#shared control au

[lutheban]

Based of this post, seemed too in character for me not to do it

[grechsblog]

Player 101

Sometimes, Kris finds themself thinking, Player is stupidly, stupidly powerful.

They're strong, they're omniscient; Kris doesn't doubt that, if they really wanted to, they could predict every enemy's move and skill. “patterns,” Player says. “the world has so many patterns, that when you notice them you will not be able to not see them.”

And god they saw them, patterns akin to strings in clothes: a warning, to where an attack will land. It's sewn into the universe, and Player can see the embroidery.

It's so cool. Really, it is! Especially, when they explain it, absolutely fascinated, about little boxes of red as a no-go zone. It's their special interest, so to speak, because they talk and talk about them like it's the most underappreciated and overlooked thing in the world. Which is probably true, because if Kris can't see them the way Player does, with Player themselves being a part of them to some extent, they doubt anyone else from here can either.

Player looks like a complete dork and far younger than they are when talking on that topic.

That doesn't mean, though, that it doesn't scare Kris every time when Player becomes… annoyed.

Honestly, Kris saw them like that only two times in their life.

One of them was Jevil, which is fair enough, considering how many times they needed to restart the fight over and over again. It was exhausting, to both of them, so Kris understands the annoyance. They still remember that very long ramble on how Jevil's attacks are such an ass to dodge, and how it gets so unfair over time, and how it needs to be 'pixel perfect', whatever the hell that's supposed to mean in this context, and-

(It was long. Very long. Kris was scared, because their sibling continued, with such strong opinions on Jevil, psychopathically going to his cage. They won't even call it 'determination', because that was a borderline obsession with winning that fight.

Kris learned that day that their sibling was a 'try-hard' kind of Player. It was objectively terrifying to watch, and even more so to learn that that wasn't even the sickest way people like them had fun.

* You are psychos.

“shush, you don't even know what we do for clout.”)

Spamton's fight, on the other hand, had been pushing them far harder. It almost made Player cross the thin line between just being pissed off, and being enraged.

Dare Kris say — it wasn't pretty.

("DO YOU SEE ME, [Heaven]!?" Spamton screeched, metal clanging against metal, strings snapping one by one, creating a horrific symphony.

Teeth grinding, Kris stood strong against the attacks, watching a majestic Player's dance, waving between the bullets occasionally sending their own. They got hit, they heard them, or Susie, or Ralsei's wordless grunt, and the yellow light shone brighter, near blinding.

Player moved in silence, absolutely mute, and in that silence their attacks grew relentlessly faster.

All Kris could really focus on was their burning anger. Hatred, even. It felt like a volcano eruption, and freezing cold at the same time. It left a taste of copper in Kris' mouth, soaking their mind in those feelings. Making them feel what They feel, think like They think, veins pumping with an elaborate desire to hurt, to kill, — almost, — and all Kris could think is-)

In that fight, they suddenly understood what Heaven truly meant. What that power can do.

Before, Ralsei told about Angel's Heaven, the exact thing that should be Banished per legend, as an eternal Entity. Powerful enough to destroy the world as it's known — from its core to shell, and every living being within. The Entity can control and twist, and change the wants and needs of people. Can switch the perspective to reveal unspeakable knowledge and drive the hardest mind insane.

And Player was that Entity.

It was rather… awkward, at a time, for several different reasons to hear Ralsei talk about them with such panic in his voice.

When Player switched perspective to watch over Susie, or was more forced to do so anyway in King's castle, Ralsei started to explain what they were. The bits and pieces, broken shards from different legends that somehow connected into one big puzzle, painting a weirdly horrific picture.

"It's powerful." He said, in between his highly running imagination. "Controlling and wild at the same time. It needs to be gone."

Kris merely blinked. Player just began to become their friend, if not a powerful ally and, perhaps, a family — what in the fresh hell was he on about?

(Now Kris knows: a lot, and even more than that.)

They asked Player about it after, as soon as Ralsei was distracted, and was greeted with a lot of explaining; stories of lives they'll never see or hear, the world's and universes they never existed in. Player also didn't pass the moment to brag, of course, about how they fought some demons almost barehanded, and won. It made Kris snort in amusement, maybe even several times, but soon enough Player began telling more, and that whimsical attitude quickly switched to something more… solem.

