#and everything ive seen about it looks like a literal swap au

[unexpectedbrickattack]

I've wondered, your peppino is so cool but how do you think Pizzano (From Sugary Spire) would be like?

I will be completely honest; i have no idea what that is 😭 ive been avoiding it like the plague and i have it blacklisted 😭😭

[pluviophile-imagines]

3 for bakugo or todoroki

I decided to do Bakugo for this, & then I got this ask after I closed the prompts for this event so I decided to go ahead and do it because it’s actually one of only two Halloween-related ones and I was planning to make this Werewolf!Bakugo anyway lol. This is a fun little AU that just kinda swaps quirks for supernatural creatures, loosely based off of a bunch of campy halloween stuff like Halloweentown and Sabrina The Teenage Witch. Also, the werewolves have destined mates like those dumb Wattpad novels, because sometimes tropes are fun and cute. Also this is THREE TIMES AS LONG AS I MEANT TO MAKE ALL OF THESE but ive also gotten like five??? individual asks for it 😭😭😭so y’all better not let it flop.

3: kissing so desperately that their whole body curves into the other person’s

Though you’ve known Bakugo pretty much your whole life, there’s a lot about werewolves that you don’t know.

If he were a different person, he probably wouldn’t be telling you at 5:47 on his 21st birthday that he’s apparently supposed to figure out who his soulmate is going to be tonight. If he weren’t so closed off, even to his best friend of over a decade and a half, then perhaps you wouldn’t be having this conversation, and perhaps it wouldn’t feel quite like pulling teeth.

“You have a soulmate?” is really all you can say, because most of your mental capacity is going towards keeping the sob in the back of your throat from being audible.

“Yeah,” he grunts. He’s not even looking at you, because he’s holding his phone in one hand and he’s scrolling through it, and though the two of you are sitting on opposite sides of the couch he has your feet in his lap, free arm wrapped all the way around them like he doesn’t want you to leave. “It’s… I dunno. Kinda cool, I guess.”

“All of you have soulmates?”

“Well, yeah. You witches don’t?”

You wrinkle your nose, trying your hardest to ignore the burning at the backs of your eyes. “No. We don’t.”

Out of the corner of your eye you see him purse his lips, as if troubled by the revelation. “Huh. How d’you know who’s the one, then?”

“We just. Figure it out? I guess. Is this why you’ve never dated anyone?”

“Yeah. Not really interested in anyone but my destined.”

He says it so easily, but you know him well enough to understand. He likes the idea of a soulmate; he’s looking forward to figuring out who they are tonight. Who would have guessed that he was a romantic?

It’s awful. It makes your chest burn. You’d only come to terms with your crush on the guy two months ago. Now he’s gonna be taken from you by some random person he’s never met?

No, you suppose, he’s always belonged to them. That’s how it works, right?

“D’you know who it’ll be?”

“Hah? No, dumbass, if I did that would defeat the purpose.” Bakugo pauses, glancing over at you with just his eyes, then darting them away just as fast. It’s probably just a trick of the light, but you could swear he blushes a little as he mumbles, “I know who I want it to be, though.”

Your eyes widen and you lean up, pulling your legs back (ignoring the way his hands tense before letting them go as if he wants to hold on) so that you can kneel on them right next to him. “Who?”

“Not happening.”

“Bakugo,” you whine, drawing out the last syllable of his name.

“I’m not telling you, brat.”

You lean forward, prodding at his cheek. “Is it Mina?”

“No.”

“Jirou?”

“I’m not telling you.”

“Kirishima?”

Bakugo growls out your name, a warning, but you don’t pull away, getting even closer until you’re practically draped over him.

“Todoroki?”

He grabs you, whipping towards you as his arms fly up to wrap around your waist and yank you off him, tossing you back to your side of the couch as you shriek in laughter. He’d never hurt you, you know, and roughhousing like this is hardly new in your friendship; plus, well, you’d be lying if you said you hadn’t been hoping to feel his big, warm hands like this. Despite all his surprises tonight, he’s still all too predictable, and you’d seen this coming a mile away.

What you don’t see coming is him pausing, braced with one arm against the couch all too close to you, holding his torso over you with his head right above yours. And he stares, those crimson eyes unreadable with an expression you’ve never seen before, locked entirely on you.

You can feel his chest rising and falling steadily against yours, and your own eyes are drawn to where his adam’s apple bobs as he swallows thickly. You’re frozen, unable to move though you’d hardly want to anyway, and it hits you like a brick what he’s really been saying the whole night.

You open your mouth to speak, but then the hazy tension is shattered by the shrill sound of his phone.

Bakugo lunges away, pulls back with inhuman werewolf speed, grabbing his phone as he leaps to his feet. “‘S my mom, sundown’s soon, I have to go.”

“Wait, Bakugo—”

“See ya tomorrow, yeah?” He doesn’t wait for an answer, already half out the door.

“Katsuki,” you try, desperate, and it makes him freeze.

