#oh yeah this might actually possibly be set post-time travel au since that’s my current brainrot but feel free to imagine whatever au

[flowercrowngods]

When Eddie finds Steve lying on the living room floor, he’s not concerned at first. It’s what he does sometimes, and Eddie himself can appreciate a bit of floor time on occasion, too, but for Steve it’s sacred. So he smiles and sits down beside him, grabbing his hand to play with his fingers, a “Hey, pretty boy” already on his lips before he freezes.

Because Steve isn’t all relaxed like he usually is, with his mind just a few inches off to the side where everything is calm and fine and better. And when he finally meets Eddie’s eyes, they’re not glazed over but sharp. Sharp with something that cuts right through Eddie, because he’s seen this look before, and he knows just what to do.

“Stevie, baby, I’m right here. I’m gonna make a call, okay, I will be right back.” When Steve opens his mouth, Eddie just leans down to press a kiss to his forehead. He’s not sure how much invasion of space is allowed, but Steve is still holding his hand so that has to count for something, right? “Shh, don’t speak,” he whispers. “It’s okay, I’ve got you.”

He tries not to kiss Steve like he’s about to break, or talk to him like something’s wrong, because nothing is wrong. Steve is not wrong for getting like this sometimes, it’s not his fault; it’s not something Eddie can’t handle. Steve doesn’t deserve to feel like he’s somehow wrong for getting into that headspace where words just won’t come out of his mouth and he needs to lie down and hope that will help.

Which, today it didn’t, apparently.

Eddie gets up with one last kiss to Steve’s hand and a reassuring smile, and goes to make a phone call. There’s only one person who can help Steve get out of his head, and Eddie doesn’t really understand it, nobody does, but they all know it.

“Hey, Joyce,” he sighs in relief when she answers the phone. “Is El home?”

“Eddie! Yes, she’s there, what… Steve?”

“Steve.”

Joyce sighs and Eddie knows she’s worried and wants to tell her not to be, it’s not fair to be worried, Steve hates when they worry, but. He’d be a hypocrite.

“You know you don’t have to ask, honey. Get over here, I’ll make some cocoa.”

With a smile, Eddie hangs up and goes back to Steve, crouching down beside him to stroke the hair out of his face. “Hey there again, pretty boy. I’m gonna drive over to Joyce’s, wanna tag along?”

What he really wants to say is, I’ll take care of you. Everything is gonna be just fine. But Steve doesn’t like the fuss. That kind of discussion is for another day, though. When Steve can actually get a word in.

That is how they find themselves in the Hopper-Byers household, Eddie holding Steve’s hand as the boy tries to make himself smaller than he is — like every time. Joyce doesn’t fuss, and Eddie knows just how much that takes, knows that Joyce is so much stronger than him in moments like this.

“Steve,” comes a small voice from the door to Eleven’s room, and Eddie finds the girl approaching them slowly. Beside him, Steve sways and Eddie tightens his grip for a second, brushing a kiss to Steve’s cheek before letting him go.

Eleven wraps her arms around Steve’s middle and the two of them just hold each other. They have a bond that none of them truly understand, one that Eddie knows even Robin is jealous of. But it makes sense, he figures. On some kind of deeply existential level, it does make sense for Eleven to be the one who can help Steve when he’s nonverbal like this.

Maybe because she doesn’t talk much. Maybe because around her he doesn’t feel like he has to be anyone or anything because it’s all the same to her. Or maybe there’s a special kind of magic in the way she will pull him onto the floor, their backs against the couch, his head on her shoulder and her fingers running through Steve’s hair.

They’ve been through something together. Maybe they go through something together every time they talk each other down without words — because in return, Steve does the same for her. It shouldn’t work, but it does.

It’s calm and quiet in the living room and Eddie shares a glance with Joyce before they step outside to give Steve and El some privacy.

“I hate seeing him like this,” Eddie admits finally. It’s hardly more than a whisper, a treacherous little truth that cuts into his heart every time this happens.

“I know,” Joyce says. “Me too.”

“I hate that I can’t help him.”

Oh the truths just keep coming. It’s that kind of moment.

“You’re helping him, honey. You are. But sometimes we need different people for different hurts. And that boy has more than all of us combined. Or… Well, not all of us.” And she’s looking through the window, watching El and Steve still wrapped around each other.

And it’s true. Eddie knows. Maybe that’s why he hates it so much. Steve’s nonverbal episodes are a stark reminder for all the pain he had to take upon himself. Alone. For years.

“Just love him through it,” Joyce continues. “Not despite it, not because it it. Just through it.”

“I am. I do. Don’t think I could stop even if he asked me to.”

She smiles and squeezes his hand. “Good. Now, join me on a run to the bakery? I think they’ll need something sweet when they’re back with us.”

With one last glance through the window, seeing Steve calm and quiet, Eddie bows and offers his arm to Joyce. “I’d be delighted to join you, lady Byers.”

It’ll be fine, he tells himself. They’ll be fine.

[votederpycausemufins]

And this is the end of the story. Sort of. I’m going to do one or two more ‘chapters’ that are more just... you guys send me asks about the story and I’ll compile them into a chapter or two. it can be stuff like ‘i didn’t fully understand this’ or ‘can you tell more about that’ or ‘what if X happened instead.’ I’m also doing this on the Ao3 side since more people have been commenting there, but you can still use my inbox or leave messages on this post itself, whatever works for you.

