#since we already have an au where he has mind control powers this is a possible alternative

[fictionadventurer]

I don't have ideas for a full-fledged Psmith superhero AU, but I do think that Psmith should have "ghosting" powers. Able to phase himself/others/objects through other solid matter. Which allows him to literally throw intruders through the window and hide the shoe literally inside the chimney.

[vicmillen]

Where's the Justice League?

So I been thinking about an AU with a merged setting. You know, where DP happened inside of DC multiverse.

Specifically, I've been thinking about the JL and the other capes, what's Danny's opinion on them and what would keep them out from the Amity clusterfuck.

Here's some thoughts:

At first it just didn't cross the trio's minds that they could or should call the JL.

Sure there's a literal portal to the afterlife in Fenton's basement, and sure there's dangerous beings coming out of it that endangered people's lives. But hey they're handling it! The whole thing is kinda sort of their fault anyways, and the three of them are gonna try their best to hide it and deal with it on their own.

They are teenagers after all.

Then comes the GIW, and Vald. Both of them makes a solid attempt at locking up the ghosty news within Amity. For different purposes, sure, but the results marks the foundation of a solid media blackout.

Fine by the trio, actually, they really don't need more attention being put on Phantom. The less people knows about Phantom, the safer Danny is. Since he's still hiding from his parents and they really don't want to find out if those threats are real or not.

As the danger level ratchets higher and higher though, it's inevitable that the JL would cross their minds. They are teenagers, after all. This world threatening bullshit is starting to get out of their depths, and they do know it. They may make questionable decisions sometimes but they're not complete morons.

Except, they also knows how dangerous it could get if the supers got involved. For all they are teenagers struggling with highschool, they do know what they're doing, mostly. Team Phantom knows how their enemies function, what powers are to be expected, and what equipments is needed to counter those. They knows what to look out for, and what to do when stuff goes wrong. Most of the time anyways.

They don't have the same confidence in the Justice League.

Which sounds like a ridiculous thing to say, but hey. It's a matter of specialization, not absolute power. Besides, with the power and influence the JL have, they really can't risk any of them getting overshadowed.

They've all seen the aftermath of a mind controlled superman.

There is unfortunately, also the uncertainty of if the JL would even be on their side. Sure, the JL sounds reasonable and accepting enough to see through the GIW's bullshit, but that's just another thing that they can't afford to lose the gamble. The Fenton parents and the GIW is already hot on their heels, they can't afford the Justice League hunting Phantom for sports too.

All in all, it took a depressingly short amount of time for Team Phantom to start actively keeping themselves under JL's radar. The firewall around all things Amity gets reinforced, several times, and even the other locals learned to keep the ghosts to themselves.

What happens in Amity, stays in Amity.

So for almost three years Team Phantom deals with their own problems. Without outside help, but also without outside interference.

P.S.

For the sake of this setting, JLD has formed but isn't public knowledge yet, at least not until after the DP related plot concluded. So Team Phantom wouldn't have known to ask for them at that point. Also the whole timeline is completely made up and stretched out as I see fit. Canon is but the sandbox we play in, and it's mashups anyway so.

There are more of this au that I'm contemplating. We'll see if this gets a part two. Maybe about what caused team Phantom to leave Amity.

[owl-falls-au-gravity-falls]

Hi! More questions about your au :D

1. How does Fiddlestan happen in this au? Will there be an intervention from the Hexsquad (+Mabel and probably Ford)

2. How does Eda’s Requirm episode go? Will Stan be with Eda and Raine, or be with King and luz

3. How will Ford find out about the curse?

Oki thanks byeeeee!

IN ENGLISH

Thank you so much for asking, I love answering your questions!

1. How does Fiddlestan happen in this au? Will there be an intervention from the Hexsquad, Mabel and probably Ford?

In this AU, Fiddleford and Stan meet during the events of the final season of The Owl House, here, Fiddleford was helped by Stanford (driven by guilt over losing Stan), and Fiddleford was gradually restored through therapy to a functioning man and helper in the lab.

Their dynamic would be similar to the comics where Stan and Fidds look for how to open the portal to bring Ford back, here, Fidds would be reluctant to help Stan, but when the Hex Squad uses the power of emotional manipulation, Fidds agrees and from there, everything goes naturally.

Of course, the dynamic between the two has so much chemistry that Stanford notices, is shocked by the situation and doesn't know if he wants them to be together or not, since the chaos could be caused by either of them.

And of course, the children would help make this couple a reality, especially Luz and Mabel.

2. How does "Eda's Requiem" episode go? Will Stan be with Eda and Raine or will he be with King and Luz?

For me, personally, I think Stan should be with the kids, more than anything because he is also one of the most important people for Eda, he is her best friend and accomplice in crime, but Eda knows that after hiding the truth about the portal from her, he will not want to be with her and will want to go home, just like Luz and King.

Besides the fact that I really like the idea of Luz seeing Stan as her foster father or life mentor, it would be nice to do some scenes where Stan and Luz share weird anecdotes and chat, or see them training their magic, with King it would be something similar, the three of them feel like they must return to a home that doesn't feel like their home, but at least they have each other.

And clearly Stan would know about the nice surprise King had for Eda, what he didn't know is that King saw Stan as a father too, much less that he also had papers lined up, and since he's still technically married to Eda, the rest is history.

Let's just say that tears were not lacking that day...

3. How will Ford find out about the curse?

Now we come to the most delicate question...

It would be during Halloween night, during the events of chapter 1 of the third season of The Owl House, where Hunter is possessed and the children begin to fight against Belos.

Stan would be filled with anger and helplessness to see one of his children suffering something so horrible, and of course, he would not allow something like that.

And everyone already knows what happens when Eda gets angry... So what happens next is logical...

When Ford first sees Stan's transformation, for a moment he thinks he's turning into a werewolf, but when he sees the way Stan has control over his movements and dodges Belos' attacks, he understands that this isn't something new, much less something like a normal werewolf curse, it's something more...

During a moment of the battle, Stan manages to get close to Belos/Hunter, and manages (somehow) to make Belos transfer into his body, perhaps Belos thought that controlling him would be easier, But he was wrong...

Stan had already faced his curse head on, facing Bill in his own mind, so facing Belos was not difficult.

"The only wrinkled zombie harrases my family is me!"

En español

¡Muchas gracias por preguntar, amo responder a sus preguntas!

1. ¿Cómo sucede Fiddlestan en este au? ¿Habrá una intervención del Hexsquad, Mabel y probablemente Ford?

En este AU, Fiddleford y Stan se conocen durante los eventos de la última temporada de The Owl House, aquí, Fiddleford fue ayudado por Stanford (impulsado por la culpa de haber perdido a Stan), y Fiddleford se fue recuperando con terapia hasta ser un hombre funcional y ayudante en el laboratorio

Su dinámica sería similar a los cómics donde Stan y Fidds buscan como abrir el portal para traer a Ford de vuelta, aquí, Fidds estaría reacio a ayudar a Stan, Pero cuando el Hex Squad usa el poder de la manipulación emocional, Fidds accede y desde ahí, todo marcha de forma natural

Por supuesto, la dinámica entre ambos tiene tanta química que Stanford se da cuenta, está sorprendido por la situación y no sabe si quiere que estén juntos o no, ya que el caos podría ser causado por cualquiera de los dos

Y claro, los niños ayudarían a hacer está pareja una realidad, en especial, Luz y Mabel

2. ¿Cómo va el episodio de "El Requiem de Eda"? ¿Stan estará con Eda y Raine o estará con King y Luz?

Para mí, personalmente, creo que Stan debería estar con los niños, más que nada porque el también es una de las personas más importantes para Eda, es su mejor amigo y cómplice del crimen, pero Eda sabe que después de ocultarle la verdad sobre el portal, no querrá estar con ella y querrá volver a casa, igual que Luz y King

Además de que me gusta mucho la idea de que Luz vea a Stan como su padre postizo o mentor de la vida, sería lindo hacer algunas escenas donde Stan y Luz comparten anécdotas raras y charlan, o verlos entrenando su magia, con King sería algo similar, los tres sienten que deben volver a un hogar que no siente como su hogar, Pero al menos se tienen entre si

Y claramente Stan sabría de la bonita sorpresa que King tenía para Eda, lo que no sabía es que King veía a Stan como un padre también, mucho menos que también tenía papeles preparados, y ya que técnicamente sigue casado con Eda, el resto es historia

Digamos que las lágrimas no faltaron ese día...

3. ¿Cómo se enterará Ford de la maldición?

Ahora vamos con la pregunta más delicada...

