#more stuff of my unnamed au that I’ve yet to name

[silverk2k-art]

I come back again with buildermon… eueueueueu

[thelastspeecher]

I’ve seen it pop up here and there but what is the accidental abduction au?

Ooh, I'm glad you asked!

The Accidental Abduction AU is one of my personal favorites, in large part because I feel like it's one of my more original ones.

A month or so after Stan gets kicked out as a teen, he's living in his car, and both he and the Stanleymobile are accidentally abducted by two alien teens playing with their spaceship's tractor beam unsupervised. The accidental abduction isn't discovered until it's too late to return Stan right away, and the aliens won't be back in Earth's solar system for another year, so Stan's basically told that he'll be living with the aliens who accidentally abducted him for a year.

At first, Stan's unhappy, as one would be. But he gradually comes to enjoy his time on the ship and eventually on the alien planet, and decides he wants to stay there. Permanently. After all, the aliens that abducted him (which he dubs the Roswells) are kind and warm and welcoming to him, treating him better than he was sometimes treated by his own family. And on this alien planet, he has a place to stay, some income (he helps out with chores and as a farmhand, because these aliens are farmer aliens), and is far away from all the horrible things that happened to him on Earth.

The aliens are more than happy to have Stan live with them permanently. Stan enrolls in alien school, gets a job working for the planet's intergalactic council, and marries and has children with the daughter of the family. But his happy life on a different planet is disrupted when his estranged twin shows up in an old security drone that was activated when Ford explored a crashed spaceship belonging to the alien species Stan has integrated with.

I have to describe the aliens a bit here. They're super tall (seven feet is considered below average), all sorts of fun colors, and have teeth that basically look like those of an anglerfish. Thin and needlelike and very scary. Their home planet, Kepler-62f (though humans haven't discovered it yet for most of the AU, so it just goes unnamed in stuff I've written), is Earth-like but colder. Stan struggles with the cold a lot. And he dubs the aliens "Frosties" due to their giant stature and fondness for cold.

Stan has to come up with names for the aliens because humans do not have the appropriate vocal cords to pronounce their language. So he's eventually able to fluently understand, read, and write in it, but has to use a translator thing whenever he talks to be understood. To get around this, Stan gives the Roswells, as well as any alien he's in regular contact with, an Earth nickname. The two alien teens that accidentally abducted him were a twin brother and sister that Stan dubs Luke (though it's misheard as Lute) and Angie. The parents of the family, he dubs Merle and Sally.

The only Roswell Stan doesn't give an Earth nickname is the second-youngest son, because he's studying on Earth, and has already come up with one. That alien winds up being none other than the roommate to Stanford Pines.

I think that's about as long of a summary as I'm gonna give; if you want specifics, I'm always down for asks! And here's my tag for this AU on my blog and the tag for it on my writing blog.

[cringywhitedragon]

So I saw that Undertale Yellow released and I’m planning on playing it

Though I’ve also been thinking of incorporating the game’s plot into the canon of a crossover AU I have posted currently on an external site (I may mirror post it on here someday.)

Namely since this AU does deal with Megaman X (namely after the events of X7 with Axl taking the place of Frisk), Clover (Yellow Soul since at he time of planning they were unnamed but it was going to be that missing child) going missing and his failure to save them in time before they fell down was one of the contributing factors to X stepping down from the front lines and the reason Mt Ebott is an exclusion zone set up by the hunters (Other than being the site of a dump where some of the previous Mavericks from the past games (Pre-X7) were laid to rot, this does play a role in the story tho)

But here’s a plan for the timeline if I do add some elements of yellow as background (Note since we don’t really have proof of when each human fell down or in what order outside of speculation thanks to the pre-Asgore fight/Flags from the snowball minigame/and the locations of the weapons/armor pieces (possibly) and plus all three games have kinda of ambiguous timeframe, other then it taking place after 201X (When Chara fell down) so only 2 humans will be mentioned, but as a heads up most of the fallen children will have fallen between 20XX-21XX in this AU.

WARNING: WHILE IM NOT MENTIONING DIRECT SPOILERS, PLEASE BE WARNED THERE ARE SOME SO PLEASE DO NOT CONTINUE IF YOU HAVE YET TO PLAY/WATCH UNDERTALE YELLOW (PS: I CLAIM NO OWNERSHIP OF THIS FANGAME AND PLZ SUPPORT THE CREATORS OF THIS WONDERFUL MASTERPIECE, THIS IS JUST MY OWN AU AND THE PLOT OF YELLOW DOESN'T IMPACT TOO MUCH OF IT OTHER THAN BACKGROUND STUFF. Thank you to the Undertale Yellow team for all your dedicated work for such a wonderful project, seven years worth the wait

Pre-Yellow: Integreity falls down, seeking shelter from the Eurasia incident

Nightmare Incident occurs on the Surface

More Yellow pre-game thingies/End of the Nightmare incident, Gate’s Nightmare Investigators end up in the dump and fall underground, Alphys rebuilds them along with the other former 8 Mavericks from X1-X5, giving them a second chance as they integrate into monster society thanks to a small device she makes that prevents them from harming monsters or risk going berserk.

DT experiments take place/Flowey and Mettaton are created (or given a new body)/The Maverick Hunters work to rebuild the surface./Axl is created at some point and joins Red Alert

Pre-X7, Start of UT: Yellow: Clover separates from their parents and heads for Mt Ebott/ The Maverick Hunters get a call to rescue a child found wandering towards the Mountain which X responds to but is unable to stop them on time, only finding a partially torn piece of a bandana/This, along with other factors leads X to step down from the front-lines as Maverick crimes soar and bounty hunters take up the mantle/Ebott is made into a much more secure exclusion zone due to fears of others possibly going missing and the blue bomber’s insistence/Clover is labeled as missing and presumed dead

UT Yellow’s story takes place (True Pacifist route’s best outcome)/Asgore obtains 6 human souls

X7’s story takes place

X, rather reluctantly allows Axl to join the Maverick Hunters after some convincing from Signas, Alia, and surprisingly Zero and slowly stats working on the front-lines again.

A Mechanloid goes berserk at the Ebott Dump/Zero talks X into allowing Axl to take the job since he was best suited for the test despite his rank

Axl dispatches the rogue Mechanloid and convinces Alia to allow him to explore the area for a short period of time/He manages to stumble across entrance to the caves below and decides to get a better look but slips, falling down below as he forgets to activate his hover

Start of Undertale/or this AU’s actual title: Undertale: The fallen Reploid

And here’s some what if scenarios for fun (Mostly based on some goofy character ai RP scenarios I’ve been messing around with cause why not)

Alternate scenario where X falls down (Would follow undertale’s storyline since not much is altered besides a few new faces/events/bosses/and expanded areas for UT:TFR’s base story

And a recent one following the TP ending of UT:Y involving a part of Sigma managing to survive in the underground where he tricks somebody into being a puppet for him so that he can get the human souls with the false promises of reuniting someone. DT and some Flowey creating stuff happens, amalagamates, laboratories are broken into, the dead rise, and a ragtag group of monsters and a former Maverick Eagle Reploid have to stop Sigma’s plan that not only threatens Monsterkind, but those on the surface should he get away (Oh and maybe a certain family gets a much happier ending at the end of it all…) Idk this is just some random idea stuff based on a goofy RP that isn’t going anywhere :/

[lokinofurther]

Masterlist?

I’ve never made a masterlist before, so here we go. **Caution while nothing posted here is NSFW, there are very violent descriptions and artwork below, so beware. Most of the posts will have their own content warning before the graphic stuff. But as a general caution there is graphic descriptions of violence, blood and gore. Explore at your own risk.  First off I’ve got my nameless Fae, which is written in a very informal manner, no clue if more will ever be written.

Unnamed Fae 1

The Calcspar Peak Unnamed Fae 2

Unnamed Fae 3 Latiil is a tiny merfae, I have a whole series planned for her and various others characters that I’ve drawn and named, but haven’t written or posted for. Eventually I’ll get back to her story. 

Latill the Merfae 1

Pup’s Story, Aka Vampires.There are multiple characters involved, such as Jacques, Gala, Pup, and the Grosvenors. But Pup is certainly the main whumpee of it all. Pup Introduction

Two Weeks

Go to Sleep follows shortly after Two Weeks

Jacques’ introduction and art. Jacques is from the same world as Pup, though I haven’t really written anything for him yet.

Pup in AU August 2022 So I was doing some art character stuff for AU August and I never really finished because part way through August I ended up going to work for six week thing. So I didn’t finish but I still want to. The thing with AU August is that some of it wasn’t AUs were in fact completely canon to Pup’s story. So below is in canon Pup art that I happened to do for AU August. And then below these will be the Pup AU August stuff that really is AU. The Countryside

Artist’s Muse

Actual AU Pup’s Story stuff

Pup Preschool, featuring my ocs; Pup, Jacques and Gala along with @whumpshaped‘s  El and @whumpsday​’s Kane

Tiny Fae Pup

Pup as a Velociraptor

Scifi Pup

Space Academy Pup

Coffee Shop/Barista Pup featuring @whumpsday​’s Kane

Pup in chibi form: -----Taglist?

@whumpsday​ @whumpshaped​ @redwhump​  @darlingwhump  @wolfeyedwitch @onlywhump  @whump-queen

[silverpsychedelic]

Hey I adore your artwork! As a NiGHTS and Balan Wonderland fan it's great to have someone on Tumblr who represents us in a positive light. I keep seeing references to characters named Amity and such. Are these OC's of yours, what do they do?

Surprisingly there are a lot of us! It's just sometimes hard to see it when there's been so much negativity surrounding BWW, but hey, there's enough of us who genuinely enjoy it to keep it going strong!

Amity, Ambi, Versi, Phantasma And Magoria (and more, though currently unnamed) are all ocs of mine I've created! They're usually results of crossover AU pairings I play around with which fall under various titles. Ambi, Versi, Phantasma and Magoria all come from a timeline I've dubbed the Lavender Gold AU (a reference to the colour schemes of Balan and NiGHTS -the main pairing). Amity comes from something called the Broken Mirror AU -formerly called the Broken Crown AU, and features Balan and Reala as a main pair (NiGHTS x Lance also happens in this one).

I MAY put this under the cut cause it's going to be a bit long, but I'll try to keep the character profiles relatively short (Ive been needing a post that puts all of them together anyway). So, if you want to check it out, feel free to take a look!

Ambivé (Ambi for short) is the firstborn between NiGHTS and Balan! She was kind of an accident that happened due to an intense spark of wild magic between the two, and she's basically a lil gremlin harbinger of chaos. She's wild, hilarious and is usually finding new ways to drag everyone around her into hair-brained schemes. For a while, she struggles with feeling as though she's not good enough to take over for Balan someday -because let's face it, he casts an enormous shadow and that comes with many expectations. She struggles with feeling as though Balan doesn't quite give her a chance, and that he's too scared of her messing up (like he has a few times in the past, which still haunt him). She ends up proving herself of course, and after a while she discovers she doesn't actually want Balan's role! Instead she leaves the theatre to set out on her own, and develop a gateway to Wonderworld that acts as a traveling circus!

Versi (short for Version) is Ambi's counterpart, and an adopted child of Lance! They came to the theatre as a child who had escaped a horrific home life, one of the worst Balan and Lance had ever seen. After their parent mode was majorly activated, Lance decided then and there that they would not allow the child to return to where they came from if it meant they would be placed in more danger, so Lance basically adopted them! Wonderworld also chose to bind Ambi and Versi together as counterparts, so Versi actually goes on to help run the circus with Ambi as her negative balance (and is often roped into her dumbassery). They're mostly mute, and often use sign language to communicate. In the circus their acts usually comprise of the darker, grittier stuff like contortionism, sword swallowing, fire and practical magic elements.

