#so if he were reincarnated and ''brought up correctly'' he might be better for his loved ones

[eerna]

also while I don't mind Yato dying, I absolutely Do Not Want him to reincarnate. either he lives as he is, or he is gone forever. no inbetweens.

[robininthelabyrinth]

All this trans!Nie Mingjue really makes me want some trans!Jiang Cheng, and if you want too, maybe him ending out pregnant instead of his core being melted, because if I remember correctly Wen Zhuli was honorable, so if Jiāng Cheng did get raped by one of his subordinates, I feel he’d try too limit Jiang Cheng’s suffering.

“It’s not that I’m especially opposed to an alliance by marriage, but who were you planning on having marry in?” Nie Mingjue asked Jiang Fengmian and Madame Yu politely.

They blinked at him.

“I think,” Madame Yu said dryly, after a few minutes, “that we were planning on A-Cheng marrying in. Women usually do.”

“But your son isn’t a woman,” Nie Mingjue said, which he thought was quite reasonable.

“I don’t have a son,” Jiang Fengmian said. “Only two daughters.”

Nie Mingjue frowned. “You have an older daughter and a younger son. Hasn’t he told you?”

“Ah, you mean – by Qinghe standards,” Jiang Fengmian said. He sounded uncomfortable with the idea, which made Nie Mingjue’s eyes narrow and Jiang Fengmian immediately drop the notion of saying something more along those lines. After all, Nie Mingjue himself was a man ‘by Qinghe standards’, as the other sect leader put it, and starting trouble with Qinghe wasn’t on the agenda for today. “Sect Leader Nie, I appreciate your concern, but my daughter –”

“Son.”

“My daughter is a woman. We don’t practice Qinghe ways here.”

“It doesn’t really matter what you practice in the Lotus Pier,” Nie Mingjue said. He was wearing his best pleasant smile, which most people said looked like he was about to start chopping people into pieces. It was, at the moment, a fair description. “From my perspective, with my Qinghe ways, you have a son, who is a man. However you wish to treat him or raise him is up to you, of course, and I’m still willing to arrange a marriage between him and Huaisang, to be maintained or cancelled at their will when they’re older, including a marriage in which Jiang Cheng marries into the Unclean Realm. But what I will not tolerate is Huaisang getting confused by being told on one hand that he has a wife and the other a husband. He’s very fragile after our father’s death; I’m sure you understand.”

Jiang Fengmian, who’d been about to protest, shut his mouth, his desire for Nie Mingjue not to bring up, yet again, the fact of his father’s murder at the hands of Wen Ruohan – a murder that would need to be answered for, one day – outweighing his desire to argue back.

It was a petty move, but Nie Mingjue was aware that he had very few cards to play against the older and more influential man, and that meant he had to use them all no matter how petty to get what he wanted.

Mostly, in this case, for Jiang Cheng to be treated the way he so obviously identified. The damage that could be done by people who didn’t understand this sort of thing was incalculable – it was worth sticking his nose into another family’s business, no matter how rude, to try to make a difference if he could.

There were long few minutes of silence, in which Nie Mingjue stood his (tenuous) ground and Jiang Fengmian considered possible responses that would result in even more awkwardness.

Just at the point that it was getting intolerable, Madame Yu snorted, a surprisingly inelegant sound for such a refined woman.

“Let him be a son and a husband, then,” she said, her voice a little waspish. “If he changes his mind later, he can resume being a daughter, and there will be no loss.”

It wasn’t exactly how Nie Mingjue had intended on settling Nie Huaisang’s marriage, but it seemed a worthwhile conclusion, even if Jiang Fengmian was clearly not entirely on board.

“Very well,” he said. “Are we agreed?”

The marriage was unofficially dissolved when the boys were twelve, if by ‘dissolved’ one meant that the entire Jiang sect had entirely forgotten that their young master had ever been a young mistress, even Jiang Fengmian. A casual comment to Madame Yu that she ought to consider finding someone to marry in to their sect so that the heir could be officially confirmed, rather than wasting him on a cutsleeve marriage out, was more than enough for the entire concept to be permanently misplaced.  

(Not that he thought they would make a bad pair, but if that was the case they could always figure it out for themselves later on.)

As far as Nie Mingjue was concerned, that was the end of it.

And yet, years later, it was at Nie Mingjue’s tent in Heijan that Jiang Cheng came, a twisted expression on his face.

“I have a problem,” he said, and touched his stomach lightly in a place a little too far down to suggest a stomachache. “I don’t know what to do about it, and – when I was younger, Huaisang said – well. I thought you might have some insight.”

Nie Mingjue let Jiang Cheng into the tent and put up a silencing array behind him, the sort used to protect news delivered by the most important spies.

“I’m not sure what you want me to tell you,” he said honestly. “It’s not a problem I’ve encountered on a personal basis, if you understand my meaning. Do you want to keep it or not?”

Jiang Cheng settled down where Nie Mingjue led him, still grimacing. “I don’t know,” he said. “The idea of bearing a child for any one of them disgusts me beyond telling. But on the other hand, what did the child have to do with it? It seems unfair not to give it a chance to live.”

“It’s not a child yet,” Nie Mingjue pointed out. He could do math, and the fall of the Lotus Pier wasn’t that long ago. “There’s no way that it’s quickened this soon after. Right now, it’s a problem that can be eliminated with a bowl of medicine, if that’s what you want.”

“I know,” Jiang Cheng said. “I’m considering it. It’s only…on one hand, even if it’s not a child yet, it could be a child, if I let it. A Jiang child, with me as its father, and obviously my Jiang sect could use as many new members as possible, no matter what the other half of their biological origin. But on the other hand – wouldn’t it be irresponsible to carry a child now? I’m leading the Jiang sect’s efforts against the Wens, trying to avenge what they did to me, to my parents, to my sect, and a child would be a distraction from that…and Wei Wuxian, who might have helped me out, is still missing.”

Nie Mingjue didn’t comment on Wei Wuxian, even though he itched, as he often did, to remind Jiang Cheng that no matter how atrociously Jiang Fengmian had behaved – and no matter what the condition of his birth had been, legitimate and incorrectly categorized – he was the son and heir of the Jiang clan.

Not the child Jiang Fengmian had brought in and treated as if he’d been the son he’d never had.

(Really, Nie Mingjue didn’t understand places like Yunmeng. What was the point of not recognizing misaligned reincarnations like theirs? It wouldn’t make it any less true.)

“Depending on the way it affects you, you could be out in the fields for months still,” he said reasonably. “Certainly plenty of mothers in Qinghe don’t go into isolation until there’s only a few weeks left. And even if you aren’t, I can take charge on the battlefield while you consult on strategy from the backend, the same way you would if you’d been taken out of the field because of an injury – Lan Xichen is doing much the same thing, when he’s not acting as courier, and he’s doing it because he’s a terrible general rather than any logistical reason.”

“But it’s not an injury.”

Nie Mingjue frowned at him. “You’re making it very difficult to resist making some sort of pun about the Wen sect’s swords, Sect Leader Jiang, and I don’t even like that sort of crude humor.”

Jiang Cheng took a second to get it, then snorted. “I supposed you could say I got ‘stabbed’ a few times, yes.”

“Only a few times? They really are worthless dogs.”

And now Jiang Cheng was laughing, even though he was trying to stop himself. “That’s terrible, stop it…you know, I suppose, if you look at it from a certain perspective, I really am just suffering from – from post-stabbing complications.”

“Seems reasonable enough to me.” Nie Mingjue poured Jiang Cheng a cup of the tea that had already been cooling on his desk – a little rude, but better than wasting time making a new pot. “If you do decide to keep it, you can leave the child with Nie Huaisang once it’s born, if you like. He’s always liked children, and it’s not as if I’m going to let him get anywhere near a battlefield, now or ever.”

“Are you sure he’s not a woman?” Jiang Cheng asked. He sounded almost wistful, which suggested that the arranged marriage they’d set up so many years ago might even have a chance of resurrecting; Nie Mingjue would have to slip Nie Huaisang a hint. “With the fans and the birds and the pretty things –”

“He says he isn’t, and so he isn’t,” Nie Mingjue said with a sigh. “I admit it’d make it easier if he was. No one outside of Qinghe would question his below-average talent or his love of frivolities if he was a woman, however unfair that might be, and it’d make things easier for him.”

“You’d still yell at him to practice his saber.”

“Of course. What does saber have to do with gender?”

Jiang Cheng smiled and shook his head. “Thank you,” he said. “I still haven’t decided one way or another, but…it’s good to know there’s a way to do it, if I want, that doesn’t mean that – I’m not as brave as you. I don’t want people to know.”

“It’s not a matter of bravery,” Nie Mingjue said. “It’s common etiquette. Anyone who spends time thinking about another person’s genitals that isn’t planning on courting them is wasting their time.”

Jiang Cheng snickered. “No, I mean – people know about you, that you’re misaligned. You’ve never been shy about it.”

Nie Mingjue was pretty sure Jiang Cheng was thinking about the incident during a discussion conference some years back when he’d been shouting at Jin Guangshan over something or another – loud enough to be audible across half the city, it seemed, based on the number of people who talked about it afterwards – and ended the rant by telling the other sect leader to suck his non-existent dick.

“I’m not really a shy person,” he said dryly, and Jiang Cheng pressed his lips together in an evident attempt to avoid descending into giggles – he’s definitely thinking about the suck-my-dick comment. “Also, Qinghe is a bit more open about these things; it makes it easier, not having to explain exactly what it means or doesn’t mean. Don’t be too hard yourself.”

Jiang Cheng didn’t seem convinced, but nodded anyway.

“It’s not just that,” he said, though obviously it was, in some large part, that. Jiang Cheng’s complicated relationship with Wei Wuxian was proof of it, if nothing else. “It’s also – people can do math. I don’t want people thinking I’m weak, or a pushover.”

“No one who has seen you wield Zidian is likely to make that mistake,” Nie Mingjue said, but he could tell from the set of Jiang Cheng’s shoulders that that wasn’t enough. “It isn’t weakness, you know. Anyone can be captured, anyone can be tortured – some people will have to live without a leg or an arm, after what they suffered, and that’s the lucky ones that didn’t die. That’s all it ever is in war – just luck, good or bad. If I walked into a Wen ambush next week, I’d be as liable to complications from a Wen ‘stab’ as you, but it wouldn’t be because my strength wasn’t enough.”

“I guess,” Jiang Cheng said. “It’s just – if I kept the child, people would have to know, wouldn’t they?”

“Says who? If you retire from the battlefield due to complications from an injury for a few months, then the assumption will be that you found out that you got some poor girl pregnant and took on the child once you knew. If you do want people to know that you carried it, well, children come and go at their own speed.” Nie Mingjue shrugged. “Let some gossip overhear you talking about how you were already carrying the Lotus Pier’s next heir before any Wen set a foot on Yunmeng soil, and everyone will put together the rest. You know how it goes.”

“I suppose I do, at that.”

“Huaisang could probably put together a convincing story,” Nie Mingjue said. “He’s really very good at identifying every possible point in time and place where someone could be having sex, even if the actual personalities involved make it highly unlikely. And then he illustrates it, usually.”

Jiang Cheng was smiling, and his shoulders were straight again – his burdens lifted, however temporarily.

Good.

