#he got trapped by the canon divergence spirit

[the-badger-mole]

A Bend in the Stream

Zuko sat up in bed, gasping. He looked around wildly. It took a few moments for his confusion to wane, but soon he was able to recognize the familiar trappings of his room. The one above the tea shop that his uncle was making famous with his delicate blends. There was no smell of floral garden air from the windows. His blanket was scratchy and stiff wool, and not the down stuffed silk that would be in King Kuei's suites.

After registering his surroundings, Zuko sighed and let his body flop back onto his bed. His racing heart slowly returned to a steady beat. It had all been a dream after all. Being captured by the Dai Li; the moment with the waterbender in the caverns; Azula offering him a chance to redeem himself; the death of the Avatar... It was all just a bizarrely vivid dream. Just as Zuko was drifting back off to sleep, his door swung open and Iroh came in with a wide grin.

"Good morning, nephew!" he said cheerfully. "It's a beautiful day, full of endless possibilities."

"Uncle," Zuko groaned, letting his head loll back onto his pillow.

"Don't take too long," Iroh said. "I have wonderful news! We're serving tea at King Kuei's court!"

"What?" Zuko sat upright and stared at Iroh in disbelief. That was how his dream had begun. Iroh, however, seemed to have taken his nephew's reaction as excitement.

"I got the news last night," he told Zuko. "It seems word of my mango jasmine blend has spread farther than I realized! I would have told you sooner, but you weren't here. Hurry, hurry! We still have to help with the morning rush before we go."

"Yes..." Zuko said distractedly. "That's right..."

"Breakfast is ready when you are." With that Iroh nearly skipped out of his nephew's room, humming a cheerful song under his breath.

Zuko got dressed and hurried through his meal (rice porridge with nuts and dried fruit was too common a breakfast for Zuko to read into it's similarities of his dream breakfast). Then he dressed and headed down to the tea shop. The feeling of deja vu was annoyingly sharp, but Zuko reasoned that his life had become so unusually predictable lately that his mind was still adjusting to the similarities of the day to day grind. So many of the customers were regulars at the tea house, it was no wonder he was learning all the orders already, despite his indifference.

At last, it was time to go serve tea to King Kuei. Something in Zuko's stomach turned. It was a sharp turning feeling in the pit of his stomach. King Kuei's palace was too familiar. He'd never been before, so how could he have dreamed it up in such detail? Zuko's hackles were up as he and his uncle were led to the room where they were to be received. It was just like his dream. Why were they being kept waiting for so long? Eventually, the wait began to grate on Zuko, and he paced the floor nervously.

"Calm down, Nephew," Iroh chided. He poured himself a cup of tea, completely unbothered.

"What's taking so long?" Zuko growled in frustration.

"Perhaps King Kuei overslept," Iroh said, smiling slightly at his nephew's discomfiture.

"Something's not right," Zuko said. Then he froze. It was just like his dream. Just like his dream. He looked at his uncle with wide, frightened eyes.

"What's the matter?" Iroh asked, setting his tea cup down.

"I think-" was all Zuko was able to get out before the door opened, and the next part of Zuko's dream came rushing back to him. Azula walked in, flanked by Dai Li agents, and smirking at Iroh and Zuko smuggly.

"It's tea time!" she said with a saccharine tone.

"No way!" Zuko gasped.

"Have you met the Dai Li?" Azula nodded to the men immediately at her sides. "They're earthbenders, but they have a killer instinct that's so firebender. I just love it." Zuko could only gape at his sister. He knew what she had been about to say. How could he know that? This moment felt less real than the dream had. Iroh stood up beside his nephew, and Zuko knew the words Iroh was about to say to his niece before they were ever spoken out loud.

"Did I ever tell you why they call me the Dragon of the West?"

Zuko was ready to grab Iroh's arm and run the minute Iroh created the hole in the wall. When Iroh used lightning to blast a hole in the second wall, Zuko froze again. Iroh jumped into the bushes below and turned back to his nephew.

"You'll be fine!" he assured Zuko. "Jump!" How could Zuko explain to his uncle why he couldn't? He hardly understood himself. He was just frozen into place. Moments later, Azula and the Dai Li caught up with him and Zuko turned to face his sister.

"You're so dramatic," she taunted him. "What? Are you going to challenge me to an Agni Kai?"

"You're not interested," Zuko murmured. Azula blinked in surprise, caught off guard for the barest moment. It wasn't enough, though, and her Dai Li guards sprang into action before Zuko could do much. He was quickly bound in stone cuffs, and throne into the catacombs beneath the city. And just like so many things that had happened that day, he was unsurprised to find himself trapped with the Avatar's waterbender (Katara. He'd known her name for some time, but Azula herself couldn't have tortured him into admitting it).

His mind was reeling as his memory of his dream and the reality of the situation crashed together, and he had the unpleasant sensation of remembering everything Katara had said before she'd spoken it. Particularly painful was Zuko anticipating her confession about how he was the face that for months she'd been picturing when she pictured the enemy. When she offered to heal his scar, Zuko was ready to break the walls down himself. Still, he submitted to her touch on his face. He wouldn't have been able to explain why for anything. Fortunately, he was spared thinking too hard about it when the Avatar arrived.

Azula caught up to them not long after. When Azula made her offer this time, Zuko froze, completely unable to thinks about anything beyond his own confusion. It was his dream. It was exactly his dream. Right down to the Avatar being struck down, and his uncle being taken prisoner so Katara could escape with the Avatar's....corpse? Zuko watched her go uncertainly. She met his confused gaze with a flinty one of her own. A shiver went down Zuko's spine.

Later that night, Azula congratulated Zuko on his choice. He barely registered any of it. Had he done all of this, he wondered. Had he literally dreamed his success into reality? He settled down into the bed of the room Azula had given him. Where King Kuei was, Zuko couldn't begin to hazard a guess, but for the time being, Azula had claimed his palace as her own, and given her brother the second best room available. Despite this, sleep came reluctantly for Zuko, but still, it came.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Zuko sat up in bed, gasping. He looked around wildly. It took a few moments for his confusion to wane, but soon he was able to recognize the familiar trappings of his room. The one above the tea shop that his uncle was making famous with his delicate blends. There was no smell of floral garden air from the windows. His blanket was scratchy and stiff wool, and not the down stuffed silk he remembered falling asleep under in King Kuei's suites.

A few moments later, his door swung open and Iroh came in with a wide grin.

"Good morning, nephew!" he said cheerfully. "It's a beautiful day, full of endless possibilities."

This time, all Zuko could do was stare. Iroh was as excited as ever as he admonished his nephew to get out of bed and get ready for work. Zuko was not at all surprised when Iroh announced that he had been invited to King Kuei's palace to serve tea.

"It's a trap," Zuko warned him. "We shouldn't go."

"Don't be silly, Nephew!" Iroh chortled. "Why would Kuei want to trap us?" Zuko wasn't sure how to handle that question without sounding insane. He went along with it. Perhaps he was still dreaming, Zuko reasoned. He had been asleep the entire time, and his brain wasn't allowing him to wake properly. He went through his day for the third time. He remembered most of the orders he'd taken the last couple of times, so he was able to devote most of his brain space to figuring out what was happening and how to stop it.

This time, he said little as he paced the floor in King Kue's palace, but he still hesitated just long enough that he was once again caught by Azula's Dai Li agents. And once more, he landed at Katara's feet. As before, he submitted to her tirade silently. This time, he was caught by the pain in he voice when she told him how his family had taken her mother from her. He wondered about her story. How long ago had it happened? How had it happened? How young had she been?

Katara wasn't much younger than he was, Zuko guessed. Maybe a year or two. He wasn't certain. She was still young enough to need her mother. It wasn't fair that she'd lost her mother so young. He said that, too, after commiserating with her over the loss of his mother. What would Ursa say? What would she think of her son sharing this with a Water Tribe girl?

When her hand came up to his face, Zuko had already accepted that she wouldn't have time to try her healing water on him. Sure enough, as her thumb grazed his lip, the wall on the far side of the cavern burst open, and the Avatar came in, followed closely by Iroh. Katara threw her arms around the younger boy, relieved to be rescued, and completely forgetting her offer to heal Zuko.

Zuko hesitated longer on his sister's offer. Little else changed, after all, how could he not help his sister? How could he not take his chance to go home? Still, Azula's suspicious gaze lingered on Zuko a bit longer afterwards. Zuko felt more eyes on him in general for the rest of the day. By the time he turned in that night, he was certain his sister had eyes on him even as he climbed into bed, sore, tired and confused.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Zuko opened his eyes, somehow unsurprised to find himself in the familiar trappings of his room above the tea shop. There was no smell of floral garden air from the windows. His blanket was scratchy and stiff wool, and not the down stuffed silk he had fallen asleep under in King Kuei's suites.

A few moments later, his door swung open and Iroh came in with a wide grin.

"Good morning, nephew!" he said cheerfully. "It's a beautiful day, full of endless possibilities." Zuko sat quietly as Iroh told him the good news. That they had been invited to serve tea to the King of Ba Sing Se. Iroh's smile dimmed a bit when he realized that Zuko wasn't reacting.

"Are you alright?" he asked. He sat down on the edge of Zuko's bed and pressed a hand to his forehead. "Are you sick?"

"...no," Zuko said after a moment. "I just...didn't sleep well." That may have been true. Zuko didn't remember falling asleep. Didn't remember dreaming. It seemed to him that he had just closed his eyes for a moment and then the world had reset itself. What was happening?

"Alright," Iroh said, unconvinced. "Breakfast is ready when you are." He got up and started to go. He paused at the door and stared at his nephew. "Or you can stay home, if you'd prefer." Zuko shook his head.

"I'm alright. I'll be out in a few minutes."

Zuko had heard all of his customers' orders so many times by this point, he didn't even need to pay attention to them. He did the cursory work, pretending to jot their tea preferences down on his note pad before he turned them into his uncle in the kitchen. Maybe that's why he was able to pay more attention. Maybe that's why he saw Katara this time. Their eyes met across the crowded tea room, Katara's eyes wide in horror. Zuko's eyes wide in shock. Had she always seen him that day? No wonder there was more anger than surprise when hours later, the Dai Li threw him into the catacombs before her. This time was no different.

She launched into her tirade, hurling her accusations, her pent up anger, her grief at him. This time, Zuko understood a bit better. She wasn't angry at him- or rather, she was, but it was a deeper wound she was purging. So when she spoke of her mother, Zuko said,

"That's something we have in common." And then... "What was her name?"

Katara was thrown completely for a loop, Zuko could see it in her eyes. She turned to him, wiping the tears from her eyes. She stared at him quietly for so long, Zuko didn't think she would answer him. But then...

"Kya," she whispered. "H-her name was Kya." Zuko shut his eyes and repeated the name to himself. Kya sounded like a poem. What kind of person was she? Was her daughter anything like her? Zuko thought she probably was, and if Katara was like her, then Kya must have been a very fierce...pain in the neck. The thought made him smile a bit.

"Are you laughing?" Katara demanded. Venomous rage bled back into her voice. Zuko met her gaze head on.

"No," he said. "I was just wondering if she was anything like you." That froze Katara once again, and this time Zuko did have to bite back a chuckle. There was a long, awkward pause. Then,

"My...my grandmother says I am," Katara said quietly. Zuko wasn't entirely sure she was speaking to him directly, or just didn't care if he heard her. "She says that I'm just like my mother when she was my age." She went silent again, casting furtive glances at Zuko. "What was your mother's name?"

"Ursa," Zuko sighed.

"Are you like her?" Katara asked. Zuko considered that for a moment. Then he shrugged.

"I hope I am," he said.

They didn't get around to Katara touching his face or her offer to heal his scar. They were still on opposite sides of the cave when Iroh and the Avatar burst in. This time, Zuko hesitated a beat too long, and he was crushed by a rock from one of the Dai Li agents.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Zuko shot up in bed, choking down a strangled scream. He could still remember the agonizing pain radiating from his caved in chest, and the feeling of blood filling his lungs as he gurgled out his last breath. He ran his hands over himself looking for any marks, or bruises. Any evidence at all from what had happened....last night? Tonight? What was going on? A hiccupping sob escaped Zuko just as the door opened.

"Good morning, nephew!" Iroh said cheerfully. "It's a beautiful day, full of endless possibilities." Iroh froze abruptly when he saw the look on Zuko's face. "What's wrong?"

Zuko didn't say anything. He just leapt out of bed and threw himself on Iroh and wept like child in his uncle's arms. Iroh let him, alternating between comforting Zuko and trying to understand what had him in such a state. It took nearly ten minutes before Iroh managed to calm Zuko. Then he bundled Zuko up in his scratchy blanket and guided him to the little kitchen table, the one that wobbled and was hardly big enough for the both of them. Minutes later, he pressed a fresh cup of soothing tea into Zuko's hands and squeezed into the other side of the table.

"What happened?" he asked. Zuko choked down an errant sob and shrugged helplessly.

"You won't believe me," he muttered.

"Try me," Iroh implored. He reached out across the table and squeezed Zuko's free hand. "Please, Zuko. Did something happen last night? Did you get into some trouble? Did you break up with your lady friend?" At that Zuko laughed. If only if it were something that small.

"No," he said. "Jin and I haven't spoken in..." Zuko frowned. How long ago had it been? How many times had he relived this day? Did it count towards how long it'd been since he'd seen Jin?

"Then, what is it?" Iroh looked ready to cry himself. That startled Zuko. And it loosened his tongue. He told Iroh everything. How he'd live this day already, several times. How the invitation to King Kuei's palace was a trap. That Azula was not only in the city, but in the middle of a coup. He told Iroh about being trapped in the cavern with Katara (despite the situation, Iroh managed to look arch at Zuko using the waterbender's name). Zuko hid his shame, but he told Iroh how Azula won at the end of the day. Then he told Iroh how the last time, he'd died. Iroh was stricken at that. He scanned Zuko for injuries that they both knew weren't there.

"No wonder you were upset," Iroh said.

"You believe me?" Zuko stared at his uncle in shock.

"I have little reason to doubt," Iroh shrugged. "After all, I haven't mentioned tea at King Kuei's yet. I've seen far too much in my day to dismiss your claim out of hand."

"What do I do, Uncle?" Zuko pleaded. Iroh shook his head sadly.

"I don't know myself," he admitted. "This has the marks of some spirit's intervention."

"So, I just have to keep living today over and over until whatever spirit is doing this decides they're done?" Iroh pursed his lips and blew out a long slow breath.

"It's rare for any spirit powerful enough to do this to act arbitrarily," he said. "There must be something you need to do. Some lesson you need to learn. Have you done anything different?"

"Not really," Zuko said. The only major changes had been his conversation with Katara and his hesitation in that final battle.

"Maybe you should try."

So, Zuko did just that. Neither he nor Iroh ended up going to the palace, or to work that day. They stayed inside. Katara never saw Zuko at the tea house. Zuko never ended up in the cavern. Beyond that, Zuko didn't know what difference it had made. He didn't know that without Iroh there to distract his niece, Katara and Aang both died in the cavern. He didn't know that Sokka and Toph had just barely made it out of the city, or that Chief Hakoda driven more by grief than logic had ordered a failed attack on the city that ended with half the Southern Tribe warriors dead or captured. It wasn't until the Dai Li agents arrived at their apartment that Zuko realized that Azula knew where he and Iroh lived. There was no need for her to keep him around now. The Avatar was undeniably dead. The stone cuffs made it impossible for Zuko and Iroh to defend themselves, and in a rare act of mercy, Azula killed them quickly.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Zuko woke up with the memory of lightning scorching his internal organs, and the echoes of Iroh's agonized screams in his ears. He flung his blanket off and threw the door open, startling Iroh, who was just coming in to wake him. This time Zuko didn't hesitate to tell Iroh everything. This time instead of waiting around the apartment all day, they stole out of the city. They were miles away when the city and the Avatar fell. They didn't stop until night fall, and they made an impromptu camp. They sat around the fire quietly, picking at their meals.

"Do you think this will end the loop?" Zuko asked his uncle. Iroh pursed his lips and blew out a long, slow breath.

"I don't know," he admitted. "I hope it does. But maybe I'm not who you're supposed to save."

"It must be," Zuko insisted. "Who else?" Iroh shrugged.

"Who can say with the spirits? It's rare for any spirit powerful enough to do this to act arbitrarily, though." Zuko didn't agree, but he said nothing. Finally, Iroh turned in for the night. Zuko offered to keep watch, determined to stay awake until the sun rose the next day. He drank a whole pot of the strong morning tea they'd packed. Despite their desperate flight out of Ba Sing Se, Zuko wasn't the least bit tired. He was certain he'd be able to stay up.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Zuko opened his eyes and let out a long, loud string of expletives when he found himself in the familiar trappings of his room above the tea shop. Iroh poked his head in, frowning in concern.

"Everything alright?" he asked.

"No!" Zuko shouted. "Nothing is alright! I hate the spirits!"

Zuko didn't want to explain anything to his uncle this time. He disappeared into the city, picking fights with anyone who crossed him. Eventually he was caught by the Dai Li and taken to the underground lake prison. His last memory was of a flashing green light and someone trying to hypnotize him. The next few times he woke up, he tried breaking into the palace and catching Azula unawares. He lost three times, died once, reached a stalemate four times, and killed his sister twice.

Most often, he ended up back in the cavern with Katara. Once, she managed to use her magic water on his scar. It worked, sort of. The scar faded until it was just a pinkish blemish over his eye, but then Azula hit the Avatar with lightning just before Zuko took her out. The Avatar died because Katara didn't have the water to heal him with. She was kind enough not to blame Zuko, but the sound of her sobs chased him into the new day. He never let her try that again. The next few times, he found Katara earlier in the day. He managed to get her to listen to him most of the time. She was, he found, more inclined to trust than he expected. These days still ended up with Ba Sing Se's fall, but Katara usually managed to escape with her friends, sometimes with Zuko's help, sometimes on her own, but Zuko never took her up on her offer to join them. Something inside him still balked at the idea of helping the Avatar, though he'd long since given up on returning to his father. Being murdered by his gleeful sister in increasingly creative ways had dashed any real hope he had that his father wanted him home. He learned a lot about Katara on those days, when he managed to get her to hear him out before attacking.

Today, he was exhausted. He went to work his shift at the tea house, because he didn't know what else to do. He was rude and snappish with the customers all morning, barely stopping to listen to their orders, and even though he didn't get a single order wrong, the owner of the shop sent him away early. That was fine. Zuko didn't stop to answer his uncle's calls as he stormed out into the street, running into a smaller person. He reached out instinctively to steady them, ready to berate whoever it was, but he froze. Katara was in his arms, staring up at him in horror.

