#respite au

[ghost-bxrd]

You guys ever think about an AU where Jason goes to hound Tim through Titans Tower, and, mid pursuit—while Tim is screaming at him about the second Robin being his hero, tryin to crawl away in a trail of blood—realizes he’s become an even worse version of his own mother, who sold him out to the Joker?

Because I do.

[turtleblogatlast]

[ cw: death mention / blood / injury / abuse / codependency / panic / a lot this time oof ]

AU starts here.

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You don’t spend six years alone with just one other person to talk to and just drop them.

Even if it’s your worst enemy.

[buried-l0cket]

Au where milly and meryl are the eye of Michael agents and wolfwood is just some guy

[amurih]

Fuck it ima put it out anyway.

COTL AU where instead of staying in the cult Narinder leaves and builds his own little plot of land that becomes a rare occurrence you find while crusading through the different biomes post game.

Like it starts off when the lamb like spares Narinder and he’s like sent to the cult. And is in such a state of shock and bewilderment of what just happened that he doesn’t really know that the lamb is setting up their wedding until he’s at the alter. And he just SNAPS. To trade one prison for another? And to be stuck with the same being that not only took your crown, but your title as the god of death as your jailer? No thank you. Proceeds to walk out while the service is still going.

(I’m not the kind of person to think that he would be murdering or plotting to kill the lamb at every turn or possibly. No I would think that Narinder is smart enough to realize that he cannot fight the lamb in the condition that he is reduced to.)

Anyway, I want Narinder to experience life post-godhood by himself outside the cult. Maybe progressing over time you see how his plot of land develops into a pretty nice home for himself complete with a garden and an actual building/house. Not a hut, but an actual house.

All the while the lamb is going through it. It’s normal game play like one would post Narinder fight. Lore, upgrades, reviving the bishops, mystic seller, etc. All the while experiencing the highs and lows of ascension. I think the lamb would ask the other bishops once they get indoctrinated of how they went through their ascensions went. Only they would tell them that each went through theirs differently, so in the end it wasn’t really helpful.

So going through a process that you have no idea how to get through and the only person who does has fuck off into the land and hates your guts. Really fucking sucks man. So they try to “catch” Narinder while out crusading. Only they don’t find him physically, they find his place of residence while he is away.

I thought of a way to incorporate the quests that Narinder gives you when he is usually established in the cult. Could still be used: like there’s a book left on a table where you could peak in and see what’s going on with the cat that is currently away from his house.

“ I should head to Darkwoods and see if I can find more materials to build that fence and make more paper. Moving materials from one abandon home stead to this place has been challenging enough. My arms hurt after years of being bound to one position for so long...I wonder if camellias still bloom there now that Leshy is gone? If not I’ll have to develop a new alternative for this persistent strain and sharp pains I keep having. Got to get these walls up before it starts raining.”

“Bah! There’s not enough food at the last abandoned settlement let alone seeds. It’ll take long of a walk all the way to smuggler’s cove just to see if that sea louse got any thing. And it hasn’t been that long since the depletion of fish at pilgrim’s passage. I would have just stuck to what vegetables and berries I’ve got growing, but some animal or heratic keeps getting into my garden and stealing my food!when I find the person or thing that is stealing from me I’m going to make them into my fertilizer. In the meantime I should look into Anura and see if those foul mushrooms are still there. If I remember they are just as foul as Hecket when she would screamed about being hungry during dinner…Those should hold me over until I get this unwanted pest under control.”

