#little thing while i'm searching for ideas for the arcana

[sleepjupiter]

[iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia]

The Arcana Drabbles: Storm Traditions

~ written for the @vesuviaweekly prompt "snuggle weather" - enjoy some found family platonic fluff! ~

-- written so that reader does not have to be romantically involved with Asra to be considered part of the family --

"Watching the storm?"

The change in view is drastic enough to give you mild whiplash. Outside, torrents of rain are battering the cobblestones as the canal rushes by. Inside, Aisha is offering you a shawl to drape around your shoulders while Salim sets a fresh pot of tea next to the incense burner on the low table. She smiles as you accept the warmth.

"Asra was like that as a child, too. Always observing every new detail. We used to say that he would memorize the stars if he let him stay out late enough."

Salim laughs from the tea table. "Some things never change. Did you see him in the marketplace yesterday? I thought he was about to dismantle that poor new merchant's cart!"

You can't help but smile. Watching their family slowly knit back together has been a highlight of the last year. That said, this is perhaps the second or third time you've been with the older couple without Asra present, and you're a little unsure of where you fit in without that connection. There's a brief pause bordering on awkward where they share a look with each other before Salim breaks the silence.

"I'm so glad you decided to come over today and spend some time with us. Do you have a tradition of watching storms when they come in?"

You shrug. "I'm ... not sure. I might have picked that up from Asra when ... well, you know."

"Ah."

Another awkward pause. Salim scratches at his stubble sheepishly as Aisha gives him a look that says "seriously?". You pull the shawl tighter and scoot towards the tea table with a smile.

"It's okay, really. I don't mind talking about it."

"Oh, we shouldn't have brought it up -"

"In that case, where's your family?"

It's slightly hilarious to watch the breakdown in how synced they usually are. They both give each other wide-eyed "what was that??" looks, Salim absentmindedly passing you a cup of tea as Aisha sets a plate of treats down. You wrap your hands around the warm glass and shrug.

"I'm not sure. Asra knew about my aunt, but it's only been safe for him to tell me more about the past in the last year. Everyone else has been helping me search for clues - Nadia let me look at the city ledgers and census and Julian and Portia have been asking the ship crews that come in - but it's taking a while."

"If there's anything we can do -" Aisha begins,

"Yes! Anything at all -" Salim adds,

"Let us know."

You sip your tea and nod. "Thank you, I will."

"And ..." This time, it's Aisha who risks taking a relational step forward. "If you find yourself in need of a mother or father to talk to ..."

"Oh," Salim straightens, "Yes - not that we'd try to replace anybody -"

"- of course not." Aisha affirms. "But ... please, as much as you're comfortable with it. We'd love to be your family too."

You don't expect the sentiment to hit something so deep inside you, but it's hard not to tear up for a second. You nod.

"I'd like that. ... thank you."

They both light up. Aisha moves to a corner and picks out an old book from their shelf. "In that case, may we introduce you to one of our stormy weather traditions?"

Salim claps his hands, clearly caught up in the new idea. "I'll go get the powder!"

"What's the tradition?"

"May I join you?"

"Sure." You scoot to the middle of the couch. Aisha curls up next to you, tucking her feet in and showing you the cover of the elaborate story book in her lap.

"We used to do this whenever it rained. We'd all snuggle together under blankets and read stories, while we played with the pictures."

Salim reappears with a heavy quilt thrown over one shoulder and a pouch in his hand. He pulls out a pinch of sparkly powder and tosses it into the air before approaching the sofa. "May I?"

You nod and he sits down on your other side. The quilt gets spread across your laps and you find yourself cozily situated between two people absolutely delighted to dote on you.

"Now then," Aisha opens the book and passes it across your lap to Salim, "I think we should start with the one about the seesaw."

He adjusts his glasses and peers through them down at the page with a fond smile. "This one's a favorite. Ahem -"

Aisha raises her hand and the powder floating around the room seems to come alive with a subtle lavender glow. An image of a child and their parent appears, walking hand-in-hand across a grassy, hilly plain. Salim begins to read.

"Once upon a time, a giant built a playground for their little one. There was a slide, a swing set, a sand pit, and most importantly, a seesaw."

Above you, the images move and transform as the story unfolds. The storm lies forgotten behind you, Salim's voice drowning out the thunder, and Aisha's pictures lighting up the overcast room. The blanket and tea fill you with warmth. You fall into a drowsy, happy state, safe with the loving couple giving you a long-lost feeling of home.

[themememerchant]

Persona 5 Arcana Swap: Queenpin Of The Metaverse

I had this idea when I was awake one night and before I knew it I was opening a google doc to start writing a new Arcana Swap fic.

I have A LOT of ideas for all of the characters involved in this. Mostly revolving around various 'what-ifs' and headcanons I have in regards to the original story of P5R.

There's still a lot of kinks I Ned to iron out, specifically the confidants.

But the general idea of the phantom thieves has been sorted out in a way that I think I'm pretty satisfied with.

So keep in mind that some of these ideas may change later as I think of new plot threads to introduce, but for the most part the stories of the new Phantom Thieves of Hearts has been pretty well thought out.

So here we go! Introducing...

My Arcana Swapped Phantom Thieves:

Sumire Yoshizawa-Maruki - The Fool

Codename: Queenpin

Persona: Queenie

Despite being the protagonist and the fool, she doesn't have the wildcard ability, since I don't feel the need to include it from a literary standpoint.

MUCH different than her canon counterpart in behavior, as well as the fact that my version of her is trans and autistic (ME?! PROJECTING?! NOOO...)

The story of her arrest is that she came from an abusive household, one day she punched her father in a fit of rage while he insulted her for not being as good as her sister. The next night, the police crash into her room claiming they had an anonymous tip that Sumire had guns and narcotics in her possession, sure enough, when they searched her backpack, that's exactly what they found.

Her parents also hired someone to rig the trial she was forced to attend, they made it so they would be able to disown Sumire and people would think it was her own fault for being a criminal. When everything was said and done, her parents were all too happy to package her stuff up and send her to live with a foster caretaker to the other side of Tokyo.

After Sumire got to experience true freedom when she stood up to her parents, even if only for a moment, she vowed to never let people walk on her again. Which is exactly how her persona is able to coax her into having an awakening.

She's much less blindly polite than her canon counterpart. She's not insulting people left and right or anything, but she can and will call someone out on their bullshit. She's also not above some light jabs with her friends.

She flirts with every cute girl or hot guy with all the confidence of a maxed charm stat, but she immediately turns into a blushing puddle if anyone actually flirts back.

Growing up with strict parents who were trying to raise a perfect Olympic gymnast leaves her to feel the need to ask permission for the littlest things from any adults near her. She's fine in a room with just her friends or other kids, but when an adult is in the room she goes stiff and doesn't speak unless spoken to, the other thieves compare it to her almost going into a trance.

On the note from the above statement, she feels a little weird about being around people her age that are fine with acting relaxed around adults. it almost triggers a flight or fight or freeze response when one of the thieves so much as moves when an adult is talking.

She eventually starts a running gag with the thieves of calling Principal Kobayakawa, "Principal Humpty-Dumpty".

Her persona Queenie is called the godmother of Harlem, similar to how Arsene was called the pillager of twilight in the original. Queenie was the alias of an early 20th century mob boss, a woman who's own gang was so strong that she was able to keep Harlem clear of much more dangerous threats, she also employed many Harlem citizens with positions in her numbers-game schemes.

Queenie helps Sumire remain attached to reality whenever she's having a particularly rough time. Going from such a strict household to total freedom can give you some serious whiplash, so Queenie makes sure Sumire doesn't completely lose her mind from the sudden shift, while simultaneously helping her learn more about freedom.

