#seasonsau

[akioukun]

“Heya pretty boy”

Steve turned from his perch on some old-ladies back fence, hand extended to a small handful of wren birds who nipped at his mossy fingertips and hopped in and around the hollows of his arms.

His nose scrunched up as he squinted at the figure of Billy leaning against a tree at the edge of the forest.

Jesus, sometimes it was like staring at the sun.

Another silly little thing featuring two pieces that are part of a bigger character spread for this seasons AU.

Billy is a wild season who feels and expresses his emotions alot more intensely than the others. These are two examples of his moods and how they affect his biology and the world around him :))

[akioukun]

I’ve been so busy but I’ve read this about 5 times now. This is beautiful I adore it so much, love that its made of ALOT of different flowers - all summer species and the bees are hanging around. I can paint this picture perfectly in my mind, its gorgeous

I take your Steve grows a flowerbed and raise you, Steve hiding the absolute meadow blooming in his chest against his will. His feelings blossom and flourish after proximity with Billy and one day he’ll tell him, maybe, once he figures out why its happening. Hes old but not the most emotionally in tune. But for now he’ll bury them under fallen leaves and grow Billy buttons along the edges of roads and behind fences of peoples backyards.

As always, absolutely in awe of your writing and feeling incredibly warm and fuzzy that you put time and effort into writing on these ideas 🌺♥️🥹

***

"I got uh .. I got a gift for you, pretty boy."

Steve thought he'd heard Billy's steps. He was right.

Steve's turning around and there he is, fiery and electric, wrapped in the gold of his hair, tanned cheeks a bit pinkish as if he's .. embarrassed?

Billy's holding something behind his back, eyes cast down.

"Do you want me to guess what it is?"

Billy scoffs

"Never thought that autumn would be so dorky, wishing to play silly games and all."

Billy's drawing lines (or are they hearts?) in the warm dust on the road with his big toe.

"Here. It's the last summer flowers. They'll stop blooming soon."

He's holding out an enormous flower crown made of simple white daisies and little yellow buttercups, timid sky blue, pink and indigo cornflowers, tiny field carnations bringing splashes of bright fuchsia colour into the mix, baby blue eyes shyly peeking through the lush green of leaves and stems and stalks, carefully and neatly interwoven into a summer work of art. Soft and elegant red anemones. A couple of scarlet poppies, bigger than any other flower in size but petals still so tender and fragile. Delicate wild pansies in a palette of colours, sweet heavy clover heads, gentle melancholic bluebells, light-pink cuckoo-flowers, bright blue sprinkles of meadow gentians .. all exuding the subtly intoxicating aroma of hot and sultry summer meadows,

Glowing, as if entwined with the dreamy rays of sunshine.

Bumblebees busily buzzing and humming all around it.

Billy waves his hand a couple of times

"Shoo!"

Bumblebees remain undisturbed.

"Thought you'd look even prettier in it."

Steve's still looking at the heap of flowers, noticing some fragrant white china roses among the other flowers

"Are these also from the meadow?"

Billy's cheeks become even pinkier.

"I uh .. I might've raided that old lady's garden where you always hang out with the birds at the back fence?"

Billy's pausing

"So .. you want it or not?"

"I would love to have it. It is beautiful and such skillful work."

Billy's cheeks are definitely red now, mixed with that tan.

He shoves the flower crown to Steve's hollowed-out chest and runs away.

***

Some time later

Steve grew a small flowerbed of billy buttons.

He invited the summer to come take a look.

"It's nothing fancy. But they look like little suns and remind me of you. And they've got your name."

Harringrove seasons au by the amazingly talented @akioukun which remains the source of inspiration 💖

@dragonflylady77 thank you for your kind help ❤️

[pato-ki]

It’s been a long time since I last drew seasons au, and I wanted to give the king of winter himself some justice- couldn’t resist his charm, so worked on this painting through the week >:)

Darkson belongs to @thestubbornscientist​

[renka2802]

MLP SEASONS AU

A "Brilliant" idea suddenly comes to my head!

mlp AU!

SeasonsAU

I’ll try to explain the essence: Everything is the same, but in the world, the seasons are more severe, more precisely, summer and winter. Therefore, ponies have learned to adapt to the harsh conditions of winter and to a very hot summer.

The summer version is always brighter. Winter is duller, adds a fur, hooves are lightened (and look at the ears), wings become more voluminous.Where are  colored strip wich showing the version on the mane.

