#adsom!au

[purplebass]

Watch Holland and Kell completely misunderstand the meaning of the word shipping

(profile pics credit: @/lasq.draws on IG)

[antaripirate]

for some reason my spidey senses are telling me we might get some Threads news within the next week???

oh and also HAPPY BIRTHDAY HOLLAND VOSIJK

EVERYONE SING HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE SOMEDAY KING

[my-ruthless-zoyalai]

hey tumblr i need some help

SO

i’m working on this random one-shot ADSOM college au but I need help deciding people’s majors

rhy - theater

lila - ?

kell - ?

alucard - ?

i’m not including holland because this is a very self indulgent one shot and in an ideal world holland goes to a different university

[badassbutterfly1987]

For the truth or dare game if it strikes your fancy: post a bit of lore you've never posted any Adsom verse you'd like.

For daemon au, stuff that will probably show up in the Kell chapter whenever I get back to You, Me, Us.

As one would expect, Red London and White London view daemons differently. Grey London is generally the same as in His Dark Materials.

In Red London:

Close bonds between human and daemon, like an animal best friend that is also you, a moral guide as you live. daemons are direct extensions of yourself and a measure of your character. For example, foxes and rats are clever but have a shifty reputation, so people with such daemons are going to be looked at with wariness. Especially common in the upper classes.

to speak to a daemon in place of the person is considered incredibly rude, though common enough among family or close friends. but to ignore a daemon's presence or input is equally bad.

daemons typically settle around 12-15, typically because of puberty. can happen earlier or later depending on trauma (Kell being set up as Rhy's protector would have caused him to settle earlier if he wasn't Antari). though it doesn't happen often, an adult's daemon can change form if they undergo a life-altering experience (similar thing in White London)

they're wary of Antari daemons because their forms don't settle but that wariness is softened by magic/theology. of course Antari don't settle, they're more powerful and more complex than regular humans, they're as fluid and unsettling as their magic!

when talking about/to someone, you usually refer to them as human and daemon (ex. "hello, Kell and Rona"). There are separate Arnesian pronouns for the self depending on who is speaking/spoken to: ex. Kell, Rona, or Kell-and-Rona.

In White London:

daemons are your soul but like the lesser chunk of yourself. Necessary but sometimes inconvenient, a living sign of your strength or weakness, the pieces of your consciousness that you can't ignore but can't always afford to listen to.

daemons tend to settle at an earlier age, especially if a child is left completely alone or needs to take responsibility for a younger child. the forms aren't necessarily what most fits their personality, so much as what they feel they need to be. Hence a lot of predators and scavengers, very few can afford to present as prey.

they're wary of Antari daemons because their forms don't settle. if a person doesn't settle then their form can't tell you anything about them. and if you can't understand something, then you can't trust it. it marks them as wrong and unnatural even as it marks their power, as something bordering on abomination

when introducing themselves/talking about others, it's human name-daemon name (ex. Holland-Inga); this is if the daemon's name is mentioned or known at all.

there are two Makhtan pronoun for the self. it can be used to refer to the human half or the human-daemon as a person; the daemon doesn't really have its own pronoun because their chunk of selfhood is too tied into being the human's extension.

[nightbloom7reads]

Getting to know you

Thank you so much for the tag, lovely @starsoforionwrites!

Three ships: Dramione, Lila Bard /Kell Maresh from ADSOM and Kanej. What do you mean, that's too many dangerous women? That sounds like a you problem.

First ship: Destiel, I think, back when DrWhoLock was a thing. I'm showing my age!

Last Song: Drumming Song - Florence And The Machine.

Last Movie: Guardians Of The Galaxy Volume 3. Not my choice, I rather wish I could scrub it out of my brain and get those two and a half hours back.

Currently Reading: Antinomian by @starsoforionwrites (I have a few chapters to catch up on, best feeling!), The Dark Vault by VE Schwab, A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland and Three Assassins by Kotaro Isaka on audiobook.

Currently Watching: What We Do In The Shadows season 5.

