#roleswap scraps

[jojo-schmo]

this is who’s been booping you all day, by the way

[foxyfanz]

More Forgo Knight, cuz I'm kinda down bad.

Plus a kinda shitty comic panel lmao

Translation: PATHETIC...

The language for it was from @jojo-schmo they made an entire alphabet for the language of the Forgotten Land. Cuz it's cool so why not.

[jojo-schmo]

-checks the hastily assembled and messy ref I use for the Roleswap-

……almost four Kirbies tall!! But also importantly, he is 3 Meta Knights tall. >:3

Which King Dedede size do you draw??

tag urself im 2x kirby tall

[maddieandangel]

Doodle page of Papyrus for an old Undertale AU of mine that I've been thinking of rebooting

[shibemuses]

"G... G... Good morning!"

[anxiousapplepie]

hello! I really enjoy seeing all of your roleswap aus!

so, I think you’ve mentioned researcher!Siffrin is studying Astrology or the forgotten island or something along those lines, and that got me thinking

what would the other researchers be studying, if anything?

Ok, that’s all, I really like your art, bye!

hello! thank you for stopping by the roleswap kitchen!! food is still being cooked but I'm glad you're enjoying the scraps! :D Yea, Researcher!Siffrin has decided to study "the thing that doesn't exist anymore" and they are very. VERY determined to figure out why the Island disappeared in the first place. It's impossible for them to explain to anybody else, but that won't stop them from being passionate about it! As for the other researchers: Bonnie: Why are you asking dumb questions like a dumb baby, isn't it obvious??? (it's not XD) Isabeau: WELL I've studied *proceeds to list off all the topics he's previously studied and conveniently forgets to mention what he's currently studying* Mirabelle: Um. Y'know. Not much. Just......... normal things.

[jojo-schmo]

“And as we flicker between wake and sleep, we carry still our dream of bringing them all home.”

Forgo Dreams AU is by @besobendito :)

"I know you, Little Prince" "How could your own heart ever forget?" - (beast prince bd belongs to @jojo-schmo)

[jojo-schmo]

The heroes of the Forgotten Land Roleswap!! :D

….I don’t have plushies of King Dedede or Meta Knight, so in real life, Elfilis is the tall one hehehe.

[hlkproductions]

roleswap! after being buffered and polished with the help of my loving spouse i started to daydream about the potential. so here's the base synopsis! (warning, lots of text below!)

ivy, punch enthusiast and foreign girl living in japan, becomes spirit detective after the entity within her revives her & draws the attention of Rekai. koenma, the reaper who was meant to collect her soul upon her untimely death, and botan, the ruler in charge of dishing out ordeals for these strange events, agree to the girl's terms that in exchange for her services as their errand runner they will give her the answers and resources she & her parasite need to jog his lost memories of what he is and where he comes from.

along the way she meets and recruits a number of odd characters; yukina, the exiled koorime who utilizes her cold calculations and frigid beauty to disarm her opponents & obtained the surgery needed for the Jagan Eye in order to keep tabs on her twin brother, Hiei, who remained behind in their homeland safe and sound so long as she stays away.

youko kurama, a kitsune who fled to Ningenkai after being mortally wounded and was discovered by a young mother-to-be with a veterinary degree. her nurturing heart & patience with the demon canine she brought into her home led the demon, now knocked down several ranks in power, to pledge to protect her and her baby from harm. years later when she falls sick, he's approached by a cunning ice maiden who asks him to join her heist on Reikai's artifact vaults to save the life of the human he's indebted to. tomoe higurashi who, up until recently has been minding her own business as a middle-schooler, is ivy's adopted sister and unaware spiritual radar of the group. with a father who has extraordinary awareness of the paranormal and a mother without a scrap of it, tomoe's taste for mysteries has ended her up in hot water on a number of occasions until her big sister reluctantly took her on as a sidekick. she's got an attitude on her, but cares a lot about the team and looks up to each of them as role models (though ivy insists she REALLY do not look up to the demons of the group because despite what they insist, murder is not ok)

and last but not least is yusuke! a seemingly ordinary boy who's doing his damndest to get through mundane life without causing too much of a stir, he stumbles his way into the supernatural world that his classmate ivy lives in one day when he happens upon her during a case, the demon she's pursuing stopping dead in it's tracks before going into a frenzy. as it turns out, yusuke is the descendant of a war god, and his blood triggers a flight or fight response in the apparitions he meets. so, naturally, ivy takes him under her wing and shows him the ropes of how to survive in a world where you're constantly being threatened.

[jojo-schmo]

Forgotten language translation: “You can’t.”

Needed a distraction from head pain so I decided to draw Mama D if she was in @jojo-schmo 's roleswap au!