Of course the world is not without exception. Sometimes ponies born completely winter or summer. This is their peculiarity, it is very difficult for them to get along in those places where the climate is changing. And in those places where he is permanent they can live easy.

I haven’t yet thought how the adaptation will be go on, but there are ideas that I hope will tell you later.

Today I "make" the design of mane 6′s winter version.

Soon, I will try to do something similar with princesses, etc.

(can offer other canon characters for the winter / summer version)

[akioukun]

Oh Bambi this is wonderful 😭😭😭 I can never get over how soft everyone writes these two. The whole cooling of temperatures and fleeting moments everyone captures so well. Truly this AU is no longer just mine but everyone who’s had a hand in it has fleshed it out into something more than I ever could have made alone. This is gorgeous thank you so much for taking time out of your day to write such a beautiful piece 🍃🖤

a little something for @akioukun ☀️🤍🍂

the summer always wakes up before the autumn, warming those cool winter mornings out of spite — a reminder that it can burn, it’s dangerous if you get too close

and yet

Billy sleeps and stirs to feel a familiar breeze through the hoar frosted trees, still on his skin where it places it’s temporary and fleeting touch, cooling him in the way only Steve can

kissing Billy’s furrowed brow as he rouses, wrapping around him as Billy yawns and opens his eyes, sun rays spilling from them as his fire grows from its embers

Steve’s there, sometimes, in the spring — transitional, temporary, but always there wherever Billy looks, sometimes he can’t tell the difference between winter and spring

the cool, sunny days with barren meadow grounds is where they make their love

and his love returns to him once the first leaf falls

[akioukun]

Autumn Steve accidentally falling asleep on Summer Billy and waking up several hours later and he’s just grown moss…EVERYWHERE. Fuzzy soft moss, thick spongy moss. Billy just laughs at him whilst he goes about checking every inch of himself and resigning to the fact that he’s gonna be attracting more lemmings and frogs and fighting off deer for a few weeks

[akioukun]

hi aki!! i felt very much inspired by your seasons au for harringrove earlier today so i wrote this little piece and i'd love for you to have it! i hope you like it!! thank you for always creating the most beautiful artwork, you continue to take my breath away!!

The new summer arrives with a burning promise for Steve.

Golden skin laced with molten sunlight, eyes as blue as the ocean, a voice reminiscent of waves crashing on a shore. This summer isn’t to be like the last, Steve knows.

They come together for the first time and produce the dew of an early morning, with damp grass and misty rain. Steve brings gentle song birds and Billy’s slow to wake, lulled to an easy slumber by their songs, not eager to rouse the heat of the day.

They work well enough but there’s something else hidden under the surface, hidden from sight, kept away.

It comes as no surprise that Billy’s hotter than a wildfire; just as unpredictable and uncontrollable. A temper that is unmatched, burning so brightly it’s no wonder Icarus fell from the sky if it were Billy’s heat that melted those wings.

Steve feels like that around Billy — like he’s in a free fall. Nothing to steady him, nothing to catch. No earth to dig his fingers into, no use in begging for help.

But, he likes it that way. Prefers it. Because Billy burns brighter than the sun but he warms Steve, makes him grow, makes flowers bloom in his chest where they shouldn’t. And he tends to them in secret, pretends that it isn’t Billy’s kisses that waters them and it’s not his smile that makes Steve’s world greener.

Because it’s forbidden. It’s not wise. They know better, they do. They shouldn’t get attached because seasons are fickle. They will leave whenever they want without warning.

But, a new summer loves the earth. And Steve’s willing to try.

HEY HI HELLO BAMBI HIHI

Um. Oh my god? I have no words? Actually I do FIRSTLY you are an absolute sweetheart and I am melting into a puddle at your kind words, I have so much love for the people that enjoy what I do because that by extension means my love for what I do is hopefully coming through. A big feedback loop of love is what it is and it means sososososooooo much to me that you put time and your energy into WRITING THIS INCREDIBLE MASTERPIECE???

