#back to the AU this is a really cool setup for a story i like the concept :D

[alittlelessalone]

I’ve been thinking about the AU I setup in this post about Shang Qinghua and Shen Qingqiu getting stuck back in their old bodies for a little bit and getting a chance to write some changes into being (and say goodbye to Shen Yuan’s family). The rest of the context there isn’t really important for this post, but I implied that they’d find some vague way to help Bing-ge and I wanted to give how they helped him here.

So post the extras, Bing-ge is left in his world with only the memory of a nice shizun and an understanding that he’s miserable but no idea how to change things. But then one night, a figure reaches out to him in his dreams.

And of course he’s immediately suspicious. He controls his dreams and this figure isn’t something he understands. His close are weird and he’s wearing something strange on his eyes, but when he looks into those eyes, they look just like nice shizun’s.

And the figure reached out to him and says he’s sorry that he doesn’t have a better answer. He says he and Airplane tried, but that idiot could only work so many miracles with the shitty story he wrote, so they were a little limited. He says that Bing-ge doesn’t have to take his offer, but he hopes he will.

And Bing-ge is confused and demands to know what he’s talking about. But the figure just says that if Bing-ge takes his offer, he’ll lose his powers, immortality, and even cultivation. He’ll end up weak and ordinary, but he’ll get a second chance at life.

And Bing-ge asks why he has to go away and sacrifice to get anything. He says he knows the figure is nice shizun and asks why he can’t just choose him and stay by his side, but the figure just pulls him in close and apologizes and says he’s sorry he can’t do more for him, but he says that he’ll be sending Bing-ge to a grieving family who would have just lost their son. He says to tell them Shen Yuan sent him and they’d understand.

And Bing-ge is scared and confused in a way he hasn’t been in many, many years but nice shizun keeps hugging him, so he reluctantly agrees. And suddenly a bright light flashes around him and his head begins to spin. And as the world is fading, he hears nice shizun yell to him not to flirt with his sister.

And then he wakes up and feels weak and disoriented. His core and demonic powers are both gone and he’s in a strange room with all sorts of strange, glowing objects. Then a tall, beautiful man rushes in and demands to know who he is.

And when he says he’s Lou Binghe and Shen Yuan sent him, the man collapses to the ground and hugs him and cries that his brother is really gone, but he’s glad this means he’s safe. And Lou Binghe doesn’t understand, but the man’s arms are warm, so he collapses into them.

And over the next few months, he learns more about the world. He reads the novel Proud Immortal Demon Way and finally understands just how lost he was. He reads the extras Airplane and Cucumber published while here, learning the truth about Shen Qingqiu and why he was the way he was. And Lou Binghe can’t bring himself to forgive him, but he’s glad he apparently didn’t leave the man to suffer for all eternity. And he laughs in delight when he learns about Shang Qinghua and Mobei-Jun and how apparently his stoic right hand has secretly always been a hopeless romantic.

And he reads the extra about himself and realizes that all it gave him was a single hand reaching out. And while that’s sort of scary, it also means that the kindness he’s found from Shen Yuan’s family wasn’t something forced into being, but rather a choice they make every single day.

And Lou Binghe vows to live this new life better and take advantage of the opportunity. And he also reaffirms his promise to Shen Yuan that he won’t flirt with his sister. Though fortunately, he never said anything about his eldest brother. And while this cool, elegant, beautiful man might not be Shen Qingqiu, he is certainly a Shen. And this one actually loves him in return.

[vylad243]

Here's a human AU prompt: everyone knows everyone but they're in their own groups--Val, Vel, Vox, Angel Dust, Cherri Bomb are one group, Alastor, Husker, Rosie, Nifty, Charlie, Vaggie, Lucifer, Lilith, are another, ect. Now Vox is the sole male heir of a wealthy family--he has tons of sisters, but his oldest sister, Heidi is pissed at him because she thinks he's going to get the Bahamas vacation home--and he doesn't even want it. Now Valentino and Velvette are Helping Alastor clean up a mess where one of his victims victim's wives keep looking for them, so they're planting evidence when Heidi's goons break into their Shared house (Val's, Vel's, Vox's and sometimes Alastor stays over as he's Vox's boyfriend.) And they kidnap Vox, but not before absolutely destroying Vox's setup and setting the house on fire. By the time the group arrives home, the house is completely burned down and Alastor's barely keeping his cool. If Vox died in that fire--well, Alastor's going lose what remains of his sanity. The firemen clear the ashes, and report that there are no bodies. Then Susan, their neighbor tells them about the goons dragging a beat up and unconscious Vox into an SUV before the house started smoking....and she got the license plate--which is registered to Heidi. Valentino instantly calls Vox's Grandfather and let's him know what's going on, and he is pissed! He calls an emergency family meeting where everyone has to come and the only one who doesn't show is Vox--and Heidi attempts to have him disinherited for not showing, not knowing Alastor, Val, Vel, Charlie, Lucifer and Lilith are rescuing the hypodermic man right now and rushing him to the hospital.

Once Valentino texts Vox's Grandfather about all the broken bones and the hypothermia Vox has, he decides Heidi's fate: disinheritece and her share will be split among the other grandchildren, and the vacation home she wanted so badly will be put up for sale.

(Of course Alastor and the others have different plans for Heidi should she ever show her face in New Orleans again.)

This is another creative one! Sadly human aus have taken the backburner mostly because honestly it's really hard to keep reminding myself of Vox's screen. I love this one for just how different it is and hopefully I can come back to this one after the bullshit April is putting me through it over!

I do like brutal stories of family inheritance and siblings being cold and calculated to get what they want. Golden children don't exist in my house, my dad hates us all equally (he loves us I swear) so it really put a different perspective on me to see and read things like this prompt!

[aethersea]

What kind of prompts and aus are you thinkinf of from the NOT horror movie white girl post?

(the post in question) really that's just my general writing inspiration tag, but since you asked so nicely...

“I really thought the spooky gate would do it.”

“I know, I know.”

“It was such a classic setup! A gate in the woods, a hint of mystery, a dash of the macabre—”

“There, there. Let it out.” The demon patted his companion on the shoulder. As his companion was a ghost, this was more a matter of carefully moving his hand through the air and trying not to go through the shoulder, but it’s the thought that counts.

“I’ve tried everything! A bag of old bones, a coffee mug in a 24-hour restaurant, an eerie room in an abandoned house—”

“The eerie room is a classic,” the demon consoled. 

The ghost threw their hands up, gesturing in wild frustration. One arm went through the demon, who winced. “She wouldn’t even play Bloody Mary at summer camp! What girl turns down a game of Bloody Mary at summer camp!”

“She’s not nearly boring enough for that,” the demon murmured sympathetically.

“She’s not!” the ghost agreed. “She should be all over that sort of thing! But she’s—she’s terminally un-curious!”

The third person in the room muttered sourly, “If it were terminal we wouldn’t be having this problem.”

“Like you’ve done any better!” the ghost screeched in shrill hysteria. The demon, who had large and sensitive ears like a bat’s, winced again. 

“Oh, don’t even start! I’ve tried just as hard as you, I’ve sent psychopaths and serial killers after her, I got a clown to leave his workplace and follow her for three city blocks—”

The demon said hurriedly, “We’ve all tried. We’ve done our best.”

“I’ve given it my all,” the ghost muttered. The third person, a spirit of malice and torment who infected the minds of the naturally vicious and inspired them to acts of unspeakable cruelty, sighed and went back to pacing. Since she was a formless cloud of eddying black smoke at the moment, this mostly meant coiling around and around herself in dizzying complex knots.

“There’s just…something about her,” the demon went on. His tail lashed in frustration, belying his calm demeanor. “It’s more than just the…the good sense.” He frowned, mulling over this. There was something there…

“She always stands up to the psychos,” the spirit of malice volunteered glumly. “One of mine said to her face that he’d chop her head off and dump her body in the lake—as a twisted expression of love, you know—” The ghost nodded and the demon murmured in appreciation. “—and she just told him to grow up! Grow the hell up, she said, cool as you please.”

The demon shook his head in sympathy. “Killed the whole mystique,” the spirit of malice said, disgusted. “I almost lost my hold on him, had to get him to indulge some petty twisted desires to build up it back up, and then—”

“And then he got caught,” the ghost said morosely. They’d heard this story before.

“And then he got caught!” the spirit of malice exclaimed. “Caught! By camp counselors! One of mine, and he got caught by counselors—”

“That’s the thing, though,” the demon cut in. If he let the spirit of malice get on a roll, the ranting would go on all night. “I had that hamster in her home for years, it bit her plenty of times, and she didn’t so much as get nightmares. There’s no reason she should be this resistant to possession—no ancestral protections, no holy relics in her bedroom, she’s not even especially pure of heart.”

“She’s nothing,” the spirit of malice growled. “She’s normal.”

“Exactly. She’s completely normal. She can’t be doing this herself.”

