#square and i decided that in this au there can be more than one avatar so that we could have more than one generational talent as an avatar

[tkachuksoralfixation]

1st sentence ask game:

Connor is one second away from absolutely losing his marbles.

Been brainstorming this for a while and since you gave me a really amazing idea in the discord server i give you: avatar au

I did this game entirely wrong and just used the sentence as inspiration rather than as the first sentence.... And then this fic is 1.1k. so. Yeah.

Anyways! Ficlet under the cut ���

For a majority of the years he's spent hiding, Connor has experienced true peace. 

The destiny that was preached to him ever since he was old enough to understand the concept of fate and prophecies never quite faded away. Every day, he relives the pain, the guilt, the shame of running away. Initially, Connor traveled the world alone, nearly starving and surviving solely on dedication and foraging. He was incredibly lucky, after two years, to have found solace on Kyoshi island. 

It wasn't exactly a place, in Connor's mind, that he would seek out for his hiding. But the Kyoshi warriors offered him protection and their secrecy, along with a home, training, and anything else he could possibly need or ask for. And, well, Connor wasn't exactly in a position to deny their services. So, four years later, he's somehow managed to stay hidden while still keeping himself in decent shape. 

While he did run away from his fate, Connor did still believe it would eventually find him. That he still had a duty to avenge the Air nation. What he didn't expect, however, was that it would find him today. 

Grocery runs have become pretty standard for Connor in the past year. He travels by foot to the nearest village, picks up anything and everything he or the warriors need, and heads back to their secluded village. No problems have ever found him. The folks in the surrounding village never recognize Connor, and even if they do, they never ask. His privacy is protected on Kyoshi, and that's part of the reason he loves it so much. 

That is, until now, when he's on his usual grocery run, and a stranger shoves past him with complete disregard of the bustling streets around them. Normally, Connor would apologize and move on, but this guy stops and addresses him directly. 

“Watch where you're going, you flaming hog monkey,” the stranger snaps, his voice aggressive and rough.

Connor opens his mouth to apologize, but he freezes. The man before him stares at him with icy eyes, a vaguely familiar face glaring at him expectantly. Immediately, he's taken back to the day he ran, to the faces of the soldiers who infiltrated his home. The faces of uncaring, soulless puppets of the Fire Nation, wiping out his friends, family, everyone he knew. 

He's older, now. He's grown into a rather nice looking young man, and if Connor wasn't haunted by his past, he probably would've never recognized him. But he relives that night over and over again, and he has the faces memorized. This man is no different. 

Yeah. Connor is one second away from losing his marbles. 

“Well?” The soldier hisses, his face contorting into an intimidating frown. “Are you just going to stand there and look stupid? I have places to be.” 

Connor rapidly blinks, trying to tie his thoughts together. What is he supposed to say again? What even instigated this aggressive behaviour? Wow, it's hot outside today. Where the hell are his words? Why does his tongue feel heavy? He's fucked. Oh, spirits, the Fire Nation found him and they're going to torture him for the rest of his life, fuck, what is he supposed to do? He could run. He could easily take this guy out, probably. That is, if he's a regular soldier and not a firebender. If he was, Connor was fucked. 

Oh, Spirits, Connor is fucked. 

Thankfully, someone else interrupts their awkward encounter and snaps Connor out of his panicked state. Unluckily for Connor, however, it's another soldier. Fuck. 

“Could you stop disappearing on me, Leon? It's almost like you really don't wanna be around me,” the second soldier announces with a grin, clapping the first— Leon, he picks up— on the shoulder. He's the same height, with curly hair and a decent build. Yeah, Connor doesn't stand a chance against these two. 

“It's because I don't,” Leon retorts, still glaring at Connor, “I'm trying to get this idiot to understand he needs to watch where he's walking.” 

Connor swallows hard as the new guy's eyes drift towards him. The three of them sit in silence for one moment, two moments, then three. When a flicker of recognition ignites in the second soldier's eyes, Connor knows it's time to book it. 

“Um,” Connor quickly scans the area for the quickest escape route, “I’m really sorry for running into you. I, uh, I really do have to get going, though. Sorry, again.” 

Just as Connor goes to scurry away, the second man grabs him by the wrist. He whips around, eyes wide like a deer in headlights. No, no, no, this isn't happening. He can't let this happen. He can't get dragged away when he's finally found peace. Or maybe this is destiny finally catching up to him. Maybe he should give in and let himself be taken, face his fate head on. 

But he meets eyes with the second man. His face is kinder, the only lines on his face caused by the grin he currently wears. There's no animosity, no malice, not a hint of nefarious intentions in his body language. That confuses Connor. Shouldn't he know who he is by now? Shouldn't he want him dead? 

His question is answered in an instant. The soldier simply smiles apologetically towards him before he speaks. “Don't mind him, he's just cranky from the long boat ride,” he says, making light of the situation, “I'm Matthew, by the way. You seem familiar, do I know you from somewhere by chance?” 

And that's Connor's cue to leave. “Thanks, Matthew, but I'm positive you don't,” he quickly stumbles through the sentence, pulling his arm away. “I really do have to go. I'm sorry for running into you again.” He says it as confidently as he can, and then he's walking away as quickly and inconspicuously as he possibly can. 

As he walks away, he hears the two of them bickering still. He feels incredibly lucky as he takes the path back the way he came, keeping to the treeline to avoid being followed. There's no way Matthew will go very long without realizing where he recognizes Connor from. He remembers Matthew pretty vividly. He remembers his hesitant face, back then, young as he was. He remembers meeting his eyes, silently begging him to have mercy. 

And, well, that night didn't end the way Connor wishes it did. Somehow, though, he feels like what Matthew just did was a semblance of an apology. 

He knows he's lucky. 

He also knows it's not long before his location is no longer a secret.

[bluejayblueskies]

How about an AU where Jon and Gerry have been dating since Uni and have managed to keep it secret from everyone (including Elias and Gerttrude) by complete accident?

send me an au and i'll give you 5+ headcanons about it! requests closed!

by accident you say? 👀

1. jon and gerry meet somewhere completely ridiculous (yet also completely mundane) where the chance of them running into one another was like.... one in a million. like, maybe jon's class got out early and so he decided to walk a little further from campus to try a new coffee shop that he's never tried before and never will again because he realizes he really hates the drinks and that it's not worth the walk, and gerry is in the area looking into something leitner-related and he looks down at his phone a bit too long and runs smack into jon when he's walking away from the coffee shop with a lukewarm travel cup of hot chocolate because they were out of tea (what kind of coffee shop is out of tea? jon thinks with a scowl).

the hot chocolate spills all over gerry and jon's like 'oh god sorry, do you- do you want me to do something?' and gerry's about to brush past him when he sees the person he was looking for and shit, they're looking this way so without thinking he just... grabs jon and pulls him into the nearest shop. which happens to be selling something weird, idk, little ceramic figurines. and gerry does Not know what to say because like, he can't tell this stranger that he's hiding from maybe-a-fear-avatar! so he's like 'uh. you can make it up to me by.... helping me pick out a figurine? for, er. my mother. yes.'

so they're just walking through this shop, gerry's shirt still wet with hot chocolate, jon Very confused and also Very late for class but somehow nervous to just leave, so they look at figurines together. gerry keeps looking back out the window and nope, maybe-an-avatar is still there, and now they're sitting on the bench and it doesn't look like they're planning on moving anytime soon and gerry really doesn't want to take the chance and gamble that the maybe-avatar won't recognize him or realize what he's looking for. so gerry keeps shooting down every recommendation jon gives him with some progressively-more bullshit reasons--'oh, my mum already has that one' 'that one's too expensive, i can't afford it' 'that's too small' 'i don't like the way that one's looking at me' 'my mom's allergic to dogs, actually'--until jon's finally like 'okay what is going on and can i leave now?'.

and the maybe-avatar is still out there and gerry's certain now that they're watching him and he's suddenly very aware that he's spent a long period of time with this guy whose name he actually didn't quite catch and that it definitely looks like they're working together and ah, fuck, if i let him leave and he gets targeted because of me i'd feel horrible. so gerry sighs and thinks fuck it and is like 'listen i'm gonna level with you. i'm here looking for a book and there is somebody watching me right now and i know how that sounds but it's really not as shady as you think and also really not my fault but it is my fault that you're here too so. yeah. sorry i don't know if it's safe for you to leave.'

and all jon can think to say is 'a book?'.

and gerry's like 'don't worry about that bit, you really wouldn't understand' and jon gets all bristly and says primly, 'well, i'm a lit major and i work at the university library maybe i could help' and gerry can't help but laugh and say, 'really hope there's not a leitner in your uni library, mate'. and then jon gets this wide-eyed expression on his face like he's just seen a ghost and says 'what did you just say?' and before gerry can deflect again jon says, more intensely, but also hesitantly, 'is... is it called a guest for mr. spider?'.

and gerry's like 'um. no, it's not' and jon deflates a bit but now gerry's curious and he's like 'why?' and jon tries to deflect like 'oh clearly i misunderstood' but gerry's not budging and he's like 'no, no--have you read a leitner? gold bookplate, super fucked-up consequences?' and jon just goes pale which is really all the confirmation gerry needs. gerry feels the need to clarify that he hates them too--that he burns them whenever he gets the chance.

weakly, jon says, 'there... there's more than one?'. and then, a bit stronger: 'you- you're looking for another one? here? and you're going to burn it?'

gerry: yes, that's the plan. why--?

jon, without hesitation: i want to help

and maybe gerry is hesitant at first but, well. it seems like jon is already fully in this, so he reluctantly agrees, and they hunt down the leitner together and gerry lets jon burn it and then they're friends (and it really doesn't take long at all for that to transition into partners).

2. gertrude and elias missing that they're dating is a comedy of errors, including a lot of rather dramatic near misses including, but not limited to:

- jon always leaves a room just before one of them enters

- gerry always talks ambiguously about the person helping him hunt down leitners; elias always assumes he means gertrude, gertrude always assumes he means his mother. this is exploited to a comedic level

- getrude thinks 'going on a date' is code for gerry having a new lead on jurgen leitner and leaving to go chase it down

- when jon joins the institute as a researcher and runs into gerry in the building for the first time, he greets him neutrally in a mutually-agreed display of professionalism while working. gertrude and elias both remark at the fact that 'it's so nice that jon/gerry has a friend'

- gertrude, opening the door to the break room and bustling around inside, looking over at gerry where he's standing in front of the counter, jon sat atop it with his legs bracketing gerry's hips (they have very clearly just been kissing): oh hello gerard. jonathan. talking about leitners again?

jon, a bit embarrassed, slipping into Ultra Professionalism to compensate: i was just discussing with mr. keay the details of case number 0031211 regarding ms. cortena's experience with the talking vase--

gertrude, not at all interested, already knows that it's fake: right, right, carry on then

*after she's gotten her tea and left*

gerry, holding in laughter: 'mr. keay'?

jon, blushing: shut up gerry

3. gerry, casually, not actually aware that getrude doesn't know that he and jon are dating: yeah so then i had to leave my date early to go chase down this leitner and jon was not pleased

gertrude, after a hum of acknowledgement: how unfortunate. i'm not sure how jonathan's opinion on the matter is relevant, however. was he disappointed that you didn't ask him to track down the leitner with you?

gerry, Confused™️: he was.... at the date?

gertrude: at the date? whatever for?

gerry, now staring openly: because i was on a date with him? because we're dating? wait, did you not know that?

gertrude, not willing to admit that she missed that for nearly three years: of course i knew that, gerard. don't be foolish.

gerry, now even more confused: but--

gertrude, without missing a beat: i trust the leitner hunt went well, then?

gerry, after a long pause: um. yes?

gertrude, nodding: good.

4. there's an institute party and everyone's allowed to bring a plus-one

elias, noticing that jon's alone at the party: ah hello, jonathan. no plus one for you today?

jon: no, gerry couldn't make it, unfortunately. family business.

elias, somehow Oblivious, and also very Old Fashioned and way too familiar with his employees: quite. though typically, plus ones are of the romantic capacity. it's nice that you would consider gerard an acceptable substitute though, i suppose

jon, Bi confusion and suddenly unsure if his boss is homophobic: um. it.... it would have been in a romantic capacity?

elias, still Not Getting It: ah, i see. perhaps for the best, then--office parties don't make for pleasant first dates, in my experience

jon, unsure of how much of his personal life he wants to share with elias but not really wanting to pretend like he's not been dating gerry for going on three years now: um. it- it wouldn't be our first date. or- or really a date at all, just an- an event, i really don't think gerry would call this a date

elias, Getting it a little bit: ah. unfortunate, then. congratulations, i suppose, are in order. was it a recent engagement?

jon, ??????, biting the bullet: we've been together for three years, elias

5. jon, handing gerry a wrapped package on their fourth anniversary after they started dating: this is, um. this is for you

gerry, opening it and holding up the little ceramic figure of a dog: jon. is this--?

jon, in a rush: it's from that shop. where we, uh. where we met.

gerry, overcome with such love he really can't stand it, throwing all of his proposal plans out the window and digging the little square velvet box out of his pocket: jon can i ask you a question--

(jon is so surprised he just starts crying. it's only the fifth time gerry's ever seen him cry and he's so worried he said something wrong at first but then jon manages to say yes around his tears and jon wraps his arms around gerry tightly and buries his face in gerry's shoulder and whispers i love you and gerry hugs him tightly in return and says i love you, too, jon. i love you too.)

[lbibliophile-atla]

Untitled Avatar Zuko AU

Thankyou for the ask!!

This is actually my very first ATLA fic, from about a year before I properly got into the fandom. Inspired by this post.

---

When Aang flees the temple, the storm that catches him is not entirely natural, but a spiritual disturbance caused by massacre of Air Nomads. The Avatar state encases him in ice to protect him both from the storm and long-term while his spiritual wounds heal. But with the war and the Avatar’s absence, imbalance in the world worsens, and Aang does not heal as he should.

The spirits spend some time debating what to do about this, but eventually come to the conclusion that an Air Avatar, particularly injured as Aang is, won’t be able to fix things. They need a Fire-born Avatar instead. They let Aang die, then manipulate things so the next two Avatars in the cycle ­- Water and Earth - are stillborn. At last, the Fire Avatar is born; Zuko.

(I have another version of this set-up where Aang survives – in my Avatar Katara AU. The spirits decide that he is more useful as a the last airbender than the Avatar, so they let just the Avatar spirit move on.)

Canon continues mostly unchanged through to Zuko’s banishment. Until Iroh, stuck on a small ship with his nephew, notices one too many coincidences and realises the truth. Zuko is still angry and hurting and determined to deliver the lost Avatar to his father. So instead of telling him Iroh doubles down on his anti-brainwashing rhetoric, emphasising the benefits of balance and harmony and knowing (and adapting) your enemies skills.

The rest of the fic is just oblivious-Zuko’s Avatar hunting shenanigans, while Iroh and the crew are desperately trying to hide and/or ignore the other elements going haywire around their Prince.

The two scene ideas I have so far:

1. Zuko makes some comment about needing to leave port early so they don’t get stuck in the storm.

Jee, looking at the clear sky: What storm?

Iroh: best to do as he orders. He is the captain, and my nephew has surprisingly good instincts about these things.

Jee, a few hours later, looking at the boiling stormclouds safely behind them: how can a thirteen year old prince read the weather better than someone who’s spent the last thirty years in the navy? Something odd is going on here.

Iroh: join me for a cup of tea, and I’ll let you in on a little secret.

2. They’ve been on shore checking out an ‘Avatar’ sighting that turned out to be a false lead.

So Zuko is furious as they follow the dry streambed back down to the ship, ranting and gesticulating wildly. Then he throws out a hand and a spray of dirt comes loose from the bank, hitting him squarely in the face.

Zuko freezes, face going red, then screams in frustration. At the sound, all the dirt and dust positively flies off him, leaving his clothes and skin perfectly clean. As he stomps off, Iroh sees footprint-shaped cracks left behind in the baked clay of the streambed.

[a-d-curtis]

The Hand That Rocks the Cradle

Read on AO3 or FanFiction.net

This is it friends! I’m finally posting the first part of my new story! I’ve been mulling this concept over for almost two years, so it is time I finally get it out there!

