#what i wouldnt give to trade places au

[faecaribou]

blog directory stuff: my AUs

My AUs: easily accessable through tags of this post I hope :( list of AUs below:

What I Wouldn’t Give To Trade Places/WIWGTTP AU: William/Damien roleswap, but half-abandoned

Damien Time Travel AU: fanfic with like 1 art, WIP, also WKM related

2020: did egotober and whumptober at the same time and finished both prompts every day (also fanart) 2021: doing just whumptober mostly fics 2022: Going Gray/Old Age AU that is just two fics and a comic 2023:

Did a Dark!DA au where Damien’s not part of Dark instead of DA I think?, see ADWM AU where Dark exists but the DA also has powers?

Spy AU in the form of a comic. Eric Derekson trying to navigate the spy world, while also unraveling the spy corporations darkest secret... (insp.-roles-pt1-pt2-pt3-pt4-pt5)

bodyswap au. exactly how it sounds my guy. humor based

ive got no AUs that ive made any posts about so far this year but i do have Aus in my brain

[bridgyrose]

Nsfw concept: Ruby finds that she can trade out people's body parts when she dashes with them, such as Yang's chest or Harriet's thighs or Ilia's legs or Emerald's butt, etc

(Just as a note for this drabble: this takes place in an au where Beacon didnt fall and Ruby's near the end of her 4th year in Beacon.)

Ruby poked at her bare chest, no… Weiss’s chest. It didnt matter if it was attached to her now, it was still Weiss’s. Not that her partner really minded that this mishap happened, but it still wasnt something she was planning to keep for herself. At least not Weiss’s chest. 

But the longer she looked at her reflection, the more she realized just how much she didnt mind a smaller chest. Hers wasnt much bigger, maybe a size or two bigger with slightly broader shoulders, but she enjoyed just how boyish a flatter chest looked. Which gave her another idea. 

Ruby quickly threw a shirt on and rushed out the dorm and knocked loudly on Jaune’s door. “Jaune!” 

“Ruby, whats wrong?” Jaune asked with a yawn as he opened the door. “You’re not in trouble are you?” 

“I need your dick.” 

Jaune blushed and took a step back. “R-Ruby, I-I know we’re good friends and all, but Pyrrha and I-” 

“No, not like that!” Ruby quickly pushed Jaune into his dorm and shut the door behind them. She took a breath to steady herself and looked away from him. “I-I want… I want to see what I look like with a dick.” 

“I’m not sure I understand.” 

“I found out today that I can… exchange… body parts with people I carry with my semblance. I accidentally traded chests with Weiss and well… I… I want to know what it’s like to look like a boy.” 

“Why not crossdress?” 

“Because I want to know what a dick feels like between my legs.” 

Jaune blushed again. “That normally has a different meaning.” 

Ruby hit Jaune’s shoulder. “Not like that!”

“I know that!” Jaune said as he winced. “So how is this going to work? And how long, exactly, are you planning on keeping my dick?” 

“A couple hours… maybe a day. I dont know, I’m still trying to figure all of this out.” 

“I guess it wouldnt hurt.” He paused. “It wont hurt, will it?” 

“Maybe just a tingle. That’s what I felt when I accidentally did this with Weiss.” 

“Alright, then how do we do this?” 

“Just follow my lead.” 

Ruby took Jaune’s hand and tried to focus as she readied herself to use her semblance, following the same steps she did with Weiss. She let her body start to fade into rose petals, taking Jaune with her, rushing around the room in a circle for a few seconds before dropping out and letting Jaune go. Her whole body seemed to tingle, and then she felt a pressure against her panties. 

“This… feels strange,” Jaune said as he felt his own crotch. “Its really been replaced, hasnt it?” 

Ruby nodded and put a hand down her skirt, blushing a bit as she felt Jaune’s dick on her. “Thank you for this.” 

“You’ll let me know when you’re ready to give it back, right?” 

“Of course!” Ruby quickly hugged Jaune. “I’ll let you know tomorrow. But I should be getting back to my dorm before Weiss and Yang get back. To, you know, figure out how to break the news to her.” 

“I’ll be waiting.” 

Ruby nodded and quickly slipped out of Jaune’s dorm and back to her own. When she was sure she was alone, she stripped down in front of her mirror, almost blushing when she was naked. Seeing herself with a dick and flat chest felt strange, but right. Her hand went straight to her dick, fingers pausing as she brushed them against it before finally wrapping around it. A shiver ran up her spine as she slowly started to stroke it, more than curious to find out what it’d feel like to please herself with it. 

A soft moan escaped her lips as she stroked her cock, pleasure coming much easier with it. She sat down on Weiss’s bed, leaning against the wall as she continued. She felt it start to grow slightly as it got hard, her moans coming quicker as she stroked faster. It was certainly a different kind of pleasure than what she was used to. 

“R-Ruby? What are you doing?” 

Ruby paused when she finally noticed Weiss in the doorway, not sure how she missed the door opening. A blush crossed her cheeks and she quickly got up and tried to cover herself. “I-I can explain!” 

“If you’re going to do something like that, do it in the bathroom!” Weiss yelled out as she hit Ruby with a pillow. “No one needs to see that!” 

Ruby made her way into the bathroom and shut the door behind her. With the mood ruined, pleasuring herself wasnt on her mind anymore. But as she stared at her form in the mirror again, she couldnt help but smile as she liked what she saw. 

Once she was a graduate huntress in the fall, she’d start working to become a man. 

[favouritefi]

I would be super fascinated to learn more about how Peglar's views re. If humans get to be people why can't I, affects his relationship with Bridgens - and really just about how they came to be in/navigate through that relationship. Your art is adorable and I love it doubly more so for the amount of care and consideration you have for the inner works of creating a dog/cat boy world. :)

aw thank you this au really is my brain going "crack treated seriously" and somehow making This and im glad other ppl enjoy it too. i have a lot of thoughts on this in terms of how much history to keep and how much to disregard so its under the cut:

so apparently in the book (which i have not read and do not plan to read) bridglar met on the hms beagle and as far as i can tell thats completely made up bc peglar was sailing w the east india company at the time.

then theres the show weirdness of bridgens being like in his 50s/60s when irl bridgens was in his 20s and this makes more sense bc as far as i can tell the position of steward was usually one reserved for younger men so for 50smth bridgens to be jfj's steward is a little odd and esp odd if hes a human in a position that is typically meant for cat/dogboys so my logic for this is that either 1) jfj requested bridgens to be his steward or 2) bridgens requested to be jfj's steward and either option would mean giving bridgens and jfj a slightly closer relationship than what they have in show canon which is fine that just means peglar and bridgens likely met during the first opium war but then how they met is still a mystery bc peglar would be aboard the wanderer with hodgson and bridgens would be on the cornwallis/clio with jfj so like ???

POINT BEING for all the reasons above ive handwaved away exactly how they meet but AT SOME POINT they do meet during the first opium war. peglar was the one who initiated the relationship tho the two of them did have mutual feelings for each other before committing to anything and bridgens is deffo the kinda guy who would go all "i would love you no matter what species you are" and actually mean it and peglar. ok so. i have a lot of thoughts about peglar.

so irl peglar was lashed for drunkeness and mutinous conduct while serving with the east indian company and for catboy peglar i like to imagine that travelling to places where cat/dogboys arent treated the way they are treated in england really opened his eyes and his mind to the idea of being treated like a person and this is obviously not a mindset that human officers want him to have and hence why he was lashed. he then served on the wanderer fighting against the slave trade and thats another chance to see a different type of human-to-cat/dogboy relationship even if he wouldnt have had as many opportunities to live amongst the locals as he did while with the east india company. and peglars like, smart. part of the reason why bridgens falls in love w him is bc of his intelligence and cheek and wit and peglar knows that britiannia's "civilizing mission" is bogus because while they are trying to abolish slavery on one hand they are also actively enforcing Company rule in India on the other and bc peglar has seen both sides of that he has Thoughts about it, Thoughts he didnt dare share with anyone until bridgens coaxed it out of him and to his surprise bridgens agreed with him.

bridgens, being well read and well educated, also knows that the way england treats cat/dogboys is the exception and not the rule and really like cherishes peglar and loves him like truly loves him and is thus completely aware of and careful of their uneven power dynamic here and wouldve never been the first to initiate anything for that very reason. and its not easy to navigate this forbidden relationship but peglar makes it worth it and both of them did worry that maybe this was merely a maritime romance but in the months between the war and the expedition they managed to sneak in lowkey dates on land and found that they were still very much compatible and it really makes things all the more tragic that bridgens cant afford to adopt peglar outright and ensure that henry lives out the rest of his days in peace curled up next to the fire with a good book and smiling whenever he catches john staring at him and god, they are so in love.

[silvergoldraeven]

Okokokok so (assuming) you’re an avid heimes shipper, I’m rlly curious, so like, how do you think (in your resurrection au) kratos would feel if Hermes came back to life out of nowhere and started dating Heimdall??? LMAOO

OR EVEN, WOULD, your au Heimdall even ever be into Hermes at all????? Due to his redemption and all??? KSJDKDJ I can’t stop thinking abt it😭

oh ive thought about this A LOT. like an ungodly amount. i actually at first made a character for Heimdall as a love interest but scrapped it cuz i didnt want it to be a Heimdall x oc thing ya know. then my dear friend (@medievildead) got me Hermespilled- and now i have. better ideas. they wouldnt work with what im actually going for with res!AU cuz itd add sooooo many things and its just. ough. but!

There's so many ways this could go. So Many. (x0k if youre reading this im encouraging you to make a version with your Hermes AU c:)

But i'd like to imagine that Atreus one day just comes home wearing the like ancient Greek travelling outfit and Kratos looks him up and down, goes silent for a few minutes before asking where the fuck and who the fuck he got that from. Atreus just happily going "from this really nice man, had flaming hair, weird little voice but he was cool and- oh there he is-" and just points over to Hermes crawling out of the bushes and yelling "where are my fucking shoes Kratos?!"

i think thats funny, i think that should be canon. Hermes existing and following Atreus home to Midgard opens up so much place for angst with Kratos and Atreus but im not here for that, im here to make 2 people worse. mostly Heimdall, reverse therapy now that Hermes is here /hj

Hermes joining the gang is just like like the Thor scene but Loud and hes like "i brought olives :]" and Kratos lets him in just for that trade tbh.

Kratos asking how tf hes even alive and Hermes replies with "im bugs" without elaborating, we never find out how he's alive.

Uncle Hermes is definitely my fav trope so him bonding with Atreus over atheletics and mischief, mostly bullying Heimdall. Hermes locked eyes with Heimdall and immediately decided that he was a worthy opponent. so their relationship starts with Hermes and Atreus bullying the shit out of Heimdall, who's self growth is really being tested on a daily basis. when Atreus leaves again Heimdall is left with just 1 shithead insisting on making his life harder (but oh so affectionately).

i think Heimdall would actually be more likely to fall for Hermes cuz he finally got that giant stick out of his ass, would probably find his japes and overall mischief endearing, after he warms up to the Greek god.

Hermes is canonically really good at cooking too if im correct so him helping Heimdall with cooking,,, cute. so cute. Hermes teaches Heimdall Greek dishes and Heimdall teaches him Nordic dishes but Hermes usually just goes "this has no flavour" which in return makes Heimdall call him a slur of some kind in offense.

Heimdall showing off Gulltoppr being like "this is my great and loyal beast, he has never left my side for anyone, neither in life or death. he will never be loyal to anyone els-" camera turns to Hermes giving a purring Gully tummy rubs :3

unrelated (sorta) but i think Angrboda and Hermes would actually get along really well.

Hermes being the god of travel drags Heimdall around the 8 realms c o n s t a n t l y. Heimdall hates it, especially since Vanaheim would probably be Hermes' fav realm. but he usually plans a 'surprise' picnic so Heimdall isn't too upset about it :3

Hermes constantly throwing apples at Heimdall. infront of everyone. its funny. most people dont get why Heimdall turns completely red every single time.

if Kratos still has Hermes' boots like he did in the gow 2018 trailer and actually gives them back, Hermes would probs lend them to Atreus occasionally for travelling like the good uncle he is. or as i like to say, buncle. Atreus' bug uncle c:

Hermes would definitely flirt with Heimdall constantly before they start dating just to annoy the living shit out of him which Atreus would find extremely entertaining but once these 2 fuckers start dating they turn their attention back to bullying Atreus. rip my man

Heimdall giving his bf bifrost legs. Hermes deserves bifrost legs. he'd look So Gay. not sure how that'd work but its canon now.

overall i just have many unhinged (normal) thoughts about these 2, too many to put into words but this hopefully gets the point across c:

[honeykawa]

Fly | Route: Tanaka Ryuunosuke

genre: mafia au, choose your own adventure

warnings: violence, suggestive themes but nothing graphic

word count: 3.1k

Fly Masterlist

“I choose him”

You looked at the man who had been standing in the corner of the room with his arms crossed

“Tanaka get your ass moving and take them home. Pick them up in the morning and take them home from now on. Make sure they dont run away or itll be on your head”

“Got it boss”

The car ride to your apartment was filled with silence and the soft sound of music coming from the radio

You were too nervous to say anything

The growing feeling of anxiety in your chest made it almost hard to breath

You started to unconsciously grab at the area above your chest and your breathing became irregular

‘How did i get into this mess?’ ‘whats going to happen to me?’

These thoughts keep rushing through your head

“--hey are you okay?”

Tanaka pulled the car over so he could stop and assess just what was happening

And from the way he saw it...it looked like an anxiety attack

His panicked a little himself watching you like this he didnt even want to imagine the feelings rushing through you right now

He got you to control your breathing again and come down from your panic

“You good now?”

You nodded your head, still weary about being near this man

He could tell you were still on your guard with the way you wrapped your arms around your body, as if you were trying to make yourself smaller

“I know it seems rough right now but i swear itll be okay”

His voice was soft with you, something you didnt expect from someone in the mafia

The car ride after that went pretty smooth

“We’re here”

The ride went faster than you thought it would and you got out of his car before saying your goodbyes

“Ill pick you up in the morning...if you need me heres my card”

He held out his card to you as you slowly took it from his hands

“See you”

And with that he sped off as you went inside your apartment to go to bed, hoping that maybe this had all been a dream

Once tanaka got back to his apartment he immediately plopped himself onto his bed and covered his eyes with his arm while thoughts of you plagued his mind

‘Cute’

His arm fell down to his side and he just stared at the ceiling

“Get your shit together tanaka. Your job is to watch them, nothing more”

He rolled over to his side with thoughts of you fading as he drifted into sleep

You woke up to the sound of light knocking on your door

And as soon as you opened the door it finally set in that last night really did happen

“Are you ready to go?”