Last thing I wrote: Scary Partner Privilege (epilogue will go up this week, Friday or earlier).

Currently writing: a Robin-Hood inspired Mediaeval AU (multi-chapter), a one shot about parallel universes, and a one-shot about opening an enchanted lingerie store and feminism. Dramione, all.

Tagging @maimaktes

[pinkcupboardwitch]

Joining the Swiss cheese brain conference. So just some quick thoughts here before I lose them again.

I absolutely agree with the idea that Holland has chronic pain. Pain inflicted by another and by yourself both seem to count for magic, so I imagine that tattooed runes like the ones the twins and Alox have are status symbols: everyone hurts, but you got to decide how you hurt. Conversely, people like poor Nasi who get deliberately ugly scars are marked out as fair game who couldn’t defend themselves. And then there’s Holland, whose major scarring scene with the Danes in ADSOM isn’t because they wanted to use his magic, but because they were hungry. They’re so confident in their own Vitari-fueled magic, they’re able to use the best power source in Makt as a snack.

I don’t believe Astrid has bone magic the same way the men mentioned do? She’s a lightning and illusion girl. There’s a line @muffinworry and I continually make fun of, about how she moves with “awkward grace” during her fight with Lila, because that’s such an oxymoronic phrase - but if she is hampered by that coldness in her blood, that could explain why she moves stiffly. Like a marionette, maybe, or that fight with Pris in Blade Runner.

@muffinworry has also speculated before about how the final stages of magicians’ fading could end up with all their senses being muffled, not just motion: sight, hearing, touch, taste all going, until they’re interfacing with the world not as humans but as magic perceiving magic. I’ve always been struck by the image of the twins being so faded in everything but their eyes remaining blue - it would have been so easy for Schwab to say they had grey eyes to match, but no. So I picture an AU where if they’ve lived longer, both their eyes would turn black as a shark’s, black as an Antari’s.

some scattered disability and White London thoughts:

Schwab missed a hundred thousand opportunities for disability rep; this is a bleak, apocalyptic landscape where one of the prevalent currencies is blood, and both children and adults are frequently attacked for their power.

Sign language. Look. Most magicians need to speak to focus their power, though Schwab makes clear it's more a way to keep up concentration than a necessity (take Lila's tiger, tiger, burning bright. So I wanna see that taken to its logical conclusion: tongues removed because many. many people think they! are the source of power, or at least where immense magic will nest.

Therefore: A thriving culture of sign language, where everyone is at least semi-fluent.

Holland, watching Talya's hands trace the old stories in gorgeous, fluid arcs with her hands as her face takes on a million expressions. Later, finishing them beneath the blankets, fingers tracing words intohis skin in the dark.

Holland stands out as much because his Antariness has allowed him to avoid disability as for the power itself.

Way the fuck more prosthetics particularly prosthetic hands considering how so many people carve element-control runes directly on their skin. Take away your hands, and some enemies would think they could take away your ability to fight.

Lethally sharp hooks for hands, with the runes carved directly into the metal and the most ruthless fighters absolutely willing ready and able to gouge out your eyes with their prosthetics.

Consequently: prosthetic care. Eventually, you have to take your hand/hands off; moisturize the stumps etc. Who you choose to be that vulnerable with says a thousand things about your character. (and the moments when you don't particularly *choose* it but you need to anyway because you've had it on too long and the skin is blistering; infection in Makt would be deadly.

The irritations of amputations. I know from some other characters I've researched for: things like washing your hair with only one functioning hand: an absolute bitch.

Anemia. In AGOS, part of what Ojka says Osaron's powers does is "warm her blood". Everyone in that city must be A. constantly cold; and not cold like a coat can fix. Cold from poor circulation and generally "weak" blood. People who have an affinity with bone magic (Athos, Vortalis, Holland himself) would have a significant advantage because everyone else is moving just slightly sluggishly, always dragging at the weight of exhaustion. It's part of what would make Talya's dancing so fucking _impressive, that she moves like that even despite the headaches, dizziness, etc.

Holland as Antari: essentially a fucking human heated blanket to anyone who isn't afraid to be so close to y'know the extremely dangerous magician.

