#shit i need an actual name for the au

[waytooobsessedwithmcyt]

An au I've been thinking about the lore for for a while but still have no plot so instead of a story you get my ramblings:

(Not mentioned in this post but this au does deal with self harm)

There's two different types of gods, gods confined to one dimension and multidimensional gods. One dimensional gods aren't really important to this, but they involve ESMP s2 Joel, s1 Lizzie and Jimmy, Aeor and Exor, Santa Perla, etc.

The only really important ones in this au are the multi dimensional ones, which there are three types of. Watchers and Listeners like normal, but also a third type that's based on Gem's ESMP s2 character called Walkers. As the name suggests, Walkers can move between worlds to carry out the Watchers will.

There's three gods on the traffic smp, Grian is a rebel Watcher, Martyn is a Listener, and Gem is an escaped Walker. All Walkers are wolf hybrids because they're kind of seen as guard dogs to the Watchers, it's basically a cult to be honest.

Gem and Grian didn't grow up together, but after he ran away, Gem was assigned to keep an eye on him, and that's how she got on Hermitcraft. Grian pretty much took one look at her and said "is anyone going to get her therapy?" When Grian heard she was being put into the life series and that the theme of the series was basically the Watchers giving orders, he saw a chance to help her escape their grasp. The Boogeyman task was specifically made for her so see how evil they were, he didn't count on how good she was at following directions.

Martyn is a Listener, unlike Walkers, Listeners are completely separate from the Watchers. Martyn was sent to keep the life series chaotic for the purposes of making sure it ends and the people aren't stuck in the Watcher's world forever.

I'm honestly obsessed with the whole "existing just to serve other people" thing right now. For her entire immortal life, Gem was taught to completely disregard her own emotions, the idea of even considering herself, much less prioritizing herself is such a foreign concept to her.

I kinda want to rant about how Grian and Gem grew up more because they're so traumatized so if someone could conveniently send me an ask about that I would be forever in your debt /j (I'm going to make the post either way because this is my blog and I get to talk to myself on here)

[hiding-under-the-willow]

And that is what it continues to be about! Forcing that guy through therapy at the hands of cartoon animals if it is the last thing I do

[afterartist]

Caelus AU anyone 👀👀

N e ways

Uranus has always been my fave (sorry Earth, I love u too pookie) so I’m genuinely excited to see more content about him

Even if he is a dick to Neptune (,:

Bonus frames (:

[gomzdrawfr]

Your CoD x Middle-Earth idea.....

Here me out.......

Nikolai....... can be whatever tf Beorn is

Second choice would be Tom Bombadill kinda guy

Also Laswell gives me very tired Elf vibes. She's so done guys. Please. Get your shit together. What the fuck is that Price. She's like. Even more tired Elrond 😂

Wait does that make Alex Arwen-coded 😂😂😂 is farah strider now 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔

I hear you loud and clear with Laswell being Elrond KJASHDKAJH IT MATCHES PERFECTLY

hooooooooold if Alex is Arwen coded...and then Farah as Aragorn...omg....HHKJHJK THE BRAINROT-

[missmiseryguts]

slides some ideas under your door like a cat giving you a dead mouse

OH MY GOD YESSS... THIS INSORIED SOME DOODLES... GIGGLING.. AND ALSO A NEW COLOUR SCHEME IDEA

This is funny BC I have an oc who looks like Mu and her whole colour scheme is based off of a moth.. funny coincidence HSHSHS.. ALSO THE SHOOTING STAR ONE IS ADORABLE

Other shitty doodles.. I'm so gonna have to make actual little diagrams for these ones on my official little medallion variant cheatsheat. And actually make some for brewing medallion. LMFAOOO

I'll also think of more colour schemes (this is me procrastinating working on the finale this is me procrastinating working on the finale this is me procrastinating on working on the finale this is)

[dirtytransmasc]

Theon and Asha had to be separated as children for the realms sake. their bond would have been detrimental to the realm otherwise.

the bi on bi hostility would have killed everyone within a five mile radius. the big sister/little brother rivalry would have taken lives of anyone who came between them. they would kill for each other one second and attempt to murder each other the next.

they'd be the biggest shit talkers on the iron isles. the side eye would be insane. they'd gossip about someone to their face with no shame. they'd spread rumours like wildfire.

no one would be able to stop them.

