#changes AU

[insomniamamma]

Maze: Frankie Morales x F!Reader (Changes AU)

A/n: Same AU as Changes. The unnamed town in this story is fictional, an amalgam of the town my folks grew up in and where a good chunk of my family still lives. Western New York state/northern Pennsylvania. It's basically the ass end of Appalachia. You can smell the benzene leaching up through the soil. This AU is sort of a love letter to that weird ass place. Reader character is childhood friends with Benny and Will Miller.

Warnings: shitty family dynamics. Mentions of alcohol use. Mild injury mentions. Casual sexism. Mentions of drug use. Benny is a menace and needs his own warning. Reader has a douchebag ex named Zach. A very soft kiss.

          Hey Squirt!" Says Benny, ducking into the close cavern of the store, smells like cigars and beef jerky. Jerry's in the back making Italian sausage that will melt your face off. He's got a heavy hand with the spices. While you were out in the world, away from this place and this grimy store, the taste of those blistering sausages never quite left you. Nothing you picked up at Vons or Whole Foods or any of the specialty shops Zach took you too (when he deigned to do anything so plebeian as actually shopping for his own goddamn groceries) could equal what Jerry made in the back room, blood smirched apron and greasy paper hat.          "Hey Benny,"          "What're you doin for Halloween?" You shake your head.          "Nothing. Why?"          "Me and the boys are gonna enter the costume contest out at Fox Grove. We're doin a group costume. Will's thinking Wizard of Oz."          "Fox Grove?"          "You know, the old gravel pit. Some out of state chuckleheads built a luxury campground around it. People get married there and shit."

        "God. That's bizarre." The gravel pit had been full of water since before you were born. Some previous owner had stocked it with fish and built a handful of cabins which stood empty, sagging into the weed choked banks. When you were little your Pa and your uncle and the Millers would go there and fish, styrofoam cups of worms bought from the store you work in now. As an adult you understand that it was likely an excuse for the men folk to hang out and drink beer and watch the sun set behind the trees and get out of the house for a second.

        You and Benny and Will would cast out into the gently shifting water and watch your bobbers like hawks for the slightest bit of movement. Mostly bluegills and channel cats, the occasional walleye all taken off the hook by the nearest adult and plopped back in the water. It doesn't occur to you until years later that you were likely trespassing the whole time. Once Benny got hooked through the web of his hand and panicked, and your Pa pushed the barb through and clipped it off with a pair of needle nose pliers he kept in his tackle box, quick and neat as a magic trick. You're alright Big Ben. Wash the fish-slime off, and we'll put a Band-Aid on it.         "I know, right?" Says Benny, "They've been doing a big Halloween bash about five years running. What do you say? Pope's too ugly to be Dorothy."         "If I'm Dorothy, what're you going to be?"         "Toto! Duh. C'mon it'll be fun. Fish is gonna be the scarecrow." Benny grins and you narrow your eyes at him. Benny's been not so subtly poking at you since that night around the fire. He likes you. So? Sooooo. Damn it Ben, I'm not looking to jump into anything right now. Liar. Fuck off.         "What do you say, Squirt?" Time off won't be an issue. Mac's General Store and Butcher Shop closes at 7pm sharp, Jerry sends you home with bleeding cuts of meat wrapped in white paper more often than not.         "Sounds fun," You say, "I'm in."

        You've got to drive to Bradford to find your costume, a Spirit Halloween set up in the old Ames. The shoes aren't included so you sacrifice a pair of ballet flats you found lurking in your old room, a handful of shirts still on hangers, speckled with dust, the dress you wore to junior prom still all shimmery in plastic as if you could step right back into it. Pa finds you dumping red glitter on your glue coated shoes.         "This for the costume contest?"         "Yeah. We're doing Wizard of Oz. It was Will's idea." You pick up a shoe from the newspaper you laid down to keep the glitter from getting everywhere, and give it a little shake to get the excess off.         "Will's gonna be the Tin Man, Benny's gonna be Toto," Pa huffs laughter at that, "Frankie's gonna be the scarecrow--"         "I don't like you palling around with that Morales fella." You hunch over your Dorothy shoes and crunch your eyes shut. To Ma and Pa you're always going to be the bad daughter, square peg to the round hole, uppity girl who ran for brighter things, fun and sun and California and look what that got her. You're always going to be sixteen. They take the implosion of your marriage as proof that they were right about everything, but you see how old they've become, the gods of your childhood worn down to ordinary people by time and distance.         "Frankie's a nice guy," you say.         "He's a druggie," says Pa, "Lost his pilot's license over it. Claire said he used to fly for Delta. He was on his way to being a captain--" As if there weren't all manner of drugs at Zach's corporate retreats. As if you hadn't seen him whooping it up with his buddies, glassy eyed and yapping a mile a minute while you tried to shrink yourself small. Coke was not your thing but that never stopped him. You've got to lay off you'd told him once, and he'd given you a look laced with pity and contempt, I know my limits. As if you hadn't seen him taking mystery pills. Crushed up Adderall would do in a pinch.         "Claire said. C'mon Pa, that woman shits from both ends and you know it." He tries to look stern, but you're not wrong. He squeezes your shoulder.         "You've had a rough go of it," he says, "Your Ma and I...just be careful."

