Is the Raven Prince averse to touch and afraid of pain because of what Davix and Olphix did to him when he was a child?

Hi anon!

The Raven Prince is touch averse in every universe. He has definitely gone through some things that made that worse, but those things aren't the same in every universe, and he'd be touch averse regardless of those things. The degree of severity might shift, he's just never been very drawn to this kind of intimacy.

I see it as more inherent to him as a person, in the same way that he rejects his human flesh simply because he prefers to be a bird, and prefers to be in the sky. Therefore at least in when he is a bird shifter, a big part of his touch aversion is specifically being touched while he's in the form that he likes least and has the most dysphoria over. He's the shifter that says most often - out of all of our shifters - that he is an animal first 'I am only a raven' 'I'm just a raven' than any of our other shifters (Julvia, Gulvi, Fenwrel, etc.)

Imho, the Raven Prince's issues with touch come down to issues with his body, and in fae stories, this is specifically because he identifies as a bird first and foremost and is kind of always craving to be back in that form, and I think sees living in human form as a detraction and not a bonus. It's also why he shifts so much more often than any of the other animal shifters in any of his stories. He's always very quick to return to raven form.

As a human, I'm still noodling on his touch aversion, but I think it will be something he's always had. Some of it will likely be exacerbated due to trauma, but he's the kid who never wanted to hug extended family. I think honestly even in scenarios where the Raven Prince picks up a partner, he never sees that partnership as something with a lot of physical affection of any kind, and doesn't really identify with that kind of intimacy as being like...wanted often.

I'd say a fair bit of that is also neurodivergence + sensory overload issues.

Pairing: Halsin x f!reader

Angsty fluff

Word count: 1,3k

Content warnings: none as far as I'm aware, but feel free to correct me if I missed anything.

Summary: Halsin is going through it, and you're worried about him.

Okay, so seeing the vid of all the companions as barbarians changed me. Not only do I now think Halsin would be perfect as barbarian in the 'nature's wrath' typa way, I also decided to make Gale a barbarian in my next playthrough. My boy had the most pathetic little shout, and i happen to think that's great.

Anyway, here's reader getting worried about sweet druid Halsin turning into raging barbarian Halsin. There will be a part two eventually. It will be smut. Sorry guys, but i can't keep the horny in check.

Also, this is rly more of a drabble than a fic, so I'm not naming it :)

Ever since you'd been unable to save the grove, Halsin had been unable to change into an animal. This change hit the archdruid hard. Not only did this mean that Silvanus saw no chance of redemption in him, it meant the rest of his connection with nature was gone.

At least that's what he had convinced himself of. You were not so sure. You still saw the way nature seemed to respond to his presence, a spark of natural magic still present in the large elf. And yet, you also saw the rage, the new way of fighting he'd adapted to at least try to end the shadow curse alongside you.

The first time he fought by your side since the loss shook you to your core. It seemed for a second that the gentle giant had disappeared. The deep war cry that left him would have stunned you had you not also been fighting the claws of a shadow monster off.

It left an impression on you. You didn't necessarily dislike his new demeanor, but it did worry you. It simply didn't seem like him.

"Halsin!" You call out to the man as he stands next to lae'zel's tent, sharpening his newly acquired battle axe. "Come look!" You'd spotted the ducklings near the ruin in your camp before, but you'd never pointed them out to anyone before. Something about seeing Halsin with the axe made you want to take his attention off the blasted thing as soon as possible, though.

Your plan was working. He put down the axe, jogging to your side in a way that made your heart flutter. What can you say, the man was big in a way that was very attractive to you, and his normally gentle ways only endeared him to you more.

"And what is it I'm here to look at?" He asks, looking straight at you instead of looking around. The lack of his usual perception skills bothered you a bit, but at the same time, you didn't mind his attention being on you either.

"Look over there," you speak more quietly now that you're closer to the animals, not wanting to scare them off. You softly guide him closer to them when you notice he still hasn't spotted the ducklings. "Thought I saw them in the grass yesterday, but the mother finally had the courage to come out!"

The heat of his skin against yours is nice but you chastise yourself for focusing on that when your mission is distracting him, not yourself.

"Oh, younglings this late in the season? The mother has her work cut out for her if she is to keep all of them safe until adulthood." Halsin's voice seems to soften and you can almost physically feel the connection between him and nature. "Though maybe she should give up while she's ahead, protecting what is dear to you is sometimes...simply impossible."

The pain in his voice is clear to you, his eyes steeling. "There will always be new dangers to threaten it after all," Halsin speaks, a new edge entering his voice. "Always new ways to fail," anger. "Always injustice." Rage.

The increasing volume scares of the mother duck, sending the ducklings scattering across the lake. The seething man next to you seems to be too caught up in his anger to even realize. But you do, you realize maybe more than you should have.

A moments hesitation, maybe you shouldn't be getting this involved in Halsin's feelings and inner turmoil. After all you were part of the cause of it all, you'd failed to protect the Grove just as much as he had. What would you do if he turned this newfound rage to you?

You shake your head to clear your thoughts. This was no time to fear consequences to yourself. Halsin could use your help, so you have to try, even if that possibly leads to your favourite man in camp hating you.

"Halsin," you speak softly, almost like you're attempting to soothe him. "Look." The same words from before, spoken differently but accompanied with the same gentle guiding gesture.

It snaps him out of his inner spiral but the anger is clearly still there, barely even hidden beneath the surface. "I know nature has been rejecting you lately, that Silvanus has all but abandoned you." You subconsciously start stroking the man's back in an attempt to further soothe him as you try to make your point. "But this right now? It's you. You're scaring them off. I'm not sure if there's space in you for all this rage and the power of nature."

His eyes linger on your face for another while after the last words leave your lips before he diverts them back to the ducks. He doesn't speak, and for all your nerves, you're not as scared anymore. His posture became less tense and as he crouched down by the edge of the water, you see the old him again.

His hand reaches the water without disturbing it, and as the ducklings regroup near their mother, she swims up to him. You see the change in him the second she touches his hand. Like a world of weight fell off his shoulders, his burden still heavy, but bearable now.

A soft golden glow emanates from the water now, and before you can question anything, Halsin begins chuckling.

"By Silvanus, you were right! Nature never severed my ties, I was burning them with my own fury." he turns to you, still crouched by the ducks who've started nuzzling in his palm now. "You've returned an important piece of myself to me."

"I only pointed out some ducklings, Halsin. You did the rest." You send a wink his way before turning back to the rest of camp. "Oh! Does this mean I can give that sharpened axe to Karlach? She's been eyeing it," you ask, turning back to Halsin, barely noticing the blush creeping over his face. He merely nods in return, feeling his heart stir at the grin you give him.

You'd been right about the axe, Karlach's face when you handed it over to her could only be described with the same words one would use for an overjoyed child. She'd even vowed to you to keep the ribbon you'd put on the handle clean of blood so she could keep it on there.

Unbeknownst to you, as you were accepting the barbarian's expressions of gratitude, the druid that was admiring you form afar got cornered by the two other elves in camp.

"Say Halsin, if I didn't know any better, I'd almost say you're fawning over our dear little (y/n)." It was Astarion who spoke up first, but by her proximity, Halsin could tell Shadowheart had some words for him as well, most likely less sugar coated than Astarion's.

"She's not just our leader, Halsin," Shadowheart begins, "if you hurt her, we'll be forced to hurt you." The clear threat from the cleric was endearing to him. He liked knowing how much the others cared about you.

"Actually," Astarion continued. "I'm fairly certain if we really needed a druid on our travels, we wouldn't be too hard pressed to find one. Jaheira seems entertaining if nothing else." Astarion's thinly veiled threat was less endearing but the same thought process kept the smile on Halsin's face.

"Thank you both for stepping up like this. Though I assure you, I do not give my heart lightly, and I'm ready to offer her all of it." His eyes returned to you as he spoke, watching you fondly as Karlach lifted you into the air and swung you around.

"There is nothing in this world that could make me hurt her."

Are there any characters/people you were inspired by while creating Michael? what is his mbti? ineedmoreofhimineedmoreofhim

We also need more Mikey 😭😭😭!!! We love this big ol rascal so much, such a cutie!! We haven't done a test for Michael's MBTI yet, but maybe we will sometimes later.

As for the inspiration for Michael, we actually first did our research on Michael from the Bible to learn about Michael's position, role and relationship with Lucifer and God. From there, we decided on his personality based on what we had known from the Bible.

After briefly learning about the Archangel in the Bible, we decided to let Michael hold the position of the General of the God's army, so his personality is based a lot on our own personal takes on an army soldier. Like what kind of personality will they have to have to manage to train their soldiers, discipline, strict, demanding, highly responsible, fair-minded... Combined with some bad habits that we think will suit Michael: workaholic, hates socializing in crowded places, seriously lacking the ability to understand emotions, being hard on himself both physically and mentally, rarely asks for help from others, too stubborn sometimes and a bit conservative, having high self-esteem... However, as an angel, Michael will still help others when they are in trouble, listening and answers to their prayers (though he doesn't like humans very much).

Michael does not let his personal matters affect his jobs. The Archangel will not oppress someone because he dislikes them nor favors them because he loves those individuals. Michael will never go against God's orders because of his personal feelings or desires and will never allow any actions that may disrupt the safety of Heaven. The angel of Justice will always put logic above emotions and he puts Heaven above all.

Only Michael in Ruddy Hotel AU prioritized his emotions first, and that led to a horrifying event in Heaven's history that will be mention later on in the series as the Blank Age - everyone knew this was the period of time that the war took place but the reason for why the battle broke out, the number of deaths, the main event that took place,... All have been completely erased from any historical records. It had become taboo topics that are forever forbidden from being mentioned. The only thing that everyone is certain about that lost history is that Michael was the one who started the war and the one who ended it all was Lucifer...

leah i trust your judgement, good omens fic recs? 👀👀

Aww, thank you!! I appreciate the vote of confidence. xD

H'OKAY so bear in mind that I am basically brand-new to the fanfic side of this fandom, so, I don't think any of my recommendations are going to be news to anyone who's been here since 2019 or earlier.

That said, these are my favorites so far:

Factory Settings by Anonymous. 107k words, 60 chapters (and written in just two weeks last month, insanely enough).

I've recced this one before and I'll do it again, because it's an absolute blast. Premise is that Crowley DOES end up coming with Aziraphale to Heaven, but turning back into an angel has the unexpected side-effect of...well, restoring his factory settings. Meaning he is exactly the angel he was, with no memory of the last 6000 years. And things begin to unravel from there.

This fic is what finally sold me on Ineffable Bureaucracy, by the way.

Be advised that this IS a Crowley-was-Raphael fic. Since I know people tend to feel strongly about that. And it does apply some of the tropes that Raphael-deniers (and me, despite being a mild Raphael-truther myself) usually dislike. But the whole thing is just so damn impressive that, in this case, I'll allow it. xD

Demonology and the Tri-Phasic Model of Trauma: An Integrative Approach by Nnm. 99k words, 16 chapters.

I'm sure everyone already knows this one, but hey, a lot of my followers seem to be brand-new fans, so maybe I can pass the good word along. The POV character is Aubrey Thyme, Crowley's psychotherapist, as she helps him try to unpack all the trauma of...being Crowley. It's basically one long hyper-intensive character study, and it rules.

Bark Dust by rfsmiley. 8k words, oneshot.

This one is just gorgeous.