“The wind and rain coming in through the holes on the side of the house that I use to see if any heretics come to kill me, has gotten too much. I’m tired of having to clean up the puddles of water that enters the home. And the curtains don’t do much in terms of trying to block both of these elements.That stupid squid Kallamar doesn’t need his crystals now that he’s gone. It didn’t help him when trying to hide from me. I’ll go to Anchordeep tomorrow and get some to make crystal windows. They sure would make it more beautiful than their temple…”

“Finally the loom is ready. It’s been a such a long time since I had decent robes. It’s easy to find cotton, but what I really want is a nice, soft, silk robe. One that doesn’t rub against these scars preferably. I miss the old one Shamura they made with their silk. But, that one got destroyed in the fight with that damn vessel. Maybe there is some in Silk Cradle. ”

(I’ll come back to this when I flesh it out more via work time daydreams)

[anghraine]

this is entirely unprompted on your end, but i love your darcy and faramir takes and wanted to get your opinion on aragorn/faramir as a ship.

i'm salivating over it and nobody. cares. but i just love how it can show the possibilities of book faramir being a "threat" to aragorn's kingship in a way that nobody else is...how they can relate through their shared ancestry but the entirely different ways it impacted them in their respective lives - something about aragorn being the heir of isildur, growing up surrounded by elves, arnor. something about faramir being distinctly aware of the legacy of the stewards, his numenorean heritage and how it's fading away in the world of men, gondor (my fav world in lotr, you are so under-appreciated, gondor.) i personally adhere to the stewards-were-most-likely-also-royalty headcanon because of that extra juicy tension. throw in the i-knew-your-father-as-a-young-man aspect, the whole steward-quite-literally-serving-in-wait-of-the-true-king aspect? it's everything.

i dunno. the natural cause and effect of "return of the king" & "departure of the steward" is so interesting to play with in a romantic context, especially if it keeps both of them in the limelight when naturally, it should only be one of them? i think it's the aragorn ship that pushes his character and ambition the most, and in the same way, it can push faramir to show more machiavellian traits, more of him utilizing his political power and/or personal strengths. especially since his canonical fate is extremely satisfying but also...very conclusively an *ending* if that makes sense.

i might just want to see faramir clashing with aragorn wanting to wage more war. let him cook! let the man speak about "queen among other queens: not a mistress of many slaves"!!!!

also must admit that it's my contrarian ass wanting to rebel against the fanon "aragorn never ever wanted to be king" + "faramir is a pathetic meow meow" headcanons. the existing faramir x aragorn fics i've read all adhere to it which is frustrating.

anyways, any thoughts on this ship i randomly latched on to?

Anon, this is my #1 Tolkien ship and actually one of the only m/m ships I've ever been super into. I used to guiltily sneak-read Aragorn/Faramir as a teenager because I grew up in a conservative community and hadn't come to terms with my own queerness at the time, and was still figuring out how to get by in that community just as a Democrat, much less a lesbian.

Anyway, I got a huge kick out of your ask because it's basically point-for-point my own feelings about them. If you haven't seen it, I even wrote a ship manifesto for them over ten years ago.

And unfortunately I do also agree that the (very PJ film-inflected) fanons around both characters have made it very difficult to find fic for the ship that isn't deeply OOC for the original versions of the characters (tbh the last time I looked, it was hard enough to even find F/A fics where Faramir had black hair, much less his deeper canon characteristics). Add in the fanon depictions of Gondor and the Stewardship, and a lot of what appeals about the pairing is lost for me. I read some good ones a longggg time ago, but wouldn't begin to know where to find them now.

(I know I should be the change I want to see and write some myself, but apart from the AU f/f and m/f/f versions, I think the closest I ever came to it was this post about a mostly-the-same-as-LOTR AU only with Faramir/Aragorn and this feeling explosion about "Faramir actually does accepts the dream-visions obviously intending him to be the one going to Rivendell but also it's Faramir/Aragorn.")

And if you haven't found it yet, my ship tag is #otp: love was kindled.

I hope you enjoy <3

[jessicas-pi]

For the AU Ask Game

What about any members of the Ghost crew in a Jurassic Park situation?

this. uh. might not be what you had in mind? But it is situation straight out of Jurassic Park and it is the Ghost crew members and it's what I was inspired to do so I'm gonna say it kinda counts!

