#unfortunately the problem with time travel aus is figuring out how to resolve them :/

[wonderwallmp3]

i need a laptop with a functional keyboard and also a functional brain so i can write the noel time travel fic of my dreams.

[aurabird]

Desperate Wings

Another thing for @hermitcraftheadcanons Scattered!AU and based off another ask where the idea of Parrot!Grian came up. I seem to like writing out the odd alt realities.

=====================================

Grian let out a grumble of annoyance as he hacked down leaves and branches in his path, small cuts on his skin from the overgrowth of the jungle. The hot, sticky air didn’t help much either, and had forced him to remove and tie his sweater around his waist; opting for just the simple t-shirt underneath it.

It was odd, to say the least. He’d spawned here alone, thousands of blocks away from 0,0; with not a single other Hermit in sight. They were all on the server, the tab list and the death notifications in chat told him as such, but he couldn’t send messages to them with his communicator for some reason.

Something MUST have gone wrong in the world creation...but surely X was on it right?

-

The verdant expanse of trees seemed to go on forever, not surprising, given the plan had been to have large biomes this time around.

Just one problem, though: he hadn’t seen a single passive animal aside from some parrots, pandas, and ocelots. Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem, but those mobs didn’t drop any kind of food for him and he had begun to take note of his growling stomach.

He had managed to get some zombie flesh early on from a temple that hadn’t generated entirely for some reason, but that only aided in making him hungrier...

...not one of his smarter ideas, that much was certain.

Of course, he’d also acquired some seeds in his travels and the thought of making bread crossed his mind. Only problem with that plan was that it required waiting, and that was time he did not have.

A squawk came from beside him, a curious parrot that he’d encountered early on was still following him, scarlet feathers highly contrasting the green foliage.

It looked at the seeds in his hand and tilted its head, did it want them?

“Sorry, pesky bird, but I need these for later. Once I get a farm going I can give you an endless supply of them.”

The parrot repeated the action it did prior before flying up higher into the trees, alerting Grian to the fact the sun was setting. A thought came to him: if he could farm skeletons for bones he could grow the wheat himself, and, worst case scenario, he’d even take rotten flesh over starvation. Only problem with this plan was that the jungle was probably one of the most dangerous biomes to be in at night.

Still, it was worth a try.

-

Grian was shot by Skeleton

He found himself back on the cold stone of the jungle temple he’d originally spawned in and sat up with a groan of annoyance, there was no way he was getting the small amount of gear he’d had on him back, he’d not checked his coordinates in a long time.

With a sigh he hauled himself to his feet and began to punch the nearest tree in frustration. At least there was wood here, and stone from the temple as well; the gear wasn’t the best, but at least he had access to it.

Stone tools now crafted, Grian looked around, trying to remember the direction he’d originally gone, he efforts proved futile and he eventually he gave up and just picked a random one.

-

Grian was shot by Skeleton

Grian fell from a high place whilst fighting Zombie

Grian was slain by Spider

Grian blew up

Grian was slain by Phantom

Grain starved to death

“AUUUUUGGGHHH!” he exclaimed in frustration as he punched the stone wall to his left. No matter how hard he tried, he wasn’t making any ground. And, he was getting really sick of dying.

That’s when he opened his eyes and froze as he saw his arm...

...it was covered in feathers.

The sight sent him falling backward in shock and an impact with the ground sent a searing pain up his spine.

Once the pain subsided he rolled onto his chest and tried to get to his feet, realizing all of a sudden that there was something on his back.

After seeing his arms he didn’t want to look, but his curiosity was too great and so, that was how he learned of the little winglets that had grown from him, bulging out from under his shirt.

“This...this is all just some crazy dream...there’s no way this could possibly happen!”

He reached back to touch the new growths, they were colorful just like those of the parrots in the jungle. He’d heard the tales of the season 5 jungle, its corrupted code causing the sudden disappearance of three Hermits. Perhaps this was the same thing? It would make sense, given how he’d spawned alone with no way to communicate with the others, something was DEFINITELY wrong with the world.

Perhaps it would be better to just wait for the problem to be resolved? Go caving, get geared up, maybe build a treehouse or something to prevent himself from getting bored.

-

He’d long discarded his shirt by this point, his newfound wings had grown greatly in size and were would be uncomfortable under the fabric. Unfortunately, this removal of his clothing alerted him to the red feathers that had spread to his chest.

His stomach growled and Grian mindlessly popped some seeds into his mouth; he could see why parrots liked them so much!

At that thought it dawned on him. He knew that some of his fellow hermits were mob hybrids; Doc, Ren, Cleo, Jevin...could he possibly be...turning into one as well?

It would make sense, given his feathers and wings...and the fact he noticed his hands now resembled those of bird talons.

Was this because he’d died so many times in the jungle? That his body was changing to better adapt to the biome?

A squawk resounded from above him and he turned to look up, a blue and yellow parrot perched on a tree branch met his gaze, tilted its head, and then flew off.

"Hmm...I wonder...”

Grian closed his eyes and focused on the new growths protruding from his back until he felt his feet leave the floor and opened them again.

He was...he was FLYING! Flying without an Elytra!

Growing more confident he flew higher and higher, until he was above the treetops, able to see for miles unhindered.

Perhaps now he could actually get out of this jungle, find the other Hermits, and figure out what was going on.

[fencesandfrogs]

cloudtail’s daughter: jayfeather

alright, strap in, it's time for jayfeather. i've been holding it in on him for what feels like forever now; he's ya boy's favorite character

also, aside from dove and ivy, he's the character with the highest volume of changes to canon. even above cloudtail and brightheart, because they continue their lives, it's not a big deal. and lion and cinder go to the tribe, but like, that's it. (i'm figuring out if jay goes with them over the course of this essay. i think i said he did in holly? but he literally hasn't been mentioned once in that arc because there's a lot going on.) anyway lion and cinder don't get up to anything. but jay's priorities shift and we see that in his books. i'm really excited to write him but i need to finish arc 1 lmao.

but first, same deal as always. this is part of my cloudtail's daughter au, where dovekit and ivykit are born to cloudtail and brightheart. i don't know how well this will read preemptively, but i suspect it will be rather dependent on the others. cloudtail's daughter: dovewing and/or the long post that explains it are both good places to start, see the cloudtail's daughter tag on my blog.

[2.5k words, 14 minute read, one of the last warriors essays on this blog. i'm going to finish out with my character essays and then everything will be on new sideblog. so check out @mallowstep for more.]

section one: the leafpool business

at the beginning of this series, leafpool and jayfeather are on bad terms. they will stay on bad terms for basically the entirity of the book series. while one of my main complaints with po3/oots is the lack of acknowledgement of adoption, jayfeather has been lied to by his mother and his mentor, something neither hollyleaf or lionblaze have to contend with, and then his sister kills herself over it. obviously she doesn't, but from his perspective. so he blames leafpool because he was really close to hollyleaf and now she's gone, and it's his first real loss, and there's so much going on.

and so he's a grouch and he's unhappy and he's just trying to function when his whole support system has been dismantled over the course of what, like, a quarter moon? yeah so dovekit and ivykit are like "wow what a grouch he sucks" the same way they don't realize prey is dying of thirst & etc.

for the most part he's j chilling and then hollyleaf comes back and man is it some family drama. unfortunately it's postponed til book 4 because hollyleaf and jayfeather have journeys but anyway i'm getting ahead of myself, because this section should end and unlike the hollyleaf essay i want to actually have decent organization.

section two: hollyleaf is away (but jayfeather doesn't get to play)

holly, cinder, and dove go to deal with beavers. we only get jayfeather through lionblaze in the books, but jayfeather is...conflicted. he got his sister back and lost her again and oh i should say. i think jayfeather and hollyleaf are the closer pair of the siblings. not that they don't love lionblaze the same, but you know how cats pair bond? like, it's usually a trauma thing, but even in feral cats, you see very close friendships. anyway yeah so for other au's i've been sorting siblings n denmates into pairs for this purpose (mostly jaywing au because there's a lot re. dovepaw and jaypaw and remember they are reincarnated siblings they've got a close bond going.) and it's kind of...i don't know my point is jayfeather misses his sister because she's like, his best friend too. or she was. and then she died and now she's back and she left again, and lionblaze is more concerned about cinderheart, so jayfeather just comes off as grouchy all the time. but really he's lonely and sad.

so yeah, jayfeather is kind of moping around camp and then the tree falls and whoops now briarpaw/light is parapalegic.

and uhh this goes more or less as in canon but we don't get pov which is fine bc u can sub in canon. but jayfeather? he's still a sad boy but now he's a sad boy with purpose and that makes all the difference

yeah he's close with her. they're sweet. it's sweet. he's pressured by brambleclaw to take an apprentice. he's bristly and angry and "you're not my real father" you know?

