#(and champions shadow au as a whole ofc)

[parksrway]

"celebrating fictional characters' birthdays is stupid" WRONG. HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHEIK <3

[villain-byteniwoha]

ships i like and why i ship them: a small, affectionate rant before bed

zhongchi: probably the first ship i ever interacted with. i may have started playing genshin for them. I specifically remember reading modern, non canon au fics on ao3 when i was still low AR and did not have liyue unlocked yet just to enjoy content of them without spoiling the story too much. those were good times

love the betrayal, the reciprocated manipulations, their individual bloody pasts and their juxtaposing love for humanity/family. the marriage chopsticks. god, the amount of threads I've read explaining those... and ofc you can't forget the official art with them by the harbor with the gingko leaves falling cinematically. i think that's the art that drew me to them lol

there's also something so deliciously tragic about a near-immortal being who's fated to succumb to erosion in due time, falling in love with a mortal man who's always within death's cold embrace. not to mention the subtext of their themes and principles. geo and hydro, stability and turbulence, land and sea, they crystallize when they meet in the middle, etc etc

kaeluc: another pairing I enjoyed the absolute shit out of, way back when I wasn't even playing the game yet. I remember learning about them while I was deep in my mxtx phase, specifically tgcf, and I'm pretty sure I dipped my toes in after I learned that they used to be sworn brothers. keywords here being used to. hook, line, and sinker. before I knew it, I was also reading fanfics about them, but only modern, non canon au ones because genshin terms made no sense to me and i didn't want spoilers. then I played the game. and then—we get Kaeya for free. I mained the shit out of that man for months.

and then. I fully entered the fandom, only to be immediately slapped in the face with the mistranslation issue.

and I get it, honestly, if you like ragbros good for you, I'm happy for you, but me personally, I will scorn hyv until the day I fucking die because had they not messed this up? kaeluc would've have been so powerful. KAELUC WOULD HAVE BEEN SO FUCKING POWERFUL

how could they not be? they're childhood friends but they're also forbidden romance coded, and rivals/enemies coded, but they're also soulmates. they don't just know each other, they're two halves of a whole, they know each other.

and the themes, don't even get me started on their themes. fire and ice, red and blue... paimon's line about them being similar (i.e. kaeya's a shady mf who fights in the day/diluc's a bright fire in the night) is one of the most romantic lines ever. they're sun and moon but only because they complete each other. also, lamp grass and calla lily? that's them as flowers, but they're the other person's ascension material like hello???????? fucking wild.

and ofc this kaeluc section can't end without me mentioning arundolyn and rostam. for those who don't know or have read/heard of those names but never really dug deep into it, arundolyn and rostam were knights of favonius around the same time as the cataclysm, and you can read about them in artifact sets such as brave heart, defender's will; and partially from the elegy bow

the reason they're here is because there are too many damn parallels between them and kaeluc to just be a coincidence.

arundolyn was a claymore user (see: ferrous shadow), he was the "lion of light,"; he was naturally gifted in strength but still trained hard and would later become the grand master of the knights; he'd push rostam to drink wine and tell him to have a little fun; he gives up his title and weapon after rostam dies

on the flip side, rostam was the swordsman who created the art of favonius bladework (see: favonius sword), his title was, "wolf pup,"; when he and arundolyn played as children, he was the stand-in for the champion knight of aristocracy; he "ruled the shadows," by protecting mond with ways the knights did not approve; rostam dies in an expedition to expunge the evils poured forth from the cataclysm...

I'll let you connect the dots there. I just also wanna point out, as a final note, that in the favonius sword's description, it says, "the childhood friend and spiritual counterpart of Arundolyn, the Lion of Light, whose name was Rostam, the Wolf Pup." ok. yeah. moving on

xiaoven: i very quickly realized after reading the genshin webtoon that venti was gonna be one of, if not my most favorite character. and i was curious as to who the people wanted to pair him with. keep in mind, this was around 2.0~2.2 I believe, so when I searched them up, the only canon backing I could find was the music scene

and boy, was that scene enough because holy shit, the brain rot these two gave me??? of a god who embodies freedom, and the last remaining yaksha chained to his duty????? they were so thematically opposed and beautiful, it wasn't hard to fall in love with them

by the time 3.0 came rolling in, I've already stopped playing, but that didn't mean i wasn't aware of how we were well fed by canon. from the trailer to venti full on attending the lantern rite and sitting down with the liyue gang; it was one of those interactions that transcended everything

and of course, OF COURSE, they also canonically addressed the fact that venti's music soothes xiao's soul. that's intimate. that's deep. that's so fucking romantic and nice and beautiful in the most tragic way...

also, we can't forget the depictions of god and servant here. the holy themes, the worship. the promise of immortality and foreverness, but also the threat of it. i just think xiao doomed with karmic debt and venti vowed to divine erosion is such a soulmate connection, and I'm also delusional

that's all for now but there's so much more...

