#this is why my How Things Change and second chances Aus exist I need to give them a happy ending where none of the bad stuff happened

[multiversal-madness]

Thinking about the Bronev family again, I hope this is coherent-

(Cw non graphic mentions of child death, Azran Legacy spoilers ahead)

Leon Bronev, a man who was likely once a good ordinary man gets kidnapped along with his wife, leaving behind their two young children because he’d found something big about the Azran (did that make it his fault? Did he blame himself?). He loses his wife while there (I’m partial to the headcanon that it wasn’t just a normal sickness) and endures who knows what other hells while stuck in that cult for decades, ending up with nothing left but the Azran.

He turns down darker and darker paths going on some twisted version of a sunk cost fallacy (he’s gone this far already, why not go further?) until he either knowingly or unknowingly orders the murder of his granddaughter and daughter in law. Then he does it, he completes his goal, he solves the last puzzle of the Azran only for all of it to have been for nothing. Then he dies for it, but is revived with the rest and thus being unable to pay with his life. He’s arrested, likely too old at this point to hold out any hope of making amends or fixing what he’s done.

Hershel Bronev, still a young child when his parents are stolen from him and he’s left with caring for his younger brother. Then they get news that he’s going to be adopted alone, that he’d have to leave Theodore behind. Instead of that, he gives up this better life and his name, giving it all to his little brother who he wouldn’t see again for decades. He becomes Desmond Sycamore

He grows up devouring his father’s archeology books, to find a way to get some kind of revenge on the ones who stole his family from him. Instead he finds peace, he finds a new family, people who love him and people he loves the same. But it doesn’t last. Targent comes again to steal his family away, this time with his own Father at the head. Desmond Sycamore dies and he becomes Jean Descole.

But despite now loathing Targent, hating his father, he follows in their footsteps. Threatening loved ones, manipulating people, even attempting to kill a child (Luke was only 10 the first time Descole had tried to kill him), all so he could be the one to uncover the Azran. He becomes like his father in more than just appearance, but does he even realise this?

He’s put on many different faces before, but he pulls Desmond from his grave to use as a mask for what should be his final trick. He meets his brother again, but he’s the only one who knows it. Throughout their journey, he almost finds that peace again, but he knows it won’t last, he won’t be tricked again. He goes forth with his plan, revealing himself attempting to claim the sanctuary for himself.

But then he jumps in front of a laser for Luke, sacrificing himself for the boy he’d attempted to kill on more than one occasion (Maybe Desmond Sycamore still existed somewhere inside him…) On what would be his deathbed, he tells his rival of their connection, of them being blood. Then they leave to confront Bronev, he should have died but he couldn’t, not yet. He drags himself to final chamber, dying and being revived with the rest of them before disappearing, leaving loose ends untied. Now Descole has no reason to exist either. Who is he?

Then There’s Theodore Bronev, but that wasn’t his name anymore. He was given his brothers first name, given his new parents’ last name, he was Hershel Layton, he has been for most of his life.

He endures tragedy after tragedy, not even remembering the first, but he doesn’t let that change him. He loses his best friend (loses the rest of the Stansbury gang), his partner (then a month in a coma) and even when he remembers his lost family, he stays a good man, a true gentleman.

I don’t know how to end this, just wish I could add a section on Rachel but we know so little about her ugh

[di-42]

Unfortunately once again I've only had time and mental energy for very short fictions that could fit in a commute or two this month. But, as it's always the case, there are a few wonderful gems among these! 

Please don't be fooled by the number of Kudos! Ao3 is not Amazon! 

As always I'll tag the writers whose tumblr usernames I know. If you're a writer and you want your story removed from this list please let me know.

And now, without further ado, let me tell you about the wonderful stories I've read this month, and the things I loved about them! ♥️

November’s Notable Fictions

WIPs:

Wavelengths & Frequencies, by @shadesofecclescakes and imposterssyndrome @maaikeatthefullmoon Rated E, chapters 15/?

This story is such a warm, cozy, comfort blanket. Enemies-to-lovers human AU where Aziraphale and Crowley work as DJ for the same media corporation. They have a history, but we don't know what it is at the beginning. Great story, great humour, great characterisation, great fuzzies, absolutely great banter! I look forward to every update and do a little joyful dance every time I get an update notification. This fiction is becoming one of my all time favourites.

You're The Bad Guys, by Nebz_AlphaCentauri @alphacentaurinebula Rated E, chapters 20/?

Cold war human AU in which Aziraphale is an MI6 agent and Crowley is a KGB agent. Each of them is assigned to a mission in Berlin, from opposite sides of course. Great characterisation, suspense and references to canon.

My own WIP, And I Did, rated E, chapters 14/15 (nearly there!)

In my not-a-summary I say that this is a story about faith, about love, and about choices. Which is true. But I have come to think of it also as my apology dance to Crowley. My headcanon about Aziraphale has always been clear, but at first I wasn't sure about what Crowley would do after the final 15. I didn't see Crowley drinking himself oblivious or taking a road of self destruction. But I didn't know what he would do. Then it hit me, and that was when I started writing And I Did. I knew what Crowley would do. Crowley would do what Crowley does. And what does Crowley do best? This is a story about faith, about love, and about choices. Aziraphale is Supreme Archangel, Crowley is Grand Duke Of Hell, and they have to bring about the Second Coming. And of course they're not talking.

Complete stories:

The Small Ad by ladydragona and SylWritesStuff, rated E, 32k.

To overcome boredom, Crowley offers his services as a hired partner. Aziraphale is need of someone to pretend to be his partner. The rest is history. This is a lovely, hot, and sweet fake relationship fiction. Very interestingly, the POV changes at every paragraph, and because the story has two authors it left me wondering whether one wrote Crowley and one wrote Aziraphale, but kind of in real time.

The Angel’s Gambit, by Augenblickglotte, @dragonfire42 , rated T, 9k.

Aziraphale has been playing chess with the angel of Death for over 1500 years. You'll have to read it to find out why. I loved the banter between Aziraphale and Azrael. 

Percy, by Jackie Thomas (Jakie_Thomas), not rated, 10k.

This is the story that touched me the most this month. It's set 100 years in the future. Aziraphale leads a quiet existence in a cottage. When Adam Young dies of very old age, Crowley picks up Aziraphale to go to his funeral. He doesn't stay after that, and you'll have to read it to find out why. The story does have a (kind of) happy ending. Or a hopeful one, at least. But it digs deep in some of my very real, very human fears. Fear for the planet, fear of growing old, fear of growing apart, fear of everything ending without us ever getting a second chance of fixing things. I really loved this story and will go back to it again. It also gets extra points for reversing the roles of how the fandom usually see Aziraphale and Crowley! Top marks! 

Caramel Delight, by AJ_Constantine, rated E, 16k.

Lovely neighbours to lovers human AU. Crowley is instantly attracted to the new neighbour and his -oh, lord- forearms (and, I mean, who wouldn't?). But he's determined not to make things awkward, they are just friendly neighbours. That's why Aziraphale keeps knocking on his door for more of that caramel sauce Crowley makes so well. One of the tags in this fiction is: Aziraphale is bad at flirting. I very much beg to differ.

One shots and short stories: 

Can I Have Your Number? by AppleSeeds, rated G, 1.8k.

Aaawww. Aziraphale goes to order drinks for him and Tracy, and writes down his number for bartender Crowley. Crowley asked for it, right? RIGHT?? All well that ends well, this story is brief and sweet. 

Angels Don't Blow Their Own Trumpets, by shaggydogstail, rated E, 8k.

This story had me cackle! Crowley poisons himself by accident (well, by trying to be cool, point is he didn't mean to) and there's only an antidote that can save him. Please DO READ the tags for this one. 

Anthony J. Crowley, Retired Demon And Airbnb Superhost, by TheOldAquarian, rated G, 3k.

A selection of reviews by guests who rented Crowley's flat on Airbnb. Very funny! 

Proving One’s Loyalty, by @indigovigilance , rated E, 4k.

Set towards the end of season 1, Aziraphale goes to heaven to speak with a higher authority only to find that Gabriel has taken Crowley prisoner. Aziraphale has to torture him in order to prove himself to heaven. Smut ensues. 

You Can't Un-See A Dog, by Dannye Chase (HolyCatsAndRabbits), HolyCatsAndRabbits @holycatsandrabbits rated T, 4k

This was one of the highlights of my month, fiction-wise! Crowley is summoned by two humans to be offered in sacrifice. Aziraphale knocks on their door within, like, 3 minutes. I just loved this story: The light banter and the interactions between Crowley and Aziraphale are chef's kiss; the adorable domesticity of their relationship shines through in a situation that really is not domestic at all; Aziraphale is being his incredibly brilliant self; AND there's a little mystery-solving thrown in for good measure! Top marks! 

Hold The Phone, by theRavenMuse, rated E, 1k.

Crowley listens in on Aziraphale having intimate moments by himself. But phones work two ways. Lovely and hot! 

Plausible Deniability, by GayDemonDisaster (scrapheapchallenge), rated E, 5k. 

This story was so, so lovely! Set before and after the first failed Armageddon and not season 2 complaint, but to me it really feels like it goes very well with my personal headcanon regarding season 2 in general and the final fifteen in particular: they do communicate and they don't need words. The story itself is about Aziraphale denying to himself that things are happening by pretending it's all a dream. The writer illustrates their deep connection and mutual understanding beautifully. 

The Co-Pilot, by beardo @e-rated-beardo rated E, 4k.

Incredibly hot human AU. Eh, I say human AU… incredibly hot AU. Tony is attracted to Az, but is afraid of acting on it because of what the author describes as an ‘overfamiliar demon’ who sometimes took the wheel for a minute. So he's content to just chat to Az at the pub. Yeah, like Az is ever going to shy away from an encounter with Crowley's inner demon.

Presque Vu, by NaroMoreau, rated E, 9k

Human AU. College student Aziraphale sees his ex Gabriel at a party he didn't want to go to to begin with, so of course he hides in the kitchen. Until his (and everybody's) impossible crush offers to pose as his boyfriend. This story is incredibly lovely and heartwarming!

Masturbation (Doesn't Count As Sex, Surely?), by Hellsgardener @hellsgardener01 (I think it's you?) rated E, 1.3k.

Very few fictions manage to convey such intense feelings of sweetness and hotness alike in such a short tale as this one! Aziraphale asks Crowley if he's ever had sex and reminisces about his own solo experiences.

To Bind Them, by LCwrites, rated E, 5k

Human AU with a lovely enchanted/supernatural/faerie element. Aziraphale is tipsy at Anathema’s Halloween party and when he overhears Crowley talking on the phone he wants to find out what he's up to. But that's not even the half of it.

Our Homeward Steps Were Just As Light, by On1OccasionFork, rated T, 7k.

I've seen this little gem recommended a lot recently, and with very good reason! Human AU where Pepper works in a nursing home. Anthony is a beloved guest prone to causing trouble, Aziraphale is a new guest. It's tender, deep, funny and original. Stirs things in you, a fiction like that. I loved it. Extra points for being in Pepper’s POV.

Hot Blood, Hot Thoughts, Hot Deeds, by Supergeek21, rated E, 3k.

This story was really up my street! Crowley is a vampire in search of a bride. Aziraphale should be scared, but he's too busy being aroused instead. Sweet, funny, and sexy.

A Newsworthy Affair, by @waitingtobebroken rated T, 1k.

A funny, adorable, fluffy fiction told through newspaper ads that the editors of the newspaper never authorised publishing. If you're in need of something to put a big smile on your face, this is it!

Merry Christmas, Hellspawn, by Libbyfay, rated G, 4k.

Beautiful Warlock’s POV fiction. It's the first Christmas since nanny and brother Francis left without a word, and Warlock feels lonely. He goes to what used to be brother Francis’ shed, goes through the box of Christmas decorations and reminisces about the past, until someone knocks on the door. I am quite partial to the few, precious Warlock’s POV stories, and the author does an excellent job at depicting the pain of an 11 year old and that casual, matter of fact way 11 year olds deal with great pain. This story is delicate, and beautiful and deeper than it might seem.

Series:

Wrong Number AU, by GaryOldman, rated T.

This was the loveliest, sweetest, fluffiest series. Best to read  the stories in order to fully enjoy it. In Text From An Unknown Number (12k) Aziraphale text Crowley’s number by mistake. They hit it off straight away, but of course things are never that simple. Most of the story is told via the texts they exchange (between themselves and with others) and it’s amazing how the author manages to convey excitement, feelings and a little angst in that way. I loved this fic, but I feel I have to give a little warning that the Harry Potter series is heavily used and referred to in this story. Sorry, Right Number (2.5k) is the super fluffy Christmassy continuation of TFAUN. Aaaaww, lovely! He's My Wrong Number, (1.6k) is possibly the fluffiest of the three and it's a real treat to read! A very happy ending to the series!

