#two roads au

[fayefableillustrations]

Day 2: Fae/Kiss

A fae prompt? A fae Spiderbit prompt? I made a whole book (that I still haven’t shared online), so I had to share!

I am so sorry for anyone who wants to know more about my AU, but I have been working hard on it! I just finished a journal from Roier’s POV about the fae wilds. Which included a whole castle painting

[donelywell]

It's been a year, so here's the wrap up!

I actually haven't posted a lot of this art- or other art that I've made this year haha. Took a major break from going online and even Sonic as a whole for a few months even.

I feel like I haven't changed my style that much, but I did change a bit. I don't color the whites of eyes anymore, I figured out how to make things glow, and I sometimes color my lines too!

[m1d-45]

dancing soldiers

summary: meka are infallible. meka do not stray from their path.. except when they do.

word count: ~2k

-> warnings: spoilers for fontaine (name and mechanics of open world boss)

-> gn reader (you/yours) and aether as traveller

taglist: @samarill || @thenyxsky || @valeriele3 || @shizunxie || @boba-is-a-soup || @yuus3n || @esthelily || @turningfrogsgay || @cupandtea24 || @genshin-impacts-me || @chaoticfivesworld || @raaawwwr || @ryuryuryuyurboat || @undrxtxd

< masterlist >

fontaine was known for a wide variety of things, from their ornate fountains to the elaborate clothing it seemed nobody was without. any visitors from other nations were greeted by sweeping architecture and the sound of bubbling fonta, and swimming was a must. but even through the shine of the great lake, their fantastical clockwork meka was definitely the star of the show. every traveller was quickly starstruck by the machines roaming the streets, fitted uniforms not masking the clunking of gears within their chests. even underwater, scanning for raiders and filtering the water, keeping the water clear and cool. faceless, cold, employed both privately and for government work, the perfect tool for their job. they had one job, and they did it well.

meka were designed to protect. to guard. to defend their charge, whether that presented as patrolling a barge of merchants or leading the blind through the winding streets of the city. powered by indemnitium and equipped with efficient charging ports, every meka is intended to outlast their creators. few actually do, whether weakened by arkhe or attacked by those opposing their duty, but it remains a fact that they stick to their orders until the last spark fades from their circuits.

they are perfect workers. they do not disobey, they do not stray from their task. their actions are calculated in a split second, every movement taken to further their given goal.

lead.

support.

shield.

“dance!”

maillardet threw aside the screwdriver in his hand in frustration, kicking at the frost gathering in the arena. behind him, unmoving, were his magnum opus… though they refused to move.

“dance, dance. what’s the point of you?”

they did not dance. they did not move. they stood, hand in hand, one beside the other. coppelius and coppelia, the only signs of life being the frosty wind that would occasionally sweep by. they were in standby, with deflated skirts and unmoving hydraulics. normally, them being still would make maintenance easier, but their plates did not move as they should. he couldn’t even remove coppelius’ hat.

it was convenient, just not for him.

“looks to paimon like might just be the fault of poor design.” you watched from between the hairline gap in coppelia’s skirt, seeing paimon cross her arms. your traveller was stumped as well, merely shrugging.

“theyre infused with opposite arkhe,” aether said simply. “maybe they finally reacted with each other?”

“that’s impossible! the arkhe is held within them, far from where the other could react with it, and only one of them are externally charged at any one time.”

“so… why not reset them? paimon remembers one of the melusines saying that most meka around the city just need to be reset from time to time.”

“in those cases, the meka are given conflicting orders, typically by children. all these two need to do is dance, and-“ his voice choked, aether and paimon moving out of your field of vision to presumable comfort him. you try to shift and see, but coppelia’s skirt twitches inward, keeping you where you are.

you’re sheltered between the two meka, coppelius’ cape-thing making up for the gaps in coppelia’s skirt. you were lucky you hadn’t been seen yet, truthfully… but you didn’t want to stress out maillardet.

“what am i supposed to do?” he asked, words shaky. “i promised the chief justice i’d keep them functional for the divine one, and now- you know what they’re like, and they’re both broken-“

“h-hey, it’s okay! paimon’s certain you’ll get them working again! besides, they still seem to be functional, right?” she flies up, and you flinch at the knock of her hand on metal. it echoes around you, much louder than it should be in your hiding space. “oof, still as cold as ever…

“you should just restart it.”

“are you sure? what if something goes wrong? i can’t even perform maintenance, what if i can’t turn them back on after? you know how they acted last time—if lady furina wasn’t there, then..”