The spirit of malice paused in her tangled pacing, all the smoke going still at once. The ghost’s jaw dropped as they looked up. “You mean—”

The demon nodded. “Remember that guy at the bus?” 

The spirit of malice hissed. “I had him hooked, even when she threatened him I still had him—”

“And then the homeless man stepped in and chased him off.”

The spirit of malice hummed thoughtfully. The smoke rippled like a pond in the rain, in time with her agitated thoughts. “If you’re right, though, she’s been like this since she was little. That cat of yours—”

“She’s not blessed,” the ghost said. “I’d have noticed if she had a blessing on her.”

The demon leveled an unimpressed look at them. “I’d have noticed a blessing.” The holy and the unholy were kind of his field, after all. “No divinity has graced her, it’s not that.”

“So nothing holy,” the spirit of malice mused. “And no ancestral protections, you said.” The ghost nodded—that was their field. “Not a blessing…” 

The ghost gasped. “Not a blessing, but a boon.”

The spirit of malice pulsed in shock, smoke spurting out in all directions like ink through water. The demon pounded his fist into his palm. “A boon! Of course!”

“How could we have missed it?” the spirit of malice hissed. The smoke was pulling in on itself and forming the beginnings of an agitated whirlwind. “When did she even have time to befriend the fae?”

The demon shook his head. “No, that’s true, we’d have noticed if she formed a bond with any of them.”

“A bond, yeah,” the ghost said. “But maybe it was just a bunch of small things. If you’re polite to enough of them, at the right moments, they’ll just take a shine to you.”

The demon considered this a moment. “You’re right. No, it all makes sense. She’s cautious—”

“Constantly,” the ghost muttered.

“—she sees clearly what’s in front of her, and she’s just superstitious enough to turn away from things that are obviously bad news.”

The black smoke all dropped to the floor at once, billowing like dust at the impact, a physical manifestation of the spirit of malice’s sigh of frustrated surrender. “She’s totally the kind of person who would be polite to animals and weird rocks and shit.”

The other two nodded glumly. There was a long moment of quiet as this realization settled over the room.

“We can’t fuck with the fae, can we?” The ghost was leaning back on their hands, looking up at the ceiling. “That’s…They have their own sets of rules. They don’t share like us. Right?”

“Right,” the demon sighed. 

“I’ll fuck with whoever I want,” the spirit of malice declared, but her heart wasn’t in it. There was another long silence.

“We need to actually team up,” the demon said suddenly. The ghost looked up at him curiously. “Work together. Not just avoid getting in each other’s way like we do now.”

“A coordinated effort,” the spirit of malice said, catching on. “If she’s got a patina of luck from a handful of chance encounters, then we just have to drill through it.”

“I don’t know,” the ghost said. “I don’t really have any plans that aren’t…well, solo acts.”

“So we’ll brainstorm,” the demon said. “We all know how to play to our own strengths; we’ve just got to figure out how to play to each other’s.”

“The luck won’t know what’s hit it,” the spirit of malice said gleefully. “It’ll be warding off a possession, then bam! Kidnapping time!”

“Or the other way around,” the demon said, just a little testily. A patch of smoke waved dismissively, not unlike a shrug. 

“Or,” the ghost said, excitement creeping into their tone, “we could come up with something new. A doom more dire, more horrible, than anything we can achieve alone.”

The demon looked down at him in interest. The spirit of malice drew herself up into a firmer shape. “We’re listening,” she said.

A slow, sinister smile spread over the ghost’s translucent face. “Well,” they said. “It’ll start with an eerie whistling in the woods…”

[you-cant-fuck-megaman]

so, as mentioned before, 30XX is a lot of fun. (i'm going to get back to updates soon, this game has simply siphoned my soul and now i am a child again experiencing the entire spectrum of megaman emotions at once.)

but one thing that's really starting to annoy me is the story. or rather, the complete lack of it. i guess it's true to the source material, given that the story in megaman isn't really all that great either, but at least it's straightforward before we hit the zero series. you know what you're doing, you're a little guy about three apples tall and there's a bad guy sending out robots you have to shoot. then you hit the zero series and it's just someone forgetting their meds and thinking Mechanical Violator Hakaider was a good movie (it was ok) then you hit ZX and fuck it we Kamen Rider now

point is, it's all pretty firmly straightforward shit. we know what's going on, there's an evil scientist destroying things with his robots. stop him. pls

30XX doesn't really tell you squat.

spoilers below, in case you're a moron like me and you're deeply emotionally invested in the story of megaman-alikes.

the opening tutorial cutscene features ace dying to wake up nina, who just says there's work to do. and then you hop out, shoot a robot, and end up in a space station base where a tiny lesbian tells you there's work to do. also ace is ok, you can jump into a capsule to turn into him. either that or nina is the fastest transitioning icon in media but go her i guess (go him??? idk how trans-ing works) you jump into the levels, shoot the bosses, and see a tall lesbian that tells you she's doing work and that you can't stop her work, and then the second largest cock i've seen comes out of the interdimensional hole and you mount it and you fight AU tiny lesbian and Alpha 1.0 pre-transition Nina and Ace in there.

what the fuck?

what am i doing? why am i here? what is happening? what the fuCK IS GOING ON???? WHAT AM I FIGHTING FOR?????????

the cursory idea is that you have to find the data terminals to learn what's going on in the world, but near as i can tell the tall lesbian isn't actually an evil scientist destroying things with her robots, because the world is already dying and so that's different because but it seems the more i get into things, the more lost i'm getting

characters will just randomly appear on the ship and i'm just expected to accept it. who is Delta, outside of being a dashing, charismatic, sexuality-threateningly handsome cool guy who likes a challenge? who is the scrap salvager, outside of maybe being Vika from 20XX? tiny lesbian says that if i vouched for them then they're all right to havE AROUND BUT I DIDN'T VOUCHE FOR THEM I HAVE NO CLUE WHO THEY UFCKING ARE!!!!!!!!!!

i suspect it's because of the expansion in scope in trying to make a bigger game. there's not really a lot of ways to really justify the plot of a roguelite, there's only so many methods you can explain away death and rebirth happening in-universe. last time i asked my doctor about the cycle of samsara he just told me "you have to wake up, the accident wasn't your fault". in 20XX, you're just a pair of flash-cloned experiments doing experimental runs. and that's really all the context you need; you have a setup, a goal, an antagonistic force, and a reason to do things there's the question about how the game world continues after you win the game and destroy everything and escape the space station, but i didn't say it was perfect. but it was good! it made sense!

meanwhile, 30XX seems to be about multiversal collapsing and each run is a separate world disparate from each other. there's too many worlds and each world is trying to share in the same place because the infinite universe is actually finite. and nina was demonized after 20XX because of her super-power because despite Sharp and Flat both being idiots they were actually, like, super-geniuses that made the strongest robots ever. (these are the same guys that mass-produced buzzsaw hamsters) oh, and everyone's already dead??? man this sure is some tonal dissonance from how fucking goofy everything is. not three minutes ago i saw the universe's second-largest cock plunge through time and space. midgard? more like midhard hah hah hah hahhhhhh

at the end of the day they're focused on the gameplay instead of the story. and that's perfectly fine. admirable, even, for a megaman-style project. a lot of megaman fanstuff creators (myself included) tend to masturbate text out with forces rivaling the niagara falls. oh baby, expand that wordcount. it's good to see something that just wants to focus on jumping and shooting instead of trying to write the next masterpiece exploring the nature of the human condition. but i'll admit it's a little underwhelming. i liked nina and ace and i cared about what they were doing, and 30xx doesn't seem to be willing to really flesh them out.

oh well, time for another run! 9/10 game tbh

[roosterbox]

hey! found your blog the other day and i love it<3

do you have any arthut/eames fic recommendations? i rewatched the movie a week ago and can't stop thinking about them

(sorry about the wait!)

First of all, hey there! Hello! Glad you found me, and glad to know you liked Inception. Hard to believe that it’s still drawing so many people in, 14 years on.

Second of all…

Oh baby. Oh man. Not just fic recs, but A/E fic recs? Yesssssssss my time has come.

First, there are a couple of writers whose entire oeuvre you should definitely check out if you haven’t.

Lolahardy, whose Dreamhusbands work is vast and varied, but here are a few of my own favorites (important note: no links because Lola’s fics are currently locked, but they are easily findable if you have an AO3 account, and you should definitely check out all of them, not just the few I mentioned here!):

In Every Universe - the fic that will never die, lol. So many great A/E stories here, but for me, the biggest draw are the other JGL/TH ships contained within. My personal favorite is Forrest/Evelyn, who I almost love even more than A/E at this point. Also, so many tropes and kinks and whatnot. Safe to say, I’m positive you’ll find a lot of different things to enjoy!

Le Mal Du Pays - this one is just lovely. I reread it again for this rec list and boy… still amazing. The chapters set during canon are so good, it’s like watching the movie again, but with the added bonus of actual A/E in the plot, you know?