Of course...

This had happened before, and the last time, both he and Katara had been taken by the Dai Li to that underground prison lake. Now, Zuko let go of her and turned to run in the opposite direction before she even had a chance to react. He expected to feel water snaking around his ankles, an icicle in his back, to hear her screaming for the Dai Li behind him.

None of that happened. Instead, he ran into two more girls. Girls in Kyoshi Warrior makeup. Girls who he'd recognize anywhere, no matter how much paint was on their faces.

"Oh no," he groaned.

"Is that anyway to greet old friends?" Mai asked mockingly.

Zuko ended up in the cavern with Katara. He wasn't sure how she'd gotten caught, but he was there first this time. Whatever tirade she had been preparing to launch into stopped abruptly when she saw him hitting his head against the rock wall with alarming force.

"What are you doing?" she gasped. Zuko was too dizzy to be surprised when she pulled him away from the wall. He could feel something trickle down his face, and whatever it was had Katara staring at him in open concern.

"Let go!" Zuko tried to shrug her off. "I have to get out of here!"

"Zuko!" Katara pulled him away from his wall, and he was too dazed to stop her. She pulled water from...somewhere, Zuko wasn't sure. Maybe the walls. The cave was damp enough. Her hand glowed a soft blue, and the pain in his forehead faded, to his disappointment.

"What did you go and do that for?" Zuko demanded, rubbing his hand over his unbruised forehead.

"Why were you hitting you head against the wall?" Katara countered sharply. She folded her arms and glowered at Zuko.

"I was trying to kill myself, if you must know," he sneered at her. For all the times they'd met and all he had learned about Katara, this was a new day. They were not friends.

"What?" Katara looked stricken, and Zuko felt bad, despite himself.

"Forget it," he said, turning away from her. "It doesn't matter."

"Zuko, what's going on?" Katara ran around him so she could see his face. "Tell me what's happening! Why are we here?"

"Trust me, you couldn't have picked a question I want answered more," he scoffed. "I don't know why I'm here. I've been here too many times to count at this point, and I don't know why! I've tried not coming here, but that doesn't work either."

"What are you talking about?" Katara asked, staring at him as if he'd grown another head. Zuko almost laughed. Maybe he had. It would make as much sense as anything else.

"I'm cursed, Katara," he said a bit hysterically. "I'm cursed. I've lived this day so many times... I...I don't know what to do. I'm losing my mind, and I'm scared." Zuko crumpled to the floor and sobbed into his palms.

Katara didn't know what to do. He could feel her hovering over him, uncertain of what, if anything, to do for him. Finally, she sat beside him, and hesitantly wrapped her arm around him from the side. All pride had utterly fled Zuko. He threw himself into her embrace and sobbed on her shoulder. Katara stiffened, and for a moment Zuko thought she would throw him off of her, but kindness, or compassion, or whatever drove her overrode her hatred for him, and she held him stiffly while he cried.

Zuko composed himself as fast as he could, and pulled away from Katara. He'd left a large wet mark of sweat and tears and snot on her dress, but she was a good sport about it.

"Will you tell me what's going on?" she asked.

"You won't believe me," Zuko said. The words brought back a memory of a similar conversation with his uncle.

"Try me," Katara said, with a wry smirk.

"I already told you," Zuko said. "I'm reliving today and I don't know how to get out of this loop."

"What?" Katara stared at him as if his second head had sprouted wings and started earthbending.

"I told you wouldn't believe me." This time Zuko did chuckle. "I've been here in this cavern with you, so many time's I've lost count. Do you think I'm crazy?"

"I-I," Katara stammered. "Zuko, this isn't..."

"I can prove it," Zuko told her. "We've spoken before. You've told me things. Personal things."

"Excuse me?" Katara stared at him, aghast.

"You have," Zuko insisted. "How else do I know that you have magic healing water from the Spirit Oasis?"

"Y-you were there," Katara said. "You could've been spying." Zuko shook his head.

"Nope," he said. "That's not it. I also know that you lost your mother. We've talked about her nearly every time we've met." Rage flashed across Katara's face at that.

"How dare you-?"

"I'm just saying what you told me," Zuko said. "You told me her name was Kya. And you told me how your grandmother said you're just like her when she was your age." Katara gaped at him in shock.

"How did you know-"

"You told me," Zuko sighed. "Just like you told me that your favorite color is seafoam green, and you miss the dancing lights in the sky back home, and your brother Sokka once got two hooks stuck in his thumb. One time, you ate papaya even though you hate it because a fortuneteller told you to. I have no other way to know any of that except from you. I'm not lying. I'm stuck in some sort of time loop. I don't know how to get unstuck."

"Oh-" Katara sat beside him quietly for a long time, processing the new information. "And I just..told you all of that? Why?"

"I don't know," Zuko shrugged helplessly. "I asked, and if you were in a good mood, you'd tell me. I don't always see you, and when I do we don't always talk." More silence, though, Zuko could almost hear her brain working double time to process all of this.

"Do you know how it started?' she asked after a long while.

"No," Zuko shook his head. He had tried to recall if he'd crossed any priests, or accidentally touched some relic, or walked under a ladder, but he couldn't think of anything out of the ordinary until he woke up and the day repeated. He told Katara as much.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"I am, too," he shook his head. "I'm the only one who knows it, but you're all stuck in this loop with me, it seems. I really am sorry."

"That's got to be so lonely," Katara said. Zuko let out another shuddering sob. He hadn't let himself admit it yet, but she was right. It was incredibly lonely. No matter how many times they'd spoken, Iroh didn't remember why his nephew sometimes woke up screaming. Katara wouldn't remember this conversation, or that she and Zuko had made a connection and had more in common than she realized. In a few hours, Zuko would wake up and they would be enemies again. Katara pulled him into another embrace, and Zuko clung to her like a life line. He didn't cry on her anymore, though.

"I'm so scared," he whispered. "I can't even die." Katara stiffened in his hold, but instead of pushing him away, she held him tighter.

"There's got to be a way out," she said. "There has to be." Zuko didn't bother telling her that he'd tried everything he could think of. He pulled away slightly, not quite ready to let go of her yet, and rested his forehead against hers.

"Maybe I'm not dying the right way," he said.

"Why do you think you have to die at all?" Katara asked. Zuko snorted.

"Wouldn't it make your life easier if I were dead?" he asked. "If I die and end this loop, you wouldn't have to worry about me coming after you, or betraying your trust, or...or..." Zuko clenched his teeth tightly. Katara unwound an arm from his mid section and cupped his jaw.

"Where's that stubborn mule-ox who chased us around the world?" she demanded. "Where's that fighting spirit that led you to do stupid things, like challenge me while I was surrounded by my element?"

"I think that bit of me died around the fortieth time I woke up this morning," Zuko laughed mirthlessly. "Katara, I can't do this anymore. I have to figure out a way to end this. Even if it means I die. I can't go on like this!" His grip tightened around her waist, and he felt the tears coming again.

Then his world came to a screeching halt.

Katara's lips were pressed against his. Every thought in Zuko's head flickered out and all he could focus on was how soft Katara's lips were.

She pulled away with a jerk. Already she was babbling an apology, an explanation that she didn't know how else to distract him, other words that were lost on Zuko. Then she stopped talking when he leaned in to kiss her again. It was an urgent, awkward kiss between two inexperienced and desperate teens, with too much teeth and too many hands uncertain of where touch was okay. They kissed until they were breathless. They kissed until the wall imploded. And when Iroh and Aang burst in and the dust settled, they were still clinging to each other in a way that left little doubt of what they'd been doing.

They sprang apart, but instead of rushing over to Aang as she'd done so many times before, Katara stood awkwardly beside Zuko. A bright red blush covered her face and neck, and she looked a bit ashamed of herself as she avoided her friend's devastated face, but she didn't leave Zuko's side. Her knuckles bushed against his reassuringly, but neither of them made to entwine their hands.

There was no time to discuss any of what had happened. Azula and the Dai Li agents had heard the commotion as they always did, and soon they found themselves in the middle of a battle. Zuko had long since given up on joining his sister's side. And maybe the kiss had emboldened him, but this time, he joined the fight against his sister without hesitating. That enraged her, but between him, his uncle and Katara, she and the Dai Li were on their back foot. Zuko tried to keep his sister's focus on him. This time he would see Katara and his uncle escape safely with the Avatar. But something went wrong, and Aang was struck by Azula's lightning.

Katara in her rage was a sight to behold. She caught Aang as he fell, and almost simultaneously called up a wave with all the water in the cavern and froze Azula and her guards. That hadn't happened before. Neither had Zuko and Iroh ever managed to actually escape the cavern with Katara and Aang.

Later that night on Appa's saddle, Zuko watched in awe as the spirit water literally brought the Avatar back from the dead. He was glad that Katara hadn't wasted it on something as frivolous as his scar. Especially not when she looked at him, almost weeping with relief when her friend's chest began to fall and rise again.

In the chaos, Zuko and Iroh's presence had gone unremarked by Katara's other companions, but now that Ba Sing Se was miles behind them, and the Southern Tribe Warriors' camp lay before them, Sokka and Toph finally stopped to question their new companions. Katara told them in no uncertain terms that they owed Zuko and Iroh both hers and Aang's lives, and that they were fine to travel with them as long as they liked. Iroh offered his services as a firebending master for the Avatar once he woke. Zuko was quiet and stuck by either Iroh's or Katara's side- the latter was noted by Sokka with more than a hint of suspicion, but Zuko didn't care. It wouldn't matter in a few hours.

When they landed for an hour to plan their next move, Zuko told Katara as much when he managed to capture a few moments alone with her. She squeezed his hand.

"It'll be okay," she said. Zuko thought she was going to kiss him again, but Sokka appeared, inserting himself between them, with a suspicious glower levied at Zuko. Katara scoffed and went to go check on Aang.

They arrived at Chameleon Bay not long after that, and Zuko and Iroh were welcomed, albeit coldly by Katara's father and his troop. Zuko wasn't sure what Katara said, but he and Iroh were given a room on the Fire Nation ship Chief Hakoda and his men had managed to take possession of. Zuko couldn't sleep, though.

He ended up on the deck of the ship as the moon was nearing its zenith. It was close to the time that the day would reset for him. Zuko had timed it before. He figured he had about twenty minutes before he blacked out and woke in his room at the tea shop. He dreaded it, but he also felt a bit melancholy about it. No one would remember what happened today. His new allies, as fragile as the relationship was, would not know what happened tonight. His uncle, sleeping safely (as safely as was possible, at least) would soon burst into his room, excited about the trap that had been set for him at King Kuei's palace. Katara wouldn't remember comforting him in the caverns. She wouldn't remember kissing him, and when he saw her next, they would be enemies again. He didn't dare hope for a repeat of this particular version of the day, either.

Light footsteps came up behind him, but Zuko didn't so much as flinch. The worst that could happen would be someone slitting his throat. He wasn't overly worried about it, though, and he wasn't all that surprised when Katara sat down beside him, letting her legs dangle over the edge of the stern.

"It's late," she said.

"Yeah," Zuko agreed.

"Aren't you tired?"

"Aren't you?" Zuko scoffed. He glanced at Katara out of the corner of his eye. She was still covered in gore from where she'd caried Aang out of the cavern. Her hair was stiff with dried sweat, and there were smudges of mud and blood on her face and hands. She was gorgeous, Zuko realized with horrified clarity. He looked away from her and cleared his throat. He turned his gaze out on the the water of the bay. The moonlight scattered across the surface of the water, and danced across the waves.

"It's getting close to the time when my day starts again," he told Katara quietly. He sagged against the railing of the ship and rested his forehead against the cool metal. He was exhausted. He was always exhausted when he reached this part of the day.

"What if you stay up?" Katara suggested. Zuko shook his head with a sigh.

"I've tried," he told her. "If I don't fall asleep, or get knocked out or die, I just sort of black out. I can't fight it." Katara gasped, but didn't say anything. She slipped her hand inside of his and held it tightly. It was a nice sensation to end on, Zuko thought. He didn't fight it when sleep came to claim him.

Sunlight on his face woke him. Zuko looked around in confusion. He was not in his room above the tea shop. Above him, he saw the lightening dawn sky instead of the ceiling he'd been expecting. There was no scratchy stiff wool blanket over him. There was something soft and warm, and much heavier than a blanket on him though. He looked down and found Katara asleep on his chest, her arm draped across him protectively.

She must have heard the change in Zuko's heartbeat. Katara began to stir. She sat up and looked around blearily. She was not a morning person, Zuko thought giddily. When her eyes finally landed on him, several things crossed her face; surprise, fear, then dawning realization.

"Did you do it?" she asked. "Did you break the loop?" Zuko nodded, swallowing hard.

"It looks like it," he said. He looked around himself in awe. It was a new day.

[artemis-fowl-incident-report]

Canon divergence.

Its a small detail in the first book that I've never seen anyone bring up, but when Artemis is setting up his trap for the LEP he makes... a mistake (pause for shocked gasps).

The joy of Artemis's plan is that he wants the fairies to blow him up as cover for his escape, but if there had been one truly pacifist member of the LEP, things could have gone very different.

Artemis, book 1. chapter 6: "You do that. But remember this, none of your race has permission to enter here while I'm alive"

It's generally accepted that the fairies follow the word, if not the spirit, of the law. This can be seen in chapter Chapter 3 when Holly uses a child's cry for help as an invitation into the restaurant. This means that the implications of the words Artemis uses are more important than what he actually means.

"Race" is specified language for an individual species of fairy (elves, Goblins, Dwarves). "Fairies" is the umbrella term. And thus, Artemis saying to an elf "none of your race can enter" could have been taken as "no elves allowed" from a legal POV.

This means they could have, under fairy law, sent in sprites, gnomes, pixies. Hell, it means Mulch and the Troll being sent in wasn't even illegal!

So imagine if, in the middle of the kidnapping, a platoon of sprites flies into Fowl manor. They take down Butler from on high before he even realises what's happened. They extract Holly, since under the "no elves aloud" thing she shouldn't even be there, or they mesmerise Artemis into setting her free. They mind wipe them all, and Artemis forgets all about fairies.

This moment affects everything else in the series.

Holly would have probably been fired, since she got kidnaped and wasn't able to justify that she got half the gold back, since this would have all been handled before Artemis got anywhere near the gold.

Opal and Cudgeon would have taken over Haven, and its doubtful weather they would have been able to get back Artemis Sr safely without fairy assistance.

The Demons would have still been floating in Limbo until their island fell apart, or until Minerva came along and put them in a zoo.

Turnball Root would have escaped prison with no one to stop him as he tried to keep his wife alive.

And it all would have hit the fan if the "peace loving" fairies had actually been as pacifist as they had claimed.

[apprenticestanheight]

Could you write something platonic where reader is transmasc and an apprentice and the other apprentices help them with their dysphoria when it gets bad?

Platonic! Jigsaw Apprentices x transmasc! apprentice! reader dealing with dysphoria headcanons

hi! Thank you so much for sending this in--I haven't watched past saw four (however, I do know of Lawrences fate after he leaves the bathroom trap from many-a-boredom scrolls through both his wiki and the wiki for saw 3D, hence why I'm comfortable to write this and know, for what is only my second time writing for him and my first writing for him in this context, he might not be super ooc) so if there are any details from canon that I miss out on/gloss over with the regard to the three apprentices I know of, I apologize in advance!

Did this as headcanons, too, which I hope is all right!

Fic type- fluff!

Warnings- mentions of saw canon-typical violence and traps (nonspecific), mentions of guns, a couple of mentions of transphobes (in a context wherein I state that the apprentices included would be supportive and help you kill transphobes if you chose to)

okay! So! I feel like their reactions to your days of bad dysphoria are vastly different--Amanda picks up on it with the drop of a hat.

You walk in with your shoulders slouched, looking particularly grim, and she immediately is just like "I have a sweater I can lend him!" and then she runs to grab it and gives it to you because y'know--she's murderous and a liiiiiiittle unhinged but she still cares.

Lawrence exists in the same vein as Amanda to an extent--the vein diverges past the keen emotional awareness she has. He senses something is off with you right out the gate but doesn't grasp what it is until Amanda is giving you the sweater and you're beaming at her like she's the reason that the sun shines in America, at which point it dawns on him.

He's like "I wonder why Y/N seems off today," and then he watches Amanda give you the sweater while you're working on trap schematics or doing something apprentice-y (forgive me for the nonspecificity of this--I've been writing it since around 2:45 and it is currently three in the morning)

he sees you adjust the sleeves so that they're over your hands, adjust the hood so that it fits the way you want and adjust how it fits on your torso, double checking that it's big enough to actually fend off the dysphoria as you do, and Lawrence realizes it at that point.

from "I wonder why Y/N seems off today," to "oh SHIT. THE DYSPHORIA IS WHY HE'S OFF." in two seconds flat.

Hoffman watches Lawrence realize it and nearly puts his own hand in the chopping block while he tests a trap that would go on someones wrists because of how much it makes him laugh--Lawrence, on the other hand, does not find this particularly funny.

Hoffman knows it as quickly as Amanda does, but he's not really the touchy-feely-found-family type.

He looks at you and watches you sketch out a trap for a transphobe (I wholeheartedly believe Hoffman and Amanda would both help you absolutely brutalize these ones but that,, that is a different convo for a different time. Amanda Young and Mark Hoffman both would say trans rights with their chests! Lawrence would too but from what I've seen of him he's not as brutal as they are with their trapmaking, and c'mon. Amanda doesn't believe in second chances and transphobes?? undeserving.)

and there comes a point where he's just kind of... "How bad is it today?"

"Not as bad as it could be but worse than it has been in recent."

Hoffman goes off to find something to help you feel a bit in better spirits, finds a baggy enough pair of cargo pants and lets you swap them for the form-fitting joggers you'd worn, seeing as it had been laundry day and all of the clothes you'd wear when it got bad had been put into the washer when you'd left your apartment.

Lawrence tilts his head at you for a second--he understands dysphoria as a medical diagnosis, knows how to help it in medical terms, but you're one of the first trans people he meets and one of the few with whom he's in regular contact.

There comes a point where, after having spent a long time staring at trap sketches and a longer time going through police files and evidence to see if the police have caught onto any of you yet, he speaks up.

"I could steal testosterone for you," he offers.

You find it amusing--a doctor, usually so deadpan and restitute in his demeanour, telling you he'd do something that could cost him his job?

"You need an income," you'd say. "Tempting as I find it to take you up on that."

