKING ORAH!! (sorry it wasnt more genshin stuff whoops...) RLLY HOPE I DIDNT SPAM U TOO HARD-

Safe travels,

💀♒️

[dirtyoldmanhole]

guilty pleasure ramble about how i'd slot my self insert + zihark into fates since it feels inevitable after tellius/fe13(<where it got started)/feh

ironically mostly tellius & fates magic nerding, no worries. worldbuilding!

this is going to be incomprehensible without context lol, so: long story short i've spent the past uh. 20 years plopping those two in various FE worlds.

while tellius was naturally where it started, the story really solidified with fe13's spotpass characters and me trying to retcon (a) how tf they're viewed to the other living characters (shades, ghosts?) and how they got there, and (b) the avatar-tactician being all but a necromancer nosferatsu tank raising ghosts from her past and how the hell chrom + co would actually find that creepy.

(i need to name her at least for talking publicly. let's uh - bright eyes was ironically a name that a lot of dark mages started calling her way later on once she started hunting them down in tellius proper (the OG world) and she kind of likes that power trip. so let's go with that.)

anyway - bright eyes' (tellius) backstory is that she almost died as a kid from a sickness while growing up in begnion and unintentionally became a spirit charmer when making a pact out of sheer desperation of 'i don't want to die'. (-so be it, said the spirit).

so she gets regeneration and stunted aging at the cost of health.

a lot of the resulting tension of the story comes from playing with the dark sides of regeneration - not being able to die but still feeling pain, how can it be twisted into an advantage, etc. (if you've read the manga ajin, i loved how it really knuckled into the body horror and psychological horror of simple regeneration alone and how creatively it can be taken. are you yourself after being decapitated? if those two "parts" stay separate who *is* your true self? is the only way to stop somebody who can infinitely regenerate to cut them up in pieces and bury them alive? etc .... it gets dark yea)

anyway as time goes on, empress sanaki notices bright eyes during the mad king's war (being a simple mage that tags along with ike's army), and has her on retainer much like tormod investigating daein. (you can probably figure how things go when radiant dawn kicks off, and who she runs into again).

but while tormod's more there to investigate whether begnion's occupation is legit, bright eyes is there keeping tabs on dark mages and taking them out since she's gotten vastly better at combat.

since here's the thing - especially in tellius dark mages are much rarer/either begnion-sanctioned/branded/spirit charmers. there's a lot of fascinating social power dynamics i think are hinted in who gets sanctioned mage education and which kind of accepted mage training ... holy priests vs like, underground hedgewitches.

with the begnion empire and worship of ashera as monocultural? universal? as it is, i get the feeling that dark mages are seen as the "other evil" much like yune ("dark god" and all) - likewise, i am so fascinated by that one dark mage boss you get to see in p3 of radiant dawn. who'd he get trained by.

"dang bright eyes is a cop???" lol. yes, but rest assured that too is played with - when does it hit about hunting down kin, more similar than those who are your handlers? i love this kind of messy shit. consider it the ex-fundamentalist background of the author.

anyway, which! brings me to fates-verse.

nyx' whole eternal-youth-but-what-cost-curse-backstory instantly stood out to me as something similar (writing YRMR solidified my thoughts on how incredibly powerful and prestigious mages are in nohr compared to tellius; almost like minor nobles in their own regard) - but i also don't want to take that and copy it wholesale. that said bright eyes being nohrian feels patently obvious with the vampire background that nation has, lol; she'd always be the monster of the two.

zihark on the other hand feels easy; dead ringer for a hoshido mercenary - sort of like shura in he's willing to take on dirty jobs and crosses the borders into nohr unusually often for a hoshidan. almost frequently enough that a few folks mistake him for a nohrian at first (kind of like how no one in ike's army knew he was daein despite sothe himself also being daein).

but going back -

i kind of like the idea of bright eyes actually starting off in iago's mage guild; i want to explore how deeply fucked up nohrian's magic power dynamics are with the most emphasized bits of magic are mind wipes, faceless, sapping willpower, assassination via illusions ... simply controlling fire/ice feels positively tame in comparison.

anyway bright eyes basically trading health for regeneration as a way to survive in the mage's guild training feels remarkably on script there. all the baby mages trying to figure out how to "cheat" survival and the backstabbing until they graduate....

and well. can't kill a monster that just keeps coming back.

[zayray030]

So I have a bit of a delusion story that I wanted to share about Ace...

So we know that there are multiple universes for Twisted wonderland (the manga protagonists, novel and game) what if the world is trying to correct its timeline or something so the world is branching out to choose the right Yuu.

So what if Ace already had his UM with him and it could be his ability to copy things copied something or someone's (Malleus) that let him remember things that happened in the past worlds.(Since we do know that UM awakening is related to them overcoming the hardship/practicing a lot and the UM itself is the thing they are good at like with Deuce and his strength(Bet the limit), Cater and him able to act differently(Split Card) etc.)

In the first iteration what if he used to be in RSA student(Ideas from fanart) and Grim destroyed everything(Prologue). Someone (who we can call Mastermind) decided to reverse the students fates and rewound time again and again.

At some point Ace uses his UM to copy the magic and realizes the reversing of time. He tries to do somethings has he does not want to relive the same time over and over again(Since we do know he likes to live his life as he likes which I think was told in the ghost marriage event do correct me if I am wrong).