beaver crew gets back. jayfeather, who had missed holly, is back to being angry for...angst and plot purpose, really.

but you know, when you love & miss someone and they leave and they come back and somehow that's worse because now they can leave you again? and you can't tell them you want them to stay because you're angry and hurt but you want them to stay? god i'm excited to write these chapters i love emotional turmoil.

he's protective of briarlight, he's trying to keep dovepaw from being a medicine cat, hollyleaf is apologizing but he's not ready to hear it and lionblaze and hollyleaf are beginning to reconnect and it feels like betrayal. so when cinderheart and lionblaze go to the tribe, he tags along. everyone, uh, strongly encourages he go. he is the big grouch.

section three: time travelling times

okay so the timeline for these books is...messy. if you track the chronology of my writing, it's messy. which is to say, i was thinking i could put forgotten warrior and distant whispers over the same time span, but that actually doesn't work, as i review my notes for FW because a big part of it is ivy and holly's relationship. so. fake news. whoops. that sucks.

or maybe it doesn't? idk i don't usually tell linear stories. i like messing with emotional impact of events. so writing 600k of very linear story telling is very not easy for me. but i'm trying.

right so basically the official order of events until i change my mind again is as follows (names abbreviated as DIHLJC because they're all unique): DCH returns from beavers, DILCJ go to tribe with some other random warrior undecided, J + rando return, JH start awkwardness (beginning of TFW, middle of DW), DILC return (end of DW), time travel stuff (middle to end of TFW). hopefully that was intelligble, but it is admittedly 85% for my own benefit.

alright so we've covered during beavers, now jayfeather and hmmmm let's say, uhhhh, let's say they go with, literally any interesting background character, uh, bumblestripe! he doesn't do anything in this au bumblestripe goes with them. also since his name starts w b i can still write DIHLJCB and have things be unambigious. and it means there are fewer bs in thunderclan and trust me you don't know how frustrating the existence of like 6 b characters is.

alright so we really have 3 sets of two pairs of cats here. maybe i won't go w bumblestripe, bc he doesn't have an existing relationship w jayfeather. i dunno. i'm a big fan of jay & briar, whether as a ship or just besties, but that's just out, and hollyleaf can't come a) because i said so and b) honestly maybe she can? actually wait hold on that solves my problems. hot damn so 6/6 of the pov cats go to the tribe and this will be one of the only times all six characters are plot relevant at the same time. but i'm going george r r martin on it and seperating the books not by time but into DICL + JH because they're two completely separate character arcs that happen to take place at the same time. (don't worry i'm going to resolve the fallen leaves thing. in this essay ig bc i've already covered hollyleaf.)

okay so yeah hollyleaf is sent bc jayfeather isn't planning on staying w tribe for long time. just short time. and he's all "firestar why"

"well jayfeather," firestar says, "you don't talk to your family."

"i talk to dovewing," jayfeather says

"you're not related to her," firestar says

"there's a whole prophecy about how i'm related to her," jayfeather says

"you know about that?" firestar says

and that's how the cat gets out of the bag.

so anyway. jayfeather and hollyleaf are sent because...hold on, spinning the wheel of reasons for a character to go on a field trip...because...because...because...because...jayfeather had one of those dreams. i don't know. rock or something. now he's going.

they get there, and this is where the books get a lil time wonky, bc jayfeather and hollyleaf stay for like a moon, during which jayfeather goes back in time. i think.

i haven't worked out the details and probably won't until i do an updated au synopsis because it's hard to keep track and i'm more concerned about character through lines. like, jayfeather does this and he feels sad, and hollyleaf is sad about her ghost boyfriend, and they're travelling back together, and hollyleaf is his sister and she doesn't make him feel like he needs protection and lionblaze is bad at that, and they start to talk again.

and yeah, they bond. again. it's kind of, on top of their old bond? like they don't repair anything, they bond like strangers. but it's not nothing, and that matters.

so jayfeather gets back, and we're moving into book five, and i don't remember when the last time i made a section break was or what number we're on, so...sorry.

section ???: old man yells at cloud

alright it's finally jayfeather's moment. you know, he's one of my favorite characters, and he only gets a book and a half. "but mateo," i hear you saying, "doesn't every character get a book and a half? and more importantly, 6x1.5 is 9, so how does every character get a book and a half?" well, yes, every character does, but dovewing and ivypool are relevant in books 1-3 and 6, cinderheart in 1-3 and 5, lionblaze in 1-3, and hollyleaf in 2-5 (and has a critical role in 1 and 6, just no character development), while jayfeather is just really essential to books 4-5, and has a background role in 3. that means he's about equal to lionblaze. he's equal to lionblaze. as far as the numbers go, i cannot tell you. it's a mystery.

right so the reason for this is because (a) jayfeather doesn't do that much in oots. i love him, but he's not, like, super important, and (b) he's going to work better in these books if he's concentrated. because his big theme is his relationship with hollyleaf and the past. they're both kind of stuck in it but in different ways. and that prevents them from ever properly healing. so jay never has a full arc in this. i mean he has a full arc, it's just not a satisfying one. and that means he's sort of got to be put in the containment units.

so anyway, he gets his real big moments in the fifth book, when he's reuniting starclan. i think this is one of the riskier decisions on my part: we'll see whether or not i can deliver on him the way i plan to. but i think i can pull it off so that his arc is more meaningful condensed as such.

right. so. jayfeather is decided. he is going to fix starclan. because dead cats need to get thier shit together and he dgaf.

he spends a decent amount of time arguing with yellowfang and bluestar, because basically no important cats have died. at least we're in omen of the stars so it still makes sense? i have no idea why yellow/blue are still so important. please kill more important cats. it makes us feel things.

but feathertail is also probably going to be involved, i don't know. i haven't read these books (specifically, books 4 and 5 of oots) in forever so i don't really remember what happens. but he's kind of, super done with everything. i think he'll probably try to get the support of mothwing and kestrelflight (which is canon i believe?) and try to work as a team. i feel like there's weirdness w shadowclan too i should sort out.

so yeah, there's some medicine cat bonding, everything is OK, sol is happening? but cinderheart is dealing with that. jayfeather is naturally very upset about disconnects with sol but like he's also dealing with stuff i...i really need to reread outcast and sign of the moon. well, they're on my list after "all of these fucking riverclan novels like why they don't show up in the main series but i still have to read a bunch to be able to write them that's not fair."

alright, well, with that very vague description of what happens, moving on, the prophecy gets revealed to the clans at a whole in like...the ending eighth of this book. trying to maximise the amount of exposure to other clans without messing with the pacing.

so jayfeather and undecided warrior B (definitively not hollyleaf) go to windclan. jayfeather is...very unhappy about this. he does not want to leave. thunderclan is his home, and he's blind, and it's really hard to adapt to a new space and he thinks everyone is going to treeat him badly.

and well, if you've read my culture posts, windclan is....very pro-medicine cats and pro-prophecy cats. funerals. mourning. prayer. is probably the best place to start, but to get to the meat of it, start with general clan culture. to summarize, windclan: religious. but kind of like catholics, they don't believe in an individual connection with starclan. only leaders, and medicine cats, and very rarely members of prophecies have a connection. so. jayfeather. he's twice over. that's very cool to windclan.

so cats are kind of falling over themselves to help him, and like. i mean jayfeather is a grouch and he hates that he needs someone to help him through the territory, but at least they don't treat it like a chore, or like he's pitiable. this is a desirable task. apprentices want to know about his powers. and kestrelflight is a respected part of the clan, arguably more important than onestar, and jayfeather has never really gotten over being shoved in the healer hole as a child like it was lesser or easier to be a medicine cat, and so it's a big change.

and yeah. so i mean. an unobservant reader might say jayfeather has sufficient ego. he does not need stroking. they, of course, would be wrong.

jayfeather has a complex, but it's not an ego issue. he's...he's been denied everything he's wanted, and he's jaded, and weary, and he's never really believed that his clan views him as able and equal. in canon, at present, he's lost almost every cat he's every cared about. alderheart is his strongest remaining tie, and his fear at losing him, but willingness to let him leave, is very telling.

so yeah, jayfeather enjoys being accepted. anyone would. he doesn't really have confidence issues, but....argh. i know why this is good i swear it'll come out in the writing.

anyway, that's...that's pretty much it. jayfeather? done.

[dose-of-jellybean]

XOXO Droplets Avatar!AU headcanons?

it has some spoilers. 

Jb: You’d think that just because she’s the mc I’d make her the avatar, right? Hah! wrong. She’d be a firebender. Jb’s confidence and high spirit would be perfect to enlighten her inner flame. 