        They come to pick you up. Will's ancient van with it's bad muffler and peeling Miller & Sons logo on the side, a bit of construction and rehab to supplement the refinery job over in Bradford. And when that shits out? Who knows. No one likes to think about it. Benny bounds out of the van and drops to all fours. He's wearing union suit that looks like bad shag carpet circa 1968, pointy pink lined ears on a headband. Collar with a name tag around his neck. Benny makes a big show of sniffing at you and barking.         "Down, Toto. Heel." you say. "Let's get a picture." Your Ma is decidedly bad at smart phones but she manages to herd the five of your into a frame and get the shot. Benny makes a snuffling sound and licks your hand.         "EEEEEWWW Benny!" And it's like being six again, Benny plopping a fat toad he found into your cupped hands, if he pees on you you'll have warts forever. When she turns the phone to show you, you are laughing, eyes scrunched shut, your two best friends laughing with you. Pope is rolling his eyes as if he somehow expects better from Benny. Frankie is smiling, soft but sad.

        Fox Grove is about what you expected. Someone took the old gravel pit and dressed her up. It's actually pretty. The event hall is a huge parody of a functioning barn, all exposed rafters and columns chainsaw carved into animals. Foxes. Wolves. Bears. Owls. All glowing and varnished, old-timey looking strings of Edison lights hanging from the beams. Jack-o-lanterns and votive candles and hay bales everywhere. Zach would roll his eyes so hard over this. You can almost hear him. Look at these people. Fetishizing rural poverty. This is not aspirational it's just sad. His judgment feels like a veneer over everything, like the yellowing of the walls in a smoker's house.         "You okay?" Asks Frankie.         "Yeah. Why?"         "You shivered."         "Goose walked over my grave I guess."

        "Those son-of-a-bitching kids!" Says Benny, "They had a budget! They had a Gofundme! That ain't fair!"         "C'mon," says Pope, "That Xenomorph was pretty impressive."         "They used KY Jelly for the slime in the movie," you say, "They had to buy it in bulk. Like, 50 gallon drums of it."         "How do you just know these things?" Asks Pope.         "I read it somewhere," you say.