--

Hera had never regretted anything more than she regretted accepting this invitation.

She should have known better. She should never have agreed. But---but Sabine had been so happy.

Sabine hadn't been happy in a long time.

(It had seemed like she might be, when she'd had hope for finding Ezra, but... well. That hadn't gone very well. There had been an argument, and Sabine and Ezra hadn't talked in months.)

"There's this scientist," Sabine had said, when she was trying to convince her to go along with her. "He's been collecting bio-samples from parts of Mandalore since before the Empire glassed it. He's cloned animals and plants, and begun to repopulate one of Mandalore's moons with them. The whole thing is a park. There are species that were wiped out in wars almost a century ago. He's healing my home, Hera."

The problem was, cloning was not allowed by the New Republic, and they were trying to shut down the project. This scientist sought Sabine out, asking her to come see what was being done, hoping that having a war hero vouch for his project would help convince the New Republic to make an exception.

And Sabine had begged Hera to come along, too. The scientist had added that she could bring her son, that there was a petting zoo filled with cute little critters, that he would have a wonderful time.

At the time, Hera had thought it was perfect---they could bring Ezra, and Zeb, too, and Ahsoka, and it would be an opportunity to try and mend burned bridges and bring their family together again.

She was so, so wrong.

The animals---the big ones, the mean ones, the ones that the scientist hadn't mentioned---were loose. The fences were all down. The power was out. Zeb was stranded. Ahsoka was missing. And worst of all, her kids---Sabine, and Ezra, and her own precious little boy---were out there. In the dark. In a storm. Alone.

And Hera was stuck in this control building, with all the lights out, at the end of a long table, unable to do anything but eat half-melted ice cream and wish that they were all home.

(She would not be endorsing this park.)

[orbital-inclination]

somewhere beyond the moat

Prompt: ??? Wc: 584 Summary: The boys goof off just before a heist. Rem tolerates, Molt observes, and Horror thinks he's punny.

----------

The shuffle of feet. Followed by a manic, hitching laugh-- Killer. Molt thinks, canting his skull just so to listen to his brother’s second in command break off in that thrill-danger-happy peal. Movement then, someone stumbles. Small stones crackle, grinding under someone's slippers. There’s a ditch on the side of the road. He discovered this himself a few minutes ago. This time, the low chortle came from Horror; a huff through his teeth that sounds as raspy as it does warm. 

Mild exasperation spills from his brother. “Enough,” he says, without real heat, but with enough bite that both Killer and Horror immediately try to restrain themselves. “Did I not emphasize the necessity for stealth?“

“You should’ve sent me and Dust on ahead,” Molt tells him. Looping lazily and low to the ground, one of his tendrils flick. 

“Aw, c’mon Chief! That’s not fair.” Killer whines. 

There’s a definite No, in Rem’s brief flash of irritation-not-irritation. Not directed at him, but circumstances. “Unfortunately,” he begins, voice desert dry. “I need the four of you here to pull off this heist.”

“Hey… what did… what did King Asgore call his sneakiest Knight?” Horror rasps. 

Rem bites back a groan. “What did Asgore call this Knight?”

Horror snickers, struggling to get his words in words in order between huffs of laughter. “… Sir… Valence.”

Twin barks of laughter. Amusement even trickles from Dust. And like with his brother, Molt does not need to see it to hear the eye-roll.

Killer hums. A sharp sound. Molt imagines him tapping the blade of his knife to his smile. “Poor blueberry. He’s missing out on a chance to test his mettle against the Royal Guard. He must be sooo disappointed.”

“… and Cross,” Molt adds, quietly. He feels the sting of disappointment himself.

“Cross is where he needs to be,” Rem says. There’s an undercurrent of defensiveness to him, responding to the subtle bite Molt hadn’t meant to let slip. He understands why his brother made this decision. They need someone on the outside in case something goes wrong. (and something almost always goes wrong.)