They couldn't go into more details at that moment, — the King still needed to be fought, after all, — so Kris hadn't heard some of the more bitter truths until later that day, when they asked Player to continue explaining.

The mood behind that chipper voice dropped significantly.

“it will be a lot to take in.” They said, warning palpable in that sentence.

However, it would take a lot more to deter Kris from begging, if needed, to know more. They both knew that already.

* I am ready. Whatever it is, I will... Try to accept.

Player was silent for a second, then huffed. “very well. but never say i didn't warn you.”

The dialogue that happened after was informative, in the way that Ralsei's vague words never would be able to recreate. The countless worlds saved, countless worlds destroyed, more than infinite waiting for such fate. People that never knew what was happening to them, people that did, and yet never been able to do anything about it. Monsters and deaths. Black and white, and gray that knitted the universes, that knitted the very thoughts of those they ruled above.

“i think we are born with this knowledge, you know? i know i instantly knew what i appeared for, even if i didn't understand what that implies.” They said, and Kris had a feeling if they had a body to call their own, Player would be sitting with their knees to their chest.

Maybe that's because they always mirrored Kris.

* And what did you come here for?

“i… don't know. i've got a word, if you can call it that, from an old friend. told me to help him with some experiment, make a body to suit myself, and then in a blink i was here.” They said, and something about their tone shifted. “you knew i was here.”

Kris furrowed their brows from the way it implied some untold truths.

* Is it a bad thing?

“not particularly, not- well, maybe. very likely, yes. i had yet to see the universe where it wasn't a bad thing, at least partially.”

They hummed, and it wasn't happy.

“it means that the world can break, and the cracks are already showing. that it's- it's kind of an inevitable fate, that something would threaten the very things that keep other things together and working. it's a big deal.”

Kris exhaled through their nose.

* …Oh.

Player snorted. “oh indeed.”

* And- and what do you do about this? The worlds like that, I mean. You said that there was, or is many more like mine with someone knowing stuff, so I'm a bit curious.

There was a second of silence.

“it is… going to sound very morbid, what i'm about to say, so bare with me.” They took a breath. “i do not like how it works, and i know a lot of people who aren't alright with it too. it's-” They made an uncertain noise. “we- we either salvage what is left, sometimes almost rebuilding it anew if we get the chance, or-” They let out a giggle, breathless and without humor. “or, well, help it collapse. finish what's started. i personally watched, helped a couple of those.”

Kris-

Kris felt… they don't exactly know what they felt.

Perhaps it could be called shock, or hollowness, or coldness from that statement. It was their emotion, the slight tilt of horror, but it was also... muted. It was under the rubble, so to speak, quiet and barely there. Fear, that should've come in pair with that, never even dared resurface its head, and pity hid in shadows. Rage and anger shimmered somewhere behind, almost fully consumed in the other noise.

They felt deep sorrow with a tint of despair that singlehandedly overpowered everything, and Kris was pretty sure it wasn't theirs.

“i- it destroyed the basis of those worlds, you know? awareness made them fragile. after the collapses i could no longer access them. it never happens in the universes that aren't aware, even if they crumble too. if- when i tried to come back to the unaware ones it almost looked like an infinite loop. they forget- people forget everything and make the same mistakes that leave the world on the hair breath from death. and yet- yet, no matter how they try, no matter how they want to, those worlds can never truly die.”

Kris harshly crumpled the sleeves of their sweater.

“the aware ones do, so i was- i was pretty scared to understand what it means here.”

Everything felt detached after that. They don't know how long they stared at their feet, accepting and reaccepting the information. At some point they even felt one of their hands slowly stroking the other, one of them out of their control. Kris heard Player softly humm.

“i told you it was a lot to take in.”

It was. It was more than Kris could process in such a small amount of time, but there's still one, for now, question that was yet to be answered:

* What about this world? Is-

There wasn't even a slight pause, question cut before it could be finished.

