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ohayohimawari · 3 years

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And it was Love at First Brawl

A drabble written for Day 7 of @kakaobiweek Violet | Music | Fantasy

This is another humorous piece appropriate for teen-and-up readers and set in a modern AU.

This drabble is heavily inspired by my good friend @azuzeldraws incredible art series, Metal Konoha, and I dedicate this chapter to her. Thank you, Zu, for letting us use your amazing work to promote this event!

And it was Love at First Brawl

It was one of those Friday nights when Kakashi left the restaurant with a stomach full of his favorite supper and an empty soul after dining alone.

Though the day neared its end, Konoha’s club district was just beginning to wake. The streets were full of jaywalkers, inexperienced parallel-parkers, and the night owl versions of early birds lined up in boisterous queues waiting for the bars to open.

Kakashi felt entirely out of place and maybe almost too old for this scene while he dutifully waited at the corner for the pedestrian crossing light to signal his turn. He stepped into the crosswalk once it was safe, and he saw a man on the opposite side, jogging towards the intersection to cross before the light changed.

Kakashi stopped in his tracks in the middle of the street, entirely entranced.

He watched the individual blades of the other man’s black, unruly hair as they bounced with each step. He wore a t-shirt that fitted him like he was born to wear it and a healthy glow on every inch of exposed skin. His sparkling eyes met Kakashi’s as he trotted past him on the street and offered a greeting through a roguish grin. “Hey.”

And that was all it took.

Being a classic lit teacher, he had a multitude of words at his disposal. That man was vivacity personified, and Kakashi turned on his heel, following him with his eyes. The dark-haired man ran right up to the door of the seediest bar on the street and gleefully skipped up the stairs. He exchanged laughter and a handshake with the bouncer and disappeared inside.

The pedestrian light flashed red, alerting Kakashi that he still stood in the middle of the street. His feet moved of their own accord, and a moment later, his brain agreed with their plan. He retraced his steps, abandoning his intention to go home, knowing he would abandon much more than that for a chance to meet the stranger that charmed him.

As driven as he was, Kakashi hesitated for a moment outside of the club, assessing it. The sidewalk in front of it was littered with empty bottles and cigarette butts, and two people appeared to be doing something he didn’t want to interrupt in the shadows of the alley next to it. Then, he assessed himself.

He was dressed more casually than usual, out for a date with nobody but him, wearing a t-shirt that featured a band called ROOT. He had no idea who they were, or why they used all capital letters, but his students chose it from the trendy store Boiling Subject as a gift for him, and it was comfortable after wearing a tie all day. Deciding that his attire was appropriate for the venue, Kakashi walked up the stairs that led to the door, where he was stopped by the same menacing bouncer that laughed only moments before.

“You sure you wanna do this?” The man growled through scarred lips.

“Pretty sure,” Kakashi replied, though his confidence wavered.

“We don’t want any trouble.” The man’s muscles bulged in a show of strength as he folded his arms across his chest.

“I don’t want to bring any,” Kakashi replied, honestly.

“Let him in, Ibiki.” A pony-tailed bartender wearing a high-cut shirt that showed more cleavage than fabric chastised the bouncer.

“Whatever you say, Anko,” Ibiki moved aside to allow Kakashi into the bar.

As foreboding as the exchange was, it caught the attention of the handsome dark-haired stranger who stood at the bar. Bolstered, Kakashi stood in the space next to him.

“What can I getcha, hon?” Anko tossed a stained cardboard coaster onto the bar in front of him.

“A beer,” Kakashi ordered as if he’d never been to a pub before, too nervous to recall his favorite drink.

Anko retrieved a bottle from the cooler behind her while Kakashi withdrew a few bills from his wallet. Then, he wrapped his hand around the bottle of Lone Ninja Star she offered after opening it with her teeth.

Kakashi ignored how unhygienic it was to take a sip from the bottle as he did it, glancing around the bar, looking everywhere but at the man that led him there. It was half-full of patrons in various stages of sobriety and had a stage all set up and waiting for a band to perform. When he finished noting where all the emergency exits were, the most incredible thing happened.

“Cheers,” Mr. Vivacity said, bringing their beer bottles together in a toast.

“Cheers,” Kakashi replied, then pulled a long swig from the bottle, savoring the moment that the man of his dreams had spoken first.

“So, uh,” the dark-haired man glanced down at Kakashi’s shirt, and a chuckle bubbled out of him, “you like this band too?” He tilted his head in the direction of the stage.

“Um, yeah," Kakashi stammered, "I mean, yes. Yes, I do."

"Cool," Mr. Vivacity replied with a smile that made Kakashi's knees buckle. "Which of their CDs is your favorite?"

Kakashi's quick mind kicked into gear on the spot. If the band had multiple releases, then the safest answer would be, "I think their first one."

"Really?" The dark-haired man appeared pleasantly surprised. "So, you're an old-school fan, huh?"

“Yep, I guess I am,” Kakashi laughed a little awkwardly and brought his beer back to his lips.

“I think my favorite track on that one is, Kill Me With Your Kekkei Genkai,” Mr. Vivacity nodded, thinking aloud, and Kakashi felt his eyes bulge, worried that he might not be able to keep up the facade. But then he was spared when the other man suddenly changed the subject. “By the way, my name is—”

“Crybaby Tobi, you finally made it!” A man with slicked blonde hair and wearing a shirt with religious cult symbols literally crashed into their conversation, spilling his beer on Kakashi’s shirt.

The unwelcome interruption glanced at him. “My bad,” he drawled unapologetically, looking down at the soiled shirt. Then, his eyes shot up to meet Kakashi’s.

“WHOA! You’ve got balls, man!”

“Thank you,” Kakashi decided to take it as a compliment, turning towards the bar to grab a few napkins. He blotted at his shirt when Anko shouted to him that there was a hot air dryer in the men’s room, and, as much as Kakashi didn’t want to walk away from Mr. Crybaby before he could learn his real name, he didn’t want to stand there like an idiot in a wet ROOT t-shirt.

By the time he exited the bathroom, a makeshift merchandise table had appeared near it, so he bee-lined to it to learn more about the band to contribute to a conversation about them. At least, now he knew the band’s name was ANBU, and he wondered what was up with bands using all capital letters.

He had barely begun to browse the tracklist on the back of one of the CDs when the purple-haired, facial-pierced woman at the table asked, “You gonna buy that?”

Something about her tone made Kakashi feel obligated to pull out his wallet, and he handed over a twenty-dollar bill.

“I don’t have change for that,” she deadpanned, bored, and sarcastic.

Suddenly, the bar erupted with shouting, so Kakashi quickly grabbed a second CD to even out the exchange and hurried back to the bar and Mr. Vivacity, or Crybaby, or whoever he was.

Then, his heart sank when he saw that the other man wasn’t there anymore.

Kakashi stood in front of the stage feeling like the biggest fish out of water when the club’s sound system screamed into life with the ear-splitting sound of feedback through the amps. Kakashi covered his ears and spun around in time to catch the band taking their positions onstage.

The singer set down a six-pack next to his mic and yanked one can of beer free from it. He held it sideways in his hand, pulled out a kunai, and stabbed it in the middle before bringing the punctured hole to his mouth.

“Tenzō! Tenzō! Tenzō!” The crowd chanted while he shotgunned the beer and cheered when he crushed the empty can against his head. He grabbed the microphone in front of him when his large, almond eyes made bigger by copious amounts of black eyeliner landed on Kakashi.

“What the fu —” He roared, launching himself off the stage, tackling Kakashi to the ground.

Even though he was a classic lit teacher, Kakashi held his own for a long time in a fight against a bar full of punks until he took one bottle to the head too many and woke up in the alley next to the bar.

“Hey,” Kakashi winced as he turned his head to see who spoke to him, already recognizing that voice and feeling a little happier than concussed. “You okay?”

“I think so,” Kakashi muttered, “thanks, Mr. Crybaby.”

“It’s Obito,” the other man laughed, “and you’re welcome, Mr. Metalhead.”

“I didn’t fool you for a second, did I?” Kakashi licked at his fattened, split bottom lip, hoping he looked like he deserved sympathy. “I’m Kakashi, by the way.”

Obito snickered and pressed a bag of ice against Kakashi’s head. “I figured you didn’t quite know what you walked into, wearing a ROOT t-shirt to an ANBU gig.”

“What was that all about?”

“Tenzō used to be the drummer for that band, but he had a big blow-up with their manager, Danzō, so he quit and formed his own band. There’s a lot of bad blood there.”

Kakashi looked down, embarrassed, not knowing what to say and feeling like a total idiot.

“Why did you come to the bar?” Obito asked quietly.

Kakashi sighed through his nose. If he learned anything that night, it was that honesty probably came with less violence. “You.”

“Me?” Obito asked, even more timidly.

“Yeah,” Kakashi glanced up at him. “You passed me on the street, and, I… I just had to meet you,” he felt a little like a weirdo admitting it out loud, but he was past the point of stopping now. “I dunno, I, I just had a feeling, and I didn’t want to let you slip away.”

“Me too,” Obito confided, lowering the bag of ice, and Kakashi peered at him through the eye that wasn’t swollen shut. “I was just about to run back out when you showed up at the door. I uh, I’m the sound guy here,” he tilted his head towards the bar, “and I was running late; otherwise, I would’ve stopped right there in the crosswalk. But when I saw the band was running late, I was about to go after you,” he ended with a shy smirk.

“You’re the sound guy?” Kakashi’s brain was turning to mush and it had nothing to do with how many blows he took to the face.

“Yeah, I, uh,” Obito brought the ice back up to Kakashi’s head, “I messed with their levels hoping the feedback would distract Tenzō long enough for you to get out of his line of sight, but,” he grimaced.

“You wanna go for a drink with me?” Kakashi mumbled, knowing he couldn’t embarrass himself anymore that night.

Obito chuckled at him and held up his hand. “How many fingers do you see?”

Kakashi focused on the fingers in front of his face. “Three?”

Obito laughed louder and stood up, “Wrong.” He helped Kakashi to his feet, “Looks like Konoha ER is our first date.”

#kakaobiweek2021 #kakaobi #kakashi #obito #day 7 #hima writes

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gamergirlshelby · 3 years

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"Can we talk about the BNHA OC Comeback timeline? I've been dying to talk about my theories for the BNHA OC Comeback timeline all day!"

-Me to anyone willing to listen.

Here are the ramblings of me, someone who has no restraint when it comes to coming up with crazy theories about their interests, rambling about their theories on how the BNHA OC Comeback timeline could work.

Note: this is all speculation, and if the people in charge of the AU deem it to not be canon it is not. This was just something I did for fun because I wanted to do some writing. That is why I said could happen and not should happen, because this is all just fun speculation, and none of the other fandoms I am a part of have been able to scratch that itch for me lately.

Also, I will be talking about spoilers for a majority of the anime, but mostly stuff revealed in seasons 3-5, with a little bit of stuff from seasons 1 and 2, since those are the seasons with a lot of the important details that I will be attempting to write work arounds for. I will also be using the Wiki's names for story arcs (a list of which can be found here) when referring to specific plot events.

My ramblings about my theories are under the read more:

Also, to start this off, this speculation was pretty much brought upon by this post from the official BNHA OC Comeback blog, but what is important here is the tags.

I think the idea of Class 1-A and Class 1-B being third years would be a good starting point for what I want to be diving into.

First point should be a little obvious but in this timeline, Deku still inherits One for All from All Might. This is mainly because if he didn't, if someone where to write or draw an interaction between this version of class 1-A with, lets say class 1-X for this example, Deku would likely not be there, due to not having a quirk, causing the question of "who is the 20th student in class 1-A?" One for All would likely be passed down to someone else (most likely Mirio because Nighteye was going to recommend him to All Might in the first place, and if Deku is not going to inherit it, I doubt there would be anything in the way of Mirio getting One for All)

Second point I want to point out is the battle between All Might and All for One that had happened before the events of the show. I think All Might will still suffer from his injuries from the fight, and continue being the symbol of peace, even if it is killing him. BUT I think it would be best if All for One gets defeated and gets put into hiding, not initiating any of his plans or finding Tomura Shigaraki. Tomura never getting taken in by One for All would also cause the League of Villains to never form (at least not in the way we are familiar with) so we.

Third Point is, although this is speculation, and I do not know where Nomus come from, I do think, even without the league of villains, there would be some sort of lab somewhere where Nomus are being created, likely as one of the last things All for One was able to set into motion before going into hiding in the AU. (I mostly went with this because I think Nomus as a concept are really cool, and I think it would be great to have some sort of generic enemy for the 1-X and 1-Y students to have to face without the need of creating a new organization)

Fourth Point is because All for One is in hiding, so All for One can not force All Might to reveal his "injured form" (I dunno what else to call it), but I do think when All Might and Sato get engaged, he will maybe (and this is a big maybe) reveal it to the public on his own, as more of a "I'm retiring and settling down now" then a "You must keep fighting because I can not" thing, causing crime to not sky rocket, but still rise because there is no more symbol of peace, since there is still the possibility (at least in the publics mind) that All Might could come out of retirement and go back to saving people.

Alright now I begin with some of the actual stuff that actively happened in the show that Class 1-A and Class 1-B had experienced.

Alright so everything at the beginning of the anime is the same, going up until the USJ arc. This is because, as stated previously, there is no League of Villains to attack the USJ. The only thing I can think of that could possibly stay the same is the All Might vs Nomu fight, because I think Nomus as a concept are cool and that was an awesome fight. The only way for the fight to happen though is that the Nomu is let loose somewhere else, like a highly populated area, because it makes no sense for it to be at USJ without the League.

Next is the sports festival, and this would also go the same. But after that is probably the most interesting arc I leave mostly unchanged, being the Hero Killer Arc. This is because, even without a League of Villain's, there would still be people following Stain's ideologies after he is detained, so I think maybe there could be some sort of small unorganized group of people following Stain's beliefs that there are no more "true" heroes. The group of stain followers would likely be the characters that had joined the League of Villains after the Hero Killer Arc (like Dabi, Himiko Toga, and Twice). It is also unchanged in the sense that the students are interning with Pro Heroes, and that Nomus are running around, being a cool concept (can you tell I like Nomus? I just think they are neat.).

Next is the Final exams Arc, which would go unchanged, but the next arc, the Forrest Camp Training arc, would also not have a League attack (because there is no league), and Class 1-A and Class 1-B have a normal experience at the training camp, causing there to be no Hideout Raid arc, because there is no hideout to raid.

Next, the Provisional License Exams are the same results, so no change here, except Camie Utsushimi would be there instead of Toga's impersonation of her, and still ending up to need to take the Remedial Course.

After that is the Shie Hassaikai Arc and then Remedial Course Arc. The Shie Hassaikai Arc would actually largely go unchanged because it is mainly just another internship for the Hero Course students, with the only change to the arc being the League involvement being removed, even though this would leave some plot holes, which I will fill by saying the small unorganized Stain followers would take the place of the league (since Toga and Twice are apart of the Stain followers group, so they would still end up working for them, filling the same rolls they had in the original Arc). Also Overhaul doesn't lose his arms because there would be no reason for him to get them ripped off (because there is no League of Villains). ALSO this means Eri would be canon to the BNHA OC Comeback, which I wanted to mention since from my knowledge she is a fan favorite. After that, the Remedial Course would go unchanged.

I'm also going to say that Mirio will have already gotten his quirk back during the main events of the AU, since Nighteye had predicted that he would get it back before Nighteye had died. How he gets it back will likely go unanswered, since I have not read ahead to the most recent chapter of the manga, only watching the anime, so we should leave the answer to how he got it back to be unclear just in case he gets it back in a spoiler-y way.

Then, lastly as of right now, the rest of the arcs would go unchanged up untill the latest arc where Todoroki, Midoriya, and Bakugo are interning with Endeavor, excluding the parts of the arc going into the Meta Liberation War, which can not properly go through thanks to their being no League of Villains, but especially because there is no Tomura.

Alright now we get to the stuff some of you are here for, being the new info and timeline stuff that occurs during the year Class 1-X and 1-Y are first years. First off, Class 1-A and Class 1-B would now be third years, which was a concept brought up in the original post that cause my brain to go into theory mode.

I would also like to pose the idea of a new "Big Three", replacing Mirio Togata, Tamaki Amajiki, and Nejire Hado (and also the nameless "Big Three" from when 1-A/1-B had been second years in this AU) since 1-A and 1-B are now all third years. This new "Big Three" would be made up of Katsuki Bakugo, Shoto Todoroki, and Izuku Midoriya, seeing as out of Class 1-A and Class 1-B, those three have shown to be the most consistent heavy hitters (and also being the most relevant to the original plot).

Aside from that, Class 1-A and 1-B would not be doing that much in the AU aside from the new "Big Three" occasionally helping out the first year Hero Course students with their studies.

Anyway if you read this far I really appreciate it. I have some more ramblings about stuff in the tags, but its more side stuff that doesn't really effect this AU within another AU.

#bnha oc comeback #skiduffle #long post #hoo boy did i go a little over board here #this is mainly a bunch of head canons on my part of what could possibly happen with the original story since there where some retcons #since not everyone is super familiar with all of the story of My Hero since the AU is just here to let people play around in the setting #But man do I have quite the habit of going crazy with theories #best comparison that i think a lot of the people will get is how deku would get super analytic whenever discussing quirks #thats basically me when i'm in theory crafting mode #but i don't plan on theorizing how to work around other story arcs #not because i don't want to #its more of a time thing #this is pretty much all i've been working on all day tbh #since we don't know the time his fight with All Might took place #so my attempt to fix some lore might have also messed up some of the lore in the au #bonus: the meme at the top of the post is probably my favorite part of the post #i'll probably redesign my sona at some point though #so the meme will not be the most accurate #anyway that's enough speculating for me

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orangeoctopi7 · 3 years

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Spiderstan AU Chapter 12

RESEARCH

No one was in a good mood the next morning. Stan was still nursing a huge headache as he recovered from the last bits of Gremloblin neurotoxin. Ford was still cross with Stan for endangering himself and Fiddleford the previous day, as well as a bit distracted thinking about what Bill could possibly be sending him. And poor Fiddleford had obviously not slept a wink last night, although whether that was due to discomfort from the broken arm or anxiety after the Gremloblin attack was unclear.

