#but really it’s just a sad alt timeline

[enigma020]

Out of all the unseen past renditions of Noveltale, was there a particular one you would consider the edgiest one?

I wouldn’t really call it edgy or anything, moreover it’s just a sad alternative timeline for Noveltale. Because that “unseen past rendition” of Noveltale is the previous one.

Had I not removed my OCs, hence the very start of the overall story, one choice is and will always be what it takes to create a very angsty story for Noveltale.

That choice is for these two to fall and die. To just exist for the sake plot.

An ending similar to the beginnings of the original Undertale AU. Only this time,

Gaster was accidentally thrown to the mouth of his own creation during the final battle, finally confirming in the end/in the void that the “anomaly” watching and disrupting the course of their universe is real.

Chara, wanting to free the underground, gives up their soul to Asriel only leading to an outcome in which they both die to the hands of the humans in a nearby village.

In the original Undertale game/universe, Aphys finds and grabs the golden flower that had Asriel’s dust spread on it. But with all the monsters dead from the fights Gaster had started just to take Chara’s soul,

There will never be a Flowey. Just remnants of Asriel’s dust, spread by the bed of flowers of the now empty and silent underground where monsters used to be trapped in. And by the time Frisk arrives back in the underground,

They’ll live the last remaining moments of their life. Trapped, alone with only themselves to keep them company until they die.

[nemesis-is-my-middle-name]

this is a tiny pet peeve but i think its kinda odd that people seem to like. forget, or maybe just neglect to take into account, that yellow, for whatever reason (whether he's an alt universe john or a fresh piece of this universe's KIY that kayne went and ripped off) has ALSO been trapped in the dark world prior to being with arthur and has exactly as many Feelings about it. this is a very load bearing character trait imo

[cessmaga]

My own take on ben and rex's timeline 😗✌️

based on my own canon and rewriting some stuff especially on ben 10 lol

I'm not entirely sure about the ages idk anymore

I want to keep ben's OV outfit cuz I actually like it a little but it's more of an alternate outfit he would wear just like star's from svtfoe, similar to rex's (omg I still haven't decided what color it would be lol) (honestly I originally not gonna give rex an alt outfit but I ended up liking it)

Here are some of my (ben 10) rewrites I had in my head for now

I don't think ben really I mean really cannot take the omnitrix (it misses the point of the idea of a kid wielding a powerful weapon and unable to take it off it so has no choice to look after them imo) I feel he wouldn't use it in his 13-14 yrs that much than he used to until the events of alien force

I'm not gonna give ben the ultimatrix, I'm sorry man I don't really like it's idea and it's way too gimmicky and nothing else, also it just adds the fact that the omnitrix can easily be removed

his personality is a mix with alien force and omniverse, a goofball at heart but he's serious when he needs to

I'm not gonna include alien x into the roster, idk I find it weird that ben just casually had this ultra powerful thing and it just adds the fact that cn just power creeping ben and it's so ehhh, he never really had an earned character development god mode just like rex just cn just refused him to, I find it weird that this omnipotence ass alien that can wrap reality has dna and anodites don't have for some reason, (they probably want gwen to be special) my point is I don't like alien x

but there's this headcanon I find where ben's actually had the anodite heritage but the omnitrix suppresses it for the transformation and also, I really like this idea idk

I really don't have any rewrite with gen rex, since I'm really content with the main canon, but I'm still sad that we won't have more content cuz rex's powers and lore is really interesting

ok this rewrite feels more ranty than it shouldn't be so yeah

[knickynoo]

what do you think alternate 1985 Marty was like?

Ok, so, I LOVE thinking about 1985A Marty!! We see him for a bit in the "Biff to the Future" comics, but I've mentioned before that I feel like they sort of dropped the ball there. There was so much they could have done with Alt '85 Marty, and they honestly didn't do much. He was just...Marty. And while I like the idea that a lot of who Marty is remains the same no matter the timeline, I have a hard time believing such an awful upbringing wouldn't impact him in some way. Some thoughts!

• I do think there would be that element of "Marty is Marty," even with growing up in '85A. At his core, Marty is kind. He's protective of his loved ones, strives to do the right thing, and puts others first. I don't think that would change.

• However, I see '85A Marty maybe having to hide those characteristics under a bit of a hardened shell. This is out of necessity and a result of being exposed to a lot of horrible things from a young age. He was so little when George died, so likely all he remembers is a world where Biff is his step-father, his mother is miserable, and violence is a daily occurrence. That good heart is still there, but Marty figures out pretty quickly that he's got to keep it under wraps a bit if he's going to survive.

• It's interesting because while our Movie!Marty is a fairly anxious little guy, I don't see '85A Marty as really having any significantly higher anxiety levels. I mean, you would think he'd be a barely functioning anxious mess, but I actually think all the pressure and stress and fear would force him into a state of "I can't waste TIME worrying." He becomes a very take-charge person. Focused on whatever situation is currently taking priority while the anxiety takes a back seat.

• As Alt Biff says in part II, Marty is absolutely a "little hothead." He tries to be careful, and he's able to tread lightly when needed, but it's just not possible in certain situations. Mainly, these are situations involving his mother's safety and well-being. If she's being threatened or hurt, he just does what's needed to help, even if it means he's going to pay for it after.

• Though Lorraine does her very best to protect and care for Marty, there are times she simply can't. And when it gets to be too much and she's lost in the sadness and alcohol, Marty steps in to be there for her. In a way, he learns how to act as a parent of sorts from a young age, guiding and taking care of his mom when she needs it. With Dave and Linda's own issues (and the fact that they're rarely around), he's often all Lorraine has.

• The moment Marty was shipped off to his first boarding school, he started acting out and doing whatever he could to get himself kicked out. He knew it was Biff's way of getting rid of him—taking away Lorraine's main source of protection—and wasted no time in sabotaging the plan. In some ways, it was hard for Marty because he really had to do some bad stuff (and it tugged solidly at his conscience) but he had no choice. He had to get back to his mother. So, every time Biff sent him somewhere new, Marty immediately got to work making himself a Nightmare Student. He gets very good at causing trouble. I think he also forms alliances with other students who become aware of his situation and help him to get kicked out as well.

• So. I have this hc that just popped into my brain where Biff actually tries to like...mold Marty into taking after him when Marty is little? Because Marty is so young and impressionable when George dies and Biff enters the picture, I can see Biff being like, "Maybe I can get the kid on my side." And it's not even that he likes or cares about Marty, he just sees someone he can turn into an heir of his twisted empire. Even have it be a slap in the face to George's memory to have his youngest son turn into a mini Biff Tannen. But Marty is stubborn, loyal, and sees right through Biff, so he resists every act Biff tries to put on to impress him. In turn, this makes Biff hate Marty even more in the long run.

• In the comics, there's a secret resistance group that keeps trying to find ways to take Biff down. George and Doc were both part of it, and I like to imagine that Marty gets involved in some way as well. He's a source of valuable information since he lives with Biff, and I think Marty also does a whole lot of sneaking around to keep up to date on what Biff is up to. He doesn't tell Lorraine about his involvement, though, because he doesn't want to put her in danger if Biff grows suspicious, but Lorraine definitely knows. She just turns the other way and silently prays nothing bad will happen.

• Marty has a tough time in terms of how the citizens of Hill Valley see him. He's disliked by a lot of people automatically because he's Biff's stepson, and they're wary of him. They don't know if he can be trusted. Others simply assume he's a spoiled brat living a cushy life with a rich family and resent him for having it so good while the rest of the town crumbles. So, he has very few friends.

I'm sure I could go on, but I'll stop there. I'd like to write a fic someday that focuses on 1985A Marty because he really does fascinate me. Thanks for the ask!

[genericpuff]

Wait wait wait, former LO reader here that's just been hearing about it through sources like you up until now—you're telling me that Kassandra conveniently giving the prophecy when she did (where Psyche and Eros could eavesdrop) was not, in fact, established as a repeat of a previously given one that still hadn't changed yet, which is what I assumed Apollo had to be verifying?

There are FOUR episodes featuring Kassandra.

Episode 226:

She's first established here and it's purely as a cliffhanger. Psyche steals a pen drive (and again, by "steals" I mean she picks up the pen drive that's been conveniently left on the ground behind Apollo) and she breaks into it with Hephaestus' help and finds the photo.

Episode 227:

For some reason, despite Hephaestus being able to delete Apollo's photos on HIS PHONE through PERSEPHONE'S SIM CARD, he can't track down Apollo's digital footprint or this mortal woman.

(I wanna mention btw how ironic and kinda sad it is that Rachel's trying to sound smart with this as if it's "impossible" for Hephaestus to track Apollo's digital footprint, when there are literally entire accounts that have managed to backup and preserve her old art that was posted across multiple alt accounts and aliases over the past 20 years. IDK that's just a place where my mind went with that lol)

Episode 252 (SEVEN MONTHS OF REAL LIFE TIME LATER):

(another anon mentioned how jank this pose is and yes, it's jank lol)

This meeting is very brief where she lore dumps her backstory of having prophecies no one believes, and yet despite this, Apollo believes her prophecy and immediately finds the plant that was just CONVENIENTLY blooming during the time frame that he learned of it. And yes, this is presumably the first time he's heard of this "prophecy".

"These things take time" and yet the time it took for Kassandra to conjure up this prophecy for him CONVENIENTLY lined up with when it needed to happen.

Episode 253:

She recounts this "prophecy" to Eros and Psyche (which isn't even really a prophecy, most of what she recounts is history and the "prophecy" is literally just the blooming cycle of a poisonous plant lmao it doesn't connect very well to the same "prophecy" that Ouranos recounts to Apollo later on in this same episode)

And then during that time, Apollo has already made the cupcake that goes on to poison Zeus before Eros and Psyche can get to them in time.

