#i changed the title of the au!

[lara-prism-light]

"That day"

That was the day Wukong found out about MK. Several decades after he finished the journey to the west and after they went their own ways and especially after he defeated the Bull Demon King and retired, he returned to the flower fruit mountain to spend the rest of his life peacefully and without a single worry. Just taking care of his little monkeys present on the island and passing unnoticed by the nearest city on the other island, from which he got most of what he could besides seeing people evolve with time.

Over time he noticed that as much as he had the company of the monkeys, he didn't have much to talk to, he wasn't very social and he hated talking to others. But he wouldn't deny that it was lonely being on that island alone, but that he'd rather be alone than be bothered by anyone. But one day that all changed when he felt something unusual on the island, not only the wind was more agitated but his monkeys disappeared for a few hours, and that made him worried. He followed the monkeys to the top of the highest mountain on the island, to his hatching site. There he managed to find his monkeys but also something new and... familiar at the same time.

There he lay on what looked like pieces of a rock egg, shattering onto the stone in front of him and onto the floor. And as he got closer, the more he heard the sound of a child's cry. The more he felt confused... Until he sees him for the first time. Small and whimpering was a little dark-furred monkey, similar in physique to other monkeys but his appearance was almost identical to Wukong's when he was younger. The difference is that Wukong was born with a physique similar to that of a teenager, but this child... Well, was a child!

He just stared at the child in shock, while his monkeys just stared at the it sitting on the rock with a face full of tears. Wukong didn't know what to do, he just grabbed him by the fur with one hand slightly away from himself. Looking closely he could see the almost golden eyes and the same as his, and most importantly, the facial mark on his face, however different in color, it was identical. Whoever this child was, this child was like him. And so, Wukong had no idea what to do... Other than letting out a long sigh cursing Buddha for handing him a responsibility he didn't ask for.

And so, with hesitation, Wukong accepted it for the time being. But he would have a visit to a certain goddess like he always did.

#artists on tumblr #lego monkie kid #lego monkie kid mk #lego monkie kid sun wukong #lego monkie kid au #lego monkie kid fanart #lego monkie kid comic #monkie kid #monkie kid mk #monkie kid sun wukong #monkie kid fanart #monkie kid au #monkie kid comic #lmk au #lmk monkie prince au #Yes #i changed the title of the au!

[nonomives]

Hunt vs. Hunted AU

(a.k.a. Vampire Wally AU)

Meet the Kardashians—i mean the Pillars

Part 1 || 2 || 3

Character line-up (Oldest to youngest)

So a bit of character Info:

There were more of them, but given the dangers of the monster hunter's profession, theyre the only ones left.

Hannah Pillar

She isn't the actual eldest sibling of the bunch, but among those who are still alive and somewhat sane, she is the oldest. A former mercenary whose main weapons were firearms. She was quite successful in her career but a traumatic incident happened that led to her not being able to weild a gun anymore. She eventually got hired as a desk worker in H.A. (Hunter's Assossiation) mainly handing out missions or intel to monster hunters.

She has a stable relationship with all of her siblings, sometimes the person everyone tells their worries to. She's nutruing and mature, but can also be quite cold and strict when need be. She is also often apathetic to things around her, something that got carried over even after she stopped being a hunter.

Harvey Pillar

Acting second oldest, Harvey is the genius of the group, or so he constantly claims himself to be. There is truth to what he says though since he works as a researcher in H.A. where he gathers information about the various mythical creatures the company had captured. Once, he used to admire this type of work until witnessing a thing or two which led him to be quite nihilistic. He's mainly just in it for the bragging rights and the money now.

Complete drama queen. Heidonistic and arrogant, he can come off as an asshole once he opens his mouth. Hannah keeps him in check most of the time. He does try to act like a big brother but struggles to be sincere about anything because he thinks it's a weakness. Very insecure, easily gets envious, especially of Howdy. For as vocal as he is, he does have many skeletons in his closet.

Howdy Pillar

A very popular hunter that is crowned The Hero of the Century, succeeding his late older brother, Howard Pillar. This is all due to his countless instances of saving people from dangerous monsters, especially feral vampires. Add this and his family background, he was made the H.A.'s face man, appearing in many interviews and posters for the company. He is quite the busy man, and Hannah usually acts as his manager, helping him with his packed schedule.