“Are either of you feeling up to retrieving our supplies?” Ford asked as they all poked at a breakfast of instant oatmeal.

“No.” Stan grumbled into his bowl, pinching the bridge of his nose, as though he could draw the tension out from behind his eyes.

“...Fiddleford?” Ford asked when his friend didn’t respond. The inventor looked up with a start.

“Wh-what?” he reacted as though someone had just threatened him.

“I just want to know if you’re feeling up to going back up the hill and retrieving the supplies we had to leave behind.”

McGucket fidgeted with the sling that was holding his broken arm in place. “N-n-no, no I don’t think so.”

Ford frowned with concern. “Alright. I should be able to manage on my own with the amulet of levitation. Stanley, could you at least take Fiddleford to the hospital, so you can get a professional to set it and provide a proper cast?”

“Waste of money, if y’ask me.” Stan grunted.

“I didn’t ask you.” Ford hissed. “Fiddleford, I suppose it’s your own choice whether you want to go see a doctor or not.”

“No! I’m not crazy! I’m not seein’ no shrink!” his friend snapped.

“...I meant for your arm.” Stanford clarified, after a moment of stunned silence.

“...Oh. R-right…. Yeah… r-reckon I oughta…”

“Look, buddy, if you don’t wanna go to the hospital, no judgement here.” Stan assured the inventor. “And if you do wanna go, I’ll drive ya, just don’t expect me to come in with you.”

“They don’t charge you for sitting in the waiting room, Stan.” Ford rolled his eyes.

“No, but if I ask for a cup of water, they’d probably add it to your bill.” Stan countered.

Ford stood and grabbed his coat, along with a small turquoise stone set in a brass broach. “Well, you two work out what you want to do. I’m going to go retrieve our things.”

“Try not to get yourself killed while you’re off on your own, ok?” Stan called after him as he left.

“I’ll be fine, mom!”

Stan and McGucket just sat chewing their oatmeal for another moment or two before either of them spoke again.

“So, uh, just to be clear, did you want me to drive you to the hospital, or…?”

“Oh, I reckon I should go.” McGucket nodded, more confident this time. “Mainly ‘cuz this make-shift cast an’ sling Stanford made fer me ain’t ‘xactly comfer’ble. A professional one’ll prob’ly be better protection, too.”

“Alright, we’ll go in a minute, just lemme finish eating.”

“While we’re out, I think we oughta talk ‘bout Stanford’s, uh, mysterious friend.”

Stan grimaced. “Yeah. I think that thing was here again last night. I was too out of it to go check, though.”

“Does it show up every night?” McGucket asked anxiously.

“Nah, I only felt it a few times while you were gone.” Stan informed him. “And two of those were during the day. I dunno what that thing’s deal is.”

“That’s ‘xactly why we gotta learn more ‘bout it.” the inventor. “It don’t seem like Ford’s gonna be very forthcoming with information, so we’ll have to start askin’ around the town.”

“How do we do that in a way that, y’know, doesn’t make people think we’re crazy?”

Fiddleford flinched at Stan’s words, and he needed a few seconds to regain his composure.

“Like I said before, lots’a Native American artefacts round the valley have that one-eyed triangle on it. I’m sure if’n we just ask people if they know what it is or where it comes from, act like we’re jus’ interested in the history, that won’t turn no heads.”

“Yeah, cuz I’m sure people will believe a guy like me is just interested in history.”

“Why not? Nobody here knows you ‘cept maybe as Ford’s brother, if they don’t just mistake you for ‘im outright. It ain’t that hard to believe.”

Stan opened his mouth to argue, but Fiddleford had a point. Maybe this would work.

* * *

After dropping Fiddleford off at the hospital, Stan started asking around about the yellow triangle thing. While most folks at least recognized the symbol when Stan drew it, no one really knew where it came from or what it was, other than something associated with the illuminati. Nobody knew about its connections to local Native American folklore. Stan supposed he shouldn’t have been surprised, it wasn’t like he expected the hospital receptionist to be an expert on Native American history.

Thankfully, Fiddleford’s checkup didn’t take too long. Stan had just wrapped up a conversation with an old farmer when the inventor stepped back into the waiting room, wearing a new cast.

“Any luck?” McGucket asked as they climbed back into Stan’s car.

“No. Shockingly, none of these yokels know anything about our mysterious visitor.”

“Hmmm, I reckon we’ll have better luck researchin’ at the library.”

Stan groaned loudly.

“What’ve you got against libraries?” Fiddleford asked, like an insult to the library was as bad as a personal insult.

“Nothin’, libraries are great, they’re some place I can go for air conditioning or heating and just sit around for a few hours without raisin’ a fuss. What I ain’t a fan of is researching.”

Fiddleford chuckled and shook his head. “Well, lucky for you I’m plenty experienced in that department. S’pose you could chat with the librarians while I do the book research.

The library was nearly empty, considering it was the middle of the day on a Wednesday. Of course, that meant the librarians weren’t too preoccupied to answer some questions. One helped Fiddleford search the catalog for books on the local tribes’ history and folklore, while the other talked to Stan.

“Ah yes, you see a lot of this figure in ancient art.” The librarian nodded. “Many people erroneously assume it’s a Freemason or illuminati symbol, but it actually becomes much less common after European contact.”

“Why’s that?” Stan asked.

“Hmm, I’ll admit I don’t know. We haven’t got access to any recordings of local oral tradition. Although I’ve heard many Native American communities are starting to tape that sort of thing. If you really want to know the original story behind that symbol, you should go to the original source!”

“Yeah, cuz I’m sure they’re eager to share the story with some random white guy.” Stan rolled his eyes.

“Oh, I’m sure as long as you’re respectful, they’d just be happy someone is taking an interest. Warm Springs Reservation is only about an hour and a half drive from here, they’re a confederation of Tenino, Wasco, and Paiute tribes. They have a museum, you should go pay them a visit.”

Respectful wasn’t usually in Stan’s vocabulary, but he supposed this case was an exception.

Seeing as the librarian didn’t have much more info for Stan, he contented himself with browsing the library’s comics section while Fiddleford did his book research. The nerd took much less time than Stan had been expecting.

“This library’s collection of local Native American folklore ain’t what I’d call extensive.” Fiddleford shook his head, “I was only able to find a couple of tangential references to the thing. All I got is it’s associated with knowledge.”

“Hmph, no wonder Ford’s buddy-buddy with it.”

“What ‘bout you, did the librarian have any more info for ya?”

“Not really, but she did recommend I go visit the nearest reservation and check out their museum. Not a bad idea really, ‘snot like we’ve gotten any info from anyone else. Plus, I bet they’ve got a casino!”

“That’s not really gonna help us figure anything out.”

“No, but it’ll help me blow off steam. Besides, Ford’ll be suspicious if I suddenly wanna visit a Native American museum. I’m coverin’ my tracks.”

* * *

Thanks to Ford’s photographic memory and stopping to get directions from a passing gnome, the young researcher was able to find their gear and carry it back to Fiddleford’s truck in just a few hours. Retracing his steps brought back memories of their hike, both good and bad. That night around the campfire had been nice, talking about their plans for the future, joking with Stan… but then the next morning, he’d overhead his friends talking behind his back.

“...And while you were on vacation, he kinda implied he wasn't up here alone before you moved in. I think this has been going on for a while. Maybe even years. Did you ever notice anything weird right after you moved in?"

"Other than that creepy triangle symbol everywhere? Not really…"

Ford grit his teeth, and the levitating objects in front of him wobbled. Didn’t they trust him? Even if he couldn’t tell them about Bill, couldn’t they at least understand that he was just doing what he could to further their research? Why did they automatically assume Bill was dangerous?

“...They could have at least asked me…” The researcher muttered under his breath.

“WELL, THEY COULD HAVE, BUT WE BOTH KNOW YOU WOULDN’T HAVE BEEN ABLE TO GIVE THEM A STRAIGHT ANSWER.”

“Bill!” Ford startled in surprise.

“HEYA SIXER, THOUGHT I’D COME KEEP YOU COMPANY WHILE YOU PICK UP AFTER YOUR BROTHER’S MESS.”

“Thank you, Bill, I appreciate it.” Ford smiled gratefully.

“HEY, WHAT ARE FRIENDS FOR! NOT LIKE THOSE JERKS WHO LEFT YOU TO DO THIS ON YOUR OWN.”

“Well, that’s not their fault. They’re both still recovering from the Gremloblin attack yesterday.”

“SO, WHAT’S EATIN’ YA, SIXER? BESIDES YOUR OWN BODY’S METABOLISM SLOWLY BURNING ITSELF OUT.”

Ford sighed. “I just wish I could tell them about you. It’d make things so much easier!”

Bill tisked. “THEIR REACTION TO MY HELP AT THE ALIEN SHIP IS PROOF ENOUGH, THEY JUST WOULDN’T GET IT.”

“But if I had a chance to explain--”

“WE’VE ALREADY DISCUSSED THIS, FORDSY. EVEN IF THEY DO TAKE YOUR EXPLANATION SERIOUSLY AND DON’T THINK YOU’VE FINALLY LOST IT, ARE YOU REALLY NAIVE ENOUGH TO BELIEVE THEY’LL JUST GO ON SUPPORTING YOU? WE BOTH KNOW WHAT STANO’S LIKE WHEN YOU’RE ABOUT TO MOVE ON TO SOMETHING BIGGER AND BETTER. AND FOUR-EYES ALREADY ADMITTED TO YOUR FACE HE’D RATHER BE WORKING ON HIS OWN PROJECTS BACK HOME WITH HIS FAMILY. YOU REALLY THINK HE WOULDN’T TAKE THE FACT THAT YOU’VE GOT ME AS A SIGN HE’S OK TO PACK UP AND HEAD BACK HOME?”

“N-no, he wouldn’t… I still need his help!”

“HMMM, MAYBE YOU’RE RIGHT. MAYBE HE’D HELP HIMSELF TO YOUR PRELIMINARY RESEARCH AND PUBLISH IT HIMSELF FIRST.”

“Fiddleford’s my friend, he wouldn’t do that!”

“OH RIGHT, I FORGOT! YOU TWO ARE SUCH GOOD FRIENDS YOU’D NEVER LIE TO EACH OTHER OR TALK BEHIND THE OTHER’S BACK!”

Ford did not have a good rationalization for that.

“I’M JUST SAYING, STANFORD, BE CAREFUL WHO YOU TRUST!”

* * *

Stan and McGucket were helping themselves to a late lunch when Ford returned with their equipment.

“So you went to the hospital after all.” Ford observed, nodding at Fiddleford’s new cast.

“Oh, yep…” Fiddleford answered. The inventor still seemed anxious and distracted.

“How long did they say you’d need to wear the cast?”

“‘Bout a week…” Fiddleford tapped his foot nervously.

Ford frowned. “I was hoping we’d be able to start connecting the hyperdrive to the portal tonight, but I supposed Stanley could help lift the superstructure.”

“Mmmnope.” Stanley declined. “I’m headin’ out to the casino tonight.”

“What? Why?”

“To gamble, genius, what do you think I’m gonna do at a casino?”

“No, I mean… why do you feel the need to go to a casino?”

“Have a little fun, make a little cash.”

“...Is this because I still haven’t gone grocery shopping?”

“What!? No, for cryin’ out loud, Ford, I just wanna go out and spend a night on the town!”

“On a Wednesday?”

“Yeah, that’s how you beat the crowds! I figure I deserve a break after fighting a monster and getting poisoned!”

“Oh…” Ford deflated. “... that’s fair. But… you’re coming back afterwards, right?”

Stan rolled his eyes. “Don’t worry, your latest specimen isn’t gonna fly the coop.”

Stanford frowned at his brother’s comment, but didn’t offer a retort. Instead he set about fixing his own late lunch. “So yet another day goes by where we make no progress on the portal project.”

“Stanford, I know yer eager to make your mark and get answers, but there really ain’t any reason we can’t take another day or two!” Fiddleford assured him. “There ain’t no ‘Weirdness Rush’ yet.”

“Perhaps, but one thing I’ve learned over the last six years here is that it’s far too easy to get distracted by every little fascinating thing one comes across here. If we don’t stay focused, we could easily keep putting it off until it just never gets done. I prefer to strike while the iron is hot.”

“Well, you keep striking iron, Ford.” Stan waved him off. “Tonight, I’m hopin’ to strike gold!”

* * *

After Stan left, the two scientists spent the night going over calculations and carefully inspecting the hyperdrive. Ford was disappointed they wouldn’t be able to start hooking it up to the mechanics of the portal just yet, but it was the kind of delicate mechanical work he only trusted McGucket with. He wished he had some more manual work to preoccupy his mind tonight. The young researcher had a hard time focusing on his calculations; his mind kept wandering to his brother.

If Stan won the jackpot, he’d be able to support himself. He wouldn’t have any more reason to stay here and work with me… Would he even come back? Would he even bother telling us?

Ford sighed with frustration as he realized he’d just read the same equation three times over. He really needed something to keep his hands occupied while he worked. He reached over to McGucket’s desk for what he often did when he needed something to keep his hands busy, and picked up his friend’s Cubics Cube. He raised an eyebrow when he noticed it still hadn’t been solved since the last time he scrambled it. He’d never seen Fiddleford leave it unsolved for more than a few hours. He glanced over to see the young inventor also seemed to be having trouble focusing on his work.

“You can’t concentrate either?” Ford asked, noticing how Fiddleford’s knee kept up a steady pace of 2 kbps, but his eyes stayed fixed at the top of the page he was supposed to be checking.

Fiddleford startled at his friend’s words. “S-sorry, jus’ tired. Didn’t sleep well last night.”

Ford offered him a sympathetic smile. “I don’t imagine so. I’m sure you’ll be on the mend soon enough though.”

“Mmm.” McGucket hummed noncommittally. “And how ‘bout you, what’s keepin’ you from concentratin’?”

The researcher hemmed and hawed for a moment before he finally settled on an answer. “I suppose I’m a bit concerned with Stanley. I know he’s staying here because he’s got nowhere else to go, and I’m happy to give him a place to stay, but if things go well for him at the casino tonight… why would he stay here if he suddenly acquires the means to support himself?”

McGucket huffed a small chuckle and rolled his eyes. “It’s like I keep tellin’ ya Ford, you oughta be tellin’ him this stuff, and not me! If’n you really want him to stay, then you gotta be honest with him!”

“I-I am!” Ford insisted, willfully ignoring the fact that he was not, in fact, being honest about Bill. That didn’t count. He’d tell Stan if he thought Stan needed to know.

The inventor just rolled his eyes again. “Mama was right, can’t be honest with others if’n ya ain’t honest with yerself first.”

“And what is that supposed to mean?”

“You know what I mean, ya lost yer temper with me the last time I brought it up!”

Ford scoffed. “I am not under some deluded hope that if Stan stays, it will magically solve our issues.”

Fiddleford nodded. “Yeah, it does seem like you two are past that point. Now you’re just wantin’ to keep him around ‘cuz he’s your brother and you’ll miss him!”

The atmosphere of the room instantly went cold, and the pages of calculations in Fords hands crinkled as his grip tightened. “I would absolutely. Never. Try and keep Stan around. Just because I would miss him.” He enunciated through clenched teeth. “I… I simply… I have his best interests in mind! And the interest of my research! But I’m not trying to keep him here! He’s free to leave! He--he’s free to pursue other interests!”

McGucked raised his hands placatingly. Obviously, he had touched a nerve. “I’m sorry, I misspoke! I jus’ meant to say you care about him is all!”

“Of course I care about him! When was that ever in question!?”

Fiddleford gave him a steady look. “When ya went more than ten years without talkin’ to each other.”

Ford flushed. “It’s not like Stanley ever reached out to me! And I was the one who had a regular address and phone number! How was I supposed to talk to him, when he was always traveling!? Even our mother never got more than the occasional postcard!”

“I’m not sayin’ yer brother’s blameless in this, Ford, I’m jus’ sayin’ you could stand to actually let him know how you feel!”

“I don’t even know how I feel half the time!” The researcher burst. He was stunned by his own words, and took a moment to collect his thoughts and calm down a bit before continuing. “Stanley’s my brother, and he was such an important part of my life growing up. Of course I care about him. But the things he’s done-- the things he still does-- the way he ignores what I want because he thinks he knows best-- it infuriates me! So I suppose you could say my feelings for him are… complicated.”

Fiddleford nodded. “Family’s always complicated.”

Ford scoffed derisively. “This is considerably more complicated than the average family squabble.”

McGucket laughed. “You’re right about that! Well, if it makes ya feel any better, I’m pretty sure Stan ain’t gonna run out on ya tonight, even if he does win it big at that casino. He’s got unfinished business here, after all.”

“That’s an odd way to refer to our continued studies of his powers, but I suppose you’re right.”

* * *

The parking lot for the Warm Springs History Museum was completely empty. Not that the casino lot across the way was packed, but it at least had a few cars parked near the entrance. Stan worried the museum might be closed, but he saw the light was on, and the door was unlocked.

There didn’t appear to be another soul in the building. Stan wandered around from one exhibit to the next, looking for anything that might be related to Ford’s mysterious benefactor. Stan wasn’t really all that surprised that he didn’t find anything. Finally, he rounded a corner and found the gift shop. A teenage girl who was probably supposed to be the cashier sat in front of a small TV. It was clearly supposed to be playing a VHS that the gift shop was trying to sell, but instead an Itira 3600 was hooked up and playing Brick Break.

“Uh, ‘scuse me?” Stan cleared his throat and knocked gently on the counter.

The girl didn’t glance away from the screen, eyes carefully following the bouncing pixel as it broke through another line of bricks. “Yeah I know you’re there I can see your reflection on the screen. We close in like ten minutes, just grab whatever you want and I’ll ring you up once I clear this level.”

