#fate goes au

[art-blogge]

Fate Mink goes to London™ sort of

Something was already on fire. Minako hadn't even finished her breakfast when Mephisto blinked into view, shoving his hat under the running faucet and waiting for the fire to go out.

"Good morning, Master," he announced, tilting his head way, way back. He wanted to see her face when he was speaking. "This isn't my fault for once, I promise!"

Minako, still eating despite the disturbance, merely glanced down at Mephisto's tails. Seeing that they were all waving side-to-side at varying speeds, he was probably being honest this time. Probably, but not definitely. Tails one and three were both slower, indicating he was calm, while tail two looked like it was trying to break some sort of speed record. Was he just nervous about something? Maybe that thing being having been on fire?

After shutting off the water, Mephisto tilted back for a second time. "Whatcha lookin' at back there? You can't have any of it! Legally it's yours, sure," he paused to shrug, "But Hyde already called dibs on my rear. Said somethin' about payback? I'm not quite sure what he's on about, but it could be fun! Maybe more fun than lighting my hat on fire!" He rolled over to facing right-side up, throwing his lower body into the air, still leaning towards Minako and grinning. Seeing as he wasn't getting much of an answer, put his head in his hands and overdramatically pouted. He was being ignored, or even worse, selectively not being responded to! Oh, the horrors!

Entering from the hallway into this was Andersen, irritably grumbling something about lions and pricks as he dragged himself and at least two blankets into a chair. This was his territory now, apparently, and the blankets served as cover and added some needed height.

Understandably curious, Minako stood up slightly to peer over the table at him. She didn't speak up- She WAS still eating!- but tilted her head slightly. This was enough for Andersen to understand her question and answer appropriately.

"Hyde. Who and what did you think? The maniac woke me up announcing he wanted to visit London and to "Be prepared"- That last part was in song format!" Andersen slammed a fist against the table, shaking it a bit. "Is he trying to die?! Singing Disney at me when I'm not even working! Were I an offensive unit, he would cease to exist where he stands!"

"You're not?" Mephisto chimed in, picking his head up out of his hands, "I thought you were, really and truly! At least with that additude of yours!" He began to laugh, earning the reward of Andersen's entire tome to the side of his head, at a high velocity. At a lesser velocity, in response to this grave offense, Mephisto whipped Ticking-kun towards Andersen. Unfortunately for Mephisto, Ticking-kun wasn't interested in fighting, and climbed down to the floor instead.

----

Jekyll did not appear as himself until several hours later, when Minako had decided it was time for lunch. She was not with Andersen or Mephisto this time, meaning she could eat in peace. Andersen had disappeared after announcing his intentions to "Write himself out of this dimension and immediately perish on the sun", and Mephisto had begun chasing after the Hassan of Serenity with a clipboard, two pool floats, and other assorted noodle implements. It was for science, he claimed, and finding him dead on the floor would also be counted as science.

"Hyde lit Mephisto's hat on fire," Minako informed him, not even letting Jekyll speak. He only arched his eyebrows as she added "He's really got it out for the clown. You think he's afraid of clowns and he's acting out?"

Jekyll was never the type to laugh at any theories involving Hyde, and this was no exception. It was, unfortunately, a completely valid theory, and the only way to deconfirm it would be asking Hyde himself. Jekyll did not want to wake Hyde- he had finally gone silent twenty minutes earlier- and thus decided to save his questions for a later time. He then gave Minako a shrug, realizing he had left her question hanging.

"It's not impossible, unfortunately," he finally explained, "Improbable, but not impossible. The chances of him enjoying children's cartoons were improbable as well, and it turned out he does enjoy them." Jekyll shook his head, and then quickly added "And unfortunately for Mr. Andersen, he seems to quite enjoy Disney musical numbers."

There was a groan of exasperation from the nearby cabinets in reply to this. Both Jekyll and Minako paused to stare in that direction, surprised. Andersen had apparently crammed himself into the cabinets to write in peace, and only now had he made himself known. His only additional statement was to stick his hand out from the cabinet and give them both a rude hand gesture. Andersen, as per usual, was not very nice to people, to absolutely no one's shock.

----

It was far later in the day when Andersen finally approached his Master. Unfortunately for him, Minako had just finished a training session with Serenity, and was still on edge when he spoke up. This earned Andersen a blast of wind to the face- Something he took with a surprising amount of tolerance.

"I see I frightened you, Master. How cute, perhaps I really could use you as a model protagonist." Andersen smirked, watching Minako's face go from shock to embarrassment. Shaking his head, he let his smirk drop. "But I am not here for that. I discovered something important that may explain Mr. Edward's behavior."

Minako was confused for a brief moment, unsure who "Edward" was. Only when Andersen added "Mr. Hyde," did she understand what he was getting at.

