#the creator put a lot of thought into making this AU something that was uncomfortable

[yurunivo]

Hello! I really love you self aware idea! Can you please make another part? This time Can you focuse more on Mavuika and the Creator!Reader (Gender Neutral),please? (Also om how the other archons and Neuvillete would be trying to search for the reader and maybe using other organizations to help the search) if not please feel free to ignore this. Have a wonderful day!

This is my first time getting a request! Hope you enjoy!

Synopsis: hanging out with Mavuika! (And the other nations' planning to reach you) part 1 part 3 part 4

TW: Mavuika and reader's relationship is implied romantic but can be read as platonic, OOC, yandere, SAGAU imposter au, bad writing, bad grammar, english is not my first language, not beta read

Characters: Mavuika x gn!creator!reader (again can be seen as romantic or platonic), yandere Archons + Neuvillette x reader

Cleaning at bars was a tedious job. It was easy, sure, but it got boring at times. Customers always made the day fun with their gossip, so you leaned into that. It could've been something simple, like how their boyfriend cheated on them, but it was still more entertaining than mopping the floor.

However, there was always one customer every night that you were looking forward to meeting.

Always clad in a mysterious cloak that made them look like a runaway, blazing bright eyes and red hair.

It was Mavuika.

She came a bit later than usual. You decided not to worry, Archon duties are a lot after all. Yet, she came anyway, dressed the same as before. The cloak was a bit messily put on, so her hair was still visible. You sighed as you left the place you were cleaning and went up in front of her.

"You didn't have to come y'know," you fixed her cloak to hide her hair, yet she only smiled at you.

"I insist," she only replied back. You rubbed your temples at the stubborn woman. Seriously, shouldn't she be busy with work or something?

She seemed to be eager to tell you something, considering how she was holding your hand. You raised an eyebrow at her as you gestured her to speak.

"Well, want to combat practice with me later, (fake name)?" Oh no. You didn't know how to fight! Sure, you did fight against the abyss, but you barely managed to survive!

But you only nodded. Declining now would only make her suspicious, even though the fact that you were being chased around without fighting back was suspicious enough. But, you'll find out a reason later, for now, all you had to do was agree.

"Sure, but only at my day off. Maybe the day after tomorrow?" You were trying to find a lie to tell her then, but for now, you hid your feelings with a smile. She nodded, looking content with your answer.

"The day after tomorrow it is."

Your hands were uncomfortably sweaty.

The day after tomorrow being right now, you had to tell Mavuika as quick as you could to not gain suspicion. Telling her you got isekai'd from another world was obviously not an option, but you had already prepared something in your head. It was similar to the isekai idea, but it's much more believable. The execution was the only problem.

You were at the outskirts of the Scions of Canopy, where Kinich lived. She came 5 minutes later and greeted you with much courtesy.

"Hope I didn't make you wait for long (fake name)," she told with a bit embarrassment. You shrugged her off.

"It's fine Mavuika, and you can just call me (name)," you replied back. You mustered up the courage to tell her your reason not to fight. But before that, you had to ask her just this one thing.

"How did you know that I was the creator? I don't think there was any part of me that stood out," you were interested to know, after all you thought that you hid yourself very well.

She all but smiled as she pointed out the grass behind you.

"The creator is connected to Teyvat, so everything would bloom in their wake. Since you were in the nation of Pyro, where I'll know everything that's going on, it was quite easy to find out." You looked behind to see beautiful flowers right behind you. You were shocked to see this many flowers in one trail. Wait, then why did the other Archons not realize that you were the creator? Eh that doesn't really matter, what matters was that you were here with Mavuika, safe and sound. But, you took this revelation to gift her something.

You took a flower from the trail. Mavuika was interested to see what you were doing, but you hid it from her. Using the flowers and leaves, you created a flower crown for her and put it a top her head. You smiled, she did too.

"Thank you (name)," she laughed softly. But now you had to explain the fighting part. You sighed as you contemplated.

"Err, Mavuika, I actually don't know how to fight.." You mumbled and cursed your self for it. She looked surprised.

"Why not?" She asked again. You felt embarrassed for having to say the reason. You took a deep breath and prepares to say why.

"I'm.. Not the creator. Like the original one. I'm a reincarnation of them, I have no idea how to fight not do I know anything about the past," you breathed out, cringing at what you just said. However all she did was look at you with understanding, after all, she knows the pain of reincarnation.

"It's fine! But do you know anything about the previous creator then?" She asked curiously, to which you shook your head. She hummed. She got an idea to improvise, it seems like.

"How about I teach you then?" Huh?! This wasn't going as planned! You didn't want to fight at all.

"T-that's not needed, I'll j-just waste your time," you tried convincing her, but she didn't budge. Eventually though, you reluctantly agreed. She smiled and thanked you for allowing her to help.

"Just try to imagine yourself using Pyro abilities, you'll get the hang of it later." You were really trying. The amount of stress that you had to not burn yourself to death was enough to actually kill you. Still, you trusted Mavuika and her abilities, so you tried anyway. You tried and tried and tried, but nothing really came. You were visibly disappointed, but Mavuika tried to encourage you.

"How about this, you imagine something you don't like, and try to use your emotions to drag your Pyro ability out," she suggested. You seemed to find this useful, so you tried it.

Closing your eyes, you thought of something terrible happening, and instead of seeing the imposter hunt that you very despised, you instead saw Mavuika.

You were being hunted down, sure, but what was most important was that she was getting punished by the Archons for not giving up the imposter. Her face was battered and bruised, and she was slowly slipping into unconsciousness. You watched in horror, and tears started to well up in your eyes. This couldn't be! Unfortunately, you were crying in real life too, and Mavuika realized immediately.

"Okay, uhh, you don't need to think about it now," she tried comforting you, bringing you in an embrace to calm you down. Once you came back to reality, your eyes were puffy, and your face was red.

"... Sorry, can we do this another time?" You sniffled, still holding her. She was warm, and you found your self drifting to sleep. She sighed as she picked you up.

"Of course, just don't overdo anything, kay?" She smiled warmly, brushing the tears from your eyes. She wrapped you in a cloak, getting ready to start camp.

Neuvillette contorted his face in disgust. The waters tasted disgustingly sweet. The creator's happiness with another person, likely an Archon. But the waters then tasted bitter, from the creator's sadness.

If only he could just drag you out of that place and keep you for himself, but no. He'll need the help of the other nations to do so, so he sucked it up and left the Palais Mermonia. He visited Furina, just checking in on her before leaving. He'd leave some of the work for Clorinde to do, he trusted her enough to do that anyway.

Reaching the imposter's throne room, there was a long sitting area where the rulers of the nations were there. Only the Cryo, Pyro and Anemo Archons weren't there, but the acting grandmaster came for Anemo, and the director of the Fatui Harbingers came for Cryo. The Geo Archon returned to his status as the God of Contracts, and the Electro and Dendro archon were sitting in their own seats. The imposter was on the creator's throne. They were dead, blood seeping out of their head. Their expression was one of shock, as he could vividly remember the day the Geo Archon killed the imposter.

A seat was vacant. He clenched his teeth at the mere thought of the Pyro Archon. He'd get you back from her, no matter what it took.

"We all know that the creator is in the nation of war, Natlan. However, since the neither of us know its weaknesses besides the Pyro Archon being a human, we need to create a plan to ambush the nation," Jean spoke up. Everyone in the room nodded along with her, too obsessed to notice their wrong doings. However, there was one who objected to this clause.

Nahida raised her hand to interrupt Jean, turning all eyes on her.

"You all chased down the creator like a rabid dog, and now you're trying to kidnap them to do a job that they don't want? What kind of leaders are you? The creator was in Natlan for a few months by now, and since they're not leaving, they are probably enjoying a better life there than your own selfish desires," she objected.

Neuvillette all but admired the young Archon. Despite being small and weaker than the others, she still had the bravery to stand against everyone. However, this was one thing that he didn't agree with. He just stayed quiet though, waiting for someone to object the small Archon.

Raiden did. The God of Eternity looked at Nahida with disdain, preparing to answer the deity.

"And how are you so sure that the creator is having a better life in Natlan Buer? For all we could know, they could actually be running around the vast nation. And, you are one of the younger Archons after all, what use does your words have?" She asked coldly. When she was about to respond back, she got interrupted.

"It is settled, we shall find the creator in Natlan, no questions," the God of Contracts added in. Nahida couldn't speak now. After all, what power does she have to a much more experienced God?

Neuvillete glared at the Archons.

"Whoever shall get the creator first will be the one to solely have the creator in their nation," Neuvillete furrowed his brows at the Archons. They did the same, but still agreed to the conditions, not really thinking of what you want.

Now, all the leaders were going back to their nation, telling their line of military to get prepared. They had to have you all for yourself, and they will do anything for it.

Done! Hope you enjoy!

[mtgc858]

so… about raven and legion… don’t take this the wrong way, but…

I know that raven is 27 but..

she looks and acts like a child! Legion looks and acts like an adult!

it sort of rubs me the wrong way, y’now?

I understand that Fr and I thought about that also a bit and kinda wanted to change it.

Raven is based on my personally, I'm 19 almost 20 but my mental age is far behind and I know it (about pre teen) I always had learning disabilities that I was in aware untill recently and act childish despite being a adult myself so I kinda put myself into Raven just changing her a bit

Also Raven in general suffered a head injury when she was "killed" the first time(when she was human which she was 19 and how she turned) which caused her mental health to go down more(She already had bad mental health but it got worse).

So yeah Raven is based on me completely, and also when I made her(a few years ago) I actually didn't know how to make characters act right.

(I do have a lot of trouble expressing those emotions/personalities out properly as you can tell how one moment she's happy and the next she's crying)

About her looks, is cause of how she became a Trollge, she was infected unknowingly and had a cat (based on my irl cat) and when she turned her appearance matched with her cat, so that's why she looks like a cat.

And also I've been thinking also especially about Legion x Raven cause of the whole age thing (Did NOT help when I realized in canon, real Legion is in his 30's to 40's which made me VERY uncomfortable)

AND I started overthinking that I'd the creator of Tcf saw my ship think I was annoying and get mad or something.

So I made my version of Legion a oc

So they are about the same age in canon of my au, I hope that helps A LOT cause it has been bothering thing me too, especially on how I can't express my ocs personalities well (I might have to update Raven's design/ref also cause it's out dated)

So I hope this explains it (I still need to fix some things) and hopefully helps!

[gaypiratebrainrot]

I've now read Water Flowing Underground twice because a) it's very good and b) it's so fucking interesting.

Even the first time I was constantly thinking about the choices you'd made while writing and what effect those choices have on my experience as a reader who can't stomach RPF anymore (I read some in my teens, was never super into it but wasn't icked by it back then). Like how switching the names creates just the amount of distance to the real people that I'm not intensely uncomfortable reading it. It's a fluctuating thing where sometimes it feels more like these are Ed and Stede in a modern AU and sometimes like Taika and Rhys with different names, and I can't quite put my finger on what makes it feel one way or the other. (The party scene where the cast talk about fanfiction is like part of my inner dialogue on this)

I've also read all the asks you've answered here about the fic and it's so satisfying to see other people have had some of the same experiences and reactions to things in the fic, like the background panic of the pancakes burning. The whole thing about time being kind of weird while they're at Ed's house is a great touch, the thought of not knowing what time it is is (perhaps not so) surprisingly distressing to me.

There's something I struggle with about the fic though, and that's the parts where the cast talk about fanfiction and the podfic thing. It's solid meta, like I mentioned earlier the dialogue in the party scene is like reading my own musings, but I suppose it just makes me uncomfortable because I WISH the actors didn't do that irl. At least not extensively. Admittedly, the OFMD cast interact with the fandom a lot and that can exacerbate some problems fandoms already tend to have, like the harassment of Rita and Rosie that someone else talked about in an earlier ask. Idk where I'm going with this but I'd love to hear your thoughts behind these scenes.

Oh and also before you published the fic I was trying to guess what the controversial theme in the fic would be and somehow RPF didn't even cross my mind. I think my first guess was mpreg. Don't know what that says about me.

This ask is already so long I may have to write another about the story itself and the emotional side of things. All in all, fucking fascinating work. And thank you for being so open about your thoughts behind all of this.

thank you so so much for this incredible ask!!

i am so delighted to see folks wrestling with who exactly these characters are, and it's absolutely a trip to see there's a variety of opinions. since there was so much rpf wank on twitter, a common comment as people actually read it is that the fic "isn't even really rpf." which is so, so interesting to me!

part of the inception of this fic was having the scenes in my head that were very much rpf, but also being at a point in my fic writing where i've got some solid stede/ed voices that i really like using. truly, there is no clear dividing line in my head between my stede/ed imaginary friends and my rhys/taika imaginary friends. often when i write stede/ed, there are certain lines where i'm like "oh, that's really a rhys/taika line". listening to a bunch of the cryptid factor earlier this summer was a huge boost to my stede voice.

re: the cast interacting with fan fiction scenes: it also makes me uncomfortable that this cast/crew seems so aware of the fan fiction, but almost exclusively for legal reasons! i don't have the fine-grained legal knowledge of this that i wish i did, but it's so dicey to me that a show with that much improv would also permit its actors to read fan fiction. they're getting paid to make the show, and we are not. if our writing ends up influencing the show, they owe us a check, imho.

twitter especially has really changed the fandom landscape, because the creators and actors feel so close and all-seeing, and that def comes with a multitude of problems. but i also think a lot of the hand wringing about fan interaction is overblown, in the sense that the people with the most control over what the creators/actors see and consume are the creators/actors themselves. this is why, after much deliberation, i didn't lock this fic to the archive. at the end of the day, if someone really wants to send this fic to famous people on twitter, the lock won't stop them. the best way for Mrs. R to never read this fic is for her to choose to never read it. i have no control over that.

all of that said, part of the joke of them listening to the dtbg podfic is me trying to be transparent that this fic is, at its most basic, my own masturbatory fantasy. do i want the cast irl reading my fic? probably not, or at least not until the show is over. is it totally a fantasy in my head that they're all sitting around talking about how brilliant my fan fiction is? oh yeah lmao.

i should write mpreg sometime! <3

[discet]

Hey again! I was curious about a couple things. 1.Is Marcy Autistic in your AU? Cause well, the whole fiasco revolving the is she/is she not autistic in canon is... tiring as a person with Autism, and having my favorite AU incarnation of Marcy be Autistic would be real cool. 2.What are your general thoughts on how canon handled Marcy's arc? Because I'm curious how closely AWIW will follow it. While I get they were really trying to push the whole change message, it seems like they do so in favor of ignoring a lot of Marcy's very real trauma and hurt, and so watching them put her back in a situation she was so clearly terrified of was... uncomfortable. Specifically in regards to returning to her parents. Because like, they kinda brush over the fact that Marcy, as opposed to Anne and Sasha, actually ran away from home, and usually happy, well cared for children don't tend to do that. Plus everything in regards to the indicators of her parents being at best neglectful (her considering being alone with them as still alone, the desire to live in Amphibia, her immediate attachment to Andrias) makes it feel like maybe they didn't fully think through Marcy's story end point while writing her, and just kinda threw in the line of 'can you call our parents' to be like "see? Marcy does want to go back to her parents, so they've definitely been nothing but good people this entire time, despite the fact that they dropped the bombshell of moving on Marcy's childhood best friend's actual birthday". And with you leaning into the whole "Marcy's parents aren't very good", I guess I was just, idk, pretty worried about the potential for Marcy to wind up in the same situation as canon, isolated for ten or so years with no decent adults in her life that we know of.

Hello again! Analysis and spoilers down below

1.Is Marcy Autistic 

So I hate to answer like this cause it sounds like a cop-out, but Maybe?? Marcy's characterization in the AU is partially details I picked up for the show, partly things I inferred from the show, with maybe a few traits from myself to round her out a bit. I am not diagnosed one way or the other. But there have been a number of times I've read or heard autistic people/friends talk about their experience and thought to myself, 'Oh that's relatable'. So I might have written her as such on accident 

As much as I would love to enthusiastically say, 'Yes!' to your question, my deep fear is that I am going to have Marcy do something/somethings that are atypical for an Autistic person to do. Then you and anyone who would take comfort in my confirmation at this moment, would then be disappointed by my inability to follow through down the line.

So I'm sorry that this is a wishy washy answer, but the honest one is this: I did not intend to write her as autistic. If she reads like that, awesome, I have no issues with that reading. I am not confirming for fear of disappointing people later if I am incapable of follow-through.

2a. How do I feel Marcy’s Arc was handled in canon?

I think we’re mostly in agreement here. There’s a lot of baggage from True Colors that the creators just kind of... pretend isn’t there for season 3? I wouldn’t be surprised if executive meddling kept them from really dealing with it. 

The fact that no one brings up Marcy through most of Season 3 is always going to be a thorn in my side. Marcy’s last 3 actions Marcy takes in Season 2 are 

1. Save Sprigs life. Sprig nor Anne ever bring this up again. 

2. Manage to open a portal and save Anne and the Plantars, even though this put a target on her back and led to her being

3. Impaled through the chest. Her last words being a desperate apology for her mistakes

No one ever brings this up after true colors. This is not a moment of grief before they are going on silly adventures on Earth. Note: I like the silly adventures on Earth, I think those are good episodes, but they do absolutely squander the narrative momentum of True Colors. 

