#<- (pyromancy stress response)

[avalost]

an auspicious start to sev/marazhai's relationship

[hatt0ris]

I WANTED TO MAKE MORE THAN JUST THIS but it took like. a week to get done and im sick these days

anyways in light of mk1's nonsense i revisited some koncepts i had for a roleswap au. i took hanzo's inspiration from a mix of mkx and mk11 outfits and kuai i kind of just winged it based off my own preferences in past appearances!!

more rambling is under the cut about the actual AU :-]

PLEASE DO NOT REPOST MY ART ON ANY OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA OR CROP THEM FOR ICONS. THANK YOU!

SO I HAVE NOT ACTUALLY DEVELOPED THIS BEYOND SOME OLD SKETCHES I HAD OF KUAI'S DESIGN but i had some general ideas of how this was supposed to work???

the shirai ryu is still alive and well! he's still a family man and very clan oriented. satoshi is still born and grows into his clan's responsibilities, however harumi dies in child birth.

the lin kuei on the other hand is Not Doing Well. they end up getting wiped out during a raid from the shirai ryu and most of kuai's immediate family (whether by choice or blood) ends up going down with them.

prior to this kuai ends up passing after a failed mission to retrieve the map of elements from the shaolin temple in an attempt to prove himself to his clan. (instead of bi-han being the one set on that path, kuai ends up taking the initiative instead WAY before he's ready without anyone's knowledge and ends up dying when met with scorpion.)

most of it is similar how it is in actual canon for how scorpion's story goes. he gets resurrected he pledges loyalty to quan chi in order to get revenge, blah blah blah. mortal kombat happens. the two meet again at some point.

kuai's still on that "you killed my family" juice but its...more so about familial ties (like bi-han and smoke) rather than it being the love(s) of his life (like hanzo's wife and son) , seeing as he died young from his own overzealous nature.

very much has anger issues. he's impatient and has alot shorter of a temper by comparison to scorpion in the original canon. hardly ever humbled until that point lol

hanzo on the other hand is surprisingly more lax. meditates often, drinks alot of tea and while he *IS* stressed he handles it alot better than kuai does. maybe has a problem of ignoring his problems though for the sake of the task at hand.

kuai ends up harassing hanzo alot in this AU even outside of the tournament. he's kind of a bitchy ghost there to remind hanzo of what happened to him and lowkey hanzo guilts over it.

kuai has alot of grim reaper motifs in his design. he carries a scythe made of ice primarily and fights at a more long distance range.

hanzo on the other hand is alot more of an up close brawler. he keeps alot of design traits from mkx with a bit of mk11 sprinkled in for inspiration of his "classic" design.

STILL A PYROMANCER!! i just havent thought out how. he's just regarded with a bit more respect for having those unnatural abilities lol

but yeah this is just me spitballing in bullet points. i'm hoping to make more stuff later that is a bit more...thought out properly but it follows more of like

mk mythologies --> mk9 -> mkx

type of timeline i guess? except hanzo is in bi-han's position and kuai ends up being put in scorpion's. bi-han doesn't really have a place in the AU outside of being a background character and driving motive for kuai's vengeance later on. (though we're not gonna talk about how bi-han's mentality eventually fed into kuai's at a young age and made him come to the conclusions he did before he died.... maybe.)

smoke exists for the sake of painful flashbacks lol

satoshi's also a bg character but he does end up growing up with the shirai ryu and takes on his own share of clan responsibilities. idk whether or not he takes after hanzo's pyromancy or not in this AU but either way he grows up to be a well respected figure in the clan!

alot of stuff outside of this remains the same though, just the lin kuei and shirai ryu's dynamics get swapped.

ANYWAYS YEAH IF YOU READ THRU ALL THIS THANKS FOR READING BYEEEE (i'll be adding to this au more later on when i finish my other sketches lol)

[esta-elavaris]

Fluffmass ‘22 Day 1

Dragon Age: Inquisiton -- Cullen/F!Trevelyan

Prompt: “This made me think of you.”

Cullen and Evelyn exchange gifts on their first Satinalia as a couple. 

It started with a fleeting comment, written as a postscript in one of her reports to him in the earliest days of the Inquisition - back when she’d “simply” been Herald of Andraste, and not the Inquisitor. 