I am. So in love with the way you use words and language, like I am actually going to implode that you wrote this. This is so poetic, so EXACT in its tone about how these two collide and and and that bit about flowers blooming in Steves chest where there is usually sleep and the slow slip into decay is SO BEAUTIFUL AND WHEN I READ IT I NEARLY THREW MY PHONE D O W N THE STAIRS. I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO KEEP AND USE IT IN THIS AU. I had tiny bits of like, more moss growing on Steve from Billys proximity in one of my attempts to write, but this…this is something else entirely more impactful and I am just, basically howling at the fact you would write this

My heart is so full, I adore you and your writing so much, thank you thank you THANK YOU for creating such a gorgeous piece I’m treasuring it forever 🖤🖤🖤

[akioukun]

This’ll be one of my last posts for a little while!

I’m off to Canada for 3 months with no means of digital art while I’m there. Idk what my free time will look like so if you send me anything or tag me in a post it might be a while before I’m back in touch! I have so much unfinished art piled up but it will have to wait a while.

For now I’ll be releasing bits and pieces of writing about SeasonsAU up until I go away.

I’ll be back in time for the Harringrove Zine launch! I love you all and I will miss you! ♥️

[akioukun]

OHHH THIS IS SO SWEET I’M HHHHH

The tranquility of it all, I love that its a gentle thing. I would like to think this is years down the line coz hoooo, they are a hot mess for a few years everytime they meet.

I’m so obsessed with how sweet this little moment is, you’ve painted a picture in my head of a moment of peace.

There was this little creek with all these fallen acorns and leaves when I went hiking, and that was a big part of the inspo for this au so this feels full circle somehow. I can’t express how much love I have for all these little glimpses you’ve made, over the moon that you like it!!

Harringrove seasons AU. Concept by @akioukun

***

It's one of those quiet evenings in late August when summer is already letting go of its reign, and autumn is stepping into power. The transition is done peacefully, it's like there is an unspoken agreement between these two.

The twilight is slowly rolling in, day warmth giving way to the evening cool, and the sun is falling further west, closer to the horizon.

They spend some time near a small river watching it flow. The waters are already much darker than they used to be even a few days ago, and there are golden leaves floating down the river like tiny ships, silently sailing into unknown lands where adventure awaits them.

They are sitting on the river bank, lazily throwing pine cones into the water listening to the gentle splashing sounds when the cones touch the water surface.

Steve is falling asleep, head lolling on Billy's shoulder.

Billy is shushing all the birds around, telling them it's time to get back to their nests and rest.

He is unable to quieten the growing chorus of cicadas around, but that's their time to sing.

Steve is falling asleep

And Billy's watching him, carefully, out of the corner of his eye, fingers touching Steve's exposed ribcage that feels like bare branches of a tree.

He wraps him in the sun-woven shawl of his long golden hair

To keep Steve warm.

***

@akioukun ❤️ your harringrove seasons au is magical, I'm sorry, I'm powerless against the grip it has on me

[akioukun]

Guys you don’t understand what you’re doing to me everytime you write beautiful things like this about a silly little au that I came up with whilst fuckin hiking in the mountains.

THIS. IS. GORGEOUS. THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF RAIN MM SO GOOD I LOVE IT.

I have very few notes on Steve fearing Billy as he is the older season here and seen oh so much but I love the idea of the unpredictability of Billy’s moods causing different effects and Steve being entirely unprepared for this.

Thank you thank you THANK YOU, this is such a wonderful piece and you have such a way with words, I am overwhelmed with the thought that you put your time and energy into this. I’m gonna cherish it forever 🍂🍃

Okay no but listen. Harringrove seasons au is all I think about. (Rains.)

Summer rains

Summer Billy reigns thunderstorms. Some of them, they start building up since the morning. The air is heavy and oppressive, gray clouds gathering in the sky, slowly becoming darker and darker until they reach the threatening ominous purplish-gray; faint flashes of lightning gaining their strength and distant growls of thunder that are also lurking in the anticipation to scare and deafen the world.

Until they explode and chaos is unleashed.

***

Others, they come unexpected. In a matter of seconds a gust of wind blows over the trees and the fields of rich grass, and everything bows under its volatile power. The lightning cracks the sky open and the rain pours, quick and unrestrained, like it's rushing to finish before it even began and nothing can stand in its way.

They don't last long.

Steve's usually hiding, spooked, under the sprawling branches of a hundred-year-old spruce, where the earth is always covered with dry fallen needles, protected even during the strongest of showers.

***

Sometimes when Billy is in an especially good mood, you get the kind of rain that comes hand in hand with sunshine and fills your heart with joy.

Steve loves these moments. He's peeking from behind a huge old oak tree and taking in all the diamond-like sparkle of raindrops in the sunlight. He even gets some on his skin and laughs happily imagining he's wearing the most beautiful kind of jewellery.

