#the mystery of hollow's end au

[slythepuffle]

Clips of things I plan to write for AUs and other things, because they're just taking up space in my brain otherwise lol. TW for Implied Character Deaths, Implied Violence, Possibly Harsh Language and Words

Badump. 

Badump. 

Ba.

He pressed his ear harder against his friend's chest, listening for something, anything. It can't just have. Stopped. It wouldn't have.

"Please please please... get up..." he whispered, hands clenching. He could hear the others standing around him, but only focused on listening for the sound of a heart beating. The sound that meant that he was alive.

(The Mystery of Hollow’s End AU)

~~~~

Michelle paced around the room, hugging herself as she waited. God, she hated this place. It was so cold. But she would grit her teeth and bear through it. She had to.

The door finally creaked open, and she turned to see who was there. She swallowed, eyes wide as she looked at her son. “Dexter…?”

“Hi mom…” he said, smiling awkwardly in an orange jumpsuit. He tried to open his arms, but thought better of it, hearing the chains clink against one another. “Uhh… I’d give you a hug. But, doesn’t seem like I’m able to right now, heh…”

(Waiting One-Shot)

~~~~

The devil heard a snort-laugh echo from somewhere in the freezer, snarling as the exterminator’s mocking voice followed suit. “Here’s a fun fact for you, Bobby boy. Did you know that, if you lay even a finger on those kids, I’d fucking kill you where you stood?” 

Bob snarled, lips curling up into a grin. “Oh yeah? And what are you gonna do against me, rat boy? Didn’t seem to have much on me back at that house. Now you're in my home base. Not much in yer favor going on…”

Dexter hummed from his hiding place, breathing out a cloud of cold air. He glanced down at his hand, and silver reflected in the eyes of his mask. “Well… guess we’ll just have to see, won’t we?”

(Tender Treats One-Shot)

~~~~

There was rustling in the bushes, and Kevin tensed, holding an arm out in front of the children behind him. Susie held tightly onto Skid, who was frozen in place, staring into the bushes with wide eyes.

“Who’s there?!” the teen yelled, trying to ignore how high-pitched his voice was. The bushes rustled again, before a foot stepped out. Followed by an arm. Followed by a head, topped with short, thick brown curls. The trio all stopped, eyes widening as a little boy walked through, his clothes worn and ragged. There was a blank look in his eyes, his expression devoid of life, but there was no doubt about it.

“Will?!”/“Pump?!”

(The Mystery of Hollow’s End AU)

~~~~

“But it’s my fault!” the little boy sobbed. Everyone looked at him, shocked by the outburst. “If I hadn’t run away, he wouldn’t have destroyed everything trying to find me! No one would have gotten hurt!” 

“That’s not true!” Pump yelled back, surprising everyone even more. Kevin backed him up, firm in his words. “Exactly! None of this is your fault! He would have done it regardless! He’s an insane megalomaniac!”

(Everything Lost AU)

~~~~

There was a loud boom from the outside. Shaking the whole ship. The two pulled back, rushing out onto the deck.

“Captain!” Dexter shouted, turning around to face Lila as she gripped the steering wheel. “What’s going on?”

“We’re under attack!” she shouted back. She was turning the wheel, trying to dodge the incoming cannonballs, whistling through the air. Magnus looked in the direction they came from, and his eyes widened.

“It’s the Royal Navy!” Streber bellowed from up in the nest, gripping the rims tightly. Lila grunted, jerking the wheel just as the cannonballs crashed, narrowly missing the ship by centimeters. They splashed into the water, the resulting waves lurching the ship and causing the captain to fall.

Jaune whooped, jumping into the air with a laugh. “Ha! They missed!”

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, glad that it seemed to be over. Unfortunately, that was short-lived, as Streber suddenly screamed, “HIT THE DECK!”

(Spooks of the Seven Seas AU)

~~~~

“You’re horrible!” Skid screamed up at the figure, fists clenched tightly. The figure did not move or say anything as the young boy continued to rage at them, the clouds around them swirling dangerously. “You’ve done nothing but put us all in danger! Everything you’ve done has caused nothing but pain!”

The clouds around them swirled faster, nipping at his clothes and skin, whipping his hair around, but he didn’t care. He was too volatile, too angry to care. “You didn’t care about what your actions did! You didn’t care that you hurt them! You didn’t care that you’d hurt me! Was I just your scapegoat, to take the fall for you after you were gone?!”

His voice rose in volume, cutting through the clouds as he screamed, “I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!”

(The Stars & Skid AU)

~~~~

There was heavy footsteps coming out of the alleyway, and the Hatzgang flinched, whirling around. “We need to go!” Ross hissed, but Roy refused. He was tired of running away and being scared shitless by shadows. He glared into the alleyway, as if willing whatever was in there was going to come charging out, ignoring the way Ross and Robert kept trying to tug him away.

The footsteps continued, growing louder and louder, shaking the ground practically (or maybe that was just Ross and Robert shaking him), until the figure finally stepped out.

It wasn’t the strange man from earlier. It was that weirdo skeleton kid, standing there under the light. Smiling innocently at the group. Looking at him closely, Roy thought he could see… was that blood…?

(The Cryptid of Hallows AU)

~~~~

“Oh! Kids, I got something for you,” Dexter said, grabbing the two’s attention. He dug through his pockets, grinning at their curiosity and the many questions that they threw his way, but shushed them. “Patience, patience. My pockets are kinda messy. Ah! Here they are.”

He took them out of his pocket, holding them behind his back as Skid and Pump tried to get a peek at them. His grin grew wider, before he brought his hand out and presented his present to them. “Tada! I saw you guys were interested in my keychain, so I got you guys one of your own!”

It was two keychains, similar to the one he had. For Pump, the iris was painted purple, while for Skid, the iris was painted orange. Skid and Pump took them, eyes wide. He laughed at their excited and awed expressions. “Well, do you guys like–?”

He was cut off when the two suddenly rushed him, arms wrapping around his stomach.

“Thank you so much, Uncle Dex!” Pump yelled, grinning. Skid nodded in agreement, hugging him tightly. “These are so spooky! We love them!”

Dexter stared at them, eyes wide. Then, he grinned, hugging them back just as tightly. Happiness swelled in his chest as he held them close, laughing. “Glad you like them, kiddos.”

(Tender Treats One-Shot)

[slys-spooky-sideblog]

