#or rather a slightly different variant

[jaxitaxibolehlaf]

Just going to drop this "Young Zaphod" rendition here.

[technoxenoholic]

i am actually considering buying cheap paper envelopes in bulk to store my custom patterns in

mostly because it would be a giant pain in the ass to actually make envelopes out of the plain paper i already have. gluing the flaps by hand in a tidy way without gluing the whole inside together just seems like a nightmare

(and also i'm absolutely not paying the inflated non-bulk prices for paper envelopes are you serious)

[pupp0ccino]

My Dust variant facts !

That no one asked for yay! ⟢

If I ever get to coloring these refs the current image will be replaced with the finished product.. also disclaimer, im aware these aren't canon , I just like having fun with characters and making my own versions of them

Dust

- he's a shapeshifter, having three forms. His normal form, Dustbunny, and Ghost. I hc him to have some form of identity/personality disorder (it's unspecified which one, that's up to y'all what you want him to have) so multiple forms with different personalities.

- his normal form, is simply just Dust. Hes the closest to looking like classic sans appearance wise compared to horror and killer.

- Dustbunny was mainly made as a kinsona, and for funzies, but Dust only morphs into this slightly smaller form as a defense mechanism, for he feels 'weak and pathetic' like prey. It's basically just him, but taking more on a bunny-like appearance and behavior. Like dust he's very closed off and quiet, but will rather flee than fight.

- Ghost is the complete opposite. Tall, sadistic and cruel with a sick smile plastered on his face. He comes in when Dust's getting a power trip, or needs to get big and protect himself. It kind of puts him in sort of a state of mania, where he has little sympathy for the people around him and how his actions affect others. He's a meanie, and loves to tease at people when ever he sees an opening

- Dust does not like to look in mirrors, or really have his hood off for long periods of time, nor being looked at. Makes him freak out

- he partakes in rabbit like behaviors, his nose twitches when his curious or irritated, he stomps his foot against the ground when he's upset, and he burrows. Accompanied by his tail being a rabbits tail !

- he's also a vampire, like nightmare, but instead of sucking the negativity out of souls, he just has cravings to bite and drink blood, has large sharp fangs, plus being a total night owl.

- he has really bad avoidant attachment when it comes to relationships, he's in fact fearful of gaining close bonds due to the fact he's lost people he's loved over and over and over and over again, before literally killing them off himself. So he purposely pushed himself away from people to not get too close.

- as in the picture above, he has markings speckled all across his face, it's also the same for his body down his arms and shoulders. He's kind of embarrassed about it, and hates it being pointed out

- he goes through psychosis, and psychotic episodes

- he's a stoner lolz (despite maryjane usage very much not being recommended to people who deal with psychosis...)

- his room is a depression room most of the time, he has a little mattress on the floor that looks like a nest

- he's a monster energy drinker because yes

- he's selectively mute, and has a very low social battery. He doesn't like crowded spaces and only has a select few people he talks to (killer, horror, fell)

- he has a hard time remembering to eat and will accidentally and sometimes purposely go days without eating. When he does eat, it's in very small portions, he doesn't like food like he used to.

- he doesn't like touch, don't touch him he will stab you

- Phantom, the papyrus voice in his head. What he says to dust is based on his state of mind. When he's in a normal state of mind, Phantom is a lot more like how papyrus usually acts , getting on Dust for little things like telling him to clean his room or that he has to take care of himself. The voice worsens as his state of mind worsens turning from silly banter to tormenting him about what he's done, and sometimes papyrus can also be like a Jiminy cricket to dust, a judge to his morals, and trying to set him on the right path. Dust hates this , and rarely ever listens.

- one of the things he does in his free time is play video games, he's your basic gamer boy. He likes to play cod mainly

- another hobby of his is that he likes to sew, and patch work his clothing and fabric items, along with making little plushies.

- bad sans poly bad sans poly toxic yaoi ..

That's it for now , I'll probably add more on later !!

Dust belongs to ask-dusttale

[felassan]

Thoughts on the DA:TV Companion Concept Art:

General

I love that we saw these and I think the art is beautiful!! it's so cool seeing different versions of a character, different ideas for a character, and how things translated from concept arts into the character models in the game. I can't waaait to look through the rest of The Art of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, with a fine-toothed comb!!

each character has iconic color palettes and iconic shapes and stuff :)

I feel like there is a lot to examine in these pictures, even with the spoilery text redacted!! 🔍🔍

I'm so extremely curious about what the redacted text says. 👁️

It looks like the geometric patterns drawn behind the characters are slightly different each time?

In the ones where multiple different outfits are shown for the character, do you suppose that these are only discarded concept ideas, or are some similar to some of the alternate outfits for the companions that we can find or upgrade for them in the game?

in some of the pages, there appears to be additional parts of the page blanked out/redacted rather than just the paragraph of text. I wonder if there are small text captions or even additional small drawings in those spaces that also needed to be redacted for spoiler reasons 👁️

In some of the sections below I just described what part of the art I was referring to, in others I popped in images because I was finding it hard to describe what I meant ^^

Also, the associated tweet mentions the BioWare Gear Store-exclusive variant of the artbook. The link in it just takes you to the general Gear Store website landing page at the moment. At the moment, the BioWare Gear Store variant of the artbook is out of stock (it went out of stock really quickly after release). However, CM Violet mentioned in the Discord that "We are planning on another printing [of the Gear Store variant of the art book], but no date yet! I'm sure we'll announce it when we have more news!" [source: the official BioWare Discord]

Bellara

Bellara's page is the only one I think with no name. did her name have to be redacted too bc of a spoilery reason?

I LOVE Bellara's pages. she's just so 🥺 (clenching my fist). some aspects of the design of Bellara's clothes remind me of butterflies or butterfly wings.

Left: the angle of this one reminds me of her party icon art. Center: this one shows a different design concept for her vallaslin. in this one she also has different earrings. in the full version of this drawing, it looks like she is holding some kind of tool in her hand (makes sense considering her Tinker ability), while in her other hand it's a piece of cloth, reminding me of the way mechanics are sometimes drawn holding rags during their work. her posture in the full version of this drawing is like 'You can fit sooo many triangles inside this bad boy [the giant elf head artifact/sculpture]'. hhh. Right: can anyone make out what the text above her bag says? ^^ btw, this bag design is so cute. edit: thankyou to @squidaped-oyt who mentioned in the replies of this post that this looks like it says "Foldable map"! more on that here.

HELLO??, this ancient elven sculpture/artifact thing is extremely 👀. the scale of it compared to Bellara is massive. there are beams of light coming from its eyes and the triangle set in its forehead. the triangular parts are a now-familiar aspect of ancient elven magic-tech and artifacts. the nose bridge reminds me of the design of elven nose bridges circa Dragon Age II - only he has a pointed part on his in addition. the bald head we're all familiar with from ancient elven statues, in-world murals/wall paintings etc. is it just me, or are the teeth also pointy? I wonder what this thing is.. was it just decorative (a head of a giant statue)? (this kind of thing in this Veil Jumper/Arlathan Forest concept art comes to mind). was it an art piece representative of a particular Evanuris or one of their chosen? or did it have some kind of actual function - maybe it was part of a giant protective automaton kinda thing? what this head really reminds me of is Codex Entry: Vir Dirthara: Signs of Victory -

The pages of this book—memory?—describe a monument made in a single afternoon by a thousand-thousand toiling servants swarming over a lump of fallen stone as large as a collapsed mountain. By the end of the day, the stern figure of Elgar'nan stares down into a valley, carved out from the foothills of the rock. The slaves have disappeared. Light radiates from the eidolon's narrowed eyes and its open, snarling mouth. "Hail Elgar'nan, first among the gods! Mark his victory eternal!"

Could this be [part of] one of those sorts of monuments/eidolons? It sure looks like it's snarling through its open mouth. And it has narrowed eyes and light is radiating from them.

The other things it reminds me of are: 1. the ancient elven sentinels (the magic-bot kind, not the Abelas and crew in Temple of Mythal kind), two. like maybe it's a giant one of these. 2. these big ancient elven hands and the Dead Hand landmark (see Trivia section) in DA:I, which is found in the Dales and contains an elven shrine and is not far from Ghilan'nain’s Grove.

Horace Medford wrote of that landmark,

"The great stone hand was something of a mystery. One assumes it is a piece broken off from a larger whole. If so, judging by the size of that one hand, I imagine the entire sculpture to be... well, large enough to require the use of obscenities to describe it. Thus I have only one question: where is the rest of the statue? It is difficult to imagine how something so large could go missing."

like maybe the head from Bellara's concept is the giant head to a similar kind of pair of giant hands (of either type).

(^ post which discusses these both here)

Left: the way this bracelet thing is worn gives it the impression of a watch, which is cool and fits her machinist/inventor kinda vibe/aesthetic :) Center: the cloth, a bit dirty from active use (what a thoughtful touch), tucked into her belt :) Right: I love the eyepiece/monocle look!! It's giving Artificer, it's giving gadgets. does anyone else think Bellara and Dagna would get on super well? 💜

These are all super interesting and I love that they were thinking about the different parts of Bellara's kit and belongings like this. in the top row, it looks like the book on the left is the closed version of the book on the right. Bellara's book full of research notes :D what I wouldn't give to browse through it!! I love how she's filled it with different bookmarks, it gives you an insight into her mind and the way it works. on the front is one of those ancient elven golden faces (like on Solas' armor's knees in Trespasser, on the Sentinels in the Temple of Mythal, on the ancient elven Deluxe edition of DA:TV armors, etc). inside, it looks like she has pressed a flower, which is so lovely. on the right-hand page, I'm really curious about the drawings there. what is it of? a map, a diagram? it reminds me a bit of the map of Arlathan Forest in the Veil Jumper issue of Dragon Age: The Missing (and it would make sense for her to have a map, Arlathan Forest is changeable lately). and if you squint, maybe that's an 'X marks the spot'? also extremely curious is the drawing on the left-hand side of the page:

Who is this depicting? the figure's headshape/headpiece/mask reminds me a lot of the Evanuris headshapes. and the general vibe of the drawing reminds me of the ancient elven Evanuris mosaics (example). Sylaise-y? but maybe it's not an Evanuris and it's more like a figure from Bellara's past? the way the flower is pressed on this page makes it look tender, like memory. or if it was an Evanuris, it makes it look like an offering or token. perhaps Bellara's vallaslin correspond to Sylaise or whichever member it is. there was a time before the gods came back the way they did in DA:TV.

It's also really cool to get a look at the fold-out material thing. do you think she usually carries this rolled up at her belt or in her bag? it looks like somewhere where she stores various kinds of ancient elven triangle fragments, or maybe it's even some kind of strange map. A map of a bunch of different reality-fragmented Veil Bubbles or something would look really strange no doubt, not like a normal map.. edit: more on that here.

Davrin

It's neat to see different hairstyle versions of Davrin! the shape of the blue sword reminds me just a lil of Starfang, which is really nice. and we saw Davrin with a griffon-wing shield like there is in these concepts in the character reveal trailer.

Comparisons of the various vallaslin designs he has in his concept arts to the final one in the game. (in some of the concepts, his vallaslin look a bit bluer, which reminds me of his tarot-style art from the party selection screen). though, in the right-most version, it looks more kind of like a circlet, a Samara Mass Effect-type situation instead :)

This on his heel is totally a spur. makes sense, for a Warden that may one day be a griffon-rider like the Grey Wardens of old :') (at least in the sense of visual language, like "spur - riding - horse - griffon").

We see Davrin equipped with an additional dagger/shortsword like this in the warrior gameplay video, albeit not this specific one, if you go by the handles.

He maybe has some stubble here. ^^

In this version of Davrin, it looks like he has a staff. (though, he still has a sword here too). Is it a polearm kinda deal, or was there a time during development when Davrin was a mage? perhaps the elf in this concept art is a version of Davrin? that elf is wielding a staff to fight, and there are some similar aspects in the outfit designs, like the considerable collar.

interestingly, his staff here reminded me of the staff held by the elven figure on the front of the DA Vinyl art. 🤔

^ Looking at that staff-Davrin concept more generally, it's interesting that this version has more overtly Grey Wardenny-parts to his armor compared to his final look, like the griffon symbol on the chestplate and shoulder.

This Davrin holds out his arm, like a falconer. in Dalish culture, the hawk is a sacred animal of the Huntress Andruil.

And this Davrin straight up is a falconer. how cool!! due to image resolution I'm not sure if the darker parts on the raptor are parts of its plumage or accoutrements, but in falconry, the birds sometimes do wear these types of accoutrements. Falconer Davrin Concept reminds me of that one DA:I Dorian concept art where Dorian had a monkey haha. :D the attention to detail in Falconer Davrin is neat too, you can see that on the hawk-perch arm he has a thick extra cover on his arm, due to the sharpness of raptor talons and grip. I really love Falconer Davrin's griffon shoulderplate, and when looking at the more geometric diamond design of his vallaslin here, what struck me was its resemblance to the diamond geometric pattern behind him.

Harding

Harding is the only one on the concept art among the named characters there who is listed as her surname rather than her given name haha. she's just Harding just like Hawke is Hawke, that's just the way it is.

The flower and leaf pattern in the top left is cute, I wonder if it was inspiration for the flower and leaf stitching Harding has on the collar of her casual clothes in the game. In the concept art it looks like the kind of design that you might have on the leatherwork on the front cover of a beautiful leatherbound journal or something. :) In the central picture she's holding and appreciating a blue flower, which is so cute ♡ and which ties to what was said about her loving plants, raising plants, and nature. she has what looks like the Inquisition hairy eyeball symbol on her belt pouch as well as on her knee pads. (;;) the version of her to the left of that shows her with her hair down, in a more pony-tail like sort of style. on that version of her, you can see flower and leaf floral patterns curling up the bottom of her cape. (very pretty).

To the right of the central image, there's a big diagonal blank rectangle of content which has been removed, presumably due to spoiler reasons. Was this also text? It seems like a weird angle to have placed text at. Maybe it's a drawing of an object of some kind being hidden? A different version of her bow perhaps? (this is the case in a few of the companion concept arts btw.)