(she makes changes to her appearance so DDD doesn't recognize her because ✨ motherly self confidence issues ✨ 😀)

[bernardellinewsagency]

i had ideas for an entire galladay roleswap au that i just. completely forgot about. oh my fucking god. and when i say roleswap i mean *everything* gets swapped.

penacony is a land of elation, the most wonderous entertainment one could ever experience; if you can afford it, that is. it's a land blessed by aha, where you can forget your struggles and even become someone else entirely, if that's what you want. people think the joy associated with it is unceasing, but it's truly only temporary, and aha is fond of violent and chaotic ends for THEIR own amusement, and so gallagher knows people shouldn't rely on THEIR benevolence.

he is who people believe is closest to the elation in penacony. he's not a masked fool, and he hardly acts like how people would expect him to. he's not grandiose or over the top. he's simple, down to earth, but he makes sure everyone's stay is as best it can be, he creates miracles within the dreamscapes, and people view him as someone perhaps specifically chosen to spread joy and happiness to those who visit penacony.

in truth, though, he works for the enigmata, taking on mythus' duty of undoing all that's been set in stone by the likes of the erudition and finality. some people who come to penacony deserve no sympathy, but there are many who come out of desperation, trying to find some hint of a better life, a different life, where they can be happy. it will never last, the elation will always have to fade away eventually, but can't he try to give them a better ending once it does? if he can erase and obfuscate and rewrite enough, can't he change enough circumstances in their lives for the better?

sunday, on the other hand, is now the security officer plotting behind the scenes. halovians are a natural choice for security; the effects of elation can have some negative consequences, and it already has a reputation for inspiring criminals and terrorists across the universe. should someone find themselves straying from the joy they should be feeling and threatening to turn a sweet dream into a nightmare, they can be psychically nudged back into compliance and docility. plus, it's said that this psychic gift also makes halovians themselves immune to elation, or at least better able to ignore its effects, though that's neither confirmed nor denied.

he's still the adoptive son of the "dreammaster", but in a roleswap, gopher wood and mikhail would also be switching roles. the watchmaker would be the more well renowned leader of penacony, with gallagher or micah set to inherit his role if they haven't already. so sunday, still a follower of the order/harmony, is the one who's upset with how penacony is run, how the ideals it was founded upon have been twisted. how someone he looked up to has been forgotten, cast aside, treated like a traitor to penacony.

he may also be a memetic entity or smth. don't worry about it. also yes, this does mean siobhan and robin swap roles. i haven't thought too much about them, but sunday would be the one to "kill" siobhan and robin would unfortunately be relegated to the role of minor character which sucks bc i love her. but i also love siobhan and she deserves to have her time to shine tbh. i think robin and siobhan should be lesbians <3

anyways. dialogue snippet time!!

"people like to say that penacony's head of security is like a dove cause of your appearance, but it turns out you're more of a magpie, isn't that right? a damn thief of a bird, fitting since you're always taking things that aren't yours." "i've never stolen anything from penacony, much less from its leaders. out of the two of us, you're the one who'd know a thing or two about stealing." "me? you'd better watch your tongue, birdie." "you stole my father's legacy, you clipped my wings, you forced me to play this part, now you wish to silence me? how could you not be the one here who knows the most about taking what isn't theirs?" "your father was nothing but a vulture, stealing the scraps from those who actually put in the work and wanting to claim that he helped build penacony from the ground up, and when that didn't work, he didn't hesitate to switch sides. and you're turning out just like him." "impossible. you're impossible, you know that?" "oh, i'm impossible? no, no, i'll tell you what's really impossible. actually being able to spread the order's influence on penacony, that's what's impossible. do you really think that anything could bring penacony and its guests away from the clutches of elation?" "you seem to think so, working ever so diligently as a minion for the enigmata. following in mythus' footsteps as you try to erase the past; your attempts to overturn truth are futile, it's incredible how shortsighted you must be to never once grasp the fact that all your efforts will only ever be in vain." "you seem awfully confident there, little birdie. you think your precious order could do much better? these people, the fools who willingly come here to stake their whole lives on mere entertainment, will never know what order is like- and that's not even touching on the fact your aeon is dead and gone. unless you want to end up just like THEM, i'd suggest you leave now. go, before i have to force you out." "no. no, no, you won't, gallagher. you know why? because the order has just as much a chance of succeeding as the enigmata does. everything that we see here; everything from ourselves to penacony itself, it doesn't actually mean anything at all. because in the grand scheme of things... all that this is is just fate playing a cruel joke on us."

[dgdraws]

OC tober Day 18: Swap

Today Ziri is the ghost and Talia is the tortured pawn of Shar!