“Guess I’m playing the hero then…”

~~~~

The protagonist of “The Mystery of Hollow’s End”, Kevin! Also known as Ghost in costume. More of the cowboy theme, which started as a joke and then became a design I actually liked. Especially the painted mask he has. I am willing to take suggestions to make him more ‘ghostly’ though.

He’s a tired pessimist who just wants to make it through the summer only to be thrown headfirst into adventure. He really doesn’t want to, but the readers already agreed, so away he goes lol! His personality is subject to change as the story goes on, based on the choices that the readers make and the events that are to happen.

[slythepuffle]

I should work on these AUs again...

Spooky Month AU Ask Game

(because i’ve never seen one before!)

1. If it still exists, how does the cult work in your AU? Who is the leader?

2. Who’s your favorite character in this AU?

4. If it still exists, how does the Eyes Of The Universe work in your AU?

5. What was your inspiration for this AU?

6. How would canon Skid and Pump react to their AU versions?

7. What character have you changed the most?

8. What characters haven’t died in your AU? How did they survive?

9. What characters have died in your AU that didn’t die in canon? How did they die?

10. Has anyone changed professions in your AU?

11. Has the Candy Club changed at all? And if the Candy Club no longer exists, what is serving it’s role?

12. Who has suffered the most in your AU?

13. Who’s the happiest character in your AU?

14. Do you have a least favorite character in your AU (as in, what character’s actions do you dislike the most)?

15. Has the setting changed? Where is this new setting?

16. Would you accept OC’s for your AU?

17. Would you accept fanfiction of your AU?

18. Would you accept ships for your AU?

19. Are there canon ships in your AU (that aren’t canon to regular Spooky Month)?

20. Favorite art piece (made by you or someone else) of the AU?

21. Have you ever written anything for the AU?

22. If your AU was it’s own show, do you think it’d a happy or sad ending?

23. What character do you think you need to develop more in your AU?

24. Least favorite character in your AU lore-wise (like, do you think any specific character’s lore is weak? Do you dislike anyone’s story?)?

@luzxii @mayisgoingnuts @momentokori @jacenotjason <- you guys have aus,? i unno..lmk if you don’t wanna be tagged . sorry😓

[pinktrapped]

The little sheriff and their comrade Quirrel from Hallowest AU nom nom. Hallowest AU with @alecz-obssesionz .

[hollowknightinsanity]

headcanon time

sometimes the shades in the abyss just kinda. latch onto ghosts like suckerfish

[carewyncromwell]

original background picture // edited with help from Lunapic // main musical accompaniment while working on this

x~x~x~x

“Carewyn!” She turned around, her ginger hair flourishing behind her as if in slow motion. A man had just leapt off the back of a carriage he’d been hanging off of without the driver’s knowledge and was now running toward her. Carewyn squinted, taking in his unfamiliar dark ponytail and sailor’s clothes – then, within seconds, she recognized the handsomely smiling, bearded face and his shining, galaxy-like eyes. “Orion?” she breathed. Her heart seemed to seize up, as if it were being squeezed in someone’s hand and yet being given wings at the exact same time. Then she threw herself into a run, and it slammed against her rib cage, as she ran to him, flat-out ignoring how her knees kept getting caught in her hoops and her heeled shoes pinched her feet. “Orion – ORION!” She just about tripped into his arms. Orion caught her and swooped down on her, burying his face in her hair. “Carewyn…” he murmured against her neck. “Orion,” said Carewyn. Her voice was strained with the effort of trying to contain her joy. It felt like she was being stretched at the seams and probably could’ve exploded from all the intense emotions beating at the edges of her heart.

~POTC AU, Act II, Part XII: Reunited

x~x~x~x

D'aww...don't we all love happy endings? 🥹 I absolutely loved doing this "take two" on my POTC babies' final looks --

-- though I set this moment a bit earlier than the original sketch, since I wanted to experiment more with angles and I felt more confident in depicting a more full embrace. (It's times like this where I really am happy I spent so much time during the pandemic actively practicing my art -- however painfully conscious as I am that I'm still a complete amateur when it comes to art and however much I'll probably always pick apart everything I've ever created and will create, I can't help but feel proud, seeing how far I've come. I mean, that original sketch is from December 23, 2020! That's really just over four years!!) And it also has been so fun revisiting this AU that I had so much fun putting together with so many other creators and will probably always have a soft spot for, both considering how big the project got and how much it tapped into my utter adoration for both the Pirates of the Caribbean films and the historical Golden Age of Piracy overall.

Love you all! Hope you have a magical day...and keep a weather eye on the horizon 💚

[slythepuffle]

Sorry if they’re late or hard to see-

But here are MHE!Roy and EL!Roy

I don’t have pictures of my AU!Roys but I’m about to make some lol

[revelboo]

IDW RID king Star will go in the ‘Lost Light’ category on the Masterlist. I treat that as a separate AU so I can use the same characters as IDW/G1 with new stories. Title is Overdone by Ludo and it makes me think of Starscream. Starts off melancholy with the vocals becoming more desperate as it goes until at the end, they seem almost pleading as the music becomes discordant and anxious

🫢 Oh, no. Maybe try emailing the company about replacement pieces?

Overdone

IDW RID Starscream x Reader

• Everywhere he looks, enemies hiding behind smiling faces. Wings wracked with faint barely there tremors as he leaves the delegates and their calculating, predatory stares behind and strides out to the balcony overlooking his city. His people. And his own smile doesn’t waver when he hears Rattrap jogging up with a stack of datapads for him to review. Lately he spends more time dealing with petty squabbles and reports than actually sitting on his throne. Something his advisors assure him is to be expected.

• It’s what he always wanted. So why does he feel more hollow and alone now than ever before? Because they’re all plotting just like you. Hoping to usurp you. Refuses to turn his head. To acknowledge that voice, because he knows no one is there. Rattrap is almost to him, venting noisily when he turns, sees the much smaller mech and pitches himself backwards over the edge. No railing to stop his fall as he plummets hearing Rattrap yell. Little fool. He can fly. But he keeps his wings pinned close as the ground rushes to welcome him and something clips him. A barely there brush as his head turns and sees the small shape falling with him.

• A tiny, impossible human, hair streaming and body limp. Rolling in the air, he reaches out his servos expecting them to pass through, not to find a solid form. Not a new ghost then. Cupping his hands around you, his wings flare and he levels out, hearing startled shouts as he soars by. Much lower than he’d thought he was in his distraction. Lower than he’d ever dared when he’s taken this same dive so many times before, part of him not wanting to pull up. To just be done with all of it. To be finally free though he always pulls up.

• Climbing higher, he uses a servo to examine you before his head lifts to the stars and haze over Cybertron. You’d been falling with him, but from where? Can feel your heart beating, the rise and fall of your chest. So very small and helpless in his servos, but it was your kind that helped sway the war for the Autobots. Deceptively fragile, yet so dangerous. Really, he should release you. Let you shatter below, but the mystery of you pulls at him even though he knows it’s just a distraction from all of his problems. So many hands reaching for him, wanting so much.

• Feels you shift against his servos as he hangs there against the backdrop of the city glittering below. Eyes opening, those lights reflecting in them so you stare at him with starry eyes deeper than the night sky above. Sees those eyes slide to his servos, the jewel of his city, then to his face. And then you finally scream.

• Hurting and muddled, you struggle against the giant monster holding you. Realizing how very high up you are as you scream and grab onto those servos. Clinging for dear life as the robot tips his head, red optics staring at you from an expressionless face as he vents to stir your hair. “Are you a spy, then?” He asks, low voice raspy as a servo tips your chin up and you wrap your arms around it in terror. “Where did you come from, little lost bird?”

Next

[sunderwight]

TSCTIR-inspired SVSSS AU.

Shen Yuan was just a regular (ehhh kind of) nerd when the invasions began, monsters and dungeons started showing up, and people started "awakening" as RPG-style superheroes with special abilities, enhanced strength/speed/etc, and ranked classifications.

Shen Yuan's older brother awakens as S-classes. His younger sister awakens as an S-class. Shen Yuan?

F-class.

Of course, chronically ill Shen Yuan told himself he wasn't really expecting any different. But there have been people who have awakened as higher classes despite their own lifelong health problems or disabilities, and in many cases awakening cured them, and so he'd hoped...

Well. It doesn't matter what he'd hoped.

The worst part isn't even that he's not some badass dungeon-delver himself (even though he is wildly curious about all the strange monsters and beasts and demons that have been turning up), the worst part is that his siblings have all but left him in the dust. They aren't just busy, he can tell that they've increasingly been avoiding him, until virtually the only time they speak to him is when they catch him trying to go into a dungeon again and then yell at him about it.

(Of course, his siblings have been increasingly aware of the danger SY is in whenever he's in proximity to them, but no one ever accused the Shen family of having strong communication skills...)

Nonetheless, if there is some possible way for Shen Yuan to increase his rank, he won't find it staying at home. And there are too many mysteries to investigate to just keep himself out of it, even if that would be more sensible. So, Shen Yuan arranges to be on various low-level dungeon teams. Often among the more questionable, misguided ones being attempted by the newly-awakened or by people who are just desperate to try and get some kind of windfall. Dungeons are dangerous, but a lucky item drop can still make someone more money in a minute than they could otherwise earn in a year. It's through these jobs that Shen Yuan meets fellow F-class Shang Qinghua, whose motives for entering the dungeons are definitely more financial than academic.

This is also how Shen Yuan ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time, in a dungeon that has suddenly gone from low-level to a high-level boss, fleeing for his life. Just when it seems like he's about to become mincemeat, his older brother (Shen Jiu) shows up and takes on the dungeon boss. But it's too much for a lone S-class, even one as determined and vicious as SJ, and Shen Yuan can only watch in horror as his brother is killed by the terrifyingly powerful and weirdly beautiful Heavenly Demon Boss.

But the reason SY survived the initial assault, when no one else did, is thanks to his hidden ability. Which temporarily grants him the powers of anyone he has a bond with who has just died, x2. Previously, he had his bacon saved by Shang Qinghua's traumatic death, and when Shen Jiu dies, SY gains enough power to actually take down this mysterious Heavenly Demon boss.

It's a hollow victory. His brother is dead. His friend is dead. Even the boss monster seems inexplicably tragic to him somehow.

And why did SJ show up anyway? Between his siblings, Shen Yuan thought that his brother had grown the most distant from him, that he even hated him now! Why couldn't he have just... stayed away...?

Despite the traumatic horror of these events, killing the boss monster grants Shen Yuan a boon. It isn't a "raise people from the dead" boon, but it does permit time travel! In fact it seems kind of emphatic on that point, like something has gone really horribly wrong with reality and the world is struggling to hold itself together now somehow. Though that could also just be because Shen Yuan's world is struggling to hold itself together...?

Regardless, this new entity called "the system" refuses to let Shen Yuan go back to a point in time before he awakened, or before the dungeons appeared. But he can go back to a point before his brother died, which is definitely good enough. Accept, accept! Who has time to read the terms & conditions? Whatever it is he'll deal with it! Just send him as far back in time as he can go!

As such, Shen Yuan's memories are sent back five years in time. Along with him go a bunch of weird new unlocked abilities, and the system menu, which demands he fulfill certain tasks and complete certain quests as a stipulation of the time travel boon. Succeed, and he gets more rewards to help him keep himself and his loved ones alive. Fail, and he'll be rebooted back to the bad ending, except to the moment before the Heavenly Demon boss died but without any of his power boosts.

So maybe Shen Yuan should have read the fine print.

Though, even if he had, he still would have made the same choice.

Back five years in the past, he's got some thinking to do. Five years is a decent chunk of time. His siblings have both awoken, and begun distancing themselves from him, but their positions are still pretty different. Shen Jiu and his childhood friend Yue Qi had a falling-out over something (they wouldn't say what) at this point in time. Shen Jiu signed on with the Qiu Collective, one of the initial rich adventuring guilds that hired people to go into dungeons. But the Qiu Collective was corrupt even by the standards of a lot of dungeon-oriented corporations, and though Shen Yuan was never made privy to the details, he knew they mistreated Shen Jiu badly and that there were a lot of investigations. The collective ultimately went under when their office was destroyed by a rogue rampaging monster, after an undiscovered dungeon opened nearby. Dungeons that open but aren't found are especially dangerous, as the threat levels will steadily increase without anyone to clear them out, until the result is a dungeon break -- monsters escaping the dungeon and emerging in the normal world, causing havoc and Godzilla-style rampages.

According to the official reports, that was what caused the destruction of the Qiu Collective's head office and the death of their CEO.

Yue Qi, on the other hand, joined the Cang Qiong guild, which had fared a little better over the five year span. Yue Qi eventually even took over the guild, and after the Qiu Collective went under, Shen Jiu made up with him enough to join him there. Shen Yuan had hoped they would reconcile and maybe even answer some of his calls, but things remained strained between all of them even afterwards.

Shen Ying, his little sister, was sheltered and trained by their older brother until she was old enough to join Cang Qiong as well, but despite being S-rank, her youth and inexperience kept her more on the sidelines. Shen Yuan had thought they might bond over being kept out of the loop, but his last conversation with his sister had made it clear that as far as she was concerned, he was still world's away from her level.

(Read: Shen Ying told him he should keep away from dangerous things, was clumsy about it, and unwittingly fed some of Shen Yuan's worst insecurities.)

On top of that, though, was another consideration:

Luo Binghe.

Among the guilds that could rival Cang Qiong five years hence, the biggest one was Demon Path. Luo Binghe would start out as a member of Cang Qiong guild, recruited shortly after awakening. Shen Yuan had thought he was pretty cool, actually, but there was some bad blood between Luo Binghe and Shen Jiu, and it got bad enough that when Luo Binghe made his solo break he got Shen Jiu embroiled in some kind of legal investigation (something about the wrongful death of another guild member) on his way out. Demon Realm and Cang Qiong remained thoroughly at odds afterwards, and things only got worse when Demon Realm surpassed Cang Qiong's count of S-rank members, and conducted a successful merger with Huan Hua guild. That is, until Luo Binghe just mysteriously vanished altogether from the public eye.

Though Luo Binghe of course wasn't the dungeon boss that actually killed Shen Jiu, he had certainly been trying to destroy him before Shen Yuan reset the timeline.

But going five years back in time... Luo Binghe had been a prodigy, the youngest to become a guild leader. Five years hence, he'd be around twenty years old.

Which means that right now, thanks to the rewind, he is fourteen or fifteen years old and hasn't even awakened yet.