Sería durante la noche de halloween, durante los eventos del capitulo 1 de la tercera temporada de The Owl House, dónde Hunter es poseído y los niños empiezan a pelear contra Belos

Stan estaría lleno de ira e impotencia por ver a uno de sus niños sufriendo algo tan horrible, y claro, no permitiría algo así

Y ya todos saben que pasa cuando Eda se enoja... Así que lo que pasa después es algo lógico...

Cuando Ford ve por primera vez la transformación de Stan, por un momento llega a pensar que se estaba volviendo un hombre lobo, Pero cuando vio la forma en la que Stan tenía control sobre sus movimientos y esquivaba los ataques de Belos, entendió que esto no era algo nuevo, mucho menos algo como una maldición de hombre lobo normal, era algo más ...

Durante un momento de la batalla, Stan logra acercarse a Belos/Hunter, y logra (de alguna manera) hacer que Belos se traspase a su cuerpo, tal vez Belos pensó que controlarlo a el sería más fácil, pero se equivocó...

Stan ya había enfrentado su maldición frente a frente, encaro a Bill en su propia mente, así que enfrentar a Belos no fue difícil

"¡El único zombie arrugado que atormenta a mi familia soy yo!"

[cherryfennec]

In the bad end au who would've the strongest to the weakest in scale of power out of the trio

So the answer could depend on the circumstances we take into account. For the purpose of this ask let's base it off the worst thing they could possibly do:

Dahlia (The Queen) is the weakest of the trio. I'm not saying she isn't powerful, the forgotten type of magic that she uses is rather formidable in the wrong hands...like hers. It can be a scary experience to fall. victim to her schemes and with a mind like hers even the weakest tool can become deadly. Unfortunately in this scenario she looses to the other two.

Now these two other guys could be swapped around easily, and each has its own reason why.

Aster (Star Bowser) is already very strong physically, and now with the Star Power, one of the most feared things in the land, he becomes a scary powerhouse. Let him charge it up for too long and you can say bye bye. But that's the catch, charging requires time. Unfortunately for Bowser it takes quite long to get a large amount, and at some point the influx even slows down to his misery. Just getting a decent amount can be sometimes tricky. It's also worth remembering that he isn't the smartest and falls easily victim to his temper...

Now we have Lux (Super Dimentio/Chaos Luigi). The magic Dimentio brings onto the table is matched by Dahlia, and power wise theres a part of the spectrum where he'd probably loose to Aster in terms of power. But what if we took into account the Chaos Heart? Luigi knows nothing about the artifact except the stuff Dimentio tells him, and Dimentio well. He isn't 100% certain either. It makes him more powerful yes, his attacks become stronger yes, but what about stuff purely from that dark magic? If the rumour of being to create worlds with it from scratch is true just what does that entail? Just what is out of range and what isnt? And how to control it? In this case he'd be considered the most powerful, since if we lined everything up in the best way possible they could indeed summon The Void. In other circumstances? Ehhhhh.....

I hope this makes sense!

[kirbsmakemesmile]

Ok so like I said I made some changes to my gijinkaverse au just a tiny itty bit, it kind of alters it a little but yeah so just like yeah

And again slight TW for g0re and some body horror

Don’t mind any typos teehee

This is the part we will be talking about

So this is not correct anymore ok (he’s still 25 though so that did not change)

Initially, yes nightmare does give Mk a vision and tells him who he is like how he’s a monster and yeah, but Meta knight doesn’t leave. Nightmare instead hypnotizes him and turns him evil for a small period of time (think back to Jecra)

So he’s basically forced him to destroy his home base and some people he worked with closely as well. The first target he made Mk go to was Arthur and his youngest brother Lancelot, but Mk couldn’t do it, he used all the power he could to prevent himself from hurting his family, and ended up just standing in front of their room staring at them. Long story short, Mk destroys their entire village (their home base is a small village like society where they plan attacks, and Arthur is the leader)

After destroying their village, he finally snaps out of it and sees everything he’s done. Everyone is gone, including his family, some people escaped and some did not, and it was all his doing. Nightmare then shows up to him and tries to convince him to join his side, and uses this to show Mk the power that he has, and how much stronger nightmare could make him.

But Mk refuses, he sees that all of this is his fault and he feels such immense guilt, and concludes that this happened because he saw nightmare, so he decides never to see again. (Tw for g0re here) Nightmare tries to hypnotize him again, but Mk looks away, grips his face, and like tears it off basically (it’s like really sad and scary and i cry because he already has an adrenaline rush, and nightmares’ control over him physically changed his body by giving him an extra pair of wings and making his fingers into like claws, so he completely blinds himself out of the sheer guilt and just the fact that he doesn’t want to do evil anymore)

So nightmare leaves him there and tells him his decision was stupid, because either way he’s still a criminal, and by not joining him he has no one now and I hate nightmare so much he’s so evil and I can’t stand him

The rest of the story stays the same though, he gets rescued by Jecra and Garlude who came to look for survivors, and everything else happens too.

I think the only other thing that changes slightly is how he’s viewed in the second war.

So the leadership in the 2nd war was extremely unorganized and they were willing to have anyone on their team, they just needed people that could fight. So they didn’t care if you were a skilled soldier or a blind deranged criminal, they just needed the numbers. So this obviously caused some controversy in the GSA itself, which nightmare was able to take advantage of. The GSA knew how controversial it was to have him there, but they knew he was an extremely skilled fighter, so they kept his participation extremely quiet, not a lot of people knew he was there, and in return , they sent him on extremely difficult and dangerous tasks to take advantage of his skills. And when his friends didn’t make it, and he was directly responsible for their deaths, it only made him look worse. So it was a vicious cycle where he oils continue being sent on the extremely dangerous missions, and almost dying, until the war was finally over.

So yeah it’s pretty bleak, but I think it makes more sense than before so yeah!

Here’s a wip of how Mks double wings would look while unfolding since you read this all 😊 (tw body horror)

He had to rip a hole in his shirt before

Okay THANKS FOR READING!!

[noelle666]

Rogue Trader AU - Janus (a little piece)

So, I need to strart writing the story based on these AU ideas since some scenes are already appeared in my head and need to be put on paper. The problem is... I can't find words. The only thing I can drag out of myself right now is a little scene which I can see clearly and it takes place somewhere in the middle of the story. So, maybe if I write it down it'll help with the rest of writing.

Ok, here we go. Again, it is an AU universe, Noelle is not a Rogue Trader, she was and still is an Ecclesiarchy priestess who ended up on Janus and lives there for several months as a member of Vistenza Vyatt's retinue (it will be explained later (I hope I'll make a proper explanation) why she wanted the young priestess to stay).

***

The young woman was sitting on a chair reading her notes, trying to remember all what she learned from Master van Calox. It was indeed easier to understand principles of regicide when you have a board and a partner patient enough to spend enough time for a lesson. No matter how good and detailed all the explanations and illustrations look on paper of a textbook, theory intertwined with practice is more convenient than raw theory. Fire was slowly dancing in a decorative hearth, the day was coming to an end. Suddenly someone knocked at the door; Noelle wasn't expecting visitors and hesitated at first, but stood up and went to the room's entrance. She opened the door and saw Heinrix: he looked even more serious than usual.

"Ma..."

The young priestess wanted to greet the interrogator and asked what brough him here at this evening hour, but the man pressed a finger to his lips commanding to not say any word. Van Calox entered theroom, closed the door and took an envelope out of a pocket, he handed it to Noelle and started waiting, looking at her with a gaze of his cold steel eyes. The priestess looked at a piece of paper on which she read words "Read. Silently. Now"; she felt this was a serious matter if a member of the Inquisition asks, no, demands to do something, so she opened the note and started reading.

"Noelle,

First of all, forgive me for approaching you so suddenly and without warning - the matter is serious, and there is really not much time. I must ask for your cooperation tomorrow evening. I cannot share many details but my investigation has led me to a conclusion: all cases of strange deaths and dissapearances are related to the Archenemy's activity, and I know where exactly is the source. Although, with all these knowledge I cannot act openly since I am alone here and my collegues, I am afraid, won't arrive in time, so I want to attack a snake while it suspects nothing with a single accurate strike. And here I need you.

We have to put on a little show to confuse the culprit. Again, I cannot tell you much, but to make everything look belivable I'll have to break rules of decency and violate your personal boundaries, for which I must ask your forgiveness. I will not hurt you and will not do anything terrible, you may be assured, the situation will be under control. When the play gets to its culmination I will say to you one word, only one word, which you MUST obey.

I believe you understand the situation will indeed be dangerous, hence I am asking you and not commanding. I wouldn't put you at risk if I wasn't sure and calculated all possible outcomes with all possible variations of actions. I give you a choise: if you join me, burn this note right away in front of me. If not, give the paper back to me. Yes, you can decline my request (it is a request, not an order), but I am hoping you will join me for your little role can help me a lot".