The tailored coat and pinstripe pants version of her is so cool. :D look at the tails on the back of her coat in that image. dapper. Harding formal wear? :D

of course, the two most !! images from Harding's one are these ones. copying over my thoughts from that post,

Presumably this is to do with Harding’s new magical stoney earthy powers. (In the second image, along with the bow, it looks like half her face, part of her neck and her arm itself is also stone/crystal). The glass-like shiny parts reminds me of quartz or something. :)

I do wonder if (if they are still things in the game) perhaps those two images or the stoney parts of them could also potentially have done with being redacted for spoiler reasons? how I wish the Harding image was higher resolution so we could take a closer look at stone-Harding..! somewhere off in the distance, Varric "haha, you'd be Harding in Hightown" Tethras is like "haha, Harding, you're hard/hardening" hhhh. 💀

In the image with her hood up, the blue veins on the bow remind me of blue lyrium veins. I also wonder, is she holding the stone/crystal bow with her stone/crystal arm, or is the bow simply growing from the arm? does the hard surface of her body when it's like this repel or take less damage owing to its hardness? is this something she might be able to do in gameplay later on as her story (and powers) progress?

it stands to reason that if you can turn other people/things to stone, as she did to some ghouls in the release date reveal trailer, you might also be able to extend this power to yourself. presumably this ability is tied to the Titans, the dwarves as their children, the Stone, maybe a restored (in Harding's case) connection to that, the way dwarves used to be. it also reminds me of how golems are created using live dwarves. Caridin said "It allowed me to forge a man of steel or stone, as flexible and clever as any soldier." 👀

Btw, speaking of Harding's magical powers, I wonder if Harding dreams at night now..?

Lucanis

it looks like there's a spot on Lucanis' page other than the text at the top that is blanked out/redacted. I wonder what it contained.

part of the geometric designs behind him reminds me of his eyes motif.

some of the alternate outfits for him look really like, majestic. in the one with the manbun, he has big poufy shoulder pieces and huge sleeves.

I wonder if any concept art of clean-shaven Lucanis exists anywhere? ^^ I'm really curious about what he looks like clean-shaven, or without a beard as he was in The Wigmaker Job.

I'm losing my mind at all the different concept ideas for Lucanis' hair, especially the one with the curled forelock and LUCANIS MANBUN omg. but I like his feathery mullet that he has in the game the best. :D

The design and coloring of his sword is just so COOL. The oil-like iridescence, purple-black, is like corvid feathers.

What a lovely sketch, lovely pencilwork. ◕‿◕ his eyebrow is slightly raised and you can see here again that his nose is slightly 'crooked' (perhaps he's broken it in the past?). I love this sort of feature sm in every character that has it.

In this one his eyes are doing the glowing purple thing again. again he is not defeating the possessed/dead/abomination/-somethingelserelatedorsimilar-is-going-on with him allegations. this one has a hood in an Assassin's Creed sorta style and the general vibe is like a ninja. the shoulder pieces look feathery, and the cloak/coat looks like feathered wings or tailfeathers. this piece feels the most "The Demon of Vyrantium" in vibe hh 👁️ And are you guys seeing this?? Here it looks like has claws like Wolverine hh!! :D though he could simply also be holding multiple knives in between his fingers (of the sort you can see at his belt in another concept, I've put that one just below here to show them), or have a bladed gauntlet, etc.

This person coming at you in the night, no wonder the evil Venatori magisters are scared of him :)

Coffee, no doubt :) cool mug shape.

Bird design again on this leg-piece.

Left: a take on the now-iconic Antivan Crow bird-masks. really cool design. here it's giving Batman, it's giving masquerade ball. I really hope we see him wearing a Crow bird mask of this sort at some point during the game!! 🧎🕯️🧎 it's a big missed opportunity if not imo hh. Right: Lighthouse casual-wear, or something very close to it. his vibe in this art is also similar to his vibe in the Lighthouse group shot.

Veilguard symbol on his chest? some of the alternate outfits include a more Veilguardy purple to them, and this one reminds me of how the Veilguard symbol looks for Rook here for example.

Lastly, in this main one, his general shape is sooo triangular. :D and his face/expression here really captures this description of him from Tevinter Nights:

Lucanis stared ahead, focused and intense. He was the kind of man you couldn’t look away from—until he looked at you.

In this one I also get the sense of dark circles under his eyes, which is a trait that in fiction reminds me of coffee-drinkers. ^^

Emmrich

Both staffs in Emmrich's concept art are different to the one we see him with here, but the bigger one on the concept art is close to it.

In this concept it looks like Emmrich has a scar on his chin.

Left: without his jacket on, he looks so svelte. the gold parts on his boots/knees remind me of the gold headpieces fixed to walking dead in the Necropolis. they are also hexagonal in shape, which I've become convinced is part of Nevarra's visual design language (and therefore part of Nevarran architecture, fashion/culture etc. :D he has so many bracelets and rings. Center: he looks so happy here and in the one next to it! these versions of Emmrich seem to lean more to the purple side of his color palette. these ones have a sorta futuristic vibe. you can see some of the tools of his trade at his belt, and it's a different version of his staff. here the skull floats at the top of the staff and burns with green fire, rather than being fixed to the pole of the staff. Right: Emmrich with big hair! quiff-like, and it looks like a large part of it is white rather than gray.

in this alternate outfit he's wearing a work apron with tools of his trade on the front. he's holding a glass flask that is filled with green liquid and billowing green smoke. I wonder if Emmrich is skilled at alchemy? do you think he has a lab, or that his room in the Lighthouse might be filled with stuff like alembics?

Looking again at Emmrich's outfit in these arts - from the back, the back of his coat reminds me of depictions in art and tv/film of the blood eagle?? (if you are sensitive or squeamish to gore and things of that nature, please don't google that!). the lines on the back of his shoulders remind me of musculature. The repeating pieces down the center of the bottom part of his coat reminds me of a spine. and the back of his gold belt-piece from behind straight up looks like a pelvis. the skeleton and body imagery here is an amazing art direction/symbolism for him!! what a bigbrain idea. is that sort of detailing why the design of the front of his coat looks like someone's chest has been opened on an operating table?

also, the long coat reminds me of labcoats. :)

I wonder if the bracelets and things are a Nevarran cultural thing/common fashion in Nevarra, or more of just an Emmrich thing? ^^

lastly his expression in the one on the right is so gentle and kind.

Neve

There are two spots on Neve's page other than the text at the top that are blanked out/redacted. I wonder what they contained.

I love that they tried out differing concept/designs for the look of Neve's leg, and what looks like a stand for it as well. they're all really neat and you can see serpentine aspects in all of them. a person could also have more than one.

this image contains another great reference for Neve's wand-cane thing. here the orb in the middle looks like a big pearl, like from inside a mollusk. the ring around it is definitely evoking the body of a snake coiling.

The concept art contains a blond version of Neve. because of her ice powers, it reminds me a bit of Emma Frost (Marvel). look at that Neve's heeled boot, and the size of her hat!!

I prefer the Neve they decided to go with in the end. ♡♡ ^^

Taash

oh my goooood. breathing in and out rapidly into a paper bag. oh my godd. she looks sooo cool!! I'm posting the whole thing again here just bc omggg.

Most versions of Taash have the green crystal horn. her concept arts show versions with different skin colors. her eyes in some of them look green. I love all her different-version Lord of Fortune / Rivaini gold pieces. in the top-left hand version of her, her bigger shoulder-piece is really cool (the right-hand side one); it could at once be a piece of spiky dragon bone or a piece of a big spiky sea-shell (both ideas work perfectly for her character and background). I've said this before when talking about Taash's design, but I love the parrot-break design of one of her weapons. it's very piratey. in this page, we can see several different versions of the parrot-beak weapon. also, I love all her different facial expressions.

in the right-most Taash concept, the dragon tooth-like pointy bits on her gauntlets look like they're made out of gold, not tooth. her big piratey boots are so cool and they even have a gold coin on them! you can see the spike braided into the end of her ponytail, and in that drawing the dragonscale-looking parts of her iconic armor look even more scaley, owing to the way they graduate from a full covering of scales to a partial covering to not present (in a way that reminds of how on some fantasy arts of things like dragons, there can be softer/less protected areas of their hide with no or less scales, like towards their undersides):

The bottom-left most illustration looks like it might be her iconic armor, only seen from the back, which is good to have a reference of. the design of her sword scabbard is cool, it's like the segmented flat of a dragon or sea-serpent's tail. in that image it also looks like the eye of her parrot-weapon is matched by an eye on the scabbard. something about the designs of her sword and scabbard remind me of weapons like daos. from behind, it also looks like her gauntlets might have thicker armor on one-side, better protection for the upper side of her forearms. the fingers of her gauntlets also look taloned, in a way that reminds me of Fenris.

Okay now let's talk about the concept in the center at the top! this version has longer horns and more spikes in her ponytail, in fact the ponytail here looks like a dragon tail as a result. it reminds me of Flemeth's dragony hair from Dragon Age II onwards. this version also looks like she may have blue-ish facial tattoos, or it could be vitaar. it also looks like she may have a second, smaller set of horns. in this version, the red ropes are cyan-blue instead, and she not only has the spikes/teeth on her gauntlets, but also on her boots (knee 'pad' and the heel, like spurs). in this version, her swords are dragon wing-shaped, which is pretty metal. I can't tell if the triangular piece that hangs down in the center is from the front piece of her clothing or the back piece, but it gives the impression of a dragon tail.

Lastly, the concept in the center at the bottom: here her boots remind me a lot of Dragon Age II Isabela, who is of course, also a piratey type of character from Rivain. the giant axe here is cool, the shape of its blade also evokes the shape of a dragon wing and it looks like the handle might be made of bone. the way she's carrying the axe here reminds me a bit of how Iron Bull carries his weapon in this art piece. the teal and gold color scheme of this piece reminds me of the gold and blue/green of some Ancient Egyptian things, and round her neck it looks like she is wearing a torc.

[lovingmayday]

You are completely enamored with Hobie Brown.

He was right across the lobby conversing with the others, throwing his head back. You could hear his unhinged laughs, loud enough to inconvenience anyone and everyone near him. His cheeks were tensed so high up he could barely keep his eyes open. You found it adorable. You found the man with his suit and mask adorned with spikes adorable. And you weren't doing much of an effort to keep it a secret, fixedly studying his each and every feature until you had him burned into the back of your mind.

His arm lands around his friend's shoulders, laughter dying down as he wipes tears from his eyes, messying his already smudged eyeliner. You notice the friend slightly wince and assume one of the spikes of Hobie's vest had poked him. You admired— adored the way he had treated everyone all the same. With the same warmth and affability that had you and many others question its unconditional authenticness. He hated consistency. His unpredictability made it difficult to trust him. But you did. Eventually.

You couldn't help the small upward motion of your lips making its way to your face. Despite being in the middle of a rather serious group debriefing. Your hand rises to cover your mouth, pretending to be deep in thought to hide the fact that you weren't paying attention.

Every aspect of his chaos connected like one big complex puzzle no one was ever meant to decipher. Nonetheless, you still tried. And you would have had the courage to finish it if it weren't for your fear of confronting him.

He had gained your reliance and you had gave him more than you had ever expected to.

You were spaced out — eyes still on him and still not listening to a word from your colleagues. Your cheeks were warm from simply staring at him. Imagine how hot it turned and how wide your eyes got when his gaze landed on yours. At the same time, your associate nudged your side.

"Y-Yes?" you manage to say, whipping your head to the group while trying to hide your flusterdness.

"What do you think? Do you want to go through with it?" he asks, slightly suspicious of your reaction. You look around the group, trying to get even the tiniest bit of context.

You gulp as you try to stutter out an answer. "Uhm, well.. It's kinda dangerous, isn't it? I mean, I-I'm sure we could find a safer..? solution...?" Your eyes expectantly studying the other's expressions for any indication of confusion, the fast thumps of your heartbeat getting quicker in suspense.

"A safer solution?.." the group head, an MJ variant, repeats slowly. "Thinking ahead and willing to take the necessary precautions to prevent the risks– I like it!" You let out a silent sigh of relief. "I'm glad you spoke up, [Name]. To be honest, I wasn't so sure either."

The frequency of your breath starts to normalize as your shoulders untense. Another one of your associates suggests to continue the meeting a different time and the majority agrees. As you start to wrap up the assembly, you felt the distracting want to rip away your focus from business once again. You just wanted to see what his handsome face looked like, you justified. As if you'd ever forget. Against your more reasonable half's better judgement, you give in and throw him a short glance. It would only be like 0.5 seconds. He wouldn't even notice, you justified once again.

Your face starts to heat up again when you eyes land on his — already looking at your direction. His friends seemed to have already left but you couldn't check to make sure, too frozen to look away. He was smirking to himself, leaning his elbows back against the railing on one of the many glass bridges in HQ. His grin widens when he sees you try to hide how flushed you were, forcing yourself to tear your gaze off him and nodding to whatever the conversation had arrived to.

It wasn't uncommon for Hobie to reciprocate your unintentional advances — he has done so more often than naught. Sometimes he'd take your stubbornness for banter and play along with you, then you'd find out when he'd make a confusing, out-of-place remark that leaves you absolutely flushed. He was so irrevocably infuriating.

"Thank you, everyone, for your input," MJ says, handing each of you smiles of gratitude. She expected the bunch to disperse but they didn't, you didn't either. "What do you expect me to say? Meeting adjourned?" She and a few others laugh as the awkwardness disappears. They leave.

You thanked her as well as you started to walk backwards — to be well on you way. But you feel yourself bump into someone, their hands on both your shoulders instantly before you had time to process who it was.

"You won't mind much if I steal her now, right?" A low and silvery voice asks — Hobie's voice. You've replayed it in your head far too many times to doubt it. You look up a bit to see him smirking down, a glint of mischief in his eyes.

"Hobie," MJ greets, her playful gaze flickering back and forth between you two. She raises both her hands in surrender, "She's all yours." She turns to take off.

He smirks and leans his head down beside yours, lips right by your ear. "I know."

[covid-safer-hotties]

New COVID Variant XEC May Outpace Others This Fall - Published Sept 18, 2024

"The virus is always going to be mutating away from what it was in order to get more efficient at infecting individuals," Adalja said. "So I think this really highlights the fact that a universal COVID vaccine, or some vaccine with different technologies, perhaps a nasal vaccine and using mucosal immunity, all of those things are important."