God, there's so. so much more, but my brain is swiss cheese. But I at least wanted to start the ball rolling, because I feel like this's a corner of fandom that's just _bursting with possibilities.

[sakusqs]

on.

characters: akaashi keiji, sakusa kiyoomi

genre: fantasy, a darker shade of magic!au

tw: blood

first chapter snippet of the bokuaka magic!au i’ve been itching to write for the last couple of months. why i’m posting it up is because i’m just really curious if people are interested in this type of au. the fantasy world i’m basing this on is from v.e. schwab’s a darker shade of magic. i instantly fell in love with the concept and i hope you do too, dear readers. i know i said it’s bokuaka but for now, please enjoy some sakuaka friendship 💕

The old man turned to stone in a single heartbeat.

Akaashi Keiji drew his hand away—still bleeding from the self-inflicted cut on his palm—and stared down at the man’s statue with not much remorse. The man was lying down on his wooden cot, blanket pulled to his waist and his hands held up in defense. He wore an expression caught between surprise and rage as he gazed up at Keiji with eyes that spoke of hurt, betrayal. Keiji supposed he should feel more rueful or sympathetic, but he didn’t; that was worrying.

“Kiyoomi,” Keiji called out, turning around. “This man better have done a terrible crime, or I would’ve taken his life for nothing.”

But there was no one there to reply to his remark. He was sure the prince had been standing behind him moments before, silently observing, but Keiji now stood alone in the small, dark bedroom. He sighed, his lips curving downward in annoyance—it was one thing to do Kiyoomi’s job for him, but to be left alone without warning while he did them was below the belt. Keiji made to turn on his heels but paused to look back down to the statue.

“Almost forgot,” he muttered lowly before placing his bleeding palm on the man’s arm. “As Steno.”

Break.

The statue cracked into thousands of shards once the command rolled of his tongue; the rocks falling onto the cot and some rolling to the floor with a thud. Without a second glance, Keiji turned around and stalked towards the open door from where he had come.

The man lived in a simple cottage sitting between the the edge of the city and Silver Wood. From the quick scout they had done right before the task, the small residence only had one floor divided into three rooms—bedroom, study, and living space. He entered the latter now, the room bare save for an unlit fireplace on one wall and a worn-down settee situated in front of it, but no Sakusa Kiyoomi on sight. He doubted that his friend would venture out into the cold winter night, and so, that only left one place to look.

“Your Highness,” Keiji raised his voice, his feet already striding towards the open door on the other side of the room. “Bold of you to pry on a dead man’s belongings.”

“To be fair,” a muffled voice finally spoke up from inside the study. “He wasn’t dead just yet when I went inside.”

Keiji stopped by the wooden door and raised a brow at the young prince standing over a desk with papers in hand. Sakusa Kiyoomi raised his head at his appearance, his raven curls shifting out of his eyes to reveal not only the dark brown of his left eye, but the solid black of his right. A black that ran to the edges and swallowed both the white and the iris. It was a mark that struck fear to anyone who spots it. It was a mark of power. It was a mark of a blood magician—of an Antari.

It was a mark that blemished Keiji’s left eye.

[ashintheairlikesnow]

I've been missing Kell and Holland a lot, could we have a drabble about them? Maybe one in The Coffee Shop AU, it's so cute?

Kell has been sitting here with his slowly cooling flat white for an hour now. He has the textbook open in front of him. His hand grips a pen. The notebook is there, neatly labeled for subject and pages he has been assigned to study.

He has been reading the same paragraph for an hour now and he still has no idea what it says.

What he does know, though, is that Holland Vosijk did not shave today.

The grad student he absolutely does not have a crush on is in his usual chair across the room, his own eyes shifting from left to right as he reads. He's deep in whatever it is - Kell read the title when he came in and he can't remember that, either. He never looks up.

It makes it easy for Kell to take in what he's wearing and not look like the absolute creep he absolutely is.

