#au for fun that is maybe sorta canon?

[gentleroy]

NEXT GEN KIDS 🙌 they're back and revamped

Og for comparison:

For info:

Sprite is the kid of nugget and an unnamed mother from nugget being very irresponsible and not thinking. But he doesn't consider his child a mistake. He's very jokey and brash and likes to prank people and yeah he has a lot of angst surrounding his family but he doesn't like to show that and puts up a smile for everyone.

Xeno is the daughter of dice and keno (characters who belong to my bf who I haven't shown much). Coming from such an important family like theirs, she kinda has a lot of pressure put on her. But her parents don't want her to feel like that. She's been trained and is very good but she likes sticking to herself and is very quiet. Very deathly stare though.

Reiden is sprite's cousin and his absolute best friend. He's the son of Ray and Piers (who I have not shown much either, Ray is nuggets brother). He's pretty fun and very loud. His dads try to teach him a lot of what they did in their past in the hopes he could also do that. But theyre also very laid back and rei hates studying. So right now he's having fun in turfs wars and not caring about school.

Skye is the daughter of domino and rii. Once they got together and matured a bit they knew they wanted to have a family. Rii is a designer and domino is a teacher and skye finds her parents so so cool and really wishes she was like them. Especially when dom tells her stories about his past. But she has a lot of anxiety and self image issues and as much as she tries to dress cool, it won't exactly magically make her that way. She's very smart, and the strategist of the group.

Note: She is not a octoling anymore. I really wanted to redesign her lol, and I think this fits her better.

[chelseeebe]

never leave (nevermind)

18+ mdni. canon compliant sorta kinda. takes place during the events of s4. violent scenes described. r and eddie are exes. reader gets vecna'd. lots of angst.

a/n: i've been writing this on and off for what feels like months and it's definitely noticeable in parts where my writing improves drastically. howeverrr, i've been wanting to write something s4 related for a while bc most of my fics are au's and as fun as they are, the canon material is also v fun (just very difficult to translate into a fic)

8.9k words.

being home for spring break meant one thing; avoiding eddie munson like the plague. 

it wasn’t exactly easy what with being practically neighbours but you’d certainly tried to make yourself invisible around the trailer park. 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

you hadn’t seen him for eleven months, not even a trace of that wild hair until one friday night when his van screamed down the gravel road, music bleating loud enough for you to hear inside. you’d known it was d&d night, he still held the club at the high school and no doubt would still be in charge of it, even after he eventually graduates. 

you shouldn’t have even looked. it’s not like you wanted to see him. just curious as to why he felt the need to make so much noise so late at night. 

that’s when your eyes saw her, green hawkins high skirt and the fluffy ponytail to match, flouncing out of the van without a care in the world. 

chrissy cunningham wasn’t exactly who you’d imagined eddie would go for. she was prim and proper, wasn’t into smoking weed and talking about ozzy osbourne but pom poms and cheer routines instead. 

it shouldn’t even hurt. 

you’d been broken up for the best part of a year, away to college, living what was supposed to be your best life. 

but it does. 

pangs through your chest in insurmountable waves, rushing to duck down beneath the window before either of them saw you peeking. 

you don’t dare look out again, maybe it was the fear of being caught or more likely for fear of hurting yourself anymore. 

eddie’s single, he can do what or whomever he likes. 

slinking back into the couch, hoping the crackly tv would drown out any of the lingering thoughts. 

a sharp, stabbing sensation rings through your head, squeezing your eyes shut in an attempt to shut it down. 

only since you’d been back here, in hawkins had you felt it. people always whispered about how this town was cursed, perhaps it was you after all, bringing the bad luck to the innocent people of this shit hole. 

you drag your feet along the corridor to your bedroom, deciding that being buried beneath your blanket was better than constantly punishing yourself with sly glances out the window. 

-

a multitude of fists pummel at your door, sunlight just barely breaking through the clouds as your eyes open. 

nothing in this world could be so important to cause this reaction, especially not at this time of the day. 

you slink to the door, grumbling your way through the trailer. 

the door swings open, revealing a very out of breath dustin henderson and max mayfield, looking frantic as they pant on your doorstep. 

“what the hell? it’s nine am,” you grunt, wondering how the two even knew you were home. 

being with eddie had meant you’d come to adopt the gaggle of kids he played d&d with, driving them to and from games, offering a place to stay when their parents thought they were at each others houses while they were actually fighting monsters. 

the usual. 

the monster stuff was secondary, getting thrown into the deep end last summer after what was supposed to be a shitty mall job to save up for college, had turned into slimy monsters trying to kill you. 

eddie had only really seen the aftermath, the piles of what remained of starcourt on the floor and the cuts that littered your limbs. you had told him that night what had actually happened, terrified that the government were listening at your door, ready and waiting to throw you in jail for speaking about what you’d seen. 

dustin had made it very clear that you had to be careful not to talk too openly about it, delving into the whole world that rumbled beneath your town. 

you weren’t exactly eager to relive that night in the mall, a haze of slobbering monsters and telekinetic little girls. putting it to the back of your mind as some weird fever dream, a symptom of living in hawkins. 

“eddie’s in trouble,” dustin frowns, “is your mom here?” forcing himself into the trailer, max at his heels. 

“no she’s not-” closing the door behind the rude tweens, “i’m sorry- what’d you say?” hoping you’d misheard him. 

he peers down the hall, lousily checking the perimeter, “eddie’s in trouble,” completely serious. 

“and what does that have to do with me?” putting your hands on your hips, hoping to display some sort of authority, though it rendered useless against their stubborn attitudes. 

“remember the mall?” he deadpans, grabbing the phone from your wall as max pulls out a list of numbers. 

“yeah? i’m still not.. why’re you here? you can’t help him at his trailer?” 

dustin sighs, long and exaggerated, “he’s not at his trailer. we don’t know where he is,” aggressively punching in numbers, “and why didn’t you tell me you were back? i thought we were friends!” ever the sarcastic little dweeb you’d always had a soft spot for. 

“i didn’t tell anyone,” shrugging as you slink into the kitchen, deciding that if they were going to stay, you were at least going to need coffee, “i still don’t understand what’s going on!” 

“we’ll explain later,” max yells, fumbling around in her backpack. 

you tut, relieved that the pounding in your head had subsided at least. 

-

you’re somehow roped into driving the two to family video, receiving the details on the drive over. 

cops had swarmed the trailer park by the time you were ready, piling into wayne’s trailer, talking in hushed voices and yelling at anyone that dared to leave their own homes. 

wayne had come back from work this morning to find chrissy cunningham’s body on his floor. limbs broken and her eyes weeping with blood. 

any sane human would assume it was eddie’s doing. he didn’t exactly hold the best reputation in this damned town, but you knew murder wasn’t anything he was capable of. 

“that monster, from the mall,” dustin continues, leaning over the centre console, “that has something to do with this, i know it,” speaking with such confidence that you had no choice but to believe him. 

“how do you know that?” you question wearily, pulling into the parking lot, “i’m not saying i don’t believe you, but how do you know for sure?”

“well,” he buffers, “i don’t, but i’m 99.9 percent certain,” hopping out of the car before you can get another word in. 

you contemplate just waiting in the car for them to be done with whatever the fuck it is they’re even doing. not keen on seeing more people you really didn’t want to. 

you follow them in either way, ducking your head in some half-assed disguise. 

“-dustin!” robin squeals, reaching out to grab his arm, “those are my returns, you dweeb!” 

she and steve turn to you, perfectly in-sync, “when the hell did you get back?” speaking in unison. it’d be unsettling if you hadn’t spent the entirety of last summer with them both. 

you shake your head, “uh..” regretting your decision not to just wait in the car, “a few days ago.”

“and you didn’t tell me?” robin huffs, thankfully distracted with the mess dustin was inflicting upon her store to chastise you too badly. 

“sorry,” you say meekly, picking up the fallen tapes from the floor as a shitty kind of apology. 

she smiles gently at you, before turning back to dustin with a seeding hatred in her eyes, “what are you little nerds even doing here? do you not have anyone else to piss off on a saturday morning?”

“eddie’s in trouble,” dustin repeats for what is probably the thousandth time today, holding the receiver up to his ear. 

“oh eddie?” steve quips, “what’d he do this time?”

dustin holds his finger up to shush him, unloading his rehearsed spiel down the phone to whoever. 

steve looks over to you for some clarity but you just shrug, not really any wiser on what was actually going than he was. 

this goes on for what feels like hours, listening to dustin and max inquire about eddie to each and every person on their call list, just to end up with a dejected frown when absolutely nobody has heard from him. 

“rick,” dustin nods, drumming his fingers against the desk, “rick! he said he was going to meet rick today! d’you know where reefer rick lives?” swivelling in his chair to glare at you. 

“reefer rick?” robin repeats with such disdain, it’d honestly have been nicer if she’d just laughed in his face. 

you shrug, “i don’t know.. maybe?” offering absolutely zero insight whatsoever. 

“you know, you were only together for four years,” he snarls, doing nothing to help his cause. 

“oh i’m so sorry that i can’t remember every single place we went together,” you hiss back. 

dustin eyes the empty computer and you can almost see the lightbulb go off above his head. tapping into the family video system as if he had any right to be here. 

“you’re not supposed to be on that!” robin hollers, reaching for the mouse though his hands are quicker. 

“stop it!” he screeches, typing rapidly into the computer, “jesus christ, how many rick’s are there?” scrolling the plethora of rick names that had appeared. 

he figures it out pretty quickly. 

realising that reefer rick probably wasn’t using the local video rental store to watch sixteen candles or risky business. 

“you know where that is?” he asks steve, tapping the address on screen. 

“uh.. i think so,” steve wavers, squinting his eyes. 

“great,” dustin shoots up, grabbing his backpack without a second thought, “you drive,” pointing at steve, “you follow,” turning to you, giving zero alternative or chance to protest before he’s out the door, tugging at the handle of steve’s car. 

-

you do as he says, obviously. fearing that if he were to be left alone with robin for too long, she might just wring his neck. 

eddie’s nowhere to be found, the house looks empty and his van isn’t here leaving you back at square one. 

“he has to be here,” dustin frets, pointing at the large shed on the other side of the yard, “let’s just have a look.. you wanna find him don’t you?” turning to you specifically. 

a few years ago you would’ve said yes with zero hesitation but now you’re not sure if you even care. the thought of seeing eddie again makes you a little nauseous. not even owing to the fact that he was a potential murder suspect. 

“why’re you looking at me?” you scowl, “i think we should just leave this to the police.”

“no!” stopping dead in his tracks, “they’ll kill him and you know that,” his eyes sharp as everyone falls into silence. 

he was right, as he often is. which makes this all the more irritating. 

you nod, gesturing for him to continue to the rundown shack behind the house. 

there’s nothing in there, at least no signs of one eddie munson. 

it all just seems useless. if eddie had used the neglected brain in his head, he’d be far away 

from hawkins by now. he was nifty enough to survive on his own, you were sure about that. 

steve jabs at the tarpaulin as you peer out of the door and into the quickly darkening night sky, spinning rapidly as the tarp crinkles and something comes flying out. 

eddie. 

with his hands now pinning steve back against the wall, chest heaving with sheer, seething anger. 

only dropping his hold on him when it registers who it actually is, eyes wide and startled. 

a million and one feelings rush through your veins. you hadn’t prepared to actually see him again, to now be stilled by the sight of him locking eyes with you. 

the slow realisation dawns on him, quickly forgetting that he was a wanted man, all encompassed by your presence in this suddenly stifling shed. 

steve gasps for air, breaking the tension and pulling the attention back to him. robin’s quick to soothe his arm while dustin launches into a quick scolding for eddie. 

it’s not long before he moves onto the next phase of his master plan, dragging max to the corner to loudly discuss what they should do. 

“when’d you get back?” eddie asks, leaning against the dusty wood panelling, “i haven’t seen you..” his voice cracks but he’s unwavering. 

good, you thought. though really it was all useless now. 

“couple’a days ago..” picking at the wood splinter on the wall, “when’d you start murdering teenagers?” hoping it wasn’t too harsh of a dig. 

