#changed au ne because i have plans for it

[ruzhuzhu]

increasingly silli fishe drawn at uni

[alicedusstuff]

English version

Just wanted to write a little because it's been a while since I've done so. And I thought of the bone king; so… here's a little something ^^

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At first, nothing was out of the ordinary. Everything was even more than normal when he opened his eyes. The Bone King knew who he was. He knew what he had to do, he knew what was happening. Everything had come to his mind as if he were in those dreams where you don't know you're dreaming. Where you know that you are you and that you continue to act in accordance with the laws of the world that you inhabit, without worrying about anything.

Then, his eyes met the faux-bronze pupils of that shadow-furred monkey, and the world shook like a dream world would when too strong an emotion was about to jolt you out of your dream. This intrigued him. He had approached the stranger to understand what was happening, despite his mind screaming at him to stop moving forward, and memories he didn't know he had. Memories that were starting to pound his skull. His insides told him that if the world continued to shake like this, if his reality shattered, he would be no more. Still, the Bone King ignored this instinct, because he found it ridiculous. He was an invincible king. Nothing could defeat him, and his threat could not be summed up as a trembling monkey demon feigning bravery to protect a kid the king had planned to get out of his way quickly. He stopped right in front of the demon. He heard her voice, a little more confident than her posture was. The king's world shook again. He heard two voices screaming in his head as his vision flickered between blue and gold, before the latter returned to normal.

“Macaque”

The voices in the king's head had shouted in different tones.

The king then decided to take Macaque with him. It was an abrupt decision. Something he had chosen in the moment. The desire was too strong, and the confusion too curious. No matter how strange his memories were still, or how his mind seemed to have conflicting thoughts towards the monkey demon. He was sure of one thing. Macaque was his. He had to be since his mind seemed so perplexed about him. Macaque was a warrior and a champion. Macaque was the best of warriors. One like those the king deserves. The shadow monkey was his warrior far too deadly, and that made the king frown. He had to train him later, try to toughen him up.

After that, it took a while for Macaque to obey the bone king. The shadow demon had tried to flee, plot against his king, and rally the bone king's minion to his cause. Each attempt had ended in failure that Macaque had regretted each time. His proud little look quickly disappeared under the tremors, and his arrogant smile was now hidden by his scarf, which he pulled up to his nose, to escape the cold and all that it meant. He lost his confidence, answered his king's questions more often, and remained eternally trembling in Wukong's presence. Macaque changed from what the king remembered.

The more he did it, the less reality shook, and that was enough to assure the king that he was going on the right path. On rare occasions, the ice demon that followed him everywhere seemed to give the bone king a strange impression. It wasn't enough to shake the world, as it was with Macaque; but it left the bone king with an unpleasant feeling, and put him in a bad mood for the day. At those times, he sent the fake mayor elsewhere, or ordered him to go find Macaque for an even more unsatisfactory training session. Nevertheless ; and the king knew it, Macaque was the only one who was sufficiently at his level to hold out against him one on one for so long. And if the bone king was sometimes displeased enough that Macaque, during his unpredictable bursts of motivation, managed to make him flinch for a moment, to the point of causing the king to be more harsh towards Macaque, the shadow monkey would never know.

Today however was strange. The Bone King didn't know if the uneasy feeling he felt had to do with Macaque. For some time now, the shadow monkey had been getting closer, he had stopped fleeing from him. Now he was watching her from afar. He always stayed within sight, but did his best to keep the king from paying attention to him. Then he went back to hide for a few hours, and came back to see the king. The times when the two monkeys crossed paths were more frequent, and Macaque seemed to be more willing to initiate contact. It was strange…

New and familiar.

And today, the bone king was almost impatiently waiting for his weak little warrior to come within sight.

He saw her in the corridors. Macaque didn't seem to pay attention to the bone king. The king could see that the demon was preoccupied. By what ? He didn't know, but he figured it must be something to do with him. Him, or the strange kid who ran away from him and came from time to time to confront him before fleeing when Macaque noticed that he was in danger.

-Macaque.

The person concerned jumped violently when he felt his wrist being caught in the king's hand. The Bone King hadn't noticed that he had run to catch up with Macaque. Had he run? But how could he have arrived so quickly alongside the other? He could have teleported. Would he have done it unconsciously? Everything was too strange today.

-My king? You… do you need me?

Macaque's voice had faltered at first, but he brilliantly managed to show the king a half smile despite the trembling of his limbs and the worry in his eyes. A memory was superimposed on the scene. It was too fleeting for the king to retain it, however. The memory was something joyful. Sweeter than this strange moment. The Bone King took it as such, and he felt his tail hit the ground behind him. There was a little silence. Macaque's tail tightened a little on his leg as time passed without the king doing anything to release him. He would have problems, wouldn't he? He had noticed the movement of the king's tail, and it worried him to wonder what amused the king so much? What kind of sadistic thing could have crossed his mind? He never knew if it was the thoughts of the bone lady or Wukong that took priority in Wukong's behavior. When the king needed contact, Macaque knew it was Wukong, and when the king seemed to displease him more than usual, he knew it was the lady. Some days were more bearable than others. Macaque knew full well that the fact that one or the other took control of the bone king's mood changed nothing for him. Both beings hated him to the point.

-You've been acting strange lately.

Macaque's heart raced at the king's observation, and his tail tightened a little tighter against him. He didn't dare move, but his thoughts were racing. Had the king noticed something? So that was how long he had before Wukong and the lady noticed that Macaque had placed a seal on them. He had been stupid to think MK's plan would work. If Macaque could have easily left a magic seal on MK, without the latter noticing it; that would not be the case with the bone king. Obviously the latter would notice the shadow magic on him. Yet Macaque had been so active in being present to hide the fact that the seal was on the king. He had tried so hard.

“Sorry MK… it was a failure. »

Macaque thought as the king frowned a little more.

-It’s as if…

“Get it over with!” »

Macaque screamed internally as fear tore at him. He was totally in trouble.

However, the bone king does not finish his sentence. His world was starting to shake again. The memories came together before him. The face of someone smiling at him and telling someone he loved them. The memory of gentle caresses. The feeling of being supported in his cause, the memory of a rabbit so adorable in his frozen hands before his attention was drawn to a man with a bun, and a stern look, who seemed to be worried about him. Wukong's vision seemed to flicker between Macaque and the memories that burned his retina and melted his mind. Around him, the world was becoming blurry, as if it were going to disappear. Then, his heart jumped, when Macaque's face was covered in blood, Painful memories. Blood and flames on once-shining lands. A face destroyed by tears and blood; a little rabbit who died while crying for him. The feeling of injustice in the mix of memories he didn't even remember.

-something… whispers the bone king.

-Wukong?

The bone king did not correct Macaque. He was too focused on fighting his own thoughts, trying to even understand them. And Macaque's voice seemed to mingle with the memories. Be part of it. He seemed genuinely worried. The bone king's hand left Macaque's wrist to squeeze his shoulders.

-I… I always… I always wanted…

The Bone King searched for words as two states of thought screamed their worldview into his mind. His vision was swaying, and he clung to Macaque like one clings to a lifebuoy. The Bone King never knew what he said to finish his sentence. He doesn't even know if he even said anything. He just knows that Macaque looked at him with immense shock before his gaze softened,

and let fear not give way to worry. Concern for the king. The shadow monkey was still trembling when his hands approached the king's face, and he was still trembling when he silently asked the king to bend down to kiss his forehead.

-Don't cry, my king.

The bone king did not know to whom Macaque was speaking. The six-eared monkey often called him his king, but thought of someone else. But this time, he wasn't sure who this moment of comfort was for. The mode turned white on contact. Silence fell in his mind, his vision stopped disrupting his memories, and calm returned. He was himself again. Macaque still had his forehead pressed to that of the king, his eyes closed, his hands on his cheeks. The bone king is not sure when he knelt in front of Macaque to allow the latter to grant him this simple contact.

He also did nothing to push Macaque away, or to let him know that he was feeling better. Macaque had stopped shaking. Something so rare about the shadow monkey, and part of the king didn't want it to stop. He stayed like that for a minute, just enjoying Macaque's presence.

-My king? I did what you asked.

Macaque was the one who broke contact. This immediately soured the king's mood. Had he not sent this puppet far away? Oh ! That's right… he asked her to place a spy in this strange child's group. The Bone King immediately forgot what had just happened, and focused on the present moment. It's true. He should stop this kid and his friends from coming to bother him. They weren't a threat, but they were getting annoying. It was good to know that he could finally know when they would come to bother him, and act accordingly.

-That's good. Coldly congratulates the Bone King before turning his attention back to Macaque.

The latter was tense again in his presence. But the Bone King could still feel his world wavering slightly. It was annoying. But this day in general was strange.

-You.

-Yes? Macaque is quick to respond.

-Out of my sight.

Macaque did not hesitate. He fled immediately. The ice demon followed Macaque with his gaze until the latter disappeared, then he returned his attention to his king.

-Are you sure of yourself, my king?

The Bone King frowned.

-You think I'm not capable of knowing what I want?

-No! No, of course my king. I was just wondering if it was safe to let this simian get away with it. He could warn the group.

-Hm. Watch him.

The Bone King didn't miss how the fake mayor's smile had widened a little too much. He didn't like it. But he couldn't stay with Macaque here, now. The ice demon flew away, and the king groaned, placing a hand on his face.

-Strange…

[total-drama-brainrot]

TD World Tour AU, where Noah doesn't tell Owen that Alejandro is an eel in London... In Area 51, Noah is accidentally splashed with an alien truth potion (which wears off after a few days) and he talks to Owen... Owen asks Noah what he truly thinks about Alejandro, and Truth-Potion Affected Noah says this: "I have mixed feelings for Alejandro. He's a brilliant, interesting guy and I like him, but I don't trust him. He's like a slippery eel dipped in grease, swimming in motor oil. Basically, Heather with social skills. Wait a minute, why am I telling you this?!"... What if Alejandro secretly heard Noah call him all those conflicting things + Alejandro also learns that Noah is affected with an alien truth potion? 👽

Alright, you got me. I'm an absolute sucker for truth potion plots, especially when the character(s) effected by them are usually either pathological liars or incredibly secretive- of which Noah absolutely falls into the second category, given he shares so little personal information.

I'll gloss over why Noah declined to shit-talk Alejandro in London (though there's so many ways this change in behaviour could be justified) since the focal point of this hypothetical centred around their time in Nevada, so let's start from the beginning of the Area 51 challenge.

Area 51:

Before we start, it'll have to be established that no one was eliminated in London. Let's say that the majority vote went towards Duncan (team CIRRRRH voted him out immediately because they found his re-admission to the competition unfair, I guess. I imagine he'd also vote himself, if not as a plan to escape the competition he'd been actively skiving from, then just as an act of spite) but Chris instead claimed it was a rewards challenge- much like he does in Greece- because he doesn't want to let Duncan slip away again so soon.

I see no reason to alter the first part of the challenge- the sneaking into Area 51 portion- since team CIRRRRH's course of entry is fairly straightforward. Noah's presence doesn't make much of a difference to how it would play out; the majority of them throw their rocks and run, Owen gets lasered over the fence and Owen-napped, ect ect.

When both teams have managed to make their way into the Black Box Warehouse, Noah immediately suggests they should prioritise rescuing Owen. Tyler's quick to agree, since he's a firm believer in the "no man left behind" mentality (and he probably makes a not-so-subtle jab towards Noah for his chance of tune compared to London, where both he and Owen did leave Tyler behind) leaving Duncan and Alejandro to split from the group- Duncan in search of Gwen, and Alejandro just takes the opportunity to finally be free from his 'incompetent teammates' and prioritises finding an artifact.