"Oh, yeah, sure! Sit down!" She pulled out a chair for him, but he opted to instead climb onto the table. Huffing slightly, Minako sat down in the chair before leaning forward in interest. "What'd you figure out, Hans? Does he have a crush on Walt Disney?"

Her joke was entirely ignored, and Andersen flipped his tome open to a bookmark- A red one that had not been there previously. The page, startlingly enough, was stained brown, with some parts darker than others. Andersen was careful not to touch these stains, only making an unhappy face.

"I will keep it short. He and the clown had met previously, according to this," Andersen stated, pointing to a single paragraph. Sure enough, it roughly spoke about Mephisto killing someone- Who was unclear- and Jekyll being unhappy about it. Reading further, Minako was able to gather that this had been during a Singularity- An altered space and time where events ran differently, often ending in disaster.

"Servants involved in such Singularities don't usually recall them, but it seems to differ," Hans now added, recognizing that Minako had read ahead. "For example, I do not recall this "London" event at all, but it is still recorded here in full. Neither Dr. Jekyll or the clown seem to, either, but Hyde may be a different story. I cannot speak for Dr. Paracelsus, as he left as soon as I asked him about it." He now closed his tome, keeping the bookmark inside, before looking up at Minako. She did not need to speak for him to understand.

"I cannot say I know of Hyde's motives yet, I know, that is what you want. I would need to see him up close while the subject is relevant. However, do not forcefully cause this to happen- It is Mr. Hyde. He is not to be trusted, so do not do anything stupid!"

Minako nodded and thought about this, before getting out of her seat and thanking Andersen. He threw his hands in the air in response to an unsaid statement, yelling after her "I tell you not to be stupid and you plan on doing it anyway! Fine! Go get obliterated by a Berserker, see if I care!!"

----

"So it turns out we're not allowed to Rayshift," Minako began, nursing her face with an ice-pack, "Since I'm too new and Hyde is already banned."

She paused momentarily, taking note of her servant's attention spans. Jekyll and Andersen were both paying attention, but Mephisto was entertaining himself with a jar of chemicals and a magnet. Figuring two out of three wasn't bad, she continued speaking.

"Chaldea isn't permitted to fully share Singularity records yet, and asking Hyde directly resulted in him counter-offering shit I don't wanna do." Ignoring Andersen's obvious smirking, she quickly added "I'm not gonna bone a maniac just for a QnA! And no, Mephi, murder isn't an option!"

Mephisto groaned and briefly glanced up to display his disappointment, then went back to making some blobs spike up in his jar. He probably wasn't having a good time with the team meeting, but Minako couldn't really tell unless she checked his backside or asked Andersen.

"So what's the ice for?" Andersen asked, still smirking. Minako knew he wanted to hear that he was right, but she refused to give him that satisfaction- Or an answer. Instead, Andersen had the ice pack thrown at him the moment he looked away. This was easily batted away by him, resulting in both of them being unsatisfied. The only winner in this situation was Mephisto, who was still goofing off.

"Might I suggest the Simulator instead?" Jekyll asked, finally giving his input. "It is relatively accurate, and far safer. Hyde hasn't been banned from it yet, either, so there shouldn't be any problems using it." Having not been interrupted or argued against instantly, Jekyll quickly added "And he isn't listening right now, so he wouldn't know we're doing this…"

----

"--The hell is this?!" Hyde yelled angrily, "I thought we weren't goin' to London! What the fuck?!"

He was clearly thrown off by the situation he was rudely awoken to, having not at all been prepared to be anywhere outside of the house or even awake at all. For once, he had fully intended to sleep the day away. He was clearly very upset, and very bitter.

"I just got woken up and there ain't even a fight?! It's just shitty ol' London! No one's even heeeeerre! This bitch empttyyyyyyyyy! What the fuck is thiiiiiiiiiiiiis?!"

His continued howls of anger and dismay were not ignored- Minako and her servants were paying Hyde their full attention, hoping he would say something of value. Something. Anything. Anything at all. At some point today.

Hyde, of course, did not say anything even slightly valuable, instead opting to pick up the nearest dumpster and throw it at the "Garbage Clown". This was also not given a single explanation, much to Minako and Andersen's collective annoyances. Of course their foolproof plan had gone awry- It was foolproof, not bastardproof.

"This is going well," Mephisto chimed in, jingling miserably across the floor. For his input, he was given a knife directly into his backside. He hadn't thought he could jingle any more miserably than before, but he was now proven wrong. Another hypothesis down.

----

They lost Hyde within minutes. There wasn't even very far he could go, but they lost him despite everything.

"You would think he'd leave a trail of blood or something!" Mephisto commented, floating on ahead of everyone else. It had been decided that Mephisto would make the best leader, since he'd also make for good bait. Mephisto hadn't been remotely happy about that decision, but he also wanted an excuse to fight Hyde, so it worked out in Minako's favor.