Swapped their palettes and gave them both a makeover to fit their new roles. I preserved the ruffles and bow from Ziri's usual look but she gets way more exposed skin since she never developed her fear of touching people. Talia gets a whole new kit, a new class (paladin) and a big ass sword! Since she's a more martial character now, she also gets a haircut. Between them is a special crest representing Talia's deal with Shar >:]

Read on for heartbreak... tragic lore below the cut XD

Since Talia is the one who actually had some magic developed before "the incident" I don't think she would have become a cleric like Ziri does. Instead, she'd still have her 2 levels in Circle of the Moon druid but after that she'd start taking paladin levels with a customized Oath Breaker path.

I'd also change the circumstances of "the incident" so rather than a failure of using magic, it's a fatal miscalculation.

They had set up an extermination job of some sort and Talia insists they do it under the light of the moon, her Goddess, Selûne. She's wild-shaped as a bear waiting for Ziri to herd their quarry into the chokepoint. The full moon seems as bright as the sun. Talia hears the creature approaching, running toward her--she readys her strike. A cloud passes over the moon as she springs into action and for a moment she's blind, but she feels the impact of flesh and knows she's made her kill.

When the moonlight returns... there is blood on her hands and Ziri's small form crumpled before her.

It's this rage and despair and guilt that attracts Shar's attention. She says you poor child of the moon, look how my sister has betrayed you. What will you do? And Talia knows that her purpose is to kill a god.

Shar would end up offering Ziri as a way to exert control over Talia, a kind of failsafe on a loose cannon. Talia would accept because vengeance is great but part of her knows deep down that truly, she alone is to blame for Ziri's death, and taking on the burden of Ziri's ghost would punish her for that great sin. (She failed to consider that it would punish Ziri as well. They have this is common.)

Ziri would react differently to being brought back as a ghost. Rather than the rage and outward resentment that takes Talia sometimes, Ziri would hold it in and shut down. She would also test the boundaries of their link more, trying to avoid the pain and conflicting emotions by getting as far away from Talia as she can. She has no shapeshifting ability, but I'd let her maybe have a mist form. Exists in the setting and a vampire trait... yeah, definitely mist form.

She'd less resent being brought back without a choice and more chafe at the tethers. I think she would gladly accept the negatives to her ghostly existence if it also meant freedom. She wants to go see her family, to haunt the cottage they lived in, to float through the forest unafraid and invulnerable and able to soak up every scrap of the world in her own time. But that's not what she got. She's a dog on a leash.

Oh! In this version, just love by Lubalin is their main anthem. The lyrics i watched you go/ when i needed you the most really hits different this time around.

Ah geez roleswap au might become a real thing alskfjjdksk im kinda obsessed now!! blorbos from my brain fr fr

[Edit: I cleaned this up a little in the morning when I wasn't dead tired and blurry eyed. :)]

[asylumdream]

Finally finished this sketch page Ive been working on for so long- comentary under the cut. This will include spoilers for the depths

Link's right arm is infected by gloom, makeing me think it is difficult to impossible for him to move it. I have some ideas for gloom abilities for him but those are gonna be costly and not his perfered method of anything save for emergencies. Since hes effectively one armed now I needed him to have more mobility options- this includes

Korok frond- reward for saveing the great deku tree, lifts him up a fixed hight and allows him to glide gently down in any direction

Stalhorse- exactly what it says on the tin, with the added bonus of following link around while he isnt rideing it for easier resource collection and remounting.

In a second sketch page I'll also be adding the clawshot and pegasus boots from previous games and working out how hed get a hold of those to give him more vertical mobility since climbing one armed without a rope is super hard.

When link is attacked by gloom he also loses all but 3 hearts and 1 stamina wheele, makeing combat Incredibly Risky. He also only has one arm, makeing stronger 2 handed weapons unable to be weilded. He can't draw a bow and though he can shoot a crossbow reloading it would require him brace it against the ground, makeing it a time costly item. Instead of any of that I've given him

A sling- he fashions this out of rope he spins with fibers he finds and scraps of fabric from his clothes. With it he can launch various chu jellys, bomb flowers muddle buds and puffshrooms, as well as any old pebble he finds lying around. A refrennce to the slingshot which is a familiar key item from other games.

An atlatl- somewhere between a throughing spear and an arrow lye the darts of an atlatl. He carves it from wood found in the depths and can fashion the darts from lone thin sticks, tying the feathered leaves to the back and lodgeing a sharp stone to the end. This is something of an upgrade to the sling since it has longer reach and higher damage, but darts are costly to make and tying add ons to them must be done before combat because link doesn't have the fuse ability

Im also planning on a return of the power bracelets to allow him to weild two handed weapons one handed, among other things, and the beetle from skyward sword to give more vertical exploration and control in bombing enemies.