As he does do it the mastermind realizes that Ace is part of the solution so he takes a way his UM and his memories. But doing so made the UM have an ego and it went in to hiding as it witnessed Ace and everyone going through the loops over and over again.

Thus, after Grim's overblot it and the mastermind realized that everything is over and the UM wanted to go back to Ace but it realized that he was much happier without it which made it sad but it also understood why (this was because Ace is a rational person if he wants to be) so it was going to leave him alone. But it realized that Ace has accumulated a lot of blot because of the previous loops and might have to overblot for any of hope the blot to disappear and Ace to live since the UM is still active.

So, during the RSA vs NRC match it hatches a plan to make Ace overblot.

That is all I have for now. This is so bad but I wanted to share with someone and since you had a lot of theories and stories that really were fun to read I wanted to also share some of my theories and stories. I hope you enjoyed reading it. If you want to use some of the ideas you can.

Once again I really love your theories and stories. I hope to see more of them you ever you post. I am excited for chapter 7 release this February.

Thank you for sharing your theory with me! In all honesty, reading all these Ace theories make me really excites for his arc and I hope Twst can deliver

Thank you so much! I honestly didn't realise I posted theories lmao. I just write about Ace being baby girl and everyone wanting a peice of him lmao! Thank you anyways!

[shummashum]

Klaus Goldstein Ch4 [6~10]

woah… too explicit even a five-year-old can understand the intention

I'm sure he's already noticed

if it were Luca, he would tell her the magic that summons a pink frog… but there's no way Liz would be fooled by it now. besides I don't think Cae would do that in the first place …maybe.

Anyway she succeeded in making it.

but well you know this charm is unlikely to be an important item in the story from what I see? this chapter is also the part that creates the atmosphere of a "useless" romance, just like she was sucked into the book during Ch5 in Zeus' route. I prefer the narrative progression though…

or is it that Ch5 in Zeus' route was a part that could have been left out from a narrative point of view, but Ch5 part and the climax part both had two elements: "getting sucked in somewhere" + "the story of the princess and the prince." taking that into consideration, the climax part of Klaus' route may feature a scene including "the charm" and "the effect of charm"…?

and here comes the target

eh um isn't this thing kinda dangerous I don't think this is a mere ordinary item

oh… shit I think she made something really dangerous think about it: if you surround a person with remote bombs, select a target, make him hold the enchanted magnet, and detonate the bomb when that target gets close this is perilous ! !

what if it's not the effect of the charm what if he stumbled due to his fatigue plot-twist

Anyway the two met each other again later.

this is just a nuisance…… can't you just dispel that magnet? this is a charm perfectly suited for screwing people over, even if it's not for murder what if the reason he recommended this was to troll conspiracy theory on

They both started walking, and this time she managed to stumble and fall toward him.

erm same vibe in Ch5 in Zeus' route this material and development seem better suited for an event story rather than the main story however, if this opponent-inducing gimmick is really used in the climax, I'd gladly accept this cringy thing

They apart again, and…

oh please now I'm getting sick of this stop it and turn that fucking sentimental bgm off

what is this…… besides the walkthrough tell me I have to choose the fate blabla what the heck is this……

kidding, you say should I laugh here?

and why are you accepting that are you kidding me is your sanity okay????

no way the Klaus Goldsten I know never says like that nor reacts like that I'm sure he already knows and is just kidding tell me I'm right

now I'm slowly reaching for the skip button Ch5 in Zeus' route felt like someone was clumping cringe into a ball and stuffing it into my mouth, and Ch4 in Klaus' route just has no flavor… maybe it's because I saw this past midnight but it's true that it's boring what on earth does this have to do with main narrative, just do this in event stories

what as soon as I say it's boring, the bookshelf falls down okay I'm sorry I'm sorry for saying it's boring!!

aw fuck this is just a fucking nuisance………… fuck the kiss, this is just a nuisance!!!! I'm sorry, librarian I'm fucking sorry……

He somehow managed to stand up, and offered her his hand. At least they started cleaning up the mess.

When they were gathering up the fallen books, Klaus found a book on the basics of offensive magic.

okay it's good to be positive okay…

[voraciousvore]

17 and 18 for the ask game :D

Ooh thank you for the asks! Sorry if this is a bit long but I love to ramble about my stories xD

17. My current WIP is The Giant and the Princess, which has a lot of lore behind it. The human world that Jackie comes from mirrors our own, yet is different due to the existence of magic and large fantasy creatures in the medieval past. As the story goes, the giants have trouble finding food and hunt most of the larger beasts to extinction, so they turn to attacking humans to feed on them instead. A brutal war between the giants and humans breaks out as a result, and ends with the human wizards banishing the giants to an alternate realm, which becomes the Land of Giants, sacrificing themselves and draining all the magic in their world to nothing in the process.

Ajax in this story is very young for a giant, only about 20 years old, whereas in The Giant he is very old, around 800 (Chester and Jasper, his sons, are closer to 300). So he is practically a different character at this point. This story seeks to explain how he became the bitter, jaded man he is in the current day, why he hates humans, the details of how the war between humans and giants started and his role in the war, how he lost his eye, and the details of his ill-fated romance with a human that he alludes to in The Half-Blood Giant (also, though technically the ending has been revealed, there might be a surprise twist there! What he told his grandson may not be the whole truth).