“I’m not here to buy anything.”

“Then you better turn around and head back to the casino, ‘cuz bricks ain’t the only thing I can break.”

“I don’t want anything from you either!” Stan assured her, waving his hands innocently. “I just got some questions about, uh, tribal history.”

“That’s what this museum is here for, sir.” She answered flatly.

“The thing I’m askin’ about isn’t in the museum, trust me, I checked.”

“We got history books too.”

“I doubt it’s in there either. Hey, if you’re too busy, is there someone else I can talk to?”

The girl tisked and tilted her game controller. “Yeah yeah, just a sec. I just got one more line at the top.”

Stan rolled his eyes and tapped his fingers on the counter impatiently. He supposed he couldn’t blame the girl. This was probably a very boring job. He knew most people who came this way were probably more interested in the casino, not the history of the people who had to run it just to make ends meet.

The girl finally cleared the level and put her controller down as the new level loaded in. “Ok, what’s your question.”

“Ok, this might sound stupid, but can you tell me more about what this thing is?” Stan pulled a pamphlet off the counter and drew the triangle with the eye. “I think it’s usually yellow?”

The girl raised her eyebrow in surprise when she took in Stan’s drawing. “Oh… that. You don’t see anything about that in here because that’s associated with… I guess the best word for it would be curses?”

Stan’s heart skipped a beat. “R-really? The little research I did on it beforehand said it was associated with knowledge.”

“Yeah, cursed knowledge.” The girl told him. “I’ll admit, I’m not super familiar with it. It’s kinda really ancient. When Nathaniel Northwest swindled us out of our land in Gravity Falls, we were relative newcomers. All the other tribes in the area believed the valley was cursed, because of that thing.”

Stan gulped. “What, uh, what’d it do?”

The girl put on her best storytelling voice. “Well, a thousand years ago, there was an old shaman called Modoc the Wise. He and his people worshipped that being. Until one day, Modoc learned its terrible secret. Modoc warned the people that the being they’d been worshipping was a liar, and that it would lay waste to the valley. But before he could tell them any more, the being drove him mad, and he slaughtered half his tribe before lighting himself on fire to try and stop it!”

Stan paled. “So, uh, this guy’s really bad news, huh?”

“That’s an understatement, but yeah.” The girl nodded. “Why do you want to know, anyway?”

“Uh, I live in Gravity Falls. I’ve just seen this thing on a lot of stuff, wondered what it was.”

“Ah, well, have fun living with the knowledge that your hometown is cursed!” She smiled viciously at him. “Now, it’s closing time. Are you gonna buy something or not?”

* * *

Stan tried to take his mind off things at the casino. His superhuman reflexes made him a whiz at the slots, but he had learned in the past that winning too much tended to draw unwanted attention. Of course, Stan was too busy trying to process what he’d just learned to pay much attention to his gambling, so it’s not like he could have won it big even if he was trying.

After just half-an-hour, it was clear that his heart just wasn’t in it today. Stan decided to play a round of Craps before he left, just to get in some dice rolling. Then he’d head home.

Careful. He warned himself. Don’t go callin’ that place your home. You know the second you get comfortable there is the second Ford decides he doesn’t want you around anymore.

By the time he finished, Stan managed to leave with about $20 more in his pocket than when he came in, so it wasn’t a bad night, gambling-wise. And he had at least learned something about that triangle guy. It just wasn’t good news. The trip certainly wasn’t a loss. So why did Stan feel like he hadn’t gained anything?

These thoughts weighed so heavily on his mind, that he never noticed the eyes on him as he left the casino.

“We’ve found him.” A shadowy figure spoke into his walkie-talkie.

* * *

PSM WAZF FFY OENKGK KS LELB, TPXLL QAT? YOP HGR’T PQB KEDO TF UVDI GJ YFWY FPV JRZGUUW?

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fleursowl · 4 years

Text

ink and coffee

hey guys! here is my new wolfstar coffee shop x tattooist au, which can also be found on my instagram! hope you enjoy, thank you @gaeilgelupin for betaing for me 🥰

Sirius

Sirius didn’t like change.

Since escaping his family over five years ago, he’d lived in the same city in the same flat with the same person for as long as he cared to remember. But since James and Lily had started taking the next steps in their relationship and becoming more serious, it had become clear to Sirius that he needed to move out and find a new flat, like Peter had done half a year prior. At first he was upset, but after a few late-night chats at Peter’s and copious tubs of icecream, he eventually came to terms with it. Plus, it would be good for him to be on his own for a while, start finding himself and all that sentimental bullshit James was always spouting on about. Peter had also added that it might give Sirius the chance to finally date someone, to which Sirius had scowled and tossed an empty ice cream tub at Peter for his troubles. It wasn’t that he was opposed to the idea of dating, it was just that no one interested him as much as his friends did. People only ever seemed to like him because of his family’s name and then, after he’d been disinherited, his looks- a time where he was far too emotionally fragile to date, anyway. He was ready now, but unwilling. It would take someone really special to bring him out of his slump, and he wasn’t prepared to take risks. He’d taken far too many of those already.

One month later

Remus Lupin strode into The Marauders cafe on the corner, collapsing onto a chair and shrugging his denim jacket off, letting his head fall into his scarred hands.

“Alright, Re?” came Marlene’s voice, dropping in the seat next to him and rubbing his shoulder.

“Yeah, just some difficult customers at work today. Some of them piss me off so much, I swear-” Remus’ rant was cut off by Marlene leaning around him and yelling over her shoulder.

“Oi, new boy! Sirius! Can I get a black coffee over here?” she called, and Remus heard grumblings in the corner of the shop, but still didn’t open his eyes.

“Thanks, Marls. Got a new worker?” he asked, slowly opening his eyes and accepting his fate- despite his most hopeful wishes, he had not transported back to his bed.

“Yeah, he’s just moved here from the city. A bit useless, dunno if he’d ever made coffee himself a day in his life before applying here, but he’s funny and easy to get along with. And your type.” she added, nudging Remus’ calf with her knee.

Remus’ head whipped round to behind the counter and standing there was probably the most gorgeous man he’d ever seen. Dark hair was pulled into a short ponytail with tendrils curling around his face and framing his sharp cheekbones, above which were stormy grey eyes. He reached up to pull a pencil out of his ponytail, a confused frown on his face, and his arms- oh, his arms. Black tendrils crawled up his arms, ending in intricate patterns and dotted with random symbols that must mean something to Sirius, took Remus’ breath away. His feet moved without permission from his head and before he knew it he was behind the counter, his hand moving of its own accord to reach out and grip Sirius’ arm, turning it over for his gaze.

“Fuck, these are gorgeous. You’re a bloody work of art, mate.” Remus said in a hushed tone, to which the startled boy flushed at, nearly dropping the cup in surprise at Remus’ boldness. He wasn’t the only one surprised- Remus had already taken a few steps back, dropping Sirius’ arm quickly.

“Sorry, I don’t usually just go up to strangers and touch them, just- fuck, who did these? I’m so jealous.”

Sirius let out a breathy laugh, his cheeks still stained pink.

“My best mate’s girlfriend Lily did, she’s a bloody genius. Works at a place in Camden.” Sirius explained, giving Remus a quick once over and then settling against the counter with a smug smile on his lips.

“Sirius! Coffee!” Marlene snapped, and Sirius turned away with a laugh to resume his battle with the coffee machine as Remus floundered.

“You mean Lily Evans? She’s my best friend, we went to secondary together,” he said, blinking in surprise. Huh. Small world.

Sirius turned around with a blinding grin, passing Remus his cup of coffee, which he readily accepted.

“Well. It seems like the fates aligned for us to see each other, so why challenge them? Before I see you again, I’d like to know your name though.” Sirius said with a smirk, but then snort of laughter he let out at the end ruined his smooth facade.

Remus let out a breathy laugh, shaking his head in amusement.

“Remus. Remus Lupin.” he introduced himself, extending his hand for Sirius to take.

Sirius gripped his hand tightly with his own one, and Remus glanced down to look at the ink running along his fingers clad with chunky rings.

“Sirius Potter. I’m new to the area, had to get away from city life for a bit. I’ve got a flat on Charing Cross Road, do you know it?” he asked, and Remus raised his eyebrows in surprise. Although his accent wasn’t exactly posh it was refined, and his delicate, elegant features had Remus thinking he was maybe upper-class, but finding out that he was slumming it on Charing Cross Road changed his mind.

Sirius laughed at Remus’ confused expression, shaking his head and turning away for a moment to take another customer’s order.

“I know I know, I don’t look Charing Cross material, do I?” he said, grinning up at Remus while he busied himself with refilling the milk jug. Remus’ heart missed a beat at the way Sirius looked up at him through his eyelashes, and he forgot to respond for a few seconds. “No, I- uh, yeah. It’s not too bad, you’ll get used to it. My apartment’s on Barnes Street, you heard of it?” Remus stuttered, jumping as Dorcas came up behind him and wrapped her arm around his shoulders, dragging him down to her height.

“Remus is having a party this Saturday, aren’t you Re?” Dorcas grinned, and Remus watched in curiosity as something in Sirius’ eyes flickered for just a moment, but before he could tell what it was Sirius was turning away to hand the latte to the previous customer.

“That sounds lovely but I don’t really do parties, sorry,” Sirius said with a stiff smile, his voice tinged with regret.

“Oh, it’s not a party party, more just like a gathering of friends. To celebrate.” Remus said hurriedly. He really wanted to see Sirius again, out of Marlene and Dorcas’ coffee shop. Sirius let out a small relieved breath, his smile returning more sincerely this time.

“That sounds cool then. What time should I come over?” he asked, glancing behind Remus at the queue of irritated customers and then to the side where his hassled coworker Alice was trying to make six orders at once.

“I’ll see you at six? Here’s my number if you need directions there. I’ll let you get back to coffee making now.” Remus grinned, passing Sirius his card and walking back to his table to pick up his jacket.

As he opened the door to leave he glanced back at Sirius momentarily, and his heart stuttered a little when he saw that Sirius was already watching him with a small smile on his face as his hands battled with the coffee machine. He laughed softly and gave a small wave, walking out of The Marauders and hearing the door shut behind him.

Maybe the coming winter wouldn’t be so cold, after all.

#wolfstar #sirius black #remus lupin #james potter #lily evans #peter pettigrew #wolfstar fic #wolfstar headcanon #wolfstar au #wolfstar fanfiction #wolfstar ficlet #wolfstar muggle au #wolfstar coffee shop au #wolfstar tattooist au #jily #jily fic #jily au #jily muggle au

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augustheart · 4 years

Note

1, 9, 15, 20 for the writing ask meme!

This time around all of these are for fics by the way.

1. Tell us about your current project(s) – what’s it about, how’s progress, what do you love most about it?

Like I said in the last ask at any given time I have a stupidly high number of projects I’m working on but I will take this time to talk about the ridiculously long one I’m putting most of my energy toward now! (The tab is open right now and it is taunting me with that “last updated yesterday at [...]” notification and its 32,427 word wordcount.)

I won’t say exactly what it’s about even though it’s not that hard to figure out and several people already know exact details but progress is generally pretty good! Not the fastest I’ve ever written because I write in fits and starts but it’s going pretty good! (Just jinxed it though for sure.) I’m working on chapter five of a planned ten, and I really hope I don’t overshoot that by accident. It’s fun! It’s definitely more like the things I used to write when it comes to like... the actual angst/“whump” part because there’s a lot of that here, and I’m very really mean to readers with a couple of these cliffhangers. Chapter two and chapter four are especially rude, sorry.

I love all of it. I love that I get to write about people overcoming hardship and coming together and also beating the shit out of people who hurt their loved ones. I genuinely love what I’m writing now and I think it’s probably one of my best works and I’m glad that I decided to write it all out in advance before posting it because I feel like that gives me time to really perfect it. It also makes it easier to go back and seed plot elements through the prewritten chapters, which is helpful because I keep forgetting about a character and going back to make sure that they get to be there because they’re, y’know, the main protagonist of the show. (Don’t worry there is still a character arc and a story she has, it just gets lost in the shuffle a little because there are like... six storylines going on at once that need to intersect. I think six, anyway. There are a lot. Jeez, I think it may be closer to seven, counting the villains...)

Anyway please [Eric Andre “let me in” voice] show me support when I finally post it because I imagine the fandom will be relatively in brumation when I finally do all things considered.

9. Are you more of a drabble or a longfic kind of writer? Pantser or plotter? Do you wish you were the other?

I refuse to write really short things, it has to be at least 1,000 words for some reason, but I do both! I prefer my longfics, I think they give me more time to write plot and flesh out characters, but I’ve found that a good median wordcount for me is...like...6,000 words? That’s usually what I fall on when I limit myself to something under 10,000 that has the potential for more than just 1-2,000 words. But I do like to read and write both! As evidenced by some of my current projects shaping up to be over 50,000 words at least if they haven’t already left that count in the dust by now (hi, Half Light, you stupidly long son of a bitch).

And I am the hellish combination of both! I usually know at least how I want it to end, but the entire journey from A to B is a complete mystery to me. Sometimes I’ll have elements I want to incorporate or characters I want to include and I’ll plan for them but I will never, ever write down my outline. The only time I write down outlines it’s when I need to know the concrete timeline for something that’s set in the past or is taking major divergent choices or both (i.e., I made a timeline outline for Heartless leading up to when Eric approaches Dorothy, a timeline outline for Two of Spades when I eventually actually work on that, a timeline outline for what I nicknamed the “I’m no longer baby I want power AU,” etc). Literally every other time I am absolutely flying by the seat of my pants. I don’t know what I’d do without Hedgi who helps me plot at least half the things I write (at least for the fandoms she’s also in), usually after I try to write them and immediately get stuck like a puppy who tried to jump into a lake and found out the shoreline was actually just a bog.

15. Which is harder: titles or summaries (or tags)?

Oh, it really depends. I’m alright at nailing tags down, unless there are categories I want to use that don’t already have a set tag, but sometimes when I think of the concept for a fic it comes ready-made with a summary and I don’t have to think about that at all, or I’m directly inspired by a phrase/lyric/etc and I can just use that for the title and spend hours deliberating on a summary. Luckily for the project I’m working on now the conceit can just be the summary, and the title took a tiny bit of research but I knew what I wanted the bare bones to be and I just needed the actual names/terms. I do think in general, though, summaries are a smidge harder than titles for me.

12. Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?)

I really, really want to answer this one to talk about the different hidden references, relationship development, and foreshadowing that I baked into damn near every level of the big project I’ve been talking about because it’s in literally everything right down to the chapter titles (and there’s a hint to pay attention to them when you read, especially once we get to chapters 6-10, which I am extremely pumped to write), but I also really don’t want to spoil anything, so... time to be as numbingly vague as possible, I guess.

I’m foreshadowing that a character will develop powers by the final act, of course, but I’m also foreshadowing that a different character will not only develop them but use them to basically save the life of another character--and related to that, there is intense foreshadowing of a character using certain things to save someone else’s life at around the same time, which is not subtle at all if you know what you’re looking for (mainly because I slipped it into plain sight) but is part of some nice red herrings if I do say so myself. It also really makes me laugh that I decided to do some, um, “homophobia-shadowing,” where I just... imply that a character is homophobic. I dunno why I just think that’s a funny thing to do even if it has real repercussions for certain characters later.

There’s some character development mixed that I’m really excited for because it allows a character to go in a completely different direction than they do in canon but in a way that I think still feels really right for them. This happens a couple times, actually, but this one in particular is something I knew had to happen the second I realized how to tie this plot thread back into everything else. I think it’s exactly what the character could’ve needed if this had gone down and I’m really excited to write it. The other character should’ve just been allowed to do this in canon because I think it would’ve fucking ruled.

Also, in everything I write that’s comics-based, whether it’s fic for the comic directly or for a show/movie using comics as source material, everything is a reference. That number code? That could be anything from the first time someone appeared in a comic mixed with the publishing date of the comic itself (i.e. if someone appeared for the first time in 1964 but the comic began publishing in 1959 I’ll use 6459 or 5964) to the creator’s date of birth. I think that I use famous writers of the character/potential creators of the character as street names or last names or aliases whenever I need to bring them up is a lot more obvious. Same with how I use writer/artist initials as “random letters” if I think a code would realistically have one mixed in--I just checked a document for an example of this and found “ADBP5519MWGK6419.”

I also reuse direct lines of dialogue if I think they fit the situation--for example, in Butterfly Effect I lifted the “World War I chic” line directly from Giffen’s Doom Patrol run, which I mentioned in the author’s note, and there’s dialogue in my current big project that’s a direct reference to/play on the “I wish you’d died instead of Mom” line in the JSA Infinite Crisis tie-in (Johns is a fuckin’ hack for that one though and it made no sense for what he used it for, a better line would’ve been “I bet you wish I’d died instead of Mom,” but we don’t have time for that), and I’ll probably directly reference dialogue from JSA/JSA at some point in chapter nine or chapter ten. (Think really hard about how that arc opens if it’s one you’re familiar with, lmao, and remember--there’s no time travel to undo things here!)

#fic talk #long post #can you tell i like to write? yeah #Anonymous

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whiparoundandcry · 5 years

Text

Earbuds dump

someone wanted me to go through all the questions so //cracks knuckles

1: What inspired you to write the fic this way?

dunno what ‘this way’ specifically means, but I tried reenacting the way a lot of my fav fics have been, in way of word count per chapter, character interaction, plot balanced w/ the ship, ect

2: What scene did you first put down?

Maaan, it’s hard to remember what came first now. I have a doc thats like, 20 pages of just notes & me outlining the plot and world building. The first scene written on that doc is lloyd revealing his identity to the team, which actually happens about a year before the start of the story!

