I celebrate aro awareness week by making the fandom favs aro

gif version of my header below the cut ^^

I saw your answer to the tier list where you mention the staff. Did you know Vargas is 2 years younger than Crewel? So, in theory, Vargas would have been a first-year when Crewel was a third-year.

I feel like there is a lot of room for some AU there where reader gets isekai'd into that timeline instead. Trein is the young(er) hot history teacher. Crowley and his eternal fae ass is probably the same as always. Downside is that Sam is only 10... so we'll have to take artistic license to age him up into our AU!

Omg the potential this has!!!!!! A Vargas and Crewel rivalry where they're both doing what they can to impress you. Vargas being a bit of a bully sometimes. T_T but it's also you who inspires him to continue working out and doing his best so that he can be the strongest. AAAAAAA sitting in an empty classroom beside Crewel while he sketches out different outfit designs and chats with you about them. You fawn over all of his designs; they're just so pretty and unique. As you flip through the notebook, so absorbed in Crewel's creativity, he's busy admiring you with a fond smile.

That line of "boys will be boys" and so it's Crewel and Vargas always trying to best the other in really petty, silly competitions. Professor Trein who usually comes between them if it gets out of hand and lectures the both of them on how they ought to be more mature. The three of you studying together in the library or sleeping over at the others' dorms. Occasionally skipping class to go smoke with Crewel. Always getting caught and punished by Trein LOL. Or joining Vargas for morning exercise. Maybe he sort of,,, drags you to it. It's important to stay in shape! Run laps with him! You draw the line at downing a dozen and more egg yolks. T_T you just want to sleep in and eat something sugary for breakfast...

Omg and all of the school events......... a dance or a visit to another arcane academy. Crewel designing an outfit for you for that dance!!!! Both him and Vargas aiming to be the first one to ask you to the dance WAAAAAAAA.

Maybe neither of them ends up confessing come graduation, and you never find your way home. Perhaps you become a professor at NRC alongside Crewel and Vargas, so all of you are reunited again as adults when they get jobs at NRC. And then you meet Sam and become fast friends with him as well!! Of course Crewel and Vargas are still in their rivalry. Seeing you again after so much time apart has fueled old feelings. <3 reminiscing about your school days with the lot of them. The students being so nosy and intrigued when they start to pick up on bits and pieces of the shared lore of their professors hehe.

Hello, I’m one of the contestants of the AU Sonic Smackdown, @delightrolls, the creator of the Sonic Thunderstorm AU. I was trying to decide who to vote for between you and @wereh0gz, but the decision is proving to be difficult. Would you kindly tell me more about your Freaks AU? Anything and everything you feel comfortable sharing about your impeccable story! And if you want some more specific questions I would like to ask these questions and I apologize in advance for the amount of them, your AU is just very intriguing. Feel free to take your time answering all of these:

Are all Echidnas Wood Nymphs / Dryads / Drus or is it just Knuckles? If it’s just Knuckles how did he get like that?

Did the Knuckles Clan still invoke the wrath of Chaos leaving Knuckles as the sole survivor?

Are characters like Omega, and Cream in the Freaks AU?

Are the Chaotix still detectives? If not, what do they do?

What are Zombies like? Do they eat brains like most Zombies in stories do or do they eat something else?

Is Silver also a Vegan Vampire?

Can Vampires also be satiated by Animal Blood or is it only Mobian / Tree Blood?

What are the pros and cons of drinking Mobian Blood vs Tree Blood?

Can Vampires eat solid food or are they limited to fluids?

If someone is bitten by a Vampire are they guaranteed to turn into a Vampire or Zombie or can other things happen as well?

Are Vampires weak to Sunlight?

What happens when The Order takes someone? Are they killed or imprisoned? If they are imprisoned what happens to them in prison?

What are Demons like?

Were Surge and Kit born Demons or did someone or something turn them into Demons?

Do Iblis, Solaris, Dark Gaia, and Light Gaia exist in this story?

Can someone earn the title of High Howler outside of killing the current High Howler? How would one do this?

What are the lifespans of the various Freaks?

What are Fairies like?

Sticks doesn’t believe in the Supernatural but is a Fairy, are Fairies not Supernatural?

What does the Morning Glory Pack do?

If Mimic turned Mighty and Mighty is part of Amy’s Pack does that mean Mimic is also a part of Amy’s Pack?

How many members are in Amy’s Pack? Is Eric in Amy’s Pack?

Is Ashe also a Werebeast?

Has anyone willingly become a Freak?

Would eating a possessed object completely destroy it or would the Ghost simply possess the person who ate them?

Thank you for your time and regardless of whether you win or lose I think your story is impeccable :)

Hey!!! And thank you ❤️

1- Yes, all echidnas - from Knuckles' tribe - were Wood Nymphs.

2- Yes, and Knuckles still guards the Master Emerald at Angel Island.

3- Cream is in the AU!!! I just have yet to draw her, and shes a mundane. Not sure ig Omega will appear just yet.

4- The Chaotix are still detectives, think Kemono Jihen: they take care of supernatural incidents, sorta like vigilantes(is that the correct term? ^^") They're also family, Vector is the single dad of these two. lol

5- You got flesh-eating zombies... and then you have Gadget, who personally loves pastries. XD

6- Silver is learning about 'vampire veganism' with Espio.

7/8- Sort of, a sentiment's blood not only make them stronger but they're also well fed. Vegan vampires are weaker since they don't consume live blood.

9- Yes vampires are weak to sunlight, but it's mostly based on their diet. Those who drink live blood might get hurt real badly, and those who are vegan usually have way higher tolerance to sunlight just getting itchy.

10- Still reworking/revamping The Order

11- Demons are either sinners or born-demons. Demons can be summoned by mundanes, sinners cannot.

12- Surge and Kit are born demons, they got summoned by Starline.

13- Gaia is a single entity like a God, Iblis and Solaris do not exist in this story.

14- You don't need to kill the previous High Howler to become one, you can earn the title, it's not well known how to do so, but you must not have killed innocent people in order to earn it. Or you could be a High Howler's Heir and inherit the 'throne' when they die.

15- Still working on fairies, but they're mostly chill, being able to change between fairy form (tiny) and mobian form. Fairies have powers related to the elements/nature.

16- Fairies are supernaturals, Sticks just never took fairy form/'unlocked' her powers so she never figured out she was a fairy herself! XD

17- Morning Glory is currently trying to track down Mimic, since he's going around causing mayhem n all.

18- Amy's pack got 7 members, 2 of which are demons (Surge and Kitsunami). Eric is an omega, he's on his own, and Ashe is a mobian, he didn't get turned.