“ha ha,” he deadpans, running his hand over his face, “you don’t think i did it, do you?” worry seeping through his tone. 

you shake your head no, choosing to meet his eyes, a little reassurance that even if you did think he was a loser, you definitely didn’t think he was a murderer too. 

he nods, sighing into his palm, “fuck,” deflated, exhausted by the day he had endured, “they’re gonna kill me,” shrunken into himself, resembling a dejected little puppy. 

“they’re not gonna kill you,” but your voice shakes a little, not unnoticed by eddie. 

“you don’t sound so sure,” he chuckles, turning his gaze to the rotting floorboards. he looked horrible, to put it nicely. the bags under his eyes were dark and his hair an even wilder mess than usual. 

“i’m not really,” refusing to lie to him, even now. 

he looks up again, unwavering melancholy in his eye, “how’d you find me?” 

you glance over at dustin’s busybody, passionately explaining the next steps to an exhausted looking steve, his hands gesturing for a fight. “he tracked down rick’s address from family video and then wouldn’t let us leave until we found you.” 

eddie grin grows, finding the motivation to get himself off of the dirty floor, “yeah.. sounds about right.” 

you’re too close for comfort now that you’re eye to eye, uncomfortably close while your relationship was still so fragile. 

he breaks away first, striding over to dustin, “what’s the plan? i really need you to save my ass, dude.” 

dustin nods, vowing to keep eddie alive, no matter what it takes. 

-

dustin doesn’t hang around. 

the minute the suns risen, he’s pounding on the bedroom door, waking the sleeping pile of limbs you’d collapsed in. 

“i’m gonna kill him.. i’m gonna fuckin’ kill him,” robin grumbles, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, staring daggers at the door. 

“eddie’s not answering!” he hollers, busting through the door, “we have to go back to rick’s! now!” pulling at nancy’s arm, presuming that steve had told him no to driving him around this early. 

you rouse just enough to really see the panicked look on his face, swinging your legs off of the bed to grab his shoulders, “what happened? we can go i just need five minutes.”

“he’s not answering,” panting between his words, “i told him to check in at six! it’s nearly six thirty.. something’s wrong.”

“okay,” you nod, trying to wake yourself up, “okay.. let me get dressed,” finding your discarded pants and practically jumping into them. 

dustin’s in the passenger seat before you can even run a brush through your hair, only just able to brush your teeth before he’s got his fist on the horn. 

“jesus christ dude,” you exclaim, shoving the keys into the ignition and speeding off before he has the chance to chastise you again. 

you’re grateful that it’s still early and the chances of getting a ticket are slim because you most definitely had broken some kind of speed limit, but truthfully it was mostly to get dustin to shut the hell up. 

knowing eddie meant that you knew he was probably fast asleep, ignoring the cracklings of the walkie for the sake of a couple extra minutes of shuteye. 

you turn down the long wooded drive, wondering if rick was back yet and just how he’d react to eddie’s ex-girlfriend and some random kid showing up on his doorstep at seven in the morning. 

you’re forced to slam on the breaks, almost sending dustin through the windscreen as eddie’s face appears before you, his hands slam the hood, screaming something nonsensical. 

“ohmygodohmygod,” he rushes, throwing himself into the backseat of your car, “you need to drive!”

“what the hell happened?” dustin probes as you turn around, only now seeing the barrage of cars parked outside of the house. 

“jason..” he gasps, “those fucking meatheads he hangs around with.. they just showed up,” sliding down into the footwell just as jason rounds the corner of the house, yelling something about your car as you hightail the fuck out of there. 

“they.. they- they think i’m the devil or some shit,” eddie gasps, his petrified face appearing in the gap between your seats, “they’re fucking crazy man.. fuck!” 

your fingers tighten around the steering wheel, hoping to speed away before they got wise enough to follow you. 

jason wasn’t much but his lackeys would have zero issue beating the shit out of eddie, or you for that matter. 

you instinctively go to the first place you can think of, which in hindsight seems like a mistake now the gravel is crunching beneath your wheels. 

forest hills was still crawling with cops trying to determine who or what had killed chrissy, though thankfully at daybreak their presence seemed to have dwindled a little. 

“we should be okay here for a while.. stay in the car until i get the door open,” flashing him a harsh glare to make sure he really understands. 

the three of you barrel into your trailer, grateful for the silence, unsure of how you’d ever explain this entire situation to your mom. 

“shit man,” eddie marvels the walls, mouth hung open, “haven’t seen the inside of this thing for.. a while,” a sadness to his tone. 

“yup,” choosing to ignore his glum cadence in favour of keeping the peace, “you can sleep in my bed,” tossing your keys into the bowl. 

“you sure?” eddie asks, though he’s already making his way up the hall, all too familiar with your trailer. 

“knock yourself out,” collapsing onto the couch to resume your own interrupted slumber. in a time not so long ago, you’d have relished crawling up next to eddie in bed, wrapping his arm around your shoulder to tuck you up under his armpit. 

you brush off the glum feeling, wrapping your own arms around your body instead. 

dustin gets to alerting the wheeler residence, informing them all that eddie’s okay and you were going to hang out here until he came up with some plan.  

it’s almost noon before eddie rises again, asking if he can take a shower before dustin unleashes his plan. 

that horrid buzzing niggles it’s way back into your brain. a dull pain that quickly becomes sharp, stabbing at the sides of your head. 

“are you okay?” dustin questions nervously, ditching his notebook to step closer with caution. 

your fingers clutch your temple, unable to form a coherent sentence as the pain throbs through your frontal lobe. features screwed up in searing pain. 

“eddie!” he screeches, his fists pummelling against the bathroom door. 

eddie emerges, towel slung around his waist, barely able to turn the water on yet, “what? what the hell is going on?” quickly shutting up when he sees your sorry state. “are you okay? what happened?” rushing over without a second thought. 

dustin stands in horror just behind, watching as eddie’s thumb swipes the underside of your nose, coming back an unexpected shade of maroon. 

“she just dropped! i-i don’t.. i’ve never seen this before!”

“you’re bleeding,” eddie fuses, “dustin.. tissue now,” tilting your chin upwards. 

the pain subsides slightly, allowing your eyes to reopen and meet his, “there’s.. tylenol in the drawer,” letting him keep your chin between his fingers.

dustin speeds around the room, collecting supplies as your laboured breaths become easier, the ache dissipating as quickly as it came on. 

eddie dabs at your nose until it’s clean, shaking out two of the pills onto his palm for you to take. “what the hell was that?” nagging yet concerned all rolled into one. 

“i dunno, i’ve been getting these.. headaches, since i’ve been back,” looking between dustin’s horrified face and eddie’s distressed one.  “it’s probably nothing.” 

“that didn’t look like nothing,” dustin adds, still wary of your state. with all of the supernatural happenings at the moment, he had right to be. 

“it’s fine,” shrugging them both off before the questions got too much. “what’s the plan dustin?”

he and eddie share another glance, pretending that you weren’t right there in front of them. “uh..” erring the line of caution before jumping right into it, “okay so we need to go down.. down there.”

-

it’s stupid, reckless even. 

but what other choice do you have when the world is caving in and your ex-boyfriend is on the run from the police? 

eddie climbs through the window of the rv, pulling your eyes away with a quickness as his shirt rises up to reveal his lower back. 

the door swings open some moments later, gesturing for you all to climb inside as he gets to hot-wiring the gargantuan vehicle. 

you pile into the back, ducking below the windows while his fingers fiddle with the live wires. 

“do you even know what you’re doing?” nancy asks, her eyebrow raised in quiet concern. 

“nancy please,” eddie huffs, “while your dad was teaching you how to ride a bike, my dad was teaching me how to hot-wire a car.. i know what i’m doing.” 

she hums, settling into the passenger seat without another word. 

it shouldn’t be attractive. you should think it’s utterly reprehensible to steal and engage with such criminal behaviour. 

but you can’t. 

not with his tongue poking out of the corner of his mouth like that, his hands whirring away as robin looks on with a screwed up face. 

the engine roars loud, alerting the entire trailer park to your existence. eddie hightails it into the back, choosing the empty spot next to you as he yells for steve to drive. 

this all so ridiculous, flying about the back of the rv as steve speeds out of town. finding somewhere solitary for you all to prepare. 

-

everyone seems to be in cahoots about something, scarpering from the rv the second you walk inside. leaving you and eddie to navigate through the uncomfortable tension alone. 

you take a seat anyway, picking up the discarded knife on the table, running your finger along the dull blade with a sigh. 

you’d never imagined that the two of you could ever be so awkward together, having been close for the entirety of your lives, it felt awful to not even want to look at him now. 

“i’m sorry.. about chrissy,” you swallow, still sharpening the knife, hoping he won’t say something to make you drive it into his throat. 

the rest of the group ‘prepare’ loudly outside. dustin screeching at the top of his lungs for steve to put him down while robin tuts in annoyance. 

eddie looks up, a little glum, “yeah.. she was a good girl, she didn’t deserve that,” dropping his own knife on the table in front of you with a clatter. 

“i didn’t realise you two were.. together or whatever,” the look on his face immediately forces you to regret your words, hoping the ground would just swallow you whole. 

he scoffs, “together?” knocking his knee into yours softly, “you thought we were together?” 

oh my god. it’s worse than you could’ve ever imagined. cheeks burning as your eyes meet his, “oh! i thought.. someone said.. i don’t- i don’t know,” clinging onto the knife with sweaty palms, deciding whether to slice your own mouth off so nothing else could fall out of it. 

“she was buying weed,” he laughs quietly, “pretty girl but.. not really my type, you know?” 

you nod, looking back at the table in hopes that he’d just drop it now. so much for being the nonchalant, cool ex. all you’d done is solidify your psycho status. 

“i haven’t really..” he begins again, never knowing when to leave well enough alone, “i haven’t moved on, i guess,” shrugging as his own gaze slips. 

if you were going to live through the end of the world, you hoped it’d come soon. the tension in this cramped rv was enough to make whatever was happening with the underworld seem like a dream. 

“oh!” is all you can conjure up. unsure of what response he was expecting from you. the breakup had been amicable.. sort of. to you, it made sense to breakup. you were away to college and he was repeating senior year again. you had almost died in the town you grew up in, he hadn’t. 

it was a multitude of happenings that forced you apart. grief and it’s intertwining webs of despair had proved too much for your relationship. too much for you to handle on your own. 

eddie hadn’t agreed. 

he couldn’t understand it, why you needed out of hawkins so bad. but he wasn’t there, hadn’t seen the things you had. 

the guilt had wrecked you for the first few months, afraid that you’d abandoned him in that very town for a new life after promising for so long that you wouldn’t. 

“sorry, i shouldn’t have said that- i didn’t mean anything by it,” he fumbles, pulling on his bottom lip, “well i did! just.. not the time or place, you get me?” digging himself further into his hole. 

your eyes meet his again, gnawing at the skin on your bottom lip, “it’s okay.. you don’t have to explain yourself to me.” 

“i think what i meant to say was that i missed you.. i’m glad you’re back,” eddie coughs, un-jumbling his words at last. 

it’s simple enough and really shouldn’t make your heart swell the way it does. you weren’t together. he wasn’t yours. that was that. 

but maybe there’s something about experiencing the end of the world with someone that makes you a little reminiscent. 

“i missed you too,” you smile, hoping that the overwhelming feeling of adrenaline is just from the interdimensional monster that lay beneath you and absolutely nothing to do with his doe eyes and plump lips. 

his eyes flicker, trailing from your eyes to your lips. the air seems to shift around you, leaving the room at an expedient rate. 

“you missed me?” eddie growls, looking back into your eyes, “then why’d you leave me here?” a deep set frown forming on his lips that wasn’t there a minute earlier. 

“what?” you question, taken aback by his sudden change in demeanour. 

“you left me. you left me here to die after you told me you wouldn’t,” he snarls, leaning closer. 

his eyes are glossy now, glazed over with what looks like tears. 

“i didn’t.. no,” backing away from him, “you were supposed to come with me.. you.. you..” shaking your head. 

eddie’s eyes change completely now, pupils turning a slick grey. a dark cloud fills the room, overflowing out of the tiny window, covering the furniture and your body with the thick smog. 

“it’s your fault,” the voice rumbles, no longer bearing any semblance to eddie’s, the walls decay in front of your eyes, wallpaper rotting as they crack and crumble. 