Phantasma and Magoria are the twins and second children to Balan and NiGHTS, and they come about when Ambi is around 18-19 and is becoming far more independent. Basically, Balan and NiGHTS aren't ready for the nest to be empty! The twins are even more adept at using practical jokes to their advantage and will terrorise everyone in a 50ft radius, they also speak in rhymes and riddles and attempt to confuse people by switching places all the time. I don't have a lot to them yet, aside from the fact they are the ones who will eventually succeed Balan's role (since Ambi decided she didn't want to do so). They are also, curiously, more Positi than anything, and they're the highest class of Positi Balan has ever created -hence why their ideya look like drops! They also have peculiar abilities with switching roles on command, and can change themselves from Positi to Negati at the drop of a (literal, I suppose) hat. It worries Balan a bit, because he fears his negative side a lot, and yet these two dip in and out of it like it's nothing.

FINALLY, there's Amity. They are the child between Balan and Reala, in the completely separate timeline called the broken crown/mirror AU. It took Balan and Reala a long time to reach the point of wanting kids, but they are their parent's pride and joy. Amity is a little intimidating when people first meet them, they're even liable to sometimes scare visitors at first! But they're a huge sweetheart, and they dedicate themselves to helping people just like Balan does. They can traverse mirrors, and this is often how they'll call upon visitors and summon them to the theatre! They primarily choose people based on problems to do with identity, self confidence, dysphoria and basically those who are struggling with feeling good about themselves. However, they struggle with their own sense of identity in the fact they don't quite feel connected to either side of themself -Maestro or Nightmaren.

There is also a LiGHTS kid in development but I don't have a name for them yet, all I have to their character is that they're strange and kind of off-putting and they hardly ever seem to blink lol

Thank y'all so much for listening to my NONSENSE, it's now 2am and I must pass out

[stealingpotatoes]

Trying to Explain the Desmond (sorta) Lives AU: Part 2

(part one)

(hi I’m back and I was bothered to write more explanation. bla bla sorry for the mess also this bit was acccidentally lengthy and 2.5k words, whoops)

> > > >

Shaun and Rebecca more-or-less knew they were going to find Desmond. They more-or-less knew they were going to see him. They more-or-less knew that he was going to be all glowing like he was in the footage. This being said, they weren’t really prepared for um… any of that to actually happen. 

Desmond is standing here, he is talking. He is moving.  Alive. Shaun and Becs are across from him, silent and dumbfounded at the sight of their long-dead friend. 

(I need you, my darling reader, to think of the most confused and shocked you’ve ever been in your life, and then bap, you’ve more or less got what’s going on in this room tbh.)

“Desmond?” Shaun finally asks in shock. 

“...yeah?” Desmond answers, obviously very confused at Shaun’s tone. 

“Holy shit,” whispers Rebecca. 

“What happened? We were in the Temple and- and then suddenly I’m here and I’ve got… these?” He gestures vaguely to himself-- the Isu markings.

What he said is enough to sort-of snap the duo out of their shock enough. “What?”

“Yeah, what?” Des agrees.  

“No, no. The temple-- 2012… that was six years ago. And you...” Rebecca says (still looking at Des with an expression that can only be described as ‘what in the genuine fuck’). 

Shaun and Rebecca wouldn’t have even noticed Galina coming up behind them if it hadn’t been for Desmond’s slight shift into near ready-to-fight, tho he relaxes after a second (his eagle vision’s still there and says she’s an ally). 

Shaun and Becs manage to take their eyes off Desmond for long enough to glance back at Galina, who’s come to find them. 

“You were not replying on your comms--” Galina stops and takes a proper look at the man behind them. “Oh. He does not look dead.” Then back at Shaun & Becs; “We all need to go.”  

Desmond is somehow even more confused than he was earlier. “Why would I look dead? And-- who are you?” 

Shaun has manners, even in very confusing situations; “This is Galina. She’s an Assassin. And Galina, meet… Desmond Miles.” (audible question marks) 

Shaun and Rebecca share an awkward glance. “We’ll explain everything when we get to safety?” Becs says, though she’s really not sure how they are going to explain, or what they’re even going to explain.  

The two random assassins who don’t have names also came out of the fight fairly unhurt and meet up with the rest of them. They’re pretty weirded out to see a person with glowy lines on his face, and have heard of Desmond Miles’ death. However they’re obviously not as weirded out to see him alive because they just didn’t know him. They’re probably doing the best here lol. 

Galina’s pretty confused but she’s become very good at compartmentalising over the years, so isn’t dwelling on things right now. 

Shaun and Rebecca are-- okay, to say Shaun and Becs are “dealing” with this is definitely the wrong word. They’re moving forward like Assassins should, while trying to comprehend that Desmond is right there… and also trying not to look at him too wide-eyed and shocked.  To them, everything feels like it’s going way too fast and way too slow all at once.

The trio and Galina all get into a van and head out of there, not planning on waiting for more Abstergos. 

//

They reach an old Assassin safehouse outside of the city after a very Odd drive. The two unnamed Assassins stayed in the city to keep investigating and keep up their work before, so now it’s just Shaun, Becs & Desmond in the safehouse with Galina on watch outside. 

They get in, make sure they’re safe -- protocol stuff. But Des really needs some answers. Like right now.

“What happened?” Desmond asks. This time it’s very serious, and you can almost feel the hundreds of years of killers’ lives he’s lived behind his voice. 

Shaun and Becs share yet another look. The disbelief hasn’t worn off at all, but they’re, as I said, moving forward. “What’s the last thing you remember?” Shaun asks. 

It quickly comes to light that Desmond has no memory of what happened after touching the Eye-orb-thing in the Temple. It’s just “a helluva lot of pain” in December 2012 and then boom, waking up in the middle of a city (shut, i know i still haven’t thought where), in October 2018. He also can’t recall bursting out of that Abstergo facility either -- his memory seems to start from where the weird glowing-eyes-and-apple-light thing he had going on stopped. 

“But the Temple was six years ago?” Desmond quietly half-asks, half-states. 

“Yeah...” says Rebecca. 

“Then where have I been for that time.” 

“You died.”

“What?!”

Shaun takes over; “Or at least, we thought you died. In 2012, we got clear from the Temple as you told us to. But then Abstergo, they--” (how on earth do you say this) “They got there before we could. They took your body and...” 

“But obviously you didn’t die because you’re here.” Becs gestures at Des. 

“Right,” Shaun agrees unsurely.

Des nods slowly, trying to take this all in. “But that doesn’t explain… all this.” he gestures to the Isu markings on his face. “Or what I can do.” 

“Do you know what you can do?” Becs asks. She and Shaun don’t really know what was happening w Des’ whole abilities thing at ALL because they only saw a small bit recorded.

Des shrugs, but then unzips the definitely-stolen-hoodie a bit and pulls the opening to the side so his bare collarbone is on show. “I got shot when I… when I woke up.” Rebecca makes yet another confused expression. “There’s nothing there?” She’s right; there’s no wound, no blood there. Not even a scar.

“Exactly.” 

“Oh.” 

“I heal faster, I know that. And--”

“What’s that?” Shaun numbly gestures to his own chest where a scar starts on Desmond’s. It’s not like either of them have seen Des shirtless much at all before, but that wasn’t there in 2012, they’re pretty sure. 

Des looks down then unzips the hoodie a bit more and oh. 

Shaun and Becs didn’t notice that on the security footage. Tbh Desmond barely noticed it, too busy looking at the glowiness. But that’s an autopsy scar. Des has an autopsy scar. That’s...

Desmond zips his hoodie back up, but everyone in the room is Very Confused. 

This is even more question-mark-inducing and raises about a billion questions; Did they do an autopsy on an alive person (for the sake of taunting the assassins)? Shaun and Becs wouldn’t put it past Abstergo; the Templars are messed up like that. 

Or… did Desmond genuinely die? And did Abstergo… bring him back somehow? 

Either way, Shaun’s mentally decided the “weird Isu clone of Desmond” idea is probably wrong because why would they autopsy a clone of a dead man?? makes no sense.  

There’s more long pauses of bewilderment before Rebecca makes the very good suggestion that they all have something to eat. So yeah, they eat, they’re chatting. It’s mostly basic stuff. They should definitely have all had medical checkups first, but they’re all very much too confused and in shock to do like… anything. 

It’s a bit awkward at one point (more awkward than the ENTIRE ordeal of seeing your dead friend again has been) because Shaun catches himself before telling Des a part of a story that involves secret Assassin crap and stops awkwardly. 

Desmond seems to catch on, and he’s like “I get it. Abstergo might have done something to me.” Made him a mole or a sleeper agent like Daniel Cross. 

Shaun and Becs feel really bad, but Desmond’s got this weird air of resignation about him. He understands. He knows he might be all messed up and controlled by Abstergo. That being said, the general resignation might just be pure shock at everything. A Lot Has Happened to him in a Very Short Span of Time (to him). 

They continue on chatting, mostly inane shit. Desmond asks if his parents are… still around. Shaun and Becs assure them they’re fine, though still fighting. Say a little about how William took Des’ death really hard, (no duh), and dropped out of the fight for a year. Only came back after finding out what Abstergo did to Des’ corpse (or… alive body???) -- tho the duo try to avoid saying what Abstergo did for now. 

However there’s another pause when Rebecca is, in very vague terms, explaining what happened in London in 2015. Rebecca starts telling Des what the Shroud is when she pauses and looks like she’s just solved some complicated code.

“I thought you were skipping the secret details?” Des asks.

“This isn’t that-- the Shroud heals people. Like, really fast,” Rebecca says.

Shaun gets where she’s going. “Ah... so say if someone got shot, it would heal almost immediately. And there would be no scar or visible wound afterwards.” 

Desmond takes a moment, and then he’s like “...you think I have the Shroud’s powers?” 

Now this doesn’t really solve any questions, and if anything creates more… but it adds something? Heck, this is all so confusing for everyone involved.

Anyways at some point they decide to actually all go to sleep. Galina’s still here btw, she also goes to sleep lol. Though before they do go to their own beds, Shaun and Becs have a quick chat about how weird this all is. Very Weird. 

Uh yeah so shrugging noises, Galina at some point the next day is assured the trio will be fine on their own and heads back to the city to investigate with unnamed Assassins. 

At some point they do actually do medical checkups lol, and comes up as, overall, Good. Desmond is pretty spritely for a dead guy. 

However they run into an issue: the DNA thingie just Isn’t Cooperating. It won’t sequence it. Probably definitely because they don’t have any tech that can get his wacked-up now-a-lot-more-isu DNA. But it also means they can’t check to see if he’s got the same DNA as he did. So yeah. 

For Rebecca and Shaun, it’s weird how quickly everything starts to feel like old times. As if they might be back in Monteriggioni, or the Temple, hiding out from the Abstergo and the Templars, as if the six year gap never happened. I mean- it’s not quite the same, obviously. Desmond glows now, and there’s always Something to remind them that they thought he was dead, that he was gone -- that something might be Wrong with him. 

Desmond’s, on the other hand, in this very awkward place. Aside from the fact he now has superpowers (which he doesn’t yet know the extent of), he’s also dealing with the fact he was supposedly dead for 6 years. That the world moved on without him and his friends haven’t seen him for six years. 2012 feels like days ago to him, not years. Shaun and Becs are very happy to have him back -- but Desmond didn’t know he was ever gone . So where they’re nostalgic for old times, he can’t help but only notice the differences? 

They need to find out what the heck happened in the 6 years they thought Des was dead. Seeing as the Abstergo facility that Desmond escaped from is -- funnily enough -- crawling with Abstergo agents that would very much like to get the three of them, (and that the trio has been told to lay low and try to go as dark as they can for now, while they all try to figure out what’s happening w Desmond) going back there to find crap out isn’t an option right now. So what Rebecca and Shaun are doing -- with a bit of help from Desmond, though he isn’t a tech guy or necessarily allowed to go into the Assassin database stuff yet -- is trying to scrounge up anything they can on Des and the missing six years.

They’re also slightly trying to work out some of Des’ powers, but they’re wary of him using them too much as Abstergo might pick up on whatever power traces he’s giving off. Shaun thinks Desmond definitely has a second PoE-based ability, and thinks it may be the Apple. 