Behind him, Minako was carrying Andersen like a child, much to his complete and utter disdain. He had legs! He could keep up! Sure, he was a bit sore today, but he would manage! He was a grown-ass adult! This definitely also had nothing to do with him accidentally crashing into a streetlight pole while he wasn't paying attention!

They heard Hyde long before they saw him, and Mephisto immediately shot ahead to eavesdrop. Minako and Andersen exchanged tired stares, neither wanting to bother with keeping up. Oh well.

----

"What the hell do you MEAN you don't know?! You're full of shit!"

Hyde was bitching into a rotary phone, Mephisto found while peering into an open window. He took a moment to trace the phone cable, only to stop when he saw the other end of it laying on the floor. It wasn't plugged in? Then what was this about?

"What the fuck do you mean "How the heck am I phoning you"?! Jesus! I'm not phoning you! You're in my head! For a guy with a PHD, you're dumb as hell!!"

Behind Mephisto, Minako and Andersen appeared. Minako was seated on Andersen's tome in midair, and Andersen was irritably sitting on her lap. It wasn't very steady, and Minako was firmly holding onto the sides of the tome. Mephisto wanted to laugh at her, really, but they couldn't chance Hyde noticing them. Hyde briefly had gone quiet, listening to what was apparently Jekyll on the "other end".

"No, I ain't gonna just tell 'em! If he don't know about it, that's a personal problem!"

Mephisto looked at Andersen for his judgment. Andersen silently sighed- He'd observed nothing noteworthy up to that moment. The following moment however, he leaned back into Minako and backed the tome away from the window. Mephisto didn't get to question why Andersen's eyes had gotten as large as saucers before a loveseat crashed through the wall and straight into him, sending both the chair and clown far out of Minako and Andersen's sight.

"That's what you get!!" Hyde jeered, victory toss-slamming the phone reciever into the floor. The reciever did not survive the impact despite the floor being carpeted, not that Hyde cared about that. He cared far more about how he was being eavesdropped on, whipping out a knife upon spotting Minako. Minako threw her hands up- No combat! No intent to fight here!- and Andersen sighed. What a mess.

Well, she could…. No. No, Minako absolutely couldn't handle this. Andersen didn't trust Hyde as far as he could spit, and that wasn't far. He'd have to handle this.

"You sure showed him! He's definitely not going to want to kill you now!" Andersen mock-cheered, glaring at Hyde over his glasses, "Maybe he'll do it the same way he killed the other guy."

Minako raised an eyebrow to Andersen as Hyde sputtered a half-thought out insult. The idea of Mephistopheles killing someone wasn't unusual, but someone Hyde knew? Minako was slightly lost. Andersen kn- Right. Right, he had something written down. Andersen gestured for her to lean down and she did.

"Wild guess," Andersen whispered, smirking, "He's very predictable."

There was clearly more to it, but Andersen didn't elaborate. Minako had already learned that she couldnt always rely on him- There was only a chance for him to come through. All his own whims.

"By the way," Andersen added, "You forgot about something, Hyde."

"Eh?"

Tick-Tock Bomb, 400% Buster damage with bonus Curse.

----

They left the Simulator with Mephisto injured and Hyde (or Jekyll) unconscious, so fifty percent worse than how they'd been on entry. It wasn't a good first experience for any of them, which was repeated by the Chaldean doctor that saw them afterwards. Minako wasn't sure about the white-cloaked man being a doctor of any kind but he sure did heal her Servants, so she didn't ask about that.

"Does Chaldea keep Singularity records?" Andersen piped up rather suddenly, earning the "doctor"'s attention.

"We certainly do!" they cheerfully answered, earning a squint from Andersen. The Caster(s?) maintained eye contact for at least five seconds, making Minako worry that combat might break out. It never did.

"Could you fetch whatever records were related to London? I have things written from then but no memory of such an event."

"Sure thing, Mr. Andersen!"

Minako stared. Why hadn't they just asked for Singularity data? She didn't know that was a thing they could just DO. Then again, it wouldn't have been interesting enough for Mephisto. At least he was taking this well.

She hadn't even seen the doctor leave, but here they were, walking back in with a stack of papers. That quickly? How? Chaldea usually took forever to get one paper printed out. Even suggesting mechanical devices worked in here was a curse in of itself. Even her phone failed in here sometimes, and that was top of the line big money.

"AH-HA!" Andersen announced, startling Minako out of that thoughtline. "I found it!"

He was excited, having found validation for the last few hours of this life. His excitement was contagious, with Mephisto immediately jumping off the desk he'd been sitting on and floating around Andersen's shoulders to also read. Jekyll was less enthused, staring at the ground and wiping off his glasses.