Noah and Tyler come across the contraption Owen's trapped in, Tyler punches it in a futile effort to break it open, and the face hugger cube drops into Noah's hands. This is where the point of divergence comes into play; Tyler has his E.T. moment with one of the face huggers, but Noah- who's a tad bit more observant than Alejandro, and used to dodging surprise attacks from his various older siblings (and Izzy)- anticipates his own face hugger attack and promptly starts a game of cat-and-mouse with a taser alien hot on his heels.

The commotion of which attracts the rest of his team. Alejandro and Duncan arrive on the scene to see Tyler being electrocuted by an alien and Noah running in circles evading another.

Duncan attempts to rip the face hugger from Tyler's face, finding success at the cost of sending Tyler trampling into Owen's captive contraption (essentially taking Alejandro's canonical place in this scene) and inadvertently freeing Owen.

Meanwhile, Alejandro swipes up the nearest box he can find and snags the alien chasing Noah, who's still very loudly panicking as he flees, and succeeds! The alien is swiftly captured into the box, netting team CIRRRRH their artifact, and Noah promptly goes careening into the nearest tower of junk in his face hugger-fuelled hysteria. This causes another box to topple from the peak of the tower, landing directly on Noah's head and spilling its contents onto the bookworm- glass vials filled with a mysterious, luminescent cobalt blue liquid shatter into pieces drenching Noah in whatever they contained. (i.e. truth potion.)

Owen has his false-amnesia moment, characterised by his Joker makeover, and Alejandro enacts his revenge post-hypnotic suggestion after being addressed as "Al" one too many times.

Noah, understandably, swiftly objects to Owen's treatment and demands that Alejandro snap him out of it. Alejandro concedes, and Owen's brought back to himself. At least, for a moment, before the fatigue of having his mind messed with sends Owen into near-catatonia (the same as canon), meaning he has to be ferried through the Warehouse and back to the Jet by Alejandro and Duncan.

Things carry on canonically from there; Noah's just sort of there for the most part, though there'd be a minor hint to his newfound proclivity for honesty. Something along the lines of him giving an uncharacteristically honest answer to Owen as to who he's voting- Tyler, of course, since he was the one who ultimately threw the challenge for them... and also because Tyler still holds some resentment towards Noah for what happened in London, and Noah feels guilty about it every time he looks at the jock. Wait, why did he say that?

Sometime between this and the elimination scene, Noah wipes the truth-goop off of himself, but not before the effects have already started.

Tyler's voted out, yada yada yada.

The Jet:

Thus begins the start of "Picnic at Hanging Dork". Team CIRRRRH, consisting of just Alejandro, Duncan, Owen and Noah, are slumming it up in the Economy Cabin. Alejandro tries to rally his team by asking how to break apart Courtney and Heather's tentative co-operation. Owen suggests having Alejandro seduce Heather, since it worked for both Bridgette and Leshawna. Duncan makes his "Babe Olympics" comment. Noah pipes up that playing with someone's feelings is pretty scummy, even for someone competing for a million dollars.

Alejandro takes Noah's reluctance towards his methodology poorly; he hadn't spoken up before, when Alejandro had utilized the same strategy against other girls- and even Owen noticed that, so surely Noah did too- so why was he to outwardly against him using the same tricks? Duncan agrees, and offers ''his'' idea of having Alejandro flirt with Courtney to throw both her and Heather off their games (since Heather has an obvious crush on Alejandro), and things follow canon.

Then, the scene between Alejandro and Courtney happens. Noah scoffs at the display from the side lines, prompting Owen to ask him why he's so against Alejandro's plan.

"I mean, you never said anything before, when he flirted with Bridgette and Leshawna." Owen comments, light-hearted in nature but with an underlying questioning tone.

Noah's eyes flicker with a cobalt glow, easily mistaken for a trick of the light, and he speaks without even thinking.

"Yeah, because I was trying to give him the benefit of the doubt. Bridgette was happenstance, and Leshawna's whole deal could've been a coincidence, or some massive misunderstanding. But this?" Noah extends an accusing hand out towards a smug looking Alejandro, then pans it over to a flattered Courtney, "He's outright toying with Courtney's feelings after she was cheated on in front of an international audience. It's scummy."

Owen nods in understanding, momentary contemplation evident in the pouted curve of his lips, and he chimes in.

"Does that mean you don't like Al?"

"I never said that."

"Well, how do you feel about him, then?"

Again, a flash of blue light against the hickory backdrop of Noah's eyes, and he responds thoughtlessly.

"I guess I have mixed feelings about him. On the one hand, he's slippery, like an eel dipped in grease, swimming in motor oil. He's like if you took all of the worst aspects of Heather, wrapped them up in a pretty package, and gave them social skills..." He holds his hands out before him in a scale-like manner, with the left tipped downwards and tie right raised by his chin. Then, the two hands swap positions.

"And on the other hand, he's brilliant. I've never met anyone as talented as Alejandro; he's smart, he's athletic, he's funny. It's almost unfair just how perfect everything about him is- even his face is perfect. It's ridiculous! Infuriating, even. It's so hard to dislike him, even when I know he's bad news, but that doesn't mean I trust him."

Owen stands slack jawed beside his best friend, both impressed and stunned at the raw honesty of Noah's tirade. Noah, now a little more aware of himself, realises that he's said more than he intended to- more than he thinks he's ever spoken in one go throughout the entirety of Total Drama. He's not usually one for speeches, after all, let alone honest ones.

He's always been the type to play his cards close to his chest, so why...?

"I, uh, didn't mean to go off like that."

And he also didn't mean to admit it, either. What was going on?

The look Owen gives him is, in a word, vivid. The blonde has a shit-eating grin stretching across his face, a sort of elated smugness practically glowing from his features.

"Sounds like someone has a cruuuush!~"

What? No? No! Not at all, where would Owen even get that idea?!

Noah splutters to correct Owen's assumption (to disastrous results, because he does sort-of has a crush on Alejandro, so the truth potion doesn't allow him to outright deny it), and in his preoccupied state he misses how a calculating pair of sage green eyes never seems to stray from him.

Alejandro has a lot to think about in regards to a certain cynic, it seems.

[lemonhemlock]

so, i'm going through your anti team black tag and living my best life, but one post in particular that you made got me thinking.

“george made damn sure rhaenyra’s bloodline sat on the throne at the end bc, if the hightowers won, house targaryen would have been reformed, and he couldn’t kill them all off at the end of the main series”

i'm pretty sure this might've just been a joke, but it makes me curious. do you think something like a targaryen reformation would be possible, hypothetically speaking? i certainly wouldn't mind it in a "greens win" AU scenario, but that's just me. i wanna know if anyone else sees potential in this. 💚💚💚

Hello, yes, this was mostly a joke, as it happens. 😅 (anon is referring to this post) To introduce another lengthy parenthesis, I remember at the time that some of the reactions to that post were in the range for "why doesn't anyone understand that the Hightowers are also feudal lords vying for their own interests and not some great reformists out to save Westeros", which... Listen. 😄 To put equitably, this fandom has a considerable issue with knowing when to level criticism and when to just treat banter as lighthearted horsing around and not take it too seriously. Something which even I'm not exempt from, I don't think. 🤷‍♀️

So, in the interest of making a meme, that post was kind of half-true in that it simplified a more nuanced concept (that was never an avenue that the author decided to explore anyway) for the sake of humour. I have, in the past, detailed my thoughts on House Hightower and what I think is their role in the wider narrative. This is based on the information we have on them presently. If I'm wrong, then I'm wrong. Who knows, maybe Lord Leyton and Melara plan on blowing Oldtown up for shits and giggles. We don't have to guess everything correctly - another aspect this community struggles with in their fandom wars and obsession with having the most correct, morally pure take.

Regardless, yes, the Hightowers obviously are a privileged family at the top of the social food chain, benefitting from the exploitation awarded by feudalism - a political-economic system based on vast inequality. Therefore, any type of reform they might be willing to undertake will be limited and not really something that significantly changes the status-quo. Just like the beloved, fan-favourite, and mostly confirmed "winners" - the Starks. A third element that our fandom has trouble accepting is the concept of incremental change. I feel like it would basically be a truism to point out that incremental change has been the most reliable vector of socio-economic evolution throughout human history. So, bad news for them, I suppose, but any superficial study of history will reveal that feudalism hardly collapsed overnight. Which leads us back to the idea that any small change, no matter how limited, does matter in the long run, because, as time passes, it will be compounded with another small change and so on.

Anyway, coming back to the question. Would Targaryen reformation be possible? Certainly! GRRM could have made up any story he wanted. Anything is possible if you plan for it and it makes sense within your worldbuilding. As it stands, the Targaryens are foreigners with a questionable culture, hailing from a land that used to engage in practices that even the feudal Westerosi found backwards, distasteful, barbaric or immoral: slavery, human sacrifice, incest, great feats of violence such as pillaging and conquering neighbouring lands for the sake of feeding their population to their volcano gods etc. The Targaryens also have fire-breathing monsters that, while not exactly enough all the time to prevent any rebellions from happening, are weapons that no one else has access to and that can cause a great deal of damage that no one else can replicate.

So, in order to "reform" and integrate, they would need to renounce all that. They would need to do it the traditional way. They do some of the work, but never go all the way. They accept the main religion of the land, but they don't let go of inter-marrying, because they don't want to lose their access to dragons. There are attempts to integrate, but, by the time of the events of the main series, they have returned to incest. Funnily enough, Aegon V plays a role in both - he marries outside of the family and has no dragons left, but his succeeding son and daughter marry each other and, eventually, Aegon decides that bringing back dragons is not such a bad idea after all. I do think that the symbolic weight of Daenerys having both her parents and her grandparents as brother-sister sets is laying the "dragon blood" metaphor thick - and that it holds more magical weight than any mathematical calculation of her actual watered-down Targaryen DNA.

In any such scenario where GRRM decided to go down a Targaryen reformation path, IMO it would have been thematically-relevant to ease into it via a marriage alliance with one of the oldest families in Westeros - a well-respected, rich house that also has close links to both the only centre of higher education and the main religious organization in the land. Hence the meme. :) But it doesn't last and the Targaryens go back to their dastardly ways eventually, that's the point of them in the story, because the author chose it to be the point.

[apollothesunrat]

Y'know what I want to do?

I want to to create a "What if Kronos rose early" au(possibly a collaboration?). Because the Great Prophecy never says when Kronos has to defeated, never says if it is before or after he takes over. But if needed I could change the prophecy to make it fit better

Now this is by no means my own idea. I got the idea from multiple tiktoks and fanfics that presented the idea in iteresting eays that wanted me to make my own version.

Let ne explain below the cut because I do believe this will get lengthy.

In this universal, I believe a good majority of the characters we know would still exist because of the Fates. Most notably: the seven, Nico di Angelo, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Grover Underwood, Will Solace, etc, etc. Because I do not believe the gods would disappear. Just because they are overthrown does not mean they are forgotten, many pagan mortals would still believe in them as well as the children they have. I believe they would simply go into hiding like many titans did when the gods took over. They simply hide away and occasionally have demigod chimdren in the hopes that one their children will help them overthrow Kronos again one day.

But that isn't the most important thing right now. The main story/idea for the stroy is all I have planned at the moment.

Our main characters are the big three children. We start our story with Bianca di Angelo at 19, Nico di Angelo at 17, Thalia Grace at 10, and Percy Jackson at 5. It begins seven years after the di Angelo's were released from the hotel, they were released about a year after Kronos took over because Hades didn't want to risk them getting killed or hurt simply because they knew nothing of the outside world.

I plan to have the story progress one year per chapter until Percy is twelve and then start following a timeline closer to the og books. Basically Percy turning 12 starts progressing canon events. It is by fate that certain characters die and all that, those type of canon events.