“it’s your fault,” it repeats, louder this time, “he’s going to die,” it cackles, filling the room with the booming voice. 

“no,” you scream into the void, thrashing around to find the source, “take me! take me instead!” yelling as loud as your throat would allow, but it’s futile. 

there’s no one here. 

eddie had gone. crumbled into a pile of ash on the floor, left on your own in some barren wasteland, the blood-curdling screams of menacing creatures travel through your body. 

“you can’t save yourself,” the voice booms, pulling your eyes to the horrific humanoid figure stood amongst the ruins. 

“what do you want?” you scream, stepping backwards over the rubble. 

the man.. thing just smiles, “i’ve been watching you for some time, you shouldn’t have come back here,” walking towards your cowering frame. 

“w-why? who are you?” fingers trembling as you attempt to grab onto something, anything to bring you back to earth. 

everything you grasp crumbles into ashes, disappearing before your eyes as you struggle to breathe. wheezing through the dark clouds, not an inch of relief. 

“we’ve met before,” completely ominous, “you don’t remember me?” tilting his head to the side. 

it feels like you’ve seen it before, somewhere in a far away dreamland. 

that’s when it clicks. 

the bad dreams you’d been having, there had always been something there, a presence you couldn’t ever see clearly. 

but now it makes sense. 

“h-how did you do that? how did you get into my dreams?” the rubble beneath your feet disappeared with every step. 

his head shakes and the landscape rumbles, a clattering of stones fall to the ground, jolting your body backwards. 

“you let me in,” he rumbles, stepping closer, “you’re the reason any of this is happening.. it’s time for you to pay.” 

his spindly fingers reach out, forcing you further and further back until your foot catches against  a stone, sending you flying backwards into a sudden abyss. 

you awaken with a harsh gasp, eyes opening to find eddie towering above, his brows threaded together in fear as the others screech around you. 

“she’s awake! are you okay?” eddie rushes, holding your face between his palms, “oh my god,” as white as a sheet, shock rippling through his body. 

you nod, blinking in the sudden bright light, exhausted from doing nothing at all. nothing felt real except eddie’s fingers brushing over your worn skin. 

too tired for tears, too afraid to speak. your eyes shut on their own, trying to ground yourself back in this reality. 

you relax into his hold, your breathing falling into line with his as their voices turn into humming background noise, focusing on the path of eddie’s fingertips instead. 

-

eddie hadn’t dared to leave your side, following you around like a lost puppy, watchful eyes widening every time you moved or breathed too loud. 

it would’ve felt suffocating if you weren’t scared to death. instead, it was a welcome comfort. a sense of familiarity in the most awful time. 

you felt immense guilt, knowing that the end of the world had to happen for you to speak to him again. the man you’d gotten married to a thousand times in your head, the man you’d had a plethora of baby names with. it was all so insane. 

dustin hadn’t exactly instilled much confidence in you. with news of fred benson and patrick mckinney’s deaths, he had figured out the pattern of attack. 

they’d all died the same way, eyes burst and their limbs snapped one by one. 

eddie had recalled how chrissy went into a similar trance, her eyes glossed over, completely unresponsive. though the moment he’d said it, his heart sank, realising that chrissy wasn’t the only one he’d witnessed like that. 

logically, that meant that you were next. 

dustin had uncovered what was essentially a countdown to your death. nobody wanted to say it, or even acknowledge it, but you weren’t stupid. 

that meant that whatever plan he had, he had to perfect tonight, ready to attack tomorrow. 

before it’s too late. 

he’d said the quiet part out loud. a shared grimace encompassing the room, pitiful glances in your direction. 

despite the fact that your demise was quickly approaching, you had felt a strange sense of peace. perhaps actually knowing your fate was better than not knowing. 

there would be an end to all of this. 

-

steve had offered his house for you all, his parents away on some trip for the next week meaning eddie could hide out in peace. a much better arrangement than the wheeler’s house again, ted had started to despise the groups of teenagers in his basement. 

sleeping bags and blankets strewn across his gigantic living room, sleeping bodies filling every spare inch of carpet. none of you wanted to be apart for more than five minutes. sleeping on top one another was the ultimate comfort. 

eddie had volunteered for first watch, keeping his eye steady on you from the corner of the room. 

it’s a little difficult to fall asleep knowing that he was watching you like a hawk, surveying every tiny change and movement. 

dustin was supposed to take over at some point in the early hours, but judging by the sounds of his rumbling snore, that wouldn’t be happening. 

you sit up, shuffling over to eddie’s perch, avoiding your sleeping friends on the ground. 

his eyes dart to the floor, as if he hadn’t been staring intensely at you for the last hour.

“d’you have a cigarette?” you whisper, knocking your knee into his. 

he nods, raising his brow, “you don’t smoke?” baffled by your question. 

you shrug, smiling into the darkness, “how would you know?” hoping it didn’t come across as snappy as it seemed. 

he doesn’t reply, just shuffles around in his pocket, producing the scuffed up box with his lighter. 

you nod towards the door, getting up from the floor with a small groan. limbs still aching and weary from your run in with death earlier. 

he follows behind, glancing at the room of sleeping teens before slipping out onto the porch with you. 

steve’s house was secluded, the massive back yard and the trees that surrounded it made sure that no one would find him here. 

you perch on one of the lounge chairs, gesturing for eddie to join you, watching the steam from the pool dissipate into the chilly march night air. despite being in the same tiny town, his house was worlds apart from the trailer park you two grew up on. 

he places a cigarette in your palm before sliding one between his own lips, passing you the lighter first. 

it’s a silent exchange, unsure if you could talk about anything without crying, though it’s meaningful. eddie had been selfish plenty of times during your relationship but at his core, he’d put you before himself each and every time. 

you light the cigarette, gazing off into the distance. hoping to god that he wouldn’t bring what had happened earlier up. 

“when’d you start smoking?” he asks, keeping a respectable distance between you though he wishes that wasn’t something he had to worry about. 

“when i found out that i was dying tomorrow,” exhaling slow, trying not to let your voice wobble. 

he sighs, “you’re not gonna die,” with less conviction than you’d have liked, “you can’t die,” shaking his head at such a ridiculous thought, “you won’t.. you won’t,” mostly for his own sake. 

your eyes squeeze shut, heart aching, squeezing your chest tight. last week you’d been terrified about your literature final and now none of it even mattered. 

“what if i do?” you ask earnestly, finally meeting his eyes, “everyone else has? we don’t know if dustin’s right.. if we can beat him,” shrugging helplessly. 

chrissy had died, patrick had died, fred had died. that meant you were next. 

his jaw clenches, wishing you’d stop, “you’re not,” throwing his cigarette butt to the side, “i won’t let you, okay?” 

you nod, albeit not believing a word he said. it was difficult to be so optimistic when the only evidence you had, said otherwise. 

“this vecna..” eddie begins again, “he doesn’t know what’s about to hit him,” sounding slightly more confident than before, “we’re gonna kill him and you’re.. you’re gonna live and graduate and do all that great shit you still have to do.” 

you don’t mistake the pain in his voice, the knowing that he should be there for all of that and that it had been his own fault for now being a footnote in the story of your life. 

“i really do miss you,” you clarify, “i’m not sure how much of our conversation earlier was a vision or not..” 

eddie chuckles, breath shaky and unstable, “no.. you said that before, you know- before you got possessed,” bumping his shoulder into yours, thankfully injecting his fucked up humour into the otherwise dark conversation. 

“was it scary?” 

he scoffs, almost offended that you’d even ask, “i shit my pants,” smiling with the side of his mouth, not fully committed, “reminded me of that stupid movie you made me watch.” 

he had never liked horror movies, this tough guy exterior that exclusively listened to metal was all a guise. he’d watched the film through his fingers, clinging onto your arm. 

“you were very brave though,” letting your cigarette fall to the floor, sure to be lectured by steve in the morning. 

he shies away, looking down for a brief second, “i’m not gonna let what happened to chrissy happen to you too..” meeting your gaze once more, “i promise.” 

“i don’t think you can promise that,” sharing a meaningful glance. 

“i can and i will.”

you nod hesitantly. his words, as much as you’d like to believe them, meant nothing when the supernatural was at play. 

his eyes flicker down to your lips, just like they used to so many months ago. but you don’t pull back, only leaning in further. 

if you lived past tomorrow, you’d no doubt regret this but as that wasn’t looking at all likely, what was a kiss between traumatised exes? 

eddie makes the first real move, his palm coming to cradle your cheek. you hope to god this isn’t another vision, that he won’t be cruelly torn away from you this time. 

“is this real?” you can’t stop yourself from asking, sighing as you do. 

“this is real,” he assures, tucking a stray strand of hair behind your ear, “d’you want to stop?” 

“no,” closing the already dwindling space between you, placing your hand on his in such earnest intimacy, a sensation you’d missed so deeply for an entire year. 

your lips touch, your eyes falling shut as his breaths start to steady, humming into your mouth in satisfaction. 

it didn’t feel so bad now, nothing could be so utterly terrifying while you’re touching him like this. 

eddie breaks away first, only a few inches of distance, just to gaze into your starry eyes, “i never thought i’d be able to do that again,” with utmost sincerity. 

“you weren’t supposed to,” shaking your head. if things had gone according to your plan, you’d have never seen him again. 

but it doesn’t work that way. 

fate had other plans for you. 

his lips twitch into a small smile, thumb drawing over your tired cheeks, “can i do it again?” 

“please.” 

connecting your lips once more, the cold tip of his nose bumping softly against yours. it was impossible not to notice how well you fit together, moving in synchronicity and with such tenderly care. 

inside, dustin wakes up in a cold sweat. looking over at the empty spot on the floor where you should be, but now we’re not. 

“shitshitshit,” he panics, whispering loudly to himself as he crashes around the house, stepping over the sleeping bodies. 

dustin’s panicked face shoots up from the window, gawping at the barely visible sight, straining to make out what the fuck he was even seeing. 

it only dawns on him when your lips leave eddie’s, foreheads resting together that it would be in his best interest to not interject and end up with his ass beat. 

you come back in some twenty minutes later, after a plethora of shared kisses and soothing words. deciding to settle in the same empty spot on the floor, his hand only comfortable enough to grace your waist, under the blanket. 

now wasn’t the time for questions or prying eyes judging your decision. you weren’t even too sure yourself. 

it’s the only time you’ve felt comfortable enough to sleep tonight, watching his chest rise and fall, knowing that he was here, alive and that for right now, you were too. 

-

the carnage pulls you from your sleep, people yelling over pancakes and glass clattering as max’s shrill voice scolds lucas for being too loud. 

you look around at the mess of blankets and empty sleeping bags, the door to the living room was closed though it made no difference. 

you’d have preferred to stay in the empty room, unwilling to address the situation with eddie last night but your stomach rumbles, pulling you out of the room and into the bright, bustling hallway. 

robin swings out of the kitchen at the sound of your presence. she’d clearly tried to help with the breakfast efforts, though unsuccessfully, emerging with flour down her shirt, jeans and somehow in her hair. she smiles gently at your weary eyes, “we didn’t wanna wake you.. you were knocked out.”

“thanks rob,” even though their incessant arguing and yelling did eventually rouse you from your sleep. 

in the kitchen, dustin sits with his feet swinging off the tall stool, a too-wide, toothy grin growing on his face the second he spots you, “well good morning! how’d you sleep?” a sarcastic little quip that you know holds something deeper. 

“great thanks, you?” narrowing your eyes as you fill a mug with coffee. 

he waits for steve to exit the room, turning back to you with the biggest shit-eating grin imaginable, “yeah, really good,” he twists his body to peer out of the door, ensuring no one could hear, “so you and eddie huh?” 

“me and eddie what?” refusing to entertain his cryptic questions. 

“i saw you two last night, k-i-s-s-i-n-g,” wiggling his stupid brows as he shovels yet another pancake into his uncontrollable, jabbering mouth. 