Howdy is closest with Hannah, but he also enjoys the banters he gets with Harvey. Charismatic and witty, many would think he is a perfect person, the ideal hero. The reality of it though is that Howdy is only in it for the revenge of his deceased siblings. While he smiles and acts relaxed in public, he is otherwise serious and gruff. Doesnt trust easy either. He also doesnt like how the media portrays him and would try to avoid being detected by anybody while he's on the job.

Here's a sketch lol

Honey Pillar

The youngest of the group. She is the black sheep of the family, refusing to associate with H.A. or monster hunting in general, and choosing a career as an actress instead. Despite the controversy that came with this decision, Honey ended up becoming famous because of her alluring personality on the screen.

Aside from Hannah, she despises everyone. She hates Howdy especially because of an instance that lead to her twin sister's death and her loss of 2 arms. She hates Harvey a little less but prefers not talking to him at all. Honey is a drama queen herself, but in a less direct way.

#this will probs be the last post i make for a while #i have to focus on my acads so my activity here will be dead lmao #therare some stuff Ive got planned tho! like a couple animatics ive been dying to finish and show yall #so just expect that :3 #in the mean time #see yall after my break lol-- #welcome home #welcome home fanart #welcome home oc #welcome home howdy #howdy pillar #welcome home vampire wally au #i might actually change this to a different title bc vampire wally is too common a name lol-- #lmao #vampire wally au #welcome home hunt vs. hunted AU

[thunderc1an]

first encounter: a notable difference

#warriors #warrior cats #warrior cats au #warriors au #thunderclan #tigerstar #bluestar #wc scourge #changed the caption owo! #wanted to draw more but this was the most i could do on a shakey plane hehe #forgot what i titled this au #tigerstar au

[solfinite]

hello finally putting my au stuff down on paper after several months.. also finally chose a name for it !! it's called Sonic Aeroventure :)

(+xtra traditional sketches below)

#Aeroventure AU #sthav #<-titles/tags i'll be using for the AU #my art #sonic the hedghog #amy rose #tails the fox #cream the rabbit #rouge the bat #shadow the hedgehog #sth #sonic #sonic fanart #sonic au #designs and stuff will probably change a bit in the future knowing me but i do rlly like these rn #i don't have alot written down rn bc i didn't write down anything back in march(?) 2023. and so I've forgotten quite a bit #but i did remember some things :) #amy sketch page isn't rlly anything to do with the au itself i was just rewarding heroes and the haunted house part came up #alot of these sketches are from like. last month but i wanted to think of the name of the au before posting more #yeah :) the general idea and inspos are the same im just actually sitting down to world/storybuild now

[bonefall]

(dif anon) So is Ashfur grooming Shadowsight a plotline you would keep/rework in BB? I'm not so keen on the way canon used it to retcon his epilepsy, but I do think a plotline examining how clerics can be vulnerable to abuse from StarClan spirits is kinda compelling

Shadowsight's epilepsy is staying in BB, the Erins can try and take it away again over my dead body

Yes, that's staying and BB!StarClan was reworked with unfairness in mind.

This time around, I'm considering the idea that Ashfur didn't work completely alone. After the events of Squirrelflight’s Horror, Silverpelt's divisons are starting to crackle the stars.

Skystar and the other more traditional spirits are losing patience with the peace that Fire Alone brings, and the ways that the code has been bent.

They feel that honor is being lost in their descendants.

Even angels disrespect the collective; see how Skypelt has its own heaven? With a demon in its midst? There is blasphemy even in the skies.

Firestar and the more modern pantheon are ferociously defensive of the choices of the living. StarClan exists for them; not the other way around.

Meanwhile, Mousefur has gone missing. Others start to blink out, too. This is causing panic... and Ashfur keeps it quiet that he's the only one who knows where they've gone.

The angels that plan action probably were a small group to begin with, radical spirits. Skystar and Ashfur are two of them, and Ash is the "youngest." So when he comes down to the mortal plane and betrays them, very few other angels knew what had happened.

(I might even have a few angels be doing the various supernatural things in that first book, but slowly, Ashfur is wittling down their numbers until it's just him.)

I'm still working out specifics, but the other angels that Ashfur has consumed are giving him a massive power boost. He can use this to jump between planes freely, and he's able to do some whacky things like weave dreams and pull nightmares out of the Dark Forest.