[authoratmidnight]

A Spider Riders, idk, au?? idea?? that's been bouncing around my head.

I've been calling it "Oracle Touched"

So, like in canon, Hunter sees The Oracle as he falls into the Inner World. Obviously he has no idea who this woman is. She's a strange, beautiful woman with, what looks like spider legs(listen i have no idea what those things are that are waving around behind her back like spider limbs) floating around her.

He should be scared but something about her presence is comforting and he's not afraid. She never speaks but he still Understands. He reaches out to her as he falls, but everything is enveloped in light and he wakes up on the ground, as per canon.

Except, there's a strange, spider like mark upon the palm of his hand. The mark of someone's who is 'Oracle Touched'.

Shadow is the one who says this, having the heard the term before but he's not, really sure what that entails and frankly still thinks this is an Earthen trick.

Hunter ofc has no idea what this mark means, nor does he know who that lady was he saw. He does start to make the connection later when Corona brings up The Oracle but gets sort of brushed off b/c, why would The Oracle show herself to you, an Earthen??

Being Oracle touched means he does have a, different connection to her than anyone else (save for other Oracle Touched people).

For a while he doesn't understand it, or why he can sort of, FEEL her. He can sense and feel her presence more strongly, something he first notices when at the shrine at the Hill of Champions. That's when he REALLY realizes that yes he DID see The Oracle when he fell through. And OH these weird waves of emotion he sometimes feels are HERS. It's her sadness or joy or pain that sometimes flashes through him.

And this absolutely goes a long way in his drive as a Spider Rider, to stop the fighting. He's already a kind and deeply empathetic person so like, this only adds to it.

Aqune is the one to first explain to him what the mark is and what it means, as she too is Oracle Touched. Everyone who is Oracle Touched bears this spider like mark upon their body (Hunter's is on the palm of his hand, Aqune's is between her shoulder blades).

It's not until the whole, getting the first Oracle Key bit that it really sinks in what this connection means. He can feel her crying out as the shrine is broken into and they key removed.

Eventually, during the bit where he and Magma end up at that temple to the Oracle, Hunter learns more about being Oracle Touched. Everyone there is 'Touched' and bears the spider mark somewhere on their body (some hide it, some don't). Oracle touched are often more devoted to Spirit Oracle for, obvious reasons, though everyone's connections are different.

As might be obvious, Corona is also Oracle Touched being that she and Aqune are the Oracle's Handmaidens (her mark is on her upper arm and usually covered by those long sleeves of hers, which is why Hunter doesn't realize it for the longest time, coupled with Corona just, not telling him at first). Her and Hunter are definitely able to bond over this once Hunter realizes she's marked too and too a degree understands what he's feeling all the time. Cause that's GOT to be overwhelming as heck.

This also serves as an additional driving force for going to Nuuma.

Hunter going to the Invectid lands and meeting with Mantid is the first time since coming to the Inner World that he hasn't felt the Oracle's presence and it is so so disconcerting to him. He's grown so used to it at that point that it's like 'oh, oh something is missing and I do not like it'

Anyways ye. Oracle Touched Hunter Steele who has a somewhat more unique connection to the Oracle because of this fact.

[child-of-hurin]

Dark Narn AU

Recently I mentioned I had some ideas for a Dark Narn AU and @outofangband  expressed curiosity, so I decided to copypaste my notes here :)

The reason this AU was conceived was that I wanted Túrin and Nienor to get buddy buddy with Gothmog and Glaurung…. Literally my motivation for this lmao.

WORD OF WARNING:

1. This is almost 3 pages long on Gdocs 😭 2. This is actually dark, so mind yourself. CW for mentions of nonconsent, manipulation, murder, slavery, the whole nine yards and, of course, incest.

And btw, this relies on my headcanon/understanding that there were mortal slaves in Angband as well as elves.

