#some kind of modern au

[luckyreds]

For the five sentence fic!

"I didn't expect to see you here."

so it turned out a bit longer than five sentences but this is what I came up with! It started with that first line but now it's somewhere around the end of this snippet. oops.

Bill was already behind the bar when Babe walked in, holding up his bandaged hand like a trophy.

"Bill! Look at this! I had to get six stitches!" Babe announced, wiggling his fingers dramatically.

Bill barely glanced up from pouring a beer. "with the mess you left the kitchen I would've thought yer hand wasn't attached anymore, dumbass."

"Well I nearly did lose a hand slicing an orange."

Joe, stacking glasses behind the bar, snorted. "How did you even manage that, Babe?"

Bill grinned. "Do you need to ask? This idiot could find a way to hurt himself in his sleep."

Babe slid onto his usual stool, dropping his arm onto the bar with a sigh. "I’m serious! The doc said I’m lucky I didn’t hit any nerves!"

Before he could launch into his dramatic retelling the door swung open. A gust of cool night air swept in, carrying the smell of rain and street pavement as Eugene stepped inside, shaking out his umbrella.

Babe nudged Bill, lowering his voice. "That’s him."

Bill raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

Babe flicked his eyes toward the door. "The hot doc I told you about on the phone! The one who stitched up my hand."

Bill gave him a slow, unimpressed look. "Jesus Christ, Babe."

Joe just whistled under his breath. "Well, he’s pretty looking."

At the door, Eugene took in the warm glow of neon signs, the clinking of glasses, the easy hum of conversation. He spotted Babe, who gave an awkward half-wave. Gene raised an eyebrow, amused, before making his way over.

"Heffron. How’s the hand?"

Babe grinned, holding it up. "Told you to call me Babe. It’s just a bit sore."

"Lemme see."

Gene’s voice was low, smooth, just like it had been in the hospital. He slid into the seat next to Babe, and before Babe could protest, he gently took his hand, cool fingers cradling it as he unwrapped the bandage.

Bill snorted behind them. Babe knew his ears were burning red.

"Soooo, I didn’t expect to see you here."

Gene raised an eyebrow. "What, a doctor ain’t allowed to drink?"

Babe blushed. "No!" He scrambled to correct himself. "I mean- here, at the Shindig. Never seen you here before."

As soon as he finished, he caught the amused smile playing on Eugene’s lips, and Babe blushed fiercely. 

“It’s all looking good Heffron, just keep it clean and dry alright?”

[blue-bird1967]

they listen and they DO judge💅🏻💚❤️

oh who would have known that naruto brainrot would hit twice as hard the second time, i thought the first time was bad T_T

t-shirts refs down here

[tarantula-hawk-wasp]

Obviously you might have varying opinions for specific fandoms but generally if you think across many of them which do you prefer?

[sualne]

your body isn't your own

[canisalbus]

Since the modern Machete and Vasco are reincarnations of their former selves, do you think they might occasionally experience remnants from their past lives in the form of things like vague memories/dreams or feelings that they can't quite explain?

Such as how maybe Machete wouldn't be able to watch stabbing scenes in shows/movies without getting a faint ache in his chest, or an imaginary metallic taste in his mouth. Maybe Vasco would tend to get especially clingy and oddly concerned about Machete's well-being during a particular time of year(around whenever the previous Machete was assassinated).

.

[vikary401]

fancy date

[pininghost]

u know speaking as a poc who lives in a country that still mostly believes in superstition I had a thought. the modern equivalent of labru's (one-sided) beef with each other is that laios is some weirdo who likes cryptids and ghost hunting while kabru grew up taking those things seriously. like. do you see the vision. laios would go cryptid hunting or find abandoned buildings in the woods while kabru is the type who wouldn't even look upwards the treeline in a forest at night.

[ribbononline]

Howdy just wanted to let you know how much I love your fantasy AI and how cute the designs are!

Assuming you meant Fantasy AU haha- Thank you! Ive admittedly been playing with their design a little in the background (And it hink I posted some sketches before? though im unsure if I tagged them) since some of them looked. a little too human ((sorry archie i LOVE selkies but untransformed it truly is just a fur coat. which. isnt great for a more tropical setting)) but the core of it has never changed lol I love modern fantasy

The designs are half inspired by Pokémon now, though not tooooo intensly.

Max is still mosty faun, but leant a little more into full furry for him I guess. Cope old man.