The most important unique power he has, which he can do ALL on his own once he's absorbed enough starpower, is blast Shadowpaw with a bolt of lightning. The electric current runs through Shadowpaw's brand new scar, giving him a connection to StarClan like he's a little radio tower.

Thing is... when StarClan is blocked off, the only signal he receives is Ashfur's.

So, Shadowpaw.

From the time he was very young, Shadowkit has had an unhealthy relationship to life and death

He watched a lot of cats die before he was old enough to really understand it, and the only one who came back was Heartstar.

His epilepsy was so severe it would have been terminal. He was prepared to die as a kit.

Tawnypelt took him to the Tribe to learn more about treatments, bringing back a method of refining chamomile to manage the convulsions.

When people come back from death, it was to serve "a purpose."

He feels like he needs to be special, like he needs to find the great meaning in his life. The reason why he's still here.

In BB, there can be guardian angels. Cats you knew in life who decide to watch out for you in the afterlife. Moleflight is Jayfeather's, Shrewface is Squirrelflight’s. Ashfur poses as Shadowpaw's.

THAT is how I plan to address my criticism. Ashfur DOES build a very personal, trusting relationship with Shadowpaw, pretending to be the one who's here to give him the destiny he craves. Pretending like he's someone looking out for him.

I actually LIKE how desperate the situation was in-canon and I want to stress how none of this was Shadow's fault, so I also plan to keep that they had very little choice. Shadowpaw trusts his angel completely, and Ashfur coaches him on saying all the right things.

The older Clerics are suspicious, but... what else can they do?

Also, instead of framing this all as something Shadowpaw needs to "atone" for, I'm going to make certain cats unfairly scapegoat him for bringing the Impostor into the forest. Shadowpaw himself agrees with them, blaming himself, but he has to learn it wasn't his fault.

He DIDN'T let anyone down by failing to live up to great expectations, and there's no way he could have known that Ashfur was using him. This never happened before, he always made the choice he thought was right and tried to make up for harm done, and he's not responsible for what his abuser made him do.

I actually want to have him figure out some of this by talking to DF demons, towards the end. Cats faaaar more responsible for what they did in life than him.

Ravenwing in particular, who was also mislead by a rogue StarClan spirit, but... ultimately decided that if StarClan was right in their judgement.

He was told (by Birchface, but he still doesn't know who it was in particular) to make three kittens unsafe by revealing their parentage. His choice killed three innocent children, and lead to the Queen’s Rights.

And StarClan was furious that he'd ever believe they'd want something so CRUEL.

And even if they DID want something so cruel... "Then they wouldn't have been ancestors worth following. And that's why I believe it's right that I'm here."

As a Cleric, he had authority on their behalf. And if they would misuse it through him, he wishes he could have just given it right back.

And Shadowsight's lightbulb goes Ding!

The very last thing Ashfur does in TBC, when the jig is up and he's about to be killed by the Lights in the Mist and a bunch of Demons who have come to defend their home, is swallow a Founder-- Skystar.

He takes the level of a true god, and reaches a nearly undefeatable level of power. Instead of black water, he's so large, malicious, and has a gravitational pull so massive it starts destroying the afterlife. It shatters the purgatory (Meadow of Young Stars) into floating cosmic fragments, and Heaven and Hell are set to collide.

Shadowsight confronts Ashfur, politely explaining that he's, well... done a lot of thinking, and, he doesn't really want what he gave him. "You can, uh, have this back!"

And blasts the lightning from his scar right back at him, like a chain, holding the screeching eldrich horror in place. Every ally he's made, here in the DF, come down from StarClan, and as Lights in the Mist, jump to his side. They can't hold down Ashfur, but they can hold SHADOWSIGHT

While they're all supporting him, Bristlefrost sees the one chance to get rid of him, once and for all. A clear shot. She bolts, pounces, and SHOOTS right into Ashfur like a falling star, knocking them both off the edge of the heaven he destroyed, burning up in orbit with a monster a hundred times her size.

And after that, Shadowsight has to go home and live with this.

He gave up the very connection that made him so special, and now he has to go back to being a Cleric without StarClan.

but the other Clerics accept this. They have to. They were all complicit in the choices that allowed the Impostor to rise.