When teenage Húrin and Huor are cornered by orcs in Brethil, they are in a dense spot. Húrin stays behind to hold the orcs while Huor runs up the hill. Huor would never have left his brother behind, but it’s a mess and he doesn’t realize what happened until he’s being carried away by other soldiers/rescuers and screaming his lungs out for Húrin, who’s pulled back by the orcs and then taken captive to Angband.

There he undergoes some brainwashing by Melkor, who, true to the essence of their Narn interactions, sees he can profit more from corruption than from killing this agent. By this point Húrin is a teen and hasn’t met Turgon yet. He breaks eventually and becomes Melkor’s champion. 

We have Húrin, and now we need Morwen. To keep the chronology, I prefer having her be captured during a raid on Emeldir’s group of refugees, when they’re migrating west to escape the Battle of the Sudden Flame; that can also have Rian either being captured as well, or escaping and following canon and marrying Huor and mothering Tuor, which I prefer for this AU (also casts a shadow on them as… replacements for the true heirs, sort of! Both having dear family members, who are also the eldest and the legitimate heirs, captured by Morgoth). Either after his brainwashing is complete, or during it, she is given to Húrin to marry as a token of Melkor’s regard: Morwen the beauty, the heir of the House of Bëor, the only fitting consort for the heir to the house of Hador, etc. Túrin is born in 464.

Lalaith is born two years later, which is a weird year because that’s when Beren and Lúthien steal one of Melkor’s silms! Angband has never been more somber, but there is talk of hope among the slaves, of which Morwen hears some, as well as the name of Beren her kinsmen who she knows and loves. She’s fiercely proud of him. But then Húrin, who is head over hells smitten with her, but who’s still wary of her loyalties, casually mentions in bed at some point that Beren was killed by Carcharoth (a lie meant to shake her/destroy any hopes of rescue), and that despite the loss of the Silmaril, Melkor is somewhat satisfied that the whole ordeal ended up dividing the elven kingdoms further apart, and confides in her about some of the plans for the following war (Unnumbered Tears).

The very next day, Morwen kills Urwen. She knows how other female thralls fare, and she knows that as soon as Húrin is dead Melkor would have no more use for them. Like canon, better dead than a thrall. To her, killing Urwen is not only a mercy, but an act of love. I think Morwen was about to end her own life too, or maybe end Túrin’s, but they caught her before she did any more. Maybe she locked herself with her children in a bedroom, ready to off all of them, and someone intervened before she could.

This sends Húrin into a rage out of despair because he really dotes on Urwen no matter the AU, and Túrin takes it all pretty hard, as he adored his sister and feels betrayed and confused. Melkor ofc enjoys the opportunity to turn Húrin even more towards him, and encourages him to get another child from Morwen to make up for the one he lost, whether she wants it or not. 

In this AU Niënor is conceived (at least) nine months before the Unnumbered and not nine months later. During all the pregnancy Morwen is watched, to make sure she won’t do anything drastic. Túrin is one of the people keeping tabs on her. Morwen names her Niënor, lamentation, and instead of being offended, Húrin laughs and says it’s an appropriate name for a warrior that shall bring woe to her foes, who will lament upon seeing her. Morwen is forbidden to be alone with Niënor and they are closely watched; as a result, they aren’t very close in this hc, as opposed to canon.  Niënor grows up being reminded that her mother wants to kill her, never wanted to conceive her in the first place.

Both Túrin and Nienor have strong mommy issues. Túrin is always keeping Morwen company and they have a very similar temper, but he tries to keep his visits a secret from Nienor. Nienor loves Túrin enormously but confronts him when she learns he still visits Morwen; also I think she sees Morwen in Túrin a little, too, because they’re so similar. It drives her mad. There’s a lot going on here with sibling competition / possessiveness / jealousy; Nienor doesn’t want Túrin to get along with Morwen, against whom she has a big grudge; she also doesn’t like that Morwen gives to Túrin the love she has always denied Niënor (according to how Niënor perceives the situation). She wants Túrin to choose her but Túrin just evades the question or gets angry and they fight. 

I like the idea of Húrin heading the fight against mortals in the Unnumbered, and him and Huor meeting on the battlefield, and killing each other. 

