#me: or hurts like hell. . . or rewrite the stars. . .

[after-nine-at-the-oasis]

I've been considering making a playlist with one song for each of the ships I love, which I think is a great idea and all (as long as I made a code for what song means which ship in case I forgot), but I ran into an problem.

For ships without a canon song to relate them to I could just pick a song that makes me think of them, which was the original intention anyway (it's just that for several the main song is one in canon), but here is where the issue lies: I thought of too many.

So now I have to decide between several songs for each ship lol. It's the main reason I haven't made the playlist yet xd. Help :').

[forlix]

‧ ❆ ˚ 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬

— eight winter-themed fics for each member of stray kids written by myself (@forlix) and my sahar (@astraystayyh)! alternatively titled dead dick december lmfaooo

— important notes :

6/8 completed; last updated 3/19/24

no specific holidays are mentioned by name

gendered pronouns used only in chan's, minho's, and han's fics

minors & ageless blogs please dni w/ han's fic as it is nsfw

fics will be posted between dec. 2023 and mar. 2024

. . . also, we will be opening a taglist for this series! send me or sahar an ask or reply to either of our masterlists if you'd like to be added ♡ (minors and ageless blogs will not be tagged in han's)

pieces of you・bang chan・@astraystayyh・8.7k ⤷ single dad!chan, neighbors!au, fluff, angst, slow burn. posted 2/12/24.

in which you and chan are each other's missing pieces. alternatively, chan and his daughter come knocking at your apartment asking for flour, and he's suddenly no longer embarrassed when you open the door.

something has melted・lee minho・@forlix ⤷ spy x family!au, fake dating!au, fluff

your obnoxious coworkers never get off your ass about how single you are, and your temporary husband is too happy to make them eat their words.

burning in the winter wind・seo changbin・@astraystayyh・4.4k ⤷ (fake) enemies to lovers, college!au, hurt/comfort. posted 2/26/24.

sustaining an ankle injury during a ski retreat isn't fun. especially when seo changbin volunteers to stay back to tend to you—the one man you can never get a read on.

the snow falls, we fall apart・hwang hyunjin・@astraystayyh ⤷ roommates!au, friends to lovers, slow burn, hurt/comfort. posted 3/19/24.

when heartbreak looms on your life, and winter becomes a time you loathe, hyunjin helps you rewrite your memories with the season, and with it, everything you once believed about love.

(18+) empty my mind・han jisung・@forlix・6.4k ⤷ friends with benefits to lovers, smut, fluff, angst, hurt/comfort. posted 1/6/24.

stars flare brightest in the absence of light, and you see his clearer than day.

everything has changed (besides myself)・lee felix・@forlix・5.4k ⤷ babysitter!au, exes to lovers, angst, hurt/comfort, fluff. posted 12/9/23.

you spend three years loving him, six months losing him, and four hours waiting for him to get the hell out of your house. but the human heart is more stubborn than you know.

warm winter・kim seungmin・@forlix ⤷ established relationship, hurt/comfort, fluff

"i don't deserve you," he breathes, "but god, i want to."

please fall before i fall・yang jeongin・@astraystayyh・2.8k ⤷ childhood best friends to lovers, fluff, hint of unrequited love (they're idiots). posted 1/18/24.

three times you saved jeongin's ass and the one time he saved yours (and ended up confessing along the way).

© 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐱 (est. 090323) · all works are pieces of original writing and all characters and relationships are purely fictional. please do not repost or reuse for any reason.

[bloop-bl00p]

Rewriting Vaggie because she was done dirty

Angel's backstory and my take if Vaggie was a human.

1. Angel Vaggie:

So, back in the Pilot days, I wasn’t a fan of Vaggie being an Exorcist theory. I was like, Vivienne is obliviously a decent writer, of course, she won’t do something so oblivious! The X on Vaggie’s face is because she lost her eye alive!

I was so disappointed, but I could still work with it… then I was double disappointed when the reveal had no impact on the narrative and all they gave us AMgy Charlie for one scene and fixed the conflict in one episode. 😐

That and the plot holes it created, what plot holes you ask? Well, Vaggie still speaks Spanish which means that she’s still Salvadoran but… Adam named her? Assuming everyone changes their name once they get to Heaven, why do they recruit humans to fight demons? Assuming that there’s like a whole process of giving angelic power to enforce a soul, why didn't they give to the whole army the Kamehameha rip-off Adam has? The Extermination would have been much more faster and deadly if they could just Kamehameha Pentagram Cities.

Most importantly, even if they have enhanced speed, strength, or whatever, if they are all humans, why did they think they were invincible?! Surely if they can kill sinners who are human souls, they’ll know that they can also be killed themselves? Right?! RIGHT?!

I hate the worldbuilding in this show, I hate it!! 🥲

Anyway my rewrite of Angel Vaggie, she won’t be Salvadoran and was fully created in Heaven so no Spanish.

Here’s the thing, the Exorcists were created with Adam’s ribs. A little bit of physiology here, ribs can regrow and repair even when a large a portion of it is damaged. So with Heaven's supervision, creating an army of women with Adam’s ribs was relatively a fast and painless process for the First Man.

You’ll ask me, why make them with ribs? Well, the reason why Eve was made with Adam was a reminder that God created her beside him. They complemented each other, I wanted to do something similar. Adam feels content with The Exorcists because he finally has a group of women who actually listen and are interested in him and not some random with wings. The Exorcists are entitled to Adam and feel worthless without following him around and his orders, a bit like Pearl in Steven Universe, they were created that way.

They still possess some form of autonomy and develop their own personality, not following Adam’s orders just feels odd to them. Then someone actually did it and we all know how that ended.

Whoops that must have hurted.

My take on Vaggie and Lute’s relationship ⇢ here ⇠

So, in Hell, Valtiel (I renaimed her) was totally distraught, she was scared and didn’t know what to do, she was so used to blindly following orders. Sparing this child seemed like it was the worst decision she’d ever made but it also felt right, the poor girl couldn't grasp her feelings correctly at the moment.

She managed to survive a few months in Hell by making a relatively short deal with a local gang to receive aid, in exchange, she used her fighting skills to help them steal food and survive as a whole, she did not develop any sense of belonging to the group and mostly did it for survival.

When her deal came to an end she separated herself from the gang and stayed for a long time in different disaffected buildings with other SDFs preferring to continue her path alone, she felt horribly empty, devoid of purpose without following someone.

Until she saw a star.

The Princess was trying to promote her Hotel on the street, and while Valtiel thought her project was very delusional, she accepted. The Hotel was an old establishment but it was certainly more well-kept than where she used to be, and it was free.

I’m sparing the details, they slowly fell in love and Valtiel projected the toxic dependence she had on Adam to Charlie. While the two truly love each other, Valtiel will need to learn to find herself and not depend on others to live. If she were to have her wings back, it wouldn’t angel's wings but a moth's wings. As a way to metaphorically represent the fact that she changed, like a moth.

She never told Charlie about her past.

I renaimed her Valtiel because it meant “Attendant of God” If you go search a list of angels in Christian Mythology, you’ll notice each of them has “El” as the last syllabus. It’s because “El” in Hebrew means God.

1. Human Vaggie:

Lemme do a research real quick…

Wait a minute..

… y’know. I’m starting to believe that Vivienne is just lazy, obliviously this is one of Vaggie's concepts of backstory, the famous one being that she died in 2014.

But am I the only one who sees the potential?!! Like all things are linked! It makes sense! The very militaristic attitude she had during the Redemption Exercises, the fact that she brought the cast to a war front to build their trust, jeez that’s a missed opportunity to do something that is (to me) much more interesting than a theory made by fans.

So as a good writer, I did a little research because someone had to do it since Medrano won’t, and here is what I came up with.

(If anyone sees any historical mistakes report them to me, I really don’t want to disrespect anyone and I know wars in a really difficult subject to write about. Sorry if I offended anyone.)

Her name is Vanessa she was born in 1968 in El Salvador and died in 1990. Before all of that, she and her brother Carlos were both children of war.

They were separated from their mother during the Salvadoran Civil War, the woman tried to flee with them during a fight between La Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN, rebel group) and La Fuerza Armada de El Salvador (FAES, military) but between the gunshot and the terrified civilians, she ended up losing her kids. Vanessa from afar saw her mother getting shot and tried to run away with her brother, he was 5, and she was 12.

The two siblings were later indoctrinated to join the FAES, they never tried to escape as a means to survive since they received food and somewhat clean water, which they originally didn't have in great amounts. However, Vanessa never really supported their ideology and Carlos was too young to really understand what was happening.

The young boy was frail and relatively weak due to his age and malnutrition he only worked in the support staff which was involved in helping to maintain camp operations. Vanessa was also part of it and sticked with her brother as much as possible, but as she grew, she was used to carrying around messages between units due to her being older and stronger, which she hated, it was dangerous and she was disgusted by the idea of leaving her brother alone with these people.