It would be possible to take him out of the equation altogether.

Then, there's Liu Qingge. An S-rank who died in a dungeon under suspicious circumstances, which provided the crux of the investigation into Shen Jiu. He and Shen Jiu had also never gotten along, although once again no one had confided the details to him. Shen Yuan refused to believe that his brother had actually murdered Liu Qingge, though. If Shen Jiu was going to murder someone he'd be a lot less obvious about it.

But it would probably be better if Liu Qingge didn't die at all.

Lastly, there's the matter of Shang Qinghua.

According to Shen Yuan's mental math, Shang Qinghua won't have awoken his abilities yet either. Five years into the future, extensive research and several regrettable moves on the part of various governments and guilds would reveal that even though it was supposedly impossible to increase someone's rank after awakening, how a person awoke their abilities could have a great deal of impact on their rank.

Shang Qinghua was a textbook example of a bad awakening. His skills were mostly oriented towards stealth and item drop bonuses, but his awakening had been violent, prompted by a shady center that promised people an avenue to adventure and riches only to use mortal terror to trigger the awakening process. Being in extreme danger would work fine for those with combat skills, but wasn't so good for everyone else. A lot of people had their awakening stunted by such early methods, which were not only a bad way to go about it but also traumatic to boot.

Shen Yuan has a suspicion that someone like Shang Qinghua would actually be incredibly valuable for stealth missions and item farming, if only he'd awoken at full potential. Instead, he'd struggled to make anything of his abilities due to his lack of durability or access to the kind of high-level items that would compensate for it.

Gathering all this foresight, Shen Yuan sets about altering the future to protect his siblings.

Step one: find Luo Binghe.

Shen Yuan's initial thought was to just kind of, nudge Luo Binghe towards something different from Cang Qiong altogether. Maybe if he started out with Huan Hua guild, he could contain all his trouble there. But when he finds him, Binghe is in a bad situation. The kid's living in foster care with abusive caretakers, his adoptive mother has recently died, and he's waiting tables and picking up trash instead of going to school. His clothes are threadbare, he's too skinny, and he looks like he's been beaten.

Between a rocky introduction and an attack from a Moon Python Rhinoceros thanks to a nearby dungeon break, Shen Yuan manages to convince Luo Binghe to hire him as his agent (fee = 0% of all Binghe's dungeon earnings plus 0% from contracts), and determinedly takes over. The System seems to wildly approve of it.

Creepy. And suspicious.

But Binghe is actually a total sweetheart, as it happens, to the point where Shen Yuan can't imagine what inspired the enmity between him and Shen Jiu. This kid truly is a diamond in the rough. He just needed a little help and some actual guidance, that's all!

With Binghe on the road to a less antagonistic fate, the next most chronologically urgent item on the list is Shang Qinghua. Shen Yuan has a new ability that lets him awaken people to their full potential, and his chosen guinea pig is his own formerly deceased bro. Somehow, awakening Shang Qinghua's abilities ends up involving a near-miss with rescuing him from debt collectors, and running into (and rescuing) the S-class Mobei Jun, who had joined Demon Realm as Luo Binghe's subordinate back in the original timeline.

It's actually quite fortuitous, though, because Shang Qinghua's treasure-hunter and stealth abilities are best suited to him being accompanied by a high-ranking hunter who can pick up the physical slack. Shen Yuan had been thinking that at least awakening Shang Qinghua as a D-rank would make him durable enough to handle some dungeons without turning to sketchy organizations for back-up, but with Mobei Jun, the ice prince can ferry the man right to the most valuable loot!

Shen Yuan's on a roll!

He discovers that some of his new abilities have utility as beast-taming skills, and tackles several dungeons successfully with the help of Luo Binghe, Shang Qinghua, and Mobei Jun. They even manage to rescue A-class Sha Hualing from a sticky situation, and Shen Yuan learns that his abilities can, in fact, help other awakened level up their own rank (previously believed impossible). With enough of his influence, Sha Hualing could become S-rank one day.

But of course, it can't be too easy.

When Shen Yuan moves to intervene with the dungeon break that wiped out the Qiu Collective, and seemed to start all the controversies against his brother, he instead finds that there is no dungeon at all. Yet, clearly some kind of attack on the building is underway.

He finds out why when he comes across his brother in a fugue state, murdering his way through his own guild.

Turns out, most S-ranks creep people out. Most average people can barely tolerate being around them even before they awaken. But afterwards? Their oppressive auras and sheer strength tend to trigger everyone's flight-or-fight reflex. Shen Yuan never noticed, because he's grown up surrounded by S-ranks his whole life. Even upon watching Shen Jiu kill the Qiu members, Shen Yuan's chief source of upset is that they were apparently treating his brother so badly that they inspired a murder spree from someone ordinarily much more calculating and clever than that.

Apparently, Shen Yuan should have been taking the opportunity to move against them a lot sooner, rather than just mitigating the whole supposed dungeon-break disaster and then investigating after. His own fault. He thought that keeping his distance would help his siblings, but clearly, letting them hoard their secrets and do whatever they think is best isn't the way to go either.

Does he even know what's really happening with his sister? Or to Yue Qi over at Cang Qiong? At this point in time, his friend had stopped contacting him altogether for several months in a row. When he came back, he was definitely more subdued and even more distant than he had been before. And that's the same guild that Shen Jiu and Shen Ying will eventually join as well, presumably with its own skeletons packed into the closet.

Shen Yuan's going to have to adjust a lot of his plans, it seems.

But first -- he's got a murder spree to help cover up, and an older brother to take home and, uh. Calm down. Or something?

Damn. Maybe Shen Jiu did kill Liu Qingge on purpose. He's going to have to thoroughly figure that situation out too, if he wants to handle it right...

[majickth]

Hermit's Hollow AU designs for Gem and Impulse!

Grian + Pearl Scar + Cub

---

This is part of the Hermit's Hollow AU; click here to learn more!

---

[ The following is a transcript of notes taken from the online journal of GRIAN ████. Certain text has been removed per request, but the remaining remains otherwise unaltered. ]

Pearl’s roommates are…earnest, to put it mildly.

Gem works at the local park. Knows the place like the back of her hand, or so I’ve been told. The first time we met, she offered to take me on a hike, which I had to politely refuse since I’m not exactly the hiking type. Gem always seems to have a story to tell, though I’m not sure how inclined I am to believe her given the involvement of some ‘mysterious creature’ in a lot of them.

Impulse, I know the least about. He’s friendly, certainly, and I can’t help but trust his easy-going demeanor, but I know so little about him. I think he works some sort of archival job because he seems to know a great deal about the town, but when I asked how long he’s lived at the Hollow, he just got this odd look on his face.

Despite their idiosyncrasies, they make for nice company. I still don’t know where I stand in this town. I still feel like an outsider, unsure of my place where people already seem to know eachother. But with Gem and Impulse, somehow I feel like I somewhat belong somewhere.

[ END OF TRANSCRIPT. ]

[peachsukii]

✿ fluff // ✩ comfort // ✶ angst // ♡ nsfw

— 𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢-𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫.

✿✶ hollow heart ⇢  pro-hero!bakugo x pro-hero!reader (33k)

The dynamic duo of Dynamight and Deku are unstoppable, climbing the hero charts like they always dreamed of as kids. Reports have noted people going missing, specifically with rare quirks, and with plenty of other heroes being unavailable, you’re chosen to tag along with the duo for the night operation. Everything is going according to plan until the villain lands a surprise attack, resulting in the your kidnapping and whisking you away through a mysterious portal. It’s been a month since your disappearance with no help of the hero agency. Bakugo and Midoriya take it into their own hands and are determined to get you back - no matter how long or what it takes.

✿✶♡  ink & rhythm ⇢  music au: drummer!bakugo x artist!reader (2.4k)

Distortion is the hottest band in town, making waves in the underground scene with their unique sound. Led by your college best friend and music prodigy, Kyoka Jiro, alongside her misfit group of friends, they’ve been playing shows every weekend for the last few months and have gathered a decent following. You’re whisked into the whirlwind of their rockstar lives when Jiro commissions you to design a band logo for their merch, reconnecting with her and meeting the members of the band. Your eyes immediately gravitate to their powerful drummer, Katsuki Bakugo. Fresh out of a nasty three year on/off relationship, he’s not looking for anything or anyone while shutting out the world around him. He’s focused on the one thing that keeps him sane; music. You’re six months free of a breakup as well, looking to repaint your world with new colors and experiences, but turns out it’s more tumultuous than anticipated. Explosive fights, newfound fame, clashing egos, dive bars, stolen kisses, black out dreams, messy exes and hard lessons; but somehow, love finds a way to bloom like a flower in the desert - deep in the hottest, driest wasteland of two broken hearts.

✿✩ 50 first dates ⇢  movie au: marine vet!bakugo x art teacher!reader // 0.k

Katsuki is a dedicated marine veterinarian at Wavecrest Haven, rehabilitating native animals and living out his island life dreams to the fullest. The catch? He only dates tourists to avoid any serious commitments, easily able to bounce from one fling to the other without repercussion. That all changes when he’s forced to wait for a tow truck at a local café after his jeep breaks down, running into a beautiful art teacher sitting alone. He admires her from afar, assuming she’s local and not breaking his “No Locals” rule, only finding himself breaking that rule moments later. He asks to join her and they form an instant connection, agreeing to meet up the following morning for a breakfast date. There’s just one problem - she doesn’t remember anything about Katsuki the following day, insisting they’ve never met before.

✶♡ the knife in you brings out the life in me ⇢  movie au: college bakugo x reader (3.2k)

[ act one | two | three ] College life has been a breeze and you've got everything you've ever wanted — a hot boyfriend, decent grades and a circle of friends you wouldn't trade for the world. That perfect daydream is shattered when a student ends up murdered in their apartment off campus, and somehow, it all leads back to you.

— 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐬.

✩ operation: shut down ⇢  senior year of UA (2.6k) Bakugo experiences his first ever “failure” on a supervised patrol during his senior year internship and you’re there to comfort him.

✿ accidental damage ⇢  pro-hero support!reader (2.8k) You’re looking forward to movie day with Bakugo when he gets called on patrol, so you go out shopping instead only to get caught in the middle of a villain attack.

♡ sticky heat ⇢  senior year of UA (3.1k) You & Bakugo are studying for senior year exams when you gets frustrated - he has the perfect solution.

♡  behind closed doors ⇢  bakugo x fem!reader x deku (2.0k) You come home to a surprise one night of Deku and Bakugo making out in your bed!

✿♡ unexpected treasure ⇢  pro-hero!bakugo x ex pro-hero!reader (2.9k) When Bakugo gets caught up in the office after his patrol, you decide to send him some spicy semi-nudes in your hero suit with one sentence - “bringing you a surprise, stay in your office.”

♡ insatiable ⇢  pro-hero!bakugo x pro-hero!reader (3.7k) Bakugo’s been away for an entire month on a mission and comes home early as a surprise, but little did he know just how much you missed him.

♡ cruel compulsions ⇢  senior year of UA (2.4k) As a new transfer from a neighboring hero academy to UA, class 3A welcomes you with open arms. You fit in with the class seamlessly, with the exception of one person - Katsuki Bakugo. He doesn’t give you the time of day, ignoring you any chance he gets since he views you as an “outsider.” At least, that’s what he projects and not how he truly feels.

✿ unbreakable bonds ⇢ no quirks au (3.0k) A collective of family bonding and little moments between you and Katsuki.

♡ on the rocks ⇢ pro-hero!bakugo (2.6k) Your week couldn’t get any worse. Between a screw up at work and getting dumped out of the blue, you needed to desperately let off some steam. Thank goodness the girls were more than happy to take you out for the night in the city and spoil you with a good time. Everything’s fine until you receive a text that spirals into an unpredicted hookup.

✿✩ this pain wouldn't be forever more. ⇢ support tech!reader (5.7k) It's your final year of UA High, an achievement that should be celebrated and joyous, but you couldn't believe just how much has changed in such a short amount of time. One thing you never thought you'd have to deal with is the potential of losing your best friend and being powerless to stop it.

♡✿ drunk on something stronger than the drinks in the bar ⇢ college AU (2.2k) It was one time…until it wasn’t. You and Bakugo were both single, what’s the harm in sleeping with your best friend?

♡ last updated: 10/25/24

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『 © peachsukii & zanarkandskylines on archive of our own — please do not steal, plagiarize, modify, translate or repost any of my content. Do not use my content for AI purposes. ♡ 』

[slythepuffle]

The Mystery Of Hollow's End, Chapter One: Arrival

AO3 Link (Check Tags for possible triggers, although nothing happens much in the first chapter)

Every year, from the beginning of August to the end of October, six people go missing in the town of Hollow’s End.

No one knows how or why they go missing. 

They could be found anywhere. Playing in the park with their friends. Walking in a crowd with their family. Holding their parents’ hand while waiting in line at the grocery store. Taking notes while studying in class. Sleeping peacefully in bed, surrounded by the safe walls of their home. One moment, talking, laughing, excited, and lively.

The next moment, they would be gone. Vanished without a trace, leaving an empty spot where they had once stood.

From what people saw, the kidnappers didn’t seem to have a preference. They took anyone, regardless of gender, ethnicity, or class. There was one requirement they seemed to hold – Youth.

The people they stole were never younger than an infant or older than someone a year before adulthood. So long as they hadn’t yet turned eighteen, they weren’t safe from the dangers of the town.

When adults noticed, they tried to protect their loved ones. They would set up curfews, watch the young ones closely, pull their children from school, and generally keep them from going outside. The children had complained, but the adults ignored it – They knew best after all, especially when it came to the safety of their kids.

But this didn’t help. In fact, it almost seemed to make it worse. Somehow, the children would be stolen straight from their homes, with nothing left behind. The child’s room would be destroyed, memories ruined by cruel and uncaring hands. But there was no evidence of anyone entering and leaving the room, besides the children or their parents.

Eventually, people gave up. There was nothing they could do to stop the kidnappers or the kidnappings. They had tried, but that had only made things worse for them and brought on more agony for themselves.

Soon, the town returned to an unstable, uneasy normal. People lived their lives, turning a blind eye to the disappearances that occurred year after year. Police would make an effort, would try to investigate, but would always end up with nothing. The ones who lost loved ones were left to grieve, while those who hadn’t only worried for their safety the next year.

The town had lost all hope. No one was willing to do something against the repeated pattern, too afraid to protect those under their care. Nothing would change.

Not until that one day.

The day when one of the lost ones came back.

