#~*a tale of souls and swords | canon*~

[alittlelessalone]

Fun Scum Villain fic concept:

So Shen Yuan and Shang Qinghua are sent back to their original world temporarily due to system shenanigans and need to wait x number of days until they can go back. They wake up at the times of their deaths and get to use this time to do some final things in the world before returning back.

So Shen Yuan of course wants to spend the time with his family and getting to see them again and say goodbye in a less depressing way. But Shang Qinghua doesn’t have that and he’s just finished PIDW.

Shen Yuan makes sure he has enough money to get him through the timeframe (after learning about Shang Qinghua’s financial situation), so he doesn’t need to work to keep himself alive, so he decides he wants to write something a little more heartfelt as a sort of last hurrah.

He decides in honor of the two lives he and Shen Yuan stole, he’s going to share the backstory of Shen Jiu and write a story about Shang Qinghua.

Shen Jiu comes first and it’s mainly just a tale about him and Yue Qingyuan using his unposted backstory, but in the end he decides to make some minor changes so it’s not as depressing. Namely, that when they died, their souls were both sucked into Xuan Su. The pair ended up trapped there, but they were trapped there together in a world that couldn’t hurt them anymore and allowed them to finally be together.

It’s a poignant and bittersweet story that doesn’t excuse Shen Jiu’s behavior, but it does a lot to explain it and expand his character. And while it of course has its detractors, people generally like it and Peerless Cucumber is there in the comments singing its praises for all to see (and there in Shang Qinghua’s apartment smacking him over the head with a rolled up magazine and scolding him for being by such a good writer and selling out on PIDW).

The Original Shang Qinghua story doesn’t really have any old notes to go off. He was never meant to be a fleshed out character and was always just a plot device villain. But Shang Qinghua feels bad for PIDW’s Mobei-Jun, so he decides to write something for his sake too.

In this story, it’s revealed that Mobei-Jun didn’t actually kill the Original Shang Qinghua, but instead worked with him to fake his death after Lou Binghe ordered him dead. Shang Qinghua reveals that the pair were actually lovers and maintained their secret relationship over the years and that was why Mobei-Jun never seemed interested in romance.

And most readers are like wtf except for the bl fans who love it. And even Peerless Cucumber is a little more hesitant to praise it since it sort of came out of nowhere, but he can admit that it’s clever and well written. And Shen Yuan can tease Shang Qinghua relentlessly for it, even if he also approves and finds it very sweet.

Depending on how much more time they’re stuck there, maybe the pair can also write one more story, giving the original Lou Binghe a happier ending too.

Eventually, it’s time for them to go back. Shen Yuan says goodbye to has family and Shang Qinghua says goodbye to PIDW and hopes that his changes and additions can bring people some peace, even if it’s probably too late for those who need them most.

Shen Yuan realizes that Shang Qinghua was trying to alter the canon in hidden ways so that the system could silently incorporate them into the world without breaking anything. He figures it’s mainly for Bing-ge’s universe that’s still more or less PIDW, but being the mega-fan that he is, he decides to put a theory to the test.

It takes a lot less time with the help of the sect, but he manages to grow another plant body like his own. And then with Yue Qingyuan’s permission, he uses some of Shang Qinghua’s new hand-wavy canon to reach out to Xuan Su. And the next thing he knows, Shen Jiu is waking back up in the plant body after years trapped inside the sword.

And of course there’s a lot of questions and Binghe tears, but Yue Qingyuan gets his Xiao Jiu back and Shang Qinghua realizes that his changes must have taken in the other universe too, now meaning there’s less suffering there as well. He gets to curl back up in his king’s arms that night and rest assured that no matter what universe he’s in, both his king and that universe’s Shang Qinghua are well and truly loved.

#moshang #qijiu #shang qinghua #svsss #original shang qinghua #shen qingqiu #shen jiu #yue qingyuan #mobei jun #Shang Qinghua really said “if I’m technically god why not use my god powers #he and cucumber are probably better friends now #and he probably has a better relationship with writing now too #the system can’t prove this DIDN’T happen #and now it’s canon so oops! have to follow the rules! #Shen Jiu overheard Yue Qingyuan while in the sword #he has feelings about what his idiotic Qi-ge has said and done but os willing to forgive him now #poor Liu Qingge is probably having a hell of a time during everything but he’ll be fine #maybe he’ll even get a few more friends once everyone starts to adjust!

[comicaurora]

Following off of, but moving away slightly from all the Fate talk: If you were to write a ‘King Arthur but female’ story, how would you go about it? What would you look for in such a story?

I can think of a couple ways I'd do it!

First, the easy part. Sword in the anvil/stone, whosoever draws it forth is the rightful king of England. Well shit, that little peasant girl just pulled it out like it was nothing. Hail to the king, any objections can be directed to The Indomitable Soul Of Albion Herself.

Or, if ancient England accepting a lady king is too much of a stretch, Merlin has a habit of helping people out with magical disguises. If necessary - and if it would be fun from a story standpoint - our peasant girl of Secret Noble Heritage could get a magical disguise that lets her appear male. Could even go full fairy tale and do something like having her appear as her true self at night, and King Arthur during the day. If we really wanted to blend it, we could let her female identity be Morgan le Fay, Merlin's student with an affinity for dark times. However, doing that would spoil the potential gay drama of letting Morgan be a powerful villainess who learns Arthur's true identity early on, and that might be too good to pass up. And since Arthur's eventual destiny is to be taken to Avalon by Morgan to sleep until England's greatest hour of need, that gets Cool Layers if we let them have a whole enemies-to-lovers thing going throughout.

Arthuriana is extremely loose in the canon department anyway, so while there are touchpoints I'd want to hit, we'd have a lot of freedom of movement in how we'd hit them. This would basically just add layers of characterization to how Arthur would handle the various adventures she gets into - especially if she feels the need to obscure her identity from some or all of her knights. There's a surplus of damsels in various folktales that could be Arthur stuck in her secret identity due to Magical Hijinks.

Unfortunately, Guinevere's foundational role in the story almost always involves her sleeping with dudes who are not Arthur, and since the overall story of Camelot is a tragedy whose downfall is brought on by a schism in the royal family, we might need to keep that for thematic consistency. And it takes on layers if we stick with the "Arthur's public identity, at least at first, is a Dude" thing, because - shocking as this may be - some people actually aren't even a little bit gay, and if Guinevere ended up politically wedded to Arthur only to learn that her husband is in fact not her preferred gender of lover, she might not be jazzed about that.

Other than that, let the cool swordfights and quests remain unchanged and I think you've got a good recipe for episodic character drama.

#asks #not aurora

[creepercraftguy]

Pokemon Scarlet/Violet - Voice Actor Headcanons.

So here’s the latest update of this little series on my blog where I assign official voice actors to characters that don’t have them. I also did this with the previous title, Legends: Arceus.

I have to reiterate the same points every time, but it’s just so we’re all aware - 

This is NOT CANON. These are HEADCANONS and are unofficial. It’s just a hypothetical situation. If the characters were voiced, this is who I imagine would voice them.

Every major character in both games is included here, so there are HEAVY SPOILERS for the game’s main storylines. DO NOT READ THIS POST IF YOU HAVE NOT PLAYED THE GAME OR DON’T WANT TO BE SPOILED.

The only character I did not include in this is Jacq. He already has an official VA thanks to the Pokemon Go Gimmighoul Trailer. I don’t know who it is though because they go uncredited.

So without further ado, I hope you enjoy my ideas. Or don’t. Your choice.

Nemona - KAYLI MILLS

Also Voiced:

Emilia (Re:Zero)

Alice Synthesis Thirty (Sword Art Online: Alicazation)

Keqing (Genshin Impact

Katy - DOROTHY FAHN

Also Voiced:

Konan (Naruto)

Tsumugi Shirogane (Danganronpa V3)

Mercedes (Fire Emblem: Three Houses/Three Hopes)

Brassius - ROBBIE DAYMOND

Also Voiced:

Goro Akechi (Persona 5)

Hubert (Fire Emblem: Three Houses/Three Hopes)

Prompto Argentum (Final Fantasy XV)

Iono - IRONMOUSE

Also Voiced:

Herself (On her twitch videos and Speak of the Devil)

Tanith (An Incorrect Summary of Elden Ring | The King & The Serpent)

Kofu - CHRIS RAGER

Also Voiced:

Hercule Satan (Dragon Ball)

Marshal D. Teach/Blackbeard (One Piece)

Gahuko Asano (Assassination Classroom)

Larry - XANDER MOBUS

Also Voiced:

Joker (Persona 5)

Master Hand (Super Smash Bros)

Rokuzo Taguchi (Bungo Stray Dogs)

Ryme - REGINA KING

Also Voiced:

Huey and Riley Freeman (The Boondocks)

Kreela (The Ant Bully)

Dynamite (Planes: Fire and Rescue)

Grusha - ALEJANDRO SAAB

Also Voiced:

Cyno (Genshin Impact)

Yuri (Fire Emblem: Three Houses/Three Hopes)

Izumi Miyamura (Horimiya)

Tulip - MELANIE MINICHINO

Also Voiced:

Alice Hiiragi (Persona 5 Strikers)

Anya Corazon/Spider-Girl (Spider-Man (2017))

Yan (Indivisible)

Director Clavell - KIRK THORNTON

Also Voiced: 

Kisame Hoshigaki (Naruto)

