#i don't really like deviating from canon sorry

[mccromy]

The Shen Jiu & Shen Yuan dynamic I need to see more of is Shen Jiu coming to see Shen Yuan as a father figure, perhaps even a mother figure. And not in the way you think.

We are always talking about Shen Yuan's wife beam, but we don't talk about his mommy beam. I think Shen Jiu could resist the wife beam if subjected to it, but I don't believe he has any defense against the mommy beam. Now, I'm not talking about Shen Yuan transmigrating earlier than canon, meeting a child Shen Jiu and adopting him.

I'm talking about Shen Yuan transmigrating after Shen Jiu has already taken over Qing Jin peak. I'm talking about 21 year old Shen Yuan transmigrating into the body of a nameless rogue cultivator, meeting fully grown man already in his thirties Peak Lord Shen Qingqiu, and hitting him with his mommy/daddy-issuesinator and causing him a life threatening Qi deviation.

Shen Qingqiu can't help but trust him, and eventually looks up to him, sees him as a wise elder he seeks out for advice. He fucking hates it but he can't help himself. This homeless man he met in the forest is the closest thing he's ever had to a father. Also. He sort of wants Shen Yuan to breastfeed him in a, and he means this, non sexual way and he can't cope with that. He would just feel so safe!!

Shen Yuan, 21 years old, rogue cultivator, first time transmigrator and the father who stepped up, thinks he befriended the scum villain, and maybe? He can be a good influence on him? Be a good friend and guide him towards a fully limbed future. He's practically raising him but nobody tell him that.

Shen Jiu lost his childhood to slavery and his teenage years to violent madmen. and now he's behaving in ways he doesn't understand. He once lost sight of Shen Yuan in the town's market, ran towards a man who looked exactly like Shen Yuan from behind, and almost had a panic attack when the man turned out to be a stranger. It's all good because Shen Yuan found him before he started swinging Xiu Ya ("Have you seen my friend? He's this tall, clearly traumatized, but we haven't had the talk")

People think they're lovers at some point because Shen Jiu is quite possessive of Shen Yuan's attention, but everybody realizes that there's something way more innocent, and also weirder, and worse, going on between them when Shen Yuan drags Shen Qingqiu by the hand to apologize to the sect leader for being so rude when poor A-Yue is trying his best, and stands there with arms crossed, eyebrows raised, until Shen Qingqiu mumbles an apology, glances at Shen Yuan, and runs away.

"I'm sorry about that, Sect Leader Yue, he's had a bad day. I'm sure he didn't mean it."

Yue Qingyuan, someone who did actually sort of raise Shen Qingqiu, who's stood in Shen Yuan's shoes before, extracting reluctant apologies from a sullen Shen Jiu, to authority figures so he wouldn't get in trouble, is overcome by an intense, never before experienced wave of jealousy, so sudden it makes him spit vinegar flavored blood.

Then, a panicked Shen Yuan accidentally hits him with the mommy beam by accidentally adopting him (trying to befriend this guy who clearly needs a friend he can confide in!). And now he's placed himself in the young step-mom role who's desperately trying to bond with her new husband's teenage children but they're wired to not like her! (He used those exact words when explaining to Shang Qinghua where that new tension he has with the Sect Leader came from)

Liu Qingge is afraid of him. Maybe. He runs away when their eyes meet but he keeps leaving dead things at his feet so like, he's probably threatening him? He feels intimidated by him? Or something?

(Liu Qingge thinks Shen Qingqiu's older brother is so cool and really wants to hang out with him, but if Shen Yuan calls him Didi one more time Liu Qingge's barely held back "Yes, Gege?" Is going to jump out of his mouth and he WILL Qi deviate and EXPLODE)

When Binghe enters the equation shit gets a lot weirder.

First, he believes Shen Yuan to be Shen Qingqiu's neglected spouse (Shizun keeps leaving his poor wife alone when he goes out on night hunts and to visit brothels! Shen Yuan has needs!! He should be with someone who cherished him!! Someone who would treat him as he deserves to be treated, someone who'd wait hand and foot on him!!!) needless to say, Luo Binghe's teenage fantasies take on an even more illicit turn than in canon (it goes from "STERN TEACHER POUNDED BY STUDENT AT BAIZHAN TRAINING GROUNDS" to "NEGLECTED WIFE CHEATS WITH STUDENT ON HUSBAND'S BED!! IMPREGNATED WHILE HUSBAND IS AWAY")

Luo Binghe, of course, does his best to seduce him, but ends up being coddled and cuddled.

"it's like I'm his handmaiden, his shadow, the only witness to my lady's heartbreak at her husband's cold regard and indiscretions. Shizun won't spare him a moment if not to discuss cultivation or business! He won't allow Shen Yuan more than a head pat! and move away from any other touch! How ungrateful! They don't even share a bed! I brush his hair, I dress him every morning, I pour him tea and he lets me rest my weary head on his lap. The intimacy we share is not sexual, but Ning-Shijie, I wish it was! I saw the outline of his dick yesterday and I need it!"

"A-Luo please stop talking."

Then, he realizes he misunderstood. Shen Yuan is a cultivator so of course he looks so young! Shen Yuan is clearly Shen Qingqiu's father. He's constantly worried for his un-filial son and remains by his side!! That explains everything!!!(LONELY DILF RIDES YOUNG MAN ON QING JING'S LIBRARY!! HE WISHES YOUNG MAN WAS HIS SON!!!!)

He goes from trying to steal Shen Qingqiu's wife to steal his father. He could be Shen Yuan's friend, lover, and son. His student. His confidant. His silly rabbit.

Shen Qingqiu KNOWS this. But nobody will fucking believe him!! The jiejies at the pavilion giggle and tell him he must be exaggerating, and when he went to Yue Qingyuan so he could intervene and fix it, Yue Qi just looked at him dead eyed and said to "Let him." !!! Let him what?? Deflower our father Qi-Ge??? Shame on you!! That beast is trying to break this family apart!!

But wait!!! look!!! a crack opened in the fabric of space and reality, leading directly to hell. Wouldn't it be a shame if someone were to, accidentally, drop kick this homewrecker inside it?

Luo Binghe is gone when Shen Qingqiu realizes oh wait, that was a demon mark on his forehead wasn't it. Oh good, now he has an excuse. Baba will understand.

(Baba doesn't understand. Baba acts as if he's lost his soul and won't look him in the eye. He's also growing mushrooms bodies in the garden, and added a drop of Shen Qingqiu's blood in the seeds before planting? Which is odd. but at least if he's gardening then he's not staring at that swordmound for hours on end)

I don't even know where I'm going with this

[me-and-your-husband]

if you lie down with me || e.w.

summary: there's one thing you and ellie don't have in common: immunity.

warnings: not beta read, swearing, blood, canon typical violence, death by suicide, ellie has concerning ideations, smut, oral, scissoring, multiple orgasms, angst!, crying during sex, arguing, probably more

word count: 6k

a/n: i know, i'm sorry for using this photo 😭 actually i'm sorry i wrote this entire thing

The end never feels like the end, does it? When you wake in the morning, the air is as fresh as the day before and the sun streams through the window at the same angle. You smile fondly at the incessant banging on your door, and at her urging tone when she tells you to get out of bed. “We have patrol,” she says, like she's said a thousand times before. What makes today any different? 

The gravel road feels the same as it crunches under your boots as she leads you to the gate. Her auburn hair shines the same in the light, the same way you've admired since you were fourteen and she had just settled in Jackson. 

You were helping out in the library, arms full of books stacked above your head. You struggled trying to keep them up with one hand and shelve them with the other. She noticed you from the corner, where she sat with a pile of beaten comics and a Walkman. “Need some help?” she asked, standing up from her spot on the ground. She took half the books from your pile and put them wherever you told her. After, when you asked her about the comics she was reading, her face lit up and she knew that you'd be a part of her life until death. Finally, someone was interested in knowing her. 

The friendly faces of the watchmen at the gate were the same as they were yesterday, a week ago, a month ago, a year. They waved at you and wished you good luck as you mounted your horse and rode alongside Ellie onto the trail. The way she shoved her pistol in her back pocket and slung her bow over her shoulders was always the same. The way your horse galloped evenly alongside Shimmer did not deviate from the norm. 

When she spoke up, her words were usual. 

“Look, babe. A hummingbird,” she said with glee, pointing to the frosty trees.

You smiled at her excitement. “Poor thing, it's so cold out.”

“Don't you remember?”

“Of course I remember, El,” you laughed. “How could I forget?”

How could you forget? It was a humid summer afternoon, shortly after Ellie had turned sixteen. You had snuck out of Jackson to explore a creek you had found the day prior on group patrol. You so badly wanted to show Ellie, to share every part of you with her. You didn't know what to call it, but you assumed it was just because you were really good friends. 

The soft rush of the water and the gentle breeze across your skin contrasted to the beating sun plastering your hair to your skin. You and Ellie sat with your backs against a wide oak, watching minnows skip through the water. 

“Do you think animals have feelings? Like us?” Ellie thought out loud. 

You hummed, “I do, but not as complicated as ours.” 

She nodded in agreement before her eyes drifted to the source of a new sound, a gentle humming. She saw the gentle bird sucking nectar from a flower, tapping your shoulder gently and pointing. 

“Look, a hummingbird,” she whispered.

“Woah!” You beamed, “I’ve only seen them in those nature books in the library. That's so cool. Did you know the sound actually comes from its wings?” 

As you watched the hummingbird, she watched you. “It’s really pretty.”

You agreed. She said your name, but looked away from you. 

“Yeah?”

“I think I like girls.”

You let the words settle in the air. 

“I think I do too.”

It was the first indication that something else could happen between you and her, something less platonic than you would've thought. After that, neither of you said anything about it, confident in the fact that something more could exist in the spaces between. 

It was the same confidence you had today as you followed her through the Wyoming woods, putting your trust in her. You took the same path almost every time you went out on patrol, knowing your way around, knowing the landmarks of the area. You knew you were getting close to the danger zone when you saw your favourite tree, the one you and Ellie would lean against by the creek, telling each other secrets into the night, crossing your heart to never tell another soul. Each of you knew that the other’s soul was the only one that mattered, anyways. 

It was just over a year ago that you’d both carved your initials into that tree, reminders of that early morning on patrol bringing a smile to your face. 

You had stopped for a moment to take a short break against the tree, letting your horses get some rest. Ellie leaned up against the tree as you pet Shimmer. The sun shone despite the snow and the brisk weather, illuminating your features gently. She admired the curve of your lips and the shape of your eyes, imagining her fingers tracing your skin under lamplight late at night. You looked up at her when your name tumbled from her lips. 

“Yeah?” You said, continuing to pet Shimmer.

“I like you.”

The air stilled and your hand faltered, breath hitching. But what if she didn’t mean it like that? 

You forced a laugh. “Well, I’d hope so. We’ve been friends for how long?”

“No, I…” she struggled for the right words. “I want to be more than friends. I like you. Like…romantically. And stuff.”

She played with her fingers, shuffling her feet back and forth in the snow, not meeting your gaze. 

“Ellie, look at me. Please,” you whispered. She raised her eyes to yours, but still kept her head low, not bringing it up until your hand cupped her jaw. She moved her hand on top of yours, trapping it there, wondering if it was just a dream. 