Túrin is crazy about Nienor, though you wouldn’t guess it by looking. Not only they’re the only mortals around who are equals and thus relatable on any level, he projects a lot of his Urwen grief on her and is very protective and possessive. There’s a lot of unresolved tension that they don’t even acknowledge. When they’re together onlookers get a feeling like there isn’t space for anyone else - though Morwen is an always-felt presence and the only crack in their bond. Túrin is stoic and reserved and his canon obsession with fighting Melkor is changed into a type of family pride. Right now I think he’s really mad that Dor-Lómin was given to the Easterlings and his mistrust of Melkor grows. He’s also concerned with the hidden elf cities, especially Nargothrond and Doriath because of their ties to the Silmaril heist. 

In this AU Túrin (and Húrin before he dies) is buddies with Gothmog who is sort of a mentor to him, and Nienor has a great friendship with Glaurung, whom she rides on sometimes, maybe into battle. 

I had considered the idea of either Túrin or Nienor meeting Gwindor by accident on the woods and goading him and fooling him, following him until they got the path to Nargothrond, while the other sibling followed them from afar. One sibling goes into the town and the other comes with the army down on them, no need for bridges I guess. Or the bridge can be deliberate sabotage. Since I like Nienor riding Glaurung, it can be Túrin who goes in, as in canon - OTOH idk how good Túrin can be with deception no matter the AU, so maybe it is Nienor... though, really, is she any better? Also, would she have a voice in council? How sexist are they? Maybe if she got Gwindor’s ear somehow… idk, thoughts!

Anyway, Finduilas is captured and not killed, though I’m not sure how much better this is. Maybe both Túrin and Nienor take her for consort in a smoking hot, nonconsensual, incesty edain sandwich. 

I haven’t thought ahead of this yet, that’s all I have! They need to have a cool and tragic ending, though I’m still unsure how. I feel like they need to fall with Brethil, but then I’m unsure what happens. Also I really don’t want Túrin and Nienor to have a permanent falling out and dying hating each other, it’s not my thing. I feel like they need to die together, like in canon. 

Things to consider:

>> Tuor and Aerin as kin who are held captive. Do Túrin and Nienor know they exist and are there? If they do, how do they react?

>> Morwen + other mortal thralls, or maybe Morwen + having ELVISH thralls to serve her, which Melkor does to show Húrin how much he honors him bla bla. I love this concept.

>> Húrin and Gothmog banter, Gothmog warming up to the mortal once he sees him being an absolute savage in battle, Húrin and Gothmog competing to see who causes more havoc

>> Glaurung is super mean to Morwen once and that tickles Nienor so much she just gets attached to him. Nienor joking with Túrin that she rides a dragon (Glaurung) and he is ridden by one (the dragon helm of Dor-lómin)

>> Gurthang???? I think Túrin needs a black sword. I’m SUPER attached to the visuals of Nienor using an axe though.

[child-of-hurin]

PLEASE TELL ME MORE ABOUT THIS DARK AU

Took me ten thousand years to reply to this because I wanted to DRAW THINGS about it and I didn’t!!! But I’m in a dark au mood tonite so I typed out my ideas for the

Dark Narn AU

Motivation: I wanted Túrin and Nienor to get buddy buddy with Gothmog and Glaurung…. Literally my motivation for this lmao sorry I just. Monster buddies. It all was inspired by [this drawing] of @nyolofinwe’s where for a split second I thought Túrin was cuddling Gothmog (actually it’s Túrin killing Morgoth lmao!!! Im a dumbass. No regrets tho).

Disclaimer: 

1. UGLY things here, it’s fine if you hate it, also you might block “dark narn au” in advance if you want; 

2. Also it is my headcanon and understanding that there were mortal slaves in Angband as well as elves. 

What I came up with was:

When Húrin and Huor are cornered by orcs in Brethil, they are in a bad spot for pick up, so Húrin stays behind to hold the orcs while Huor runs up the hill. Huor would never have left his brother behind, but it’s a mess and he doesn’t realize what happened until he’s being carried away and screaming his lungs out for Húrin, who’s captured by orcs and taken captive to Angband.

There he undergoes some brainwashing by Melkor, who, true to the essence of the Narn, sees he can profit more from corruption than from killing this agent. By this point Húrin is a teen and hasn’t met Turgon yet, so he breaks eventually and becomes Melkor’s champion.

We have Húrin, and now we need Morwen. To keep the chronology, I prefer having her be captured during a raid on Emeldir’s group of refugees; that can also have Rian either being captured as well, or escaping on and following canon and marrying Huor, which I prefer for this AU (also casts a shadow on them as… replacements for the true heir, sort of! Both having dear family members captured by Morgoth). Either after brainwashing is complete, or during it, she is given to Húrin: a true prize, the heir of the House of Bëor, etc. Túrin is born in 464.

