#general au ideas across the fandoms

[queenoffishingandcookies]

Wingfic/Soulmate AU’s but it’s about butterflies.

Unlike wings with feathers (example being bird wings), Butterflies can’t heal from torn or damaged wings. It’s not because of lack of blood flow, because butterflies do have veins in their wings (although, unlike humans, their blood doesn’t primarily carry oxygen, so maybe that’s it?).

Whereas birds can fly with broken wings, will regrow clipped feathers, can heal correctly when treated with a splint or surgery, Butterflies don’t have that option. They can’t shed their wings like a bird would shed or pluck damaged feathers so new ones grow in, either.

Once their wing is damaged, it stays like that. I read somewhere that butterflies can fly with up to 70% of their wings missing, but I don’t know how accurate that is.

A butterfly’s wings are made of chitin, several thin membranous layers of it. It’s the same thing that makes up their exoskeleton - consider Chitin for them, what Keratin is to humans (fingernails, hair). The veins that run through them are there for structural support.

Their wings are covered in tiny hairs, which we call scales - if you’ve ever touch a butterfly’s wings, and you shouldn’t, that powdery glitter that comes off on your hands are their scales.

Similarly to the wing itself, these scales don’t grow back. Which is very bad.

Scales on a butterflies wings are what give them their special patterns - sensitive to light, they help the butterfly absorb heat and insulate their bodies (heat is a factor in when a butterfly can fly, they need to have a body temperature of at least 55 degrees Fahrenheit). If a butterfly is caught in a spider web, they can rub off some scales to escape.

Now put this into a wing/soulmate au.

In a normal wing au, wing types (bird or insect, etc) is probably passed down through family lines - but in a soulmate au, maybe only characteristics - certain colors, or patterns - are shared? And it becomes a gradient, or slowly changes (new patterns/feathers) once you meet your soulmate or kiss them or press your wings together?

Example - A comes from a family who primarily has wings which are avian-based. B has butterfly wings (maybe is the older one?). A is born with butterfly wings, but it has a feather-patterns like a bird’s wings, befitting the family line.

Line of thought is a work-in-progress.

I’m not sure if humans with butterfly wings could actually fly with them, I don’t have a good grasp on human or bird anatomy enough to even hazard a guess, but - considering the size of a normal butterfly’s wings to their body, they’d be huge.

As in, about the size of their own body, huge. Maybe a little taller than their head, while the hindwings end at their calves? At least for adults.

Butterfly and others with insect wings are probably very cautious - and probably prized? Maybe they’re rare, compared to bird-style wings. Protected because, unlike others, their wings won’t heal? Or, if they can heal - at least a little, because they aren’t actually butterflies - after an injury the wing is especially fragile and more difficult to fly with. Ragged splotches that lack any scales or patterns. And the worse or more often you injure it afterwards, the less it manages to recover from each injury.

(Imagine if the color fades once a soulmate dies - not completely blank, but definitely washed out. Aged, in a way?).

The scales would probably be a bit more durable, not as easy to wipe off (imagine trying to sleep!).

It might be difficult for them to fly in the rain. Though butterfly wings are pretty hydrophobic, the rain can weigh them down - and again, they rely on body heat to fly. If they get too cold, they can’t - obviously, for humans with butterfly wings, it’d work a little differently, but the concern is still there.

It would probably still make it difficult to fly, if impossible to do at all, but what if their wings were durable and flexible enough to wrap around their bodies in the rain - like raincoats?

Butterfly wing fics.

[somepsychopomp]

Tips for Writing a Good Fic Summary:

I firmly believe that no writer should ever have to say "I suck at summaries", "my summary is bad but my story is good", "idk what to put in my summary" etc.

Why?

It makes you seem unconfident or disinterested in your own writing, which therefore puts off a lot of potential readers

It can come off like you didn't try

When tons of people say "I suck at summaries", it lowkey lumps you in with all the other writers who also don't know how to write summaries, and can make the premise of your fic seem less interesting or unique as a result

And quite frankly, I think every person who's ever slapped this kind of disclaimer on their fic absolutely can write a good summary if only they had some guidance and practice!

So, here are my go-to strategies for how to write a summary that functionally conveys the premise of your fic while also making it sound fun and interesting:

(Disclaimer, a lot of fellow fic writers out there have already internalized at least a good portion of what I've written below. This guide is designed for fanfic newcomers who may or may not still be learning how to write, largely because I most often see them posting the dreaded "I suck at summaries" as a shield, excuse, or preemptive defense of their works. I also want to say- no shame. We all have to start somewhere, and I just want to help out as much as I can.)

1) The In-Universe & Out Strategy:

I'm explaining this one first because if you've ever spared even a passing glance at Ao3, you've definitely come across this summary archetype before. And I'm super guilty of using it, too. But hey, if it works, it works!

This strategy is actually two summaries in one, the first being a blurb explaining the plot in a way similar to those you'd find printed in published books, with the goal of highlighting the drama or central conflict in the story and/or main character(s).

But it's also combined with an "out of character", typically much shorter summary that explains the premise by referencing its tropes or general format. The example below is one of my own fic summaries:

Let's start with the easier "out of character" component of this two-parter, that being the very last line of the example summary. This portion is technically optional in any summary, but has its many uses. The most important of which is that it offers clarity and guidance for your readers, and informs them of what exactly they're getting into if they were to click on your fic.

Also, it always comes second because the technical, "out of character" component is not you as a fandom participant trying to sell your story in an engaging way, it's you as the author explaining what it is you've made using familiar terms like "pre-canon"/"AU", etc.

And to be clear, I personally believe it's always better that your potential readers' first taste of your story (that being your summary) is immersive and enticing rather than plain and technical. So this smaller blurb should always go after your actual summary. Think of it as the cherry on top.

And you can make this portion of your summary very easily. Just state if your fic is an AU, if it's a "5 times X happened and the 1 time Y happened" fic, etc. All you have to do is tell your audience plainly what the main draw of the fic is, and all that takes is 1 sentence.

Aside from that, why does this format work and why is it so common in fandom spaces?

Well I referenced it before, but it offers something that most summaries in published books do not: clarity.

Yes, a good fic summary should tell you who the central character(s) are and a general idea of what happens in it. But summaries are also often used to build intrigue. You want your audience's curiosity to be piqued, so if you make your summary (and by extension your story) sound cool and mysterious, or full of adventure, or intensely cerebral and thought-provoking, readers will be inclined to click on your fic to find out how it ends.

But also, mystique offers uncertainty. And some readers might not like a fic if they can't quite parse out what exactly it'll be about. So, having an additional line or two after your "real" summary to explain the premise the way you might quickly explain it to a friend, gives that balance of intrigue and clarity.

But how do you write that first part? The actual summary?

2) The Cheater's Strategy:

It sounds a little dramatic, but honestly I consider this my "cheat sheet" way of making a summary because it's very much a shortcut that works.

And that strategy is: you sum up the first chapter of your fic. Nothing more. You do not allude to what the overarching plot is, you act as if chapter 1 is all you've got. But why would you do that?

Here's the thing about fanfics, based heavily on my experience in both writing and reading them. When you've got a fic that's more than 5-8 chapters long, or it stretches beyond 10-15k, oftentimes the first few chapters are all set up for your premise and the real meat of the story (the solving of the mystery, the big battles, the winding adventure, the burning portion of the slowburn) will come after.

When it comes to the cheater's strategy, you're going to ignore all the best portions of your story just so you can explain the boring set-up period where you position all your characters in the right places so they're ready to go on their (mis)adventure.

If you think that sounds like a bad idea, let me ask you this: When you pick up a mystery novel at the bookshop, does the summary give away who did it?

No! And you're not going to, either.

Also, it's implied and expected that the longer your story is, the more it will develop, change, and grow. So if you can sell your initial concept idea enough for a reader to click and read the first chapter, you very well could hook them and keep them seated for the rest of your story.

And remember what I said about building intrigue? This strategy is designed to build intrigue by suggesting there's more than what meets the eye.

Here's another example:

That might sound dense. And it's long. And it sounds like maybe a lot of stuff goes on in chapter one, but literally all I've done is explain the initial premise of my fic. (Note- this summary is for an Epic the Musical fic, which is a musical based of the Odyssey. Would highly recommend but that's beside the point)

The point is, this is an AU. But I didn't employ the Out of Universe strategy this time around and say it's an AU because it's obvious to anyone in the Epic fandom and it does not need to be further clarified.

What mattered to me in this scenario is that my potential reader sees my summary and knows that Odysseus the main character is a man who is married to the goddess Calypso, and is currently living in paradise. But in canon (both in Epic and in the actual Odyssey), Odysseus rebuked Calypso's advances because he wished to remain faithful to his actual wife Penelope.

The suggestion or implied understanding here is that something bad happened that caused Odysseus to discard Penelope in favor of Calypso. (Spoiler alert: the bad thing was him being brainwashed by a woman who would eventually become his abuser.)

And in this case, it's the suggestion of something gone wrong that builds the intrigue and curiosity for me without me having to add anything extra.

In the bulk of King of Ogygia, Odysseus goes on a strenuous mental journey to rediscover his true self with the help of various Greek gods, while also physically fighting back against his abuser. That all sounds pretty important to the story, right?

And it is! But I didn't want to include any of that and risk spoiling the overarching story. Anyone who'll be interested in chapter 1 will probably willingly continue reading to see how the story develops because that's just what you do when you find a story you like.

But let's say you're not writing an AU or a complicated, multi-chapter story spanning tens or hundreds of thousands of words.

If your fic is short and sweet, your summary should be as well. Next up,

3) Keep it Simple Strategies

(Yes, plural. This section is more like two different ideas lumped into one sum, but it made the most sense to put them together so please bear with me.)