19- I shall talk about that soon... 👁️👁️

20- The person who ate it would probably die... or vomit it out. XD

I like the idea of transbian bingqiu, but I'm uncomfortable that Shen Yuan's chest is referred to as "flatties" in a context where she is both trans and had a double mastectomy, since these women are often mocked for their flat chests. It feels like her body is the butt of a joke about her being "extra flat" or that it's funny Binghe would be attracted to her chest, and she only is because she's weird and horny for Shen Yuan. I know it probably wasn't your intention, and it's a joke, but the emphasis and word choice is sort of hurtful.

I completely understand your discomfort and deeply regret the implications behind those posts; I should have made it more clear that the meme redraw and subsequent au drabbles were not intended to be connected to each other and really do want to apologize for that. It was my error and I take full responsibility-- regardless of my intentions, I didn't make my thoughts clear enough and I understand and sympathize with anyone who felt harmed by them.

For what it's worth, the original "I wanna lick her flatties" drawing was really just a one off meme redraw that didn't have any deep thinking behind it, I just thought it would be funny to draw as bingqiu so I did. Because it was just a direct trace of a meme about 2 cis women I thought I'd just leave it open ended whether or not they're trans, though my friends in general are transfem sqq enthusiasts so there was probably some unconscious headcanon bias sprinkled in there. I'm flat myself so when I saw the meme I was sort of just like oh lol that's a funny alternative to fat titties

I drew sqq older mainly as an homage to one of my friend's modern sqq designs, but from then got to thinking about what an older cast would look like and do because it's so rare to see aus set during a time when the characters would be middle aged. I thought if sqq was about 40 or so in the picture then sqh would have to be 60, so I drew 60 yr old sqh and had a lot of fun thinking about all the things she could have experienced and all the stages of life she would have gone through in 60 years, so I wanted to expand on that and also think about the human conditions that aren't usually shown in fandom art/aus. The next day, I read a cumplane fic with chronically ill sy that I liked so I was thinking about different recurrent/chronic illnesses that older women experience which have little representation in media.

In this way, it sort of spiraled out from a thoughtless meme redraw into a whole separate thing that only really happened because I was thinking about middle aged sqq, but that's not an excuse and I'm sorry for hurting you anon.

what's your process for making comics ? how do you plan them out ? the panels ? the dialogue ? do you plan it all out in advance or is it more spontaneous

sometimes if the comic requires a lot of dialogue, i make the transcript first. (and it helps because once i get to the step of actually putting in the dialogue to the comic, i make improvements along the way)

usually the process of paneling it is... very mixed. im not an expert in comic making and there are honestly better rain world artists out there who do much better in that field (trying to not compare myself to them is a mental struggle i really fucking hate but it does help me strive to work better and study how they do it(pansear i swear to god stop looking at the NUMBERS)). ive actually been one to make comics and story telling for quite a while but not much a full length big comic series.

when i make anthro au comics, i usually have the "ok this is what i want to go" in my head. since a majority of them are sketched, i dont really worry about how itll layout. i just need to get the idea out of my head. sometimes i think really hard on a scene and think to myself "ok this part is really dramatic and important so i must make it bigger than the rest". sometimes it is for comedic effect like in helm where there is an entire page dedicated to the lizard exploding over a jpeg, sometimes its for scenic feels (like echoes showing themselves upon the characters and making foreboding(though also strange) dialogue), and other times its when the character is saying something or doing something incredibly crucial like whatever saint was doing to arti in heretic.

sometimes id do it without dividers (which is actually easier for me personally). sometimes id do it experimentally like with the ghost arti and zombie hunter comic.

i suppose what i prioritize more is to tell a story rather than to tell the story in flair, so its best to not entirely heed to my advice if you want stylized-looking comics. it probably doesnt help that i might have some sort of attention deficiency because its difficult for me to get back on a project thats stored away for another.

some of the really great rw comic artists i can think on the top of my head are:

@lynxmisnomer who has a really great ongoing series called The Curse of Metropolis and has made a really cool comic of Monk and Survivor

@ninten-draw who makes really colorful stylized comics about certain rain world characters including the ones you wouldn't think of and nails on the story-telling without words

@lyss-butterscotch who puts a lot of effort to her gijinka au stuff (if you ask me which of her comics is my favorite- come on. you already know the answer based on who's writing this LOL)

@snailfen for having cutesy and detailed comics (i read ruff and ruff like garfield comics- they're not as frequent but i get this unexplainable feeling of happiness whenever i see it)

@toxictoxicities whose comics are??? scenic??? holy shit.

and you of course!

Can you see the vision? CAN YOU SEE IT?!

I actually giggled when I drew this and for the life of me I can't draw it digitally and clean it (I like this better, and... I suck drawing everything especially hands and err... anatomy) I don't wanna ruin that juicy biceps of Hinata 🥴.

But, this year genderbend naruhina has been plaguing my mind whenever it can.

So I'm just drawing for fun (like doodling some Naruhina au whether it be Canon or genderbend) and then boogsh. Another genderbend Naruhina Hybrid AU (Highschool scenario) strikes me again! Obviously, Naruko is a one tailed hybrid fox but she is secretly the actual legendary nine-tailed fox hybrid (it was passed down to her or sumn). She's a troublemaker in her school and she belongs to the predator class, where all of the other hybrid animals known to prey on other poor animals are grouped together in a class. Her nine tails only appear if she's having emotional turmoil or something serious, for example uncontrollable anger, jealousy, possessiveness, or when she's experiencing her heat. Then Hinata (I kept his female name because it's cute for me when Naruko calls him Hinata ^^), he's the usual bunny hybrid. In this, he has glasses to have this sort of nerdy feeling (he doesn't wear them outside the school tho lol). Opposite to Naruko, he belongs to the Prey Class where most of the students avoid getting in the Predator's way whenever they can. It's a mystery as to why a fox and a bunny got together. Oh, and I think Hinata being a class president would suit him much despite his meekness. Since he's gentle and kind, his class would like his calm demeanor, soothing them away from those ferocious predators down the hallways.

So as I drew them separately, I thought most would think that Naruko would dominate Hinata since she's the predator and she's a sly fox. However, I don't think so! Hehe, here comes my favorite part!

