#seraph is extremely au and also a little bit of a what-if

[hellscythearts]

I just like playing with them like dolls ok--

( Mythos Zero's re-design belongs to @rockwell-light )

[dryeyed]

heavenbreaker thoughts. feat. discord things

i still have to fully solidify a lot of what HB's motives and ideology are in my brain, but i have been munching on the stain shit seraph and i kinda talked about during our bnha watch. i think on the extreme downlow, shouta targeted heroes that only cared about themselves, and those who cared too little about themselves to throw themselves into danger( essentially self sacrificing ). Causing Problems On Purpose to see how heroes would work. then targeting the Shitty Ones.

i think sometimes he might've been working with akkie in the beginning as the two both got into their respective activism niches. but like. he got a good ol case of the "took it too far on his own", alcohol content 74%.

and i really do think that he kept heavenbreaker so far fucking underground during his early years. nobody really knew about HB past a name, and none could really make a connection just from discretion alone. his actions were mellow-ish in terms of ideology, nothing compared to what comes after when aksha goes missing. i think then it just becomes even more of a generalized anger towards the very world itself, rather than shitty heroes in a shitty hero society. more on a private/public info post incoming, but i think only nezu really found out from the Bad Shit and made the connections. he started getting reckless. he was quickly becoming the one thing he was actively seeking to destroy. started from a good place. ended with almost getting himself killed several times from all the bad shit he was putting himself in

i think he actually just gives up when aksha disappears, even if hizashi tells him he’s looking for her. and not gives up his act and gets it together, i think he gives up as a hero entirely. what good are they if they, if he, can’t save or protect those closest to him?? addiction gets worse and subsequently so do heavenbreaker's actions/general ideology. he puts targets in hospitals sometimes. he loses himself until hizashi physically shows up in the states and does something about it.

and shouta does a complete 180 once he does, once he moves back to japan and fixates on actually helping to find her. it's almost like someone grabbed his hand that had been so far beneath the surface and finally pulled him up for air. not like yet not unlike guiding a child having a tantrum to somewhere else for a perspective change. literally.

i think he looks back on these years with disdain and regret, yeah, but he also uses it as fuel to make sure he stays on most heroic and just path he knows how. uses it as fuel to teach his students that hero work isn’t flashy and fun, it’s dangerous and tragic.

imo i gotta work out the details, but i think the only way he becomes a teacher is 1) hizashi + possibly nemuri genuinely begging nezu, telling him shouta is would be a good fit for homeroom and 2) shouta promising nezu through and through that he’s done with that life, and wants to commit to walking the path of a pro-hero

i'm cooking an hc that in the beginning of his teachers days, he actually struggled a bit with flashbacks. he'd be going to hold out a hand to help a kid up or he'd be in the middle of saying something to someone, and he just gets this flash. or right in the corner of his eye, someone or the person he's talking to is bloodied to the point of near-death and its just this jolt.

rough timeline: first emergences of heavenbreaker: ages 18-22 aksha disappears: age 22 heavenbreaker gets increasingly more and more aggressive and agitated: 22-25 shouta moves back to japan: 25

on the flip-side of that:

i think honestly. the difference between shouta's normal verse and villain verse is that he just. doesn't stop. he never becomes a teacher, hizashi doesn't get through to him. au where everything goes wrong, and part of that is his mental health and its deterioration

villain verse is literally just au where everyone fails their dice rolls

[imlaxdris71]

OUAT Shadowhunters AU

Okay so this is a bit of a beast and I’m so sorry for how long it is. But this is the basic outlines of each character I thought of, although I may not include all of them in the story. I’m also still tweaking some ideas, but here’s how I kinda sorted everyone out. I want to work on a snippet, but it is very late so this is what I have! I hope you guys enjoy my late night rambling. @teamhook @kmomof4 @ultraluckycatnd @stahlop @therealstartraveller776

Shadowhunters

Killian Jones: Fae/Shadowhunter (26)

Killian is the second son of Alycia of the Fae Court and Brennan Jones, making him a Fae/Shadowhunter hybrid. He is extremely skilled with seraph blades and throwing daggers. His two most prominent runes are Calm Anger and Courage in Combat. Killian’s fae heritage means that he is seen as less than other Shadowhunters and has had to work twice as hard as other Shadowhunters to prove his worth. However, he is disturbed by the discrimination that downworlders face and often finds himself among downworld company. His best friend was David Nolan, but when they were nineteen, David was bitten by a werewolf and exiled from Misthaven. Killian was dating the werewolf Milah, but she was killed in a raid a few years previously and Killian has been investigating her death ever since.

Liam Jones: Fae/Shadowhunter (30)

Liam is the oldest of the Jones brothers and also a hybrid like his brother. Liam’s choice of weapon is a seraph blade, but he is also quite skilled with the stave, making him deadly at both range and up-close. His most prominent rune is the Angelic Power rune because, unlike his brother, Liam cleaves closer to his angelic heritage than his fae heritage. He works hard to make himself the perfect Shadowhunter so that the Clave doesn’t doubt his loyalty. He worries incessantly after his younger brothers and is slow to believe Killian’s theory that there is something rotten in the Clave. He is not overly fond of Emma at first, but is very interested in her young Warlock friend, Elsa.

William “Lee” Jones (Liam 2.0) (20)

Lee is the youngest of the Jones brothers and the result of his father’s second marriage Anne Whitlock. He is a full Shadowhunter, but still very much aware of the shadow that hangs over his older brothers. Lee is very talented with the crossbow and prefers to be able to analyze a fight before getting involved. However, he is as hot-headed as his brothers and his most prominent rune is Accuracy. He works alongside his brothers to stop whatever Gold is planning.

Will Scarlet (25)

Will is a good friend of the Jones brothers and parabatai to Robin Locksley. He prefers seraph daggers and his most prominent rune is Stealth. Will enjoys hanging around downworld bars and his quickly falling head over heels for the head of the vampire coven, Belle French.

Robin Locksley (30)

Robin and Liam are best friends, but Robin chose to form a parabatai bond with the young Will Scarlet because for all Will’s recklessness, he’s a good, passionate fighter and he needs someone with Robin’s head to watch out for him. Robin prefers the bow and his most prominent rune is Flexibility. Robin is in love with fellow Shadowhunter Regina, but Cora doesn’t think Robin has the right background to marry her daughter. 