Poems:

DEATH Grinned-HE Didn't Have Much Choice, by @isiaiowin rated T.

Very evocative and powerful poem about Death.

Thinking Of Nanny, by @the-ineffable-dance

Another incredibly beautiful Warlock's POV fanwork to end this list. Warlock is all grown up and goes for a walk in St. James’s Park, where he sees someone familiar. The only complaint I have about this poem is that it was so difficult to read through the tears, really.

October's list here.

December's list here.

[dreamofcamelot]

What about….. descendants AU???

(Quick idea bcs fight of our lives is on repeat rn. It’s going to be messy since im copying what I had in my notes, so excuse any typos)

-----------------------------------------------------------

So Arthur is the prince of Avalon blah blah blah instead of villains here they banned magic and sent all sorcerers to the isle.

Ok so Morgana turns out to be a sorcerer, Arthur who is about to be crowned king is like “we need to do something this has to change, let’s give them a chance” so he decides to invite a few of the children of the isle to come and study here.

Now enter the vks

We got manic pixie boy Merlin who grew up with stories about magic and dragons and his (absent) father and hates what the crown has done to sorcerers and magic. He's always felt like his very existence is a crime.

His magic? Banned. Books? Confiscated. He’s lived all his life in the isle so he does not know what magic feels like but but but he knows there’s something in his chest a pressure like he can’t never take a real breath like there’s something holding him back. He feels there’s something inside him that’s begging to come out.

Merlin, Nimue, Freya idk all the sorcerers maybe Mordred can come too I like him, are chosen to go to Avalon High.

They are happy about it, yeah why not, maybe things are finally changing and they might have a chance at leaving the island and having a different future, they heard the prince is not like his father, they want to give him a chance.

Merlin specially wants to give him, whoever he is, a chance.

Then they get there n meet Arthur n he’s all formal and wear this fake smile n Merlin can tell he’s doing this reluctantly, he is not confortable or happy to be greeting them, their presence alone bother him and it’s showing.

It’s obvious to them that deep down he hates magic n since magic is what he is he must hate Merlin too so not a great start.

When they crossed the bridge, Merlin felt it, it’s like the world got back it’s colors, like seeing, breathing for the first time.

Magic is in desuse in Avalon so people don’t learn it nor practice it but since Merlin is magic the second he leaves the isle he's able to use magic naturally as if he had been doing it all his life.

He begins experimenting with it and conjuring cute fire dragons and showing the others what they missed all those years and suddenly he realises that up until that point, without his magic, the very source of his being, Merlin was not living.

For the first time in his life he feels something. And then his hatred become stronger. How could they have taken this away from them, from him? Completion never felt more bittersweet.

And then, instead of going the d1 route, something happens, maybe Agravaine's being nasty again and throwing a coup d’etat or smth cause I really want to throw here the plot of d4 and bam they need to fix it, they must go to the past together n then, because they are a couple of dumbasses in every universe they start fighting n mess up with the pocket watch.

So instead of traveling to a few moments before the incident they end up to when magic was about to get banned and wow they discover the truth about Merlin’s incredible powers n learn about his dragon lord dad and wow is that Arthur’s mom? Wait what is his dad doing with a sorcerer?? Unbelievable. They have more in common than any of them thought before.

Etc etc etc 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️

[ofstoriesandstardust]

changes (j.h.s.)

a/n: this is the first part of my college!AU. not much happens yet, but things are only just beginning with these two! let me know you're thoughts so far!

part of second star to the right (and straight on 'til morning)

folks who wanted to be tagged: @memeorydotcom @djs8891

warnings: college!AU, javynat/icemav, swearing

word count: 2.7k

You slip into the classroom, smiling at Pete as he logs in to the computer. “Hey Pete.” 

He glances up at you from the screen, returning your smile as you saddle up into the first row of seats in the lecture hall. “Hey kid, I haven’t seen you in a few weeks. How was the last bit of your summer?” 

You shrug, tugging your bag off into the chair next to you. “Pretty good. Quiet. How was your trip to Italy with Tom?” 

“Pretty good. Nice to get away from the work and hustle-bustle of his job. Definitely don’t miss the paperwork, that’s for sure.” You both laugh lightly, as the door to the classroom open again, a few boys you recognize from the football team filtering in. “I was surprised to see you on my roster for this class. Didn’t you already fulfill the requirements for this?” 

You shrug, pulling your laptop out as you finally sit down. “Yeah, but I need a couple more extra credits to stay a full-time student to keep my scholarship and you know I love taking your classes as it is. Might be one of my last chances to do so.” 

He tilts his head in acknowledgement as the door opens again. “Remind me after class that I wanted to talk to you about what you’re planning for post-grad.” 

You quirk an eyebrow. “Why?” 

He huffs out a laugh, collecting his papers. “I might have something for you.” The room has slowly begun to fill up as the two of you have chatted, meaning class is just about ready to start. Pete hangs by the front podium, letting everyone get settled. 

Your eyes glance over your computer screen at the non-existent Canvas page, meaning Pete has yet to publish it. The papers in his hands are what you suspect are copies of the syllabus he probably finished over breakfast with Tom this morning. Typical. 

“...dude, this is going to be such an easy credit, I’m telling you.” One of the men behind you says. “He’s just Bradshaw’s quirky godfather. You just gotta say something nice about the Navy and he’ll give you an A.” 

You snort, shaking your head at Bradley feeding his athlete friends with lies about his godfather’s class. You had taken enough of Pete’s classes to know that retired decorated Naval aviator or not, Admiral husband or not, Pete welcomed critical and open discussion of the United States military’s global engagement. Encouraged it, even. 

One of the men behind you sighs and you hear him lean back in his chair. “All I need is an easy A. Gonna skate through this class no problem.” 

���Shit, I forgot my pen. Jake, do you have one?” 

“Javy, I don’t even have a notebook. What makes you think I have a pen?” 

“Reuben?” 

“Sorry Javy, you’re straight shit outta luck. I only have one for myself.” 

The man, Javy, groans. “Fuck me.” 

“Pretty sure Natasha did just that last night based on the- ow.” 

“Hey, psst. You, girl in the front.” You startle, turning around to face the boys. “You got a pen for my friend Javy here?” Reuben asks.

You nod, digging through your bag for your pencil case. “Pencil or pen?” 

“Whatever you got’s fine, sugar. Right Javy?” The blond says, nudging his friend. You roll your eyes to yourself, unimpressed. 

“Here.” You say, leaning up to hand the black pen to Javy. 

“Thanks, I’ll give it back to you at the end of class.” Javy says with a warm smile as he takes it from you.

“Don’t worry about it, I’ve got plenty.” You say with a wave of your hand, already turning back around. Pete clear shis throat just as you do, catching the attention of the students in the room. He offers them a warm smile. 

“Well, let’s get started shall we? I’m Pete. You can call me Pete or Mr. Mitchell, whatever suits you. I’m a retired Naval aviator, served for nearly twenty years. I’m an adjunct here at San Diego State, have been for about the last six or seven years. I teach international relations and military history classes mostly. If you’re here, you should be here for History 2060, Global Military Conflicts Post-1945. If that doesn’t sound correct, you’re most likely in the wrong classroom. Don’t blame you, I got lost this morning on my way in from the parking lot.” That earns Mav a laugh from the classroom as you shake your head. He’s told the same joke on the first day of every class you’ve ever had with him. “I’m going to go around and pass out the syllabus. We can read through it and discuss it. The biggest takeaway is that, unlike some of the other History courses on this campus, I care less about your memorization of dates and people on a test. I want you to take something meaningful away from this class and that’s going to come from the papers you write, the readings you do, and the discussions you’ll have in this class. Let’s begin.” 

“Easy A, here we come.” Jake mutters behind you as the stack of syllabus gets plopped in front of you. 

He’s in for a rude awkaening, you think to yourself as you take a syllabus, passing it back to the boys.

-

“Don’t forget. Your first response paper is due tonight at midnight. I want well-thought out papers, with clear arguments and evidence. Feel free to be critical of the text, but you must respond to it and the more you can incorporate the discussion we had in here over the past few classes, the better. Shows me you’re listening and engaged.” Pete calls out as the class packs up. 

Two weeks into the semester and you had all just finished reading Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried. Pete had said he’d chosen the book so you could all understand how these global conflicts could be captured in a fictional manner, asking you to focus on how it communicated a very real history of the event. The book had been supplemented by lectures and class discussion and you felt yourself falling in love with the class everytime you showed up. 

“Have you started that paper?” Reuben asks, sliding his bag over his shoulder. 

Jake snorts. “Hell no. It’s only what, three pages? I’m gonna start writing it after practice tonight.” 

“Javy?”

“Finished it last night.”

“Fucking nerd.” Jake says as Pete calls out your name, motioning you up to the front of the room. It catches the boys attention as you walk around the front row, meeting Pete halfway. The boys are lingering and watching, something you’re painfully aware of. 

“I’ve been meaning to ask you, but are you thinking about grad school?” 

You nod. “Yeah, I am, but I think I’m going to take a year off first.” 

“Have you thought about SDSU’s program at all?” 

You sigh, crossing your arms. “Kind of-”

“-Who willingly puts themselves through more school?” 

You turn catching both Reuben and Javy nudging Jake. You sigh, uncrossing your arms, looking to the ground. 

“We can talk more about this at a later date.” Pete says. “I’ll let you go, I know you have to get to work. Good job on the paper, by the way.” 

“You read it already?”

He nods, walking back to the table at the front fo the room. “Thought I’d get a head start on grading the ones that got turned in early last night. You never fail to impress me, kid.” 

You can't help the grin spreading across your face, even as Jake coughs words that sound oddly like teacher’s pet into his fist.

“Thanks Pete. See you on Friday.” 

-

Jake swallows, staring the 12 out of 100 blinking back at him on the screen. 

“Did you get your grade back for that response paper we wrote last week?” He hears himself, asking. 

“Yeah, I got an 86. Why?”

“Dude, Pete graded those response papers harder than I thought he would. I scraped by with a  73.” Reuben says, sliding in the booth next to him. “How’d you do Jake?” 

He shakes his head, unable to say anything as he stares at the screen. 

Reuben leans over his shoulder, looking at the screen before letting out a low whistle. “Shit Jake.” 

“What? What’d he get?” Javy asks, craning to see the screen. Jake turns the laptop to Javy, earning him a wince. 

“Yikes dude.” 

“What am I gonna do?” He mumbles. 

-

He pauses, waving his friends on as you chat with Pete. He fiddles with his phone, trying not to look nervous as he hears you and Pete discuss research you’d done from this summer. 

“...I really think you should try to get that published, kid.” 

You hesitate. “I don’t know, do you think it could?” 

“Oh absolutely. Here, why don’t you hang on for a second and let me talk to Jake and we can discuss it more?” 

“Oh yeah, sorry.” You give him a nervous smile, stepping a little ways away to give them some privacy.

“What’s up Jake?” 

He sighs. “Sir, I was wondering if you could maybe give me some insight to the grade I got on my paper.” 

Pete frowns. “Did you not read the feedback I left on Canvas? I’m never sure if my comments save properly.” 

“No, I did. I guess- I guess I’m just kind of confused as to why I got that grade.” 

“Well, you lacked a clear argument and the paper was riddled with typos. The assignment was only three pages and you turned in a page and a half. You only used one quote, from the first chapter of the book, telling me you didn’t read any further. You didn’t incorporate any class discussion and you’ve only been here once since the semester started. Now, I know I said I didn’t have an attendance policy but if you aren’t here, you’re not participating in the group discussion and that’s a huge chunk of your grade, Jake.” 

“Is there any way I could re-submit the paper for a higher grade? I’m on the football team and we have to maintain a 2.8 to stay. It’s my last season, Mr. Mitchell, and I’d really like to keep my starting position.” 

Pete sighs. “Tell you what. I’ll let you re-submit the paper for a higher grade if you go to the Writing Center and work with one of their consultants on the feedback I left for you.” 

“Sir-”

“Those are my conditions, Jake. For any one, not just you. I want to see that you’re actually working on improving.” 

“Well, isn’t it just that… isn’t that place for all the bad writers?” 

Pete’s frown deepens. “There’s no shame in asking for help if you need it, Jake. It’s important to me that you know that.” 