Maybe you've got a neat little one-shot or a short fic (like 10k words or less) and you're not sure how to write it's summary precisely because it's so short. Or maybe you just prefer simple, direct summaries as opposed to the lengthy, dramatic kind.

Here's my next example from a 3k one shot I once wrote:

To be clear, this is a NOT an ideal summary. Far from it. But it's from a fic I wrote 6 years ago and I've definitely grown and changed as a writer since then. Let's dissect and rewrite this summary together.

Firstly, it does the bare minimum of telling you who the main character is (Kirishima), who he's being shipped with (Izuku), and the setting (a gym). And from a technical standpoint, that's almost all you have to write in order to reach the textbook definition of a summary.

But I didn't even really explain what the conflict or actual plot is, only suggested that that plot would be Kirishima trying to get together with another character who, in this setting, is a personal trainer.

It's succinct, I can at least give it that. But it's so short and plain that it doesn't really spark much imagination, does it? In all honesty, if I saw this exact summary posted at the top of Ao3, I'd skip right past it because it's so unimaginative and bland 😭

But the fic itself is only 3k, how do you build intrigue for a story that most readers can digest in about 30 minutes or less?

Let's start by identifying the main character and make a short list of their most important emotions or characteristics. Here, I would characterize Kirishima as being hopeful (that he can score a date), in love, and active (in a physical sense).

So I should try to channel these primary components into my summary. I could say something to the effect of:

Kirishima has been hitting the gym a lot more often, but it's not to improve his strength. There's a new personal trainer and he's got Kirishima's heart rate spiking better than cardio day. But can he work up the nerve to actually ask Izuku out?

Obviously, he'll ask out the cute trainer and they'll go on a date, but that's not what's important to a ship fic. It's the journey to the inevitable getting together that we want.

What makes this summary a little more engaging is that it's a lot more playful than the original. The gym pun and usage of "strength", "heart rate", and "cardio" really emphasizes the setting and premise. It helps sell the idea that this fic is a lighthearted romp while also hitting all the basics of who we're supposed to care about and where they are.

Here's a marginally better example summary:

Same fandom, different ship, similar premise. One character has a crush on the other, their crush is unaware of their affection at first, and the name of the game is winning them over.

But what makes this summary better than the previous example?

Well, it explains itself quite well by hitting all the minimum details. With four short sentences, it introduces who the two most important characters are and what their deal is. One of them is a god, the other is a mortal. It's a fantasy setting. The romance is one-sided.

But those minimum details coalesce into something greater than the sum of its parts. You also get the sense that Katsuki is dangerous and hot headed because he's the god of war, and you know that the object of his affections is more bookish and not quite interested in the brutish type.

How will they ever get along?

You thereby implicitly understand that the conflict of the story is figuring out how the ship will inevitably become a ship despite their initial differences. We could call this the Opposites Attract strategy, where the summary focuses on the juxtaposition between the two characters in the central ship, and makes that the central defining feature of the story. Got all that?

Good!

But making lists or divvying up character traits might seem confusing or tedious for some. (IMO if you're a new fanfic writer just starting out, it's worth a try to treat these simple strategies as writing exercises for your stories/summaries, even if you end up not using/posting them.)

If you as a writer want a more direct approach, try:

4) The Excerpt Strategy

All that stuff I said earlier about generating intrigue and hiding the meat of your story?

Well, you're still sort of doing that with this strategy, but not really. Instead, you're going to let the fic do the talking for you.

And by that, I mean your summary isn't really a summary at all, and is instead a brief excerpt from the fic itself. Here's some examples from various fandoms I've written for, including some where I've let the fic speak entirely for itself and others that I've combined with Strategy 1:

But how do you choose the right excerpt to represent your entire story?

In my opinion, a good excerpt needs to fulfill a few key requirements:

It has to convey who the main character is or what the plot is, so it will probably be from early in your fic.

Likewise, it can't give away the ending/big reveal because it looks careless. (And does not build intrigue!)

It can't be too long or else it'll seem bloated and readers might skip over it.

It also can't be so short that it ends up being confusing.

And most of all, it can't be so out of context that it ends up being baffling. Like if my fic's summary was just the line "And then all the kangaroos got wet" sure that could convey that my fic might be wacky and/or crack, but it's also distracting, uninformative, and doesn't really convey anything about your characters or plot.

Yes, oftentimes all of the above can be a hard checklist to fulfill, I know from experience. Hence why a lot of writers, myself included, combine it with a brief out-of-character explanation of the fic to cover all our bases.

The third and shortest example is arguably too brief for a proper summary, but it does one thing I really like by establishing the tone. It's sensual and a little sarcastic, offering a hint of danger, and is cushioned from failing by not fulfilling requirement #4 b/c of its supplementary summary.

So, why choose this strategy over any other?

Well, it advertises your writing style and unique voice more than a typical summary would. Sure, a regular summary kind of reflects who you are as a writer already, but I've definitely noticed in my own experience that the way I write a summary might be more formal, less formal, more dramatic, less dramatic, or just plain different from the voice/tone/perspective used in my actual fic.

And remember- that's because a summary is designed to GRAB attention. A fic is designed to MAINTAIN attention. They aren't quite the same and each has its own needs & goals.

And last but not at all least:

5) No man is an island

You really want to learn how to write good summaries?

Read more fics. Read more books. Read their summaries.

Go to your local bookstore or library, or visit your own book shelf, and study how others have written their summaries. What's important to each story in order to make a publishable summary? Is it the character's powers, the world they live in, the time period, the setting, their relationships, their enemies, their conflicts? Or something else? Or is it a combination of the factors above? And how do you make each factor as enticing as possible?

Does a sci fi novel have the same summary structure as a Jane Austin novel? Probably not! So if you have a sci fi fic in mind, it might do you some good to see how sci fi authors characterize their works. (Or maybe think outside the box and do take inspiration from an Austin blurb? Anything is possible in the world of fiction.)

Alternatively, go to Ao3 (or your preferred platform) and read how others in your community portray their fics. Comb through the fics you've bookmarked and study their summaries. Did they entice you? If so, try to figure out how and why. If not, what compelled you to click on the fic regardless?

And don't be afraid to draft out your summaries and revise them the same way you'd do so with your actual fics. Granted, I know there's lots of people out there that post fanfics without editing them, and that's fine. This should all be for fun, after all.

But if you want to put your best foot forward and give your story a strong advertisement, experimenting with the wording and structure of your summaries might do you some good!

Ultimately, when I say no man is an island, I mean it in the sense that artists study other artists all the time, and have been doing so for thousands of years. Crafting an effective and compelling summary is arguably an art itself. So, learn from those around you. Take advantage of your predecessors and the fellow writers in your community.

And that's that!

But we're not quite done here. My parting gift to you all is one last strategy, one that can be readily combined with nearly all others. It's called the Try & Try Again Strategy:

Start with a shitty first draft of your summary. It can be as bad and uninformative and bland as you want because it's just for you and no one else will ever see it. In fact, it should intentionally be as simple and plain as possible. Something like "Percy Jackson goes to the store"

Then tack on an extra detail, something to make it a little more exciting or elaborate. Maybe you've identified that your summary needs to convey what the initial premise or inciting incident is, as opposed to something like a romantic pairing or the setting. So you write a newly revised summary: "Percy Jackson goes to a store and a bomb goes off inside."

But you want to add a few more details to make it just a little more exciting and informative: "Percy Jackson thought he was about to have an ordinary day when he's framed for a pipe bomb explosion inside a deli market." (Now we have the central conflict- Percy is being framed for a crime! But how can we make it even better? How do we build even more intrigue?)

Keep trying: "Percy Jackson's day went from mediocre to horrible as he's framed for an explosion inside a New York bodega. Follow his misadventure as he runs from the local cops, finds the perpetrator, and most important of all- gets his groceries home by dinner time."

But wait, you might say. That's not a strategy. That's just doing the same thing over and over again to varying degrees of success.

To that I say yes, it most certainly is. And that's basically all writing is. It's trying to bring your idea to life, identifying what's not working along the way, and fixing it.

But starting with a seed is how you get a flower.

And if you've made it this far, I just wanted to say thanks for stopping by! Have fun writing! ♥️

[thaltro]

Was there an in-between point of passive! Nightmare’s normal face and Atrophy’s…yknow…. Like, how Atrophy eyeball??

(I’ve been thinking too hard about how Nightwatch versions of crossmare errormare or killer mare shipkids would look like because the design style for is au is just too interesting not to, but there’s the issue of how the hell to project how alien Atrophy looks onto a ship kid. Like, with how cross’ scar is longer and across his face maybe nightwatch incubux would have a row of the “teeth” (from the inside of Atrophy’s pupil) protruding out from across his face. Or a nightwatch tenpatch would have the inside of their left eye have the same design as Atrophy’s face hole.)

Here’s the transition between passive and corruption for atrophy.

Also some of his common faces at the bottom but that’s extra unrelated art

Now Atrophy has no bones or ecto or anything he originally should have. He is just goo, very acidic toxic goo. So if he were to have a baby then that child would probably be incredibly chronically disabled because the goo would eat the organic parts of the child. Atrophy naturally is supposed to present more mold and fleshy like, he just over 700 years now has the resources and practice to shape his body perfect to how he wants it. But a baby wouldn’t so they would look like a uh,, body horror baby. Random sets of teeth in random facial holes and large cysts of painful acid. Small plant like mold growths on their face like whiskers.

An ugly baby most likely. If that baby grew up it would be interesting to see how it looks and develops it’s form.

More realistically Atrophy would kill it as he doesn’t like ugly things, or put it in a little jar in a display case.