3: What’s your favorite line of narration?

hmmmm, I’m a sucker for when the narration contradicts the dialogue- I just think it’s really funny, pfft. can’t think of any large scenes I do that in rn, but I also really like this bit, during the city hall meeting The woman sitting at the corner chair closest to the ninja shifted in her seat, and stared pointedly at Kai and Jay. Kai tried not to shift under her stare, but he could feel Jay stiffen next to him. “You two saved Satoshi the night King’s was attacked, right?” Kai’s mouth was immediately dry and his brain cut out. Her voice wasn’t loud, but compared to the silence before, she might as well have fired a gun. The question itself was straightforward enough, but Kai hesitated to answer - first, because Green ordered them not to speak, and second, he had no idea what she was talking about. I try to keep Kai a reliable narrator (aka I project a lot) and I feel like this part is funny for first-time readers, bc you get the feeling of “do I know who that is??? Did I forget?” then kai confirms it like “who tf”

4: What’s your favorite line of dialogue?

Kai looked up from their hands to meet Jay’s eyes, all warmth and kindness. “I dunno. I’ve only know you for a month, but I still feel as close to you as I do any of them.”

ouch!!!!

5: What part was hardest to write?

GOD ALL OF THE FIGHT SCENES,,, this fic was so ambitious oh my god. That’s part of why the final chapter is taking a lot longer than normal- big fight scene ;v; also the meeting with the mayor was difficult to write bc like, I dont know shit about how city government works. My search history for the time I was writing that scene looked like I was researching for an essay, christ.

6: What makes this fic special or different from all your other fics?

I’m finishing it :,3

7: Where did the title come from?

real honesty hours: I thre in the bit about Kai giving Jay his earbuds on impulse. I never planned for them to be a reoccurring symbolic plot device or for them to even exist but damn, here we are.

8: Did any real people or events inspire any part of it?

My relationship with my brother def inspires how I write Kai & Nya. I say that I project onto kai a lot, but I project all of my ‘trans younger sibling’ energy onto Nya. ngl, most everything I’ve done in this fic was inspired by batman tho

9: Were there any alternate versions of this fic?

Yeah, I have around 3 scrapped scenes. I’ll probably never release them, bc they were scrapped for a reason :,3

10: Why did you choose this pairing for this particular story?

Kai & Jay are the most boring out of the four boys :, ) so I figure’d it’d be easiest to fit their charters into the plot I had in mind, I couldn’t think of any way to fit in the “zane’s a robot” or “cole literally died” plot into it without making the entire story about those things. If I was made out of time tho, you bet earbuds would be a polyninja story.

11: What do you like best about this fic?

I honestly just like that I’ve gotten as far as I have into it, and the perception that its gotten has been so incredible //sobs. Aside from that, my favorite parts about it are probably Kai & Nya/Lloyd’s relationship, and also that Nya is trans. I hadn’t seen any fics where she was trans before, and tbfh its my favorite headcanon. I’ll never write a cis nya in my life

12: What do you like least about this fic?

The relationship build up seems kinda... eh? I definitely should've put more into it, but at the same time I feel like I did as much as I could with it, just bc I’m so inexperienced with that stuff. I also with I could do a better job of conveying the vibe that I want this version of ninjago to give off (gritty, rough, gotham) but without being super edgy about it? Also I’m really upset that Cole & Zane are getting shafted in Earbuds. I should’ve come up with more stuff to include them, but everything I came up with just felt forced, so they ended up just being background characters- which is was more than they deserve, bc they’re honestly my favorite boys on the team.

13: What music did you listen to, if any, to get in the mood for writing this story? Or if you didn’t listen to anything, what do you think readers should listen to to accompany us while reading?

Well, there’s always the 8tracks playlist I made a while back (should transfer that onto spotify sometime) but theres a couple songs that I think fit the characters super well that aren’t on the list • “Fresh Eyes” is a super great Kai&Jay song QwQ “so suddenly I’m in love with a stranger / I can’t believe she’s mine / now all I see is you with fresh eyes” From Kai’s pov @ jay??? hell • “Better days” was a song rec sent in by my good bud hedley-ramsay anon, and it’s perfect for Kai’s POV, as he’s trying to stay optimistic about all the shit thats happening around him “Guess I didn't break it, but I bent it / I know I didn't say it, but I meant it / I shoulda had a little more heart and soul” • “Miss Atomic Bomb” is very very good for Lloyd & Harumi. tbh its a good song for them in canon too, but the dark city vibe it gives off fits so well with the Earbuds AU. “I was new in town, the boy with the eager eyes / I never was a quitter, oblivious to schoolgirls' lies” • “Be Still” is also a super great song for lloyd, in this au and just in general. “Be still / wild and young / long may your innocence reign” DONT CALL ME OUT I REALLY LIKE THE KILLERS

14. Is there anything you wanted readers to learn from reading this fic?

not... really? its a fanfiction about legos, I dunno if there’s any lesson to be learned from it. Be gay & do crimes

15. What did you learn from writing this fic?

writing fanfic is super rewarding & fun!! It’s a pretty pig time sink sometimes, but damn if yall don’t make it worth it.

thanks so much for your continued support everyone!!! The last chapter has 2 scenes to go and is currently over 10k words 💪

#earbuds #long post #woof

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lyssala · 6 years

Text

You’re Idiots, the Both of You

Parings: Terra/Aqua, Kingdom Hearts

Setting: Early Summer; Terra & Aqua are 23 & 22, Ven is 18

Rating: K

Notes: This is sappy nonsense but I mean it kinda goes with the territory lmao Also already at three more chapters left! This au has been so dear to my heart and I’ve adored writing it, thanks so much to everyone who hung around for the ride ;-; <3

AO3

Life

“This thing we’re doing here – me, you – I just want you to know I’m in. I’m all in.”

-Luke

Terra liked to think he was a generally relaxed human being. He was aware he didn’t express his emotions the absolute best and could on occasion lose his temper but he was in the least pretty laid back about most everything. He wasn’t prone to panicking over things, big or little. Life was what it was; things would work out however they would in the end.

But right now sitting on the edge of his bed, he was absolutely freaking out.

He could only stare out at the absolute mess that was his room as he just tore apart every inch of it, trying to rake through every fragment of his mind to remember, to think of some place it could be. When was the last time he saw it? Where was he? What was he doing? He reached up to run his hands through his hair, leaning his elbows against his knees as he hunched himself over.

Terra admittedly knew he could be absent minded sometimes but he honestly didn’t think he’d lose something as important as, you know, the ring he bought to ask the woman he loved to marry him.

No big deal right?

He groaned, closing his eyes. It had to be somewhere. He couldn’t have been that careless. Okay, well, maybe he should’ve kept it in his room for safe keeping till he was ready but that was the thing, he was ready. It was just every time he tried, the right words never seemed to come out and he quit halfway through. So he had kept it on him in case he could actually do it, which ended up being the problem considering now he couldn’t find the damn thing anywhere.

It wasn’t like it was terribly expensive but he did save for it as well as drag Ven to a jewelry store at least two hours from home so the gossipy town folk wouldn’t catch wind of anything. Terra knew it at one glance with its silver, whites and blues complete with a small star; her favorite symbol, the one that hung off the friendship bracelets she made them as kids. It was perfect and now it was gone.

“Hey, Ter, do you mind if….What’s the matter with you?”

Terra glanced up to see Ven standing in the doorway, eyeing the disaster that was the room.

“It looks like a tornado went through here.”

“No shit,” Terra grunted.

Ven arched an eyebrow. “Alright then, what’s the matter?”

“I lost Aqua’s ring.” No use in hiding it from the one person who knew about it.

Ven whistled lightly as he leaned against the doorframe. “Maybe if you hadn’t taken a million years to ask her.”

“Now’s really not the time, Ventus.”

“Alright,” he said, glancing around the room. “Last place you had it?”

“That’s the problem,” Terra sighed, letting his hands drop to his lap. “I can’t remember. I just always had it with me. I’ve checked all my clothes, laundry, this entire damn room, work uniform, everywhere. I even checked the laundry room though I’m pretty sure if mom found it I would’ve heard about it by now.”

“Then not here, okay.” Ven glanced up at the ceiling before looking back to Terra. “I know you don’t work there anymore but Cid’s? Or better yet the station. Don’t you have a locker there?”

His heart jumped into his throat; he hadn’t checked there yet, he hadn’t even thought to check there yet. It was summer and he left his jacket in his locker a lot or his change of uniform or clothes. It could be there. Terra pushed himself up to his feet, patting his pockets down to make sure his still had his wallet, phone, and keys. “I never even though to think there, thanks, Ven.”

“No worries. Hey, I’ll come with you.” He was already following Terra out of his room, not that he minded too much. It would probably be better to have someone with a clear head if worst case it wasn’t there.

“Yeah, sure, c’mon.” Terra didn’t turn around but waved Ven on as Terra headed down the stairs; his brother’s footsteps coming down after him.

No one else was home, thank God. Not that they wouldn’t know eventually, but Terra wasn’t exactly a person who enjoyed the feeling of being the center of attention which would absolutely happen if he told the rest of his family what he was planning or at least trying to. He pushed open the front door, the warm air hitting him instantly.

Ven shut the door, pulling out his own keys to lock the door. Even though he was well old enough, he was about to be a senior in high school for Christ’s sake, it was still a little strange for Terra that his baby brother had his own keys and his own car. Not that Ven was much of a baby any more when he stood nearly eye to eye with Terra.

He led the way to his car with Ven sliding into the passenger seat without complaint, probably just letting Terra do whatever he wanted to make him feel better about potentially loosing something rather important.

“So,” Ven breathed as Terra started the car, pulling it out of the driveway. “Any reason why you haven’t asked her yet?”

He glanced over at Ven who was rolling down the window. “Is that why you wanted to come? Trap me in the car?”

Ven grinned, like he had zero concerns in the world. “Yep, absolutely.”

“Well, I’m glad one of us can be so carefree right now.”

“Oh, will you relax, Terra. I know you didn’t lose it. You’re too careful for that. It’s somewhere and I know we’ll find it okay? So breathe.” Ven waited a minute, probably to make sure Terra was in fact still breathing. “Okay, so, let it out. It could help.”

He rolled his head back against the headrest, eyes firmly on the road. He didn’t really want to talk about it not because it was difficult to explain but more so he was embarrassed at the fact he couldn’t actually do it every time he wanted to. “I don’t know.”

“Yes, you do.”

“I’d ask if you’ve always been this annoying but I know for a fact you have.”

“Stop being so dramatic.” Ven rolled his eyes, fingers tapping lightly on his leg. “What’s the big deal? You know she’ll say yes.”

“Yeah, but that’s not the point.”

“Oh, really?” Ven’s voice sounded way too amused for his own good. “So the point of asking someone to marry them is not for them to say yes?”

“I’m really regretting letting you in this car.”

“To bad, I’m the only one who knows about the ring and therefore the only one who can help you.”

“Okay, fine,” Terra sighed, knowing they still had a little bit to drive to get to the station he worked at and that Ven would never drop this until Terra just told him. “It’s just…every time I try I just can’t find the right words to say to her. I’ve never been good at that. There’s so much I want to tell her but when it comes down to it I just can’t.”

“Yeah, but, Ter, don’t you think she knows you well enough to know you’re not the one to give a big long romantic speech?”

“I mean, yeah, I guess.” He shrugged, turning closer to town but choosing to go around it rather than through it. “But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t deserve it. She’s always liked that kinda stuff. I know I’m not very good at it so I’d like to make sure it’s everything she ever wanted.”

“I dunno, man, I think you’re really overthinking it.” Ven looked over. “I think you’re the only thing she’s ever wanted and you could probably throw the damn ring at her and she’d still be overjoyed.”

Terra snorted. “That doesn’t mean I don’t wanna do better than that.”

“Fair enough.” Ven paused for a second. “Tell me then, tell me what you’d wanna tell her.”

Terra hesitated. Next to Aqua, his brother was the closest person he felt to but still he wasn’t particularly good at this. “I dunno, Ven.”

“Just do it, it’s not like I don’t know anyways.”

“I guess,” Terra sighed; they weren’t too far away from his work so he supposed he could humor Ven for a moment. “I’d just tell her the truth, that she’s the only person I’d wanna spend the rest of my life with, that there’s no one that I love more than her and there never will be.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that, idiot,” Ven said, reaching over to hit at Terra’s arm.

“Yeah, okay, easier to say it to you then when Aqua has those pretty eyes of hers watching my every move.”

“Are you telling me that Aqua has prettier eyes than I do?”

“Ventus,” Terra sighed, but at the same time for the first time since he realized the ring was missing he felt a smile pulling at his lips. Ven usually had that effect.

“Just stop worrying about it and do it. I promise no matter what you say she’s gonna love it.”

The fire station was just up a head, right next to it where Terra worked. Usually the sight of the stations were welcome as he genuinely did like his job as he liked the old brick buildings, red and white trim like straight out of an old movie. As he pulled his car off to the side of the road though, dread was starting to settle in his stomach again. He just hoped it was here.

He opened his door as Ven jumped out of the passenger seat, stretching his arms over his head. It didn’t look any of the trucks were gone which meant everyone on duty was here. If Terra could just get in to check and out without anyone asking him why he was there on his day off that would be ideal. It had to be here, there was no whe-

“Terra?”

He froze mid step up onto the sidewalk from the road, Ven pausing too so he could turn his head though it wasn’t like either of them didn’t know that voice.

“Oh, hey, Aqua,” Ven waved, putting on an easy smile. “What’re you doing out here?”

Terra looked over to see her walking up the sidewalk, coming from town. She looked a little confused but otherwise didn’t look any different from when he had seen her last night. She was even wearing a jacket despite the fact it was summer, his jacket to be exact, the one he let her have when she got too cold last night.

“Looking for you guys,” she said. “Neither of you were answering your phones.”

Ven pulled his phone out of his pocket to check and Terra probably would’ve done the same but the jacket…he remembered giving her the jacket. He only even had it on because it was easier to carry the ring…in it.

Terra was pretty sure he stopped breathing for a while.

“Oh, sorry,” Ven said, glancing a look over at Terra probably wondering why he hadn’t said a single thing yet. “Terra thought he forgot something here so I was coming for the ride. I just didn’t feel my phone go off, he probably didn’t either.”

“It’s fine,” she said, though she was still a little bit away.

There’s no way she couldn’t have noticed. It’s not like it wasn’t obvious what it would be even if she didn’t look at it.

Terra felt Ven lean in closer, holding his hand out. “You forgot it was in the jacket you let her wear didn’t you?”

“Ah, yeah,” Terra choked a little. “Seems that way.”

“Guess it’s now or never then.” Ven cleared his throat as Aqua came to stop in front of them. “Hey, gimmie your keys, I’ll go in and check for you.”

While with Ven there it was an excuse not to ever bring this up with Aqua, Terra knew he dragged this out long enough as is. He brought that ring months ago, no more excuses. “Yeah, thanks.” He placed the keys in Ven’s hand and he promptly took off without another look back. Some support of a brother was.

“What was that all about?” Aqua asked, eyeing Ven before looking back to Terra.

“Ah, you know how he is.”

“Yeah,” she said, a slight smile on her lips.

He still wasn’t really all that sure what to say if she wasn’t bringing it up, but despite the way his heart was nearly pounding out of his chest, acting normal was probably a start. He reached his hands to her face, pulling her in closer till he could kiss her. It was quick as his nerves were starting to get the better of him again but she still smiled at him when he looked at her.

“Hi,” she said.

“Hi.”

Before he even got a chance to do anything else, Aqua was already reaching her hand into the pocket of his jacket, pulling out the unmistakable box, the one he had been searching for all morning. “I might’ve found your lost item.”

He tried to hum in acknowledgment but it came out choked instead. “Yeah, imagine that.” Terra gently took it from her hand, though it really was in his hands now and he still had no idea what to say to her; it was almost worst considering of all the places he considered asking her, the side walk in front of his work where sirens could go off at any second from both the fire trucks and the ambulances wasn’t the top of the list. It was always some place secluded, just them, no other eyes or nosey glances.

But it’s not like he could quite hide his intentions any more.

“Did you, ah, open it?” he asked, not really sure how to phrase that question without sounding accusatory.

“No,” she said, shaking her head slightly. “I respect your privacy.”

He hummed again as words still wouldn’t come to his head. It wasn’t usually like this, even when he had nothing to say it didn’t matter not with Aqua, but here words were important. Even with Ven’s help it didn’t seem good enough, nothing felt good enough for her, for how he felt about her.

“Terra.” Her voice was firm but her touch gentle when she reached up to brush some of his bangs out of his eyes, fingers trailing lightly on his face. “You don’t have to, you know, say anything. I was trying to give you back your jacket without having to tell you, but when neither of you answered your phones I figured you already realized it was gone.” She paused for a moment, her hand resting on his chest, that usual warm smile on her lips. “Don’t worry about it, when you’re ready.”

It was astounding where he never knew what to say, she always knew the right thing to say. They worked together like that, and in every other aspect of their lives.

“C’mon,” Aqua said, grabbing his hand that wasn’t holding the ring box and nodded back towards town. “Let’s get Ven and go get some ice cream or something.”

Terra supposed Ven was right; in the end it didn’t really matter where it was or what was even said. She knew Terra better than anyone in the world, he probably wouldn’t have to say the words and she’d still know what he was trying to express to her. There were words though, there were things he wanted her to hear, even if he had said them before, he still needed her to know. It was just as good of place as any.

Aqua started to tug his hand some, trying to get him moving but he pulled her hand back, tugging her in till she was close enough for him to lean down and kiss her again. He pressed his forehead against hers, breath coming out a bit shakier than he intended.

She was quiet, her hand still laced with his, the other lightly resting on his chest. He could feel her breath on his face, the sweet smell of vanilla from her shampoo as some of her hair tickled his skin. It was hot out and she was warm, still wearing a jacket in the middle of summer despite the fact she was also wearing shorts and flip flops and there was no one he loved more.

When he finally did speak, he was surprised he even had a voice. “I’ve never known a life without you, you know.”

She laughed softly. “I suppose that’s true isn’t it?”

“I can’t imagine a life where I’d want to. I love you more than I think I could even express and a part of me always has, I hope you know that.”