One of the first nights, Desmond asks Shaun and Rebecca what they are going to do if Des turns out to be a sleeper or something. They can’t actually come up with an answer. 

Tbh, the search for info isn’t going brilliantly, even with two of the Assassin’s best searchers on the case. There are other assassins and PLENTY of Initiates looking for info across the world too -- Desmond just… coming back is a very big thing, and moreso is how he came back (ie all Isu-y). They haven’t heard any word from their mentor, Mr Miles senior, though. 

But then Rebecca has an idea! If Desmond’s conscious memory doesn’t know what happened, maybe his genetic memory does? Small issue: they don’t have an animus with them. So they ask for one ig lol. 

Anyways, they’re all chilling, researching, and trying to get to grips with the INSANE idea of EVERYTHING, ya know? Friendship hours. Catching up -- tho Des doesn’t have much to tell. There’s also emotional times!!! Shaun and Becs getting to say what they never had the chance to say while Des was alive, hugs, talking a little bit about the fact that his death (or “death”, perhaps) hit them Hard (though it’s difficult to talk about for all three). 

The first piece of the puzzle that they get isn’t from somewhere they expect. 

About a week after Desmond showed up (so after about 4-5 days of them being at the safehouse), Layla Hassan gets out of Atlantis. She’s just done the Trials via Kassandra and got the staff of Hermes Trismegistus (...in doing so, losing one teammate and gaining some anger issues. oops). Layla’s not that important yet. What is important right now is when she opened Atlantis.

Layla doesn’t have an exact time as to her opening the gates, but guess what happened very soon after the rough time she opened it? One Desmond Miles burst out of an Abstergo facility, glowing like your overly-dramatic neighbour’s Christmas lights display. 

So then this all just adds more mystery to the uh... Mystery™. Did opening Atlantis resurrect him? Did it give him these powers for some reason? If so, why?? The gang also find out/ the Assassins overall realise that opening Atlantis caused some weird powersurge in every PoE -- but if that caused some kind of surge in Desmond too, does that mean he’s a Piece of Eden now? He has the powers of at least one, PoE now, they know, so…? There are too many questions and nowhere near enough answers. 

The trio is itching to get out there and start investigating themselves -- but they’re told that there’s another assassin coming to join the three of them soon (it’s protocol to not say Who), before they start doing anything, and that they should wait for them. Also said Assassin is bringing one of them mini-animuses (animi? whatever; the one Layla has in ACOd) so they can do the genetic memory thing like Becs suggested. 

So I guess it’s time for more waiting, for whomever the assassin may be...

[mephsation]

2020 fic meme

Stole this from @sequencefairy

Name(s): Meph, quackers on ao3

Fandom(s): BFU/Watcher rpf (and a plethora of others I haven’t written for... Yet)

Where you post: ao3/tumblr

Most popular one shot by kudos: From this year, it’s Touch, though I think Mistletoe will beat it. 

Most Popular multi-chapter by kudos: Technically-Terrestrial. And my only multi-chapter fic for 2020, unfortunately. 

Favorite Story You’ve Written So Far: Of the four things I posted, probably Technically. There was a lot of research that went into it, which is hilarious considering a lot of said research barely had more than an offhanded reference or two. To be fair, when I say ‘research’, I mean ‘listening to podcasts and getting to page 3 on google search results’. 

Fic You Were Nervous to Post: While I was a little nervous about Mistletoe and Into the Water because I wanted them to be good enough for their recipients, and Technically because there’s some interesting sex in there, I was definitely the most nervous about Touch. It touches (ha) on some personal stuff, so that’s always scary. 

How do you choose your titles? Sometimes song lyrics (Into the Water), sometimes puns (Technically-Terrestrial), sometimes just a single word that’s important for the story (Touch, Mistletoe). 

Do you outline? If it’s more than 10k words, there will at least be notes, if not a basic outline. I don’t think I’ve ever done a complete outline, though. I keep a lot of it in my head, which is probably why I can’t ever remember anything else. (Never ask me to remember birthdays.)

Complete: 4

In-Progress: Ahahahahahaha, let’s just stick with the ones I actually managed to progress on. 

BFU

Impure Temptation : Is it fantasy? Demons? Is it a Victorian bodice ripper romance? Is it world building out the wazoo? Who knows, but it’s completely ridiculous and is currently over 20k words and will at least be 60k. 

The Hunt :  Why yes, I do have another vampire au. Thanks, @soft-cryptids. This one might prove to be a little darker. 6k, some of it from Emilia. Might end up around 30k? That’s a complete guess. 

Playing With Fire : Another modern fantasy au, because I have my brand. Ryan gets into something he shouldn’t have and the results are magical. 16k currently, no idea what it will end up at. 

And a couple of gift fics that shall not be spoilered at all

Other Fandoms

Unnamed MCU fic : Ironstrange, time travel fixit fic, because plot bunnies and reasons. 

Unnamed vampire Johnlock fic: I know, I know, but vampires, man. 

Coming soon/not yet started: Bakery AU, Soldiers AU (maybe, if I feel I handle it correctly), Wicked Game outtake, Black Sun sequel, and I really want to get around to working on a baseball AU with sequencefairy. We have ideas! Good ideas! Every fandom deserves sports AUs! But I am a flaky writing partner. Emilia can attest to this. :P

Prompts: I don’t mind prompts if someone wants to send them, but I can’t promise anything from them. 

Upcoming work you’re most excited about: Impure Temptation! I feel like readers will either love it to pieces or find it completely boring and I can’t wait to see the results. 

[void-of-unparalleled-chaos]

So I might as well introduce the Marvel series I previously mentioned

   I’ve been working on it for quite a while now, though it hasn’t had any actual writing done for it yet. Its unnamed as of now, but its a Daredevil/MCU crossover that started off bein a series about Matt and Clint creating a friendship. Somehow this developed more into ‘the Avengers try to figure out vigilantes and their weird ass sub culture’ TM.

So lets start off with continuity and stuff because this is my perfect universe that conveniently ignores anything and everything I don’t like in canon :) 

Buckle your seat belts cause this is going to be a lot.

Daredevil:

Claire Temple never left Hells Kitchen and she and Matt never attempted a romantic relationship.

Frank Castle never got caught by the cops, and his trial never occurred. He and Matt are on good terms.

Nelson and Murdock never dissolved their firm. Matt and Foggy talked their shit out.

As of now Electra is non-existent. I might bring her in at some point but if I do its going to be extremely AU (but honestly what isn’t in this timeline?)

Season 3 never happened

The Defenders:

Stick never showed up. He is still alive and kicking!

Matt never got stuck under Midland Circle. He made it out along with everyone else since Electra has been nullified.

MCU Movies:

Age of Ultron who?

Civil War? Don’t know her.

Infinity War and Endgame? What’s that?

Agent Coulson is alive because fuck you Marvel. 

Bucky was found and rescued after the events of Winter Soldier. The whole thing with him killing Tony's parents was already known, and they have made amends. 

SHEILD was rebuilt, and is now trustworthy. Fury is not presumed dead anymore.

Comics:

Clint is based on a mix between the movies and the Hawkeye 2012 Fraction comic run.

He is deaf like in the comics because once again, fuck you Marvel.

He also has not met Kate yet, but perhaps she will make an appearance at some point…

Hawkeye 2012 plots like the Tracksuit Mafia will be mentioned, as well as some other details.

I'm also going to be snatching some characters from comics I haven't read, like Blindspot! Speaking of Blindspot...

Sam is already visually impaired by the time he comes in. His eyes were gouged out by the hand instead of Muse. His mother did in fact trade herself for his restored vision.

Various Other Fanfiction Inspirations:

   I'm taking a lot of inspiration for both characterization and plot ideas from other fanfics. I recommend you check out 'deniigiq' and 'ajay_lotte'. They are the biggest inspirations for the series and their works are amazingly written and hilarious!

      The following shows have not been watched by me, but are not necessarily nonexistent plot wise in this universe. Nothing specific to them will be confirmed nor denied (with the exception of some characters). Their plots are in a state of purgatory as of now:

Jessica Jones

Luke Cage

Iron Fist 

The Punisher

Agents of SHIELD 

Now that’s over with, how about I give you guys a peek at my story ideas so far...

‘One Man’s Trash is Literally Another Man’ The generic Hawkeye and Daredevil meet in a dumpster. I know this trope has been used a ton but I adore it and I’m not sorry.

‘Shooting Blind’ Clint attempts to teach Matt archery.

‘Why Look Before You Leap?’ Matt takes Clint out to parkour across Hell’s Kitchen.

‘Pot and Kettle’ Claire meets the elusive ‘Clint’ and briefly regrets her life decisions.

Unnamed Fic Matt and Clint exchange increasingly ridiculous gifts

‘Chasing Devilish Shadows’ The rest of the Avengers want to meet Daredevil but Matt isn’t too keen.

‘Accidental Child Acquisition’ Somehow Matt gains an apprentice in Peter Parker AKA Spiderman, and no, he doesn’t understand how either.

‘Vigilantes 101′ Sam is curious about vigilantes so Clint introduces him to some folks.

‘How One Becomes a Technically Illegal One Woman Hospital’ Name may change. How Claire Temple found herself as a vigilante nurse.

Unnamed Fic The Avengers have a betting pool on what Daredevil’s powers are.

Unnamed Fic Clint has to help Matt through a sensory overload.

Unnamed Fic  Matt Murdock gains another kid in Blindspot, and no, he still doesn’t understand how either.

Unnamed Fic Sam meets Spidey and Blindspot. They drag him around town.

Unnamed Fic Sam decides he wants to become a vigilante. His teachers are tough.

‘What Happens at Fight Club Stays at Fight Club’ The Avengers are hesitantly invited to witness the local vigilantes’ annual Fight Night. It’s an experience to say the least.

Unnamed Fic Clint babysits Blindspot and Spidey. Its harder than he expected.

Unnamed Fic Shameless rip off of one of Deniigiq’s iconic tennis ball idea. The Avengers are confused as to why Clint and Sam are obssesed over a gross, ratty, old tennis ball and are determined to figure it out.

My final current notes on this series are some headcanons for Peter and Miles Morales (Yes I plan to put him in too somewhere along with Kate Bishop). These are just some fun things I’ve picked up from A) other authors and the obscene amounts of fanfic I’ve read or B) My weird knowledge about spiders. Anyway, I made these little compare and contrast lists to keep track :)

Peter:

Venomous (potent enough to kill)

Likes to knit

Can feel vibrations through the ground

Cold blooded

Tendency to stand completely motionless while stalking or looking for someone

Hearing is advanced

Hates mint

Miles:

Venomous (paralyzing)

Knitting

Vibrations

Electricity

Can see UV (turns off and on)

Normal hearing

Hates mint

   Anyway that’s all I have for now. A few of the fics have already been plotted and just need to be written now. I’m holding off on full on writing for a while yet. I still have some ideas but don’t know how to fit them into the timeline so I’m trying to figure that out first.

  As always I’m open for ideas!

[sometimes-love-is-enough]

aw fuck yeah min ask meme!!!!!! for eucatastrophe, 4 and 28; for melliferous, 3, 9, and 28 (again); for i love you and everything is beautiful, 9 and 10; and, in general, 7, 8, 20, 33, and 36. look, i just really like your writing, and hearing about your writing, and. min words good

ah!! lotsa stuff! let’s go

4. Did you have any ideas that didn’t make the final cut of Eucatastrophe?

So many ideas, I think I’d need another post to summarize them all. Some of them include: all of melliferous, a riddle battle that Janus was gonna have with the Two-Faced King, Patton starting a fairy revolution, a wild pirate sea ballad, and there was so much cannibalism in the initial plan you have no idea.

