#since at this point they're opposed to each other and are probably going to be at each other's throats in khiv

[darkmuffinstudios]

[rolls in]

I've always, for the longest time, head-canoned that when Nightmare and Dream ate their respective apples and subsequently fused with them in the process, that they also *became* the apples in a sense?

Basically what I'm saying is that since the tree was cut down/died due to the events of Dreamtale, that they, themselves, became the two sides of the tree. While the tree was in its prime, it regulated all of the emotions and balance in the whole multiverse. However, because of the apple incident, Nightmare and Dream now take on the duty that the tree once had; regulating the emotions of the multiverse individually.

Hence they're constant struggle with one another.

As eternal, long-living beings of their respective roles, I doubt they would stay mad at each other forever- at least to the degree that it was initially after the tragedy in Dreamtale. This would make a truce somewhat inevitable- or at least a mutual understanding and respect for each other's jobs.

(I think this could, of course, vary depending on the way you depict their relationship, backstory, powers, situation, and the story at large)

Anyways, going back to what I was originally getting at before being sidetracked, they are- essentially- the tree itself.

In a weird way, I always thought that it was a little strange that eating the golden apples didn't seem to have any consequences as opposed to the negative ones (example being Nightmare violently being ripped apart and literally dying- but that can be dubious because, from my understanding, that was partially the main antagonist's influence on the apples??).

Again, not addressing canon and what the original had in mind, I think it would be interesting that slowly, over time, the tree starts to grow back through them.

Think of it as a way of aging for these immortals. After all, apples have seeds, so one would assume that they'd eventually sprout after enough time and nourishment (via the abundance of emotions and just generally taking care of themselves). Eventually, they'll have to create their own guardians to carry on their work, and the cycle continues after they die.

What I imagine is a weird mesh of hanahaki disease and the philosophy of cycles, in where when the two twins eventually pass, they will become the new trees in its place. Over time, while doing their jobs and fulfilling their roles, roots may start to sprout from their ribcage, followed by leaves. It would be cute at first, little leaves and branches that are harmless. But then, as time continues, more and more of their body gets overtaken with it.

But again, these changes would happen gradually over the course of their long, LONG lifespans. When it starts getting to the point of detriment to them, then they've probably lived hundreds of lifetimes over already.

I don't know, I just think it's an interesting idea to head-canon about, and a cool excuse to draw the twins with plant-like roots stretching out of them.

(some little examples I have of the idea I've drawn YEARS ago and as of recent. ignore the quality of my old art fosjigjiosjosgijiosg)

(also WIP jumpscare of a Shattered Dream interpretation I have been working on a little oogily boogily osgjiosgs)

#darkzyx #undertale au #undertale fandom #utmv #dreamtale #nightmare sans #dream sans #dark rambling #dark ramble #dark brain thoughts

[thisapplepielife]

Written for the @steddieholidaydrabbles December challenge.

Sleeping with Spiders

Prompt Day 12: Only One Bed | Word Count: 1000 | Rating: T | CW: Language | Tags: College AU, Meet-Cute, Only One Bed, First Kiss

"I think you're in my bed," a voice says, and Steve looks up from the class schedule he's studying while he lounges on his new dorm room bed. 

There's a long-haired guy standing in his doorway. 

“Uh, what?” Steve asks, staring at this guy. 

Steve's room is a single, so this is definitely his bed. It's the only one in the room, and surely this guy can see that. It’s kinda hard to miss. The guy waves a paper at him, and steps inside, dropping his bags to the floor with a thud. He hands the paper to Steve, and Steve skims it, and sure enough, this is his room assignment, too.

Steve fetches the same paper with his name on it, and hands it over. Same room. 

"They've fucked up," Steve says, comparing them, seeing the guy’s name at the top, “Edward.”

"Eddie,” he corrects, then adds, “and you don't say…”

“Steve,” Steve offers.

“They've definitely fucked up, Steve.”

They probably need to tell their RA, so this can get fixed.

Keith, the RA, is spectacularly unhelpful. His only advice was to wait until Monday to take it up with the housing department. It’s Friday night. Or, there’s an open bed in room 704, he offered. They both go look into 704 and there’s a shirtless guy with a mullet, cigarette dangling from his lip, stomping around like he’s mad at the world. They both look at each other. Hard pass.

Steve thinks taking their chances with each other has to be better than whatever that situation would be, so he nods his head back towards their double-assigned room.

They both sit on the bed. They can make this work for the weekend. 

“I can crash on the floor,” Eddie says, “since you’ve already put on all your bedding.”

Steve nods, “Maybe we can get an air mattress?” 

“I’m not buying an air mattress for three nights, rich boy,” Eddie says, teasing, but Steve can tell he’s serious. "Floor's fine." 

And the first night does go fine, and they spend Saturday hanging out in this single room with two occupants. Eddie's fun, Steve likes him, even if they are nothing alike.

Eddie has a guitar, so he tries to teach Steve to play, but finally gives up once he realizes it's a losing game. But Eddie plays, and their floormates stop by the door Eddie propped open. 

Steve wouldn't have thought to do that, but they're meeting people, even if none of them look like anyone Eddie would want to be friends with. 

"I have a band, back home. They're younger than me, so I promised my Uncle I'd at least try college, while I wait for them to graduate."

Steve nods, "That's cool."

"I'm in the music program," Eddie adds. 

Steve points to himself, "Business." 

"Good, that's good. That means I can call on you to be the money man, when we get rich and famous." 

Steve laughs, "Sure, you do that."

That night, Steve offers to switch bed for floor, but Eddie refuses. Which was fine until Steve bolts upright, startled awake. 

"Spider! On my face!" Eddie screams, and someone next door bangs on the wall. Great. This asshole is going to make his neighbors hate him before he gets gone to the right room on Monday. 

"I'm coming up!" Eddie says. 

"You're not coming up!" Steve hisses back. 

"It's my bed!" 

"I think not!" 

"You can share, or you can sleep with the spiders!" 

This bed is a single, a twin XL, whatever that is. There's not room for two guys in it, no way. At least not two near strangers. Steve likes Eddie, and wouldn’t be opposed to a little company from him, not at all. And Steve doesn’t need dinner first, not really, but he also doesn’t just crawl in bed to actually sleep with random dudes. No way.

But he scoots towards the wall, trying to make room for Eddie.

 

Steve wakes up in the morning, and Eddie has a leg slung over his thighs, teetering on the edge of the bed. Steve puts a hand on Eddie's back, just to make sure he doesn’t fall and break his neck.

Eddie leans into the touch, and Steve scratches his blunt nails against the thin cotton of Eddie’s t-shirt. It’s kinda nice being close to someone, even if they’re a random stranger that’s just stuck in your room, with nowhere else to go.

Steve feels when Eddie wakes up, because he tenses. 

“Shit. Sorry,” Eddie says, but there really isn’t much room to escape.

Steve rubs his back, “It’s fine. Honest.”

Eddie takes him for his word, and slings his arm across Steve’s bare chest. Steve likes it. He’s probably digging himself a hole here. 

What else is new? 

Eddie strokes his chest, running his fingers through the hair there, before moving down to the hair leading into his shorts. That's. That's interesting. He's interested in that. Definitely. 

Steve rolls onto his side, scooting towards the wall to make more room, and Eddie follows. Steve reaches forward and tucks Eddie's wild morning hair behind his ear. He wants to see his face. 

"This okay?" Steve asks. 

Eddie nods, so Steve leans forward to kiss him. Eddie meets him, and Steve's loving this. 

Eddie kisses him like it's all he wants to do in the world, and Steve clings to him, breathing hard and heavy into his mouth. He hopes his breath isn't terrible, but if it's, neither of them seem to care. 

He keeps kissing him, touching him and thinks this room mistake was the best case scenario, now. 

Eddie rolls on top of him. 

Steve suddenly has a thought, "Was there even a spider?" 

Eddie cackles, "No." 

Later, Steve poses a question, "Maybe we just don't tell anyone we were both assigned here?"

"Only if you think we can sneak a double bed in here," Eddie says, grinning. 

Steve thinks that's totally doable. Robin will happily create a diversion for that to happen. 

If you want to write your own, or see more entries for this challenge, pop on over to @steddieholidaydrabbles and follow along with the fun!

If you want to see more of my entries into this month-long challenge, you can check them out in my Steddie Holiday Drabbles tag, right here!

#steddieholidaydrabbles #only one bed #college au #steddie ficlet #steve x eddie #steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things #thisapplepielife: short fic #thisapplepielife: steddieholidaydrabbles

[hiso03]

what makes you ship halbarry, mine is the amount of symbolism and moments they manifest about them being compatible with each other and even the main lore knows theybare one😭😭

sometimes I wonder why these two aren't together yet since they are basically soulmates 😭😭

This is probably the question I have been waiting for the most and for which I have to have the longest possible answer. I will try not to go too far, but I will also try not to miss any points that I consider important.

I think I can start by saying that I love their dynamic, I've always liked it. To start Barry is a more serious guy, shy and introverted, always thinking about some situation and planning. And Hal is more outgoing, noisy and confident, he NEVER plans and is too impulsive.