“I know,” she breathed. “I always do.” Aqua reached a hand up to his face, the sleeve sliding down some to show her wrist. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the old, worn blue bracelet she had tied on. She didn’t wear it all the time as he knew she didn’t want it to break with age; she was sentimental like that.

Terra let go of her hand, reaching over to tap at the bracelet. “I still have mine too.”

“I know you do,” she said. “It’s too small for you now though.”

“Stars always make me think of you because of it and that story you told me about them.”

She rolled her eyes, hand dropping to his chest again as she laughed. “Yeah, that I was too embarrassed to tell you that’s why I put the charms on the bracelets when I gave it to you. Ven’s too, though he probably wouldn’t have teased me like you did.”

Terra couldn’t quite recall the whole story now as his heart was actually in his throat but it had to do with fate and bonds, she really liked that kind of stuff. “I always thought you were right. I know teased you about it all the time but I knew it.”

She nodded though her blue eyes looked a little watery, like she never expected him to remember something like that.

Terra held the jewelry box flat in his hand, reaching over to pull it open. His bracelet she made him so long ago fell out a little, the orange threads against the blue and silver of the ring.

Despite the fact at this point she had to know what he was doing, both her hands were over her mouth in a sort of surprise. She looked up from it to him, and he knew the look in her eyes; he probably wouldn’t even have to ask. He knew her well enough to see the answer on her face.

“Will you marry me?”

Aqua stared for a second, the one of them who always knew what to say looking like she was at a loss for words. “Of course,” she said, though her voice was muffled do to the fact she still had her hands over her mouth. She seemed to realize it as she dropped them. “Yes, of course, yes. Always yes.”

His heart was still up in his throat but he carefully popped the ring out of the box, safely putting both the box and the bracelet in his pocket, before taking her hand to slide the ring just moments ago he had thought was gone onto her finger.

Aqua’s breath hitched as she looked at for a moment but she quickly recovered, throwing her arms around his neck and holding on tightly. Terra only found he could breathe again when leaned in, wrapping his arms around her, head nudged against hers.

Ven was right, Terra didn’t really think she’d say no, but at the same time hearing her say it aloud made him feel almost like nothing had up until this point. She wasn’t just his best friend any more, she wasn’t just his girlfriend, she was going to be the person he spend the rest of his life with. It was enough to make him not want to let go of her for a long time.

Until he felt another body weight run into his back so hard he had to take a few steps forward to catch his and Aqua’s balance.

“Oh man, finally, seriously.” Ven propped his chin up on Terra’s other shoulder, arms around both him and Aqua.

He reached one hand up to push Ven’s head away but he moved out of the way. “Were you watching the whole time?”

“Uh yeah, of course I was. What else would I have been doing?”

Aqua pulled away enough to look at Terra, eyes glancing to Ven and back. Her smile was breathtaking, eyes still a little wet. She really was the most beautiful girl he ever knew. “I take it he knew.”

“Unfortunately,” Terra rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, okay, should I tell her when you actually bought the ring?” Ven snorted, letting go of them but only so he could slip in between to hug Aqua instead. “Now you’re really my sister, you know.”

She laughed when Ven lifted her up off the ground. Some part of Terra could see the situation reversed, Aqua at a much younger age picking Ven up to carry him around. Times had changed, people grew up but it was still them, still the three of them.

“I’m happy for you guys,” Ven said, when he finally did put Aqua back down. “You deserve this.”

Aqua was still laughing as she looked over to Terra, her fingers lightly running over the ring like even though she had already knew it existed, like she couldn’t believe it was real. He was always happy with her, that wasn’t changing but this would be new too, a little different, but not unwanted, not even a little bit.

He reached over to Ven’s head, ruffling his hair. “Thanks, buddy. Thanks for your help.”

“That’s what brothers are for, idiot.”

Aqua leaned back into Terra, wrapping her arms around his waist as she leaned her head down against his shoulder. He dropped his arm to her shoulders, leaning down to press a kiss to the drop of her head. This was it, this would always be his life now.

Ven let out a low whistle, eyes looking towards town. “Man, just wait till everyone finds out. They’re gonna flip out.”

Okay, you know, that Terra could wait a little bit on.

#terraqua #kingdom hearts #kingdom hearts fanfic #wayfinder trio #my fics:kh #modernaukh #bothofyou #I actually hesitated posting this one #that's why its a week off #I got a little nervous with the amount of fluffy fluff I was posting #but alas if you guys ever want to see the ending to this fic I gotta post this one haha

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merlinthoughts · 5 years

Text

Season 1 Episode 2 - Valiant

- ik for a fact that this one is the episode with the asshhoole. not bc i recognised it from the title but perhaps it was because i recognised it from the title u got me there

- i always go to mr clean too when i want protection, val, ur not alone

- yeah, this is harry potter l ma o

- the next thing u know theres a stone that makes arthur live forever and the snakes start joining into one and growing bigger until a phoenix (im dibbing on kilgie here), pops their corneas out

- DAMN DON'T KILL UR DEALER WHERE U GONNA GET THE NEW SHIT FROM NEXT TIME SMH VALIANT

- okay but who names their son valiant

- he was probably named valerie and didnt like it so he said “woah imma be valiant like courage, thats sick”

- that was probably his superhero persona as a child ngl

- no, shev, no respect for val stop doing this

- merlin in armour, what a fucking bLESiSNG GIVING ME THIS RIGHT ON THE SPOT BBC KNOWS WHATS GOOD

- ok a y but hear me out, merlins a servant. i have not seen any of these servants been asked to train with the royals??? like in the sense where it helps the servant train as well?? and the FIRST thing arthur does with merlin as his servant is train with him. not only is arthur a huge JOCK, he’s not using his manservant properly

- neverfuckingmind “most servants collapse after the first blow”, so it seems to be arthur likes to train with his servants. now that in itself is a question to be asked, but is he the only royal who trains with his servants??? how did this man survive on his own without a personal servant until merlin??? did he have a personal servant??? was it just regular servants?? who are those other servants he trained with??? did arthur just say hey lets go to the field in the morning, put on armour and let’s have a fun time?? UNLESS merlin literally just took someones job away from them kmao

- also my mind went right to the gutter guys, ngl, it sounded like an innuendo. it had me quaking i wish i was one of those servants

- “we all have our duties, even arthur” “it must be so tough for him, all the *hesitates* girl, all the glory”

- so we probably get at least 1 out of every 2 episodes where there’s a scene with merlin dressing arthur in his armour. bring the popcorn, lads.

- MORGANA LOOKING LIKE A FRICKEN SNACK

- the reigning champion is arthur, wonder fucking w h y

- valiant is in fucking mustard, while arthur is fucking ketchup idk why i thought of that but it happened. my literature teacher always told me to look for symbolisms. guess we found one guys.

- merlin after hating on arthur for the past episode is literally just cheering arthur on like a good husband he is

- did ARTHUR JUST SNICKER AT MERLINS “CREEP” LMAO DON'T TRY AND HIDE IT BY HUFFING AT HIM AFTERWARDS YOU FUCKING GOOF

- omg he hid it by telling merlin to do a full novel of chores

- AND MERLIN DOES IT WITH MAGIC A PAIR OF GOOFS

- “are you using magic again” “no” merlin ffs he just saw you use magic, while the items fell and landed right in front of him while you didn’t move at aLL. they are nOT BLIND

- “very aggressive style” I MEAN SURE UTHER

- valerie be fuckboying morgana lmao with a “i saw you watching” and a, “then i will give everything to win the tournament”

- i wish this show was set in the early 2000s so i can see val in low sweatpants, a backwards cap with gelled spiky hair and cheap neon sunglasses (maybe even some gold teeth just for kicks), while hes trying to rap 50 cents or make a mixtape of brit pop songs. bc yes.

- honestly im loving my 2000 fuckboy au. gonna make an ao3 after this.

- of course merlin would be the one to find out the magic shit in valiants room, it just lures him. AND OF COURSE VALIANT IS THERE

- i'm so fucking glad arthur looks confused as to how merlin did what he asked. when u have this kind of hubby, arthur, its amazing what things he can do.

- i dont know why theres dramatic music as merlin put armour on arthur but im living for it

- “is it my imagination or are you beginning to enjoy yourself?” merlin doesn't know what to say to that bc he’s turning gay and doesn't know if that counts as enjoying oneself when the one you are gay for is the asshole prince

- typically enough, valiant and arthur never fight except for the finale. like with all conveniences in place, youd expect them to have at least fought at some point with as much knights as there to determine the final two but no, just the finale. k.

- this poor fucking purple knighted bloke didn’t need to be fucking demonstrated on, val. like you didn't need to kill him?? that could have blown ur cover

- DID NOBODY SEE THAT??? DID NOBODY SEE THE FUCKING SNAKES???

- oooh merlin found out what happened everyone gonna be fucked. nobody harms arthur is he has something to say about it

- if someone starts off a sentence with “i just saw someones snakes on their shield come alive” nobody would fucking believe you, merls. but given the fact that magic exist… mhh maybe it wouldn’t be too absurd. but ppl apparently are thick as hell

- “why were you in his chambers” well i know how id explain if i was in valiants chambers ;)

- jk i dont fall for this toxic shit

- imagine getting paid as an actor just just lie down there like this poisoned kid. “yeah, id like to audition for ewan’s role???” “why are you lying on the ground?”

- i hate those tropes where it's like “i know how to tell someones bad, here’s proof” and then nobody believes you and tells you you’re lying and should die or whatever but then you kNOW IT'S THE FUCKIN TRUTH BITCH that trope gives me damn anxiety >:((

- yes merlin, fucking slash the shield with your sword. i'm sure that's how it works. im sure it will kill the snakes.

- HOWA RE THE SNAKES ALIVE WITHOUT VAL SAYING “ISHNAHASHAHI”

- i think val would know that you cut off the snake’s head, merls, just saying. ur were the oNLY ONE.

- TELL ARTHUR WHAT??? “I CUT A SNAKE”

- EXACLTY ONG THAT'S WHAT MERLIN FUCKING SAID I WAS RIGHT LMAO

- ARTHUR BELEIVED HIM I'M FUCKING LIVING BUT IK WHAT HAPPENS AND AHH

- uhhh the anxiety is rolling up boys

- ewan is mcfuckingdead

- snake be sliding in like a hoe on a business

- bfehfjdjfskf i hate this part

- arthur's pride, merlin’s pride, fuck me

- i'm not even gonna write this part, it breaks my fragile heart when arthur sees the look of people not believing him, especially his dad, and merlin seeing how arthur doesn't trust him anymore like prepare the eulogies girlies

- okay but if arthur is struck and gaius has the antidote?? arthur aint gonna die technically

- but now val knows merlin knows

- AND MERLIN INTERVENES

- why are royals so bitchy towards servants. like they do their best to help you??? they are loyal to you and are paid there to serve you and are often very kind, generous, passive, understanding people??? yet merlin interrupts uther and he fucking sends him to the pit

- VAL YOU ASS LMAO DON'T HURT MY SON’S PRIDE

- he said allegations like four times, yes uther we know ur vocab is shining with intellect but seriously, there’s other synonyms that could still be acceptable and still sound fancy

- quick search on google bc my mind doesnt roll fast enough: claim, assertion, charge, accusation, declaration, statement, contention, deposition, argument, affirmation. see daddy uther, not hard to look up.

- forget they didnt have internet whoopsies

- :((( arthur doesn't trust merlin anymore

- the husbands FIGHT

- not just a banter petty fight, this is a huge fight

- SACKING MERLIN DON'T FUCKING SACK MERLIN YOU GOOF

- TRUST UR HUBBY

- FUCK

- I'M GONNA CRY AND IT'S ONLY EPISODE TWO

- I'M HAVING EMOTIONAL PROBLEMS CONCERNING MY TWO BOYS

- GUYS IM NOT OKAy

- its been 2 minutes after i wrote that last sentence, and i am now okay

- “a half cannot truly hate that which makes it whole” iconic as hell. so many things could be said about that quote. either for innuendo purposes, love purposes, destiny purposes, how long it took me to say it right, just so many purposes man. it’s just iconic.

- merlin looks absolutely done with kilgaharama’s shit

- “just give me a straight answer” seems like kilgarass here is being too gay for merlin

- gwen already knows merlin’s the heroin of the series, saying everyone knows it's merlin who will save the day. but same tbh

- i dunno if this is like me or not but it says her nickname is gwyn in the subtitles but im typing it as gwen which i thought was how u wrote it, even if her full name is gwynevere but like gwen has a ring to it while gwyn sounds like gwin or smth and i dunno which one is right so ill just leave it alone ahjsjfk

- MORGANA HAS VISIONS WE ALREADY KNOW WHERE THIS GOES SHES MAGIC ISNT SHE HAHAHAHAUHD

- merlin trying one last time to convince his husband not to die, but at least this time arthur knows he’s up for val’s magic and is like “k iloveyou but i have to do this for the country not just bc of pride and thinking val is not magic”

- staring into the fire like he’s hoping it would suck him up into the void, not only is merlin a now confirmed emo, so is fucking arthur it seems. perfect for one another i'm telling you

- eerie music as morgana enters… wha suddenly i can't read

- i thought at first morgana and arthur were gonna end up together cause of the fucking weird tension going on and i was prepared to be disfuckinggusted but no! the show and producers actually put my expectations away and helped me see that it wasn’t going in that direction! thank fucking god!

- k but arthur looks majestic in his gear im just a huge bi

- “don’t go into my room” he says then gaius peaks in and almost gets mauled by a large chihuahua

- me too val, id step on someone's toes then fuck them up with an undercut. thats the bad bitch way to go. unless it for arthur, then val hahaha you can go fuck yourself

- no one sees mErLin??

- but they now see the snakes smh fakes

- “what are you doing? i didn't summon you” i don't think that will work val cause you didn't say it with a serpent tongue, it has to sound more like “shhashhwhat ahhssare hiisssyou iisshhaadoing?”

- okay but i thought arthur was impaled for a half second until he started to talk then i screamed that he was aight and he would now believe merlin

- uther better give merlin an apology

- arthur just said he wouldnt

- but still uther BETTER APOLOGISE TO FUCKING MERLIN

- “yknow i wish valiant was escorting me” “me too” i thought for a fricken moment arthur wished valiant would have escorted HIM. i'm dying.OMG

- “i wanted to say i made a mistake. it was unfair to sack you.” “don’t worry about it. buy me a drink and we’ll call it even.” DID YOU JUST SAY WHAT I THINK YOU JUST SAID MERLIN YOU SLY DOG OMG

- “i can’t really be seen to be buying drinks for my servant.” so if he wasn’t ur servant?? you’d say yes?? they are so fucking gay i can't anymore

- yeah, i literally fucking can't

#merlin #merlin bbc #merthur #s1 #this is early bc well it was already written #peeps up for the next one boys #tho its not done #expect it in a few days oop #s1.2

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water-hates-learning · 6 years

Text

The Last Guardian AU

Sooooo, these are pieces of scenes I started writing on a whim and never went anywhere with. And probably won’t go anywhere with. But I liked them too much not to share them. Do with them what you will, I guess.

******* Edd forced his heavy eyes open. He felt ill and uneasy, a sick taste in the back of his mouth and a dull pounding in his head. He shifted uncomfortably, cracking his eyes open against the light, and forced himself to focus on his surroundings. Dirt, rocks, leaves, flowers, all lit by the beams of moonlight dripping into the cavern from the narrow opening far overhead. Nothing he recognized. Nothing he remembered. Groaning, the young man heaved himself up right, rubbing at his eyes and glancing around. The first thing he saw was another person sprawled on the ground near him. A tall, thin person with ginger hair.

"Matt!" His voice croaked as he shuffled over to his friend, "Matt! Are you okay?" Matt grimaced and sat up slowly, scrubbing at his face, "What the blazes...where are--AH!" The ginger yelped when he spotted the black markings on his arms and legs, "What is this!? Edd! Edd, they're on you too!"

Edd looked and, yes, there were black symbols scattered down his arms. Tattoos, almost, markings he didn't recognize. He skimmed his fingertips over them, frowning. They didn't feel raised or like scar tissue and they didn't hurt but they had appeared out of nowhere and they were definitely ingrained in his skin. Matt squeaking drew his attention again. He looked up and found Matt gaping in horror at him--no, wait, not at him. Of course it was something behind him. Edd turned sharply and gasped, falling back into Matt's lap as he backpedaled in shock. Sprawled on the ground was a massive shape, almost too big for Edd to comprehend at first, a jumble of scales and feathers and fur that was shifting ever so slightly. That was breathing. Huge, obsidian black claws twitched as the massive creature shifted slightly, a long neck covered in lilac fur and heavy plates of armor heaved up from the ground and flopped down again tiredly, and broken wings with splintered, iridescent black feathers pointed out at jagged angles from a broad back. Edd breathed out an awed curse, heart thudding in his chest. He had heard of these creatures, he and Matt both had, they had grown up listening to the stories. Great winged beasts that would come in the night and take away naughty children who didn't go to bed on time, monsters who would eat you in the dark. Demons called trico that brought misfortune and were a symbol of death. Matt was shuddering from his spot on the ground, his lilac robes bunched into his shaking fists, tears bubbling in his eyes as he fought to control his breathing. The trico turned its great head and Edd suddenly found himself breathless. Its eyes were pitch black, voids of darkness that sucked in the light. The horns on its head, striped violet and lilac, were broken, snapped off close to its skull. Most of its features were hidden under a thick helmet of armor but its mouth opened in a strained growl, showing sharp fangs and a thick, black tongue. It shifted, rolling as if to climb to its feet, never taking its dark eyes off the pair of them. Edd couldn't breathe, his heart was pounding in his ears as he watched the ancient creature's leg shake as it tried to stand. But its legs collapsed underneath it and it crashed to the floor of the cavern, nearly toppling Edd. "It's hurt," Matt whispered from beside Edd, clutching at his friend's robes, "Look, Edd, there are--there's spears in it." "The poor thing..." Edd murmured as the beast shifted, laying its head on the ground again with a pitiful whine of pain. Edd struggled with himself for a moment and then slowly crept towards the creature, hands out stretched to show he meant no harm. The monster was watching him, a toxic purple flickering in the black voids of its eyes, huge ears twitched to catch his movements. Edd approached the shaft of the spear embedded in the creature's leg and gently rested his palm on the feathery texture, the blood sticky against his skin. The creature raised its head, ears sliding back and lips peeling slightly to show its teeth. In the background Matt fidgeted with fear but didn't dare move closer for fear of provoking the thing.