P.S. I’m sorry for the atrocious handwriting. It’s so damn cold here tonight that I can hardly feel my hands, much less write.

Cullen had smiled upon reading it - the first sign of ease in her missives to him, and perhaps (he hoped) and indicator that any awkwardness between them thanks to his once being a Templar, and her always being a mage, was not so insurmountable as some might assume. It had hardly prevented them from working well thus far, but he hadn’t been blind to the tentativeness that took over her when he walked into a room for the first few weeks - and he thanked Andraste that it didn’t seem to be a permanent fixture. Not just because it would have interfered with their work, but because he didn’t want to induce that sort of discomfort.

Her next report proved far more legible, and so he’d added a note at the end of his letter; a simple I see your hands have warmed up. And then he’d cringed over it from the time the letter was sent until he received her next one, reading in a note tagged on after her signature ten fingers going strong so far - but if that changes, I’ll be billing the Inquisition. 

Almost a year, a move of bases, and one budding new relationship later, the temperature of Evelyn Trevelyan’s hands had remained a topic of conversation between the two of them. Not in that way - although there had been a joke or two from Sera. 

“Does your Cully-Wully warm up them icy hands of yours, yeah?” she’d giggle whenever the two of them were in the vicinity of one another.

Sera’s comments, while certainly the most inane, weren’t the only ones. After a month or two they’d sought out Solas’ opinion on the matter, worried that perhaps it may be something to do with the mark on her had, only to find that if it did, it wasn’t direct. A product of stress, he’d called it, justifiable, undoubtedly, but the body’s response to a heightened sense of danger. What followed was a long, rambling explanation of how the body responded to the threat of danger by bringing the blood away from the extremities an in towards the internal organs, but Cullen heard it for what it was. Evelyn Trevelyan was living in a near-permanent state of fight or flight. 

Gloves were out of the question - at least in the field, for they would interfere with her ability to channel her magic through her staff. So she developed a liking for pyromancy, and Cullen hid his worry as best he could. Until they’d acquired Dagna. And that was how he found himself moving through Skyhold on Satinalia with a present wrapped in brown paper and string wedged tightly beneath his left vambrace.

The garden was all but deserted, everybody tucked away from the cold inside, dedicating their attention to the feast. Which, of course, was the point of this meeting time and spot both - the Inquisitor’s attention was in high demand, but surely they could take a moment or two to themselves.

“Hello, you.”

Her voice broke the silence of the garden not long after he’d taken up a seat by the chess table under the gazebo. The undoubtedly daft look of surprise on his face earned him a smile as he turned to watch her descend the last couple of steps from the battlements, explaining as she approached.

“I had to take the long way round - otherwise I’d have never gotten here at all.”

“I’ve at least some idea of what you mean,” he said ruefully “It takes me twenty minutes to walk half as many feet through the encampment outside the gates.”

Evelyn was garbed in a fine dress of deep crimson red for the occasion, long-sleeved, embroidered with gold and trimmed in fur. With her hair cascading down her back in dark brown curls and a circled of gold atop her head, she looked more a queen than an Inquisitor - and a lovely one at that. Not for the first time, Cullen was tempted to doubt his gift. Weren’t men supposed to buy the women they were involved with jewellery, or some such token? Was there some sort of tradition for first Satinalia’s as a couple? He thought not. He knew not, though. That was the problem - he’d never been involved with somebody for long enough, nor seriously enough, to encounter this particular dilemma.

But, days like this notwithstanding, she had little occasion for jewellery, and little use for baubles. No, his gift was a good one. The only one he hadn’t been able to talk himself out of. It could go with her as she travelled, and keep her warm and comfortable when he could not. Safe when he could not. Or so he prayed. 

“Here.”

Thank the Maker she chose to speak before he could get himself into more of a laughable state over something so minor as a Satinalia gift. Cullen watched with a smile as she produced a box just a little bigger than her hand from the loose, draping sleeve of her gown. It was wrapped in red and green paper that sparkled as the light caught it, and tied with golden ribbons that matched her dress.

“I’ll own up right now and say my gift for you isn’t wrapped half so well,” he chuckled, accepting it “Thank you.”