The two of them were victims of SA perpetuated by the soldiers (hence why she’s so wary of men when especially violent ones). Her brother died at ten, due to the poor condition and she blamed herself for it. She eventually died by accidentally activating a booby trap, the explosion sent shrapnel flying, hitting her in the face and causing the loss of her eye she expired due to blood loss at 22.

Vanessa found herself in Hell and tried to survive for a few months both scared and disoriented. However, she still managed to somewhat be fine punching her way inside buildings to steal food and find ways to avoid sleeping outside. She renaimed herself Vaga in reference to the word Vagabundo which means vagabond.

To her, home is where she’s with her brother, without him there’s no home.

Vaga heard words of Carmilla as she started to familiarize herself with English, what she understood was that she dealt with weapons and was a gentler overlord. She eventually met her and they made a deal. It didn't involve Vaga’s soul but just 4 years of working for her, testing weapons and such. Vaga assisted the woman and trained with her daughters, she also learned English and got a better understanding of Hell’s system.

At 26 too, Vaga's deal was done and she decided to distance herself from Carmilla whose door was clearly still open if she needed help. She met Charlie on the street when the Princess was just starting her project, and since Vaga needed a place to crash in, she went in not realizing they’d catch feelings.

Vaga has signs of Complex post-traumatic stress disorder due to being a child of war. This leads her to many emotional outbursts and this feeling of emptiness when she isn't helping, at least she sees it as helping. Her whole life she only managed to survive in a hostile environment by serving others, she may not view it that way but she unconsciously believes the act of Serving is a necessity to keep her alive.

She deeply believed she failed to protect Carlos, so she projected it all on Charlie. This could lead to an interesting conflict between the two, Charlie was highly shielded from the world by her mother, and this hotel is proof that she can survive on her own (in my rewrite at least.) If her girlfriend starts acting like an overprotective parent it won’t do.

While Vaga mostly thinks redemption is impossible, she holds that small tiniest sprinkle of hope that maybe if she managed to get into Heaven somehow, she could see Carlos again and apologize for failing him.

Vaga still hasn't opened up about her past.

More explanation:

Her human backstory is extremely Grave of the Fireflies coded and I admit I recently saw the movie and couldn't help it. It’s my way of coping, this movie destroyed me. Some may ask, why did Vannessa go to Hell, she did nothing wrong.

That’s part of my Heaven rewriting, you see you’re judged by the Seven Deadly Sins and the Holly Virtuous. But they only judge your actions, not why you did them.

Carlos went to Heaven because he was really young and hadn't developed a real sense of morality yet, if he reached 13 he would have gone to Hell. Vanessa died an adult and still helped in the War, even if it was out of her control she still got damned.

Anyway, what do you think of those two backstories?

[littlemisspascal]

New Writers added to The Pedro Library 🐼

@nerdieforpedro @janaispunk

New Works Added ✨

Many fics aren’t appearing in the tags when searching. If I miss yours, please let me know 💗 Or add me to your taglist cuz I love being tagged 😊

As always, if you would like me to remove your work from the rec list, please let know and I’ll remove them asap 😊

@dindjarindiaries Din I Still See You

@beskarandblasters Din His Living Fleshlight + The Gunslinger & The Mandalorian 

@yoditorian Din Lacuna – The Rewrite

@morallyinept Pero Indebted / Javi G Hiccup / Frankie Imbued

@5oh5 Frankie Sky of Stars / Tim Moss

@undercoverpena Frankie A Debt to Pay

@stylesispunk Javier Nothing’s Gonna Hurt You Baby

@wildemaven Javier Call Me Javi / Whiskey Losin’ You

@trulybetty Joel Honey, I Won’t Be Home

@aurorawritestoescape Joel Like It’s the Last Time / @milla-frenchy Javier The Hounds of Hell

@ladamedusoif Joel Able

@swiftispunk Joel For You, For Me

@ezrasbirdie Joel Amateur

@joelalorian Joel Fall Into Me

@beefrobeefcal Joel The Beef

@covetyou Tim Some Good Friend

@wardenparker Whiskey “There is no us”

@whataperfectwasteoftime Marcus P The District Sleeps Alone Tonight 

@absurdthirst @storiesofthefandomlovers Dieter The Hotline

[let-me-be-an-egg-toast]

obligatory hazbin hotel redesigns (part 3)

Ceramith (Sera), Emilith (Emily), and (wowza) Lucifer Morningstar!

details:

Look man the names Emily and Sera just rub off the wrong way considering they're literally seraphims

Sera could've been good if it wasn't akin to naming a human Huma

So not me forgetting to put the doll lines on Emilith???

let's be delulu again it's the solulu

so in my rewrite of sorts (idk) whenever angels become humanoid (other term: compress themselves) they have seams on their faces so that it can split, stretch out and become their normal face once they revert

and as we can see they have robes whenever they compress

And considering Lucifer was once an angel he has seams (Charlie has them as well) and robes too

But since in lore he's like formerly favored by God or loveliest angel or some shit in here he was a high ranking seraphim (seraphims are the highest rank in heaven idk if that's true in hazbin)

And that's why his robes are more detailed compared to the others

since he's bald (lmao) his wings are turned into cape and robes

The star on his head that kinda looks like a crown is a reference to him being Morning Star

Fire because he kinda plays Prometheus role (giving knowledge to humanity)

I wanted his head to have these details because "heavy is the head that holds the crown" and the big horns were given to him by God, cursing him to be King of Hell

He can "open" his eyes (opened eyes on the far right side)

so sorry to y'all for short king erasure

Lucifer's personality is ABSOLUTELY changed in here except we're keeping the depression

he all serious and kinda stoic

got kicked out because "opening humanity's eyes" = suffering for them

some of humanity can never get to go to heaven because of what Lucifer did because the knowledge given to them will lead them to do both good and BAD THINGS

Here he's against the notion of the Hotel because he fears Charlie is gonna get punished by Heaven or something for doing it

So instead of Charlie calling him, he comes to the Hotel on his own whim, pretending to want to help

and then slowly he actually gets into the sinner redemption thing

Charlie had a suspicion of his actual intentions but still feels kind of hurt when it's revealed to be true

he gets jumpscared by vaggie's existence until he realizes that she is fallen like him

father and daughter in law bonding time BAHAHHAHAHA

Lucifer and Charlie making up and then we have the final episode of Hazbin hotel

But it's bonkers cuz in my redesigns Lucifer and Charlie's true forms are just

err...B I G

Do not be afraid as I tear down your army

PS: Alastor doesn't try egging him on and Lucifer doesn't try revealing him at first cuz yk of his intentions (formerly)

part 1 and 2 if ur interested

[lightofraye]

A Little Perspective

This may be lengthy and detailed and potentially triggering for some. I will be covering a number of possible points of view about things covering why Jensen hasn't left--and may never. (A prospective I'm not thrilled about, to be honest.)

So. Let's begin.

1) Abuse: This is double issue for Jensen. Potentially a triple. How do I mean? For instance, Jensen himself admitted his father beat him with a belt--and from the sound of it, a lot, while he was growing up, as Jensen knew thinner belts hurt more. Worse, his father said he did it "out of love", so there's that bad, unpleasant association right out the bat.

Plus, his mother... this is only speculation, an assumption. She either looked the other way and accepted the abuse, or she was a participant of the abuse and thought it was normal/acceptable. That too may color Jensen's perspective and not a good way either.

Then Jensen became a model... and the modeling industry is/was rife on abuse. A lot of stories come out later where those who quit the industry or endured it suffered a great deal of sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual abuse.... A "pretty boy" like Jensen likely would've suffered as well. I don't believe he's ever shared stories and he likely may never.

(Hi, toxic perception of men as victims again.)

I can't even begin about the sexual abuse that is rampant in Hollywood itself. Yes, women were largely targets, but as we've heard the last few years,... so have been men.

Hell, Jensen was sexually assaulted by Misha! It was used in a fucking gag reel! It's not funny! Jensen even said if he had known they were going to put it in the gag reel, he would've asked them not to. That to me speaks volumes.

There are brief stories out there. A PA witnessed Danneel slapping Jensen when she thought Jensen was flirting with the PA. (He wasn't; he's just that sweet.) There's another story of some restaurant goer who saw how harsh Danneel was bullying Jensen outside the restaurant.

He's... diminished. His baseline for normal is not the baseline for normal for non-abused people. His self-esteem, confidence, and ability to stand up for himself is heavily damaged. He doesn't know how to stand up for himself. Every time he has, he's been smacked down.

Yes, he can stand up for others time to time, but there are instances when he didn't and gave up in face of authority. (Mark Sheppard being demoted to guest star and losing pay and choosing to quit instead... only had Jared standing up for him in the end. Misha caved instantly and Jensen gave up as well.)

So what then does it mean for him and Danneel? Did she become abusive off the bat? No. That's not how abusers work. There were likely instances where she slipped and he mentally made excuses, ignored the red flags because that's how it tends to happen. Hindsight is ever perfect. Being in the heat of it, we tend to try and excuse, defend, or otherwise rewrite it in our minds. We don't want to think of it as normal.