Lawrence waves it off, but he does know you're right. Eight years of medical school and all of the time he's devoted to working in his field shouldn't have gone down the drain for something as minute as a particularly dysphoric day for you.

Lawrence sighs. "I know I'm not really good at this type of thing," he says. "But--if you need someone, you at least have me."

"He's got me, too," Amanda says, going about putting bullets into the cylinder of a revolver one by one. "We sure are one fucked up support system."

You finish sketching a trap for a republican, anti-trans congressman and sigh. "Yeah, but a support system is still a support system, Ames. Thank you both--and Hoffman, thank you too!"

Hoffman is somewhere in the distance, testing trap schematics for Amanda, and all that you get back is a shout of appreciation from his end.

All in all, they have different ways of helping you, be it through the gift of an old but baggy sweater, baggy sweatpants from the trunk of their cars, or offers of theft and words of affirmation.

[ink-and-dagger]

These Tides Do Turn: 2024 Rewrite || Zuko x Katara || Rating: Mature || Canon-divergence || Slow-burn || Enemies to lovers || Angst || Romance || Hurt/Comfort || Trauma* || Full tags on AO3 || MDNI

*This story contains potentially triggering content. Please check tags carefully and read at your own risk. Specific TWs placed at the start of each chapter.

Chapter 2: Waiting

Chapter triggers: Violence, PTSD

Katara has no idea how long they’ve been imprisoned in this room. 

The minutes and hours bleed into one another until she can’t tell whether days, weeks, or mere seconds have passed. The lanterns either side of the doorway never go out. Their dim light flickers incessantly – making the passage of time even more confusing. The only indication that more than just a little while has passed is her steadily growing appetite. Between the hunger, the unrelenting cold, and the fleeting, fitful moments of sleep, Katara’s energy begins to wane, leaving her feeling like a wrung sponge.

She and Zuko haven’t exchanged a single word since those few spiteful comments in the wake of Commander Shai’s visit, and the air hangs heavy between them – yet another thing that rubs at Katara’s frayed nerves.

She watches him now; inspecting the manacles around his wrists with cool precision. He feeds one length of chain through his hands, following it back to the small hole in the wall through which it disappears. He pokes at the opening. It’s clearly far too narrow to get his finger in alongside the chain, yet he seems intent on trying to do so. Katara scoffs derisively.

“What are you doing?”

“What does it look like I’m doing.” Zuko responds flatly, not bothering to pause his inspection. 

Katara scowls at the back of his head. It feels as though she’s always scowling whenever Zuko is around. Being trapped in here with him is going to give her premature wrinkles.

“What’s the point?” She snips, “Even if we get free of the chains, the door is still locked from the outside.”

“We wait until they unlock the door, then overpower them.”

She exhales heavily through her nose. Haven’t they just had this conversation? If he wants to behave like a petulant toddler, then she’s going to speak to him like one. 

“We talked about this. Even if we get out of these chains and through the door without being killed first, we still have no idea what we’re going to find outside this room.”

Zuko finally turns, frustration evident in the set of his jaw. “We have to try something. Don’t you want to get off this ship?”

“Of course I do,” she snaps.

“Are you sure? ‘Cause you’re acting like you wouldn’t mind hanging around for a while.”

“For Spirits’ sake Zuko!” 

His sarcasm nettles her immediately. Like he has any right to be mad at her— 

He has every right to be mad at you. You got him into this mess and he hasn’t once blamed you for it. 

Katara ignores the intrusive thought and barrels on. 

“When was the last time we had anything to eat or drink? We’re running on empty. And you’re clearly injured, even though you’ve been trying to hide it from me." 

It hasn’t escaped her notice that Zuko has been favouring one side: Bruised ribs, she guesses, based on his movement. Evidently he hadn’t gone down without a fight after she’d been knocked out. Certainly fits his nature.

Zuko roars his frustration and twists, driving a fist into the wall behind him. The dull clang is immediately followed by a yelp, and he shuffles from one foot to the other, clutching at his hand. 

Katara smirks darkly. “Feel better?”

He shoots her a glare as he turns, sliding back down the wall to sit and rub his sore knuckles.

“You should really work on your anger management issues.”

“I do not have anger management issues,” Zuko yells.

She raises an eyebrow, “Sure. You’re always in perfect control of your emotions.”

He shoots back to his feet with an agitated growl, and begins pacing as much as his chains allow him to. The metal links jerk and rattle, smothering any sound of his footsteps which are catlike even in his anger.

Katara watches him fume and finds it oddly calming. This is a Zuko she knows: The angry boy who chased them from Pole to Pole. It’s familiar, and there’s safety in that. There’s no safety in the confused, anguished boy who opened up to her beneath Ba Sing Se. Nor in the earnest young man who had shown up at the Western Air Temple in their hour of need. Nor the ‘selfless hero’ that had braved the Boiling Rock with Sokka to rescue her father and Suki. It is too hard and too confusing to reconcile all these different versions of Zuko. She doesn’t know which one is real, and she therefore does not trust any of them. 

At last, he rounds on her, shoulders bunched beneath his black tunic.

“So what?! So what if I feel things strongly? That’s who I am, and I don’t have to justify that to you. I’ve made my peace with it. And right now we’re trapped on an enemy warship with a raving psychopath and no one knows where we are and I don’t know how to get us both out of here safely. So yeah – I think anger is a reasonable thing to be feeling.”

Katara bristles – offended by his emphasis on her safety. As if she isn’t capable of looking after herself. She doesn’t want him feeling responsible for her, doesn’t want any ties between them, and definitely doesn’t want any favours owed.

“And you’re hardly any better than me,” Zuko continues, barrelling through her thoughts, “You feel things strongly too, just like I do, and you never hold back from expressing yourself.”

“Expressing is one thing – at least I’m in control of my emotions.”

“Are you?” He cocks his head knowingly. 

Katara clamps her mouth shut so hard that her molars clack. She glares at him, her nostrils flaring with each breath like an enraged bull.

“Exactly,” he sneers, “You and I are more alike than you think.”

“I am nothing like you!” She shoots to her feet with a clanging of chains, and squares up to him as though he isn’t a head taller and confined to the opposite side of the cell. Too furious to care that her response has given merit to his claim. 

But Zuko doesn’t gloat – only glares right back with a matching ferocity, “That isn’t true and you know it.”

Katara growls in anger, tearing her gaze away before it reveals too much. She begins to pace on her own side of the room; an almost identical reenactment of him.

“Perhaps that’s your issue with me,” Zuko insists. “You hate that we have things in common. You hate that you see yourself in me even though I’m from the Fire Nation.”

“Shut up.” She doesn’t want to hear his bullshit.

“It’s why you let me come on this mission with you in the first place – because you know I’m the only one who understands. Because you know I’m the only one who wouldn’t judge you for however you wanted to handle it.”

“And how would you handle it Zuko? If you were faced with your mother’s killer?” 

Behind the bite in her words, the question thrums. Suddenly, she finds that she truly wants an answer. What would he have done, if their positions were reversed? Because even as she had walked towards the Commander, his blood bending to her will… she hadn’t known what came next. To plot revenge is one thing – to make a vow of action, and to play out fictitious scenarios in the minds eye – but when it comes down to it… would she really have killed him? If it had been the right man, and not Shai? 

Is she capable of such things?

Katara watches Zuko carefully. His anger seeps away, leaving an expression that she has absolutely no idea how to interpret. He does appear surprised by her question – his lips forming a small ‘oh’ shape – and surprised further as it dawns on him that she is genuinely waiting for an answer. But before he can offer one they’re interrupted by the heavy scrape of a deadbolt.

CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING CHAPTER 2 ON AO3

[bcbdrums]

unpopular head cannons?

Not sure which fandom you're asking for... I'll hit my main two right now, lol. And I don't know if they're actually unpopular or just...unique to me. So anyway...

Kim Possible

Drakken and Shego do in fact get married and want/have kids and get very domestic, post-canon. But. They remain in evil. They're just more lowkey about it.

Ron and Kim go to different colleges and break up for awhile. Ron starts seeing Yori seriously. Ultimately he realizes that yes, Kim IS the one for him, but he had to spend some time finding who he is without her to be his best self for her.

Ron also easily masters the monkey powers and they're not some big angsty problem for him. It's KP, come on. This is a lighthearted comedy cartoon.

Soul Eater

Stein is NOT some cannibalistic kinky blood-play neuro-divergent. He has some serious issues that never got addressed properly during his childhood, and so he struggles his entire life having to deal with these issues without any proper guidance. (Because burdening another child, Spirit, with that responsibility was a bad idea and sure as heck didn't work.) So he has his serious ups and downs since he has to figure everything out for himself, ultimately. But the common fandom treatments I often see of him just don't jive with what I see onscreen/on the page.

Stein didn't experiment on Spirit in the way it's implied. I think Kami convinced Spirit that worse things were going on than actually were out of jealousy, and I also think Spirit knew about the minor things that did go on. I think Spirit's comments to Blair about the experiments were drunken gross exaggerations, and he canonically does that (manga) soooooooo yeah. Lord Death simply wouldn't have kept Stein around if he was truly a threat, so the experiments couldn't have been that much. And I have plenty of ideas about just what went on...

Spirit did NOT sleep around!!! Now, hear me out. And I'll keep it brief cuz I could go ON about this! The man is a celebrity, and he is THE death scythe. He's gonna have adoring fans all over him no matter where he goes. Also, dancing with people??? Is a normal social interaction??? Since when does someone only dance with their spouse at a public gathering. The ONLY evidence we have of him "cheating" is the point of view of a five year old watching her celebrity dad interacting with people, when her mother isn't there. (Seriously...if Maka's fave memory of her mother is the divorce...where WAS the woman for her entire childhood???) And okay so moving past Maka's perspective and the fact that THE death scythe is gonna be surrounded by fans at all times (and you SoMa people y'all have the same headcanons about Soul so I know this isn't outside the realms of possibility) when we see Spirit in potentially compromising situations? What happens? His wife merely gets mentioned and he turns into a blubbering emotional disaster. You're telling me this man could have actually followed through on sleeping with another woman? In any case... His wife was simply not around, they had a loveless marriage that only occurred cuz of an illegitimate baby, and if he did seek attention elsewhere it's hard to blame him. But no, mister cries-at-the-mention-of-his-ex absolutely did not have it in him to sleep around. He's just a celeb trapped in a loveless marriage, and he's an attention whore. And yes this was me being brief.

Gonna stop there, ask again if you want more cuz boy do I have more! Thank you so much for the ask!!!

[swiftsaltsweet]

Thief in the Avatar’s Estate: Chapter 2-The Chase

Characters: Rangi and Kyoshi and Yun (plus whoever appears in Rok)

Pairing: Rangshi

Summary:   Yun decides to head off to bed after his travels from fighting with the Fifth Nation. But as he does, he and his bodyguard, Rangi, hear strange noises coming from Kelsang’s room. When they go to investigate, they are surprised by what they find.

(Canon divergent AU-What if Kyoshi was raised by her parents?)

Prev chapter

Other Sites: AO3 and Fanfic.net

Yun and Rangi looked at the ghostly spirit with wide eyes. All their training, their preparation for any kind of enemy. Gone.

They were beholden to the woman in front of them. Her intense stormy eyes bore down at them with…..an equal amount of shock?

Yun blinked. Despite her fierce face and makeup, her eyes seemed to scream ‘scared turtle duck’ to him. Upon closer inspection, the spirit’s face looked as shocked as he felt!

Yun’s eyes finally had the courage to leave the spirit’s face, flitting down her body to her hands. She held a small tube of what Yun could assume was full of documents. As well as a small toy in her large hand.

Yun’s eyes widened in shock, it was a small clay turtle. The same turtle that Kelsang said he’d bring, along with the other special airbender toys they used to identify the Avatar. Jianzhu had requested him to bring them to the estate, hoping that by playing with them Yun would be able to unlock his other elements.

“Hey that’s-!” Yun started to yell. Not yours!

The spirit took a step back, clutching the turtle closer to her chest. She looked like an overgrown child not wanting to share a toy.

Yun extended his arm and whirled a clay pot that was nearby at the spirit.

The spirit threw up her forearm, eating the hit with ease. Shoving the tube and toy into her tunic, she whirled around quickly and dove through the window.

Rangi finally untangled herself from Yun, “THIEF!” she bellowed as she gave chase to the figure, Yun right on her heels.

Rangi’s yells got the attention of the mansion, and Yun could feel the vibrations in the ground telling him that his companions were heading towards them.

The woman was heading towards the back wall of the mansion, the only way was down or up. Though, with Yun’s earthbending abilities, down was not an option for her either. And the only way to go up was if she sprouted wings and flew. In other words, the spirit was trapped with nowhere to go.

But then why wasn’t she slowing down?

Yun and Rangi’s eyes widened as the woman began to pick up her pace, and then seemingly started to fly into the air! No not flying, it was almost as if an invisible staircase had presented itself to her.

The woman looked back and gave the two a smirk.

Rangi, her face displaying a new found rage at such mockery, started sprinting faster.

“I SEE THROUGH YOUR TRICK!” she bellowed as she started to ascend in a similar manner. Much to the spirit’s shock and surprise.

Yun wasn’t sure what Rangi saw, but judging by the flames coming off of Rangi’s feet, it was possibly some kind of bending.

Yun, not crazy enough to test out a new bending form in the midst of a chaos like Rangi had, decided on a different and more tried and true path.

He timed a formation of a pillar under his feet as he ran, and right when he stepped over it, he launched himself into the air, vaulting over the wall himself. As he cleared the wall, he bent the earth from the other side to deliver a safer landing. Then he dashed after the two girls, and down the mountain side of the mansion into the dense forest.

It was hard to see in the dark, but the light coming off of Rangi’s feet made it an easy beacon to follow.

Where in the spirits is everyone?! Jianzhu? Kelsang? Hei-Ran?! They should’ve caught up by now! He screamed in his head, as his feet pounded the ground trying to keep up to the flying girls in front of him. 

As if to answer his question, a large rumbling sound like an explosion happened behind Yun. In the direction of the mansion.

Did she set a trap ahead of time?! Concern for the residents back at the mansion swelled through him. He needed to catch his thief as soon as possible so he could go back and tend to any wounded.

But it was looking dire. Even without the traps, it didn’t look like they were in a good position to alert any allies to where they were. The trees of the forest were now at their thickest, the spurts of Rangi’s light would not be able to shine through. Any more firebending would probably risk a forest fire.

Yun grabbed at his side, tired from all the running. He was having a hard time keeping up with the flying women in front of him, who were having an easier time covering ground while they ran on air than he did on the ground. If only there was something he could do to slow the spirit down.

Yun let out a small yelp when a speck of dust or dirt flew into his eye.

“Yun?!” Rangi yelled from ahead.

“I’m fine! Don’t worry about me!” he yelled back, bending the dirt out of his eye. “It was just-”

Dirt! But how? Those two hadn’t touched the ground this entire chase.

Yun gritted his teeth and forced himself to pick up his pace, trying to catch up just to get a better view.

Through the lighting of Rangi’s feet, he saw it. Small specks floating around and near the feet of the spirit. It was earth! She was stepping on small pieces of dust! She wasn’t a spirit, she was an earthbender! And that was just the element he was a natural at.

A large smirk grew on Yun’s face. He reached out his hand and focused, ready to brute force his control over the dust. 

In an instant, just as the bender was moving the dust to the next foot, Yun changed its direction and made it wrap around the woman’s ankle, causing her to stop at a standstill.

Great now Rangi just needs to grab her-wait! To Yun’s shock and horror, he hadn’t bothered to assess just how fast Rangi was going. 

Rangi crashed right into the woman, the surprise caused her to lose control of her bending and shoot a stream of fire from her foot right towards Yun. In the same moment, Yun let go of his control of the dust and dodged out of the fire.

Rangi and the thief fell to the ground, rolling down one of the side hills as they engaged in grapples, locks, and punches. Yun quickly put out the fire caused by Rangi’s flame, by throwing large amounts of dirt onto the area, and chased after them with an earth wave under his feet. 

Yun arrived just a little bit after they reached the bottom of the hill. Rangi had gained the upper hand. Her knees were pinned to the side of the thief’s torso, her left hand anchored to the ground by the thief’s head, and she had a fire blade coming out of her right hand and up against the other woman’s throat. 

“Give it up!” Rangi huffed. “You have nowhere left to run!”

The thief barely acknowledged the blade and only stared at Rangi’s face, which was only inches away from her.

“If it’s a pretty girl like you arresting me, then I don’t mind giving up darlin’,” the thief gave Rangi a coy, lopsided smile.

Rangi’s usually fierce and battle ready face fell, as if she had the wind knocked out of her. 

“I-ah-what?!” she barely puffed out.

Yun’s reaction wasn’t too far off from Rangi’s, completely flabbergasted where the turn of events were taking place. 

The thief took the opportunity to snake her hands onto Rangi’s thighs and gave them a slight squeeze. Rangi tensed up as if she had been struck by lightning.

“Why so tense, Firecracker?” the thief purred, closing the distance between her and Rangi’s face. Not caring if the fire knife scorched her. “Aren’t you going to arrest me?”

The sound of someone sucking in air was all that could be heard, before the lights from Rangi’s firebending went out. A small yelp came from the darkness, which was quickly followed by a big thud on the ground.

The lights came back on as Rangi firebent a torch into her hand, only to see the thief taking off running. The thief had flipped Rangi off and over her head with nothing but the strength in her arms.

Both Yun and Rangi’s feet were moving before they even realized. Revitalized with a new found conviction to catch the thief. 

“What in the spirits was that?!” Yun yelled at Rangi, dodging the ever growing branches that were flying by them.

“I was going to ask you the same thing!” she retorted back in a tone that mixed with shame and anger. Yun could tell she was blushing, he didn’t need light to tell him that much. “Y-You could’ve bent some restraints or something! W-why’d you just stand there?!”

“It looked like a moment I shouldn’t interrupt,” Yun muttered, a slight blush forming on his own cheeks. 

“There was no moment!” Rangi practically screeched at him, as she lobbed a fire blast at a tree in front of them to run through. Both quickly doused the flames as they passed. 

“I dunno!” Yun yelled back, unable to fight back the smile that was forming on his face. “You let your flame go out. Didn’t know you could lose focus like that.” He knew firebending was the most influenced by emotions, and that little incident indicated a lot more under the surface than what her words could ever deny. 

“I didn’t lose focus!” She almost shrieked. 

“Oh then why did the flame go out?!”

“I don’t know! I’m just as confused as you are!”