He goes to pick up his drink and, eyes still on the way the stubble shadows Holland's jaw and softens its cut-glass edges, he knocks the backs of his knuckles against the ceramic.

He gasps, but he isn't fast enough to stop the mug from crashing to the floor. The shattering ceramic seems impossibly loud.

The soft din of conversation goes briefly silent.

Someone applauds.

Kell's face burns with humiliation and he drops into a crouch, ducking his chin.

"Shut up."

Kell goes suddenly still. He slowly looks up to find Holland has closed his book and stood, glaring daggers at the offending man, who drops his hands back to his lip, startled.

Kell might actually blush harder. He feels light-headed, anyway. Holland heads his direction, wearing heavy boots and old jeans and he looks like he was poured into them, which definitely can't be fair-

"Do you need some help?" He asks, crouching across from Kell, picking up a broken shard. He drops it into Kell's palm with the others. "Are you hurt?"

"Uh. No, no, I'm fine, just... stupid."

"Human," Holland corrects. "You're human. I've seen you around campus before. You're... Kevin?"

"Kell. Kell Maresh."

"Kell Maresh." The corner of Holland's mouth quirks in a slight smile. "I'll remember that."

Half of Kell feels like it's just him being polite. The other half thinks Sanct, I hope so.

[vault--of--amber]

Hogwarts Houses au with the adsom gang

Kell: Ravenclaw. Definitely. All those trinkets he collected for no other reason than he wanted to have them? Literally going against direct orders to get all of them? Always trying to think rationally and logically? Learning so much about magic? Being pessimistic? Ravenclaw.

Lila: Slytherin- my girl is the DEFINITION of ambition, like she followed a guy who had every reason to intensely dislike her on a trip she isn't sure she'll survive, entered the Essen Tasch, a whole ass tournament for the best magicians IN THE WORLD just to test her strength, holds grudges, planned to kill a ship's captain to take it as her own and overall was a Slytherin.

Rhy: Hufflepuff. Do I have to elaborate? No. Am I going to? Yes. This is the person who got kidnapped and nearly killed, and his first concern when he woke up was that his brother was hurt, AND THEN literally pardoned the people who were planning to kill him. He is explicitly stated to be extremely trusting and fully loyal to Kell, and stayed with Alucard on that ship even though he had no actual reason too. Also just generally how much he cares for his people, the b e a u t i f u l scene where he goes around with blankets, and how the trait he values in himself the most is how lovable and approachable the people see him as, all just make him the most Hufflepuffy Hufflepuff ever.

Alucard: Gryffindor, but I can't really explain it. I guess it's just how much of a natural leader he seems to be, but how much he tries to seem like part of the crew, laughing at all the jokes, teasing his crew mates, ect.. Also his reaction when Rhy stopped breathing just seems like A Gryffindor Thing.

Holland: Slytherin. So I'm gonna try to keep this unbiased even though i hate this guy with a passion (don't attack me ok i can see why you would like him but i just don't). Anyways I think Slytherin because of how intent he was on helping his city. He was willing to do just about anything for his city to prosper, and this lead eventually to him being reckless. He also held a grudge against Red London his whole life, and was actually willing to give up his body and will a SECOND time for the sake of his London, that's how ambitious he was.

Also the dynamics? I mean sorry if this is just me but I've always thought that Gryffindors and Ravenclaws would get along the worst out of all the possible combinations, while Ravenclaws and Slytherins, and Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs would get along well because they are the pessimistic and optimistic houses respectively.

EXTRA MENTIONS

Tieren: Ravenclaw

Ned: Ravenclaw, he was so eager to learn

Maxim: Gryffindor

Emira: Hufflepuff but this one is the hardest

Ojka: Gryffindor, she's loyal to Holland

Calla: Hufflepuff, she deserved so much better

Astrid/Athos: Slytherin, just like anyone on that throne

Hastra: Hufflepuff, I will never forgive V.E.Schwab

[purplebass]

adsom and some parallels with disney's the little mermaid? yeah. because this is also a story about people coming from different worlds and the dangers of magic just like adsom is