Furthermore I have plans for both zelda and rauru, as well as the yiga clan, so stay tuned for when I end up comiting them to paper! Im planing on makeing this something similar to a proper RoleSwap!AU once I work out the kinks- sorry that this is kind of growing past the original prompt =w='

[jojo-schmo]

OMG this is so coooool!!! I absolutely love the additions you made and the shape of his red face paint you made-!! The triangle shapes really remind me of a beak!

I love it I love it!! Thank you so much for sharing this!!

For context, I shared a Beast Meta Knight concept I had on this post. I have no plans to spend a lot of time developing a hypothetical Beast Meta Knight story (my hands are pretty full with just one roleswap haha), so if you or anyone else wants to run with the Crow Meta Knight concept totally do it and please show me <3

I honestly really liked @jojo-schmo 's mini concept designs of a Forgo Meta Knight, and I just had to draw and build on it a bit myself.

I mostly added a few small details to build on what jojo_schmo said about it in their original post, with the bird themed mask and such. Otherwise, the only big thing I added was the FL's language letter 'C' on his pauldron to act like one of the beast pack's members just scratched it in or something.

[fiberturkey89]

"Silent Storm"

(A roleswap within my AU, where Jiro was the one Sora met instead of Zanth, takes place before the AU fix Staying Together.)

He had long forgotten what the taste of fresh fruits and meat felt like.

He missed the various types of earth that he used to roam, from the scorching heat of the volcanoes to the pleasant meadows of valleys.

The smell of the lands, a wisp he couldn’t quite grasp anymore.

It danced on his memory akin to the winds that used to aid his wings midair whenever he soared across the realms.

The winds in this place were aritifcal, the lights simulating a soft glow akin to one of his old nests, but without any of that comforting warmth.

He missed the airdrafts that carried him across the lands. The lands were new, different than previously. The people he met along his travels were even more so. He hoped that the few he met reunited with their families and tribes.

Jiro couldn't say the same for these foul ones, however. He eyed the green-eyed one as she departed from the chamber, that one treated him as if he were a mere hippo. Aggressive, without reason. Without thought.

Well. He was above that. He could control his claws and his thunderous breath.

His teeth and eyes had seen more than she could ever fathom. It was only by pure luck that these fools had caught him at all.

Curling up to take a nap, he yawned. Despising how they left him in here with his chipped and shedded scales longer than usual, it was perhaps only luck that they cleaned his prison every week or so.

He supposed it was only one person who really cared enough, anyway. He hadn't seen the one man who came in and cleaned them up now that he considered the length of time...

Peeling his lip back, he hoped that one was alive. Afraid of him as the man was, on occasion, he offered scraps of vegetables from his lunch as compromise to clean the prison without issue.

Jiro considered it ironic luck that one had the brains to keep him content. Using his wings to act as a cover for his head, he readjusted himself with a snort.

He was too tall, too long for this cell, he kept accidentally sitting on or stepping on his own tail. Grumbling, he closed his eyes.

"Is he okay?" A small voice asked, catching him off guard. How long had he been unfocused for? Was he losing his touch?

"I wouldn't worry. It has moments like this where it rests after it sheds its scales. " There it was. The deception, the lies.

Uncoiling from his position to see a newcomer and the green eyed rot-hatch, he was taken aback to see a young human staring at him.

She stared back, a full smile being the thing that greeted him. She lightly waved, and he sniffed in response.

What an odd one. She had no fear, no ingrained hatred for him.

What made this one different from the others?

"Nothing to worry about. It's always been the most responsive of the Dragons we've worked alongside. We simply caught it in the middle of a nap."

The words awed the girl, her eyes widening, though Jiro shot green-eyes a stare that would have even made a bull Elephant in musth halt its charge.

She ignored him, causing his claws to dig into the cold ground below. Fool. When he escaped, she would pay. Her and that red-eye moron.

He had more interesting matters to lend to, however, considering this child was eyeing him with wonder.

"A Dragon..." The girl murmured, approaching his prison. He cocked his head. How curious.

He thought more would know of him, considering how much they lied.

Especially whatever it was red-eyes often did with him in the background. Talking as if they were long time friends.

Jiro snorted at the thought, friends? With a Dragon Hunter? Boars and hippos would fly before that happened.

Though, this human. She resided in this place with them but seemed to have no interest in their occupations.

Other children or teenagers would have certainly spouted their loyalty to the Hunters or their queen by now. Not her.

She was.. young, for a human. Very young. She couldn't be any older than.. what were the words that humanoids regarded their ages with? Ten? Eleven? Something like that.

If his memory didn't fail him.. he was... about ten years older than her? He could be wrong. Humanoids were strange.

"A real Dragon.." The girl uttered again, making Jiro grin softly despite the circumstances.

Few children that came into this chamber gave him more than a passing glance or even recognition.

He had this pink haired one's full attention.

So far, he liked this one. He wondered how long it would take for her to turn violent against him, he thought wryly. All the children seemed to after minimal coaxing.