She’d be one of the people that learned her bending at an early age, often training to improve those abilities. And showing off wink wink. During Aang's era she wouldn’t be involved for a long period, minding her own business in her village as to not attract firebenders to find out about her different views. At best she wouldn’t mind training the avatar to firebend if Zuko wasn’t available. Or help in battle if the situation ever occurred.

 In the period of Korra she’d be raised in the fire nation and move out to republic city once she’s convinced her parents to live on her own. She’d discover the pro bending sports which quickly infatuated her making Jb strut her pretty legs to insist on the poor team that happens to lack a firebender teamplayer.

 And if you think this gal won’t flirt with sappy fire puns then it’s a shame that we’d have to disagree while respectfully viewing each others opinion, reader.

Everett: This poor guy’s the only one who ends up bender-less in all timelines. He’d hope for something cool like firebending or earthbending since they have cool sub-skills like lighting generation and lava bending. Someone would want to tell him that the alterations in waterbending has double the alterations compared to either of them. 

And you know what? He doesn’t care. He’s not interested in bending with body movements that “matches the motion of the waves”. Plus.. in his mind blood bending is kinda freaky. So fire or earth would be perfect fits in his mind! An element doesn’t need a lot of sub-skills to be cool after all. 

Sucks that he didn’t end up with either in the end though. His mom as well as Lynn would reassure him that it could take some time for him to discover his powers since people are different. Nate would also be supportive but more in a “just because you have no bending powers doesn’t mean you get to slack off. Now stop feeling sorry for yourself and get yourself together.” way. But in the end of the day through all of his frustration,struggle and insecurity I believe that he’ll be able to show off what his charmingly lame self is made of without any of that.

Nate: He’s a firebender. No one is really surprised but people tend to be wary of his bending and rage coming through at the same time. In a way the use of fire would be the way for Nate to release his inner turmoils. Problem is that down the line rage isn’t the most progressive method to fuel your strength.

 Nate will eventually have to learn to redirect his energy once he’s older since eventually his power is going to be weakened due to stronger emotional control. Sadly, as much as I don’t want to leave it like this I can’t imagine the outcome of that scenario. Though, I bet he’s more content with himself in the end.

Shiloh: Who knows? 

No but for real, Shiloh would probably be that one person that you wouldn’t be able to directly tell which nation he belongs to based on clothing and such. It’ll be a tougher time for any poor fellow who’d want to guess if he lived in Republic city too. Shya will always be known as that guy who people think have this power until something contradicts their theory. No one will know the answer. A true shame.

Bae: It’ll take a long while before Bae takes initiative to become a bender. In some cases he might not be one at all. That scenario would depend on leap of fate. Let’s say for example that Bae was traveling to the Northern Water Tribe. In that moment he’d be fascinated by the water benders ability to redirect energy from a body to heal a wound at an accelerating rate. He’d ask to be taught this technique much to the surprise of the female benders. Waterbending would be the most preferable one in his eyes. It’s kind of nice if you don’t fight with it and take your time mastering the soothing tai chi based moves after all.

Jeremy: Much to his dismay Jeremy is an earthbender. He discovered it that one time when he got fussy during an argument with someone. He kicked the ground in frustration and the earth rose up, traveling in a sporadic line as response. Jeremy didn’t expect this revelation. Both of his parents where non benders so he wouldn’t be able to pinpoint where he got it from.

 Anyway, he’d rather forget all of it. There’s no point in learning earthbending in his mind, it’s better not to bother. Or at least that’s what he thought his plan was. Unfortunately someone discovered Jeremy’s newfound bending powers. They’d insist on making the push over train to enchanted his abilities.

 Unfortunately for them Jeremy was much more of an effortless wimp than they initially thought. Jeremy would give an expected mopey line at the persons defeat. Until it hits them; the Kings runs a hobby shop, Jeremy is the handy one, he can metal bend! He’d then be insisted to find a mentor to teach him metal bending. 

Of course He’d appear indifferent, but secretly Jeremy would be intrigued. However, he wouldn’t use his abilities in greater use. Instead his mental bending would be a tool for his crafting.

Pran: At first he wouldn’t bother to figure out which type of bending he could do. He’d sit somewhere alone from the others until someone pestered him about showing off what he can do since Pran seems like a tough guy based on his physical form. If he lived during the era that Aang lived he’d remain a non-bender being content in solely using his bare body strength to fight during the war.

 But if was at the time when Korra’s the avatar he’d discover that he was one of the people that gained the ability of airbending. There would be jokes that someone like Pran isn’t suited for the “twinkle toe” type.

 But despite the comments and his own stubbornness to detach himself from his new ability he’ll come to find that the air helps to channel his own energy. Pran’s fighting style is quick and aggressive, much like a fire bender.

 But what airbending does that fire bending can’t is the ability to let his core strength out. He’d be pleasantly pleased with how far he’s reached. I doubt he’d be willing to be within the temples to become an air nomad because of the Kings. But when that conflict is resolved he ultimately decides to stay there for a couple of months until he’s decided where to go from here.

[thebiasrekkers]

Edge of Forever [BTS Space!AU]

BTS Space!AU [ ♧ ✪ ✿ ☆ ❂ ☾✘ ] “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.” The stage is set and the stars are the guide for the lost souls that have congregated to one point. A fixed constant in the universe for others to discover and fulfill their wishes but will it come to ruin for others?

Pairings: BTS X OC (s) Genre: BTS Space!AU Warnings: Graphic Violence, Heavy Language

AO3

AN: I’m so glad you all like this series! Graphics and all! There’s more to come so please be patient! Please give all of the works here love and feel free to message us!

Chapter 15- Before I Forget

I am a world before I am a man I was a creature before I could stand I will remember before I forget

The planet Izanami.

Kibeth was giving them the run-down on the planet, describing its atmosphere and environment as well as the history. From the outside, it looked very much like the Terran home world, very blue and green but was significantly larger than some of the gas giants that they’d seen on their travels. However, the planet was rich in minerals that stemmed from the volcanoes that were active on the planet. It was known as one of the Retreats, a classification of planets that could actively be visited but one had to go through all kinds of paperwork to even live there. 

Namjoon and Jin had already given the rest of the crew the news about the Bio-Android, something that had surprised most of them. Nyala had stayed silent on the issue, knowing that it would be hard to get her up and running again. However, the rest were very interested to know that there was another actual body that they had been carrying around with them all that time and never knew it. Yoongi had reached out with his network and found a few leads for them to explore while planet side, an idea already forming in his head. 

There were a few people there that owed him some favors, the rich that he had helped to get them where they were now. Izanami was a hard planet to settle on due to the natural resources that occurred there so he had helped a few of the residents to bypass some of those restrictions and even get some other cargo there too. He didn’t always help but when he did, there were some interesting stipulations that he would put on his deals to make them more interesting to follow up on.

Jin got the ship down to the planet side docking bay with very little disturbances along the way. It had been the first time he’d landed the ship so it had been a little harrowing for him but he didn’t let the others know that. He was still getting to know the ship and any altercations between him and the ship would have to be resolved by the time he made a second attempt at landing on another planet, should they get the chance to. 

There were several contacts that they could get in touch with while they were there about their issue. However, the time it would take for all of them to do so would extend their chances of having either side catch up to them. Even more so the Pirates since the area was protected by another group of them. There were multiple guilds other than the Demon Armada but since it was the biggest, they caused the most problems for everyone. Still, the ones protecting Izanami were more focused on the revenue that the place provided and since they had been out of most everyone’s area--the Federation helped them along, to an extent. As long as everyone scratched everyone’s back, then peace would reign supreme on the luxurious planet.  

They split up into two groups: Jungkook, Namjoon, Jin and Vairuit that would handle the contacts to the left side of the city while Jimin, Nyala and Yoongi were at the right of the city. They had Kibeth to link them to each other while on the ship, to monitor or intercept anything that was coming for them as it tied itself to some of the security systems for the port while docked there. 

Yoongi, Jimin and Nyala set out on their part of the city, Izanagi. It was the main capital of the planet and the largest port that they could access because the ship was much bigger than the ones that they had before. However, that meant more opportunities they could exploit while there as well. 

Regardless of how they were split up, Nyala found herself in the middle of a silent stand-off between Yoongi and Jimin. It was painfully obvious that the both of them still hadn’t squashed what it was between them and after the second person they found, she decided that enough was enough. 

Stopping the both of them and pulling them into a nice alleyway, she gathered some of her energy and created a binding that clasped around their wrists as a form of cuffs. Both of them let out starts of surprise but she held firm, even when Jimin pleaded with her to let him go. 