I’ve read analysis that says Anne’s desperation to get the Plantars back to Amphibia was really subtext about getting back to her friends. Which I think is a fine reading, and maybe the intent, but I really wish they had put that on the page. I wouldn’t need much. It could have been Sprig asking in one of their late night chats ‘Hey do you really think Marcy is alright?’ and Anne hesitating for juuuuust a moment before answering‘Yeah, of course dude.’ Just to put that on the actual page. Just an emotional stinger at the end like we got back in S2 with Hopping Mall

Sasha is stuck in Amphibia but seems to make no effort or plans to try and rescue Marcy on her own, even though she has no idea if Anne could get back. Again a throw away line of ‘I’ve looked into ways to save Marcy, but we just don’t have the resources’ would have been enough to establish that yeah, Sasha was worried about Marcy and they really need to gather allies so we can help her.

I’ve written before about the main thing you asked about vis a vis Marcy’s parents here. So yeah, the little ‘hey, let our parents know we’re good‘ did ring a little hollow for me too. Kind of a cop out. 

2B. Am I going to follow the same path as canon with AWIW?

No. Like usually I don’t super confirm or deny things like this but no. The ending I have sketched out currently is very different from canon, and if there is a grand moral to be learned, its not that change is a natural part of life we need to embrace it. 

I think that is a fine lesson mind you, but canon already did it, and I have my own story to tell. 

Note: I don’t know if its necessarily going to be better, its gonna be rough, but I think it is a happy ending for everyone

[darling-i-read-it]

We'll Stay

Midsommar AU

Will Graham x fem!reader

Word Count: 1.7k

Warnings: cult, murder, suicide,

Author’s Note: I’m sorry it’s only one part, I wasn’t quite motivated enough to do 2! But I hope you enjoy it anyway <3

Requested: by anon, hiii!! so, I was curious as to whether u could possibly do a will graham (baby boy!!!) x fem!reader 2 part oneshot (with a SLIGHT Hannibal x reader but main is will graham) in which...it's practically a midsommar au! except Y/N doesn't have a fallout with partner unlike dani. Y/N, however, indulges herself into a cult after a fallout hits close to home and....yea! u can go from there and hopefully u can do it! thanks :)

I don’t own these characters. They belong to author/director/creator

(not my gif)

You looked out the window at the passing scenery. You hadn’t seen another person for miles upon miles. You wondered how close you were to Pelle’s commune. Hopefully close. You were getting tired and your legs were stiff from sitting in one spot for so long.

You glanced at Will beside you in the backseat. He was napping pleasantly on his jacket, his breathing even. You wish that you had been able to fall asleep so quickly. Your eyes wandered up to the front of the car where Pelle was driving, Alana sitting beside him. They were speaking so quietly, you couldn’t even make out the words. You weren’t sure why you were here.

Pelle worked alongside Alana for some time in a research based job Alana had been doing on the side. He had tagged along with her to a couple of Hannibal's dinner parties where he had met you and Will. You and Pelle had hit it off right away. He explained that he came from Sweden and would love it if you, Will and Alana went with him for the midsommar festivities. You were hesitant but Alana insisted and you didn’t want her to go alone. Plus, you were dealing with some family stuff at home. You just wanted to get away from it. As far as you could. Sweden seemed like a nice deal.

Your phone buzzed. You picked it up mindlessly, sliding it open to see the text. You only had one bar left. You must be getting out of service soon. Hannibal had sent a message.

Be safe. Watch Will.

You smiled a bit at his worry. You had wanted him to come along but he declined, saying being so far out in the wilderness wasn’t his style. You sent him back a quick text.

I will, I promise.

“Are we almost there?” you asked Pelle. He nodded pleasantly.

“Ten minutes. Can you wake up, Will please?” You nodded and turned to your boyfriend, nudging him. You caught Pelle glancing at the two of you through the rear view mirror as Will perked his head up, grabbing your hand gently.

“Almost there,” you whispered. He sat up, rubbing his eyes. He leaned over onto your lap and closed his eyes again.

“5 more minutes.”

====

“This walk was longer than I thought,” Alana muttered, laughing gently. She hadn’t worn her regular fancy clothing. It felt odd to look at her without it. Will had still opted to wear a flannel, though you told him it was going to be hot and you were going to be walking.

“We’re very close. It will be worth it,” Pelle explained. Will grabbed your hand as the two of you walked a ways behind Alana and Pelle.

“What happens if we want to leave?” he asked. You shrugged.

“We can leave.” You raised his hand and kissed the back of it. “Don’t think too hard on it.” He scoffed.

“Oh no. Me? Think hard about something?” You rolled your eyes but was quickly distracted by the clearing you came upon. There were a couple large buildings and people in white everywhere. You let go of Will’s hands in shock and looked around incredulously.

“This is my home!” Pelle said. People rushed up to see him. Your eyes went wide as he hugged and greeted them all, seeming to know each and every one of them personally.

“You know all of these people?” Alana asked.

“They’re my family,” Pelle explained before speaking some words in Swedish you didn’t understand. You smiled gently and looked over at Will.

“It’s beautiful.” He seemed skeptical. You nudged him. “I know it isn’t Wolf Trap Virginia but try and enjoy the sun.”

“We get sun back at the house,” he muttered. “I miss the dogs.”

“Me too. But they’ll be okay I promise.” Pelle had brought some people up to you. You gave them kind smiles.

“Welcome! We are so glad you were able to make it. We are about to make the announcements, you’re just in time. If any of you need anything, speak to me or Pelle.” You nodded.

“Thank you for having us,” Alana said.

“It is our pleasure, trust me.”

====

Pelle led the three of you out alongside everyone else to a nice clearing with a cliff. You had a weird breakfast that morning but you were trying to keep an open mind. Will, not so much. He was ready to go. You insisted on a couple more days.

“So what is this again?” you asked Pelle.

“Shhh, it’s starting.”

You closed your mouth and nodded a bit, watching as two older people were carried up the cliff. You and Will exchanged a look.

You watched carefully as the woman launched herself off. One of the other visiting groups screamed. Alana grabbed Pelle, asking quick questions, shaking her head, holding her stomach.

You and Will were silent. Almost unphased. You had seen so much death, it never seemed to bother you.

Then the man jumped and you just watched, his head smashed on the ground. You opened your mouth a bit and Will grabbed your arm.

“We’re leaving,” he said.

“No,” you said, probably too aggressively. Will’s eyebrows furrowed and he stood back.

“Why?”

“I don’t want to.” Pelle watched you carefully as he calmed Alana down. He suppressed a smile.

===

You went back to the houses after everyone had calmed down. Everyone had spread out a bit. Will took Alana for a walk while you stayed in the house where you slept, making sure all of Will’s things were in order if he really wanted to leave. You almost didn’t hear Pelle sneak up on you.

“You reacted well. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you up front.” You jumped, turning back to him. You shook your head gently.

“I see a lot of death in my job.”

“Still. I imagine it was a shock.”

“A tad.” You averted your eyes. He sat down on one of the beds.

“It truly is a lovely place here. I feel very loved. They’re my family and they protect me through everything. From what I know of you, I feel you would like it here.” You tried to figure out why he was telling you that.

“I do. I mean...I don’t know.” You sat down beside him.

“Here. This will help with your nerves, just smell it.” You didn’t even think about it, you just did as he said. He put it away and then watched you for a moment. Pelle put his hand on your leg. Your eyes went wide and you stood up.

“I’m with Will,” you said. “In case you had forgotten.” Pelle looked concerned though you didn’t understand why.

“But you’re meant to feel held by the things you love. Do you feel loved by him? Held by him?”

“Yes,” you said without a beat of hesitance. “He’s my best friend.”

Pelle acted like your relationship with Will didn’t mess with his plans of having you here. But who knew. He still had Alana.

====

You hadn’t seen Will since you woke up this morning. Pelle had made you go to the May Queen dance, shoving a glass of something on you. You asked where Alana was and he said he didn’t know. Where could she have gone? Where was Will?

The worries subsided when you were dancing. You couldn’t quite see what was going on and you didn’t understand it at all but your feet were moving. Your hands were being held by the other women of the commune, their laughter infectious. It almost made you forget about Will.

Almost.

You caught sight of him walking into the field of women who had already stopped dancing. You didn’t stop but you kept your eyes on him as you moved. He looked uncomfortable. You wanted to go to him but your feet told you to keep on dancing.

There was a yell and you stopped. You were the only person still up.

“You are our May Queen!” someone yelled. You were dizzy and tired. You started to walk to Will but people were getting in your way. He reached for you.

“What?” you whispered. “Why me?”

As you struggled, people put a flower crown on top of your head. You just barely touched Will’s finger tips before they dragged you away.

��I want to see Will,” you said, sounding far away. “Let me see Will.”

They didn’t bother answering you. You started to cry quietly, shaking your head.

“We are going to do a ritual!” Pelle said, holding your hand.

“Where’s Will?”

“You are the May Queen. He will not be harmed if you so wish.” You shook your head.

“Leave him alone.” Pelle nodded and gestured for Will to come forward. You grabbed his arm and he looked you up and down. How did this dress of flowers get on you? “Don’t leave me,” you said to him, slurring your words.

“I won’t. We’ll stay together.” You looked around at the people around you. They were smiling at you, hanging off of your every movement. You took a deep breath and suddenly didn’t feel the need to hide from them.

They were like a family. Like the one you should have had.

“We’ll stay,” you said convicted.

“Huh?”

“We’ll stay.”

Hannibal Tag List: @michaelmyersthestabbyboi

@elisaa-shelby

[kinokoapologist]

Hey, have you seen the villain SMP on gumi yumi's YouTube channel? I'd be curious to hear what you have to say about it!

-⭐

Thank you for asking! I hadn't heard of it before getting this ask, but I went and watched the first chunk of it on YouTube! I'd intended to watch the entire thing before I answered this but uhhh we will get into why I didn't end up doing that

*I wanna start off with a disclaimer that this is in no way meant to be mean/hate to the creator of this AU, who I think is a very talented artist and clearly has a lot of cool concepts they are excited to share with an audience, which is incredibly awesome! We just have some different interpretations on certain characters, which is totally fine! But since my opinion was asked for, I want to give it honestly*

…they really had me in the first half, ngl

Like. I love the initial concept. And the character designs slap. They're very well done animatics, clearly made by someone with a lot of talent! Those first few videos are such an effective balance of Fun Villain Vibes and Unsettling Atmosphere

But boy does it lose me with the way c!Quackity and c!Wilbur are framed. Which sucks, because I actually liked Wilbur's initial appearance in the AU a lot. The "Duobur" videos are great as an isolated horror scene: the way that Wilbur's loss of autonomy is framed in those animatics, with Redza and the Villain!Bench Trio basically forcing Wilbur out of control of his own body/mind because they think Ghostbur is the "better" (or, more accurately I'd thought, more passive) version could go down some really interesting routes that I thought were being set up given the initial tone the series seemed to have. The pitch here was "what if these characters were villains?" and here they were doing A Bad Thing That Would Cause Conflict.

Like, I could be totally interpreting it wrong, but those first three videos in the series seemed to me like they were implying that Bench Trio had themselves been victim to something of a hostile mental takeover, Tubbo and Tommy especially. I thought we were setting up some creepy supernatural possession shit! I thought we’d see some Jekyll and Hyde style mental confrontations and battles for control! And I was about that shit! Let's go full horror! But then when I got to the "Fracture" animatic the creator straight up said in the caption (which also... not how you should be using captions) that they don't like c!Wilbur and came up with the entire "duo" concept out of spite.

They also straight up said they hate c!Quackity in that video, so that's where I stopped watching.

Which sucks, because I also really liked c!Quackity's initial appearance. 1. Because the song Devil's Train slaps, and 2. because it told us right off the bat that this AU's Q still cares so much about Karl and Sapnap, to the point that he's still going to check on them even when he's angry at them. And like, the concept of Quackity giving away Las Nevadas to save their lives??? That shit is some fun character-specific tragedy and I'm all over it for an AU of this concept. Plus like, the fucking symbolism/imagery of "Casinoboo" trapping them in playing cards?? Iconic.

BUT the scene around that moment... rubs me the wrong way to put it lightly. I simply do not fuck with "ohhh nooo, Quackity has become the new Dream!" in any capacity. It makes me annoyed at best and deeply uncomfortable at worst. Especially when Casinoboo kidnapping Karl and Sapnap and turning them into literal game pieces to manipulate Quackity in turn is framed as a #girboss moment, and Dream's carefully planned abuse of one of Ranboo's closest friends is given a dismissive handwave as he's let out of Pandora's Box. Which I also have beef with. Why are we letting Dream out of Pandora's Box. Why are we acting like he's part of the quirky little villain family. The Man Is A Serial Killer. Why is DNF driving the season finale bus all of a sudden–

Ranboo letting Dream out with the justification that Quackity had become a bigger threat was the first moment that started making me go "eh" with the AU, but there had still been a lot of stuff in the early animatics that I'd liked, so I'd wanted to keep watching through to the end. But as I said, I really Was Not Having A Fun Time Anymore when the person making the AU straight up said they hated my favorite character. At the end of the day I simply am not going to connect with any AU pushing the idea that "oh the smp would be so much better if everyone tried to get that silly Quackity to stop fighting back when he gets knocked down, can't he just roll over and take it like he's supposed to?"

All of this with the massive disclaimer that, again, I didn't watch the last 10 or so videos in the playlist. Maybe everything took a massive turnaround and there were some great fiance moments I missed. Maybe Wilbur gets some self-affirming moment where he gets valued as an individual outside of being the vessel for the smoothed over, "easier to manage" version of himself. I know that Glatt showing up was being teased before I clicked off, maybe he got some scenes with Quackity (or Tubbo) that brought back that unsettling/horror tone I liked in the first half. I also didn't see any of the potential follow up on whatever the mystery with Ranboo was "seeking guidance" on in the season 1 finale video, so I can't really give thoughts on wherever his arc was going. But that's my thoughts on what I saw! This is probably way too long of an answer, but as you can tell I like talking character analysis and narrative framing. I know post is mostly me discussing issues I had but I had a lot of fun with this! Like I said, gumi yumi is very talented and I admire the amount of work they’ve clearly put into this AU. Just not my personal cup of tea

[fanfalc-616]

Okay I have a new AU!! It’s called...

The Rights Of A Nindroid

This is chapter one!

Thanks to @occasionalincorrectquotes ,@321bluegalaxy , @ablackswansweet , and @akwardalienbean for giving me ideas (:<

When Zane wakes up that morning, the Bounty is quiet- likely because he gets up about an hour before the others usually do.

After checking the refrigerator, he decides to pick up some groceries for the team, despite it being Cole’s turn- the black ninja typically comes back with a surplus of junk food and relatively little amounts of healthy ingredients, no matter what Zane puts on the actual shopping list.

Messaging the others in order to inform them that he’ll be back shortly after their normal breakfast time, he heads out to the store, enjoying the quietness of the early morning.

He only makes it a few blocks away before a cop car pulls up beside him. Frowning, he pauses. Is there some kind of criminal roaming around here? Perhaps he could help apprehend them.

Two cops get out of the car, and Zane decides to voice the idea. “Is there a problem, officers?” He prompts. “Do you need assistance with it?”

The first cop- a brunet only just shorter than Zane- starts to speak. “I’m sorry about this, but we’re going to need-“

The second cop- a short blond- glares at the first as he interupts. “Actually, yeah, we could use your help. You’re the white ninja, right? Zane? It would be great if we could have your help with a government… “ He pauses a moment. “...project.”

The pause is somewhat concerning, but likely not a real issue. “I would be happy to assist.” He smiles. “If you tell we the location, I could have my teammates join us and also-“

“It would be better if it was just you.” The brunet interrupts.

The other cop nods. “It’s a low profile thing.” He agrees. “And no offense to your teammates, but they usually grab a lot of attention.”

With a small chuckle, Zane nods. “That they do. If it is low profile, would it be better for me to ride with you? Or should I get a vehicle of my own?”

The brunet starts heading back to the car. “It would be better if you rode with us.” He decides.

So Zane gets in the back of the car, letting the two cops take charge of directions. Unsure of what level of volume would be appropriate, he elects to remain silent to avoid a possibly uncomfortable situation.

Soon enough, they reach an odd-looking facility that appears to belong to the government- and strangely enough, a quick GPS check shows that the site is non-existent, implying that it is a top-secret base of some sort.

Getting out of the car, Zane lets himself be led into the facility, warily eyeing the large number of security guards swarming the area.

“May I have more information on what this ‘project’ is?” He prompts, hand coming down to brush against one of his shurikens.

“We can talk more inside.” The taller cop tells him as they go up the doors. In order to get inside, he uses three complex key patterns, a vocal recognition pattern sensor, and a form of facial recognition scanner.

“That is quite elaborate.” Zane notes. “I take it this project is important.”