Regina Mills (28)

Regina is a particularly talented Shadowhunter that prefers the electrum whip and her most prominent rune is her Angelic Power rune. She believes that she is superior, mostly because of the way Cora raised her. Born to one of the “original” families, Regina doesn’t think much of the discrimination that downworlders face, but agrees to investigate what is happening in the hopes that her mother will allow her to marry Robin. 

Robert Gold (52)

Gold is the Inquisitor and is known for doling out harsh punishments to downworlders and Shadowhunter sympathizers. He has been attempting to ruin Killian for years and sees downworlders as scum to be eliminated. Gold has teamed up with Cora Mills and Peter Pan to destroy the downworld and raise a new, pure order from the ashes. Gold orchestrates many of the murders and tries to pass laws that would place stricter regulations on downworlders. They would also forbid the Jones brothers from being Shadowhunters. His most prominent rune is the Power rune.

Cora Mills (50)

Cora is a skilled Shadowhunter that specializes in the electrum whip like her daughter. However, she also has impressive rune work with her most prominent rune being her Voyance rune. Cora believes downworlders to be a scourge and is working to eradicate them along with Gold and Pan. Cora had a daughter at 18 when she slept with a demon for fun. She cast Zelena aside and instead married into the high-class Mills family through Henry Mills. She has raised Regina to follow in her footsteps and does not approve of the lowly Robin.

Warlocks

Emma Swan (200+)

Emma is the High Warlock of Misthaven and takes great pride in protecting her downworld community from threats, both from demons and from the Clave. She is extremely skilled in defensive magic and her warlock mark comes in the form of white, shining stripes and glowing eyes. Emma is the current ward for a young warlock Henry and they have a mother-son relationship, especially since they share the same demonic parent. Emma first comes across Killian in the club she owns that he frequent, but their first official meeting comes when a young warlock is murdered and Killian comes to ask her about him. From then on, the two of them work closely together to solve the murders and they begin to develop feelings for each other. 

Henry Swan (12)

A young Warlock who was taken in by Emma when his birth mother abandoned him, Henry and Emma share the same demonic parent. Henry has similar stripes to Emma, although his are red, and he has small fangs. Henry is an excitable kid that doesn’t quite understand the discrimination the downworld faces. Emma is extremely protective of him. 

Zelena West (32)

A young Warlock, Zelena is the illegitimate child of Cora Mills, who had an affair with a demon, but cast the child off. Zelena’s angelic heritage makes her particularly powerful, but her bitterness at Shadowhunters makes her a nasty opponent. She works with Pan and Arthur in the hopes that they will double-cross Gold and take over. Her warlock mark is her green skin and she specializes in potions.

Elsa and Anna Fross (182, 178)

Elsa and Anna Fross are sisters born to the same mother. Their mother was part of a brooding den that was broken up by Shadowhunters. They saw the horrible things their mother experienced and hold kinder feelings than most Warlocks towards Shadowhunters. Elsa has a particular talent for water and ice magic and her warlock mark is her white hair and two horns. Elsa has begun to fall in love with Liam Jones and worries about what that might mean. Anna has less magical talent than her sister, but can also manipulate water, although she uses it for healing mostly. Anna’s warlock mark is the same horns as her sister, but she also has a white tail instead of white hair.

Werewolves

Snow White (30)

Snow is the Alpha of the Misthaven pack, along with her mate, David. Snow is a born werewolf and her wolf form has white fur, which is what earned her her name. She is well-respected among the downworld community and rules with a fair and firm hand. Her acceptance of David was much contested at the time, but he quickly proved to be an asset. She and David have a son named Leo, who is still a little puppy. She and Emma are good friends.

David Nolan (26)

David was once a shadowhunter who was bitten by a rogue werewolf during a mission gone wrong. He was close with the Jones family and didn’t much mind their half-fae heritage, especially since he was mocked for being from a lower-class Shadowhunter family. David met Snow’s pack after he turned and fell in love with the Alpha. David still keeps in contact with Killian, but it is sometimes difficult as Killian is closely monitored. David’s wolf form is russet and sandy-brown. His most prominent rune was Fortitude.

Ruby and Granny Lucas (29, 80)

Ruby and Granny Lucas are both born werewolves that run in Snow’s pack. Ruby is Snow’s Beta and Granny often advises Snow on difficult political matters. They two women are incredibly loyal, but have a severe distrust of Shadowhunters, especially since Ruby’s mother was killed by Shadowhunters when they declared her rogue. Ruby is a dark brown and black wolf while Granny is silver. They are both trained fighters, although Granny usually runs the restaurant, Lupus Diner, which is a front for the werewolves. 

Graham Humbert (31)

Graham was a human cop who was bitten by a werewolf and joined Snow’s pack. He is mated to Ruby Lucas and still works as a police officer. He is in charge of investigating the human connections to the Shadow World murders. He doesn’t really trust Shadowhunters, but doesn’t have quite the same hate for them as others. He is a brown and gray wolf.

Milah Auro (33)

Milah was a werewolf in the Misthaven pack and dating Killian, although their relationship was kept secret for obvious reasons. However, she was murdered by Pan and it was made to look like a Shadowhunter attack on a rogue werewolf. Milah’s death prompts Killian to pull away from the Clave and begin investigating Gold. Milah was a pretty black wolf.

Vampires

Belle French (124)

Belle French is the leader of the Misthaven coven of vampires and an old friend of Emma’s. The two aren’t incredibly close, but they respect each other and will come to each other’s aid. Belle keeps her coven on a tight leash and does not wish to give Shadowhunters an inch when it comes to coven business. She has worked hard to change the vampiric image and the recent killings disturb her. Belle’s true love is her library, but the snarky Will Scarlet is beginning to turn her head, something that hasn’t happened in decades. She and Snow have a fairly amicable agreement between the vampires and werewolves.

Arthur Pendragon (600+)

Arthur is a very old vampire that remembers the times when downworlders weren’t beholden to the Accords and wishes to return to that time. He is working with Pan and Zelena to double-cross Gold and bring down the Clave, restoring downworlders to their place as predators. 

Victor Whale (107)

Whale is a vampire that was turned during World War II when he was serving as a doctor in Europe. Whale is in charge of getting blood shipments for Belle’s coven and mostly just wants to keep practicing medicine. He has found a few effective treatments for wounds dealt by Shadowhunter weapons or demon ichor.