[biillys]

hi au where billy and max are child stars

neil auditioning billy for a (soon-to-be) beloved family sitcom as a baby, very mary-kate and ashley vibes, maybe billy getting the role for being the only baby not to cry during the auditions, and then putting him to work from basically day dot.

his mom doing her best to run interference and make sure he gets treated right, only letting him be on set for a few hours a week and making sure either herself or neil is always with him, but the older he grows and the more screen time he gets, the more the show runners and neil try and weasel their way for more time with him.

him turning five and the show airing it's fourth season, his parents marriage being over. his mom handing neil the divorce papers and walking out, then dipping her hand into his earnings (that neil has tied up in his own name) to try and buy them a future, trying to get full custody.

the divorce being messy and drawn out and public, neil having made her out to be the villain, the fans and magazines tearing her to shreds and writing headlines trying to shame her, saying she's a heartless bitch for trying to end her own child's career just as it's starting to take off.

billy getting caught in the middle, the separation and custody battle drawing out for years, him struggling to handle the fall out of his home life coming apart at the same time as the sitcom he grew up on comes to an end.

his life being a fucking mess by the time he turns eight.

having a little bit of free time then, technically being jobless. starting to explore other hobbies and interests now that he has some time and getting more into music and sports, begging for a guitar and a surfboard for his birthday, asking neil if he can join little league.

neil promising him one better, and instead, getting him auditions for disney, telling him the only thing better than playing the guitar, is playing the guitar for disney.

turning ten and being a series regular on an already airing disney show, but the execs and directors being so impressed by him that there's talks of him getting his own show.

part of him being excited, proud, but a bigger part of him being terrified.

being so scared to tell his mom cos he knows she'll cry. she used to run her fingers through his hair to lull him to sleep, hug him close and whisper about how she never wanted this life for him, how she's so sorry.

it becoming official and him getting his own show on disney.

him getting the news exactly one week after his mom walks out for good, his dad having finally won full custody, no visitation allowed.

him feeling sick to his stomach. he never thought she'd actually leave.

he never even got to tell her his news.

it not taking long for the shine of having his own show to wear off, the few things he was excited about starting to become a hassle.

starting to resent it.

hating it.

hating the lights and the cameras and the scripts and the running lines. the early mornings and the make up and the flights and the night shoots and the interviews and the press. hating the way he's always surrounded by adults, never having had an actual friend his own age in his entire life. that all the other kids he knows are pitted to him like rivals, there being always talk about ratings and viewers and timeslots. him not knowing what a friend without it being tied up in publicity and pr.

hating the fact that he has a sister on the show, but his dad and her mom end up getting close, and suddenly he's getting a step-sister in real life.

hating the way max only has to film for x amount of hours a day because she's a kid, but he has to film for longer, and thats on top of everything else he's gotta do, very miley cyrus sharing her schedule during her hannah montana years vibes.

him becoming a household name in his younger years from the sitcom, but disney cementing his fame, him being known by what feels like the entire world by the time he's in his teens.

growing up and getting into shit, experimenting with drugs and alcohol and sex, trying to find any and every escape he can. him and max always being on the outs in private, but being the picture perfect family in public.

neil being a controlling fucker, a true momager, has kris jenner on speed dial.

rebelling in every way he can, not giving a fuck what stories or pictures of him get leaked anymore, the press and public turning against him as he gets older.

his show ending and him expecting to finally feel free, except just becos the shows over, doesn't mean anything else is. suddenly the pressure starts feeling heavier, everyone asking him what he's got lined up next, if he's gonna straighten himself out, if he's gonna finally take his career seriously.

neil riding him, telling him to forget about whatever he wants to do, and do what he tells him to do instead. him having various commitments and auditions lined up for billy already, and billy being ready to end it all.

emancipating himself at age seventeen, cutting off contact with everyone.

going off the rails and living his worst life. catching the headlines and updates of maxine mayfield: now managed by neil hargrove, and shoving down the urge to call her and tell her to run, knows she won't listen to a thing he says any way. he was nothing but an asshole and a spoilt brat no good fuck up in her eyes anyway, neil making sure they never got close.

doing his best to go down the music route, feeling physically ill at the thought of acting again, but thinking maybe music could be the answer. he always liked it better. felt more comfortable with a guitar in his hands or a piano under his fingers than cameras and lights in his face.