28. Is there a part of Eucatastrophe you’re surprised no one has picked up on yet?

Okay, so maybe it’s not something I’m surprised nobody picked up on, but!! in the song from chapter 11, where they’re all trying to convince Nyarlathotep not to eat all of reality, all of the sides use different forms of logical appeal! Logan and Patton use logos and pathos respectively (obviously), Janus tries ethos, Virgil goes for kairos. Roman uses appeal to culture (mythos), and Remus’s appeal strat doesn’t have a name but i called it ‘remos’ in my notes because I think I’m funny. 

3. Do you have a favorite scene you’ve written from melliferous?

I am really fond of those two consecutive scenes in Seph’s bar and Hades’ kitchen. the vibes of them were very clear in my head and they were Extremely Fun To Do. 

9. If you had to assign a theme song to melliferous, which would you assign?

ahh, that’s a hard one, because there’s... a lot of songs I associate with melliferous. It’s probably either Honeybee by Steam Powered Giraffe or Sweet Bod by Lemon Demon! which are both very good songs

28. Is there a part of melliferous you’re surprised no one has picked up on yet?

there’s a lot of parts of melliferous that i’m not sure if people have picked up or not. there’s approximately a fuckton of layers to the bee symbolism that i could dig into, or maybe the identities of all the unnamed side characters, or... oh wait, no, I know. You know how Virgil’s the one that takes the lead when they climb down into hell? that was very intentional. virgil’s the hell guide, classically speaking!! that’s what his name is!! 

9. If you had to assign a theme song to ilyaeib, which would you assign?

i tried to think of a serious answer to this but... it’s just Cup of Poisoned Coffee from The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals. That’s it. 

10. What is the line you’re proudest of from ilyaeib? 

“I love you, Roman,” says Thomas desperately, grabbing for his hand. He misses, and tries again, and misses, and on the third time he catches hold of it and doesn’t let go, and Roman’s stopped sinking out so that’s something, isn’t it? It’s got to be. “Roman, I love you. You – we – I made a mistake, and so you made a mistake by extension, and yeah it wasn’t great but it’s, there... there wasn’t any harm done. Not really. Not to anyone apart from us. Roman? I don’t hate you. The others don’t, either. Why won’t you look at me? Roman, I love you, please.”

“Do you think if we keep telling each other that, we’re going to actually start believing it eventually?” Roman says dully, finally meeting his gaze.

7. What story/headcanons do you feel the proudest of?

Eucatastrophe!! it feels kinda redundant to say that at this point but... i put a lot of work into it, and it was a story i really wanted to tell, and... i did it!! 

8. Do you prefer writing one-shots or multi chaptered stories?

multi-chapter is preferred!! because it means i can tell longer stories with complicated plots (and potentially, leave people on cliffhangers and get ‘HEY WHAT THE FUCK’ comments at the end of chapters re: plot points i intend to resolve).

also, i’m a wordy person. more words = more chapters. 

20. What feedback makes you the happiest to hear?

stuff like ‘hey, i learnt something from this!’ is always really nice. but also i absolutely adore when people tell me ‘hey, when i read [this bit] i nearly threw my laptop across the room in pure unadulterated fury, and then i walked around thinking about it all day’. but also. any feedback makes me happy. i just. thank you to everyone who comments on stuff i write. it means so much. 

33. Have you ever stopped yourself from writing something? Why?

Mhm. I stop myself from writing AUs all the time because 95% of the time I just want to write them because I read/watched/consumed something else recently, and really want to make something that’s functionally identical to it. e.g., i play Oxenfree, I immediately want to write an Oxenfree AU, I ask myself ‘why do you want to write that? is it because you think you can write an interesting, original story based around that concept?’ - and most of the time, the answer to that is ‘no, i just like the vibes’. and that doesn’t make a good story! it’s probably more fun to draw. 

i have also stopped myself from writing one specific because it got too disturbing, even for me. but i’ve also made a promise to finish that. eventually. so.

36. What fanfic of yours has the symbolism you’re proudest of?

melliferous. i can’t stress this enough: there are SO many layers to the bee thing. 

[idk-my-aesthetic]

also tell me about ur atla wips pls

skjslksfdjlkdjf OK!! ty for asking btw skaljadkjs 

its. a bit of a list and im probably gonna start making like proper tags for things on my writing acct @blue---pluto bc alot of these are like.... series of oneshots and stuff so uhhh yeah  ajksdaskj 

anyway! here are my current avatar wips 

Strength- another zuko centric fic?? just as likely as you would think. this is just one fic but it’s a bit longer, probably gonna come out at around 10k words ish?? basically tackles zuko’s fear of showing weakness, ppl convinving him it’s ok to be venerable, and him eventually letting himself get to the point where he can be venerable 

atla YT au- listen. i write alot of angst so i wanted an excuse to write more fluffy stuff!! so, the gaang are youtubers now bc it’s fun!! i have a half finished fic centered around them playing minecraft just bc i feel like it! also since it takes place in a modern/atla fusion au they still have bending, plus so many pets i honestly lost count! (i don’t wanna go too in depth for the sake of this post not being insanely long, but i have a half finished post explaining this AU i really need to finish and post lol) 

Dragon Phenoix AU- this is one i’ve talked about a bit already!! theres actually already a tag on my writing blog for it! basic premise is that ursa dies in child birth so growing up zuko and azula are alot closer/alot more protective of eachother bc they don’t have anyone to protect them. their childhood is... their childhood, until ozai tries to kill them at ages 9 & 11 and they just..... escape to live in the woods and slowly win over the hearts of the fire nation.  

dad-koda thing- I.... don’t have a name for this yet but it’s basically just “zuko and hakoda get captured together”. so much angst. the idea popped into my head at three am and two hours later i had an incredibly messy draft that i feel the need to finish 

zuko gets forcibly adopted by everyone: palace staff, delegates and ambassadors from every nation, sokka’s tribe, the kyoshi warriors, random shop owners, and basically anyone who spends more than three minutes around the new firelord just decide “ok this is mine now” 

bending healing: oof another unnamed one but the idea is basically “what if other elements besides water could heal?” just cus avatar is all about balance and it never made sense to me that one element has an extra power that the other three dont. it’s not even like a secondary element?? (i feel like this is coming off like i hate water bending/benders  skljdsaklj i don’t i love it actually) 

also like certian philosophy belives the body is made of water and earth and the soul is made of fire and air so i was like “maybe water and earthbenders can heal physical wounds and fire and air can help life force/chi or smthn” 

ik alot of these are pretty zuko centric?? i just didn’t have ideas for other characters aklsdjldjsk tho since a couple of these are series they have bits that are more centric on other chatacters

ty for asking!!! sorry if this was overly long or annoying aksljdkasjdlk 

[theoriginalladya]

5 WIPs

Was tagged by @faith-less-one - thank you so much for thinking of me!!!

Who is left to tag???  If you haven’t done this yet and you would like to, consider yourself tagged!

~~~

Let me see here ...  Michael Shepard - my Earthborn/Ruthless/Vanguard who fights the Reaper War from Earth (also the universe with the Alenko twins, Kaidan and Kandra) - this is my big ME AU fic.  All fics (or sections within Vanguard) are named for songs.  This is my Biotic Pinball Wizard series.

Vanguard of Your Destruction - Well, this is the BIG fic for their universe; the Reaper war as fought from Earth.  This AU began as a vague idea of “What would it be like if Anderson and Shepard were in the other’s shoes during the war?” and Michael was born.  I started writing it during Nano in November 2020, and while I got a LOT written, there is still a long way to go!  I’m still in ‘recovery’ mode from Nano, but hoping to start poking back at them maybe by July’s Camp Nano (promised to work on an original fic for April this year).  If you follow me, you’ve no doubt seen a number of their snippets along the way ...

Halo - This is a background short fic for Kaidan and Kandra.  It covers the years between the end of BAaT and when Kaidan enlists/Kandra starts K’s Kafe.  During this time, they are ‘on the run’ together and travel through various colonies, have a number of different experiences.  The first chapter is up, the second is underway though I’ve had an issue with plot I need to sort out, but it’s getting there.  I’ve also recently worked on a future chapter, so the two of them are still alive and kicking inside my head, raring to go.  I may need to go poke at this one later today, now that I think about it ....  Note:  Kaidan and Kandra will each have their own separate background fic as well covering some of the later years (after Kaidan is in the military and Kandra is in Vancouver).  Kaidan’s is called The Eye of the Storm and Kandra’s is called Hazy Shade of Winter.

Renegade - Michael Shepard’s background short fic that will cover the ME2 years and set up some of what eventually happens while on Earth fighting the war. Still in the plotting out stages of this one.

Fire - This is the background short fic for James Vega.  It’ll cover the time immediately preceding his enlistment through Fehl Prime (I think?  Don’t have my notes with me at the moment, so don’t hold me to that! lol but it’s background stuff for him)

[as yet unnamed] - Background fic for John Michael Shepard and his days in the Reds.  This will explain in more detail some of his interactions during Vanguard of Your Destruction and the impacts those people/places/events had on him and why he became who he is.  This is a relatively new addition after an OC Ask that evolved a Reds companion of his named Joelle.  They have a history.  I need to explore it. :D

So ... yeah.  That’s John Michael Shepard’s WIPs.  There will also be prompts/dribbles/drabs along the way that get added (looks at list) and maybe some post-war stuff, but the big thing for him will be Vanguard.  

~~~

and just because I can, sharing Kaidan and Kandra (by the fabulously talented @xla-hainex) again.  

[shadowofthelamp]

Year in Review: Writing

So, I can’t do the ‘year in review’ for art because... yeah, I didn’t really draw that much this year. So I decided to trawl through my writing tag for one favorite piece per month, and a pulled few paragraphs from each! Basically everything here is Zim except for the one tendershipping week thing, lmao, oops.

Some months had slim pickings but I still do like every one of these and it was a nice reflection.

January: Arrival

Her skin was tinted a sickly green, more like decomposing flesh than irken or human. Dib swallowed, but her breathing seemed to be even when he placed a hand to her kind of chubby chest, so that was probably just how their skin colors mixed, right? Besides, the lighting in the lab was always weird. Her mouth was gummy with no teeth yet, but her vocal cords were functioning perfectly. He was going to need hearing aids by his twenties, between her and Zim.

She had four fingers and three toes, which he kind of expected, as well as a nose but no ears. That made sense, if she had antennae, but it was still strange to run his fingers along the sides of her head and just feel smooth skin.

Her eyes… they were Zim’s through and through, deep ruby with the color filling the sclera. Did irkens even have sclera if they only had one color? Under the lab’s lights and mixed with the way everything on her slightly shimmered from the sticky goo she'd been coated in, she was like a section of space stolen into the little room and it took his breath away. The water blurring his vision didn’t help as he wiped it away with his sleeve, shifting her to one arm. She was so small...

__________

February: WLOD Dib meets Twix, alt version

It’s fascinating, to see what could have gone right. The 1001 here had gangly, underdeveloped limbs, and wispy hair that never quite got clean from the showers. This version wasn’t fat or anything, but definitely had more meat on its bones.

He examined the goggles- peering through them, they altered its vision because they made the lab beyond the ‘glass’ blurry. Curious, very curious. He was about to pop the lens out when it began to stir, tugging at the metal restraints with a clatter.

_________

March: Zibvoid

He talked to himself.

He talked to himself.

He talked to Zim, who hadn’t said a word since he’d died, but maybe he was just giving him the silent treatment.

Round and round, the generator buzzed like a bee and a hospital and a bug zapper that would draw in prey like flies to a web, except he was the spider now and the Zims were the moths.

Dib. Dib Dib Dib Dib Zim Dibdibdibdibzimdibdibzimdib. The names popped off his tongue as he rolled them both in his mouth, over and over until they didn’t seem like names at all anymore.

__________

April: Sturdy Branches (I know the date’s different on ao3 but it was first posted April)

Her dad is either singing or talking to himself as he vacuumed inside the house with a sway in his hips. At least you’re pretty sure it’s her dad? You haven’t seen a picture of him or anything, but he’s about the same age as your dad, so he’s too old to be a brother and too young to be a grandpa, and she hasn’t mentioned any uncles. A babysitter, maybe, but that doesn’t really make sense since Tulip isn’t home yet- ah!