What Shadowsight learns is... everyone was part of this. From those who made the follies with him, to the supporters and rebels against the impostor, to those who helped him realize his worth, to Bristlefrost who ultimately killed Ashfur.

He is valuable because living is valuable.

Everyone, and everything, matters. All cats have a role to play, and he was never alone.

I want to close him out in BB!TBC on a tea scene that parallels the various points in his life. Others used to prepare his chamomile treatments FOR him, in careful doses, because it is a very serious medicine. Now, at the end, he's the one brewing it.

A fully fledged Cleric, who realizes he's never been alone. Cats who love him were around him the whole time, making his medicine, and they'll love him even after he's given up his powerful gift. So now he's at the stage in his life where HE can make that medicine, share his wisdom with others, and find fulfillment in the skills he's acquired over a hard life brightening.

#Ashfur was a scary and terrifying villain worthy of the WC hall of fame #I will make him WORSE #I should change one of the titles to the later books to The Black Hole as a reference to BB!Ashfur swallowing other stars #Maybe the last one since that's where his bossfight happens lmao #I love the vibe of all the morally gray and post-redemption cats of BB seeing Shadow like #''Youve done nothing wrong. Youre literally just baby.'' #Lmao Breeze like 'oh honey nooooo' #Lineup of guys like What Are You In For? #'Tyranny of an ancient civilization' #'Political assassination' #'Attempted murder of a child' #'Did what a bad person told me :(' #And they all drop their shit to be like 'its ok youre ok youve done nothing wrong' #I kinda want to give him an honor title that means 'Whole Shadow' #In reference to the way that when you stand with a dozen people behind you #You only cast a single shadow #better bones au #BB!TBC #BB!Shadowsight

[megamindsupremacy]

So, way back when I was a wee little cringe nerd (tentatively affectionate), I was absolutely bonkers obsessed with Percy Jackson. I also had basically zero access to the internet and only an extremely vague idea of what fanfiction was, and I definitely wasn't immersed in the fanfiction culture of the time. So that meant whenever I had Thoughts and Ideas, I was writing those fuckers straight into my class notebooks for all the world but especially my teachers to see. That being said, I just remembered my very first ever fanfiction idea, of which I wrote three pages of looseleaf in my seventh-grade social studies class with my best friend in between assignments. Which I will now elaborate on as an Adult because honestly, what else do I have a semi-popular Tumblr blog for?

The basic idea is that, in the Son of Neptune, instead of heading straight for Camp Jupiter, Percy very vaguely remembers that the mysterious Annabeth lives very close by. He skids down the hill next to the Caldecott Tunnel, but instead of crashing into the highway, he lands in the back of a pickup and is carried away by a very panicked+annoyed driver who wants the kid in the back of his truck out.

(Please imagine Frank and Hazel, standing guard, watching some random kid go screaming down the side of a hill on a serving platter while pursued by gorgons, land in a pickup, and, still screaming, swordfight said gorgons. Who get whacked out of the air and run over by a school bus. Can you fucking imagine)

(Please also imagine Juno, waiting invisibly next to the road, also watching Percy go screaming by in a truck. She had been waiting there to give Percy her mysterious "choose safety or your memories" spiel but now he's fucking gone)

The pickup driver pulls over to the side of the road near the bay and tells Percy to get the fuck out of the back of his car. Percy, seeing the gorgons in hot pursuit in the distance, makes the logical move and jumps straight into the bay. He lets instincts and muscle memory guide him to the edge of one of those fancy neighborhoods that border the edge of the water. He continues following muscle memory and instincts and ends up at Annabeth's house, and he knocks on the door.

Fredrick, opening the door: Percy Jackson??

Percy: ...who are you

Fredrick: you exploded my car four years ago! my daughter has been looking for you for months. ANNABETH COME DOWNSTAIRS I FOUND YOUR BOYFRIEND

Percy: HUH WHAT

Annabeth gives him a flying tackle hug and Percy is 60% confused, 40% relieved because finally this is someone he remembers. Annabeth starts talking about how they need to get Percy to CHB stat, everyone is so worried about him, they knew Jason had had amnesia but it had been so long they weren't sure if Percy was still alive, etc etc,

Percy is nodding along in confusion and pretending he knows wtf she's talking about.