“and i saw you wet the bed last year, do you want to go there?” flinging his taunting right back at him. 

dustin’s mouth falls open, “you can be a real bitch, you know that?” taking his heaped plate back into the living room. 

steve strolls back in, staring down dustin’s scowl before his eyes trail to you, “what’s wrong with him?” 

you smile, tight-lipped and fully loaded as you pour a cup of coffee, “oh nothing,” looking over the food with slight disgust. the hunger hadn’t really hit you yet, too occupied with trying not to die to care about pancakes. 

eddie interrupts your noisy brain, cackling as he comes into the kitchen, “maybe you should stop being such a smart-ass then,” immediately quietening down when he spots you. 

you don’t speak, instead communicating with a shared look before you focus on the cup of coffee in your hand. 

steve looks slowly between the two of you, “you good?” 

“yeah.”

“yup.” 

you both simultaneously reply, refusing to acknowledge the tension in the empty kitchen. 

“o-kay,” steve whistles, deciding that sitting with dustin and his terrible attitude would be far better than whatever this was. 

it’s not supposed to be awkward. 

it was just a kiss. or multiple. 

a few kisses between exes during the end of the world. that’s all. 

“d’you sleep okay?” he dares to ask, feeling comfortable enough to make eye contact now that steve had left. 

“yeah.. thank you, for looking after me,” smiling gently at the bleary eyed boy. 

“i told you i would,” he reaffirms, “you’re not doing this on your own.” 

“i know,” you nod, swallowing the growing lump, “but i’m scared eds.. i don’t want you to die because of me.” 

eddie tuts, rounding the counter to place his hand on your arm, “that’s not-,”

dustin hollers, falling through the kitchen door, giving away the groups prying position, “ow shithead!” shoving lucas backwards as they materialise one by one. 

dustin, lucas, max, erica. 

in that order.

“are you fucking serious?” you screech, throwing your arms into the air. 

this was low even for dustin. 

“sorry! sorry! go back to confessing your love or whatever the hell was happening!” scurrying off to finish his pancakes and no doubt inform robin and steve what they’d witnessed. 

“i can’t believe him,” you frown, turning to eddie who’s stifling his laugh. “it’s not funny,” but your lips twitch anyway. 

“it’s kinda funny,” his hand still lingering on your arm, his smile reaching his eyes, “you don’t care if they know.. do you?” 

you shrug, perhaps you did care a little bit. you were the one who’d broken up with him, deserted him for college. maybe you didn’t deserve a second chance. 

“it’s okay..” he nods, as understanding as always, “this is weird, i get it," as understanding as he was, he wasn't able to conceal the dejected puppy gleam in his eye.

"it's not that," pathetically reaching for his hand, "i'm just.. i'm supposed to die today, i don't want to.. lead you on, or get your hopes up or whatever," putting your finger up to stop eddie from interrupting, "i don't need you to tell me that i'm not. just let me spiral about this," smiling as you speak, truly a means to soothe yourself, not just eddie.

"o..okay," his whole speech shut down, leaving him with nothing. his eyes flit over to the mountains of food steve had whipped up, "you should eat.. you've got a busy day of not dying to get through," smirking right through your snide glare.

-

something feels off, a nervous twisting in your stomach that makes you want to call the entire thing off. 

you could go down there and fight this with them. screw whatever prophetic visions you’d had. 

eddie hadn’t even wanted to go, desperate to stay in the attic with you, watching over in fear of losing you again. 

“what if.. what if something happens and they don’t know how to fix it? they’re kids.” he’d pleaded, sat on the porch outside of the large house in your final moments of peace. 

“dustin can’t do this on his own,” you cooed, only slightly wishing that he could execute this plan on his own. “you have to go. i’ll be okay..okay?” not entirely certain about the truthfulness of your words. 

he takes a sharp intake of breath, fingers forming a weak fist, “you better be,” the moon reflecting off of his caramel iris’, capturing the entire universe in two tiny orbs, “i don’t want to lose you again.” 

your head dips, quickly losing the ability to look him in the eye, overwhelmed with guilt and the reminder that you had been the one to end things. 

“it’s okay,” grabbing your hand to place on his bouncing knee, “i’m not.. mad about it, or upset and you shouldn’t be either,” squeezing your fingers in a bid to draw your eyes back to him. 

“i don’t-,” huffing a frustrated sigh, unable to form a coherent thought when the impending battle loomed over your heads. “everything is so fucked and i don’t know if we’re gonna make it this time.” 

eddie’s fingers lace between yours, holding your hand tighter, “we’re gonna be fine.. okay? everyone is gonna be fine,” inching closer in the thick of the night, “i’m gonna be right back here, as soon as that bastard is dead.. i promise.” 

this time, you punctuate his sentence for him, springing forward to latch your lips to his, using your free hand to cradle his stubbly cheek. 

you long to kiss him forever, never escaping this embrace, knowing that there’s a chance it won’t happen again. his lips soft, desperate to stay attached to you, too. 

“oh! shit! uhm-,” robin stutters, clattering out of the door. 

you break apart, containing the low groan of disappointment, “sorry rob.. ‘s everything okay?” eddie’s as bashful as ever, his cheeks flushing a deep scarlet, even in the darkness. 

“yeah! uh.. nancy told me to tell you that we’ve gotta go now or it’ll be too late,” swinging from the door as she speaks. 

he glances at you again, longing for just one more minute of this peace. one more second of your touch. 

but it doesn’t come. 

they leave in a hurry, cycling maniacally away to the trailer park, leaving you, lucas, max and erica to conduct the rest of the plan. only fragments of hope left as you watch them disappear over the hill, praying for someone, anyone to just keep him safe.

-

everything is eerily calm, far too silent for the situation at hand. 

you sit cross-legged in the attic, looking between lucas and max who had taken it upon themselves to converse through a notepad. 

they reminded you of you and eddie once upon a time, giggling teenagers trying to navigate love together. 

it’s sweet, full of the same adolescent innocence you were desperately trying to regain. 

eventually they break apart, lucas traipsing over the creaky floorboards to check on you, equally confused by the serenity. 

he turns to walk away, almost frozen as his brows furrow and his pupils dilate, “you killed them.” 

your mouth falls open, immediately hushing him so as to not screw up nancy and dustin’s carefully thought out plan. 

“you killed them all,” he parrots, a sinister air surrounding him. “eddie trusted you and you killed him.. you’re a murderer,” the venom flying off of his tongue, severing your heart in two. 

the plan had worked. you were back in wherever it was you were taken before, confirmed by the sudden darkness, the wallpaper splintering and putrid stench that had filled your nose. 

lucas isn’t lucas at all. 

a mimic to the higher power cursing your town, only a small part of his master plan to destroy hawkins. 

your surroundings melt away, lucas nor max no longer appearing before you. instead, you’re faced with a flash of red, and a maniacal cackle. 

henry, as you’d since learnt he was called, begins his tirade, just as you’d planned. 

“why didn’t you stop them?” he booms, appearing in the corner, “you let them go after everything i showed you.”

he didn’t scare you, not anymore. when the time was right, lucas would slide max’s walkman over your ears and pull you right out of this hellscape. 

“they’re going to kill you,” standing stoic, resistant under his thumb. “you can’t hurt anybody else.. not anymore,” gritting your teeth, such determination to have him hear you. 

his burnt frame disappears right before your eyes, a loud, blaring laugh appears from behind. 

once again turning to darkness, only this time it’s accompanied by a chorus of screeching. feral creatures and familiar voices circle around your head. 

his torment is ruthless, voices, namely eddie’s rattle around your brain, wailing and screaming, loud enough to make your ears ring and your head ache. 

your eyes open to your trailer, watching yourself argue and cry at eddie. 

the day you broke up. 

“you’re just gonna leave me?” he despairs, just as feeble as the first time he’d said it. 

“i can’t stay here eddie! you don’t get it! i nearly died.. i can’t do that again,” and yet, here you are. 

a shrill, shrieking sound fills the room before the scene crumbles before your eyes leaving you to the decaying scene you bore witness to before. remnants of the creel house float through the scarlet sky, threatening to crash into each other. 

“maybe i can’t hurt you, but you can hurt yourself,” vecna’s voice squawks, flashing forward to a scene you’ve never seen before. 

eddie, with his back against a door, you can only assume he’s trying to keep something out. a grotesque mix of blood, sweat and tears seep down his cheeks, the door beginning to thump from the pressure of whatever was on the other side. 

“this all could’ve been so easy,” rapidly wiping the imagine from your view, only to appear mere inches away, decrepit hand rising above your face. “don’t you wish you had just listened? don’t you wish that you had just come with me?” now mocking with his tone, condescending even though he’d gotten you exactly where you’d wanted. 

“no.. no no no,” arms suddenly restricted by a slimy tendril, forcing your face to meet his, “you’re not real.. you’re not-“ a sudden, awful constriction wraps around your lungs, squeezing the air from your body. 

“i’m not.. real?” he mocks, the corners of his mouth creep upwards, “i didn’t want this to happen this way but you’ve left me no choice.” 

you gasp loudly for breath, struggling within his grasp for a means out of it. where was lucas? or max? what happened to the plan? 

over the last few days, you’d become quite comfortable with the idea of dying. it became fact, an inevitable consequence of getting yourself tangled up in this entire thing. 

but now, as it looms over your head, you want out. 

you want to be with eddie. you want a dozen kids and a quaint house on the corner of maple. maybe a dog or a cat that he’d picked up on the side of the road. slow dancing in the kitchen after a day of warm sun. 

you want to live. 

his fist closes, leaving your lips blue and begging for oxygen. “this is what had to happen.. your time-“ his rambling cut off by a ground shattering boom, the tendril dropping your body at once. 

he stumbles backwards, grabbing onto his chest. your vision too blurry to coherently make out what was happening, a mixture of colours that swirls away quickly. 

your aching bones thump to the floor, gasping for air as the familiarity of the creel’s attic fills your peripheral. 

max and lucas swarm your body, muttering over one another, their small hands shaking in fear as your head is placed on max’s lap. 

“what the fuck? what the fuck do we do? lucas!” she hollers at lucas, as if either of them had any idea. 

they shouldn’t have to be concerned with any of this, nor tasked with the pressure of keeping you alive. your breathing steadies though your chest still heaves, leaving the comfort of her hold to scan the room. making sure that this was real, that you were home. 

four pairs of feet appear before you and not one of them the dusty pair of reebok’s you were waiting to see. 

collapsing once again, in a crumpled heap on the dusty floorboards, your voice cracks, broken as you speak. still reeling from the onslaught of abuse you’d endured. 

“where’s eddie?” 

[sproutingliliums]

What are some Zutara fanfics you like?

thank you for asking anon! rubbing my hands together and laughing diabolically rn. most of these fics are completed, but i have a few incomplete or ongoing ones listed at the bottom.

The Color of the Stars by bluenebulae this is my zutara bible... i have read this 3 times, and i think it's still my favorite zutara fic. it diverges from canon during the day of black sun. katara and zuko are both captured and thrown into prison and after breaking out together, they become reluctant allies and travel the world in search of the gaang while also trying to warn the other nations about ozai's plans.

they call you refugee by akaiiko

an arranged marriage alternate universe where when zuko is banished, he leaves the fire nation with—actually, the summary does a pretty good job of explaining it: "Zuko goes into exile with a scar, a mission, and a wife." i think i cried the first time i read this.

refraction by caroes3725

this one's my post-war zutara bible. it is maybe the post-war swt ambassador/politician katara slow burn of all time. it is 200k+ words and it's all worth it, i promise! i prommy!!! read it now!!!! <- this along with The Color of the Stars are maybe my favorite zutara longfics. period.

Mending Wounds by FictionIsSocialInquiry

canon divergent fic where katara sees visions of zuko in the foggy swamp. except in these visions he is older, the fire lord, her husband, and he is gentle and loving, and katara feels sick to her stomach! one of my favs!!!!

lost and found by Smediterranea

hakoda discovers a young zuko, injured, and takes him in. beautiful alternate universe fic where zuko grows up in the southern water tribe with sokka and katara.

The Things We Hide by Lykegenia

katara is held in the fire nation as a political prisoner following the southern water tribe's defeat after an assault launched by fire lord ozai during sozin's comet. the swt, however, will not go down with a fight. love, love, love this one! it has painted lady katara, blue spirit zuko, a sweet romance, political intrigue, and betrayal!!! it's a fun time. also i love hama's inclusion in this :)

The Blackfish and the Dragon by ama

during the day of black sun, iroh takes matters into his own hands and becomes fire lord. shortly after, a marriage is arranged between zuko and katara in order to secure the peace. it's a beautiful arranged marriage au where everyone is so perfectly in character. i really think this fic is one of the best zutara fics out there with a natural and rewarding slow burn romance. and azula is there and she's perfect.