Then once they were married, Danneel began to let that completely slip and fall, and he was "trapped". The cycle continues. By now he thinks of it as normal, acceptable, maybe impossible to escape. He has likely been told no one would want him. He's "middle-aged", damaged goods. This has also been told to female victims and it's hard to break that mindset too. It's hard to find strength to completely break free when you've been fed insidious lies since childhood.

It's a trap. A difficult trap to break. Can it happen? Yes. But it's very, very hard.

2. Blackmail: This one can fall under two very different categories. One, the abuse one. Where the children (I've mentioned this before) are being used as hostages to guarantee Jensen's continued marriage to Danneel. As in, "If you divorce me, I'll make sure you never see the kids again!" It's a common threat, to boot.

Despite what some people have said, I believe Jensen loves his children. Yes, "especially" JJ, but I believe he loves all three. He may not be home a lot to see them, but he loves them. He would like to keep that access to them. It may be he believes Danneel's threat, and I'm sure there's some who believe it'd be "easy" for a woman to make such a threat and keep it.

Here's a hint, folks. The truth to that lie. If a father asks for full custody of the children in a divorce, they usually get that request granted, no matter what. But most of them don't ask for that, and so, the parent that does ask gets it granted. So... if a husband and wife vie against each other and both ask, guess who wins? The father.

Most fathers don't think to ask because of the perception of mothers always win. Mothers are the ones who should be responsible for children. And so forth.

Regardless... Jensen likely might believe that threat and feels some access is better than none.

Then the other kind of blackmail. Note: I do not believe nearly all that I'm about to write. This is purely speculative and a number of possible blackmail that Danneel might have over him.

There's the J2 tinhat rumors. I could see why those rumors lasted as long as they have. I've seen the stories, the posts, photos, watched them in conventions. It's entirely possible that Jared and Jensen did have some romantic/sexual relationship for a time. Maybe even after they got married to Genevieve and Danneel, it might have continued.

It could be Genevieve just accepted it and when it ended (as there was a gradual separation even before the whole The Winchesters/Prequelgate debacle), Jared and Gen were okay. Danneel... however... might not have been as okay with it as she indicated. Her posts over the years, where she tried to make it seem she and Jensen were together when fan photos and such came out at the same time of Jensen and Jared together, might've been wildly embarrassed by it all. She might not have been as okay with it as Genevieve was and just collected evidence to hold over Jensen's head.

After all, sadly, Hollywood still isn't as accepting of LGBTQ as we'd like. When actors come out, their careers usually don't continue, out of the weird perception that gay men can't act straight. (When I hear that, I look at Matt Bomer and go "Are you sure?!" I believed Bomer was a charming straight man even after he came out--his character on White Collar was awesome!)

So there's that possibility.

Then there's the orgies rumor we've heard about in the past. Or rather that one tweet that led to a threat of a lawsuit--which sadly made it valid and legitimate. Danneel really didn't know how to let a rumor die. It might make her look weird and bad too, but her career has been nonexistent for a long time and her reputation has already been destroyed by her own actions. It wouldn't hurt her nearly as much as it might hurt Jensen.

Then there's other possible vices. Alcoholism seems to be the more... "acceptable" of vices. As is smoking. If an actor is an alcoholic, they just go to rehab, get help, and be fine. But for someone who is self-conscious about their image, it might be more difficult to accept. Being seen drunk time to time is not the same as being an alcoholic, after all.

The same goes for drugs. Not that rumor has been very well-known, but it can exist.

Then there's the blackmail of affairs. In Hollywood, affairs and flings are considered a part of the life. They happen. Couples that are apart for a while time to time may dabble in affairs and flings. Even with co-stars. This happens too. More than most would like. (The more infamous one would be Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie on the set of Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Others have happened too. It's just common and accepted. Anyone saying otherwise is just wrong.)

Again, image-conscious and wanting to push the solid love marriage, this could be damaging. Even if Danneel hadn't really made it much of a secret that she's been having an on-and-off affair with Steve... it's still different. I repeat: she has no career or reputation to destroy. Jensen does.

Even if Hollywood wouldn't give that big of a damn about it.

3. PR Marriage: Now I know this has been pushed by other antis, and even suggested to me, but I find myself... hesitating on it. If it was in fact a PR marriage, why would he tolerate the abuse at all? Surely there'd be something in the contract about demeaning him and belittling him? It doesn't fit.

And there should have been protection over mistreatment or not fulfilling parts of it. I don't know... it doesn't quite fit. Not for me.

--

This was a long, long essay. I knew it would be, and it was still hard to write parts of it.

I want to end it with another point.

Female on male violence is often portrayed as a joke. Wedding Crashers had a female on male rape and it was a joke, a comedy bit. The one time I remember seeing such a scenario used on Law and Order: SVU, the male victim wasn't believed because he was a man and should have been able to overpower the woman.

Like it's expected of men to be able to just beat the shit out of their abusive partners... as though no one realized that if come upon by the police, any bruises on her would be taken more seriously than over him! Even if he had bruises too! Unless there's video evidence of physical abuse on him, anything else is considered... a joke. Impossible.

What's sad is that this too is an aspect of misogyny. Men are expected to be able to overpower women, so when a man is "taking" abuse and not fighting back, it's another part of misogyny. Because he's "lesser" than a woman, and that's shameful.

We have a lot of growing to do as a society. We need to realize that just because one person is making the money does not mean they hold all the power. We've only begun to see the problems of abuse, and all the areas it covers.

There's physical abuse, the one most commonly known. Then sexual, the second commonly known. The lesser recognized are financial (unless a person is a senior citizen, then it's considered a legitimate crime), and mental and emotional being the least known or recognized (only considered legitimate if done on a child and with proof).

Until we end the toxic expectations of men, and yes, women, and realize anyone can be a victim, and that we all, as a whole, deserve respect... we have a long way to go.

Just remember: It begins with you. It begins with us.

[yukidragon]

You ever consider bringing back slasher couple Alice and Jack? I think about them a lot.

New hotels on the run, with a dead couple lying on the floor of their new room. Poisoned yogurts for rude customers at a new job. New fertilized forget-me-nots behind a picket fence with the bodies of a man who tried hitting on Alice.

That sort of thing.

I'm happy you enjoyed the Slasher AU so much! Those are some pretty fun and twisted ideas you have for it~! I haven't touched on this one for a while, but after listening to this really good Jeff the Killer rewrite by Pastra, I'm in a pulpy creepypasta killer kind of mood, so let's play a little, shall we?

Content Warnings: there will be talk of sex and violence like a good old classic 80's slasher film. I likely won't go too explicit on the gore, but maybe the spice if the mood takes me. This post is just an excuse to talk about two very twisted individuals being in love as they indulge in their darker desires.

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

As you might recall from my previous post on the topic, the tale of Alice and Jack in this universe is a twist on the classic slasher movie formula. Main character and "final girl" Alice winds up being corrupted to give in to her darker impulses by Jack, who has already fallen to his inner depravity after decades being trapped in hell.

The story ended with all of Jack's rivals and targets of revenge dead and LambsWork Productions burned to the ground. What's left now?

Why, help his sunshine finish getting her revenge while they hide from the authorities of course.

Yes, there were awful customers and co-workers ripe for the picking, as well as a shameless exploitive boss, but Alice has been bullied all her life. She has a list of people who she's wanted revenge on for a long time, and Jack has encouraged her to get that revenge no matter how long it takes.

This means that even people who long since forgot the kid they used to bully in kindergarten have a target on their backs.

And they deserve it, in Jack's not so humble opinion. Anyone who tries to hurt or steal his sunshine deserves to pay. Alice had to deal with the scars for so long, and he knows what it's like to suffer for years and years haunted by the memory of abusers who got off scot free.

As far as everyone is aware, Alice was among the many victims of the mysterious killer that swept through the area. Even her family believes that she's dead, but it's for the best. They're innocent. Alice stayed away from them after moving out because she was afraid of hurting them. It would be so easy to kill someone so defenseless as a family who loves and trusts her...

Jack nurtures his twisted justifications for these sadistic urges in Alice. It's deemed acceptable to slowly skin someone begging for their life if they were guilty of casual cruelty to either of them. It helps keep guilt at bay and warps their perception of reality.

With Alice's knowledge of modern technology and how things have changed, and Jack silver tongue capable of manipulating most people, the pair are difficult for authorities or anyone else trying to stop them to track.

Of course, after the final battle with Shaun at LambsWork, Alice needed to take time to heal from her injuries... or perhaps a little bit more than that.

In classic horror movie twist, the monster survived at the end. Jack had managed a ritual to bring himself back... and imagine how much worse he would be mentally if he had to bring back Alice as well.

Shaun was fighting for his life after all. It came down to him or Alice, who he was sure was the killer. Kill or be killed, and if Jack didn't manage to save her in time...