~~~~

The bus slowed to a stop, just outside of the town.

“We have now arrived at Hollow’s Eve!” the driver announced, once they reached the bus stop. The few people on the bus didn’t move, engrossed in their business. “I repeat, we have now arrived at Hollow’s Eve!”

One person, a dark-skinned teen wearing a black hoodie and jeans, stood up, sighing as he slung a large duffle bag over his shoulder. He trudged up to the front of the bus, feet dragging against the metal as he took a step off of the bus–

A man stands in the darkness, smiling down at him in the shadows. “Hello, Kevin. Your destiny lies ahead – All you need to do is step forward and accept it.”

“The children are waiting for you.”

–His foot almost missed the ground, as he tripped, stumbling off the steps. Pink dusted his cheeks as he quickly regained his footing, practically running from the bus as he went to stand by the stop sign. He ignored the laughter he heard from the bus as it drove off, shoulders hunched as he waited.

…What was that? Kevin thought to himself, adjusting the strap of his bag. He could have sworn that he heard some lady’s voice talking to him just now, saying something about ‘destiny’ and how people were ‘waiting for him’. He shook his head, banishing it from his mind. He’s probably just tired from the drive…

A loud honk filled the air, causing him to jump. He whipped his head toward the noise, a scowl crossing his face as a police car pulled up in front of him. The window rolled down, revealing his uncle’s laughing face as the man turned to look at him. “Uncle Jack, you’re an asshole.”

He ignored the “Hey! Language,” his uncle told him as he opened the door and sat in the passenger seat. His duffle bag sat in his lap, squished between him and the car's dashboard, as he glared at his uncle.

Jack soon stopped laughing, smiling apologetically. “Sorry, kiddo. Didn’t mean to scare you. How was your trip?”

The teen shrugged, leaning against the window and looking out of it. “Was fine. Slept through most of it.”

“Oh,” his uncle said awkwardly, shifting the car into gear and starting the drive into town. “Well… this is your first time in Hollow’s Eve, right?”

He nodded silently, not feeling up to talking. He began looking out the window as he began to tune his uncle out, eyes darting. Different sights passed by – A shopping mall, a movie theater, a hospital, and people almost everywhere, walking around and doing everyday normal things. A completely normal, boring, everyday town, just like home. 

God, this summer was going to suck.

“–you can ask your cousin to show you around!”

He blinked, catching the last part of what his uncle said. He turned, brows creased in confusion. “Wait, what?”

His uncle looked a bit disappointed that he wasn’t listening but repeated what he said. “Well, I was saying that, since I’m still on the clock, I was just going to drop you off at home. And if you wanted, you could ask your cousin to show you around.”

He blinked owlishly again. “Since when did you have a kid?”

“First off, ouch. Second…” Jack trailed off a bit, turning to face the road. His expression was harder to read from that angle, but he looked… sad. It was only for a moment, before turning to questioning. “… It’s a long story. But he’s been with me for a while. Didn’t your parents tell you?”

“Uhh…” He thought back to his conversation with his parents, but recalled that he wasn’t paying attention to what they were telling him then. He had other things on his mind at the time. “Might have missed it. But, back to the cousin part. What’s his name?”

Jack sighed, which stung a little, but gave him a smile. “Well, his name’s Simon. He’s only eight, but–” He quickly added, seeing the interested expression on his nephew’s face drop. “–He’s mature for his age! And, well… he kinda needs a friend now.”

“What, too lazy to get any friends himself?” Kevin muttered, going back to the window.

His uncle winced. “No. That’s, uh, not the case. See, he had a friend. A really close friend. But…”

His voice took on a softer, sadder tone. “He went missing last year.”

Kevin continued to look out the window, his slowly frowning expression reflected back at him. He sighed, letting his head thump against the glass. “…I’ll try to talk to him. No promises we’ll get along though.”

Jack smiled. “Thanks, kid.”

They began driving out of downtown and towards the more residential area of town. The teen looked around but wasn’t really paying attention, his thoughts running amok. He slowly turned to his uncle. “You said his friend went missing, right?”

He saw the man’s hands tighten slightly around the wheel, but he nodded. “… Yeah. Why do you ask?”

“Does it,” he began slowly, watching his uncle’s reaction, “happen to relate to the case that you got moved to?”

A tense silence suddenly filled the car, the heavy atmosphere causing Kevin to shrink. He saw his uncle’s expression, blank yet intense at the same time, his knuckles white. He can’t remember the last time he saw that expression on his face, not since the man had been forced to move here years ago.

All of a sudden, he slammed on the brakes, causing a loud screech to fill the air as the car jerked to a stop. Kevin yelped, his seatbelt digging into his shoulder as his body was thrown forward.

“UNCLEJACKWHATTHEFU–!”

“OH WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT! WE’RE HOME!” Jack shouted over him, a forced smile on his face. He unlocked the car, gently but forcefully pushing Kevin through the door. The teen could feel a key being shoved into his hand. “I’ll be back late because of work, so feel free to settle in and raid the fridge. Make sure Simon eats too!”

“I–”

Jack drove off before he had a chance to answer, leaving him on the sidewalk with his duffle bag at his feet. Kevin watched him go, frowning as the car disappeared around a corner, before sighing. “Damnit…”

He turned, looking up at the house he was dropped in front of. It seemed like a standard suburban house – Two stories, a closed garage, neatly trimmed lawn, and yellowish-white in color. There was no car in the driveway, instead a tricycle painted a deep purple with white, bone-shaped accents.

Must be Simon’s, Kevin mused, walking up to the door and looking down at the key in his hand. Small and brass in color, which entered the key hole easily. He twisted it, opened the door, and stepped inside the house, looking around. 

Normal inside too it seemed, if not a bit messy. His eyes scanned around, lingering on things that definitely needed to be fixed up. Since his uncle was letting him stay here, might as well return the favor and do some chores. Some toys and books were scattered around, lying on the table and the carpeted floor. Dishes filled the sink – Ew, what was that brown stuff – but didn’t seem too hard to manage. Trash was full too, luckily not overflowing.

He glanced over into the living room. More toys lying on the ground, and the TV was left on, playing some sort of cartoon. The loud, blaring jingle made him cringe and he tried to find the remote, peering over the couch.

He blinked, staring down at a sleeping kid. Oh, so that’s his cousin.

The kid looked a lot younger than he was expecting, face round and cherub-like. His hair, dark purple in color, was short and cut into a bob. He was wearing a black shirt and shorts, crossbones emblazoned across his chest. Despite resting, there seemed to be heavy bags under the kid’s eyes, like he hadn’t been sleeping for a while.

“…”

He should probably let the kid rest. He backed up, about to head back into the kitchen, when a loud SQUEAK filled the air. He froze, looking down at his foot – A rubber duck. He had accidentally stepped on a rubber duck.

He heard a groan, and saw the head of purple pop up from the couch. The little boy looked around, rubbing the sleep away from his eyes as he asked, “…Dad? Are you home?”

Kevin stood still, watching as the kid’s head slowly turned until their eyes met. He blinked. The kid blinked. He slowly raised his hand. “Uh, hi–?”

“STRANGER DANGER!” the kid shrieked, throwing the remote. It smacked him straight in the face and he fell, cursing as he clutched his nose. The plastic clattered to the floor as the kid scrambled away, still yelling. 