the music industry being just as harsh and ruthless as the entertainment industry, him not getting taken seriously by anyone he needs to be taken seriously by, everyones expectations of him being so fucking high that he knows he'll never be able to meet them.

deciding he doesn't give a fuck about anything anymore, his life's never been his own to control or have any say over anyway. signing a five year contract with a well-known label, not writing a single song of his own or playing a single instrument aside from when they want him to trot out an acoustic set, and instead singing words richer people than him wrote and performing show after show after show, flying from country to country to country, barely fucking existing. the songs becoming chart toppers, like they were written to be, and selling out stadiums.

hitting rock bottom.

getting a wake up call from max of all people, her ringing to check he's still alive. him pulling the phone away to check this is an actual call and not a hallucination. putting the phone back up to his ear, asking why she's calling.

her saying happy birthday and billy realising he's turning twenty today.

them sitting in silence for a while before max finally cracks.

her telling him his dad's an asshole. billy laughing. no shit.

them hanging up, but max calling again, a month later, then again, a few weeks after that.

billy being hungover as fuck and having no idea what country he's in, but max is in a new movie, out in cinemas now, and it's a serious drama, it's fucking emmy nominated, so he calls the front desk of whatever hotel he's staying at and asks for directions to the closest cinema and before he knows it, he's going incognito, hoodie on, and watching her on the big screen, and she's so much better at acting than he ever was.

neil must be so goddamn pleased with himself.

too bad max sounds completely miserable everytime they talk on the phone.

he calls her instead of her calling him for the first time, opening the conversation with saw your movie, how much fucking overtime did you get for all those night-shoots?

before or after your dad took his cut?

billy laughs. he can't remember the last time he laughed.

ANYWAY. i was listening to robot by miley cyrus on repeat and!!!! child stars au!!!! them both being worked to the bone!!! hating each other becos they barely know each other cos they barely know themselves!!!! getting through their childhoods battered and bruised, billy coming out the other side first, max finally catching up to him a few years later. them both, one by one, cutting their parents out!!!! max taking the big screen by storm when she grows up, neil frothing at the mouth that he can't touch her money when she cuts him out!!!! billy never signing another contract again after his record deal ends, disappearing off the face off the earth!!!! slight the lucky one by tswift vibes!!!! idk!!!!!

[orcelito]

I realized that what I Really want rn is lighthearted domestic modern au

So im coming up with yet another au

t4t best friends & roommates vashwood who are both so in love with each other but both so dumb about it. Cue accidental toddler acquisition bc Vash's cousin (Domina)(sorry Domina) died & they're looking for a relative to foster said toddler. And Chronica and Nai are certainly not the nurturing types (general idea rn of the twins still being adopted but keeping in touch with their cousins, tho Chronica and Domina are cousins too in this) SO they ask Vash and well. He is nothing if not a bleeding heart. So he ends up saying yes.

Cue Vash not rly knowing how to take care of a toddler, but it's ok Wolfwood is here. He's a Professional. & them parenting together is the push they need to actually sort out their feelings....

(Putting the rest of this under a cut lol)

Not fully decided yet, but I was thinking mid to late 20s wolfwood and early 30s vash. Vash was a computer scientist that got so tired of the soul-killing salary job that he quit his job. And now he's a local oddball, almost a local celebrity, bc he does dog walking and other odd jobs in a very ostentatious way (based off of my own local legend of a dog walker who is known and beloved for this). He's also largely in local entertainment. A hobbyist roboticist who makes his own rigs, both for the over-the-top dog stroller he uses for small dogs that don't want to walk (something I saw from my own local legend dog walker) & also for any sort of festivals or w/e he's hired for. And if he needs the extra money, he takes on freelance programming work online, but overall he's just trying to have FUN.

And then there's Wolfwood, working some low wage job just trying to make his way through part-time school. Some sort of kids-focused career. Undecided still. But he's much shorter on money than Vash, aka why they started living together a few years back. Bc Wolfwood couldn't afford rent alone and Vash was more than happy to live with him. & tbh, Wolfwood is probably the reason Vash quit his corporate job in the first place. He Inspired him... to be true to himself!!!!

.......... I could make Wolfwood work at a bubble tea shop. Finally do a bubble tea shop au like I was wanting to ages ago to vent my woes. He's fucking miserable there. Vash really likes the free drinks Wolfwood takes home, though.