“no.” An instantaneous reply came. “don't even think about it — the answer is no. it's too unbreakable for that, and whatever made it a slightly bit more vulnerable for you and Ralsei to know didn't let it go near the worrisome level.” Player paused, unease seeping through the careful assurance. “unless- unless someone deliberately will try to force their access outside of the world, it's nothing that needs worry. plus, i am already here; and whoever would be bold enough to try will need to go through me first.”

Kris forced themselves to swallow. It all felt far too distant.

* That's- that's good. You're a tough opponent to fight.

Like it wasn't happening with them, or their world for that matter.

“yeah. i am, i can promise that much.”

Like it was just a weirdly detailed dream, and when Ralsei's words came to Kris' mind, they could only question why and how it's all connected the way it is. Player is their friend, bordering on closeness of a family, and despite them admitting to every horror the Darkener told Kris about, it felt like an elaborate lie. Cruel joke.

It all didn't stick together, with how attentive Player is to even the smallest of distresses, with how emotional they were over Susie's protective stance at the King's Castle, or Ralsei's vulnerability showing. They aren't some otherworldly being that can easily tilt the fate of the universe, forcing it to end, or a manipulative entity with a sickening taste for fresh blood.

Back then, they thought it just can't exist in the same person. Not without one bleeding into another, and they hadn't noticed such things.

But Kris knows better, now.

They know from the way Player was almost spitting venom when Spamton dared to mention something about tearing them out of Kris' chest. The anger still persisted when he was defeated, when he was nothing more than a trinket to hold onto in their pocket.

They know from the way Player sometimes goes away, — always telling Kris about it beforehand, — and come back colder. Quieter. Sharper. It goes away with time and some playful nudging, but it happens, and nothing Kris did had prevented it so far.

They know, because sometimes they look for Noelle. When they find her, happy and content with her father or chatting cheerfully with others, the first thing Kris feels from them is hatred. They are perfectly aware it's not for her, or the ones she's talking to, or for Kris themselves, but it still makes them flinch, or shudder. Or both.

Kris does know better, and it's… terrifyingly sad to know. To understand, to really get it.

Player has the patience of a saint, and knowing they are a religious being here, it might even be a funny thing to say. Still, to endure so much and not snap at any convenient opportunity? Miracle, no less. Taking into consideration that Player also capped themselves at the age of a teenager, which is quite famous for the most explosive reactions and emotions ever, its wonder of a statistic skyrocketed into space.

(“i have godlike powers and psychological issues about that!”

* One day I will ensure your way into the therapy room.

“well, well, Iid like to see you try; you'll never find any therapist that willingly would try to tackle my problems!”

* I will become that therapist, don't tempt me.)

Yet it's- well, still sad.

Player is omniscient and powerful. They see too much, know too much. Kris is unsure how much is 'too much' for a normal teen, as they personally hadn't been living normally in the way human children do, but it's way more vivid in the attitude Player displays in some situations.

They freeze when some topic flies too close for their comfort. As much as they are patient with the problems of others, it drops to near zero if someone is even mildly threatening the way they don't like — a knee-jerk reaction almost. They are sometimes closed up in a shell, never telling if something's wrong unless pressed, and seem tired from the way they are worshiped as a savior.

Like it was all they were seen as for a long time.

Player is powerful, and it's scary how specifically powerful they are, with the way they got experience of different fights from their adventures. They don't necessarily need help, they can do a lot of things alone, and isn't that even a slight bit terrifying to know? That they have every ability and knowledge and drive to conquer everything, destroy everything, and what they lack they could astonishingly quickly learn? That they could manipulate the very basis of things, grow their charm with all they knew, to get what they want?

Kris can understand Ralsei with his wariness on that; if they hadn't interacted with Player and only heard some unspecific bullshit, they'd be scared too.

But they did.

They knew better now, and if Player did use such 'dirty tricks' to achieve Kris' loyalty, then, well, maybe they deserve it. Maybe they deserve to have yet another soul that considers them their family.

Kris' answer is that it can't be that bad.