“Fucking– Wait!” he yelled, still clutching his face. Ow, that kid got him good–

It did at least stop the kid, who was hiding behind the dining table. His eyes were narrowed in suspicion, holding something in his hand – Another toy. “Who are you?! Why are you in my house?!”

“I’m– Kevin. My name’s Kevin,” he hissed out, quickly shielding himself in case the kid decided to throw anything else. It didn’t seem like he would, as he slowly lowered the toy. “Kevin? Like dad’s sister’s son Kevin?”

The teen grunted, nodding as he got to his feet. The kid dropped the toy, giving him an apologetic look. “Sorry. I forgot you were coming today.”

Kevin opened his mouth, about to snap at him, but stopped. Seeing Simon’s sorrowful expression made whatever anger he had fizzle out, replaced with exhaustion. He rubbed his face, then dropped his hand, slouching. “It’s– whatever. It’s fine.”

Simon shuffled where he was standing, nervous and awkward. He blinked at his cousin, uncertain, before scurrying away, ducking around him to get into the kitchen. Kevin watched him go, sighing as he decided to head to the guest room. He promised his uncle he’d talk to the kid, and he did. Now he could just be by himself.

He tossed his duffle onto the floor as soon as he entered the guest room, collapsing on the bed soon after. He stared up at the ceiling, tired and bored. His face was hurting still, most likely to leave a bruise, and it was only the first day here. He was expecting this to happen much later in his ‘vacation’, and from someone a lot bigger than Simon.

The door suddenly creaked open, and he glanced over, seeing said kid poke his head through the opening. He saw Kevin looking at him and shrunk away, hiding his face.

“…You can come in. I don’t bite,” Kevin said, which Simon blinked at. Slowly, the kid pushed open the door, entering the room slowly. He was holding a blue square in his hand, offering it to the teen. 

“Sorry again about your face,” he apologized shyly. Kevin grimaced, taking the square from him – An ice pack, judging by how cold it was. He placed it on his face, wincing at the initial biting cold. “Like I said. It’s fine. And, thanks.”

Simon nodded, fiddling with his shirt as he glanced around the room. Kevin watched him, raising an eyebrow at the kid’s nervous fidgeting. “Did you need something from me?”

Simon shook his head. “No… It’s, um, just that dad asked me to show you around town. But, uh, d–do you want to? We can just stay here instead, if you want.”

The kid looked so nervous – It was kinda sad, honestly. He didn’t really want to go, completely honest, but– Well, if anyone asked, it was just because he felt bad for the kid. That was the only reason why he agreed, and no, he did not smile when he saw the kid’s face light up with delight at his answer.