Jake just shrugs. 

“You know, she comes as a very highly rated consultant from some of your athlete friends.” Pete says with a nod of his head over to you. You’re looking at your phone, clearly trying to look busy.

“Yeah, yeah, I think Garcia worked with her last spring.” 

Mickey Garcia was Reuben’s room mate, another athlete but on the baseball team. He’d raved about this girl he’d worked with at the Writing Center last spring, helping him get a 93 on a notoriously difficult final for an International Relations class. 

“She’s one of the best students I’ve seen in my time at San Diego State. You don’t have to work with her, but it might be nice to have a familiar face and someone who knows the class material. If you do decide to re-submit the paper, just ask the tutor to let me know you were there, yeah? You’ve got a week to get the new one back to me.” 

-

Jake pokes his head through the door, eyeing the room nervously. “This the Writing Center?” Your co-worker Mia pops her head up from the computer at the front desk, nodding. 

“Yes, it is! How can I help you?” 

Jake looks around nervously. “I have an appointment.” 

“Okay…” Mia trails off. “Do you remember with who?” 

You shut the room to the storage closet. “Hi Jake.” You say warmly, lugging the Costco-sized bag of candy out to the front table. “I’m just finish refilling the candy bowls if you wanna sit down at one of those tables over there?”

He nods, walking around the front desk to one of the tables, pulling his laptop out of his bag. 

“Isn’t that Jake Seresin?” Mia whispers, eyes wide. “From the football team?” 

You shrug. “I think so. He’s in one of my classes.” 

She nods. “Want me to finish doing that?” 

You sigh, handing her the bag. “That’d be great. Are you still leaving early tonight?” 

“Yeah, if you don’t mind locking up the Center.” 

“Yeah, it’s no problem!” 

You turn back to Jake, whose knee is bouncing as he takes in the space. 

He’s nervous, you realize, a stark contrast from the cocky boy you’d known in class. 

You grab your laptop, sitting down across from Jake. “Alright Jake, do you just wanna share the document with me so we can get started?” 

He wipes his hands on his basketball shorts, nodding as he opens the computer screen before pausing. 

“Can I ask how you did on the response paper for class?” 

You duck your head, biting your lip. “It wasn’t my best one.” 

“What’d did you get?” 

“A 94. You?” 

Jake swallows, eyes flitting around the Center. 

“12.” He whispers.

Your eyes grow wide. “Wait, shit, are you serious?” 

Jake nods. “‘S kinda why I’m here. Pete said if I came here, I could re-submit the paper for a higher grade.” 

You nod. “Well, what do you want to focus on then?” 

Jake shrugs. 

“Well, what would be most helpful for you?”

“Could we start by just looking at his feedback and talking about it? I admittedly didn’t understand some of it.” 

“Yeah! Yeah, of course.” 

The next hour flies by as you work through Jake’s paper, identifying places for him to expand and ways he could utilize evidence. You both worked through Pete’s feedback as you worked to build a better argument based off of it.

Finally, you sit back and sigh. “Well, we’re just at about time. You got any last questions for me?” 

Jake shakes his head, shutting his laptop. “Thanks for all your help on this.” 

“Yeah, of course. It’s my job.” 

“This… this all seems to come so naturally to you.” 

You shrug, closing your own laptop. “Yeah, yeah, I mean I’m a senior so I’ve had a lot of practice. It’s a lot harder when you’re first starting out.” 

“I couldn’t imagine just writing all the time.” 

You give Jake a bashful smile. “I’m writing a 30 page paper for my senior capstone.” 

Jake cringes at your words. “I couldn’t do that.” He says, rubbing his forehead. 

“Hey, you’re already improving. It just takes time to learn how to write in a style like this.” 

“I much prefer my Business classes. At least there, it’s a cake-walk to scrap by with a B average.”

“Well, you’re already doing better than me there. I failed Math in high school.” 

Jake chuckles, packing up his things. “Hey, uh, Pete told me I needed you guys to tell him I came here?”

You nod. “Yeah, we just send them an email with your appointment form, discussing what we did in the appointment.” 

Jake sighs, shoulders slumping. “Thanks.” 

“No problem. Feel free to make another appointment if you have any more questions.” 

Jake gives an aborted nod, slipping his backpack over shoulder and standing up. “Thanks again.” 

-

He blinks, looking at the grade in Canvas. 

70/100

Javy leans over his shoulder at his phone as their coach talks. “Is that the revised grade?” He whispers, Jake nods, locking the phone and slipping it back into his pocket, trying not to think about the comment Pete had left just below the grade. 

There was significant improvement here Jake. Please see my comments in the document and on the rubric for further feedback. I highly encourage you to continue visiting the Writing Center throughout the semester. Let me know if you have any questions or concerns. 

“How you do that, Jakey?” Javy whispers. 

He shrugs as Coach Simpson dismisses them. “Does it matter?” 

Javy lets out an incredulous chuckle. “I mean, if you went from a 12 to a 70, I’d kinda think you sucked Mitchell’s dick or something.” 

Jake middle finger doesn’t stop Javy’s chortle as he leaves the locker room. 

[nythtak]

Thought it'd be fun to do a little drabble soooo-

Cattonquick Oxford Days - the first cigarette

(This is based in the Maneater AU - unless I change my mind on details later - but can be read as in canon universe)

The lighter fails to catch the first couple of times Felix tries it. But after a final, despairing shake of the crappy thing, the flame sputters to life.

“Thank fuck,” he mumbles around the ciggie, and hurriedly brings the lighter up. April’s swung in with far too much chill, because fuck England, right? No spring for them, nooope. Just horrible grey rainy days, where even brief lulls like this evening are tarnished by cold winds.

He’s regretting not grabbing a jacket when he had chance to, and he eyes Oliver’s long-sleeves jealously. They’re on their way back from the pub, and it’s still early enough that most streetlights feel unnecessary. After a of couple hours there Felix realised he just wasn’t feeling it tonight, that stickiness of going through the motions and not enjoying himself like usual, where even a few pints couldn’t soften it up.

So when Oliver gave him a nudge, mentioned he has an essay he really needs to work on, Felix leapt at the chance to head out. He has his own pile of coursework to dive into before the Easter holidays start. Maybe speed through a chunk of it tonight, get that late night focus on, and then he can decide how much is usable tomorrow.

He’s glad he decided to stick it out at Oxford over the coming break. Originally it was more about keeping his word on staying at university all year, rather than nipping home every holiday - or even every other weekend, like some silly sods do. He went as far as to swear off a trip abroad this school year, fully committed to the uni life, which means no fluttering off to sunnier skies.

He aims a glower up at the dark clouds far above them. Curse thy existence.

“Felix?”

Felix’s head snaps down, and down, and he has to grin. Oliver is so short. Like, okay, so he’s not actually super-duper short. A bit below average, perhaps, and around the height of most girls. But he’s a lot shorter than Felix, which is what really matters.

It means he’s the perfect height - practically made for it - for Felix to sling an arm around his shoulders and drag him into his side. Oliver runs a bit cool, but he’s still a damn sight warmer than the nippy evening air.

“Yeah, mate?” Felix takes a pull from the ciggie, careful not to blow it all in Oliver’s face. Would be awfully rude. But that does get him thinking about how Oliver doesn’t smoke, and he frowns at him. “You know, I don’t think you ever said why you don’t smoke.”

Could it be something to do with his family? Cigarettes are a huge leap from heroin and meth and whatever else, but traumas can be multi-layered, can’t they? A full-on aversion to anything even related. But Oliver is clearly battling through it, going to the pub and clubs where alcohol abounds, not even flinching at all the casual drug use their group gets up to.

“Just not keen.” Oliver shrugs slightly, and it’s interesting to feel the motion of it under his arm. Makes him want to squeeze Oliver a bit. His hand slides down to cup Oliver’s bicep rather than hanging loosely, but he holds off on the full grabby. For now.

“So you’ve tried one before?”

Oliver hesitates, but shakes his head. He’s looking ahead rather than at Felix, and while he does have lovely thick hair, that isn’t quite the view Felix wants currently.

So he brings them to a stop, Oliver stumbling into him a bit and looking up questioningly. There it is. Christ, Oliver’s eyes seem to get bluer every time Felix catches a glimpse. Like, with each additional second he knows Oliver, he’s able to see more of him. Another droplet of paint on the colour palette, swirled in with patient brush strokes.

“If you’ve never tried it…” Felix puts the ciggie between his lips, just so he can flip his hand and pluck it out again. Holding it filter-first toward Oliver with an inviting smile. “How can you know you won’t like it?”

Now, Felix would never pressure anyone into doing something they don’t want to. That would be terrible manners. All he’s doing here is giving Oliver the chance to expand his horizons. Indulge in a little fun, like he’s clearly not had chance to- well, probably in his whole life.

Felix has been making up for that. He’s fully embraced showing Oliver the highlights of uni life, and it’s been an absolute blast so far. Letting Oliver have a go at smoking is just another part of that.

“I dunno, mate.” The corner of Oliver’s mouth ticks up as he looks from the ciggie to Felix. “They’re not great for your health, right?”

The little right? at the end softens what might’ve been an annoying admonishment, to something that makes Felix smirk. “All part of the appeal. If we only did what was healthy, we’d be a proper dull lot.” He raises his eyebrows and tips the cigarette closer to Oliver’s lips, his pinky finger grazing Oliver’s chin. “You’re not dull, are you, Ollie?”

He knows most of his friends think Oliver is boring. That he outlived any novelty within the first week; Felix’s unlikely saviour from a tutorial scolding, the scholarship boy with the funny accent. Farleigh has certainly made his opinion clear, his pissy attitude the real bore around here.

They just don’t get Oliver. None of them.

Nah, Felix is the only one who gets the real Ollie, the one Oliver trusts and opens up to. They’re already best mates, fitting together like two puzzle pieces. And the way Oliver looks at him - yeah, it can get a bit much at times, but it’s all part of Oliver’s charm, really. He’s completely genuine and clearly thinks the world of Felix, so obviously he can’t filter that intensity down. Felix would never ask him to. He accepts Oliver exactly as he is.

Oliver takes the cigarette, pinched between his thumb and forefinger as he eyes it like it might bite him. Or give him lung cancer.

Felix would give him a drumroll if he could. He settles for an encouraging shake and cheering, “Go oooooon, Oll-aaaaay!”

And Oliver does.

Not that there was ever any doubt. But it’s still satisfying in a warm, buzzy way to watch Oliver take a drag, lips pursed and the shadows on his cheeks deepening a little. Takes it like a pro, his Ollie, and it’s only once Oliver’s eyes close that Felix realises they’ve been locked in a staredown.

Then Oliver breathes out, and Felix is hit by a faceful of smoke.

The moment his coughing fit is done, he grabs a hastily apologising Oliver by the shoulder, snatches the ciggie back, and gets revenge.

[childrenofthefaceless]

HI!! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE CHANCE TO RANT!!

[my rant is below the cut! click on read more!] Little doodle to start

edit: I DIDNT PROOFREAD THIS ITS 1 AM AND I JUST WENT OFF ALSO I DIDNT GO INTO MYCELIUM MUCH BUT I PROMISE I WILL IN THE FUTURE

Welcome to Gothalites big Operator Rant!

I too love mushrooms! Which is how the idea for this operator came to be! i cant say im the most knowledgeable in shrooms, I know more about the ocean than mushrooms but I am fascinated by them! If i had to think for a real life example that is the closest to the mushroom in my AU it would simply be like an airborne/lichen/mushroom mix of Cordyceps. Yes, yes i know all three of those can be fungi! But the reason I specify ALL three is because the OperatorFungus is ALL three of them.

Originally the Operator was JUST a mushroom and NOT sentient in any way. It sprouted out of the ground with some of the first mushrooms ever recorded, 715 - 810 million years ago. And it existed along them, the same as all. When the Operator Fungus first formed it had the cap shape of a Calocybe fallax with a sunken cap! Pictured below! [ image 1] While also containing the properties of a puffball mushroom! [ image 2], its ability being to 'blow out smoke'.

These two traits carried over the most with the operators change as an entity. His head shape mimics the Calocybe fallax sunken cap with the different parts of the fungus growing up around his head! [ Pictured below, image 1 ] The Puffballs ability to create smoke carried over as well, in the form of spores and the 'fog' that follows the operator. Unlike the Puffball the operator doesnt have to be inflicted with a strong force to create the fog, the flakes from the lichen as well as the spores are a constant natural byproduct!

