#plotbunny idea

[caleili]

Plotbunny strikes again

There will be a slight delay on the next intermission chapter of Lead to Gold coming out, because I'm scribbling out an unignorable plotbunny one or twoshot rn. It's coming along super quick so it won't take long at all until i release it and get back to LtG. It's not going to be pleasant times for P, and it features a new stalker you just might see in LtG. Their name is Shrike and they might give Arlecchino a run for his twisted money...

[cheeseanonioncrisps]

A murder mystery film set in a medieval village. After an outbreak of plague, the villagers make the decision to shut their borders so as to protect the disease from spreading (see the real life case of the village of Eyam). As the disease decimates the population, however, some bodies start showing up that very obviously were not killed by plague.

Since nobody has been in or out since the outbreak began, the killer has to be somebody in the local community.

The village constable (who is essentially just Some Guy, because being a medieval constable was a bit like getting jury duty, if jury duty gave you the power to arrest people) struggles to investigate the crime without exposing himself to the disease, and to maintain order as the plague-stricken villagers begin to turn on each other.

The killer strikes repeatedly, seemingly taking advantage of the empty streets and forced isolation to strike without witnesses. As with any other murder mystery, the audience is given exactly the same information to solve the crime as the detective.

Except, that is, whenever another character is killed, at which point we cut to the present day where said character's remains are being carefully examined by a team of modern archaeologists and historians who are also trying to figure out why so many of the people in this plague-pit died from blunt force trauma.

The archaeologists and historians, btw, are real experts who haven't been allowed to read the script. The filmmakers just give them a model of the victim's remains, along with some artefacts, and they have to treat it like a real case and give their real opinion on how they think this person died.

We then cut back to the past, where the constable is trying to do the same thing. Unlike the archaeologists, he doesn't have the advantage of modern tech and medical knowledge to examine the body, but he does have a more complete crime scene (since certain clues obviously wouldn't survive to be dug up in the modern day) and personal knowledge from having probably known the victim.

The audience then gets a more complete picture than either group, and an insight into both the strengths and limits of modern archaeology, explaining what we can and can't learn from studying a person's remains.

At the end of the film, after the killer is revealed and the main plot is resolved, we then get to see the archaeologists get shown the actual scenes where their 'victims' were killed, so they can see how well their conclusions match up with what 'really' happened.

[laughingshadows]

Luffy calling Zeff “pops” makes me wonder if they all thought Sanji was Zeff’s son and they just had a semi-shitty/subtly-soft relationship the whole time?

[mediocretosubpar-soup]

so postcanon, hua cheng ascends as god of true love. xie lian is delighted. hua cheng is like mehh been there done that except danxia is so genuinely happy for him that he ought to do this right. how hard can it be, the cult can't be all that big. cue hua cheng opens his new palace door and immediately is buried beneath prayer scrolls. it's a lot but hua cheng is no pushover. unfortunately, most of the the gods don't share xie lian's enthusiasm and do their best to stonewall him. sure, xie lian, mu qing and fengxin (the latter two with lots of schadenfreude) would help but hua cheng will die again before he admits, he needs help especially not from mu qing or feng xin. he could make he xuan help but just imagining that asshole's smug, judging face gives hua cheng hives. so it's prayers in heaven, prayers in ghost city, prayers at home. whereever hua cheng he is answering at least six prayers at the same time.

until one day, hua cheng is toiling away at his prayers at the xie lian's temple, while xie lian's gone out and shi qingxuan arrives. moments later, one of ling wen's gormless middle officials shows up to heave more prayers onto hua cheng. the poor sod dumps them all over the temple, it's total chaos. hua cheng is ready to tear their head off. shi qingxuan steps between them, refers by the middle official by name, assures hua cheng that they didn't mean it and they'll sort the prayers for him. the middle official tries to abscond but shi qingxuan baits them with a conversation. after they're done and the middle official has left. hua cheng tells shi qingxuan that the official is going to tell everyone who wants to hear about the miserable life of the formerly, mighty wind master. shi qingxuan is like maybe so but all of this is sorted now. then he gives hua cheng three names of middle officials and what they can be bribed with and explains ling wen's filing system. hua cheng thinks to himself that shi qingxuan really knows what they're talking about. answering prayers is much easier. he's still thinking about it when he xuan visits and he is struggling again. so apropos of nothing, he asks he xuan whether he got any plans for the former wind master and he xuan says something like i don't care what they do with their life. hua cheng kind of asks, so if some god asked him to become their official you wouldn't care? he xuan thinking that no god will do that, says no idgaf. hua cheng is like ok.

and then he asks/coerces (begs) shi qingxuan to become his middle official because shi qingxuan is really good at that.

he xuan lied, btw, he doesn't have zero feelings about that.