Lalaith is born two years later, which is a weird year because that’s when B and L steal one of Melkor’s silm iirc! Angband has never been more somber, but there is talk of hope among the slaves, of which Morwen hears some, as well as the name of Beren her kinsmen. Húrin, who has developed genuine affection and trust in her, mentions in bed at some point that Beren was killed by carcharoth and that despite the loss of the Silmaril, Melkor is somewhat satisfied that the whole ordeal ended up dividing the kingdoms further apart, and confides in her about some of the plans for the following war (Unnumbered Tears).

The very next day, Morwen kills Lalaith. She knows how other female thralls fare and she knows that as soon as Húrin is dead Melkor would have no more use for them. Better dead than a thrall.

This sends Húrin into a rage out of despair bc he really dotes on Lalaith no matter the AU, and it also hits Túrin pretty hard, he adored his sister. Melkor ofc enjoys the opportunity to turn Húrin even more towards him, and encourages him to get another child from Morwen to make up for the one he lost. I think Morwen was about to end her own life too, or maybe end Túrin’s, but they caught her before she did any more.

In this AU Nienor is conceived (at least) nine months before the Unnumbered and not nine months later. During all the pregnancy she is watched, to make sure she won’t cause an abortion. Morwen names her Nienor, lamentation, and instead of offended, Húrin laughs and says it’s an appropriate name for a warrior that shall bring woe to her foes, who will lament upon seeing her. Morwen is forbid to be alone with Nienor and they are closely watched; as a result, they aren’t very close in this hc, as opposed to canon.

Both Túrin and Nienor have strong mommy issues. Túrin visits Morwen and they have a very similar temper. Nienor loves Túrin but confronts him when she learns he visits Morwen; also I think she sees Morwen in Túrin a little, too, because they’re so similar.

I like the idea of Húrin heading the fight against mortals and him and Huor meeting on the battlefield, and killing each other.

Túrin is crazy about Nienor, though you wouldn’t guess it by looking. There’s a lot of sexual tension that they probably don’t even realize they have. When they’re together there’s a feeling like there isn’t space for anyone else - though Morwen is an always felt presence an the only crack in their bond. Túrin is stoic and reserved and his canon obsession with fighting Melkor is changed into a type of family pride. Right now I think he’s really mad that Dor-Lómin was given to the Easterlings and he thinks a great victory might convince Morgoth to give those lands back to him and Nienor? Though I also like the idea of him snooping around and trying to find Nargothrond or Doriath.

In this AU Túrin (and Húrin before he dies) is buddies with Gothmog who is sort of a mentor to him, and Nienor has a great friendship with Glaurung, whom she rides on sometimes, maybe into battle.

I had considered the idea of either Túrin or Nienor meeting Gwindor by accident on the woods and goading him and fooling him, following him until they got the path to Nargothrond, while the other sibling followed them from afar. One sibling goes into the town and the other comes with the army down on them, no need for bridges I guess. Or the bridge can be deliberate sabotage. Since I like Nienor riding Glaurung, it can be Túrin who goes in, as in canon - OTOH idk how good Túrin can be with deception no matter the AU, so maybe it is Nienor, though, really, is she any better? Also would she have a voice in council? Maybe if she got Gwindor’s ear somehow… idk, thoughts

Finduilas is captured and not killed, though I’m not sure how much better this is. Maybe both Túrin and Nienor take her for consort in an incesty-non-incesty weird triangle dance.

I haven’t thought ahead of this yet, that’s all I have! They need to have a cool and tragic ending, though I’m still unsure how. I feel like they need to fall with Brethil, but then I’m unsure what happens. Also I really don’t want Túrin and Nienor to have a falling out, it’s not my thing. I feel like they need to die together.

Things to consider:

Tuor and Aerin as kin who are held captive. Do T and N know they exist and are there? If they do, how do they react?

Morwen + other mortal thralls, or maybe Morwen + having ELVISH thralls to serve her, which Melkor does to show Húrin how much he honors him bla bla

Húrin and Gothmog banter, Gothmog warming up to the mortal once he sees him being an absolute savage in battle

Gurthang???? I mean, we NEED it. Also something for Nienor!! Maeglin fans will kill me but uuuhhh imagine if the twins had anglachel and anguirel… #goals

Beleg?? Mablung?? Everyone else?