In the second image blow you can see the operators back! Around his tentacles are very small [ drawn larger for easier viewing, image 2 ] openings, trough which the constant smoke / spores are dispersed in extremely small amounts! The only reason the fog is so visible around it at a lot of times is simply for visual representation in art! However the fog may become thick in areas where the operator dwells for longer times [ Example, its office]

NOW FOR THE LICHEN!!!

The lichen present on the operator wasnt always there and wasnt always needed. At first, as explained earlier it started out as any regular fungus in its size, just like any other mushroom it could fend for itself. However after changing in size and appearance the OperatorFungus needed more help to sustain itself. Usually Lichen appears on thing such as rocks or trees, [depicted above] not other mushrooms.

Lichen is important for nutrient cycling and many animals feed on it! Animals such as reindeer!! Now, raindeer arent the only animals to feed on lichen, however they are crucial to the reason why there is lichen around OperatorFugi!

The specific type of fungus which the Operator is thrives in DEAD MATTER. Meaning it best operates when surrounded by rotting things, atleast in its case. With the change in size the requirement for upkeep grew, and the lichen served as the perfect way to attract animals such as Raindeer.

While for a long time the Operator depended on this lichen, thanks to proxies, it no longer does. However the lichen is there to stay,

so keep an eye out when you see a lone mushroom surrounded by lichen and fog.

[bluejaysandblackbats]

Lost Boys

Fandom: DC Comics, Batfam, Superfam

Summary: After Jonathan Lane Kent wipes himself from existence by canceling his own timeline, he finds himself stuck in the afterlife where he meets Jason Todd. He still wonders about the life un-lived on Earth, and how his parents would've felt about him.

Jason Todd, who is making the most of being dead, struggles with the reality of what he's left behind. He has one wish and one wish only: to send his family one final message.

Chapters: 6/?

Characters: Jonathan Lane Kent (Laney), Jason Todd, Catherine Todd, Boston Brand, Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent, Lois Lane, John Constantine, Raven, Talia al Ghul, Ra's al Ghul, Dick Grayson, Tim Drake

Relationships: Platonic JayLaney

Additional Tags: Angst, Platonic Relationships, Magical Jason Todd, Resurrected Jason Todd, Queerplatonic Relationships, Canon Divergent AU, POV Multiple

Chapter Six: Happy Trails (Jason's POV)

After my resurrection, I started seeing things and hearing voices, but they weren't talking to me. They were talking about me. After my dip in the pit, I knew I was stuck with them. Sometimes in the daytime, I would lie awake and listen to them talk. The spooky one would come and go, but the one in the weird Superman costume never left my side. Sometimes I felt like I knew him from somewhere. Sometimes he would sing songs to me when we were alone or talk as if he didn't know I could hear him. I wanted to give in and speak to him most times, but I was afraid that I'd lose my mind completely if I did.

I didn't realize how much I would need him until I found out about Tim Drake. "You all right?" Talia asked. Her voice was clear, calm, and tinted with a hint of concern.

"Sure. Why wouldn't I be all right?" I lied. Once she was gone, I could hear the faintest whisper from my imaginary friend. I started to cry as I continued to try to ignore him.

"Jason, I'm so sorry," he said loud enough for me to hear. I looked away from the wall and directly at him. "Jason? You can see me?"

"What do you want from me?" I asked in tears. I finally succumbed to it. It didn't matter to me anymore if I was losing it or not. I just wanted to talk to somebody.

"Jason, it's me. Have you been ignoring me this whole time?" he asked. I nodded.

"I don't know who you are or if you're real. I just—. Can you sit down?" I asked. He nodded and sat at the table. I pulled myself together and sat back down. "Who are you?"

"Jason, it's me," he pleaded with me, "It's Laney. We're best friends. Why don't you—? Jason, don't you remember me?"

I shook my head and laughed. "No... I don't know who you are because you aren't real. You're not. This is just my brain damage and emotional trauma manifesting itself," I rationalized. Laney frowned. I pushed a hand through my hair and took a few nauseated breaths.

"This isn't who you are, Jason. We used to talk about it all the time... You said you wanted to tell Bruce you loved him, that he was a father to you. I know you're hurt, but has that changed?" Laney asked. I didn't answer him. "You don't believe me, do you? How can I prove it to you?"

"Prove what to me? I don't even understand what you're—."

"I'm a ghost. We were friends in heaven or the afterlife or whatever it was... And you disappeared, but Boston and I—. We uh—. I don't exist anymore, but you can do everything that I can't. You have a second chance, and Catherine wanted that for you," Laney whispered, "Jason..."

I started feeling panicked when he mentioned Ma, but I pushed the feelings back and went to bed. He stayed with me even after our conversation. When I woke up, Laney was still there, and his friend was back. "I'm not leaving him... Boston, I promised myself I would never leave him. So you can give me the address of the nearest person who can see ghosts, or you can come with us and help me prove that we're not just hallucinations," Laney snapped. I lay still and listened.

"The closest person I know isn't the kind of guy you ask for help. He's more trouble than he's worth—."

"Who is he, and where is he? Boston," Laney pleaded angrily through his clenched teeth.

"If he can prove that you two are real, I'm game... Actually, matter-of-fact, if you two are real, I'll do whatever the hell you want me to," I replied. Laney floated above the ground in a seated position, biting his nails. "Scout's honor."

"Jason, you were never a scout," Laney replied, "If we can prove that we're real, I want you to do just as we planned. Talk to our families."

I nodded, and Boston shook his head. "Jason, kid, you don't wanna go on and learn the hard way. Why can't you just take our word for it?" Boston asked. "Jay..."

I looked at Laney, and he softened up. "Jason, if you can't remember me, then you can't believe what I mean when I say that I know you in ways that you don't even know yourself anymore... And you won't be able to see that I just want to help you."

I wondered if he loved me. The way he spoke to me was like nothing I'd ever heard. I sometimes thought my mind made him up for comfort. Maybe he was real, and he was trying to protect me. I knew one thing for sure, everything he said was what I wanted to hear. I think that's what scared me the most. If he wasn't real, all I was doing was second-guessing myself.

They continued to argue back and forth, and I took my shower and got dressed before cutting out. Laney followed closely behind me. "Two choices. San Francisco, but you run the risk of seeing your brother or Louisiana meet this Constantine guy, and I hear he's more trouble than he's worth," Laney offered. Both choices sounded terrible, but I think he knew I'd pick anything over the idea of running into Dick. "Jason, I know you don't wanna risk seeing Dick if he's in San Francisco, but—."

"But nothing. I'm not risking everything I have planned. What happens if you're just my mind's way of sabotaging me?" I asked. He looked over my shoulder and waited for me to make eye contact.

"I don't want to sabotage you... I'd never do that. Jason, I know you're scared of what he'll say or think or do... But, just try to think. If this Constantine guy is as unpredictable as Boston says, don't you think you'd be safer if—."

I stopped just as I realized how crazy I must've seemed, talking to thin air. "Listen, on the off chance that you're real. Cool, great, good. But, on the chances that you're just a pretty little kindhearted and nurturing hallucination, my mind made up to change me back into the sweet boy you're saying I used to be... I don't wanna take any chances on screwing this up," I mumbled.

"You weren't always sweet. You were just as stubborn dead as you are alive. Either way, I promised your mom I'd find you, and I did. You're alive. I can't take that away from you, but I can look out for you," Laney whispered, "You don't have to talk to me out here. I know what it looks like. Just know when you find out that I'm not a hallucination and that there is actually someone on this planet that would move heaven and hell for you... I won't rub it in."

Secretly, I kind of hoped he was telling the truth. I needed him. Like it or not, I didn't know how I'd be able to bear the loneliness without him. So that was it. I was on my way to Louisiana to see a man about a ghost.

[ladydaybreaker]

Hey guys, just wanted to give a little heads up...uh, kinda going through a rough patch at the moment (no, not from political things I promise).

The chapter for iNtersubJeCtiVe requital is still being worked on but it's a little slow because it's...dealing with a lot of manipulation tactics and it's dredging up some sucky memories. It kinda needs to be done so that I can get to the fun stuff later. I'm just...not in a good head space right now and wanted to let you guys know that hey! I'm not dead! I've not forgotten you guys! I'm just...trying to wade through a subject with some awful memories.

And a lot of second guessing myself asking if I did the right thing.

But uh, as a treat I have a little snippet of Suns, Moons and Stars section I did the other night and I'll post that under the break. I want to give you guys something...even if all I've got to show are a fantasy human AU (chapter 2 which was posted last night) and a snippet of something that will probably get changed up in the future.

So uh, sorry for all that.

"…N…do you…want to have kids?"

He didn't look at her, his claws ticked against his knees and his tail coiled around his ankle in a self soothing notion. Uzi gave a sigh and put a hand on his wrist.

"Dude…look at me," she said.

He turned to her, but…she had the distinct feeling that his true eyes were roaming.

"All of them," she reiterated, giving a smile when she heard the soft whirr of the other five cameras looking back at her, "Ok. Dude, I'm not gonna be mad if you don't. To be honest…I…think I'd be a pretty shi-" she stopped as she saw his screen flicker, "Crappy Mom," she amended, "but…I think you'd be a great Dad. I think…I'm kinda the expert on bad dads. Even if mine's trying to fix things."

"You wouldn't be a crummy Mom, Uzi," his voice was soft, "I think I'd be the expert on that…"

"Yeah the Spazz's mom was just…yikes," Uzi winced, "So…why would you think you'd be a bad dad?"

"…Y'know how back at the mines…there was the collapse that separated us?" he started, "Um…well…I got…cornered. By the Solver. It um…It tried to make me betray you. By…showing me a future that It could make come true if I…helped It."

He swallowed and his hands trembled.

"…She looked like you," his voice cracked, "She looked…so much…like you. And I just…gave her up. An-And her brother…I-I gave him up too…he looked like me…he…he hugged me. Called me 'Daddy'…I…I-I just…" he took a long breath, "…I didn't want to leave…I-I know that makes me sound horrible but…I just…I-I…" he put his head in his hands, "I'm sorry…I-I killed the dream. I-I killed them…I-I had to get back to you! I had to keep you safe, to help you…an-and I…I killed them. I made sure…they wouldn't exist."

"First off…That stupid program can bite me for doing that to you," Uzi glared, "Second off…that doesn't mean you're a bad dad. You knew it wasn't real. They weren't real. And I highly doubt any kid would want to look like me. Not when they have a sick as hell Dad like you," she lightly socked him in the shoulder. "I…dunno if I'm really kinda…ready for kids yet. Dude, I'm 21. Just because we got married doesn't mean we have to have kids right away. Besides…I'm still kinda a mess myself. I want to…y'know…kinda live a little first? Mom didn't really have the chance to heal after the whole thing at the labs before I was born. And as much as I love, loved…" her voice cracked slightly as pain flickered over her screen, "my Mom? I…I don't want my kid, our kid…to go through what I did, y'know? Having them grow up hearing their Mom screaming in the night, having them grow up with people calling their Mom crazy? Because of ramblings she had a tendancy to do? I don't want that for them. I want them to grow up…normal, y'know? Well…not normal. Normal's lame. But you get what I mean."

He looked at her, a ghost of a smile tugging at his lips.

"I thought I was the one supposed to be 'emotional support incarnate'?" he gave a weak chuckle.

"Oh bite me N," Uzi glared.

"Mmmm later," he purred as he pulled her into a hug, resting her forehead against his collar strut, "But…I do know one thing, Universe,"

He pulled her back slightly before touching her forhead to his. A spark of blue-white electric static arced from between the screens.

"If we have kids…the only person I could ever dream of having them with is you,"

[oddogoblino]

what is the nature of the infection in your words hurt au?

Oh boy oh boy forgot to talk abt this in my old ramble posts didn't I? OH boy you've really done it now (positive tone)

I hope I understood the question right! Also note, while this is a horror, the au itself isn't entirely focused on the horror aspects of it. It's always present, but things are more focused on how characters live with how the world has changed and the adventures sonic still has. @au-sonic-smackdown (to give more info abt the au FHDJDN if this is alright to be shared i mean)

Warning, long post. Tw infection horror

The Basics

At first, the infection started out as the planet's attempts to call for aid from the being native to it. It doesn't infect earth-born beings the same way it infects mobian-borns. It started as the planet's attempts to force the ones born there to fight to defend it, like ants or bees would their queen. Despite the reasonable intentions, the infection is highly feared by mobians for a reason. It's also why Vanilla's organization is secretive about its whereabouts, members, and location.