I like to use basic concepts/ stories and put my own g/t twist on them, so for this story I was thinking of Romeo and Juliet as the base. This is the tale of a forbidden love that blossoms between a giant and a human, natural enemies that are predator and prey, that we know will end in tragedy. This story was supposed to be short but I keep adding things so it keeps getting longer. I'm very excited to share! Anyways, next question:

18. Ooh, it's hard to choose just one passage, but since I'm already thinking of The Giant I have to talk about one of my favorite scenes I've ever written: the chapter where Chester first eats Jackie. This scene changed the plot entirely. Interestingly enough, this chapter was originally just supposed to be a nightmare that Jackie had, and wasn't supposed to be a real event in the story! Chester was going to be much nicer, and was not supposed to eat Jackie for real: The scene was merely a reflection of her inner fears.

However, after I wrote it, I realized it was too juicy to be nothing more than a dream. I realized I had struck gold, by creating the perfect and most disturbing conflict: Jackie is essentially a captive, and is relying on a dangerous, hungry, man-eating giant for protection in a very hostile world to humans. The dynamic completely changed between the characters, from one of benevolence to a more insidious, toxic relationship. It made the romantic element more interesting too: They fall in love, but their love is tainted by the fact that Chester could easily kill Jackie if he succumbs to his ravenous urges. I really enjoy darker themes of passion and temptation so I was very happy with how the story ultimately turned out!

[authoraemoseley]

So I need a "Live" Beta reader (for lack of better phrase).

Essentially I'll send you a chapter of my story a week (or every other week), you give me (basic) feedback, and nag the living daylights out of me to write more.

What kind of feedback am I looking for?

-Does the scene/chapter flow well? -Is it interesting? -If you have a favorite part, tell me (I crave violence feedback)!

Of course you're welcome to add any other kind of feedback you would like! But I'm just looking for broad strokes feedback and a bit of outside motivation to help me along. The biggest thing that helps me keep going is if I have someone lovingly screaming at me "Anna!! How dare you do this to [character name here]!! When is the next chapter???". I'm so excited for this story that sometimes I get disheartened that no one else is....because no one else has read it.

I know that this works for me, as it's worked for me in the past, but sadly the people I would ask have their plates full. I know it is a lot to ask, but I really do want, and at this point, need to have an accountability buddy of some sort. If this is something that you have time for and are interested in, please let me know! I only need two, maybe three people tops to help with this. It would be for House of Moons: The Phoenix Mirror. I've included a summary as well as some more details on the story (genre, etc.) below:

Title: House of Moons: The Phoenix Mirror

Genre: Upper YA (darkish) fantasy Content Warnings?: -Multiple characters have PTSD and they each cope in various ways -Students verbally bullying other students (it's not a long term, entire book thing, but it is important to the development of the story) -Ableism (again, not entire book thing, but it's important to the development of the story) -Fire (used in a magical sense, but is a source of trauma for some characters) -Nightmare scenes have horror like elements but I've tried to keep the graphicness closer to PG-13 rating than an R rating Synopsis:

Mark Featherguard should have it all. He's heir to the most powerful family of fire mages in the world, and about to start high school at one of the most famous magical schools known: House of Moons. To ice the proverbial cake, he and his best friend are going to be roommates.

But Mark's plagued with nightmares of a world ending black phoenix. His family lost the magical artifact they were supposed to guard. Sure it happened generations ago, but the magical community won't let them live it down. His parents, highly involved in magical politics have no time for him. In a sudden twist of fate his best friend just so happens to be moving.

And then there's the problem of someone, or something, destroying magical schools around the world. Mark just wants to be able to change his hearing aid batteries and pass his classes in peace.

But it seems like the magical world, and his new found friends, might need him to do a little more than that...

How will we share chapters/feedback?: While I know that Google isn't actually scraping documents for AI, I'm not entirely comfortable with the direction it's been going for the past few years.

With that being said, I'd typically default to email, but I'm not sure how comfortable everyone would be with that. So currently I'm looking into Google Doc alternatives. Worst comes to worst, I'll just suck it up and use Google Docs anyway.

Thanks for reading!

[crazy56u]

Happy 2023, and huge shoutout to the dummy who intended to watch this live due to having Monday off, only to then get asked to work that night anyway!

Already starting off on the right foot, he said sarcastically…

Previously on Quantum Leap: a bunch a shit happened, and Addison is in danger because of reasons.

Hard cut to paparazzi!

“Outta the shot!” Aww, that’s not nice, Ben earned a photobomb.

Okay, why is Carly giving off Janis Joplin vibes?

Also, why is Carly the tallest person in the world?

Okay, the guy Ben leapt into is 100% the guy from the State Farm commercials.

“I can’t believe you remembered I have a mom!”

In another world, this is a James Bond theme song.

“Addison, where are you, you’re missing some sick shit.”

Addison has been waiting two whole months to find out more about her death premonition.

“Fate’s Wide Wheel” walked so that this song could waltz.

There’s a world where this demo session lasted the whole episode.

“Sorry about that dramatic exit last time, it must’ve put a damper on the past few months.”

I love how Ben just sped through the exposition so that he and Addison could argue more.

“Carly died during her sound check. …wait, ain’t this-” “(Ben runs like the Flash)”

Just think, if Ben and Addison had their fight a split second longer, Carly would’ve turned into chunky salsa right then and there.