I honestly don't have much planned after that because I lost my original paper on the au.

So yeah, if anyone would like to help me or possibly collaborate on this, I believe that could be fun because I need more ideas and it is easier to create when I have someone helping me not put in dumb stuff.

You can reach out to me through dms here or whatever you want.

[ellewritesandrants]

What about a Post Season 3 AU where Billy lives and he’s wracked with guilt over surviving while so many others died by his hands and he ends up bonding with Will because of it?

Somehow, during his recovery, Steve had been a constant by his side, initially becoming his best friend and later on, becoming more on Steve's insistence after having a bisexual crisis resolved by Robin.

Billy and Steve had been happy in the beginning but not everyone was supportive of their relationship. Everyone distrusted him and basically told him that he doesn’t deserve Steve.

Almost everyone threatens him, including Nancy who threatens to shoot him point blank the way she should have and Hopper who threatens to arrest Billy if he ever hurts Steve again.

He only has the girls who support him and try to change everyone else’s minds about him. It gets so bad that Billy ends up doing the breaking up for them and Steve confronts the party about what they said to Billy that caused him to break them up.

It causes a rift in the party since El and Max want nothing to do with the guys while they consider Billy to be the devil while Will is conflicted because if they consider Billy to be evil, that must mean he’s evil too.

It all comes to a head during the fight after Mike says that Billy deserved to die for all the people he killed and Will asks if he thinks the same about Will after the trap he’d unwittingly set for the people at the laboratory.

Will runs off and everyone goes to find him but he ends up going to Billy who he’s talked to a little bit about the mindflayer. He ends up crying to Billy about the guilt of causing deaths but doing it under the influence and he rants about how unfair it was that they all forgave him but that they couldn’t forgive Billy.

Billy explains that Will is beloved while Billy is hated. The deaths only confirmed that he was a bad person in their eyes while Will was never changed.

Will argues that Billy’s a good person too but Billy just laughs and tells him about almost running them over when they first got there. Will argues that he’s changed and that he isn’t the same person just like Will isn’t the same as he was pre-possession.

Billy says it doesn’t matter if they don’t want to see that and I can’t force them. The only thing keeping him here was Steve and Max and he’d ruined his relationship with Steve so as soon as he got the okay from the doctors, he’d work on convincing Max to go back with him.

Will asks about stories about California so Billy tells him all about sand, sea, beach and boys and when Will asks if being queer was more accepted there, Billy is realistic in explaining hate will always be there but they’re more tolerant there.

Billy dares ask about Mike and Will bitterly tells Billy all about it and how he doesn’t blame El but he doesn’t know how to feel.

Billy jokes about creating a Lonely and Possessed Williams Club and Will jokingly offers Castle Byers as a base. Billy’s curious about where and what it is so he gets Will to take him there.

It’s a lot more rundown without proper upkeep but Billy sees the potential and he asks Will if he can update Castle Byers and if wants to learn how to build as a side project, partially because Billy wants to know how it feels to create instead of destroy. Will immediately catches on and he runs to ask his mom if he can, who immediately agrees.

Joyce had heaved a sigh of relief when she saw her son running towards her after hearing from the other boys that he had run away during an argument.

Will tells her that he doesn’t want anything to do with the boys so she respects his wishes and tells them that he’s home but he’s tired from all of the running.

Will manages to drag Billy inside for dinner, surprising both Joyce and Jonathan but for some reason, Will is a lot more animated so they just go with it.

Joyce asks how Billy planned to rebuild Castle Byers on his own and Billy ended up telling them about how, when he was little and his mom had left, Neil would force him to go to whatever construction site he worked on to help speed things up by helping after school.

Billy had known how to build treehouses, houses and buildings as well as how to handle power tools well before he started puberty and he’d only stopped when Susan and Max came into their lives because Billy was then made Max’s babysitter instead.

It also allowed him to be able to use all of the power tools his dad had often threatened him with and left in the garage after he’d ran off after finding out Billy had a possibility of being crippled which he’d thankfully managed to avoid.

They had managed to keep the house after the government paid off the mortgage to keep Max and Billy quiet about the true reason of his injuries as well as repairing the Camaro and taking care of Billy’s hospital bills.

Billy however, had been saddled with mandatory therapy sessions which led to him getting a service dog a few months in after his therapist noticed how badly he’d reacted to touch.

He’d gotten this pretty big service dog who was good at noticing when his anxiety spiked and when his PTSD was triggered. Having Ace there to ground him and get his attention was a big help for Billy and it helped that Ace loved cuddles which helped stave off the touch-starvation he was diagnosed with.

Billy, Will and Ace spend a lot of their afternoons and weekends building Castle Byers while avoiding everyone else, except for the girls who knew what they were doing.

They had even requested an expansion of Castle Byers that would allow them to have their own space and Will had graciously allowed them to have it, drawing out the new plans for Castle Byers with all of their help.

Joyce is the only adult who looked at Billy as if he was still a child and she cared for him as if he was her own son. She loved how Will came out of his shell under Billy’s gentle guidance and how Billy was teaching Will important life skills without pressuring him to be masculine like Will’s father had done.

Billy had come out to her after a few building sessions and she had only pulled him into a warm hug and told him that he was welcome here whenever he wanted.

In helping Will, Billy ended up helping himself with physical labor, processing the possession and everything. He had started to take small steps in fixing his relationship with Max and forging a brotherly relationship with El who was genuinely nice girl if a bit naive about the world.

Will had started to become like his little brother, to the point where Will asked him for homework help instead of Jonathan because Billy had been an honor student before the incident and would return as one, determined to graduate top of their class so he could get into a good college.

Steve had wanted to chase after Billy to beg him to take him back but no amount of begging changed Billy’s mind and he still believed that Steve would be happier if Billy was out of his life.

He noticed that Billy was usually gone during the weekends and Steve thought that Billy had moved on so he gave him space. It was only when he had visited the Byers that he saw Billy again after a few months and he was well on his way to returning to how he used to be.

He’d asked Joyce what Billy was doing here and she set the record straight about Billy’s whereabouts and how the friendship between Will and Billy had definitely helped them both recover.

Steve peeks at his ex, patiently helping Will build a sanctuary they could hide in and he remembers why he fell in love with Billy. It renews his want to get his boyfriend back and this time, he manages to enlist Max and El’s help.

The two girls get Will to help them too and they devise a plan to have Steve waiting for Billy in Castle Byers just as soon as the door is in place and to have El lock the door and for Max to have the key.

Everything goes as planned and Steve's there with flowers, chocolates and a picnic basket he'd packed to match the beautiful picnic set-up that the girls and Will had left for them.

Steve doesn't give him the option to decline their second first date and by then end of it, Billy's confessing his insecurities and anxieties with their relationship to try and push Steve away.

Steve takes it all as the cry for help that it should be and he promises to Billy that he isn't going anywhere and that Billy was the first thing since the Upside Down happened that truly made him happy.

Reunion kisses are had and the trio of teens interrupt before it can get any further than PG-13. The next weekend has the group putting the finishing touches on Castle Byers, with the girls dragging Billy to the Mall to buy furniture for their room in Castle Byers.

As soon as they were in the finishing stages of the build, Will hadn't really felt motivated to finish it because it was something he'd made with his friends in mind, of them having a proper place to play D&D in and for him to be able to draw and work in.

Billy could sense it and so could the girls so Billy had Steve confront the boys about how they really felt about Will. Mike had been completely distraught at losing Will, to the point of realizing his feelings for Will which made things a lot easier.

Since Billy had wanted to make up with the kids and to surprise Will for his birthday, he had Steve chaperone them as they all went shopping to furnish the newly renovated Castle Byers.

The boys had been amazed at the work Billy had done and they apologized for being unfair and mean to him. Steve had told them under no circumstances were they allowed to try and ruin his relationship with Billy again because he would always choose the blond over them if it came down to it after everything that happened.

The boys missed their friend and their babysitter so they found a way to move on and let bygones be bygones the way Billy had. They helped Billy figure out how to decorate Castle Byers just in time for a surprise birthday party for Will.

His friends had kept apologizing via letters and notes and they had upped the ante leading up to his birthday. Mike had even made a sign that said "I'm an idiot but I miss you. Please forgive me?" on it.

Will had already agreed to forgive them as long as Billy had forgiven them and Billy had told Will over the weekend that the boys had come up to him to apologize so he was just milking it.

He sent invitations to them for his birthday party as the ultimate sign of forgiveness and he was surprised by what they did with Castle Byers in the best way possible. It was just like how he'd imagined it, largely thanks to Mike who remembered every detail about how Will had wanted it to be if he'd had the time and money to make it perfect.

Mike and El had long since broken up for good and Mike had been transparent about his feelings for El and for Will for once which made things easier for the trio to work around. El had already given Mike her blessing to ask her new brother out a month after the birthday party but Mike wanted it to be a grand gesture.

After terrifyingly enlisting Billy's help, Mike asks Will on a date just before Winter break started. Neither of them had gone to the Winter Formal that year because the entire Party had decided to stay in Castle Byer's warm and cozy walls and have a D&D campaign instead.

Come the new year, both Billy and Will had found boyfriends who had fought to be the men they wanted and needed and who wouldn't take their love for granted after everything they've been through.

The gay Williams found success and happiness after realizing they did deserve it regardless of what they've been through.

[legrandefungus]

Fungus writes more of his EoS AU.

After this, I might wind up posting a bit out of order. But! This is where a few things get set up! This is also where I introduce some music! It's just something I think fits the scene.

It's been a few weeks! Bidoof, expectedly, is trying to be as friendly and helpful as possible.

Yes, weeks. Looks like the timeline's going a bit slower. Thank goodness for that. I'd hate having a month, give or take, to prepare for the dark future.

Shalvy, too. Does having someone who treats him like a normal person is surprising? I guess my brand of baseline respect for all people is effective. It's too bad I have to hide so much from you.

Though... Something's concerning. I bumped into Drowzee and nothing happened. Was it because I already know about i-

"Ah! Sorry, Mr. Chatot!"

He was annoyed. First off, how casually the vulpix acted! But at the same time, the child was running himself ragged. One expedition a day? Sometimes two if they line up? The exploration notice board's been seeing a lot of use from the little one! But... that pace wasn't enthusiasm. Ennil looked horrified at the very concept of a break.

"Ack! Please watch yourself, Ennil! It would reflect badly on us if..."

I didn't hear what he said after that, I was instead thrust into something.

"You... Never trusted me?"

It was cold. Damnably cold. I could see the heartbreak all over him. What happened?

"..."

I couldn't make out the other voice. The blowing wind obscured it from me.

"But I-"

"..."

"!"

Who are you? What's going to change? I should warn Chatot, but he doesn't see me as someone to acknowledge yet. Blast, the future's already going to be screwed up, what's ne-

"ENNIL!"

"Wh-huh!?"

"Are you alright? You fell over."

"Oh, sorry! I did some training with Bidoof earlier today. I must be more tired than I thought!"

"Well, glad to see you're so enthusiastic! But don't overdo yourself, either! You have to know your limits."

If only. If something's going to change, I have to prepare as much as I can. Me reaching the end of my endurance is the baseline of where I need to be.

"Apologies, I need to do as much as I can. Then the other members won't have to worry as much!"

Preparation is key, I need to learn this desperation to survive the future.

That's a lie. He spoke very rigidly, and what kid uses the word 'apologies!?' Still, it looks like how he's acting has lined up roughly with Chatot's first impression.

"Still, you should leave some low-ranked missions for the others. And your partner's been looking exhausted lately, too!"

"A-ah, right. Sorry, Mr. Chatot."

This kid's not sorry at all! He should be taught a lesson before he hurts himself!