Now, one thing I want to mention that's really silly when it comes to the whole "convenience" thing. Not only did Apollo find out about this plant within the 12 hour window it was blooming, BUT Psyche happened to find the pen drive with Kassandra's information on it around the same time because she immediately goes to Eros and they proceed to track down Apollo and Kassandra. Psyche became a goddess ten years ago, but she CONVENIENTLY finds this pen drive (again, sitting on the ground behind Apollo) just days before this convenient 12 hour time window prophecy thing. And we know it's only a day or two at most because if you lay out the timeline of season 3, it literally takes place over the course of like, a week. Rachel literally hasn't learned a thing about pacing or planning out story events in the 5 years she's been working on this comic.

It's a big hot mess and this is why planning out your story is important.

[davekat-sucks]

Hello, I want to add that most time players suck, by a lot. Seriously it’s laughable that theirs only like two successful time players in all of Paradox Space, Caliborn and Damara, and it’s the fact they doesn’t understand something laughably basic and Christian. Suffer now to be rewarded later. Sure we might forget because Caliborn is a funny goblin manlet but he suffered, suffered a lot (because he is a masochist) because he chose to play the hardest game of Sburb (Caliborn is a Fromsoft gamer) . And he was rewarded with the power to do whatever the fuck he wanted, the power to put himself on the path of suffering so he can achieve it, sure he did the opposite of ascending (like Mobster Kingpin) but it does give a idea what a time player’s storyline is supposed to look like. Our next case is Damara, a girl who suffered so much she DOOMED HER OWN SESSION OUT OF SPITE, the funny thing is due to her acting like John when he was retconing but still being bound to alpha timeline time travel bullshit she indirectly caused her own suffering.

Now our Beta set, absolutely fucking atrocious. Dave doesn’t seem to realize that going down the path of the hero would give him a understanding on why his life is so bad, and if he still think it sucks he could figure out a way to change it while still within alpha timeline because through sburb bullshit he’s probably the reason Bro is a possessed Mall Ninja. Aradia doesn’t DARE to step out of her role, maid or time, despite the fact that one is basically finding the right time to strike after observing everything and the other is being rewarded after suffering so greatly. You can argue her being alive is reward enough and the fact she influenced herself to being a robot is proof of my theory that time players eventually write their own past but is she seriously just going to bounce around aimlessly like some sort of ghost? Fuck that’s ironically sad, she was the most alive when she was dead.

Where was I going with this? Oh right, the only thing good to come out of the Alpha sets are the time players, so Caliborn and Damara beat Dave and Aradia in Time Fuckery

Lord English and The Handmaid/Damara really are the better Time Players out there. In the case of Epilogues and Homestuck 2/Beyond Canon, Dave and Aradia are still avoiding to be suffered or face the harsh situation that is thrown at them. Especially when they themselves, made direct mistakes that would lead to some consequences in the near future. We see this with Meat Dave as all he does is just use Karkat to distract him with love as they go along with Kanaya to go after Dirk. He is called out to be useless. Not taking part in anything about Ult Dirk or Alt Calliope. Davebot and Aradia are both relaxing and enjoying themselves as they watched JADE HARLEY suffer more by letting Alt Calliope take over. Aradia left SOLLUX in the Candy Timeline and doesn't think much of him all because he didn't want to stand by and watch the timeline fall apart anymore. Davebot believes that him leaving Jade was fine and that he should be gay for Karkat, that it will solve everything. Davebot may have reached Ultimate, but I don't think it's a reward in itself. Perhaps it is a suffering that he remains blissfully unaware until he acknowledges what he is doing is fucked. But he will never accept it or face it. And I'll be pissed if they try to say that Davekat by the end will be his reward for being imprisoned in a robot body when it was Dave himself who chose to KILL HIMSELF to ascend because fucking Obama told him so.

[kxmpfflieger]

Hey, you made me feel sad for your dies-in-every-timeline-TF OC and I would love some more thoughts and lore about her plz. I will fill a cup with my tears if it pleases you

NO THATS NO NEED --

Dumping all my thoughts under the cut cause this might get long! Sorry if the writings feel scattered.

Her name is Wraith, a Decepticon with a motorcycle as an alt mode. She favours stealth above all, so she prefers to fight with swords rather than blasters.

I havent finished all the IDW comics so I can confidently only speak on her Prime lore -- She's on board the Nemesis practically from day one. Wraith gets pushed around a lot (mostly by Starscream) because she hates practically every word that comes out of his mouth. She's very much like a stubborn teenager so anyone trying to command authority over her just gets on her bad side. Despite Megatron, who has managed to earn her respect (also cause yk. hes scary)

Other bits of lore include

shes besties with Knockout and Breakdown, mainly beacuse they're also land vehicles like her (shes incredibly emotionally avoidant so even this bit of friendship is an achivement).

She's close to Soundwave mostly by proxy of my other oc Pulseblade fussing over her like a mother (I ship Pulse and SW so thats how he ends up being tied to Wraith)

Airachnid freaks her the fuck out. I think TFP Starscream is very "bark and no bite", whereas Airachnid really isnt that, so where threats from Screamer dont really do anything to Wraith, when they come from Airachnid she's more likely to take them seriously.

Wraith has a bad history with being abused and mistreated from the war back on Cybertron, which has caused all kinds of problems w emotional attachments (and behavioural issues)

Starscream ends up killing her at some point in the series. He makes it seem like an accident and blames it on the Autobots. Pulseblade takes it the worst out of everyone, even if she's comforted by Knockout on the matter (this is sometime after Breakdown is also killed). I think this will lead Pulseblade to defect, essentially giving up on the war. In my head she somehow finds out Wraith was assassinated by Starscream (maybe by Rachet, since they used to be coworkers at some point so she'd be more inclined to believe him) which will then lead her to become an Autobot.

Because Wraith dies in Prime she'd also not show up in RiD, although Pulse does make a return. I think it'd be fun for Wraith to haunt the narative in some way. Wraith is also dead in Earthspark, and Shattered Glass. ES Megatron and Bee remember her fondly so maybe her memory gets to inspire the Terrans or something.

I REALLY LOVE THE TERRANS every bit of me wants Wraith to be around for Earthspark for the character interactions but ooouhghghh omg i love angst :(( idunnoo

i just generally am fascinated by the post-war cybertron narrative, which is why im debating her place in earthspark and i want her alive in the idw continuity

[dairy-farmer]

Tis I! The frenchiest fry! 🐼/ back with my Thoughts(tm).

And Superhero Weirdness Homosexual Tim anybody? I think we SHOULD.

Now you may ask: "isn't that just a long way of saying Homosexual?" And NOPE! I know what I typed. We're being LITERAL here. "Homo" as in self, sexual as in self explanatory. He is very much still Bi as Fuck.

He's just... learned some things about himself.

Namely? That he's REALLY kinda in to himself. And that he'd like "himself" to be IN him. When the chance comes up. Which! It doooooes.

Because time travel, Multiverse, and other such shenanigans occur with startling regularity. And Tim is a Bat. He has... ISSUES with trusting other people around his body naked. Himself though? Once they've done they "we're not evil!" Song and dance?

Well, if he can't trust HIMSELF? Then he could never be naked again.

And they? Are different enough to be not creepy, but similar enough to be trustworthy. Plus! Some of them are Cis Dudes. Lucky bastards. Well... sorta. If you discount the whole doomed timelines, distopian worlds, and deeply bastardy Bruces. Okay, so not LUCKY. Just highly specifically less shit.

And it's ALWAYS a THING. Bruce and Bruce posturing at each other like territorial cats. Hood and hood trying to kill each other. Dramatic screaming matchs between Nightwings. It takes hours.

Tim? He has codes. Standardized questions. It takes him like 5... MAYBE 15 minutes to confirm or deny whether this is an "evil alter self" scenario. Then they have to wait hours? Fuck no.

At FIRST? He would go get pizza. Swap notes. Have them go over his case notes to see if a fresh pair of eyes helped. But like... then puberty hit HARD. And the Tim was actually a Tam. With like... boobs. That she WANTED. It was wild. But she was also kinda cute?

And it occurred to them... they could make out. They did. It was awesome.

It kept happening too. Different selves, coming to his world, being sent to theirs. Making out. Exploring stuff. Until? This zombie outbreak in Central. Some idiot punched a hole into a zombie apocalypse world. They helped contain it. But an older future Alt-Tim was there. All rugged and looking for a cure. Holed up in the labs once he helped beat the zombies back behind a barricade.

Tim helped. Made sure he ate, since he didn't know nearly as much about biology or diseases. Listened to Alt-Tim's fears that a cure would be pointless. That too many had.. had...

What started as a hug, turned into something more. Lead to him on a pull out bed, being gently worked open by callused fingers and a hot tounge, lined by unshave jaw. Gripping unwashed hair like his life depended on it as those fingers FOUND things. As that mouth focused on making him as wet as it could. Was pulled into powerful arms, held close and cradling, as he was nudged open by something blunt.

Speared impossibly slow on something that pushed all the air out of him.

Alt-Tim shaking and sucking in air like the pleasure physically HURT. Head tucked tight to Tim's neck, holding him so tight it nearly hurts. Rocking and rocking. In helpless little ruts, to get deeper. To be more connected. To FEEL the connection to another living soul. Like he wants to crawl into Tim's skin and cry.

Tim's first time is all desperate rutting and crushing heat. He can barely breath. His hole pounded in deep, urgent, grinding thrusts like at any moment they'll be forced to stop. Alt-Tim finds something inside him that light fireworks behind his eyes, something he didn't know was THERE, and rutts and grinds and POUNDS against it until Tim is sobbing.

It's the first time but it's not the last. How COULD it be? When Alt-Tim finds his cure and heads home? Tim is actually sad to see him go. But there are other himself.

He finds he likes the older Him's the best. And the supernatural ones are interesting. On rare occasions there's even more then one of him! Of course, they are Bats. Discreet. He gets a reputation. Prudish. Doesn't date. Uninterested.

It's awkward to explain to people, so he usually just... doesn't.

But. He forgot something. Unlike him, but it happens. Do you think the senior bats would let him be around Unknowns without cameras? Just In Case? If you do, you clearly don't know them.

It could be anything, really, the tips them off. Tim lookin a little TOO excited to spend time with his unknown Alt-Self. They way the older man "leared". But protective instincts rear up. They spy in. Get an EYE full.