It's Aziraphale's POV, set during the Saxon Wars. In battle, Crowley gets run-through with a blessed sword, and the effect is the same as being exposed to Holy Water, but much, much slower. So, you know. Agonizing. And neither he nor Aziraphale can heal it.

...I don't want to spoil anything, but. The way this is resolved actually made me stop and put my face in my hands. It's terrible and beautiful and poignant as fuck.

Highly recommend, with a content warning for gore/descriptions of makeshift surgery.

This Soul Outstreaming by Rend_Herring. 22k, oneshot (essentially a novella).

Okay I won't even front with you. This one is my favorite.

It's Aziraphale's POV, following their relationship across human history, in the style of the show. It's also absurd and wry and heartfelt in the style of the show. And, though it was written in 2019, elements of it predict Season 2 with an eerie degree of accuracy.

The through-line here is specifically the development of their physical intimacy, so, heads-up that this is absolutely Porn-With-Plot. But, in like a

kind of way. Quite literally. You can imagine.

I would also like some recs, if anyone wants to offer them! This is my bedtime reading, lately. xD

As a story writer, BNHA is an utter insult to story telling in general. And it sickens me that people literally praise it as peak story telling.

Other anime series like Death Note, Madoka Magica, and Dragon Ball has similar themes and character arcs and did them a MILLION times better than this series ever did!

I'm one who greatly values the rule of "show don't tell" and building up believable chemistry between the characters that I just don't get from this series.

1-A say they're connected and can work together as one but we never get any scenes of the class just hanging out and only talk about subjects that are happening right now. We don't know any of their likes or dislikes, their hobbies, what they like to do and more.

Izuku is forced to be miserable and alone so it can be misery for the sake of misery or played up for poor tasting comedy. And to be forced away from his first true friends to be with the Cash Cow Triplets because that apparent pairing makes the most money.

And that's... the saddest thing about the whole business nowadays.

Telling a good story isn't a priority anymore, it's adding things that'll make them the most bank.

Sorry for this rant I just wanted to get that off my chest.

Hi @theloganator101 👋,

I agree as someone who likes to write fics and read a lot of stories myself I do see where you are coming from.

MHA is built on a strong foundation, interesting premise, world building and loveable characters (eeehhh mostly...) yet as time has gone on really prominent cracks have begun to show in MHA.

Particularly, Hori's "tell don't show" method - an inverse of the good writers advice "show don't tell." For example - so many characters kiss Bakugou's ass, call him a prodigy, a "manly friend", a "hard worker", "the best", "has grown a lot" when with how this kid acts he should be LOATHED. By everyone, staff and students alike.

Aizawa is one of his most staunch defenders despite Bakugou being the type of student he should (from what we are told about him and see of his backstory) despise.

Kirishima is his self proclaimed best friend yet Bakugou is the type of person (from what we are told about him) he should also hate with a passion.

Shoto expresses the desire to be friends with Bakugou yet from his upbringing, he should instantly see Bkg is a POS (a mini Endeavor in a lot of ways) and hate him on principle - especially because of how Bakugou is still acting openly hostile and abusive to Midoriya.

Midoriya still calls him "Kacchan" which implies closeness yet Bakugou viciously bullied him mercilessly for year's. He should from what we see also loathe Bakugou or grow to do so yet he never does.

All of this creates a strong sense of cognitive dissonance and dissatisfaction throughout the story.

Class 1A say they are connected but are they really, and is Aizawa their defacto father figure? I would say no. Despite Hori telling us otherwise - he doesn't make the effort to SHOW us.

Class 1A can show they care what Bakugou feels like being rescued but hound Midoriya and drag him back to UA without a care in the clusterfuck that was Class 1A vs Izuku.

Class 1A can rightfully dunk on Mineta for all the times he acts a disgusting pervert yet look on as Bakugou takes his aggression physically, verbally and in an explosive manner out on Midoriya for the 100th time. Even Midoriya's friends (Ocha, Iida, Tsyu, Aoyama and Shoto) and his mentor All Might look on with a fond smile at the "rivals."

I am disgusted at the abusive mockery of a rivalry... a rivalry is Sasuke vs Naruto - or even Shigaraki vs Izuku not Bakugou (abuser) vs Izuku (his victim.)

There was a moment in the war arc, where Izuku shouted to AFO!Shig that losing their homeroom teacher, Aizawa would be the worst outcome of the battle. And, as it wasn't the argument of Eraser the tactical asset being lost that would be the worst outcome but him as a teacher, I was left thinking - Izuku, why do you think this?

Hori gave us no moments where a bond between Aizawa and the rest of the class was built up to see him as this defacto father figure to 1A - especially not with Izuku - in fact Hori did the opposite by making Aizawa behave like he has.

"Problem Child" - is not a fond nickname from Aizawa to Midoriya to me. To anyone who thinks it is I would like them to consider that it is coming from an expell-eager hardass of a Teacher who has never been shown to like Izuku.

Realistically, the repercussions of Aizawa's actions here written without plot armour, Midoriya would be an anxious wreck being called this by him and would be wondering when he actually will get the boot out of U.A.

So again, there's the cognitive dissonance and here's Hori's favourite "tell don't show"... UGH.

There's so so many other examples of this style of writing in MHA - all the simping for Endeavor, Aizawa and Bakugou done by other characters because we are meant to like them now.

Side note - Rei simping for Endeavor is just baffling to me and not in a good way like 🤮. It was such a poor narrative choice it made me wonder if this poor woman was actually being treated in that mental hospital or just brainwashed to be more ammendable to her abusive husband. What good Doctor would let their patients abusive husband's manipulative presents through? Fuck right off with that Hori.

With your concluding statement I agree - making a good story and concluding it at the right time isn't a priority anymore. In general, just look at the MCU. That francise should have naturally ended with Endgame yet Disney is still trying to drag it on to milk out the dollars until it becomes unprofitable.

With MHA, narratively it has gone down the toilet. Hori's heart isn't in it anymore and we can all tell. He (and his editors) placed Izuku at the heart of the cash cow triplets to bring them in the money. And it has worked.

So, Izuku will always be miserable with Bakubitch always around like a cancer sucking out all Izuku's joy and growing over what was meant as his story. I don't expect a happy ending for Izuku anymore. I just hope he isn't dead at the end of all of this and manages to save Shigaraki - which is the most I can hope for him at the moment.

To conclude, don't be sorry for the rant I responded with one of my own. :)

Universal Heacanons

character headcanons that are included in my other works (included V1, V2, Gabriel)

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V1 - is unable to speak. they were not programmed with speach in mind due to being a model for war, they are able to understand most languages but do not have any form of voice box - as previously stated they enjoy painting with blood. in a form one might compare to graffiti they tend to paint as a way of tracking where they have been, and for their own enjoyment - their enjoyment of art and painting started as a method of self expression and a form of connection to their creators, as this particular V1 model had only ever seen a handful of humans before arriving in hell - can record and capture photos of things they see, this was yet another vestige from their original purpose. they often record fights with more notable opponents for reference in subsequent battles

V2 - is not inherently programmed with the ability to speak but is equipped with a voice box. i imagine that they were at one time planned to speak however it was not finalised in this model. there are however vestigial limbs of that design plan, and if sounds are uploaded they would be able to speak - after a certain amount of time in hell they do find a way to synthesise speech. it is a bit janky, but once they find a way to speak they don't stop. literally. please shut them up dear god - similar to V1 they have the ability to capture photos of what they see, however their ability to record was removed from this model due to privacy concerns. Unlike V1 V2 rarely takes photos of things, they are still intent that they are leaving hell and want as few reminders of the place as possible - they contain many images and pages of information about human cultures in their databanks which was intended to better inform them about the humans they would be guarding and interacting with, helping them serve their role as bodyguards or security

Gabriel - while i always love seeing other's interpretations of what Gabriel's face look like i do not believe that he has one in a traditional sense. i believe that the armour he wears is actually part of his form, and that removing it would be a sort of beheading him - before his fight with V1 he disliked the sight of blood and gore and avoided being around it as much as he could. it is not as if he couldn't stand it, he simple didn't like to be reminded of the realities of what Heaven's justice looked like for the average person. after his fall from grace, he is no longer phased by it, if anything prefering it to clean surroundings as a reminder to himself that he did the right thing - with the father's light Gabriel was technically immortal, as long as there was some part of him left he would eventually ressurect. as a soldier of god he was designed to be able to fight evil, unlike the council members (which is how they were able to be killed so easily) TW Self Harm v - has not been given many positive ways of dealing with traumatic situations and as such has resorted to using battle as a form of self harm. he sees his physical wounds as a karmic payment for his misdoings ^

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many thanks for reading, i will endeavor to update this with my headcanons for other characters where i am able to. as always feel free to send your own headcanons in, i love learning about how others interpret the same characters

Was PK really the crybaby of his clutch? Why did everyone think PK was dead?

PS: I would love it if you ever decided to info dump on us about all your wyrm ocs and what their personalities are, because everyone sounds super fascinating!!

PSS: Since finding siblings has been common in au's anytime Flower's outside Hallownest, I should let you know that I was beset with the immediate image of one of PK's relations hauling in Ghost to Flower and PK by their scruff and going, "They were found raiding the kitchen. Why do they look like they're yours???" And PK's speechless and Flower's dissolving into tears and Ghost just starts flailing because: Hey!! Their sibling is hurt, and THAT'S THE GLOWY PERSON THAT TOOK THEM SO I BET IT'S THEIR FAULT LET ME AT 'EM!!!"

Bonus points if Ghost yanks a kitchen knife from their void to menace PK's knees with.

WAIT I NEVER POSTED MY PK FAMILY LORE(tm) ON HERE? THIS MUST BE FIXED IMMEDIATELY

Will paste all of it under the cut

And KDHDKDHDJ YEAH Ghost would be a Menace

So wyrm culture places a lot of importance on strength, kingdoms led by wyrms tend to be heavily militarised, war-mongering kingdoms,

Ebur was an outliner in that he did not care for these things, he was born a weak runt and even as his condition improved he still preferred to curl up next to their dame and watch his siblings playfight. Despite this he wasn't at all disliked by his dame or siblings, who indulged in his interests as well and whenever he played with them his siblings tried to pick games that he could play too.

The hatchlings grew and eventually started to learn how to hunt and went out with their dame to learn how to navigate and survive in the wastelands

But an unfortunate rockslide and tunnel collapse (or a flash flood? Probably would work better, there fuckers are made for digging so I dunno how Addamas couldn't just. Dig him up) separated Ebur from his family, when he was still too young to live by himself. After days of searching Adamas couldn't find him and assumed him to be dead, and young Ebur was left to fend for himself

He knew enough to survive on his own even though it was hard

I've been toying around with the idea of a mortal taking pity on him and taking care of him for a while before it pretty much became unsustainable to feed a giant log of meat, but it's just an idea for now, nothing concrete yet

So PK's family assume he's dead and he gave up looking for them a long time ago,

Also he's like the only one who fully ascended into godhood

AS FOR THE REST

Adamas: She's an old wyrm, she had many clutches in her lifetime and the clutch which Ebur belonged to was her last, having had them much later in her life she decided they'd be her last. She's a much more "typical" wyrm and a tough love kind of gal, she shows her hatchlings love through her actions but also thinks the best way for them to learn is to throw them in the deep water straight away. She values strength a lot like other wyrms, although she doesn't think physical strength is all there is to it - she saw potential in her youngest son's cleverness and regrets not being able to help him hone it. While most wyrms value their scars, seeing them as trophies of their battles, Adamas thinks it's foolish; believing instead that scars just prove that you weren't quick, smart or fast enough, they're not a bad thing to have but you shouldn't be proud of them and should learn from them instead - a sentiment a lot of her hatchlings inherited from her, including Ebur.