“Confused? I don’t know you seemed to be enjo-”

The next fire blast Rangi made while making eye contact with Yun. As if telling him to drop it or else the tree she just eviscerated would be his face next time.

Yun decided to drop it for now, he’d have plenty of time to push her buttons later. 

As they caught up to the figure, he noticed the sound of rushing water and wondered which river near Yokoya they were nearby. 

It didn’t matter, as they came out through a thicket, they saw their target standing there. 

Without hesitation, they launched their attack at the thief. Yun went low and to the right, while Rangi delivered a flying kick to the left. 

The thief turned around in surprise, holding her hands up in a surrendering pose.

“Wait don’t-” was all she could get out before the other two collided with her.

The next thing the three knew, they were falling down a dark abyss, not realizing they were near a cliff’s edge. 

Yun looked over to Rangi, who was panicking as she tried to firebend her way closer to him. But what could she do, how was she going to break their fall? It wasn’t like she was an airbender. 

Yun attempted to bend the earth nearby as they were falling, trying to see if he could form a platform. But before he could something hard hit him in the back of the head. It was part of the cliffside they were on, it had crumbled and fallen not long after they had fallen. 

As Yun started to black out, he felt Rangi’s warm hands on his shoulder. And then another gruffer pair following suit. 

______

A/N: Felt bad I didn’t update my other fic (lol guess who got sick on vacay? I’m ok now but now I gotta drive home), but hey I had this chapter ready at least! TT0TT 

The next few chapters, while they are done, I do wanna edit them….. so I dunno when I’ll get to that. 

Me trying really hard not to be obvious with the Princess Monoke with that one scene kfjkldjsfka

Kyoshi has a bit of an inconsistent eye color between the Original show and the Generations game. Generations makes it more greenier, while the main show felt more grayer. I’m going with the more gray version tbh (this goes for all the fanfics tbh)

[ao3feed-zukka]

Overshadowed

Read now on Ao3 at https://ift.tt/6H8WimN by hollow__clouds Sokka is a man of science, a man of reason. The spirits and their business can be left with his good friend the Avatar, the bridge between worlds. Or his sister, who plays with magic water with the Avatar. He’s perfectly happy without thinking about the Spirit world, or spirits in general, he’s perfectly happy, (and has his hands full), with just this world alone. He doesn’t have the time to concern himself with Spiritual matters while he’s running to the Northern Water Tribe whilst being chased by the downright evil Prince of the Fire Nation. That all goes out the window when Sokka finds out that he’s got the a spirit trapped in his head. Oh, and so does that evil Prince. Or, Sokka and Zuko spirit touch au Words: 4101, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English Fandoms: Avatar: The Last Airbender Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Categories: M/M Characters: Sokka (Avatar), Zuko (Avatar), Agni (Avatar), Tui (Avatar), La (Avatar), Wan Shi Tong, Hei Bai (Avatar), Knowledge Seekers (Avatar), Koh (Avatar), The Painted Lady (Avatar), Tienhai (Avatar), Mother of Faces (Avatar), Raava (Avatar), Vaatu (Avatar), Aang (Avatar), Katara (Avatar), Yue (Avatar), Toph Beifong, Suki (Avatar), Azula (Avatar), Original Characters Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Yue (Avatar), The Gaang (Avatar) & Original Character(s), Aang/Katara (Avatar) Additional Tags: My First Work in This Fandom, Non-Canon Relationship, Non-Canonical Violence, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Pre-Canon, During Canon, Alternate Canon, Tags Are Hard, Abusive Ozai (Avatar), Bisexual Sokka (Avatar), Gay Zuko (Avatar), Past Sokka/Yue (Avatar), Past Sokka/Suki (Avatar), Eventual Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), POV Sokka (Avatar), Sokka-centric (Avatar), POV Zuko (Avatar), Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, Blue Spirit Zuko (Avatar), POV First Person, Spirits, Spirit World, Moon Spirit Yue (Avatar), Spiritbending & Spiritbenders (Avatar) Read it on Ao3 at https://ift.tt/6H8WimN

[jayisroleplaying]

Back to the Future Roleplay Plot Masterlist

This is currently a revised list of all the plots I've created for Back to the Future 1x1 roleplays. Slight trigger warning/content warning for possible themes such as mental illness, character death, and violence.

Movie Canon Divergent Plots

Instead of Doc and Clara getting together in part III, there's a roleswap with Doc and Marty's characters for this. Marty returns to pick up Doc from 1885, but ends up running into Jennifer Parker, who lives in 1885, not 1985. Marty falls in love with her, much to Doc's dismay and disapproval. Though, eventually Doc warms up to the idea, and helps Marty out with her.

Another roleswap idea for part III. Doc, believing retrieving the almanac would be too dangerous for Marty, has him drive the Delorean to avoid the risk. Yet, without Doc realizing it, the Delorean gets struck by lightning, sending Marty back to 1885. Doc eventually figures out where Marty got trapped by finding a gravestone, but, when he returns to that time, realizes that a decade had already passed.

Instead of listening to Doc in part II and staying by the Delorean, Marty wanders towards his future home out of curiosity. While doing so, he ends up running into his future son, Marty Jr., who recognizes him as the guy who told him to stay down behind the counter.

An AU inspired by Frankenstein. Instead of managing to successfully get back with the train in part III, Doc's calculations are slightly off. Before the Delorean can time travel, it goes over the edge, crashing right into the ravine. Unable to live with himself in the aftermath, and unsure whether he could recreate his time machine with 1880s, he decides to instead try something based on his favorite movie - Frankenstein. Doc reconstructs Marty, then attempts to bring him back. After many tries, and may long years, he is finally successful - yet, upon his friend being brought back, he realizes that he didn't think everything through.

Instead of Doc being successful in convincing Marty to not race Needles in part III, Doc ends up failing. He returns to 1985 in the time train, and realizes that the accident happened anyways. He meets Marty at the hospital, attempting to cheer up his spirits despite his mistake.

Slightly altered version of the above plot. In 1885, Doc fails to accidentally tell Marty when went wrong with his future, leading Marty to race Needles due to his own obliviousness. Doc returns to 1985 after the accident, and Marty gets upset that Doc would alter the past by marrying Clara and having two kids, but wouldn't alter Marty's future.

The plan to return to 1985 is unsuccessful. The breakdown of the Delorean, and its failure to start up until it was seconds too late, causes Marty to miss the lightning. Marty is now stuck in 1955, and Doc is now suddenly in charge of a depressed, homesick teenager.

Likely a short plot based on part III. Marty does not find the supplies for a "bulletproof vest" in time, and desperate to save Doc, decides to confront Mad Dog without the security. He ends up shot, but also lands a bullet on Mad Dog. Doc now has to figure out how to save him - if he can save him at all.

In part II, when Marty is climbing across the ladder to prevent his past self from being jumped, ends up falling. This accidentally reveals that there are two of him there - and the only thing he can think of to do at this point is to run. Though, he doesn't get far. He manages to get out of the gym, but George and/or Lorraine (depending on who you want to play) manages to catch up to him.

Comic Canon Divergent Plots

Based on volume 4-5 of the comics, Biff ends up cracking the mystery of Marty's identity. He steals Marty's wallet, finding out that he's, in reality, a time traveler. Joey, who is also there, figures out that the man blending in there is secretly his future nephew.

Another one based on volume 4-5 of the comics, but it's instead Doc finding out. He catches Marty when he steals from his house, and realizes that Marty is the same time traveler from 1955. Now, Marty has to explain why he's there after being sent home.

Video Game Canon Divergent Plots

Marty is off in his timing in attempting to correct the past and prevent his erasure in 1931. Emmett ends up catching the 'other' Marty, and now the other Marty has to explain himself.

Future Plots/Plots Unexplored by the Franchise

A short plot where Doc helps prepare Marty for his wedding.

Believing Marty's future is brighter after correcting the timeline leading up to the car accident, Doc leaves with Clara and his children. However, after returning years later to meet up with Marty in the future, Doc realizes that Marty's future is not what he thought it would be. In fact, his future is practically just as bad as it had been after the car accident, and after speaking with his friend, Doc realizes that Marty had gone into a deep depression after the trauma of time travel, and struggled to overcome it without the support of Doc.

Similar AU as the one above, however, instead, Marty goes a different route. Doc leaves with his wife and children in the time train, believing Marty's future to be secured, yet upon returning years later and seeing Marty then, he realizes that his friend had sunk into a depression after the events of time travel. With Doc's return, Marty gets an idea. After knocking Doc out (likely with sleeping pills, but this component can vary depending on how the roleplay goes), Marty steals the time train to fix his future. Accidentally, he manages to both erase Doc's family and himself, and upon returning to his present time, he requires Doc's help to fix matters.

AUs

Marty is born in 1868 instead of living in the mid to late 1900s. Doc still exists in the time he does in the movies, except it is without Marty. He builds the time machine and goes back to 1885, since that was his favorite time period, and ends up meeting Marty, an orphan teenager who, although misguided, seems to be good natured. At first, Doc doesn't recognize the teen, but after a confrontation between Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen and the teenager, Doc realizes that Marty is set to die in a gunfight with the outlaw. Doc is now challenged in whether to leave the timeline unaltered, or protect his newly found friend.

Zombie apocalypse/zombie Marty AU. An outbreak of a zombie virus breaks out in Hill Valley, and Marty, unaware of what is happening, ends up getting bit. Doc, now desperate to save his friend, attempts to create a cure. After many months, he is successful - at least, he thinks he is, but much to his horror, the cure is only partially successful. It restores Marty's higher functioning, but considering he is already one of the undead, he stays stuck in that state.

Vampire AU. This is based on a novel I read, although there is quite a bit I excluded for the sake of fitting with this franchise. Marty is a teen vampire who, desperate to prove himself, agrees to go to Hill Valley to search for a murderer. While there, he requires a job to maintain a source of money for shelter to hide during the daytime. He ends up finding Doc's flyer looking for an assistant, and takes him up on the offer. This coincidental meet-up causes the two to become closer, and Marty finally feeling more at home than he did among the vampires.

Ghost Marty AU. Marty, living in the 1800s, ends up getting shot dead shortly after moving to Hill Valley. Decades in the future, Doc ends up moving into a new house after the mansion burns down, but finds out a ghost, lacking any sort of memory, exists there, too.

Plots Inspired by Fanfictions

This plot is inspired by the AO3 fanfiction "Chameleon Boy" by Jedflah. The synopsis of this fanfiction was that Marty got stuck in the alternative 1986 from the game for a month, resulting in him struggling with what is real, and what isn't. This plot does require reading the fanfiction beforehand, since I'd like to explore the aftermath of the events in the fic. After returning to 1931 and fixing the timeline, Marty meets up again with his Doc, and Doc quickly realizes his friend didn't come out of the altered timeline unscathed.

[mikashisus]

Thus Always To Tyrants

“i hope you live a life you’re proud of. if you find you’re not, i hope you have the strength to start all over again.”

— f. scott fitzgerald

summary: The story of a young woman and a young god who both had the unfortunate experience of getting trapped in a separate timeline.

pairing: venti/barbatos x fem!reader

content warnings: blood and injury, panic attacks, angst, mild foul language, suggestive themes. - (more will be added later if needed.)

other disclaimers: time travel au, mc making poor choices, mostly canon divergent, barbatos x previous cryo archon if u squint, there will be an alternative ending

cross-posted on ao3

chapter 1 wc: 8.8k

author’s notes: povs will switch around a lot, mainly between how the mc and venti both got stuck in alternate timelines and meet each other. venti’s pov will be first, followed by the mc. timeline in general is very choppy, with “future” events happening first, and “past” events happening after.

there will be an extra chapter at the end of the fic that will be an alternative ending. that’s all i’ll say for now as to not spoil the plot too much >:)

enjoy!

playlist

CHAPTER I: the moon will sing a song for me

It all started when Barbatos made the awful decision to cross through a stone arch near what would later be a historic landmark.

Ignoring the warnings that Istaroth had given him about traveling out this far, he let his curiosity get the better of him…

Which led to now.

Looking down at the hands that once held him so gently, he felt a deep, bitter sadness swell in his heart for the first time. His first friend, his first companion, had been killed in a war that he originally wanted no part in. A war that he came to fight in because he wished for the freedom of all the people of Mondstadt.

And look where that left him– desolate among a sea of corpses.

The putrid smell of rotting corpses and ash surrounded him, but all he could think about was the death of his friend. The lifeless, navy irises that always held the utmost gentleness in them. Slightly parted pale lips, that always used to promise freedom for all. An arrow straight through the heart of a person who always cared a little too much for others and never for themselves.

As Barbatos reached down to caress the bard’s cold skin, his heart dropped to his stomach. Reaching out before him was a human hand– a stark difference to what he was familiar with. It wasn’t until he realized that it was his hand, that he reeled back in absolute horror.

In a fit of disbelief, he raised the hand to his face, feeling all along the crevices and over his eyes. He was now possessing a human body, and it wasn’t just anyone’s body… but his friend’s.

As a piercing ringing resounded in his ears, a distant voice whispered in the silence. A warped and distorted, rough whisper that sent shivers down his spine.

“Welcome to the seat of the gods.”

In a flash of light and a moment of stillness, everything around him went silent. He screwed his eyes shut, a poor attempt to convince himself that this was not happening. That it was all a dream, and his friend was actually alive, and most importantly…

That he hadn’t just ascended to Celestia and achieved godhood.

He wasn’t special. He was merely a thread amongst the thousand winds, a small wind spirit that held no importance in the grand scheme of things. He hadn’t done anything noteworthy, nothing worth becoming a god for.

The tears that cascaded down his new human face fell to the grass like a waterfall. A flood of emotions seemed to overwhelm him, all piling onto his shoulders at once. For the first time, he understood just how powerful human emotion could be, and just how much it began to corrupt him.

That same, familiar distorted voice– closer this time –whispered in front of him, “You enter the garden of the gods, and the first thing you do is cry… how pitiful.” they scoffed. Two cold, pale hands gently grasped his cheeks and lifted his head to meet their gaze.

Two icy irises bore into his soul, chilling him to the bone. Long hair, as white as snow, fell along their shoulders elegantly. Pink lips twitched up into a somewhat sincere smile. She was like a goddess– maybe because that was actually what she was –and Barbatos found his heart beating a little too fast all of a sudden.

Her mere, chilly presence had calmed him down, and the tears on his cheeks froze over at her touch.

She pulled her hands back, “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to do that.”

With the softest of touches, she quickly wiped away the tears she had frozen. Without thinking, Barbatos nuzzled into her hand. The goddess gasped fleetingly, before a small giggle sounded from her lips.

“I’ve never met a god like you,” she muttered, kneeling down before him to hold his face better. Her smile faded to a frown as she caressed his cheek with her thumb. “Someone so broken… but I’ll fix you. Once we descend back to our respective nations, I will heal the scars in your heart.”

True to her word, as soon as Barbatos descended back to Mondstadt and blew away the ice and the snow, and hurled the mountaintops into the ocean, the goddess came to visit him. She kept him company, brought him food from her home to share with him. The two nations of the two gods grew close, before Barbatos fell into a deep slumber, only to be awoken again by a change in the winds.

The cycle of life was thrown askew. The skies grew confused, and the natural order of all things had paused, as if time had stopped. That’s when he heard the distant chiming of the old stone arch– the stone gate he had passed through at the start.

Someone new had passed through the gate, and now this series of events would change.

For a split moment, the world felt as if it was spinning. Tumbling and turning, twisting and lurching.

Your stomach tied into knots, and bile quickly crept up your throat. As soon as you thought that this might’ve been the end for you, everything came to a standstill.

The world itself seemed to pause for a second, and the silence that followed was deafening. The ringing in your ears continued to grow louder, and the pounding of a headache against your skull grew more prominent.

Wincing, you opened your eyes. As your vision cleared, the first thing you saw was the brightly lit night sky. Dozens upon dozens of stars, all glittering and shining brighter than any star you’ve ever seen. Was the night sky really ever this breathtaking before?

For a moment, you were convinced that you were not in Mondstadt anymore… however, the familiar scenery around you was too recognizable to not be Mondstadt.

You sat up, a wave of dizziness washing over you as you did. You were near the ruins of Old Mondstadt– but they looked oddly more put together than you last saw them. The tower and the stone bridges surrounding it weren’t nearly as broken as you knew them to be, and the wind barrier around the city was still in place.

Confused, you thought back to the legend you had heard before. The one about the old stone arch that would transport whoever passed through it to another timeline. You hadn’t thought it would actually be true, and now here you stood, looking at what was supposed to be the ruins of Decarabian’s city.

The most surprising of all was when you turned around to look at the city on the lake. Your eyes nearly popped out of your head.

The city was in the process of being constructed, and the gigantic tree in Windrise was but a sprout. Just how far back in the past did you travel?

To get a better look at the city, and maybe ask around, you began heading towards the settlement near Springvale. At least that small village would be familiar to you.

Springvale was bustling with people, much unlike how it was in your era. Since the people had nowhere to go right now– what with the city being freshly built –they had all scurried to Springvale. This was the busiest you’ve ever seen the usually small village.

“Look!” A woman shouted as she approached three other women. “I gathered some apples for the Anemo Archon! Do you think he’ll appreciate them?”

“Of course he will!” Another exclaimed, letting out a small giggle. “Lord Barbatos loves apples! Everyone in Mondstadt knows this!”

You thought back to how Mondstadt was in your current era– it was vastly different from this. In the present, the people of Mondstadt knew next to nothing about the Anemo Archon, except for two things: that he was gentle and kind, and gave the people of Mondstadt the freedom to govern themselves.

He had been absent from your era for about five hundred years or more. No one recognized his facial features anymore, and the statues littered around Mondstadt were vague in appearance at best.

You tried to think of how the people would react to his return… if he ever did return, that is. However, you came up empty. Maybe there would be excitement for his return, or maybe there would be resentment for his absence.

You did know one thing: the people deeply missed their archon, even if his absence meant that the people were free from the watchful eyes of a god. You were thankful for that freedom, even if you had always desired to meet the Anemo Archon.

When you were a child, your mother would always tease you, saying you should just marry him if you were that infatuated with him. You would then get upset at her accusations, claiming that you just admired him and his feats.

Who wouldn’t admire a god who fought for the freedom of the people of his nation?

“Sorry, coming through!” A man shouted as he passed you, carrying a stack of wooden planks on one shoulder. “Excuse me, pardon me! I have to get this to the Anemo Archon!”

The way these people spoke… you could’ve sworn that you’ve heard this accent before. You were inclined to believe that you were just being, as Diluc would say, “delusional” again, until a familiar voice caused all of your thoughts to turn to static.

