#but since those two characters Do seem to actually be on a battlefield together & i'm sure that the gettysburg scenes are a prominent part

[unproduciblesmackdown]

i do keep laughing at the particular in-characterness manifestation of their starting every answer with "i am illiterate,"

[gvtted-ratz]

read all our tags/ratings. they r important n give u all u need 2 decide if u wanna actually read or not. do not like the tags/rating? do not read.

FEM ALIGNING/IDENTIFYING PPL (unless mutuals/friends) DNI WITH OUR MLM WORKS. fem ppl can still request tho. respect our wishes or get blocked. yes we do read/check everything. we tag appropriately/use tags that go with our posts.

want 2 request? find the rules: here!

want 2 see all the fics? find em: here!

Mission Failed

Simon “Ghost” Riley x M!Reader x John “Soap” MacTavish

Last Edited: 17/03/2023

TW: slight angst, foul language, violence, blood, gore, gunshot wound, death mention

@denzellovehazelnuts: Hi! hope you have a good day! Can you do a poly "Ghost x male reader x Soap" (if you comfortable writing poly relationship) with slow burn, angst and fluff at the end? Where Ghost and Soap already in a relationship until the reader came into their team The two male thought the reader wasn't talkative around people but few weeks later, things change at first Ghost seems interesting in the male skill using gun and how fast he can run and Soap like the male sense of humour. Both of them thought it only a friendship type of things. Until the male save Ghost from the enemy on the battlefield and him laughing at Soap jokes. That when the two males known what happen to them, they weren't sure if M/n would comfortable in a relationship with them, so they start doing small things for him like making coffee or helping training,.. And M/n notice it, he even started to fall for the both of them. But he keep denying the things they did for him because he thought that what friend do. and M/n don't think he is ready for a new relationship, he wasn't sure he is good enough for them (the male got trauma from the previous relationships) (more angst please, I would like to suffer for a little bit) (・∀・) After a while, the three of them got into a mission together, everything went good until the male got shot. He thought he going to be de@d soon (only to find out that he only got shot at his leg) so M/n confessed how he feel about the two of them. (andddd I don't know what to do with the ending cause I'm ran out of idea. I would want to see how the treated each other when got into a relationship. Sorry about the grammar, English isn't my first language)

Word Count: 2,654

AO3 LINK -> HERE

Notes: hiiii! i dont do heavy angst but i did do some u know? slow burn it is!!! srry it took so long! irl things hold me back a lot. N since u wanted slow burn, n with all that uve put (about 350 words of things i can work on/with 2 get this drawn out as a full-on fic!! yay!) i had 2 like. try n put all u wanted in there so yea! hope u enjoy!! also! i threw in some other characters like gaz n roach. hope u dont mind em being in here since this is like, a mash of cod n codmw2 (canon? what cancon?) cause i rlly do wanna put some other characters in here that i find interesting n build some sort of character/personality 4 the reader. reader deserves some cool friends-2-brothers!

At first, you hadn’t wanted to join Task Force 141. You were comfortable with your position as the quiet, but light on your feet, knife specialist. Well, that wasn’t truly your title. You were just good with knives. You weren’t too shotty with a gun either. Either weapon being in your hands meant blood was going to be shed. KorTac needed those types, especially those who could use it to get in as well as out; you also couldn’t forget about using your skills to get information. Torturing the prisoners wasn’t something you particularly liked, but you were good at it too. Combining your skills with knives and guns, it truly was hell for anyone on the opposite side of your team. You also couldn’t forget that, out of the others, you were much faster. Sure, some could still beat you at times but that didn’t mean you weren’t good. Bets had been constantly taking place with you, along with others as it was one of the few things any of you could do to pass the time in a less-than-bloody manner.

The transfer from KorTac to Task Force 141 wasn’t smooth. Horangi, or Kim Hong-jin, didn’t let you go for weeks. You were part of his team, one of his men. The leader of KorTac is what most of you saw him as. He knew many of you like the back of his hand. Not to mention, a tiger can be cruel but would never devour its cubs for no reason, well, as some say. As far as you knew, because you were all together, you were a team and therefore family. While there were others who didn’t get along, out in the field, all of you had each other’s back. Very rarely did anyone get left to perish to the enemy.

With all that in mind, it took weeks for him to let you go. More or less, Laswell was the one to convince him; that is if you call bringing each plus every person in KorTac to ruins as “convincing”. She wanted you on a team she could keep tabs on you; doubting her power and skills was out of the question. Which meant leaving KorTac to ensure that everyone else was free from possible imprisonment or death was necessary.

Fitting in wasn’t too hard considering most of the people there were from all over the place. While it’s odd for a member from another team to suddenly appear on another, it didn’t bother most of the others. Just from a glance, you could tell who was into who; as well as who exactly was in a relationship. A man by the name of Ghost including another called Soap, you knew were together. Soap flirted with almost everyone, though it was more teasing and lighthearted. With Ghost though? The flirting went up by twenty percent. His dial for teasing went up tenfold too. Meanwhile, Ghost hardly looked at anyone else, nevertheless, stare at them unless they were the Scottish man. Frankly, you didn’t mind. Who were you to judge the two? Especially when they were good at what they did.

It takes weeks before you’re comfortable enough to so much as talk to anyone 141. Gaz, or Kyle as Soap tended to call him when annoyed, is the first to so much as approach you. While the others are interested, you coming from KorTac had put them off for a bit. Gaz on the other hand treats you like a brother. He’ll throw his arm around your shoulder, dragging you around as he laughs about the past or even at your jokes. At meals, he always throws a raised eyebrow at those who look at you oddly when you’re quiet or sitting with the man. He treats you like you’re part of the team, furthermore, that truly means more than anything to you.

The man is just as bloodthirsty as you are. His stories of falling out of planes along with taking out enemies only lead to you looking up to your new teammate and brother. His tales of meeting Captain Price, past missions, a few tidbits of him being with the SAS, together with some metals he’s earned, only makes you want to pry more stories from the man; not like you don’t have to try. Simply asking about his stories leads to at least an hour-long spill of them from the guy.

And with his stories comes a few of your own. You don’t share much of them, knowing Gaz spreads them to the rest of the team with more dramatics to try to get you to interact with the others. Something you do learn about him that you always keep in mind from his stories is that his blood type is B Negative and shooting any dog, wild or not, makes him feel a bit guilty; he had to shoot one a while ago and apologised to the poor mutt after having to put it down to finish his mission.

With all that he’s shared and how the both of you see each other as brothers, it’s only fair that you let yourself talk to the others in the team. Though your words are short, along with your jokes being told quickly to distract yourself from the stressful situations, you allow yourself to slowly relax with the others. Gaz’s constant support helps you finally allow yourself to bond with your new team and family. It’s only after a mission that things change. 

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

“Take the left! Keep your heads down and keep movin’!” Captain Price’s voice rings out in your earpiece. Everything has gone to shit. The intel you’ve been getting was entirely a trap. You’re running through an underground tunnel, Ghost and another man named Roach is running in front of you.

Roach is a quiet man, never talking or letting out a sound, but semi-friendly. From his actions and what you’ve been told of him, he does his best to complete the missions to the tea. The few interactions you’ve had with him were silent but nice. Whether or not he’s mute has crossed your mind time and mind again but you don’t ask; you’d rather leave the man be. After all, he has become something like a friend maybe even another brother.

“Copy. We’re nearly out. Roach and [Redacted] are with me,” Ghost responds, quickening his pace. The rifle smacks against your back as you speed up to keep up with the other two men. Despite the situation, the three of you remain as calm as you can be.

“You’re bein’ tracked like a rabbit is by a hound, Ghost! Move it!” The captain’s orders are clear and the worry is read between the lines. If you three don’t get out, it’s a huge blow to 141. Not only that, but Soap loses his boyfriend, Gaz loses two of his best friends as well as brothers, you three lose your lives, and Task Force 141 loses three of its members. Dying isn’t an option here.

“We have company,” Your words are muffled by your gear but the two soldiers in front of you hear them in their own pieces.

“Fuckin’ hell-” Ghost’s sentence gets cut off by gunfire from behind. Turning around, you fire the Lachmann Sub in your possession.

“We gotta go! They’re gaining!” You clip one of the enemies in the shoulder and another is hit in the stomach. Picking up the speed, the three of you try to beat them out of the tunnel. You cover the back, hoping the two get out before you. If you get surrounded, it’s over.

Thankfully, they haven’t reached the other end of the tunnel as the three of your burst out of the exit. You grab a grenade, pull the pin and throw it in the tunnel. As soon as it leaves your hands, you’re running faster to get to Roach and Ghost before anything else can; one arm wraps around each of your teammates’ necks, dragging them down to the ground as the little metal bomb goes off. Debris flies everywhere, looking for an area to land after being shot out of its place.

With the tunnel exist now collapsed along with no more flying rock and metal, you release the men. “How copy?” Crackles through each of your earpieces. You knock your forearm into Roach’s upper arm, eyes crinkling from your smile. He gives you a grateful nod, standing. You smack Ghost’s arm as he stands, glad to have escaped the enemies for now.

“Tunnel’s collapsed. We’re good. Ready for extraction, Sir,” Blunt and straight to the point are the skull-masked man’s words.

“Good. Heli’s close by. Move to the edge of the town.” With the three of you alive, you can practically feel Captain Price’s relief.

“Copy that, Captain,” Your muffled response comes before Ghost can send in his own. He scans you from the corner of his eye but doesn’t give you a retort. You do, however, hear a small huff of air leave him. You throw your arm around Roach’s neck again, puffs of air leaving you from happiness, meanwhile, his arm comes around your back. Seems the three of you live another day.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

After that mission, Ghost tends to lurk around you more than he originally had. It didn’t help that Soap tends to tag along as well. Thankfully, he finds your jokes hilarious if the loud, boisterous laughter he lets out all the time tells you anything. His teasing ends up piling onto you as well. Before, it was light as well as spread out. Now, it’s almost like he’s talking to Ghost with all the teasing and flirting he now does with you. His boyfriend hardly seems concerned but rather encourages his behaviour. Of course, that doesn’t mean he goes easy on you when the two of your spar together. He’s dead serious when it comes to sparring; it’s only a reminder that while he does good off, he’s just as dangerous as the rest of them.