Tanaka took one look at you and let out a deep sigh knowing that you werent

“Ill give you fifteen minutes”

You nodded your head as you ran back into your room and changed into something work appropriate

Wait where were you working? What would be considered work appropriate?

Based off of what tanaka was wearing you assumed something business casual

When you came out you looked at tanaka to see if this was good enough and he just nodded his head and started walking back towards his car, opening the door for you to get in

“I talked it over with daichi and youll be working with me as my assistant”

Your eyes widened and he immediately knew what went through your mind

“No not like that! Like with actual business stuff you wont really have to do anything with the mafia”

His flailing around made you laugh a bit and lifted a weight off of your shoulders

Listening to you laugh was almost relaxing, his cheeks heating up from the mere sight of your carefree smile

He gave you a quick tour of the place and introduced you to the others if you ran into them but that was about it

As his assistant you really didnt do much

If anything it felt like he was just an over glorified babysitter

But you shuffled through the files he gave you and sorted them the way he wanted

Tanaka watched you from the corner of his eye while you both worked

It wasnt that he was worried you would do it wrong

But it was just last night that you had that anxiety attack right in front of him

“y/n do you want to go out?”

You looked up from your papers and looked at him in confusion

“Right now? And what do you mean by ‘go out’?”

A big smile appeared on his face

“Yeah right now! Lets go! And dont think too much of it”

He stood up and grabbed his wallet

You followed him and as you two rounded the corner of the block he held the door open to a small cafe

“Go ahead and order whatever you want its on me”

You were weary about being here

Would you two get in trouble for leaving like that?

Tanaka could see the worry still lingering on your face and rose his hand to gently pat your head

“Like I said its on me so dont worry about leaving the office ill take any repercussions if there are any”

The grin on his face took a weight off of your chest and you felt like the air around you wasnt so thick anymore

After getting back to the office no one had even noticed that you two had even left

Whos running this place??

The next few weeks seemed to be fine

It was almost like you lived a normal life and you werent being watched by the mafia

You and tanaka had grown closer and it was easier to talk to the others now

He treated you kindly and tried to understand your situation

Unlike the two interns who always berated you for not knowing where certain files were or would roll their eyes when you would flinch at sudden movements the first few days

But tanaka took it slow with you, doing little things so that youd be more comfortable

At first it was subtle

If you needed to go make a copy of something he’d suddenly need to go grab something from the copy room with you even if you insisted that you could get it for him

Or how he always tried to include you in conversations with others so you would get more comfortable around everyone

Tanaka grew to be someone who it was easy for you to be around

But that sense of calmness was quickly wiped away when you joined him on one of his...excursions

“Heres the case. Now give us what we want”

Tanaka held the case in front of him while you just watched from the car

Sure, he’d take you with him but he’d never let you actually get out

He didnt really want this to take too long

Especially since it was just him against a good handful of men

But the men he was making the trade deal with suddenly saw you in move in the car and locked eyes with you

His smile sent a chill down your spine formed on his face

“New deal: give me that hot piece of ass in the car and you have a deal”

Tanakas jaw clenched at the the disgusting words just said about you

“Im sorry but,”

You couldnt see tanakas face until he looked up at the man in front of him

The look on his face utterly terrified you

“I’ll kill you if you even try to put a hand on them”

Everyone stood there unmoving, too scared to move

Tanaka turned around and headed back to the car where you were

“Deals off if that wasnt clear”

But one of the other men moved towards him

“The fuck you mean its off!”

Tanaka easily evaded the man’s advance and took him down with only a quick few movements

“Anyone else want to try”

The question was simple enough but no one dared made eye contact with him as he got into the car and drove off

The car ride was quiet, youd never seen tanaka look like that before

It scared you

He scared you

Tanaka noticed your silence and reached a hand out to pat your head but his chest went heavy at the sight of you flinching

“Y/n?”

You knew he wouldnt hurt you but you couldnt stop the slight tremble

“Im sorry tanaka”

A weak smile appeared on his face

“It’s fine y/n. i’ll take you home, okay?”

You just nod your head and neither of you talk the rest of the ride

A few days go by and you can feel the distance between you and tanaka growing

Its so noticeable that the others in the office can feel the awkwardness between the two of you

Tanaka suddenly stood up from his seat which startled you but he quickly rose his hands

“Woah sorry didnt mean to scare you”

He said it with such a sad smile on his face that it almost hurt to even look at him

“Ill be back in a moment, gotta use the bathroom”

You nodded your head as he left and let out a sigh

You knew he was just doing business

This was his job

It just shocked you to see the man thats been so kind to you to look...like that

Tanaka on the other hand knew this would happen eventually

He washed his face in the sink and looked up at his reflection

‘Remember your place. They deserve better’

He wiped off his face before heading back to his office only to see you not there

His heart just drop not seeing you there

“y/n?!”

He was about to bolt out of there but as soon as he turned around he bumped right into you

You fell onto the ground and the papers you were holding scattered around everywhere

You both just looked at each other for a moment

“Tanaka--”

Before you could say anymore he scooped you into his arms and you could feel the slight tremble in his shoulders before he quickly pulled away once he realized what he was doing

“Sorry y/n i dont know what came over me”

He started help to pick up the papers you dropped but before he could get too far you pulled him into a hug

He was frozen on the spot at feeling your touch

The warmth from your hands made his heart beat erratically

“Im sorry tanaka”

Your arms tightened around him

Youd seen so many sides of him

How clumsy he was

How kind he could be

Youve also seen how scary he could be and honestly it still shocked you

But you want to believe in him

The him thats been nothing but gentle with you

You could hear him let out a shaky breath before pulling you into his chest

After that your relationship with tanaka went back to normal

Or at least as normal as it could have been

Ever since that day youve started to notice how your heart speeds up whenever you look at him

Or the butterflies in your stomach when he smiles at you

He was careful to not let you see the mafia side of things anymore

You appreciate the thought but youd be lying if you said it didnt worry you when he came to work bandaged or bruised

Today was one of those days where tanaka had picked you up with some visible injuries

The cut on his face looked fairly fresh and without realizing it you reached up and gently ran your thumb over it

“Um what are you doing y/n”

Not that tanaka hated this

He felt his heart flutter at your touch

“You know, i dont mind helping you if you need it”

He smiled and took your hand off of his face

“Thank you y/n but im fine”

Just knowing that you cared was enough for him

‘I love you’

They were words he couldnt say

But he knew this life wasnt for you and he couldnt force you to come live in it

A few weeks go by and you feel like every time you get close to him he pulls back to just keep it barely within the realm of just friends

But that was fine as long as you could stay near

It was another one of those days where tanaka was off doing mafia business so noya kept you company

He always had his guard up but he seemed to take a liking to you

“Do you like tanaka”

The question caught you so off guard you dropped your pen

You looked up at him

“Is it that obvious?”

Noya kept working on whatever was in front of him not even sparing you a glance

“Painfully”

You could feel your embarrassment rising

“But if it makes you feel any better i think he likes you too so promise me...make him happy”

Before you could say anything back noyas phone went off and he immediately answered

His eyes went wide and his head whipped towards you before hanging up and dragging you somewhere

“Noya! Where are we going?”

He rushed you into a car and he took the wheel before driving off to who knows where

“Where are we?”

He got out of the car and opened your door

You were at an apartment complex from the look of it

“We’re at tanakas apartment hurry up”

You immediately got out and followed after him and you almost felt your legs give out seeing the state tanaka was in

Bloody and battered

Hinata was sitting next to his bed with his arms crossed

“Idiot rushed in despite not having a gun”

Noya rolled his eyes

“You know he doesnt like carrying one whyd you let him go alone?”

“Not my fault he didnt stop to think”

They kept talking to each other and went into the other room leaving you both alone

His breathing seemed stable as he slept but tears escaped your eyes as you took a seat next to him

Noya left you with tanaka and told you to take care of him

“He’ll try to tell you hes okay. Dont listen to him hes a fucking liar so take good care of him for me”

It was funny but it almost sounded like a goodbye

Tanaka woke up later that night only to see you sitting next to him with tear stains on your cheeks

The thought of you shedding tears because of him both hurt and warmed his heart

He reached up to wipe your face despite the pain he felt

Your cheeks fit perfectly within his hand and he found it cute how you leaned into his touch subconsciously

He couldnt move much but this is all he needed

You woke up before he did that next morning and decided to make some breakfast for the both of you

When you came back in he was just waking up

“Good morning tanaka”

The smile on your face as the sunlight trickled in through the window made him feel at ease

This...this was the life he longed for

“Morning”

He tried to sit up but flinched while doing so

You rushed to his side and set the food down before helping him up

“Dont push yourself. Youre still pretty banged up”

You changed his bandages for him every evening after that

“I can do this myself you know”

He said it with a light laugh

He was starting to get back on his feet and regained most of his movement and strength

“I know but...id like it if you would rely on me just a bit more. I know i cant do much but i can do this”

He didnt say anything back to you after that

In all honesty he didnt want to do it himself

Every time your hand even brushed over his skin it felt like he was on fire

Even the scars that have long since healed throbbed at your touch

His heart beat so hard against his chest that he was afraid that you could hear it

“There all done! Hope that wasnt too bad”

‘Dont smile at me’

‘Youre far too precious’

‘I dont know what ill do if you look at me like that’

He really was planning to let you go, he was fine with just keeping you at an arms length away but now he knew he was in too deep

You got up to put the first aid kit away but he quickly pulled you into his bed with him and he held you tight against his chest

His face was buried into the crook of your neck

He didnt know what he wanted anymore

He wanted to keep you safe but he couldnt guarantee that with him being in the mafia

He hated it

This life wasnt the one he wanted anymore

The life he wanted was with you

Slowly, he rose his head to look at you

“Run away with me y/n”

Your eyes widened in pure shock

“What...what did you just say?”

You couldnt believe what he just said

His eyes were serious though

“Run away with me. I dont want this life anymore. I want to give you the life you deserve. One filled with happiness and laughter where you dont have to worry about things like if ill come home the next day or not. One where you arent targeted. I love you y/n. I love you so much so please, run away with me or so help me god ill just take you”

He held you so tight that it felt like he might break at any sudden movement

You wrapped your arms around him and held him gently against you so you wouldnt hurt any of his wounds

“Then take me away”

That was all tanaka needed to let go of any reservations that were holding him back up

He kissed you with everything hes been bottling up until this moment

Your lungs burned as pulled away, both out of breath but hungry for more

“I hope you know Im not letting you go. Youre stuck with me now”

You laughed and kissed his forehead

“I wouldnt have it any other way”

That night was spent in each others arms, both of you longing for the others touch and neither of you wanting to be apart for even a second

Noya visited the apartment a few days later only to be met with complete silence

A knowing smile appeared on his face as he shook his head

He knew wherever you two were you were both happy

Because he knew you would keep your promise to him

[shyrose57]

Brothers anon back again. I had a sort of writers block for the last like 2 days which made it really hard to do some questions, but I got em done finally. Sorry about the wait. This one is split between the numbered questions, and next ask is the other questions you asked!

I think I accidentally skipped a question in the last one. I honestly don't completely remember but in case I did skip it by mistake, the groups first travel out of the city's limits and even further beyond in a carriage. When they reach the end of how far the driver is willing to go they then get out and start walking. With Jackie screaming about how their finally going on a adventure. 

1: It thankfully doesn't get to to bad before the others notice. And he immediately told them about Dream, wanting to be very clear with what happened and what they where getting themselves into. But they accepted him anyway and helped him. 

2: Isaac is the leader cause Cletus is too much of a wildcard and too impulsive to lead safely, Charles is too shy to lead, and while Benjamin is perfect for leading he doesnt really like leading and is more of a follower than a leader. But Isaac can joke around and gets along with everyone but also be able to take things seriously and know when something needs to be handled.

5: They do not, they last for a few minutes and unless its a healing or regeneration potion (in which it can take a few days for it to fully go away) they have no long lasting affects. They do know of eachothers past to an extent, they know enough to avoid triggers and enough to know what not to do when around eachother. They know through telling eachother, and they feel awful Grievous and Jackie had to deal with that, but leave it in the past and focus on making their current life better. 

6: Yes and no, while Jackie did mean to throw it at Ran, he ment for it to just hit nearby him, not directly hit him. It was ment to be more of a scare/intimidation tactic than anything else honestly. Grievous's luck is for basically everything, he has won the lottery twice before actually but only those 2 times, he's correctly guessed how many items are in a container more than a few times as well. 

7: I use the height charts and they help mostly for comparison, problem is I have trouble applying it to real world stuff and because of that I still have trouble knowing if something or someone is to tall or short. Jackie can get very mean, like he can make fun of someone who just lost a loved one or experienced a traumatic event at the worst. But he usually doesn't get nearly that mean, most he does normally is making fun of how someone looks or how they do certain things. The others comfort him the best they can when he gets sad, and when he gets mean they either encourage it (Grievous), or discourage it and stop him (Watson. Ran is between either encouraging or discouraging it).

8: He was! He spent most of his life adventuring actually! He misses it somedays now since he lives in Subbin, but he believes giving up his adventuring life for a family and friends who needed him is a more than far trade and would happily pick his family over adventuring again. For around 4 years after Ran left Mizu (including the day he left), Ran traveled everywhere, and learned how to survive himself and taught himself different things, like sewing. Ran has made new socks, fixed clothes, and made blankets for everyone at least once. Watson also designs bows and arrows for show, for top functionality, and for just simple (training) gifts to the others. Ran (and Watson) has visited the nether, though Ran tended to stay in it longer than Watson cause he could withstand the temperatures better. And while digging a new tunnel across the nether he ran into ancient debris, which he then messed with until he figured out to mix it with gold and coat his sword in it. He tried to find more ancient debris but sadly hasn't found any, leaving his sword permanently damaged and at risk of breaking. Jackie isn't good at all at painting, its more of a hobby he's trying out. They try to camp out there at least once a week, where Grievous will sometimes build a pillowfort and either force everyone inside or play a game of capture the fort with them. Sometimes Ran will also read during the pillowfort nights, but not to often. Jackie wants to vist a Snow, Savanna, Jungle,  Tagia, and if possible, a Ice Spike biome. He also wants to vist the nether but he'll have to fight Ran on that. Ran and Jackie's secondary titles are in Javanese!

9: Ran just kinda went "Hey Jackie, stand still for a second." "Ok?" And then he just picked him up and threw up. 