The door is open, his knuckles are pale with how tight he’s gripping the knob, but as much as you’ve tried it’s not enough. He’s gone without another word.

You don’t get to sleep that night.

It’s dumb; he’ll lecture you in the morning as he tells you all about his perfect amazing werewolf destined—that was what he’d called it, right? You prefer soulmate. Mate is a wolf thing anyway—who he’s spending all night with, running around in the forest howling at the moon and making out or whatever.

You stay out in the den, curled up on the couch with a blanket draped around you, ice cream in your lap, and an old movie playing that you’re not really listening to because you’ve been too wrapped up in your own head.

For an instant, you’d been so sure. A mere moment of absolute certainty that he was just as in love with you as you are him, that your oblivious pining for years was actually reciprocated. In the hours since he’d pinned you to the couch, you’d convinced yourself otherwise.

Imagine your surprise when there’s a frantic knocking at your door.

It startles you, making you jump about ten feet up in the air, and you freeze on the couch with wide eyes and a gaping mouth staring directly at the solid wood that seems to be shaking in its hinges. You’re halfway to casting a protection charm when a familiar gruff voice shouts your name from outside.

“I know you’re awake, I can hear you in there! Open the damn door!”

You glance at the time to find that it’s just under fifteen minutes to midnight. Awfully soon for him to be done, but you rise from your spot on the couch with the blanket still wrapped around your shoulders and move to let Bakugo in.

“Coming,” you say, not bothering to be loud because you know he can hear even the shifting of your clothes beneath the blanket.

He looks downright feral when you open the door, panting slightly, hair mussed up, eyes wild. But when he sees you, they light up, happy and excited like a damn puppy.

“Are you drunk?”

“Uh… kinda?”

“...Magical bullshit?”

He nods, a rough toss of his head to affirm. “Ancient rituals. Tipsy’s more accurate, if anything. Figured out who my destined is.”

“And you came to me? Shouldn’t you be with your soulmate, then?”

Bakugo blinks, clearly stunned, barking out a burst of laughter before shaking his head. “You’re somethin’ dumbass.”

You go to respond, more than a little insulted because he’s been acting so fucking weird all day and he has the nerve to say you’re being dumb, but any retort is flung from your mind as he steps forward and puts his hands on your arms.

Leaning in until your noses are practically touching, he speaks. “It’s you. It’s always been you.”

“H—huh?” you stutter out, heart stopping and mind reeling with his words.

“I wanted it to be you. And it’s you.” His hands slide down your arms to meet yours. “You’re my destined.”

There’s so much more to say, so much to ask him, everything ranging from but I’m a witch, how is that possible to so we could have been fucking dating this whole time but he doesn’t let you speak, clearly too overjoyed and inebriated, and you’re not entirely opposed when he yanks you in with exactly the level of roughness you’d imagine from him and kisses you.

And finally, finally, after a decade and a half of wanting to (longer than you even knew what kissing was), you can melt into him.

You believe him then, not that you particularly doubted. It’s like his lips are the missing piece to a puzzle, one you’ve been looking for your whole life. He holds you up with ease, werewolf strength coming in handy, as one hand laces with your own and the other darts to the small of your back. He’d be holding you closer, but you’re literally as close as you could be, body curving against him as his taller form hunches over you.

He kisses you far more sweetly than you’d have expected; no teeth or tongue but still all passion, heavy palm and fingers splayed across your back as the other hand pulls you and grounds you. It’s heated and it makes you forget that you’re both standing in the middle of the open front door at midnight.

You’re both reluctant to break away, you can tell because you both linger a little, bodies frozen as the kiss is followed by one, two, three more just as feverish but decreasing in length. Then the two of you pull away for real (not by much, no, he’s holding you far too intensely for you to get far) and you stumble backwards pulling him by his shirt into your home. He gets the hint, following and shutting the door behind you but not letting either of you make it very far beyond.

“All right,” you say finally, breathless both from the kiss and from giddy laughter bubbling up within you, “all right, you’re my soulmate.”

Bakugo kisses you again.

[makiswirl]

I totally agree with you about roleswap stuff and I've wanted to rant about this forever so sorry in advance but like way too many people roleswap characters and end up switching their personalities and character motifs. Like what's even the point then???? Its not even the character, you just changed their appearance. Like when people erase Eds disability or roleswap Ed and Al (who very strongly believe in not killing others ever and refuse to use the philosophers stone even when it's basically handed to them) with the military characters like Roy and Riza??? It doesn't work for me at all, in what world would Ed ever wanna be fuhrer ever, it doesn't fit him as a person. They just swap his personality with Roy too it's weird lol. Realistically, without Roy, Ed and Al probably would've never been involved with the military.

So back to your au, I agree that swapping Winry with Lan Fan and Al with Mei makes the most sense even though Ed and Al can still be close, i assume it's not the same as it is with Ling, there's no clans so there's no competition I guess? They don't have to be distant!