Another thing about her that goes against most wyrms, she is completely uninterested in leading anything or anyone. Having had her own empire back in her younger years she had now completely abandoned that type of lifestyle, preferring to wander alone.

Long after her last hatchlings left her nest, she lost a fight with a younger wyrm. Driven away from her old territory and gravely injured she travelled into the mountains, burring into the side of it and deep in the peaks where she would eventually succumb to her wounds. Being reborn, she now permanently resides in her old tunnels in the mountains, hunting small critters, travellers and picking from her own rotting corpse for sustenance. She's quite content in her new situation, preferring the peace and quiet the cold mountain peaks give her.

Fossor: The oldest of the clutch as well as the biggest and strongest of them. She can hold her own yet prefers not to fight, taking on their dame's philosophy about scars and turning it up to 11 - choosing to immediately resolve your problems with violence and fighting is a sign of cowardice and weakness. Nonetheless, she's a devastating opponent to face. Although they were originally named for their passion for digging (the damn nest had so many holes after Fossor was born), they certainly earned the second meaning to her name - gravedigger.

They were quite protective over their little siblings when they were young, especially the smallest of the clutch Ebur and partly Melpomene. After it was time for them to leave the nest Fossor was the one who stuck the longest by her siblings before finally splitting off to found her own kingdom. She chose not to be reborn into her second form, finding her wyrm form to be way more convenient, and it helps avoid her any trouble from the majority of possibly hostile neighbouring nations.

They took on a mortal as a mate, and although he is long gone by now the two of them had a child - Nivalis. Although at first her conception was only for political reasons and convenience, Fossor quickly grew to adore their daughter. Nivalis is now a beloved princess, one who helps their parent a lot in running the kingdom (the small stature loser to mortals does have its benefits) yet keeps dreaming about one day leaving the nest and getting to explore beyond the kingdom's borders.

Ossum and Adustus - The middle children, the two of them were tied at the hip from the day of their hatching. Both named for their colouring, Ossum meaning bone and Adustus singed/burned...and Ossum partly thanks to their old habit of playing with the cleaned remains of their prey. Ossum is the more reserved yet hotheaded of the two while Adustus is the levelheaded extrovert of their duo. After their last sibling, Fossor, left their side the two decided they'd stick together permanently. Life as a duo was exceptionally hard for two gigantic apex predators so they chose to be reborn, and as neither is interested in ruling anything they chose their forms to blend closer with the mortals, hoping to not be recognised for who they were. Now, they still travel together, spending a few months in any given kingdom before moving on. Occasionally they like to visit their siblings and dame.

Melpomene: (@bluethepearldiver oc, just relying info here) The second youngest and the second to split off from the group, she found a village of wyrm and casted off her old form to join them. After protesting against invading a neighbouring mortal village she was exiled and presumed dead, only to later return and kill the village leader.

Io: (Again, Blue's oc, relying info) First sibling to split off so he could found his own kingsom, which he now rules alongside his mate Careuleus (gay rights <3). He's more of a typical wyrm with his style of ruling, certainly aggressive yet still somewhat benevolent. He took on a smaller form to be with his partner

Hi there! I have a request if and only if you feel up for it. Only one character.

Sylvain x Female Reader

Reader is a close friend of Sylvain, but is opposite of Ingrid in that she is an enabler - a willing and enthusiastic accomplice of his romantic escapades. She will support his efforts, scope out a girl's likes and dislikes, make introductions, cover for him when he's playing around, and pretend to be his lover if he wants to make a girl jealous or chase her away. In other words, she is just as terrible as Sylvain is.

Maybe she is just as angry as he is about family and Crests and things like that. Maybe she just loves a scandal. But at her core she cares for Sylvain in that she'll encourage his unhealthy behaviour just so they can both have some fun.

Inevitably, word gets around and her reputation in the academy gets sent straight to the gutter. To no one's surprise, things come to a head when she is violently confronted by the very people that she and Sylvain managed to piss off. She's willing to take the brunt of it - but then Sylvain comes to her defense.

It's up to you if they learn their lesson and clean up their behaviour afterwards :) Given the subject material, feel free to tone down or omit certain points or ignore the request completely! Thanks for your consideration.

Greetings again! This prompt caught my eye last week, though I am not sure how I feel about the result of my work. Out of every story I wrote, this sure is one of them. Requests are open, so send something in if you would like to see me write for you!

The story will be continued under the cut.

News spread fast when it came to this damned war.

Apparently, the professor that once led the Black Eagle house had been sighted after going missing for a period of five years. Her return had prompted the Empire’s forces into motion. They recaptured the Great Bridge of Myrrdin just hours ago, if all the merchants and messengers were to be believed.

Naturally, the war effort on the Kingdom’s side redoubled. For everyone else, anyway.

You never really cared for war. You were no devout soldier like Ingrid or Ashe, and you had never signed your life away for the blade like Felix. Dedue and Dimitri were obligated to fight for the Kingdom, but you? You were only here for one reason.

And that reason was currently arguing with another girl.

There was nothing in your arms nor immediately on your to-do list. As such, nothing prevented you from making your way toward Sylvain. The girl’s back was to you, and your eyes met Sylvain’s upon your approach.

When he flashed his eyes ever so subtly, you took it as your signal to step in.

“...tually, I’ve already found someone else. Sorry, but I can’t be with a woman only after me for my crest.”

You made it to his side and he pulled you into him, kissing you in a way you only wish were genuine. It was soft and passionate, somewhere between gentle and rough.

Perfection, though merely an illusion.

The woman in front of you gritted her teeth behind her lips and stormed off. Sylvain made a point of pulling you up against his chest until you couldn’t feel her eyes on you anymore.

He pulled away just as quickly, the two of you catching your breath and putting yourselves back together.

Well, on the outside, at least.

Even before this war, you were both broken. He would hurt himself, and you would do it too, so he would never be alone.

But no two mirrors ever shattered the same. Neither of you truly had an emotional connection despite how divinely your pieces could fit together physically.

So you had nothing to say to each other. No “thank you” or “anytime”. Just the straightening of clothes and moving-on of lives.

As stupid as you knew it was, you had allowed your heart to beat for him. It was no surprise that when you parted, your heart felt tight and your stomach seemed hollow.

It was never easy to admit defeat, but ignoring your feelings meant ignoring this battle, too. It would have been so easy, and still, the ache didn’t stop.

So days turned to weeks…and weeks turned to years, you supposed. And here you were, trying so desperately to make yourself numb to a love that would forever go unrequited.

Sylvain wandered off first, but you lingered. You hadn’t come here for him, after all, though your sorry heart knows you would have.

Passing the cliffside, you pushed open the doors to the training hall. You picked up the notebook sitting near the bows and began to tally the arrows remaining in the barrel. Some knights had a nasty habit of breaking them when they retrieved their arrows from the training dummies. If the loss was unaccounted for, it would leave the army at a deficit when it came time for battle, though the brunt of the weapons were kept in the barracks defending the monastery.

You scratched a few numbers on the pad after tediously counting each arrow. It was hell, and you never understood it; why couldn’t you just buy a handful more every two weeks? Shamir would always tell you off whenever you asked, stating that precision was key in all affairs of war and battle.

Not that you cared much. The more the merrier when it came to weapons.

Blinking away the memory, you dropped the notes where you had gotten them and left the training hall. Upon exiting, however, you felt eyes on you.

In the first few moments, you kept your eyes down and walked forward. Regardless, your curiosity got the better of you.

You scanned the area. Three men had been tracking you with their eyes, but the two women next to them were unabashedly staring you down head-on.

It took you a moment, but you recognized those girls as Sylvain’s ex-lovers. One of the boys was even a past admirer of yours before…

Shit, so the other two men must have been the fathers of those women. How the hell did these five even meet?

Your former admirer began to approach you first. No way were you going to allow them to get you alone though; you needed to get to someplace with more people.

Somewhere like the dining hall.

You began to pick up the pace alongside the dorms, but you weren’t vigilant enough to pick up on his footsteps speeding up behind you. He seized your arms before manhandling you into the closest open room.

“What the hell is your problem? Are you just continuously rebounding off everyone else just to hurt them?”

“Let go of me!”

Just as swiftly, the others filed into the room after you.

“You think it’s funny to be a homewrecker?” one of the women accused.

Her father stepped in, “Do you have any idea what this could have done for my family?”

“You’re ruining our chance at a one-way shot to nobility!”

“He loved me! I know he did! What have you done to him?”

Finally, you could get a word in, “I…you need to let me go-”

“Why?” asked the boy your age, “So you can hurt someone else? No, you can stay here and take accountability for your actions. For all the people you’ve hurt. You broke my heart; I deserve to know why.”

…I did, didn’t I?

He was right. None of these people deserved what you had done to them in your pathetic attempts to have what you never could.

Now they were in the same boat, their own pathetic attempts at obtaining a noble title falling apart in the name of your own desires.

“So…you all agree that none of you deserve to be-” you swallowed a complicated emotion you couldn’t quite place. “To be taken advantage of? To be lied to or led on?”

Silence. Growing tension, just as the amalgamation of fear and something else swirled within you.

“Then- Then why-” you were almost angry, you discovered, “why is it okay for him to be mistreated and misled? All because of his birth- Just imagine your reaction if it were the other way around! A bunch of nobles taking advantage of a commoner? How could I not step in?”

“They already take advantage of us!” one of the older men barked, “All these taxes when they know damn well they could already pay to fix our roads and fund our schools, orphanages, and hospitals-”

“This isn’t about him!” the teary eyed woman interrupted, “We didn’t come to berate him today; this is all your fault!”

Your admirer latched onto you again before positioning himself behind you. You were pressed against his chest, his hands holding your arms at your sides.

“Let’s get her out of here. We’re being too loud, and it’s not like she’s contributing anything to the war effort, anyway.”

You found no time to protest as you were dragged out of the room and marched toward the exit of the grounds. You resisted, sure, but one on five was in no world an even matchup.

And why were the grounds so empty? On a bad day, there were a handful of soldiers around at minimum. This was just negligence!

“Hey, what the hell are you doing?”

Sylvain rushied toward the group from the Blue Lions’ classroom of the Officers’ Academy.

“We’re just trying to teach this homewrecking lowlife to stay out of your way. She’s interfering with your relationships, aren’t you sick of it?”

“I don’t need your help determining what’s best for me,” he frowned. “I can make my own decisions, like the decision to not pair up with any girl after me solely for my crest. Now get your hands off her before anyone gets hurt.”

The Gautier heir was quick to pull you out of that other boy’s grasp.

“Unbelievable! You’re actually derfending someone like her? Maybe he’s right; you’re both just as bad as the other.”

You turned to face them, their growing frustrations leading them to start toward you both again.

Unlike yourself, Sylvain never looked back. He just picked up the pace while leading you both to your room. The door locked behind you.

“I’ve seen that boy before. He’s fast. We wouldn’t have been able to outrun him, so I think this is the next best option.”

“But we’re sitting ducks here,” you worried.

“I know, I just…” he ran his hands through his hair.

You tried to find the proper words to calm him down.

“Look, I’m sure it will be fine. We can just-”

“No! It’s not going to be fine!”

He wasn’t looking at you during his outburst. Sylvain appeared so upset, and yet you didn’t know how to connect with him.

