#taggerbug writes

[taggerbug]

Chapter 6 of AASB is finally here!

In which we meet a familiar face.

[wormwizerd]

🪴

any large city worth visiting has its Thing, and isyatnik’s Thing is its huge, sprawling maze garden. now you might enter this fragrant city at its only gate at the foothills of the huroz mountains and walk around town, taking in the sights and sounds of the storefronts and stalls, and you might think “oh neat! a city with a maze garden, how fun and quaint”, but this sentiment would only last you until you start trying to make your way to the inn for dinner and a night’s rest and realize that you’ve been walking well past sunset and maaaybe you’ve been looking at your map sideways and that combined with the afternoon crowds and just your general unfamiliarity with this place have rendered you completely lost.

you ask a group of teens playing a game of hacky-sack how to get to the inn and they give you very complicated instructions, but one of them says you're probably better off taking a cab-cart. you find that to be a more suitable solution and so trudge up a ramp to get to the top of the wall, where the passenger and merchants’ carts run their routes. you raise your hand to hail a cart, and one pulls over, and you see there are already two passengers in the back. you tell the driver your destination and they tell you to hop on.

the other passengers glance at you as you take your seat, but they are fully engrossed in their conversation -- something about the performers of the show they’re on their way to see. you don’t know anything about it so you simply soak in the atmosphere. on the street below, lamps and lanterns shine, the flowering vines that cover most of the buildings flickering in the warm light while the noise of the nightlife carries into the air as pedestrians hurry to their pubs and parties and poetry sessions. there’s an enchanting glow about isyatnik at this time, and you hardly notice you’re hungry until you arrive at the inn. 

an extremely aromatic dish of roasted vegetables and meat in a thick gravy sits in front of you at the low wooden table in your room. you've had food imported from isyatnik before, but since you live far away, most of the things you've tried have been dried or pickled or otherwise preserved. having them cooked this way is very new, and very delicious. from your bag, you pull out a pamphlet you grabbed from the lobby to read while you eat. you learn that early in its history, the land where this prosperous city now stands was a site of many disputes. various factions ran each other off of the deep green soil that was unique to this area, and the city (which was then only a village) changed hands so frequently that people just...forgot which group they belonged to. they had all contributed to the maze to protect themselves from each other, but it turned into a home where they all lived together!

you finish your meal and stare out the window for a while, the lights of the city flickering in place of the stars, and your heart feels toasty. soon you fall fast asleep in the feather bed to the dampened drone of street musicians and crickets.

put an emoji in my ask and i’ll give u a fantasy city

[gayspiderman]

Last Line Tag

Tagged by @yellowmagicalgirl 😳😳 thank you !

Rules: Write the latest line from your WIP and tag as many people as there are words in the line. Make a new post, don’t reblog.

He couldn’t help but think that this would have been a nice place for a date, if not for the fact that the world was ending.

this sentence actually has hella words so i’m just gonna tag my writing mutuals lmao: @branwyns @depreshroom @taggerbug @eurazba @thosetrollkids @renserizawa/@beiguaangs

[taggerbug]

Like they feel attraction but I’m assuming it’s quite a bit different than a humans version of it. And when they are human, is it like a hologram or do they have the same functions? I know varvatos complained about being slow and frail. So maybe? I’m writing a fanfic rn and Aja and Krel will show up later and I just want to make sure I write them well. Ya know? Sorry for all the questions! But what you said makes so much sense. Bless me with your headcanons! 

okay let’s talk about the Akiridion state of being

Keep in mind these are all just my headcanons.

First point: What does an Akiridion feel when they are in a transduction disguise?

Although we see Aja, Krel, and especially Varvatos complain about the limitations of their human forms, we also see them exhibit clearly Akiridion capabilities (Aja pretending to struggle with the rock at the planetarium, Varvatos picking up the bench, and didn’t Vex also stop a car at one point?). Thus, I propose that assuming a disguise based on another species introduces some surface sensations that mimic the species in question, but ultimately do not affect the physical composition of the Akiridion body. Varvatos may feel the aches and pains associated with an elderly human, but is still an Akiridion with a nuclear core and a hologram body.