I really like this tbh and I'll be honest it's like the only roleswap au Ive cared about (except sometimes people draw alchemist Winry and mechanic Ed and that's super cute too but I'm otherwise uninterested)

LITERALLY !!!! that's been my biggest peeve for roleswap aus for the LONGEST time and is honestly why ive been disinterested in them since for most aus of that caliber i just... see people slapping on different roles and outfits and personalities onto a different-looking character? that's pretty much it since it's the same character in a different font at that point haha

also YASS !!!!! for lan fan and al and winry that's pretty much what i was thinking !!! i think al's situation would be something more of, again, he swaps with mei and STILL knows alkahestry, but he probably goes to xing to find ed a little bit into the plot after ed and ling meet since the elrics r presumably VERY close in this au (and winry probably follows suit with him since i don't think everything is entirely beat-for-beat.. not sure who fu would swap with and i don't want to say pinako but oh my GOD it'd be funny). still not entirely sure about mei and lan fan but for my sanity i'm absolutely saying sibling trio shenanigans

but OEOIGIOOIGOUGUO thank u !!!!!! 🥺🥺 i've seen a lot of ppl saying they're interested in this little au thingy and i am SO glad and am very excited to answer more asks if ppl want to send more in !!!! i'm just glad ppl care about it so far ヾ(^ω^*)

[aerugonian]

what are some of your fav kakashi centric fics?? ive never been too into naruto but kakashi??? i love him

You’re in luck because the only Naruto fics I read are Kakashi-centric, lmao. Here are some of my favorites (strap in because this is gonna be long – and I hope you like time travel, because there’s a lot of that here.) Fics are listed in no particular order. 

Just the Usual Habits by Applepie (G / gen / 3.9k words / completed / no warnings)

Sakumo has no idea where all of these habits of Kakashi's are coming from. In which five-year-old Kakashi forgets the existence of his left eye, loses his ability to lie believably, and is a little too knowledgeable about the Birds and Bees. Still, no matter what oddities went on in Kakashi's head, one thing is certain – the boy will always love his father, through thick and thin.

Nukenin by WhisperingDarkness (T / gen / 17k words / completed / no warnings)

In the sealed scroll he finds a Bingo Book – his own page marking him as an S-class nukenin with flee-on-sight orders.

“Ok. That is definitely different.”

In his head he blames Naruto – even if his number one unpredictable student had been nowhere near him on this mission. When things go this stupidly impossibly wrong it must somehow be the future Hokage’s fault.

Once More with Feeling by Chicken_Train_And_Laser_Beam (M / gen / 137k words / wip / violence)

After an unexpected turn on a mission with Team Seven, Kakashi Hatake wakes up in the past, trapped in the body of his thirteen-year-old self. Despite being torn away from his own, familiar world, Kakashi resolves to change the future to better the lives of those he loves. Yet, fate is not so easily mastered, and he's not the only one playing the game.

Reversal of Roles by Ranowa Hikura (T / gen / 112,510 words / completed / violence)

Obito didn't push Kakashi out of the way during the Battle at Kannabi Bridge. This one change eventually leads to Godaime Naruto being sent back in time with the leader of the Akatsuki- Kakashi. They arrive at the day of Naruto's Academy graduation, and Naruto must work with the man he hates the most to stop war from happening. Time travel, AU, Kakanaru friendship.

Branches by Mockingone (T / gen / 55k words / completed / no warnings)

Kakashi falls off a tree and lands in a different world. Literally. Now he's in a dimension where nothing makes sense—but he's used to that. Kakashi plans to wreak as much havoc as he can and find his way home... if he can.

What You Knead by AgentMalkere (G / gen / 38k words / wip / no warnings)

It started, as most things did in Kakashi’s life, with a mission gone wrong.

(In which Kakashi accidentally acquires an emotionally healthy coping technique.)

Ear to the Wall by Vodkassassin (NR / gen / 84k words / wip / chose not to warn)

The Minato-sensei beams at him, and replies, “Kakashi! I’m glad you’re awake,” and, yup, that’s Minato-sensei’s voice.

Kakashi falls back down against the bed, closing his eyes. It’s too short of a way down, and he clenches hands that are too tiny and feeble and not his in dog-print sheets he hasn’t owned for decades.

Wolves of Fire Country by Midnite_Republic (T / Kakashi/Izuna / 51k words / wip / chose not to warn)

Wave changed a lot about Team 7, but not enough to make them entirely functional. Also someone should have really reminded Kakashi to pay attention to that tiny part of his genius brain that recognises random patterns, before he called a rest stop on the way home on top of an old, decayed Uzushio travel seal with an over-chakra-charged Uzumaki.

And he thought the month of the Wave mission was long, now he's stuck with the team, in a place he never expected to have anything to do with, with no way back.

Maybe he should have paid more attention to history, or stayed in the academy long enough to have history classes.

Why we build the wall by Dissenter (NR / gen / 49k words / wip / mcd & violence)

A Kiri nin gets trapped in a cave with a Konoha nin near Kannabi bridge. Some things are inevitable.

Or the AU where Kakashi is born in Kiri but still somehow ends up as team seven's teacher.