Now for shipping

Yk i actually did not write nightwatch with ships in mind believe it or not (with some exceptions). So it was, surprising to say the least when a lot of people talk about ships and nightwatch in my asks. Out of the three ships you mentioned only one is possible? Errormare, but even then Atrophy doesn’t like poor people and they virtually don’t interact. Killer is a slave to Atrophy and Atrophy would rather eat another tree then touch him. and Cross is very much dead (or so how I originally wrote him, but it seems like alot of people want to see cross in nightwatch so uh I’ll consider his life,, I’ll probably bring him back so I guess he’s alive?)

But also in nightwatch, babies are sometimes made through divine intervention. So I guess if creators wanted to fuck with them they would bless the world of nightwatch with a mold baby. Which again atrophy would kill or jar.

Sorry if my reply is a downer, I do enjoy your ideas for design! I think atrophy’s children of they were somehow alive and survived the jar and atrophy- would be a good opportunity for crazy designs like scar teeth (great idea). If they did carry on atrophy’s scar then I think it would be a good metaphor for generational trauma as that scar is just symbolic of his trauma. Idk there’s many interesting ways you can take that and I’m happy you’re thinking about nightwatch.

I do encourage waiting for the comic before shipping because,,,, well there’s a lot of graphic abuse and torture between a lot of characters who are commonly shipped together in the utmv fandom (not just killermare but more). No need to feel bad about this though, I’m not upset and there is no way for you to know that!

Please keep thinking of nightwatcg it makes me happy and I can’t shut up.

[bet-on-me-13]

DPxBNHA Prompt

@evilminji recently made a Post about DP x MHA and I'm in love with the idea of those 2 fandoms together. (I'm gonna tag this dpxdc just to spread it around but there won't be much dc in it. Maybe a few crumbs here and there)

So! Quirks came into existence the same day Danny became a Halfa. He wasn't directly responsible for it, but when the Portal opened it released a truly Massive amount of Ectoplasm into the world at large. The Dr's Fenton didn't notice it at first, because Amity Park had always had that level of Ectoplasm and all of their Sensors were within the City Limits.

The Ectoplasm released onto the world quickly and integrated with multiple Humans across the Planet, and eventually enough Ectoplasm gathered in a single Human to form the first Proto-Core, aka Quirk. That human was the Glowing Baby.

This phenomenon spread across the world as the situation in Amity Park devolved. The GIW knew for certain that these "Meta Abilities" were the result of Ectoplasm Contamination, and doubled down on Amity Park to try and fruitless contain the spread. Not that it would have worked, the Portal opening had sent a Shockwave across the fabric of Reality, creating mini-portals that continued to feed Ectoplasm to the Earth.

Eventually the day came when Amtiy Park was Evacuated from the Mortal Realm by Clockwork for it's own Protection. It's disappearance was blamed on a newly awakened Quirk destroying the entire Town, which was used to feed the flames of hatred in the Early Dawn Era.

Then one day, Amity Park returns. In Japan of all places.

Clockwork had dragged the entire Town through Time, to an Era that would accept their abilities. It was placed in the countryside of Japan. Clockwork had considered putting them in a dimension of Heroes, bur decided that would like to stay in their home dimension for now.

Thats the basic world building, but there are other parts we can expand upon in this AU

For Example, OFA and AFO

All for One was the first True Core in the 1st Gen of Quirks, but he was born with a Defect that made him unable to generate his own Ectoplasm. He felt a Hunger that could never be satiated, and eventually found a way to feed that hunger by absorbing the Proto-Cores of other people into his own True Core, stealing their Quirks.

One For All was the Opposite, born as an empty True Core but without the insatiable Hunger that his brother had. Then AFO force fed him a Stockpile Core and it fused with his own, giving him the power to Generate and Stockpile his own Ectoplasm.

He also had the power to Pass On his Core to another Body, basically just passing on his power. Then his Successor did the same, and their successor, and their Successor. Eventually we reach the 9th Holder of OFA, and the Singularity.

In this world, the Quirk Singularity isn't just an event where Quirks grow too powerful for their Bodies to handle, it is an event where the Proto-Cores of Quirk Users experience an Apotheosis, and change from Proto to True Cores. True Cores which the Human Body can't handle having.

But it's different for OFA. It was a True Core from the beginning, born within a Human Body, and it has the power of 6 other Proto-Cores within itself all ready to Apotheosis into True Cores themselves. When OFA is passed onto zuku Midoriya, it floods him with 7 Cores worth of Ectoplasm, and turns him into a Halfa.

When Danny and the rest if Amity Park reappear in Japan, they find not only a world populated by mostly Liminal Humans, but also a Powerful Halfa who doesn't even know he is a Halfa. Maybe even 2 if All Might also experienced the same Apotheosis?

Thoughts?

[forgettable-au]

In a Deltarune au of THIS au, would the "little brother" in the house trousling bones be Papyrus or Wingdings?

Okay this is an old ask and I was gonna answer with some drawings but ...

I DON'T HAVE A DESIGN FOR WINGDINGS THERE!!!! SO!!! I CAN'T...

Still, I'll try to answer :D

YES, PRECISELY

I DO HAVE A DELTARUNE AU OF THIS AU

And in this AU of my AU, the reason why we don't see Papyrus or hear his name is because it's actually still Wingdings lmao

Turns out he didn't shatter across time and space here

I need to make a design so I can draw some of these ideas but, uh, I'll explain the basics quickly!

So! Wingdings and Sans are still twins, Sans just likes to be annoying and call 'Dings his younger brother (which is something that actually does happen in the main forgettable-au lmao)

They're a bit older (I just generally hc everyone in deltarune is a bit older than their undertale counterparts) and they just moved to hometown from the city! That's were they used to work! Before Wingdings got fired for unnamed reasons! Also, Wingdings is using a fake name "Roman" !

And yeah!

Wingdings and Sans are currently in the middle of a fight? They're not on the best terms, Wingdings didn't want to move to hometown and refuses to get out of the house

Wingdings is not doing great! He has no job, no friends, he just moved out of the city he didn't want to leave, and there's other stuff too!!

Sans isn't doing that great either but he's trying to do okay! He sees hometown as a new opportunity and a he's already making friends with the locals! He's trying to get Wingdings to do that as well, it's not working!

Why would Sans ask Kris to hang out with his brother, a grown man? I DON'T KNOW, BUT LIKE, THAT'S WEIRD EVEN WITH REGULAR PAPYRUS! (I know a lot of people think Paps will be a teenager in deltarune, but idk, that feels weird?? Why would Toby make so many characters older and then Papyrus younger??? It's still a possibility tho... and it would be interesting to see)

You know how in forgettable-au they both still use proper grammar before the incident? That doesn't work here (because Sans in deltarune is clearly using lowercase and I can't just change that), sooooo... they both use constant lowercase!

Or I could just ignore that one theory of uppercase and lowercase and accept it's probably just a stylistic choice....but I won't do that............

And yeah that's basically it! :D

Imagining this au of my au as a thing to happen in game is very funny, because if something like that actually happened I don't think the fandom would ever recover.... just imagine the chaos...

For anyone that might ask this:

Why would the voice at the start of the game react to us naming our character Papyrus if Papyrus isn't in the game?

My explanation for that is: Well, if theories are correct and that voice IS Gaster, he probably knows that we know Papyrus from playing undertale! He's acknowledging that... not the fact that Papyrus is in deltarune...but there might be someone similar we can meet, he knows who we expect

Okay that's it! That's the AU of my AU! I really want to make art for it

But I seriously have no idea how Wingdings would look...

I'm just...very bad at designing regular clothes.....

[howlsofbloodhounds]

Came across a post that had a stupid comment so I had to say something. (Also using just a general “you,” so this is not targeted at anyone in particular reading this.)

You guys cannot claim that the Bad Sanses are not something like terrorists when yall have been portraying them like that for years now, but have just simply refused to acknowledge it or take it seriously, then get pissy when people say what they are or do think critically about it and portray it seriously.

Yall cannot depict and write them constantly going on “missions” specifically to terrorize, torture, destroy, invade, and kill an entire AU’s closest population/underground for the purposes of generating and spreading negativity—to maintain a supposed “balance” of negativity and positivity that this gang’s leader (who’s the one planning out and maybe even leading all the attacks) claims is why they’re doing all that in all the fanfics—and then get upset or act surprised or offended when people acknowledge that they’re not just some random ass friend group, or polycule, or found family.

Saying “it’s just their job!! They have to maintain the balance!”” not only doesn’t excuse what they do, just explains why they believe they have to, but also some of yall refuse to have nightmare and the gang explore other alternatives or even acknowledge that they did try to explore alternatives but all of those failed for some reason and so they believe this is their only option.

Or ya know. Just ignore all that completely and come up with other reasons why all these characters are all in the same place at the same time living together and giving a shit about eachother. Nothing wrong with that idea.

The Bad Sanses are almost, if not entirely, a completely fanon concept. They’re not canon, the whole bad sanses vs star Sanses was also never supposed to be canon either, which is why the creators involved never took it seriously and that attitude rubbed off on the fandom.

So if people get the impression that they’re like terrorists and write them as such, ya know cuz all the characters involved are all literally canonical murderers and one of them is literally a corrupted thing of negativity, then there really shouldn’t be anyone acting surprised or offended. That did not just come out nowhere for no reason.

[orbital-inclination]

🦈 the boys are scheming

Ramble under cut!

Killer: based on the Black-tipped Reef Shark and a Thrasher Shark. His tail is long and whip like but you can’t appreciate it’s length bc it’s out of frame. He uses it to give his prey a concussion.

Horror: is a whale shark because he is a big softie, a gentle giant. I can only have so many octopi, and next to a shark of some kind that’s my second choice for him.