“SOMEBODY TELL ME WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED!” Dude, you have eyes.

Wow, this episode really is just “Glitter Rock”: a singer almost gets lighting rigged, and then they get murdered after the big show.

“So, what do we know?” Ernie Hudson, getting philosophical on our asses.

“You don’t just step into a quantum accelerator unless it’s to save a person’s life!” Magic, Sam stepped into the accelerator to make sure the funding didn’t get yanked. Pick a new theory.

Okay, but why would preventing Addison’s death require leaping into the future, though? Just so see what happens so they can prevent it in the past? Isn’t that overly complicating things, though?

Plot twist: Magic isn’t having headaches because of the time travel bullshit, he just has undiagnosed chronic migraines.

“How do we prevent something from happening if we don’t know what that is?” That literally describes 95% of this entire series.

Look, at this point, Janis is probably just doing all of the shit she’s done because she was bored, we don’t fucking know.

MORAL OF THE STORY: If you let your code become open source, it will fuck your in the ass.

Janis is in Belize? Didn’t know this show too place in the Breaking Bad universe…

“Is that Elton John?” “Maybe he murders Carly…” It would be a fucking funny plot twist if Elton John actually was the murderer.

I love how Ben is speaking into his wrist to cover for him talking to Addison, as if wrist microphone technology fucking existed in 1979.

“How did you see that light?” He has eyes, Carly.

Addison picked the worst time to leave…

“Look, I need to focus on my job, also I’m engaged, so, uh, yeah.”

Ma’am, it’s the tail end of the 1970s, I am certain you have had worse pity parties.

Ben has to get rid of a junkie sibling. Only in Chicago.

And of course the junkie was the murderer!

“I’ve heard such great things… (proceeds to suplex her)”

“What, you’re not gonna let me in either? You’re acting like I’m gonna murder her!

Only Ben could make a lie sound honest.

“Ben, how fucking dare you sympathize with the junkie murderer.”

What if turns out she actually is sober, and everyone is a jerk for thinking differently?

“Most killers don’t seem like killers.” Fucking mic drop.

“Look, I’ll be quick, it’s not like Janis is about to show up and eat most of my time.”

“Welcome back to Chicago,” a sentence no one says willingly.

I suspect Ian is a die hard conspiracy theorist.

“She used to write all my songs.” Ah. That explains the jealousy…

“I think her sister is clean and sane.” “Jack, I wanna yell at you, but not during the interview, come with me.”

Why do I have a sinking suspicion that those letters are forced, and the manager is the killer?

…holy shit, this really is “Glitter Rock”; every is a fucking suspect!

Meanwhile, in a place that is not Chicago…

“You happen to know the WiFi password?” Easy; “password”

“I’m not here to arrest you, Janis,” she lied effortlessly.

“Family’s complicated.” Janis, Al would have a stroke if he heard you drugged your mom, pick a new excuse.

“Why did Ben come to be when he had all of you?” … … …don’t tell me Janis was gaslighting Ben all this time…

I love how Ben and Addison have resorted to just pacing in circles.

Did Addison seriously dead ass suggest using Carly as bait?

“Yeah, that’s why you tell her about the plan-” Addison, that’s still using her as bait, what the fuck

“She trusts you! Try trusting her! No, I’m not projecting about you keeping shit from me, shut up!”

“Is this about Carly, or about us?” Yes.

I honestly hate how my “Janis gaslit Ben” theory is starting to make more sense.

“What’re you doing?” “What I always do when I’m in Chicago: almost get killed.”

And Carly decided “Fuck the lot of ya, I’m out.”

…yeah, okay, Trevor is the murderer.

“Okay, I’m angry.” No shit.

I choose to believe that wasn’t in the script; Ernie Hudson is legitimately angry over this plot development.

“Look, shit sucks, that’s why we need to talk to each other.”

And Carly has decided to get crunk.

“I’m sorry I snapped at you before.” You’re not, but go on.

“Carly, Trevor is the real bad guy.” “… … … ( runs away in anger)”

“We can’t change the past.” Ben, it’s this show. Shut up.

Okay, points to Trevor for not even bothering to try and lie. He knows he’s hosed.

Okay, Ben fucking “Bye Felicia”ed his ass, kudos.

Meanwhile, back in Not Chicago…

I like the implication several hours passed in real time, and Janis and Jenn spent all that time drinking silently.

“These are my bodyguards.” “(Uno reverse card) Try again.”

“I drank all the coffee. I can’t feel my heart.”

Hug your sister, damnit.

Thank you.

“Well, Addison… we did it.” “…Ben, there’s still 12 minutes.”

Meanwhile, Trevor is blacked out in a gutter right now.

“Look, fuck being afraid, we’re smoking this bitch out. The concert’s on.”

FUCK YEAH “RAM JAM”

…so he wasn’t faking when he was shocked about the invite?

Magic Payphone

“Look, I’m outta a job and fucking drunk, why are you fucking harassing me, Jack…”

Trevor, stop monologuing and state the name!

Did Ben get stabbed, or slashed? That was hard to tell…

Meanwhile, while Ben is bleeding out, Janis’ vacation time is over.

I choose to believe Magic is just going to lock in a broom closet until she talks.