Outrunning Karma by Anjelle (T / gen / 52k words / wip / no warnings)

Kakashi was forty-two and the world ended in a sea of smoke and ash. Kakashi was forty-two and there stood a man in the carnage, untouched and unfazed as the village burned around him.

Kakashi is nineteen and the world ends tomorrow, and he will do everything he can to make it right. Even if it means making friends of his enemies. Even if it means erasing everything.

Even if it means staring into the face of all that he hates and smiling.

Kakashi is nineteen and Naruto is five and there is still time. Instead of counting his losses, he'll make the most of it.

komorebi by tomorrowsrain (T / Kakashi/Obito / 80k words / wip / no warnings)

In which Kakashi and Obito survive the Kyuubi attack, get exiled from Konoha, learn how to survive, and still manage to become legends along the way.

(The bratty genin are unexpected, though.)

The Hidden Prodigy by Applepie (T / gen / 106k words / wip / chose not to warn)

Somehow sent back into the past, Kakashi is given a second chance to relive his childhood. He is determined to make the most of everyday and to fix the horrors of the future, but sometimes simple determination is not enough to save everyone.

Change Fills My Time by 100demons (M / gen / 73k words / completed / mcd & violence)

Thirty year old Kakashi was supposed to have been killed by Pein during the Invasion. Instead, he wakes up in the body of his twenty year old self.

(It gets a lot more complicated.)

Nidaime Otokage by DuskBeforeDawn (M / gen / 30k words / wip / violence)

No one knew him.

His father was still alive.

His Sharingan acted like it had always been his.

Kakashi was twenty-two years in the past of a different world.

a heap of details, uncatalogued, illogical by 100demons (T / gen / 8k words / completed / no warnings)

Oh,” she says, white hands clenched into tight fists. “I’m-- I was your student. Haruno Sakura.”

Kakashi tilts his head, gray eye analyzing her carefully for tells. He finds nothing. “I’ve never seen you before in my life,” he says flatly.

(Kakashi wakes up fourteen years old.)

Lost on the road of life by RavenShira (M / gen / 80k words / wip / violence)

Kakashi had everything well in hand. He had stepped down from his reign as Rokudaime Hokage, his porn collection was as well worn as should be and his free time was spend with either Gai's challenges or helping out on various tasks while trying to make it seem like he wasn't there to help out. Annoying the hell out of everyone that crosses his path was as easy as breathing – easier now that he didn't have to be polite and diplomatic about it anymore.

So what if he agreed to a teeny-tiny favour of his once student and now successor? Not even Naruto could mess up just scribbling down a fuinjutsu for Kakashi to check over before he got back to his own, very busy life.

… Right?

Or: The one where Kakashi travels back in time, thinks he can fix stuff but clearly gets in over his head.

What’s the Worst That Can Happen? by Applepie (T / gen / 90k words / wip / no warnings)

Life was going quite well, if you asked Naruto Uzumaki. So why did he have to listen to Kakashi of all people? Now, they've time traveled to the past, smack dab in Minato's era, when the soon-to-be Hokage was sporting a team seven of his own. Let history run its course? Never! Kakashi-centric.

Wanted by Anjelle (T / gen / 17k words / wip / no warnings)

Kakashi is your run-of-the-mill hand for hire, except that he's not. Boasting a spotless record with the skills and name to back it up, he's one of the most highly sought after mercenaries in the Land of Fire. He has just one rule:

No Leaf missions.

Unfortunately, his latest client, Tobi, is looking for just that. And there's no doubt in Tobi's mind that Kakashi will accept.

It's only a matter of time.

-

-

 (and a bonus crossover section!!)

Silver-Haired Stranger by TheSimplestWriter (T / gen / 34k words / wip / violence / ATLA)

Kakashi dies protecting his village fighting against Pein... Except he actually didn't and is now in the middle of a desert. Great. [Kakashi swaps one war for another, but he only wants to get back home. Things happen along the way.]

Copy That, Copycat by Nakashira (G / gen / 19k words / wip / violence / BNHA)

Kakashi Hatake dies the Copycat-nin and is reborn with a copycat quirk.

Everything becomes a disaster, and Monoma is tired.

Wonderboy by Tsume_Yuki (T / gen / 19k words / wip / chose not to warn / BNHA)

Who knew some dimensions had actual child labour laws?

In which Kakashi is reborn, the Hero Commission doesn’t put all their eggs in one Hawks shaped basket and Shouta isn't getting paid enough to deal with this shit.

Otherwise known as Kakashi in 1A.

CCG Public Enemy No 1 by euphoric image (T / gen / 19k words / wip / no warnings / Tokyo Ghoul)

Kakashi had a single red-and-black eye for more than half his life. Now, he has two.

Victory Series by ewfte (T / gen / 96k words / wip / violence / BNHA)

A fact about Todoroki Shouto: that is not his name.

