#flame lore

[luz-is-overworked]

Fanfic Ideas

'Tokyo Revengers' x 'Katekyō Hitman Reborn!' Crossover

Blurb;

Takemichi grew up an ordinary child, with an ordinary education.

His mother had taken great lengths to ensure he had an ordinary life.

Of course she had also spun fairytale stories of magical multicoloured flames, stories that weren’t quite stories but more like fables, warning her son to run, run far away from anyone who looked like they had a faint mysticism about them.

He knew this, like he knew that the grass was green, if someone provoked a fight then you should be the one to end it, and we don't negotiate with the police.

Takemichi know this… knew that his mother had warned him that other flame-actives would be enticing, seductive even… but when he saw The Invincible Mikey standing over him with all the grandeur of a king... something in him snapped into place.

He had fucked it.

And now he was stuck.

Because of all the flame-actives to be drawn in by, his mother had warned him against one in particular.

Skies would give you a home, they were essentially unavoidable if by some freak miracle he ever did meet one in his lifetime, Storms were a whirlwind, but they were fiercely loyal and they weren’t the worst friends in the world, his mother had admitted… but no. Takemichi just had to get swept up in the glitz and glamour of a fucking latent Cloud.

God-forbid his mother find out!

[aceofthegreenajah]

So @tls12lessthan3 and @libzarzar have enabled my corrent orv obsession and my forever khr obsession. This is me assigning flames (sky flames only, no earth flames) to orv characters! ALL the orv spoilers. I will be vague about them but I will allude to things in the epilogue.

I have done my best to rely on canonical info about flames and not my headcanons.

KDJ - Sky I feel like this is pretty self-evident. The most telling thing about being a sky is how people react to them. People grow very attached to KDJ; they look up to him; they follow his lead; they want to impress him and protect him. He holds the group together and they start to fall apart when he's away for too long. (See: both his first 'longer' death and the epilogue).

That isn't the only thing, though. Skies have a stubbornness and unwillingness to change (see: Tsuna refusing Vongola all the way to the end and everything about Xanxus as prime examples). They won't change for others lightly, and they don't generally accept anyone or anything as an authority. They might sort of align themselves with an organization or another sky, but ultimately they always follow their own goals.

These are both very KDJ things - he puts his party through hell with his self-sacrificial tendencies but even though he realizes this, and knows it is shitty, he doesn't really change. And he shows no subservience to any power, even those that could crush him like an ant.

Skies like to surround themselves with people - as KDJ does. The sky might be posessive over them, but they don't really grow dependent on them, and rarely confide in them. (See: multiple skies in khr are willing to sacrifice their elements for their plans. Tsuna not being willing to sacrifice them for leadership of Vongola just means his goal is never obtaining said leadership. Which he says himself at any opportunity. KDJ is not willing to sacrifice any of them presicely because his goal is a happy ending for everyone.)

KDJ he shows multiple instances of posessiveness - first thing that comes to mind is when he has just recruited SYS and determines that she can never know YJH just in case that makes her leave KDJ for YJH. He grows to rely on their abilities in his plans; that doesn't mean he relies on them as people emotionally. He always holds himself a little separate.

Some skies are also good at reading and understanding people - reading comprehension and omniscient reader's viewpoint, anyone? All of KDJ's skills dovetail nicely into an aspect of sky flames. Not exactly, of course, but Tsuna can tell the difference between illusion and reality (fourth wall) and you could argue bookmark is about comprehending and then harmonizing with someone. There are skies with different types of future sight (hyper intuition, and the seer bloodline in Giglio Nero skies). You can dig for more - there's plenty of material to work with there.

YJH - cloud Clouds are incredibly strong, independent, slow to grow loyal but incredibly loyal once it is earned (yet still independent to the end). Their growth (in power) is exponential.

YJH is the strongest human character (probably). He always makes his own plans and goes his own way, unless the others can wrangle him to participating in the group. Even to the very end. He does grow loyalty to KDJ (but not really subservience) but it happens very slowly, and yet he is one of the two characters most unable to let go of him at the end. Tell me that isn't textbook cloud.