There's a few different things you can be infected by. What the machines did was cause an almost explosion of spores and inky liquid that seeped into the soil and nearby water. The original infected that hadn't inhaled the millions of spores would've fallen into the ink and scraped themselves on the ground or fell with pre-existing wounds, allowing the bacteria to sneak in and take over. Spores only work if inhaled, the bacteria can only work through bites and ingesting them.

How It Effects Its Hosts

For animals, it was sudden, it was terrible, and it made them blindly violent. Animals don't get a chance to stay in only the first stage, they immediately transform into infectious, giant versions of their once tiny selves. They're violent and, whats much worse is, they'll target anything that isn't infect already. They're hungry for energy much like infected mobians, so they're especially considered a problem as they'll not only go after electricity but also anything alive.

Non-infected animals are terrified of them and you'll know they're near when the forest goes quiet, when the flickies are suddenly too scared to fly. They cannot resist transformations.

For mobians, it's a little slower and easier to control but it's still painful. At first it starts with joint pain- or well, more accurately, growing pain. It's not noticeable at first but the infection works fast from the infection-point to start mutating it's host. With this, the infected mobian will have an increased appetite, needing to eat more than the average mobian would, growing hungry after their last meal a little sooner.

The mix of these things can cause a neglected mobian to stress out and lose the ability to resist the second stage and eventual third stage. When infected, they need lots of energy, either from eating normals foods (meat is most effective), from socializing and feeding off the other's energy, or from anything that creates electricity.

Differences in Infection

How a mobian is infected matters. If the mobian is infected through inhaling spores or ingesting infectious bacteria, they're quickly kicked out to the once abandoned lands they've forced infected to turn into their new homes. There is no saving them from the infection as it'd already spread to their whole body. If the mobian is infected from an injury, there is much more care put into them. Cleaning the wounds immediately can prevent spores or bacteria from successfully infecting the body.

If the area is already infected, then the location matters. If it's a limb, cutting off circulation and removing it can save a mobian from infection. The limb may still mutate even if removed but it's harmless if disposed of properly. If it was an area that can't be removed or halted circulation-wise then they're given the same treatment as those who inhaled or ingested something. They can't be spared from the infection.

Different Forms of Infection

Stage One: only mobians can experience and stay in this stage. In the first stage, the mobian has low amounts of infectious bacteria in their bodies, making them unlikely though not fully impossible to be infected by. The host is still conscious, though they are noticeably mutated. Mutations mostly involve either duplicated limbs or horns, or just unnaturally larger ones. The mutations often cause supernatural abilities too. They're more hungry but can be satisfied for periods of time.

Stage Two: from here on, both mobians and animals experience this stage. The second stage, the consciousness of the host is either barely there or no longer existent. Anything in this stage is kill on sight. The entire body of the host is overtaken by mutation. The host is now full of infectious bacteria and has an instinct to spread it through biting and drooling. Their only goal is to spread the infection and satisfy their hunger for energy.

Stage Three: all mobians, animals, and plants may experience this stage. The host is gone. If a stage two infected managed to avoid being killed, they reach a sudden stopping point. All the host can do is latch onto the ground before they become an empty husk of whatever they were. At this stage, all the host does is release spores into the air and or drool if they were once an animal/mobian. They feed the planet all the energy they had gained to heal it. All you can do is dig them out of the ground, wrap up the host in something completely so it cant release spores anymore, kill the area's ability to support fungus life, and burn the host.

Mobians born infected have higher amounts of bacteria in their bodies and have a higher chance of infecting others. Majority cannot release spores but there are some that exhale spores constantly. They cannot go into the other stages. They're conscious and overall would behave like a normal mobian besides any mutations they'd been born with. They won't mutate any further than whatever they came into the world with. There's not a large abundance of those born like this thought due to how semi-recent the illness puffed into existence.

[goldenheart-supremacy]

More Twin!AU things

✧Ambrosius and Todd actually knew each other since Pre-K because they were enrolled to the same prestige school.

✧They weren't really friends, weren't really enemies. They just co-existed.

✧Todd did think it was pretty cool he shared the same birthday with the son of the School director.

✧Then, the owner of the school [Modern Queen Valerin] adopted two children; Ballister and Nimona.

✧Nimona was still very young, so she mostly stayed with her new mother in her office. Valerin basically goes: "Yes, I can do my work efficiently while looking after my baby all at the same time, who do I think I am?"

✧Most of the students didn't like Ballister, but Ambrosius didn't like seeing the new kid all alone so he played with him at the sand box.

✧At first, he was just being nice.

✧He ended up really liking Ballister more than any of the other kids. New best friend.

✧Todd made fun of Ballister once, and that was the end of neutrality.

✧Ballister had to be Ambrosius's impulse control from then on.

✧When Ambrosius would come over the Boldheart household for a play date, Nimona would throw her baby toys at Ambrosius every chance she got.

✧It took a year for her to grow into liking Ambrosius.

✧Flash forward to the future.

✧For a Junior high school moving up to High school trip [So this happens in Summer vacation], Ambrosius and Todd finds out they were twins.]

✧It was due to an accident that required Todd a blood transfusion, but his blood type is very rare. It was one of those things were it was usually only family or relatives who could share the blood type.

✧Rudy Sureblade didn't have it though nor did he have any living relatives anymore, and he really didn't want to contact his ex-wife to check if she had it. It was a last resort idea for him. He checked if they could find someone.

✧Amazingly enough, they found out Ambrosius had it.

✧He still didn't like him, but Ambrosius isn't a monster so he was willing to donate blood.

✧They checked first to see if it was safe to do so with some lab test then BAM "You two are actually brothers."

✧Considering they also had the same birthday based on the hospital records, they put two and two together that they were twins.

✧Ambrosius had to dumb down the explanation to Todd how there was such a thing as fraternal twins.

✧The Director of the School and Rudy Sureblade told the hospital to uphold their patient confidentiality policy and keep this hush-hush.

✧Neither Ambrosius and Todd wanted word to spread that they're related to.

✧Rudy and Todd's relationship had already been lukewarm, so nothing really changed after the revelation except that Todd is more distrustful of his father now.

✧As long as Todd did whatever a student should be doing, and kept out of legal trouble, he could live and let live.

✧While his relationship with his mother wasn't exactly a warm one, Ambrosius did have some amount of respect for his mother since she did raise him on his own... Sort of. If leaving a secretary or whoever every now and then to attend important school events when he was growing up, whenever she was too busy, counted as raising him on her own.

✧Although ever the dutiful child, Ambrosius did accept that her job was important.

✧After finding out she kept a secret as big as him having a twin from him, he started questioning things.

✧Some point in freshmen year, both Ambrosius and Todd kinda felt getting disowned was better than being around their mostly absent parents.

✧Todd would still poke fun at Ambrosius and Ballister, especially when they started dating in high school.

✧Then enters Aerin Shieldstone in the middle of Freshmen year, and Todd is half the word of 'homophobic.'

✧The first half of it.

✧So Todd kinda goes up to Ambrosius one day, and the conversation kinda goes...

That's all... For now.

Todd: Okay, I'm accepting you as my twin brother now because I really need a brother right now. Specifically, a gay brother.

Ambrosius:

Ambrosius: First, what the fuck. Second, why the fuck?

Todd: How do I ask a guy out?

Ambrosius:

Ballister: I'm guessing third is going back to 'what the fuck?'

Ambrosius: More like 'who the fuck is the unlucky guy?'

[deltaruinedcoco37]

SplatoonMG4 CHAPTER 5: GAYER Off The Hook

(Third person)

SMG3 had a lot of questions now that there was a way for him to communicate with Four. He still wasn't great at Sign Script, but it was the best he could do for now. He had a lot of questions about Inkopolis and the surface, because even if he had heard of it from some Octolings it wasn't much, to be honest.

"Um..." There was a bit of an awkward silence before SMG3 continued to speak. "I only know what the, uh... Splatland Octolings say... I've heard of 'Deep Cut' and some things, like Turf War... but not much else... what are those three all about?"

SMG3 didn't speak as fast or as well as Four, but the latter was just glad to hear that the Octoling wasn't completely clueless, as he explained Deep Cut. "Deep Cut? They're like our news anchors. They have some pretty cool music and a podcast- the Anarchy Splatcast- so they have a lot of fans. Inkopolis is different though... we have some other people do the map announcements." He smiled at the thought of the Square's comedic duo, Off the Hook...

"Who are they, then?" SMG3 asked once he processed what Four said. "The, uh, news people?"

SMG4 just took a second to glance at the time before looking back at SMG3 with a grin.

"Well... how about I just show you?" He clicked the TV on. "Thanks to the power of Plot Convenience Magic, which probably shouldn't exist in this AU, but whatever..."

(Cue the news intro)

Swag: you sexy bitches know what time it is

Chris: It's Off the Hook, coming live from Inkopolis square... Swag... (Are you even allowed to say that?)

Swag: (of course i can. if you have enough fans you can do anything you want)

Chris: (First off, I was asking if that was part of the script... which I'm sure it's not... second off, that's what everyone thinks until they get canceled, you moron.)

Swag: anygays, moving on to the noob- i mean the normal battle stages. turf war.

(Moray Towers)(Starfish Mainstage)

Swag: my strategy here is to rush to the middle as fast as i can and look sexy ✨

Chris: (I need new friends...)

Swag: and now the stages for REAL battles. ranked battles. i meant to say "ranked battles"

(PIRANHA PIT)(CLAM BLITZ)

Swag: oh wow, look. my favorite: "50/50 chance to win or lose in the first minute like an idiot"

Chris: Finally, something we can both agree on...

Swag: well it's time for league battles... who even plays these anymore???

Chris: Swag, this is our job... can you please take it seriously today...

(And back to the gays in the apartment instead of the ones on the news)

"They seem, um..." SMG3 was trying to think of the word in Sign Script.

"Hilarious?" Four chuckled.

"...Dysfunctional." And... like maybe he'd seen one of them somewhere before? "But also familiar?"

Four thought for a second. "Hmm, maybe you heard of them from those Splatlandians? They are also popular in Splatsville, but they go by a different band name. That could be why you didn't recognize their name... But that's just a theory. An ink theory!"

SMG3 gave him a strange look. Oh, right.

"Uh... just forget I said anything. Haha..."

(Back to the news)

Swag: boss salmonids think i'm so sexy they don't even try attacking me 😎

Chris: (Or they're so appalled that they refuse to come within 10 feet of you...)

(Inkopolis News transition effect)

Swag: day 6969696969-

Chris: -That number's not even real-

Swag: -of saying we should've been called something fresher than "off the hook-"

Chris: Swag... we're almost out of time.

Swag: ugh fine. whatever. "don't get cooked..."

Chris: "...Stay off the hook-"

Swag: and don't forget to help me with my petition to change the name-

(Utter chaos then unfolded on screen for two seconds until the ads began to play.)

"Well, that was an... experience." SMG3 honestly didn't know what emotion he was supposed to feel after watching that news broadcast. "They're a comedian duo?"

Four was happy to share the silly duo with SMG3, and he was still snickering at the broadcast (because his sense of humor is broken). "Yeah, I guess so, but- wait! You wouldn't have heard any of their music before, right?"

"Well, uh... no... of course not, I haven't heard anything aside from the Octarian music, or this weird Salmonid band, so-"

"HGFGHWDNHBGVFCVGWBHJCHVGBHDCNJHVGEBH"

Well, that's what it sounded like to Three. Agent 4 was so excited he forgot to speak in Sign Script as he pulled out his phone and scrolled through his playlist, before clicking on one of his favorite songs: Shark Bytes by Off The Hook.

(Time for the author to make horrible inaccurate lyrics!)

WOAH

WHAT'S THIS ACTION?!

THROW THE SPLAT BOMB

THROUGH THE ROOOOOOOOOOF

~~~

Three was 90% sure that even though Chris was singing it, Swag had written the lyrics. But that wasn't what caught his attention.

"Four, this... this isn't in Square," he said. "I think it's in Runic..."

Agent 4 looked genuinely surprised. "Really? Actually? I thought it was something really obscure, and that's why I didn't know it."

SMG3 listened for a little longer before nodding. "Yeah, it's... Runic."

"Interesting."

There was now an awkward silence, because they didn't really know what to say next. (And definitely not because the author can't write)

"So..." Four said, turning off his phone. "You wanna see the city now, or wait first?"

"Hell yeah I wanna see this place!"

~~~

Previous (Ch. 4)

Next (Ch. 6)

[skylarmoon71]

Miguel O' Hara - AU Scientist (Across the Spider-Verse) - Chapter 6

“I don’t understand. I need you to explain it to me. Explain everything.” 