Of course, all this is possibly due to the Hermit!Tommy au being created by @petrichormeraki

Mumbo groaned as he woke up, most of his body aching for some reason. Looking around, he was glad to see he was in his own bed at least. Next to him, curled up in the covers was Jrumbot who seemed to be hooked up to his redstone chargers. Mumbo patted his son’s head before pushing himself up so he could look around.

Grumbot was propped up in a nearby chair, also asleep and charging. The door to the room was cracked open and Mumbo could hear voices coming from somewhere behind it. His eyes were then drawn to an item frame with a mask of his robot skin. At least it seemed to be similar if not exactly the same. Most likely Grian had hung it up because he sure didn’t himself.

Mumbo dragged himself out of bed and walked towards whoever was talking. Getting closer, he could recognise Tommy and Grian’s voices, but there seemed to be a third person there as well. It was probably someone from Tommy’s old world, so Mumbo wasn’t too worried.

Before he could quite tell what exactly they were discussing, they stopped as Grian noticed Mumbo walking their way. “Mumbo! You’re awake!” The avian went over and hugged Mumbo before pulling him over and using the redstoner as something to lean against, nearly pushing him over in the process. “How are you feeling?

“Like I got crushed working on a redstone project with pistons. What are you wearing?” Mumbo saw Grian’s Watcher mask, not having seen it before.

“Oh this? Well… uh, you hit your head pretty hard back there, what do you remember?” Even though the mask covered Grian’s eyes, he could tell that the avian was sending glances to Tommy and the other person in the room.

“I remember up to confronting Dream after we got you back. But much after that is a bit fuzzy. I still remember bits and pieces of course.”

“Told ya.” The unfamiliar voice spoke and Mumbo finally got the chance to turn and look where their guest was sitting. He almost drew his weapon when he saw them, but he held himself back.

“Why’s Dream here?” Mumbo hazarded a glance back to Grian, hoping for an answer but Tommy was the one to answer instead.

“Not Dream, this is Drista. She’s Dream’s sister but she’s cool.” Mumbo accepted that answer as he could see the resemblance with their taste for similar mask styles.

“Yep, sorry about that. You panicked and attacked and I clocked you over the head.” Mumbo frowned at her cheerful tone but then Grian spoke and drew his attention away from the girl.

“As for the mask, while I’m mostly fine, there’s still some stuff I’m recovering from and the Watchers panicked since someone was able to mess with me and gave me a prescription for these. I might even keep them because it helps me not go crazy when in a Watcher State.”

Mumbo nodded, glad for the explanation. Then he turned his attention to Tommy. “Tommy? I’m sorry for yelling at you earlier. I wasn’t in a good headspace at the time. I of course can’t recall everything I was thinking at the time, but either way, I want to apologize.”

Tommy just rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Grian told we what shit was going on since he talked with you. It doesn’t fucking matter.”

Mumbo started to open his mouth to reply, but Grian stopped him. “Can you go wake the kids? They’ve been charging for a while and I think they’ll want to be up now that you’re awake.” The Redstoner hesitated, but did agree and headed back to his room. Once he was far enough away, Grian sighed. “That was close.”

“I’m sure he won’t have a complete mental breakdown if you bring up the VGs.” Drista said, leaning back against the wall behind her. “If anything happens, just slap the mask back on and then pull it off, it should pull it away.”

Grian crossed his arms, wings folding tightly behind him. Even though they couldn’t see his face well, he still looked down to the ground. “It still doesn’t feel right. He essentially is always going to have one part of his life he can’t remember.”

Drista gave an exasperated groan. “Oh stop complaining! He wanted this because he wanted to stay with you for whatever reason. He can always just stay a Vault God and you can never see him again. How’s that sound?” Grian was quiet. “That’s what I thought. Welp, now that we know he’s fine, I’m out of here.” And then she was gone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tubbo didn’t stay with Crumb and Sparklez for too long, needing to get admin training from Xisuma with Ranboo. Xisuma would not admit to a single person how many times he needed to take something for the headaches he got from teaching the two of them, but after interacting with the other smp members, he was perfectly fine with the current pair.

The smp island didn’t last long as members griefed it so many times that Scar finally threw his hat down and said he wouldn’t fix it anymore. He tried two more times after that, but it was the principle of the matter. The area was moved further away to a larger chunk of land that wasn’t too close to anyone’s base so that way the smp members could still have a place to start in Hermittown but also have areas to expand to. Most people went back and forth, though Philza seemed to be taking up a permanent residence in the town. 

Grumbot went to visit his grandpa once, but he quickly was given the rule of not being able to go alone after that when he immediately tried to set up an election for mayor of the town. Techno tried to attack him, but he forgot the details of Grumbot being a robot, specifically one that had extensive knowledge of political figures, and Techno being both a former prince and an anarchist, the bot had a good idea of how to defend against the warrior. He still needed repairs when Grian arrived to scold him, but no one died.

After Tubbo had learned enough from Xisuma, he went back to traveling around with his dad and Crumb. It would never be longer than a week, but it was painfully obvious when he was gone as Tommy would seem down. At the very least there were a few times that Tommy was able to go along with Tubbo to see the sights.

Tommy and Mumbo eventually warmed up to each other again, mainly because Grian forced them to do more things together. They finally seemed to officially be on good terms after dragging a few smp members into Hermit Challenges together.