Archie Hopper (300+)

An old vampire that often gives counsel to younger vampires and coven leaders. He is an oddly peaceful vampire who works as a therapist on the side. He is good friends with Emma and Belle.

Fair Folk

Tinkerbelle (Unknown)

A member of the Faerie Queen’s court, Tinkerbelle is a scout that often works with the Shadowhunters to bring murderers to justice. She is also the one who brings Pan’s plans to the attention of the Shadowhunters, but she doesn’t really trust them. She works mostly with Killian because Alycia was her friend and she trusts her sons. Tink is particularly deadly with a dagger.

Alycia (Unknown)

Alycia is a handmaiden to the Queen and a particularly trusted scout. She fell in love with Brennan and had two sons with him, but was forced to return to Court. She has little contact with her sons, but tries to let them know how much she loves them and how proud of them she is. Alycia has a son, Jefferson, from a previous relationship with a human.

Ashla, Aurora, and Philip (Unknown)

Fae knights that want to unite the Shadow World so they work with Jefferson and the Jones brothers.

Jefferson (73)

Jefferson is a relatively young Fae who chose to leave the human world behind and accept the immortality offered by the Fae Court. He serves as diplomat and knight to the Queen and wishes to get to know his younger brothers better. 

Peter Pan (Unknown)

Pan wants to rid the world of Shadowhunter influence and teams up with Gold to bring the Shadow World to the brink of war. He murders Milah and organizes the murder of both Shadowhunter and downworlder alike so that he can double-cross Gold and overthrow the Clave. 

So Gold wants to destroy all downworlders; he enlists the help of Peter Pan to sow discord in the downworld and Cora to spread hate rhetoric. He particularly targets the Jones brothers, and Killian because he has friends in the downworld, his supposed to be parabatai was turned, and he has a wolf lover. Pan kills Milah, but makes it look like a Shadowhunter attack. While investigating her death, Killian comes across several cases of what looks like shadowhunter-on-downworlder crime and downworlder-on-shadowhunter crime. Tensions are rising and the brothers are in the middle. They team up with the downworld and work to bring Gold’s horrible plans to light.

[askjaybird-hyssop]

OOC: Hi! I just found your blog because of a friend in the MH group chat, and could I please get a sorta more detailed recap than the one you've pinned? You don't have to, but I'd like to get caught up on everything, and it seems really well crafted from what I've seen! -Blue

//ooc: Sure! Just for reference though, I’ll link the [first post] which has links under the section called “The Story/AU” for a link to some other posts with lots of information too! I linked those all because there’s so much stuff that’s been fleshed out that it’d take forever to compile it all onto one document (I’m talking over 5,000+ words total).

(EDIT: I’m not sure how long this is but I think it’s probably gotten close to this  number lol)

This is also going to be pretty long, but I’ll try keeping it as short as possible (and it’s only going to be talking about what’s happened on the blog so far.) This will include information from the first 2 chapters, so if you haven’t read those be aware that there are spoilers here!

If you want even more info about the entire series/AU and are willing to hear spoilers just DM me and I’ll try getting back to you asap!

Warning: This is extremely long. Like, extremely long

--- --- ---

So, first and foremost, let’s talk about supernatural lore and the time loop. If you want to skip down to the next part just talking about the blog, it’s after the next black line (but you’ll probably be confused if you don’t read this).

In this world there is no “one true God” that rules everything. In reality, there’s a multitude of different supernatural creatures from all religions and mythology. This means there are Angels (ex: Seraph and Cherub), Demons (ex: Succubus and Kitsune), Dragons (ex: Hydra and Bakunawa), etc.

Or, in other words, everyone’s right in their religion because they all exist.

There’s a lot of lore here that I can’t go into without risking spoilers, but the last thing I can say is that The Operator is considered a type of  wraþþe demon (aka a demon of wrath). 

So, as Jay is shot and bleeding out the story mentions how he basically begged to any god or creature listening to help protect the others affected by their situation and how he wishes he could go back and save them all. Remember when I said that there are a bunch of supernatural creatures here? Well, they were there watching as he was dying and said his wish.

And what do they do? They panic. 

Why? Because they know that he is dying and they can’t let him die. People like Jay are extremely rare to come by because of his soul.

“His mother, who was away with the other leaders, was one of the most powerful Seraphim. His father, a mere mortal. But they loved each other greatly and their son had been blessed with a bright soul and a passion to support others. Yet here he was dying, after trying to help a childhood friend who had been possessed and tormented, the light within him desperately fighting to stay alive. No, this wasn't supposed to be happening.”

This explains why they are all freaking out. Because, while there are tons of different supernatural creatures, Angels and Demons still don’t get along and are in a constant fight. Some creatures, like the Phoenix, side with the Angels. They are sometimes also referred to as the “Celestial”. Others, like the Vampires, would side with the Demons. Sometimes they are referred to as the “Terrestrial”. Some creatures didn’t take any sides and were considered “Peacekeepers” or neutral parties.

The reasoning for the different names is because most fights between the Demons and Angels occur on the mortal realm. These fights aren’t the typical bloodbaths some people like to imagine, no, they are usually dealing with the interference of human life and the mortal plane.

The Angels, and usually the ones who side with them, are called Celestials because they typically are the creatures who have a harder time interacting with humans or going to the mortal plane while being visible. Demons and the neutral parties, on the other hand, are able to interact with the mortal plane a lot easier. This is why The Operator is able to be seen and have such strong effect on everyone.

This is also the reason why Jay was, and still is, being targeted by The Operator. When he was dying, The Operator was waiting to attempt to steal his soul and destroy it, because people with these souls are typically people who can interact with or be influenced by both the mortal plane and the supernatural plane. More often then not, these people don’t know about this and are targeted by both Celestials and Terrestrials. Because the Celestials have a harder time being able to influence the mortal plane, their goal is to try and use these people to help other humans, the world around them, and humans being hunted or possessed by Terrestrials. Demons, on the other hand, want to chaos destruction and chaos. They typically target humans and use them to create these things for them. In a sense, they use these humans that are possessed or corrupted by them as a food source. Also, it pisses off the Celestials, so there’s that bonus.