Shadow the Hedgehog (Sonic the Hedgehog)

Jade Curtiss (Tales of Zesteria)

Penny - AMANDA CELINE MILLER

Also Voiced:

Toko Fukawa (Danganronpa/Danganronpa Another Episode)

Boruto Uzumaki (Naruto)

Makoto Kino/Sailor Jupiter (Sailor Moon)

Mela - ERIN FITZGERALD

Also Voiced:

Chie Satonaka (Persona 4)

Noire/Black Heart (Hyperdimension Neptunia series)

Junko Enoshima (Danganronpa series)

Giacomo - SEAN CHIPLOCK

Also Voiced:

Diluc (Genshin Impact)

Rean Schwarzer (Trails of Cold Steel)

Guido Mista (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind)

Atticus - TODD HABERKORN

Also Voiced:

Korekiyo Shinguji (Danganronpa V3)

Death The Kid (Soul Eater)

Shiro Iori (Kill La Kill)

Ortega - CASEY MONGILLO

Also Voiced:

Emporio Alnino (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean)

Protagonist (Shin Megami Tensei V)

Shinji Ikari (Neon Genesis Evengelion)

Eri - CHERAMI LEIGH

Also Voiced: 

Makoto Niijima (Persona 5)

Asuna Yuuki (Sword Art Online)

A2 (Nier:Automata)

Arven - KAIJI TANG

Also Voiced: 

Owain (Fire Emblem Awakening)

Gonta Gokuhara (Danganronpa V3)

Archer (Fate)

Rika - SUZIE YEUNG

Also Voiced:

Eula (Genshin Impact)

Makima (Chainsaw Man)

Pumpkin Pie Cookie (Cookie Run Kingdom)

Poppy - KIMBERLY ANNE CAMPBELL

Also Voiced:

Nahida (Genshin Impact)

Hayase Nagatoro (Don't Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro)

Typhon (Re:Zero)

Hassel - JAMIESON PRICE

Also Voiced: 

Sojiro Sakura (Persona 5)

Leo Whitefang (Guilty Gear Strive)

Rider (Fate)

Geeta - SHARA KIRBY

Also Voiced: 

Candace (Genshin Impact)

Franceska Mila Rose (Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War)

Tomomi Takei (Kageki Shojo!!)

Dendra - ALEX CAZARES

Also Voiced:

Rebecca (Cyberpunk: Edgerunners)

Oblina (Nickelodean: All-Star Brawl)

Dagr (Fire Emblem Heroes)

Saguaro - PATRICK SEITZ

Also Voiced:

Dio Brando (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders)

Ira Gamagoori (Kill La Kill)

Ladiva (GranBlue Fantasy: Versus)

Salvatore - BRYCE PAPENBROOK

Also Voiced:

Kirito (Sword Art Online)

Eren Jaeger (Attack on Titan)

Nagito Komaeda (Danganronpa 2)

Tyme - REGINA KING

Also Voiced:

Huey and Riley Freeman (The Boondocks)

Kreela (The Ant Bully)

Dynamite (Planes: Fire and Rescue)

Miriam - XANTHE HUYNH

Also Voiced:

Haru Okumura (Persona 5)

Marianne (Fire Emblem Three Houses/Three Hopes)

Ui Hirasawa (K-On)

Raifort - ALLEGRA CLARK

Also Voiced: 

Shamir (Fire Emblem: Three Houses/Three Hopes)

Maki Zenin (Jujutsu Kaisen)

Beidou (Genshin Impact)

Professor Sada - JENNIFER LOSI

Also Voiced:

Ganyu (Genshin Impact)

Shinobu Kawajiri (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable)

Mizuki Nakahara (Lycoris Recoil)

Professor Turo - KEITH SILVERSTEIN

Also Voiced:

Zhongli (Genshin Impact)

Johan Liebert (Monster)

Hisoka (HunterXHunter)

#voice actor headcanons #pokemon #pokemon scarlet and violet #nemona #arven #penny #katy #brassius #iono #kofu #larry #ryme #grusha #tulip #director clavell #mela #giacomo #atticus #eri #ortega #rika #poppy #hassel #geeta #dendra #saguaro #salvatore #tyme #miriam #raifort

[gallusrostromegalus]

AEIWAM - Some details about whats going on with Komamura. IIRC canon said he was a werewolf, are you doing anything with him?

Me: What IS Komamura's backstory? Me: *reads backstory and eventual canon fate of Komamura* Me: Hm. Me: That's thematically weird and depressing. Me: I'll just ignore that :)

---

So in An Elephant Is Warm And Mushy, there's ALL KINDS of animal-people and supernatural creatures of varying degrees of anthropomorphic states in the Soul Society! Wolf people! Yokai! Centaurs But Bad! Snake people (sneople)! Mothmen! Whatever the fuck The Philosopher Wax is! Hell, Zaraki Kenpachi was raised by eagles! More nonhuman persons than you can shake a stick at!

They just stay away from the humans because The Humans are TERRIBLE.

...Not as terrible as my immediate family though, The Young Wolf is willing to gamble. he has to leave his home suddenly, in the middle of the night, frightened and injured. Family feuds are bad enough, but a drought year for a large group of apex carnivores and great-grandmother dying and creating a power vacuum? I'm lucky I got out alive! He reasons, tightening the bandages and wincing.

It doesn't look so bad. he lies to himself, looking at his reflection in the where he had finally collapsed from exhaustion and blood loss the previous night and somehow woke up alive this morning. Great-Grandfather did me a favor, trying to bite me in half like that- a tail would just make it even harder to blend in with the humans!

...Clothes would help more though. He sighs.

One man's trash is another's treasure, and that has never been more true than in the case of wolves that want to live with humans. The Young Wolf nearly weeps with joy when he finds the dump- barely-rotted animal carcasses to eat! broken wood for a fire! and clothes! Big enough to fit him! Alright that's definitely a bloodstain with a big, sort of sword-slash-shaped hole in the middle, but nothing a dunk in the river won't solve!

...Or not. Well, at least being covered in mud is less suspicious than being covered in blood? How does this thing even go on anyway? The garment is so confusing, he almost doesn't hear the humans who came to dump something until they are nearly upon him, and realizing they'll panic if they see his face, he grabs a broken basket and jams it over his head.

"Hey!" one of the humans calls out, seeing the movement. "What're you?" An old man peers around the pile at him, curious.

The Young Wolf sputters- he's heard tales of humans before, but this is the first human he's ever actually seen- The stories tell of their strange dark eyes and flattened faces how their fur is so fine they're nearly bald all over, and this man fits the description perfectly. An old woman- he guesses this one is a Woman, because what little fur she has is longer- she appears behind him, equally curious, then smacks the man under the ear.

"You dummy!" She snaps. "That's a monk!"

"Big damn monk!" The man laughs- indeed, even though he's one of the smallest of his people and not even grown, The Young Wolf towers over him- but still, he extends his open hand. Like the stories say, his claws are blunt and pale and the pads of his paws are soft. "What's yer name, venerable?"

"He can't answer that, he's a monk!" the woman snaps, exasperated. "They got- whatchyamacallit- Vows of Silence!"

"Oh, right!" the old man laughs. "Well, wouldn't matter if you could talk anyhow- my Old Lady's deaf as a post and I'm dumb as a rock! Come on, this is no place for a holy man!" he waved.

"Our home is up this way- it isn't much, but it's better than sleeping in Garbage! You stay with us and I'll fix that ratty old robe right up!" She said, grabbing him by the hand-

-

Ba-San looks down at his hand- it feels strange in hers, but it's not the fine gray fur covering his fingers or the rough pads on his palm or the dark nails that taper to claws.

It's that the hand is bleeding, scraped and cut and one of his nails missing like it had been torn off in a fight.

Ba-San is so old that everyone has forgotten her name and they just call her Ba-San, even her husband (who is so old that everyone has forgotten his name and calls him Jii-san, even his wife), and she didn't get this ancient by being an idiot. She glances up at the broken basket she knows got thrown in here by her neighbor not a week ago and sees the large golden eyes inside, staring down at her.

She's also old enough to know what a frightened child looks like, no matter how tall or what species he is.

She makes a show of squinting at his hand. "Why, your nails are FILTHY! You can wash up at the well out back too." She pats his hand.

"Of course! That's right!" Jii-san laughs. "Like I said- I got gravel for brains! He can sleep in Sajin's bed- Sajin is our Boy, but he's long since left home. It'll be good to have a young person around again!" he says, taking the boy's other hand.

He follows, stumbling awkwardly in the badly-tied robe and like he's been injured, but if he leaves paw-prints behind him, they don't remark upon it. - After about a month, the boy has something to confess. And something to ask.

Ba-San and Jii-San have been kind to him- they let him into their home and fed him and Ba-San didn't fix his robe so much as make an entirely new one "appropriate for a Monk", and Jii-san found a pair of old work gloves for him "so you can do your Good Works without losing another nail". Ba-San always gives him her soup-bones "I don't have the teeth to chew them anymore" and Jii-san always moves over so they can both sleep in the sun-patch that appears in the middle of their home every afternoon.

He's tried to repay them how he can- he's tall enough to fix the holes in the roof of their one-room shack standing flat-footed on the floor, and he carries water from the well every day to wash the stone steps outside and re-painted the red gate out front and every morning he makes them breakfast to wake them up and every night he rubs their tired necks and shoulders.