“Whatever it is between the both of you, it ends here. I understand the why but if the both of you continue to do this, then we will never get anything done. We don’t have time to fight with each other when the real enemy is on our tails as it is.” Nyala looked at Yoongi before continuing, “Look, I understand I’ve become a wedge in between what relationship you have with Jimin. But he is also someone who can make his own decisions too.” Not leaving the other out, Nyala then looked at Jimin before speaking to him as well. She had to ignore the look that he was giving her as she spoke to him. 

“Jimin, I understand that you feel restricted and resent Yoongi for what he did. But you have got to get over that as well because he was only looking out for you.”

She gave them both another look before walking away, still leaving them handcuffed to each other. They pulled at the restraints once she was out of sight and glared at each other. It continued like that for a couple of minutes before Jimin relented. He sighed and dropped his hands to his side, causing Yoongi to drop his hands as well. Neither of them spoke until Jimin leaned in and bumped his forehead with Yoongi’s. It wasn’t over between the both of them but they had come to an understanding, of sorts. 

When they exited the alleyway, Nyala was nowhere to be found and the cuffs started to lose their strength the further she got away from them. 

“Well he was a useless waste of time.”

Vairuit complained to the sky as they walked along the streets of Izanagi, headed in the opposite direction that the others went. The first guy only wanted to do everything at his own place but they ended up finding out that the guy only wanted to steal the technology that they had. Jin saw right through the man as he attempted to perform feats with the meager things that he had on his person while Namjoon dismantled the objects as they went along. They all started to feel a bit bored when they stopped because of Jungkook. He’d been out of sorts since the encounter with the Federation ship that held Namjoon and the feeling only gotten worse since landing on the planet.  

He turned around, looking intently at something as the others tried to figure out what was going on. Even Vairuit with her extrasensory senses couldn’t pick up on anything out of the ordinary--well, other than the person that had nearly run them over with their vehicle. 

“There’s something off about this area and it’s only getting worse the more we get closer to the edge of the city.”

That area is what the original residents call The Path of the Dead. It is an area that leads into a road that has been preserved since before the first settlers were here. That path leads to a series of caverns, once an ancient ruin. It is strongly advised that no one head down the path as many horrible things have happened there. The area is surrounded by hot springs and volcanic streams alike. 

Kibeth let them know of a little history for them since Jungkook mentioned it. He still gazed at the area, unsure about it all. However, that feeling of unease grew as Kibeth interrupted its own story telling to advise them of Pirate activity in the east where the other team had been spotted. It was unsure as to whom the sect belonged to, more than likely the group that controlled the area but the signal for the rest of them was being cut out. It made it difficult to triangulate where the three of them were since the dampening field was in effect. 

Jungkook pushed past Namjoon and Jin as he started to run towards the other team. The only one that could catch up to him was Vairuit, while Namjoon and Jin struggled to keep up with them. They weren’t as fit as the other two so they eventually gave up and signaled a vehicle to fetch them while the other two ran. 

Yoongi stopped, pulling Jimin along with him. He could have sworn he felt the mind of someone similar to Nyala, something that had been pulling him along. The cuffs had long disappeared and they both had been jogging to figure out where she had gone to. What he found, when he turned the corner, was someone hunched over a body and there had been several assailants there to surround them. 

The man was waving his jacket furiously at the ones that surrounded them like it would make them go away. At one point, Yoongi got a glimpse of who it was that was on the ground and he nearly collapsed when he realized that it was Nyala. Jimin had to hold Yoongi up and the action caused the thugs to look up at them, almost at once. The man turned around and saw them, a look of relief came across his sharp features but the look was short and fleeting as some attempted to go for Nyala. The other half of them started to go towards Yoongi and Jimin, the mark of a guild on their foreheads. Both of them knew, in that moment, that it wasn’t the Demon Armada that had tracked them down but another sect that had been in the area. 

If they had found them so easily then the Demon Armada wasn’t that far behind them. Yoongi thought, his mind racing as he came out with a plan of attack. Unfortunately for them, both of the main fighters had gone with Jin and Namjoon. Jimin bellowed out a yell before releasing his weapon, an electrified whip that was stored in his left arm. He normally would use it to disarm his opponents but once he had saw Nyala on the ground--a little bit of his self-control was lost. 

Yoongi pulled out a couple of Derringers, ones that he had modified to shoot energy bullets or blasts but they were hidden in his clothing and could only be used for about three shots per gun before being charged again. Taking aim, he took down two of the ones coming for him while Jimin rushed forward to defend the two. Yoongi alerted Kibeth of the developments, the latter advising him to hold on until the others arrived. 

[dramioneasks]

HP FESTS: DramioneFanfictionWriters (Part 2)

DFW's First Birthday GOGO Fest 2019:

The Minister's Decree by LadyKenz347 - M, 5 chapters - Ten years have passed since the Battle of Hogwarts and birthrates have steadily declined. In order to save the Wizarding World, the Minister enacts a Marriage Law.And Hermoine Granger is ready to burn down the patriarchy to make sure that doesn't happen.

Tempo by bionically - G, 4 chapters - Draco's good deed is punished. How bloody typical.On the verge of a suitable marriage, a chance meeting with a mysterious time witch gives Draco a chance to review his options.

Quite the Declaration by Frumpologist - M, one-shot - Glimpses into Draco and Hermione’s evolving, secret relationship.

Bare One's Soul by Felgia_Starr - E, one-shot - Ten creatures around the world have been chosen to study at Scholomance to become the most glorious warlock the world has ever seen. There, Hermione meets Draco Malfoy of the Purebloods, the most infuriating boy she's ever put her eyes on and the only one with whom she feels a connection.What happens when they bare their souls to each other?

Ichor and Aureum by fandomfairytales - E, one-shot - Based on the prompt/ gorgeous aesthetic by Felgia_Starr so, I've done my best to give it a little bit of everything (the only thing I couldn't work into this franken-prompt-fic was an accidental marriage what with the word limit).

Hermione Granger and the 'I'm sorry but I have to work with WHO?' by highlyintelligentblonde - G, one-shot - Hermione's Head Girl, Draco's Head Boy- neither of them know the other is though. What could go wrong? ;)

To My Wife by MykEsprit - T, one-shot - Draco admits to an obsession.

Game On by BiscuitsForPotter - M, one-shot - As co-Head Boy and Girl, Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger just can't seem to get along. Hermione won't let Draco have a say and Draco refuses to listen. In an effort to force them to work it out, Professor McGonagall sets up a series of non-traditional detentions to get them to work together and communicate better. Her chosen method: board games. What could go wrong?

Of Love and Ducks by frecklesandbroomsticks - T, one-shot - Draco and Hermione take a trip to Paris. Things don't quite go as planned.

You make me see clearly now by ruthy4vrsmoaked - E, one-shot - You make me see clearly now... the rain is gone.She never asks permission to seat at his table. She just sits, drinks her tea and eats her cake. He has no other choice than to endure her unsolicited opinion on his life. The start of something none of the two expected.

Golden by msmerlin - M, one-shot - In a world where magic is forbidden and bounty hunters are on the prowl, Hermione must try to outrun the Crownland's most notorious hunter, The Harrier, when her secret is exposed. Magic Suppression AU.

A Game of Chance by TheLastLynx - M, 4 chapters - Hermione barely registered Harry calling out after her to let in someone he was apparently waiting for. So when she rushed out, deep in thought, she smacked straight into the tall person standing just outside the door. ‘Careful there, Granger,’ someone with a pleasant baritone said, chuckling under his breath. ‘No need to hit on me.’  Hermione’s head snapped up. The pointy face of Draco Malfoy looked down on her, something like humour brightening his pale eyes. She raised her chin, ignoring the heat in her cheeks. ‘Don’t flatter yourself, Malfoy.’ These past weeks, the London Muggle casinos have seen unprecedented losses. When Number 10 gets concerned and starts pressuring the Ministry of Magic, the D.M.L.E. tasks Hermione Granger with investigating the poshest of them all, Les Ambassadeurs. Is it all just an unlucky streak or might be magic to blame? And why does she keep running into Draco bloody Malfoy at the most unfortunate of times?

Magic in the Air by otterlyardent - not rated, one-shot -  On his twentieth birthday, Draco has the first of many dreams, meant to lead him to his soulmate. The other problem, however, is that he's quite certain his dreams revolve around two women. Add in a request from Hermione Granger to assist her with a case, and Draco finds himself in a right mess. Canon divergent. Soulmate AU.

Healing Properties by MrsMast - T, one-shot - Hermione needs a cure for Dragon pox. She decides to go to the one man she knows that can help.

Wise Words by CourtingInsanity - T, one-shot - Both stuck in a war they didn't start, Hermione and Draco forge a strong bond on the night Dumbledore falls. 