HSY - mist(sky) So. My first instinct for HSY is mist.

Mists are creative and imaginative. They are subtle when they want to and incredibly theatrical at other times. They also have an independent streak, and a tendency to refuse reality and twist it to their own whims.

Avatar is a skill that could fit into a few different flame types, but they could be mist constructs.

But I could also be talked into a full no-avatars HSY being a sky.

+ surrounded by people. The other HSY surronunds himself with people - she does play KDJ's role in many respects. Our HSY also surrounded himself with the disciples. The first group especially grew incredibly loyal.

+ HSY is also very stubborn and unwilling to bow to authority.

+ Predictive plagiarism could be a sky skill. As said khr skies have future related skills (hyper intuition and seers). I could see it as a mist skill as well (mist thing is creativity) but as avatar fits better in mist, predictive plagiarsm fits better in sky.

- On the other hand our HSY is eventually absorbed into KDJ's group and ceases to gather her own followers. Not a sky thing to do, but this is after she has lost >=50% of herself.

In short: it could be that HSY is originally a sky, but every time she creates an avatar she gives it some of her flames, and this has left our HSY a mist once >=50% of her flames are gone.

LHS - lightning Lightnings are hard to damage and their role is often protecting and taking damage for the other flames. Many lightnings we see are active and eager to take action. LHS fits this exactly.

JHW - storm Storms are, most of all, passionate. Gokudera is passionate about Tsuna and his hobbies; Fon is passinate about martial arts; Bel is passionate about his royalty and stabbing people. Whatever the storm wants, they have the drive to be the best and dedicate themselves fully.

JHW is very passionate about justice and right and wrong.

Her abilities also fit storm and the disintegration property storm flames have. Storm flames are extremely destructive and there are really no super effective countermeasures for them. All of JHW's abilities are OP and destructive as fuck flame abilities.

Now we come to the ones I am a little unsure about.

YSA - Rain/Sun But which one? Rains are officially 'tranquility', but their characters are all over the place. What most unites them is that they all have a purpose. Squalo has the sword and Xanxus; Takeshi had baseball and switches to Tsuna; Colonello and Lal have each other (at different points of their lives) and training their students and (at some point probably) their military careers. And so on.

There is also some sense of self stuff going on there.

Squalo hitched his whole existence on Xanxus practically on sight. That makes him sound spontanous, and the loud and rough exterior reinforces this image. But he is also Xanxus' second in command who ran Varia in his absence, and shows surprising insight at several moments (like in the future when training Takeshi). Stormy waters run deep?

Takeshi knows how to play the fool but not how to connect to people. He measured his self-worth by how good he was at his purpose (baseball) at first; when he formed any sort of connection with Tsuna he grew incredibly loyal and dedicated instantly. He continues to keep up the exterior that people are used to - when Takeshi drops the act, you know things are serious. Still waters run deep.

YSA is very good at putting on a calm or chipper or charming front. Is there an underlayer we rarely get to see? I'd argue yes. We see hints of this even in pre-canon - she was getting back at superiors at work without anyone suspecting her. She also is incredibly dedicated. She was valued employee at work, studied on her commute, then becomes dedicated to helping KDJ's group survive in the apocalypse and drives herself to death with it.

But she does fit into Sun as well.

Suns are energetic and constantly on the move, constantly doing something. When they do something they give it 200% level effort. They are ferocious, often chipper, sometimes hyperactive. They may be very fast healers.

Sangah is a high-achiever. At first she is competent at work, studying even on her commute. She bikes to work. When self-defence becomes a necessity, she grows to an incredible fighter very quickly. She uses her skills so much that eventually they start to kill her.

She is also chipper and cheerful by default, which is not a must for a sun but is still a very sun attitude. I Can Do It! Her focus is not only on skills but on people, and that and her upbringing as a wealthy woman may explain why she feels the need to put on a more placid surface. Social expectations she's internalized, you know.