Grian attempted another war, which started poorly as the smp members jumped to conclusions and escalated on their own. Tubbo and Ranboo had to step in to stop it for the hermits to give them a rundown of how wars worked on the server. There were a few hiccups after that, but for the most part, things went well.

After Hbomb had first gotten a tour of the server and had seen Cub’s base, he ended up mining a large amount of ancient debris and making a wall of it on the smp side as a social experiment. It lasted longer than he thought, but still didn’t last all that long. After a few weeks he made a second one and was pleasantly surprised to see it stand longer than the first had.

With Dream gone, things started to calm down for the smp members, but a number of them still tended to wake up thinking things were back how they used to be. Mumbo ended up buying a space close to Odea and making a therapy shop which did quite well. He was also pleasantly surprised to see the Odea store suddenly getting sales as the smp members seemed to actually want the services.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Grian sat on the railing on the balcony of his mansion, right under the large G. Next to him was Tommy and they looked down at the two teams of four people doing a barge box quest. Grian specifically wanted two hermits and smp members on each team for a better balance and he had even reduced the prices for the smp members specifically. Sure it was a competition, but really Grian wanted the two worlds to get along.

“Didn’t Scar say you did this in the last one?” Tommy looked over at Grian who didn’t take his eyes off the people below.

“Hmm, sort of. It’s a little different. They’re placing blocks instead of putting them in the chest. Mumbo helped with the redstone for it. It cycles placing blocks inside so you can’t just take them all out and not do anything. There’s a delay once the last block is out so after a short bit they’ll get their note saying where to fly to next.”

Tommy nodded, glad Mumbo wasn’t the one telling him this and making it sound even more complicated. “How’s he doing by the way? That war got a little crazy near the end.”

“He’s fine. I made up some excuse for the mask. Accidentally overcharged it with Watcher magic so only for extreme emergencies.”

“Sorry for being busy end-busting.”

“Not your fault. It sounds like it was fun.”

Tommy laughed. “Yeah, Tubbo only tried cheating once. Xisuma noticed almost immediately and called him up to scold him. I didn’t even realize he was doing it in the middle of a fight.”

“Speaking of, why didn’t Tubbo bring you back when he teleported home to deal with things?”

“So we could continue once he was done with that. We want to kick back and relax, not get in another war.”

“Oh, I see how it is. Our wars are too good for you!”

Tommy and Grian laughed until Grian noticed one group start flying off, the second group not that far behind. “Alright, time to head to the third checkpoint. You want a head start before I beat you there?”

“Hey Big G, that’s not fair. You got those fucking wings of yours.”

“That’s why you get a head start.” Grian smirked, making Tommy realize what was about to happen and he immediately jumped off the balcony and used a rocket to propel himself in the direction of the next checkpoint.

“See you later bird boy!”

“Not if I get you first!” Grian yelled back. He would give Tommy a few minutes, but then the gloves were off. He loved how grumpy Tommy looked when he carried the blond while flying. And any chance to make a little game of it was something Grian liked. “Alright, that’s enough time.” And then he was in the air, flying off towards his brother.

[hahanoiwont]

1. What kind of relationship does WT Frisk have with Nightmare & co? Is it family-like or is it friendship-like? Does WT Frisk get along with all the bad sanses?

2. What if WT Frisk met Ink and Dream first? What would their relationship with Frisk be like?

3. I know that in your fanfic Whither then, Frisk has some kinda nonchalant attitude about dying again and again. What kinda of reactions would the skeleton bros have when finding out that Frisk has died so many times to point of Frisk becoming numb to dying?

4. I know I’m asking a lot of questions, so sorry about. But I love your fanfics and they make me happy and sad when reading them. If Frisk agreed with Red to stay immortal and stop aging, would all the multiverse sanses and Papyruses be happy about that?

Thank you so much for answering my long winded questions. 😆

oh no this was buried in my askbox, I am sorry for losing it for so long! So without further ado:

1. Does WT Frisk get along with all the bad sanses?

Yeah! I'd say in the bad sanses au (mostly readable here) Frisk gets on well with mostly everyone--those of them with specifically Frisk/Chara-related trauma might take a while to adjust, but most of them have already met Frisk before they even get to Nightmare's place. This is after Frisk and Dust have been traveling together for a while, so of course they get along. They actually have to work more on the idea of being separated sometimes, when Dust goes on missions and Frisk isn't constantly with him. They've been traveling together for several universes, and while Frisk is an independent kid, Dust has been about 3 feet from them, max, for much of that time. Mostly because he doesn't actually have any means of traveling through the multiverse himself, besides just catching on Frisk's shoulder as they go. If they'd happened to go and leave him behind, he'd be stranded. Thus, the two of them were more or less attached at the hip, especially towards the end of any given run. I think that habit would be hard to break, even when they're rooming with several new people and Dust has a sorta-kinda real job.

Likely, this starts out with Frisk just hanging out with Horror, and Dust coming with them as a matter of course while they do things he's not particularly interested in. So, Dust and Horror reach a comfortable mutual tolerance fairly quickly, mostly because Dust is apathetic and Horror is busy enjoying the reunion. But I imagine the first mission they go on is a whole stressfest for everyone involved, given Horror's abandonment issues, Frisk's abandonment issues, and Dust's discomfort with addressing social situations without Frisk to run interference. So, that would be a Time.