10: When he's first given dinner after already eaten lunch, he just kinda stares at the food. Then asks if they meant to give him food, and when the others say yes, he asks why because he thought people only ate once every few days. His answer shocked the others and they ask him to explain, and he explains futher that he was only allowed to eat and drink once every 3 days. Their horrified by this answer but explain to him how theres 3 meals a day and he can drink whenever, he doesn't believe them at first but eventually accepts it. 

11: When the fishermen first come to Ranbob about their worry, he expresses the same worry as them. But says that it's unlikely Ran will hurt the fishermen specifically, because Rans haunting are already friends with them, and Ran wouldnt risk breaking the friendship unless he deemed it necessary for their safety. 

12: Ranbob is sad that Ran goes to such lengths to avoid him and keep people away from him, but he has resigned himself to it. As he knew that if Ran was alive it was greatly unlikely that he would trust him and knew he would be avoided. Which is actually particularly why he believes Ran will never trust him again and why he views Ran as a kind of lost family member. One he'll never get back no matter what he does.

13: Their first stop is a nearby flower biome, and after that Watson has planned to lead them to a waterfall he found with a shattered Savanna somewhat close to it. They plan to travel for a minimum of 6 months, they can actually travel for as long as they want to, but Prokius made them agree that they must be back before the next General Pit Battles (which happens once every 5 years). 

14: He would 100% run himself into the ground until he's barely alive while searching for them. Benjamin compares Ranbob wanting to go back to Dream, to an abused person wanting to go back to their abusive lover. They believe they've changed and that they truly do love them and want the best for them, but in reality that's not it at all and others have to help them see thats not true and help them save themselves. So it doesn't surprise Benjamin or Isaac that much (it surprises Charles and Cletus though), and after its explained to them, their all more than willing to help Ranbob get over Dream and help him be himself again.

15: Oh definitely. Once they hear the Green-Eyed Enderman is back from hiding they all set out again, and after the group gets attacked and once word spreads that its in a group and there's another enderman with them, they all get targeted. With the Gladiators and Fishermen being targeted as bait or hostages to try to trick the enderman into following a trap. Ran wasnt affected like his brother was. Im talking about trauma and maybe even a bit of PTSD that came from Mizu, caused by Dream. Though both of the brothers have gained different amounts of trauma and PTSD from Dream. I may give the raven to either Watson or Ran, I think its fits both of them really well. I want to have them come across ruins of other Tales but im not sure which ones. Maybe they could find the remains of the Wild West Tale and the Haunted Mansion?

Glad to see you, Brothers Anon, and excited to read!

1: The perfect start to an Adventure. And a funny mental image. Imagining these two groups cramped into carriages is pretty amusing. How ready was everyone to get out by the time they could?

2: The fishermen are really great, and Ranbob is very lucky. I love them.

3: Isaac sounds like he’s a pretty good fit for it then. But nobody’s perfect! What are some flaws of his, leadership-wise?

5: Interesting. What makes Regeneration and Healing last longer? I suppose it’s not relative to the AU, but I am a bit curious. What’s the world’s potions mechanisms, if you don’t mind me asking? And that’s good! They may not know everything, but they know what to avoid, and that’s important. Everyone’s moved forward and are making the best of life, and honestly, that’s pretty cool of them.

6: Welp, Jackie, it seems intimidation tactic failed. However, you have managed to anger Ran, so..there’s that. He won the lottery? Dang. Well, if they ever need money, they can just send him to the nearest casino, I suppose.

7: Aight, so I may have a solution for you there. Whatever height you’re going for, find something in real life that’s just about the same height. Like a tree, or something. Or not, we can always just leave it at short enough to be tossed and tall enough to be the tosser. Jackie sounds like he knows where to hit to make it hurt, honestly. It’s good that they comfort him, though I am curious why they all react as they do to him being mean. Why does Grievous encourage it? And is it more of a depends on the day thing for Ran, or a depends on what was said to Jackie, and what Jackie’s saying thing?

8: Nice! What kind of places did he go? Does he have any particularly interesting knickknacks from that time period? And Ran personally sounds like he knows what he’s doing. Watson’s weapons sound really cool, where did he learn to make them? Is visiting the Nether not a common occurrence these days? Or is it simply that the others never got around to it before? Well, hobbies are always fun to try. Does Jackie keep at it and get better or get bored and try something else? How does Capture the Fort go with these guys, considering they’re gladiators? Why does Jackie want to visit those particular biomes? Is there a reason, or do they just sound cool to him? And why would Ran not want them going to the Nether? Because of the danger?

9: FDXGHJ- He just- tossed him?? No warning?? Oh my gods, I’m dying. How did Jackie react to that? Heck, how did Porkius react to that? I doubt anyone was expecting that display.

10: Oh, no. Now I really want to punch Dream in the face. What the heck, Dream?! He legit asks if they meant to give him food...If one of the fishermen or gladiators doesn’t eventually find a way to punch Dream, I will be forced to travel realities and do it myself. 

11: Kind of sad that Ranbob was equally concerned about it. But hey! He won’t have to be, one day!

12: Poor Ranbob. I hope he’s proven wrong, eventually. Do the fishermen know that he thinks this? If so, how do they feel about it? Or does he kind of just keep those thoughts to himself?

13: Flower biomes are really pretty. What did everyone think about it? Did they bring any flowers with them? So this roadtrip could possibly go on for a few years. Did they leave just after a General Pit Battle, or do they have like, less than five years? Speaking of General, is Jackie still the General in this AU? Does he have extra duties because of it? Or is that not something that happened in this AU?

14: Yikes. Reactions to this? Why does Ranbob believe Dream’s changed, as you put it? Is Dream still able to talk to him, or is it because he just misses being there? So Benjamin and Isaac aren’t all that surprised about it. Do they take the reins in helping out? And how do they all do so? It’s good that they’re helping him though.

15: Well, this sounds like it can’t end well. They try to use the hauntings as bait? Is anyone actually captured? Rescue missions? And alright, that makes a bit more sense. I can see how they’d both be effected differently, and honestly, they’d probably both have very different perspectives of the event, all things considered. Ravens for the win! And it’d be really cool for them to come across the ruins of old Tales buildings. Can you imagine the kind of things they’d find? Diaries, faded photographs, moth-eaten clothes, blood stained floors...Like a walk in the past, but they’ll never know what came to be for the people of that time.

[willowstream-hp]

hes a fire knight... so... fire sword

WELCOME BACK TO ME DESIGNING WEAPONS SO MY FAVORITE KIDS CAN  HURT EACH OTHER AND THEIR ENEMIES PART IVE LOST COUNT

This is the flaming sword, for none other than the flaming knight, Hels. He technically doesn’t have a design yet, so that’s why my drawing was of his skin.

This design is a little different than the others. It was designed for the purposes of @martuzzio​ ‘s Space Outlaws AU, however seeing as it IS a little less techno themed than the rest of them, go bonkers with using it for your headcanons I guess. Though please do tag and credit me with the design if you choose to do so. I’d like to see if you use it for yourself as I’m sure the drawing will be lovely :3

ANYWAYS LETS GET ON WITH THIS

How It Works:

Diagram above incase you need to cross reference, but basically, there are fuel capsules within the bulk of the guard part of the sword, kinda cone shaped like a flashlight end. Four fuel capsule thingies can fit in here, and each lasts about 20 minutes, so this sword technically also functions as a torch. Just saying. Anyways the fuel is super compact and chemically engineered to give as much fuel as possible with as little substance as possible. So the sword wouldnt need to be attached to a fuel tank. Basically, Hels twists the crystal at the bottom (what blazestone crystals are will be explained further down) and this slots it into place to attach to the tubes on the inside of the sword. These sap energy out of the crystals and travel to the fuel reserves. The fuel is mixed with the energy and quickly shot up to the fire vents of the sword, which is where the fire comes out of the sword. The energized fuel resides in the fire vents until the sword is moved. A quick swinging/slicing action causes the molecules in the energized fuel to collide into each other forcefully, and this creates the spark that lights the flame. The flame will keep burning until the crystal is turned back, however it will burn a tad bit longer due to residual fuel.

Blazestone Crystals

I really just wanted a nether equivalent of a less powerful end crystal. So I came up with this idea. Purified blaze rod powder can be infused with glowstone and smelted/compressed to form small and extremely hot crystals. They are NOT eternally fueling like end crystals and Hels has to find a replacement every 10-15 years, depending on how many times he flaunts his sword around at passersby. For this reason Hels probably wears fire resistant gloves on his suit, or at least on his main hand (which I have drawn as right, seeing as lefties are kinda uncommon). Blazestone crystals aren’t that rare, but it does take quite a bit of energy to refine and compress them. Luckily, the Hermitship has PLENTY of energy, so he probably gets a restock if they bump into each other.

Extra Notes:

- Unlike most of my designs, there really isn’t any safety measures against accidentally burning someone, especially if Hels leaves the crystal turned on accident. The crystal is a little tough to lock in, but other than that it’s off or it isn't. But Hels likes it that way.

- He pretty much makes people flinch everytime he brandishes it, because no one knows if it’ll be lit or not. He usually doesn’t have it on, but one rather rough experience with Tango teasing him about being chicken and then proceeding to burn Impulse (on accident, he was swinging for Tango) makes everyone a little anxious. Tango gave up teasing him on that note.

- Blazestone Crystals CAN be bought at intergalactic trading centers, but only on specific planets, either nearby to planets that have glowstone, very high tech planets, or marketing/merchant based planets. Most common trading centers or markets do not have them on stock, but you can usually buy the materials or place an order for delivery to a nearby planet with ease

THATS GONNA DO IT FOR THIS DESIGN. It was a little shorter and less complex than the others, but it’s a sword that lights on fire. Not a flamethrower powered by body heat. Not an electrically charged, heat sensing taser collar. Its a sword. That gets fuel in the blade. And goes whoosh with fire.

Edit: it was not, in-fact shorter. The design was simpler though.

Remember, my ask blog is ALWAYS open for questions, design advice and even custom design requests. Weapons are (apparently) my strong suit, but I’ll probably take anything. Billion thanks to Marzo for coming up with this AU so I can dedicate hours into designing weapons. Next up on my list are Cleo’s eight-legged helper bots, so watch out for that post in the future.

Hope you like it Marzo 🔥🔥🗡🗡

[megatraven]

ok im gonna make as simpel a post about this au as i can manage:

hades tells aphrodite about hera’s wish to stay asleep, and so when the two find mc’s mother- hera’s reincarnation- they do their best to shield her from any other gods or godly business, to keep her hidden.

mc and alex arent raised together because of this.

alex is raised on olympus, and their opinion on humans is slightly different than if they’d been raised alongside mc and josh

mc becomes a baker instead of working at some place like HERA, which doesn’t exist here

mc’s mother still dies young, and so the potential passes to mc

because mc’s mom isn’t there to convince aphrodite to kick ares to the curb, alex has to deal with him much longer, until ares convinces zeus to send alex on a wild goose chase- to find hera’s reincarnation

so alex goes down to earth armed only with some files on hera and the goddess’ ring and they end up actually really loving humans, they’re so quirky and oddly charming and not at all how the gods painted them out to be

it takes awhile (a few years- so they’re 30 when they meet her) for them to do it, but they track down the person they think has hera’s potential

there’s an attempt to get her to find the ring and put it on, but that only results in her giving it back to them 

they try different tactics trying to get her to try the ring on so they know for sure, and she always upends their plans

but the more they run into one another, the more alex realizes how kind and genuine she is, how warm her eyes are (when theyve only ever seen that sort of warmth from their mother and maybe persephone), how her laugh is one of the sweetest sounds theyve ever heard

despite their upbringing, despite the goddess of love in their blood....... they’ve never really had a crush on anyone, until MC. so they don’t really realize it for what it is at first, not until they notice her blushing, too

and gods, they can’t do that

they can’t fall in love with hera’s (assumed to be) reincarnation!

so they do what they have to do to throw a wrench in it: they tell her that she’s hera’s reincarnation

she laughs at them a moment, and then asks if theyre serious

and they are

she wants to think it’s some REALLY weird joke, but there no humor in their eyes, just something... sad? guilty?

she’s a little weirded out, rightfully so, and she starts to leave, but alex pleads for her to stay, and let them explain

and at some point mc ends up asking them if they Want her to be hera’s reincarnation

and they’ll hesitate, but say no, they dont want that. but they do think she is regardless.

mc isnt convinced of it at all, but there’s something in alex’s eyes- their amaranth eyes, she notes with a new kind of wonder- that pushes her to let them try

they’ll bring her to the boar back and introduce her to different monsters and the like, show her their own aura, etc. until she believes them

now here’s the kicker

alex offers her the ring, and she puts it on, and-

it burns her

alex takes it off immediately, before the power can lash out and hurt her any more than that

they apologize frantically, while at the same time feeling all their efforts washed down the drain AND feeling their hope grow, that they might be able to love her after all

there’ll be a bunch of talk about alex and their view on humanity, and how they’ve always been taught by those around them (save their mother) that their humanity is a weakness and so they thought humans were weak, but since they’ve been on earth, humans- mc, especially- have broken down every prejudice they’d held, and how they think it’s not a weakness for them, either

and mc will comment on how human they’ve always seemed to her, and how it’s not a bad thing at all

and then of course there’s gonna be talk of alex’s immortality, and the fear of loving someone mortal. and talk of mc and her own view on mortality- how it’s better to love and lose than not to love at all. how she’d lost her mother, but she wouldnt trade that love for anything in the world, no matter how much it had hurt

and there will be arguments, because they’re different people, and it will hurt, but they ultimately care more about one another than they do about staying angry

and alex will discover mc’s lemon cookies and they’ll swear nothing on olympus could ever taste as good

and mc will find that alex’s singing voice is the loveliest thing she’s ever heard, and it feels like they sing just for her

and at some point, it will come to mc landing in a fight between alex and someone else, some supernatural or godly creature, and she’ll want to help them, so she’ll get the ring and wear it again because alex has explaiend artifacts to her and

and! it will work this time

she’ll protect them with a golden bubble that takes it out of her, but she protects them and they win the fight

and they find out that the ring was warded, by aphrodite and hades both to keep it from finding hera’s reincarnation

and alex struggles between their duty to olympus, and the feelings they have for mc and humanity and how they don’t think it’s right to give up someone so good for a goddess no one’s seen in a hundred years

and alex- and mc- will discover that her mother had the potential too, and that it somehow resulted in her dying

and they will be forced to admit to mc that if she were to become hera, she would die. and mc will feel the sting of betrayal, that this person she’s started to care for so much, had essentially been sent to bring her to her death

it’s all so messy and beautiful and tragic, but they fall in love anyways, and it’s stronger than anything else the worlds might throw at them vuv

[hyotenhyakkaso]

LETS TALK ABOUT VERSES

Verses: (Alphabetical order)

A Place In This World Verse: Jou’s babu years to just before he joined a gang

Number One Verse: Bleach verse lmao 

Did It To Myself Verse: UNKNOWN FASJLDFKADS J

Everybody’s Lonely Verse: Jou’s alone in the world and questioning himself and every relationship he’s had. He figures he’s better off alone and everyone’s fine without him so after a vacation he decides to disappear for good. Leaving no trace or evidence that he’d been there at all, like he’s been erased from existence altogether.