Inqusitors never "ask", if they tell you to do anything you must do it and even more. And yet Noelle could've said "no"... no, she could have not. She'd seen with her own eyes what demonic power can do with a person, how a mind can be corrupted and how light leaves human's soul. A terrifying view which no one would've wanted to witness, a view which makes you think how weak you are since your mortal hands cannot bring any help to those who got under control of dark Warp powers. The priestess folded a note in half, she came close to a hearth and threw the paper - fire swallowed this little meal quickly, chewing it and turning into a small pile of black weightless ash. Noelle turned to Heinrix: she noticed a little sigh of relief, a shade of tension left the face of the interrogator. The man gave a short nod, he turned around and left the room with no word.

So, tomorrow evening then. Let The Emperor guide them and help them with their uneasy mission.

[toastedcatbread]

Sorry, but "It's an AU" and "I can't please everyone" are two complete cop-out statements. They do not make a piece of fiction immune to criticism. It's not the reader's fault for trying to apply real life to writing at times because that's what we draw upon when we consume a piece of fiction. It's like asking someone to keep an open mind to rape, just because it isn't happening to someone real. We read because we care about what happens to the characters. The dynamic is dysfunctional and upsetting because it isn't that healthy, and maybe it's because I'm autistic but I can't understand where everyone comes from when they say 'Sephiroth is being so cute' when he takes an unwilling person (I went back, he was 9 YEARS OLD) who was a child, had no idea what he signed up for, or that he was signed up for anything at all, and made into a sex slave an adult. I'm willing to concede that Sephiroth is too powerful to resist him, but at some point Sephiroth even gives him the power to withstand the constant abuse so it's EASIER for him to abuse him. And he does so, once again, without Cloud's consent to his own bodily autonomy. Sephiroth isn't being a good person, therefore Cloud shouldn't be falling in love with him. Even Cloud tries to appease him with other gifts and offerings to mitigate some of the embarrassingly poorly, through sweet and endearing gestures that would be acceptable to a human being, but Sephiroth just continues to abuse him and taunt him while he does so. And people think it's sooo hot. It isn't. Sorry, not sorry.

Have you considered that dubcon and power dynamics might be a trigger for you? Anon, if you have that boundary, then you need to be responsible enough to avoid media that has that kind of material. Asking writers to curtail their writing to your wants and needs is unreasonable and unfair.

Sephiroth is a villain. He has manipulated Cloud multiple times in canon and appears to continue to do so in Rebirth. His whole shtick is to taunt and abuse Cloud whenever he shows up on screen (no matter what universe), and Sephiroth isn't sorry about it.

In the story, Sephiroth is a god. He doesn't care about humans and doesn't give a rat's ass that Cloud was 9 when he saved his life. All he cares about is that Cloud owes him and sex is how he wants Cloud to repay him. Saying "Cloud shouldn't be falling in love with him" is a moot point, since physical intimacy often creates a very strong emotional bond between humans, even if they don't want it to. Would it be abusive in real life? Sure. But that's applying human logic to a god in a fictional story. Sephiroth is a god and doesn't understand it the same way Cloud does.

At the Altar doesn't appear to be the piece of fiction you're looking for. It's fiction and people can decide how to interpret the character's actions however they want. If they think it's hot? Well, it's fiction. If they think it's abusive? Well, it's fiction.

Even without fanfiction, Sefikura already has a lot of dysfunctional and unhealthy themes. Bodily autonomy is basically non-existent, considering Sephiroth canonically mind-controls Cloud to bring him the Black Materia. Sephiroth is not a nice person in canon (after Crisis Core, anyway) and saying that he is or that he should be respecting Cloud's autonomy is outright laughable.

If people think it's cute or hot or sexy, that's on them to decide. If you don't, then that's on you to decide. But don't go around deciding for other people that "it shouldn't be cute (or hot)" and saying that you're hoping I "consider wrapping up the story soon" because it's not what you want to read. If you don't like it, then don't read it and move on.

[alexanderlightweight]

I was going through all of the writings that you have posted and rediscovered the Kelpie au. So if you have more of it that has not been posted, can we have another taste? I just love it

oh gosh so most of kelpie!au hasn't been posted because it's at like 20k and it's mostly smut.

so i'll have to post to ao3 and post links here probably

here we go! i picked something some that file with Cat & Alec since i wasn't sure if you wanted nsfw/sfw and i've only posted sfw for that fic so far i think

its finally named undertow because @saeths insisted

lumine

-

Brunch relaxes again and Cat thinks she could get used to this again, seeing her family happy and being happy with them

Later, when it’s more night than day and Ragnor has convinced Magnus to follow him to his library, Cat sits alone with Alec. 

“Tell me?” She asks quietly, hoping he will. Normally she would ask Magnus directly, but she never wants to put that look on his face again. 

“I’m not really sure I understand it. It doesn’t make sense to me. I mean I don’t know why Magnus does most things.” Alec pauses and takes a slow sip of his drink. .

“I’ve been mostly eating the foods Magnus is introducing me to, but it’s not quite the same. Most of it is delicious but it’s not filling. So he hunted me a meal, took me to a lovely little grotto and insisted on watching.

“It didn’t go well?” Cat asks in surprise. “Magnus has never been squeamish.” 

She, Ragnor and Magnus have all participated in the deep rituals. They’ve all eaten still beating hearts and cracked the bones of the Elders to suck down the marrow and claim the power in them. 

Alec scoffs and shakes his head. “No, he was actually pretty excited at first. And then I got about three bites in and got a mouthful of ash for the fourth. He disintegrated the body and dragged me home and then kissed the taste of blood from my mouth for hours before he let me sleep.”

Cat blinks. 

This is not the problem she was expecting.

“He tried to explain it. Something about how he can’t stand me being so intimate with anyone else.” Alec actually snorts, a dry sound, “apparently, even if it’s a corpse. Which is normally fine. Except eventually I’ll need to eat and it’s going to upset him. He’s already upset that he ruined my meal. He just also doesn’t regret it, which upsets him more. I think maybe he’s not used to having so little control of himself.”

Cat blows out a breath and looks across to where Ragnor and Magnus disappeared.  

“I’ll look into it, see if I can’t find something that will help keep you healthy until Magnus figures it out.” 

Alec shrugs, like it doesn’t really matter to him. 

“I don’t really mind. Magnus is the one who is really suffering.”

“Oh?” Cat asks with a raise of her brow and Alec grins, a mischievous little grin that just oozes smugness.

“No more blowjobs for him. I can’t control my instincts when I’m this hungry and neither of us want to risk his cock. He’ll break and find a way around it before I get too hungry. 

Cat laughs and shakes her head, relief flooding through her.

“Alright then. I’ll send over some tinctures and supplements. They’ll keep you healthy until this gets worked out. Ragnor and I will intervene if needed.” And they would, because to keep Magnus safe and sane, they needed Alec healthy and whole. 

Alec looks at her carefully and then he smiles, his-too-sharp-too-many teeth gleaming and Catarina remembers suddenly that he too is a predator.

And he chose to be prey. 

“Thank you, Catarina. But we’ll be fine. Magnus will figure out his instincts sooner or later. I’m very good at waiting.”

There is a wealth of hidden meaning and Cat nods, looking at Alec with a new light. 

“Call me Cat.” She offers, the first time she has and Alec nods, respectfully acknowledging the change. 

He reaches out and presses his knuckles to hers gently, “I’m Magnus’ Alexander, call me Alec.”

Magic sparks between them and Cat smiles as the magic of names settles smoothly between them.

Alec withdraws his knuckles and raps them against the second, empty glass with a sigh.

“I liked this one. Which one was it?”

She summons a new one and tells him. Alec takes a moment to stare at the glass in betrayal before he picks it up with a sigh.

“Magnus is going to be obnoxious, just so you know.” He warns and Cat smiles at the dry humor in his tone.

“Oh?”

“Yeah. I  liked the barley tea.” Alec rolls his eyes, “Magnus is going to take this as inarguable proof that he’s right.  Next thing I know, he’ll be trying to make me oats and molasses again. And I don’t think I’ll get away with accidentally knocking it off the balcony this time.” He gives her a morose, pathetic look. “He put up wards the third time I accidentally knocked food off. Apparently it landed on some mundane and nearly killed him. But Magnus was more worried about why I was being so clumsy than the mundane. I told him it was allergies and now he won’t even let me go to the park without warding me for protection… against pollen.” 

And Cat laughs. She’s still laughing when Ragnor and Magnus rejoin them. The pair are red cheeked and bright eyed and Cat knows they’ve had a delightful and scathing disagreement about literature.