The two men seem to be fixated on wanting to help you out in training as well. More pointers plus tips are thrown your way when you practice with either of them. Sometimes, they’ll even make you coffee for those sleepless nights. Mentioning such things to Gaz and Roach only leads to your sworn brothers giving you knowing looks or a few teasing words; Gaz is the one with the teasing remarks while Roach pats your shoulder in a mocking but teasing “you poor man” way. Neither seems keen on wanting to spill the tea on why the Scottish and British men have been more affectionate.

While you enjoy their kind gestures, including their company, you’re not sure if you’re ready to admit to yourself, or them, about such feelings or relationships. On the surface, you truly do want to ask them if this is some sort of flirting schtick they have going on. Deep down though, the idea of being with anyone again makes your stomach fill with the lead. How could you enter another relationship? After the last one ended with your soon-to-be fiance’s brains splattered all over a brick wall. How can you move past that? How can you allow yourself to find someone like them? Or even better than them? The answer to that is a sigh alongside a bitter smile. The ring hiding under your tactical gloves seems to burn your skin. Truly, how can you let your first love go? After all, if you weren’t good enough to keep them alive, how can you keep these two from meeting the same gorey end?

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

“To think I’d find myself here… How fuckin’ funny,” You mumble. Another mission, this one just like all the others. Well, it would have been if you hadn’t been shot. The blood leaking from your leg alongside a knife wound to your side leave you in pain. Feeling weak isn’t something uncommon but neither is it constantly happening. Words are being spoken to you through your headset. You were to be the lookout but ended up being the enemy's first target.

“How copy?” Rings in your ears. Your eyes stare blankly in front of you. You feel pathetic. Too tired to talk. Too tired to get up. You just sit, popped up against a tree in the heavily wooded area. You’ve failed, failed, failed.

“C’mon, Mate, how do ya copy?” Soap’s voice is worried and winded. He and Ghost are the people you’ve been teamed up with and you’ve failed.

“[Redacted], how copy?” The next tone is Ghost’s. It sounds slightly strained.

“Mission Failed,” You croak, head tilted back and against the tree.

“Status report, Mate. Where are ya?” He’s rushing, possibly panicked now.

“Got two wounds. Gunshot to the thigh. Knife to the side. Bleeding pretty bad, Soap.” You close your eyes, sighing.

“State your location.” The Brit seems to be just as worried as his Scottish counterpart.

“Dunno. Woods. Against a tree… There’s a lot of blood. Feelin’ woozy.” When you open your eyes, your sight is blurred. You’re losing too much blood.

“Keep talkin’ to us then, yeah? You’ll make it out. We’ll get out together,” The Scot’s words, though hopeful, only make you scoff quietly.

“You know… If I get outta here… Think we can go out sometime? Bourbon and whiskey? The three of us?”

“When we get out, [Redacted]. There’s no if here,” The masked man makes it sound final like there’s no way you’ll die on them.

“Yeah… Yeah..” You don’t say anymore, everything slowly hazing away. It’s like your floating in winter with how cold you feel.

“[Redacted]? Don’t sleep! C’mon! Keep ya eyes open!” Soap’s words fade away along with everything else. All that waits is cold darkness.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

“So… Think you can handle our drinking date after this?” Soap perches on the side table, messing with a lighter he took from Ghost.

“After he’s healed, Johnny. No alcohol before,” A semi-scolding is all the man gets from the brooding Ghost. You laugh slightly, jostling your wounds. You wince but wave off the concerned looks you get.

“After I’m no longer full of holes, Johnny-boy.” You take a sip of water afterwards, making Soap frown playfully.

“And to think I was gonna bring out the good shit fer ya. A shame. A damn shame.” You gently shake your head. It was a close call but Ghost got to you before you completely bled out. From what you’ve been told by Gaz, who yelled at you for an hour after you woke up from your four-day sleep, Ghost and Soap dragged you back to the helicopter. Both refused to leave your side. Captain Price ended up having to yell at the men and bribe them with a bit of alcohol to get them to even go to their own rooms. You made sure to apologize to Gaz, hugging him tightly after his blow-up. He thought he was going to lose a friend and family member so you couldn’t blame him.

Roach gave you the cold should for a while before appearing in your room with a cup of coffee. He made sure to smack the back of your head for your stupidity as well, though it was hardly rough. You grabbed the man before he could so much as bolt though when he saw you getting up to hug him. He hadn’t pushed you away though. And the captain? It felt like you were a kid again with how he pinned you with his stare. He made sure to tell you exactly how he felt, going from angry, to disappointed, to angry again. Another guy you couldn’t blame anything on. But you get to live another day at least. And you get to have that date with the two guys who were able to grab ahold of your heart after a long-time of heartache and loss.

[tomhollandnet]

At 25, 'Spider-Man: No Way Home' star Tom Holland navigates fame, relationships and his Marvel future with a renewed sense of patience.

Tom Holland, the current big-screen Spider-Man, can count testicular fortitude as one of his super-strengths – no radioactive spider bite needed.

Two years ago when negotiations between Sony (which owns the rights to Spidey) and Disney completely broke down, shutting Spider-Man out of future appearances in the Marvel Cinematic Universe where he’d made a home, Holland reached out to then-Disney CEO Bob Iger to save the deal.

“There was definitely a little bit of liquid courage involved with that exchange,” Holland recalls. “People seem to think that I was in these business meetings between these huge tycoons, but I wasn't. I basically just called up one of them and cried on the phone and was like, ‘Please fix this.’ And he did!”

The 25-year-old British actor’s love for his popular web-swinging character is obvious in those behind-the-scenes scraps but also when he lays it all on the MCU battlefield as Peter Parker in “Spider-Man: No Way Home” (in theaters Friday). It's a multiverse-spanning adventure that concludes the trilogy started with 2017’s “Spider-Man: Homecoming.”

With OGs like Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans no longer around, Holland has arguably become the face of the MCU, though he’ll politely disagree.

“People keep saying that to me and I don't know how true that is,” says Holland, who was introduced as Spidey in 2016’s “Captain America: Civil War” and had high-profile appearances in the last two “Avengers” films. “One day maybe it will be Spider-Man and maybe that will still be me, maybe it'll be the next young kid, I'm not sure. But it's very flattering to hear that and it's nice to see that my hard work has paid off.”

Since Holland’s first audition opposite Downey, “No Way Home” producer and Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has seen him maintain a "kind and level-headed" demeanor. "He has grown and matured even more as a performer and an actor, from literally within the MCU as a wide-eyed kid stepping into this bigger world to now in a lot of ways having that world on his shoulders," Feige says. "And yet with that Peter Parker-esque humility, which really I think says a lot about who he is and how he was raised.”

“No Way Home” gives Holland a chance to act alongside some cinema greats: Alfred Molina (as Doc Ock), Jamie Foxx (Electro) and Willem Dafoe (Green Goblin) all make their MCU debuts, reprising their villain roles from past “Spider-Man” movies. Holland especially got a kick out of working through a fight scene with a "terrifying" Dafoe. “He is a real sweetheart. But I remember when we were doing it, looking at him like, ‘That's not Willem. Willem's gone. Goblin is here to stay.’ ”

Peter, his girlfriend MJ (Zendaya) and best pal Ned (Jacob Batalon) also have to worry about getting into college, which made Holland think about perhaps going back to school. “I don't know what I would study (but) actually getting an education, it would be quite fun,” he says. A more relatable plot point for him is Peter having his Spidey secret identity outed and dealing with being in the public eye.

This summer, paparazzi snapped a picture of Holland and Zendaya, longtime rumored love interests, sharing a kiss in a car. And recently in New York City, the two went out and “were followed by like 15 people,” Holland says. “That's never going to feel normal and it's always going to make me feel funny but we're doing it together.”

He counts Zendaya – who like Holland has been acting and performing since childhood – as one person who’s been “really instrumental in the sanity that I have right now and the fact that I have not lost my mind. It's an interesting life.”

Holland “actually gained a lot more patience” and developed a "chill" attitude this year, “whereas before I used to get really, really worked up about things that are way, way out of my control.” That will help him as his Hollywood career continues to skyrocket: He next plays opposite Mark Wahlberg in the action-adventure “Uncharted” (in theaters Feb. 18), produces and stars in the upcoming Apple TV+ anthology series “The Crowded Room,” and has signed on to star as song-and-dance man Fred Astaire in an upcoming biopic.

Holland likes the “responsibility” of introducing a Hollywood legend to a younger generation. “It's also just nice for me to put the tap shoes back on,” says the actor, who got his start in a West End production of “Billy Elliot the Musical.”

“We’re still at very, very early stages, looking for directors, which is really exciting. It's also very stressful. I miss the days where you get a job and just get told who you're working with.”

"No Way Home" producer Amy Pascal wants him back in his Spidey suit for another trilogy, telling Fandango that the new film “is not the last of our MCU movies.” Holland’s just glad that he went snowboarding for a couple of weeks in Montana after wrapping earlier this year.

“I have a hilarious photo of me FaceTiming Zendaya with blood all down my face because I'd fallen over,” Holland says with a laugh. “So when I saw that I apparently signed onto three more movies, I was like, ‘Ah, (crap), I'm going to have to cancel my next skiing holiday.”

[alison-anonymous]

I Want to Write a Mikayuu Series

Okay.

So um.