Every Heart Verse: InuYasha Au

 Fly away Verse: Breath of the wild Au 

Hiding In Your Hands Verse: (Main Verse): Jounouchi Katsuya is a part snow leopard due to unfortunate circumstances in his childhood. The rest is history however. ..... Yet, while the Duel monsters world is safe, the real world is not. Jou takes it upon himself to make sure that gang activity doesn’t skyrocket and take down those he sees as a threat to the population. He also adopts four children, Pit, Dark Pit, Jaden and Nimue. Finds a brother in Sora and a sister in Elsa and Anna. His life is weird but its his.

Icarus Verse: Jou works for Kaibacorp for shits and giggles and messes with Seto. He thinks they’re friends while Seto is trying to get used to this. (Exclusive Kaibacorpbros verse)

Killing Time Verse: Literally just crossover verses lmao

Leave Out All The Rest Verse: Oops, Jou fell too deep into his gang life again, he becomes a gang leader and eventually dies from it. He’s shown that he does have loved ones that love him back. The spirit that helps him lets him turn back the clock and fix whatever mistake he made. Endless loop until he figures out what he did wrong and how to fix it. 

Loser Baby Verse: Everything from  the original deleted blog falls into this verse unless stated otherwise.

Mr Sandman Man Me A Sand Verse: Absolute crack/chaos

Never Get Used To People Verse: Insane Jou au????? Maybe??????

Ready Steady Go! Verse: Fullmetal Alchemist Au (Will eventually be fleshed out when I figure out wtf is going on)

See Me Through Verse: Kingdom Hearts Au taking place in canon. Between the regular villain of the month episodes, Jou’s fighting his own monsters. Literally! Set with his keyblade Starset, he tries 

Thank You, Next Verse: He fully comes into himself in this au and quits the gang life for good. He goes to college and goes into car manufacturing business. 

Who is In Control? Verse: Jou never leaves his gang leader position, never makes friends with Yugi or Tristan and eventually becomes a bigger problem than Hirotani. No one’s sure who is worse, their previous leader or their current one. The blonds tendency to get himself into danger more often than not nearly get him killed on a regular basis. And he’s starting to realize he doesn’t care if he does.

Verses I’m not sure fall into the above categories or into their own categories: (To be discussed with muns)

Right Here Verse: Exclusive verse with Mutogamingco

Be Somebody Verse: Exclusive Verse with Game-weaver

I’d Lie Verse: Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I dunno yet but its like- Exclusive verse with Dungeondicediva

Lullaby for a stormy night Verse: He pretty much unofficially adopts Pit and Dark Pit as his sons and raises them alongside a goddess- (Yeah he’s questioning himself too but he wouldn’t change it)

  Shipping Verses: 

Monster Verse: Exclusive shipping verse for atlantis-prince. However this also contains Atem’s, Mai’s, Joey’s and other’s fights with Jou about getting together with the evil boi. I need to start containing this to this verse, its starting to bleed into other verses- Namely Hiding In Your Hands. 

Must Have Been The Wind Verse: Exclusive shipping verse with Darkheartedprince (?)

Once In A Dream Verse: Exclusive shipping verse with Soraofdestinyislands

The Drug In Me Is You Verse: Exclusive shipping verse with Thiefakefia

Watermelon Sugar Verse: Exclusive shipping verse with Lightheartedwarrior

You Can’t Fight the Moonlight Verse: Exclusive shipping verse with World-duelists: ~I’m in love with the goddess who lives down the street the girl may work at wafflehouse but she dunnt miss a beat (Jaden)~  ~ I want you to remember this when you put yourself down I cannot fear my future now that I have you around (Joey)~

 Character Tags:

Atem (millennium-puzzle-spirit):  ~I’ll carry you home no you’re not alone keep marching on this is worth fighting for you know we all have battle scars (Atem)~

Atem (Sennenpharaoh): ~See that line well I never should have crossed it stop right there that’s the very moment that I wish that I could take back (Atem)~

Akefia (theifakefia):  ~Your secrets keep you sick your lies keep you alive Snake eyes every single time you roll with crooked dice (Akefia)~

Aizen (Bleachintothemultiverse):  ~The world you once created inside your dreams is brought to life as it now leads you and I across the distant sky! (Aizen)~

Bakura (tenacioustheif): ~We could set the world alight there is so much you could be if only you'd join me we’d make one hell of a team (Bakura)~

Byakuya (Bleachintothemultiverse): ~Thousands of cherry blossoms dwindling in the light though I can’t hear your voice keep what I say in mind (Byakuya)~

Dark Pit (WinglessArcher): ~You’ll be in my heart no matter what they say you’ll be here in my heart always (Dark Pit)~

Dartz (Atlantis-prince): ~So I will talk to you the only way I know how to I’ve said my speech through sharpened teeth (Dartz)~

Elsa (Iskrone): ~You can lift your head up to the sky Take a deeper breath and give it time You can walk the path among the lines (Elsa)~

Hanataro (Bleachintothemultiverse): ~Though a thousand words have never been spoken they’ll fly to you crossing over the time and distance (Hanataro)~

Jaden (World-Duelists): ~Live in the now and break your confines take ahold of this precious time glory days cause your life is not to trade (Jaden)~

Jaden (Tenebrosity-bulwark): ~Cause now again I found myself so far down away from the sun that shines into the darkest place Im so far down away from the sun (Jaden)~

Joey (Luckyredeyes): ~I’m alive oh yeah between the good and bad’s where you’ll find me reaching for heaven I will fight and I’ll sleep when I die (Joey)~

Joey (World-Duelists): ~When darkness turns to daybreak go out and see for your sake the people of this world may share your pain (Joey)~

Joey (brooklynxsweetheart): ~ I see your monsters I see your pain tell me your problems I'll chase them away I'll be your lighthouse (Joey)~

Mai (ohmaiwhathavewedone): ~Hey sister do you still believe in love I wonder? Oh if the sky comes falling down for you theres nothing in this world I wouldnt do (Mai)~

Mana (mahoushoumonster): ~Cause you cant jump the track we’re like cars on a cable and lifes like an hourglass glued to the table (Mana)~

Mokuba (Kaibacorpbros) ~Daydreamer kidnap me take me back all the way back to them days runnin around in a gown and a crown barefoot (Mokuba)~

Nimue (Tenebrosity-bulwark): ~The most powerful thing you own is your voice scream above the noise that you’re perfect as you are even when times are hard (Nimue)~

Otogi (Dungeondicediva): ~Here’s to us here’s to love all the times that we fucked up here’s to you fill the glass (Otogi)~

Pit (WinglessArcher): ~Come my child stay with me I’ll protect you and your dreams. Rest my child ‘neath the tree like it’s branches reach for me (Pit)~

Seto (Kaibacorpbros):  ~Icarus Icarus why you so serious serious? You know you gotta let it go cause you're flying too close (Seto)~

Sora (Asorableisms):  ~Though we don't share the same blood. You're my brother and I love you thats the truth. (Sora)~

Sora (Soraofdestinyislands): ~When I’m awake I hide all the chains so you aren’t afraid I can’t stop I cant break I carry the weight for you (Sora)~

Yugi (Game-weaver):  ~I'm just the boy inside the man not exactly who you think I am trying to trace my steps back here again so many times (Yugi)~

Yugi (Mutogamingco): ~I wanted to be like you I wanted everything So I tried to be like you and i got swept away I didnt know that it was so cold (Yugi)~

Updated when new verses form!

[kendrixtermina]

Cindered shadows Reaction

tl;dr - Fodlan is a crapsack world and I want to strangle Rhea (or break Amyr on her again). Yuri is a very good contrast to the others and a cool addition to the ‘verse  for all that he is basically Joker XD

I took live notes while playing

One thing to take note of here is the house leader’s “canonical” classes (Fortress Knight/Warrior, Hero/Paladin, Assasin/Wyvern ride, though some of those assume the budding talents to be unlocked already) as well as just more of a look into what their dynamic is when they’re together - as such well-contrasting characters I always thought it was a shame that they didn’t interact more so I’m glad for this

 Edelgard is always somewhat standoffish/ closed off and generally the ‘logical’, least personable one, Claude is surface-level friends with both. Dimitri would like to think they are full-on BFF, calls Claude “my friend”, defends him etc. Claude’s friendship with Edelgard is very banter-driven, but there (the bit where she says “wow this trap could have been your idea” and hes flattered). Of course both of these carry over into their post-timeskip interactions especially when they part on good terms (Dimitri always does, and Edelgard easily can part with him on good terms, but Claude, though he doesn’t like the thought of them dying,  wouldn’t take risks on either them) - and of course it’s Claude who proposes the feast after the mock battle where they all eat together. Edelgard and Dimitri were never friendly (at least not during the academy), but at this point they’re civil. 

Claudes Dialogues are BRILLIANT like he really shines in this one (Edelgard probably gets the least exposure but all of this is set before the reveal, so she has to keep her cards close to her chest - Or maybe there just cant ever be enough Edelgard for me lets be honest)

First impression of the Ashen Wolves is that they’re all very dramatic with a lot of bluster (Hapi being the contrasting exception but over-the-top in concept) - they have really been the Kings of their own little world, having a lot of free reign underground, accountable to few and throwing down for the heck of it

So it’s Yuri Leclerc and he was adopted by a Kingdom noble, the same Gwendal and Lonato served  and who dies if Arianrhod is blasted, but it seems like unlike wish Ashe who was taken into the family this was just a temporary gig for him

That makes him a commoner, which by itself is a big difference from the other three. Dimitri is and always was the crown prince whereas Edelgard suddenly ascended the sucession list due to tragedy and Claude has a much doubted claim on both sides of the border

I suspected he was going to be from the kingdom as we already had the Alliance, the Empire and the token Foreigner accounted for - also ‘Yuri’ is a slavic name like ‘Dimitri’ - though being adopted he isn’t necessarily from there

(Later we learn that he was in fact born in a village in the Kingdom)

Also liked the callback to count Gloucester’s sheming and how he had Balthus spy on Claude

They do go through some work to flesh out Abyss and make it feel lived in as a sort of society. 

Just look at that very very makeshift classroom. Few down there were getting any sort of education before Aelfric set this up

They do something clever here where Balthus tells you part of why he’s wanted, prompting the question of everyone else’s stories

This idea of a wretched hive beneath the Church reminds me of Amsterdam where the big church was in the prostitutes’ quarter and they actually had flourishing trade agreements going on

But as a hiding place for outcasts it shows us all the uglyness about fodlan and how much persecution/ need for change there really is (Really wants me to play Crimson Flower again. Or Verdant Wind.)

There’s people “chewed up by the Nobility”

Duscurians and Almyrans

Many in the church want the place “purged”, Rhea wouldnt go so far but is at the very least unsympathetic

Tons of Banned Books (is this where Seteth puuts them?) Claude and Linhardt have a field day over it

That poor woman (probably Dagdan since she talks of a war) who was persecuted for believing in other religions (which was a thing under Rhea - I’ve been saying it, Shamir and Cyril are “allowed” because they work for Rhea which to her is the same as believing, both are “working for her family/ for us instead of against us” because Sothis is not just her god but someone she knows personally)

Yuri and his trouble are a sort of quasi-police or keeping order, reporting to Aelfric. As his second in command Yuri is a sort of “prince” and already lead his own bandit troupe, or perhaps more a chieftain than a prince, he’s a leader, an authority but not an inherited one but 100% selfmade, he comes from nothing - People call him “boss”,

One wonders if he already dressed in this noncomforming manner before comming to the abyss

He is very very self-reliant, decides and opines for himself, gives Byleth backtalk, very much a natural leader who owns his influence entirely to that natural-leader ness 

Byleth asks very good, very direct questions 

Hilda, Linny and Ashe are here because of their connection to the Abyss characters and the information they can provide - Ashe knows Yuri, Linny knows his book lore, Hilda heard rumors from Holst...

Here we get to appreciate why Claude keeps Hilda around she knows all the gossip, all the ‘local’ information that Claude doesn’t have, she’s an excellent info source

Lets appreciate that it was those three specifically because they were slacking off

Ppl say there the church scorns them pretty much I like how they’re no longer even pretending that the church is nice

The four MCs, meanwhile, might all have ended up here in a different life; If El had escaped the experiments she could’ve been like Hapi, Claude was already an outcast, Jeralt fled with Byleth as a refuge(or could have been sent there as a mercenary to torment the locals and then decided to stay there instead), maybe not young!Dimitri, but timesskip Dimitri was outright a vagabond and says in his lecture questions that he travelled many places and temporarily lived in slums he didn’t go full murdery until a few years in, as Gilbert recounts

AU where they all grew up  or met in the Abyss is what im saying, and the four MCs and Yuri team up. The slitherers still stir up war, perhaps Duke Aegir or Arundel made themselves Emperor etc. 

Characteristically, Dimitri really likes the idea of a secret haven for the outcasts (see all his dialogues about “acceptance” and general ‘help-the-orphans’ thing) - but also characteristically he’s a bit of a tool for the status quo- “Claude don’t be rude this guy is giving out charity~” but the issues Dimtri the issues they shouldn’t need to hide anyways and this is why I prefer the ‘revolutionary’ routes (CF and VW) - though to his credit Dimitri does do charity and stop ppl being poor when he’s king. 

Claude is absolutely having a field day, this is right in the way of his “Political program” - “What you’re helping the poor and downtrodden by barely tolerating them in a sunless hole where they have to hope the church doesn’t decide to purge them” They basically live in ever present danger

Bit sad that they had Edelgard “tied up” catching up with Constanze rather than stating a reaction to the abyss as a whole though it’s probably very deliberate that she keeps her cards close to her chest - As constance asks “What is the princess doing here?” - investigating that’s what. She mostly asks questions or voices conclusions - shes certainly also investigating for her own purposes

But of course Dimitri and Ashe, pure as always, immediately want to help the locals

Edelgard meanwhile is thinking strategy, talking of capturing and interrogating the enemy

Of Yuri ppl tell you both that he’s a real scoundrel/ “our scoundrel” - he loooks out for them so they obey him, “when I say jump they jump” - a Mafia leader of sorts. He’s like Claude in the ‘motivating ppl through taking care of their interest’ parts but claude’s alliances are looser and no one does “jump” like Yuri projects authority, its not quite the honor loyalty Dimitri inspired because he “pays”, Edelgard projects authority but it’s loyalty to the cause more than personal loyalty, and she’s an ideologue and inspires the same in her followers theres no “pay” from Edelgard. She warns you that you might die and that’s it. She is the same herself. 