So, since YSA could go either way (she can be both. people can have multiple flames) let's check out our last (adult) member to see where she falls into. To make sure we have a full set.

JHY personifies the concept that you can't know a person just by what you see on the surface. She's trans; we meet her putting on an act - Aileen explicitly even states that you can't belive what comes out of her mouth. She has the wall of impossible communication. I couldn't write a more rain characteristic if I tried.

She did have a purpose originally - dimension hopping and trying to get strong - but eventually abandoned it. Giving up her purpose would contribute greatly to her self-loathing, so it's not a dealbreaker for her being a rain.

Sun is also a possibility. When learning a skill JSY learns incredibly fast (for skills learned through the wall.) If JSY is a sun, the self-loathing rises from being unable to do things and learn things. Suns are active and curious, and being forced to be neither would be hell on them. And she quickly becomes happier as soon as she can do stuff.

The trouble is that I like rain better for both YSA and JHY, but my brain wants a full set so one of them will be assigned sun. Last night I leaned towards JHY sun; this morning YSA sun. Opinions welcome! I feel like JHY is the character I have the poorest grasp on.

I will make a new post for the kids and teens if I feel like it. Hades is ofc night flames and likely Persephone as well. (I have a fic idea with those two running the vindice and kdj getting adopted by them. And another fic idea with just orv except with flames. I have a few chapters plotted for both but nothing 'written'. )

[indigosprite]

Sky flame ramble

[briinnny]

Oh Kephale.

pairing: phainon x gn!reader (w mentions of the entirety of the amphoreus cast).

word count: 2.1K

warnings: spoilers for the entirety of amphoreus (3.4 included), reader dies… a lot, mentions of blood, main character death, suicide, kinda yandere pahinon ? maybe bring some tissues with you.

summary: He meets you again, wearily weeping under a faceless mask reflecting in your bleary eyes. Forgive him, once more, for he must do this for the greater good. A long overdue promise escaped his frozen lips, not many words leaving him in the wake of a revengeful madness grasping the remains of his sanity.

Golden ichor stains him endlessly, so much that he cannot recognize who it belongs to. But yours have always shone brighter under the sunlight. But maybe, this is not the only reason his heart aches when you depart from him once more.

Chasing without fear the tomorrow that will never come.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

He really can’t have anything, can he ?

The first reset, you were a simple servant working for Lady Aglaea. Apparently, she had seen you grown up, and in an effort to not repeat twice the same mistake she did with Cipher, she was always keeping you by her side. You were her shadow in a way, always lurking nearby. Thinking about it, shadows are supposed to be somber and dark, but you were like the sun… No, that is incorrect. You were a star, something that has not been seen in ages. Something bound to disappear.

And disappearing you did, but not like Cipher. In a twisted way, your death — caused by the Council of the Elders as a warning to Aglaea herself — caused the two women who have long broken apart to reunite. Cipher had found you, and delivered your body to a bedflower in the Garden of Life. The irony, letting you bleed on flowers symbolizing the opposite of your unfortunate predicament. With your body here, both the Goldweaver and Garmentmaker made one final gift to you: a single piece of jewelry, a simple bracelet made with the famous Golden Threads that fill the eternal holy city to the brim.

In a way, it was Aglaea’s opportunity to connect with you one last time, and to usher a single goodbye in your mind that was long gone. Castorice could have attested so, but silence is known to be golden.

As for Phainon, he knew you to some extent. You two were not that close yet as he often trained with Mydeimos, while you remained with the leader of the Chrysos Heirs, always watching, never speaking. You had the same speaking mannerism as the blind woman did, and sometimes he failed to understand some of your riddles. It made you giggle.

Oh Kephale, how long until the west wind brings that laughter back to him ?

The second reset, you met early on: at the Grove. You two were students under the infamous Anaxagoras himself, giving the blasphemous professor more than one headache with your stupid antics. He should be getting the Coreflames already as the memories of the truth behind Amphoreus was still clear in his mind, but he had the right to indulge himself a little bit, correct ?