Ever so slowly, Edd closed his hands around the spear. No one moved. The cavern held its breath. Edd heaved back on the spear. The creature roared, throwing its head back and kicking wildly, thrashing as Edd struggled to pull the spear out. It bucked and howled, drowning out Matt's frantic cries. With a sickening sucking sensation and splatter of dark blood, Edd finally managed to yank the spear free. He tumbled backwards, the stained weapon in his head, grinning at his triumph. Then a powerful hind leg caught him in the chest and sent him flying into the nearby wall, knocking him unconscious. ***** Edd's back hurt when he came to. He groaned and coughed, sitting up with a painful wince, and glanced around. It was lighter now, the sun streaking down into the cave and glancing off the small pool of water in the center of the room. His gaze skittered over to where the trico still lay. Its eyes were closed, dried blood matted over its scales and fur, and it appeared to be asleep. Matt was nowhere in sight. Edd's gut clenched in fear and he wobbled to his feet, "Matt? Matt! Matt, where are you!?" "Edd! You're awake! Are you okay!?" Edd turned around to see Matt hurrying over, kicking up dust from some old ruins he was leaving behind. "Um, y-yeah, I think so. My head hurts but nothing major." Edd got shakily to his feet, bracing himself on Matt as he glanced at the trico again. One of its black eyes had slid open a hair, glimmering faintly in the sunlight, "Are you okay?" "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I was just looking for a way out of here." Matt ran a hand through his hair and Edd noticed damp spots on his robes, "There's another room down a tunnel thataways but it's a dead end. We're stuck in here unless we can get that heavy chain off Tom--" "Wh--off who?" Matt blinked and then smiled, "Tom! The trico! I named him Tom!" "You...you named it...Tom..." "Yeah!" Matt said brightly, "I was poking around and found these glowing barrels and was pushing them out here cause I thought maybe there was food in them. When Tom saw them, his eyes got all glowy and so I pushed one over to him. He ate the whole thing! Wood and all! Then he let me pull the rest of the spears out and we're friends now! Aren't we Tom?" Edd glanced back at the massive beast. It was fully awake now, head raised off the ground and staring at them, its ears pricked forward. It might have been cute if it hadn't been for that heavy armor and black voids of its eyes. Then it yawned, showing its mouthful of teeth, and Edd shivered. "Are you sure we should let it loose?" Matt's brow furrowed, "Well, I figured either we would slowly starve to death down here or we free Tom and either he breaks us out or we get eaten." He shrugged, "I don't WANT to die but if I had to choose, I'd rather go fast." He looked a little green around the gills as he said it. Edd hated that he saw the logic in that statement. But he sighed, nodded, and followed Matt over to the trico. It watched them curiously but as they drew closer, he slowly rose to his feet. He towered over the pair of them, shaking himself out and showering them with loose feathers and dust. Edd shrugged, reached up, and grasped a fistful of gray-lilac fur, pulling himself up to climb up Tom's broad leg. Matt followed behind him until they were standing on the thick armor covering the creature's back. Edd expected the trico to shake them off but he simply shifted his weight, flicked his ears, and looked over his shoulder at them. "The handle...lever...whatever." Edd pointed and carefully picked his way to the base of Tom's neck where a wide lever that was almost as big as he was protruded from a thick metal clasp. Tom gave a chirruping rumble as Edd drew closer and arched his shoulders, shredded remains of his wings twitching. Edd grabbed the lever and heaved on it, pulling all his weight down to try and move it. The thing creaked but didn't give. "Matt, help me!" The pair pulled with all their might until there was a snapping groan and the lever moved. The clamps opened and the heavy collar around the beast's neck dropped with a clang to the floor. Tom's ears pricked and he shook his head. Then his entire body. Edd and Matt tumbled off the creature's back and thudded to the floor. They didn't have time to nurse their bruises, though, because Tom was shaking the heavy pieces of armor free from his back. The two boys dived out of the way, scrambling to a safe distance as Tom freed himself. Then, with a final shake and a ruffle of loose feathers, the trico straightened up and looked around at them. "Without the armor...he looks...kinda cute." Edd muttered. "He's a big sweetie! Aren't you Tommy?" Matt dashed across the floor, arms spread wide. Tom snorted and lowered his head, sniffing at Matt until the young man wrapped his arms around the broad muzzle. "Oh my god," Edd bit his lip to hold in his laughter, "He's--he's PURRING." Matt shrieked as Tom lifted his head, leaving Matt's legs dangling in the air as he clung to the trico's snout. "Okay, enough goofing around, you two! We have to find a way out of here." -------------- "How long have you been living down here?" Edd asked carefully as Tord poked at the meager fire with a stick. Tord shrugged, "Dunno. Couple of years, maybe. It's hard to keep track of time in the Nest. I can't stay in one place too long; it always feels like something's watching me." His gaze slid over to the shadows outside the fire where Tom was licking the pads of his foot with a black tongue and swiping it over his ears to clean them. "This map is pretty good," Matt drew his attention again, the worn leather soft under his fingers, "There's a lot of detail! Is there an exit?" The ginger's eyes glimmered excitedly in the firelight. "Not down here," Tord shook his head and Matt's shoulders slumped, "I've been down here long enough to make it around the perimeter of the Nest but there's no way out down here. The only way in or out is up. And the higher you go, the more dangerous it is." "If Tom's wings were healed..." Edd sighed. "Hey, hey, all hope's not lost." Tord was wearing a tight smile, crinkling the black markings on his face, "There's three of us now. Plus, if that trico really is on your side, that's a huge advantage. We can't fight the guards on our own but him...he could crush them."

----------------- "How come Matt gets the shiny mirror?" Tord pouted as they all scrambled back through the tunnel and onto the ledge. "What, do you want to stare at yourself all the time?" Edd threw back and Tord scowled at him. Tom heard their voices and uncurled himself from the ground, standing upright and looking at them eagerly, ears pricked forward. Edd smiled, despite himself, and reached out to rub the creature's nose. The beast nuzzled into his palm for a moment and then then snuffled, snorting along Edd until he spotted Matt. As soon as he saw the mirror, Tom let out a growling whine, eyes flashing an array of colors, ears drooping, head ducking almost in fear. Edd and Tord hissed at Matt who hastily turned the mirrored shield away from the creature. Light reflected and bounced off it and then, miraculously, it began to glow. A beam of light danced from the surface of the shield and focused on a point along the wall. Tom's gaze followed it and he hunkered down, fur and feathers bristling, eyes burning that bright, poisonous violet. Then he arced his tail over its back and-- The air exploded and crackled with light and electricity. Lightning ripped through the air and slammed into the wall where the light was pointing, carving a trench in the stonework. All three boys gasped and tripped backwards, almost falling off the ledge in their shock. Matt dropped the mirror and it clanged against the stone, the light vanishing in an instant. Mere seconds later, Tom was huffing and shaking himself, shedding loose feathers and tufts of fur. He rolled his shoulders and looked at them curiously. "Holy shit..." Tord wheezed, eyes wide and chest heaving, "That was awesome!" "You can shoot lightning from your tail!?" Edd cried, scrambling to his feet, "You can shoot lightning from your tail!! You can shoot lightning! From your tail!" He erupted into laughter and Tord joined in as Matt gingerly retrieved the mirror. The creature's eyes swiveled to look at the tall ginger, eyes glinting a knowing blue-purple for a brief moment. Then he snorted, ruffling Matt's hair, and pranced on the spot, catching on to their excitement. ------------------- Edd woke up because he was cold. Not freezing to death kind of cold, but the uncomfortable damp kind of cold that prickled his skin and made him shiver under his robes. He sat up, rubbing sleep from his eyes and looking around. Matt was still curled next to him, facing the cave wall, breathing steadily in his sleep. Tord was next to Matt, chin tucked into his chest, huddled close to Matt in a way he would never admit to if he was awake. The were both shivering and Edd pulled his heavier outer robe off to drape over his friend before turning away. The shape at the entrance to the cave startled him for a moment before he realized it was the trico. He was crouched a few feet inside the cave opening, shoulders hunched, large ears pointed out at the pouring rain, back to the rest of the cave. The only thing that moved was the tip of his tail, twitching occasionally. Edd moved forward carefully until he stood beside Tom, looking out at the vast expanse of The Nest through the curtain of water dripping from the overhang. Tom's ear twitched but his half-lidded black eyes never turned away from the outlook. Edd settled on the stone, cross-legged, beside the Trico, and wrapped his arms around himself to keep some warmth in his body. There was silence apart from the rain for a long while until Tom hummed low in this throat, that deep, whining rumble of a croon that was soft and crackled and wondering. "I'm okay." Edd murmured. Without thinking, he reached out a hand and brushed it over the feather-like scales on Tom's side, "And so is Matt. And Tord. You're an ugly fucker but you're okay too." Tom snorted and glared at Edd who just laughed softly and patted his side, "We'll get out of here. Don't worry about it." Tom breathed out a cloud of steam and turned back to the opening to stare at the rain. Edd hesitated and then got to his feet and went back to where the others were still sleeping. He tugged some of his robe free of the Matt's grip and curled up next to his friend to go back to sleep. It was still cold and it was seeping into his bones, making him shiver, making it near impossible to fall asleep. There was a shift, a rumble, and then a heavy thump and warmth enveloped him. Edd glanced around and saw Tom laying down around them, head resting on his paws, eyes closed. His tail looped all the way around their little group until it covered the trico's nose, fur ruffling with his breaths. Edd smiled to himself, closed his eyes, and settled back down to sleep.

#8ball fics #last guardian ew au

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imaginetonyandbucky · 6 years

Note

A soulmate AU where an immortal goose shows up one day to lead you to your soulmate, the challenge is surviving the goose. Tony's goose shows up the day his parents die. Bicky's goose attacks his handlers and is a main reason Bucky is free from Hydra.

A/N: This got hella long, so the full fic is at AO3. :D

What’s Good for the Goose

The year Bucky turned seven, he met Steve Rogers and got his soulmark. This was not a coincidence.

Bucky met Steve while was taking a shortcut through a back alley walking home from school. This wasn’t a coincidence either. Steve and back alleys were already well known to each other at this point. Bucky showing up just as the smaller and younger boy was getting the crap beat out of him was far more of an inevitability than anything fateful or serendipitous. As was Bucky dropping his books and throwing himself into the fray, on the rightful assumption that the three much larger boys were the bad guys.

“Run!” he shouted at the little kid, who couldn’t’ve been more than five, in the glimpse Bucky got of him before he was too busy defending himself to pay more attention. Bucky’s daddy had been teaching him how to box since he was six, but three against one were bad odds for anyone. And the little kid wasn’t running.

Nope. The little kid, who already had a big red circle on his cheek that was going to be one hell of a bruise, pulled his tiny, angry self to his tiny, angry feet and tried to tackle one of the three boys. He ended up dangling off his back like an enraged monkey, then shaken back to the grimy pavement.

The little kid ended up gasping on the ground, leaving Bucky unable to implement Plan A, which had been to get in a few good licks then get the hell out of there while the getting was good. Now the getting was very, very bad, and Bucky was all alone against three boys who seemed to get bigger and nastier the longer they fought him.

Bucky already had a bloody nose and a sore stomach. His daddy taught him how to take a hit, but George Barnes always went very, very easy on him, something that in retrospect might have given his only son a dangerously elevated sense of confidence. Confidence that was rapidly eroding now that he’d been backed against the wall and wasn’t sure he’d get home with all his teeth.

And that was when the goose showed up.

We all have soulmates, and every soulmate pair shares an animal guide. The Guide is there to lead you to your One True Love, and they represent the aspects of the psyche that you both share. They appear when you’re about to meet your soulmate, and often materialize in moments of great personal crisis, offering hope and support. There are stories upon stories about how someone’s Guide appeared to lead them to their One True, or how the bare glimpse of their Guide eased their hearts and gave them hope in the midst of despair. The newly-rescued almost always attribute their Guide with giving them the strength and courage to hang on.

Animal Guides are ephemeral, ethereal, and elusive. They are, most often, no more than a warm presence or flicker out of the corner of one’s eye. They are incarnate symbols of perseverance, optimism and hope. Foretellers of happiness, and the grand destiny of love.

Except for geese. Geese are assholes.

The goose that appeared out of nowhere was big and white, with a beak and feet that were bright orange. The most remarkable thing about it was being a goose in a back alley in Brooklyn, though at that moment Bucky had three bigger things to worry about. Until the goose hissed like a kettle boiling the blood of its enemies and launched itself at the boys.

It hadn’t looked nearly so big or formidable before. But with its wings spread and feet scrabbling and beak pecking like a bright orange dagger, the goose resembled an angel of death honking in rage like the horns of Jericho. Even Bucky was terrified, and it was apparently on his side. Bucky’s assailants screamed and ran.

The goose chased them to the end of the alley, honking and flaring its wings. When it was satisfied that the boys were gone, it ruffled its feathers and waddled back, looking pleased with itself. It stopped in front of Bucky, tilting its head to gaze up at him with one sky blue eye. A little threateningly, Bucky thought.

Then the goose leapt up and bit him on the arm.

“Ow!” Bucky kicked at the goose, but she (the goose was a girl) sidestepped like a prize fighter and then threw herself at him just like she did with the boys. She pecked at him and clawed his shirt and beat her wings like she was trying to box Bucky’s ears. Bucky ended up with his back against the same wall and his forearms crossed desperately in front of his face, screaming for help.

An empty can hit the wall about three feet from Bucky’s head. “Hey! Leave him alone!” the little kid yelled. He picked up another can and threw it. This one hit Bucky’s shin. But it got the goose’s attention.

The goose dropped to the pavement, and ran-waddled at the little kid, who stood there like he was so scared he’d forgotten how to run. She honked at him and pecked his knee right under the hem of his shorts, making the little kid yelp too. Then she waddled to the mouth of the alley, hissing over her shoulder for good measure, and vanished.

“What was that?” The little kid rubbed his leg, which was red as his face and would probably bruise just as spectacularly. He looked at Bucky. “Why’d it attack you?”

Bucky stared at the place the goose wasn’t. “Dunno,” he said, still stunned. “Either ‘cause I didn’t win, or 'cause I was dumb enough to get into a fight in the first place. Or both. I think it was both.” He looked down at his body: his ripped shirt and the bloody spots and smugly-spreading bruises. The peck on his arm hurt the worst. It was already turning dark, kind of taking the shape of a bird.

“That’s not fair!” the little kid said hotly. He probably did everything hotly, Bucky thought. He probably had a fever all the time. Maybe that was why he was so pale and angry. “How can it be mad at you for both? It has to be one or the other! And how could it expect you to win against three guys like that?”

Bucky shrugged. “I don’t know. But that’s what she told me.”

The little kid wiped the blood off his split lip, then looked at the empty alley mouth. “That’s your Guide, isn’t it?”

“I think so,” Bucky said. The bruise looked a lot like a goose.

“Then you’re in trouble,” Steve said.

“Uh-huh.” Bucky rubbed his bruise again. Definitely a goose. He was in so much trouble. “My name’s Bucky.”

“Hi, Bucky. I’m Steve,” Steve said. “Sorry about your Guide.”

“Thanks,” Bucky said faintly. His bruise was taking on an outline. He could see the goose’s features now. It was glaring at him. “I’d better get home. Mom’s gonna have a fit.”

“Yeah. Your clothes are ruined,” Steve said.

“I meant about my Guide,” Bucky said.

~ @taste-is-sweet

Read More at AO3.

#winteriron #tony x bucky #tony stark #bucky barnes #pepper x rhodey #pepper potts x rhodey rhodes #sam x steve #sam wilson x steve rogers #past implied bucky x peggy x steve #soulmarks #soulmates #alternate universe #geese #geese-related violence #possible goose-related stockholm syndrome #prompts #taste is sweet #Anonymous

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storygirl000 · 6 years

Text

So I became Detentionaire trash and I started thinking: you know how most fandoms have that one Pokémon AU where X character has Y Pokémon team? So why not apply that to Detentionaire?

Have a(n incomplete) list based off of my terrible nerdery.

Lee: Mains with a Girafarig for no real reason I can think of except “hey, he’s paranoid, that extra tail head Girafarig has can keep people from sneaking up on him”? Other members of his team include an Abra (probably a gift from his mom) and a Zweilous (who replaces the Tatzelwurm and isn’t actually one of Lee’s Pokémon, but he sort of counts I guess?).

Biffy: Mains with a Medicham, which I figure is kinda symbolic because he’s the smart guy and the muscle and Medicham’s Fighting/Psychic? I dunno. He also has a Skitty. Yes, he named her Mrs. Rumplekittycat.

Cam: Mains with Hawlucha. Because. Also has an Aipom that kinda grew attached to him after his tenth birthday, after it saw him acting like...well, an Aipom. Oh, and he caught a Purrloin after becoming popular.

Holger: Has a Luvdisc and a Bruxish; the former as a reference to his “love sense”, the latter because...well, he likes fish, and he’s kinda crazy, and Bruxish is both.

Tina: Has a Klefki and a Sableye, who both help her with her investigations.

Jenny: Owns a Nidorina and a Hitmonchan. Will not hesitate to have either of them attack a person.

Brandy: Carries a Snubbull around and pampers it to no end.

Kimmie: Usually accompanied by either a Debutante Trim Furfrou, a Rockruff, or a Lillipup.

Chaz: Usually seen with a Bronzor that acts as a portable mirror.