“Well, I’ll own up and say the shop I bought it from in Val Royeaux offered gift wrapping services, so I can’t take credit for it.”

Ah. Dagna offered no such service. 

Unravelling the bow with one careful pull, it fell away and he then lifted the lid from the box. Inside lay a clear, square-shaped glass bottle filled with some sort of liquid of a deep golden-red. He unstoppered the bottle beneath her gaze, and sniffed it carefully - before looking at her in wonder.

“It made me think of you when I found it. It’s embrium extract,” she explained “The really pure stuff, designed for multi-use. I noticed you always burn those incense cones in your office and that you favour that scent. This way you can wear it.”

He did - for its medicinal properties. It helped clear his mind, and on a more literal level it warded off headaches and the chills. But it appeared that use, thankfully, had gone over her head. The withdrawals were a topic he had not yet broached with her.

“It…may also be rubbed into the temples to ease headaches and migraines. Or elsewhere, for muscle aches.”

Guilt threatened to graze him then. Because he’d underestimated her, and because she of all people was worried about him. When it was clear that he had not the words to respond quite yet, turning the bottle over with a soft smile on his face, she rested her hand atop his. His gloves were just thin enough for him to feel how cold her grasp was. 

“You work yourself too hard, Cullen,” she said “I hate seeing the toll it takes. I hope this might help.”

He gave a tired half-smile, mostly because she was one of the few people from whom he could hear such a plea without growing annoyed. Evelyn gave just as much as he did, if not more, and the toll matched. Surely she knew what a bad joke it was for her to say such a thing while doing the exact same thing - and he could hardly blame her, for he would say the same to her without a hint of irony. He often did.

“I love it - and it’ll be of great use to me. Thank you.”

Taking up the hand that had lain atop his, he pressed the back of it to his lips, smirking when she beamed in response. 

“Speaking of hoping to help, though,” he said.

He had to fully unbuckle his vambrace to dislodge the gift, and when Evelyn caught on she assisted him with a swiftness and ease that did threaten to send the mind wandering. The package slipped out, and he handed it to her with far more shyness than a man of his age and life experience had any business feeling. Evelyn Trevelyan just had a way of inducing that in him. It was difficult to say whether that fact was made better or worse by the fact that it did not seem to be deliberate - but at least, judging by the flush in her cheeks as she unwrapped her gift, the feeling was mutual.

Fine, soft leather gloves the same dark muted purple shade that she favoured in her armour were revealed as she unfolded the paper, with black crystal panels so high in number that they would not inhibit dexterity sewn into the palms. 

“I collaborated with Dagna on them,” he explained quickly, before she could mentally deem them largely unuseful “The crystals will amplify your magic and send it through to your staff, so you needn’t remove them in combat.”

Her dark eyes widened as she inspected the crystal panels carefully in wonder. Cullen smiled as he continued.

“There are also mild fire and frost glyphs carved inside, so depending on the climate in which you find yourself you might either heat or cool your hands.”

“Oh, Cullen,” she murmured, turning them over and over in her hands as she admired them before she breathed a laugh “Has my penmanship truly been that bad?”

He chuckled “Perhaps I’m hoping you’ll write more frequently.”

Or just stop leaving at all. He stilled when her inspections brought her to a small piece of needlework, hidden on the inner cuff of the gloves. An E and a C entwined in thread just a few shades lighter than the leather it was sewn into, so as not to be too noticeable. It was a detail he’d thought a touch trite when he’d first gotten the idea, but when he saw how her smile widened and her blush deepened, he was glad to have gone with the idea. When she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him, he was gladder still. 

[iincantatorum]

Name: Devlin Zagreus Hades Age: appears 36 (Oct.24th) FC: Ray.mond Abl.ack Gender: Male Species: Demigod & Warlock Features, dark brown hair, bright amber eyes, dark olive tanned complexion Sexuality: Bisexual, leans towards women more Ethnicity: Mixed (English/Grecian/North Indian) Nationality: UK-born, American citizenship

Family:

Mother- Agni Devi

Father- Hades

Sister- Isabelle Purefoy

Basic:

Likes: chocolate, art, mythological stories, playing with fire, smoking.