[elyvorg]

What would you think of a talentswap au? I know we all love kaito in all his wonderful spacey self, but ive seen some really interesting concepts for ultimate assassin kaito, as well as ultimate astronaut maki, ultimate detective kaede and ultimate pianist shuichi. Some very interesting things could be done with their histories and how they affect their present, especially if the changes are minimised. (Say, Shuichi's uncle being a pianist rather than a detective.)

I dont think the original character arcs could be pulled off as well, what with how the character's pasts affect how they react to the situations they're thrown in during the killing game (for example i doubt maki would have gone directly to murdering kokichi when she's convinced he's the mastermind if she hadn't been raised as an assassin) but i think there is some interesting potential in what would and wouldnt change about them

I know talentswap AUs are a pretty popular thing in this fandom, and I do enjoy looking at people's ideas in terms of the creative aesthetic redesigns of characters they can come up with. As a narrative thing, though, the concept just doesn't really do it for me.

I agree with your point that it can be an interesting exercise to imagine how a character we know might have diverged from the same starting point through slightly different circumstances in their life, and what would and wouldn't change about them. But I'm just not especially interested in the end result, because ultimately, whether by a little or by a lot, they going to end up as a different characters.

Obviously, as you can tell from my blog, I like thinking about AU scenarios. But, for me, they need to be plot AUs, not character AUs. I enjoy plot AUs because I like imagining how the characters I already know and love would react in interesting ways to new and different situations not seen in canon. I'm much less into AUs where the characters have been changed such that they only superficially resemble the ones that I'm a fan of.

For the most obvious example of this, let’s take Maki. The reasons I love her, the things that really make her Maki to me, are the trauma she suffered in being forced to be an assassin, the issues and self-loathing she has today because of that, and how amazing it is that she still manages to be a good person at heart despite everything. A Maki who was literally anything other than the Ultimate Assassin wouldn't have any of that, and then she's just... not really Maki any more. It's not just that she obviously wouldn't try to kill Kokichi; none of her story would be the same at all.

The same also goes for anyone else who's talent-swapped into being an Ultimate Assassin, because that level of trauma is going to significantly change anyone. To take another example, because this is a hypothetical I have actually thought about a bit, let's try to imagine an Ultimate Assassin Kaito.

With the caveat that I don't actively seek out every talent-swap out there, I've happened across an assassin-Kaito concept or two that basically looks like the same Kaito: he incidentally murders people for a job, but then he also still has sidekicks and looks after kids and is his usual optimistic Kaito-y self when he's not doing a murder. That's a cute idea; I understand the desire to keep Kaito recognisable, but I just... I don't think that would be possible. I don't think anyone, no matter how resilient, could still be like that after going through what Maki went through and being forced to kill so many people. Maki didn't end up the way she did because she was weak; far from it.

(And it's obviously even less possible that Kaito wasn't forced and traumatised into this just like Maki was, because he'd never choose to kill people for a living. Perhaps we could imagine that Kaito was at one of the cult-run orphanages (for minimal changes, maybe his grandparents weren't there after his parents died? oh nooo) and got scouted, and/or volunteered in order to protect someone else because he's exactly as selfless as Maki.)

After going through all that, especially since he started from the same point of someone fundamentally very selfless and caring, an assassin-Kaito's issues would end up very similar to canon-Maki's. He'd still care about other people beneath it all, but it'd be hard to notice that when he'd also hate himself and feel like he doesn't deserve to be around anyone, let alone help them, because who'd want advice from a killer?

The only really different part would be his outward personality. Kaito's general personality is nothing like what Maki's was pre-trauma, so he'd have ended up with something quite different from Maki's cold aloofness. Specifically, if you'll bear with me on the out-of-left-field example here, I think he might have ended up looking something like Axel from Kingdom Hearts. (I once hyperfixated on Axel, okay, so I've thought about this a lot.)

In short, Axel used to be a good kid, a bit of a cocky attention seeker but with a heart of gold, until he was forced into doing horrible things for an evil organisation against his will. He pretty much coped with that by accepting that he's A Bad Guy now, and owning it, carrying out his evil missions in a stylish, badass sort of way, like a twisted version of the cocky kid he used to be. This also conveniently gives him something he can focus on to avoid thinking about all the things he hates and never wanted about this. Given that Kaito was a vaguely similar kind of kid to what Axel used to be, it seems possible that he might cope in a similar way if put through the child-slave-assassin wringer.

But, while the end result would definitely be a very fun and fascinating character, my point is that it still wouldn't be Kaito as we know him at all. It'd be an entirely new character. He'd have Kaito's name and face and pre-assassin-training childhood, but those details would be the least interesting things about him.

(I would recommend checking out Axel's storyline to see a character along these lines, but honestly the required untangling of the Kingdom Hearts lore-spaghetti is not necessarily worth your while. That and all this stuff about his issues is pretty subtle and I only really noticed it at all because I happened to like him enough to hyperfixate for a while.)