If you're reading this, HELLO. All of you long time ONS fans probably don't know me, but I'm Alison and I'm a hardcore Mikayuu, Mitsunoa, Gureshin, etc shipper. I've been in the ONS fandom for almost a year and dear god. The amount of people telling me that Mikayuu is queerbait is just making me really sad 😅 I'm a writer, and I'm the type of person who honestly feels like the author of a series should have the ability to choose how a story ends without influence of their readers. I mean, if it's their story, then it should be their ending, right? However, I also do have some qualms when it comes to how this "love triangle" between Yu, Mika, and Shinoa is being portrayed. This is entirely my personal opinion, but I feel like Shinoa seems to be forcing herself to love Yu. I honestly don't think she cares for him in a romantic way, but more of a very deep-rooted admiration or even envy that she's trying to convince herself to be romantic love. And Yu has said multiple times that he values Mika's life above his own, that he doesn't know what he would do without him if he were to die again (I mean the fact that he suffered seeing his best friend and potential lover die a first time was definitely scarring enough, PLEASE STOP TORTURING OUR POOR BABIES). And it's basically confirmed by now that when Mika said I love you in the manga, it was in the romantic sense. Even though I wish, I hope, I dream, and I pray that Mikayuu will become canon, I honestly can't say for certain what I think will happen. I think it could sway any way, with Mikayuu becoming canon, Yu and Shinoa becoming canon, or it being one of those ambiguous endings where it's heavily implied but nothing actually happens. And in order to make myself feel better when stuff like this happens, I tend to rewrite the entire story with the ending that I would have liked to see ;)

You're probably wondering where the hell this stranger is going with this. Well, I want to write a book. A series, actually.

One that's inspired by Seraph of the End.

Now, if you're interested in hearing me out, then feel free to keep reading. But if not, continue on with your scrolling, no hard feelings. But if you do, and I really hope that you do, give me a chance to explain.

I want to write a series inspired by Seraph of the End called Bloodsucker (working title, obviously). And this series is going to be a reimagination of ONS with an ending that I would have loved to see in the anime and manga. I plan to have three main characters (please keep in mind that I'm going to have name changes): Yuichiro, Mikaela, and a brand new character, Epic.

Now, I would begin this series a bit before the anime and I'm assuming the manga begins. I'd start with introducing our main three characters as they meet in the orphanage (yes, Epic would be a part of this orphanage as well) and how Epic and Yu try to make moves to run away only to be stopped by Mika and Akane.

I plan to include a scene between Epic and Akane where Epic tries to run out in the middle of the night only to be stopped by Akane, and this is what caused Epic to develop a crush on her (Epic is a girl btw). Then I would begin the whole shit with the vampires and how they set the world on fire and shit, but instead of the apocolypse, I'd make it so that most of the adults died in the fire while the kids were taken alive (because young blood is better and whatnot). This includes our little Hyakuya family. The directors would have tried to trade the kids lives for their own, and due to their selfishness, the vamps killed them and took the kids anyway.

This would begin my first story arc: the prewar.

Epic, Akane, Mika, and Yu would all be living under the vampires at this point along with the rest of the kids in their orphanage. I plan to include lots of moments of bonding that heavily imply Epic loves Akane even though she doesn't know it yet and Mika loves Yu, but Yu is fucking oblivious. The four begin to plot their escape, but while Mika and Akane (yes Akane too) are making deals with the vampires to help out with their family, Epic is constantly finding herself getting dragged along to visit Queen Krul. The pink haired vamp has a soft spot for her for some reason and often tells her that Epic and her family are "special" or sum shit. And she's super confused and semi grossed out. But none of the vamps ever dare to hurt her so she thinks it's fine. Then one day they all plot their escape and it's much more planned out and lengthy and less rushed than it is in the anime. Things almost seem to work out until the vampires stop them

And Mika and Akane DIE.

I know. I'm horrid.

Epic is standing here in shock as she watches the love of her life die before her and Mika BEGS for Yu to take Epic and run while they can. So while in the series only Yu survives, he obeys Mika and both him and Epic survive this. They're found by Guren (a new character I haven't come up with yet lol) and Yu is super protective over Epic, not wanting anyone to take the only piece of his family he has left (he's a fucking mess without Mika let's just be honest) and Guren ends up taking them under his wing.

Now we hit the second arc. Still with me?

The War.

Hold onto your hats everyone because this is where shit is about to get complicated. So I do plan to have a bit of a time skip into the current spot where Yu and Epic are attending school with Guren as their father figure and they've become very close. So close that Yu refuses to work with anyone else but her. They end up getting onto Shinoa Squad (obviously going to be completely different in my version) and they get put onto the battlefield. But here's the catch. Well, two catches.

Yu and Epic do have demon weapons. I do plan to try to incorporate that into this. BUT the backstory is different. I plan to make it so that the vampires obviously see the humans as fies. Insignificant things that are more playthings than threats. And they didn't want to have to deal with killing all of them, so they sent demons in their place to handle it. But the humans were able to form deals or "contracts" with the demons and therefore turned the vampires' own secret weapon against them.

Now, catch no. 2

So, Epic, Mika, and Yu aren't seraphs in this. But they are something else. I'm going to try to explain this as simply as I can, but each of them (besides Mika since he doesn't have a demon) have 3 souls inside their body:

Soul 1 is their current soul, the one that identifies as Mika or Epic or Yu.

Soul 2 is their demon soul, like what Asuramaru is to Yu.

And soul 3 is their archangel soul (I might change that name later on).

So I'm just going to come right out and say it. In this series, Epic is the villain.

Yes.

You read that right.

Epic is the villain. But she doesn't know that she is. These Soul 3s were reincarnated into the current bodies of Mika, Epic, and Ari (and I know that's not exactly how it works but screw logic this is just a fucking concept) from their lives centuries ago.

These souls existed way before vampires existed and Epic (or Essie) was very close friends with Yu (or Aytigin). Aytigin was in love with Haru (Mika) but for one reason or another, they couldn't be together. Essie wanted to do something, willing to do anything to make the two of them happy. So she made a deal that brought the vampires into creation so that Haru and Aytigin could be happy. She was willing to sacrifice everything that they stood for so that the two of them could be in love together.

She had good intentions, but of course Haru and Aytigin were furious because now the vampires were turning against the humans and they all basically died. Until they were reborn respectively, but unknowingly.

Now picking back up in the present, Yu and Epic are fighting in one of the main battles and the two are very confused when the vampires make a very deliberate attempt not to hurt Epic. They're unsure as to why, but Guren tells them not to worry about it.

Suspicious bastard.

Anyway, it's revealed finally that MIKA IS ALIVE

BUT HE'S ALSO DEAD

Yes he is a vampire. And Yu falls in love all over again upon seeing him, and after a bunch of struggling, Epic gets kidnapped. At first she gets strangled by Lacus and then she gets kidnapped by Ferid who doesn't kill her surprisingly.

Oh and uh... Ferid is nice in this. He's still a fucking creep, but he's a lot nicer than he is in the series. I plan to make Queen Krul or whoever I turn her into be the villain.

Anyway, they take Epic back to the vampire palace or whatever and Queen Krul and Epic are reunited! And Krul is the one who reveals to Epic exactly who she, Mika, and Yu are and this is what sparks Epic's fall to insanity.

I mean, she's the killer. She's the one who brought them into this world. She's responsible for every death the vampires cause.

I would go crazy too.

So, she manages to escape (partially thanks to Mika) and the two join Yu and the others again and it's revealed a second time exactly what is going on. And while no one actually blames Epic on the Shinoa Squad, that doesn't stop people like Kureto and even herself from blaming.

And this causes her demon to go haywire.

She begins losing her marbles, almost killing her teammates and trying to kill herself, all while the three begin to experience dreams or visions of their Soul 3s.

While all this shit is going on, there's heavy romance between Mika and Yu because these two lovers just got reunited and FUCK did they have glow ups but yes -

Oh. And there is another spark for Epic, even though she doesn't think she's worthy of love.

Okay. I'm just gonna say it.

Lacus falls in love with Epic. Yes. You read that correctly too.

I plan to make the two of them get trapped together at some point and they have to work together to escape. It's during this time that Epic realizes he's not all that bad and has some form of self control and he realizes that she's the most interesting thing he's ever met in this disgusting and boring life and damn do her eyes look pretty-

But yes. She forms a permanent alliance with him that he jokes about as marriage and they meet on other occassions too, but lol yes.

Anyway, blah blah blah, more fall to insanity, the Soul 3s take over their bodies on multiple occasions and there's a lot of bonding and fighting and Epic and Mika somehow manage to get some of the vampires on the human side.

And in the end, Epic and Yu basically sacifice themselves to save the human race and kill Queen Krul. It's a very rough ending I haven't quite perfected yet, but Yu has a moment like he did with the King of Salt. But though he inflicted a lot of damage, it's not enough. So while the team is worried about him, Epic takes this opportunity to fix her and Essie's mistakes.

She allows both Essie and her demon to take control of her body and dies on the battlefield. Queen Krul is eliminated. Most of the vampires are gone. The humans won.

Horray.

Epic is dead.

Kinda. Yu and Mika take her back home and this is the preview to the last arc where everyone's in the hospital and Epic's in a coma. Mika and Yu barely ever leave her side and it's only when Lacus of all people comes to visit that she fucking wakes up.

Okay. Are you still with me? Now come with me to the final arc.

The Post-War.

No my friend. It doesn't end there. Because Mika and Lacus are still vamps and life still sucks and I drank too much coffee this morning.

No it's not over yet.

So flash forward a couple years and Kureto and Crew are working as the heads of this city. Stuff is being rebuilt, people are settling down in homes, Lacus and some of the other "good" vampires find jobs, and Mika, Yu, and Epic get a house together (in case I didn't mention before, Epic is pansexual. She loved Akane dearly and I plan to include scenes where she sees her in her mind and dreams like Mikayuu so she's never truly gone, but she falls for Lacus too when he's not being a sadistic asshole). Things are going strangely when

BAM. Epic and Yu come up with a cure for vampirism.

How, you may ask? I don't fucking know, I haven't read about it in the manga yet but before we come up with an idea for it, imma say they came up with it through a spell. They share their findings with Guren and soon all vampires are being cured, most notably Mika, Lacus, and even Rene.