Not My First Mistake by savedprincess85 - M, one-shot - Hermione is a hard-working lawyer. Draco is a rugby player. Will they hit it off when Harry tries a bit of matchmaking?

DFW Trope Fest 2019:

The Essence of Veela by Elena78 - T, one-shot - Hermione doubts herself before she starts her new job at the Ministry and finds herself caught up in a predicament of Molly's. As she tries to resolve her part in this situation, a personal one arises.

The Dream Connection by Pureblood_Muggle - M, one-shot - Hermione is going stir crazy. She's having dreams about Draco Malfoy of all people. If only she could figure out why!

A Wide, Dark Sky by perilous_circumstance - T, one-shot - Set an indeterminate amount of time in the future, the wizarding world is travelling across Space. Hermione is a veteran of the Second Wizarding War and a Junior Auror aboard the giant Station, the large starship that houses the main parts of the Ministry, Hogwarts and other communal parts of the wizarding community. She is battling residual trauma leftover from the War, as well as a painfully awkward attraction to her former-Death Eater colleague, Draco Malfoy. When they are sent on a routine shuttle mission and disaster happens, Hermione is forced to confront her feelings for the insufferable git.

Near the Dragon's Eyes by fandomfairytales - E, 3 chapters - Late bloomer. That’s what they called her, adding yet another title to follow her other asinine monikers.With magic as strong as hers how could she possibly be anything else?What a joke. Of course, she took it all in stride; pushed herself harder, striving and struggling to make herself worth more than her lack of Alpha, Beta or Omega designation. But even the abject awe or generalised jealousy she inspired didn’t prevent the surreptitious glances or whispers behind hands about the girl who simply 'wasn’t witch enough.'

Soteria by Felgia_Starr - M, one-shot - 150 years after Voldemort won the Greatest War, nothing has changed. The Rebellion is still fighting against His regime. The Salvation is still defending their benevolent Dark Lord. Several generations came and went, but the world remains the same. Who knows? Maybe things will change soon. Maybe when fate forces Prince Draco of the Salvation and Hermione of the Rebellion to meet in the only neutral zone in the world, something different will finally happen.

Pinned by bionically - E, WIP - Draco doesn't know what he's expecting when he follows Blaise down a dark alley, but it certainly isn't this.For a man with an addictive personality, this isn't going to turn out well.

CATastrophic Love Potion by rennaissance_woman - not rated, one-shot -   What do you get when you cross a bored feline and an owl on a mission.

Hello. (Is it me you're looking for?) by weestarmeggie - M, one-shot - A series of meetings that can only be described as "meet cutes" lead Hermione to her one true love just as a spell cast on Halloween the previous year predicted.

Finding Granger by TheImperfectionista - T, 6 chapters - When the Ministry introduced the Pureblood Reparations Act, Hermione found herself with a tax bill for being Pureblood. Despite being told she qualified for an exemption, the witch began a search for the truth of her ancestry with the most unlikely financier of her journey.

Questions Later by Pandorascube - M, one-shot - Hermione's life of isolation changes with a mysterious stranger's appearance.

Broken Barriers by Snowblind12 - M, one-shot - Tensions run high when Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger return to Hogwarts after the fall of Voldemort. As Head Boy and Girl, how will they ever get along? A story about tradition, booty shorts, and learning to trust.

Higher Love by PartyLines - M, one-shot - Hermione Granger learns about love in the conviction of Draco Malfoy.

The Unlikely Governess by Art3misiA - T, one-shot - The Malfoy children are little terrors. They drive away every Governess Draco hires.Will a certain curly-haired witch be able to tame his wild offspring, or will it all be a disaster?

Revenge by TriDogMom - M, one-shot - Hermione has a secret- she liked revenge.

More Than One Way to Win by scullymurphy - M, 7 chapters - “That’s damn near impossible, even for me,” Blaise shook his head. “I think we’ve hit the bar. Is there anyone who would be more difficult to shag?”His words were hanging in the air when Draco felt a magnificent plan spring fully formed into his mind. Could it work? He thought it could. A grin split his face and he said, “I know someone.”“Who?” Theo demanded. “Granger.”“Oh fuck ME, I can’t believe we forgot her!” Theo was really slurring now. “She would never let any of us get within ten feet of her precious, pristine knickers. Not that I wouldn’t love to,” he leered. “But yeah. Impossible.”“Impossible, you say?” Draco tilted his head to the side and regarded his extremely pissed friend. “Would you care to wager on that?”

Dark Affair by Kaarina_Riddle - T, one-shot - Dark Draco! Hermione and Draco have a secret affair and someone finds out what will they do? Will they be caught?

Regards, Hermione Granger by HufflepuffMommy - M, one-shot - Hermione and Draco form a relationship through writing letters while Draco is in Azkaban.

DFW 20/20 Challenge 2020:

Bookworm to Badass by Pandorascube - T, WIP - Guess who will rescue our Draco-in-distress?

Hindsight by floorcoaster - T, WIP - It's a New Year and Hermione decides it's time to make some changes.

Fireworks by Felgia_Starr - T, one-shot - Pressured by their managers, Draco and Hermione come together one evening during the Midnight Kiss Ball, a yearly get-together of greedy record labels, eating up business deals like they’re treats, disguised as a New Year’s Eve party for artists to celebrate their success during the year.

Grave Awakening by savedprincess85 - T, WIP - Hermione is mourning. Harry wants to help her. No one knows exactly what happened to Draco. One chapter a month for the year 2020. 

The Green Pheonix by Gidgit2u - M, WIP - A betrayal at the beginning of sixth year causes Draco to swear allegiance to the Order of the Phoenix.Having recently come of age and as both hold the position of Prefect, Hermione is the perfect choice to become the Order’s handler of the grieving Slytherin.Despite years of hate and animosity, Hermione and Draco need to overcome their past and put aside their differences in order to help defeat Voldemort. As the war crescendos, the two must fight prejudice on all sides as they discover they may not be as different as originally thought.

Pretty Petty by TriDogMom - M, one-shot - "Damn right I'm pretty." "I said petty."

All Things Unsaid by TheImperfectionista - T, one-shot - "Many of the faces he knew from work, but he never liked any of them or had a desire to sit with them in the canteen for lunch. That was one thing he never told her. She was the only colleague, he enjoyed working with."

This fest is ongoing.

[threewaysdivided]

Idea for an Age-swap AU

We’ve recently seen some age-swap and role-swap AUs floating around the DP fandom.  The most common of these are the direct reversals, where Vlad is the teenage protagonist and Danny is the adult villain.   Now, I’m not the hugest fan of the straight-swap versions because it’s not particularly interesting or in-keeping with the canon characters.  If Danny becomes the amoral villain and Vlad the plucky protagonist then you basically just have the original Danny Phantom again, except with the characters wearing each other’s skins.

However, a version of the age-swap that keeps the characters closer to their canon personalities has great comedy potential.

Imagine this:

Young!Vlad is a disaffected but highly intelligent freshman whose ‘genius’ is seemingly unrecognised by everyone in town.  Pretty much everything sucks for him - he’s bored at home because his parents are always away on work, he’s bored in class because he finds the material too easy, the school’s head jock and posse make a policy of ruining his day, the student body president is ‘inept’, and - despite Vlad’s intelligence and apparent ability to analyse people - he never seems to make it into the spheres of the influential or popular classmates.    He’s aloof and vaguely disdainful towards everyone around him, except for his two best friends; the naive and eccentric but occasionally brilliant Young!Jack, and the beautiful and sharply intelligent Young!Maddie.  He hangs out with them partly due to their mutual interest in the paranormal, but also because Maddie is the only person in town he sees as an equal and he really wants to date her (too bad she’s always making eyes at Jack).   [If you’re looking for a reference he’s basically a cross between Sue Townsend’s Adrian Mole and Velma Dinkley from Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated]

Like in the original series, the three of them attempt to build a proto-ghost portal as a step in their research.  This one goes even worse (after all, it was built by teenagers) and Jack rushing to activate it gets Vlad blasted with way more ectoplasm than in canon.  Just like the original it lands him in hospital for a bit - but in this case only a few months.  On coming back to school he is very resentful (mostly towards Jack though he’s a bit miffed that Maddie didn’t come to visit his room while he was awake) both for the accident and the Danny-like power-problems he’s experiencing.  Although in Vlad’s case he hides them from his friends and outwardly acts like everything’s been forgiven.

As he gains controls of his powers, Vlad decides to put them to use ‘correcting’ some of the ‘wrongs’ in his life; serving disproportionate comeuppance to the jocks, subtly embarrassing Jack in from of Maddie, scheming and manipulating his way through the school’s systems, and generally messing with people to alleviate his boredom.