I'm reminded of the now sadly removed trailer for the game where Shaun is losing it, saying what he's doing feels wrong. Imagine if he got enough evidence to suspect Alice of being the killer, and caught hints of something dangerous and supernatural around her. Imagine his paranoia and fear ramping up to the point that he's scared of her, convinced that she's possessed by some great evil.

Imagine how much it would hurt Alice if this happened before she had fallen under the sway of Jack's temptations.

Being betrayed by a friend certainly could push anyone over the edge....

Then again, being stalked by an ex-boyfriend or a customer can also be enough of a tipping point to commit violence. It'd just be especially personal to have Shaun "betray" her after all he did for her when Ian betrayed her by cheating on her. Who can Alice even really trust?

Why, Jack, of course~! He certainly proves it by using the same ritual that allowed to come back to life to bring her back as well. Fortunately this ritual goes a lot better than the one Alice performs in the Bad End AU. She gets to come back whole and healthy with a new lease on life.

Everyone believes Alice is dead, there were even witnesses who saw her broken lifeless body.

Man... imagine if Shaun actually did somehow survive the incident at LambsWork and how much trauma he would have from killing Alice, as well as all the deaths that happened around him. It'd be worse if he realized that Jack was influencing her and was the true serial killer only after he had been forced to act. Who would ever believe him that a ghost was the true killer? There were witnesses who saw Alice already dead while the killings were still happening. She was just another innocent victim...

Though, really, if Shaun did manage to kill Alice, Jack wouldn't have let him live. Jack would've lost his ever loving mind seeing his sunshine, dead and lifeless, her beautiful warm life snuffed out before his eyes.

Of course, Shaun could have somehow managed to escape. Jack wouldn't be thinking clearly in that situation, which would make him sloppy, leaving openings for Shaun to exploit and believe he managed to somehow defeat Jack.

Gosh, there are so many possibilities with this AU, so many twists in the slasher horror movie formula to take.

If Shaun did survive that awful night, he'd be struggling with major PTSD, terrified that Jack will return to finish the job.

Of course, if Shaun survived, that just means that after Jack brings his sunshine back to life, they'll both be plotting ways to get sufficient revenge on Shaun.

Alice would have the supernatural slasher powers now too, similar to Jack - undead and dangerous. She would have an axe to grind, being betrayed by her best friend who murdered her.

Jack, ever sensitive to his sunshine's needs, would of course help her burning desire for revenge. He would certainly have plenty of ideas on how to prolong Shaun's suffering to appropriately punish him for murdering Alice.

So the sequel movie could either be Shaun having to deal with people around him getting killed and taunts from supernatural slashers, or just a romp of a road trip with Jack and Alice going around to settle old scores. It all depends if Shaun survives the first movie or not. Poor guy is in for an awful time either way.

Since I'm starting to feel bad for picking on Shaun for just trying to make it out alive, let's switch over to other slasher targets the twisted couple go after.

I loved the fertilizer idea, but since Alice is the one with more experience gardening, I think she's the one more likely to come up with that idea. She can use the bodies of people who hit on Jack. There'll be plenty of those to keep her flowers healthy forever. Jack is such a handsome man after all, and so many people lust after him now that he has a living body again.

Jack kind of finds it kind of cute that Alice gets so crazy jealous over him. She's so silly thinking anyone could steal him away from her. As if that could ever happen. He always makes sure to reassure her with sweet words and lovemaking after she's vented her frustration on her perceived rival.

I imagine Jack would also find it pretty sexy. Nothing turns a psycho on like watching his lover torture someone for the sake of keeping him all to herself~

Jack understands how Alice feels of course. He goes crazy when someone sets their sights on her. She doesn't even notice when someone flirts with her most of the time, but he still hates it. Mentally destroying the culprit before killing them in creative ways is cathartic for him. It's also a way he can show Alice just how much he loves her~!

If Alice did die, Jack's overprotectiveness would crank up a lot. He failed to protect her, his irreplaceable sunshine. It was fortunate that he could bring her back, just like he brought himself back, but he was forced to see her body, lifeless, broken. He was forced to live with the fear that she was gone for good.

Jack is a lot more possessive and handsy with Alice in public after that. He'll carry her around a lot more often, feeling secure having his sunshine in his arms. He takes the lead with their kills, making sure that he's the one taking the risks instead of her, so that nothing can happen to her ever again.

Of course, Alice doesn't like Jack risking himself recklessly. She wants them both to be together forever~

To the people around them, Jack is an incredibly clingy boyfriend. One minute the new neighbors are talking with Alice, the next Jack is wrapped around her from behind, whining that he missed her as he nuzzles his face into her hair. Even though he was just moving boxes into the house only a literal minute ago.

Alice laughs fondly at Jack's antics before squeaking in surprise as he picks her up into his arms. She admonishes him, but without any real weight to it, and tries to wrap up the conversation, flustered. Jack is fine chatting with the new neighbors like this though.

Why, yes, they are crazy for each other, and are very happy together. Thanks for noticing~!

The pair seem so wholesome and sweet, almost sickeningly sappy. Jack is so silly and such a sucker for Alice that even his size, build, and tattoos aren't enough to make people feel intimidated by him for long. He's so gosh darn friendly, and Alice is so cute and easily flustered.

They are sappy even in private too... even in less than wholesome circumstances.

I got this image of the pair in a room, maybe in their home maybe elsewhere. After having finished a long, busy night, the two are in the bathroom getting cleaned up. Alice sits on the counter, carefully shaving the stubble from Jack's face as he savors the attention. They have a sweet and silly conversation, but annoying noises from the other room keep interrupting them.

Halfway through the shave, Alice snaps the razorblade free and throws it into the other room, resulting in a muffled scream. She feigns as though it was an accident, that she merely "slipped" because all the noise from their guest distracted her. Jack chuckles and remarks they probably shouldn't keep their guest waiting anymore.

However, as Jack turns to go take care of things, Alice catches him by the chin and gently turns him back to her, cooing that they can wait until she's done taking care of him. Jack just melts at her insistence to take care of him and cheerfully tells their guest that they're just going to have to be patient a bit longer~!

Alice adds too that she has plenty of fresh razor blades to get the job done, a subtle threat of what will happen if the noises continue. With that she goes back to finishing the shave with a fresh razor blade and making Jack feel so loved and understood.

Overall, the vibe of these two would be like a more twisted Gomez and Morticia. They're as sweet on each other as they are in Sunshine in Hell, but only to each other. With everyone else the kindness is fake, and they've lost the ability to care about the suffering of anyone but each other.

Slasher Alice and Jack don't target at random, but their criteria for targets does involve a lot of disproportionate retribution. The neighbors are safe as long as they remain friendly... but not too friendly.

Alice and Jack are not just slashers, they're also very, very yandere for each other. Woe be it to anyone who tries to separate them.

Really, it's fitting that Jeff the killer would fuel this ramble considering this sort of slasher couple self-indulgence would fit right into the creepypasta OC craze. This AU is basically all about a couple of fucked up killers finding joy in taking brutal, bloody revenge. Victims are not people but toys to play with until they break. It's very creepypasta OC-coded.

[uselesslilium]

[listen on Youtube] [listen on Spotify]

A mix I started like, over two years ago, and only just now have finally completed. :') I may finally know peace.

Track list and lyric samples under the cut:

1. Like the Dawn - The Oh Hellos I was sleeping in the garden When I saw you first He'd put me deep Deep under so that he could work And like the dawn You broke the dark and my whole earth shook

2. Garden Boy - Boy Blue And you've got a face like an ocean So blue, like a fountain pure The last time there were this many flowers in one place It was Eden

3. Big Black Car - Gregory Alan Isakov You were a phonograph, I was a kid I sat with an ear close, just listening I was there when the rain tapped her way down you face You were a miracle, I was just holding your space

4. Parachute - Ingrid Michaelson Won't tell anybody that you turn the world around I won't tell anyone that your voice is my favorite sound I won't tell anybody, won't tell anybody They wanna see us fall, they wanna see us fall down I don't need a parachute, baby, if I've got you Baby, if I've got you, I don't need a parachute You're gonna catch me, you're gonna catch if I fall

5. Rewrite the Stars - Greatest Showman It's up to you And it's up to me No one can say what we get to be So why don't we rewrite the stars? Changing the world to be ours

6. What I’m Trying to Say - Stars I am trying to say What I want to say Without having to say, "I love you"

7. Friends With You - the scary joke Here's to you and me And the crumbling infrastructure no one else can see The end result of my own reckless impulsivity Could you spare a sec to talk to me?