"Mmm-rr." he tries at breakfast, and they both look up, but it's hard enough practicing human words in the woods behind the shack to the birds, let alone now, at the table with the two people he cares most about in the world.

"You say something, Venerable?" Jii-san asks. "Don't worry- I won't tattle to the abbot on you-" he teases.

"Shush!" Ba-san barks at him. "What is it?"

He sighs, and tries again, focusing on the sounds. "mMnoddamunk."

The two elders stare blankly at him.

"Ahm nodda munk." he tries again, enunciating better. "Ahm nodda yumn eethrr."

The two look at each other, then turn back to him and place a hand on each of his.

"...Sorta figur'd the first when you didn't recognize the shrine." Nods Jii-san. "-But that's alright. You take good care of us."

"...Sort of figured the second when I saw your hand on the day we met." Nods Ba-San. "-But that's alright. You're a good person, which is a very different thing than being a Good Human."

The Boy stares at them, stunned, then cringes, embarrassed. Of course! They're old, not stupid. "Aiyee- r-r-r MN! Aiyee LLied." he apologizes, stumbling over the difficult consonant in the middle, determined to conquer it.

"I didn't hear any lies, did you, Jii-san?" asks Ba-san.

"I didn't hear nothin' and my ears even work!" he grins, ears perking up.

The Boy sighs, still exasperated with their antics but mostly relieved.

...Then something Jii-san said caught up with him, and he frowns.

"Aiyee- Aye haffa..." Another tricky consonant. "Aye needa assk ssmmng." he changed tracks. L was enough of a battle for one day, Q and his frustrating wife U could wait.

"Whadday wanna know, Venerable?" Jii-san asked, and Ba-san frowned, turning her ear out behind their home, already suspecting his questions.

He held up two fingers and they nodded, waiting. He'd gotten very good at numbers and pointing already, and until today, that had carried the conversation. "sssHrrine?" he asked.

Jii-san frowned. "...what's your second question?"

"th-Therre'ss ah- Grrrave?" he pointed out behind the shrine, to where a stone stood, with what he now recognized as marks signifying a name carved into it. "wHo?"

Ba-San and Jii-san looked at each other, distraught for some time before Ba-San finally turned back to him, both hands on his.

"...Venerable," She finally spoke. "You had to run away from home in a hurry, didn't you?"

The boy nods.

"-And Jii-san and I were the first people you met that weren't you family, right?" She continues.

He nods again. She purses her lips, agitated.

"Jii-San." She finally speaks. "I think we ought to show him Sajin."

Jii-san sighs and nods, agreeing with her, and stands up. At the back of the house, there is a little cabinet with two boxes they never open, and something covered by a black cloth. Jii-san opens the cabinet and takes out the thing covered by the black cloth, pulling the cloth aside and bringing the thing to the table. It's a flat rectangle, and on it is a drawing of a very strange creature.

It's face is almost perfectly circular, and it's body covered in clothes, like how Humans dress, including a funny hat. What the boy can see of the creature is perfectly smooth and hairless and the same color as not-quite-ripe peaches. It has a long mane of straight dark gray hair growing from the top of its head, and a beard a bit like a billy-goat's

"This is Sajin," Says Jii-san, voice wavering a bit. "He wasn't our son- you can tell, we're not related by blood- but he was Our Boy. He took care of us, like you do now."

"He was Our Boy." nods Ba-San, on the verge of tears. "Then he was Our Man. And then he was Our Old Man, and then-" She stopped, and began to cry in earnest. "-And then he left home, and we buried his body out behind the shrine, and marked his grave, as Humans do."

The boy continued to stare at Sajin's portrait. "...Sajin." he whispered, and the name didn't fight him at all. "...Ihff- if Sajin iss Yumann-?" he looked up at his friends. "Whattrrre You?"

Ba-San beckons him and Jii-san back to the cabinet, and puts her hand on one of The Boxes They Never Open. Jii-San puts his hand on the other, and together, the open the lids just a tiny bit for The Boy to see inside.

He gasps and steps back in horror- the things in the boxes are very much like the skulls he's seen of his people before, but the noses are all smooshed like they didn't grow right, and the eyes are too large and- -And they're just the right size each to belong to Ba-San and Jii-San.

"We are Koma, Guardian Dogs, and this is our shrine." Says Jii-san, closing the lid on his box as Ba-san closed hers, and placing the drawing of Sajin back on the shelf above them. "We wear clothes and speak like humans because we once took Names, a very long time ago, and thus we are People and we act like People." He explained.

"Nnames?" the boy asks.

"A Name is... a sort of contract, that the humans made up." Says Ba-San, locking the cabinet back up. "Humans can live together in such huge packs and crowded cities because they have Rules- you're not allowed to kill other people except in self-defense. You're not allowed to take food someone else caught. Nobody is allowed to kill a child for any reason, things like that. If you take a Name, it's like saying- 'I am this Person! And I agree to abide by the rules of being a person!', and you have to follow the rules, but everyone else has to follow the rules for you too, because you have a Name. So Humans can live very close to each other, because they all have an understanding that nobody is going to violate those rules."

"It's not just humans that can take names- long ago, some wolves decided to take names, and those wolves became Dogs, that live with humans. They were our ancestors, and like our ancestors, we took Names, and we obeyed the rules, and for that, we were fed and allowed to sleep inside and given soup-bones and let to sleep in the sun-patch, but most of all, we were Loved." Said Jii-san.

"-And just the same, we Loved Sajin. He was Our Boy. And We were His Dogs." Said Ba-san, bursting into tears again. Jii-san held her, tears running down his face as well.

Ba-san cried into Jii-san's shoulder for a long time, and The Boy Who Was A Wolf That Wanted To Live Among The Humans sat in silence, thinking.

"...Cour-could Aye- take a nName?" He asks, slowly.

"You'd have to take two, and learn all the rules-" Nodded Jii-san. "But yes. Anyone who can talk can take a name. And you've been talking my tail off!" he wagged.

"Two?" the boy asked. He didn't need to use his fingers this time.

"Humans have two names- one is the name of that specific human, and one is the name of their family or the place they came from or what they did, as a sort of... Introduction. Humans are very big on introducing themselves and all their friends- though I suppose it makes sense, what with them having names to introduce themselves with."

"You can be a Komamura!" Jii-san said, wagging excitedly. "Ba-san and Jii-san are Koma, and we are your Ba-San and Jii-San, so you must be part of our family, so that makes you Mura, a relative- so you're a Koma-mura!" he nodded.

"Humans also give their children names of revered ancestors, to honor the ancestor, and protect the child." Added Ba-san. "You do Sajin's chores, you sleep in Sajin's bed, you take care of Sajin's Dogs... You must be Sajin!"

"That's your name, if you want it- Komamura Sajin!" Said Jii-san. The Boy stared at them for a long time, completely still, until they realized that, for the first time since they'd known him, the scarred nub on his backside was wagging too.

"Thank you." Said Sajin, tears streaming down his face too. --

Many months later, a Monk* leaves the little shrine to Ba-san and Jii-san at the edge of the dump. He leaves his home in no particular rush- if anything, he's lingering- in the middle of a bright morning, hale and with joy in his heart. He waves to his Ba-san and Jii-san as he heads down the road, promising to come back and visit.

"Look at that." says Ba-San. "Our Boy is leaving home again."

"I know," Says Jii-san. "-but this time it'll be alright."

--

#AEIWAM #An Elephant Is Warm And Mushy #Bleach #bleach fanfiction #sajin komamura #komamura #The Dog Does Not Die! #except for the dogs that are kind of already Dead #but they're alright #I promise

[s-aint-elmo]

digging out the eah content i created in a frenzy during last year’s summer of obsession part 1: my personal sapphic multishipping guide (created to explain to my friends which of these dolls i think should hold hands)

(more in-depth discussion of the ships below the cut)

the polycule that will take over ever after

kitty/lizzie; kitty/maddie; maddie/lizzie

self-explanatory. frequently purchased together do not separate. bonus shoutout to maddie canonically giving kitty a little kissie on the cheek and getting off scot-free in the books though. a wonderlandiful world was a banquet to me

cedar protection squad

once again a wonderlandiful world and once upon a time i owe you my life. kitty ESP being so adamant abt not giving a shit then turning around and fucking up those boys who were mean to cedar...... i love friendship

kitty/cerise

also self-explanatory. she was a catgirl she was a wolfgirl can i make it anymore obvious. also doribuki’s phenomenal fake dating fanfic....... transformative foundational transcendental

cerise/raven

YOU MUST UNDERSTAND. i entered eah a rapple shipper and exited the book series ready to burn at the stake for cerise/raven. book two was SO MUCH. it had everything. raven befriending cerise despite her attempts to isolate herself. texting in class. winking at each other. raven meeting the parents and hearing embarrassing baby cerise stories. cerise putting it all on the line to save raven. i’m ambivalent about shadow high but cerise gets literally one (1) mention and it’s in raven’s internal monologue wherein she equates cerise’s hood w feelings of warmth and safety. like how was that in any way necessary. i rest my case 

raven & maddie

self-explanatory as well. dabesties. the ride or dies. it means so much to me that raven always has a friend in maddie no matter how many clowns and jokers (derogatory) treat her like the antichrist. maddie the character ever

raven/apple

WHAT IT SAYS ON THE TIN. the gelphie dynamic is a classic and i am EXTREMELY vulnerable to it. they are THE ship and i will pay my respects to the end of time. i am a big fan of how they trade their roles throughout the franchise and how rich the drama and history are between them. it’s pure fucking poetry.