        "Hey! Let's do the haunted trail!" says Pope. He's the cowardly lion, red bow in his short curls, wire-stiffened tail poking up in an s curve from his butt. Will has sweated off most of his make-up at his point, rivulets of silver streaking down into his beard, crumpled foil hat askew, big red heart hanging around his neck.         "You go ahead," says Frankie. He's cute as a button, straw poking out of his flannel shirt, big clumsy patches sewn on grease-stained jeans, his ball cap traded for a Walmart witches hat that he cut down.         "You don't want to do the haunted trail?" He shakes his head and won't quite look at you.         "I don't like jump-scares," he says.         "I don't either. We can do the corn maze," you say.         "Yeah?"         "Yeah. Let's get some cider first."         The corn maze is meant to be family friendly, lit every so often by jack-o-lanterns and LED candles. You have your paper cups of spiced cider, topped with maple whipped cream. You can hear the screams and shrieks from the haunted trail and the soft shirr of wind passing through the corn stalks. It's not meant to be scary, but you find yourself reaching for Frankie's free hand all the same, warm fingers enfolding yours. He squeezes your hand and smiles at you. There is a gazebo set up at the heart of the maze, all glowing jack-o-lanterns and candles in glass jars. You had no idea it was there and neither did Frankie.         "Oh wow," he says softly, candle light shining gold in his eyes.         "C'mon," you say, tugging him forward into the warm, shifting light. Fairy lights glimmer overhead. The distant purr of a generator and a thick extension cord running off into the dark are the only things that betray the illusion, same source powering the strobes and animatronics on the haunted trail.         "This is so pretty!" You fumble in the picnic basket that serves as your purse for the evening (It's not like I can fit in there, said Benny. You'd have to have a picnic basket the size of a Buick said Pope. It's not about movie accuracy it's about the vibes, said Will, making finger quotes.) You pull out your phone and snap a picture of Frankie, face frozen in a half-smile, hands raised in protest.         "Let's get one together," you say, and Frankie settles himself on the bench beside you. You hold your phone at arm's length. Frankie drapes his arm around your shoulders and pulls you close and you stiffen briefly. Zach was not about public displays of affection. Not towards the end anyway. Towards the end you were less of a person and more of a ticked check-box. Fancy house? Check. Fancy car? Check. Quiet girlfriend who looks presentable in the photos that circulate on social media? Check.         You take the picture but your mind is elsewhere.         "Hey," says Frankie, "You okay?"         "Yeah. Why?"         "You went somewhere else," he says, his arm around your shoulder goes slack.         "Sorry," you say, and shake your head, "It's just personal bullshit. Nothing to do with you." When you look at him there's no judgement there. Just concern and warm shifting light reflected in his eyes.         "Let's get a silly one, Scarecrow."         "Okay Dorothy."

        The maze branches off, or you take a wrong turn. You and Frankie find yourselves confronted with a huge tree with spreading branches and a hollow place, probably an old lightning scar, with a carved pumpkin tucked into it, winking candle-light eyes and grinning mouth, all around you the wind stirs the corn and makes it whisper, the giggles of everyone else lost in the maze, the squeals from the haunted trail, all this fills your ears and you squeeze Frankie's hand and he squeezes back, smiles at you so open and kind and you feel yourself smile in return.         "Are we lost?" You ask, your eyes finding his, warm and dark and bracketed in crow's feet that deepen as he smiles.         "Maybe a little," he says, "I don't really mind."         "I don't either." He is lovely in the dim, shifting light, candle-glow and crescent moon rising above the hills. His hands skim up your arms to rest on your shoulders and your hands find their way low around his waist.         "Can I kiss you?" He asks, "I mean, if you don't want to--" And you press your lips to his, a little indrawn huff of surprise and then he is kissing you back, slow and soft, cradling your face in his hands. He is gentle, unhurried. He tastes like apple cider.         "OH GROSS!" You and Frankie break apart,squinting in the flashlights from a half-dozen phones. A gaggle of kids dressed at Lord of the Rings characters come crashing into your little bit of the maze.         "It's a dead end, Gandalf, I think Mordor's that way." You call as they retreat on a raft of scandalized giggles. Frankie chuckles.         "Did we really just get cock-blocked by the Fellowship of the Ring? Did that just actually happen?" And the both of you crack up, clinging to each other like you're drowning. Frankie is beautiful when he laughs, eyes crinkled shut, lost to the moment, his laughter reverberates into you, warm rumble in his chest that you feel where you are pressed against him. As your laughter subsides into something manageable you find his arms slung lose around you, his forehead resting against yours.         "We should get going," he says, "Before those kids from 'Alien’ show up." You smile at him.         "Do you know the way?"         "I think so."

#frankie morales x f!reader #changes AU #happy belated halloween #frankie catfish morales x f!reader #triple frontier au

[amnestyliketaz]

in honor of the nimona movie (it’s so good i’m gonna scream and cry for the next million years) i must share my favorite nimona art ever

drawn by ND stevenson ofc and posted on twitter a few years ago i believe

do i even have to SAY anything? the shark, it’s not rocket surgery, baby nimona, the DOMESTICITY of it all im gonna explode

UPDATE!!!! GAY DADS AU THREAD https://twitter.com/gingerhazing/status/1676058949504892928?s=46

#anyways stream nimona #and buy the book #and read it #god. #i’ve been here for a year and a half welcome everyone #so glad i’m finally getting some nimona CONTENT #nimona #nimona movie #nd stevenson #ballister blackheart #ballister boldheart #my only question is why did they change his last name #i mean i get it #but still #ambrosius goldenloin #just found out this is called the gay dads au by nd #what if i scream and cry #amnesty original #gay dads au

[zoe-oneesama]

Nadja must have Audrey on speed-dial to set up this interview so quickly.