She closed her eyes tight when she saw you leaning in, praying that you weren't messing with her. When she finally felt your lips ghosting across hers, she leaned into you. Your touch was fire on her skin, leaving a red blush in its wake. She pressed your mouth to hers hungrily, never wanting this to end. 

“I like you too,” you mumbled against her lips. 

When you finally broke for air, chests heaving, you were both beaming. Ellie nervously reached into her pocket for her pocket knife, flicking it open. She held the blade against the bark of the tree, grabbing our hand and putting it on the hilt, sliding hers over top of it. 

She guided your hand as you carved your initials into the tree, trapping them inside of a heart. It was cliche, but it meant everything to you. 

It was the same tree that, a year later, you and Ellie passed on almost every patrol. The same tree that symbolized your everlasting love for each other. The same tree that stood since the dawn of your and Ellie’s time. 

You rode casually in comfortable silence until you got to the watchtower, negative memories plaguing both you and Ellie. The floorboards still held the echoes of your voices yelling, still soaked in your tears. 

Four months ago, when the rabbits were still brown and the path was clear of snow, you'd come through this watchtower to find two clickers. It caught you both off guard, as Jesse and Dina had just cleared it as safe the day before. 

Ellie, always being the hero, snuck up behind one, taking it out easily, and lunged at the other. The second one, however, pinned her to the ground, and she held it by the neck, its arms clawing hers. 

The sound of your pistol rang out as the body slumped on top of Ellie. She rolled it off and got up from the ground, chest heaving. 

“Well,” she said, brushing dirt from her jeans, “that was pretty close. Thanks.”

When you didn't respond, she turned to see you standing with your pistol still in both hands, brows furrowed as you watched the dead body of the clicker intently. She called your name. 

“What is it?”

You shook your head. 

“Come on, tell me-”

“Every fucking time, Ellie,” you said, shoving your pistol back in your pocket and turning away from her. “Why do you have to run head-first into danger like that every time?”

She didn't say anything, gaze on your back as she watched you turn back around. 

“What would I have done if you had gotten bit?” You said, voice a little watery. “Say something.”

She stumbled over her words, not knowing what to say. “I don't try to, you know, it’s just…” she sighed.

“You know, Ellie, sometimes I think that I value your life more than you do.”

The words hung in the air between you two, both of you knowing that you were right. Knowing that she could've been more, done so much more, saved so many people. But she was stripped of that. So what kind of meaning could she give to her life? What did she really have to live for? Before Joel, she never really had someone she knew would care if she died. Now she had you, and she didn't know how her recklessness would affect you. Now she did. 

“Okay, you're right. I’m too reckless. I’m sorry. I promise I’ll start thinking before I react,” she said, voice softening. 

You huffed, “I just worry about you, El. I don't know what I’d do without you.”

She hugged you tight, letting you nuzzle into her chest. She knew how you felt. Before you, she was hopeless. She didn't see a point in doing anything if her life couldn't be used by someone. What was it all for? Everything she'd struggled through? All she'd suffered? 

Now she knew that she was forced to experience it all so that she could end up with you. And she’d do it a million times over. 

She breathed your name. “I need to tell you something.”

You pulled away from her, “Well that's one way to start a conversation.”

She laughed nervously. “No, it's nothing bad. It's just…it might be hard to swallow.”

She gestured at an old, ratty chair. You sat and watched her intently. 

She took a deep breath, drawing it into her lungs and releasing it. “Do you remember why I got my tattoo?”

“Yeah, to cover up that chemical burn.”

“I lied,” she said. “That's not why I got the tattoo.”

You furrowed your brows in confusion, silently begging her to go on. 

“When I was fourteen, I was bitten. On my arm.”

You sat back in your chair. 

“I waited and waited for my mind to go, for my body to go, for anything to happen, but it never did. So…I’m immune, or whatever,” she said, searching for a reaction. 

Seconds of silence passed. It was shattered with a laugh.

“That's a good one, Ellie. Real funny.”

“It’s true! Ask Joel. Tommy. Maria. They're the only ones who know…”

“And you expect me to believe this?”

“Just trust me. Please. It's all I ask, is for you to trust my word. Why would I lie to you about this?” She pleaded. 

“Why didn't you tell me before?”

“Because Joel thinks it's dangerous for people to know. That's how we met, you know. He was hired to get me to the fireflies…they were going to make a cure,” she said, voice trailing off towards the end. 

“It didn't work, I take it?”

She shook her head. “Joel says they didn't need me.” Joel says. 

“Okay,” you said, making her look up at you. “I believe you. But that doesn't mean I’m fine with you running head-first into infected like that again. Just because you're…immune, doesn't mean you can't be torn apart. Got it?”

“Got it,” she said, crouching in front of you and putting her hands on your thighs. “God, I love you.”

You cleared out the watchtower and made your way back to the path. This part was one of your favourites, winding through the mountains. Your horses trotted casually beside each other. 

“Okay, okay, here's one: What do you say when a chef dies?” 

“Oh god, I don't know?”

“He pasta-way!” She said, giggling before she could even say the answer. 

Her laughter was contagious, sending it bubbling through your chest. “That's so bad that it's good.”

“Come on, just admit that I’m a top-notch comedian. If the world wouldn't have ended, I’d’ve been up there with Dave Chapelle.”

“Who’s Dave Chapelle?”

“I don't actually know. Some old ass comedian Joel told me about.”

You both laughed, smiles painted across your faces. However, the giggles subsided as you felt your horse start to shake slightly. 

“Woah, Shimmer, you okay girl?” Ellie said, patting her side. 

“Beau’s shaking too.”

“Maybe they’ve got…I don't know, a cold or something? Can horses even get colds?” You shrugged. “Maybe we should let them rest for a bit.”

You agreed, dismounting your horse and planting your feet on the ground. The shaking underneath you didn’t stop. You looked at Ellie, who looked at the mountain behind you. She yelled your name as you looked behind you.

A loud, grating noise sounded as you watched the earth of the mountain loosen from its side, rocks and boulders tumbling from it, falling in your direction. 

You hurriedly mounted your horses again, kicking their ribs to get them to go. You rode as fast as you could, attempting to beat the oncoming landslide. You'd never seen one before, only heard stories and read of them in books. You were about three quarters of the way through the mountain range when the land detached from the mountain and began to slide. 

“Go, go, go!” You yelled, Ellie a few feet ahead of you as her horse was younger than Beau. She glanced behind her every few seconds to make sure you were still there. 

The rocks falling created a settlement of dust around you, making it increasingly harder to breathe. You finally saw the green clearing outside of the mountain range. Almost there. 

The grating noise died, and you peered behind you to see the path completely covered in rubble. A few boulders still tumbled from the mountain, or whatever was left of it. 

“Watch out!” Ellie yelled. You looked to your right, seeing a massive boulder rolling down the mountain, coming right for you. 

You acted before you could think, much like Ellie, and propelled yourself forward off your horse as the boulder hit Beau and rolled atop of his body. You landed on the ground near Ellie, propping yourself up on your elbows to gawk at the sight. 

“Oh my god,” you whispered, running to Beau. His body was mangled, bones sticking out of the skin and blood painting the grass. You felt like vomiting. 

Ellie dismounted her horse, still shaking from the adrenaline, and put her hands on your shoulders, attempting to get you standing. 

“Wait,” you said, leaning back down, planting a teary kiss on Beau's muzzle. 

You stood, holding her tight. “Let's never come through here again.”

“Don't think we can, sweetheart,” she said, looking back at the obstruction. “Come on, we've gotta find a new way back home.”

She was about to help you mount Shimmer when you both froze in your tracks. A low, husky groan rung out through the air, scaring Shimmer. She ran into the clearing out of fright. 

“Shit,” Ellie breathed. 

“We’ll find her later. Come on, we have to go. It's either a bloater or a shambler, and I don't really want to stick around to find out.” 

You turned to leave when the ground shook again. You turned around, looking back at the mountain. It wasn't the mountain shaking this time. Spewing through the hole the landslide left like spiders were hundreds—if not thousands—of infected. Clickers, runners, stalkers, bloaters, shamblers. Everything. 

There was no way you were making it out of this unless you legged it now. 

In unison, you and Ellie started sprinting to your last checkpoint— the old cabin. You ran faster than you ever had before, the sounds of hungry infected hot on your heels. You couldn't feel your legs, the burning in your flesh too intense. When the cabin finally came into view, you couldn't even allow yourself a breath of relief. You and Ellie had your guns out, shooting behind you as you ran, picking off as many infected as you could. When you were close enough to the cabin, the idea hit you. You knew that the creaky boards of the cabin wouldn't hold that many infected off. You knew what you had to do. 

“Ellie, cover me!” You yelled as you slung your backpack off your shoulder and grabbed what you'd need. You grabbed an old bottle of whiskey you and Ellie had found at the watchtower and a rag. Stuffing the rag in the bottle, you lit it with your lighter. 

In the ten seconds it took you to do this, the infected crept closer and closer to you. Ellie tried picking off as many as she could, keeping them away from you. Until her magazine ran out. 

You threw the molotov in front of the hoard of infected. It exploded, creating a wall of fire between you and your death. 

Until a single clicker went at you from the side. The light of the fire flickered in your irises and cast an orange glow across your face, and you didn't even hear it creeping up amidst the roar of the flames. You didn't even hear Ellie yell your name. 

It tackled you to the ground before you could even turn your head all the way, talons scratching your arms and legs, sinking into your stomach. Its jaw was inches away from your neck, begging to gnaw on your jugular. In the struggle for your life, you couldn't even tell where you were and weren't hurt, what was bleeding and what wasn't. 

Blood gushed into your hair and eyes as you watched Ellie slice its head clean off with her pocketknife. The same one you'd carved your initials into that old oak with. 

Something inside of you rattled knowing that something could be used so innocently and yet so dangerously. 

Ellie picked you up from the ground and helped you limp into the cabin, reeds of grass tickling your wounds. When you entered, you stood in the centre of the room as she barricaded the entrances. 

“There,” she said, returning to you. You were both coming off adrenaline, suddenly feeling the ache in your bones to an indescribable extent. 

You put your hands on your knees and leaned on them, heaving a little. “Ellie. We were so close.”

She just nodded in understanding. Her eyes survey you from top to bottom. You had a scratch across your cheek, a few minor lacerations across your arms and chest, and a few on your legs. She couldn't see any bites. 

You brought your right arm up to run it shakily through your hair. That's when she saw it, brutal and bloody, painted into your skin like a brand. One that would decide your fate. Except that it had already been decided. 

The sight of the bite on your forearm turned her stomach. She blinked over and over again, hoping that she was seeing wrong. Maybe she was still coming off of adrenaline. “Your arm…” she breathed. 

“What?” You asked, confused. You looked over your left, then your right, and…oh. “Oh.”

The silence was deafening. It wasn't like you'd been badly injured, still with a sliver of possibility for recovery. No, this bite sealed your fate. 

In the next day, you were going to become something Ellie had to detest. Something she had to kill. 

You felt the bile rise in your throat just in time to grab a decayed flower pot. You choked out everything in your stomach and more.

Ellie grabbed her stomach as she felt her body start to shake, that feeling creeping up her spine again. Her breath felt like it was being siphoned out of her. She needed air, but her lungs would not take any in. She hyperventilated as she threw herself back against the wall, legs giving out. 