Guess it was time for some sight-seeing then.

~~~~

“–And this is the Candy Club!” Simon exclaimed happily, leading Kevin around by the hand. The teen let him, glancing around at the sights that the kid was pointing out.

Seems like cotton candy hell, he thought to himself at the sight of the Candy Club, a candy store. He wouldn’t be caught dead working there – Too much annoyance for too little money. Simon continued to lead him around, continuing to talk even though Kevin had long stopped listening.

They walked around town, passing by the hospital now, when someone behind them suddenly yelled, “Skid!”

Simon stopped, forcing Kevin to stop too, and turned around. His eyes widened as a trio of younger teens ran up to them, each of them wearing hats. The kid immediately hid behind Kevin’s leg, covering his face as he mumbled a hello.

“Uh…” Kevin looked over the trio – Two boys, one girl, all wearing baseball hats colored either blue or pink respectively. One of the boys was a tall blond boy with a mole under his right eye, while the other was short, with curly, reddish-brown hair and eyes that looked like they were lined with eyeliner. The girl was a brunette, her long hair poking out of the back of the hat in a ponytail as she glared at the kid hiding behind his leg. “…Friends of yours, kid?”

“Kinda…” Simon mumbled, still hiding. The girl crossed her arms, looking rather cross. “Skid, we told you to tell us if you were going to walk around town! And who is this?”

She cast a glare at Kevin too, which annoyed him – What the hell did he do? Simon – Skid, as she called him – pouted. “But I’m fine! And this is my cousin! He’s staying with us for the summer. His name is Kevin.”

The tall boy peered up at Kevin, who stared back with a bored expression. The short boy only scowled. “So? The guy looks like a walking stick, he ain’t gonna protect you from shit.”

“Language Roy,” the other two scolded together, to which Roy grunted at. “Whatever…”

Simon pressed closer against Kevin, almost pushing him over. “I don’t need your protection.”

The tall boy opened his mouth, about to say something, but was interupted by a phone ringing. He took it out of his pocket, checking the caller ID and wincing. “Susie, can you deal with this? Roy and I have to get back before Rad decides to start looking for us.”

She nodded. “Yeah, of course. Go ahead.”

He smiled gratefully, before dragging a protesting Roy off in the direction they came from. When they turned the corner, she turned back to face Simon and Kevin, frowning. 

Kevin let out an annoyed sigh. This was definitely not something he imagined having to deal with when they left the house. Looking down at the frowning girl, he opened his mouth to say something before she, rather rudely, interrupted. “Are you really his cousin? I’ve never seen you around here before.”

He snapped his mouth shut, frowning. She was one of those types it seemed. He answered her, tone rather bored and somewhat snappy, “Yeah, I am. His dad is my uncle. And this is the first time I’ve been in town, which is probably why I’ve never seen you before, either.”

Her cheeks pinkened, growing as Simon snickered slightly too. She opened her mouth, probably about to say something in response, when a sudden noise stopped her.

There was rustling in the bushes, just behind them, and Kevin tensed. Almost on instinct, though he’s sure he’d never done this before, he twisted, shoving Simon behind him towards Susie. The girl held onto him tightly, as the boy froze in place, all three of them staring at the bushes with wide eyes.

“Who’s there?!” Kevin yelled, ignoring how his voice cracked a bit. There wasn’t an answer, as the bushes rustled again.

Then, a foot stepped out.

Followed by an arm.

Followed by a head, topped with short, thick brown curls.

The three of them stared, wide-eyed, as a little boy walked through, his clothes worn and ragged. He looked to be around Simon’s age, maybe a little younger, with a blank look in his brown eyes and his expression void of life.

Kevin had no idea who this kid was. However, looking back at Susie and Simon’s expressions, it was clear that they did.

“WILL?!”/”PUMP?!”

[nowimjustastranger]

Omgg the dimension in the stcmo au where Stanley destroys his own dimension with Stanford and the dead twins in it is fkn killing me 😭 He was fully ready to die with the world, seeing that his world (the kids) had already ended anyway :(

How do you think Stanley died in the other dimension, where Stanford and the twins survived but he didn't? I also really wanna know what their reactions were to meeting each other again or if their memories were altered or not!

I love this AU to death and beyond, please never die 😔🙏

Honestly, the possibilities are endless in terms of how exactly Stan goes out (destroying Bill in the process).

And as for the relocated Stan...

Stan hit the ground and, for the first time in his life, he just stayed down. That tiny voice in the back of his head that had kept him going all these years had finally fallen silent, leaving him to drown in his overwhelming despair. He didn’t care to pick himself back up again. There was no point.

His kids were gone. Snuffed out before they could even live their lives. His brother, who he had just brought home, killed with the press of a button. He was pathetically thankful that he hadn’t been the one to activate the doomsday device, he didn’t think he could’ve lived with himself knowing that he had killed his big brother with his own hand.

Not that he had been planning to survive the explosion, which was another matter that he was just too worn down to address. Honestly, he didn’t really give a shit about the mystery man or his intentions. Even so, he should be furious that the mystery man kept him from joining his family, but he was hollowed out by the realization that he was the only one left.

Why was he always the last man standing?

He couldn’t bear to go another day without Mabel’s smile. The girl had bullied her way into his heart and carved out a space for herself, bringing enough love for the both of them with her. His sweet girl who loved glitter a little too much and drew trouble to her like a magnet, the girl who saw a sad old fuck and reminded him that life was worth living with every joke, every kind word, every laugh, every hug.

How could he possibly face another day without Dipper’s laugh? The boy had snuck into his heart not long after his sister had gotten comfortable, settling down like he had simply always been there. His brave boy who reminded Stan so much of his brother and himself, a strange amalgamation of both of them. Their best qualities put into one body.

Had he told them that he loved them? Even once? Had he ever uttered those words to his kids?

Did they die unsure of how much they meant to him? Did they die doubting that Stan loved them more than anything in the entire universe? Did they die quick or slow? Did they die scared, wanting their Grunkle to protect them from a cosmic bully? Did they die wishing that they’d never met him? Did they die cursing that they ever came to Gravity Falls–

His kids had to know that Stan would’ve given anything, struck any deal, endured any torment, killed anyone he had to so long as it meant that they got to be happy.

Stan didn't even realize he was crying until he pressed his forehead against the ground, shocked back into his own body by the soft rasp of greenery against his face. His shoulders heaved with the force of his sobs, hands fisted into the grass as he wailed his grief into the soil.

Grief for not telling Soos that he was like a son to him. Grief for not thanking Wendy for putting up with his shit. Grief for not telling Dipper that he was proud of him. Grief for not putting Mabel’s insecurities to rest before they could fester. Grief for waiting for a fucking ‘thank you’ instead of just hugging his damn brother like he had longed to do for the past forty years. Grief for not spending more time with all of them while he could.

As Stan’s pathetic tears finally dried up, a sound was carried on the breeze, every muscle in his body locking up as he raised his head. His brain stalled like an old engine, wide eyes staring off into the thick foliage. He was half convinced that his mind had finally fractured and he was hallucinating even as his body moved, scrambling to his feet to race through the forest.

Even if it was just a cruel trick of his mind, he couldn’t just ignore it. Not when it was his kids. And certainly not when his kids were crying. In no world could he ignore the sound of the niblings' distress. If they needed him, he’d be there. Easy as that. He would sooner light himself on fire than let them think that they couldn’t come to him with their problems, his discomfort with feelings and emotions could fuck right off.

As he got closer to the origin of the sound, he could actually make out words. His heart stuttered in his chest as he pushed himself faster and faster still because they were calling for him. They were wailing his name like two scared little kids lost in a big world that was too cruel for the likes of them. So, he answered their desperate call, just like he always would.

“Kids!”

Stan charged through the brush, erupting into a small clearing with three people standing in it. The first figure he recognized immediately as his brother, whose arm was raised to aim a triangular gun at Stan’s chest. The niblings were hidden behind him, clutching the fabric of his slacks as they peeked at Stan with huge wet eyes. Stan stumbled to a stop, raising his hands in a placating gesture.

Surprisingly, no one in the clearing broke the silence, a voice ringing out from a sturdy branch in a nearby tree.

“It’s not a trick, Stanford.” A heavily modulated voice spoke as a dude in flashy getup stared down at them from his perch. In the blink of an eye, another gun was drawn from Ford’s trench coat, pointed at the man that Stan had been manhandled by earlier. His face was set with grim determination, but there was a telling shake to the hand that aimed the gun at Stan.

“You better start talkin’ or I’ll come up there n’ beat some answers outta you.” Stan demanded, sparing a glare for the stranger. He must’ve followed Stan here, which meant that he had also seen Stan blubbering like a pansy earlier. Great.

“The Stan of dimension F9-2 took his own life to defeat Bill, leaving your dimension without a Stanley Pines. Stan from dimension C40”0 was the only one to survive Weirdmageddon, his world destroyed by his brother’s last-ditch effort to kill Bill, leaving him without his family.” The stranger explained, gesturing to each brother in turn as he addressed them.

“So, you… brought him here?” Mabel tentatively piped in with a sniffle, poking her head out more, and Stan had to swallow the urge to tell her to keep out of sight. Now that he was getting a good look at the trio, he was noticing the differences, like how Ford was wearing the same suit that Stan himself currently had on, except it was far less tattered.

“I did.” The stranger confirmed with a slow nod and the niblings shared a look, communicating with just their eyes. Stan remembered when he used to do that with Ford, way back when their only worry was if they could get one last game of pirates in before they were called home for dinner. Stan hadn’t been that close to Ford since middle school, back before a yawning chasm of distance opened between them.

“Who are you?” Ford growled, his eyes narrowed as he shifted most of his attention to the stranger, who tilted his head in a predatory manner that made the hair on the back of Stan’s neck stand on end. Stan let his arms slowly drop down to his sides since the gun that had been aimed at him had been lowered slightly, Ford clearly prioritizing the bigger threat.

“A concerned third party.” The stranger said, not missing a beat before he shifted his weight to fall backward. He disappeared in the blink of an eye only to reappear right behind Stan, who squawked in alarm and outrage as one hand seized the back of his neck while the other pointed a weird gun behind them to open another colorful gateway. Stan threw an elbow back at the stranger, who caught it with practiced ease after swiftly holstering the gun.

“But if you’re unwilling to house him in your dimension–” The stranger began, before being unceremoniously interrupted by two small bodies darting out from the safety that Ford's body provided and throwing themselves at Stan.

“No! You can’t have Grunkle Stan! Please don’t take him away!” Mabel wailed with no small amount of terror, her tiny arms struggling to fit around Stan’s waist, clutching fistfuls of his jacket. Dipper was no better, quite literally sitting on Stan’s shoe in order to cling to his right leg with all four of his limbs while he begged the stranger to let Stan stay with them.

“Hey, hey… I ain’t goin’ anywhere.” Stan soothed, voice lowered to a low rasp as he abandoned his effort to get the bastard behind him to let go in favor of getting a hand on each of the kids. One of his hands went to Dipper’s head while the other pressed against Mabel’s hitching back, the two pressing into the contact like they were starving for it. Stan turned his head just enough to level the visor of the stranger’s helmet with a dark look, daring him to disagree. “Right, pal?”

“Depends on him.” The stranger retorted, pointedly nodding at Ford, who had taken to aiming the gun directly at the stranger’s helmet. Thankfully, the portal had closed on its own, shrinking out of existence, and as a result, Ford’s posture had visibly lost some tension. Stan figured that it was because the kids had been in danger of going through with him had the stranger followed through with his threat.

“My brother stays.” Ford bit out through clenched teeth, something bordering on manic in his eyes. Stan noticed that Ford’s hand wasn’t shaking this time, his aim perfectly steady. Stan wasn’t sure why this stood out to him until he recalled that Ford’s hand had been trembling earlier when he had the gun pointed at Stan, which was far more shocking than it should’ve been.

“If you ever hurt Stan… I’ll be back and you will never see him again.” The stranger warned, drawing the weird sci-fi gun in a dark blur and firing it off to the side, smoothly stepping into the swirl of colors before both the stranger and the portal were gone. Stan stood there dumbly, staring at the empty space where the portal used to be until his attention was redirected to the warm body that crashed into him.

Stan yelped as he went down in a heap of flailing limbs, instinctively struggling as strong arms wound around his body. However, Stan froze when he heard a choked sob, blankly staring up at the cloudless blue sky in utter disbelief as Ford broke down in tears. Ford’s face was buried in the crook of Stan’s neck, his glasses digging into skin, but Stan didn’t care because he was clinging to him and the kids just as tightly.