But he doesn’t say anything more on the matter when he’s taken back, nor when they insist on confiscating his weapons. The shurikens don’t matter all that much anyway, he is well versed in multiple martial arts.

As he’s led through the halls, he could almost swear that he can hear distant muffled screaming. But no one else seems to be affected, so he brushes it off as some distorted echo. After all, this is a government facility. It would be highly unlikely for something illegal enough to cause that much pain to be happening in a place like this.

Once taken into a medium-sized room- a room that has a mirror that is likely actually of one way glass- he is instructed to sit at a table, directly across from a government official.

“Hello, Zane.” The woman smiles. “I’m going to ask you a few questions. It’s going to be important for you to answer truthfully.”

Zane nods his confirmation, accompanying it with a verbal one. “I will answer them to the best of my ability.” After a moment of thought, he decides that it would be best to wait on asking his own queries until after they have asked theirs.

“Thank you. What was your creator’s full name?”

“Doctor Julien.” Zane answers the question without pause.

The woman shakes her head. “His full, legal name.” She corrects, glancing over at the mirror. The minor action confirms that it is, in fact, one way glass.

With a blink of surprise, Zane answers the question. He’s asked several more, all about his father and any possible relatives he may have. The second piece is negatory; his father was an only child and far too old for any immediate family members to be alive.

After six minutes and nine seconds, the woman smiles again. “Thank you, Zane. Someone will be back with you shortly.”

With that, she gets up and heads out, leaving Zane behind.

Puzzled by the questions and events, Zane attempts to send a message to his boyfriends in order to inform them that he will be later than he had expected- but strangely enough, it doesn’t go through. Frowning, he tries a second time, but he once again fails.

That’s mildly concerning, but likely has a logical explanation. Perhaps no one here can send messages as a way to increase the difficulty of hacking. Given the secrecy he has already seen, that would be reasonable.

So he waits patiently at the table, occasionally sneaking stealthy glances at the one way glass. Something about this situation seems suspicious, but there’s likely no real cause to it. Perhaps he has adopted part of Jay’s paranoid nature.

A smile finds him at the humorous thought, but before he has the chance to think on it further, the door to the room opens, and a new official walks in.

“Zane, it’s… nice to meet you. I’m going to need you to fill out some papers.” The man tells him in a rather rude tone.

Zane chooses not to comment on his unpleasant mannerisms. “I would be happy to.” He gives a friendly smile, hoping that staying composed and being affable may help with what is bothering the official.

He begins to fill out the papers he was given, but as he goes on, the questions seem to grow more and more invasive, until he finds himself pausing.

Zane looks up from the paper, setting his pencil down. “My apologies, but I am not comfortable answering these questions. The way my systems work is rather a personal matter.”

“Yes, well, I need you to answer them anyway.” The man’s smile is tight and forced, not expressing happiness in the slightest.

“I’m not comfortable with that.” Zane repeats, a note of annoyance creeping into his voice. He stares the official down, making sure he knows that he will not be backing down on this matter.

“I didn’t ask if you were comfortable.” The man’s eyes express sharp malice as his false smile drops. “I told you to fill out the papers.”

“And I told you no.” Zane stands up abruptly, still holding cold eye contact. “I’ll be leaving now.”

A spark of anger lights in the man’s eyes. “No, you won’t.” He stands up as well, annoyance and hatred on his face. “You’re not going anywhere.”

“I don’t believe that’s your call to make.” Zane doesn’t blink and doesn’t back down- but he does refrain from allowing the temperature to drop from his powers.

“It is, actually.” The official insists. Does he genuinely believe that?

This is not a debate that he’s willing to be having, so it is time to end the discussion. “Is that so?”

“Sit down, nindroid.” He says the final word as though it’s an insult rather than a descriptor. “This isn’t up to your programming.”

“My progr- just what, exactly, are you trying to imply?” Zane knows he should simply walk out the door, but at the moment, he is completely floored by the implications of his words.

Is he truly under the impression that-

His attention is grabbed by the door being opened, and his eyes widen in surprise when he sees a large group of security guards entering, all wielding laser guns not unlike the ones Cyrus Borg had designed.

Zane quick backs away, narrowing his eyes. So they plan to hold him hostage? “I must warn you that even unarmed, I am still a trained ninja. I recommend that you stand down.”

The guns are aimed at him, all centered on non-vital parts of his body- though any shots that hit would likely give them enough time to restrain him.

Then he must not get hit. And for that, he should make the first move.

Zane takes a step forward, attempting to blast a shield of ice to block off any possible shots. But much to his dismay, he discovers that his elemental powers are not working, and a quick scan confirms that the entire building is lined with vengestone in the walls.

This is… quite the situation.

A few shots are fired at him, and he quickly ducks, flipping backwards to avoid getting injured. Unfortunately, he discovers only a moment too late that they were expecting that, and a shot was fired to where he had dodged, leading to a laser blast grazing his right calf, making him stumble.

They must have analyzed his fighting style before he arrived in order to predict his movements!

This brief lapse in balance is all it takes for them to completely surround him. With narrowed eyes, he begins to start making the moves of spinjitzu, but his damaged leg causes him to fall. His failure to combat them with the tactic gives them the opportunity to handcuff him, as well as manhandle him onto his knees.

Zane glares up at the official. “I do not know what you have planned, but I must warn you that such an illegal action will have consequences, even for an official such as yourself. I-“

The man shakes his head. “Take it away.” He orders.

Zane finds himself being dragged along, unable to effectively resist the guards. Eventually, he’s taken to a new room with a set of rectangular locker-like cubbies.

With wide eyes, a sudden realization strikes him as he looks at the lockers, and he resumes his struggling.

These lockers are just large enough to fit a person inside. Or more accurately for this circumstance, a nindroid.

“I want my phone call.” He demands as he’s forcibly dragged closer.

One of the guards scoffs. “You don’t get one.” He sounds almost insulted by the idea.

Zane manages to resist some, buying himself some time to continue speaking. “Legally you are required to-“

A different guard incredulously asks, “Do you- do you actually think you have the rights of a human?”

Zane pauses a few moments, confused by the words. “Yes? I thought that-“

He’s unable to continue due to the way he’s roughly manhandled into the cubby, and as he's about to argue, the door is slammed in his face.

Despite the way he struggles against it, the exit is firmly blocked off, leaving him quite effectively contained.

After a few minutes of struggling, he concludes that he will have to wait until they reopen it to make his escape.

With a sigh, he leans back against the wall, shifting uncomfortably in the small space. There is less than an inch of space surrounding him on all sides, leading to a rather cramped arrangement.

“What just happened?” He murmurs softly to himself, listening as the booted footsteps of the guards fade away. These events had occurred so suddenly that his processor is stuck playing catch up.

Closing his eyes, he decides to go into sleep-mode for a while, though he keeps his senses dialed high enough that any nearby noise will wake him.

He can make his escape when they return.

[saturno-sol]

The Brainrot has gotten to me

WELL HERE YOU GO FOLKS (almost) ALL MY NOTES ON WYRMTHREAD (Chantilly/Quezal) both in Canon and in a Happier AU because yes Most put under a readmore because its over 1K long and the very end has some suggestive things because I’m allowed to think like that too so just as a heads up

Anyways here

Canon Codex

Do not establish a relationship outside of a blooming interest in each other that gets nipped in the bud due to...yeah cries 

So let us not delve too deeply into Canon rn, and sadly since the plot absolutely needs Chantilly gone to progress we turn to HAPPIER AUS!!!!! :DDDDD because I drove myself deep into brainrot and aoughhhhghhhghhhhghh

Songs I associate with canon because music is good- 

I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO DANCE by Tyler the Creator

Mr Loverman by Ricky Montgomery

Rest Easy, I’ll See You Again by Cuco (the title is a LIE) 

Pain by Pinkpantheress

La Gata Bajo la Lluvia by Rocío Dúrcal

The Night We Met by Lord Huron (thank you Jaxx) 

Noche No Te Vayas by Los Tres Caballeros 

Better Timeline AU!!!! 

Placeholder name but honestly it might stick because I’m too lazy to think up of a better one hghfdnkj, am open to suggestions tho

Basic Premise of this AU: Through some magic fuckery or whatever, Chantilly is allowed out of the Troupe and decides to tag along with our funky wyrm gal because nowhere else to go/hrnng big lady pretty. They actually do start going out and it turns out hey! They like each other, like a lot. 

They like each other so much that they get married and bam, WyrmThread real 

This is great because not only is my otp now canon and alive, Fuego (and later on Lune when Fuego adoptskidnaps them into the family) now has both parents! And they love their kids sm like damn do not get in between them else you want to get yeeted to Unalive World. 

In this one, the motivations for [REDACTED] have now morphed into somewhat the same way in terms of being dealt with but now we got the lacey boy to help Quezal do [SPOILERS], fight [SPOILERS] and help complete [SPOILERS] and help establish her empire. (I’m sorry but I am not revealing any important Codex spoilers yet)

“Will you be the Malfina to my Connecticut Clark?” 

Girlboss and Malewife, except they’re both still murderous and would happily see you to your grave if you intervene with any of their plans. I’ve given Chantilly throwing knives :) because he deserves to be dangerous. 

He deserves to look cool!! With knives!!! Fighting alongside his wifey!! 

Of course NKG fucks off when Chantilly leaves the Troupe but I love to think of him being akin to a disapproving in-law (“Really Chantilly?? You run off and marry some wyrm that didn’t even have a kingdom to begin with? Have the standards of the Nightmare Vessels deteriorated as time went on?”) 

Chantilly is somewhat concerned that Fuego is much more, for lack of a better word, feral than a regular Grimmchild would be but he doesn’t regret the decision to have him. He loves his bitey son even if he scratches through fabrics like water. 

And Quezal enjoys having another person to coil around and snarl at anyone that gets too close to them. It does take a while until they’re like velcro due to her issues with touch being equated to violence (Thanks dad /s) but once she overcomes that fight or flight response she absolutely does not let go of him. 

Burrowing into a dark place and nuzzling until he smells like her makes Wyrm brain go brr. And since he isn’t a wyrm there’s no instinct yelling at her to maim him if there’s no babies to take care of/mating season passed, he in her eyes is harmless. Even if they both know different, at least in her brain he is just a lil guy, no threat to her. 

Chantilly loves all the attention he’s getting from her, absolutely will allow her to carry him off and coil up against him as long as he can work on sewing while she broods over him. 

He’s naturally warm and for a wyrm that needs outside heat to regulate her inner temp like a snake he’s like a hot water bottle, world cold husband warm. 

Happby family can these Queers be HAPPY PLEASE 

Love languages!!! 

Quezal once she gets comfortable with physical stuff likes to nuzzle and bite :) but not to draw any hemo or cause harm, just to hold in mouth. She also likes to do acts of service, making sure that her husband is wont for nothing and doing little things like sharpening his knives for him. 

Chantilly loves to gift-give! Usually things he made by hand. 

“Quezal pls let me make you pretty dresses and outfits please you would so look good in teal” 

He likes kissing a lot, smoochies for wife and cuddling is great for him too, as long as he can sleep with his chest unobstructed he’s good 

They both love showing each other off

“Look at my partner they’re the fucking best ever, none of you bitches can compare to them.” 

When the empire is finally formed and Quezal takes her place as Empress she offers the title of Emperor to Chantilly 

He declines, Royal titles are just not his thing and he feels uncomfortable with them, so instead he goes by the title of “Lord”

His duties consist of assisting with any paperwork Quezal doesn’t want to deal with and being eye candy (/j but also not really he loves being shown off esp in new outfits) 

He also deals with nobles that aren’t too pushy, the ones that do are quickly steered towards Quezal. And usually after a meeting with her they learn better than to try to smart mouth either of them. 

Family Notes!

Chantilly’s the one to go to if you need advice and soothing comfort

Quezal’s the one to go to if you need someone beat the fuck up and also advice but in the no nonsense way. 

She also comforts but it's not in the way that Chantilly will delicately soothe the pains away, she tells you how it is but will hug you and tuck you into bed if wanted. 

On the other hand, Chantilly is the one Fuego and Lune go to if they want to do something crazy or stupid and know that mom won’t say yes. 

He dresses them up in poofy outfits (see the clown costume I’ve thrown on Fuego as an example) and shows them off to Quezal 

“Look my dear! Aren’t they the sweetest things you have seen!” 

It is very funny 

SONGS I ASSOCIATE WITH THIS AU

Meet Me At Our Spot by WILLOW

First Love/ Late Spring by Mitski

I Hear A Symphony by Cody Fry

She’s My Collar by the Gorillaz

My Kind of Woman by Mac DeMarco

New Light by John Mayer

Vivir by Jardin

coffee by Miguel

Never Getting Rid of Me from the Waitress Musical

WARNING WARNING

Ok next few am going to be a bit suggestive so stop here if you’re not into that but

I’m debating on if they’d have more children than Fuego and Lune and if so, how many HDJFJKSJ (thinking of twins named Arco and Iris because Arcoiris means Rainbow and I kind of like that and I’m also a sucker for twins) 

Listen, they’re both switches but most if not all the time Quezal’s the one topping. The man is submissive and breedable what do you expect HDJFJS

s i z e  D i f f e r e n c e 

Chantilly is a sensual romantic and loves a lot of buildup while Quezal just wants to get on with the good stuff, they make it work with communication and understanding each other :) 

They’re both capable of carrying so if they did have more kids I’d imagine they’d take turns on who’s turn it is to be eggy. (And I have so many thoughts about how they’d treat each other while pregnant but HHHHFJFJFHHHF too embarrassed rn waagaghgg) 

These two love each other very much and I love them. 

[romijuli]

OKAY time to talk superhero AU...but I have a LOT of notes so I’m just gonna talk the setting and the supers (and supporters) themselves and Erik so I have an excuse to tag this with luminerik!

I put a LOT of work into (some of) these names yo!!!! Don’t mind the ones I haven’t gotten to yet hahaha...

Our setting is Erdrea City, which is a pretty big city with a strange penchant for the...mystical, or perhaps fantastical. Superheroes! Supervillains! Monsters! Maybe even an alien or two????

Usually things are pretty scattered, a random villain trying to rob a bank or something, but lately monster sightings and attacks are on the rise, coinciding uncomfortably with the appearance of a (for once) coordinated band of villains dubbing themselves the Spectral Sentinels.

Luminary: easily the most talked about of Erdrea’s supers, given that they’re very eager to help and also only look vaguely human. What are they? An alien? A hologram? A monster who has allied with humanity? Well, whatever they are, they’re not saying...though, that being said, they don’t say anything at all.

In actuality, Luminary is just local college student (and nonbinary icon) Eleven Sweeney, whose sweet light powers came with a very funky alternate form. They’d like to get to the root of the Sentinels, but man is it hard when the majority of the other active supers are...like that. And when their love interest keeps trying to fight monsters, Erik, stop that, it’s nice that you’re trying to make their time easier but you’re gonna get hurt—

Iron Knight: anyone who’s had the (mis)fortune of meeting this particular super asserts that he didn’t actually save them, he just showed up at the end in a stupid costume for clout. This is entirely accurate; up until recently, Faris [ohgodiforgothissurname] had no powers of his own, just seeking the attention given by newsfolk who don’t know much better. So, naturally, whoever (or whatever?) is in charge of giving out powers thought it would be funny to give them to him. He is not happy about this.

Dragonborn: Look, it’s not that he’s not trying, it’s that Iron Knight keeps swiping his media attention, which is admittedly pretty easy when you’re a terrifying dragon-ish superhero. Ryu [fuckiforgotthisTOO] is tired. Not to mention the feeling that something is...off...with his powers...

Krystalline: Calling her a hero is a bit much. She plays whatever side she feels like on any given day; one minute she’s helping the Sentinels with a heist, the next she’s aiding Dragonborn in a monster fight. That’s just how Kathryn Hammond lives her life.

Seamstress: not a hero so much as one of their best supporters, Seamstress’s powers aren’t combative in the slightest; she can see the powers of other supers and figure out how best to outfit them! This also makes her their best secretkeeper, though she doesn’t share her own identity for safety reasons. (Well, unless your name is Eleven; Gemma Winters can never say no to her best friend!)

Eyes and Ears: not technically the name of a person, but the name of an app used by civilians and supers alike to find monster sightings and evacuate as safely as possible, if necessary. The app’s creator is unknown to the public, but whoever they are, they’re uncannily reliable. But, then again, when you’re tech whiz Veronica Love and her monster-detecting twin Serena, well, of course you’re reliable.

Erik Camus: not a super in the slightest, just an ordinary college student raising his sister. Really, the most interesting thing about him is that he somehow keeps walking into monster sightings, and Luminary apparently thinks he’s interesting for trying to fight instead of just waiting for a hero to show up and save him. Well, normal’s fine by him, he’s content hanging out with his friends and pining over Eleven for the next century.

[everdino]

So, i

Really I really wanted Deadstick (oc that belongs to @eve-of-halloween !) to be alive (cause hes Adorable), so I wrote a little drabble with this au.

And also, I wrote it before I saw the canonical version of Deadstick alive, so I probably could not portray it correctly. Yes. Well. I hope you will like it.