Love is Strange - A/E by way of Dirty Dancing! I love it when you can enjoy an AU based on a very specific property even without having seen said property. For example, I adore everything about this fic even though I have never watched DD, not even once, lol.

OneWhoSitsWithTurtles, whose A/E work is never anything less than stellar and beautiful, and regularly makes me cry. Also, they have works in other fandoms that are equally worth checking out!

Christmas Without You (Is a Christmas Not Worth Having) - the best. The pinnacle. If ever you (or anyone else, for that matter) were curious about what my favorite A/E fic of all time is? Here’s your answer.

Dream of Me - This one is just beautiful. A simple little somewhat canon-compliant love story. So sugary sweet at times, it runs the risk of being tooth-rotting. But I’m always willing to take that risk.

39 Days to Fall in Love - the survivor AU you didn’t know you were missing. Seriously, it’s so good it might make you want to watch Survivor if you haven’t already, even if you know there’s no Arthur or Eames in it, lol.

Lullaby - Hands down, the saddest A/E fic I have ever read, and certainly in the running for saddest fic period. Seriously, it’s beautiful and worth reading but don’t go in without some tissues.

The Bumblebee and the Flower who Fell in Love - Also very sad, but so very whimsical and sweet besides. A/E works well in seemingly silly setups like this.

And now, for a few more individual recs. Mind you, a lot of my recs are a bit older - I really need to go back and peruse through the ship tag to find new stuff to bookmark - but hey, something something wine metaphors, lol.

End of the Road - this one is so cool. If you like Mad Max Fury Road and ever wondered what it would be like if you combined it with A/E (sort of) and some A/B/O Dynamics, you can’t do better than this.

Quiet Desperation - a lovely little A/E and 00q crossover story! I would read an entire series of this if it existed.

Next Big Thing - A/E as judges on a HGTV reality show. Classic! The exact kind of fairly low stakes drama I can get behind. No spoilers, but my favorite character is Misty Rainbow. For one scene in particular. If you read it, you’ll know exactly which one. Also I wish this show was real.

The Party - heavy subject matter in this one (heed the tags), but getting through the rough stuff makes the eventual fluffier bits almost extra sweet.

Out of Reach - a recent addition to my ranks, but absolutely beautiful. The emotions are so palpable and heartfelt.

And… would it be completely shameless if I included a couple of mine? I don’t like to toot my own horn too much, but since nobody else ever puts me on their reclists, why not, right?

Darling I’m Killed - my somewhat still ongoing Inception/Bond crossover. There are two sequels, and I have no concrete ideas for more yet, but there’s potential.

(I Would Like To) Paint the Way a Bird Sings - the Paint Shop AU that wouldn’t quit, lol. Still can’t believe I actually finished it. Four ships for the price of one in this fic!

Other inception fandom peeps, feel free to reblog and add any fics or authors you like! Especially more recent stuff because I am such a fandom oldtimer, lmao.

Thanks for the ask! I love recommending fics! Also thanks for the follow!

Happy reading!!

❤️

[lonelywhalien22]

pretty lies - part two

pairing: vernon x reader

rating/genre: enemies to lovers, slow burn, ANGSTY fluff, band au

summary: supporting your friend mingyu becomes way more than you ever could have bargained for when you become involved with one of his bandmates

warnings: cussing, vernon has issues in this story but please remember this is a work of fiction, mingyu stans don’t hate me but mingyu and reader are just friends

word count: 2.2k

prev. chapt. | series masterlist | next chapt.

Next Tuesday rolled around and you pulled up in front of Mingyu’s apartment again. You opted to just wait in the car, sending him a quick text to let him know you were there. He came out with just one black bag this time.

“Need any help?” you asked, hoping he would say no. Since finding out that the guy from the party was not only your friend’s bandmate, but was also living with him, the commitment you’d made to Mingyu seemed like a disaster waiting to happen.

“Nah, most of the setup is left over at Jay’s place.”

“Great,” you said a little too eagerly before pulling out of the driveway and heading to the house, Mingyu once again guiding you along the way.

“So. How has it been living with Vernon?” you asked, hoping it didn’t seem like an out of place question.

“Fine. I don’t see him much and when I do he keeps to himself. He’s clean, so that’s a plus.”

“He’s the new singer and guitarist?”

“Yeah, and he’s really good too. We might actually have a chance to win Battle of the Bands this year with his help,” Mingyu responded with a hopeful glint in his eye. 

You’d heard Mingyu mention this event before. It was an annual competition with an impressive lineup of amateur artists. The winning group or artist got a recording contract with a major record label from the region and a two month long tour as the opening act for one of the label’s artists. You remembered cheering for Mingyu when he and the band had made third place years ago. Since then however, the group had made several changes to members, a lot of them being duds. He hadn’t even invited you to watch him the previous two years, so the fact that he was mentioning it again meant he was really excited about their chances this time around. With the recording contract, Mingyu would finally be able to make the transition to making music full time. You wanted to do whatever you could to help your friend succeed in making his dreams come true.

“I’ll see you at eight,” you told Mingyu as he got out of the car once you pulled into the house driveway.

—————

Eight came and you were back at Jay’s house, waiting in your car to pick up Mingyu. Last time he’d been ready right on the dot, but this time there was a delay, so you entertained yourself on your phone for a little bit. After fifteen minutes of waiting, you sent him a text to see if they’d be finishing up soon:

You: checking to see if you’re done? haven’t had dinner yet so I’m starving.

Another fifteen minutes passed, and still no response. Sighing in frustration, you got out of the car and made your way to the front door of the house. The sound of drums and guitars could be heard as you walked up the driveway. You knocked before realizing they probably couldn’t even hear you, and then decided to take a chance at the door being unlocked again as you started to make your way inside.

The music had stopped abruptly shortly after you’d cracked open the door, and you could hear a discussion going on.

“I’m telling you, it sounds better if we do it like this -” You didn’t recognize this voice as much; it must have been Vernon’s.

“This song has been a crowd favorite as is,” you heard Mingyu cut in. “I just don’t think we should take a chance doing something new so close to the competition. We can work on fleshing out your other song idea next Tuesday.”

“You said that last time and we still haven’t done anything with it. Stop bullshitting and tell me the truth if you’re not gonna take any of my ideas seriously.”

“Ok, why don’t we all just cool down,” you heard Jay interject before Mingyu could respond, seemingly trying to keep the peace. “We still have plenty of time before the competition. Plus I’m hungry. So let’s stop here and -”

Before you could hear the rest of the conversation the door pulled open completely, and you came face to face with Vernon again. He moved so quickly neither of you had enough time to react and he bumped into you, letting out a startled grunt as he nearly knocked you over. Your head came into contact with his chest, and you caught a whiff of what smelled like a mix of smoke and shower gel. You steadied yourself and as he backed up, he gave you another one of those intense stares, but his eyes looked a little glassy this time.

Without a word, you quickly stepped out of his way and he quietly brushed past you. You turned and watched as Vernon shoved on a black denim jacket he was carrying in one hand before securing his guitar case on his back and hopping on his motorcycle parked in the driveway. As he forced on his helmet and started the ignition, you noticed something on the ground near your feet. It was his journal. The same one he’d snapped at you for touching at the party. You crouched and picked it up, your thumb smoothing over the leather surface. You could still see a red stain on the page ridges. Hearing the loud revving of an engine, you remembered he was about to leave.

“Hey! Wait!” you shouted, trying to be heard over the sound of the motor as you quickly walked towards Vernon. But he pushed up the kickstand on the bike with his foot and peeled out of the driveway. The sounds of the engine grew fainter and fainter until all that was left was a deafening silence.

“Y/n?” The voice startled you out of your trance. It was Jay.

“Hey,” you said, still a little shaken. You tucked the notebook under your arm before speaking again. “It was getting late so I came in to see if Mingyu was ready to go.”

“Damn, of course. I’m so sorry we lost track of time tonight. Hey Mingyu, come on man, y/n’s waiting for you.”

“I’m coming,” Mingyu responded, looking a little ruffled as he appeared in the doorway.

“You ok?”

“Yeah. I’m sorry we were so late.”

“Treat me to some food and all is forgiven.”

Mingyu’s smile appeared again at your words.

“Deal. We can go to that ramen place you like by my apartment. You mind if Jay comes along?”

“The more the merrier.”

—————

Thirty minutes later, you, Mingyu, and Jay were slurping up noodles in a booth tucked away in the corner of your favorite restaurant, the broth warming you up from the chilly winter weather outside. You silently continued eating as Mingyu and Jay joked with each other over beers, their earlier spat with Vernon seemingly forgotten. Said person’s notebook was hidden away in the glove compartment of your car. You knew he’d likely realize it was missing immediately and thought it’d be best to give it back to him tonight when you dropped Mingyu off, assuming he didn’t rip your head off first when he saw you with it. Maybe you’d just set it on a counter somewhere noticeable where he was likely to find it and leave, you thought to yourself assuredly.

“What’re you thinking about in there,” Mingyu asked as he playfully poked your forehead.