Smoke & Mirrors by sansonnets

blutara bible!!!!!!! that's all i got... blutara go CRAZYYY

so i can die where i met you by irridescence

canon compliant. zuko and katara, eighty years later. the fic is centered around major character death(s), so don't read if you can't handle it but i was sobbing like a fucking baby by the end of it. such a beautiful gorgeous fic that will haunt me forever.

if you don't mind incomplete or ongoing fics:

But Who's Counting? by halfhoursonearth

katara thinks zuko's going to need at least 100 healing sessions after the agni kai. lovely prose and characterization and it's so tender and sweet. just read it!!!

so let us melt, and make no noise by LittleLostStar

zuko is sent on a mission to bring back the heart of the last waterbender so he can restore his honor and return home. but when he nearly dies while in the south pole, a healer named katara saves him and nurses him back to health. (the author describes this as a kinda-sorta frozen AU, and i think it's a pretty good description haha). it's an incredible AU with so much mystery and intrigue and tension!

forgetting is a kind of mercy by nerdylizj

"Five years after Katara and Zuko go missing in Ba Sing Se, Kya and Lee are found living peacefully in the Earth Kingdom countryside." finally, i gotta plug liz's silly n goofy dai li brainwashing fic. it's so good. so painfully angsty. it's about the pain of remembering and about making hard choices and identity and parenthood!!!

[attyrocious]

cross posting yesterday's rambling thread for posterity and because tumblr lets me edit things. anyway this is a sorta long thing and i might add things i forgot to mention in the twt thread

i tend to draw on-model canon because im a coward + just personal preferences. but the way i convert the canon designs into my artstyle is that i take the distinct features oda gives them and then combine it with personal headcanons to complete what should look like a unique human. Starting with Trafalgar Law, who is unfortunately a bland-ass conventionally pretty boy

someone commented a while ago the law hat drawing tutorial i made a while ago didn't make much sense and i realize its bc of the specific way i draw law's face: heart shaped (ba-dum-tss). That meaning, a narrow chin widening into a mild defined jaw, wide cheekbones, and up to his know-it-all brain dome.

given that, the pudgy guitar pick shape of his head i mentioned here should make a lot more sense.

i don't think this design point is unique to me, as most conventional pretty anime boy gets given jaws like this. a lot of law artists tend to veer into this head shape. just how life be sometimes. other points: flat, thick eyebrows is bc im a hairy gal and i need to feel better about myself.

Killer gets to be more interesting, because he shouldn't be considered conventionally attractive. my idea behind killer's is that those individual features is smth he would be insecure with enough to hide himself in a helmet but i draw him with all the love in the world actually. i'd like to think its how kid sees him or yknow, law, bc he's my kin assigned blorbo and maybe you ship lawkill as a guilty pleasure too i mentioned before (and ruined people's days) when i said whenever i draw killer he looks like griffith before i put on his goatee. the upper half of his face is distinctly feminine, with the lower half kinda over compensating. other than that uhh...idk. stan killer

Kidd is the bane of my existence, i feel like i can never draw his face consistently. yet at the same time he's so damn fun to draw everyone gotta try it.

my problem with kidd is that this mf does have eyelids. most kidd painters out there interpret this as him having deep set eyes (think Matt Smith or jeffrey star) . and yeh skill issue on me i should practice that. other notes, i try to make him younger than canon makes him look. he is my babygirl and he deserves to look cuddly. my band au kidd version has the honor of being allowed some chubs. he's just tries to look older and more menacing with edgy makeup. also i try to give him dimples when i can because, well i can.

Rosinante last bc i lost steam after kidd. the thing abt cora is that aside from not having eyebrows, everything is structured with the generic one piece man template. which means i gotta do everything myself doffy is there bc the way to figure out how to draw these two is to give them minor differences from each other, that being doffy gets slightly sharper features. in canon, these two are also rly wide boys (more of an oda style feat tbh) but i make them long. though bigger brained donquixote artists know that of these two brothers, doffy should be the wiry-er built. anyway that's it. in conclusion, i need to draw more girls actually i feel like im becoming misogynistic by osmosis from oda's style and now i draw girls all looking the same too.

[s0fti3w1tch]

Tentative Devotee AU (TBC Soon)

Leonardo is a Foot trainee, raised and trained by Lieutenant and Brute since he was 9. Life before then is fuzzy at best. — In the past several months, he's been going on his first proper missions, quickly aware of a persistent threat against the Foot Clan: 3 mutant turtles and a human who've foiled them time and time again.

What he wasn't aware of was that they were 4 siblings who never gave up on finding their missing brother.

CONTENT WARNING! This AU will explore: Mourning of family / Mourning of a child (who isn't actually dead, but believed to be). Violence is canon-typical up to the standards of the movie— That is also a reference point for the tone of this AU. There will be cult themes and dips into the topic of cult trauma, alongside family issues.

Main Comic:

Enemies || [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ tbc... ]

Baby Blue || [coming soon]

[TBA]

Minisodes/Mini-Comic:

Donnie's Apology Gift

First Mission Mishaps!

PSAs: Triggering Content, Why Leo will not have a "Dark Side," Cult Parents

More content below the cut! ♥︎

Scrapped/Changed Ideas or Scenes:

"Maybe this is the lowest point of my life" / Severing Ties

Usagi's first design + role

Mona Lisa first design

Reference Sheets:

Leonardo's Room

UPDATED LEO FULL REF

Leo's Outfit Change + Sorta-Timeline

Hand Marking

Scarf

Leo's Guitar

Eyes (outdated)

Nail Polish

Butterfly Charm

Future!TD!Leo

Usagi WIP

Doodles:

More Lore/Story Heavy = ♥︎ / Just More Fun = ☀︎ / 💬 = answer to an ask

Leo Solo!

"Keep it together, Leo"

"What I know about family?"

He/They/Xe of the day! / Speed-Color ☀︎

Scooter Boy! ☀︎

He's Writing Fanfic ☀︎

Guac Baby ☀︎

"Yeah, of course! But also..." ☀︎

Animation Test

No Sleep

[ i was listening to sonic music while drawing this ] ☀︎

disillusionment

Cook :P ☀︎

3 Swords?! ☀︎ 💬

Peepaw'd :) 💬

Head Empty + Leo kinda mad ♥︎ 💬

Blep! 💬

Feelings Down ♥︎💬

Multi POV

TD Spoilers Over Memes [1]

Trust in the Foot ♥︎ 💬

"Keep your brother safe" ♥︎ 💬

Big Sisters ♥︎

Turtle Sister to Turtle Sister 💬

Foot Clan Family

Motorcycle Theft! 💬

Shell Cracks + A Small Moment ♥︎ 💬

Trans Sibs!!! ☀︎ 💬

Hamato Clan

Not Growing With Us ♥︎💬

Recognition? 💬 ♥︎

"Donnie, stay out of this"

Unknown Tension

Protective Older Twin 💬

"Can we be brothers?" 💬

Donnie's hope (colored ver: here)

"Donnie, whatcha got there?" ☀︎

Drawing for Donnie 1

Yōkai Connections

Hueso's First Encounter With Leo 💬

+ All my AU Crossover Content linked here~!

Separated Leo Crossover : Bathtub Arc ☀︎

Preview Comic (Test)

TMNT AU Competition Basketball Saga ☀︎

DOUBLE-HANDED BACKHAND SWING

Nail Bat Recieved

Leo Hype Squad!

No PomPoms

I didn't intend for this AU to be that big, but I realized I did want to give this a go and make at least something. It's my goal to finish this project eventually.

The AU will be told in segments, comics of various points of the story.

Bonus! Miscellaneous info that doesn't play big into this AU but matters enough to me:

Leonardo is transmasculine, uses he/they/xe pronouns and is referred to with primarily masculine terms.

A version of Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo comics exists and it's Leo's second favorite comic series in this AU.

'Tentative Devotee' is the name of the fanfic I was originally going to write. It was just gonna be a 2-shot fic and a way to navigate some feelings as someone who was born and raised in, and eventually left, a cult.

The initial tone/direction of this AU was much different, Leo ending up in the Foot Clan under different circumstance (i.e. direct kidnapping from Lieutenant and Brute). I found this didn't quite work for me.

[flowersintheimpala69]

Jack thinking of sam + cas as his dads but he thinks of sam + dean as married cuz like he watches movies and sees romantic relationships in public so he’s like “oh!! Sam and Dean are like that they must be in love” and he dosent really know that incest isn’t socially okay cuz like no one told him (don’t mean this in a “oh jacks just a baby he dosent know anything” way, cuz i hate when he’s infanlized BUT i do think it’s realistic to think there’s gap in his knowledge of culture + societal norms, esp since he’s also only around sam dean and cas all the time and i love them but they are NOT poster boys for Normal People Who Act Normal TM okay rant over)

So Jack one day realizes sam and Dean don’t wear wedding rings but like they’re married! Married people wear rings! So he asks sam if he wears his wedding ring on a necklace around his neck cuz Jack knows sam has sorta large hands so maybe not a lot of rings fit him?

And Sam short circuits and is like “??wut”

And Jack is like “u and dean don’t wear wedding rings. I thought married ppl do that”

And sam with his little repressed incest crush is like “no!! Whaaaaatttt.. that’s so crazy! Dean and I are not married!! Why would u think that!!” Cuz he dosent want to give any reason for anyone to know he likes dean

And Jack is like “oh.”

Later he talks to cas abt it and he’s like “I think sam is mad at me:(“ and cas is like “he’s not he just gets upset when someone thinks him and dean are together” and Jack is like “cuz they’re brothers?” and cas sighs and is like “no they are so in love with eachother and both react that way because they do not want the other to know”

And Jack is like “??wut” and cas has the most done face and is like “they have been like this since I have known them. They refuse to communicate. I am tired.”

Maybe cue Jack + cas shenanigans where they try to subtly push Sam and Dean together and send them on dates by being like “let’s go out!” and then backing out last minute and being like “oh something came up we can’t go:( but you guys should go anyways! Have fun at this fancy dinner place^_^ and there’s a nice walk along the river you guys could take after” or back out of movie night and have them watch a romcom together

And they’re like out and Jack is like “yk Sam i think Dean is cold,, im worried he’ll get sick:(“ and ofc Dean is not cold cuz he wears a shit ton of layers but Sam is like “oh no! I don’t want him to be cold :(“ and gives him his jacket

cas takes the extra blankets and hides them and sam is like “where are the blankets?? There’s only one:(“ and cas is like “oh? Must be in the wash” and sam is like “oh that sucks dean and i like having blankets when we watch tv guess we gotta cancel movie night” and cas is like “noooo yall should just share a blanket^_^” and sam is like “…okay”

And Jack and cas peak around the corner and see sam and Dean cuddling under the same blanket and they’re watching How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and Jack and cas are like “this is the night!!” But then suddenly sam gets up like he’s been burned halfway through the movie and squeaks out that he has to go to the bathroom and Dean is like “oh :(“

and dean couldn’t see it from his angle and cas rlly hopes Jack didn’t notice, but Cas could clearly see the hard-on sam was sporting in his sweats as he speed walked to the bathroom. And if the sounds he heard from the bathroom and 10 mins sam spent in there plus the shower he took is anything to go by sam def was jacking it.

Cas never drinks but he’s def really close to becoming an alcoholic. He wants his friends to be happy! They’d be happy if they’re together! Why can’t they communicate!

and Sam and Dean don’t ever get together in their lifetime but post canon cas and Jack visit sam and Dean in their heaven (au where cas isn’t taken by the empty cuz FUCK that) and they walk into their house and sam and Dean are fucking on the couch.

And Jack like covers his eyes and cas lets out a genuine laugh and sam and Dean let out a yelp and try to cover themselves with a throw blanket.

later after sam and Dean have made themselves decent they’re having an awkward dinner (to sam and Dean, Jack and cas r just happy they worked it out even tho they didn’t enjoy walking in on them)

And Sam’s voice is thick when he asks if cas and Jack hate them for this and cas and Jack r like “what?? Ofc not!!”