“..it’s better than nothing. besides-“ metal skidded over ice, and you see the flicker of aether’s boot as he kicks the discarded screwdriver back near maillardet’s bag of tools. “-you could always just not put them in stand-by. if they’re broken like this, just leave them dancing. i doubt they’ll notice, and it’ll buy you time until they want to visit again.”

”yeah! you only have a handful of hours until they arrive in fontaine, and it’s not like anything worse can happen!”

“i..” he sighed, and a long moment passed. “i guess trying is worse than doing nothing..”

“that’s the spirit!”

your hands twitch into fists, only partly from the cold. the ‘god’ they spoke of so highly, the one that got you into this mess… who were they, anyway? even you didn’t blame maillardet for needing maintenance between fights, but from his fear it sounded like they’d kill him for a malfunction.

you put those thoughts aside, pressing close to coppelia’s core as the meka were powered down. both of them slumped forward, a shift in their plating allowing a cold wind in. you shivered, and briefly considered praying before deciding against it—what god would answer?

gears clicked and switches flipped, both meka making various hisses. the elemental power seeping from both of them slowly ceased, and your heart picked up. how would this end? after a reset, would they remember to hide you? or would you get crushed beneath their skates as they danced?

“…you two should leave the arena.”

“why?”

“is something wrong?”

“no, but if they begin to dance again, i don’t want you to get hurt.”

“what about you? let me do it, i’m more experienced with combat.”

“it’s alright. in the early stages of their development, they didn’t even have a standby mode, so i’m used to repairing them while they’re dancing. don’t worry, i can get the memory you need unharmed.”

memory?

their memory? when aether had first approached, you’d assumed the ‘sabotage’ maillardet was talking about was the fact that neither of the meka would move. it made sense to want the memory to show which direction the saboteur left in, but that memory would show you, the most hated person in all of teyvat, and the melusine that had helped you hide from the gardes. veleda… you couldn’t let her take the fall for whatever crime you’d committed. she didn’t deserve that.

you take a breath, preparing to make a run over it, when you hear a small click. all at once, coppelia’s skirt snaps back to it’s normal formation, and you catch a glimpse of the traveller’s shocked expression before you’re pulled up and away. coppelius pulls you into his arms, coppelia smoothy following, spinning circles around the two of you like a top. when the two you skid to a stop near the edge of the arena, you quickly get your bearings, only mildly motion sick from the ordeal. maillardet is sitting in the middle of the arena, knocked off his feet beside his tools, and aether and paimon stand on the pathway leading back to the fountain. nobody says anything for a good few moments, the silence tense.

“…at least we know where they went?” paimon asks nervously, and aether draws his sword. coppelia sweeps in front of you and coppelius as he begins to walk towards you, and maillardet quickly gets up. he briefly slips on the icy floor, but quickly intercepts him, his words barely audible.

“traveller, the meka-”

“was tampered with.” his voice is cold, and you shiver at the weight of his glare. “don’t worry, i got it.”

“listen to me, please. coppelius and coppelia follow all the standard guidelines for meka-”

“this isn’t about you!” he shouts, “this is about something much more important then your meka!” his sword points at you, a shining blade despite the name. “this is about a crime too large for your opera house to handle.”

coppelius holds you tighter. the sound of his anger- of his hate makes your heart burn as it sinks, leaving an empty pit. you knew fontaine wasn’t the best at justice, but…

“traveller, have you ever read the machining requirements for battle meka?”

“why is this relevant? why am i talking to you?” he pushes off his hand and begins to walk, leaving paimon behind. after a moment, she gasps loudly, rushing forward to pull on his braid.

“wait! freminet lent paimon his copy of those guidelines once! she knows what maillardet means!”

“so what?”

your twin meka begin to slowly skate away from aether as he nears, ignoring paimon. maillardet is looking through his bag, searching for something, but all you can see are the traveller’s eyes. your traveller’s eyes, all your months of gameplay boiling into his rage.

maybe if the circumstances were different you’d forgive him for being so angry, but as it stands you’re barely convinced you’ll live through the hour.

“one of the clauses was about a special line of code that all the battle-capable mekas had to have- stop walking and listen!”

“how does that connect to this? don’t you care for our god? why are you stopping me?”

“because it’s about our god! don’t you remember? navia told you when we stayed with the spina de rosula!”

he does stop, then, staring paimon down instead. “fine. what is it?”

she lets go of his braid, waving a hand between the icewind suite and maillardet as she talks. “mekas have a special override wired into them in the case that the abyss got ahold of them which shuts down their combat functions when faced with the creator! it’s weaker when triggered through their vessels—which is why their attacks are limited instead of stopped—but is mandatory for every meka that’s combat ready, including coppelia and coppelius!”

aether turns to you, conflicted. you still carried in coppelius’ arms, you hidden under the plating of coppelia’s skirt, you who made the meka disobey their creator. you, the creator of those that made them.