What if, get this, we prevented covid cases by improving ventilation, mandating air filtration, and wearing masks in public? Wouldn't that accomplish the same goal right now? Every mutation takes us further away from the current scientific fantasy of a universal covid vaccine. We have to stop cases to make this dream a reality.

by Sophie Putka

The new COVID-19 variant XEC may overtake others in circulation to become dominant in the coming months, experts said, but will not prompt a meaningful change in symptoms or vaccine response.

So far, the CDC's variant proportions tracker has not registered enough cases of XEC in the U.S. to report it. (The agency's projected estimates for the 2 weeks ending in September 14 currently show KP.3.1.1 and KP.2.3 as the leading variants, with 52.7% and 12.2% of national cases, respectively.) Another estimate using data from the variant tracker GISAID has XEC at 1.11% of U.S. cases as of September 15, with around 48 sequences reported.

First detected in Germany in June, it's been found mostly in Central Europe, representing 10% of cases, according to the U.K.'s Science Media Centre.

"XEC represents a fairly minor evolution relative to the SARS-CoV-2 diversity currently in circulation, and is not a highly derived novel variant such as those that were granted Greek letters," like Alpha, Delta, and Omicron, Francois Balloux, PhD, a computational biologist at University College London and director of the UCL Genetics Institute, said in a Science Media Centre statement.

Experts noted that while XEC may have a small advantage in transmission, available vaccines are still likely to provide protection from serious illness.

XEC is a "recombinant variant of some of the other Omicron lineages that have been around for a while, and it does appear to be more immune evasive, giving it a transmissibility advantage in the population with the immunity that it has," Amesh Adalja, MD, of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security in Baltimore, told MedPage Today. "But it doesn't really change anything, just like the last variant didn't change anything, or the one before that, one before that, or the one before that."

Currently available COVID vaccines target slightly different subvariants. The updated mRNA shots aimed at KP.2 from Pfizer-BioNTech (Comirnaty) and Moderna (Spikevax), as well as Novavax's vaccine targeting the JN.1 variant lineage, are still protective against the most serious consequences of COVID infections, experts said.

"If this becomes a dominant variant, it will decrease the efficacy against infection of the updated vaccines, but the updated vaccines will still be durable against severe disease [and] hospitalization, and that's what is really the primary function of our current, first-generation COVID vaccines," Adalja said.

Still, he emphasized, the rapid mutation of the virus underscores a need for a different kind of vaccine than those currently available if the goal is to protect against infection rather than just severe disease.

"The virus is always going to be mutating away from what it was in order to get more efficient at infecting individuals," Adalja said. "So I think this really highlights the fact that a universal COVID vaccine, or some vaccine with different technologies, perhaps a nasal vaccine and using mucosal immunity, all of those things are important."

[transgenderer]

thinking again about the period last year when my E was too high and i was crazy, in the like, colloquial social sense, acting unpleasant and intensely emotional and such. the worst part of being crazy is that like...its unpleasant AND people dislike you for it. its suffering that you are then punished for, and you cant even blame them for punishing you like youre behaving worse towards them, they dont want to hang out with you.

makes me think about the paper linked in this thread (h/t acx). aiui the idea is that we should expect personality differences to be the result of insufficient selection (like, mutation and such fast enough that evolution cant weed it out) rather than balancing selection, because we dont see genetic variants (like, specific mutations, i think) with large effect sizes, we only see lots of small ones. which would make sense if there were tons of ways for mutations to make your personality slightly "worse" (evolutionarily), too many for evolution to weed them all out, but wouldnt make sense if evolution was actively selecting for personality variants (because it's easier to "see" those big effects, so we'd expect evolution to pick them up before picking up all the little ones). "craziness genes", again in this colloquial sense, fit nicely into this framework, they seem purely evolutionarily harmful (because theyre harmful to social status and acceptance and such)

i think my main skepticism re the paper is just that like, humans modern enough to have very complex social arrangements (i mean on the level of like, hunter gatherers. still pretty complex!) are very young, less than a million years old i believe (although i mean, its not like we know for sure), and humans breed slow, so that's not a lot of evolutionary time! given that surely personality trait selection is pretty weak (compared to like, lactose tolerance, for example), i think it would make sense to guess that humans have actually been subject to very weak selection on personality in general. maybe in that case you would see variants with strong effects? but it seems plausible that its just hard for a single mutation to have a strong effect on personality without also having some other more important strong effect.

[bruisedboys]

STAR TRIPPING, blurbs ─── send in a character + a prompt from the lists above and I’ll write you a blurb!

could do you do a fluff blurb with miguel o'hara for~

❛ was that your first kiss? ❜

❛ do you think i’m a good person? ❜

❛ what if i hurt you? ❜

ive never really requested anything and i don't if that's too many prompts, so very sorry, ignore this if it's too much !! <3

hi angel!! thank you so much for the ask. I just used one of these prompts, I hope you don’t mind! 🤍

SPOILERS FOR SPIDERMAN: ATSV BELOW THE CUT!

miguel o’hara x spider-person!reader, no pronouns used, fluff and a tiny bit of angst!

prompt — ❛ do you think i’m a good person? ❜

Miguel isn’t used to feeling judged. He doesn’t care what other people think, especially when most people who don’t like him are much younger and much more inexperienced, in his opinion (Read: Hobie Brown).

But with you around it’s different. He feels like he needs to be better. Kinder, maybe. He’s not exactly sure why. Or rather, he knows exactly why but doesn’t want to admit it.

You’re kind, you’re really kind, probably the sweetest most selfless spider-person he’s ever had to deal with. And he’s dealt with a lot. Miguel likes how kind you are. At first it sort of stopped him in his tracks, threw him for a loop. Now that he’s known you for a while he’s found himself acting differently, being more forgiving of mistakes, letting things go that he usually wouldn’t. He’d never admit it out loud, but he knows it’s because he likes you. And, more importantly, he wants you to like him.

Still, he messes up sometimes. A mission to catch a Vulture variant turns messy when the Spider-Woman from the dimension he’d landed in gets stuck in a problem she can’t get out of. Gwen Stacy — she’s young, and she’s on her own, and she’s lost. Miguel is hesitant to let her on. He’s more rude to her than he should be. Snarky, mean. But in the end he lets her come, because what kind of person would he be if he left her there alone?

When he gets back he doesn’t mean to seek you out but finds you anyway. You’re in his office, of all places. He stands in the doorway feeling awful, feeling like you’d hate him for how he treated Gwen today. After a while he clears his throat though he doesn’t have to, you probably already know he’s there, what with your spider-senses and all.

You turn from your seat and smile at him. “You’re back. How did it go?”

Miguel doesn’t smile though he’d like to if he could. You’re the only one who can ever get a smile out of him. “Good. Everything’s taken care of.”

“Heard you picked up a new recruit,” you say with a little lilt to your voice. You’re always excited for new recruits. Quite the opposite of Miguel, really.

Miguel nods. The topic of Gwen makes him feel nauseous. Why did he have to be such a jerk to her? “We did. Gwen Stacy, she’s in the med bay right now.”

Your brow furrows. “Is she okay?”

“She’s fine. Just a little scratched up.”

You nod. “Well, you probably want your office back,” you say softly, gesturing to the desk you’ve been occupying in place of him. “I’ll go.”

You get up and walk past him and Miguel almost lets you go but doesn’t. He calls your name before you make it out the door.

“Y/N?”

His voice comes out more strained than he’d meant it to sound. You don’t say anything but when he turns you’re looking at him with a worry to your pretty features. Miguel figures he must look quite troubled because you actually take a step forwards and put your hand on his forearm, so gentle it’s barely there, but it’s there, and it’s feels like dead weight to Miguel.

“Yeah?”

Miguel bites the bullet and asks the question he’s been asking himself for a long time. “Do you think I’m a good person?”

You blink at him. You’re silent for a beat. Then, “What’s making you ask that?”

Your hand drifts up his forearm and comes to rest at his elbow, your grip tightening ever so slightly. Miguel’s eyelids flutter lazily at your touch.

“I’m short with people,” is all he can manage to say in way of an explanation.

“You’ve got a stressful job,” you say reasonably. “It’s only human.”

“I was short with Gwen,” Miguel explains, finding the longer you touch him, the more he unravels. He stares at a point over your shoulder, “She didn’t deserve it.”

“Oh,” is all you say.

Miguel thinks his heart might drop out of his chest. Maybe it will and then he’ll keel over and die and never have to worry about what you think of him again. Unlikely. He’s never been that lucky.

He doesn’t realise how heavy the silence feels until you break it.

“Miguel? Can you look at me?”

Miguel looks at you. You’re pretty as ever. He’s always thought you were pretty, but now it feels suffocating. Like, if he doesn’t tell you soon, he’ll die.

“You’re not a bad person,” you say. “You’re good. You are. Everyone gets a little impatient sometimes.”

“You don’t,” Miguel says, because you don’t. He doesn’t think he’s ever heard you get angry or upset with someone.

“That is so not true,” you say, shaking your head. “Ask Peter B, the other day I blew up at him for leaving Mayday’s toys all over the place.”

Miguel fights a smile. He can’t imagine you ever ‘blowing up’. “This is different, Y/N. You know what I mean.”

“I do know what you mean,” you say, your hand squeezing ever so slightly at his elbow. “And yeah, you have a short temper sometimes but that doesn’t mean you’re a bad person. What you’re doing here is good. You’re a good person, Miguel.”

You smile then, like you mean it, and Miguel knows you do. If he’d heard it from anyone else, he wouldn’t have believed them. But from you it feels real. He knows you wouldn’t lie to him, even if it was to make him feel better. You might be kind but you’re not dishonest. Yet another reason why Miguel likes you so much.

“Thank you,” he says. “You’re—“ He stops himself before he can say anything too serious, changes tactics though what he comes up with instead is still very much true. “I value your opinion more than you’d think. It’s important to me.” You’re important to me.

Miguel shifts his arm so he can take your hand in his. It’s bold. It’s unlike him. But it feels nice and your hand is soft in his and he hopes it will say what he can’t. He only holds your hand for a second before dropping it but it feels like an eternity.

“That’s okay,” you say sweetly. “Your opinion is important to me, too.”

Then, and Miguel is familiar with this by now, you get this look on your face like you’re going to make a joke, one that’s bad but will probably make him smile anyway. “If you still feel bad, you can always go and apologise to her,” you say, a cheek to your tone that Miguel adores more than he’d ever admit.

Miguel groans. You both know he’d never stoop that low. He smiles for the first time in what feels like forever.

“Would you do it for me?” He asks in a strained sort of voice, half joking and half serious.

You burst into giggles. Miguel feels his heart soar.

[salty-an-disco]

*thinks about how there's several different versions of Hero who acts a little different depending on which route you take him through–*

*thinks about how the Hero that appears in the middle of the final battle describes himself as being 'all of them'*

*thinks about how all those different Heroes might not have been able to completely integrate themselves into a single individual*

Conclusion: Hero would develop a system (a median system, to be more exact)

Yep. This was the main reason I started drawing different variants for Hero in different chapters and givin' them different names, everyone can go home now /lhj /silly

Anyway, since I already drew all the guys, might as well talk about them in the context of Hero being a system

(note: I've semi-recently found I, myself, am a system, so a lot of this is me processing this stuff and trying to puzzle things out through my blorbo. shout out to Hero for making this discovery a lot easier to digest. that means a lot of what I'm writing here comes from my own experience and perspectives. Also, I'll be calling the different Heroes 'facets', as that represents better what they are to him)

Since they all come from the exact same source (forms through Chapter I), they don't really see themselves as all that separate or different people. The different titles are more nicknames than anything, they're all 'Hero', just– from a slightly different angle and with different roles/priorities. Hero doesn't hear distinct voices in his head like Quiet, he's more like Shifty, in a way, having their feelings and different texture affect his behavior.

Hero is vaguely aware of these different facets, even giving them those titles as a way to organize and understand himself, but doesn't worry too much about it. That's just how he is.

As for the different facets and their role within the system–

– Hero: Host; front-stuck – Technically speaking, his route would be the Stranger one, as that's where he spent the least amount of time in Chapter I and didn't develop any other identity besides 'Hero'. Not necessarily the 'original', and would rather not worry about that lest it triggers another existential crisis, but is definitely the 'main one'. The main face that's always there. Behavior and thought-process can change depending on other facets present.

– Savior: Protector/Persecutor – Formed when his will power was broken and subdued by someone far stronger. Is intent on not letting that happen again. Very headstrong and certain of himself; he has to be, or else their willpower will break again. Mainly appears to help deal with threats much bigger than them. (Fun fact: in warped AU, he and Hero were fused together)

– Champion: Physical Protector – Formed by a desire to fight and persevere against an opponent that can kill you. Very strategy-minded, focused on better ways to get out of a confrontation alive. Will always try to get out of battles with the least amount of injuries to the body possible. Does not like confrontation, but will go through it if it means survival. Appears anytime there's a need to fight and/or survive. Often alongside Savior or Fledgling.

– Liar: Social Protector/Caretaker – Formed when forced to betray someone you previously intended on helping. Despite the title, Liar is very aversed to lying, and despises when others are being dishonest. Why play these weird games that just makes things more difficult? Can't we just be blunt with each other and makes things easier? Appears when the host feels judged or like he's being given an unfair assumption during a social encounter, or later on, when the host is thinkin' back to a certain social situation that didn't go to well. Helps process those leftover feelings and make sure the host is doing well emotionally and socially.

– Fledgling: Protector – Formed when made to feel cornered by a dangerous creature and clawed to death. Similar role to Champion, in theory, though he appears, more broadly, when the host starts feeling cornered in any way. Which doesn't happen solely in physical fights. Very helpful when appearing to deal with a physical threat, not so much when the threat is more emotional or social.

– Dashing: Emotion Holder/Uplifter – Formed from a desire to do nothing but good to someone else. Not as positive and optimistic as his paired voice during The Damsel, but still makes sure the host knows doesn't forget there's always a bright side and some hope to hold on to. Makes sure the host is taking the time to appreciate the things and people he love and that he isn't getting to caught up in worries and anxiety.