“How was practice today? You guys have a gig this Saturday, right?”

“We went through the whole setlist today a few times and I think we’re all set,” Jay piped up excitedly.

“What about Vernon? He didn’t seem too happy with how things were going from what I heard.”

“So you did see that,” Mingyu sighed in exasperation.

“What was he so worked up about?” you pressed.

“It was just a little disagreement over some stuff that’s still a work in process. He’ll get over it.”

“Was he late again? Is that why practice went over?”

“Vernon’s clearly been through some shit,” Jay intervened as he downed the rest of his beer. “Doesn’t have any friends or family from what I can tell. Maybe we should cut him some slack.”

“He’s an amazing singer. The best the group has ever had if I’m being honest,” Mingyu circled his finger around the lip of his beer glass, deep in thought. “Dream housemate too. Just don’t touch his shit and the two of you will get along fine,” he consoled you as if you were scared, patting your head. 

You thought back to the notebook, safely tucked away in your car. Was there something you should be scared of?

—————

After seeing Jay off, you and Mingyu made your way back to his apartment. When you parked and Mingyu got out, you reached over and grabbed Vernon’s journal out of the glove compartment, tucking it under your arm again. You helped Mingyu up to the apartment entrance and unlocked the door for him to speed things up, too cold to waste time laughing at him fumbling with the keys drunkenly.

“Thanks y/n,” Mingyu said cheerfully.

“Of course, buddy.”

He started making his way towards the stairs to his bedroom. Perfect, now all you had to do was find someplace to leave the notebook where Vernon would easily find it. Maybe over -

“Oh hey!” you heard Mingyu exclaim.

The owner of said notebook appeared from around the corner, dressed comfortably in black sweats and a matching hoody. For a moment you were surprised he was actually there. Mingyu had made it sound like he was rarely ever home, but then it clicked.

He must’ve already realized the journal was missing and waited for Mingyu to get back.

“Mingyu, have you seen - ”

“What a nice surprise seeing you here on this lovely night!” Mingyu interrupted with a goofy laugh, bringing Vernon in for a hug. He looked completely startled, awkwardly standing there as Mingyu patted his back. You almost bursted out laughing at the sight, forgetting how friendly Mingyu got when he was inebriated. 

Quickly realizing he was drunk, Vernon looked away from him, whispering a, “damnit” as Mingyu finally let him go and continued upstairs. Vernon raked a hand through his hair roughly, clearly in a deep internal panic. Seeing him so frazzled, you were tempted to play with him a bit. Make him suffer for the way he’d treated you last night.

“Ahem.”

Vernon turned towards you, and you saw the mix of frustration and worry in his eyes. You thought back to how glassy his eyes had been when you bumped into him back at Jay’s house. Then you thought about Jay’s words from earlier:

~

“Vernon’s clearly been through some shit,” Jay intervened as he downed the rest of his beer. “Doesn’t have any friends or family from what I can tell. Maybe we should cut him some slack.”

~

“It’s Vernon, right?” You decided to offer an olive branch instead.

“I think you already know the answer to that.”

You took a deep breath. The two of you would be seeing each other a lot for the foreseeable future. Might as well get on speaking terms after starting off on the wrong foot. You didn’t want Vernon’s hostility towards you to potentially jeopardize Mingyu’s and Jay’s chances at winning the Battle of the Bands competition. You’d feel terrible if that happened. So you tried again.

“I’m y/n.” You introduced yourself, walking closer and extending the arm that wasn’t holding his journal, offering your hand.

Brown eyes still stormy and lips in a tight line, Vernon looked down at your hand for a second before looking back up at you. You nervously waited another few beats before feeling his hand suddenly grasp yours slightly and give a light shake. His skin was surprisingly warm and soft, save for the few bands of cold silver that adorned his fingers. You studied his face, waiting for him to say something, but he stayed silent.

Guess that’ll do for now, you finally conceded, reaching under your arm with your other hand and pulling out the journal, holding it up for him to see. You felt Vernon’s hand quickly drop yours, warmth immediately leaving your fingertips.

He grabbed the book from you, gingerly this time. 

Sensing he was ready to bolt, you quickly said, “I didn’t read it. Just so you know. And I’m sorry again about last night. It honestly was an accident.”

Assuming he’d once again remain silent, you turned around and began to let yourself out of the apartment.

“I’d get in the bathroom before him tomorrow unless you want to be late to whatever you’re doing,” you offered one last thing as you opened the door, speaking of Mingyu. “He takes the longest showers ever when he’s hungover.”

“Sorry.”

“Huh?”

“About last night. And earlier tonight. Sorry.”

You tried not to show your surprise as you looked over your shoulder back at Vernon.

“Consider it forgiven. And good luck on the performance this Saturday.”

You finally stepped outside and closed the door, unable to shake the feeling of his hand against yours as you drove all the way back home.

prev. chapt. | series masterlist | next chapt.

taglist: @twogyuu

[alicraft336]

Happy Halloween/Birthday Curse!

Warnings: Wish being a little dumb, Rushed story

Note: Little Wish is a Dreamtale Au (Dreamtale belongs to Jokublog)

"Follow me, it's just this way," Curse said with a smile as he held Wishes hand, leading him through the Twilight Forest that surrounded the King of Souls kingdom.

The forests purple and blue leaves blew in the cool autumn wind, adding to the forests' scenic beauty, as long as you ignored the screams of terror coming from the echo flowers that littered every inch of the deceivingly beautiful forest.

"W-where are we even going in the first place?" Wish asked the taller male as he led him into the kingdom, the guards at the front gate not even bothering to stop them.

Curse slowed his paste, allowing Wish to get a better look at the black and purple decorated streets and the smiling faces of the kingdoms' residence. Curse held his hand tightly but was careful not to hurt him.

"This is how we celebrate Spirits Night, or as you call it, Halloween. But no matter what you call it, this time of year is extremely important to the kingdom and its people" Curse started as he led Wish through the winding streets of the kingdom, as if he knew this place like the back of his hand.

"It's the day when the veil between the mortal world and spirit world is at its weakest, allowing those who had passed on to reunite with their loved ones for one night, but as of a few hundred years ago it had also become a celebration of their current ruler and his birth"

Wish nodded along with what Curse was saying, but at the same time, unable to tear his eyes away from the sparkly decorations that the villagers had hung up all around the kingdom with love and care, he could tell that they loved the holiday just as much as Curse said they did.

Wish could see kids wearing costumes as they went house to house, and shop to shop with bags to be filled with candy and toys. He could see Jack-oʻ-lanterns and other carved gourds almost everywhere he looked.

"What's up with that?" Wish asked as he stopped to look up at the trees and saw what looked to be cardboard cutouts of apples covered in sparkly rhinestones on a string hanging from the trees branches.

Curse looked up to see what he was referring to and became visibly nervous at the question, "I-it's nothing! U-ummm... Y-you know how people l-like bobbing for apples? Well, w-we hang up fake ones as that's less dangerous for the little ones!" He quickly explained.