In the drawing, we can see Hinata being all possessive of Naruko since he's on his rut at that time. He was so drunk off her that the need to protect her and his hidden possessiveness came through, shocking Naruko (she likes it so much and thinks it's so freaking hot, like girl same) Usually in their lovemaking, Hinata would be a loott gentler, like he's gonna ask her if it hurts, would totally rub her back in circles and voice out gentle encouragement as Naruko take his length inside her. He's not gonna thrust so hard, he's so fluffy and their sex is so freaking vanilla. I even see Hinata making a breakfast in bed kinda thingy after that night because he knew Naruko was freaking tired after that plenty of rounds last night (he might start off gentle but who knows he might turn rough as the night goes on 👀) That's so freaking cute to me. But when Hinata's on his ruts, he's unstoppable, he has this gaze that makes Naruko's legs wobble. Like he's gonna eat her whole, metaphorically. He's gonna say things such as, "You're only mine, Naruko." without the nickname because I think that's hot and sexier. Like Naruko's the only thing on his mind at that time. For sure he's gonna bite every skin he can reach, marking her and making Naruko his only. He'll be more chatty, teasing Naruko and babbling that he's the only one who can see her come undone like this. That this side of her is only for him, and he loves her so much. Things like that, and when he's back to himself again he's so embarrassed to remember how he acted like that but Naruko wasn't having it. She wants Hinata to be as honest to her as his rut self. He can be rough with her and she's not gonna mind it, besides she's not that fragile. He's not gonna hurt her or whatsoever. She admits it, despite blushing that she likes this rough side of him.

Ugh then they both blush because genderbend or not, they're still such dorks that love each other and that's the most important of all!

>o<

it's been more than a month since i teased those pics, and i finally finished! splat clans au idol designs!

if you're wondering: i drew squid sisters the last and they were....surprisingly difficult considering they're idols who i draw the most usually lol

this au is still very underdeveloped and i'm very open to your suggestions of names and such

you can find some info about the clans here and my first art post of this au here

callie(really want to call her something like kestrelsong but dunno) and marie(marigoldshine? cause firefly squid?) are very important cats - callie just being a very talented and social warrior and marie being the medicine cat

as you may have guess marie gets some sort of a sign about a long forgotten clan going the dark path in need (this being octarian clan stealing all the herbs) and the cat who's able to save their clan(this being three), that causes them to form a traveling group all together for the prophecy

well of course as usual marina(juniperpool? really want to name her after some herbs 'cause she was in a very good medicine cat in training and something that relates to her original name(pool is close to sea, right?...)) is a warrior of the said octarian clan who was brought to inkling clan by pearl(pebblespark?), a daughter of respected senior warriors, and is said to be just a very cool rogue friend of hers

marina is a very great help to her new clan due to her being a fast learner and a medicine cat apprentice in her past. she's very conviniently there when marie is away with some new prophecy, weirdly being too similar to the last one... (this prophecy is also fabricated this time. she made it up because it's still the same herbs problem, it has to be octarian clan...also where in the name of starclan are three and cuttlefish? ughhh probably shouldn't have let them go to the twolegs territories alone...)

and of course deep cats! ahem. i meant. deep cut!

honestly. let me ramble a bit but while the other designs were inspired by the in-game designs mostly, with deep cut i actually had something to use as a reference. shiver is referenced from some mako shark images i found and frye is obviously referenced from moray eels. they also were A BIG PAIN IN THE ASS with trying to make them look at least a little bit genetically accurate before i gave up. i tried my best to make it somewhat based off cat genetics(cause i'm a cat genetics nerd) but. yeah. deep cut. (no big man you were the best one bc i could literally just use your in-game design as a reference you were a bliss thank cod big man exists) also i really want to point out bc i really love how i made frye's side scar long and wiggly looking a little like an eel and shiver's scars are meant to look like shark's gills.

AHEM. me rambling about designs aside.

deep cut are the splatland clan elite:

shiver(sharpstar?) is the leader. she has the charisma and she can keep her cool...kind of.

frye(no, no idea fr) is the deputy. she's very good at organising the patrols even though you would probably argue that frye could be the one to organise something, trust me, she just knows her stuff very well.

and, of course, big man(i literally can't come up with something not including 'big' in it directly HELP sadfgargagaw) is the medicine cat. with his pacifism and not really wanting to fight attitude it's probably quite obvious!

and of course they still descent from cats who've been living there since the very begginings of the clan!

separate versions under the cut

Underfell Take

Hello, Hello!

For my first actual post, I'll be talking about my old Underfell take, named Perifell (original, I know)

(Most of those sprites are from August 2021) (Papyrus and Sans sprites and designs made by Unshulf)

The main premise of this AU was just to make Underfell, but in a different way of edgy, moreso desolated (but still fun)

It's vibe was more "mossy", "muddy" if you will. Something like overgrownplants but in a bad way (im bad at explaining)

I had everyone wearing green, similar to how everyone has red in their color palette in the original Underfell. I wanted to go with red first, but I thought another color would make it feel unique

I'm goig to talk about the reasons behind some of those designs aswell as the character changes, starting with

Frisk, "Lucky" and Napstablook

Frisk, in term of character, remained the same. They just got a new haircut! Aswell as some enw clothes too. Not too much to say about them, I just wnated their design to look more "rough".

That last drawing of Frisk is from August 2022. It seemed to be a sort of redesign for a potential revival of the AU.

"Lucky, The Clover" who is, well, a clover. Technically, his design doesn't make sense for a clover, but I had no idea back then lol. He's still kind, but manipulative and have an uneven amount of luck. He somehow always manages to get what he wants.

Napstablook wasn't really different from the original Underfell counterpart either, they're just mud this time. They're supposed to be invisible, but they always sleep in mud, hence why they're always covered in it.

Toriel

She was a strict person, who was feared by the monsters of the ruins (or whatever replaced the ruins). I don't like her design looking back on it, I thikn it could use more improvements or just be changed completly. She's more silent than Undertale Toriel, and usually just has a death stare.

That last drawing of her is from August 2022. I think this was supposed to be for a sort of revival for the AU, so it's a redesign of her.

Sans and Papyrus Unshulf designed these, so i'll let him talk about them: Unshulf, what was your general idea behind their design?

Yeah, i don't know either tbh

All I remember is that Papyrus was the chief of the Canine Unit, or as it was called, the "Dog Army", a more military setting for them

I didn't design the "Dog Army" at the time, but I can image what they would've looked like

Undyne (logo of Perifell in the Undyne art by SoupTaels)

Undyne was still the fearsome hero everyone knows, except here she wa sa pirate! She had a ship and a whoel crew with her aswell. I remember something abotu Waterfall being flooded or something? So it was impossible to go through without a boat. The river person probably helped you there. There was somethign about Snowdin people not being allowed to come in there?

Also, Papyrus and Undyne had a rivalery there, they were friends but had a falling out after leadership differences

Alphys

Alphys was your typical crazy scientist. She partially play that part of her as a way to "be memorable to others", or just seem cool to people. Problem is, she doesn't realise when she goes too far with her ways of doing, and doesn't hesitate to harm her friends. She was mainly more into mechanics if I remember correctly, but she also had some potion making knowledge.

Mettaton

Mettaton, the war machine! He was made as a big weapon against humanity. Problem is, he actually really admires them.

I don't think I had any idea for an EX or even NEO form, or if he'd have any at all.