A sweat broke out across her body, knowing that she's losing you tonight. 

Her mind shoved memories into her vision that she swore to never bring up again. 

“There're a million ways we should've died before today. And a million ways we can die before tomorrow. But we fight…for every second we get to spend with each other. Whether it's two minutes…or two days. We don't give that up.”

She remembers the small, impossible slice of hope in Riley’s eyes, one that she knew was futile. Riley was her first love. She thought they were both going to die. She felt…horrible. You would be her last love, though she knew only you were fated to die. She knew she would die too. 

Your voice calling her name broke her out of her fit. One look at you wiping your face and shaking was enough to make her want to break something, anything. 

“Ellie,” you called. She stood and began pacing, running her hands over her face. “Ellie, stop it.”

“There's gotta be…there has to…we need…” she babbled, still pacing. An idea clicked, “give me your arm.”

You held out your shaking arm to your lover, expecting her to inspect the area. Instead, she took out her pocket knife and pressed the blade into her hand without any hesitation. 

“Ellie! What the fuck?!” You said, trying to stop her hand from bleeding. 

“Give me your arm,” she said firmly, a major contrast from before. When you hesitated, her hard gaze met yours. Her eyes softened when she saw the fear in your eyes. “Please,” she whispered. 

You gave her your arm and let her rub her blood into the bite. 

She took your arm and rubbed the blood into the bite knowing it wouldn’t work. 

It wouldn't work on you. 

She knew that. 

She tried anyway.

As she massaged the blood as deep into the wound as she could get, all she could think about was that she would've been able to save you if they made the cure. Her life would've had meaning, so much meaning. She would've been able to cure you from this. But she was helpless, cursed to watch you suffer. 

“Ellie,” you said, putting your hand atop hers to get her to stop and look at you. She could see in your eyes that you just needed to be close to her in that moment. She needed it too, needed to be impossibly closer as to grip into you forever. 

She buried her head into your neck and you did the same, holding your breath. For if you breathed, time would pass. If time passed, you'd be gone. 

You don't know how long you held each other like that, but it was long enough that your legs nearly collapsed with exhaustion. You were the first to speak. 

“I need you to promise me something,” you whispered. 

Ellie knew what you were going to say before the words left your mouth. 

“No-” she began pulling away from you, but you squeezed her tighter. 

“When it starts to happen…when I can feel it, I’m going to take my gun-”

“Stop it-”

“-and I’m going to go outside. You’ll know it's over-”

“-Stop-”

“-when you hear it. Just promise me you won't look.”

“Stop, please,” she begs, tears brimming in her eyes again. She takes a step back from you and turns around. 

“Promise me.”

The words get caught in her throat. Her lip trembles. “Okay.”

Outside, rain starts to fall softly, tapping against the rotting wood of the cabin. 

She breaks the new silence. “I should've been there. I should've taken my rifle out, anything-”

“El, it's not your fault. Look at me,” you say. She looks at you over her shoulder. You nearly crumble at her red eyes and wet cheeks. “Never blame yourself. You hear me?”

She just squeezes her eyes shut, willing for this to all go away. 

You walk to her, putting your hands on her shoulders and leaning your forehead against her back. You tried not to look at the bite. 

“Ellie.”

“Yeah.”

“Will you give me one last good night?”

The soft pattering of the rain against the wood, trickling off the roof and into the ground. 

“Please?”

She says nothing, instead turning around and gently capturing your lips in a kiss. Your bloodied hands find her wet cheeks, noting that the tears haven't stopped. 

Ellie wanted to give you everything you wanted and more, and she had sworn she would from the moment she met you. If this was the last thing you ever asked from her, she would give it to you. 

But it was so unbelievably hard knowing that this time would be your last. 

She pushed you back against the wall, nearly devouring you. The salty mix of your tears and hers slipped into the kiss, but you didn't care. She moved her hand down to cup you where you wanted her.

You bucked your hips into the friction, already needing her. You began to undo your belt, but Ellie’s hand on your wrist stopped you. 

“Are you sure this is what you want?” She said, voice gravelly. 

“Yes, El,” you said. “I don't know where I’ll be tomorrow, or…what I’ll be,” she let out a shaky breath, “but I know I want to be with you right now.”

She sniffled and nodded, getting on her knees to take your belt off. She threw it to the side, unbuttoning your jeans, sliding them down along with your panties. You opened your legs wider for her.

She ran two fingers through your slit before sinking one into your hole, tongue giving kitten licks to your folds. 

You could tell that she wasn't going to be as vocal as usual. 

You couldn't really blame her. 

You whimpered as she added another finger, pumping them in and out of you, filling the air with obscene sounds. She lapped at your cunt, trying her hardest to give you what you want. 

“Ellie, don't stop,” you moaned, whimpering when she used her other arm to hold your hips down against the wall. “Almost there.”

You could feel the coil tightening inside if you quickly, your climax coming in record time. You thought for a moment that it was because of how sensitive you were in this moment. 

You moaned wantonly and grabbed her hair as you came, her tongue working on your clit and her fingers scissoring you open. 

You expected her to stop, but she kept going. In fact, she added a third finger. 

You heard her moan into your pussy, looking down to find her grinding into the floor, a wet spot forming on her jeans. She was so messy, your juices coating her face, red-rimmed eyes and messy hair, rutting into nothing and moaning into your cunt. 

When the fabric of her jeans caught her clit just right, she took her mouth of your pussy, replacing it with her thumb instead, and leaned her forehead against your stomach. You came with her from the sensitivity, both of your moans filling the air, pleading for more. 

When she laid you down on a thin blanket from her backpack and undressed both of you, you noted the scared look in her eyes. The way she looked at you, drinking you in, knowing this would be your last time together. Some part of you wished that neither of you knew about the bite, that you didn't have to treat this so differently. That you could enjoy it. Enjoy your last moments together.

She threw her leg over yours, kissing you messily, yet softly, as she ground into you, folds slotting against each other. You both moaned each time your clits touched. 

As she grew closer to her climax, she buried her face into your neck. You tried to ignore the feeling of her tears trickling down and pooling at your nape. 

You came together. You moaned, but she cried out, more guttural than you'd ever heard from her. 

“I love you, I love you, I love you—!” she cried into your neck as she came. 

When you slowed down, she held you like that without words. 

“I love you too, Ellie,” you whispered, just loud enough for her to hear over the rain. 

You held each other as the sun set, through the night, and through the rain. 

The golden rays of the sun shone through the cracks in the walls and shudders, dancing across her bare body pressed into your side. Hours ago, her body had stopped shaking and her tears stopped spilling onto your chest, your hands running patterns across her skin lulling her into an exhausted sleep. 

Your eyes had never closed, however. You knew you wanted to be awake to feel it happening, to know when you were losing control over your body. For Ellie’s sake. 

The rain had stopped and the clouds were cleared. Birds sang outside and all the animals went about their day. You thought it strange that the world would continue on without you, that people will age and new ones will be born, that people will die and people will forget about you in time. Your impermanence had never struck you as hard as it did now. 

You felt the twitching in your feet first, unnoticeable at first, but is it crawled up your limbs, you knew it was happening. It happened over three or four hours, and once you felt your neck jerk the first time, you knew. 

Your blood didn't feel like your own anymore, like someone exsanguinated it and replaced it with jelly, slowing you down. Your vision wasn't gone, but you couldn't focus it on anything. It constantly sounded like you were underwater, drowning, gasping for air to no avail. 

Your eyes hardly left the woman in your arms, clinging to you even in sleep. You know she'd curse herself for falling asleep, but you were thankful for it. You were thankful that you could press a tearful kiss to her forehead before gently escaping her grasp, muffling your sobs behind your hand. You threw your shirt and jeans on quietly, dizzy, slipping your shoes on. Your world spun, your lungs burned, your head throbbed. 

You picked up your pistol, watching Ellie stir slightly in her sleep, creamy skin illuminated in the sun, her freckled face creased slightly with worry, even in sleep. You put the gun in your pocket. 

You tried, as silently as you could, to move the barricade from the door. You were thankful that she was a heavy sleeper. 

You were thankful that you didn't have to see the despair in her eyes when you said a forceful goodbye, thankful that you didn't have to convince her to let you go, thankful that your last memory of her was this, thankful that her last memory of you was bliss. 

Through your sobs, you squeezed through the door and shut it behind you, leaning your head against it, willing for this all to be a nightmare. It wasn't, because you started to feel something else take over your will. 

Before you could lose it completely, you forced yourself into a dense brush of greenery, somewhere you hoped she wouldn't look. 

You panted, sweating, trembling, as you took the pistol out of your pocket. It shook with your hand as you held it to your temple, bright eyes taking in all of the world that you could before it was gone. 

You squeezed them tightly, willing yourself to stop shaking. You conjured the image of your lover in your mind, her auburn hair, milky skin, pretty green eyes, and those familiar freckles. How could you ever forget her?

You took a breath in, and breathed out: “I love you.”

Ellie sat up in terror when she heard the sound of a single gunshot ring through the air, seeping in through the cracks of the window and underneath the door. It took her a moment to process what it was, reaching for her pistol next to her discarded clothes. When her fingertips brushed the gun, it settled in. She craned her head to look beside her, half expecting you to still be asleep. 

When she remembered what the sound of the gunshot meant, what you had made her promise, her lungs collapsed and she couldn't take any air in. Tears spilled from her eyes as she heaved, clawing at her chest for any relief. It didn't come. 

She knew it never would.

When Joel got word that you and Ellie still hadn't returned from patrol, he worried that you'd gotten stuck in the landslide. He pleaded with Tommy and Jesse to go out with him to search, knowing he wouldn't be at peace without knowing what happened. 

When the two agreed, they set off on horses to clear all of the checkpoints. It took an extra day to get around the mountain range that was blocked off by rubble. 

When they only had one more checkpoint to clear, Joel got increasingly worried. If you weren't here, where were you?

When the three men got to the cabin, they held their breath as they dismounted their horses. Joel tried pushing the door open, but the barricade stopped him. It took the three of them to open the door, pushing the barricade out of the way. 

The open door shed light on the figure against the back wall covered in a thin blanket, trembling. Joel let out the breath he was holding in when he saw Ellie. She was clutching your backpack to her chest, trying to keep any remaining part of you alive, hers. 

She had hardly noticed Joel pick her up and carry her to his horse, wrapping the blanket tighter around her. She squeezed her eyes shut, not ready to see the world without you in it. 

“Ellie,” Joel’s gruff voice intruded her thoughts, “where is she?”

Ellie’s words failed her. All she could do was point to her forearm, to the bite that only Joel and Tommy knew hid underneath the tattoo. 

She doesn't remember what happened after that. 

It was warmer now, the flowers blossoming and the green coming back to Jackson’s landscape. Ellie sat facing your headstone, wishing you could've seen it. Wishing she could've shown it to you. 

“It’s summer now,” she began. “We started planting these new flowers in your garden…Joel thinks you would've liked them. I think so too. They're really colourful…you know.”

She hesitated.

“Sometimes I wonder if you can hear me. Or if I’m just talking to myself like a crazy person. Joel says it's good for me. I don't know if I believe him.”