“Let me know what you decide,” Nie Mingjue said. “I know just enough about medicine to be able to mix you up what you need using just the medicine I already keep in my general collection, so no one would need to know, if that’s what you choose. And if you choose the other way, well, I have the medicines to help support that, too.”

“You keep that much medicine?”

“I’m not sure if you’ve heard about the tendency of the Qinghe Nie towards qi deviations –” Of course he had. Everyone had. “– but we have a habit of keeping an awful lot of medicine on hand.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Jiang Cheng said, and he was frowning a little, thoughtful, but not as stressed as he’d been earlier. “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it,” Nie Mingjue said. “Really, don’t. If I let it get out that I give advice, every misaligned sonofabitch that wants to get a promotion will start showing up at my door with problems that are really just an excuse to get a chat in with the sect leader, and then where will my troubles end?”

Jiang Cheng, who was dealing with similar problems, smirked. “That doesn’t seem like my problem. At least people know better than to ask anything of me.”

“That can change,” Nie Mingjue said threateningly. “I’ll get Huaisang on it; see what happens to your reputation then.”

Jiang Cheng held up his hands in surrender as he retreated.

Nie Mingjue wondered for a moment which way he’d pick, but then remembered that it wasn’t his business and also that there was a war on that needed his attention a bit more.

Personal problems could wait.

[alison-anonymous]

I Want to Write a Mikayuu Series

Okay.

So um.

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

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

One that's inspired by Seraph of the End.

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

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

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

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

This would begin my first story arc: the prewar.

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

And Mika and Akane DIE.

I know. I'm horrid.

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

Now we hit the second arc. Still with me?

The War.

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

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

Now, catch no. 2

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

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

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

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

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

Yes.

You read that right.

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

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

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

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

Suspicious bastard.

Anyway, it's revealed finally that MIKA IS ALIVE

BUT HE'S ALSO DEAD

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

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

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

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

I would go crazy too.

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

And this causes her demon to go haywire.

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

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

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

Okay. I'm just gonna say it.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Horray.

Epic is dead.

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

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

The Post-War.

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

No it's not over yet.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So. Yeah.

That's Bloodsucker...

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

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

Would anyone read it?

♡ a.a.

[catflowerqueen]

Hidden In Plain Sight

Don’t expect any fast updates on this (or any of my other stories, really), because classes restart for me today, and I already spent a lot longer working on this than I really should have at the moment, considering that I still have some paperwork I really need to do, which I probably should have done a few days ago, but... please enjoy another part of my “What if...?” series.

Summary:  Wherein Uxie takes his role as the Being of Knowledge the slightest bit more seriously, and an offer to help Laura with her amnesia leads to the Wigglytuff Guild taking temporary custody of the Time Gear of Fogbound Lake. Grovyle is not amused. Also, Chatot contemplates the merits of establishing better intraguild communications, or, at the very least, instituting a minimum age for admittance into the Wigglytuff Guild.

Hidden in Plain Sight

Chapter One:           

   “I shall not take away your memories of this place. You have earned my trust. But I must ask that you keep this place a secret,” Uxie declared, to the relief of the Wigglytuff Guild whose members gathered by the lakeshore, drinking in its stunning sights. Sure, after seeing what exactly the treasure of Fogbound Lake was they all completely understood why the Being of Knowledge resorted to such extreme measures in the first place in order to protect it, and in the back of their minds they had already resigned themselves to losing some of their memories in order to help protect the Time Gear… but the sight of the lake before them really was beautiful, and it would have been a shame to lose such precious memories. But just before Guildmaster Wigglytuff was about to open his mouth to give his assurances that his guild would keep their silence, as well as to give thanks to Uxie for his generosity, the Being of Knowledge spoke again.

                “Speaking of memories, however… I do believe we have some unfinished memories in regards to yours, Laura,” he said, surprising everyone present, if not for quite the same reasons.

                “Huh? But I thought that you said you didn’t know anything about what caused her memory loss?” Paula asked.

                “That is true,” Uxie confirmed, completely ignoring everyone else’s confusion and sudden intakes of shock over this bit of knowledge about their friend. “But as I was about to say before the rest of your fellow guildmates appeared… while I have, lately, been more focused on erasing memories, it is also possible for me to help people regain them as well.” Upon seeing the dual hopeful looks that started to spring up on Team Rainbow’s faces, he hastened to add, “It is not always foolproof, as memories and the mind are complex things. Depending on the actual cause of your friend’s amnesia, it may not be possible for me to do much. Laura’s unique circumstances in regards to her species might also complicate things.”

                “That’s perfectly all right!” Paula exclaimed. “Any little bit would be a big help. Right, Laura?”

                But before the treecko had the chance to give her opinion, Loudred interjected, loudly demanding “WHOA, WHOA, WHOA! Just… HOLD ON there for a second. What… what are you TALKING about? Laura has AMNESIA? Since WHEN?”

                Laura blinked at this before cringing a bit and blushing upon realizing that she’d never actually shared this piece of information with any of the other guildmembers. “Um… Ever since I met Paula,” she confessed.

                “Yeah,” Paula gave a nervous chuckle, sheepishly rubbing her neck, “that’s actually why she agreed to form an exploration team with me in the first place—I thought that since the Wigglytuff Guild was so well known and had so many resources, you might be able to help her figure out her past.”

                “…And the reason you never informed us of this so that we could, actually try and help you with this is because…?” Chatot asked, his eye developing a mild twitch at the fact that, first of all, this pair of recruits had neglected to inform anyone of the serious issues that were plaguing Laura, and, secondly, that this neglect occurred in spite of the hope for help being one of their main goals for joining in the first place.

                “I mean… we were really busy settling in those first few days… and then there was that whole thing with Azurill… and then by that point it just felt kind of… awkward, I guess?” Paula shrugged, a blush rising to her face as well.

                “Especially since you didn’t seem to know much about the other issue I had, when I asked,” Laura added quietly.

                “What ‘other issue?’” Diglett asked.

                “Indeed, what could be a more pressing issue than the fact that you have amnesia?” his father inquired.

                Wigglytuff, meanwhile, who was just as surprised as everyone else by this turn of events but was trying to be a bit more rational, for once—as he realized that this explained a lot about some of the more concerning things he’d noticed about his precious apprentice, and was trying to do some preliminary planning on what he could do to help her once they got back home, especially if Uxie wasn’t able to help her retrieve any of her memories—suddenly recalled a conversation the guild had participated in shortly after Team Rainbow’s first major exploration. “Oh! Does it have something to do with humans?” he asked.

                That jogged Chatot’s memories, which he had been searching through in an attempt to recall any questions Laura had asked him recently that he hadn’t been able to answer that seemed particularly strange or out of the ordinary at the time. “Ah, yes!” he exclaimed. “Thank you for the reminder, Guildmaster! If I recall correctly… you and Paula were curious about their stories, yes? Specifically, if there were any about humans who were turned into—” he cut the thought off as something suddenly clicked, and then he sputtered, “SQUAWK! Wh-what?! You can’t be serious! Are you… are you seriously trying to imply that Laura, our Laura who is obviously a treecko, at one point used to be a human?!”

                “WHAT?!” the remaining guildmembers, sans Paula, Laura, and Wigglytuff, screamed. “YOU USED TO BE HUMAN?!”

                Laura rubbed her arm nervously as she gave a quiet affirmation.

                This just shocked everyone even more. “But… how is that POSSIBLE?!” Loudred demanded. But then he, too, recalled that conversation and remembered something that Croagunk had brought up during it in regards to legends about humans. “Unless… did Laura maybe PULL on a ninetales’ TAIL?”

                “Oh my gosh, Loudred, how could you even think something like that?” Sunflora demanded, sounding affronted on her friend’s behalf. “No way would Laura do something that cruel!”

                “But how would we even KNOW?” Loudred asked, his face becoming pinched as he actually stopped for a moment to contemplate the possibility. He suddenly turned his gaze towards Laura, and she cringed under the scrutiny. “If you REALLY don’t remember anything about your past, then for all we, OR you, know… maybe you actually WERE a really mean person!”

                Sunflora and Chimecho gasped in shock at his audacity, and Paula’s expression became enraged. But before she had the chance to lay into him, Dugtrio barked out “Loudred! That is crossing a line! Apologize to Laura at once!”

                “I—” Loudred looked around at the disappointed faces of his fellow apprentices and superiors, cringing when he saw the unhappy frown on Wigglytuff’s face, and then cringing even harder when he saw that Laura had withdrawn even further into herself than usual and was clutching her arm tightly in a trembling grip. “I—that’s—ugh… You’re RIGHT. That was WAY out line… I’m really, REALLY sorry, Laura.”

                “Well, whether she had the capacity for that sort of thing or not, we can definitely confirm—without even having to look into her memories, actually—that Laura was not the human in that particular legend,” Uxie suddenly piped up, making many of the assembled jump slightly in surprise, as they had momentarily forgotten his presence. He seemed rather amused by the whole situation, really. “Despite there being many iterations of that particular legend, all of them do share the same detail in common: the human was to be reborn as a pokémon. This implies that after spending an entire life as a human, they would then die and reincarnate—and it is this reincarnation which would be a pokémon. In Laura’s case, however, she was born a human and then changed into a pokémon during this lifetime. Therefore, she does not fit the requirements set by this specific legend,” he explained. Sunflora crossed her leaves and raised a brow at Loudred in an “I-told-you-so” sort of way, and he shrunk back under the scrutiny.

 “Furthermore,” Uxie added, “it’s my experience that when memory loss is involved, it typically does not result in drastic personality changes. Therefore, if your friend’s current attitude and demeanor indicates that she is incapable of that sort of cruelty, then it is highly likely that this held true in the past as well. If there was some sort of major personality difference, then it indicates a much larger problem.” He then gave everyone a moment to absorb that information, taking special of note of Laura and ensuring that she was able to regain a bit of her confidence before he switched back to the actual matter at hand. “In any case… as I was trying to explain, the fact that your natural species is a human might complicate things in regards to how much help I can ultimately give you. Though, that is not so much because you were a human, but more because it is unclear what caused you to switch species in the first place.”

                Laura gave a slow, thoughtful nod. It made perfect sense… though it also made her a little nervous. What if he couldn’t restore all of her memories? It would be one thing if he just couldn’t help at all—a bit disappointing, maybe, but it would ultimately leave her no worse off than she already was—but given how maddening it was to be in this place, and to have these vague feelings of familiarity with no clear explanation as for why… if a partial recall led to such scenarios becoming even more common, then she thought that might actually be worse. But at the same time… it really did bother her that she couldn’t remember anything about her past, even if she didn’t express those sentiments too often. Or at all, really, since no one else outside of Paula had any clue there was even an issue until today.

                Wigglytuff noticed her nervousness. “It’s okay if you don’t want to do this, Laura,” he told her, moving to be closer to her. He placed his hands on her shoulders, and looked directly into her eyes. “Whether you get your memories back or not, you’re still our friendly-friend, and we’ll always do our best to support you,” he assured her, giving her shoulders a comforting squeeze.

                “Yes,” Uxie agreed. “It is entirely your decision whether you want me to try and use my powers or not; memories are intensely personal things, and the process would still be rather invasive, even though I would be trying to help you regain your memories, rather than take them away. Also: even if you do decide that you would rather forgo my help at the moment… that doesn’t mean you can’t change your mind and return at a later date.”