They are opposing poles, not radically opposed as with other characters in the league, but they remain opposing enough to provide contrast to the relationship. There's also the fact that the two of them are fully aware of those differences, and even though they don't like some at all, they've never tried to change anything between them. Even when people constantly point out how different they are and how no one understands how they are friends. (Even they can't understand how they're so close if they don't resemble each other at all)

(Personally this panel is one of my favorites, as I love how Hal immediately jumps up to Barry's tastes, making it clear that while he doesn't like to do the same things Barry does, he doesn't find it as bad or boring as some might think.)

In general, the series of “The brave and the bold” I like because it allows you to take a close look at their relationship and give us lots of interactions of them, allows us to see a little more of their real character and their friendship.

There is also the fact that in that series they constantly show how well they know each other Hal and Barry manage to combine their skills to help each other. They always take advantage of each other's ability to resolve conflicts, and even when they fight or argue, they resolve them quickly. Another of my favorite numbers is the last volume of the series, when Barry falls into a terrible and painful depression and Hal is the only one who supports him.

Literally Hal tries to have some stability in his life to let Barry stay with him, helps him like Barry has always helped him and says one of the phrases I love the most.

“The poor man needs something to hold on to, so he will stay with me, maybe our friendship will be a comfort to him, he will always be able to count on that until the day we die.”

In this same comic is where Barry tries to sacrifice himself and Hal stops him, to that I add that in a previous issue we also show that one of Hal's biggest fears is losing Barry. The thought of seeing him die or get hurt is something that scares him.

Hal's not afraid to die, he's afraid that Barry will die and it's his fault, that I can't save him. And that point added to everything that's going on with Parallax and Crisis on Infinite Earths feels like a stab for both of them.

It's fucking tragic.

Generally in many moments of Hal as Parallax or The Wraith, Hal talks about Barry, continues to talk about how amazing he was as a person and a hero, talks about how he remains his best friend even though Barry is still dead. (That reminds me a lot of when I'm with my friends and some of them start talking about their boyfriends even though they're not there and we didn't talk about them originally)

And when they both revive, Barry constantly lets him know that everything that happened with Parallax wasn't him and tries to support him, try to be there for him for as long as he couldn't help him when his friend needed him the most.

We also have the fact that Barry has canonically been a blue lantern, and well, hope and willpower isn't exactly two opposing poles, on the contrary, it's likely that both entities are reciprocal forces. That they stick together and support each other, just like Hal and Barry do.

I also like to think that they had a somewhat similar childhood.

Both lost a father or mother, and that led to the loss of the rest of their family and childhood, they had to grow up faster than the other children, became more independent, and soon discovered that the world was cruel and unjust.

Although we also have other universes like:

The universe of Injustice where the two of them continue to support each other and remain together despite the mess that is around them, and there is even a panel where Hal as a yellow lantern is going to rescue Barry after Constantine abducted him.

Or we also have the fact that red and green in the chromatic circle are two opposite or complementary colors that are usually used when you want to create a harmony on a visual level. That is, from the choice of colors we can know perfectly well that they are opposite poles, but they complement each other so well that it creates a visual harmony when you see them together. (For some reason Christmas usually uses these two colors as its main ones).

There's also the fact that Hal and Barry met before the league was formed, and even when they met Batman and Superman, Hal wanted him and Barry to work it out on their own. (Barry refused because someone has to put prudence on their duo)

And we have the fact that in the story of how they met, Hal calls it his “first date”. (Let's pretend he didn't say that when he and Barry weren't literally on what looked like a date, where they went to dinner at a restaurant where there was live jazz music and Hal actually had a good time sitting on Barry's cell phone).

(Hal hates jazz, but he's still there with Barry at a dinner party while putting up with music he doesn't really like. That's pretty.)

I think it was also in this comic where Hal lets Barry use his ring to get you both out of there.

There's also universe 36 where we have two variants of Green Lantern and Flash that canonically speaking are couple. It is worth remembering that the two of them did not stay together, since in an event they participated in, the Flash of their universe dies. (It seems there can't be a crisis without a sprinter dying) Luckily at DC Pride they made the green lantern of their land look for their Flash, and they revived and were happy.

(They're supposed to be neither Hal nor Barry, but the truth, their designs and even their names feel like very inspired by them, so I scored it as a little extra point although I don't know if you can consider it).

We have DC vampires that although in that universe, Hal kills Barry because they won't let him turn him into a vampire because he would end up killing everybody. Hal finally gives us that line where he admits that he REALLY wanted to conquer the world with Barry, which kind of fuels his tragic gay romance.

Anyway, I would like to go longer, but I can't find some panels that I was looking for to explain me more, plus I feel that this is already long enough and meaningless to make it clear that I love them both. I just want to add that I think probably the thing I like most about them is that they both admire each other. Both their heroic parts and their civilian parts, and I think that's very sweet and nice, added to the fact that they're always there trying to support each other or show off parts of their personality that you can't appreciate with all their friends to the same extent. I like that they always have symbolism and like many times in the comics it refers to some moments that they have lived together. This makes me have the theory in my head that maybe some cartoonists and writers also like them in a sense beyond friendship, but since NOBODY dares to take the leap of faith and make them canon, they let us drop some crumbs so as not to lose faith.

(If anyone got here, thank you so much for reading all this even though it doesn't make much sense in some parts, I apologize for that and make up for it with some panels of them two)

#hal jordan #barry allen #green lantern #dc comics #halbarry #i love them #sorry for the bad English #Mentions to 80s comics #Mentions of parallax and some comic book or comic book events #sorry if this doesn't make sense in some parts #but my brain has been a little fuzzy lately and I'm having a hard time thinking clearly. #but I really wanted to answer the question because I am very excited to talk about them. #maybe later I will take up some of the ideas I mention or redo this post with more clarity and detail.

[pikahlua]

OK, I'm someone who's been gunning for the "Katsuki's villain foil is All For One" probably longer than anyone, been theorising this for over a year, and I have dozens of drafts abt it (I just turned on anon, my MHA account isn't my main anyway so...) and I never posted because it was getting too long. I think I had these since Bakugo died? If I had posted them with me saying "Bakugo will fight AFO at the end of this!", y'all would've called me crazy. Y'all could've called me a madlad, but noooo, it happened LOL

I think a few people have already noticed parallels, as there are some parallels in Yoichi and AFO's interactions Bakudeku in Ch 193. I noticed them too, and there were a few posts going around abt it, never realising the implications (since it would mean that AFO is the villain foil as he's the only one who had such similarities to Bakugo).

I mean chapter kept putting Yoichi and Midoriya together, obviously connecting the two. But where does that put AFO?

Bakudeku can be considered "siblings" since they knew each other for as long as they can remember. One was gifted and strong, while the other was quirkless. The gifted one telling the other that since they're quirkless, they can't achieve their dreams (Compare Ch 1 Bakugo to AFO's statement about Yoichi).

Yes, people are saying that AFO is terrible and Bakugo shouldn't be compared. But I think that's exactly what makes them foils. Horikoshi described Bakugo as the "light that would never surrenders to the dark", and AFO is the complete opposite, someone I would describe as "the darkness that never comes to the light".

They're the ultimate representation of "good vs evil", and that's why Horikoshi had pitted them against each other.

And AFO being Bakugo's foil makes sense as it goes in line with something Best Jeanist has said in the past. "What makes the difference between Heroes and Villains?" The villain foil theme actually started with Bakugo.

What makes AFO and Bakugo mirror each other? Look at how AFO looks down on the weak, calling them all "extras", the way he called Bakugo a "pebble in his path" the same way Bakugo did.

Rather than motivations and origins, it's through their behaviour especially towards others. AFO is more extreme, but he calls and views others that are "weaker" as "extras", he looked down on the person "closest" to him for his weakness. He once believed that "might makes right" and acts upon it. He view himself as "God". (Remember how Bakugo's hero name has "God" in it??? Hehe..)

And I feel that there would be more parallels between them once we get to see more of how AFO views Kudou, because he seems to be angered or even "threatened" by him in a similar sense to how Bakugo was to Midoriya. He is the extreme representation of Bakugo's past.

Katsuki means "victory over the self". Of course, the best way to finish your character arc is to beat up a character that represents your past LMAO

All through his arc, he had to see his weakness, and even through foils like Endeavor to face his mistakes. All For One is the final step.

Of course, for Bakugo to fight unwaveringly, he had to get his "rising" moment and also apologize to Midoriya. So that he can truly become the light that opposes the dark. To truly distinguish himself from the villain, like what Best Jeanist told him.

(Sorry if I got anything wrong, I was inactive around MHA for a while, so I could be misremembering, but hell yeahhh, this is what I've been waiting for lets gooooo!!!!)

I think you've got a lot of good stuff here, and yet... My apologies, anon, normally I wouldn't lead with this point I'm about to address, but I must address it first or else no one will read past this point and instead run to dogpile me in my askbox.