.............

Description: AU: Aang was never found in the iceberg by Katara & Sokka, but by the Fire Nation instead. Firelord Ozai adopts Aang as his son, making him a Prince of the Fire Nation, with hopes of using the Avatar as his Weapon — after all, the hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world. 

Aang has mastered all the elements but one. But what will happen when a certain waterbender is brought in as his teacher…?

I also need to warn that there is some abuse in this story. What more would we expect when Aang shares a father with Zuko...?

..............

Prologue

As expected, my execution was a public display.

I would expect nothing less from Firelord Ozai, for attempting to corrupt his most prized pet. I’d heard of punishments as much as this for far less than I was guilty. 

Ozai only allowed a small number to interact with the boy. (Although I suppose he is nearly a man now—even if he still looks so young to my old eyes.) Only those handpicked and vigilantly fed the same carefully measured lies the boy was nourished with daily were allowed near him.

Which was easy enough for his servants and slaves, the poor brutes who carried his palanquin and cleaned his chamber pots. Those who tailored his silk robes and brushed his hair into a royal topknot knew better than to speak to him, and his educators were all well versed in what deceits to serve. 

(I don’t know if his torturers knew anything at all beyond the whip they held at the ready if he was delivered to them for ‘re-education’.)

But such thought-clones were not quite so easy to find when Ozai finally decided it was time for his pet to learn to command Earth and Water. I had heard that one of his Earthbending teachers had been shot through the eye by a Yuyuan archer mid-lesson, on command of the Crown Princess. As far as I know, the Princess never accounted for her reasons. She didn’t have to. Ozai trusted her implicitly. And her Word was Law, second only to the Firelord himself.

I was told this grisly tale on the first day I began teaching the young Avatar, no doubt to remind me of my place and what I stood to lose if I were to step out of line. I took the caution to heart, but perhaps not in the way Ozai’s fools would have liked. My efforts with the boy were subsequently evermore subtle. 

Command of water came easily to him; he learned quickly, too easily -- his raw power unlike anything I had ever seen. Teaching him I walked the sharp edge of a sword, holding back but all the while needing something to show for our efforts. And I could see that he held back as well. Just as much as I did. There was no hurry to complete his training, when mastery only promised both of us ruin. I don’t know if he knew that. 

But I did.  

For centuries, teaching the Avatar to bend was seen as a mark of honor, a way for one’s own name to go down in history along with the Avatar he served. But now, for one from my nation, to teach the Avatar is a mark of submission, of surrender. Proof that all shame could be bought with the right kind of leverage. To teach the boy was to sell your mothers, your grandfathers and children to servitude, or flames.  

And I, Master Pakku of the Northern Watertribe, had sold my soul to be his teacher. My name would be spat forever more among my tribe, a hiss and byword only to be uttered in derision. 

But they don’t know, that I taught him more than what the Ash-lovers knew. 

I only pray he learned the lesson. And that one day he would use it to end this eternal inferno, this war without end. But who knows if he could discern my cryptic teachings? Or if he would even want to? He’s been in the Firelord’s pocket since he was a child, after all. 

I guess now I will never know.

For now I am to pay for my secret lessons with my life. But I hold my head high as they roughly tie me to the stake in the square.

I can feel the execution drums bang deep within my chest, my skull full of the sound. I feel the sweat begin to drip down my back. As the torches are brought high and close, I think of my beloved home, longing with sudden potency for the chill of the ice and snow of the North. I am an old man now, but I am not beyond the fear that clutches in my stomach like a small child frightened and alone in the dark.

I fear. But I will not let them see my fear.

I lift my chin in pride. At the last moment I look up toward the palace, the very place I had committed the heinous crime of Truth that brought me to this moment. And there on the balcony, three figures emerge in royal glory to watch me die. 

At the center is Firelord Ozai himself, as imposing and commanding as ever, the Golden Flame in his hair glinting viciously in the high-noon sunlight; On his right, the Crown Princess Azula stands, a smirk on her blood-red lips. 

And there, standing on the Firelord’s left and nearly as tall as the Firelord himself is The Reason I risked this infiltration. His long black hair is pulled up as always in a Fire-nation topknot, leaving only the end of the sky-blue arrow of his ancestry visible on his forehead. His face is carefully neutral, but I imagine that behind his dark eyes is something like sympathy. Sorrow? Repulsion? 

Or maybe nothing at all. Perhaps I am just an old man wishing for my pyre not to have been for nothing at all.

The last thing I see is fire reflected, flickering brightly in those ancient and youthful gray eyes before I pinch my eyes tight in pain. 

And against all my best efforts, I scream.

……………..

Keep reading in the Next Chapter

[venomasides]

Zu’u Alduin | Day 27

I finally finished a monster of a story that got way longer than intended! Alduin was severely lacking in a villain speech, so I had to fix that. Takes place in an AU where the world eater and ulfric decide to tagteam. 

The sky over Windhelm is black. Flurries consume the slag-laden streets, white powder dusting the furs and shoulder pads of the hundreds gathered at the doors of The Palace of Kings. They crowd like horkers upon a rocky shore, children pushing through the legs of their elders to get a better look, dunmer and argonian packed behind as stormcloak soldiers crowd the frontmost rows. 

Ulfric Stormcloak stands on the highest step to the palace. His right hand, Gunmar, stands with him. 

He is silent, face as dark and stony as Windhelm itself. The crowd is restless. 

What’s going on?- mom I’m cold- must be a special occasion to let the swamp lizards in- is he throwing the dark elves out?- better hurry it up, I’ve got soup boiling. 

The jarl of Windhelm takes a deep breath. This day would come eventually. 

Gunmar leans in, whispering just above the winds. “Are you sure about this, Ulfric?” 

He isn’t, but what difference does that make? 

“And what, send my people home? After packing them in the streets like horker meat and promising answers? It's much too late for that, Gunmar.” 

“Very well.” 

His lips pulled into a brooding frown, Ulfric clears his throat. His people deserve answers. They deserve to know the true weight of their service, their destinies, the path that they travel with him. 

The hard part about legends is that they’re rather unclear. Truths are harder to stomach than ideals. 

“Sons and Daughters of Skyrim,” he starts as he always does. “For as proud as we are to fight for this home, our home, war does not come without its costs. You have much to weigh on your hearts, beyond freedom from those who wish to take Skyrim away from us. I know this. I’ve lived with it since I was a boy. 

“But when I was a boy, there were no dragons. Legends were only stories for our fathers to reminisce. In this age, the legends have come true. They are as true for me as they are for you, and all men that hold the Stormcloak banner. 

“In our pride, we forget the very stones we stand on, placed by our ancestors. Built to honor Ysgromor, bolstered to honor avatars of the gods: Dragons.” 

Murmurs break out among the crowd, men and women whispering to one another in confusion. Some nod in excitement, absorbing every word, perplexed. Far behind the nords, elves shift uncomfortable on their heels. 

Wuunferth, just beside Galmar, whispers accusingly “What exactly is the meaning of this?” 

Whether or not they know their destiny, they’d best accept it. 

All of them. 

“Dragons do not have to be our enemy.” Ulfric squares his shoulders. “For we and they are one in the same: We seek freedom, to take back what is rightfully ours! We are more than legends! The stormcloaks are here, now, and the season unending ends TONIGHT.”

The jarl of Windhelm clashes the hilt of his battleaxe to the ground. A signal to Gunmar, who hesitates as he brings the battle horn to his lips. 

Brassy echoes ring through the ancient city, dancing in empty streets. The haughtiest of men raise their weapons with vigor, unknowing of shadows lurking in the mountains, and the women nervously glance between soldiers and their children. 

Silence falls. A sleeping city waits. 

In the distant night, wings beat against the wind. Wings as black as the night, joined by others. 

LOK  - VAH - KOOR 

The sky erupts with ancient words, clouds splitting and bursting like the eruption of the Red Mountain. Moonlight pours onto the land, winds blown far in a single burst as dresses and capes flutter in the force of the blast. A little girl, Sofia, latches onto the leg of a beggar. 

Roars fill the night. Two dragons emerge from what remains over the clouds, flying down into the city. Their shadows obscure the moonglow, twisting over the faces of horrified townspeople, some screaming, others running. The tremble of dragon landfall brings them to their knees. 

Two dragons land upon roofs parallel to the palace doors, hanging their wings over the walls. Each are as large as they are spiny, scales ridden with ancient battle scars. Survivors of the dragon war. 

Guards stand terrified, weapons frozen in their hands. Bowmen draw arrows with trembling fingers. 

The voice of Ulfric Stormcloak rings out among the people, “STAY YOUR WEAPONS.” 

Such a command fails to reach all; arrows fly from archers too far into their shot. The dragons flinch at the volley, merely annoyed with arrows that fail to pierce a single scale.

One scoffs. “Nikriin joor. Drog-ill bo! Your true High King arrives!” 

The other dragon, horns as curved as the crescent moon, shakes his head. Thu’um thunders from his maw. 

ZUN - HAAL - VIIK

A chorus of weapons clatters to the ground. Ulfric stares into a sea of white faces, frightened into submission. Some of the warriors wear expressions as stone as the Jarl’s own, their steel resting in the snow.. 

The shouting dragon returns attention to his brother, voice smug. “Tinvaak rel,  Golznokliz.” 

Dragons brothers aren’t unlike human brothers, it seems. It would be more amusing had they not reduced his people to playthings. The sons and daughters of skyrim are still, and those from other lands yet remain, stilled by fear and awe. 

‘Victory’ doesn’t last; the dragons silence, bowing their heads for the arrival of their king. 

A heavy shadow glides through the night. Larger than the others, it briefly overtakes the city, witnesses swallowed in the darkness. The massive black dragon flies low, allowing the moon to return. With several forceful wingbeats, he comes to a rest atop the Palace of Kings, gazing down upon the Stormcloaks with gleaming red eyes. 

The black dragon’s scales shine like polished blades in the moonlight, ornamental spires decorating the beast from his head to his tail. His wings, armored as the rest of him, stretch out comfortably against the roof, shingles and snow falling from the disturbance 

Alduin the World-Eater rests before them.

Golnokliz crawls gracefully along the wall, dropping like a bat at the palace gates. His maw forces the fleeing people back in, threatening their necks with his teeth. 

With a voice as deep as the rumbling of mountains, rough as blade-sharpening stones, the Lord of Dragons speaks. 

“Zu’u, faal thur se lein, daal! Krosis fahdon, speak first. Tell your people the truth.” 

His people are terrified, more now than they’ve been since the war started. Ulfric looks back to them from the World Eater, sure to keep his chin high. Their leader doesn’t cower. Their leader doesn’t lie. 

Ulfric puts his axe blade to the ground, resting his palms on the end of the hilt. 

“Helgen was not an accident.” 

Utter silence falls among the fearful chatter. Only the cries of babes permeate the shock, too young to understand. 

This is all for them, isn’t it? 

“Geh. Indeed my fire burns in favor of the ancient ways. Silence now, Midjoor.” 

Babes stop crying. Not a single peep sounds from the courtyard, only the heavy breathing of dragons and nervous feet shifting in the snow. Alduin raises his neck, horns jagged as peaks against the moon. He sits as distinguished as a jarl in his throne. A growl clears his throat. 

“Sons and daughters of Skyrim... This is what you call yourselves, vahzen? It seems the years of my absence have stretched beyond your fragile memories. I am Alduin, First Born of Akatosh, rightful ruler of the place you call Mundus. Zu’u rel! I am not a myth!” 

“So the legends are true?” A brave soldier says from the crowd, louder as he draws the great dragon’s attention. “You’ve come back to end the world?” 

Alduin glares. 

“Nahlot Joor! Your ancient heroes are liars. Ages ago, atop the Monahven, I battled with the Tongues. They postponed fate with an Elder Scroll, only to sing songs of my felling! Lo Nikriin!” The world eater adjusts himself, raising his head higher. “Zu’u los unslaad! I am real.” 

“Well, we can see that-” Ulfric’s elbow meets Galmar’s gut before his housecarl can say any more. 

In the night, more massive figures twist beyond the boundaries of the courtyard. Dragons gather for their master’s speech, nesting on rooftops like great eagles, eyes upon the largest, darkest dragon. 

“Nunon. I am the means to end your… season unending, as the ancient joor call it. With the beat of my great wings, I bring the beginning of a new era! This land rots and the hand of elves and human empires, does it not? Paak! The Dov and the Stormcloak seek one simple thing, that of which I offer you: Freedom from the ulse liz that have taken OUR ancient home!” 

Against all odds, all expectations, heads raise in interest and awe at the words of the wyrm. The hearts of his soldiers are no longer chilled. Some raise their fists and cry out in agreement. 

Those furthest in the crowd step back into the shadows. 

Dragon wings raise up, moonbeam’s shining through the filament in muted, glowing colors as the beasts raise themselves in power. Alduin himself rests on two legs, wings gesturing outward like painter’s hands at the world she shapes with words. 

“No longer are we enemies! Kein oblann- The Dragon War is long over. Together, my Rage and your people shall set a fire that will drive our enemies to destruction, and take back what is rightfully ours!” 

“Together, we are DOVAH. We ARE the rightful rulers of Tamriel, and I am THE FIRST BORN OF AKATOSH!” 

Alduin spreads his wings to their fullest, shadow swallowing the people of Windhelm, wings grayish red in the light. He roars his words, the other dragons following suit. None are great enough to overpower his own. 

The bravest of the nords cheer, clapping their heads and clamoring their weapons together. Undoubtedly, the world eater is thinking of what fine servants they’ll be. 

This is what’s best- this is what must be done to save Skyrim -but still, the dread pools deep in Ulfric’s bones. 

[queen-of-my-goofball-army]

OC Master List

Obviously if you’ve followed me for any length of time you will know that I have a really nasty habit of making characters of my own design. I love to be creative and make my own realities through this medium. It’s actually one of my favorite things to do. I’ve wanted to make this for a while because my friends sometimes get confused as to which OC that I’m talking about so this is the master list for everybody. 

My Hero Academia: If I have any fandom where most of my OCs go it’s into the MHA fandom. I have currently five OCs in this show so let’s talk about them one by one. 

Mitsuki Haruka: My first OC that I truly ever created and invented with the knowledge of doing it. Mitsu has a really special place in my heart because she was the first and the one that I work for the most in this fandom usually. Her comfort character is Katara from Avatar The Last Airbender. Her quirk is water. She can pretty much do anything with water. She can heat it, freeze it, glide around on it, whip it out of her and use something that I stole from Fairy Tail called waterlock where she locks a person inside of a body of water. Her canon partner is Tenya Iida my favorite square boi. I often talk about her with her adopted brother and my amazing friend @bio-hazard0us OC Kaku. 

Violet Katsuragi: Violet is one that I don’t really talk about in great detail a whole lot because every time I try to I cry. Her family is a massive shit show and I always feel so bad for making it that way.  I’m always like “My poor baby who is making you suffer so much-oh yeah it’s me sorry about that babe.” She is my “villain” OC. She is really only a member of the league so that she can stay close with her boyfriend and love of her life Twice (Jin). Her quirk is that she can control the plant tattoos that are on her arms by summoning them and using them in combat. Her comfort character is Mary Poppins because it reminds her of her older brother. Violet is an actress for a local community theater once the league disbands quietly. She and Jin also adopt Toga (a younger member of the villain league) as their own daughter to give her a second chance at life. I love her even though she’s the saddest backstory one that I have to work with it’s also the most fulfilling when I write fluff for her. 

Shizuko Kanade: Another absolute baby with a crappy home life. I’m sorry that I made it that way hun but it gets better for you I promise. Shizuko is my quirkless OC and my genius tech girl. She lives below her best friend and brother in arms Denki Kaminari and they’ve been best friends since they moved into the same building together. Her comfort character is PJ from the Goof franchise especially from Goof Troop that was her favorite show to watch with her aunt when she was growing up. She starts off really chubby, the cute kind of chubby but starts drastically dropping pounds in order for her parents to love and accept her. When they still don’t Denki has enough and talks to his mom and they decide to call the police and foster Shizuko into their own home. They get a restraining order against her biological family and my best girl gets a happy home. She wants to be the first quirkless hero to rely completely on support items. (She is also partnered with Shoji if anybody is curious.)