Even putting aside the extreme example of an assassin talent, a lot of Danganronpa characters are as great as they are specifically because their personality and their talent make such a good combination. Take Shuichi, whose issues and character arc and potential as an interesting protagonist revolve around the fact that he's an Ultimate Detective who starts out weak. A pianist Shuichi would just be a somewhat anxious and insecure pianist, which wouldn't be especially interesting or important to the progression of a killing game. Meanwhile, a detective Kaede would be way more confident about her detectiveness than Shuichi and would probably look something like a more optimistic and trusting Kyoko; again, less interesting. [Edit: or would she?] To bring in some other combinations of these four, a detective Maki would look very similar to Kyoko, because she'd have similar trust issues from her orphanage days.

As for a detective Kaito, sure, we can imagine a Kaito who's the same kind of person but with a passion for solving mysteries (which he’s also actually good at) instead of space. He'd still do his sidekick thing, of course, because the only thing that'd make him lose that central part of himself is loads of childhood trauma. But then this Kaito is just genuinely every bit the hero everyone needs, solving the cases and supporting the others in one package... and, whoops, there goes all of his issues and character arc. At best, he'd still struggle a little with the Gonta situation in trial 4, but that struggle wouldn't be actually about Shuichi and so it wouldn't be nearly as fun. (A detective Kaito still wouldn't struggle as much to accept Gonta did it, either, because he'd be someone who's used to trusting the facts and logic alongside his instincts about people to intuit the truth.) And he’d still struggle a bit with dying if we gave him the virus, but so much less so, because at least he’d be obviously managing to be the hero he wants to be before the end.

An astronaut Maki would pretty much just be a regular astronaut who happened to be an orphan. She'd need to have taught herself to be good with communication and teamwork because that's necessary to be an astronaut, so she'd mostly just be a little bit like Kaito but extremely toned down. (Again, Maki without her assassin trauma kind of just becomes a fairly ordinary competent person and not really Maki as we know her.) Even then, it's a huge stretch that someone pragmatic and cautious like her would have been willing to risk losing everything just to take the astronaut exam as a teenager. And an astronaut Shuichi doesn't even seem possible; he'd have been way too insecure to apply to astronaut training early like Kaito did, no matter how badly he'd hypothetically love to go to space. Really, Kaito's reckless personality is a necessary part of having an Ultimate - as in, teenage - Astronaut. Pretty much all of these kids' talents are intrinsically tied in some way into who they are as a person and as a character in this story.

The only talent-swap within these particular four characters we're talking about that I think would work in terms of keeping them basically themselves is between Kaito and Kaede. That's because they were both written with the talents they have to help enhance the kind of people they are, and they're such similar people in the first place. Both of them are selfless and optimistic and all about working together and helping others; Kaede plays music to make people smile, while Kaito's astronaut training requires him to be someone who values communication and co-operation. I can just about see a talent-swap between these two making sense while still retaining everything important about who they are as people and keeping their stories roughly the same. You'd have a space-flavoured Kaede and a music-flavoured Kaito, but their personalities would still be very recognisably them.

(Though, still, I dunno if I'd have loved a pianist Kaito quite as much. There's just something about that space theme that helps get across how bombastically over-the-top he is in a way that a more down-to-earth talent simply can't quite match. Also, that execution.)

...The problem with this, though, is that the new music-Kaito and space-Kaede wouldn't be all that meaningfully interesting to explore compared to their original versions. Which I guess is kind of the unavoidable catch-22 I have with character AUs. Making big changes to a character can be an interesting thought experiment, but it ultimately results in them no longer being the characters I've grown to love any more, while changes that keep them still recognisably the same people are inherently going to be pretty superficial changes that aren’t worth exploring very much.

[anony-mouse-writer]

b) wait really? i thought lost days was later than that. huh. (okay i just looked it up and apparently i was conflating lost days with the all caste parts of the rhato run. rip) that said, the scene is pretty suggestive. dc stop having kids kiss/fuck their mentor's sexual partners challenge.

-i did know it was to save his life, but i will say, snappy one liners with no follow up do not for reasonable conversations make. admittedly, that is a comics-in-general issue and not a talia-specific one

-oh man. my friend and i were talking about a role-swap au for the batfamily and spent several hours trying to come up with any character with a hero mom (still living) and a villain dad and literally came up with none that didn't have like six asterisk. meanwhile, villaness mom and hero dad, there were several. seductress villainesses are obnoxiously common and the two most popular ones in dc are both woc and just ughhhhhhhhhhhhhh

b2) i mean. poison ivy is also an ecoterrorist, i just always assumed she got labeled as anti-hero instead was cuz she was a sexy lady and ppl dont look too far past that.

-i really think the al ghuls just need to go bother some not-bats for like. 5 minutes. honestly, im not saying its not also racism, cuz it definitely is, but also its a 'every batman villain has to be A Batman Villain And Nothing Else' thing that the writers do. joker at least makes sense, but like half of batman's rogues gallery has shifted from 'villain batman regularly fights to stop their evil schemes' to 'person personally invested in killing batman who has no other priorities'. actually a lot of dc's villains in general have become more like that. nobody has plots or crimes that arent just attempts to kill their assigned heroes anymore. its incredibly frustrating to read.