Ragnor is clearly pleased to see her happy and Magnus flutters like a hummingbird. He presses a delighted kiss to her forehead and hugs her from behind for a moment and then darts over to Alec. He’s hovering around him, little tiny constant touches and Alec merely leans into them, smiling up at Magnus with a softness that transforms his face. 

Her boys are doing well and Cat finds she doesn’t mind adding another to the number she claims. 

Not this time.

[humanitys-strongest-bamf]

Hi Kat, huge congrats on 1K followers! You truly deserve every single one and many more ❤️

For the event… I chose the song Let Me Drown by We as Human which has my all-time favorite line from any song: There's a time to be born And a time to die And somewhere they collide

The dystopian option for the drabbles really intrigued me since I LOVE all things sci-fi, dystopian and such. And I think the song lyrics really fit into this category. So I was thinking something about a big revolution (imagine the French Revolution but more futuristic and in a slowly dying world) where there is no good vs evil but rather evil vs evil.

So Levi with the reader (they are a couple since they were both teens, very overprotective over each other, and like the most badass power couple you can think of) are the leaders of one of the groups in this conflict. And they are preparing for the final strike against the enemy, which they already know is probably going to cost them their lives.

I got a little carried away there, didn't I? Well, never mind, hope you can come up with something interesting. Oh, who am I kidding? You always come up with absolutely amazing stuff!!!

yo i actually love this song???????????

also you're super sweet as always :')))))

"Let me die" | 1k Follower Event

✧ word count ➼ 752 ✧ notes ➼ dystopian!au, slight angst, established relationship, protective!levi, levi being afraid to grieve :(

The only real positive you had in this world was him. Being forced to live in a world filled with war and strife meant you were in constant survival mode. If you slipped up for even one second, then you—and the people around you—could wind up dead.

You and Levi Ackerman had been at each other's side for a little over a decade at this point, having begun your relationship during late adolescence. Even the concept of being in a relationship seemed silly compared to everything else that was going on around you. Given the fact that anyone could be killed at any point in time due to the chaos around you, even being away from him for a second felt agonizing.

The world around you was at war. It's always been that way. There was no right or wrong. There was no hero or villain. There was only kill or be killed. Although there were many small factions within the remains of the Eldian Empire, the two major ones were the ones constantly at war: the Paradis "Devils" and the Marley "Warriors".

Both you and Levi led the Devils, having stitched up the three original factions of Paradis, which were rapidly dying after repeated defeats at the hands of the Warriors, which had more resources and technology that they had hoarded from all the other factions. Due to the delays in getting Paradis back on their feet, the Warriors had control of the remains of the empire for far too long—and it was about time to strike back.

"You're not doing this," Levi scolded with a scowl.

You sighed in frustration and looked at him with a scowl of your own.

"And you are?"

"Yes."

The task you were arguing about was sneaking into the Warrior's base and planting a bomb in their command center while the other led an army through their front gates as a diversion. Both were dangerous, but the latter at least had reinforcements at the ready.

You had a smaller build and were more agile. It only made sense for you to plant the bomb while Levi, who was able to build up morale and confidence much better, led the army through the front gates.

The chances of survival were slim, no matter which task you ended up doing—but the chances of survival were at least a little higher if you led the army instead of infiltrating. You knew this. That's why you offered to plant the bomb, otherwise Levi was going to be the one to plant it, and you couldn't bear the thought of losing him.

You were being selfish and you knew it.

"You know I have a better chance of success, Levi," you argued.

"Still a pretty small fucking chance."

"Someone has to do it, Levi."

He knew you were right, but he wasn't willing to let you go. You both had the mutual understanding that your lives could be taken any minute with the world you lived in, but it wasn't something that you would ever truly accept.

"Levi," you said with a pause, "there's a time to be born and a time to die, and-"

"Don't," he said as he cut you off. "Don't say it."

"We didn't sign up for this for the safe way out, Levi. Someone has to lead Paradis to victory and take down the Warriors. We both knew that this day would come."

"God dammit, do you think I don't know that?!" he scolded. "I know that we can't put this off anymore and that everything is depending on our success and that the way this plan is laid out has the highest chance of success, but I don't know if I want that success if it means losing you!"

You grabbed onto his hand and looked into his gray eyes.

"I'm here, aren't I?" you said softly.

He looked back into your eyes and although his gaze softened, there was still an immense look of worry in it.

You placed your hand on the side of his face and pulled him into a kiss, lingering there as if you'd never get to kiss him again.

"Promise me something, Levi," you said quietly when you finally pulled away, your heart longing for the feeling of his lips again once you did.

He remained silent. He knew what you were going to ask.

"If something goes wrong, promise me," you spoke quietly, gripping at his hand, "promise me that you'll prioritize our success. Promise me that you'll let me die."

Come participate in my 1K follower event!

[melishade]

Could you write a one-shot of Optimus in his Dinosaur mode?

Funny thing about this!

So when writing Attack on Prime back in 2013, I had no idea that Rescue Bots was also part of the Aligned Continuity. I had no idea that Optimus could transform into a Dinobot. Even if I knew back then, I still wouldn't have added it because it would've made Optimus too over-powered and also too chaotic.

That being said, this was a conversation I had with @justawannabearchaeologist and @echoblaze5 because of some AU bleeding over into different forums that got extremely out of hand.

So we'll say that Optimus is able to transform into his Dinosaur form. Thing is, he keeps it a secret. He's never told anyone back at the base, and he clearly felt no need to do it now. Plus, a place where humanity is on the brink of extinction because of titans is already bad enough. Having him transform into an unknown species that he can lose control of is going to cause panic. Extreme panic. So he keeps it under wraps.

Until Zeke shows up, and invokes his ire and drops the bomb that titans are humans. With an already high strung situation and that breaking the camel's back, Optimus gets pissed off and unleashes his Dinosaur form and roars, getting everyone's attention. Including Megatron, who was in Shinganshina at this time. And before Zeke can even react, Optimus breathes fire on him and starts burning Zeke alive, ignoring Ymir's titan transformation and the castle collapsing. The Survey Corps have to come and rescue the crew at the tower, and are met with the sight of Optimus using his jaw to tear Zeke apart while he's still on fire. Hanji realizes that Zeke might be a titan shifter and quickly tells Eren to stop the T-Rex. No one is sure if that even is Optimus. The color scheme is the same, but he's just so out of control. Eren transforms and yanks Optimus off of Zeke, and Eren is trying to wrestle an out of control T-Rex. Optimus manages to throw Eren off of him, and Eren is at Optimus' mercy. Optimus is ready to tear into him, but Megatron kicks Optimus, sending him flying across the area.

Megatron sees a threat and doesn't recognize that it's Optimus. He watched him die anyway. When Megatron approaches ready to kill him, Eren has to grab him from behind and pull him back with all his might. Hanji screams at Megatron to not kill him! It's Optimus! And before Megatron can even challenge Hanji's statement, Optimus transforms back, unconscious, which takes everyone for a loop. They do manage to capture Zeke, who's pretty charred, and Megatron and Eren carry Optimus back to Wall Rose. Everyone waiting in Trost is pretty shook at the sight of Optimus injured and unconscious, Megatron being there, and a human that was charred beyond belief slowly healing from his wounds.

Levi takes one look at Megatron: Who's this fucker?

Megatron: Someone who can squish you like a bug!

Hanji: Can we not?!

When Optimus wakes up, he's shocked to see Megatron and pulls out his blaster and demands what he's doing here? And Megatron replies: "I don't know which situation I should be more furious at. The fact that you're still alive, or the fact that you could turn into a Dinobot and DIDN'T TELL ME!"

Optimus is mortified that his secret is out to his former enemy, but the Survey Corps is also there, and realizes from their faces that they know the truth too. And he has a lot of explaining to do.

So a few things:

-Optimus does confess that he was able to transform into a Dinobot starting on Earth, but kept it under wraps because it was ultimately going to put the Rescue Bots in danger during the War. Megatron is 0.5 seconds away from blowing his lid. Rescue Bots?! Prime what the hell?! But the form was also extremely hard to control, since it was organic components mixing with Cybertronian biology. He lost his mind, quite a few times, to this form, and decided that it would be best to keep it a secret considering the negative side effects.

-Hanji is both excited and angry! How dare you keep this from her?! Levi is just annoyed. So annoyed. He's already dealing with enough! Why is this an addition to the bullshit?! Erwin sees potential, perhaps there was a way this form could be controlled.

-Megatron does end up confessing who he is, cause he technically kind of outed himself from what he's been saying. But Megatron says he'll play by their rules, because he wants answers out of Optimus, and he might just kill him for it!