Dust: manta ray. My logic behind this choice works like this; hoodie = soft + covers you = blanket. Blanket + fish = stingray. Manta Rays don’t have stingers. But I gave Dust one anyway.

Dream/Molt: I was torn between a classic fish tail for him or something with tentacles. So I drew three forms for him. his designs are loosely inspired by cuttlefish and a specific killifish I’ve lost the name of.

Because Molt’s goop is tied to his role as a Guardian of Positivity of the multiverse, I was torn about whether not his mer-form should be goopy. I’m still indecisive about this.

If we went with his cuttlefish form, just like real cuttlefish he would be able change the color and texture of his body and tentacles. He can’t change the color of his bones or magic, of course.

This also one of the few AUs that you get to see the damage done to his ribcage. If only bc he doesn’t have three layers of fabric to hide it.

Regardless of the kind of mer-skele, Molt steers clear of deep open water. The scars across his ribs are a literal beacon in the dark, as his magic glows, and are just as likely to attract a predator as they are to attract curious small fish. As dusk falls, Molt hides himself away in caves and crevices in the reef or cliffs. He is a day time hunter by choice, but his brother still prefers to hunt at night.

Nightmare/Rem: i had two ideas for Rem, Octopus or Orca. Orca, because of the general importance that family plays in their social dynamic. And Octopus for classic fandom interpretation reasons.

If we are using the octopus type mer for Rem; like his brother, he can change the pattern and color of his body but not his bones or magic. Though he can change his color to almost any hue he wants, he prefers dark colors.

The dark markings on his bones may or may not be natural, and may or may not be caused by the same incident that nearly shattered his brother’s bones. :)

[sabianandocs]

What do u think of undertale aus if you've seen some ? :p

I find it's impossible to navigate this fandom without running into AUs, so I have seen quite a few!

I'm not involved with any AUs, and Classic has always been and always will be my favorite, but I am familiar with the vague concepts of a few AUs, or at the very least I know what their Sanses look like (approximately)

Underfell and Underswap are the two big ones, as far as I'm aware, or maybe just some of the first-er ones? I was aware of them way back in 2016 when I first got involved in the fandom. I honestly have no clue about any of the lore or story of either; I know that Swap is just. Personality swap. Pretty par for the course in fandom. No clue what Underfell actually is though- it's been described to me as just 'edgy Undertale'; a version where the whole underground lives by the principle of 'kill or be killed'.

Horrortale I only really encountered more recently; I'm not sure if that's because it's actually new or just came to be at some point between my first foray in the fandom and my more recent re-involvement. I think the concept is super cool- that the whole underground went insane from isolation after Frisk left- (I think) but I haven't been able to really get into it personally.

Dusttale just makes me sad. I don't know a lot about it, obviously, since I'm not actively looking at any AU content, but from what I know it's a version where Sans decides after so many resets the only way to stop it all is to kill everyone himself to level up. Once again, super cool concept, but really depressing?? And personally I don't really feel like it's something Sans would do- he may be generally apathetic, but he cares about the people around him. I suppose anything goes once you've been kind of driven insane, though, to be fair.

--

I find the fascination with Sans across different AUs fascinating. No matter what AU you look at, Sans always seems to be the star of the show- to the point where, even in all the AUs I talked about above, he (and MAYBE Papyrus) is the only one I've really seen art of in those AUs. I think I've seen a little bit of Swap or Swapfell Alphys and Undyne (don't ask me about AUs of AUs, I would have no idea; I barely know the regular AUs), but only by one artist, reposted without credit on Pinterest. It's to the point where the most often I've seen these AU Sanses isn't even in their own universes-- It's interacting with OTHER SANSES. MAYBE an AU Papyrus. There's like, an entire separate branch of fandom that's just all the different versions of Sans hanging out. That's WILD to me. In fact, the reason I recognize the sheer number of AUs I do (well, only their versions of Sans, actually) is just because I've seen so much content of the different Sanses just. Hanging out. Interacting.

Like I said, I don't really have a lot of interest in AUs, even though I appreciate the concepts; that being said, through fandom osmosis, I am able to identify/recognize:

Nightmare, Error, Geno, Fresh, Swap/Blueberry, Fell, Horror, Dust, Death (?), Dream, Murder (? is that one different from dust?), the one with a target on his chest??, Ink, and probably a few others that I'm just not thinking of. I've also heard of Mafiatale but idk much about it other than a few isolated comics I saw on Pinterest. Similarly, I've heard of Farmtale(?) because I've seen a comic or two where other AU Sanses fall into his world.

It's kind of impressive, honestly, considering the fact that I do not seek out AU content at all- this is all entirely just through seeing stuff while trying to look for Classic content- almost all of which is completely separated from their AU worlds and focused more on the Sanses interacting with other versions of themselves.

(oh, also, I guess technically Handplates falls into AU category! I consider it so close to classic that I didn't think to put it here; in my mind, it's less of an AU and more of just an interpretation or extrapolation of Classic. I'm a fan)

--

ALL OF THAT BEING SAID!!!

I consider everyone's own interpretation of Sans (and all other characters) as their own Sans- it's a fun way to look at it; you can't 'get it wrong', because every interpretation is its own individual. I like to think that every download of Undertale is its own version of the world, and so everyone gets their own cast to be friends with and have fun with! So, in my case, that means that MY copy of everyone never had to deal with full resets (only the couple times where I died and got sent back to a save point, never a full reset) and now they're living happy on the surface. Same with my original copy from way back in 2016 on the family computer. Then I have another of my own, separate copy of the UT cast that exists in my art! If that makes sense!

I hope this answer was satisfactory and not too terribly long!!! If you guys want to request AU characters I might draw them but I won't make any promises; like I said, my interest, and therefore my art, focuses on the classic characters. But! Some AU designs are cool so I might take them for a spin if asked.

[joejhang]

my problem with raven!neil

this may be controversial but i've actually found that i don't rlly like raven!neil fics and aus. and here is my thesis. spoilers ahead continue at ur own risk.

crucial distinction here is that i don't actually dislike the concept of "raven!neil" as an individual character concept. i think it's actually very interesting to look into the sort of person neil would be if things had been slightly different. that is, obviously, the point of au fics and headcanons. my actual problem with raven!neil is mostly when fic writers and the fandom in general put him in context and into au fics and then the problems start arising. i'm being purposefully vague but i'm gonna go into all the problems i've come across when it comes to raven!neil.

first off, and this is something i've mentioned before, i think the fandom tends to strip abuse victims (particularly the characters who got out of the nest) of literally any agency or individuality. this happened with jean, when the whole fandom seemed to collectively uwufy him as if he isn't an adult (yes he's young yes he's barely an adult but he IS and i would argue thinking of him as a child still does him no good) with massive amounts of trauma. yes, jean has a learned fear of riko and tetsuji (and coaches by extension bc of the abuse from raven coaches) but he actually doesn't harbour much fear towards anyone else? he has come to expect violent retribution/punishment and does sort of have this problem where he bares his throat for the knife (when he puts the racquet in rhemann's hands and when he expects laila to hit him back) but other than that he actually doesn't demonstrate a lot of fear or panic when engaging with others.

i think the same would go for neil. the neil in current canon quite literally has no fears that do not trace back to his father. he doesn't fear riko, tetsuji, ichirou, andrew, drake or even lola and his father's men. where he does show fear is whenever his father gets involved. he isn't afraid of riko or anything riko has to say until riko brings nathan wesninski into it. the closest thing he comes to fear for anyone else is when he flinches from wymack but i'd call that survival instinct rather than like...fear. he doesn't have much of an emotional response, just an instinctual and physical one.

we obviously have no idea how neil's fear would develop if he had grown up at the nest. i'm not sure how much of a difference it would've made, honestly. obviously, those eight years on the run heavily reinforced his fear, so i don't really know where that fear would go if he was stagnant at the nest and confirmed (?) to be safe from his father. i think one of neil's key personality traits actually is his bravery and fearlessness, so i can't really see neil ever being truly afraid of tetsuji and riko. if you want to compare jean and neil in this aspect, all i'd say is: people have different responses for trauma. neil is not jean 2.0 or vice versa. even if they were put in virtually the same environment with the same treatment, they are still different people with different personalities. thus, they respond in different ways. just like jean and kevin responded in different ways, though their situations are implied to have been very different.

besides the point of fear and object of fear, i don't actually think being afraid of ur abusers means ur a baby that should be coddled and uwufied by the fandom. it's actually completely normal and human, so i actually have no clue why the fandom decided to do this with jean.

as someone in the tags of one of my previous posts so aptly said, autonomy ≠ agency. did kevin and jean have autonomy in the nest? no. but they did have agency. stripping abuse victims of agency and personality is actually so harmful and i think it's way too normalised in fandom culture. but that's a discussion for another day. we've all heard the comparison of the fear responses in relation to andrew (fight), neil (flight), kevin (freeze) and jean (fawn). i actually think these are mostly accurate, but it doesn't do any good to simplify it so completely.

neil having to remain sedentary rather than running away and never stopping or looking back is inevitably going to alter his responses to situations. neil's knee-jerk reaction to traumatic events or news in the og trilogy is literally: go on a run. this might still be the case in the nest, but i doubt it. i've said before that i think neil is the type of person to fight back. u could argue in response to that that jean was also fierce and angry when he got to the nest but developed something akin to learned helplessness where he simply stopped fighting back as a trauma response. but again: neil and jean are not the same person. they may have similar personalities, but everyone is different. you can't boil down all the victims of a particular abusive situation into the same person. this is stripping them of agency and individuality, once again. jean learned to stop fighting back and even ask for violent punishment for "wrongdoing" but i honestly don't think neil would. again, not because he's superior or inferior to jean, he's just a different person entirely. his time at evermore in trk was effectively a trial run for the time that riko intended neil to spend there after the year ended. we don't know exactly, but it's probably safe to assume that riko tried to cram as much of the abuse that kevin and jean received over several years into those two/three weeks. i mean, neil got fucking waterboarded and handcuffed to the bed for fuck's sake. i think at some point neil does say that he bowed his head and played at subservience, but when it really came down to riko and tetsuji trying to force neil to do something he adamantly did not want to do (sign the raven's contract) he literally just refused and didn't relent even under torture. jean even said he thought riko might've killed neil for it. neil was literally ready to die rather than bend to riko's will.