Brad: Has a Riolu, Sneasel, and Sigilyph; all of these are Pokémon you can rent from Pokestar Studios in Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 and Brad is a wannabe actor, do the math.

Dickie: Has a Gothitelle, since it can apparently see the future and that would help him with his schemes to keep the status quo in check at A. Nigma.

Steve: Has two Machoke and a Makuhita, of course.

Irwin: Owns a Reuniclus and an Elgyem, both of whom are about as smart as he is.

Greta: Normally accompanied by an Espeon and a Spoink.

Beth: Owns a Meowstic whom she calls “The Grand Magus” and a Honedge to stab people with. (Not really though. Hopefully.)

Cyrus: Has a Loudred and a Chatot, both of whom are honorary members of the DoD.

Chopper: Has a Pangoro. Like trainer, like Pokémon…

Stinky: Owns a Mime Jr, because that’s the closest I can get to a clown Pokémon without involving legendaries/Ultra Beasts.

Grayson: Owns a Rotom that he occasionally has spy on others.

Barrage: That Ducklett that saved him during the war stayed by his side, evolved into a Swanna, and now spends its time attacking everyone who’s late to class. Screwing with it is not advised.

Finnwich: Owns a Hypno and a Golett, tying in to the two main aspects of his character (hypnotism and ancient robots).

Lynch: Owns a Gastly and a Misdreavus, which he mostly uses to freak people out.

VP Victoria: Owns a Beheeyem, to help with the brainwashing experiments.

Wurst: Had a Slurpuff back before he was cloned. His clones now each have a Slurpuff cloned from that one Slurpuff (except for the ones that don’t like sweets, who all have Cherubi).

Cassandra: Owns a Zoroark and a Krookodile. Fitting.

The Serpent: A Seviper named Priscilla, of course!

#pokemon #detentionaire #lee ping #biffy goldstein #cam martinez #holger holgaart #tina kwee #jenny jergens #brandy silver #kimmie mcadams #Greta von hoffman #why do I spend time doing these things #I doubt anyone's gonna read it anyway

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gaycousinlarry · 6 years

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Annual Writing Self-Evaluation

*All answers should be about works published in 2017.

1. List of works published this year:

If the story is part of a series or a challenge I’ve put the name of the series/challenge in parenthesis.

In the order that they were posted

Them Butterflies (Them Butterflies)

Moments of Memories

You light up the room (short fics & drabbles)

They don’t know (short fics & drabbles)

Just for you (short fics & drabbles)

Follow the sun (short fics & drabbles)

Flutter of a Butterfly (Them Butterflies)

sun kissed (short fics & drabbles)

Hot Guy (short fics & drabbles)

Remind Me Again

the sun comes back up

a night like this (daydreams are made of this)

a day like a dream (daydreams are made of this)

It’s halftime. Are you ready to go? (50 reasons to Have Sex Larry Fic Fest)

deck the halls with boughs of holly (Larry Winter Drabble Challenge)

The rest under the cut <3

2. Work you are most proud of (and why): Them Butterflies will always have a very special place in my heart. It was the first fic I wrote/posted and that was a huge step for me. I also think it, in a way, set a tone for who I am as a writer lol. It gave me the courage to keep writing, to see what I’m good at and what I need to work on. I’m also so in love with the characters from this verse, I still think about them all the time.

3. Work you are least proud of (and why): Okay I’m going to be obnoxious now, but I’m sort of ridiculously proud of everything that I’ve written? Not because I think they’re all perfect or even particularly good, but because it was something I wrote and even if I don’t like it, it’s helped me get better. I do worry about what people will think of my writing and I always hope people will enjoy it. But I think I’ve never had too high expectations on my own writing because I literally just started writing a year ago and I’m still amazed that I write at all and that I love it so much haha.

4. A favorite excerpt of your writing: This is from Moments of Memories. These two break and mend my heart in equal parts and in some strange sort of way I feel honoured to have written about them.

And it’s so much more than Harry ever imagined. Because he always dreamed of butterflies in his stomach, shaky breaths and soft lips, and it is all that, but also calloused hands holding his face delicately, tears welling up in two pairs of eyes and lips wobbling into wide grins of equal parts disbelief and elation. His fingers find the deep lines at Louis’ temples, wiping at the wetness collected there and he thinks that from now on he doesn’t want to miss a single tear.

They break apart and breathe in the same air. Share another moment containing hundreds of moments, but this time it consists of moments that never were. Kisses never shared, tearful eyes that never had the opportunity to find comfort and understanding in each other. It is years spent apart that wore down their hearts and shrivelled their thoughts.

5. Share or describe a favorite comment you received: I don’t think I can pick one. There are people who’ve told me my writing makes them cry, that it’s one of their favourite fics, that I’ve moved them and that they come back to read my stories again and again. I have no words to describe how much every single comment means, especially if someone take the time to say why they enjoyed the story. Okay now I’m weepy so I better stop.

6. A time when writing was really, really hard: I struggled quite a bit with Remind Me Again at times because the story was so intuitive to me and it’s difficult to get that to make sense to other people. I knew the feeling I wanted to get across, knew why things were happening the way they were, but the characters didn’t always make sense and sometimes it felt like I was swimming in an ocean of jumbled messy EMOTIONS that made no sense outside my own head. Thank to the gods Nic was there to pull my out of it. Over and over. And over again.

7. A scene or character you wrote that surprised you: I would say… no? The stories don’t always end up the way I thought they would, but I think they very rarely surprise me. I guess Remind Me Again was more of a continuous stream of revelations though haha. More like things falling into place than coming out of left field? I dunno.

8. How did you grow as a writer this year: Oh my god. I became a writer this year hahaha! I learned that all these thoughts and feelings (cheers to that if you don’t need them!) that I’ve carried around with me my whole life can be put down and other people can read it and enjoy the things that I’ve kept locked up for so long? Amaze.

What has helped me the most is HANDS DOWN working with the most incredible beta in the world, Nic @louandhazaf . She puts words to the mess that is the thoughts in my head and makes me sit down and think about why a character does something. She makes me see that sometimes less is more. Sometimes more is definitely more so why the frick aren’t I showing that? She makes me think more like a storyteller and a writer rather than just someone vomiting feelings into a computer.

9. How do you hope to grow next year: I’d like to get better at what I already think is my strength, which is stories that are emotionally/character driven. To understand that it’s okay to write like that, but that it also doesn’t mean it has to be all over the place heh.

I would however like to get better at world building and maybe, at least a little bit, dip my toes into more plot based stories…. okay that will literally never happen who am I kidding. I guess what I’d like is to get better at using the surroundings and symbols, to try to be more structured even when it comes to things beyond timelines and scenes.

I just want to keep writing and find new stories to write and characters to fall in love with and discover my own writing while doing that. I still feel extremely new to the process of writing so. I think I should be kind to myself and just let me enjoy it haha.

10. Who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer or beta or cheerleader or muse etc etc): NIIIIIIICCCC! <33333 I literally could never thank her enough. The thought and the time she’s put into helping me, to make my writing make sense to myself, to push me and question me and make me annoyed at myself because I kind of sort of already knew that didn’t make sense but I didn’t CARE and now she’s pointing to the mess and asks What is this? Why is it? but THEN we get to the best part which is when her questions makes me think and then new inspiration hits and all I want to do is write write write. I cannot believe my luck to have found you and get to call you my friend on top of that. Miracles and all that.

I also have to say, I read so much fic and this fandom has so much of it that is absolutely mind blowingly spectacular. I think reading is one of the best ways to become a better writer because it sort of… stretches out your mind and it makes you think about why that writer made you belly drop to the bottom of the ocean with just one word. God I love the writers of this fandom so incredibly much, your words mean so much to me, both as a writer and as a like... human being.

11. Anything from your real life show up in your writing this year: I have read and related to m/m fic since I was very young. It’s been a way for me to escape reality but also find comfort in characters that are more like me than heteronormative mainstream stories. Then this year I started reading f/f and my world tilted off its axis and put a billions thoughts in my head that I thought I was done dealing with a thousand years ago. Then I sat down and wrote girl direction myself and yeah. Gods I love girls.

12. Any new wisdom you can share with other writers: BE KIND TO YOURSELF! Honestly the fact that you’ve written anything at all is AMAZING. Every single word you put on that page is wonderful. If you don’t let yourself explore and need everything to be perfect from the start, it won’t be fun and you’ll never learn more. You learn by making mistakes and just writing, no matter what it is. Betas, editing and rewriting are the magical words.

13. Any projects you’re looking forward to starting (or finishing) in the new year: -Oh gosh. I’m reaaaally looking forward to posting my Hope Floats AU that will probably come out in January. I have worked on it since this summer and it’s made me sweat and cry and laugh. Cannot wait to show it to you guys and I’m so happy @curleduphl is doing amazing artwork for it <3

-I’ll continue writing my girl direction series. I have the next part planned out, I just need to… write it.

-I have a “summer nights” fic that I hope to write. They’re teenagers and it’s summer and Louis skates at the park every night and Harry cannot stop staring. I already have a playlist for it soooo… haha.

-Louis babysits Harry’s cat and has a deep and meaningful conversation with the cat about his feelings for her Papa.

-Omega/Omega fic. I love ABO fics and I’ve had this idea forever. I hope I can gather up the guts to actually write it. Friends to lovers and ridiculous amounts of pining.

-I would also like to write a snippet from the Them Butterflies series. They are at a lake house with their friends and Harry has been really quiet over the past few days.

-THE INCREDIBLE AMAZING IDEA THAT WILL COME TO ME ANY SECOND NOW

14. Tag three writers/artists whose answers you’d like to read. ;)

I don’t know if you’ve been tagged before but I’d love to read this from @haloeverlasting @rosegoldhl @indiaalphawhiskey <3333

#hhsjkfh this was so fun to do!#thanks for tagging me <3 #my writing

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minijenn · 7 years

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Stonemason Saga Stuff

Because ya’ll are going fucking nuts for this whole Stonemason thing (and honestly, so am I) I decided to list out most of the headcanons/ideas I have for it as well as a lot of what you guys have suggested so far. Mostly so we can collect all of this stuff together in one place and so I can point people who have no idea what it is towards one centralized post. And so, buckle yourself in for some angst because here we go!

This is an idea that will very likely be incorporated into UF’s sequel, regardless of what happens in future SU episodes; it’ll likely be one of the main focuses of the arc immediately following Wanted (which will be an arc ender in UF) (in other words, this isn’t an AU)

Said idea is that, following the events of The Trial, Steven, Mabel, and Lars get away in Blue Diamond’s palanquin, but Dipper doesn’t (for reasons I’m still on the fence on, either he gets noticed and doesn’t make it to the palanquin in time or he volunteers to provide a cover while the others get away (probably will be more along the lines of that second one though)

So the others get away from the Diamonds and continue along the rest of the plot of Wanted (what with Off Colors and Lars’ Head), but Dipper doesn’t and considering both Yellow Diamond’s vendetta against “Rose Quartz” as well as a spoilery thing I can’t talk about yet that happens in UF’s version of Weirdmageddon that’ll have her wanting vengeance on not just Steven but also both of the twins and basically the Gems and the Mystery Shack crew in general, she sees this as very advantageous

Still, to calm the frazzled Blue Diamond down, Yellow assures her that she’s just going to send Dipper off to the human zoo, something she has no intentions of doing as she instead has him taken away (despite his attempts to escape/fight back) and locked up for a while

Still, it’s not too long until Yellow Diamond has Dipper brought back in and so there’s a good bit of tension/confrontation filled with talk about stuff that I can’t bring up because most of it relates to that spoilery thing from Weirdmageddon but anyway…

It ends with Yellow basically giving Dipper an ultimatum: either he willingly agrees to essentially become her assassin and take out “Rose Quartz” (Steven) (who her Sapphires informed her would eventually make it back to Earth somehow) or he’ll be forced into doing it all the same (so yeah, not much of an ultimatum and more of just YD being a vengeful bitch)

So of course, Dipper boldly refuses and long story short, YD’s just like “yeah ok whatever, kid” and she has him hauled off to be “modified”; And by that I mean, basically she has one of his arms literally cut off (and he’s mostly conscious for this too, until he ends up passing out from the pain) and replaced with a cybernetic prosthetic arm (one that’s linked to his nervous system and also can do quite a bit, which I’ll get into later)

Then, as if that wasn’t bad enough, YD then attempts to “reprogram” Dipper into being her loyal assassin, mostly through torture (turns out, YD picked up a few tips about how to get humans to cave from her lengthy deal with Bill); as for the said specifics of this torture… I dunno I’ll come up with something by the time we get closer to that point

But of course, as well all know, Dipper is immensely stubborn and strong-willed, so he resists everything YD throws at him and even tries to escape, even though that attempt is quickly thwarted

But for as stubborn as Dipper is, YD is honestly just as stubborn, so she keeps throwing both physical and psychological torment upon him, until, after weeks of nonstop torture, he finally breaks (like, full on Heroic BSOD here)

So that kinda leaves him an empty slate, which is perfect for YD to being “reconditioning” him; what that basically entails suppressing all of his memories about who he used to be and instead instilling him with the vendetta of a merciless, effective, precise assassin, one who is completely and utterly loyal to her and her alone

So in a move of further cruelty that comes about after her doing a little digging on her new assassin’s now forgotten past, she dubs him her “Stonemason” and sends him to Earth alone with a sole mission: to destroy Rose Quartz, the Crystal Gems, and any and all of their human allies

Meanwhile, back on Earth, Steven and Mabel return after having followed most of the events of the last two episodes of Wanted (what with Lars dying and the whole pinkifying thing) (they did try to go back and save Dipper, but they weren’t able to get back to the courtroom because of the shattering robinoids)

So they made it back but of course, they’re both completely and utterly distraught (Mabel especially so) because they essentially lost Dipper (they aren’t sure if he’s still alive or not) and weren’t able to rescue him

Of course, they tell the Gems (Lapis and Peridot included), Stan, and Ford about what happened and they’re all instantly distressed at the thought of Dipper still being on Homeworld, alone, completely at the Diamonds’ mercy (or lack thereof); needless to say they begin planning out a rescue mission immediately, undeterred by how incredibly dangerous it might be

Still, that takes time, which means there’s plenty of interval time left for everyone to be immensely worried and sad and fearful over what might be happening to Dipper; Mabel’s pretty much inconsolable, Steven’s absolutely guilt ridden, Stan is outraged, Ford’s working himself into a frenzy on the rescue plans, Connie’s resolved to do whatever she can to help save him, Lapis is ready to fly to Homeworld herself to save him, Pacifica refuses to believe he’s really gone, and the other Gems are in a state of distressed panic almost constantly

All the same, weeks go by all too slowly and miserably for everyone, until one day, Steven, Mabel, and Connie are out and about and all the sudden they’re ambushed by a mysterious, hooded, masked figure, who’s clad with the symbol of Yellow Diamond, and armed with a deadly electric blade and a multi-faceted cybernetic arm

So they fight this unknown assassin, even though they have no idea who he is (they actually think he might be a cyborg or robot based on his noticeable lack of Gem and how his voice sounds through is mask) but before they drive him off, they find out that 1. He’s actually a human 2. He refers to himself as the Stonemason and 3. His mission is to shatter Rose Quartz in the name of Yellow Diamond

But like I just said, they do manage to drive him off, leaving them with many, many questions about who this new foe might be; they encounter the Stonemason a few more times over the next few days, as do the Gems and maybe Stan or Ford once or twice, and while each time is a close call, neither side really ends up winning in the end

Until… Steven, Mabel, and Connie come up with a plan to catch their clever new foe by fusing into Mabonnven the next time they fight him; so they do so, only to end up unmasking him to find that the Stonemason is none other than… Dipper

Needless to say the other three kids are completely shocked by this, and while they’re initially overjoyed to see that Dipper’s still alive and (mostly) still in one piece, their relief quickly fades as they realize he doesn’t remember any of them as friends or family and only knows them as targets and enemies (he doesn’t even remember himself tbh, and only knows himself as Yellow Diamond’s loyal assassin, the Stonemason)

While they try to break through to him (Mabel in particular because well dammit, she’s been missing him for weeks and now they finally have him back but he doesn’t even know who they are or who he is), their attempts are in vain as he refutes their claims completely

So Steven, Mabel, and Connie are quick to tell everyone else about what apparently happened to Dipper, and while none of them want to believe it, they eventually encounter him for themselves and see that its true

However, the more they try to reach out to him and get him to remember them and himself, the more the Stonemason starts to break down, questioning his identity and purpose even to Yellow Diamond herself, who’s quick to “recondition” him (using the Diamonds’ letimoff from the beginning of What’s the Use of Feeling Blue) back into his assassin mindset

Still, the gang doesn’t stop trying to help Dipper, but they know that it’s nearly impossible to do that from afar, so eventually the Gems end up apprehending him

So this is the point where things are kind of ambiguous in my mind right now, but long story short, things stay in a constant flux between the Stonemason and the other kids for a while, with Steven, Mabel, Connie, the Gems, Stan, Ford, among others, trying to get him to remember his past and true identity fully; it kinda works, with Dipper’s true personality and memories occasionally shining through, but it’s clear that the Stonemason, or more exactly, Yellow Diamond, is still mostly in control

So without spoiling too much or going into too much detail, they eventually do manage to free Dipper from all that brainwashing and conditioning (in a way that will likely involve the mindscape, because angst and also because this idea needs a bit more GF in it) with his memories fortunately completely intact

The aftermath of all this is… angsty of course, with Dipper needing a lengthy recovery period (he was actually tortured to his breaking point, remember) and him feeling immensely guilty over hurting his friends and family (I do imagine that Stonemason would have at least landed a few hits on Steven, Connie, Mabel, the Gems, and whoever else)

For a moment of awesome, when YD tries to recondition Dipper back into her control (she does so via a communicator in his cybernetic arm), but this time he’s able to fight back and resist her this time (with some struggling of course) before ripping the communicator out of his arm and destroying it

Still, the effects of all this are quite lasting for everyone, what with the guilt and PTSD that everyone would be having after its all said and done, not just Dipper

From there, idk it basically depends on what unfolds in SU in future episodes, as well as my GF based ideas for the sequel that I can’t really reveal that much about right now (due to spoilers)

Still, that’s kind of how things unfold in a timeline perspective, as for other information about this plot point, let’s start with Stonemason’s design, which you can find a rough concept of here. In short, the uniform is kind of self explanatory with YD’s insignia all over it, the mask has a filter that makes his voice come across as somewhat (but not too) metallic and deeper, the yellow veins across his face are basically a visible sign of the links between his cybernetic arm and his nervous system, the scar across his birthmark came from YD’s reconditioning, his pupils are Diamond-shaped due to the reconditioning (they return to normal when Dipper regains control though), the sword is electronic and retractable, and his hair’s just a tiny bit longer.