While I understand where you're coming from, it's just not tenable to argue the relationship between Izuku and Katsuki is akin to that of siblings.

Some people would make this argument from what may seem like a shipping standpoint, but I'm going to make it from a cultural one. At no point in the manga are Izuku and Katsuki ever referred to as nor behave as nor speak like they're family. There are important hierarchical and social expectations present in Japan for siblings that are different from what's expected of friends (note that even twins are still distinguished as the older and younger brother). Izuku and Katsuki treat each other as peers, social equals, NOT as a big brother-little brother dynamic. Their dynamic is best described as that of childhood friends. Childhood friends is an important trope in Japan, and one can't just gloss over it and pretend like siblings and childhood friends are equivalent or that they work the same as with western story dynamics. They're not and they don't.

And the social distance between Izuku and Katsuki is VITAL to the way their characters and relationship work. Izuku has to be unrelated to Katsuki--a "pebble in his path," some random extra--for Izuku's heart to shake Katsuki so badly, for the "meddling where you don't need to" theme to apply to Izuku rescuing Katsuki, for Izuku reaching out to be so offensive to Katsuki. So for reference, you can accurately describe this relationship parallel with Yoichi and AFO as "they knew each other since childhood," "they don't remember ever not knowing each other," "they have always been a part of each other's lives," etc. But I must stress the trope you're invoking here is childhood friends. It's okay, you don't NEED BakuDeku to be "like siblings" to make these parallels work. They grew up together, and that's sufficient.

Sorry to nitpick on that.

Anyways, I do think that there is something intentional on Horikoshi's part about Katsuki "Self-Victory" Bakugou facing off against All For One as if AFO is implied to be one of Katsuki's "selves" for him to defeat, particularly his old self he's already basically defeated in every sense except somehow fighting it out physically.

Can I tell you a secret though?

I'm not convinced MHA ends after Katsuki vs AFO and Izuku vs Tomura.

No, I don't mean like a falling action epilogue. I just mean...

Heroes Rising didn't end when Izuku and Katsuki sucker-punched Nine. It didn't end when Nine had been bested in fair combat. It ended after Nine employed a desperate gambit to win no matter the cost and became a giant purple butterfly rage monster.

What I'm saying is...I kinda think AFO will successfully transplant his quirk into Tomura or something.

#ask pika #anon ask #my hero academia manga spoilers #final arc spoilers #katsuki bakugou #all for one #sorry to use you as an opportunity to belabor the point anon #i needed to get this message out there for quite some time #<3 #my hero academia heroes rising

[geekgirles]

Your writing of the gods’ interactions and relationships with each other in “The Doll and the Dragon” is so on point that I wouldn’t be surprised if it was revealed that Cra and Sadida have a great relationship with each other BECAUSE OMG CRA SINGS A NATURE SONG IN WAVEN.

She actually sings four songs but the first one called “Nature” is literally just her singing about, you guessed it, NATURE. Something that she isn’t supposed to be talking about, let alone sing, given her role!

All the songs that she sings are in English by the way. No matter if you change the language when playing, it doesn’t matter. The song stays in English.

She sings how she and the people will be welcomed by nature and be protected by it.

This girlie is literally singing a whole ass song about it!! SHE’S THE ONLY ONE DOING THIS SHE’S OBVIOUSLY FRIENDS WITH THE TREE MAN-

CRA AND SADIDA HAVING THE CLOSEST FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN THE GODS CONFIRMED ‼️😭‼️😭‼️😭‼️😭‼️💛💚💛💚💛💚💛💚💛💚💛

(I just love the idea that one of the MANY reasons why Cra likes him is probably due to the fact that he might just be the only one in the god group who doesn’t oversexualize her to no end since he’s a literal plant lol)

Hello, again!!

Thank you so much for your kind words and OMG THIS IS AMAZING????

Not gonna lie, one of the reasons I wrote Cra and Sadida as close friends is mostly to reflect canon. Both as a reflection of Amalia and Eva's bond until I get to introduce our blonde bombshell into the AU and also because the Cra and Sadida are close allies by virtue of the Cras stationed in the kingdom back in season one and their use of Sadida wood to make their bows.

It'd just make sense if their symbiotic relationship were an extension of their gods' own friendship, you know?

Honestly, maybe this is me being biased given my love for Amalia and her people, but Sadida is also my favourite god. I'm not saying he is without flaws, since his own involvement in the Lacrima debacle is almost as iffy as Iop's role in it, but he seems to be chill overall?

The fact that all his daughters were literally made by him as opposed to the rest of the demigods, moreover, the fact that he actually wanted them to live with him in Inglorium when most, if not all, other demigods are left to their own devices on the World of Twelve sort of speaks volumes about his true character.

He seems like an involved father for the most part.

Maybe it is because he is indeed a plant, but his not having countless children proves he has less of a wandering eye than most gods. So it'd only make sense that he doesn't hypersexualise Cra, as you said.

In fact, you can see his true nature (pun non-intended) through his people: the Sadida and their powers clearly take inspiration from voodoo which, while far more complex than TV will have you believe, does have a bad rep. And yet the Sadida are the kindest dark magic users you'll ever find. They're a peaceful kingdom more concerned with protecting their forests than waging war.

And I just love that for them.

So yeah, I'm going to be pretty smug if it turns out Cra and Sadida are besties.

#wakfu #wakfu fanfiction #my fanfiction #wakfu au #the doll and the dragon #divine doll! au #sadida doll! au #cra goddess #sadida god #cra #sadida #wakfu evangelyne #amalia sheran sharm #ankama #dofus #waven #ask & answer

[starsarefire824]

Byler Fic Recs

I haven't posted some fic recs in a while so I thought I would!

Here are some ones I love:

In Undertow (M) by olliecoddle (@souverian-are-we): This is my favorite thing I'm reading right now. It's. Just. So. Good.

The Wheeler’s lakehouse was a two-story wooden building with white siding and blue shutters on each of the little windows. It sat on the edge of a large blue-green lake, a long backyard full of tall tufted grass that ended in a wooden dock extending out over the water. Will had been to the Wheeler’s lakehouse twice as a child, once when he was eight and again when he was sixteen. Now, he was twenty-nine and pulling up to the long driveway of the house in his beaten-up Ford Escort, his stomach in nervous knots that he was trying to calm with a half-full can of ginger ale.

or, four months after one byers/wheeler couple breaks up, another gets married. and, of course, will and mike are both the best men. and, of course, there is a plot to get them back together. nothing goes to plan.

one soft infested summer (M) by wheelersboy (@lucasvenkman)" The Stoned Byler to ever be stoned. And it's sexy and emotional and just delicious summer vibes. And I'll forever be thankful for the Director's Cut. 😉

The Party spend their last summer before college together at Summerfest in Milwaukee. Oh yeah, and they're stoners.

My Teeth In Your Neck (T) by @foodiewithdahoodie: Boarding school, sexual tension, and fencing. It's dope.

Mike and Will used to be friends. Best friends! But after one fight they couldn't come back from during the summer, they haven't spoken to each other since. The only time they cross paths is on the piste, with epee swords brandished, as fencing rivals for their opposing boarding schools - Hawkins High vs Lenora Hills Prep. This year is no different, except it kind of is. Something pulls them together and this time they can't escape it. Because there's no Mike without Will and there's no Will without Mike. Simple as that.

the strawberries are dying (T) by @eggowls Rated T: the world needs more historical au Byler fics, and this one is perfect. Beautifully written and an interesting premise. I have to catch up on this one.

At the height of the stock market crash, the Wheelers are the richest family in Roane County and in need of domestic servants to fulfill their estate's needs. In a bout of desperation, they end up hiring the Byers family, much to everyone’s (except Nancy’s, who has a crush on Jonathan) chagrin.

However, in the midst of it all, two outcasted young boys from completely different lives find a light in each other. And—slowly—their lives begin to intertwine to the point of no return.

need, lie, mean, cry (T) by @willow-lark: a good shorty fic with lots of angst!

Nobody needs Mike Wheeler. He probably wouldn't be so mad about it if Will hadn't lied and made him think otherwise.

Let's Go Crazy Together (but not like this) (M) by Julia_Skysong: Byler hate each other and end up sharing a room at rehab. It's awkward. I'm only halfway through, but I'm loving it.

Anger, fear, trauma, grief. One turned to alcohol. One turned to drugs. Now, somehow, they've ended up sharing a room at the same mental hospital. Will and Mike are stuck, forced to work through their issues together, for better or for worse.

things i can't say (T) by @chiquitablanquita. Switched notebook trope, my beloved. I really liked the writing here.

Will’s sketches contain a confession: he’s in love with his best friend. Unfortunately, his best friend’s journal looks a lot like his sketchbook.

If You Stay (M) by Flurryofstarz. A The Proposal AU, Byler edition. It's fucking cute. Impatiently awaiting an update.

Faced with the threat of deportation, career-oriented Mike Wheeler says he's engaged to his hapless assistant, Will Byers. Will commits to the lie while imposing a few conditions of his own. With a skeptical immigration official waiting for them to slip up, the two must work together to fool their friends and families into believing that their once-strained relationship has since evolved into true love.