She played with her hands, tracing her tattoo. 

“I wish you were still here,” she whispered. Her eyes drifted over all the flowers left by your grave from all the people who loved you. 

Her eyes filled with tears as she watched a pretty red hummingbird land on your grave, searching for pollen in the flowers.

ellie taglist:

@chrry1ovr @milly-louise @dankpunks @starhrtz @pedrobaby @urlocalgingersnap @wrendermedone @kissyslut @felsweb

permanent taglist:

@winters-fairy @idkwhattonamethisblogs

[for-those-who-wait]

Hey I think I asked you about your Detroit become human au before a bit ago but I love the idea so much! I know you’re super busy but if you can I would love to see more about it!

Sorry for asking about it again I’m just really interested in it. 😭🙏

No please don't be sorry I love to talk about it whenever I'm not creatively bankrupt!! I'm just sorry it took so long for me to actually think of new stuff to add

I had some of these doodles already prepared but never really finished them up until I came up with a cute little idea

I didn't think of where to put in Flapjack until I remembered that android animals existed, and then I had a brain blast moment where I realized that Hunter can still talk to Flapjack! They are little android buddies, they can interface and talk and be friends!! I think it would also help to make him feel a bit more comfortable with his identity as an android to be able to have his little buddy to have fun private conversations with. Camila introduces them (maybe he had gotten hurt by a previous owner and she found him and let Gus fix him up) and Hunter is a bit tentative about it at first, but Flapjack is adorable and sweet and quickly wins him over

I just now had the idea that Gus, since he's super into android stuff, would probably be a big resource for software and hardware difficulties. Oh, you fell and your arm is working kinda wonky? Call up Gus, he'll crack you open and take a look. The dude doesn't mind in the least, he freaking LOVES going down mechanical and coding rabbit holes to better understand how androids work. I like to think that if Hunter ever got hurt and chose not to accept help because of body/species dysphoria, Gus would be a really good resource for him to try and feel as normal as possible while he's getting fixed. Gus is his brother and he loves him and they're just good to each other okay? Gus would probably crack some jokes or something to get Hunter's mind off it, or infodump about android organs or something (and Hunter would be begrudgingly interested because they are nerds, and Hunter is interested in androids too underneath all the problems he has with deviancy. Like dude they're robots, what's not to love?)

Also some Gus being so over Hunter's "androids can't feel love" phase featuring Vee and Masha being very adorable and very obviously in love :) Hunter is a very silly stupid man. He will find any way to make literally everyone exempt from the terrible rules Philip fed him, except for himself

I'm trying to think of a potential situation that would parallel Hunter's possession, and I think it would probably be basically the same thing that happens in Connor's deviant path (when he deviates and joins the revolution as an ally) where Amanda (a separate AI in his programming that's basically how CyberLife keeps him in check) takes over Connor's programming last minute to try and put a stop to the revolution.

So my current thought is that Philip is basically using Hunter as a trojan horse. His main programming is to act and believe like he's a normal human but similar to Connor, he's basically a sleeper agent without knowing. I imagine that once Hunter gains access to his software (thanks to Vee and Gus), he starts finding programs and files that are labeled as pretty scary things. He shouldn't have to know the most efficient way to shut an android down or incapacitate a human.

If and when Philip finally goes looking for Hunter and sees the first android he's seen in Gravesfield besides Hunter (aka Vee), he's not going to take that well.

I haven't drawn anything for it but so far I'm thinking that he takes control of Hunter's programming, maybe through some taking advantage of his interfacing system, and locks him in his own head a la Connor and Amanda to sic him after Vee and Flapjack (assuming that Philip's main goal, similar to both canons, is to eradicate deviants). It's likely that his friends will try to apprehend him, Vee or Gus will try (and maybe fail a couple times) to delete the programming while Camila deals with Philip. The guy is old and decrepit and Camila would absolutely whoop his ass with the ease of swatting a fly.

Things will be fine; Vee is all good and they manage to delete whatever programming screwed with Hunter's control, but that kid is going to be HELLA anxious about interfacing again from then on since he's afraid of 1) losing his own control and 2) potentially passing the virus onto someone else. It could go two ways at that point: Hunter could either kill Flapjack since Flapjack is technically a deviant android and therefore a target, or we can be nice and let Flapjack live to help him heal from this brand-new trauma.

So yeah hopefully that sates some curiosity! I'm glad you're interested in it because I honestly really love to think of new stuff whenever my brain decides to work hahaha

[meanbossart]

Lore Ask Compilation: "Every Other Question Is About The Drow's Dick" edition

Oh I LOVE Minthara, her dialogue is absolutely fascinating and in my opinion some of the best written In the game. Experiencing her in my Evil Durge playthrough without having been spoiled to her companion scenes prior was great - the amount of depth they managed to add to her, without it at all feeling forced or rushed, and considering how much less time she gets to develop at our side is really well done. While nearly everyone's quests had me immersed, she was one of the few characters who really made me pause and think about the things she had to say to me, what she truly meant by them, and what they meant for me as an avatar doing an evil run.

We have a lot of characters in this game that are meant to be full of wisdom and experience, who are meant to be the ones who say the right thing at the right time that inspires us to make the correct choices, but I don't think either Halsin or Jaheira (and I love Jaheira) made me feel like I knew so little about life quite as Minthara did.

And, of course, she's absolutely hysterical. 10/10 I wish she had a proper companion quest past being rescued but I understand why she doesn't.

[MORE ASKS UNDER THE CUT]

It doesn't connect to the urethra since the slit in on top, so he nuts and pisses normal.

Also you 100% are not sorry, stop lying to me.

Man, I thought a lot about this one because I play so fast and loose with the content the game gives us that I'm positive there must be SOMETHING I'm completely disregarding, but I couldn't think of anything! I've chosen to pick slightly less obvious interpretations to some lines and text but nothing that completely deviates from canon, I don't think. If anyone has noticed something I neglected to mention, feel free to let me know - not because I want to revise it, but just because I'm curious!

For the second part of the question, not really. Larian did a great job of giving us plenty of room to play around in the dark urge's background, I think I'm yet to see something that I find to truly "not fit" in the ample freedom they've given us. I have my preferences, of course - I'm shocked to find that most dark urge's are NOT big hulking beasts, for example - in fact that seems to be the minority by far, but I realize that I have my... Uh... Biases.

You can see a cute little divot through the fabric if you look closely LOL

And nah, I think his penis has seen enough sharp points for a lifetime.

Well.

Unless someone decided to add some bite-marks to it.

HMMM, I... Don't think so.

He didn't cry as a baby, he didn't cry as a child (and this isn't something I just decided on now - this is a major reason why his foster drow mother even kept him around) he didn't really cry growing up or at any point during the campaign. I think he is capable of it - sadness in him just tends to be far more confusing a feeling than anything else.

He will have emotional moments in ANE, whether or not that will culminate in crying is something you will have to wait to find out LOL

Astarion has noticed this and just took it as a character trait - the drow doesn't cry, he just gets confused, angry, frustrated or simply bottles it up. While he can be demanding of his emotional maturity, he isn't going to try and dictate how he should experience his own feelings. If it did happen it would definitely catch him majorly off-guard, perhaps even shift the perception he has of him to a certain extent.

Oh my god you just know they All managed to be utterly quiet about it for as long as humanly (and unhumanly) possible until like, I don't even know, halfway through the Shadow-cursed lands where one day Karlach finally turns back to the group around the campfire after a half-nude drow has strut past and she's like "SO

"DOES ANYONE KNOWS WHY HIS DICK HAS A SNATCH"

And Wyll is like :0... Karlach you can't just ask people that.

And then she pointedly turns to Astarion and starts trying to interrogate him on how it works while Gale covers his ears and Shadowheart is like:

This is gonna blow you guys backwards but he does not do those things in front of people and thinks its rude if you do.

HMMM Mostly physically but it's a little subtle. He really enjoys interacting with Astarion's (and previously Orin's) hands - kissing, holding, caressing. Touching hair and faces as well. He can engage in more overt physical affection but usually Astarion has to be the one to initiate.

A disarmingly earnest proclamation of love and adoration here and there as well - he isn't shy in the slightest to tell people how he feels about them, he just isn't constantly reminding them of it unless inspiration strikes.

Most of all I think he expects his loved-ones to see his care for them in his tendency to go out of his way to help them achieve their goals.

He went with them to the Shadow-cursed lands but I never helped him fix the curse, so he stayed behind when the gang went onwards to the city. DU Drow didn't really like him so it was good-riddance as far as he was concerned.

If he had come along and propositioned him during act 3 - uh, you know the really mean rejection line you have as a choice during that dialogue? Yeah, that one lmao.

Alas, DU drow is just monogamous. He could entertain group-sex with a partner for fun at the most, but not ever a third person in the relationship. And In my personal interpretation (but by all means - everyone else have fun with their poly arrangements!) of Astarion and his delivery of the "this is about Halsin" line, I also thought he was lying about being comfortable with it, so I write him as monogamous as well.

Nothing. Nada. Not a thing. Say what you'd like about Bhaal but he sure knows how sculpt them out of his murder-meat.

(Thank you!!!)

[zivazivc]

doe’s branch still join kismet? And if so is floyd can of worried with that information because of his past? Because I’m pretty sure brunch is in his teenage years in kismet.(sorry if this is weird I just really interested in this and sorry if it doesn’t make sense)

So far, there's actually only two things that deviate from what is canon to the films in this au/headcanon I'm puzzling together. And one of them is that Kismet just doesn't exist (because like how?? when?? the only time they could have been a thing was after the brozone breakup and before grandma died when branch was still a little boy... We don't need to pretend they didn't shove them into the movie just because of Justin Timberlake and not because of any regard for the story :/)

The other thing different from canon is that Clay was at the Troll Tree during the escape even though his retelling of the events in the movie implies that he wasn't there and that he met up with Viva sometime later.

[toastedcatbread]

I'm sorry, but I don't really find "At the Altar" to be very sexy or cute at all. I've been thinking for weeks how to phrase that doesn't sound like outright bashing, so I'll do my best. First of all, Cloud becoming blessed without even realizing it (lacking CONSENT), can't remember if he was even a child, and then Sephiroth coming around to collect his 'due' in sexual favors is just coersive and cringy. And later, Sephiroth outright killing everyone in his village because reasons??? and Cloud's all like, "Oh ALL RiGHT but don't you do it again~" is just?? mindboggling? Cloud would do anything for his people, for the ones he cares about, and sparing just a few isn't doing Cloud any favors. He'd want to save everyone he could, even if they weren't his biggest fans. There's a huge imbalance of power here that doesn't jive with 'loving, consenting relationships'. Cloud is subjected to painful, unrealistic sex because he has no CHOICE; and therefore, Sephiroth can't just fuck the living bejesus out of Cloud and woops, that's how love happens. It's unbelievable, it's really kind of rapey, and it really isn't for me. For a reader, I approached this story "Porn Without Plot", and that's fine, but there is some semblance of plot here, though it's so poorly presented that it's painful to read and it rarely deviates from, 'Sephiroth does something bad, but it all goes away because Cloud just loves getting dicked until he can't see straight' and because he's such a subserviant individual - which, canonically, he isn't. He wants to live for himself, in the end, find his own identity. I really hope you consider wrapping up the story soon, because even as I can't stand it, I'm hoping that somehow, really hope, that Cloud realizes how much he's been manipulated and gets away from Seph, because this is not the basis of a healthy relationship, at all, and it frightens and upsets me to my very core.