It basically turns into a Deathnote-like moral situation, in which Vlad is a nominal ‘hero’ on the best days and an entitled, arrogant person at worst.  He may be the protagonist but he’s sure not the ‘good guy’ of this story. (He still makes himself a vampire-style suit and goes by Plasmius in ghost-mode because despite being highly intelligent he’s also a dumb 14-year-old who unironically thinks it looks cool.)

How does Danny get involved?

While Vlad is still in the nominally-heroic part of the story (dishing out retributions to people who actually had it coming, chasing away some minor ghosts that were attracted by the portal explosion, manipulating outcomes that fix genuine problems etc.) he starts to notice an older person hanging around and following him. At first Vlad’s concerned - has someone caught on?  Is it an enemy ghost?  A rival trying to take out the competition? - until Phantom introduces himself.  Danny’s a lot of things but subtle is not one of them.

Older!Danny is in his early 30s.  His parents were some of the first modern ecto-scientists and successfully built a working portal (the source of the accident that gave him his powers) but because the hauntings stayed localised near the portal (never spreading beyond his own hometown) their ecto-research didn’t reach mainstream science beyond a few ‘professional ghost-hunters’, paranormal aficionados and an obscure branch of government that mostly just makes messes bigger in their attempts to ‘contain and study all unauthorised ectoplasmic entities’.

Despite his unease, Danny is honestly happy to meet another half-ghost. He might have reservations about actual teaching (“I’ve got an Engineering degree, not a Dip. Ed.”) but he genuinely wants to help this new kid through what he remembers being a tough period of power-adjustment and guide him to use his abilities productively.   Unfortunately, Vlad is having none of it - who is this condescending fool to tell him what to do?  In his eyes Phantom is either trying to recruit him so that he can use his power (after all, that’s what Vlad would do) or he’s an idiot for wasting such potential. Actually, he must be an idiot either way because who else would try to manipulate someone of Vlad’s intelligence?

Eventually this devolves into a cat-and-mouse game in which Young!Vlad uses his brains and abilities in attempts to manipulate his way into Maddie’s affections, positions of influence and possession of powerful items, with Phantom having to step in and ‘defeat Plasmius’ before someone gets hurt.  Unlike in canon, where Vlad mostly toys with Danny to demonstrate his superiority, Young!Vlad learning techniques from their fights is intentional on Older!Phantom’s part. Phantom really wants to give this kid a chance to turn things around, and figures that letting Plasmius experiment with his powers in a relatively safe space might help Vlad get under control and avoid the temptation to do something truly stupid.  Unfortunately, all this actually does is teach his accidental-arch-rival to be a more competent villain.

Shenanigans ensue:

Vlad deliberately creating dangerous situations so that he can impress Maddie by ‘dramatically rescuing’ her from the ‘evil Plasmius’.  What he forgets is that, under her pretty face, Maddie is a top-tier asskicker - at least a third of the time the love of his life hands his ecto-hide to him long before Phantom can intervene. He’d find it attractive if it wasn’t so humiliating.

Jack also proves disturbingly competent with his ‘anti-creep stick’.  It’s literally just a baseball bat with a cross-stitched handle and the club logo sprayed on the side but Vlad still makes a point of stealing and destroying them whenever Jack makes a new one.

Maddie concludes that Plasmius and Phantom are both evil and working together.  

Vlad: “Of course, but as the older and stronger, Phantom is clearly in charge.  If we get rid of him then surely Plasmius will leave.”

This results in Vlad doing a very careful dance whenever he and Danny are in ghost mode while Maddie and/or Jack can see them.

In attempt to ‘eliminate the competition’ Vlad considers alerting the Guys in White to Phantom’s status.

Danny: “Look, kid. Vlad. If you go to them with that intel they’re going to wonder how you got it.  I might survive - my company holds the patents for a lot of their tech - but you’re a high-schooler.  You really want to risk outing both of us?”

This is one of the few things they eventually agree on: Under no circumstances is anyone to intentionally involve the GIW.

Vlad tries to recruit other ghosts in attempt to keep Phantom distracted.

This mostly consists of him failing to intimidate Skulker with his scrawny teen stature, then flattering him into it because “surely as the first and strongest of his kind Phantom would be a much worthier prize for such a skilled hunter.”

He has more luck with the resentful Yiddish vultures, although they can’t do much beyond being a nuisance.

The Box Ghost offers his services.  Repeatedly.

Vlad travels to Amity Park in attempt to steal ecto-tech from Fentonworks.  On arrival he is horrified to see just how haunted the town is due to its permanently active portal.  He beats a fast retreat after getting cornered and resolves to come back with better plans.

Vlad returns to Amity Park in attempt to recruit more minions from the thronging masses. This is somewhat successful, but a few rogue ghosts follow him home - forcing him to try to contain the situation while hiding it from Maddie and Jack.

Youngblood starts messing with Vlad’s schoolmates (interfering with some of his social schemes in the process).  As an adult Danny is incapable of seeing him, and Maddie and Vlad’s tendency to act older than their age means that Jack is the only one with a real handle on the situation.  Eventually (to his intense horror) Vlad has to do things Jack’s way to solve the problem

Jack: “You know what V-Man, I’m glad to have you back.  You’ve been so serious these last few months, I was worried you’d forgotten how to have fun!��

Vlad: *audible teeth-grinding*

Vlad refuses to swear because he thinks it’s a sign of inferior intellect and therefore beneath him.  Danny doesn’t swear because he’s desperately trying not to teach this kid any more bad habits.

Vlad makes a deal with Technus to steal some software for use in a financial scheme. Too bad that they make this arrangement in the same week that local Information Technology rising-star Tucker Foley is invited to speak at the school’s career day.

Vlad’s plans failing because his ‘superior intellect’ leads him to over-engineer excessively complex schemes.

Danny: “You know you could just have done this, right?”

Plasmius later tries Phantom’s suggestion and Danny is kicking himself because darn it I was trying to get him to knock it off, not give him pointers.

Vlad attempting subtler social schemes (e.g. overshadowing staff and student council members to make changes).  These sometimes work but other times Jack messes up the plan with his overenthusiastic support for his ‘best friend’.

Danny eventually recruiting one of Vlad’s classmates Red-Huntress-style because look, I’m running my parents company, volunteering at the observatory and trying to keep the ghosts under control.  I can’t be constantly flying to another town to make sure Plasmius isn’t bringing on the ecto-apocalypse.

Out of respect for Vlad’s privacy Danny doesn’t reveal the secret identity thing. Instead he asks them to keep Plasmius under control and also look out for Vlad Masters because the ghost might be interested in him.

What Danny didn’t notice was that this kid really doesn’t like Masters and has a pretty big grudge against Plasmius after being on the receiving end of one of his schemes.  What should have been a simple recon job instead ends up with them aggressively pursuing an intense rivalry with both of Vlad’s halves.  They also get overzealous in their ecto-hunter task and start going after Phantom as well.  So now Danny has two problems.

Jazz Fenton (a qualified and practicing psychologist in this AU) takes a job as the school’s councillor.

While there she works to convince Vlad of the benefits of altruism, tries to wheedle him into confessing his connection to Plasmius (Danny told her everything) and attempts to foil his social manipulations.  The first two aren’t met with much success but she does get in the way of the third a few times.

For his part Vlad tries different schemes to get her fired or make her leave so that he can continue plotting without interference.

Vlad sneaks into the Ghost Zone in attempt to steal a powerful item (Ring of Rage, Pandora’s box, the Fright Knights Soul Shredder etc.).  This goes about as badly you’d expect.  Unlike in canon, where Vlad bails and makes Danny deal with it, Older!Phantom drags Young!Plasmius back by the ear because you made this mess so now you’re going to help clean it up.

Phantom: “So, did we learn anything today?”

Plasmius: “I should do more research before handling powerful objects.”

Phantom: *aggrieved sigh* “You know kid, I honestly thought you were smarter than this.”

Whether Young!Vlad eventually learns his lesson or keeps spiralling until he becomes a canon!Vlad level criminal chessmaster is something that could go either way.  

What I’m getting at is:  Can someone please do a version of the age-swap AU where Vlad Masters/Plasmius is an intellectually snobbish, overly theatrical, entitled adolescent ‘mastermind’ (who isn’t quite as bright as he thinks) and Danny Fenton/Phantom is the well-intentioned and experienced adult hero (but poor teacher) who really wants to give this kid a second chance but is getting more and more done with all the villainy nonsense.

[shadowsong26fic]

Another Random AU Because Why Not

A couple months ago, I outlined a Heralds of Valdemar crossover/fusion/AU (which I’ve done some more Pondering on since then because it’s fun/hilarious). And then I did the Rabbit Hole AU, which was even more hilarious/fun.