[oifaaa]

I have a suggestion for a bnha dc crossover. What if you have the Bats simple non heroic quirks? They simply don’t use them for vigilantism and instead rely on their detective and martial art skills. Bruce Wayne can use his quirk as a party trick while leaving people wondering what Batman’s quirk is.

This is kinda were I was going with Tim and price tag tho I still think Bruce would be quirkless I have come up with ideas for some of the other bats quirks

Dick - spotlight - can summon a beam of light that shines over himself or an object of his choosing

Jason - swip - the ability to take things out of a person's hands without them noticing

Cass - Soundproof - can silence herself and the close sounding area

Damian - Tame - can get animals to like him (*can't control them or tell them what to do tho)

[andthekitchensinkao3]

Emmrich x Astarion what now?

@indiscreettransexual your 'I don't go here, but I'm here for THIS' vibes inspired this post <3 And since I was tagged by @kcscribbler @notyourmamasdeerbat and @insert-witty-user-name-here let's call this my WiP Wednesday post. Sorry in advance, everyone. <3

Just to get this out of the way: I am not implying I know all about these characters, and this is by no means an attempt at an in-depth psychological analysis of either Emmrich or Astarion, nor is it an exhaustive explanation of either fictional worlds - this is me sharing my thoughts and ideas regarding why I’m so excited to dig into this BG3 crossover fic. And to let those of you unfamiliar with either Dragon Age or Baldur’s Gate/D&D get the lay of the land.

In other words: welcome to my TED Talk, below the cut.

Also, sorry for tagging you in all these posts, @tinygameralec <3 See how far I'm running with your idea?

The worlds

Both Thedas and Faerûn are continents in worlds steeped in the Dark Fantasy genre, populated by an assortment of races/species that coexist with varying degrees of success. You have dwarves and elves, humanoids with horns (Qunari/Kossith and tieflings, half devils/half humans et cetera), hurlocks and genlocks; hobgoblins, goblins and orcs. The list goes on, especially for the D&D world.

The Dragon Age games have gradually moved from classic dark fantasy with overt oppression and systematic abuse to its latest instalment, which is basically a game about grief, loss, and how to recover from that through the combined strength of your friends and community; you have to own up to your mistakes, and try to save the world from being literally corrupted by a Blight. And there are two escaped elven gods out to squash anyone opposing them like a little tiny insect.

Baldur’s Gate 3 shares some of those themes of ragtag companionship and joining forces to save the world, but it also really digs into the darker aspects of its genre. It’s gory, disturbing, and asks all kinds of questions about what it means to be Whoever You Are in a world that largely gives less than one single fuck about you, and, more or less actively tries to kill you for any number of reasons - chief of which being you’ve been infected with a thousand-toothed tadpole that will turn you into a tentacled monster set on world domination in a matter of days.

Thedas has a High Fantasy religious system, where you have Fantasy Catholicism, and Elven Paganism, but no Hell, no demons. When the god referred to as ‘the Maker’ deemed mortals unworthy, he pretty much said “You’re on your own, kids, good luck finding redemption. Deal with your own shit.”

Faerûn has demons galore, and several levels of Hell - and a whole plethora of deities. Dwarves have their own pantheon, as do elves and humans - if you’re an elf or dwarf from the Underdark (drow or duergar, respectively) you have your own set of gods and belief systems. One of the playable races in BG3, githyanki, worship a living ruler called Vlaakith. She’s so powerful she basically named herself a god/ascended to a godlike status among her people. And then, of course, there are the Ilithids, the tentacled race of psionic powerhouses that Astarion will be transformed into - unless he finds some way of removing the tadpole germinating inside his brain.

So, on the surface, the worlds are inhabited by similar creatures, share similar themes of corruption (and how to fight it) while Faerûn is vastly more diverse with regards to player characters and religious systems.