She’s talking to someone as she turns the corner, bouncing her backpack. It’s lilac and circular, as well as covered in buttons. The Ranger helmet is in her backpack or still in her locker, but either way, she’s not wearing it anymore. She’s got the boots on, though. You adjust the binoculars a bit, but you aren’t good enough at lip-reading yet to tell what she’s saying. Whatever it is, it’s making the girl she’s talking to laugh. Maybe she’ll tell you tomorrow in class or at lunch if you pull her to sit at your table again. She has more friends at the middle table, but they don’t like sitting next to you after the beetle incident, and she doesn’t seem to mind. She always has a big smile when you start talking, and she’d say something if she didn’t like you, right? Pretty much everybody else does.

_________

May: Do Something For You (TD spoilers!)

Dib had never really thought ahead to having a family, but she was pretty much everything she’d want in one. She was an assistant and a partner, she was invested in the paranormal, she hated Zim- but on the other hand, she didn’t want him hurt? She seemed weirdly invested in making sure he didn’t get caught, actually. Eh, she’d hit him pretty hard, so it wasn’t like she was opposed to him getting his rightful dues for being an evil space monster.

It was relatively simple- she was just worried if he died then her timeline would be destabilized, which was a decent enough concern. Zim had to be important to his life for years to come, in one way or another. But whatever they were dealing with in the future, it had to be better with Zim out of the way earlier, right?

__________

June: Unnamed capture au drabble

“Why do you even give me these stupid scripts if you don’t like me doing them?” Dib folded his arms, kneading the ball in his palm. “Just get a robot or something.” He snorted. “I mean, it’d probably break, like half the stuff you touch.”

Zim’s hands curled into fists. “Take that back, you- you- worm!”

Dib quirked an eyebrow. “What, touched a nerve? When I was a kid, half the stuff you made broke, it’s just a fact. You only conquered Earth because this place is a trash heap and your garbage is slightly better than ours.” Over a year in Zim’s presence without too many galling injuries and a lifetime of not being able to keep his mouth shut made him bold. “Honestly, if I didn’t know better, I’d say you’re probably broken yoursel-” He was cut off with a Pak leg aimed directly at his throat, prodding in just deep enough to draw a drop of blood down the alien metal.

Zim’s eyes were narrowed, but something was watering on the edges, and Dib swallowed, adam’s apple bobbing just below the leg’s tip.

“Zim. Is. Not. Broken.”

___________

July: Laughter

Ryou couldn't stand the lights on one minute and then hated having them off the next. The shadows bled from the way the light reflected off the couch, how it seemed to devour the wall behind it, and he swore he could still hear the voice in his mind. (Was that himself? Had he started thinking of himself as a separate voice? It had been ages since he'd really been alone, even though anyone outside him would have wondered about the boy who talked to his reflection like it was an old friend.)

He wished he could talk to Ryou. Ryou who had seemed so pliable as a child but had proved entertaining, a match for the fire, (heh, fire, even though it wasn't that funny, in fact, it wasn't funny at all, but what did he have but jokes? it wasn't like he could cry anymore) who carved out rules for use of the body with gritted teeth and tugged at the rope of the Ring so hard it had chafed his neck. He'd respected him. From a soft child, he'd hardened and grown firm, grown powerful, grown to be worthy. What were the odds fate had given him a chance at the same time someone had handed a young Yugi the box with the Puzzle? A roll of the dice. (The Gods having a last laugh, perhaps..)

Ryou dug his nails into the wood of the desk so hard that it made crescents, tiny moons in the umber that dug splinters into his pale fingers. The little model of the Thief King sat, as he always did, half-hidden on his shelf behind the pieces of Zorc. He'd never bothered to glue the monster back together but felt oddly reluctant to just incinerate the figures and be done with them. Both of them. Either of them. Maybe he just didn't want to pretend it had never happened. (Maybe he was worried he'd forget, thoughts and memories swept away by the sands of time, trickling down the hourglass, minute by minute, day by day, as he aged the way the Spirit had never been allowed to.)

___________

August: New Mission

It had been a month.

Nebula Twix had survived. She’d had to be popped into the healing pod when she had an allergic reaction to the oatmeal Dib had tried to feed her when it had inflamed her spooch, and Gir had tried to eat her head the one second Zim’s back had been turned, and she made goo from both ends a lot, but otherwise, she was perfectly fine!

And with that, Zim had come to a crossroads. It seemed that he was, indeed, in this for the long heel. (He was pretty sure that was the phrase. Humans liked large feet and large boots, so it made sense.) He could either continue to keep her a secret, or he could pass on his success to the Tallests.

Creating slaves out of the species marked for invasion was pretty common- something like 85% of invaders did it. But creating hybrids? That number was much lower. (Besides, they were usually disposed of as soon as the invasion was complete.) And irkens having those hybrids from their own bodies, and not just mixing them out of genetic slurry and quickly aging them up in time-fields? Almost completely unheard of. Zim was the pioneer in that area.

Also, having smeets from one’s body may have been a tad illegal, considering how hard it had been to find good information and judging from the fact that all irkens found to do it were brought in for experimentation. But no matter! Zim was nothing if not very, very good at things few other irkens dared to do, ready to drive the Empire forward by any means possible. They would have to appreciate that!

__________

September: Twix finds out she’s pregnant

Secondary life-form detected, the chamber chimed.

“Oh, gross, I’ve got a tapeworm? Well, flush it out.” Twix rolled her eyes, going back to the computer.

Lifeform has elements of Pak user.

Her finger froze on the ‘b’ key. “It… what? Analyze species origin.”

The chamber hummed around Twix as sweat dripped down the skin of her neck. There was a tiny 'ding!’ like a kitchen timer.

Lifeform is too underdeveloped to make more than approximations, but is roughly 25% irken and 75% Dominant Earth Species.

Her scream rattled the walls.

__________

October: Best-Laid Plans

“Of course, Number One.” Two turned his head slightly, and Dib jolted- he hadn’t directly commanded him to do that. “Your plan is perfect.” He blinked slowly- much slower than most Zims. Most Zims were utterly manic, back and forth and back and forth, loud and brutal and dangerous, but Two- Two had always worshiped him. Maybe even more than the rest. It had been nice, to be admired so heavily. Two had adored the personal attention when he was turned into an errand boy.

Dib might miss him.

He shook that thought out of his head, gripping both sides of Two’s face with his index finger and thumb, nails (not claws, they weren’t claws) digging into the cheeks.

“You belong to me.” Two didn’t respond, and Dib dug in a little further.  Irken skin was thicker than a human’s, with a single drop of pink blood oozing over Dib’s fingernail and leaving a barely-perceptible damp trail. “Respond. Who do you belong to?”

“I belong to you, Number One.”

___________

November: Desperation (warning if you click through for impalement)

Dib’s lips were on Zim’s before he even knew what he was doing. “You’re not dying on me, you little bastard,” he hissed, fumbling to hold up the body as Zim nearly coughed blood directly into Dib’s mouth. It was salty and sweet all in one, but Dib couldn’t linger on the taste. Zim’s fingers grasped at his shirt, and Dib took that as a sign that it was working, pressing their lips together hard enough to bruise the capillaries.  

There was a click. Dib breathed in blood and out carbon dioxide, sputtering and swallowing it down so Zim wouldn’t die like this-

Something red-hot and metallic climbed over his arm before digging into his spine, and he realized that the body had gone entirely limp before there was electricity and then there was nothing.

____________

December: Freak

Twix grit her teeth. “How am I supposed to trust you if you’ll just- just do that?”

“How am I supposed to drop my whole social life because you can’t help being the weirdest person in school?” Tulip shot back. “I do care about you, but it’s so, so hard sometimes, because you just don’t know how to act, and sometimes I’m sick of waiting for you to play catchup just because your parents are the town freaks!” She slapped her hands over her mouth and took a step back.

Twix’s eye twitched under her goggles. “At least they’re freaks that love me. I’ll see you tomorrow, third period.”

“Twix-”

“I said,” Twix said through gritted teeth, “I’ll see you tomorrow. Get out before I reactivate the security.”

Tulip got out, and Twix buried her face in a couch pillow and screamed.

[sandersstudies]

Quirky - Chapter 5

A High School Superhero AU - Sanders Sides

(Will add tag list in a reblog! If I miss you, please let me know ASAP - As always, asks, comments, messages, reblogs, and keysmashes are more than welcome.)

-> Chapter Six

<- Chapter Four

<<- Chapter One

You can now also find the fic with the same username and title on AO3 :)

Virgil kicked a stone in front of him as the class walked toward the bus. Next to him, Logan was going on about the history of U.S.J., their destination for Hero Studies class. Virgil wasn’t a fan of field trips. He almost envied Terrence, who had stayed home sick from school.

“Pick up the pace, gang,” Mr. Picani said. “Last I checked, none of you had lead feet as a quirk.” There had been no updates on Mr. Sanders, but Virgil and many of the other students had been watching the news religiously. All that had been released to the public was that Mr. Sanders had encountered an unnamed retired pro hero at the site of a recent vandalism, attacked him using his quirk, and fled the scene. Police officers had pursued, but initially lost the trail until Mr. Sanders was arrested in the early hours of the morning in his apartment. The date of his trial had not yet been announced.

“Am I boring you?” Logan asked, stopping mid-sentence.

“Oh, no, no,” Virgil said, spasmodically grabbing Logan’s wrist and then dropping it immediately. “Sorry, guess I’m a little caught up in my own head. What were you saying?”

“U.S.J. is a fascinating location, that is all,” Logan said. Mr. Picani checked their names off his list as they got on board the bus. “Think: a single building containing several ecosystems and terrains to prepare heroes for work in any field at all! Especially useful for disaster intervention, search-and-rescue...but I won’t go on.” He took one of the few remaining open seats, and Virgil sat beside him, on the aisle side. “What were you thinking about?”

“Mr. Sanders again,” Virgil said, lowering his voice and leaning toward Logan. He felt exposed sitting near the aisle. “Do you really think he attacked another hero?”

“Rumor has it the other hero was the Flying Falcon,” Logan said in an even lower voice. “But I don’t like spreading inconclusive evidence.”

“The Flying-” Logan shushed him. “The Flying Falcon?” Virgil whispered. “Roman’s dad?”

“Inconclusive evidence.”

Virgil craned over the back of his seat as the bus started. Roman was several seats back reading a comic book, the seat next to him empty.

His posse not hanging out with him anymore? Roman had seemed a little quieter than usual yesterday. Then again, everyone had. Roman was dwelling an awfully long time on his page. He’s no genius, Virgil thought, But I’m pretty sure he can read. Roman’s eyes did look a little glazed over, come to think of it—

Logan pulled gently on Virgil’s sleeve, and Virgil came back to himself as he slid back into the seat.

“It’s rude to stare,” Logan said. Virgil felt his neck flush hot as he bounced his leg. Logan must think he was a real ass. He stared down at his hands, and then toward the front window of the bus, watching for U.S.J. to appear on the horizon. Another disadvantage of sitting on the aisle side of the seat was limited window access.

“There it is,” Rafaela said a few minutes later, pointing. Students craned their necks to get a first glance at the dome.

“Please stay in your seats,” Mr. Picani said from the front of the bus. Students sulked back down.

U.S.J. didn’t look like much to Virgil. He’d gone on vacation once with his mom and visited the Omaha zoo, and the huge glass building reminded him of the desert dome that housed things like Fennec foxes and meerkats. He had a vague idea that once he entered U.S.J. he would be pounced on by a bobcat.

“The hero Glass runs the U.S.J.,” Kai whispered to Kenny from behind Virgil. “They’re so cool.”

Virgil vaguely recalled seeing Glass on television before. The hero could turn things they touched into glass, and also transform into a glass figure which, when damaged, could regenerate almost instantly. That cheesy action figure, Virgil remembered. The little clear plastic arm that shot off and could “regrow with the power of their Quirk!” (that is, be replaced and reused). How many millions did heroes make off of dumb things like that?