Sefikura, as a whole, has never been healthy or cute or wholesome. In canon, it's presented as a manipulative, dark, gritty, and horrendously co-dependent in a way no one can call healthy.

Listen, anon, you're entitled to your opinion on At the Altar just as anyone else is. I didn't write the story to explore any deep plot or dynamic. It's not meant to be fun or cute. It's really just a fantasy theme that I'm writing to practice writing sex, which I personally find difficult.

However, you're bleeding "real world" into fantasy at this point. No one today would disagree that, should something like this happen in real life, it would be horrific. Of COURSE, Cloud isn't subservient in canon, especially not to Sephiroth. Of COURSE he's trying to find his own identity in canon. They don't have gods or blessings or offerings in the actual FF7 storyline. In this world where humans identify themselves as "followers", things are different. Cloud is different. It's an AU and, at some point, it will deviate from "normal" Cloud's actions.

Stop comparing fanfiction with canon or real life. AUs exist as a genre and people write them to explore outside the box of canon. You don't have to like it, nor do you have to read it. I understand that you may like some of my other works, or maybe you don't, but I'm not really writing for clout or popularity in the fandom. If it's not to your taste, I'm sure there's plenty of other works out there that can scratch that itch for you.

If I'm perfectly honest, there's thousands, maybe millions of people reading on AO3. How in the world is anyone supposed to write something that satisfies every single reader anyway? It's impossible. So I don't aim for that. It write for various reasons and At the Altar just happens to be me practicing porn. It's not meant to be realistic or true to canon.

[stop-breaking-my-heart-dragonage]

It really gets me that since my canon Hawke is a mage, I'll never actually get to know Bethany.

Sure, I could just start an alternate playthrough with Hawke as a warrior or rogue and get to know her over the course of Act 1 before I have to decide if I want to take her on the expedition and make her become a Grey Warden, or leave her behind to be taken to the circle.

Except that's not my Bethany, just as it wouldn't be my Carver who died. My Hawke twins grew up with an older brother who was a mage. Their respective character arcs rely heavily on being the sole mage or non-mage of the siblings, so if my Hawke isn't a mage, they're not the same people... and unfortunately, we don't get to see the arc of the twin who shares Hawke's class. Y'know, because of the death.

The last time I tried doing an alternate run with a warrior Hawke, I had a conversation with Bethany where she said that Carver would've hated Kirkwall and probably would've gotten himself arrested the first day, and I sat there like.... I'm sorry? Are we talking about the same Carver?? Because the Carver I know would only get himself arrested for resisting and fighting back with any templars who tried to take his siblings away? He spent the entire first act being like, "Hey, don't do stupid shit or attract too much attention, or the templars will take you away!"

And that's when it really hit me that sure, I'm getting to know Bethany, but I'm getting to know a Bethany who grew up as the lone mage in the sibling group, and that's not the same Bethany that died in my canon run.

I want to know the Bethany who grew up with an older brother who also had the gift of magic but embraced it more than she ever did. I don't even get to learn much about her through dialogue, either. Carver doesn't talk about her nearly as much as Bethany talks about him when she's alive, and when someone does bring her up with him, Carver's usually super defensive about it.

I'll be running around and Bethany will just, "Yeah, my brother used to nail my braid to the headboard. I miss him so much. Hey, the Chantry, I lit a candle for Carver in there. Remember Carver's jig? He used to do that to make me feel better. I miss Carver so much."

Carver's just more reserved and defensive about his grief over losing her, and when he does willingly bring her up, you can feel him struggle to even get her name out; "These are blood mages, they're not like you or... Bethany."

That's why I love the Legacy DLC; Carver will talk about Bethany, and Malcolm, with Hawke without his guard up. At least he does with me, at that point I have his Friendship nearly maxed out so he's just softer in general.

But someone else brings her up, like Anders? Who was genuinely trying to be nice? Carver's response has the vibe of, "You didn't even know her, and you don't care about me, so you're only saying this because she was a mage. Just shut up, stop talking to me."

And I can't even bring her up to Carver in dialogue options the way I can bring him up to Bethany. You can ask her what Carver would think of Kirkwall. During the Legacy DLC there's a humorous option to do Carver's jib for her when she's sad. She brings him up in companion dialogue. It feels like there's more opportunities there, and perhaps Hawke just knows how Carver is and doesn't want to prod. Honestly, maybe it's just me, but my game always feels like that vine-

Hawke: Do you ever want to talk about your emotions, Carver? Carver: No. Anders/Fenris/literally everyone else in Kirkwall: We do! Hawke: I know, y'all. Anders/Fenris/literally everyone else in Kirkwall: We're sad! Hawke: I know, y'all.

I'm sure the differences in the starting Friendship/Rivalry also play into why Bethany's more open about it than Carver is in Act 1, and they're characters who have different grieving processes anyway.

I don't know, maybe you have an easier time merging them through different playthroughs, but DA2 is one that I struggle with deviating from my canon path, I can't do it... Which means poor Bethany's always dead, and I'll never get to be mage siblings with her or see the Hawke trio take over Kirkwall together because DA2 is just a constant "great, so what can we do this week to make Hawke extra sad?"

[saintsenara]

I am delighted reading the answers to the ship name game. I am sorry for the number of questions that I have filled in your inbox with. What do you think about Molly/Narcissa, Fleur/Ginny, Hermione/Luna (you once mentioned that they both have a similar stubborness and can quite rigid belief systems and intellectual inflexibility and Sybil/Rita- love the idea of a office romance where Sybil does the astrology column of a pop culture spinoff of The Prophet

thank you so much for the ask, pal - and i love receiving these, so please don't apologise!

narcissa malfoy/molly weasley

so, i genuinely back this one - like lucius and arthur and ron and draco, narcissa and molly are narrative mirrors, and narrative mirror pairings always slap.

above all, one key area of their mirroring is that they're simultaneously central to their family's arc across the canon series, and yet also excluded from their family more generally by the narrative.

molly, for example, lacks the daring streak which characterises the rest of her family who appear in the main cast of the series, is much more interested in social convention, and is estranged from the child with whom she is most aligned [percy] for much of the series; she isn't a quidditch fan [there's no conceivable reason why she wouldn't come to the world cup if she was]; she doesn't seem to have any friends or connections that she doesn't also share with arthur [whereas he seems to be genuinely popular among his colleagues at the ministry]; and she is almost never seen outside of a domestic context - and when she is, it's usually while shopping or doing other activities which are adjacent to the domestic sphere.

narcissa gets less development because she's a more minor character, but she clearly lacks the rebellious streak which both bellatrix and andromeda must possess in order to defy the wizarding world's gendered conventions so openly; she's not a death eater, unlike her husband and son, and is therefore excluded from both lucius and draco's main social circle; she doesn't appear to have any friends outside of her family that she doesn't know through lucius; and she too is found in canon primarily in a domestic or domestic-adjacent context.

i think that both narcissa and molly must, therefore, be quite lonely, and i think that something really quite interesting can be done with that - especially in a post-war setting, with narcissa trying to come to terms with the fact that the defiance of voldemort she set in motion ended with molly killing her sister.

fleur delacour/ginny weasley

ginny spending most of half-blood prince acting up about how fleur thinks she's so hot and so interesting is definitely giving bisexual awakening.

fleur letting ginny wear a really low-cut dress at her wedding - and not being bothered in the slightest that this results in ginny's rack being given a shoutout to the entire congregation by muriel - is also giving bisexual and interested.

i back it.

hermione granger/luna lovegood

flopping - she'd never stop going on about that damn erumpet ["luna it is not a snorcack!"] horn.

rita skeeter/sybill trelawney

i really, really back this one as something genuine.

both rita and sybill’s lives are based in pure artifice. their careers hang on an ability to know things - sybill to predict the future, rita to be informed about the top news stories of the day - which neither of them actually possess. sybill is a fraud. rita is a hack.

and that must be very lonely. which means that meeting someone else who shares that experience…

plus, both of them are characters who fall foul of jkr’s loathing of women whose appearance and demeanour deviates from her extremelynarrow criteria for acceptable femininity - sybill because she looks spacey and gaudy, rita because she decks herself out in glamorous frivolities - her nails! her handbags! - which can’t mask the fact that she looks ‘manly’ […!]. jkr’s opinions on gender can get fucked, and the women she spends the series obviously loathing getting fucked by each other is one way to achieve this.

[new-tella-us]

Cambion Looooooore

I am now invested in these boys' noncanon children and how they work.

What I'm gunna discuss here is briefly some nonvisual differences between humans, demons and angels and how their hybrids tow that line. Also some differences in how humans and demons are raised.

The differences I mean are how they learn and what type of powers they have.

Also this is long as hell. Sorry.

Angels are the simplest. They don't learn. All the knowledge they need for their species is cooked into their brains at birth and they have no capacity to learn outside of that knowledge. Sure they can learn emotional things and develop as a person but straight up book knowledge is a nah. They have a wide range of powers but generally whatever powers you're born with, you're stuck with. The only exceptions are powers given to certain titles that you earn through hard work and dedication. Knowledge instantly zapped into your soul for the most worthy. So spells of immortality, destiny, future, past, healing and all existential stuff. The only one that is currently not available is the ability to predict the future, a power that should have gone to the angel of destiny but was stolen by a very smart, very chaotic, and INSANELY lucky (mostly)demon.

Demons can learn but only a limited amount, they are insanely good at learning, can start learning from the goddamn womb, and can learn general spells and master spells specific to their species/mixed of species. Baby ain't even fully cooked yet and they can speak three languages. However any spells specific to a species outside of their wheelhouse is a no go. (This means I am also slightly deviating from canon by saying Diana can't use that one spirit animal spell. That is specific to animal demons). They can gain the instant knowledge that angels are able to obtain but they'd have to steal it and you would be a fool to even try and be thankful if you lived with a lost limb.

Humans are the most versatile but also the weakest. They aren't born with knowledge and can't learn until a certain age but their curiosity and ability to learn is where they shine. Humans can learn anything. And I mean ANYTHING. Multiple dead demon languages have been lost because demons didn't have the curiosity to find the missing pieces and reconstruct the language meanwhile humans do while living lives five times shorter. They can also learn any spell and any magic including magic specifically for a species of demon or a type of angel (if any angel bothers to write down their abilities) but at a weaker amount. They can't really master anything outside of general magic. So they're the jack of all trade, master of none. Though sometimes that's better than the master of one.

Because of these differences, angels, demons and humans are raised differently. For sake of simplicity, I'll save angels for another time and just get into demons. We know how humans are raised.

Demons are raised with many rituals, even the poorest, most unfortunate demons have rituals for their young and themselves. This could be for giving the child a name, worship, power, health, knowledge, on even just an unofficial call on whatever god(s) they believe in for help. Rituals are a staple among demon children. They don't have schools or stuff but they do learn the trades their parents use, raising is usually very hands on with an emphasis in family. The parents may not love each other but they do (usually) care about their kids. Demon kids are also usually raised around other kids though this tends to be dependent on culture and hierarchy. You're more likely to see poorer demons or more tribal demons do that social bonding than you are to see richer or more governmental demons do that. It's mainly for social ties and to see if your kid finds someone strong enough or that they tolerate enough to eventually populate with.