On the topic of elves

Because Astarion isn’t just a vampire spawn, but a High Elf, let’s dig into the different views on elves.

In Faerûn, elves are, by and large, considered to be beautiful, capable, and trustworthy… with some exceptions. They come from all walks in life, and can have different origins - in BG3 they’re limited to High Elf, Wood Elf, or Drow. Drow are EVIL! Just look at those red eyes! They worship spiders! WOE! No, it’s not that simple, but for hyperbole’s sake. Drow BAD, other elves GOOD.

In Thedas? Elves BAD. Elves of the Dales? BAD and godless, savages the lot of them. City Elves? A burden on human society, honestly, why are they even here? Let’s bundle them into ghettos and strip them of practically all their rights, and sell them as slaves. That oughta teach ‘em.

What about mages, then?

Mages in Faerûn? Excellent! Scholars and sages and natural savants, they’re all good. Necromancers good, sorcerers good, everyone wants to know a capable mage for all those pesky Quests you want to go on. As long as you're not outright Evil, you're cool.

Mages in Thedas… Dangers to society, let’s strip them of all their rights, take them away from their families the moment their magic manifests and put them in Circle Towers - prisons where mages are kept under surveillance at all times, educated in the fields of magic, and if they don’t pass their final exam, they’re killed on the spot. Wouldn’t want one of them to be possessed by a demon, and turn into an Abomination. Oh, and if, for some reason, you don’t have the skills enough to control your magic, or your mind isn’t deemed strong enough to resist a demon’s influence, you can either opt for a magical lobotomy, or be subjected to it by Fantasy Catholic Church. Or, you know. They kill you ded.

(Dragon Age: the Veilguard scrubbed the lore a lot with regards to the oppression and systematic abuse of both mages, elves, and others. While I can appreciate why, I like keeping some of it intact in my fics, while retaining the Found Family vibes of the Veilguard companions)

So… what happens if a High Elf vampire spawn gets portalled into a world where actual vampires only exist in a few lore entries as being people possessed by hunger demons, and most recently as a single instance of party banter between Emmrich and another of the companions? Where the first bunch of people he encounters are all Basically Decent, and don’t assume he’s a cold-blooded murderer? Where the assassin of the team gets him blood from the butcher’s so he can join them at meal times. People actually ask for his input and help with stuff?

And, because this is a slash fic, what happens when our Outwardly Suave Dork Who Cannot Deal with Feels gets involved with the Respectful Genteel Necromancer of All the Big Feels and Romantic Gestures? Well...

So. Who are Emmrich and Astarion (and why should anyone care)?

Emmrich is the ‘gentleman necromancer’ of the Veilguard team. He’s a human mage and a scholar, 50 years old (according to data mined from the game), devoted to his Mourn Watcher duties. The Mourn Watch are a dedicated class of necromancers who tend to the dead, while safeguarding both them and the living. Mourn Watchers revere the dead, and take their jobs very seriously. Emmrich is also a corpse whisperer, which lets him speak to those who have passed. Emmrich also has an assistant and ward, called Manfred, a reanimated skeleton (assembled from donated parts) and imbued with a spirit of Curiosity.

Emmrich comes from a commoner background, and is currently at a stage in his life where he’s academically accomplished, renowned and wealthy, at the higher end of the social hierarchy, and he wants for almost nothing. But he’s got two major Things with a capital T that weigh on him: he suffers a fear of death like you wouldn’t believe; and he’s never found a love that lasts. His Major Choices have to do with facing his own mortality, or choosing to become an immortal guardian of the world. His Wound (emotional driving force) is losing his parents at a young age. When he feels wronged or cornered, he can be petty and cruel.

Emmrich is a Romantic. Capital R on that one, too. This is our man of Big Emotions. When he falls for someone, he plummets. He doesn’t just fall in love, he crashes - but of course, he’s old enough now that he’s outwardly composed about it. Naturally.

Astarion is a rogue and a charlatan; a vampire spawn formerly working as a magistrate in one of the largest cities of Faerûn, Baldur’s Gate - all while enslaved to a cruel master, the vampire who Sired him. Recently kidnapped by mind flayers and infected with a thousand-toothed tadpole that will turn him into a tentacled monster with aspirations of world domination, Astarion finds he can be out in the sun again. He can step into water, for the first time in two-hundred years. He can enter homes uninvited, he can think for himself, free of his master’s influence/mind control.