I think it's one of my favourite design of this AU because of the way it looks.

Asgore

Honestly, not much to say about him LOL

He's similar to his Undertale and Underfell counterpart, seeking revenge on humanity for the loss of his children. He had a missing horn, which he covered. How he lost this horn is unknown.

Asriel and Chara

Asriel and Chara were pretty similar to their Undertale counterparts. They had different designs, as they are a bit older than they were in Undertale. Asriel was just a golden child and future prince, whereas Chara was the more laidback kid, the troublemaker.

TREEMAN (Gaster)

This Gaster take is quite different, as this time, he's a tree. I thought of making him one as a reference to "the man behind the tree" in Deltarune, which would make him a Tree Man.

His "goner" version was green and mossy, as most other Gaster followers were. They all had this swamp kind of aethetic to them, with moss all around.

His design is honestly my favourite and still is today, I hope to revisit it sometime.

And that's all! This post was kind of long to make lol. I chose to post about this as it is a very old project that I may revisit someday, but I wanted to get the old stuff out first. My next post will probably be about something more recent... or maybe not! I don't know

Thanks for reading!

Stupid question but which one re-evolved first, Duskull/Dusknoir or Treecko/Grovyle?

First, don't say it's a stupid question, I would love to share ideas for the au and talk more about it, especially 'cause I personally am not very creative on my own, so interaction helps immensely.

Second, gonna be honest here, I actually have no idea. I haven't really put much thought into actual plot lmao. The AU doesn't even belong to me really, I just took jsab's one and came up with little interactions that I found funny and/or cute (in my defense, i was starving for actaeonshipping content xd). I didn't plan an actual timeline/story, and I feel that way anyone can come up with their own interpretation of it, which is fun. (and also less complicated cause the logistics of a swap au would be,,,,,,,,,,,,complicated i think).

However, since you asked, I am going to list some random ideas I had about how it could happen, which sort of mixes with possible story beats ig. Sorry beforehand for the length and change of subject lol.

tldr: imo it depends on what story you wanna come up with and whatever serves it better (i.e. you want it to happen post game, so you follow the game's plot; you want it to happen during the story, so sth weird happens, etc.)

So in PMD:EOS world, pokémon evolve through the Luminous Spring. The player can't evolve until the spring regains its light once the flow of time is fixed. So either we have Grovyle and Dusknoir re-evolving after Dialga is defeated, respecting canon, or we tweak it a bit to make it more interesting.

A way to alter the spring method would be by stealing a headcanon I saw someplace I can't remember (oops): that pokémon, while they usually rely on the Luminous Spring, on very rare occasions can evolve through high levels of stress to protect themselves. I personally like this theory because it explains why there are evolved pokémon in the future, like Grovyle and Dusknoir themselves. They were born in a paralysed world, with no magic skinnydipping, so what's up with that.

When I say this ties in with story beats is because I feel the choice here can make two different versions of the swap, 1. treecko and duskull literally take the hero and partner role to the very end (plus a face off against darkrai ig??), or 2. respect the game's kind-of-chosen one narrative by having partner keep their relic fragment, and making grovyle and dusknoir's main mission to help hero and partner work together again. The problem with this AU is that, if taken seriously, it would need a DEEP reconsideration of the game's events and characters. When does the swap occur? Why does it happen, is Darkrai involved again? If Hero and Partner are still there, does that mean the story of eos happened beforehand but had a bad ending? How do two characters whose actions are immensely influenced by their knowledge of the future act when stripped of their canon motivations? Do they keep behaviours and reflexes (perhaps theyre a bit more ambivalent with violence/more morally gray than hero and partner) or are they a blank slate? Do they feel compelled to evolve because they have a weird feeling that they're in a body strange to them? This is why I only draw the fun two panel interactions!

Leaving all that aside, here are some scenarios that could happen (...because we are just making shit up so anything can happen):

They evolve through struggle, like I presume they had to do in the future. Maybe Treecko evolves sooner, on account of being more reckless and referencing his status as a starter pokémon that evolves at level 16. Once Duskull evolves he prolly carries the team for a while, tho, since Dusclops was supposed to be a fully evolved pokémon in gen 3, and is iconically stronger than Dusknoir when it carries an eviolite. Then again, Grovyle and Dusknoir in game are way stronger than they would be in a mainline game, so perhaps they maintain some muscle memory that helps them in combat (funny how two amnesiac pokémons, who barely remember their own names, are somehow so accostumed to battle, huh, weird). I'd say the best place for an evolution would be the dark future, maybe they escape from prison without facing the sableye -cause a prison cell isnt that big of a deal for someone who knows dig and someone whose actual pokédex entry is "It can go through walls!"- and evolve in a fight against partner?

The evolution doesn't follow game rules at all, instead it's a physical manifestation of their old memories. Hero never remembers their past (sorry grovyle), but this is pure self indulgence so maybe the other two do, or at least are more encouraged to do so or get more information (celebi for grovyle, and dialga for dusknoir).

Following that last point, Celebi and Dialga, two time travelling pokémon, actively interfere to help them get their memories back/get them up to speed with the situation, each to their own interest. Perhaps this involve a separation arc between Treecko and Duskull, à la Gates to Infinity. This would serve to make them less dependent of each other, and mature on their own for a while, differenciating them from hero and partner.

They don't re-evolve, they save the world/help save the world like hero and partner would do.

My favourite option is Dialga helps them somehow with time magic after the battle is over and time is fixed. The sole point of it is getting Dusknoir and Grovyle -with their memories back- to awkardly leave together on a slow stoneship that shoots rainbow, for the sole reason that it would be hilarious.

More Chum Squad AU! (+More Art!)

Okay, so I thought I'd draw a little more for the AU, just to go a litter further into it.

As as I said before, I'm ptoud of the idea, so please don't take from it without permission, etc. Thanks :))

Squidward: It's 9am, can't you two argue sometime after lunch?

Squidward: ...

Squidward: Preferably when I'm not working?

Karen and Plankton: *LOUD ARGUING*

Plankton and Karen get along a little better in this, but they do still have days where they just won't stop, and Squidward can't handle the noise (neither can Chip, as shown in my last post on this), and what's more, Karen and Plankton both individually confide in him and just vent about the other and he's tired of them thinking he's some damn miracle worker.

Squidward: Perhaps a recipe change couldn't hurt.

Plankton is constantly wondering why he gets so few customers. In this AU, the only reason Plankton gets any customers is that they either transferred over from the Krusty Krab when Squidward quit, because they wanted to be insulted (based on the Breath of Fresh Squidward episode), they're Pearl's friends and want to talk to her during work, or they're Chip's friends and they've come over for a game night.