The noble lowered his voice, “What if they break the door down? It’s made of wood after all. Then, we’d be cornered- Damn it! None of this would have even happened if I’d just had my head on straight all these years.”

“But think of all the fun you’ve had,” you started, “It’s important to be free when you’re young.”

“Yeah,” he scoffed, “when you’re a teenager. I was still in my twenties back then.”

By the Goddess, why couldn’t you get through to him? It was like talking to a wall.

Thus came nightfall, the sky turning black after what must have been an hour of awkwardly waiting together. Not a word was spoken between the two of you, the only things permeating the air being your discomfort and Sylvain’s self-disgust.

Suddenly confrontational after an eon of waiting, your childhood friend moved to the doors, unlocked them, and swung them open.

You froze, waiting for a member of that dreadful posse to appear and drag you out again. A moment later, you heard Sylvain sigh.

“Guess they didn’t see where we went. We’re safe.”

Not that he looked too relieved about it.

A cold breeze blew in through the open doors. It gave you an idea, though you had to admit you weren’t feeling it…

“Well then,” you approached him, running your hands along his chest, “Why don’t we take this opportunity to wind down for a bit-”

“Enough!” he snapped, pushing your hands away before heading toward the door. “Ingrid was right; it’s time to grow up. You and I both.”

Then he was gone, leaving you with the same nothing he came with. You didn’t even get the satisfaction of an argument or a slammed door. There was quiet, and there was your room as you had always known it.

You sighed, only this time, it left you more exhausted than you had felt in years. Emptiness was the only luxury you wished for as you made your way to your bed, lying down to stare at the ceiling.

And though the tears didn’t come, the overwhelming emotions did. Everything you had thrown away over the years, just for the chance of spending a bit more time with him. The entire time, the only thought in your head was that maybe you could morph into the kind of girl he would want.

Now it was all over, and the only one you could blame was yourself.

For a moment or two, you allowed yourself to live in that pitiful moment.

“...”

Pull yourself together.

Fine then. If he wanted to take the last of your hope away from you, you knew a damned-sure way to take every last drop of happiness away from him.

You were not going to be dictated by mad, cruel men anymore. No one would ever hold power over you again; not your father, not Dimitri, and certainly not Sylvain.

Gathering anything you found valuable that would fit in themessenger bag lying on your bed, you fastened a cloak around your shoulders before slipping out of your room.

The stables were dark as death, and they would have been just as silent if not for the crickets chirping obnoxiously in the nearby grass. Upon your arrival, you delicately snuck in only to lead your horse out a moment later. You mounted her and rode to the gate, which opened instantly upon the guards’ recognition of your face.

 They would assume you were departing on a solo mission for reconnaissance or something of the sort. Only in the morning when you were long gone would your absence be deemed peculiar, and everyone would know what you had done.

Surprisingly, joining the Empire was easier than you thought. Byleth had taken a liking to you during the time you spent together at the academy, and it was not hard to make up stories about Dimitri and Rhea while the Black Eagles were so eager to make enemies of them. You were immediately welcomed with open arms and quickly accustomed to your new life.

None of your new friends knew your true motives, and you had no intentions of revealing anything.

A few months later, you would be on your way to the capital of Faerghus before stumbling across the Blue Lions on the plains. By how desperate the Kingdom’s forces looked, the result would be a landslide victory for the Empire.

You didn’t know if you would be happy. In truth, you didn’t know if you even cared. But you would have everything they had, and they would all be dead.

Mordred disliked mentioning it, so no one mentioned it, but his health had never been good.

Asthma was common enough, even among those who risked their lives for gold like adventurers. For the first few years that Theodore knew Mordred, it wasn't even that bad. His triggers were specific -- cold fronts, and noxious gasses. So long as they avoided those things, or Mordred had ample warning and could cast his bubble-head filter spell, he was fine. He was careful with physical exertion and always carried medicine on him. His health was therefore tacitly declared to be his own problem and no one else's.

But then there had been the Bloody Banquet. The Dragonsong War. Ala Mhigo. Doma. Battlefields crawling with the dying and the screams of warmachina. Stress and crying made Mordred's lungs seize. Y'shtola, her senses heightened since her Lifestream strip, pressed her hands on his back and said quietly, "There is scarring in your lungs."

"From the fire," Mordred rasped. He already knew.

The fire?

"Calamity. When everything burned."

There are scars elsewhere too, Theodore thought. Under Mordred's skin, on the tapestry of his memories. But these were the ones made self-evident when one traveled with him for years and watched him unable to stomach or even smell roasted meat, watched him wash his hands until they were bleeding-raw. Mordred liked fish partly because it was his preference, partly because it smelled nothing like red meat or people or the horrific, metallic bitterness of Garlean machines' combusted fuel.

Mordred didn't say this to anyone either. He most certainly didn't say this to Theodore. It was just that, sometimes his soul wept and Theodore managed to catch the notes with his Echo.

The breaking Light gouged something else out of him; his body reacted to large fluctuations of aether far worse and far more dramatically now, as though his very flesh and bones remembered the searing invasion of that deluge of Primordial Light. Mordred inevitably went down with a high fever after every occasion where he needed to expend a large amount of aether. He had the reserves -- the question wasn't about his reserves. But rather how his body reacted whenever he set about using them.

The backlash also existed when Mordred transposed the flow of his mana to quicken its recovery, or from the Umbral phase to the Astral phase.

He told the Scions all this very calmly. And, for Theodore's and Estinien's benefit, who were not learned scholars, he added, "I can no longer use black magic without consequences." A sigh. "I'm not going to be as strong as I was before."

The room was silent. Not because they were especially worried about Mordred losing out on perhaps one-tenths of his sheer power, but rather because they had known him long enough to realize that for him to tell them about what amounted to a disability for him was significant. This person, who held his shattered innards together after battling Shinryu above the Ala Mhigan Quarters, and went untreated for hours just so he could reassure his comrades and affirm their victory, before finally collapsing.

Eventually, Alisaie said, "Thank goodness we are all here, then."

"Maybe we can even get a shot in edgewise, if the Warrior of Light can be compelled to hold back a tad like this," Thancred added, tone light.

Mordred stared at them.

Then he heaved a long, long, relieved sigh.

After, when it was just him and G'raha, he went to Mordred's side and sat with him, and said, "It feels good, does it not? To look around yourself and realize that you are among good friends."

"They already are," Mordred replied. "But I just thought... I think too little of them. I was worried that they'd feel nervous to hear that I'm wearing down. Like some weathered old pillar. But we've been holding this sky up together for years. It was me who patronized them."

G'raha chuckled dryly. He glanced out the window, his red eyes faraway. "Chessamine's mother thought the same of me when I first fell sick, in the Crystarium's earlier years."

Mordred tilted his head, thinking for a moment. "I can still use black magic, but--" he began.

"No," G'raha cut him off firmly.

"Fine. But arcanima is alright. The built-in arrays actually make it much easier to regulate the aether I'm expending." Mordred fiddled with his tail, trying to suppress the sulk from being scolded. "And white magic is, ironically, the best for me. Amdapori practices fortify the caster as they use their spells."

"That is all well and good," G'raha agreed, "but, Mordred."

"Yes?"

"So long as you understand that there is nothing you must do where we cannot help, that's the most important thing."

G'raha looked at him, expression placid and firm, leaving no room for doubt. There was none of the usual blushing nor skittering, not even the gentleness he always afforded Mordred, no matter the topic at hand.

Mordred thought of the young man who teased him in that arduous, cross-country fetch quest. He thought of the pouting and arguing about being allowed to go on the Crystal Tower's expedition, how Rammbroes had brutally shot G'raha Tia down, saying he was no fighter. How G'raha had sulked yet had agreed to in the end -- he had known his limits.

He thought about power bought with blood prices. Power, and agency, and the ability to change one's fate. The Crystal Exarch's sparkling neurosis. The Crystarium and all it had cost to raise that place up from the stasis of despair, brick by brick.

"Alright," Mordred said. "I will be counting on you."

G'raha smiled, with such warmth it brightened his heart.

' poppy drayton, cis woman, she/her, 30 (300), cauldron made high fae ' — cauldron save you. it seems NESRI SESSONDAL has finally made it to the capital, the ARCHER/MERCENARY from the NIGHT COURT is said to be DAUNTLESS and is said to describe themselves with THE RAW INSTINCT TO SURVIVE, WELCOMING YOURSELF TO YOUR OWN CAGE, A LIFE SPENT UNDER THE COVER OF DARKNESS, YOU WEREN'T BORN WITH ALL THIS HORROR & UNTETHERING YOURSELF FROM EVERYTHING YOU RECOGNIZE and with all of this in mind their DECEITFUL nature always seems to get them into trouble. may the mother hold them as they navigate this unthinkable time.

GENERAL DETAILS.

full name: nesri lesbeth sessondal nickname(s): nessie (only close friends) date of birth: august 14 zodiac: leo sun, scorpio moon, virgo rising gender & pronouns: cis woman ( she / her ) species: cauldron made high fae place of birth: winter court orientation: bisexual, biromantic occupation: archer & mercenary for the night court

PHYSICAL, ETC.

faceclaim: poppy drayton hair colour & style: here clothing style: here distinguishing characteristics: scars across arms and back from battle piercing(s): lobes x3, helix x2

PERSONALITY.

positive trait(s): dauntless, resourceful, charming negative trait(s): deceitful, volatile, pessimistic like(s): travelling, snow, cold weather, blankets, warm drinks dislike(s): repeating herself, being interrupted, bullies hobbie(s): reading, archery, hand-to-hand combat training, gardening character inspiration: nesta archeron (acotar), faith lehane (buffy the vampire slayer), clove & katniss (the hunger games), celaena sardothien (throne of glass)

FAMILY, RELATIONSHIPS, ETC.

mother: elle sessondal (deceased) father: alexi sessondal (deceased) sibling(s): twin (tbd), other sibling (tbd) significant other: koray aksakal

BACKGROUND.

biography trigger(s): death, mention of abuse, murder

Nesri never knew a life without War. Whether it was in her own home or outside the town lines throughout the mortal lands, she was born into it and it followed her everywhere. 

Her father, once a man of great power and value, lost everything once the war was over and the wall was created. he never let her forget about it. Days where she was just trying to ensure their family was fed, he took the money and blew it all trying to get his fortunes back, no matter the cost or who he crossed. Her mother was long gone while her and her siblings blessed the stars she never had to see the man he became.

Nesri learned from her father though. He taught her how to use a bow, a sword and how to handle pain. So much pain. She was thankful for the first two, it was what kept her alive all these years.

When she turned seventeen, she did the unthinkable. She left. She wandered towards the faerie realm, desperate for a change. Desperate for something better for herself, regardless of what her family wanted. There was a chance for her in the Dawn Court, where she headed first. The journey was long and there were times where she didn’t think she would make it. 

For the first few years, Nesri hid there, amongst the other fae, planning what she wanted to do next. She kept her training up and started offering up her services to anyone who would pay. 

She caught food, liars and thieves and other horrible people…making use of the only things she knew. After a few years of being discrete, she was approached by a high fae. They told her that they would expose her to the ruling family of the Dawn Court if she didn’t come to do more interesting jobs for them, at least, that’s what the plan was. Nesri was promised protection, a large fee and safety. How could she deny it?