BUT and there's always a but, Kureto passes a new law claiming all vampires to be property. That any vampire or previous vampire or even vampire supporter/owner that tries to disobey these new laws is to be killed immediately. Now Epic and Yu are in jeopardy because their ex-vampires are in danger (Epic and Lacus have been hanging out a lot more and he's proven himself to be a decent guy. Contrary to popular belief, I headcanon him as not really knowing what to do when he actually cares about someone since he's been a heartless vamp for so long. So when he turns to Mika and begrudgingly asks him for LOVE ADVICE of all fucking things, Mika is ready to die). So basically, Mika and Lacus end up getting locked up along with the other ex-vamps (including Ferid which was a pain in the ass) and did I forget to mention that there's a proposal?

Oh yeah, Yu proposes to Mika and the blond still has yet to give him an actual answer because poor baby is still having a hard time accepting that Yu can love a "monster" like him.

But anyways, now Epic and Yu are furious and SHINOA SQUAD IS BACK IN BUSINESS. With the help of Guren and Shinya and everyone, they form a sort of rebellion and blah blah blah they manage to get Mika and Lacus and everyone out and blah blah blah they all get separated and Lacus begins to get INSANELY protective of Epic and ends up confessing his feelings to her before he nearly dies and blah blah blah did I forget to mention that I'm making Mitsunnoa and Kimizuki x Yoichi canon and blah blah blah.

Epic kisses Lacus as an instinct. Lacus kisses her again. Mika accepts Yu's proposal then almost dies AGAIN. I kill off some characters for emotional tugs and after a ton of more fighting and revenge and psychological breakings later, Kureto is killed. And Guren (or someone else haven't decided yet) is the new head of their city.

Epic, Mika, and Yu finally let Akane and the kids go. There's a lot of Shinoa Squad bonding but this is a summary so I haven't included much besides the main three. Epic and Lacus becomes canon. Mika and Yu get married. Guren and Shinya get married. Shinoa gets pregnant.

And everyone gets the FUCKING HAPPY ENDING THAT THEY ALL FUCKING DESERVE BECAUSE FUCK

I do plan to be slightly ruthless like the creator and include a lot of heartbreaking scenes, but it's going to be much different than ONS but I still want it to hold on to some core relationships.

I just want them to be happy. And I just want to make other people happy because fuck I JUST WANT TO BE HAPPY

So. Yeah.

That's Bloodsucker...

So my question to you is... if I wrote this shit.

If I sat down and typed about 30 books roughly inspired by Seraph of the End and Mikayuu and Mitsunnoa and shit...

Would anyone read it?

♡ a.a.

[xiyao-feels]

Nie//yao (MDZS)

So NMJ/JGY is actually getting two versions, because my read on them is wildly different for MDZS vs CQL.

In MDZS I...don't ship it? I mean, there just doesn't seem to be to be anything there at all of a romantic or sexual nature. It's not that they don't care about each other, they clearly do, but it's in a way that is...NMJ as substitute father, JGY as substitute brother, and heavily, heavily inflected by their (current and then former) relationship as superior and subordinate.

Putting this behind a cut because a) it's me explaining at breath length with quotes why I don't think they have a romantic or sexual relationship and I don't want people to have to see that unless they want and b) accordingly it is REALLY LONG and I also don't want to clutter people's dashes, so.

Actually backing up a step, I don't see MDZS NMJ as being attracted to anyone, that's not really specific to JGY. I tend to read him as aspec, tbh. So theoretically he could have romantic feelings about JGY without being attracted to him—I think he may have some quasi-romantic feelings for LXC, though I don't think he conceptualizes it that way—but... honestly, it's not really clear to me that he even likes JGY as a person.

I'm not saying he doesn't like JGY! He clearly does, at least before MY tricks him and flees. But it doesn't seem to have anything to do with MY's personality, as opposed to like—MY being really competent and conducting himself well.

Some quotes about what exactly NMJ values about JGY:

'Nie MingJue interrupted him, “I promoted you not because I wanted you to give back anything out of gratitude. I simply thought that you should stay in this position, since you are capable enough and your conduct is to my liking. If you really want to pay me back, just kill a few more of those Wen-dogs on the battlefield!”'

'After [Meng Yao] left [for Langya], Nie MingJue switched to another deputy. Wei WuXian, however, felt that the new one was always a few beats slower. Meng Yao was an unusually clever talent. He could understand what wasn’t said, and perform to the best with the simplest orders. He was efficient and never slacked. Anyone used to him wouldn’t be able to refrain from comparing him with others.'

'Nie MingJue was never close to people. He rarely opened up to anyone. Though he finally managed to obtain a competent, trustworthy subordinate, whose character and capabilities he approved, he found that the subordinate’s true colors were nothing like what he had thought they were. It was only natural that his reaction was so extreme.'

'Wei WuXian had once found it strange as well. Ever since Meng Yao betrayed the QingheNie Sect, the relationship between Nie MingJue and him hadn’t been the same as before. Then why did they later become sworn brothers? From his observations, aside from how Lan XiChen brought it up, having always hoped that the two would reconcile, the most important factor was probably the gratitude of saving his life and writing the letters. To be precise, in his past battles, he had more-or-less depended on the information that Meng Yao sent over through Lan XiChen. He still thought that Jin GuangYao was a talented person whom one would rarely come upon, and intended on leading him back onto the right path. However, Jin GuangYao wasn’t his subordinate anymore. Only after they became sworn brothers would he have the status and the position to urge Jin GuangYao, like how he disciplined his younger brother, Nie HuaiSang.'

Jin GuangYao spoke with dejection, “But, Brother, didn’t you hear what he said in the oath? Every sentence meant something more. ‘Face a thousand accusing fingers, be torn from limb to limb’—this was clearly a warning for me. I… I’ve never heard of such an oath before.”

Lan XiChen replied in a gentle voice, “He said ‘if one were to think otherwise’. Do you think otherwise? If not, then why should you worry over it so much?"

Jin GuangYao, “I don’t, but Brother has already decided that I do, so what can I do?”

Lan XiChen, “He has always cherished your talent, hoping that you would choose the right path.”

You might notice a recurring theme here: there's a lot of focus JGY's competence and conduct. But anything about who JGY is as a person? Not so much.

They clearly had a good superior/subordinate relationship going on, albeit one in which NMJ was missing a lot of context (see just behave well and show people up, plus the you're missing a solid foundation thing). But it does seem to be basically professional. WWX describes them as conversing "peaceably, even impressively" in contrast to "his future self, always being scolded by Nie MingJue" and "those jokes of how 'LianFang-Zun fled whenever he heard that ChiFeng-Zun arrived,'" and.... that's kind of it. The closest we get to them as friends is them talking together with LXC after NMJ tells MY he will give him a letter of recommendation and send him to his father; as WWX describes it, "The three chatted back and forth, at times serious, yet at times light. The conversation was much more relaxed than when they had been in the living room. Listening to their chatter, Wei WuXian often wanted to get a word in as well, yet he was unable to do so."

That's definitely not nothing! But it's also the most we ever get, only shows up the once, and is explicitly contrasted with their conversation from earlier. Moreover, I'm pretty sure LXC's presence is a necessary part of things; NMJ tends to respond differently to LXC than to other people (even just earlier in this chapter, we're told that while "Nie MingJue had never been one for humour," "in front of Lan XiChen his expression eased"), and WWX explicitly notes LXC's conversation skills in the context of this conversation: "At this point in time, their relationship really isn't bad. Zewu-Jun is actually quite good at holding conversations, so why is Lan Zhan so bad at it?"

In addition, I'd say that looking at the early part of that conversation is quite telling; while LXC and MY are sitting together as equals, MY stand up at once the moment NMJ interrupts, and doesn't sit even after NMJ tells him to do so (I think he probably does take a seat at some point, but the narrative doesn't actually tell us when). Moreover, MY seems to be worried that NMJ will be offended by a possible lack of gratitude on MY's part ("Sect Leader Nie, if you heard everything, then you should've also heard me say that..."), and the only objection he expresses to leaving is precisely that he owes NMJ a debt of gratitude, not anything to do with, like, missing him. To me all the evidence suggests that while they had a close relationship, it was not a /personal/ relationship, but fundamentally one of superior and subordinate.

(For a close read of the scene where NMJ, LXC and MY are talking together, I highly recommend @confusion-and-more's post here)

Moving on, let's look at after JGY becomes JGY. They don't seem to particularly spend time together with each other, certainly not for the sake of it. There's a brief moment at the Flower Banquet where NMJ asks JGY why he's wasting his time with XY (who has not at this point in time committed his crime, he just has a reputation), but after JGY makes his excuse and scurries away, NMJ turns away and doesn't seem to seek him out or even pay him any particular attention for the rest of the scene; he only shows up once more, and that's following WWX. (And although JGY-as-replacement-NHS would be a post all on its own, I do think it's interesting to note that the exchange about XY is immediately followed by LXC and LWJ coming over, described in a way that highlights both their impressiveness and their status at brothers—their Twin Jade-ness, one might say.) During the guqin scene, NMJ only speaks once, and it's to address LXC—to protest the inappropriateness of LXC leaking exclusive Lan techniques. When JGY shows up to play the guqin for him the first time, NMJ asks JGY "what did you come here for," which suggests that NMJ is not generally expecting JGY to come by without a specific, concrete reason. The closest they ever seem to get after JGY becomes JGY is during these guqin-playing sessions, and as WWX describes it, "when playing the guqin, the way that the two conversed and got along even had a hint of the peace they had before they fell out"—which is certainly better than there being no peace at all, but which I think suggests there's still at least some tension, given that it's only a "hint."

Now, NMJ certainly cares about JGY, both in the sense of desiring his well-being, at first, and absolutely in the sense of being emotionally invested in him—even after his death, as a fierce corpse his only desire is to kill Jin Guangyao. But while they had a close superior-subordinate relationship—certainly NMJ seems to have felt close to MY—at no point was it a close personal relationship, and I don't think that NMJ even liked JGY (or MY, I'm using the name expansively) as a person, let alone was in love with him.

But mostly so far I've been focusing in NMJ's feelings. What about JGY? Is /he/ in love with NMJ?