But Cross doesn’t see it that way. He thinks Rem is excluding him for a different reason. But he doesn’t say that. They’re too close to the Castle to get into an argument right now.

His brother makes a soft noise, a grunt, and the two are close enough that an image flashes across his mind’s eye: Killer throwing his arm over Rem’s shoulders. Annoyance sparks like pop rocks and embers from a bonfire. But his brother is not genuinely annoyed enough to throw Killer off, and tolerates him with limited, finite patience. 

Killer cackles. He says something Molt doesn’t quite catch, it’s spoken too softly but it prompts Rem to respond with a snort and a dry: “Try not to kill anyone. We were never here. Get the book, get out and we’re gone.”

“You got it, Boss.”

“It’s bad enough that this world is an interdimensional hotspot. Keep in mind we might see familiar faces. Don’t let that distract you.”

Dust, who’d been quiet until that point, made a non-commital noise. A chorus of chuckles sound at the twice layered inside joke. Then the group falls silent. Anticipation and eagerness thrums in their bones.

He guesses they must be able to see the Castle now.

“Let’s get this done.” Rem commands. And they do.

[loveisloveisacomplicatedgirl]

OH MY GOD, IT'S HAPPENING. WE'RE GETTING MORE LORE. FUCK. IT'S SO SAD. FUCK I HOPE WE'RE MAGICAL DECENDANTS OF SOME KIND. AT THIS POINT IT WOULD BE KINDA WEIRD IF WE WEREN'T

[thirstforhelmets]

Messed With The WRONG Garudo King (Not your Wife AU)

Zelda and Link: *Bust into Reader's House, looking to kill Ganon before he does any stupid shit in this reincarnation cycle*

Ganon: *Heavily wounded and recuperating in Reader's teeny bed*

Reader: *Steps in front of the bed with the Master Sword by her side* Gonna have to ask you to leave, Princess and Hero of Time.

Zelda: *Narrows eyes*

Zelda: You misunderstand. I've left you to your devices for too long, Lady Duelist.

Zelda: I've even turned an eye to you holding onto the legendary sword for just as long.

Zelda: Love cannot change him.

Reader: It's not love, Princess.

Reader: It's emotional manipulation.

Reader: And it's working!

Zelda: *Expression darkens* Don't say that.

Reader: Excuse me?

Zelda: That 'it's working'.

Zelda: We would not be here otherwise.

Zelda: -He- would not be here and in his current state.

Reader: *Grimaces* I...

Reader: I want it to!

Zelda: ...

Ganondorf: ...

Link: *looks away uncomfortably*

Reader and Ganon's Toddler/Ruby: Ma ma?

Everyone: ...

...

Reader: Why does it always have to be like this...?

[snackugaki]

tmnt au, where everyone made it past their 20s and goddamnit they deserve peace

they also sometimes visit Venus’ home province, and April’s grandparents for Lunar New Year

[mysteryman-17]

I'm going to try another compromise with these AU tracks. I'll add an MP3 file to these posts for those that want to more properly listen to these tracks on Tumblr itself, but the larger description/in-depth notes are still going to be left to the SoundCloud descriptions, to keep myself even 1% sane lmao. Speaking of which, listen to the HQ upload + read any more in-depth notes over on SoundCloud ye!

[morelikesin]

Sam's blueberry pie 🫐🥧 Which he's, as per the running joke on this blog, just as normal as U◠⁠꓃⁠ ⁠◕⁠ ⁠U

[amurih]

So, I’ve though about it more, and so far it’s the leave scene. Came up with two ways Narinder’s Snap could work: CALM and BOLT.

CALM

In this scenario of his SNAP, I would think of it as a slow turn towards the cult members and start walking out the temple.He would then begin to remove all the jewelry, flowers, head dress, veil, and the ornate robes down the aisle piece by piece. The cult is confused as to what is happening and begin to stand, the lamb is confused as to why Narinder is leaving and begins to follow him out onto the grounds. Lamb would start questioning as to where do they think he’s going, and either Narinder stays silent and keeps walking, or just plainly tells them that he would rather be free of the lamb than be jailed to a new golden cage and disappears from the grounds into the wilderness.