Ben, you got stabbed, just because you are about to leap doesn’t mean you skimp on proper stitching.

“Good evening, Chicago! My back up singer tried to stab me tonight, so here’s her replacement: my sister!”

Now they sound like Fleetwood Mac.

Addison, that was mean.

And Ben’s reward for saving the day? The shittiest ER episode!

This was well worth the wait; the back half looks extremely promising.

[clarafell]

@nenegyo has made a contract.          —         ★

The gray clouds of the morning darken by the time that the last class for the day comes to a close. Homura woke up horribly late this morning, failing to check the weather for today on her cellphone. She didn't mean to wake up late today, but she had spent almost the entire night on the streets of the city. She was low on her important supplies, so she had to prioritize stealing and lurking in the shadows.

She went straight to her usual haunts like a phantom in the night, but she wasn't after souls. Searching for souls with magical potential is Kyubey's duty, not hers. He has told her to be on the lookout for civilians with potential, but not until he declared that she could help the whole universe from being engulfed in despair by looking for more people. In the past, Homura might feel compelled to indeed keep an eye out for potential people to join in the fight against the nightmarish enemies.

After all, that would have to be the greatest thing she would offer to the universe.

That's what she thought about during the beginning of her contract. It wasn't like she was actually making an effort in helping the universe, anyway. Finding someone stronger and smarter would be the best bet for her, so Homura could naturally see why Kyubey told her such things. The truth of what happens to them all spoiled any interest in helping Kyubey find more and more souls. Homura vowed that she wouldn't recruit anyone into the clutches of the Incubator race. The temptation to grant your most brightest wish is not worth the heavy price of tearing your soul out of your body... It isn't worth becoming a monster.

She will let Kyubey continue to make his contracts, even though it makes her stomach twist into knots at the thought of letting him to continue his mission. Homura has accepted the reality that she cannot change their doomed fates or somehow prevent the hatching of witches. She has already made her wish. She knows that death will not come for her, but something so much worse. She will become a witch— She almost became a witch in her original timeline until her very first friend intervened to light the spark of her promise—

She didn't deserve to be saved that fateful day.

Homura is still as good as a corpse, carrying her soul in a purple gemstone. Death always wanted her long before she made her wish by kissing her heart with its poisonous lips. She still breathes and weeps and laughs, but she is a walking corpse. She is a mere spirit masquerading as part of the living, gliding from haunt to haunt until it is time for her to blossom into a witch. One day, maybe sometime soon, she will spread chaos. She will ruin the world until someone dazzling and heroic, straight from a fairytale story, slays her in order to collect her blackened grief seed...

What then? Where will she go then?

Focus, Homura! You have to focus on the present. She is counting on you, even though she doesn't remember right now... You need to be strong! Homura scolds herself, attempting to swat away her gloomy thoughts before she got too distracted.

Last night, Homura was after any form of weaponry that her eyes could spot. She prioritized getting her hands on all sorts of guns, silently praying for the chance to snag herself the scarcely seen bombs. With the rise of more difficult witches, the time traveler has decided to take even the weapons she was not good at fighting in. Without any magical weapons to call hers, Homura has to steal and steal what she can find. She latches onto bombs and all forms of guns, though she confesses that she is horrible at using them.

Waking up late this morning and forgetting to check the weather allows her to forget her umbrella. Not only that, but she had no time to even scavenge for anything to eat for breakfast. No one knew her anymore, so Homura found herself eating lunch alone. Unable to go to her favorite spots, Homura decides to eat in the girl's bathroom. It wasn't the first time she has done this, however. She often hung out in the girl's bathroom to escape away from the pressure of her fellow students back in Tokyo.

Too tired to eat her measly leftovers, Homura floats through the rest of the day. Her stomach aches, but it is nothing compared to the crushing reality that she is all alone again in this timeline. Too depressed over how she already ruined something so soon, her focus on reality begins to become blurry... The sound of thunder and flash of lightning snap her back to an empty classroom. With nothing left to keep her bound to the school, Homura leaves the building. She makes no effort to run back home to avoid the thunderstorm.

She walks and walks, aimlessly wandering the streets. No one will be waiting for her back at home. Her cellphone will not receive frantic rings or concerned text messages. The chill of being dripping wet would once be cause of worry, but the cold wetness has become somewhat of a companion. Violent storms have often now triggered a mental breakdowns, harkening back to her terrifying battle against Walpurgisnacht. She used to enjoy the rain in all its forms until the endless storms from Walpurgisnacht were scorched into her mind.

But right now? The heavy rainfall hides the looming threat of tears, washing them away. She couldn't tell if she was crying, but she didn't bother to hide when she was all alone on the streets. The frightened sound of a familiar cry causes Homura to lift her head, instantly kicking her body into a hurried chase. Homura darts into an alleyway, quick to cry out:

❝ ...Amy? Oh, Amy— Are you okay?! ❞

Homura is too consumed with dread and worry to care if her strained voice echoes. Causing a scene is the least of her concerns. No, her first instinct is to head deeper into the alleyway. The cry of the poor black kitten pierces her heart, encouraging her to quickly head to rescue Amy. She could never forget the cat that Madoka traded her soul to save. They once both knew that Amy preferred to live on the streets, but Homura didn't expect to hear her cries in this awful weather.

Whether the weather frightened her or something else is yet to be seen by Homura, but it doesn't stop her from investigating.