Goro - The Magician

Codename: Ace

Persona: Sherlock Holmes

An ally who helps Sumire and Makoto by providing the information on palaces and changes of heart.

He doesn't fully take canon Mona's place, as he is completely human rather than the embodiment of humanity's hope. He does act as the resident expert on the metaverse due to the fact that he was once involved in the research of cogninitve psience, specifically, he was the first successful case of a person being transported to the metaverse when he was 13. Unfortunately, he ended up being trapped in Mementos for around 4 months without knowing how to escape.

The distortions of the metaverse affected him by turning his skin pure white with constantly changing black patterns, similar to Loki's design, he also has large crow wings on his back. In the real world, his skin turns it's normal color and his wings and dazzle-camouflage turn into tattoos all over his body.

He obviously doesn't have the ability to make people turn violent like he did in canon, nor does he have the ability to hold more than one persona. He's simply a guy who happens to know a lot about the metaverse and chooses to use that knowledge to fulfill his long-lost childhood dream of becoming a hero, he also has the hopes of making his mom proud from heaven.

Despite not going down the path of becoming a personal hit man for Shido, he still keeps his patented Goro snark that he had in the canon third semester. Though it's in much more of a-"I'm to tired to be polite"- way, and less of a-"Fuck you, just let me die already"-way.

My favorite line I've written for him so far is: "I'm Joe Schmoe from Shits-ville, DOES IT MATTER?!"

^This is right after Makoto tries to ask who he is.

Since he doesn't take on a different form in this AU, it means that he can't transform into a bus like Mona can. But he IS able to conjure a rather large trolley car thanks to his distortions giving him an understanding of how Mementos functions on a fundamental level

There's a running gag between the phantom thieves that Goro is homeless,-(think that one bit between Dream and Technoblade)-since nobody has ever actually seen where Goro lives. He likes to join in on the joke sometimes by coming up with increasingly ridiculous excuses as to why they can't come over.

^"Sorry, my house just got destroyed by an asteroid the other day. That's the third time this week too...OH WELL!"

His persona is Sherlock Holmes, not because he's a detective, but because in the early writings, Holmes was described as being a "Bohemian Genius", as well as being very antisocial and more like a renegade P.I. rather a straight-laced detective.

Holmes basically acts as Goro's impulse control, he also helps Goro realize whenever he needs to actually talk to his friends instead of being a smartass 24/7.

Makoto Niijima - The Chariot

Codename: Panda

Persona: Shek Yeung

Sumire's first friend at Shujin Academy, as well as the one who helps her investigate the newfound metaverse with Goro.

She used to be the same "good-girl type of pushover" that she was in canon, until her first day of high school when Kamoshida reeled her in as his newest catch. Halfway through her second year, she decided enough was enough and confronted Kamoshida about how he treated the students, unfortunately, Kamoshida being Kamoshida, tried to sexually assault her while in the student council room. She fought back at him, but he overpowered her and did the same thing that was implied to have happened to Suzui in canon.

After Makoto recovered from the...incident, she tried going straight to the principal about the issues, but he shut her down and called her delusional for insinuating that Mr. Kamoshida could have done something like that. Before she knew what was happening, her position as student council president went out the window, and she was suddenly known as "The girl who tried to whore herself out to Kamoshida-sensei"

To Makoto, it was almost liberating to have all of the expectations of the student council ripped off of her back-(minus the sexual assault part). She turned lemons into lemonade and decided that if people were going to give her dirty looks, she might as well have fun while doing it! So she dyed her hair all kinds of colors (mostly blonde), ditched the school blazer in favour of a customized bomber jacket, and fully embraced becoming a sukeban.

She swears a LOT, more than even Ryuji did in canon.

Chie had steak, Ryuji had ramen, and Makoto has pocky sticks. She always has at least two boxes on her person at all times, and always has one in her mouth, only eating it if shit starts to get real. If she looks you dead in the eye and starts chewing her pocky, you better start running before she swallows...

Makoto has, and will continue to start fights whenever some punk-ass thinks they can get away with being transphobic or ableist to Sumire, or any of the other thieves for that matter.

Less of an overprotective-mom and more like a badass-mom who's fresh out of jail. She's very lax most time but will instantly get on your ass if you do something stupid enough.

Her persona, Shek Yeung, was a woman from a brothel who married a pirate. After the death of her husband, she took his place as the captain of the Guangdong Pirate federation, who ravaged the coast of South China.

Shek Yeung helps Makoto fill the void that was left when Sae stopped trying to talk to her, acting as a big sister that supports Makoto when she can't support herself. She reminds Makoto to give herself some time to be selfish, as well as helping her be more open about what she actually wants in life.

Futaba Ishiki-Sakura - The Lovers

Codename: Rumor

Persona: Cleopatra

The chaotic gremlin child who unfortunately gets caught in Kamoshida's perverted grip when she first starts high school.

She joins the group a lot earlier than canon Ann did, mostly because she's a lot more pragmatic when thinking of solutions to her problems. She realizes pretty quickly that Sumire, Makoto, and "The guy with the weird tattoos" are scheming something that has to do with Kamoshida's obvious crimes, and she's not going to sit back and be a victim while everyone else starts taking action.

She overhears the three talking about how they need "-a third member to safely explore the palace." and decides to come to them directly.

^"Look, I don't care if you're blackmailing him, or planning to break his knees with a bat. Whatever it is you're doing, count me in!"

Her story doesn't revolve around being a shut-in,-(Though she still has social anxiety)-but rather that these new people she's met are really the first to actually make her feel valued as a person, and that she is someone worthy of respect.

Since she's not a shut-in, she's a lot less savvy when it comes to hacking and data mining, but she's sort of like the middle man between the thieves and some more...questionable sources of intelligence and resources. Whenever there comes a time for needing to analyze data, Futaba adjusts her glasses and calmly states: "Hehehe...I think I know a guy for that..." Nobody wants to ask what exactly she means by that, and it's probably for the best they don't know.

She has at least 157 different accounts built for browsing the dark web without the risk of collecting viruses or privacy-invasion. All of which have multiple fake IDs, credit cards, cryptocurrency, and other things necessary for her shady connections.

Her mom isn't dead in this AU, she was able to safely go into hiding with the help of Sojiro, whom she is now engaged to. Futaba has some repressed mommy issues since she still feels neglected from her mom needing to work, as well as her new fiance sweeping her off her feet at every turn.

Cleopatra, who needs no introduction, was the final Pharaoh of ancient Egypt. She was sought after by ancient rulers far and wide for her beauty, yet only in the modern day did people actually appreciate her for her intelligence and leadership.

Cleopatra sort of fills the motherly roll Futaba's needed for a long time, it's very helpful since Cleo knows exactly what Futaba needs to hear when she's upset. She praises Futaba for her work with the phantom thieves, gives Futaba reassurance on her appearance and behavior, and helps calm Futaba down from her frequent anxiety attacks.

Futaba once started bawling her eyes out in her sleep when she talked with her persona in a dream, and Cleo said: "I am very proud of you, Futaba...I love you..."

Yuuki Mishima - The Sun

Codename: Trickster

Persona: Geronimo

The fifth and final member of the founding phantom thieves.

He-(sort of)-takes the place of Shiho in this AU, where he has a breakdown on the school rooftop and strongly considers jumping, luckily Sumire, Makoto, and Futaba are able to shove their way through the crowd so they can talk him down and help him.

The story is that Kamoshida, after the gang starts screwing around with the stuff in his palace, finally snaps and decides that merely beating poor innocent Yuuki is not enough for him anymore. So he calls Yuuki into his office one day and decides to "Try something different..."