Only the most powerful Celestials and moderately powerful Terrestrials can actually view and interact with the mortal plane. All Terrestrials can view the mortal plane, however only the moderately powerful Celestials and most powerful Celestials can start the viewing of the mortal plane. For Celestials, if one creature starts a viewing of the mortal plane then any others who pass by can look over and see. Only the moderately powerful and the most powerful Celestials can actually go down and be there (even though they’re not visible to others). The most powerful Celestials are the only ones who can make themselves visible to humans and are able to interact with them.

Because Demons and other Terrestrials have such easy access to the mortal plane, this usually causes moderately powerful Celestials to be sent down to the mortal world, where they are unable to actually be seen or felt, and they usually fight to protect over the person/people that the demon use.

Now, Jay’s dad was one of the few exceptions to the rule of influence. This was because when he was in his late-teens him and some friends decided to mess with some witchcraft and supernatural stuff, but he was the only one actually affected ( because he was distantly related to another person with a partial-celestial soul, so there were very small traces of it in his blood. Even then, it was an incredibly small chance that this would actually happen). He had no idea this actually happened until he met Jay’s mom in the back of an alley one night. The rest is history.

So how does The Operator play into this?

The Operator saw Jay’s soul while he was attached to Tim and wanted to destroy or corrupt it. Because Jay was really close to Alex at the time, and The Operator couldn’t directly attach himself to Jay due to his soul being partially Celestial, The Operator decided to attach himself to Alex.

His goal was to cause destruction, chaos, and to cause as much pain/suffering to Jay as possible. (Note: he is classified as a moderately powerful demon. Still extremely hard to beat, especially for humans. To put this into context, if Jay currently fought a demon considered lowly powerful, he would most likely be left completely beat up and hurt, even though he has a chance of winning. These low level demons are still extremely powerful compared to humans)

While Jay’s dad had no problem being contacted by other Celestials or Peacekeepers, both his parents agreed they didn’t want him involved in the disputes of the supernatural world. They forbade any creatures from interacting with him and told them to keep him out of anything even remotely supernatural. Sadly, because Jay’s mom is a Seraph and is considered to have a lot of power, the other Celestials were not allowed to help him in the past. Their only rule was to make sure he didn’t get involved and that he didn’t get killed by a Terrestrial. That is why they panic so much.

Another note, People with partially Celestial souls like Jay are extremely rare, and some have stronger souls than others letting them see the different planes. Those with strong enough souls can interact with the two planes, which the Celestials find to be very helpful for when they want to help protect a person but are unable to manifest in the human world. These people sometimes act as messengers and communicators between worlds, but are usually not ones to advertise their abilities. Again, those who actually can interact with both planes are even more rare than Celestial-Human souls. Those with stronger souls are also targeted a lot more, which is why Jay made it all the way till meeting Tim and the others without ever being attacked by a Terrestrial.

So, what happens now? How did he get saved? What caused the time looping?

A phoenix decided to help him and give him what’s called a “blessing”. 

Whoa, whoa, whoa, another large and important piece of lore? Yep.

Different creatures can give what is called a blessing to a person, normally it barely affects them (ex: a little bit more good luck, passion for helping others, stealth and ability to hide crimes easier, more strategic mind, etc.), but because Jay already had a special soul used to reach out through the planes to help people, this is what caused him to gain his wings with the blessing from the Phoenix.

Blessings are typically small things that just boost another trait or part of a person. Some Terrestrials use their blessings to help make more chaos and increase damage, others don’t really care. The same thing applied to most creatures. Some care about giving their blessings out to peoples, others don’t. (Another note: a person can only have one blessing at a time, and the creature that blesses them can only bless 5 people total)

Jay’s soul cannot take blessings like a normal person’s soul, because it is a mix of human and celestial. When growing up, he always had a passion for helping others more than himself, and this was the minor influence of his soul. His powers were relatively weak though, and the only thing that actually occurred around others was that he had a stronger sense and ability of empathy and helping people through different event or what they were dealing with. He could’ve strengthened his powers to get them stronger and to possibly protect himself more, but because his parents refused to tell him he had no idea his soul was any different.

When the Phoenix gave Jay his blessing, it strengthened his soul, which let him gain more of an immunity to The Operator and other demon’s abilities/effects on humans (but only after he built an immunity to it himself. Before he wasn’t able to have any immunity at all. Think of it like someone who never had an immune system finally getting one). 

Because his soul was different, it could also warp the blessing to get certain things out of it. As a result, he gained his Green Jay wings (due to both the Phoenix and his mother being winged Celestials, also a small pun on his nickname), a stronger empathetic ability (now he can pick up on other’s emotions easier, but unknown to everyone for a while, they can pick up and feel his emotions. This can be dangerous in the fact that his negative emotions can end up hurting those around him by making them feel this way too. It’s small enough to where people can tell it’s not theirs if they focus but strong enough to be able to be felt), and is now able to touch (and if he used enough strength, harm) other demons (The energy drawback is extreme, especially if not trained or strengthened and if he attempted to kill a demon it would also result in him dying too as of right now). The other aspects that he got were a result of the warping of the blessing (claws, eye changes, markings, etc.) as a means to protect himself now that more Terrestrials will be targeting him. 

When Jay finally starts strengthening his powers, he’ll be able to start helping fend off The Operator (along with other Terrestrials) and he will be trying to help protect the other members of the Marble Hornets crew from the Terrestrials too (most won’t target his friends, though, they’ll only go after him. His friends would be considered collateral damage).

So, where does the time loop come into play?

A lot of lore suggests that Phoenixes are able to rebirth themselves in a fire, and because Jay was blessed by a Phoenix he is now stuck in a time loop until he can save all his friends and himself. (Remember, this is also a result of the blessing warping because of his soul. It was to benefit him in the largest way it could, and his last wish before he died was to help save his friends)

--- --- ---

Now that we’ve gotten most the lore out of the way, let’s get onto the recap of what’s happened so far in this blog.

Jay was shot, got his powers/blessing, and woke up on March 23rd, 2006 with the Green Jay wings and an open bullet hole.

The bullet hole won’t bleed out or kill him, it’s more of an irritant than anything. It still hurts him, and will bleed non-stop (increases if his heart rate elevates). He ends up trying to clean it up and bandages it. (If his heart rate increases and he bleeds more, he has to change the bandages sooner than normal to prevent staining. He hasn’t mentioned much about the bandages on purpose, because he’s nervous and honestly terrified of the entire situation surrounding the bullet hole.)