obviously, things would be different with kevin and jean in the equation. i can see neil reining himself in for their sake, but this brings me to another issue i have with raven!neil. and that is the strange need to turn neil into a protector figure. i.e. a human meat shield with a martyr complex for kevin and jean. every time i sense any iteration of this in any fic or hc i literally have to stop reading. it's just so...like random to me. neil has literally not been a "protector" in canon in fact he's almost always the one being "protected" (andrew's deal to literally protect neil from his father, wymack and abby's protectiveness, etc). yes, neil has protective instincts but so does literally every human being. neil is, in my opinion, no more or less protective than anyone else. compare this to say, andrew, who is known for his role as the "protector" (beating up the guys who hurt nicky, killing aaron's mother + getting rid of his addiction, making deals w kevin + neil). i've also written another extensive essay about why neil isn't and will never be the martyr or sacrificial lamb that some ppl seem to want him to be, so i won't go into it here. just please please please read the series back and realise: neil is quite literally the opposite of a martyr. i just have no idea where the idea of neil as a martyr or protective figure came in. especially in regards to kevin and jean.

it bears noting the first time neil meets riko with kevin there. at kathy's, neil doesn't hesitate to defend kevin and clock riko's shit. but note: defending ≠ protecting. and even if you do want to call that protecting, neil's way of "protecting" has never been in a martyring, self-sacrificial, human shield way. he is almost always on the offensive (clocking riko rather than directly defending kevin, punching riko, etc etc). neil is a natural instigator, and it would be such a disservice to him to erase that characteristic of his in raven!neil fics.

there are also several times in the series where neil's offensive actions have consequences that directly impact his loved ones and other people. like the first time neil insulted riko, a man literally died. the second time, drake attacked andrew. the third, neil took a trip to hell on earth and spent three weeks at evermore. the fourth, the foxes' and other athletes' cars got trashed. there's probably more that i'm not remembering, but you get the idea. neil feels guilt but never regret for this. he literally says verbatim that he isn't sorry for what he said about riko/the ravens even after the cars get wrecked and the others seem to blame him. so while i can see neil ducking his head and submitting to prevent jean/kevin getting hurt, it's also worth noting that if neil really cared that much about consequences, he probably would've stopped openly and loudly insulting riko in public after seth was murdered the first time. neil knew, or at least had a hunch, that it was his fault. did that stop him from doing it again? hell no. it can be both a character flaw and strength, but it's also just a fact. neil does not think that much about consequence. he sort of just does what he wants when he wants. it's a part of his personality. while there's no telling what about his personality would've changed at the nest, the fact that ten years living with a mob boss serial killer and eight years on the run from said mob boss serial killer didn't seem to kill that mouth of his, idk what would.

my final point is that when the raven!neil fic has andreil in it, it turns into andrew "saving" neil from his situation. words can't explain how much i hate this take on things. especially when it usually comes out of nowhere as well. bfr, andrew is not gonna risk his life to "save" some pretty redhead that comes his way without some pre-established connection. i also just think the idea of a "saviour" in a relationship is actually insane. as someone who is consistently pissed off and triggered by imbalance in relationships, this irritates me to no end. andreil obviously are protective and care for each other. that's a known fact. but i feel like w raven!neil fics they tend to exaggerate this and make it insanely one-sided. like andrew is some superhero type figure that needs to save damsel-in-distress neil who has a penchant for out-of-character martyrdom and is trapped in a horribly abusive situation. it sounds like i'm just hyperbolising no this is actually in all of the raven!neil fics that i've read. this exact dynamic. i hate it oh my god. it's not only entirely out of character i don't even think it works for them. like this should not be what their relationship is about or based off of. this last bit might just be a personal thing but i just hate hate hate it and it feels so wrong to force andreil into this kind of a dynamic. just leave my boys alone i'm BEGGING.

the aftg fandom does have this problem that should be addressed where they tend to coddle and uwufy abuse victims (particularly kevin, neil and jean in the context of the nest) and strip them down to easily digestible stereotypes. but this literally could not be further from the truth in canon. y'all forget how actually bitchy neil, jean and kevin are as individuals. kevin's fear of riko and tetsuji is bone-deep, but that never stopped him from picking fights with the foxes and hitting back whenever they had a problem w him (the only exception being andrew, but kevin already said, he lets andrew walk him like a dog out of sort-of thanks that andrew is letting him stay at psu). jean is also sort of an asshole (affectionate) back in the og trilogy and lowk in tsc too. he has a seemingly endless supply of insults for literally everyone and literally thinks about breaking jeremy's fingers for treating him too warily. he consistently gets annoyed when the trojans are too careful with him and remember when he literally threw jeremy to the floor during practice? yeah. seriously, stop boiling down these very traumatised individuals to their fear and history of abuse and erase any other part of their personality that makes them an interesting, well-rounded individual. it's so irritating to read and have to deal with the gross misinterpretation and mischaracterisation of these very well-loved characters. they deserve better, and these things also bely some very pertinent issues within fandom culture at large that should be talked about and critiqued more. jesus this is long anyway thank you for reading.

[crimsoncold]

Jonsa Fairytale AU (True Love's Kiss) by @crimsoncold

If you must mourn, my love Mourn with the moon and the stars up above If you must mourn Don't do it alone

...

If you must die, sweetheart Die knowing your life was my life's best part If you must die Remember your life

-Keaton Henson, You

For a while l've been considering doing a Fairytale inspired jonsa AU but was never able to make up my mind in terms of which specific fairytale I wanted to base my art piece around (i could of course just do multiple ones but with already so many WIPs i didn't want to plan to add several more into my art rotation) so unable to make a decision I set the idea aside to work on other more concrete art ideas.

Then of course I saw the prompts for the Jonsa Valentine 2025 event, and it really did seem like the world itself was encouraging me to make a fairytale jonsa art piece.

This time I chose to avoid basing it on one specific fairytale and instead considered more general fairytale tropes that are found across many tales when I was brainstorming ideas on what I would make for this prompt.

In the end I decided to use the trope of True Love's Kiss (i.e. A kiss imbued with it's own sort of magic, able to break a curse, or even bring someone back from literal death) both because I thought it would be visually interesting and because I felt it would incorporate several elements of asoiaf/got canon.

(i.e. both the inherent romanticism of Jon and Sansa's personalities and storylines as well as specific events like Jon's tragic "death" and his later resurrection as well as the likely possibility of Sansa being the girl in grey fleeing north to be reunited with her "brother")

As for the related quote, I had been struggling to pick one as most of my possible choices, while admittedly poignant and romantic, felt very specific to either Jon or to Sansa in this art piece rather than being about the two of them together, so I'm actually really pleased with my final choice (lyrics from Keaton Henson's song You) as it feels like it had segments that represent the differing perspectives/wishes of both Jon and Sansa in this scenario.

I was pushing hard to have this finished in time (with the event being about a month a way when I first started this) and even though it ended up taking me a lot more time than I had hoped, I am happy with my decision to make two versions of this artwork as i feel the most satisfying element and impactful part of this fairytale trope is in the profound transformation it can create, and to do this justice I really felt I needed a before and after version of Sansa's Kiss being what brings Jon back from the dead.

Anyway thats about all the background info I'd like to dump on you about this piece so l'll end this on a thank you; specifically thank you to anyone who found, liked, or shared this piece and/or bothered to read my rambling thoughts about making this, as well as a thank you to everyone in this fandom who arranged and/or participated in this event!

Being part of a small but so dedicated fandom is just the sort of thing that makes me happy when everything else around me starts to feel harsh and distressing. I hope you all have a wonderful day and that everyone feels inspired to keep making and sharing all sorts of art and creative pieces for this fandom- it seems a very small thing in the scope of everything happening in the world and our lives but its still something that brings some much needed joy that I think many (especially myself) greatly value while also forgetting or struggling to actually find a way to adequately express our appreciation... so this is just my attempt to say thank you all for making this little slice of fandom so wonderful!

-Crimson Cold

[beans-in-your-socks]

bkdk would be canon if izuku was a girl.