Tim, being POUNDED on his own bed. Bent in half and clearly enjoying it. By himself?! The check the archives of past interactions. Is this? Normal behavior? Dear lord it IS? How do you move forward?

Do you demand he stop fucking "strangers"? With their potentially dangerous Multiverse disease carrying bodies? Do you pretend you never saw anything. Do you volunteer? Keep "watch" to insure he remains safe around these unknowns?

So many options! Up to you!

-🐼

yessssssssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!! this is so perfectly horny! the only thing better than one tim is TWO tim's fucking!!!!!!!!

tim losing his virginity to some post apocalyptic version of himself who's been stuck in a zombie wasteland, likely surviving by himself because it's sort of a universal constant for tim to be the sole survivor among his friends and family wen shit goes side ways.

that tim is desperately lonely and seeking comfort and connection with tim who is so very turned on and into this aged version of him who ruts deep into him and punches out gut-deep sounds of pleasure.

it's amazing. tim is not a prude it's just that he's never really felt a deep attraction to other people. there's always something wrong or something that puts him off about them. but other hims?

they just get it. they understand what to do, how to touch him. he loves the older hims the most. the ones with salt and pepper hair, with fine lines from stress. a few lucky tims get actual cocks and tim will be damned if he doesn't touch them and marvel over them.

but the older tims. god the older tims. the ones who have experience and know how to fuck or who are so tightly would up and fuck him hard to work off some stress.

they were the best.

the ones that came a close second were the twin tim's. instead of being timothy jackson drake a few universes had timothy AND jackson drake. identical twins who double teamed tim. and if they were as good in the field together as they were with tim then tim understood why that universe's bruce looked so chill and at ease.

so tim is having a nice good time with fucking alternate versions of himself from other universes. he has come to terms with an accepted that the only people he feels genuine sexual attraction for are himself. and as much as tim may have a reputation for being straightlaced and a prude in his universe, his reputation in the multiverse is VERY different. because other universes and especially other tim's talk.

that might be why that other tim looked so eager to see him. unlike the usual crowd this tim was tall and muscular. it seemed to be more of a mirror verse than an alternate universe but tim supposed there had to be some tims out there that was more frat boy like jack wanted rather than the wizards and warlocks dork janet bragged about. but tim is no less eager. maybe too eager.

because barely a day after that universe is packed up and sent home bruce and the others confront tim about his 'habit'. they try their whole 'its dangerous' schtick but tim was not about to risk losing the opportunity to fuck other tim's. it's one of the few times he and the family genuinely butt heads.

it all comes down to one thing. would they rather he ignore them and continue to do it but just get better at hiding it or would they rather let him keep doing his thing and they could keep tabs.

tim is offering to let them watch if they want and that's a better deal than anyone else in his universe was ever going to get.

[melishade]

ironhidearcee asks: Didn’t realise you have done 58 already until I submitted (my bad), so Number 34!

This ask game

asked so far.

(IDK why this was put under the submission tag, but be sure to use the ask button. It just makes things easier. Anyway, Oshern doing something nice for Ymir with Optimus’ help in the Peaceful Timeline.)

“…you want me to do…what?” Optimus raised a metal eyebrow in confusion.

Oshern took a deep breath as he looked up at the metal titan. The two were far away from the cabin and the village below the mountain, since Optimus wanted to stretch his legs in his bipedal. Oshern felt really conflicted in asking this, but this was needed. This was for Ymir. “I need to-!”

“I heard you,” Optimus interrupted him, “But you are asking me if you could sell energon to the humans in the town over?”

“Yes, but-!”

“You are asking me, to take my fuel supply and sell it to humans,” Optimus cut him off once again.

“Well, Megatron has always talked about how valuable energon is!” Oshern retorted.

“Yes, it is valuable, but in the hands of humans, it will lead to something destructive,” Optimus explained, “It is also toxic to anything organic. Why do you even need to sell it?”

Oshern crossed his arms and grumbled. “It’s for…sugar…and honey.”

Optimus was flabbergasted. “Sugar and honey?”

“Sugar and honey are expensive!” Oshern exclaimed, “I’ve seen people sell multiple cows and farms over that stuff! Besides, you somehow managed to get Maria a purple scarf for her birthday one time! I thought you could get sugar at least!”

Optimus sighed in response. Right. Sugar and honey weren’t as available today as it was on a modern day Earth. And even though they did get that scarf for Maria, Optimus and Megatron struggled to get it through conventional means. And they had to steal energon from the person they bought it from because he accidentally acquired it. But he was still curious.  "And you wish for that why?“

Oshern tapped his fingers against his arm. “I thought I’d bake something sweet for Ymir’s birthday, to make her feel better about her carrying my child and…losing Solveig.”

Oh…right. Solveig had only passed away recently, and it’s been difficult for the whole family. The villagers have provided their comfort, but Ymir has been affected by the herbalist’s passing the most, and carrying a child on top of that…

Optimus sighed. “I cannot give you energon to sell, but…I do have an alternative solution.”

===

A few days later

Ymir sat quietly in the rocking chair on the front porch, resting her hands on her round stomach. She quietly watched Megatron’s holoform chopping up wood on a stump with an axe. She saw Maria pick up the chopped logs before carrying it over to the large pile.

She felt miserable these past few days. She should have expected it though. Solveig was old, and her health had degraded over the years. Looking back, the woman was doing everything she can to prepare Ymir for her death, but...it didn’t hurt any less. Optimus had saved her life over nine years ago, but Solveig played a role in saving Maria’s life and helping Ymir open her heart again. She welcomed her in the community, taught her medicine, helped protect Oshern when Optimus and Megatron didn’t trust him. She owed Solveig so much, and there wasn’t much she could do now to pay it back. It hurt her.

Ymir turned her attention to her round belly. The child growing in her stomach would never meet Solveig. She will never know her wit and kindness, and somehow that hurt most of all.

Ymir heard the familiar sound of Optimus’ alt mode and saw him driving right up towards the cabin. However, what surprised Ymir was when the door opened and Oshern stepped out with a woven bag in hand. Her husband ran over to her with such a delighted smile on his face. He walked up the steps and kneeled down in front of her.

“Hey,” He greeted her, “How are you feeling?”

Ymir shrugged in response. She didn’t feel any better or worse physically. She did feel sad, but she didn’t want to tell him that and ruin his happy mood.

“I made you something.” Oshern dug into his bag and Ymir blinked in surprise to see what looked like a small bread roll. But...it smelled sweet, and she could see bits of carrots in them.

“It’s a recipe that I picked up from my former boss,” Oshern explained, “He uses it whenever he and his wife get into an argument. It has carrots, sugar, honey.”

Ymir stared in surprise as Oshern continued to list off the ingredients. Sugar and honey? That was expensive! How did-! Her attention fell to Optimus as the titan activated his human form and walked over to Optimus. Optimus...he helped Oshern. He helped Oshern get something nice for her.

“So you want to try?” Oshern lifted the sweet treat to her. Ymir smiled at him before taking the food from his hands before taking a small bite. Ymir’s tongue was assaulted with the sweetness of honey and the texture of the carrots. It was still warm and the warmth of it brought her some comfort. And best of all, it didn’t make her gag. She swallowed her bite and it actually stayed down.

Oshern leaned back as Ymir scarfed down the treat with vigor. She wiped her mouth once she finished and pointed to the bag.

“I’m glad you like it.” Oshern said before digging through the bag to pull out another one.

“I don’t need you to help me, Optimus,” Megatron reasoned as he continued to chop the logs.

“Don’t you need to train Firelight?” Optimus asked him.

“Firelight is getting her training right now,” Megatron reasoned.

“I’m seeing how many logs I can carry!” Maria exclaimed, huffing as she crab walked to the pile of logs with five of her own in hand.

“So what did you do with Oshern?” Megatron couldn’t help but ask as he placed another log on the stump.

“Oshern asked for assistance in acquiring sugar and honey to make something for Ironspark,” Optimus explained.

“I assume you went to the ‘human reserve’,” Megatron stated, referring to the gold that they had found a few years ago.

“He had boldly asked if we could use energon to sell,” Optimus stated.

Megatron paused mid-swing. “He what?”

“It did not come from a place of ill-intention,” Optimus reassured.

“I’m more surprised that he would be so bold in asking such a question,” Megatron confessed.

“Well...,” Optimus’ gaze fell to Ymir and Oshern as she continued to eat, “He wanted to make Ironspark happy.”

Megatron sighed to himself as he cut the log on the stump. “I suppose love makes one do stupid things.”

(Okay so 82 and 47 have been asked but the rest is free game.)

[huffle-dork]

Swap Across the CrystalVerse Chapter 25: Epilogue

Read Swapboys | Crystal’s AUs|

Read SITCV | SATCV Masterpost | AO3 Link

Alt and Jackie find themselves in a pitch black space. And yet, somehow, they can still see themselves and each other. Just... nothing else. 

Anti appears behind them. "Okay," he says. "Let's--" 

And then, suddenly, someone else appears. Bro, with Mag still slung over his shoulder. And behind him, another Anti with an eye-patch and green scarf. "Okay," that Anti says. "Let's--" 

And then the two Antis lock eyes. And they stop.

Alt stops as soon as he hears the other voice and puts an arm up to hold Jackie back behind him protectively. 

Bro's eyes meet Alt's and he breaks out into a huge grin. "Y-You're okay!" 

Alt and Jackie look relieved, "Chase!" they say almost at the same time. They all look like they wanna run towards each other- but they glance at the antis warily. 

"... how come you guys got an Anti too?" Bro asks, tilting his head. 

"Bro- this one hasn't even met us!" Jackie says. 

"what??? How does that work??" 

"Heh. You guys think you're the only versions of yourselves out there?" The Anti with Bro grins. "Didn't you see that shit back there? Lots of different worlds that are all pretty similar. I thought I was the only one of me, though." 

The Anti with Jackie and Alt nods. "Same. Maybe it's just the two of us." 

"Maybe." 

The Anti with Bro has a short sleeve shirt, and behind his tightly-wound scarf there are bandages around his neck. The Anti with Alt and Jackie is wearing long sleeves, and his scarf is looser, showing a bare neck beneath it. 