Kai was bouncing up and down, grasping the back of Virgil’s seat and shaking it back and forth as the bus pulled up to the building. Virgil winced. He’d noticed that when Kai was overexcited, his quirk goo could leak from his nose and ears.

“Let’s go!” Kai said.

“Just a minute,” Mr. Picani said. “Your names must be checked off the list as you get off the bus, so don’t rush, now.”

“You checked us on off when we got on!” Kai whined, draping himself over his seat. Roman was instructed to check off names so Mr. Picani could lead the students into the building, and the students started to file into the aisle. Virgil wondered for a moment if Roman would be petty enough to leave Virgil’s name unchecked, but the class president’s face was serious as the other students got off the bus.

“Are you thinking again?” Logan asked, alighting just behind Virgil.

“A little,” Virgil admitted. At least Logan wasn’t embarrassed by Virgil’s awkward staring anymore.

“I do find the construction of U.S.J. compelling,” Logan said again. “The ecosystems…” He was staring at the building with barely-contained delight. “I’ve read about their systems of environment regulation for the six main zones. It’s fascinating. Do let me know if I go on about them too long.”

Virgil felt his lips contort irresistibly into a smile. Logan sure was a nerd, but it was kind of funny how excited he got. “You’re fine.”

Logan continued, rejuvenated by Virgil’s consent. “The main zones are the Ruins, the Landslide, the Mountain, the Flood, the Downpour, and the Conflagration zones. As their names suggest, each is related to a different environmental factor.”

Logan sounded almost like he was reciting from a book. His quirk isn’t a photographic memory, Virgil thought. In fact, Logan was liable to forget things that didn’t interest him. But it might as well be when it comes to this stuff.

“The Conflagration Zone is perhaps most impressive,” Logan went on. “Designed to simulate a city on fire, a blaze is kept constant within the zone, maintained by the environmental factors which prevent it from spreading into the other zones. It’s actually a very delicate balance, the design took years to perfect.” He spoke as proudly as if he’d designed it himself. The class began to move toward the entrance of the building where there was a large sign with U.S.J. emblazoned above it in gold letters.

“Glass is the official caretaker and one of the head designers, along with Multi-Man himself.” Logan’s arms moved emphatically. “Glass’ quirk is quite astonishing. I would be very interested in seeing it in person. Of course, they are also a faculty member. Perhaps they would prefer to be referred to by their civilian name.”

Other students were also commenting on the structure and its caretaker, but none in such technical terms as Logan, who had paused to take a breath after a particularly long paragraph.

“We’re going to process into the front entrance,” Mr. Picani said. “We’ll stop there and you’ll be directed into the next location.”

The students jostled a bit, and Virgil shrunk into his oversized hoodie. Logan, on the other hand, seemed to have grown two inches taller since they’d left the main campus. He was scanning each part of the building as they went through the front double doors, and Virgil imagined once again that he could hear Logan’s synapses firing.

The class oohed and ahhed as they entered the building. The raised platform they entered onto let them see across the entire space, which was more massive than a stadium. From their height, it reminded Virgil of an arena. In front of them was a blue arch leading to the stairs that descended into the rest of the building, which had a dirt floor. Smaller domes encased two of the environmental zones, but a real miniature mountain rose to the ceiling on their right, with a landslide arching down to its base where rested a mock town, small but with everything to real scale. It was so realistic Virgil expected to see people peering out of the windows to watch their arrival. At the edge of the town was a series of collapsed buildings which came almost up to the edge of the raised platform, and across from those was a lake to the students’ right; Virgil had anticipated a pool, a simulated lake, but the body of water had grass and even small trees at the edge, growing happily inside the pavilion with a healthy diet of lake water and sunshine.

The building seemed all sunshine, in fact. Even the mountain was contained inside the massive glass ceiling, and on this sunny day no artificial lights were needed. A few metal beams around the edge were the only reminder that they were not really outside.

Forgetting Mr. Picani’s instructions in their excitement, a couple students began to rush for the stairs that led down into the zones, but stopped suddenly, as if prevented by an invisible barrier.

“Woah there,” said a new voice. In their astonishment at seeing the building, none of the students had noticed the figure standing before him. The person had outstretched their hands to stop Kai with one arm and Rafaela with the other. They were not invisible, but clear through their entire body, and it was only as they began to return to their ordinary form that Virgil could make them out.

They wore ordinary black clothing that looked casual and modern. In place of the mask that usually covered the whole round face was a smile under dark eyes and hair. Virgil realized that the action figure had exaggerated the hero’s age: Glass could not be much older than some of the UA upperclassmen. A few students muttered the name in awe and surprise.

“Here, I’d ask that you refer to me as Mx. Stokes,” Glass said. “Glass is for field work and going on Ellen and things like that.”

Kai was staring up at Mx. Stokes in astonishment, mouth slightly agape. Mr. Picani walked up to the other hero.

“Mx. Stokes is going to begin by giving you all a bit of a tour, and then you’ll be prepared when you start using this place for rescue training,” he said

“That’s right,” Mx. Stokes agreed. “Do any of you know how many zones are in U.S.J.?”

Logan’s hand shot up so fast he almost smacked Virgil in the face.

“Yes?” Mx. Stokes said. “And your name is?”

Logan had begun after the teacher’s first word, so the response went something like “U.S.J-contains-eight-zones-six-of-which—Logan—six-of-which-contain-specific-environmental-factors.”

“Thank you, Logan,” Mx. Stokes said. “That’s correct. All of you are actually standing in the first zone now. The entrance is itself one of the zones, and if you’ll look down those steps you can see into the central plaza, which connects the entrance to the six environmental zones.”

Virgil stared past the other students down the massive flights of steps, lined with guardrails and wide enough that the whole class could have walked down side-by-side. At the base of the steps was the plaza, in the center of which was a circular green space. Virgil hadn’t noticed it at first; it had been dwarfed in size by the other zones. It was little more than a fountain surrounded by plants, a typical park centerpiece. It looked out of place only because it was framed by fallen buildings, a mountain, and a lake.

“Let’s start walking toward the plaza,” Mx. Stokes said, turning for the stairs. The students began to follow, Kai leading the way. Virgil grumbled at the thought of having to go back up the stairs again before they left. He envied Patton, who Mr. Picani was directing to a small elevator — too small for the whole class, but Virgil could dream.

“Now, when lots of people think of hero work,” Mx. Stokes went on. “They think first of TV stuff like punching people and blowing stuff up, right?” A few students muttered agreement. “Right! But the most important part of being a hero isn’t that stuff. Even more important than knocking the shit out of villains—”

“Glass,” Mr. Picani warned from the top of the steps.

“Knocking the stuffing out of villains is caring for the people we serve, and that often means search-and-rescue operations. Plenty of heroes are known for this kind of work.”

There was a beat of glances among the students. Rescue was Multi-Man’s speciality.

If he wasn’t in jail, would he be giving us this speech? Virgil wondered.

“Now,” Mx. Stokes said, breaking the moment. “If the entrance is noon, we’re going to move around the zones clockwise. Does anybody know what the zone immediately to our left is called?” The students were halfway down the stairs, and the collapsed buildings began to loom to one side.

Logan’s hand shot up in the air again, but Mx. Stokes glanced over the students and called on Kai’s much shorter raised arm instead.

“The Ruined Zone,” Kai said.

“Ruins Zone,” Logan corrected in a whisper.

“Right, the Ruins Zone,” Mx. Stokes said. “Or the Collapse Zone. It probably looks a lot like the place where you guys had your heroes vs. villains exercise, and where you took your entrance exam.”

Virgil shuddered at the memory.

“However, the Ruins Zone is meant to simulate an urban environment in the middle of a disaster like an earthquake or tornado, and some of the buildings are not very stable.” They’d finally reached the base of the stairs and had landed almost among the buildings where Patton, just coming off the elevator, was waiting for them. Virgil was startled by the level of detail in the fallen city. Real road signs lay bent at the side of cracked roads. He could see inside individual broken windows and into the rooms inside. He could imagine himself, perched on top of a building in his mask. He could swoop inside the windows and rescue...who was inside the building? He imagined a crouched figure inside. Perhaps it was—

He cut off his daydream halfway. Unrealistic.

“Could...could one of the buildings collapse now?” Kai asked nervously.

“Nope,” Mx. Stokes said, hands on their hips. “The entire building is currently in safety mode. Nothing can hurt you right now so long as nobody goes messing around. But some of the beams and stones are very unstable and are liable to collapse if tampered with, so it’s not a good place to experiment if you don’t know it very well. Anybody know the name of this next zone?”

Since they’d reached the bottom of the stairs, Logan had edged closer to the front of the class and was directly in Mx. Stokes line of sight when he raised his hand.

“Logan.”

“The Landslide Zone,” Logan enunciated.

“That’s right,” Mx. Stokes said, turning around to lead then away from the buildings and toward the small town, surrounded by forest and half-buried under the edge of the mountain with mud and rocks. “I think the name is pretty self-explanatory.”

Virgil was astonished with how long it took to walk first to the Landslide Zone and then all the way to the Mountain Zone, around five or six o’clock on Mx. Stokes’ imaginary map. Surely the building didn’t look this big from the outside? If he kept his gaze focused on the mountain, he found he could almost forget he was inside a building.

“Quite a lot of cliffs there,” Mx. Stokes declared after ignoring Logan’s hand to allow Remy to say “Mountain Zone.”  

“Here’s a question,” Mr. Picani said, coming to stand beside Mx. Stokes. “I want each of you to think about your quirk strengths and weaknesses for a moment, and when we get back to the entrance, I’d like to hear which zones you feel work to your advantage and which would be most difficult for you.”

“Does this count as homework?” Remy asked.

Mr. Picani pointed a joking finger at the students. “Be lucky this is Hero Studies and not Literature or I’d have you write an essay on it.” A few students chuckled good-naturedly.

“We’ll take a quick break here,” Mx. Stokes said. “You guys can think about that question and take a quick look around the base of the mountain. No climbing though, okay?”

Some of the students practically sprinted toward the rocks, while Virgil and several others fell gratefully into splayed sitting positions.

“I am going to investigate the rock face, would you like to come?” Logan asked, leaning over Virgil.

“No thanks,” Virgil said. “Think I’m just gonna chill out here.”

“Understood.” Logan sped-walked away, paused to examine a root, and vanished behind a small clump of trees at the base of the mountain.

It is cool, having all this stuff indoors, Virgil admitted to himself. But he was no geology student. He flopped onto his back. The ground felt like real dirt, and he stared through the ceiling’s metal beams to see the clouds drifting lazily overhead. He hadn’t slept well after the news about Mr. Sanders. It was silly but—

He was distracted from his thoughts as Mx. Stokes leaned in to say something to Mr. Picani, too quietly for Virgil to hear except as a mutter. The glass hero touched the other teacher on the arm, and the two took several steps away from the class, though Mr. Picani’s gaze still scanned the students, most of whom had run some distance away or were now chatting amongst themselves. Kai had made a bouncy ball using his goo quirk and he and Kenny were tossing it back and forth, occasionally sprinting after it when it managed to slip through their fingers.

What was Glass saying to Picani? Half-closing his eyes, Virgil rolled onto his side as casually as possible to see the pair better. With the arrest of Mr. Sanders, maybe it was better not to trust anyone, not even the other UA teachers.

From Virgil’s distance, Mx. Stokes’ furrowed brows looked almost sympathetic as he spoke. Picani shooed the younger teacher away after a moment, and Mx. Stokes took a respectful step back.

Something’s going on between those two, Virgil thought. He glanced around to see if any of the other students were watching, but the only one nearby was Patton who was—

Looking at him.