“WOOOOW VEE!! Starting off strong with such a bold statement!!” I hear you, ok but wait. I have reasoning to back me up.

bkdk would be canon, or, at least less hated on if Izuku was a girl. And A Silent Voice is proof of that.

now if you have no idea what I’m talking about go and watch that movie it is beautiful and will change your life but let me continue.

throughout the first arc of A Silent Voice Shouya bullies Shoko. Very harshly as well, doing things such as ripping out her hearing aids causing her to bleed, making nasty comments behind her back and to her face and generally just being an ableist bitch. Starting to see the parallels? In season 1 of MHA we can see how Bakugou Bullies Izuku because he is quirkless, which I guess in a way is the MHA universe’s equivalent of having a physical disability.

throughout ASV we follow Shouya’s journey of making amends with Shoko and, despite their history, Shoko catches feelings, confessing to him towards the middle of the movie saying “I love you” which Shouya mistakenly hears as “I love the moon”.

obviously what Shouya did in the first part of the movie was horrific and should not be condoned, but he took that time to improve and better himself and show Shoko that he was sorry and that he cared.

again, seeing the parallels? In MHA bakugou actively tries to improve himself and make ammends, after realising his actions were very wrong and trying to unpack his inferiority complex (because that is what led him to do a lot of what he did, as we see in season 3 ep deku vs kachan pt.2) he wants Izuku to know that he’s sorry and that he cares, he even says this to all might, and this is how we eventually reach, The ApologyTM, in season 6. Again as we see, Izuku forgives him and comes back to AU.

now, back to my original statement. Shokoxshouya is a very popular ship in the ASV fandom and is implied to be canon, especially seeing how Shoko canonically likes Shouya. I’ve never actually seen anyone hate on them, loads of people saying that they’re “made for each other” and the like. now ofc again, Bkdk is a very popular ship in the MHA fandom but somehow is also the most hated. This is partially attributed to SOME shippers being weird asf such as pixeldrink but every ship has those people (unfortunately) people just tend to bring more attention to it when it comes to bkdk cause ppl need an excuse to hate. But another driving factor of the hate? This idea that the ship is toxic because of the events of s1. “ but bakugou told Izuku to swan dive ☹️” babes that was seven seasons ago and he’s come A LONG WAY since. Bakugou is probably one of the best and most interestingly developed characters in the whole series. (Also apparently horikoshi said he felt the line was too far and ooc for bakugou? This might just be a rumour tho idk)

now here, ASV boy bullies a deaf girl, makes an effort to be better, becomes her friend, shows her he cares and saves her life. MHA a boy bullies a quirkless boy, makes an effort to be better, becomes his rival then his friend, saves his life AND ALSO SACRIFICES HIMSELF FOR HIM!!

the only major difference here?

they’re both boys.

and unfortunately, at the end of the day, it all boils down to homophobia. I constantly see comments saying “can’t two guys just be friends” and “NOT EVERYTHING HAS TO BE GAY” and “why’d they make it woke” etc. people will find anything to try and cover the fact that they’re literally just a gross homophobe. And unfortunately, majority of the time, these comments are coming from izucha shippers, who, I’m sorry to say, are some of the most INSUFFERABLE shippers I have ever come across. Some of them are really nice but a bunch of them are just homophobic cis-het dudes who have absolutely no passion behind the ship and just ship it cause it’s implied and cause it’s hetero. And the whole using chapter 431 as a GOTCHA to Bkdk shippers is just so annoying and immature. Same goes for ppl using chapter 431 as an excuse to be lesbophobic to togachako shippers. THIS DOES NOT GO FOR ALL OF THEM!! Some of them are genuinely really sweet and have passion for the ship which is what shipping is supposed to be about!! But unfortunately a lot of them are really shallow :(

anyways yeah that’s why I think it’s dumb that people are so hypocritical when it comes to Bkdk when shouyashoko is praised as a perfect dynamic, when BOTH are flawed! But that doesn’t make them toxic. Contrary to popular belief, people do have the ability to grow and fix their mistakes. There’s a massive double standard and it ticks me off.

(Also wasn’t Bkdk supposed to be canon in horikoshis prototype of MHA? Or at least once sided cause Bakugou was supposed to be obsessed with Izuku? Which would’ve been a really interesting dynamic to explore. Not necessarily a healthy one, but interesting.)

anyway I’ll sign off now cause it’s 11 pm and I just needed to get that rant out

[purrplpng]

theirs only one thing i want you to add about your AU and that's making Capsaicin Cookie the son of Burning Spice Cookie i imagine when Burning Spice Cookie was looking for a new home perfect location to start a new kingdom he came across a potential spark with so much brilliance that it is at risk of burning everything around it including the spark itself so with gentle hands and fragments of Burning Spice dough he brought Capsaicin Cookie into the world...the creation of Capsaicin Cookie was phenomenon to Burning Spice Cookie he has raised civilizations many times but Capsaicin Cookie is the first Cookie he created (i don't know how Cookie baby's are mad sue me) without realizing Capsaicin Cookie has became Burning Spice Cookie greatest treasure.

sorry for such a late respond i JUST noticed this :(

i really like how you wrote it! i liked the way you portrayed their story, but guys. i have something to share with you. itll be a tiny bit offtopic tho. sadly, i do not like the idea of capsaicin being related to burning spice. at all😭 not only in the context of my au, but like in general. it just doesnt click to me. i TRIED to force myself into liking this concept, but it doesnt make any sence to me

they never existed in the same timeline or even on the same continent and literally the only thing that 'ties' them together is spicy flavor and some design details. i was never a fan of headcanoning two completely storywise unrelated characters as family just because they have some design similarities

+ i am a huge indian mythology nerd since childhood and i love seeing all the references and meanings and with the fact of burning spice being shiva capsaicin just doesnt fit in with those references and meanings (im not saying that it HAS to fit in but i personally prefer if it does)

i really doubt that my view ever will ever change so... capsaicin will not be a part of my au in any way im sorryyyy at least not in MY head, you can twist it however you want who am i to say no to your creativity? :D you dont need my approval to have fun with my designs, so if you want to make capsaicin his son then do! you can make your own swap au too and itd be so worth it bc your idea is still cool and it can make a whole completely different unique plot too, you can make whatever you want, an endless playground of possibilities to explore

once again, i enjoy seeing people having fun and bring all the cool ideas, drawings and writing into the fandom! go on pop off!!!

[mystycalypso]

do u ever pray u lived in an au where the show wasnt cancelled.... i wish theyd made season 3 according to their original plans then just went on hiatus until that company merger or w/e was done n they had money for s4 </3

Okay so, I was going to draw some- very fruity Laserblast art ngl, but this ask hit me enough I sat down, and opened my laptop to write a real response. I've also got the series on in the background. I started episode 1 when I began typing, and we'll see how far I am in the series before I finish typing it.

First of all, I love using au to refer to real life, honestly better than various timelines. And secondly

Absolutely. Every day of my life. Every time I draw one of the characters, or see fanart, or hear the VAs or- anything. Because- I'm insanely hyperfixated on this show. A disgusting amount, unhealthily. It's not normal lol.

And I do constantly think about what could have been, I mean, after all once again my favorite character is Laserblast of all things. Not Venomous, Laserblast. The version of that man that has like five minutes of screen time and no canon first name. So much so that when on the Saberspark Q&A when he came up in a question for quote "Me and the three other Laserblast fans" I cheered out loud, alone, in my apartment. I would have killed to not have to pull at removing his mask myself and Ian's one tweet calling him a himbo to show people characterization.

And honestly the wiki makes it all worse, in a loving way. What do you mean we were going to get multiple sitcom comfy style episodes where K.O. spends the weekend with his dad? I could've had more proof that Venomous isn't an abusive dad, just an unskilled and undisciplined one? I COULD'VE HAD AN EASIER TIME SEPERATING HIM AND SHADOWY TO OTHERS?!

And sure, I constantly wish that somehow someway I'll wake up and Ian will have announced the movie, the Hue Troop spin off, post finale storylines, the works.

But, on the other hand, here's why I'm grateful for what we did end up getting (this will probably be the longer section, sorrey)

tldwr (Too long don't wanna read): Cartoon Network is dead and pathetic and I don't wish that suffering upon this wonderful show.

So, something you guys can also notice from Ian's posts and the wiki, and just from what the cartoon industry is like in general, that getting what you want out of your series, storyline and representation wise and all that is actually pulling teeth.

For an example of later episodes, things like a seemingly Radmond episode getting changed to rad and mikayla. Or Voxman having to be pretty heavily censored (although I'm proud of the subtext they managed so heavily) which is partially because, and this isn't to take away from wlw rep and how hard it is to get on air, but is more difficult to get outright mlm representation simply because- it's harder to censor.

After all, it's much easier to pull a "they're just close friends!" Thing for two fem presenting characters, than it is for two masc ones. It sucks and they shouldn't have to be censored across different countries at all, but it's just- how it is.

Which is why, realistically, as cool as the movie centering around a voxman wedding would be incredible, I don't think it would've made it past S&P. Not to mention, even if it somehow did, It'd either suffer the fate of being a TV movie, getting limited as hell views, OR best worst case scenario, a box office release which would get hate bombed by people for it's- everything. Because people suck. I mean, even not counting homophobic people there's a disturbingly high chunk of this fandom that hates Voxman- because... *checks wiki* Oh yeah, "Evil people not being perfect good guys = bad representation"

Also, cartoon network was- already starting to die by now, with less funding each year in the first place. Meaning we don't know if it getting that funding was even an option as time went on. And the idea of getting a longer season three, with the reveal being drawn out another season like they wanted, and then potentially never getting closure on- any of it? That's horrible even to think about.

Sure, the entirety of season 3 was rushed as hell. And I cry about all the missing stuff we'll probably never get, because well there's not even a cartoon network building to make this stuff in anymore, I'm glad that we have a finished storyline and understanding of where arcs would've gone to fill in things ourselves. I mean, getting to look into and imagine all the things we didn't get to see is much more fun than theorizing on an unfinished story.

So, yeah, I do wish that somehow, someway, we will get more someday. I'm at least glad we got a finished storyline and an ending that, while rushed, is still one of my favorites. I love let's fight to the end so much, I love how much I hate shadowy figure, and I love that I can be here making content for you guys!

Well look at that, it only took me seven episodes to write this whole thing, and I get to end this rant knowing Raymond was on screen. That's cool.

[ofstarsandvibranium]

The Get Back

Fandom: Star Wars - The Acolyte (Mob Boss AU)

Pairing: Qimir x F!Reader

Summary: Your husband is the leader of one of the biggest crime syndicates in the city. A smaller organization has the audacity to try to hurt you. Well, they come to learn very quickly that no one messes with you or your husband.

