#but this is the gist of the au for now ^w^

[mayashesfly]

A follow up/expansion on the Robot replaces Dead Vox scenario au

For simplicity's sake I'll refer to Vox's robot replacement as the Proxy. And any possible future posts about this au will be tagged under "The Proxy AU"

(Do take note that some of these things may be subject to change as I expand on this au in time)

Thank you @theautotrophic for your questions! ^w^

Vox made the Proxy at first after his fallout with Alastor as a way to let out his self loathing. So Alastor didn't know about it.

The Proxy is almost direct reconstruction of his body but improved to better at handling overheating amongst other things while also having the chest area be more… masculine. (If you headcanon Vox as Trans ontop of my headcanon that he can't exactly have permanent top surgery because sinner regeneration is a bitch)

The biggest difference between Vox and the Proxy is that the Proxy doesn't have alot of shark-like qualities unlike Vox since Vox was still terrified of sharks when he made the Proxy.

So the Proxy doesn't have any dorsal like fins and his tail is a retractable cord tail instead of a retractable shark tail. But it still does have the gills as its vents.

There's also details on his backside specifically that he couldn't replicate because well… It's not like he can see his back.

The Proxy was meant to be Vox's attempt to upgrade his body as a way to cope with his fallout with Alastor. After all, if he can upgrade his head, why can't he upgrade his body?

Unfortunately, he couldn't actually replace his body with the Proxy. And the idea of completely getting rid of it didn't sit right with him since he wasted alot of materials and time into making it.

It'll be a waste to scrap it but it's not like he could admit that he made the Proxy in a state of weakness to his only business partner friend left.

After some time of calming down, he realized that he could use the Proxy as a back up plan if things go south with him.

At this point, he still didn't know he could transfer parts of his memories into flashdrives to download them somewhere else. But he reasoned that he could theoretically make a head for the Proxy and program it to act like him.

So knowing that there's a chance Valentino would see the Proxy because you can't exactly hide a life-sized "improved" replica of your body, he told Valentino that the Proxy could be a backup plan for him if things go south before Valentino could find out about it through other means.

At the time, Valentino was utterly confused and pretty disturbed at the information.

But it was something they never really brought up again since they both wanted to forget it.

Velvette didn't actually know about the Proxy until it happened.

After his close fight with Alastor wherein Valentino intervened before Alastor disappeared, his thoughts went back to the Proxy as he realized that he could actually die.

His media empire with Valentino and Velvette was already growing and if anything happened to him, the technological and broadcasting aspect of their business would fall over without him acting as the head.

And their reputation would take a hit if Valentino and Velvette was forced to rebrand Voxtek in the case of his death. Especially if their competitors sees his death as something that'll weaken the Vees.

He couldn't bare letting the Vees go without an actual backup plan in case something happened to him.

So while he and Valentino healed from the battle with Alastor, he took some time upgrading the Proxy to be up to date and actually modifying and programming it so that it could actually act like him in case something happened.

He didn't bother making the Proxy a head of its own since he knew he always upgraded his head and it would just be a waste of time.

But he did set up a machine that can automatically give the Proxy a head after the head that'll be installed has the proper programming and necessary memories installed inside.

The Proxy doesn't actually have any personality of its own unlike Kitty wherein Vox put in the extra effort to give it some personality thay he knows Valentino would like since it was a gift for him (just like how Vark was a gift for Vox from Val which helped him embraced his shark-like qualities)

The Proxy is programmed to handle broadcasting, interviews, and public meetings. Pretty much every public appearance Vox had to make.

The memories downloaded into the Proxy mostly isn't personal at all, and they mostly only pertain to the business and important aspects of their business. (So it doesn't have any personal memories of Alastor)

Though there are also programmed codes and memories on how to handle Valentino and Velvette to make sure they don't fly off the handle based on Vox's previous interactions. With more emphasis on how to specifically handle a Valentino who's having a fit just in case.

Though when the two of them goes against the programmed interaction the Proxy has on them, then it has some difficulty.

After all, it wasn't like it has anything to work off on on how to handle a grieving Valentino and Velvette.

It takes alot of energy from the Proxy to handle its daily public appearances. And it's unable to do surveillance unlike Vox as any attempts to do so would overload its systems and it'll just crash.

When its not on "public appearance" mode, the Proxy is on a "low power savings" mode around the Vees as it tries to keep up the appearance of a businessman for the other employees. Though it visibly buffers and pauses at times, causing its face to disappear.

Sometimes Valentino and Velvette would manually power it off to be hidden somewhere out of plain sight.

It's a miracle if they could remember to plug it in through its tail cord or its actual charger or another charger so it could recharge.

Something that Vox's assistant has to keep up on consistently unless he wants to reschedule the entire day so that the people who are none the wiser won't be confused or upset that Vox had to reschedule their meetings and other public appearances. (Poor Eelliot)

As for Vox's death well… I'll keep that to your imaginations for now :D

But I will say that one of the reasons Alastor knows Vox is dead is because of how their shared frequency went completely silent.

Meanwhile, the Vees have a contract to ensure that everything the deceased Vee has under their possession would be transferred to the other Vees in the event of their death so that they won't lose any power, souls, properties, and ect that the other Overlords and Kingpins could steal.

Even when Valentino and Velvette didn't know where Vox was or how he died, the both of them physically felt Vox's powers and possessions going to them after he died, confirming his death.

Valentino quickly went to Vox's surveillance and control room to desperately search for him while there was an Extermination going on outside.

It took everything from Velvette to convince him not to go outside when he could also be killed and then Vox would be fucking upset with them.

(Neither of them said a word that there was no more Vox to be upset with them ever again)

When they finally located his body, they quickly collected him discreetly so that noone else would know that the Vees lost its eldest member.

Neither of them said a word as they hugged the cold, lifeless corpse.

A stark contrast to the warmth Vox constantly radiated despite his calm and collected persona.

It took some time for Valentino to finally put Proxy to use.

Some of Vox's shows having a few reruns while he gathers the courage to face the machine.

He had half the mind to completely destroy it beyond repair.

To tear everything down to pieces after he had lost his longest business partner.

But Kitty and Proxy was the only things left that Vox made with his two very own hands.

To have them repaired by someone else other than Vox…..

Well, while Vox may still be the same despite how much he changed…

The same could not be said about the robots he made.

It wouldn't be the same.

When metal and wires could easily be replaced but the soul cannot.

It wouldn't be the same.

Still, he couldn't stop himself as he shattered the screen that showcased it buffering instead of the exasperated but still fond sneer he had gotten used to.

Velvette was absolutely devastated and livid when she found out about Vox's replacement.

She screamed at Valentino, asking him what the fuck he was even thinking and HOW THE FUCK DID HE EVEN ACQUIRE SUCH A THING

Vox never told her about the Proxy and while Velvette could care less about the roofies she makes and the Fizzibot Val has and every worse thing she's done under existence, she couldn't fathom replacing Vox with a mere husk of a pathetic disgusting thing.

She only stopped her shouting when Valentino quietly said it was Vox's idea.

And they both promised that they'll kill whoever decided to hurt the Vees and avenge Vox.

For now it was something both of them could focus on, even if it was a lie.

Valentino will hunt them down no matter what other people may say.

When Alastor saw Vox alive and well after the dead silence in their shared frequency, he first thought it must be a bad dream.

But he knows it was real.

That it happened.

After the confusing feelings he felt upon seeing that familiar face alive and well passed by, anger gripped his soul.

He had half the mind to ruin and destroy that pretender.

Vox was well and truly gone and it'll stay that way if Alastor could help it.

But when he realized what truly happened, he could only laugh and laugh and laugh and laugh at the situation.

And when he calmed down, he deigned to not interact even further at what happened.

Except for mocking the remaining Vees at what had happened to make himself feel better.

[cheemken]

No but imagine that battle w Diantha tho, and finally the Elite Four intervenes bc they have a really bad feeling this time

And when they got there, all the champions are there blocking their way to the throne, and they see Iris w Hilbert against Diantha, Iris sees them and tells them to stop the other Champions

But also imagine Caitlin's horror when she finds out what happened to Cynthia tho, and how willing Cynthia was to kill her, like that'd break her too

And like, yeah Grimsley probs called in the rest of the Gym Leaders for help too, bc they know dealing with seven Champions won't be easy, especially since one of them fused with the actual fucking devil

And now the entirety of Unova's league, even Alder who just couldn't let the other Champions continue their onslaught, were there, trying to stop seven champions while Hilbert and Iris deals with the last one

[xanyiaz]

me and my boyfriend's predictions + manifestations for the fooliverse AU 😈 @anunmarkedface <3

who we predict will be in the lineup:

alpha asher

depressed/emo guy

dom lasko ?? 🤭

tsundere huxley x himbo damien PLEASE

elliott and blake swap lowkey- or just elliott swapping with anyone lol

who we want in the lineup (including who we predict):

yandere hush (swapping roles with blake) i will ACTUALLY. IDK WHAT ILL DO IF WE GET THIS BUT IK IT'LL BE SOMETHING INAPPROPRIATE LET'S JUST SAY THAT 💀💀

sub gavin again PLEAASESJ

shy yandere porter

yandere treasure 👀 (shoutout @s0lairee for cooking that one up, will be thinking nonstop about it tbh)

confident yandere vincent

sub/masochist vega

listener as a yandere/sadboi!ivan swapping roles ??

you get the gist now just literally anyone yandere i'm CRAVING more yandere content tbh 💥💥💥‼️‼️‼️

who we want continued except they're even more unlikely but im still manifesting idc 🤞‼️:

cam

brachium

vega

geordi

blake eldritch being (swapping roles w hush)

thanks for coming to my ted talk, in conclusion- need more yandere content honestly where's azmidi pooks gone :((

[baeshijima]

FIC WIP POLL !! (bc i cant make my own decisions (˘･_･˘))

okay so guess who is procrastinating on her assignment and is indecisive? me !! which is why i now decided to make this poll haha....

basically there are twelve wips here which i think i could finish if given the motivation, and your job is to decide which one you want to see the most !! i do have more wips i would love to work on, but i wanted to be realistic so, uh, these are the ones i believe i am most like to finish by the end of summer at the latest 🧍‍♀️

under the cut will have the title, the character, the tags, and the summary/outline/the idea the fic will be based off for you to read through and make your choice on !! the poll is at the very end so unless you just. scroll right to the bottom, you can't miss what different wips there are ;w;

disclaimer !! this poll will be running for 3 days, so there will be frequent reblogs of this post ^^

1. as fate would have it

blade x gn!reader ; soulmate au (red string of fate), hurt/comfort, high-cloud quintet references/mentions (at 4.7k words)

summary: after having witnessed your red string snap on that gloomy day, you thought the only times you would see him again were in your dreams and on rainy days when aching nostalgia hit the hardest. never did you think you would see him again — alive and a shell of the man you first fell in love with.

2. an unexpected friend

blade x gn!reader ; fluff, university au, bass player!blade, references to former fencer!blade (at 4.2k words)

summary: when visiting your project partner's apartment for the first time, the last thing you expected was to become a glorified cushion for his cat.

3. one in a million

blade x gn!reader ; celebrity/actor au, exes to lovers, fluff, hurt/comfort (at ~600 words)

summary: in which you land yourself the lead role for the long-anticipated drama adaptation of a thriller-romance webtoon. sometimes, you wonder how rotten your luck must be when your co-lead turns out to be your ex, whose character just so happens to be your character's ex. figures.

4. how to get over your first love

phainon x gn!reader ; childhood friends to lovers, fluff, slight miscommunication/misunderstandings (at ~200 words)

summary: the popular boy; the resident nice guy; the one all the neighbourhood grannies excessively dote on; the cookie cutter "bring him home to your family"; your childhood best friend; your first love. well, soon-to-be-ex-first-love, that is! (if you had seen the signs earlier, maybe you wouldn't be kicking yourself right about now for wasting so much time.)

5. [untitled]

phainon x gn!reader x flame reaver ; hurt/comfort, thinking a lot of protectiveness/vigilante-esque things, references to alternate timelines

summary undecided but will be based off of this post !!

6. and in this world, there's a place for you

mydei x gn!reader ; fluff, slow burn, hurt/comfort (i think...), takes place before main story and ends in 3.1 story (at ~200 words)

summary not yet decided but the gist of it is reader is one of the few who welcomes and looks after mydei and the kremoan detachment when they first arrive in okhema and they have a gradual slow burn development !! on the fence about this but i think i will write two endings for the fic...

7. [untitled]

mydei x gn!reader ; modern au (live opposite each other in the same apartment), fluff, crush at first sight, unrequited but actually requited love, wingmen phainon and bubbles

summary undecided but it would be based off this post !!

8. love and... chimeras?

amphoreus men x gn!chimera caretaker!reader <- pretty self-explanatory ; fluff, chimeras play matchmaker, takes place before main story (at ~800 words)

summary: as a member of the garden and one of the primary caretakers for the chimera, you are more than accustomed to their little habits and... unique personalities. well, apparently not accustomed enough when you're suddenly thrown for a loop amidst their endeavour to play matchmaker of all things! OR, the chimeras make it their mission to put you in cliché romantic situations with— not one, not two, but three chrysos heirs. (titans forbid you have any peace.)

9. wounded pride

dr ratio x gn!reader ; fluff, ratio is bad at feelings and in denial (at ~1.2k words)

summary: who would have thought the esteemed dr ratio would be (metaphorically) tearing his hair out over some nonchalant reaction to his true appearance? (certainly not him, that's for sure.)

10. [untitled]

mr reca x gn!reader ; fluff, writer!reader, slow burn-ish, more rom-com-esque, reca falling first and harder, remembrance path!reader (at ~300 words)

summary undecided but will be based off this post !!

11. to you, who holds the stars

alhaitham x gn!reader ; fluff, university au, coffee shop au, strangers to friends to lovers, crush at first sight (alhaitham) (at ~2.6k words)

summary: in which you're a humble café owner and he's a loyal regular who just so happens to find refuge in your starry eyes and bright smile.

12. to love a tragedy (no i havent forgotten abt this.)

duke!sunday x fem!reader ; fluff, angst, hurt/comfort, slow burn? ish?, transmigration, royalty au, arranged marriage ; series

summary: finding yourself in a different world is a fantasized wish many have, more so among a favoured piece of media. the trope has grown in popularity, ranging from books, to comics, and even as publicised tv series. it's something many dream of, simply because it is not real. at least, that's what you believed until you find yourself in the place of a barely mentioned side character in your favourite web novel. oh, and did you mention this character is the wife of sunday oak, one of the novel's antagonists and your favourite character who is doomed to a tragic fate? well, not if you can help it!

based off this post if you have not read it already !!

for this one the vote for the poll would contribute to me focusing on getting the first few chapters of the fic done !! i have the series masterlist + prologue finished with parts of chapter one done, but if this series wins the poll then that basically is telling me to sit down and work on it hahah...

[grimsonandclover]

hi j came across ur blogs and FINALLY. someone who doesn’t write about puppy art or stepcest. i tbh would read anhtbjng abt patrick but i love childhood best freind patrick fics or enemies to lovers fics the most!!

All I Want For Christmas

Childhood Bestfriend!Patrick Zweig x classical singer!reader

Song of the post 'WHAT'S IT TO HIM? - Quadeca'

The first part of this holds opinions I can't even fully stand by anymore thanks to challengers brainrot. i kinda like some of the puppy stuff ive seen. i still wont write stepcest. for this reason I've just deleted that part of my reply

Anyways, fuck, I love these two tropes so much, I could eat them for breakfast lunch and dinner and still have them as snacks and still never tire. but childhood friends to lovers >>> im such a softy for it. I wrote this the moment I saw your message, so it's semi-proofread, more so just me writing the little story I thought of as it came to me. if you want a smutty part two lmk and ill write it in a flash

I have no clue where the Christmas theme came from, it just kinda happened. I don't even celebrate Christmas lmao.

This was meant to be a blurb. Now it's a 5k word slow burn blurb. Hope you enjoy!

also the song linked has nothing to do w the story lmao, it's just what's playing. <3 quadeca

SFW

5.3k words

childhood bestfriend!Patrick Zweig, Never dates Tashi/Loses Art!AU, slow burn, timeskips, no content warnings

--(x)-- 1998 - 2006 --(x)--

You both grew up quite rich, you and Patrick Zweig. Going to the same charity events and galas and birthday dinners as kids because your parents would drag you both along to brag about your accomplishments. Patrick's parents would brag about how he's a tennis prodigy that's gonna go pro one day, have you seen him play? And your parents brag about your voice and your grades, how youre gonna get into any school you want (which you would be able to anyways since theyd just pay the school board). You've got the voice of an angel and since you were four they'd make you get up at parties and events and sing something by the piano. You were groomed to love the spotlight just like Patrick was groomed to love the rush of tennis.

Patrick loved hearing you sing. When you'd be ushered over to your spot by the piano player and ask the adults what they'd like to hear, Patrick would sit up from his slump at the dinner table or sofa, perking up like a dog being told its time for treats. He didn't really know anything about music, he just knew your voice did something in his chest.

You loved seeing him play. Your family had plenty of casual tennis players of its own, tennis being quite a popular sport amongst the wealthy. You understood the gist of it, but that wasn't why you asked your parents to go every time Patrick got to play. You wanted to go because it felt like the closest thing to seeing a shooting star up close. He was like a fireball on the court, even from a young age. His couches kept trying to train the unique serve out of him, you could see their cringing from the sidelines whenever he'd do it, but eventually they stopped when they realized how much he won with it. Because he did. A lot. It was mesmerizing to watch.

One Christmas the two of you finally properly spoke to eachother. You were both ten. Your parents had all gotten wine drunk in the other room, leaving the kids to try and get along in the Zweig's living room. The Christmas parties were always held at the Zweig house, it was the biggest. Didn't matter that they were Jewish. Never even crossed their mind, too big of an oppertunity to schmooze and secure business deals. Patrick never gave it a second thought, just happy he got gifts.