Archie has been changed from selkie which HORTS but alas i lacked the skills to draw him cool. He's just a general mercreature now. He has legs but he's half fish in design he can breathe underwater. You get it

Others I've had thoughts on:

May gets to be torchic in harpy form. She's a rare case, as she can naturally do some magic! She can Breathe Fire. Very fun for her parents. She can't fly, but she can kind of flutter- which is great for parkouring around! Active kid. Due to lacking arms/hands she uses her legs/talons for most things instead

I want Courtney to be Meowstic inspired, probably with some/devil/demon inspo for the monster part? But I admittedly haven't thought of a design Im happy with yet. She also has some natural magic! Again, not supposed to be very common. She can levitate stuff and throw around psychic shockwaves if she's mad. She tried studying to be a witch for a little while, but she didn't really like it.

Lisia is Mostly Just Regular Lisia except the cloud fluff on her outfit is part of her lol. She's a combination of Swablu inspired and a full on wind spirit. She looks normal most of the time but if a strong wind catches on her physical form literally temporarily blows away into clouds. She can control the condensation in the air around her- which is almost entirely useless, except she can use it to create rainbows behind her. Great idol trick

Zinnia gets some fun dragon traits, and also lives up to her Lorekeeper title. While there's plenty of common spells written down and going around, Zinnia has access to and protects a lot of more powerfull forgotten stuff. Most imporantly Delta Magic, which... Functions via Totally Not Mega Stones, and allows the user unlimited access to type magic for as long as it's active. It's pretty draining, but it's the only time that actual world changing magic can be made to happen, rather then more mundane or minor stuff

[lynx-doodles-indie-games]

despite not being super touchy-feely, hornet is the one who indulges moss' requests for uppies the most

[cafulur]

Modern / College AU Labru Snippets:

- Laios and Kabru meet as classmates who get paired together for a project, and although they initially clash at first, through the assignment they find themselves clicking in the most unexpected ways.

- After the project is finished, they still keep texting each other. Laios sends Kabru a photo of an opossum that was lurking right outside his bedroom window late one night. Kabru later texts him a picture of a fluffy stray cat that won’t leave him alone every time he walks up to his apartment. He initially acts as if he doesn’t like the cat and that it’s bothering him by always following him home, but Laios constantly enthuses over text about how he would love to meet this cat someday. Suddenly Kabru is sneaking this cat little pets and treats in hopes it’ll stick around for when Laios may eventually (hopefully) come over. Before he knows it, Kabru has formed a soft spot for the stray.

- Both of their friend groups mesh and the two find themselves wondering each day when they’ll get to see each other next. They instantly attach in group settings without a second thought, and everyone notices the spark they have going on but them. Laios is excited in a ‘wow this is the coolest, nicest, most interesting friend I’ve ever had!’ type of way, while Kabru recognizes & reconciles with the fact that he’s crushing pretty early on.

- Toward the end of the semester, Marcille hosts a house party, and there’s actually a moment where Kabru sits with Chilchuck on the rooftop ?? It’s an extremely rare occasion and odd for them to ever be alone together, but Kabru had wondered out onto the second floor balcony for some fresh air + a moment to think, and spotted Chilchuck smoking a joint by himself atop the roof shackles to the right of him, just beyond the balcony.

- They watch Laios and a few others down below do something stupid and party related, like chug a drink or eat something fast in one go. It’s mostly quiet between the two up top, save for the few awkward hellos in acknowledgment when Kabru first shows up. Until Chilchuck, of all people, decides to finally break the silence between them. 

“I’d just be straight up with him at this point, if I were you.”

Kabru jumps a little at the unexpected suggestion, glancing toward him with wary eyes. He does his absolute best in every interaction to present himself in a very particular way. Had he been that easy to read all this time?

“Straight with who?” Kabru questions as innocently as he could pretend with a smile, brushing a curl behind his ear.

Chilchuck takes a drag and blows smoke up toward the sky, slightly annoyed but not trying to bite this time around. “Laios. It looks like you want something so bad, but you’re holding back or something. He’s not going to pick up on anything unless you spell it out for him, y’know.”

Kabru covers one of his ears as he feels them burn, looking down into the plastic cup barely filled with beer in his hands. “It’s not— I don’t…” he starts, but feels dumb finishing any semblance of denial. Surprising himself, he caves in, swirling the drink. “It’s just… I don’t want to lose this. His friendship has become pretty important to me.”

“Does Laios come across as someone who would make things awkward?” Chilchuck asks, snuffing out the nub of his joint into the roof and turning to Kabru. Kabru furrows his brow at him.