Little did she know, but she does attract company.

[glapplebloom]

A Special Collab... (No pictures in these articles...)

On Youtube there’s a series called Galaxy Grudge Match. It's a debate where two people from opposing sides make an argument about why their character would win this specific scenario. I wanna do that with Cozy Glow. So I am collabing with MKF4 who will be defending Cozy Glow and try to explain why she doesn’t deserve the punishment she got. Next week, I’ll have my thoughts on why she does. After that, I’ll have a Google Form to fill out if you want to put in your own two cents into this. So take it over MKF4.

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There does exist a handful of options that some fans might utilize to argue that Cozy Glow did not deserve the final fate she was delivered by Celestia, Luna, and Discord in My Little Pony’s Season 9 finale. Generally, the most obvious one is that she is just a child. To be fair, we can probably assume for the sake of argument that this case is legitimate, and Cozy Glow herself does state she is a child in Season 9’s premiere. Assuming she is being honest here, let’s look into this topic from that perspective.

According to United States law, children under the age of fifteen cannot be sentenced with capital punishment regardless of the crime. Should we be following real world law in the United States at least, Cozy is automatically off the hook from certain penalties for her age alone. Some feel that such a factor should also be taken into account into a place like Equestria, where things like forgiveness and kindness already tend to be the norm anyway. Why shouldn’t we give such treatment to a pony who is quite literally a child? That said, Equestria is a world of fantasy and being turned to stone technically is not the same punishment, so we cannot automatically use this alone as a solid block. Using real world law and applying it to a fantasy world might not sit well with everyone, so it would be best to also apply some other things. Let’s look at some other factors as well.

Some might also argue that perhaps Cozy Glow was not entirely aware of the damage she was unleashing. Cozy Glow never actually saw the impacts of the terrors that would come forth if she managed to successfully cast magic away from Equestria, with Starlight Glimmer going with it. Some could also argue that as a child, she did not fully grasp the extent of damage the Windigos could unleash upon Equestria, even if she had heard the legends associated with Hearth’s Warming Eve. As a child, she might not fully process the true nature of her crimes, and thus need a chance to learn from those mistakes rather than be turned into a statue. She had a chance to learn about friendship, sure, but did she ever really get a chance to see the full extent of how far her deeds could extend?

Her lack of background is also a source of contention within the debate. Amongst the variety of villains and reformed antagonists, Cozy Glow stands out uniquely as one of the few with very little information on her past. Characters like Tirek, Chrysalis, Sunset Shimmer, Discord, or Princess Luna all had plenty of story and lore available for us to know why exactly they went down the dark paths they selected, and in the case of reformed villains, why they were able to find their way onto a more righteous road in the future. But Cozy Glow doesn’t really have any of that available to us. This does lead to some arguing that perhaps she was a victim of a dark and miserable background, such as abusive parents or vile manipulations that led to her snapping and becoming the villain she was against Twilight Sparkle. Perhaps she was prone to bullying and sought power to strike back against such things, or maybe she was raised by twisted parents and led onto such a life. We’ll never really know, and some might actually say that Cozy’s lack of a backstory is honestly quite intriguing and invites fun speculation to be had. But this lack of knowledge about what caused her to be like this, if anything, can cause some to have pause on her petrified present at the hooves of Equestria’s royals.

Speaking of reformed villains, some may point to these characters as evidence for their arguments that Cozy Glow should have been given another chance. Characters like Starlight Glimmer or Tempest Shadow started out similarly despising friendship or twisting it to their own ends, and look how they turned out! Tempest Shadow came around and has helped Equestria numerous times in the comics, and Starlight Glimmer is just outright one of the most prominent heroes throughout Friendship is Magic as a whole. If ponies as vile as they could ultimately come around and become great heroes, couldn’t someone like Cozy Glow possibly stand a chance as well if given a little time and love like they were? Or an opportunity to see how important friendship truly was and why it was better than power or revenge?

And of course, there is the argument that Cozy’s punishment was just plain cruel. The method of banishment or petrification for an extensive period of time is a common one in the playbooks of Celestia, Luna, and Discord, with two of the three once being subject to it themselves. But casting it upon a terrified child such as Cozy Glow could be seen as taking justice too far, to the point it becomes vengeful and harsh. A rejection of mercy in favor of blunt justice, and a denial of the very traits of harmony and forgiveness. Some might say that this just goes against the very ideas of My Little Pony itself, throwing the book at a child out of anger for her deeds, rather than taking a kinder option. The face of raw terror and fear she makes as she is turned to stone generally helps garner pity as well, seeing her face etched like that possibly for the rest of time, or maybe the next thousand years. It can certainly come off as a very brutal, perhaps excessive punishment, to be delivering on really anybody.

Of course, such arguments can vary from person to person, and some might even bring in different lines of logic entirely. However, these are likely the lines of logic I see most often when a Cozy Glow statue discussion is taking place, and why perhaps some folks feel that the punishment she received in The Ending of the End was taking things too far. Cozy’s status as a child, possible lack of awareness, ambiguous background, comparison to other cast members, and the direct brutality of the punishment itself are generally items that can raise the agitations of some fans, causing them to defend Cozy Glow and argue that perhaps she should not have been transformed into a statue in the first place.