"So." Short-sleeve Anti gestures at his neck. "You... took care if it, then? Jack is safe?" 

Long-sleeve Anti nods. "From them, at least. We're having some trouble with IRIS. Did those guys fuck with you?" 

"Oh yeah. Give 'em hell." 

"Oh believe me, I will." A pause. "So... how'd you meet these guys, then?"

Alt watches the conversation with a furrowed brow. "...I feel like you are being really causal about this and its kinda freaking me out..." 

Jackie looks like he's gonna have a crisis thinking about other hims that are like him in the moment. 

Bro adjusts Mag on his shoulder and genuinely seems unbothered. He wouldn't be able to comprehend what all this means anyways. 

Bro then looks at long sleeved Anti and grins, "Oh! We got blasted into his universe by some black magic glitchy fuckery and he helped to save our friends from the messed up guys in your universe! Which... I'm guessing are the same considering how you two are talking." 

"I don't understand," Alt says, glitching forward and in between the two Antis. "How... are you guys the same but- you don't know what the other did? Aren't... you from the same world? The same things happen to you and... that's what makes you.. you- right?"

"Well... yeah, I guess when you put it that way," Long-sleeve Anti says. "We have to have shared most experiences." 

"Otherwise we wouldn't be so similar." Short-sleeve Anti nods. "I think I understand. The moment you guys showed up in our universe, it must've split in two--the version where you showed up, and the version where you didn't. That's why he doesn't know you guys. Hey, d'you remember Marvin's museum heist? With that weird ass doorway in the middle of the exhibit?" 

Long-sleeve Anti nods. "What? Something happen there?" 

"Marvin shot his magic at me while in that doorway. That somehow summoned these guys and two of their friends." 

"Ah. That didn't happen with me. I glitched out of the way just before. So that's the point of divergence." 

"ooh!" Alt says, eyes sparkling as he understands. "It's... its a timeline split! Okay... okay that makes sense!" He laughs, "I dunno why that's easier for me to wrap my head around..." 

"Would make sense," Short-sleeve Anti muses. "Marvin got really fucking obsessed with other worlds after that. If he never met these guys... none of that would've happened." Sadness flashes across his expression. "Jack would be safe right now..." 

Long-sleeve Anti glitches over to him. "You'll get him back," he says. "I know what we're capable of, and I know you can get him back." Short-sleeve Anti smiles. "...thanks."

Bro and Alt look kinda guilty and look away from the tender Anti moment while Jackie blinks a bit in confusion. 

Alt looks back to the Anti they know with determination, "...my offer still stands you know. If you ever need back up we can be-" He then cuts himself off and it dawns on him that... he can't make that promise anymore. The TRVLR is gone. Frustrated tears perk up in his eyes and he quickly tries to blink them away. "...well... n-nevermind can't... really u-universe hop anymore..."

Short-sleeve Anti raises an eyebrow. "I'm guessing something happened to your TRVLR." 

"Sounds like some IRIS shit," Long-sleeve Anti mutters. 

"Ha! That's exactly what it is. They got it from another world with them, stole it." 

"Nice." Long-sleeve Anti pauses. "You don't... think it's related to the rifts, do you? This TRVLR thing?" 

"I don't think IRIS is capable of doing shit like that. But... they might be linked." Short-sleeve Anti looks at the guys. "Well? What happened?"

Alt curls his hands into fists, magic flickering and sparking around him in anger. "...we were tricked. We thought the TRVLR got broken during a trip we took to that medieval world I told you about which is... such a long story. But- we thought it would be okay to take Jackie to go meet his superhero self! But then... it kept breaking- taking us to new places instead of taking us home... and we found out it was all a plan to bring the TRVLR to the universe we were in b-before all this rift stuff happened... and he, another Anti... he took Mag's magic and he destroyed the TRVLR and said he was gonna go d-delete other universes and... we couldn't stop him. The TRVLR tried to warn us! it said the universe was under quarantine but... I..." He gets angrier as he looks towards the still passed out Mag, "Mag got a hold of me right away and I- I couldn't warn anyone or get away and he... he-" Alt takes a couple shaky breaths to keep from exploding in anger, or bursting to tears. He honestly feels on the brink of both. "He got it and... We got sucked into the rifts and separated in the places you both found us. I... I dunno where he is now... who knows how many things he might have destroyed..." His shoulders shake and his voice breaks as he whispers out, "A-and it's all my fault...!" 

"Hey! Alt d-don't say that," Bro says gently. "None of us could have prepared for this..."

The Antis stare, eyes getting wide as Alt tells his story. Then they look at each other. 

"Must've been one of the places with a connection, right?" Long-sleeve Anti says. 

"Yeah." Short-sleeve Anti nods. "Couldn't have been the place with the facility, I don't think the Anti there cares for deleting worlds. Same with that place with the time loop city. So... the other one." 

"Yeah." Long-sleeve Anti nods. "That must be why They sent out a call. Because that Anti escaped. He can't do that much, though, can he?" 

"...connection... call... what are you guys talking about?" Jackie tries to ask.

"Some universes have connections to other worlds," Long-sleeve Anti says. 

"It's hard to grasp, I know, just... accept it and it'll be easier," Short-sleeve Anti adds. 

"Oh.. okay," Jackie replies meekly. 

Short-sleeve Anti frowns. Then he turns to Alt. "Your brother's right," he says in a quiet voice. "Nobody could have prepared for that. It's not your fault, okay? He was already working on a way out. He would have found it eventually, even if you didn't show up. It's not your fault. Okay? For some reason, people love to blame themselves for things that others have done. Not sure why. All it does is let the actual perpetrators escape blame-free, because they don't usually feel the guilt that decent people do. You gonna let this guy get away blame-free while you take it all?" He shakes his head. "It's not your fault. Anyone else in your situation would've been tricked, I'm sure. Even me. Or, uh, us." He gestures at himself and the other Anti.

Alt is quiet and is fighting back tears. 

Bro sees how this is affecting Alt and he throws Mag to the... well what they're standing on- hard to tell with all this black. And then hurries over to come and hug him. 

Alt seems resistant at first but eventually leans in, sniffling. He laughs half-heartedly at Anti's point and shakes his head. "... no...you're right I just... feel responsible..." 

Bro shakes his head rests his on top of Alt's. "You're responsible for your actions only, Alt. No one else's." 

Alt snorts and rolls his eyes. "Okay, Dr. J." 

"He has very good points! That's why he gets paid to say this stuff!" Bro laughs as he nudges Alt. Then, he takes in all the blood on him and gasp. "Holy shit Alt-!" 

From the combination of being tossed to the floor like wet garbage and the sound of the siblings bickering, Mag's eyes finally blearily open. He pushes himself up and has a nice purple bruise forming next to his eye on his left side. He notices the fact they're in complete darkness and there's two Antis and blinks super slowly, trying to process. "...the fucking hell is happening...?" He mutters dazedly.

The moment Magnificent is awake, the two Antis snap their attention to him. "So... who the hell is this guy?" Long-sleeve Anti asks. "A Marvin?" 

"Yeah, as bad as ours," Short-sleeve Anti growls. "I put him on the list." 

"Oh." Whatever that means, it apparently immediately sours Long-sleeve Anti's opinion of Magnificent, and he glares at him. 

"...I dunno what the list is but I'm intrigued... maybe I should have a villains list." Bro muses. 

Alt laughs, "Why bother? We all know Mag is at the top." 

"Not true! ...Overdose is up there too. ...and that King bastard." Chase says with a shudder. 

Short-sleeve Anti glitches over to Mag, crouching by him where he's lying on the black 'ground.' "Here's the deal, Mag," he says. "Right now, you're somewhere that only I--or this other version of me--can navigate. We could very easily leave you here, and you wouldn't be able to do shit about it. So, I suggest you play nice. Otherwise we might decide to just take these three with us when we leave. And keep in mind, your mind tricks don't work on me. Either version."

Magnificent stumbles back as short-sleeved Anti appears in front of him and looks between the two with even wider eyes. "T-There's fucking two of you?!" He gasps and tries to back up. He tries to save face by glaring at the Anti in front of him and glances at the other. But, eventually he sighs and frowns at Anti. "... I suppose that's do-able. I can humor you... until you idiots figure out a way out of this mess, I guess." 

"Man- can't believe Mag is actually scared of you guys," Jackie grins. 

"I am not-!" Magnificent tries to argue.

"Heh." Short-sleeved Anti gives a wicked grin, then glitches back over to the rest. "Well. Clearly, you guys all need to get home. Though I know what you'll say. About that other Anti who's running loose through the multiverse. You'll want to help, won't you? Or... at least you two will." He nods at Bro and Alt. "I'm not as familiar with you, Jackie." 

"I'm starting to realize I might not be the... adventuring type," Jackie says quietly, rubbing at his arm. "B-But I'd like to help where I can...?"

Bro smiles sadly at Jackie and brings him into a side hug, "You've been doing amazing, Jackie..." 

"They can't exactly help if they don't have a way to go to other worlds, though," Long-sleeve Anti points out. 

"Yeah. Which is why we need to ask for Their help. If anyone can figure out something to fix all of this, it's Them."

Alt blinks in confusion and looks between the Antis, "umm... who's them?" 

Even Mag's eyes spark curiously.

"Oh... just the most powerful being in this branch of the multiverse," Long-sleeve Anti says, giving a little chuckle. 

"They sensed when the rifts started opening up and sent out a call for anyone who might be able to help with that," Short-sleeve Anti adds. "I answered. And it seems like I also answered." 

"Sounded urgent," Long-sleeve Anti shrugs. "Especially since They mentioned people were out of place.”

"Hold on a second, They'll probably be coming here any moment," Short-sleeve Anti says.

Jackie notices it first, followed shortly by Alt. The area around them is pitch black, except for a small green dot of light in the distance. It grows bigger, getting closer. Baseball size, then basketball size, then beachball size. It keeps going. The size of a sofa, the size of a room. 