And if his eyes were wet and his cheeks damp, it was just allergies.

[lokiusbang]

Lokius Reverse Bang 2024 masterlist

List of links to art and fics on tumblr and on Ao3 below the cut.

Thanks to all the artists, writers, beta readers and pinch hitters who took part in this event.

Art: Kokomo by @ghoulehhh

Team 1

Fic: Reach Out From The Outside fic by @loki-is-my-kink-awakening

21k. Rated E. Angst, getting together, mystery, rescue, happy ending.

AO3 link

Team 2

Art: Regency AU by @wolfpup026

Fic: Oh, What A Tangled Web We Weave by @lgwilt

46k. Rated M. Angst, fluff, hurt/comfort, happy ending, porn with feelings.

AO3 link

Team 3

Art: Fitness Trainer AU by @wolfpup026

Fic: Beats Per Minute by @astrosxnthesis

16k. Rated M. Fitness AU, mutual pining, fluff, getting together.

AO3 link

Team 4

Art: Daggers @rin-love-is-green

Fic: The Daggers @mimisempai

6k. Rated G. Angst, fluff, hurt/comfort, reunions, happy ending.

AO3 link

Team 5

Art: Lokius Pixie Hollow by @atimefeeler

Fic: Faith and Trust @scifikimmi

11k. Rated T. Pixie Hollow AU, forest fairy!Mobius, frost fairy!Loki.

AO3 link

Team 6

Art: Pet by @rin-love-is-green

Fic: A Break In The Routine by @in-my-loki-feels

6k. Rated E. Dom/sub, smut, praise kink.

AO3 link

Team 7

Art: Wish Upon A Star by @fauxvvounds

Fic: Wish Upon A Star @dreamycloud

11k. Rated T. Angst, fluff, pining, yearning, happy ending.

AO3 link

Team 8

Art: Snowy Forest by @adorbspotat

Fic: Desperate Measures @cha-melodius

5k. Rated T. Whump, love confessions, first kiss.

AO3 link

Team 9

Art: Dangerous by @peppermintkamz

Fic: We Die With The Dying; We Are Born With The Dead by @andthekitchensinkao3

5k. Rated M. Vampire AU.

AO3 link

Team 10

Art: Closer by @peppermintkamz

Fic: Closer by Rayya76

6k. Rated T. Hurt/comfort, sharing a bed, first kiss, getting together.

AO3 link

Team 11

Art: Aquarium Autumn by @idiotspade

Fic: The Aquarium Date by @waddlesthepenguin07

6k. Rated G. Fluff, humour, romance, friends to lovers.

AO3 link

Team 12

Art: Midnight Animal Crossing by @idiotspade

Fic: New Horizons by @impulsemuppet

11k. Rated G. Sleep deprivation, hurt/comfort, miscommunication, hobby acquisition.

AO3 link

Team 13

Art: Mobius Intervenes in Loki’s Fall by @fla-t-line

Fic: Rescue @rin-love-is-green

12k. Not rated. Hurt/comfort, fluff, angst, fix it.

AO3 link

Team 14

Art: Mr Tesseract x Avengers Loki by Alexie

Fic: More Than Your Broken Pieces by @in-my-loki-feels

19k. Rated T. Enemies to lovers, angst, happy ending.

AO3 link

Team 15

Art: Lokius Hanahaki by @natendo-art

Fic: He Loves Me (Not)? by @mirilyawrites

6k. Rated T. Hanahaki disease, angst, happy ending.

AO3 link

Team 16

Art: Let Me Show You by @natendo-art

Fic: Through My Eyes by @thosegayoldmen

11k. Rated E. Body worship, self-worth, porn with feelings.

AO3 link

Team 17

Art: Morning Coffee by @cristinadrawss

Fic: Love In Every Cup by @in-my-loki-feels

7k. Rated G. Feelings realisation, fluff, humour, coffee.

AO3 link

Team 18

Art: Challenge by @cristinadrawss

Fic: The Challenge by @andthekitchensinkao3

5k. Rated E. Porn with feelings, cunnilingus, puns.

AO3 link

Team 19

Art: How Could You Not Know by @upsidedownbronco

Fic: Mixed Signals by @kcscribbler

13k. Rated T. Idiots in love, emotional hurt/comfort, didn’t know they were dating.

AO3 link

Team 20

Art: Broken by @asoeiki

Fic: Would It Be A Sin? by @megglesthegeek

6k. Rated T. priest!Mobius, demon!Loki, blood, angst, happy ending.

AO3 link

Team 21

Art: The Wedding by @spacemonolith

Fic: Under A Green Arch by @loki-is-my-kink-awakening

5k. Rated G. Fluff, wedding, family.

AO3 link

Team 23

Art: Sakaar Arena by @okilokiwithpurpose

Fic: I Know I’m Stuck Here (But At Least I’m Here With You) by @illiasha

22k. Rated G. gladiator!Mobius, Sakaar, angst, hurt/comfort.

AO3 link

Team 24

Art: Reunion by @albatheowl

Fic: Please Try (Your Call) Again by @kcscribbler

29k. Rated T. Fix-it, angst, happy ending, reunions.

AO3 link

Team 25

Art: What If Sylvie Enchanted Loki? by @fla-t-line

Fic: Chasing After You by an_obsessed_cactus

22k. Rated T. Angst, mind control, hurt/comfort, first kiss.

AO3 link

Team 26

Art: Broken Pieces by @kusakichan15

Fic: Holsted On by MsLm_97

29k. Rated T. Major character death, mystery, ambiguous/open ending.

AO3 link

Team 27

Art: The Timeline of Lokius by @forevertrueblue

Fic: In A Sky Full Of Stars, I Think I See You by @silentxsymphony

8k. Rated T. Fluff, angst, fix-it, happy ending.

AO3 link

Team 28

Art: Missions In The West by @mischivarien

Fic: Tranquility, Oklahoma, 1859 by @scifikimmi

13k. Rated T. Wild west, sheriff!Mobius, outlaw!Loki.

AO3 link

[gracefireheart]

Kinda wanna make pokemon teams for pre-portal incident Mystery Trio just for the hell of it, so here I go.

Stanford: -Slowking *Look, ever since I read this GF x Pokemon fanfic where Stan and Ford had each a Slowpoke, to which the latter's evolved into a Slowking and the former's evolved into a Slowbro, I just couldn't stop thinking how perfect it is. Especially since Slowpoke are often found on the beach. -Noctowl *With all the owl stuff around the Shack, I thought it would be a neat pokemon to have. Especially when he needs eyes in the sky. -Glimmora *Tbh, just feels like a Ford pokemon. -Volcarona *A cool moth that may be ancient?? I actually am not sure?? It's found in such a strange location in it's main game. -Metang *Another "just feels like a Ford pokemon" pokemon. -(Shiny) Wooper *A gift from Fiddleford :) -There's loads of pokemon around Gravity Falls he studies, such as Unown, Sigilyph, Relicanth, fossils of different pokemon he has found, Spiritomb, etc.

Fiddleford: -Pignite *He grew up on a hog farm, so he gets the beefy hog pokemon that becomes an even beefier hog pokemon. It helps carry heavy metals and such, and also heats up anything he needs welded together. -Porygon 2 *For computer stuff and whatnot. Also, when it evolves into Porygon-Z, it's stated in it's pokedex that "Its programming was modified to enable it to operate in other dimensions. This did not work as planned," which ends up making it glitchy af. -Chimecho *It's pokedex entry says "Its cries echo inside its hollow body to emerge as beautiful notes for startling and repelling foes," so it's a helpful lil' pokemon for Fiddleford to have. -Mudsdale *GIVE THAT MAN A HORSE >:( -Sunflora *He seems like he would have a Sunflora. Someone who could help with chores or just relax with. -Beheeyem *"With its psychic powers, it rewrites its opponents’ memories. You, too, may have already had your memories rewritten." :)))

Stanley: -Slowbro *Basically the same as I wrote under Stanford's Slowking. -Garbodor *I remember a lot of people really disliking this pokemon when people first saw it, so I can definitely see Stanley finding a Trubbish alone in an alley and immediately adopting it on the spot. -Vigoroth *Idk, it- along with Slakoth and Slaking- just feels like a Stan pokemon. -Purrloin *A pokemon that would help in swindling / pickpocketing some money. "They steal from people for fun, but their victims can't help but forgive them. Their deceptively cute act is perfect." -Only has four pokemon for now. Costs quite a bit to get pokeballs and some food for them.

Trying to think like-- how this would work for an AU or whatever. 'Cause I can't see these three trying to collect Gym badges or whatever. Maybe Stanley wanted to back when he was younger, but after he got kicked out, there was no way he could do that anymore.

It could go more into all the different weird, ancient pokemon that both are and aren't legendary / mythical. As for Bill, he could be an already existing legendary / mythical pokemon (such as Giratina), or an Ultra Beast (like a mix of Blacephalon and Kartana), or he's just his regular triangle self.

Besides that, idk what else to add to this :')

For a moment tho', I was thinking about giving Ford a Toedscruel and while Stan had a Tentacruel.

[sweetrevxnge]

Ghosts In The Snow

Chapter Seven

Pairing: Vampire!Kylo Ren x Reader AU

Summary: Six long years had passed under the reign of the First Order. The bitter winters grew longer, and as they did, hope faded from the hearts of the citizens of Hosnian Prime. As a lieutenant in the Resistance cavalry, it was your duty to nurture that ember of hope. After a mission takes an unexpected turn, you are taken prisoner by a commander in the First Order, a mysterious man with an insatiable appetite—for violence, power, and you. In the coming days, you must keep the spark of your own hope alive from the dark confines of the Commander's castle.

Warnings: sexual content, violence, blood kink, gore, mentions/descriptions of injury and death

*concurrently being published on AO3 and Wattpad as well!

Chapter I

Chapter II

Chapter III

Chapter IV

Chapter V

Chapter VI

Spotify Playlist

Word count: 3.6k

Chapter-specific CW: torture (what fun!), period-typical sexism

A/N: the dead speak! lmao at least that's what it feels like coming back after an entire YEAR??? I kinda got sucked into playing 1,200+ hours of baldur's gate 3, romancing a certain vampiric elf time and time again, which gave me plenty of inspiration to continue this fic. I never meant to be gone for so long, so if you're still interested in this story, please let me know!

───────── ❅ 🦇 ❅ ─────────

What have you done?

To say that you were restless would be an understatement. The first order of business when you returned to your chambers was finding a safe place to store your stolen weapon, and now, hours later, you had yet to succeed. 

You paced the room, wearing holes in the soles of your slippers as you wondered if you had made the right decision. It was unlike you to have sticky fingers, but then again, these were unprecedented times. Boldness meant survival.

Above all, you feared Ren was privy to your thievery, despite his silence on the walk back to your chambers. The prick of blood seemed enough to distract him for a moment, or perhaps he was practiced in hiding his tells. Either way, the consequences of him knowing gnawed at your sanity.

Rey had tended the hearth while you were away, ensuring your chambers were kept warm and filled with the familiar scent of dry wood. Her diligence as a handmaid proved to be an unforeseen complication in hiding your contraband.

Instinct urged you to keep it close to your bed, but reason told you it would be found too easily there. Same with the lounges circling the hearth, whose velour cushions could conceal many things if asked to. Though a dagger lodged in one’s rear would raise many concerns, as well as promise unspeakable punishments to come.

For these reasons, you ultimately settled on the bookcase.

Towering in the corner was a collection of books and texts, dense enough to put even the most curious scholars to sleep. A perfect place to hide a dagger.

Dragging a footstool over as a makeshift ladder, you reached for a leather-bound book embossed with gold letters along its spine. Imperium Nunquam Fuit. Though written in Old Basic, you understood its meaning.

The Empire That Never Was. A phrase coined by Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin to describe the destruction of Alderaan during the Revolution. An unsavory way to speak about a fallen civilization—considering he was the man responsible.

You made quick work of hollowing the historical text, skimming the page you’d turned to before defacing it. This passage detailed the last of the Imperial attacks on Alderaan, near the end of the Rebellion. One of the more infamous sieges of the war, earning its place in history with a tithe of blood and destruction.

The lines of script told the story of how Imperial soldiers salted Alderaan’s lands and butchered the citizens—babes and crones included. The Empire was thorough, wiping out an entire civilization over a mere conspiracy. With few survivors, and even fewer successors, Alderaanian blood was a rarity. You supposed that was one of the many things that set General Organa apart from the rest.

Considering the contents, it was a book of little interest to the First Order—a perfect hiding place.

The point of your blade pierced the parchment with ease, as if slicing through a block of butter rather than a thousand-page text. Tragic as it was to ruin a book like this, what other choice did you have? Hosnian Prime’s Grand Archives likely stored dozens of copies; one locked away in the depths of the First Order’s fortress would not be missed.

The fit was snug, but it would do for now. As for the pages you’d carved out, they laid in a pile at your feet, a messy reminder that your room was not private.

You slammed the book shut and returned it, hurrying to clean the shreds of paper scattered across the red carpets. Despite your efforts, the fragments proved too difficult to clean with just your hands alone, forcing you to sweep them into your skirts.

As you carried the pieces to the hearth, a gentle knock sounded through the oak doors. “Gods,” you muttered as you rushed towards the fire, dumping the pages unceremoniously onto the crackling wood.

Another rap on the door.

“Just a moment, please!” It was impossible to hide the panic in your voice as you prodded at the withering pages with an iron poker. Time seemed to slow as you watched the flames engulf the ink, turning Alderaan’s history to ash once more.

“It’s me, my lady.” Muffled by the wood, Rey’s voice was barely audible over the fire, hissing with fresh fodder. If any good came from her being your visitor, it was her staunch etiquette. She would not barge in uninvited—unlike some of the castle’s residents.

Brushing the slivers of evidence from your gown, you opened the doors, mindful of the lingering ash in the hearth. “My apologies. I was…” You cleared your throat, smoothing out your skirts before finishing your lie. “Indecent.”

Demure as ever, Rey dropped her gaze as she curtseyed before you. “It’s no matter, my lady. I was sent to fetch you; the Supreme Leader requests your presence.”

The moment his name left her lips, cotton filled your mouth, forcing its way down your throat as you swallowed your fear. What reason would the Supreme Leader have to summon you—at this late hour, no less?

Your thoughts immediately turned to Commander Ren. Perhaps he had noticed your theft after all and reported your offence to Snoke. If that were true, you vowed to slice his throat first. 

“Did he give a reason?” you asked, trying to maintain your resolve.

Rey’s throat knocked in her slender neck. “He did not say.”

Part of you wanted to take the damned blade with you, but recklessness wouldn’t serve you. Though you did not recognize him as your ruler, you were not keen on adding treason to your ledger.

You sighed, coming to stand beside Rey at the door, shoulders pressed back and hands folded over your lap. “I’m surprised he didn’t send you with manacles.”