You two had just sat down by the fireplace as the other older kids convened on how to sneak some liquor without anyone noticing. You were too young to care about things like that, instead talking to eachother about school and your respective passions. It was the first proper conversation you'd had even though you had practically been in each other's lives since birth. Patrick liked hearing about the unserious gossip from your all-girls private school, how once again you were on the deans list and top of the class. He found it the funniest thing in the world when you confessed that you'd cheated on a math exam, your weakest subject. How you'd done that quite often actually. Patrick liked knowing you weren't as perfect as your parents boasted you to be, because that made you actually perfect in his eyes.

You liked hearing about the rowdy boys at his school and at tennis practice, and the stupid fights that would break out. Patrick would tell you about the famous tennis players his parents would get him to meet, some even practice with. How they'd comment on his serve, too, and when Patrick would imitate their voice and mannerisms, youd laugh till your stomach and cheeks hurt. Patrick decided then, at ten years old, to commit your laugh to memory. It was a sound as beautiful as your singing.

That became your routine at every dinner and every party your parents would take you to. You'd find solace and company with eachother, a rare, true friend in your world. You both never told your parents about the friendship because even then you knew they'd try and take advantage of it. Turn it into some political relationship, breed you two to marry or something for their benefits.

When Patrick's parents sent him off to the Mark Rebellato Tennis Academy when you were twelve, you cried into your pillow for hours. You'd promised to write eachother, but there's only so much writing a twelve year old can do before they get distracted. Your meetings went from twice a month to once a year. The Zweig family Christmas party.

Just like when you were ten, the two of you would meet up by the crackling fireplace and swap stories, updating each other on your lives. You performed with a real live orchestra last week a version of Silent Night and your mother cried from the crowd. Patrick was sorry he couldn't be there but you handed him a CD with a recording of the night, knowing he'd want to see it, and he said it was the best Christmas gift he'd ever gotten. He hadn't even watched it yet, but he knew. The tennis racket once owned by Bjorn Borg was a pretty great gift too, though (he'd keep it hung on his dorm wall for his entire time at the academy, then later in a case in the trunk of his car to keep it safe).

He had met a kid named Art at the academy, and he talked about how they became fast friends. Best friends. You didn't really have much time for friends, too busy with school and all the extracurriculars your parents had signed you up for since birth. It was kind of like that for Patrick before he left, and you were happy he got the chance to meet someone at the academy. Art sounded great, and you wished you could meet him.

The next year you did it again, but at 15 Patrick got pneumonia on Christmas eve and couldn't come. You sat by the fireplace alone, picking lint off your sweater. Not much had changed apart from his absence. The older kids, now nearing college, were still thinking of ways to get alcohol. Some messed around with eachother in the various rooms of the house while the parents were off doing whatever parents did, not having much else to do. You stayed by yourself, watching the fire and praying to God that Patrick would be okay.

The year after, Patrick was back. He was older now, and so were you, of course. You were both 16 now, puberty catching up with the both of you in the year you hadn't seen each other.

Patrick had started properly shaving now, and when you first laid eyes on him, waiting for you by the fireplace, the slight shadow of hair on his chin and jaw was the first thing you noticed. Your eyes trailed up the stubble to his cheeks, which had lost the baby fat and now made the apples of his cheeks much more visible, especially as he smiled up at you. He called your name excitedly, standing up to meet you in a hug. You had hugged before, but he never wore cologne before. He had clearly gone through a growth spurt, too, and easily could rest his chin on your head. When you pulled back from the hug, you grabbed his shoulders and held him at arms length, just looking at him. He did the same for you, taking in the slight increase of height yourself, the more mature glow in your skin, and, since he was still only a teenage boy and still Patrick Zweig, your new boobs. His eyebrows raised, a slow and impressed whistle blew from his lips as he gave you alook. "You've grow." He smiled, and you swatted his arms while you blushed. "Look who's talking." You said, poking his biceps. Tennis academy did him good.

You had never thought about it before, but that one year apart and your reunion woke something in you up. Patrick Zweig was hot. You didn't know, but that same part of his own brain ignited. The whole night you two still talked as normal, still giggled over stories and swapped gifts. He got you a necklace made from your favorite metal, a tiny but intricate tennis racket charm hanging on the bottom. It was simple, but it was so precious.

"So I can be with you more than once a year." He explained, and you couldn't help yourself when you pulled him into the biggest hug you could manage. It was the most heartwarming gift you had ever gotten. And it made you laugh too, especially when you reached over to give him his gift.

When he opened it, his eyes widened and laughed, picking up the simple silver chain bracelet with a tiny charm of your initial on it. You were a little nervous to give it to him, worried it seemed too couple-y of a gift instead of something you'd give a friend, but now that anxiety had gone. He put it on immediately, and you were so grateful that he didn't think it was too girly or soft for him to wear. Patrick Zweig could be crude and perverted (something you realized when he let slip the way he looked at some girls back at the academy), but he wasn't insecure. Not in that way, at least.

You sat a little closer together that year, knees brushing as you caught up. Art was still his best friend and you two made plans for how you could meet. You were still singing, the Christmas time performance of yours now a yearly tradition. He was still never able to come, but he promised one day he would. The other kids were now too old to come to his house, off at college dorm parties, some even old enough to be already married and having Christmas parties of their own. The living room was much more quiet for the two of you but it's not like you ever noticed them much before. The one true new addition was the cigarette that now dangled from his lips. You had initally scolded him for the new habit but it didn't take long for it to be passed between the two of you as you spoke. You did your best to not think about how it had touched his lips and then would touch yours.

When graduation came around and it was finally time to go off to college yourself, your heart sank a little. College meant you two would be too busy with your own lives to come back, and your parents already weren't too committed to dragging you along with them to their events anymore. When you sat by the fireplace for that final year, you found you had less to talk about. Life felt pretty slow for you, especially with your lack of real friends. It was the same deal every year. School, choir, then independent vocal lessons, then horseback riding, then the youth advisory board, then tutoring. Your days were all a countdown to Christmas, the one day of the year you weren't some busy prodigal daughter with too many responsibilities on your shoulders, but Patrick Zweig's best friend. That was the only thing expected of you.

Maybe not in the way Art Donaldson was, but you were his best friend. He was the love of your life, you were sure of it.

He asked about your plans for school, and you said you'd probably go to Julliard if you got accepted. You were being humble, of course. You got your acceptance letter months ago. Patrick, not knowing that, assured you that you would. "They'd be stupid to not let you in." He smiled, cigarette balancing between his teeth and his bottom lip. You nudged your shoulder against his, thanking him for the vote of confidence. When it was your turn to ask him, he shrugged.

"Ah, I dunno." He blew smoke from the corner of his mouth, away from you. Patrick sat, thinking to himself for a moment before turning to face you. "I've been thinking about it, and... I don't think I'm gonna go." He shrugged again, and your eyebrows pulled back in surprise. "Do your parents know that?" You asked, knowing they'd never allow him. The Zweigs loved boasting about how Patrick was going to continue the family name. Tennis might be his gift, but they expected him to finally grow up and be an adult, not a tennis player.

He shook his head, turning back to the fire crackling before you. "Fuck them," he whispered with a smirk. "I'm gonna go pro. Play at challengers and shit until I rank for the bigger stuff. Play at Wimbledon or the Olympics or something. Don't wanna risk an injury at some school before I can even do anything real, you know?"

You nod your head, understanding. It made sense for him, you just were worried about how his parents would react.

"Art's gonna go to Stanford." He said, lips a little downturned at the mention. "He wants a safety net, I guess. I don't really know." He blows another puff of smoke, handing the cigarette over to you. Then he turns to you again, chuckling a little humorlessly. "Gas is gonna be a bitch, going from California to New York."

"What do you mean?"

"Going back and forth to see you and Art." He said like it was the most obvious thing in the world, shocked you even asked. "Guess I could fly," Patrick thought to himself, thinking over the logistics of it, then seemingly deciding it would work. "Worth it."

Your chest constricted a little at the thought of him going through all of that just to see you. You insisted that he didn't have to, that you'd gladly fly over to see him instead of the other way around, but he persisted. "You'll have school and friends and shit. I'll have plenty of time to come over. Plus, you know, phones exist." He teased.

Patrick was right. They did, of course. For some reason, though, you two never called. Never even thought about it. It was a little nonsensical and you laughed, and he joined. You promised that you'd start calling him, and he promised you the same thing.

When you hugged him before you had to leave, you pressed a kiss to his cheek.

"Merry Christmas, Patrick."

He grinned, cheeks warming and turning pink. "I'm Jewish." He laughed, giving you a final hug. "Merry Christmas."

--(x)-- 2010 --(x)--

Graduation night at Alice Tully Hall was intense.

Four years had gone by in a flash and it was already the last week of May-- actually, it was already the end of graduation itself. Your cap was on your head and diploma in hand, the other one busy shaking the hands of the few late family and family friends that had come over to congratulate you. You were exhausted, both from the four years and from the night. All you wanted was to go to your apartment, flop onto your bed face first, and sleep the night away.

You had spent almost the entire celebration biting your nails and scanning the hall for the two pairs of eyes and smiles you wanted to see the most. When your name got called and you walked up on the stage, and your mother cried in the crowd like the night of your first concert, and your father gave you the same, unattached nod that was the closest he could get to saying he was proud of you. Patrick had told you he was gonna be late, just having finished a challenger in Philidelphia the same day. You just didn't think late meant missing the ceramony entirely.

Patrick was sitting in thick New York City traffic, banging his fist on his steering wheel, yelling at the car next to him. Art was in the passenger's seat, sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose.

"You fucking moron! Dumb fucking cunt! You know how much this is gonna cost!?" Patrick yelled, pointing to the driver's door that now had a dent in it. The traffic was so heavy he couldn't move, and he didn't want to get out in case it budged. He knew he was late, and now some guy in a truck, in a fucking truck in New York City, had just bumped into the side of Patrick's car. The dent wasn't anything that would permanently damage the car, but it was pretty nasty. "Who taught your to drive?" He yelled, almost leaning fully out of the window now. Art reached over to pull at the back of his shirt, trying to get him back in. "Are you blind!? We're in the middle of traffic and you still managed to hit me?"

"Christ, Patrick, get back in the fucking car!"

Patrick swatted his hand away. "My best friend is graduating and now I gotta pick her up with this shit on my car. What's your insurance!? I'm gonna sue the shit out of you!"

Cars started beeping at him and the driver in the truck was yelling back just as colorfully. "That piece of dog shit almost looks better with it! You should be fucking thanking me, asshole. Maybe your insurance will give you a better car!"

"A better car!?" Patrick was red in the face. "Why don't you let me return the favor then!"

"Oh, shit." Art was scrambling over the center console to really pull him back, knowing it was seconds away from getting violent.

--(x)--

You were leaning against the front doors playing with the tennis racket necklace you had never taken off when you got a call from Art. You had gotten it from him the first time you met him freshman year, it being the one connection you had to each other for the whole school year. He had become a really close friend of yours, even through he grainy speakers of your phone. You picked it up eagerly, the first thing you could hear being angry beeping in the background and a voice that sounded like Patrick yelling.

"Art? Where are you guys? What's going on?"

"Oh my god," Art said your name, a little frantic. "Okay, so, uh, we're running late, I know-" there's some shuffling you can hear, and you cut in. "The ceremony is already over." You tell them, a little disappointed. Art frowns but his attention is pulled back to the situation at hand.

"Congrats on graduating! Um, anyways, I called cause Patrick's kinda losing his shit right now. Some guy hit his car--"

"Oh my god! Are you guys alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, we're fine. It's just a dent. But now the two are in the middle of the street and Patrick's getting his ass kicked." He sounds nervous, because of course he is. His best friend is catching fists to the face. "I tried to help..." Art continues, and his hand goes back up to touch the future black eye he's now sporting. "But, um, I just wanted to let you know that I don't think we'll make it over-"

In the background, Patrick interrupts, managing to gather the strength to push the giant man from on top of him. "Oh, we're making it!" He yells out loud enough that you can just hear it over the speaker, then throws another punch at the guy's jaw. Patrick's nose was bleeding and his eyebrow was cut, and the other guy wasn't looking all that great either. He spat at the guy, adding "You made me miss her graduation." with another punch.

The cars around them suddenly started move, and the two friends froze. Traffic was moving again. The guy got another good punch onto Patrick before he was able to scramble up and run back to his car, yelling at Art to start driving before the guy caught up.

They finally got to Lincoln Center looking like a pair of hot messes and you spent the weekend in your apartment with them sleeping over, caring for their cuts and bruises and catching up, smoking out your apartment window. It was the best weekend you'd had in years.

--(x)-- 2019 --(x)--

The crowd cheering was deafening, and the spotlight was blinding. Nonetheless, you took a bow, thanking the audience for the night. Your hand reached out to the orchestra and another round of applause boomed. Nobody could smile bigger than your were. No one could beat the butterflies in your stomach.

It was the week before Christmas, and just like you had since you were 12, you were performing a concert. This time however it wasn't on a small stage at a theater in your hometown, but at Alice Tully Hall in New York City, the same hall you had graduated in nine years ago.

The lights dimmed and that was your cue to leave, first excitingly hugging the musicians who played so beautifully that night. You thanked them all, wished them a happy holiday, and walked off stage. Waiting for you, as always, stood Patrick Zweig.

The years had done him well. Tennis kept him built like a marble statue, age refined his features, and his own laziness left the slightly auburn stubble on his cheeks to grow out. He was wearing the one tux he still owned, slightly tight around the arms and legs as he outgrew it.

Patrick had long cut contact with his parents, becoming financially independent (much to the dismay of his bank account), and no longer had to deal with the constant phone calls about how he was letting down the Zweig name with his tennis career. The days of them bragging about his talent were long gone, it was meant to be a hobby, not a career. Who was going to take over the Zweig family business now? He couldn't give less of a fuck. His designer wardrobe slowly sold off to pay for all the gas he consumed driving from matches to his best friends throughout the years, shedding his past with every article of clothing.

Patrick made sure to never repeat the same mistake as your graduation. At every event, he was there. Early, if possible. Never joining tournaments or challengers held on the same day as important events like tonight, not that there really were any on Christmas Eve. He made sure to make up for all the time you weren't together growing up.

Patrick held a bunch of roses in his hands for you as you approached, enveloping him in a hug. "Flowers are from the three of us." He spoke into your hair, referring to him, Art, and Art's wife Tashi. Free hand wrapping around your shoulder to squeeze you back with equal amounts of love. "Lily even made you a card. You were incredible, like always. Incredible."

You smiled up at him, kissing his cheek before hugging again. When you pull back, you look around him for the aforementioned Donaldsons. "They're waiting for Art to finish pissing. Whole night he kept complaining, drank too much water on the ride here but idiot didn't want to get up in the middle of your show and go." He chuckled, handing you the bouquet. You loop your arm into his, the feeling of him grounding you after the intense rush of adrenaline and emotions that came with performing to such a large audience or such a special night. Walking out into the main hall together, a couple people greet and shake your hand, some asking for pictures. A person even recognized Patrick, which was quite uncommon with his career now dwindling down an unfortunate and unsuccessful path (You were sure any day now he was gonna pick back up and climb the ranking again. You made sure to tell him after every match).

The two of you leaned against a wall as the attention died down and people began going home. In your heels, you were tall enough to rest your head comfortable on Patrick's shoulder. He smiled at the gesture, leaning his head on yours. Closing your eyes, you took in the whole night. The fading adrenaline, the sweat that gathered on your forehead drying, the sound of the crowd getting quieter by the second. The material of Patrick's tux on your cheek and ear, his steady and relaxed breathing, the warmth of his embrace, the musky cologne he had been using since he was a teenager.

Patrick enjoyed the moments alone he had with you. He wasn't Patrick Zweig the failed heir to the Zweig throne just like how he was a failed tennis player. He was Patrick Zweig, your best friend. That was the only thing expected of him.

Longer than Art Donaldson ever was. You were the love of his life, he was sure of it.

He inhaled the scent of your hair and your perfume, arm wrapped around your shoulder as his thumb rubbed comforting circles on it. When he closed his eyes, he replayed how you looked on the stage while you sang. You were as beautiful as your voice. Always had been, always will be. Every performance of yours took him back to when things were much simpler, when he'd watch you by their otherwise untouched piano at formal dinners and you'd sing a Sinatra song for the parents. He could almost taste the roasted chicken, almost feel the silverware in his hands.

Your hand reached up to your chest and your fingers played with the little tennis racket charm, a habit you'd had for years. Patrick loved knowing you kept the necklace on after all this time, even on nights like this where you could've replaced it with something much more grand and expensive.

He had never taken his bracelet off. Even in the brief relationships or hookups he'd have and partners would question what the initial stood for. He'd never answer, just tell them it was important to him.

You opened your eyes again when the sound of little feet in little shoes click-clacked on the tile floor towards you, your name exclaimed from eager lips. Lily bounded up to you, her honerary aunt, and wrapped her arms around your waist. Art and Tashi followed behind her.

Lily pulled back from the hug, looking up at you. "You were like a superstar!" She beamed, one of her front teeth missing. You hug Art and Tashi who compliment your dress and your performance before leaving with them to the dinner reservation you all had, Patrick's arm still around your shoulder as you walked.

At dinner, through mouthfulls of spaghetti, Lily asked you constant questions about what it's like to sing and be on stage. You answered every single one, and at the end of her little interview she made an announcement. "When I grow up I wanna be a tennis player like mommy and daddy," she started, Tashi scolding her to stop talking while she's eating as she wiped with a napkin at the corners of her daughter's mouth. Art's bottom lip jutted out in a little pout, melting in the hands of his daughter. "But, I wanna be a singer-tennis player. So I can wear pretty dresses like you."

You laugh, coming to Tashi's defense. "Your mom wears gorgeous dresses, Lily."

"Yeah, but she doesn't wear them on a stage. I wanna do that."

Point proved, you shrug. Patrick turns to look at you as he's sitting directly beside you. He doesn't say anything, just admires you under the dim and moody lighting of the resteraunt as you talk with Lily, resting his chin in his hand and smiling into his palm. Art and Tashi share a knowing look.

The night decidingly comes to an end when the couple announces they need to put Lily to bed.

"I'm not twenty anymore," Tashi says, handing the bill to the waiting server. "I knock out at ten P.M."