Sorry for any mistakes. Deadstick and Hornet belongs to Eve, i dont own anything.

--

- "Oh come on you. I just want to take a closer look at her." -

With a soft laugh, the orange-violet con said. He stood leaning against the wall of the old building, with his shoulders down to show a lack of hostility. But this didn’t really convince the older mech. Triplechanger was still at a distance, clutching his own precious treasure to his chest. He was a bit confused, weighing the pros and cons

Blitzwing did not expect to meet him here. At least not now. This used to be a short walk around the base so that his little dear daughter could refresh herself a bit. Hornet giggled and wriggled among the claws of her sire, unaware of the uncomfortable situation he was in.

On the one hand, he should have lowered his guns and demanded that con get out of here right now. On the other hand he looked calm and unarmed. And most importantly it was his own Brother...

Blitz stepped aside, frowning at Deadstick. Too much shit happened between them so that the former con could entrust his brother with the most valuable thing that he ever had.

Deadstick, whose name Blitzwing called him, though he knew that it had been changed, was smaller and weaker than Blitzwing, even after the upgrade he received. But he was still a Decepticon, a damn smart Decepticon, and that made Blitz be on his guard.

- "I understand," - Dead said again, - "you don't have to trust me. But you must believe me, that I will not return to them."

- "I can’t see the reason why not." - Blitzwing answered sternly, turning his gaze either to Deadstick or to his own hands where Hornet was, as if she could magically disappear from there.

- "I'm tired," - Deadstick simply answered. - "I've always been superfluous among the Decepticons. Even when I, instead of the triplechanger programme, had another operation, my mind did not change much. I could stand up for myself, but still felt as if i was in cage."

Blitzwing's spark trembled painfully in his frame, and his mind was clouded by those memories that came to him in nightmares

I hate you. I hate you

His own voice echoed in his mind, making him squint with pain.

I hate you

It was only his fault. If he knew...

- "You...never told me what really happened to you." - Blitzwing said slowly, when the hated voice trailed off. Deadstick was silent for a while, gathering his thoughts. Not for Blitzwing alone, this was a tough topic to talk about. The silence was broken only by Hornet who honking to attract the attention of the creator. Blitz looked from his brother to his daughter, beginning to carefully pat and caress her head with a claw, at the moment when Deadstick spoke:

- "You went into stasis first. I remember that when you fell asleep, I was...broken. Scared. I cried" - Deadstick paused, expecting to hear a flurry of insults and accusations of cowardice, but much to the younger's surprise, Blitzwing looked at him silently. - "I did not want this, but obviously everyone did not care. Except...Shockwave. I remember that he went into the operating room and said to work with you first. And he took me to another room. He asked if I want to become stronger, if I want to avenge the carrier. I did not answer then because I was afraid that if I agree they will return me to the operating table. I felt that it would be bad there, it would hurt." - Deadstick again fell silent and suddenly exclaimed with sharp aggression - "I loved carrier! But I did not want to die! I knew that I would die. I was never like you!" -

Blitzwing staggered back in shock, instinctively hiding sparkling in his hands. Hornet stopped making a sound and peered curiously out of sire's claws. The Deadstick took a deep breath, calming. Maybe because he didn’t want to scare his niece. Maybe because, he was afraid of a triplechanger, who was on alert. - "I was never strong like you, I never wanted to fight with everything that I see, like you. I was different. And I knew that whatever they did to you there, I would not survive after it. And I told Shockwave that I did not want to die. He replied that my fears are true. That I really will be a waste of time and resources. Therefore, he offered me a different outcome. He offered me trainings, with a slight upgrade of my frame, which would compensate for my weak characteristics and limitations. Provided that all my loyalty will belong to the Decepticons and that I will work for him. And I agreed. I mean, it was the best deal of my life at that time." -

- "He told me that you did not survive." - Blitzwing said with increasing aggression, making efforts not to be furious and not to frighten his daughter. - "He lied."

- "Perhaps they expected that your breakdown would be beneficial for manipulations by Megatron" - answered the younger - "My frame was slightly altered and then I was taken to another place, to another ship. I spent a huge amount of time there, under the control of Shockwave, training and working with archives and other information. I probably was beneficial to them with my intellectual abilities, but despite this, my training with combat training was very tiring. I did not become a soldier, but i was quite useful in the information part, sending various information to Shockwave and doing other small and dirty work. He did not give me a single minute of rest, constantly monitoring my every move. Not to mention the fact that I continued to hear from other cons a bunch of shit about my weakness. until I started defending myself. But I was still afraid. Shockwave constantly reminded of the deal, reminded that I was alive only thanks to him and Megatron's mercy. Everyone treated me like an empty place. Once, something has changed. Shockwave...began to mention you. He had never done this before, but then he began to remind me that you left me. That you hate me Every day, he made me hate you back, but I really didn’t understand what it was all about. Therefore, I began to study the documents until I came across information that you are listed as traitors." -

Hornet let out a worried squeak when she noticed how intense Blitzwing was. He did not take his eyes off his brother, processing his words. His whole body was ready to either run or fight, for his sparkling, but everything was accompanied by painful memories.

- “And you know what?” - Deadstick looked him in the eyes. - "For the first time in my life, I felt anger. The anger that tore me apart. I was angry because you told me that we must be strong in order to take revenge on the Autobots. To avenge our carrier, it all happened because of you! And after that it was you who got along with the Autobot. It was you who connected your life with the Autobot and, moreover, gave life to sparkling from the Autobot! It's dishonest, Blitzwing, it's mean and dirty!" - Con soaked every word with resentment and anger, carefully studying the face of his older brother. To his even greater inner surprise, Deadstick noticed sorrow and regret on Blitzwing's face. But it only gave strength to continue:

- "Shockwave liked it. He kept reminding me of you, making me angrier. One day he called me. He said it was time for my last exam to prove my dedication to the Decepticons. I had to find and kill you. For this, Shockwave promised me a raise, he promised that I would get respect, which I lacked. But if I disobey him, then I will be dead. And I promised him that I would bring him your head, because I was angry with you. I crossed the half-universe to find this damn organic planet, find you and... Don't kill you! I broke a promise I made because, I can't kill my own brother. I could easily trap your autobot and, as a result, kill both with an accurate shot from a gun, but I could not! I was so close that if I didn’t kill you, then I would make you suffer by killing your autobot. But I did not do it!" - He gestured emotionally, quickly but clearly pronouncing every word. Blitzwing stood at a loss, frozen in place:

- "And now I'm here! A traitor like you just because you couldn’t kill a horse because of which I almost died, who hates me, who abandoned me!"

- "I did not hate you, Deadstick" - In one breath Blitzwing blurted out - "I was wrong. Believe me, I was very wrong"

Triplechanger's spark pounded inside, as if ready to leave his chest. His body was trembling a bit, old wounds opened and came out. All his regrets, worries and all his pain spilled over at one moment.- I'm really very sorry, Deadstick. I was blinded. I was hurt by the loss of Bronzewing, I could not think sensibly!

- “Bronzewing loss hurt me just like you Blitzwing,” - the younger answered, in a more calm tone, - “But I stopped only because I remembered him. Because this is far from what he want from us. He would never want his sparklings to end their lives spilling each other's energon. And I stopped. I lost my title and gained hatred among those with whom I lived all these years. - Blitzwing wanted to say something, but Deadstick did not allow, continuing: - "But now i am free. They hate me, probably a thousand times more than you. So I made my choice. Now there is no longer Shockwave above me. Now i'm on my own"

There was silence. Both mechas turned away, mulling over everything that had happened. Hornet put her tiny arms around Blitzwing's claw, as if she knew how hard it was for him now.

- "Deadstick" - Triplechanger was the first to break the silence. The younger brother looked at him again:

- "Please...forgive me. For everything i said. For all that i have done. I let you and our carrier down."

Deadstick silently studied his face before smiling a little - "You have changed a lot. Did the Autobots make you so soft?"

And before Blitzwing wanted to demand an answer, Con continued - "Your apologies are accepted, Blitz."

There was silence again, but this time there was no more tension. As if with one phrase, they destroyed the invisible barrier between them.

- "Well come on can i please look at her? I'm curious" - Deadstick said after some time of silence.

Blitzwing looked at him a little incredulously, but nevertheless removed his hand from the Hornet, allowing it to be seen better - "But just look. Do not touch."

Deadstick walked away from the wall and went toward them, leaning slightly to see sparkling. He stared at her for a long time with a slight smile on his face. Con raised his hand slowly, holding one claw closer to Hornet. Blitz strained again, ready, in case of something, to pull his hand back, but his brother was still careful. While Hornet herself was looking at Deadstick with no less curiosity. She poked her uncle's claw with her small hand and giggled loudly.

"She's so cute" - concluded mech, stepping back again - "Take care of her."

- "I give you my word" - Blitzwing nodded. - "What now? What will you do?"

- "I don’t know," - Deadstick answered honestly. - "I feel freedom, but I’m not sure that Decepticons will leave it just like that."

- I could not protect you then, but I think I can now." - answered Blitzwing. - "I can hide you here."

- "Blitz, i..really have to think a little more. For now, i'm gonna stay somewhere here, until I make some decision"

Blitzwing nodded - "I just...wanna tell that you're welcome here"

- "Wow. Autobots really makes you softer, don't they?

- "Shut it"

Deadstick chuckled, as they both heard voice of small little autobot. Hornet heard carrier too and began loudly honking.

“I have to go", - said Deadstone, quickly stepping aside. - “See ya, Blitz!”

- "Bye" - former con said as his younger brother disappeared into the dark. He turned to his daughter and a big scarlet grin grew on his face - "Will that be our little secret okay Hornisse?"

Hornet made a cheerful Honk sound, hugging his claw. Blitz with a Hornet made a cheerful sound, hugging his claw. Blitz with a chuckle carried her to a displeased Bumblebee.

[ibijau]

Worst engagement AU // on AO3

Lan Xichen has a chance encounter with Nie Huaisang and, for once, it goes well.

warning for mentions of canon-typical corporal punishment on a character

The punishment for a lower case of assault is thirty strikes of the discipline rulers on the back. The punishment for not coming forward with a fault with due diligence is also thirty strikes. So is taking advantage of one’s position to commit a crime. Then, because Lan Xichen’s status is special, the total ends up rounded as one hundred strikes, since as future sect leader, the elders feel he ought to behave better than he did and be an example to other juniors.

Although it is not a light punishment to go through, Lan Xichen counts himself lucky. When he explained to his uncle some of what happened with Nie Huaisang, omitting any unnecessary details such as who exactly he kissed by force, he was sure his behaviour would have earned him not just the disciple rulers, but one strike from the disciple whips. He had also been terrified that his punishment would be public, but due to his position and the current political situation, Lan Qiren and the elders had the kindness of dealing with this privately.

When it is over, one of the elders severely orders Lan Xichen not to repeat such shameful behaviour. He is then released from the ancestral hall, and advised to take the rest of the afternoon to reflect on his conduct. So as Lan Xichen walks away, very slowly, his only question is whether he ought to meditate in his room where he is sure not to be disturbed, or in the cold ponds which promises some relief for his pain. 

The first one is probably what is expected of him, but the second is immensely tempting and Lan Xichen’s steps start turning in that direction when his path crosses that of Nie Huaisang.

It’s unusual, these days, to find him alone. It is even stranger for him to spot Lan Xichen and not turn around or pretend he didn’t see him. Instead Nie Huaisang, after only some hesitation, walks closer and grins.

“Told you we’d talk before our next meeting,” Nie Huaisang greets him.

“You did. Are you going somewhere, Nie gongzi? I don’t think I’ve often seen you in this part of the Cloud Recesses.”

“I was looking for you, actually. Everyone else has started studying for the finals, so I’m left on my own. I thought we could… chat?”

Lan Xichen pinches his lips. Meeting Nie Huaisang at such a time is really less than ideal when he  just wants to rest and meditate, but refusing this offer would be deeply unwise. It's the first time Nie Huaisang has ever sought out his company and Lan Xichen doesn't know how his fiancé would react to being turned down. Badly, if past interactions are to go by. 

"I would love to," Lan Xichen replies. "Do you want us to walk together, or may we go somewhere to sit?" 

"Well, actually…" Nie Huaisang hesitates, his usual assurance failing him. "Since you've said before… I thought we could go to my cabin and I could show you my paintings?" 

There's fear and uncertainty in the younger boy's eyes as he makes his offer. Lan Xichen doesn't notice it, too overwhelmed at being finally offered what he has wanted for months. Suddenly the intense pain in his back isn't such an issue anymore. 

“I would love that,” Lan Xichen says.

“I won’t be able to offer you tea,” Nie Huaisang mutters. “We’re not allowed to make it in the cabin anymore since I almost burned it down.”

“You what?”

His confidence slowly returning, Nie Huaisang cackles and, apparently on an impulse, he grabs Lan Xichen by the arm and starts pulling him along. The pace is a little faster than Lan Xichen would really prefer with the current state of his back, but he easily allows it when Nie Huaisang starts babbling about the incident which cost him the right to make tea in his cabin. It’s a convoluted tale, and one that involves the breaking of a number of rules, but it’s still a funny enough story. Nie Huaisang is a little shy at first, but after Lan Xichen chuckles a few times, he gets more exuberant until Lan Xichen is struggling not to laugh when they finally reach the cabin.

“Nie gongzi, I think you’re a menace,” he says as they go in. 

“I think so too, thanks!” Nie Huaisang proudly replies. “Well, just… go sit on the sofa, I’ll get my paintings. I mean, if you still want to see them?”

This time Lan Xichen does notice the other boy's uncertainty, which puzzles him. After how many times he's asked, it should be clear that he is very interested in Nie Huaisang’s work. 

"I haven't changed my mind," Lan Xichen insists with a smile. "Are we to expect your comrades to join us?" 

"No, Jiang xiong is conducting a group study and a lot of people joined since they noticed him and his disciples always get good grades. I think he kind of likes teaching, even if he always grumbles about it." 

With great care and a little difficulty, Lan Xichen sits on the sofa and tries to find a position that won't put too much strain on his back. He ends up sitting very stiffly and having to avoid resting against the sofa’s back. When Nie Huaisang joins him on the sofa with a stack of papers in his arms, he immediately notices. 

"It's fine, you can get comfortable," Nie Huaisang says with a half grin. "I told you, there won't be anyone to see you, so just relax. You said there's expectations about you but it's just me here, and I already know you're not perfect." 

It is not an attack. At least, Lan Xichen thinks it is not intended as such, but it feels like one all the same. 

"My back hurts today," he explains. "This is as comfortable as I can get right now." 

"Then why agree to come with me if you're in pain?" 

"I wanted to see your paintings, of course." 

Nie Huaisang is baffled by that declaration, his cheeks colouring a little as he looks away, preferring to focus on the papers he brought. 

"Lan gongzi, you're so weird," he mutters. "It's fine, we could do this another day… I'm not so cruel that I'd wish for you to be in pain." 

"I'll be in pain whether I'm here or somewhere else," Lan Xichen points out. "At least here, the company is good." 

The colour on Nie Huaisang’s face gets more pronounced. To distract from it, he all but shoves his paintings onto Lan Xichen’s lap. 

"There, enjoy I guess," he grumbles. "They're not as good as yours for sure, but these are my best ones, I think. Well, the least awful ones, anyway." 

Perhaps Lan Xichen should object to such depreciative language. If this happens again, he surely will. Right now though, he is far too excited by finally getting to see his fiancé’s works instead of contenting himself with stolen glances or forgotten studies. It was well worth the long wait. Nie Huaisang has progressed immensely since the rabbits that still hang in Lan Wangji’s bedroom. He may not have gotten good grades in class this year either, but Nie Huaisang’s time in Gusu was put to good use. 

When he paints animals, they look ready to leap off the page and go on with their own business. When he paints landscapes, Lan Xichen can almost hear the wind in the trees, the song of the river. Even his portraits, which Lan Xichen would admit are not Nie Huaisang’s strength, are still rather good and capture the personality of the model if not their exact likeness.

Painting after painting, Lan Xichen makes sure to comment on the quality of each work. It’s hardly a conscious decision, he simply cannot look at them and not point out how good each one is. Here and there, a very flustered Nie Huaisang tries to object that this particular work is a little weak, or that another one fails to follow the rules of what makes a good painting even if he personally likes it anyway. Sometimes, Lan Xichen agrees with the criticism, and offers his own opinion on what could be improved. At other times, he has to defend the creation against its creator. Rules are one thing, but beauty can transcend them.

“Lan gongzi, you don’t have to try so hard to get my good opinion,” Nie Huaisang mutters after such a speech. “I’m decent but not great, I know it, so there’s no need…”

“I haven’t said a word I did not mean,” Lan Xichen protests, more amused by his fiancé’s heavy blush than he’d care to admit. Nie Huaisang has been acting so confident and indifferent around him all this year, it’s nice to see him affected by something. “You asked me to be open and honest, and that’s what I’m trying to do.”

Nie Huaisang huffs, and grabs back the painting that sparked this.