-Zeke is kept underground and interrogated, but doesn't reveal anything, and Reiner and Bertholdt, understandably keep their mouths shut. However, Marley wants to know what the hell happened to Zeke, and that's a whole other issue.

I would like to post bits and pieces from the conversation, but I'll only post my half. I don't want to overstep and post their parts without permission.

Optimus: Roaring at Zeke as a Dinobot Zeke scrambling to run: WHY IS THIS SO MUCH WORSE?! Hanji: TITAN BRAWL!!!

Levi: I looked inside myself to ask "What am I willing to put up with today?" Gestures to Dinobot Optimus NOT FUCKING THIS!

[teecupangel]

Just got thrown for a nostalgia loop and had an idea: AC x Lunar Chronicles. I don’t even know where my brain is going with this but it would be so cool.

In my brain, the obvious thing would be that the Templars are Lunars since the whole mind control deelio fits their vibe but what if Desmond was like half Lunar. And/Or what if Desmond was a cyborg? And the ancestors are actual memories uploaded into robots?

Or what if Desmond just gets transported into the Lunar Chronicles universe and, because of Isu DNA, he’s immune to Lunar Glamour without being a Shell.

Or or, he gets transported there as a Lunar child but with all the memories of original Desmond and has to figure out what the fuck is Glamour and how to use it.

My initial idea would be the Lunars are an evolution of the Isus who left Earth before the Solar Flare (or didn’t go to Earth in the first place) but turning them into the Templar equivalent in this setup would be a nice change (since I did turn the people of the Moon in the Sailor Moon AU into Isus already XD).

So for this one, the Templars had long ‘converted’ the Lunars into their ideology but it becomes wrapped by the feeling of superiority the Lunars easily find thanks to their capabilities for mind control. The idea of ‘Total Control will Bring Absolute Peace’ that the Templars have been trying to push forward will be lost in the process thanks to the selfishness being brought out by the total power the Lunars have on people.

In this situation, Winter isn’t the epitome of what the Templar wanted because she refused to use her ‘gift’ but she would mistake the Templar’s cause to something like “Order is necessary to bring peace”.

Of course, we’ll set Desmond up in this world as a scifi fairy tale character. My initial idea was to turn her to the transmigrated equivalent of Wizard of Oz where he awakens as the only child of a Lunar family that isn’t really high up there in the hierarchy to be considered a ‘danger’ to the politics of Lunars but high enough that he would be raised with a semi-silver spoon.

Of course, we picked Wizard of Oz (and ignore the fact that it’s technically not one of the classic fairy tales) because this gives us the chance to give Desmond his ancestors:

The Scarecrow

The Tinman

The Lion

The Lion is Ratonhnhaké:ton, a human captured to become a slave of Desmond’s family. Of course, Desmond says no to this and they only pretend to be master and slave while trying to find Ratonhnhaké:ton’s tribe who had gone into hiding after their settlement had been attacked. Ratonhnhaké:ton wants to find his people who were also captured like him and Desmond usually helps him either by buying them when security is too tight or by finding ways to help Ratonhnhaké:ton break them out as quietly as possible.

The Tinman is Ezio who is an android that was gifted to Desmond when he was a baby, to be both his companion and his guard. He’s pretty much Desmond’s butler and minder and gets roped into Desmond and Ratonhnhaké:ton’s plans because he has to make sure Desmond is safe and won’t get into trouble. He acts more like an older brother to Desmond and Ratonhnhak��:ton most of the time but he is also bound to report everything Desmond does to his parents thanks to a chip that has been installed into him.

The Scarecrow is Altaïr and we have two option: Earthean or Lunar. Regardless of which one he is, his main problem is that he wants to receive the recognition he deserves for his works in a scholarly field (Quantum physics? Idk, something connected to how Desmond got transmigrated to this world). His work has been taken by an older more influential Lunar either because (if he’s an Earthean) he’s an Earthean and his peers think he’s lower than them or (if he’s a Lunar) he’s from a fallen Lunar family who perhaps helped slaves run away and has been stripped of their ranks. Regardless, Desmond becomes more or less his financial backer because Desmond believes that Altaïr might be able to figure out how to get Desmond back to his world (or, at the very least, let him get into contact with them).

Now, here’s the fun part. Does Desmond remember them as his ancestors?

It would be fun if he does and would give Desmond a reason to trust them as soon as he meets them.

An alternative would be that Desmond’s memories of them (aka: his time in the Animus) is blank. Only his memories as Desmond Miles are vivid. He knows he used the Animus to get stronger but he doesn’t remember what he saw in the Animus.

Another alternative is that he starts to remember them only after meeting them or after his relationship with them is at the point where they trust each other.

Regardless of which it is, the main point is that the three does not remember their past lives (or, Altaïr’s theory, their alternate life) but their personality are quite similar to what Desmond is used to.

To hammer in the Wizard of Oz setting, the courage that Ratonhnhaké:ton is meant to receive is finally understanding the difference between being courageous and being reckless. Ezio’s ‘heart’ is the character development he would have as he become more and more like Desmond and Ratonhnhaké:ton’s older brother. Altaïr’s ‘brain’ is the recognition for his works. Desmond is modeled as both Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz as he meets them and grants them their wish. Toto the dog is gonna be an android corgi dog named Des.

Desmond’s parents are actually Glinda (Minerva) and the Wicked Witch of the West (Juno). Minerva believes that letting Desmond do what he wants will make him understand his place in their world. Juno helps in the background while trying to nudge Desmond into understanding his place as a Lunar (and maybe she’s planning a coup to become the most powerful Lunar, who knows? That’s like plot D in this one)

[caeruleophile]

Mario & Luigi: Cloud Nine AU

So, lemme apologize in advance for all the similarities, cuz i know there's already Nimbus, cloud flowes, cloud levels and abilities in the franchise. But this is AU so i'm just gonna take inspiration from all what we have in the Mario universe!! Okay? ^^ Oh, btw, i didn't have enough power to finish some of the illustartions, sorry fo that too.

Now... Let's begin. (warning bad eng)

The story

...Few people know, but the sky above our heads is an intangible sphere that is quite possible to control. The times of day are regulated with the help of magical Sky Spheres. Rotating around the Central Axis, they change day to evening and night to morning. However, if one of these spheres disappears, the order of the day may be disrupted.

To ensure that these spheres were not lost anywhere and were not stolen, they decided to put them under protection in the Cloud Kingdom.

The Cloud Kingdom is located on the so-called Cloud Nine. That's where the Princess's castle stands. This castle is built of rock crystal, so it reflects the blue of the sky with its walls.

The princess who lives in this castle is called Tear. She is very modest and quiet, insecure, afraid to ask for help. Because of the latter, she and her kingdom often get into trouble. Her people are Cloudies - ordinary clouds. They are able to levitate, carry objects and people on themselves, strike with lightning, pour rain and sometimes regenerate if they are damaged.

Cloudies live in a cloud village according to their own laws and regulations.

However, soon this peaceful life of the Cloud People will change for the worse, because Bowser plans to steal the spheres in order to capture not only foreign lands, but also everything that is above them. And it's not a fact that Cloud Guards will be able to protect themselves and powerful spheres…

...One of the cloudies managed to find Mario and call him to Cloud Nine to help them save the kingdom and the Sky Spheres.

His younger brother, Luigi, stayed on land to protect everyone who lives here. And even when they are separated by miles, they are still able to work together, in one team.

Fun Facts and other stuff

Princess Tear's secret garden is right behind her castle, she loves spending time there and chatting with cloud flowers.

There is also a cloud maze in this garden. There are legends that only people with the strongest ties are able to find each other in it. Guess who was able to pass this test?

This AU for the most part tests brother bonds for strength. In my mind, this whole story could be the next part in the series of the Mario & Luigi RPG games. Since the danger threatens not only the skies but also the ground, they have to split up and work alone. However, this does not prevent them from being one team. For example, when Mario is in the sky, he is displayed on the top screen of the 3DS, and Luigi, respectively, on the bottom. There are powerups and all sorts of objects that can swap them. There are also those ones which temporarily put them in one place, for example, for a brother attack or solving puzzles.

In short, according to the plot of the (nonexistent) "game" itself, Bowser manages to steal the spheres, but at the very beginning of the story the brothers destroy his ship, which causes it to explode and scatter the spheres in unknown places. Two of them end up on Cloud Nine, and the other two end up on the ground. For this reason, they have to split up - to find the spheres faster than Bowser and his army.

By the way! Princess Tear helps her brothers a lot with loneliness, because she knows what it's like. She gives them the handy cloudies. They not only make up a company for each brother, but also work like a suitcase - they store useful items in themselves. Each brother has his own items, but they are able to transfer them to each other, again, with the help of their assistants-cloudies.