2. What if WT Frisk met Ink and Dream first?

Hmm. Let's say it's maybe a sort of Outertale situation, where Ink and Dream happen to be in a world that they're monitoring for Shenanigans when, lo and behold, a Shenanigan drops in their laps!

This is never covered in Outertale bc Comet doesn't know about it, but the general outcode community deals with people not being where they belong by trying to find some place they can belong in. Being as it's pretty unsustainable to try sending Frisk back to UF, they'd likely try to set them up with an AU that's expressly for homeless universe-wanderers. That way, Frisk isn't wandering through AUs that aren't supposed to have an outcode presence in them, and there's a minimum of interference. So...I think that lands Frisk in some place like the omega timeline, or haventale?

I think somewhere like that would be pretty good for them, actually--they're surrounded by people who have all also lost their homes, and loved ones, and who are also trying to build a new life after all of that. Somehow, I see them making friends with a post-genocide version of one of the swap bros? Or. actually. Disbelief!Papyrus. To my understanding that's Classic Papyrus as the survivor of a genocide run in which Sans was killed before the Judgement Hall, so Papyrus is the one to wait in the Hall and confront the human for murdering his brother. I think that Papyrus would have a lot to say about Sans as a flawed but beloved individual who is now gone forever, which Frisk would be able to empathize with after their experience with Red. I think after some initial wariness, they could be dear friends to one another.

3. What kinda of reactions would the skeleton bros have when finding out that Frisk has died so many times to point of Frisk becoming numb to dying?

Well! Not best pleased, of course--learning that a loved one has died, even if they're back to being alive now, can't be easy. Of course, the Sanses generally know, or suspect--Red absolutely knows they've died, and has some specific deaths that he deduced in fairly accurate detail from Frisk's reactions and his own nightmares/deja vu moments. Ironically, he also has some nightmares about deaths that didn't happen, and assumes that those are also real. Blue, if you recall, thought he'd killed them in a past genocide run; Black and Slim were both aware of the possibility that they could time travel but ultimately dismissed their suspicions when Frisk proved to be able to REFUSE instead. US!Papyrus has learned that they can time travel and has done his best to take it in stride, but has avoided thinking too hard about the implications of that. Shy was also intellectually aware of the possibility, but he decided he didn't want to know.

However, in terms of new information, I think Fell would take it the hardest. He would see it as an absolutely crushing failure--not only did he not keep them safe from their own brother, he didn't keep them safe at all. He would seriously start to question whether he's of any use to them at all--which, given his ideas about attachment, would lead him to feel he doesn't have a place in their life. He would definitely take it personally that they died so much when he was purportedly protecting them.

I think his ultimate decision, reached without discussing the matter with anyone else, would be that he's Definitely Failed as a brother, both to Red and to Frisk, and he's just not capable of keeping anyone safe. Clearly he is simply not meant to experience love. He can save his world from itself but he can never keep a single person from suffering. I think at this point US!Papyrus would step in, because clearly someone has to, and remind Fell that he's still extremely violent and paranoid. If it came down to a duel to the death to keep their respective siblings safe, Fell would win by a landslide. This would actually make Fell feel better. Surely, if US!Papyrus is worthy of love despite being totally unable to kill a dozen people in an afternoon, Fell must be fine. He will just do Better from now on. No One Will Ever Die Again. Which is good, considering that murder is illegal now due to Fell's extensive efforts.

4. If Frisk agreed with Red to stay immortal and stop aging, would all the multiverse sanses and Papyruses be happy about that?

Well, I think that depends on exactly how they come to be immortal...I think the easy answer would be to absorb a boss monster's soul, since boss monsters don't naturally age, and go from there. Which would be an unpopular plan, generally. Especially since Frisk is quite young currently, and not at immediate risk of dying, barring unusual circumstances. It would just seem like a drastic move for a time that's so far away.

I think it would also depend on Frisk's attitude on it--if it's something that they're relieved about, or something they were pushed into, or even something they approached Red about in the first place.

Exceptions exist--Red would be both smug (he did a Good Thing. no one else even thought of it but he did) and quietly relieved; Fell would disapprove of Red being a bad influence on Frisk if the method were particularly violent but would notably not obstruct the process and not let anyone else stop it, either; Slim would be all for as long as Frisk was alright with it; and Black would insist that it's their choice and his approval or disapproval isn't what's important here. Though he would be likely to corner Red later and convey his gratitude through terrifying and questionable means.

Sfrisks would think that all of these people are insane.

Hoo boy this got long, but,, thank you for sending in these asks! I love answering these questions, even if it takes me a while to actually get to the answering bit. I appreciate it!

[sunmaylight]

FGO Danmei Romani AU - Post Solomon Singularity

I’m still alive. Um, yeah. Have been more active on Twitter, sorry. But still check here for FGO stuff ever now and then.

Speaking of FGO, I made this AU when one of my twt friends shared a post with me and activated my muse. ((Full post edition))

Twitter Alt

-FGO SPOILERS AFTER UNDERCUT-

After Solomon uses Ars Nova, he wakes up on the side of a road in his Chaldea uniform, but with the addition of another set of clothing and a backpack that looks like what he used when traveling the world before joining Chaldea.

He checks out the bag and sees it has a mix of medical supplies & equipment, generic camping tools, and items that look like they belong ancient times of Asia (i.e. scrolls, brush & ink, talismans).  

Romani closes his bag and unfolds the bundle of clothing next. He is greeted with a green and white robe that is a traditional Chinese outfit similar to what Jing Ke wears.  