– Accomplice: Memory Holder/Cheergiver – Formed when despite your misgivings, you put your trust in someone else. His role is more vague than the others, but is generally there to give support to those outside of the system. Makes the host take a step back and let someone they trust take the reigns, for once.

– Haunted: Caretaker – Formed while spending a good few lifetimes in Nothingness. Not exactly sure what he's supposed to do here, but tries his best to help. Took some pointers from Cold and encourages the host to put feelings aside for now, if only to focus on taking care of the body before diving back into them. The one that knows self-care, and appears when the body desperately needs it.

– Dreamer: Trauma Holder – Formed as you tried to close your eyes and pretend there's no danger just in front of you. This one is Trauma Personified and mainly only appears when the host is triggered. When he appears, it's very difficult for Hero to differentiate reality from delusions, and it feels like he's back in the construct, fighting for his life and sanity.

– Ribbons: ???/Shell – Formed across 4 chapters; as more pieces broke off, very little was left of him. Less of a facet and more a general feeling of Nothingness. That can be useful when the host is feeling too overwhelmed to think. Just kinda makes Hero zone out and shut down when he appears.

Bonus: what it looks like when some of the facets are close to front. Whether or not Hero will shapeshift depends on how long a facet lingers, and how much they're affecting him. Often, he doesn't shapeshift at all despite the many facets that appeared throughout the day

[randomfoggytiger]

I started watching X-Files a couple of months ago and finally finished the whole show, plus the movies and revival. Jesus. I started looking at fanfic but am totally intimidated by HOW MUCH OF IT there is. Like. 30 years worth of it? Where do I even start? Do I read old stuff or new stuff? Are there any authors that have been writing since the 90’s? Who’s stuff should I be reading? What should I be reading? There are so many different kinds! (Okay, but not fluff, because The Ick.) (and only the shippy stuff because I am not a monster.) Where does one even start in this fandom?

Thanks for coming here, Anon-- I'll do my best~. ;)))

TLDR: If you want to read the classics-- the multi-chapter beasts hailed across The X-Files fandom-- I'd go to @lilydalexf's page and sort through her pinned Masterpost of recs; if you want my personal favorites, I've got my own complied Masterlist pinned, as well. If you want author suggestions, I listed a few below (but not all-- even of my personal favorites.) Older fics have a more "walled-off" approach to Scully and an edgier, distant approach to Mulder; newer fics have a more open approach to their exchange and dynamic. I prefer the latter, but that's likely because I was able to watch the show as a whole rather than episode by episode with a lot of guesswork in-between.

It's hard to pinpoint where to recommend you since I don't know your preferences; but here's a very loose attempt to do so:

I'm more of a short fic reader, but I'd recommend @melforbes, @slippinmickeys, @cecilysass, and @wexleresque for long chapters; @teethnbone, @leiascully, @aloysiavirgata, @enigmaticdrblockhead, @dreamingofscully, and @sarie-fairy for "atmospheric" writing; @baronessblixen, @welsharcher, @agent-troi, @television-overload, @invidiosa, @swinging-stars-from-satellites, @thescullyphile, @msrafterdark, and @edierone for well-balanced fluff/angst/humor/comfort fic/etc.; @o6666666, @ghostbustermelanieking, @mappingthexfiles/Apostrophic, and Lapsed_Scholar for their wonderful shorts (but especially Lapsed's Requiem AU compilations); @settle-down-frohike, @suitablyaggrieved, @amplifyme, @wtfmulder, @freckleslikestars, @lyndsaybones, @numinousmysteries, and Jenna Tooms/misslucyjane for their focus on Mulder and Scully as a "mature"-- for lack of a better word-- couple (no matter when their fics are set); @xxsksxxx and @writingwell write long-chaptered casefiles (my writingwell fic recs here might help?-- sorry for the codes, I was rushing out those notes); and if you want the authors everyone recommends, then @mashnotesofthemythopoeic/Penumbra (Masterlist) and prufrock’s love/plenilune (@lilydalexf links/descriptions here) are two of the many that fit the bill.

Other fic recs you might be interested in: @cecilysass's write more of these and Milagro recs, @enigmaticxbee mytharc and Scully family recs, @pennyserenade's reading recs, @two-microscopes shorter fic rec list, @nachosncheezies's slightly psychic Scully recs (describes three of the big x-files fics), etc. You want beautifully short poeticesque ficlets written and recced by @leiascully? Boom. You want Deadalive fic reccs? Kachow. You want opinions from the OGs? The aforementioned aloysiavirgata, amplifyme, baronessblixen, leiascully, suitablyaggrieved, cecilysass, settle-down-frohike, dreamingofscully, msrafterdark, as well as @iconicscullyoutfits and @myassbrokethefall (who write amazing meta, btw.)

Are you interested in AUs that write in Gillian Anderson's pregnancy? That have a storyline sans baby all together? That stick to canon all the way through the Revival? That stick to canon mostly, except for a bit of branching off here and there? Multiple Monday fics? Post Pine Bluff Variant processing? Mulder or Scully PTSD or panic attacks or hurt comfort? The many different flavors of Mulder's abduction or return? Casefiles (admittedly I stink at those)? My own fics (also in my pinned masterpost)? An author whose style you're interested in but would like a description of their work before making a long-term commitment? Lemme know~! :DDDD

Gotta run! Hope you like! (And sorry for any spelling errors~.)

[meetinginsamarra]

mayprompts2024, #2 box

So, I had this idea yesterday about a funny little "box"-AU.

I supposed it would become a short ficlet (famous last words) only to find out that it has a lot of potential and I have more ideas about what is going to happen.

I already worked over 2 hours today on it (time that I didn't really have in the first place) and it is nowhere from finished. I don't want to stress myself even more and/or rush this, therefore

Behold Part One of

"The Perfect Place"

--------

Sherlock turned up his collar and plucked up his courage.

Taking a deep breath, he plunged into his mind palace and went through every detail of his plan for the very last time before he would put it into action. He recalled stalking the man for two days, very carefully as to not reveal himself, to deduce all there was to be possibly gleaned from all the minutiae he could observe.

Sherlock found no flaw in his plan (of course he didn't, he never would because he himself came up with it). It had to succeed. There would be no second chance. It was now or never.

He entered and a tiny bell chimed above the door, announcing his arrival. Into battle, Sherlock thought.

“I want to buy a boxspring bed.”

+++++

John Watson startled badly in his seat when he heard the bell chime.

He had not been looking at the door since he had been fiddling with his gun for the umpteenth time (there were no rounds in it so it was safe) because it was boring as hell in the shop.

He had brought his illegal service weapon since the fourth day he worked here as a shop assistent, hoping against all hope that some benign person would storm in and try to rob the cash register (no robber worth their salt would even consider doing this) so that finally something fun and exciting would happen to him.

John had kept his hands and the weapon hidden behind the counter and thus out of sight from the potential customers (he was possibly mad but not that mad) and now he quickly shoved it into a drawer.

John stared at the surprise customer who had stumbled into “Bernie’s Bed Shop” and - holy moly - was he a sight to behold.

On a scale from 1 to 10 the man was a certified 11. John was already jealous of the mattress that would get to hug and caress and wrap itself around this sublime body every night. Life was just unfair.

Still, John could barely believe his luck. Finally, a customer who actually (apart from being the most gorgeuos human being John had ever seen) wanted to buy a bed, even one of those ridiculously posh and expensive ones with boxsprings. Also, being the first one asking for a bed in John's three and a half terrible weeks of working (suffering) as a bed shop assistant.

Thankfully, John remembered to plaster his most winning, helpful and customer-friendly smile onto his face (it was in fact not, resembling rather the anguished expression that a trapped animal with one leg stuck in a bear trap would have) and went around the counter to welcome the god. Godsend.

“Then you are in the perfect place. Bernie’s Bed Shop offers a lot of different boxspring beds. My name is John Watson, may I show you some variants or do you already have something special in mind?”

Sherlock blinked at John. Yes, you, he thought. His throat was suddenly dry with John Watson standing so close to him for the very first time. On a scale from dull to brilliant the man was a certified genius. Simply perfect.

“Show me what you have,” Sherlock asked, slightly husky and meaning something totally different. (He meant what was under these terrible grandpa clothes John wore, of course).

Please God, let him buy a bed, John prayed silently, being painfully aware that as a salesperson he had been utterly failing.

So far, he had merely sold a pair of cheap bedsheets to an elderly short-sighted woman and a heart-shaped decorative cushion to a sloshed builder. He had tried his very best every time when a customer had set their foot into the shop, being forthcoming and friendly and polite but somehow, they had all left more or less quickly without buying anything.

John did not know why that happened every time (it was his anguished smile, obviously) but he did know that this was his last chance to score or Bernie would definitely fire him at the end of this week. John would be without a job once again and would soon have to leave London because even the terrible bedsit he lived (existed) in would become unaffordable.

"Follow me then, please." John walked to the back of the shop where the premium beds stood. "May I present you the 'Royal Metropolis Deluxe'. It has every feature a boxspring bed can have that you could possibly imagine."

Just like your deluxe body, John thought.

I have a very vivid imagination, Sherlock thought and ogled John instead of the bed.

+++++

That's it for today!

Flower Shop AU? Coffee Shop AU? Tattoo Shop AU? Nope! All outdated. I felt there is crying need for a Bed Shop AU. 🤣

tagging some people (tagging on desktop seems to work) @calaisreno @totallysilvergirl @raina-at @lisbeth-kk

[useless-catalanfacts]

I've added English subtitles to a video for the calçots sauce recipe.

Calçots sauce (in Catalan called "salsa de calçots") is one of the variants of the sauce called "salvitxada". It's one of the most popular sauces of Catalan cuisine, which we eat with meat, fish, vegetables and salads (or even just to dip bread 🤭). In the particular case of "salsa de calçots", it's when it's made to go with calçots (long sweeter spring onions cooked by roasting them on embers).

Personally, I love this sauce. Each family makes it a bit different, with a slightly different amount of each ingredient, and some may add a little bit of toasted bread and a little bit of parsley to the mix. So don't worry if you would rather change the quantities a little bit (but not too much, you don't want this to be a tomato sauce, for example).

Enjoy!

Original video: croquetadexocolata on Tiktok.

[laurasimonsdaughter]

Question, are there any tales like The Six Swans where someone has to make a Super Impossible Garment?

From what I've read, not many!

Of course there are variants of The Six Swans, each with a slightly different garment as the (nearly) impossible task. So the princess might sew shirts out of asters or starwort (Grimm), stinging nettles (Andersen), star-flowers (Lang) or thistles (Asbjonsen & Moe) to break her brothers' curse. It's notable that in the Grimms and Lang's versions the stepmother curses the princes by sewing an enchantment into their shirts. So the cure parallels the curse. But there are many versions of this fairy tale where magic clothes do not feature at all.

In the Norwegian folktale Doll i' the Grass, a king tasks his twelve sons with finding a wife that is able to spin, weave and sew a shirt in one day. The youngest meets a young lady so tiny she is hidden among the grass and she is able to complete the impossible task.

In the Scottish ballad The Elfin Knight a young lady hears an elven knight blow on his horn and wishes she could be her lover. He offers to marry her, if she can make him a fine sark (shirt or smock) without a cut or a hem, made without knife or scissors, sewn without needle or thread. (She responds with some impossible tasks for him to complete before she will do such a thing, most of which are by know more well known from the song Scarborough Fair.)

Another famous example of requesting "impossible garments" are the three dresses requested by the unhappy princess in stories like All-Kinds-of-Fur, Donkeyskin and Mossycoat, to delay her marriage. But in these stories the impossible garments (a dress the colour of all the birds in the air, a dress bright as the stars, etc.) are quickly procured by the unwanted suitor.

The Japanese fairy tale The Bamboo-Cutter's Daughter has a similar motif with the protagonist requesting a robe made from the skins of fire rats, which ought to be impossible.

That's all the examples I can think of, which rather surprises me! I'll try to keep an eye out for them from now on.

[plzu]

caricature of intimacy - (Miguel O'Hara x Venom!Symbiote!Reader)

summary: Miguel invites you to keep his cock warm while he works. warnings: explicit 18+ only (mdni), cockwarming, p in v sex, no Y/N, implied venom x reader, (mostly one-sided) hate fucking, the tiniest possibility of humiliation kink, interrupted orgasm, Miguel in civvies! a/n: part 3 of sleeping with roaches. title once again from P!ATD's Build God, Then We'll Talk. i've had this idea stewing for months and finally got a chance to write it. sorry for liking it when Miguel is mean. as if it's my fault. wordcount: 2.3k

Sometimes, it feels like Miguel may actually take pleasure in punishing you. Which, if you’re being honest, is hard to convince yourself of, given the way he carries himself. Like he’s the only person capable of solemnly bearing the brunt of the world (or worlds, rather) on his massive fucking shoulders. 

He doles out the responsibility of keeping you restrained, so to speak, with ever increasing proximity. It is a constant and cruel test of your discipline. How deep can he push himself inside you without 1) the symbiote overtaking you and 2) letting your trembling hands wander along his body.

Lately, though, it seems he's been getting more lenient regarding the latter. Maybe it's a test of will. Maybe he just likes this more than he'll ever be capable of admitting. Likes you more than he lets on, and he doesn't let on much. You fully believe he still hates your guts as deeply as he can reach 'em.

(And he can reach. It's a wonder you can stand at all after your onerous little trysts.)

Either way, your current predicament has you flush against him, body quivering from immense self-restraint and the overwhelming sensation crowding between your legs. Miguel allows your hands to clench at the fabric of his shirt, right at his chest. Your forehead rests between your shakings fists at his clavicle, which is hidden by said shirt and its wide-rimmed, almost bowl-like collar.

It’s a funny thing, seeing him in regular clothes. The fashion here is slightly different than where you’re from, which adds to the out-of-placeness it brings out in Miguel. Simple, yet futuristic, you suppose, given that this dimension is several decades ahead of your own, before it was crudely blipped out of existence. The soft white and gray material of the long-sleeved shirt does  something to mellow out Miguel’s typical dark and brooding aura. It’s nearly disarming, the way it makes you want to stare. Take in the way he looks almost… normal. Less creature of the night.