Juno appears in the Chase house. She's mad as hell that a) percy isn't already in Camp Jupiter and b) he's with Annabeth (derogatory). She teleports Percy straight into CJ but Annabeth manages to hang onto him and come with.

They land on the near side of the Little Tiber, where Frank and Hazel are reporting on the weird screaming demigod in a pickup that had gone by twenty minutes ago. Juno realizes she accidentally brought Annabeth along and is Very Unhappy about this.

"Romans, I bring to you the Son of Neptune-" ("I'm the son of a planet?" Percy muttered). "For months he has been slumbering [etc]. Instruct him in your ways, induct him into your legion. As for the daughter of Minerva…” The Romans gasped, staring at Annabeth. Juno curled her lip, shooting an icy look at the girl. Annabeth snarled wordlessly in response. “She is extraneous. Do with her what you will.”

Juno disappeared

More will be added in the reblog

#mads posts #pjo #he goes left AU #titled off of my 7th grade mental map of Berkley where annabeth's house is left of the tunnel #this is almost definitely inaccurate but i'm attached to the name now #percy jackson #annabeth chase #son of neptune #heroes of olympus #riordanverse #is that all idk #go crazy send asks abt this apparently i have more lore in me than I realized #although. i have literally no plot past SoN. the plot of HoO doesn't change after this book unless i start making big radical changes I #don't feel like making #<- HA. …ha. fuck. anyways there’s more in the notes #there’s a fic now in the notes too

[turtleblogatlast]

Do you have a preference for you the younger or older twin is?

Nope! Well, more specifically, I do have a preference and that is simply to not know. The difference is so minuscule that it’s way more interesting to me to have it deliberately unclear.

#non au ask #pretty sure someone said that Leo was meant to be older but tbh I kinda find that really boring? #like what’s the point of mixing up the typically accepted ages if you only change two yeah? #so I like them not knowing more #side note but in that same vein I always feel bad for Leo and Mikey in other iterations being given the titles of oldest and youngest #because like…they’re all the same age 😭

[cringefail-clown]

I think you should make Gamzee the manager but no one knows thats his role until one day Calliope mentions it and they're like "wait what? We have a manager?" because he tends to just be in the back taking care of the pastries/food

that is terrible i love it im doing it

#ask #gamzee makara #cam cafe au #ye im giving it a name whaddabout it #its cal who made him a manager behind callies back #they were mad about it but didnt have time nor energy to change his position #and the manager is doing jack shit anyway in their establishment just a glorified title so she left it at that #which led to a few interesting confrontations with karens wanting to speak to the manager #everyone b like “you really dont want to” “yes i want to” “well ok godspeed” #and here comes this tall creepy guy crawling out of the backroom. he calls them a motherfucker #theres still some unwashed clown paint on his face #karen never comes back

[tired-biscuit]

𝘣𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘳𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘺 𝘈𝘜 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵

it's exactly what the title says; a masterlist consisting of all the stories and drabbles set in the royalty AU that includes our beloved (and sometimes very badly-behaved) general!kiba. BRAU for short.

18+ / fem!princess!reader // every work is properly tagged and includes the appropriate content warnings at the top of each post. most of it is smut!!

#biscuit's royalty au

the ask that started it all

wedding night

warming up

splish splash; i was taking a bath

taking initiative

table manners

comfort

hide and seek

#i might change the title later on but for now it's this lol #ik very original sdjkfhdsjkfh #biscuit's royalty au #kiba x reader #kiba smut #naruto smut #divider by firefly-graphics

[madfantasy]

On The Nose

Ah, excited to be finally on my snarry drawing list--! I must say thanks to seeing @flymetosnarryland's amazing work 8' ❤️‍🔥

Even thos it been years last his scar severely pained him, Severus can't help sometimes but be skittish to anything arounds his neck/chin area, so Harry developed this habit to still give Sev some affection

5.6.2023, Support Mani

#my art #snarry #severus snape #harry #post war au #sev Lives #yes im trying to be funny with my titles now 8'D #nvm i changed the title lo #and yes sev was reading his book nd thought it was trash #'the memoir of an ex auror' #cauldrons & brooms

[serenxdipitys]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY @hheisa!!! 🎉🎉

IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY‼️ :D

I added the hearts and blush lines on a whim but they don’t look half bad :]]

#what phenomenal timing where I managed to finish this on their birthday #I’m so thrilled #also I’m so sorry heisa I’m gonna be tagging u on all my socials bc I NEED everyone to see this #my art #art #undertale #artists on tumblr #digital art #sans #undertale au #mint sans #fanart #I was also going to title this POV: youre on a date with mint sans #but i changed my mind rbjdkakf

[pianokantzart]

Mario Animal AU Masterpost

🦊

Headcanons + art:

A Collection of Doodles

A Special Bond

Twins!