"No! For the rest of today and tomorrow, you're to be barred from taking any missions or going on expeditions! You can clean and help around the town in the meantime. Shalvy will be reassigned to do some expeditions with Bidoof."

For a single moment, Chatot saw it. Terror, plain and simple. Not the look of a chastised kid, or one scared of punishment, that's for sure.

"...Yes sir." Well. That puts a bit of a wrench in my plans. How annoying.

What are you running from, Ennil? If anyone, he should at least be able to tell the vice-guildmaster. Everyone's willing to help, if only he opened up.

...

Turns out, doing work for the Kecleon Brothers was pretty easy! And a bit relaxing, too. It was nice getting to let loose and actually use some of my old skills.

They kept an eye on him just a bit to start. Give the kid some simple jobs for the shop, make him happier, maybe a slight discount on their next purchase over 1000 poke too! Then the little bastard went and started doing things that were definitely not childlike.

That's another Gravelyrock. A few quick jots here and there cleared that up.

"What's the tax rate again?"

...

"I think there might be an error in the pricing here. Are you doing a markdown?"

"Oh, that's a sale we're doing! Draws in the thrifty types."

"Makes sense! Gotta have some way to get the stingy folks to make a purchase."

...

"Hey, you think we could hire this one in the future?"

"He's strange, that's for sure."

Strange was an understatement. He was already on par with some of the newer Kecleons in the business, and it still looked like he was holding something back.

Still, the brothers were quite happy to have him working for the day. Most ADULT pokemon would have gotten a headache by noon with all the numbers floating around. The vulpix hardly complained and stayed even to the closing times.

"Say, Ennil. What might be your thoughts on working with us?"

"Oh! I could do some work from ti-"

"Genuine thoughts, please. You're good, but we can smell a performance from a mile away."

"..."

"Blight, am I really that obvious?"

"Pfft-!"

The whiplash going from hopeful, somewhat happy kid to the tone of someone who tripped and lost newly bought reviver seeds proved too much for the younger brother, who burst into laughter.

"Keheh! No, we're just good at sniffing out con artists and folks putting on a show. Too many of them try to get discounts for some reason or another."

"Oh, that makes sense."

"Children also aren't supposed to know about the concept of a tax well. Especially not the one involved with merchants."

"...Right. Forgot about that."

"So, thoughts?"

"I'd have to ask Chatot, but that sounds good."

"Khhheeh... Ahem, sorry, sorry! Please do! It's wonderful to have someone who knows enough to keep up."

"Oh, and before you go..."

They kept an eye on him a bit earlier, too. So, a bit of an investment now might mean a much bigger payoff later!

"WHA-AKC-"

I'm a bit glad my voice brought me into a coughing fit. A lot more talking today than I was used to. Definitely terrified that they knew I was wanting a stronger fire move. But Flamethrower? That might just be what I'll be needing.

...

"I force you to take a break, and you find a way to do more work."

"..."

"I already heard it from them earlier in the day. The two were very enthusiastic about your help. Just-" Chatot sighs. By Arceus, this kid's going to make him retire early. "We'll figure something out. Klefki should almost be done with dinner."

"Alright!"

Strange Journal, page 2.

𝑊𝑒𝑙𝑙, 𝐼'𝑚 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑦 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑎 𝑗𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑙/𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑡𝑜𝑜. 𝐴 𝑗𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑙𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑐ℎ 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑙𝑒𝑑𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑖𝑡, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙. 𝐼𝑡𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑦 𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑤𝑠, 𝑡𝑜𝑜. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦'𝑣𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑜𝑙𝑠. 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑦, 𝐼'𝑣𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑦 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑠, 𝑠𝑜 𝑖𝑡'𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑒 𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒.

𝑆𝑜, 𝐼'𝑚 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑜 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝐶𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑔𝑜𝑎𝑙𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑤 𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑠 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒, 𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐴𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑊𝑜𝑜𝑑𝑠 𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑏𝑒𝑛𝑐ℎ𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑘. 𝐼𝑓 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑠𝑢𝑐𝑘𝑒𝑟𝑝𝑢𝑛𝑐ℎ 𝑆𝑘𝑢𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒-𝑡𝑦𝑝𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑒, 𝐼 𝑚𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑏𝑜 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚! ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑑, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑛. 𝐴𝑠 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑠 𝐼 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒 ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑙𝑦, 𝑖𝑡 𝑚𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ���𝑛𝑑. 𝐷𝑒𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑛 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑡 𝑔𝑜𝑒𝑠, 𝐼 𝑚𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑠, 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑍𝐼 𝑜𝑟 𝐷𝑇. 𝑆𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑦, 𝑗𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑙, 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑓𝑓-𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑎ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒.

𝐼𝑡'𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑓𝑢𝑛 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑐𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦, 𝑡𝑜𝑜. 𝑊ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛, 100% 𝑐𝑎𝑛'𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒; 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒'𝑠 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝐼 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒 170%. 𝐼𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝐼 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑. 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑐𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑚𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑛𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑠, 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑝ℎ𝑦𝑠𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑠. 𝐼 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑦, 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ. 𝑆𝑜 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛'𝑡 𝑠𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑜𝑓𝑓.

𝑆ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑣𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼 𝑠𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡-𝑏𝑢𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑆𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦. 𝐼𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑦 𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑖𝑚 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑦-ℎ𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑛, 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘. 𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑡 𝑔𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑑𝑑 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡. 𝐻𝑒 𝑔𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑚𝑒 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒, 𝑡𝑜𝑜. 𝑆𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙, 𝐼'𝑚 𝑜𝑛-𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑜 𝑓𝑎𝑟. 𝐻𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑠.

[nonuggetshere]

Would u be willing to share any tidbits about the faaf variant where Flower goes thru with the sealing?? (I’m p sure u said that exists and it’s not just the brainrot of my post sealing au that’s telling my brain that)

CRACKS MY KNUCKLES

WITH PLEASURE

So there's two variants, one where they break out after 5 years or one that follows Embrace The Void ending

After they're sealed, Hornet delivered the message they left to their boyfriends and family. They're shocked to see the goddamn princess at their doorstep at first. There are lots of tears and Hornet apologises for not being able to change their mind, but she's quickly hushed by Flower's partners and Lummis' parents. They share their grief and comfort each other, and Hornet is just as readily accepted into the family as her sibling was.

She tries to tell their father the truth, which is what they planned from the beginning because they were aware it was very likely they wouldn't be able to fight Radiance off forever, but Pale King wasn't taking their loss well so when faced with the possibility that the child he mourned all over again was alive all this time... He just couldn't accept it. It hurt too much to even consider. He couldn't. He had to be right.

This led to him and Hornet quickly falling out as she desperately tried to get him to believe her and he eventually snapped at her about being delusional and disrespecting her dead sibling's sacrifice. He immediately regretted it but the damage was done and she stormed off. Their relationship was never the same again, even when she gave up on nagging him, and once she grew up she just stopped visiting him or White Lady in the palace altogether, save for very sporadic occasions.

She spends a lot of time with Flower's family, practically becoming a part of it. Nobody back home understands what she's going through, nobody but she knew her sibling as a person, nobody knew who they were or how much they meant to her. But these people do, they're going through the same pain. And it's a little easier when they've got each other to rely on.

They frequently visit the temple and sit in front of the egg, talking to Flower as if they could hear them and catching them up with things that happened. They don't know if Flower can actually hear them, but it helps them cope, and if there is a small chance that they do they wouldn't want them to feel alone. (I have. A little dialogue written up for Hornet's visit, if you want your heart torn out)

So in one branch, Flower manages to win against Radiance after 5 years of torment.

She manages to break the chains and tries to stagger out of the egg, but Flower fights with her for control, they stumble over to their sword and stab themself. She wuns back control soon after, but realising they're losing Flower reaches out into that vast emptiness they always felt inside them since the day they were born. For that ancient, sleeping thing they were always terrified of.

The Lord of Shades is a separate character here. It's an ancient higher being, an actual sub-type of one that I very originally called void beings, it was the last one and its kind died with it after it lost to Radiance many eons ago; that is, until PK started to fuck around with its corpse and created the vessels. It basically allowed them to reawaken (since death doesn't work the same way if you were never alive to begun with) and it helps Flower, as in it possesses them and absolutely wrecks Radiance's shit. (I actually wrote this entire fight if you wanna see, I just don't wanna plop it down here bc its LONG)

Flower passes out and wakes up shortly after with no recollection of what happened past their initial fight with Radiance. They stagger back to their feet, and find that not only is She gone but the seals are also gone and the door is wide open. So they stagger back to the White Palace.

Pale King first figures out something's up when Radiance's dying scream literally shakes the entire kingdom to its core. Then, he gets the news that the dreamers are awake. He sends Dryya to fetch the queen from the gardens and talks with the other knights about going to check the temple, only for Dryya to return shortly after, telling him that the vessel has returned.

He rushes to see, and sure enough there they are. They look at him, for a moment everybody's tense, until they drop into a bow...and then shortly after pass the fuck out.

They're carried off to a room and taken care of.

The Pale King has to juggle a lot as the entire court just goes into chaos, and he's talking to the dreamers and a few other people, trying to figure out what the hell happened, when Hornet storms in and slaps him right in the face. She basically goes "I told you so" then storms off to go see her sibling.

They recover over a few weeks and when they wake up their little sister is pressed up close to their side fast asleep. They shake her awake and the two have a very happy reunion, and Flower gushes about how much she's grown only to then immediately make a joke about her height.

They've got a lot of shit to heal from and their parents avoid them like the plague after finally realising they are alive, so they've got that entire thing to worry about. And then there's also the fact that the Shade Lord never left and they have a fucked up venom-like situation on their hands. And they also have to figure out the entire thing of being the new god of dreams now.

That all can wait for now, though, as they finally get to go home and reunite with their lovers. There are a lot of tears and hugs and kisses, and they apologise so much for leaving them, but Petunia and Lummis quickly hush them saying they are just happy to have them back.

Another branch follows more along the lines of Embrace The Void ending, except more characters are alive, mainly the five great knights, The Pale King, as well as Broken Vessel (Spring) and Greenpath Vessel (Basil). Spring and Basil end up joining Ghost for a large portion of their travels, until the tail end of it where they just sit it out in Dirtmouth after Spring gets injured, leaving Ghost to go beat up their dad for the second part of the charm, go to the abyss, all that jazz.

After the infection dies out, it's mainly PK and his knights that try to rebuild the kingdom, while Hornet takes care of her sibling up in Dirtmouth.

Petunia and Lummis are also still alive, mostly because Hornet convinced Grimm to take them in as part of the troupe and troupe members age differently in this AU. I don't wanna get too much into it, basically Lum and Petunia and some of their family get to live longer but don't retain their memories of the time in the troupe after they're released by Grimm. I just need them to reunite with Flower okay.

Hornet also tells their father and the knights that Flower died to keep them from seeing them, and PK doesn't realise this isn't true until he goes to see his wife and she tells him she can still sense them up on the surface. He figures Hornet must have had a good reason to lie though so he doesn't pry.

Flower deals with a lot here and is much more bitter and angry and quick to choose violence, which actually terrifies them. They apologise so much to their partners, because they left their entire lives behind for them and they're not even the same person that they fell in love with. Lummis and Petunia of course tell them that's rubbish.

Basically, Flower's an emotional mess and has anger issues now that they've got to work through.

I could go in more detail but I've been writing for around an hour now and my thoughts are all over the place KDBDJDJD, if ya wanna know specifics of things that would happen like idk their reunion with their parents, just lmk

[skylarmoon71]

Eobard Thawne- (Flash) AU Chapter 7

The weeks following you seem to fall into a rhythm. Your first mission back is pretty successful. Your most recent meta had some very dangerous fire powers that remind you of Mick. This guy is just as mentally unstable. At least your version of Mick changed his lifestyle.This guy was just running around the city blowing stuff up.