I think Yuri would die for another the way that Claude and Edelgard would not, like when Aelfric got his mom putting her in danger was never an option. I don’t think you could pressure Edelgard with a hostage, she’d just be like “Hostage-kun, I won’t let your death be in vain” and then tell their captors to screw themselves. 

He has things in common with all the others - he has a certain honor and a people-driven leadership style like Dimitri (rather than ideals-driven like Edelgard, Claude and Seteth) - though unlike Dimitri his honor is only for the “in” group, he cares about protecting his turf, his people... and nothing else. Thus he doesn’t fit into the revolutionary (Edelgard, Claude) vs restorer (Dimitri, Seteth) dichotomy because he’s not concerned with the system as a whole - he doesn’t like it or have faith in it, but he will absolutely work with it when it suits his aims (such as when he makes his own alliance with the church behind Aelfric’s back, or just working with Aelfric in the first place)

This alliance is probably also supposed to give a reason why the Wolves would sttick with the church later (though Hapi’s non CF supports talk alot about reforming the crap institution that it is) even though they mostly have reason to dislike them

Like Edelgard he is calculating and ruthless more than Dimitri or Claude. (He laughts at peeps who fell in his trap) But you couldn’t see Yuri sacrificing an ally like Edelgard does (like with Dimitri the people come before the plan) and Yuri often markedly does NOT tell allies what they’re getting into while El makes a big point of telling everyone the risks and allowing them the chance to step out

In a way he’s Claude with a edge but without the big vision. Yuri is the most small-picture, Claude the most big-picture of the lords

They also have a different relationship with trust - some describe Yuri as “devoted to his own but too trusting” , he says it’s a choice... but he is never really fooled, just pretending to be, he solves a great part of his plot on his own. 

Like Claude and Seteth he prefers to play it safe/ know he can win (though Claude and Yuri arent against calculated risks) whereas Edelgard and Dimitri will do what they think is right with no guarantee of victory and don’t care much if it kills them or their followers

Otherwise tho they have a lot in common and are fast friends XD Yuri makes some great observations “Wow look at you three trying to suss out each other’s motivations must be exhausted”

“Doesnt take a title to have an agenda“ - Yuri and Claude are really... a “takes one to know one” situation

Claude tells us they generally get along tho (”Any misunderstanding might spark a war... ”... yeah)

Likewise, Yuri immediately gets that Claude’s friendliness is esentially “maintaining neutrality” more than actual allegiance

Yuri also seems relatively forward in romantic matters which is unlike the others lol

Remember how I was frantic for Claude/Linhardt or Claude/Hubert friendship content? Here’s another great team that ought to have interacted more, I could even see them working romantically assuming that Claude would be so inclined. 

Hapi/Sylvain, too! Because they’re both cynics

But despite her cynism Hapi is also characterized as considerate

Yuri likes board games! hes in the board game squad with Hubert, Claude, Sylvain and Edelgard. The Board Game squad is incidentally the Best Characters club

 He’s not big picture and only develops something like that toward the end of his support chain (to fight poverty)

So in a sense his style and the hole in it is more like Byleth’s own - he learnt practical leadership in the field and applies it for those he likes. He’s more self-directed

aaand more undercover fun

It seems that both the slitherers and Alferic were after the Chalice at the same time - the Death Knight’s presence hints at it, Metodey’s confirms it. So far I’d assumed he was one of Edelgard’s loyalists like Ladislava but it seems he works directly for Arundel, Edelgard is not too friendly with him and accuses him of “Disrespecting her house” 

Since Aegir was in power during the Bridgid and Dagda war, the slitherers could definitely have had something to do with how Constance’s family was treated, if they were onto her secret - I don’t see how Aelfric could have done it

Bold of El to order Jeritza away in broad daylight. At this point she’s probably come to accept that no orders are gonna keep him from Fiting PPl where he can, especially her she is a very tough opponent

I trusted Aelfric until he spoke. The voice is... its not a good guy voice. Same with how the eyes are drawn

then he called people “his flock”

“They are charitable only when it suits them”

“they have eyes and ears everywhere”

Yeah. I’ve always said that Rhea is like one of those millionaires who give their pocket change to charity but then support policies that keep people poor. Hopefully no one will keep arguing that she cares about the poor or the disenfranchised. 

“Her grace thinks its a nuisance”- This tells us alot. Alfric had to convince Rhea to give half a rats ass about the poor but still speaks of her with honorifics. That’s the crack in his soul right there

I also love how Yuri protests whenever anyone - the church etc make plans for him, hes very self-governed

Hapi, Lysithea, El and Byleth should have a “victims of human experimentation” support group

Alternatively, Cursed People support group with Hapi, Marianne, Bernadetta and Dimitri

I like the C supports with Byleth and Balthus as well as Hapi because they tell us not just about them but about Byleth - Both adress Byleth’s go-with-the-flow tendencies and lack of own direction, though Byleth makes clear that by this point they actually like the professor gig

“I could see this person just about anywhere”...in a bad way. Oh but Hapi you too can be recruited to all routes XD No she’s right. By-By is being used and she should tell them. 

MORE PARENTS LORE I rejoiced so much and this was such a cool thing to adress here

At first it seems that Rhea was also after the chalice but turns out she had written it off and the one pursuing it within the church was Aelfric

But you all do catch the implication that she did this all before and “great tragedy” resulted? Right? You get what that means?

For once she actually noticed a mole though Aelfric likely wasn’t subtle

It results in a zombie dragon because she meant to revive a dragon not a human

By now people should really be used to Rhea handing out legendary treasure to byleth

there are friendly reminders of the western church purge still going on

I like how constance smells a spy right away

Also the contrast between Hapi’s jaded “Lets just give them the thing so they leave us in peace” (Yes, Lapis Lazuli) and Constance’s “We can’t let them have the artifact! theyre bad” - Constance might be shrill but she’s a person of action

The sunlight thing is a tad over the top/unrealistic but it’s not per se the cliched split personality thing, more like going outside brings out the bad memories after hiding away underground for so long (she tells mercedes as much) while she otherwise covers it with bluster. Her parents and older brother were killed and her hometown destroyed, after all. She is still basically talking the same overdramatic/ formal way

Perhaps two sides of nobility like the pride but also the demure good breeding n shit, there is some forced quality to the bluster even indoors

But ultimately she’s pretty hard working and determined underneath

At one point Hilda says something like, “You sure that we should interfere? I don’t want to make anything worse it might be better to stay out” - This right here is why you can’t get CF Hilda

Further Hilda facts: She had countless suitors and knows her way around “magical doo daads” and fortune telling

Having her mildly superstitious is of course a fun contrast to claude

“Compared to you even Hubert looks like a spring chicken” lol

I was going “Linny I love you” the whole time

Speaking of love... The moment I decided I loved Yuri is when I learned why he was expulsed - because the church sent him to kill someone he knew and rather than be upset, or thing how he might change society to prevent it or draw other conclusions from it... He refused on the spot and fough church ppl. That’s when I saw how he fits with the other characters. What the contrast was.

Yuri is one of those rare types who would never give the full voltage in the milgram experiment

Because see? That ties back so well into the themes

One of the main scenes that contrasts the house leaders is their reaction over having to fight Lonato. They all sympathize to a degree, but none acts against it. Claude and Edelgard show their dislike of the church and want to stop crap like this, but right there right then, they play along for the sake of their plans. (Claude’s plan at this point still involves stealing relics)

Dimitri is the closest to Yuri in that he immediately regrets it massively and says they should have found another way (in part because he is against the notion of “sacrifices for the plan”) but this realization comes to him only after all is done because ultimately he follows authority/ sees some good in it and the status quo

Yuri,  meanwhile, flat out refused. Yeah he also killed whoever the knight escord was but he refused

Also let this sink in: Yuri was slated for execution because he refused to kill someone he knew. This is what might have happened to Ashe, Sylvain etc. if they had refused to fight Lonato or Miklan. 

Aelfric arranged for him to fight someone he knew but that’s all he did, the rest is the result of normal church policy and then begged for pardon (meaning the normal policy would be to kill him) The mission might have gone to a different house, but the church constantly makes ppl fight ppl they know. You realize just how easily all our beloved characters could have ended up just like Yuri?!

I loved how, when offered info about their parents, Byleth immediately seeks it out with no delay

“Never discard a wild hunch lol“ Claude I love you Linhard I love you

Generally we see Dimitri being the local people person and catching onto details about people’s emotions and dispositions , while Edelgard is like, “Investigate this, investigate that” (i love that about her), and Claude is the oddball/curveball and follows his intuition. Yuri goes on instinct, Seteth, if I had to say, on experience perhaps, certainly caution. 

So she doesn’t even recognize Dimitri. She did say that “she can’t say the name” so she probably never learned that her little friend was the prince. Can ppl stop acting like she snubbed Dimitri or like she has any reason to treat him like a brother?

I don’t think he pieced it together until the ball, and she only realized either during the parlay (AM) or some time before their final confrontation (She distinctly knows by the time she killed him)

Another poignant moment is when she basically didn’t trst Aelfric and only started considering that he might be good by the time Team Slither showed up. Yeah she’s not trusting and would have zero base assumptions that any church ppl are good

By the time she learns about the Nuvelle crest she’s so done like, “Are there any MORE conspiracies I should be aware of?” And indeed there are

Aelfric is sort of a consequence of Rhea’s coverup certainly not an 1D villain. He started doubting her after the coverup began semi thinking for himself and at first this led him to try and make the abyss less chaotic and speak in their favor before Rhea, but then when Sitri’s body fell into his hands he was just too tempted

And UGH remember when I said that for all that im not a Rhea fan, i don’t thnk the human experimentation was so bad because she didn’t harm anyone and it seems like the homunculi lived out normal lives? yeah i take that back

Even if Sitri wasn’t healthy enough to travel she didn’t need to be completely isolated exept for trusted church peeps

This would have happened to Byleth. You see how this would have happened to Byleth? Completely isolated and controlled?

Oh Jeralt jeralt baby you were so right to flee with Byleth so right

Worse because Rhea was a parental figure

Also she kept creating more homunculi though they turn out frail and basically live miserable lives

and the first attempt with the chalice probably did kill ppl

sitting with the corpse all the time is creepy too

doest that mean Byleth won’t rot either?

So she was a book worm - Jeralt did say she was brainy

It did start as a mentor crush, much like Byleth’s own relationship might

I love how Edelgard is all subtly concerned after Yuris fake attack

I wonder how that apology line was phrased in Japanese, “useless” seems a bit harsh given that Edelgard generally seems to love her father, but there is no denying that he lost control of his empire and that as a result villains wrecked havock all over it so there’s nothing better she can say there excuses wont help constances situation

Like this must be very hard for her

Constance’s support definitely confirms that it was the Seven Families/ ie the PM and Arundel who did this to her (also lol at the concept that she basically wants to make Byleth her very own Hubert or Gilbert)

Edelgard is saddled with all this stuff from the previous administration - I mean so is Dimitri with the instability, the recent anexation of Duscur and part of Sreng... but she gets confronted with it more, iDK if it’s common knowledge who’s really in charge

Because Yuri is concerned with his turf, not the world, it makes sense that “his” route would be the sidestory. I kind of wanted a part 2 in the sense that I like this cast and want more of him as a main character but I also get why there isn’t one... because he wins no matter what. Lucky seven! He’s the one who can’t lose (except if you dont do the sidestory I guess) ”He works with whoever’s in power to maintain his own, just like when he made the deal with Rhea. He gets all three house leaders and Byleth to promise that they will look out for the Abyss so his bases are covered no matter who wins.

- even so he basically solved his own problem and Byleth’s presence just kinda gave him the opportunity . Well, one defining factor is that they trust Byleth exactly because they don’t “seem like a typical church funky

Still since Rhea tells us the backstory here what use is the silver snow ending? I suppose she doesn’t mention the homunculus/ “I created you” bit but the lack of decay and the transplanting heart bits do sort of hint at it

Certainly a contrast tho, like in SS you learn the magicky parts us in CS you get way more about who mommy actually was as a person

Poor, Poor Byleth. This must be such a mindfrick for them. Like I had so many feels for By-By

It’s so weird to go back and have the Yuri & so present throughout the monastery,but  not know us yet

[volganic]

Song of Communion (Redux)

[part 1] [part 2] [part 3] [part 4] [part 5] || [AO3]

OH GOD OH MAN IM SORRY THIS UPDATE IS LONG OVERDUE but its so long in comparison to other chapters........... ty liz for always supporting me and telling me to keep every detail in here bc otherwise this wouldnt be half as long as it is

song is o magnum mysterium (and quite literally the song that started this whole au in the first place)

A high-pitched ring of steel meeting steel sang through the crisp autumn air. Both Volga and Link's weapons were locked together as they tried to overtake one another. In the passing months that Link had come to visit and train under the dragon's watchful eye, this was the first time they had traded blows. The Dinolfos chieftain that the Hylian usually sparred with (under Volga's supervision) stood on the sidelines.

Volga withdrew his spear back, only to thrust it forward again to breach Link's defenses. Having gone through these exercises time and time again, Link had expected it to withdraw and drew his shield up to block the lance from grazing his exposed side. He's thankful for moving it when he did — the dragon's raw strength was far greater than he had imagined; aimed to kill, unlike the Dinolfos who only struck to subdue. The force of the blow sent a shot of pain up through the length of his forearm. He grit his teeth and took a step back, ending their exercise to brace his right arm. He'd definitely feel that in the morning.

His partner lowered the spear and sent him an inquisitive look. Before a question could fill the space between them, Link brushed off any concerns he must've had with a dismissive wave.

"I'm fine! Let's continue."

Volga shrugged. If there's one thing he learned by mentoring him thus far, Link wasn’t like most people: where most people would have yielded and accepted their loss, Link recovered with a renewed strength and vigor. It was a commendable quality to possess. It also made him stubborn. Too stubborn sometimes, but someone else could be unfortunate enough to teach him patience and to pick his battles. He'd leave that to the poor woman general back in the castle.

Their feet moved together in sync as they circled around each other on the cliff side, their steps carefully choreographed to keep their attention on each other's movements while still mindful of the crumbling rocks beneath their feet, and easily poised to either strike or block  whoever dared to make the first move. Link desperately tried to ignore the bead of sweat running from the edge of his brow down over his cheek, but moved quickly to brush it away.