8. Are You Hurting the One You Love - Florence and the Machine Are you hurting the one you love? Bite your tongue until it tastes like blood Are you hurting the one you love? So many glasses on the tabletop Are you hurting the one you love? You'd like to stay in heaven but the rules are too tough

9. The Knife - Lauren Aquilina Thank you for the knife The knife in my back Almost took my life Now it's in my hand And I'll use it like you used me Cut you off and feel no cruelty 'bout that

10. Hurts Like Hell - Fleurie I don't want them to know the secrets I don't want them to know the way I loved you I don't think they'd understand it, no I don't think they would accept me, no I loved and I loved and I lost you And it hurts like hell

11. Francis Forever - Mitski On sunny days I go out walking I end up on a tree-lined street I look up at the gaps of sunlight I miss you more than anything I don't need the world to see That I've been the best I can be, but I don't think I could stand to be Where you don't see me

12. All the Trees of the Field Will Clap Their Hands - Sufjan Stevens And I am throwing all my thoughts away And I'm destroying every bet I've made And I am joining all my thoughts to you And I'm preparing every part for you

13. This is Love - Air Traffic Control It's pathetic, I know A jealous fool who won't let go If I was sorry for my actions Would I ever stoop so low? Got no reason to live And I've got nothing left to give you But my love, love, fuck it, this is love

14. Oleander - Mother Mother You stood beside Me when I Was out of my mind I broke the glass And you were there To sweep it aside And if you leave me Rest assured, it would kill me

15. Hardest of Hearts - Florence and the Machine There is love in your body but you can't hold it in It pours from your eyes and spills from your skin Tenderest touch leaves the darkest of marks And the kindest of kisses break the hardest of hearts There is love in your body but you can't get it out It gets stuck in your head, won't come out of your mouth Sticks to your tongue and shows on your face That the sweetest of words have the bitterest taste

16. Oceanographer’s Choice - The Mountain Goats Thought I'd finally beat the feeling back It all came back today And then we fell down And we locked arms We knocked the dresser over as we rolled across the floor I don't mean it when I tell you That I don't love you anymore

17. Everything I Love is Broken - The Airborne Toxic Event Isn't it strange how the seasons just pass? While you're lost in the farce of the past And you always said you were so tough Then you fell and I watched you give up But you were lonely too You were lonely too

18. I, Carrion (Icarian) - Hozier Once I had wondered What was holding up the ground I can see that all along, love It was you all the way down

19. I See You - Phoebe Bridgers I've been playing dead My whole life And I get this feeling Whenever I feel good It'll be the last time But I feel something When I see you now I feel something When I see you

20. Sick of Losing Soulmates - dodie What the hell would I be without you? Brave face, talk so lightly, hide the truth  'Cause I'm sick of losing soulmates So where do we begin? I can finally see you're as fucked up as me So how do we win?

21. Francesca - Hozier I would not change it each time Heaven is not fit to house a love Like you and I

22. Everything Stays - Olivia Olsen Let's go in the garden You'll find something waiting Right there where you left it lying upside down When you finally find it, you'll see how it's faded The underside is lighter when you turn it around Everything stays right where you left it

[talesfrommedinastation]

Here’s to all of us whose hearts were shattered by that line from ‘Plan 99’.

But here’s how some psychologists recommend dealing with tragic events: putting your own creative spin on them.

I’ve found, for me, is taking words and quotes that hurt or upset me, and rewriting them in my own way. Especially if the meaning can be changed.*

In this case, “When have we ever followed orders?” isn’t uttered by Tech, resigned but heroic.

It’s said by Sjael Drummer near the end of Far Past the Ring. It’s now defiant, independent, and hawking a loogie right in the face of adversity.

It’s a tragic line from Star Wars that’s now a shout of fortitude from The Expanse.

Writing it out made it seem like something Klaes Ashford would say, or Camina Drummer, right before knocking someone out an airlock. 100% ungovernable Beltalowda.

Now? I smile every time I see it. Tenye wah chesh gut!

Hell, Camina Drummer says a version of it in the new Telltale game: "The Inners may control everything, but they cannot control the Belt."

Take something that makes you sad, and make it yours.

And yes, Sjael, like most Belters in the fic, has her new helmet designed to look like Tech’s. He’s become an accidental fashion icon!

Belters have also started painting their helmets like the clones. In Sjael’s case, she has Ojibwe style greenery that hints at her work with organic sweeteners—she has strawberries, blueberries, and vanilla orchids on the vines!

————————

Tagging my Far Past the Ring readers here: @skellymom @eyecandyeoz @sued134 @cdblake1565 @moosethren @ilikemymendarkandfictional @techs-stitches @supremechancellorrex @amalthiaph

* = Example, my trashy ex Nick said “We won’t be together, the end”, via text when he dumped me.

When he crawled back to me a year later begging for a second chance, sending him a message WITH THAT IN IT was amazing!

[thenervousmedic]

Here's a quick Cyberpunk oneshot

Back on my bullshit.

Only 1k words, just a lil snippet.

'What if it's just me?'

(In which you, V, have a small meltdown over something Johnny said like actual days ago.)

Heavy on the angst though, hurt with barely any comfort, hope you like sobbing, I was in a bad place writing this.

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

"...What if it's me?" You murmur Idly, spread on the bed like some kind of pathetic starfish. Arms out, legs wide, staring at the ceiling as though it weren't even there. As though the light pollution of the city up and disappeared and you could see the stars in the night sky a billion miles away.

 

His projection flickered in the corner of your vision, that dull static sound it made whenever he decided to show up acting as his own personal theme tune rang in your head. "And how am I supposed to reply to that?" Johnny grunts, traces of irritability in his tone. He sounded tense, the complete opposite of your current state, as if that one sentence had already poked at his nerves. "I can't read your fuckin' mind, V. As much as I like to pretend otherwise."

 

An uncomfortable silence. You felt tired. So very tired. Maybe that's what this was, just exhaustion. Maybe the thought meant nothing. Yet still, it gnawed at the back of your brain like the relic, eating away. "You said… something. I don't remember exactly what. Something like 'not being around to see what'll happen blows, but replacing you scares me a whole lot more.' or… whatever. But what if it doesn't? What if that's just… me."

 

The realisation of what's running through your head hits him like a cold shower, standing from his position leaning against the wall to look down on you with… something. Concern? Confusion? Words of reassurance, as bitter and sarcastic as they were going to be, had come to mind but before they could get out he'd hesitated. Was it just you? Was he afraid of replacing you just because you were afraid of being replaced?

"No," He huffed, a thin layer of anger in his tone. Not directed at you, though it felt like it most of the time. "My thoughts are mine , V, you hear me?" He wanted to be a little more articulate about it, to tell you that regardless of your influence on him he can tell your feelings apart, but communicating his feelings never had been a strong suit. If you're mad and loud people listen, that's just how he'd always worked.

It was a raw, nagging, doubt. The kind he'd get when writing down lyrics only to throw them out realising they don't mean jack shit. The whole merging minds thing is just a fact, the relic can't perfectly 1-to-1 rewrite your brain into his, that's not how it works. Some things will be lost or skewed and hell just being in this situation was drastically changing his behaviour. He couldn't put up walls, he couldn't distance himself from you, his impossibly self-centred ego had to take a backseat sometimes. "So you're implying I didn't even mean it, is that it?"

 

A long inhale filled your lungs until they hurt a little, sighing it back out like smoke. The obvious answer would be yes, but you don't have the energy to unpack all of that when he inevitably blows up about it. "It's not like that. I just… I don't know. Ignore me."

 

"Look, I won't pretend I know what this is like for you. In your head or not, I can't experience this from your perspective-" He starts, seemingly cooled off a little while taking long languid strides toward the bed. Slumping down onto it and leaning back, not making any physical indent in the foam mattress as he peered over his shoulder at you. "It's fucked. You're fucked. I'm fucked. I'm not the 'comforting' type, so I'll cut you a deal." His form flickers, the edges fraying like a bad connection on the holo, pulling an ankle up onto his knee and taking off his sunglasses to hook them into his vest. "You can sulk and mope and be like this for as long as you want, and I won't say a goddamn word. Or. You can sit your ass up and look at me so I can talk to you."

 

You can feel the urge in your head to not respond. As much as wallowing in this train of thought would drown you, you can't help but embrace that depressive spiral against your own wishes. It feels like just breathing is taking effort you don't have and when willing your arms to move they are unresponsive. "...I want to."

 

'Christ, V. It's that bad?'

Johnny's demeanour changes, if only a little. The strain in your voice told him enough. You weren't okay, and not just from this one wayward thought, this has been a long time coming. "...Alright. No sitting. Just look at me." He watches as your eyes eventually drift to him only to lower to somewhere around his shoulder. "You have no idea how much it pisses me off that you think if my words are influenced by being in your head it doesn't mean anything anymore. Part of you or not, this version of me means every goddamn word. It terrifies me that every day that passes I see a little more of myself in you. I don't want you to be me. I want you to be you . At least if I lose a bit of myself to you you'll still… be here… " Your eyes sting and water, e tight with discomfort, something that doesn't go unnoticed.

"Breathe."