The rainbow that often follows such rains is a special sight which Steve regards as a rare gift.

There is at least one thing these summer rains have in common. It's the air and the calm that settles afterwards. The air is so fresh and fragrant Steve wants to drink it. He is in love with the invigorating smells surrounding him. Everything glistens under the warm gentle sun rays and Steve is listening to the sounds of nature coming back to its usual life, thinking that he is going to miss summer.

Autumn rain

***

@akioukun your harringrove seasons au is priceless 💖

Proofread by the wonderful @dragonflylady77 🌹☀️

[akioukun]

AND THERES ANOTHER ONE?!

Jeez ya spoilin’ me 💀🖤

This one is sad. Ow. My feelings. I LOVE it. Clearly gotta pick up my game and release all the art and notes coz ya’ll are miles ahead already.

Thank you kindly again! Reeling that you took the time to make not just one, but TWO pieces of writing, my god. Have I said Thank you yet? ♥️

Autumn rain. Part 2 of Summer rains. Harringrove seasons au

In September the first autumn rain comes, gentle and quiet. It usually stays for hours, sometimes for the whole day or night, drizzling softly and sadly.

It soothes Billy in a way he didn't know he needed. It reminds him that he has to go, to rest.

The sadness is tranquil, it makes Billy come to peace with what's about to happen. It tells him what he already knows - that you cannot change the way nature works and seasons change each other. Billy knows it and does not mind. He only does not want to let go of Steve.

After the rain stops it's fragrant as well, just like after summer rains, but in a different way. The smells are damp and earthy, and forests smell of dying leaves, thick carpets of moss and fallen pine and spruce needles, and mushrooms shyly showing their shiny caps. Billy loves the smells, they make him serene and accepting.

It is getting sadder in October.

Wistful colder winds start howling and Steve mourns because

Summer is nowhere to be seen anymore.

Steve slides into grief and cries more and more bitterly, the rain becoming icier, until his tears start freezing

And morning dew starts turning into frost.

November brings the first snowflakes silently falling on the cold ground

It lulls Steve to sleep and takes all his yearning away

Slowly piling snow up

Until autumn sleeps deep and sound

Under the heaps of snow

The blanket is heavy

The blanket is warm

They are both sleeping now, apart, but bound to be brought together again

Do they see each other in their blissful dreams?

***

A humble gift for @akioukun ☀️🍁🍂

Proofread by @dragonflylady77 💖💖

[akioukun]

AAAAA OMG HOW DID I NOT SEE THIS SOONER?!

OH YES OMG IT LINKS UP THATS SO CUTE.

Losing it at Billy being offended at being nesting material, hes so busy hes got stuff to DO.

The birds taking moss off Steve and identifying their original nesting material fly over and start dropping it on Billys head and fussing over its arrangement and Steves just sitting on this fence watching and jumps down and says: “shoot, I thought I was their favourite”

“Not in a million years pretty boy, I appreciate the decoration though”

And steve just picks some wild cotoneaster berries out from behind his ear and tucks it in Billy’s hair. The birds immediately go feral for it bending the branch to fit and weaving it with hair.

SO LOVELY AND WHAT A GIFT TO LINK UP AND ELEVATE SOME OF MY OWN SCRAPPY WRITING THANK YOU 😭♥️♥️♥️

Summer Billy and cicadas are definitely buddies ❤️ but what about birds? (Steve's so good with birds)

***

One morning in the early summer, when it's already so hot practically all living creatures are trying to hide away and find some shade, Billy falls asleep under a tree. When he wakes up, he discovers that a couple of kooky tree swallows have started to make a nest in his hair. What on earth are they thinking ?? At first Billy gets angry because what is he supposed to do, it confines his freedom of movement, having something like that on his body. He's not a tree or a bush !! He is not nesting material !! But then he starts watching how the birds scurry and hustle around, bringing dry grass, moss, roots and pine needles, weaving, knotting and interlocking, lining the bottom of the nest with feathers for more comfort. It turns out it's fascinating to watch the nest grow and become a home, and it's also such a tremendous job to make it.

So Billy waits for a couple of days, absorbed in the process, staying put under the same tree but of course, he can't stay like this for too long, he's got stuff to do, thunderstorms to break out, muscles to stretch, clouds to chase and fields of lush grass to lay in, surrounded by flowers and butterflies.