At that, he goes back to the bag and pulls out one of the scrolls.  

He takes a good long look at it and realizes that it’s ancient Chinese writing that he can understand for some reason. He puts the scroll back into the bag. While doing so, he sees a familiar ring on his finger. Romani freaks out.  

He remembers the end of the Final Singularity, but doesn’t know why he is here.  

By all means, he should have essentially ceased to exist once he cast Ars Nova. Yet he is here, wherever here is, very much alive and existing.  

Before he can freak out more, a monster pops up from the ground a good few feet away from him.  

Romani panics and is about to cast a Gandr, when an arrow comes out of nowhere and kills the monster instead.  

The doctor turns to face his savior and is greeted by a young teen of Chinese descent in traditional Chinese clothing, that he feels like he knows the name of, holding a bow & arrow.  

“Greetings, from which Sect do you hail from fellow Cultivator?” The young teen asks Romani after making sure no more monsters will pop out.  

“Excuse me? Did you say you were a Cultivator?” Romani asks in reply.  

Hey, would you look at that, the doctor can understand the spoken language as well. He has obtained Ancient Chinese language comprehension without doing anything.

As the doctor converses more with this Cultivator, he is slowly remembering something Guda has mentioned. A hobby that they enjoyed before the Singularities. 

What was it called again, dame? Wo shiya? 

Oh, now he remembers, it’s Wuxia Novels. 

Oh god, Romani has ended up in a Wuxia world all alone with no way to properly explain where he came from. He is a Transmigrator if he remembers from Guda’s rambling about it.

Worse, the young Cultivator (who is not a mage, yet might as well be) is looking at Romani in concern and- is that blood on the arm? Is the young Cultivator bleeding?  

Romani goes into his doctor mode as he takes the young Cultivator's arm and examines the wound. He glares as he realizes that it's a poisonous wound. The young Cultivator shows no signs of discomfort, so the poison must have some numbing effect. 

Romani quickly goes to work to extract the poison and treat the wound. Once he is done, did he realize that he essentially treated a patient without consent. All the time treating Guda's, made him forget about it.  

As he apologizes to the young Cultivator for treating the wound without consent, the Cultivator drags Romani to a rural village nearby. The young Cultivator doesn't stop until the two enter a big building. 

Once inside, Romani is greeted with a sight that can only be described as a battlefield to the doctor. Some of them are poisoned, others have laceration wounds, and then there are those that are coughing from the flu or a possible disease.

"Can you help them as you have helped me?" The young Cultivator asks. 

Romani looks at the people in the building, the young Cultivator with hopeful eyes, and to the growing crowd outside.  

The doctor has many questions he needs answers to. Mysteries to figure out on his arrival, then what is the purpose of being here. Among other things that he should be doing to learn more about this place. 

And yet, looking at those people suffering from wounds and ailments that can be easily treated back in his world, his answer couldn't be more clear.

"Yes, I will do my best. I can't promise that I can help everyone, but I will try and do what I can to make sure all who can recover, can. After all, it's a doctor's duty to help treat people whenever possible" Romani answers with a reassuring smile usually given to Mash & Guda.

The young Cultivator smiles and bows.  

After getting consent from the patients and relatives of the patients, the doctor gets to work on treating the people.  

And that is the start of Romani's reputation of being an almost legendary healer in this world, even though rumors have it that there are no signs of him using Cultivation.  

Romani decides to travel the lands and help those in need when the world's current medical knowledge fails them. Which is often.

Several 'incurable diseases' that would need legendary medicine are now curable since Romani shares basic homemade remedies and treatment plans that anyone can afford.  

The more he travels, the more knowledge he gains of the world, the more he helps heal people, the more the rumors of him spread until they reach the Cultivation World.  

When the Cultivators hears that Romani has cured several 'incurable diseases' that plague non-Cultivators, they wonder if he can possibly cure an 'incurable disease' that is affecting Cultivators. 

So a famous Sect declares that they will find Romani and bring him here. They send one of their own to find the traveling doctor. 

It has been quite some time since Dr. Romani has arrived in this world that he is surprised that he hasn't run into any Cultivators besides that young teen when he initially arrived.  

Thinking about it the monsters here are also wary of him. Which is odd.

While traveling, the doctor discovers he can still use his Magecraft & Magic Circuits here. He accidentally discovered it when he uses a simple healing spell on an unconscious farmer to prevent him from bleeding out of a head wound. The doctor didn't have his medical supplies, so using magecraft was his next option.  

When he was using the spell, he felt his magic circuits flare but also another sensation. He can't think of it more in the current situation but when he thinks back on it, he feels as though he is pulling from another source of power. Similar to how he used to as a Servant, but more mythic in nature (it's the world).  

---  

When the doctor treats people with his medical knowledge or magecraft, he leaves thinking that the people healed will be on a completely normal recovery process. What he doesn't realize is that those that he treats have a minor accelerated recovery a couple of days after he leaves.  

If the doctor knew, then he would be baffled since nothing like this has happened in his original world.  

---

Early in his travels, Dr. Romani was foraging herbs for medicine in a deep forest filled to the brim with a mystical feeling. As he is finished with his search, he stumbles across a strangely familiar wounded animal. He treats the wounds and cleans it up.  

Once clean, the doctor realizes that this animal looks like Fou. Then when the Fou look-alike wakes up, it is revealed to be Fou. This is done when Fou takes one look at Romani followed by pawing the man's face and snuggling up to his neck.  