And dean is like “it’s okay if u are we get it”

And cas and Jack share a look and are like “we’ve known you guys were in love for a while”

And Sam and Dean r like “Whaaattt??”

And Jack is like “u guys aren’t subtle.”

And Cas is like “I am happy you two could finally commemorate your bond :)”

and then they have desert and are all happy and right before Jack is getting ready to leave he notices the matching gold rings sam and Dean are wearing.

[estellardreams]

Not Quite The Expected Outcome

(for @emthimofnight's sibling AU)

"I still don't get why we're going out like this." Void mumbled.

"Oh, come on! Can't we just have a fun day out?" Stellar said.

"I suppose..."

"I'm with her on this one. But I'm also confused because this is sorta out of the blue, honestly." Andromeda commented.

"I just thought... Maybe we could have some fun?"

"... You don't have a plan, do you?" Void said bluntly.

"Eh, haha. Nope!"

"Of course..."

"Come on! Try to have some faith in her, she's trying her best!" Polarity piped up.

"Maybe I would if she wasn't such a liability."

"Hey! It's only on the battlefield it goes that way!" Stellar said, immediately running back up to Void the moment he began to walk away.

And yet, no one seemed to notice that they were being watched...

"We all obviously know that I'm the most competent in my abilities, right?"

"Please don't start boasting now, it's not going to help matters at all." Andromeda said.

"But it's true. Also I'm the strongest by a long shot."

Stellar face palmed. "Void. Please don't bring down others to hype yourself up. Can't we all just be friends?"

"Just because we can, doesn't mean we will. The world isn't a perfect paradise, Stellar."

"I know that! I'm just trying to stay optimistic!"

"Your optimistic is grating."

"Oh ho ho! Who do we have here, hm? My fellow creations!" Eggman gloated, suddenly appearing from the shadows in his eggmobile.

"What do you want? You're interrupting our time here." Andromeda said.

"Yes yes, that's exactly the point."

"Go away or we'll force you." Void threatened.

"Ooh no! I'm so scared!" Eggman mocked before breaking out into laughter. He slammed on his eggmobile, a giant canon coming out from the inside, pointed directly at the kids.

"Badniks, attack! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!" he laughed, letting the canon shoot out badniks that unraveled and began to attack.

"Wanna try a combo attack to get rid of that canon?" Polarity offered.

"Ha! It's like you read my mind!" Stellar smiled.

Polarity grabbed her, spun her around before chucking her into the air. Stellar spun as her shoes activated their blades, slamming down on the canon and cleanly searing it off. She landed swiftly on the ground, dusting herself off.

"Heh. How's that for a combo attack?"

"That. Was. AMAZING! Our first time, too!" Polarity pulled her into an excited hug.

"Okay, I get you two are having fun but can we PLEASE focus here?! We're getting swarmed!" Andromeda yelled.

"And you're not helping!" Void said.

"I just got my quills groomed! I'm not ruining them!"

"YOU CAN FIX THEM LATER, JUST HELP."

"Right. Right... On it."

"Oh no you DON'T!" Eggman suddenly fired a blast at the two, forcing them to dodge out of the way.

Stellar and Polarity immediately got out of the way too as they were being blasted at.

Polarity zoomed all over the place, weaving between the buildings and trees before coming up from behind Eggman, grabbing onto the Eggmobile and pulling himself up on it.

"Hello, rat!" the doctor sneered before blasting him with the new canon.

"POLARITY!"

Polarity hit the ground, strange white glowing ropes tied around his body.

"H-Hold on, lemme help you- AH!" Stellar was suddenly struck as well, skidding a bit as she hit the ground, now tied up as well.

"LET MY FAMILY GO RIGHT THIS INSTANT!" Andromeda screamed.

Eggman cracked a smile, whistling a little like he didn't hear her before blasting the two remaining hedgehogs again. The two kept trying to dodge as he kept blasting them.

Stellar forced herself to crawl over to Polarity, making sure he was okay. Thankfully, there didn't seem to be any injuries.

"How do we get out of these... Things?" he whispered.

"I'm not sure, but... They're strangely tiring?" Stellar whispered back.

"Yeah, I noticed that too. You don't think they're...-"

"AHA!"

The two's attention was drawn over to Andromeda, who got caught by the ropes as well. Eggman let one of his gadgets levitate her up before throwing her with Stellar and Polarity off to the side.

"Void, get dad and papa! Right now!" Stellar urged.

"No! I can handle this myself!" Void summoned more of his power, chucking his blasts towards the Eggmobile, which blasted right back at him.

"That's... Not gonna work, is it?" Polarity mumbled.

Andromeda groaned a little. "It comes down to Void and Robotnik... Who's gonna win- Oh look."

Eggman finally managed to catch Void as well. He pulled all four siblings to the front of his eggmobile, levitating them up using his gadget. He stared down at the four of them gleefully.

"Alright, let's cut to the chase. What do you want from us?" Void asked bluntly.

"Oh, that's easy: Your demise."

Polarity seemed to freeze up while Andromeda huffed.

"Of course it is..."

Suddenly, a huge canon was pointed in the faces of the four.

"Do you think our dad's have realized we've been gone for too long...? They might be worried..." Polarity whispered, leaning over to Stellar a little.

"Possibly..."

"Then, uh... Try stalling for time."

"Yes, thank you for stating the obvious plan!" Andromeda said sarcastically.

"What?! It's a good plan!" Polarity shot back.

Stellar cleared her throat. "So, if you are gonna destroy us. How exactly? Because this doesn't seem very fitting for your standards."

"So glad you asked! You see, this is my chaos exterminator! It's made to eradicate chaos energy of whomever it blasts! It's also the reason it can generate those ropes keeping you four tied up and in my grasp. Chaos energy surpression is quite powerful, after all."

"Oh goddammit." Void wanted to face palm, but his hands were tied so he couldn't. But that explained so much as to how, the more blasts were near his location, the weaker his powers began to feel.

"And your standards?" Stellar raised an eye.

"If I can't have my prized weapons, no one can. Not even my nemesis can!" Eggman declared.

"Okay, cool.

You do know it's against the law to abandon a child like that, right? And that whoever takes in that child is the legal guardian as such you are no longer a certified parent?" Andromeda remarked.

"Ooh! She got you there!" Polarity said.

"Shut it! All of you! Say your goodbyes..." he began to charge up the canon.

"HEY!"

Everyone's attention suddenly turned to... Sonic and Shadow, who had just arrived and looked... Very pissed off.

"Eggman! Stop trying this charade already and let our kids go!"

"And you better do it nicely. So put that canon down, or I'll show you how bad a canon to the face feels."

"Tch, as if you two can do any damage!" Eggman pointed his other canon towards them, hitting the launch button.

Nothing came out.

He frowned, checking it before groaning. "Did I seriously waste ALL of the power stored in here just to catch you?!"

"Tch, I would've been so close too..." Void grumbled.

"Well, no matter. Say your goodbyes, kiddos!" Eggman forced the larger canon to prepare fire in 3...

Sonic and Shadow immediately ran towards the eggmobile.

2...

The two curled up and spindashed into it.

1...

The two hedgehogs aimed for the canon next.

"Brace for it...!" Stellar said.

The canon fired, hitting the four and sending them crashing to the ground. Sonic and Shadow finally broke the canon off and sent Eggman flying out of the city.

They immediately landed and rushed towards the billow of smoke, waving it out of the way.

"Are you kids okay? Please be okay..."

The smoke finally cleared, revealing them to be just fine, albeit in a state of shock.

"Oh thank goodness!" Sonic breathed a sigh of relief.

Shadow knelt down to the four. "Are you four okay? Are you injured anywhere? We need to get you home right now."

The four stared. They blinked, stared down at themselves, then at each other.

... Whoops.

And that's the end! Yep, it's a body swap plot I came up with on a whim. For anyone wondering who's swapped with who:

Void -> Polarity Polarity -> Stellar Stellar -> Andromeda Andromeda -> Void

Or if a visual presentation is more helpful, here:

Anyway, thanks for reading! (so sorry if the characters are OOC though. That wasn't intentional and I just tried my best.)

[wickjump]

I heard thoe like Hypersomnia? Could that be true?

*quietly slides a yapping card across the table

takes your yapping card and adds it to my probably not all that legal collection of yapping cards. pleasure doing business

that it IS!!!!!!!!! (for those who don’t know, hypersomnia is ink x error x dream poly). anyway I LOVE HYPERSOMNIA. so much so that i was the one to coin the ship name hypersomnia and then became incredibly obnoxious about it ever since.

i think theyre perfect in every way. to me the initial appeal came from loving drink and errorink equally and being a fan of insomnia so why not smash em together? and then i looked deeper into it and Yes i love them.

my biggest propaganda for them is the fact that with hypersomnia, palette, pj, and gradient can exist as siblings without ink being divorced or a shitty dad, both of which im not a fan of. but then we go outside of ship kid territory and think about them and they work SO WELL THERE TOO.

the dynamic feels equal. dream and ink provide physical touch for each other so error doesn’t feel pressured, dream and error provide the romantic feelings for each other while ink is aro, and ink and error both can’t be read feelings-wise because ink has no soul and while not canon I like to think error’s soul is to corrupted for Dream to get a read on, so he feels that they’re not dating him for his aura and rather for him as a person.

and they’re FUN. and lowkey domestic in a sense too like. dream and error bond over spanish tv while ink draws them both so he keeps quiet during the show and doesn’t ramble on. dream listening to both his partners rant on about things they like while he just sits and listens with a genuine smile. movie nights? all the time. they share a big bed, but error’s part is sectioned off with pillows so he feels comfortable, though on days it feels too suffocating he sleeps in a hammock in the room. dream is injured in battle? don’t worry his husbands are the protector of universes and destroyer of worlds. ink is canonically a pretty lonely character—and while he doesn’t mind it per se, nobody ever sees his art. but now he’s got not one but TWO partners to look at his drawings!!!

AND INKS DADS!!!!!!! ASTER AND TOP HAVE TWO SONS IN LAWS!!!!!!!!! and they are SO supportive and they love dream and error and are very happy ink found people that love him for his weirdness and not ‘in spite of it’.

truce or modern au? nightmare does Not Like Them, on the contrary. and it’s funny. hijinks ensue. passive/uncorrupted or otherwise, he does not like them for one reason or another. thinks they have bad intentions, just doesn’t think they’re right, bad influences, or maybe he’s just scared he’ll lose dream and be alone. NIGHTMARE ANGST. YOU GUYS LIKE THAT RIGHT???????

need more appeal? just take whatever you like about drink, errorink, and insomnia and mash it together CAUSE THATS WHAT THEY ARE!!!!!! they are SOULMATES. TRUST ME they said so themselves.

literally any au version or interpretation only furthers the appeal. dream has wings? error uses his feathers in his dolls to make doll-dream’s wings ‘accurate’, and ink uses them in art (plus group preening, and error likes touching Dream’s fallen feathers bc he sorta knows how Dream feels now even if they’ve never/hardly touched).

fgod error/fgoc ink? dream is supportive of both of them and sympathizes with their roles (iirc dreamtale operates in a world where error’s job is necessary and not out of insanity so this is accurate too).

shattered dream and emotionless ink? great they can be 3 evil fucked up boyfriends because error is flexible like that and i like a bit of evil every so often.

it’s all great. they’re perfect. and they’re SO sweet to each other and they absolutely garden together. and every day past 6pm they sit down in the living area and error crochets/sews while ink draws and dream. aw fuck i forgot what dream does but he does some creative thing. whatever. and they take care of their kids together and they’re the BEST dads to EVER EXIST!!!!!!!! and they’re perfect and they love each other and they have rings with gems that they picked out cause they’re married. ok i know you wanted me to yap but this is too long SORRY!!!!!!!!HOPE U ENJOYED IG??

[averagetmntfan]

MASTERPOST!

(yeah I copy pasted it from the other acc, don’t sue me)

wassup! Finally, a master post! Am I right?