I am madly in love with their brotherly bond, so I decided to create this AU to observe how they will endure separation (it sounds ironic, but we love a little bit of angst, right?).

I think this information is enough to start with!! I will be glad if you like my idea. By the way, you can ask me questions about this AU, I will be happy to answer them!

[theno1joelhater]

good morrow, you. time for a gus lighter rant because he is such an interesting little dude. there are sources/links at the bottom

Gus Lighter my love, my light, the center of my galaxy, i love you so very much but YOU. WHAT ARE YOUR MOTIVES ???? what is the point of all the (max) harm you cause ?? what the hell are you doing you damn character ??? are you just fucking with them? is this for your own personal enjoyment? is this some kind of kink? WHY

firstly, i dont think his title does him justice. he’s not some human therapist who needs therapy—gus lighter isn’t a human at all. either that or at least implied to be some kind of non-human eldritch creature. just look at his video with gabriel (1). he does weird things !!!! things that people can’t do !! also, in his vid w officer avoidy (2) he says that avoidy’s in purgatory. makes you think !!!

now, i get that gus’ whole thing is that he lies and is a lier man but !!! what if that was true. what if avoidy is in purgatory. what if gus lighter was some kind of demon sent out to…idk mess with the cgcu? judge them? i still dont get his motives. this has been entirely unproductive!! the only thing we got was his potential species.

then again, the purgatory demon theory is sorta not great. the whole thing with purgatory is that it’s any empty void where souls await judgement. this leads me into my next theory: gus could be the being judging whether they get into heaven or hell. however, this theory would imply that everyone is already dead. and they’d all be unaware of it too, based off the fact that the justin case storyline exists (sorry, just had to mention it). justin’s whole plan is to convert everyone to him so that he wouldn’t die, but that would be completely thrown out the window if they were all already dead. also bjorn yesterday’s death wouldn’t make sense if was canon (there also might be more to prove they’re all alive, but i can’t be bothered). so cool au, most likely not canon. gus being a demon that judges the souls of the cgcu? that’s sick broski!

well, i don’t think i can decipher his goals and aspirations (at least not now), but i can try and figure out his abilities!

so good boy gus clearly has some kind of mind manipulation powers (source? just look at all the other gus lighter videos!). i’d assume his powers start off weak but quickly get stronger the longer he stays with the person he’s trying to manipulate until they fully submit to whatever he says. this is because at the beginning of his videos, the victims (clients) seem to retain their rational thinking but in the end they fully believe whatever gus says. an example of this’d be in the tim iddboy video (3) tim thinks gus is jumping to conclusions by calling him insane but eventually believes that there is something horribly wrong with him. i’ll admit this example isn’t great, so we’ll look at a different one: freddy frugal. (or should i say freddy financier?) in his video (4) we get a much better example of this. freddy comes in with no issues. gus convinces freddy that he has amnesia and is actually freddy financier. freddy rejects the idea at first but accepts it. again, this just goes to show how powerful his mind powers are (and that he has them!!).

also, a lesser power he has is teleportation. in his vid with gabriel (1) he’s seen behind a door, even though the last time we saw him he was in his chair. when gabriel rubbed his eyes, gus was gone. he did a teleportation !!!!

something i find interesting is that he can’t retain control of all of his clients. in his video with gabriel (1) he says he has some very sick individuals here. i’ll discuss this in depth later. originally, i assumed that was all the characters that have seen him before, since we haven’t seen most of them after their initial video with gus. however, this is disproven by gabriel appearing in a new video (5) and freddy frugal’s video one month after his visit with gus (6). there might also be others but i can’t be bothered to find them. what im trying to say is that you can escape from gus lighter’s influence. he can lose control. that means he can be defeated.

another thing is that he seems to have limits, or something like that. i don’t know how to describe it, but he can be put off by things. he can feel emotions. in the freddy frugal vid, gus said “thats a lot to unpack” (or something of the sort) when freddy says why he showed up to therapy (4). so he has human emotions. that means he can be vulnerable. that means he can be defeated.

well, time for me to talk about my second crack theory of: gus lighter works at a mental hospital! or he has a ward for his more “insane” patients. this can be proven by his video with gabriel (1), where he LITERALLY says that!!! maybe gus could have a mental ward, and characters that we see later on managed to escape him. you can escape gus lighter. he has weaknesses. that means he can be defeated.

so overall? i don’t know SHIT about his motives but he’s got mind manipulation and teleportation. and he has weaknesses. that means he can be defeated.

oh, and just some delicious food for thought: he has basically the same outfit as hugh mann, but inverted.

1. https://youtube.com/shorts/ZNGCVOywZGw?si=vo_bNC4EKx0wEzup

2. https://youtube.com/shorts/Lb0Th4pgDYw?si=TeE8SArB7Tn6muEX

3. https://youtu.be/JoqhpW4Kp_8?si=5D7h_75cvv1JHe8l

4. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4LMHTVOGNOE

5. https://m.youtube.com/shorts/1u-lVcuM2Us?si=D_P0ZLkqRa98F-3_

6. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PosGzDXvjA0

[beepersteeper]

I Will Always Find You -- Astarion x Tav -- The Talk | part 5

Apologies for the delay in uploads. I hope to have part 6 uploaded today as well. its written and jut needs to be looked at one more time before posting Astarion and F!Tav live happily together for the remaining years she has, she refuses to be turned into a vampire because her faith says that her soul isn’t finished with its work yet. Tav dies of old age and leaves Astarion to put together the pieces of his broken heart. AN: Lord of Light lore taken and changed to fit the story's means. Not canonically accurate. TLDR story line stuff. This is an AU where Astarion ascends but isn't a power hungry bastard and Tav is able to help him continue healing. Wyll is immortal and the Duke. Karlach in my mind, if given a new engine would be able to live a lot longer than the usual tiefling. Another AN: idk if anyone wants tagged in this WIP but let me know. 

“The boxes are out the side door, you don't mind giving me a hand right son?"

“Not at all, sir." He swallows the nerves pooling in his throat. They walk to the side door and Astarion begins to move each heavy box through the door frame.

“My little Vira seems very keen on you." her father starts sitting at the desk.

“I suppose so sir, she is a wonderful person." Astarion smiles, maintaining his composure.

“I will speak plainly because I like you too. What are your intentions here Little Star?” He asks prying open the lid of a box and checking the packing pages. 

“I don't have any intentions, sir. I just want to get to know her. If anything blossoms from that I give you my word that would be only by her own want." Astarion swears, dragging in another two large boxes taking off his vest, and wiping sweat from his forehead. 

“And if she did want that?” her father asks, not moving his eyes from his work.

“If she wanted that and I did too then I suppose we would see where that path led us together.” Astarion shrugs, setting a box on the table for her father to catalog. 

“What about any…  other urges you might have.” Her father adds pointing his pencil to Astarion's neck, moving his collar down enough to show his scars.

Astarions blood runs cold like it hasn't in a century. Nervous. Scared. “Completely under control.” He urges standing in the door frame looking for any lingering boxes as he grabs the last one and hauls it into the room. “I'll explain if you wish, but it's not everyone's favorite conversation sir.”

“Just tell me that my daughter isn't some meal ticket for you and we'll call it that.“

“Not at all, sir." Astarion shakes his head matter of factly. The thought hadn't even crossed his mind.

“Thank you." He breathes a sigh of relief “How old are you anyway? I know that you're much older than you look, but I don't trust the gossip in town to have their information straight.” Astarion grimaces as he states his age before her father whispers mostly to himself “Such a babe." He tuts “but you seem to have done well for yourself the other years." Astarion purses his lips and nods in agreement unsure what to say. “Listen Astarion,” he sets his work down and folds his hands looking straight at Astarion "you seem like a good man, and my Vira likes your company and you treat her even better than she would like. You are welcoming my home as long as you have her blessing and her best interest at heart. I haven't seen her this happy since we lost her mother, spirits protect her, and just wanted a moment to get to know you myself.” He looks to Astarion with pleading eyes "Just don't hurt her... please. She's all I have.”

“I understand sir. I have no intention of doing that.”

“And stop calling me sir." The father laughs, instantly changing the energy in the room “It's too formal. If you need to call me something my name is Eyman."

Astarion laughs implying an agreement moving a new box to the table and moving an already sorted one to the floor. “I'll try my best. Old habits and all.”

They share a laugh as the door opens and Vira walks in with her hands full of 3 pies "Daddy why are we closed?!"

Her father nods his head toward Vira releasing him from their talk “No one was here to man the counter, Junior was busy moving the crates and I was cataloging."

Astarion rushes to her, taking two of the pies from her hands, and handing one to Eyman.  “They were so good last night.” He hums perching on the arm of the chair where Vira sat herself. They sat, enjoying their meal. Astarion smiles to himself enjoying the semblance of a family meal again. 