"Of all the times Frost decided to take a two month vacation." Barry complains.

Caitlin smiles. "You know she's been planning it for ages. We can handle this. "

"She's right. We got this. Caitlin, I need you and Barry to head to central city high school. I've been looking into it, he's attacking all the places and people he feels have wrong him. (Y/N) and I will take the hospital. "

Caitlin nods, and she opens a breech. Both her and Barry are gone. You skate into the room decked down in a fuchsia suit. Eobard's brows lift as he admires the adjustments made to your suit. But the typical bolt of lightning is still at the center.

"Hey boss, we're here but he isn't'. Any luck at the hospital?" Barry asks over the coms.

Eobard doesn't respond immediately, he's still taking you in.

"Boss?" Barry calls.

Eobard blinks.

"Uh yes we're on our way over. Are you ready?"

You nod, following his lead as you both take off, running through the city. You're right at his side the entire time. It's still very strange seeing Eobard Thawne run a team, decked down in the red suit no less. Your eyes follow the determination in his eyes for a brief second. Maybe it's because you're going so fast that everything feels like it's slowing down just enough for you to take it in.

When you both get to the hospital, you notice the smoke coming from the east wing. When the both of you get to the spot where the flames are rising, you lift your arms, creating circles to put out the fire. It takes a few seconds before there is nothing but the residual smoke. Eobard's eyes try to track the meta.

"Just in time Flash."

The man steps out from the smoke, arms flaming. He grins.

"This is your last chance Kevin. Don't make this any worse than it has to be. These people are innocent. " He just laughs.

"The whole system is corrupt. When that damn accelerator went off I lost everything. My job, my house. This damn hospital took what was left trying to help me and they still couldn't fix me. They deserve everything they got."

His reasoning is understandable.

"Enough talk."

He lifts his hand, throwing a line of fire that seems to expand in your direction. Both of you phase, right before the flames even make contact. In seconds Kevin is cuffed. He looks down at his hands stunned.

"W-WHAT!!"

"We're speedsters, did you really think we were going to run around for ten minutes." You ask with a blank look. You know Eobard hoped he could talk Kevin out of attacking.

"You have the right to remain silent." Eobard says. Kevin just looks down in aggravation and defeat.

When you get back to Star Labs, Barry and Caitlin are lounging in the chairs munching on chips.

"Really? We're out facing fire wielding criminals and you guys are snacking." Eobard asks.

"This guy was a small fry. We were just backup in case things got hairy. But you had it handled."

Barry inputs, popping another chip in his mouth. He reaches for another from Caitlin's bag, and she smacks his hand away. He sits up, trying to grab it and they get into a little hand smacking battle to get the bag of barbeque chips.

"Would you stop!!" She yells as he tries to pry it away. Eobard just walks away. Obviously used to the bickering. You follow him down the hall as he removes his cowl.

"Good job today." You comment.

"You too. For your first mission back that went pretty well. I really did hope that we could have changed his mind. If there was a chance that he was remorseful we could have fought for a lesser sentence."

Although you'd stopped the big bad, Eobard still looks a bit guilty. He takes a seat in the speed lab, laying his head against the wall. You slide down next to him.

"Someone really wise told me once that you can only save people who want to be saved. You gave him a chance and he made his decision. At the end of the day, that's all you can do. " You reach over, placing a hand on his shoulder.

If someone told you this would be your life, you would have laughed in their face. Yet, it's become a little easier. Looking at him, studying the way he reacts to situations. The choices he makes for the team rather than himself. A part of you wonders if this is what Eobard would have been like had he not been consumed by hate.

"You're thinking about him again." You don't need him to clarify who he means. You already know. Pulling back your hand, you look at your lap.

"It's still a little weird for me. I'm sorry."

Whenever he does something, you can't help but compare it in your mind. It's then that you realize how insensitive that is. You remembered how hostile Harry had been when he first came because everyone kept telling him of the wrongs Eobard did with his face.

"I don't expect you to just be on board with all of this at once. I understand. I just wish that I didn't unsettle you so much." He lets out a little laugh. You can tell it's more to ease his mind because you know how he feels. Having someone that you care for be constantly guarded around you could not be easy. But he was taking it in stride the best he could. You turn your body towards him.

"It's true that at the start I was really unsettled by all this. But I'm not so much anymore."

His eyes meet yours, and he's not sure what to say. He's grateful that you're not running in the other direction when you look at him. His expression evens out to one that mirrors the softness you now display. You place your hand on the floor, you begin to lean closer.

His hands ball into his fists at his sides, and he inches closer, following your lead. Your eyes drift to his lips for a split second before they return to his beautiful emerald gaze. Eobard swallows. He's very encouraged that you are the one making the first move this time. You're probably just a breath away. He can almost taste your lips.

"Whatcha you lovebirds doing?" Barry's impromptu appearance makes Eobard pull back so quickly.

"N-Nothing!" He defends.

"I-I need to go check t-the y-yeah. I need to check it!" Eobard zips out the room in record time, and you blink at the way the wind tosses your hair.

"Sorry, I had to get payback." Barry grins You turn to him with a glare.

"You're a real menace in this reality."

He just smiles, fanning his face.

"Stop, I'm blushing."

You can't help but smile. Standing you walk over.

"I've been meaning to ask, but how did you get your powers? I've never seen a suit like yours before and that ring is also new."

He tilts his head. "They don't have lanterns in your universe?"

"Lanterns?"

"Yeah. I'm a blue lantern. The ring is where my power comes from. There's like a bunch of us in all the colors of the rainbow. Kind of weird now that I think about it." He goes on a little rant, and you just stare.

"What do the colors represent?"

His expression changes to a softer look.

"It represents hope."

That is actually pretty incredible.

"So you know I would think the green was for farts. That would be hilarious." His goofiness returns, and you smile.

Getting used to this world might not be so hard after all.

[rockyroadkylers]

20 Questions Game for Fic Writers!

I was tagged by @ssmtskw! thank you bud <3

1. How many works do you have on Ao3?

23!

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count?

204,389

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Technically, Marvel (specifically Iron Dad) and Red, White and Royal Blue, though I've taken a huge step back from Marvel.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Baby's Firsts

Domestic Life Was Never Quite My Style

Starlight, Star Bright

Two Worlds, One Family

Tony Stark vs. Babies "R" Us

(um... ok, they're not bad fics, but they're all super old. the fact that they're my top five is due to age more than anything else. I was a semi-popular writer in the height of the Iron Dad fandom's activity. My writing has significantly improved since these were written, so if you've read my most recent work and decide to go back and give these a try, just keep that in mind 😂 most of them are five years old.)

5. Do you respond to comments?

Almost always! There are a couple of unfinished fics that I ended up turning off the comments for, though, because I don't plan to finish them, and I kept getting comments on them that are written with the best intentions but come off as discouraging and kind of obnoxious instead - "update when?" "i know this is a longshot but please update" "it's been two years, will you ever update?" Aside from those, I do try to answer every single comment that comes to my inbox.

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Um... I don't really write angsty endings 😂 "I Will Soften Every Edge (I'll Do Better)" is probably as close as it gets? It's not pure angst, but it's not pure fluff, either. "Oh, Little One, You Just Need to be Brave" is another kind of vaguely hurt/comfort angst-adjacent ending, I guess, but please don't read that one 😂 the only reason I haven't deleted it is because I know how frustrating it is when authors delete stuff.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Maybe "Baby's Firsts" or "Before, After, and Beyond"? Like I said, angsty endings are hard to come by in my fics, but if you want pure fluff...

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Nah. I've gotten a couple of comments that were confused by something and asked for clarification, but they were very polite about it.

9. Do you write smut? If so what kind?

LOL, no 😂 I'm comfortable talking about it, but I don't think I'd ever write it myself.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve ever written?

I used to write wild crossovers all the time when I was a little kid just learning how writing works for the first time 😂 I don't write them so much, anymore, it's not really my thing, but I think one time when I was a kid I wrote a Harry Potter/American Girl crossover? 😂

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Nope.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yeah, actually! Or, at least part of one. Someone translated two chapters of "Before, After, and Beyond" into Russian. I think they forgot to translate the third? It was still pretty cool, either way.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yeah, a couple times. I've taken my name off the published ones, but I'm working on another project with a bunch of people from the Brownstone server, at the moment, and I'm super excited about it!

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

At the moment? FirstPrince. It changes depending on my current hyperfixation, but Alex and Henry are my #1 right now.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

Ugh. Probably the birthday fic in my "Tony Stark adopts Harley Keener and Peter Parker" AU. I've just completely run out of steam on anything Marvel-related, and I feel bad about it, but there's not a lot I can do. My mood completely plummets whenever I try to sit down and make myself work on any of my old Marvel WIPs, so I've just been giving myself some grace and telling myself that if I never finish them, it's okay.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Ooh, I don't really think about this very much. I feel like I'd need an outside opinion 😂 I've been told by several different people that I'm good at nailing characterizations, which always makes me pretty proud of myself, haha. Every time I get a "this is so in character!" comment I puff up like a peacock 😂

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Descriptions, maybe? I can do them, but I feel like they've never quite as interesting as they could be.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I love multilinguism in fics! It's a little intimidating for me personally, because I never quite managed to grasp a second language myself, so I have to rely heavily on translators and asking people who speak the language "hey, does this make any sense?" but especially when I'm writing Alex and his family in RWRB fics, their bilinguism is so important and I don't want to skip it just because I'm scared, so I'm willing to put in a little extra work to make it more authentic.

19. First fandom you ever wrote for?

Well, technically, if we're talking about writing that never even got published, the very first fanfic I ever wrote back when I was probably around six years old was a Harry Potter self-insert 😂 But my first published fic was for the MCU.

20. Favorite fic you’ve ever written?

"It's Nice to Have a Friend" 😊

---

tagging @inexplicablymine, @hgejfmw-hgejhsf, @happiness-of-the-pursuit, @littlemisskittentoes, @movetoheavens, @affectionatelyrs, @read-and-write- and anyone else who wants to! (sorry if you've already done it lol)

[mannatea]

I honestly don’t know what came over me with this story, and with this fandom. I went from a long period of time where I was extremely prolific to suddenly writing almost nothing new for literal years. I mean, I guess saying I don't know isn't the entire truth: I do know, I think, but it's an adventure and a half.

I started fanfiction by writing chaptered stories, and in fact much of my early writing “career” was writing long fics where I gained some minor popularity as a notable slowburn & G-rated author. It wasn’t typical even in 2003 but there was apparently an audience for it. (Good ol’ slowburn.) I then shifted into short stories for a while, inspired by the way some authors were able to pack so much into something short, and tried to mimic it myself, mostly with ‘fics I wrote to try and change fandom opinions on characters (one of the highlights of my time writing for InuYasha was being told in a review that I had changed someone's opinion on Kikyo and taught them sympathy). I’m pretty sure my success in that story in particular drove me to write more one-shots.

If I’m being honest with myself and with any poor schmuck who has read this far, I was never very good at longform fiction. I didn’t outline, I didn’t plan, and I ended things in a hurry just to be done with them (though I did try not to be disrespectful toward the story I was telling when I did it; like, I do not think too many people were aware I was rushing at the time).

Short stories were much easier for me to manage because they were mostly writable in one sitting, whether 100 words or 10,000. (What can I say, when you’re in the zone, Auto Zone.) Also, there was no need to plan excessively. They were generally about one concept or idea that I wanted to convey, and all I had to do was hit that point and publish it.

Anyway, at some point I hit Prolific Elite Mode which basically means I wrote about literally anything that came to mind, whether it was a generally good idea or not, and…yeah, it was cringe. For every “The Bravest” or “Pristine” there were probably 10 mediocre fics.