Years passed and the sense of protection faded. They loaned her out to the highest bidder and started setting their sights on higher levels of other courts. Nesri didn't want to kill them but she didn't have a choice. Finally, after years of working with the high fae, Nesri refused them. There was constant blood on her hands, including that of her own father.

Instead of allowing her to be free of them, they sent her on an impossible mission where she would fail. She never failed and this cost her life. She was thrust into the cauldron and emerged as a high fae, stronger than she could imagine. Too scared to return, she sought refuge in the night court where she joined their forces and now resides. Nesri continued to plot her revenge on the high fae that ruined her life and knows that one day, she'll be allowed to act on it.

HEADCANONS.

nesri prefers a bow & arrow over hand to hand combat (although she is highly trained in both)

she also does work under the table for other courts if the price and timing is right

she masks herself completely except her eyes when she is completing tasks to ensure her safety - only one person has seen her full face and she has a secret of theirs in return

she is fiercely loyal and once you consider her a friend, she is a friend until the end and will go to the ends of the earth for you

enjoys reading and gardening - has a small cottage in the night court that no one knows the location of

holds a grudge (small) towards a few of the courts regarding the war and lets them know it

has not seen her family since she was made a high fae and doesn't care if they are alive or dead

does not work well with others at first, she reads people very well and has a very good gut feeling if you are looking to trick / manipulate her ( although she doesn't really care if it involves money )

My thoughts about Aku from “Samurai Jack”. The Child of Sorrow in-depth

Monsters are tragic beings. They are born too tall, too strong, too heavy. They are not evil by choice. That is their tragedy. (c) Ishiro Honda As a kid I watched lots of animated films from many countries. Some of them I liked, some of them even stuck in me very deep and had strong influence. Among animated series in my childhood there were several I really enjoyed — one of them is “Samurai Jack”, of course. Unusual visual style, unique atmosphere, memorable characters, feel of threat, epicness and tragedy, humour and horror, mind-blowing setting and locations, the relatable protagonist you respect and... the antagonist, who became my favourite character and inspired me in many senses. Of course, I am talking about Aku, who is genuinely the most underrated and deprived character of the show. Very sad, but true. Here I will talk about exactly what I noticed during watching the show. Some kind of tribute for Aku and the original classic seasons, i.e. true canon. Probably Aku was the first unusual and unique creature for me, when I was a child. He had otherworldly traits, but at the same time he was incredibly relatable, he was a living being with lots of emotions and bright personality, he could be funny and dangerous at the same time. I associated him with a tree, a totem of forest spirit and alien, similar to the ones from “The Thing” (1982 film). Although Aku is a shapeshifter, in his true anthropomorphic form he has traits of a dragon, a cat, a wolf and a bat. The spikes on his head, similar to the crown and spider’s legs, are some kind of ears and vibrissae, since he moves them, raises or lowers them depending on the joyful or sad mood. Aku has a very keen sense of smell, because he easily smelled Jack hiding, and before that, he realized by the smell of blood that Jack was the son of the Emperor. His hearing is also quite acute, because even through his rolling laughter he heard the rustling produced by Jack, albeit belatedly. But with eyesight, not everything is so clear. Despite quite a good reaction speed, because of the squinting, it seems that Aku sees very small objects (especially flying and fast) much worse than large or medium ones (in "Birth of Evil" episodes as an example, when he fought against Jack's father). At the same time, he calmly measures and controls his enormous physical strength at any size (for example, he did not scratch Jack much, although his huge and powerful claws could cut or tear apart Jack easily). He takes forms of animals and insects, very rarely (2 times — Ikra and in 9 episode 4 season) humanoids, what also can hint that he likes (or at least neutral) animals (if they don’t try to attack him) and dislikes sentient beings or specifically humans. Even his army is always demons and robots, so in comparasion with humans, who used animals for battles and wars, Aku is pretty humane, surprisingly. Moving aside from stereotypical “Darkness means evil”, his colors (black, green, red and white) have ambiguous meaning. Green can represent envy and life/immortality, red can represent anger/danger or love, black can represent sadness and mystery, white can represent innocence and death. Surprisingly, but these meanings are parts of his personality (remember this moment), and he always keeps his true colors in every form. It means that he can’t change the structure of his body and he only mimics visually, from another side, it means that he doesn’t hide his true self. His biology, aside of lots magic abilities, is also pretty interesting for analyze. Aku has no inner organs, no bones, no muscules, no skin, no genitals, no dna and so on (hence absolutely no sexual reproduce and no half-breed offspring and no pregnant mortals). Aku is neither male nor female, his species reproduce, using fragmentation or budding (what we can see in “Birth of Evil”), i.e. Aku is genderless creature and genetically he is a sibling to his dead ancestor from “Birth of Evil” (yes, they are two separate creatures — Aku doesn’t know about the alien gods and their weapons, Aku sees only Jack’s sword as the only weapon that can hurt him, Aku doesn’t have memories of his ancestor, only ability to shapeshift). But his blood resembles petroleum and acid, his blood/essense easily melts iron and metal and, how we could see in the classic seasons, is incredibly deadly and poisonous and even devours a mortal to death, if his blood happens to be inside of mortal. That confirms Aku is unable to mate with mortals or other deities at all. But it doesn’t make him the evil — lots of animals from Earth (sea snail, jellyfish, fugu fish, various snakes for example) are deadly poisonous and can kill human, but they are not the evil. Since Aku sleeps at the bottom of his castle in the bowels of the earth, he likes warmth, and temperature of his body is also pretty high and hot, while frosty and cold locations make him sick (I still have no idea, how he got the flu, being immortal and invinsible creature, who can travel in space for visiting Imakandi tribe and oceans — especially considering acidic blood, which is a perfect disinfectant; and I wonder, whether he found out about Jack being infected by his blood or not — probably Aku slept and felt himself as a gamer with Oculus Rift) probably because of changes and decreases in body temperature. Another interesting moment I noticed in “Birth of Evil” and in 1 episode 1 season. I always wondered, why the black lake released new spikes after absorbing drowning beings (humans and animals). As well as I always wondered, why Aku was imprisoned as a stone tree and was free after the solar eclipse (like, Jack’s father didn’t know, what can happen and how to either destroy or seal Aku, and how he can be free again — he knew only that the sword harms and weakens Aku). The only explanation I have about the stone tree is that it was not only Aku’s prison, but also defense mechanism, some kind of cocoon for hibernation and healing after serious wounds and weakening, while the energy of the solar eclipse just helped Aku to be cured faster and be free again (apparently even his ancestor had some connection with stars in the space). Hence logically even if Jack will defeat him, Aku will be in this hibernation stage again and won’t die (although, I wonder, what happen, if Jack will pierce the sword with Aku into himself or any living being instead of ground, or if he will not pierce it into anything). About the black lake and spikes... Logically it is also a defense mechanism and a tool for investigating location, getting information about life around and killing any threat, which wants to attack (partially that can explain, where this entire “Aku (”evil” in Japanese, akuma “demon” in Japanese), Shogun of Sorrow, the Deliverer of Darkness” comes from — some drowning humans could yell these curses during death toward the black lake). Another moment I wondered — what kind of poisons the arrow had, since it somehow gave the life to Aku instead of somehow killing the fragment? Earlier I assumed that Aku was inside the fragment, which was in gestation-like stage (what also can explain lots of spikes as a defense mechanism — it protected Aku and gave basic information for fast adaptation and successful surviving in the world after birth), while the poisoned arrow forced the fragment to birth the creature before the need time, i.e. Aku is kinda premature and underdeveloped. However, what if these spikes are also failed attempts of the fragment to birth the new creature, while Emperor’s poisoned arrow had a mix of materials and substances, which helped the fragment finally to birth the new creature, Aku? (like, after interaction of the poisoned arrow with the black lake we see the two small flames, indicating the life) I.e. literally the forest of corpses, i.e. Aku’s dead siblings, which became the defense tool. Maybe it’s creepy, but very plausible. And Emperor can be called Aku’s father literally (creator is the correct word for this, but you got my point). And exactly here is the starting point of Aku’s tragedy and Jack’s tragedy (yep, when your enemy is your brother). Despite acting like a ruthless tyrant in some episodes, Aku never gave impression of absolute villain. He was a cynical, asexual and always lonely trickster, a mirror opposite of Jack (Ying and Yang thing), but they both had the same problems — suffering because of ancestral mistakes (Emperor’s mistake specifically), deprivation of free will, they were abandoned, lost and lonely in the cruel world. Since my childhood I felt bad for Aku for many reasons. Several episodes gave some hints about his past and his personality and reason for fixation on Jack, but after “Birth of Evil” episodes the puzzles finally became the single picture. In "Birth of Evil” episode, we see the ancient cosmic entity, and how the three creepy alien gods kill it (my thoughts about what this entity is and about three alien gods and about weird aspects of Jack’s sword you can read here — better if Jack and Aku finally became allies and fought together against these gods, who are the true villains, that would be awesome and epic ending). But one tiny shred of the dead entity falls on Earth, causing extinction of dinosaurs, it eats and grows. Obviously, all human generations considered the shred/fragment/black lake as pure evil and wanted to kill it. Jack's father wanted to destroy the fragment of the cosmic dead entity, but instead he accidentally created Aku and rejected him, attacking him and causing his aggressiveness and the events we see later in the story. I guess, Emperor has pretty low IQ, since he thinks it is a good idea to insult and to provoke the large and unpredictable supernatural being, which even wasn’t aggressive to him (I’d say, Aku was pretty friendly), and to tell that he wanted to kill the being. Lots of people say “If Aku was not the pure evil, he would ignore Emperor and go away. I wouldn’t conquer the entire world because of one dude who insulted me”. I guess, these people think and judge from perspective of mentally and psychologically healthy person with normal childhood and normal life. They don’t realize that it is almost impossible to meet an adequate human in the Middle Ages for such a creature — nobody would simply accept Aku, all would consider him a monster and the evil that needs to be killed (might I remind you, in ancient times some people believed that swamps and bitumen pits are den of evil spirits, while solar eclipses symbolize the arriving of evil). Under such pressure, he would have done what he has done in “Birth of Evil” anyway. The only chance for Aku to become normal member of human/mortal society in Middle Ages and further — if Jack’s father accepted him, when Aku was born. But Jack’s father subtly said to Aku “You are an accident that should never have existed and lived. You should have died. My intention was to not give life and freedom to you, I wanted to kill you” and started to attack him with arrows and sword, confirming his intentions, where the battle and imprisoning strengthened hatred within Aku toward humans, mortals and especially toward Jack’s father and later Jack (who took responsibility without knowing the origin of the conflict). And we got unwanted, abandoned, rejected and embittered creature, who never got a chance to be loved and accepted. Aku is the result of humans’ fear of unknown, prejustice, ignorance, disregard and indifference, where the one human could undo this, but in noble desire to save his family and kingdom he himself created the monster, who punishes and shares his eternal pain with all. When Aku looks at arrows in his hand and then looks at Jack’s father, for few seconds you can notice resentment, sadness and disappointment on his face before anger. Plus, Emperor’s words and deeds could be interpreted by Aku as not only insulting and rejecting, but also as “You and other world think that I am the evil from the beginning and even without knowing about me. Very well, I will be the evil, because there is no point to be anything else". Aku was born innocent, but death surrounded him before birth and became his companion, he could learn to trust and love, but anger and hatred replaced them, hence he sees it as forbidden weakness and disgrace of worthless mortals, immortal life was corrupted with envy especially toward Jack, formidable foe and the son of the fool, who created Aku. Aku is the true child of sorrow, the painful grief, deeply rooted within Aku like the poisoned arrow of the human, who could become a father to him. (I still think that the arrow is still inside of Aku — plus, in some cultures arrows symbolize war or life, so it makes sense) After this, his lines about "Once again I am free to smite the world as in the long past" and "Now, my formidable foe, you will pay for my pain in the past with your pain in the future!" toward Jack get deeper shades. The line about “to smite the world” is literally "to punish humankind” (how it happened in “Birth of Evil” episodes). The line about “my past pain and your future pain” also partially explains, why Aku didn't try to kill Jack in some episodes, but only destroyed or stole time portals, mocking on Jack. And it gets even more deep shades in episode, where saddened Jack finds his destroyed kingdom and remembers his happy childhood — like, similar feelings of pain and loneliness of someone, who was abandoned in cruel and unknown world. Aku’s line from comics “You will always be alone, samurai. But as long as I have you, I will never be alone!” is another perfect explanation. Aku sees Jack as his equal and as someone, who probably could understand him. Also I think, Aku sees in Jack not only the enemy, who can ruin his plans etc, but also he sees in Jack his father, what strenghtens his hatred toward Jack, and Aku probably feels... envy. Because Jack was a wanted child for his family, because Jack is open for world and can find friends, because Jack never gives up and stays kind person, he helps to everyone and has a hope to return home, where his family and friends loved him, and where Jack was happy. He has something Aku was deprived of (and even never had). I always wondered, why Aku calls himself a wizard instead of demon or some supernatural being. Can it be self-hatred because of unability to accept and let go the past? I don’t know, but Aku needs therapy. Aku created the multicultural society with technological progress instead of killing entire life, he didn't harm kids from the fairy tale episode (I assume, his first fairy tale can represent his hidden desire to be a hero in kids’ eyes — if he didn’t care, he’d just ignore/kill them or whatever), he used only robots and demons as his army and policy. (for some reason I recall lines from the song from Moana "Far from the ones who abandoned, you're chasing the love of these humans, who made you feel wanted").