Patrick drove you home like you agreed, and it was assumed he'd stay the night like he often did on your couch. As you changed into more comfortable clothes in your room, he grabbed his own clothes from the trunk of his car and changed in your bathroom. Afterward, he silently observed as you washed off your makeup and took down your hair from its simple updo. It felt domestic. It felt like something a boyfriend does with his girlfriend after a long day. Patrick let himself pretend for a moment that that's exactly what was happening.

When you were done the two of you sat on the couch and cuddled, debating on what movie to wind down to as you settled into his arms as he laid his head against the arm rest.

"Home Alone?" You ask, grabbing the remote and flicking through the options. He shook his head.

"Watched that with Art and Lily just last week. What about Elf?"

You agree, and the movie begins to play. The volume's low and you spend more time talking to each other than actually watching, one of your hands on the arm wrapped around your chest scratching up and down and the other resting on your stomach. Patrick's hand on your chest toyed with your necklace while the other arm rested on your head, lazily scratching as you watched and talked. Neither of you realized when you both fell asleep there.

The sun rising through your window wakes you up, the light bright against your eyelids. You shifted a little, lifting your head but keeping your eyes closed. The first thing your senses picked up on was the warm body of Patrick underneath you, steady rising and falling breaths and the lignering scent of the cologne he applied yesterday still faintly on his skin. His hands were still on your chest and head when you woke up, sliding off when you moved to look at him.

The stresses of adulthood were almost undetectable on his face. Patrick had the same freckles littering his skin that he had as a kid, and you used to tell him that in a crowd of identical people you'd be able to pick him out just by the freckles on his waterline. Did that make sense? Probably not, but it did when you were fourteen. You didn't really care, to be honest, just wanting him to open his eyes so you could see the freckles there again.

As if he could hear your thoughts, his eyelashed fluttered before opening. The first thing he saw was you.

Like an angel. His tired brain though for a moment he died and went to heaven.

"Goodmorning." He rasped, morning voice deep and scratchy. You smiled, looking out the window at the falling snow. "Merry Christmas." You say instead. "I'm Jewish," He chuckled, a hand raising to brush a strand of hair from your face before whispering "Merry Christmas" back. He said the same thing every year.

You stayed silent like that, laying on his chest and just staring at him as he played with your hair. There was some sort of unsaid agreement between the two of you, something your souls communicated with each other without your knowlage as you slept. Patrick felt like his heart could stop at any moment with how etheral you felt.

"What do you want for Christmas?" He asked, breaking the quiet in the room and whispering it like a secret.

Your eyes moved from his to his lips, and at the action his tongue darted out to lick them. It felt like the 21 years you had been best friends slipped away from your fingers and had gone. Time was gone. Reason was gone. The only thing left in the entire world was you, him, and the couch. You knew what you wanted. You had wanted it since you were sixteen. He's sure he's wanted it since the creation of his soul.

His hand moved from your hair to your jaw, both of you slightly breathless, eyes on the other's lips. His calloused hands told you, you weren't dreaming despire how hazy reality felt. His breath on your lips told you, you were still alive despite how heaven-like reality felt.

Patrick leaned in, his nose rubbing on yours and your foreheads touching, lips mere centimeters apart, eyes barely open. His best friend. His soulmate. He was never whole when he wasn't around you.

He kissed you on Christmas morning, the charm of your inital on his bracelet tickling your shoulder, the tennis racket on your necklace resting on his chest.

[mystiffox]

— badsansuary: days 22 - 24

yeah, let me be fashionably late for this. these prompts were made by @owl-bones !! i'll take any reason to show my selfship with night🙏 you understand. yes, every prompt i draw will be a diff au each time. yes, i have enough aus for this (with varying degrees of lore)

said au notes (+ last year's badsansuary art!) are under the cut:

Day 22: Paint -> Creative Arts AU

i have a couple of modern aus which are more or less all slice of life aus, and this one's just the trope of artist/artist so i don't need to explain much. main difference beyond that is that night is just not goopy LMFAO

i do wanna add that dream is also featured here because. its coldsunset poly (im dating both of em) for all the aus, its just a highlight on me and night bc of the prompt theme (note: my interpretation of dream is she's transfem and uses any pronouns fyi)

Day 23: Foolish -> Swapped!Medieval AU

now the medieval smoothie au has Much More Lore this time, especially since we've revamped it recently. it's gotten to the point of au-ception. because we're insane. in fact, this isn't the only swap au we have (i coined it as the Scales Swapped Timeline) and i might even draw the other swap (Royal Swap TL) if the opportunity arrives :]

the gist of this is that night swaps with dream! me and gillan (the fairy in the art) still work in dream's kingdom, its just that there's an excess of positivity instead of negativity. this leaves her kingdom oversaturated in positivity that they can't even process loss or any sort of negative emotions- and night can't be close to her because he starts to physically hurt (possibly even start dying) from the positivity, which forces him out the kingdom.

his crown is one of the few things he has that came from what is now dream's own kingdom (it doesn't fit him well, but he can't bare parting with it). i'm the one of the first to seek him out to try and improve kingdom relations in hopes of recovering the balance.

there's a lot to unpack there.

Day 24: Royalty -> Original Medieval AU

WE ARE SO BACK and i am enjoying this revamp to the fullest rn !!! we r embracing this fully by attempting to ocify the extended smoothie poly by humanizing designs and adding a bit more fantasy elements into the world. that's why most of these have human and skeleton variants btw (this will be a theme in my art)

the apple twins? dragon hybrids now. me and gillan? shapeshifter and fairy respectively. oh, and the lil' tiefling kid that present time night was reminded of when seeing his past self? that's the adopted kid in the new lore post-truce hehe. i didn't write it properly but "the person" that young passive says is meant to be "the person we love"

i would like to blame gillan for pushing the thought of a child into the au i am now very much attached to the child (their name won't be revealed yet tho). they're a young knight in training that just stuck to me and never left and now they got a whole ass family. w development

it's never not interesting to explore night's character with the au, i just love the dynamic we have despite the complicated history.

will i elaborate on this? that's a very good question. maybe ask me and i'll provide crumbs anyway! here's last year's stuff

i had the same goal of doing some prompts from night's days + the last free days, but they were gonna connect to each like this- but as you can tell, i didn't get far LMAO. at least i've done better this year tho

[rarepairdumpster]

Night Teacher Viktor AU

Pairing: Viktor/Silco (Arcane) Rating: M C/W: Modern AU, D/S Dynamics, Domestic, Jinx Mention

Silco and Vikor meet because Silco went into adult learning to finish the education he had to skip out on when he was younger.  He does so because his adopted daughter is approaching an age where her learning will be more advanced than his and he wants to be able to help her, if she struggles. 

Viktor is the teacher.

Silco is a little intimidated by how academically intelligent Viktor seems, but can't help complimenting him all the same. 

And both of them are aware of how Viktor's face heats up.

His reaction ends up boosting Silco's confidence

They end up talking regularly. Sometimes Silco will bring him coffee.

Viktor finds out why Silco went back to complete his education.

And Silco finds out why Viktor teaches in adult learning instead of working as a professor at some fancy uni: because Viktor's mom and dad didn't get the opportunites they scrimped and saved to give him, so...now he teaches adults that never finished school because of financial reasons or parents dying or what have you.

Things come to a sharp stand still when, after Silco compliments Viktor again one day, Viktor responds with "Thank you, Sir."

Silco chuckles, a little smirk tugging at his lips, and says, "I see."

Steps closer.

Watches the way Viktor's breath hitches.

Murmurs into his ear  "You may call me Sir as often as you like. Or is there some other term you'd prefer?"

And Viktor blurts out Papa before covering his mouth in embarrassment.

Silco gets hard as soon as Viktor says the word because yes, the man has seemed such a good, attentive boy, but he didn't want to presume.

Silco gently tugging Viktor's hand away and guiding it to his own mouth. Brushes his lips against the palm. Gives Viktor a small smile as he says, "Thank you for telling me. You're such a good boy"

And the noise that escape Viktor is ragged.

Viktor tries to keep his distance after that because he knows this is unethical -- Silco is his student. 

But the cat is out of the bag now.

Silco keeps looking at him.

And Viktor keeps remembering how Silco called him a good boy.

And Viktor doesn't keep his distance for long.

They end up fucking on the school grounds, up against the wall in one of the few blind spots in the security feed

Viktor whimpering Papa as Silco grinds into him, crushing him against the wall. Viktor's fingers tight in his hair. "Papa, please!"

Silco can't stop telling him what a good boy he is, how perfect he is.

Rasps and grunts the words between kisses and bites along Viktor's neck and shoulder that he'd almost forcibly bared with rough fingers

Viktor reverting to his mothertongue as he begs to cum though.

Silco doesn't need to speak it to get the gist of what Viktor's asking

And just gasps "Cum"

Silco continuing to fuck him through his orgasm, his own pace faltering as his balls tighten.

Silco being ridiculously sensitive post-fuck. Even easing the used condom off makes him gasp sharply.

He hadn't been with anyone since Jinx's mother and even though he has to make a habit of jerking off before going to class, actually being with Viktor was near overwhelming.

For a moment, his knees almost buckled. Sheer force of will kept him standing.

(He didn't want Viktor getting hurt)

Viktor hesitantly asking "Did I hurt you?" when he hears that last sharp gasp. 

"No" Silco says between panting breaths. "No, no, of course not." Silco cupping his face with a gentle hand. "You were perfect"

Silco guides them down to the floor and pulls out some wet wipes (he started coming to class prepared) to clean Viktor up. He presses soft kisses to Viktors face and neck while he whines over Silco wiping the sensitive area.

Silco keeping an eye on him after, because he knows there were a lot of endorphins involved in that fuck.

Viktor is one to ask a lot of questions about if he was good and Silco is more than happy to answer all of them.

Viktor does ask if he was too needy.

Silco scoffs and says there's no such thing when it comes to good sex.

And then he kisses Viktor and murmurs that he enjoys being needed.

Viktor shyly tucking Silco back into his trousers, his face still flushed from pleasure, and smoothing out wrinkles, etc, to make sure Papa looks perfect

Silco helping Viktor to his feet. Takes a moment to fluff out Viktor's hair a bit more evenly, making him look a little less freshly fucked.

"I--I have another class..."

"I'll wait."

"But, what about--"

"My sweet boy needs me more tonight." And traces his fingers along Viktor's jaw

He gives Viktor a lift home when his classes are done. (Viktor lives nearby so usually takes the bus). 

Viktor is nervous, but excited.

They don't do anything more than kiss and cuddle and talk but Viktor feels cherished.

Eventually, Silco does have to head home though.

But it soon becomes a routine to wind up in Viktor's bed after classes.

He usually stays until Viktor falls asleep but one morning Viktor wakes up to the smell of coffee and finds Silco cooking in the kitchen

Viktor sleepily mumbling "Papa? What are you doing here?" as he wanders into the kitchen

Silco smiles and slides over a mug of coffee. "I thought this might be a nice way to tell you the news. Jinx is moving out." He takes a sip of his own coffee as he looks at Viktor. "I don't want you to make this decision lightly, but I would be honored for you to come live with me."

For a moment, Viktor's sleepy brain just buffers.

Jinx is a little young to be moving out for Silco's liking, but she wants to be more independent and he respects that.

He wanted her to wait until the uni semester started but she wanted to go early to get a feel for everything.

It helps that she has a position as a trainee mechanic as well. So she's basically be apprenticing while studying mechanical engineering.

Silco and Viktor had been talking about him moving in after Jinx had gone to school for a couple months but this was several weeks ahead of schedule.

That morning, after Silco finishes cooking, he sidles up behind Viktor and winds his arms around him, brushing kisses just below his ear.

And Silco murmurs "Just imagine....soon we'll get to fuck in Papa's bed"

And Viktor goes weak at the knees

Viktor starts to turn in order to kiss him senseless, but Silco chuckles and says, "Breakfast first."

Viktor dressing up nice for when he first steps into Silco's house. Because he wants to look good for Papa on their first night in Papa's bed. But he's partly in little space, fidgeting and a little all over the place, already wanting to investigate everything he sees. 

And Silco has to grip his arms and squeeze, ground him to the moment.

Silco preparing something soft, romantic, and sensual for their first night in his bed.

Softly scented candles.

A blindfold for Viktor.

Body-worship and murmured praise.

Viktor has already cum as much as possible by the time Silco gives him his cock. Whimpers from overstimulation, but still clings to his Papa, welcoming every familiar inch.

Silco building Viktor a bear and the bear has a labcoat.

Its Silco's gift to him for moving in with him.

Viktor 100% falls asleep with Silco pressed against his back and his new bear tucked into his elbow.

Arch + Woods

[untowardsthoughts]

posting some of my dndads brothers au of jodie and glenn

more art and elaboration under the cut :]]

so basically the gist of it is 4 dads [darryl, henry, ron, and jodie] on a quest to save their lost sons

around arc 2 where theyre gettin their anchors, thats where they get introduced to glenn, jodie's deceased older brother whos a demon now cause its fuckin cool dawg why not listen i dont have every detail ironed out

when jodie sees glenn he is very much Not Convinced thats his brother and is instead, another trick from the omega daddies and vehemently tries to avoid him.

for the scene w the purple robes giving glenn the phone to call morgan at castle ravenloft, that scene wouldnt work for jodie, for obvious reasons

so instead, when he recieves the phone, its glenn's voice on the other side. his brother who died in a car crash alongside their father bill when they were younger.

which im deciding to say, pushed young jodie to becoming a highway patrol officer

i think theyre like 5 yrs apart in this au? so like, if glenn died at 19, jodie woulda been 14. also i cant decide if jodie's also a demon or not. listen man . im standin at this au's corkboard like im pepe silvia. i cant be coherent but i can sure as fuck doodle

[the-kr8tor]

Thank you for voting for the name Octobie! Now for the themes! I've combed through every single suggestion you gave me and categorised all of them into 12 themes.

So what I'm gonna do is post the 12 (right here) and from that 12 the 5 most top voted will move up for another poll until the top 3 wins! (Reasons/ and where I got the themes from your suggestions are listed below the poll/cut. W/ brief descriptions also)

Note: Theme names aren't finalized but the meanings will still be the same. (They'll have a cooler name once they get picked!)

Wondering why there will only be three themes? Well the third week theme is called wild card where anything goes! So if your chosen theme doesn't win you can always wait for the third week of octobie to come around and you can do whatever you want in that week as long as Hobie's in it!

Fantasy— fairy! Hobie, Dragon tamer! Hobie/Dragon rider! Hobie, Mythical creature, Sailor/Pirate! Hobie x deity! R, Time-looped historian! Hobie, fae, Mermaid. (Literally anything to do with the fantasy genre)

Halloween- Cloak Hobie, Witch R & familiar! Hobie, Witch! R and demon! Hobie, accidental summoning, pumpkin, Demon! Hobie and angel! R, death reaper! Hobie and target! R, vampire! R and human Hobie, serial killer! Hobie and detective! R, zombie! Hobie, pirates, thriller! Hobie, (anything spooky or scary!)

Eras swap/ through the decades- Modern! Hobie x 1970s! r, modern au, 1800s, different au Hobies meet and different au readers meet, aged up meet cute (they meet in their 60s), decades, (time is the main gist of it, whether it's hobie through the years or some decade specific scenario)

Music- guitar, record play, music lessons, backstage, concerts, rival bands/musicians, band practice, battle of the bands, (anything that has to do with music!)

Comfort- stray cats, nicknames, arts and crafts, london tings, hate the am (mornings), flowers, cats, snow, cozy/chilling at home, library, favourite au/trope, cottage core, (anything that wakes the butterflies in your stomach or makes you feel the ooeygoeey feeling fluff!)

Anarchy- ACAB, battle vests, protest, punk. (Anything that Hobie would be proud of doing)

Slice of life/ family life- swing date, the twins, first dance, just cozy things, cozy/chilling at home, morning/nighy routine, handsy, date day/night, meet cute, sick day, childhood friends. (Cozy or family related!)

Crossover- villains and/Vs heroes, magical girl! Hobie, tokyo ghoul au, DC Crossover, Hobie meeting batman, android! Hobie and human r, baldur's gate 3 au, hobie and mutant x-men! R, hobie and deadpool!, deadpool! Hobie, gambit! Hobie, ghost rider! hobie, spy family au, nightcrawler! Hobie (whether it's a video game, anime or a different genre of comic, that goes here!)

Medieval- royalty, royal! R and rebel! Hobie, (anything that makes you sing the game of thrones opening lol)

Villain au- black cat! Hobie, deadpool! Hobie, mystique! Hobie, prowler! Hobie x villain! r (evil! Hobie? Evil! Hobie! Or any au pertaining to villainy!)

Movie mashup- scream killer! Hobie and caller! R, freaky friday/body swap, rom-com, will they/won't they?, swan lake au, mad hatter! Hobie, phantom of the opera au, the greatest showman au, avatar au, (general movie au or theatre au)

Runway ready- patches, runway, hair, piercings, braids, dress up/ fashion show, draw in your style. (Fashun!)

[yukidragon]

Okay question for the queen of ideas and the mother of the Snaccpop fandom. I had started making an au for SDJ based off the song Fall little Wendy Bird Fall, by Lydia the bard, and even came up with a backstory similar to the whole song. I had been a little nervous to ask but how would Alice live in this kind of au? Recently Lydia came out with the sequel to the song, Take the shot. So. If you give those songs a listen you can get the gist of my idea. Jo is captain hook, jack is Peter pan/tink!

I'm so honored and overwhelmed by being given such grand titles. You're so sweet!💕

I think mixing these two concepts together is really creative. I just love your design for Jack as a mixture of Tinkerbell and Peter Pan. He looks so menacing yet whimsical, which really matches the world that the songs create.

By the way, here's the links to both of the songs and animatics. I highly recommend giving them a watch if you haven't seen them yet. They're really such bangers with great visuals. I can't tell you how many times I've listened to the first song on repeat, and now I'm doing it again with the second.