Hfkshfmsbfms honestly I'm tossing a lot of things into this au idea, but I just really want something lighthearted and domestic. And also put a kid in there bc I still really love vashwood dads.

[hannie-dul-set]

[the ethics of belief, word count tracker]. i remembered i used to do these trackers HUAHAHHAHA. this had always been a fun way to share my progress + some snippets here n there. woohoo!

wc: 8k.

“You two kind of give off the same vibe.”

—but upon making that decision, upon turning your head away, your vision manages to steal a brief glance into the gap— the gap that provides a clear shot of the side of Park Sunghoon’s face, otherwise covered from the rest of his friends thanks to the book he’s using, and you immediately jerk back, narrowing your eyes at the split second change in his expression.

He looks almost offended at Jaeyun’s comment.

Why the hell would he be offended?

[arovalentines]

some bobbles (+ two unfinished things)

[plasma-studios]

The Shape of You (ao3: x)

Chapter 2: Daffodils

He wakes up.

There is a tingly feeling in his skull. When he touches his forehead, he feels small bumps near the crown; his fingers brush over the first, still blearily confused, tracing it down to his temple. 

Then he realises, then stills. He traces it again. He feels the bulb, embed in his skull, and feels it out again, uncomprehending. It is small, barely even noticeable. He would not have noticed it if it were not for the stinging pain in his skull.

Then he touches what must be the base. And when he presses down, there is pain. Striking through his head— he gasps, and instinctively lets go. 

It is when he lets go that he realises there is something growing out. It is thin, his fingers find each other around the stalk, as he feels it out in its entirety. 

He touches something soft. Almost fragile, like tear-it-apart soft. But he is gentle with it. It is growing out of his skull, after all. It is with a delayed horror that he realises what that really means. 

Blue thinks, with deepening horror, what is growing out of his skull?

He rips away the soft thing. There is a comparatively duller pain. The ache that flashes through his head is quick, lightning by comparison. 

His fingers pull away with a single yellow petal. There is a drop of blood staining it. 

The yellow blots into red. 

There is a flower growing out of his head. 

He panics silently for a few more minutes, but collects himself. This is fine. As long as he cuts out the flower stalk gently, there shouldn’t be any damage. This is just like when the boy down the street cut open a cyst and found an inch of blackberry vein. He could’ve gotten the seed lodged in before and just not noticed. 

The bulb must have been the seed.

As long as he is careful, and his hands don’t shake, he should be able to remove it. 

Blue is careful. He is still tense, but the good thing is that the tension makes his hands so stiff he barely shakes at all, when he uses the iron knife hung around his neck to cut the stalk—

The iron. He is numb. The flower falls to his feet.

The iron is rusted. The red dust sticks to his thumb, like pollen.

If the iron is rusted, then— something must have happened. Something might happen soon. There must be some Fae nearby, watching him.

He does not know where he is. He realises. He glances left, glances right, and finds himself in a meadow of the prettiest flowers. But he glances down, and thank the stars he is in a clearing. 

It is never wise to step off the path, and even if he does not know where he is, if he is on the dirt path instead of the bordering dirt hosting yellow and white flowers, he is still technically safe. Though he would be safer back home. 

But he doesn’t know which end of the path leads back.

Blue stills. 

The soil, blooming with flowers, turns to snow less than five feet away. 

He stares at the snow, and then back to the soil. He takes a step forward, watching the snowflakes glistening in the light—

“If you make it out of Winter alive, I’ll let you keep your pathetic life.”

He freezes. His hand is an inch away from where the snow starts falling. His feet, however, are still on the soil. He glances around, but the voice had come from right in his head. He touches the base of his skull, but he does not know if the icy coldness he feels there had formed with the warning. It is a memory.

The hand pressed against the base of his skull, as if to warm it, finds a second flower. He feels cold in his stomach, and reaches up. A third. A fourth. His hand flies to his knife. Snip. Snip. The flowers fall, petals gleaming in the light. When he has finally stopped gasping, he is standing in a puddle of petals. 

A cackle that slices his ears open.

Light reflected off ice, reflected off metal.

He sees himself, like prey, staring at his reflection in the gleaming knife. 

He retracts his hand. His breath has caught in his throat. He stumbles backward, away from the border of Winter. He’d escaped, then. He’d gotten out of Winter alive, so he had been left alive. 