Mag senses it more than sees it as it approaches. When he first entered that world with the horror creatures, he felt Cait Coill's power was an ocean. This is like a million oceans... a million oceans of acid. The closer it gets, the more clear it is that he does not want this power in his body. The size of a house, the size of a building, and the green glow just keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger until the whole sky above them seems to be glowing green. And then, the green glow rolls. A rim of blue appears, followed by an expanse of black. It is a massive, glowing green eyeball.

Magnificent's jaw drops, shuddering as he feels the power wash over him. 

Alt and Jackie gasp loudly. Alt tries to glitch back but realizes soon enough it's futile. They're becoming the very sky themselves. 

Bro is confused at first, "...why is the sky glowing green." Then, he sees the rim of blue and black and he makes a pog face then points up at the sky, "GIANT SAM??!" 

Alt bursts into awed breathless laughter, "i... I guess so…!" 

"Yeah." The two Antis say in unison, nodding identically. 

"What the fuckkk??" Jackie breathes. 

{I AM SORRY IF I'M FRIGHTENING YOU, BUT I CANNOT CHANGE MY SIZE OUT HERE BEYOND THE WORLDS,} a voice says in all their minds. {I WILL KEEP THIS SHORT. IT IS NOT SAFE TO BE AROUND ME FOR TOO LONG OUT HERE. I KNOW ALL THAT HAS HAPPENED. I'M SORRY THAT IT HAS HAPPENED THIS WAY.}

"..i..it's okay," Alt tries to reply. 

"But, the Antis said you could help us, right?" Bro asks hopefully.

{INDEED,} Sam says. {I CAN OPEN A WAY HOME FOR YOU.} 

"What about their TRVLR?" Short-sleeve Anti asks. 

"And the Anti that's going to fucking 'delete' worlds?" Long-sleeve Anti adds. 

{DO NOT WORRY ABOUT HIM YET,} Sam says. {HE HAS GAINED THE POWER TO JUMP THROUGH WORLDS, BUT DESTROYING THEM WILL TAKE MUCH, *MUCH, MUCH* MORE. AS FOR THE DEVICE... THAT WILL TAKE SOME TIME. IT WOULD BE BEST TO FIND THE PARTS THAT HAVE BEEN SCATTERED, AND EVEN I WILL HAVE DIFFICULTY WITH THAT.}

"I-If you could take us back to the world where we found it- we could just grab another one," Alt says, stepping forward. "There were so many more just lying around! All they need to work is my magic!"

{BUT YOU WOULD LOSE ALL THE WORLDS YOU HAVE BEEN TO BEFORE,} Sam says. {AND ALL THE PEOPLE YOU HAVE MET THERE. UNLESS YOU REMEMBER THE NUMBERS, THE ONLY WAY TO FIND THEM AGAIN WOULD BE THROUGH TRIAL AND ERROR.} 

"Couldn't you just give them a device with all the worlds marked?" Short-sleeve Anti asks. 

{NO. MY POWER IS NOT... PRECISE LIKE THAT. IT IS MUCH MORE BLUNT.}

Alt deflates and sighs, holding his arms, "But then... didn't we already lose them? Our TRVLR was smashed into bits... How can you possibly find every piece and put them back together?" He bites his lips, feeling the pinprick of tears again, "...I don't want to lose our way to them... but.. i...i dunno..."

{IT IS ALWAYS YOUR CHOICE,} Sam says. {I PROMISE YOU, I WILL BE ABLE TO FIND EACH ONE. I SEE EVERYTHING, AFTER ALL. BUT THE PRECISION OF GATHERING AND PUTTING THEM TOGETHER WILL REQUIRE AID. PERHAPS FROM ONE OF THE GLITCHES.} 

The two Antis look at each other. 

{BUT IF YOU WISH FOR SOME OTHER SOLUTION, I WILL BE ABLE TO HELP WITH WHATEVER YOU COME UP WITH.}

Alt is quiet for a second and Bro comes up and puts a hand on his shoulder. Eventually he sighs and looks up at Sam with a sad smile. "...I guess I'm gonna have to trust you guys... but I think I can do that...."

{VERY GOOD,} Sam says. 

"Well?" Long-sleeve Anti asks the other. "You or me? I think I have more free time." 

Short-sleeve Anti shakes his head. "I'm already involved in all this multiverse shit. I... have stuff to do back home, but I think I'm more qualified." 

"Hmm." Long-sleeve Anti purses his lips. "I guess... I've only really talked to that man who glitched into the In-Between and that young boy. You have these guys, they've visited your world and everything. But are you sure? What about your Jack?" 

Short-sleeve Anti hesitates. "I... have people who are helping. And I'm sure I can do both at the same time. Take care of your Jack, okay? I'd... rather that happen." 

"If you're sure," Long-sleeve Anti says quietly. 

{REMEMBER, ALT BRODY,} Sam says. {YOU CANNOT WORRY ABOUT EVERYTHING. YOU CAN ONLY TRUST YOU'RE CAPABLE OF HANDLING IT.}

Alt's eyes widen and he looks back at Sam with shock. "... You... was that... you? In the world where..." He swallows shakily. "...where i was corrupted...? or was that Sam... merely passing along the message?”

{THAT WAS ME,} Sam says, a smile in Their mental voice. {THAT IS THE WORLD I HAIL FROM. JACK IS A GOOD FRIEND OF MINE... AND ANTI IS MY MISTAKE. BUT THAT IS A LONG STORY.} 

"You're from that world??" Bro asks, "How... does that work? How did you go from a tiny thing back there to this... massive fucking thing?!" He spreads out his arms as wide as he can to emphasize his point. 

Alt looks surprised too but does smile hearing about Jack. And shudders thinking about that Anti...

{OH... I CAN BE THIS BIG BACK THERE, TOO,} Sam says. {IN FACT, THIS IS MY NATURAL SIZE. I SHRINK DOWN FOR OTHERS' CONVENIENCE. BUT I CANNOT OUT HERE. IT IS THE TRADEOFF FOR THE POWER I MUST USE TO OPEN A DOOR TO OTHER WORLDS.}

“Whattt???” Bro says, dumbfounded. 

“Do the guys back there know about that?” Jackie asks curiously.

{THEY KNOW I AM UNUSUAL,} Sam says. {THOUGH THEY DO NOT KNOW JUST HOW UNUSUAL. JACK DOES, I AM TELLING HIM EVERYTHING SLOWLY NOW THAT HE CAN HEAR MY VOICE NATURALLY. BEFORE THAT, COMMUNICATION WITH HUMANS WAS DIFFICULT. EVEN NOW, IT IS SLIGHTLY UNSAFE THAT YOU HAVE NOT ACCLIMATED, BUT I FEEL THIS WAS AN URGENT CASE.}

"We should get them home then, shouldn't we?" Short-sleeve Anti asks, nodding towards the four others. 

{SOON, YES. PERHAPS IF THEY HAVE A COUPLE MORE QUESTIONS, BUT KEEP THEM SHORT.}

Alt is quiet for a bit before he looks back up, “…how will you find us again? …none of us can get to here. And now we can’t travel to other universes… unless we use that doorway but… I don’t trust that thing one bit.” He glares at Mag who quickly looks away.

{I CAN OPEN UP A RIFT FOR A SLIGHT MOMENT OF TIME,} Sam says. {I TRUST ANTI TO GO THROUGH AND DELIVER ANY MESSAGES OR ITEMS TO YOU.} 

Short-sleeve Anti nods. "And I can get back to my home from anywhere."

“Damn lucky-“ Jackie giggles. 

Alt nods, “…alright. Then… I guess we’re all… good.” He still looks sad and uneasy about all this, anxiety about that escaped Anti clawing at his gut. 

“Our world is gonna be… safe, right? From that crazy Anti?” Bro asks quietly.

{YOUR WORLD IS FAR FROM HIS,} Sam says. {ON A DIFFERENT BRANCH. IT WILL BE DIFFICULT FOR HIM TO REACH IT. ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE. IT IS A MIRACLE THAT YOU HAVE BEEN ABLE TO REACH THIS BRANCH AND HOP THROUGH AS EASILY HAS YOU HAVE.} 

"If you see that crazy guy, I'll be right behind him," Short-sleeve Anti says. "Gonna fucking kick his ass for trying to reach you guys." 

Long-sleeve Anti raises an eyebrow. "You'd go that far?" 

Short-sleeve Anti pauses. "I guess I would."

“Awww have you grown a soft spot for us Anti~?” Bro taunts playfully. 

Alt smiles wide, laughing along. “…it’s good to know we can count on you, Anti.” 

Magnificent makes a gagging motion and Jackie kicks at him. Mag hisses at him.

Short-sleeve Anti gives a small smile. And at that, so does the other one. "Well... we should head home, shouldn't we?" he says. 

"We should. And you should too." Short-sleeve Anti nods at the four of them. 

{THEY WILL HAVE TO GO FIRST,} Sam says. {AFTER ALL, THEY NEED AN ENTRANCE, WHILE YOU TWO CAN GO BACK AS YOU WISH.}

“I guess… this is goodbye for now, then.” Bro says with a sad smile. 

Alt looks back at Sam, “thanks then… for all your help.” He smiles back at the Antis, “And you two too.” 

Jackie steps up next to his friends and laughs nervously, “Dunno if I’ll be doing another one of these things again anytime soon but… thanks.” 

Mag stays quiet and doesn’t look at anyone, rubbing at the bruise on his face.

The Anti in long sleeves nods. "Nice to meet you all. I can see why this other me got attached." 

The Anti they know rolls his eye. "You guys stay safe. I hope I'll see you all soon--to give you your TRVLR again." He glances at Mag. "And you." He doesn't say anything, just glares threateningly. 

Magnificent still flinches slightly- which have the other swaps giggling. 

Then Anti looks back to the others. "Here's to the future." 

{WHEN YOU ARE READY...} A bit of green lightning snaps down from the Sam high above. A small tear appears in the pitch-black of the Space In-Between, and through it... a familiar sight. Home. {STEP THROUGH. GOOD LUCK, AND GOODBYE.}

The swaps all watch in awe as the lightning strikes and then perk up at the small glimpse of home. Calling to them. 

Bro smiles and offers his hands to the others. “Together?”