Content Warning: The animatics contain violence against children, murder of a child, toxic relationships, trauma, and emotional manipulation. This post will touch on those themes as well as chronic illness, terminal illness, body horror, childhood abuse, and the Adults Only yandere horror and mature themes present in Something's Wrong with Sunny Day Jack and Sunshine in Hell.

@channydraws @earthgirlaesthetic @sai-of-the-7-stars @cheriihoney @illary-kore @okamiliqueur @kurokrisps

It's really interesting how Lydia the Bard takes elements of the original book and the various tales Disney has told about Peter Pan and Tinkerbell to make such a compelling world. I just love what was done with the story. It's a huge improvement over the original novel in my humble opinion.

In this world, fairies are born from a baby's first laugh and live only as long as the human that created them continues to believe in fairies. If the belief disappears, they die. You can really understand why Tinkerbell and the fairies have gone to such lengths due to how fragile their existence is.

The most human monsters are the ones with a motivation that you can understand and even sympathize with, even if you don't agree with what they're doing. It's truly horrifying what lengths a person might go if pushed to their breaking point.

Really, I'd argue that these these fairies have quite a few things in common with Jack. He's tied to the the love his sunshine has for him. He also exists hanging from the fragile thread of belief, and that desperate desire to survive has the potential to drive him to do truly terrible things. He's also close to human, but not quite, and he also has supernatural powers that have yet to truly be unleashed.

Assigning the Roles

So you want to know how I would combine Sunshine in Hell with the Tinkerbell Villain Song series into an AU? Hmm... that might be a bit of a challenge, but I'll take a crack at it!

While I really like the idea of Joseph being Captain Hook and Jack being a combination of Peter and Tinkerbell, I'm more inclined to think that MC fits the role of Peter Pan better in a lot of ways when using the songs as a general guide. Just change Tinkerbell's role from a false mother for the children she kidnapped to one of a yandere keeping his lover someplace they will never leave.

This isn't to discourage your take on blending these characters in your story in any way. I think your ideas sound like a lot of fun! Having an MC torn between Peter Pan/Tinkerbell/Jack and Captain Hook/Joseph would be a delightfully spicy love triangle, with plenty of opportunities for complicated emotions and yandere horror from both. I'm really curious to see what you do with the story.

All that's to say that I'm treating mashing these different stories together as a writing prompt and letting the ideas that the resulting collision sparks drag me off in whatever direction it takes me. Where will I go with this post? Nobody knows, not even me, but I hope you enjoy the ride.

Anyway, getting back to my thoughts about blending the stories together and who might best fit which role...

Tinkerbell is bound to Peter Pan and his belief in fairies, and she'll keep him locked up in a fantasy world to forever play pretend in order to survive. Jack is likewise creating a fantasy life for MC, distracting them from the real world to focus only on their love for him. He wants to take care of MC, and Tinkerbell put herself in the role of caregiver for Peter.

Jack and Tinkerbell won't allow anyone to destroy this fragile life they've built or steal away the one person they love and need more than anyone else.

What's also fitting is how torn Peter is about taking out Tinkerbell despite everything she's done. MC doesn't want to let go of Jack either, and the idea of him disappearing is devastating to them.

Then of course there's Alice's feelings on the matter and whether she fits in the role of Peter. Really, her personality is closest to Wendy's.

Then again, Peter Pan's personality is pretty... ehhh, not Jack. Same with Tinkerbell. Or any of the characters really. Jack is pretty one of a kind after all. So let's not worry about personality and just focus on narrative parallels and general vibes for now.

It's also possible to argue that Joseph as Peter Pan and Jack as Tinkerbell is also fitting. Jack is a persona that Joseph created, much like how fairies are created by human babies and forever connected to that child. Jack and Joseph are forever connected whether they like it or not.

Heck, the aspect of fairies being created by a baby's first laugh is fitting with this comparison. Jack is a clown, and clowns are supposed to make people laugh. I can imagine the actors being tied to fairies that look like their clown counterparts from the SunnyTime Crew Show.

Shifting tracks a bit... I'm reminded of a theory I once heard about Captain Hook representing adulthood encroaching on Neverland, which the eternal child Peter Pan would defeat time after time. In this way, his childhood games never end and the world of adulthood won't ever force him to grow up.

Joseph being Captain Hook while Jack is Peter Pan would be fitting with that sort of comparison. These characters would be reflections of each other. Hell, with both of them looking identical, it'd fit in with a theory I heard that Hook used to be a Lost Boy before Peter ever came to Neverland. In that sense, Peter is Hook's replacement.

Of course, this theory doesn't really fit in with the story we see play out in the animatics. Tinkerbell needs Peter to live, not Hook, so he's not replacing anyone. She's trapped a child in an eternal dream of childhood so that he remains innocent, ignorant, and pliable to her will. It's a chilling story of a person kidnapping a child to become the role of his mother and keep him for herself forever.

The themes of childhood and adulthood that are such a big part of the story of Peter Pan would be symbolic rather than literal when mixing it with the story of Sunny Day Jack. The main characters aren't going to be eternal children, but fully grown adults solidly in their mid-twenties. I mean it is an adults only story after all. I'm not letting children anywhere near the hanky panky.

There are heavy themes of nostalgia in Sunny Day Jack. Nostalgia is something we can't help but seek out, and we risk being chained down by it. I can see those themes working well with the themes of childhood innocence in conflict with the harshness of the adult world and how even as adults we can still cling to the comfortable familiarly and simplicity of childhood. MC can't let go of Ian, who they've known since the first grade in the game after all. In many ways, Ian and the relationship they had represents childhood, nostalgia, and simpler times.

Heh, imagine Jack as Tinkerbell, MC as Peter Pan, and Ian as Wendy. Or, really, any of the other love interests. No matter who is Wendy's role better grow some wings real fast...

All these possibilities and thematic similarities might be the crux of why I keep going in circles about the roles in this ramble. Tinkerbell has the yandere vibes that fit Jack, but Peter Pan also fits Jack because he whisks Wendy off to a magical land of adventure. However, in the story of Tinkerbell as the villain, Peter is one of her victims too, just like Wendy.

Hmm... this makes me think about how Nick was attacked by Jack, and how Jack seemed so shaken up by Shaun's appearance. Wendy can be any or all of the love interests. Her role could potentially be divided between the three of them. Hell, Wendy has two brothers, so the three Darling siblings could be good roles for all three love interests.

MC just has to spend time with other people, don't they. They can't just stay in Neverland where it's safe and always happy and be satisfied with only Jack, no, no. This is a world made just for them, so how is it not enough? Everything they ever wanted is here in this magical land of fantasy! Jack was being generous letting them go off and bring in other people to play in their world for a little while, but now MC wants to leave? Forever!?

Jack can't allow that.

So in this case, Wendy would be whatever love interest MC has fallen in love with that isn't Jack. Shaun, Ian, or Nick fit the role.

Pffffffffffff, I just got this hilarious thought of Barry as Captain Hook. I mean, if MC is Peter Pan, then the "daily grind" they have to deal with constantly is battling the pirates. Jack does try to help make their job more fun, which fits Tinkerbell's whole making everything into one big eternal adventure game for Peter to play.

Hmm... yeah, I think I like the vibes of this setup, so let's run with it. Here's the roles as I see them so far:

Tinkerbell: Jack

Peter Pan: MC

Wendy John, and Michael Darling: Shaun, Ian, and Nick.

Captain Hook: Barry

Mr. Smee: Carol

I know I mashed the Darlings together along with the other three love interests, but I figure since Wendy's role would be whichever love interest the MC chooses instead of Jack. In that sense, they're technically interchangeable for these roles until the MC chooses to pick a Wendy.

Though if I was to decide solidly who is who when casting the roles on just vibes alone...

Shaun gets the role of Wendy. He's important to MC and brings them out of the little fantasy world they were in after they slept with Jack. He's someone they care about deeply already and have some skinship going on with hugs and ear scritches. His presence is refreshing in their life. He's the closest person to them right now after the breakup with Ian.

So I suppose then that Ian would be John, as the second Darling child, and the youngest Michael would be Nick, as Nick was the last love interest to be added. Not much in the way of vibes, I know, but we'll just have to take what we can get. As I said before, they could be easily swapped around in these three roles.

Another way to go could be to make all the love interests Lost Boys, with Jack being Peter Pan, and we have MC as Wendy torn between them in typical dating sim style. Though that might be best left for a mashup between SDJ and vanilla Peter Pan. The Villain Tinkerbell story has decidedly changed a number of very important elements after all.

What role might Joseph have then if I was to give him one separate from Jack? Periwinkle, Tinkerbell's twin sister who is thus also tied to Peter Pan. We even get to see a cameo of her in the second song animatic, even if we don't see her wreaking havoc with her sister.

Adding Periwinkle to the mix with Tinkerbell fits thematically with the way Jack has divided his sense of self into Joseph and Sunny Day Jack. Granted, this is more of a division of identity than becoming two entirely separate people, but it fits the vibes.

Jack and Joseph aren't so separate that they're actually two different people altogether. In Sunshine in Hell, Joseph's personality bleeds all throughout Jack. He's wearing the mask of Sunny Day Jack and trying desperately to live the part. He knows all the SunnyTime Crew Show canon and has lost himself to the role, but all actors, consciously or not, weave themselves into the character they play.

Jack is a mixture of Joseph Cullman and Sunny Day Jack, whether he wants to admit it or not.

Soooooo... unless I want to go the route that he divided himself in two to banish Joseph from himself for good or something like that and eventually merges back into one after learning to accept himself... I don't think Joseph should have a separate role from Jack, at least not when we're talking about using Sunshine in Hell's continuity for this crossover AU.

Joseph and Sunny Day Jack are two aspects of Jack, so this poor mixed up man is sticking with one role to play, which is of a yandere fairy desperate to keep his sunshine. Forever.

Huh. A thought just struck me that further cements Jack in the role of Tinkerbell. Remember the post I made about the issues Jack has with death and how the idea of his sunshine growing old and dying will trigger his trauma? I'm sure he'd consider taking a page from this fairy's playbook by whisking MC off to land where they'll never grow old and die.

Well, now that I've settled the broad strokes of who gets what basic role, I think it's time to start narrowing our scope a bit. The characters might be cast in certain roles, but they each have their own distinct personalities that will change how the story unfolds. The choices they make can lead to good things happening, or a Bad End.

We also need to set the stage a bit in order to understand this world a little better.

Creating Neverland

The choices Alice makes aren't going to apply to most MCs. I mean heck, if she has the role of Peter Pan, she's picking her Tinkerbell Jack rather than Wendy. You all know by now that Alice and Jack are my OTP. She's going to choose to stay with him rather than run away with someone else.

This gives me a thought... Okay, now hear me out. What if the connection between fairies and humans is that they are soulmates?

Remember when I talked about how soulmates work in the Omegaverse AU? Soulmates in that universe share their strengths, pain, and pleasure. If one of them dies, the other will as well.

Yes, yes, I know the crux of the conflict in the animatic is that the fairies can die if their human stops believing, but I'm pretty sure that if Peter Pan died, Tinkerbell would too. Likewise I'd argue that Peter isn't going to survive in Neverland without Tinkerbell and her magic. Not to mention we don't know what might happen to a human who still believes in fairies when their fairy is murdered. The magical connection between them is still active at the time after all...

If the magic can create life, then it might be able to take it away just as easily.

Regardless of how it works in the song universe, we're talking about an alternate universe here, one that mashes in a few other stories with their own rules to how things work. Plus whatever vibes I feel the setting. I think we can be pretty free to do whatever we want here. As we should when writing our own stories. ;3

Really, it's interesting to think of how the fairy tied to their human child would technically be a little younger than them. After all, the baby has to be old enough to have their first laugh. Despite this, fairies appear to be created fully grown, which is how Tinkerbell could take the place of Peter Pan's real mother.

I'm not cool with the implications this sort of mother/child dynamic would have on any sort of romance between the pair, even a yandere one, so this is another detail I'm going to tweak. I'm going to say that fairies age at the same rate as the human that they're connected to. Jack and Alice are basically the same age mentally and physically.

The fairies aren't born beside the baby whose laugh brought them into the world. Instead, when a new fairy is born, it's in their homeland of Neverland, specifically Pixie Hollow. The older fairies communally raise the newborn fairy since they can't reproduce on their own and thus there's no direct bond of parent and child. Jack was no different than any other fairy in this regard.

Soulmates don't necessarily involve just two parties. Much like the example of Periwinkle, Tinkerbell, and Peter Pan, sometimes there is more than one fairy tied to a single human. The reverse can happen as well, when a fairy isn't created until all the humans they are bound to have their first laugh.

So, yes, polycule soulmates can happen in this universe. They're much more rare than pairs, but they do happen sometimes. While I won't be dividing Jack and Joseph into two people, the option is there for those who want to explore it~

The life of a fairy is often very short and getting shorter with each passing generation. Growing cynicism and lack of belief in all things magic among humans shortens how long a child might believe in in the existence fairies. Living a long life as a fairy is painfully rare in the present day.

Not every human can create a fairy, otherwise there would be hundreds of thousands of fairies born every single day given how many human babies are born daily. A human doesn't have to know of the existence of fairies to create one, as a baby wouldn't know what a fairy is when they laugh for the first time. It's theorized among fairy scholars that by being soulmates with a fairy, the human has a natural subconscious belief in them, as well as their own form of magic that they can't consciously access. The creation of fairies is a mysterious miracle that not even they truly understand even after centuries of research and experimentation.

As you might expect, the fairies have a vested interest in understanding how this magic that keeps them alive works when each generation's lifespan is shorter than the last.

Centuries ago, humans and fairies intermingled across the world. It was only natural, given that they are literal soulmates. Long ago a fairy would seek out their human and they would live together happily. The bond they had was special, sacred, and full of love. They completed each other.

Unfortunately, there was no shortage of those who would covet the magic of fairies for themselves. Humans have always outnumbered the fairies, even when belief in fairies and magic was strong. Though humans didn't have magic, they learned ways they could trap or trick a fairy to exploit them. Worst of all, the humans learned how to use the fairies' own pixie dust against them. The power of pixie dust alone was incentive enough to capture, torture, enslave, and even butcher such magical tiny beings. Every part of a fairy's body had magic to it as well and could be used as a potent ingredient for some brew, medicine, or hex.

This forced fairies to go into hiding, even if it meant leaving their human soulmate behind or never finding them to begin with. Unfortunately, these greedy humans were relentless, constantly hunting the fairies down no matter where they hid. They blackmailed and tortured the fairies' human partners in order to get their fairy soulmates.

Finally, in desperation the fairies banded together in a mssive undertaking, pooling an unimaginable amount of pixie dust and other magics together to create a safe haven far, far across the sea they came to call Neverland. It would be an impossible island to find unless someone knew to follow a specific star, as Neverland exists in a space that isn't really on any maps due to magic.

The fairies didn't go to Neverland alone, as they brought allies they could still trust along with them, which consisted mostly of other magical creatures like mermaids. Some fairies insisted on bringing their human partners as well, though was severe resistance to the idea. Understandably, even though fairies are tied so intimately with humans, most were resentful, wary, and afraid of all humans after all the cruelty they suffered. Even soulmates were seen with suspicion, especially when there were rumors that some soulmates betrayed their fairies.

Despite the pushback, a small number of humans were brought to Neverland, but only those bound to fairies who could be even remotely trusted. The pockets of human settlements in Neverland the present day, including the pirates, are the descendants of those original humans and the rare human a fairy would bring in later on from the outside world.

Fun fact: even in the original novel, people did age in Neverland. Lost Boys grew up and left, and even Tinkerbell had passed away well before the end of the novel. Only Peter Pan seems to be immune to the affects of aging and death.

Of course, the Disney movie/shows and the animatics play with different rules than the novel, but who stays an eternal child still seems to be selective. Either way, I'm changing the rules again since no one is staying a child forever in this AU.

I'm just going to say that because Neverland itself is made from the magic of countless fairies, the land itself will nourish and heal them. A fairy's body is eternally replenished as long as they remain in Neverland. This means that while they grow up at a normal rate, they more or less stop aging when their bodies are at peak health. Old age is more or less just the body slowly breaking down after all. This means that the fairies become immune from the affects of old age while in Neverland.

This applies to their soulmates as well due to them being connected to that same magic.

Of course, just because a human or fairy won't die of old age in Neverland doesn't mean that they can't be killed. They have a much greater resistance against death in Neverland and can take a lot of punishment there, but healing magic doesn't make them invincible. The pirates are a very real and constant threat, as are dangerous creatures like the crocodile.

Neverland was created to be a safe haven, but that doesn't make it a perfect paradise.

Hundreds of years of history pass, and for the majority of the fairies have given up on finding their human soulmates. Only a small percentage fairies in each generation have been brave enough to travel back to the human world even attempt to find them among the ever growing sea of humans.

A strong resentment towards humans among the fairies still lingers to this day, exasperated by the bloodthirsty pirate attacks and their ever dwindling life expectancy as belief in magic slowly dies out in the human world. With so many fairies dying without their human soulmate ever even knowing they even existed, the sentiment that the bond between them as sacred has mostly soured.

Not all fairies feel this way of course. Though an elder fairy is rare, they still exist. Not that you would realize they're a hundred or two years old, as they still appear to be in their prime. Despite the growing cynicism among the fairy population towards humanity as a whole, these unions between a fairy and their human that still hold up strong even to the present day serve to spark dreams and hope of love, completeness, and a long life in young fairies.

Jack was one such young fairy who believed in the love of his soulmate. He was absolutely certain that, whoever they were, they would be everything he could ever ask for and more.

However, there are many fairies that want to detach themselves from humanity entirely. To many, the bond between them and humans are shackles keeping them enslaved to the whims of human children.

Just like the humans experimented with fairy magic long ago, the fairies did their own experiments with pixie dust, humans, and other creatures. Countless medicines and treatments have been tried to varying degrees of success to keep a fairy alive even after the belief in them has died.

The fairies haven't found a magical cure to their plight, as no treatment comes without side-effects. A particular blend of pixie dust, human blood, and other varying ingredients is the most effective medicine they have to date, but prolonged usage after the bond between them and their soulmate is severed has led to crack-like scars that glow from beneath the skin. The treatment is hard on a fairy's body, and it must be taken regularly or they risk their body falling apart. Often the exact proportions of ingredients need to be adjusted in order to properly attune with that particular type of fairy's magic.