“Let me help you,” A calm, boyish voice said.

The wind began to carry the wooden planks, and the people around you stopped whatever they were doing. They all muttered in excited voices, and as soon as you craned your neck to get a look at whatever it was that they were fussing over, you felt your heart drop to your stomach.

There was Venti, adorned in quite revealing white garments. Teal, glowing markings occupied his chest and thigh. The ends of his braids were also glowing, and bright, snow white wings stretched out behind him elegantly. His striking eyes seemed calmer, more relaxed than usual, and his lips were pulled up into a sweet smile. A cecilia with golden leaves was placed loosely in his hair.

His entire presence commanded heavenly respect, and you couldn’t help but assume that he was an angel sent directly from Celestia. Or maybe the human manifestation of a dove, sent down to bless the people.

“Lord Barbatos!” The man from before shrieked in surprise. “You needn’t worry yourself with this trivial matter, please just rest! You’ve done enough for us already! We are eternally grateful.”

It felt as if the air got knocked out of your lungs… did you hear that correctly? Did that man just refer to Venti as Barbatos? The Anemo Archon?

“Nonsense,” Barbatos chuckled. “I want to help you. Mondstadt is my home too, after all.”

You were witnessing history in the making. Barbatos, the Anemo Archon, was helping with the rebuilding of Mondstadt. You watched in awe as the god helped carry a surplus of materials, claiming they weren’t heavy because the wind made them weightless.

The people flocked to help him, even if he dismissed them, because no one was going to pass up this golden opportunity of speaking with their archon. They talked and laughed with him, baffled at how their god acted just like a normal person. Could a god really be this… human?

Barbatos had no problem instantly calming the fears of his people and helping them feel comfortable around him. It felt as though he didn’t favor the praise and adoration they constantly gave him, but he still greatly appreciated it nonetheless.

You managed to hide amongst the crowds for most of the day, but when sundown came, that was when your whole world flipped on its head.

You shuffled through the crowds of people in the plaza, carrying a rather hefty supply of food crates. You were used to this, as you often helped Diluc carry wine to and from the Dawn Winery. You always had your work cut out for you.

As you set the crates down near a camp of construction workers, a gust of wind blew your hair around. You huffed, pulling your hair back in place.

“I’ve never seen you in Mondstadt before,” a playful voice interrupted the silence.

You whirled around, only to be greeted by Barbatos standing before you. Well, more like he was currently weightless, as his wings kept him afloat in the air.

“And that’s surprising, seeing as I know every single one of my children by name– but I don’t know yours.”

You suddenly understood why Venti’s accent was so unfamiliar to you. It was that of the early Mondstadters– an accent that only a few of the major clans still possessed in your era. You felt like a fish out of water, not knowing what to possibly say to him.

What could you say? You had just found out that Venti was the Anemo Archon almost a whole day ago, as well as the fact that you had time traveled back to the early days of Mondstadt.

“Hm? Shy are we? Don’t worry, I don’t bite!” He laughed, trying to liven up the tense atmosphere between you. When he noticed that you still weren’t saying anything, he grew embarrassed. “Sorry… I didn’t mean to bother you—“

You stopped him before he could leave. “Wait! Uh, I’m sorry, actually. You just surprised me is all… um- my name is (name).”

He smiled softly at you. “Sorry for startling you before. And (name), hm? Your accent sounds oddly familiar… you must be a Mondstadt native.”

Nodding in confirmation, you returned his smile. “Indeed, I am.”

He seemed to be lost in thought, as he was biting his lip in contemplation. He had never seen you in Mondstadt before, yet your accent was similar to the people around you. That, and you were fluent in the language of the nation.

He had known every one of his children by name. He had memorized their dreams and aspirations, their favorite foods, and their current hobbies. He chatted with his people daily, as if he was speaking to an old friend, and he made sure that everyone in Mondstadt was comfortable. When it came to foreigners, he ensured that they felt welcomed and safe.

As long as the wind would blow, Mondstadt would know peace, and it would stand as a safe haven to those living here. He would make sure of it.

He smiled at you once more. As he studied you, his cheeks began to flush pink. “You’re rather pretty, (name).” He told you, taking one of your hands in his.

You were beyond disbelief now. The Barbatos, or Venti, from your time wanted absolutely nothing to do with you, yet the Barbatos standing before you seemed to be rather infatuated with you.

He kissed the back of your hand, the touch of his lips sending a jolt of electricity through your veins. He was quite the charmer, wasn’t he? The divine being in front of you held a boyish smile as he giggled at your flustered expression.

“Until we meet again, lovely dandelion.” In one large gust of wind, he disappeared, leaving a trail of feathers in his wake.

You picked up one of the snow white feathers left behind by his wings, running your fingers over the base. It was extremely soft, like silk. You hadn’t even been aware that there was a smile on your face, nor the fact that your heart was beating abnormally loud in your chest.

You just hoped that he hadn’t been able to hear it too.

There was an old legend in Mondstadt– one of a stone arch located in the ruins of Decarabian’s old city. Whoever passed through the gate would be transported through time and wind up in another era.

This urban legend had only become popular in recent years, when a bard by the name of Venti had begun to roam the streets of Mondstadt.

By the way he talked, and his distinct accent that was a little hard to pinpoint but definitely sounded close to the other people of the city, you quickly deduced that he was a Mondstadt native.

The bard that you originally believed to be around sixteen years old, was actually way older. You didn’t know his exact age, only that he was old enough to drink.

After the first few months of his arrival to the city, you found that he wasn’t just any normal bard. The songs that he sang predated the current era, and although many hymns in the church did the same, his songs were ones that no one had ever heard of before.

He claimed to know every song in Teyvat— from the primordial era, to all the way in the future. He held an air of playfulness and mischief around him, as well as a deep sorrow that could only come from someone who’s lived for centuries. He was eccentric and charming, and you were always happy to serve him at Angel’s Share.

To meet someone with such a wistful, happy aura was a blessing. It could even be considered a rarity in a world filled with strife, even if the people of Mondstadt knew peace and solace better than anyone else in Teyvat.

However, he was oddly bitter towards you.

The people in the city had noticed it not long after his first visit to the tavern— the stoic, weirdly long stares he’d send your way, how he’d always frown whenever he caught sight of you, and how he’d always make minimal talk with you.

No matter how hard you tried to get on his good side, it was never enough. He harbored a sort of resentment towards you, and for the life of you, you could not figure out why. You had a pretty good memory, and you couldn’t remember ever meeting him on any of your travels to other nations, nor in Mondstadt before he showed up here a few years ago.

What was his deal?

You placed a mug of dandelion wine on the table he was currently occupying. He was previously out cold, and you swore he had memorized your footsteps, because as soon as you set the mug down, he woke up. You flinched at his piercing stare, sending him a fleeting smile.

“Hey, have ya heard?” A drunkard at a nearby table asked loudly, grabbing your attention. You failed to notice the way Venti stared at you longingly as you turned away from him.

“There’s this legend of a stone arch that lets you time travel if you pass through it.”

“Oh? Pray tell.” you were suddenly intrigued, joining in on the conversation the patron was having with one of his friends.

Usually, you didn’t entertain the drunkards’ stories. They were mostly full of utter bullshit, but this one sounded interesting.

“Yeah!” the man laughed as you walked over. “Jus’ a legend though. Doubt it’s for real.” He took another swig of his drink before handing you the empty mug. “‘Nother round, doll.”

You sent him a glare for the pet name but took the mug, rolling your eyes as he ogled you as you walked away. A moment later, a crash sounded behind you. You whirled around to see what was happening, only to see the drunk man on the floor and Venti standing above him.

There was a deadly fire in his eyes, one that you’ve never seen before. For a moment, you felt scared— scared of this innocent bard and the vision hanging at his hip. He said nothing as the drunkard scurried out of the tavern like a dog with its tail between its legs.

Diluc sighed behind you. “That’s the fifth time this week,” he said, taking the empty mug from your hands and running it under the sink. “That bard has got to get ahold of that ugly temper.”

You turned to your boss. “What? But…” you turned to look at Venti again, only to see him staring at you with a sorrowful expression. Noticing he had been caught, he quickly looked away, picking up his lyre and exiting the tavern in a hurry.

What in the name of Barbatos..?

“I know what you’re thinking,” Diluc muttered. “But whenever you’re around, he turns protective. Are you sure the two of you were never together?”

You stood there in a dumbfounded silence. You couldn’t wrap your mind around the situation, finding it so utterly incredulous.

“Positive…” you trailed off, wondering why in the hell Venti was acting this way.

You paused. “Wait a second– did you really just–”

Diluc smirked, “Did I what?”

You decided to let the matter go. Instead, you changed the subject, opting for something more interesting. “Have you heard about that legend? The one of the stone arch that allows you to time travel?”

Your boss shrugged. “I’ve heard of it. I don’t think it’s worth checking out, so erase that idea from your mind.”

As always, Diluc knew you too well. Perhaps it was because the two of you were childhood friends… you even thought of him as your brother. You pouted, “C’mon Diluc, wouldn’t it be cool if it was actually true? Think about it: time travel!”

“I’d say you’re delusional— more than you usually are.” He quipped, navigating around you to put the empty mug back on the shelf behind you.

You turned to him, leaning your back against the counter. “You’re so boring. What happened to the rambunctious guy I knew when we were kids?” You crossed your arms over your chest.

Once upon a time, before the passing of his father, Diluc was quite the troublemaker. One would always believe that Kaeya had been that way instead, but it was actually the opposite. You knew them better than anyone.

You knew that Kaeya was once a shy, easily flustered boy that tripped over his own words and preferred to stay quiet. Diluc had been the opposite, always causing trouble around the winery and roping Kaeya into his tricks.

Among the three of you, you were often the voice of reason. Kaeya, although hesitant, always gave in to Diluc’s antics. However, you were the one always shutting down the ideas and warning them that they’d eventually get caught— but you never ratted them out. You would happily say “I told you so” and smirk after they performed the walk of shame after receiving a scolding.

Often times, you found yourself missing those days, when everything had been simpler and the three of you were still close. Crepus’ death had changed the entire relationship between the three of you, going from siblings to strangers in just one night.

Despite the change, you maintained a good relationship with both of them, even if they didn’t with each other. It always stung a bit to see the two brothers have such a poor sibling relationship when it hadn’t always been that way. And despite the bomb Kaeya dropped on you both, you still regarded him as your best friend regardless of his background.

“He grew up,” Diluc answered, sending you a pointed look, “and so should you.”

The trek to Old Mondstadt was a little more taxing than you expected. It was a little farther from the city than you imagined, even if you could vaguely see the ruins from the top of the cathedral.

In short, it looked closer than it actually was, but you didn’t mind the walk. It only meant that you got to appreciate Mondstadt’s gorgeous scenery in full. It also made you realize that you haven’t been out this way that much. The most you’ve been to were the outskirts of Wolvendom.

Of course, you never traveled further into those woods… you knew the legends, heard the rumors about Andrius, a god who was alive during the Archon War in Mondstadt 2,600 years ago. He fought against Decarabian and helped the people of Mondstadt break free from the tyrant’s rule.

Now, his soul resided in the soil, and the spirit of the god was the supposed King of the wolves in Wolvendom. He was rumored to be fairly peaceful. He rarely attacked anyone unless they stepped foot into his domain first and challenged him to a duel.

Unfortunately for you, you had to cross through Wolvendom to get to where you needed to go. Thankfully, you only needed to cross through the outskirts of Wolvendom and climb up to the top of the cliff near Brightcrown Canyon.

You made it out of Wolvendom in one piece, though you were spooked a few times by distant howling, in which you almost considered going back to the city. However, you prevailed and eventually made it up the cliff.

The view of the city from the summit was one of the most beautiful sights you have ever seen in your entire life. The scenery, paired with the view of all of Mondstadt, took your breath away. To top it all off, the wind was blowing– as it always did in Mondstadt.

As long as the wind would blow, Barbatos would protect Mondstadt.

That was always what your mother told you when you were young. Of course, you believed her, and you knew that the whole of Mondstadt believed the same.

The moon was high in the sky now, bright and full of life. You turned a bit, just enough to see the dark outline of Celestia in the sky.

“The garden of the gods,” was what you heard some people call it. You didn’t know if that was true or not.

The stone arch was right on the edge of the cliff, standing tall for all to see. There were ancient markings carved into the stone— markings that you’ve seen before near the Thousand Winds Temple. You wondered just how old these markings could be, as well as the stone arch itself. Despite looking like it was on the brink of falling apart, this gateway was still standing tall and proud.

As if it were sensing your presence, a small whisper called out to you from the other side of the archway. It was almost inaudible, but were it not for the slowing of the wind, it would have gone unheard.

You stepped closer, placing a hand on the archway. The stone was cold to the touch, but as you began to step through it, the markings on the stone started to glow a faint silver.

“WAIT!”

Someone yelled out behind you. You whirled around, and the glow of the markings faded. The whisper that once called out to you was gone, and the wind had returned in its full glory.

Venti now stood before you, a little out of breath and his expression panicked. His eyes searched you for a moment, as if relishing in the fact that you were standing right before his eyes. You’ve seen him do this every time you’re around him, and it never ceases to confuse you.

The two of you did not know each other. You have hardly even talked. Why was he constantly looking at you this way? Oh, what you would give to receive all the answers to your questions.

He was silent for a moment, and you patiently waited as he collected himself. He took a deep breath, and his expression grew firm. “Whatever you do, do not pass through that archway,” he said, his tone stern.

Your brows furrowed in confusion. “Why? The rumors about this archway are just legends–”

“Just please listen to me, (name). Do not go through that archway and do not touch those markings.” The look in his eyes was pleading you to listen to him.

“We’ve barely even talked, how do you know my name?” You questioned, crossing your arms over your chest. You were beyond confused now. “And whenever I get close to you, you glare at me like I’ve fucked up your entire life… seriously, what is going on? What have I ever done to you?”

Venti flinched a little, a guilty expression crossing over his visage. He looked away in embarrassment. “It doesn’t matter, it’s all ancient history…” he muttered, too quiet for you to hear.

“What?” you took a step closer to him.

He cleared his throat, “I said you didn’t do anything… I just…” he let out a frustrated sigh and shook his head. “Just please promise me you won’t go through the archway. If you go through, you’ll end up in a different era, just like the legends say… but you won’t be able to return home unless you cross back through the archway at the exact same time that you entered.

“The gate only opens once every one hundred years. If you cross through and don’t pass back through in twenty-four hours, you’re trapped there forever. And you can never return home.”

You stood there in shock. How did Venti know so much? It was as if he had witnessed it himself, though you doubted he did.

It was just a legend… right?

You scoffed. “It’s a stone archway… where could it possibly lead?” You walked over and stuck your hand through.

“DON’T!” Venti screamed, lurching forward to grab your arm before you could reach through the archway.

“Let go of me!” you yelled, prying his hand off of your arm. “Don’t touch me!”

“I’m trying to save you!” he retorted, wrapping his arms firmly around your waist, and with an unknown strength that you never expected him to have, began to pull you away.

You struggled like a little kid against his forceful grip, prying at his hands and kicking your feet around as he lifted you up. “Save me from what!? A gate that leads to nowhere!?”

“From our future, you dumbass!”

As you successfully kicked his shin, he doubled back, instantly letting go of you. You stumbled forward, only to hit the ground harshly as a weight fell onto your legs.

“What future!?”

You looked back, only to see that you were alone, and there was no trace of Venti anywhere to be seen.

You hadn’t known the full history of the Windblume Festival before this… “trip.”

You had always known that it was a festival celebrating love and working on self reflection. You had never personally received a windblume during the festival— at least, not from a romantic standpoint.

It was a tradition for you and Diluc to give each other windblumes each year, with you giving him a cecilia (your favorite flower) and him giving you a windwheel aster (a flower favored by the Ragnvindr Clan). The two of you were practically siblings, and Crepus always treated you like his daughter before his untimely death.

Ever since Crepus’ death, you had a tradition of walking to his grave during the Windblume Festival and placing a bouquet of cecilias on his grave. It wasn’t his official grave, but rather one you made for him. He was like the father you never had, and you were the daughter that he always wanted.

Sometimes, Kaeya would tag along with you during that time. He would always stay silent, giving his own respects to the man who also took him in and raised him as his own son. But Diluc would never join you, and you had always known the reason why.

As the reconstruction of Mondstadt was happening right before your very eyes, a man with dark hair passed you, shouting orders left and right. He bumped into you, causing you to stumble a little. Immediately, he whirled around, grabbing your arm before you could fall.

“My dear lady, I am so deeply sorry,” he said worriedly, his aristocratic tone all too familiar to you. You’d heard this type of accent before… but where?

“Are you alright, my dear?” he asked, holding you by the shoulders. He looked genuinely sorry, and you nodded hesitantly. “No, a silent answer won’t do… I need a verbal response to make sure you’re okay.”

This man was definitely making an impression on you. With his mindful manners, grace and elegance, and deep compassion. He was doing the bare minimum, and you would’ve fallen for him if it weren’t for the fact that he looked a little… too familiar.

You’ve seen this man before, you were sure of it.

“I-I’m alright, sir. Trust me.” You reflected his formalness right back at him. It was only right to do so.

He smiled a brilliantly charming smile. “Wonderful. Be careful now, My Lady. This year’s Windblume Festival will be quite the rage—“

“Lawrence!” Another man shouted.

A wave of shock hit you all at once. The man standing before you was the ancestor to the Lawrence Clan. The same Lawrence Clan that ruled over Mondstadt 1,000 years ago and enslaved Vennessa and her people. The same Lawrence Clan that continued the cycle of tyranny that Barbatos worked so hard to break. Eula’s clan. One of the oldest, original aristocratic families of Mondstadt.

You suddenly felt sick. But this man didn’t seem like the other Lawrence Clan members that you’ve met. This man seemed different, and you considered that maybe the evil had prospered after this man’s time.

“My apologies, I must go,” The Lawrence Clan ancestor left with a chaste kiss to the back of your hand, a small smirk following after.

You visibly shuddered. You didn’t find that man attractive anymore, and you’d rather keel over than experience him kiss your hand again. You usually weren’t one to judge others based on your first meeting or their background, but something about him being the ancestor to the Lawrence Clan just didn’t sit right with you.

Of course, you knew that not all of the members of the clan were terrible people– Eula being a great example –but the majority were. You made a mental note to watch your back for the time being, even if your gut was telling you that this man was not the cause for the Lawrence Clan’s poor actions.