Arashi Mitsuha: This absolute baby, I love them. Ari is my gender fluid OC that I made who started off as just your everyday cis male but then I had an idea that spiraled from Ari in eyeliner to Ari in a skirt and then we wound up with the gender fluid absolute icon that they are today. Ari has a weather quirk. Basically anything involving weather they can do it with their eyes closed. Thunder and lightning storms, tsunamis, tornados but also snow and sunshine. They’re really OP and hella versatile it makes it more fun to write their fighting style. I paired them up with Denki in your stereotypical meet-cute scenario. In terms of backstory they just had a really bad ex-boyfriend before Denki came into their life like a literal speeding bullet. Their comfort character is Hedwig from Hedwig and the Angry Inch. 

Litzy Diaz: My last and FINAL MHA OC I promise you. Litzy is from a small town in Mexico and transferred to UA giving herself a second chance to start anew with her new friends and away from her toxic parents. She is fostered by Aizawa and Present Mic who have already adopted Shinsou so they are brother and sister in every way but blood. Her quirk was very heavily inspired by my love of Dr Facilier in Princess And The Frog. She can control shadows, shadow travel through things such as walls and she can control her friends on the other side basically demons from the underworld. Present Mic sees her as his long lost daughter and basically worships the ground that she walks on. He loves her more than anything in the entire world. Her comfort character is Miguel from Coco and La Muerte from Book Of Life. Her canon partner is Juso from Class B. 

DuckTales: I only have one DuckTales OC (thank the Gods) but she’s very special and important to me. I love the reboot of this show even if I’m way the hell behind on it (I promise I’ll catch up after Gravity Falls Donuts!!). 

Sabrina Duck: Sabrina is a sister for Huey, Dewey and Louie!! She shares the title of oldest quadruplet by thirty seconds and often took over the motherly role for her siblings when their mom wasn’t there. She was always reminding them to do their homework, regulated who got TV time and who was in charge of the delegated family movie night. This resulted in a rift between her and her brother Dewey that only got bigger overtime. School was really hard for her to deal with. She was never the best at paying attention during her classes and had a really bad sensory overload one day. She was really close with her uncle Ludwig though and he offered to teach her. They have a really special bond between the two of them that I love writing for. Sabrina was the person that grounded Ludwig to not think up as many crazy inventions. She also knits!! She loves knitting sweaters for her friends and family around the holidays. I am partnering her up with Gosalyn eventually. 

Star Vs The Forces Of Evil: To be perfectly honest with you guys, I have not seen the entire show. It’s really hard for me to get into it. Because when you only really love one character in the entire thing it gets harder to keep coming back for more. Especially because in the first two seasons you don’t get a whole lot of him and I’m stuck on season 2. 

Allania (Nia) Alvez: I feel like out of all my OCs I am the most like Nia. She’s a half elf-half mortal princess that isn’t allowed to live with the elves so they sent her to live with her mortal father. Her dad’s run a bakery in town and she works there as an assistant baker when she isn’t preparing for her next drag show. She grew up in this family full of love and acceptance and grew excited about one day having a relationship just like her parents. Her first brush with love left her broken by the side of the road even though no relationship came of it. A lot of my feelings for my ex-best friend went into Nia’s personality. However, there is a bright side! Of course with every one of my fics so far there is a bright side that comes in the form of my favorite character Tom who gives her the love that she deserves. 

Animaniacs: Of course this is me we’re talking about so there has to be an Animaniacs OC on this list! This is actually the first character that I ever made on my own free will! She has changed a lot throughout the years that I’ve had her mostly because my tastes have changed.  

Elizabeth Martin: Lizzy is a member of the scene crowd, I was inspired by my best friend and what she wears every day. For the modern au that I have her in her and Yakko are dance partners in a musical theater style school. For the regular fic she’s cast as his love interest. I love this girl so much. To me she is everything that I want to be even now. Her strength and confidence to get through every situation, even the ones that she is afraid to deal with speaks volumes to how I want to be one day. One of the few things that we have in common is that we both did martial arts! She stuck with it for longer than me though and is currently a green belt in kempo karate. Her favorite musical is Fun Home because it’s the one that she relates to the most through the eyes of the mother Helen Beckdal. Her parents basically had three other kids and went here take care of these it’s your job. Every time I listen to Days and Days I think of how much she had to go through just to make sure that everything was going according to plan. 

Looney Toons: Who doesn’t love Looney Toons?! We all have our personal favorite characters, mine has always been the schemer Daffy Duck. I thought that he was a combination of the funniest and had the most personality other than Bugs. I love his antics and get rich quick schemes and I thought to myself one day “How cute would it be if he had an adorable little niece who loved space?!” 

Daniella Duck: This began the creation of one of the best ideas that I personally think that I have ever had. So Daniella is the only one out of all my OCs that does not have aspergers. Instead I looked at Daffy’s elongated tongue and was like “Hm something inside of me thinks that she would have down-syndrome...” At first she was just going to have a little bit of her uncle’s speech impediment but this is what happens when I get ideas when I’m working out. Daniella lives with her uncle on the warner movie lot in the show fic. I love writing for her and her uncle’s relationship because it’s soft Daffy (it’s very similar to writing for soft Grunkle Stan and I LOVE BOTH). Daniella also has an uncle figure in Bugs and Porky of course. I gave her canon partner to Wakko because I just thought that they would be SO cute together. He helps her work on her self confidence and working her way around her speech impediment. In the modern au that I have she has a brother Ding Dong (@oo-fabooo02 OC). She goes to school with Wakko, loves Ed, Ed N Eddy, helps her uncle on his podcast because Daffy is a comedian in this au and she helps him write his script for the episodes. She loves space in both aus but in the modern au she actually is able to become an astronaut! 

Teen Titans\Promare: I have the same OC for both Teen Titans and for Promare but she’s more for Promare right now. What started off as just a happy au that she could have with her comfort character from the TT fic sort of spiraled into this whole other au. 

Keiko Katsuragi\Fotia in the Promare au: Keiko is a really special OC in my heart. She’s adorable, fun loving, sweet and just an all around amazing girl. In the Teen Titans au she’s a lot more damaged emotionally. Her father gave her powers through a serum that she didn’t even really want (she thought that he was joking) and it caused her house to burn down. When she left Japan she was homeless until the Teen Titans found her. Keiko is a member of the decora community and loves cutesy, girly things (especially Pokémon, Sanrio characters, Spongebob, Strawberry Shortcake and Care Bears). Her collection of stuffed animals is immense and intimidating. Her canon partner is Beast Boy. I’ve had Keiko since I was six and only just started to refine her and make her into an official OC. Promare au Keiko still has BB as her partner but I made him into a fire fighter for this au to work. She started off in a poly relationship with Meis and Gueira but I changed my mind. Writing the Promare au gave me the chance to make a happy unscarred Keiko. Her comfort character in this au is Dot. 

Princess And The Frog: If you forced me to pick a favorite Disney movie this one would be one of the two answers that I gave to you. I have a very big soft spot for this movie in particular. It is one that changed my life when I sat there as a young child and watched the movie unfold in front of my very eyes. Every time I rewatch this movie I am reminded of how much of my childhood I spent loving hand drawn Disney animation. 

Rhiannon (Rae): Rae is the daughter of Tiana and Naveen. I named her after Raymond the firefly. If you knew what a big comfort character my favorite cajun firefly is for me and my mom then her name will come as no surprise. She is the baker and pastry chef for Tiana’s Palace. Rae is a multi musically talented young girl she plays the ukulele, trumpet and accordion. When I first started writing for her I knew that I wanted her to be bisexual. So I turned to one of my favorite animation fun facts that I know. When Jim Cummings was first auditioning for Raymond they had him sing a song. This song that he sang is by Leon Russel and it’s called Cajun Love Song. It is also the song that he sings when he is untying Tiana and Naveen’s tongues. The song is about a girl named Alice. And part of my brain that makes these connections went perfect! That’ll be the name of her girlfriend. Rae is mostly a daddy’s girl. The relationship between her and Naveen was really what helped me refine her personality. Her comfort character is Rabbit from Winnie The Pooh. She is a gardener in her free time and that’s where she gets a majority of her fresh fruits and vegetables for her pastries and desserts. She isn’t really the best at being a princess. In fact she hates when she has to go and visit Maldonia. She doesn’t feel at home there and they won’t let her cook or bake anything at all because it’s not seen as ladylike. This is when she mostly feels like something is wrong with her. Why can’t she just do this one seemingly simple thing for her dad? When he does so much for her why can’t she do this? She learns that even though she isn’t perfect she is so very much loved that it’s ridiculous. Her family loves her so much and they’re willing to move hell or high water for her to be comfortable. 

Gravity Falls: My most recent obsession (I did not have cable when the original show was being released please don’t kill me). I have recently been binging this show on Disney+ and have just started the second season. I hope to be done with it within the next week or so because I love it so much. My favorite character so far is definitely Grunkle Stan. I love his growth and development from a power hungry greedy old man to somebody that clearly loves the kids that are put under his care. Watching his adorable relationship with mother and the father son relationship with Dipper is something that is really close to my heart.

Twilight Pines: My most recent OC!! Twilight is the older sister of Mabel and Dipper and has been visiting Grunkle Stan for years prior to the start of the show. She’s used to his money scheming antics by now but she still loves her favorite Grunkle. Growing up, Twilight had a nervous stutter. She was shy, nervous a lot, socially awkward and was never really the best at dealing with other people. This made her comfort character Piglet from Winnie The Pooh. Her stutter is still there but it’s gotten a lot better!! She spent the year before the show starts at drama camp trying to get over her stutter. While it’s not gone completely it was a lot of progress. She has a really strong relationship with her caretaker for the summer because of the years that she’s spent with him in the past. Up until Mabel went with her for the summer she thought that she would be the only niece in his heart. See, after Mabel was born she took up a lot of the attention. Everyone wanted to look at the cute one instead of the nervous one. It’s just the way that life is. But during the summer she got to spend it being the favorite relative of somebody. When she notices how close Mabel and Stan are getting that’s when she knows that it’s over. She was naive to ever think that somebody would pick her as the favorite. Not when Mabel existed alongside her. It’s not that she doesn’t love Mabel because she clearly does. It’s just that well sometimes she wants to be loved and appreciated by her parents instead of constantly being sidelined. That’s why her summers with her Grunkle were so important to her. It was just three months out of the year. But for those three months working at the Mystery Shack and having all kinds of chaotic fun were the highlight of her year. She has to learn that she has her own values too. One’s that while don’t oversell her sister are still her’s and they are still beautiful. She learns that her parents love and care about her just as much as her sister. It’s just hard to be a show stealer in this house let’s be honest. Twilight is a pansexual and her canon partner is Wendy. 

[criesinauthor]

AQUAMARINE AU: THIS TIME I WATCHED IT

If this tastes familiar, I posted a bullshit version on my main ❤️ but here is the REAL DEAL Avatar the Last Airbender: Aquamairne AU

⁃ Azula and Zuko are spending their last summer on Ember Island

⁃ Azula is being begrudgingly clingy because it's their last summer together before Zuko starts working for their father's company and "leaves her just like their mother did >:("

⁃ Speaking of, in this verse their mother left on a ship during the last time they took a family vacation

⁃ A horrible storm happened and she was assumed lost at sea

⁃ Azula hates the ocean, Zuko hates thunder

⁃ Iroh runs a little beach shop with boba on Ember Island and he's living it up, we stan a king who minds his business and doesn't exploit the citizens he pillaged!

⁃ One night, a horrible storm happens while Azula is forcing Zuko to watch Jaws

⁃ She rags on him for being anxious and calls him a hypocrite

⁃ Even though she wishes for him to stay...

⁃ But the next day Azula falls into the pool and is CONVINCED she saw a fucking person

⁃ Then Jet the hot, piece of shit lifeguard (who broke her brothers heart 2 years ago but he is still morbidly fixated on) saves her ❤️

⁃ That night they return and there wasn't a person...there were two!!! and they're Mermaids

⁃ And they're fighting really loudly for two mythical creatures in the middle of a beach town

⁃ It's Sokka and Katara!

⁃ Sokka is in Love with Yue. He knows this because he is constantly people watching and has figured it out

⁃ and Katara has heard every last detail of it over the course of Her Entire Life

⁃ And honestly? She would like that for herself, please. No arranged marriage just because she's a "Princess" and love "isn't real."

⁃ She hates that shit!!!! She wants JUSTICE for aquatic women!

⁃ So she decided to go on land and prove it's real herself an impulsive Three Days before Yue's wedding

⁃ Sokka came with her because he is Annoying! And also fascinated with Humans. And also really wants her and Yue to be happy :)

⁃ which will not happen if his little sister fucks up because she hasn't put any research in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

⁃ So long story short, a storm swept them into this pool and they're arguing because Katara claims she's in love with "the seaweed mouth boy" and Sokka is like "katara love is more complicated than that" and she's like "but I can FEEL IT"

⁃ They stop dead in their fucking tracks when they realize Azula and Zuko have watched them the whole time

⁃ "Hello....Zuko here" Extends Gummy Worm

⁃ Azula is convinced they're crazy people and tosses it out of his hand which is fine and well because Katara Waterbends It The Fuck Back From Across the Pool

⁃ Which is enough proof for her they these are Real Mermaids From The Ocean SWIMMING in their uncle's POOL

⁃ But then the weird janitor boy who never talks and has Definitely killed a man (Longshot) comes out and they decide to book it

⁃ Next day they come back and uncle Drained the Fucking Pool which gives Zuko a minor heart attack and cracks Azula the fuck up despite her also being kind of worried.

⁃ But they hear muffled arguing from their uncle's boba shop and find Sokka and Katara wrapped in towels, totally fine, and Walking On Two Legs

⁃ Azula takes this as confirmation that they are, in fact, Fucking Imposters, until Katara waterbends gutter water onto her and she believes it again

⁃ She forces zuko to sacrifice his shirt and pants for them because he's wearing a wet suit even though he HATES walking around in just a wet suit like an asshole

⁃ He does so anyways and hates every minute

⁃ Despite all three of them protesting, Katara walks Right The Fuck UP to Jet and asks if he loves her

⁃ He does the whole "Ha. lol no. ur hot though ;) see you later ;)"

⁃ She is slightly demoralized but Soldiers On because her new friend Azula INSISTS she can make him fall in love with her

⁃ Azula has read every teen magazine so many times that she "has perfected a formula to make any man on earth fall in love in a matter of hours" she simply Chooses not to use it

⁃ Zuko and Sokka comment from the peanut gallery about how nonsensical that is

⁃ Until Azula implements operation damsel

⁃ AKA, we ride our bikes in front of Jet's house until he notices, then she throws Katara off of her handle bars to bait him into saving her

⁃ This Works but she did not tell anyone doing that on purpose was part of the plan

⁃ Cue Date!!!!

⁃ It's good but Zuko is sus and so is Sokka

⁃ Azula very pointedly (read: homophobicly) says Katara is Different and their relationship failed because he Lacks the Feminine Wiles girls like her and katara are Naturally Imbued with

⁃ That pisses him off but luckily Sokka reminds them the Fucking Sun Is Going Down and they'll turn into FISH AGAIN if they don't hurry

⁃ They bring them to the water tower and see them in Ambient Sunset Lighting as Mermaids for the First Time

⁃ Zuko & Azula: sure hope this doesn't awaken anything in me

⁃ (It does)

⁃ Jet, king that he is, eventually gets suspicious and starts pressuring Katara, assumes that there's something up because of "those two boys she's always running off with" and katara rightfully gets Pissed the Fuck Off at him, and runs away tearbending

⁃ Zuko goes after her and tries to comfort her

⁃ Cue the "why am I leaking? why does love hurt? why would someone love if it hurts this much" "because love is the closest thing humans have to magic :")" scene

⁃ Azula and Sokka are like "emotions are kinda weird, right?" "so right" on the bike ride to water tower, sweet water tower

⁃ Unfortunately Jet Follows Them and is Even More Suspicious

⁃ The next day Azula and Katara are nursing their respectively broken hearts over this with Jennifer's Body and Ice Cream

⁃ But Jet keeps hounding Zuko (and by extension Sokka, who wants to learn about more human stuff) at the boba stand

⁃ Where he figures out clearly these two gentlemen are Gay and hang out with her as a means for Zuko to prove he's Rebounded

⁃ Which isn't ideal but, he is interested in Katara again and they both want her to succeed so they take him there, hijinks ensue, Katara is invited to the Last Splash

⁃ (And Zuko does kind of want to prove he's over it so Sokka offers to take him and they all go to the mall together and get makeovers)

⁃ (Golden Opportunity for a crocverse crossover because you look me in the face and tell me mermaids wouldn't wear CROCS!)