raven/darling

TBH. a serve. the only thing juicier than evil queen/damsel in distress is evil queen/princess charming. big big fan of darling giving raven the five star princess treatment after a lifetime of being feared and shunned and vilified. equally big fan of raven’s momentous act of rebellion giving darling the courage to be true to herself. ALSO. the absolute archetype-subversion slay of the Pure-Hearted Hero(TM) confronting the Mistress of Evil(TM) and dropping their sword. looking through the smoke and mirrors and the will of Fate itself to see the girl who has wanted nothing but to be kind beneath. swearing their heart and soul and sword to the one true good they have found. picture it. i can almost see the 100-word drabble

raven/apple/darling

now THIS is just THE fairytale couple. the evil queen, the damsel in distress and the princess charming ALL holding hands and riding off into the sunset together. dappling on its own doesn’t do it for me but raven in the mix just makes everything gel perfectly. she’s the tomato in the ratatouille the cornstarch in the spring roll water, etc etc

darling/holly

this is one of those ships where i read a really convincing fic and the more i thought of it the more it just made sense. like they'd read swashbucklers and tales of courtly love together. holly would 100% write a darling placeholder in her self-insert romance fanfic pre-relationship as a way to express her feelings. darling would 100% find out and gently pull her out of the pit of sheer mortification she drilled into the ground to escape. also the height difference is a thing of beauty

safe from the polycule

duchess/poppy

they have one singular episode to their name and it was enough. it was Everything. the dynamic you can extrapolate from that one single interaction is so incredibly appealing to me. duchess’s bitchiness belied by her palpable air of vulnerability coming up against poppy’s spine of steel tempered by her skill in gaining perspective. poppy can challenge duchess into being a better person and duchess can be poppy’s character flaw like idk she just has shit taste in women that was the price she had to pay to be moisturized and unbothered by destiny. i just think they have the potential to be the unexpected, inexplicable power couple of eah

briar/faybelle

do i even need to say anything they had a whole movie to make their case. they’re rapple if rapple got their shit together before armageddon, with the bonus of a potential curse-breaking true love’s kiss for the fanfic authors to thrash between their teeth. truly unlimited. also unlike rapple where raven is 100% against being a villain and therefore it’s apple who has to do the mental gymnastics to open herself to the possibility of a relationship w raven, faybelle is just chomping at the bit to make her momma proud and presents a compelling perspective for the whole “falling in love w your fated nemesis” thing

blondie/cupid

they are icons, they are legends, and they ARE the moment. these two are so chaotic individually, what with blondie’s criminal skillset and habit of menacing innocent woodland creatures and cupid’s matchmaking powers combined w her shitty aim, that putting them together can only mean good things. there’s this whole element of their shared passion as public figures who at their best seek the truth and guide others through matters of the heart respectively that’s always interesting as a point of irony/obstacle when they start catching feelings and have to decide what to do with them. their joint youtuber/podcaster slay can level nations

#ever after high #mine #am i strong enough to tag them all #kitty cheshire #lizzie hearts #maddie hatter #cerise hood #raven queen #apple white #darling charming #holly o'hair #duchess swan #poppy o'hair #briar beauty #faybelle thorn #blondie lockes #c.a. cupid #that supernatural vlogger/actual god clondie au that was never finished still lives rent free in my head btw. i nurse my grief over it #like a baby: regularly while sighing over the future that could be #cupid and raven should also hold hands but not in this polycule universe

[howlingday]

What if Jaune was a Xiao-Long? Does he either inherit Tai’s puns but are actually good, or Summer’s obsession with weapons, specifically swords.

Well, let's talk about the changes that would come with Jaune being born a Xiao Long. I'm assuming that he's Raven and Tai's son and Yang's twin brother, since him being Ruby's twin would potentially give him silver eyes and take away Ruby's role as the innocent and pure soul that she is, since she'd have to share the big hero spotlight.

As a Xiao-Long Branwen, Jaune's eyes would be red, blue, or purple, which is a choice of colors I love. Like, Yang isn't red like her mothers or blue like her fathers, but a lovely mix of purple to show she is both her mother's and her father's child. So Jaune also being born with these would be nice, though him having either Tai's or Raven's colored eyes would be a nice contrast to Yang. Also, fourth option, just putting it on the table so it's there, Jaune being heterochromatic with red and blue eyes. But to be honest, that feels a little too OC for me. Honestly, I'm leaning to Tai eyes since it would give Raven more reason to not stick around.

Jaune would grow up with Yang and help raise Ruby, but I could see him acting more like a brother than a father with her. He plays video games and reads comic books with her, while Yang is acting more as a mother-figure, filling in the space Summer left. I can also see Jaune having a Luigi dynamic to Yang's Mario, with him being the more timid and cautious twin of the two. Like, I'm imagining the three leaving to look for Summer with Jaune making constant whines like "Yaaang, we should go back!"

Now, with Jaune's weapon, let's address the goliath in the room. Crocea Mors? Not a thing. There's no family heirloom for him to take from the wall to attend Beacon. Instead, since he'd attend Signal and Beacon with his sisters, he'd make his own weapons. What weapons? Ooh... That's... Oof... If you're familiar with my Ru-Ja-Gun-Con series, you know that there are A LOT of weapons Jaune could choose and be inspired by. I even hinted at one being a solid choice for me if I had my way, BUT that was Jaune in canon. This is an entirely different Jaune. However, since this Jaune is still, essentially, Jaune, I would still like to keep the Jaune Arc style, so I'll let him keep the sword and shield and say he was inspired by the fairy tale stories he would read to Ruby, and yes, it is the Rusted Knight. However, I'd also like to borrow from the Joan of Arc inspiration and give Jaune something from her arsenal. I'm thinking a sword and shield/sheath that can be turned into a crossbow! But wait, there's more! Since both Ruby and Yang use theirs for combat AND mobility, I'd like to suggest Jaune has a rappelling line/bolt that he can slide on. Neat, right? Now we just need a name... How about... Juniper Rose, named after his favorite character from his favorite fairy tale.

"But what about his semblance?!" The voice in my head cries, mimicking what I think is what you're asking. Well, since he is heading off to Signal and Beacon with his sisters, it would only make sense to have Jaune unlock his aura and his semblance, but instead of coming up with something wild like Juniper Rose, I'd suggest keeping Aura Amp as his semblance BUT obviously have it unlocked sooner. I'm imagining a scenario during training where Ruby or Yang got really hurt, so he rushes over to help them and uses his semblance to quickly heal them.

But yeah, there's my Jaune Xiao-Long for you.

#rwby #rwby au #jaune xiao-long #jaune arc #ruby rose #yang xiao long #my answer #my thoughts

[emilykaldwen]

Title: Moonshadow Ship: Jacaerys x Helaena WC: 859 Rating: Gen Summary: Jace and Helaena tell stories beneath the light of the moon. Written for the @hotd-bigbang prompt: Moon Notes: Many many thanks to @acrossthesestars for her beta powers and helping me find the jace and helaena pictures and to @selfproclaimedunicorn reassuring me it wasn't terrible to begin with. this story isn't specifically related to any of my other projects, but you are welcome to consider it part of Maiden canon, or for last year's entry, The Lighting of the Blaze

The pair of them sat atop Visenya’s tower - the tallest in the Holdfast. Jace’s heart jumped into his throat when Helaena had clambered upon the red ledge, the wind catching at her silver hair, her laughter dancing on the breeze.

“You’ll fall,” he told her, but followed, as he always did, to perch beside her. The height was dizzying in a way that flying did not quite catch. He thought it was, perhaps, because there was no safety of his dragon beneath him. Just stone, warm from the day’s sun and his own practiced balance to be safe.

He tangled his fingers through Helaena’s, not for a moment thinking that he’d be able to pull her back should she fall. No, instead he would fall with her. She had woken up, frantic and tearful, and found her way to his rooms a night not so long ago, gasping as she crawled into bed with him. 

“I fell I fell I lost my wings I lost them they were taken I fell I fell.” 

Helaena had babbled those words over and over until his neck and nightshirt were soaked with her tears and he had to keep her sobs muffled lest one of the guards hear and discover them.

Her fingers were delicate, deceptively fragile when he knew how strong her grip was; how those very fingers could turn to claws just as they could stroke gently down the line of his spine.

“The Red Priest in the market told a story,” she whispered now, months later, far less frightened than before. The night was bright; the moon hung heavy and round in the sky, the blanket of twinkling stars so beautiful and wondrous, streaked with distant clouds that caught the light.He felt so small beneath the expanse. “He said that Azor Ahai thrust his sword into the breast of his wife, Nissa Nissa, and her cry of anguish and ecstasy left a crack across the moon.”

“I don’t see a crack,” Jace mused, his gaze searching across the bright shine of it. Dark blotches, certainly, but no tell-tale crack of an egg. “That’s a cruel way to treat the woman he loved the most in the world.”

“Are you saying you would not use my soul and blood to forge a great blade that would save the world?” Helaena laughed, her breath warm against his ear as the stone was warm beneath him. Jace squeezed her hand and her fingers tightened around his, reassuring. “There’s another story. There were two moons, my maid told me. One wandered too close to the sun and cracked open, birthing the dragons.”