So indulging he did, until the two of you graduated at the same time. He watched as your fate changed, no longer at Aglaea’s side, but at his side. A trio was formed between you, Phainon and Mydeimos. Most of the time, the two men would stir up trouble, often fueled by stupid competitions (like, who would count how many chimeras they can carry in their arms without dropping any ? Mydeimos won by the way, he managed to carry thirty six of them while Phainon failed when he reached thirty three. Loser). But, you also acted as a peacemaker whenever the two started to argue. After all, they are too proud to apologize on their own, so you can give some well needed advice.

In this life, you died by the Black Tide, and he will never forgive himself. It was a simple mission to save some people stuck on deserted ruins, and Tribbie had been kind enough to help you all reach it with her powers. What you had not anticipated were the corrupted titankin, and you took a blow in his stead. He was dragged away as the monsters closed in. He saw your last breath before the portal closed in, your last smile for him.

Oh Kephale, how long until the west wind brings that smile back to him ?

The eleventh reset, you had claimed the Coreflame of Time already, which reminded him of a friend long gone. He went straight to the point when he saw you, and asked you to deliver what you had conquered. You refused, of course, saying that you had to protect it with your life, this mission had been entrusted to you as the Priest of Time, a reminder of a bygone time. C̴y̴r̴e̴n̴e̴,̴ ̴d̴i̴d̴ ̴y̴o̴u̴ ̴c̴o̴m̴e̴ ̴t̴o̴ ̴h̴a̴u̴n̴t̴ ̴h̴i̴s̴ ̴d̴a̴y̴s̴ ̴l̴i̴k̴e̴ ̴a̴ ̴f̴o̴r̴g̴o̴t̴t̴e̴n̴ ̴g̴h̴o̴u̴l̴ ̴?̴

But you were kind, you had always been. So, you two struck a deal: he could get what he desired, if he passed Oronyx’s trial using the Scale of Judgement. In a way, you had truly inherited the way the fallen Titan did, playing a bit to have some fun but to also buy yourself time, as giving your Coreflame would result in your death, no doubt needed. And yet, you still bravely accepted it when he won.

You took it out of your body, and he saw you disappear right in front of his eyes, turning into nothingness. But before that, you spoke to him, and even in this deranged state of his, he can still remember what you told him: “Phainon, do love yourself a bit in this journey of yours, and live with that love.” 

He remained in the Abyss of Fate for a while that day, using the only thing you had left behind to retrace all of your steps. You were nothing more than a memory, and he was listening to it all, seeing you help many people before he arrived. And when he left, Castorice was entering the place, seeking your soul.

Oh Kephale, how long until the west wind brings that kindness back to him ?

The one hundred twenty seventh reset, you were a healer, working alongside Hyacine. You had tended to his wounds one day when your fellow healer was busy taking care of other people, tracing your fingertips along his battered back. The next time you saw it, you kissed the scars he harbored, and apologized as if you were the sinful one. His only answer was to seek the warmth of your skin, as he knew it would leave just as quickly. Like you always did.

The three hundred seventy ninth reset, you were side by side with Hysilens and Cerydra, the two having not yet fully taken upon their journey, and you were there too, as a dancer enjoying the waves of your oceanic companion’s violin, dancing in front og the rumored tyrant. One day, you took his hand and danced with him. He laughed after stepping on your foot accidentally, and you simply ruffled his hair. The flames of your passion burned you, and you held the corrupted titankin by offering one last show. Golden ichor painted the streets that night, and he did it in your honor.

The seven thousand fifty hundred and first reset, you were no one special, only haunted by your own demons, and yet his paranoia made it be that he followed you around, watching over your back. Whenever someone bothered you, he would strike, whenever you sobbed, he would hold. In the end, he found your body laying on the floor of your bedroom, a dagger tinted with crimson in your hand that harbored no warmth. That day, when Khaslana killed himself, his humanity left at the reminder of your fate.