Squidward and Karen keep telling Plankton to just CHANGE THE DAMN RECIPE, but he won't listen. The customers usually go for drinks, though, as that's the area that Karen controls, and she's made them actually well.

Squidward: What'll it be?

Squidward's still a cashier and still has that same attitude, but genuinely prefers working at the Chum Bucket. For one, for annoying sponge in his ear all day long. Second, a boss that actually respects him. Third, he gets to work with his neice. Fourth, although they all have their problems, they do all get along, and have a more genuine relationship, and though he won't admit it, Squidward loves them all.

The way Chum Squad is designed, is that it'd be a little ore mature than the actual show. It'd still follow basic principles of how their jokes work, both verbally and physically, and still not get dark dark, but I think it'd be important to bring attention to underlying issues with the characters, like delving into why Plankton is the way he is, and sort of trying to fix his and Karen's marriage more. I think one of the best things about a good show is having genuine characters with genuine flaws that people can relate to, and that's what would make Chum Squad. They're all flawed, but they love each other and they'd help each other.

Sorry if that sounded kind of sappy or something, that's just the way I see it lol

Anyway, there is going to be a Part 3 to this at some point, which will focus solely on Squidward and Pearl, and how the uncle/niece relationship will work in this.

Thanks for reading this far. Hope you have a great day :))

Coming Attractions!

First Monday of the month, so here we go.

As per usual, this also means an open question night--my askbox is always open, but I'll be actively keeping an eye on it tonight. I do take prompts, but am not necessarily fast in filling them. Any fandom I've posted about here or on AO3 is fair game, as is any of my original stuff.

Short one this month, because I didn't get much done last month, whoops...a big work project took up more brainmeats than I expected it would, ah well.

Mostly moved, mostly everything is sorted; a few things I still need to finish organizing/putting away/etc. But that should also free up some brainspace hopefully!

Anyway. Actual updates.

Star Wars:

Pretty much the same as last week--need to catch up on OTP meme fills; poking back at my original plan for last year's SWBB so I can use it for this year. Not a lot of progress, but hopefully this month will be better!

BSG:

Big Bang matches have gone out! I'm excited to see how everything turns out. And hopefully get actually back into writing the many plotlines that are floating around in my head, lol...particularly The Other Battlestar which still needs an Official title and has been waiting to come out of my head and get Shared for like. over a year. even discounting the like 8-10 year gap when I wandered away from the fandom...

I should be picking up my rewatch soon, too! I have the back half of season 3, plus season 4, and maybe the webisodes (I have access to Face of the Enemy but not Resistance, so we'll see if I actually watch those). Which does mean we're coming up on my absolute least favorite episode in the entire series, haha. I haven't even gotten to it yet and I'm already mad about it (and have found an Additional Reason to be mad about it that I hadn't had before! Yay!) But also after that I get Lampkin, who I love, and while season 4 is a mess in terms of cohesion/continuity it has some of my very favorite episodes in the entire series, So.

Castlevania:

I haven't actually sat down and watched Nocturne yet (mostly because of the aforementioned work stuff), so I haven't quite fallen back into this fandom yet. I do want to get back to Incinctus, and I had one other plot thread idea for another fic based on the first series (essentially, shifting Alucard's S3 timeline by six weeks so the night Sumi and Taka plan to attack him is the same night Greta's messenger gets there, and then see where things go from there).

It's kind of interesting--I have approximately zero knowledge of the games, apart from a few bits and pieces I've picked up from reading fics and/or hanging out on a discord server. Which, of course, has been talking a lot about Nocturne...but almost entirely in the context of how it relates to the game characters/plotlines it's drawing from. Which means I'm both...more and less hyped for it? I don't know, I'm not sure how to word how it's impacted my interest/excitement/etc. for the followup series, because a lot of the comments about certain characters/choices completely fly over my head but they Dominate the server and I'm like "...okay?"

Anyway, we'll see how I feel about it when I watch the series. And if I do end up building a VC crossover in my head (because like. armand and the theatre are right there and while I was able to confine myself to a quick Easter Egg reference in Incinctus...lol.)

Les Mis:

The next chapter of P&J is coming, I swear. Also planning to debut Acheron this month because...I mean I know it's technically a Groundhog Day AU set in June, but it feels appropriate to start posting it around Halloween? IDK XD

Original Fic:

Again I do need to catch up on OTP memes. I do like the one piece I put out this month, which was about the Horsemen in Lux. They're a Delight and I love them.

...yeah, that's about it. Like I said, short post this month because I didn't get much actual writing done last month. Hopefully October will be better for me (if nothing else, hopefully I actually will catch up on all the backlogged OTP Meme fills, lol...)

Au where Nico and Levi were already established in season 14. Maybe Levi is talking about this hot boyfriend he has and nobody believes him but then Nico comes and they're all shocked and Levi is just like i told you so. Nico's just confused lol.

Okay, this one took a bit. I was debating for a while whether I should rewatch Season 14, but I ultimately decided I was too busy to be able to commit to that. Therefore, if this differs from canon (beyond the obvious AU aspect), that’s all on me and my lack of rewatch. I could see myself continuing this because it does feel a little open-ended. I really like the prompt and hope the execution was as fun and fluffy as I wanted it to be. I wrote this in the wake of buying Lover Fest tickets, which was a nerve-wracking mess so I hope this fic is more coherent than I feel at the moment. It’s a bit longer so a lot is under a cut. I hope you enjoy! 

“...But then my boyfriend called so she had to calm down, at least for a bit,” Levi Schmitt took a bite of his sandwich as he finished the story chronicling his mother’s latest freakout. He expected some laughs or maybe a few understanding nods but was instead met with five confused expressions.

“I’m sorry, your what now?” Taryn Helm was the first to snap out of whatever trance the five other interns had fallen under.

“My mother. That was a story about my mother. Duh.” Levi rolled his eyes at Taryn’s question.

“I think she was asking about the boyfriend part.” The interns nodded at Sam Bello’s suggestion.

“Oh, have I not mentioned him? Huh. Yeah, my boyfriend.” Levi shrugged, focusing his attention back on his lunch.

“Is he hot?” Dahlia Qadri smacked Vik Roy’s arm at the question. “Ow! What, you were all wondering too!”

“Who, my boyfriend?”

“No, your fish.” Casey Parker was already getting fed up with this conversation and couldn’t suppress an eye roll at Levi’s expense.

“I think so.” Levi dug his phone out of his pocket and pulled up a photo of a tall Asian man with a chiseled face, swoopy hair, and magnificent muscles. He was smiling fondly at the camera, as though the photographer were his favorite person in the world. 

“Glasses, you can’t just Google ‘hot guy’ and use some image result. We’re not gonna believe that,” Roy scoffed.

“What? No! That’s Nico! That’s my boyfriend, Nico!” Levi turned the phone towards him as though checking he had the right picture.