Anyway, now that I’ve plugged my previous crack AUs, as you do, I have decided to outline another one! And for Reasons, it’s #10 on my List of Things I’ll Never Actually Write.

::ahem::

Without further ado, I present to you: Bail Organa Unfucks the Timeline

So, point the first (and this is an important one): Bail doesn’t know how he died.

I mean, he kiiiiiiiinda does? Like, the thought occurs (once he has a second to think, which takes a while, as we’ll see shortly). He knows what happened to Jedha, and possibly to Scarrif (which I can’t spell). But at the same time, there’s this sort of denial aspect to it. Like--even Tarkin would never.

(Also, he didn’t actually see the Death Star. He was not near a window/on the wrong side of the planet/something.)

So, he decides he had a stroke or something.

Point the second (also important): That whole ‘inform the Senate that all aboard were killed’ message? Never reached him. Because a) Alderaan had no actual Senator in place on Coruscant/Imperial Center/whatever the cool kids are calling it these days at the time to hear said message, and b) the Senate was dissolved like five minutes later so whichever of his friends drew the short straw on that one got a wee bit distracted.

All clear? Good! On to the fun stuff.

So, one minute, Bail is in his study, going over maps or supply routes or other war-preparation-y things with a trusted aide, and the next, he’s back on Christophsis.

More specifically, he is being tackled to one side by someone yelling “GET DOWN, SIR” just as something explodes over his head.

Which leads to: wait why is a stormtrooper tackling me wait how did a stormtrooper get into my study wait that helmet is twenty years out of date wait how did I get outside wait why is the sky the wrong color WAIT WHY IS THE SKY ON FIRE

Bail needs a minute.

And a drink.

(Why is he even on Christophsis while the sky is on fire? Is there actual canon explaining this? Do I care? ...probably not.)

In the interests of not, y’know, dying, Bail decides to just run with it for a while, until he has some breathing room and can figure out wtf is going on.

Bail is a very smart man.

Eventually, he gets his five minutes and comes to the conclusion that nope, this is not a dream, I am apparently back in the past, the War is in its early days. I can, quite possibly, fix things. Stop Palpatine. Save the Republic/Galaxy.

This seems like an excellent plan.

(NB: He is aware that doing this means losing his daughter--or at least his relationship with her/her as he raised her. And a part of him will always wish that...a part of him will always mourn her, and that world/life he lost. But this is the one thing that is worth that sacrifice. Plus, if he missed this chance, the Leia he raised would never forgive him. So a part of him is doing this for her. Giving her the galaxy she deserves, despite how much it costs him.)

The question then becomes...well, how?

He eventually decides to focus his work on the Senate, and try to limit Palpatine’s expansion/power/ascent as much--and as subtly--as he can.

Subtly because, well, he would very much like to not get caught and killed.

Not getting killed also seems like an excellent plan.

Also, pretty much no one is on to Palps yet. I mean, yeah, there are people side-eyeing him a little bit for holding on to/accumulating power the way he does, but what Chancellor hasn’t been accused of such things? And it’s not...it’s not like it will be two and a half/three years from now. And Bail cannot afford to alienate allies he will need later, depending on how successful he is/how long this takes.

Bail has been doing this for a while. He is not taking his success for granted. He is covering all his bases, just in case.

Fortunately, Bail has twenty years of running an underground resistance under his belt. This? This, he can do.

There are other problems too, of course. Like...the War is an actual thing that still needs to be resolved. But there’s not much Bail can personally do about it, not while Palpatine and Dooku are, between the two of them, derailing any attempts at negotiation. Apart from, of course, careful Senate maneuvering to remove Palps from power.

(He’ll figure out a way to deal with Dooku/Grievous/Etc. later. One problem at a time.)

Next question--who does he read in on all of this?

Breha, of course--she is his wife, and his partner. He needs her beside/behind him. Plus, it’s not exactly fair to her, to keep her in the dark about this. She’ll be expecting the husband she knows to come home to her, not a man made...let’s say incredibly cautious by twenty years of, essentially, espionage. To say nothing of the fact that he raised a child, and they’re still--trying. There’s a lot of emotional baggage there, too. They’ll make it work, somehow, he knows they will--but she needs to know. She deserves the truth from him, no matter how hard it is for him to explain/how hard it is for her to hear.

(Look, I have a lot of FEELINGS about Bail and Breha’s relationship. Even though I kind of ship him and Obi-Wan [for which I mostly blame Reprise, despite the fact that said fic doesn’t actually ship them], if I ever wrote something with the two of them together [as I might in this fic, and sort of am in one other though that one it may never actually come up on page], it would be with Breha’s full knowledge and consent. ...end random tangent, sorry.)

As for everyone else...he decides to wait and see, feeling people out as likely possibilities. Just like he and Mon did for twenty years, building the Alliance. Only this time, the barometer is more “who will believe me” as opposed to “who won’t betray me.”

(He’s aware that Obi-Wan and Padme should be pretty high up on that list but--hell, where does he even start?)

(He decides to shelve that problem for now. He’ll tell them when the time is right. ...hopefully, he’ll know when that time arrives.)

And now, the moment I’m sure you’ve been waiting for--how do we approach the whole Darth Vader issue?

You thought I’d forgotten about it, didn’t you.

(I didn’t.)

(Neither did Bail)

Okay, so, the problem, as he sees it, is that he’s...not exactly in a position to intervene.

He had no real personal connection with Anakin the first time around.

Sure, they worked together on occasion, and their relationship was certainly cordial when they did, and of course they had a mutual friend or two, but all their interactions were fairly distant/professional.

Besides, while he can extrapolate/guess a fair amount of what happened (and, more important, how/why it happened), he has no actual knowledge/frame of reference for how accurate his guesses are. (Because, LBR, even Obi-Wan might not know the full story, though he’s at least guessed almost all of it, and even if he did, he wasn’t exactly talking about it in the five minutes they were working out what to do with the twins, etc.) And if he’s wrong, he might well make things worse.

The second problem is that he has no idea how he’ll feel about/react to meeting Anakin again, given that basically the only real context he has here is the future he lived and is now trying to avert. He figures there’s two ways its likely to go:

Option one, nightmare scenario: He meets General Skywalker, and all he sees is Vader. This is...nooooot exactly very productive/conducive to him getting done what he needs to get done. In this case, Bail will avoid him as much as possible, and try to find a way to tip off Padme and/or Obi-Wan.

Option two, acceptable scenario: He meets General Skywalker, and there is a total disconnect between the person he is now and the monster he could become (did become? might become? time travel is weird). In this case, Bail will keep things more or less as they were last time; and focus on derailing Palpatine and fixing the problems in the Senate, and hope that that makes a difference.

And he’ll try to find a way to tip off Obi-Wan and/or Padme. Bail ain’t stupid.

Of course, there are two major factors here that Bail hasn’t considered.

For starters, he’d forgotten how young Anakin was.

True, some of the other Jedi Generals weren’t all that much older (to say nothing of the Padawan Commanders), and he knows there were too-young soldiers in the Alliance, too, but at the same time...

It hadn’t stuck out to him all that much the first time--maybe because it, unfortunately, wasn’t unusual/was just How Things Worked, and his personal context had been of course different, as he’d been significantly younger himself. But, despite that and the continued youth of the Rebellion... Look, dropping back into the GAR now, and seeing this twenty-year-old kid put in these situations is another thing entirely when one is on the far side of sixty (mentally, at least) and all too recently had a child his age.

ON A RELATED NOTE, major factor the second: Bail hadn’t realized just how much like Leia Anakin was.

So, when they finally do meet, Bail starts noticing all kinds of little details--a certain insouciant little smirk, a particular defiant lift to his chin, a familiar inability (equal parts endearing, alarming, and incredibly frustrating) to keep from mouthing off...

So...all of this basically means that, when Bail encounters Anakin, every instinctive Papa Wolf fiber of his being says, “This is my child now. Fight me.”

(well, not so much “fight me.”)

(Bail isn’t really a “fight me” sort of dude.)

(But you get the point.)

So now, Bail has to add ‘bond with Anakin Skywalker and help keep him sane’ to his increasingly-daunting to-do list.

This actually turns out to be...not as difficult as he expected?

(the first half, anyway)

Because, yeah, there’s a bit of a shaky start because Anakin Does Not Like politicians

(unless they’re from Naboo)

(and their name starts with Pa)

But once he works his way past that, it’s--Anakin likes having friends, he wants to like people, and he wants people to like him. Making Friends not his superpower, like it is with Luke, but it’s actually pretty easy to win his affection and respect, if you just reach out to him a little.