Tanooki Mario and Kitsune Luigi Origins: The Story The Aftermath

Peach, Mario, & Toad (art only)

Spike and Pauline (art only)

Luigi & Nightmares

Mario & Nightmares

Alpaca Yoshi

Owl Shy Guys (art only)

Kappa Bowser (art only)

Magic, Lore, & Young Kappa Bowser

Animal AU Luigi's Mansion & Grey Fox E. Gadd

Timber Wolf King Boo Rough Sketches

Luigi, E. Gadd, and King Boo

Kitsune Daisy

Fur Effectiveness & Flower Powerups

Nuzzles & Greetings

Staticky Fur

Powerups, Magic, & Emotions

Mario's Bravery and Luigi's Comfort

Headcanons Only

The Tanooki and The Kitsune

Powerups and Magical Abilities

Fighting in The Animal World

Noises Tanooki and Foxes Make

❤️Fanart!!!💚

Baby Mario and Luigi by @jell-o101

Crossing That Bridge by @tadanoningen-fr

Mario and Luigi by @theangelofangst

Helicopter Mario by @the-brucest-fan

Mario & Luigi With Their Caps and Curiosity Caught The Fox by @nsbfenro

Kitsune Luigi and Daisy and Sketches by @itsavee4117

Kitsune Luigi Sketches + Tanooki Mario by @pls-let-me-in

Play Fight by @katlyntheartist

#Mario Animal AU #Masterpost #for pinned post #thank you everyone who sends asks! #and BIG thank you to all you who make fan art of my silly little AU. FR It makes me so happy #but if you want me to change the title I assigned your art or you don't want to be included in this post please let me know

[pendragonsclotpole]

Merlin Season 5 AU! See end for inspo!

They arrive in Camelot to the news of Mordred’s death. For the first three days of their return, Merlin fixates on the demise of Arthur’s bane more than he does on the significance of Mordred’s death. Mordred’s absence lifts the heavy burden of destiny off of Merlin’s shoulders for the first time in years. He can rest easy, breathe better, live contentedly in the realization that while Morgana remains, Arthur is now free from the curse of his bane.

It takes him weeks to wonder what this might mean for the decision made by Arthur. He is rightfully taken by surprise when one morning, Arthur awakes long before him and presents him with an even longer scroll over breakfast. It is an act to repeal the ban on magic. It legalizes certain forms of magic automatically, presents a drafted proposal for a hierarchical system to police wayward sorcerers, and provides a place on the Council for a Court Sorcerer. The details are so meticulously outlined that Merlin knows deep in his heart Gaius helped Arthur write them. Merlin’s hardly realized he’s crying when Arthur’s arms wrap around and he’s blowing snot into the King’s doublet. He mouths his apologies even as Arthur rubs a comforting hand on his back and whispers back reassuring I knows, and it’s alrights.

In the end, they fulfill the prophecy. Camelot’s golden age lasts for decades. Arthur’s territories grow, and his people thrive, and Merlin stands by his side throughout it all. Magic flourishes. Camelot thrives. Arthur lives and ages. Merlin lives and ages. Arthur dies.

It takes decades. Their bodies grow weak their knees get knobby, (Merlin grows a beard of respectable length much to Arthur’s dismay and annoyance) but eventually Merlin finds Arthur’s body the morning after Arthur’s 96th birthday. It is early enough that none of the servants have arrived to tend to their fire. Merlin, with hands now nearly as wrinkled and gnarled as Arthur’s face, uncorks the vial he’s carried around his waist since the day of Arthur’s first collapse, and swallows whole the concoction within it. The poison takes a few minutes to activate, but by the time he hears footsteps down the hall, Merlin can feel the poison painlessly traveling up his veins and clouding his vision. He smiles, content and sure in the thought that when he awoke next it would be to Arthur’s smiling visage.