Wish looked at him confused, about to speak again when Curse pulled him away from the hanging apple decorations, "L-lets keep going, Spirits Night only last one day after all! And I still haven't shown you what we came here to see!"

~~~

Curse led Wish to the middle of a cliff that not only had a beautiful view of the village but also the large castle that overlooked it.

He let go of Wishes hand and ran in front of him by a few steps. He did a little spin before proudly gesturing towards a table he had set up with a variety of food and drinks.

"Ta-ah!" He said, looking at Wish with a proud and derpy smile. One that Wish couldn't help but to smile at.

"What's all this about?" He asked as he took a few steps forward to get a better look, only for Curse to grab his hand again and bring him closer to the setup.

"Come on, Wish, it doesn't bite," Curse joked, causing Wish to roll his eyes. Curse pulled a chair out for him, pushing it in before taking his own seat right across from him.

"You still haven't answered my question, Curse. What's all this about?" Wish asked him again, watching as his face started to become dusted with a reddish pink blush and nervously start to fiddle with the black gloves on his hands.

"W-well, you've never experienced anything like this before, a-at least that I know of, and I just wanted to make sure your first Spirits Night is a memorable one," he said with a nervous smile.

Wishes cheeks became dusted with a reddish pink blush as well, feeling touched by the gesture, "Aww, that's really sweet of you, Curse, but today is also your birthday, I should be the one doing something nice for you" Wish said before remembering something.

"Oh! That reminds me, before I forget again..." He trailed off as he rummaged through his bag, looking for something.

Eventually, he pulled out a small neatly wrapped box and handed it to Curse. "Happy Birthday Curse! I hope you like it! Ink and Blue helped me make it, and Lust helped me wrap it," he said with a smile that soon turned to confusion when he saw how red Curses face had gotten.

"Curse?" He asked, "Curse, are you alright?" He asked again, this time getting a slight nod from him.

Curse carefully took the box from him, "T-thank you Wish, I-I really appreciate it... I really do..." He stuttered out, his cheeks becoming an even darker shade of red as he slowly began to open the box, being careful not to tear the wrapping paper.

He pulled out a small handmade chocolate croissant charm attached to a keychain, his favorite pastry. He had only mentioned it once to Wish, but he remembered.

He smiled softly as he looked down at it, "Thank you, Wish, I love it," he said softly, unable to tear his eyes away from the small handmade charm in his hand.

"Happy Birthday Curse, and Happy Halloween," Wish said again with a closed eye smile.

≿━━━━━━━━༺💫༻━━━━━━━━≾

Characters used in chapter:

Wish & Curse both belong to Me (Ali Craft)

[jess-the-vampire]

So... My AU, which is basically just, this would be cool, and, The Owl House is cool. Meaning a lot of stuff does not make sense, and will probably be changed, also, I don't actually.. have much. But I do have the basic setup!

Belos finds King at some point, but not The Collector. With access to Titan's Blood Belos, at some point during being the emperor ends up creating a rift, this rift ends up bring Luz through, who is at this point much younger, and has lost her dad fairly recently, but does have the Azura book, and has enjoyed it. Belos uses this to get her to his side, being both a "Good Witch" and a parental male figure. He makes Luz believe she and him are better than everybody else, still not revealing he's human just incase, but making sure to emotionally separate her from others. He already had a Grimwalker at this point, young, but no longer needed with another human here. And it may be detrimental to have the two together, he decides to exterminate this Grimwalker for now. After failing to find the Grimwalker, makes a point to have lookouts for it so it can be brought to him. He claims it is a rogue witch gone mad with Wild Magic, the same that killed his family. Of course, he keeps it from the public, only telling this sob story to his most loyal, incase the Grimwalker makes claims that could sway some.

At some point, Eda while trying to find a safe place to stay, finds The Collector, a kid with fuzzy memories, that claims not to be a living shadow despite definitely being a living shadow. She accepts it, and takes the Glass they're attached to with her, at the request of The Collector.

During the time the rift was open, Hunter ended up going through it. After a while of straight up just starving, is found by Camilla Noceda, who has basically just lost her entire family. She found him while searching for Luz. And gets him to come to her house with her to call about, where is this kid from. With maroon eyes, long ears, and looking like he came right out of a fantasy book, she has a lot of questions, barely any of them get answered. She ends up taking in Hunter for until his actual family is found, which is apparently made up of just his uncle. She assumes a lot of it is just a child's loose understanding of big scary concepts, since apparently his entire family other than his uncle, is dead. Of course, she never finds her daughter, or Hunter's Uncle.

Hunter Noceda ends up being bullied, because yeah he looks different, maroon eyes and long ears don't make you popular. He ends up being a bit of a loner and kinda edgy. These traits are kinda because he was bullied, but end up making him even more a target of bullying... Not great. He ends up being sent to a summer camp to hopefully make some actual friends. Not Reality Check of course. But a Summer Camp. He ends up throwing away the pamphlet, but feels bad and goes back to grab it.. Until he sees that an OWL is carrying their trash away. And he is PRETTY sure Owl's cannot hold that much weight! Things happen, plot stuff I haven't written, plans I have for cool stuff. Yeah. Another change that was purely because I thought it'd be cool, Glyphs! I changed the Glyphs, purely because it'd be cool, nothing to explain why just because it's an AU, maybe it's why certain things happened different butterfly effect and all. Electricity, Crystal, Air, Liquid. Electricity creating sparks of lightning, a big flash of light and shower of sparks, as well as being able to charge things. Crystal, basically Ice, but not as cold, and will probably be used as a shank or direct weapon more, and can creep up things, encase stuff, yeah. Air, usually just a really strong gust of wind, but can turn liquids to steam or vapor... Which will probably be the first clue to try Glyph combos! Liquid, the second component to that, can create a splash of boiling sea by default, I'm thinking soaked in specific liquids can recreate them. But boiling.

As I said earlier at the top, this was made because I thought it'd be cool, and then did it, and because I think The Owl House is cool.

that sounds super fascinating, i like the idea of having belos find king for once, and i like your take on the glyphs too.

you put a lot of thoughts into this, you gonna make some fanart, or even a fic for it?

[msfcatlover]

OKAY THIS IS A BIG ONE, just answer the ones you want to :D

DC (preferably Batman or Green Arrow or Superfam but actually everything) - games, comics, movies, books, fandom

what is your (can be more than one each category):

favourite fan AU

favourite headcanon

favourite female character

favourite male character

favourite comic

favourite canon AU (you know all these Future State and Kingdom Come and Injustice and Arkham verse and all that!!!)

favourite ship (IF you have one, otherwise the ones you can tolerate)

favourite death (if the character died more than in one universe or more than once, specify which death)

favourite powerset

favourite resurrection (LOL, same with #8)

favourite AU villain/antagonist (those who aren't villains but you imagine would be cool villains in your opinion)

favourite canon villan/antagonist (if characters like Jason or Talia then specify which plotlines/comics)

favourite DC loser.

sorry for bad English!!!! have a good day/night

Oh boy, that’s… that’s actually really hard for me. I have a hard time picking favorites, because I generally love things for very different reasons. I know much more clearly what I dislike when I see it; enjoying things is sorta my default state, y’know?

Like, take the AU question. I’d be hard pressed to tell you whether a good Reverse Robins setup was something I liked better than, say, @jube-art’s Superfam/Batfam role-swap (which, if you haven’t seen it, go check it out!)

I’m also working my way through canon chronologically, and am still in the early/mid-90s, so there’s a lot of characters I haven’t officially gotten to, and a lot of stories I haven’t gotten the chance to really dig into yet. (I made it to Knightfall, realized I hadn’t put any of the buildup to that arc in my comic library, and decided to go back and read Barbara’s time with the Suicide Squad instead.) I don’t feel comfortable planting a flag on this until… oh, at least until ~2006, probably. (Which, given just how many books/characters suddenly got added in the 90s, will probably take a while.)

(There are also lots of characters who have so much potential in their backstory/power set, but who never got to use them to their full potential. Or who only had the cool parts of their backstory tacked on as an obvious retcon in the process of writing them out of the story, because the fans were vocally upset about them, meaning they never got the exploration any of those story ideas deserved.) (I have a special level of ire for power sets that are really cool on a surface level, but where the creators added just one power too many to stop them from being fully interesting. For example, Menagerie’s bugs having mind control properties overcomplicates her too much, in my opinion. Or—if you’ll let me hop over to Marvel—a character like Alpha who has all the “standard” superpowers, but only one at a time? What makes that interesting is having to choose between being super-strong or invulnerable or super-fast (etc.) therefore this character should not have ranged attack options built into said power set; it disincentivizes him from ever getting up-close with enemies, forcing the writer to choose between having the character be stupid or having the character never use the interesting elements of their powers. (…I mean, Alpha being stupid is kinda the point of his plot, but you see what I’m getting at, right?))

I will say, I adored Jason’s post-Crisis Robin run (in both Batman series, though for very different reasons) and so far very little has brought me as much joy as reading DC’s Detective Comics from that time period! And those few pages of Dan Mora’s B&W cyberpunk short that went around recently had me absolutely frothing with excitement for the possibilities that verse holds. And Jason being Tim’s Robin brings me endless joy, which neither canon nor jerkfaces will take from me.