He started this blog as a way to log any information he finds, along with having reference in case his memory was removed again. He refused to go over and create a new Twitter or YouTube account because he knew Alex had watched the previous videos, and he really didn’t want to risk Alex or any of the others seeing that.

He has both his old phone and the phone that lets him access the Tumblr. The other phone is the same as his phone he had when he was shot, but due to some timeline difficulties it has the date as May 27th, 2020 (aka the start date of the blog!). He finds out that he is unable to connect the phone to his camera/camcorder that he bought and is hesitant to risk it with anything else (they glitch and crash, any footage or pictures on the old devices will become corrupted and useless).

Because he’s back in time, that also means he had to start adjusting himself back into the routine he had before the Marble Hornets fiasco. No one remembers what happened and the only people he currently has contact to is Alex, Seth, Tim, and Brian. Alex knew him as a friend since middle school, Seth is more of an acquaintance of his known through Alex. Tim and Brian he now has contact to because of the Marble Hornets castings. He has not tried getting contact with Jessica or Amy yet.

Within the first couple days, someone sent in some code to mess with him. He then started being on guard for any sign of TTA or The Operator, even though he doesn’t think it was them.

He then goes to class after a while and another classmate sees his wings. They asked him if he was cosplaying for an even or something, and even though he had no idea what it meant he just said yea. They complimented the realistic style of them and went about their day. Jay had no idea previously that he had his wings or other physical changes.

He had felt something weird on his back, but due to being recently thrown back in time he was so focused on trying to seem ‘normal’ he didn’t realize he had the few things that literally scream “somethings not right”. That is how he finds out about his wings and other features. He has managed to hide them, but he hasn’t revealed how. He stops posting for a while even though he said he was going to send out an update post with a breakdown of what he knows (and wants the public to know)

After around 3 or 4 days, Jay finally posts again and says he woke up in Rosswood with no memory of getting there or any memory past posting that text-post. He later says he’s starting to regain the memories but they’re blurry and he can’t understand them. He also couldn’t remember clearly what happened leading up to him being shot at first, but even though he doesn’t say it that’s something that is included in the returning memories. 

He notes that when he woke up there seemed to have been a struggle, but he is still unsure what caused that. He doesn’t think it was Masky or Hoodie, but he’s still keeping a look out for them now too.

After that, he posted the pictures of his camcorder that he had tried hooking up to his phone to transfer the pictures, but it was completely black due to the resulting glitch. He then posted a couple hours later the picture of the screen working and say that he finally got it working again but was hesitant to try connecting his phone to it again.

He currently doesn’t know if he has a masked state or not (hint: he doesn’t. But that doesn’t mean Skully isn’t going to make an appearance later on!) and that resulted in him being on the look out for any suspicious masks too.

His next post is him saying he’s nervous about the auditions that are the next day, and he that he knows he can’t try asking Alex to cancel the film because it would seem even more suspicious. (Alex is already very concerned because of the days of silence and the sudden “cosplay” that someone saw him in, but hasn’t said it outright)

After someone suggested it, he decided to try convincing Alex at the end to go with Tim and Brian to Applebee’s (and he ended up getting dragged along as well). He also complains because the auditions were set to go from 11 am to 7 pm, and he really didn’t want to leave the blog alone for so long when he had also just recently lost his memory. He goes, tries posting a little bit, but then Alex got curious and he had to stop.

The same person who suggested that, though, put emphasis on Jay’Bird’, making him concerned and suspicious because he hadn’t said anything about the changes (and he still hasn’t! He’s really nervous to say it in case the others see).

Marble Hornets auditions were March 30th, 2006. That was when he finally got contact with Tim and Brian, but his behavior was noticed by Alex and he’s been asked multiple times if he’s okay. They both know he’s not, but Jay hasn’t told anything to Alex. (Can you guess what tipped Alex off? Hint: it’s something that some trauma victims experience)

Later, the person who suggested taking Alex to Applebee’s explained they thought it was some nickname irony or something, which he said he understood. He also noted he forgot how fast some of you guys were at figuring things out or making theories/cracking codes. He also goes on to explain a little more about the changes his body has but stay away from anything bird related.

Someone asked why he was being so secretive with the other changes and notes that if it can be passed off as cosplay it shouldn’t be that big of a deal. His response is basically “have you even seen some of the cosplays out there???”. He goes on to say that even though cosplay wasn’t as big back then there were still some extremely large and complex ones out there, and basically gives away that the changes are large enough to be extremely noticeable and that the smaller ones probably weren’t actually noticed by the student who asked him.

Someone also asked if he was planning on telling the others, and he said that he wasn’t going to yet. He really doesn’t want to show anyone the phone and is hoping no one sees or notices the changes in appearance/behavior.

He also explains a little bit later about the changes and there are some that can come on command but none of them can be affected by him wanting them to go away (meaning, if they showed up around the others then he can’t force them to go away. He can make them appear at his will, though!)

When someone asks if he has something like bird wings, as a joke, he just says “No comment”. 

His next text-post just says “It’s so hot out here I feel like I’m dying oh my god

This is a really bad idea

I’m making a mistake”

After that, all the code is released and that’s pretty much everything that’s happened and been revealed so far.

Also, a note: remember that you guys all can affect how the story goes! There are some plot points that will happen no matter what, but it’s determine by when, how soon, and if it’s bad or not by you guys. If you’re confused, you’ll understand what I mean later on, don’t worry ;)

[starcrossed-sky]

4, 6, 7, & 15 for bladework

I APPRECIATE YOU LETTING ME BARF MY TLDR ABOUT MY FIC YOU DON’T READ. BEST MOIRAIL <>

4.What's your favorite line of dialogue?

God, there’s... a lot of them? 

For punch to the gut tier, Peony’s “You look like him,” all the way back in To Be a Sword is really high on my list. It’s well meaning but insensitive in just the right way, but then when you add in the levels of what’s actually going on... God, it hurts so good. Second would have to be Ion at the end of Forge Sparks, subtly lording over Sync the fact that Van needs him to undo the seals.