Billy sees a small hollow in the trunk of the tree above him, carefully puts the nest there, birds haphazardly flying around and tweeting loudly, scared of what is happening, but Billy is gentle and tells the birds not to worry.

Billy often visits the place, checking if everything is okay with the nest and the swallows, and watches how the mother lays eggs in the nest, and then they hatch and the parents start taking care of their babies.

Billy remembers all that later in the season when he's already met autumn and this happens

"Heya pretty boy"

"Steve turned from his perch on some old-ladies back fence, hand extended to a small handful of wren birds who nipped at his mossy fingertips and hopped in and around the hollows of his arms." @akioukun

"Birds are so cool," - Billy's thinking.

***

Harringrove seasons au by the amazing @akioukun

[akioukun]

To say I like this is an understatement, i fucking ADORE this. Also u landed smack bang on who Winter is so cats outta the bag there. The way you write makes me wanna kick my feet and giggle and the proximity thing is something I’m leaning into so hard with these two.

Thank you thank you THANK YOU for putting such love and time into an idea, I still cannot express how floored I am people both enjoy and want to participate in this AU

another ficlet for @akioukun’s seasons au 🍂☀️

he’s not scared of the new summer, no. that would be stupid.

because despite the intensity of the new season, steve’s familiar with the heat - even if only the very end of it, when it begins to simmer instead of blaze, allowing him to move in and quiet everything with his chilly evenings and quiet breeze. the old summer never came around much; they left steve alone to his solitude, would make idle chat if the two of them ever crossed paths, polite and cordial as they blended together for that short period of time.

and that had been fine, because steve knew the numbness of winter better, anyway. he came to know and expect the way she’d leave frost on his body in the early mornings, chilling him to his core with her unwavering strength — something he had admired but could never possess, just like her. and her kisses had been freezing yet comforting, because steve knew barrenness as it lived in him.

and steve had accepted those cool winter kisses she gave him. maybe he’d loved them, once. but not anymore — now, he didn’t mind them.

and he didn’t mind when she left him for the spring, really. it was okay. he saw the way she melted for the spring, happy and free in his arms. nothing really stays for autumn, anyway. he gets it.

but, what he doesn’t get, is why the new summer doesn’t keep his distance. all of the summers before him have never had such an…interest.

and steve’s not scared, but he is hesitant. he’s never been so close to summer - to warmth - before.

billy’s not like the winter. he’s roaring with life and heat and he warms steve’s cold core. he reaches out but steve pulls away because he’s not used to it. he’s not used to the heat of life. he’s used to cold fingers and icy promises of rest and comfort.

he gets no rest with billy. his heart is stoked like a fire, stirring him up inside, makes him feel things he doesn’t feel ready for.

steve’s not scared of the new summer, but he is scared of the new feelings he literally feels blooming in his chest whenever billy’s around.

[akioukun]

Lmao pls the first time Steve encounters Billy basking in cicadas, Steve’s standing there at a distance squinting like

and goes: wow those cicadas look ALOT like Billy.

I’m in love with all of these I reread them today whilst having a coffee, I can’t get enough. Let me get a shovel to join in the dig 🥰🥰

Harringrove seasons AU. Concept by @akioukun

***

It's one of those quiet evenings in late August when summer is already letting go of its reign, and autumn is stepping into power. The transition is done peacefully, it's like there is an unspoken agreement between these two.

The twilight is slowly rolling in, day warmth giving way to the evening cool, and the sun is falling further west, closer to the horizon.

They spend some time near a small river watching it flow. The waters are already much darker than they used to be even a few days ago, and there are golden leaves floating down the river like tiny ships, silently sailing into unknown lands where adventure awaits them.

They are sitting on the river bank, lazily throwing pine cones into the water listening to the gentle splashing sounds when the cones touch the water surface.

Steve is falling asleep, head lolling on Billy's shoulder.

Billy is shushing all the birds around, telling them it's time to get back to their nests and rest.

He is unable to quieten the growing chorus of cicadas around, but that's their time to sing.

Steve is falling asleep

And Billy's watching him, carefully, out of the corner of his eye, fingers touching Steve's exposed ribcage that feels like bare branches of a tree.

He wraps him in the sun-woven shawl of his long golden hair

To keep Steve warm.

***

@akioukun ❤️ your harringrove seasons au is magical, I'm sorry, I'm powerless against the grip it has on me