“One of my grandfather’s crewmen told me a tale from Volantis.” It was Jace’s turn now. “That a shepherd approached the only dragon, to tame it by feeding him sheep. They would meet beneath the light of the moon.”

“In the night?” Helaena asked, a curious furrow to her brow that he brushed a kiss against to smooth. “But why is the shepherd visiting a dragon at night?”

“Because she was watching the flock to protect them from wolves,” he told her, tracking along the pictures in the sky, seeking out the fish, the lion, the hunter. “A dragon, she thought, would surely be the finest protector of her flock, for what wolf or thief would dare rouse the anger of the dragon.” She hummed softly but did not interrupt, her fingers playing with his. “Each night she came, feeding him one of the sheep to sate his hunger, so he might trust her, and eventually the shepherd lay with the dragon. The moons turned and the shepherd gave birth to more dragons.”

Helaena’s teeth scraped against her lower lip. “So the shepherd lay with the dragon and the dragon… fit?”

He snorted. “She was a very special woman.”

She shivered, giggling. “So the shepherd lay with the dragon. There were no other dragons?”

“I guess not. That’s what the story says: it was the only dragon. And that’s how the other dragons came to be, I suppose.”

“They do say that Old Valyria was founded by sheep herders,” Helaena mused. He felt her carefully shift to rest her chin upon his shoulder, and Jace turned his head slightly to brush his nose against hers. She smelled of citrus, of lemon balm and mint. “Kivio biantys,” she murmured. 

His cheeks turned red, his heart stuttering at the whisper. Promised shepherd, caretaker of the soul. Soulmates, as the Westerosi called it. His mouth went dry, his throat bobbing as he swallowed.

“Did you dream this?” he asked, the Valyrian he’d learned from the cradle rolling off his tongue, the accent of his mother, of Laenor, of his grandmother coating the words. It was warm, different from the elegant polish of Helaena’s maester taught tongue. Sometimes he felt they should exchange how they sounded, to match their insides.

“Daor.” She blinked, soft and slow, matching lavender gaze reflecting the shine of stars, the pierce of moonglow that caught on her hair and Jace thought she was otherworldly with it - the woman of the tale he’d spun for her. “I just know it.”

#my fics #jacaerys velaryon #jacaerys targaryen #hotd jacaerys #jacaerys fic #jacaerys fluff #helaena targaryen #helaena targaryen fic #jacelaena #jace x helaena #jacaerys x helaena #jacelaena fic #hotd fanfiction #hotd fic #idk what else to tag this ass #anyway enjoy!

[taleofmuses]

@seaoftales

The sea burnt. Between the marine ships and the pirate ships lay a wasteland of burning debris. The Sunny was running out of canons slowly, the ship severely harmed already, about to face taking on water or having to run. The Red Force while looking better had taken on a devastating hit, burning already. One of the marine ships was in the process of sinking, following a pirate vessel and two more marine vessels to the ocean floor.

Suddenly fog settled over the ocean between the two sides of a war. One more canon shot rang out, then silence. An eerie singing joined the fog. Some sailors stepped away from the decks, slowly as dread gripped them. The stronger ones weren't yet touched by the tendrils of fear that rose up from the depths of the ocean, accompanied by a dark ship.

Tattered sails hung limp in the wind, holes graced the side of it. It shouldn't be able to float at all. It should take on water. And yet it glowed, a dark and eerie, almost purple glow.

"It's the Caleuch!" one poor soul cried out, recognizing it from children's tales. "We're all dead!"

Silence fell, the humming stopped as lightnight lit up the deck of the Caleuche, showing a few solid figures and many, many more shadows lingering on it.

One of the solid figures stepped atop the figure at the bow of the ship. He looked around at all the sailors, most of them destined to perish now, die in the hellfire the Caleuche would bring.

And yet as he looked, Athelar stopped, his gaze lingering on one man, wielding a sword and the Caleuch paused, unlike any story of the mythical ghost ship ever said.

#seaoftales

[iwillrememberyoumarathon]

IWRY Fic Marathon 2023: November Roundup

See our previous roundup for fanworks posted from November 1-15.

Day 16: I Know Those Eyes/This Man Is Dead by Greensword101 Summary: Him. It was him. Buffy knew it in her heart. Angel standing in the shop, browsing aisles. In broad daylight. When he looked up, his eyes widened a fraction before ducking down again. But Buffy knew those eyes anywhere. They were always with her on nights that she was forced to relive thrusting that sword into his chest. But why did he pretend not to know who she was? (Rated G. 1,533 words)

Day 17: Of Prophecies and True Love’s Kiss by UltramarineOrchid (@ultramarineorchid) Summary: Buffy’s no damsel but just this once Angel might be. -or- The kind-of-sort-of Sleeping Beauty retelling no one asked for. (Rated G. 2,050 words)

Day 18: The Red Gate by bluestarsandclouds (@bluestarsandclouds) Summary: All the times Buffy and Angel met up at the place in the middle. (Rated G. 3,185 words)

Day 19: Overexcited by AmorousGreen (@calenlily) Summary: The first time Buffy takes him in her hand, he pops a knot without meaning to. It’s a loss of control every bit as shameful as the demon coming forward the first time they’d kissed. He’s two hundred years old and he’s always prided himself on his discipline, he shouldn’t be embarrassing himself like an overeager schoolboy. (Pre-Surprise in an Omegaverse AU.) (Rated E. 1,223 words)

Day 20: Angelus's Mercy: Part Two by MCorey1317 Summary: Buffy can't seem to stop finding herself in these predicaments ... (Rated E. 7,804 words)

Day 21: Being Known by Kean (@keanherself) Summary: Buffy sees Angel on the cover of Snooped and a late night phonecall ensues. Set during the summer between S4 & S5 of Buffy and S1 & S2 of Angel. (Rated T. 3,392 words)

Day 22: Not Like Before by buffytargaryen (@buffy-targaryen) Summary: Angel offers to help Buffy with her Homecoming pictures. Pining ensues. (Rated G. 1,622 words)

Day 23: I Can't Remember by MeTheMermaid (@casenpoint) Summary: A week after The Hyperion burns to the ground, Angel shows up on Buffy's doorstep. With a heartbeat. If this is Buffy's greatest fantasy finally come true, why can't she shake the feeling that this is a bad thing? Buffy will have to decide if she can overcome their complicated past for the sake of their future. (Rated E. 6,986 words)

Day 24: Side Mission by Taaroko (@taaroko) Summary: Angel invites Buffy for a romantic evening of clearing demons of indeterminate origin out of a cave on the beach. Or, what I like to imagine would've happened if Angel had made an appearance in "The Puppet Show." (Rated T. 3,162 words)

Day 25: The Chosen Princess and the Shadow Knight by KairosImprimatur (@kairosimperative) Summary: Gather 'round to hear the tale of Summer's Princess, who set out from the land of Solandale to seek her destiny, to vanquish the Dark Master, and mayhapse to find her one true love and break the curse upon him. (Not rated. 2,362 words)

Day 26: the girl and the ash by claddaghrings (@bangelism) Summary: there is no cure. (Rated T. 2,152 words)

Day 27: Our Little Family by twinkielove6 Summary: Buffy is having trouble dealing with her emotions after coming back from the dead. She needs to get out of Sunnydale and away from her friends for a little while, so she turns to the only person she needs right now. Angel. Angel has a newborn, Connor, who quickly becomes Buffy's son as well. Angel's soul has been made permanent and the pair live out their little fairytale. (Rated G. 2,294 words)

Day 28: Can It Be Right to Give What I Can Give? by asoulofstars & blackdragonhellfire (@asoulofstars) Summary: By the time we see Buffy and Angel in "What's My Line?", they are a SOLID couple. They're happy and seem to be on the same page. So, how did they get there? Well, Eyghon prompted some emotions on both ends that needed to be addressed, and it gives them a chance to get past all of their overdramatics. Canon compliant missing scene between "The Dark Ages" and "What's My Line? (Part 1)". (Rated T. 1,445 words)

Day 29: An Aspect Of by GraceNM Summary: Just because Buffy’s looking in a mirror doesn’t mean she’s getting a true reflection. Angel tells her what he sees, and the effect she has on him. Post-Earshot. (Rated M. 2,314 words)

Day 30: Six Times Angel Lost Buffy And One Time He Didn't by aboutafox (@aboutafox) Summary: There are things you don't get used to. There are cycles you don't break. Until you do. (Rated T. 3,387 words)

Artworks

Bangel — I Will Remember You - gifset by @marie-moreaus

"So, no touching..." / "We stay in touch..." - photoedit by @oveliagirlhaditright

Buffy and Angel - Maybe If I Tell Myself Enough - video by @broke-me-into-pieces

Buffy and Angel - An Evening I Will Not Forget - video by @bluestarsandclouds

AtS 1.08 ♥ I Will Remember You - anniversary gifset by @liam-summers

"to live in this world you must be able to do three things..." - gifset by @sarahmichelegellar

Buffy and Angelus in Innocence - digital painting by @artsying-ifer

buffy and angel | work song - video by @bangelism

#bangel #buffy x angel #iwryficmarathon2023

[wangxianficfinder]