Eyman rights himself after finishing his meal and agreeing that the food was better than he anticipated. He flips the sign to open again and asks Vira and Astarion to continue their work from before. The afternoon passes as they share giggles and looks and talk about what books that they're stocking or packaging. Eventually closing time chimes and Eyman tells them to “get out of here, you both are too young to spend all of your time in this stuffy bookstore." He winks at Astarion telling him he refuses to treat him like he's ‘other than.’ Astarion is pulled out the door before he can respond. 

“Where in the hells are we going in such a hurry?" Astarion asks while keeping pace with her being dragged through crowds of people. 

“There's a circus in town and I don't want to miss its opening night." She says slowing down, realizing just how manic she must seem "There's minstrels, and portraits painters, a djini, clowns and even beasts.” She cackles slightly when she says beasts “I'm a sucker for animals. Even if they could feasibility tear me limb from limb.” 

“Djinis.” He scoffs "Scheming little bastards. The last one I interacted with turned me into a wheel of cheese just because I evened the playing field.”

“That doesn't sound grate at all.” She smirks at him

“And now you make jokes.” He laughs, grabbing at her sides to tickle her as she squirms away. He playfully pulls her back to his side and sweeps an arm around her waist. “You're lucky you're cute, because your jokes, my dear, need work.”

“Trust me that I have no intention of trying to make them better.” She laughs at her response leaning into him.

They giggle and walk closer to the circus before Vira asks what Astarion and her father talked about while she was gone. "He told me that he knew what I was and wanted to make sure I wasn't just looking for my next meal," he smiles, mindlessly running his tongue behind his teeth. “He just wanted to know what my intentions were with you.”

“And what are those intentions?” She asks meekly turning her eyes to his face that is still smiling, his eyes meet hers quickly as he scans the crowd around them.

“What do you want them to be?" He answers her question with another “I told him that I intended to get to know you better and see where things take us.”

“And if I wanted this to head somewhere serious?" She asked kicking a rock from under her feet.

“Then I think I could be persuaded." He playfully responded and squeezed her closer to his side.

She smiled wide and rubbed her thumb on his side in return before leaning into him “It just feels so natural being with you." She sighs.

He quietly laughs through his nose “It really does." He bumps his hip into hers pushing her slightly off balance causing her to grab onto him to steady herself. She laughs in response and bumps him back, not pushing him as off balance as she had hoped. Astarion rolls his eyes and a giggle slips from his lips.

They get into the circus and walk through the pulsing crowd, avoiding the djini’s tent because it was the same one from all those years ago. After seeing the “cute little beasties" as she called them they found themselves standing in line for the dryad. Originally by accident, not realize what the line was actually for, but then almost on a dare between each other. 

“We don't have to do this." Vira urges “It's crazy right? We don't know each other well enough to do this." 

“Where's the harm?" He shrugs, raising an eyebrow “Maybe she'll tell us something we don't know."

She shrugs and agrees as Astarion pays the woman for a session.

“Interesting…" the woman hums “Where two bodies stand many histories reside. A long line connecting you both. Answer my questions so I can see your true potential.” Vira passes her fingers over Astarion's arm and sits across from him.

“Where does Vira find the most peace?"

“In the cemetery with Tavilline." He smiles speaking her real name, but smiles more when Vira nods to the dryad.

“Very good. Knowing when your muse finds her peace is invaluable knowledge. When does she find the most joy?"

Astarion thinks, not sure but on a whim he responds as if he were answering about Tav “seeing the people she loves thriving."

Vira blushes and pushes her hair behind her ears. 

“A selfless partner is not always a blessing Astarion, your answer is true, but be sure to tend to her like she does others…  Finally, when does she feel fear? “

He doesn't even think about the question before answering “not being able to answer her Lord's question and losing the people she cares about.”

“Only one answer per question. Which does she fear most?"

“Not finding the answer." He states.

Vira squints at him and says quietly “he's right." 

“You both have many things in common, but there is a sturdy wall built that will need to be taken down before your full potential can be explored. I hope you both have the will to break that wall. Your love could be unlike one this realm has ever seen.” With a flourish, the dryad brings them back to the noise of the circus and continues their musings with the next couple. Astarion wraps his arm with Vira’s before putting his shaking hands in his pants pockets.

“I wonder what that means." Vira grumbles “So cryptic. I guess that's why people don't put a lot of stock in what they say, but, curiously, you were right every time. How did you know what brings me joy? We haven't talked about that at all. The other questions, sure it's probably came up or were pretty easy to read. But that…”

He laughs “Honestly?” asking her permission to be blunt with her to which she nods “I just answered like I was answering for Tav.” he shrugs. “The two of you are too similar and I kind of panicked” he laughs nervously.

She stares at him for a whole beat, lost in her thoughts. “Curious.”

They spend another hour or so milling through the circus as night begins to fall. They left the circus and just walked along the river bank behind the church holding each other's hands. Not speaking much, but still joking and flirting and enjoying the others' presence. Eventually, Vira breaks  the silence “Do you really see similarities between me and Tav?”

Startled for a moment Astarion just looks at her studying her face in the moonlight. “Yeah.” he shrugs, “I do. But I don't want you to think tha-” he is cut off by Vira.

“You don't have to explain.” she smiles and shrugs. “I'm honestly honored if you see some of her in me, you clearly love her.” She speaks of Tav in the present tense. “And she’s an amazing person from all accounts I've heard.”

“She truly was.” he sighs while smiling. 

“Would you humor me by telling me what you see that's similar?”

“As long as that's not weird…” he pauses “I feel like there's some taboo talking about my deceased wife on a second date.” forcing a laugh through a shaky voice.

She stops their walking and holds both of his hands in hers moving her head and forcing him to look into her deep green eyes “If I thought it would be weird, I wouldn't have asked Astarion. But if you don't want to, I won't be upset.” She reassures him by moving her hand to gently touch his face.

“Well that's one way.” he smiles into her palm and places a small kiss on it. “The way that you treat me gently. The difference is that she knew why I needed it, and you don't. You just do it.” Vira smiles at him, not moving her hand from his cheek. “And the way that you can make even the most mundane tasks into something fun.” he chuckles “And, if I can say something without getting elbowed” he smirks and looks into her face waiting for a nod “Your attitude!” he rolls his eyes, smiles and rocks his head beach before looking at her again “Gods be damned, the way that you constantly roll your eyes when you're happy, embarrassed or frustrated. You've got a mind of your own, and you're not afraid to use it much to your dad's dismay. That was something that drove me mad in every way about Tav. She just couldn't be tamed, and I would not have had her any other way. The way that you would be just as happy out on the town or with your nose buried in a book.” he smiles wide, laughing through his nose and shaking his head “All of that without mentioning the fact that your eyes and hair are a carbon copy of hers from decades ago.” he pushes his fingers through her long hair and pushes it behind her shoulder to look into her face. 

She blinks slowly, unconsciously leaning into his touch. “As I said, I'm honored to share any qualities with her.” startled when he leaned in to kiss her lips.

His hand is holding her head under her ear and pulling her face to his, kissing her eagerly. “I don't know what this is,” he points between them “but I just can't get enough of you.” he kisses her again “And I am more excited than I could have imagined to see where this goes,” he admits, nervous that he's going to scare her away. 

She moves quickly to wrap her arms over his shoulders returning the kiss, feeling his hands fall to her waist. She sighs softly into his lips “Then we will see where it goes.” She smiles as she pulls her face away from his. “You're not the only one that is excited.” she coos “but as excited as I am, I am exhausted, and have a long day at the shop tomorrow.”

“I've got some meetings to attend to.” he grumbles “but I’ll be by as soon as I can, to give you some company.” He releases her waist and starts to walk toward her house. Smiling to himself when she wraps her arm through his. When they find themselves in front of her house he leans on the door frame as she walks in the door “I hope you had a great night, darling.”

“Just the best.” she beams “Thanks Astarion.”

“Anything for you. Goodnight and make sure you lock up.” he reaches his hand out to her, which she eagerly takes. He kisses her knuckles and releases her hand “Until next time.” he smiles and steps out of the door letting her close it.

“Sleep well tonight.” She smiles and slowly closes the door. When he heard the lock latch he headed home through the cemetery brushing his hand over Tav’s headstone as he walked past, too tired to stay and chat. “I love you Tav.” he whispered as he walked past

He walked home quickly heading straight to their bedroom. Exhausted, he bathed and changed into his sleeping clothes, and fell onto his side of the bed. Feeling the down bed depressing beneath him. Anticipating the ache in his chest to tighten, he was shocked when that didn't happen. A little guilt appeared, but not that heart-wrenching pang in his chest. “Huh.” he tuts to himself, allowing himself to actually rest for the first time in such a long time. After sleeping like a stone he woke up and found his way to Wylls office to see when the meeting was.