With that being said, where to cambions fall on this? Not anywhere in particular. As a general thing, cambions are pretty disliked by everyone. If humans knew about the not human side, they'd probably try to kill them, demons try to kill them, angels literally hunt them. They ain't doing too well. But it's not all doom and gloom. Cambions fall on a spectrum, and like mixed-raced humans, they can sometimes fall on an extreme end of their human-demon origins and can essentially be raised fully human or fully demon. Examples of that being Twila and Sirius(Erik/Mika child) for human-passing and Leilani(Matthew/Mika child) for demon-passing. Yes, if Leilani put on the cultural outfit with her taint and went into the Abyssal Plains, demons would be none the wiser as she is very powerful and almost indistinguishable from other demons. It's really just the eyes that set her apart and they don't look human either.

Most cambions, however, fall in the middle and need to be raised with both. They need their curiosity satiated, they need friends and a stable home but they also need rituals and that very hands on experiences that humans have slowly phased out of with technology. The most blatant example of what happens when you raise a cambion to be too much of one extreme is Ray (James/Mika child).

If we're talking OG James and Ray, James tried to raise Ray as if Ray was human and it left him feeling empty and disconnected, like something (the rituals) was left out of his life. James was definitely more hands on than most "human" fathers are expected to be (and more hands on than his parents were) but he was lacking by demon standards, Ray needed that and it's why he turned out so angry and chaotic. He's lashing out from a core need not being met. Hell, notice, I've never mentioned a demon name for Ray. He has one. It's called "Inviolis" but you might as well not know that as James never uses it. In his attempt to prevent Ray from putting himself in danger by knowing about the demon world, James accidentally denied Ray basically a part of his soul. And in classic prophecy action, James preventing Ray from knowing about the Demon World causes Ray to eventually go to the Demon World.

On the other hand, if we're talking about the King James timeline (the nicer one where James doesn't completely go mad) we get the opposite problem. Ray (Now Inviolis) is being raised too much like a demon. He doesn't have a human name nor any of the stabilities of a human life. His curiosity is denied, he's being smothered by servants that dislike him, the rituals are too much and too often, there is no safety or time to sleep. Where Ray is the demon version of neglected, Inviolis is the human version of smothered with his individuality denied. And then he has a bad relationship with his father so great job, Raestrao. This, like the OG, causes Inviolis to run off, this time to earth. Ray, like most cambion, need both. Give them only one and they'll never be happy.

Luckily for everyone involved, OG James takes the hints eventually and starts catching Ray up on all those demon practices he missed.

[bluegekk0]

these are more like animals then actual bugs, so id say eating cooked meat would actually be very helpful! specifically with things like parasites and diseases

plus, cooking meat actually helps you absorb much more caloric intake than eating it raw, so its more practical that way as well! plus, bugs or the bug adjacents could have so many babies, like rabbits. rabbits usually have like, 50 in their warrens, and rabbits have two wombs, so while theyre caring for one litter, they could already be pregnant with another!

so basically, what im saying is is that cooking is really really helpful, and stuff.... sorry if this sounds mean i just thought the facts were important haha

Yes generally I think cooked meat would be fairly common among the carnivorous bugs. But raw meat is still present in some form, and in the case of Vyrm specifically, it would make sense that he'd include it in his diet. He's the last of a very old, practically ancient kind, which had no way of cooking food and so would be perfectly adapted for raw meat. Perhaps for him specifically it's also instinctual, his instincts are a pretty significant part of his character, but he also does he does have the stomach required to deal with raw meat with no issues. Maybe there are some nutrients he requires which are lost in the process of cooking the meat, I think that would be the biggest reason for anyone who eats raw meat in addition to other meals. At the very least, it is that way for Vyrm.

I also wanted to specify in case there was any confusion. In the AU, I use the term "bug" when talking about the sapient characters, it's basically their version of "human" or "person". The animals such as Tiktiks and the others are usually referred to as beasts. I'm not sure whether the second part of the second paragraph is meant to reference the sapient bugs or the beasts, so I wanted to clarify that.

But if it was about beasts, then yeah, I do think the animals such as Tiktiks can have many offspring, in a similar way to rabbits. In fact, this is a big reason why hunting young beasts is encouraged as it helps maintain a healthy population of the animals. Not to mention, Tiktiks are considered pests so keeping their population in check would be essential to prevent them from destroying crops.

I try to stay close to realism with the AU, though in some places I'm going to take creative liberties if I feel it fits the story/world better. I treat the canon similarly, for example with making a lot of the characters more mammal, reptile or bird like. They're not meant to be specific kinds of animals found in our world, it's a fictional world with fictional creatures. Maybe in some cases what is true for us is not the same for them, so I think there is some room for deviations from what we perceive as realism. Sometimes the rule of cool wins, and I think Vyrm having to eat raw meat as part of his diet is pretty cool.

And don't worry, I don't think the ask was mean. It's good to be reminded of stuff I might have missed when thinking about the worldbuilding. Plus it's always a chance to ramble a bit more haha

[creative-hanyou-girl]

I don't know if anyone else feels this way but I think a big reason why I'm so chill about the changes made to the PJO show from the books is because I kind of look at each other as their own seperate canon.

Like, I read a lot of anime and manga, and anime adaptations have a huge habit for changing plot points for various reasons, and as a fan of said anime and manga, I've found that I can enjoy both versions of the same story even with the differences when I look at them as their own universe or canon. That's not to say I don't want them to be faithful or true to the source material, but if a scene or situation plays out differently for a logical or entertaining reason, than I can still appreciate that deviation from the manga even if I still like the other original version of that part more. And I can even like the reversal way if I feel an anime does something better than even the manga. But if I want to, I can look at certain moments as more canon than others because I got 2 different versions of that same scene or moment.

And, I don't know, I kind of apply that reasoning to the PJO series as well, mainly with the books, the show, and even the musical (not the movies put that right back where it came from). So far I'm loving the TV show, and while I miss some of the things they changed (like the pink poodle), this adaptation really is doing a great job with staying true to the heart and spirit of the original book that I personally am not even really bothered by the changes, especially when I remember that the books will always still be there with it's own version, or canon, of events.

Like, I will say 1 thing I adore in the books that isn't really in the show is the fact that a lot of Percy and Annabeth's "rivalry" during TLT has more to do with the rivalry between Poseidon and Athena. I just really like on how this adds a level of "forbidden friendship/love" to their relationship 'cause I personally eat the forbidden relationship trope up, especially when it's done well like with Percabeth.

Yet, even if this isn't really the reason percabeth have beef with each other in the show, I can still appreciate and enjoy that according to the show's canon, they have issues because they genuinely have problems with each other as actual people rather than their parents' rivalry, because at the end of the day, that's the PJO TV show canon, and I can always turn to the books for that version of Percabeth's "rivalry", as that is the PJO book canon.

Same goes for the characters too. I will always have and love my dark haired Percy and blond haired Annabeth in the books, but I can also welcome and love Walker's Percy and Leah's Annabeth from the show. And so far, they along with Aryan are KILLING IT as those characters.

I can love both versions of the characters.

I can love both versions of the same story.

I can look at both versions as they own seperate canon or mix them together if I so wish too (especially since both versions of PJO are written by the same guy)

And that's ok. The adaptation doesn't have to be a complete copy of the books. It doesn't have to have things play out eactly the same way. The characters don't have to look exactly the way they are described as in the books. And that's ok. I will still always have the books to love and appreciate, but I can also start to love and appreciate the new adaptation for it's new spin and twists to the same story that sets it apart as it's own canon while still staying true to the spirit of its predecessor.

Anyway, sorry if I'm not making a lot of sense. I just think the people complaining about the changes in the show are looking at it all the wrong way. The show has it's own canon just as the books have their own canon, or even the musical. At the end of the day, isn't that kind of cool to have different versions of the same story and characters? Doesn't it give you so many more options to look at the story in different ways that you can prefer or choose from? Doesn't it give you new versions of canon that you choose from? And really, as long as the PJO adaptation, or any adaptation for that matter, stays true to the heart and spirit of the original story and characters, do the changes made really matter?

[messrsrobyn]

character bashing anon here !! i definitely agree with you in the sense that i also don’t really care about “bashing” characters so to speak. in fact i am willing to read just about anything 😭maybe it’s bc i’ve been in fandom spaces for years, but it doesn’t really phase me to see characters deviate outside of their canon personalities (or in the case of the marauders, universally accepted fanon personalities) and controversially (to some people) i think “character bashing” (or “ooc”-ness) can be done really well 🤷‍♀️ also, re: some people saying sirius dating mary pre-wolfstar is “misogynistic” DRIVES ME CRAZYY. bc that is actually an insane take if you put it into the context of real life. like if sirius, mary, and remus were real people it would be wildly disrespectful to insinuate that wolfstar are misogynistic just bc sirius had a previous relationship with mary BEFORE he entered into a relationship with remus. you definitely don’t have to respond to this but i just wanted to say that i agree with you & you worded your original response perfectly!! 🫶

I AM INFACT REPLYING RE: SIRIUS AND MARY ACTUALLY BC I HAVE THOUGHTS HERE !! (when do i not have thoughts)

it's the same with jegulus fics where jily ends up getting together !! it all comes down to quantifying love 😖😖

no, it's not misogynistic that sirius was with mary before finding out he was gay, the fact that this one couple is endgame doesn't mean that any love/feelings before it is invalid !!! it just wasn't the love, yk?

yapping fr but that's why i loved the heir to the house of prince !! because nearly all of the characters had past-loves prior and during the first war that they lost, and it's done so well !!

there's no "cedric was nothing compared to theo" etc etc it's just,,, love. in all its forms. in all its forms and all its permanence because it doesn't just go !!! it stays with us !!! we are all a mosaic of people we have loved in any way, shape or form and UGH 😖😖

"lily is used as a surrogate" they say, in canon compliant jegulus fics,,, bc??? bc james loved someone else first??? bc james, a person so full of love, loved more than one person??? like whyyy. whyyyy are we limiting love? why do you not want to explore it in all its capacities and let characters be Loved.

let sirius and mary get together. let their relationship Matter because it did !! sirius realising he likes remus doesn't take away from that, it doesn't make it misogynistic, it's just teenagers figuring themselves out !! let teenagers love. even if they don't figure out what Love means to them at first, that's normal.

SORRY I YAP SO MUCH BUT i have so many thoughts about the big fandom discourses because they're all 😭 so 😭 silly 😭 (and yet somehow i am dragged into all of them bc i post my face online 😖)

[thecoolerliauditore]

I've only skimmed a lot of the posts so sorry if this point has been made but I wonder how peoples' perception of Masculinity vs Femininity as a spectrum affects their perception of characters and designs. Do some people view Masculinity and Feminity as complete opposites, with androgyny as the middle ground? Can you be masculine and feminine simultaneously, while not really being androgynous? Does the 'threshold' of androgyny change depending on how the cc/character is depicted in 'canon'? to be clear I don't necessarily think any of these viewpoints are 100% correct or whatever but I think it's interesting how people will have different perspectives, because most people's view of gender are skewed different and what might read as a fem design could read masculine to another or just entirely androgynous. sorry for the ramble this stuff fascinates me deeply

No yeah it is fascinating!! It's a. very complicated topic since of course the concepts of "masculinity" and "femininity" are very frivolous and amorphous, hence why I kept feeling the need to clarify how it gets. Weird with anime-inspired styles what with the culture shock and whatnot.