                Laura took a moment to think it over. “I think…” she paused, taking in everyone’s encouraging faces. Then she took in a deep breath to steady herself, and declared, “I think I do want you to try. Even if it turns out that you can’t help much… I think I would regret it if I didn’t at least make the attempt.”

                Uxie nodded. “Very well. In that case, I suggest that you sit down—the process shouldn’t hurt, but it might leave you a bit dizzy, or disoriented.”

                Laura nodded, and Wigglytuff pulled her into a brief hug before he helped her settle on the ground. Uxie floated over and placed his hands on her temples. “Close your eyes,” he instructed her. Once she complied, he continued, “I will begin on the count of three. One… two… three.”

                At that, his eyes, though still shut, began to glow slightly, and Laura’s expression became a little pinched. But neither of them made a sound. The members of the Wigglytuff Guild waited with baited breath, but as the minutes ticked by with nothing happening, they began getting a bit restless. Before anyone could say something to break the silence, however, Uxie gave a small “Hm,” and lifted his hands from Laura’s head. Laura, in turn, scrunched her face up even more before relaxing and blinking her eyes open, her expression a bit dazed.

                “So… did it work?” Corphish asked, looking between the two of them. The other apprentices were eager to know as well… but their hearts sank when Laura frowned and gave a disappointed shake of her head.

                “Unfortunately, I was unable to uncover any concrete memories,” Uxie informed the crowd. Their hearts sank even more, and they tried to prepare themselves to give him thanks for trying, or to comfort Laura over the failure, but before they could, Uxie said something else which brought a bit of hope back. “However, that in itself, Laura, gives me some clues to your past.”

                “R-Really? That’s great! Paula exclaimed. “What does it tell you?”

                “First, I should explain a bit what I look for when I delve into someone’s mind,” Uxie said, settling down on the ground himself so that he would be more comfortable while he explained. He waited for everyone else to follow suit before continuing, ”When I delve into someone’s mind to manipulate their memories, I typically don’t do so with intent to pry—even when my goal is to erase memories of Fogbound Lake, I try not to look beyond the surface level since, frankly, it isn’t any of my business. So, what I do instead is to search for certain impressions which I either draw closer to the surface to make them easier to look at, or push farther back into the subconscious, rendering them nearly inaccessible. In truth… when I erase someone’s memories, I typically don’t actually remove them so much as I simply push the contents down deep within their minds,” he admitted. “After all, it is far more likely that people would become suspicious and attempt to come back and search the area if there was actually a chunk of their memories missing, rather than if they still retained some memory of an exploration, but no memories of actually reaching Fogbound Lake.”

                “I see! So, then they would assume that they really had searched everywhere, but just hadn’t been able to find anything, right?” Chimecho guessed.

                “Correct,” Uxie affirmed, a proud grin on his face. “And this is typically the case with amnesiacs as well—it isn’t that their memories are gone, it’s just that they are inaccessible for some reason. Typically, what I would see in these instances is a sort of… fog, almost.” He paused here, considering something, and then gave an amused shake of the head. “It’s actually a little like Fogbound Lake, in a way—the mental fog obscures the paths that one would typically use to find and access their memories, much like the fog here obscures access to the path one needs to take in order to reach the Time Gear. So what I do in this sort of situation is to, essentially, clear away the fog of one’s mind.”

                “But if you couldn’t do that this time, then what does it mean for Laura?” Paula asked, glancing between Uxie and her partner—who actually seemed more interested in the explanation on the mechanics of memory retrieval than disappointed that it hadn’t worked for her.

                “In Laura’s case… there really isn’t any fog to sift through,” Uxie shrugged. “There is a little bit, yes, and some dim impressions and recollections—which is likely why you felt this place was familiar to you—but for the most part… the area of your mind where memories are stored is just… blank. As if it was empty, or locked behind some sort of impenetrable door.”

              “If that’s the case, then… hey, hey! How does that give you any clues to hercpast?” Corphish wondered.

                “Ah, because you see… this is not the first time I have come across such a condition in humans.”

                Paula frowned. “But… hold on a minute. Uxie, didn’t you say that humans had never come to the lake before? If that’s the case, then how…?”

                “I see your confusion, but while it is true that humans have never come here, that doesn’t mean I’ve never met any—it simply means that in order to interact with the ones I know of, it meant that I had to leave my lake for a while. I actually used to visit with a group of them fairly regularly, but something changed roughly a millennia ago and I haven’t really gone out much since.” Uxie paused here with a sigh, sounding almost nostalgic. But then he shook his head, continuing, “Ah… in any case, this particular condition is rather rare, and is typically found only in one specific… subset, shall we say.”

                “OH! I get it NOW! So you’re saying that since Laura has the condition too… then it means SHE’S probably part of that subset!” Loudred exclaimed, feeling pleased with himself for putting all that together when Uxie nodded.

                “Exactly right. Mind you, this is only a guess at this point—circumstances being what they are at the moment, and especially with the transformation, I cannot say for sure… but the probability is high.”

                “So… what are these people like?” Laura finally piped up and asked. “If you’re right, and I was one of them… what does that mean for me?”

                Uxie turned back to her, and she blinked upon seeing a bit more warmth in his expression than had been there previously. It wasn’t as though he’d looked unfriendly or mean or anything, but his expression before sifting through her mind had been more placid, full of a more neutral sort of geniality.

 “Well,” he began, “I suppose that the most important thing would probably be—”

 But he abruptly cut himself off, tilting his head in consideration and looking between her and the lake. “Hm… Now there’s and interesting idea… and since I’m the one doing it, it shouldn’t have any negative effects…” he mumbled before turning to the group as a whole. “Please wait here for a moment,” he requested.

 Everyone was confused at the abrupt topic change, but readily complied. They watched as Uxie swiftly flew over towards the middle of the lake until he was right above the Time Gear… and then their jaws dropped in complete and utter shock when he suddenly ducked down beneath the water and re-emerged with the Time Gear in his arms. The light dimmed around the Time Gear’s holding place, and they all looked around wildly, fearful of time stopping around them… but nothing else happened.

 “There is no need for alarm,” Uxie told them as he flew back to the shore, easily detecting their panic and immediately guessing its source. “I am the guardian of this particular Time Gear, so the area shouldn’t experience any negative effects of time stopping so long as it is in my possession.” Everyone gave a sigh of relief, and they watched curiously as he came to a stop before Laura. “That being said, however… would the Wigglytuff Guild mind doing a favor for me?”

 Wigglytuff tilted his head, “A favor? Sure! We’d be glad to help you, friendly-friend! And it would only be right after all you’ve done to help us!”

 “Good. Then… would you please hold on to this Time Gear for me?” he asked, offering the precious treasure to the treecko in front of him. Her eyes—along with everyone else’s, honestly—widened in shock and she quickly backed up, holding her hands out as if to ward him away… even as a tiny part of her screamed out that she should take it from him, now, right now, she needed it…!

 But she didn’t betray any of these inner thoughts, instead offering a breathless “Wh-what?!”

 This exclamation was echoed by a much louder “WHAT?!” from Chatot. “F-Far be it for our humble guild to question your judgement, Uxie, but why in the world would you ask us such a thing?! For us to take this Time Gear, when another has already been stolen—!”

 “Yes… but that very threat is why I wish you to take it with you, and protect it at your guild.” That cut the panicking off short, and Uxie further explained, “The Time Gear that has already been stolen, it is the one from Treeshroud Forest. Unlike the Time Gear here at Fogbound Lake, or the one in Limestone Cavern which your esteemed guildmaster has seen,” at this everyone jolted and looked to Wigglytuff in surprise—both at the fact that he’d apparently seen a Time Gear before this one and because Uxie apparently knew about it, “that particular location has no secondary defenses. There is no puzzle to solve, or guardian to best. There is only the dungeon itself, which, while perhaps a little larger than most others, is just as ordinary at it appears to be. In that sense, one could say that its best defense was the fact that the Time Gear was, essentially, hidden in plain sight.”

 “I see, I see… and because it is so ordinary and plain-seeming, no one would think it hid such an important treasure. As a consequence, no one would go looking for one,” Dugtrio nodded, thinking the reasoning through.

 Paula frowned. “In that case… isn’t it possible that the thief just didn’t realize it was a Time Gear? I mean, I didn’t know what Time Gears looked like until you told us about this one, Uxie, so if they just thought it was some other sort of treasure… then maybe everyone is worrying over nothing? I mean… the fact that it’s gone is still really bad, but if it was just an accident, maybe we don’t need to worry about any others being taken.”

 “I wouldn’t count on it, meh heh heh,” Croagunk shook his head. “Even if they did initially take it without realizing what it was, the fact that time stopped after it was removed would have been a big tip-off that something was wrong.”

 “Oh, yeah, good point.”

 “Indeed,” Uxie concurred. “That leads me to believe that someone stole it deliberately. And the fact that they even knew to check Treeshroud Forest in the first place…”

 “…Means that it’s possible they might look for others as well… and that they may already know where some are located,” Wigglytuff finished for him, his face grim.

 “Exactly. Which is why, if the thief does already have information on the other Time Gear locations… by moving one of them to a completely different area, it would hopefully throw them off the trail. Or, at the very least, give us more time to try and stop them,” Uxie reasoned.

 “Okay, I reckon I can understand that,” Bidoof said, “but why choose our guild, then? We get tons of pokémon coming in and out every day… wouldn’t that just make it more likely for someone to find out about it?”

 “…No,” Laura said quietly, the reasoning dawning on her. “Because they wouldn’t expect that we had it… right? Our reputation would protect us… and also the Time Gear… because it would hidden in plain sight, just like the one in Treeshroud Forest. Right?”

 Uxie smiled at her cleverness. “Indeed, and that very reputation is one of the reasons why I know I could trust you with this task. Your renown and notoriety are such that even I, who spends much of my time alone, have heard of it… and added to that, another guardian has already proved that your leader, Guildmaster Wigglytuff, is trustworthy.”

 “Oh, oh? You heard from Ditto?” Wigglytuff asked, growing excited at the thought of his old friend.

 Uxie nodded, this time fondly as he recalled the younger pokémon. “Yes. Ditto is probably the most… proactive of the guardians, seconded only by my brother, Azelf, and he always lets us know whenever someone seems to be extremely persistent in regards to finding the ‘treasure’ of Limestone Cavern… or, in your case, when someone actually manages to figure out the secret in its entirety.”

 “So, um… what’s the other reason?” Chimecho asked. “You said there was more than one… right?”

 “Yes,” Uxie confirmed, “and that actually brings us back to you, Laura.”

 Laura blinked in surprise, and her partner asked, “Huh? What does Laura have to do with anything?”

 “Just a moment ago, you asked what the people whom I suspect you are a part of are like… the most important thing to know about them is probably the fact that they worship a deity known as ‘Relatia’… and that this deity is the one responsible for bringing the Time Gears to our world.” Laura’s eyes widened. “As such, if you truly do belong to those people… then you would be more entitled than most to deal with the Time Gear, and to act as its protector.”