Virgil quickly rolled over and went back to half-closing his eyes. He probably didn’t see that, he tried to convince himself. It didn’t work. He really didn’t like Patton’s eyes. If Virgil had had the courage, he would have watched to see if Patton ever actually blinked, or if his eyes were always staring just a bit. He didn’t look back for several minutes, and was nearly drifting into a nap when Mx. Stokes’ voice broke out again.

“Okay, everybody come back!” Mx. Stokes called. “Roman, you’re class rep, aren’t you? Run around toward the mountain and make sure we’ve got everybody back.”

Virgil pushed himself back into a standing position and dusted himself up without checking to see whether Patton was looking at him.

“Enjoyed your rest?” Logan asked as he approached.

“Enjoyed your investigating?” Virgil responded.

“Thoroughly. They’ve used an ingenious mix of sedimentary rock and artificial materials to create an accurate imitation of a genuine landmass. The trees are growing via an irrigation system routed from the lake under the tile.”

“Who knows the name of the next zone?” Mx. Stokes asked. Logan’s delight at the discovery of sediment and irrigations had distracted him long enough that he had not raised his hand by the time the question was answered.

“The Conflagration or Fire Zone.”

“That’s right, Roman,” Mx. Stokes said. “Let’s start moving that way. And before any of you freak out—” The teacher raised their hands defensively. “The safety settings make the location totally secure.”

A few students scoffed, but Virgil stifled a grateful sigh. The Conflagration Zone, situated near seven o’clock, was the first of the zones covered completely in a dome, this one red instead of clear, with drawn-on flames rising along the sides. Ordinarily, Virgil would have thought of it as a large building, but dwarfed by the entire U.S.J. it was much less impressive. Virgil could almost feel Logan shaking with excitement next to him.

“How does the Conflagration Zone work?” Virgil said, deadpan.

“Very interesting that you would ask!” Logan almost burst out. “Actually, the fire in the space is maintained via a chemical balance, not by burning materials, which regulates it while simulating real fire. Many of the materials inside are actually functionally fireproof. A ventilation system maintains a regulated amount of smoke, and—”

“So,” Mx. Stokes began from the front of the group. Logan trailed off his lecture to listen. “We’re about to go inside the dome now. We are going to stop right inside the entrance, where there won’t be any fire, so don’t break off from the group or run around.”

The doors looked as if they might lead into an ordinary pavillion or museum, but Virgil shivered (ironically, he thought) at the prospect of going inside. He pulled his hood over his head.

“The Conflagration Zone is an environmentally controlled space—” The teacher’s voice changed as he crossed the threshold of the dome, and Virgil was pushed along as the students followed. It was a good thing Logan had already told him about the zone, because he couldn’t hear Mx. Stokes talking over the roaring in his ears.

Like the Ruins Zone, the space contained rubble and several collapsed structures, all engulfed in fire. Standing just inside the door was like facing a raging campfire, and Virgil flushed in the heat. There was no lighting inside the dome besides the flames, so the entire place was illuminated in red and orange. A few mock streets between buildings were the only places away from the entrance that seemed to be totally clear of fire. The class’ brief stay inside was mostly a blur for Virgil, and he breathed deeply when they turned and proceeded back outside. Outside, Virgil realized, was how he thought of the inside of U.S.J., despite the domed ceiling above them.

“Everybody really likes this next spot,” Mx. Stokes said. “Who knows what it’s called?”

“Flood Zone,” a few students said at once.

“Right, sometimes called the Shipwreck Zone,” Mx. Stokes went on. “Nice relief after that heat, huh?”

The students muttered agreement. Near nine o’clock arched the clear blue water of the artificial lake, a large yacht bobbing like a massive buoy two hundred yards from the shore. Behind the lake rose up a small mountain on which perched wooden scaffolding to support a amusement-park-style waterslide, funneling water into the lake. The main slide twisted around several times, reaching the height of an office building, and was wide enough that the entire yacht could have slid inside it. An offshoot from the slide did not come to rest in the water, but jutted out over the zone, spewing water to form a waterfall.

“Looks fun, right?” Mx. Stokes said. “You can’t see from here, but rock formations stab out of the belly of the slide, and the way down is pretty dangerous. The slide and boat are fully functional, though. You guys can check them out when you come back for your first session of rescue training.”

They’d reached the edge of the water, and Mx. Stokes bent down on the mossy shore to reach into the water and cup it in their hand.

“Lightly chlorinated,” they said. “To keep out bacteria and the like. You can even—” and they slurped the water from their hand like they were taking a shot. “Though I don’t necessarily recommend it. Go ahead and touch if you like.”

Several of the students plunged their hands into the water. Kai slipped off his sandles and dipped in his toes. Virgil slid down to sitting and felt the wet ground sink slightly under his weight. When he stuck his fingers into the lake, he could still see them clearly, if slightly distorted in shape and blued in color.

Logan plopped down next to Virgil and plunged his arm in all the way up to his shirt sleeve. When he pulled his hand back out, he’d grasped a fistful of soil from the edge of the water.

“Incredible,” he said, rubbing the grains of sandy dirt between his fingers. “They’ve actually incorporated the lake directly into the ground of the location. The irrigation of the water must be highly advanced.” When he sat back up, the front of his shirt was blurred with mud, but he didn’t seem to notice.

“The lake is connected directly to our next zone,” Mx. Stokes said, gesturing to the dome near ten o’clock. “The Downpour Zone’s ceiling and floor are routed with pipes to and from the lake to create the constant rain without wasting water. Now, I can see you’re all enjoying the lake, but I’m not sure you all would like to walk into the eye of a storm.”

Virgil suspected Logan would enjoy that very much, if it meant a chance to learn about irrigation or whatever it was.

“So, we’re going to walk along the dome and take a look through the doors, and we won’t be getting soaked,” Mx. Stokes said, beginning to walk around the edge of the lake toward the second dome at a brisk trot. Some of the students took an extra moment to get up from the shore, and Kai skipped several steps as he tried to put on his left sandal. Mr. Picani brought up the rear.

“You guys still with me?” Mx. Stokes called over their shoulder smilingly. “We’re almost done, I promise.”

As they approached the final dome, there was a faint sound of thunder from within, muffled by the walls, and Virgil had an image of the Downpour Zone as a snowglobe on Mx. Stokes’ mantlepiece. The dome was indigo and dappled with large painted clouds of blue and purple, intersected with large beams. When the teacher swung the double doors in to let the students peer inside, Virgil remained suspended near the back of the group. He’d seen storms before, and he only had to wait through a few minutes of oohs and ahhs before it was the time he’d been dreading: time to ascend back up all those massive stairs to the exit. Do you want to be a hero or not? he asked himself in an attempt at motivation.

Not that badly, he responded.

The entire group sans Patton and Mr. Picani, who had returned in the elevator, slugged up the stairs. The only students still apparently full of energy were Kai and Logan, who had sparked a conversation in their mutual admiration of the space and were now gibbering away to one another excitedly.

Too discouraged by the stairs to keep up, Virgil walked a few steps behind. It looked like Logan had found a new, more willing set of ears, even if those ears sometimes leaked goo. Virgil found he wasn’t relieved to be rid of Logan’s lecturing, and managed to catch a few snippets of their conversation.

“The production of the building was a direct result of…that’s why I find it so interesting....me too!”

Kai was several inches shorter than Logan, and did pant for breath about halfway up the stairs. Virgil slowed even further, but still caught up to the pair.

“Hello, Virgil,” Logan said. He was smiling. “Kai also knows a lot regarding the history of U.S.J.”

“I’m a big Glass fan,” Kai said, pausing to catch his breath. “I figured.” Virgil hadn’t meant to sound so cold, but Kai’s nose was leaking goo again. The shorter boy sniffed and then suddenly tensed. “Oh no, don’t—” Virgil didn’t get a chance to finish before Kai let out a massive sneeze, splattering Virgil with flecks of goo like smashed Jell-O.

“Oh, gross!” he said instinctively, shoving Kai away from him. Whether the other student was already thrown off balance or whether he’d pushed harder than he meant to Virgil was never quite sure, but Kai tumbled back and would have fallen onto his butt if Logan had not been directly behind him. Too surprised to catch Kai, Logan fell back against the railing of the stairs with an “oof,” Kai essentially in his lap. His glasses went flying.

Kai exclaimed and threw out one hand as if to catch the glasses, and they were enveloped suddenly by goo shot from his fingers before they flew past the safety rail and over the edge of the tall, tall staircase.

Kai almost screamed. “I’m really sorry!” he said, covering the noise of Virgil swearing.

Virgil leaned down to drag Kai to his feet — he was very light — and take Logan by the hand.

“I think my glasses…” Logan muttered.

“They went over the edge,” Virgil said. “Gosh, I’m so so sorry, will you need new ones? Can you see okay? Should I—”

“Oh, they’re not broken!” Kai insisted.

“What?” Logan got back to his feet.

“They’re not broken,” Kai said. “My goo is a shock absorber, they’ll be protected.”

“Everything okay back there?” Mx. Stokes had been leading the group, but paused when Kai shouted, and had now turned around to approach them. Mr. Picani appeared at the top of the steps after exiting the elevator with Patton and was also peering down to see why the group had paused.

“We’re so sorry, Mx. Stokes,” Virgil stuttered. “It was my fault. Logan’s glasses fell over the side of the stairs.”

“Well, that’s not good,” Mx. Stokes said after a beat. They leaned over the guardrail to peer into the Ruins Zone below. “Can’t see much from here, huh? Well, why don’t you — and what’s your name, kid?” They planted their left hand on Virgil’s shoulder.

“Virgil.”

“Okay, Virgil, I don’t think Logan here will be much help to you down there.”

Logan had, in fact, lost his depth perception and was experimentally walking up and down the nearest three steps with only minimal success.

“You...you want me to go down there?” Virgil asked. He was unsure how to put confused emphasis on every word in a sentence at once.

Mx. Stokes tapped their thumb against their lip. “Here, Virgil, why don’t you take your class rep, he’s a popular guy, right? His light quirk will be a big help down there.” Virgil had no time to protest before Mx. Stokes was waving. “Hey, Roman! Hop down here a minute!”

Roman was near the front of the group but trooped down the steps at the sound of his name. Mx. Stokes slapped their right hand onto his shoulder so they stood in a T-pose connecting the boys (albeit a crooked T, because Roman was taller than Virgil).

“You’re gonna take a jaunt with Virgil here to recover Logan’s glasses,” Mx. Stokes said. “Think of it like a real hero mission, boys.”

Roman looked unimpressed.

“Now,” Mx. Stokes went on. “Safety settings are still on in all zones, so there’s nothing dangerous down there so long as neither of you messes with anything. Just go ahead and run down there and right back up and we’ll hold the bus for you.” They lightly smacked both the boys’ shoulders and jogged away, gesturing for the rest of the class to follow.

“I really appreciate it, Virgil,” Logan said, touching Virgil’s arm lightly before walking away and leaving Virgil facing Roman on the middle of the stair.

The two stared at one another for a second before Roman huffed and started off down the steps. “Well, are we going or not?”

Virgil bit his tongue. He supposed putting up with Roman was enough of a punishment for sending Logan’s glasses spiraling into a collapsed city, and began to follow the other boy down, loath to think that he’d have to climb the stairs all over again.

When Virgil reached the base of the steps, Roman had wandered a few steps into the city and was staring around the ground, occasionally swearing under his breath.

“Thought you and Specs were buddies or something,” he said, peering under some fallen beams. “What’d you knock his glasses off for?”

“It wasn’t on purpose,” Virgil snapped.

“Geez, chill out,” Roman said, straightening up. “Just a question. Where did the damn things go, anyhow?”

“They fell over there,” Virgil said, pointing deeper into the ruins. There were a number of beams arching above the walk and though a strong sunlight was coming through the ceiling, it was difficult to see underneath them. “Why don’t you just use your quirk?”

“I don’t need to use it for everything!” Roman said a little too loudly.

“Geez, just a question,” Virgil said, imitating Roman and sticking out his tongue. “What, jealous since you’re basically quirkless anyway?”