---

My general hc for players in selfaware and not games is that they just drift around from one game from another. They kinda- appear without even a poof soundeffect and go on their merry way with everything they need to know to begin their journey

They know how to access the world and how to look for clues or where to seek help and all that. Every other skills, such as social and physical development is still tied to their 'age' and firsthand experience, but they instantly knows how to like. Eat. Read. Talk. Walk — just basic stuff that other still need to learn while they're young; plus added stuff like how they can go to different game and how to use inventory, but the last one is still more codependent on the world they currently in- cuz you can't use some shooter's arsenal the way you use sandbox weapons, just how you can't use rouglike trinkets the same way in simulators

Im making players a magical ageless race. So what? They really are in the eyes of anyone outside of their species i can do whatever i want about it. You can't fucking stop me

[cubbihue]

What would Peri’s power level be if he didn’t have his inhibitor/stabilizer wand and just went apeshit?

While Cosmo deals with too much magic in his body, Peri suffers from a slightly different issue. Cosmo has the greatest amount of magic in Fairy World. Peri is incapable of regulating his magic.

Peri cannot, not then as a child and not now in the present, control his magic. Without his inhibitor, he can easily destroy an entire realm- just as he nearly destroyed Earth as a baby. This fact has not changed, although it is less plausible today than back then.

Peri's taken extra measures in the present-day to ensure it cannot happen.

Bitties Series: [Start] > [Previous] > [Next]

Instability: [Start] > [Previous] > [Next]

[purplebehittindifferent]

Bonus:

@sharedcontrolau

This post tickled me so much I had to draw it

Player but they weren’t aware that they are the Angel unit someone brings it up.

“Damn this is a pretty nice church. Mind filling me in on who this ‘Angel’ guy is?”

Kris: “…isn’t it you?”

“Wait wha-“

Player:

Like, consider someone is calling for the Angel to close the last Dark Fountain and Player is >:) until they’re “oh shit that’s me, sorry!”

[mammalsofaction]

Someone pointed out to me in one of my posts that the reason Perry was SO pissed off during OWCA files was bc he's jealous Heinz was spending time with so much of his co-workers, and Ive since been thinking about this and I genuinely hate how much this makes sense.

Obviously that isn't the ONLY reason, but. This is the second recorded time where Heinz ends up working for OWCA and BOTH times Perry spends the entire episode inexplicably grumpy and pissed.

You COULD say it's bc he's wary, he doesn't trust Heinz to behave professionally as an agent when he takes so much pride as an agent himself and incompetency pisses him off (true). Also that Heinz is lumped as his responsibility, and agent Lone Wolf hates being saddled to a person.....but these arguments crumble in light for a few facts.

1. Perry doesn't have THAT much respect for OWCA, and certainly not Francis, ESPECIALLY if they piss him off. See the aftermath of Undercover Carl. Its not a respect issue.

2. Perry knows what Heinz is like. He LIKES spending time with Heinz, and as early as the events in "Come Home Perry," HE knows that he can trust Heinz to always have his back. Its not a trust issue.

3. Perry is hugely supportive of Heinz reforming, and in MML, it's HIS money being the first and foremost funds provider for Heinz to start a time travelling agency. He likes Heinz turning tide fine, so long as he doesn't shut Perry out or leave him behind. It's not a Being Good issue.

So why was he pissed off?? Well. What's the ONE thing that upsets Perry, without fail, when it comes to his loved ones that isn't them being in undeniable danger.

Sharing. Perry hates sharing.

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

While insulting Jake, Essa 412 complimented Marco’s intelligence once in the book where he got the morphing cube. Which. Is never a good sign when a yeerk shows interest.

Oh, you're right! #53, Tom's yeerk says "Marco must be the one doing your thinking for you, Jake. You... never were that smart." Which is like, worse than a deep down, you and I are just alike speech. It's expressing a desire to be more like Marco.

Maybe the yeerk is just fucking with the Animorphs, because this is like 3 lines after he claims Tom thinks Rachel has always been a homicidal maniac and just before he says Tom is an empty shell with no volition left. But yeeeeaaaaah, it's not a great look for Marco. Real "You would make a good Dalek" vibes. (And lbr, #41 implies that Marco would in fact nail it as a visser.)

[spotaus]

Okay! This one is less rendered than the other two, but here's some doodles of Tulpa figuring out how to co-exist! (Aka Fresh not taking training seriously while Dream is trying desperately to get his friends to think he's normal.)