“I guess Lan gongzi’s tastes must have changed a lot since last year,” he bitterly remarks. “For you to turn this encouraging…”

“From the first moment I saw one, I’ve thought the world of your paintings,” Lan Xichen objects, glad that nobody except his brother was there the first time he saw one of Nie Huaisang’s works. He’s more than a little ashamed of the way he retracted his good opinion after learning who, exactly, had painted these rabbits, but at least Nie Huaisang wasn’t there for that and it’s a relief.

Nie Huaisang huffs again, his blush calming down at last.

“You discouraged me from pursuing art last year,” he reminds Lan Xichen, “so clearly you didn’t think I was very good at it.”

“Oh. No, that was a different matter,” Lan Xichen says, feeling uncomfortable from more than just the pain in his back. “That was never about your skill. Back then, didn’t I already say the painting you gave Wangji was good?”

“Did you?” Nie Huaisang sneers. “I just remember you telling me that I should drop painting and focus on cultivation. That’s how bad I must have seemed to you, if you thought it was that much of a waste of time.”

Guilt shoots through Lan Xichen’s chest, radiating painfully in his body and making him tense, which in turns pulls on his bruised back. He doesn’t remember his exact words, but he’s sure that he never intended to imply Nie Huaisang was bad at art.

“It wasn’t like that at all,” Lan Xichen sighs. “I really did think you were very good, but I thought… I thought it would be selfish to encourage you.”

Nie Huaisang frowns and wrinkles his nose in disbelief, but he looks a little less angry already.

“Makes no sense. How is it selfish to tell me to do something I like?”

“I thought if I encouraged you, it would be because I would eventually benefit from it since it would ensure we had something in common,” Lan Xichen explains, looking down at the paintings on his lap. “While if I told you to study… everyone around us was talking about your cultivation and how it needed to improve. Frankly, it doesn’t impact me whether you have a high cultivation or not, while it certainly does change things if we have a passion to share. I thought this would be the right thing to say.”

“You discouraged me from art because you thought whatever made both of us miserable would have to be the better path?” Nie Huaisang gasps, definitely more baffled than angry now. “Lan gongzi, your mind is really twisted sometimes. And here I told myself you just thought I was too awful at it to pursue painting anymore...”

“You are excellent at it!” Lan Xichen protests, eyes snapping up toward Nie Huaisang. “Even back then, when I did not want to think well of you, I couldn’t deny that. In fact, it is your skill in painting that first forced me to reconsider what I believed about you. I’m very sorry if I made you doubt your capacity. You are a painter of rare talent.”

Nie Huaisang’s eyes open wide at this renewed praise, while his blush returns, more intense than before. He is very cute this way, and Lan Xichen finds that he likes the other boy when he’s flustered, just as much as he likes him when he’s confident and cocky. He wonders if there’s any aspect of Nie Huaisang he wouldn’t like. Aside from his occasional bouts of cruelty… and even those have never been unprovoked, so Lan Xichen can’t fully blame the other boy for that.

“Lan gongzi, you’re really too much!” Nie Huaisang grumbles, slapping his shoulder and shoving him slightly, the way Lan Xichen has seen him do with Jiang Cheng and Jin Zixuan. 

He would be happy to be treated with this sort of easy casualness, but the movement ripples through his back and he can’t help hissing in pain. Nie Huaisang notices and frowns.

“Does your back bother you that much?” he asks. “If you want, I probably have something for the pain, but you should get that checked.”

“I’m quite fine,” Lan Xichen assures him, only for Nie Huaisang to roll his eyes and jump on his feet, dropping the painting back on his lap before striding toward his bed. “Really, there’s no need… why would you even have medication here? All guest disciples are encouraged to seek out…”

“I’m a Nie,” his fiancé grumbles, dropping on his knees and wriggling under his bed to grab something there. Lan Xichen forces himself to look away. “My brother would never let me travel without the adequate necessities. I’ve got money saved aside, talismans, warning flares, and basic medical supplies. I’m sure it’s fine if I give you a few pills though. Ah, right there!” Nie Huaisang triumphantly exclaims, pulling a small, dust covered box from its hiding place. “It should at least make you feel better until you see a healer. But really, Lan gongzi, you’re unreasonable! You should have told me you were this unwell.”

“I’m not feeling so bad,” Lan Xichen replies, wishing he could rise up and go kneel next to Nie Huaisang to make him stop rummaging through his box of medication. A quick attempt at getting up makes it clear that it will take some effort, though, and he prefers to remain sitting for now to avoid giving the other boy any reason to worry. “I was happy you’d want to spend time with me. That’s worth a little discomfort.”

Nie Huaisang looks up from his box, clearly unconvinced.

“You swear you’re fine?”

“Maybe not fine as such,” Lan Xichen concedes with a grimace, “but not so unwell that you need to be fussing over me.”

Shrugging, Nie Huaisang carelessly shoves his box back under the bed and stands once more, dusting his knees.

“It’s your back,” he says in a tone that he implies he would never put up with pain if offered another option. “Hm… it’s almost time for dinner. Do you want to start going now, since you might need to walk slowly, what with your back that really doesn’t hurt at all?”

Nie Huaisang smirks, which Lan Xichen can’t help answering with a smile. It’s not the first time Nie Huaisang teases him, far from it, but it feels like there’s less of a bite to it at the moment. Maybe someday they’ll be able to joke together, or even to laugh. Just thinking of it, Lan Xichen’s heart beats a little faster.

“I don’t mind if we stay here a while longer,” he replies, hoping it isn’t too obvious how eager he is for more time alone with Nie Huaisang. “I really enjoy looking at your paintings.”

Nie Huaisang grimaces playfully, but still saunters closer.

“Lan gongzi, I’ll be honest,” he chuckles. “It’s a little embarrassing for me to sit here while you say all those nice things. If you want, I can bring the ones you’ve not yet seen to our next meeting, and then I can look at yours. It would be a nice way to pass the time, I guess.”

“I wouldn’t mind,” Lan Xichen replies, ready to agree to anything if he can continue looking at Nie Huaisang’s paintings. “Or perhaps… if you’re still willing, what about another lesson? I’ve tried again to copy your style, but I’m still rather dreadful at it.”

Nie Huaisang’s eyebrows rise high on his face. “You’d still want to? It ended so badly last time… though I suppose that’s my fault. Knowing your brother, I should have expected you were like that about being touched.”

Lan Xichen shakes his head, slowly to avoid putting too much strain on his back.

“That time, I was just surprised. I wasn’t expecting you to help me that way, considering you didn’t like me too much then.”

“Oh, I still don’t,” Nie Huaisang retorts, his good humour dropping like a mask. “Though I dislike you a little less than I used to.”

Hearing that hurts, especially when seeing Nie Huaisang change his countenance from cheerful to disdainful so quickly once more. But since his voice doesn’t appear as venomous as it was all these other times, Lan Xichen decides to remain hopeful. It’s too soon for them to be friends, but he’ll take being hated less.

“I’ll take that as progress, and be content with it. As I said last time, that you’re willing to consider this at all is already more than I expected. And this isn’t me trying too hard!” Lan Xichen adds, recognising the expression on his fiancé’s face. “I mean that.”

“Lan gongzi, you’re just too much,” Nie Huaisang grumbles, grabbing the paintings on his lap and turning his back on Lan Xichen while pretending to put them in order. “Whatever, it doesn’t matter. Let’s start walking toward the dining halls, I’m starving and you’re going to be slow, I can just tell. Do you need help getting up?”

Lan Xichen carefully shakes his head, but hisses when he tries to leave the sofa. Sitting stiffly for so long did his back no favours. He is still wondering how to maybe ask for Nie Huiasang’s help when the other boy, having unceremoniously dropped his paintings on his bed, returns to his side and casually grabs him by the elbow to pull him on his feet.

“You’re just as stubborn as Da-ge!” he scolds. “He’s the same when he’s hurt, too proud to let anyone give a hand. I’m going to ask again, are you sure you shouldn’t go see someone for that?”

Even through several layers of fabric, Lan Xichen feels as though Nie Huaisang’s hand is burning him. It takes him a few seconds to realise a question was asked, and a few more to decide what to do. His back is killing him, if he’s honest, but the infirmary is much closer to the guest disciples' cabins than the dining halls, and that informs his decision.

“I can bear with it for now, don’t worry. I’ll go to the cold spring after dinner and I should be perfectly well again tomorrow or the day after.”

“So stubborn,” Nie Huaisang grumbles, but he doesn’t release Lan Xichen’s elbow. “Fine, it really is your choice, in the end. But let’s get going. I wonder what they’ll serve tonight? I’m a growing man you know, and all that rabbit food is stunting me. It’s your sect’s fault if I’m still so short, Lan gongzi.”

Lan Xichen chuckles, and doesn’t bother pointing out that it’s a very flimsy way to excuse his height when all Lan cultivators his age, and quite a few younger ones, are taller than Nie Huaisang in spite of never eating anything but ‘rabbit food’.

“There’s nothing wrong with your size,” he says instead as they leave the cabin, Nie Huaisang still holding his arm as if he were an invalid.

“Hush, I’m complaining, don’t start being sensible, I shan’t bear with it,” Nie Huaisang retorts, sticking his tongue at him. “Horrible rabbit food, I say! I shall perish of hunger. Already, I am wasting away.”

They walk slowly towards the dining halls, and reach them just as the bell for dinner rings. Now that there are more people around them, Lan Xichen feels somewhat self conscious about the way Nie Huaisang holds on to his elbow, but since his fiancé (now complaining about the weather in Gusu) finds no issues with being seen this way, Lan Xichen does his best to act unaffected as well. It does get difficult to keep a straight face when his eyes meet those of his stunned uncle, but thankfully the malaise doesn’t last since at the same time, Nie Huaisang spots his friends.

“Jin-xiong, you went to study with Jiang-xiong as well?” Nie Huaisang exclaims, dropping Lan Xichen’s arm and rushing toward his friends. “Betrayal! Since when can the two of you even be in the same room without having an argument? If I had known, I’d have come as well!”

“And that’s why we didn’t tell you,” Jin Zixuan retorts. “It’s impossible to study when you’re around, and some of us would like to pass, thanks.”

The two start getting into a playful argument until Jiang Cheng, never the most patient person around, gets tired and drags them both to sit down so they can eat. Lan Xichen watches them, and is amused enough that he doesn’t even mind having been abandoned so quickly. He did get to have Nie Huaisang to himself for a long while after all, longer than they’ve ever been together so far, and it is no small feat that they didn’t even have a single argument that whole time.

Lan Xichen takes the victories he can get.

[waka-chan-out]

rules :)

Keep in mind:

This blog is primarily NSFW. Do not read or engage with my smut posts if you’re under 18. I will block you immediately. Please don’t spread my stuff on platforms filled with minors either, like wattpad and tiktok.

I put a lot of effort and revision into my posts, so if you send something in, please be patient.

All characters I write are strictly 18+, either through canonical timeskips or au’s.

Also note that I write primarily dom!reader content. I don’t change that up very often.

What I WILL write:

- All gendered / bodied readers. My default writing pronouns are they/them, but if I switch it up I make sure that’s clear at the beginning. I can and will write AMAB readers though it’s less common. If you want that send in requests!

- BDSM and kink. I consider myself educated in both topics and believe I can handle it well. There are some kinks I will not write, so please check the next category before submitting.

- Multiple people. Honestly there is no maximum. Keep in mind, however, that the more people there are, the longer it’ll take me to write.

- Power dynamics, i.e. age gaps, boss/subordinate, teacher/student, etc. HOWEVER, in these instances I will do it as ethically as possible. I won’t write age gaps with, say, a graduating high school student and a 40 year old man. That’s still icky, even if it’s legal.

- Consensual non-consent. This falls under the kink category, but this is a topic that deserves emphasis. I have an entire post talking about this here. Please give that a read and I am always willing to answer more specific questions :)

What I WON’T write:

- Dark content, such as genuine non-con, incest, etc. (though i technically have no rules against dark content creators or consumers interacting with me, i don’t want it in my inbox)

- Drastic personality changes. I try to stick as firmly to the canonical characters or my personal interpretation of the characters as I can.

- Anything related to pregnancy or kids. Sorry babies I do not want them and it makes me profoundly uncomfortable. (I will write breeding kinks within reason, but I will not relate them to pregnancy.)

- Omegaverse. You do you, bro, I just have no idea how to write it.

- Kinks that I will not write include:

       ~ DDLG

       ~ Daddy kinks

       ~ Pet Play (I will use words like “puppy” as terms of endearment, but those are not related to pet play. They’re just nicknames.)

my favorite characters to write (in no particular order):

aran

tsukishima

ushijima

kita

goshiki

akiteru (specifically w a mommy kink lmao)

aone

characters I won’t write:

if you request suna i will write for aran instead.

asahi and hoshiumi. i’m so sorry guys they’re like the only characters i’m not attracted to so i would have a hard time writing them.

nishinoya. i love the guy but i don’t think i could write him well.

frequently used tags:

#meg’s thoughts - just me rambling

#✌️..tag games🧍🏼‍♂️

#🤙..ask games

#🌼..conversations w meg - talking about a character or show. not explicit or suggestive.

#💌..h word w meg - not a full blown fic or drabble, but me and an anon being horny on main

#🛎..meg’s rb

#meg does a meme - me making memes for my own enjoyment and probably not yours lmao

#⏰..meg’s queue

#🍄..self rb

#emoji..name - mutuals or frequent messages

i also have named anons now!

i do not know how it works but here’s what’s taken:

- 🚾 anon

-💟 anon

- fay :)

- 🖤 anon (formally 🪱 anon)

- 🌸 anon

- 🌴 anon

- 👾..tendou

- 🥨 anon

- 🪴..syd

- 🦈 anon

[stayflaminhotmen]

Katara and her trauma with the fire nation

The reason why some people like me can’t see any romantic between Katara and Zuko with that ATLA put in the show because Katara experienced deep trauma from the fire nation is completely reasonable.

My problem is how Katara experienced trauma first hand from the fire nation and it affected her a lot. If it was the next generation of kids who never experienced a traumatizing war and saw the fire nation in a good light first hand despite the history, then it’s not a problem in general (unless there’s specific problems such as them still experiencing oppression in some sort of way then it’s up for discussion but in a general sense, I don’t see a problem.) This is because the next generation KNOWS about the war and what it caused, that’s not the same as EXPERIENCING it first hand. That’s the problem that people like me are anti-zuatara are saying. Katara experienced it first hand and had personal experience and trauma from it. Her mother getting killed IN HER OWN VILLAGE when they attacked and she was only 8, then Katara first meets Zuko wearing fire nation armor and comes with fire nation soldiers and threatened her village and then the siege of the north where fire nation attacked and Katara saw it first hand. Zuko was there while the fire nation attacked the north pole (which is her sister tribe). Zuko used this opportunity to his advantage to get the Avatar, attacked Katara, called her a little peasant and even knocked her unconscious in the process. She was there and she experienced it. I genuinely believe that is traumatizing no matter how much they down played the trauma for the sake of it being a kids show. They even showed how much it affected her by how she immediately talks about losing her mother to the fire nation whenever anyone brings up the fire nation. The trauma she has of losing her mother is tied to the fire nation. Yes, Zuko helped her get closure about that which is literally so amazing for him to do. But closure doesn’t mean that the trauma isn’t there anymore. It’s something she has to live with for the rest of her life and deserves sufficient time to work through it.

Which is why some people are a little hesitant to ship them. It’s not just because he’s fire nation, but because she experienced TRAUMA from the fire nation specifically multiple times. It’s has more to do with trauma she experienced and it just so happens that the trauma she has is linked to the fire nation which is Zuko is heir to. Not to mention, he contributed to that. I don’t find that racist because it’s addressing the rightful trauma that Katara has. It would be racists if Katara never experience trauma from the fire nation and I wouldn’t want her to be with Zuko just because he’s from the fire nation. That’s why I’m saying the next generation of kids who only know about what happened, isn’t a big problem (again, unless they still experience oppression and are deeply affected, it becomes something that needs to be discussed.)

That’s why people like me would really like for Katara to really deal that trauma first and for Zuko to take action into fixing the political problems within the fire nation. This is actually why I genuinely find the whole Zuko and Katara reconnecting in their old age when Aang has died and Zuko is single actually non problematic in terms of LOK canon. We see how Zuko actively worked on fixing the problems within the fire nation, Katara has seen and helped rebuild her tribe, and the world as a whole is in a new era of peace with each other. No more being scared of the fire nation. On top of that, much time has passed that it’s realistic for Katara to no longer be traumatized of her past. She no longer fears the fire nation or would be hesitant towards having romantic feelings for Zuko because of the changes made. His actions showed it.

Personally, I’m not into it because it’s not my thing but that’s besides the point. The point is that it’s an unproblematic way for things to be post canon for Zutara in the Avatar universe. If it’s like AU, then it’s non problematic either because it’s in a different world where that “never” happened. It’s just the characters personality in fanfic. However, I find it highly uncomfortable when I see things like pictures of Katara and Zuko kissing after she heals him. It just feels like it’s diminishing her rightful trauma. If others don’t find that problematic then that’s on them. I have my reasons which I think are valid as to why I don’t like it and I hope others consider.