(Aaaaaaaand while shipping isn’t the catharsis I come to comics for (thank gods, basically every canon ship I’ve witnessed thus far has been awful in motion even when their potential is off the charts,) I can actually blame DCEU SuperBat for getting me into this whole mess in the first place. Blame @susiecarter, whose fics I found immediately after watching someone do a deep-dive analysis of everything that went wrong with BvS, which I paused when I thought, “Huh, these are actually all really good points… I bet fanfiction has done this exact story, but with much better execution, recognizable characterization, and probably a hell of a lot gayer. Let’s go check.”)

[little-engineer-who-cant]

I want know about your Black Sails aus!!

Ah, thank you for asking!! I have several so this is a very long answer.

I've written a one shot where Abigail Ashe comes back to Nassau in Season 3. She watches, learns and reconciles the events of Seasons 3 and 4 before going her separate way again to settle in the colonies and keep a quieter resistance alive in the Deep South (I love Freedom Fighter Abigail theories and the lack of information post-Charles Town is an excellent playground). It explores Abby's mourning for her innocence, as well as her more complicated feelings towards pirates (Flint and Vane especially) in regards to both believing in their cause and being angry about what happened to her personally. From everything with Ned Lowe (and how she hates Vane for taking her, is grateful that he killed Lowe) to the death of Miranda (and her father's culpability in it) and finally to Flint's role in her father's rise and fall, it's a study of the grey area she inhabits. Mostly it focuses on various conversations between Abigail and Vane because they share one scene together but the way Abigail answers him with such an emphatic "good" in that cell despite being completely terrified of him compels me. That entire scene is so good, from the conversation about Lowe to the asking if Abigail's father loves her and the detached certainty of her answer that he'll pay and Vane's reactions to that having really only seen Eleanor and Richard's father-daughter relationship, it's just a very good scene.

A concept that also fascinates me that I've started playing around with is an AU where Vane and Miranda actually meet and how a chance stumbling upon one another turns into a personal power struggle between them where Miranda is bored and wants to push back against someone who's not Flint while Vane wants her to be afraid of him and is peeved it's not working. That one's more for the sheer fun of it because I had a vision in my head of Vane trying to play it cool across an afternoon tea setup with Miranda and failing miserably. Miranda is just having a good time ruffling feathers all around, including Flint's.

I also have a Pirates of the Caribbean and Black Sails crossover series that's a bunch of characters ruminating on one another (James Norrington on James McGraw and the scandal that caused in the Navy. Elizabeth Swann on Abigail Ashe and being the daughter of a governor involved with pirates, etc.) Basically it's a small collection of short, mostly canon compliant character studies that I'm having a ton of fun exploring.

Similarly, one that I've been writing for a long time but that will probably never see the light of day is a Black Sails and Game of Thrones crossover solely inspired by Tom Hopper being in both shows (for like 5 minutes in GoT). The basic backstory is that magic has been waking up for a long time and sometimes, people get caught in the crosshairs. Dickon Tarly is being sent to foster, his ship is caught in an awful storm that dumps them somewhere with different stars and they run afoul of an English vessel, resulting in Billy Bones being impressed and eventually leading him to Flint.

The story itself focuses on Billy Bones washing ashore back in Westeros instead of Skeleton Island and having to reconcile his life as a pirate and revolutionary with his childhood, and assumed birthright, as a powerful feudal lord. I lean a lot into the fantasy elements of ASoIaF, including long dormant magic waking up, the roles of gods versus the possibility that none exist and Euron's entire eldritch deal as he invades the Reach. Billy Bones comes back to a war-torn Westeros as someone jaded by the system of civilization that he's now thrust into the middle of. But Billy Bones cannot be what Westeros requires, Billy Bones is an agitator not lord. He may not have any ghosts chasing him here, but he has to reconcile two very different lives, build new alliances with war torn children of former enemies and navigate his father's ambitious plans all while trying to come to personal terms with the ramifications of his actions throughout Season 4. Also, you know, there's a madman destroying the Reach, ice zombies coming from the north, the capital is on fire and as Tyrells start dropping like flies, a lot of people are looking to him for answers he does not have, nor does he want to give.

Overall, this one's a silly premise that I'm having fun exploring and it's a very good visual of how I have changed and developed as a writer over the years.

[hiraya-rawr]

Pt.2 : Modern Acting AU hcs

Modern AU where Genshin Impact is a popular TV series with a game adaptation based on the actors and actresses and visions exist? Yes.

navigation

Diluc has a high alcohol tolerance and HE DEFINITELY DRINKS THE WINE PROPS ON SET. Whenever he has to do a bartending act, he secretly takes a couple of sips.

There are youtube compilation videos of Diluc sipping alcohol props on set (not too much, it's more of a joke for his fanbase to enjoy).

Childe probably auditioned for the head of the Kamisato clan first as a hydro user. He obviously didn't get the role so the rumored antagonism with Ayato is kind of true.

Zhongli who perfectly embodies the grandpa role because he doesn't know how to play Genshin despite being one of the main characters. Like, he's really trying and all the younger kids on set are helping him. He finished his archon quest during a break, Xiao and Hutao probably had to do it for him though.

Angel's Share was probably only a temporary kind of setup until all the adult actors started lingering on the set that they might as well make a working tavern set in the studio; it doubles as their resting spot.

As mentioned previously, Zhongli is an incredibly famous actor who caters to both men and women (always the male lead, whether it's an action film or romantic drama), but he's relatively new to the video game acting industry.

Yae Miko initially had a fox tail but she kept tripping on it so the director decided to take it out. It works better for her character anyway.

Yun Jin being an actual opera performer; she's used to theater skits so it was a surprise when she was offered a role for a video game series!

Imagine Klee celebrating her birthday on set with the whole cast! Just, all the adults bringing her gifts and she's so excited because everyone's together!

I like to think that Klee doesn't exactly understand her career and that her parents got her into acting as a childhood hobby thing and she somehow skyrocketed to popularity?

She's clueless about what she's doing, her job is just to play while cameras follow her and it works out in the end.

She probably thought Albedo was her real brother when the directors started telling her that they're siblings

Aloy who has experience with acting for game adaptations so she's kind of the pro here when it comes to the film genre.

Thoma probably had to learn housekeeping before taking up his role but he actually ends up enjoying it a lot?? Thoma cleans up after every fight scene, he doesn't mind

Thoma's the type to help the props manager and staff with arrangements, etc. A very down to earth actor.

Kaeya and Diluc walking home from set together (or to a bar for the night)

Found Family lovers follow their twitter accs because it's the only place they can relish in a brotherly reconciliation (unlike in-game)

Ushi came from one of those animals-for-rent kind of farms and Itto just ends up adopting him because he got attached.

Ushi the cow on red carpet events with Itto.

Kokomi being a really skilled swimmer, she's on the swim team of her college and she dyed her hair pink.

Scaramouche has a love-hate relationship with his hat. He thinks the prop is ridiculous but also finds it unique.

Back with Xiao being an incredibly kind and soft-spoken person who can immediately switch his face from cold and intimidating to softie e-boy. Everyone finds it cool.

Xiao and Kazuha practice their plunge attacks together. They're all strapped to the ceiling and they use their anemo to help each other.

What if super unlikely Genshin ships were actually true...

Or popular Genshin ships in general.

Lumine and Xiao/Childe leaving set together after a long day.

Or Aether and Ayaka hiding under baseball caps and face masks but the paparazzi takes their picture anyway and it goes viral online

Imagine Zhongli and Childe being in multiple movies together; whether it's a period drama or a war story, they've acted together a lot.

Imagine the Oscars with the Genshin Impact cast?? They're winning all the "best xxx" of the year. Them on the red carpet, catching everyone's attention.

Ayaka and Ayato aren't siblings but they cutely partnered up for the red carpet.

---

Also additional HCs from a reblog I've read because?? oml these are amazing

(@peachis-afruit) Eyepatch gang probably has people to hold their hand when they go places

IMO Diluc or Rosaria are usually the ones to lead Kaeya around the set. Bennett and Razor for Fischl. Ningguang and Kazuha for Beidou. They have all these signals with each other during acting whenever a cue was made on their blindspot.

Crepus as a popular model/actor in his younger years so when Genshin Impact invited him for a minor role, his (now middle-aged and above) fanbase went crazy.

[cutestkilla]

Tuesday Fic Recs!

Thanks for tagging me @messofthejess (and last week too)! Since you asked... I actually thought about this silly format for doing recs a while ago, so here goes.

Four recs: something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue. I am committed to reading fic, after all, so I think stealing this old wedding superstition makes sense in a way. That, and I need structure!

Something Old (aka an older fic)

The Start of Everything by Canadian Snow (Rated M, 15K)

Watford-era secret relationship as told through all the times Simon and Baz gave in to their feelings and allowed themselves to be together. The magic sharing in this is one of the things I love most about it. The descriptions of Simon's electric magic are some of the best I've ever read, and the way Simon and Baz use magic together is so cool, though a bit different from canon. But also, it's a story about intimacy and taking comfort in one another, all while secretly working together against the agenda that has cast them as mortal enemies.

Something New (aka the opposite of old)

in the Dust of Dragons by @martsonmars, with art by @nick-eyre (Rated M, WIP)

I’m reading SO MANY GREAT WIPS right now (many of which I’ve already rec’ed under my ‘fic rec’ tag) so to narrow it down I decided to recommend one here that I feel is both relatively new and a bit of an unsung hero if you go by kudos alone.