Alt rolls his eyes with a chuckle. “Cheesy. But… yeah.” He takes Bro’s hand. 

Jackie grins, squeezing Bro’s hand, “One last hold for the road! Just in case it’s bumpy~” 

“By the gods your sentimentality makes me sick,” Mag grumbles. “Can we move on?” 

“Don’t be bitchy just cuz you’re jealous, Marv.” Jackie says, sticking out his tongue at Mag. 

Magnificent snorts but hides his look of anger. He teleports ahead of the others- just long enough to linger in the other side before he disappears from sight. 

The other swaps all roll their eyes and laugh- then, they step back through the portal, together.

They find themselves in a familiar place when they walk through the rift. The Brody brothers' apartment, right where they left. 

Magnificent is not with the three of them. When he walked through, he appears right where he left as well. In his warehouse.

The boys all look at each other and then collapse into different chairs or places to sit around the living room. They sit together in a long long silence- Their exhaustion palpable in the air. 

Finally, Bro speaks up, looking at Jackie. “…did you mean that back there, Jackie? That you don’t think you can… do these trips anymore?” 

Jackie doesn’t meet their eyes as he shrugs. He laughs uneasily. “Well… guess we do have a break now but… y-yeah… I think I… I need to step out of these.” Frightened tears come into his eyes. “…in the last world… I… I almost died- if Anti hadn’t found me in time… I… I…” he takes a shaky breath and holds his arms. “….all I could think about was Zara and the kids… never knowing what happened to me. I… I dunno if I can do that again…” 

Bro and Alt look at their friend with sadness and understanding. 

Then, the door to apartment opens quietly- before there’s a gasp, then an angry female voice yelling, “Jackie Finnigan Mann!! Where the hell have you been?!”

Jackie’s head snaps back to look at who’s at the door- it’s Zara. She looks a mix between angry and relived. “One day at most my ass! Where-?!” 

She gets cut off as Jackie clambers to get to her and almost knocks her over by hugging her tightly. “I’m sorry Zara! I’m so so sorry, love…” he whispers, voice breaking as he holds her tightly. 

Zara blinks slowly but then quickly hugs him back, “oh… love… you’re trembling…!” She rubs his back and kisses his cheek, “…I’m just glad you’re okay…” She looks to Bro and Alt with confusion, “what… happened?” 

Bro shakes his head, “it’s a long story, z… we can catch you up in a bit. I think we all need… some time.” 

Zara nods and squeezes Jackie before letting go- “here… you all look terrible and exhausted… come over to our house and I’ll make you all dinner okay?” Then she blinks and gasps, “holy fuck Alt! You’re hurt!” 

Alt blinks slowly and looks down, “…oh yeah-“ 

“Okay- first a trip to Ollie, then I’ll make you all dinner.” Zara says sternly. 

Alt laughs hollowly and nods, “okay… guess I can’t argue with that… Ollie has Glitches after all…” 

“Isn’t he not supposed to treat you now that you both are dating?” Bro asks with a smirk. 

Alt blushes and Zara snorts, “I think he’ll make an exception. Or we’ll see the other dooms I don’t care just-! C’mon you lot.” She leads Jackie out and Bro soon staggers up to follow after. He pats Alt on the shoulder and then walks out the door. 

Alt lingers for a second, noticing the empty feeling in his pocket more than ever. But, soon enough he follows after his friends. 

None of them had to do this alone.

[moonlight-tmd]

got anymore blitzbee hc or aus?

Well, there is many thing i can incorporate BlitzBee into- and i do, it's my main ship and OTP.

Warframe!Bumblebee, Civil!Blitzwing and Cons Are Good AUs are the ones specifically for BlitzBee.

Part-Insecticon!Bee can also be BlitzBee. Crack AU also cna have osme romance going on. Cyberbeast AU is also a BlitzBee possibility.

I cna give you some stuff relating to either one of those of just plain on non-AU timeline i have.

Blitz loves to sculpt figurines of Bee, he especially enjoys carving out the little horns and eyes on the figurine and giving it that innocent yet divilish look. Of course, he always keeps that smirk on his faceplate when he's sculpting his aft or alt-mode's undercarriage.

Bee will never admit but he wants to be squished by Blitzwing. He's into it more than he likes but he just cannot deny the satisfacition and comfort and maybe pleasure of being pressed against his berth while Blitz lays on top of him full weight. This is the best type of cuddle they discovered so far.

In Part-Insecticon!Bee AU, Blitz helped Bee with therapy to regain control over his broken wings- he'd rub his back and massage some places if he was sore after therapy. Bee was ashamed of having his wings out like that, Blitzwing had very impressive and strong wings, he almost felt unworthy of showing what little he had to offer in return. He voiced it at some point when Blitz noticed he was sad and told him he'd love him no matter what and that wings or not don't matter. He didn't need them to make Blitz swoon for him and it won't change.

Warframe!Bee AU, Bee will defo sing viking-like songs be it from games or not. He likes to sing Skyrim's Dragonborn song when he's forging. Blitzwing will occasionally join him and they'll have fun, although Blitz can't sing for slag. He and Bee will also dance a lot- Be it slow dancing, normal boogie-woogie moving or a couple's dance. They love to dance to "For The Dancing And The Dreaming".

Whenever Optimus bakes something for the group. Bee makes sure he hides some of the treats to give to Blitzwing later. Blitz doesn't have access to any treats or fancy food except oil and some 'natural' rust sticks found in the scrap yard, so he loves when his hummel brings him something different to eat.

BlitzBee loves kisses, it's a human custom but a very enjoyable one. As one would assume they have their own version of french kiss, where Blitz would switch to his black face and shove his wormy glossa down Bee's intake. (Lucky Bee doesn't have a gag reflex cuz he ate whatever he found in trash as a Sparkling) Sometimes when Blitz is annoyed and rants about stuff Bee will leave a trail of kisses on his cheek before kissing him on the derma, which usually ends up in a make-out session and makes Blitz forget he was even upset.

Bee is very crafty, so if Blitzwing makes him figurines and sculptures of stuff ya know he's gonna return the favor. He takes broken glass, some scraps and wires and makes pretty little flowers out of them. He could even pull off stained glass picture if he really tried.

CUDDLES. Just that. They do it all the time. Literally the moment they see each other- instant hugs and cuddles. If Blitz is part of Autobot team, it's cuddles 24/7. He will not let go of Bee unless Bee really wants to. Blitz will hold Bee hostage in their berth when he wakes up at crack of dawn and make him wait for Blitz to wake up around 10. If he was repulsed to touch due to trauma before, now he can't let go.

Blitz will never tell his hummel he talks in his recharge. He'd be trying to fall into recharge himself when he hears murmurs coming from his beloved. It's so amusing, he will talk to him and actually get semi-coherent answers. He loves that if he hums, Bee will also start humming. It's like a midnight radio that he can interact with til he falls into recharge. It's also surprising cuz it apparently works to keep the nightmares away from Bee. If Bee starts to sound panicked Blitz would comfort him and he'll go back to resting peacefully.

Now that's about all i can come up with now. Thanks for the ask!

[witchbugs]

Hello!! Good morning or night or evening or afternoon or whatever it is where you live!!What do you want to happen in Fionna and cake season 2?? Like what aspects of the original series and of season one do you want to get further explored?

OHH MYGOD THANK U. HI HIHI HIII HELLO. :3 yapping ahead

UMM OK SO. personally i imagine that s2 will be either an anthology thing with each episode focusing on different mainworld or alt universe guys + fionna and cake, OR, someone will replace simon as the kind of third main character. simon’s arc is pretty wrapped up and i would love to see finn and fionna adventuring together actually !! however i feel like finn will not be a main character beyond maybe an episode or smth bc his main thing rn is how very clearly not good hes doing after jakes death + in denial about it but in together again we see that never really went away and he was always sort of waiting to see him again after death !! so any sort of a healing arc would kinda contradict that so idk !!

speaking of simon PLEASEEE give us simon and marcy moments PLEASE i was a teensy bit baffled that she was not shown in simons little happy ending healing going to therapy etc montage. we got like 15 seconds of drunk bubbline in episode 2 😭 also this is just me personally but simon and pb have the potential to be so fucking funny the in laws of all time…

im reallyy torn on whether fionna will lose her arm bc on one hand the universe is canonized now and its a canon event of sorts for all finn adjacent timelines and past lives BUT fionna ISNT a varient of him exactly a wish didnt split a new timeline like farmworld, shes created by prismo and just unintentionally inspired by finn ! so im not sure which direction the writers will go but i would think not bc shes not directly tied to his fate if that makes sense

im also quite interested to see more of fionnaworld with magic. tbh its been a bit since i watched the finale and i dont remember exact details on that to theorize rn 😭 im sure we’ll see more of jay, little destiny, i miiight be misremembering but wasnt baby finn there at the end 😭 i think this season will have less universe hopping bc theyre not running but we may see the others in farmworld etc

on one hand i desperately want to see betty BUT i know her story is kind of over and if they undo it that would be really stupid. also i have my gripes with how they wrote some of her stuff im season one but thats. another post LMAO. the best i can hope for atp is a cameo i think. betty cameo save me. save me betty cameo

hmm more characters i wanna see,,, bmo ofc always but also i think a good chunk of mainworld characters without jake will make me sad 😭 susan and frieda would be awesomesauce… lesbians… magic man as well i think he and simon should hang out… HUNTRESS WIZARD… also flame princess just occurred to me bc shes the only princess who seems to like? age? so maybe she’d have a new design :3 more finn + island humans content like with the minerva bots…

OK i think im at the point where this will stop making sense soon bc my brains real empty rn, i have less actual theories that i can remember off the top of my head and moreso just me yapping but ! THANK U FOR THE ASK HOPE U HAVE A GOOD DAY TOO ^_^

[bluecoolr]

For Life or Until Fault

Alt Timeline 2.0 - Darrell x Odile Part 7

Warnings: Very wordy. I get carried away with descriptions and imagery so 😅

Odile belongs to @solmints-messyocdiary

Darrell is mine ♥︎

Once again tagging my beloved @vincent-sinclair-deserved-better who enjoys this story a lot, I think

Odile carefully stepped over the threshold. That morning marked the first time she had entered the house by the front door. She felt a smile in her heart. No more was she a thief in the night. She was a wanted guest, and she kept cupping her hand to her cheek where a childish blush was burning.