“That’s the hottest guy I’ve ever seen. You’re telling me he’s not only real but your boyfriend?” Sam raised her eyebrows almost to her hairline as everyone else looked expectantly at Levi.

“I… he… we… we overlapped a bit when I was in college and he was in med school. When the pre-med students would visit the med school, he always sought me out. Wanted to show me whatever stuff he was working on. We became study buddies and then friends and then best friends.” Levi shrugged through the story, trying to downplay it.

“But you slept with Jo!” Taryn exclaimed.

“We got together after that. I was venting to him about the whole ‘Glasses’ thing and how I’d never get a job here. We stayed up all night on the phone, me freaking out and him listening. He flew out the next day and showed up on my doorstep. I guess he sort of proclaimed his love for me? He said he’d loved me since we first met and hearing me so upset on the phone made him realize he needed to step up and give me something good. I don’t know.” Levi fiddled with his fingers, looking down after baring his soul.

When he looked up, the other interns were all just staring at him. Roy broke the silence with a big laugh.

“Yeah, okay. Here’s a tip, if you want us to believe you, don’t make it seem like he was the one chasing you. It just makes no sense.”

Levi looked hurt and confused, “But… that’s what happened!”

“Okay, prove it. Call him,” Roy smirked.

“I can’t. He just got off a 48-hour shift and I like to let him sleep.” 

“Hm, convenient.” While Roy was still enjoying the teasing, the other interns started to look uncomfortable and guilty. Thankfully, Jo walked in just then to give out their assignments.

“Are you too hot for me?” Levi asked as soon as Nico answered his FaceTime.

“Well hello to you too, love.” Nico smiled, used to his boyfriend’s bluntness.

“Yeah, yeah, hey, what’s up? But are you too hot for me?”

“What does that even mean?”

“Like, you’re hot. That’s a known fact. But are you too hot for me? Are we horribly mismatched?” Levi fiddled with the hem of his t-shirt, suddenly more self-conscious than he usually was when speaking to Nico.

“You’ve literally been the object of my fantasies for years now, so I’d say you’re pretty hot.” Levi choked at this comment, eliciting a deep laugh from Nico.

“I’m serious though.” Levi’s voice was small, smaller than Nico had ever heard it. 

“What brought this on?” Nico did away with his teasing tone.

“I mentioned you to the other interns. They didn’t believe that you were my boyfriend after I showed them your picture. They said it made no sense and there’s no way you were the one pining for me all these years. They thought I got a picture off of Google.” Levi gave a sad smile and a soft sigh.

Nico furrowed his brow in annoyance and confusion, “They didn’t believe you?”

“No. Why would they? It is definitely illogical.”

“I love it when you talk Vulcan to me.” Levi gave him a put-upon look, “What does it matter? You know how I feel about you, right? You know you’re my guy.”

“I know. I know! It shouldn’t matter. But I never even thought about our mismatched looks until today.”

“Look, I know you’re way hotter than I am but please don’t rub it in.” Levi gave a watery, surprised laugh, “I’m serious! Screw what other people think. I’m blown away by you. Floored. Overwhelmed. Okay?”

Levi sighed, “Okay. Okay, yeah. I’m sorry for spiraling, love. How was your day?”

“You never have to apologize to me for something like this. Never, okay?” Levi nodded, causing Nico to smile wide. “But my day was good! I’m starting to look at fellowships and my old mentor may have a lead for me.” 

Levi and Nico spoke for another two hours, only stopping when Levi almost began snoring, promising to pick it back up the next night. Even though there was still a nagging in the back of Levi’s mind, he fell asleep with a smile on his face.

A few weeks, and many failed attempts to prove his relationship, later found the Grey + Sloan interns huddled together by a nurses’ station, waiting for their assignments.

“Levi!” All six interns’ heads whipped around at the excited shout, eyes landing on a suited man rushing in their direction.

“Nico! Wh- you’re here! What are you doing here?!” The man swept Levi up into a hug, picking him up slightly, a dazzling smile taking over his handsome face.

“I wanted to surprise you! I had an interview here for my fellowship and I took a few days off so I could see you.” They gazed at each other, matching smiles on their faces, too caught up in their moment to pay any mind to the gaping interns next to them.

“Wait, you’re that guy! The one Glasses keeps trying to convince us is his boyfriend!” Sam Bello snapped her fingers as the pieces slid into place, the other interns nodding next to her at the realization.

Nico turned his head, giving the other five people his attention, arms still around Levi, “I am his boyfriend. Hi, Nico Kim. Current resident at the Mayo Clinic, but I’m hoping to get a fellowship here.”

Levi smacked his chest, drawing Nico’s attention back towards him, “Why didn’t you tell me?! I thought San Francisco was your first choice!”

“Nah, you’re here. Plus, my mentor may be getting an attending job here so I’d work with him. I wanted to surprise you, love.”

“So this is real? This is a real thing?” Helm had a small smile on her face. Having spent more time with Levi over the last few weeks, she’d grown quite fond of the clumsy man and liked seeing him so happy.

“It’s so real. The realest.” Nico grinned at Helm.

“Wow, okay. Sorry to have doubted you, Schmitt.” Casey patted Levi’s shoulder as Sam and Dahlia nodded in agreement, wide-eyed.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. I stand by my disbelief.” Roy stood with his arms crossed as everyone rolled their eyes at his stubbornness, ignoring him in favor of getting to know Nico.

The interns (minus Roy) and Nico chatted for a few more minutes, Nico’s arm slung casually around Levi’s waist. Levi beamed as his coworkers got along so well with his boyfriend, glad they finally believed him. Not that he needed any sort of validation from them because he knew the man next to him loved him no matter what, which was all that really mattered. 

I’m (hopefully) back on my bullshit, so send in prompts, if you want!

So I saw this neat thing flying around Tumblr of Lightwarden aus so with the help of my friend (he’s a wonderful photographer in game. If you want some good pictures too, just send me ask and I can let him know :3)

[[MORE]]

So! Here’s mine lol

“Mother, I'm so sorry. Please, I beg of you. Forgive me."

She didn't mean for it to happen. How could she stop it? She was a child frozen in fear. Placed into hiding by her dear mother for protection. The young girl peered through the bushes only to see her mother get cut down in front her. Her hand flew towards the bush and landed just outside of it. She was frozen with fear. She couldn't move. Her breathing grew sharp as she watched the enemies run off. Slowly, she reached out a hand and touched her mother's. Snow Tine.

Guilt plays a tune of melancholy in heart. Each death weighed a heavy toll on her heart. Her eyes would droop with tears of pity as she watched one ally after another get cut down in front of her. A hero? She's no hero. She cannot save the ones she loves.