That was all the distraction Volga needed to suddenly lunge forward with his weight to strike. They fell into rhythm now: strike, step to the side, block, sweep, repeat. The dragon had drilled these movements into his brain. It took a lot of calculating than he was used to, thinking at least three steps ahead before the enemy while also keeping an eye for any openings or escape routes — this was only a friendly spar, but the danger of traps or ambushing parties was also something to keep a note on in the actual battlefield. General Impa would find it unorthodox and out of order by her methods, but it was far more engaging and befitting of a leader as grueling as Volga's system worked.

Link stumbled with a swipe of Volga's weapon nearly coming into contact with his ankle. He teetered off to the left, barely catching his footing on the edge of the cliff. Volga scoffed when the Hylian righted himself and poised his shield up, waiting for the next move.

"Scatterbrained today, aren't you?"

"No," he lied. His eyes averted away from Volga for only a second to see that the Dinolfos that lurked in the background was slowly stalking its way toward his unguarded flank. Have to move away from the edge of the cliff, he thinks, somehow catch Volga off balance, turn to keep both of the dragons in sight, overtake them —

— there's movement in his periphery from Volga's direction. Suddenly he felt a shove, and felt himself falling. There wasn't much time to react to such brute force, and even less to grab any of the rocks to keep himself from falling further down the cliff side. Volga stood on the edge, spear still in hand, and was growing smaller and smaller with each passing second. He tensed with realization. Stupid, he thought, stupid to think he could have trusted him!

His back slammed into something. It wasn't the ground, he knew that much. The impact still knocked the wind out of him, and before he knew it, he — they — were scaling their way back up the mountainside. The Lizalfos chieftain that acted as his safety net didn't seem too thrilled with carrying him back up to his master, but Link thanked the three that they still were looking out for him. 

Link was less than graciously dropped back along the edge of the cliff. The Lizalfos and Dinolfos chattered among themselves and retreated back into the caverns now with their duties completed. Now it was just him and Volga, left with an air of tension.

"Didn't expect that, did you?" It wasn't a question. They both knew that much. Link ignored the hand offered to help him up and pushed himself off of the ground, dusting off his tunic and brushing dirt off of his face. 

"You could have killed me!"

"Not my intention," he scoffed, "but there are others who are more inclined to do so." He clapped Link's hurt shoulder for good measure, smirking inwardly with the grimace he was given. The Hylian could pout and whine all he wanted. It wouldn't stop Volga from relishing in the fact that he toned him down another notch. 

--

"Are you sure you don't need any more weapons?" Link asked. In reality, he was genuinely curious, but he couldn't pass up an opportunity to poke fun at the dragon. Volga grunted dismissively in response, shuffling out of Link's way as he allowed the boy to wander around in the room. 

Today must have been something really special: not only was it the first time he had ever sparred with Volga, but this was also the first time Link was allowed in the center of the volcano — more importantly, it's where Volga kept his so-called "hoard". Maybe it was a tad naive of Link to assume Volga was the kind of dragon to collect all things that sparkled and shined, to have a room (or several) flush with treasures never before seen that piled to the top of the ceiling and threatened to spill over with its endless amount of secrets. The three chests that sat along the wall hardly looked like they harbored anything of worth. Blue eyes watched the dragon sift through one of the chests, and while it held a considerable amount of jewelry, it all looked extremely... tacky. 

What he was rifling around for, he didn't know. 

Link rolled his eyes and instead faced the walls of the cave. This, he believed, was the real treasure. Weapons upon weapons upon even more weapons lined the faces of the walls in an elegant and organized display. It was like being in a candy store! Not a single space was wasted, ranging from the smallest of daggers meant for tiny hands to the largest Goron-forged blades he had ever seen taking a place like a trophy. How Volga of all people managed to acquire them (or sweet talk a Goron into giving up such impressive armaments) was a question for another day; he didn't want to be pushed out so quickly after being invited in for the first time by prying too much.

He toddled over to look at spears undoubtedly meant for the Zora. A careful fingertip ran over the curve of the trident. "Is your spear like that of the Zoras?" he asked innocently, eyeing the gleaming silver hilt of a Zora spear next to the trident.

"Just because we're no longer outside does not excuse you from your other exercises, boy," chided Volga from the other side of the room. "Run through it again — and don't touch anything."

The Hylian swiveled his head to look at the dragon and object, finding that Volga's back was still turned to him. Alright, maybe he was a little predictable. Link pulled his hand away from the Zora weaponry with a huff and moved quietly to admire another set of miscellaneous weapons. 

əʊ   m æ g ʌ m   

A smile crept onto his lips as the words paired with his tenor rolled off his tongue so naturally. Though the translation of it was lost to him, such a simple activity like singing brought him an immense amount of joy, a sense of freedom — even if it were in the middle of the volcano.

m ɪ s t ə r aɪ ə m   

At least here in the caves, there was a sense of privacy that the castle could not provide — or as much privacy as he could get with the dragon or any of his kin within earshot. Better them than any of his comrades who would begin to question when and where he had found his voice.

Volga paused his rummaging to listen to how the notes reverberated off the decorated walls. Link took it as a good sign that he hadn't been interrupted by now and continued on, staying within arm's reach of the wall and running his fingertips along the rocks, trailing between the edges of many dangerous blades. 

i: t   ə d m ɪ r ə b aɪ l 

One sword caught his attention. It stuck out among the collection of other plain, familiar-looking swords that Volga had hung around it — swords he might have picked off from Hyrule's forces, no doubt. Its serrated blade nearly pricked his finger even with the most delicate touch. If its serrated edges weren't striking enough, the jewels encrusted from the center of the blade to the hilt and the four-pronged guard were enough to keep him interested. It was intimidating, but a beautiful blade.

Volga might not have been the kind of dragon drawn to every trinket that sparkled and shined, but Link was beginning to convince himself he might be that kind of person instead.

s eɪ k r e m ə n —

"Stop."

Link frowned. With a heavy sigh, he released the breath he had been holding to finish out the rest of the melody before he was so graciously interrupted. He tore his eyes away from the sword to face Volga who now stood in front of a closed chest, arms folded.

"What have I told you?"

The Hylian crossed his arms. "Don't touch anything—"

"Wrong." Volga paused and wrinkled his nose considering his words. "Perhaps I did also say that, but that is not what I refer to now." That earned him an eye roll from Link. "Need I remind you of the importance of the diaphragm?"

"Hylia, not this again!" groaned Link, throwing his hands up in the air. "It's always something with you, isn't it? Am I not good enough by your standards?"

"You're ever approaching it," he countered, "but you continue to move too much, and it carries in your voice despite how you choose not to believe it."

The dragon took three large strides to approach Link, planting his clawed hands on the captain's shoulders, adding an uncomfortable squeeze and pressure for an extra measure. Link grimaced again with the weight against his bad arm. 

"Like the core of your body, the diaphragm is a key component to—"

"'—to achieve a better quality of pitch, volume, and tone'," Link finished for him. It was obvious it wasn’t his first time hearing it before either. "'If your breathing is poor, it reflects in the singing', I know, I know."

"Then," Volga pressed his thumbs into the pressure points in Link's neck, "why do you continue to breathe so poorly?" His hands stayed locked in place as the Hylian crumpled in his hold, writhing and attempting to swat him away.

"Volga- ow- stop—!!"

"You should start by releasing tension in your upper body."

The dragon loosened his grip for Link to stumble away from him, a smug grin upturning his lips with the ferocious look he was getting. Link rubbed the back of his neck in annoyance.

"You're such an ass."

"I could say the same about you." 

Link shot him another glare through narrowed eyes and now turned his back to the dragon. He hasn’t decided whether or not it was a good thing that Volga was capable of being just as immature.

“Where’d you get this?” Link asked and pointed to the sword, desperate to change the subject. "I could use a new blade."

“We haven’t finished our lesson, boy,” he said. Link braced himself for another painful squeeze to his arm as Volga pulled him back away from the display. Instead — with gentle hands — he dropped a silver band encrusted with a round emerald cut into Link’s hesitant palm. It was far more elegant than the jewelry he had seen it mixed in with, more along the lines of what he had imagined Volga would be enamored with. 

Something in the back of his mind reminded him that this stone looked familiar.

"- song stone."

Link shook his head, breaking out of the stupor he didn't realize he was in by the stone glimmering against the light. "What?"

"It is a song stone," Volga repeated, having sensed Link's distracted mind. It definitely was an opulent accessory, if not the most dignified piece in Volga's hoard. But he wouldn't tell the boy that. "I think you are prepared to harness its power."

Another magical item. The Hylian knit his eyebrows together with some aversion. "Uh-huh." Even with the hesitance toward it, Link still slipped it onto each finger to find the perfect fit. It was a really pretty thing… The ring fit snugly around his middle finger, and almost looked to glow brighter as his hand moved around to catch the light. "And it can do what?"

"Amplify your gift, if the name was not obvious enough for you." Volga smirked from another one of Link's annoyed expressions and crossed his arms. "There are no limits on your vocal range with the power of the stone. After all, how else do you plan to command your army? Or perhaps even charm lost, weary travelers to their doom?"

The displeased expression on Link’s face quickly turned disheartened. "Volga, that's not funny."

"I am not trying to be funny. Jokes are another way of stringing up lies, and I do not care enough to lie." The dragon shrugged nonchalantly. "It is merely the reputation placed upon me, and if that is how they choose to acknowledge me, I have no interest in fixing it. If it keeps fools off of my mountain and out of my caves, so be it. If they choose to ignore it, I accept no responsibility for what may happen to them in my domain."

The words hung in the air for longer than it should. Link's eyes moved away from Volga's concealed ones to look back down to the ring. Even after all this time, the Hylian had never considered how he was one of the lucky ones — if not the only one — to make it out of the Eldin Caves alive. He had fallen for Volga's magic, to one of many of his songs, and yet here he stood, now learning how to wield it for his own greater purpose. 

He had never considered those who lost their lives to it.

Volga cleared his throat. He despised the tension that lingered between them. 

"Rumor has it that the stone you hold was forged from the same emerald safeguarded by the Children of the Kokiri," he said softly. Link perked at that and looked to him again, interested. "Whether that rumor is true or not, I myself cannot say, but I would be inclined to agree that its magic could stem from their songs." Uncrossing his arms, he tapped the jewel chained to his own chest with a clawed finger. "This jewel of mine not only does this contain the magic of my birthright, but it, too, is also a song stone, forged by the Goron Ruby."

Ah, so that's what that was. Link stared at it and pulled his bottom lip between his teeth, idly turning the stone on his finger with his thumb. 

"Volga, I don't think I can—"

The faint echo of a Bulbin's horn traveled through the air, cutting Link off. That wasn't a sound he was used to hearing. The dragon perked at the sound, understanding its call. 

"I want you to have it," he assured, gently placing a hand on Link's pauldron. "I implore you to let go of whatever doubt you might have clouding your judgement. You've earned it. Come now, my friend!" His arm moved around to wrap around the other shoulder, pulling the Hylian even closer and ushering him out of the room. "The newest group of chieftains have returned with fresh kill, and the time to feast is now."

"Wait— wait wait wait-" Link squabbled, planting his feet on the ground, "did you just call me your friend?"

The dragon paused. Did he say that? His tongue ran along his teeth as his jaw shifted in thought, tasting the word in his mouth. Friend. All things considered, that was the best way to describe their relationship: more than strangers, more than acquaintances, neither enemies or allies — at least until now. Volga nodded once as if to convince even himself. "Yes, I did. It seems only fitting to say so, does it not?"

"You could have at least started by using my name first. You've never called me 'Link'!"

"Don't push your luck, boy," Volga chuckled dryly and tightened his grip. "Do not tempt me into changing my mind. I would like to arrive at my own feast on time, and your chances of getting that blade you've been gawking at are slipping away."

--

"Brothers and sisters!" Volga silenced the group of his kin who growled among themselves by pounding the end of his spear against the cave floor. The sound nearly made Link jump out of his skin. "Tonight, we are gathered here not only to celebrate the autumnal equinox, putting aside our struggles and hardship of the last season, but to also forge a path to better our future. I thank you," he gestured to the troop of the smallest Lizalfos in the cavern, "for this bounty you have brought us. You have proven your strength and honor to rise to the occasion, to rise as chieftains, and to rise as leaders for the next generation of our kind.

As we move on with the coming season of change, we too, must change." He beckoned for the Hylian to move out from behind him. Reluctantly Link did so, stepping to Volga's left and coming in view of the band of lizard kin. "Most of you are familiar with this human," he said, purposefully careful with his tone when referring to the boy, "and know he is not a threat to our clan. With that said..." he passed his weapon over to Link's unsuspecting hands. This wasn't something Link as prepared for, severely underestimating the weight of the spear and nearly dropping it. He was a deer in headlights, now put as the center of attention, all of the reptiles’ eyes fixed on him.

"Tonight, we also forge our alliance with this boy. Though we are that of a neutral party, he is our friend, and, like the rest of you, my chieftains, he has risen to the occasion with the spirit of a dragon and will guide us forward for the greater good."

"But Massster!" A Dinolfos rose from its perch in a rush, eyes darting between the boy startled in his boots and its master, "you said we do not like humansss! We kill them!" It growled in opposition to the Hylian when his expression hardened. Sizing him up, it took a step forward when Link slightly shifted a foot backward. "Thisss one is small and weak! Easssy to kill!" 

"This one could kill you should I allow him to take another step toward you," Volga hissed, clasping his hand above Link's on the spear. "Move one more inch closer and he will become a threat to you. He will remain on this mountain longer than you if you continue with your insolence, and by Din’s name, I will leave you to bleed out myself. Learn your place, hatchling." His words dripped with poison. 

The Dinolfos held its vindictive stare for a moment longer before recoiling back to its perch with a sad growl. Volga snapped his head to the rest of the drakes with a frown. 

"Any more objections?" They sat in silence; his decree was loud and clear. The Hylian himself was just as shaken with Volga’s outburst, thankful that he wasn’t on the receiving end of it this time. "No? Very well." 

Link was left to hold the spear alone again as Volga moved forward to the slabs of meat scattered about on the stone table in front of them, ruthlessly pulling a Moblin flank apart by the bone from the lot of the carcasses. Having been so distracted with seeing almost the entirety of the lizard tribe in one place and nearly getting into a dispute with one of them, the Hylian had nearly forgotten that this was a feast for them — everything was raw. 

His stomach turned with the sickening squelch the meat had made when the dragon knight bit into it, blood and juices painting the edges of his mouth and dripping down his chin. Hylia, why did he agree to do this?