And one time someone told me, not even anonymously, on a confession meme, that my fics weren’t memorable and were boring. (For that same meme, I was also told they were too emotional.)

Obviously at the time these things hurt, but in hindsight I don’t think either criticism was invalid (not that I felt they were wrong at the time, but without any direction they were just kind of…there). I had this tendency to try and gauge what worked from reviews and then apply those positive things moving forward, which ended up with a lot of unnaturally emotional fics (that were probably embarrassing to read). And because I oftentimes did not know what might work, I threw anything that came to mind at the wall to see if it stuck.

As it turns out, the weirdest things stick.

And not every story needs to be told.

I mean, for goodness’ sake, I distinctly recall writing a depression era AU fic for Fire Emblem, and about characters literally nobody cares about, and everybody thought it was a weirdo thing to do and it didn’t faze me at all. I was like welp I guess nobody likes history idk, sorry guess I’ll do a fic about a different side character. No? What about something stupid labeled romance/humor? Oh? Ten comments milord? Guess I’ll do more of this.

Anyway, as much as I might mock some of my earlier attempts at storytelling, I do think there’s something to be said for the fact that I was writing very regularly and I was having a lot of fun doing it. Moreover, I also read a lot of fic by other people and commented on it (it’s the fanfiction circle of life).

And then I moved really far away and got a new job and got married and when so much of your time is spoken for in some regard, it gets very difficult to find time to just sit and write—and for me it’s always been especially difficult, because even the smallest sound drives me to distraction; I need silence to write and I prefer to be alone. (And I need to have energy and ideas and motivation, so…good luck.)

Anyway, I blamed my lack of writing over the last 7 or so years on being married and also picking up RPing. While RP is fun, it scratched a lot of that writerly itch…and sometimes it was not for the better. Like, I didn’t need to write: I’d just RP it. For years. It was a great distraction, it got me through some hard years, and most importantly I did have a lot of fun with it.

But then here came the Tales of Symphonia remaster and suddenly I have nobody to RP with because my RP partner isn’t a ToS fan, and I’m cold and alone and forced to write to scratch that writerly itch. IMAGINE.

Anyway, I wrote “Mixing Business with Pleasure” and I thought to myself, hey…maybe I can write new things after all?

And in March I’d actually had a dream where a baby had been left to Raine and mentioned it to @trash-god and @likes-words-and-shrimps, and while the end product is not exactly the dream I had, I can’t deny the concept stemmed from a literal dream.

I decided to just kinda low key plot it out in an old notebook. What’s the worst that might happen—I’d never write it? So I did. And then I outlined the chapters. And then I was writing the story. 101,000 words in 3 weeks!

Break Open the Sky is the first big new thing I’ve written in many many years, and it’s certainly the first big writing project I’ve finished since maybe 2004.

It feels a lot to me like RP in that it’s long and meanders. Conversations linger. If I were a better writer, would I condense things? Maybe. But I would argue that what makes a good fanfic isn’t necessarily what makes a good novel: we’re all here to read about characters we love, and writing that leans more character-centric/introspective isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Plus, if I cut out all the thoughts and mundane conversations, there’s nothing to believe in, and I wanted to tell a story that shows a stressful but followable journey for a character—one where they learn to accept things about themselves and learn to change (though not in any grand and sweeping ways, rather, their perception of themselves changes them). With a little love (as a treat). That makes it hard to ignore the things that cement a bond and foundation for a relationship both with new characters, and scenes that enable me to talk about the histories that exist between old characters. Like, the tediousness of the journey is the point: it should evoke some sense of helplessness in the reader, even with the timeskips I tossed in there to keep it from being too boring (because several months of travel day by day would be exhausting to read about).

Anyway, how the hell did I manage this story?

I don’t know. I really don’t. Again, I went from writing so much to writing nothing, to buckling down and busting my ass over three weeks for a story 3 people will read. Incredible of me, if I do say so myself. (If you’re reading it, know that I love you.)

I do have a theory, though!

I genuinely feel that as the years have passed, I’ve grown enough as a writer to know that 1) not every story needs to be told, and 2) I don’t have infinite time and energy to write whenever the urge strikes. So when the iron is hot I should strike swiftly and very, very hard. Great!!! Except that leaves me writing very little, because not that many ideas make it through my filter these days.

And it’s like, I’m not saying I don’t have good or fun ideas, but rather that every idea I get probably isn’t worth my time to write (for me or for a potential audience) and that I should be picky about what I write because it’s my time going into it, and my passion/heart. If it’s just a fleeting consideration of an idea, then why bother?

Break Open the Sky marinated for a couple of weeks before I did anything with it, and I only bothered doing something with it because I literally couldn’t stop thinking about it. Somewhere in my mind that really ended up meaning something.

And to be VERY VERY clear I did nothing else while I wrote this story. I did not play video games. I did not read books. I did not watch movies. I wouldn’t let myself go on Youtube or log into WoW. I cut back on RP so severely they all came to a screeching halt. I went to work, I came home, and I wrote. Even my husband took a backseat most days of the last few weeks (though he spent time with his family & took a new position at work and suddenly has what he’s calling Big Chocolate Lab Energy and keeps finding “projects” to do; also, don’t feel too bad for him, he told me to write “a real novel” at least four times while I worked on this).

Anyway, my theory is mostly that becoming better at writing + being pickier about what I consider worth my time to write = I only write ideas that refuse to leave after a week or two of consideration. That week or two gives me plenty of time to consider bigger-picture issues/plots/ideas for the story, and I can dump them into my private discord channel for that specific story so that I don’t lose them. This helps me catch potential problems well in advance, and think of enough things to include that might be relevant/worth talking about within the story!

And that two weeks also is plenty of time for a concept to crash and burn if I can’t make it fit the way I hope, which is fairly common with Tales of Symphonia since it’s the type of game that’s EXTREMELY DIFFICULT to faithfully AU unless it’s canon divergent or still set in the original world.

And apparently plotting a loose outline and then by-chapter beats kept me on task. Yeah, I ended up with two chapters more than I intended, but that’s nothing in the grand scheme of things.

So what’s next, you ask? I don’t know. I need a break first. But I might consider a sequel…or perhaps something new.

Hmmm. :)

Also Sara's over here trying to get me to bookbind:

It tickled my brain a little bit and I think I deserve to bind another book as a treat.

[ryqoshay]

Putting on Hairs - Post Production: Death's Duet

Primary Pairing: ShizuKasu Rating: T? Words: 524 AU: Theater, Monsters, Cryptids Fandom: Love Live Nijigasaki Parent Fic: Putting on Hairs - Post Production Time Frame: Sometime after the main story Event: Promptober 2022 Event Source: Idol Fanfic Heaven channel on Discord Prompt: Duet Content Warning: Poetic discussions of death

---------

Author’s Note: Bonus 2nd entry for Oct 12th

Summary: Shizuku contemplates death and her status as a ghost

---------

Life has always been a dance And death has sung the tune But no dance can forever last And some may end too soon

A duet as old as time A cycle spinning free Life is fleeting and sublime And death eternal as can be

But can the voices sing as one Or dancers change their step? Has life's song now begun Can death dance…

Shizuku stared at the screen. What rhymed with step? Footstep? Doorstep? Misstep? No, those all were just other steps. Prep? No. Schlep? Also no.

What if she changed it to moves? She could rhyme that with groove, which often was used to mean or refer to dancing. But it also had a different feel than the rest of the poem. Hrm…

“Ne, Shizuko, I'm gonna start making din… oh, whatcha working on?” Shizuku heard her girlfriend move up behind her. “A new play? Reviewing something Chika wrote? Or are you writing something yourself?” Kasumi placed a hand on Shizuku's shoulder and leaned in toward the screen.

“I was actually taking a break from anything for the theater.” Shizuku said. “Just having a little fun with some personal writing.”

“Ah, I see.” Kasumi said and quickly read what was on the screen. “Uhm… I don't get it.” She scratched her head. “Does Shizuko wanna kill Kaumin and sing a duet with her ghost?”

“No. No.” Shizuku chuckled. “I am very much happy with Kasumi-chan being alive.”

“Oh.”

“But maybe someday…”

“Wait, wha?”

Shizuku laughed again.

“Shizuko~!” Kasumi pushed on Shizuku’s shoulder, moving her girlfriend around in the chair.

“Anyway, the poem was supposed to be about a duet between Live and Death.” Shizuku explained. “Sort of. I mean it starts out with Life dancing and Death singing, but then I was thinking about switching them to finish. Or maybe combining them in some way? You know, because I’m a ghost. I’m neither alive nor dead. I’m something else; undead, in colloquial terms.”

“Hrm…” Kasumi reread the words. “Ok, yeah, I can see that now. Say, isn’t your meter off there?” She pointed.

“It’s probably off in a few places.” Shizuku admitted. “It was just a little exercise to keep the creative juices flowing before I get back to my play.”

“So, you are writing a play.”

Shizuku nodded.

“Does Kasumin get a part?”

“There is a part I’m writing with Kasumi-chan in mind, yes.”

“Heehee… And Kasumin and Shizuko can be a couple on stage, right?” Kasumi accentuated her words by nuzzling her cheek against Shizuku’s.

“Hmmm… About that…”

Kasumi pouted. Shizuku laughed.

“Anyway, Kasumin’s hungry, so she’s gonna go make dinner.” Kasumi stood back up.

“Let me know if there’s anything you want me to help with.”

“Thanks, but Shizuko’s busy with making a new play, so Kasumin doesn’t want to interrupt too much.”

“You’re fine. I don’t mind being interrupted by Kasumi-chan.”

That comment earned the exact response Shizuku sought, a brilliant smile from her girlfriend. She flashed a smile of her own before returning to her laptop.

A duet with Kasumi-chan… Shizuku thought.

She hadn’t planned her new play specifically to be a musical, but would it be so bad to turn it into one? The theater was earning a reputation for musicals, after all. And in that case, Moya was to be the love interest of Otosu, so it would make sense for the two to have at least one song together.

However… Shizuku smiled as she remembered Kasumi’s concerns over being killed for a duet with death. It was a bit ironic considering what Shizuku had planned for the characters she intended for the two of them to play. But that did give her some new ideas.

With her creative motivation restored, Shizuku opened the document for her new original play, Detective Otosu, and got back to work.

---------

Author’s Note Continued: First off, Death’s Duet is an old MtG card and the first two lines of Shizuku’s poem are adapted from its flavor text.

And second, I honestly have no idea if a Detective Noir style play could work as a musical. I mean I also don’t see why not; surely it’s not the strangest thing to be musical’ized.

[madamedupigeonsalon]

Psychologie : s asseoir à la table des négociations

Quand on n a pas de choix , quand on nous laisse pas le choix… qu est ce qu on fait ? On s assoit à la table près des toilettes.

Cette phrase résume bien l état d esprits des vaincus. Les femmes qu on invite pas à table , les gens qu on ne veut pas à nôtre table , et ou encore , quand on parle de business , on vous laisse de côté .

C’est juste plus possible de laisser les grands faire la négociation et de ne pas nous inviter à table. Moi, je pense qu on devrait tous avoir notre mot à dire quand il s agit de choix pris pour une communauté. Je pense par exemple, aux scénaristes aux USA qui sont entrain de faire grève pour la simple raison qu ils ont pas été payés suffisamment comparé à ce que les producteurs gagnent au final.

Les actions prises par les dirigeants sont souvent synonymes de la force dont ils disposent afin de mettre à bien leurs plans. Mais, le plan se fait aussi avec les gens du bas. On doit compter sur tout le monde.

Si les gens du bas ne compte pas alors autant inventer sa propre table qui va avec ses propres règles. Il faut pouvoir s investir sur soi même et ses capacités. Ainsi , il faut changer d environnement et changer les règles du jeu.