And then it happened. Those thoughts continued to tear apart her mind and heart until she knew she was unstable. Slowly, she crawled her way out into The Empty. If she were to turn, it'd be best to stay out here. Surely, she would not have to cut down her friends if she was alone. So with the little strength she had left, she called upon Feo Ul. She begged the fairy to trap her in a large bubble, cocoon, a large shard, *anything* so that she may not escape. With the wall raised, she turned.

--> The fight. The Frozen Lament Extreme

~~> Snow Tine the Forgiven Guilt <~~

Class: Demented Summoner

Weapon: Book/Ice that forms around specific limbs for specific purposes

Her appearance matches that of the pictures (will post after), except her horns were moved from the side of her eyes to the bridge of her nose. The horns stretched out and covered her eyes. As a way to hide the tears she has constantly shed. The tux also has a much longer coattail that flows outward during the fight cause aESTHETIC.

The field is a lot like Shiva's but it's got more of an open, cave feel to it. There's no walls and it has a dark canyon that seems to surround the field.

+ When pulled, she immediately throws out a cone knock-back called "Icy Front". It's small but if people aren't paying attention at when the fight began, they can be pushed off just over the edge. There'll be enough time in the casting that the group can run far enough to her to avoid the knock-back. *or immune it* She'll announce the beginning of this move with the dialogue "Move! Get out or I'll kill you too!"

--> Players who get knocked off will not be immediately killed. Instead, they spawn with little health into this room. It looks like a thin icy pillar that extends upward, which is assumed to be the stage as it grows larger and larger as it ascends. In the middle is an orb. It will immediately target the players and begin to cast self destruct. Players must 'kill' the orb to keep a wipe from happening. (Killing it doesn't actually do so. It's just like... disabling it for a while so players can travel through the aether back to the top.) But for each player who fell, it gains a defense buff after it is killed. (For later or any other players that fall later as well)

+ The fight continues out per usual. After a few moments from the knockback, she casts an aoe called "Crying Blizzard".

+ The tank buster follows after is called "Cursed Judgement." Places a hefty vuln onto the tank (that doesn't last long at all but will kill if hit by even an auto attack). This forces a tank swap.

And that's where the fun begins >:)

+ "I've lost so many lights. So what's a few more to lose? I couldn't save them anyway." After she speaks this, she begins to cast a three ring aoe called "Lost Lights". It's got a warning maker *idk what they're called lol* that covers the whole field, leaving only two spots open. Two small rings in between the three. However, there is little reaction time before the players' screens go completely black. They have to memorize where the safe spots are at a glance and quickly remember where to move. The cast is quick too so you can't sit there for a moment to rattle your brain. If hit, it drops a 2 minute frostbite on each player and freezes them for 10 seconds.

+ There's another aoe before she turns to the off tank and casts the knockback towards wherever they're standing. Meaning the off tank should be either with the main tank or to the side where people aren't right after the aoe.

+ She then casts another "Lost Lights" but this time, it's different. Two Shards spawn out of any four patterns. (A cross, an x, a zigzag, or a big bulky line.) They do a complete line aoe across the field they've spawned at. There'll be only a couple of permanent safe spots for any of these patterns but that's up to you to find :)

+ She does another tankbuster, another aoe, before she cries. "Forget it! Forget it all! Please! Forgive me!" She raises her hand up and slaps the ground with a large icy wind knocking all players off the stage.

+ It's your pal orbie!

+ But with friends 😄 There are two ice golems that hit like trucks. So tanks have to take them and then take them to opposite sides of the field. *they get a tether when too close that makes them invincible*.

The orb has a sort of protect shield around it making it untargetable. The golems must be defeated and then the orb. It's a relatively quick add phase that should be pretty easy, but if there were at least 4 knocked of players beforehand, butts will be clenched killing the orb as it's casting self destruct.

+ Once the players return she screams once more. Her voice is shaking and it's obvious she's crying. "Forgive me. Forgive me. Forgive me! FORGIVE ME PLEASE!"

She flies up and summons her book in front of her. A shadow bahambo appears behind her and she begins to cast Teraflare. This is her ultimate 😄 AND the *real* add phase. Shadows of the scions appear on the stage. and each player will be given on of three 'buffs'

- Titan's Terror

Those marked with Titan's Terror must locate the scions with the buff Titan's Triumph and kill them. *players killing the wrong scion places an aoe vuln on everyone. 2 means the ultimate will wipe the party no matter what.*

- Garuda's Gout

Those marked with Garuda's Gout must locate the scions with the buff Garuda's Gift and kill them. However, only two scions are marked with this and it's always the twins. *For the full party only has 8 players.* The twins are easy to kill, but Alphinaud must die first or he'll keep healing the scions. *same with Urianger whether he's marked with titan or ifrit.

- Ifrit's Inability

Those marked with Ifrit's Inability must locate the scions with the buff Ifrit's Interest and kill them.

**The healers will always have the same buff Ifrit's Inability + 1 random dps. For the scions with the buff are not as strong.

Players can either split off and kill each scion individually or those with the same buffs gang up on them one by one.

Whatever way works best for the raid.

There is a time limit. If she hits 100 *she's been drawing in aether from the shadow scions*, she'll cast Teraflare and wipe the party.

If not, the party will receive the buff after all the scions are killed called "Phoniex's Phorgiveness" (xP)

Once she casts the flare, the arena changes. It's all musty yet bright. Large mirrors of the three primal egis are around the arena (just there for show).

The same moves appear. But Lost Light's is different. It has either two new patterns.

One combines the original two and another one has her hitbox as the only safe area. She also will combine other aoes with Lost Lights. Players can get marked with puddles. She could have a lookaway move that if hit, zombifies the player and can cause them to get hit by the lost lights *or damage the other player*

The Lost Light's at this point are instakills.

+ there's one new move now called "Mother's Remorse" One random player besides mt will be targeted with a HUGE aoe marker. They must take it as far away as possible. leaving only a small crescent open. You can eat the damage, but it places a heavy vuln and the aoe after will probably wipe the party. *Which means healers must shield and heal the targeted player for the aoe since they get an automatic vuln*

After a certain allotted time, she has a dialouge box appear. But it only says "*Cries*" Her loud sobs override the music as she begins to slow cast, "Hero's Execution". A big aoe with resemblance to tri-bind, each 'orb' placed in front of the three mirror primals.

At 10%, her dialogue changes. "Is this forgiveness? Please set me free!"

= Her death line, "We meet once again... mother..."

== She drops glamour weapons and a rare mount. Like a nightmare but for the dragons.