Honestly Ion is a lot of my favorite sources for dialogue. My favorite funny is something I have planned for him in Riposte, but out of everything that’s published? Best funny has to go to Jade’s letter to Peony constantly code-naming Asch (and by extension Luke) after their 100 gald debt. The juxtaposition of “horrible thing, but said so that it looks ridiculous at a passing glance” is so very Jade.

Also, let Ion say fuck.

6. What makes this fic special or different from all your other fics?

I’m successfully a longfic without any serious loss of drive? I genuinely think I’ll be able to finish it?

Bladework really feels like the fanfiction writer’s equivalent of a thesis project. All the things I’ve learned - not only about writing, but about how I write - are coming out, and it’s coming together really cohesively. I’m extremely proud of what I’ve done so far and hope to be able to maintain at least that quality to the end.

7. Where did the title come from?

“To Be a Sword” was always the working title of the first fic, complete with the “but sometimes, it can choose its wielder” aspect of the summary. That’s always been a big part of how I think about Asch - Van made him into a weapon. He’s sharp and brutal and efficient, but the parts of him that are made for directing himself are more than a little broken. He’s very highly motivated, but picking a direction is incredibly hard when he doesn’t have an obvious goal (like stopping Van). He also doesn’t have a lot of brakes.

“Bladework” as the name of the AU then spiralled out of that, and pretty much all the fics have either combat or forging related titles, mostly to do with swords. If you pay real close attention, there’s a subtler pattern in terms of whose POV gets what kind of title, but I’ll let you work that out for yourselves. :]

One final note: All of the titles are original except for tuck your chin, which is from the quote indicated in the summary. I’ve always felt a deep resonance with that particular line, but the Symphony of Ages in general plays quite a bit into how I play with fonons as sound magic. If you can stand romance-trope heavy fantasy (with a painfully heterosexual bent and a clear “I don’t care anymore but my publisher made me finish it” ending), it’s worth checking out.

15. What did you learn from writing this fic?

Well, it’s still an ongoing process, isn’t it? d:

The biggest things I’ve learned so far mostly have to do with my writing style:

-> Fuck any perspective that isn’t second person, honestly. I’ve scribbled a few bits of third and I have one first-person fic buried back in my WIP folder, but working on either of them is like pulling teeth. Second person, meanwhile, glides like silk out of my fingers, and I’m incredibly happy with what I churn out in it. And I do churn it out way faster than I have anything else except that time I wrote 25K of Owari no Seraph fic while having a mental breakdown.

-> Related to churning out fic - I’ve been really hard on myself to skip over or cut out a lot of the shit that I find boring, and it’s helped me immeasurably. For those of you who remember my first Abyss longfic, which is still sitting stalled out on my AO3 - this is exactly what killed it. If I ever go back to it, I honestly might start again from scratch using this strategy, because it’s just... painful, otherwise, to try to get through.

-> I need chunks. And I don’t mean chapters, I mean chunks. I need to be able to have the feeling of finishing something in order to sustain my speed, and regular chaptering just doesn’t cut it, at least right now. Thus why both the major fanfiction works I’ve done lately - Bladework and Obsidian Heart Mix - are in full-story formatted chunks even if they process more similarly to chapters. 

[ifuckekureto]

Headcanons

So I’ve been chatting with some people, and a few of them have asked about my headcanons… and tbh, I have reaaallllly in-depth headcanons about Kureto, Seishiro, and their mother. Like I could write a whole fic about it. But I don’t have the time or the patience haha. Therefore, I’m putting a summary of them under the readmore. It’s probably pretty disorganized, so I apologize in advance for that. Also, I reference some spoilers from the most recent chapter, so be warned!

I’ve tried to keep things canon-compliant, but a lot of these headcanons were developed before the most recent chapters so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ngl I feel like I’m doing Tenri a disservice here b/c I made him out to be a pretty terrible person, but maybe it’s really Shi-chan ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Let’s begin…

So I think on the ONS wiki, it says that Tenri had a lover that was executed, and this lover was presumably the mother of Kureto and Seishiro. Ngl, I have no idea where that came from (probably a fan book or something), so I don’t know the specifics of what was said, so this may stray into AU territory.

To start, in my headcanons (AU? I think I should say AU at this point), Mama Hiiragi is a woman from China. I gave her the name Minori (meaning “truth”) before I started thinking about her origins, and I realize Minori is a Japanese name and not a Chinese name, but I’m kind of attached to it at this point. I’ll work that out later. Maybe she changed her name when she came to Japan. But anyways, her mysterious origins play a big role in the AU. All Kureto and Seishiro know at first is that their mother was the daughter of the leader of a very important magic organization in China that fell into ruin after some experiments went wrong. They’re under the impression that Minori negotiated for a spot among the Hiiragi (which isn’t exactly true, more about that in the next paragraph) but they are aware that she holds an extremely tenuous position within the family.

I’m still developing this, but what Kureto and Seishiro do not know is that Minori is closely related to the experiments in China that went wrong. In fact, she was the one being experimented upon (voluntarily). Obviously, the Chinese and the Japanese have very different cultures, but Chinese religions/philosophies and spirituality did influence Japan throughout various times in history, so I imagine that their magic and talismans would be at least somewhat similar in the Owari no Seraph world. So with this being the case, the Chinese magic organizations would be pursuing the power of the cursed gear as well. Just like the Hiiragis seemed to be interesting in messing around with genetic experimentation, so was the organization Minori came from. They were able to successfully introduce demon material into her body, but they lost control of the experiment. This in addition to infighting within the organization left it vulnerable to be destroyed by other rival organizations in China. Since the Hiiragis had also been researching genetic engineering, Minori’s circumstances caught their interest, and they offered to help treat her in exchange for information about the experiments. Minori complied. 