“Not typically, but I somehow can never figure him out when it comes to things I’ve never tried with him before. Risks with him are truly unpredictable.”

He hums in disagreement, watching the last of the smoke escape the joint before it completely fizzles out. “Eh, I don’t know. Think about it like this. If he doesn’t reciprocate the feelings, do you think he’d have trouble still being friends with you? Laios, being the way that he is, I mean.”

Kabru thinks about it for a minute. Laios really was different from other friends he’d made throughout his life. He didn’t waste time putting up fronts just to save face, and he can’t really pick up on things being awkward for either party. If Kabru confessed and got denied, it would hurt himself mostly, but it wouldn’t rapidly change the air between them. Laios probably wouldn’t want to stop being friends or need time apart just out of awkwardness, which is what one would normally expect after rejection. “I think I get what you mean. I suppose not.”

Chilchuck put the burnt out nub into his pocket to save for a final short smoke later. “I don’t know exactly what all goes on in that guy’s head, but being an observer, I’d think you’d notice by now when he’s actually looking back. I guess it’s easier as a third party.”

Kabru takes a sip of his beer as he carefully considers Chilchuck’s words and watches Laios down below. In that moment, Laios happens to look up and catch Kabru’s gaze, immediately smiling and giving him a friendly wave. It feels like it’s just between them, save for the audience member right next to Kabru witnessing the whole thing. Chilchuck sighs and stands up, dusting his pants off.

“You guys do you. I barely understand my own feelings and how to go about them these days, but if you already know yours so confidently, then there shouldn’t be much stopping you from sharing them. Bottling up seems a lot more painful. It’s hard to watch, anyway.” He stretches before crawling down from the roof shackles onto the balcony. He offers a small wave as he passes by to head inside. Kabru turns to watch him go, saying a soft “Thanks Chilchuck,” as he disappears into a hallway, presumably toward the stairs.

When Kabru turns back around and glances down, Laios is in fact still looking up at him. His face heats up a bit, unsure what to say or do in response, and then Laios is grinning brightly and motioning for him to come and join them. Kabru nods, downs the last of his drink, and then hurries inside, heart pounding in his chest.

[sforzesco]

so it’s. it’s like. man this is so hard without my laptop.

alright so Crassus is a weird guy, existentially. There’s a tendency to speculate, assign, and insert him into whatever places are conspiratorial and shadowy because he fits into those narrative places with ease. My personal favorite (aside from all of it) is the idea that he may have pulled strings wrt to Sulla and Caesar’s conflict to help get Caesar out of it.

The Defeat of Rome: Crassus, Carrhae and the Invasion of the East, Gareth C. Sampson

In the universe that exists in my head, he definitely had a hand in it, but he didn’t really intend for Caesar to figure out he played a part in it, but Caesar’s good at puzzles, and noticing someone goes both ways. Binding someone to yourself goes both ways.

Crassus: The First Tycoon, Peter Stothard

This scene takes place sometime relatively soon after Sulla’s death. Crassus has complicated feelings about it, Caesar less so. Veni, vidi, vici, baby!

Here’s a bonus thing that I keep thinking about with them.

The Roman Revolution, Ronald Syme

like, utang na loob. and it is DEEP between them.

[pigeonstab]

I wasn't actually planning on drawing vampire Killer and werewolf Cross but it could be cool... actually..

[1driedpersimmon]

I’m still drawing so much Crimenos… I love them so much… 🤭💕

[gayvecchio]

So, I put David Marciano's name into youtube (as one does from time to time) and found this...short film(?) of him apparently playing a gay cop with a bigoted partner. How am I just now seeing this???

[canisalbus]

Telepathically beckoning you to give Machete's brothers names full designs full backstories and actually make them the main characters /silly

I know I should TvT

Not make them main characters I mean, but come up with names and full designs for them. This goes for Vasco's parents and two sisters as well.

And I still haven't made up my mind about Ludovica's girlfriend either aaaa.

[coffeethathurtsyou]

your flondon is calling someone / being called a nerd (derogatory or affectionate)

but "nerd" doesn't exist yet. it won't for about 40 more years iirc.

some other suggestions my flondon friends have given is "Skilamalink" (has more to do with like, outsmarting/tricking people though), "Wonk" (it's a 1920s term though, and also north american, but makes some hand waviness bc devils) and "Bluestocking" (unfortunatly has sexist roots that try to throw down intellectual women, but it's my favourite in terms of 'you're someone who hangs out in book clubs and dresses subpar')