Once again, I just don't read him that way. This isn't to say he didn't care for NMJ—he absolutely did! He goes to quite significant lengths to save his life from WRH in the Sun Palace, including quite a lot of risk to MY himself—I analyze that in a lot more depth in the first part of my post here, if you're interested, though I will also note now that he specifically sent for LXC to help NMJ. (You'll have to scroll down some; I'm responding to someone else's post.) Afterwards, he kneels to NMJ and apologizes, I think sincerely, for hurting him and for invoking his pain about his father's death. He certainly conceives of himself as owing a debt of gratitude to NMJ for recognizing him, and he's so overcome when NMJ offers to send him to his father with a letter of recommendation, saying that he didn't promote MY so that MY would owe him, that he quite remarkably can't even find words. NMJ meant a lot to him, and so did NMJ's not defining him in terms of his birth—until he did, of course, at the stairs kick incident. But as far as I can tell, there's nothing to suggest he has /romantic feelings/ for NMJ, and frankly—how can I put this—it does not at all surprise me that JGY isn't in love with someone with a violent temper who is noted at least twice to react to people explaining themselves when he is angry with even more anger, and that's even without the thing where he nearly killed JGY on multiple occasions and called him the son of a prostitute.

No, I think JGY's emotional journey with NMJ goes through three stages: first, he's deeply grateful to him and respects him a great deal, although he's also aware of NMJ's lack of awareness of certain social realities (see: the teacup scene, NMJ yelling at the other Nie cultivators about their treatment of MY and telling MY not to worry as long as his conduct is upright); second, after Sun Palace, still gratitude and respect but also a mounting frustration with his lack of awareness of the implications of JGY's social position and his hypocrisy re: acceptable violence; finally, after the stairs kick when NMJ kicks him down the stairs, almost kills him, and tells him what else can be expected from the son of a prostitute, he is completely done with NMJ, but is still very much scared of him. The gratitude, I've discussed; the frustration, I think is fairly obvious in the speech he gives back to NMJ at the stairs. But I think the fear is often undervalued, so I'm going to pull a bunch of quotes again:

Meng Yao shrunk immediately after his previous outburst. Watching Baxia slash toward him, he sprinted off at once, scared lifeless. Of the two, one striked with madness and the other fled with madness. Both staggered, still soaked in blood. In such amusing circumstances, as Wei WuXian chopped at the future Chief Cultivator, in his heart he split his sides laughing. He thought that if not for how Nie MingJue was under heavy injuries and lacked spiritual power, Meng Yao would probably have been dead already.

Baxia’s strikes were so menacing that Shuoyue had to unsheath. Lan XiChen stopped him, half to support his figure and half to block his attacks, “MingJue-xiong, calm down! Why bother?”

Nie MingJue, “Why don’t you ask what he did?!”

Lan XiChen turned around to look at Meng Yao, his face was full of terror. He stammered as if he didn’t dare speak.

Nie MingJue remained silent, while Baxia and Shuoyue continued. Meng Yao took a glimpse at the glares from the clashes of the saber and the sword, his gaze full of fear. After a while, however, he still took a step forward. He kneeled to Nie MingJue.

A moment later, Nie MingJue still raised his saber. Lan XiChen, “MingJue-xiong!”

Meng Yao shut his eyes. Lan XiChen also tightened his grip on Shuoyue, “Please excuse…”

Before he could finish his sentence, the silver light of the blade slashed down violently, onto a boulder on the side.

Meng Yao flinched from the thunder of the boulder splitting apart. Looking over, he saw that it had been sliced into two halves, from the top to the bottom.

Jin GuangYao nodded. Xue Yang had been infamous ever since he was young. Wei WuXian clearly felt Nie MingJue’s brows knit even tighter. He spoke, “Why are you wasting your time with such a person?”

Jin GuangYao, “The LanlingJin Sect recruited him.”

He didn’t dare to protest any further. Excuse being that he needed to care for the guests, he scurried to the other side.

[part of his speech to NMJ at the stairs] You think that I should be afraid of nothing? Well I'm afraid of everything, even other people!

Within the temple, three people called Nie MingJue’s corpse ‘Brother’ but the three tones were drastically different. Jin GuangYao’s face was full of a drowning fear. His entire body began to shiver. No matter dead or alive, the person Jin GuangYao was most scared of was none but this sworn brother of his whose temper tolerated no evil. As his body shivered, his hands shivered as well, and the bloody guqin string he clutched tightly in his hand also began to shiver.

Clenching his teeth, Jin GuangYao struck a few acupoints of his arm. Amidst the dizziness that came from a loss of blood, he suddenly saw Nie MingJue walk a step towards him, his eyes locked on him. He was immediately half-dead with fear.

Collapsed beside Lan XiChen, Jin GuangYao saw this scene as well. Whether because the bleeding and the pain intensified at his arm and stomach or from some other reason, the glisten of tears could be seen in his eyes. But before he had a chance to catch his breath or lick his wounds, Nie MingJue turned around after he pulled his fist back and stared hungrily in his direction.

The harsh, stern expression on his rigid face held a sense of judgement that was no different from before he died. Even his tears had been scared away as Jin GuangYao turned to Lan XiChen for help, his voice trembling, “Brother…”

I think the stuff with, you know, handling NMJ's fierce corpse and hanging onto his head is often viewed as evidence of JGY's continued emotional investment in NMJ, but... I don't really think so? First of all, NMJ's fierce corpse is completely obsessed with killing JGY. I'll spare you another round of quotes on that because this is already ridiculously long and because it's not at all subtle—it's all over the temple chapters, take a look! And second of all—well, there's ways of getting information from a corpse. In this case, NMJ's resentful energy is so strong that without the protection of his body, papernan WWX is actually sucked into NMJ's memories against his will! Sure, maybe no one would risk it, and maybe no one who risked it would survive, but especially given that NMJ's fierce corpse is completely obsessed with killing JGY, that's a heck of a risk to take. And look at the description of the protections around NMJ's head:

Suddenly, Wei WuXian noticed that one of the shelves were blocked by a curtain. The curtain was covered in sinister, blood-red runes. It was a talisman of forbiddance, one of extreme power.

Jin GuangYao walked over and lifted the curtain.

For a split second, Wei WuXian thought that he had been exposed. After the faint firelight made its way through the curtain, he found that he was enveloped in a shadow. A circular object just happened to be in front of him.

Jin GuangYao stood still, as though he was staring into the eyes of whatever was inside this shelf.

After a moment, he spoke, “Were you the one looking at me?"

Of course, there couldn’t be any response. He was silent for a while, then let down the curtain.

Wei WuXian quietly attached himself to the object. Cold and hard, it seemed to be a helmet. He then turned to the front. As he had expected, he saw a pallid face. The one who sealed the head wanted it to see nothing, hear nothing, speak nothing, and so incantations had been crowded onto the waxen skin. The eyes, the ears, and the mouth were all sealed tightly shut.

There's containment, it's suppressed to all hell and back, and JGY quite justifiably expects it to be murderously obsessed with him, but to me it doesn't suggest a reciprocal obsession—just more fear.

I'll also note that as a strategy for containing the information about his own involvement it's a very successful operation! It failed in the end /eventually/, but the failure needed:

someone who could successfully break into his private treasure room and escape without being caught

who could also perform Empathy or a similar tecnnique on NMJ's head and survive it

who could successfully recreate from memory the altered Empathy song

whom LXC would be willing to listen to

That's a heck of a tall order!

As to being done with NMJ after the stairs, well, listen to what he says to LXC:

Jin GuangYao spoke with dejection, “But, Brother, didn’t you hear what he said in the oath? Every sentence meant something more. ‘Face a thousand accusing fingers, be torn from limb to limb’—this was clearly a warning for me. I… I’ve never heard of such an oath before.”

[...]

Jin GuangYao, “It’s not that I don’t know what’s right and what’s wrong, but that sometimes I really can’t help. Nowadays, I have it bad no matter which side I’m on. I have to ensure that I’m on everyone’s good sides. I wouldn’t care if it were someone else, but have I mistreated our eldest brother in any way? Brother, you heard as well. What did he call me?”

[...]

Jin GuangYao was almost sobbing, “If he could say such a thing when he was angry, then just how does he think of me on a daily basis? Is it that because I couldn’t choose my background, because my mother couldn’t choose her fate, I’ll have to be humiliated by others throughout my whole life? If so, then how is Brother different from the people who look down on me? No matter what I do, in the end, just a sentence and I’m ‘the son of a prostitute’.”

And then of course there's what he says to LXC, in his speech to him at the end: "You, on the other hand, ZeWu-Jun, Sect Leader Lan, are as intolerant of me as Nie MingJue—you refuse to spare me even a single breath of life!"

So—wow, this got very long—I don't ship them, and although I think they have very much mattered emotionally to each other, I don't really see them as ever having been in love with or attracted to each other.

A couple of end notes:

In MDZS, NMJ isn't the first (non-MS) person who recognizes MY's worth, although he is the first person to promote him; by the time NMJ promotes MY MY has already met, rescued, and exchanged intimate confidences with LXC, who respects him greatly and thinks he is highly talented (see again the conversation in Hejian which NMJ overhears/eavedrops on).

I've seen people talk about them not understanding each other, but while NMJ certainly doesn't understand JGY, it's not at all obvious that the reverse is true; he generally seems to understand him pretty well. I think he has two surprises overall: first, that he wasn't expecting NMJ to say he didn't promote MY so MY would owe him, and volunteer to send him to his father with a letter of recommendation—and second, he wasn't expecting NMJ, who for all his flaws did seem to ignore JGY's background in good ways as well as bad, to call him the son of a prostitute.