The casual outfit had certainly made you pause when you sought him out before. You blinked back surprise, wondering if you had wandered into the wrong room, if this Miguel was a different variant, not of Earth-928. Until he cut you with that familiar glare of disdain that only your Miguel could give you, and then accepted your offer to release any pent-up frustration. Only to surprise you again by commanding you to sit on his lap.

(“I’m busy, so you’re going to sit still while I work until I say you can move.”)

Maybe being fully clothed is why he’s allowing the proximity. The only bare part of him that you're allowed to touch is sheathed inside your heat -- the head of his cock pressed up against your cervix like a bruising promise. A delectable threat.

The clothes allow a modicum of distance between you. Nulls the intimacy that his exposed flesh might allow, skin against skin as you straddle his lap, stuffed with his cock.

Aside from being a barrier, you wonder if, maybe, there was an element of humiliation to the circumstance. While it was unlikely anyone would come across you two in his computer chair, in his very private office -- lab? -- it wasn't impossible. Some emergency could have one of the other Spider-folk bursting through, and they'd see you naked from the waist down, barely holding it together as Miguel coolly works on his computer.

Miguel would never let anyone else see him like this, of course, yet you can't help but wonder. He doesn't seem particularly pleased that the others seem to like you so much. It must be satisfying -- the idea that some of the others would change how they feel about you if they happened upon the sight of you quivering like a desperate little whore on their commander’s lap, while he remained clearly unaffected.

The seat Miguel works in is slightly reclined, so the orange glow of his holographic monitors spill over your back. Flashes here and there when he closes one and opens another. Miguel's focus on whatever information being displayed makes it seem like he's entirely unphased by the way you're soaking his lap.

In an attempt to distract yourself from the ache of his girth, and how badly you want to rut against his pelvis, you zone in on the barely-there audio coming through. The sounds of recorded fights with different anomalies. Vulture. Rhino. Sandman. Green Goblin.

But the hum of sound is much too quiet. It's drowned out by the thudding desperation pulsing in your ears. This would be easier, much more bearable, if he weren't so fucking big.

You whimper, probably. Make some pathetic sound, because you feel his attention shift. A slight turn of his head has his jaw closer to your forehead.

“Keep it together,” he warns, voice dipped into a molasses-thick gravel that only makes you wetter. You shudder against him, squeeze your eyes shut against the temptation of wanting to look at his face.

“M-Miguel,” you breathe, finding it difficult to talk around the feeling of him inside you.“H-how muh-much...”

“Until I say we're done.” 

This is frustrating. The thought isn’t exactly your own, but it mirrors your feelings. As much as Venom enjoys when Miguel has his way with you, he currently squirms with impatience beneath your skin. I do not like this one. You can feel the desire he has to snake out a tendril or two, use it in a way that would satisfy you both, but he knows better -- even the slightest hint of his appearance would disrupt this session. 

Despite the circumstances, this makes you huff a one-syllable laugh. A small puff of amusement that does not go unnoticed by Miguel.

“What’s funny?” he asks, mild irritation an undercurrent to his soft query.

You answer, after a beat. “Inside joke.”

That seems apt.

Miguel doesn’t seem to appreciate the pun so much, though. “That thing is not a part of this.”

Venom takes offense to that. I am a part of you, so I am a part of this whether he likes it or not!

“Don'worry,” you sigh, ignoring the symbiote in favor of lifting your head to peer up at Miguel's handsome, ticked off face. “Won't let him out. 'M a good girl.”

Miguel's nostrils flare at your words. His cock twitches inside you at the same time that his large hands clamp down against your waist, cementing you to his hips, preventing you from bucking against the brief friction.

Your mouth parts in a startled gasp. The feeling of his palms sears against your skin, warm and titillating flesh. 

His attention zeroes in on your mouth, his own lips peeling back into a snarl that traps a guttural sound behind his teeth.

And- you catch it again. The hungry look on his face as his eyes focus on your parted lips, the look that makes it feel like he wants to devour you. It sends a thrilling crackle of desire skittering along your veins, foolishly fills you with hope and longing. 

The truth is, you’d let Miguel O'Hara consume you in a heartbeat. He wouldn't even have to ask.

It makes something liquid and molten spool in your lower abdomen, and you clench involuntarily around him, your weakness for Miguel's attention making you mewl and quake in his hold.

You squeeze your eyes shut again, not wanting to see Miguel's expression shift back into controlled anger as it usually does after you interrupt the rare reverie of his attention. Instead of another frustrated growl, however, you feel his head bow into the space of your neck. There’s no contact, but his breath fans hot against your skin.

Your eyes open with careful slowness despite the speed at which your heart beats in your chest at the sight of Miguel's neck so close to your lips. The hair that falls over his ear tickles your left cheek.

His chest heaves under your clenched fists, and you could swear his heartbeat matches your own. You want to ask if he's okay, but you're afraid of shattering this moment with another word.  

It doesn't matter that your legs are starting to ache from being spread around his hips for so long. Doesn't matter that the feeling of his cock persists against your core. You want to savor this delicious torment of his hands at your hips and his fangs a breath away from your pulse for as long as you breathe.

Miguel is the one that breaks the silence, instead. Murmuring below your ear, “I don't like what you do to me.”

You’re not sure what he means, other than being well aware that you're a thorn in his side. You just hope that the comfort of your cunt is enough reason for him not to pluck you out.

Which is kind of embarrassing to admit. So you hum in agreement. “Same, here.”

He lifts his head, and you think you catch a glimpse of remorse in his crimson eyes before his features slip back into the more familiar grim stoicness. 

As he leans back, his hands travel lower, gliding over the curve of your ass until you can almost feel his fingers at the crease of your heat. The action lifts you, forces you to follow forward as he continues reclining back. It also makes his cock slide partially out of you. A quiet moan shudders out of you at the sensation of finally having some reprieve.

Miguel shifts slightly underneath you as he meets your half-lidded gaze. “Don’t forget the other rule.” You just stare back at him, frowning slightly. The ghost of a smirk accompanies his reminder. “Stay quiet.”

Before you get to fully process his words, his hips snap up and slam against your ass, plunging his cock fully back inside you. You cry out for only half a second before biting back your wail. 

He shushes you against your hairline - you didn’t even realize you dropped your head back down against his chest. Though with the way he’s dragging out of you again, terribly slow, you’re probably going to have to use his chest to muffle your cries. 

He thrusts up into you again, and again, and again. Despite the bruising grip on your hips, the pace he’s going at feels almost tender. The head of his cock pushes repeatedly against that sweet, swollen spot inside you, gradually undoing you. 

“Good girl?” Miguel growls low in your ear. “You’re the most aggravating part of my day.” He switches up, guides you to slam down on him while he remains firm on the seat of the chair. It punches the air from your lungs. “Everything you do pisses me off.”

His words drip like nectar down your spine. It's difficult to take offense to them when he lets you hook your arms over his shoulders and around his neck so that you can cling to him; it's the first time he's ever allowed your arms to wrap around him.

If he weren't fucking all matter of coherent thought out of your brains, you'd be able to marvel over the fact that he hasn't ripped away from you. The fact that he's in your arms gets lost in the smoldering heat trapped between you.

Miguel spreads your cheeks, and it does something you can’t describe to the sensation of having his cock fuck into you. It makes you babble nonsense into the damp space of his neck, taste his sweat on your tongue as you keen, “so deep so deep so good-”, a feeling sweet and sharp swelling in your belly until it spikes and bursts, and you gush around the relentless ramming of his cock, soaking the crotch of his pants.

You pant, falling slack against the solid wall of his torso. His hands finally relinquish their hold on your bottom, and you feel his arms encircle your waist, holding you still and close as he uses your spent pussy to chase his own release.

The bunched up fabric at the crotch of his pants, his open fly, keeps catching at your clit with each thrust. The sensation quickly and overwhelmingly begins to build into another orgasm.

His pace quickens. Something animalistic rumbles in his chest, the strength of his arms crushing you to him. Your vision blurs with unshed tears as each snap of his hips brings him closer to his release- a second one of your own about to rip right through you-

“Yo, Boss man!”

Lyla's disembodied voice pings from the watch on Miguel’s wrist. He stills, coming to a tense stop with a grunt. You would have jumped off his lap had he not kept the vice grip around your waist.

“Sorry if I’m interrupting anything,” she continues, and it’s hard to tell if the amusement in her voice is from knowing what she’s interrupted. “But I’ve detected another anomaly.”

Miguel unwinds his arms from around you. You take the opportunity to ease up and away from his chest, quietly unwrapping yourself from Miguel’s neck, suddenly worried that he’ll push you away.

As he sits up and lifts the watch to his face, he speaks into it in a strained and gruff voice, “Where?” 

You don't look at his face to see if he’s spared you a glance as he gets information from Lyla, very purposeful in avoiding eye contact and keeping quiet as you begin to slide off of him, afraid that you'll remind him of who and what you are and make him regret these last few moments of intimacy.

The absence of him from between your shaky legs aches almost as much as being too full with him does. You feel his fingers gently graze against the soft flesh at your hip as you turn away. The unexpectedness of it makes you waver for only a second, heart going into a flutter. 

You keep your back turned to Miguel, smiling softly, as you gather your discarded clothes, planning to hold onto this moment for as long as you exist.

[yukidragon]

I wonder if Barbie was a singer and a performer in the AU, would the story go differently or the same? Would Bo be Barbie's "biggest fan" aka the classic crazy obsessed fan?

I assume you mean in the Mafia AU? That would be an intriguing alternative to their story. Of course, the life of a singer and performer is a busy one, which would probably be too much for Barbie to juggle with her crusade against the Blouin family to free her big sister from being contracted to them.

But hey, I made variants of AUs before, and the initial idea did come before I fleshed out more about the King family, and it does seem a shame to not involve them with the fun of living in St. Valen's... Why don't I explore a version of the story where they have a little family run business of their own in this city of sin and vice?

Content Warnings: This AU talks about dark subject matter like criminal violence, human trafficking, emotional abuse, child abuse, weaponized religion, cults, religious trauma, childhood trauma, excessive drinking, drug usage, yandere obsession, and of course sex. Chances are one or more of these topics will pop up as I ramble on. I'll try not to be terribly graphic when these subjects appear... unless I get inspired by some self-indulgent OTP smut ideas.

I might also use some artwork drawn by the awesome Sauce to illustrate a point or two, so I'm going to do a quick plug for the SnaccPop Patreon. Signing up not only gives you access to a lot of special works of art and audio dramas, but you'll be supporting the team. They deserve lots of love for working so hard on Something's Wrong with Sunny Day Jack, DachaBo, and Aphrodesia. This AU that blends the three together wouldn't be possible without them.

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

With all that out of the way, let's play with some slightly different circumstances for Bo to meet his puppy in this crime-ridden universe, and Jack to get a little bit of sunshine in his life.

Not too much will change on Jack and Bo's end in this variant of the AU. I love the idea of Jack suffering from a form of haphephobia too much to drop it, but the way he'll be touched by sunshine for the first time will be a bit different.

The Royal Garden

The King family set up shop in the City of St. Valen's as a literal mom and pop joint known as the Royal Garden. Mama Lycoris has an eye for cultivating talent, and her beautiful husband is a well known singer with many years of experience. Together they set up a rather well to do entertainment venue that draws in a lot of up and coming talent in the area.

Of course, being the crime-riddled city of St. Valen's, they needed to occasionally get rough with the local thugs that tried to shake the business down for money. Lycoris might not be part of any mafia organization, but she knows how to take care of trouble and how to get rid of a body if necessary. You wouldn't think she was so formidable from her small stature and warm, motherly aura, so she catches people off guard when they try something funny with her. She makes sure the security in the garden is second to none, so nothing will happen to her family, anyone who works their, or her customers while they're on the premises.

For the most part, the talent at the club comes from the family. Since the Royal Garden opened, the star of the show has always been its lead singer, Ambrose King, who as given the nickname the White Rose of the Royal Garden. He's also been called the White King or the White Queen. He was very well known for his beauty and singing talent long before they ever met Lycoris, and he's unintentionally stolen many a heart over the years. Still, no matter how many people look their way, his heart belongs to his beloved wife.

On that note, I'd like to proudly proclaim that I finally gave Papa King a name - Ambrose! It felt very fitting to me after I decided that Lycoris insisted that all their children have the middle name of "Rose" in honor of their love story. She, being a flower lover, plucked the "rose" from his name and that flower has been the symbol of her love for them ever since.

I also gave Ambrose a bit of a makeover in picrew since I don't think the dadwear cardigan look he sports in the regular continuity would fit an alluring club singer living in a city full of sin and vice. I couldn't get the look exactly how I wanted, but here's something a little bit closer to the sultry look he might sport in this AU.

Alas, picrews are a bit limited when trying to capture the Aphrodesia style. Maybe someday I'll be able to draw Ambrose in a proper sexy outfit fit for this sort of setting. There are many people who have fallen for this beautiful singer.

Of course, since Papa King has gotten a bit of a picrew makeover for this AU, I should do the same thing for Mama King.

Whether she's called the Red Queen of the Royal Garden or its gardener, Lycoris runs the show, both figuratively and literally. Sadly, with the limitations of picrew I can't show her as dolled up and decked out in jewelry as I'd like, but she's a very classy dame.

While I'm at it, I think I'll see if I can get picrew to makeover for the three oldest siblings to be a bit more fitting for this AU. I know I already drew Alice in this AU, but with her backstory changed, she's going to have quite a different appearance. She can't perform on stage wearing second-hand clothes from a thrift store after all. Fortunately for her, there's no need for her to wear a Phantom of the Opera mask in this version of the AU.

Again picrew limitations confound me, but I think this gives a good gist of how this version of Alice fared a bit better than her sniper counterpart in this sort of setting. Just imagine this dress being a lot more glittery all over with some more jewelry accents, perfect for putting on a show.

Alice has grown up on the stage. Though she did face some bullying due to her weight while growing up, and even today she'll receive the occasional awful comment, as she does in the regular continuity and virtually every AU, the praise she received for performances since she was a child helped boost her confidence. She's a wonderful singer, just like her papa, and she's also surprisingly light on her feet, having been a dancer on stage before she started singing.

Despite the family business, Alice and her siblings were never pushed to perform if they didn't want to. It was always their choice on what they wanted for their own futures. Alice was always enamored by how magical and sparkly her father and the other performers were on the stage.