 

It's like being stabbed. Ok, maybe not exactly, but it's pretty damn close. You keep finding yourself holding your breath or forcing it to deepen to keep it steady. Johnny might have started to let his guard down over the past few weeks you'd been stuck together but you hadn't. You hadn't had time. You hadn't wanted to. You'd been friendly, you'd spent some time doing 'real talk', but none of that addressed the fact you don't really know what you're doing. Where you're going. The plan was to remove the relic somehow. That's where it started. But now…

It was so much easier to look for a 'cure' for the relic situation when you thought he was a jackass. When he was trying to kill you. When he wasn't your friend. "I-I want a reason to hate you so the idea of getting rid of you stops hurting." You sniffle, your arms finally responding to your commands as you bring both your hands to your face and start to scrub vigorously to clear it. "I can't lose anyone else."

 

Johnny can feel the way your head throbs as crying brings on a pressure headache. His projection subconsciously raises a hand to rub at his temple with the back of his knuckles. "We'll figure something out, V. Promise."

[bonefall]

Did bramble try apologizing/reconciling with the three for disowning them? I caaant really see him doing so as itd be him admitting he was wrong to do so and I can see him being the type of guy who never admits hes wrong like ever

I don't think he ever did... in-canon, the reconciliation comes from a confrontation towards the end of the arc just before the Great Battle which would absolutely not happen the way it did, in the Bonefall Rewrite.

After spending all of Canon OotS becoming more and more openly hostile to Squirrelflight and Jay/Lion being clearly affected by it, finally he snaps and starts shouting again, only for Squirrelflight to apologize and beg him to not throw his family away.

“Brambleclaw, I’m sorry.” Squirrelflight moved closer to the ThunderClan deputy. Her voice was stronger now, as if she was tired of being punished for something she had believed to be right. “You have to understand that I never intended to hurt you. I loved you, and was proud to raise these kits with you. You were a wonderful father.” “But I wasn’t their father!” Brambleclaw hissed. “Yes, you were!” Squirrelflight thrust her muzzle close to Brambleclaw’s. Her eyes blazed. “Don’t throw away everything just because you are angry with me!”

-Chapter 17, Omen of the Stars: The Last Hope

Following this, Lionblaze is clearly hurt and tells him how he was proud to be his son, and that is the moment that Brambleclaw realizes he's been... you know. Hurting his children with this bullshit.

So after everything, what brings Brambleclaw around is everyone in his life apologizing and kissing up to him after he's been an asshole for 6 books. Yes, he has a right to be angry-- but why does this series make it everyone else's job to soothe him? Including what's supposed to be his children? The adult, next-in-line leader of an entire Clan?

Squirrelflight is responsible for HIS emotions because he was an 'innocent bystander', but he's not responsible for how he's hurt the innocent bystanders in his OWN life. It's a double standard.

(even ignoring how i think TNP proves brambleclaw is not a trustworthy person who should have power)

Bonefall Rewrite: Brambleclaw's Repentance

So in the Bonefall Rewrite, no. Squirrelflight is not even seen as completely wrong by her Clanmates. She has support! She is able to recognize by this point that she doesn't deserve his treatment. She wouldn't apologize or beg him to reconcile-- everything he's done up to this point, his demotion of her as deputy, his mixed leadership...

He's the one who should be apologizing. She's able to realize that.

And Lionblaze was NOT on Brambleclaw's side when the secret came out. He's never stopped seeing Squirrelflight as his mother, she revealed that Brambleclaw wasn't his father by admitting to Ashfur that her biokits with Bramble were miscarried, ergo, they are NOT part of both the Power of Three AND the Fire and Tiger Prophecy.

And she said that to surprise him just enough to anime-kick him into the tree which saved The Three from the fire. The force of a Flying Ashfur is what knocked it over.

So, there's a situation here where The Three are all very hurt by Brambleclaw's abandonment, Squirrelflight does not feel the need to apologize more than she already has, and he is leader while Hell is about to attack.

...so if he does apologize, I think it's through seeing them have a meeting before the battle where they're reconciling, and he's utterly left out. He realizes that it's not his family anymore, and he's...

I want to say "lost control" but, specifically, he's seeing Tawnypelt again, leaping over the thunderpath to join Tigerstar on the other side.

So it's anger, rage, sadness. He did it to himself and I think he knows it, but GOD it's painful. He doesn't want it to be his own fault, but it is. And he can't begin to apologize; because he doesn't know where to begin.

So, his apology is giving Squirrelflight her deputy position back after the battle. Knowing her Clan will need her, she says yes. And that's where it's left... for now.

[1shadowhole]

Since Christmas Eve is getting closer and closer... Here's my Merthur playlist on YouTube:

I'm constantly updating, for now it has 84 songs. Enjoy!

Lists of the first 20 songs below:

Ghost of Me

King and lionhart

A thousand years

Rewrite the stars

Carry your throne

Heartbeats in quiet rooms

Human

Turning page

Healing incantation

Grenade

Lovely

Hurts like hell

Luna

I'll be good

This is our war

Fire on fire

Servant of evil

Angel with a shotgun

Wrapped around your finger

Video Games

[fatratbabyy]

hi! i really love your designs, the colours are always really well done anf the characters are full of life.. and i love how your rewrites give the characters complexity and make them really interesting to me, much more so than canon(though i am a fan of some ideas introduced there, they don’t quite turn out in ways that make sense to me)! i’ve been wondering a few things about helluva troupe for a while however and hopefully the answers aren’t spoilers, lol.. in HT, what is Fizz’s involvement with the ‘troupe’ and what is stolas’s involvement too.? i wish you much luck on your work as it is lovely to see! (also apologies for my silly username)

Thank You!

Thank you so much that means a lot!! waaAahee! It makes me happy to see people interested 🥺👉👈

With Fizz it's,,, a bit Fuzzy, because hilariously he's the whole reason I made this AU among other things But I ended up makinh him a sorta side character antag again because while originally he was going to be part of the main crew from the start of HT's storyline, as I went along in trying to write I saw some cool hcs about his star clown days and so I thought to use the more canonized view- mostly in that he's a star clown during the events of HT instead of dropping the show life to join Blitz in I.M.P. That previous version is why you see him in the I.M.P references- and hinty hoo that ol version isnt completely null and voice to the current HT

ANYWAY so yeah- While Fizz isn't as much a main character as he was he still has a great deal of importance to the story and themes I want to express in HT. When it comes to him and the Troupe itself, I could best describe him as one of the biggest foils or parallels to the main cast. Just,, he's this golden image that represents their every want fulfilled. For Blitz especially given their thick history heehooo. (That's not to say this 'golden image' is entirely as it seems btw...)

Now it sounds much like canon I know but I like to think I'm taking a different direction with it- It's not really just the "haha you suck with relationships, fuck, shit, pénis im doing better look at my good relationship" nonsense cuz for 1. Fizzarozzie does nOT exist anymore- its Mamzie now 😊 (Mammon + Ozzie) and 2. The themes with Fizz and really most of HT has less to do with the melodramatic romance "will they wont they" of Stolitz (which isnt really a thing either) and more the struggle impoverished and oppressed peoples experience with success, failure, identity, community, family, status, history, trauma, etccc. Specifically, because I am an indigenous person from Canada, a lot of the themes are drawn from my own experiences, knowledge and history as an indigenous person. Though with execution, creative liberties were taken to make the fact they're in Hell clear btww-

That very likely did nOT answer jour question but i amn,,,stoopi 😭😭😭 simpler answer i suppose maybe by chance would be Fizz is an eventual antagonist to I.M.P. Specifics and how it happens and wheNNN?? Im still not sure yet if im honest- been really busy the last year or so and so Ive hadnt had any time or energy to work as much on writing all the things! ;u; thats probs disappointing to hear cuz plaNNing and all is important if you're gonna post story stuff at all,,, but !! I do hope to work more on the story this year so i can wrap up all these floating ideas into a Concrete line of stuff cuz truly all im missing is the middle pieces. Maybe an HT comic will be real this/or next year! 👀🏃

ANYHOOT ONTO STOLAS! i rambled a bit too much about Fizz cuz im still figuring him out- Stolas might be a bit shorter cuz his role is sweet and simplisticerr.

So, Stolas is an antagonist. He and Blitz still have an exchange sort of deal, but the deal is Blitz gets to keep the grimoire for I.M.P if he handles Stolas' "errands" and gives it back on the full moon with ofc none of the uh,,hawny stuff, obv. Blitz kinda keeps this deal under wraps from the rest of I.M.P because for him, it hurts his pride to admit he's in need of some big guy's help. And Stolas is somewhat aware of this. And so, Stolas is this looming, cruel threat that Blitz carries the burden of cuz he's stubborn as fuck whilst the rest of I.M.P remain ignorant.

Some bonus notes that dont really have to do with Stolas involvement with imp but jus how stuff ive changed with his canon influence the story diff than canon; so, Stella isnt a thing anymore. In general the Goetia work much differently- majority of the Goetia being the children of Ozzie instead of Paimon (who is Stolas' sibling now btw too) and the Goetia being thousands of years old instead of fucking 30- Also! While Via is existant she is but a baby instead of a moody teen,, ties heavily with Stolas' motives and how he operates as a character, royal, and Goetian and felt it would work better with how HT Stolas is as a character than it would otherwise.