After the whole mess on the rooftop happens, the gang decides that Yuuki deserves to get some revenge on Kamoshida for what he did. They bring him into the palace and, sure enough, after seeing just how Kamoshida treats not just him, but the whole school, he awakens out of pure anger and desire to be a hero for once.

He's much more jokey than canon, usually opting to make hilariously bad puns and occasional innuendos. He also has no idea about anything involving the real world.

^Yuuki: "I'm inside her heart-shaped-box." ^Futaba: "You know what that means right?" ^Yuuki: "No actually I just know it's a song-" ^Makoto: "JESUS FUCKING CHRIST YUUKI!"

He's just about as awkward as he is in canon, but rather than being treated like shit for it, his awkward jokes are usually just met with a slight pat on the shoulder and a comforting "......we'll work on it, sweetie" from Sumire or Makoto.

He still creates, opens, and monitors the phansite on his downtime. Futaba and Sophia usually help him with how often the requests get backed up.

Even though some of his jokes end up falling flat, he's still really good at coming up with zingers on the spot. The thieves have dubbed him as "The official phantom-comedian", to the point that he, Akira, Futaba, and Sophia all collectively come together to annoy the shit out of Goro

His persona is Geronimo of the Bedonkohe band of the Chirihacua Apache, an American-Indian shaman who fought against Spanish soldiers after his family was murdered. He was said to have converged with a spirit to become immune to bullets, and it took all of 5,000 U.S. soldiers to drag him back to the San Carlos reservation, which he escaped later again

Geronimo fucking loves Yuuki's stupid-ass jokes and will always be his #1 fan, but despite Yuuki's quips, Geronimo knows he's hiding a lot of pain from what he went through with Kamoshida, so he always encourages his other self to admit there's nothing wrong with being upset or afraid because of the circumstances.

Akira Amamiya - The Emperor

Codename: Ghoul

Persona: Brutus

The pupil of Madarame who writes poems, plays, and dables in art which Madarame, of course, plagiarizes from him.

The thieves hear about how Akira is the only pupil who has not left Madarame from another source, and they try to ask him about the plagiarism and accusations of abuse. Akira, of course, denies all of it, but the thieves can see that there's something in his eyes begging for an escape from his situation.

Things pretty much proceed as they do in canon with Madarame's palace, but rather than the whole "Nude painting incident", Sumire pretends to go on a date with Akira at his shack so Goro can sneak in and open the necessary door to help their progress. Madarame comes home, Akira has a panic attack, and they discover the room with the supposedly stolen painting and it's copies before dipping into the metaverse to escape the security.

The painting that Akira is obsessed with isn't the Sayouri, but rather, a self portrait of his father. Akira, of course, has no idea until Madarame's shadow reveals this at the end, but it explains Akira's fascination with it.

Even though he is a gifted painter, he is much more interested with acting and script-writing. He is 100% a gayass theater kid who joins Yuuki's bad jokes to give people headaches.

He is the king of random talents and parlor tricks; he can do a hand stand walk, write and type with his feet, he's very good with sleight of hand tricks, and can even use throwing knives to catch flies.

He's personality is pretty much that of Gomez Addams, he's a hopeless romantic who flirts with anyone and anything that moves, and is constantly down to do the weirdest shit for his loved ones.

His persona is Brutus, the trusted ally of Julius Caesar who later joined a conspiracy to end his life for the benefit of Rome. He realized that Caesar was a dictator and decided to side with his own lofty ideals and morals. He is best known for his role in the Shakespearean play: 'The Tragedy of Julius Caesar'.

Akira often consults Brutus whenever he faces a complicated situation that requires thinking of things from a different perspective, Brutus, being a master of rationalization, is always there to give Akira a push in the direction that will certainly benefit him in the long run, even if Akira doesn't like it.

Sophia Ishiki-Sakura - The Star

Codename: Rogue

Persona: Peter Pan

A 10 year old girl whose abusive mother was run clean-over by a truck 10 months before the events of the story-(not Ichinose). She spent the last several months being tossed around the abysmal foster care system until she ended up at the Ishiki-Sakura household with Futaba. When she moves in, Futaba's meta-nav pings in on a "semi-palace" that has begun forming.

The thieves begin brainstorming ideas on how to help Sophia, then Goro chimes in with: "Why don't we just help her confront her shadow?" and the rest of the team's like: "...what?". So Goro gives the gist that, theoretically, someone can change their own heart by directly confronting their shadow. The thieves decide they have no other choice to prevent Sophia from becoming fully distorted, and bring her into the semi-palace.

Things happen, Sophia awakens to her persona on the 2nd visit with the help of her shadow, but the semi-palace doesn't disappear. The thieves learn that the semi-palace is actually ruled by a cognition, (similar to canon Futaba), she confronts it and is able to change her own heart. After everything is said and done, she basically twists the thieves arms until they allow her to become a permanent member.

Sophia becomes much happier after her semi-palace is destroyed, up until then she was the poster child for gifted kids who were forced to grow up too fast. Her shadow and persona helped her tap into her inner child, now she gets a lot more enjoyment from being so smart, while still acting like a dumbass kid sometimes.

She goes to Shujin with the rest of the thieves, she was actually smart enough to skip a few grades and go straight to being a first-year.

She's basically the thieves collective little sister. Sumire and her bond over being neurodivergent and stim together, Makoto takes her out for rides on her motorcycle, Futaba is actually her sister and they bond over making immature jokes, Akira and her have actually started a club within the thieves for trauma dumping about abusive parents, and Yuuki and her bond over a shared experience with being sheltered and needing to learn more about real life.

As for her and Goro's relationship...

^Goro: "I've only had Sophia for less than a day, but if anything happened to her, I would kill every shadow in Mementos and then myself."

Her persona is Peter Pan, the forever child who resides in the fantastical world of Neverland, where he leads the group of lost boys and learned magic from sprites. His childishness is meant to be depicted as negative, but here is something to be said for seeing even life itself as another grand adventure.

Even after the thieves take her in as one of them, she still has a lot of trouble with allowing herself to act and play like a little kid, Pan is usually the one to help her indulge in those things she feels ashamed of. He acts like the reverse version of impulse control, encouraging Sophia to enjoy herself with dumb fun instead of trying to live up to her reputation as a gifted kid, Sophia of course, is grateful and tries to listen to his advice.

Haru Okumura - The High Priestess

Codename: Vigilante

Persona: Calamity Jane

She takes the place of Kobayakawa's lap dog, but not by being the student council president, she is simply encouraged by most people in her life to "-have good connections early on." Most of the pressure she experiences comes from her father, who is no stranger to cooking the books.

Unlike canon Makoto, she is much more reluctant to blindly follow the orders of the teachers, but she feels as though she doesn't have a choice in regards to what she does. Mostly in the fact that Kobayakawa has close ties to her father, and threatens to speak to him unless Haru spies on the new transfer student he's obsessed with trying to expel.

Haru befriends Sumire under false pretenses, but goes back on her spying when she learns that Kobayakawa has a personal connection to a local "mafia" and has been exploiting the student body for a long time now. So she goes to Sumire and the thieves to come clean, as well as ask them to change the principal's heart.

Eventually, the thieves need Haru's help with proceeding through the palace, in doing so, she awakens to her persona and begins working towards earning the thieves' trust once again.

Once she gains their trust, she officially joins the thieves as a valued friend. They all forgive her fairly quickly once they proceed further in Kobayakawa's palace

She's slightly more unhinged than she is in canon, constantly saying the most out-of-pocket shit you've ever heard.

^Haru: "Do you think stabbing someone in the dark could be used as a legal loophole for assault?"

She and Goro are absolute besties in this AU. They constantly shit talk random people behind their back, especially the people whose hearts the thieves have changed. She also does this with Sumire and the "Principal Humpty-Dumpty" joke.