He stares at the flowers at his feet. Flowers he had cut out of his skull. 

Oh. He hadn’t gotten out of Fae domain. He’d just broached the borders and gone further into it. 

He was in Spring. *** And then, there is the next season. The blooming of daffodils marks the beginning of Spring. Beautiful, ardent Spring. 

“Sketches of Iridescent Irises” is perhaps the most-well known depiction of its splendour. The Spring Court is beautiful, after all. The poets sing endlessly of the marvels within the Court of forever-blooms and the sweetest fruit; who could refuse the allure? The Spring Ruler himself does not refrain from indulgence. 

Come, savour the honey that will taste all the more sweet by his hand. He is not stingy with his favour. So many have been taken into the meadow already, made beautiful, made better. 

Spring is known for its beauty, not for its kindness. *** How did he get here? He lets out a breath. Was he glamourised? But he’d taken all the precautions when he’d gone to meet Dust for the last time. He’d worn red, had iron on him and had been careful not to stray from the path. He’d been leaving town by that abandoned road that took left through the forest, to the other path, right? Yes. And he’d promised to walk Dust out of town, down the fork—

There was a fork in the road. And there had been a blizzard. 

His blood runs cold.

Could they have gone right?

And what was to the right of the path? 

“Let my friend go.”

He flinches. That is his voice. He hears it again, and again.

He only makes sense of it on the second minute. He lets out a slow, unsteady breath.

Dust had been taken. And he had followed. 

He trips. He almost curses, but swallows it. Why is he on a flower path? He touches the yellow petals, everything so absurd he cannot help but be curious. He recognises the flower. It is a daffodil. Daffodils.

He reaches up and feels the stalks extending from his head. It is a halo, he realises. It is a self-grown flower crown. And now that is so absurd he wants to laugh. 

He finds a bud attached to a stalk. With his touch, the flowerbud blooms. 

He tries to press the petals together and stop it from blossoming, but the petals pull away from the centre, spreading out quite lovely, and there is one more flower growing out of his head.

The flowers grow back. They grow back in minutes. 

He is so stricken, he cannot even think.

He has to remove the seeds. The flowers grow back.

He reaches for his iron knife again, but stops. What is wrong about the flowers? Something pricks at him, some seed of longing. The flowers are so soft. Hell, the flowers under his feet fold in so easily. It would be beautiful, in some odd manner, having a flower crown poking out of his skull.

He’d woken up confused. He’d woken up, dazed, without memory.

He’d woken up with a full head of flowers.

He lets out a shattering breath. It feels like he’s been struck. A flower takes up water from the soil. What were the flowers in his skull taking up? 

He reaches up, knife in hand, and wants to cut the first seed out. The pain blooms in his head, the blood dripping, and he mops it up with his scarf. He can’t afford to leave his blood around in Fae land. Blood was used for binding. Whatever enchantment the Fae could weave with even a drop of it— he rubs religiously at the leaking blood, but he has to continue. 

He braces himself. The first seed tumbles out. 

He lets out a sigh of relief, then promptly realises he has several more seeds to go.

He allows himself the dignity of a silent swear. Then he starts cutting.

By the time he’s done, there is so much blood staining his scarf it is now a deep, bruised purple. If it were lighter, it would be just like a hyacinth.

He steps on the seeds sunken into the ground. He does not want to dwell too much on his sudden knowledge about flowers. 

Blue forces himself to get up. He can’t stay here for too long. Surely one or two Fae has already noticed the mortal passed out by the border, and if he keeps moving, it will be harder for them to catch up. 

Of course, they would just need to follow the path. He ought to leave it and find his own way through the Court.

No. That was a stupid idea. Why would he leave the path? Paths were neutral ground. He wouldn’t be trespassing for as long as he stayed on-route. That’s why the old tales always warned about wandering off, second only to giving your name away. Fae loved to exploit the unwary, luring them with sweet words into the brambles and shadows, before claiming debts for the slightest infraction with blood. 

He touches the still aching spots where he’d removed the flowers from, and sighs.

He could find the town border of Spring, he thinks. All Seasons have a border to the human world. But he finds he is unwilling. Dust, he thinks. He can’t just leave him there. 

He made a deal.

He blinks.

He made a deal for Dust. He wagered his Name, and Dust’s. 