I definitely don't read the coffin at the end as romantic. Or I mean, uh, there's the romance of an obsessive stalker-murderer finally getting his victim, and that's not nothing (unironically; look, I'm a Hannibal fan), but I don't think it's usually what people mean. This is a shitty end for JGY, part of how thoroughly he loses and is destroyed. I think to some extent it might be that he doesn't want LXC to be the one who killed him, and to some extent it's an act of defiance—now that he has nothing to lose, not even his life, he's going to go out fighting. I would expand on this but this post is ridiculously long and I have way too many quotes, maybe I'll do it in a separate post later on—but if you look at the description of it in the text, plus the subsequent description of it in the coffin...yeah. JGY didn't want to die, he didn't want to be engaged in a mutually destructive thing with NMJ; he wanted to leave NMJ behind in the past, and move on. It's not, for him any kind of fulfillment, is my read.

All quotes are taken from the Exiled Rebels translation: ch 48-50 for everything about NMJ and JGY's past relationship, ch. 47 for the description of JGY's containment measures for NMJ's head, and ch. 106-108 for the quotes about JGY's fear of NMJ's fierce corpse. The description of JGY going into the coffin is at the end of 108 if you want to have a look, and there's more in 109 and 110 about the difficulty of sealing NMJ's fierce corpse/its power and violence.

[stardancerluv]

Early Days with Roman

Part 4

Summary: You and Roman, still struggle being a couple. It’s hard for reader. Roman used to be Gotham’s most eligible bachelor, he had his fair share of beautiful exes. Many of whom, he was never loyal to. So reader worries.

Arthor’s Note: This takes place in between the chapters and will go beyond Creative Fervor. This is Roman and Reader from Creative Fervor trying to figure out what they want from each other. These are darker then the fics that came after or before. Roman is still his very dark, sometimes voilent character while Reader accepts and pledges herself to him. Sometimes, he tests her not believing someone like her could truly love him. Songs used- Love is a Battlefield by Pat Benatar, I Want To Know What Love Is by Foreigner & Embracable You by Frank Sinatra

Part One, Two, Three

After, a long hot bath and stretching you slipped on some comfy shorts and a shirt. Tying your hair in a messy ponytail you headed down to your studio. Sitting, down on your chair you eyed the blank canvas.

Hearing, a soft thud you knew that the society papers were delivered. You left the news for Roman to tell you, so all you had to do was focus on the world you created pieces for.

Putting, your pen down you went and got the papers. Sliding open the big heavy door wind swirled about you. You shivered. It had been a pretty mild autumn, but as Thanksgiving was approaching, the cold was finally sinking its teeth in.

Pulling, the rubber bands off you opened the papers and gasped. Roman, was once again splashed across the front pages. He was with his ex who had been his equal. She was the one had stolen his heart. Looking at the photos you wondered if those had been from the gala he had attended last summer. It was the one time, he said you couldn’t attend an event with him. He looked so happy, had a huge smile across his face. Perhaps, they had made up and were seeing each other again. His distrust of women, blossomed because of her. Why, would he even do that? Your worry began to eat at you.

Sliding and locking the door, you scruntized the photos. The ones of the two of you were new. How had the reporter managed to capture a hidden kisses, hidden smiles. You were disgusted. You were angry.

Fuck, all of this you muttered to yourself and threw the papers to the side. You went over your easel to try and work. You couldn’t too many things were rumbling over in your head.

Sighing you reached over and grabbing the remote to your mp3 and pushed play. Soon a steady beat began to play. You hoped it could distract you. You needed to not think about any of this.

First your feet began to tap then you began to feel the music. In the end, you surrendered to it.

We are strong

No one can tell us we're wrong

Searching our hearts for so long

Both of us knowing

Love is a battlefield

Before you knew what was happening, you were dancing all around the room. Your hips swished, you twisted and turned. Horribly off key you singing all into the marker you held onto.

You were feeling exhilarated. Your feeling from before were beginning to fade away. Grabbing, your remote once more you turned up your music and began dancing even harder and signing even louder

I wanna know what love is, I want you to show me

I wanna feel what love is, I know you can show me, oh

I'm gonna take a little time, a little time to look around me

I've got nowhere left to hide, it looks like love has finally found me

******

Roman, had finished with rehearsals.

Circe, had stopped by. She was eager to tell him to show him how the press printed the photos of him and her from the gala last summer. He could careless.

She tried to remind him of how happy they had been. Leaning, on his desk he reminded her how she cheated on him. He also reminded her how they, how he hammer it up for the press. How she was a tool to him to look good in the world pf Gotham for his nightclub. And how in the end he only went to gala, because of his previous obiligation to the event.

Walking away from her and happy that he had no meetings till that evening; he took a car and headed over to your place. Seeing, Circe had left a lingering bad taste in his mouth like always.

As he drove over, he wished you would finally move your studio to the penthouse, but as of yet you had not. Why, wouldn’t listen to him was beyond him. He knew what was best for you. Right now, he could have simply headed upstairs to see you. But now, he had to drive.

He knocked on the door, he knocked again. He knew you were there since your car was. Smiling and hearing your music he went over to wear the spare key was. Letting, himself inside, he locked the door behind him.

Your music greeted him as he walked in. Your taste in music, made him smile. It was different and he found it interesting that it helped him find out more of about you.

He never found anyone as interesting as you. You were fascinating.

Eyeing you, he watched as you sang and danced. Sure you were far from being on key but you were incredibly lovely like this. Your hair was messy and wild, the cute little outfit showed off all your curves. You were everything that was different from Circe, you had grace and real beauty.

Watching you move he smirked. You were his you belonged to him. A certain sense of pride, filled him as he mused. Grabbing, the remote and looking over at the player, he knew exactly, what song he wanted to play next. He tossed the remote to the coffee table, as it began to play. Leaning, against your sofa, he waited for you discover that he was there.

Embrace me, my sweet embraceable you

Embrace me, you irreplaceable you

“Roman!” Your voice rang out and over the music. He had been turning, off his phone when you discovered him. Turning, he smiled at you and put his phone down on the coffee table before he continued to lean.

Just one look at you

My heart grew tipsy in me

You and you alone

Bring out the gypsy in me

You went over to him. Your cheeks were rosy. He smiled down at you. “Hi baby.”

“You scared me.” You crossed your arms in front of yourself.

“Baby, look you’re my girl. No one would dare touch you.”

You rolled yours. “Well, I suppose you’re right.”

Roman rose his eyebrows and nodded.

“Well, after all you were the only who’s ever attempted and succeeded in kidnapping me.”

I love all the many charms about you

Above all, I want these arms about you

Despite, the sweet lyrics that he actually felt, his smile dropped. “That’s a low blow, and that was Zsasz, fucking up not me.” He countered.

“Well, its not as if it’s not true. It did happen.”

Your eyes were a lit, he could see the anger. Behind them something lurked, was that pain, he wondered. He grabbed you and shook you. “What the fuck is your problem?”

“I saw the pictures.”

“What pictures?”

“Of you and Circe. You two seemed to get on again.”

He rolled his eyes, he had already forgotten about the papers. “Those were the press’s benefit.”

“I am so sure, you looked happier in the photos with her then with me.” You huffed.

“Show me.”

“Fine.” You practically stomped over to where you had thrown the papers. “Here.” You practically threw them at him. That didn’t make him happy.

Catching them, he looked them over. “Yeah?” He looked over at you.

“Well, look at you two.”

“I did.”

“You belong, together. She is a much better compliment to who you are.”

Hearing, your words annoyed him. He was in no mood discuss this matter. He was going to take matters into his own hands.

Picking you up and put you over his shoulder. “Let me go.” You wiggled.

“Stop wiggling.” He smacked your ass, the sound bounced off the concrete walls.

@darling-i-read-it @spn-obsessed-dean @vintagemichelle91 @xxxeatyourh3artoutxxx @ewanfuckingmcgregor @zodiyack @angel98624 @frenchgirlinlondon @nebulastarr @emyliabernstein @thepeachreads @itsknife2meetu @omghappilyuniquebouquetlove @nomnomnomnamja @poe-kadot26 @top-rumbelle-fan @babydoll97 @hazel-nuss @vcat55 @feelthemadnessinside @rosionis @queenofgotham800 @brookisbi @peachthatdrinkslemonade @johallzy @foreverhockeytrash @frostypenguinoz @starwarsslytherin @proffesionalclown @chogisss @dance-like-russia-isnt-watching @shantellorraine @xxinvisiblexx @pooshnulooshnu @speedypartyducksuitcase @blondekel77 @corey-clown @drarrylov3r @hollywood2k16

[howlingalltheway]

Half-baked but kinda warm question: Are there any AU worlds or situations you'd really like to see/write the RR characters in, and alternatively any AUs you don't think would work? We already know that a pirate-themed one works for you!

Okay, this is highly embarrassing. I said I wouldn’t forget this ask while my Laptop was being repaired and then I promptly forgot about it until now. I apologize deeply.

Especially since I was actually looking forward to answering this! I mean it’s an amazing question. So have this very accurate picture of me while I answer this! Finally only about two months or so later...

Firstly:

Pirate AU:

The Reaper Flies over the sea is my baby. I am still planning on writing it and working on it. But I want it to be good. I want it to really be planned and worked out and make sense. That's why it will take some time until it is ready. I think this AU works for me because Darrow always gave me this “Captain, my Captain” feeling. And I grew up with a lot of Pirate related Media so... I'm just really weak for pirates

Secondly:

I know I talk a lot about Sevro and people are probably sick of it by now. I am very sorry, but I can't help it.

I would really like to see an AU in which Sevro didn't grow up with Fitchner but with the Sons instead. I don't know myself what would happen, but I'd like to see what people would come up with. I definitely have to think of the Tarzan the musical soundtrack while thinking of this AU. But I already talked about how at least Son of Man makes me think of Sevro anyways ^^

Thirdly:

I would really like to explore what the institute would be like if it was a little bit more school and a little bit less battlefield. There are many different ways this could be executed, in my mind at least. Maybe right after the draft, before the passage, there could be a few months of school – then the passage and then the battlefield. This in a way, I think would make the Golds seem even crueler. Because while the Passage is horrible as it is, the kids fighting against each other don't really know each other. They only spend a little amount of time together. Now imagine the emotional turmoil the kids were in if they had to fight somebody they shared a classroom with for multiple months.... What is wrong with me? Why do I want them to suffer more?!? 😣😅

And last but not least:

Hogwarst AU... because of obvious reasons

Those are the four main AUs I would like to explore or see being explored. I think there are many more that people could come up with. But my mind only lets me think that far.