•••

{{Thank you all for reading! ^^ hope you enjoyed Snow’s Lightwarden fight}}

Hi! Hope you're having a good day! If you don't mind me asking, why did George devalier stories had so much success? I read WMA, AWS and BS, and while they were nice stories, the characters were sweet, and they were truly well written, still I don't see how it became a cult. I mean maybe that's because some historical inaccuracies were really jarring for me, and maybe for other people they're not. I'm genuinely curious, and I really like your analysis so I hope this question won't offend you

 Well this turned into a book.  Lmfao.Before I get too deep into this so it’s not missed, would you please send me what you noticed as historical inaccuracies?  I’m not much of a history buff myself (I’m a math/science person, and only more recently literature and even that it plot focused which is more like math to me anyway) so if you could point those out, I’d appreciate it.  I haven’t noticed many myself, and that’s probably part of the answer to your question.  Whatever historical inaccuracies there are, people generally aren’t noticing them.But, a series can have lots of flaws and people still love it.  It’s about mass consumption, not each individual thing.  No one is perfect either, so mistakes happen.  Any sort of fame is about getting around issues that a majority would consider unassailable.  The good points outweighing the bad points enough that people over look them easily.  Talking success-wise, I think you hit on some of the points.  The characters are relatable, which is highly attractive to many readers.  If a reader can’t relate to the character somehow, they usually end up not caring.  But another point on that is character diversity.  That was one thing that stood out to me when I read deValier’s stories, was how well he could switch from one character to another and it flowed without effort.  He wasn’t inserting himself or bending the characters to be what he wanted.  The characters who they were and the story build off of that.  Which is a separate point.  In fanfiction, generally the more the author can keep to the original characters from the series, the better.  Obviously, changing things is doable within reason (or because of a specific reason), but deValier kept most of the character qualities and simply put them in that time period.  This was a big reason the ATLA movie was a flop.  Not only did the characters change drastically from the animated series so that the part of the characters we loved were taken away, but that ended up having a huge effect on the theme too.Obviously, deValier’s grammar and whatnot were very good for fanfiction (beyond the occasional typo here and there, but again fanfiction, human error, and some mistakes are easily overlooked).  It was clear he knew how to write and any errors were simply mistakes that anyone could make.  It’s not like he didn’t know how to spell or where to separate quotes or other things that can be annoying.Then there was the plot/theme.  To me, from what I’ve noticed in my writings, the plot is that thing that people don’t notice about a story that makes a huge difference.  And this would be because it reaches from one cover to the other, so you have to sit back and reflect on the whole thing, or reread.  But a good plot makes you want to reread.  To see things you didn’t see the first time.  A good theme makes people think about the story even after it’s over.  Good themes bring up questions that people want answers to and will think about for ages.It’s kind of hard to define too, but I can sit here and say things like “Suicide Squad” had a terrible plot and I didn’t notice a theme (fun characters though), while “Lord of the Rings” had a great plot and an amazing theme.  We can see it, but defining it is difficult.  In my own writing, a good plot has seemed to come from having a focused theme on what the story is about (I’ll talk a bit about that later).  Of course, there are some guidelines on when to have ups and downs, side plots, underlying themes, and I can talk about Midpoint Mirrors and whatnot till my face turns blue, but none of that comes easy without a focused subject.  In AWS, it was a peace versus war kind of plot.  Not quite that black and white, but you’ve got one super-nationalistic soldier and a boy who picks flowers and goes to the market...teaching the soldier how to love life.  And the soldier teaches the boy how to grow up and deal with the world.  It’s the sort of story that makes you think about life.  And death.  Same with WMA, except it looks are heroism, and how heroes aren’t really what we think they are.  And it’s contrasted with a pub owner.But that one was one of his first, so I have a feeling if he rewrote, it would be better now.  In BM, it’s the happy-go-lucky spy and the grumpy misunderstood wannabe hero that end up in a patience battle (they both have to wait extraordinary amounts of time for each other).  And I wish that one would have been finished....One thing I’ve noticed in my writing, is that...you don’t need popular pairings...or sex scenes...or a lot of things that tend to make stories popular easily.  Plots and themes have gotten me very far.  One of my most popular stories has this random ass pairing, in a weird au, with no sex yet, but the plot is so good.  It keeps me up at night thinking about how to weave it together and the consequences of everything.  It’s exciting.  And the focus of that one is how people want to change themselves constantly, and how in love it’s a fucking terrible idea.  Lol.  You NEED someone to love you for who you are!  But it’s so hard to be who you are....And it shows that.  It’s something I question myself constantly.  Where’s the line between self-improvement and being yourself??  I’ve never once said it in the story, and I probably never will.  But it makes me think.  It makes the readers think. People want answers.  And it keeps people guessing, wondering, wanting, needing....that’ how you draw people in.  That’s what deValier managed to do in his stories too.  The types of conflict he posed kept people NEEDING to know what happened next.  And at the end, it was rewarded in a manner that people found pleasant.  Because that’s something I see a lot too.  The plot is great, but the ending is a flop.  Or you were just expecting more...like Eragon.  I LOVED the books but the ending was kind of a let down.  It didn’t....resolve really.  In LOTR, the same ending made sense, but in Eragon it didn’t.So let’s talk about the endings.  In WMA, it’s exciting.  The supposedly dead hero is alive and right around the corner.  But their reunion is complicated by the possibility that Alfred is going home.  And there’s pain we can understand.  Not wanting to face a brutal reality and instead avoiding it until it becomes unavoidable.  All the way until the end, there’s things that could ruin it, but the readers are rewarded with snippets of their happy lives and all the pain beforehand makes the happiness that much more brilliant.In AWS, again, up until the end things go wrong, people are presumed dead, then they’re injured, then there’s a problem with their romantic life afterwards.  But at long last, the readers are rewarded with very touching scenes.  And rewarded in a realistic way.  And we get to see the characters from WMA and it makes us feel like there’s closure.  For those characters at least.  The endings were never a given throughout the story.  It could have ended so differently.  And in real life, it usually does.  But that’s why I think people tend to turn to fiction (and naturally why people prefer happy endings).  It’s escape for the masses and deValier’s functions as such.  But those endings played off of the stories themes.  At the end of AWS, they live together and are at peace as opposed to their being separated and at war.  In WMA, again separation that makes the ruinion sweeter, but there’s acceptance from the world which was important for Arthur.  And there are pieces that show that Alfred has learned that being a hero isn’t as important as being loved.  We get to see their major conflicts resolved.   And it wraps the stories up very well.So that’s why I think deValier’s works became so popular.  There were a lot of parts that a lot of fanfiction authors can’t always pull off, but he did it so well.  And a lot of those parts were tied together to enhance the experience.  He had so much going for his stories, most of the things that could be criticized were easily overlooked or went unnoticed completely.  At the same time, there are probably other stories out there that deserve just as much attention but will never get it.  Fame is weird like that....Also, please don’t forget to tell me what historical inaccuracies you noticed.  I’m very curious.