Kell is such an Ariel. Like the mermaid who keeps the artifacts in a grotto, he keeps the treasures from different Londons at his room in the Ruby Fields. King Triton later destroys Ariel's stash of objects just like Holland burns down the Ruby Fields. Ariel later turns human and saves prince Eric (who is also the captain of a ship) and falls in love with him. In adsom, it's Lila (our Eric) who saves Kell the night they met and later discovers she isn't a mere human but an antari magician who can travel between worlds (and ofc, they fall for each other)

[lumau]

For @orchidscript​ ‘s fanfic A Sweet Far Thing - Shades of Magic / Edwardian AU, in which Kell is trans and Holland is incredibly sweet!

Thank you Orchid for bringing this AU to life and letting me draw them!

[whimsicallyreading]

I’m so sorry for the delay on all the updates.

I have toxic as hell family coming into town today and getting ready has been really draining.

On the bright side, I’ll probably do a lot of writing to ignore them. Escapism at its finest, lol. Hopefully everything will be updated sometime this week! Thank you for the love and patience 💚

[muffinworry]

Go No More A-Roving

(wingfic for @pinkcupboardwitch, @ashintheairlikesnow, @orchidscript and @dr-dendritic-trees)

***

The wind shrieks past the tower, rattling the heavy shutters and finding its way through chinks in the old stones. The man inside shivers in his sleep. He isn’t used to the chill, and the restraints around his wrists and ankles make it impossible to curl up. There was a time when the weather wouldn’t have bothered him, thanks to the rows of soft warm feathers he could wrap around himself.

In his dreams, he flies.

The hand on his shoulder is cold, colder even than the night air, and he jerks awake. The pale woman is gazing down at him curiously, eyes big in her thin, sharp face.

“Pet,” she says softly. “I think it’s time you learned your place.”

His place had been at his friend’s side. Holland had been Vortalis’ falcon, a hunter born, the royal guard and magician and advisor all in one. People had drawn back in awe at the sight of him. He bares his teeth, then stifles a moan of discomfort as she runs her hand through the glossy black feathers furled on his back. She smiles at him then and abruptly breaks one off, the way a child might snap a branch from a tree to play with. She watches curiously as a bead of blood gathers, then dips a fingertip and tastes.

He doesn’t know what happened to his king’s body, but he can guess.

“My brother has plans for you,” she tells him. “You’ll be bound to us. Our most loyal servant. Hooded until you learn to come to the glove, of course.” The woman is bone-white in the moonlight and gleaming with pleasure. “I, on the other hand, do not want you. I cannot trust something that could fly away. And so-” Astrid lifts her other hand, and he sees the wicked little knife in it and begins to struggle. “And so, my dear, I think we’d better make sure you never can.”

[yellowraincoat]

If Kell in A Darker Shade got his name from the syllables “Kah-El” his name probably should’ve been Kyle.

This is the hill I will die on. The Dark-Eyed Prince of Arnes: Kyle.

Every moment in all of the books would’ve been infinitely more funny if his name was kyle.

[greenmaskedmarauder]

Kellila Zoo Date plz

“Lila, slow down!” Kell walked at a more leisurely pace, holding onto the popcorn that they’d both been eating a moment ago, before Lila took off running towards the next enclosure. They’d decided to blow off responsibilities and just go to the zoo for a date.

“The sign back there said that there was a baby in here, I gotta see that, Kell!” Lila kept hurrying towards the Big Cat House, where there was supposed to be a baby snow leopard. Kell just smiled as he followed her in at a walk. The lights were dimmed and there were several spacious enclosures that all opened to an outdoor portion. The lions were mostly all outside, with one female just watching the people lazily. Two tigers were playing with a ball, and a cheetah was playing with its support dog. The snow leopard section came into view, and they could see a mother snow leopard with her young cub. They were lounging far away from the glass, the small children pressed against the window making the mother’s ears twitch in nervousness.