Now if there are any AUs I think wouldn't work. Not really. I think that if a fanfiction Author wants to make something work they'll usually find a way. And in most cases, I just tend to accept whatever is presented to me, unless I think it is totally out of character.

There are a few AUs I personally would only write when I would write “romantic One Shots” which is not really my milieu. For example a 21st century AU, or all these different trope AUs like Soulmates, etc.

But all in all, if it is well packaged I think most if not all AUs can work in one way or another.

Thank you so much for the question. It was by no means half baked! It's a great question!

And I am so sorry for answering so rudely late. 😣💖🐺

[kingofthewilderwest]

Maybe I'm too late to ask this, but I found a hater recently that said Stoick's death was too cheap or too convenient there. Your thoughts? (Mind you, I didn't watch the rest of his argument againts other things in httyd2 that, while valid, hurt too much to continue)

It’s never too late to ask something or discuss topics! Honestly? I’m very emotionally invested in this topic, so I’m excited you gave me the excuse to talk about it! I’ve seen these critiques, too, around the internet, and while I understand the angle, my personal take is that Stoick’s death isn’t cheap or convenient - but a crucial and powerful storytelling element.

I talked about this years ago here, here, and ESPECIALLY here, but there’s still more to talk about and/or be said again.

So here we go!

Of course there are many ways to write a successful story,but well-structured narrative plots often include a protagonist with an internal conflict. During the story, they learn the difference between whatthey think they need versus what they actually need. This may also tie into how they interpret and act upon their sense of identity. Bothinternal character struggles and external dangers drive story forward… in theend helping our protagonist realize that what they thought the solution totheir internal conflict might not be right.

Oftentimes, our protagonist will develop and changethroughout the story, but there will be several key impacting scenes - takeawaymoments, if you will, that are formulative in what they end up learning. There’sno takeaway moment more important than their deepest low, which usually occurs about twothirds to three quarters through a narrative. During the deepest low, the character is at theirworst - everything seems hopeless, everything’s going for the worst,everything points to the villain winning and the protagonist losing hope. Theprotagonist will probably feel like they can’t conquer the big external badguy, and they question their identity and internal sense of beliefs. In short: everything’s collapsed around them.

This Big, Dark, Emotional Low is a HIGHLY effective storytellingdevice. I mean, we sometimes call it a TURNING POINT for a reason. This is a dramatic,climactic event which takes us from the worst to the best. Deep lows:

Tie together the entire story: the centraltakeaway of the narrative, the character’s internal struggle, and the story’sexternal conflict.

Have the character triumphing out of the deeplow, finding a revelation that may be central to the story’s narrative theme / moral message.

Have the character triumphing out of the deeplow, realizing what they actually need, and getting a key to who their identityIS. The character may question everything of who they are, even the things they thought they believed… before coming together into a stronger, more resolute person who’s found their answer.

Have the character triumphing out of the deeplow, finding the strength and solution on how to defeat their external enemy. They become our hero.

Give a realistic sense of vulnerability audiences relate to. We know what it’s like to hit rock bottom. This can give us “enjoyable” relatable pain in story. When the hero climbs out of the pit… it also gives a sense of inspirationfor how we ourselves can triumph past life’s struggles.

Provide a sense of heightened danger before theclimax. The darker and more hopeless the low point, the more successful anddramatic the moment our hero triumphs. Without a sense of hardship, it’sdifficult to find a “FUCK YEAH!!!” moment for our hero winning. Ergo, theentire story feels more satisfying and successful when our hero saves the day.

In short: deep lows are GREAT storytellingdevices.

The best “deep lows” are those that combine the drama of theouter conflict in a story… and integrate it with a protagonist’s internalconflict of identity. Triumphing from the deep low allows our protagonist to understand what they actually need (rather than what they firstwanted), and it gives them the power to defeat our Big Bad. This alsocan tie to the moral theme of a story, the takeaway message of the fiction.

Stoick’s death is that deep low.

I’ve talked before, in posts three and four years old, abouthow I believe Stoick’s death is necessary to make HTTYD 2 as effectiveof a story as it is. It’s not a contrived plot device or unnecessary death, butsomething I find central to everything HTTYD 2 is about.

In HTTYD 2, Hiccup’s internal conflict is his identity.Specifically, it’s the question about who he is and how he can change the world. Stoick believes it’s time forHiccup to become chief, but Hiccup doesn’t feel ready. Hiccup can’t see himselfas a good leader in part because he doesn’t connect to Stoick’s brand ofleadership. Hiccup knows he loves dragons, but he can’t piece together aboutwhere he’s headed in his life. As Hiccup tells Astrid, “I’m not like you. Youknow exactly who you are. You always have. But… I’m still looking. I knowthat I’m not my father… and I never met my mother…. so, what does that makeme?”

Astrid tells Hiccup that the answer is in his heart - and she’sright - and that’s the exact journey HTTYD 2 will take. Hiccup’s centralinternal conflict is that he doesn’t know what his identity is; what he thinks heneeds is to understand himself since he’s “different” from his father and not “fit”to be chief.

Throughout HTTYD 2, this is developed. Hiccup and Stoickquarrel about how to handle Drago. Stoick’s brand of chiefly leadership believesthat “a chief must protect his own.” But Hiccup wants to change Drago’s mind in the same way how he tamed dragons in the first movie changed Hairy Hooligans’minds. Hiccup, the dragon trainer, thinks he can peacefully reach diplomacy withDrago, a dragon conqueror. Hiccup tries to use his connection to dragons as away to change the mind of one of Drago’s subordinates, Eret. But Stoickdisagrees with Hiccup’s philosophy so much that, in the end, Hiccup runs away…

…and meets Valka.

First in the movie, we see how Hiccup isn’t Stoick, Hiccup isn’tthe same brand of chief. The next part of HTTYD 2 shows how Hiccup is both likehis mother… but also not her, either.

Valka is Hiccup’s second half, a dragon lover and dragonprotector. She and Hiccup both see this. They both want tocreate a better world for dragons. This excites Hiccup, so he thinks he’s foundsomeone who will side with him and confront Drago in the same way he wants. Instead, his conversation with Valka bears striking similarities to how hedisagreed with his dad:

Valka: This gift we share, Hiccup, it bondsus. This is who you are, son. Who we are. We will change the world for alldragons. We will make it a better, safer place.Hiccup: That sounds… amazing. This is so great! Now you andI can go talk to Drago together.Valka: What? There’s no talking to Drago.Hiccup: But we have to…Valka: No. We must protect our own. 

Hiccup is learning that he’s not his father, who stands toprotect human Vikings and will fight a man who conquers dragons. Hiccup also gets a hint here he’s not his mother, who stands to protect dragons but won’tconnect to humans.

The external conflict of HTTYD 2 is the fact that Drago is adangerous warlord who will crush Berk, the Bewilderbeast’s sanctuary, andanything in his path. The inner conflict of HTTYD 2 is Hiccup trying to findhis identity - specifically his passion for how he can change the world. Bothof these conflicts are developed in how Hiccup interacts with his parents and Hiccupwants to handle Drago. Hiccup believes that, because he convinced the HairyHooligans that dragons are safe, he can also negotiate with Drago and convincethe warlord to preside in peace.

In fact, one of the things Hiccup clings to the mostis that he believes he can negotiate with Drago and change his mind.

And then… he meets Drago.

Hiccup will find out that both his parents are right - Dragois a danger to humans, Drago is a danger to dragons, and Drago cannot bereasoned with.

It’s then our Deep Low Event happens.

Toothless. Kills. Stoick.

And Hiccup, crying, suffer through his father’s funeral.

This is the moment where EVERYTHING about HTTYD 2′s narrative comestogether.

Hiccup is destabilized. Entirely destabilized. He’s been ina quest to understand his identity and what he can do to change the world forthe better. In the midst of his self-searching and self-questioning, the fewthings he thought he understood about his identity have been wiped fromhim. Hiccup thought that his revolutionary friendship with dragons could givehim the background experience to negotiate peace with Drago. Hiccup thoughtthat he was right and his father was wrong about how to handle Drago. Hiccupthought that he couldn’t be chief. And yet here he is: he’s going to be forcedinto leadership on account of his father’s death. He didn’t just fail tonegotiate with Drago, but his relationship with dragons was cut away from him:TOOTHLESS was used to kill his FATHER. All the stabilizing elements in Hiccup’slife - that Stoick could keep being chief, that Hiccup’s identity was connectedto his peace with dragons, that Hiccup could be a peace-creating diplomat - these have been stripped away exactly because of what happened betweenDrago, Stoick, Hiccup, and Toothless on the battlefield.

This is Hiccup’s giant questioning moment. It’s destabilizingand effective because it tackles EVERYTHING Hiccup has been going through inthe story. It’s about the external baddie, Drago, who turns out to be even MOREformidable and deadly than Hiccup could have imagined. It’s about the internalconflict, in which Hiccup’s quest for identity and impact have been cut outfrom under him. What he thought he wanted - negotiations of peace - aren’t possible. And this giant questioning moment ties in every other important plotthread - Hiccup’s relationship with his father thinking he’s not a chiefly son;Hiccup’s relationship with his mother and their passion for protecting dragons; Hiccup’s relationship with Toothless and believing theirfriendship is inseparable.

We get this Deep Low clearly stated in Hiccup��s tear-felt mourning: “I’mnot the chief that you wanted me to be. And I’m not the peacekeeper I thought Iwas. I don’t know…”

This moment even ties together what Astrid told him at thestart of the film. The solution to who Hiccup is, and what he’s meant to do, isalready inside him.

In the midst of this darkness, Hiccup finds his turningpoint. The solution to his problems: both his questions of identity, and how tohandle Drago.