Elder fairies who need to use these treatments to stay alive often are extremely envious of the fairies who have their human soulmate with them in Neverland. They're prone to letting their bitterness show when teaching the younger fairies to be distrustful of humans in general. It also wasn't unheard of for a fairy who is only surviving on the medicine to take out their anger on another fairy's soulmate in a misdirected form of revenge for being abandoned by their human.

This leads to different factions among the fairies and arguments spring up among the elder fairies. Those rare few who still have their soulmate humans by their side are especially protective of them, even against other fairies, and are much more prone to going yandere in order to keep them safe.

Now that we have the foundation of the worldbuilding more or less set, let's start fitting our characters into this unique version of Neverland.

Alice in Neverland

As the animatic and the many, many spinoffs Disney produced have shown, there's quite a number of fairies in this world. It makes sense since the human population numbers in the billions. If even 0.0001% of those billions of humans created a fairy when they were a baby, that means there's a fair amount of fairies populating Pixie Hollow. Compared to the human population, the fairies are miniscule in number, but you might not think it if you only ever lived in Neverland.

I got to thinking then about what other characters could be fairies. Tinkerbell didn't act alone in the animatic, and she did want to save all her friends. If Jack is in her shoes, then perhaps he needs some fairy friends of his own.

Naturally, my first thought was the SunnyTime Crew. I mean, SunnyTime Town AU with fairies? Sounds fun to me. However, given that fairies would be very prone to becoming yandere in this sort of universe, I think we can go one step further and add a few more yanderes to the mix.

Bo and Elias are also fairies. Bam! Bet you didn't expect this AU to become a crossover, did you?

Well... if you read the tags you did, I suppose, but shush on that detail. I thought of the crossover only now as I'm writing this, and I'm adding in the tags as I go along.

Okay, yes, Elias isn't really a yandere, even if he has the potential. Not all fairies go yandere after all.

As you might expect, Bo's soulmate is Barbie and Elias' is Coraline. While this might strengthen the idea of Alice being cast in the role of Wendy instead of Peter Pan, since we have three siblings coming to Neverland in the original/Disney stories, but I'm giving the formula and the King family a bit of a twist here here.

Lycoris is a fairy as well, one of the rare few elder fairies living in Neverland with her soulmate Ambrose. They don't have biological children of their own in this AU, but they've become like parents to many generations of fairy children. Their love story has been a source of hope for many young fairies hoping to one day find their soulmate, such as Jack.

The pair are also targets for scorn among the fairies embittered by humans and the bond that is supposed to sustain them. Lycoris and Ambrose no longer live in Pixie Hollow itself, but a little ways outside the village due to various conflicts over the centuries. While Lycoris still visits often to help take care of young fairies (and remind her rivals not to cross her or touch her soulmate), Ambrose rarely stops by Pixie Hollow anymore himself to not stir up old resentments.

Lycoris is respected and admired among the fairies, even if she's still got her fair share of enemies among the other elders. There's been rumors that when a fairy tried to harm Ambrose, she didn't hesitate to kill them and ground their body up into pixie dust. Although Lycoris is a warm and loving motherly matron among the fairies, she won't shy away from a fight when protecting someone she loves.

Jack admired Lycoris and Ambrose's love story since he was very young, as well as the love stories of other fairies and their soulmates. Still, he wasn't blind to the sad reality of their situation. No fairy can be ignorant for long when death can come for them so young without any warning.

Few braved traveling to the human world to find their soulmate while their human still believed in fairies. The need to travel to the human world came ever younger with each generation. Often times that belief would die before they were prepared enough to risk the trip. Expeditions did happen fairly regularly by those brave enough to try, but it's hard to find one human among billions. Sometimes fairies never made it back to Neverland...

The expeditions weren't necessarily a complete success either. Often times the fairies would find their soulmate, but that human wouldn't want to leave their home. Some fairies compromised by regularly visiting them. If nothing else, these visits would remind their human of their existence and ensure that their belief in fairies never dies.

At least... not until the human does. When a human dies while believing in fairies, the results can be especially devastating to the fairy.

Jack couldn't stand waiting, despite the danger and discouragement of older fairies. Even as a young child he realized that the longer he waited until he was "ready" for the journey, the greater the chance that his soulmate would stop believing in him.

The last thing Jack wanted was to be forgotten.

Recklessly, Jack ran away, or rather flew away. He went to the human world ill prepared for what he was to find there. He saw aspects of humanity that made showed him that the cautionary stories he had been told all his life were not just fairy tales. Only when he was left alone to fend for himself in the human world did the danger become real to him.

Despite the dangers of the human world and many harrowing situations he went through, Jack refused to return to Neverland, not until he found his soulmate. He learned how to survive on his own, how to use violence if the need called for it. The human world jaded him, but he never let go of that desperate hope he would find the person who would love him more than anyone else in the world.

Lycoris and Ambrose's love story was a source of inspiration for fairies, and that in and of itself was something other fairies criticized. What they had was so rare that some argued that it gave all fairies, especially the young ones, false hope.

Fairies like Jack running away alone and ill prepared to the human to possibly never return was just one such consequence of that hope.

It wasn't just the humans who were growing more cynical as the years and generations went by.

Jack's tale might have ended as just another tragedy, but fate and his sunshine intervened.

Tracking a soulmate isn't easy in such a massive world where magic is absent. The human world feels dead to young fairies who have only lived in Neverland. Neverland is practically a different world from the one they left centuries ago. Magic is in the land, the water, and the very air they breathe. The human world is barren like a desolate desert or the Antarctic in comparison to their homeland. Over the centuries the human world has become a world wholly inhospitable to magical creatures.

Still, Jack persevered. Reckless and stubborn, he followed that thin thread that connected him to his soulmate. So many times he considered going back. This world was so big and cold. He was lost and overlooked by these countless giants filling it that he constantly had to hide from. He was almost run over or crushed, injured by various alien human-made technologies and got into dangerous battles with wild animals. Fairies had tamed the animals of Neverland for companionship and domestication. Jack was used to even large animals being friendly to fairies, so he was shocked to find that the ones in the human world saw little creatures like him only as a potential meal. Securing food and shelter was a constant worry for the young headstrong fairy, as was the gnawing loneliness.

It was when Jack had hidden in an old wooden box, starving, wounded, cold, and so very alone, that Alice found him.

Alice didn't have the best life in this AU. As you might expect, she didn't have Lycoris and Ambrose aren't her birth parents in this world. Although her name isn't Mary, she was born a Phoenix instead of a King in this world, with neglectful parents who cared far more for their son than their daughter.

It was difficult for Alice to connect with other people. She had a hard time due to being pretty nonverbal as a kid. Sadly, the Phoenix matriarch and patriarch didn't bother with getting her therapy or a puppet like Honey Bunny to help her to find her voice.

The only friend Alice could make was a boy who was just as lonely as she was. Ian didn't mind that Alice had a hard time talking. He was used to being silenced by his mom. They could just smile at each other and quiet play games at recess that didn't require much conversation.

Sadly, playdates after school weren't happening. It was too much trouble for the Phoenix parents to bother with, and Karen wasn't going to help her son get close to any girl. It was her duty to keep her son from being tempted by sin after all.

This left Alice at home when she wasn't at school. The backyard was practically the entirety of her world, and she spent countless afternoons pretending that it was a magical land full of wonderous sights and creatures. She decorated the yard with bundled sticks and painted stones that she arranged into landmarks she named like Unicorn Hills and the Rainbow River.

Her parents didn't care about what their daughter got up to on her own as long as Alice cleaned up her "mess" before bed. She was expected to clean up after herself and finish all her chores every single day without fail, no matter how long it took her. If she had to stay up until midnight, then so be it.

When not in use, Alice kept her treasures in an old wooden box she lovingly decorated with crayon and paint, tucked safely away in some overgrown rose bushes. It was the only place where Ezekiel wouldn't dig around in to mess with her things due to all the thorns and flowers. The thought that messing with girly things like flowers was the worst thing in the world to a boy like him who was repulsed by pink and cooties.

It was when Alice went to retrieve her box of treasures for an afternoon of fantasy that she discovered something beyond her wildest dreams.

The sight of a real, living fairy curled up with her things shocked and delighted Alice... until she noticed the poor thing was shaking and her baby blanket that he huddled in desperately for warmth was stained in red.

Alice gently scooped Jack up with the blanket and brought him into the house. Fortunately for her, her parents had taken Ezekiel out to a game, or maybe dinner or to hang out with his friends? They didn't really bother to specify anymore, just that they'd be gone and she was on her own for dinner. For once, she was grateful for their absence, as she was worried what they might do or say about the fairy. What if they forced her to abandon the poor thing like they did with that stray cat that she snuck in to get out of the rain?

Jack woke up to the sting of peroxide on his wound and, understandably, he was alarmed by the unknown human looming before him. He bolted away and got in a defensive stance while Alice backed up and raised her hands with open palms splayed as if she had been caught doing something wrong.

When their eyes met, there was a spark there, something powerful and important. Jack knew, he just knew that this human child before him was his soulmate. Alice didn't identify the feeling as anything more than further excitement and concern for the little fairy, but the moment still struck her as important.

Jack was so relieved. After everything he had gone through, he finally succeeded. He finally found his soulmate... his sunshine. She was just as bright and beautiful and kind as he always knew that she would be.

Alice still struggled to speak beyond giving her name, but Jack had no problem filling the silences. He introduced herself and told her all about Neverland and all the adventures he went through just to find her. She hung on every word, only interrupting him to finish treating his injuries and get him the first real meal that wasn't scrounged scraps since he left Pixie Hollow.

Although only a little recovered from his ordeal, Jack didn't want to waste anymore time. He did his best to convince Alice to come back with him to Neverland. It was so much better than this awful, dangerous place, full of fun things to do and see.

Oh sure Neverland had its dangers too, but Jack knew better than to mention that just yet.

Alice was hesitant, since she wasn't allowed to leave the house. Her parents would scold her, punish her.

Alice squirmed in place, her eyes nervously darting in the direction of the front door. "Mum and Da... they'll be mad."

Jack smiled, brimming with confidence. "Well, then we better leave before they get back."

Despite the difficulty Alice had conveying her worries to Jack, he didn't get frustrated with her fragmented sentences and incomplete thoughts. He learned all about how reluctant humans are to leave their home and family behind, and he was prepared. He had spent many hours planning just what to say to convince his sunshine to come with him.

After everything Jack went through to get this far, a little white lie was nothing.

"Don't worry, we'll be back before they know you were even gone."

Needless to say, they never came back to that house.

It wasn't all that hard for Jack to convince Alice to leave, all things considered. Her parents and brother left her alone all the time, so why shouldn't she do the same? She couldn't pass up the opportunity to have a real adventure with magic and fairies.

When Jack told Alice that with his help she would be able to fly, there was no keeping her there, no matter what punishment she might face later.

The thrill of flight was better than anything Alice experienced before. It gave her a sense of freedom that her life lacked until that point. She couldn't help but laugh and even crowed in delight as she and Jack dipped, dived, and danced together across the night sky.

Neverland was everything Jack promised and more. The other fairies were not just shocked that he came back alive after so long, but that he brought his soulmate with him. Though many fairies were wary of her presence, there were plenty who welcomed her arrival.

Alice was the first human brought to Neverland in several years. Her presence reignited the hope among the fairies, which only grew stronger the longer she chose to stay.

Although Alice did occasionally miss her family and felt the sting of guilt from leaving them behind, these negative feelings nothing compared to the wonder and joy she found in Neverland. A magical land where she could play all day with fairy friends who understood her was like a dream she didn't want to wake up from.

Besides, Jack did a good job of distracting her from any sad thoughts. Whenever he noticed Alice starting to get moody or lost in her thoughts, he always managed to find something to catch her interest or soothe her worries.

Alice learned to open up more during her time in Neverland. She blossomed like a flower that finally had been given sunlight for the first time. She became more outgoing, energetic, and bold. She was adventurous and even a bit wild, learning to unapologetically express herself and enjoy what made her happy.

Jack helped her bloom, unlike her parents.

Lycoris took it upon herself to mother Alice, and Ambrose became like a father to her, helping her get used to being a human among fairies. In time, they became her parents by bond rather than blood. They were far better parents to her than Mr. and Mrs. Phoenix ever were.

Yes, in a way she was reborn from being a Phoenix like Mary was to find a loving new family.

Much like in the canon universe, Alice was only the start of this family. After Jack's success, other young fairies were galvanized to find their soulmates. Bo was especially incensed. He and Jack were good friends, and he was pissed when Jack ran away without a word to anyone, especially him. Jealousy was added on top of this after learning that his friend went on a grand adventure and brought back his soulmate. The very nerve! Jack should have brought Bo along to find his soulmate too!

Bo wanted to run off and do the same as Jack, but the older fairies weren't going to let the young ones rush recklessly off into danger if they could help it. Jack might have been successful in his mission, but he had more than one close call.

Still, not the harrowing tales of what his friend went through were enough to deter Bo from trying. Knowing what Jack had to face wasn't about to hold him back from demanding that help him to make up for leaving him behind before.

After Alice got settled in Neverland, she learned a bit about the bond fairies had with their human. Knowing that she and Jack had this special bond in turn made her feel special. She didn't fully understand everything due to her young age, especially since she wasn't told everything about the fairies' dire situation, but she understood that he would be her best friend forever.

Alice also understood that the other fairies needed their partners too, and she wanted to help.

Jack didn't intend to bring Alice along when he and Bo planned to sneak away from Neverland. He only let her know that he was leaving so that she wouldn't worry about him while he was gone. Plus a shameless part of him kind of wanted to hear her tell him that she wanted him to say or that she'd miss him. He didn't really want to be parted from her, but he wanted to help Bo.

Jack might have found his sunshine, but that didn't rid him of his fear of losing his friends. The threat of death still loomed over every fairy who still didn't find their soulmate and bring them safely to Neverland.

Alice surprised Jack when she insisted on coming with him. He was reluctant at first, of course, afraid that she might decide to go back home even though she was so happy in Neverland.

It was when Alice expressed that she didn't want Jack to get hurt again and that she didn't want to be separated from him that his resolve melted.

The three children came up with a clever plan to sneak off on their own, but they didn't expect Lycoris to see through it. Fortunately, rather than snitching on them and ruining everything when she caught them, instead she insisted that she was coming along to help keep them safe.

Although Bo was determined and had help on his quest, the fairies were out of their depth when it came to the ways of the human world. Fortunately between Lycoris' wisdom, Jack's prior experiences, and Alice's knowledge of how human society worked, they were able to make the journey unscathed.

Eventually, with Bo leading the way, they came across a feisty little girl.

Barbie was someone deemed as a problem child, with guardians who were an even bigger problem than she was. The less said about her home life the better. She was only too happy to leave her broken home behind with a group of fairies and a strange but kind girl.

This was the start of something big for Neverland. It was also the start of a group known as the Lost Kids. It was a name Alice came up with for herself and the other human children. Her logic was that they were always meant to be in Neverland, since they are the most important people in the world to their fairies. They were just "lost" in the human world until they could be found and brought home to Neverland.

As you might be guessing, the rest of the Lost Kids include all of the children who would be Alice's siblings in the regular canon. Coraline was found next, then Jem, and so on.

Like Peter Pan and Tinkerbell going on trips to the human world parodically and bring back more Lost Boys, Alice and Jack would go to help bring back the Lost Kids. She enthusiastically embraced this quest to help find every fairy's human partner and acted both like an older sibling and leader to the other children. She played a big part in convincing the children to leave their homes for a land of magic and adventure.

When the Lost Kids grow up, they gain a different name, one a bit more unsettling to her in retrospect - the Lost Ones.

The success of more lost children coming and happily staying in Neverland galvanized the fairies like never before. Jack especially felt good. He was a hero. So many of the fairies looked up to him, and admiration for him only grew as he and Alice brought back more soulmates to Neverland.

It was addicting to be so loved and needed by so many people. It was also a heavy burden to bear.

As Jack grew, he had a better sense of the weight of his responsibilities. Though he tried his best to lead as many expeditions as possible with the help of his sunshine, it never felt like enough. There were too many fairies who needed his help. Too many of his friends suffered and died before their soulmate could be found.

Living With Death

Although Coraline was the third Lost Kid found and brought to Neverland, she almost never made it. Her health was fragile, and a near death almost ended not only her life Elias' as well.

When a fairy dies because of the death of their soulmate or from lack of belief, they break down, crumbling away to pixie dust.

Before Coraline was found, her heart had stopped beating due to cardiac arrest. Although doctors managed to restart her heart and revive her, for a full minute she was by all accounts dead.

That minute couldn't have happened at a worse moment for Elias.

Another fairy by the name of Violet had gotten into a fight with Elias. She and her brother Gerald attacked him to steal some treasures he possessed. With a single knife and a terrible moment of opportunity and chance, she sliced off Elias' head when his body started to break down from Coraline's brief interlude with death.

Fairies have been fighting with death for centuries. They've worked hard to come up with a way to sustain themselves even without the belief of their human soulmate. When a fairy is born now, they are given regular treatment all throughout their life with certain magics and medicines. This is with the hope to keep them alive just a little longer should they suddenly find themselves alone when their human stops believing in them. It buys them time to be found so that they can treated and hopefully survive the loss.

It was thanks to these medicines, Coraline's revival, and the healing properties of being in Neverland that Elias didn't die even when his head was separated from his body. Jack was the one who found him in time, and the ghastly moment forever scarred him. The fairies scrambled to save Elias' life and through a miracle of magic they somehow managed it.

Sadly they never could properly reattach Elias' head. It's a downright miracle that he's still alive even though it's now floating a little above his neck at all times, with pixie dust always leaking out from the edges. It's fortunate that fairies don't quite have the same biology as humans and are made more of magic than flesh.

Elias requires regular infusions of magic and medical treatment, but at least he's still alive.