She and Ann have a secret "shit-talking-tea-date" that nobody else is allowed to know about. They talk about the stunts pulled by the other thieves.

If Makoto is the fresh-outta-jail mom, Haru is 100% the sassy aunt who encourages her nieces and nephews schemes in an effort to mess with the mother. In most cases, Haru usually just sits back and watches the chaos while calmly sipping a cup of tea.

Calamity Jane was an old West heroine who got her name for her reckless nature on the battlefield, as well as being known for riding straight into an enemy ambush to save her ally. She was a heedless, foul-mouthed, and heavily opinionated woman who made her name famous with her sharpshooting skills.

Whereas many of the thieves directly consult their personas for help, Jane acts more like a spectator with a bucket of popcorn while Haru hilariously flails around without contributing anything to creating a solution. If Jane is really feeling like a nuisance, she will interject with the most batshit things at the worst times.

^Haru: *Taking a test and trying to remember the answer* ^Jane: "Pssst-I think the answer is 25..." ^Haru: ".......this is an English test, Jane..."

Yusuke Maruki - The Hermit

Codename: Prophet

Persona: Paimon

Maruki's son whom he adopted in secret after the suspicious death of Yusuke's mother.

Things happen in a similar manner as canon, medjed threatens everyone, Futaba tries and fails to find a way to stop them, Yusuke contacts them under the alias of "Avra" saying that he can help them track down the one responsible for the threats if they change the heart of Yusuke Maruki.

Sumire investigates, finds out about Yusuke's story, and her and the thieves agree to change Yusuke's heart for him.

His palace takes the form of haunted catacombs, with a cognitions of the men in black suits being the true rulers, while his shadow is an imprisoned spirit who's desperate for freedom.

Sophia proposes that since the circumstances are similar, they could just bring Yusuke into his own palace to confront this shadow like she did. Goro interjects, saying that Sophie's semi-palace was no where near as large or dangerous as a full-blown palace, meaning that things are more likely to escalate poorly.

Yusuke comes in on his own during the thieves' heist, he awakens, and the team has a brand new navigator on their side.

Even though he is similar to canon Futaba with hacking skills, he has much more of an occult aesthetic rather than being a super-nerd. He simply picked up coding and hacking as a hobby when he ran out of books to read.

He's still as eccentric as ever, constantly joining Akira in being a drama queen about everything. He 100% knows how to commit to the bit.

Somehow he is even more deadpaningly hilarious than canon. Contending with Haru for saying the most out-of-pocket things, causing people's heads to turn.

^Futaba: "Why do you always say the most outta-pocket shit?!"

^Yusuke: *Deadly serious voice* "It would appear that the pocket has barely been opened at this point..."

His persona Paimon is the ninth spirit listed in the Ars Goetia, as well as a revered king of hell. Said to be a master of "all matter of secret things", he will bestow his conjurer with otherworldly knowledge whenever summoned.

Jane is a spectator who enjoys Haru's lighthearted suffering, and Paimon is a spectator who constantly wants to bash his head against a wall for all the things Yusuke is clueless about. He constantly has to put up with an antisocial teenager who can't so much as read a subway map correctly, despite living in Tokyo his whole life. Paimon is also forced to suffer second-hand embarrassment when his other self unknowingly drops the ball when talking to people.

Ann Takamaki - The Empress

Codename: Knight

Persona: St. Jeanne d'Arc

A friend of Sumire who has suspected her of being a phantom thief ever since the incident with Kamoshida, and later, the Principal. She later came to Sumire requesting that she change her mother's heart.

Instead of Okumura being the one who exploits workers and is involved with the mental shutdowns, Ann's mother is the CEO of a small-scale conglomerate who plans on ascending into politics.

Ann has known Sumire for a good minute, so she trusts her when it is resealed that she and her friends are the phantom thieves, but Ann still wants to see a change of heart in-person so she knows whether or not it is as justified as they say. It also helps that Ann has been hearing the faint voice of her persona over the course of a few months, so Sumire believes she can help with the awakening process.

The exact details of how the thieves prove their methods to Ann will be revealed later on, but the bottom line is that the thieves encounter another semi-palace that they need to take care of as quickly as possible.

Unbeknownst to the thieves, Ann has been very close to having an awakening and forming a semi-palace for several months, and she is beginning to reach the end of her rope. This all culminates in her trying to wrestle her own shadow to death whilst her persona tries to stop her.

When all the madness ends, Ann awakens, she helps the thieves destroy the semi-palace of their target, and she agrees to go forward with the plan to change her mother's heart.

She and Sumire bond over their conjoined "trans girl swag". She's pretty good with helping Sumire out with any lingering dysphoria that she's not comfortable about sharing with the rest of the thieves.

She has a weekly shit-talking session with Haru which usually happens over tea and sweets. They basically just talk about the stupidest things that the other thieves have attempted that week.

She and Futaba often unite to sow chaos amongst the group, they plot, they scheme, and then they make some popcorn to watch the chaos.

Her persona is St. Jeanne d'Arc, the woman in charge of flying the French flag before battles during the 100 years' war. Despite the fact that she had no formal position in the army, she was always found on bravely rushing to the battlefield, she was even known to give the troops tactical advice during meetings.

Jeanne is Ann's biggest enabler whenever she wants to have some harmless fun, basically, her favorite thing to say in response to Ann's ideas is: "Do it." But she also helps Ann come to terms with the fact that she needs to take responsibility and take things seriously.

Ryuji Sakamato - The Justice

Codename: Crook/Black mask

Persona(s): Nezumi Kozo/Maximilien

Takes the place of the culprit behind the mental shutdowns and rampage incidents, as well as taking the role of being the traitor who works with the conspiracy Shido runs.

His story is similar to canon Akechi, his mother was a prostitute who was killed by Shido one night. Ryuji, instead of becoming a detective, decided to become an extremist dedicated to bringing Shido, and the entire Japanese government, to it's knees.

He willingly signed up for some unethical cognitive psience research experiments so he could get close to Shido, there were other people who underwent the training, but Ryuji was the only one that actually survived long enough to gain his powers.

He climbed his way up the ladder until finally getting an audience with Shido, and he offered to become his hitman for the same reasons as canon Akechi. By this point in his life, Ryuji had become so jaded by everything he's been through, that he's convinced himself that everyone he killed needed to die for the greater good.

Ryuji's main cover story is that he's a justified rebel who uses graffiti art and peaceful protests to speak out against corruption, not only does this help him publicly detest the phantom thieves, but it helps Shido's reputation when they publicly join together around the election time.

He's not quite as irredeemable as canon Akechi, but when it does come time for him and the thieves to reunite in the 3rd semester, it basically boils down to: "YOU ARE GOING TO BE A GOOD PERSON! AND YOU ARE GONNA LIKE IT!!!"

During his "redemption" phase he still has to get over the fact that he's very cynical in how he views the world, as well as people in general. His philosophy is that since everybody has a shadow self, that means everyone is automatically at least a little evil.

He and Sumire have more of a "frenemies" type of relationship rather than the homoerotic undertones of canon Akechi and Joker. They insult and antagonize each other constantly, but Sumire is the only one Ryuji will allow it with, if it were anyone else insulting him, he's break their spine.

His "false" persona, Nezumi Kozo, was the "rat kid" who plagued noblemen across all of Japan during the Edo period. Even though his status as a vigilante is widely debated by historians, many folk songs and Kabuki plays portray him as an outlawed hero of justice.

His "true" persona is Maximilien, the man who was credited with leading the French reign of terror, which ended up being the most violent time of the French revolution. He encouraged the peasants and common folk to go on an execution spree against all royals, nobles, and anyone suspected of corruption. Ironically, he himself, was executed in July of 1794.