When Dream first returns to the Star Sans', he finds himself in a pickle, because he needs Fresh to move his body. Sure, they made a tentative agreement that Dream trusted Fresh not to break, but Dream hadn't been specific enough with the guidelines.

Fresh pilots Dream's body based on the commands from his soul, but more often than not Fresh simply decides not to listen. Sometimes when they're training, Fresh will suddenly make Dream fumble his bow or send an arrow flying way off-target. Dream is always frustrated by this, unaware that Fresh it doing it for his own good and is forcing the guardian to take a break.

Blue was also made aware of Fresh very early on. One day he was passing the kitchen where Dream was cooking and spotted how Fresh's little form was wiggling out of the hole on Dream's skull. Blue made Eye-contact with Fresh, but said nothing since it seemed like Dream was aware and didn't mind. He waited until Dream told him to acknowledge the parasite directly, but suddenly a bunch of Dream's weird actions made sense to him. Blue regularly makes sure to check in on Dream, before abd after he's aware of Fresh, because he knows Dream works himself into the ground.

Dream (eventually) figures out that Fresh was being clumsy for his sake and nearly cries about it (even his mother and the villagers never did that for him, and Blue was the only other person to ever pull him away from training for his own good) so he gets a bit emotional. He feels bad for how angry he used to get at Fresh for doing that, but Fresh never gave him a proper explanation either, so it was a two-way street.

And while Fresh was lienent around Blue and Ink, he never slipped up around Nightmare's gang. Though, he did fight seriously, which to him might look like goofing off, which is completely separate from Dream's fighting style. (For now Dream uses Arrows and his Bow, but I'm thinking Tulpa has a T-Shirt Canon or a Nerf Gun by the time they make-up.)

Ideally Fresh cannot be seen during combat because he actually pilots from around Dream's soul, but sometimes his parasite form expands to support Dream's weak joints and act like a shock-absorber.

[twisted-wonderland-shenanigans]

I really want to know what just. Inspired you to make such a long fic about preggo Yuu. Was it baby fever, or just cute baby animals?

A mix of baby fever (despite only having two fur babies and no biological kids), cute baby animal pics and videos, and the sheer shenanigans of the monster boys and staff panicking because the baby is coming 😂

It was also an interesting idea to work with figuring out how each dorm might chip in and help prepare for the arrival of a baby, let alone how mama!Yuu's maternal instincts would kick in for some of the boys *cough* Riddle *cough* and just being a reassuring presence for them.

Also, who wouldn't want to see Grim behaving like a protective kitty who climbs into the cradle and naps with the baby or gives chimera kitty kissies to calm the tiny bab 🥹

Just...too much cuteness and me trying to translate the ideas into words 😅 Hence why it's taking so long and feels like it's going to be much longer than what I've written before!

[jessamine-rose]

*lovingly tackles Aine*

Read my Yandere! Pierro longfics first ♪( ´▽｀)

Last week, my beloved mutual @ainescribe surprised me with Savior! Darling fan art and AHAI9232@2-!/! CRYING SCREAMING I WANT TO LOOK AT THIS ART AND WORSHIP YOUR VERSION OF SAVIOR THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BLESSING ME WITH YOUR ART—

*clears throat* Anyway, now that I finally have the time to properly sit down and comment on the fan art, I’ll do just that. Feedback will be in the tags and it will be unhinged. Once again, thank you so much to Aine for drawing this <3

[total-drama-brainrot]

i love how basically every future! au i've seen has noah divorced from emma.

it's just so funny that, instead of having the two break up amicably after dating for a while and realising they're just not compatible/meant to be, most creators go out of their way to make noah this sad divorced man who fumbled his successful lawyer wife and ended up with the short end of the stick. yes! make this man pathetic and depressed! he's the saddest wet cat in existence!

[papabigtoes]

Nearly done with a big Hellscape scene opening for chapter 10 (which like last update, will actually be split to two chapters due to the amount of images), I was gonna wait until I started drawing the scenes with skwisgaar and nathan to post updates but the fic hit 6k hits and I wanted to say Thanks for Reading Thus Far, the Next Update Is Cookin’!