Episode 51 Part 15 First < Previous > Next Season 1, Season 2, Season 3, Season 4, Season 5 Ep 41, Ep 42, Ep 43, Ep 44 Ep 45, Ep 46, Ep 47, Ep 48, Intermission, Ep 49, Ep 50

Ko-fi | Patreon

#so chloe's accepting the change really well 🙃 #scarlet lady #scarlet lady au #scarlet lady comic #queen wasp #episode 51 part 15

[bluegiragi]

new moon (part 3)

early access + nsfw on patreon

#y'all mustve known this was gonna happen #also this was before i committed to changed my simon design and ooft OOFT #i am. putting my head in my hands #the art gets better than this i swear #cri #also this is all i can post or else tumblr will smite me #but know theres more to this comic #lmao #ghostsoap #monster141 au #simon ghost riley #john soap mactavish #captain john price #kyle gaz garrick #giragi art

[grassyeggroll]

Uniform assignments

#art #my art #adventure time #fionna and cake #fionna the human #fionna campbell #cake the cat #bee and puppycat #au #fi and cakecat #changing up their designs a bit like my other au

[galaghiel]

—Evan already forgave you. He loves you.

<prev

#fnaf #michael afton #evan afton #fnaf 6 au #me doods #RAAAAA I'M DONE #for this part at least #gonna make a some more mini comics for this au but for different scenes #evan never held it against michael. but he was afraid of his brother for a long time #but fnaf 1 happened and he knows that the strange security guard is somehow his brother. he's seen how much michael has change #and for all that he's scared of michael he still loves him too #evan's just glad that he and lizzy can finally talk and be w michael #tho he's sad that it has reached this point for them

[spicyraeman]

ya gettin what im puttin down?

#bg3 #lae'zel #feel like i need a tag for this uhhhh #bg3 band au #yeah that'll work w/e #anyway lae in a snapback changed me fundamentally #i will never be the same #my art

[bigfatbreak]

I'm sitting very politely and asking if it would be possible to see Adrien akumatised by Viceroy. Even if you don't want to, letting you know I'm insane about all your AUs (and your art in general, alien behaviour Shadow was so cool), you do such amazing work and I am completely normal about it

(Caspases' concept art beloooow)

#dad villain au #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #Caspases #Viceroy #Emelie Agreste #long post #Caspases is the chemical released by a caterpillar in the chrysalis that changes them into a butterfly #and his design is based off of a monarch butterfly's caterpillar :D #son of monarch after all~ #anyway tom has been working on this akuma for a longass time #because he was anticipating some stupid ass shit happening to his kid #and its happening to marinette specifically on purpose btw. gabriel did something fucked up with his wish lol

[time-woods]

cosmic owl design for my au ! ! the cosmic prophet !

#hes like 7foot 5 #bigassowlmoment #chasing stars au #the cosmic owl #adventure time #adventure time au #colors may be changed in the future

[star-mail]

my favorite angry man !! part 1 - part 2 - part 3 - part 4

Shen Yuan transmigrates but instead of Shen Jiu just magically disappearing, hes kinda like a virus, cus the system doesn't know how to get rid of him

he ends up just following sy around and judging his life choices (and eventually sqh since he can also see him/system)

tism is tisming

i just want more angry man shen jiu content man i need that man to have a somewhat happy ending please and Thank u

#art #mxtx #svsss #svsss au #the scum villain's self saving system #shen yuan #shen qingqiu #shen jiu #virus shen jiu au #idk if this makes sense #the tism is tisming #if this has been done before: ..nuh uh #a funky lil idea is his appearance changes on how he feels he looks like #so when yqy apologizes to him (to sy but shh) he unintentionally changes into lil xiao jiu

[bamsara]

gargling these guys in my brain like salt water

#i need my art style to stop changing 25235 times so its not as obvious that i dont draw furry characters #narilamb #trod au #the rehabilitation of death #cult of the lamb #cotl narinder #cotl lamb #doodles

[buggachat]

Part 178 of my bakery “enemies” au!

baking montage!