(TC*ST AND PROSH*PPERS DNI!!)

hi there! I’m Jayah! You can call me jj tho. I’m js here to post a bunch of fun art and maybe some animation stuff? And occasionally, fan fiction >:). I am GenderFluid, and I go by all pronouns. And my sexuality is lesbian!

and my lil gay ass miiiiiiight be possibly maybe simping for someone rn..?? (*cough* a literally drawing)

I also have 12 roleplay blogs! @leontheluxuriousone , @wrecking-it-raphie @gayass-blueberry-mugman, @bendy-the-dancing-doofus, @koi-the-cosplay-boy, @improv-master-mikey , @ask-miss-maple-leaf ,@blue-masked-simp , @mikey-the-magnificent , @no-ditches-no-bitches , @candy-for-the-win and @ask-olive-huchers

PLUS: @ask-adi-huchers @candy-for-the-win @neon-of-the-leon (new ROTTMNT leo acc) @ask-miss-maple-leaf @ask-christopher-harrison

my current hyper fixations are: rottmnt, tadc, TBT(trolls: band together/trolls 3), The great north, bobs burgers, the cuphead show, moon girl and devil dinosaur, amphibia, the owl house, tmnt 12, cuphead and mugman in General, KREW, poppy playtime, and a SHIT TON MORE-

btw I swear quite a lot on this, so if that isn’t ur thing, u should click off.

and here’s my sona ref!

DISCLAIMER: please don’t send me werid asks, or gross inappropriate content. I’m a minor.

100 DTIYS!

• FANART!!: •

Leo goober(@ghosty-0w0)

PRINCESS KOI FR (@mikey-rottmnt)

MY BABIES- (@allyheart707)

MY SONS<333 (@mikey-rottmnt)

YOU MADE ME LOOK SO PRETTY RAAHHH (@mikey-rottmnt)

• ROTTMNT FICS!!!: •

The sand.

shopping day! (discontinued)

1 2 3

The 4 servants Au:

Chapter 1 (ongoing)

pt.1 pt.2 pt.3 pt.4 pt.5 Pt.6 Pt.7 pt.8 pt.9 pt.10 pt.11 pt.12 (currently on hiatus)

The 4 turtles work peacefully at a competing hotel with the battle nexus, with their beloved father. But one day, everything spirals out of control! And their worlds get flipped upside down! Follow Leo, Donnie, Raph & Mikey on the journey of a life time! And who knows, they might meet some friends along the way, or maybe more…

• DOODLES: •

Pissed off peeps >:[

brace face!!

• FICS: •

Colour theory thingy sorta??

• RANDOM STUFF: •

Leo being a dumb-dumb

• ANSWERED ASKS: •

what do the bros do outside of the hotel??

Mikey needs a hug

does raph break stuff often?

Do the bros like Lou Jitsu movies?

How do they feel about working there?

Time beats a dead man

(Collab au w/ @mikey-rottmnt!!)

Pt.1

A silly cuphead and mugman au Abt uh..a lot of stuff. (Heavily inspired by babtqftim)

• FICS/ INCORRECT QUOTES: •

picky eater

get served! ..or, maybe later..

portals gone wrong!! 1 2 3

Secret admirer<3

…?

the struggles of school

Is it salad?

THATS NOT WHAT I MEANT!!!

• HC’S that are canon in this silly au: •

Mugs

Cups and mugs (cups are not Canon)

How to hug the gang!!

• DRAWINGS: •

Human mugs doodles

chip and Dale!!

Koi and mugs being gay

KOI CANON IN TCHS?!

Rock paper scissors

• some lore: •

mugs lore

Hs! Mugs and euro…

Mug and cup lore

Main crews fav ice cream!!

cup lore (belongs to Ari)

Favourite drinks!

Pipsqueak!

(Coming soon..?)

“Small turtle, and even bigger problems.”

[glitterp0prhaps0dy]

so remember when i made that post about combining trolls and one of my other faveriot movies!, so iv been brainstorming on how to combine trolls and corpse bride into an au!

so i came up with the CORPSE BROPPY AU

not everything will be the same, infact there's a lot of changes, so its more or so the concept of corpse bride that I'm combining with trolls, I have two of the character designs down! so I will share parts of their story first, then show their image, ITS POPPY AND BRANCH! obviously lol

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

So, the story kicks off with a bit of a family crisis. Poppy's older sister, Viva, has mysteriously disappeared(i can explain more on that later you you want), throwing a wrench into their family plans. With Viva gone, Poppy finds herself in the hot seat, forced into an arranged marriage with a troll named Creek(YOU KNOW THE ONE AND ONLY TRAITOR) from another family. This arrangement is all about sealing deals and uniting families, but there's a catch: Poppy and Creek have to get their wedding act together in just a month. And let's just say, rehearsals are a disaster. Poppy's heart just isn't in it because, well, she doesn't love Creek. It’s like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.

as you can see, poppy takes a place of victor, sorta

i really loved looking at diffrent dresses from the 1800's to design her outfit, the before is her for most of the story, her casual outfit, i kept it blue since most of poppys canon outfits are, her after outfit is more towards the end of the story.

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

Imagine being insanely talented, like a piano prodigy level of talented, but instead of your gift bringing you joy, it becomes this heavy chain your family drags you around with. That's Branch's life in a nutshell. His gift at the piano wasn't celebrated in the way it should have been; it was exploited. Instead of applause filled with warmth, every clap was just a reminder of how his family saw dollar signs in his melodies. Talk about a tough crowd.

But wait, it gets more complicated. Branch's family, not satisfied with just exploiting his talent, decided to marry him off in a deal that reeked of greed. Love? Compatibility? Nope, those words weren't in their vocabulary. It was all about the money. And the person he was supposed to marry? Let's just say she took 'till death do us part' way too literally and left Branch for dead—literally. The twist? She never got caught. So there's Branch, a victim of greed and betrayal, stuck in the afterlife with a heart heavier than any piano he ever played.

This is where Branch's story gets really interesting. As the Corpse Groom, he's not just dealing with being, well, dead. He's tangled up in all the dreams and desires he never got to live out. We're talking about a guy who was robbed of the chance to find real love, to maybe play his music because it brought him joy, not because it paid the bills. His unfinished business? It's not just about finding out who killed him; it's about seeking the life and love he was denied.

as you can see, branch is in the place of emily, I decided to make his outfit more green like his vest in the movie( I imagine that the shirt is a hand me down from floyd)

corpse branch was so fun to draw to be honest, he also has a lot more story developed but that's because I'm a bit biased,woops.

FEEL FREE TO ASK ANY QUESTIONS BECAUSE I WILL BE GLAD TO ANSWER THEM.

[cupcakeslushie]

Okay. I've been tip-toeing around this AU for a while now, but I just got caught up, and now I think I have a (decent) grasp on what's going on. So I wanna go over everything I know so far to see if I'm right or wrong on anything. Don't know if you'd be willing to correct me or not. Either way, I hope my mistakes can help you understand what to clarify to other fans like me. But, I also have some questions. You probably won't be able to answer most of them, but it's at least worth a shot.

First, where's Venus? Like, why is she not in your comics that are (sort of) separate frome the canon now story. The ones that skip to the future way after all the turtles reunite. Did she die? Did she escape? Is it because she wasn't introduced yet when you made those comics?

Two, why do you keep on making references to the future timeline? I know you're planning on possibly making your own stuff leading up to the events of the movie. It just gives me a jumpscare when I see certain...imagery in those comics. I guess you're hinting at what your version of the future apocalypse would look like, but it just hurts to see. Specifically in the comic explaining both the events and aftermath of the movie and the bad future timeline. It's starting to really confuse my brain as to where this story is headed. What's meant to be the main focus? The Hamto's reuniting? The aftermath? Or the future?

Third, did you make all those min-comics before you started the actual AU? Or did you do them during?

Fourth, are any of those mini-comics relevant to the actual story now? Or have you changed your mind on a few things? It's just that everything is so all over the place, I don't really know whether to trust if they're accurate. I know most of them are just there for funzies, but the longer ones concern me. I guess I'm just not used to the storyteller doing sequel, start, prequel, start, sequel, prequel, prequel, sequel, and then end. Or maybe it's just me, and I'm sleep deprived.

My little observation speech is gonna take a while for me to get out in your asks because when I get theoretical, my speech gets long, and my proper English goes down the drain. So I'll be back. I appreciate your work very much. Despite the pain it causes me, it's still amazing.

I’ll try my best to clear up what confusion I can!

1. As far as Venus. The answer is kind of a mix of, I was still figuring out her design and backstory while coming out with some of those early comics, and then, once I had that down, I wanted the boys to grow strong bonds as a main cast. That’s why a lot of the side characters are only making small appearances in the Sep!AU Life stories, as those are mainly for the boys reconnecting. (Usagi shows up the most because I love him and am totally biased towards him).

This maybe hasn’t been stated outright, but I wasn’t really expecting so many ppl to like Vee as much as they do, and now im trying not to spoil too much of her story. It’ll unfortunately just take us a while to get to the meat of it. Since the boys reconnecting takes up a lot of the early s1s2 story, Im trying to follow the familiar Rise blueprint of Draxum, Shredder, Krang, and then in s3 we’ll have crazy fun new stories with the extra characters.

Ive also decided to take this little nugget from one of the Q&As, and use it for Venus instead of Jennika. It was a much needed bit of inspiration to explain why Venus sorta disappears for a while and will go through some major physical changes (not yet revealed) before the family can figure out a way to reach her.

2. I’m not sure if you mean jump scared in a bad/triggering or neutral way, but if you need me to tag anything on those posts please let me know!

The glimpses of the future timeline, are being scattered throughout wherever they parallel the present story in little ways, but that’s only for now. As we get closer to the movie plot, bigger chunks of the future will be revealed, because the future versions of the boys will have a larger role to play in the present timeline. So we will need more backstory than what the canon got. And also I just enjoy drawing my future versions so sometimes I don’t think too hard on a reason. I just like throwing them at ppl with no warning or reason.

When s2 ends, I plan on collecting all the future related stuff that’s been released, and recapping it for easier reading. Right now, it’s just little sprinkles of foreshadowing to give ppl an idea that, ‘oh crap. The doomed timeline is a bummer’. In my mind, I guess i thought it’d be kinda like a fun scavenger hunt for clues, but maybe ppl don’t like that 😅

3. All of the side-stories were written as the main comic was/is being released. A lot of them resulted from asks that just spawned the need to expand on certain ideas, or a desire to give all the turtles their time to shine.

For instance, when I was doing Donnie’s section of the main comic, it was a good few months where we hardly saw anyone but him and Venus. I wanted to just mix it up, and give Raph some love with his ‘Raph Time’ short. When Leo was front and center in the main, we hardly saw the others, so Mikey and Donnie got their little ‘Secrets’ short (and it was also I fun thank you for EW making it so far in the tmnt sep competition).

4. Anything that has been reworked/revised or just plain dropped should have an ‘Edit’ note because yes—I have gone back and changed some things, but more so from the asks i got in the early days, and some movie idea drafts.

All the short comics done in the last year, especially the ones that are listed in my pinned post, are canon and fall somewhere in the timeline. They’re like supplemental reading though—extra meat to give the world and the characters more personality. They do have particular backstory plot and important info in them, but nothing that shouldn’t eventually be re-visited/repeated in the main story.

um I hope that cleared up some things! I know it’s kind of a crazy amount of lore. I’ve tried my best to organize it in the pinned post, huge timeline, and search bar tags, but I know it’s getting harder and harder for newer ppl to jump in as it just get bigger. Thanks for reading regardless!

[twstunes]

AU where the real reason the Great Seven are interpreted so differently from how they really are is bc they were the result of people getting isekai'd into Twisted Wonderland as those characters. Like in a "they existed as they were in canon before abruptly getting hit w/ memories from a past life" sorta way.

They all keep their original memories that shaped them into the classic villains we know, but gaining a whole extra lifetime worth of memories causes more than a bit of an unavoidable personality shift…and, save for the Queen of Hearts, they all want to avoid their scripted deaths. (Or fate worse than death, in Hades' case.)

Most of them choose to play it safe, simply live out their lives without making the same disastrous power bids as in their canon stories. If they happen to be a little nicer too, well, maybe they just happened to have a change of heart as of late. It's really no big deal if Ursula does some simpler requests pro-bono, or if the Queen of Hearts is just a smidgen less trigger-happy about punishments, right? No one's complaining about the changes, that's for sure. Scar and Jafar are both more ambitious, successfully accomplishing their goals without falling prey to their original characters' flaws; Scar is more present as a political entity, Jafar reigns in his hunger for ultimate power.