Anyways, I’m not saying that Katara and Zuko can’t have a romance together but I’m just saying that for the sake of Katara, I would want her to work towards working through her trauma within the fire nation more. I think that’s completely reasonable. That’s why it’s hard for me to realistically look at Zuko and Katara connecting in the Cross Roads to Destiny and think romantic partners just at looking at those scenes. That’s why, it’s hard for me to realistically look at Katara and Zuko forgiving each other in TSR and think romantic partners! Call me uptight but I just find it hard to believe that Katara’s subconscious wouldn’t think about all that before even consciously considering him as a romantic partner. Or that Zuko would be slightly hesitant because of what his people, the people he’s going to lead did to her people. He listened to her story of how the Southern Raiders attacked and I can only assume that he would think that it’s something she needs more time to work through. Zuko more than anyone knows how people need space and time to work through their trauma. Zuko more than anyone knows that even though he gets closure, that trauma doesn’t go away. That’s why if he truly cared for her, he’d give her the space to heal and make changes in the fire nation. People like me feel like it should be separate from romance because we don’t like to romanticize situations. I guess I like to see things for what they are especially when that’s the situation presents to us in ATLA. 

(Which is why I’m annoyed that the creators thought it was a good idea to use this ship as bait in the video teasers for season three. Like if this was the background of a ship, they really were going to bait the viewers like this, give them hope, not make it happen and then make it such a big deal. I’m just like really. They really just had to do this. I’m just like, how can someone create such a masterpiece tv series and make such a problematic promotion video that’s like what 2 minutes long or less. Like REALLY. smh) 

And I get that Katara helped a village because they needed help, but she didn’t see them as fire nation military. She saw them struggling as well which she empathizes because that’s literally how her village was too. It was also small and the people were scared of fire nation too. That different with how she saw Zuko when they first meet - him threatening his village for the avatar. He knew that he was in a position of power seeing that the village feared him. He didn’t stop to think about the oppression they faced due to his father, grandfather and great grandfather. He didn’t know, but that doesn’t excuse what he did do. That doesn’t excuse diminishing that act as if it was nothing in Katara’s POV. 

My problem is that even they do connect and share chemistry, some people have trouble passing all that hatred and trauma after ONE interaction in the crossroads of destiny when they open up to each other and immediately see romance. Then in the southern raiders, again, I have trouble seeing that with her trying to forgive him after his betrayal, she suddenly feel romantic feelings or that Zuko would. I just feel like it would kinda be a bit odd how Katara would be confused with her feelings for Aang because they’re in the middle of a war when they’ve been best friends, but would suddenly fall for Zuko also in the middle of the war almost immediately despite their shaky foundation and the new found trust they have. Not to mention, seeing anything romantic in him saving her but seeing that he’s really changed from when she last caught Azula the cross roads of destiny. It signifies their friendship at least in my perspective, not exactly anything romantic (there’s potential, I admit) but for what was given to us, it’s just doesn’t make sense to be canon or even see any romance in the near future with all that trauma. 

Like I said, there’s potential for a romantic relationship for Zutara but the show didn’t give some of us enough interactions between them to be 100% on board. Not to mention, if I wanted a good relationship dynamic, I’d pick up a romance specific book and go read it. ATLA is not a romance, it’s a fantasy story which is why I love the series so I’d rather not fantasize over a romance that’s problematic for me. Especially since I’m not a fan of the whole enemies to lover trope. I just believe that a proper redemption arc shouldn’t mean that a guy should then be allowed to get a romance interest they hurt. Especially with Zuko and Katara’s relationship throughout the series. It showed boundaries which is a really good underlying message for young kids. That’s why I really love Zuko’s redemption arc because he got his honor and became fire lord which was done so freaking well. Like what truly mattered in the end for Zuko wasn’t who he ended up with, but that he got his honor back and the title of Fire Lord Zuko. 

Back to the boundaries thing, I wanted to adress that the difference between a friendship and a romantic relationship, at least for me, is that a friendship has more boundaries than a romantic relationship. Because of their shaking foundation of their relationship, I want those boundaries there for Katara and Zuko. I see the potential, but like I said, it’s hard for me to literally see Katara and Zuko as more than friends in those scenes where they’re friends knowing all that in a short amount of time. I’d just very much for more time for them to work on those others things before I see romance. That’s a valid reason and one that I don’t think people should just toss around and be defensive about, and calling people racists or ignorant. It’s not, it’s seeing this specific situation of Katara and Zuko in terms of boundaries.

Basically, wrapping this whole thing up, it’s hard for me and others to look past all the stuff that Katara and Zuko went through and see anything more than a deep friendship and understanding for each other with such little time and in such few episodes. Which is why I feel like them ending off as platonic friends in canon was the right move. It gives them time to work on building an even stronger friendship, Katara working through her trauma, and Zuko actively trying to change the problems within the fire nation. It also opens people in fanfic to explore romance if anyone’s into that. That’s why I personally believe that Zutara as a couple has a place in fanfic, fanart, etc, but it was the right move for them not to make it canon in terms of what they made canon in the tc show. 

Again, this is my personal opinion and people don’t have to agree. People are entitled to their own opinion. However, I feel like people saying that this isn’t a valid excuse are being extremely defensive and not considering thinking about why others feel this way. I also addressed just Zutara because it’s where I see this problem not being considered the most or being downplayed. It’s in Zutara that I see the argument that it should have been canon the most and not in other noncanon (but valid) pairings in ATLA. 

[amintyworld]

All These Years - Sanders Sides TTRPG AU Oneshot

A/N: Hey guys! So… this has been in the making for a while. It’s based on a Sanders Sides Tabletop Roleplaying Game AU (Example: Dungeons and Dragons) by @ask-fantasy-sanders-sides, so if you’re interested you should totally check them out, the amount of detail and work put into it is amazing. A special thanks to Mango, the creator of the AU, for answering my constant messages and questions, thank you so much this fic would not be the same without you! Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this angsty fic! - Minty

Summary: Due to his drow blood, Virgil must watch his friends die as the years go by. Will he find happiness in a world without them?

TW: Major Character Deaths, blood, injury, violence, vomiting. (Tell me if I missed anything else!)

———————————

20 years, 8 months, and 15 days. 

That’s how long he’d been alone. Or at least, physically alone.

After all this time he still couldn’t get the image of Logan laying on that bed out of his brain. It was strange.

After Patton had passed, they got closer. They both had lost a lot over the years, and Virgil didn’t want to lose more. He didn’t want that feeling of his heart being ripped to pieces as his family left.

Logan was the only family he had left.

They both spent their days reading books, watching their family grow and grow. The house was always filled with laughter and mysterious messes of various kinds. The house had gotten so big that he and Logan had to be moved to a small guest house next to it. Virgil loved to sit out on the porch in the rocking chairs Patton had made and look at the toddlers and children play in the treehouse Roman constructed to look like a tiny castle. He counted the seconds as the sun rose and fell, watching children and students alike file inside as he stared into space, always giving him a glance before getting through the door.

Sometimes, he’d find Logan up on the hill with the willow, just looking at the graves. Most of the time, he left things - books, pictures, flowers. Virgil always wondered what was going through his mind, what he might be feeling. Logan was not the emotional type, and Virgil just wanted to help him somehow, someway, as the elf had done for him. He always sat with him, not saying a word, holding Logan’s hand in his to give him some kind of comfort.

“I miss them, Virgil.” Logan’s voice was soft. Virgil looked at the graves and sighed.

“I know, Lo,” Virgil said. “I…do too.”

Both sat in a sort of comfortable silence for a few moments, a cold wind blowing leaves and hair around the sound of it filling Virgil’s ears before it calms down once more.

“Virgil, I…” Logan said, holding his necklace - Patton’s gold wedding band on a plain white string around his neck, yellowed over the years - for a bit of comfort. “I can’t help but wonder about Patton, you know - Janus, Remus, Roman…”

“You know that Roman and Remus wouldn’t take their eyes off us for a second, Teach,” Virgil said, smiling as his eyes began to water, thinking of them. “They’re probably still arguing over who died more heroically.”

Logan and Virgil shared a laugh as they both looked into the sky, almost as if expecting to see them. Virgil continued, his chest clenching uncomfortably. “Janus would come to break those two up before they bit each other’s heads off, and then he’d most likely get beat up in the process.” Virgil smiled, a few tears slipping down his cheeks that he didn’t even realize. “Patton… Patton would just look down at us and smile. He’s proud of you, you know.”

“W-well,” Logan said, his voice pained as his grasp on the ring got tighter. “Please excuse me if I don’t find a reason why.”

“Logan, you… you’ve done so much for me, for the kids-” Virgil said. “You’ve been taking care of them, helping them, writing a book - Me? All I’ve done since Patton died is just sit in a chair and watch!”

“Well, at least you actually grieved!” Logan snapped, tears streaming down his face. “I just threw myself into my work and pretended it didn’t matter. That HE didn’t matter-!”

“Logan, I know as well as you that you don’t think that,” Virgil said, looking at Logan with sincerity. “You loved Patton, and you still do. You love him more than anything. You keep his wedding ring around your heart because you do hurt, Logan. You hurt because he mattered so, so much to you.”

Logan wiped away his tears, Virgil at his side, holding his hand. “It hurts a lot, Virgil. It hurts more than it should sometimes.” Logan choked, tears rolling down his face. 

“I…I know, Logan. I know.”

———————-

“Great Grandpa Virgil!”

Virgil’s eyes snapped open as he turned around to the halfling child - Bright red hair, freckles, and green eyes. Virgil smiled. “Duris.” The child halfling rushed in for a hug, and Virgil smiled, laughing a bit as he awkwardly embraced her. “Whatcha doing here, Dur?” Virgil asked his great-grandchild.

“Getting hugs, obviously,” Duris smirked. “What’s the plan for today?”

“Hm,” Virgil smirked. “What do you want it to be?”

That’s how Virgil ended up playing hide-and-seek in his own house - he closed his eyes and tried to smile as he heard the pitter-patter of feet. Duris was an incredibly sweet and determined girl. She visited Virgil every day she could, and Virgil more than appreciated the company. After all, he was barely visited now that the others were gone. 

Years of staying in this house, of watching the days go by, not speaking much to anyone - no wonder some of the kids avoided him. Either out of fear or just a lack of care. The others were better with the conversation, and with them gone, so went the days the house seemed alive with chatter and laughter.

It was hard to believe so long ago he thought he needed no one. Now, for the first time in his life, Virgil was filled with painful loneliness. All he ever did now between visits with Duris was just staring out the window toward the tree on the hill with the gravestones standing tall. All he could do now is close his eyes and revel in memories of joy and compassion. 

Virgil tried pushing the thoughts out of his head as he opened his eyes, slowly moving out of his chair without a sound, listening for breathing. He crept down the hallways of the house, smiling. Duris always had the best hiding spots, but it never stopped Virgil from finding her. He looked under tables and in cupboards and cabinets, and even at the ceiling.

Nothing. Virgil sniffed as his senses flared, and he grabbed the nearest weapon - a kitchen knife. Something was wrong. Duris wasn’t in the house.

Slowly, silently, he moved quickly around the house, listening intently, and following the faintest sound. He quickly scampered up a tree, huffing a bit from the effort. Suddenly he heard a cry and jumped from tree to tree, following it. He jumped the beast from above, pinning it to the floor and quickly holding the knife to its throat. The small beast, about twice the size of the small child, stared down Virgil intently. Virgil’s gaze fixed on the monster, unmoving. 

The beast growled as low as it could muster. Virgil growled lower, barking at it, shaming it for its actions and telling it to never return. He would’ve killed it right there - good meal. But he didn’t want to scare Duris off, and besides, it was just a baby. He let it go as the beast skidded away quickly in fear. He nodded as the thing disappeared into the darkness, a mission well done. 

He quickly turned to Duris. “Are you alright, Dur? Did it hurt you?” Virgil checked the girl over to find a few deep cuts, but Duris scooted away. 

“V, I’m fine.” She waved off, smiling. “That was amazing, Grandpa!” Virgil quickly scooped the child in his arms and rushed back to the house. “H-huh?”

“Dur, you shouldn’t go near the fence.” He responded, getting back to the guest house and grabbing some medical supplies. He quickly pushed Duris down on a nearby table and set to work patching her up. 

“I was just-”

“You were being stupid. That’s what you were doing, Duridili.” Virgil interrupted, using the full name Duris resented. Duris gave him a look, and she sighed. 

“Fine, I was being - ugh!” Duris grunted as Virgil disinfected the wound. “I was being s-stupid. But, I.. I saw these flowers and I thought you’d…” Her breath hitched again. “Press down on the cloth harder, don’t ya?” She snapped a bit, and Virgil looked up with a glare. 

——————————–

 Roman winced as Virgil disinfected the slashes on his back. “You need to be more careful, you could’ve really hurt yourself!”

Roman chuckled through the stinging pain. “Aw, is my Dark and Stormy Knight worried about me?” Tears pricked Roman’s eyes as the pain increased, the disinfectant pressed against his wounds harder. “UGH-!” Roman’s voice cursed under his breath as another intense pain wave arrived. “Please, add more disinfectant, don’t mind me.” He quipped.

“Hey, I’m not the one who jumped off a cliff.” Virgil snapped back. He dipped the bloodied cloth in the bowl, rinsing it before dabbing the liquid on the blood-red slashes and scrapes. He sighed. “I’m not worried, Roman. You’re just stupid sometimes.” Virgil insisted. “Though it would be helpful if we didn’t have to waste supplies on your stupidity.”

“HEY-!”

——————————-

“Virgil?! Grandpa V!?”

Virgil snapped back to reality quickly. His eyes scanned around, trying to figure out where he was. “Dur…?”

“You spaced out, you were… mumbling again.” Duris quickly clarified. “You mumble a lot, are you okay, Grandpa?”

“Uh… fine. I’m fine, Duris.” Virgil’s eyebrows furrowed, and he tightened the bandage before securing it tightly. “You should go rest for a few days and keep an eye on it for me, alright?” Virgil helped her to the door. “No training.”

“Aw…” Duris sighed. 

“Sorry, that’s the rules.” Virgil smiled, getting level with the girl before whispering. “Apparently if you go train, you may alert the bugs. I heard they take rule-breaking kids.”

Duris smiled mischievously with a front tooth missing, getting into a fighting stance. “No bugs gonna get meh!”

“Good.” Virgil ruffled her red locks. “Now go home.”

Virgil got up, leaning against the doorframe of the house with his arms crossed, smiling as the redheaded girl rushed home in the sunset. 

——————————-

It had started as a cough. The two were reading in the study when a cough interrupted Virgil’s reading and he looked up. “Lo, are you alright?”

Logan gave a reassuring smile to his worried friend. “Virgil, I’m fine. My throat’s just a little dry.”

With that, the two went back to their calm afternoon of reading. A crisp autumn breeze swept through the window, blowing through Virgil’s hair and making him shiver, pulling the blankets around him closer. Logan was re-reading The Murder of Agatha Christie, looking content while sipping his afternoon tea. Virgil skimmed the page of poetry in front of him, relaxing as he heard the poem aloud in his mind.

“ACHOO-!”

Virgil’s eyes quickly looked up to his friend, sneezing into the elbow of his coat. “Your throat’s dry, huh?” He smirked, hiding his anxiety - he worried it could be something serious, though, from the looks of it, it looked to be a mere cold. “Seems like someone’s sick.”

“Virgil, please. It was one sneeze and a cough, I swear to you I am-” Logan barely finished his sentence before he doubled over in a coughing fit, shaking, his book dropped to the floor. Virgil rushed over quickly. 

“We should get you to bed.”

His anxiety and worry grew, a part of him saying that Logan was sicker than he seemed, that he could die and then he’d be all alone-

No. Don’t think about that right now. Help Logan. Logan. Logan is the priority right now.

As soon as Logan was settled into bed, Virgil called for the healer. Logan insisted he was fine but Virgil pushed him back into bed, and he eventually fell asleep with a mountain of blankets on top of him. With nothing to do but wait, Virgil paced outside the door, trying to keep calm and breathe. His hands itched to do something, but he never left Logan’s side.

His hands twitched as he paced, breathing heavily.

——————————

Virgil worked on the skin of his latest hunt, trying to gather more furs for the coming winter season. He needed the gear for a good coat, the warmth of the normal ones wasn’t enough to keep out the chill on his bones. Virgil hummed to himself, closing his eyes for a moment…

Virgil jolted, his eyes wide open as he heard a loud screech, looking around. He saw shadows crossing the windows, running to grab his bow when something tackled him quickly to the ground. Whoever it was covered his mouth tightly, and Virgil began to struggle when a familiar face greeted him. 

That short red hair and dopey grin. Roman. But… but how?! He… he was… he was….

“Quiet, Virge.” Roman said softly, slowly taking his hand off Virgil’s mouth. “That… that thing senses sound and movement. We need to be smart about this.”

He looked around…. There was Remus, Patton, Logan… they were all here except… Janus.

What was going on?!

Remus looked to his brother. “We need to do something fast, Ro. We can’t let that thing get the kids.”