First / Prev / Next / All

Kofi

#ml #miraculous ladybug #miraculous #marinette dupain cheng #marinette dupain-cheng #adrien agreste #adrienette #adrinette #my art #bakery enemies au #this scene is my bane apparently because I keep rearranging the parts and so #anyway remember how i took a break because i rearranged the parts so an incomplete part was wedged in #anyway i completed that part. and then i. rearranged it again. so now it's no longer wedged there and i #THIS PROBABLY DOESNT MAKE SENSE AND IS DIFFICULT TO EXPLAIN BUT I. BASICALLY A LOT OF STRESS FOR NET ZERO CHANGE #GOOD FOR ME!! 😎😎😎 #also i think the spooning scene's mature mark was removed so that's cool #last part still missing though dw about it

[ato-dato]

Here he is. It’s him. And he’s not gonna sell you his books.

#didn’t really like the name but didn’t have the heart to change it #he’s gonna have to walk around with a goofy ass name #sorry ma’am #good omens #good omens aziraphale #good omens season 2 #reverse au #Vinylatte #aziracrow #ineffable husbands #human aziraphale #good omens au #art #artwork #my art #fanart #digital art #drawing #reference sheet #character sheet

[zoe-oneesama]

I promise you no one is listening to your little speech, Damocles.

Episode 52 Part 5 First < Previous > Next Season 1, Season 2, Season 3, Season 4, Season 5 Ep 41, Ep 42, Ep 43, Ep 44 Ep 45, Ep 46, Ep 47, Ep 48, Intermission, Ep 49, Ep 50, Ep 51

Ko-fi | Patreon

#yeah with one week to Heroes Day there's no way they had enough time to change the Marigold float lets get real #scarlet lady #scarlet lady comic #scarlet lady au #catalyst #episode 52 part 5 #there's your The Owl cameo~

[beybuniki]

fishing trip day 2 & 3 🎣🍀

#day 2 & 3 are good they actually catch soime fish #bakugo is wet in the 1st one cuz he fell into the water he got too excited over catching a tiny fish #also i didnt mention that in the 1st one but they try not to use their quirks during this trip :-) and no phones either #JUST TWO GIRLS AND MOTHER NATURE they do watch tiktoks on their 5th day sorryyyyyyyyyyy #they use their phones for photos though because they know mrs. bakugo would get upset if she didnt get to add a photo to her album #ugh losers #bnha #deku #midoriya izuku #bakugo katsuki #as you can see idgaf about bakcground and i dont think that will change anytime soon im too lazy to study that dimension of art :( #which is so dumb #au: #fishing trip #did i tag the first one

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Lan Wangji Goes To Lotus Pier AU: Part 3: Enveloping Feelings.

(Part 1, Part 2, Part 4 (soon))

#poorly drawn mdzs #mdzs #lan wangji #Yungmeng Jiang training arc AU #I wanted to try out a different paneling style for this one - sorry I'm a day late! (there will still be a post tomorrow to keep on track) #The original 3 panel comic idea was fine but the point of this new schedule was to take time to push myself a bit more. #I was taking a look back through some comic artists I felt inspired by #and I really loved how Lynda Barry fills her gutters with patterns and doodles! #Obviously I'm not going as absolutely wild with it as she does but it was a great exercise! #I truly think the gutters are the most important and most overlooked part of any comic. There's lots going on in that space. #It's the same with timeskips. The implied movement between moments that we don't see changes depending on how wide that gap is #You're here for the funny tags so here's some that ties this time talk together: #I think LWJ was thinking about that second note from day 2 but it took him 7 days of hazing to commit it to paper. #I think he sends it a day later and immediately regrets it. Chasing down the messenger and everything. #You know if something actually happened to his brother he would never ever forgive himself for putting the bad vibes out there. #Third time skip was the hardest because there was so many possible flavours of jokes here. Day 8/9 was a personal favourite. #day 14 was also funny (week by week). I think the debate on 'how long does lwj take to catch feelings' is more or less: #'how long does it take for him to arrive at a particular stage of grief and yearning (and awareness of it all) #This is a symphony. There is an act by act structure. Every day he is fighting to keep his old sensibilities. He is losing so badly. #(I'll be returning to the main comic soon but there is more of this AU to come!)