She said nothing, but the trace smile on her lips told you all that you needed to know. You couldn’t blame her for watching her tongue around you. Given what transpired last night, you would do the same in her position.

The two of you walked in near silence to the throne chambers, passing countless tall windows with panes stained a deep red, dark enough to block most light from entering. What little light did manage to seep through painted the halls crimson, giving the appearance of blood spilling over the floor.

The burned pages of text flashed in your mind.

Every step forward was committed to memory, including the number of paces between notable fixtures, as well as where each one stood in relation to your chambers. Still, there was no sign of an access point in this section of the castle. But your resolve did not falter. If there was a means of entry into this accursed fortress, there must also be a means of escape.

As you rounded the corner to another corridor, you glanced at your handmaid, noticing that her usual singular bun had evolved into three smaller ones, meeting the nape of her neck in a uniform line.

“You’ve changed your hair.” The observation came out as more of a question than a comment.

“Yes, my lady,” she said, delicate fingers reaching to touch the one near her collar. “An effort to be closer to the gods.”

You furrowed your brows. “How’s that?”

“As there are three of them, there are three knots. We servants are forbidden to worship openly, so we find other ways.” She closed her eyes for a moment, tilting her chin towards her chest. “Divine strength allows clarity of the mind.”

While you were not necessarily a pious woman, you were familiar enough with the gods from your upbringing to understand what she meant. As a child, you often prayed at your family’s shrine, asking for a bountiful harvest, good health, and, most of all, peace in the realm. For many years, they fulfilled your wishes. Now, your faith provided you with little comfort.

“Certainly,” you said, not wanting to discuss the subject any further. “Are we nearly there?”

“Just down this hall,” she said, her tone clipped. Either she was annoyed with the change of subject, or just as uneasy about seeing the Supreme Leader as you were.

True to her word, Rey came to a stop near the end of the corridor, leaving a short distance between you and the two looming oak doors, with iron enforcements woven into the grain and a guard posted on either side. Their faces were concealed by crimson veils, the signature regalia of the Praetorian Guard. Those tasked with protecting the ruler of these lands, whether they carried the title of Chancellor, Emperor, or Supreme Leader.

The warmth drained from your face at the sight.

“This is where I leave you, my lady.” Her face lacked its usual peachy hue, her freckles washed away by the candlelight. “The Supreme Leader does not allow us to enter these chambers, save for when he is passing judgment upon us.”

Standing before the faceless guards, you understood her unease.

“Will you be here to escort me back?” you asked, palms growing damp as you clutched the fabric of your gown.

“It is late. I must turn in for the evening.” She shifted her weight, eyes darting between you and the guards, whose presence seemed to loom over you from meters away. “Besides, I should think you do not require my assistance from this point.”

With that, she turned on her heels and retreated, her steps muted as she faded into the stretching darkness of the hallway. Turning to face the guards, dread settled in your stomach. Surely these warriors would not accompany you back to your chambers.

You studied them for a moment, the strategist in your mind seeking to understand what threat they posed. Both were tall and well-fed, given the size of their uniforms. The one to your left carried a bisento, while the other held a tall voulge, both equally unnerving. Their blades were pristine, foreign to combat. You wondered if the same could be said for those wielding them, too.

As if seeking to test your theory, they readied their weapons as you approached, each blade humming as it sliced through the air.

You came to a halt, the hair on the back of your neck now stiff. “I’ve been summoned by the Supreme Leader.”

The two remained poised to strike for a long moment before returning to their sentry state, offering one another a brisk nod as they pushed the heavy doors open, revealing the grand throne room. With tentative steps, you approached, pausing at the threshold.

Black marble columns lined the walkway to the throne, each manned by a knight of the Praetorian Guard, their crimson armor matching the First Order banners draped along the cobbled walls. Above the throne was the room’s sole window, with red stained panels filling the space between the spokes of the First Order insignia. Six steps carved of the same dark mineral as the columns led to the throne, lined with black velvet upholstery and a towering slate backing. Perched comfortably in the seat was Supreme Leader Snoke, draped in golden robes that flowed over his limbs like smelted ore, barely concealing the matching jewelry wrapped snugly around his fingers.

The paragon of humility.

He was joined by another: the fire-haired General Hux. His gaze snapped to you as the doors creaked open, beady eyes piercing you like darts from across the chamber.

“Ah, my guest of honor,” Snoke crooned, clasping his hands before his chest in delight. His tone fell icy as he turned to address the General. “Leave us.”

Confusion spread across his pale features as he turned to face Snoke once more. “But, Supreme Leader, there is still much to be discussed.”

“Perhaps I did not make myself clear. You are to leave these chambers at once, General Hux, or you will be removed.” Snoke’s gravelly voice rumbled through the hall with the force of a thousand footsteps, and reluctantly, Hux obeyed.

You watched the scene play out before you from the safety of the doorway, your feet rooted to the floor.

Snoke relaxed in his chair once more, beckoning you in with a hand gesture. “Please, come in, darling.”

Willing your feet to move, you did as he asked, eyes flitting between the Praetorian guard and the approaching General Hux, whose expression could only be described as irate as he brushed past you, black coat fluttering behind him.

Your heart was lodged in your throat as you neared the throne, feeling like a lamb being shepherded towards the maw of a lion. You stopped in line with the last of the guards before the Supreme Leader, leaving some distance still.

Snoke watched you with keen eyes, a stark contrast to his stoic front. “I do hope you are well, my dear. I can only imagine the days spent in anticipation of your wedding are agonizing.”

You frowned. “Is that why you summoned me? To ask me about my wedding?”

“Of course not. But pleasantries are the foundation of any proper conversation.” The humor fell from his voice. “Wouldn’t you agree?”

“Yes, Supreme Leader.” The words left a sour taste in your mouth, like wine crafted from grapes plucked too early.

Satisfied, he settled back into his throne, resting his hands over the ornate armrests. “See? Deference needn’t be cumbersome.”

His mocking tone made your vision red, but you held your tongue. Invisible threads tied you to him and his guards, each one pulled taught in the silence. It would take nothing more than a misstep to cause one of them to snap.

He spoke again, this time with authority. “It has come to my attention that you are unaware of what is expected of you as a noblewoman.”

You let out a terse exhale. “I suppose I am. Perhaps that is because of the conditions under which I am becoming one.”

A thin smile curled on the Supreme Leader’s lips. “These are unprecedented times, lieutenant.”

The emphasis on your title made your skin crawl. Snoke was calculated, sadistic. With his power, he was untouchable. The red veils surrounding you served as a constant reminder of his invulnerability.

“Now, I am curious. How did you manage that?” he added, tilting his head in intrigue. “A commoner like yourself rising to the rank of a commanding officer is no easy feat—even more so for a woman.”

You narrowed your eyes. “I hardly see how this is relevant to my new status as a noblewoman.”

Despite your outward naivety, you knew too well what being a noblewoman would entail. You’d known from the moment your betrothal was announced. You were to be the docile wife of a commander, providing him an heir, a spare, and a warm bed whenever he pleased. Your military career would be swept away by the title of Lady Ren, all traces of your independence lost to time. You couldn’t think of anything less appealing.

“As a Lady of the First Order, you will be granted privileges seldom given to others, such as this.” Snoke motioned to the surrounding space, and you found yourself unable to decipher his meaning.

He isn’t referring to having an audience with the ruler of the realm as a privilege, is he?

He continued, “The safety of the castle. Our stronghold. You will be protected within its walls.”

Oh. Of course.

You suppressed a scoff. “I find that hard to believe, considering Commander Ren has attempted to strangle me twice over since my arrival.”

“I see,” he mused, pressing an index finger to his lips in thought. “My mercurial underling. If only his mind were half as quick as his temper.”

Somehow, your first instinct was to defend Commander Ren from his inflaming remark. While the Supreme Leader was correct about Ren’s temperament, he didn’t see the side of him that you saw—however infrequently it may have showed itself. There was a tenderness to him, fleeting in nature, like a luminescent star ripping through the night sky. You saw it in his eyes as he sat before your hearth, again when he laced your bodice.

Or perhaps what you felt was just the lingering effects of his charm.

Snoke’s rough voice broke your reverie. “Nevertheless, I’m sure Commander Ren had his reasons. Just as I’m sure whatever actions may have led to these outbursts will cease henceforth, won’t they?”

Before you could answer, a searing pain sliced through your skull, its barbed tendrils reaching into the deepest part of your consciousness. Every muscle in your body became succinctly rigid, frozen in place as an invisible force suspended you midair. You squeezed your eyes shut and tried to call out; for the gods, for your mother—even for Commander Ren.

“You will behave yourself, insolent girl, or you will be disposed of.”

Despite your efforts, no sound would come from your throat. An eternity seemed to pass as the Supreme Leader kept you trapped, holding your feet to the fire of his anger. Mustering every ounce of strength, you forced your chin down in agreement, hot tears distorting your vision.

Without moving a muscle, he relinquished his hold on you, your knees cracking against the marble floor in an instant. The violet fabric of your gown pooled around you like the blood of a slain enemy, collecting the tears that fell from your chin.

Before you could find your voice, the creak of wood and subsequent rustling of armor behind you swiped your attention. The guards had readied their weapons, aiming at something other than you.

You flinched as the doors slammed shut, followed by a heavy—yet quick—footfall.

“What is the meaning of this?” Commander Ren’s voice was biting, filled with untamed fury as he entered the grand hall. His cloak rippled behind him like the night sea, silver sword in hand as he marched forward.

You scurried backwards on your tender palms, caught between his rage and the throne. He drew closer, only stopping at the intersection of two of the guards’ blades.

“Commander Ren, what a welcome surprise,” Snoke crooned. “Your bride was just leaving.”

His eyes found yours in an instant—wild and dark. Silently, you pleaded for his cooperation. If he were to strike at the guard, your life would be forfeit.

Outnumbered by eight blades, he stowed his own. “What have you done?” he demanded.

Though he was looking at you, his question was directed at the man atop the throne, whose enthusiasm at his subordinate’s display was palpable.

“Nothing you have not already done yourself,” Snoke growled. With that, he stood to his feet and stepped down from his throne, closing the gap you’d deliberately left and standing over you. “See her back to her chambers, Commander.”

A snarl flashed across Ren’s face as he pushed past the guards and kneeled before you, extending a gloved hand for you. Though he was quiet, his eyes were heavy with guilt.

With legs like a new foal, you accepted his help, gripping his hand like a lifeline as you stood. “Thank you.” The words floated from your mouth, burning your throat as they passed through.

He only nodded in return, guiding you away from the chamber. Because of his intrusion, the outer guards were now sealed inside, allowing some privacy in the dimly lit hall.

Ren came to a halt, moving both of his cool hands to rest on your shoulders, inspecting you. “Are you hurt?”

Averting your eyes, you shook your head dismissively, ignoring how your knees seemed to rattle with every step.

He let out an amused hum. “I find that hard to believe.”

“Believe what you will, Commander,” you managed to say through your dry mouth. “I’m fine.”

At that, the two of you carried on in silence, meandering through the castle, passing knights and servants alike down each corridor. Ren’s emotion rolled off of him like heat from a flame, slowly dwindling the further you were from the throne room.

As your legs regained their strength, so did your voice. “How did you know I was in there?”

“Does that really matter?”

“I’d say so. For all I know, you’re the reason he summoned me in the first place,” you argued, head spinning as you tried to recognize your surroundings. Only when you realized these walls were unfamiliar did your pace falter. “Stop!”

He obeyed, meeting you where you stood. “What?”

“Answer me.”

He let out a terse breath. “No, I am not the reason he summoned you. Come, we can discuss this later.”

At that, he began his stride again, but you didn’t follow. “No. I will not take one more step. Not before I know where you are taking me, as it is clearly not my chambers.”

“I’m bringing you somewhere private,” he finally answered.

“Are my chambers not private enough?”

“By the gods,” he hissed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “As I’m sure you’re well aware, it is unbecoming of me to be seen entering your chambers before we are wed.”

You scoffed. “How pragmatic of you.”

Ignoring your comment, he continued, “After your encounter with the Supreme Leader, I think it’s best if we avoid unnecessary speculation—for your sake.”

You couldn’t argue with him. If Snoke was inclined to submit you to the rawest agony over the slightest display of defiance, you could only imagine what else he was capable of.

“Fine,” you conceded, seeing reason in his words. “But let it be known that my cooperation does not reflect my satisfaction with this decision.”

A smile ghosted over his lips. “I know.”