Daemons / Sentient Sword

~*~

🧡 Song of Suibian and Bichen: Or, the Greatest (And Only) Furby Master of Demonic Cultivation by moonwaif (T, 64k, WangXian, Fix-It of Sorts, canon adjacent, The spiritual weapons are furbies, Angst with a Happy Ending, The parent trap but make it WangXian with furbies, Mutual Pining, Taking my favorite parts of every adaptation and smashing them together)

🧡 like speaking to my heart by SnowshadowAO3 (T, 613k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Daemons, Slow Burn, Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canonical Character Death, Some people live!, additional warnings in specific chapters, if you don't know what daemons are that's ok because I explain it in the author's note, also by slow burn I VERY much mean slow burn)

The Grandmaster of Daemonic Cultivation by CaptainJojo (E, 104k, WangXian, ChengQing, XuanLi, Daemons, Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, a lil bit of sexy in later chapters, Wangxian figures it out quicker, gratuitous bending of the rules of cultivation, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Angst with a Happy Ending, Metaphysical Sex, Daemon Touching, Canon Divergence, Eventual Happy Ending)

a shattering of souls by coffee_and_cardamom (M, 42k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Canon Compliant, Pre-Canon, Post-Canon, Canon Rewrite, Canon Temporary Character Death, Major Character Undeath, Angst with a Happy Ending, Heavy Angst, Comfort/Angst, Blood and Gore, Hurt/Comfort, Mildly Dubious Consent, Dubious Consent Due To Identity Issues, WWX in WWX's Body, YLLZ WWX, Oblivious WWX, BAMF WWX, POV LWJ, Protective LWJ, LWJ Character Study, Daemon Touching, Daemon Separation, Daemon Feels, Everyone Needs A Hug)

The Grand Master of Daemonic Cultivation by FayJay (G, 3k, wangxian, daemons au)

Kind of Evil by nirejseki (G, 1k, canon divergence, sentient swords, sentient sabers, BAMFs)

Crowded by nirejseki (G, 1k, NHS & WWX, wangxian, LWJ/NHS/WWX, canon divergence, different body offering ritual, atypical relationship dynamics, sentient sabers)

Close by nirejseki (Not rated, 11k, NMJ & Baxia, NMJ & NHS, body swap, sentient sabers)

Ch 25 & 33 of The Tales of Despereaux by stiltonbasket (T, 39k, wangxian, canon divergence, WWX summoned by QS, additional warnings in author's note when applicable)

the world passes by but for me there is only you by beeswaxing (E, 82k, wangxian, canon divergence, fix-it of sorts, accidental marriage, love confessions, first kiss, first time, horny teenagers, pining, fluff, everyone lives au, wedding night, emotional sex, golden core reveal) this one has sentient swords

Chenqing and Wangji Takes Matters Into Their Own Hands by HelloKitten (Not rated, 11k, wangxian, Bichen/Chenqin, fix-it of sorts, glimpse of future, time travel?)

If You Give a Cultivator a Daemon Series by ushauz (T, 23k, WangXian, XianNing, JC & WWX, Daemons, Yunmeng Bros Reconciliation, Polyamory Negotiations)

@zeldacw seems to be this fandom’s originator of the Anthromorphic Weapons trope; those comics can be found under the tag 忘情隨塵 (WangQingSuiChen) and post on her Tumblr and on her Twitter @/zeldacw; inspired Kindred Spirits by EstelweNadia (Not Rated, 2k, WIP, Bìchén/Suíbiàn, Chénqíng/Wangji, Humor, Angst, Eventual Romance, Drama, Slow Build, Slow Burn)

Spiritual Weapons Have Feelings Too Series by meicairoubingfan (kiradyn) (T, 10k, Suíbiàn/Chénqíng, Anthropomorphic Spiritual Weapons, Pining, Weapons As People, Angst, Separation, Grief/Mourning, Loss, Romantic Relationships Between Weapons, But Also Platonic Relationships, Brotherhood, commiserating, Reminiscing, Good Guy JC, Good Brother JC, Established Relationship, Between A Sword And A Flute, Canon Compliant, Foreshadowing of Bichen x Suibian, Foreshadowing Of Wangji x Chenqing)

A somewhat unconventional family by DamieMontclair (T, 1k, Bìchén/Suíbiàn, sentient sword spirits, sentient first class spiritual tools, Little bit of angst, Recovery, Getting Together, Fluff, and dare I say...., Domestic Fluff) crackfic where the weapon and instrument spirits are a family in their own right

~*~

#Wangxian Fic Rec #The Untamed #wangxian #MDZS #wangxianficfinder compilation post #long post #daemons #daemon au #daemons au #sentient swords #sentient swords au

[limpfisted]

but wyll does leave you as a squid. he tells you he can't be with you anymore and the solution he comes up with is basically one wherein he treats you like a pet, or worse, a dirty secret that he hides away in the bowels of baldur's gate because he still cares more about being the blade of frontiers than he does you. i love wyll but the way larian wrote that ending feels both ooc for him and a touch cruel toward the pc.

the way canon portrays a character cannot be ooc. you can disagree with it, you can change it, but thats why fanfiction is called “transformative work.” the text is the text. your interpretation of the text is subjective, the events of the game are not subjective. they are facts that happen on ur computer screen. wyll asks you if you want to be his basement squid lover. you can say no. he doesnt force that on you.

it is cruel. it is a bad thing to do. wyll should not do it. it is obviously a bad thing for both you AND him

but hes NOT the blade of frontiers in this ending. hes the grand duke of baldurs gate.

if hes the blade of frontiers—he dumps you bc he wants to go be an adventurer and that is the goal n oath he literally sold his soul for once, n the reason he lives his life. u cant be an adventurer with him. ull scare people, theyll try to kill you. he relies on his relationship with the people of the sword coast, they orotect him n give him their kindness shelter n hospitality in order for him to protect them. he cannot do this if u are a mindflayer.

if hes a grand duke, he NEEDS you. he wants you so desperately hes WILLING to do something awful to you BC he has so many fucked up feelings for you

wyll was 17 years old when he left bg, he stopped studying law, he never led an army, every patriar has been killed, 2 dukes are dead, the city is in ruins. he has no idea what hes doing. he no longer has any agency over his own life, he does not have his freedom, n he WANTS you

i believe the feeling of love and the action of love are different. he feels in that moment a desperation to have you and hold you, the normalcy, the fairy tale promised. he clings to something he cannot have in u just as he can no longer have his freedom to be a hero, to be the man he would choose to be on his own. he is in awe of you. you are the champion of his city—the city he is now shackled to, that fits like a wet kitchen glove.

wyll has so very little agency in this game. i see this ending as part of his “bad end.” but it is also an interesting one.

is ascended astarion “ooc.” is dark justiciar shar? no person is just one thing and there is no inherent good or evil inside anyone. we are the decisions we make, goid or bad, every single day, and the reasons we make them. you make decisions, you live with them, and who you choose to be in every second is who you are. we are not fixed states. good isnt a thing you are—its a thing you have to work to do every day, and something you can and SHOULD work to do every day. but people slip up. theyre messy, confused, traumatized, they have big feelings, that make them want things that hurt other people. everyone makes mistakes, even people as noble as wyll.

you can prefer one decision line of a character over another. obviously i would prefer to be with wyll in avernus kicking zariel’s ass.

but if you deny someone the mere notion that they could do something hurtful or evil even to the people they love—you are denying their humanity n the full complexity of their soul. n u are denying the effort it takes to BE so goid like wyll is so good,

wyll is not some perfect well-adjusted good boy that goes around with a soul full of sunshine. everyone had dark thoughts and impulses and violence in them. everyone is equally capable of hurting people.

it is HARD to be good.

wyll is not performing the act of love—love is healthy n consensual n nutritional. but he feels a desperate pull of love towards you. you have been his light in all this. you have kept him sane and kept him going. you made every major decision in this journey for him. you are his leader, his lover. he is about to have the hardest possible job in the world with no understanding of how this job works. he hasnt been here for ten fucking years. he wants you. he wishes you could fix it, like you fixed everyone else.

its a weakness and a flaw.

wyll has flaws.

why would you want wyll to be perfect no matter what decisions u make? if you don’t like it—pick different decisions in the game and “earn” your happy ending, bc it DOES exist.

this is one of wyll’s most interesting narrative beats and us a fascinating thing to discuss and analyze. its part of a larger narrative, it serves a purpose in the story n to wyll’s story.

it IS cruel. thats the point. the story could not be going “this is fucked up” any more if it tried

you can transform the work any way u want, thats what fanfic n rp r for, but like

be uncomfortable! its supposed to make you uncomfortable! not every story is supposed to make you happy! some are meant to challenge your perception of a character n what you thought a character was possible of!

rant over, have a good night anon

#ooc

[waeirfaahl]

No reaction, no doubts

In my previous posts (here and here) I kicked the three alien gods. In this post I'll kick the different aspect of the moments with them. Specifically, the moment in 5 season.

Let's look at the comics for the start. Jack lost his sword due to the energy burst during his attempt to open the time portal. In despair, he wanders and hides from Aku (and in the comics Aku immediately felt the destruction of the sword and put Jack on the wanted list, so everyone is ordered/offered to kill Jack — pretty weird that Aku didn't use his mirror for finding and killing Jack himself, because I doubt that changing of your clothess and getting long hair and beard will hide you from magic mirror, so Aku used for this Jack's blood, given to him by the bounty hunter robot, and then finally found out Jack without the sword). And then the exhausted and weakened Jack remembers his dad and the tale of how Emperor got the sword.