But what happens when they start to believe the lie too?

Or, the fic inspired by the enemies-to-lovers rom-com, The Proposal (2009).

he could be a bee to a blossom (E) by anonymous: I loooveed the writing. Truly a Tragedy that it's anonymous.

Mike reached down and grabbed something. He was seated on the edge of the bed, curled towards him with his knee resting near Will’s pillow. He had a carton of freshly washed and cut fruit in his hand. “I already went to the grocery store and got, like, a million things. We could probably shelter in place here for a month and a half.”

Mike said it in a way that was not remotely sexy, but it still made something in Will’s stomach heat. He almost felt like purring, kneading his hands into the mattress with satisfaction. [My alpha got that for me. My alpha is making sure I’m healthy and hydrated. My alpha is taking such good care of me.]

A record scratch went off in Will’s head. Christ alive, Mike was NOT his alpha.

(A/B/O AU… And they were roommates!)

Be mine through the Hawkinspocalypse (and I'll be yours forever) (E) by TikaWayward: I love this whole series. It's unique and sexy and well written.

Mike was long. Long frame extended in a stretch. Long limbs shaking from exhaustion. Long fingers clenched around ripped sheets. Long hair damp with sweat, sticking to his long pale nape and freckled shoulders. Even his back seemed long as he tensed. Will had to commit this view to memory, engrave it in his mind forever. Even if it was the only time they ever shared such intimacy, even if Mike had only asked him for help because he was there, familiar, convenient, and they needed his heat to stop as soon as possible. There are goddamned monsters out there Will, I can’t be in heat right now, I can’t! He needed to revere this moment.

Mike truly was the most beautiful creature Will had laid his eyes on. __________________________________________________________________

Or Mike presents as an omega in the middle of his patrol with Will in a monster infested forest.

The Best Ever Death Metal Band Out of Hawkins (M) by olliecoddle (@souverian-are-we): uhmmmmm, I'm obsessed with this. Rock star angsty Byler.

Will had the same pre-show ritual before every gig he ever performed. About twenty minutes before he had to go on stage, he would lock himself in any confined space he could find. In a bathroom stall, his dressing room, the maintenance closet, he would turn off the lights and hide for a few minutes. Today, though, it was five minutes before he had to go on stage, the clock ticking down, and he had spent the last half hour wandering around the venue looking for Mike Wheeler.

Will needed to talk to him.

or, the party has a band. will and mike make out on stage. for the bit, of course. it causes problems.

I’m a Wreck (Without You Here) (M) by @talkingtothelights. I'm only on the first chapter but it's so heartbreaking and emotional. Good shit.

Mike has been living 2,200 miles away from his family and hometown for the past fourteen years. He rarely visits, but when he receives heartbreaking news, he’s forced to return home for a funeral. It’s in this unfortunate chapter of life that Mike must come to terms with the consequences of abruptly running away from home and perhaps reconnect with the one person he’s tried his damnedest to forget about.

not strong enough to be your man (T) by @perexcri. The prose is fucking beautiful. I really enjoyed this one.

He swallows down a flurry of all the things he wants to say – every moment and untold truth and aching thought that’s bruised his mind for years – but it comes out so plain, so stark and oddly-jagged in the silence following the lighting, taking up space where thunder should be:

“I meant it, Will. You’re not an inconvenience.”

Will shakes his head and turns.

Mike wants to feel like he's meaningful, like he's an active part of his own life - worthwhile.

It's a good thing Will needs him now more than ever.

Right?

Make Believe (E) by FlurryofStarz. One of all time favorites. Amazing slow burn and super interesting a/b/o dynamics. Mike centric. I cannot wait until the plot point I think is going to happen is revealed. 👀

There's absolutely no way to know what a person will present as ahead of time, but Mike's never been more certain about something in his life. Will Byers is going to be an Omega--a male Omega--and the second that happens, he'll lose everything. Some knothead Alpha like Troy or James will claim him as their own and no one will be able to stop them. Luckily, the Party has a plan. It might be complicated and unconventional. It might not even be legal, but it's something and that's all Will really needs. Something. And Mike's more than willing to try it if it means saving Will.

But what if Will isn't the one who needs saving?

*** if you’re listed here and want to be tagged let ms know!

#byler #byler fanfic rec #fic recs #will byers #mike wheeler #stranger things #if youre in the mood for some good shit.

[total-drama-brainrot]

if you had to choose one person (that isn’t like.. Owen or Alejandro or one of his actual friends) to ship with p!noah, who would it be and why?

Uh.

Duncan. They stab each other to show affection, it's very gay and romantic. Another win for toxic yaoi. The AUs already got a lot of interaction between the two, mostly wherein Noah scares the daylights out of Duncan, and at one point literally scars him, so there's already a basis for some kind of dynamic there. Duncan's also a fairly even match for Noah ability-wise, given they're both chaotic and self-servient characters more interested in their own goals/entertainment than other's opinions of them. They'd enable each other to an unhealthy degree, and I think the two of them would probably end up trying to out-do each other in a game of "who can commit the worst atrocity (and get away with it)". Or maybe Duncan would fumble his was through being someone else's moral compass for a change, as opposed to the person in need of one. To varying results.

If not him, then maybe Heather? I dived into their potential relationship in a previous ask briefly, but I think a romance between these two could work. Heather's cutthroat enough to deal with p!Noah's shenanigans and audacious enough to keep him from getting bored. Plus, I think the two of them would have a mutual respect for their game plans; Heather would know just how hard it is to maintain a persona for the sake of the game since she initially tried to play herself off as a nice person at the beginning of Island (and failed miserably), and Noah would appreciate Heather's underhanded tactics and proclivity towards sabotage since she always keeps the competition interesting with her interferences. That respect could easily blossom into genuine appreciation and/or feelings towards each other.

If not Heather, then perhaps even Gwen. I think she and him could have a Morticia and Gomez Addams type deal going on, especially if she gets to be as mischievous as she was in Island (i.e. her red ant farm prank). Though I'm a little hesitant to give Gwen yet another romance plot in any of my AUs. She's been through enough of that drama.

Or maybe Harold? There's definitely some sort of dynamic there, since Harold spends a lot of time trailing after Noah at the Playa. He has his suspicions/knows Noah's deal (but can't convince anyone else that his very valid concerns are warranted) and Noah's torn between wanting to eviscerate Harold on the spot for being so annoying and relishing in having such an easy target for his various pranks and schemes. They could have a fun Tom and Jerry type deal, potentially.

I don't know. Noah's a very shippable character, thanks in part to just how vague and easily malleable his characterisation (and therefore his character dynamics with others) is, and that extends to p!Noah. In theory you could ship him with anyone you want to.

#short answer: 🤷‍♂️ #long answer: i intentionally left this au as open as possible so people can project whatever ships they want onto it. #longer answer: i didn't think people were going to be so invested in a throwaway idea like p!noah so i haven't really thought about-- #what ships i want to include in this au. or the storyline itself. or anything about it really. #total drama #td duncan #td heather #td gwen #td harold #td noah #shipping #psycho!noah au #silly hypotheticals #replies

[dutchdread]

Rebirth Update 10b

The crappiness of the Cait Sith (whom I still don't like in general btw) segment was easily forgotten though by the gold saucer date. I had refrained from listening to Aeriths song prior to the game since I didn't want anything spoiled and wanted the song in context, and now that I've heard it, man is it clearly about Zack. I can't wait to finish the game and watch different variations of certain scenes, because I don't see any way that anyone can look at a game that has this in it and still think Cloud and Tifa aren't the canonical ship. Again Cloud and Tifa are framed together opposed to Aerith, almost never is it that Aerith and Tifa are presented as being mirrorings that Cloud has to choose between. It's always Cloud and Tifa as a single unit being pitted "against" Aerith. Signaling that Aerith is helping them, and they her. Since you can essentially go on a date with everyone, and it all depends on their feelings towards you, we can say that the dates essentially tell us something about Clouds relationship dynamic in regards to the other team members. And Tifas date makes it exceptionally clear that their relationship dynamic is that of a young couple in love, come together again after years and slowly growing closer. My guess is that his date with Aerith will be more spiritual and about healing, but until I see it I can only guess. And I can't wait to see the other ones. Man, I am sure I've forgotten a bunch that I wanted to mention. It comes as I play but with 10 hour sessions a lot of it is lost to time. Will probably slow down a bit now, I've been working towards this part and man I am kinda burnt out with all the side quests and I just got a few new ones.... One thing I can't help wondering about though. How must it feel for a Clerith to play this game? I can't imagine the mental gymnastics needed to not go "...oh damn... I was wrong". I do feel a bit sorry for them though. I remember 20 years ago explaining to people that Tifa was the more valid love interest was such an uphill battle. It required so much analysis and explanation because you were just swimming up stream, going against the grain, all those nice little analogies, it was sooooo exhausting. And then for 20+ years it was just material after material confirming what Clotis had been saying from day one. And the Cleriths just had to keep moving goalposts, keep spinning, slowly driven into a corner to where now we don't just have the deeper analysis to point at, but even just the superficially obvious. As someone who always enjoys arguing for positions that are unpopular because they're not obvious, but are nevertheless true, it's honestly been a joy to watch the public perception change this much. Lets hope part 3 continues the good work, but honestly, it kinda has to, what has happened in part 2 really can't be taken back. Any romance between Aerith and Cloud after this would be....well, problematic and icky would probably be the best words. One more thing, having Cloud say very matter-of-factly "oh yeah, Zack, my friend who is totally head over heels for Aerith was satisfying. I don't see jealousy there, I don't see conflicted feelings there, I don't see a man who is thinking about trying to hit on the girl his friend loves there. Cloud knows about Zack and Aerith, Aerith knows about Cloud and Tifa, they're all helping each other with those issues, not coming between them, it, my friends, is over.