Nine thousand eight hundred forty fourth reset, Mydeimos succumbed and ravaged everything. Your body could not be recognized.

Eighty nine thousand three hundred and second reset, you traded your life to buy time for Anaxagoras to fuse with the Reason Coreflame. He was the one who held the blade to your chest.

From now on, he would be the one to kill you. If he did that, then he would know when to expect your death, correct ?

. . .

“Lygus.” The Antikytheran turned around, the view of the destroyed Amphoreus a sight for sore eyes in his twisted opinion. Phainon did not return that excitement, instead gazing lifessly towards the one who had caused everything in the first place. The one who has ruined their lives before it could even begin, and for what ? His own twisted pleasure at proving the Erudition wrong, and at embracing the Destruction.

“What is it ?” That voice, filled with deceit and a lack of emotion stirred up something inside of the man’s chest, which he ignored for now. “Ah, do not speak, I know exactly why you are open to a conversation today. It is because of your little… partner, isn’t it ?”

Silence takes over the two of them, before finally, Phainon speaks.

“You… why ? Why is fate always so different ?” A simple hum of acknowledgement cuts through the thickness in the air, the ashes and the blood and the memories carry no weight anymore between the two survivors of this charade, of this lie crafted by hands that held no love. A creator is supposed to love their creations, no ? So why, why does he despise them all to the point of never aiding them ?

“That answer is simple. For the results to show some sort of difference after each run, a variable needs to always change. Simply deriving how the story unfolds bears no satisfactory answer, so I brought in something that will always change.” Their eyes met, golden against a simple concealment. Coward, always hiding. “But you know that already, don’t you ?”

. . .

“You shall be everlasting, but everchanging, with a soul always alike, which will illuminate this world.” The three friends looked at each other, before one let out a sound which could be summed up as a mix between a whine and a grumble.

“What does that fate even mean ? Draw new cards !” The young girl shook her head, refusing to cooperate with the demands. Seeing the look on the face of his two friends, the white haired swordsman in training had only the strength to sigh. And an argument started between the two, just as quick as that.

“Give me another fate !” One wailed.

“No can do !” The other cheered.

“Come on, let’s not get handsy now, that fate sound… huh, nice ?” His comforting words and the half received embrace met nothing else but eyes dagging into his soul. “Then take it if it is so nice !”

The pink haired one only laughed as her two friends were now bickering.

. . .

He had killed Mydeimos, and now, there you were, in his arms. There was nothing romantic about this scene, only a wasteland in the making, and he, the Flame Reaver, shall draw his sword through your heart for the final time.

But, indulge him a bit, alright ?

A clawed hand reached out to you, the metal cold against your tear strained cheek. This was not the fitting death of a hero, but he did not want you to be a hero ever again. Maybe it was selfish of him to wish to dictate your life in such a way, but what else can he hope for when you have tasted death for so long ? If only you knew how many times the metallic scent of your blood overgrown all of his senses, to the point that he was driven crazy, hoping to never feel it again.

The life in your eyes is so frail, almost gone. But there is one endeavor left to do. The dreamless wish to show you, and to prove to everyone, that his humanity remains alive.

A simple noise. His mask falls to the ground, revealing the broken head of the man you once loved, now plagued with millions of lives. With millions of you left broken, dying, sometimes alone, and sometimes with some people by your side. Your gazes meet, and he raises his weapon, ready to strike down and—

“Ph… Phainon ?”

He cannot strike down. Three slashes are too cruel to you, too short for him to remember you correctly, for you have started to fade in his eyes. Why cannot he recognize you anymore ?

You laugh at the hesitance. He can only stare, almost in horror, as the wind blows by, bringing that sound to his ears. Some recognition flashes across his crazen eyes that hold nothing but silent emptiness. Your first life, as Aglaea’s assistant. You laughed back then, too, when he failed to decipher your riddles.