KIDS?!

Logan and Patton held soft and small bundles in their hands. Two of them. Something about this was really strange. This seemed so familiar… what was he forgetting?

“You’re right. We can’t just be sitting ducks.” Roman and Remus’s eyes met, if only for a moment. A non-verbal exchange of words that meant everything. “Are you with me, Brother?”

Remus only smiled. “Till the end of time.”

Roman turned to the rest. “You three should stay in here. You’re dead meat outside. Me and Rem will handle this.”

Logan’s eyes widened. “What?! That’s crazy. If we don’t stand a chance neither can you.”

“We have wings, Lo. We’ll be fine. Just keep the kids safe.”

That’s when everything began to click in Virgil’s mind. Memories. This was when Remus and Roman - No. No no no! Virgil grabbed Roman’s arm as he turned to leave. “Roman, you can’t! Please, we’ll figure out something else, just please don’t go. Both of you, just don’t…” Tears welled in Virgil’s eyes. 

“Virge?” Roman said, looking at his friend. “I promise, me and Remus will be fine. We’ll defeat it and be back before you know it.” Roman squeezed Virgil’s hand as he hugged him closely. “I love you, okay?”

Suddenly, he looked around, startled by the sound of the door, and looked down at his tear soaked pelt. He tried to quickly wipe away his tears, remembering what Logan always told him - he couldn’t change the past, no amount of wishing, praying, or even magic can change what happened. It just… happens, and life goes on. Even so, Virgil couldn’t help holding the hand Roman squeezed to his heart. He didn’t know if Roman could hear him, or if he was even watching him from above, so little could explain what he did next.

“I love you, too.” He whispered as he heard steps down the hall. 

The young girl had grown quickly before Virgil’s eyes, around 12 now, her long red locks chopped off and determined to become a guard and protector for King Thomas’s son, King Lykos. Virgil knew Duris would always protect them.

But, when Virgil turned around, it wasn’t just Duris. A young boy with gray drow-like skin, yet no fangs or yellow eyes. Instead, they were a chocolate brown paired with a messy mop of black hair. “Oh hey Grandpa Virgil, I brought a… friend?” The boy looked to Virgil, and practically froze right there, scampering behind Duris to hide. Duris turned around to face the boy, giving him a comforting smile, reminding him or himself and Patton back in the day. “It’s okay, he’s not gonna hurt you, I promise.”

The kid smiled back and slowly replaced his old spot by Duris’s side. Virgil slowly approached as not to frighten the child, getting on a knee to be more level and giving him a warm smile. “Hey there. I don’t bite, I promise.”

The kid approached, looking at Virgil with slight curiousity. “I’m Skia. I’m… Duris’s friend.”

“Well, any friend of Duris’s is a friend of mine.” Virgil said, slowly getting up. It was a bit jarring how hard it was to do, but he quickly shrugged it off. 

Duris smiled widely. “Grandpa, you gotta finish the story! The one about the beasts!”

“Which ones?” Virgil asks, smirking. 

“You know which ones! The ones with the goo and the teeth!” Duris smiled, pointing a playful accusatory finger at Virgil. At this, Skia looks to Virgil, interested. 

“Displacer Beasts? You encountered one?”

“Not just one, like… a zillion!” Duris said proudly. “During the dark season. My Grandpa Virgil took them all on by himself.”

“Well, not exactly, Dur.” Virgil interjected. “There were only eight, and no one, not even me, can take eight Displacer Beasts on alone.” Virgil moved to sit on his chair as Duris rushed to sit at his feet, tapping the spot next to her as Skia sat down. 

“Then… what happened?” Skia asked curiously.

“Well, like I told you, no one can take eight Displacer Beasts on alone, but I was determined to try. I was hard-headed back in the day, and stubborn as a mule. Despite all this, I was given love even when I had not given them any in return.” Virgil began, before Duris quickly interjected.

“Grandpa Patton, Grandpa Logan, and Grandpa RoRo!” She smiled, and Virgil nodded. 

“That’s right. I cared for them as much as they did for me, possibly even more. So, when we were surrounded by beasts I was ready to make any sacrifice, even myself, to make sure they were safe.”

———————————–

They told him there wasn’t anything they could do for him. He’d gotten a chill, and with his age…there wasn’t much to do but hope he’d fight off the sickness. “The man is 163, Virgil. It’s a miracle he’s survived this long.”

“But there’s gotta be something, some kind of magic, or potion, or…o-or…” Virgil begged, looking toward the bedroom with worry. 

“Virgil, I’m sorry, but-”

“I’ll do anything, please! Take my magic, my blood, my life, anything at all! Just… just let him live…” Virgil’s voice cracked slightly from pain, and emotion welled up in his throat as the healer eyed him with sympathy and concern. She slowly took his hand in her own, rubbing circles into his palm.

“If there’s anything Logan needs right now, it’s you. Just be there. Help take care of him and make sure he stays in bed, and if… if it really is the end, at the very least he had you to hold his hand.” She said calmly, trying her best to comfort him. “I’m so sorry, if I could do something I would…”

The two embraced, pulling away from each other but hands still held together in friendship and comfort. “Make sure he eats, monitor his temperature, and don’t let him out of that bed. If you ever need me you know where to find me, okay?”

Virgil just nodded as she turned, flipping her hood up as she grabbed her bag and left out the door, leaving Virgil alone. It took Virgil a few minutes to sit there, head in his hands, trying to breathe, and trying to wrap his head around everything. Then, he found himself slowly moving toward the bedroom, quietly heading inside. Logan sat on the bed, looking up at Virgil as he entered. Virgil tried to muster a smile to his friend as he sat down next to the bed. “Hey Lo…”

“It’s not good, is it?” Logan said, breaking the awkward silence as he looked to his friend. Virgil could barely look Logan in the eyes as emotion once again welled up in his throat. Should he tell him? Would it be harder or easier to not have him know? Virgil just looked at his lap, hands fidgeting, not knowing what to do, or what to say. Then, Logan’s outstretched hand landed on his knee, and softly squeezed. Virgil slowly met Logan’s eyes - the strands of grey in his white hair, the few wrinkles and age showing just how old he’d become, yet his eyes still held the same shine as they did when they met, full of wisdom and curiosity. 

Tears slowly fell from Virgil’s eyes as Logan’s began to water, looking at his friend with a comforting smile, and soon the two embraced, holding each other tightly as they cried.

————————————

“Elder Virgil, we need a word, if you have a minute?” Virgil looked up from Logan’s quarterstaff in his lap, and nodded, putting it aside and moving outside, grabbing his fur-lined cloak. Snow coated the ground as Virgil walked outside, watching children - the small and the tall, the old and the young - playing in the snow, laughing and smiling. His heart warmed watching them. 

“What seems to be the trouble, Hyfrid?” Virgil asked, turning his attention to the elf in front of him with black eyes and blonde, curly hair that was tied up to the top of his head in a bun. 

“Well, we’ve been having a few attacks near the southeast edge of the fence, a pack of dire wolves moved into the area. We’ve sanctioned off the area for now and sent a hunting party, but they haven’t returned and-”

“And you want me to deal with it?” Virgil questioned. 

“We were hoping you had any ideas on how to deal with them, seeing as you’re as close as a monster expert as we have.”

Virgil leaned on his cane as he stood up, and Hyfrid followed suit. Virgil looked at him. “Well?”

“Well what?”

“Are you going to show me where they are, or am I just going to have to scope it out?” Virgil asked, and Hyfrid looked confused. 

“You’re not seriously thinking about fighting the entire pack yourself?”

“There’s a problem that needs dealing with, so let’s go deal with it, huh?” Virgil said simply, moving and leaning on his cane slightly as he moved, walking southern, checking to make sure his dagger was where it should be, and smiling to find he hadn’t forgotten it. Hyfrid looked dumbfound, running to keep up. 

“As much as we appreciate your help, Elder Virgil, you…you’re not- we can handle this one ourselves, no need to worry-”

“Oh, I’m not worried, Hyfrid. A pack of dire wolves is a lot simpler to deal with than you think.” Virgil said. “Just gotta take down the alpha and we should be good to go. Will make a nice pelt, too.” He saw the wolves from a distance. “Ah, there we are.” He held out his cane to Hyfrid. “Would you hold this, please?”

Hyfrid slowly took the cane. “Elder Virgil, I really don’t think-”

Virgil jumped the fence and slowly approached the wolves, growling, as two others came to join them, one moving in front. Virgil quickly took his dagger and charged, striking it in the head as its claws sank into his arm and he winced slightly as the wolf went limp. The other wolves, at this began to slowly approach and growl, but Virgil simply laid the dead wolf on the ground, got on his hands and knees, and began to growl back, barking before running at them, chasing them away. He then stood up, satisfied, as he went back to get the wolf pelt.

“I told you Hyfrid, take down the Alpha and they’ll run away with their tails between their legs.”

—————————————-

“There’s got to be another way. You can’t leave.” Virgil said as he sat, watching Patton begin to pack. “It’s not safe out there alone, Pat.”

“I can’t just leave Thomas, he needs me. The kingdom’s at war again and he needs help.” Patton said, turning to grab his cloak. 

“Then why don’t we just all go? It’ll be safer.” Virgil asked. 

“Not with kids it won’t be. With the war right now, it’s not safe for them to travel.” Patton explained. “You and Logan need to stay here and make sure they’re safe. Thomas called on us, I’m the one who needs to go. From the letter, he’s not doing so well.”

Logan walked in the room and looked at Patton. “Finally got them all to sleep. They’re all worried about you, dear.”

“I can’t say I don’t agree, Pat.” Virgil said. “Thomas has other people there, you don’t need to go. Just stay, please.”

“I promise I won’t be gone long, okay? Around a week at most.” Patton said, shouldering a bag full of supplies. “Take care of the kids, make sure you get them to bed on time, and I promise I’ll be home soon.” Patton said, turning to leave and facing Logan, who slowly took his hands in his and brought them up to kiss the palms, making Patton smile. 

“I know you can handle yourself out there, but even so I can’t help but worry. Please… please be safe.” Logan said, as Patton brought his hand up to cup Logan’s cheek lovingly. “I don’t know what I’d do if…if…”

“Hey. I’m not going anywhere, Logie. I promise I’ll be back before you know it.” Patton kissed Logan’s cheek lovingly. “I love you.”

“I…I love you too, Patton.”

No one could have known. No one could have predicted it. It was a heavy thunderstorm, lightning cracking against the walls and sending the little ones to shivers. Logan sat, calming the children down as they dove to hide under the blankets, and telling stories. Virgil sat tending the fire and cooking the meal for the night’s dinner, smiling as he listened in on Logan’s story. 

No, they couldn’t have known, but that doesn’t mean the guilt goes away.

Virgil’s ears perked up at the sound of hooves outside as they suddenly came to a stop. Then, a knock at the door. Logan and Virgil share a glance as Logan gets up from his spot and Virgil as few paces behind, standing near Logan’s previous spot. The thunder boomed as the rain hit the roof in its own symphony. Logan opened the door.

“Thomas? What are you doing… where’s Patton?” Logan asked. The King looked saddened, and Virgil’s heart began to whisper ‘Oh no… not again…’ “Where’s Patton?” Logan repeated, and Thomas looked up to him. 

“He…he got ambushed, I sent out my best men looking for him, but… he was just… gone.”

“Gone? What do you mean gone?!” Logan yelled, and Thomas looked saddened again, staring at the floor. “Goddammit, answer me!”

Thomas took Logan’s hand, and slowly dropped something in the palm, closing it. “I’m… I’m so sorry, I…” Thomas seemed at a loss for words before turning around, getting on his horse and leaving. Logan still stood there, with the door open, rain splattering the ground outside, his palm closed tightly, stunned. 

A few of the older children had led the others into the bedroom, promising more stories, knowing that the two needed their privacy, not really knowing what was going on. Virgil slowly moved to put his hand on Logan’s shoulder. “Lo…?” Logan silently closed the door, and moved to sit next to the fire. Virgil’s stomach sank. Something was wrong. “Logan, is he…?”

Logan slowly took Virgil’s hand, and placed a golden wedding band inside it.

————————————————–

Duris had grown up to be a recruit and eventually fighter in King Lykos’s regime. She wrote many letters to Virgil and even visits when she can. Even though Virgil is happy and proud of Duris, he still misses their games of hide-and-seek and the hours telling stories. Skia grew up to be a researcher of different lands, and sends letters when he can to Virgil about his findings and adventures, much more scarce than Duris’s. 

Virgil relies more and more on his cane as the months pass, and soon enough can’t get up the hill anymore to visit the graves, and even just moving around becomes a struggle. Even though the family offers, Virgil insists he doesn’t need anyone to take care of him, and he can take care of himself just fine. The days bore on without Skia or Duris to fill it, Virgil staring out the window, remembering. 

Remembering hot chocolate and tea over jokes and books and smiles. 

Remembering sparring and practice and pride. 

Remembering acceptance and love and joy.

Remembering forgiveness and family. 

Remembering loss and grief and sadness.

Remembering Duris and Skia. 

Remembering Logan, Janus, Patton, Remus, and Roman.

Until one day, he stares out the window and can’t seem to remember anything. He struggles to remember, he has to remember! He couldn’t forget his love for them. He couldn’t have! He moved quickly around the house, looking at pictures and rings and staffs and swords, remembering bits and pieces at a time. He was determined if he couldn’t visit the graves, he was going to remember them. Forgetting them, it was like losing them all over again.

As he reached for a journal of Logan’s, he grabbed the book but lost his footing on the ladder, falling, falling, falling until he crashed into complete darkness. 

————————————-

Virgil read to Logan every day, no matter how boring the book. He made sure he reads all of Logan’s favorites. Logan coughed and sneezed between smiles, always leaning his head against Virgil’s shoulder as they read, eyes closed and peaceful, sometimes fast asleep. 

Virgil always made soup for Logan, smelling hearty and flavorful, which half the time ended up somewhere in a bag or on the floor by the afternoon. Virgil doesn’t mind, and gave him bread to eat instead when Logan’s stomach lurched. 

Despite Virgil’s 24-hour care for him, his condition slowly begins to deteriorate to coughing up mucus, to coughing up blood. His temperature flares, and his just lies in bed, lying in pain and suffering, struggling to sleep most nights. 

The two lay on the bed, hands linked together, staring up at the ceiling, a book they’d been reading laying open on top of Virgil’s stomach. “Virgil?”

“Hm?”

“Can you promise me something?”

“What?”

“When I… die, you need to move on. You can’t… blame yourself for any of this, you couldn’t have done anything, you know?”

“I…I know, Logan.”

“You can’t focus on the past, okay? It can’t be changed, no matter how much you wish it could. Be… be happy. Take care of yourself. Never be afraid of having family, of having friends who love you as much as we did.” Logan said, stopping for a silent moment. “We… don’t forget how much we love you. How much I love you.”

“I won’t, I…I promise.” Virgil said. “I love you so much, okay? And… and if you see the rest of those idiots up there, make sure they know how much I love them.”

“I promise.”

Nothing else was said that night, and Virgil woke up the next morning, quickly realizing Logan had passed in his sleep, his cold hand still wrapped around Virgil’s. Virgil slowly gave Logan’s forehead a parting kiss, and it was all over.

Then, Virgil was left alone.

—————————————–

Virgil was overly aware of his heartbeat as the world came to once again, a healer he couldn’t recognize patting his head with a cloth, staining it red. “Ah, there we are again! Welcome back. You took quite a fall there, scared us all half to death.”

“I fell?”

“Yep, quite a fall if I do say so myself. Cracked a few ribs, I might add. Once I’m done bandaging your head here, I’ll recheck your vitals for any more problems. Just hang in there, alright?”

Virgil’s eyes began to wander to the ceiling, letting his mind drift…

“Virgil? Virgil…?” The voice was familiar, he hadn’t heard it in years. He wanted to reach out and-

“Hey! Hey. Sir, I need you to stay awake, alright? Just stay with me, please.”

Virgil felt so tired, but tried his best to keep his eyes open…

“Virgil?! Oh I’ve missed you so-”

“Sir, SIR! Please don’t fall asleep on me.” The healer seemed anxious, but Virgil was far from anxious, he was tired, so tired… His heartbeat thumped louder and louder in his ears. 

“Virgil, I’ve waited so long to give you a hug again! You have no idea how much I’ve missed you!”

He felt colder and colder, the spot on his head growing warmer and warmer until it was boiling, and he felt someone press hard against the pain, making it worsen. He was in so much pain, he just wanted to sleep…

“Virgil, I love you.”

“I love-” “-you.”

[motivatedtale-blog]

About Motivatedtale

.:Contents:.

.:Author’s Note:.

.:Summary/Idea:.

.:Characters:.

Motive

Unmotivated

.:Stray Facts and Resources:.

FAQ

Rules

.:Inspiration:.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

.:Author’s Note:.