#ffvii rebirth

[ghostherlig]

Hey. Hey. Mr and Mrs Smith AU. imagie n

OOOHHHHHHHH- i did have to google this but synopsis for myself and others who dont know the film: a boring middle upper class married couple who find out they're working for opposing assassin agencies and have been assigned to kill each other-

WHICH!!! IS SO GOOD!!!!!! im imagining this for johnshi and railao so bare with me a moment- (under the cut bc this gets long and im unstoppable)

for johnshi im imagining that they've both been assassins a long time with "side jobs" (fake jobs) that they tell their spouse about; johnny going with directing/writing since it coincides with his somewhat strange schedule (and maybe he used to be an actor idk), and kenshi choosing FBI agent for the same thing and also bc it gives the ability to back out of any convo with "that's classified." (pardon me bc like i said ive never seen this movie so i doubt this will follow the plot at all- but please feel free to correct me alsdkjfsdf)

both of them meeting somewhere lowkey, falling in love, getting married, the whole shebang- and both of them deciding to stay in their jobs bc it pays well etc etc- they're happy together, in a house, maybe a cat or two, and then they get the assignment.... on each other-

both of them pretty annoyed with the other that they never said anything but then also realizing that they themselves never said anything- both of them deciding to have a little fun with it and maybe playing Suspcious- Johnny being a little too happy about making Kenshi his tea, Kenshi very suspiciously asking Johnny what his plans for the day are, etc.- just them having a little before it dawns on them that their agency's are going to realize that they aren't killing the other or that they're married (which you think they would've known but-)

okay now hear me out on railao-

raiden and lao who are, out of their group of friends (including johnny, kenshi, syzoth, tomas, kuai, etc-) literally the two that are suspected of being assassins the least- but they both are, unbeknownst to each other-

maybe tomas is an assassin that works for raiden's agency and kenshi works for lao's- so they have friends in the agency as well who they can talk business with-

but raiden and kung lao never discussing it with each other, explaining their weird work hours to each other as "just work" or both of them coming up with elaborate lies and the like- them getting the hit on the other and raiden going (quite angrily) to lao and confronting him

kung lao seeing this as an opportunity for them to finally work together, except raiden is really stressing the point that their agency's work against each other- and lao scoffs and is like "then one of us will have to quit and transfer." and they both glare at each other before lao gets this stupid grin and is like "let's make a bet out of it-"

and i think you can see where that's going, both of them agreeing to see who the "better assassin" is by attempting to catch the other by surprise except they both are hypervigilant and very good so it goes on for so long- but just them making a game out of it alsdkfasdf

anyway im not normal at all about au's and im sorry that this was super long and probably also maybe not even accurate to the given material asdlkfjasdf-

#ghost answers #johnshi #railao #this au sounds so fun asdlkfjasdf #absolute genius

[asmos-prettypet]

Regression

Contain +warning: Mentions a SFW ONLY (DO NOT SEXUALIZE THIS POST) caregiver age regression dynamic.

A/N: I was extremely tired while writing this, I am also not a great writer. These are my headcannons on how each of the brothers would react to MCs' age regression. These are all my headcannons. It's not proofread, + probably bad writing, plus my first post, lol

*MC struggles with age regression, but when they do show signs of sleeping into it, the boys are there to make MC as comfortable as possible*

Lucifer

-He is use to being in charge so taking care of MC isn't super difficult

-He enjoys the title of caregiver as opposed to other names

-Lucifer adores playing with MCs hair it relaxes him just being in the moment with MC

-Claims he doesn't but actually loves MCs favorite cartoon (he has a reputation to think of lmao)

-Will constantly reassure MC that they are amazing and that he loves them

Mammon

-Insist he must be referred to as "King Mammon the great", but will melt at any title MC calls him

-Refers to MC as his favorite tiny human when they are regressed

-Mammon gets a little caught up and buys a bunch of regression gear the moment he find out (100% got in trouble with lucifer for it)

-Mammon loves cartoons on his own but watching them with MC makes him 10 times happier

-He feels safe to let himself relax completely while caring for MC

-Loves to play cars, or even dolls with MC as long as they're happy

Leviathan

-Keep like a million blankets of different textures and softness, as well as suffies to ensure MC is comfortable

-Plays "little kid" games with MC, typically easy going animal games and gets excited when MC points out their favorite animal

-Constantly panics that he doesn't have everything to properly care for MC

-Blushes to death when MC says they love him, and refers to him as the best caregiver ever

-Likes to snuggle with MC and watch cartoons together or slice of life anime

-Will keep helpful regression items in a special spot/storage so MC has everything they need

Asmodeus

-Asmoeus definitely knew what regression was before MC told him about it, and loved the idea of being a caregiver

-Asmo definitely bought a few pacifiers in different styles in case MC was an age regressor

-Loves playing dress up with MC especially when they are regressed

-1000000% loves playing with dolls whether human or animal ones he loves the drama him and MC come up with

-Asmo loves to watch Disney movies with MC (Asmo has a soft spot for princess movies obviously lol)

-Asmo will also make sure all of MCs stuffies get a kiss goodnight and wishes them sweet dreams

-Asmo will also keep a cool nightlight just incase MC gets scared of the dark

-Asmo has no preferred nickname he enjoys both femme and masculine ones as long as MC feels comfortable



Satan

-Satan didn't understand Regression at first and was very confused by it but since it was MC he was willing to try it out

-1 million percent reads bedtime stories to MC with lots of big gestures and voices to make the story come to life

-He reads into they both fall asleep leaving the book on his chest while snuggling MC

-Satan buys children books of all kinds, mainly ones with pictures or kids first chapter books, which he keeps on a special self

-Definitely refers to MC as his little kitten viewing them as cute and soft as a kitten

Beelzebub

-Beelzebub is use to caring for Belphegor so helping MC regression is not a problem for him

-Beel loves to make MC's comfort meals while making himself a portion too

-Will always try and make hot chocolate even if its just for himself

-Would offer to drink out of a sippy cup/bottle if it would make MC more comfortable regress in front of him

-He 100000% says here comes the airplane

-Beel loves to snuggle with MC especially if they regress close to bed time

-Beel will softly hum to himself when he thinks MC has fallen asleep to enjoy the moment

-Beel likes the title bubba

- Would honestly play any game MC wants out color with them although he will always bring it back to food

Belphegor

-Struggles a bit to get use to caring for MC, but tries his best for MC

-Keeps a blanket for MC that matches his own

-Loves when MC regresses near bedtime, means double the snuggles and the easier it is to fall asleep together

-Keeps small snacks like gummies near his bed for MC to snack on

#om! shall we date #obey me gn!reader #obey me fluf #obey me one master to rule them all #obey me nb #obey me headcanons #obey me! #obey me gn!mc #obey me swd #lucifer obey me #mammon obey me #obey me leviathan #satan obey me #obey me asmo #obey me beel #obey me belphegor #obey me x mc #fluff #bad writing #gn reader #gnc #idk how to tag this #idk how tags work #lucifer x mc #obey me mammon x mc #om! leviathan #obey me levi #obey me asmodeus #obey me beelzebub #obey me nightbringer

[bobbile-blog]

Arknights Lore Recap: End of 2023

Here I was, thinking my last post would be sufficient, but they keep on adding more gosh darn lore. Half a year has gone by since my last post, so I thought I'd update things and make another post of "where is everyone at the moment" to help keep all these plotlines straight. So, here's the sequel! More events, more organization since it's no longer a half-assed post I wrote on my phone in an hour, and you'd better believe we've got more lore to get through.

(Of course, spoilers for the current state of basically everything in Global, though they'll be the kind of "current events" spoilers to help you understand where we are at the moment)

Currently Active Plotlines:

Main Story act II: Main story chapters/ What the Firelight Casts, Amiya/ Siege/ Stainless/ Shining/ W/ Kal'tsit/ Doctor/ Closure/ etc.

Act 2 is in full swing, and oh boy do we have some politics to wade through. The general idea, minimizing spoilers, is that the Royal Court of the Sarkaz have taken over Londinum and intend to expand further using the catastrophe-creating superweapon The Shard. They're led by Theresis and the (mostly) united Sarkaz lords, and with a mercenary army they basically rule Victoria as an occupying power. Their power is concentrated in Londinum, the only city they really formally occupy, but as they control the seat of the country's power they effectively have the rest of the country at their mercy.