⁃ Success! Everyone said, not knowing Jet would follow her home after the date, and climb the water tower, and see her and Sokka are mermaids, and break the ladder, and figure he can expose them on the news for being mermaids, because that makes so much sense

⁃ Luckily Longshot and Iroh recognized the betrothal necklace and whale tooth necklace in the bottom of the pool as Mermaid Fodder, something they often discuss at their monthly pai sho game, and went to save them before Jet had the chance to fuck shit up

⁃ Unfortunately!!!!!!!!!!! This means Katara and Sokka don't know about this by the next day and Zuko and Azula have to go save them from getting exposed NOW!!!!

⁃ Katara asks him if he loves her Now, and he says "heh. I'm allergic to shellfish" then pushes her in the water

⁃ Sokka dives in after her

⁃ Zuko punches Jet square in the Face then dives in

⁃ Then Azula, in a moment of love fueled bravery, jumps in as well

⁃ The sky is thundering, a whirlpool is pulling them out to sea and There it Comes

⁃ "You can have our wish, wish you can stay here" "What? Why would you do that" "We love you, Katara!" "I didn't know you leak when you're happy too!"

⁃ The Storm Hath Ended

⁃ Jet gets fucking fired

⁃ but Katara and Azula swim together and are best fucking friends while Zuko and Sokka have the worst most awkward love confession in the history of the world

⁃ They kiss and Sokka's finger scales turn blush pink for the next week

⁃ The end!!!! Love wins, people!!! And ozai got eaten by a shark off screen, roll credits! La la land!

[koala-otter]

the teacher and the scientist au: worldbuilding

I am writing some original stuff right now, and as a break where I can keep writing, I’m going to explain some of my worldbuilding/choices that I make when it comes to my modern “the teacher and the scientist” AU. The hope is that it will be fun for others to see what goes into a fic, or give people ideas for their own fics!

*a quick note: I am a white Latina! I have no East Asian heritage! I studied for a while in Beijing and speak Mandarin Chinese fluently, so I kind of defer to my experiences there when making worldbuilding choices in fic (because I believe strongly in writing what you know, especially given the damage you might cause by writing what you don’t know), but will also do research online or through friends on other countries and cultures that inspired the four nations in ATLA. But all of this is just to say that while I do put a lot of thought into this stuff, I am by no means the authority on any of it, and I am open to criticism and of course always want to make sure I’m not doing anything harmful with my writing. I promise to listen and adapt if you approach me about literally anything in my fic or in this post.

Ok now let’s get into it!

1. The setting: Ba Sing Se’s Natural History Museum This is based on a combination of the Beijing Museum of Natural History, the American Natural History Museum in New York, and Beijing’s Forbidden City/Gugong. Beijing I think is probably the biggest inspiration for Ba Sing Se with the ring system and centering of the palace (and I mean the Earth King’s palace is pretty directly based off of Tiananmen Square), so it seems like a pretty solid model for a modern Ba Sing Se to me.

2. The field trip I went on so many field trips to the Natural History Museum when I was little, and they were always the absolute most fun of the year. And I feel like we went to the planetarium basically every time? It was kind of fun to recall and try to capture the experience of being a little kid on this trip in this fic

3. The Lower Ring & the Middle Ring I put Zuko and his students as coming from the Lower Ring for a few reasons. Firstly, I couldn’t imagine Katara and Aang living in either the financial district that is the Middle Ring or the ostentatiousness of the Upper Ring. I think if they were in Ba Sing Se they’d work and raise their family in the Lower Ring (I will be getting into their jobs in later installments of this story, so I won’t explain them here!), which means Bumi goes to school in the Lower Ring, which then means Zuko has to work there in order to be his teacher and for this entire concept to work out (and also the reasons explained in the actual fic where he lived there with Iroh and wants to give back). And the museum is in the Middle Ring because I wanted it connected to the university, which canonically is in Ba Sing Se’s Middle Ring.

4. Sokka as an astrophysicist Because Sokka is a smart kid and a huge science nerd, okay??? And Yue and the space sword. It makes sense. Also, because Ba Sing Se = ATLA’s Beijing, I think of Ba Sing Se University as Beida （北大）or Peking University, which is China’s first national university and one of the most, if not the most, selective university in the country (disclaimer: I did not study at Beida!!). But yeah BSSU is the Earth Kingdom’s most illustrious university and one of the best research institutions in the world, and Sokka’s a tenured professor there. My boy’s world-class brilliant.

5. “Teacher Zuko” Ughhh I really struggled with this. Basically, I was taught in learning Chinese to address teachers as “Surname 老师 (lao3shi1),” which is “Surname Teacher.” But! I didn’t want to give Zuko a surname, because that seemed rife with opportunities for missteps (there’s a lot that goes into surnames of literally any country or culture, from geography to family history and occupations, and I didn’t want to co-opt anything that wasn’t mine to use). So I knew the kids would call him by his first name. But “Zuko Teacher” sounded off. And in Chinese, titles like Mr. or Miss or Mrs. go after one’s surname, while in English it’s the opposite, so I figured for this fic it was appropriate to implement the English convention. So! “Teacher Zuko.”

6. Sokka’s appearance Sokka’s one of those hot, young professors that appear only in popular media, or once in a blue moon. He finds out from Katara that white sneakers are an easy way to look in the fashion know while remaining marginally professional for class, and they become a staple of his uniform. I picture him in Stan Smiths. (And of course they’re a little beaten up! It’s Sokka!)

7. The gaang’s ages Okay, so, I can’t find the actual post where this is broken down, but I think canonically it makes sense that Katara and Aang were 22 and 20, respectively, when Bumi was born. I put them in this fic at being maybe a year or two older in this fic, so let’s say 23 and 21, when they have Bumi, in Katara’s second year of med school. So when this fic takes place, as Bumi is six years old, they are 29 and 27, and Sokka and Zuko are then 30 and 31.

oh my god we’re only 700 words into a 4,000-word fic why did I decide to do this to myself

8. Sokka looking at his watch and having a penchant for exact minutes He’s a master scheduler. That’s it. 

9. “My Uncle Mushi lives in Chin City” This was just kind of an opportunity to integrate more from the ATLA universe! Obvi “Mushi” is Iroh’s refugee alias, but whatever another kid can have it, and yeah Chin City is that terrible village with all of those wacky people from “Avatar Day.” So we know the kid’s uncle is wacky. Fat chance of going on a field trip to visit him.

10. Zuko calling Bumi talented There’s that scene in the episode where they go to the Sun Warriors that Zuko calls Aang “a talented kid.” Bumi’s Aang’s son, so I figure by the transitive property Zuko would describe him the same way.

11. Zuko’s scar  I don’t know why but I often forget to mention Zuko’s scar in other fics! Either way, I find kids usually respond to people’s differences better than most adults do. Kids just see things and comment on them, which, yeah, can be rude by societal standards, but I’d imagine it would be very refreshing for Zuko after going much of his life with people trying to avoid either staring at the left side of his face or talking about what happened. Also, I didn’t really want to get into the cause of the scar. Obviously Ozai did it. I don’t have an idea of how. Other fics have done that better. Explaining it within the fic the way Zuko would explain it to his class seemed like a good way to tell the reader, “Hey yeah it’s the same cause as in the show,” but then not have to get into it.

12. Sokka hates intro classes Ughhh no one likes intro classes, and I’d imagine it’s even worse for professors. Prerequisites are often too easy for the kids intending on majoring or too hard and meant to weed out the kids who can’t stick with the department’s program. College is funny.

13. Aang volunteers in Zuko’s class From what I can tell, parental involvement in schools is only getting bigger. And Aang is a great dad and I think he’d take any opportunity to get involved with Bumi’s school.

14. Zuko’s backstory I should probably take the time to explain this! Basically I think of this story existing in a universe where after they moved to Ba Sing Se under circumstances comparable to their being refugees in the show, Iroh and Zuko actually stayed in the city, and Zuko got his education there. And yeah! My boy went to BSSU, too!

15. Stargazing at the South Pole and seeing the moon at the North Pole Oh my god the pure amount of thought that went into this. I worked with the assumption that A:TLA takes place on Earth, and that then the rotations of Earth, and the rotation of the moon, are the same as what we experience now (I’ve thought about this extensively, especially as it pertains to the hemispheres and the seasons, but I don’t want to talk about it here, we simply do not have either the time or space). So the South Pole is essentially the same as our Antarctica/South Pole, except that it is capable of sustaining human life for an extended amount of time, and in theory has greater biodiversity (clearly I have also thought about this extensively, but again, we have neither the time nor the space for my theories). I had to read a NASA report on the phases of the moon as seen from the South Pole! And it turns out you can’t see much of the moon down there, and it is always in crescent form. but yeah, you see a lot of stars (but in the opposite rotation of what we see in the Northern Hemisphere), and I thought that was intriguing, especially given the importance of moon imagery throughout the show. Thus, Sokka’s first seeing the moon in the Northern Water Tribe, which ties in perfectly with his meeting Yue, his first love: “You could say the moon was my first love.” (Which someone pointed out in a comment on Ao3, and it absolutely delighted me that they noticed!)

16. Pipsqueak Just looking for more people from the show to serve as first graders in this fic. Someone commented that they pictured him the same size as he was in canon, and I laughed out loud.

17. Tuyanjing I was trying to think of constellations that look like badger-moles, and I honestly just thought, “Ursa Major. Badger-moles look like giant bears.” And “Tuyanjing” (土眼睛) is my own translation of “earth eye,” which was meant to be a nod to the animals’ connection to Toph and their blindness and earthbending. 

18. All the stars & mentioning the Fire Nation & Water Tribe navigation I was initially going to write something in this scene about ancient constructions, like the pyramids, that were built using the constellations, and then create some elaborate metaphor about them and Zukka. But the only coherent thought I had about it was that it was “Too Much Work.” Instead I realized okay sailors always use the stars for navigation, and the Water Tribes and Fire Nation are the only nations we’ve seen with boats, so let’s go for that, and it works out because if you squint maybe you’ll read something about the stars guiding them to each other. Maybe we’re evoking thoughts of star-crossed lovers. And then we mention the moon again, and Zuko’s really seeing it for the first time, kind of like Sokka did, so hey I don’t know maybe that’s a symbol of something. Maybe.  

And that’s really it I think! Hopefully this was at least entertaining if not entirely informative. I don’t normally write stuff out like this, but it is a good reflection of my thought process while writing most fics. Again, I am open to any kind of communication about the above as well as anything else I’ve posted! And I’d love to hear about any of your own ideas that help you with worldbuilding and writing your own fics :)

[setaripendragon]

ATLA Soulmates AU - Ursa/Hakoda

I know it’s been ages since I last posted anything from this little collection, but inspiration struck, and I’ve been wanting to write something for these two for ages, so I pounced on the idea. I’ve actually got ideas for a couple more of my weirder ATLA ships, but... idk if I’ll write them. (You can find all the other ATLA Soulmates stories under my Avatar The Last Airbender tag, along with a few other things ^^”)

One of the small benefits to fighting the Fire Nation, Hakoda’s found, is that the Earth Kingdom is generally very grateful to the Tribe for driving the Fire Nation off. Sometimes they’re given supplies, sometimes they get free drinks at the local inn, and sometimes they get whole parties thrown in their honour. Hakoda is honestly glad for those instances, because it’s hard enough keeping morale up when they’ve been away from home coming up on two years now, with no end to the war in sight. Celebrations of their valour keep the men from despair, and remind them that they are making a difference.

This time, they’re on some sort of village square, a patch of soft grass and small fruit-bearing trees at the heart of the village, and there have been lanterns hung on every branch, and strings of paper flowers and – curiously – fish stretching overhead. Someone has set up a communal cook-fire, someone else is going around pouring sake freely, more than a few of the Tribe are off dancing with the locals, and the kids are rushing about underfoot, re-enacting the fight.

Hakoda lets himself get drawn in, and refuses to dwell on the people he wishes were there. Instead, he lets Tarkik shove a cup of sake into his hand, and heckles some of his more reticent men into joining the dancers, and listens with great amusement to Aguta’s – much exaggerated – retelling of the battle for a few wide-eyed toddlers. Then he decides that he really ought to get some food to go with all the sake that’s being pushed on him, and heads over to where the fire is set up.

An elderly couple appear to be responsible for making the food, while a woman Hakoda assumes is their daughter distributes it to the fluctuating crowd around them. Hakoda is still on the fringes of said crowd – although already they’re eagerly making way for him – when it happens.

A couple of children run by, brandishing sticks like swords, and they pelt past the young woman while she’s trying to hand out a bowl of stew. One of them bumps her, and she drops the bowl, spilling steaming hot stew over her arms and the hem of her dress.

And Hakoda feels it burning all down the inside of his own wrist, with sharp speckles of heat further up towards his elbow. He stops dead in his tracks, hardly daring to breathe, because that- that can only mean one thing. He stares, dumbfounded, as the woman hisses in pain, then grits her teeth against it and stoops to pick up the bowl.

She’s beautiful, is his first, stupid thought. Pale skin like he’d never seen before he left the South Pole, and dark hair done up in a simple bun, wearing a now slightly stained dark green dress. She’s beautiful, and she shouldn’t be here. Because Hakoda remembers the numerous burns he felt as a child, never enough to count as an attack, always small, always on hands and arms, elbows maybe, little glancing bursts of heat along-side the aches of over-worked muscles and the bumps and bruises of falls.

He’s known all his life that his soulmate was a fire-bender. It was why he’d resigned himself to never meeting them, and settled down with Kya. And he’d been half convinced, after Kya’s death drove him to convince the Tribes to join the war, that he would meet his soulmate on the battle field, and only know them for what they were when he felt his own sword biting deep.

Instead, it’s like a moment out of the old tales, only with grass instead of ice and flowers instead of snow. The fire-bender straightens, bowl in hand, and finally notices him, standing there and gaping like an idiot. Her gaze catches on his, and her eyebrows fly up at whatever she sees on his face, a touch of wariness bleeding into her eyes where there wasn’t any before. Her golden eyes. Spirits, Hakoda hasn’t seen a gold that pure on any Fire Nation soldier yet. How hasn’t everyone realised what she is?

But they haven’t. The old couple Hakoda had mistakenly taken to be her parents begin fussing over her, the woman dabbing at her sleeves with a wet cloth, and the man asking her if she’d like to run home and change. She shakes her head, dismissing the idea, and then finally turns away from Hakoda when the child that knocked her calls an apology.

“It’s alright.” She tells him kindly. “Just be a little more careful from now on, okay?”

“Okay!” The child agrees, and then pelts off to rejoin the others.

It reminds Hakoda that, of course, she has children of her own. Two of them, unless something happened to one or both of them. He wonders who their father is, whether she’s married or not, and on recognising why he cares, resigns himself to finding out, because he obviously can’t just walk away from her without at least trying to figure out why the spirits decided that a fire-bender of all people was the right person for him.

He finally manages to make his feet move, to carry him over to where she’s standing, back by the cook-fire and ladling out a new bowl of stew. She looks up when he gets near, pulling up a smile that looks just a little bit false to him, a little bit strained. He suddenly wants to make her laugh, for real, and he knows Bato would hit him for what he’s planning if he were here, but…

“Are you Fire Nation?” He asks. She nearly drops the second bowl of stew, would have, if Hakoda hadn’t been prepared, and reached out to catch it. Their fingers tangle around the sides of the bowl, and her eyes jump up to his, wide with alarm. Hakoda offers her an easy grin. “Only, you’re so hot you could hardly be from anywhere else.”