C est une bouillie métaphysique dans laquelle je recherche du sens, les personnes du haut qui dictent la loi sans doute parce qu ils l ont toujours fait , ne se souvient guère de savoir si le bas a des réclamations. La responsabilité revient à ceux du bas de se bouger et déconstruire la situation afin de recréer de nouveaux codes.

C est une révolution qui est entrain de prendre place. Il ne faut plus se laisser faire et pour cela j appelle aux jeunes qui ont une idée ( créatif , business , politique etc … ) entourez vous d autres jeunes ! Pas le peine de rechercher des personnes connues ou des personnes avec de l influence. Il faut juste commencer par le bas avec d autres qui vous ressemblent et montent l échelle. Tout cela prend du temps mais au fur et à mesure , on récolte ce qu on l’on sème . A bon entendeur , salut !

Psychology : a seat at the table

When we have no choice, when we are left with no choice... what do we do? We sit at the table near the toilet.

This sentence sums up well the state of mind of the vanquished. The women we don't invite to the table, the people we don't want at our table, and where, when we talk about business, we leave you out.

It's just more possible to let the big guys do the negotiating and not invite us to the table. Personally, I think we should all have our say when it comes to choices made for a community. I am thinking, for example, of the screenwriters in the USA who are going on strike for the simple reason that they have not been paid enough compared to what the producers earn in the end.

The actions taken by leaders are often synonymous with the strength they have to carry out their plans. But, the plan is also made with the people at the bottom. We have to rely on everyone.

If the people at the bottom do not intend then as much to invent their own table which goes with its own rules. You have to be able to invest in yourself and your abilities. So, you have to change the environment and change the rules of the game.

It's a metaphysical mush in which I search for meaning, the people up high who dictate the law presumably because they always have, hardly remember whether the bottom has any complaints. The responsibility lies with those at the bottom to move and deconstruct the situation in order to recreate new codes.

A revolution is taking place. We must no longer let ourselves be done and for this I call on young people who have an idea (creative, business, politics, etc.) surround yourself with other young people! No need to look for famous people or people with influence. You just have to start at the bottom with others who are like you and move up the ladder. It all takes time, but as you go, you reap what you sow. On good terms, hello!

Kevin Ngirimcuti

[franky-s-thoughts]

VBF

Pour vrai,

C'est pas que je ne veux pas de ton amitié. C'est juste que je ne sais plus quoi croire. J'ai sans cesse l'impression de me faire berner et je ne comprends plus les actions que tu portes à mon égare. J'ai le goût de te croire quand tu me dis que j'ai de la valeur à tes yeux, quand tu me dis que tu m'aimes ou que t'as hâte de me voir. Tellement de choses mon prouvés le contraire.

Je pense que je ne sais juste plus comment faire pour que notre relation ne me blesse pas. J'ai essayé de keep it lightly. De ne pas te mettre de pression avec ça. On dirait qui a toujours un voile sombre, dû au mainte fois ou on en a discuter, qui vient se pauser sur nos têtes à chaque fois qu'on se voit. Je ne sais pas si c'est moi qui vient causer ça. Ce n'est pourtant pas mon intention loin de là. Ça me donne l'impression d'être too needy et que tu te sens prit là d'dans.

Je trouve ça dure, quand tu me dis que on va se voir et que tu reach out quand y est trop tard. Ou quand je reach out et que t'as toujours mieux à faire. At this point, I don't feel enough. Pour vrai, j'ai pas envis d'être the attraction when you have nothing better to do. J'ai de moins en moins de nouvelles de toi et je n'ose plus t'en demander non plus parce que je sais pas si tu vas me répondre ou si je vais te déranger. J'ai toujours l'impression qu'à chaque fois que tu prends ton téléphone et que tu vois mon nom apparaître sur ton écran sans suit un long soupire. Je ne veux pas être quelque chose que tu as a deal with et encore moins un plan B.

We use to spend a lot of time together and I don't know what the fuck happen to change this. Thinking of it make me sad. Je me sent impuissante là-d'dans et pis y a rien que je peux faire. Une relation ça se fait à deux. Pis j'me suis sentie longtemps tout seule. T'étais même pas là les moments ou j'en aurais eu le plus de besoin. Je ne sais juste plus comment dealer avec ça. I give up! Je suis fatiguée de mettre de l'énergie pour que je ne vois jamais les résultats ou que j'ai pas l'impression d'être à ma place. Clairement, on accorde pas la même valeur à l'autre. That's sad as fuck because you used to be one of my closeset friend. That's too bad.

[popatochisssp]

Is there a story for the mahou au?

Not a fully fleshed-out one, at least in terms of a published (or planned to be published) multi-chapter fic, or anything, but there's a pretty solid plot to it and a few stray scenes and drabbles I've written, mostly self-indulgent sona/skeleton content but y'know lol

Basically, things go like this…

Here's Ebott City. It's chilling. 'Damn, that is a sweet city,' you might say--wrong!

Jasper and Pyre show up out of nowhere at the Hero Association one day because they (but mostly Pyre) are being recruited by a suspicious evil organization and the only way to escape assimilation is to join the other team instead.

There's systems in place for this kinda thing at least, protocol for bad guys who want a redemption arc, but maybe don't want to serve a jail sentence for all the crimes and property damage and whatnot--glorified community service, paying the city back by being a hero (with garnished wages) under the supervision of an established and trustworthy existing hero.

So as a villain, you need somebody to vouch for you, who'll be held accountable if you're a liar or try to weasel out of your debt to society early.

No problem for Pyre, who's been Papyrus' rival for forever, and Papyrus has only been trying to convince Pyre to change his ways since their very first grand battle, so he's totally hyped to be his sponsor.

It's a bit of a problem for Jasper, who is really not on great terms with any of the heroes, and there's a rule about only taking on one liability at a time so the least of all the evils (Papyrus) is not an option. He ends up with Sky as the second least evil, and he's a brutal taskmaster who refuses to let Jasper skip out on hero training or cut corners or run away from his fears and commitments and responsibilities.

He…may try to literally run, at least once, in the middle of the night, when the 'oh god what am i doing here, i can't be a hero, i can't hack it' hits and nobody will try to stop him because everybody's asleep…except justice never sleeps, and Sky had a feeling he was gonna pull something like this and a midnight ass-kicking is a clear enough message to Jasper that he's gotta see this one through (or else).

So that's them for awhile, going about business as usual and mostly spinning their wheels on this villain conspiracy thing, having random encounters with bad guys who are suddenly coordinating with each other and doing things that don't make sense, old faces and new ones and nobody can figure out what's going on or why--just that it's probably bad.

The worse things get, the more involved Papy gets with hero business until he can longer hide it from his brother, who is understandably not happy. Slate was under the impression that Papy was in nursing school and going out to study groups with friends, but he's back with the Hero Association? Again? Without him? Uncool, he doesn't appreciate being played for a chump, and after what happened to them (to their whole team) how can he still want to do this?

Alas, Papy's a do-gooder through and through and couldn't stand sitting on the sidelines, so he doesn't regret going back. He does regret lying about it, that was poorly done, but he just didn't think Slate would understand--and he was right, he doesn't!

But the disagreement between the veteran heroes is put on hold when Ell shows up out of the blue, claiming he has information about the Villains' Cabal that they ought to be very interested in. They don't know what to make of him at first and question his credibility--especially when he says he wants them to help him extract a known villain from the ranks in exchange for his info--but when he name-drops King, Slate and Papy are suddenly paying quite a lot of attention and insisting to see what he's found.

Ell is the first real lead they've gotten since all of this started happening (much bigger than the tiny clues and mysterious messages they've been receiving from Nobody) and he has loads of evidence: bank records, news clippings, photos--and stars above, it's true, there he is, that's King and his brother Brick, Slate and Papy's former teammates behind this all, and Ell still isn't quite able to say what they're planning but the fact it's them means it's big and it's bad.

So alright then, all hands on deck for this one, all petty squabbles and disagreements left at the door until business is handled.

They plan a raid on one of the Cabal's facilities, intending to infiltrate and access the computer systems directly where Ell will have a much better chance of finding more specifics about The Big Evil Plan. It's just an outpost, should be an easy enough mission, main crew will cause a distraction while a smaller team slips off to get the goods.

Except nobody was expecting the Big Bad and his even bigger right-hand man to actually be there, and that throws a pretty nasty wrench in things.

Everyone gets a harrowingly serious smackdown and they make it out in one piece only because they were allowed to escape--one last favor from King to his former teammates.

So they regroup.

Ell got distracted in the middle of his hacking when Merc showed up and he gave chase, ultimately leading to badly corrupted data when a failsafe activated and he was away from the terminal and unable to counteract it in time. And it was a waste anyway, because Merc didn't want to be saved, he wanted King to accomplish his goal which--between the usable data and King's own villain monologuing words--they finally know.

He's found an ancient artifact with unfathomable power beyond mortal ken, and he's going to use it to steal away the mahou magic from everyone in the world, absorbing it all into himself instead.

So that's not good! One kind of mahou powers in one person with bad intentions is enough to cause some serious trouble, but for one person to have all of them? They can't let that happen, it'll be a disaster!

But the data they retrieved is corrupted, even with Ell's best efforts to find something useful on it, he's only able to recover the when and the how: the details of the artifact and the dark ritual that's going to be performed, and when, specifically, it's all going to go down.

But where? King has dozens of compounds scattered all around the globe, maybe even hundreds, and they have no way of knowing which it will be and to get there in time to stop anything.

…And that's about when Nemo pays them a visit, in person this time, since it's nearly the eleventh hour and his usual anonymous cryptic hints weren't going to cut it with so much on the line.

They doubt him, naturally, even more than they doubted Ell because he's a villain, he's high up in the organization if he really has been entrusted with this information, why should they believe he's not trying to get them in the wrong place at the right time?

Nemo removes his mask, showing his face for the first time in years and admits that he's doing it for his brother.

Only the old guard recognize him and know he's talking about Pitch, but the rest still doubt because that guy doesn't need any protecting.

But 'protecting' isn't what Nemo's trying to do, really…maybe 'rein in' is a better word. Pitch has spent the years since his injury looking for greater, bigger, more dangerous thrills and it's been hard for Nemo to watch, much less participate. Even knowing he's bull-headed and reckless by nature and that'll probably never change, if you could stop your brother from doing one really stupid thing…wouldn't you?

Ell, with his confrontation with Merc still fresh in his mind, decides to trust him. And as the resident stubborn, paranoid, conspiracy nut, most of the rest figure that if he thinks Nemo's on the level, he probably is.

They get ready for the final showdown and hope like hell they didn't put their trust in the wrong guy.

They didn't.

Merc is guarding the compound when they arrive, and he's never far from his benefactor so they know they've got the right place. He's still a hell of an obstacle, so it's good news with bad news, but Ell volunteers to fight/distract him while the others go on.

Pitch is the next layer of security and much more of a problem. Even when they tell him that King's planning to steal away everyone's mahou powers, including his, he doesn't back down--he doesn't need his powers to fight, the only thing he can see resulting from this is people working harder to be formidable with what they've got, shaking up the status quo, and he's very much on board with that.

He's outnumbered but still somehow not outmatched and having the time of his life against so many opponents. Bring it on! Who's next?

And Nemo steps out of the shadows, taking his place in front of him.

It makes the manic grin drop off Pitch's face for sure, making him falter because what… he doesn't… He doesn't want to fight Nemo… But Nemo's not backing down either--Pitch is going to have one opponent until this is all over, and it'll be him.

The rest keep going while they fight, time is running out, the ritual will be getting underway about now.

The heroes bust into the inner-sanctum in time to see Mal and Rus having it out, arguing over the Ancient Artifact which Mal is trying to put into place and Rus is trying to wrest away from him.