He wakes up hours later to Arthur’s cold, sightless blue eyes in the crypts of Camelot. They are alone, about to be placed in stone. For a moment, Merlin thinks he’s merely in the in-between or perhaps brought back as a ghost. He closes his eyes and wills his soul to venture elsewhere. He wills it so much he says nothing as he’s lifted into the walls and entombed beside Arthur. There is something insidiously macabre in seeing your soulmate rot beside you as you desperately attempt to force death to take you. Throughout the process, Merlin absentmindedly thinks if Arthur’s eyes were not cursed to be sightless forevermore the former King would be staring at him with disappointment. I’m sorry, Merlin tells Arthur repeatedly. The apologies peter out when Merlin attempts to die by gouging out his own eyes. He hypothesizes for a few days that the more pain he can elicit, the closer he gets to Arthur. He stops increasing the pain after escalating his to disembowelment and then ceases his attempts to bring about his own death completely after blowing up his body only succeeds in speeding up the decomposition of Arthur’s body. The explosion is both a blessing and a curse. The instant incineration is painless and removes the horrible byproducts and odors of a rotting corpse, but it also leads to Merlin’s eventual resignation. Try as he might, he cannot join Arthur—not even in the presence of their shared crypt.

When he finally pulls himself away from the skeletal remains of Arthur’s frozen and once gnarled hands and musters the force to blast out from the crypt, two months have passed. The body he leaves behind sealed in the crypts is no longer Arthur Pendragon. Arthur Pendragon has left this world. Merlin should have left it with him and now he must find out why he remains, perniciously. There is only one person he can turn that will have this knowledge. Merlin runs to the nearest field and screams out for Kilgharrah. The dragon’s arrival shakes the entire earth around them, but even Merlin can see the weakness in the creature’s movements as he lands.

“So even you are not immune to old age, old friend.” Merlin says. Kilgharrah’s golden eyes look muted in the daylight, and pieces of his scales flake off into the ground.

“You will find only one of us is immune to death by old age, Emrys. And it is not I.”

“What do you mean?” Merlin’s anger gets the best of him. He is confused and hurt and humiliated and alone and deprived of his last wish. He has no room for ambiguities or cruelties. “Have I not fulfilled my destiny? Have I not earned my place of rest?”

“You cannot rest. You are Magic itself. For as long as there is magic in this realm, you will exist in this realm.”

Merlin lets the words rest on the wind for a few seconds before letting them stew and fuel his anger.

“So that’s it then? Years of toiling under the weight of prophecy, decades of laboring to maintain the Golden Age I sacrificed my very being for, and this is how it ends?” Merlin takes a shuddering breath. “You said we were meant to be two sides of the same coin, that are destinies are intertwined. Why is he gone and why am I still here?”

“Arthur is the Once and Future King, Merlin. When the need of Albion is at its greatest, he will return. You are the very essence of Magic. For as long as this realm needs magic, you must remain as magic’s stalwart defender and guardian.” Perhaps realizing the cruelty of his words, Kilgharrah issues one last prophecy. “Do not despair, Merlin. In truth, you achieved the best of all possible outcomes. In another life, Mordred might have lived for longer and Arthur’s death fulfilled decades earlier in place of your true destiny. You received a temporary peace instead. When Arthur returns, he will bring about the end of magic and your death with it.” Then, with a weariness Merlin recognized only in himself, Kilgharrah pulled back his wings and departed.

Merlin never sees him again. It is for the better. It takes Merlin three centuries to forgive the dragon for never pointing out what Merlin himself should have seen. It takes another five before he stops trying to die.

They had achieved everything. Two sides of the same coin, and yet when the story ended, it amounted to nothing.

Arthur died because Arthur was mortal.

Merlin is Magic. Merlin is immortal. Merlin cannot die.

@sneakyboymerlin I blame you for this. Inspired by this amazing post:

#merlin #bbc merlin #arthur pendragon #merlin bbc #merthur #king arthur #merlin emrys #bbc merthur #fanfic #immortal merlin #immortality #i read the original post and just started thinking #ok what if they did accomplish everything that was in the prophecy but it changed nothing because merlin’s immortal #and arthur’s title of once and future king is more than just a nice epithet but instead an allusion to a reincarnation cycle #like merlin’s immortal #but arthur’s mortal so he’s gotta be able to reincarnate to match that #oo now i want a reincarnation au #i wrote this instead of working #merlin season 5

[tangledinink]

I daydream about Gemini AU and one idea I had was that after leaving the Nexus and becoming slightly less codependent, the twins take up independent titles? Like, instead of both being Gemini, Leo becomes Meteor and Donnie becomes Nova or some other astrological name. Not very likely, considering they both seem to be genuinely proud of being Gemini together despite everything, but I thought I'd share this with you.