“Hey, fuck off!” Virgil said, bristling. “I didn’t drag you down here or anything.”

“You said it was your fault the stupid things fell.” Roman took a few steps toward Virgil, his hands balled into fists.

“Yeah, but it’s not my fault that you’re acting like a massive ass,” Virgil snarled.

“Oh, fuck off, I’ll get the stupid things myself.” Roman whirled around. He stalked away, shaking slightly at the shoulders. Just as he was about to round the corner of one of the collapsed buildings, he took a furious swing at a low hanging beam, the impact of which created a hollow groaning sound. Roman kept walking.

Virgil was about to follow him when suddenly the groaning grew instead of faded, and the beam shuddered and collapsed directly over Roman’s head.

[greyias]

Muse Meme

Tagged by @keldae, @elveny, and @swtorpadawan -- thank you for the tag!

And just to dare to be different, I will do someone a little different this time. Also I’ve been playing on him lately, so he’s been on my mind.

― your muse’s name:

Draike Highwind

― one favourite picture/face claim of your muse:

I don’t have too many screenshots of him yet, so here’s one of his faceclaim:

 (As I actually did try my best to use the game’s options to make him look like said face, all those years ago when I first rolled him up)

― two headcanons you have for your muse:

He doesn’t like to talk or think about his childhood very much, but he still remembers some medical things he picked up while reluctantly being dragged around the various Dantooine farms while his father did his rounds

He secretly likes petting baby nerfs -- but if you try to mention that he will probably shoot you (unless you are a certain Dantooine farmgirl turned Jedi who introduced him to the wonders of baby nerf petting

― three things that your muse likes doing in their free time:

Playing Cards

Drinking

ACHEM--”leisurely” activities that involve a second person

― seven people your muse loves/likes, in no particular order:

His Ship -- he will argue you until he’s blue in the face that it counts

Akaavi -- his wife

His crew (although he’ll deny it)

His little sister (he will also strenuously deny that -- it’s complicated)

@grumpyhedgehog​​‘s AU Lyra (it’s also complicated)

His baby brother (if he ever sees him again)

A possibly unnamed (at this moment in time) Force sensitive teenage pickpocket who may or may not be his kid as well as said teenager’s pickpocketing sidekick

― a phobia your muse has:

Ice crevasses  This one’s hard as I haven’t spent too much time in his head to know phobias yet. He does have fears, but they’re more rational than irrational. Things like fear of intimacy, fear of abandonment, fear of a rakghoul eating his face off -- you know, normal rational stuff.

ETA: After some discussion with @grumpyhedgehog I’m suspecting that he has an irrational fear of mimes.

Tagging: @grumpyhedgehog, @storyknitter, @joiedecombat, @honekitteh​

[youhearstatic]

Fic author meme!

Tagged by: @charmandhex (Thanks, Charm! <3)

Your name: Most people online call me Cor (short for Coranada)

Fandoms you write for: TAZ is the only one I’ve really gone deep on. I wrote a handful of very short things for Elementary years ago.

Quick note - I’m tagging some non TAZ writers so I’m trying to keep these answers spoiler free. Obviously clicking links will give spoilers for The Adventure Zone podcast, specifically the Balance campaign.

Where you post: mostly AO3, but there’s a bunch of short things on tumblr I haven’t cross posted (yet)

Most popular oneshot: I thought it was close between two fics but then I realized that Lust is a Thing With Fangs is way, way ahead. Surprise! Smut is more popular and smut that has been around longer than other smut has more hits. (I don’t have a lot of smut posted but I can definitely tell you: it gets way more hits and way less comments.)

I expected the lone fic I wrote for the most popular pairing in the fandom to have been a bigger contender. Instead it’s number 4 in popularity of my oneshots.

Most popular multi-chapter story: It’s About Time has way more hits and everything statistic wise but then it was updated weekly for a year until it finished. 

Meanwhile, Losing Time was only being updated daily on tumblr for two weeks and then posted pretty much all at once on AO3. So comparatively I think it’s a contender.

Favorite story you’ve written: The as yet unnamed “TwinSwap” fic that hasn’t been posted. There’s 60k written and it’s not even through the first arc yet. I’m focusing on my WIPs that I’m posting on (Time After Time and Chrysanthemums) first.

Of what I’ve posted and completed? Losing Time will always have a special place to me cause it was the first just wildly original and different (for me) thing I wrote.

Story you were nervous to post: A Thousand Tiny Moments. Oh gosh, I was literally sick with nerves about posting that. At the time it was one of the longest things I’d ever written. It was the first thing for TAZ I’d posted to AO3, it was for a celebration week, and it was an actual story as opposed to the dinky little handful of minifics I’d posted when I dipped my toe into fandom previously. 

Do you outline: I don’t necessarily formally outline but I generally have an idea about the major story beats. Several things follow podcast timeline though so that’s a bit of cheating. I definitely outline more than I used to. It’s not nice neat bulleted lists, of course, It’s just a file of notes of things I want to get to and what order those things should happen, written in messy fragments.

How many of your stories are complete: 19 of my 21 AO3 fics are finished. If I look at my fic list on tumblr, there are around 40 finished fics though obviously that includes short prompts, etc.

How many of your stories are in progress: Two are in progress in AO3. The number of WIPs in my files, though? Uhhhh... There’s the Pain fic, the Noir fic, TwinSwap, the expanded Dragon story, the ACOTAR AU, and should I ever get past those things there’s always the unfinished colabs like the Paladin AU and the arranged marriage AU. Plus there’s this shapeshifter thing I really love. Oh, and of course there’s Six Birds, Dungeon Rescue, and soon to be Fantasy Vegas stories I’m writing with a friend. (Titles are all temporary reference names, obviously!)

Coming soon: When Chrysanthemums ends, I may do a short sequel to that. I’m also anxious to get going sharing stuff from TwinSwap or the expanded story of Wild Dragon Chase. The dragon one would be better to focus on, possibly, because it should be shorter.

Do you accept prompts: Yup. A prompt led to Bluejeans, Boxers, and One Bed which was one of the most fun fics I’ve done.

Upcoming story you’re most excited to write: Ugh, TwinSwap rules my brain sometimes. There’s just so many possibilities for fun and angst and I think it’s the most true to the podcast’s vibe in that it’s honestly either FUN or HEARTBREAKING.

Tagging: @herbgerblin and @beanarie and @joanhotson and @tanger-catnip and @jortsman and @holla-pain-yo if y’all feel like it. And anyone else who is interested can consider themselves tagged. Mention me so I see it!

Edited to add: @aspiringpolymath, who I could have sworn I tagged but the actual tagging wasn’t working so I redid it and that’s probably where I messed up.

(Btw, non TAZ people: my main is @capitalnineteen which is why you don’t recognize this one.)

[lost-master]

A Pre-KH3 Xehanort headcanon dump

I’ve had a Xehanort-centric fic (more like a collection of one shots) in the works for a while now. With KH3 looming, I’ll probably never finish it once it’s eclipsed by new canon. So here is the beat-by-beat of my beloved AU before it disappears into the realm of darkness forever (probably).  I’ve often thought that

if Xehanort had to go back in time to ensure his younger self would become the man we see today, then there was probably an original timeline where Xehanort just kind of...lived and died without accomplishing any of this.

And if that’s true, well....

(Some KHUX plot stuff is in here, but it’s stuff that’s been known for a while. Everything else is headcanon, no spoilers.)

I like to imagine that the original Xehanort was very much like Riku, he did some stupid things when he was younger, but grew in wisdom over time and really did seek balance the forces of light and dark instead of just paying lip service to it.

Much like canon Xehanort, he spent much of his life researching the Keyblade War - not in order to recreate it, but rather to understand the events that led to it and how to prevent another one.

He was very much a wandering scholar, and never took on an apprentice of his own, only ever settling into one place when he was nearing the end of his life.

His friendship with Eraqus remained strong throughout their lives. The Land of Departure remained the closest thing Xehanort had to a home. He visited often and kept what few belongings he had there.

 As a result, Xehanort was a regular fixture in Terra and Aqua’s lives. A strange-yet-benevolent uncle of sorts. He would go out of his way to bring them things from other worlds that were relevant to their interests.

He particularly enjoyed Aqua’s interest in and talent for magic, and at Eraqus’s request he trained her in more advanced magics. As a result, they developed a sort of friendship. We’ll come back to that in a second...

So toward the end of his life, Xehanort’s research into the keyblade war led him to Twilight Town, given the mansion’s clear connection to the Unicornis Union. While there, he met a fairly amnestic Ventus living in town. (Lauriam and Elrena  were probably also chilling in Twilight Town at the time, but Ventus is special because wayfinder trio)

Rather than taking him on in attempt to create the X-Blade, he sincerely considered taking Ventus on as an apprentice. But ultimately, deciding that continuing his life’s research was more important than taking on an apprentice, he brings Ven to Eraqus and the Wayfinder trio is formed.

 Xehanort was tempted to remain in Twilight Town and claim the mansion for his own, as the hub of his research - how could he not be? Especially after he uncovered the pods in the basement. Could they have some connection to the mysterious young keyblade wielder he discovered?

I don’t think he ever really settled there, but I haven’t decided.

Regardless, as Terra and Aqua neared the end of their training and were faced with the prospect of leaving Ven behind to finish his own, it was Xehanort who told Aqua of the Wayfinder charms to set their minds at ease. Because they’re buds.

Without canon Xehanort stoking the darkness in Terra’s heart (maybe he even helps him learn to control it), both of the older apprentices became Masters.

Terra became Eraqus’ Successor and inherited the Land of Departure. Xehanort and Eraqus decide that Aqua should be given the mansion in Twilight Town, where she would eventually train up her own apprentices, making it a new hub for Keyblade wielders.

At some point several years later, when Xehanort felt his life fading quickly, he panicked. He’d learned so much about the time Keyblade War and the time before, but there’s so much more he could discover,  if only he had a few more years... so he devised a plan.

When he sensed the end was near, he returned to Destiny Island in a last-ditch attempt at extending his life, believing that perhaps his freed heart could reach back to his younger self and urge him to venture out sooner - so that he might have had a few more years to research.

On Destiny Island, as he went to the play island where he spent much of his time as a young man, with the intent to free his own heart.

Across the small island, he saw an unnervingly familiar sight: a pensive teenage boy with silver-white hair, gazing up at the night sky. So he and a 14 year old  Riku spoke of longing for some greater destiny, and of the urge to explore other worlds. He passed his Keyblade on to Riku, before finally turning it on himself.

His heart reached his younger self, instilling in him a greater sense of ambition and a subconscious knowledge which then allowed him to progress in ability and research faster than his former self.

This sets of an unfortunate butterfly effect, playing out over and over again across multiple timelines, with each Xehanort increasing in power and lust for knowledge, until the canon timeline came into being.

Speaking of Lust…

Since the Foretellers names each correlate to a deadly sin, I think it would be neat if the story of the Foretellers were presented to keyblade apprentices as a cautionary myth about the vices that grew in the hearts of Keyblade masters - leading to the Keyblade war. 

So I say that No Name had adorned the mantle of the castle where Xehanort and Eraqus trained for so long that everyone forgot it was...well, real. Everyone just kind of assumed it was an old keyblade that made for a cool visual aid.

It had been there for as long as anyone alive could remember, but no one thought it was actually ancient.

But when it chose Xehanort, everyone involved was kind of freaked out anyway. Real or not, Luxu wasn’t remembered fondly by history.... it probably felt a bit like an omen.

I think spontaneously inheriting the mysterious unnamed Keyblade was the catalyst for Xehanort’s intense interest in the Keyblade war.

After he realized it actually was the oldest keyblade in existence, he became convinced his destiny was somehow tied to the war. Uncovering the truth behind the myths became his life’s work. So eventually, over many timelines, that became twisted into his believing his destiny was to cause a Keyblade war...to survive a Keyblade war...to have a hand in shaping some new reality that would emerge after a Keyblade war....and Xehanort fell prey to the lust he inherited.