(What Romani won't learn until far in the future is that this Fou is actually a counterpart that was born after the Beast sacrificed himself at the end of the Solomon Singularity.)  

Once the Fou counterpart is healed, he travels with Romani again...under a new nickname the doctor gave him,' Fou-Fou’.  

Fou-Fou gives the doctor a flying kick the first time he is called that.  

---  

With the addition of Fou as a traveling companion, the rumors of the doctor flares again in the Cultivation and Non-Cultivation Worlds. Rumors spread about a mythical creature of unknown origins traveling with the wandering doctor. Everyone now thinks that the doctor has been 'Blessed by the Heavens' so to speak.  

Romani is oblivious as always to any rumors concerning him since he doesn't know what people call him besides traveling/wandering doctor or healer. 

Fou-Fou, on the other hand, learns of these rumors and laughs. The Beast Counterpart is finding new humor in the future suffering the doctor will experience.  

For now, Fou-Fou headbutts the doctor in the stomach before he accepts half of the agreed payment from the shady village chief.  

Honestly, Romani is possibly more useless than before to the Beast Counterpart since Magical Mari isn't a thing in this world.  

---  

Remember that a famous Cultivator Sect sent someone to find Romani to make him cure a Cultivator's 'incurable disease'?  

Romani doesn't know that Cultivators are looking for him since he travels through nature instead of the normal man-made paths. It's an easy path to forage for herbs and he can get the exercise he has been missing for quite some time. Also, Fou-Fou prefers the nature paths instead of the other ones.  

While the two were traveling near a cliff, Romani slips on a patch of moss and fall down the cliff. Fou-Fou watches Romani fall and jumps after him shortly after.  

As the doctor falls, he can't help but scream. Thinking that this is how his life will end for the second time. He closes his eyes and thinks about those that he misses. Mash, Guda, Da Vinci, Magi Mari, Olga Marie, the Servants of Chaldea, and finally, his Master from the Fourth Holy Grail War.  

Apologies are sent and Romani braces for impact, only it doesn't hurt. Instead, he feels very much alive and held?  

Did someone catch him?

Romani Archaman opens his eyes and gasps at the face of his savior.  

Director Marisbury Animusphere's face is staring back at Romani, only it doesn't seem right. He seems different somehow. The doctor reaches his hand up and touches the other man's face  

"Ma- gah!" Romani chokes as Fou lands on his stomach. The last thing he sees is the out-of-character look of shock Marisbury gives him before he falls unconscious.

===

Senior Cultivator 'Marisbury Animusphere' is a well-respected and well-liked member of his Sect. He is rumored to be the next Sect Leader with Senior Cultivator 'Lev Lainur' as the runner-up. The two are good martial siblings to one another but aren't exactly close. They have similar Cultivations, but they are vastly different as well. 'Marisbury' even heard rumors that Lev is studying Demonic Cultivation as well. Which doesn't bother him, he has new disciples to train for the Sect.  

Only now it seems like he is sent on a mission to find and retrieve a legendary healer of the Non-Cultivation Realm. Which he humbly accepts.  

What the Senior Cultivator presumed to be a simple search mission, ends up being a long journey of chasing after what could be considered a divine being.  

Everywhere he looks, he sees the aftermath of a miracle happening. Any inquiries about the mysterious healer are met with hostility until 'Marisbury' promises that he doesn't wish to do any harm to the rumored healer. Even then, the information obtained is sparse and barely worth anything.  

'Marisbury' is at his wits ends when he gets some information that the rumored miracle-working healer is close. The Cultivator quickly mounts his sword and flies to the area that the healer is. He arrives at a path near the cliffs and walks in search of the legendary healer.  

He doesn't have to wait long.

For the legendary healer falls into his arms, literally.  

The Cultivator is going to ask if the healer is alright when the words get caught in his throat. For one look at the man makes 'Marisbury' think that he is breath-taking.  

The healer reaches up and cradles 'Marisbury's face with one hand.  

"Ma- gah!"  

Is the only thing that 'Marisbury' hears before the Divine Beast that travels with the healer lands on his stomach and knocks him unconscious.  

'Marisbury' stares at the healer's companion and is given a smug grin in return and-  

"Danmei-Fou"

=====

If you didn't get it, in the end, Fou-Fou realizes that he and Romani didn't end up in a Wuxia world, they ended up in a Danmei world.  

If Romani was more knowledgeable to distinguish the two, he would have realized it. But since he isn't, he thinks he is in a Wuxia until it gets through his thick skull that he is not.

[iam93percentstardust]

I watched Stardust last night and I got inspired by both the film and this post and decided that I didn’t really want to write an entire story so here, have the beginnings of a Stardust AU:

Steve doesn’t know who his mother is. His father, when he’d still been alive, always claimed that his mother was a princess tricked into slavery by an evil witch. But then again, his father had also been the town drunk so Steve hadn’t been particularly inclined to believe him. There’s also the simple matter that witches don’t exist in England. Every so often, rumors circulate that there’s a magical land on the other side of the wall outside the town but that’s just a story meant to scare children into behaving- “Behave or we’ll leave you at the wall and then the witches will get you!” It’s not real. Of course, no one can really explain why Old Man Phillips refuses to leave his post guarding the wall if it’s not real. Everyone sort of waves it off as insanity but Steve’s talked to him. He doesn’t seem crazy. Steve dreams of traveling the world and find adventure. Every year, the Summer Market comes to Wall. Sometimes- not always, but sometimes- Fury, the market’s owner, hires on people from the town. Five years ago, Steve’s best friend left with them. Steve’s tried to join him every year since, his resolve only strengthening when Bucky didn’t come home after his second year, but Fury keeps sending him away. Too small, too weak, too sick- Fury’s got a new excuse each year. But not this year. This year, Steve grew about a foot and gained about a hundred pounds. He’s grown out of his childhood illnesses. He’s ready. Fury can’t possibly refuse him.