Oooh, this is kind of a fun thought? Also I'm just absolutely flattered that you daydream about Gemini the idea that there are other people in the world spending time thinking bout my silly turtles absolutely baffles me ; w ; On one hand, I feel like they, at least currently, love being Gemini and sharing a title. They're so incredibly proud of their career as Gemini. But once they leave the Nexus and stop being so codependent, I think they're probably gonna be a lot more likely to sort of... recognize it for what it is? Something used to manipulate them and a part of their mother's attempts to capitalize off of them and control them. And it'll be very hard, because they are Gemini, it's such a huge part of their identity, how do they let that go...? But at the same time, how can they still be Gemini and heal at the same time?

In addition to this, there'll be at least a period where they... aren't performers anymore. (Which is gonna be super hard for them to cope with as well...) If they're not longer fighting in the Nexus, what use do they actually have for a stage name? Why have people call them anything but Donatello or Leonardo...?

(... But I think there will come a time when they eventually pick up an alias again. And I really like the idea of them each having their own names, but still matching...!)

#i think id probably call them comet and nova or something like that maybe? #hmmm i will have to consider #letting go of “gemini” is going to be such a huge thing for them once they leave home #because right now they LOVE being gemini #being gemini is SO important and special to them #right now they could not even FATHOM giving up the name gemini #but i think eventually theyll have to #at least for a while #gemini au #asks #anon #once upon a time when i was first thinking of this au i considered changing their names #and instead of leo and donnie having been named like #“Gem” and “Ni” or something #or pollux and castor #but it didnt feel quite right to me and i didnt QUITE wanna change their names #i hadnt even planned “obby” at that point #and i eventually settled on them sharing a title which i thought made more sense and sounded a lot better

[accidentally-drank-paintwater]

Avoiding projects by making more projects

#No shading because I don’t feel like it #art #my art #toh #artists on tumblr #the owl house #luz noceda #hunter noceda #hunter toh #I don’t know what to title this AU #ADPW Pittwins AU #Maybe? #we’ll figure it out #luz’s design might change

[bonefall]

Bramblestar being really proud that he came up with Spiderbite as a dishonor title, up until he realizes just how into it Spider is. It gets on his nerves to the point he also takes his dishonor title away early, this time everyone supports it

Bramblestar: "It is time to forgive the sins of the past, and I think Spiderleg has proven his devotion to the clan, so I will grant him his name back, any objections?"

Spiderleg: "Well I-"

Bramblestar: "ANY OTHER OBJECTIONS"

Bramblestar was SPEEDRUNNING through undoing their Dishonor Titles. Not a single one of them worked. Stupidhead was wheezing. Spiderbite liked it too much. Shredbloom, EXACTLY as Squirrelflight predicted, just felt even more ostracized.

Complete and total backfire. In general, Dishonor Titles for Dark Forest Trainees didn't work because they didn't actually address the underlying problems that drove these cats towards training there. The "true believers" in Tigerstar's agenda died fighting for it-- most of these cats survived BECAUSE they turned tail.

But by the time Bramblestar was backpeddaling, the damage was done. Blossomfall fled to join The Kin in BB!AVoS, along with several other cats who found the cult's message of true family and unity appealing.

Like mice into open jaws.

#BB!OOTS #BB!AVOS #Better bones au #I see a sentiment around sometimes that TBC following OOTS would have made more sense thematically #And tbh I do agree. The idea that the response to the great battle would be code strictening and a supernatural threat #Worrying that starclan was displeasured by the trainees being accepted and that their wider sins and misconduct-- #--brought the dark forest upon them #BUT. I can make it work as-is. And I plan to do it by making AVOS mostly about Breeze and his redemption #And play with the sentiment of this generation that things are broken and need to change (and theyre right!) #But. Their good intention and justified anger was exploited. #Dishonor Titles