And here Emperor tells the story, very close to the events in "Birth of Evil". And apparently it happens before 1 season 1 episode. I guess, Jack was too young to not notice, how his dad doesn't mention some events in later iterations. Because, as I pointed out here, there's contradiction. Or the alien gods really started to erase some memories of Jack's dad?

Here Emperor admits that he watched Aku's birth, but doesn't aknowledge (or doesn't realize his responsibility) that he himself accidentally created Aku, gave the life to him. Because here he doesn't mention about the poisoned arrow and his attempt to destroy the dark shred, which instead caused Aku's birth.

For some reason their laser from eyes here is green instead of blue. Hmm, just like the color of the poison the Emperor used... But no matter, Jack is exhausted and simply hallucinates.

This color changing could be done because of visual aesthetics, but still pretty weird.

I mean, their main color is exactly blue. In "Birth of Evil" their laser/fire is blue, the light from their weapons is blue, even the eyes of their animals are blue. Ra's crocodile, Odin's stallion, although Rama's elephant has pink eyes, but I think that it's implying that Rama and his animal are blind (because Rama's eyes are black). Plus, the raven, another Odin's animal, also has blue eyes and blue light as well, when it teleported Jack to the castle of the alien gods, where they made the sword to Jack's dad in "Birth of Evil". (yep, even here the comics are authentic and respectful to the classic seasons and their canon — if in "Birth of Evil" Odin's stallion leads Jack's dad to their castle, in the comics Odin's raven leads Jack).

Later the alien gods appear in their true form (just like the classic episodes, the comics also hint that the monks are simply their human forms/avatars) and tell to Jack another part of the story, the beginning. Jack is calm here, because he knows about them from his father's tales. Remember that moment.

And this scene has own weird moments. Notice that they never refer to Aku as to a living being (which was deprived of free will and chance to become accepted, loved and "good guy" creature). They refer to Aku as the part of the Void of Ultimate Evil. And the most astounding thing — they don't mention that both they and the Void arose from the same star. Simply saying, the thing they know nothing about they themselves mark as the evil and kill, as well as the offspring (Aku) of this void they treat as the shred of the evil, which must be killed. They created the rules of this game. And they don't mention that Emperor created Aku as well. They test and judge Jack for loss of the sword (ah, guys, you themselves have weapons for "destroying the evil", what's problem? and why didn't you say to Jack that it's a bad idea to create time paradoxes?). And they also hint to Jack what his father said to him once in 1 episode of 1 season — the sword is just a tool, the main thing is the soul and its strength and purity.

They don't make to Jack the new sword, they don't restore Emperor's sword, they hint the way how Jack can make his own spirit to be his own weapon. And Jack does this in the deadly battle with Aku. He'll never give up.

Incredibly epic and powerful moment. Despite some strange moments, the comics really nailed the core of the show and the character. Awesome arc, leading to his decision to fight for the future and his friends he met and helped.

But this beauty was destroyed and threw away from canon in favor of the cursed 5 season. Hence nothing of this happened in the show anymore. What caught me out of guard in 5 season — Jack's absolutely absent reaction at the alien gods during his first encounter with them. Emperor never told to him about the alien gods and what they did, Jack never knew about it. Simply saying, he sees them for the first time, but there's no fear, no suspicion, no distrust, no assumption that they can be another spies or bounty hunters etc. And when they briefly mention that Jack was the chosen one just like his father, Jack again has no reaction. He doesn't ask them at all about "You knew my dad? You created the sword? Who are you? You know Aku — what caused the conflict in the first place? Why you ignored me all these 50 years? Why you ignored Aku's crimes on Earth and didn't beat him themselves all this time?". Why?!

Like, at least, in "Birth of Evil" Emperor's "absent" reaction (his face was literally "WTF is going on?!") was understandable — like, he encounters the supernatural beings for the first time in his life, he wants to protect his family and kingdom from the creature he created (without realizing this) and saw as the deadly threat, so he seeks for help and easily believes to the creepy trio's words about Ultimate Evil thing, because they create the weapon for him to succeed in defeating the demon. Why Jack has no reaction and no doubts, I have no idea.

#aku samurai jack #samurai jack #samurai jack 5 season

[mymovingfingerwrites]

i was re-reading Deathly Hallows to get inspiration for my Snape story and I realized that Dumbledore straight up doesn't tell him about the Horcruxes!! Throughout all of ASOR, I thought that was my weakest plot point, that Dumbledore in this timeline wouldn't confide in Snape -- but he doesn't confide in Snape in canon either. He doesn't tell him about the Horcruxes at all, or why Harry needs to die, or why Harry needs the Sword of Gryffindor at the right moment, or what the ring was that cursed him. I think I've read too many Snape fics where Snape knows everything to realize that in canon, Dumbledore kept him in the dark about essentially everything. Wild.

(also, then have to decide if i want my Snape to discover the Horcruxes or if this should be a Horcrux-free story. thoughts circulating).

Also, this great exchange between Dumbledore and Snape:

"Lord Voldemort's soul, maimed as it is, cannot bear close contact with a soul like Harry's. Like a tongue on frozen steel, like flesh in flame -- "

"Souls? We were talking of minds!"

"In the case of Harry and Lord Voldemort, to speak of one is to speak of the other."

Chapter 33 - The Prince's Tale (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows)

#idk i was just surprised to learn this #harry potter #the deathly hallows #i always think that Snape must have been included in everything #but guess not!

[majorasnightmare]

Please elaborate on the Ganondorf Au(s), I gotta know, lol I my immediate first thought was this weird/elaborate Coffee Shop AU where Zelda and Link are running some small-time locally owned franchise (like two, maybe three stores)... and Ganondorf rolls up in some Super-Starbucks trying to take over or push them out of business... why did that come to me so quickly, lmao

OKAY S O

jesus christ this is long

i find ganondorf to be a deeply compelling character. this is in part to the way pre botw zelda games utilized him as both a villain and as this symbolic culmination of evil.

now other games may have done this, but none immediately come to mind, as one of the most compelling aspects of ganondorfs character is that before botw? every instance in every game was the SAME dude (except skyward sword but ill talk about that later). that allowed games with stronger narrative focus to flesh him out in greater detail, while a game with a more cut and dry story but flashier cinematics could really sell his menace, and future iterations could carry the boons of both.

now the zelda timeline is a mess, and the games themselves were not built around that concept. at most youd get direct sequels like majoras mask, or games directly referencing an older title as part of their history, like twilight princess. one should not take the timeline as Word Of God Canon (even though there are multiple official books that reference it), but they all kind of work together to give you a bigger picture. this is especially true for the 2d zeldas, as Ganondorf The Character wasnt really an explored concept back then. you instead had dark beast ganon (who once took human form as dude named Aganhim but hes. separate. like hes canon and important but most of what he contributes to Ganondorf As Character is the dark evil wizard vibes).

in general, when looking at ganondorfs character youll mostly be examining four titles: Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, Windwaker, and Skyward Sword. skyward sword is unique in a lot of ways because it IS made with the "zelda timeline" in mind, and is the timelines official beginning. here we get the forging of the master sword, the first imprisoning war, and! a guy that is NOT ganondorf! demon king demise is the end game boss here, and while i could dedicate a post to analyzing his limited screentime, whats important to this convo is that demise lays a curse upon his defeat. those bearing the soul of the hero (link, who reincarnates), the blood of the goddess hylia (zelda, who does not and instead has descendants inheriting power) will be caught in a cycle of war and blood with the bearer of demise's hatred (ganondorf!). and THERES the money. that last part there helps contribute a LOT to further analyzing ganondorfs character throughout these games because, as mentioned before, they build on each other!

the plot of ocarina of time is not deep. its an enjoyable game, but like most zelda entries, its a paint by numbers tale of a good hero overcoming an evil villain who kidnaps a Notable Woman as the final build towards the climax, wherein you kick his ass free the girl and kill him. (kind of. ganondorf never really DIES) HOWEVER. twilight princess, windwaker, and skyward sword, by virtue of focusing on this SAME DUDE, end up giving a LOT of retroactive depth! its a really fun phenomenon!

that tears of the kingdom throws in the fucking trash! for!! some reason!! WHY. why the hell would you spend 25 years making a layer cake piece by piece and then throw it in the trash in favor of box mix cupcakes??? I DONT GET IT MAN.

totk isnt. a BAD game per se. theres a lot to enjoy about it.

narrative is not one of those things.

tiptoeing around spoilers here but discussing them generally

the dragon tears are, among other things, about ganondorfs rise to power, to reach his current end game boss state. despite this. he has a grand total of three scenes before he GETS that power. one of which is him laughing, one of which is a poorer retelling of a scene from OoT, and the last one is his introduction where he does fuck all. WHERES THE MOTIVE HERE????