It’s not like you didn’t expect this from Miguel. There was just so much that you couldn’t control. It felt wrong to bring him into your world. 

It’s possible that’s a cover. 

The scary part is watching him walk away from you. 

Miguel is still standing at a distance. You aren’t sure if it’s out of fear or disappointment. 

Your shoulders drop defeatedly. 

“It’s not really easy to explain.” 

“Try.” 

A shaky breath escapes you, and when he sees the golden flicker of light once again return to your eyes, he swallows. You know he’s still trying to fully process the very short encounter with a doppelganger. So introducing your abilities will definitely be a breaking point. 

“I was born a mutant. I didn’t manifest my abilities until I lost my uncle ten years ago. That’s when I went into law enforcement. I was trying to do the right thing with my powers. But someone I cared about, Gavin Stacy, died and I..I couldn’t do it anymore. I left that part of my life behind.” 

You step closer, and Miguel doesn’t move.

“I’m what they refer to on other earths as Spiderwoman.” 

Flipping your wrist, Miguel flinches when a stream of web shoots out. It locks onto a glass nearby and you give it a tug. The second it’s within your grasp, you squeeze and the glass crumbles under your hold like dust. 

“I’m stronger, faster than the average human. That’s only half of it.” 

There’s no way you can hide this anymore. 

“This whole time we’ve been working on the project, you’ve known from the start. But you said nothing.” 

“I..I was scared.”

“Why? Why were you scared?”

“Because I’m..an anomaly. I shouldn’t have existed.” 

All those years ago you tried to do the right thing. You really did. You served justice both in the office as an agent, and at night. But it changed completely when you lost Gavin and found out about canon events. Just the memory is a bitter reminder. 

“I used to have a twin sister. In every universe there’s only supposed to be one. One hero, one spiderman or spider woman. I didn’t believe it at first. But the way she died when we were kids it just felt..wrong. When I found out the truth it was painful. I spent years hating myself for it. When I was finally able to get myself out of that hole I lost my uncle and then one of my best friends. It was like a curse had struck me. That’s when I realized that as a hero, I was destined for pain. Everyone regardless of the universe, all of us with these powers, these abilities, we always lose the people we care most about if we decide to become heroes. So I gave it up. I decided that there were other ways to help my universe without constantly suffering loss. I just..wanted to be happy..” 

It was selfish, but you couldn’t bring yourself to go back out there. Not after you’d failed to protect the ones you cared about. 

Over and over again. 

“I know this is a lot, it might not even make sense. I should have been honest the second that we got involved. If you believe nothing else, please just know how I feel about you, that’s real.” 

It’s unrealistic to expect him to just swallow it all and accept every part of you. 

The right choice right now is to leave. Miguel needs a chance to figure out if he really wants to be a part of this. 

“If you decided that you’d rather take your chances with someone else, I would understand. I wouldn’t blame you Miguel.” 

It hurts, but even if he broke this off, there wasn’t a part of you that couldn’t actually hate him for it. This is a life, his life. He knows what future dangers are ahead. That version of him also proposed that he would be back. Who knows with what kind of reinforcements. 

“What did you say to me, the first time I told you about my disability. What did you say?” 

Your brows knit. 

“I..I don’t understand I..” 

“I understand. I don’t expect anything from you.  It’s nothing to be ashamed of. You’re you. We can discover what we are in the future. That’s what you said to me. You didn’t look at me with pity, or like I was broken. You didn’t force me to change anything. You just smiled at me and told me that you were willing to endure whatever you could, as long as you were given a chance to care about me. To..love me..” 

It’s a bit impossible to look at him now, your gaze has gotten a bit swimmy. 

“The circumstances are very different, but I understand now how you felt at that moment. I want you to give me that chance.”

Is there a possibility that you’ve already been rejected and your mind has formed some kind of alternative?

Shaky hands move to the table for support. 

It must be.

You try to read something, anything from his gaze. He’s at your side in what feels like seconds. Miguel is holding your cheeks and you’re sobbing. 

“I know now that you’ve lost so much, no matter what, you’re not going to lose me. So you don’t have to be afraid. I’m not going anywhere.” 

“Y-You promise.” 

Miguel nods. 

“I promise.” 

He leans in, sealing it with a kiss and you hug him. 

You believe every word.

[redxpaladin]

Danny Phantom Detective Conan AU Drabble

Words: 1185

Rating: G

Premise: Shrunk Danny moments trying to get Vlad to help him.

Notes: I’m not the best at writing but I couldn’t get this au out of my head

Danny cussed to himself as he had to be on his tippy toes to reach the doorbell to his own house. He began ringing it over and over again. As he scowled over how much he shrunk. Maybe he shouldn’t have ran from the police but what was he going to do? Tell them he was Danny Fenton?

No. They’d probably get Walker and he’d be like “Yeah sure. And I’m Santa clause. Go home.” Then what? Call his non existing parents? Speaking of parents, why weren’t they coming at the door?

It was then that Danny cussed to himself and punched the door. That’s right. His parents were in Paris. They couldn’t come to the door. Jazz was also at college. Just his luck. His attention then turned to his next door neighbor. Vlad was always weird, and wanted his mom badly. But damn it he can help him and that's all that matters.

Danny ran as he tried his best to keep himself covered with his large baggy clothes to Vlad’s house and began knocking and ringing the doorbell.

Clearly Vlad must have been in the middle of watching some sports match of his favorite team (Danny couldn’t remember the name. Mostly out of spite) “Danny I will-“ he seemed like he was about to hit him with a bat before looking down to see the small structure that Danny was now.

“Vlad, you need to help me.” Danny said. Vlad just looked at him slowly blinking. Probably processing why a 10 year old was at his door. “Vlad. It’s me! Danny!”

“Danny is 16 years old.” Vlad spoke flatly. “Go home.”

“No really it’s me!” Vlad was literally about to close the door before Danny stepped in and stopped it from being closed. “You’ve been in love of my mom for years but after a tragic accident my dad was able to get my mom from right under your nose and you still are hoping you’ll get a chance with her after all these years. You try to impress her by inventing gadgets and such and with your money. You also have a cat who has eaten your socks.”

Vlad’s jaw seemed to slowly drop as Danny kept talking. Before Danny gave him a nice smug luck. “Seeing as you are currently in pajamas you probably were watching the Green Packers match instead of sleeping. If you were sleeping you’d be a little less annoyed and more groggy.”

Vlad seemed to give the there's that annoying detective boy look before picking Danny up and looking at him. “What the hell did you get yourself into?”

“Listen I don’t know! I just followed some dudes into a hall and then I don’t know what happened! You invent stuff right? Fix me!” Danny yelled back. Vlad immediately dropped him probably for his rude demand. “Please?”

“This is the first I have seen of something that turns someone into a child. I don’t know if I can fix this.” Vlad paused. “I’d need to see the thing that caused this to happen.”

Danny groaned and dramatically fell on his back. “Urg. Walker would never believe me nor agree to have me get on cases to find who did this to me.”

“I wouldn’t either if I was him.” Vlad clearly just wanted Danny to leave at this point.

“Can you at least help me get into my own house?”

“You can’t do it yourself?”

“I lost my keys when I shrunk. Probably fell out of my pockets.”

Vlad walked off for a second before coming back with the spare house keys and handing them over to Danny. Before Danny gave him a smug look. “What? You’re not expecting a young boy like me to just open the door of my own house?”

Vlad internally seemed to kiss him watching his sports tonight peacefully goodbye.

With help Danny was able to get back at his own house and he immediately began rummaging through his moms office for information. Vlad, being sensible. Went upstairs to try and find clothes that would fit Danny.

Danny began looking around finding nothing as Vlad came in with clothes that Danny had from elementary school. “At least get changed for goodness sake.” Vlad just wanted to go home.

Groaning, Danny walked over and grabbed the clothes from Vlad and began changing behind his moms Desk (surprisingly he was small enough to hide behind it.) and shoved his old clothes under it. Before going back to searching around.

Vlad was ready to go home before they both froze at the door opening.

“Danny?” The familiar voice of Tucker rang out.

“Danny, it's not funny to skip school for murder cases.” Sam seconded. “Even if Walker pays you.”

Danny scrambles to hide under the desk and Vlad looked over at Danny puzzled.

“Vlad?” Tucker spoke out as Vlad looked back at both of Danny’s friends at the door.

“Have you seen Danny. Mr Lancer wants to give him an earful.” Sam waved the homework in the air.

“Oh well he didn’t tell you?” Vlad was always good at lying but not when he’s being put on the spot. Damn you Danny! “He… joined his parents in Paris. There was an important case.”

Sam and Tucker both gave the I am so tired of my ace detective friend look. “He could have at least texted us.”

Yeah, why didn’t he text them? Danny was probably too busy thinking about how to fix his situation.

“If Mr Lancer gets even mader at him, that's on him.” Sam shrugged.

“On the bright side maybe your dad will finally get more cases!” Tucker spoke out happily before getting a punch in the shoulder. “What? It’s true.”

They all flinched from hearing a thud.

Danny stupidly hit his head from trying to wear old reading glasses. He currently popped the lenses out before placing them on his face and yelped when he got lifted up. “Aw, who's this small child?” He heard the familiar voice of Tucker. Tucker turned Danny around to see the face of Danny. “What are you doing here little guy?”

Vlad and Danny internally panicked.

“You let a child into Danny’s house?” Sam questioned Vlad.

“No he’s uh. Danny’s… Cousin. His name is uh…” Vlad looked over to Danny. Danny looked over to the wall to see the cross stitching his dad did of a ghost.

“Phantom! My name's Phantom!” God that sounds so stupid.

“Man who names their child Phantom?” Tucker spoke out.

“Probably came from his dads side. Jack’s always in the paranormal movies.” Vlad spoke. Before he smiled and took Danny from Tucker’s arms. “Listen hey Sam you don’t mind looking after Phantom will you? I’m supposed to look after him but… I don’t want him to blow himself up.”

“What are you doing?!” Danny whispered.

“Sam’s dad is a detective. Probably hanging with her and her family will help you find out what happened to you.”

“He’s a crappy detective!!”

“Well you’ll just have to help him.”

Vlad just seemed pleased to annoy Danny with this decision. Danny clearly looked peeved.

[yes-i-have-thoughts]

Who wants some tidbits about OCs that I never talk about because my Tumblr profile has slowly been getting murdered thanks to hiatus

[REDACTED]/KREATUR/WESEN

- Spawned from the one (1) time I drew GL!Ranboo as a creature (because why not) while listening to ‘Bloody Mary’ on a five-hour loop and the idea that came from it went so far off course from canon that it went from an AU to an original story idea

- (In my defense I drew him when I was only 20 minutes into the first episode. I barely had any idea what I was getting into at the time so of course my creative drive was going to derail)

- (My brain needs to stop dragging people up when I’m 30 seconds into their source (iykyk))

- ANYWAY.

- Wesen’s real name has been lost to time. He’s not that old, he just doesn’t remember his name due to being punished whenever he tried to correct his captor on what it was

- His captor called him Kreatur ("Creature"; "die Kreatur - creature, creation, wretch, minion") to dehumanize and objectify him. This drove him insane for obvious reasons so he somehow got his hands on a German dictionary and fought to change his name to Wesen ("das Wesen [German] being, nature, essence, creature, character, entity") instead. Because if you’re gonna call him a creature you could at least be nice about it

- His captor let it go and he’s gone by Wesen for years since.

- Wesen’s also a walking bomb! He has a kill switch built in to the base of his skull that can also be used to give him a headache ranging from “oh owie” to “my brain is pressing against my skull and I am in agony”. If his captor cranks it all the way up his head will explode. It’s supposed to stop any act of rebellion and is therefore a literal explosive leash.

- He’s not aware of its existence and his captor gives him a headache severe enough to make him pass out from the pain if any of his fellow prisoners draw attention to it, so he won’t know it exists until it’s too late.

- It likely might’ve been put on him since he killed two people when a team tried to catch him. Maybe they should’ve left him alone, then.

- Wesen isn’t human. Avery (a fellow prisoner) calls him a canine, and she’s half right. He’s a dog-like bipedal creature with white fur covered in black spots

- I’ll get around to drawing him one day. He’s on the planned roster for Art Fight.

- He wouldn’t hurt a fly, most of the time. He’s sort of a doormat. That said, he’s not totally innocent and he does have blood on his hands--not all of it unintentional, either. His captor holds this above his head as a reason why they can’t let him go.