Nezumi Kozo started out as nothing more than a farce Ryuji created to help him get closer to the phantom thieves, a way to conceal his true nature. As the thieves helped him mentally recover from...everything, Nezumi seemed to gain consciousness, becoming his own separate entity from Maximilien and showing that Ryuji is on the right path and is dedicated to being better.

Maximilien is sort of like Ryuji's reluctant assistant who knows that what's happening is wrong, but is trying his best to support his friend in the hopes he will make the right choice in the end. As Ryuji becomes more distorted with the need for revenge, Maximilien talks to him less and less, and eventually Ryuji doesn't hear or see him unless he summons him in the metaverse.

Maximilien and Nezumi have a lot of friction when they need to share the space within Ryuji's heart, at first it's like the classic "angel and devil" situation. Luckily though, the two manage to work things out and work together to do their best for helping Ryuji becomes his best self.

That's all I'm going to be doing for now, I do plan on making bios for Morgana as the hope and Zenkichi as the charity, plus all of the confidants in royal, but I need to save that for another time.

This took way too long for me to make, but I'm very proud of it.

I do plan on making this full-blown story on ao3, and I'm working on the prologue right now. Hopefully I'll be able to start publishing chapters soon.

Until then,

Farewell bozos

[black-arcana]

SIMONE SIMONS Says Upcoming EPICA Album Is 'All About Reinventing Yourself'

In a new interview with Mexico's Euphonico, vocalist of Simone Simons of Dutch symphonic metallers EPICA confirmed that she and her bandmates have completed work on the follow-up to 2021's "Omega" album. Regarding the inspiration for the LP's first single, "Arcana", she said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, it was kind of a lot of things coming together. Rob [Van Der Loo, EPICA bassist] and I are, besides colleagues, we're also really good friends. And he had a deck of tarot cards with him. And I thought, 'Just for the fun of it, let's do a session. Let me draw some cards and then you explain to me what they mean.' And it was a very enlightening experience, I guess. The song, the music was also written by Rob. And then I came up with the idea, like, 'What if I write a song that's kind of inspired by the meaning of the tarot cards and the session that I had with him and what I think it meant for me at that time in my life and where I am now?' So, yeah, it's a very — how do you say? — soul-searching kind of topic, and that's something EPICA has been writing about for quite a while, but so far we haven't touched on the tarot subject. So I thought this could be a cool topic to integrate in the new album, which is all about reinventing yourself, like a rebirth, renewing yourself. So it kind of a cool thing to draw inspiration from."

Elaborating on the writing and recording process for EPICA's upcoming album, Simone said: "I think 'Arcana' was one of the songs that came together quite quickly. We had many writing camp sessions in Holland. We rented a house where we were meeting a couple times for, like, a week in a row, and we were all just sitting together. And Rob had also kind of a clear view of what he wanted vocal-wise, and then he just let me do my thing. And it went very naturally to write the lyrics.

"The vocal recordings [for the new EPICA album] took place in the summertime, which is a good time to do so because autumn [and] winter is a time when everybody gets sick," she explained. "So, for me, it's great if I'm in the summer in the studio, so I'm in a good shape or not running a risk of getting a cold and that it affects the voice, because I did have to record albums back in the day where I did get sick. And luckily you can't hear it. I know which songs are the ones. But it was a very smooth process. We worked together with the same producer, Joost Van Den Broek, who became a little bit like the seventh EPICA bandmember. And it's great working with him. Yeah, we were diving into all the little details and we were really concentrated on making the songs as a band together.

"I think people that don't know EPICA, they don't know that we don't live in the same village," Simone added. "We live, actually, in four different countries. So for us to get together and really work on the songs is tricky. And we started doing that already for 'Omega', and we really liked that, to clear our touring schedule, because we tour a lot and to really be there together and not everybody at home in their home studios. You get a total different result if everybody's there in the same room; you feed off each other's creativity, and that's very beneficiary for the songs."

Asked if there is a main songwriter in EPICA or if everybody contributes to the songwriting process, Simone said: "Everybody gets to write songs. And some songs, I think the guys did write demo songs on their own, because we all have our home studios, and when we were together in the writing camp, then we were sparring off ideas and sending each other the files, and then everybody was working on a random song at the same time. There was a funny moment where, I think, Coen [Janssen, EPICA keyboardist], Ariën [Van Weesenbeek, EPICA drummer], Rob and I were sitting in the living room area, but kind of far apart from each other, and Coen was working on a song and he thought he had his headphones plugged in, but it was running out of the speakers. And then we said, 'Oh, cool. That sounds great. Which song are you working on?' And he was, like, 'Oh shit, you guys could hear what I was working on.' So it was everybody in different rooms. Isaac [Delahaye, EPICA guitarist] was in the attic playing the guitar, and I had to wait until very late before I could go sleep 'cause he went on writing music, recording guitars until almost one o'clock in the morning. But it was a really lovely experience. And everybody gets to write songs and everybody gets to work on those songs. So, we all put our little own salsa on the songs. [Laughs]"

"Arcana" marked EPICA's first new release since "Omega" and the collaboration EP "The Alchemy Project".

The single is now available on all streaming platforms. It also includes "The Ghost In Me (Danse Macabre)", EPICA's recently released collaboration with Europe's second-most visited theme park, Netherlands's magical De Efteling, and their much-anticipated new attraction, Danse Macabre.

The previously released music video for "Arcana", directed by Remko Tielemans, can be seen below.

In a recent interview with Spain's Mariskal Rock, Simone stated about EPICA's upcoming album: "I'm so happy with the songs, I'm so proud how everything turned out and it's gonna be another amazing EPICA album. We added a couple of new elements, but also went back to the roots, the old EPICA. And yeah, I just can't wait for people to hear this.

"I loved 'Omega' and we toured so much with 'Omega' and had wonderful experiences, but then when you reach the end of a touring cycle, you start to get itchy and feel, 'Okay, now it's time to do the new album. Can we do it as good or maybe even better than the last album?' That's always the thing we strive for, ways to renew ourselves a little bit. And we feel a very strong spiritual connection also that it's our ninth album. So there's gonna be themes around the symbolic meaning of nine, the number nine."

Elaborating on the musical direction of EPICA's next album, Simone said: "The songs are heavy. There's a beautiful ballad, a very cinematic song, very uptempo, very doomy, melancholic and amazing, amazing power riffs. It's the most epic EPICA, I think, so far. Yeah, I think so. I mean, I'm feeling it. I'm very happy with it. I'm proud of it."

In November 2022, EPICA released "The Alchemy Project" through Atomic Fire Records. The EP was co-written and performed with diverse guests ranging from extremists like FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE, Niilo Sevänen (INSOMNIUM) and Björn "Speed" Strid (SOILWORK) along with melodic masters like Tommy Karevik (KAMELOT),keyboard legend Phil Lanzon (URIAH HEEP) and Roel Van Helden (POWERWOLF) to a once-in-a-lifetime song with Simons, Charlotte Wessels and Myrkur.

Just one day after the release of its anniversary reissues "We Still Take You With Us" and "Live At Paradiso", EPICA celebrated 20 years of existence live in September 2022 at 013 in Tilburg, Netherlands, the same place where they played their first show (supporting ANATHEMA) back in 2002.