 “But… but you said that you weren’t certain that I was actually a member of that group,” Laura pointed out. “So in that case…”

 Uxie merely shrugged. “In that case, my first line of reasoning still holds. But I truly do believe that when you were a human, that you worshipped Relatia; it would certainly explain why this place felt familiar to you—despite never having been here before—as Relatia’s people are some of the few who know the locations of the Time Gears,” He allowed everyone a moment to let that sink in, before he asked again, “So, having explained all that… will you, the Wigglytuff Guild, undertake the task of guarding my Time Gear? At least until this crisis has passed?”

 The guild turned towards their guildmaster, who had a serious expression on his face once more. He looked at Uxie, with his patient expression; at Laura, with an expression that was half scared, half hopeful; at the Time Gear, which, as an inanimate object, had no expression, but which still looked so vulnerable nonetheless, especially now that it was out in the open, and not surrounded by an intricate pattern of light and energy. The he looked back at Uxie, and his mouth widened into a big grin. “Of course we will, friendly-friend!”

 Uxie tried to hide a sigh of relief—it wouldn’t have been a big deal if Wigglytuff hadn’t agreed, and he wouldn’t have blamed him one bit for opting out of such an important and potentially dangerous task, but the fact that there was now this extra measure of safety in a situation as dire as this current crisis already made him feel a lot more hopeful about the situation. “In that case, this next part may be a bit tricky; while there are safeties in place that allows a Time Gear’s guardian to remove it from its area with no ill consequences, it is not certain what happens when one of them willingly gives it up to another. So we all should be prepared to run as soon as this Time Gear leaves my hands.”

 “Understood,” Chatot said, nodding decisively. Then he turned to the recruits and squawked, “Well? You heard the pokémon! Get ready to run!”

 “Yes, sir!” the apprentices all cheered as they put their weight in their front feet (or whatever the equivalent action was, for those whose appendages and methods of locomotion didn’t quite fit that description) and turned towards the exit—but only slightly, as they were all still supremely curious and wanted to see the actual hand off for themselves.

 Uxie moved even closer to Laura, and once more offered her the Time Gear. “Are you ready, Laura?”

 Laura started to reach her hands out for the precious artifact… but then she hesitated momentarily, still wary of the feelings that looking at it invoked. She took a deep breath, centering herself, before trying again. This time she was successful, and placed her hands on the Time Gear in a secure grip. It felt surprisingly warm beneath her fingers, for something which had just been residing at the bottom of a lake, and rather than feeling metallic, like she would have expected, it felt almost like… stone? But smooth stone, rather than crumbly or rough. But more than anything, it almost felt like… like it was alive, in a way. Or that it at least had some sort of emotional ability. Because as she stared into it, and into the light it pulsated… she could swear it emanated some sort of feeling of… joy? Relief? Holding it felt like… like she was coming home, for the first time in… in so, so long…

 Laura was so absorbed in the sensation of touching the Time Gear that she almost didn’t notice when Uxie let go. Actually, she wouldn’t have noticed it at all if not for the unexpected weight change causing her to stumble. The Time Gear was a bit heavier than it looked, though not so heavy as one would assume based on its composition. But before she could devote any more time into inspecting it, there was a bright flash of light, and she felt a surge of energy that sent her tumbling to her knees. Luckily, though, she managed to keep her tight grip on the Time Gear. Unluckily, however, it meant that she was now in a position where she wouldn’t easily be able to escape if something did end up happening to the flow of time in the area. But once the light died down and she was able to blink away the spots in her vision… nothing really happened. She looked around a little, but nothing seemed to have changed. Maybe it was a bit darker in the area? But that could easily be attributed to the late hour, or the fact that most of the volbeat and illumise had finished their dances above the water and were headed home. She glanced back towards the entrance to see her fellow guild members slowly relaxing from their tensed positions and also look around in confusion.

 “Hm… I suppose that was rather anticlimactic,” Uxie said from in front of her, causing her to jolt in surprise and whip her head back towards him, since she hadn’t realized he was there. “I’ll admit, that was not what I expected to happen… but it is a potentially useful situation, if someone else does end up coming here in search of the Time Gear.” He floated a bit away from her, slowly turning around and taking in all the sights before turning his gaze back on the artifact in her arms. “Of course, the fact that the Time Gear is still in close proximity to the lake, despite no longer being in my possession, might be affecting things somewhat…” He hummed again before coming closer again and offering her a hand up, which she took, before leading her towards the rest of the guild. “Come—I will join you for a bit of your journey back down, in order that I might observe the effects of distance on the lake.”

 It was, admittedly, a little awkward to be sharing the presence with a legendary, especially one who was treating the endeavor as an almost scientific curiosity. The fact that no one really had the chance to discuss what had just happened—whether in regards to the revelations about their teammate or the ramification of the task they’d just been given—didn’t help much either. Although, speaking of recent events…

 “So, um, Uxie… I know that you couldn’t help Laura out with regaining any of her actual memories… but do you know of anything else we can do to try and help?” Paula asked on behalf of her partner—who seemed too absorbed in hugging the bag now holding the Time Gear close to her chest to pay much attention to the attempts at small talk going on around her. She’d had enough presence of mind to put it out of sight once Loudred made a joke about the possibility that she was the real Time Gear thief all along, with how much focus she was putting on it and the way she’d refused to let anyone carry it, but she hadn’t noticed when Sunflora subsequently exploded on him, scolding him for the tasteless joke—especially since she hadn’t let him off the hook yet for how mean he’d been to her over the whole ninetales thing.

 “Hm?” Uxie replied, rather distracted, as he glanced at her from where he was floating—backwards, so that he could keep an eye on the lake as it seemed to grow smaller and smaller the farther they moved away from it. But the change in perspectives seemed to be the only change afflicting Fogbound Lake; it was otherwise perfectly normal, despite its lack of Time Gear. “Oh, right…” Uxie said once Paula’s words finally registered. He tilted his head, thinking through some possibilities. “I suppose that using an aura crystal might help, but those are extremely rare. Especially lately, for some reason,” he mulled things over a bit more before shaking his head. “Unfortunately, there typically isn’t much that can be done about this specific condition. However… I believe in Laura’s specific case that the issue will resolve itself when she’s a bit older.”

 “Oh wow, really?” Paula asked, excited, before shaking her friend’s shoulder in an attempt to get her attention. Once she caught the treecko’s gaze, she smiled widely at her. “Hear that, Laura? Uxie thinks that you just need a little patience, and that you’ll get your memories back when you’re older!”

 “Golly, that really is great news!” Bidoof, who had evidently been listening in on the conversation—like most everyone else had been, actually, even if some were better at hiding the fact than others—said from Paula’s other side. “How long do you reckon she’ll have to wait?”

 “Not too long—if my theory is correct, then things should become clearer for you once you turn thirteen.”

 Everything screeched to a halt.

 “What?” Chatot asked, sounding scandalized. “What do you mean, once she turns thirteen? How… how old is she now?”

 “Based on how developed your mind seemed to be… I would estimate somewhere around ten, maybe eleven years of age. Possibly twelve, at maximum.”

 “WHAT?! YOU’RE ONLY HOW OLD?!” everyone demanded, absolutely flabbergasted by the revelation of how young she actually was.

 Everyone except Paula, however, who was significantly calmer as she said, “Huh. I thought you were a bit closer to my age, but it looks like you’re actually a few years younger than me!”

 Chatot’s eye started to twitch. “And… dare I ask exactly how old you are?” he said in a strangled voice, extremely wary of the answer.

 “Thirteen,” was Paula’s matter-of-fact reply.

 “WHAAAAAAAAT?!”

[neoyeppuda]

Record - University AU (Pt. 1)

member: lee jihoon [seventeen] word count: 1,163 summary: a stressed University student has an upcoming assignment, but with little inspiration for his work and worry’s about what his parents will think of him, what else can he do but pray? written by admin lani

Jihoon sighed, the coming from the keyboard weren't right. The more he listened back to the song, the more he hated his work.

Producing had been his dream for a long time; throughout his teenage years, he spent hundreds of dollars on equipment to better his skills in preparation for going to university.

Now, as a full-time student at university, he was only just making it through. His passion was slowly being diminished through boring lectures and impractical little tasks like trying to find the pitch of a note to try and tune it correctly. All of this stuff was just unnecessary in Jihoon's eyes. He just wanted to make music.

His fingers tapped against the keys once again, trying to make a decent sounding tune. Every tune that came out of the speakers sounded wrong.

Sighing, he pushed away from the keyboard and moved to pick up his Taylor guitar. He looked it over before placing it on his lap.

He'd had the six-string since he was about fifteen. For years, he had begged his parents to buy him the guitar. Although the paint was starting to chip away and the tuning keys were most likely in need of replacement, he loved the guitar dearly. His fingers had become calloused over the years and he had come to know hundreds of songs in the few years of having the guitar.

When placing his fingers on the strings, he placed his plectrum down too. After a few minutes of messing around, a steady tune was produced and Jihoon felt as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He stopped every few minutes to jot down the chords and finger placements that he had created. His dyed, light-brown hair fell in his eyes every time he wrote his notes down, making it slightly difficult for him. Continuing on with his strumming, Jihoon found that now, he may actually have some material to compose a song. 

He stood up from his couch and moved around his small apartment to his room in search of recording equipment. Setting it up was slightly time-consuming as he kept tripping over cords and getting things tangled in them was the worst part of this. Jihoon could count at least five times where he tripped over the cords and two where he did fall. He wondered how his friend, Kai, could set all of this up so quickly. Kai himself was quite clumsy.

Running back to the living room, Jihoon grabbed his guitar and notes and carefully walked back, trying to make sure nothing slipped from his hands on the way back.

Maybe once this assignment was completed and handed in, and maybe if he received a high enough mark, his passion for music might be reincarnated.

He stayed up all night, picking at the strings of his Taylor and tapping away at the keys on his laptop. The bags under his eyes were more prominent and his lips were drier than usual. Every time he tried to focus on his work, his eyes would drift away and start to close. Before long, he was asleep on his laptop's keyboard with his music playing in the background and the guitar sitting at his feet.

As the next morning came around, his alarm awoke him. Startled, he fell off the chair, barely missing the guitar. He ran around, trying to make himself look slightly presentable, pulling on a pair of pants and just getting his shirt over his head. Once again, like many mornings before, he would have to skip breakfast and survive through his hunger until he could return home. 

No matter how much he sped, Jihoon was going to miss some of his class. At every red light, he would text his friends to ask for extra notes, a seat and coffee if they could manage it.

Upon pulling into the university's car park, he had only just realised that he'd left all his books behind, sitting on his desk next to the recording equipment. He swore to himself and started running to the lecture hall once he had locked his car. Jihoon couldn't afford to miss a lecture, the stakes were too high.

Jihoon had promised his parents that he would become a successful producer; that was the only reason his parents had allowed for him to study music production. His parents had wanted him to become a doctor of some sort, most likely the type that practices medicine. They had wanted him to become a successful man with lots of money and a big house. They had also wished for him to find the perfect wife, but Jihoon couldn't see himself in that life. He never had. 

The lecture hall was quiet when he tip-toed inside, he was thankful that no one really noticed his presence. He walked to his friends and took a seat in between the two. As soon as he sat, he placed his head on the desk, letting the weariness take over.

“Are you okay?” Kai, one of the only friends Jihoon had, whispered to him.

“Fine,” mumbled Jihoon.