OoT is my least favorite entry of the 4 games listed above. it has a lot of dated narrative elements and systemic issues that continue to plague nintendo to this day (misogyny and racism as per usual). despite this, i find myself returning to OoTs narrative and characterization REPEATEDLY in totk because in so many aspects it just storytells better! yes totk is an open world game with a hands off narrative approach. but botw has that concept down pat and is a more satisfying experience. totk is a more narrative focused botw, and yet its storytelling sucks WORSE than botws and doesnt even measure up to OLDER TITLES. more detailed rants on that are for another time.

so what is a bitch with a special interest in zelda and a fixation on its most charismatic villain to do when presented with an otherwise enjoyable game that is deeply unsatisfying in regards to aforementioned autistic bitchs favorite villain?

obviously make an au thats TotK But Better For Me And My Bros Specifically (thanks @villalunae ily forever)

but if your gonna do that, might as well go full self indulgence, right?

due to aforementioned Ganondorf Characterization Layer Cake, theres a LOT of fun Implied Nuance to play around with, of most importance is ganondorfs relationship with the gerudo, and the gerudos relationship to hyrule. demises curse and the elements of destiny and fate add some fun compounding factors to really amp the tension up, but in my opinion only really ever serve as The Last Straw so to speak. its important that ganondorf is someone who chooses to be this way! but choices arent made in a vacuum, and prying those circumstances apart gives you so many potential ways for this to End Differently.

so seeing that TotK Ganondorf is NOT the OG OoT Ganondorf, the idea here is to further explore the concept of like. WHY is he a villain? villain is a socially constructed category afterall. how do you focus on those circumstances and their effects on a person? how does the political situation of hyrule play into this?

a personal favorite interpretation of mine (and other ppls judging by the plethora of fan content in a similar vein), is this idea of a Redeemed Ganondorf, a variation where ganondorf is NOT the final boss, but instead an ally of link and zeldas. wrt this particular au, that looks a lot like locking everyone in a room together and see who starts throwing things first.

so with that in mind, i just ended up going through scene after scene in totk and thinking of how a redeemable ganondorf would play out. what kind of personality would he have, how would he interact with these other characters, what are his relationships like? whats his driving motive, how committed to these ideas is he, whats his breaking point and why? and then playing with those ideas and throwing them against other characters, how does he interact with the sages, how does he interact with rauru, how does he interact with ZELDA?

a lot of that informs the baseline of how we ended up going through making the au (alongside a hefty dose of writers worldbuilding dilemma lmao) and also serves as the foundation of subsequent sequel aus that as of right now exist solely as amvs in my head.

so in summary theres two?? maybe 3??? that im just marinating in.

the main unnamed totk au, where the triforce trio work alongside each other to put an end to demises curse of hatred once and for all, with a large focus on character dynamics and their relationships to each other (and also plenty of self indulgence. ghirahim got tossed back in there. and fi)

and then, after that, a kind of hypothetical sequel game to totk au. set 100 years after the ending events of totk au, the trio + co navigate a world where the threat of ganondorfs rise to power is no longer the primary problem hyrule suffers, but instead a power vacuum in the realm of demons, leading to a slowly rising threat of demon incursion. focuses on how your "party" (ganondorfs reincarnation, links reincarnation, and a non-princess zelda, alongside naboorus reincarnation, and impa (neither a reincarnation nor a descendant but once again paying homage to impa as a recurring character)) gets along with each other and how, as the years go by (i have. TWO seperate time skips so far), their relationships to each other change, and how their goals and ideals grow and change in response to the shifting landscape of threat in hyrule

the last one, technically, is a modern au that mostly works as background context for triforce trio shitposting.

(ur idea for a coffee shop au is fuckn FANTASTIC btw i love it)

GOD this post got long. thanks for holdin out so long for all this! i can definitely make long as fuck posts about. p much anything in totk and how it gets changed or reinterpreted in totk au, or ganondorfs relationships in that au, because they live in my brain rent free.

#byrdsfly #loz totk #totk au #totk ganondorf #ganondorf #totk spoilers #throwing this in the main tags because. i love talking to ppl lmao #thank u SO much for giving me a reason to publically ramble ajsjsjdjd

[skybristle]

Spider Lily lore go

hmmm you see thats a bit Much for 2 reasons: 1] spider lily is a 'folk tale' esque character, in fact, they were made because my close friend drake came up to me with them as ,,, folk characters as an explanation for a phenomena [in their case, the cosmic void, which is more of a Their fanon thing, in mine more generally black magic and specifically the licorice sea]. flor [and flors partner, sea angel] lived MILLENIA ago. and 2] while a complicated character spider lily is a smidge underdeveloped ,,, unforunately sea angel is just easier to put lore together with due to her direct ties to starfruit dragon. so. ill give you what i can!

so, as a premtive, a big part of my fanon was the first war of cookiekind. how it was started didn't really matter, besides it was somewhere up north where the cacao kingdom is today, but it escalated because the war god strawberry jam spirit was created from the blood shed, and millenials attempt to calm things down by sealing them in a sword uhm. Just made everyone fight over the cool epic god sword since the alliances and trade had already collapsed into a mess of fighting at this point. huh,,,, a cursed blood sword that compells anyone carrying it into a brutish monster,,, that sounds familiar! hope that isn't important later!

spider lily was from the lily villiage, but is a mage practicing blood and black magic [+ some floral magic, and maybe a bit stolen from millenial tree's roots]. Keep in mind magic does not have morality in my fanon and the whole 'blood magic' thing isn't really bad either [spider lily mainly just hurts. themself.] but like regardless they're kinda like Jesus Christ! and kick flor out.

so flor is just kinda chilling and wandering. maybe doing some shady shit but hey war mages are high in demand and with tons of blood and agony just *laying around*, spider lily is quite the threat.

insert sea angel, who is having a whole messed up religious and devotion complex and also really really overwhelmed with being The Chosen One and goes ok! I'll slay this mage to prove myself! and OOPS! All homoerotic battle that ends in them making out.

their relationship is actually very long-lasting, and ends up being very deep and passionate, all in the hellzone they're in thats really just the 'who of the week has the sword'. eventually, as their 'marriage', they swear oaths to eachother. spider lily binds them by blood, sea angel with a dragontounge oath, to share heart, mind, soul, and, the one which is going to ruin them, magic.

and. uhm. Yeah one of them falls in battle. Which leads to the other trying to save them, which is, unsurprisngly, disasterous. Taking more and more out of the fold of magic and power to get sucked into the magic loop, which,,, eventually collapses itno the licorice sea. This *basically* kills them, but their souls are entrapped in it forever as its twisted 'ruler' [this is void heart, that fucked up little lineless drawing i did a bit ago. It is Both of them <3 they are in agony <3].

their story is more abt the ramifications it has on the rest of my fanon. primarily, it gets an observer, wisteria, a powerful war mage on her own right, to finally realize how dumb and pointless this all is and going after the sword to seal it [eventually earning herself godhood and setting into motion a Ton of plot elements], starfruit dragon, wracked by even more guilt and regret, goes into a completely sleeping state that lets their magic leech out badly enough that in the modern republic people are getting light magic infestations with horrible consequences, and, slightly post-canon, void heart is 'killed' [their souls are set free] by dark roast when he's like "damn i miss my kids [latte and espresso] i'm going to become a god about it" and he fucking DOES.

#there is more niche detail but thats the basics #sky rambles #cookie run oc

[staticpokedex]

This is another OC I've been dying to share for Ages- Here's my Sword and Shield dude, Hollow Thorne.

Basically, he's "if one of those creepy 'I see dead people' kids in horror movies grew up to be an adult" and I love him.

As for his story, his whole "deal" is that he's a mysterious dude that travels and camps around the Galar region with an interest in the tale of the Two Heroes. (Particuarly the legendary pokemon) His only explanation is he has "someone to thank". Extensive bio under the cut:

Name: Hollow Thorne Age: Mid/Late-20s Home Region: Galar Favorite Type(s): Ice/Ghost Voice Claim: Damon Albarn (This could probably change if I find a better voice.) Pronouns: He/Him (Weirdo transmasc dude swag) Sexuality: (Grey) Gay/Ace Personality: While he looks a bit spooky and intimidating at first sight, he's actually a bit of a softie! Especially when it comes to his Pokemon team. He's a weirdly morbid sense of humor and absolutely no sense of self-preservation. Story:

Hollow comes from a family of mediums and morticians, and basically grew up around the concept of spirits and the afterlife. And from a young age, he could speak with ghosts and spirits. So he had, uh. a weird childhood. But a good one nonetheless, so he can't complain. When he was a child, he was saved by Zacian/Zamazenta (depending on the game version) after he got lost in the woods one day. After that, he became obsessed with the legends of the Two Heroes of Galar and the involved legendaries. Soon after he joins the gym challenge alongside his close friend from Spikemuth, Piers. And this experience was his first taste of adventure around Galar. So growing up, he had a desire to travel all around Galar to search for the pokemon who saved him long ago. He travels around the region in search of the pokemon who saved him. And during his travels, he comes across many different pokemon. Two of the pokemon he befriends particularly stand out, however. The first is his Froslass, Ami, who he found while exploring the mountains. This Froslass turned out to be a missing researcher who disappeared and sadly passed while on an expedition. The second is a lone Phantump he discovered in the forest who, tragically, turns out to be the soul of a lost boy named Percy. With these two pokemon, he finds a second goal of bringing them both peace. But for the most part, he's just vibing while travelling and camping around Galar and being his weirdo self. Obligatory OC x Canon: Hollow x Piers

#Pokemon #Pokemon Art #Pokemon Fanart #Pokemon OC #Hollow #Hollow Thorne #Pokemon SWSH #Pokemon Sword and Shield #Pokemon Sword #Pokemon Shield #Love this dude sm. #I've had him rattling in my head since SWSH released but I never really drew him until recently. #I need to draw more of him with Piers- The weirdos.