EPICA was formed by guitarist Mark Jansen after leaving AFTER FOREVER in 2002, and the band quickly gained attention outside their home country, taking big steps towards becoming the leading symphonic metal superpower they have long proven to be. After their ambitious debut "The Phantom Agony" (2002) and the surprisingly eclectic sophomore work "Consign To Oblivion" (2005),the road took them to new heights via their first concept masterpiece "The Divine Conspiracy" (2007) and their global breakthrough "Design Your Universe" (2009). 2012's opus "Requiem For The Indifferent", 2014's bedazzling "The Quantum Enigma" and "The Holographic Principle" (2016),cemented their reputation as not only one of the hardest-working metal bands in the business but also as one of the best. With "Omega", the final part of the metaphysical trilogy they began with "The Quantum Enigma", they reclaimed the throne without so much as the blink of an eye, amassing three million-plus streams during the first week of the album's release.

Photo credit: Tim Tronckoe

[apolloslyrics]

Hi, Sun! How's your April so far? I hope it's going great! Can I please request a reading about my spirit guides?

If possible, I'd like to know of these things, please:

> Who might they be

> How they view me

> Any important message/s they have for me

If any of these questions make you feel uncomfortable, please feel free to answer what you only want/can.

I greatly appreciate this opportunity! Blessings to you and have a wonderful day ahead.

- Maryel 🌼

Hey Maryel!!! It's lovely to meet you. My April has been okay! Ups and downs, but mostly ups :) I hope your April has gone well too!!!

I can try to answer your questions; the only thing I will say is that I can't necessarily put names to spirit guides. So, what I will do instead is describe their attributes and personalities! I'll try to identify a few for you.

The first thing I'm going to do is ask for your spirit guides to come into my space. To do this, I hold a pendulum and ask aloud for them to come forward. When I get a "yes", I start the reading.

For this reading, I'm going to do something similar to a deity identification tarot spread. Here is what I'll be using:

I made this spread! Anyone can use it any time :)

Anyway, onto the reading:

Spirit Guide #1

Card One: Six of Wands

The Six of Wands translates to success, public recognition, progress, and confident. A six in tarot usually represents growth, overcoming challenges, leaving things behind, and understanding yourself. This spirit guide in particular is a very outgoing, confident figure. They know who they are, and they're not afraid to show it. They've overcome a lot of problems and issues over their time here, but they've grown to understand the lessons.

Card Two: The Fool

The fool's meaning has to do with beginnings, innocence, spontaneity, and being a free spirit. This spirit guide, while confident and outgoing, can sometimes be a little bit too spontaneous. They might do things that are silly, but receive many consequences later on.

Card Three: Page of Wands (reversed)

The Page of Wands (reversed) includes newly formed ideas, redirecting energy, and spiritual paths. A Page in tarot often means new beginnings, new phases, and next steps. Because the imagery on the Page of Cups is of a young man, it's safe to assume that this spirit guide is a male.

Card Four: The Hermit

Card Four explains what the spirit guide likes to do for fun; the card they gave was The Hermit, which means introspection, being alone, soul-searching, and inner guidance. In this case, the spirit guide enjoys helping others, especially when it comes to relationships and conquering insecurities.

Card Five: Seven of Wands

The seven of wands represents challenge, competition, protection, and perseverance. This spirit guide is here mainly to protect you, as well as help you persevere through challenges in your life. They may also be sending small tests to check on your ability to get through tough times.

Card Six: The Magician

Card Six, representing what you can do to collaborate with this spirit guide, talks about power, skill, concentration, action, and resourcefulness. To connect with this guide, you might want to work on logical skills. Concentrate on focus and problem-solving. Any time you make a decision, study, or even look at a situation logically, know that this guide is with you and is there to help.

Interpretation: This guide sent primarily major arcana cards and the suit of wands! In tarot, the wands represent primal energy, spirituality, inspiration, determination, strength, creativity, original thought, and more. This spirit guide seems to be extremely creative and does well at problem-solving. They are there to help; they enjoy helping. They will always be there when you need them!

Spirit Guide #2:

Card One: Eight of Cups

The eight of cups represents withdrawal, escapism, and abandonment. While this card may seem negative, an eight in tarot talks about work, change, and getting where you need to go. So, a positive trait about this spirit guide is that they are able to guide you wherever your path should go. Their skill lies in letting go of past resentment and problems, and moving forward.

Card Two: Ten of Pentacles

The Ten of Pentacles, supposedly a negative trait, represents wealth, security, family, and contribution. A ten means final outcomes, the end of a cycle, rewards, and consequences. I'm really playing into the security and consequences part; it seems like this spirit guide holds their cards close to their chest, maybe a bit too much. They prefer not to be vulnerable; this may come from family issues, or it may come from their own resentment.

Card Three: Strength

Card Three, Strength, represents the gender of this spirit guide. The imagery of the strength card shows a woman and a lion, so it's safe to say that this spirit guide is a lady.

Card Four: Eight of Pentacles

This spirit guide sent the eight of pentacles, which talks about apprenticeship, tasks, mastery, and skill development. In their free time, they prefer to be practicing a skill, whether it be teaching themselves or other people. They enjoy the practical things in life, but they also like to have fun with it!

Card Five: Six of Pentacles

Six of Pentacles, which is meant to represent their purpose as a guide, talks about giving, receiving, generosity, and charity. A six represents growth, overcoming challenges, leaving things behind, and understanding yourself. This spirit guide is there to aid you in selflessness! It's important to remember that you are allowed to be selfish as well. They want you to have a balance between giving and receiving; not too much loss and not too much gain.

Card Six: Ace of Pentacles

The Ace of Pentacles talks about manifestation, new opportunities, and abundance. Aces typically talk about beginnings, initiative, drive, potential, and the early stages of an endeavor. Take the reigns! Start a new adventure. Whenever you are trying new things, manifesting, and standing up for yourself and others, that's when your guide is beside you. They are there to help you grow and change; they are there to help manifest who you are meant to be. So go ahead and move forward knowing they will be with you all the way!

Interpretation: this guide sent a lot of pentacles in your reading. The pentacles typically represent work, business, trade, material possessions, ego, self-esteem, and self-image. This spirit guide is work and play! They enjoy finding the balance in things, whether it be generosity, work-play, or communication. They love to see you grow and change, and they love to see you love yourself. Know that they are so excited to get to know you, and they are proud and happy for every achievement you've had thus far.

Spirit Guide #3:

Card One: Seven of Wands

The Seven of Wands talks about challenge, competition, protection, and perseverance. A seven in tarot usually represents confidence, truth, determination, and having faith. This spirit guide is very protective and determined. They are strong and independent.

Card Two: King of Cups (reversed)

The King of Cups (reversed) is meant to speak about self-compassion, inner feelings, moodiness, and manipulation. A King usually represents authority, power, and believing in yourself. While this spirit guide is protective and confident, they can sometimes be overbearing and easily angered. They might get self-absorbed sometimes.

Card Three: Temperance

In tarot, the Temperance card represents balance, moderation, patience, purpose, and meaning. The person depicted on Temperance is female, so it is safe to say that this spirit guide is a lady, as well.

Card Four: The Star

The Star represents hope, spirituality, renewal, inspiration, and serenity. This spirit guide engages in a lot of spiritual hobbies in their free time; they love to connect with nature, other spirits, deities, and energies.

Card Five: Nine of Pentacles (reversed)

The Five of Pentacles (reversed) is said to represent what this guide is here for. Recovery from financial loss and spiritual poverty are some key words for the Five of Pentacles (reversed). They are here to guide you on your general spiritual path; when you pray, when you connect with nature, when you give offerings, and when you meditate, know that they are there to keep you safe and protected. They do their best to have your space nice and peaceful, without any harm coming to you.

Card Six: Knight of Wands

The Knight of Wands represents energy, passion, inspired action, and adventure. Interact with your spiritual path more! Whether that be praying, doing spellwork, leaving offerings, or even simply lighting a candle, they would love to see more of your practice in your daily life.