"I can't believe you're allowed to have them here in the lab- this place is magical!"

Jiro bit back the urge to laugh. This child had no idea what true magic was. It certainly wasn't this 'lab'. Perhaps if he ever escaped, he could have her meet one of the true magic users out there.

He did, however, appreciate that he had been associated with magic. Puffing out his chest in pride, he raised his head to tower above her, showing off.

She giggled, reaching a hand out upwards, and if he could talk, he would have warned her. However..

This time, he nearly laughed proper when her hand bounced off of the prison. He couldn't blame her at all. One couldn't quite see the barrier that separated him and the outside chamber.

Her grin faded for a moment, and he blinked in suprise when it disappeared for longer than a second.

He wanted the smile to come back. No child in his presence should be without a smile. They always did with genuinely instead of an adult.

Doing his best not to side-eye green-eyes, she walked over to the thing that would open his prison, he waited. "Oops, sorry. Let me deactivate the field. This one has long accepted its role in our lab. It won't be any danger."

The field went down, and he had to refrain from thwacking her with his tail in front of the girl. Perhaps if she tested his patience, he'd consider it, even if it meant dying.

He'd at least take this brute with him.

Besides, he was only dangerous when he chose to be, not when he felt like it.

If only they could get that through their skulls.

His eyes focused on the girl who strained to reach her arm over the gap. What an energetic one. Much different than the grumpy adult humans in here.

He supposed that was par for the course, humans seemed to naturally sour as they aged.

Craning his neck to bridge the gap, he pressed his snout into her hand gingerly, knowing how little it took to bowl a human over. He smiled softly, staying still.

She returned the smile with an ear to ear grin of her own, eyes alight with joy. Lightly bumping the edge of his snout to her fingers.

He surpressed the urge to recoil, surprised that she carried a charge like he did. It was faint, but it was undoubtedly there.

She had the Dragons Gift, much like himself. Allowing himself to smile freely in joy, he trilled. It was good to see a hatchling to walk free. She must be hiding it well.

Pressing his snout again, he inhaled her scent and committed it to memory. Smelled akin to flowers.. metal, and.. cats? What an odd assortment.

Her hand was warm, almost as warm as his fathers scales. Smoother than his, however, almost like his mother's velvet scales.

He crooned softly, causing her to break into a fit of giggles. "Awh, you sweet thing! Do you have a name?"

He would've told her his name was Jiro, but he was unsure of how to communicate that-

"Subject 152 stroke 9A. Though the janitor and the lab technicians have taken to calling it Sora."

His tail twitched. He was not an it. He was a he like how the girl was a she.

He had a name, thank you. One that had been gifted to him by his parents. Jiro was a fine name, if you asked him. Not whatever Sora meant.

It sounded like it would be a bad name for a Dragon like him.

The girls eyes widened, so she knew what it meant. Whatever it did caused her grin to vanish. It must be a terrible name for it to disappear. "Sora? The ancient Imperian word for orphan?"

...

Firstbourne's fangs, you lounge around a flock of Dragons to keep up with the latest news once, and then humans consider you family - he swore on the Source Dragons' names he was going to stomp these humans into the ground.

Except the girl, of course. She was a Dragon like he and had given him the proper respect. The others, however..

He had to refrain, very, very, very hard from blasting green-eyes with his lightning. He had to refrain from the thoughts that filled his mind for chewing out those others who called him that.

Even the one who cleaned his prison.

He however, kept his eyes and snout on the girl in front of him, taking care not to let his anger cloud his judgement.

Her eyes turned downcast, her shoulds loosened heavily, and she frowned. "What happened to your family, Sora?"

His jaws hung open for a brief moment, a thought he hadn't been willing to entertain in his time here. If at all since the Merged Lands.

..How were his mother and father and sister? Had they joined those tribes of others that came from other lands?

He wouldn't be surprised if they loosely stood with one, his kin of Thunder Dragon preferred to live in the same general region but never came together, save for mated pairs who would call relatives when it to was to welcome a new one into the world.

He backed away, laying his head down and staring at his scales. Attempting to gauge if they'd ever been caught by these blast rotten boar-brains.

As far he'd been aware, they had escaped safely in another one of the realms before the Shattering-

Breathing suddenly became difficult, his scales felt as if they were being slashed by an Ice Dragon who was trying to attack him.

His muscles tensed in searing hot pain, as if the lightning was being pulled out of his very being.

He roared, crying out in pain as his eyes narrowed at green eyes in hatred, the smile she adorned from seeing him writhe in pain sickened him.

"Stop it! You're hurting him!"

The pull faded, and he collapsed to the cold, hard floor. This cave of despair is the only thing to remind him that he was alive.