Astarion’s Wound, as it were, is the abuse of power, and has to deal with the abuse he’s suffered over the past two centuries. Depending on choices you make in the game, he can either begin to heal, or become more bent on revenge and accumulating power of his own.

I will die on the hill that is Astarion is a Dork who hides it well, but! He is charming when he wants to be, cunning, vindictive, and has Enormous Issues with Emotional Intimacy. He's snarky, sassy, flirty, and will absolutely use sex as a means to get into someone’s good graces, or to get the upper hand, attain status within a group, you name it. Not a problem. But Actual Feelings? Noooo.

Care, or don't, but I think it will be really neat to explore their different dynamics, but also dig into their diametrically opposed approaches to, and views on, love and intimacy.

Yeah. Astarion will resist any suggestion of Love (ugh) while Emmrich, of course, will crash… and burn? That’s the question, isn’t it? How to mesh their character motivations, Wounds, and let them have their Happily Ever After. All while telling a story that fits into the Veilguard plot.

Expect the usual from me: Dual POVs, Big Emotions, High Stakes, and ANGST.

@ghoulehhh @natendo-art @in-my-loki-feels @kusakichan15

@devilbearingtrouble @impulsemuppet @mirilyawrites @scifikimmi @silentxsymphony

@rin-love-is-green @confetti39x @stillwanderingflame @elodiah @lokimobius

@insert-witty-user-name-here @blackbirdofasgard @dreamycloud @distracteddream @thosegayoldmen @crowtoed

@mobius-m-mobius @dilfmobius @adorbspotat @lgwilt

 @redheadsramblings @starfleetteddybear @mercars-musings @holyglassbone @genocidalfetus @wolfpup026 @elodiah @notyourmamasdeerbat @lavender-tea-fling @otterpocketz

[tallochar]

I keep turning this concept in my head but I can't manage to write it satisfactorily so here I am, setting it out in the wild:

Tim Drake being alerted that Batman INC is something that is in the planning stages of it happening (maybe by Lucius, maybe by Tam, who even knows, look he was CEO for a while and someone is worried about Bruce Wayne about to go public with Batman INC and they get in touch with him) and going to Bruce and refusing to let him do this.

Because Bruce is needed in Gotham and Batman is needed in Gotham, and while Dick is doing a great job and no one will convince Tim of the contrary, that's not Dick's job. It's Bruce's.

(Who also has a son who just got his father back and if anyone knows what it would mean for a son who lost their father to get that father back when you know it's not going to happen... well lets say Tim has Opinions about this [and while he might not get along with Damian all that well yet, they are in that neutral state where Damian is like a cat observing things and studying dynamics and Tim has always been able to work with people he doesn't like or even trust much, so he's not going to punish the kid over whatever's went down between them.])

And besides, let's be real here Bruce, if you want a Batman that can go around the world and pull together teams and make them cohesive and knows what it's needed to be a successful team of young / upcoming young heroes, that's way more Dick than you yourself. Would be preferrable if he was allowed to do it as Nightwing, but the point still stands.

Just ... Tim pow-wowing with Bruce over the whole sitch and convicing him to back down. Not abandon the project, Tim knows that will not happen no matter what Tim does, but trusting it to Dick, who is way better with both younger people and people skills in general than Bruce.

(Which actually is not meant to separate Damian from Dick, Dick can come in from one assignment to the next and check on Damian and this is not the time it was when Tim was growing up, they have communications all over the globe now, Dick can phonecall and videocall Damian as many times as he wants and check on him as often as he wishes, but if Batman INC is happening, and it will happen because Bruce has decided it will, then Tim can only do damage control over this)

And possibly Bruce leveraging Tim staying in Gotham (which, joke's on Bruce, Tim was going to do that anyway, but sure he'll "concede") and possibly "asking" (ordering, let's be real here) Tim to help train Damian (which Tim isn't enthusiastic about but fine, he'll make it work as long as Bruce has his back), for multiple reasons.