Interpretation: This spirit guide didn't send any specific suits; they want you to decide what you think of them, and how you want to interact. They are there to help you in your spiritual path mainly, but know that they are also welcoming any general questions from you. They are hopeful that your spiritual journey will give you some insight as to what might happen in the future.

Your spirit guides were very kind and understanding during this reading! I do hope this resonates and that you find this to be helpful in your practice 🫶 as always, take care of yourselves!

[lemme-just-oops]

OMG HELLLOOOO!!! I HONESTLY HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IM DOING SINCE THIS IS MY FIRST TIME USING TUMBLR- I'm a big fan of your works !!! I love it sm how accurately it is with the Arcana twilight boys!!!

I have a request- it's alright if u decline it it's alright :D! Is it ok well mostly by curiosity a Arcana twilightxEnfp? (⁠灬⁠º⁠‿⁠º⁠灬⁠)⁠♡

Alpheratz: He is always surprised just how many details you notice that just go over his head. In fact, it is scary to him as well. If you have even the slightest interest in psychology, you will be able to interprety body languages before they even happen. A psychic, so to say. When you want to go to social gatherings, he often chooses to not come along though. But he will ask how it was and if you had fun.

Arcturus: You and him are a power duo. Always at the front line to organize new events for the school, and maybe one of you has an idea of a donation jar that will be used to help less fortunate students or hoes directly to charities. You manage to befriend the entire school within a week, and you and Arcturus will always be where the people are. Laughing, acting, people already look up to you. And from the way Arcturus talks about you, the reputation only grows.

Pollux: He says he is not an extrovert, but he basically follows you everywhere. That mostly is because you seem to have a lot of fun with other people and everyone is kind to you, so he just guessed he'd tag along and have fun too. When you go to a party, please make sure to keep him away from the trouble he will get himself into. This may include, but is not limited, to: drinking, sliding off roofs, going to haunted places. He keeps reminding you that he met most of his friends because of you introducing him to them.

Sirius: You are curious AND perceptive, always searching for new things to do. This man will take you to lost places, escape rooms, anything to keep your mind spinning. He sees a change in you, and will treat you as such. Seeing where your strengths lie, while also becoming aware of your weaknesses. Your strengths bloom more when you are surrounded by others, maybe because you want to appear better in front of them. But who knows for sure. He will have his eyes open, studying you from wherever he is.

Spica: Have you ever wanted to be the center of attention? You are great at communication, wrapping people around your finger all the time. It comes natural to you, because you want to connect with others. There is a charm around you, which may be the optimism that you have. He helps you stay organized and keep an overlook over everything. When everything seems to be overwhelming, he helps you concentrate on your surroundings little by little. Whenever you think no one notices your effort, he is there. Sometimes he has more of an overview of your stuff than you do.

Vega: He is stuck to you like roots to earth. He has so much trouble finding friends, and following you around ended up giving him some. Very confused over how it happened, he reflects on every time he went with you and realizes that he is happier around you. Your optimism is infectious and helps him treat others less harshly. Sometimes he thinks of your worldview as childish though, but it is refreshing to consider others being kind. He grows closer to other guide sorcerers as well. Sometimes he will call you up, just to hear you talk about your next idea/vision.

[zevlors-tail]

About Me

Hello! I'm Sweater Dove, the creator of this blog. Below are some things that will help you get to know me and my blog a bit better. OR, you can just search the tag 'sweatercore' on my blog. :)

⚠️Have an age in your bio or you will be blocked!⚠️

Spicy Sideblog: @angel-wings-in-pretty-strings

Disclaimer:

This blog is a safe space for me. As such, you will not see me reblogging any political posts, fundraisers, donation posts, or anything that 'spreads awareness' of issues related to said topics (save for an occasional meme or if a friend needs help).

I also do not engage in ANY sort of fandom discourse, vague posting, or call out posts. I come on here to have a good time and get AWAY from everything going on in the world and forget about it for a little while.

If for whatever reason you have an issue with me, please address it with ME directly via DM's.

General:

Sweater | 25 | They/Them pronouns.

Sometimes I post writing here, but mostly I reblog from other content creators. I'm more active on AO3 when it comes to my works. I really love cats, otome games, ASMR, candles, classical piano music, rainy days, and spooky stuff!

I particularly love Halloween and a good, cozy, autumn playlist to listen to with some coffee shop background noise. If you'd like any ASMR recs, I'd be happy to give you some! :) I'm also pretty fond of Christmas and winter decorations/atmosphere. I just really like the colder holidays in general.

Favorite Genres/Tropes:

Hurt/Comfort, Whump, Sickfics, sincere and heartfelt fluff, mundane things romanticized, flower shop/coffee shop, Only One Bed, Friends to Best Friends to Lovers, Domestic Fluff, Seasonal Activities (mostly Fall and Winter stuff), Friends to Enemies, Angst, Life or Death with a Happy Ending

Smut/N$FVV Tag:

sweater is a simp

AO3:

SweaterWeatherSeven

Sweater, do you still take requests?

Currently, no- I do not take requests. Respectfully, please do not leave requests in my ask box as I will have to decline them outright. I just can't keep up with them anymore. But you're always free to come chat with me and share ideas! I may be willing to take a suggestion or two, depending on the situation.

Current Fandoms/Interests That You'll Find On This Blog:

Obey Me!, Arcana Twilight, Mystic Messenger, Tears of Themis, The Ssum, Genshin Impact, Kingdom Hearts, Over The Garden Wall, anything Spooky/Autumn related.

Current Top Comfort Character(s):

Zhongli (Genshin Impact), Venti (Genshin Impact), Albedo (Genshin), and Kaeya (also Genshin)

Check Out My OC's:

Muse, Cypress, & Claire | Auriel/Uriel | Aska & Silas (Next Gen Obey Me OC's) | Rowan (Next Gen Obey Me OC, coming soon!)

[itsbenedict]

Two-Faced Jewel: Session 1-A

I've been playing tabletop games for TOO LONG without actually playing any D&D, and the time for that to change is now.

Zero and @eternalfarnham are Looseleaf and Saelhen du Fishercrown, a mothfolk animist and a half-elf conwoman whose travels take them to Blacksky University, where the discovery of an unknown magical artifact sets them on the path to discovering the secrets of a shattered world.

Oyashio, 親潮市, is known as the Crossroad City. It sits on the closest point between the two major continents of the world, alongside the swift currents of the fierce river-ocean that separates the two. People from all over the Jewel come here to find their fortunes.

Looseleaf is a new arrival to Blacksky University, the institution of higher learning that terrorizes the city with its warball hooligans and dangerous magical experiments. She's left her reclusive village to learn more about the cultures and peoples of the world, and has enrolled in the School of Natural Arts to pursue her dream.

The Lady Noeru de la Surplus is the down-on-her-luck scion of an elven noble family, here to complete her rite of succession and restore the good name of her clan.

Saelhen du Fishercrown is a half-elf disgrace who fled the stifling elven capital of Kanzentokai to escape its byzantine social order- and strike it rich by pretending to be the down-on-her-luck scion of an elven noble family and conning a bunch of elfaboo suckers out of their hard-earned gold. She's out to get rich and prove that elves can be assholes too, dammit!

*

Looseleaf leaves her room to discover- not her roommate, but a large half-orc woman rummaging through her oven.

She asks where Looseleaf keeps the swords.

It becomes clear that Bud Chestplate, here, is a friend of Oyobi Yamatake, Looseleaf's roommate, and Oyobi sent her to pick up some swords from the dorm. They make some small talk while searching, but Looseleaf fails her Investigation roll and can't find the swords for her. She leaves Bud to her business, since she needs to catch her meeting with the Dean.