[aerifth]

i feel like if rebirth kills aerith again itll be pretty bad and i feel like the way a lot of people talk about the future of rebirth and that part of the original story seems underinformed. with the torture of all of the devs saying intentionally misleading things about rebirth over and over in interviews theyve successfully gotten me hooked on their wild ride only i do genuinely think if it turns out she dies again in the same way and place as before it'll just be bad.

way more after the jump lol i feel kinda bad just dropping this on ppls heads + ff7remake spoilers

theres too much obvious setup and punch-pulling going on already in remake considering it literally shows you it happening over and over and over beating you over the head that it happens for them to just turn around and do it anyway. even the fact that they keep talking about "That Scene with aerith in the capitol" just feels like its completely missing half of why the original games scene was so shocking in the first place, and its also kind of shining a light on why its not really a thing theyve earned considering how memeified its become nowadays. im kind of surprised theres not more people expecting this subversion as-is because honestly the fact that it seems like common consensus that she will just die again anyway like before leads me to believe this is somehow a twistier twist than i think it is

theres also the point that i dont think theres any actual reason for her to die? not the way the story is set up so far + how rebirth is being presented to us, like, the way sephiroth works so far i dont think he has any interest in aerith nor is there anything she could do to stop his plan. that's why theyre choosing to focus on tifa, theres a really strong reason for her to die as much as i dont want that to happen either. aeriths death in the original game is really multifaceted and complex whereas the story we see so far doesn't have a place for that, unless they make up some contrived magic thing for her to do to justify it, but even then i think it would feel hollow compared to... you know. killing tifa, the character who is the only one directly tied to his past which is what is preventing sephiroth from taking over cloud completely

i feel like most of the discourse ive seen gets tangled up in both like Objective Lore and The Tone Of The Original when i think neither are really that helpful here, especially when the latter isnt as explored as much as it needs to be. the whole point of aeriths death is that it could have been prevented, it was unfair and didn't have to happen, and i feel like in a modern context, in a scenario such as remake where the original game is so integral to the experience, the only answer is to either prevent that from happening or create a more interesting scenario where aerith is forced to deal with something more challenging than that. it deliberately cut her character arc short, and i dont think killing her would work with what was set up in remake about her grappling with her own loneliness and hopelessness. shes in a position to be an insanely interesting protagonist in the absence of potentially both cloud and tifa, and i would hope they either dont squander that or come up with something way way more interesting that i havent thought of

tldr i think rebirth is going to end with

1. cloud being taken over as a direct vessel for sephiroth's rebirth. also sephiroths plan will involve purging jenova from himself and the earth. this is part of how he convinced cloud to finally join him

2. tifa dying will be a major catalyst for this (or if they want to soften the blow, she'll be comatose and barely alive)

3. aerith will live, now totally disconnected from the people in the party she's known the longest and who have connected the most with her. she will have to figure out how to find "the real cloud" in a situation where she has little to no help in doing so, where the only person closest to that past cloud is gone

fate has changed, but that isnt necessarily a good thing. it was sephiroths plan to have cloud challenge and overcome fate. killing aerith is almost directly how his original plan fails, and we dont even know if he wants any part of that plan (i also dont think meteor is happening LOL but well see)

debating if tumblr is where i should choose to dump all of my smotheringly heavy ff7r thoughts that are in no way biased in favor of a given character not dying

[husky-twst-and-obeyme]

Anon Asked : "You know how some twst fan artists like to draw Yuu with their face blocked out, usually by Grim? I have this headcanon that in the Twisted Wonderland universe, it’s impossible to get a picture of Yuu, there’s always someone standing in front of them, a piece of paper floating by, or they’re just out of frame, but no one noticed until after the picture was taken. No one knows why, Rook even tried to draw them once but a Pomefiore first year spilled nail polish on the picture when he finished. " I do like that idea! I did see one artist who just had a mickey shaped head with blank eyes and it really looked cool! Now as for the scenario or story i will only do Dorm leaders for this situation, if anyone wishes for more i will provide ! BUT i have a small twist :) Warnings: Cursing Riddle

Riddle wasn't sure why but he it really irritated him how whenever they did civil group pictures, you always end up blocked or something happens to you in your part of the picture

It's not your fault really but it bugs him

he made it a goal to get a perfect picture , such as asking for a selfie

He actually wasn't a fan of it but he wanted at least ONE good picture of you because he cherishes his friends

but EVERY. SINGLE . TIME . IT'S THE SAME-

He's frustrated to no end

He eventually gave up and just accepted fate

he even tried to draw you and it somehow got ruined which made his mood worst

At one point , you came to him with a strawberry tart to cheer him up but he was really pouty

You asked if he wanted to try the selfie again but you hold the phone , which he reluctantly agreed to

afterwards when you left , he went to see the picture and he couldn't believe his damn eyes

a perfect picture of you and him

" i don't know if i want to cry of joy or behead them . "

He stilled loved the photo and refused to show anyone else in case it somehow got ruined or deleted

Leona

He wasn't too interested in photos but in your case it caught his interest slightly

he noticed from school activity photos that your face was always somehow ruined.

he thought it was funny but rare

so he tasked ruggie to take a picture for a small amount , mainly because he thought it would be easy

plus it's not like he wants a photo of you for anything psssshh

but when ruggie returned , he was frustrated and tired

confused leona questioned him

"Leona san. i loved getting money from you but i might just not even try anymore ..."

he got baffled that Ruggie had given up money for any easy task. or so he thought was easy

So thinking ruggie was being lazy , he went to do it himself

as a predator, he knows how to be sneaky and hide well , so once he locked you in , he took a snap

he looks ats the photo completely ruined

he took another , ruined. once again , it was ruined

he repeats many tries after and it all ends the same

" ahh fuck it ... " and went for a nap

later on you wanted a selfie with leona

being smug he said " would you even get the picture right ?~"

with a pout " of course i can!" you posed for the picture and snapped

he took a glance and he'll be damned ,, it was perfect

" don't talk to me for the next few day, herbivore."