Also no worries about the username! I dont like canon stolas much either lol,,;

I apologize if this didnt answer much 😭 feel free to let me know if you wanna hear about somn else gwahgh 🏃

[smilepebble]

rot is also what love is

Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon | Epilogue rewrite | total word count: 2452

Chapter 1: Alone The spring, the first sight she could remember of this world, was near the tallest and north-most peak of four mountains. The area was quiet, but well known enough that the Expedition Society could likely pinpoint her relative location. ... She shouldn't have gone to such an easily identifiable place.

Aqua bears the burden alone. [previous chapter]

read on ao3, or read below!

thanks for your patience everyone! college is hell and i am a very slow writer lol. CHAPTER WARNINGS: slight suicidal ideation

-----------

Aqua was lying on the ground near a familiar waterfall, staring at the stars reflected on the surface of the pond. This was the place where she first woke up. The place where her memories began. The same pond where she first saw her own reflection. She couldn’t bear to look at it now.

It had been night for a long while. She wasn’t sure how long. Her legs hurt, her heart ached, she was freezing, and there was no other sign of life anywhere nearby. She was horribly lonely. The thought would've made her cry, but she didn't have the strength to do that anymore. She didn’t have the strength to do much of anything.

She knew she was putting herself in danger by isolating herself in the middle of nowhere, but the thought of telling anyone what happened to Amber was too terrifying to bear. She covered her face. She didn't know what to do. But she couldn't go back.

Amber… why? How could you leave me behind?

Drowning in her despairing thoughts, she soon fell unconscious.

…

… ...

… ... ...

Beeeeep-beep-beep-be-beeeeep

Aqua awoke abruptly to a familiar sound. Blinking away the sudden surge of light in her eyes, she looked around to find that she'd slept well past the morning and that it was definitely the afternoon now.

Beeeeep-beep-beep-be-beeeeep

She took out the Expedition Gadget and stared at the screen. Dedenne was trying to contact her.

Beeeeep-beep-beep-be-beeeeep

She didn't respond.

Beeeeep-beep-beep-be-beeeeep

Stop it.

Beeeeep-beep-beep-be-beeeeep

Stop. I don't want to talk.

Beeeeep-beep-beep-be-beeeeep

I said stop it-!

She threw the gadget. It hit against a nearby tree with the resounding clink that delicate things often made when thrown recklessly. She breathed heavily. She shouldn't have done that. What if she broke it?

"H-hello? Amber? Aqua? Are either of you two there?!"

…

She didn't speak. She didn't move.

…

"... Anyone? If you can hear me, please give me a sign you're okay…"

…

The sound of the waterfall was deafening in her ears.

…

"..."

Beep-boop.

The transmission cut out. Aqua knew this, and knew that Dedenne could no longer hear her, but she still stood the short distance away from the Expedition Gadget.

Breathe. Breathe. Stop shivering. Breathe.

She approached the gadget, slowly, carefully, like it might bite her if she wasn't careful. The screen glowed blue and cold. Once she stared at it in awe, thinking it was magical. Now it was a gateway to the rest of the world. To Dedenne and the rest of the Expedition Society, who would ask what happened to Amber. And she would be forced to tell them. She didn't want them to know. Right now, everyone who knew Amber was living their life like she was still alive. She did not want that to change. She did not want that reality to change. She couldn't let it.

She picked up the Expedition Gadget with a shaky paw and put it back in her bag. The Expedition Society was looking for her. They would find her if she didn't leave soon.

The spring that Aqua had fled to the night before, the first sight she could remember of this world, was near the tallest and north-most peak of four mountains. The area was quiet, but well known enough that the Expedition Society could likely pinpoint her relative location. Aqua remembered the nights she had spent reading about that spring, scouring the Expedition Society’s library with Mawile in a desperate search for any sign of her lost memories.

She shouldn't have gone to such an easily identifiable place. She shouldn't have thrown the Expedition Gadget and alerted Dedenne. There was a clearly marked path that led down the mountain, but she didn't take it. She should have taken it, but before she realized it, her legs had taken her directly into the thick forest, pushing through thorn bushes and trudging through uneven ground littered with long dead leaves.

By the time she reached the peak, the forest had ended, and the sun was beginning to set. She looked up at the clouds. They seemed so close to her.

-

"I want to be like those clouds."

"Like the clouds?"

-

… 

Now wasn't the time to think about that. 

She looked towards the world stretched out before her eyes. Beyond the four mountains and to the north was a lush green prairie flanked by another smaller mountain range far off in the distance. To the west was a forest, where shimmering pieces of the ocean peeked over the trees.

It wasn't long until she had found the mountain path again, and she followed it until the slope of the ground began to disappear. When she finally looked up and saw the mountains behind her, the last rays of sun were stretching across the prairie and staining the mountains red like bloody claws. 

She trekked through the tall grass, thankful for its cover as she set out towards the forest. She just had to keep moving. Just keep moving until they all gave up looking for her.

Zree, zree, zree…

Night was peaceful in the forest. Bug Pokémon sang beautiful night songs as a cool breeze gently rustled the leaves of the countless trees around her. She was looking at the ground. Her legs hurt. She could barely see. She could barely think. She didn't want to think.

Zree, zree, zree…

The hum of bug song, the crisp air flowing past her, the faint glow from distant stars through the trees, it was the undeniable existence of a world that lived and breathed even when she slept, all in defiance or possibly even because of Amber's sacrifice.

It felt wrong. How could the world continue to be beautiful and peaceful without Amber? Aqua had almost expected clouds to cover every last inch of the sky, for the world to turn dark and cold. Instead it continued to be so sickly sweet, continued living like Amber never mattered, and left Aqua behind as the sole mourner.

Her heart ached, like it did yesterday, like it did all day today. Like sorrow was the only emotion it knew how to feel anymore. She wished she couldn’t feel anything at all.

Tshh tshh…

Aqua's eyes snapped up to the sound of rustling leaves, and stopped dead in her tracks. It sounded like someone was pushing a branch away. Who? Was someone watching her?!

Tshh tshh tshh tshh tshh!

She lowered herself in a defensive stance, eyes darting around the clearing, looking for the source of the noise. She opened her mouth, whether to speak or scream, she didn't know, and closed it before a single sound could escape. She backed away slowly before dashing away from the noise's source.

As she ran away from the path she'd been following, the light from beyond the forest canopy began to fade, swallowed whole by the endless expanse of the night. It wasn't long until she couldn't see anything at all.

THUMP

She tripped on a root and crashed to the ground, searing pain shooting up her leg.

Breathe. Get up. Don't make a sound.

She kept laying on the forest floor. Her legs wouldn't listen to her. She looked up wearily.

Five red eyes glared back at her.

"You… who are you? What are you doing in our home?" One of the eyes drew closer, their six legs crunching against the dead leaves on the forest floor. A group of Trevenant, with one leader who examined her closely. The four Trevenant behind them looked around cautiously, like they were expecting a bigger threat than her to arrive.

My name is Aqua, I'm part of the Expedition Society. I'm very sorry for the intrusion, she wanted to say. Her mouth wouldn't form the words.

"Well? Are you going to speak? You're on our territory, you know." Heat crept into their voice. A hand approached her neck. Her scarf.

She slapped the hand away.

Four red eyes darted back to her. She shouldn't have done that. The Trevanant leader looked at their hand, looked at where the ice crystals had begun to form, and locked eyes with her. She shouldn't have done that. She held a paw to her scarf and breathed.

The air shimmered, and lights began to dance around the Trevenant group. Aqua jumped back before fully registering the attack, only for the lights to swoop past the spot where she had been and lodge themselves into her side. The impact pushed her backwards, and she rolled with it, despite the pain, and then turned to run. She caught a glimpse of more lights- Magical Leaf, she realized- materializing in the night air.

She was slow. Too slow. Another Magical Leaf barrage struck the back of her head, and the whole world went white with pain. When her vision returned she was lying on the forest floor, wearily looking up to the Trevenant leader. Their arm was raised above their head, pulsing with power. A move she'd been taught to fear: Wood Hammer.

She couldn't move. She was too tired. The arm came down.

…

Oh well. She'd be seeing Amber sooner than she'd thought.

...

And she was tackled out of the way.

Whoever tackled her did not care to hold on to her, and so she fell to the ground again, hitting her head on a tree stump.

Her vision blurred, and began to fade away. Her senses distorted and her body barely listened to her as she forced herself back up. The only thing that felt real was the ringing in her ears. Who… who was that…?

"Aqua! H-Hey, don't faint now, child!" 

A familiar voice cut through the darkness. Aqua fought to stay conscious, if only to remember who the voice belonged to. They knew her name. She had to get away. They couldn't know what happened to Amber. But soon enough, she stumbled, the darkness took over, and the voice ceased to be.