“No,” Fury says flatly. Steve huffs. “What is it this time?” he asks, hating the whine that’s appeared in his voice. Fury glares at him balefully out of his one good eye. “Can you use a gun?” Steve shakes his head. “How about a sword?” “No,” Steve admits. Then he sets his shoulders stubbornly. “But I can carry things.” “I don’t need a pack mule. I’ve got Thor for that. I need a guard.” Steve doesn’t stamp his foot but it’s a near thing. Fury smiles grimly like he knows exactly what uncharitable thoughts Steve is having about him. “Look, I’m doing this as a favor to you. You’ll get yourself killed first trip out if you go out there now. Take a year. Learn to fight. We’ll see about next year.” But Fury will just have another excuse ready for next year and Bucky will have been missing another year. “Is there anything I can do to convince you?” Steve asks. There’s an odd gleam in Fury’s eye. He points up toward the sky. Steve follows where he’s pointing. It’s a shooting star, albeit one moving much slower than he normally sees them. He studies it for a moment as it grows steadily bigger and realizes it’s not going to pass them by. It’s going to impact the ground. “We’re leaving in two weeks,” Fury says. “You bring that back to me before we leave and I’ll let you come.” Steve looks back at the shooting star. “I’ll have to cross the wall!” Steve exclaims, appalled at the very thought. Fury shrugs unconcernedly. “I thought you wanted an adventure.”

The thing is, nobody crosses the wall. Nobody can cross the wall. People have tried- Bucky and Steve among them- and no one’s been successful. Old Man Phillips is too good at keeping people away. Last time, he’d sent Steve away with a black eye and a broken wrist. He figures he’ll try again since he’s stronger now but he goes home first to pack. He’s got two weeks to find the star and he has no idea how long he’ll be gone. When his father had been alive, the attic had always been Steve’s hiding place from his drunken rages. His father was long since gone now but Steve still likes to spend time in the attic. It’s peaceful and quiet and the light tends to be perfect for his art. He’s packing a small amount of paper, unsure if he’ll have time to draw on the trip, when he drops a pencil. It rolls away into one of the dark corners of the attic. Steve groans and chases after it. But, though, he knows it rolled this way, he can’t find where it ended up. He moves stuff around, digs through the junk, and eventually pries up a floorboard. To his surprise, he finds, not his pencil, but a small basket with a moth-eaten blanket, a yellowed envelope, and a black candle. Curious, he picks up the envelope and realizes that it’s addressed to him. My dearest Steven, please know that I only ever wanted the best for you. I would have kept you in a heartbeat if my mistress had allowed it. I hope- oh how I hope- that we will meet someday. The fastest way to travel is by candlelight. To use it, think of me- and only of me. I will think of you every day, for always and always. Your mother. He doesn’t quite understand. Is the candlelight supposed to be a metaphor? But he shrugs, reaches for his pack where he’s put a couple matches, and lights the candle. “My mother,” he murmurs. “My mother, my mother.” The star, he thinks. The next moment, there’s a flash of blinding light. He feels a tug low in his stomach and then he’s hurtling toward a young man. The man turns and sees him- his eyes widen- Steve holds out his hands in a futile attempt to stop himself- they impact and land tangled together, Steve braced over the man. “Mother?” is his first confused thought. The man gapes at him. “Do I look like your mother?” he spits. “Get off me!” Steve thinks he should be forgiven for thinking the man might be his mother. After all, he’s just found out that magic actually exists. He thinks it’s not so silly that he thought the man to be his mother. “I’m terribly sorry,” he apologizes as he stands. He reaches out a hand to the young man. “Are you alright? Would you like some help?” The man pushes his hand away. “You can help by leaving me alone.” “Well fine,” Steve mutters and walks away. He hears a low muttering and turns back slightly. The man’s sitting up now. He’s wrapped his arms around his knees and is looking around, doe eyes big and wide. Steve comes to the very abrupt realization that the man is both very young- probably a few years younger than Steve- and very pretty. He shoves the last part of that thought aside and considers offering his assistance again. He doubts it would be welcome though. He turns away again, puzzling what went wrong with the candle. “’Light the candle and think of me.’ I was,” he mutters. “I was thinking of her- but then Fury and the star-” He stops, realizing that they’re standing in the middle of a very deep crater. He whips back around to the man, who’s currently examining his (very) swollen ankle. “So sorry, this might sound weird, but have you seen a fallen star anywhere?” The man looks at him like he’s crazy. “You’re funny,” he comments. “No, really. We’re in a crater so this must be where it fell.” “Yeah, it is,” the man says slowly, sarcastically. “This is where it fell. See, up there,” he continues as he points at the sky, “is where this weird necklace-” He starts shaking the heavy, almost gaudy necklace he’s wearing. “-came out of nowhere and knocked it out of the sky. And over there is where it landed. And right here, this is where it got hit by a magical, flying idiot.” It takes Steve a moment. Then- “You’re the star! You’re the star?”