Taglist:

@zoeloveslotr @silverfangmarks @prudent-nerd

[fuckmeyer]

This has been picking my squishy little thought organ.

If Jalice had a kid, what are some hypothetical gifts it could have?

I could see it having the gift of giving hallucinations.

(that previous ANON got me thinking, clearly)

Because of his emotional ability--> making them believable. [Fool the emotions all else will follow.] Her visions are quite sporadic at times. ---> crafting the mental space devoted to that.

Environmental Factors---> Bella & her daughter can project, and I think environmental factors will give the gift a push to be able to be casted. INSTEAD of actually just ending up with hyperaphantasia.

Alice & Bella are besties, so they'll spend a considerable amount of time together interacting. So, I think the block Renesme has on the visions will be a giant factor too.

Despite Bella and Alice just not being close it will happen anyway. Cause there's nowhere realistically for her to go.

She's stuck and Alice probably isn't going to get a vision going oh, now is the right time to leave.

Even if you could argue oh, they'll never fight. Most likely right unless we wanna go even more Au... {Which I am 100% ok with}

But I think Alice's slight harboring of resentment for Renesme for blocking her visions will be the key in the lock for this to all work out right.

She isn't going to stop blocking them. Alice already has had time to get over her gift dependency so much but like she won't do that.

Jasper's gift can't be blocked by a shield, but I imagine he's a little immune to Renesme's gift. (Realistically not...? But it's a silly little Tumblr post I don't want to think about the power scale too hard and implode.)

I was hoping you could pick up where I left off about how things realistically work in Twilight.

Besides the whole vampires have a kid despite one being infertile.

But I think this would be a hell-on-wheels problem. Cause while Jasper I'd argue! Has a more moral conscious (at least in the ways we see it.) than Alice. But they're both pretty grey.

Which means they're both pretty ruthless. Like Bella and Edward are for their child.

All i know is this offspring would have to be so lucky to not be snatched by the Volturi.

I think this kid would fare better than Renesme in the short and long term. Even if they were both hybrids. This kid would have parents that would in my opinion actually teach it more.

I think Bella and Edward don't teach Renesme. much.

I think Jasper would make sure his kid had the skills should they be needed to be used. And Alice would support this or just let it happen. I think he's a more active parent than her but that's 100% different bullshit Au type of discussion and I just needed to drop this meta off to blogs for their thoughts.

I am driving myself crazy. I would like to sleep.

On Gifts

something to consider: based on Bella's daughter, we can assume the demon spawn's gift will

have a combination of the mother & father's gifts that is

the opposite of the parents' gifts

Bella had a shield. Edward can read minds. therefore, Daughter can bypass any shield & can project thoughts onto others

so, Jalice Spawn would have

opposite of future sight. past sight? i.e., Spawn can see into memories or the history of certain objects It touches?

opposite of mood control. tf is that? emotional dysregulation? since the core of Jasper's power lies in detection & manipulation, perhaps Spawn is a mood scrambler/destabilizer, but can't control it & can't detect emotions

i propose: Spawn sees memories & scrambles emotions associated with them. (e.g. congrats, the painful memory of your mother's death now gives you warm fuzzies.) alternatively, It can alter the emotions associated with an object. (e.g., Spawn can touch a cherished teddy bear, see memories associated with it, & turn it into a reviled object.) caveat: It can't choose which emotion to change or what it changes to.

emotional dysregulation of memories. boom.

Avoiding Fuckshit

once Jalice become parents, all they need to do is keep Spawn's existence secret from the Volturi. (that's all they can do; bestie, they are BAD parents.) could be hard; post BD, the Volturi have their eye on the Cullens. could be easy; the Volturi have obvi turned a blind eye on geopolitics long enough to not see a mutiny. lol whoops

likely, the latter. bc Aro can already see every thought ever thunked, so past sight is useless. & if the Volturi wanted to fuck with people's emotions, they could recruit Jasper who can actually control his gift. so, not only do they not know about Spawn's existence, they don't care

IF they care (they don't), now what? Alice & Jasper would leave the Cullens ASAP. let's face it: Bella is a troublemaker & danger magnet. Jasper DEF wouldn't risk it; you bag the Spawn, you bag Alice.

so, they leave. Cullens have no idea why. Alice & Jasper hide in obscurity, teaching Spawn how to not be fucking useless.

years pass. Spawn is useless. all is well. until the Volturi clap back on the vampire world lmao DEUCES Cullen clan

Just Kidding All Is Not Well

Spawn is fucking useless, bestie. it'll take time for It to be able to control Its gift, if It can at all. in the meantime, whenever Spawn touches Jalice (A&J's gifts work remotely, so Spawn needs contact), It alters memories.

suddenly, Alice & Jasper's wedding day is rife with pain. Alice & Jasper are disgusted with the Cullens. Jasper falls in love with María (hueheu 👀). Spawn doesn't understand what the fuck is going on bc It can't detect the scrambled emotions, but ok, per Alice & Jasper's request, It will start walking around with gloves at all times.

too late! Alice & Jasper have too many scrambled memories. try as he may, Jasper can't change emotional associations of the past, only the present. things fall apart. they divorce. unable to return to the family they now hate, Alice & Jasper abandon Spawn & become nomads.

(Aro jumps for joy; he is one step closer at nabbing Alice)

Spawn ruins lives. including Its own. the end

[samobservessonic]

We open this issue on a bunch of badniks tormenting a young boy called Tufftee, because like in the early Archie comics, the badniks could talk when the plot requires them to. Once they introduce a larger villain roster, there’ll be less call for them to talk Regardless, Tufftee is interesting because he’s the younger brother of a much better-known Sonic character…

…Sally Acorn!

Now, I’m a big fan of Sally in general, so I’ve been looking forward to getting to this story, which I didn’t realise would turn up so quickly. She only actually appears at the beginning and end of the story, but she’s here! It’s Sally! I also find it a funny coincidence that over five years later, Sally would also be given a brother in the Archie Comics, albeit an older brother called Elias. Now, I do genuinely think that these two characters were made wholly independently of each other and their creators probably didn’t even knew the other character exists (especially since I believe this is Tufftee’s only appearance), but it’s just kind of wild that out of all the characters to randomly give a brother to, both comics chose Sally

Anyway, after Tails rudely awakens Sonic (who is less than happy about that), Sally reveals that her brother wanted to play hero like Sonic and borrowed a pair of his old power boots, which Sonic thinks could still contain a bit of his power. Sonic races off before Tails has a chance to ask what to do and then we get the usual page of Sonic racing through zones, doing action hero stuff. I don't really talk about these parts as much, but I like that they include them as a “this is Sonic doing stuff like he does in the games” thing Speaking of stuff from the games, it’s only a cameo here, but we get our first appearance of the Special Zone:

Now, in StC, the Special Zone has a narrative importance that it doesn’t have in most other Sonic spin-offs. It’s treated as a place within itself and it’s also home to the Chaotix of all people, but we’ll get to that later. For now, Sonic has Tufftee to save

Which he achieves easily enough. We get a few pages of Tufftee being tormented by the badniks, before Sonic comes along to defeat them and rescue him. I love that one of the critters in that panel above straight up looks like someone's pet cat

Tufftee manages to save Sonic at the last minute, which reassures him in his own mind that he’s a hero, even if Sonic isn’t very enthusiastic about it. Also, I didn’t post this panel, but there was a part earlier on where we see that Tufftee couldn’t control the speed that the shoes magically granted him, as a little “there’s more to being Sonic than just going really fast”

We end this issue with the siblings being reunited and Sonic bluntly taking his shoes back from Tufftee, with the warning that they only work for him. Like I said before, I don’t believe we see Tufftee again after this? I can understand why, since StC already has Tails as the younger character working hard to prove himself to his hero, so we don’t need another character basically filling that same role in the comic. Even so, I like it when Tufftee appears with Sally in StC fanwork. Y’know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone make an AU where Sally has both her brothers, Tufftee and Elias, but idk I think it might be interesting? Sally has a lot of middle sibling traits already Also, to wrap us up, I just wanted to talk about the art here, which is a vastly different style to the first two issues. For this issue, we had Casanovas on art duty and, while I haven’t been posting about the non-Sonic stories, this more-detailed style is actually closer to the high-fantasy styles used in the other comics featured in StC at the time. It’s definitely a ‘your mileage may vary’ sort of thing, but I like it purely for the nostalgia of this era of StC. We’ll be seeing a lot more of the fantasy-setting angle in regards to Tails’s backstory at some point as well