This started off as a joke but man. Even with all of them dodging their respective fates, Maleficent and Hades would still outlive the rest by a long shot. Idk what would be worse: watching the few people who remember your old world slowly die off one by one, only learning they had memories of your old world after their deaths, or never knowing you weren't so alone. Personally I'm leaning towards the first one—save for Ursula, they're all political figures who have reason to come into contact with each other at some point. (And for Ursula, well, maybe the Sea Witch misses walking around on land every now and then. Who knew she'd run into an important so-and-so while on a jog one day?)

But yeah I'm just picturing Maleficent hearing about how her grandson has befriended a student from another world and immediately calling up Hades like "homeboy you're not gonna BELIEVE this." Both of them brainstorm how to go meet this kid without drawing unnecessary attention in the process. Yuu winds up with the two remaining members of the Great Seven as quasi-guardian figures bc Yuu is the only one that gets their other-world pop culture references.

Everyone's already shocked to see the Thorn Fairy and King of the Underworld strolling the town streets of Sage's Island, but…who's that kid with them? And what's that cat-like thing the kid is carrying…? (They're having their biweekly hangout. Their schedules simply don't match up well enough to hang out more often, unfortunately. Grim demanded to come with his hench-human, and is having fun even if he doesn't really understand what the other 3 are talking about.)

[daftpatience]

heurhgh. thinkin abt the prince and the sea witch AU because i am an ocean boy and and and theres so much to thinkabout with this one!!!! i love aus that tap into classic fairytales becasue theres so much to work with!!! connections to make and parallels to draw

context and thoughts under tha cut cus this au sorta escaped me at first and there's very little stuff about it in english

the original au came from a leaflet that was bundled with volume 8 on toranoana:

rough translation explains that mermaid princess hinaichi rescued prince ronaldo, and sea witch draluc offers to give her legs to meet him again (and if he doesn't like her she'll turn into seafoam) which she declines. (literally what she says is "no need!" and the big words to the side of her say "no regrets" which is hilarious.) thats the end of the story and ronaldo is left alone. also, john is a sea turtle that lives in a clam.

im lifting my own headcanons and such from the original little mermaid story (not so much the didney one) where the prince doesn't see the mermaid and instead falls in love with this woman who comes to help him from a nearby temple (who he doesn't realize is actually the princess he's betrothed to later.) in this au that's draluc who was observing from a distance. (i just drew a half sunken agora and im calling that a temple. watever. its refd from one of the old arts and i think its pretty)

i like the idea that ronaldo exaggerates his own memory of spotting draluc that day due to the distance making details difficult paired with the fact that he was probably a little delirious. the idea that he doesn't immediately put together that draluc is the person he saw is kinda fun 2 me, and of course he'd make up some beautiful girl in his head. of course he would.

im messing with some ideas about draluc deciding to meddle with ronaldo instead - does he offer to turn him into a merman to look for his made up maiden? or does draluc come to land for his own reasons? maybe they visit each other at the temple every day and bring each other little things and talk and stuff. itd be cute if they butted heads but still went to see each other every day anyways.

a popular thing in the au is draluc being captured - maybe ronaldo, desparate to find his love and only knowing she was some sort of fish, does something stupid like setting up nets and traps. hahah. maybe he catches draluc and takes him to his castle to learn about merfolk and such. iunno. whatever the case i hope they fall in love in the process and also bicker a lot like their usual schtick

ive got a little sad idea that borrows from some 30 years later au stuff where draluc is worried about ronaldo's lifespan (this is also in the orig little mermaid where mermaids live longer than humans by hundreds of years) but also can't turn human to match ronaldo because it's too painful for him to walk on legs (since one of the au rules is that he must always be weak and the orig little mermaid made it clear that legs hurted real bad)

also also i very big headcanon draluc the sea witch has a sunken castle that looks a lot like ponyo's dad's house on the inside. fulla potions and stuff. wouldnt that be cute! maybe hes got an interest in human life/a collection of old things kinda like didney little mermaid - since canon draluc is so well adjusted to modern human stuff like games and livestreams and whatnot. in this au i think he'd be a lot more stubborn and reluctant to admit it, though, cus i also like the idea that his grandpa went the route of loving a human and going to land and maybe he doesn't want to end up like that? but it might be fate just cus draluc and ronaldo parallel D and helsing so well.

also i still want hinaichi to be in it but her rejection of the plot is so funny and good, i don't want to shove her in without thinking of a good way for it to make sense. she's good friends with draluc and likes his cooking...can you cook underwater??? maybe magically?? maybe draluc takes up cooking on land and brings hinaichi things he makes??? maybe then she gets interested in humans and wants to come to land to try all the cooking theyve got. iunno.

i usually keep this sort of note taking and doodling to myself but this fandom needs all the stimulation it can get. hiii hellooo :]

[evermorethecrow]

Any thoughts u want to share on the omegaverse au?

YES ACTUALLY QUITE A FEW

-Dazai isnt a omega or alpha but in fact a beta (it fits him so much trust)

-i have alpha and omega as the majority beta being far and few between + generally not looked into that much too?? some people dont really even think about them ( you go to your sex ed class its like 3 slides on omegas, 3 slides on alphas and then like 1 slide on betas thats like 'yeah they just have nothing happen to them' a lotta betas think they just havent presented yet)

-NO SEX!!!!!!!!!!! like for realzies ive been calling it the sexless abo au for a reason theres like none of the usual typical abo heat cycle shit , im Far from a prude but i wanted to do something non traditional and abo is traditonally a sex trope so yknow

-chuuya isnt a alpha omega or beta but a weird sorta combination??? a variety of factors (Lab, suribachi) fucked his biology over quite a bit, he presented real late (typical age in this one to present is like 13 he showed nothing till 16) and hes basically like all three of them depending on the day ??? his scent fluctuates and changes a ton ,entirely inconsistant, it'll full on like disapear entirely sometimes for like a week and then come back. as for the actual heat n rut thing (the thing people are here for </3 /j) he kinda like. has both. let me explain, he might go into heat or whatever and then midway through it changes OR he could have them back to back or like nothing for months its like again NOt at all liner.

-Back to the no sex thing, its not like a pg rated au its more i wanted to use omegaverse as an excuse to do a whole fic on various charecters relationships with sex, in usual evermore fashion. the omegaverse is a very gendered trope i feel a lot or at least its become that??? became that at some point?? its also a more sex focused version of our society you can really do a LOT with the omegaverse i find it real fun to play around with especially when it comes to charecters who dont fit into the ideas general society has (read: chuuya).

-asexual chuuya

-im also not doing any of that 'inner alpha' 'inner omega' stuff sorry to any fans of that </3 when it comes to compulsions like nesting or whatever i say its something either can have (either being alpha or omega) i think its just pushed more onto omegas and sterotypically an omegan thing

-oh also im giving them the fangs and claws because i physically cant NOt have some kind of monsterish parts on bsd guys everytime i have to design a bsd charecter with no supernatural elements a fairy dies

-AND this is set in the bsd canon world so abilities and such a still around, theres a high concentration of betas among ability users and abilities can effect the abo parts, maybe chuuyas so messed up because hes a singularity who knows??

I'll stop my rambling now but you get the gist of it

[astercontrol]

Update on the Mission Day project I mentioned earlier.

Lots more detail at that link, but to summarize the main points:

Back in 2016, there was a line in a TRON game which said that May 14 was "Mission Day."

Some fans got excited that maybe something cool was gonna happen that day

akin to the Flynn Lives ARG starting in 2009, where fans were led on a whole fun adventure, following clues through a network of webpages

but no, this time it turned out nothing happened, and people were disappointed.

and when I heard about that, my own rebellious side went:

Let's make our own interactive Mission Day fan ARG!

Like, what if next May 14 you start seeing fanfics posted on AO3 with mysterious clues in them...

leading to a webring of fan pages and fan blogs, all connected in their own cryptic ways... easter eggs and sneaky links on them all...

Separated by rating, sure, with proper warnings and everything, so people can see the stuff they want, and avoid what they don't...

but NOT restricted by the rigid and sorta LGBTphobic censorship of canon.

so potentially offering a LOT more diversity in fanmade art, writing, comics, animations, games... anything we wanna make.

...And as I got started on this brainstorming, a few things occurred to me.

First:

The main focus of this should be celebration of the great variety of fans and the different ideas they have

and a declaration of our freedom from the "official" owners of canon

Since fans have such a wonderful abundance of different headcanons and AUs, many of which are not compatible with each other in the same storyline...

this will have to be a multiverse.

So.

I'm working on a framing device (one of the entry points to this ARG; perhaps not the only one) which is a webpage featuring text chats between characters, in one of the timelines

It will show their communication as they test a new adaptation to the laser technology, which opens up connections to alternate universes

Then the links to participating fan pages will be listed at the bottom... framed as a record of "different timeline branches" opened by the laser

aaaaand from that point out, the exploration is free.

Anyone who wants their page of fan content included can get in touch, and links can be added anywhere.

So anyway that's my concept. Dunno how long it will take-- maybe the whole year til next May 14, maybe more. Maybe the whole thing's way too ambitious for me to bite off at this point in my life, LOL...

But, anyone who wants to get in on a private chat planning this, or at least talking about it? Feel free to DM me. I'm doing stuff already, with or without y'all, and I'd love to swap ideas.

[wilcze-kudly]

Horrid ramblings related to the tlok rewrite I have in my head. Book 1, Air but with the Red Lotus as primary antagonists.

So my thoughts are that in this AU, the airbending would come from Vaatu (somehow) I like the idea of Raava and Vaatu being these very eldritchy beings that are able to manupulate the world around them. Raava sacrificed this trait in order to merge with the Avatar, but Vaatu is stil lovecraftian and well

With Harmonic Convergence nearing, perhaps Vaatu is able to exude more influence on the world. It would be interesting to see unexplained events happen more frequently as he gains power.

The Red Lotus are on board with freeing Vaatu, as they were in canon, and Vaatu lets airbending back into the world, knowing or maybe just hoping that Zaheer would get airbending and get his jailbird shit together

I think it would be a fun mystery. No one exactly knows why people started airbending all of a sudden ans this is a mystery that we slowly piece together as the show progresses.

Korra hears about airbenders popping up out of nowhere and runs away to Republic City, since she sees this as a perfect opportunity to become the Avatar she was meant to be. At this time the Red Lotus is breaking out and that adds to the tension as we see how woefully unprepared Korra is for this bunch of assassins.

I think it would be interesting to see Korra struggle and fail at airbending while there are randos all over the world getting airbending for free. She can bond with Bumi (who I'm not sure about giving airbending to) lol

I'd have the first few episodes going on in Republic City, but then have Korra and co travel in search of airbenders.

I'm not sure about keeping the pro bending storyline. I know how important it was to the og show, however it would make the storyline incredibly cluttered.

I'd want to highlight the bending brother's connections to the triads too, so I might make them somehow affiliated with the Triple Threats. But then betray them and join Korra in her travels. Because staying in RC after pissing off the triads would essentially be a death sentence.

If the brothers were still in Probending, I'd take inspiration from the storyline of Republic City hustle with the rigged matches. Have the brothers be forced to win/lose depending on how the triad places its bets. Have them be forced to deliberately throw matches cuz the triad invested in the opposing team.

I'm not fully sure how to factor Asami into this, but I had a thought of Hiroshi (who is still an equalist agent but that won't matter until B3) graciously donating resources into the search for airbenders. In order to buy himself into the Avatar's good graces and to have a direct line to the newly emerging airbenders for future evil plans.

Whether Asami is in on her father's plans or not, she acts as captain/pilot of the airship and quickly befriends the rest of the Krew. Gay ensues.

I'd change around the pacing a little, maybe move the Beifong family drama to the later seasons or at least not focus on it as much. But these are minute details I don't really have time to focus on. Maybe introduce Wu earlier. That sorta stuff.

Yeah um. Please don't let this become an actual project. I don't have the strength to write a fic like this. But the concept is tempting. Please tell me your thoughts. I'm super curious about them