Even in this AU, Alice had issues with being nonverbal when she was very young. It took her a while to overcome those issues, even with therapy and using a puppet like Honey Bunny to help her find her voice. What helped her find her voice was the encouragement of her family, especially her younger siblings, who also have a talent for singing.

The Royal Garden is a very classy club that has two faces. During the day it's a fine dining experience with live entertainment that is suitable for all ages, though it caters to an adult clientele. The atmosphere is chill, pleasantly lit, and relaxing a place to stop and unwind for breakfast, lunch, or an early dinner.

Once night falls, the club is exclusively for the adult crowd, with neon lights, an open dance floor, a wide array of alcoholic beverages to partake, and acts that can get rather suggestive. Of course, the more racy acts are clearly labeled and scheduled so customers can choose to opt in or not on watching a far more adult show. The vibe of these acts is of sophisticated seductive elegance.

When the King kids were old enough to handle performing before a crowd, it was only to the daytime side of the club until they became adults. They all learned quickly that sneaking out to get a peek at the club at night was a bad idea and brought major punishments with it. Adults only means adults only!

Initially, Alice and Barbie were a duet, but over time they became solo acts in their own right. It was duetting with Barbie that helped Alice open up and enjoy singing on stage. Alice preferred to stick with performing in the day club, but Barbie switched to nights as soon as she was of drinking age and got permission from their parents.

Sadly the picrew that I used for Barbie doesn't have much in the way of jewelry or sparkly club outfits, but at least it can help convey that she cares a bit more about her appearance in this universe.

Both girls, as you can see, have slightly different hairstyles from normal. Alice has allowed her hair to grow much longer, and she often has it styled in fancy ways for her shows. Barbie stuck with the same short length, but gave her hair a blue-fade much like how her heterochromia fades from brown to blue. The dye intentionally matches her eye color.

Despite knowing how to play to a crowd, Barbie is still very much a misanthrope. She just learned how much fun it was to toy with people while on the stage. She can entice the crowd, tease and titillate with suggestive looks and moves that have given many a patron the wrong impression. Fortunately, security is there to remind the patrons that they can look and listen, but they can't touch. She gets a kick out of taunting people with something that they can never have and how desperately she can make her audience lust after her in vain.

Many a poor soul has tried to shoot their shot with the King siblings, but Lycoris is a very protective mama bear in this crime-riddled city. She strictly enforced stranger danger into her children and made sure they knew how to defend themselves both unarmed and with a gun. Among the security at the club are trusted bodyguards whose job it is to keep the King family safe.

The Kings are pretty well off in this universe. The Royal Garden caters to a pretty wealthy clientele, being a very upscale club during the day or night. There's a pretty hefty cover charge at the door, especially at night. Of course, the money patrons spend at the club tends to be from questionable places, but what person isn't dealing with dirty money even indirectly in the city of St. Valen's? Lycoris and Ambrose have certainly participated in a shady deal or two in their time, regardless of their feelings about it.

What happens in the VIP rooms, stays in the VIP rooms.

It's fortunate that Barbie has no inclination to date, especially not any of her lustful fans, or the overprotectiveness of her parents might be suffocating. Of course, things are going to change for her in ways she never expected in the future.

That overprotectiveness certainly got in the way of Alice and Ian getting closer romantically, or at least it didn't help the issues that got between them. Though more on him and his rocky relationship with Alice later, since I want to get through the rest of the King family first, and Ian deserves to have his new background fleshed out a bit as well.

While I didn't originally intend to use Elias at all in this AU, it'd be a shame to leave Coraline out, or for her to never meet her ghostly groom. I might save him for another post though, as I'm still considering what background would best suit him in this AU. I can stay that he'll be a fair bit more corporeal like Jack gets to be.

Really, when I think about Elias and his family, they'd probably fit right in to a criminal-infested city. Probably a family-run business with shady dealings and sleazy connections that Elias is trying in vain to clean up despite his chronic illness and the way his family treats him.

I can't help but think back to the conversation MC has with Elias in the game, where he laments his health problems and asks if medicine has advanced enough since his death that a cure was found. Multiple Sclerosis' symptoms can be managed with modern medicine, so he wouldn't be bedridden in this AU.

Now that gives me an image of Elias in a spiffy modern-ish suit with a cane looking dignified as he comes to see Coraline perform at the club. Maybe he'll look something like this dashing picture Shroomaz over on twitter drew.

It's kind of romantic to think about, with Elias managing to visit the Royal Garden during one of Coraline's rare performances. At first he felt kinship when he heard of her suffering from an incurable chronic illness like he does, yet she, like him, tries to live life. From there, he can't help but fall in love. It's as if fate drew them together.

Oh, and on that note, use this picrew to give Coraline a pretty outfit to perform in.

Coraline's acts are a rarity at the Royal Garden due to her poor health. Her specialty is more somber songs that speak of loss, heartache, and death, which never fails to move members of her audience. Though she does occasionally switch it up with much more silly yet still very morbid songs, which can be a bit of mood whiplash. She's earned the nickname of the Mourning Glory of the Royal Garden for her tendency to dress in black and choose such dark topics to sing about. This preference, plus her odd hours, means she exclusively performs during the nighttime hours. Still, she has very devoted fans, and one gentleman in particular never misses a single show.

Unlike Alice and Barbie, Coraline didn't perform when she was a child, though she did inherit Ambrose's talent for singing as well. It was only when her health became relatively more stable in her adulthood that she was able to sing before a crowd. She did practice with her siblings when they were younger, however.

Speaking of siblings, I shall now unveil the fourth King child thanks to this picrew. I've been toying with this character off and on for a while, including whether I should stop at 3 siblings. Still, this stubborn 18-year-old persisted and insisted on expanding the roster. May I present you with the dazzling Jem Rose King!

Jem would like to inform you that they are just as fabulous in the regular continuity as they are in the Mafia AU. They have an eye for fashion and love experimenting with their style.

Fun fact for this AU and the regular continuity - Jem coming out to their family and explaining what it meant to be non-binary and their feelings on their identity were what helped Ambrose realize that his gender was a little more fluid than they realized as well. Though still masc-leaning, Ambrose uses he/him and they/them pronouns interchangeably.

Another fun fact: Unlike their older sisters, Jem doesn't have a love interest from any current or future SnaccPop game. The love interests for SnaccPop average around mid-twenties, and if I choose to ship them with anyone, I would prefer it be someone a bit closer to their age.

That won't stop Jem from having fun though. They're quite the mischief maker, often playing pranks on their siblings and friends. I won't go too deep into regular continuity Jem here, as that's best saved for another post, but in the Mafia AU, they also perform during the daytime hours of the club like Alice. They would prefer to join Barbie and Coraline in the night side of things, but Lycoris is insisting that they wait until they reach drinking age. Jem finds their mom's overprotectiveness quite frustrating at times, especially since they're finally a legal adult, and the two of them occasionally get into arguments over it.

Still, Jem has their ways of getting info about the juicier things happening at the Royal Garden, and in the city of St. Valen's as a whole. Aside from their obvious family connections, they're very social, making friends easily with the non-family talent, regular patrons, and their peers. They learned quite a lot from watching Lycoris over the years and might be better suited for the business side of things rather than the stage. However, they just can't give up the allure of the spotlight and all eyes watching them shine.

Jem being a bit reckless worries her family at times, especially Alice. The oldest child has to watch out for the younger ones after all, which makes Alice feel responsible for the safety of all her younger siblings. Jem was the one most often caught sneaking into the nightclub while they were children despite Alice's best efforts to be the responsible one and curb such mischief from her siblings.

I haven't fleshed out the remaining siblings quite yet, though I am still inclined for there to be 7 of them in total. I'm letting the ideas develop slowly over time, as that usually makes them fit in quite naturally into the stories like Barbie, Coraline, and now Jem. It's also possible that I might eventually choose to stop at 4 siblings total. Regardless, I'm going to let these ideas simmer on the stove a bit more as I develop the family's story.

Religion in a City of Sin

As one might expect, it's not easy to raise a family in a city that is rife with crime. It can lead parents to potentially become overbearing and overprotective, especially if they've experienced hardship.

Lycoris and Ambrose are more prone to jumping the gun when it comes to their children's safety in this AU compared to the regular continuity, especially Lycoris. They're not the only parents who are overprotective, as Ian's mother is even more of a helicopter mom.

Ian's mother is deeply religious, as we've seen in the afterlife story. She is so obsessed with things being sinful that she's emotionally abused Ian, leaving him questioning whether his perfectly healthy feelings and urges are sinful. She will send her flying monkeys after him if he tries to leave her. And this is in the normal setting, just an average town in the USA, not a mafia setting where crime and violence is a lot more visible all around them.

Given that Aphrodesia has a bit of a religious undertone to it, what with cherubs, angels, priests, etc. I think that Ian's mom would fit the role of the hypocritical religious figure that is trying to seize control in the city of sin under the justification of having the moral "right" to do so, even if that means hurting others for the sake of her faith. It might be a role similar to Vaticus Arch, in a way - a shepherd overlooking a flock of faithful devotees. She certainly has a way of influencing others if she's able to send people to go after Ian in the regular continuity.

Admittedly, I still know very little about the lore behind the angels, cherubs/etc. of Aphrodesia, so I probably shouldn't tie her too deeply into this aspect, or at least not go too deep into that part of the lore. I mean, imagine Ian's mother as an angel with wings like Vaticus. That'd make her feel even more justified in weaponizing her faith against others.

Of course I say that, and now I'm imagining Ian with angel wings and how much pressure those wings and his mother's faith would put on him, especially in a city filled with sin.

I mean, in this AU we still have people with supernatural traits to them. If Bo can be part dog with special abilities, and Jack can have natural blue hair, then perhaps Ian could have angel wings.

Credit as always goes to the awesome Sauce for inspiring me and many others with this AU.

Aw heck with it, let's give Ian a pair of angel wings. Is he a descendent of angels? His mother insists that's the case. It's a mystery if she's lying about that, deluding herself, or telling some twisted version of the truth. The Duff family is divine and holy, as these wings prove, according to her.

Religion has been beaten into Ian's head since he was born, as was subservience to his mother, who wants control over every aspect of his life. Unfortunately, since she has more power and more followers in this AU, it's harder for Ian to escape her clutches or conditioning. Her influence as a mother and religious leader would be even stronger too with angel wings giving her this air of heavenly importance and divine righteousness.

This made things difficult for Ian to make friends. His mother was very watchful of everything he did and thought. In fact, the only time Ian really got a break was when he was attending Catholic school. Sure, the teachers there could be strict, but it was far less suffocating than his mother's clutches. As long as he didn't get into trouble and did his homework properly, he could actually enjoy something close to a normal childhood thanks to his school.

The King family isn't very religious, but the private school was a secure place with a good reputation, which was a must in a city filled with crime. A school with security detail was a must to protect their children.

Much like in regular continuity, Alice and Ian met at school when they were very young. Alice had a lot more experience with performing, showmanship, and taking charge in the Mafia AU, while Ian was even more of a wallflower. He was his mother and God's obedient follower, taught to do as he was told and to police even his own thoughts. Alice took him under her wing, and they became friends, with Ian following her lead most of the time.

Interestingly enough, Ian probably would be more popular in a religious school with angel wings than he would be in the regular continuity. Or at least he'd get more attention, though whether or not that's a good thing is up for debate. Kids can choose anything as a reason to bully someone, especially if they're someone meek who has already been conditioned to take abuse.

I can imagine overall the bullying Alice and Ian faced at school was less in this AU compared to regular continuity. Ian's wings and being a pastor's son would give him a mixture of admiration and resentment. Alice would be more prepared to fight back despite her kind nature when it was drilled into her since she could talk how dangerous the city can be. She wasn't afraid to stand up to anyone who bullied Ian either.

Unfortunately, it was difficult for the pair to hang out after school. Ian was afraid that his mother would forbid him from seeing Alice if she knew that they were friends. Alice didn't make it a secret that her family owned one of the most popular clubs in the city, and that was one of many, many places that his mother deemed as a den of sin, full of harlots and demons addicted to drugs.

Ian did worry about Alice living in that sort of place. Being a child so controlled by his mother, he did believe much of what his mother told him. Some cults even go as far as to teach their kids to proselytize the religion and convert their peers into believers, otherwise they can't play with them. Ian did try to do what his mother wanted, but he was always too shy to pull off converting anyone to his mother's brand of faith. Every time he mustered up the courage to try with Alice, she would shut down the topic and switch to something else so they could just enjoy playing like normal children instead.

It wasn't easy for Ian to sneak away from his mother's watchful eye outside of school, but he did manage to visit the Royal Garden a number of times over the years. He only ever saw the club during the day, bright and clean, totally the opposite of what he was supposed to expect of such a place. There were no drugs, no sex, nothing untoward, just delicious food, a comfortable atmosphere, and entertainment.

It did leave Ian questioning his mom's teachings in spite of his indoctrination. He tried not to think too hard about it because such doubts were "sinful," but his friendship with Alice and her family helped expand his world.

For a place supposedly made for sin, the Royal Garden felt far more welcoming and relaxing than his own home. Ian especially adored the shows that performed at there. It was amazing! There were singers, musicians, magicians, actors, dancers, and all sorts of performances that rotated through day after day. It enchanted him, and the way all eyes looked at the performers with admiration, but not that crazed desperate zeal like at home or the church... it made him envious in spite of himself.

It was on a day when Alice performed while Ian was there that he fell in love with her. She always shone brightly to him, being his hero at school against all the bullies, but on the stage she was truly a star. Her voice was magical, and he was spellbound.

Lycoris and Ambrose were warm and welcoming to their children's friends, but also wary behind their smiles. They were aware of Ian's mother and the cult she was steadily growing. Granted, her group were no worse than some of the other patrons that visited on the regular, but the pair were cautious with whoever their children interacted with.

Still... Ian's meek, beaten down personality did win the hearts of the King family. He was like a wounded puppy left out in the rain. Lycoris and Ambrose helped in what ways they could, giving Ian an open invitation to the day club to allow him a reprieve from his overbearing mother for a while.