Kai just shook his head and placed the notes he had written down for Jihoon next to his head and pat him on the back. He mumbled thanks and read over them before going back to his slumped position on the desk. He had only just managed to stay awake due to the caffeine that was now running through his system thanks to his beloved friend, Thyme. She had slipped him the beverage while he was studying the notes Kai had written down. 

“Thank you so much,” Jihoon murmured as he brought the drink to his lips.

Thyme just smiled softly in return and went back to writing down whatever the professor had written as necessary notes.

After the lecture, Jihoon ran back to his car, leaving the few friends he had so he could continue his assignment. A note that Kai had given him flew out of his hand and he groaned. Another delay in his journey of getting home. He ran back a few metres and picked up the piece of paper before running to his car once again.

The drive home itself was strenuous. Traffic was slow and at every set of lights, he was presented with a red light, making his temper rise.

Jihoon had always been a hot head - threatening to hit someone with his guitar and pinning another to the ground for unknown reasons - and this was not good for his temper. Too much could be lost if he lost the current inspiration that he was storing within.

The dream that his parents had for him was so far from his own that if he let them down while doing something they didn't want him to do, he would feel horrible. He already feels like a disappointment to the family and he knew his parents wouldn't mess around. His parents might even go as far as disowning him.

[shioritsumi]

I made Beacon of Light versions of @darqx‘s Battle Priest characters. (BP being her story, BOL being mine.) I’ll give a very brief overview (or as brief as I can make it given how detailed it is) of BOL before I move on to actually describing the characters in this new universe. Be warned, this is a long one. 

BOL: There exist in this universe, three worlds, three planes. Angelus, the celestial plane of eternal light; Grimasce, the infernal plane of neverending darkness; and Luminaria, the world held in balance between light and darkness. Angeleus is home to the Angeleans, beings gifted with an eternal light, and the natural ability to use this light to summon incredible holy magic. The highest magics exist here.

Grimasce is home to the Grimascians, shadowy beings with nearly unparalleled physical skills, and a neverending dark flame that will corrupt those around it. 

Luminaria, however, is home to a wide variety of creatures and peoples capable of adapting to both light and darkness. Once thought of as a paradise where the races may exist in harmony, and the battlefield for the Twilight War when all three worlds came to clash over the possession of this world. 

From this war came six heroes. The Six Heroes of the Twilight War were: -Meroux the Shadow Dragon of Grimasce -Alubella the Witch of Grimasc -Dusk the Trinket of Angeleus -Nuora the Inventor of Angeleus -Arthur Rincinder the Human of Luminaria -Selene the Harpy of Luminaria

These six won the war for Angeleus and Luminaria, fighting off the self-proclaimed Shadow Emperor of Grimasce (He was actually more of a general that went mad with power and had a huge following. The actual King of Grimasce both supported him and hated him. It’s something to cover some other time. Politics.) The victory cost many lives, but brought many new developments to all the worlds. The founding of the Capitol Knights, an elite force of holy knights, the discovery of electricity, new jobs, new approaches to the interactions between the races, and many other things I don’t have time to explain right now.

Because I want to jump into the characters, already. I’ve given you some very brief history of the world. Further descriptions will accompany the characters so I can explain their roles. 

A.E.D. - Human Capitol Knight Like a majority of Capitol Knights, D. did not actually grow up in the poorly named luxury capitol city of Capitol, and entered the Knight’s Academy partially because it was free and allowed him to more easily protect others from potential Grimascian attack. Among the top ranked Capitol Knights, he doesn’t talk much about his own personal life, although the others correctly assume he’s likely an orphan from some village. They’re honestly not surprised, he’s not the only orphan who lost his parents due to some Grimascian attack in the Capitol Knights. He just happens to be the only one of considerable rank. 

Fun fact: Capitol Knights wield luumia swords, made of a special metal from Angeleus that allows a torch (term used by Grimasce and Angeleus for Luminarians) to easily draw on their own light and use holy magic. It is, of course, not recommended for a torch to use too much holy magic as it may damage their light (light being kind of like a combination of the soul and the power source behind the soul) and corrupt them. Capitol Knights are specially trained in Academy in the use of luumia swords, however, so they’d have to be pretty dumb to let that happen. 

Izm - Smote A Smote is a unique race of Grimascian that is known to have endured more than one go around the circle of life, and as such maintains a spark of Light that allows them to shapeshift and blend in with Torches. This made them for ideal spies and scouts during the Twilight War, but when the war ended and the Grimascians were supposed to all retreat, they found they had somehow lost quite a number of Smotes. Turns out, a lot of them didn’t want to go back to being used as pets and spies by their oppressive homeland and would prefer to remain in hiding in Luminaria. Izm is one such smote. They’re capable of passing for human with some slight vitiligo, or even minor Light corruption on off-days, but otherwise may be free to do as they please. And boy ever does Izm do as he pleases. He runs afoul of a certain Capitol Knight rather often, and his identity is either already out to D., or the Knight simply doesn’t care. 

Fun fact: Smotes cannot hide their Dark Flame from Angeleans, OR Capitol Knights, as the Knights are trained to detect Dark Flame, and Angeleans can automatically sense the void of Light from all Grimascians. 

Fun fact 2: Angeleus and Grimasce share a sort of ‘Circle of Life’ that neither of them like. When an Angelean dies, their Eternal Light is extinguished, and it becomes a void of light, which becomes a Dark Flame. Thus turning them into a Grimascian. When a Grimascian dies, their Dark Flame is reignited, turning them into an Angelean. Luminarians have a completely different life cycle and the idea of reincarnation in this way is foreign to them. Memories of previous lives are not kept, except in extreme cases, or Smotes. Smotes are unique in this way and allows them to build up their skills. 

Marcus - Air Cherub Cherubs are a small race of Angeleans, one of the only ones to be genuinely gifted with wings. They are also gifted with support magics, but tend to learn their magics slower than other varieties and be more fragile than others, as well. Marcus has heard it all as both a student as a cherub-he’s cute, he’s small, he’s ‘slow’ (by multiple definitions), but you better believe this cherub can pack a punch with the air spells he’s got. Gust may not be a spell to injure you severely, but it’s going to knock the wind out of you something fierce. (It’s a suckerpunch spell, primarily, one that ALWAYS hits the solar plexus and never misses. Damage, so-so, and it can’t kill, but god it hurts.) 

Fun fact: Angeleans like to pride themselves on having superior education that trains their children in everything they’ll need to know and to prepare them for a life on the outside. The result is Angeleans don’t really leave Nephilime Academy until they’re well into adulthood, and some Angeleans still aren’t sure that’s enough preparation. Older Angeleans often drop out of school because they’re so tired of prep work.

Wei Ren - Wizard Technician Witches are a female-only Grimascian race gifted with mastery over shadow magic and shapeshifting. When they saw this, Angeleans decided they could do that, too...but with light magic. They ended up creating the Wizard race, a male-only Luminarian race gifted with mastery over shadow magic but with limited shapeshifting. (Primarily bc they were created on Luminaria and not the boundless shadowy plane of Grimasce.) Wizards are almost indistinguishable from human torches, save for their natural affinity with magic and sensitivity to light. Technicians arose as a career following the war, when Angelean scientist brought electricity to the forefront as a practical thing. Although much of Luminaria still doesn’t have access to it in their homes, the role of the Technicians is to help spread the field of technology and convince people it’s a good idea. Welcome to fantasy world IT/electronic salesman pitching.

Fun fact: Capitol and some of the lands to the east are the only areas that currently have fully adapted to the newly acquired technology and include electricity, radio, cellular communications, computers, and electric lights everywhere. In most other places, presence of electricity is spotty. 

Zeke -Human Hunter Look, not everyone in the world has magic or special light or dark-detecting powers. Some people are just people who pick up a spear or bow and go out and bring food back at the end of the day. They may not all be good at it, but the common man does still exist. Zeke is that common man. Why are all these people in his village, the most boring village ever? It used to be a refugee village, but that was forever ago. The only special thing he can think about it might be that D. came from the next village over, before he left to attend Academy in Capitol. Why’s the plot HERE? No, really, he’s got some really impressive people in the village square and he doesn’t know WHY. 

Fun fact: No, really, there’s nothing special about Hunters. They’re the food gatherers for villages and smaller towns. They’re like neighborhood watch plus cops plus....hunters. They can be any race, any gender, any origin, all they have to do is bring back food for the town/village at the end of the day so everyone can eat. 

Rire - Vampire Logos Vampires are generally humans whose light has been irreversibly corrupted, either by exposure to extreme darkness, or through Daemonic possession. Once they’ve gone past the point of no return, a Vampire feeds off the leeched Light of those around them, sometimes even seeking out victims to extinguish the Light of entirely to feed their own damaged Light/soul. Some people have sympathy for Imps, newly turned Vampires. Logos? Nah, screw them, they’ve not only been Vampires a while, they enjoy it and pursue their victims deliberately and have pulled themselves together a small following. Rire has avoided being handled by groups such as the Capitol Knights by being very careful with his hunts, possibly making him much more dangerous than you might want to give him credit for.

Fun fact: Daemons are bodiless Grimascians that can overshadow a Torch’s Light and possess their body. They were used as effective spies during the Twilight War, and the resulting vampires used as a sort of sabotage to follow-up any failed spy attempts. Vampirism results from the corruption left behind by the Daemon after they leave the human’s body. With work and dedication, the corruption can be reversed and even cured. 

But let’s be honest, it can’t make you a good person if you weren’t before. 

PHEW! I think I missed a few characters, but these are the main characters, so I’m gonna stick with that. TA DAH!!!

[aisheeteiru]

Un:BIRTHDAY SONG ~Ai wo Utau Shinigami~ Platform: PC Japanese Game Site || Download Demo/Trial with English Patch Here

~Spoiler-free~

I think this game should really come with a warning. It is so heavy with feels. Like make sure you have TEN boxes of tissues before you play this game. It looks so innocent, but this one is still hurting me even two weeks after completing it. I already cried buckets of water while playing it too.

So Hotori Kanno, this adorable heroine, only has a month to live. Two hot damn shinigamis come to her to tell her the news and make sure she leaves this world with no regrets.

I don’t even know where to start. This entire game just amazed me. It brought up a lot of serious topics such as suicide, existential questions, different aspects of love. I might be biased, but 13 Reasons Why got nothing on this one. It really makes you think. What happens after death? Do we get reincarnated? I’ve always been fascinated by that concept too.

I am really attached to this game too since it’s the first game in full Japanese that I completed. I’m really proud. It is a short game and I think it would’ve been more astounding if the developers gave this one more time and made it longer. However, I understand that it is kind of like a side game to Re:Birthday Song, so yeah.

That being said, I’m still really impressed…the music, the plot, the characters. I think someday, I’d like to replay the entire game. There are only 3 routes available, but they’re all emotionally packed that if they included more, I think I would’ve been a complete emotional mess. On to the characters:

Zen - My bias in the game. He’s just my type – cocky and carefree. His back story still haunts me though. I did not expect this bishie to have such a tragic past. His route really made me think about the concept of suicide a lot. I’ve always known that I’m kind of partial to one side of the issue, because I just can’t imagine what it’s like to be backed against the wall. I always thought there’s another way out, no matter what. But Zen’s story…ugh, it finally made me get it. I don’t know, it just feels like, I finally get what it’s like. 