"huh-"

Azul

azul didn't like photos , much at least because of certain ones of his past

though he took note of a particular incident

(Event after chapter 3) when you all took a picture at the museum , he noticed that your part of the picture , floyd's arm covered your face

He thought nothing of it until he noticed it often

Ace took a photo of you and deuce and somehow grim flew in front of your face

Cater took a selfie but it ended up blurred

it was pointless but hard to ignore so he assigned Jade and floyd into getting the perfect picture of you

after a couple hours, jade and floyd came back frustrated

even jade looked visibly irritated which was VERY rare to the point it scared Azul

they showed him nothing but blurry pics, he knew something was up because even jade wouldn't fail this bad

He knew he couldn't stand the chance if the tweels failed

but later on , you wanted to take a selfie with him

he refused immediately but you promised to keep the photo private , then he did agree , reculantantly

His immediate thought was that the picture would of been ruined anyways but was shocked to see a cute selfie of him and you

"....send me that picture . " you turned to him "what???" "SEN ME THAT PICTURE"

Kalim

We all know this absolute dork would love to take pictures , possibly from Cater's influence , because he sees it as a fun thing to do

So you , being one of his favorite people, he obviously wants a good photo of you

but to his disappointment, when he wanted to take a pic of you while you were at the gardens, it turned out super blurry

he thought nothing of it , just might of moved a bit , until the next one came blurry

he was getting semi frustrated and you had already left , so for once, he was actually grumpy to the point where he just asked Jamil to take a good picture for him

he felt lowkey bad of course but he was a tiny bit frustrated

Jamil didn't care until he had the same issue

Jamil tried a it but gave up when he kept getting the same result

then kalim was just sad , he just wanted a cute picture of you

you visited one day and he was his usual self but you here reminded him of the picture incident

you offered to try again , he was hard for him to say no to you

but after looking..you took a perfect photo

he wanted to cry and you were just so confused

hug him he needs it

Vil

Vil is a perfectionist of course, which includes photos too

you , him and a few others went on a small trip , you wanting to take a photo to remember the trip

you're one of the only people he's allowed for a picture minus fans because he's aware you just want a genuine picture and knows you won't share/ brag about it

Rook offered to take the photo

you two posed and rook took the shot but Vil automatically saw Rook's confused face

"Rook?.. is there a problem?" "non non roi du poison! I must of moved a little fast, part of it came blurry

he didn't think on it , just a small mistake no biggy

that was until the problem kept repeating itself

Irrigated , he took the camera and looked at the photos , each and every one of them was blurred of were you were at while vil looked completely fine

he slowly looked at you while you just stood there worried that we weren't going to get a picture

"Vil senpai? maybe i can just take a selfie? Rook's camera's probably broken"

sighing in defeat , he agreed ,after getting in a cute pose , you snapped a photo

he took a look and he was legit about to burst

It was an absolute beautiful picture

He was stunned that you did an even better job then rook

might make you his photographer

Idia

we all know for a fact, he hates pictures , at least mainly of himself

though he doesn't mind pictures of you

of course , he doesn't take pics of you willy nilly , he asks you first because he'd be hypocrite to take a picture of someone who didn't want a photo

You often cosplayed as some of his favorite characters and of course he'd want a picture of it but he was in for a surprise

The first time you cosplayed in front of him , he asked and you agreed

he snapped the photo , it blurred

he got irritated but thought nothing of it and tried again

still failed

he has plenty of cameras ( I dunno it's for the story make up your own reason XD ) and used a different one to get a photo

it failed and he tried many times , it was too a point he built up the courage *cough*two hours*cough to ask rook to help

he was dumbfounded when rook couldn't do well

you later went home , while idia was sad , he really wnated to take a good pic

soon after, you sent him a text

"I'm sorry you couldn't get a cute picture earlier, so i took a shot at it with a selfie!"

and there he saw the perfect picture

"...what the f**k is this voodoo magic- "

he of course loved it but he was so confused

Malleus

oh boy here we go-

he was still confused on the idea of photos

but he thought it was similar to a painting but it's instant

so of course he wants one with you

he attempts to use an old style camera (hey be lucky he made it this far)

he sets it up to where it takes a picture with a timer and you both pose

After it was done, he looked at the photo and somehow it blurred

he just thought it was a small mistake and tried again

second time, same result

this is where his temper slowly rises and it's shown every time it fails

and after about the 20th time , he smashes the camera

you attempt to calm him down and offered to use your phone

he agrees because he trusts you more than a dumb camera

after you took the photo, he was very happy , it looked wonderful

he didn't care about the camera anymore, he just cared that he got a good photo

I hope you enjoyed!