Memories. The flowers were stealing from him his memories. 

Blue wants to travel back in time and punch his past self. But he is already very lightheaded, and he does not want to waste his strength. It’s not as if he’s going to try to forgo the deal, anyway. There’s no world where he willingly leaves him behind.

He feels the snowflake at his wrist, and swallows. One token down, three more to go. 

He has to find some way to get the Spring Ruler on his side. He’s said to have a soft spot for artists. Blue’s no artist. But if he pleads his case— the Spring Ruler was said to be the most merciful, after all. If he can just convince him of his intentions, perhaps it is really possible to earn the second token.

Blue jerks back— Ouch! His back slams into the ground. But the breath that leaves him is relieved, because he had almost stepped off the path. He looks closer, and realises the yellow blooms are not petals, but living flowers, growing right next to the path. 

The difference is almost imperceptible. He almost stepped off the path. 

He blinks and pushes himself back onto his feet. He turns, but he sees no one. He sees nothing. He tears off the shoots clinging to his clothes, and takes a minute to steady himself. 

He does not hear that chuckle. Say nothing, Blue. If you don’t acknowledge it, they’ll get bored and leave you be.

He was never good at lying. Least of all to himself.

“I know you’re there.” 

His voice wavers. His words hang in the air, and he wonders if he’s talking to no one. 

He smells something. Sweet, but thick. Roses. 

“Are you not going to come out?” He swallows. “It’s getting kind of rude.” 

The moment the word rude comes out of his mouth, there is rustling. Roses blooming thick and strong. 

“My. So impatient?”

The rustling stops. He turns. There is no one there.

And a soft laugh. Right in his ear. 

There the Fae is, looking over his shoulder. He knows better than to show his fear. And yet, he must falter for a fraction of a second, because the Fae is smiling. 

Ah. He hopes it isn’t to his detriment.

“Hello, dear. May I have your name?”

He sighs. “Nice try. No.”

“Shame. I do enjoy a good name.”

A Spring Fae. It’s obvious, the curve of his frame draped in rose-colored silk clinging to bone rather than flesh. A skeleton, like Blue. Bone gleaming like ivory. A single rose tucked behind his ear.

The Fae’s eyes linger on Blue’s skull. Pink pupils in the hollow sockets. His mouth stretches into a laugh, voice as lilting as birdsong.

The sight of him is breathtaking. And it feels so wrong.

“It would’ve been a beautiful crown.”

He’s already known this. It doesn’t stop his stomach from twisting. 

The ache in his skull is nothing if he doesn’t make it back. “Let me pass, please.”

“Pass?” The Fae makes a soft titter. “I never stopped you, did I? You’re the one lingering. Perhaps you like the way my roses smell.”

“No.” And it might just be his bad luck that the scent lifts just enough to make that moment a lie, the smell not quite as overpowering as before, the smile deepening to reveal teeth. “Not really. It’s sweet. But too sweet for me.”

“Ah. Pity.” His lie has been forgiven, or so he hopes. He has enough on his plate. “But are you sure you know which way to go?”

“The path.” The path was neutral ground. Step off, and he would be lost. 

“But surely you’re looking for something? Wandering aimlessly by the path won’t do you much, dear. Why don’t you tell me what you’re looking for and I’ll find you a shortcut?”

Ah, so definitely altruistic. He knows what he wants. To get Dust home. To do that, he has to get the charms. To get the Spring charm, he needs to meet the Spring Ruler. 

He has no idea how to do that.

“Are you certain, little skeleton?” The Fae presses, taking a step closer. As smoothly as silk unfurling. “Paths can twist and tangle.”

He carefully looks over the path. 

“How do I get to the Spring Ruler?”

"Ah.” The Fae hums. “How curious. A little brash.”

“How do I get to him?” He has to worry about that later. 

The Fae smiles. “Come with me. I’ll take you to him.” 

He sighs. Take my corpse to him, you mean. Or some other loophole left in the laughably vague offer.

“Come now. I don’t think you made that deal with the Winter King just to fail at the first Court, did you?”

He freezes. Slowly, he looks back at the Fae.

He traces their amused gaze to the snowflake at his wrist. He curses, or he almost does, before swallowing the curse and tentatively asking, “How long has it been since?”

“A few hours.” The Fae is still smiling.

“News travels that fast?” 