Qimir Masterlist

You’re wandering the night market, appearing to be blissfully aware of the two men that have been following you for the past few hours.

You’re accompanied by your friend, Mae, who is secretly your protector during this little mission.

You hook your arm around hers, pulling her in to give the idea of two friends giggling and gossiping, “I’m surprised they haven’t tried anything yet.”

Mae gives her best laugh, subtly looking around. When her “laughter” fades, she pretends to giggle and whisper something amusing, but she replies, “They’re closing in. We should head to the rendezvous point.”

You nod and you both walk arm and arm towards the more secluded and empty area of the night market. While the general public crowd near the food stalls, you and Mae head towards the darker area of the night market.

As soon as people are out of sight, several men appear, surrounding you and Mae.

A significantly large, hairy man steps forward, gun in hand, “Now ladies, I don’t want to hurt anyone, but I will if you make things difficult.”

You look to Mae and nod, both of you hold your hands up and you say, “Fine. Take us. Just don’t hurt anyone.”

You two are immediately grabbed, wrists zip tied together and blindfolds going over your eyes.

You and Mae don’t fight as you’re practically thrown into the back of a car. Once the car starts moving, you press the tracking button on the bracelet your husband had given you as a wedding gift.

_____________________

“It’s activated,” Osha says, watching the little dot appear on the laptop. She looks over her shoulder to her leader sitting in the back seat. He gives her a nod and Osha immediately demands the driver to follow the dot on the screen.

She then looks back to her boss, “They’ll be okay.”

The corner of her boss’ mouth twitches and he says, “Are you telling me or yourself that?”

“Both? They know what to do if things go south.”

He sighs and runs a hand through his black hair, “I shouldn’t have let her do this.”

“She knew the risks and knows what she’s doing. Have more trust in her.”

His jaw clenches, “I do trust her. It’s them I don’t trust.”

___________________

You didn’t appreciate being manhandled. They grabbed and held you with bruising grips. You bit your tongue to not lash out insults. You had to follow the plan.

You and Mae are lead to some warehouse near the docks. You know from the sound of the water nearby. How original.

You’re forced into a chair, hands still zip tied behind your back. Your blindfold gets pulled and it takes you a few blinks for your vision to correct.

You see an older man, ginger beard and a scar going across his eye. You immediately recognize him and scoff, “Torbin? You’re the mole? Color me surprised.”

The man clenches his jaw, “Didn’t think I’d be able to pull this off, huh? Proved you wrong, didn’t I?”

You roll your eyes, “Please. Kidnapping me to get to my husband? Work of an amateur. And picking a warehouse on the docks? So unoriginal!”

The large man from before slapped you across the face. The sound echoing throughout the warehouse. You do your best to ignore the stinging and glare up at him, “You’re going to regret that.” He scoffs at you, raising his hand to strike you again.

“Don’t, Kelnacca. What did I tell you about damaged goods?”

The man, Kelnacca, lowers his hand and steps away from you.

Mae takes the opportunity to speak up, “So what’s this about? You’re upset that the boss wouldn’t give you more power?”

“I deserved to be his right hand. Not your or your sister! I’ve been in this job much longer and he gives the position to you two!”

You roll your eyes and groan, “So what’s the point you’re trying to make here, Torbin? Kidnap me and demand the position of right hand?”

The man snorts, “No, fuck that. I have bigger plans. You don’t know how many people were ready to betray your husband. Everyone is tired of his control and they wanted a new person, someone that won’t rule for their own selfish reasons.”

Mae rolls her eyes, “And this isn’t selfish?”

“I’ll make sure my people are well equipped and provided. Not the scraps that He’s given us.”

“He provides for those who deserves it. You’ve never deserved, Torbin.”

Torbin immediately pulls out a gun and points it at you. You narrow your eyes at him, “You won’t do it. You need me for negotiations.”

“True, but I don’t need her,” he points the gun at Mae. You look at her and she has no ounce of fear on her face.

“Do it. I dare you, but just know, my sister won’t have mercy on you if you do.” Mae says with confidence. You know she’s right and as does Torbin.

He grits his teeth and lowers his gun. He grips his hair and yells, “FUUUUCK!” The cries echoing throughout the building.

Then a man comes running in, yelling, “They’re here!”

“Finally. Let the show begin,” Torbin rushes to you, pulling you to your feet. He stands behind you, gun pointed to your head.

Your husband’s familiar SUV rolls up and it’s barely parked when he steps out, Osha following behind him.

His presence oozes confidence and intimidation, something that Torbin lacks.

“Evening, Torbin,” he says calmly as one of Torbin’s men pats him down and then to Osha.

“They’re clear.”

Torbin can’t help but laugh, “Got ya now, didn’t I? After all those years, didn’t expect I’d turn on you like this, eh?”

Your husband sighs and shakes his head, “I must say that I’m extremely disappointed in you, Torbin.”

“Disappointed that an old friend got the better of you?”

Your husband shakes his head and then smirks, “Disappointed that you didn’t catch on sooner.”

Torbin looks at your husband confused and you take the opportunity to stomp on his foot and throw your head back with as much force as you can.

The action disorients him and then all hell breaks loose. Mae breaks free and starts throwing around her hidden daggers that she kept in her boots. She takes down the men surrounding her and then rushes to you, cutting the zip ties from your wrists.

Knives and bullets fly as you rush to your husband, “Qi-“

“You’re hurt,” he lightly grazes your swollen cheek. His eyes darken in anger, “I’ll-“

“Don’t,” you look over your shoulder to see Osha, Mae, and several of your husband’s men that posed as double agents, fighting and killing Torbin’s men, “They’ve got it handled.”

“NO!” You hear a yell and both of you look back to see Torbin limping towards you two, nose bloody and gun in hand.

“You can’t have it all!” He yells. He slowly raises the gun and a shot rings out.

Qimir looks at you, his gun in your hand. The barrel smoking from the shot you took.

Torbin collapses onto the ground, a clean shot to the head.

You scowl, “Always thought he was annoying.”

Qimir smirks, kissing your temple and taking the gun from his hand, “Well done, Trouble.” He tucks the gun back in his pants and slips his hand into yours, “Let’s get you cleaned up. The twins can take it from here.”

You follow him back into his SUV, curling into his side after he tells his driver to head back home.

He wraps a protective arm around you, kissing your head again. Against your temple, he murmurs, “Don’t get involved again. I can’t take the anxiety it gives me.”

You give him a playful pout, “Where’s the fun in that?”

He smirks and leaning in, pecking your lips, “Troublemaker.” He then pulls you closer and you two sit in silence for the remainder of the ride.

All in a night’s work.

[trialbystory]

LightCannon Fic Recs

Hey, it's been a second since I shared any fanfiction recommendations, and since I've been horrible at actually doing much beyond the literal very beginning of both my Locked Tomb Oneshot and Craft Along project, here are some now.

Brought on by the recent news that the next 2XKO alpha lab is a few short weeks away, here are three(-ish) fics featuring my favorite League of Legends ship, LightCannon (Jinx/Lux), presented in the order I came I across them: (Blanket kind of content warning, these stories more or less all deal with, to some degree, substance use/abuse, internalized and general homophobia, and discussions/depictions of self-harm. When in doubt check the tags, and look after yourself.)

Friction Coefficient by blood_lich_maeve It's a College AU! Jinx and Lux are...let's say 'unlikely to get along,' but end up working on a group project together. Things kind of spiral from there. This one is intense at times and very sweet at others and I enjoy it quite a bit. There is sexual content, most of the explicit stuff is done fade-to-black style with a full scene included in a companion fic, though there are a couple in more recent chapters that are included in the main fic. There are notes at the top of the relevant chapters.

Drama Queens by Jayisque. Enemies to Lovers and Secret Dating kind of vibes. Jinx and Vi are Americans who've been brought into the UK royal family thanks to Vi and Caitlyn's marriage, Lux is the daughter the top American political family. They meet at a boarding school and hijinks ensue. Jinx is about what you'd expect, Lux is....honestly pretty similar but really good at putting up a front. This one looks to only have a couple chapters left and I've had a hell of a fun time with it.

Never Knows Best by Calchexxis. This one's set is fairly canon Runeterra after the events of Arcane season 2. Jinx fled to Demacia and got hurt in an airship crash, compartmentalizing away the whole Jinx persona and becoming Jay, a mute apprentice helping with renovations on the Crownguard manor that Lux develops a fascination with. It's sweet and dramatic and heartbreaking in places and gets pretty intense towards the end. The fic is complete but the author has indicated that a sequel is coming, so check it out now!. And if you finish it before the sequel starts they have another LightCannon fic currently ongoing, The Greatest of These. It's very different vibes than NKB, leaning into some supernatural and vaguely horror-type stuff (Lux has been sent to a convent and now is being stalked by...something that lives there).

There you have it. 3 (+1) LoL fics I think you should go check out. I've done no research at all on whether these are already widely known within the fandom, I literally found them by poking through the relationship tag at various points. ANyway, go read them if the idea of Lux and Jinx being in love appeals to you!

[mooncello]

2024 in review

Alright, there's a handful of hours left in 2024. So many of you have tagged me which is lovely. Hi. So much brilliant and amazing work has been created and shared this year. As well as countless kind comments and fic recs and supportive messages and general community.

My roundup will be a little different. I'm not gonna focus on numbers or word counts. Instead, I thought I'd focus on the most unexpected and delightful surprise that happened this year: Dev and Niall.

I never dreamed that these two would show up in a Snowbaz fic (lost boys) and I'd become so enamored with them that I'd no longer want to write anyone else in the fandom. Ok, this is a slight exaggeration but only just.