I would expect the whole cult to witness this interaction following their leader out of the temple. I would also think that there are the members that know the nature of Narinder since witnessing the final battle to be so spiteful to bring some of their opinions out into the open then and there. Could have some of them be interested that now they have a chance with the lamb with the object of their affection and devotion has rejected them.

BOLT

As the name suggests BOLT is what happens. The fight or flight to get away kicks in. Maybe the lamb predicted that Narinder would do something towards them, but not like this. The adrenaline is pumping and the cult audience is getting a bit too close to the couple up at the alter. Next thing we know Narinder is running towards the entrance to the temple. The cult is trying to keep Narinder from escaping, they pull and grab like souls in the Styx river as they try and drag him back. Narinder would claw attack his assailants trying to get away, the garments and ornaments are ripped, tossed, and destroyed in the attempt of escaping. A wild beast he has resorted to. Tearing through the cult grounds and destroying all obstacles in the way. Maybe grabs a weapon on the way out in case someone goes for another grab. At the entrance to the grounds there would be a final confrontation between Narinder and the lamb before dipping out.

“I knew you were gonna pull something on me, but I didn’t expect this.” “ Leave me alone! Haven’t you done enough to me as is?! What is it that you want from me now? You taken my crown, my domain, the cult I told you to build for me and now what. Ownership of me? This body? Am I to become just a plaything that you get to boss around?” “That’s not-” “ Enough! I will not listen to you anymore. I’ve listened to you for too long and still you think after this betrayal that I would continue to listen. You will not become my new jailer, nor will I be bound to invisible chains you so want to put on me in this golden prison!” — something like that I guess. *shrugs*

I’m gonna go back to daydreaming now.

[good-wine-and-cheese]

Gambling Apocalypse Tenma AU

As I rewatch Kaiji I inevitably end up wanting to combine show I like with other show I like and stuffing fav characters into show. So here we are.

This was uh going to be a short summary type thing but I accidentally wrote a novella about it sorry

This AU starts off with a much more depressive Tenma. After Tobio's death, rather than immediately pour his grief into developing a robot version of his son, he recedes into himself, psychologically paralyzed, likely turning to alcohol to drown out his anguish.

His mental state is taken as an opportunity within the Ministry of Science to have him ejected from his position; Tenma was never the most well-liked director, and there were those with ambition to usurp him that would jump at the chance. Not that he especially cares in his state.

He's eventually dragged out of his stagnation by Ochanomizu - who, inadvertently, becomes the very catalyst pushing Tenma to develop a robot replacement to his child. This was not what he meant by encouraging Tenma to fill the void left by his son.

...But, well, he is no longer the director of the Ministry of Science. His access to limitless government funds and resources for "scientific research" has been cut off, and this is a project he cannot finance on his own. He can't ask Ochanomizu for help, but...interestingly...a representative of a certain shady organization known as the Teiai Corporation reaches out to him, offering to finance and support his project. A sane and well-minded Tenma might think better of it, but grieving and desperate, Tenma accepts their offer and is able to create a robot in the image of his beloved Tobio. For a while, there's joy in his life.

But the bill, as ever, comes due: Tenma must pay up, and the very resources that had been at his disposal will certainly ensure that he will, or else. Of course, he doesn't have the money; instead, he is given a choice. He can relinquish the robot Tobio in order to wipe out his debt - the child is a sophisticated and powerful robot, after all - or he can participate in a certain illicit event hosted by the Teiai Corporation.

It's nothing major...just a four-hour gambling cruise with a collection of desperate, damned souls that were also swept into debt with Teiai. The conditions are simple: Those who choose to participate are given a chance to clear their debts wholesale should they win. And should they lose...?