“I happen to know someone in the Winter Court. I was very curious about the mortal they chased to the border. I almost returned you, but their King ordered them to leave you be once you crossed. That’s all. Though I suspect there will be many more Fae in the know very soon.” 

“Because you’ll tell them?” He asks wearily.

“No secrets in a Court, dear. Now, where to find the Spring Ruler? I’ll grant this favour for you, and you’ll owe me one in exchange.” 

“No deal.” A favour to a Fae? Might as well give them his Name. 

“I wouldn’t leave it in the open, that would be unfair.” The Fae’s smile only deepens. The playful edge makes him want to bash his skull in. “Oh, come now.” They tilt their head. “If you want my help, you will need to give for it.”

He steps forward, shoes scuffing against the dirt. Behind him, the Fae’s laughter echoes softly. 

“You won’t be able to find him on your own. And Fae can’t lie.”

Yes. That’s true. Fae can’t lie. 

He turns. “What kind of favour would I owe? I’m not giving up my name.”

The Fae makes a disappointed sigh. “I can’t ask for your name.”

“I think that’s enough, Lust.”

The Fae stills. Their pink pupils dilate. The Fae— Lust takes a half step back. ( Lust fits the Fae to a tee, he thinks.)

“Clever lure. Pity I was just close enough to render it obsolete.” 

The voice rings clear and resonant.

Lust’s smile falters. A noise like a crinkle.

“Turn around, mortal. Are you going to make a deal with me with your back turned?”

For a moment, there is silence. Lust’s gaze darts to Blue, then back to behind him. 

“Another time, then.” He steps away. Blue blinks, and they are gone.

Blue has to turn. He doesn’t want to, but he has to. He feels the weight of the Spring Ruler's gaze, pulling at him like he’s a single leaf on a branch in a storm. He takes a breath, slow and deliberate, and then he turns fully.

He meets eyes with the Spring Ruler.

He blinks. Yellow blots into orange. A square into an oval.

“You want something from me, yes?”

The Spring Ruler is also skeletal. He thinks of Nightmare, the only other Fae Ruler he’s met. He would’ve been underwhelmed if not for the changing eyelights. 

Orange into purple. But a spiral, this time. “Gonna need an answer, Blue.”

“How do you know my name?” He has to ask, if only to stall. He notices the flower they have clutched between their phalanges. They are plucking petals from a flower— and Blue is relieved that he is no longer able to name it. 

“Why the concern? Would you like to give me it?” The ever-changing eyelights twinkle. 

He resolutely shakes his head. And then thinks, why the hell not? “I need a token from Spring for a deal I made with Nightmare.”

The Spring Ruler’s bony fingers twitch slightly. Their gaze locks onto Blue.

“Oh? Tell me about this deal.” 

“Long story. And I’m on a time limit.” 

“We can walk.” Their smile is not soft, but it feels more real. It does not help the prick of annoyance. “Then we’ll have time.”

He does not have time. A walk wouldn’t take that long. But he doesn’t know where they want to lead him, and he does not want to find out.

He needs to change the topic. He hedges his bets. “You know me, but I don’t know you. Isn’t that unfair?” 

Their laughter is harsher. Not soft like Lust’s. Whatever softness there is is edged by something rough. It’s some rough thing being ripped away. peels of sound echoing somewhere in his head. Unhesitant. Rippling. But he drinks it in, the warm sound. 

“You would make a good Fae. Most folk call me Ink.”

Blue doesn’t move. “Okay, Ink. What will it take to get a charm from you?”

Ink gazes upon him. And he reaches.

He flinches. He catches Ink’s palm, pressed against his temple. The dulling pain under his fingertips. He wants to draw back, but the now green eyelights are staring at him, pinpricks hardly visible in the hollow sockets and the pain is gone.

He blinks. The ache in his head is gone. He reaches up, and pulls away. 

There is no blood sticking to his fingers. He touches his head. Nothing. Not even the wounds left behind when he’d cut out the seeds. 

“Walk with me,” Ink repeats. He just healed him. 

“Appreciate it.” He doesn’t try to hide the sullenness in his tone. With a sinking feeling in his stomach as he counts down the days to the Winter Solstice, he steps into place right beside him. 