What I noticed — Jack’s father even didn't tell to Jack about how he accidentally created Aku, he only mentioned "This evil demonic wizard attacked my kingdom, I heroically fought and defeated him" or whatever (here is more detailed post about this moment). Hence Emperor didn’t realize what he has done. Remember the short scene in 7 episode 2 season, where Jack’s parents clung to each other, and the shadow of Aku's head towered over them — just imagine, how furious Aku was after sending Jack to the future, how he cruelly punishes Jack's parents and all those enslaved and for minutes freed people. That would be really dark and emotionally powerful scene — especiallly if Emperor finally realized his mistake and begged Aku to mercy Empress and other people, since it is only his fault, but without avail. Aku’s hatred toward Jack’s father was also hinted in two scenes — in 1 episode 1 season, where all enslaved people worked together, while exhausted Emperor worked alone and was tortured by demonic servants, and in 4 episode 3 season Aku refers to him as “your worthless father” during confrontation with Jack. Interesting... can Aku be called a mononoke (vengeful spirit, corrupted with negative emotions, caused by human)? This tragic and dark aspect of the character stuck with me for many years. The theme, where the one is a bitter "mistake" of one ignorant human, the another one was destined to destroy his father's "mistake" only 'cause of its dark origin, i.e. both were deprived of choice and free will. And there really could be awesome and dramatic epic, where the two lone characters understand each other's tragedies and through some events change. The theme, where exactly the choice is important, not origin or prejustice, i.e. something more deep and mature than banal "White savior defeats black wizard" thing. Because if to have absolutist one-dimensional worldview and to consider Aku as irredeemable pure evil, there is a chance to meet or hypocritically ignore uncomfortable question “Wait, by this logic, Aku was born that way, so he never asked to be born that way and can’t change, he is doomed from the start of his existence to be the evil and be killed only because of his origin. Isn’t that the tragedy?! He is the victim of either his nature or humans’ sins”. So yes, the best option would be exactly giving to Aku his arc “from antagonist to antihero and hero’s ally”, where Jack helps to overcome his inner conflict, healing him, and they do some heroic thing together. Surprisingly, this “kids show” from early 2000s and made me to think about pretty dark and dramatic themes.

But 5 season happened, and my emotions were “Look at how they massacred my boy!”... Here I already discussed that the father of Ashi and her sisters is unstated. Since her dad is unstated, I prefer to think that he was a random human (probably killed by her mother), while Ashi (similar to Blade from 1998 film) was only one in her litter, who got infected by Aku’s blood and survived (very rare type of horizontal gene transfer or whatever — maybe ‘cause Ashi was the weakest, so also we see some kind of sudden and unusual symbiotic relationship or whatever, ‘cause apparently exactly Aku’s blood saved her life in 3-4-5 episodes, and she didn’t die after falling from height or electricity — it reminds me the moment from “Princess Mononoke”, where Nago’s hatred curse devoured Ashitaka from inside, but saved Ashitaka’s life, when one of the women shot at him and he had serious blood loss). That’s the only reasonable explanation I have. Since I don’t consider 5 season as canon, I have some own thoughts about how 5 season and the true ending of the show should be and about characters’ arcs in it, but I’ll make a separate post about it later. 

This post is a tribute to Aku, who deserved really great story and ending, but was ruined and killed by own creator/author, who cared only about the monkey girl Mary Sue, a thief, a parasite and an impostor, who stole Jack’s and Aku’s arcs and backstories. Rest in peace, magnificent boy, and drink tasty tea with uncle Iroh and Mako, looking at sunset in valley.

Nagashiro vs. Munashiro: The Battle of How-To-Capture-Shiro's-Heart-Without-Killing-Each-Other of the Century

Bold of you to assume that they’re not trying to kill each other XD Imagine like post-ROK Everybody Lives AU and Hisui has turned over a new leaf (he decided Shiro was right and family really is more important than a giant magic rock). Hisui’s doing his best to help fix the damage made when the Slate was released and imagine him having to go from burrito human hiding in the sewers to like actually physically interacting with people, he still has to use his wheelchair and straitjacket a lot but he can actually come above ground and is working with Munakata and Shiro in handling the other politicians. Now that he’s not evil anymore Hisui is also tentatively letting himself act upon his crush on Shiro, there’s just one problem: Munakata seems to like Shiro too.

At first Hisui thinks he may just be assuming things, after all from his research the Blue King and Silver King didn’t like each other at all. What he’s missed is that while Hisui was working his way up to appearing in person Munakata and Shiro were doing a lot of work together to navigate the current political situation, and it turns out that they have a surprising amount of things in common. Imagine the three of them like after a meeting still hanging around the meeting room and Munakata and Shiro are chatting personably while Hisui sits in the corner and watches. Suddenly Kotosaka flies between the two of them, Hisui takes a moment to wheel his chair right where it just so happens to be blocking Munakata completely as he apologizes for his bird being rude and starts talking with Shiro himself. Behind him Munakata is just quietly like ‘…I see’ as he pushes up his glasses and they shine menacingly.

So now it’s a quiet war between the two of them for Shiro’s attention and imagine Shiro just being utterly oblivious to this, like he’s aware that Munakata and Hisui seem to dislike each other but he assumes they’re just holding grudges. Oh imagine this leads to certain romantic plans backfiring too, like Munakata invites Shiro to the amusement park and Hisui shows up instead because Shiro gave Hisui his ticket, thinking wouldn’t it be nice if the two of them spent more time together so they can be friends (they spend the entire time at the amusement park being politely rude to each other). Or Hisui suggests going to the park together and Shiro invites Munakata along so that all three of them can be good friends. I imagine him telling Kuroh about this later, like it didn’t seem that Munakata and Hisui are getting along very well though and Kuroh is seriously wondering if his King is oblivious or just screwing with his would-be suitors.

Damn what an episode. Another awesome Niehime ep. A lot happened and some cool foreshadowing.

First off, new ring! Instead of just a magical protection ring this one is to symbolise Leo and Sariphi’s commitment to one another, how sweet. I also like how it’s purple which is both of their eye colours combined. Nice touch.

Sariphi is showing some real maturity and leadership lately. Accepting that the kingdom isn’t ready for a human queen to make a public appearance at the festival alongside the king, reading up on the history of the kingdom and trying to learn as much as possible, etc.

Loved her conversation with Anubis as well. “You don’t dislike humans, you don’t like me.” Very important and relevant lesson. You can not like individuals, but painting an entire group or race with a broad stroke because of your interactions with one person. Funniest thing is Anubis doesn’t even dislike Sariphi anymore he’s just a prickly tsundere.

Volunteering to go off to Yoana is another bold move, but shows Sariphi’s determination. Also gives a great opportunity to bring Illya back into the story. Been a long time since we’ve seen him. PV for next episode shows Leo in human form so I wonder if he’ll be joining her at some point.

We are clearly transitioning from the physical fights and action of the last few episodes to a more political and ideological struggle. Set is likely going to live up to his name as the Egyptian god of war and chaos and call into question the legitimacy of Leo’s birth and reign. Meanwhile Sariphi will have her own battle in Yoana. Hype.

Shouichi

Basic Data

Name: Shouichi 

Nickname/s: Shou

Age: s1 - 17

Gender: cis guy, he/him 

Occupation: bounces around a lot. pao family tea house employee as of s2

Nationality: fire nation

Abilities

Non bender Picked up a lot of street fighting tricks in his teen years and doesn’t exactly know how to fight ‘fair’. Then again, when you’re fighting for the ability to eat the next day, fair doesn’t quite matter. He had quite a bit of natural strength from working on a farm as a kid (and all the manual labor that comes with that) and learned to use that to his advantage pretty early on. 

Appearance

 1 2

Physical features: (hair, eyes, skin, build etc) really choppy cut, curly, med. brown hair, black eyes, pretty thin build

Height: i don’t have a number because none of them do but. A little taller than zuko (as of s2)

Standard clothing: i have a sketch of this somewhere i need to find it.

Defining features: (scars, burns, piercings, tattoos, signature accessories etc) killer burn scar he gets on his stomach during the final battle

Other outfits: some formal fire nation stuff he gets from zuko eventually, but he still prefers his stuff from the earth kingdom

Personality

On the surface, everyone thinks he’s a good kid that just keeps to himself. While it’s true, it goes a little deeper than that. He intentionally doesn’t get to know people better than basic small talk and keeps them an arm’s length away at all times. He’s well-mannered and polite, making him a customer favorite at the tea shop, but he’s incredibly independent (to a fault) and insists on doing everything himself.  Emotional vulnerability isn’t his strong suit by any means, but he takes time out of his day to make the kids he sees on the street smile (whether it’s with leftover food or a joke someone told him). 

Likes: country scenery, animals, kids (major soft spot there), flowers

Dislikes: city life, crabby & entitled adults

Strengths: friendly, relaxed, observant, resourceful, independent

Weaknesses: stubborn, reckless, also independent

Fears: time passing, dependency

Relationships

Affiliations/Alliances: team avatar, the white lotus league, iroh, zuko

Family: unnamed father (deceased), unnamed mother (deceased)

Friends: toph beifong, sokka, momo (specifically them, he gets along with the whole gang)

Romantic Interest/s: Zuko

Biography:

Shou grew up on a ranch on the outskirts of the fire nation, pretty far from any close city. His dad raised him since his mom died from an illness when he was a kid, and the two lived a pretty quiet life. The war finally reached the furthest parts of the fire nation (not like it hadn’t before, but things got worse), so the two decided to sneak out and hope to restart their lives in the safe city of Ba Sing Se. When he was about 12, they left for (what was supposed to be) a well-covered dock for refugees to leave the country, but it was run through by fire nation soldiers the night they tried to escape. The boat left with only half of the passengers it was supposed to. His father didn’t make it on the ship. Later, he learned his father died in prison. 