This song was really popular in fandoms awhile back and I think it's like. a great example of how one culture's completely neutral (or even masculine!) traits can be seen as feminine (or in this case, "gay") when viewed by another. It's also just really funny and I'm kinda sad no on has done a life series animatic to it yet.

masculinity and femininity as a scale with androgynous in the middle is also something I'm glad you bring up, because the concepts of masculinity and femininity are so arbitrary and as such there are so many ways to deviate from the norm -- some more socially acceptable than others! Thinking about, for example, the young MAGA hat'd women you see on sites like twitter with the most racist takes of all time and who are very proud of their ability to keep up with the boys in terms of 'murican masculinity (chugging beers, changing tires, so on and so forth) but at the same time cake their faces with makeup, support that Hashtag tradwife lifestyle and Would Not Ever Consider wearing clothes from the mens section because that is the Bad type of gender non-conformity for commies and lesbians or whatever.

Compare that to like. sorry incoming irl lore. the way I've had people in both more liberal and less woke areas get nervous when they try to address me, with the only big difference being that more younger, liberal people will typically either ask for my pronouns or they/them me by default.

I'm lucky enough that most people here are polite but as someone who has presented both masc/fem the way people treat me is so distinctly different based on my perceived gender as well as my level of androgyny it was kind of shocking to me. Eitherway there's a distinct attitude it's like. Rude to not be able to tell whether someone's a man or woman I've noticed and nowadays I have a lot of fun stressing people out. Sadism in me or whatever.

ANYWAY this was about minecraft youtubers. Analysing how people gender their designs, unconsciously or not, is fascinating because of how interpretative these designs are. There's also probably something you could say about how gaming youtuber is a very male-dominated space and how female gaming youtubers tend to overperform femininity, but in very different ways dependent on their intended audience (compare say. Lizzie and Pokimane for example.)

I think it's also worth noting that like. masculinity and femininity in behaviour is very different from physical presentation. which is how you get images like this

in addition to, again, these concepts already being abstract.

and of course, all said with me biting my tongue on the queer side of things still, because that's a whole other sub-sector of stereotypes and in-group signalling and history that runs convergent with mainstream views on gender.

I think it might be an interesting exercise to put your own designs up against others and consider what points they differ and what that might mean for how the other artist interprets the character vs how you do it. And then if you can look up what the artist actually has to say about the character and see just how right/wrong you were and how your own biases come into play. Two different people can have very similar views on a character, for example, but communicate that through opposite design tropes because they have different associations with said tropes. Not just for gender things btw and I've found peoples more nuanced opinions are harder to read than you'd think! I don't think anyone would look at my Bdubs design and guess that I thought he was fairly feminine in personality, for example.

I love doing that and challenging my own pre-conceptions of what i think peoples takes are judging by their designs (as well as what I think certain traits indicate in personality!). It's amazing for example how many pearl designs I've seen as too feminine and rolled my eyes at turn out to be drawn by artists who very much consider her to be tomboyish.

[forbiddentaako]

Hi, sorry for bothering you and feel completely free not to answer this if you don't want to or aren't interested in it anymore, but I just really like your Devil's Carnival AU and I'd love to know more about it so dropping some questions here 👀 sorry if they're too many!

1. How do you imagine Charlie's and Vaggie's relationship developing? They obviously meet in "After the fall", right after Vaggie's fall from grace, but when did they start dating? How did it happen? Since in canon one of the things Vaggie loves about Charlie is her kindness and compassion towards sinners, how does that translate into this AU, where Charlie is less sunshine-y?

2. Does your idea involve Lute being more like Cora or like the Agent? With this I mean whether she has feelings for Vaggie which she hides because they're "inappropriate and illegal" or if she's courting Vaggie because Adam asked her to as a way to expose Vaggie while she's internally praying for her not to do something stupid and prove Adam right. I think you kind of explained it already in your other post but I didn't fully get it 🥲

3. Slightly related to the previous one but how does Vaggie fall? Is it for the same reasons as June?

4. Have you thought of roles for characters like Husk, Alastor or Niffty?

5. What do you think would happen in this AU in a hypothetical 3rd movie?

Your art style is so beautiful btw! You're such a talented artist :)

You are literally doing the opposite of bothering me don't worry I got so excited seeing this ask in my inbox you have no idea fsgsghskbds i have everything under read more bc it turned out long but thank you so much for the compliment on my art and also for this ask !!!

1:

More or less vaggie and charlie getting together is closer to how it happened in hazbin hotel since i feel like part of it is the similarities of vaggie meeting charlie immediately after her fall and charlie still being kind and helping her which is the start of their connection, and overtime they grow closer and end up falling in love. I do like to think it did take them a while to get together but it was over the course of getting to know one another and their passions/dreams/ect that they began to truly understand who the other was and fall for them.

A little side note off of that which is relevant to understanding a less sunshiny charlie and how it translates to chaggie; with this particular role for charlie it has her mirroring aspects of both of her parents by design, but her character motivations are still very rooted in the fact that she is kind and believes in the good of sinners, heaven has just pushed her too far. Like even tho she's technically fulfilling lucifer's role from the devil's carnival, in doing so she's bearing more similarities to lilith's role in hell in hazbin in that she empowers sinners with her voice (in this case particularly any who've fallen from heaven since it seems like in the devil's carnival this was an occurrence that happened multiple times). And that kind of motivates her disdain for heaven to see how easily they cast out those who don't live up to their standards + with the obvious hypocrisy in how adam acts it makes her more disillusioned with the whole system altogether that heaven stands for and perpetuates (like lucifer hazbin hotel), which is what results in her saying 'fuck it' and just send sinners up there.

originally i was thinking the first movie didn't quite fit for charlie in lucifer's role because it does seem kind of cruel the way the sinners are tormented and it felt like it deviated from charlie's character, but i changed my mind after seeing the second bc i think it could read as a misguided attempt at redemption playing by heaven's rules of shunning what's perceived as sin (which we do see charlie try to do in the actual show) rather than her more trust exercises/team building route she goes for in hazbin. Like for charlie i think she'd genuinely think she's helping to try and get each of them to realize what sin they've committed for redemption's sake but hits her breaking point with heaven by the end. Probably from a mix of not fully believing some of the sins committed warrant eternal damnation (I feel like angel in particular with this one is especially sad because its unclear whether or not tamara ever does get sent to heaven/redeemed?) and being pissed at how hypocritical adam is by engaging in the same sins he's damning people to hell for. Charlie sending trains of sinners up isnt just a passive aggressive thing to do to heaven to shun her role as their torturer but also a statement that sinners and winners are one in the same-like she's completely giving up on trying for redemption within heaven's rules and just showing them that if they continue with this hypocrisy and cruelty, redemption is unnecessary bc these sinners fit right in as flawed as they are. I think this would also make Adam's damage control before 'bells of black sunday' especially insulting to charlie as well.

And vaggie sees that compassion in charlie when they first meet and she is kind to her in her lowest point, but realizes how much deeper it goes the more they get to know one another. In this AU also charlie knew from the beginning that vaggie was a former exorcist, but finding out why she fell was probably something that happened later on. (I do think the idea of them first starting to spend more time together by reading Aesop's fables to one another would be really cute too, like charlie likely reads stories to most new sinners to help with the transition to hell but vaggie shows so much genuine interest that it becomes a routine for them)

(Another side note; I think a scene in the actual film which supports a well intentioned charlie and works well for her character is the one with the devil and the ticket keeper towards the end of the second movie when the ticket keeper confronts lucifer about his plan. Like its vox yelling at charlie that heaven will try to fuck them up because of what she's doing, and him saying that he is the one who'll be standing on the tracks to push her out of the way, but charlie getting angry at this and saying she would never let him do that and that she will be on the tracks with him, and then she tells him her plan finally. I think this scene works well because it not only shows charlie's devotion to her ideas and to those she cares about, but also the disconnect between her intentions and her actions that could allow for the first movie's plot of torturing sinners to be born out of a want to help them. Because in this case she does have a well thought out plan and everything is done with intent, but vaggie is the only one who really knows this so to vox it seems like shes being reckless and impulsive due to how she's been acting, and heaven also isn't really understanding the message in the way she wanted.)

2:

With Lute and vaggie i think i have a clearer idea of what's going on now than when i first made the post in summary because i think lutes role is dependent on if we're talking in the plot or if we're talking in relation to vaggie. I think adam probably still wanted her to get closer to Vaggie and prove she wasn't worthy of heaven/it was a test of loyalty for lute to betray her but the feelings between them that developed were ones that Lute definitely deemed to be 'inappropriate and illegal'. I think they probably could have had their romantic moments between them still in secret but after getting found out and confronted by the watchword Lute realized because she had fallen for vaggie she was resigned to letting vaggie fall so she wouldn't have to deal with the fact that she loved her or get caught having a secret relationship with her. Like externally they present similarly to the agent and june with their respective roles in the narrative, but in terms of who they are to one another it's was closer to what cora and june had going on.

With their plot as well I feel like some of the heaven caste system needs to be examined/adjusted so it better fits them, but I haven't had the time to dig into it as it exists in the film enough that I feel comfortable deconstructing and reconstructing it just yet. Definitely working on it though !

3:

And going off of this I think when vaggie fell Lute took the opportunity to make it look like she had acted calculated and callously this whole time as to maintain adam's respect as well as prove her loyalty, when in reality that was very much not the case and she did really care for vaggie at one point but forced herself to hate her because of what loving her would mean. I also think vaggie's fall would be something tied to kindness rather than ambition because it follows more closely to what happened in hazbin and also would probably endear her to charlie more when she finds out (and make her angrier at heaven), but Im also not 100% sure what that would look like in terms of how it plays out in the film.

4:

So I have thought a bit of nifty/alastor/husk though they are more unsure in who they'd be. I am kind of stuck on the idea of Alastor as the publicist in his more positive sense because I think it fits and i think it'd be cool to incorporate more physical radio aspects into his design in the same way that the publicist has the horn attached at his ear (plus mimzy can be there too as one of the songbirds). I do also like the idea of him playing the role of the watchword to some extent (just keeping it solely to radio) bc he loves drama. Partly because I think it fits to let him be in heaven but still be an absolute menace to the general public, and partly because i think its funny to keep Al and Vox separated like toddlers who will start a fight with one another if left alone for too long. I had thought about having vox as the watchword and alastor as the publicist, but I kind of like the 'charlie works with the vees' plot a bit too much to separate vox from them. With Husk and Niffty I go back and forth on who they'd play, partly bc when i was originally brainstorming this au with a friend we thought husk could be the hobo clown but that was also when we were thinking Alastor as Lucifer's role instead of charlie (and this was before I had watched the second movie so the cast overall was very different) so im not entirely sure. If we're going with carnie roles for them i think husk as the hobo clown or the magician i can live with and niffty as one of the bayonets maybe. But having Alastor in heaven kind of throws off the dynamic so im unsure fully where to put them.