He has the best happy ending out of all of the three. I wish the other characters got this option too.

Rikka - His story is sad too, but I think Zen tops it. His connection to Hotori is a little surprising and odd. There wasn’t much direct romance between him and Hotori, but I think that’s part of the “showcasing different forms of love” theme going on in the game. It’s subtle, more subtle than the slow burn types. I surprisingly enjoyed his character more than I thought though. He balances Zen in more ways than one. I think they’re the best partners for sure.

Shizuru - Hands down the saddest darn route that ever existed. Darn it, KENN, you are such a good seiyuu. How do you do this? Like I was grossly sobbing the entire last half of this story. Shizuru is just so precious. He didn’t deserve any of this. Anyway, before his route, I’ve always been wondering about him, making these crazy theories. Alas, and for once, none of them were proven correctly. I still have questions about what happened to him on the other routes, but I guess that’ll just be left to our imagination. 

His third ending. Ugh. Bittersweet. I’m still grossly sobbing over this.

His first two endings are okay, but I wished for something happier. Something like Zen’s ending.

Hotori is such a precious baby, I think she’s easily one of my most favorite MCs of all time. She just remained positive, understanding, and caring throughout all of this. It really was a pleasure reading the game from her POV. 

The other secret character is also amazing. I wish he had a route. He deserved it. His monologue in the epilogue was so heart-breaking. Having it from his POV gave the story more depth. 

This game is something I definitely would recommend for other people to play. I hope someone out there translates this masterpiece. It’s definitely better than most of the translated games out there. I’m still crying.

Route Order: Zen -> Rikka -> Shizuru

[shadowsong26fic]

Random crossover headcanon/notes

So, I’m reading the latest Heralds of Valdemar book (because I love that series, and I really like Mags (the protagonist of the last several books) and it’s out or has been for a while and my lovely roommate brought it home from the library for me <3)

Anyway. Reading this book. And, as you may know if you’ve been following this blog, I have been trapped in the black hole that is Star Wars for the past year or so. And, as happens when I read a Valdemar book, thaaaaaat means a crossover/fusion!

I am seriously indebted to my roommates for letting me bounce ideas off of them and helping me fill in some of the gaps here.

Obi-Wan, naturally, is a Herald. About sixteen when Our Story begins. Already Too Old For This Shit. Gifts are Mindspeech, Empathy, and Fetching. Some extremely unreliable Foresight as well.

His Companion may or may not be Qui-Gon.

Qui-Gon may or may not be his father. And dead.

Both of these facts may actually be the case. Yay awkward reincarnation?

Alternatively, Yoda is his Companion?

Possibly his second after Qui-Gon died?

IDK, I haven’t figured that part out yet.

The important thing is, he is still very much Obi-Wan.

Padme! Padme is also a Herald, because the plot demands it—she is the Heir/Queen. Fourteen when Our Story begins. Pretty sure her only Gift is Mindspeech, but that remains to be settled.

Sabe is her Companion, of course.

She was Chosen when she was about twelve.

She is the actual trufax Queen now (ish—too young and still a Trainee; more on that later).

·  Poor, poor Bail.

Bail is the son of a Councillor and grew up in Haven/at court

He’s eighteen when Our Story begins.

He’s friends with Padme. She’s like his little sister.

He tried to rein in her enthusiasm

(this doesn’t work very well)

(especially since Sabe only encourages her half the time)

He grew up being more or less groomed to take over his mother’s Council seat.

Six months ago, he became Queen’s Own.

He got rushed through all the training he didn’t have (which wasn’t much, mostly Gift stuff and bonding with Taver/Rolan/whichever) and was just officially put into full Whites.

IDK what his Gift(s) is/are.

He and Obi-Wan are bros.

There may or may not be a pretty young Healer with enchanting dark eyes he’s mooning over.

(there totally is)

Some backstory!

Six months ago, due to some unspecified tragedy (possibly a war) Padme’s parent(s) and the previous Monarch’s Own were killed.

Councilor Sheev Palpatine rose to the occasion, was named the Lord Regent because who else could be more trustworthy, and has kept the Kingdom stable during the uncertain time of the Queen’s minority.

(he will, of course, retreat with grace when the regency is over and Padme is of age/has her Whites)

(he’s just laying groundwork now)

(he plays the long game)

(he’s probably planning to repeat this process with Padme’s child)

(something like that)

That’s where things stand when Anakin turns up on the scene.

First off, Anakin does much better as a Herald than as a Jedi.

For one thing, having a Companion helps.

For another, he doesn’t have to cut all ties to his mom.

Etc., etc.

Ahsoka is his Companion.

She’s just barely old/mature enough to Choose and flounces out of Haven to go track down her Skyguy.

(meaning about ten, if I remember Valdemar canon correctly)

(she and Anakin grow up together)

(it will be adorable)

Anakin is nine, lives on the Border with his mom and Watto.

He’s, like, a tiny gladiator or something.

So ‘Soka turns up and is all ‘Hi!’

And he’s all ‘Hi!’

‘Guess what you’re a Herald now.’

‘Yay!’

‘Come on, we’re going to Haven.’

‘YAY! …wait, Mom?’

‘...uh…screw it, I can carry you both!’

(Shmi has no idea what to do with this but is somewhat alarmed)

(she and her son have been kidnapped by a horse that Ani swears is talking to him)

(Watto might still come after them and kill them)

(It’s okay Shmi everything will work out just hold tight)

Anakin, like Vanyel, has ALL OF THE GIFTS.

(unlike Vanyel, he at least acquired them naturally, not under p. much the worst possible circumstances)

(also his Healing, like, barely works, but it does exist)

He turns up in Haven all earnest and excited and eager and NO IDEA HOW TO HUMAN PROPERLY.

Because, y’know, he was a slave

And a tiny gladiator

Obi-Wan facepalms and takes the poor kid under his wing.

(wait, when did I adopt a small child?)

Anywho, at some point, Anakin gets brought to Alberich for weapons training, as you do.

(shut up timelines means nothing)

And he mentions ‘but I already know how to do this stuff’

And Alberich and Obi-Wan are like ‘what’

And he says ‘oh, yeah, Watto used to make me fight people so he and the other masters could gamble on it.’

And they’re like ‘WHAT’

‘I was really good! I even won my last fight!’

‘…kay let’s go see the Queen and Council because uhhhhhhhhhhh’

And then he meets Padme.

They’re lifebonded, of course.

But! He can grow into it and have a better grasp on how normal people, y’know, date and stuff.

So everything will go much better.

Just in general Heralds are much better at this sort of thing than Jedi are.

Anakin being a Herald solves SO MANY PROBLEMS GUYS

Uhhhhhhh, I don’t really know what happens next. Anakin’s a field Herald for a while (and he’s very good at it) until he and Padme actually get married.

He is not actually crowned King because ahahahahaha even with therapy and a better support system and a Companion and all the things that make him much more successful as a Herald than he ever was as a Jedi…no.

His title is Prince Consort

Leia is their daughter.

Luke is her Companion.

Palpatine attempts to do his Thing at some point

Possibly before Luke shows up

The goal seems to be ‘kill Padme, get named Regent again, only this time don’t leave when the Queen comes of age’

Especially because he’s banking on building the whole relationship with Anakin

And then when Anakin shuts down after Padme’s death, who else will he turn to?

Of course this won’t work in this timeline for several reasons

(most of those reasons are Ahsoka)

(and Mindhealers)

(so Anakin is much less vulnerable to Palpatine than in canon)

(especially since Anakin isn’t cut off from Shmi)

(and Shmi doesn’t die)

(also the Heralds are…better…about issues like Anakin’s than the Jedi are)

(also also Valdemar has much better defenses against this sort of thing than the Galactic Republic does sorry)

Not sure where Han and Lando fit in.

And Chewie

And the droids

Han possibly gets Chosen at some point because lol.

He is not super thrilled by this.

Also not sure about the rest of the Council, Dooku, Maul, Tarkin, Mothma, Ackbar, etc….

Most of this is focused on the prequel folks because I have to figure out how that all resolves before I send Herald Leia out into the world.

…REX HOW COULD I FORGET ABOUT REX.

ETA: After discussing with one of my roommates, Rex will fill Alberich’s role as detailed above. May or may not be a Herald, have not yet decided.

Cody is around too; he’s Rex’s twin. Head of the Palace Guard.

Possibly also Fives and Tup?

Dooku is doing Something, and will eventually maim Anakin, which leads to Anakin being reassigned to Haven.

Anakin and Padme are already married at this point.

Only select members of the Heraldic Circle know.

(and Shmi)

(Anakin suggested reading Palpatine in but Padme talked him out of it)

(they wanted to be married Just In Case a) something happened to him, or b) someone tried to shove a treaty marriage down her throat; but they knew that as soon as their marriage was public, he’d be stuck in Haven and he was too useful in the field)

After Anakin recovers, he and Padme marry publicly.

He’s probably the Weaponsmaster’s Second after that.

(this is very confusing for visiting dignitaries)

I’ll probably add more if I come up with more, sooooooo....IDK watch this space?

[wotdhorror]

Special Delivery

Li was a deliveryman. However his job wasn’t the type of posh delivery job one sees in the West, where a guy in short shorts drives a big truck filled with well-organized boxes throughout the day. Li had no truck, nor set hours for that matter. Instead he had a trike that left him exposed to the elements (a battery powered thing with a miniature truck bed) and a completely commission based paycheck. A few percent on each package and half for returns is enough to live comfortably, but only if you’re willing to deal with traffic and foul weather

Because of the nature of their pay the delivery business was a cutthroat one, especially during the holidays. It wasn’t strange for delivery drivers to show up at the warehouse at four in the morning and deliver until ten at night during peak seasons, because. Doing so could mean making triple one’s usual take in only a month, if handled correctly. It also wasn’t rare for drivers to steal packages from each other (or offload unwanted ones) in the name of organizing the most efficient route. Naturally the early risers in this situation did best, and people like Li, as green as deliver drivers get, got stuck driving all over the city delivering ‘problem packages.’

Li’s grandmother had never liked the idea of him working delivery. She had always been worried that he’d get in an accident, and that’s a very natural fear for a grandmother to have. Still, Li assumed his grandmother was more morbid than most grandparents. She seemed convinced that he’d somehow get maimed on the job, and that he wouldn’t be able to ‘pass on,’ if they couldn’t ‘find all of the parts.’ In truth the reality of an accident was never far from his mind, but for Li it was more an issue of having a trike full of parcels and trike repair deducted from his paycheck. How he stood when it came to reincarnation took a backseat.

Still, on especially cold days he would think of his grandmother’s superstitions and drive that little bit more carefully. Better safe than sorry after all. On this particular day mortality was far from his mind, as he was late again and needed to get his addresses inputted.

The company had an app that could plot a route based on the packages for the day. It was helpful to always have a map in front of you and all (cell-phone mounts on the trike handlebars were standard), but the app was buggy. More than once he’d carried around fruit all day, mushed up under the weight of other packages, only to deliver them to a pissed off recipient after dark. Worse still was when the recipient rejected the package altogether as that meant a paycheck deduction and a talking to by the floor man.