The silence outstretches, and your face becomes clearer, blood stained lips curved upwards into what barely resemble a smile. It is tainted with pain, tainted with sorrows and maybe regrets. He regrets too, not saving you from the beasts in your second life as he ran away like a coward to escape his own end.

“I knew… it. You are no monster.”

Please, stop looking at him, stop being warm. Stars explode after sharing too much warmth, and yours is intoxicating. You have never stopped loving this world, your companions, your life and him. Without realizing, he fulfilled a part of this long made promise with you, back when you were the Priest of Time.

He lived with love, your love.

Oh Kephale, how long until the west wind brings that love back to him ?

“See you again tomorrow, K̴h̴a̴s̴l̴a̴n̴a̴.”

[veinsfullofstars]

“Any more stupid questions?”

Bonus live reactions to being saved from a Dark Matter ambush:

Started 07/13/24, finished 07/27/24, updated for color correction 11/02/24. | Kintsugi AU Masterpost

[twinflameauwof]

Get Smooshed

Mulloway, Shell, and Kuhli are 3 loving SeaWings living in the Sea Kingdom.

Mulloway is a Scout for the SeaWing army, luckily, there hasn’t been much activity from enemy kingdoms, granting him more time at home.

Kuhli is a hunter, making most of her income through selling her catches to her merchant friends, even going further inland for more exotic prey.

Shell is a writer, often drawing from tales Kuhli hears from merchants and traveling dragons. She was blinded in one eye due to an incident in her dragonet-hood, but she’s managed to adapt over the years.

(These guys were partially created to spite that one person on tiktok who started trending for hating poly people. Tho I have always wanted to make poly oc’s so here we are :3)

[natade-art]

my zelda trio is no longer a trio because now we have Zelda everyone wants to be Vessel of Hylia Zelda but who is just herself. Princess Zelda who IS a vessel of hylia but doesnt she also deserve a chance to just be. Ganon who unleashed a curse upon himself thru hubris. aaand Link whos duty killed him. sad! well there's other heroes

[andarateia]

All about Emmrich Volkarin from Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Will you be romancing this silver-haired, smartly attired necromancer?

[triglycercule]

imagining this very funny totally amusing bit where dust (despite having a lot of pockets) makes horror carry a lighter for him (only because he can't be bothered to remember to bring one on him all the time) and horror keeps it in his head

but horror's a dick so everytime dust wants to smoke and he needs a light horror's always like "whats the password :3" (he actually said the emoticon i was the quotation marks) and dust has to guess. because horror changes it every time. and its never something predictable. and then he either just totally gives up on that cig or he has to forcefully dig into horror's head to get the lighter because horror's being a PRICK

now dust is shoulder deep into horror's eyesocket while horror is clawing and screaming and killer's just standing there behind them watching this unfold with that fuckass smile on his face (he can't get this type of entertainment anywhere else)

[kremy-lecroux]

Hey Lily do you have any favorite animal so far? If you have one of course.

Ghicken..!!!!!!

[bindinglove]

if tamlin and rhys aren’t exes why would tamlin still wear the illyrian blades rhys gave him daily, literally diabolical behavior ‼️

[ben-shapiro-onlyfans]

kosma has such an insane story and dynamic with griseo i can’t get over it. what if you were a teenager and you learned the world was ending and you got hired at the one place actively trying to stop it. your mentor there has a little daughter that you end up babysitting a lot and she calls you her brother. and then this crazy ass doctor fuses you and your friend with the very creatures that were destroying the world and then the little girl you help take care of gets the surgery too. and then her mother dies. and your friend dies. and your mentor dies. out of pure rage you kill the god-like being that killed them and quit your stupid job and then you learn from the crazy scientist lady that you were merged with one of the most destructive beings ever and as to not go insane you have to literally EAT more of those creatures and only she can help AND you still feel like you owe it to your mentor to take care of his daughter so you go back and now it’s just you two. and you’re still a teenager. then over half of humanity fucking dies and your cool coworker dies and then you’re told you have to go on a spaceship alone and (probably) never return. before you’re sent off you learn the little girl you thought of as your sister took your place and went off on that spaceship alone and you didn’t know. she’s gone now and you can’t say goodbye. when you’re sent off to fight the final battle you and most of your coworkers die almost instantly and then that’s it. you’re dead, she’s incomprehensibly far away and you never got to say goodbye and by the time she eventually DOES get back to earth it’s been thousands of years and you’re still dead. you don’t get a reincarnation or any kind of reunion like some of your friends do. you’re dead and she’s gone and that’s it. and you’re still a teenager.