The cybernetic arm not only has a direct Diamond line communicator to YD, but it also has a tracker (that gets taken out once Dipper is freed so YD can’t find him as easily), and it has the ability to transform into a wide array of weapons, including another sword, a laser gun, a Gem destabilizer, a mace, and more (pretty much anything you can think of tbh); however, seeing as how its connected to his nervous system, it can’t really be removed once he’s freed without possibility paralyzing him for life, so he begrudgingly has to keep it.

Following being freed from the brainwashing, Dipper definitely suffers from a good share of nightmares and stress over possibly relapsing back into Stonemason; and because of that fear, he kinda tends to isolate himself a lot from everyone (making him even more introverted than he already is) because he doesn’t want to accidently hurt anyone anymore

Things about this chain of events are completely subject to change depending on what happens in future episodes of SU

Its really angsty and dark yeah, but rest assured that it will be handled with care in the sequel because I really, really like this idea

And yeah that’s about all I got off the top of my head right now! Like I said, It’s an excellent idea, one that I have to give credit to gffan4799 for suggesting as an AU at first, but I enjoy the possibilities of it so much that I can’t resist the thought of incorporating it into the sequel. All this stuff would probably play out during the arc following Wanted, and wouldn’t extend past that arc (well, its after effects would, and maybe a few… extra events related to it that I may have in mind) but again, this is probably the most concrete original stuff I have in mind for the sequel so far, which is really exciting! Now if you need me, I’ll be working on a chapter with only have the angst of all this, but one that still has plenty of angst all its own… 😉

#a lot of reiteration here but at least its all compiled in one place #now to get back to working on the return #woo boy this idea has consumed my world today #jen writes #universe falls #ideas #sequel stuff #stonemason

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emptypokedex-blog · 7 years

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hi so i'm trash and i was scrolling down your blog and i saw the homestuck au and i want to draw art of it so do you have any like, references or ideas as to how everyone looks? like, horn shapes, symbols, outfits, etc? or are they just like the same from the manga? sorry for bothering you btw

2: hi, specialstuck anon again. any ideas for like their online handles and ancestors? sorry about bothering you about this bc i just realized that your posts about that au was from like months ago and idk if you care about it anymore i’m so sorry

Hello! I’m sorry for not responding. I’ve just been a shitty blog-runner, and haven’t been here. This ask makes me really happy because I honestly still like Homestuck and genuinely think its well written. I was really into classpect assignments back in the day, so this was a fun little project.

I didn’t post about it because I didn’t think anyone liked it, but here you are, proving me wrong-ish!

AND OH MY GOD YES, I LOVE WHEN ASK TO DRAW ART OF MY IDEA!Don’t worry nonster, you’re not bothering me at all! I’ve literally done nothing over the summer.

I’ll post the pictures separately too just so you can zoom in.

I’m putting a cut because this got longer than expected.

Okay, so I had a guide with all of their horns and symbols, buuuuuut…I lost it. So, special for you, I made a new, updated one! My hand was cramping so bad after this. I would scan it, but I don’t trust my printer/scanner right now, because last time I used it, it completely crumpled my drawing (its the kind that eats the paper and scans it)

BTW I changed some stuff.

In terms of online handles, I dunno. Those are haaard. Ancestors, ignoring the sexes of the characters, would be the character’s parent of the same gender, unless there is only one parent, or if the character has no known parents or no living parents, they would be a sibling. If there are no siblings belonging to that character (Emerald, Red, probably someone else I’m forgetting), they would be a fictional character or OC or someone else from the canon that has some sort of familial or social relationship to the character. So for Silver it’d be Giovanni, Sapphire has Birch, Ruby has Norman, Crystal and her Mother, Green could either have Oak or Daisy. Yellow’s could be her Uncle. And so on.

Clothes would probably be the same, except for the trolls, all their shirts would be black instead of the color they normally are and for the humans all their shirts would be white.

In terms of Lusi (Lususes?) for the trolls, their starts fully evolved forms would be them. So, like, Swampert would be Ruby’s Mudbeast Lusus or Meganium would be Crystal’s Neckbeast Lusus. The same for the humans’ consorts, except in that case, they be the unevolved versions.

Gonna get my caveats out of the way now, I wanted to stick to the ‘one-of-each’ format Homestuck has going on while adhering to the gender-roles, so, at the end, some characters were left with God Tiers that didn’t really fit them *coughsilvercough* So, for those characters, I’ll provide what they were left with and the alternate I would have preferred. The hardest was finding a Breath player. Only the humans had repeats of the trolls.

(Top: Gold, Silver, Crystal Bottom: Pearl, Diamond, Platinum)

Gold: Knight of Blood, Land of Sap and Bells, CueKind, Non-Psionic Yellow-Blood, Prospit.

I forgot why I designed Gold’s horns the way I did. I think it had something to do with resembling his hair. His symbol is the logo for HeartGold.

Gold is a character who’s arc is about feeling inferior to his friends and overcompensating. When he finds out that he didn’t have a title, it broke his heart. The Knight class experiences change and growth throughout the game, and the Blood aspect is about platonic relationships and bonds. Come to think of it, I think Gold could also pass for a Page.

I can see Gold being on the characters who starts one of the teams and competitively tries to get the people he wants to join his team.

Silver: Rogue of Breath*, Land of Dust and Masks, IcePickKind, Non-Psychic Rust-Blood, Derse.

*Not only could I not figure out what Silver would be, but he was also the one to get the most out of character God Tier. I can see him as a destructive class, like Prince of Blood, but both that class and aspect have been taken. I am very unhappy with the result.

I had so much trouble drawing Silver’s hair, that I ended up putting it in a ponytail, but, let’s admit it, we all need for more of that. His horns are supposed to look like an ‘R’ when put together, so one is curved and the other has a hook on the end. They’re asymmetrical. I know its hard to see, but they are. His symbol is supposed to be the logo for SoulSilver.

I refuse to explain Rogue of Breath because there is nothing to explain. Rufioh, in canon, is a Rogue of Breath and these characters have nothing in common. A Rogue of Breath would steal Breath – or Direction – for the benefit of others and I genuinely cannot make this work. So, instead, I’ll explain Prince of Blood. Prince is a destructive class that destroys with the aspect, in this case Blood, or bonds. Prince can also be one who destroys the aspect. So, Silver destroying past bonds he no longer wants.

Silver would befriend Blue over the chat, become fascinated by the concept of siblings and request to be Blue’s sister (cause she was explaining it in terms of being his unrelated sister), to which she’d agree for him to be considered her brother.

Crystal: Thief of Doom, Land of Wheels and Flood, FootKind/ShoeKind, Non-Psychic Teal-Blood, Prospit.

One of Crystal’s horns is supposed to be straight, only curving at the end, and the other one has a star on the tip. Her symbol is, surprise surprise, a Star.

I know what you’re thinking. Thief of Doom? Crystal? No Way! Well, I’m gonna explain. Thieves take the aspect to benefit themselves, and the concept of Doom ranges from just a simple burden to death itself to complete planetary destruction. In the Pokespe canon, Crystal was hired to complete a job Green and Red failed to finish, and she was happy to do it. This makes me think that Crystal is willing to take on certain burdens that coincide with her interest, something a Thief of Doom would certainly do.

Potentially the other team leader, maybe the only one who thinks this is an awful idea. Begrudgingly agrees.

Pearl: Seer of Space*, Land of Peaks and Frogs, FanKind, Slightly-Psychic Brown-Blood, Derse.

*Could have been either a Seer of Space or a Mage of Space, but Seer fit his behavior more.

Pearl’s horns are supposed to look like the antenna and tail of a Chatot, so the one behind his hair resembles a music note (see Chatot for reference) while the other one just has a ball on it. I think I’ve seen his horns drawn like this before by other artists, so I don’t think this is the most original decision, but I still really like it. His symbol is a Circle/Pearl.

One of the most important parts of a Seer is their ability to observe. This is why it was so hard to me to pick between Black and Pearl when it came to choosing a Seer. However, because I wanted Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum to be Time, Space, and Void no matter what, Pearl got the honor. A Seer of Space observes Space and exists in the present moment. They may also oversee or take charge and are creative types.

Pearl’s weapon is FanKind because he picked it when he was young and practiced in the art of fan-to-fan compensate.

Diamond: Heir of Time*, Land of Fruit and Geysers, LadleKind, Non-Psychic Cobalt-Blood, Prospit.

*I originally listed him as a Page of Time, but changed it after giving Wally the role of Page. Either works for him.

Dia’s horns are supposed to look non-threatening, so they are wide and not very sharp. They’re kinda Munchlax-esque. His symbol is a Diamond.

When picking between Heir and Page, I went with Heir because Wally took Page Diamond has a sense of time from the beginning. Heirs become their aspect in one way or another, hence why they’re called ‘Heirs,’ and Diamond has such a grasp on his flow of time (not to mention his major-legendary equivalent being Diamond), that I see this working. If he were a Page, which would also have been good, it’d mirror his rise against Pearl is the DP chapter.

Diamond makes food puns constantly in chat and there is no way of stopping him.

Platinum: Sylph of Void*, Land of Snow and Tomes, UmbrellaKind, Non-Psychic Violet-Blood, Derse.

*To be honest, a lot of the female-based classes in the Void aspect fit her character, except Witch.

Platz horns should look like the faceplate of an Empoleon. Same situation as Pearl, I think I’ve seen this done elsewhere my multiple artists. Her symbol is the Berlitz family sigil.

Void is nothingness. Pretty much any class enacting Void is lacking something, since Void is the lack of anything. As a Sylph of Void, one could create Void because Sylph is a creative class, and Platinum does this in a social sense by ignoring the claims of other people and acting as though they never happened. In terms of her behavior in early chapters of the DP chapter, she also acts as though she isn’t supposed to emote.

She will never admit she is friends with a lowblood.

(Top: Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald Bottom: Black, White, Wally)

Ruby: Prince of Light, Land of Mirrors and Silk, NeedleKind, Non-Psychic Rust-Blood, Derse.

I exaggerated Ruby’s scar a bit for this. The horn on the side of his face with the scar is broken, but both of his horns used to be symmetrical. They’re supposed to look like the antennae of a Milotic. His symbol is the pattern on Groudon’s arm.

A Prince of Light would destroy knowledge, which, at first, sounds very out of a character for Ruby. But knowledge doesn’t only apply to books and science. Instead, is refers to anything known. Considering how Ruby acts at the end of the RS chapter, throughout the Emerald chapter, and again in the ORAS chapter, where is constantly pretends as though the confession never happened and lies about a variety of things, actively destroying what people know, I think this is the most fitting God Tier I’ve provided. Ruby is also a character I can definitely imagine playing the role of minor-villain at some point.

He’s super salty about not only being the lowest of bloods, but not having any psychic powers to compensate.

Sapphire: Witch of Rage*, Land of Thorns and Thunderstorms, ClawKind, Non-Psychic Indigo-Blood, Prospit.

*Would rather have Maid of Rage, but White fit the Maid role better for multiple other aspects. Witch was all that was left.

Sapph’s horns resemble Gamzee’s, but are thicker and less curvy. They’re just supposed to look wild and are not based on anything. Her symbol is the pattern on Kyogre’s flipper.

As much as Maid of Rage fit, I had to give her Witch of Rage, which, in actuality, would probably belong to an incredibly unstable person. Witch’s have completely control to manipulate their aspect while also fully embodying that aspect, and when that aspect is Rage, chances are that person isn’t to in a safe psychological place. Maids, on the other hand, start by relying on other people for their aspect and where to enact it before learning on their own to use it as they please. Sapphire would have gone through this change twice: once when she was younger and changed when Ruby was hurt and she realize she couldn’t that girly anymore, directing her Rage towards her younger self and/or people like that, and again when she changes in the RS chapter and compromises.

Sapphire leaves animal pelts at Ruby’s doorstep to make stuff out of. She brings most of the meat to Dia and feeds the rest of it to her eggbeast lusus.

Emerald: Bard of Mind*, Land of Dunes and Towers, PistolKind, Non-Psychic Olive-Blood, Derse.

*Couldn’t for the life of me figure out what this kid was. Rald

I used his current design because I couldn’t draw his croissant-hair. You’ve probably already guessed it, but his horns are based on his eyebrows. His symbol is the pattern on the head of Rayquaza.

Again, same as Silver, I’m not going to explain it. But for Rald, I just don’t have anything else to say. I’ll put it simply: I don’t think Rald is a destructive player (in fact, he might be a manipulative player), but I’m out of stuff and I’m stumped.

Immediately joined Crystal’s team without a second thought and before knowing what the heck they were doing.

Black: Mage of Hope*, Land of Kaleidoscopes and Skyscrapers, RockKind, Powerful-Psychic Brown-Blood, Prospit.

*Seer of Hope was also an option, but it is taken by Pearl. They both make great Seers.

Hexagon. Everything about Black is based on hexagons here. Horns and Symbol. Put his horns together and you get a hexagon.

Mages fully experience their aspect at some point. Admittedly, a Mage of Hope would be naive and maybe a bit too hopeful, but Hope is definitely something Black has a lot of, even up until the end (y’knoow, up until he became a rock). A Mage of Hope would be dedicated to making it to their goal because they would genuinely believe that they’d get there, a la Black when he wants to become a pokemon master.

Sees the world in hexagons a lot like he does with Musha on his head.

White: Maid of Heart*, Land of Roots and Carnivals, WhipKind, Non-Psychic Cobalt-Blood, Derse.

*I also really liked Maid of Hope for her.

Y’know White’s hair-antennae? They’re her horns now. They’re close together and bend back over hear head, not outward. I didn’t know what Symbol to give her, so I just made it a box.

Heart and Blood are very similar in that they’re both about relationships, but Heart is more about the impact of those relationships. A Maid of Heart starts by relying on someone else for their relationships and enjoyment, but would eventually come to do it on their own. If anything, regardless of aspect, White is definitely a Maid.

Had Black sign a contract that ensured he would join the same team that she was on.

Wally: Page of Life, Land of Pumps and Corridors, PumpKind, Non-Psychic Teal-Blood, Prospit.

Wally’s horns are tiny because I felt someone like wally wouldn’t have especially large or threatening horns. His Symbol is the pattern on the face of a Kecleon.

Wally was hard, but I eventually settled on Page of Life. Pages and Maids are very similar in my eyes, because they are both classes based around personal growth. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out that Pages were the male equivalent to the female Maid. A Page of Life would lack Life in the beginning, which would manifest itself in physical or emotional health. As a Page, he’d grow in health, perhaps to the point of overdoing it. I think this God Tier mirrors his subplot pretty well.

Blindly follows Ruby around where ever he goes.

(Red, Yellow, Blue, Green)

Red: Heir of Blood, Land of Rivers and Lightning, BallKind, Prospit, Consort: Bulbasaur.

I FORGOT HOW TO DRAW RED’S HAIR! His Icon is a Pokeball.

Heirs have a need for their aspect, and one thing Red really enjoys is his pokemon and having a group friends, and even protecting people/showing off to neighborhood kids. As an Heir of Blood, Red would need to embody the Blood aspect and pretty much be the connecting force between the other characters. I picked this because he essentially started the series and, as the first character, I interpret him as the driving for keeping older characters together. Heirs also have a natural talent for their aspect, and I think the term ‘natural talent‘ in general is a decent description of Red. Plus, he’s really good at making friends.

Yellow: Sylph of Life, Land of Keys and Ink, RodKind, Prospit, Consort: Can a Snake be a Consort? ‘Cause I’m thinking Ekans.

Her Icon is a Lightning Bold (Also could have done a feather.)

I mean, come on. Like I said before, Sylphs are a creative class and Life is synonymous with health, and, therefore, a Sylph of Life creates health. Naturally, Yellow would be the teams healer. She could probably bring things back to life or give like to inanimate things by creating Life itself.

Blue: Thief of Space, Land of Coins and Frogs, CrowbarKind, Derse, Consort: Squirtle.

(Oops, she looks like an axolotl) Her Icon is a Mask.

A Thief of Space would steal Space for their own benefit. Blue would probably use this by stealing size from one object and applying it to herself or transferring size between things, switching the location of herself and something else or the locations of two items. It’s be great for stealing from other people.

Green: Prince of Time, Land of Fog and Beats, FistKind, Derse, Consort: Charmander.

His Icon isn’t a pomegranate seed, it’s supposed to look like his pendant, but I can understand the confusion.

Prince is a destructive class, so Green would be destroying with Time. As a result, a Prince of Time would be impatient and easily annoyed and unable to cope with the passage of time. Some of these aspects match Green at an early age. As we known, baby Green had a lot of trouble with patience. They’d be stubborn and have trouble listening to others. This pairs well with early-Green. Current-Green is a lot calmer and smarter that he used to be.

If I didn’t feel the need to have one of each, the cast would look like this (In the same order as all of the above):

Knight of Blood, Prince of Blood, Thief of Doom, Seer of Space, Page/Heir of Space, Sylph of Void, Prince of Light, Maid of Rage, (Whatever Emerald would be), Seer/Mage of Hope, Maid of Hope, Page of Life. (Minus the Humans)

#thank you nonny #pokespe #pokespe au #specialstuck #au #homestuck au

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