“…maillardet?”

“it’s true, cease your fire.” he lifts a plain notebook from his bag, not that aether turns to see it. “i have my maintenance notes here. that override was the first thing i added, even before i gave them their weaponry. let’s bring our findings to the iudex and let our lord relax. please.”

aether’s sword dissolves into dust, a mix of shock and confusion still lingering on his face as he’s pulled away by paimon’s hand on his shoulder. maillardet packs his things and follows, taking some time to pick his way through the frosted floor. once the arena is cleared, coppelius skates to the center, setting you down carefully. then, he takes coppelia’s hand in his, leading her away. they begin their dance around you, gears clicking with elaborate pirouettes, leaving you in the middle of it all to wonder what just happened.

[instantartific]

Reflections

[mollysunder]

A while back I saw someone ask if Vander would have accepted Jayce's deal to give Jinx up for Zaun. The resounding response was "No", because Vander was already put in that position (sort of), and he chose to protect his children by giving himself up, and Vander would never be in that position to begin with. Those are correct statements, but they're not relevant to the question.

The question was, if Jinx decided to escalate tensions with acts of theft and violence that brought Piltover's attention, would Vander let Jinx be sent to Stillwater? I think the chance of him saying yes is at least more than 0.

We're not talking about all the kids getting caught up in a robbery gone wrong. We're talking about an older Jinx going solo into Piltover for targeted destruction havoc. In a universe where she everyone's still alive, Piltover still exists, and her hatred for that place would still burn and grow with time. The question really was, if Jinx put Vander in the same position Silco did in the past would he decide to give her up?

For Vander, what's on the line isn't Zaunite independence for Zaun, it's the safety of his family, his friends, and the population of the Undercity against Piltover's retaliation. He'd probably have even less moves to play than Silco did at the end. Vander can't give himself up, Jinx's name has already been leaked, and he is agonizingly aware of what Piltover's capable of.

Would he try to have her sent away? Vander wasn't willing to throw someone else under the bus for the kids in the past, so would he do it for a young adult Jinx who's more responsible for her actions? Would he think Stillwater is a better alternative for Jinx who may end up getting herself killed? Maybe he can try to plead for banishment (though that seems to be reserved for Piltovans)?

The question really stuck with me because Vander was willing to kill a man he considered his brother because he went too far, what does that mean for a daughter that won't back down from her own agenda?

[discordiansamba]

ah. that's an AU idea for a completely different fandom forming in my head.

[doodlingbot]

Some stuff I did for a swap au that my friend vaguely offhandedly mentioned as a what if but then I latched onto fairly hard immediately and started doing stuff for it. The basic concept thrown my way was simply a swap between Neon J and Tatiana.

Whoops there's so much to think about now.

bonus:

[shoot-i-messed-up]

That last part is literally Hal and Clark in my Superlantern Road Trip AU 😭😭😭😭

[etchy-a-sketchy]

Wake up people!! Chapter 1 is here!!!!!

[fayefableillustrations]

Spiderbit Week Day 3 & 4

(Except I just finished my art finals- so I finally have time and no deadlines. Thank you for lovely prompts)

Prompt List by @anonymous-dentist

Prompt: Superhero & Kiss

[raccoon-crown]

INKTOBER 2024: ROAD [Day 27]

So... what if Silver and Blaze were from the same time and dimension from the beginning?

What if they met when they were really, like really little?

What If I had a fic about this that I have to get back somehow?

What if...??

[aliendragondreaming]

Im replaying Spiritfarer, pray for me

[cerealforkart]

Fairytale Lovesong AU where they go on an epic quest and fall in love by accident

[heathersapples]

@crewlin

COME BACK HERE. NOW

[06strawberrylemonade28]

guys pro tip don't listen to phoebe bridgers and think about jelsa

(just kidding do it)

waiting room?! graceland too? so them dude. so them.

[diviningtime]

Continued from here @thehxrkness

"It is a skill!" Lilia insisted in frustration. She was so fed up of witches like Agatha dismissing divination tools; if it required any kind of interpretation, it wasn't important enough. Or real enough.

"But fine," she decided, taking the cards in her hand and placing them in a pile in front of Agatha. "If it isn't real witchcraft, do it yourself. Read the cards."