Naturally Violet and Gerald, were punished for their savage attack on Elias. After they failed to deny their involvement, they claimed they hadn't intended to kill him, but that didn't save them from punishment.

Jack personally saw to it that they would never hurt anyone like that ever again. The scene sometimes still appears in his nightmares, as do other deaths and near deaths he had the misfortune to witness.

The close call with Elias drove Jack to find his soulmate next like they did for him and Bo. Jack hadn't really planned to keep going back to the human world after helping Bo. He didn't originally have a grand plan to save all the fairies.

But too many fairies he knew had fallen... and seeing the gruesome way Elias nearly died, his life hanging by the fragile thread of some child's belief, made more apparent by this wound that will never truly heal...

It changed something in Jack. Each hardship, each close call, and the success and love and found... the admiration he gained from the other fairies for what he accomplished...

Jack knew something had to change. They couldn't just hide away. Their attempts to separate themselves from their humans was no way to live. He knew full well the happiness he felt with Alice by his side. He couldn't imagine a life without her now.

So many fairies were living a hollow life. They were alone. Even if they hid away in Pixie Hollow surrounded by other fairies, that didn't take away the emptiness they all must have felt.

Jack didn't realize he had this emptiness until Alice filled it. Being with her completed him in a way no one else could. He would do anything to stay with her, to forever bask in her gentle warmth.

Now that Jack knew how empty he used to be, he couldn't imagine going back to it. Worse, he couldn't imagine that connection severed completely. Even when they were apart, a distant part of him was still tied to Alice, still felt the barest hint of her warmth.

There were fairies that still struggled to live even after they lost even that whisper of warmth. There were even those who stubbornly continued to keep going even as it damaged and degraded their bodies. They had been hollowed out to live an empty life of pain and misery.

Now Jack fully understood the bitterness those fairies held. He could never wish that fate on anyone, let alone his friends.

Jack couldn't imagine living in a world without his sunshine.

Seeing a friend of his come so close to death in such a gruesome way changed everything for Jack.

Despite such a traumatic incident, Elias tried his best to stay optimistic. He was still kind to others despite what he had gone through. Even if his body had been changed, he learned to adapt and accept that change.

Jack didn't want to see his friends be forced to accept a pain that would never truly go away. He wanted to change things for all of them so that no one would have to suffer anymore.

The only problem was how.

It was an issue the fairies had struggled with for centuries with no real solution. The best thing Jack could do for his friends was to keep taking trips to the human world, keep finding more soulmates, more Lost Kids, and bring them to Neverland.

There were other fairies who could help Jack come up with ideas. Even if many of the few elder fairies were so bitter, they had much wisdom to share.

They also had many dangerous seeds to plant and take root in fertile young minds.

Some children needed more convincing than others, despite the magic and wonder of Neverland. Not every child was willing to abandon their home and family for some faraway land. As Jack grew older, he got better at communicating with children and figuring out what they needed the most. He found a friendly smile and some careful but encouraging words could do wonders to befriend them.

Alice was an immense help in his quest. With all her experience guiding the other children, her kind and empathetic nature, and her infectious energy, she served as a shining example of how life in Neverland could bring someone endless days filled with joy and fun.

By the time Alice was an adult, she no longer thought about her biological family at all. She didn't think about whether or not they or her brother might miss her. She long assumed that they forgot about her, so she soon forgot about them.

But not every family was like the one she left behind. Not every family was abusive like the one Barbie had been in. Coraline didn't have such a terrible living situation, but still she didn't hesitate to leave her life and her loved ones behind behind.

Coraline knew that she was dying. Doctors had told her so, and she could feel death creeping up on her. Her body was slowing down and she spent more and more time in hospitals listening to the sound of her parents crying. She knew she was going to leave her parents behind and make them sad no matter what she chose. So what was the difference between dying and leaving for Neverland?

At least Coraline could have one last adventure outside of the sterile hospital room walls.

It was fortunate that the fairies and their magic were better equipped to keep Coraline alive than human medicine. When in Neverland, she started to recover, much to her shock. It was a bittersweet revelation when she learned that Neverland could help her stay alive... but only if she stayed in this place that always radiated magic.

Coraline wanted to live. She was happy with Elias, the Lost Kids, and everyone else she befriended in Neverland. She chose to stay. She never even considered leaving the one place where she might live.

Even still... sometimes Coraline couldn't help but stare longingly up at the stars, missing all the people she loved that she had to leave behind.

Even with that lingering longing from Coraline, there was no question that bringing her to Neverland was the right thing to do. She and Elias were alive and they were together.

Bo and Barbie were together. They often teased each other and could play rough, but they were happy. Barbie never wanted to see the human world again.

Whenever Alice started to wonder if what they were doing was right, Jack would be right there to soothe her fears.

They were doing the right thing. Jack knew that this was the right thing, and every day that passed and every child they brought back proved it to him all the more. All they had to do was be happy together and help others find their happiness too.

The only aspect of her former life that Alice looked back on with any lingering regret was the lonely little boy that she left behind.

Rot at the Roots

Although the focus of their expeditions to the human world was on bringing back soulmates to Neverland, there came a day that Alice wanted to deviate from that mission at least once.

Ian had no ties to fairies. If he ever believed in them, his belief in anything magical was stomped out long ago by his mother. When his only friend disappeared, he was left more lonely and isolated than ever.

You can only imagine his surprise when his lost friend came knocking on his bedroom window one night, especially since his bedroom is on the second floor.

Ian could hardly recognize Alice when she first visited him. At this point it had been a few years since she disappeared. Unlike the shy, quiet girl he once knew, she was more outspoken and energetic. She excitedly told him all about her her adventures in Neverland and that she wanted to bring him along to live there too.

Jack was... reluctant, to put it mildly. He didn't like this plan, though he couldn't come up with a good argument to dissuade Alice when she had her heart set on this.

Ian wasn't bound to a fairy. He had the potential to be a threat like the pirates. They were humans unbound to fairies, as greedy and cruel as all the old stories.

More than that, Jack couldn't shake this unease he felt that Ian was someone important enough that Alice would go out of her way to bring him to live with them.

Still... Jack couldn't deny his sunshine something that she truly wanted. Alice wanted to see her friend and to make him happy like she had the other Lost Kids. Even if Ian didn't have a fairy, it would be okay, since she knew already that Ian was a good person. Alice trusted Ian.

Somehow knowing that Alice trusted Ian didn't reassure Jack as much as he knew that it should.

Although Ian missed Alice and was dazzled by the idea of adventure in a magical world, he felt like he couldn't leave his mother. For as cruel as Karen could be, he felt like he owed it to his mother to be there for her and do as she said like a good, obedient son.

Still, Ian couldn't pass the chance up. He did go to Neverland, but for a short trip. Much like Wendy in the novel, he had frequent trips to Neverland over the years as he grew up.

As you might expect, Karen went ballistic the first time Ian disappeared. It was a while before he could summon the courage to do it again, even though he missed the adventure and thrills he found in Neverland upon coming home. It was a place out of a wonderous, if sometimes scary, dream.

Ian also couldn't forget about Alice. She had changed so much since he last saw her, but in the most enchanting of ways. She was confident and bubbly, still so kind and so courageous. She laughed in the face of danger and even faced off against pirates without fear. She had a light in her that shined like no one else he had ever met.

Ian couldn't help but fall in love with Alice.

I guess despite what I said earlier, Ian falls into Wendy's role here... but then again not quite. He has some similarities in the way he's dazzled by Alice like Wendy was captivated by Peter, but Ian and Wendy have vastly different personalities and vibes. While Wendy knew how to lead and guide others as a mother figure, Ian only ever learned to follow others' lead, and he struggled with knowing how to nurture others.

Unlike Wendy in the movie or animatic, Ian isn't going to be convincing the Lost Kids to leave Neverland. He doesn't have the courage to stay, so how could he dare ask any of them to leave such a magical place behind? How could he convince them beyond this feeling that Neverland was too good to be true and that they couldn't stay in a childish world of fantasy and adventure forever.

As the years went by and Ian distanced himself from his mother, he made more trips to Neverland. When he was living on his own, he could spend a bit longer there without anyone realizing where he had gone. He never wanted to stay in Neverland forever, but he kept going there to spend time with Alice.

For as amazing as Neverland is, Ian prefers the more relative calm of the human world. Pirates and dangerous magical creatures might sound like fun set pieces for an adventure, but they are harrowing to face in reality. He also has dreams he wants to achieve one day, and those dreams don't involve Neverland.

There's only one part about Neverland that Ian wants to keep dreaming about. He can't help but dream of one day convincing Alice to stay with him forever. They could even get married! She'd be such a beautiful bride... Maybe if he became someone rich and famous, someone even more amazing than a world full of fairies and magic, then maybe she'd choose him instead of Neverland.

Alice only ever saw Ian as her childhood friend. Though she was sad that he didn't want to live in Neverland, she was happy when he could spend time there to have fun with her and the Lost Kids.

Even after Alice grew up, her feelings for Ian didn't change. Much to his dismay, it was clear to him that she still saw him as that child that she befriended in the first grade. As much as he hated it, he also couldn't help but see that Jack was the person she loved the most.

Ian did try to become friends with Jack. He even envied Jack... but they never quite got along.

Jack tried not to hate Ian, but it was difficult a lot of the time. Alice was his soulmate, not Ian's, and yet Ian dared to lust after her anyway. Jack could see the way Ian looked at her, especially after they hit puberty.

It was only natural. Alice had grown into a beautiful woman, a free spirit who shone as bright as the sun. Her curvy body practically demanded Jack to constantly drink her in. He couldn't get enough of her softness, her warmth.

Jack desired Alice beyond words, and he hated that he saw something similar to what he felt in Ian's eyes.

The audacity. How dare Ian. Jack was being so generous to share his pixie dust to allow Ian to fly and spend time with his sunshine. Too generous.

Jack knew all about the fairy tales of human greed and what it had cost his people.

Alice had to divide her time with so many people. Jack was so content and happy with her. He trusted her. He trusted that she would never, ever leave him. She wanted to be with him. She promised never to forget him or stop believing in fairies. She wanted to spend forever with him. Yet time with her never seemed to be enough. So many people demanded her time and his.

There was so much to do, so many people to help, so many responsibilities.

So many fairies were still dying. Bringing more Lost Kids to Neverland helped, but it was never enough.

Even with his sunshine by his side, even with all the love Alice showed to Jack, he couldn't quite shake his insecurities or jealousy. The fairies weren't safe. Sure he saved his friends and was trying to save more, but it wasn't enough.

Humans were still greedy. They were content to discard and forget them unless they got more and more. By the time Jack was grown, he learned all too well that kind humans like Alice and the Lost Ones were the minority. They were the exception that proved the rule.

Jack was giving more and more of his time and sharing his sunshine far more than he ever wanted. He was already giving so much, and this brat Ian dared to want more?

It was petty of him, maybe even cruel. Jack couldn't help but play little tricks on Ian. Nothing too bad of course! Alice would be sad if Ian died, and the last thing Jack wanted was for Ian to take up even more space in her heart.

Plus, Jack didn't want to cross that line. Not yet. Not if he could help it. Killing someone was something he could never take back. He had tried so hard not to cross that line with anyone after being scarred by so much death all of his life...

Jack didn't want to be someone who killed people. He had so many who looked up to him, and he liked the person they saw in him. Even if his responsibilities were heavy, it all made him feel like he had a sense of worth.

Jack had become important, and important people can never be forgotten.

It got worse when Shaun entered the picture. Alice became friends with him right away. Whether Shaun has a fairy or two or not, it's left up in the air for now. I'm a bit iffy on how or when he and Alice meet. Maybe it was when he was a child or when they were both grown.

Hmm... I say that, but now I think of that image of kid Shaun in the Childhood Friends AU, and I can't help but snatch that cute little boy up. Little Shaun saw Alice flying through the sky and just had to make friends with her. He even got permission to go to Neverland from his parents.

I mean, really, how could Antwon and Leticia not give Shaun permission to go on a magical adventure of a lifetime. Hell, they'd want to come along, and it'd certainly be one way to convince Shaun to go to Neverland if he has a fairy soulmate.

Even if Shaun has a fairy bound to him, a part of Jack can't help but feel a bit jealous. Alice bonded with Shaun far too quickly and she got comfortable enough for hugs so fast.

Still, if Shaun has a fairy, he's not actually a threat. He has a soulmate, and that's not Alice. Maybe he and Jack could become friends in this universe too.

Of course, just because Shaun has a fairy doesn't mean he can't wind up with a crush on Alice. Feelings can be complicated that way. Of course his fairy would certainly not be happy with that crush unless they were interested in open relationships.

I mean, all a human really has to do is keep believing in their fairy. If they're both interested in an open relationship rather than monogamy, then why shouldn't they enjoy it?

After all, the human settlements and pirates living in Neverland had to come from somewhere after all. Humans and fairies might not be able to breed, but humans with other humans have mastered that ability.

Ian has some similar feelings of jealousy towards Shaun when they finally meet. It pushes him to strive even harder to achieve his dreams to become a man that Alice would want to be with before her heart is stolen away forever.

Hell, if anything, Ian is more jealous of Shaun than he is of Jack, shockingly enough.

Oh, sure Ian knew that Alice loved Jack more than him, but Jack was just a fairy. It was hard for him not to see the fairies as child-like due to their size and fantastical nature. It could never work out between them, surely.

If Ian just tried harder, if he just proved that he was a better choice than Jack, Shaun or anyone else, then maybe one day he could convince Alice to come home with him. Maybe one day she would understand that she needed to be among her own kind.

Like the fairies that resented humans, Ian too believed that humans didn't belong in Neverland.

Ian didn't know anything about soulmates. He didn't know how fairy society worked or how delicate their existence was. He didn't know the importance of human belief. It wasn't information meant for outsiders. Without a fairy partner, he would always be seen as an outsider.

To Ian, Jack was more of an annoyance and an obstacle. He resented the pranks the fairy pulled on him all the time. He could never prove it was Jack, but he just knew. The looks Jack gave him sometimes and those all too knowing remarks that never quite crossed the line into overt cruelty reminded him of so many bullies he dealt with all his life.

Jack never allowed Ian the chance to spend time alone with Alice for long, especially after they were grown. He also rubbed his closeness with Alice in Ian's face, often resting on her body or snuggling into her cleavage right in front of Ian.

It was innocent when they were still children. As adults, it was anything but. Still, Jack never did anything overtly sexual to Alice in public. He just made his suggestions of their relationship increasingly clear to Ian, even if Ian refused to believe it.

Jack didn't hold himself back because he didn't want to do naughty, naughty things to Alice while others were watching. Oh heavens no. Jack would make love to Alice in front of an entire audience if she wanted.

No, Alice preferred to keep their more intimate moments private, and Jack respected his sunshine's comfort.

Yeah, I know, the inciting incident of the animatic is Peter falling in love with Wendy, but you know me by now. Alice will always choose Jack, just like Jack will always choose Alice. She's not going to fall for Ian, Shaun, or Nick when she has Jack.

Alice fell in love with Jack long ago. Although he fell in love with her the day they met, her feelings grew slowly over time. Love snuck up on her on quiet cat paws until one day the realization pounced on her like a leopard, and she finally understood just how deep her feelings truly were for him.

Alice loves Jack. He's her partner, and she trusts him completely with her heart. Because of their size and species different, someone might be able to mistake their relationship as platonic. Love is clearly there, but someone like Ian can convince themselves that surely it their relationship is nothing more than friends or as found family.

Well, if you're not into extreme size kink, of course. Plenty of artwork online suggests how that sort of size difference might work for sexy times. We all know how creative Jack can be, especially when it comes to taking care of his sunshine and showing her just how much he loves her~

Fortunately, this is an issue that's long since been addressed by fairy kind. There's a commonly known spell that allows them to grow in size for a limited period of time, or to shrink someone else down to their size.

I mean, humans and fairies being soulmates and lovers is something that's existed since as long as fairies have. It'd be silly to assume that they haven't come up with at least a few workarounds for the size difference by now.

While Alice hasn't mentioned to her friends that she regularly is shrunk down to Jack's size for cuddle time, Jack has occasionally shown off his larger transformation for some human-sized surprise cuddles.

Seeing the tiny fairy suddenly turn into a 6'6" giant can intimidate anyone. Ian was shocked when Jack suddenly blew up to such massive proportions before spooning a giggling and blushing Alice from behind.

Those muscles of his suddenly don't look quite so tiny unthreatening anymore.

It's when Jack actually becomes full size in front of Ian that Ian finally is forced to see Jack as a real threat.

Not that Ian ever really had a chance of convincing Alice to leave Jack for him. This just forces him to start to see the truth.

Really, I'd argue that the inadequacy Ian would feel when comparing himself to Jack at giant size might hurt him worse than any prank Jack has ever pulled on him.

While Ian isn't really a threat, Jack can't totally shake away his feelings of insecurity. The introduction of Shaun and then Nick will only give Jack more reasons to feel uneasy. While I don't have solid ideas how and when Nick comes into the picture, and Shaun's place in the timeline isn't quite solid yet, it feels fitting that the presence of the other love interests unintentionally provoke Jack's yandere instincts.

These potential love interests feel like a threat to Jack. The pirates are a threat, even for as ridiculous as Captain Barry Hook can be sometimes. All the dangers that exist in this cold, cruel world can be a potential threat just waiting to steal his sunshine away from him forever.

The worst threat of all is the fragility of the fairy race. It's not just the lives that are lost, it's the fear. They constantly live in fear of losing their lives or the lives of their friends at any time.

It seems so easy for humans to just... stop believing. It's so cruel, so unfair.

Why did fairies have to live such a fragile existence.

While Jack has Alice to give him a solid sense of security, not even she can keep him safe from all of these fears. Seeing what happened to Elias up close, as well as other incidents, burned the seriousness into his brain like a hot iron.

So, much like the second animatic, a more permanent solution seems to be necessary.

The problem is the humans' lack of faith in fairies. The fairies were made to be loved. They were born when humans find joy in their lives for the first time. They are their human's joy and vice-versa.

They were not meant to be forgotten or exploited for selfish greed.

The humans needed to remember that fairies exist. They must be loved, adored, worshipped.