Turning on your heel, you decided to pay a visit to where Crepus’ grave would be if you were still in your own era. You made quick work to leave the bustling city, weaving around people carrying boxes of wreaths made of flowers, and layers upon layers of fabrics. They were most likely decorations for the festival.

You hadn’t expected the land to look so different. It looked more barren than you knew it to be, more lonely, relaxed, and less populated. The terrain of Mondstadt was vastly different from what you knew it to be. Of course, lands changed with time due to various factors, but it never changed this fast.

The culprit for the immense change in recent years had been none other than Spark Knight Klee, an adorable little girl that the Knights of Favonius all watched over since her mother, Alice, was currently away on business. Klee was prone to disaster, as was a teenage boy by the name of Bennett, but the two carried different forms of disaster.

Bennett’s was in the form of bad luck and misfortune. Klee’s was in the form of pure chaos and destruction due to the bombs she created on the daily. Her impact on the land caused Mondstadt’s landscape to change so much that the cartographers had to redraw maps for the Knights every few weeks.

Right before your eyes was a Mondstadt completely untouched, with smoother cliffs and purer water sources. There was a surplus of trees and boar too.

From what you gathered so far, it had been a year since Mondstadt gained its freedom from the tyrant, Decarabian.

One month was spent with Barbatos terraforming the land and making it habitable for his people. Five months were spent mourning the losses of the rebellion and retreating towards Cider Lake to find a place to settle down. The other six months were spent rebuilding the city and healing from the scars that were left on the nation. That’s when the Windblume Festival was created, honoring those who had fallen during the rebellion.

The months following were filled with Barbatos’ helpful hand guiding the people and making them happy again after years of sorrow. And that led to now, a year and a half after the events that changed Mondstadt forever.

The land near the present day Dawn Winery was completely different from how you remembered it to be. There was no Dawn Winery yet, and the area was covered in trees. A few small houses lined the outskirts of the forest; houses that were still presently standing in the future.

A flood of memories washed over you as you reached the bank of the river– memories from your childhood. Memories of fishing here with Crepus, where he had taught you how to bait a hook, and when he would celebrate every time you successfully caught a fish.

Memories of stargazing here with Diluc every Summer, when the night sky was so clear that you swore you could see the whole of the galaxy. Afternoons spent here with Kaeya, watching as the sky filtered from brilliant blues to striking oranges and pinks, laughing together as you both skipped stones and relished in your youth.

Mornings spent with Jean, helping her improve her swordsmanship and denying her wishes for you to join the Ordo because of how naturally adept you were with a sword.

Sometimes, Jean would pull you out here at night just to stargaze, and sometimes the both of you would go swimming in the river with nothing but your undergarments on. You’d try your best to stay quiet and not get caught by the occasional knight patrolling the area, but Jean’s hands on your body never failed to make you a bit noisy.

You were eighteen, maybe nineteen, back then.

You greatly missed the golden years of your life, when everything seemed simpler, and all you had to worry about was impressing the girl of your dreams. Little did you know at the time, but you had done that already.

You’d give anything to go back and change what happened between you… to tell her your true feelings and avoid that fateful day in the rain. The day that changed the relationship between you two forever.

The smile adorning your lips faded. You missed Jean very dearly… but you couldn’t go back and change the past.

Kneeling beside the river, you began to quietly sob. You had a chance to go back to any time period, and it just so happened to be this one. Why couldn’t it have been that day in the rain, when you and Jean called it quits and broke each other down to nothing. You’d give anything to go back and take back everything you said that day.

Yet… you ended up here. Directly after the Archon War ended.

If you had the power, you would cross through that gate once more, only to cross through it again and hope you landed on that day in the rain.

A sudden idea formed in your head, along with a startling revelation.

You only had five hours left to cross back through that gate, or else you were stuck here for the rest of your life. With a newfound panic running through your veins, you hurried back to the city to keep better track of your time, and to hopefully draw your mind away from painful memories.

An hour remained before the gate closed for another one hundred years, and you were currently entertaining the head of the Lawrence Clan and his sister.

When you had returned to the city four hours prior, you were hellbent on finding something to snack on and maybe swipe some sort of souvenir to bring back to Kaeya, when the Lawrence Clan’s ancestor spotted you and demanded you join him and his sister for a few rounds of drinks.

Ever the alcohol enthusiasts that you knew Mondstadters to be, you caved and decided to join them just for a little while. A “little while” turned into four hours as you downed drink after drink, your tolerance so high that you could withstand all the alcohol.

You were by no means an alcoholic, and you always managed your liquor quite well, but Mondstadt was known for its wine, and the people practically had wine and beer flowing through their veins. You would not be able to call yourself a true Mondstadter if it were not for how high your tolerance to alcohol was.

Amidst the festivities, more of the townspeople joined in, uncasking wines and sharing them graciously amongst each other. The homey-ness of the atmosphere and the bright lanterns hanging from above your head provided you with a sense of familiarity and comfort.

This was Mondstadt.

Peaceful, familiar, comforting, relaxing, and free.

You were glad to know that Mondstadt had not changed a bit over the years. Even in the past, it was the same old city you knew– the same old country you were born in and loved with all your heart. Your father’s city.

A sudden gust of wind rattled through the plaza, prompting the townspeople to laugh in pure joy and bliss. Next to you, Lawrence (you decided to only refer to him by his last name), raised his mug of wine high into the air.

“To the Anemo Archon!”

The rest of the people followed after, and so did you. With a brilliant smile on your face, you raised your mug of beer. “To the Anemo Archon!”

It really was like you never truly left.

Halfway through the last hour, you could tell that time was ticking. You had to leave immediately, or else you would never see your friends or family ever again.

You’d never get to witness another Windblume Festival or Weinlesefest with the people you dearly loved, you’d never get to see Klee’s magnificent smile or help Bennett out with another commission. You’d never get to challenge Fischl to another game of TCG or be there to welcome Collei home from Sumeru. You’d never get to prepare another drink in the tavern or listen as bards filled the tavern with lively music and got the patrons to sing as loud as they could. You’d never go stargazing again with Kaeya, or go out drinking again with Eula on a night off. You’d never get to help Razor with his reading or writing, or have a daily chat with Sara in the morning as she clocked in at Good Hunter.

You’d never get to challenge Amber to a game of Pile ‘Em Up during Ludi Harpastum, or present a brilliant bouquet of cecilias as an offering to the huge statue of Barbatos towards the end of the Windblume Festival while Kaeya joked that you were a show off. You’d never get to send Jean another envelope of dandelion seeds every Spring whenever you took your annual trip to the Dandelion Sea.

…You’d never get to witness another one of Venti’s performances in the plaza underneath his own statue.

You didn’t realize just how much you cherished everything until this moment, when you were about to lose it.

“Why the frown? It’s hardly the time to be sad when others are celebrating!” A joyous voice brought you out of your stupor. Next to you was none other than him, the Anemo Archon. His smile widened as you met his eyes.

The townspeople greeted him as if he were an old friend, and he quickly returned the gesture, swiping a glass of dandelion wine and taking a lengthy sip. “Ah! This year’s Thousand Wind Wine is delicious!”

Thousand Wind Wine?

“Please join us in the festivities, Lord Barbatos!” someone jumped up, offering him another glass of wine.

He eagerly took it as he wrapped an arm around your shoulders. “Why thank you! However, I have some urgent business to attend to. As soon as I return, I will be more than happy to join all of you for a multitude of drinks!”

The people cheered and threw praises his way. He pulled you closer to him, “Hold on tight,” he muttered. You did as told as he flapped his wings and took off into the air.

You held back a screech as you screwed your eyes shut and clutched onto him tighter. If it were not for your fear of heights, you would’ve been panicking over something completely different: the fact that you were currently being held in the Anemo Archon’s arms as he flew through the sky.

He chuckled, “I’m a safe flier, I promise. I won’t drop you.”

The moment he placed you back onto the ground, you let out a sigh of relief that you didn’t realize you were holding in and collapsed to the ground. “If anyone had told me that the Anemo Archon was going to take me for a flight, I never would’ve believed them.”

Barbatos laughed heartily, holding out a hand for you to take. Under the light of the moon, he was practically glowing. Your breath got caught in your throat as you stared at his ethereal form.

This was the angelicity of a god.

You took his hand, his skin soft to the touch. He brought you back onto your feet effortlessly. As soon as you gathered your bearings, you glanced around. You were right where you wanted to be: by the stone arch, and with only a few minutes to spare.

Turning to Barbatos, you sent him a quizzical look. How had he known?

He smiled, though you found that it did not reach his eyes. “I hear every whisper amongst the wind, every prayer to my name, every tip in the balance…” he trailed off. You could sense there was something else he wanted to add to that, but didn’t.

“I knew you weren’t from this timeline from the beginning.”

So he had known all along… but how? You surmised that it was because nothing escaped the eyes of the gods. Or maybe it was exactly as he said– that he could hear every little thing along the wind.

“So you know, then…” you sighed heavily. “I’m sorry for causing a disturbance, Lord Barbatos. I never meant to-”

His smile broadened as he gently shushed you. You never expected a god to be this kind, nor this patient. He truly lived up to the legends that circulated around the city in your era. He took your hand into his, squeezing it lightly.

“There’s no need to apologize, (name).” His voice was soft as he spoke, as if he were talking to an upset child. “I assume you landed here in the first place because of something to do with me…” His expression turned to a guilty one.

Your brows furrowed. “Something to do with you?” you asked curiously.

He nodded solemnly. “I am the one that is supposed to be guarding this gate, to ensure that no one ever passes through ever again. Yet… since you are here, that means my future self has failed at this job. I failed to protect a citizen of Mondstadt…”

He looked to be on the verge of a breakdown, but before he could completely lose his composure, he inhaled deeply and closed his eyes. A moment later, it was as if he hadn’t been worried in the first place. He guided you over to the gate.

“I still have a chance to save you. Go, before it’s too late.”

As soon as he let go of your hand and bid you a small farewell, promising to remember you in the future once you returned to your current era, you placed a hand on the archway and watched as the markings engraved into the stone glowed a bright silver.

You’d be going home, back to your friends and your family– and a timeline where Venti hated you. You stopped suddenly, pausing as you opened your eyes and glanced back at the image of Barbatos. He was waiting, wanting to make sure you returned safely to your own time.

You glanced at the city, at where the newly built settlement was thriving and teeming with people. You took the small souvenir you grabbed for Kaeya out of your pocket– a keychain with a windwheel aster engraved into the stone. When your eyes landed on this in the plaza hours ago, you knew you had to get it for him. It was perfect, since he was always losing his keys and never had anything attached to them to make them stand out.

“I’m sorry,” you muttered, pressing a kiss to the cold stone, before tossing the keychain through the archway, along with the note you had written out for him describing the gift and why you found sentimental value in buying it for him.

You watched as both the keychain and the note disappeared, landing on the other side of the archway– your era.

You clutched onto the last remaining thing you had of your era: the ring that Jean had once given you when you were fifteen. The one with a cecilia and dandelions carved into the inside.

“Please don’t go looking for me.”

Venti gritted his teeth together as he gripped tightly onto the letter in his hands. Tears cascaded down his cheeks. He had lost you. Again.

And now, the last remnants he had of you was a small note that wasn’t addressed to him. He dug his fingers into the grass underneath him, choking out a few sobs that he had been holding in for way too long now.

Why did this keep happening to him? Every time he thought he had gotten you back, you’d leave again, just like the very first time. Were the two of you fated to keep playing this game? To keep running through the motions of cat and mouse, as Venti suffered the after affects while you completely forgot about all of it?

He hadn’t meant to cross through that gate all those years ago, and had he known that it would bring him this much pain, he wouldn’t have done it. He would’ve stayed with Istaroth. Digging his nails into the dirt, he couldn’t help the self deprecation that took over his mind and body.

Why hadn’t he heeded Istaroth’s warning? Why hadn’t he listened and just stayed behind like she told him to do?

“Curiosity killed the cat,” that was the saying. But in this situation, there was no satisfaction to bring it back.

His heart grew heavy as he waited yet again to see you pass through that gate. To see you return with no ounce of remorse in your expression, just like you had done countless times before.

He angrily brushed his tears away and waited, staring out at the first signs of morning light that crept up over Falcon Coast. The redness of his cheeks and his eyes did not go unnoticed by you as you stepped through the gate, staring at him with that stoic expression that you always gave him.

He met your eyes, watching as they began to water and your lip began to tremble. This time must’ve hurt way more than the others. You had never returned with this kind of reaction before, startling him.

You said nothing as you stood there, clutching a feather in your hand. He swallowed thickly, recognizing that feather anywhere. It was the one he always gave to you, and the one you always returned with. Except this time, there was also a keychain in your hands– made out of gold and shaped into the anemo sigil.

Suddenly, a wave of new memories flooded his brain, and as soon as he made eye contact with you again, he knew that you had found out. The memory of him telling you passed by like a flash in his mind, and his frown deepened.

How could things have ended the same way once again?

There was a silent agreement between the both of you as you sent him a curt nod and took the note that was crumpled in his fist. He watched as you retreated back to the city, his vision blurring with another set of tears.

He would never get used to this pain, and he knew you wouldn’t either. But the pain he felt every time you left him was insurmountable.

Wiping away his tears, he watched as the sun continued to rise over the horizon. The two of you would meet again one day, maybe in a timeline where you didn’t leave him and the two of you lived happily together, relishing in the peacefulness of Mondstadt– the nation the two of you once worked hard to build.

Maybe next time, you wouldn’t be returning like this, like a stranger.

notes: yes it was the og cryo archon that barbatos first met upon entering celestia. it was originally going to be the heavenly principles, but then i changed it midway thru writing.

can’t catch me now by olivia rodrigo is the song that represents this fic the most. like, that is exactly the theme im going for with this fic, and u guys will see that in the last chapter when the ending is finally written.

(shhhh no i totally didnt already write the ending in this chapter. there will be a more descriptive ending in chapter 3 that will make more sense than the one ive already put in chapter 1.)

[woodelf68]

MY FIC: RUMBELLE/OUAT, RUSHBELLE, MACELLE, SGU

Posting this because I've been having trouble editing my blog page fic masterlists for the last couple of years, so I'm going to have the blog page just link to this post; it's quicker to update a text post with a new fic vs. going into blog settings anyway.

Rumbelle:

Midnight Confessions — Rumbelle fluff diverging from The Crocodile.

Home — Post-Neverland Rumbelle reunion sex.

To Wash All Cares Away — Rumbelle shower sex. Sequel to Home.   Extra scene

Not Beyond Repair — Rumbelle, set after ‘Witch Hunt’. Belle is trapped in the cage with Rumpel. 

In The Dark – sequel to Not Beyond Repair. (new!)

Generations — Henry/Gold bonding at Neal’s grave. Angst/fluff mix.

Hot and Cold —Rumbelle smut. A warm summer day and a cold frozen treat. 

Simmer — Belle’s got a new string bikini. Rumpel approves. Smut.

Addendum — An extended version of the deleted scene between Henry and Rumpeltiltkin from 4x02.

Dark Lover — Belle confesses a fantasy. Rumbelle smut

In Which Rumpelstiltskin Receives Help From An Unexpected Source — The Rumbelle Deer comes to Rumpel’s aid when Belle forces him across the town line. Because there’s nothing like adding a little crack to canon. Based on the ending of 4x11.

Some Other Floof of July – a sequel to junoinferno’s “Some Other Kiss Me”, Rumpel and Belle see a glimpse of themselves in another reality in a crystal ball. Post season 4 fic. 

Spinning – Short season 1 AU fluff.

Brother – Neal might be gone, but he isn’t forgotten. Future Rumbaby fic.

Girls on Film – Photographer!Gold and first-time model!Belle. Rated T

A Fresh Start  – Gold needs to turn his aging inn back into a successful enterprise if he wants to help send Bae to college. Their part-time maid Belle is full of ideas and an unexpected surprise. 

Reflections –  Mirror sex prompt

Poppet – Voodoo doll smut prompt

The Things We Do For Love  – Rumpel decides to surprise Belle with an idea from her book on how to spice up one’s love life. Rated T for chapter one  and E for Chapter Two here

Just a Dream – Fix-it fic for 6A. 

Higher – Rumbaby fluff. “Push me higher, Mommy!”

Wedding Dance – Gideon’s grown up.

The Lesson – Showjumper!Belle and coach!Gold at the Olympics. 

The Way Forward – Henry takes adult!Gideon under his wing, and Rumbelle contemplate the future. (canon compliant until the season 6 finale)

Best Beloveds – Young Gideon’s having a bad day. His Papa makes it better. 

Prompt: Gideon Loves Trains

Prompt: Baby Gideon gets dressed up

Spinner – Pony!Rumbelle + human!Rumbelle, all in one fic! 

A Life Worth Living – Fix-it for 7x04, Beauty. Fills in some of the spaces during Gideon’s first ten years. (TEA winner, best travel fic 2019)

Bright Shining Star – It’s Henry’s birthday. Rumpel makes sure that those who cannot be there are not forgotten. 

The Fire Down Below – Spilled lust potion, Dark Castle smut. 

Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out - Gold and Belle roleplay as hippies (For some reason this will not link; just search the title on my blog to find it!)

The Spirit Of The Trees – Tree spirit!Rum is awakened by Belle

Tales from the Rumbelle Floofy!verse: In which silliness may occur, Rumpel is the best Grandpa ever, and Neal survives. 

Bargain — Henry wants a birthday present for Emma. Gold has just the thing, and a special price for his youngest and cutest customer. 

Everyone Needs A Hobby —  Rumpelstiltskin really doesn’t like fairies. And they press so beautifully.

Whatever It Takes — All they want is one uninterrupted date.

Manhattan Redux — an alternate scene between Gold and Henry in New York. Gold’s dying, but Henry refuses to let him give up. 

Family — How things could have gone in Neverland. Rumpel doesn’t let being squid-inked stop him from rescuing Henry.

Hello, Deerie — Christmas-themed Rumbelle and Floof Family Fluff

To Rise Again — Rumbelle/Nealfire AU. What if Belle had grabbed the dagger instead of Zelena at the Dark Vault? Could Neal have been saved?

The Floof of July — The Floof Family celebrates the Fourth of July in the Gold’s backyard. Part of my ‘verse in which Neal survived.. 

What The Storm Brought — It was a dark and stormy night. Henry discovers what it left behind.

The Storybrooke Ice Bucket Challenge — Henry’s nominated his grandfathers. Rumpel’s clever enough to see where it could lead.