Across the sea and through a long trek on land, he made it to Ba Sing Se. He began working as much and as hard as he could—most places, however, wouldn’t hire a 12-year-old. This led to stealing food to survive, despite how badly he didn’t want to. He learned he had to do what he could to survive rather quickly. The older he got, the more money he could make at formal jobs, so by the time he was 14 (and looked a little older), he was able to get something steady. 

However, in the meantime, he got involved in a lot of back-alley, pretty shady ways to make a little extra: he started in fighting rings where people usually felt bad for the scrawny underdog, but not enough to throw the fight. He learned how to dodge and throw punches pretty quickly (considering there were some nights his life almost depended on it) and eventually started winning. The older he got, the easier it was, but the harder opponents he was thrown in with. Most of the reason he couldn’t hold down a job for very long was that he’d come in so bloodied up he’d get fired. He couldn’t leave, however, because a lot of the other guys had bets in on him. The time he tried, he ended up fighting off a couple of (slightly drunk) guys with knives. 

Things started becoming a little more interesting when he started working at a tea shop around 17. He hadn’t been there long when a rather odd pair (father and son, he originally guessed) showed up. The older man, whose name he later learned was Mushi, was the talk of the city when word got out about how amazing his tea was. As much of a pain he was, always nagging about injuries or offering to help him with things, he was the reason he was getting more money. The guy couldn’t be that bad, right?

The other of the two, a boy about his age named Lee, was a different story. At first, he treated him like any other person he’d worked with—basic small talk was fine, but he tried not to make any meaningful attachments. However, one evening he offered to close with him, so he “didn’t have to be alone all that time”, and he found out he was seriously funny. And he had some of the strangest stories to tell—whether it was about his uncle, his younger sister, or even just the things he’d seen in his travels. He talked more than he expected considering how quiet he was when they were working with others around and Shou didn’t want him to stop. 

Over time, they grew particularly close. Rather than just working together, he surprised himself and called Lee a friend. Mushi seemed to enjoy that either of them had someone to talk to and began spending quite a bit of time together, even outside work. They went for lunch on a day they both had off and he showed him some of the prettier places in the city that they could get into without trouble. (Which also meant getting into a little trouble here and there.)

Their bond turned into something slightly more than friendship shortly afterward—at least from Shou’s perspective. Even before going to Ba Sing Se, he’d never felt so strongly for someone and slowly began to realize things were different with him. He was happier than he’d ever been before and he wanted to tell him that. 

Never a master at words, he wrote him a letter instead of verbally telling him—it was much easier when he could plan everything out before he wrote it down. He offered to meet him that night if he wanted to talk and asked Mushi (who he’d warmed up to a little) to give it to him.

He waited from a half hour before, till hours after they were supposed to meet. It took a long time of denial and several ruined dishes he’d tried his best to cook himself for him to realize he wasn’t coming. The next day at work, neither Mushi or Lee showed up—when he tried to ask the owner, he said he wasn’t given a reason and hadn’t spoken to either of them since the evening before. 

Things became dull again. There was no one there to make him laugh and get the chores done just a bit faster. Despite how much he didn’t want to admit it, he missed Mushi’s songs and stories as well. Whatever happened to them was far outside his control and nothing he could be bothered by anymore. He went back to keeping his head low and guard on, preferring not to let himself get hurt again. It wasn’t fair that they—specifically Lee—left without another word, and it reinforced his already rather draining idea that most people he cared about ended up leaving or being separated from him after a while. 

He heard nothing from either of them for months, until one evening he came home to find Mushi sitting at his dining room table, drinking tea and watching the world go by. After almost throwing the closest thing (probably his shoe) at him, they sat down and talked over tea. 

Mushi explained his name was not truly Hong Mushi, but he was a fire nation general named Iroh, and Lee was Prince Zuko, the fire lord’s son. That should have taken longer to sink in, but he was throwing so many details at once that he had no choice but to follow along. He learned that there was a (now) secret organization of bending and weaponry masters meant to protect and train the avatar (who was very much alive and trying to stop the war) known as the Order of the White Lotus. With the avatar’s help (which he didn’t know he was helping yet), the order was attempting to take back Ba Sing Se the same day the avatar faced Fire Lord Ozai. Iroh very quickly emphasized that he expected him to keep this secret unless he took him up on his offer: come with the white lotus and have a chance to "change his destiny".

That was something where he and Lee (technically Zuko, he guessed) differed—he wasn’t a big believer in destiny. But if it meant out of his run-down one-bedroom and a chance to see more than just the world directly around him, he’d take it. 

They left soon after—he dropped off a letter at the tea house letting the owner know he would be taking an "extended leave of absence" for reasons he wouldn’t discuss and figured he could deal without half a week’s pay with Iroh. They got in touch with other masters who agreed to help and eventually arrived at their camp a few miles outside the city. In the meantime, Shou began asking questions—all of which Iroh would answer with patience. Why did they lie? Why were they not in the fire nation? What happened that he was an apparently disgraced general when he seemed like he’d be perfect in leadership like that? He explained what happened to his son, to himself in the passing of the crown, to Zuko (although he tried not to dwell on that, saying it wasn’t his story to tell), and how they ended up in the situation they were in. He took the time to answer everything and tried to pass on some wisdom through his stories while he was at it. Shou didn’t realize it for a long time, but many of those stories stayed with him far into his adult life. 

Each of the masters arrived and each had their own way of asking “who’s the kid?” And each time was a little easier to not snap at anyone and say he wasn’t a kid. Something about patience and open-mindedness Iroh was trying to teach him. Along with teaching him morals (and begrudgingly accepting that all these old guys were now honorary dads), he started picking up on several fighting techniques. He never got formal training, but picked up on things quickly and tried his best to mimic them. Piandao was even nice enough to teach him how to use a sword—or, at least, how to keep the other guy who’s got one from killing you. 

With time, the stories and lessons sunk in, and he was a lot less conflicted regarding Zuko and everything that happened between them. Iroh reassured him not all hope was lost on him and he hoped to see him again. Somehow, he managed to work in several jokes about how oblivious he was whenever this was brought up. He refused to admit those feelings he had for Zuko might have been reciprocated despite how badly he wanted them to be. 

He got the opportunity to find out not long afterward—one morning, he was practicing reading the maps Pakku allowed him to borrow (and ensured he took very good care of them) when Iroh came into the tent and told him he had a visitor for him. He prepared for the worst and hoped for the best when Zuko walked through the entryway. After a much-too-long and painfully awkward conversation, he found out he’d kept the letter. A million times over, he apologized for not coming despite the fact he wanted to. Too many other things happened and it led to them not seeing each other for months. After clearing the air of any and all confusion, frustration, and anything related to their relationship, they finally kissed—Shou didn’t think he’d been that happy in a long time. 

The final battle was quickly approaching, however, so that happiness didn’t last long. As soon as they were together again, they had to be separated—Zuko and Katara were going to the palace to challenge Azula, the other three (whose names he’d just learned, along with Katara’s), Suki, Toph, and Sokka, would be trying to take out the fire nation airships. Everyone was hoping Aang, the avatar (apparently) would show up at some point during this whole mission, considering he’d been missing for a few days before that. He seemed to be the only one concerned about that aspect of the plan, so kept his mouth shut about it. 

Later, he learned that the avatar was a twelve-year-old kid with a pet flying lemur. And a flying bison. Because all of that made complete sense to any ordinary person. Appa was cool, though. 

When everyone left for their missions, he kept to the promise he made to Zuko: he’d stay with Iroh the best he could and ensure he made it out of the fight okay. They talked for a while at sunrise and Shou took the opportunity to thank him for everything. The stories, the learning opportunities, and simply someone being there was more than enough for him. Since he got to Ba Sing Se, he’d been on his own, and it was nice to have someone to rely on. To Iroh’s surprise, he actually hugged him before they charged in. 

He very quickly learned how important all of those lessons were. He’d missed the adrenaline of a fight (when the tea house got popular he was able to get a little more distance from the rings he usually fought in), but this time he wasn’t facing half-drunk idiots who didn’t know how to fight but could hit hard. He was fighting trained, human-weapon fire benders who got some extra gas power from the comet.  

Again, he picked up on things fast. While the lessons were important, nothing would prepare him for the excruciating pain a fireball to the stomach would feel like. He caught on just in time, too; if he hadn’t jumped in the way, Iroh would have taken that blow to the back. Luckily, this was the tail-end of the fight, and they secured the city not long afterward. 

The rest of the team met back in Ba Sing Se at the request of Iroh—he stressed that Katara, at least, had to come back because some injuries required the healing powers of water bending, and Earth Kingdom medicine didn't cut it. Shou, despite being stuck in bed, asked him not to name him specifically in the letter. She would come to help where she could, they both knew that. He didn’t want to worry Zuko more than he had to. 

After quite a bit of healing, Doctor Katara (he started calling her that) insisted that he stay off the muscles as much as possible, and getting a lecture about him not taking time to heal past broken bones either, she handed him off to Zuko. He got yet another lecture about how he should have been more careful and how he was terrified for him and he was right to be. Through a lot of tears and several punches to his shoulder, he finally convinced him to take a breath and sit with him for a while. The two ended up falling asleep (the best they had in days, maybe weeks) and didn’t live it down from Sokka, Aang, and Toph for several days. 

Afterward, things went as smoothly as they could. Rebuilding a nation (and the world, really) after a hundred-year war wasn’t easy, but Zuko seemed to handle it well. Still having complicated relationships with the fire nation, Shou decided to head back to Ba Sing Se and help manage the Jasmine Dragon with Iroh. They visited each other when they could and communicated mostly through letters for a while. 

After a long time in this process, he finally left the Earth Kingdom and decided to stay with Zuko at the palace. They got married (there was no rule against it but many probably wouldn’t accept it) and eventually adopted a little girl named Izumi. 

Their adventures don’t necessarily end there. Things still happen and Shou made friends with someone else from the fire nation—a girl not much younger than himself named Kiui. 

Extra Information:

Main goal: Live to the next day and figure out what to do when that happens. 

Hopes/Dreams: Not having to survive one day to the next, go back to the country and live on a ranch. 

Playlist

if you made it this far ily. lmk what you think about him <3

*Send 🛑 for my muse (receiver) to step in and protect your muse (sender) from someone. 📨 ➤   @reveromantique  [ ; ] 🛑 -reveromantique for squall

𝐏𝐄𝐎𝐏𝐋𝐄 𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐒𝐎 𝐒𝐊𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐈𝐒𝐇, 𝐔𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐑𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑'𝐒 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍 𝐆𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐄𝐍. Even now, so long after everything had settled back down again — after Seifer had taken on as many missions as he had in their favour, at their request, others still found enough of a reason to give the man a hard time for simply existing.

( ‘ Though he can't even call it that, really. Garden orders were practically law. You followed them or their generous hospitality came to a sudden, abrupt & jarring end . . . ’ )

Even so, Seifer tried his best despite it. But, even as much as he'd slowly begun to mellow out, a contradicting, confusing mix of well-behaved with the same old wild energy he bore — many within their walls still harboured the same boiling anger, the lingering rage at his part in the war & the decisions made. It was a thing Squall was well aware of even when he'd backed up the decision to bring him back into Balambs fold, what he’d fought against even as he continued to stubbornly vouch for him. Arguments made on why Almasy was far from a good asset to have in their hand, the dislike & ire were far from new to him. But what was — was anyone trying to go against it so strongly, through actions.