If humanity won't care about fairies, then they will feel the same fear the fairies have had to live with for centuries.

Jack doesn't talk about these secret plans that he and other fairies start plotting in the shadows. He doesn't want to worry Alice. Her heart is already heavy enough with the burden of convincing kids to leave their families for a better life in Neverland. She's so kind and loving. What they have in mind...

Well, it's just better that Alice and the other Lost Ones are kept unaware. All they have to do is be happy and to make their partners happy. The fairies that have their soulmates are the happiest fairies in the world. Nothing good can come of weighing their hearts down with this terrible guilt and shame for what must be done.

Jack and his conspirators will ensure that all of the fairies can be just as happy. They'll take the weight of this burden.

All the fairies look to Jack as an example. He's their beacon of hope. He can't let them down... even if it means doing things he knows are wrong, so very, very wrong.

If the world understood the bond between fairies and their soulmates... if humans were made aware of the importance of fairies and their belief, even if because they feared what might happen otherwise... then no one would be foolish enough to even try to take away a fairy's soulmate.

It might be difficult, it might be harsh, it might even be cruel... but it's for the best. Everyone, both fairies and humans, will be far, far happier in the end.

It's for the best. Jack has to convince himself of that, just like many of his co-conspirators. The more jaded and bitter among them have no doubts, and they're looking to him to be strong. He can't let his resolve weaken when everyone needs him.

Of course, Alice won't be happy when she learns what Jack intends to do or how far he intends to go. She loves him so deeply and is willing to sacrifice so much for him, but this is wrong. This is going way too far.

Forcing humans to believe in fairies through fear and blind worship won't save anyone.

Alice might not be in love with someone else, thus pushing Jack to murder them, but that doesn't mean she can't find herself in opposition to him. She doesn't need the motivation of revenge to motivate her to stop her lover from conquering the world with a terrible display of magic and power.

Jack and Tinkerbell are two very people, so even if they have similar motivations, they won't necessarily make the same choices. Same for Alice and Peter Pan, or any of the other characters in familiar roles. There can be similar broad strokes, but things change in the fine details, and the story can go in unique directions.

While a lot of elements of the animatics apply in this AU, events aren't going to go the same way.

Jack won't treat Alice like a child and mock her, taunting her to kill him. He knows her better than that. He knows that her heart is his, just like his is hers. He knows that she would never want to hurt him. He doesn't want to hurt her either. That's why he'll talk her out of opposing him, stop her from getting hurt trying to resist plans if he has to.

Likewise, Alice doesn't want Jack to hurt. She knows him. She wants fairies and humans to live together happily in peace like they were meant to. She knows that's what he truly wants too, not this insanity! Conquering the humans might force them to believe in fairies and prevent them from being a threat against fairies ever again, but no one will be happy this way!

Jack might have convinced himself that it won't bother him, but Alice knows him better than that. She knows just how deeply it would damage his already scarred heart.

There has to be a better way. Alice might not know what that way is yet, but she knows what it's like to be contained and controlled. She knows what it's like to be forced to love people who don't actually love her in return. Forcing humanity like this won't result in real love, but submission. Even the soulmates yet to be found will learn to fear their fairies instead of love them. She can't let Jack and the rest of the fairies go down this evil path.

Jack adores Alice and her kind heart, but it's hard not to see her perspective as being naïve. He learned so much of humanity's cruelty and greed. She and the Lost Ones... they're the exception, not the rule... and even they can be tempted to forget the person who truly completes them.

How many fairies have died because their soulmate stopped believing in them?

Jack doesn't want to be cruel, but that's what this delicate existence fairies have to live in is. The world is so cold and cruel. Threats will always come for them unless they fight to eliminate them completely.

Love is beautiful and wonderful and warm. Love is the reason for living... but love alone won't keep them safe. Sometimes a firmer hand is necessary.

Even if that means forcing humans to live with a fear comparable to the one that the fairies have lived with for generations.

The conflict between them is Alice trying to talk Jack and the other fairies down. She has to stop him, even if it means opposing him.

But Alice won't take the shot. She won't even consider shooting Jack or attacking him with her knife. She might've fought pirates on a regular basis, gotten into sword fights so many times, but this is Jack.

Instead, Alice would just be trying to restrain him. She would pin him down with tears in her eyes and beg him to stop. I'd argue seeing that his sunshine in tears and hurting so much because of his actions might do more damage to Jack than an arrow through the heart.

Overall, I can see fairy Jack going down a similar villainous path as Tinkerbell did in the animatic, even if Alice were to choose him rather than any other love interest. He might be safe and loved, but that doesn't stop his heart from being wounded and scarred from all of the death and fear he and his kind have had to live with.

Of course, with my preference for happy endings with my OTP, I don't see this AU having a Bad End. Sure there will be conflict, drama, and plenty of tears, but there's so much love too.

Jack and Alice are soulmates after all. They can't live without each other, nor do they want to.

Somehow, Alice will get through to Jack. Even if it seems impossible, they'll somehow find a better way so that no one has to suffer anymore. Love is stronger than fear.

I think I'll wrap things up on that optimistic note. I'm kind of surprised that this post got as long as it did, but that's what happens when you do a lot of worldbuilding. There's just so many parts of the world and its characters to touch on. For as long as I've gone on, I've still barely scratched the surface!

Please let me know if you would like me to revisit this AU in the future. I hope you enjoyed my attempt at combining Sunny Day Jack, these animatics, and the world of Peter Pan and Neverland in general into one big cohesive story. Thank you for reading!

[herrscherofmagic]

Collection of WIPs for my newest honkai 3rd AU: a synth- and post-punk band AU! featuring the band “Mirror Mirage”

More art and an explanation further below

I dont want to put too many details down yet since i intend to do more with this and don’t necessarily want to spoil future story stuff, but the gist of it is that its an AU focused on the villainous Herrscher personas (except Veli, but she fits the vibe lol)

The tentative setting I’m working with for now is Central Florida and its meant to be a more serious/realistic AU with a focus on young adult life, not late-teens stuff. Think less “fun times at Perfect Fairytale College(TM) with my besties! Lets have fun and study today!” and more “rent is due, my roommates are assholes, the hourly bus is 20 minutes late again, and i almost got hit by a drunk driver on my way to work for the third time week and it’s only Tuesday”. That sort of thing lmao

I’m not sure if there’s any real interest in a story that focuses more on some underrated characters like Herrscher Mei (not normal Mei as a Herrscher, but her alternate persona), much less a story that also deals with more serious IRL issues

Mei is bassist and a vocalist, formerly lead until Kiana (more precisely HoV in Honkai terms) joined; Mei also handles the finances as she is an accountant in her day job working at a community redevelopment agency. Has a strong sense of justice and puts on an air of confidence and superiority on stage and when fending off hostile folks, but acts with great humility with the ordinary people she encounters in her daily life.

Kiana is the (new) lead vocalist. Works the graveyard shift at a gas station and is a self-proclaimed “cynical asshole” that barely gets along with anyone else; also plays the guitar occasionally. She was dragged in by Mei and reluctantly joined the band, leading to an awkward and tense relationship with the others, but her incredible skill as a vocalist means the rest of them put up with her shitty attitude.

Seele is the lead guitarist; she is an immigrant from Estonia and came to the US with Elysia a couple years back, in early 2022. Keeps in touch w/ Bronya, who is still living back in Europe. Tends to be a bit withdrawn but is very loyal to the band and would throw hands to protect the crew. Seele has Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) and is a system comprised of two alters: Saule and Veliona. Veliona is the one that actively plays in the band.

Elysia (HoC in Honkai terms) is the synth player and mixer, and does a lot of work in planning and executing complicated tracks both live and in studio recordings. Despite being having no local heritage, she loves switching between a southern cowgirl persona and her usual preppy nice-girl persona. Since Elysia is said to be from “Vladivostok 51” in Honkai canon, that would make her Russian; however for the purposes of this story im headcanoning her as Ukrainian (which ik is far from Vladivostok irl), simply to mix things up a bit, lol

Fu Hua (Senti in Honkai terms) is the drummer; still a college student, shes a bit of an odd one out in the group, but was there since the beginning and has grown close with the rest. Has a bit of an attitude and says cocky things, but is much more timid at heart and acts a lot more calm with her friends at school.

A huge part of the inspiration for this story is a desire to try and depict the more ordinary aspects of urban life, adding flavor to mundane daily activities without relying on magic or scifi or high-octane action and drama. The villains of the story aren’t comic book supervillains, but rather its the various systems that the characters have to live within- corrupt governance, financial struggle, societal divide, etc.

I also really want to tell a story that emphasizes the queer experience. Not just the usual lovey-dovey girls-love stuff, but what life is actually like for real women in real sapphic relationships when living in the state that passed the infamous “Don’t Say Gay” bill IRL. As much as I love the canon KiaMei relationship in Honkai 3rd, i think it’s hella sanitized and can’t really convey the depth of the history and culture of the LGBTQ+ community. So I’m hoping to address this by placing their relationship in a specific real setting, one where LGBTQ+ folks (including myself) have to fight for our rights, acceptance, and representation.

As for musical inspiration I largely draw from a few big sources: one of the bigger inspirations is ASTROPHYSICS & MINTTT, as well as more recently Chappell Roan; genre influences include rock/punk, synth/EDM, and Sovietwave! This is both inspiration for their vibes and also for what type of music i imagine this band would play

The last image is a more suggestive one but ive hastily and sloppily censored it, so hopefully that is okay with y’all x-x

I rarely make spicier content like this, but having listened to The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess for the first time today and then listening to it 4 more times in a row, I couldn’t help but push the limits of what i usually do just that little bit, lol

[hiemaldesirae]

thinking of a witch/fae radiostatic au after rereading some of my guilty pleasure fandom fics hhhhhnneuhg

basically the gist of it is, unseelie king alastor gets kidnapped by witch vox's village and now vox needs to figure out how to keep alastor from dying because his death means the rest of the court coming for blood while also trying to make sure the fae king doesnt try and fucking eat him or something. oh also they knew each other before.

Vox's mother always used to say, there's comfort in routine.

Perhaps that's why Vox finds himself redoing the same three-card spread over and over, despite always managing to get the same results. He chews on his fingernails as he frowns harder, reshuffling once more.

"Whatcha doing?" Angel Dust, the only other witch in the village, pops up behind him, startling Vox, who sighs and relaxes once he realizes who's behind him. "I thought you were busy helping the healers, man. Are you just doing tarot readings while we're working ourselves ta' the bone?"

Vox frowns, pressing his lips together.

He doesn't have anything against Angel, really, it's just difficult talking to people who aren't Vel or Val. And maybe it's more difficult talking to Angel because of his relationship with Val, but that isn't something he's willing to admit in front of his best friend's boyfriend. "Well, I got basically put on house arrest today because apparently, the fae they brought back was so strong they didn't trust me not to get too interested in them and throw the whole plan off."

"Couldn't they've least stationed ya with the healers? You can serve that house arrest after we make sure no one's dead," Angel groans. "I mean, didya see the state everyone came back in?"

He had. Vox had watched with white knuckles as they'd brought Velvette and Valentino's unconscious forms across to the healers lodge and tents, doing and redoing protection spells around their home and the village wards. He had wanted to help as soon as he'd seen them, but the village chief had ordered for him specifically to stay home.

So he'd busied himself with tarot cards. But it seemed even that wasn't working out for him, because...

"Oh, shit. This is... a pretty fuckin' bad spread, ain't it?"

"You tell me," Vox grouses. He shuffles the cards again and tries another time, only for those same three cards to appear again as if mocking him. Three of Swords. The Tower. And of course, Death.

Now, of the three, death was probably the most positive card of the spread. All it meant was change- not necessarily as dark as its name. But the tower and three of swords... well. Those only spelt out foreboding fates.

"What didya even ask?"

"It's about the fae they brought in." Vox taps his hand against the counter before starting to reorganize his cards. No sense in leaving them out now, after all: their message had been clear and simple. This was a mistake. You're all fucked. "Apparently, they're on par with royalty. Which as you can probably guess, isn't very well known for their kind tempers. So I was doing readings to try and see what might happen from keeping them here, and..."

Angel grimaces. "So... you're saying that we're fucked, basically?"

"You can do your own reading if you want," Vox says cryptically as he stands up, stretching his limbs. "Anyway, I'm going to go and strengthen the protection shield on the village wards. Not much else to do while I'm stuck here, anyway."

"Right... well, guess I'll see ya round then."

"Mm, see you."

When Angel leaves, Vox breathes a sigh of relief. He unclenches his hand to regard the skeleton key he'd stolen from the chief hours earlier on complete autopilot, hardly even realizing he'd taken the damn thing til he'd gotten back home and started performing frantic readings.

It was the key to the village cellar, a place located on the edge of town. Vox, Val and Vel lived closest to it- which worked out well, considering of the three of them, two were part of the village's elite fae hunting brigade and the last was one of the villages only two witches, and the more experienced one at that. He supposed, given the circumstances, that the fae who'd beaten his friends to a pulp was probably down there. And, well... Vox was nothing if deathly curious.

So that night, on a half moon, Vox quietly exits the house, being sure not to accidentally trip an alarm on the way. He makes his way to the outdoors cellar and unlocks the door, making his way downstairs into a damp and cramped room. His eyes are immediately drawn to the large iron cage hanging in the dead centre of the room, sucking in a breath as he takes a small step back. The cage is impressive, but what's inside of it...

A mass of shadows writhe and twist around a restrained figure, dispersing slightly around where the fae's eyes must be. Vox flinches back when a ghostly grey-black hand reaches out for him, its dark tipped claws so sharp he's sure the fae could have sliced him to ribbons had they not been restrained by their shackles and prison.

It serves its purpose: Vox is immediately and incredibly intimidated. Having said that, he came here for a reason, and he's not so much of a fucking coward that he'd simply flee with his tail between his legs at the first sight of an adverse reaction from the captured faerie.

"Hey, uh... I know you probably don't believe me- and you probably shouldn't, honestly, but- er, I'm here to help you. As much as I can, anyway." Vox raises his hands up in the air as he moves slowly toward the cage, keenly aware of the fae's fixed gaze on him all the while.

He reaches out and slowly, cautiously, places a small, dead rabbit on the precipice of the cage's platform. It was one he'd caught with a trap that afternoon, under the excuse of storing away fresh meat for Velvette and Valentino when they returned- but, well, there were other animals he'd caught, too. They wouldn't miss one tiny rabbit.

The shadow cloaked faerie regards the mound of fresh meat for only a second before jerking forwards and swallowing it whole.

Vox watches with rapt attention, mesmerized by the faeries brutality. He almost doesn't notice when the fae turns to address him, voice raw and scratchy and deeper than the ocean. "What did you do that for?"

"Cause..." Vox worries at his lip.

He doesn't really want to lie to the fae- he's not dumb, alright, that'd be a practical death wish, even if he was lying with good intent- but he's also not so sure how it will react to being told he only did it out of curiosity. Because he wanted to see just what it was that his reading deemed so dangerous to their little town. "I guess... I wanted to see what was so strong that they took down half the village guard."

The fae startles at this. The shadows surrounding their cage shrinks back a little, finally unveiling enough of their appearance for Vox to put a face to a... well, for Vox to get a good look at them.

Dark reddish brown hair with black streaks at the edges sharpen into pointed deer ears, with two short buck antlers growing from the fae's head. They have deep crimson eyes, tinged with flecks of bright green- it pairs well with their skin, a deep, rich brown that reminds Vox of rich autumn soil at the harvest. He's... pretty sure this fae is a man, but appearances can be deceiving, and he's not quite keen on being cursed for assuming blindly.

"Hm. Well, you weren't among the host that came to attack me, were you now?" The faerie's eyes narrow as Vox stutters out a faint no, babbling out excuses to lead them away from the conclusion of him being a witch (and thus always placed under pseudo-house arrest when time comes for a fae hunt). "Then, you don't realize what a mistake your village has made, do you, dear?"

Vox pauses. "What do you mean, mistake?"

The room's temperature drops almost the moment the question falls from his lips, and Vox pulls his cloak closer to himself as he distances himself from the cage, willing his arms to stop trembling as he watches. The shadows around the fae pull close again and coalesce into a cape of sorts, rising above the faerie as they entwine themselves around the fae's head, almost like- almost like-

A crown.

"Oh, shit."

The Unseelie Fae King gives Vox a tight lipped smile. "So, do you see now?"

Well. At least that answered what the tarot cards were trying to tell him.

[starry-907]

starry swap au woagh

"starry what is this swap au day was friday" yep! and i was late because of work and school so shush and sit down because i'm gonna give you the rundown of my swap au

so who swaps with who?

The basic gist of this au, the "main swap" so to speak, is that the cg have swapped with the hollowheads! there are other swaps it's just that swap is the one that started the au as a whole

here's the designs that i've worked out so far (i haven't done the mercs yet because i don't have much of a basis of design for them right now)

character info under the cut because it's gonna get long haha (i have more info i can give but you'll need to ask me about it cuz i want to talk more about this au!!!!!)

to start with:

alan has swapped with programmer021, who is a 3d modeller trying to work in blender on animating, using both 3d animation and grease pencil (moreso 3d animation, but the 2d animation is nice to get out frustration and oh those sticks are coming to life)

the computer crew came from an old file on programmer's computer that had been sent from a friend of a short stick figure animation with four hollowheaded sticks. sv finds the file during ava 4 and kinda wakes up the hollows. friendship ensues

the computer crew (ss!cg)

silver (victim swapped with blue)

technically the oldest of the computer crew due to having been drawn first in their file, silver is the sort who seems a bit cold and aloof to outside observers, but her family is more than able to easily read their subtle expressions. she often uses her neutral expressions to her advantage to poke fun at people who aren't as familiar with them. enjoys cultivating flowers and trees, as well as making potions.

charcoal (chosen swapped with green)

the second oldest of the computer crew and technically silver's twin (having been copied and pasted from the original drawing symbol of silver), charcoal is more than happy to take charge when it's needed. however, sometimes this desire to lead can turn into overconfidence, which can lead to a bit of a prideful fall. they enjoy messing around with noteblocks, as well as creating complicated pixelarts (that often get knocked down thanks to a certain bright red and orange duo)

cherry (dark swapped with yellow)

the third oldest of the computer crew, cherry has an endlessly curious mind, but often lacks the self-control to keep from doing more... dangerous activities. if you don't hear from him for at least an hour you probably want to go find him. he can often be found messing with redstone, and gets a kick out of figuring out new uses for tnt and end crystals (often accompanied by getting dragged away from their newest creations by charcoal or silver) (basically where canon yellow would watch mumbo jumbo or zedaph, cherry would watch docm77)

amber (second swapped with red)

the youngest of the computer crew, amber might seem a bit airheaded sometimes. truly when they get into trouble though, they often are able to come up with the most out there plans to get out of said trouble. this doesn't stop them from running into danger headfirst though (and often suffering the consequences...). when not drawing as a hobby, they often work on building up new structures for their family to use.