[gyeomsweetgyeom]

im so immersed in the nct frat universe, i love the way you write everyone!

how did fratboy doyoung and sunshine meet/get together?

(in case you missed the fic, this ask is referring to)

Oooooh! Okay, I've been thinking about this sent I got the ask notif, here we go! This is how Sunshine and Doyoung meet!!!!!

Sunshine is an art major with an emphasis in drawing/painting! (Her real bread and butter is painting but she takes the drawing classes to fulfill her degree requirements)

TLDR; Doyoung spontaneously goes into a student art gallery, falls in love with a piece of work, and meets you

To this anon specifically, I want your feedback because I just KILLED this! Muah, enjoy!

Anyway! One night, Doyoung was leaving a meeting with one of his professors while it was already dark. As he was walking across campus, he kept seeing a pretty steady stream of people heading in the same direction. He gets to a crossroads. He can keep going straight, he can go back to the frat house, he can keep stressing over his assignment, and walk into the chaos that is surely waiting there for him. OR! Or he can make a slight left and head toward this brightly lit building on campus that he's never been in, but where people keep entering.

Figuring he's in need of a break and he's slightly curious, he heads into the mysterious building and finds that it's a student gallery. The walls hold different medias: drawing, photography, charcoal sketches, some podiums cold pottery and ceramics projects that he knows he's not capable of. He's always been a very science/math minded person (I have yet to figure out his major, but he's def STEM coded for this) so the art stuff has never been his strong suit. He's never been able to get his mind to understand the hidden depths of some art. How can anyone notice the minor details and the hidden meanings or themes? Why can't he do it?

But he keeps walking around. He clears his mind and doesn't force his brain to look for some kind of hidden code that he can't crack, he looks at the skill of the art. He can admire the strokes of the pencil, the angle of the camera, the lighting in the pictures, the stray finger print left in the clay. It's really what his mind needed to just relax, to focus but not in a stressful way.

Then he comes along the last wall in the gallery. A wall filled with paintings big and small, but he finds himself drawn to the biggest one there. The blend of the colors, the meticulous stroke of the brush. He's never been particularly moved by art, but he is now. Maybe his past self would have said there was nothing special to this piece, but him now, he just can't look away. He stands there for what has to be at least 20 minutes, taking in every detail his eyes can focus on. Where the red and yellow meet and aren't blended completely, where the oil based paint is raised in some areas and how the shadow of the light that beams down on the canvas creates depth that just fits perfectly. He likes how the edges of the canvas are more messy, more sparse with the strokes of the brush, details that were likely forgotten, but his eye picks up on.

He's still staring, still mesmerized when you speak up beside him, gentle and soft so he's not startled, "it's oil on pure cotton canvas. 36 by 48 inches."

Doyoung swallows and nods. He doesn't know what that means. You could be telling him this was painted with dollar store paint on scraps of receipt paper stuck together with gum and he'd still like it. He nods, blinking but not looking away from the canvas, "it's wonderful."

"Thank you," you reply, and his brain reboots. Thank you. Are you... did you paint this? You're the artist of the first and only painting— the creator of the first thing in a long time that's made his brain just... calm down.

You continue, looking at your own work, "I'm glad my two and a half months of work have paid off for at least one person. My professor said I was being too audacious for choosing a canvas this big. It's my biggest piece yet, but I think it was worth it..."

"It was," Doyoung quickly adds, tearing his eyes away from the painting for the first time to look at you. "This is the first piece of art ever that I have actually stood and enjoyed in the way that was intended. I always felt like my brain wouldn't be capable of this, but here I am."