-tim hasnt been robin since he became red robin? he had like one run before the reboot and since then, as far as ive seen, he's been acting as the leader of the titans as red robin or (ugh) drake (seriously who green lit that). aside from whatever the fuck the whole thing was when damian was dead and everyone wore robin suits to get him back.

It's definitely not fair to put it all on Jason, but it's easier to do that and then 'fix' jay than it is to fix everything thats wrong with bruce lol. lowkey highkey i feel like jason's lack of relationships outside of his ties to the batfam after he came back is incredibly fucked and not great for a persons mental health and something ppl should explore more lol

Task Force Z #6 reiterated that Jason has qualms calling Bruce his father or speaking about how it’s his father that he wants to speak to, not Batman. It’s Bruce that only sees Jason as his “fault”. Jason accuses Bruce of seeing him as a weapon and Bruce doesn’t even deny it. But then everyone will turn around and write all the “Jason comes home because he stops being an idiot and realizes Bruce obviously loves him and would never not want to be his dad” their hearts desire.

[tealeaves-rp]

Welcome to Tea Leaves RP, INGRID, please grab a pot and pour a cup for yourself and WILLIAM MULCIBER!

We are excited to see your take on Ol’ Mulci with his ego, masculinity, and flower laden tea. Please link us to a blog within 24 hours.

II. CHARACTER STATS:

NAME: William Caius Mulciber “Ol’ Mulci” to close friends and acquaintances, a nickname he despises; “Will” to his parents, “Willy” to Mary behind closed doors —- NOTE: I am willing to change the nicknames if the players for Charlie and Mary differ in preference!

BIRTHDATE/AGE: January 2; 24

GENDER IDENTITY & PRONOUNS: he/him and cis male

WAND: After his father’s death, it only made sense for him to get a wand; there was nothing stopping him, after all, besides his mother’s anxiety, and that was easy to overstep. Stepping into the storefront of Ollivander, it frustrated him that it took him several tries to get a custom made wand — at long last, he received a telegram from him: “It’s ready.” Arriving impatiently at Ollivander’s, he listened to the man’s long lecture about proper wandcraft before at last collecting his eleven-inch, ash wand with a core of unicorn hair.

III. DESIRED CHANGES (if none, leave blank):

CHARACTER CHANGES: William didn’t murder his father, exactly; but when the elder Mulciber fell ill, he may have used low quality water for his tea and swapped the hearty green tea for a far cheaper brew. Mary knows this and it is a matter of trust between them — there are not many people William trusts so implicitly, but Mary is one of them.

FC CHANGES: no change, I adore Godfrey Gao!

ADDITIONAL CHARACTERS: n/a

IV. CHARACTERIZATION DETAILS:

SOCIAL POSITION: The Mulcibers’ place was very established towards the top, although they know they are not quite at the aerie in which the Blacks resided, which is why a marriage was essential to propel their heir to that place. The Mulcibers dealt in tea and other commodities, it was only that they gained an entrance into the Tibicena Line that they were able to begin trading in magical curios as well. William has reasserted the family as a sort of grounded sort, at least behind the scenes, by consorting with the lower classes on some level for the collection of favors and such.

EDUCATION: Early on, William was sent to a boarding school for those of his standing; in that raucous schoolboy epoch, he learned much of the ebb and flow of power, and how to control others. On a more practical level, he learned everything a young man was expected to learn — English, arithmetic, geography, Latin. He tried his hand at a variety of instruments but excelled in none (to the disappointment of his mother), but in horsemanship he was on the level of a deity. He enjoyed moving another being to his will, breaking it, and was quite adept at it if the words of his superiors meant anything. During the holidays, he would stay at his family’s manor, and his days would be consumed with Mary, his effusive maid, his wixen maid. They became quite close, a sort of escape from his other duties — William learned a number of small tricks, like unlocking doors and basic Transfiguration. She was quite adept at stroking his ego and making him feel important, something he always hungered for subconsciously.

DAILY GRIND: William wakes up early, kisses his wife on the cheek, and makes his way to the dock. After being debriefed for the day by his assistant, he exchanged words with Macnair, and hangs about in his office for some hours before returning home. Everyone knows that while William is through Andromeda a large stakeholder of the Tibicena Line, he is able to delegate most of his responsibilities to lesser (less ostensibly wealthy) souls. In the evenings, he often prepares for various social gatherings, such as balls, dances, dinners and the like, many of which are tributaries from which stem great offers for business. Every once in a while he shows his close associates some tricks — small, albeit wondrous yet tricks — that may help in garnering a deal. His nights are often spent with Mary, his wife blissfully asleep at the other end of the house.