[spoilthevines]

my brain has chosen to combine two of my biggest hyperfixations of recent years and i am now sitting on a beautiful beautiful concept for an rdr2 au set in the 90s hardcore scene in california*

no but imagine dutch as a manager of a diy hardcore band in the age of every major label suddenly looking to sign the next nirvana and promising the world to bands only then to fuck them over beyond belief and try to make them marketable according to what the labels think is marketable (make micah the pushy label a&r)

mix that with the rise of nu metal and the toxic cis het masculinity of it all and how certain bands literally split up because they couldn't handle their queerer weirder audiences get fucked up at festivals by the nu metal bros

make arthur the frontman (javier is lead guitar, john is bass, bill is fhe drummer) who is very uncomfortable with all this on multiple levels

and i haven't settled on the plot wheels yet but charles is either hired into this as a tech (even though he's a really fucking good musician), OR arthur used to do rhythm guitar as well but now they want him to focus more on performance and "arthur will you stop hiding behind that guitar of yours already" and charles is a session musician they hired for a tour to play arthur's rhythm guitar parts

and we are really fucking golden

don't even get me started about how easy would it be to borrow from larry livermore + green day biography to explain why arthur and john have been around for so long

or on the opportunities for all the side characters (o'driscolls and colm easily morph into a version of epitaph records and brett gurewitz and rancid which makes it easy to draw another link between brody dalle and sadie)

* not in the historic precision sense but in a vague rockstar sense because i have no intention of actually being accurate or figuring out how these characters would fit into the existing dynamic of the scene

[twpsyn-who]

Soulmates AU in which when your soulmate is in a situation that can result in their death you get to see through their eyes. Like, I don't know how to explain this- it kind of flashes between what you see and what your soulmate sees. You know those edits where there's a scene going on and there's another one faded in the background happening at the same time? Similar to that. The idea is that you get to see what your soulmate sees too, on top of what you're seeing.

Now, this AU but JeanMarco. With Marco asking the others where's Jean, just for him to start seeing a corpse right in front of his eyes not even a second after asking. Seeing through Jean's eyes as he's trying to get hold of that gear and stuff. And once Jean's safe, once it clicks that you know his best friend is his soulmate Marco can't wait for them to graduate so he can you know tell him that.

Then, you know. That happens. And Jean is so fucking confused because he keeps seeing Annie crying, looking down on him. Only when Annie starts getting off the gear, when his soulmate starts moving around trying to get away he starts panicking, starts moving around faster than before. And maybe he's too late. Or maybe he shows up in time and kills the titan. I don't know. That's not where I'm trying to get, but to the second option AKA Marco pulling an UNO reverse on Annie because he's a smart sneaky bastard like that and being like 'Hey you can't kill me, my soulmate will know it was you' which makes her stop trying to take off his gear. Reiner keeps telling her to do it, Bertholdt keeps yelling about that titan coming closer, but Annie... she has seen things, at some point. Flashes of moments that weren't hers, happening right in Trost- right in that moment. And she didn't give them too much thought until that moment, until it got confirmed that it has nothing to do with her titan powers.

'What do you mean by that?' she asks, because she needs to know more. Because she wants to know more. And Marco starts explaining how it works. Tells them that he has found his soulmate, that they will put all the blame on them for his death. Reiner doesn't believe him, keeps insisting that he's playing them around - he, and anyone born and raised on Marley, has never heard of something like that before, it doesn't exist - but Annie tells him to shut up and to let Marco go. Cue to the plot of any fic in which Marco doesn't straight up die after finding up their secret.

Anyway I don't know man, just,,, We need more soulmate aus for JeanMarco. That's an order.

[barbreypilled]

also like if ur going to publish derivative fiction im sorry but it has to be good. u actually have to do something interesting with it u can’t just google a bunch of tropes, make the characters do them and call it a day like at that point just do fic prompts I guarantee it will be better in the long run bc u won’t have to inevitably get cancelled for review bombing books that ppl actually had to use their brains for

[echo-bouquet]

Okay, so the one time I'm not really trying I actually draw a decent piece of artwork? Fine, be that way.

Anywho, meet Ash of Blue Maiden, one of the many Links from my still-as-of-yet-unnamed-AU. One of the first I designed and finished, and one of my favorites to play around with.

(Also I don't consider this drawing to be a good rep of his personality, this was just the best drawing I made so far)

[thawthebeez]

me watching the 254th haikyuu tiktok skit on my fyp today