You perk up, turning to him with a bright smile, "that's an amazing compliment. Wow! I can't believe my work was the catalyst for this!" he finds his face turning into a soft smile as you wiggle happily and continue, "I think that's the best compliment I've ever received."

You extend your hand and introduce yourself, Doyoung does the same. Despite how clean you look, how proper and poised, he can't help but notice the paint under your nails and specks on your fingers.

After a way too long handshake, he drops your hand and puts his hands behind his back. He feels like he's just itching to feel the warmth of your hand and the feel of your fingers in his again.

You're still smiling brightly, riding a high from his compliment. You giggle to yourself and he finds himself smiling along even though he doesn't even know the joke yet. You turn to him and wiggle your brows playfully, "are you interested in purchasing Mr. Kim?"

His eyes follow your finger to the small placard just to the right of your painting where he finally finds the name of the artist, you, the name of the painting, the description, and the price. Close to a thousand dollars which he certainly doesn't have just lying around waiting to be spent on art.

Or does he? He has the space on his wall in his room. Maybe he could give it to his parents for safe keeping until he gets his own place. His train of thought is interrupted when you place your hand on his forearm. His hand flexes but his eyes find your face again. You smile warmly, "I was teasing. It's a lot of money. I think it's worth less, but..."

Doyoung wants to argue that he thinks it's actually worth a whole lot more, but he doesn't. He smiles back and laughs it off with you, though a piece of him does already miss this painting. "I guess I'll just settle for a picture for now," he breathes out.

He has to step all the way back until his back is pressed against the wall six feet away from your painting to get it all. He takes a ton of pictures, making sure the lighting is just right. Then his eyes dart over to you, waiting on the side, watching on proudly. His cheeks flush, "maybe one with the artist in it too?"

You scurry to the side of your painting, head held high, a smile on your face so big that Doyoung imagines it must hurt. He probably ends up taking more pictures of you and the painting than he did of the painting alone.

He leaves that night with just one word echoing in his mind. Someday. Someday he'll buy your paintings, someday he'll buy every single one of your paintings. As he walks home, he can't help but look down at his screen, at the picture of his favorite painting, and of you. And maybe someday he'll have you too.

The picture of your beside your painting becomes the background on his phone when you two get together and he never changes it. His other favorite pictures of you and your art work get their own respective widgets on his screen.

[lixenn]

Thanks so much Ein!! 💜💜🥹🥹🥹Super duper happy you like it and I'm so glad that the side profile turned out alright cause I'm really not well versed with those 😭😭

Also, just for clarifiction: The purple eyes aren't for Dying Will Mode, this is just me being a sucker for making eyes change colour due to power use/being emotional. It's part of my Flame lore lmaooo. I don't think I've stated it outright really except for context clues in my writing? But basically in my AU you can flash your eyes in your Flame colour, which can either be seen as a threat or a warning or even just a greeting, it honestly depends on the context lol. It can also happen on accident when you snap for example, it depends on how much control you have over your Will. Since it does come up in the Concept of Causality kinda frequently, I wanted to establish a ref for the different eye colour. Additionally, I just like making shit glow 🤣🤣

So yeah, in the future when I do a ref sheet for a character that's Flame active or will be Flame active in the future I will include a seperate eye colour ref for the glowy eyes 🫡

Character reference: Daniele Costa

Behold for I have made a thing!

Official Chief art reference for the win baby! It took me a while but I've finally finished it ^^

I've added it to his profile which honestly is so out of date but I can't be bothered to edit it since I'm working on the wiki so I will just leave it as is lol.

[cryptidcuriosities]

Something for an upcoming rp, the boys are not happy about the outfit change

[lynxacratic]

I know the most popular theory about the flame reaver is that it’s Phainon/Phainon from a previous cycle, so it’s really interesting that flame reaver’s finisher line mentions drowning the sun, and Phainon has a lot of sun and light references within his design and character 🤔