Volga exhaled in bliss with the coppery taste of fresh meat on his tongue. A sense of accomplishment warmed his bones; this, he knew, was the right course of action to move forward for both his people and in Link's destiny. He swallowed his chunk of meat before turning back to the Hylian, expecting him to accept his offering. When he didn't, Volga snarled quietly; culture shock must have settled in and frightened the boy senseless. But why? It was only meat! A harmless, ritualistic offering!

A sideways glance showed the tribe of Lizalfos and Dinolfos stirring in their place, eager for their turn to devour their bounty. Being surrounded by predators….

To ease the boy’s anxieties, it seemed logical to appear less menacing in a cave full of dragons. Volga held the bleeding limb between his teeth, his hands moving toward the straps that held his helmet together. 

Link’s eyes widened; everything unexpected today snowballed into an avalanche all leading up to the dragon unmasking himself. His grip on the hilt of the pike made his knuckles turn white in anticipation. He was lucky enough to escape from Death Mountain more than once, but never pinned himself ever lucky enough to witness the dragon of the Eldin Caves without his helmet.

The pointed chin strap clattered to the floor.

Oh goddesses.

Oh Hylia.

A mess of ashen-colored hair spilled out from the edge of the helm and Link’s breath hitched in his throat. Again, it was naive to think that Volga was anything more than a monster after months and months of grueling combat practice and coaching his voice. Had it not been for the other’s tall height or the black markings that surrounded his striking green eyes that now looked through him, the dragon could more than likely pass for a human. The Hylian stood frozen in place, the same cold rush he had felt the first time he had entered the caves and been mesmerized by the dragon’s song flooding his veins; this time, it was the dragon’s appearance that mystified him.

It wasn’t until the spear was taken from his hand that Link finally tore his eyes away from Volga’s. Now his hands were bloodied with the meat that held more significance than to serve only as a predator’s meal. Despite the voice of common sense screaming at him to not eat the raw meat, Link finally nodded in acceptance and bit into the flesh, pushing himself to ignore the blood dripping down his own chin this time. The chewy texture was awful and the taste was worse, but he only had this one life.

Why not?

Volga, pleased with the acceptance of his offering, took a hold of Link’s wrist and held it high, turning them both to acknowledge the rest of the troop. The Lizalfos and Dinolfos sat at attention.

“For the glory of Din!”

The cavern came alive with a cacophony of the dragon tribe’s roars, fires burning bright.

--

The first few days after returning from the caves dragged on from the castle’s infirmary — partaking in a draconian feast was fine, so long as the meat wasn’t raw and bleeding. Healers pushed Link to drink one too many teaspoons of bitter-tasting yellow potion, easily unconvinced that whatever ailment plagued him was not “only a stomachache”. His stomach churned horrifically from the aftermath, but the reward outweighed the risk, all worth being accepted into an extraordinary clan.

A clan he couldn’t bear dragging them through a war that wasn’t their own to fight. 

Link eyed the Magical Sword from its place across from his bed. Its previous owner had already been unfortunate to cross paths with this Cia, this witch that was planning an uprising of unknown proportions — she, in turn, was unfortunate enough to cross paths with the dragon that pushed her back into her place of hiding. Maybe, just maybe, it was a good thing that she had run into him first.

How would things have been different if she didn’t? Link often wondered about the outcome more than he would care to admit. Would the war have been over by now? Would Hyrule be laid into ruin? Would he be able to keep the princess safe? 

His eyes fell down to his hand where his thumb had idly turned the stone around on its ring. 

Cia needed a general to start this war. If she had succeeded, would Volga have joined her?

“Captain!”

The sharp sound of knocking against his door jarred him out of his thoughts. The hero — now that he was back within the castle, he almost forgot he had a title to uphold — moved to open the door. The messenger stood stiffly in a salute.

“The General wants you to ready your mount and prepare to move out before sunset, captain!”

Link nodded once and saluted him off, shutting the door once he could no longer hear the heavy footfalls from the corridor. It was already mid-afternoon. There wasn’t much time before twilight would be upon them. He turned back to look at the sword. Better to use it now than later. 

Without a second thought, he secured his newest weapon to his back and made his way out for the stables.

--

“Can we talk for a second, Link?”

Their newest addition to their party at least asked nicely. The hero paused his inspection of Epona’s hooves to look up at Lana, inviting her to continue on with her questions. Though she might have been allied with them for the last few months, Lana still remained an enigma to him: he wasn’t sure if she was hiding more than she let on since their first encounter, and more so with how much she knew about Cia. 

“I-I can see you’re really busy,” she stammered, already falling over her words. “But I just wanted to ask you something personal, if that’s alright?” 

It took every ounce of restraint to repress the urge to roll his eyes. Lana was a cute girl, sure, but Link knew where this conversation would eventually lead up to. There was no time to play these kinds of games with allies who had more than just a friendly interest in him, and even less with the sun slowly setting and sky turning into orange. 

But the company was nice, the presence of another person filling the space in the otherwise empty stable. Link turned back to his work and gave her one stiff nod. 

Lana relaxed almost immediately and smiled sheepishly. “I’ve noticed that you leave the castle grounds every chance you get whenever you’re granted the time,” she said quietly, planting herself on a wooden box near the other side of Epona to keep Link’s attention. “May I ask where you go?”

He didn't look at her as he shuffled from one of Epona’s legs to the next. His hand moved up where she can see, fingers and thumb pressed together. They move from the corner of his mouth to swipe over and touch his cheek. Home.

Her smile faltered. Lana said nothing as she wiggled in her seat and grew visibly uncomfortable with his answer. Her feet kicked at the hay around the box. Some part of Link didn’t like this conversation at all, but he steered his thoughts into focus, now rummaging through his pack to make sure he had everything he needed —

“I know you don’t go home, Link.”

He snapped his head up to look at her. Yeah, now he really didn’t like the direction this was going. He frowned when her eyes met his. 

“I know the village you hail from is in the west, but you head northeast. Please, be honest: where do you go?”

Was she stalking him? That was enough. Link scoffed quietly and pushed himself off the stable floor with the pack in hand, haphazardly throwing it over Epona’s saddle. He wanted this conversation to be over with whether he was prepared or not for whatever mission he was being set on. As he stood, Lana stood with him and stepped closer.

“W-Wait! I don’t know where you go, but I just want you to be careful, Link! The last time you returned, you were sick for nearly a week!” The sorceress said in anguish. He ignored her in favor of looking for the reins for his horse. “I can sense a change in you every time you come back, and I’m not sure if—” she stopped herself when Link snaps to look at her with narrowed eyes. She steadied herself with a hand on Epona’s mane, fingers delicately brushing through her white mane. “I’m not sure if it’s dangerous yet. Cia is coming closer with each day, and I— I can’t lose yo—”

“There you are, captain!” 

Lana backed off, retreating to her corner as Link both relaxed and tensed with his general now in the room. Their conversation was now at an official end with Impa wandering into the stables. He gave her a salute in greeting. She threw an arm over his shoulder and turned him away from Lana’s direction. At least they still held a common distrust over the sorceress.

“I apologize for this short-notice, but I need you to head into Faron Woods. Reports of more monsters have been flooding my desk, and some are trickling in with rumors of a sprouting Manhandla deep in the forest.” 

Link blinked up at her with an incredulous expression and suddenly noticed the lack of her own weapon on her person. Impa understood what questions he had written across his face and nodded affirmatively. “Yes, captain, you will lead a small brigade by yourself. It’s not your first mission alone, but I trust that you can command a group on a mission such as this.” She patted his arm and released him, moving to pass the reins on Epona to him. 

He wasn’t sure whether he liked the idea of being left to command a group of men yet without her guidance. On the other hand, it was nice to know that the Sheikah had seen enough growth in his skills to trust him with another mission. Soon enough, maybe, he would be the one to take charge and lead their men to victory. Without a second thought, Link accepted the reins and pulled Epona along out of the stables, sparing Lana one last sideways glance. Resigned in her corner, she gave him a small wave of goodbye.

Once outside in the glow of twilight, he climbed into his saddle. Some of his men — two soldiers and one fellow captain — were waiting for the order. Their general stood by Link’s side and saluted them off. “May the goddess Hylia smile on you all. And Link,” she said, placing a hand on his forearm, “bring my men home safely.”

The hero nodded to her with a lopsided smile and snapped the horse’s reins. With a loud neigh, Epona led them off into the settling dusk in the direction of Faron Woods.

[faecaribou]

What I Wouldn’t Give To Trade Places Pt. 13

I saw him for the first time, since...

He doesn’t recognize me. Or he does? I’m not The Colonel anymore...

[brotato-chibs]

All these AUs have me thinking about what if it had been Kaito and Aoko on a date at tropical land the night of the roller coaster murder/black organization trade. Since Aoko is more of an investigator than Kaito, I think it would be her getting shrunk. Kaito then runs to Ji with her, and maybe Ji tries taking them to his gadget supplier?

AU’s everywhere it seems lmao

Hmm I suppose so? Though I can’t really see Aoko as an investigator kind of person; unless she really wants to be like her dad O: HOWEVER! I feel like Kaito is a very paranoid person who wouldnt let anyone sneak up on him anyway, since taking up the KID mantle, so let’s go with that

All I can think of atm is just :Aoko would be full blown panicking while Kaito Poker Faces for… maybe the first few days as he slowly adjusts to his childhood friend suddenly turning into a child. Lots of shouting would abrupt between those two because “How are you so calm, Bakaito!” “I’m not, Ahoko!”

Small Aoko would look pretty boyish tbh with her messy hair (and i imagine her having shorter length than Ran’s when she was young). Perhaps she could pass off as Kaito’s third removed cousin’s daughter? Hahaha Idk i just love the trope of shrunk childhood friend living with their other childhood friend _(:D) 

if Aoko is staying with Kaito:  Kaito would still try to hide his KID secret from her, always giving her excuses to leave the house like getting groceries, kids should sleep early, i’m picking something up from Jii-chan, etc. Later he runs out of excuses or they seem very rehearsed and flat to Aoko before she decides to push the issue on him leaving on full moon nights.

If Aoko stays with her dad (as in letting him know on the shrinking??) : Ginzo would try come home earlier often because he’s worried for Aoko’s safety as well as the fact she’s just a kid now (he forgets she’s older than she looks sometimes) and KID would prank the old man less, quickening the heist duration (just slightly so no one would suspect he’s in a rush or anything) and would check around for any leads on the men in black

Oh speaking of a certain gadget supplier:

During those few days of planning their next step, Kaito and Jii would request certain inventions that could keep Aoko safe (what kind of inventions, I’m not sure yet ahahah maybe a retractable staff she could wield like her mops) Kaito would be super excited to meet the guy who created a bunch of cool stuff but there’s a time and place for such things, so maybe next time if he gets to visit or pay back the favor of helping them out

So yeh I guess there’s that as a basis ?? owo hope this is ok 

[twitchesandstitches]

How does the different factions celebrate christmas?

short answer: nobody really does, in-universe!

long answer: i’m honestly uncomfortable with addressing real world religions (at least those that are actively being practiced, due to the nature of this AU), Christianity among them. It would be safe to assume that if such religions are a thing in-universe, they are likely exclusive to the Earthborn Coalition with smaller croppings in nearby regions, albeit seriously altered due to eons of cultural drift; compare the Catholic Church of the 1000s to what is now for an example of how things might change drastically.

In general, I use fictional religions as rough stand-ins for real world ones, as well as mythologized ones that are open to reinterpretation.

Christmas as we know it is a sort of blending of multiple winter solstice events; Saturnalia and Yule, among others. Consequently, aspects we might culturally recognize as such might be prevalent among independant worlds as well as specific cultural customs. (Perhaps with more emphasis on the ‘wild, reckless parties’ and utter terror of the coldest, darkest nights of the year. Werewolves may or may not be involved more than usual.)

Something that we would recognize as something particularly Christmas-ish wouldnt’ really be a thing in-universe, as the cultural context for it does not exist. Nevertheless, there are various holidays; many religious, others stricly cultural or secular.

some examples:

Fleet: With their diversity of worlds, clan cultures and tendency to do whatever, worlds may well develop festivals that take place at the end of the year; as a time keeping measure, and to honor specific gods. most predominantly Onyx Prime (the darkest night is in their honor) and Lucoa, to whom sacrifices are made so that the stars will keep burning. Usually these sacrifices are of monsters slain and consumed at feasts. There is a trend for many holidays of week-long parties and greater community assistance than usual, as they come together at these dark times.

the religion of Aslanism certainly DOES practice something virtually indistinguishable from Christmas; this holiday concerns the ritual sacrifice of the messianic god who took the form of a lion (and is still revered as such by the followers of this religion) during an eternal winter, and in doing so, broke the curse placed upon a holy land. It is initially a somber holiday, taking place over several weeks. However as the week progresses, the celebrations become more joyous, mirroring the lion’s own deeds after his revival. This escalates quickly; full out riots and people erupting into stampedes of cheerful chaos is a feature!

Stingers: Lots of consumerism, LOTS AND LOTS OF IT. Probably the most case of gift giving, in that the aristocratic houses give lavish goods and feasts for all within their land as part of the feudal contract they live on. serfs are not expected to trade gifts at this time.

Ringers: ....situational, but not likely. Yellow Diamond’s empire has little concern for the seasons, though the organics and non-Gems may have their own new holidays for this time of year. the Prothean Empire certainly does, and this is likely modeled heavily after Saturnalia, with more blood sacrifice. Starscream’s new Decepticons will probably go off on a straight up riot as they unchain themselves and cause havoc, and finally the trolls of Condy’s Alternia engage in some class warfare that does respect to castes as honorable rivals. ALl four will engage in ceasefires during this time.

Commonwealth: None at all. Possibly some custom of sacrificing more people than usual to the vampire overlords, but barring the punting of orphans into furnaces to make the wealthiest houses slightly warmer, there’s not much more to it than that.

Coalition: Most real world holidays, if the religions producing them exist here, would have counterparts in the Coalition due to their reverence for Earth and efforts to rediscover cultural touchstones. Time, misunderstandings and cultural conflicts can produce some SERIOUSLY odd changes. (For example, should they practice Christmas, they may summon forth ghosts from the lands of the dead on the assumption that it is a tradition for spirits to harass one-percenters into doing their community duty.) All winter festivals would be relevant here, not just Christmas!

Miscella Inc.: You know the whole problem with Christmas being commodified and made into an omnipresent cultural obligation that is not even really religious in nature anymore? These guys do that same thing with every religion they can get a hold of. They wanna monetize it ALL.