A Difficulty With Dragons — Rumpelstiltskin won’t let a magical mishap stop him from attending Henry’s school awards ceremony. 

Like Father, Like Son — A taste for a certain checked shirt seems to be run in the family. Neal/Henry scene.

Cookies — Family times in the Gold’s kitchen.

Operation: Wolfpack (chapter one) – Henry thinks his parents might just need a helping hand to get them back together. He takes himself out of the way by spending the night at the Gold’s house. 

Operation: Wolfpack (chapter two) – Henry spots a couple of familiar faces at the animal shelter. Can he convince his grandparents to adopt not just one but two dogs? And Emma and Neal have news to share. 

Trick or Treat – Halloween time at the Gold household with Henry and Neal and a surprise announcement from Belle.

Hunt For The Green Unicorn – The Storybrooke Summer Arts and Crafts Festival and some horned friends becomes part of the Gold family tradition. 

 Accidental Magic – Future fic. 5 year-old Jenny Gold gets her birthday wish.  2020 TEA winner for best OC Rumbelle child. 

RUSHBELLE AND MACELLE:

Consequences — Rushbelle smut

The Saga of Fluffy the Space Unicorn — Rushbelle fluff. Just another day on a  new planet.

An Unusual Development — Rushbelle, a little bit crack, a little bit angst. Something is growing out of the center of Rush’s forehead. In other words, unicorn!Rush.  CHAPTER TWO

Of Heather Beer and Rubber Duckies – Rushbelle fluff. Belle has a little too much to drink. 

Fantasy, With Tongue – Rushbelle smut. Rush wants to hear Belle’s kinkiest fantasy.

The Cave – Rushbelle smut. Rush finds a hidden sea cave when exploring a planet. He invites Belle to come see. 

He Creeps Into Dreams — inspired by Bad Faery’s 'And Again'.  Belle dreams of her late husband Nick. Or is it just a dream? (NTIC*/pre-Macelle) (*Nick the Incorporeal Creeper, introduced in 'And Again', aka the Nicholas Rush who was forced to Ascend but who took on a life of his own outside the fic helpfully nudging single Belles towards a Bobby character who can make them happy.)

At His Service — Inspired by Bad Faery’s 'And Again'.  More blowjobs for Joseph.(Macelle)

SGU:

Prelude – Nick and Gloria Rush’s first morning together as a married couple. (SGU)

Not What It Appears – Rush and Young are trapped in someone’s dream. Naked. Will they do what it takes to get the dream to end? NC-17 (SGU)

[sersumdeorsum]

STRANGER THINGS SEASON 4 V1 & V2 SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT. PERSONALS / NON-RP ACCOUNTS DNI. 

UPDATED 07/07/2022 WITH NEW HEADCANONS.

okay so i’ve taken a good 24hr since i watched vol 2 to just let it sit and wait for my mind to figure this shit out. under the cut is what i’m going to be doing with max, considering she’s my most used muse here. some of this will be canon divergent for reasons i’ll list under the cut. i’m also taking this opportunity to say here, like i’ve said over at @hcrgrove, the only max that is mikey and billy’s ( @hargrxve )  sister in their twin verse is my max unless you have plotted with both myself AND cat that this is different for your max. that’s not to say my max is exclusive to them because that’s not it at all, i have some awesome threads with other billy’s (looking @ u @turnedahero). it’s just becoming a lil problem on mikey so i figured i’d mention it.

firstly, because this (and all the billy slander in that ep) pissed me the fuck off: everything that max said about billy when luring vecna was just that, a lure. sure, she had fleeting moments in the beginning wishing that something would happen and he would disappear, but as she got to know him and what he’d been through - all of the abuse that went on through his childhood and in the home they shared together - max softened to him. she became a protector, of sorts. sure she was younger and didn’t have much of the ability to, but she stood up to neil where she could. and hey, she shared something in common with him, right ? shitty dads. he was her brother, whether they liked it or not, and especially after neil was gone, they grew closer. once she understood, she never ever thought him weak. she loves him. 

everything else STILL happened. at the end of s4 vol2 max was in a coma, lost. she died in the upside down, still in vecna’s grasp. when el went into her mind, she found nothing because max wasn’t there. she’s not in there, in her own body; her spirit, soul and memories are all trapped in the upside down. vecna needs to either die, or she needs to be brought through from the upside down back into real hawkins for her to wake up. she will NOT wake up until this happens. 

POST-VOL2: her friends figure it out, with the help of her brothers and eddie, and she ends up waking up. it takes a long time though, perhaps too long. when she wakes, billy, mikey and eddie are there quickly, as soon as the hospital calls them. they break the news robbie died that day, and she was in the coma for so long that the funeral has long since been and gone. (reaction drabble to come soon). her memories still fuzzy. reading the letters that she handed out whilst at risk of vecna helped to put things into place a little bit but everything is still a little bit fuzzy. 

EDIT 07/07/2022: when she wakes up, there’s a lot of work before max can be released. whilst all her injuries are healed by the time she wakes up, because of the time spent in the coma she is very weak. she lost muscle mass and her bones became weaker, more brittle. until she put on some weight they kept her in a wheelchair and started with small exercises to strengthen the muscles, joints and bones. then it moved to walking aids which she used for a while, even when she first got out of the hospital. she can walk without them now, but sometimes max still struggles. she gets frustrated with it, especially considering it’s clear their fight isn’t over yet but it’s just how things are. at least she’s alive. 

[mountain-man-cumeth]

How would you rewrite Muriel’s route?

This is the 3rd question I got with similar vibes so imma begin by saying that I am not a writer. I am a reader, a decent one, but I’m not the idea guy. I will try, though, since it seems like people are interested for some reason.

First of all I'd make some baseline changes to set the backstory proper;

Muriel chose the mantle of Lucio's executioner willingly, him and Asra had no other means to survive so they willingly worked as indentured servants under Lucio. He reasoned with himself thinking these are bad people and that he has no other skills to offer. (There might be a threat on Lucio's part that they can be replaced, he doesn't have to had given a villain speech for the implication. He is a rich tyrant and they are street kids, it the service they provide isn't up to par Lucio can easily look for alternative options.) Let me be clear, Muriel was not a gladiator. Gladiators are compensated generously for the entertainment they provide and often due to the amount of investment made on them, fighting to death wasn't a common occurrence. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Muriel, or rather the Scourge was well known and probably liked by the crowd, there's literally no reason for Lucio to utilize him otherwise. He wants people to enjoy the show, if everybody hated Muriel what use is he to Lucio?

Kokhuri are alive. The tribe had to relocate but they left Khamgalai to tend to the graves. They are nomadic and matriarchal people who likely don't adhere to mother-father-child kind of European family structure. The children are raised communally.

Muriel's curse has nothing to do with myrrh, there's a rune that can counter it and only he knows how to make it, he figured it out by himself for Asra. Any magic that can nullify a spell by Major Arcana is no doubt strong as fuck.

I'd start similar to main 3, MC is tasked to find Lucio's murderer. They find Muriel's brush or loincloth or whatever early on which leads them to the forest but because of the protective spells and the curse they get lost. They ran into Muriel or Inanna and she leads them to Muriel hunched over the corpse. They try to help, like the canon, and have a brush with Lucio's goat ghost. They tell him they were looking for the Scourge and Muriel says there's no Scourge here.

The day after they forget about Muriel but remember the rest and relay that information to Asra, who gets agitated by Lucio's return. He thinks Lucio is here for MC's body but doesn't explain anything, instead begs them to leave town until he figures something out.

They go to see Muriel and he reluctantly agrees to accompany them to the outskirts of the forest, on Asra's request.

Some point on their road trip Asra water-calls them to inform them that Lucio is looking for hearts and the Magician (or whoever else Asra consulted) implied they might find answers South. MC still doesn't know anything except maybe some comments Muriel could have made that painted Lucio in a bad light but they decide to investigate regardless. Muriel opposes, eventually caves (either thanks to MC or Asra). He lets out that he's been tailing MC on Asra's behalf for years so it shouldn't be that much different.

They go from town to town, MC helps Muriel ease into dealing with people again and it's easier since nobody knows jack about Scourge. They learn that he enjoys card games and collecting trinkets from different cultures. He might even get a little too enthusiastic about plants and gives random advice to a gardener.

We might learn here that Muriel doesn't like feeling that he's on a display or that he's performing. He prefers to lay low and blend in, not necessarily completely shut off the world.

They run into Morga(maybe they encounter raiders or a barfight or something alike), who's also been tracking Lucio. She proposes to work together. She berates Muriel for being a coward and convinces him to fight as that's all he's good for. (I think it's better if MC trains on magic rather than archery, I'm seeing alot of disabled MCs.)

She tries to train them but Muriel doesn't respond well to fighting and eventually Morga leaves. Valdemar or Vulgora catches them, Lucio's still trying to get MC's body. They escape just barely, MC gets hurt, Muriel beats himself up over it, some angst some fluff, you know the drill. Maybe he has a panic attack because panic attacks are usually not as on the nose as "Oh No I Gotta Fight Someone With a Knife". Looking for a shelter and aid, they find a cottage which turns out to be Khamgalai's. She helps them out, teaches Muriel how to heal using the techniques of their clan, I assume MC helps since they know some restorative spells too. She tells Muriel his family sent him away when they got ambushed so he wouldn't have to live on the run as Morga's clan was on a war path to conquer South. We get sad, lots of tears. Kisses might ensue.

Somehow it's revealed that this is the answer they were looking for and not Lucio (because I think the whole "Lucio's clan" plot was redundant) and Morga was just using them as bait to get Lucio out of Vesuvia.

Morga catches on to them, we learn who she is, Muriel and MC confront her but Khamgalai says her warmongering already costed her everything. She says she's trying to make up for it by killing her son and she needs MC to lure him out, they agree to work together, begrudgingly. (MC's past can be revealed here since they need to learn what's the deal with Lucio's obsession of them at some point)

Around this point MC might realize the mark's fading, Muriel brushes it off.

Instead of Lucio, Devil comes and tells them about Lucio's plan to do the ritual again. They go back to Vesuvia to warn people

Masquerade happens, people remember Muriel, Nadia or MC or someone give people an ultimatum. But oh no it was a TRAP all along, Devil told them of the ritual to get them right where he wanted. Lucio gets in MC's body, Asra sends them to the Arcana realm, same story as main 3.

MC forgets Muriel on the Arcana realm but through the power of love and maybe some guidance from the Hermit they go "oh no i forgot my boy". They return to find him in the Coliseum. What?! He was the Scourge?! Who could've thought. (this reveal wouldn't affect MC's opinion at this point since they already know he's a cinnamon roll)

This time Lucio's blackmailing him with MC's body. He says he needs hearts to make himself a new one and if Muriel grabs some for him MC can get their body back.

Story diverges to Upright/Reversed

Upright, if MC encouraged him to take it easy, but take it: MC snatches the body of someone he's suppose to fight to change his mind, he decides not to do it and instead go with defeating Lucio on the Arcana realm plan(curtesy of their friends). So here we can have a romantic scene like in Nadia's route where his chains are broken in the Arena.

They fuck around in the Arcana realm facing their fears and stuff, they bond, defeat Lucio, petrify the Devil etc. I like to think Muriel finds the forest spirit here, too, and maybe manages to heal it or learns that it's damaged but with enough time and care it will regrow. (a metaphor? in my arcana game? its more likely than you think)

Morga is charged for war crimes by the Kokhuri, the Coliseum is demolished and the love birds travel around doing their thing.

Reversed, if MC encouraged him to be strong and uncaring: MC fails to convince him and he decides to go through with Lucio's plan. He kills Morga and some more important spirits and fucks up the world. Which turns out to be a bogus plan anyways, Lucio only needed the hearts to settle his deal and Muriel kills him, too (I am untethered, and my rage knows no bounds!)

Without a body MC is stuck in the other realm so Muriel and them retreat to the magic dimension, defeat the Devil and live the rest of their days.

There might also be a 50 first dates situation going on inwhich they get stuck in a loop where MC constantly meets and falls in love with Muriel only to forget him in a couple of (magic realm)days.

idk man this aint my job im just spitballing here, im writing this long ass thing so ill look like im working

[queen0fm0nsterz]

*Slides a 5 dollar bill* So what are some of your ideas for those Little Nightmares fics?

OH BOY ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO KNOW.

Weeeell, I have various idea that I'm writing down all at the same time. I'll list the various AUs here.

The Gang! AU

Ok no this isn't some sort of Criminal AU, I literally didn't know what to name it JSKDKS

Anyway, I'm actually writing this along with a friend of mine. It's based on a rp we had and it's quite long. We're writing one chapter each, I'm currently finishing chapter five. It kinda follows the story of Little Nightmares 2, but at the same time is canon divergent. Does that make sense?

We added two of our kid OCs to travel with Mono and Six!

Their names are Zip and Emerald respectively, from left to right! Zip was made by my friend while Emerald is my kid. The art was done by me!

They're not the only OCs we made for this story; we also have five glitch kids, a couple of bullies and a patient from the Hospital.

Since it's long, we decided to split it into three parts. The first part takes place in the Pale City, the second part in the Maw and the third in a location made up by us that we're still crafting.

The good news: Mono doesn't get dropped and Runaway Kid is alive!

The bad news: everything else literally every single thing

It's gonna have a good ending, though. It's the least we can do after everything we put these kids through😭

Restaurant Maw! AU

Just the monsters of LN put in a modern setting! Not only that, it's Maw employees centric!

Basically in this AU the Maw is a very well-known restaurant and hotel, in a very similar fashion to the bathouse in Spirited Away. The Lady is obviously the boss, the Ferryman becomes the driver of the Maw's personal bus, Roger is the keeper, Bellhop is still a bellhop and also the maître d'hotel (aka the guy who makes sure the guests are comfortable etc.), the Chefs are still the Chefs - their names are Bruce and Bernard! And lastly, the Nomes are a bunch of waiters, bellhops and cooks.

Things are going very well for eveyone until one day the Chefs go outside for a smoking break and they find a baby in a box. They take her in and keep her hidden for a couple of days before the Lady invitably finds out.

She decides to let them keep her with the condition that they raise her on their own and take care of all of her needs wihout bothering her - which of course doesn't happen at all and eventually all the employees in the Maw grow attached to baby Sawako nicknamed Six.

This one has all my favorite tropes: slice of life, found family, and I'm hoping to achieve comedy (which is very complicated for me because I have a very dramatic style).

Plus the Chefs are italian because I'm italian and I claimed them, so if you want to see one of them teach the Lady how to swear in italian you came in the right place.

RCG and the Pretender Live! AU

And they lived! I started writing this immediately after I finished VLN but I was blinded by pain so it's a little messy. I have to edit it.

But basically the point is: they survived! But are stuck on land. The first to wake up is RCG, who I named Valeria, and she spots the Pretender a few feet from her and realizes that somehow they both managed to float ashore. Luckily for her, the Nest is now very far away, although they can still see it from the distance.

At first she wants to leave the Pretender there, but then decides to bring her along, tying her hands behind her back first. And so begins the girls voyage in the big wide world, trying to survive and becoming besties in the process.

Im debating wheter I want the Pretender to develop a little crush on RCG or not. Mhhhh. I'll let you guys know.

Mono Jumps in Time! AU

THIS ONE WAS INSPIRED BY THIS ADORABLE FANART BY @kelpermoosee !! Go check them out their art is adorable!!! This is also a Mono centric AU!

So basically! When Six is kidnapped by the Thin Man and Mono goes to save her, his high distress and strong, swirling emotions lead him to not only travel from a place to the next, but to also accidentally go back in time.

He jumps out from a TV but, surprise surprise, he's not in the Pale City anymore. He's landed right in front of the Pretender, who immediately takes a liking to him and wants him to be her new friend. Mono is extremely confused and at first and doesn't realize what happened, so obviously he tries to go back to the Pale City, but then he sees a girl in a yellow raincoat and immediately assumes she's Six.

He assumes that's where the Thin Man brought her, so he tries to run after her, but he's costantly hindered by either the Pretender or her staff. Will he ever get to "Six" and realize that he jumped in time? I'll decide, because this story is still under construction.

Six Forgets! AU

You know that quote from the comics?

"What's the last thing you remember? Tell me. If you don't tell us, you're sure to forget altogether."

Beautiful. And also what prompted me to come up with this AU.

Some things to clarify: the Eye is a collective conciousness that feeds off from negative emotions, the Thin Man lives but can't leave the Pale City, and The Lady is a grown up Six. The Maw kids from the comics are here! Plus a few OCs of mine.

And lastly: Six couldn't handle the guilt from dropping Mono and repressed all memories involving him altogheter, so she completely forgot about him.

Six gets on the Maw, but this time instead of waking up in a suitcase, she's brought to Roger adn the other children by the Ferryman. There, she befriends a few children but no one gets closer to her than the Runaway Kid. They both want to be free and plan an escape together.

In the meantime, Mono is still trapped in the Signal Tower, but he's convinced that Six let him slip by accident and that she'll come back for him. (The Eye is very frustated with him bc they be planning on feeding on his sadness and rage and then he has the audacity to be hopeful? The nerve!) That's until he gets a glimpse of his best friend and this unknown child through one of the TVs on the Maw, joking and playing with each other, and she confesses to this... no one, really, that he's the best friend she's ever had.

As you can imagine, Mono goes feral. The Eye couldn't be happier.

Chaos ensues! We got a lot of angst, violence, Monster!Mono and also some wholesome moments. Also out of context spoiler: RK and Six lead a revolution.

The Lost Ones

This one is just a bunch of quick drabbles that talk about the glitching remains. They all deserved better.

Hunter and Veronica

I was not gonna miss the occasion of writing simp hunter. Take it or leave it.

Based on my Hunter theory!

My beautiful terrible disaster of a man works on the Maw as a chef, but no one really knows why since he's not good at it. Fortunately, the vast majority of the Guests is just too hungry to care and the current Lady, a woman with a scarecrow mask, doesn't want to fire him. A few Guests have complains, though; for example, a Teacher who seemingly never blinks and a very massive Doctor, whom he befriends.

One day, a filming crew gets on the Maw and the Lady informs her staff that they will be staying for a while to film a commercial-documentary of the restaurant, which will bring more and more Guests. With the crew came a famous, very talented chef named Veronica who has her own extremely successful cooking show, who offers to help the current chef as a thank you for letting them stay without having to pay.

Initially the Hunter is not too happy about this. In his eyes he doesn't need the help, but they start getting closer and closer with time.