Rus has been thinking about this and he doesn't want to do it, he doesn't want to lose his mahou powers, he feels like he's supposed to have them, and even if he didn't, it shouldn't be one person's call to decide that for everybody!

Mal is totally blindsided and at literally the worst possible time, he's pissed…but when King shoves his brother hard and takes the Artifact to just do it himself, he breaks rank too.

It may be horrible timing for Rus' independent streak and it may be fucking up all of Mal's plans, but damn it, he's proud, and nobody pushes his brother around, not without hearing from him!

So the heroes have a couple of new allies (?), and they're going to need them because King is beginning the ritual and his giant brute of a bodyguard isn't going to let anyone get close without a hell of a fight.

Brick doesn't pull any punches, a solemn single-minded enforcer quashing all attempts to slip by him and stop what's happening.

Merc and Ell stumble in together--Ell finally broke through Merc's shell with a lot of 'this isn't you' and 'you don't need his help, you don't need to get rid of this part of you, we can still be heroes, like you always wanted'--but even the added bodies don't help turn the tide.

Brick's too strong, and the Artifact is working, everyone in the room is gradually weakening as their mahou magic is taken and transferred to King.

A last ditch effort, Slate and Papy plead with the massive wall of bone that used to be their friend, begging him to see reason and stop his brother before it's too late, before he destroys himself with this mad quest.

When Brick is unmoved and only signs that King is strong and can handle it, that's when they realize.

King had kept something back from Brick, about this ritual.

A mortal body could only handle so much of a mahou power before burning out. It took too much, it wasn't sustainable, and to take on that power from others too only heightened the risk to the person who held it.

To take all the mahou, from everyone in the world…

It was a death sentence.

If King did this, he'd be dead in a week, no matter how strong he was.

And that's finally enough to give Brick pause, to make him look to King, standing there with the Ancient Artifact, overseeing the ritual that would let him do the thing he'd been crowing about for years, ever since they all got hurt that day. He expects his brother to explain his grand plan again, to boast about how he's being the biggest damn hero in the world and turning a million little burdens into one big one that he'll shoulder by himself, that he's powerful and he can take it and everything will be better.

Except…King is silent.

Because it's true, and he knew, he'd known all along that this would kill him in the end, but it was a necessary sacrifice to him because when he died, the mahou would die with him.

And as Brick realizes this, horror and rage mingling to know that his selfless selfish idiot of a brother was really going to let him help him kill himself, he opens his mouth for the first time anyone can remember.

The sound is cracking and strained, red sparks of magic flying from the jagged crack in his throat and the scowl on his face takes a pained edge, but it doesn't stop him from growling the words.

"fu--uc-k…..tha-a-t."

And then, it's really on.

It's a clash of titans between Brick and King, one larger than life and furious and the other fueled by desperation and with an ever increasing trickle of everyone else's mahou abilities, both refusing to back down.

The weakened, beaten down heroes (and villains [?]) help where they can, and between them all…

They win.

They get the Artifact away from King, and Brick doesn't hesitate to crush it to pieces underfoot, and with its destruction all of the stolen mahou energies burst back, rebounding to where they belong in a flash of light and crackle of magic.

While everyone celebrates and cheers, King is left on his knees in the wreckage of everything he'd spent so long building, his hopes and dreams once again (literally, this time) shattered on the floor.

In disbelief, devastated, all King can do is say that he was going to fix it, he was going to fix everything--how could Brick do this?

But for Brick it's no great mystery. He did what he did for the same reason King was trying to do what he was trying to do.

'because i love you too much to let you be hurt again.'

And that was always King's problem: too much love, too much self-sacrifice, and not enough trust in other people to take care of themselves and do the right thing.

…But Brick is here, helping him up off the floor, and Slate and Papy are right behind him, his old team back together again, tired and battered and relieved just like they always were after a rough fight and it's…

It's too much.

For the first time since King killed Undyne, he finally cries.

"I…JUST……… I WANTED………"

He's not sure anymore.

"I WANTED TO FIX IT…"

"We Still Can."

"keyword 'we'. not just you going off by yourself all half-cocked like usual, ya hotshot. thought you'd have grown outta that by now…"

'never. stupid. always been stupid, always be stupid.'

"heheheh, yeah that sounds right."

"Slate, Don't Be Rude, We Haven't Seen Them In Years, You Can't Be Your Usual Self Until It's Been At Least A Few Hours!"

"oh are we not counting king's monologue? i thought that put us over the edge…"

"No, Monologues Don't Count, They're Necessary Exposition For The……….."

And god damn it, it feels so normal, it feels like nothing ever happened, like it's just the team ribbing and bickering like they always did, and King feels so young, so stupid, so…warm.

Stars, what a mess this all is…

The celebrating heroes all around them start remembering that the guy who started all this is still here, still not knocked out or apprehended, and the sudden increasing trickle of attention and eyes on the group at the center of the room cuts their reunion a little short.

"Go On, You'd Better Get Out Of Here Before Someone Tries To Arrest You!"

"YOU'RE NOT GOING TO…?"

"I Was Thinking Instead, You'd Take a Swing At Slate, And Dodge When I Fire On You Center-Mass After He Goes Down, And Then Grab Brick's Harness And Yell Something About Him Being An Incompetent Buffoon Who Would Pay For Betraying You Or Something. And Then You Run Off To One Of Your Evil Lairs That Our Conspiracy Theorist Hacker Friend Doesn't Know About."

Brick squints and mouths 'incompetent buffoon???' but King is more focused on the important part.

"I… YOU'RE LETTING US GO?"

"not if you're not quick about it, it's gonna get suspicious if you take too much longer." Slate shrugs with a quick wink. "we'll find you later, to talk more. you know i got my ways."

And that's pretty much how it goes down.

Brick and King escape in a flair of dramatic theatrics, and not many of the onlookers buy it, but Slate and Papy are experienced veterans, whatever they're doing they probably know what it is…

Merc and Ell approach the heroes together with matching pleading looks, hoping to get Merc a spot on the team too--and well, he'll have to join on the community service basis, y'know, because of the crimes, but that's not a problem at all! They finally get to be heroes together, after all this time!

Mal and Rus approach a little more tentatively, Rus hopeful and Mal visibly annoyed.

"can i do the community service whatever too???"

"uh…yeah, i guess… what about him?"

"WHAT ABOUT ME? THE OTHER OPTION'S JAIL, RIGHT?"

"yeah."

"THEN I GUESS I'M FUCKING DOING THE COMMUNITY SERVICE WHATEVER!"

Pitch and Nemo are gone for a long time, completely disappeared off the map and nobody really knows what happened to them, never saw the end of their fight or what they did after, but ages after everything goes down, they're back--and they want in on the hero racket too.

Even with a reserve squad lingering around the base, Nemo's always thought the Hero Association's security is lacking, and he can help with that. As for Pitch, he's done some thinking, and he thinks he'd be a damn good coach for newbies with wild, unpredictable powers, y'know since he's so wild and unpredictable himself and always excited for a new challenge.

Well, stars help them all, fine, hope they don't regret this but welcome aboard to you too!

No one ever sees Brick and King again…or at least, nobody who'll admit to having seen them.

Slate and Papy, both officially reinstated heroes again, tend to drop off the radar every now and again and when they come back they always seem to have new and very thoroughly discussed ideas for improvements in hero training, health care, therapy and rehabilitation programs, plus a healthy cash-flow to actually make it happen.

Where the money comes from, it's impossible to say…but it might be the same mysterious benefactor that's funneling money into environmental programs, and social reform, and a dozen other causes all over Ebott, making change in small but measurable, meaningful ways.

A happy ending? Maybe not exactly…but it's not exactly an ending either, just…a new way forward.

A way where people can learn to live with their powers, to accept themselves as they are with the resources to help them when they get in over their heads.

An imperfect solution for an imperfect world, but maybe a little bit better every day.

[stressed-bird]

Your Lost Shadow: Prologue

(An AU turned Fanfiction Script by stressed-bird)

The title here should be very telling, but if it’s not then... I hope this will be interesting for you? Your Lost Shadow is one of my personal favorite aus i’ve made and not just because it accidentally gave me an oc i cherish and love a lot—it’s very Macaque-centric and I can’t promise I will be able to update it regularly or anything like that since I’m always cycling between what au of mine is getting worked on but I do have a general plan and idea of what and where I want to go!

YLS picks up after Season 1, Episode 9!! Anything (basically everything) after Episode 9 has been very changed

The quiet and peaceful Village of the Babbling Brook, idyllic and serene... a village ensnared in time, a living vision of the past. Not quite the past, modern technology had a way of encroaching and wiggling its way into everything, but close enough to it how remote and small it was. Small compared to such cities like the distance Megapolis.

The silence was shattered by a distance explosion, the sound carried miles upon miles from its epicenter. And with it, the sound carried what looked to confused onlookers below like a violet shooting star.

A star that promptly vanished into the mountain range upstream of the village. Life continued.

.

A star that crashed and made a dent into the mountain he landed on. The dark-furred simian groaned, the pained sound becoming a growl. His weary mind replaying to him the events that led him here, to this crater he laid battered in. The kid had had more power than he’d anticipated, more power than his seal could ever have siphoned away from him. The kid’s power and that damned golden staff.

To think he’d gotten so close... so close to overcoming the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, so close to proving his power as more than a match against the hero. ‘At least he acknowledged I exist again, even if for a moment.’ The demon bitterly half-smiled-half-grimaced at the thought. Gods, his head hurt—his landing was definitely too rough.

But he would take that small victory for what it was. (He’d never be cared for again, but he refused to just be forgotten. He’d rather be hated and cursed than forgotten again.) Even if this “victory” meant he was still lying down in a crater on a distance mountain, miles away... bruised, battered and throughly beaten. Not just merely beaten, if the black playing at the edges of his vision were any sign. But he’d recover, he always did. After all, he couldn’t stay away for too long.

If not because he wanted to be a pain in the Monkie King’s side, then to keep her from being a pain in his. Couldn’t let her think he left her (he absolutely had) and send her dog to fetch him. But that all felt like a lot for him right now, the shadow demon’s bones feeling like they were creaking under his attempts to so much as sit up and his head pounding. Oh yeah, definitely beaten.

Macaque would just... lie down for a moment, take a swift nap. Recover, nurse his wounds. When the moon dipped over the western horizon again, he’d rise with the sun with no headaches in sight and find his way back to Megapolis.

.

While the shadow demon slept... laid passed out even in his crater, a little creature skittered near. The little spider-like thing staring down with pitch dark eyes. Staring, as another identical creature arrived and also stared down. Eventually, the pair of creature’s eyes turned a glowing magenta hue that broke through the darkness on this night.

Beyond the glowing eyes, the demonic owner of the mountain territory looked down at the injured demon.

Silent minutes passed.

An unspoken command.

The drained monkey demon was resting unaware as more little spider-like creatures gathered, weaved a web. Careful, meticulous, organized... that was how the creatures moved and weaved as they around the demon. Until many of the small creatures pulled away and pulled.

Lifting the demon a half foot off the crater’s bottom on what looked to be a stretcher-net hybrid, as the remaining creatures not pulled skittered under the monkie and held him aloft. It wasn’t long before the stretcher-net was wrapped and turned into an intricately weaved cocoon and the creatures then dutifully carried Macaque away.

Carried him down the mountain, down to it’s base... down to a cave opening.

Down to where the Demon Lady who’d silently ordered the hive-minded creatures of her creation to bring the wounded monkey to her.

Not for any malicious intent however, there was no wish within her to harm the intruder. She would just heal him, patch him up, and after a brief examination... the demon would be free to go. Free to be part of her thriving paradise of a village downstream, the Village of the Babbling Brook.