A bit because Bruce sort of feels guilty that Tim was kicked out of the Robin role (Bruce HAD promised it would be Tim's until Tim decided otherwise, [which I don't think Dick knew about and even if he had, the situation still had been what it was, to be fair to Dick]) but also Bruce doesn't quite know what to do with Damian (and it wouldn't be the first time he's trusted Tim to teach young heroes / guide someone in a vigilante role) and also he both wants Tim to be there with him (he's missed him) and needs him there with himself (Tim the emotional regulation parentified wonder!).

And then shenanigans from there.

[csilla-nocturne]

I just got reminded Ranma 1/2 exists and the first things that popped into my head were:

1. Feng Xin falling into the spring of the drowned girl and being so freaked out he completely forgets that he's a god, and can just transform back, and that as a god it's probably really easy for him to cure the curse.

2 Shi Qingzuan remembering, or discovering info about the cursed springs, which results in him and Xie Lian going on a buddy road trip to see if they can find the spring of the drowned girl because SQX misses being able to transform, and would like to have a way to do it even if he can't borrow spiritual energy.

[laseratingfist]

Have you considered t4t sampoluka?

you bet your boots i have! not that it shows up a whole lot, but i headcanon sampo as bigender.... i suspect he doesn't care a whole lot about pronouns. and luka is always transmasc to me (the exception being the silvermane au, but even then.... 50/50 chance he's cis)

[un-pearable]

nothing like reading old links awakening manga to make me want to draw sonic comics again

[fistfuloflightning]

Gongyi Xiao and Yue Qingyuan as Pokémon trainers from different gyms, but their respective critters have escaped into the wild and they have to team up to find them. Shenanigans (and feelings) ensue.

[passthroughtime]

today i’m thinking about “different first meeting” kuwagami scenario where kuwana is acquainted with kaito beforehand, BUT not as friends, but as fuckbuddies at most. maybe, even just as a one night stand.

yagami comes to kaito’s apartment because he couldn’t reach him or something, and sees another new guy coming out of his shower; this isn’t news for him that kaito occasionally hooked up with random women and men alike, with preference in the former. yagami pays kuwana no mind and actively deflects any advances from him, thinking that kuwana sees him as another fuckbuddy of kaito. yagami doesn’t fuck around that much, and definitely isn’t in the mood to find somebody to stay the night with: they have an urgent case, and there isn’t any other thing on his mind at the moment.

while kuwana falls in love with yagami at the first sight. sure it’s weird to fall for a business partner of the guy he just fucked and isn’t going to remember for long. but, yagami is perfect, in some stupid way. kuwana says something dumb, gets rejected, and his hurting heart tells him he can’t let yagami go. he hasn’t felt this way about anyone in years.

so, he starts to hang around kaito much more frequently, they may even be called friends at some point. yagami thinks they are dating; this is the last thing kuwana wants him to think.

although, they click with each other pretty quickly; with all the annoyance, it’s fun to bicker with him, rarely being serious, picking on him and being picked on in turn. but it also frustrates yagami, because he sees that kuwana doesn’t really care about kaito (the amount he'd expect of the guy kaito is together with). while kuwana sees that yagami worries for kaito, and thinks that it’s in that way. once, he, heartbroken and losing hope, asks what yagami sees in kaito (as a possible romantic partner), but words it badly and is understood even worse. yagami falls out with kuwana, and they stop talking altogether.

yagami sulks and is very upset, because he thought they had something special going there, even if it was just a mutual interest, which wouldn’t turn into anything else. kuwana stops talking to kaito, explaining to him that it was because he couldn’t bear to be with yagami in one room when he hates him so much. his words kind of insinuate of kuwana’s feelings for yagami, but kaito doesn’t catch the hint.

some time passes, and yagami and kaito talk about kuwana. yagami says that he regrets so much cutting kuwana off from his life. kaito remembers what kuwana said, tells it to yagami as word for word as he could remember, and though he doesn’t understand what’s wrong, yagami sees kuwana’s message clearly.

yagami can’t reach him by his number (it’s out of service), so he comes to his house in ijincho. he isn’t home, but yagami waits for him. approaching his house, kuwana sees him sitting on the steps and asks, “did you not cuss me enough?” and everything he says is openly antagonizing. yagami tries to talk to him calmly, but with time kuwana, unyielding, starts to piss him off. yagami says something along, “and here i thought you’d want me to apologize to you” and storms out the house with an intention to drink this anger away and come back.