Dislikes: Being told what to do, humans, people who underestimate him

Pets: Sotirios the Agouti Huskey, nicknamed Soti. Haralambos the Belgian Malinois, nicknamed Harbo, and a Groenendae named Neofytos, nicknamed Neof.

Tattoos: A flame tattoo on his upper, left side of back.

Personality

Some of Devlin’s personality have qualities which defy the definition of his individual traits, in this manner it makes him unique. Despite being emotional, he can be quite analytic, especially when it comes to his battle tactics. It comes in handy when he has to make quick decisions on taking down a monster and saving as many people as he can. Though Dev is ntroverted, he developed people skills and robust social relationships; and though he can be judgmental, he can be convinced to be receptive to change and new ideas especially noawadays. He is more than the sum of all his parts.

Devlin proves time and time again to be a true altruist, meeting kindness with kindness-in-excess and engaging the work and people he believes in with enthusiasm and generosity.

He is often meticulous to the point of perfectionism, and though he procrastinates, he can always be relied on to get the job done on time. The demigod takes his responsibilities personally, consistently going above and beyond, doing everything he can to exceed expectations and delight others, whether he is in a situation where he is working, or when he is relaxing at home. Making others happy give him a joy unlike any other.

It is a challenge for Devlin to be noticed, given that he would underplay his accomplishments. When his kindness gets respected, more cynical and selfish people tends to take advantage of his dedication and humbleness, by pushing their work to him and then when the time comes, they take the credit. He needs to know when to say no and stand up for himself, in order to maintain his confidence and enthusiasm.

Again, despite being a natural introvert, Devlin can utilize excellent memory not to retain data and trivia, but to remember people and details about his life. This makes him good at giving gifts, where he uses his natural sensitivity to express his generosity in ways that touch the hearts of their recipients. That is why he would consider a coworker to be a close personal friend, and they get to receive his affection in full bloom.

If I Can Protect You, I Will

His mother is Agni Devi, a British woman with Indian roots, who raised her half-god son in secrecy while teaching her skills. His mother is the daughter of a shaman who dedicated her life to learning the mystic arts, especially pyromancy. She is not a strict guardian and often allowed Devlin to roam free and understand himself, but her fear of Hades finding him always caused her stress.  

Living in a world where kids with supernatural powers are taken up by authority, Devlin has to be extra careful of his pyrokinetic powers. His mother revealed to him that he was a demigod and son of Hades. When protecting him, she was taken away and deemed missing and ever since then, Devlin made himself to be emotionally detatched. Growing up several foster homes since he was eight, they all ended up burning down mysteriously. He had his anger issues and took it out on others, and now looking back he has severe regrets and would atone for those acts.

Devlin trusts few, and when he does meet someone, he would automatically try to look to see if they are “special”, meaning if they have supernatural powers. Being the son of Hades allows him to see the dead as well. It was a trait he always had, and can implement it at all times to the point that he rarely gets shocked by it at this point. But he doesn’t let that go to waste. Given his personality, and the fact that he has the ability to go to the underworld and help cross the souls safely, it is a daily occurrence where he would do just that, as he would help the living and dead alike.

There was the Pantheonic Wars where Devlin had finally found his true calling, as one of the co-founders of Camp Half Blood. He would bring other halflings like him there and aid them in learning how to use their powers, taking the role as everyone’s big brother. Whether or not he was related, and most of them were not related because Hades was the least adulterous, he was guiding them and being a source of help, reassuring and fighting off the monsters the other gods would release.

It led to his demise. Devlin had been unable to fight off multiple monsters at once, some were dragons, another was a chimera and even some minotaurs were involved. No one to this day knows who employed those monsters, so in a way his death was a mystery. However all this time he lived in the underworld in trauma, unwilling to return and dealt with his trauma.

About a decade later, Devlin has gone through a transformation. Before he was smooth skinned, and after training in the hottest, flaming regions of Tartarus, he became more rougher and charred, some parts of his body have permanent dark markings with not even a trace of his original complexion. He grew more facial hair, built up his body to be more muscular, and looks as if he was preparing himself for battle.