Opposing them are a number of factions. Firstly, the coalition of Victorian Nobles that have ruled the country (and that technically invited the Sarkaz to Victoria in the first place) want the throne again. There are a few specific nobles we deal with in ch12 but the implication is the politics will be elaborated on in the next chapter so we'll leave it there, the point is that they're the Victorian establishment trying to go back to old Victoria which means they suck. They're also working with Dublinn, who are collaborating with the Duke of Wellington(?) who is sympathetic to their causes. The Nobles have just recently gone to formal war with the Sarkaz, but they also all hate each other and will absolutely stab each other in the back whenever possible.

Besides them, there are also a couple of smaller underground resistance factions. The Londinum Self-salvation Corps, or Eartha, is a guarilla resistance movement who is currently getting their asses handed to them by the Sarkaz. They basically existed solely because the Sarkaz hadn't bothered to wipe them out yet, and have currently evacuated all of their surviving personnel out of the city. Additionally, there's a group of Victorian soldiers led by Commander Skamandros who have been sticking their noses into things. If I recall correctly, they're trying to evacuate Londinum as well.

Finally, we have Rhodes Island. We're here because of the classic D&D reason of "well all our plotlines seem to end up in this general area so I guess that's where we're going". Amiya and Kal'tsit feel somewhat responsible for not stopping Theresis and Amiya specifically is probably the only person with the right to challenge Theresis for the throne of the Sarkaz. Bagpipe and Reed (and Ch'en) are dealing with Dublinn things, so they have to be around here. Shining is a Confessarius and her evil wizard family is supporting Theresis so she's got stuff to do there. Siege is the last surviving member of the Victorian Royal family, so she's bound by blood and obligation to reclaim the throne, as well as just generally wanting to help the people of Victoria. Hoderer is currently in the employ of the Sarkaz and Innes is working in Londinum as a spy for Rhodes Island, so W wants to head there too. There's a lot going on, far too much to describe, so I'll leave things at "we have half a dozen personal plotlines to pursue there" so I can move on to the actual side events.

The Devil's Dragonball Fusion Dance: Ancient Forge(?)/ Who is Real/ Invitation to Wine/ Where Vernal Winds will Never Blow, Nian/ Dusk/ Ling/ Chong Yue/ Lava/ Kroos/ Lee/ Waai Fu/ Lin/ Zuo Le/Liang Xun

This one is updated pretty regularly as the CN new year event. The short lore overview is that Yan used to be populated by godlike beings called Feranmuts. Feranmuts fought a war with people, which concluded when a Feranmut named Sui betrayed his people because they wanted to be the only one with their kind of powers. After the war, the emperor of Yan (China analogue) split him into 12 fragments which eventually developed their own identities and personalities - these are the Sui siblings, i.e. Nian, Dusk, Ling, Chong Yue, etc. Once all twelve of these siblings meet again, they will reform back into Sui and they'll probably take over the world or whatever. We don't know exactly but it won't be good.

There are currently three parties interested in gathering the siblings, and one trying to prevent them. Firstly, the Second Brother (who is currently unnamed) is just a little crazy, and is currently working with the Yanese ministry of rites to revive Sui. We don't know a ton about him, but we know he's somehow split himself into fragments and scattered himself across the land. Secondly, Ya is another Feranmut that survived the old war and wants revenge on Yan and Sui. They want Sui revived so they can have a proper form of revenge on Them, and are currently in control of the Shanhaizhong bandits kinda just causing issues wherever They can. Finally, Nian and her siblings at Rhodes Island also want to gather the siblings, but not to re-form Sui. She has some sort of plan to bring the siblings together without losing themselves, and is working with Rhodes Island to accomplish it. Similarly, we don't know a lot about her plan, but they're generally the protagonists of the events. Finally, Zuo Le is an official in a Yanese organization called the Sui Regulator, whose job is to monitor and secure the remaining Feranmuts and the fragments of Sui. Zuo Le is doing his best, but he's a little out of his weight class, so most of what he does is follow the Sui fragments around and try to figure out what the hell is going on.

The Call of We Many: Grani and the Knight’s Treasure/ Under Tides/ Stultifera Navis/ Mizuki and Caerula Arbor (Integrated Strategies 3), Skadi/ Specter/ Gladiia/ Kal’tsit.

Was updated pretty frequently as an anniversary event, but they seem to have thrown us a big lore dump with Caerula Arbor and left it at that for the time being, which is understandable. The lore here is the Seaborn are a race decended from some early Feranmuts who are basically a constantly-evolving devouring swarm. They exist to consume and assimilate all of the life on the planet, and unless we are very very careful and work very very quickly they are going to do just that.

The state of the plot at the moment is a little odd. Because Mizuki and Caerula Arbor isn't canon, the plot is still at the end of Stultifera Navis. Specter has recovered her self, and the team of Abyssal hunters is delving deeper into the current state of the seaborn. Their former leader, Ulpanius, has shown up to warn them not to return to Aegir, and while the Stultifera Navis sank the lighthouse was recovered and some trinkets from the ship made it back. We aren't really sure where we're going from here, but it's not necessarily to Caerula Arbor. Basically, the canon lore of IS3 is that on a mission to the Iberian Coastline, the Doctor and Mizuki found a weird seaborn monument, and Mizuki used their connection to the Seaborn's minds to look into alternate timelines and show them to the Doctor. That means that while the events of the story are not canon, the Doctor may still know and reference the events in the story. I'm not going to go over all of IS3 because there's so much of it but you can find a rough summary here.

Fangs of the Signiori dei Lupi: Hinted earlier in the main story/ Il Siracusano, Texas/ Emperor/ Lapland/ Projekt Red/ Lunacub.

This is the newest of these plots, set up in Il Siracusano and presumably proceeding from there. The Feraerus are supernatural talking animals that we’ve encountered a couple of times throughout the story, like the High Priest or the Emperor. They are connected with the land and are almost akin to guardians of it. They don’t need Originium for their magic, and are tied to the setting in ways we don’t quite understand yet. More importantly to us, though, they’re involved in their own power struggles and contests among each other. This underscored the drama in Il Siracusano - the whole Bellone family was propped up by the wolf Feraerus Zarro as part of an ancient game in which the wolves pick champions, called Fangs, who fight each other in a Battle Royale to decide the pack’s next alpha a la the fake wolf study. We know a couple of the fangs - Lunacub is one and Bernardo was another before his death, but Projekt Red is also a Fang, as well as Crownslayer’s mentor, so we’ll probably be coming back to this conflict in the future. It's unclear how we'll approach it, though, as Bernardo and Lunacub's files seem to imply that the eventual goal will breaking free of this game.

Law and Otherwise: Guide Ahead, Fiametta/ Mostima/ Andoain/ Cecile/ Lemuen/ Pope Yvangelista XI/ Law/ Executor/ Enforcer

This one hasn't been super developed yet, but it's worth including with both Hortus de Escapismo and Zwillingstürme im Herbst coming up. Laterano, the city of the Sankta, is governed by immutable laws that are engraved onto the very bodies of the Sankta. In Guide Ahead, Andoain seeks to ask the Pope the question of why the Sankta do not help the people of the world. He learns that the laws that bind the Sankta are real, physical commandments enforced by Law, a robotic entity similar to the Preserver from Lonetrail, and the consequences and exceptions relating to the law are entirely at its discretion. The law is what it is because Law says so.

The Sami Icefields

This hasn’t technically gotten an event yet, besides that one story in Operational Intelligence, but I’m including it as an honorable mention because we’re going there for IS4. The Icefields are up north of Ursus, and they are terrifying. You remember the Emperor’s Blade, the one that kicks your ass in WD-8? Yeah we only see three of them in the game because the rest are busy fighting against the Eldritch demons constantly invading from the Sami Icefields. Let’s please never go there ever, thanks.

Finished Plotlines:

These two are complete plots, which I'm including for posterity and the worldstate. Spoilers for all of these events, but I'll try to keep things to the present so as to not spoil too much.

The Grand Knight Major: Maria Nearl/ Pinus Sylvestris/ Near Light/ Obscure Wanderer, Blemishine/ Zofia/ Nearl/ The Followers/ Flametail/ Ashlock/ Fartooth/ Wildmane/ Justice Knight my beloved/ Gravel/ Platinum/ Roy/ Monique/ Młynar.

Margaret Nearl won the 24th Major and became the Grand Knight, and has since stayed in Kazimierz to improve living conditions for the infected and push back against the General Chamber of Commerce. The Armorless Union has mostly been decapitated - the Platinum defected, the Lazurites have disappeared and taken on new identities, and the Darksteel has promised to stay away from Margaret and Rhodes Island. Pinus Sylvestris and most of the rest of the Nearls are now on the landship, working for Rhodes Island.