This is a brilliant fantasy AU that casts Simon and Baz as childhood friends to enemies and, eventually, to lovers. The writing is gorgeous and atmospheric, with rich descriptions and meticulous world building. So far, we’ve seen adorable flashes back to Simon and Baz’s childhood as a carefree actual dragon (with the ability to transform at will between dragon and human form) and fire mage, and in the present, Simon and Baz are very much apart and appear to be working at cross purposes as a treasure hunter and a jaded mercenary, respectively, on opposite sides of the fracture that tore them apart as children. The set up is just amazing and I encourage everyone to check it out and behold the author's genius. The art is gorgeous too!

Something Borrowed (aka an AU based on an existing story/piece of media)

A New Day (Carry On) by @technetiumai (Rated T, 38K)

This is a snowbazzed retelling of Agatha Christie’s Murder is Easy and it is SO SO GOOD. (And also highly underappreciated in the fandom, IMO.) Set post-AWTWB, Simon, Baz, Penny and Shep have decided to start a PI firm. Actual Scooby Gang vibes (Angel Investigations for my buffyverse peeps), and honestly, the vibes are perfect – blackboard walls abound – and the backstory of how they decided to go into this line of work is stellar. The characterization is so on point and incredibly insightful at every turn for all four POVs, the dialogue is brilliant (if you’ve read the the author's other work, you know to expect this from her every time), and it’s chock-full of well-thought out and totally believable worldbuilding that makes stepping into an Agatha Christie story seem like a totally logical and natural progression for the gang. (BONUS: Mordelia is their tech whiz!!) Oh yeah, and on top of all that goodness, we get a really fun murder mystery story and to meet some of Simon’s extended Salisbury family.

Something Blue (where by blue I mean risque, as in blue comedy, as in smut recs!)

When I Feel Alive by @facewithoutheart (Rated E, 3K)

This fic is one of my go-to reads when I want a quick pick-me up. The setup is: The final battle. Or is it? The tags include ‘Things aren’t always what they seem’ and ‘Honestly Dev needs a raise’, but I don’t want to give too many more hints as to what happens because the experience of reading this without reading the tags first is truly worth it. I consider this fic to be the perfect blend of dark Watford era angst and sexual tension, straight up good sex, and pure crack. Delightful in every way! Just go read it if you never have. You can thank me later. (Also definitely read the author's current rock band AU WIP This Will All Go Down In Flames (Rated E, WIP) which also promises to meet the "blue" requirement for this category, and will equally make you laugh and feel things. The smut is imminent, so now is the perfect time to start it if you haven't. And also comes with a killer playlist.)

I could go on (like I REALLY could, but this list would be so very long) so maybe I'll do this again. If anyone likes this format, feel free to join in and share yours for these categories too.

[scorchieart]

Scorchie's Follower Celebration Thingy [CLOSED!]

Hello friends! Hope everyone is doing great as we dive into September 😊

I wanted to give a SUPER BIG THANKS to each and every one of you awesome internet nodes for welcoming me into this fandom and chatting with me, reading my writings, and just the all around goofiness of the past few months. Y'all are the real stars ✨

I really wanted to do something for the 100 mark, but real life slipped time away and I don't want to miss this next milestone. I don't have a cool prompt list to offer, but what I do have is a pile of fic ideas brewing in the pot for months now that I've been simply dying to tell you all about.

But I am notoriously indecisive ('tis a blessing and a curse) so I thought some audience participation might be fun. Below the cut are 6 multi-chapter fic ideas and their pitches. I'm asking YOU lovely readers to let me know which one you'd like to see written first to help celebrate 🥳🎉

Each of the following fics has at least a basic outline written, but I've listed them in order of how concrete the story is and/or how excited I am to write them. Of course, the final decision rests in your hands, dear viewers, so do keep in the mind the power you wield in determining the next few months of my fledgling writing career.

More details for the voting below, now on to the pitches! ⭐⭐

Note, all these ideas are for Ikemen Prince. I promise one day I'll expand my library to more series, but for now these guys are still on the brain. Oh, and these aren't the final titles of the fics, just some placeholders for your convenience.

Jin's first year at the palace New title? New father? New brothers? Jin didn't sign up for this, but reality has something different in store for this young prince as he learns to navigate palace life, charm the nobles that loathe his existence, learn what it means to be a big brother, and watch his new family grow. (This one has been in the works since Jin's route release back in March, and I've already got a chunk of it written cuz I'm so excited. This all started from the question: "What happened when Jin first met the other princes?" and it was all downhill from there. Needless to say, it'll be riddled with spoilers for pretty much all the princes' routes.)

Prank boi Clavis finally gets a taste of his own medicine Sariel takes tiny Yves and Licht (and a hyperactive Clavis) into town for the annual Winter Market, but when Clavis sets his eyes on an exotic stand filled with dangerous goods, he ends up biting off more than he can chew with his brothers in tow. (This one is the shortest of the bunch. Just a bit of slice-of-life in the lives of some mini princes being funny kiddies. When I tell you the flashbacks scenes in-game are my favorite parts...)

The eldest 3 go on a hunting trip (begrudgingly) It's time for the young princes to take part in high society. That means fancy balls, hunting trips, and waaaaay too long cramped carriage rides. The real question is if they'll catch any game before they end up hunting each other! (Another slice-of-life scenario, but I wanted to try a hand a writing perspective from multiple protagonists. I have 6 chapters planned and the POV shifts between Jin, Chevalier, and Clavis as the story goes along.)

Straight Eights continuation Basically the continuation of the modern high school AU I started a few months back. Chapter 1 is posted already if you wanna take a look at how that setup went.

Murder in the gardens? Detective Licht is on the case! Another gala, another migraine. Licht sneaks out of the palace to escape the party scene, only to sneak onto a murder scene! Guards and nobles swarm and catch sight of the Brutal Beast standing sword in hand and bloodied atop the dead body, but while the crowd is calling for punishment, Licht requests pardon and proper investigation when his brother looks him in the eye and boldly proclaims "It wasn't me." (Probably the most nebulous idea of the bunch because I have zero experience writing mystery, but I really wanted to delve more into Licht's character and how he reacts to different scenarios. It'll have the usual lot of gathering suspects, interviewing and investigating, and maybe even a spunky sidekick to lighten the mood with witty one-liners. Also the "Herlock Sholmes" character from Ace Attorney looks like Licht in detective getup and I got hooked.)

Clavis & Leon go on a mission, but neither is too happy about it It's Clavis's 15th birthday, but no one is paying any attention to him. Granted, there's a mass kidnapping case going on, but that's no excuse to ignore the third prince! All evidence points to the culprit targeting Prince Silvio's birthday party next month. Eager to prove himself to Sariel and Chevalier, Clavis requests to head the investigation, but how's he supposed to look cool when they make him babysit 3 of his younger brothers at the same time? (Another Clavis? Ye, what did you expect? Again, this is selfish wish-fulfillment of me wanting to see Clavis and Leon interacting more, but with a road trip mixed in!)

There they are! Hope you enjoyed that brief peek into my wacky brain space!

How to cast your vote ⭐

Just leave a comment on this post or send me an ask or a DM with your ranking of the above pitches from most to least interested to read. (for example: 2,4,6,1,5,3)

I'll keep the voting open until Saturday, September 17. Afterwards, I'll do some magic number crunching behind the scenes and post the results.

A few notes about requests ⭐

Experience is the best teacher, as they say, and I've definitely learned a lot more about writing since I started posting. Namely what I enjoy and do not enjoy writing, how to balance different characters and their voices, juggling genres, and a lot lot more! I have plans to experiment more with them in the future and I'm so excited about it! Mondo thanks to everyone who's let me bounce ideas off them, given me advice, and offered feedback on my work. You guys actively shaped the writer I am today.

But since I'm still in the process of developing my writing voice and the end of the year is bringing a lot more real-life responsibilities, I will be closing my ask box to writing requests at the same time the voting concludes. So if you have an idea you'd like to submit (first of all, thank you so much!), you've got until Saturday, September 17 to send it in. Details for posting requests can be found on this post.

To all the people who have sent me requests in the past, you guys are so super awesome and creative. To the requests I have not completed yet, trust me they're on the way. And to awesome people along for the ride, I hope you'll look forward to what I have coming in store 😉

Last thing, I pinky promise ⭐

I just wanted to thank you all again for the wonderful memories. This is the first fandom I've actively participated in and uploaded content for, and the fact that this many of you like the randomness I've been posting really and truly means the world to me.

To all the friends I've made along the way, and to the new ones I have yet to meet, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I honestly wouldn't have kept up with it all for this long without you guys.

Peace and love, and keep rocking on! 👊

- Scorchie

[legolasghosty]

24 + 31 for Willex please and thank you!

Hiiii!

Okay, 24 - Soulmate AU and 31 - Birthday fic for Willex...

In this particular universe, when your soulmate writes anything on their skin, it appears on yours too. (Sidebar, this also extends to tattoos and things like that... Has nothing to do with this au, I just think it's cool).

Alex's best friend had always been his soulmate. He had no idea who they were, but ever since he learned to read and write, they'd been writing to each other. It made sense, this was the person the universe said was destined to love him. He wasn't really sure why more people didn't write to their soulmate. Some magical rule said they couldn't share names or areas or super specific things like that, but he knew he loved them by the time he turned 7.

His parents started getting upset by it when he was about 8, having assumed he'd grow out of such a childish habit, and Alex started hiding it. The little notes to Pancake(as he'd nicknamed them) moved from his forearms to his thighs and abdomen. Thankfully, Pancake seemed to get the memo and wrote back on the same areas. His parents especially didn't like the idea that their son's soulmate was a man(Alex didn't bother trying to correct them after Pancake told him about not really feeling like a boy when they were 10).