In hindsight he always resolved to shift the packages around more carefully, but this day he was in too  much of a hurry to get out the door.

The first delivery was a rattly package for an old man. The second was soft and, probably clothes or something, received by a young woman too busy with an iPhone game to say thank you. He could tell from the packaging that the third was imported apples. He waited with baited breath as the recipient, a middle aged women, inspected them for bruising. Though it felt an unfair stereotype, Li had found middle aged women the most uppity and prone to file complaints. He escaped this time without incident though.

Morning marched on into noontime the way it always did, and Li’s mind became more and more focused on lunch. Once he’d done around thirty parcels he finally allowed himself to settle in at a small restaurant to slurp down a bowl of noodles. Other deliverymen might have taken this time to re-plan their route, but Li preferred to slow down at lunch and daydream. Today he watched the restaurant’s cook, who he could see through the order window, and tried to put himself in the man’s shoes.

It looked like a hard job, being cooped up in the little kitchen and surrounded by pots of boiling water. It was the exact opposite of Li’s job in some ways because, while Li was always on the move and freezing cold, this man was stuck in a space no bigger than a closet and visibly sweating. The cook’s job seemed no less dangerous either, as the cook hefted a pair of cleavers on the chopping block and chopped up some beef for the next order. With the speed he did so, Li wondered if the man had ever cut himself.

He wondered, too, what his grandmother would say about him being a cook. Would she still be worried that he’d hurt himself? Maybe she’d think he would cut something off and not be able to ‘pass on?’ Where was the line drawn, he wondered? Did you have to lose a hand to lose your shot at reincarnation, or was cutting off the tip of your thumb enough for disqualification?

The thought made him smile, but at the same time made him feel very uncomfortable.

In the afternoon the GPS dragged Li all around the city, and to make matters worse something in one of the packages had leaked all over the trike bed. He had first discovered it on delivering another case of wine to a young guy at work. The guy was irate, of course, because the way the parcel sopped up the reddish brown liquid made it appear like one of the bottles had ruptured. When they investigated the bottles were all whole though, which was a relief to Li even though the trike still needed cleaned.

Li found that the culprit was a small box around the size of a football, probably stuffed under a pile of packages by one of the other delivery guys. It was oozing a reddish-brown liquid out of one corner, so the packaging needed to be scrapped. He jotted down the address and contact on the label in preparation for calling it in, but he wasn’t interested in getting yelled at by management and losing the commission. Li considered for a second just pitching the package in the dumpster and waiting for it to get reported lost (if the sender bought insurance they would be compensated at least), but he didn’t want to lose his job over a small box filled with what was probably spoiled fruit. Instead he pulled out his knife and prepared to clean it up to see if the recipient would still take it.

The smell inside the box was overwhelming even through the cold air. There was an ornate, round chipboard box inside, which Li gingerly lifted out. It would have looked quite nice had it not been leaking. There wasn’t anything written on it, but it looked like the kind of box a new year’s present might be presented in. He wanted to lift the lid and see what was really causing the trouble, but that felt somehow irreverent. Even if it was just a piece of rotting, exotic fruit, it felt wrong to open someone else’s present and so he left it be. Li lined the bed with an old newspaper that someone had left in the trike and moved on.

The rest of the afternoon was spent apologizing to people and explaining the rancid smelling stains on their parcels. He lost at least two more commissions because the goop had soaked through the cardboard and ruined something inside, but at the very least the GPS had finally started working correctly and gave him a decently arranged route. He noticed that, mercifully, the leaking package was the last on the list.

That package turned out to be a rather depressing delivery. The handlebar GPS led him into another development, perhaps the twentieth he had been to that day. Downstairs of his destination were several white and black funeral arrangements, set up around the door on wicker stands. When he reached the unit upstairs he found with a pang of sympathy that the leaking package was going to the mourning family. Of course Li couldn’t be blamed for fruit spoiling, or for the package leaking, but still. These people had suffered a loss and he felt like he was somehow kicking them while they were down by baring this bad news.

When he explained that something had happened to the package it’s  recipient, another middle-aged woman, invited him in. The box had started to leak again, and so he kept it bundled in the newspapers as she went for a mop.  

“Who sent it?” she asked, cleaning some goop from the tile. That was peculiar for her not to know, because most of Li’s deliveries were things that people had bought online. He said as much, reading the name and the address. It was from the same city, which was also peculiar because it should have gotten delivered well before its contents spoiled.

“I don’t know anyone by that name,” she said, nor did she recognize the address.

Li could see where this was going, although he really didn’t want to end his day like this. He looked around the room, seeing a black and white picture of a child on the mantle. His throat felt dry, but he really didn’t want to lose the commission.

“Perhaps it is a friend of your husband’s,” he said, but she shook her head.

In the end she didn’t take the package, which Li couldn’t blame her for. His only option was to try and claim half commission for taking the parcel to its return address. The sender’s number was disconnected, so he he put the address into the company app as twilight fell.

It was around nine o’clock by the time he reached the return address. His trike was running so low on power that he had to limp it over at a snail’s pace or risk the battery dieing along the way. He wasn’t sure he would be able to get it back to the warehouse afterward, but part of him wanted an explanation for the troublesome package.

The address turned out to be a guard shack at the edge of a construction site. The guard inside didn’t recognize the name either, and wasn’t willing to take the package himself.

“It stinks,” he said, but in the end he allowed Li in to ask around the dormitories for the sender.

The construction workers, mostly undocumented migrant workers from what Li had gathered, lived in a two-story, prefab dorm building. Before long plump man from emerged and frowned at the sight of the box.

“You shouldn’t have brought that back here,” he said, eying the package sadly.

“I can’t deliver it,” said Lee. “It’s spoiled.”

“Spoiled…” said the man. “Well I can’t keep it. Deliver it anyway.”

“Listen, there’s been a loss in the family who you sent this to,” said Lee. “They rejected the package, and my boss won’t let us keep it. Just take it back or I’ll have to throw it out on my way out of here.”

The man stepped forward, eyes widening.

“No, you can’t do that,” he said, as if Li were about to light the box on fire. “You- you can’t throw it out. It has to go back. If not…”

Li eyed the box, and wiped a little of the now dried grime off on his coat.

“Listen man,” said Li, “just buy another… whatever this is and deliver it yourself. It’s not even that far away.”

“You don’t understand,” said the worker, looking over his shoulder. “You have to take it to them. If you don’t then he- ju…just make them open it. They’ll understand when they see.”

“I said they don’t want it. Whatever it is they don’t want it and I’m out money because of it,” said Li. “What’s in here anyway? Just take the stupid thing back.”

The man wouldn’t though and Li was out of time to argue. It was almost ten, the trike still hadn’t been returned, and as far as his mental math went Li would be out a couple hundred in commissions thanks to this ridiculous man and the leaky package he had sent.

Why not just deliver it in person? Li steamed at the thought. If your friend is grieving then why wouldn’t you just take a bus over and comfort them? Give them the package in person and show your support for their loss. That’s the only right thing to do.

His bile about to bubble over, and he put the box on the ground. He thumped his fingers on the lid and opened it.

On top was a note, written is surprisingly neat lettering. The writer was sorry. It was an accident, they said. Curiosity gone wrong is what it was. The writer hoped that this could make things right, and that this package could ‘ allow his spirit to pass on.’

Underneath the note, wrapped in stained tissue, was small hand, the size of a child’s,  and in the throes of putrefaction. Li saw in his mind’s eye a boy’s face cast in black and white, a picture on a grieving mother’s mantle. Again he heard his grandmother’s words.

[postitnowke]

P5

stouthearted when the continued falling, and they had run out of food because of their master's negligence, and many had been forced to turn on their dead for sustenance. He could still smell the sickly scent of sweat, blood, sickness and fear of dead and dying victims, witnessing Indian and British servant alike screaming in absolute agony as the sickness engulfed them. Some had attempted to crawl weakly towards their families, seeking just a little bit of closeness and comfort before they'd passed on to their next life, only for their kin to turn on them and haul their infected family members back to the cots they were to sleep on and tie them to it so they couldn't escape again. When it was his turn he'd known better than to follow their example. His mother had never left it a secret that she had little care for him. She might not have abandoned him somewhere to die nor left him to be raised by someone who might think even less of him than she had when his infirmity had been realized, but this did not mean he was loved. She expected the child she had named Lungri, to be grateful that she hadn't tossed him aside as trash. And in truth, despite how her words stung and bit into him leaving his soul bleeding out, he was. Not all parents kept their children. He'd been born wrong, diagnosed with what doctors referred to as foot drop. It was a term describing the difficulty he had when lifting the front part of his right paw. Instead of walking correctly, the front of his foot would drag on the ground when he walked. Sometimes it was so bad he would need to raise his thigh when he walked, like a normal child might climb stairs. This would cause a set distinctive rhythmic slapping footsteps across the floor's surface as his bad foot was lowered down onto the floor with each padded step. Anytime he'd approached her with his usual shuffling noise she would become angry with her son, feeling he intentionally made a scene before the fellow servants. She was a woman of strict decorum. The world could and had been going to pieces before them and she continued to expect every one to go about business as she did. Failure to comply would earn a swift tongue lashing. She might have been born Dalit, but she was a master of speaking honeyed poison. So much so much was her proficiency that even the senior servants feared the blade expertly hidden within her words. She'd felt his physical weakness weakened her own image and had resented him for it. What made matters worse was that it was a neurological issue and the severity of the problem could change on a day to day basis. As a result part of his mother had convinced herself he really didn't need as much care as he asked for and that his odd gait was the result of him attempting to act the buffoon to get attention. As a result, she would often attempt to catch him out on his supposed fakery. Like most children, he'd wanted to please her and he'd made an attempt not to allow the weakness in his foot show, slowing his movement down so he could carefully place his paw down in a manner that was almost normal. Instead of being pleased by his attempts to placate her she'd seen it as reaffirmation that a good proportion of his problems were merely a cry for attention and would lose patience with her troublesome son whenever he'd moved too slowly. As melodramatic as he felt the statement was, he'd learned that, in her eyes, it seemed nothing he did was good enough to gain her praise. Her actions made it impossible to seek comfort from anyone, he expected judgment wherever he went. Perhaps this had made things easier for him when he too had contracted the disease. Unlike most of his fellow servants, he expected no one to be there to hold him. He'd remained curled into himself, covered in a puddle of puddle of his own vomit, chills wracking through him like palm leaves in a hurricane, he was unable to move without crying out. Pain like thousands of tiny fish hooks clamping him him tightly through his abdomen. It had felt like a group of fishermen during a contest had all realized they'd hooked the same fish and were determined to make it theirs. The constant tugging from all sides peeling the fish apart, ripping organs every which way, and parting muscle from bones. His coughing, a choking rattling thing, damaged his fragile body further, it was like he'd been in a rush to complete his chores and had grabbed a bite of naan bread to keep the hunger at bay, but in his haste had misjudged how much food his esophagus could handle. So instead of safely consuming the food it had instead felt as if he'd swallowed one of his master's cricket balls. Any water he might have gulped hadn't made it easier to remove the obstruction from his airways. Instead it seemed keen to work against him. He'd coughed up a a deep red foam, the swelling in his throat making it nearly impossible to breathe. To his knowledge he had called for his mother but once, a sign the delirium had been getting to him. If he had been conscious he would have been more surprised to see her slipping close to him to refill his empty water cup and give her son half of her own food. She'd taken the cup, pressing it to his lips, forcing him drink, to stay hydrated. She'd ripped the meal into easier to manage pieces, making him eat, to keep fed. He would later learn to his disgust that the food She'd given him had been hacked off the bodies of the dead and shared among the living after the food rations had run dry. They could still collect water from the holes in the roof but food did not come so easily, the master had seemingly forgotten they needed supplies. She had continued to give food to her son until she had been driven by the illness to take a lie in herself. She may not have been fond of her son in a way a mother was expected to feel for her child. He was too brittle too weak in body and wicked in spirirt that it felt like a punishment to be burdened with such a boy. But that didn't mean he wasn't still her son. No matter how much she might have wished for a better mannered and more physically abled child he was what she had been given. He was troublesome but this did not mean she'd wanted him dead. It was preferable to her that he live, a handicapped child was better than none at all. But he had wanted more than what she could give him, if she could not accept that he was handicapped, he'd still wanted her to love him. He knew she despised him for his infirmity, she'd made it obvious enough that even in the thrall of a deadly illness he'd thought better than to expect anything from her. Far more frequently he'd called for Tabaqui. His only friend, who, had he lived, would have spent the entire time by his side making ridiculous puns that would have encouraged him to get better just so that he could pretend to suffocate the wretched jackal with a pillow. But he wasn't there, the one person he'd most wanted to see, had died in horrific pain frothing and foaming at the mouth, no longer capable of telling friend from foe. Lungri had been attacked and almost bitten by Tabaqui. Had it not been for timely intervention he too may have been lost to hydrophobia. He hadn't cried when Brother Grey had snapped the jackal's neck. He'd been terrified, his friend had never been particularly strong in body and he'd been lifted clear off from his feet and slammed into the wall with enough force to make the dishes rattle. And then with a blast of noise he'd never ever forget the canine had ceased all movements. He'd waited for the still form to move once more but he'd waited in vain. Tabaqui had wanted so badly to die. Watching him whimper and beg for an end to his suffering had broken something inside of him that he'd never been able to fix. Besides, his friend would be reincarnated soon afterwards, hopefully as a Brahmin (the uppermost class in the Caste system). But now with his own mind lost to pain, he'd cried harder for his lost companion than he had ever done or would ever do again. On any other occasion he might have been ashamed of himself but he'd just felt so broken and abandoned by everything there was nothing left in him, his mind a overflowing water sack filled with feelings and disease. It would take him a long time to recover, his body weak and shaky months after the event. Two The and the various religions that had looked upon the disabled as having brought down their own misfortunes on their own through some manner of wicked action.