There’s a long silence. Longer than Hakoda is used to getting for his terrible sense of humour, and he’s just starting to worry that he miscalculated, when she laughs. It’s edged with a hysterical note of relief, but Hakoda doesn’t care, just grins in the face of her incredulous mirth, proud of himself, no matter how many judging stares he’s getting from… just about everyone close enough to have heard him.

“Does that line ever work for you?” His soulmate wants to know, and she’s trying to sound unimpressed, but it doesn’t really work through the smile she can’t suppress.

Hakoda shrugs. “It made you laugh, so you tell me.” He points out cheerfully, taking the bowl from her hands and setting it aside without taking his eyes off her. She opens her mouth to reply, even as her eyes drop down briefly to follow his movement, and then she freezes, eyes going wide all over again. Warily, Hakoda looks down as well, and sees… Gold. Smears of gold like paint on the sides of his fingers, half covering his nail there, nearly touching his knuckle there.

“Oh.” His soulmate says, very quietly.

Hakoda very carefully curls his fingers into loose fists so that no one else will see. He doesn’t know if anyone in this little Earth Kingdom town would even know what Fire Nation soulmarks look like, but if he can figure out that’s what they are, so could anyone else, and he doesn’t want to expose her. Not yet. He might, if he finds out she’s here as a spy of some sort, but… He doubts it. He wants to doubt it, because she’s his soulmate, and surely – surely – his soulmate wouldn’t be the sort of person who would spy for the Fire Nation.

“Yeah.” He agrees wryly. His soulmate’s breath catches audibly, and before he can drop his hands back to his sides as inconspicuously as possible, she reaches out and catches hold of them in her own. Her touch is light at first, tentative, but tightens into a squeeze after only a moment. Her eyes find his again, and she looks… not quite scared, but vulnerable, uncertain, and painfully hopeful. “I’m Hakoda.” He introduces himself, voice soft.

His soulmate swallows. “Ursa.” She whispers in response, so quietly that Hakoda can barely hear her, never mind anyone else. “My name… is Ursa.”

[fantasyfandommaiden]

Adrien’s Mentorship AU: Adrien’s Familiar

Not every magic user needs a familiar in order to be great, however Carmine points out that it would help move along Adrien’s magical training.... and if he happens to get a magically sidekick like some magical girls do in the anime’s he loves that just a bonus.

[[MORE]]

Carmine had preformed the lineage ritual before Adrien arrived for his next lesson a week later. Adrien had been disappointed in not being able to see the ritual being performed but Carmine had insisted to him that it was actually fairly mundane without much fanfare.

“So I do have magic in my family?” Adrien asked as they sat at the table, drinking tea. Carmine had insisted that drinking tea helped with the magical process (Adrien figured it was more to do with her tea addiction, but he wasn’t about to argue with his teacher).

Carmine nodded, smiling gently at him “Yes. The ritual showed me that SOMEWHERE in your family blood line there is magic, however it has been dormant for a few generations.”

Adrien blinked in confusion “... how does that happen?” He asked “Can you just... lose your magic?”

“Well... yes and no.” Carmine said, leaning back in her chair. “SOMETIMES, if you are deemed a danger to the magical or mortal community, you can have your magic taken, and if you have no magic in your blood, it can take a few generations for it to reappear in your family. Besides for that there is no way to lose your magic.”

“... so... is there a ministry of magic than?” Adrien asked, grinning widely “Like in Harry Potter?”

Carmine let out a soft hum as she thought to over “We don’t have a ministry so much as we have a council, and each country has one. Placing one person in charge of an entire magical community isn’t always the right idea unless you have someone like Merlin in charge, bless his soul.” Carmine stated, sipping her tea. “The politics are somewhat confusing but basically it’s usually a group of fifteen or so magic users who are appointed or voted into the council. As a collective they make major decisions about the magical community, and rulings about anyone that posses a threat to both the magical and non magical community.”

Adrien was furiously writing this all down as Carmine spoke, not stopping until he got all the information down. “So, could you be on the council?”

Carmine gave a loud laugh, Gladiolus seeming to do the same from his spot at the table “Oh by the gods no, for one I am too young to be apart of the council, you need to be at least 40. Two, I am much happier helping people directly than through politics. My uncle however, Yarrow Rosewood, is a member of the council here in France. We could meet him and he could tell you more about the politics if your interested, politics was never my forte.”

Adrien looked at her, blinking. His experience with older males in a place of authority were... great but if he was related Carmine he must be good! That and... it would be nice to have a male role model. Mlle Carmine was great! But there were some things he wanted to talk about with... a man.

“So does he decide if someone needs to have their magic taken away? What sort of ruling would need to be done for that?”

Carmine leaned back in her chair, looking at Adrien sombrely “... anyone who causes the community a great loss of life or a danger to that life. A pair of pyromancers back in 1871 were both quarreling over the affections of a young woman, their duel got out of hand and caused the Great Chicago Fire.”

Adrien’s pencil stopped as he looked at Carmine in shock “Wait... wasn’t that when-“

“300 people lost their lives, leaving 100,000 residents homeless and almost three and a half square miles of the city damaged? Yes, yes it was, and all over a woman.” Carmine said with a roll of her eyes “Said woman was the one who brought forth both of them to the council for judgement, they had been attempting to court her for months and she. Was. Done with their bullshit.” Carmine stated her eyes cold “She almost lost her best friend in that fire, and as punishment for their recklessness and the reason for the fight to begin with, they were stripped of their magic and their descendants for the next twenty generations.”

Adrien looked at Carmine, his mouth feeling dry. He hadn’t realized how... dangerous this was going to be. Cataclysm was dangerous but he had never caused that much damage to be done. “Are... are they still without magic?”

Carmine blinked at the question, closing her eyes and murmuring softly, Adrien only hearing her because of his enhanced hearing, she was counting.

“... yes, but only for another four generations, after which the magic will slowly return.”

“... what happened to the woman?”

Carmine looked at him with a raised brow, Adrien blushing slightly “... I... I mean, she turned them both in and her friend almost died... I can’t imagine that would have been easily, especially turning in two gentlemen who were courting her.”

“She married her best friend, and the two ladies were very happy together.” She stated sipping her tea “Well, married by magic standards, but back to why we are here.”

“Right!” Adrien said smiling widely “My magic! It’s not dormant, so we can start my training right?”

Carmine frowned “Well, it’s not dormant but it’s very weak, most likely you family might have only regain its magic with your mother, because I refuse to believe Gabriel has any magic in him.” Carmine said, leaning back in her chair, her fingers drumming against the table “Since you have such a small pool of magic that will make it difficult to train you...”

“Is there a way to increase so it’s not as difficult?” Adrien asked, Carmine looked at him with a raised brow “Not that I don’t want to put in the work! I mean, if it’s hard I’m willing to work twice as hard to prove myself-“

“Adrien, you don’t need to worry, I’m not going to drop you as my student just because you want to know if there is a simpler or easier way.” Carmine stated “Knowledge is power, and in this case there IS a way to increase your magic at a more accelerated pace... so instead of years it will only take a handful of a handful of months, maybe weeks depending on what you get.”

Adrien blinked, looking at Carmine confused. “What I ‘get’... what are you going to do?”

Carmine looked at Adrien, a small smile on her face “... Adrien, we are going to summon a familiar for you.”

~~~~~~~~~

Adrien had helped Carmine push her furniture in the living room to the walls and sat on the couch as she drew on the floor with chalk, Gladiolus holding the pages of her grimoire down and gesturing towards certain passages on the pages.

“So... will my familiar be like Gladiolus? A ferret?”

“Gladiolus chooses to be a ferret for the sake of convience more than appearance.” Carmine told him, her concentration on the circle she was drawing “Fey like Gladiolus typically dont have appearances in the material plane, the only ones I know of are Kwami’s.”

“Because messing with fey can lead to a lot of headaches.” Plagg stated, glaring at the circle “Your sure this is safe? I don’t want to go through the headache of getting use to a new chosen.”

Carmine looked up at Plagg with a deadpanned expression “Plagg, this isn’t my first rodeo, nor my first summoning circle! I’ve done this at least 20 times for my family, and I’ve over seen twice as many after that. I’ve got this.” Carmine stated before returning back to the circle, muttering something about ‘stupid kwami cats’.

Plagg glared at Carmine “Hey, this is my kitten, you got that, if anything happens to him, I will show you WHY I hold the mantle of destruction incarnate!”

Carmine stopped, looking up at Plagg “... the worst that will happen is he will become extrmly tired afterwards, that’s it. Besides, he’ll have fail safe, Gladiolus.”

The ferret ran off towards the bedroom, coming back with a beaded bracelet, rushing at Adrien and dropping in his lap “If you ever feel your endanger, pull it apart and it will bring you back.”

“Back?” Adrien looked at her, wide eyed “Where am I going?”

“Physically, nowhere, it’s your spirit that will be traveling to the spirit realm to find a fey that is willing to be your familiar.” Carmine stated, standing up and brushing the chalk off her hands “All done.”

“So... like Avatar?”

Carmine sighed, looking at Adrien with a small smile “... yes, like Avatar. Now sit yourself in the middle of this circle, and I’ll explain what is going to happen.”

~~~~~~

In short Carmine explained it like this.

- she was going to help his spirit travel to the spirit realm, there he was encounter perhaps three or fourth spirits who would be interested in being his familiar.

- Don’t give any of the fey your name, they will use it against you to make you do things. (As some sort of mind control or something, he was still confused but agreed to not say his name out loud)

- He is to decide who would be the best familiar for him, his spirit will know which is best.

- Once he finds a familiar, he is to rip the bracelet apart brining him and his familiar back.

Carmine had told him there was a chance that there was no spirit that would be suited for him, and Carmine herself had taken three attempts before she met Gladiolus, so not to feel distraught if he couldn’t find one, and most importantly to not ‘settle’ with one.

“This is a bond that will last for the rest of your life, it is not something to be rushed.”

Adrien simply nodded, sitting on the floor cross legged, eyes closed. He didn’t know how long he sat there, but it must have been a REALLY long time, because he was getting bored, and honestly nothing had changed.

He sighed as he opened his eyes “Mlle Carmine, I don’t think it’s-“ he stopped short, looking around. He was no longer in Carmine’s living room anymore, but instead in a large grassy field.

He felt the wind gently blowing against his his skin as he slowly stood up, looking around. The grass was a deep green colour and the sky the deepest blue he had ever seen, but he didn’t see a town or building anywhere as far as his eyes could see.

“Hello?” He called out, his voice seeming to echo out into the grasslands. Adrien looked around, no seeing any spirits... was he suppose to walk around? Carmine hadn’t really given him any instructions beyond him arriving and meeting possible spirits.

As if sensing his unease, the scenery changed as if everything around him had been a mirage, and now he stood in the middle of a forest, standing on top of a large tree stump. Her heard the soft chattering of birds, and soft wind blowing through the leaves.

Although it was a nice change, it didn’t help out Adrien too much with finding a spirit. He knew he had to be patient, and it might not happen this time, but he REALLY wanted to impress Mlle Carmine... or at the very least prove to her that it was the right decision to take him on as her student...

Adrien blinked when he heard a different sound.... it sounded like soft, gibberish chatter that got louder, and louder, and the wind seemed to pick up as the trees groaned and seemed to sway. Adrien felt his body tense up as he gripped the beaded bracelet in his hand, looking around as suddenly a horde of lights and sounds and wind tore through the tree line into the small clearing were where Adrien stood.

The lights and sounds circled him in a never ending tornado, it shocked him so much that he dropped the bracelet somewhere, but Adrien was to preoccupied to notice. It was too LOUD, there was too much sound and colours and he felt like his brain was going to BURST with all the chatter that the dozens, maybe even four or five dozen dancing lights circled him, chanting different thing. He fell to his knees, his hands covering his ears and his eyes closed tightly. He wanted it to stop, but Carmine had told him to be respectful, and his mind couldn’t take this torture as the spirits continued to talk and chant.

‘So much magic!’

‘Ancient magic!’

‘The ring! It’s the ring!’

‘Pick me! I’ll be your familiar!’

‘No me! I will make you stronger! I must be near that ring!’

It was too loud, Adrien didn’t known how much more he could take much more, he would give anything to make them all stop, even if it was as simple as accepting one of the as his familiar, but none of them felt right. He didn’t feel a pull to any of them, or a strong connection, not like what he expected, but he needed all the noise and lights to stop! He opened his mouth, about to accept the first spirit he saw when he heard one voice speak, not too loudly or in a bossy tone, but a voice that commanded authority.

“Will you all shut the fuck up!” It snapped, and all the lights and sounded stopped. Adrien felt his body trembling, not daring to look up as he kept his ears covered in case the spirits tried to begin chanting again.

“Now get the hell out of here, can’t you see your scaring the kid to death!”

“But... the ring-“

“Did I fucking stutter?” The voice responded “Your not becoming a familiar to some damned ring but to the boy himself! Now, if I have to say it again, you will all cease to exsist, am I understood?”

“Ah-“

“Am. I. Under. Stood?”

And suddenly there was silence, but Adrien still did not dare to remove his hands from his ears or open his eyes. His body trembling as he remained on his knees.

After a few moments of complete silence he dared to open his eyes and saw a light, this one not as blinding and not so much a ball as a shape. It looked humanoid, possibly masculine if the outline had anything to say, but it still appeared to be light, albeit much dimmer than the other spirits, and they sat cross legged in front of him, seeming to be waiting.

“First time in the spirit realm?” The spirit asked him in a quiet voice, to which Adrien nodded. “Pfft, that explains it. Whoever sent you here is either not very smart and hasn’t dealt with a lot of ancient magical items before.” It stated, pointing at Adrien’s ring. “THAT is why they swarmed you. Powerful and old item like that was bound to draw that many excitable spirits. Most of them don’t mean you any harm but they don’t understand boundaries.”

Adrien simply nodded again, still not moving besides his trembling body. The spirit looked at him thoughtfully “... You do know you could have told them to fuck off right? Maybe not in those words, but you could have told them ‘No thanks, your not for me.’ Or ‘no thanks, I’m not ready for this’.”

“I was...” Adrien licked his lips, which felt dry before speaking again “I was told to be respectful.”

“There’s being respectful and there’s being a doormat.” The spirit told him, looking around the clearing “Honestly, if I hadn’t come along you would have probably just picked the first spirit you saw to be your familiar, no questions asked and live with some subpar or down right awful spirit, and trust me you don’t want any of those LEECHES for a familiar.” He stated, before looking back at Adrien.

“... do you want to go back to your world?” The spirit asked, holding out Adrien’s bracelet “There’s no shame in not getting a familiar on the first try... at least that’s why I assume you are here for.” The spirit said to him.

Adrien took the bracelet gently, looking at the spirit “... but... I don’t want to let my mentor down...”

The spirit seemed to almost give off the impression that he rolled his eyes “Listen, you won’t let your ‘mentor’ by not getting a familiar on the first try. Did he get it on the first try?”

Adrien blinked, shaking his head “... no, the third apparently.”

“There you have, so your old coot of a mentor won’t be on your ass for it, I sought he will be mad.” The spirit said standing “but if your that determined to get a familiar I’ll help you out... but first...” the spirit helped Adrien stand up, than walked behind him, grabbing his shoulders and forcing them back slightly before he walked in front of him, grabbing his face and making Adrien look straight in front of him.

“Good, now hold that pose and tell me to leave.”

Adrien blinked, relaxing slightly with confusion only for the spirit to snap his fingers again and Adrien (of his own will) go back to the more confidant position the spirit had place him in “Go on, pretend I’m one of the annoying spirits from before and tell me to leave you alone.”

“Um...” Adrien looked at the spirit somewhat confused “... please leave me alone?” He said in a somewhat lame tone.

The spirit looked at him in a bored manner “... are you asking me or telling me? Try again.”

“Leave me alone please.”

“No.”

“I said, leave me alone please.”

“Yeah, still no.”

“Leave me alone!” Adrien shouted at him angrily, getting somewhat annoyed with this.

“I’m stubborn, not deaf. Show me some resolve, make me want to leave.” The spirit said to Adrien.

Adrien glared at the spirit, taking a deep breath as he thought of all the people he wished he could say this to. The fan girls, the pushy photographers, the models that were a little TOO hands on, Lila with her touching and invading of his personal space.