kuwana isn’t able to stop him (when he tries, yagami punches him in the nose so hard kuwana sees stars, and it starts bleeding), but he finds him leaning on the railing in the nearby parking lot, with cheep beer in his hands. “you didn’t escape far. feeling guilty?”, kuwana asks, meaning his injury. “yes,” yagami answers, meaning the argument that lead them to stop talking with each other.

kuwana asks to share his beer with him, to which yagami complies, and jokes about them having an indirect kiss. “so childish,” yagami says, “we are long past the age of indirect kisses.” “do you want an ‘adult’ kiss?” kuwana jokingly asks, falling into their playful type of talking naturally. “yes,” yagami answers, and kuwana hears no ridicule in turn. he kisses him and tries to say that he wanted to kiss him for as long as they know each other.

“i knew that all this time,” yagami interrupts him, “but i didn’t want a kiss from somebody who isn’t serious about it.” after kuwana’s question of what has changed, yagami answers, “because now i also know you want more from me than this, or sex, or whatever. makes kissing you a lot less disgusting.” kuwana laughs, and yagami steals this sound with another kiss.

[wolfiso]

An idea I wouldn't take as far as headcanon, but could make an interesting feature in a fanwork: Klaus Wulfenbach was canonically reconstructed from the constituent parts of the Wulfenbach brothers after a horrific accident, right? What if one of the brothers was either a sister or a transman? The point here being that Klaus could be masc-presenting/identifying, but for the purposes of the fanfic at least, he's also intersex.

From here writers could: explore trans feelings around constructing gender, the limits of what social-stratification Klaus was and wasn't able to mold to his needs during the Pax-Wulfenbach, mpreg or intersex-preg if Klaus carried the twins instead of Zantabraxus, or they each carried one, the twin social pressures of Society says conform by modifying intersex-born children to be perisex and Mad Science says if you want an heir grow it yourself.

(I am not an authority on any of these topics.)

[mediocretosubpar-soup]

trapped without escape scenario. jc and lwj. only one living person can leave. jc argues that because his sect will be fine w/o him, and jl is doing well, it should be lwj bec. wwx needs him.

and lwj has to talk him into a compromise where jc drowns him, drags him out and then revives him. bec. wwx will not be fine w/o jc alive in this world. this is asking a lot from lwj bc. jc is doubtful. lwj has to recount almost every instance of wwx longly talking about jc. this is made more terrible than it already is because at some point, jc tries to reassure him that wwx clearly is totally gone on lwj and much happier with him than he ever was in jc's company. this is uncomfortable because jc is so clearly hurt by wwx's avoidance and so earnestly happy that wwx has found happiness. lwj has had a very clear one-dimensional picture of jc in his head for over a decade and now jc is doing things that are not one-dimensional, don't fit what lwj has taken as truth for almost half his life and lwj doesn't enjoy this.

eventually, lwj is gently drowned (they put him to sleep first bec. jc insists that drowning is traumatic), dragged out of the trap and then revived via mouth to mouth resuscitation and gentle zappings of zidian. jc then proceeds to carry him out of the trap and choke the people who sprung the trap to death. lwj groggily approves of jc telling them that they were fools to try and go after wwx via them, jc even thinks of asking after the people who set this plan into motion. jc then takes lwj to an inn where jc takes care of lwj who, to his dawning horror, realizes that wwx and jc are similar in their bedside manner.

eventually, jc takes lwj back to cloud recess where wwx is already worrying and ready to fuss over him. jc, in spite of everything lwj has told him, is going to quietly leave. never saying anything! which is why lan wangji is forced to invite him in for tea. (this invitation is incredibly awkward and truly unfortunately phrased but it clearly costs lan wangji so much to extend this olive branch that jiang cheng can't refuse.) wwx has no idea what is going on but somehow jc and lwj are getting almost along?

[oifaaa]

I saw your flying graysons art on someone's blog and recognized your art style and horrible sense of humor. I went your blog to check and it was you. Glad your art funk is clearing up at the expenses of everyone else. also I really like your outfit design for Dick in that one.

Im not sure if it would be better or worse but my first thought was actually for Bruce to say it as he held a dead Jason but I thought the Dick version was more appropriate

[bisexualmcqueen]

did i mention i went thru all my cars fic drafts and added them together and got a total wordcount of 25k. help