Issues & insults were whispered, cursed low, loud enough to catch on the passing wind if you focused hard enough as you walked — but never had anyone tried to violently strike out. Vigilante justice or petulant rage in the form of a physical temper tantrum, who could really say — he's only thankful he manages to spot the glint of metal before it was too late, an old habit burned & melted down into his instincts like a scarring brand. Squall moves as soon as he catches it, maybe spurred on by something more guiding his strings, feeling the protective instinct, the urge to guard the other from harm flare like a bright, bursting sun beneath his skin, all as he shoves himself between the blonde & his would-be assailant.

He doesn't think, doesn't react as smart as he knows he should — his brain kicking into damage control, battle plan mode far after they'd moved, feeling the sharpened pain of a dagger to his side as he grits his teeth with blossoming rage. It burns low, simmering outrage peering at the man. Fingers curl impossibly tight around the other's wrist from where he's snatched it, feeling the blade press that bit deeper, jostling uncomfortably as his side grows wet. The other's grasp grows limp, a pained wince. Adrenaline masks it, blurs the next few moments as he moves to retaliate.

All he remembers is the taste of blood in his mouth, the smell of it curling so full through his senses, & the feeling of a deep ache in his knuckles.

Okay, this one is kind of funky, but let me try and make this make sense; what if Lilith hadn't died in the war? What if she'd survived and fallen like her brothers? How would it change her, physically or mentally? Maybe she'd have lots of battle scars, or lose a wing entirely, if not both. She'd probably have to stay hidden because she's not supposed to have survived (in the celestial realm's eyes, at least). Would she represent a new sin? What animal represents her? What's her demon form like? What would her modern relationship with her brothers be like? Do she and Satan get along, does Beel now have guilt for her scars, does Belphie still hate humans because of her scars, etc. I've always imagined her as a rambunctious, adventurous, bright, no regrets, somewhat chaotic teen, cause that's how MC tends to come off. She IS the youngest after all, she's bound to cause trouble! Of course, you can characterize her however you like, and don't feel pressured to make it a whole fic! Some headcanons would work fine, if you feel like doing this at all! Sorry for how long this is.

The Other Fallen Angel

Notes - Lilith centric, Headcanons ( but in a wonky format ), Angst and fluff, Protective Sibling, Feat. Lilith, The brothers, The royals, Liliths lover

Summary - What if Lilith hadn't died in the war? How much would it change?

Warnings - Scars, Trauma, Heavy guilt, and I refused to be canon compliant on the first question.

Tw - Mentions of major injuries.

What if Lilith hadn't died in the war?

- Well, by canon, that would mean that belphi would've been the one to die in the war due to Beel saving Lilith instead. But that's a story for another day. So let's just say that the angel who tried to murk them got sniped by one of the brothers / a different angel before they could throw the spear. Cool? Cool.

- Lucifer also now has no need to make an oath with Diavolo anymore because none of his siblings would've needed his help, so Diavolos role would've probably been changed to Lucifers friend after taking care of the brothers for a bit. ( "for the sake of the devildom" aka he felt bad for them lol )

- Belphi now has no reason to hate humans due to his sister not dying, and he probably won't hate Diavolo as much because he doesn't have as much control over his family. Although, He probably still dislikes humans and Diavolo, but maybe for different reasons than in canon.

If she survived and had fallen with her brothers, how would it change her mentally and physically?

- Physically she would've kept her Immortality and become a demon like her brothers. She also would've kept any physical scars she had gotten in the war, or in the case she lost her wings, from falling as well.

- I personally headcanon that those who fought in the war have some form of permanent scar from it that they just magic away ( out of sight out of mind type thing ). However, I do think that she would be the only one who wouldn't do that.

- Mentally, I think she wouldn't interact with the human realm for a few years and might even become slightly paranoid or tense when going outside or to the human realm. She also might feel distrustful of angels due to the whole being put on death row thing.

- I think that she, similarly to Diavolo but more on an empath level, is able to tell when someone is lying. So she's probably the first person to introduce themself when with her family or friends to make sure they can be trusted. ( if her brothers didn't do it first. )

- She also would probably feel guilt for the war due to thinking that it was her fault that it happened. Maybe she would isolate herself from her brothers or act like she wasn't as effected as she was, but she would probably pull an MC and simply act like her problems and trauma don't exist for the sake of helping her brothers. ( "it was my fault, so this is my guilt to carry." Type beat. )

Would she represent a new sin? What animal would would represent her?

- I think she wouldn't represent a totally new sin, but instead maybe the more emotional side of humanity. Kinda like Despondency ( which could go with envy or sloth [ Fic is by @/astershere ] ). Or Chaos ( which could go with Lust [ Fic is by @/Books-and-Caters ] ). Or Vengeance ( which could go with wrath ). Or maybe judgement, which could technically branch off of any sin, and would've stood as the reason why she fell.

- Although, going off of Belphis' "eccentric" comment, it would probably lean more towards Chaos, Insubordination, Rebellion, or Judgement. That kinda thing. The only sin I couldn't see her branching off of is sloth due to her being similar to the eccentric, reckless, and adventurous side of MC. And pride, due to her caring by slightly impulsive nature.

- As for what animal would represent her, I could see her being represented by either a wolf Alaskan malamute hybrid, an Orca, or an african wild dog. Really, i could see it being any animal that is loyal, playful, and independent in some way.

What would her demon form look like?

- Human form clothing: I'm going with a cyan knee length, A flared, gold trimed designed, skirt. With a turquoise-cyan shoulder less turtle neck top with matching gold trim. And near shoulder high, gold trimmed, arm warmers that have a design that would align with her demon markings. And black thigh high boots with white laces.

- Demon form clothing: Im going plaid, black lined suit pants with slited sides that can tie together at the bottom. The slits have 1in thick dark cyan lining around them. A black, sleeveless, button-up tucked into the pants. A off the shoulder blazer with dark cyan buttons and dark cyan trimming that perfectly aligns with her demon markings.

- Demon appendages: I picture her having four horns, one pair that lie on her forhead and another that lie on the top of her parital. The horns on her forhead look similar to elephant tusk just more jagged and layered. While the ones on her parital curve around her head similarly to deer horns.

- Demon appendages 2: Wings , I imagine her wings would look similar to Mammons, on her lower back but not spiked, as to help with speed. They look and function similar to bat wings, they can hug her entire form and are slightly transparent.

- Demon appendages 2: Tail , Her tail would probably look similar to Satan's, thin, spiked but more separated and has a mind of its own. It might function similar to a cats tail, prehensile and helps her keep balance when climbing and can grip onto things and people. Sometimes she might hang upside down by her tail.

What would her modern relationship with her brothers be like?

- Just in general, pretty similar to how it was in the celestial realm just now with the added trauma of war, nightmares, some major guilt on her part, and near death experiences. But still, they're all together and kinda healing so that's good. That and she would probably take on MCs role as resident therapist while being traumatized.

- and the double standard they seem to have about eachother acting on their sin but never controlling theirs might be non-existent.

Lucifer :

- I don't think much would change here aside from her ripping him a new one the moment that unfair treatment towards any of the other brothers comes to light. He's probably a bit stricter and more protective of her than how he used to be, but that lessens over time and never truly goes away.

- Lucifers overworking habits wouldn't stand a chance against her, she'd probably be more stubborn than he is about it and would absolutely drag him to break and talk to Diavolo for him.

Mammon :

-:She'd be the only one he'd be serious with 70% of the time. He's probably more overprotective than Lucifer but less overprotective than Beel. He will commit schemes and mischief with her but he also won't put her in any danger.

- she would've probably been the main one to feel sympathetic for him whenever he acted on his sin in the first few years after falling ( and maybe afterwards as well ). She would probably force her brothers to find their own ways of helping him with it. She would also do her best to nip his self-sacrificing attitude in the bud, but she also does it so she might be a tad bit hypocritical.

Leviathan :

- This would probably be one of the relationships that differes from how it was in the celestial realm due to his envy hitting full force for the first couple of years. He's not overprotective of her as much as he just constantly worries about her the moment she's out of his sight in a public space.

- She would've made it her mission to find a balance between enjoying things he likes and dragging him into nature every now and then. She also probably wouldn't stand for his self-deprecating habits or for her brothers encouraging it. She also rips him a new one when his envy chooses to latch onto Mammon. She also took his door off its hinges once

Satan :

- Their relationship is probably similar to his and Lucifers just without the never ending rage and daddy issues. She also isn't as strict with him and even participates in his schemes sometimes. They would probably love reading together and she probably answers any questions that he has.

- Similar to Mammons greed, she would probably be sympathetic of his wrath and the circumstances of his birth. She might even force Lucifer and Him to go to family therapy for the sake of either Chaos and entertainment or the off chance that they actually communicate.

Asmodeus :

- Exactly the same as it was in the celestial realm just with added self esteem issues and guilt. He's the only one that she's actually strict with and will keep an eye on him to make sure he's safe. She's kinda like a body guard for him which is ironic because he's a body guard for her. They're Murder siblings. They also have sleep overs all the time too.

- She has nearly murked someone for disrespecting his boundaries and she will do it again. She actively takes him out on self care days but she always makes sure he's doing it because he enjoys it and not just for his appearance. They would probably do eachothers make up and style eachothers clothes but she's incredibly silly about it.

Beelzebub :

- Similar to how it was in the celestial realm but now it has guilt vs guilt. He doesn't have the guilt of not being able to save his sister anymore but now he holds guilt for not protecting his family as a whole, which Lilith calls bs on immediately. She helps him with his nightmares most nights due to her also being awake with sibling instincts. He's very overprotective of her and will always be somewhere nearby just incase she needs him.

- She doesn't mind his gluttony and probably was one of the main ones to help him maintain it in it's early workout stages. They're workout buddies although she doesn't do as many reps as he does. She also forces him to relax and take care of himself. She also somehow convinces Lucifer to get another fridge for Beelzebub so he doesn't feel as bad about emptying it and takes it upon herself to restock it.

Belphegor :

- Similar to how to was in the celestial realm but they do disagree sometimes, and that's mainly because he hates angels and she doesn't. He's probably more protective of her than beel but, similar to Mammon, they get up to shananagins most of the time. They're the youngest gremlins. He also goes with her to the human realm whenever she decides to sneak off to keep her safe and supervise her.

- She drags him out of the house as well and he hates it. She also helps him with his sleep schedule and forces him to sleep at night instead of all day. The stargazing habit still persists but now they do it in the devildom as well. He also is able to pick up on her nightmares and bad days so quick after he becomes more accustomed to the devildom.

Bonus:

Her lover :

- She doesn't regret a single thing she did for him, she only regrets getting her family involved. Their relationship would probably stay similar to how it was before the war but now they're both protective of eachother and she's a demon. He would've probably been concerned that she just dissapeared for a few years and would be one of the people to call her out on her therapist habits.

- I'm indecisive as to wether or not she would tell him, but he would probably find out somehow ( probably by way of her brothers ) and wouldn't care. She would let him live out his natural life or he would find some way to become immortal but either way they end up together.

AN - I apologize that this is so haphazard, I tried to keep it organized but the ideas were all over the place.

Divider credits - X