So Alex hid his best friend from his parents, and from his friends for the most part, though that wasn't really on purpose, until he was 17.

Almost exactly a month after Alex turned 17, he woke up, snagged the pen on his bedside table to wish Pancake a happy birthday on the skin just above his hip like he'd been doing every year since they were 8, and started getting ready for a gig. Apparently some rich kid at a nearby private school was having some big, fancy party, and Luke had managed to get them the gig. So he got to the studio early to pack up his drum kit and he, Julie, Luke, and Reggie headed off to a huge mansion in the Hollywood Hills.

The setup and music went well, though the birthday kid seemed... rather stuck up, staying back in corners and not talking to anyone. They seemed to like the music at least. The real surprise to Alex came later that night, when they'd finished their set and a DJ was blasting throwback music from the early 2010's. The father of the kid(Luke, you booked us a gig for Caleb Covington and you didn't think to mention that detail?!) had left and the kid quickly abandoned the nice suit jacket and slipped onto the dance floor.

Alex was grabbing a coke when he realized that their shirt was a bit on the shorter side now that it was untucked. As they spun around, it rose up a bit and Alex got a glimpse of a handwritten message just above their hip. He could barely read it from that far away, but he suddenly knew what it said: Happy birthday, Pancake, I love you. Go be a dancing queen! - Hotdog.

Suddenly he couldn't breathe, but he also couldn't dive into the crowd fast enough. He wove his way through people, finally reaching them. He couldn't even remember their name, but he hadn't needed it for a decade, it could wait a bit longer.

"Pancake?" he asked, grabbing their hand to get their attention.

They spun to stare at him, looking shocked. "Hotdog?" they responded softly, one hand turning to hang onto Alex's as their eyes darted back and forth between his face and his side, where they both knew would be the proof.

"Yeah," Alex breathed, carefully lifting his shirt just enough for them to see the words written on his side.

And then they were in his arms and he was holding them, his best friend, his lover, his soulmate, finally.

"Happy birthday, dancing queen," Alex whispered right in their ear. "I love you."

"I love you," they responded immediatly. "Best birthday present ever."

Annnnnddddd, that was not supposed to get that long, but it's fine. Hope you liked it!

(Send me 2 tropes and a ship and I'll explain how I'd combine them in a story)

[kyun-toast]

[ATEEZ] as University Students

a/n: I love college AUs but I'm British so I thought I'd chip in w some painfully British uni lad ateez

Hongjoong

Besties w his tutor

Got his life down on lock

One of those ppl that are always on top of their work, have acc done the reading and gets good grades but is still rlly cool and has a social life ygm

But thats only bc he lives in the library

Has a designated seat and there's an unspoken rule amongst the students that that's HIS spot, nobody sits in it

Often seen napping at said library spot

So well dressed. He’s one of those students that always catches your eye around campus or lecture halls

Bc he’s just so well dressed for a uni student running on 0 hours sleep and red bull

Probs studies smth like joint honours music and philosophy

Also Vice President of smth like filmsoc

Friends with the baristas at Starbucks bc he’s just in there for caffeine all the time

We all aspire to be like student hj, just more sleep pls

Seonghwa

Voted most eligible bachelor amongst students

Famous around campus just for being so pretty

He’s one of those ppl you see on like the first day of uni and it’s an instant crush

But you’ll never be able to do anything abt it you just have to admire from the other side of the lecture hall

Actually speaks up in seminars bc he’s done the reading sat next to hongjoong in the library

He looks like he’d play tennis for uni and varsity tickets would sell like crazy bc so many ppl have crushes on that man

He’d bring his lil meal prep packed lunches to uni lol what a little sweetheart

Been pictured in the uni prospectus at least once

Hongjoong makes him go w him to freshers fair for his society to use as bait so he stands there handing out leaflets for a soc he’s not even part of

Yunho

Doesn’t know what’s going on half the time he’s just happy to be there

This is v evident in lectures. Professor could be going on and on in a stats class and he’ll just sit there smiling

His gaming setup takes up most of his room and is also where most of his money goes

Texts u at 4am like hey u wanna get pizza

And you know he’s up at that time bc he’s been gaming all night

Still gets good grades despite the fact that all he does is game?

You ask him how he does it and he’s just like idk?

You are perplexed.

All soft in cute jumpers and hoodies but one day you’ll see him suited up at a formal and wow heart eyes

Super fun at parties too, have u seen that man dance?

You have multiple videos of him twerking

Yeosang

That mysterious boy at the back of class that doesn’t speak a lot but whenever he does its always smth smart af

Types really loud on his macbook

Looks like he doesn’t have any friends

But outside of lectures he’s always w friends that look equally as mysterious and cool

No one on your course knows anything abt him

But you see him at a house party once and he’s just stuffing his face w food having a great time

Feel like his alcohol tolerance is super low

Two shots and he’s out cold

And then you’ll see him again at some niche soc social like basket weaving or smth

Works part time at a cool clothing store like allsaints or cos

Chicken shop connoisseur, knows the best places in town

San

Actually studies rlly hard, i can tell he always gives 110% on whatever he’s set his mind to

Soft student always in oversized hoodies, spinning pens, v enthusiastic and pays attention in lectures

But when hes w wooyoung oh man

The enabler, 110% attitude towards drinking too

Pours drinks w 80% alc 20% mixer

“my mother didn’t raise a quitter”

Type to sprint home from the club bc he doesnt wanna waste money on uber

Will make animal friends otw and bring them home

You wake up and come downstairs the next morning and theres just a pigeon in your living room

On the athletics team which is why he may find it instinctive to run home when he’s drunk

San would like for there to be a greggs on campus

Mingi

ALWAYS napping in lectures, seminars, during lunch, in the library, u name it

Knows the best spots for it tho.

You didn’t know there was a secluded spot w bean bags under the stairs at the back of the library until mingi told you

Never missed 9am lectures but will nap through them instead

Gets freshers flu every year and the cough lasts for months

You hear someone cough in the room over and ur like oh, well there’s Mingi

Gives you the best advice at 4am in the library

Also best cuddles

Studies smth like aerospace engineering but regrets it bc he didn’t know what he was getting himself into

Considers dropping out every exam season but always pulls through w good grades?

Wooyoung

Bnoc thats all i have to say

Has like 4k followers on ig

Always running around campus for no reason

Woo and san together at parties u know its going to be buck fckin wild

Always got ppl swooning over him but he just wants to have fun!

No time for relationships! Only alcohol!

When he studies tho? £3 meal deal and writes 2 sentences kind of guy

Business management OR marketing student I can feel it in my bones

The type to tell u funny stories in a silent library and it takes everything in u to stop laughing

Ppl will look over at you two and youre just holding your breaths on the verge of exploding

Security will kick u out at one point

Tight w the local kebab shop bossman

Jongho

Brings everything in a backpack to uni like a year 7

Need a hole punch? Ask jongho. Painkillers? Jongho. Assortment of multi coloured pens? Jongho

Writes the best notes

They're all colour coordinated in different folders for different modules

All the office ladies dote on him bc he’s so sweet

They all offer him tea and biscuits

Youngest but is the voice of reason in the group

Wy will be like do u wanna get drunk in the library

And jongho is like bro ur deadline is tomorrow are u ok

The type to be filming all the other guys when theyre up to some questionable stuff for the memories

Feel like he’d be on committee for whatever course he’s studying

I get pharmacy vibes from this boy

Got job offers lined up for when he graduates

[knight-of-the-thorn]

character bingo ask! :) vlast and crecia, if you'd like? @kerra-and-company

Sorry for the wait there, very interesting pair these two!

So the main reason I did not put wasted potential here is I think the setup and delivery of everything that makes Vlast tragic is done very well in the short period of time that it has. Because one of the main things that's tragic about Vlast IS the fact we never got to know him. Aurene had a brother, but she never got to see him. She never knew him. And maybe they both wouldn't have been so lonely if they had that chance.

He's what Aurene could have turned out like. He's what I hope Aurene will never have to be. Two hundred years and the only ones you manage to make a meaningful connection with are ones who are only concerned with the function you're meant to serve, yet always was told he wasn't ready. Never truly empathizing with those you're meant to protect, yet he cares for his family so he continues to fight. He sacrificed himself for someone that his sister cared for, even when he hadn't met her. I think that tells you everything you need to know about him.

Truth be told, going through Vlast's memory crystals is the moment I actually realised just how invested I'd gotten in the story, because it genuinely just made my heart ache, and I couldn't stop thinking "we cannot let this happen to Aurene". It resonated with me as a storybeat a lot.

Anyways I'm a sucker for Champion of Vlast Aus. Glint owes me child support I stole her daughter I'm coming for her son next and I aim to collect motherfuckers.

Yeah Crecia's pretty cool I feel like meeting her really explains a lot about Rytlock. She generally seems like she has a lot more common sense than most of the people the commander works with, she was emotionally involved in the situation in Icebrood, but she was also correct about the best course of action at every point. Like, she did try to pull both Bangar and Ryland back, but was able to accept when they had gone too far and take decisive action. You even see some of that come through in the Requiem piece where she's first mentioned, when Rytlock takes sohothin, she stabs him so she can keep her cover. Her emotional involvement and stake in a situation is always clear, but it's never a detriment.

Overall, good character, great backstory, always a delight to see would love to have her back. Would love to see the other members of stone.