The solution is that Hiccup is both his parents.Hiccup has already subconsciously found who he is. He has “the heart ofa chief and the soul of a dragon.” Exactly because he’s a mix of hisfather and mother, he’s able to do what they couldn’t alone: unite humanity anddragons in a way that can defeat Drago. Hiccup didn’t think he wanted to bechief because he wasn’t like his father - that’s what Hiccup thought -but the truth isn’t what he wanted or expected. Hiccup is someonepassionate enough to take on the mantle of chiefdom… because he’s his ownrevolutionary, unique self who’s willing to take a stand for what he believesin. Hiccup finds his identity here as a man of BOTH human and dragon worlds. Hiccup will learn that a chief protects his own, like his father says, andthat the Alpha protects them all, like his mother says. This together helps him realize the story’s moral theme: protect them all. Know when you can negotiate peacefully (save mind-controlled Toothless) and know when you need to stand your ground (fight Drago) to protect everyone you can.

This turn around moment is the bindingglue that will allow Hiccup to pierce the Bewilderbeast’s mind control, reunitewith Toothless, become chief, and use humans and dragons both to fight off Drago’sarmy, and triumphantly declare, “This is what it is to earn a dragon’s loyalty!”

Thus, Stoick’s Ship is the turning point that gives Hiccupthe strength to say that he’s going to try to be a great chief, and that he andhis friends are going to go back and tackle Drago a second time. It’s thesolution to everything: that Hiccup can find out who he is, and that Hiccup canfind a way to beat Drago – albeit by a different way than he first thought.

So. If you take away Stoick’s death, you’re taking away theculmination of everything the story has been building up to, and you’re takingaway Hiccup’s momentous turning point that leads to the story’s conclusion.

Awesomely enough, the turning point is the moment he turns around to face his companions, a fiery look in his eyes, and the determination to do what he knows needs be done.

While you could try to generate other possibleturning points as substitutions to Stoick’s death, I honestly don’t think any substitute could be this effective (not without reworking the story’s scaffolding). If Stoick werestill alive, Hiccup wouldn’t be as driven to become chief. If Toothless didn’tkill anyone, or if Drago just took Toothless away, then Hiccup wouldn’tstruggle through the same destabilizing he needed to go through to in hisDarkest Hour. Hiccup’s beliefs wouldn’t have been as challenged as so obviouslycrushed. Stoick’s death is what leads our hero to his heroism - dark as that truth may be.

Dean DeBlois wrote HTTYD 2 thinking about his own coming ofage and loss of his father. He would have scripted this storyspecifically around the psychological turns that happen when you lose a parentand have to be forced into adulthood. Dean didn’t write this as a contrivedshock value death (though of course there’s shock), but as an intentional cruxpoint for the emotions he wanted to impart in this narrative. It’s a story about what happens when you must step into adulthood and be your own.

I’ve seen people say Stoick’s death wasunnecessary and that Hiccup could have learned to become chief while his fatherstill lived. We audience members are all going to interact and respond to mediadifferently. As for me, I think that Stoick’s death isn’t just a good writing element, but what MAKES the film.

This is the REASON why I love HTTYD 2 so much. It’s why I CONNECT. I love good narratives, and this part is apowerful, culminating narrative moment. I’m also someone who love emotionallyresonant and painful moments in fiction - and it struck me hard to seeour main protagonist go through a real loss that couldn’t be “fixed” and“forgotten” by the end of the film. HTTYD 2 was willing to write our herosobbing on his father’s body, and to carry that weight with himeven after he conquered our villain. The realness of it - while still being aninspiring rather than cynical story - is why HTTYD 2 remains one of my favoritemovies today.

[theticklishpear]

Hey bud! I'm still creating my world and I've decided to make a Worldblog to archive what I've got so far. Not everything is on there (and I haven't been able to work on the world as much as I'd like), as I'm a little busy (and art blocked), but I was wondering if you could go have a look at my magic system so far? If you're too busy that's fine, but I'd like to know what you think! It's split into three parts. The blog name is ilimyr, to find it easier go on to /tagged/magic

Sure thing!

It looks like you’ve put a lot of thought into this system, and really thought through the rules and mechanics of it. There’s an “anything is possible” vibe to it, but enough rules so that one character isn’t able to do everything, which is vital to a magic system that won’t destroy the tension and conflict in a story. In no particular order, here are some things to think about (not things that are wrong, just things I had questions about and things that may impact your story):

A person is born with an affinity or two toward using a specific element, and how long they can maintain that spell, or the power of the spell is dependent on how much mana they have available within themselves when they cast it. Makes sense. That’s a very typical magic system; your audience is going to pick that up very easily. Now, the actual spell basically turns them into a conduit for the various gods who are the gatekeepers of the element(s) they call on, at least that’s what I’m gathering. Moreover, you say that because of the reverence toward the gods that the Eldrin give when casting, the gods grant their spells more power (though short-lived because of their natural mana stores being smaller). Make sure you keep in mind that your gods are real. They aren’t figments of people’s imaginations to cope with the world; they are real and they have the ability to meddle. They’re also not stand-off-ish. They do interfere. They do show favor. They do get involved when it comes to casting. So is it possible for a god to not appreciate a caster’s attitude and not grant them the element to cast with? Consider the implications that come with your gods granting power--do they do that with individuals they really like or who use their magic for cool things? Do they show favoritism toward certain attitudes and can someone from another race other than the Eldrin be granted that extra power? Can an irreverent Eldrin not be given that extra power? Just think about that some. You don’t have to come to a decision or change anything, but it could be an interesting dynamic to play with.

The Lyth and Eldrin learn only the written versions of their magics’ languages, while the Avian learn the spoken language. You say in the last paragraph of the first post, “[Avians] are the only Vari’zaians that can recognize them,” them being the language(s), I guess. I like the idea of the Avians using sound to cast--it goes with the bird-thing, somehow. Do you mean in that line that only Avians recognize the sounds and syllables that make up the languages? It makes sense that if the other two races only know what the syllables look like in writing, then they wouldn’t know how to say them; and it would be true of the reverse, that the Avians wouldn’t recognize them when written. So your you have a language barrier built in here. If your Avians saw a spell written out by a Lyth caster on the battlefield, they wouldn’t know what was being cast. That would be interesting to play with if you were inclined. Not only that, but Eldrin can “form the spells in their minds,” right? So what they’re really doing is just picturing the written letters of the spell. When I do that for languages I don’t speak, I make up how it’s said; I do that for words I don’t really know how to pronounce, too. Imagine for a moment that the language sounds different to every single Eldrin, and imagine them all sitting around doing the whole, “Is that how you say that?” and in the end none of them are actually right. You hint that the Avians keep the knowledge of the spoken language to themselves, particularly the Lyth. Why? What happens when a caster knows both and uses both written and spoken language to cast?

Your definition of magical exhaustion is good. I like how much you’ve thought about it. Remember that if magical exhaustion induces physical and mental exhaustion, they’ll be dealing with those symptoms, too, like muscle aches and severe fatigue and headaches and all those kinds of things. You included dizziness, nausea, loss of consciousness, and heart attack. Those are good. Don’t forget smaller symptoms, too. The weakened immune system makes 100% sense since that also comes from physical and mental exhaustion, so well done. I think you could expand on what will replenish mana. Right now, it’s more or less just eating or having a friend with access to lightning magic channel lightning into you. What else can they do? What else do they need to do? Even if it’s as simple as sleep for twelve hours, write that down. What is the treatment here other than a good meal, and how long does it take to regain a full mana reserve?

Your element match-ups mostly make sense. I can see where they all come from. There are some things I don’t necessarily understand, but I think it would clarify in the storytelling. One thing I want to bring up is your Fire > Air absolute defeat. I understand the other two, of course. And while I can see you’re going for the whole “fire consumes air,” fire also can’t exist without air, so if the caster used their air magic to remove the air from the area, it would completely defeat fire. I’m not saying it needs to be reversed, but I don’t think it would be an absolute defeat mechanic. You can play with that however you want, though. If you want to keep it, that’s fine, no biggie. Just something to think about.

The “other abilities” for each element are undefined by element according to your key, if I’m reading that correctly? I’m not sure how that can be, since they all seem pretty tied in to the element they’re listed under. Does that just mean that a character who has an affinity for that element but isn’t particularly trained in it can still do those abilities but not the main ability?

In terms of mana reserves and things like “ability to withstand extreme temperatures,” and abilities like that, is that a passive ability from an affinity, or is that a concentrated spell that anyone who’s trained themselves in that element can use? If it’s a concentrated spell that has to be cast, how much mana does it take? How fast does it drain a person, and how long is the “typical” caster able to maintain it?

Okay, now, life and death magic. Makes sense. Now, you say that it’s not public knowledge that they can be used together, and a person with a life affinity cannot use death magic, and the other way around. Makes more sense. You also say that magic can be combined through the combined efforts of two casters to create your extra elements. That is common knowledge, that two casters can work together to form magics they individually either don’t have an affinity for or haven’t trained in. Do you really think that in a world where casters are able to combine their powers, that somebody out there wouldn’t have nudged their friend as a teenager and said, “Hey, wanna see what happens if--” and figured out that yes, you can combine life and death magics? Not only that, but you have soul magic down in your list of elements created through the combination of other elements, and soul magic was defined in part one as the combination of life and death magic. So it’s not unknown that people can do this. Especially when you say that Changelings use emotion magic, which is listed as soul magic, which would be the combination of life and death magic, which can’t be combined by a single individual but must be through the combination of two people, using your own definitions. If that’s the case, then you’re good to go for the most part. I just don’t think that people would be clueless to the ability to combine the two if those soul magic abilities are known.

Okay, that’s it. That’s all the things that came to me as I was reading through. You have a great system! And I think as people read it in action, it’ll make a lot of sense and they’ll pick it up very quickly. You shouldn’t have issues with its functionality, just remember to take it into consideration with your plot. You have a lot of options and opportunities in there to play with the “technicalities” in your plot and in character development, too. Good luck! -Pear