Unfortunately, dating was something of an issue. Ian couldn't go out on a date publicly, not even to a school dance, unless it was with someone his mother approved of. With her strict criteria, such a person probably didn't even exist. Alice was someone his mother would never approve of, especially if his mother knew that Alice also performed at the club. It's guilty until proven innocent in his mother's eyes, and only she defines what is pure and innocent in her world.

As we've seen from afterlife mode, Ian was taught by his mother that lustful thoughts are sinful. No doubt this got especially ground into him when he hit puberty, and doubly so when she realized that he was close to someone. Hell, she might have even realized Ian had a crush on MC and that fueled her manipulation.

Naturally, in this sort of setting where Ian's mother is even more controlling and oppressive with her religious teachings, with a following of people fueling her power trip, if she caught wind that her son had a crush on someone, she's going to start beating that bible over his head harder than ever. It doesn't matter if he's a child in puppy love who innocently thinks that couples kiss and nothing more. Such desires are still sinful in her eyes.

Given how little Ian's mother cares about his boundaries, his privacy is virtually nonexistent. Once her boy hits puberty, she's prying into his relationships, who his friends are, and who is tempting her boy to sin. When she identifies Alice as Ian's friend and figures out who the King family is... well, she's not going to approve, to say the least.

Man, imagine if Ian crushed on a MC who was tied to a crime family, and maybe even actively participated in criminal activities. His mother's head would probably explode!

As it is, a club like the Royal Garden is a den of sin, and it's up to the truly faithful to save those lost lambs from sin, according to his mother and her congregation. The Kings aren't necessarily outside the realm of being saved, and perhaps their popularity could be useful to bring more wayward souls to the church if they could be properly converted.

Ian is pressured even harder to proselytize to anyone whose faith is weak in his mother's eyes, especially Alice and her family. Clearly the catholic school wasn't as good as she believed it was if it was allowing non-believers to remain unfaithful even within its halls. His mother used her connections to the school and its church to put a more watchful eye over Ian, stripping away more of what little freedom he had by pushing the teachers to be stricter with him too.

It would be tragic if Ian never fully escaped his mother's grasp in this universe, his thoughts only growing more warped by her teachings as he grew older. He could even serve as an interesting antagonist to criminals like Jack. Still, not without hope of breaking free of his mother's chains.

The relationship between Ian and Alice became more strained the older they got. He was pressured more and more to not think "sinful" thoughts and to make sure he only surrounded himself with those who were truly faithful. Being with Alice created a complicated push and pull in his mind, as her friendship was important to him, too important for him to let go of, but he felt guilty for his feelings towards her and for being friends with someone who didn't share his faith.

The potential push and pull could be even more complicated and twisted if MC was intentionally trying to tempt and "corrupt" Ian. Not to get too lost in the weeds here of different MC possibilities, but I can see this being an opportunity for some MCs to have a very spicy antagonistic enemies who are lovers relationship that leads Ian to feel guilty afterwards, but also lustful and loving on MC.

Alice had strong feelings for Ian that she hadn't quite realized had crossed the line from friendship into crush. Unfortunately, things would never develop to allow her to realize or act on these feelings. She can only open up to someone romantically if she feels like she can trust that person. It doesn't help that her overprotective parents steer her away from dating, especially someone who is as troubled as Ian is.

Still, Alice sympathizes that Ian is in a bad situation with a toxic home life, even if he couldn't accept that as the truth due to the conditioning from his mother that his life is "good." Alice wanted to help him as much as she could, even though their friendship was very stressful on her. She couldn't bring herself to just give up on a friend.

Unfortunately for Ian's mother, Alice wasn't going to convert to the faith. On Ian's urging, Alice did attend church with him once, to give it a chance for his sake, but she was incredibly uncomfortable the entire time. The teachings of brimstone and damnation, the urging to confess sins, and the oppressive atmosphere were bad enough, but his mother made a spectacle of her in a way that was very unlike the stage shows. It was with the intent to pressure her to convert, to be baptized and accept their teachings in front of an entire congregation of devout followers. It was a pretty scary experience for a young teen.

Fortunately for Alice, Lycoris wasn't about to let her daughter go there alone or let her daughter be pressured into joining any cult. Both mothers clashed in the middle of the church with verbal barbs. Ian's mother veiled her attacks beneath a righteous air of saving ignorant sinners from salvation. Lycoris was civil at first, but soon was direct with her disdain for the pastor, throwing many choice words with very colorful language before ending the interaction by calling Ian's mother a psycho bitch as she took Alice home despite the pressure from the congregation.

Depending on how zealous the church is in St. Valens, things might have escalated beyond words in some way. I'll have to look more into Aphrodesia's lore on this point to get more ideas on how to go deeper. Regardless, the congregation was certainly not on Lycoris or Alice's side, and the entire situation was very hostile.

Needless to say, this incident didn't earn Alice any points with Ian's mother.

In the regular continuity, the relationship between Lycoris and Ian's mother is civil enough, though with the occasional subtle snipe. In the Mafia AU, it became openly antagonistic from that incident onward.

Ian's mother felt that she had been humiliated in front of her congregation. Even though she spun it as entirely the fault of the "sinners they tried to save," it was a blow to her ego. She would make it a habit to harass the King family and the Royal Garden whenever possible, most often by having devotees try to redirect potential customers to the church instead of the club. Of course, the Kings won't just take this interference lightly and chase away these nut jobs whenever they show their mouthy faces.

After that, Ian was forbidden from being friends with Alice until she was a true believer in their faith, just like him. His mother's tighter control over Ian prevented him from ever acting on his romantic feelings in this AU, even feeling guilty for having them. Ian is still struggling with following his heart and his mother's teachings at the same time, even though they conflict with one another. Alice's compassion in reaching out to help him has led to her getting burned more than once, with Ian constantly apologizing both to her and his mother for never doing anything right.

Now as adults, Ian has a bit more freedom, but only because he's shown himself to be a devout follower of his mother. It leads to some pretty unpleasant confrontations between him and the "sinners" of St. Valen's.

Man, I did not realize I would go on such a long tangent about Ian's backstory in this version of the AU. Shows where rambling takes me, huh? Hahahaha. Anyway, let's move on to the next character shall we?

Cat Papa and Baby

I mentioned way back in the initial AU ramble that I imagined Shaun as the owner of a cat-themed night club. I considered changing it in this variant of the AU, as it might be redundant, but then I realized that it'd be interesting that he's in charge of a rival business. This one is purely a nightclub, with raves, a goth theme, and very sexy acts. There are stripper shows and other type of spicy things that make it exclusively an adults only club.

I will change the idea that it was a family-run business though. Shaun created it all himself from the ground up, though he did inherit money that he used to get the business started from his late parents. His very religious uncle Abraham greatly disapproves of Shaun's line of work in this universe as well, and often claims his parents are rolling in their graves because of it.

Shaun hates that he's at odds with his uncle. Fortunately he has friends like Olivia to support him. He also has his baby girl Moon Pie who is just a little less fuzzy in this universe.

Yup, I had to use this absolutely adorable human version of Moon Pie that Sauce drew in this AU. Bo gets to have his fuzzy ears and tail outside of a computer screen, so Moon Pie gets to have opposable thumbs and can talk to her papa.

I imagine her adoption was something entirely accidental. Moon Pie was an orphan just surviving on the streets, when she ran into Shaun. Shaun, of course, couldn't just leave this blind little baby to fend for herself all alone in such a cruel city. They came across one another not too long after Shaun lost his parents to gang violence, and it seemed Moon Pie lost her parents in a similarly sudden and violent manner. It was a shared pain they bonded over, which eventually led to them forming their own family.

Moon Pie doesn't talk much about her past before meeting Shaun, as she was fairly young when he found her and a lot of those memories were suppressed. Initially a shy and uncertain child, she grew more confident and flourished under Shaun's care. When she called him papa, his heart melted, and he realized that this little girl would now and forever always have him wrapped around her little finger. He's the proudest papa in the world if you ask him, and he brags about his little baby every chance he gets.

Like Bo, Moon Pie is the result of scientific experiments mixing human and animal DNA to make obedient "pets" of sort to work for some pretty heinous criminals. It's unknown if she escaped the lab with the help of her bio-parents, if she was born after they escaped, or some other similarly dark scenario. In a way, it's a good thing that Moon Pie doesn't remember much.

Moon Pie's senses are exceptional, save for her eyes. She's not completely blind, as she can detect some light, but for the most part the world is as gray and fuzzy as the fur on her adorable ears and tail. She is surprisingly good at handling the world around her thanks to her other finely tuned senses, though she is pretty sensitive around exceptionally strong sounds and smells. More than once she's expressed her displeasure at her papa smelling weird after a night out at the club.

Of course, Moon Pie knows next to nothing about what goes on at the club, just that her papa has to go out most nights to work. She has a very nice nanny to watch her during those nights, and Shaun makes sure she's happy, healthy, and even a little bit spoiled by his doting on her.

Shaun loves Moon Pie more than anyone else in the world, and if anyone hurt her he would make them pay. He loves her so much that when thinking of names for his club, he was inspired by her and how much her presence brightened up his life. The Blind Feline seemed to be a purrfect tribute to his love for his daughter, even if she's way too young to ever set one paw in the place.

Admittedly, I might wind up changing the name of the club if I come up with something I like better, but there's no way it isn't cat themed. Also, I really like the idea that Moon Pie helped Shaun choose and/or inspired the name in some way.

Anyway, before Shaun started the club or adopted Moon Pie, he went to various clubs around the city to get a sense of what he needed to start his own club. He even worked at a couple of them. Really, he's been going to clubs since he was a teenager because he loves the vibes and the fun he has. He's been to the Royal Garden both during the day and the night, and although he prefers the night time action, he did wind up making a friend in the day club.

Shaun got a job at the Royal Garden for a short stint, not as an entertainer but doing various jobs ranging from clean up to serving meals. This allowed him to interact with the entertainers and make some connections that he hoped would entice them to do shows at his club when he finally set it up.

In the process of this, Shaun and Alice got to interact. They hit it off right away and became good friends, with Shaun soon developing a crush on Alice. Watching her perform in a gorgeous outfit with a beautiful singing voice left him smitten. He did admit to her his dream of starting up a night club and "jokingly" asked her to be his headline act. It was a pretty clumsy ask, with lots of fumbling, so Alice didn't take it all that seriously, especially since he was already aware of how much value Alice put in her family. She playfully turned down the offer of being the star of his club and they laughed the whole thing off. Though it was disappointing for Shaun, he understood her decision, especially when he suddenly gained a family of his own.

Still, Alice does perform at Shaun's club on occasion, particularly in the beginning to help him get his business off the ground. Her family isn't going to stop her from making friends, connections, and living her life. Performing at the Blind Feline was a totally different experience than the Royal Garden, even at night, and the more sexually charged atmosphere made her feel uneasy being the center of attention. Fortunately, Shaun always went out of his way to make sure she would be safe at the club and never feel pressured to do or see anything that made her uncomfortable. Thanks to him she was able to enjoy her time there helping out a friend. Naturally, Shaun insisted to pay her for every show she performed.

Of course, a more overtly sexual club would be seen even more unfavorably by the local religious organizations. Ian wouldn't have grown up with Shaun, so his feelings are less conflicted than they are with Alice and her family. Ian wouldn't even think about that club at all for fear of corruption if he didn't find out about Alice performing there. It made him fearful that Shaun was tempting her down the path of sin and debauchery, which led to more than one altercation between the two men. Alice would have to play peacekeeper, though it would always be an uneasy peace.

Needless to say, Shaun and Ian are anything but friends in this AU.

Shaun still occasionally stops by the Royal Garden, but during the day when Alice is performing. It's a great opportunity for him to have some daddy-daughter bonding by bringing Moon Pie along. He also gets to show off just how adorable his little girl is.

The Blind Feline becomes pretty popular for its distinct style and at times very spicy acts. A couple performers even made a name for themselves there, which included Nick.

Alluring Nights

Yes, Nick is a dom by night in this universe too. The Blind Feline offered him his first big break that got him a lot of positive attention from a very devoted following. His performances get very explicit, but he's always in control.

Of course, behind the scenes Nick is a lot more shy than the front he puts up before the crowd. It's almost like he's two people sometimes. He became good friends with Shaun over time, and of course he wound up meeting Alice there on a night when she was performing.

Poor guy can control a thirsty crowd but gets tongue tied in front of the cute lady with the sweet smile and beautiful voice. He's barely managed a few awkward interactions with her that haven't yet left an impression with her beyond the thought that he seems nice.

Nick wasn't the only one who became aware of Alice because of her occasional performances at the Blind Feline.

Jack isn't one to go out to clubs all that often, or public spaces in general outside of business meetings and public appearances. When the touch of other human beings feels like bugs crawling underneath one's skin, a person will usually try to avoid people.

Still, Jack can appreciate a good show, and there are times when certain business partners insist on having their business meetings take place somewhere with a crowd around. It was one such instance that brought Jack to the Blind Feline that night when Alice performed.

Her voice enchanted Jack, as it had many others. He assumed what drew him to Alice was mere intrigue, a random whim that kept drawing his thoughts back to her even after her performance ended. The person he was doing business with was also interested in Alice... but for far more blatantly carnal reasons.

The business partner appreciated Alice's singing and appearance, but was disappointed in her performance style to say the least. All the acts at this club had some spice to them, showed skin and offered the possibility of more personal attention to the customers if the price was right. Alice's performances are far more tame and modest by comparison. It was almost like a tease in and of itself that this person took as a challenge.

Jack was aware of how this person's "interest" could be dangerous for someone. It didn't sit right with him to do nothing, especially when it involved someone who caught his attention like Alice did, but he also had to keep in mind that politics in St. Valens could be delicate and lead to a lot of blood being shed. This partner was still someone the Blouin family needed for business, regardless of their hobbies. It certainly wasn't the first time he had to work with unsavory characters, and won't be the last.

When the partner insisted on going to see Alice personally, Jack cheerfully came along to ensure things didn't go out of hand.

Alice wasn't a stranger to being hit on, especially after a show. She had plenty of experience in turning people down. It was at least funny for Jack to see the partner grow more and more flustered by such flat refusal from Alice. Jack found himself more and more entertained by Alice as time went on, but he did try to deescalate the situation.

The business partner's continued persistence made Alice feel unsafe and uncomfortable. She tried to excuse herself, but the business partner just got more forceful, offended by her refusal, which was Jack's cue to cut in.