The diminished physical capabilities of a human would feel, essentially, like an ever-present headache - constantly there, but able to be ignored most of the time and pushed aside in order to access their natural Akiridion abilities. 

@taggerbug thank you! That’s so fascinating! But I’m also curious about attraction and things like that. Aja is obviously attracted to Steve but as a whole, the relationship would be futile for reproduction because she can’t copy a code from him and combine it with her. I mean, it wouldn’t shock me if they don’t know how human attraction or reproduction works. The reason I ask this is because I’ve seen a few stories regarding Krel x another character or reader and I question how all that works?

Second point: How do Akiridions experience attraction, and would it be possible for them to reproduce with non-Akiridions?

I am, first and foremost, a biologist, so the first part of this question is a little out of my field of expertise. 

However, we do see Akiridions in the show experience aesthetic and emotional attraction at least. Both Aja and Vex refer to physical traits of their respective partners as pleasing, and I don’t think there’s any doubt that they can experience romantic love in a similar manner to humans, otherwise Aja and Vex would have gone about courting Steve and Nana much differently. Of course, we do see their interactions being shaped by their cultural viewpoints as Akiridions, and Vex especially seems to approach Nana with a unique mindset - although it can be attributed simply to his warlike personality and comic relief. 

The second part, however, I think I have a solid answer to. I do think that an Akiridion and a human could have a child together, and here’s how:

Akiridions don’t really have cells or genes with which to utilize any sort of human method of reproduction, BUT a human does have a consciousness. The initial hurdle is that this consciousness is trapped in a fleshy brain soup instead of nice neat coding like an Akiridion. However, we’ve established that the Akiridions possessed the technology to transfer such a consciousness around the time that their race transitioned to cores.

Who’s to say that they don’t still possess that technology, but more powerful? What if the Akiridon could -- using specialized technology -- copy a sort of shadow imprint of the human’s mind and translate it to code? The imprint would never be able to become a fully realized Akiridion, as it would be a trace impression of a consciousness that still existed in the host body, but it would work for the purposes of recombination by donating key traits of the human partner. Using this method, an Akiridion and a human could have a child that was the product of both parents, but the child would have to be an Akiridion. (If you wanted to make it REALLY interesting you could set a prerequisite that the human partner would have to undergo the full transferring process and become an Akiridion themselves). I don’t see a way to make Akiridions compatible with sexual reproduction, even given the strides in human technology, but like I said, this is just my headcanon.

thanks for listening to your local spec bio professor

Weird question...but how are Akiridions made? They aren’t a biological species so I don’t think the mate like humans. Are they like plants? They start as a core and then grow? Do you fall in love with another Akiridion and take parts of each other’s core to make another one? They’re made out of light I think, but I am not fully sure how they work. They can feel attraction because they had parents and Aja is with Steve and Varvatos thinks Nana is breathtaking. I’ve wondered how that all works and am very confused. If anyone has any idea let me know.

[taggerbug]

Krel Fic Rec List, Pt. 1

I’ve been kicking around the idea of making a Krel-centric fic recommendation list for a while, but only just got around to it. Whoops!  Just as a disclaimer, I won’t be able to fit every Krel fic in here, so there might be a part two, depending on if I have time.

Fics that are not bold are complete. Fics that are bold are in progress.

-- Longfic, Plot Heavy --

Wizards: The Ones Who Stayed by AkozuHeiwa - Rated T - 137k

Where do I start? This is a pre-Wizards sequel to 3Below, featuring Krel, Steve, Seamus, most of the central cast, and some truly incredible original characters as they contend with existential threats based on Arthurian lore and a side of Gaylen’s Core theory. There’s strong themes of whump and hurt/comfort, threaded between well-crafted plot threads that meet in a devastating conclusion. Ako is an amazing writer and their effort really shines through here.

Legacies by AkozuHeiwa - Rated M - 20k (so far)

Yes, there is a sequel to Wizards: The Ones Who Stayed (Wizfic for short), and it’s being posted on a weekly basis right now!! Legacies has only just started, and it’s already intriguing - so much so that I took three pages of paper notes on the latest chapter to aid in my theorizing. Krel’s back, along with Toby, Douxie, Steve, and a few of the OCs from Wizfic in a story that’s got so much angst already that I’m almost afraid to find out what happens next. 