So, here is my 2024 by way of Niall and Dev:

(under the cut because I can't write short things, even tumblr posts)

I started the year with the posting of lost boys. A weird, dark merging of Snowbaz and Neverland. I hope to finish this fic in 2025.

Here's how Niall showed up in lost boys (Baz POV):

I look up to see a boy. He has an absolute mess of shaggy brown hair, his eyes are kind, and there’s paint on his fingertips. “You seem to be the most sane person here,” the boy says, and lowers himself into the seat across from me in the school canteen. I raise an eyebrow at him. “Looks can be deceiving. Maybe I’m completely mad.” He laughs at this. A soft, gentle sound. “Most artists are. I’m Niall.”

And Dev:

There’s the solid thump of a hand against my shoulder and the dramatic collapse of tall, muscular limbs into the seat beside me. “My favourite nerd. How’s it going, cuz?” Dev flashes his white, perfect teeth at me before snatching my remaining bourbon biscuit. His fingernails are painted turquoise today, his dark hair is swept away from his face, and he’s wearing eyeliner. The bastard looks amazing. Despite being cousins, we never really hung out as kids. Always kept to different social circles. Which is to say Dev constantly had a roving pack of friends, and I had nobody (save for the lost boys in my dreams). But when I got outed this past spring, Dev decided to take a more active presence in my life. He even convinced me to join the football team with him. He’s charismatic and popular in his own way, and so unabashedly and loudly himself that even the nastiest bullies don’t bother him. It's been nice, having Dev in my life. Even though it means I now deal with his chaotic, abrasive personality all the goddamn time.

Around this time, I was also drafting my COBB tripping over stars, a celebrity AU with skateboarder Simon and model/influencer Baz Pitch. (I have no idea if I'll finish this one. I want to; we'll see.) Niall and Dev showed up again in very different roles. This time Niall was a competent asf talent manager, and Dev his in-the-background supportive partner. I love this Niall so much. He's so feisty.

There's the clicking of smart brogues across the wood floor, and Niall appears in my line of vision, his gold-brown eyes blazing at something behind me ... As both my talent manager and personal friend, Niall is a goddamn force. And people think I’m the ruthless one. (Maybe on the runway. No, definitely on the runway. But everywhere else it's Niall Niall Niall.) “Sweetie, what’s the problem?” I ask Niall. I’m still slouched in the ancient chair, my arse so numb I’ll need an extra-long bath tonight, and I feel the beginnings of a migraine coming on. “I’m fixing it,” Niall returns crisply, and I swear his eyebrow quirk is now superior to mine. The traitor. His breath is minty which means he’s been chewing wintergreen Altoids nonstop. Which means he’s either very stressed or trying very hard not to smoke. Probably both.

And here's a fun lil something from the unpublished, unfinished chapter 3:

“Shit. Fuck.” Niall’s fingers are flying across his phone. “Okay, okay, here’s what we’re going to do. Dev’s going to take you home. Wash up. Stay off your phone. Do not post a single goddamn thing. Do not engage with any post, any comment. Do not answer phone calls or emails. I’m going to stay here and get more information.” There’s the muffled clacking of dress loafers on porcelain tile, and my head snaps up to see Dev running down the long hallway towards us. He takes one look at me, and his eyes light up in a kind of horrified-transfixed combination. “Hell’s teeth, Basil. You look like the first murder victim in a horror movie.” He smirks. “Or a really sloppy vampire.” “Can you not,” I growl. My skin starts to burn and itch. I need to get this foul shit off me now. “Take him home.” Niall tosses his car keys to Dev without looking up from his phone. I can hear the soft rumble of guests in the grand foyer through the wall. Niall suddenly glances up, skin pinched between his eyebrows. “No, wait, pap will show up there. Take him to mine. Discreetly.” “You got it, babe,” Dev drawls. Niall returns his attention to his phone, and says in a tight voice, “Dev, darling, this is serious.” Dev rolls his eyes. “I know.” Then he loops his fingers around my non-splattered arm. “C’mon Nosferatu, we can sneak out the rear exit.”

I got majorly blocked on both of these fics during the spring. I had no clue where to take either. I blew up my original outlines because they didn't feel right. Like ... I was way more interested in how Niall and Dev met in the celebrity AU and began daydreaming their story more than Simon and Baz. 🤔

Around this time I saw a carry on prompt on tumblr for a Dev and Niall fic in which they play matchmaker to Simon and Baz. And the seed was planted for more than a footnote.

more than a footnote started as a lark. It was supposed to be six chapters, 12k max, silly, fluffy, ridiculous, not serious. A palate cleanser if you will, until I got clarity on my other two wips. HA. This fic has captured my entire heart, and it is my absolute favorite thing I've ever written. Niall and Dev get to be center stage, and it's been such fun to flesh these characters out.

From Niall's POV:

Dev has always been comfortable in his body. He’s open and confident in a way that makes my chest ache. I wish I were more like that, but I’m sinew and bone whereas Dev is polish and muscle. Half the time I feel like something the cat drags in, and Dev, well … Dev’s the cat.

And:

The truth is: Dev is stunningly beautiful. He’s got one of those faces you want to stare at. Dark, liquid eyes and sharp angles. Expressive mouth. Then you add his piercings and eyeliner and nail polish and … overall Dev-ness and— Like, yeah, I get his appeal. But his looks are only a sliver of who he is. People don’t actually know him, and I kinda hate how much everyone talks about his abs and his cock, and not about him as, you know, an actual person. Because he’s really cool, with wicked intuition and an absolutely mad sense of humour. Underneath all his swagger, he’s deeply good.

And from Dev's POV:

What was I supposed to say anyway? That I’m looking at him, always? That I want him? I’ve had months to think about it, and my list just keeps growing longer. Of what I wish I had the balls to say that night. You should never spell your irises blue because your big brown eyes are enough to make me commit forbidden magic, if you asked. Your hair keeps getting darker each year. So the ginger kid I met at the Crucible now has brown hair threaded with copper, and when the sunlight catches it, I kinda want time to stop because it’s one of the prettiest fucking things I’ve ever seen. Your smile could power the sun. It sure as fuck controls my breathing. You’re real and honest without even trying. And you have the weirdest sense of humour. You make me laugh. You always have. You’re my favourite person. Ever.

Yeah. I love these guys.

And can I just say that DeNiall stans are the best? So many of you have left the most amazing comments on mtaf, and I've enjoyed chatting with you as each chapter's gone up. @rimeswithpurple made gorgeous fanart from chapter 3 and the cutest, most colorful DeNiall friendship bracelet I wear all the time. And @monbons MADE DEV AND NIALL DOLLS. Which I still can't get over. Just last night I saw my snowflake exchange gift from @iamamythologicalcreature who illustrated fanart from chapter 1. I am speechless; it is so very beautiful.

And finally, to get ridiculously sentimental on main: I've loved this fic more than I thought possible, in large part, because I got to know @valeffelees through the writing of it. Words are gonna fail me, dude, so I'm just gonna say that your friendship is one of the best things from this year. HOW'S THAT FOR PUBLIC AFFECTION. Are we puking yet?

a few stray thoughts:

while I love collabs and fests (I had a lot of fun collaborating with @iamamythologicalcreature on lost boys and @shemakesmeforget on tripping over stars), I've definitely (unfortunately) learned that time-constrained fests are not my friends. I want to participate in them, but my brain is very unpredictable and I end up stressed and worried about disappointing people, like my collaborators and mods. As I write this, I'm painfully aware of how very late my exchange gift is gonna be. But I've given my recipient a heads up and I swear the wait will be worth it. 🩵

I feel like I'm a slow writer. Perhaps speed is subjective. I do know that I have so many ideas bursting at the seams of my brain, and I often wonder what my creative output would be like if I didn't have my mental health shit to contend with. I spent entire weeks frozen this year, deep in my cave, unable to touch my writing projects. For someone for whom creativity is essential in feeling fully human, it sucks to have that part of myself unreachable. Urgency is a construct of capitalism so I'm trying to resist that wretched sense that I'm losing time, falling behind, etc, while I still have so much that only exists in my mind, desperate to be shared w others. Fics, original novels, screenplays, on and on. A filmmaker friend of mine gave me the advice: Don't plot it out. Trust the process. And nature reminds me all the time to allow things the time they need. You can't force it. Fuck, it's easier to say all that than actually let it settle into my bones. But I'm trying.

A spot of brightness: All of you. This community. As others have already mentioned in their roundups, truly the best part of the past year has been the relationships. I cannot list everyone but you know who you are. I didn't know I could be known and cared for in this way. I've been writing on my own for a very long time, and it feels deliriously good to write in community. To have friends and betas and cheerleaders, and to be these in return. Like, what the fuck. I'm never gonna write in isolation again.

Ngl I'm heading into the new year with large amounts of trepidation. It's gonna get even scarier than it already is for several vulnerable populations here in the US, including my trans community. But I also have a rooted focus and clarity. I'm gonna keep writing queer love stories. I'm going to nurture queer and trans community in my town. I'm gonna keep hanging out with all of you. Y'all make the world better and brighter, more honest and brilliant. Love ya. 🩵

thank you for the tags: @run-for-chamo-miles, @drowninginships, @artsyunderstudy, @emeryhall, @monbons

@rimeswithpurple, @ileadacharmedlife, @alexalexinii, @best--dress, @you-remind-me-of-the-babe

@imagineacoolusername, @skeedelvee

tagging: @valeffelees @blackberrysummerblog @orange-peony @youarenevertooold @shrekgogurt

@hushed-chorus, @whatevertheweather, @cutestkilla @iamamythologicalcreature,

@bookish-bogwitch @thewholelemon @brilla-brilla-estrellita, @larkral @messofthejess