[fancy-a-dance-brigadier]

⛅️🌧️🌩️☔️ (hey it's concerto for a rainy day! :D)

Concerto for a rainy day hell yeah!! Anyway, thank you so much for the ask, and I’m sorry that it took me a little while to get to it.

🌤️Share your favorite piece of dialogue from your WIP.

Here’s a brief conversation between Padmé and Qui-Gon from the Jedi Padmé AU!

“We can say a proper goodbye to Anakin, if it would comfort you. I know you consider him a friend.”

Padmé shook her head. “I wish I didn’t.”

“Because it hurts you to see him in pain?”

She hesitated, and she sighed out a gentle breath in an attempt to stem the tide of her tears. “Because if he wasn’t my friend, leaving him behind wouldn’t hurt so much.”

🌧️Share something angsty from your WIP.

Just to prove that I am actually writing fics that aren’t the Jedi Padmé AU, here’s a little extract from a Wolfwren oneshot I’ve been working on:

“If you bleed,” the girl began, lost in the mist of her own mind. “I cannot contain you.”

“What?” She was too tired to comprehend it, and the girl’s words mixed and melded into confusion. She could not help but chuckle in her light-headed delirium. “You’re not making any sense.”

“I want to be the only one,” she growled - and she thrusted forward, her face almost pressing against Sabine’s, breathing heavily into her air. “I want to be the only one who knows how to hurt you. I want to be the only one who knows the truth of how you died tonight.”

🌩️ Share something funny/cracky from your WIP.

I don’t know if I actually have anything for this one 🙈 If I eventually write anything cracky you’ll be the first to know about it!!!

☔Is there a fic concept you have that you'd like to just explain and share because you're not sure you'll ever write it? If so, what is it?

Ooh this is a good question! And be prepared because my answer is somewhat long 😅

I have vaguely entertained the idea of writing a T’Poshi Carbon Creek AU, where T’Pol comes to earth during the 50s/60s/whichever decade that episode was set and has to live undercover while slowly falling in love with Hoshi. Knowing me, I’d probably rope in the other characters from ENT too, because you know how much I love an AU with too many subplots 😂

Another one is the Voyager/DS9 crew swap AU, which is an idea I very much enjoy! I’ve had an outline of the ‘DS9 does Caretaker’ fic collecting dust in my draft for ages, and there’s also a partially complete ‘Voyager does Emissary’ outline lying around somewhere too. But it’s an AU with a lot of scope and would require a lot of different fics to tell the story fully, and since I’ve already lowkey committed to rewriting the entirety of Star Wars, it might be a bit too much to pursue seriously. But who knows! Maybe once I get the Star Trek brain rot again I’ll finish that ‘Emissary’ outline and start writing it.

Lastly, I have in fact been percolating a Star Wars Blade Runner AU, but it’s so vague and unformed in my brain that I don’t have too much to say about it at this stage. But I’m also hesitant to write this one because, like, Blade Runner is just so perfect. I almost don’t want to touch it in case I cheapen it somehow, if that makes sense??

(There are also a few that I’ve already discussed with you in DMs, like the ‘My favourite Star Trek characters get traumatised in the Mirrorverse’ AU and the Padmé lives AU, but I won’t bore you too much by repeating what I’ve already said in DMs!)

[the-broken-pen]

Atticus pulled his sleeve down over his fingers,hiding the glimmer of skin twisted beyond recognition by magical backlash and curses.

The mother, horrified, tugged her child away before they could reach out and trace his scars, fingers thick with wonderment.

Sawyer appeared from behind a shelf, hands holding a too bright colored cereal box, in time to watch a mother flee in horror and Atticus withdraw into himself like a soldier retreating from bloodshed.

Three pieces on a chess board playing a game Atticus had never wanted to play. Destiny, they had called it. Fate. They mixed his name with Chosen One until the lines between them blurred, until he was no longer Atticus, yet not quite a savior, and ended stuck miserably between. Never a pawn, never a queen, but still utilized as both.

A bottomless rage flickered in Sawyer’s eyes, a reminder of prophecies and villains and ‘to do what must be done’, and then it was gone.

He laced his fingers into Atticus’s as if he couldn’t feel the places where his skin was warm with magic.

“Do you want to try this cereal?” He asked. Atticus took the box from him, found a wizard smiling up at him.

He wanted to light the box on fire—he could, if he willed it. Just one thought and he could rewrite the atoms of the world.

Magic doesn’t like to leave a host when it’s found a good one, the healers had promised him. They said it like he was lucky, blessed, like he should rejoice that his skin was now marred by ever changing swirls that glimpsed into other universes, like he should be pleased that his body was no longer his but instead a vessel he co-inhabited.

Atticus was not pleased. Atticus was scarred.

He gave a little hum. “Sure. Looks okay.”

Sawyer chucked it onto the shelf without a glance, tightened his palm around Atticus’s, and abandoned the shopping cart.

“What are you doing?” Sawyer tugged them through the sliding doors, feet sure as they slid closed behind them. “We have grocery shopping to do, we can’t just leave—“

The child spotted them and let out a shriek of glee, eyes training on the swirl on the side of Atticus’s neck like a bloodhound. They smiled wide, and innocent, and bubbled to their mother. “Look mom, magic!”

A tone so reverent, that their mom paused as they set a jug of milk into the trunk. Her mouth twisted as she saw Atticus. The child stirred restlessly in the cart.

Blessed one. Savior. Pariah.

Sawyer smiled at the child and Atticus let himself be shoved into the passenger seat of their old SUV.

The engine trilled, and he avoided touching the dashboard.

Technology and magic were two siblings that fought viciously,and he was tired of the squabble.

Sawyer seemed content to let them sit in silence forever. Atticus was all too aware of his scars changing shape beneath his shirt.

“Why’d you have us leave?” Atticus said finally. Sawyer turned sideways in his seat to look at him.

“Because you were uncomfortable.”

He said it like it needed no further explanation. Maybe to anyone else it wouldn’t.

“Right, but I was fine. I could handle some horrified stares. I’ve fought villains before,” he gestured to a mass of glittering stars whorling around the skin of his knuckles. “I can handle a perturbed middle aged woman.”

Sawyer shook his head.

“I know you can. And I do not want you to take this as me disregarding the actions of others—because believe me, they are fucked—but I think maybe somewhere along the way of learning how to handle others you forgot to learn to handle yourself.”

Atticus sat back against the door.

“Sawyer, what the hell is that supposed to mean,” he bit, and Sawyer ran a nervous hand through his hair.

“Atticus, I love you, and this hurts to say, but you hate yourself.”

Atticus blinked. Then blinked again.

“What?”

Sawyer’s eyes bore into him, jade green and love and sorrow.

“You hate your scars. You hate your magic. And somehow, along the way, that started meaning you hate yourself too.”

Atticus tried to swallow around the stab wound in his chest. It felt too hot in here. He turned on the A/C.

“I don’t—“ he tried, and then stopped as the magic purred at the lie. Such a wretched thing, collecting promises, lies, and favors like candy. A petulant child always begging for more.

Sawyer took his face gently.

“Atticus,” he said softly. “I love you. And I want you to love you, too.”

Atticus was certain he did not remember how to breathe. Sawyers callus’s sat soothing on his skin.

“I hate them,” his voice cracked. “I hate it. ”

His scars twisted across his abdomen like they could hear him. They likely could.

Tears threatened to spill down as Sawyer reached down, and took his hand.

Atticus closed his eyes to ward back the onslaught, and then blinked open when he felt Sawyers lips brush over the scar on his forearm. A second later, they glanced over his elbow.

“What—“ Sawyer shoved up his sleeve, and Atticus’s voice broke as he kissed the magic undulating on his bicep. “What are you doing.”

“I love you,” Sawyer murmured against his shoulder. He tugged Atticus over the console. “And if words do not work to convince you of your worth, your beauty, how wonderful you are.” Sawyer lingered on the scar on his neck, before sliding up to whisper the last words into his ear. “Then I’ll just have to show you how beautiful you are, won’t I?”

They didn’t get the grocery shopping done. But somehow during the night, Atticus grew to like the warmth of his magic sliding slick across his skin. Because it was his—it was a part of him as his hair. And really, wasn’t it beautiful to have galaxies contained within your skin?

“I love myself. And my magic. And you,” Atticus murmured in the late hours of the morning, and Sawyer sat back like a house cat, pleased, above Atticus. Sawyer rested his hands under Atticus’s shirt as he lay entirely too flushed and sweaty on their bed.

“You sure?” Sawyer grinned, all reckless youth. “I think you might need some more convincing of how pretty you are.”

Atticus blushed.

“I think you’re right.”

Sawyer kissed him and he made a noise that made Sawyer grin further against his mouth. Atticus was beginning to like this “self love” thing.

Sawyer tasted like summer.

He never wanted to taste anything else.