Darrell led her by the hand into the drawing room. Isabelle stood up from her pile of blankets and began to jump around in a frenzy. Her two favorite people had come home after all.

A terra cotta vase stood on the writing desk, holding a boquet of wilted pink carnations. Her carnations. He'd kept them all this time.

She watched him fondly as he bustled about, urging her to sit on the furs and cushions in front of the crackling fire.

"Do you want to have it… like that or do you want me to cook it for you?" he asked, meaning the meat.

Odile managed a weak whimper. She didn't want to be a bother, and he had been so kind already. She took a bite from the steak to show him it was fine. She didn't mind.

"I'll just cook this one, too, just so you'll have options." He threw a sliver of butter on the skillet, and it began to hiss and sizzle. "If you don't like it, that's OK."

The cold, red rag of meat was soon forgotten in Odile's hand, as the smell of good, cooked food filled the room. Darrell looked pleased.

"Here." He placed a tin cup in Odile's hands. "It'll warm you up."

She eyed the mysterious dark drink, swilled it around and took a sip. Oh. She touched her lip with the tip of her finger. Chocolate!

She felt ashamed, and a sour pit in her stomach chased away the sweetness on her tongue. Did she deserve chocolate? Or the jacket thrown on her shoulders? The fragrant, succulent steak that Darrell was setting on a plate for her?

And what of him?

Darrell? (The name tasted so sweet. Sweeter than all the chocolate in the world.) Did she deserve him - his kindness - after she had been so deceitful - coming and going as she pleased?

And what if it was all a trick? Suppose he didn't really mean to keep his word? What if he was fixing her last meal.

She stared at the food and the chocolate as though she had been petrified.

She ought to grab the steak knife and fight her way out. Cut him. Oh, but to cut such beauty would be a sin even she couldn't stand.

He was looking sad again. Oh, dear. However could she resist those eyes? Eyes that begged. Eyes that chose to see only the good. Silly man. This is not Eden, and I have glutted on worse things than God's fruit. Eve hath no shame as I do.

But she drank from the cup and she tasted the meat, having not the heart to see him sad for her sake.

He left her alone while she ate. When she'd finished, he noticed her picking on the blood that had dried on her arms. "You can wash it off in the bathroom," he told her, rising from his seat. "Here."

Once he had led her there, she was unwilling to step out of his jacket - like the earth withstanding the change of the season. She wanted to live in it, if she could. It was the closest thing to being in his arms. This strange, soft man, so impossibly like a fairytale prince.

The bath had been too inviting, and Odile shuffled back into the drawing room bundled up in his towel.

"Oh, one second." Darrell rummaged through his chest of drawers and pulled out a baggy gray t-shirt. "Sorry. This is the smallest I have."

The fabric was cottony soft, worn thin from use. A favorite shirt. And he wanted her to have it.

Odile sat on his bed, her head heavy from her wet hair. Noticing her bare feet, Darrell knelt and gently took them in his hands. "You're cold." and with that, he pulled a pair of wooly socks up over her calf, securing them with a cord of ribbon to keep them from falling.

"Why are you being so nice to me?"

He briefly looked up from his handiwork. "Why shouldn't I be?" he said, rising.

Odile's breath hitched and she stopped him from going, grasping him by the cuffs of his sweater. "Don't leave," she pleaded, her heart betraying her again.

"I have to go to work, but I'll be back after sundown," Darrell reassured her. Her olive eyes searched him for a promise, her lower lip trembled.

Darrell pulled her into a comforting embrace. She looked up at him, catching the light off his eyes, wanting to drink him in. He raked her damp hair away from her face, buried his face in her shoulder, whispered, "I'll be back. I'll let Isabelle keep you company. Please, wait for me, sweet one. Please, stay with me this once."

He had to pull away eventually, and when he did there were strands of black hair caught in Odile's fingers. And she sat admiring them, already beginning her vigil for his return.

~

The morning was gray, as it usually was. Tea and breakfast grew cold too soon, spoiling Ilya’s mood. His various rifles were laid out on the scrubbed deal table before him. A near-empty bottle of gun cleaner stood beside his tepid tea. Part of his rag was dipped in his bowl of cemented gruel as he rubbed the stinking cleaner on the gun.

The door swung open and Darrell walked in. He unscrewed the top off his flask and helped himself to the pitcher on the sideboard. “Good morning,” he greeted.

Ilya’s answer was an ill-tempered cigarette puff. The big oaf. He looked chipper.

Ilya had half a mind to give him a faulty gun. Have him kill himself. “You find anything yet?” he asked.

“Nope."

Ilya narrowed his eyes. "Nothing, huh? Not a single disturbed grave since you got here?" he scoffed. "Funny."

"Ideally this would be good news. Unless you're looking for something in particular."

"What would I be looking for exactly?"

Darrell shrugged, his lip curled in disgust. "You tell me. I only work here."

Ilya sized him up. How much did he know exactly?

Before he could say anything more, Darrell went out the door. Ilya snapped the hinge of his rifle in place. What exactly was he doing? The little vandal couldn't just up and vanish. She would have to turn up some time. If Darrell had seen something, he would have said something. That was part of the job.

Ilya didn't trust the little sneak, didn't like the hollowness of his unflinching gaze. It was in his - no, the town's - best interest to keep an eye on this one.

~

Night had long since spread her ink-black skirts when Darrell returned. A frigid drizzle, punctuated by flashes of lightning, warned of more inclement weather. The manor house, with its crumbling walls and rotting tile, was no place to call home, but it had a roof and a hearth. And what's more, it had -

Odile was hurrying to fasten the window latches as the rain came pouring in buckets. She practically flew into his arms as he stepped through the door.

"Oh, hurry! Take these off… O-or you'll get sick."

She pinched the wet fabric of his clothes, blushing hard at the implication of her words.

Darrell did as she asked, leaving on his baggy cableknit sweater for decency. She was still wearing his shirt. The fluffy socks were still tied with the scrap ribbons. But he couldn't help but notice something different. "Did you… clean the house?"

Odile nodded, her soft features turning beautiful with muted pride. "I-I didn't have much to do. I hope you don't mind."

"Oh, no! I owe you. I'm really sorry about the mess. You must be tired."

Even Isabelle's coat look brushed, he noticed.

Outside, the rain crashed down to the earth. "This is good weather for soup," he remarked.

Odile gave him another vigorous nod. So, Darrell went about preparing dinner, which they took together cross-legged among the rugs and floofs. Between mouthfuls, he asked her how her day went - how she'd passed the time. "We can't have you cleaning all the time." Darrell chuckled. "Mm! Here."

He set his bowl down and went to retrieve his small collection of dog-eared books. Odile accepted them like wounded birds.

Odile went to ladle steaming soup into her and Darrell's bowl, making sure he got more mushrooms than she did. He sat back down bearing his Walkman, and he spent a good part of the evening teaching her how to use it.

When it was time to turn in, Darrell urged Odile to sleep in his bed.

Odile looked mortified at the idea. "B-but where will you sleep?"

He assured her he'd be fine by the fire. There were enough cushions to keep him comfortable, and Isabelle seemed to welcome the idea. She curled up right by his side, looking like a pile of fur.

They said their goodnights and waited for sleep. For a while, there was no other sound save for the steady drumroll of the storm. Then, just before midnight - a soft step on the bloating floor. A rustle among the blankets and floofs scattered by the fire. Finally, a content sigh as Odile snuggled up beside her new Prince Charming, who held her close as the night passed on, lifting her veil to make way for day.

~

"Is this a dream?"

He smiled. "It might just be."

Odile felt Darrell's lips on the top of her head.

"Listen," he told her.

It was as silent as the day God had first made the earth, as though the storm had washed everything anew. They could see nothing from the window but a hazy whiteness. It was as if nothing else existed.

"If it is," said Odile decisively, "then I don't want to wake up." She burrowed deeper into his arms, wanting nothing more than to slip into the cracks between his heart and lungs, to press herself among his ribs. To be with him. To be his.

"We can dream awhile," he assured her.

But there comes an hour that wrests those who yearn for each other apart, heralded by blue skies and prodding sunlight.

Darrell left with a promise to return, and Odile took it without suspicion. She watched him say goodbye at the door and give a stern order to Isabelle to be a good guard dog. As the door closed, Odile felt a giddy fluttering in her stomach. A fluttering that ended in a happy little giggle, and Odile lay back on the furs to embrace Darrell's pillow - covering it in kisses.

[dragonsongmakhali]

9 People I'd Like To Know Better

Tagged by: @reikatsukihana, @airis-ray, @mimble-sparklepudding, and @heart-of-corundum - thank y'all! This was fun :'D

Tagging: oh boy I don't know who hasn't done this yet, so I'm tagging folks with reckless abandon👍

@miqojak @seinthood @iron-sparrow @ahollowgrave @blackestnight @crowdsourcedloner @wilanserulia @sumifinalfourteen @thefreelanceangel

Last song: POP/STARS. Yeah, I'm back on it again. I basically cycle K/DA songs as favorites and sprinkle in some Linkin Park and video game bgm to mix things up. I've liked the same kinds of songs since I was a youngling playing DDR and badly singing along to BeForU.

Favorite color: If I can only choose one, black. If I can choose an accent color, red. The "1337 gamer" aesthetic unfortunately has me under a sniper scope at all times, as I unironically love that edgy tech look. My style is "goth programmer" and I do not take criticism.

Last movie/TV show: Star Trek Enterprise. We're on the fourth and final season, as the show wasn't renewed for a 5th season. At least the creators knew it was coming, so the ending shouldn't be super jarring, but I've heard it's not at all what they originally wanted for it. Sad, I really like their long form storytelling. We also watched half of a sci-fi from 1993 called Cyborg^2: Glass Shadow last night. If you're wondering whether we've watched the first one. The answer is no, and we specifically skipped any flashback sequences - it's not really the kind of movie that you need to have your brain wrinkling for.