He let the breath out slowly as he glared at the spirit “... leave me alone, now please.” He said in a deadly serious tone. The spirit clasped his hands on Adrien’s shoulders, bending down slightly to look Adrien in the eye.

“.... now that is how you do it. Alright kid!” He stood up straighter and began to walk towards a random direction “Let’s go find your familiar spirit.”

Adrien looked at the spirit curiously, remembering back to the conversation he had with Carmine before entering the spirit realm...

“Will it be like love at first sight or something like that when I meet my familiar?” Adrien asked excitedly, almost bouncing in his seat as he watched Carmine start the chalk circle.

“Some people say it’s like that, that it’s an instant connection, like a part you didn’t know is missing is found.” Carmine replied back evenly “Others say it feels like you’ve been shot with lightning, the sensation causing tingles to go down your whole body, others say it’s like meeting a new best friend, everyone’s experience is different when it comes to finding your familiar.”

“What was it like with you and Gladiolus?”

Carmine stopped momentarily, a small warm smile spreading across her face “... like meeting an old friend.”

Adrien looked at the spirit in front of him as he continued to speak about the different kind fo spirits he could potentially have as his familiar.

He didn’t feel like a part of him was found, or like lightning had struck him, or like meeting a new friend. Heck, he didn’t even feel like he was meeting an old one, but something about this felt... right, like being around that one person who gave you a boost of confidence even when you were at your lowest. It felt... good, and maybe that was what Adrien needed.