THE TEA: Rose milk tea: This non traditional tea was first made for him by his mother. Crafted with milk, rosewater, Earl Grey, and topped with a smattering of rose petals, he tended to hide his enjoyment of this tea from his close friends as it was seen as “too feminine”. Sometimes, he still has it and it brings to mind a healthy hearth and his mother, soft and weak, a ghost of a woman, her entire being present in that concoction — it has dubious magical properties, but it instilled in the drinker a sort of atavic epiphany. Earl Grey with Lemongrass: This is more or less William’s signature blend; strong and resolute possessing once again dubious magical properties, he has it every morning with breakfast. Some may criticize it as a “dull” tea, but in its harsh simplicity William finds grace and beauty. The drinker can often expect alertness afterwards, although William swears it increases potency.

GOALS: — GOAL ONE: POWER & CONTROL. Although not as Machiavellian as he likes think himself to be, for most if not all of his life William has been fixated on the collection and allocation of power. A significant step was his marrying Andromeda, and that has increased his confidence and ego as well. Erstwhile the disappointment — his father was especially harsh, and his possessing magical abilities had to be kept very hush-hush, he has rose above what his father thought of him to become a patriarch of sorts. Whether it be concerning his wife — as lovely a distraction as Mary is, there is something about Andromeda’s pattern of life that bothers him — or the Tibicena Line, if he is lacking in any area he is most likely to increase his efforts tenfold to remedy it. 

— GOAL TWO: OMNISCIENCE & OMNIPOTENCE. At heart an intensely traditional and conservative individual, it bothers him that he is not yet an expert where it concerns magic and magical artifacts. Hence his materialism, his need for more — more teachings from Mary, more collection of magical curio, more ability to direct the shipping (the who, what, and where of it) and while not lacking the wherewithal to take things in his own hands, William rather lacks the confidence. He rather thinks it only natural that a company headed in part by matriarchs is so bereft with trouble with every corner, and is hoping to charm his wife and his sister-in-laws into increasing his status. 

— GOAL THREE: LIBERTY, DEAD. While a wix, Mulciber is very much against the Wixen Rights Movement, for it rather serves his purposes to have the wixen be a downtrodden people. He often feigns support for such zealots as Narcissa, but widespread rights for wixen at all levels of society — why, he shudders at the very thought.

V. CHARACTER  INTRODUCTION:

“Put your arm around mine.” William said, delivered more as a command than anything else, directed at his betrothed, Andromeda. She yielded, her hand a stark white against his navy suit. A sharp exhale on her side, his quick, brusque — “Shall we enter, then?” A curt nod from his betrothed, and the door was opened.

Before them was the drawing room of the Black manor, a sampling of the vast plate that was the Black clan. William could recite all of their names by now — Druella, Walburga, Bellatrix, Narcissa.

“William, is it?” Walburga said sharply. Gazing at her and gauging her to be one of the two Tibicena matriarchs, he smiled graciously, bowing and kissing her hand. “William Mulciber.” He said, delivering the name like a gift.

“Where’s your mother?” Druella said, her lips pursed at him. William smiled at her, as well; seeing the dark look in her eyes, he recognized the tinge of desperation in it. Andromeda wasn’t as glittering as her sisters, but it was an offering he would gladly take.

“She’s ill,” Mulciber said, before kissing her hand as well. It was a half-truth, coated in gossamer; in a way, his mother was always ill, bedridden for one reason or another, so it really took nothing at all for her to feign it a bit more to evade this particular escapade. “She sends her best regards, however. And this —“ Carefully he passed a letter with the Mulciber signet on it. Druella and Walburga took turns hunching over it, deciphering his mother’s hasty scrawl. Nothing of particular note in it, just excuses and niceties, the usual playacting that must take place in these deals. William had promised to support her when he secured the inheritance, so his weak-willed mother had easily bent into being a full-fledged backer of the match.

Walburga flared her nostrils at him, and leaned into Druella, whispering something in her ear. He could imagine what they were saying — they knew of his abilities through the canals of gossip but not much else but that he may be nothing more than an opportunistic cur. Not so terribly distant from the truth, but he had layers upon layers to convince them he was anything but.

But none of that became necessary, as they exchanged a few glances before saying together, simply: “We’ll keep in contact.”

A misleading answer, draped in ambiguity for the sake of it; an hour later when a messenger was sent to the Mulciber estate to notify them that they would meet later to plan the wedding, he smiled, and began to prepare his tea.

VI. MUN BACKGROUND QUESTIONS:

What is your ideal game? I usually tend towards literate HP RPs, and this is the most AU I have ever applied for — usually I’m into canon-heavy Riddle or Marauder era, slight AU but nothing too canon-divergent. This is rather a novel experience for me and I hope I can do this rendition of Marauder-era Mulciber justice!  

What is your least favorite element of this game? 
Honestly, I wish there was more darkness, more inclusion of a Death Eater-like sect, although contrarily that is part of what I like about this RP in all its unorthodoxy.

I chose this character because… 
I picked up a Mulciber over at Morsmordre RP, a marauders RP, my first time doing so, and I have thus far enjoyed it immensely. Playing a male character with such a large ego and too much power who is so easily emasculated — I very much like dissecting such a character over many, many plotlines. I also enjoy the flip regarding Mary — usually painted as Mulciber’s victim, now more or less his puppeteer.