As the kids passed to the next enclosure, Lila crouched by the window. She extended her hand, fingers lightly brushing the glass. “Hi baby, hi momma,” she crooned softly. The mother still looked apprehensive but the cub slowly ambled over on still unsteady legs. It made a high-pitched short growl, and Lila looked up at Kell and grinned. “I’m a leopard whisperer,” she declared, then turned her attention back to the cub.

She continued to make different noises at the cub as the mom still watched from the back, and Kell watched her. Something in his chest tightened at the sight of Lila being so...soft. He slowly took out his phone and snapped a quick picture of the pair, Lila’s hand still pressed against the glass, and the cub sniffing at it. 

After a few minutes, she straightened and suggested they go out and see if it was almost time for the elephant show. “Maybe we can stop and grab some cotton candy too,” she said as she ate a handful of popcorn. Kell sighed. “Well, I suppose we won’t have to go eat dinner later then,” he said. Lila just looked at him. “Don’t be silly,” she retorted, “there’s always room for dinner.”

They slowly walked around the zoo, stopping at the stand that had cotton candy and paying the extorted amount of money for a small bundle before taking their seats to watch the elephant show.

[voidcat]

– ADSOM Punk! AU

Writing this in a short drabble form so I won’t forget any details & shout out to @antarii for not only introducing me to this wonderful series but also encouraging that side of me who turns everything into “punk au”s

Okay so first of all let’s all consider this: It’s the 70-80s in Grey London. There is NO way Lila Bard will not be involved with punk rock. I mean sure, she won’t actively participate in the music area but the very essencce of punk lies within he soul, I just Know it!.

So remember how The Maresh royal family treated Kell esp after the events of the first book? :-) especially Emira?? :-)) Oh it’s sogoing down for her. No one except for Lila Bard can mess with Kell...

So next thing you know, Lila teaches the Maresh brothers about this one cool song from her London. The said song: God Save the Queen.

So imagine Emira’s surprise and horror when one day she’s just pacing from one to another in the Palace and she hears her dear boy(s) singing “God save the Queen!”. She has this little proud smile dancing on her lips and as she enters the room they’re in, comes the rest of the lyrics: “The faschist regime! They made you a moron! Potential H bomb”

She’s a little offended at the “faschist” bit but a “H Bomb”?? What’s that? She tries to brush it off, telling herself she’s worrying too much on a potential rebel teen act coming from the boy(s) but the next part does not ease her one bit. Needless to say, they don’t get to finish singing it: “God save the queen. She's not a human being. and There's no future-”

“Rhy and Kell MARESH! WHAT EVER IS THE MEANING OF THIS?” And then she sees Lila, standing by their side, a wicked smirk on her lips.

Emira: “I do not want that beast of a girl near the palace ever again, she is a BAD influence.” As if this can stop Lila from finding her way back into the castle.

God Save the Queen was just the beginning, she teaches them more songs, they change the lyrics of the ones they like so they can apply to Red London too. And the DIY movement? She tells them about it and Rhy LOVES it. Lila helps them make tshirts with that single cover for God Save The Queen first (they use Emira’s face, they’re in Red London after all, not Grey adsf)

>enter: Alucard

He was never exactly fond of the Maresh royal family either. So seeing his beloved thief introducing a part of her and her old city to his love and his annoying brother, and the result of it all driving Emira and Maxim crazy? Jackpot!

You cannot have punk rock without a bas and guess who’s picking that up for their made up band? Alucard. after all, bas players are always the coolest ones. This earns him a hit from Rhy and an eye roll from Kell.

The royal family must have an orchestra, I’m positive at some point Lila and Alucard or maybe Rhy convinces them to play some of their favorite punk songs. When they start playing, the songs they’re playing aren’t recognized, classical instruments and all... But once the main melody of God Save the Queen begins, Emira recognizes... That song has been terrorizing her mind ever since she first heard it, you cannot convince me otherwise. eat shit emira  The gathering they were holding that night? called off immediately.

After a while, I’d like to think these four go out and sing the songs and their versions of them out loud. Few times they put on avangart make up to keep the brothers’ identities hidden and sing at pubs. The citizens? They Love it! They Love THEM!! And the crew of Night Spire? Their #1 fans!