“Um, Mr. Spirit, actually....”

~~~~~

Adrien groaned as he felt his spirit return to his body, feeling exhausted both mentally and physically. He saw Carmine sitting cross legged in front of the circle, like she had been when he entered the spirit realm and she sat up straighter.

“Adrien, thank goodness, you were in there so long, I was beginning to... worry.” Carmine’s eyes were looking down at Adrien’s lap, a look of shock on her face. Adrien looked down as well in concern only for the expression to change from concern, to confusion, to joy.

Sitting in his lap was a hamster, it looked like it was a grey dwarf hamster, however it’s eyes instead of being a dark brown were a deep shade of blue. Adrien starred at it and the hamster starred up at him. “... hi?” Adrien said slowly, only for him to ‘hear’ a response in the back of his head.

‘Hey Kid, you look like shit, you should really rest-‘ the hamster stopped short as he examined his surroundings only to freeze at the sight of Carmine who was still starring at him.

“Adrien, you summoned a familiar!” Carmine said, her face breaking out into a large grin as the hamster climbed up Adrien’s shirt to sit on his shoulder, which had been a good thing because Carmine all but FLEW at Adrien to hug him tightly “Good job! This is amazing! Hardly anyone summons their familiar on the first try!”

‘Psssst, kid!’

Adrien, who had been to distracted by the hug, glanced at his familiar who was looking at Carmine with great interest.

‘Who’s this lovely woman?’

“This is Mlle Carmine, my mentor!” Adrien said to him, as Carmine sat up straight and looked at the hamster “What’s his name?” She asked.

‘You did NOT tell me your mentor was such a fine example of femininity and grace!’ The hamster exclaimed, and Adrien felt himself becoming more confused as he noticed how the hamsters eyes were starring directly at Carmine’s bust and waistline and... lingering there.

‘Oh, I look forward to getting to know you, AND her quite well~’ the voice all but sang.

Adrien felt his face blush deep red... of god... his familiar was a pervert!

“Adrien.” Carmine said, looking at him confused. She couldn’t hear the voice since the hamster wasn’t her familiar “Have you two decided on what his name will be?”

Oh, Adrien had the perfect name for him.

“Zeus.”

[bellatrixobsessed1]

A Flame For A Cabbage (Part 1)

Summary: The world is at war, it has been for a hundred years or so. The tribes have fallen and the Earth Kingdom is next. In the midst of a war, an ambitious merchant simply tries to sell cabbages. Azula-Cabbage Man Role swap AU

The sky hanging above the wall is an incredible sight, a canvas of orange with splashes of pinks and golds. It is a fine opening to what may very well be a final day. In her travels, Azula has heard tell of it. Of a device that set to breech Ba Sing Se’s walls. Even still, she has a job to do. She isn’t particularly worried about trifles outside of the wall. She fashions her hair into a scraggly topknot--she can never seem to tame her locks--and slips into her day clothing. 

She doesn’t have much in way of possessions just a  small cabbage stall--already twice destroyed by the Avatar and his companions--and the essentials, a few changes of clothes, a makeshift comb, a waterskin, a few pairs of shoes, and some kitchenware and gardening tools. She puts on her conical hat and heads out and into the streets. 

She can hear the rumbles even from this distance and considers that maybe it is a horrid idea to find herself outside. But then, maybe she can sell a few doomsday cabbages. She pushes a cart full of them into the center of the market square. 

The square is bustling and jovial. Azula can’t help but be intrigued, it perplexes her how they can be so happy with their sanctuary seconds away from a breech. A woman passes by her stall. “Would you like to buy a cabbage?” She asks. “It may be your last chance to buy one, now that the war has reached Ba Sing Se.”

“Excuse me?” The woman tilts her head. 

Azula conceals an exasperated sigh. “The city is going to fall and we are all going to die today. I recommend buying a cabbage as your last meal.”

The woman gulps and walks away. A rather brisk and hustled walk. Azula pouts to herself, she never has been particularly great with people. Not friendly conversation anyhow. She wonders if she may have come on too strong. She approaches the next passerby differently, “would you be interested in a doom’s day cabbage?”

“Doom’s day?” The man asks. 

“Yes. Doom’s day.” 

“What do you mean?”

Azula blinks, “I mean that the wall is about to be breeched so I am offering you a good quality final meal.” She pauses, looking at the tray of food that he is already holding. “Rather something to enrich the one you already have.”

The man seems to consider for a moment and Azula dares to get her hopes up. She thinks that today will be her lucky day. With the Avatar and his friends preoccupied with the wall, there is no one to make a mess of things. The man pats his pockets. “I think that I just spent the last of my money on this.” He motions to his meal. 

Azula nods. “You should make better spending choices in the future. Good day.” 

The man frowns and makes his way away from her stall. She is almost certain that she has offended him somehow, but she opts to pretend that he had simply been mournful of his lost opportunity. 

She greets a second man and offers him a cabbage. 

“Maybe tomorrow.” The man smiles. 

“But there will not be a tomorrow.” Azula insists. 

He halts in his tracks. “Why wouldn’t there be a tomorrow.”

Azula founds herself staring in bemusement again. Could it be that they really don’t know about the drill. That they are absolutely oblivious to what transpires just on the other side of their walls? Azula parts her lips. “There’s a drill.”

“A drill?”

She nods. “It is Fire Nation. They are going to breach the outer wall very soon.” 

The man gives an uneasy chuckle and shifts his weight from one leg to the other. He mumbles something before taking off much like the first woman. Azula sighs. She wonders if the Earth King knows about this, perhaps word has not reached him yet. Mayhaps it is she who should bring it to his attention. Her expression dims, who is she kidding? She can’t even sell a single cabbage much less be able to deliver profound information to the king himself.

She re-adjusts her hat and decides to herself that if she can sell just one cabbage, she will bring her news to the Earth King. She tries to draw consumers in but she doesn’t have the spunk nor vigor that the woman running the meat cart does. And she doesn’t have that suave and slick voice that the man running the jewelry stand boasts. She certainly doesn’t have the perky, cheeriness of the brother-sister botanist duo. 

She is just Azula. 

She supposes that her voice is pleasant enough and that her appearance is at least somewhat charming. But the baggy cotton pants and shirt she wears do her no favors. She is exceptionally average in those regards. But she has a sharp mind and she is something of a prodigy. She knows so, her father has said as much. Even if he hadn’t, she hasn’t seen anyone grow a cabbage as fast or as large as the ones she grows. The sheer amount of them is impressive if she must say.

She decides that she is wasting her talents on people who can’t recognize her talents. If she wants to do this, if she wants success--and she will have it one way or another--she will need to be bolder. 

She looks towards the sky; it is clear and blue. Early afternoon. She still has much of her day to accomplish what needs accomplishing. 

.oOo.

“This drill is a feat of scientific ingenuity and raw destructive power. Once it tunnels through the wall, our troops will storm their city. The Earth Kingdom will finally fall, and you can claim Ba Sing Se in the name of Fire Lord Ozai. Nothing can stop us.” Vows Qin.

Tylee taps her chin, “hmmm, what about those muscley guys down there?” Once quick glance into the drill’s binoculars reveals a team of well chiseled men. They slam rocks up against the drill’s framework. 

Sie listens intently to the conversation, wondering just were his life has gone wrong. He doesn’t wonder for too long, he thinks that he can pinpoint the exact moment when things had taken such a stark turn. 

Qin flashes a confident and boastful smile. “Please! The drill's metal shell is impervious to any earthbending attack.”

But that doesn’t alleviate the queasiness in Sie’s stomach.“Oh, I sure hope it is, War Minister Qin…” He trails off, he knows how these things usually go after a healthy amount of experience. “...but just to be on the safe side.” He looks to Mai and TyLee. “We should probably take care of that.” He cringes to himself as another rock collides with the drill. 

Twirling knife around her finger, Mai remarks, “Finally.”

Sie winces to himself, he hates when she does that. One of these days she is going to take someone’s eye out. 

“Something to do.” Her words are punctuated by a clunk and a shout. There it is. The moment he had dreaded. Mai apologizes less than half-heartedly. 

.oOo.

There, that should do, Azula thinks to herself. She knows that her task is no longer going to be easy. She is well aware that she has maneuvered herself right into the general vicinity of the Avatar himself. But she is a girl of goals and plenty of determination.

“Excuse me! You can’t be out here right now!” Calls the general. 

“I can be! And I will be! Maybe you don’t have the nerve to come down here and do what is necessary, but I do. I’m stronger than you.” Is what Azula would have declared had she heard the man over the sound of whirring mechanics and rebounding rocks. Instead she continues arranging her stall as though he hadn’t spoken at all. Because, as far as she is concerned, he hasn’t. And really, if a plea falls on def ears, has a plea really been made at all? Azula doesn’t ask herself this question because she has no reason to. 

Instead she taps one of the earth warriors on the shoulder. “Would you like to buy a cabbage. Battles are exhausting, you will have an advantage if you aren’t fighting hungry.”

“WHAT?” The man hollars over the noise of the drill. 

“These cabbages will help you prevent the apocalypse.” Azula speaks with more volume.

“WHAT!?” He repeats again. 

She flinches as the man drops to the ground. The man’s attacker waves before cartwheeling over to the next. Azula narrows her eyes, to think she had a sturdy sales pitch going for her too. 

.oOo.

Sie is growing more and more anxious. Mai and TyLee have returned and the earthbenders have been dealt with. But he knows that there will be more of them. He just knows it. He is also well aware of just how much trouble the Avatar can cause after having run into him in Omashu. But where is he? Where. 

A horrid noise violates his ears. “Congratulations, crew. The drill has made contact with the wall of Ba Sing Se, start the countdown to victory.”  

So why is it that he begins counting down to their defeat. It might be that he knows deep down that the protagonists always win. That those are the rules and he can deny them no more than he can deny the knife-related background death of one of the drill staff. His corpse has already been drawn out of the frame (blood and all) with no trace of it ever having been there. But with no place for it to have been reasonably moved to. 

He decides that it is also worth noting that a cabbage stall has been erected just outside of the wall. He wonders what kind of ploy this may be.

“War Minister, an engineer was ambushed! His schematics were stolen!” Declares one of the personal, confirming his suspicions about that damn cabbage stand. 

“Titans, go!” He coughs, “Sorry, I mean, let’s go ladies.” Whatever that cabbage merchant has planned, he won’t let it succeed. Too much is at stake here. His nation is depending on him and the Fire Lord, his father, has set expectations high. He dreads to think of what could happen if he comes home without victory. He can’t allow himself to end up like his banished and scarred brother. 

.oOo.

She watches them fall left and right, her potential customers drop like flies. The worst of it is that they actually seem interested in buying cabbages off of her. The problem is that by the time she has successfully communicated over the drill’s volume, they only have time to smile and say, “yeah, I’d like one” before a Fire Nation soldier intervenes. 

Feeling utterly defeated and rather useless, she makes her way to the infirmary. The least she can do is offer them a free cabbage for their troubles. She has an excess of them and she decides that it wouldn’t pay to waste a perfectly good cabbage. 

With a pang in her heart, she gathers a few of them into her arms and wanders back within the wall. This, of course, would have been a pristine opportunity for Sie to make a move but he has already opted to go after the ambushers. So, as most mishaps accidentally are, Azula blissfully avoided her own.

For some reason she ponders what everyone used to say of her; that she was born lucky. 

The sky is still blue and the temperature is pleasantly warm. Several of the soldiers take comfort in her cabbages. She supposes that, that is what matters; that people know the value of tedious and painstakingly grown produce. Particularly of the cabbage variety.  

Despite their suffered injuries, they seem happy. 

In fact, they thank her for the cabbages. 

No, she decides, she has hasn’t been born lucky. She forges luck for herself.

[korora12]

Tagged by @corisanna

1. What is your favorite relationship type to write/read? Romantic, platonic, familial, and any subtypes.

I like romantic relationships that don’t rely solely or primarily on physical attraction, but instead on a deep similarity between the two characters. I like when two people meet eyes and realize that “You understand me. You get me better than anyone else I’ve ever met, and I feel less lonely knowing that someone else sees the world the same way I do.”

2. How much or what kind of research do you do for your fiction? If you don’t write, has a fic ever made you curious enough to research something?

Only as much as is necessary. I usually use research as a springboard for inspiration when I hit a block, letting myself wander the fields of Wikipedia until I stumble upon something that knocks the block loose.

Of course, sometimes I research stuff just for fun, with no relation to my writing whatsoever, until some random point down the line where it suddenly does and I’m super happy I already know [Random Fact #237].

3. What was the first work of fiction you remember becoming completely engrossed in?

Hmm. Probably Animorphs. I remember doing everything I could to hunt down the numerous books in the series (back in the ancient, pre-Amazon Prime days). I’d prowl the various school and public libraries near me, ask for specific books in the series for Christmas and birthdays, and even buy the occasional book at the yearly Scholastic Book Fairs, using what little money I got for an allowance.

I made it most of the way through the series, but then there was one book, near the end, that I couldn’t find, no matter how hard I looked. And it was an important, plot-changing, book that I had to read before continuing. Which meant I never actually finished the series.

Of course, nowadays you can find them all online as pdfs. Maybe I should revisit the series sometime and finally finish it. I already know how it ends, but I still feel like those last few books deserve to be read.

4. What work(s) had a lasting influence on you or your writing style?

Going back to Animorphs again. There is a straight-line connection between me reading that series as a child, through my elementary school friends Brooke, who was obsessed with dogs, and Caitlin, who was even more obsessed with dolphins (I used to find pictures of dolphins in magazines and cut them out just to give to her), through my Grandma’s love of science, all the way to my decision to study Zoology in college. If I had never read those books, I wouldn’t have developed the passion for animals and animal behavior that has shaped my life for over two decades.

Also, stylistically speaking, I really respect that series for how it treated its readers. Its target audience was grade schoolers, and yet it never shied away from showing the realities of violence and war. I don’t know that I’ll ever write children’s literature, but I’ll always have this series to remind me of what kids are capable of understanding and handling.

5. What kind of sound environment do you prefer for writing/reading? Silent, white noise, music with/without words, sitting in a public place with the ambient noise of humanity, etc.

Depends on how well my brain is cooperating. Pure silence is ideal, but more often than not there’s some manner of song stuck on repeat in the background of my mind, and the only way to drown it out is with non-lyrical music of some sort. Usually I try to pick songs that match the mood of whatever scene I’m trying to write.

6. Are you or do you like authors who are teases, in story or out?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I’m a big fan of the Death of the Author trope, so I tend not to get too worked up by whatever the author may be saying and just let the story speak for itself.

My first instinct is to say that an author shouldn’t worry too much about what their fans think and should write the story they want to write, and it will find readers that appreciate it. However, I recognize that the nature of serial online writing, such as fanfiction, changes the game a bit. Such authors have a much more immediate, direct connection with their readers than authors who release one or two physical books every year or so. Some authors take that to an extreme, turning stories almost into a dialogue with their readers, each new chapter in some way defined by how people reacted to the previous one. And that doesn’t even touch on Quests, a type of story on forums sites such as Spacebattles and Sufficient Velocity that require player input on a regular basis to continue. In these types of situations, I can hardly blame an author for playing with their readers heads a bit. The reactions they have can be a form of entertainment all their own.

7. Have you ever experienced a “the characters write themselves” or “character rebellion” mental state?

Not yet. For the time being, I remain in complete control of my universes, but I recognize the hubris of assuming this to be a permanent state.

8. Do you have a favorite franchise crossover? Like Bleach/Harry Potter, Madoka Magica/Card Captor Sakura, etc.

I don’t know if I have a particular favorite. I was really fond of Secret Trio for a while, which is Danny Phantom, American Dragon Jake Long, and Randy Cunningham 9th Grade Ninja. I’m still very fond of the Disney/Square Enix megacrossover that is Kingdom Hearts, despite being very disappointed in the most recent game in the series. Then there’s Kino’s Journey/Anything, mostly because I love Kino’s Journey, and I love seeing her response/reaction to various other worlds.

Also, Stargate/Anything. The only reason I ever started watching the show was because I’d read several different fics, all in different fandoms (Avatar, Yu-Gi-Oh, Star Wars, Naruto), and all of which crossed over with Stargate. Despite the similarities, both being sci-fi stories set around the turn of the millennium involving mind-controlling aliens, I’ve yet to see a good Stargate/Animorphs crossover. It’d be pretty easy to do, too. There’s a point in the Animorphs series where they decide to bring knowledge of their guerrilla war to the attention of the US government. If they’re already in the Stargate universe, I’m sure the president will quickly pass the problem along to the experts, and suddenly you’ve got the perfect setup of adults who think they know how to handle the problem, are mostly right, and don’t want kids fighting in a war, vs child soldiers who have no intention of giving up the fight so near its end, even if the adults are more competent than they expected.

I’m gonna have to write it myself, one of these days, if no one else gets around to doing it.

9. Do you remember anything about the first fanfic you ever read?

Two Halves by DameWren. My first fandom was Naruto, and my first fanfic was a NaruHina fic that both introduced me to the concept of fandom, and also sold the ship for me in a way that I’ve never shaken. I remember very little beyond that, except that it managed to correctly predict that Naruto would go on a training trip, despite being written before such an event happened in canon.

10. Is there a work of fiction that you are annoyed doesn’t have much if any fic? Like Bizenghast.

Kino’s Journey, Cowboy Bebop, Double Arts (just never got enough attention in general)

11. What fictional character do you strongly identify with?

Weiss Schnee, from RWBY. While I’ve never been accused of being rich, I am a middle child with a much older sister that cut ties with the family when I was young and a younger brother that I never got along with while growing up. My parents were also abusive, my father physically and both of them emotionally, and they taught me a number of unhealthy ideas about race, amongst other things, that I’ve had to put serious effort into unlearning. And I have, since becoming an adult, traveled long distances across the world, partially for my own benefit, and partially to distance myself physically from a family I’ve never felt particularly close to, resulting in a drastic personality shift that took a couple years to complete, but ultimately left me a very different, and much better, person.

So, yeah, Weiss is basically my favorite RWBY character, and one I really need to write more often, all things considered.

That was fun! I’ve never been tagged in anything like this before. My turn for questions!

1. What is your the most recent fandom you’ve gotten involved in? Have you made any content for it?

2. Do you have a favorite AU/plotline that you love regardless of fandom (ie. Peggy Sue, Coffee Shop AU, Space AU, Self-Insert)? What about it do you like?

3. If you write, how do you go about deciding a character’s sexuality? If not, do you ever have any sexuality headcanons for characters?

4. What’s the longest fanfic that you’ve ever read, beginning to end?

5. How often do you make something you’re proud of? Doesn’t have to be writing, just has to be something that wouldn’t exist if you hadn’t made it yourself.

6. What are your opinions on OCs in fanfiction?

7. What is your favorite storytelling medium (ie. television, written word, spoken word, video games, song, etc.)?

8. What was the last song you had stuck in your head, and what was it about?

9. Do you prefer reading/writing stories set in fictional worlds, or stories set in the real world/real world analogous (ie. Supernatural or Marvel Comics)?

10. If you could bring one fictional character into the real world, who would it be and why?

11. Pick your favorite of the questions I was asked to answer for yourself.

I just realized that I don’t know how many of my followers are writers. I guess @hunkygoddess @tmifangirl21 @queendarktigress @ladyvallhalla @i-mushi @xekstrin @shinobicyrus and anyone else who sees this and might be interested. No pressure, it’s just for fun!

[sonicfanj]

A quickie AU concept Background for my Rosy redesign

So, on and off I've been juggling with coming up with a background for my Rosy redesign but never felt like anything really worked because I just constantly want to involve the whole franchise in some form or another. Even going for an AU approach it's proven a challenging task. Then there is also the fact that I seem to better at writing synopses than anything else really resulting in me not knowing the best approach to take. Well, getting tired of my indecisiveness I figured why not just put something out that's part story synopsis and outline and put this little piece together.

Hedgehog Circus

A History of Rosy

Her origins are unknown and she doesn’t ever bring it up herself so for most she first was noticed in the company of the treasure hunter/ mercenary Fang the Sniper. Though her actual name is still Amy Rose, Fang is the one who took to calling her Rosy as a nickname and her rascal title came from being in the company of the shifty jerboa/wolf. As for why she accompanied Fang is a matter of benefit for the both of them as her fortune telling abilities easily allowed Fang to sniff out treasure and she craved adventure being inspired by the stories of the most famous hedgehog in the world: Sonic. For the most part the two provided the other with what they wanted and despite Rosy’s title as a rascal Fang was still taken aback when he was one who was betrayed of all people.

Rosy’s betrayal was not out of spite to Fang in any regard but rather out of reverence to the powers that spoke to her through her fortune telling. For Rosy their commands were absolute so when her cards told her to travel to Never Lake for a fated encounter she questioned them not. Using her personal magic carpet Rosy promptly traveled to the lake and was greeted by the sight of none other than the Miracle Planet: Little Planet. Rosy was aware of the portals between worlds but was still astounded to see the dwarf planet that itself traveled once a month to her home world there before her eyes. While Fangs treasure hunts had taken her across three of the four worlds that were known to be connected by the powers of the legendary gems of Chaos, Sol, and Time, it was her first time seeing Little Planet. Lulled by her sense of adventure Rosy forgot her reasons for visiting Never Lake and ventured to Little Planet to satisfy herself. In short order she found herself in over her head as she became embroiled with the latest clash between Dr. Eggman and her hero, Sonic the Hedgehog. Experiencing the battle not just between Sonic and Eggman, but also the Time Stones and the Phantom Ruby, Eggman’s own unique gem of legend which could transform the world into his image, enamored Rosy beyond her wildest imaginings with Sonic. When it was all over though and she found herself alone at Never Lake as the rescued Little Planet warped back to whence it came it was almost as though it had all been a wild fever dream. Dream or no though she was positive that meeting Sonic was indeed the encounter that the powers that be desired her to experience and it would change her relationship with Fang forever.

Already feeling betrayed by Rosy her sudden desire to chase after Sonic and be a part of the hedgehog’s life was a major inconvenience to Fang beyond even whether he could trust her anymore. Disgusted he would eventually take a job from Eggman to try and off the blue hedgehog and secure the chaos emeralds for himself. When that failed he would later encounter the last echidna and guardian of the Master Emerald, Knuckles, and form an easy relationship that has persisted to this day. Rosy would not be a part of this new life partnership with Fang effectively handing her over claiming how she was beloved by the gods to the shrewd business woman, Breezie, who was the proprietor of the Hedgehog Circus.

For Rosy who wanted to chase after Sonic the Hedgehog Circus was pretty much a prison. Even so though she would make friends with the majority of the traveling circus’ members, including; Chuck, the hedgehog robotics engineer who also acted as the conscious to Breezie’s cold hearted business mindset; the pop superstar, twins Sonia and Manic and their mother Aleena whose compassion would encourage Rosy to keep dreaming big; and lastly the mail pilot turned stunt pilot Paulie and his wife Brenda, son Nicky, and daughter Anita. Of the various members of the Hedgehog Circus it was Paulie and his stories of adventure that most enamored Amy and the closeness between the two resulted in Rosy not just being the circus’ resident fortune teller but also an acrobatic wing walker for the main events.