5:

The idea of what would happen in a third movie is SO INTERESTING and I hadn't even thought about it. I think part of this AU deviates from the movie to be more chaggie focussed so I imagine a third movie could focus more on their relationship as well, maybe even delving into them bonding over their shared plan to overthrow heaven and we'd get to see that development of the plan/their relationship in the flashbacks with the present being them actually enacting their plan. Like they are a power couple and share each other's passion, and theyre really the only 2 who actually know what the plan is. I think by this point vox would have been told the plan by charlie in the previous movie so he would have to also help get the carnies organized and on board. There'd also have to be some scenes in heaven with Adam losing it as his control of heaven falters, plus finding out whats going on with the sinners sent to heaven. Really theres just a ton of possibilities since the actual third movie was never made.

[ducklooney]

One question. What do you think Disney from America controls European Disney and must be their canon, what's the matter? Is there something they don't like?

Hi and sorry for not answering this question earlier. You have asked a good question, but I am not sure how to answer it through a long essay or through short explanations, although I will answer it this way.

After all, Disney was created in America by Walt Disney and originally they created all the important characters we know, European writers and artists used them in their comics only later, after the Second World War. Back then, there wasn't so much censorship and writers were free to do whatever they wanted without ruining the originality. And so for several decades until the last decade. Romano Scarpa and Guido Martina created separate comics in their own ways, different from Carl Barks and Al Taliaferro and you have an Italian vision through Topolino comics. You also have Dutch, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish writers and artists who, relying on Carl Barks and the American Disney, made comics in their own way and thus created a separate kind of Donald Duck comics. Yes, you also have Brazilian comics who have written a lot of comics especially about Jose Carioca ever since the movie Saludos Amigos from 1942 was shown. And they created those comics in their own way, which is quite different from American comics. Unlike Latin American and European comics, American comics after the 1940s era clearly separated Mickey and Donald so that they neither see each other nor know each other except at times, since they live in different cities, such as Mousetown and Duckburg. American comics, not counting Archie comics, Peanuts, Garfield, and superhero comics, declined after the 1980s because television took precedence, so many watched television, either series, movies, or cartoons instead of reading comics. So Disney comics also experienced a market decline during that period and then you have the making of the OG Ducktales in 1987 which was made mostly by Disney's animation studio in Tokyo, Japan. And since then, the American Disney has not relied on comics, although since the time of Walt Disney, the differences between the canon in cartoons and in comics have been clearly made.

From what I've talked to others, Walt Disney was also unhappy with the popularity of Scrooge McDuck that Carl Barks created, because a different Christmas comic should have been created. However, the American Disney has clearly indicated that the canon in cartoons is the only official canon, while the comic book is not, except in some exceptions, but that's why they force their other productions where they have ownership to obey and respect the given canon that Disney requires. I think since the golden age of cartoons, the story started about how the official Disney can't really stand their comics, even though the comics took Mickey, Donald and other characters to a high level. Many of the characters we know came from comic books rather than cartoons. I'm not saying this for nothing, since your question just stated that since everything is under the Disney name, although they deviated from the path set by Walt Disney, they still determine the main editorial policy for many comics published in Europe and Latin America. Yes, before, as I mentioned, the authors made independently in their own way, but so that Disney didn't even know, but with the arrival of the Internet, that changed and a kind of censorship had to be done. Sometimes due to public pressure, sometimes due to wrong decisions, although I don't like to talk about politics here, but I think that lately politics has had a lot of influence on it, although I will tell you that politics had a lot of influence during the Second World War as well. Propaganda cartoons are very much the case. But in order not to deviate from the topic, I will tell you a couple of examples where American Disney had a lot of influence on European comics and how the writers still had to respect Disney's canon.

Donald Duck had several girlfriends in addition to Daisy and that the earlier Donald Duck fandom preferred Donald with other people rather than Daisy because Daisy was a bitch who treated Donald horribly, although that's not Daisy's fault as much as the writers who over Daisy mocked feminism. Yes, I love when Donald and Daisy fight over stupid things, but not that Donald constantly suffers from Daisy's impossible wishes that never come true and then kicks Donald like that for her displeasure. Disappointed, Donald finds other people who will suit him better. One of the most common examples with whom Donald is on excellent terms is Reginella, the queen of the planet Pacificus, and she appeared for the first time in the comic "Paperino e l'avventura sottomarina" or Donald and the underwater adventures from 1972 by the writer Rodolfo Cimino and the artist Giorgio Cavazzano when Donald first meets Reginella. Reginella became Donald's new hope and their couple was really great in my opinion and so in several comics. Yes, I love the Donald and Daisy romance, but Reginella with Donald is very special to me and I understand why others prefer it over Donald and Daisy.

However, since Disney found out what other comics were doing unofficially, Disney imposed an unwritten rule that their canon must be respected, so Donald must be with Daisy and no one else. So the last comic with Reginella from August 2021 called "L'ultima avventura di Reginella" or The Last Adventure with Reginella by authors Alex Bertani and Vito Stabile and artist Stefano Zanchi is about the breakup between Donald and Reginella because supposedly Scrooge can't more to finance Donald's trip to another planet, and Donald also admitted to Reginella that Daisy is his first and only love. Yes, Daisy has improved a lot in the last comics and treats Donald differently, but again it was really pathetic that something like that had to be done instead of making some kind of deal to make a clone of Donald and stay with Reginella or something like that. It just tells you that official Disney made the decision that way. However, Reginella appears in two more comics after that and has one comic with Daisy, but I haven't read that comic so I can't tell you exactly. Those who are and who know it, would tell you. Although I would like to see Daisy and Reginella together.

Of course the love relationship between Donald and Reginella is not the only one, but I put it as the most common example that Donald is not only with Daisy as the only "canon" girlfriend. You also have romantic relationships Donald with Lyla Lay (Paperinik New Adventures), Xadhoom (Paperinik New Adventures), Kay K (Double Duck), and others. However, in the comic Double Duck "Agent Zero" Kay K admits to Daisy that Donald's greatest love is Daisy and that they are still friends and Daisy was ashamed of that because before she was very jealous that Donald was with someone else and not Daisy. And there you can see that even though Donald is with someone else, he still stays with Daisy, but it is by no means a breakup under Disney's directive as it was done with Reginella.

2. Canceled characters due to certain things

Dutch comics mostly until 2019 and 2020 drew characters from Song of the South such as Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox and Brer Bear and they even had separate comics and were often represented together with Mickey, Donald and friends because they were anthropomorphic characters that also represented classic Disney. Of course, because of the problems in America related to the African-American population, Disney had to stop it and exclude the given characters because they represented caricatures of the African-American population from the South of the 19th century. The South, I mean the South of the USA, where there used to be a Confederacy that seceded and where the Civil War was fought from 1861 to 1865. Of course, they could have just stated that it was a product of its time and that the value system back then was not the same as today's, but no, Disney banned Song of The South and cut those characters out, and those characters never appeared again, in those Dutch comics. Yes, I certainly condemn racism, but one must know that it should be censored in a different way, that is, to send a warning. Warner Bros. did a good job with Looney Tunes where they just said it was a product of its time and we don't make it anymore. In this way, you respect the old materials, and you also respect other people of other races. That is, everyone is satisfied. However, in the Dutch comics, Brer Rabbit is presented differently, after all, Disney takes the lead and they are not interested in excuses.

Not to mention the censoring of two Don Rosa comics because of Bombie the Zombie. Instead of giving a warning that it was the product of a man who created under the influence of Barks and that Disney had nothing to do with it, they simply banned it as if they were ashamed of the past. And you know who is ashamed of the past and simply forgets it, is condemned to repeat it, but worse. But I would not talk about that, because it is too difficult a topic.

3. There are no dark scenes in Disney comics like before

There are no more dark scenes like gun chases, dark and dangerous scenes as well as related to the depiction of women and ladies in a realistic view, because it is certainly not for children according to Disney, even though those comics are also read by adults, nor should there be anything dark related to Mickey and friends, and you have the Mickey Mystery comics where exactly such scenes appear. Mostly done for security reasons. However, due to Disney's recent policy and knowing what the authors of European comics are doing, they had to take a different approach. It is no longer the 1990s where you could have scary scenes like in PKNA and where you would feel sorry for Donald as if you were watching some dark blockbuster movie, yet the American Disney which supposedly has its main rules and its main say to decide what can be done in comics and what not not. And they deny comic book material, which is really ironic. Although I'm more frustrated about these things that Disney is doing lately, I still partially understand the need for censorship, but not to ban certain characters (especially Hiawatha), but you can't show racist caricatures like before, but it certainly doesn't mean that you should ban them to give the content to be displayed and read, because this negates the past, which is a great danger for future generations. Of course, European comic artists and writers approach these problems differently and write differently, but they certainly have the free right to draw and work, but they must adhere to the main canons that Disney sets. One of the reasons why you don't even get to see Donald's parents alive or the father of Donald's nephews appear and if he even exists.

There is a lot to say, but I think this is enough. I also apologize if I offended anyone with some of my comments, as it is not necessarily aimed at anyone except for certain stupid Disney decisions. I may have been vague, so I ask especially those who know Disney comics to correct me if I made any mistakes and feel free to add what you want to say. I hope these answers will help you enough to know why there are no more dangerous scenes in Disney comics like before. And thank you for asking me and if he has anything to ask me, feel free to ask me.

[renthewizard]

I was just wonderin'. Do you have any information about this infected version of the red leader? I absolutely love the idea of her and would love to know more about the concept! Take as much time as you need. :)

helppp i didn't expect my first ever ask to be about sds /pos

Im not good at explaining so uhm this might not be what you had in mind, also i don't really have much for her 😭 YET

Note : oookay so like apparently one of the lore makers(?) (winter from the brickbattlers discord, but they left) already had a design for ALL of them (photo below)

... but i wasn't aware of that before posting it so I'll go with whatever i went with when i drew that yay

Also another note i still don't really have the whole super doomspire lore fully engraved in my mind so I'll just treat this as some silly AU instead of some canon conforming thing

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Thought Process : so i got inspired by itsoctalien, i found this little comic that they drew that had red say smth along the lines of " once you fail, you can't restart. no checkpoints... no spare chances. " and i was like "hey what if red was right and hey what if i made angst out of this" hence the "i should've listened" to the second photo of my post

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backstory or something idk, I have like two routes to pick

-> something something i deviate from that comic a bit and have Red warn Green multiple times and make the latter snap, making the reckless decision of accidentally throwing her the formula (or whatever thing started the infection) onto Red, but that might be ooc for green, not sure

-> have them two survive during the infection but Red sacrifices herself for Green at one point, Green falls back into the red doomspire asking help from Red's people and they eventually meet again, this time Red is infected (but honestly i don't really see this either reading that they became enemies due to the infection thing .. but anything for doomed yuri /JOKE)

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-> anyways as we all know Green fully blames themself for what they've done, and i once thought of them even killing off Infected!Red even if it saddens them, after all, she did them a favor, they might as well pay them back by letting her have her eternal peace

-> the other leaders are doing their own thing to not make it spread btw, I'm thinking maybe the three remaining leaders could have an alliance of sorts in order to stop the infection

yeah that's all i have right now I'm sorry if you feel it's inadequate