His vision was blurry, and his limbs felt as if he was buried beneath a heap of rocks. He panted, greedily inhaling air. He could just barely make out the argument to be having as his hearing faded in and out.

He couldn’t see what was becoming of green-eyes, and the girl, struggling to lift his head, he gave up as his vision continued to darken.

He wanted to see what was becoming of it, if the girl was okay- but he couldn't due to his weakness. "-This is why I brought you here-"

So that was her name.

It didn't suit her.

She had a much fiercer attitude than she let on.

She deserved a better name.

Her parents were weak. If they gave incorrect names to their children, then that meant they had unbefitting names, too.

Giving in to darkness, Jiro forcefully slept, unaware of what happened next and unable to do anything after that.

___________________________________________

The next time he had awoke, he had lost track of the time, coming to with bleary blinks. His scales felt disgusting and heavy.

His wings felt as if they were bound again, cramped and strained in this tiny space.

Shaking the sleep off of his scales and repositioning to rid himself of uncomfortable cramps that followed with, he noticed that it was the dead of night.

A moments peace, then.

Laying back down, his snout bumped into something lightly recoiling with a hiss and crackle of thunder. He calmed when he realized it was..

A bucket of water?

Looking around to make sure it wasn't one of green-eyes' behavioral tests, he carefully lapped at the water. Sighing in relief as it eased his burned veins, as if the rains themself were dousing him.

He kept himself from paying too much attention to the small shape huddled underneath one of the tables.

The door opened, and he quickly hid the bucket under a wing, meeting the guards' gaze with a look of disgust.

The human, wearing a helmet that prevented Jiro from being able to see his expression, simply turned around and muttered something incoherent.

He wouldn't return for a while.

Quickly finishing his water, the dragon sniffed at the bucket again, his eye ridges raising in suprise.

It was indeed one of the rare metals that a dragon like himself required to eat on occasion. The girl knew his kin supplemented their needs with things like these.

Smart one, she is. Very smart. He trilled in approval, even smiling. She would have been a good Dragon.

No, she was a good Dragon.

"I got you one of the copper buckets we use for the calves at the greenhouse," she whispered, approaching him and pulling off her hood.

Calves? Cow? Meat? He licked his chops at the idea of fresh meat. He couldn’t recall what he had eaten last, but it'd must've been ages ago.

Pulling a pack from her back, Jiro's desires for flesh were overtaken by surprise, how had this girl snuck in here unnoticed by annyone?

Was the patrolling really that horrendous? Poor fools, they wouldn't last a day if there was a competent Invader in their midst.

Quickly pulling the keep to his prison down, he noticed her eyes were red and swollen. "I also got you some steel torque nuts... I-I dunno how well these work, but these should give you back some strength."

His gratitude came to a stop when he considered how her own flock must already be turning against her for cutting his torture short.

He had heard the public shaming that they enforced on others for simple mistakes. Green-eyes had made the call to the others that there was a strange one in their group.

He felt a crackle of electricity spark in his jaw.

He would have words with whoever reduced her to this state. If they so much as dared harm this hatchling any more than they had.

Words would be shared with teeth and claws. This was a promise.

Taking out his hatred by ravenously eating the bucket and the small morsels she dropped in gently, he crooned softly - grateful to the child for coming back and giving him food.

She lay some more food down before him, one of them being a favorite of his. "I also got you some watermelon and bananas. Sorry, we don't have any red meat. I can try getting you some fish?"

He nodded quickly after carefully crunching through the watermelon, loving the memories that came back with the moisture rich fruit. He then ate the bananas next, his stomach more content than it had been in possibly seasons.

He felt some some semblance of embarrassment when he tilted his head and motioned to her pack in query after his fill, though.

Hugging herself for a moment, she presented a small thing in her hands that held food. "I do have two potatoes, but they were for me - you can have them if you want?"

Holding them out for him, he fervently shook his head and hissed, nudging the thing back to her chest with a harsh snort, startling her.

"Are.. you sure? I can always get myself more-"

He growled, causing her to go silent. He tenderly raised the thing she was holding to her chin and chuffed. Her food was her food. Not his. "Okay- okay, I'll eat."

He was hungry, yes. But he refused to take the share of a hatchling who had done more than enough for him and, by extension- needed the sustenance to grow into a powerful individual.

Watching her eat her fill, he huffed in satisfaction, the Thunder Dragon reclined in his seat, yawning. His stomach was feeling better, his bones weren't aching as much, and he had company.

Carefully shifting his scales into one corner of his prison, he sighed. The thought of his parents and sister coming back to momentarily haunt them, better him than either side.

If his parents had been the ones captured, either would've died of a broken heart if they'd been separated. His kin mated for life, and his sister had a full life ahead of her.

He's take this agony many lifetimes over if it meant preventing any of them from being captured.

Even if he wished he could escape himself.