Here’s a few of the hell bits without big spoiling below (contains a bunch of demons holding a gremlin murderface as if he’s a spicy-yet-treasured feral kitten, as well as a slimy tongue that holds evil tomes such as a rachel ray paperback cookbook);

[nugatorysheep]

Ş̸̻͕̺́̚Ṕ̵̛̪̃Ȩ̷̳̫̿̾Ã̶̞̺̇͐͘K̷͈̿̎̇.

This damn comic is fucking A N C I E N T but as far as like, the content of it- not necessarily the art because I always hate my older art, but the presentation, what is objectively here- still feels right to me, so I'm sharing it. again

[psychotic-nonsense]

Steddie Week Day 4: Trade / Body swap

------- it starts off super rough, warning for suicidal thoughts/intent and brief descriptions of gore -------

Steve is going to die.

He went to his room for privacy. His thoughts have gotten so loud lately, headaches so deep he can hardly see, and he just needed a moment to breathe.

But then he went to sit on his bed, and fell straight through it into the Upside Down.

Panicked, Steve had scrambled to get up. A hand had reached down to help, and without thinking, he grabed it.

Then he recoiled with how cold and rotten it felt. He looked up to face its owner, and was met with Barbara Holland. Half eaten, swollen faced, glossy eyed, dead Barbara.

When he tried to crawl away from her, two hands reached down to forcefully haul him up from the ground. Hands that were soaking wet, filling the thick air with an equally suffocating metallic stench. As soon as Steve regained his footing, he whirled around and backed away from the moving corpses.

It's Billy Hargrove. Bloody, beaten, black veined Hargrove, skinny from the chunks taken out of his torso and swaying with the imbalance of it.

They began speaking, bemoaning in their haunting voices how he let them die and left them to rot, Steve the Hero running like the true coward he was. The forest came alive with the chittering of Demobats, underneath it all an unrelenting mantra. I told you to make him pay, why did I have to pay in his stead, you didn't even kill him, you lost you lost you lost and I died for nothing-

And Steve didn't hear anymore. Because he ran.

He's being Cursed, no one knows it, and he's going to die.

No matter how far he runs, the forest gets no smaller, the calls of animal and ghost alike getting no quieter. He strains, runs though he can't breathe, crying out for help. But all that does is worsen the voices. Calling him a failure, selfish, why does he get to live, why did they have to die-

Steve loses his footing. Skids forward over the rough ground further than he should, unable to stop. Then his feet fall over a sudden ledge and he isn't slowing down and his clawing hands are barely able to catch a stray hanging branch before he's dangling over a cliffside.

His breaths are heaving, and his hands tense hard to keep hold of the branch. He knows he shouldn't but the creature sounds have only gotten louder, so he looks down.

Hundreds of feet down it's a rolling mess of black vines, dark smoke, and demo-creatures. They're all lunging for him, their snarls and screeches mixing with the ghostly moans, urging him to just give in submit fall.

A sudden crack breaks through the mess of sound. Steve turns back around, sees the rock holding up his branch begin to splinter, and he's going to die.

In between his desperate panting, words fall out. Words he means that no one who matters will ever hear. "I'm-I'm sorry... I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Dustin, Nancy... R-Robin, Barb, Hargrove... I should- should've been more... I'm sorry, I can't-" He's cracking, the last of his desperation crumbling with the further breaks in the rocks. "I can't do it, I'm not... I'm not Max- Max, I'm sorry..." And as the cracks grow and his fingers slip, the tears finally fall. "I'm s-sorry, Ed... Eddie, I'm so sorry... It should've been me..."

And at the same time the crack finishes its journey, Steve lets go.

Everything quiets. Everything goes slow. It's almost freeing, knowing it's all going to be over, even though the terrified faces of his family flash through his head with every tear that falls. He doesn't want it to be over, he wants to live... but what right does he have-

Someone's calling out his name. A voice that gets his eyes to open, shocked at the blatant fear and desperation in it. Someone's falling right behind him, before him, reaching out for him.

Eddie. Eddie Munson. With all the same terror and need and pleading eyes that Steve remembers.

Steve automatically reaches back, shock urging him to beg just once more, somehow catching Eddie's hand. Immediately, he's crushed to Eddie's chest. Arms hold him tight, hands clenching hard at Steve's clothes.