Sweet/Savory/Spicy: Sweet all the way, I'm basically a colony of sugar ants in the shape of a human. I'm terrible with spicy foods - I don't taste anything, my lips just hurt!

Relationship status: Happily married, we'll be celebrating 5 years married/11 years together next month :)

Last thing I googled: an error message that I hoped would be explained by stack overflow, only for google to find six links that were for completely different set ups/use cases, three sponsored ads for yet another hot new framework that's supposed to make my life easier but actually just installs tracking cookies everywhere while "helpfully" obscuring verbose debugging information, and a single link that was only semi-helpful in tracking down the problem. I'm not mad.

Current obsession: Alt timeline classic WoW tabletop characters my beloved

[calebwittebane]

ok but that alt timeline Ghetsis Wins idea is kind of growing on me already. i think it would be extremely funny And extremely sad. ok im putting the following under a readmore cuz it ended up being longer than i had intended

im picturing N looking dejected while sitting at whatever serene place he likes to spend his time nowadays--maybe chargestone cave now that it’s a perfect place without humans, maybe some quiet forest clearing. powerless arceus and the creation trio are with him, small and plain-looking, but still alive and well. he is lost in thought, and he is feeling glum.

indeed, having experienced some human interactions, some connections (though feeble), and having begun to crave a worthy opponent to his convictions, he has now ultimately gone back to square one. it looks like he really did not belong among humans who are, for all their complexities, just as cruel and thoughtless as he was led to believe. not even others from team plasma are exempt from that; now that their part is done, they are all simply part of the kneeling, groveling masses put in their rightful place.

but what makes him different? and what makes ghetsis different? their dreams aligned in their outcome, as humans lost their hegemony and pokemon are now all free and perfect beings, but the meaning behind those dreams diverged significantly. many pokemon had to be hurt in order to achieve this. the ones that worked hard among team plasma, the ones ghetsis has stolen divinity from. N’s hands are not clean.

and what is ghetsis even going to do with this power? will he create something out of nothing? will he change something small yet fundamental about this world, causing it to become unrecognizable? or is standing so far above the rest of humanity all that he ever wanted? now he is untouchable, untarnishable by scorn, and needs no pity. is he going to be an absent god, only taking any interest in the mechanisms and their inhabitants on a rare whim? arceus says that for a being separate from all other things such attitude is inevitable. well, then--N once again finds himself stuck, as ghetsis is no such thing in his eyes. maybe back when N was very little and understood very little, and futilely looked up to his father in unquestioning adoration. oh, of course, N loves him, that has not changed and can’t ever change, but ascending to godhood has only made ghetsis seem all the more fallible and corporeal and ordinary. more human than ever before. gods are supposed to be beyond one’s understanding, and N feels like he sees and understands the man more clearly now than ever before. all the greed and uncertainty and overjoyed erratic rambling. far too human.

arceus also says that to be in control of all things is to be in control of nothing. now that arceus is but a simple moving part of this chaotic and fragile world, it feels proud of the little control that it has, the space it takes up, the ownership it has over its very own cosmologically tiny and insignificant body. but that is easy for arceus to say--N is keenly aware of the fact that ghetsis never felt safe or in control within his own body, with all the ways it could fail him.

so what is N meant to do now? enjoy all the things that finally are as they should be, he supposes. he, however, is as lonely, as powerless, as frustrated by the limitations of his own mind as he was before. as an individual, he has gained nothing, if making new pokemon friends is to be excluded here. he feels very unloved, and it stings particularly badly to feel very specifically and pointedly unloved by god. although, yes, N sees the undeniable humor in this. “god can’t even decide if he’s my real dad. god didn’t feel like spending too much time around me, so he had my sisters look after me, and i can’t blame them if they resent me for it. god used to give me so many gifts, so many toys and books and art supplies and whatever else i desired, so long as it would fit inside the room i was confined to. god seems weirdly threatened by me sometimes, and it makes me wonder what i could’ve possibly done to him. god likes it when we have some interests in common, but only when he’s better and more knowledgeable at them. god used to like playing chess with me because he always won. god is very scared and alone, and so am i, but i don’t know if we could ever relate to each other. god is educated and clever, but he is also really, really, really stupid sometimes, so stupid that it startles me. god is never going to therapy at this rate, is he”, and so on.

N doesn’t think anyone, any creature, should reign over another. giratina says that all beings and ideas have their equivalent opposite, and all reactions have a response, and so, ironically, someone has to rule over all else to ensure there are no rulers and subjects. palkia concurs--when left to its own devices, all matter succumbs to forces of gravity and clumps together, and nothing is left evenly distributed. dialga adds that all repeating cycles are an act of mercy.

arceus doesn’t say anything. N wonders if it’s embarrassed that its children seem to know more than it does.

[swordsmans]

I neeeeeeed to know about "luffy slips into an alternate timeline/dimension where he "died" instead of sabo and meets an older ace/sabo" I live for stuff like this please

sorry this took me so long! i. didn't realize you had sent an ask rip (that stupid sanji post has annihilated my activity page im in hell)

omg this one is actually one that i'm least likely to actually write because it has the potential to be Long (as you can see with the giant outline), but i wanted to kind of play around with the idea of luffy-less world in the post-timeskip era, because i really like time travel/redo fics where everyone is better/stronger but i think it would be NEAT if the straw hats had to fix things that might have happened if luffy died as a kid. think "doomed timeline" (if that means anything to you). even though the premise is technically ASL i am a straw hat bitch through and through so it's actually more of straw hat fic than the original idea.

here's a copy/paste under the cut (you will see that i write a lot of notes to myself in these things)

takes place post-timeskip era

sabo has no connection to the revolutionary war; he and ace set out as pirates together. because of this, they are not associated with whitebeard (therefore no marineford); instead, they are associated with shanks somehow (maybe; not subordinates tho)

they're no longer two captains one ship, two captains (allied) on two ships (SEE ALT 2)

straw hats have all experienced some form of "bad" ending that leaves them jaded, cynical, or (for some) borderline evil

luffy = strength, joy, freedom optimism; most arcs involve rescues, but i dont think any of the straw hats are "weak" enough to die during their initial crises without luffy, otherwise they wouldnt be straw hats--just win at a massive cost and the next three years would be significantly harder

zoro - frees himself from the courtyard and continues being the demon of the east blue but--

nami - gets the money to free her village, arlong refuses to free cocoyashi; nami seeks out the demon of the east blue in order to take out arlong (in exchange for the money she earned and that arlong has stashed). fight is brutal but they kill arlong; nojiko dies, nami ends up traveling with zoro afterwards bc she has no reason to stay behind with nojiko gone.

they become a well-known, ruthless, and efficient bounty hunting duo on the grand line (bc it earns money and zoro wouldnt make it out of the east blue without her); both are jaded as FUCK bc zoro's dream is stagnant and nami is still wrestling with the guilt of failing her family years later, they're also bloodthirsty because money + power fills the void

usopp - kaya dies in the initial plot to kill her, usopp is blamed and flees the village; gets picked up by the buggy pirates (please this could be so funny please but remember this is supposed to be sad but think of how funny this could be though circus sharpshooter usopp he and buggy would be. so funny in the same room together)

sanji - stays at the baratie until the vinsmokes have a use for him. "wedding"/WCI goes through(?) and/or sanji is a member of the big mom pirates; pudding refuses to kill sanji, big mom is going to kill her but sanji bargains for her life; germa mods are awakened; in order to protect zeff+etc, pretends to be emotionless like his brothers, ends up working as a germa agent instead of staying on WCI because now pudding is as much of a liability as zeff or smth (pudding tho??? pls be nice to her but figure smth out). sanji war crimes

chopper/brook/jinbei remain stagnant

franky - whore do not forget this man was a gang leader who did actual violence; franky family is bigger and badder than ever, babyy

robin - can't stay with crocodile (boring bland unoriginal) put her somewhere she can experience problems; maybe she leaves, ends up on water 7, encounters franky; joins franky family(?) for protection but since she's no longer under a warlord's protection she's fair game for marines/bounty hunters; continues to work as an assassin tho and doesn't stay around much to protect the franky family from the people after her

franky family could potentially work as an alt strawhats "maybe i dont want to die actually" environment for robin; franky helps robin stabilize a little but since they're both kind of Messed Up it's less of a "we're fine actually" and more like "we're fucked up but at least we're fucked up together". they run a Criminal Organization together. they are a gang. robin is an assassin. no one is happy go lucky here even if they have found measure of """"""peace""""""

luffy encounters ace/sabo, it's emotional (obvs; this is self-indulgent)

however his brothers are both fundamentally fine, they are thriving and alive--there's nothing here to fix. you know who isn't fine? his crew.

convinces ace/sabo that they need to find them--whether it's to convince them to join their crew or just to make sure they're okay (whats the motivation here besides luffy wanting them to be happy because they're his family? does he need one? does it even matter?)

ALT 1 are luffy's crew here or did luffy enter the doomed timeline alone. if so--everyone? or just a few

interesting interactions: doomed/real zoro (consider the implications of a zoro who has stagnated/given up on his dream; this guy's got issues but our guy has no self-preservation however maybe they both have no self preservation. interesting convo about worth or value of life without drive)

doomed/real nami (LOTS of grief here babes, but maybe an interesting convo here about strength vs vulnerability)

doomed/real sanji (ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh my god can you imagine. can you imagine how much that would mess him up to see himself become Sanji Vinsmoke)

luffy has fundamentally changed all of their lives for the better but the straw hats are all strong as individuals (physically and emotionally) even before they join the straw hats. that's the point

even if the "doomed" straw hats encounter/join luffy would their lives fundamentally change for the better or are the experiences they accumulate as straw hats what changes them--it's not just luffy going "ur mine now you're happy" it's the development they go through during events/by interacting with each other; maybe some choose to stay where they are but have a shift in perspective of some kind

at least try with asl here

is sabo still kind of unstable? is ace still depressed? how does luffy's absence change them?

ALT 2 consider that they drift apart without luffy to hold them together; luffy makes an effort to reunite them?