Cartels: Don’t really celebrate holidays, though individual crime families may have their own traditions, but they’re likely to raid planets for captives while they’re having celebrations. They’re terrible like that.

tbh i would have liked to approach this at face value but i honestly could not!

the expectation of christmas as a universal thing is a strictly cultural one and I just couldn’t ignore that or pretend otherwise. for such holidays to exist, there must be circumstances, history, and religious presence to justify it

so yes, there might be christmas-like traditions all over the setting but they require VERY SPECIFIC circumstances to arise in any form we might consider even slightly recognizable!

im sorry, i’m just a bit pedantic and i gotta be true to my worldbuilding ways

[kudalyn]

And now for your other fantasy AU...what is it going by? Magic AU? Anyway super interesting!! So is completely-human still the default form for Atem though? Is it just that every time he transforms he can't help making a tail? And does the anal country (lol sry not sry) ever find them? Is it the mental link that finally reveals their feelings for each other? I get that Atem's magic is different but what can it DO other than let him transform, out of curiosity? Sorry for the scattered questions!

magic au! my au that i’d love to do more for but have to have on the sidelines still ;v; also needs a better name…

now that atem’s a demon conduit, his ‘main form’ is mostly human, but with some mild touches like sharper ears and pupils, a general ‘not quite human’ air to his overall appearance, things you wouldnt really notice unless you were observant and knew what to look for. if he allowed himself to relax and accept what he is now fully,  his appearance would take on a bit more of a demonic look to it, horns, small claws, lil nub tail, some black markings. but it takes him a long time to be comfortable in his own skin again, so his keeping up a ‘glamor’ essentially becomes second nature to him and hard to turn off.

unless he’s going fully ‘human’ he almost always has some form of a tail. it’s a point of disgruntlement for him, for learning how to have a tail isn’t easy (but hes at least glad he can keep it short to not do any damage) but yugi finds it endearing. it’s a design trait he just can’t quite get rid of - similar to horns and markings/scales. he can’t ever get fully rid of them himself, more just adjust the sliders of his own customization menu, if you will. shrink the horns, means something else has to grow or change in its place. he can go full ham on some design elements if he wants to, but he’s not really comfortable doing so unless it’s absolutely necessary, like combat.

their home country (lol, anal country) does send people after them, in a more guise of spies/assassins/retrievers sent out without permission into other countries’ territory to try and keep their ‘scandal’ under wraps and not have to deal with the other countries political loops or laws. particularily to the country yugi and atem fled to - one who’s known to give asylum to refugees welcomingly and could get in their way, but also could decide having someone as dangerous as a untrained demon conduit wasn’t worth the trouble for the alliance, and kick yugi and atem out of that country as well. so both assassins and the boys try to keep a low profile for various reasons.

its actually a batch of assassins that make atem and yugi have to reveal themselves to jou and ryou in the first place - yugi had been pretending to be a old man and atem his cat, and jou had gone to him about his sister’s fading sight as rumors of a skilled and cheap apothecary had been popping up, and jou was having trouble gathering money for a ‘proper’ expensive treatment that might not even work. with yugi’s quiet magical help shizuka was cured, and jou was immensely loyal to ‘old man jenkins’ out in the woods, happy to run errands for him or send customers his way, and check in on the old man. ryou came about later looking to be an apprentice, but yugi had to turn him away, but still helped him out a little through book suggestions and minor lessons. ryou and jou met through visiting old man jenkins, and became friends

they noticed some shady looking guys trailing old man jenkins in town one day and followed them out to the forest in the directions of yugi’s hut, and got an eyeful of yugi and atem shedding their disguises and fighting back. there wasn’t much they could do to help out in the fight, as their magic wasn’t near on par as these magic users, but they helped distract a little and in the end, helped yugi hide the unconsious bodies. yugi fled back to the cabin to get memory-altering spells to try and turn the assassins off their path, for just killing them would leave a big X on their location (though atem wanted to do off with them) and yugi didn’t want to be on the run again just yet. ryou and jou help atem guard the men until yugi returns, and then yugi and atem reveal who they are - but yugi intends on using the memory altering magic on jou and ryou too, but ryou notices this and begs them not to do it - they want to help out yugi and learn more about them. they insist they’ll keep their mouths shut, and even help keep an eye out in town if more shifty stuff pops up and try to help redirect any nosy business so yugi and atem can avoid a fight like that again

yugi is unsure but atem is the one who suggests they try it out - he knows yugi is lonely and tired of running, they just got comfortably settled in their cabin for more than a year. he threatens to eat ryou and jou if they betray them though, lol

their mental link does help with getting feelings across, but they had already confessed their feelings prior to the familiar contract - it was the contract that made atem open up about his feelings to yugi, insisting he wanted to be with yugi forever and this was a solid way to tie him to yugi and ensure yugi’s safety - from himself

yugi had some romantic feelings for atem as well but had pushed them aside in all the stress and danger, but the opening of the mental link allowed them to be able to share thoughts and emotions without miscommunication, so he opened up to their relationship fully when he could fully understand the depth of atem’s feelings. the mental link has some downsides, like intrusive thoughts sometimes flitting between them or things like those awful ‘first thing that came to mind and it was an insult’ sort of thoughts, but they have a different ‘color’ than their fully coherent thoughts so they understand what they are easily and try to help each other with those kinds of things, like each owns self-detrimental thoughts and feelings. also the fact they literally can’t keep a secret from each other, cause while they can keep the thought itself hidden, the other can feel when they’re withholding something behind a mental barrier, and thus gets nosy. though the mental link is a hell of a boon when it comes to mushy times and sexy times, but they learn to tune out the ‘yugi and atem radio FM’ with experience. it can be distracting.

atem’s magic is mostly about power absorption and distribution. it comes across as a physical alteration to himself usually, but demons absorb essence and power via emotions, elements, or just pure arcane magic depending on their specialty. atem - and by extension zorc’s - specialty was arcane, one of the most deadly since it can just draw from existence itself. atem can suck the magic stamina right out of someone and use it for himself, altering it as he needs, but he can also give it, greatly strengthing and fortifying yugi’s already pretty impressive stamina and skills. essentially he skills in buffs and debuffs, and through that he can strengthen himself and yugi in various ways. he usually buffs his own physical strength, and yugi’s magical stamina, but he can do things like mimic elemental magic if need be (not his strong point, little finesse with that stuff and more Big Explosions)

its a great boon to yugi since atem can choose what kind of buff to give yugi depending on the type of magic yugi is using. yugi is a jack of all trades wizard, where he has many skills but not many direct specialties or masteries. atem can help buff that by giving him more control over a certain element or branch of magic, where it’d normally take yugi more studying and control to use said branch, and through the buffs he learns and gets more skills when he uses that branch of magic. 

as these kind of open buffing and debuffing is extremely useful but dangerous in this magical world, demon conduits (and strong demon familiars) are deemed far too dangerous to exist, for they can either be very destructive themselves by absorbing magic and causing pure chaos, or if they are trapped and manipulated they can give someone or some group much more power than they’d have naturally. 

a perilous existence for atem, for sure, but yugi and atem manage as best as they can.

[krissewrites]

Coffee Shop!Jungkook - BTS Imagine

barista!reader vs customer!jungkook: FIGHT!

you’d been working at your local starbucks for almost a year now

and you’ve picked up a few tricks of the trade, including memorization

you’d managed to recognize all your regulars

starting from the ones who came in once a week

to the ones who made an appearance up to twice a day

and you even memorized their orders

and every single one of them appreciated you kindness

and were very gracious

except for a young lawyer by the name of jungkook

you remember the start of the whole turmoil

it was the middle of summer, and your first day on the job

you were only a part-time worker then, due to switching between college classes

and honestly? you were stressed

studying to become a psychologist was exhausting

and now you had to deal with him

“what was your order again, sir?”

“jesus christ.”

he was late for a meeting and grew even more impatient by the minute

and he wanted to make that known

“it’s a simple fucking order.”

“it’s my first day, sir--”

“hopefully, you’re last, too”

and you finally get his coffee ready and hand it off to him

and he, being the dick he was, snatched it from your hands

and left it at that

ever since that day you’ve had it out for him

but you can’t deck a customer in the middle of the shop

oh no

you had to play this his way

it started off benign.

he came in every day, and every day you’d write his name how its spelled

“jungkook”

but on the third week, you made a small “mistake”

on purpose, of course

“jungmook?”

you watched as he looked around the shop

and then it hit him

he stomps up to the counter, putting his newspaper under his arm

and he fucking gives you the look of death

but he didnt say anything about it

in fact, he never did

even though he was clearly displeased with your “mistakes” he never took any action towards them

until last week

you’d successfully pulled out all the names you could think of over the year

one after the other being even more obvious than the first

some of the golden ones being 

jongcock

ringcuck

hungjin

and kungjook.

but last week, he came in hoping you’d finally put your childish games behind and give him the pleasure of spelling his name right

he was even fairly nice to you this time

“how’s your day?”

and you played along, a coy smile trailing across your lips

“good. and yours, mr. jeon?”

“great.”

the minute you saw him enter you prepped his drink and put it off to the side, writing the newest addition to the list of misspellings to the list

at first, jungkook didn’t notice

he happily took his drink and even gave you a small smile

“you look very nice, by the way.”

but as soon as he got into his car, his blood boiled

he immediately storms back into the coffee shop

and you get the biggest fucking grin as you’re cleaning a pitcher

“gockjing? what the fuck?”

he didn’t have court that day, so he was looking boyfriend as ever

a black baseball cap, vintage tee shirt and skinny jeans, and boots

for a small moment, you kind of felt bad

but that quickly faded when he slammed the coffee onto the counter in front of you

“spell my name right.”

“hmm... try again.”

“do it.”

“make me.”

you could cut the tension with a butter knife

and everyone in that coffee shop knew it too

so everyone kept their mouth shut as they watched you burst his ego

he had walked up on you full gait with a puffed out chest, showing his masculinity in an attempt to bully you into it

but it was clear that wouldnt work

because you did the same fucking thing

“listen, baby, i know--”

“don’t call me baby.”

and that was the cherry on top

jungkook pushed himself away from the counter, throwing his hands up in defeat

and his jaw did the fucking thing

you didn’t see him for a solid week after that

and honestly? you were a little worried

did i go too far?

as much as you didn’t want to believe it, you really did feel bad

it had gotten to you so bad it affected your job

and the customers even started to realize it

“hey y/n, you okay?”

“ah... you messed up my order--”

“no, no! it’s okay. i still like it.”

it’d now been three weeks without him in sight

you were about to storm his practice’s secretary with calls for jungkook

you’d been busying yourself, doodling on the napkins

when someone cleared their throat

“sorry, i’m not working right now--”

“that’s good timing.”

there was the cocky voice you’d come to miss

you looked up and saw jungkook glaring at you

with a mischevious grin

and his arms folded over his chest

“i think you owe me an apology.”

just as you were about to get on your hands and knees and beg him for forgiveness, he broke your train of thought

“you’re going to have dinner with me.”

and youre like

hold the fucking phone

who said i was

you were so close to being snappy when you remembered your cruel trick

and you reluctantly agreed to him

honestly you’d expected him to take you to some shifty pizza joint

so he could save money

and tell you he’d never forgive you and leave you there

but you were wrong

you were told to meet him at pierre gagnaire

one of the priciest fucking restaurants in town

tbh you felt a little dressed down

so when you saw jungkook approach you as he walked from inside the restaurant

you wanted to take off running

“you look nice.”

you were a little hesitant to believe his compliment

but ultimately ignored it

you were finally seated in the restaurant

and jungkook pulls out a seat for you

like an actual gentleman

and you’re like... where’s the real jungkook

“why are you doing this? if this is some sick joke--”

“no one has ever stood up to me like you.”

you watched as a look of sincerity took over his features

but he was also intrigued 

“was i really that much of an ass?”

“a royal ass.”

and for the first time

in your entire life

you heard this cranky lawyer laugh

and it

was

adorable

jungkook itched the back of his ear nervously and shied away from looking at you

and played with his wine glass

“i’m sorry about that.” 

you actually ended up enjoying yourself for the rest of the night

you got to see him in a playful mood

and even doing stupid shit with his le coq au vin (chicken in wine sauce)

and by stupid shit i mean launching it across the restaurant floor by his fork into the hair of an elderly man

and promptly telling you to duck when he turns around

he looks... nice?

cute?

actually human?

and while you’re watching him smile and let his guard down around you

you almost feel... feelings?

ew no why is this happening

thus ruining your mood for the entire night

every time he told you that you looked nice

every time he tried to make you laugh

every time he offered to buy you whatever you wanted

they would always leave you anxious and red-faced

jungkook finally picks up on your attitude and calls it a night

but refuses to let you walk home alone

so the entire walk home which is almost thirty minutes

you keep your responses to a minimum

“it’s pretty cold out tonight, isn’t it?”

“yep.”

“do you have any siblings?”

“nope.”

you made it about five feet ahead of jungkook before you realize he wasn’t beside you

and turned around and see him looking pretty stressed

“hey? you okay?”

jungkook finally connects back with the real world and nods his head, quickly walking past you

but you grab his wrist, forcing him to stop

“hey, if there’s something--”

“did i do something wrong?”

you’re taken aback by his sudden brashness

“i know i’m hard to deal with, but if you don’t like me--”

“wait, wait; who said i don’t like you?”

“you’re kind of acting like it.”

the entire exchange threw you into a tailspin

what the fuck was he talking about?

i was acting a little distant...

but why the fuck does he care if i like him?

you end up laughing and leaving jungkook bewildered

“is there something on my face?”

you didn’t want to admit that he sparked a little fire in your heart

so instead you decide to tease him

“you like me, don’t you?”

“no. you’re insane.”

“yes, you do--that’s why you gave up so easily!”

“no, i was tired. where do you live again?”

you finally crack his charade when you stand chest to chest, staring at him with a mischevious grin

and press your finger against his forehead

“the big bad boy caught feelings.”

“you’re had too much wine.”

jungkook’s face was honestly the pinkest you’ve ever seen it

there was about one mile left of the walk and the entire time you were clinging to jungkook

trying to make him admit he liked you

but he was a stone cold machine

he had turned on his lawyer mode

so when you finally reached your small apartment complex you had just about given up

“you win--”

“do you want to see a movie sometime?”

“what”

insert the cockiest you’ve ever seen jungkook

“i’ll pick you up on monday.”

and he did

he’d take you different places on different “excursions”

or so he liked to call them

you called them dates

but he never acknowledged it

a very shy boy

even once tried to hold your hand

and he did

and you were so close to teasing him but pulled back and just

enjoyed it

he still won’t admit he likes you and you’ve been dating for a year now

“... say you like me.”

“... i like your personality.”

“i want the truth jungkook”

“you can’t handle the truth”