A New Age is Upon Us: Mansfield Break/ Dorothy’s Vision/ Lonetrail/ the second Records of Originium comic (which has an official translation that you should absolutely read it’s really good)/ the Friston-3 event whenever Yostar decides to get around to releasing it, Silence/ Ptilopsis/ Saria/ Ifrit/ Dorothy/ Mulesyse/ Ferdinand/ Rosemontis/ Ho’olheyak/ Kirsten.

After the events of Project Horizon, Terra has forever been changed. For just a fleeting moment, every living being in Terra looked up and saw the stars for the first time. The consequences of this aren't totally clear just yet, but it will almost have rippling effects across the world and marks a shift in the game's story as a whole. We also received confirmation of just who the Doctor truly is, and a look behind the curtain of Terra's history. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that nothing is the same after Lonetrail.

In more specific character terms, though, Saria is the new control of Rhine lab, with Silence as her assistant and ethics advisor. Ifrit is a big girl now, and practically a different character entirely from who she was at the start of the game - seriously, her character arc might be my favorite in the game. Rosemontis has also similarly faced her past and come out stronger, and not only Directors Dorothy and Mulesyse but also Maylander agent Ho'olheyak have come over to Rhodes Island in the chaos after Project Horizon. Finally, Rhodes Island has uncovered the real powers lying behind the scenes of Columbian Politics, but have in turn been noticed themselves. We are no longer in the shadows, and it would be wise to keep that in mind.

#arknights #all quiet under the thunder #what the firelight casts #Invitation to wine #where vernal winds will never blow #under tides #stultifera navis #Mizuki and caerula arbor #il siracusano #guide ahead #near light #Lonetrail #arknights story #arknights spoilers #spoilers

[maskyartist]

EXPLOSIVE KINGDOMS questions 2

1. does the other bros appear in this fic?

2. if floyd is still taken in your au and clay finds out before any of the other bros does what will he does?

will he go looking for bruse and jd seeing as theirs a possibility of them being alive or is going to velvet and veneer hunting seeing as he war ready?

3. how does clay and viva feel learning their sibling are still alive, happy or angry that they befriended the Burgans?

4. will the putt putt trolls ever learn that creek sold out the trolls and if so how will it make them feel

5. if clay or viva was to learn creek sold out the village before finding out no one really died how dead will creek be?(and yes, im am asking the same question 2 times i just want movie betrayer creek to be in pain)

6. what if the putt putt trolls learn that their village was still alive but being held captive by the rock trolls what will happen?

7. if this did take place during world tour and not after how different it will be to the original idea you made for EXPLOSIVE KINGDOMS (yes im too lazy to write the name)

hear my next batch of questions most are what ifs but i love looking at the what ifs of the what ifs you might spark some more

*CRACKS FINGER* LETS ROLL

1 - That I still havent really decided yet! I do know this AU takes place BEFORE band together, about two weeks before Gristol and Bridget's wedding, they aim to blow up the royal wedding to really make a point yknow? if yall can find a good way to put the brothers in im all ears, but rn im not entirely sure how to include em >3> MAYBE JD but idk

2 - IF things still go as usual, and the AU takes place AFTER Band Together, Clay would definitely begin including mockups of Mount Rageous into his blueprints at Hole in Fun. Seems the "Troll Killing" extends to many bigger races... It's a bigger problem then he thought, and for his brothers, he'd do just about anything. Viva wouldn't be opposed, after all.

3 - Now thats also somethin i aint sure of quite yet. The Putt Putts have lived for vengeance for so long that idk if they'd forgive the Bergens. the BEST way I can see this ending is a peace treaty and an agreement to stay far away from each other for specifically the Putt Putts and Bergens. The Putt Putts cant forgive the slaughter of their people like Pop Village can

4 - The Putt Putts as an entirety? No, they wont find out, its not gonna be a reveal thats announced to the world. As for Viva and Clay though, well...

5-

Viva really did think Creek was her friend...

she didn't take it well.

6 - If they were involved in World Tour i think they'd attempt to protect Pop Village >3> Not really travel with Poppy and Branch (tho i'd love if Clay or Viva replaced fuckin James Cordon im sorry i cant like Biggie not when hes voiced by HIM >:( ), but i cant see em in World Tour. i say during that time is when the Putt Putts are training for war and learning to create explosives :) This is when Clay learns mmm blowin shit up's kinda fun

7 - Like I said about, they probably wouldnt help realistically, but if I DID include the Putt Putts into World Tour from this AU specifically, they'd probably be on Barb's side as anonymous muscle/suppliers. Similar to the Bounty Hunters they're morally grey. In my mind the Putt Putts arent a Troll Tribe TO sing in general, since it attracts attention, so in this universe I don't think they'd care too much if everyone else lost their music. Either way they can still hold their war, and they'll have the Rock Trolls as help during it :)

basically it'd definitely be villain set up >3>

#masky gets the mail #explosive kingdoms au #trolls dreamworks #trolls viva #trolls clay #trolls creek #doodles #long post

[useless-moss]

Continuation of httyd/rtte dragon headcanons

This episode: Skrills

Skrills have gills to allow them to take in more oxygen at high altitudes/within heavy storm clouds. It's also an evolutionary adaptation since they'd often be flying for long distances over large bodies of water, which left them vulnerable to large water dwelling dragons that would often try to drown them

They're one of the more passive dragons despite their aggressive/scary appearance. They really only attack humans or other dragons to defend their families, territory, or themselves, so if you make it clear you mean no harm a Skrill will gladly allow you near them

They are also one of the few dragons that will allow a human to ride them after only a few minutes of interaction

They make nest outlines of rocks that are lined with whatever soft materials they can gather. Grass, leaves, shed fur from mammals, their own shed scales, etc. Their nests are some of the only things they will refrain from frying with their electricity

Additionally, they nest and lay their eggs during 'wet seasons' so they can remain in one place for the 4-6 months it takes their young to grow large enough to learn to fly without help

Skrills don't mate for life, but both father and mother will stick around to help raise the hatchlings until they're old enough to care for themselves, at which point both parents and their children will go their separate ways to find their own territories. Occasionally the following season the same pair will mate again and the process will repeat, but more often than not they will each choose different partners

A Skrill clutch will usually have 3-5 eggs

Skrills and Night Furys have, historically, gotten along quite well. It wasn't exactly uncommon to find a few different nesting Skrills and their mates sharing a territory with a pack of Night Furys

In related news, female Night Furys would often look after Skrill nests/hatchlings while the parents hunted or simply took a break

Skrills rarely remain in packs for more than a nesting period. They prefer to be alone but are not opposed to sharing space, food, or even the sky itself with each other

They are one of the most intelligent species of dragons

Because of the electricity constantly buzzing across their scales they are immune to scale dwelling parasites, since the parasites are fried upon contact

Scale colors can vary from dark blues, purples, grays, and blacks but they are very rarely one solid color. Patterns, spots, and/or fading colors are more or less a guarantee

All I got for now. I'll probably do Night Furys or the Bewilderbeast next

#httyd rtte #httyd #httyd dragons #headcanon #httyd headcanon #headcanon ramblings #skrills #httyd skrill #dragon headcanons

[yeenybeanies]

Hallo, guess who's got some naga au questions! These are just general world building questions, but I'll probably have character specific ones in the future. You might get another list for your hybrid au soon

Does a nagas breed depend on their birthplace?

Is it only nagas, or are there other "mythical" species?

Like your g/t au, is naga x human relationships looked down upon or seen as disgusting?

Are two-headed/conjoined nagas possible?

Are there sea snake nagas?

Do nagas live longer than humans?

Like snakes, do nagas shed their teeth as well?

howdy howdy again!! thank you for the questions! 💖

so unfortunately i kinda shot myself in the foot when i designed naga!soap to be so wildly different from naga!ghost, so now i feel compelled to make them separate species within the same genus, as opposed to just being the same species like i'd prefer. so, with that in mind, i'm gonna say that there is only one extant genus of naga, but there are a few (maybe a half dozen or so? not too many) different, closely-related species. so closely related that they can all interbreed, & it is not uncommon for many nagas to have dna from one or more other species. there's likely some ongoing argument about whether or not they should all be reclassified to exist under the same species name. TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION: it depends. mostly, yes. certain species do originate from certain areas. however, there's also been thousands of years of intermingling ever since methods of travel have expanded, so... i suppose it kinda works like humans. there's native species, but there are often immigrant species that have settled as well.

i'm thinkin' it's just nagas. there aren't any mermaids or centaurs or anything. just so happened that evolution allowed these weird, legless, half-mammal-half-reptile creatures to succeed.

hmm. romanic or sexual relationships between humans & nagas probably are to a degree frowned upon. kinda unrealistic to think that humans would at one point frown upon interracial or homosexual relationships & not interspecies relationships. but things have probably seen great improvement over the last few decades. so, interspecies relationships, while likely still pretty uncommon, are likely not going to face open backlash from the general public. they're gradually being normalized & accepted.

in the same way that conjoined twin humans & other animals are possible, conjoined naga twins can & do exist. they're very rare & do not usually survive to adulthood.

to an extent, yes! some populations of nagas that live near the sea may have somewhat flattened tails & a bit of webbing in the fingers to aid with swimming. but, unlike sea snakes, they can still slither & function on land just fine, & they can be away from the water.

nagas live about for about 200 years. naga!ghost & naga!soap are like 80-something & 70-something respectively, & they're still quite young. the equivalent of early 30s & mid 20s humans.

they do occasionally shed teeth. each tooth probably lasts a couple of years, but when one gets old or damaged, it'll fall out, & a fresh, new tooth'll pop back in within a day or so.

