AU where Darkstalker is Moon's SQUIP
I'm really sorry if this has been done already oof I couldn't find anything anyone else did so-
-The SQUIP is an animus-touched rock, and the dragon wanting to use it must place it on their forehead overnight to activate it
-Moon finds out about the SQUIP from Turtle, who uses it to help with his anxiety problems
-The SQUIP was made by Orca, and she gave it to one of her brothers in secret before challenging Queen Coral. This is how it was passed down in the SeaWing royal family without becoming known outside.
-Moon uses the SQUIP to get advice on using her NightWing powers (interpreting prophecies, staying calm in crowds/lots of thinking, etc etc). She also uses it because she hopes to become more social, and get the attention of Qibli(sorry Winterwatcher people :"))
-She asks Kinajou if she thinks she should use it, and Kinkajou is really supportive of it
-Moon's SQUIP takes the form of Darkstalker
-Squip!Darkstalker gives Moon the advice she needs with her NightWing powers, having conversations with her in her mind to help distract her from outside noises, and is genuinely friendly towards her. She thinks of him as a friend.
-Over time he becomes more controlling, and blocks Kinkajou out of Moon's life cometely because she's "holding her back"
-The more time Squip!Darkstalker spends in Moon's mind, the more control he gains over her consience.
-He tells her that the way to improve her life even further would be to find his talisman, promising that he and Moon can work together to shape the world the way they want it.
-Moon doesn't have enough control over herself to refuse his orders, and since this happens around the same time the Jade Winglet went on their adventure, they had a good cover-up for finding the scroll.
-The whole 2nd arc happens, except Moon and Kinkajou aren't communicating. The rest of the Winglet doesn't understand what's going on, but Winter gets suspicious and interrogates her in secret.
-Squip!Darkstalker lets Moon tell him what's going on, but also offers Winter his own SQUIP. He of course refuses, knowing his fear of Darkstalker.
-Squip!Darkstalker tells Moon to stop Winter from telling the others at all costs, and she has a breakdown from all the stress Darkstalker was putting on her, resulting in her telling the other about the SQUIP herself.
-Squip!Darkstalker makes her lie about not searching for the talisman anymore
-They get the talisman from Chameleon, the whole fight over it happens, and when Peril burns the scroll Moon's head begins hurting extremely bad and she blacks out from the pain.
-When she wakes up again, Darkstalker is out of the mountain, and he's "squipped" everyone. There's still a Squip!Darkstalker in Moon's head, however, that tells her what to do. It turns out Darkstalker was controlling her from the mountain along with her SQUIP, which he enchanted to communicate to her directly(in this AU, Darkstalker has his animus magic when he's in the mountain, but he can only do small spells and that's why he was trapped)
-She realizes that she has full control over herself, now that the real Darkstalker and her SQUIP are separate .
-Everything that happened in the 2nd arc continues, but with Squip!Darkstalker present in Moon's head, and she becomes a lot more edgy/paranoid from it constantly telling her what to do and the real Darkstalker doing the same thing
-Qibli realized somethinf was wrong, so he and Kinkajou researched information on the SQUIP in a scroll about animus objects, written by one of the SeaSing brothers that used it. They find out that the antidote is strawberries, and since Darkstalker used his magic to Squip the dragons, they would have to give him the strawberries to cure everyone.
-They cure Moon and Turtle, and after convincing Darkstalker to eat the strawberries,he becomes Peacemaker and everything works out a-okay!
-Moon and Qibli get together in the end, just like book 10!!
Also look trashy art lmao