As Above, So Below by Taggerbug - Rated T - 40k (so far)

Yeah, this is mine! It’s inspired by Danny Phantom fic and is full of angst, speculative biology, and ethical dilemmas. I felt weird writing a review since I know what happens next, so here's a summary from Ako:

“ AASB is an in-progress multi-chapter fic full of angst and intrigue. The suspense through each chapter keeps you on the edge of your seat, and it looks like it's going exciting places with an interconnected plot and mysterious enemies and compelling OCs. Krel's plot in particular looks extremely angsty and exciting, so definitely check it out!” - AkozuHeiwa

Base II by just_another_author01 - Rated T - 15k (so far)

Now this is a real find. Krel is arrested by a military research base, where he encounters other aliens and some suspiciously sympathetic staff. There are several well-written original characters and some very intriguing worldbuilding. Definitely worth getting into before it updates!!

Odin’s Eye by AzTheDragon - Rated G - 14k (so far)

I don’t usually read HTTYD fic, but this crossover caught my eye because Krel and Jim aren’t often written together. It starts with some unexpected time travel and suspenseful unnamed monsters, and the mystery only grows from there. I’m very much looking forward to seeing where this one is going!

Ricochet by Depreshroom - Rated T - 6k (so far)

A post-Wizards whump and hurt/comfort fic that places Krel at a crossroads with the Arcane Order and his friends, with hints of Krel’s connection to Gaylen. Calamity occurs, and Jim and his friends have to find a way to solve it. This fic is just getting started, but shows a lot of promise.

stay up, like a good fight by Euphoriette - Rated G - 9k (so far)

After the events of Wizards, yet another apocalypse descends on Arcadia, with Krel at the center of it. He’s being pursued by Akiridion zealots who are determined to capture him by any means possible, resulting in angst and heartbreak. I’m looking forward to getting my heart ripped out in future chapters for sure!

-- Ships --

The Limit Does Not Exist by PurpleRose244​ - Rated G - 178k - Space Camp

This is a must-read for space campers, a completed longfic that has it all - angst, hurt/comfort, four-armed hugs! It’s mostly canon compliant to 3Below but with more focus and development on space camp. It’s pretty long, but ends with a satisfying conclusion

Somos Algo by jetblock - Rated T - 22k (so far) - Space Camp

A space camp canon divergence, focusing on a summer in which Krel is trying his best to fix the Mothership while Seamus deals with being held back from the space program by his father. Slow burn ensues.

Win First, Think Later by Lobel - Rated T - 17k (so far) - Space Camp

After Krel is left behind in Arcadia, he looks forward to finally getting to spend time with his friends. However, he still has to confront - however unwillingly - the aftermath of fighting Morando and losing his parents. Even worse, he hasn’t adjusted to living as a human as much as he’d like to believe.

The View From The Sky by AkozuHeiwa - Rated G - 2k - Hammerhack

A fluffy one-shot of my favorite gaymers (Toby and Krel) who get dragged to a ski resort by Aja and Jim. It’s so sweet it makes me blush!!

California Friends by spideyfool - Rated G - 2k (so far) - Hammerhack, Starry Knight

A series of delightful one-shots with various rarepairs.

-- Gen. One-Shots --

Bitter Water by spideyfool - Rated T - 5k 

This one-shot is a really interesting take on Krel’s relationship with Aja and his dead parents, and features some vivid body horror - so be sure to read the tags! Some excellent hurt/comfort, and Starry Knight (Krel x Jim) if you squint.

Press Restart by spideyfool - Rated G - 1k

An extremely interesting character study of Krel, consisting of snippets set throughout 3Below. Very introspective and thoughtful.

And these dark roads aren’t so lonely by YellowMagicalGirl - Rated G - 1k

An ominous one-shot exploring the concept of Krel contemplating the use of Gaylen’s Core and dark magic to bring his parents back from the dead.

---

This list is in no way comprehensive, so feel free to add on any Krel-centric fic recs!! :)

[taggerbug]

what is writing? is it not enough to frantically smash ctrl+f to look for that one word you used fifteen times in a single paragraph?