Benedict I. (GM): So... you get to the Dean's office. It's a pretty large room- not because the Dean is particularly showoffy, but because Dean Mogher is a loxodon, and his office sort of needs to be big. Them elephant people, y'know. You've been asked to meet for an "academic consultation", and aren't sure what to expect.

Seems like Looseleaf needs to do some sort of independent study- and the Dean has something lined up for her, if she's interested. It's an artifact they recently got their hands on thanks to a rich donor, who wanted to learn more about it. It's super magic, so he had to pull some strings to keep it out of the hands of the School of Arcane Arts.

Looseleaf is excited about this!

Looseleaf: Looseleaf vibrates, shaking her wings kind of in the way that a dog might shake their body to remove dirt. This is moth body language for 'FUCK YES I AM SO READY FOR THIS I WAS BORN FOR THIS'.

Meanwhile... Saelhen has arrived in town. She's set herself up with a room in the city, made some public appearances to sell the story, and...

Saelhen has a plan. She'll pretend that this object is rightfully hers, as part of an arcane elven ritual to succeed the headship of her family- and hopefully badger the school into letting her get her hands on it.

She enters the school grounds via the student village, and meets a half-orc woman carrying a bunch of swords around for some reason- who she asks for directions. Bud obliges, despite being preoccupied.

Saelhen du Fishercrown: "Ah, I'm sorry! I didn't realize you were occupied by all those weapons." She bows at the prescribed angle for a small favor asked from a foreigner. "Your words are as 出鱈目外人向け. Thank you." Benedict I. (GM):出鱈目 is like, nonsense, bullshit, 外人 is gaijin, 向け is a suffix that means "for" bullshit for foreigners i love it

(Elven is Japanese here, for reasons.)

Saelhen follows the directions to the School of Arcane arts, and asks the receptionist- a tired-looking goblin girl named Two-Brains- where the Dean's office is.

Two-Brains directs her to the Moon Annex, a wing of the building identifiable by the river of moon symbols flowing along the floor. She reaches what is clearly the Dean's office, and hears a conversation within, that she opts to sneakily listen in on.

Benedict I. (GM): That'll do- you hear a whispered argument, fairly clearly. "...is he blackmailing you? Bribing you? This is clearly our department!" The voice is old and slightly screechy. A younger but still mature voice replies. "Please don't attack my character, Variable. Is my reasoning really that hard to understand?" "Yes," the older voice says. "It's the most magically powerful artifact that's ever come into our possession! How is this not of immediate concern to our department?" "You're failing to consider Coast's concerns, and those of our continuing research," the younger voice says. "Yes, this object is powerful- but learning its magic will scarcely tell us where it comes from. If we could find its source, we could find many more specimens of its kind for study."

It seems like Dean Variable Velocity of Arcane Arts (an elderly owl aarakocra in a wheelchair) really wanted to get her hands on the magic item, but Dean Coast Mogher of Natural Arts got this person to decide in his favor, instead.

Saelhen eventually opts to knock, and sees in the room with the Dean... an elf. Very tall, adorned in jewels, and wearing a very very large hoop dress that goes all the way down to the floor. This would be a problem for Saelhen, because actual elven nobility would see right through her disguise- but luckily, this woman- the provost of the university- is a drow, and not exactly welcome in the circles of elven high society.

The provost takes her leave, and Saelhen spins her sob story for Dean Velocity:

Saelhen du Fishercrown: "Madam Dean, I am sure that any matter requiring your attention might very well overrule my own. If your affairs require that you delay our discussion of the provenance of your college's recent acquisition, then my honor demands that I comply." Benedict I. (GM): "The provenance of our recent acquisiton?" "Wait- are you here about that thing?" "The bracer?" Saelhen du Fishercrown: "Ah, yes." Saelhen ducks her head a bit sheepishly. "I can come back." "Perhaps I have misunderstood what time I was meant to arrive." Benedict I. (GM): "No, no, come in! Come in, I'm sure we can address your concerns." "What time you were- you mentioned an appointment, who told you there was an appointment?" "Never mind, no, it's- please, come in." Saelhen du Fishercrown: "I spoke with a Madam Two-Brains? But information may have been lost in the shuffle -- I gather it was a busy day." Saelhen sits. Benedict I. (GM): "...The student receptionist? Why would- no, never mind. What's this about the bracer?" Saelhen du Fishercrown: Whoops. "I have neglected to introduce myself, and for that I apologize. I am the Lady Noeru de la Surplus, sixth of her name." Saelhen lowers her head. "Your... bracer is an item of some significance to my family." Benedict I. (GM): Her eyes light up. "Is that so?" "What significance, would you say?"

After a little more bullshitting and some great Deception rolls, she has the dean completely sold on her story. It helps that she quite badly wanted to believe it- since if it were true, her rival wouldn't have legitimate claim to it. Dean Velocity offers to help recover the item, if Lady Noeru would agree to let her study it briefly.

Meanwhile, below the School of Arcane Arts, Looseleaf is shown a special hands-free containment device for the magical item.

Benedict I. (GM): Inside the glass case hovers what looks like a stone bracer. It's inset with thirteen large sapphires, at seemingly random locations, little rhyme or reason. There's one region of the bracer that doesn't have sapphires- a flat, circular raised bit with a symbol engraved on it. It's not one you're familiar with, but matches the pattern of the emblems of the gods. Looseleaf: Is it a divine symbol? Yeeeep. Benedict I. (GM): A circle, with horizontal lines across it, growing denser towards the wearer.

Looseleaf makes some investigation and history checks to find out more about it. She observes that the sapphires are connected to one another, and that its craftsmanship doesn't match anything she's ever seen or read about. She's still taking a look at it when Saelhen and Dean Velocity show up.

Dean Velocity badgers Dean Mogher into hearing Saelhen out, and she continues to knock her deception checks out of the park. He doesn't want to give it up without a fight, but he believes her intentions are true. He proposes a compromise: Looseleaf will represent both schools (as she's taking courses in both and is undecided on a major) and accompany Saelhen on her supposed succession rite, asking lots of questions and writing a report that they might be able to publish.

This compromise is more or less amenable to all, and Saelhen is allowed to touch the bracer.

It immediately jumps onto her arm and sticks there, and projects a holographic wayfinding arrow out of one of the sapphires. The bracer begins pulling her arm in that direction. She can't get it off- and can't just run. She's forced to keep up the charade, and let Looseleaf try some magic on it.

Looseleaf is a homebrew class Zero found called the Animist, a caster themed around the idea that all things have "spirits". One of the things it can do is called Soul Glean, which basically lets you... read the mind of an inanimate object.

Lesser Soul Glean: You may peer into the things the soul of an object has witnessed. Make an int (arcana) check to determine the amount of information gleaned from the object. The more recent or emotionally volatile the event, the easier it is to glean information from, while the more distance the harder it is. Senses of emotions, vague intentions, and the sight of auras of can generally be gleaned from this reading.

And what she gets from that is...

Looseleaf:“It’s lost,” Looseleaf says. “It has a purpose and has been unable to fulfill that purpose for a very long time. It’s not epistemologically correct to assign emotions to items through divinations, I think, but if this thing had an emotion I imagine it would be sad.” ”Most importantly, it does not feel fulfilled. It is not behaving the way that objects reunited with their lost owners would be have.” “Given this, I hope you will forgive me for my indiscretion in this next act.” Looseleaf... shifts her arm, the arm touching the bracer, sliding off it and onto the elvish lady’s arm, and Lesser Soul Reads her.

Now Soul Read is for living things, and only sort of gets you mood and general intentions- for now. Saelhen, though, won't be having any of that- she passes her dex save to pull away before Looseleaf can read her. (This, of course, only makes Looseleaf more suspicious.)

Tumblr has new post restrictions that force me to keep these posts short, so here's:

[Part B]