In my headcanons, Tenri was actually not the head of the Hiiragi clan at this point in time. His father was still alive. I think Tenri was around 24 when Kureto was born, and I think the wiki said it was Tenri’s parents (or at least his family) that had his lover executed, so Grandpappy Hiiragi has to be around somewhere. Anyways, for Tenri to have 4 extremely attractive children, I think he would have to have been pretty attractive himself when he was young. And, well, probably a bit horny too  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. To secure her place in the family, Minori sort of latched herself on to Tenri. They didn’t necessarily have a deep care for one another, but uh-oh spaghettios, now Minori is pregnant with Kureto. This worries the elder Hiiragi and the leaders of the other noble clans (I will now refer to them altogether as the Elders) because she was not even being remotely considered for contributing to the Hiiragi progeny. But this also provides them a unique opportunity to see if a child with a strong affinity for the power of the demons can be created since Minori has been experimented on. During the pregnancy, Minori begins to understand just how unethical the Mikado no Oni are. And then Kureto is born. Tests on the infant show extremely promising results, though it is unclear if the child’s talents comes from the Minori’s experimental augmentation or Minori’s inherent proficiency with magic. The Elders decide to see just how much potential the infant has, and they subject him to horrific experiments that frequently involve excruciating pain to see if they can enhance the child’s strengths further. Minori at first objects, but it becomes clear that if the experimentation on little Kureto ceases, there will no longer be a reason for the Mikado no Oni to keep him alive. They would dispose of him.

The tests on Kureto yield good results, but not good enough. The reasons why the Mikado no Oni were trying to activate the Seraph of the End haven’t been made quite clear yet at the writing of this post, and to be perfectly honest, any speculations I might have about them would probably end up being wildly inaccurate. So I’m just going to leave it as a mystery for now. In my AU or whatever, the Mikado no Oni is trying to integrate demons into humans for the purpose of obtaining the Seraph of the End, but Kureto is simply not good enough for their needs, and he’s the only child they have to work with since all of their other experiments have failed miserably until this point. That is, until Mahiru is born. Many of the leading scientists in the organization were sure that the fetus wasn’t going to survive. The demons had driven her mother (one of their test subjects) insane. But Mahiru was a marvel of biology and magic as she had been genetically engineered as the Hiiragi family’s response to Kureto, down to the purple hair that she shared with her father in contrast to the dark hair of Kureto (yes, they really are that petty). The clan’s position on where Minori and Kureto stood was clear; they were outsiders to the Mikado no Oni.

But Minori pleaded for the life of her son, pointing out that with no precedents to be compared to, Mahiru was essentially an unpredictable bomb that could go off at any moment, and that it would be unwise to throw Kureto’s enormous potential away. After a long and heated discussion, the Elders decided to let Kureto live. However, they concluded that if Kureto could not outperform Mahiru, then their methods of producing children would be proved to be superior, and Minori would be dealt with since they had pretty much obtained all of the information they wanted from her. Of course, Tenri didn’t really care about whether or not Kureto’s life was spared. He was too busy plotting Mahiru’s role in the end of the world.

Well, maybe not too busy, because uh-oh spaghettios, Minori conceives another child with him. Although this pregnancy is more or less an accident, she hopes that this child will be powerful like Kureto to further prove her worth to the Hiiragi. Kureto is still a bit too young to fully understand the stakes (though in the ONS light novels, young children seem to possess an extremely high intelligence, but I’ll chalk that up to anime logic), but he is aware that something is wrong, especially when the preliminary testing of the unborn child does not produce good results. In fact, when the second child is born, only a handful of research staff is present because no one really cares. It’s clear that the second child has nowhere near the potential that his brother had. This child is Seishiro.

Realizing that this child does not have the inherent power Kureto does, Minori decides to shield him from as much of the experimentation as she can. She doesn’t want another child to go through what Kureto did. The Elders are more willing to let this slip by since Seishiro is fairly insignificant to them, especially since he couldn’t possibly be a contender for being the heir of the Hiiragi, and killing him would just be more trouble than he’s worth since they’re more focused on the competition between Kureto and Mahiru.

Time goes by, and although Seishiro is subjected to brutal training like his brother, the clan is still more concerned with Kureto and Mahiru. At this point, Kureto is now fully aware of what will happen if he fails. Not only does he train with instructors from the Mikado no Oni, but he also trains with his mother to learn more efficient techniques developed in China that involve crafting talismans and spells and the like. Minori is a brilliant woman, after all. (These times with his mother are perfect for fluff, like Minori encouraging Kureto to do this not for her sake, but for his own sake and stuff like that). But it’s still no match for Mahiru’s genius. Every day, Kureto works diligently to find some advantage he can have over Mahiru, sacrificing more and more and more of his own self for his vision of the Hiiragi clan’s future. It’s around this time in the AU that the Mikado no Oni were beginning to realize even the best plans they could develop to activate the Seraph of the End would result in Mahiru’s death. They needed to make another child like her to be the Hiiragi heir after she dies. Thus, work on creating the child that will be named Shinoa begins.

This is bad news for Minori, Kureto, and Seishiro. If Mikado no Oni can replicate their results with Mahiru without wasting too many resources (aka test subjects dying… yikes), then their position in the clan will once again be threatened. Kureto and Seishiro train even more vigorously for the next few months, but it’s no use. When the girl is born, preliminary testing produces findings that exceed the researchers’ wildest expectations. It’s so clear that the experiment was successful, disposing the child is not even considered, and she is given a name almost immediately. (The implication here is that the Hiiragis would not name the children born of these experiments until it was certain the infant had power and would survive.) This child is Shinoa.

In the months before Shinoa was born, Minori prepared a plan of escape with rebellious Mikado no Oni members whose daughters had been taken and killed in the organization’s experiments. It was a very simple plan that involved sneaking out of Japan in a small plane and flying to the USA. Illusion talismans could be used to great effect to slip in under the radar. In America, Minori could sell research information with one of the Western magic organizations there in exchange for shelter. Seeing as many of entities from Jewish/Christian religious traditions appear in Owari no Seraph (seraphs, Abaddon, etc.), I think Minori’s information would still be very appealing to magic organizations in America that would likely have a more Western magic foundation. (On a sidenote, I don’t know enough about Wicca to connect any elements of it to Owari no Seraph, but I imagine that in this world, it would have also influenced Western magic organizations.) The short-term plan would be to survive. The long-term plan would be to find a way to rebuild the Mikado no Oni from the bottom up. 