(also for reference ages are swapped/changed as well, so silver and charcoal are both 15, cherry is 14, and amber is 13)

the powered colors (ok i don't have a cool name for them)

prey (blue swapped with victim)

the eldest of the sticks made by [insert username here], prey was made to be nothing more than a punching bag, and nearly died as nothing more than a punching bag, choosing to use her second chance for vengeance. she runs nightshade corp with a warm smile and polite demeanor, but that warm smile can just as easily turn cruel when "testing" her newest concoctions on those she needs information from.

The Champion (green swapped with chosen)

made for a challenge, champion quickly lived up to that goal. champion has a strong sense of right vs wrong, which is why he attacked the websites of humans but changed his mind after seeing that he and hive were hurting other sticks. he has many powers, but his preferred power is his wind abilities! he likes sneaking into music venues sometimes to listen to performances in his free time. (champion has roughly the same power set as chosen, but again he prefers to use his wind powers over the other elements)

The Hive Queen (yellow swapped with dark)

made in an attempt to contain champion, hive instead forged a sibling's bond with her target, the two of them running to the outernet. while champion slowly lost interest in striking back at humanity after seeing the sticks they were hurting, hive thrived in the destruction, enjoying watching the traitorous sticks that lived with humans flee. when not destroying or annoying her older brother, hive works on making various technological creations, her magnum opus currently at the forefront... (hive has more electrical powers)

The Second Victor (red swapped with second)

coming into being by pure accident, sv quickly forged a bond with the computer crew, managing to arrange for him and the cc to stay on programmer's computer in exchange for 3d modeling help. sv can sometimes be a bit more cautious compared to his friends, but when caught up in the moment he's all impulse. despite not showing any sign of powers like champion or hive, he has had the ability to bring 3d creations to life... and a gap in his memory from the showdown...

(again, ages have been changed/swapped for narrative clarity, so prey is 22, champion is 21, hive is 17, and sv is 13)

"what about the avm sticks?"

well this one's a bit more complicated, so let's try to explain that one

Gold -> Purple

gold lived with their dad, a well-known fighter, until their dad got sick and sadly passed. in the aftermath of his passing they could feel everyone's expectations on them, the weight of their father's legacy. they couldn't take it anymore and eventually ran away to a computer that happened to have a minecraft game open. they accidentally saved some villagers and became crowned by them. it was nice to not have any previous expectations on them.

instead of betraying the cc for power, instead gold is a bit of a coward, tending to run away when things start to get hard or overwhelming. honestly the fact that they stuck around purple for so long is testament to how much they believed in purple's words.

speaking of purple....

Purple -> King

purple goes with their mother to the fair, and the workers allow the two of them to go into the minecraft simulator together. but things go wrong, and in an effort to save her child, orchid throws purple through the safety doors before they close and she gets sucked back into minecraft. purple refuses to believe their mother is gone though, and is determined to rescue her from minecraft's code, even if they have to tear it apart line by line... (a ghost lingering around them watches mournfully).

also they totally think gold is older than they actually are cuz gold's pretty tall for a 15 year old.

(gold is 15, purple is 19)

so the avm swap is kinda a circle swap? gold -> purple -> king -> orchid -> gold.

and now for other characters that i don't have designs for yet

the mercs

I decided to swap them with fanon characters because i thought it'd be interesting to see:

agent swaps with freedom guy

hazard swaps with hangman

primal swaps with the one

ballista swaps with the [selected]

[canisonicscrewyou]

DUNNO WHAT OTHER ANON WAS TALKING ABOUT BUT I CARE. tell me about it

I have been meaning to answer these for like a hot week. Take my hand(s). Come with me. This AU is excellent if you don't care too much about canon and if you want to permanently ruin the way you watch Eleven's run w the Ponds. This is also just straight infodumping.

This post is both shorter and longer than I expected. I can talk about this for ages so this is truly one of those topics that’s like If You Have Any Questions At All About Fobwatched Rory!Master AU GimmeGimmeGimme I Will Always Be Down To Talk About Him/Them.

The gist is that this is an AU where Rory Williams is still Rory Williams. It’s just that Rory Williams should not exist? It’s just that Rory Williams Definitely Did Not Exist until some busted TARDIS fell into a backyard in Leadworth in the 90s and sat there to rot. It’s- It’s just that Rory Williams is a front. Was made up. Rory Williams is genetically human. Rory Williams has a fobwatch that has been harboring the Master for as long as Rory Williams has existed.

The background is that the year is 2012 and this is a headcanon being tossed around because the Master has not even been alluded to in Eleven’s run. Criminal. This premise was promptly stolen by me and ruined my brain for the next 12 years. There are a handful of fanfics that explore this premise, it’s been Too Long since I’ve read any so I truly don’t have any recommendations right now.

So. We have Rory Williams.

You may ask me “Hey, Andrew, in 2012 when other people were playing with this headcanon, was there anything in canon that could have supported this? Not because you NEED to justify headcanons and AUs with hard canon. I’m just curious.” and I say thank you for specifying. YES. Definitely. Totally.

I hope this helps :)) No straws were being grasped :)) It will be like 3 more years until Missy is introduced :))))) Some of us were starving :))))))))

So now that that’s some fun fandom lore established let’s settle this bastard (the Master)’s timeline…

From the Doctor’s timeline: Eleven has not actually seen the Master. Eleven’s last time seeing the Master was Simm!Master being dragged back to Gallifrey before the regeneration tour. The Master is dead.

From the Master’s timeline: Missy is dying. Missy is trying not to die and is effectively kickstarting a new regeneration cycle.

There are two priorities here: Get far away from the Doctor and get far away from any version of themself. In fact that new regeneration cycle might take time to fully develop. Doubly in fact, the Master’s TARDIS is not in good shape.

Solution: chameleon arch.

Rory Williams is not meticulously planned as a human. Rory Williams didn’t even have a name made up when the Master was both regenerating and going under the chameleon arch. There was no planning or time to plan. There was just going, and hoping for the best, because the chameleon arch will sort itself out just fine. (wrong)

Amelia Pond moves to Leadworth with her family as a young girl.

The night Amelia Pond settles into a house with a crack in the bedroom wall, a TARDIS crashes in someone else’s backyard in Leadworth. And Brian and Mallory Williams suddenly remember that they were supposed to be renovating their daughter’s bedroom (that strangely looks like a home office at the time), and put Rory Williams to sleep on the couch after he comes wandering in from the woods out back.

Rory Williams meets Amelia Pond the literal next day, and immediately, unknowingly, the youngest 7 year old in existence Fucks The Master’s Whole Shit Up For An Entire Millennia.

About a week later, the Doctor crash-lands into Amelia Pond’s backyard, and there is literally too much going on for him to even get a HINT that his Best Divorced Enemy is taking a ✨Mental Health Break✨ a few blocks over.

Amelia tells Rory all about the Raggedy Doctor she met and he does not question the weird anxious feeling in his stomach at all, because this kid is dealing with other things, like transgenderism and hanging off of Amelia Pond’s arm and also her Every Last Word. He will get dragged into games of Raggedy Doctor until they are at least 15 and will look at all of her Raggedy Doctor fanart and trinkets and listen to her borderline religious obsession with this character and is the only person in Leadworth aside from Mels to not look at her funny or tell her its all A Bit Too Much when she starts ranting about him. He decides early on he wants to be a doctor. Or maybe a nurse.

curb your enthusiasm.mp3

Everything from Eleventh Hour on is… Pretty accurate. The Master isn’t even really involved. The Master is in an old antique wristwatch somewhere in the Williams’ house, buried in boxes in Rory’s closet. I’m sure there’s a joke there somewhere.

Rory Williams is just. Like that.

The Master has no hand in Rory Williams’ sheer inability to die.

Every time Rory somehow evades inexistence the Master is pleasantly surprised. It makes absolutely no damn sense how this random human managed to escape death multiple times. It makes no damn sense that he just so managed to become an Auton just so he could guard his girlfriend for 1000 years (for the Doctor, but it’s important that every move this man makes is in Amy Pond’s name. The Doctor doesn’t even cross Rory’s mind when he decides to watch over the Pandorica.).

Rory Williams does not think much about how anxious he feels in the TARDIS. Somehow, the TARDIS makes him feel claustrophobic. Somehow, he feels like he isn’t welcome there, though nobody around him would give him that impression, ever. He does not think much about how he understood how the TARDIS worked immediately outside of the one article he read on dimensional travel. There is a period of time where he thinks the sickly feeling he gets in his stomach looking at the Doctor is just him needing to unpack weird feelings around his own bisexuality and Amy teases him relentlessly for it, because honestly, it’s just mortifying that it’s the Doctor of all people.

Around the Power of Three, Brian Williams is downsizing. It’s just him living in Rory’s childhood home now, no reason to hold onto all of these boxes of things.

Brian discovers an old, busted wrist watch in Rory’s childhood bedroom, buried deep in his closet shelves where he frankly never even touched. There’s some part of his memory that tells him it was from Rory’s grandfather, some hand me down, a gift for a christening, something. Rory should have this watch. Rory would want it. Next time he sees Rory, he gives it to him.

Rory is now aware of the watch. The Master is now aware that Rory is aware of the watch. The watch has gotten incredibly claustrophobic. The Universe resetting itself doesn’t take away Rory’s centurion stint, and it doesn’t apply to streams of consciousness that are hidden in dusty Time Lord tech. Rory does not want to open the watch- there is a part of Rory deeply self aware that if it’s opened, he will no longer exist. Every fiber of Rory’s being feels compelled to open the watch. The Master does want to open the watch- but the Master does not, cannot have, the watch opening around the Doctor. Neither man wins in this scenario.

You are the Master. You explicitly chose some random coordinates and fobwatched yourself into some random human with a random backstory. You somehow wound up best friends with the person obsessed with your ex that you were AVOIDING. You all traipse around his TARDIS together. You die and come back multiple times for this girl, this woman that you hooked onto immediately. Your daughter marries that same fucking ex. You couldn't have pranked yourself harder if you tried.

You are Amy Pond. You shouldn't really exist but you do against all odds. And you do not deserve any of this.

When the Master comes out(ha.) it is messy and awkward and nobody has a good time. There is no discernible reason why the Doctor should believe the Master going “oops !! oopsie !! well this is awkward isn’t it !!!!” while wearing the face of his best friend’s husband, and a very good friend of his own, and also technically his father-in-law. The Master is also aware of this. The Master is, actually, feeling kind of guilty that he killed Amy Pond’s husband right in front of her?

The Master has been locked in a state of half-regeneration for 1000 years. The Master has been in Rory Williams head, and likewise the Master has had Rory Williams in his own head. The Master is softly aware that there is something different in him this time around. There is something that feels decidedly human, sickly and overly emotional and cagey. There’s also just plain dysphoria when he looks in the mirror as himself, as the Master and not Rory, for the first time, something that absolutely fucks up the Master who is A. A Time Lord who has regenerated dozens of times B. Up until this point frequently operates on the idea that “Any Working Body Is A Good Body”.z

Eleven hates his guts. Amy is not fond either. (I am convinced that if that watch opened up without the Doctor around at all he would’ve immediately snatched up Amy and forced her to be his best friend even if she didn’t want to. I am certain that if Rory opened the watch at a few specific points the Master could’ve absolutely just willingly whisked Amy away to be his own companion and they would be sooo fucked up together.) It is uncertain to everyone involved whether or not River knew this was a possibility, let alone something she knew would even happen. The Master is spiraling. The Master is also lonely, both in the present and in the memory of being Missy. The memory of a Doctor who doesn’t exist yet. Rory Williams is a ghost that haunts the Master until he regenerates. Rory is in his sudden knowledge of how to properly bandage a burn. Rory is in his hesitation at saying the coldest and cruelest thing he could think of to get a reaction out of Amy Pond. Missy is in the inside joke he quips to the Doctor before realizing that the joke hasn’t happened yet. Missy is in the way he wonders if the Doctor even had a chance at remembering this regeneration of his since the whole timeline is disrupted, so does it actually matter what he does with it? Between Rory and between everything that happened with Missy and the Saxon Master and Twelve, is he actually what he perceives as the Master anymore? Or will another version of himself eventually just come along and put him down like a sick dog for not performing correctly, too?

Rory haunts the Master in the way that the Doctor can’t look at the Master’s face without revulsion for ages. Until the Master is grasping at straws, and suddenly insisting that the Doctor look him in the eyes. And he does- he just barely does. It’s not what he was expecting, but he does it. The Master grabs at his wrist and there’s a desperate insistence to the way he says it, the most pathetic “Say My Name” to ever fall from any regeneration’s lips, and when the Doctor does say “Master…”, it’s only to follow up with “Master… Are you okay?” because NO he clearly isn’t. The Master is quite obviously never okay but this is different, nothing is working the way it used to, nothing sounds right and even the Doctor isn’t doing it right and it’s clearly(/s) all just because of Fucking Rory Williams.

Anyways. It’s about haunting your own narrative and it’s about how to best fuck up a Time Lord who was Too Human For Too Long. It’s about giving the Master empathy and both gender and social dysphoria and an identity crisis.

It's also about Amelia Pond and Rory Williams, two human beings who by all accounts should NOT exist at all, finding and loving each other because two TARDISes crash landed in Leadworth in 1996.

In Conclusion:

P.S. while I’m here: Him Face (Also important to note that if you’ve read this far in, congratulations, you get the added fun fact of knowing that in this the Master’s TARDIS is a horribly beat up and graffiti’d vending machine. It’s not stuck like that. It’s just how his TARDIS prefers to present, and shockingly, the Master’s TARDIS refuses to listen to a word he fucking says.)

[spookythesillyfella]

i need to know more about this au so i always did wonder if you had some songs you associate with anyone here? i think music inspiration is so fun to learn about!! :DD of course on your own time. i know there's a lot going on for you currently but i seriously rock with you talking about high voltage when you do!!!!! ily !! /p (take care and know you're never alone!)

doll . dude . each character playlist i have is over 5h in length . some are even pushing 10h – to say that i have songs that i think correlate to the guys is an understatement

buuut fear not !!! while i could certainly make this three thousand posts that are excruciatingly detailed . i think i should just give you a general gist of some of the things that go on inside this here head of mine !!!

Tracey : "Mezes 72" – Patron [as the subject of the song] . "Konton Boogie" – jon-YAKITORY [for the lyrics and very rambunctious tone of the song] . "Animo" – The Sukis [for the lyrics nd vibe also] . "Comet" – Steven Universe . "Worst Beat Ever Created (Number 10)" – DistantCry [this one is here mostly as a joke ; itz the type of music they'd be making without the help of the others ≠w=]

Brendon : "Blow My Brains Out" – Tikkle Me [suuuper fitting for him in all seriousness ; i love him] . "Kanjou wa Zaikogire" – Dobu no Awa [extremely underrated and extremely fitting] . "Keep Your Mind" – Sitcom [another super fitting one] . "I'm the Rain" – INABUKOMORI . "Composing the Future" – N25 cover . "Lotus Eater" – Aoris

Shrig : "Exorcism" – Creep-P [genuinely one of the hardest songs ever made ever in the history of ever and also very fitting for him ¥_^] . "Fata din Roman" – Patron [im sure you can already guess that this is here only partially because hv shrig is romanian but I SWEAR IT FITS !!!!] . "Love Bug" – Jack Stauber [i know the title is very on the nose but again IT FITS I SWEARR !!!!!!] . "FAKE SMILE - REBOOT ver." – Kairikibear . "Fear & Delight" – The Correspondents [fitting in the context of bedbug]

Tony : "Who Is She?" – I Monster [very fitting given his lore again] . "Tondeku Anata ga Mawaru" – Dobu no Awa [another lore one that im MAD is underrated] . "Heat Abnormal" – Iyowa . "BAKENOHANA" – NAKISO [yeah you should've seen it coming] . "You will never forget me" – Dobu no Awa . "Crack Baby" – Mitski . "Cigarettes out the Window" – TV Girl" [in the context of digitaltime] . "Uncanny" – Ghost and Pals ; special shoutout to a NOW DELETED DOBU NO AWA SONG "Please Kill Me" THAT I LOVED AND PLANNED TO DO AN ANIMATION TO

i could keep going for a LONG . LONG while but i don't think you want to read any more of this ahaha

[asifyoucouldoutreadme]

I have an entire doc of smut for this fic - I’m just waiting for these angry kids to stop fighting the magic and f**k 🙄 So here’s a little teaser for what’s coming up now that Hermione and Draco are officially soul-bound.

The Empress of all Maladies by AsIfYouCouldOutReadMe on AO3

THE STATS: Explicit, dual POV, 102,988 word WIP - posts every 7-10 days

THE GIST: The one with a dying Death Eater Draco who blackmails Hermione (fresh from 5 years w/o magic in witness protection) into soul bonding with him to heal damage from dark magic.

FEATURING: Forced soul bonding, sentient magic, Death Eater Draco, Dark Hermione Granger, Mad Scientist Theo, Spymaster Blaise Zabini, more morally-gray characters than you can shake a stick at, Crookshanks, experimental magic, blood rites, Death Eater political intrigue, and a proper slow SLOW burn E2L (he falls first).

THE VIBES: Gothic horror wartime AU roughly inspired by Frankenstein/Bride of Frankenstein and Jane Eyre.