The decision to come back to the human world was a decision that was not easy. He did it one day and did not tell anybody, working in shelters and volunteering to pass his time and just to give himself a lifestyle that can let him work and not work whenever he has to. His senses need to readjust but he is the same Devlin to the core. It seems as though the Pantheonic wars have ceased, and now he is left wondering what is left for the son of Hades to do.

Devlin likes being around his siblings more than his father. He finds his father cold and calculative and often busy with work, but Melinoe and Macaria, the daughters of Persephone, are often nice to him and he gets along with them really nicely. But around Persephone and Hades he pretends he’s not because he knows his stepmother doesn’t actually like him. He also shares the soul of Zagreus, after his brother died he did not want to pass on as a soul in the afterlife so instead he ‘lives’ on through Devlin and their souls have combined. Zagreus is more of a warrior and is cocky and somewhat dumb, and his personality has been imbibed in Devlin who even goes by that name now and then.

[a-sanguine]

@fire-spitting-demon-bastard ⋙

Shien's nose it seemed was a reliable gage of information. The scent of blood on the demon went without saying given how messily he had consumed his meal this time around. Carlos was usually quite a tidy eater, the mess typically went no further than his lips and could be cleared with a swift wipe with his cuff or a lick of his lips, but this time he had been ravenous and had drank greedily caring less for enjoying his meal and more for just getting his fill which lead to spills. The scent of fire however it seemed had not been masked by the blood scent and was still clear for the other's nose to detect. It may not have been just wood the demon burned, but bodies too, disposing of evidence to avoid detection from the humans. A set of fang marks on a body after all were big clues a demon or vampire had been and killed, like wolves picking off a lamb from a flock in the night. A pile of ash wasn't as simple to identify, and even if it were recognised as human, it would be a lot more difficult to discover a nightwalker had been responsible since even humans had a tendency of burning evidence themselves. And finally the earthy scent. Perhaps the most subtle scent of all, but still very much present on the demon's person. Both the idea of tanned leather and soil were accurate. The demon's boots and belt perhaps had been the suspects for the leathery scent, and perhaps a little of the body burning too? But the soil? The demon didn't have a home exactly and had a tendency to just sleep anywhere, of which places often included the woods which offered a good cover to hide in. It was not uncommon for the demon to sleep in trees, dig ditches to burn the bodies in, hunt for deer in the woods when human blood was out of the question and just generally spent a fair amount big time in this life protecting area of nature which offered both food and cover. It wasn't his favourite location, Carlos preferred civilization among humans when he was able to get away with it, either because the community didn't bat an eyelid to his tail or because he was able to hide under a long leather coat. But this wasn't always a luxury he had and often Carlos would have to make do outside of civilization. "When you're ready to leave there's something I have to do here before we go" the demon told the other while scanning his surroundings. His eyes squinted just a little bit as he seemed to draw saliva into his mouth and then spat it onto his hand as a small ball of intensely hot fire which as he moved his other hand over the top seemed to get larger. This ball was intended for the body. As decent as his pyromancy was he still needed a starting flame to begin with, which came from this flammable saliva. After that he could control the fire as he needed. The body would not be the only thing being incinerated though. The house too would be under fire once the body had a decent blaze and the other vampire... Thing, what ever Shien was would see the demon breath or rather spit fire like a dragon in order to destroy the building and make it look like an accident. The kettle was on the stove and a few objects had been placed near by to look like the fire had been caused by careless which had ended the female's life rather than an attack. The demon was only waiting for Shien to be ready.

Shien looked up just in time to see the scary guy literally spit fire. Shien hiccuped and froze like a deer in the headlight. While the little quasi-vampire was easily scared of a lot of things, nothing scared him just as much, as open fire. It took him a precious second to beat down, the bubbly panic in his guts once more and actually react to what was being said.

Taking a cautious step backwards, he patted down his pockets to make sure, he had all his meager belongings with him, before he answered meekly: "I'm ready to go, Mister."

He kept his eyes firmly fixed onto the floor between his feet, being too afraid to look up again. By all the stress and panic from the evening had filled Shien with heaps of nervous energy, making him near vibrate out of his skin. He knew, if that man triggered his fight or flight instinct now, Shien would surely get himself in big trouble.

So all he could do, was stare at the floor like a scolded child, while shaking like a leaf.