#naga au #naga!ghost #naga!soap #hyena asks #fun things to think about!! #just know that some of this stuff i am coming up with on the fly tho so it's all subject to change

[sapherin]

Today marks the two year anniversary of me endlessly stanning Eusine and Morty by complete accident of me googling “Ecruteak City”. Thank you sacredshipping for being the best thing to happen to my artistic career.

⭐️🤍💛🧡❤️ 🩷 🎈💚💙💜🤎🖤⭐️

You clicked on this and now you will be subjected to my backstory and feelings with this ship. (If you asked why I like this ship elsewhere there’s barely anything new here sorry lol)

When this couple had its heyday on Bulbagarden forums ~12 years ago I absolutely did not care for them. I didn't get the appeal whatsoever, I thought they were both own'd losers who were just friends and nothing more. I did think they had some cool fanart but that was it. Silver in any iteration was my favorite Johto character at the time and I was all into Silver/Lyra or Ethan or PreciousMetalshipping, the last ship being my goto ship to make my whole personality at the time. Nothing about them really "clicked" to me until I started watching HGSS longplays for PleinAirpril references back in 2021. Somehow just the mere image of seeing them together in the Burned Tower and thinking about Eusine and Morty for more than 5 seconds was enough to make go "oh shit they're gay." And lo and behold I'm stuck here 2 years later stanning this damn ship. I mean that last sentence in the most cheeky way possible since it's obvious at this point that MinaMatsu/Sacredshipping makes me so happy and I want to draw them forever. I got to do so many fun new things with my art and meet so many kind people because of my crazy dedication to them...I owe a lot to them.

I guess what really makes MinaMatsu work for me is the fact they're essentially the same character. They both start out confident in achieving their goals, get their egos put in check by the player (Eusine just refuses to lose right away) and ultimately fail to obtain their goal. Obviously what makes them fun is their opposing personalities. Morty takes a more passive, introverted approach to meeting Ho-oh with his secret training believing he can become the person that is worthy of it. One day he'll become the strongest and coolest Ghost-type trainer to have ever live and Ho-oh will go "wow he's so cool" and swoop down from the heavens before him. Meanwhile Eusine decides he's already worthy of Suicune, will show the entirety of Johto and Kanto his fixation of it, and will chase it down and give it no choice but to chose him. No one else had his undying dedication to track down Suicune, did they? No need to train like Morty does, Eusine got all of the worthiness in the world. They have clashing personalities and yet they're still good friends which is so sweet. It's just so heartwarming to see men with similar goals and different perspectives on how to obtain that goal just get along and enjoy each other's company. Perfect harmonious duality. I'm not going to go too much into how I see others interpret them but when I see people headcanon them as rivals or them secretly not liking each other (groan) because of how they behave I'm just like...why. If you want a rival-to-lovers m/m relationship in pokemon, Reguri and Raihan x Leon is Right There. That's a whole new ship. Morty never says anything demeaning about Eusine’s endeavors or Eusine himself in his in-game calls to the player. (No, Morty saying he doesn't care for Suicune that much unlike Eusine doesn't count.) Morty literally leaves his place of work to be with Eusine in the Burned Tower. Clair has definitely yelled at him for that. That's not "he secretly hates Eusine" behavior y'all but I actually played the games so idk.

Ok ok back on topic now that I pissed off somebody out there. I just love how they're both mystical freaks. Morty having this supernatural connection to Ghost-type Pokemon and his strange abilities to foresee possible futures and communicating to ghosts just makes him an easy character for me to fall in love with. Weirdo probably hangs out more without dead people than living ones. Eusine being...Like That and his bottomless desire to research every aspect of Ecruteak City's past and be Suicune's friend is also fun to watch. Suicune please say Eusine is cool its what Granddaddy Eusine would want. Masters EX does confirm that Morty once lived in a sheltered world and didn't have many friends - must be hard when you're the freak of the week - so it's possible that Eusine is the person he's closest to. And why wouldn't he be? They both otherworldly guys that chased a lifelong dream and failed, but at the end of it all they still have each other. It's a nice touch that the HGSS credits have them walking together chasing (presumably) another Suicune...they'll probably never give up on anything as long as they have each other. Their dreams will never turn into nightmares when they're together.

Like a perfect couple they complete each other...if they melted and fused together they'll be the gayest most powerful mystical freak that both Ho-oh and Suicune would have to recognize as worthy. I don't know where that thought came from but I'm keeping it. They're puzzle pieces I guess is what I'm getting at. I could go into how cute they are in Pokespe, the gay anime episode, and how Masters EX basically confirmed Morty idolized Eusine more than anybody (I think I rather wait until Eusine get implemented before I dive into that), and how Fall Morty is the both the worst and best possible thing to ever happen to me since his design alone immortalized my MinaMatsu mania but I'm keeping this babble as short as possible and ending it here.

I just want a give a big thank you those who drew this ship for me whether it be gift art, art trades or commissions...I want to make a silly little booklet or some type of showcase page with all the art you lot have given me. I haven't set my mind on anything just yet. I cherish everything here so much.

Counterclockwise from Top Left to Bottom Right - @/nitunio, @/ghoasttoasties, @/lalalettie on Twitter, @/plushiesnextdoor on IG, and @/northernmei on IG Uhhhh I should leave you with a little something for reading all of that junk…here’s a little preview of what I got in the works 

Ok that’s it bye I should log out

#digital art #fanart #pokemon fanart #eusine #gym leader morty #morty pokemon #eusine pokemon #sacredshipping #drifloon #drifblim #johto #sinnoh #expect nothing for the read more this time 👍

[flecks-of-stardust]

expanding on the shipping thing, especially since i made that shipping tagging request recently, like. i don't have an issue with shipping, whatever that... even really means, because to be honest i don't even fully know what people use it to mean. like seriously, when someone says they're a 'shipper' i literally do not understand what exactly they're referring to, because there are so many ways you can 'ship' something.

romantic relationships between characters can be interesting and incredibly so. artihunter, as an example from rain world, has a lot of interesting directions you can take narratively, irrespective of whether you take it in a romantic direction or in a platonic direction or a familial direction or what have you. the tragedy of loving someone you know you're going to lose; having to confront the idea that despite all your flaws, someone still loves you for who you are; mourning and grieving and ultimately moving on with someone who just Gets It at your side; etc etc etc, artihunter can be so interesting, and it's nice to see when artists tap into that. and the same can be said about a lot of other ships probably, rain world or otherwise.

and this isn't to say that shipping—romantic, platonic, whatever, but let's be real we're mostly talking romantic here—that isn't narratively weighty, ie stuff that's just 'these two characters are invested in each other lives and there's nothing more to it,' that's not Bad. that's not boring. sometimes that too can have narrative weight, and i like it. like, i'm not opposed to shipping, if that's how it comes off sometimes. i just like stories, ones that explore concepts and themes, regardless of what the medium may be. if it's told from the perspective of characters who are romantically invested in each other, sure, cool. i am okay with that. just in general, shipping doesn't have to have. like. story, or narrative significance or whatever to be 'good.'

i just. i don't fucking care for a lot of it. it's not interesting to Me. before i started mass blocking ship tags i would see a lot of art that was kind of just the same thing over and over again, like character A doing some classic romantic thing with character B and it's. that's it. it's not new and there's no story and the point of it is that these two characters are romantically interested in each other and i don't. care. i really, really don't. some people enjoy it! it's really interesting to other people! and that's fine! i can't say i haven't occasionally looked at ship art and smiled at the characters being cute. it was made with care and passion and it shows.

my problem with ship content in general is the oversaturation of ship content in fandom. i can't say how much there is since i have so many tags blocked, but i'd be willing to bet that it's at least 50% of all content made for a particular piece of media. which... is disheartening, you know. especially as an aromantic person. i have to sift through so fucking much shit that doesn't interest me and has no relevance to me to find something that's actually interesting. to an extent it makes me kind of bitter because it feels like most people just run to make romantic headcanons of the characters for the sake of shipping, and then devote their time into doing just that. that's probably a gross exaggeration of how a lot of people are, but at times that's really how it feels. there's so much fandom content, so much community content, that just... is not relevant to me at all. it gets alienating.

i don't really have a point to make with this post, a lot of this is just me rambling because i'm up way too late, but. i dunno. just thoughts. i don't actually mind shipping. i just wish more of the ship content i could see has more. story weight to it i guess. because then i actually have something to be invested in.

it makes me sad having all these tags blocked, honestly. i miss out on so much art. which is part of the problem. do you get it?

#and all this on top of how society pushes romance on everyone #i'm tired #i really am