This will probably be wholesome but end in a very bad, tragic way. I'd say I'm sorry but I'm not lol

✓✓✓

And that's it for now. I have some other things planned with my monster OCs (btw y'all wanna see them?), but this is the whole thing. It may be updated in the future since I always seem to get more and more ideas!

[theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin]

Hi! I’m a big fan of your work!! I am looking for more but unfortunately I feel like I have read all yhe good Harry Potter docs on Ao3. Do you have any recs?

Sorry for the delay, I just know that whenever I make rec list it usually ends up taking a while.

With that, Harry Potter fics are a big genre. Just saying Harry Potter in general really isn’t that specific to me so this is across genres/character focuses/you name it.

Also, as usual, I’ve been on fanfiction longer and have amassed more favorites there. Some of these are cross posted to Ao3. Similarly, a lot are unfinished, this personally doesn’t bother me but if it bothers you take heed.

Also, you’ll see my embarrassing obsession with Tom Riddle. So, heads up for that.

Stepbrother (Tom Riddle/Hermione Granger, period piece, in which the two remind me a lot of Nabokov)

Cat Among the Pigeons (Tom Riddle/Lily Evans, Psycho-Pass Detective AU, in which I am a beta actually so my promoting this goes without saying)

Til Death Do Us Part (Tom Riddle/Harry Potter, Voldemort wins AU, which for me does very well with the concept of immortality and what exactly Tom is supposed to do after he wins)

This Tangle of Thorns (Tom Riddle/Hermione Granger, modern AH AU, a full on Nabokov inspired fic which I enjoy because Lolita)

Delusional (Tom Riddle/Harry Potter, sort of. Harry wins the war, goes crazy, checks into a mental hospital. Or he’s not crazy and Voldemort is as unkillable as Palpatine.)

Harry Potter and the Natural 20 (OC insert, D&D inspired, shameless crack. I mostly enjoy the beginning of this but it makes me laugh enough to recommend.)

A Hairy Business (AU, Harry is a deer, he is literally a deer, that’s it. It’s funny.)

Animus, Anima (Tom Riddle/Harry Potter, Harry travels back in time, gets stuck in Tom Riddle’s brain, and it turns out Harry’s responsible for every terrible thing that ever happened. This one was squicky even for me, very well done, but strap in.)

Addendum, He is Also a Liar (Tom Riddle/Hermione Granger, Tom has an inexplicable ability to travel to the future, but only to this random little girl Hermione Granger)

Framed & Fractured (Tom Riddle/Harry Potter, Harry gets stuck in an evil painting back in time. Tom is creepy as usual.)

Trying for Eden (Tom Riddle/Harry Potter, Harry travels back in time to lecture Tom into morality. It doesn’t work.)

Magical Mirrors (Luna Lovegood and Severus Snape, Luna and Snape stumble on the Mirror of Erised at the same time and strike up a conversation)

Aphelion (Hermione Granger/Loki, MCU crossover, Hermione and Loki strike up the world’s weirdest toxic friendship when Hermione’s young and attending Hogwarts, this leads terrible places as Loki slides into madness and despair)

Wandering Souls (Luna Lovegood and The Undertaker, Black Butler crossover, Luna meets and strikes up a conversation with the Undertaker)

Of Lies Most Beautiful (Tom Riddle, Hunger Games crossover, Tom wins the Hunger Games becaues that’s what he does bitch)

In Wonderland (Tom Riddle/Harry Potter, Harry ends up back in the past and decides to raise Tom Riddle. This goes so poorly that the pair almost get eaten by eldritch gods multiple times.)

Rumpelstiltskin, Guess My Name (Tom Riddle/Harry Potter, Female Harry travels back in time and offers to save Merope’s life/get her Tom Riddle Sr. the non rapey way in return for her firstborn son. Merope thought Harry was joking. She wasn’t joking. In the sequel, also linked, Harry kills Morfin.)

The Eyes (Harry Potter, AU, turns out “the power he knows not” is the power humanity knows not, Harry’s ability to see eldritch abominations and cosmic gods and thus bring them far enough into our reality that they eat everything. And I mean everything.)

Mirror Mirror (Harry Potter, MCU crossover, Harry makes a huge mistake and stops Hulk in the middle of a rampage. This gets him abducted by octopus nazis.)

I See the Moon (Harry Potter and Bruce Banner, MCU crossover, Harry got brain damage from the war and wanders around the middle of nowhere. He runs into Bruce. He’s now Bruce’s only friend.)

You Will Be the Death of Me (Harry Potter and Tom Riddle, Despicable Me inspired, through a series of convoluted events Tom as the world’s worst father figure ends up raising Harry the sad adorable orphan.)

In Death, Standby (Tom Riddle/Harry Potter (sort of, the authro claims), Tom raises Harry, the only Tom raises Harry that I’ve seen done well because Tom is the world’s worst father. Harry thinks he’s a deformed snake until the age of three.)

Little Harry’s Mirkwood Adventure (Harry Potter and Dudley Dursley, Hobbit Crossover, one of the most Tolkien style crossovers I’ve actually seen and is very good)

A (Self-Imposed) Trap for a Fool (Ginny Weasley, turns out Harry Potter never existed, as in he’s a collective hallucination made up by the entire wizarding world)

McLaggen and From McLaggen with Love (McLaggen, a detective AU then a James Bond style adventure starring McLaggen, the greatest wizard who ever wizarded)

Tom Riddle’s Diary: on keeping devils in the summer (Tom Riddle, Tom Riddle’s antichrist orphan adventures involving exorcism and burning people alive)

and the fates sing (hold on, son) (Harry Potter, MCU crossover, Harry is the son of Loki and like all children of Loki he is a wretched and cursed thing)

A Faulty Master (Harry Potter and Itachi Uchiha, Naruto crossover, Itachi after the massacre of his family has a run in with a master of death Harry, who is a creepy creepy man)

Eye of Reason (Harry Potter/Jack Frost, Rise of the Guardians crossover, due to the mythos surrounding his life Harry ceases to be a man and becomes akin to a god)

Flowers for a Ghost (Luna Lovegood and Itachi Uchiha, Naruto Crossover, Luna befriends a blind ghost)

Third Time’s the Charm (Harry Potter, MCU crossover, Bruce Banner keeps trying to kill himself and MoD Harry is there to have himself a real good day)

Blind Faith (Bellatrix LeStrange/Tom Riddle, canon compliant, an in depth look at Bellatrix from the escape of Azkaban onward)

Cocktail Time (Rita Skeeter and Gilderoy Lockhart, Rita does an expose and autobiography detailing the descent of Gilderoy Lockhart and how he became what he became)

Fantastic Elves and Where to Find Them (Harry Potter, canon divergent AU, Harry thinks he’s an elf. That’s it.)

The Twine Bracelet (Colin Creevy, a look at Colin’s death) 

Legal Alien (Harry Potter, MCU crossover, Harry visits New York and an alien invasion breaks out. Culminates with the best, dumb, joke.)

The Root of Desire (Tom Riddle/Hermione Granger, Hermione travels back in time and tries to influence Tom. All this does is inspire his sexual awakening.)

Deadheads (Harry Potter/Godric Gryffindor, a romantic comedy of a kind, culminating in the best dumbest joke)

Give and Take (Tom Riddle/Hermione Granger, Hermione tries to outwit Tom, it ends in despair)

The Road to Somewhere (Harry Potter, Spirited Away crossover, Harry as MoD is in the realm of the spirits)

Absolute (Harry Potter, Harry picks up a death note, he kills everyone)

Fortunate Son (Dudley Dursleys, years afterwards Dudley looks back and writes a memoir and expose about the abuse inflicted on his cousin)

Elective Affinities (Severus Snape/Harry Potter, Harry travels back in time to discover his parents are assholes and things are more complicated than he imagined)

Juxtaposed (Bod, Graveyard Book crossover, Bod attends Hogwarts)

The Fire Omens (Tom Riddle and a look at WWII)

Broken Toys (Tom Riddle and his useless broken toys)

The Fine Art of Poisoning (Madame Zabini)

A Marriage of Convenience (Pansy and Theo get married)

Reparabilis (Tom Riddle/Harry Potter, Tom becomes a professor, he still destroys Harry Potter)

The Unforgivable Curses (Draco Malfoy, a look at the 4th year unforgivable lecture with Moody and the Slytherins)

Ugly (Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy one sided Dudley/Harry Potter, Dudley’s fat, ugly, and creeps on his cousin)

Three Can Keep a Secret (Harry Potter, on secrets and secret keeping)

Caveat Incimici (Hermione Granger, on Hermione and her terrifying wrath)

Babylon (Harry Potter and Tom Riddle, Harry never gets rid of Tom)

Wonderful Tragic Mysterious (Luna Lovegood and Albus Dumbledore, Luna Lovegood time travels and becomes a young Albus’ neighbor)

In the Clockface, Weighted and Weary (Harry Potter/Ariana Dumbledore, Harry after DH ends up back in time in Dumbledore’s childhood and witnesses the beautiful Dumbledore family dysfunction)

Eternal Return (Harry Potter and Tom Riddle, Harry is reincarnated as Tom Riddle and as a result becomes Voldemort so that a Voldemort exists)

Like Pale Fire (Harry Potter/Godric Gryffindor, the Founders are resurrected and it turns out Harry had travelled to the past and become Salazar Slytherin, turns out the Founders were more complicated than people expected.)

12 Moves Sideways (Harry Potter and Light Yagami, Death Note crossover, Light becomes the Defense Professor, for once Harry does not figure out the mystery.)

A Very Young Girl’s Record of Her Own Impressions (Ariana Dumbledore’s diary)

Night Comes Early (Moody on war)

Little Witches (The Black family women and how it all falls apart)

Paved with Good Intentions (Petunia on finding a baby on her doorstep)

Emerald Serpent for Vanity (Draco and Nagini introspective)

Blue (Tom Riddle/Bellatrix LeStrange, Voldemort wins dystopia, Tom visits Bellatrix’s grave and is very crazy)

Eighteen (Hermione Granger, on Hermione’s betrayal of her parents)

Ouroboros (Tom Riddle/Harry Potter, on what they’ve made of each other)

Not so Different (Scout, To Kill a Mockingbird Crossover, Scout reflects on the wizarding world’s raicsm)

Traitor (Hermione Granger, Hermione is captured by the Death Eaters and commits unspeakable acts to free herself)

Smashing Mirrors (Tom Riddle, introspective)

Twelve Dark Moons (Luna Lovegood/Tom Riddle, Luna becomes a captive of the dark lord)

Full Circle (Harry Potter, Harry wins and is miserable)

The Web of a Thousand Spiders (Luna Lovegood on the diary)

The Metronome (The fall of Lucius’ entire generation)

Understand (Hermione Granger and her betrayal of her parents)

Tea with the Headmaster (Severus Snape and Albus Dumbledore, the pair have tea)

This Grief Feeling (Hermione Granger and Severus Snape after the end)

After Innocence (The trio after the end)

Of Great Turmoil and Excess Stupidity (Sesshomaru and Hagrid, Inuyasha crossover, Hagrid decides to capture a demon for class)

What’s Left of Hope (Severus Snape and Albus Dumbledore, on preserving hope)

In His Keep (Severus Snape and Luna Lovegood, Snape informs Luna her father has died)

Wednesday (Petunia Evans, introspective)

In the Presence of Angels (Moody in WWII)

What He Grows to Be (Tom Riddle/Harry Potter, Harry Potter raises Tom Riddle in the past and it goes horribly wrong)

Being Cassandra (Tom Riddle/Harry Potter, Harry Potter, Tom, and their strange AU friendship)

The Girl (Tom Riddle/Harry Potter, a fem Harry Potter keeps accidentally appearing in Tom’s childhood)

Corruption (Tom Riddle/Harry Potter, Tom wins AU and female Harry slowly becomes corrupted)

One Night Stand (Tom Riddle/Lily Evans, a wonderful look on the first war, Tom Riddle, Lily Evans, the Order of the Phoenix, and terrorism)

The Voldemort Principle (Severus Snape, turns out Snape was Voldemort the whole time and Harry is a lying liar who lies)

Harry Potter and the mountain of pure diamond (Tom Riddle/Harry Potter, Harry has become an ageless god who travels worlds and decides to raise Tom Riddle. He’s disturbed when he realizes Tom is more of a person than he is)

A Road Less Travelled By (Harry Potter/Lucius Malfoy, Harry’s a veela, just read it, it’s amazing, I know I sound crazy but it is)

Transformation (Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy, Draco gets eaten by the Forbidden Forest and then Harry gets eaten too)

Rock Bottom (Tom Riddle/Harry Potter, Tom gets trapped being defense professor and has a miserable time)

[crackinglamb]

Chapters: 41/? Fandom: Dragon Age: Inquisition, Dragon Age - All Media Types Rating: Explicit Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Female Inquisitor/Solas (Dragon Age), Solas (Dragon Age)/Original Female Character(s) Characters: Solas|Fen'Harel, Rogue Inquisitor, Varric Tethras, Cassandra Pentaghast, Vivienne (Dragon Age), Sera (Dragon Age), Fiona (Dragon Age), Gereon Alexius, Felix Alexius, Dorian Pavus, The Iron Bull (Dragon Age), Blackwall (Dragon Age), Leliana (Dragon Age), Cullen Rutherford, Josephine Montilyet, Lace Harding, Cole (Dragon Age), Sky Watcher (Dragon Age), Wisdom (Dragon Age) Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Modern Girl in Thedas, not a self-insert, Non-Canon Inquisitor (Dragon Age), Diary/Journal, Alcohol, Swearing, Snark, Pining, Emotional Slow Burn, Explicit Sexual Content, Repeated Poor Life Choices In Bed, Solas Being Solas (Dragon Age), Fluff and Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Additional Characters to Be Added As They Show Up Series: Part 1 of Wicked Things Summary:

Imogen McLean is glad she's played the series before. She's read all the novels, she's flipped through the comics. She knows what's going to happen. She's got secrets to keep and canon to break. Now if she could just keep her hands off the Dread Wolf, this might all go a bit easier. Besides, he's got plans of his own. He's not the staying kind, and she knows better than to get attached.

You hear that, Thedas? She's not going to get attached. She's not.

 Beta'd by Iron_Angel. NSFW will be marked with **.

Chapter 41 - Sandcastles In the Sky

Wisdom reset the pieces on the board.  “Show me again.”

Imogen walked her through the moves, the rooks chasing the king all over the board, hemming it in with the queen.  Today, the spirit had taken on a more physical form in order to engage with her, although the setting was the same.  A golden field of rippling wheat, the slow, lazy flow of the Enavuris river.  In the distance, a wolf watching over the Dirthavaren from on high, sculpted from the living rock of the towering spires to the northwest.  The soft shade under the tree. Between them, a table inlaid with marble and onyx, the pieces carved lovingly with details that Imogen had forgotten she knew.

It was her grandmother's set, and it was her grandmother's face Wisdom wore.  It was strange, but comforting, and she found she didn't mind.

Wisdom eluded each trap and forced a stalemate.  She sat back from the chessboard with satisfaction plain on her face and regarded Imogen.  “Again?”

[cactusspatz]

February recs

I went back to the top-five format this month since my fic reading was curtailed by, you know, the massive winter storm in Texas knocking my power out, and suchlike. Four recs for The Untamed, and one for The Goblin Emperor!

my age has never made me wise by @idrilka (Untamed, Wangxian)

“We hear that His Excellency might be married by summer’s end,” the  merchant’s wife says and Wei Wuxian freezes, his heart in his throat. “The Gusu Lan sect has been buying enough red silk and brocade that the merchants in Caiyi can’t satisfy the demand.” 

He feels himself grow brittle inside, like a flick of a finger to his temple might make him shatter. His ears are ringing.  

“Who’s the lucky bride?” he asks despite himself. His tongue sticks to the roof of his mouth.  

This one has been recced EVERYWHERE and rightly so! Absolutely pitch-perfect, from Wei Wuxian having travel adventures and pining like a whole forest of dumbassery, to their reunion and (obviously, to everyone but WWX) marriage.

heartkeeper by @postingpebbles​ (Untamed, Wangxian)

In Gusu, there is a story about the most beautiful man in the world—and the wager he gives to anyone who wants to take his hand in marriage.

Being from Yunmeng, however, Wei Wuxian doesn't hear a word about this story until his aimless wandering brings him to the outskirts of Caiyi Town.

(in which there is wei wuxian, a rabbit, and a secret.)

Based off that Tumblr post, this is lovely and soft and pure fairytale romance.

kick the darkness ‘til it bleeds daylight by tardigradeschool & AlfAlfAlfAlfAlf (Untamed, Wangxian)

The young man blinks at him. Wei Yuan doesn’t spend much time staring at his own face in the mirror, but he knows his reflection well enough; the dark eyes, the straight nose, the round face that comes to a pointed chin. This boy could be his exact double.

“Who are you?” the Lan boy facing him asks, tilting his head. He’s got a hand on his sword, but he hasn’t drawn it yet. There’s a faint frown on his face. “Some kind of face-stealing spirit? A demon?”

“Pretty rude to go around calling people demons,” Wei Yuan protests. --

Or, Wei Wuxian, presumed dead by the cultivation world, raises one Wen twin. Lan Wangji, presumed dead by Wei Wuxian, raises the other. A Parent Trap AU.

This Parent Trap AU is officially twin approved! *laughs* It’s only barely a PT AU in the twins-switching-places sense, but it IS a fantastic canon-divergence with TWO A-Yuans to love in entirely different ways, and a lot of thoughtful and original character arcs and plot. (also: twin shenanigans)

Raise It Up, Roll the Dice by @ghostysword​ (Untamed/TCGF, Wangxian)

“What prize do you desire?” the croupier asks, bone dice clacking in their black cup.

“The body and soul of Wei Wuxian.”

In the gambling house of the ghost king Crimson Rain Sought Flower, you can win any treasure--if you’re desperate enough, if you’re willing to risk enough, if you’re lucky enough. After six years of searching for any trace of Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji is desperate enough to come to Hua Cheng’s gambling table, and he’s ready to pay any price. Luck has rarely been on his side, but he’ll need it tonight.

You don’t need to know TGCF to read this, and this fic does not spoil any TGCF plot points (just a bit of worldbuilding).

I know just enough about TGCF to enjoy both sides of this, but it’s also just a really great look at Lan Wangji’s devotion and grief and love.

A Small Chance of Happiness by @sassysnowperson​ (Goblin Emperor, gen)

"You need our marriage," Vedero Drazhin said to Maia one spring night when they were pressed together on the rooftop, using Vedero's telescope to examine a comet that was visiting their night sky.

Quiet and pragmatic, but absolutely full of love.