[thestaticghost]

How to Make a Bound

((I’ve mentioned a little while back I was working on developing geists and bound away from their roots - Geists: The Sin-Eaters. I’ve finally fleshed out a direction I want to go in. It is important to note that when interacting with other blogs that have ghosts and the like, I rather go for a hybridization of whatever headcanons are standard on the blog and mine, rather than be all “mine is the correct one”. The only two things I will not bend on are A. geists and everything that makes them and B. Twilight.  The latter being because it is a very large part of D’s lore and has been created to be expansive on purpose, so if another character uses the afterlife or underworld in any way, it can easily be explained as another part of Twilight or alternate reality.

PS. I need a better name than Bound, so if you all have any ideas, please tell me.

PPS. The title was originally different, but I realized I kinda laid out everything needed to understand how to design your own bound so. Maybe one day I’ll make this an adoptable species sort of deal and design different geists and bound for people...that’d be cool.))

Before we get into geists specifically, let’s talk ghosts and spirits. Ghosts are the souls of the deceased. In DN specifically, they’re the natural plasma that occurred in a living creature’s existence. So, a mage would have more plasm than a regular human, but they wouldn’t be as strong as someone who is, say, half-elf. 

When a ghost is first “born”, they can be one of two states. The first is a ghost with full memory of their past. They may or may not be aware that they died and may try to engage with their living compatriots for awhile. These guys tend to degrade pretty quickly to the second (general) type of ghost. The second type of ghost are classified loosely by the fact they’ve begun to have memory loss. Here you find the ghosts that are repetitive in nature, doing things over and over, or have been condensed down to a single emotion, like rage. Wrathful ghosts can be extremely dangerous. Revenants and poltergeists can both fit under here, so these classifications are very loose.

Ghost forms will evolve over time, according to what their plasma dictates. That’s why when I do draw ghosts, I tend to draw animals, like Rikki and Tavi being vaguely ferretish with antlers. The older the ghost, the more twisted their image, typically. 

Spirits are not ghosts. Unlike them, they were never bound to a living body and thus are considered pure plasmic beings. Otherwise, they function similarly to ghosts on the surface but have fewer weaknesses and leave the underworld less often.

Now that ghosts vs spirits are out of the way, let’s talk Twilight. Twilight is, of course, the underworld, a world between worlds that connects all of the different realities with each other. It’s not been discussed much, but Twilight is also host to the various dominions of death. There are “levels” to Twilight, each one utterly unique, and the old dominions are where you can find Hel, Hades, and other gods associated with death and the afterlife. Another major feature are the rivers. They are not of water, like in many realities, but of plasm. These rivers can be highly dangerous unless they are utilized correctly. How does one use it correctly? To shed one’s plasm into it, so that it may one day be reused for some other purpose, up to and including new life. So, reincarnation is a thing, sort of. 

Because plasm is so charged with emotions and memories, when a ghost passes entirely those memories join the others in the plasm rivers. Another important note of Twilight - it’s time-locked. So one can feasibly leave through a door or gate in San Francisco and leave through another door in Tokyo and no time has passed. But it’s up mainly to the will of Twilight. It’s essentially a sentient creature in it’s own right, but I’ll make another post about that later.

Now for, finally, geists. And wraiths a little. They are both creatures created from ghosts but are no longer considered ghosts because of their transformation. The simplest way to differentiate them? Geists are “natural” and wraiths are artificially created by necromancers. Both of them can be hurt in much the same way a ghost can, but both are extremely powerful and nigh on impossible to destroy forever. Wraiths also have fewer limitations than geists, able to fully access their powers immediately, but unless they’ve been untethered from their creator, they’re mostly bound to the necromancer’s will. Doesn’t mean they won’t do creepy shit or try to get free though.

So what are geists? Well, they’re souls that used the plasm rivers of Twilight not to pass on, but for power (or they accidentally fell in whoops). Plasm is the magical energy of all the realities, so it becomes tempting to a creature of pure plasm to add to their personal collection so they might do more. So they try to steal from the rivers. It never turns out well. The rivers are potent and the memories and emotions of all of eternity’s living beings are there, and a snippet of those memories are dumped wholesale into the ghost as it binds to new plasm. The longer they are in the river, the more plasm they get, the more memories are stuffed into their figurative craniums. 

Obviously, even a snipped of eternity is infinite, so overwhelmed between their new raw magical potential (which oftentimes physically deforms the ghost as well) and these memories, a newly made geist goes mad. Typically, they become shadows of their former selves, and without the restraints on their powers, they could easily destroy large swathes of Twilight or any reality they wander into. Fortunately, when they first became a problem, a Law was created by Twilight, binding their powers and limiting their use to essentially party tricks. 

A geist has all this power at their potential, imbued with plasm to the point where they are no longer ghosts but pieces of Twilight as well, but they are considered half a soul now and can no longer access their powers without making a deal with someone on the verge of death. What does the half a soul have to do with anything? It’s an artificial term made to discuss the codependence of geist and bound on each other for survival. If they die and the deal is refused on either end, there is no afterlife for them. They are too volatile, and thus immediately return to plasm.

Geists are also far more likely to be cannibalistc than other types of ghosts, going after their fellow dead and devouring them in hopes that the plasm gained would stabilize their new forms. It doesn’t, but it does increase their hunger and drive them desperate as the hole they feel consuming them grows bigger. A geist without a host will not die necessarily, but the time without feels like the end of their world.

The urge for cannibalization is passed onto the bound the longer they’re alive/the more often they take advantage of the deal. The deal already requires sacrificing a random life to take the bound’s place, but it does not sate the needs of the bound, who are often weakened and confused when brought back to life at the dawn of the next day.

Some interesting powers geists do have while unbound: in addition to their normal ghostly powers such as levitation, invisibility, and intangibility, they find breaching into the world of the living much easier. They also have the ability to pull a dying person’s soul into a pocket dimension - a small piece of Twilight utterly unique to them that they can design however they think will help make a deal. In this small space, they can stop and reverse the symptoms of death and even set the body to heal longterm illnesses and defects if the deal requires. Their limit is based off the strength of the deal and their own willingness to play along. Example: D and Voice’s deal is incredibly strong. Voice has been able to help heal many long-term diseases D had, but he’s refused to cure his asthma and didn’t fix a poorly healed broken hip because he wasn’t in the mood for it. They can recreate a body completely from scratch, but there are some negative consequences of that.

A deal-made body can be visually similar to the original, down to the DNA that makes it up, but it’s an object made of plasm. Not many bound will make the deal when their original body is entirely destroyed as the more often they die, not only do their cannibalistic urges grow, but so do visual signs of their body breaking down. Blackened extremities, slowed or stopped heartbeat, lack of appetite or need for sleep, are all symptoms that grow more obvious with the creation of a plasm body. These bound that take advantage of the deal over and over and over are often considered half-dead or more, having difficulty living a normal life. They also find themselves subject to hearing the memories and emotions of Twilight’s plasm the geist stole, oftentimes leading to misdiagnosis of mental disorders in extreme cases or resulting in self-isolation. Bound who make it to this level typically retreat to Twilight if they are able, slowly deforming more and more until they’re unrecognizable for what they once were.

When a deal is made, a bound is given an unique set of powers based off their affinity for the elements and some school of magic. Popular schools include empathy, illusions, and divination, as well as the classic elemental spells. A bound will have natural access to one school of magic and one element, though they can learn more on their own depending on their magical potential. When a bound has low synergy - when the wills of the person and the geist don’t match up, often leading to a power struggle on who gets to control the body - the geist can access their own powers while in control, but not their host’s. When the host is in control, they cannot access the geist’s powers. Typically, this isn’t too big of a deal because a geist will seek out someone similar in temperament to themselves, leading to a very similar power set. For example, there is an as of yet unseen bound in a story I’m writing - the geist’s name is Slinker. Visually, they look like a blobby, watery cat creature with glowing eyes, and they have control over water and illusions. Their host, Felix, has control over water and empathic abilities. 

Permanent low synergy will lead to the creation of a shell - a body whose soul only mechanically moves it around like a puppet. There is no personality, there is no magic, there is no hunger. They are very similar to ghosts who just move in a pattern and are typically pitied by even necromancers, who have no use for them. The only thing they’re good for is energy in a spell.

When a bound has high synergy, with the combined wills of geist and host acting as one, their magic becomes wholly what was created with the deal. The geist may not physically manifest anymore either, a feature seen at other levels where the consciousness is more split. Not that all geists will manifest. Voice is not unique in the fact that he only manifests if forced to and prefers to be a literal voice in the air. 

There’s a whole lot more, but I’ve been working on this for two weeks so. I’ll make a more streamlined version later