He could say the same for the girl who would most likely needed to escape herself, as she was no longer welcome here.

The girl who needed a name. Because her sires were failures at naming their own offspring.

He watched her eat, eyes locked on the exit of the lab. She was brave, definitely, even in the face of being caught and the punishment that came after.

Perhaps he should wait for her to prove herself before he got hasty. After all, his original name had been Thunderstrike before his parents had bestowed his true name once he had completed a feat.

Even the precursor required a feat..

Once she finished, she began to pack her things and pull up her hood - stretching carefully. He inspected her state, good, good. She was healthy. Strong.

While they hadn't exactly conversed, there was nothing wrong with simply being in each others company.

The girl chewed her lip, gazing between him and the door after some minutes of silence. "I could help you escape? There's a city across the desert we can go to! I saw these bird-wyvern things flying during the day.."

Wyverns, what a rowdy bunch they were. Many of them were decent enough company if you were looking for news, very gossipy if you asked him.

However, he shook his head. Attempting to rise, he only fell over, causing the child to lurch forward as if she could catch him.

Hands moved to his snout, and he purred softly in confirmation. He was fine. Simply too tired to move properly.

She wasn't taking no for an answer.

"I can keep bringing you food and we can escape! I promise, I know the best ways out, or-or maybe I can get something that'll help your legs-"

Jiro's frowned, he shook his head. Raising a claw to show how it trembled, his scales chipped and broken, he motioned to it.

The girls eyes furrowed, her lip wobbling. "I can help you," she repeated, this time firm. "I can come up with a plan to get you through the main gate-"

He then lifted up the girls much more stable hand with a gentle bump of his snout. Raising his own claw again and then letting it drop to the cold floor.

"You're not weak!" She blurted out. "You wouldn't slow me down! We just... need to plan properly! I can do it!"

He shook his head again, truly stubborn like a Dragon. He nudged her towards the thing that would raise his prison.

He would slow her down. There was nothing to be said. No amount of planning could help him escape.

He had no fear of death. He would fight until his last breath.

She should, however. She should have a fear of the consequences that come. She had a life ahead of her.

His entrapment could be a lifetime.

The girl, frustrated at her limits, quickly pulled up the field and took off- early enough to avoid the patrol that would come.

Sighing, Jiro lay back down, closed his eyes, and went to sleep. Grateful for her help. Feeling some guilt for having to send her away.

___________________________________________

He was unsure of how long it had been since he saw her last, but she had gotten taller. Longer hair.

She was thinner.

He didn't like that.

She had become sadder, her eyes almost always shiny when she saw how his scales dulled and flaked from the constant drainage.

She hesitated to touch his scarred and scored snout, her once stable hands trembling much like his weakened claws.

Only, hers was out of sadness, his was out of weakness. She was powerful, for being able to mourn over a being she only met twice.

He was ashamed she couldn't see them in their proper luster, ashamed she couldn't see him in the prime of his life.

Yet he still attempted to ask how she was.

She wouldn't answer him. She avoided his eyes.

He felt some level of hurt. He had only been looking out for the Dragon Gifted.

What an odd thing that he would become curious about this girls life in the little time they had known each other.

He still stood strong whenever he saw her after. However, she visited him rarely, sometimes to simply have him as company, other times to share a quiet meal.

The seasons continued to change without him, and he worried for the girl as her eyes began to lose their sheen.

Faintly, but it was there.

__________________________________________

She brought him two watermelons tonight, a fish, a bucket, and torque nuts. "Here you go," she said.

She was doing too much. He could do nothing except offer his company.

He would repay her with the gift of flight when he escaped.

He watched her before he ate, how she turned around partially to keep an eye on the exit. He could see that her spirit was dying faster than he was.

He was the one in the cage, but so was she.

The two ate in silence. It was heavy. Much like the volcanoes he nested in for some nights, bathing in the heavy heat.

This was cold.

He finished his meal, resting his skull against her leg as she ran her hands up his head - her touch was still warm.

Still full of life. Full of power much like he once had.

"We can still try to go to the colored city across the desert," the words were hollow, no fight to them.

They had this discussion before, and she always came out unsuccessful.

She needed to escape. No, he needed her to escape on his behalf.

"I wanna go there," she announced. "But I don't want to leave you behind. It's unfair. You should be free."

He agreed, and he should be free. Where the winds and the thunderstorms call for him, the cool nights and the warm days. The seasons came and went along with him.

It was a distant memory that he could only fathom thanks to the food she was giving him. The seasons hadn't stoppped to acknowledge he was gone, of course.

They stopped for nothing, and no one.

The task of bringing him food was draining her.

Her hand's tremble proved that. He'd seen what an outcast among the flock looked like. She had no place here.

Perhaps it was time. No, it was time. His strength only came back little. The food amount was not enough for him to properly heal himself.