   Hey, so I've noticed this a long time ago but I’m just now confronting it since I got my computer fixed- it seems pretty impossible to reach the “About Motivatedtale” on mobile, even with the literal LINK to the page (I could only sort of access it through some loopholes in a browser- and the link just took me to my Tumblr instead), so I wanted to compile the information that’s in there into a post for any mobile users who may follow this blog. I’ve got more followers here than my art blog-- so even if there’s not much interaction each post, I think there’s at least a few people who might not have access to an about page here. Changes are very likely to be made and things will be added occasionally :)

.:Summary/Idea:.

 “Have you ever wondered what happens to creations when a creator gives up?”

 Motivatedtale is essentially an abandoned AU with no finished story or a plot. Which, ironically, not having a story is the story itself. It’s a tale about how the lack of motivation (along with other things like self doubt and lack of interest) in a Creator leaves a story unfinished, and with no reason to exist, no story, the AU is crumbling into nothingness, as it is being forgotten by the only one who knows about its existence- the Creator. However, there’s two characters in it that have to deal with that burden of having no ending or reasons to exist. And they’re completely aware of what’s going on.

 At least, the first one that was created is aware, because they were made to be that way. They inform the only other character (Frisk/Motive) about all of this when they meet. They’re a Sans of course (which is sort of a self aware joke because a lot of people either start with the Sans of an AU when creating characters, subtly revolve around a Sans of an AU in a story, or the entire story literally and shamelessly revolves around a Sans. This is not an attack on anyone). This Sans goes by Unmotivated, and is quite bitter about existing.  These characters have no finished story, no destiny, and no purpose. Being self aware of this can be a great burden on hope and happiness; ignorance is bliss, after all.

 What the AU would’ve been if it was “completed” is unsure.

 How the story ends is not fully decided or meant to be disclosed (for now), but even if this AU is finished or not, it is already technically complete. It symbolizes a project that is given up on; a project that is abandoned, and what would happen if the characters in these types of projects were conscious about this- if our ideas existed somewhere out there, somewhere where our decisions, intentional and unintentional, have a serious affect.

 So, if this AU is abandoned, it’ll be quite ironic.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

.:Characters:.

Motive

    Motive is the Frisk of this AU, and one of only two characters that are in this AU. Motive was created after Unmotivated, but the coloring of their design was given up on towards the very end. Their sweater is unfinished because the creator gave up on them due to being overwhelmed with empty and destructive thoughts, but the outline/shape is still there. The sleeve usually is never shaded/effected by light.

  Motive is an optimist, and believes that their AU will one day be finished. They have the soul of motivation, which is outwardly visible and tied to the loose hanging strap of their overalls. They don’t have preferences in pronouns (though they/them is usually the default), and calling them by any pronoun is fine (she/he/they/it..it really doesn’t matter, honestly).  

  Motive acts impulsively a lot of times and does not think of the consequences of their actions…or, they do, but they choose to move forward with their actions anyways. Since optimism is one of their key traits and it’s exaggerated and simplified in their character and logic, it can result in some bad outcomes. The same goes for their impulsitivity. They’re not that serious natured, and act more like a child than a young adult (despite being 18). However, they do make a lot of (sometimes unnerving) jokes that could be considered uncomfortable, but they mean no harm. While Motive is quite intelligent and empathetic, they’re distracted quite easily and might say or do inappropriate things during certain situations.

  Since Motive is technically a new character and was not fully developed by their Creator (backstory, powers, etc), their underdevelopment as a character is actually a big part of their development as a character. 

(More is to be added later)

Unmotivated

 The Sans of the AU, and the first ever character created (which again is poking fun of the idea that people usually start with the Sans of the AU for characters). Unmotivated is bitter and cynical towards his existence and his Creator, and is completely aware of the multiverse and AU Creators. A big fourth wall breaker. He’s apathetic, bored and often paints himself as emotionless and uncaring to hide any hurt/feelings of helplessness. He bottled them away a long time ago.  At first, Unmotivated was hopeful about his AU, but he was alone for an unspecified but long amount of time in his AU, and was driven to toxicity and bitterness during that time. He’s seen his universe grow, halt, and then slowly deteriorate- he has seen new ideas come and go, and is helpless to stop the rampant decay of his universe- his home- his story. He’s overall a pretty lonely character. 

When or why he got the nickname “Unmotivated” is unclear- but it’s definitely supposed to be a pun. He hates the name but finds it funny and ironic at the same time. 

  Unmotivated’s soul is held by a string that is woven into his rain coat. He considers this to be poor design choice but doesn’t really do anything to fix it. He often keeps his soul in his pocket for safe keeping.  (More is to be added later)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

.:Stray Facts:.

• The AU resets (sort of like an update) each time a new idea is added. This is how Unmotivated is generally aware of Motive when they’re created. • The “Creator” resembles anyone who has abandoned or given up on their projects or ideas. This isn’t meant to put people that do this in a negative light.

•The white of Motive’s sleeve isn’t meant to be shaded since it’s “incomplete.”

FAQ (most are from amino since not many people ask here)

- What was the AU supposed to originally be before it was abandoned?

 This is undecided and left up for interpretation. However, based off of the design of the current characters, it can be safely assumed that the AU was supposed to be more lighthearted and cutesy. There are random bits and ideas spread throughout the AU that give glimpses to what it could’ve been.

- Can I draw fanart of these characters?

 Of course! I’d be honored to receive fanart and would love to see it! Just please keep things appropriate if you do.

- Is Ink Sans or Core Frisk going to be in the comic?

No.

 I’ve gotten asked this several times, and the answer is no. Doing this would completely ruin the theme and point I’m trying to get across with this comic. This story revolves around a Creator and their Creations, and there will be no other characters made by other people.

- Are Motive and Unmotivated shipped together?

NO.

 It’s fine as a joke but please realize they aren’t. This isn’t an AU centered around romance and would distract from the goal of the comic if I had that. While I’m not anti-frans in any sense, I still don’t want it in my comic.

- How often do you plan on updating the comic?

  Each page is published whenever I finish it nowadays due to stress of a schedule. I post them in bulks of 2-3 on amino and twitter, and whenever I finish the page on deviantart, instagram and here.

- Is the Creator a character?

 Yes, and no. The Creator represents not only myself, but any artist that has struggles putting their creations out there due to insecurities or other causes. They’re more symbolic and fluent rather than a structured and identified character. Of course though, if there is any introduction of the Creator, I would have to give them some sort of design- and I do have general ideas of what they’d look like. However, they’re still supposed to represent a broader group of people than just myself.

- What does Unmotivated think about other AUs/Sanses?

 Unmotivated has an apathetic mindset when it comes to AUs and other characters like him. He’s incredibly self aware and sees a much bigger picture. He knows characters are just pawns to their creator, and won’t get fazed by any story. Sort of like watching actors in a movie while constantly reminding yourself that they’re just actors. However, he is quite envious of anyone with a complete and happy storyline, since that’s something he lacks but yearns the most. That’s something he wish he had.

 Keep in mind Unmotivated and Motive cannot interact or travel outside of their AU, and no one can interact with their AU except the editor/creator.

Rules

• Please do not publicly RP with these characters unless given permission. This might be changed after more of the comic is complete, but I do not want these character’s personalities to be strewn.

•  Please do not draw or write NSFW with my characters– I am a minor, and a large part of my audience are also minors.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

.:Inspiration:.

  Alright, this part is going to be a lot less formal and more personal. The idea for this AU came from my own self doubt and self destructive attitude as a creator. Doubting my own works and ideas has seriously held me back for a long time, and it STILL holds me back as I’m sure it has for many, MANY other creators like me. Musicians, artists, writers.. Almost all of us have that fear of trying out a new idea or making something you usually wouldn’t. Almost all of us have felt that crushing self doubt when you see someone better than you, and you tell yourself you’ll never be like them, your art will never be that great, you’ll never get that far…so on, so on.

  So, while I was trying to come up with an idea for an AU (which I had actually been considering for well over a year), the thoughts crept in.

“no one will like this”

“there’s enough AU’s”

“you’re unoriginal”

“this is a waste of time”

“the fandom is dying”

“you have horrible character designs”

“AU’s are overrated”

“this doesn’t fit your audience”

“people will judge you”

“you never finish anything”

“this is stupid”

“your art isn’t good enough”

“you’re not good enough”

“someone probably already came up with this idea”

“no one cares about your idea”

“no one would bother with your art”

  And ironically, all these thoughts gave me this idea.

  Even so, these thoughts have still been nagging me every time I even try to work on this, and it’s been taking a lot of courage to take on the heap of anxiety I have over something so harmless. I didn’t join the Undertale fandom for over a year simply because I was afraid of being judged for my interests,, fun fact. Never thought I’d be able to make an AU. I’m still quite nervous posting art of anything that isn’t Mario related for some reason.

  Putting all this to side though, I find the concept of what happens to unfinished and/or abandoned stories and projects interesting, especially if there’s an alternate reality that’s actually effected by your decisions. Kinda like you’re a god. I mean, imagine what it would be like if you had a creator and they just gave up on you, and you’re left with no purpose. Seems like it would suck, haha.

  So that’s basically my AU, Motivatedtale. If you have any thoughts or questions, I’d love to hear them. Thanks for reading if you did!

[marlahey]

@rochey1010​ going back and forth in long-winded replies seems like unnecessary effort for both of us so I hope you don’t mind another text post as I fully articulate my thoughts. as I’ve said before, you’re obviously entitled to your own opinions, but you’ve now seemed to make a lot of assumptions about me a fan/viewer/general consumer of media that I feel like I should clear up. you’ve also made some further claims about the show I’d like to pick up for discussion. If you want to speak further please feel free to respond but of course don’t feel obligated. This’ll be the last public post/reply I make and we can go back to ignoring each other in the tags!

Well i love Eliott/Lola's friendship and i have an upcoming post on that as i said in other posts. I love lola too but i'm sorry i didn't just start watching this show because lola was invented and there's a w/w love story. I've been here for seasons and carried over from OG. I have investment in eliott for personal reasons (mental health) and elu because duh. Their stories have been long running too as i said. And you don't have to be a main to set up a plot/arc. The things between them have been set up since S3 with minute par minute talk, S4 and Idriss, S5 and the cheating perspective, and now S6 and Lola friendship. That is intentional. Do you think it's a coincidence that Lucas talked about pansexuality and eliott having more choice in S5 and suddenly Eliott has a friendship with a girl. That lucas abandonment issues haven't been resolved and are now coming to the forefront because of this friendship? That max has stated that Eliott feels he can save someone from a darkness he himself went through, that eliott himself was sorta saved from the shadows by Lucas. That neils/david specifically stated that this character can help someone even though he has bipolar disorder. That with Eliott's arc there is a focus on his SKAM. That we now have new info about it serving the season. If you understand writing. These things aren't put there for fun. They are there to imply/hint/foreshadow events actions to come. That there is a character now on the show with Lola basically female eliott. Do you think these are all coincidences. This plot we are seeing has slowly been set up not just since S3 but actually heavily developed starting in S5. And that if you now go back and watch S5 you see our main players being set up for this plot e.g  dasille relationship, daphne's ED, Eliott and his individuality, Elu trust/insecurity issues, Eliott's art and it tying into seasonal themes, Lola herself and her outlier persona etc. I don't know whether you are but there are many fans have migrated over from espana just for this season. But you have to understand there is a long term fanbase here that love Eliott, are invested in him and have been waiting for more of his insight. We are now getting that and we will talk about him. He's a hugely popular character as is Lucas and their love. I love both and i will talk about both. Sometimes i won't talk much About lola and talk more about eliott, sometimes i'll connect them and discuss their relationship, sometimes i'll make a post about just about lola, daphne, tiff, benny, movie references as i have. But this is my blog and i'll post what i want to post. You don't have to read any of this stuff. The tag is a big place, just scroll by. As for the theories- just theories. And in my theories i believe these characters are going to make mistakes, fail and grow e.g. lola self Destructing again but being her own hero by the end, eliott and lola being dragged down like lucas said but showing the strength of their friendship by the end, lucas being proven right but also proven wrong by the end. Like i said specific dialogue now being used is not just there to fill the script e.g. "and i have lucas. I can't lose this" "i think one of you may bring the other down" and eliott is heading for a rock bottom as is lola. Again just my thoughts. 👍

While I find it odd that you seem to be gatekeeping the skam france fan community, to be clear I have seen the entirety of three iterations: og, france, and austin. I believe I started OG during s2 or 3, and have seen Fr and Aus from the beginning. I’m not as interested in other versions as I’m very familiar with the plots/characters by now. I’m partial to france as a bilingual canadian as it’s nice to exercise that part of my brain; I’ve also studied/lived there briefly and have some very close friends from france so that amplifies my enjoyment. I’m also bisexual, so I also find this ‘only here for lola + w/w’ when you yourself admit to being emotionally invested in the show’s most dominant queer ship dichotomy very awkward.  to be honest, I think many skam’s fandoms tend to fixate on the esak ship and their season. friends have seen other iterations and confirmed this for me. it happened with elu as expected so I was really unsurprised when maya was introduced and fandom immediately put a lot of their investment into shipping two characters of the same gender. nearly every fandom in general does this: teen wolf, glee, supernatural to name a few – even harry potter. I’m not really a fan of the romantic subplot in lola’s season. she is not elliot 2.0 for so many reasons; she’s her own person and she doesn’t need a romantic partner to be a compelling character with a compelling story. that being said, I liked elu’s season. I particularly love maxence’s elliot; he’s my favourite even. I was thrilled to see him onscreen however briefly after S3 every time he appeared. now he’s finally his own person outside of his relationship with lucas and I couldn’t be more pleased to see that.  I’m not sure how idriss and elliot reconnecting after the attempted kiss falling out plays into lucas’ insecurity or their relationship. it’s perhaps a reminder of his bipolar disorder or the fact that he clearly had friends/relationships before lucas, but I’m not sure how it’s relevant to the season at hand. the biphobia discussion with arthur preceeding lola’s introduction as the new main is not proof that lucas’ supposed abandonment issues are founded in any way, or that he even still has them when we meet her. by insisting on it, you’re perpetuating the harmful idea that any bi or pan person will be tempted to cheat or leave (physically or emotionally) when presented with literally any person whose gender opposes their current partner. this is something that skam fr had literally left unaddressed for so long even with representation in alexia and elliot, and I was so thrilled when it finally came up. it’s very uncomfortable that you’re now using that important conversation as apparent proof that lucas will be abandoned or betrayed, inadvertently or not, by his pansexual boyfriend. I know that daphné was meant to be s6′s main and skam fr wasn’t given the rights by og’s creator. so it makes sense that she/her relationship/struggles feature heavily in her sister’s season. I’m personally thrilled cause I love her and lula is a wonderful actress. that being said, not everything is foreshadowing. not every single interaction or conversation will return to further plot or character. sometimes storylines are just resolved or dropped and awareness raised is just awareness raised. sometimes it’s wonderful and sometimes less so. I understand writing. I’m saying this as a literal former english teacher (ignoring capitalization for aesthetic lol) and assistant in film/tv post-production with an MA in media studies. “Lucas, you have nothing to worry about, it’s not like that between us.” “I know, he explained it to me.”  I’m not sure how much clearer the literal show can be about this issue. spoiler or not, it’s been made abundantly clear that lola and elliot are not romantically involved. even more importantly and I’ve said this on my blog before, you’re allowed to have intimacy with someone without forcing it into a defined familial or romantic relationship. it doesn’t mean that someone’s partner should necessarily feel threatened or abandoned and says a lot more about that person’s insecurity than either individual in the friendship. we’ve also already discussed how much I dislike this turn for lucas’ character as elliot’s apparent MH saviour so it’s not worth repeating again. as for elliot saving lola, well he literally did that already. I’m not sure what you mean by lucas ‘being proven right and proven wrong’ by the end, but you’re obviously adamant that something will happen. I have also seen maxence’s interview a few times. I’ll not argue with the ‘lucas saved elliot from that shadow’ because it literally came from the actor’s mouth, but maxence doesn’t say he can save anyone else from their struggles, but help them and I think that’s a really important distinction. this whole saving idea doesn’t seem healthy at all, especially as lola and elliot grapple with their mental health. it seems like people want to see a ‘rock bottom’ (whatever that means) for them both and it makes me a little uncomfortable. addiction and MH struggles should not have to reach a breaking point in order to be considered resolved or cathartic; they don’t even have to be resolved, because they’re not a plot device. they’re a reality for so many people. the show does a good job of not romanticizing them but some of the things I see in the tag are just... yikes.  as for his ‘dark’ side and the less than happy elu moments, I’d argue that maxence may have meant literally punching out what’s his face to save lola and the subsequent argument(s) with lucas, since that interview came out just before ep 4. but there’s still several eps to go so I could be totally wrong. who knows. it’s your right to theorize on your own blog of course and it’s not my intention to be mean. I’m just trying to further the discourse in a respectful way. I do feel that you may put a little too much stock in what’s literally said/seen and assuming a lot in the unseen gaps, rather than considering a broader context. to wrap up though, lucas is free to have this (however hurtful) fear, just as you’re free to believe it’ll for sure come to pass.  I dread seeing either lola or elliot spiral out, but as 2020 has taught me, I very rarely get what I want lol. thank you @cakepleasee for helping me sort out my thoughts!