So after hearing that the child was named so quickly, Minori realizes just how dire the situation is and immediately fetches Kureto and Seishiro from the Hiiragi estate with the help of the other members mentioned earlier. They only make it to the airfield before Tenri and Mahiru stop them with a squad of soldiers. After a tense confrontation, Minori attacks Tenri in the hopes that Kureto and Seishiro can escape in the ensuing flurry of activity. But Mahiru is hot on their trail, and Seishiro only manages to defend himself for a few seconds before she incapacitates him with a few slashes of her sword. Kureto puts up more of a fight. Predicting that an all-out fight with Mahiru would be coming soon, Kureto had been deliberately using less than his full strength in practice matches to trick her (an example might be staggering after blocking an attack even though he was actually capable of quickly counterattacking). But she had been deceiving him as well. Just as he was about to deliver a fatal blow, she dodged and (this next sentence might be a bit gory, be warned) stabbed him clean through the stomach. Her sword cut even deeper into his flesh as his body slid off the blade and landed on the ground. He was going to die.

But Minori, seeing that Kureto had been mortally wounded, quickly casted a healing spell to save his life rather than using that precious second to block an incoming blow from Tenri. She was struck down violently to the ground. (This might get gory again. And warning for angst tropes haha. Rip.) Little Seishiro, lying on the ground covered in blood and bruises, reached out desperately to his mother in her final moments, and just as their fingers were about to touch, Tenri decapitated her in one swift motion. Extremely traumatized and bleeding heavily, both Kureto and Seishiro lose consciousness.

With Minori dead and the two brothers captured alive, Tenri returns to the Mikado no Oni, impressed with Kureto’s strategy. He might be a worthy adversary for Mahiru (and potential successor?) after all. The plan is to keep things status quo for now, though after Minori’s death, Seishiro becomes increasingly difficult to work with. An indefinite amount of time passes, and a problem emerges. Soon after Tenri begins using Shinoa as a hostage for Mahiru, Shinoa’s performances on tests administered to her drop dramatically, below even those of Kureto (but still above Seishiro’s). It’s unclear to most researchers what’s going on, but Tenri correctly suspects that Mahiru has somehow interfered with the demon within Shinoa. Now, Kureto is a better candidate for leading the Mikado no Oni after Mahiru’s death, so Tenri becomes more involved in overseeing Kureto’s progress, and Shinoa is cast off to side, not unlike Seishiro.

However, there is something in this AU that will become important later - Mahiru and Shinoa had a separate demon entity bound within them. But Kureto and Seishiro were born from someone who had demon material within them. Therefore, in a sense, Kureto and Seishiro are demons, but it is a latent power that neither of them become aware of for a very long time. But the stronger their own demon power is, the less compatible with demon contracts they are, meaning that the reason why Seishiro is not a candidate for black-level demon augmentation is because is own demon nature is too powerful. Of course, everyone (including himself) thinks it’s because he’s weak. But he’s actually one of the most powerful. As I stated before, this will become important later on in the AU.

Haha wow, that was a lot. Tbh, there’s still a lot more, but that’s a general summary of the pre-ONS stuff. I know Kureto and Seishiro are controversial characters, but I think my full AU does a good job of showing a different perspective of their actions without trivializing the horrible stuff they’ve done. I want to address their flaws, but I also want to see them overcome them. I hope that makes sense! Hopefully, I’ll get around to writing the next part soon… Yeah… I think there are 3 parts total to this AU. Rip. I really hope I can one day find the endurance to make this into a fic.

[trickstermelon]

hey so for the bnza au thing what are everyones quirks?(everyone you have figured out that is)

I’m glad you’re interested! So far I just have the Barians in class 1A

Durbe: Seraph- His wings are a mutation, but his real quirk is the ability to manipulate radiation into physical forces. It’s easiest for him to manipulate the visible light spectrum, but he can also perform x-rays with the right equipment, add or remove gamma radiation, and manipulate radio transmissions. Problem, his quirk is strongly influenced by his emotions. When his quirk first manifested, he nearly blinded himself. Sometimes when Durbe’s embarrassed he’ll accidentally glow. 

Nasch: Charmspeak- Along with being a shark morph, his voice can override one’s frontal lobe and compel others to do as he commands. He must maintain eye contact and cannot override base instincts or morals– basically whoever he’s controlling must be already somewhat open to suggestion for him to take full control. Nasch uses his serrated teeth and gills more than his actual quirk half the time because it saves hassle. 

Rio: Below Zero- She can absorb heat from her surroundings in a 30 foot radius, dramatically dropping the temperature. While she can stand much higher body temperatures than normal people, if she strains too far past her limit she will pass out and could die. Rio’s quirk makes her extremely sensitive to hot weather. Most of her clothing is thermally regulated so that she can safely increase her abilities.

Vector: Triple threat- Can steal up to 3 quirks at a time for an hour each starting at the moment of contact. His quirk requires an extreme knowledge of how others tick– while some borrowed abilities mesh perfectly, those that are violently incompatible can mutate into something self-destructive or uncontrollable. Luckily for Vector, his family has a monopoly on the complete quirk database. He loves to steal Durbe’s wing mutation to the point Durbe gets a little concerned if Vector’s not trying to touch him every hour. 

Alit: Purrfectly Calm- He can produce a deep rumble in his chest that can put people to sleep, sedate them or disorient depending on the pitch. While his quirk is great for de-escalating situations, his offense lies in his fighting prowess. Alit has no strength modification, he just really loves to fight and works twice as hard for his muscles. His lion claws and teeth do help in close quarters. Girag likes to joke about the cat naps Alit needs to recharge.

Misael: Live Ink- Basically what it sounds like. He can manipulate ink to do basically whatever he wants it to– however, animating it takes a bit of life force and permanent connection. The more he controls the same ink, the more it grows a mind of its own that takes concentration to reign in. The tattoos covering his body are all but sentient. He likes to keep his stock small as possible. While it’s feasible he could control a whole factories worth of ink, to do so would cut his lifespan dramatically. The tattoos have been transferred down his family line for generations. Misael literally carries the spirit of his ancestors beneath his skin. 

Girag: Language Barrier- He can understand and speak the language of whatever he’s touching. People, animals, trees, you name it. So long as it’s sentient and has a language, he can learn it. He can only know one at a time though– if he wanted to speak Japanese after touching a dog, he’d have to touch a person or he’d be barking all day. While he’s naturally huge, like Alit Girag has to work for his strength. 

While the Arclights are also in class 1A, class 1B consists of the Numbers Hunters Club, Tenjos, and Astral twins. There’s an extremely passionate competitive streak between the two that’s resulted in both friendships and rivalries as they race to be #1.