(thinking of that one meta post that was going around a couple days ago, about the bit with Ki-Adi Mundi at the Second Battle of Geonosis, talking about how--you know Another Friend in the Order, and then Obi-Wan says it’s a rare thing and look at how it wasn’t actually that hard for Mundi and--anyway, that sort of thing, y’know?)

So, Bail reaches out, and makes friends.

(Good Lord, he thinks, does this kid need a dad. Obi-Wan was that, and did very well, for a while at least, but he’s too thoroughly made the transition to ‘brother’ since the war started and Anakin was Knighted to fill that need.)

(You know what else he needs? is the next thought, as Anakin runs off into unnecessary danger AGAIN. A goddamn leash.)

So, we’re still pretty early in the War, and things start to shift a little bit.

Only a little bit, and fairly subtle. Bail is, after all, used to playing a long game with limited resources and everything to lose.

He worries, sometimes, that he’s moving too slowly in the Senate, but it’s such a delicate balance, if he upsets it...

But he is making progress. ...glacial, minuscule progress, but the galaxy is on a somewhat better path this time around. Palpatine finds things just a little bit harder this time around. Maybe that’ll be enough, and all the little changes will add up. That’s what Bail’s hoping for.

Unfortunately, this is Palpatine, and he has backup plans for his backup plans, and is course-correcting rather nicely.

Fortunately, that means Bail isn’t quite annoying enough to get offed.

Bail is also gradually working people into his network. Mon and Bel Iblis, to start; a few others. He decides against telling anyone he’s from the future. Compartmentalizing is better. Safer.

He involves Padme, too, of course; while he’s still not quite ready/able to approach telling her the full truth (though he knows he can’t get away with half-measures like he can with the others), her support is invaluable. He’s keeping track of what she notices and when, with regard to Palpatine’s machinations. While she is starting to waver a little, she still mostly trusts her former adviser; and Bail knows that she’ll have to decide not to on her own. All he can do is nudge her in the right direction, when he has the opportunity to do so.

He’s also gathering evidence, so that when he finally makes a bold, public strike, he’ll be able to back it up and the Republic will survive the blow to morale and the power vacuum that will inevitably ensue.

Anakin, actually, becomes a bigger change. Because while Bail has become an expert in slow, subtle progress that you don’t notice until it punches you in the face five years later, Anakin is....not.

Also, this is, like, the best year of his life. Even in the original timeline. He has a job he’s good at, he has his wife, he has his brother, he has his sister, he (at least thinks) he has a father figure in Palpatine...

And this time, he also has Bail.

Which means a confidant outside the Order, who is Not Palptaine. Who is, in fact, a very good counterweight for Palpatine because they’re both playing on the same emotional needs.

But Bail, of course, actually genuinely has Anakin’s best interests at heart.

So, Palpatine is starting to notice that Anakin is...worryingly stable. That will never do.

So, he pushes a little bit harder than he did, this early on, in the other timeline.

Not enough to make Anakin notice, of course.

(Smart as he is, Anakin is also really really dumb about some things)

But enough that when someone finally points out that, hey, Palpatine is sort of sketchy, he won’t be quite as resistant to the notion.

Because he feels--unsettled, more often than not, after meeting with Palpatine. And he tells himself it’s just because of the problems the Chancellor is pointing out to him. He convinces himself that’s all, but each time--it’s maybe just a tiny bit harder to believe.

(Strangely enough, although sometimes he and Senator Organa talk about similar things--his issues with the Council, etc.--he never leaves those conversations feeling like this...)

All of this comes to a head--oh, we’ll say about a year later.

Not much has really changed (at least in the parts of the story we, the audience, see) other than Bail is a little more integrated/involved with Our Heroes than in canon. Basically, it’s not just Padme he follows down to the docks with a sidearm to keep her from getting herself killed.

(Side note: he also would very much like to take Ahsoka home and just keep her. BAIL ORGANA IS ADOPTING ALL OF THESE KIDS AND KEEPING THEM SAFE FROM PALPATINE AND HIS SCHEMES, OKAY.)

Anyway. Bail eventually comes forward and tells Anakin--pretty much everything.

This occurs under suitably melodramatic circumstances--i.e., Anakin was playing security/escort for something Bail was doing, and they crash and are stranded together for a few days, or something. Because while Bail is like the chillest dude ever, Anakin attracts more than enough Drama to make up for that.

He’s like a Melodrama Magnet.

Also, them being stranded means Anakin can’t ragequit the conversation, losing all the ground Bail has gained over the last year.

This covers a lot of ground--even though Bail tries to stick to just what he knows is true.

But this is damning enough.

But Anakin needs to know.

“I’m doing this,” he says, “for our daughter.”

“Our daughter,” Anakin repeats.

And then Bail tells him about her. All the things he’s wanted to say this whole year but couldn’t--because it would hurt Breha too much, and who else could he confide in about the daughter he lost?

BASICALLY ALL OF THE LEIA FEELS BECAUSE HER DADS. JUST. HER DADS.

It is a long, difficult conversation, but Anakin--Anakin is not yet so unstable that he won’t listen. And Bail is his friend, someone he trusts. And he--knows there is darkness in him, he remembers what he did in the wake of his mother’s death, and he knows the truth of what Bail is telling him.

“It’s not you,” Bail says. “Not yet. And it doesn’t have to be. We can fix this, before it goes too far. I can’t solve these problems for you, but I can help. I want to help.”

(And he finds a way to shut down that insecure voice in the back of Anakin’s head that doubts Bail’s friendship for a minute there, because he can see those wheels turning, and he knows Anakin well enough by now to guess at those particular cracks in his psyche.)

(Quick note: I did say that this Bail tells Anakin almost everything--but he does leave Luke out of the conversation. As I mentioned before, he’s too cautious not to hedge his bets.)

Another thing Bail does not do is he does not--specifically implicate Palpatine, because he doesn’t know how far Anakin has drifted away from the Chancellor’s influence and doesn’t want to risk a denial-induced overcompensation reaction, where he falls even deeper under the Sith Lord’s shadow.

(but Anakin, while being kind of dumb, is also a very smart man. And he knows that the list of people who have that level of influence on both him and galactic politics as a whole is a very short one.)

They come out of this with the whole--idea, that Bail genuinely trusts Anakin’s abilities, and trusts him to help and do the right thing, and Anakin can come to him for help/perspective when it all gets to be too much, emotionally speaking, without worrying about disappointing him to the point where Bail will abandon him/not want to be his friend anymore.

(Because Bail has seen the worst he could possibly be. As long as Anakin doesn’t go that far...)

After a day or so, they get picked up from wherever they were stranded. Probably by Obi-Wan, who can tell that Something Important happened. But Anakin is being quiet, and Bail deftly changes the subject.

And then they get back to Coruscant, and a different kind of hell breaks loose.

Because Bail made a very slight, but very important miscalculation--Anakin and Leia are a lot alike, in how they approach problems, in how they view the world, in that they both operate from a fairly black-and-white way of thinking--there’s another meta post I’ve read I’m going to reference, talking about how Anakin and Leia are Justice, while Luke and Padme are Mercy.

But Leia has the advantage of a stable childhood. And a certain amount of common sense. These temper those instincts, and help her rein herself in until the time is right. Anakin...not so much.

So, Anakin, once he’s through with his preliminary debrief at the Temple, goes to confront Palpatine, about everything Bail told him, and everything he figured out from there.

(He manages to protect Bail through this, and everything that will come after--he had a vision, he tells his false friend; so convincingly that even Darth Sidious believes.)

Some time later, Bail gets a call from Obi-Wan.

“Have you heard from Anakin? I can’t reach him. Neither can Ahsoka, and he usually doesn’t duck her calls. You’re his friend, I thought, perhaps...”

Bail has a Bad Feeling(tm) about this.

Because Padme hasn’t heard from him, either.

“He’s probably racing,” Obi-Wan says, but the doubt shines clear in his voice. “He’ll be back soon, I’m sure...”

Bail takes a deep breath, because here’s another incredibly difficult conversation he’s been putting off for a year.

It’s time to read Obi-Wan--and Padme--in. On everything, just like he did with Anakin.

...that’s about as far as I have planned out in detail. But there will be a Rescue Mission, and Palpatine will end up Very Very Dead, and life will be--good. The Republic will stabilize, and Bail and Padme and Mon and their allies will fix the problems that Palpatine found and exacerbated there. And the Order will survive and adapt, becoming a little more flexible as it moves forward into a new golden age.

And while a part of Bail still mourns the good parts of his other life, he and Breha will eventually adopt another little girl, as they discussed; and Anakin will practically be his son anyway; and he will watch Leia grow up again, in a peaceful galaxy, the one she has always deserved, and he will be very pleased with what he accomplished.