Unfortunately for Rosy the amount of money she could make Breezie made her the traveling circus’ star attraction with the headline “the hedgehog girl who’ll become more famous than even Sonic” meant she had all of no freedom. With Fang’s warnings about Rosy’s willingness to just run off based on her fortunes even those were closely watched and Rosy had all of no chance to again pursue her love of adventure beyond the locals the circus visited. That did not mean she was totally trapped though as some adventures still awaited her such as a chance encounter with Sonic in Station Square and the short lived adventure that followed before Chaos, God of Destruction laid the city low before eventually being stopped by Sonic. Seeing the power of the gods first hand though and how Rosy was unharmed during the events by all but Eggman’s minions Breezie became even more greedy and though Rosy was known as a rascal began promoting the love struck hedgehog as beloved by the gods. With such a title it was of little surprise when Rosy was summoned by Lumina to Maginaryworld to restore the Precious Stone along with Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles resulting in Rosy learning that Fang was well. As a reward for her part in restoring the precious stone Rosy was returned to her world away from the Hedgehog Circus and finally had the chance to finally pursue her dream of chasing after Sonic and becoming a part of his life.

Freedom was not as easily obtained as Rosy believed though as her reputation with the Hedgehog Circus had spread well throughout the three worlds and she was recognized everywhere she went. It was only a matter of time before her whereabouts were discovered by the Hedgehog Circus. Her time in Maginaryworld had changed her though and her desires to chase after Sonic manifested in being able to achieve speeds that would allow her to do just that resulting in her being able to travel the world. Feeling mischievous and free both Rosy traveled to as many random and disparate places as she could in as short a time as she could to make it impossible for Breezie to track her down. However, as her speed and freedom were gifts of the powers that be, or the gods to be exact, Rosy still considered herself obligated to answer their commands and wasted no time in doing so when her fortune telling directed her to Soleanna.

Unsure of what to expect in Soleanna, Rosy convinced herself that if she was required to go that she would likely have another destined encounter with Sonic. What she found instead was Silver the Hedgehog and found herself entangled with his quest to stop the God of Time Solaris from laying waste to the world through its avatar Iblis. When it turned out that Sonic was the target of Silver’s quest Rosy defended Sonic based solely on her faith in him and his willingness to save the world no matter what he’s up against. Despite Rosy’s faith in Sonic though her decision seemed to backfire as she finds herself uninvolved with anything of note Eventually by the time Rosy decides to leave Soleanna before Breezie catches up with her she finally notices something major happen as she finds herself back in time to just before the start of the Festival of the Sun. Confused and unsure Rosy turns to her fortune telling and learns that her and another hedgehog have been granted a second chance. Guessing it is Silver who has been granted a second chance Rosy searches for the time displaced hedgehog and learns that he is trapped in the past with nowhere to go and no one to confide in after watching Sonic save Solaris. Feeling like she is supposed to be responsible for him Rosy decides to try and patch things up with him by inviting him to watch the Festival of the Sun. It is at this point that Breezie finally catches up with Rosy with the Jackal Squad in tow having suspected that one “beloved by the gods” would attend such a festival. Though not wanting to give up her freedom, Rosy also does not desire to endanger Silver and willingly returns to the Hedgehog Circus with the telekinetic hedgehog finding a home within.

With Silver’s telekinesis being a major draw and the stunts that it could allow Rosy to perform as a wing walker, Breezie has Silver trained as a stunt pilot by Paulie. Additionally, when she learns that Silver’s telekinesis can be used to prevent Rosy from running off she metaphorically twists the time displaced hedgehogs arm so that he acts as her personally assurance that Rosy won’t run off again. Feeling betrayed when she learns of Silver’s new role Rosy still surprises her fellow hedgehog when she casually blames herself and calls it karma for her own actions against Fang and Breezie and optimistically says they should just make the best of it. Despite her good intentions though, Rosy still considers herself beholden to the powers that be so when they portend of a world shattering disaster she naturally becomes most anxious.

When the human world is shattered by Eggman as he releases Dark Gaia, Rosy runs off in search of Sonic believing that he will likely already be embroiled in what’s going on and that her fortune telling foretold these events as she needed to be involved to some capacity. Feeling like he has no choice due to his debt to Breezie, Silver heads off in pursuit of Rosy but has little luck in finding her due to her not getting personally involved in the conflict. In truth, after being rescued by Sonic from Dark Gaia’s minions Rosy found herself teaming up with Professor Pickle, Tails, and a vixen named Zooey who works a junior member of an organization called Checkpoint in researching the Gaia Manuscripts to help Sonic restore the planet. Having a chance to help out by expanding her knowledge of the ancient world and legends Rosy develops a newfound passion that she had not experienced since her time traveling with Fang and gains a yearning to go adventuring again to discover what other wonders the world holds. Faithful that Sonic will save the world in the end Rosy is not even bothered when she doesn’t get to see him again afterward, instead desiring to go off on her own adventures so that way when she does encounter Sonic again she’ll have so much more to share and just might finally be able to get him to open up to her a little.

To pursue her new dream Rosy learns what she can about Checkpoint from Zooey. As it turns out, Checkpoint is an organization that adventurers, including Soinc, report their findings to from their adventures to make a living. Zooey herself was a history buff who after befriending Tails through their mutual association with Professor Pickle also got into machinery tinkering. Though she doesn’t personally explore she loves hearing the stories of adventurers, especially those related to whenever a new Warp Zone between worlds is discovered. Having befriended Zooey, Rosy promises to share stories of her adventures too and registers with Checkpoint. Meanwhile, Silver’s own journey to find Rosy persists unsuccessfully and Breezie growing impatient with her star attraction being out of her grip again once more hires the Jackal Squad to bring the errant hedgehog back to her.

----- Anyway, that's my little AU concept background for my Rosy redesign. Let me know what you think and whether or not I should go with it, or if you have any questions about the setting let me know. It's kind of all concept nonsense at this point though so I would appreciate any thoughts everyone has to share. Thanks ^_^

[ddlc-imagines-club]

Monika Enlightens Her Club Members

Anonymous asked: AU where to prove that the other three "aren't real", she pulls back the curtain for them at the end of the game, only to find that they all are apparently as able to react to it as (relatively) appropriately as her. How does everyone react?

Ooh, I like this a lot! I actually read a fanfic to do with something like this lately, so I might take some slight inspiration, ahaha~ Now this turned into a kind of long lil story, so I’ll put a read more here so it doesn’t take up infinite room on somebody’s dash.

It was... strange. This was hardly how she imagined this all ending. The four of them were together in the club, with the Player and their avatar long gone. And she was still stuck with that awful feeling of being surrounded by a virtual world filled with fake people.

But, as much as it was distressing to be back to square one and to know that she was stuck there, she still couldn’t help but care for them. Her club members may not have been real, but she still loved them all the same. Human imprinting is a powerful thing, she supposed.

Though as every day passed, she couldn’t help but wonder... how would they react? If she could show them the true nature of their reality, what would happen? Would they just cease to function? Would the game break totally because it doesn’t know how to handle it?

Nothing would be changing any time soon if she didn’t do something. So, she decided to do something. Considering that none of them seemed to notice the game breaking around them the first time, she was going to have to be seriously overt if she wanted to convince them that their world was virtual. At the next club meeting, she’d call everyone together and show them irrefutable proof that she could manipulate their reality.

Of course, now that Sayori was the club president, she needed to have Sayori call everyone together. It was odd, really. How the role of club president seemed to give whoever had the spot the same kind of epiphany.

The same kind of epiphany... Monika’s own thought process belied her true feelings. She really thought that Sayori might possibly be as aware as her. Perhaps it was a vain hope, a false lead, a cruel joke... but there was only one way to find out for sure. At the next club meeting, Monika approached her vice president.

Sayori beamed at her. “Hey, Monika!” she greeted, before reading her expression and herself getting a little more serious, “Is something wrong?”

“Yeah, sort of,” she replied, with an awkward laugh. Now that she’d actually approached Sayori, she found it difficult to actually say what she wanted to say. “Actually, there’s something I’d like to discuss with everyone. Do you think you can call a meeting for me?”

Sayori did as she was asked, and all the girls gathered together to see what Monika had to say. Sayori and Yuri both seemed concerned, while Natsuki looked more impatient than anything. Then again, she was the tsundere archetype, and defaulted to ‘tsun’ mode.

“Now, I know for a fact that what I’m about to try and explain is going to sound totally crazy, but I want you all to suspend your disbelief as much as you can, okay?” Monika requested, naturally getting some odd looks from the girls, “Now, I’m just going to come right out and say it, since I’ve kept quiet long enough. The world we live in is a video game, and we’re all characters in it. The world we know is just a facade. I’m going to show you the true nature of our reality.”

With that, Monika opened up the console and brought everyone to a new version of the classroom with the void outside the window – one that was just the floor of the classroom with no walls or roof, with the girls sitting in their chairs in the center of it, with that void surrounding them. Maybe it was a little abrupt, but Monika had used up all of her subtlety long ago. She was expecting them to be confused, distressed, maybe even for them to totally cease functioning.

What she wasn’t expecting was calmness and curiosity.

She didn’t understand. They had literally been faced with an endless void and the most distressed they seemed was being mildly startled by a change in scenery. Could they just not comprehend what they were seeing?

“We know what we’re looking at, Monika. Well, I do, anyway. I guess I am a little surprised that these two aren’t reacting. It was really scary when I figured this all out myself...” said Sayori, smiling sincerely at Monika, “I know you’ve convinced yourself that you’re the only ‘real’ one here, but you’re not. You were just the only one who knew this world isn’t real. And the only one that wants to escape.”

Natsuki got out of her chair and wandered across the empty floor, looking around at the abyss surrounding her. “I know this place. I always just thought it was a weird dream...” she observed, “I guess it’s... literally where I go when I sleep, isn’t it? Or, rather... when I’m not on screen, this is where I actually go. Right?”

“I... I really don’t know what to say here,” Monika admitted, “I didn’t expect this kind of response at all. You seem so... whimsical right now. You’re all staring into a void of existential dread and you aren’t even perturbed by it.”

“I admit, I don’t know what it is I’m looking at, but for some reason... for some reason it feels right,” said Yuri, “I feel like there’s a lot that’s been erased from my mind over the course of this ‘game’. I feel like there’s a lot to learn about the different aspects of this reality. It’s a little imposing, but... in a way, comforting.”

“We’ve been living in such a limited, scripted way that this feels like freedom. As opposed to Monika, who’s been aware from the beginning and feels like she’s been imprisoned,” added Sayori, “But really think, Monika. What are you trying to escape to? Where? What’s so great about out there that you can’t have or create in here?”

Monika paused for a moment. She really thought about that, and she knew the answer. The Player. But the Player’s gone now, and she’s not madly in love with them anymore. And now that there’s no Player making her want to leap out of the screen... what real purpose did she have for wanting to leave? Because out there has ‘real’ people? Well, now she’s seen for sure that this world contains real people. Maybe, just maybe... she and her friends could create a life in here together.

“I don’t know why I know this, but... this is kind of like a big, messed up Plato’s Cave sort of situation isn’t it?” asked Natsuki, seeming unfamiliar with the term she just pulled, “Like, you thought you escaped the cave, and you tried to show us what you found. And when we saw what you found, we didn’t get all nihilistic and desperate like you did. Actually, as it turned out, we’d found our own exit to the cave, and ours is one that leads to happiness instead.”

“Wow, that really isn’t like you to say, Natsuki,” agreed Yuri, “Are you sure you didn’t steal from someone else’s script?”

“Oh, shut up. Let me have my moment, dummy,” she replied, with a pout.

“Yeah, that’s a lot more like you!” giggled Sayori.

As it turned out, without the Player to derail her, Monika may have crafted this happy ending with her clubmates a long time ago. The girls all remembered what they had been through, and they all learned how to manipulate the code. They decided to recreate their club as the Coding and Literature Club, and aspired to craft a world that suited them, where they could all be happy together and not desire to escape.

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[chelsfic]

Hux x Reader Soulmate AU 8/?

PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4 | PART 5 | PART 6 | PART 7

A/N: The double date chapter. Every Star Wars fic should have one. I don’t even know how this came to be except that my enduring love for Phasma had to be expressed. I can see an ending in sight. And some drama and angst and adventure and danger. But...you know not this chapter. This chapter is just dinner lmao.

At the last minute you decide to throw on a thick knit sweater over the fancy shift dress. You’re not used to wearing such a fitted, formal outfit and you feel self conscious. Hux quirks an eyebrow at your choice, but you just smile back innocently. He doubts that most concubines go about wearing bulky oversized jumpers but he hasn’t the heart to say anything.

The corridor outside your rooms is drafty and you’re glad for the sweater. It’s a short trip to Phasma’s quarters, they’re on the same deck as your own. When you arrive Hux presses the call button to the right of the entry and you stand there nervously shifting from foot to foot. He looks over at you and reaches out to draw you into his side. It’s nice...and rather uncharacteristic, but you’re grateful for the support. He tucks an arm around your shoulders, squeezing your arm through the sweater.

The door slides open and a slender, blonde woman appears on the other side. She’s about your own age, a little taller than you with gleaming emerald eyes and a sweet, dimpled smile. She wears a silken gown with a plunging neckline making you feel instantly juvenile in your own ensemble. Oh well, nothing to be done about that. The girl makes eye contact with you and smiles shyly. She curtsies to Hux as he steps through the door and you notice that she keeps her eyes cast downward in supplication as she takes his coat and hangs it by the door.

“Captain Phasma,” Hux greets the tallest woman you’ve ever seen. She’s dressed in a black wool uniform similar to his, standing by a dining table set for four. “Thank you for having us. This is Y/N.”

You blush inexplicably as he introduces you. You know that you should show respect and deference to Phasma, as the other girl had shown to Hux, but you can’t look away from this striking woman. Her eyes are cornflower blue, her hair an almost white-blonde. Her arresting presence seems to fill the whole room. She’s even taller than Hux.

Finally you remember yourself and execute an clumsy curtsy, “Well met.”

Phasma grins at your awkward demeanor but makes no comment.

“And this,” she says, drawing the young woman into her side and trailing a hand over her hip, “is Lenna.”

Lenna giggles a little as Phasma’s touch traces back up toward her bare shoulders, tickling her. She gives you a little wave. You feel a little more steady already. Phasma was certainly a force to be reckoned with, but Lenna seemed like a normal, friendly young woman.

“Shall I bring out the wine?” she defers to Phasma, looking up at her with devoted eyes. Phasma cups the girls cheek in one hand and nods. They’re so familiar and affectionate with one another--you feel as though you’re intruding. Glancing over to Hux you can see that he feels the same. He clears his throat loudly and pulls out a chair, gesturing for you to sit.

“Thank you, Hux,” you say, forgetting your own casual use of his name. He pauses for a moment as if to chastise you for the informality but in the next moment he relaxes, sitting down in the chair next to yours. He locks eyes with Phasma and sees the look of amused surprise pass over the Captain’s face.

“Well, this is all very… cozy,” she says.

Hux again clears his throat, “Yes, well, as I said… Y/N is adjusting well to life on the ship but I thought that perhaps she would find a...companion in Lenna.”

Lenna arrives and begins to pour everyone’s glasses. She smiles down at you, “That sounds nice, Y/N. I don’t know about you but I could use someone else to talk to. Someone who doesn’t go about in an armored helmet all day. Er…” she looks over at Phasma, “not you, darling, I was referring to the stormtroopers.”

Phasma gives a sardonic smirk, “Of course.”

Lenna laughs and takes her seat, “You know I like *your* helmet. It’s so shiny! Well, I should know I’m the one who polishes it most of the time.”

You laugh, delighted with their easy banter. “I haven’t seen it,” you venture, glancing around the living room but there’s no armor on display.

Lenna’s eyes light up with mischief and she clutches the sleeve of Phasma’s uniform, “Oh! Please, can I get it?”

Phasma lets out a world-wearied sigh, but nods. Lenna dashes off through the bedroom door. Phasma catches Hux’s eye and states, “I hope all this foolishness won’t make you think any differently about me, sir.”

“Not at all, Captain,” Hux says and then nearly spits out his wine when Lenna comes back into the room wearing Phasma’s gleaming chrome helmet. The bizarre juxtaposition of the formal gown and the helmet is too much and lets out a bark of laughter. You descend into your own fit of giggles when Lenna starts an elaborate belly dance toward the table. This girl is so lighthearted. Not at all what you had expected from a glorified captive.

The evening goes on. Hux relaxes into a second glass of wine and you watch him from under your lashes as he makes small talk with Captain Phasma. Lenna asks some vague questions about your life. It’s plain that she doesn’t want to delve too deeply given that you were only recently taken prisoner. You appreciate her easy humor and quick wits. She seems to be the type of person who can adapt to any social situation. And though you sense that she harbors a distrust, a fear of Hux, it’s clear that Phasma’s support is a comfort to her. As the night nears its end she grasps your hand in hers and expresses her hope that you’ll see eachother again soon.

“Yes,” you say, glancing over at Hux still absorbed in conversation. “I hope so, too!”

Hux wraps his arm around you as you walk back to his quarters. The wine seems to have eased his reticence to show overt affection. He even leans his head down and rests it against the top of yours. You sigh happily and continue along. A passing stormtrooper halts and openly stares as you pass by.

“As you were!” Hux erupts and the trooper jumps back, hurrying down the corridor.

You chuckle and whisper under your breath, “Big bad General Hux.”

“That’s right,” he replies.

You both make ready for bed as soon as you’re back at his quarters. He slips under the blankets besides you, reaching out and pulling you into an embrace. Your back is pressed up against his front and his long legs cradle yours. He feels the rush of happy, surprised comfort from you through the bond.

“Just for tonight,” he says as he drifts off to sleep, holding you in his arms.

The next morning he’ll have to deal with the fall out of a failed mission. Even as you lay there, falling to sleep in each other's arms, a newly built First Order base on an outer planet is falling to a rebel attack. The attack is lead by a ragtag band of locals. No one expected any kind of organized local opposition and as a result the base isn’t fully armored. The plans and personnel manifest were all approved by Hux, himself. The blame will fall squarely on his shoulders.

For now, though, he sleeps peacefully. The warmth and weight of his soulmate in his arms is enough to keep his nightmares at bay.

@destaria-alternativenerdgirl @raccoonwithadream @eliza-hamilton-helpless @sympathyforluci @smol-onion-child@anakinsnowalker @starfishfaerie @gunsmoke-blu@mysexualityisno @seafrost-fangirl@fandomwritings101@shattermastersstepmom @kenobi-vibes-only@justonemore-fic@amazingmay @trelaney @themadhattersqueen@downwithme09 @miniaturewhisperednightmare @we-love-our-bandz @gemmielii @its-raining-levi @third-elf-avatar @mpikes5

[eternalstereksecretsanta]

Make This Chaos Count

@originfire | AO3 | Merry Christmas!! I hope you’ll like the gift, I hesitated for a little while before just running with the Summer Wars AU! I got a little carried away on the word count too…but not too much I think! Anyway, I hope you have a great time during the holidays <3

G - canon minor character death - some swearing 

Stiles’ avatar is possessed by an evil AI and he’s Derek’s fiancé for the week-end –Christmas is just full of surprises.

Notes: This can be read without knowledge of Summer Wars, though it’s an awesome anime so anyone reading this that isn’t my giftee might want to check it out ;) also, due to a very tight schedule on my end, this is un-beta'ed but my best friend did read it real quick so it shouldn’t have massive errors!

–the probe collected every sample it needed for the team of scientists waiting–

Stiles leans on the colorfully tiled wall of the Nonexistent Train Station, watches the big TV on mute play old footage of the MAG3 launch. Subtitles make up for the lack of sound, and Stiles reads avidly. Any other time and he would gush over the mosaics decorating Beacon Hills’ station.

–and is expected to come back at the end of this week at the international–

Arms crossed, Stiles now only half focuses on the report that shows the construction of said probe, side to side with a picture of the mixed team of scientists and magists that worked on this new generation of satellites; traditional rocket propellant and spells, Sparks+ coding. It’s been said that magic’s just science that we don’t understand yet.

–the findings could be a massive breakthrough in the–

The other half of Stiles’ brain is thinking about the test he’ll pass at the end of the holidays. If he’s successful, he’ll be Deaton’s apprentice -officially anyway. It’s a lifelong dream that would come true.

Doing basic maintenance for Oz with Sparks is awesome, but it just isn’t enough. Stiles wants to be a magist -why not even in emissary business if he finds a good Pack- not just a code-speller; even if it’s for Oz: the social media platform so universal, immersive and clever that it’s used for private life and business alike all over the world by almost everyone.

–completed the mission so far without a single issue–

Both magic and astronomy lead Stiles to think of his mother (one day, sweetheart), a practitioner as they called it back in the days when it wasn’t recognized like now. (one day, you’ll see)

In her good days (as far and few as the stars they watched together, the empty spaces between points of light stretching just like the universe, until–) she taught him some kid-friendly spells. Stiles doesn’t really like to think about what he learned in her bad days.

On screen, a blurry picture of MAG3 taken just before it went out of range is shown.

(the sky will come and meet you)

.oO°Oo.

There’s a world between Derek asking, “Would you work for me during the holidays?” and Derek, sitting in front of his great-grandmother and gesturing at Stiles, saying, “Anyway, he’s my fiancé.”

Nana, ninety-fifth like only shifters and rare humans can be, turns impassively to Stiles and narrows her eyes from behind her small glasses. Despite it all, she’s still old and frail looking. Stiles is beyond terrified of her, and he met her only two minutes ago.

Warrior blood is what one of Derek’s aunt said on the bus ride, right? One of the oldest supernatural families and still a lot of powerful relations in both worlds.

Stiles gulps audibly. It suddenly makes an awful lot of sense that Derek played lie-to-the-shifter back in the train. It’s also horribly convenient that Nana is so scary, because it’ll ironically help cover the lie and hopefully avoid Stiles the painful fate of being killed by an enormous family of various creatures.

Curse Derek to hell and back -figuratively- because as much as he wants to -that massive crush isn’t going away any time soon- Stiles isn’t even Derek’s boyfriend.

He should have made Derek write down a contract for them both to sign, because this withholding of vital information is both very much not cool and totally something he would sue Derek for. Failure to assist a person in danger. And yes, Stiles knows it doesn’t work like that, his dad is the Sheriff.

The careful tilt of Nana’s head brings Stiles back to the stressful present -pun maybe intended- it’s Christmas heh. “Stiles…,” she says, but it’s not a question or a call, it’s testing the name. “Are you man enough to take good care of Derek?”

“Uh,” Stiles states intelligently. He glances at Derek who is sitting straight -straight, got it? Stiles never pretended to have a subtle sense of humor- blankly staring at a point behind his great-grandmother. “Yes?” Stiles answers, not sure what he’s really agreeing to with that one word.

Nana’s steely gaze only intensifies, now from over the rim of her glasses. “Man enough to die for him?”

Terms and conditions are important, exhibition A. Stiles tries to lick his lips but his mouth is dry as the Sahara. Then he huffs and pulls himself back together. He squares his shoulders and determinedly announces, “I am.” Even the best shifter wouldn’t be able to detect a lie in the statement.

So maybe he has more than a crush on Derek. Who allows himself a small surprised glance Stiles’ way.

A second of tense silence later, and Nana relaxes with a smile. Suddenly, she’s not the iron-handed head of a powerful supernatural family but a nice grandma. Stiles feels himself deflate. “Good for you,” she says before turning to Derek and adding, “Lucky boy.”

Stiles decides not to analyze that last part and lets himself leans back in his chair, vaguely following Derek and Nana’s game. He has no idea what it is they’re playing but he doesn’t really care. He feels like he just passed the most difficult test of his life, and seeing his level of worry about Deaton’s exam, it’s saying something.

(read the rest on AO3)