Eddie feels real. Breathes and sobs like he's real. Warmth pulses through his clothes like he's real. Each brush of skin feels solid and soft and desperate and real.

So Steve holds him back. Tight, desperate to not lose him in their fall, no matter how real this may be. Shoves his face into Eddie's shoulder and closes his eyes and feels.

At least he won't go alone... At least in the end, he's not alone...

And then, like an electric shock, the world wakes up with noise. A familiar voice invades his senses, lamenting about a Mr. Crowley, as the world lights up in pure bright white behind his eyes-

Then another shock and he's gasping for air, falling from his suspension onto his bed and rolling off onto the floor.

Steve heaves, trying to regain his senses. The voices of his family surround him, echoing in his delirium, worried and scared. He breathes deep, attempting to respond... but his own voice beats him to it.

He finally opens his eyes, looking up from the ground he was kneeling over. There's no one around him, he's alone in his room.

His room that looks vaguely... fuzzy. And, come to think of it, uncomfortably wrong. There's a large mirror that rests opposite his bed that's now on the wrong wall, and the reflection is clearer than his own surroundings.

Except it's less of a reflection, and more of a portal. Through it, he sees his own body, sitting where Steve is kneeling, and staring at his hands. Shock and confusion is evident in every tremble of his fingers, and this reflection doesn't respond when someone says Steve's name.

There's something about it that feels familiar, a presence that Steve has longed to feel again for months. Steve unconsciously copies the reflection's position, and reaches out unsteadily. He wants to grab what he sees, catch the eye of it at the very least, just to know this is real like it was before.

Then another shock travels through his body, but this time, it lands hard in his fingertips and temples. He recoils sharply, face tensing up with a groan of pain.

But to this, his family reacts. Steve's eyes go wide, and he's suddenly met with reality. No fuzzy surroundings, with everyone right beside him. He shakes his shocked hand, rubs it, watches it flex and move just to convince himself. The presence from before is still there, but stronger now, like the person is right beside him.

He remembers the mirror, looks over at it, and freezes.

The others take notice, look at it too. Then they're freaking out, asking if anyone else can see it too, because it can't be real. Yet to Steve, it feels so so real.

The mirror reflects the room, but wrong. Fuzzy, without the others who are present. Where Steve's reflection should be isn't Steve. It's Eddie.

Dressed the same as he was in his final moments. Eyes as wide as the night they first found him. And that presence - the one Steve only felt during an Upside Down walk, at the front of a winnebago, in front of a trailer covered in vines - no longer feels like its beside Steve. Rather, like it's nestled right inside his heart, his brain.

Like Eddie's sharing the space there with Steve.

[misterradio]

A Town Called Panic [Panic au village] (2009, dir. Stéphane Aubier & Vincent Patar)

[lieutenantbiscute]

Shell Shocked au

Sunset brothers let’s goooooooo

[agalychnisspranneusroseus]

Raised in Amphibia AU Marcy has a very complicated relationship with Andrias. They love each other and see each other as father and daughter. He never yells at her, never raised a hand at her, yet she's so utterly terrified of him. She doesn't even know why she feels like this, but all she wants is to not lose his love and to make him proud, and feels like she's always in debt, always failing at earning her place, always desperately two steps behind, never quite pleasing him.

She gives up so much of herself to earn his love and approval... she keeps most of her less useful interests secret, she doesn't have any friends except for maybe Lady Olivia, she drops whatever she's doing, no matter how important, to go to her father when he calls her, she "forgets" about her feelings when they're inconvenient to him...

She used to wear her hair long because he liked it. He never pressured her to wear it like that, possibly didn't even notice the effects his words had on her, but he once said it's what's traditional for the Leviathan royal family, and that it looked good in her, and she was determined to keep hers as long as possible, until one day she can't handle all the stress and anxiety and she desperately cuts it all in her bedchambers. Now it's so short, barely reaching her jaw. She cried herself to sleep that night. Andrias didn't say anything about it, only that it looked nice, and Marcy feels her heart sink - she let it grow for years no matter how uncomfortable it was or how little she liked it for nothing.