Moving his head away from her leg, he sifted through the dull scales in his prison, his most recent shed having come at a bad time.

He picked up the most rich scale he could and placed it in her lap. Calling up his lightning to gently charge it, for only she would be able to feel it.

This was his gift to her.

"You're giving this to me?" She said, voice hushed. "I... thank you."

He chuffed in welcome, it was a very pretty scale if you asked him.

This was his way of escape, even if he couldn’t be there to see the dusk and dawn, the stars and sun.

He nudged her, pushing her to her feet. "Wh- Sora! What're you.. doing?"

He unfurled his wings, still able to shine that undercurrent akin to lightning as he motioned to the cieling.

"You.. want me to go?" She bit out, and he nodded in conformation. Offering her a smile that no doubt was more of a grimace considering how her lip wobbled.

"But-" He silenced her with a huff and a headshake, forcing himself towards the blasted thing that would entrap him.

No, the thing that would separate him and her.

This was her feat. His test to her.

Make it across the desert to this city and.. live.

She didn't cry but instead, she sighed. "You really are a stubborn Lightning Dragon," her eyes became as glassy much like the sands he would scorch for amusement, and he used his snout to wipe them away.

Jiro wholeheartedly agreed. He and his sister got it from their mother, the comment making him chuckle in amusement. His laughs not as full they would have been some time ago.

The girl hugged his snout, gripping tightly. He pressed against her, gentle to make sure he wouldn't bowl her over.

She couldn't be any more than.. twelve, or thirteen if he was remembering human ages right.

It was a while before the two separated, blue fleckered gold eyes met his own. He bowed his head and trilled gently, motioning her to raise it.

With great reluctance, she raised his imprisonment. Holding her hand there for a few moments as it twitched in the opposite direction.

"I'm sorry, Sora."

Jiro, he would have corrected. Instead, he snorted in goodbye to her. Watching her pivot and run out of the lab.

Leaving him alone.

Sora. A name for orphans in this place called Imperium.

It's what the girl would have been calling herself. She and him both knew that.

He disagreed on her being an orphan.

She would always be welcome to his family.

The name spoke of loneliness, of heartache. It's what that name would make most think.

But he had already given her a precursory name, one he considered worthy of the little Dragon.

She would make her own name in time, one that would truly fit her and be the one that told everyone else who she was.

One that she would roar whenever somebody used that infernal name her parents had given her.

He wished he would be able to hear her roar it to the winds, much like the quiet thunder she brought with her.

She had yet to cross the desert, in her view.

But to him, she had already done it. He was no longer as alone as he thought he was, in this place called Imperium.

For Silent Storm would give him company.

[bittersweetresilience]

sunny... give me ur top 5 renjing things THAT MADE U START SHIPPING RENJING. i want to understand

THANKS FOR ASKING BELOVED GET READY FOR MY YAPPING

jing yuan's voiceline about blade... "if he were to forget everything, it would make things a lot easier for me." drives me insane. the themes of memory in renjing are so ���🫠🫠 they are both such yearners but one of them yearns so quietly because he knows things are different now and he has been left and he will be left again and the other doesn't even understand his feelings or that he is capable of having human feelings i have to cry about them infinitely. blade is the only person left who truly knew jing yuan as he was and the only person capable of taking care of him as he is. and jing yuan is the only person left who truly remembers and cherishes yingxing and the only person who still understands blade to be him and not a weapon

their complementary narrative arcs and characters and their compatibility in every way... dark hair and light hair... colors of death and colors of life... the one who leaves and the one who stays... the one who changed and the one who stagnated except they are both both of those things... the almost roleswap in the fact that yingxing was a short life species but now he goes on endlessly, while jing yuan was meant to have outlived him but now will fall to mara long before blade reaches his own finish...

YINGJING. that yingxing made starfall reverie and jing yuan kept it for all these centuries... that they bickered with each other as youths and were still so close that yingxing would make a mechanical lion out of scrap parts for him... that they gayly looked at each other and at no one else over cups of wine in scalegorge waterscape and that jing yuan thought of this right as jingliu and blade were fighting... 🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠 childhood friends to lovers to strangers or almost enemies to lovers again truly...

the way blade says jing yuan's name every chance he gets while jing yuan avoids saying blade's name whenever he can... the way blade gets jealous of luocha and the way jing yuan is cold toward kafka... they're so tragic exes

and lastly in terms of what keeps me shipping them, their RANGE. they can be domestic and married. they can be violent and toxic. they can be unrequited. they can be requited but still have an unhappy ending. they're so doomed. they're so destined. they're so intrinsically linked to one another and it's impossible to separate their themes. they're literally the only two character trailers* whose music can be overlaid with each other perfectly. and they have the hottest most unsafe sex