[callioope]

Another two months, it must be time for me to do an Iceberg post again. Yeah, I’m still here. Haven’t really made much progress, but still here. (Wedding planning is rough, and my wedding is in October. Literally only have 2 free weekends between now and then.)

Writing

Here are things I am currently working on, in order of priority:

1. Learning Curve | due ASAP, like, basically yesterday | current status:

Chapter 3: 10,160 words, with beta

Chapter 4: 1,298 words written, plot outline is complete

2. Rebelcaptain Food Travel AU - Turkey | due Nov 4 | current status: outline

3. How to Lose a Spy in 10 Days - sometime this coming winter

it’s very weird because this idea has been at the back of my mind since even before the Rom Com Challenge was started in June 2017 or whenever, but for some reason it’s proven very difficult for me to write. I guess it’s a little outside my comfort zone, which is a good thing but makes for slow going.

I do have a ton of other ideas that are sitting at the back of my mind that I want to work on. Maybe I’ll try to make moodboards or something first before committing to writing the actual story. Some of the ones I’m more excited about (which means, the ideas that distract me from brainstorming/plotting the ones listed above)

A Revel with Some Rebels - Luke/Bodhi meet cute fic inspired by ‘Helpless’ from Hamilton

Action Figure Prison Heist - when I opened my Elite Series action figures I photographed it like Jyn was breaking out of prison and rescuing Bodhi and Cassian. So I have all the pictures done, I just want to edit them and I have no idea what the best way is to present them. I took over 160 (some are different angles of the same shot so there will be some weeding)

You’ve Got Mail - in universe AU. Back in December an anon left me a very nice prompt which was to write an AU based on your go-to comfort movie. So I’m taking the general story of You’ve Got Mail and making it another Jyn-and-Cassian meet earlier kind of thing. Jyn runs her own rebel cell and Cassian, representing the Alliance, starts recruiting on the planet she’s holed up on. Also, somehow, they’ve been communicating anonymously (and knowingly as rebels, giving each other advice and so forth) but I haven’t really worked that part out yet.

But I have a list of over 30 ideas so who knows which particular one will strike my fancy whenever I have free time again.

What are your creative anxieties? And, more importantly for the purposes of this discussion, how do you cope with them?

(Apparently their are questions and challenges and prompts to these now -- which is super awesome -- but this is the first time I’m able to participate so cool.)

So. What are my anxieties? Ha. Everything. Probably. I’m a walking stressball of anxiety, just in general.

As far as writing goes, I’m constantly anxious of “is this a good way to phrase this? is it clear and understandable? does it flow well? is it a trope/cliche or is it unique and different?” I majored in Creative Writing so I am very particular about that, which means I’m the kind of writer that tries to edit as she goes, which impedes progress. Part of the reason this happens is because if I write something “incorrectly,” it might impact events later, particular with regards to a character’s internal logical reasoning. 

To combat this, I try to plan and outline extensively before I begin writing, I daydream a lot. I’m always trying really hard to get into the habit of writing drafts first and editing later. Keyword, trying. It’s difficult. Productivity hours have, in the past, been super helpful for me when I give myself a word count target, because it limits my available time to edit. I haven’t done any of these in awhile but they were helpful when I was doing them.

I’ve written about this before, but I felt kind of guilty writing after my dog died. That honestly just took time to grieve and move forward, coping wise. 

I have a lot of anxieties about posting, of course, because who doesn’t? I usually squeeze in an extra round of copyediting as I’m posting on AO3, then I hit that post button and flee. Close my browser. Do something else, do not look at tumblr or AO3 as much as possible. 

Then I check in and feel really sad. Contemplate quitting the fandom in general. Don’t write for several weeks. 

Eventually my imagination sets in again--when thinking about rebelcaptain and fandom doesn’t just immediately make me sad--and try to remind myself that the reason I write is because there’s a story inside me that needs an outlet, needs to escape my mind and exist somewhere on paper, even if it’s just for me to read and be like, oh yeah. This is fun. And try to remind myself that this fandom is small and shrinking and I don’t generally have the desire to write the fic that are popular/mainstream and writing the stories that compel me is just good practice. That as long as I’m writing something, that’s what matters. The end goal is really to keep me writing, to keep the muscle working, and ultimately find the inspiration to get back to my original works eventually, anyways.

Reading

So, I know I have not been super active in reading and commenting on fics this year. I have been commenting on every fic I have read, so if I haven’t commented, I haven’t read it. I don’t have much time and I squeeze reading in when I can. 

I do have a vague list of fic that I’ve been meaning to read, it’s sort of loose depending on whether I feel I have time for one-shots or chapter fic. I’m making my way through it somewhat sporadically, when I have the time, which, I’m sorry, is unfortunately very limited at the moment.

Commenting/Tumblr Notes

I’m very behind on responding to comments on AO3 -- I don’t particularly even go on AO3 often tbh -- and also I think I have a few tumblr notes from last week to respond to. I wasn’t quite sure how because any kind of social interaction leaves me overthinking what I should say, but I have off tomorrow so I might try to respond to some things tomorrow. Anyways, point is, I see y’all who have interacted with me and I appreciate you reaching out, I’m just being an awkward turtle about what to say in response.