- He’s a lot smarter than he acts. Turns out he’s playing dumb, since—as he’ll later tell Avery—it’s saved his life over and over again.

- He’s masculine-leaning agender.

BELPHALAGOR

- Goes by “Bel”. Also masculine-leaning, but more genderfluid than agender.

- Belphalagor is a bipedal goat who swears he’s average height and everyone else is just a tallass. They use Wesen as its “proof” of this, but Wesen’s barely an inch over average height (5′ 9″)

- Whereas Bel herself is 3-4 feet tall.

- Bel is made of ink, sort of. He has flesh, but their blood is black, smells strongly of something not natural and is poison to ingest (as some more feral enemies will find out). It obviously wasn’t born this way but tends to dodge the question as to how this came to be.

- She’s stuck in a suit most of the time, but prefer wearing dresses. The once time he gets a chance to they jump on it.

- Bel’s eyes are closed 90% of the time, rendering them blind. It heavily depends on Wesen to guide her around.

- Something happens later on that reveals why he prefers to keep their eyes closed as much as possible.

- (he/they/it/she pronouns. Bugger’s collecting the things.)

[REDACTED]/AVERY

- Avery is the must humanoid of the bunch. This is because unlike the other two she’s not a canine creature or Mountain Goat stolen, experimented on, then stolen again. She’s a human that got kidnapped and freed herself when they tried turning her into a bird woman. (These people really like amalgamating animals with the weirdest shit.)

- She acts like your typical action woman cliche—no-nonsense, only sane person in the group, tragic backstory, “I don’t need a man”—but she’s not immune to being silly. She slowly drops her guard the more time she spends around idiots 1 and 2 (affectionate).

- They’re both fools but they’re HER fools and she loves them. (The sentiment is returned ten-fold once she drops the “I’m too good for you” act.)

- She’s a bit of a fool too, though she won’t admit it.

- She has a plague doctor mask pretty much fused to her face. A modern-day one, based off a crow. She can take it off, but it’s very painful and what’s underneath isn’t pretty.

- Her hair is pretty short and growing...Weird. It’s all spikey and feathered. She’s kept it short as much as she could until she can find someone to reverse this bloody bird transfusion.

- She’s also got feathers growing out of her arms. It’s painfully slow, but they’re becoming more noticeable as time goes on.

- She and Bel butt heads often over who should do what in what context. Sometimes they fight for so long that by the time they’ve worked it out Wesen’s solved the problem already.

- She and Wesen didn’t exactly hit it off immediately. She was a bit patronizing towards him; treating him like a dog or very slow human. Once she learns that he’s not that fucking dim, though, they bond very quickly.

- She’s the only cisgender one of the group. Bel calls her the “token female” despite also using she/her pronouns (likely just to piss off Avery, who always takes the bait).

- Avery’s name was given to be a play on “aviary”. She can’t stand it, but she doesn’t remember her old name so she’s currently stuck with it.

[gothalite]

HI!! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE CHANCE TO RANT!!

[my rant is below the cut! click on read more!] Little doodle to start

edit: I DIDNT PROOFREAD THIS ITS 1 AM AND I JUST WENT OFF ALSO I DIDNT GO INTO MYCELIUM MUCH BUT I PROMISE I WILL IN THE FUTURE

Welcome to Gothalites big Operator Rant!

I too love mushrooms! Which is how the idea for this operator came to be! i cant say im the most knowledgeable in shrooms, I know more about the ocean than mushrooms but I am fascinated by them! If i had to think for a real life example that is the closest to the mushroom in my AU it would simply be like an airborne/lichen/mushroom mix of Cordyceps. Yes, yes i know all three of those can be fungi! But the reason I specify ALL three is because the OperatorFungus is ALL three of them.

Originally the Operator was JUST a mushroom and NOT sentient in any way. It sprouted out of the ground with some of the first mushrooms ever recorded, 715 - 810 million years ago. And it existed along them, the same as all. When the Operator Fungus first formed it had the cap shape of a Calocybe fallax with a sunken cap! Pictured below! [ image 1] While also containing the properties of a puffball mushroom! [ image 2], its ability being to 'blow out smoke'.

These two traits carried over the most with the operators change as an entity. His head shape mimics the Calocybe fallax sunken cap with the different parts of the fungus growing up around his head! [ Pictured below, image 1 ] The Puffballs ability to create smoke carried over as well, in the form of spores and the 'fog' that follows the operator. Unlike the Puffball the operator doesnt have to be inflicted with a strong force to create the fog, the flakes from the lichen as well as the spores are a constant natural byproduct!

In the second image blow you can see the operators back! Around his tentacles are very small [ drawn larger for easier viewing ] openings, trough which the constant smoke / spores are dispersed in extremely small amounts! The only reason the fog is so visible around it at a lot of times is simply for visual representation in art! However the fog may become thick in areas where the operator dwells for longer times [ Example, its office]

NOW FOR THE LICHEN!!!

The lichen present on the operator wasnt always there and wasnt always needed. At first, as explained earlier it started out as any regular fungus in its size, just like any other mushroom it could fend for itself. However after changing in size and appearance the OperatorFungus needed more help to sustain itself. Usually Lichen appears on thing such as rocks or trees, [depicted above] not other mushrooms.

Lichen is important for nutrient cycling and many animals feed on it! Animals such as reindeer!! Now, raindeer arent the only animals to feed on lichen, however they are crucial to the reason why there is lichen around OperatorFugi!

The specific type of fungus which the Operator is thrives in DEAD MATTER. Meaning it best operates when surrounded by rotting things, atleast in its case. With the change in size the requirement for upkeep grew, and the lichen served as the perfect way to attract animals such as Raindeer.

While for a long time the Operator depended on this lichen, thanks to proxies, it no longer does. However the lichen is there to stay,

so keep an eye out when you see a lone mushroom surrounded by lichen and fog.

[thefallenangelsgang]

PLOT

[YOU HAVE PERMISSION TO USE MY IDEA FOR ANYTHING YOU WANT, I ONLY ASK YOU CREDIT ME]

(break to save your dash)

Oh am I excited for this. Before we get into it, I am glossing over anything that doesn’t change from the source material/is particularly dialogue heavy. I don’t have a script in front of me. So there might be a few instances of “blah blah blah xyz from Mamma Mia’s story” 

Reminder: For ease of writing Tav’s Kid will be referred to as Soph.

SPOTIFY PLAYLIST TO FOLLOW ALONG WITH

So let’s talk about what happened 20 years before this clusterfuck starts. I’m choosing to kick it off right after the Elder Brain debacle. I guess in this AU Tav and Gale were together during the adventure but Gale gets called upon by Mystra and can’t find it in himself to deny her. So he leaves, leaving behind a heartbroken Tav and possibly a bit of himself behind with them (whether that is his heart or Soph is up to interpretation)

Tav rebounds with Halsin and it heals a bit of what Gale left in his wake, but Halsin also needs to leave to start rebuilding Reithwin. Tav is able to let him go because what they had was special but it wasn’t what they wanted forever. They turn down moving to Reithwin with him.

Astarion comes along soon after on Tav’s final night in Baldur’s Gate. They’ve decided they want to get out of here and Jaheria has gently nudged them into traveling to a small keep she’s been to in the south, between Candlekeep and Baldur’s Gate. As it goes in Honey Honey “One thing led to another and…” 

Tav leaves for the keep which is a coastal town with islands nearby. They find a breathtaking one with the ruins of a town on it and the idea for an Inn pops into their mind. They use their loot from the Elder Brain adventure to purchase the place and fix it up. Unfortunately just as they’ve got their footing, they realize they are pregnant. 

Here comes the panicked sending to Jaheira and off she goes flying to the rescue. And this is where Jaheira picks up the Great Aunt Sophia mantle. She helps Tav through the pregnancy and first few years (though after the first few months of Soph’s life she begins traveling to check in on home. Tav did make her start writing letters after the second month of listening to Jaheira sigh when one of her kids would Sending her). But eventually she distances herself until Tav can stand confidently on their own. 

Tav raises Soph with occasional visits from most of the gang. The girls visit most frequently, Wyll and Karlach don’t get the chance until after they solve Karlach’s engine issue. Minsc is there more often than he is not. Even NPCs come and visit. 

Gale, Halsin, and Astarion never make it.

So Soph spends 20 years growing up around the most chaotic family possible and hearing stories of yore from their eclectic group of aunts and uncles and sort of siblings/cousins (Yenna ends up with Tav and Mol and Arabella filter in and out at will). They make friends who are their age and at some point they meet a nice partner that they desire to marry. Thus the impetus for this masterpiece. 

Without Tav’s express permission, Soph sends invitations to ALL of their tadpole friends. (I Have a Dream) They know Astarion, Halsin, and Gale exist, they’ve just never met them before due to various excuses from Tav and some legitimate ones from the other three. Astarion, Halsin, and Gale know Tav has a kid but not how old or what gender until the invitations go out. All three decide to go on a whim.

Soph meets up with their friends and family in their age group (including Yenna and Arabella) revealing that they have Tav’s diary from the Elder Brain Crisis up until they leave Baldur’s Gate for good. (Honey, Honey) It includes vague details of 3 trysts right around Soph’s conception and who they were with. That is why Soph went out of their way to invite three men that have never been involved in their life.

Blah Blah Blah the girls arrive and Tav laments the money it costs to run an Inn and misses their adventurer days where they hauled back a shit ton of wealth (Money, Money, Money)

The rest of the gang arrives shortly after and Tav has a mini breakdown about Halsin, Astarion, and Gale being here. It makes sense but they’re going to find out that one of them could be Soph’s dad and that can’t happen during the wedding of all things! (Mamma Mia)

The girls bundle Tav into a different room and sing Chiquitita with Jaheira (who lives with Tav in her twilight years much to Rion’s chagrin) while Soph manages to persuade the guys out of the house on a tour of the Island and it’s grounds. Finding the area deserted of all ne'er do wells, the girls sing Dancing Queen to cheer Tav up.

Meanwhile Soph has gotten a conversation started about the Elder Brain Crisis and how everyone met (Our Last Summer). This is the first major song change. This is the movie’s placement of this song and in the movie it is sung by Harry, Bill, and Sam. It’s more about they’re last summer with Donna and Sophie is learning fragments of the men who could be her father. This version is sung by all of the companions across the afternoon. Soph is learning why this group loves each other so much. 

Soph’s Partner takes them on a little outing before their Bach Parties (Lay All Your Love on Me) and later that night they have them.

For reference, I’m operating with Tav as a Bard because that makes the most sense given the nature of a musical. So they sing Super Trouper to Soph with Karlach and Shadowheart (Because I firmly believe Lae’zel, Minthara, and Jaheira would sooner kill Tav then get up on stage to sing. Even Shadowheart has to suitably pregame. Karlach is just down to clown always)

Gimmie! Gimmie! Gimmie! happens and instead of Bill’s counterpart doing the “How old are you?” “twenty!” “AUGHH” bit it’s Soph and Astarion  (Sorry Halsin is too unflappable for this and Astarion is just too funny). This starts The Name of the Game. Nothing changes other than a different dad is on deck.

While this above scene is happening Halsin confronts Tav during the party starting the first of the two songs I have added from the sequel, Why Did It Have To Be Me? It’s frankly kind of perfect for Halsin and Tav’s fling. It’s about something that is supposed to be fun turning into something more serious and genuine, mirroring how Halsin asks Tav to go with him to Reithwin and Tav denies it to run to this island.

We round out the night with Voulez-Vous and Gale and Halsin realizing they also are possibly Soph’s parents. End Act 1 lmao (but literally, this is the end of Act 1 in the stage show)

Opening with Under Attack which is only in the stage production and is a banger song nothing changes though so I’m going to move on cause shit’s about to get wild in terms of song changes.

Starting strong with the second of the added sequel songs. In my mind these next couple take place on the same “set” for lack of a better term. The Companions + Tav  are all chilling on the beach hanging out. Someone comes and flirts with Gale (which hell yeah, talk about a silver fox *wolf whistles*) prompting Tav to sing Angel Eyes which is a song all about warning the next person to come along about your former partner. Gale fires back with Knowing Me, Knowing You, a song from the musical. The major change here is that I’ve screwed with the order of it. It now happens significantly earlier in the plot.

After Tav and Gale have thoroughly soured the vibe and both stormed off, Mol siddels up and decides she’s got a shot with women nearly 3x her age who could kill her with a look. Minthara and Lae’zel sing Does Your Mother Know (which either can be a dig at Raphael if you think Mol still has her contract or her new patron because I sincerely believe Mol is destined to be a Rogue/Warlock multiclass or also just vaguely fucked up cause Mol is an orphan OR EVEN BETTER it’s in reference to Nine-Fingers Keene). This song has also changed positions, happening much earlier but I think it rounds out a scene with very few loose ends.