Well...no one really knows what happens to the losers seized by Teiai. It's said that they labour away their debts under Teiai's watchful eye and are freed once their work has covered their debts, though it's rumoured that most perish before they reclaim freedom.

There's only one answer Tenma can give, of course; he's not willing to lose Tobio again.

Thus is Tenma's debut into the Gambling Apocalypse, where he must become cutthroat in order to survive; if he wants to see his son again, he must make choices that will doom the hapless to miserable servitude, with a nonzero chance it ends in their death.

He survives the cruise, but of course, it was hardly enough to clear his debt; the cruise was never going to be the end of it. Teiai doesn't let go of its victims that easily. He will be called on again: this is a weight that hangs over him, all while he returns to his son Tobio. The same hands that have pushed innocents into hell must now be the hands that can embrace his child.

He wants to protect Tobio from the truth and enjoy what peaceful moments he's allowed with his son, but it's difficult. It's difficult to be the parent of a child who cannot understand the danger that looms ahead; this "happy" home is not to last. Tenma angers quickly and easily. He turns that anger onto Tobio.

As Teiai's games become more and more vicious and unrelenting, as his conscience holds onto the last vestiges of thread that remain, Tenma even threatens, once, to give the boy in: it would all end, then; the debt would be clear and no longer would he have to endure Tobio's childish annoyances, his ungratefulness.

The next time that Tenma is beckoned, Tobio takes matters into his own hands. He does understand, now; and he would have, if only Tenma had bothered to explain sooner. If it's a debt that needs clearing, he will work. He will help his father clear his debts however he can. Of course, it's difficult to find work as a child; but a circus troupe finds amusement in the idea of a child robot, and takes him in. He is whisked into a certainly unpleasant working situation, but he remembers his father, and what he must be enduring. Tobio, also, will endure.

When Tenma returns, Tobio is gone.

All that held Tenma back from becoming something monstrous has disappeared. All that kept him going has disappeared. When he is called upon by Teiai, there is no knowing what sort of person might come out the other end; whether a monster clawing his way to freedom regardless of what actions he must take, or a desolate husk surrendering defeat.

There is still a light, however dim: Found by Professor Ochanomizu and rescued from the circus, Tobio - now Atom - is able to shed light on the situation which Tenma took great pains to keep hidden from his old friend. With time running out, Ochanomizu and Atom must do what they can to save Tenma - from Teiai, and from himself.

-----

UHHH and that's a wrap!!!! I couldn't quite decide which way Tenma would go after hitting Rock Bottom in this AU, and tbh it would really depend on the kind of mental state he's in at the time. On the one hand I like the narrative of Ochanomizu and Tobio racing to prevent Tenma from crossing a line (actual outright murder probably) - or having to pull him back into humanity (and yknow, his ensuing penance)

But on the other hand having him get sent to Teiai Evil Hell Prison would be interesting because a) there's a lot of narrative potential having Tenma faced with what Teiai is doing with the people that lose the games and b) need him to decimate the foreman at chinchirorin Kaiji style

Tenma's whole character is definitely a much different guy in this AU, he starts off pretty sympathetic, the guy you wanna root for, he just ends up having an inverse character arc where he gets worse instead of better. His conflict with "Tobio" is also kind of reversed, less about being unsatisfied with Tobio as a son and more not being able to handle the fact that he probably has intense PTSD now and isnt capable of coping with it in a way conducive to being a parent (or like, coping at all)

Anyway that's gambling apocalypse tenma!!!

[mxwhore]

Do you think Jon/martin were thinking of kids names back in the archives?

In general, i think Martin and Jon headspaces in the archives wouldnt have allowed thoughts of that kind. At this point, Martin has already put his own egg donor at a home so im guessing he must have had a lot of Thoughts about parenthood as a whole; and Jon, I dont think the concept of kids ever grazed his mind at this point in time. I do think he could've considered honoring his parents/grandparents while naming his kid though