Unfortunately, Jack underestimated just how worked up this particular business partner would get, and it led to a mild scuffle that led to Alice falling into Jack's arms.

Jack didn't want to actually touch Alice, or anyone. He never intended to let things get this far. Alice had grabbed onto his exposed wrist with her bare hand to stop herself from falling and...

Alice was warm. Her touch wasn't cold, slimy, and crawly. It didn't feel like his nerves were distorting into static until Jack felt like tearing his skin off to escape the sensation. In fact, her hand was delicate, soft and sensual, and he found himself reeling from the sensation even after she got back up on her feet and scampered away from them both.

Jack was stunned, but he couldn't be still for long, as the partner was raging, and probably a bit tipsy. Security of course was starting to sniff around, which made things incredibly complicated. Jack was forced to deescalate things and leave, rather than risk violence breaking out. Though he could handle his own easily, especially with his right hand Bo waiting for his signal, but he didn't want to risk Alice getting caught in the crossfire should bullets start flying.

Jack was obsessed with Alice after that. He had Bo tail her, find out all about her, where she lived, her family, friends, schedule etc. He found out about the Royal Garden, and made sure to start paying the day club a visit on a regular basis whenever she was scheduled to perform.

Before Jack became a regular at the Royal Garden, Bo made sure to scope out the club, both its daytime face and its nighttime sides. While Jack would only be interested in a certain show during the dayclub, it was what Bo found at the nightclub that drew him in.

Clubs like the Blind Feline were the type of scene Bo liked, hot, spicy, and stinking of sex. He loved to watch strippers and get lap dances. He visited virtually every club in the city that had a very adult night life and had his fair share of trysts with adult entertainers.

Bo had visited the Royal Garden's nightclub in the past, though briefly. The spicy acts at this club were far too mild for a wild dog like him, and other places had a lot more heat to feed his lustful desires.

That changed when Bo saw Barbie perform. She had a fire in her eyes and a commanding presence that made it impossible to look away from her. Her scent enticed him and her voice was beautiful. Her sensual movements and provocative poses enticed him a way that no other performer ever had even without their clothes.

Even after Bo's job of casing the club was done, he kept coming back to see Barbie. Bo had scoffed at Jack falling for a singer, since Alice wasn't special to him. Bo had always been certain that he would never fall like his lovesick boss, but he underestimated Barbie.

Barbie doesn't do dom performances in the traditional sense, but she has a commanding presence. Audience members who act up get put in their place and denied any chance to feel anything but the bottom of her heel as she stomps on them. She's got a powerful, intimidating personality that demands obedience from her audience, and Bo found himself wanting to roll over and expose his belly to her even if it meant he'd get stomped for it.

It'd be worth it to Bo if he could be the only person Barbie paid attention to.

Naturally, our two criminal yanderes quickly become absolutely obsessed with their respective singer of choice.

Unlike in the original version of this AU, Jack can't arrange it so Alice spends every day with him as his assistant. Oh, he'll try to hire her under some excuse or another, but she politely turns down his offers. She's quite happy to work with her family and occasionally her friends, and that's more important to her than whatever obscene paycheck he offers.

Jack pivots his plans to focus on befriending Alice, figuring out her schedule so that he can "accidentally" run into her in more casual settings, striking up friendly conversations and show that he's a good person worth knowing. His shining reputation in the community helps in this regard. He even offers to be her escort when going to and from her performances at the Blind Feline. Shaun has tried to act as an escort for her before, but since he's so busy running the place and raising a child, he doesn't have a lot of free time. Funny enough, Jack always manages to have his schedule free whenever she needs it!

By appearing so friendly, kind, and harmless, Alice starts growing closer to Jack. Of course, this leads to some jealousy from the other men who are also hoping to grow intimately close with Alice.

Bo does try befriending Barbie as well, but his method is a bit rougher. He's a lot more overly eager, which pushes Barbie to bring him to heel more than once. Though she finds him annoying, she also finds it fun to make this dog who barks so big whimper and beg her for her approval. Over time she starts intentionally goading him, getting a thrill out of leaving him a pathetic mess with only some blue balls to show for it at the end of the night.

Without the whole human trafficking angle or Alice being stuck with the crime family, Barbie doesn't have a reason to hate Bo and the Blouin family right out the gate. Oh, she'll be wary for sure, but when she learns how dangerous Bo is, she finds it actually adds to her thrill of humbling him. This big bad hunting dog is a weak whimpering puppy before her. She starts seeing how far she can push him, tame him, and soon she realizes he'll do anything for her.

Barbie has all the power in their relationship, and she quickly grows addicted to it.

Bo is different than the other customers Barbie has put in their place over time. The more time they spend together, the more she looks forward to his company. Soon things escalate during a performance. At the climax of the song, as she's done before, she pulled Bo in close by his collar. She would feign as if she might kiss him, as she had teased him and other patrons with in the past, only to shove them off the edge of the stage to assert her total control over her audience and their lust for her.

This time Barbie decided to cross the line. Bo had made it clear in the past he wanted to kiss her and so much more, so she took that as an invitation to steal a kiss from him at the end of her act, much to the shock of him and her regular audience. He melted into her, wanting to hold onto her and never let go... only to be shoved off the stage like usual.

Barbie ended her performance like normal, asserting her dominance before the crowd and her untouchable aura, but her cheeks were rosier that night.

Much like in regular continuity, Barbie is the one in charge of their relationship. She sets the pace between them, which Bo is only too happy with as long as she keeps him on her leash and pulls him closer. He always scoffed at the idea of being whipped by anyone. Even his servitude to Jack was a begrudging one. He was a lone wolf, doing what he wanted, fucking who he wanted, killing who he wanted. But in front of Barbie he was as weak as a newborn pup. He found himself willing to do anything as long as he didn't lose her.

Barbie sees Bo as an enticing toy at the start, but over time he draws her in and she starts to see his human side. She starts finding herself wanting someone for the first time. She doesn't like very many people aside from her family, but Bo slowly starts to grow on her. She finds herself desiring someone for the first time, both sexually and emotionally. Before she realizes it, she's getting jealous over attention others give Bo.

One night when Barbie catches Bo exchanging banter with someone else who clearly has the hots for him, she interrupts them.

...

Bo caught her scent even before he felt her warm touch, her finger slipping underneath his collar in that familiar way to pull him back. He twisted around to face his beloved Barbie, his tail wagging with happiness at the sight of her. "Puppy!"

Barbie's brown and blue eyes burned with a fire that could burn down a city, but that look only enticed Bo further. "Bo," she said in a low, dangerous tone as her long nails dragged across the tender skin beneath the collar. "Tell me. Who do you belong to?"

Bo shivered at the sensation, a whimper escaping him in spite of his pride and the people around them watching him. He felt weak under that burning gaze of hers that made his blood sizzle and his pants tight. "You, puppy, only you."

Barbie smirked, pleased by the pleading in his eyes and tone. "Good boy," she crooned before claiming his lips.

It was her most lewd performance yet, a kiss blatantly with tongue. Bo was only too eager to join in, drinking deep of his puppy in a way she had yet to permit him before. He was addicted to her flavor, and he whined when she finally pulled back, leaving them both breathless and panting.

Barbie held Bo back when he chased after her lips for yet another kiss, her smile smug and satisfied. She savored that yearning for her, how desperate he was with need for her that left him practically on his knees before her.

Almost lazily Barbie slid her gaze to the interloper that tried to steal what was hers. "You can go now," Barbie she dismissively, her smile taking on a cruel curve. "My boyfriend and I have plans."

While the other person seethed, Bo lit up, his tail wagging so hard he generated a small breeze. "Boyfriend? Me?" He sounded pathetic, he knew. If the person he was only a few months ago could see him now, he would hardly recognize himself, but he was too elated to care.

"That's right," Barbie practically purred as she turned her burning gaze back to Bo. "You're my boyfriend as long as you keep one thing in mind... I don't share."

"Whatever you want, puppy," Bo said as he clasped her hands in his. "Anything you want, it's yours. I'm all yours."

When his gaze slid back to his companion, all trace of pathetic subservience disappeared along with his earlier friendly attitude for this person who was now only an obstacle. Bo was a predator, ready to rip out anyone's throat at his master's beck and call. "You heard her. Leave. Before they have to carry you out in a body bag."

...

Needless to say, Barbie quite enjoys being Bo's new master. He certainly enjoys following her orders far more than Jack's.

Although Barbie is pretty forceful and dominating, over time she does start showing Bo more and more of her softer side.

Of course, that doesn't mean Bo isn't still going to be following Jack's orders. I figure their relationship is a bit more complicated than he would like, and one he just can't sever whenever he wants.

Speaking of Jack, I can imagine it'll take him quite a bit more time to get closer to Alice in this variant of the AU, though not for a lack of trying on his part. There's just going to be a lot more rivals and variables in play. Still, you know me. Eventually my ship has got to sail, which will make some guys pretty unhappy. At least her family would be less worried about Alice and Jack getting together in this version of the AU.

Well, as long as they never realize that Jack is the head of the most dangerous crime family in all of St. Valen's. Let's see how long Jack can keep that innocent squeaky clean image in place while he's trying to win Alice's heart and keep some pesky rivals at bay.

Really, this version of the AU would be an even bigger tease for Jack. As his assistant, he could come up with so many excuses to get Alice to hold his hand, help him change his gloves, help him put his suit on as an excuse to touch him, etc. Alice as a performer keeps a more polite distance from people until she really grows to know and trust them.

Heck, even in Sunshine in Hell, Jack had more opportunities to touch Alice when he needed it. Not to mention the connection between their souls means they're technically always touching in a way. That bond they made is quite the cheat mod.

Man, poor touch starved mafia boss Jack is going to go crazy waiting for Alice to be comfortable enough around him to want to touch him. The man is so touch starved, and she's the only person who he can stand to touch. He might wind up just as pathetically needy as Bo is with Barbie by the time they finally get together. At least Alice isn't intentionally teasing him like her sister!

Well... at least not yet. Once they get together, I'm sure Alice wouldn't be opposed to teasing her boyfriend a little. All in good fun of course~

After all, I imagine their first time was quite memorable thanks to how maddeningly pent up Jack was. No doubt Alice didn't get any sleep that entire night, and they would've made quite a mess of the bed. Once he finally has her in his arms, he's never going to let her go and make her feel so good she'll never want him to.

Can you really blame Alice for wanting to wind up her boyfriend a little to encourage a repeat of such an intense wet and wild night of passion and love~?

On that delightfully spicy note, I think I'm going to wrap things up here for now. This ramble has gone on way longer than I intended (25 pages last I counted,) and I got a weeeeeee bit off topic for most of it. Haha, sorry about that. I hope it was entertaining despite taking so long to get to answering the actual questions at least!

I have a feeling I'll play with this more musical version of the Mafia AU again in the future. Maybe I'll mix the two versions together somehow, or come up with yet another variation. There are no limits in AUs after all!

Huh. Now that I think about it, with Something's Wrong with Sunny Day Jack being inspired by the Phantom of the Opera, an AU where his sunshine is a singer who enchants him is pretty fitting. Sure, he's not a mysterious phantom guiding Alice to become the star of a famous opera house like the Phantom of Sunny Day Jack, but he's certainly going to make his sunshine sing for him.

Yes, I mean that both literally and suggestively. ;3

Jack might have become smitten with Alice after seeing her sing on stage, shining like a star for all to see, but nothing compares to her private performances with him in bed~

On that extra note of spice, I better wrap up before I make this ramble even longer. I hope you enjoyed the many unexpected directions my rambling took me. Please let me know what you think of this and any of my other ideas/writing. Thank you for reading!

[fandomnerd9602]

Ok so what about Gwen was dating Male Reader in her universe but he died by either villain attack or sickness and so she finds Reader from another universe and his a couple years older and she sees him wearing a ring later finding out the her in reader's universe is his wife

Another Life Gwen Stacy x Male Reader

She had searched the spider verse for you. You were the love of her life and then the Goblin took you away from her. Snuffed out in the blink of an eye. Gwen’s life was full of moments of absolute pain, she counted losing you as chief among them. Jessica Drew offered her a chance to search the multiverse for you. It didn’t take too many variances to locate an Earth with you on it. Gwen creeps along the rooftops, making her way to what she hoped would be your apartment. She perched herself on the rooftop overlooking your place. It looked warm inside, full of light and love. And then she saw you. This variant of you was slightly older, you looked good in a beard. Gwen could only think, how was she gonna approach you about this? It’s not like she could pick up where you had left off. It was another you, with different experiences and life choices. The answer for Gwen came rather quickly. A woman in a nightgown approached you and kissed you deeply. This strange woman, her hair the purest form of blonde. Her belly was growing, a little bun in the oven. Gwen found tears making their way down her eyes. It wasn’t fair, why did this woman get to have you? Gwen found herself creeping closer to the window, just to get a peak at this woman who stole your heart. You were smiling at your own bride, the mother of your child, lost in a world of pure bliss. Gwen caught sight of the woman’s face, she gasped. It was her. Another Gwen Stacy, er, Gwen (L/N). This other you was happy with this other her. Gwen knew she couldn’t take you away from this life. Gwen took a deep breath and turned to leave only for a web line to attach to her and pull her into the apartment. “Well aren’t you a sight for sore eyes” you smiled at this younger variant of your bride. “I-I’m sorry I-“ Gwen stammers only to feel a comforting presence place a hand on her shoulder. It was the older Gwen, who smiled at her like a mother would a daughter. “It’s okay” your Gwen reassured the young variant. “your world hasn’t been kind has it?” Gwen could only shake her head. The older Gwen pulled her into a hug, surprisingly warm. “I’m sorry I couldn’t save you” this younger Gwen cries to you. You pull her into a hug, “it’s okay. if you’re anything like my Gwen, then you fought hard. But that’s not a weight you have to carry” Gwen cries as she held but these variants. “thank you” “Why don’t you stay here with us for a while?” the older Gwen offers. “we have plenty of space…at least until little Ben is born” Gwen found herself smiling. A place of refuge, she went looking for another you but what she found was a little family unit. One that would always look out for her. Maybe it was another life but at least she could be happy somewhere in the spider verse.