I think this is where the scene of Gale trying to talk Soph out of getting married happens. It doesn’t go over well to say the least. Minsc swoops in after Gale has retreated with his tail between his legs and gives that convoluted, somewhat similar but heaps less serious monologue I mentioned in the character explanations.

Anyways Gale decides to appeal to a higher power, that being Tav who has retreated to their room after the beach fiasco. I feel like Jaheira would be there comforting them not going to lie. I’m still not convinced the old Harper would be up to a beach day with the spunky and much more youthful heroes of Baldur’s Gate. She’s the one that lets Gale in before scooting off to give them some privacy.

More Musical scenes! Gale comes at first to ask if Soph is really sure about this because they have their whole life ahead of them and so much talent (I mean who wouldn’t with the family and friends they’ve grown up around). They should be off finding adventure, not settling down. It spawns an argument that ends with them both realizing they don’t want to fight anymore and both really miss the way it was before and regret how it ended. But this where Tav lays it bare to Gale that he broke their heart and they are still mad and don’t know if they can forgive him. (One of Us) 

SOS follows right on its heels. I can’t remember if in the stage production SOS is sung face to face or if Donna and Sam are in separate areas like the film. I really like the way it’s framed in the film and I’d like to make it angstier by having them sing it on opposite sides of Tav’s bedroom door. 

Now here is where I waffle once again. In the musical Donna basically spends the entire afternoon getting bombarded by the dads in her room talking to her about the past and about Sophie and the wedding. Everyone gets a song except Bill for some reason? But I think it's a character choice because he does later state he’s not one for singing (Halsin getting a sequel song was to make up for this oversight). Sam gets SOS and Knowing Me, Knowing You a little later. Harry gets Our Last Summer. We’ve already run that song movie style  but I still really like it’s context in the Musical. So I considered Astarion for a little bit but it was missing the mark. Then I considered Halsin doing it because that kind of romantic wistfulness is much more his style and it still wasn’t totally hitting the mark. So I decided to make it a reprise sung by all three of the dads. This time it is as it is intended, a song about reminiscing on romantic past encounters. 

This also serves to pull the three away so Soph can ask Tav to help them get ready (I like to imagine Gale, Astarion, and Halsin are getting ready for the Wedding and reminiscing). This starts Slipping Through My Fingers and cues the waterworks from me. Fuck I love this song. 

Blah blah blah, final wedding prep and it’s time for a power belt from our resident Donna. Gale comes along and tries to talk with Tav AGAIN, beginning The Winner Take It All. 

Escaping Gale, we start the wedding. I’m not entirely sure I want Soph to decide to call the whole thing off mid ceremony and decide to have adventures with their partner. I honestly feel like they could still get married and the end result will be the same, so that one is dealer's choice. 

Whatever you decide, Tav has to announce during the wedding that Gale, Halsin, and Astarion are the three possible fathers and they isn’t sure which. IDK mushy shit can happen here with all the companions stepping up to be recognized as Soph’s parents cause they all collectively helped raise them. Once again the dealer's choice but we need that final angst.

When the wedding ends, prematurely or otherwise, Gale decides to give it one last shot and proposes to Tav (“why waste a perfectly good wedding?”) and that starts I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do. Tav and Gale get married and here comes another big music change! Waterloo! Which only is an encore track. Here, it’s serving as a transition song. It’s Tav and Gale reflecting on their love story while we move from the wedding into the reception.

The reception is undoubtedly is a blast and a half with people like the Companions present. Gale sings When All is Said and Done as a wedding toast (this song is also only featured in the movie and Pierce Brosnan tries which is all we can ask of him lmao)

While the party is ramping up Karlach realizes love is in the air and this shit is now or never. She sings Take a Chance on Me to Wyll. 

This is why I didn’t go with Wyll for Sam/the one to end up with Donna (cause I’m sure with some finangling/dialogue scenes Tav could easily end up with someone else. The Winner Takes It All can wrap Sam’s story up nicely). I really wanted the frankly adorable idea of Wyll and Karlach finally realizing they’ve been through a lot and they really like each other. 

There is a Tanya and Pepper verse in there that can be covered by Mol and whichever cougar you choose, Minthara or Lae’zel. Personally I think Minthara is the funniest choice cause Mol has NO IDEA what she’s getting into. 

We wrap the banger party with an I Have a Dream reprise sung by Soph.

Roll Credits

BALDUR'S GATE 3 x MAMMA MIA! AU

CHARACTERS

[YOU HAVE PERMISSION TO USE MY IDEA FOR ANYTHING YOU WANT, I ONLY ASK YOU CREDIT ME]

(break to save your dash)

Now, not every character is going to fit cleanly into character slots (there are too many characters to fill the main cast) so some of our Baldur's Gate loves will be sharing character traits and plot devices amongst each other.

Let’s start with Donna: She will be played by Tav obviously. I mean there really is no other choice here. We need someone who has gotten romantically entangled with multiple if not all the companions. The one unfortunate snag is that Tav has to carry or otherwise create the child of dubious parentage without the other parent knowing. That does pigeonhole the characterization a bit unless you want to go the magic route with it (which opens a line of ethical questioning beyond not telling the Parent of your child about the existence of said child)

For the purposes of this thought experiment, I'm operating under Tav being AFAB and having a womb to carry the baby. I’m also operating under the idea that all the companions have the reproductive organs of the gender they present as in game. If anyone wants to actually do something with this they are free to do whatever the fuck they want and use whatever headcanons they want. 

Sophie is going to be played by Tav’s kid. This one doesn’t have a hard and fast gender rule (TIL Sophus is the masculine version of Sophie) but they have to want to know who their other sire is and be generally chaotic which is not hard when they’ve grown up with the Tadfools as their role models. It is important that they display mostly Tav’s traits with others that could be any one of their other parent’s. (think Amanda Siefried and Meryl Streep are both blonde and similarly built. Sophie draws like Sam and sings and plays like Harry and has Bill’s adventurous spunk)

For ease of writing Tav’s Kid will be referred to as Soph from here on out.

Speaking of Sires, the Dads:

Sam: I waffled a LOT on who to choose out of the Baldur’s Boys because I wanted to keep it to just the traditional three and to just companions. You can obviously shuffle around people (I'm sure the Rolan girlies (gender neutral) would love putting him in this AU) and expand the possible dad list (though I don’t know how to split the characteristics like the Donna’s Friends). I chose to go with Gale here. I think he fits the very no nonsense and very anxious vibes from Sam in the show/movie. Instead of a business person who “went home to get married” perhaps Gale got called upon by Mystra as her Chosen and left to focus on his Wizardry. He is definitely the kind to break Tav’s heart over duty and be so ashamed he doesn’t really speak to them for 20 years. 

Bill: This one was damn near a no brainer once I was considering it. It’s Halsin. Who better to be the Hippie, fun-loving, sex god and travel writer? He retains all his Baldur’s Gate characteristics. His experience with Tav is truly just a bit of fun before they both go their separate ways. Their relationship is HEAPS less frigid than Gale and Tav’s. 

Now this is where you can go two ways with this. You could give Halsin is canon good ending (Reithwin with the kids) BUT we miss Bill being scared shitless at the prospect of having a child which I always loved as a characterization (Skarsgard plays it like a champ in the film, he looks like he’s gonna have a heart attack lmao). I feel like Clan Dad Halsin after 20 years is way too open to the idea of having something permanent like a kid. Wandering Arch Druid Halsin might be a little more scared shitless at the idea. That one is a personal preference, I think I’d prefer Reithwin Halsin even though I miss the majesty of an internal conflict.

Harry: Now this one also was a no-brainer but needs to be explained with some tact. It’s Astarion. It is not because Astarion is the most effeminate of the group. For those that don’t know, Harry is canonically gay. The companions are all pan. I chose Astarion because there is an opportunity to do something else transformative with Astarion and Tav’s tryst. 

In Mamma Mia, Harry talks about how Donna is the last and only woman he’s loved and their time together helped him accept his sexuality. In the stage show he’s in a committed relationship (his partner's name is fully escaping me atm). It always stuck out to me that Donna changed Harry and that’s why he still loves her after all these years. Sam obviously regrets leaving to do what was expected of him because he didn’t love his first wife. Bill sees the life of adventure and companionship he could have had with Donna but acknowledges that that time is behind them and still loves her anyways. And Harry loves that Donna made him see himself clearly for the first time in his life and loves her for it. You can see why Astarion came to mind I hope. 

Astarion’s night with Tav was him figuring out what intimacy meant to him after finally closing the Cazador Chapter of his life. The encounter was brief but it changed him for the better and allowed him to start healing.

EDIT: I realized I didn’t cover Astarion’s Vampirism at all. For story purposes assume he has some kind of temporary solution to the sun issue because I need his ass to be present when this is set on a fantasy Greek island. The Dhampir issue is… something. I sludged through some further thought experiments. Tav and the kid being Tieflings hides the fang coloration issue. Explaining away that the characteristics haven’t presented yet because the kid is still quite young by nearly all standards (20 is just barely of age for humans, and though they are full grown biologically they are still children in Elven society) and also have been largely sheltered from danger their whole life also works.

But to be honest, despite what the second movie and its director want you to believe, I think Harry is the least likely father of the three. I am comfortable extending this to Astarion. 

Okay now we are into the Dynamos! Fuck yes! Rosie and Tanya are my favorites (it helps that they are PERFECTLY casted in the movie oh my god). I have split their characteristics across the girls. There are some of the companions that are obviously one or the other (Karlach is the most Rosie coded while Minthara SCREAMS Tanya) while others send mixed signals (Shadowheart is the most even, skewing towards Tanya slightly while Lae’zel has Tanya’s bitchy attitude and Rosie’s  “lone wolf” outlook) SO I’m going to make a chart

Like Astarion, for story purposes, assume Karlach’s heart issue has been solved.

Graphic design is my passion

ANYWAYS you may have noticed three of our friends are missing from this line up. Our intrepid Folk Hero Formally Known As The Blade of Frontiers, Wyll, Pack Mother, Jaheria, and her trusty ride or die Rashamen, Minsc (and don’t forget Boo!). 

I had some trouble with these nerds because initially I was playing with making Wyll the second half of Sam, he would have usurped the businessman and maybe the gone home to get married bit while Gale was the heartbreaker and took something from Bill’s characterization, but I was having trouble with losing character motivations. Plus Wyll is canonically not the type for flings. So I am having him be a good family friend invited to the wedding but not involved in the parentage. He essentially is a more involved part of the Greek Chorus. He could take Sam entirely if you are not the type for Gale but you will see why I did this when I get into the songs (yes I am that fucking insane about this.) 

Jaheira does have the countenance to be a Dynamo BUT there is this minor character that I think about way too often that I wanted her to take. She is only mentioned in the first movie and the stage show in one line and seen a little in the second movie (which is a fever dream and convolutes the “lore” but I love it anyways). It’s Bill’s Great Aunt Sophia that left Donna the money to start Villa Donna. OBVIOUSLY she isn’t directly going to be playing Halsin’s Great Aunt or be dead (though she will be ancient by then) but she’s going to fill the mentor role for Tav and help out with Soph. She is the only one who knows that Gale Halsin and Astarion are the possible fathers until the beginning of the shenanigans.

Minsc, like Wyll, doesn’t have a direct parallel. He is also a part of the more involved Greek Chorus. He is Soph’s crazy uncle. He got them into all kinds of trouble and still does to this day. He gives a less emotional and personal version of Sam’s “are you sure you want to do this, you are so young” speech that essentially is offering to run off and be warriors (His plan does not get them away from anyone, he’s unanimously elected that the entire tadfool group is coming with them). But he does it after Gale gives the original speech that severely upsets Soph so it serves as a cheer up speech (“Minsc is unsure if the Wizard should come along seeing as he has upset the little warrior so, but Boo says he is very useful and Minsc agrees. So he can come with, but he does not get to pet Boo’s furry little bottom!”). 

The rest of our Greek Chorus and people like Sky and Sophie’s Friends are filled out by various NPCs. Pepper is played by Mol. Ali and Lisa are open to OCs to be honest but the idea of Yenna and Arabella hearing the saucy details of a story they were partly involved in is really funny to me so they are listed in the song list as the backup singers. Sky is an OC because I wasn’t fully comfortable using any of the child NPCs. He’s referred to as Soph’s partner.