"London Singularity. Mephistopheles killed the Victor Frankenstein of that time period. Dr. Jekyll and Chaldean Servants then defeated Mephistopheles! Due to previously stated rules, anyone killed during a Singularity will die upon time being restored to it's proper state."

"What's odd about this is that I didn't exactly get along with that man," Jekyll uttered as if in response, but added nothing else. Minako looked to Mephisto, but he didn't add anything either. He seemed bothered more than anything.

"But I suppose "I" did," Jekyll added after an extended period of silence. "Hyde says he quite liked the guy."

Mephisto grinned, but Minako watched his tails carefully. He wasn't as happy as he was pretending to be.

"That guy was interesting, but I wouldn't trust him with anything! You shouldn't either!"

[paper-lilypie]

guys hear me out

what if red string of fate au except

✨prehensile trickster red string of fate that loves matchmaking and pairing up the absolute ridiculous pairs just for fun✨

(✨and it always works out✨)

which is how you end up irrevocably tied to a machine after a one-off trip to the mall

and how Sun and Moon end up tied to a random shopper just passing by

shenanigans over invisible barriers and confusion ensue

maybe even a lil lovin along the way who knows

✨matchmaking red string of fate✨

[jeiyuuen]

more doodles I found from the pile, I just love Nika who can go pocket-sized and those bendy limbs. This is an AU of sorts but we don't worry about that for now, this is just Law and his new inhuman roommate

[notonlymice]

rumbelle + alice in wonderland au moodboard

[quietwingsinthesky]

i do love canon amy & rory but god, does some part of me wish they really had gone with the idea of the doctor picking up a child as a companion (and then later, that child’s best friend with a huge crush on her.) with the rest of the season really not changing at all, except now it’s amelia pond with an angel in her head killing her and lost alone in the woods. it’s little rory who dies and is forgotten and becomes a toy soldier. if this is going to be a fairy tale, then let it be one. children have never been safe in fairy tales.

[fortune-maiden]

Random TGCF AU of the day:

Space-time shenanigans result in main canon He Xuan wandering into an AU where the fate swap didn’t happen.

He ascends as a civil god, and is doing quite well for himself, only his presence has unexpected ramifications for a few people

SWD can no longer save his brother via fate swap. He is not giving up obviously and will find another way no matter who he has to screw over (though HX would really really like it if he didn’t screw someone else over thank you very much), but in the meantime he is very much devoted to keeping his little brother safe and under control.

A necessity probably given that this little brother is an anxious mess afraid of his own shadow, with only shades of the bright determined Shi Qingxuan of the main timeline. He’s got all the comfort and wealth he could ever need and zero sense of confidence or independence.

Also different is the new civil god Ling Wen. She’s closed off and unpopular and may or may not be responsible for some sabotage He Xuan keeps encountering. Oh well it’s nothing to worry about. With dwindling followers she’s well on her way out anyway…

[krikeymate]

Just wrote the line "Sam thinks of her baby sister left home alone with the door not even shut." and now all I can think about is an AU where Billy escaped, alive but wanted. He changes his name to Samuel Carpenter - Sam was his favourite grandfather's name, Carpenter after the woman who was infatuated with him.

Sam comes home from school one day to find a stranger on the couch, holding her baby sister. He tells Sam that he's her father, and asks her what her darling little sister's called. Her mom comes in behind her and looks like she's seen a ghost.

[acaciapines]

Please tell us abt the parallels :o

YEAH OKAY SO!!!!

in this au (and as i write ralsei in my canon always lol) the biggest thing that puts pressure on ralsei's life is the prophecy--it says a human, a monster, and a prince from the dark, and because it is a prophecy, and it is fate, is HAS to be true, and ralsei, as a darkner, a group of people who literally exist below the lightners, is charged with bringing this prophecy into fruition. she has spent her entire life ALONE, with nothing but this prophecy for comfort, saying that one day, ONE DAY, she'll get through this and she'll have friends. but yknow, that weighs on a person! its heavy and terrible and she has contorted herself to fit what fate tells her she must be.

and then for noelle, the big thing putting pressure on her? her dead siblings (dess and kris. kris isnt technically her sibling but yknow for ease of language thats what i use. also we know they arent dead but noelle and the rest dont). with their deaths means noelle is now the baby of the family, a family that is shaped by this great gaping grief noelle cannot comprehend, because when dess and kris died she was young enough she barely remembers them beyond like, maybe half-formed memories but she isnt sure if those are real or just what people have told her. shes expected to be grieving her dead siblings but really she just sort of. hates them a little bit. for going off and dying and now her mom and toriel are super overprotective of her, and she knows its her fault asriel never left to go to college and hasnt even left hometown, and its just. its rough.

so both noelle and ralsei have these Huge things that have defined their lives that neither of them want, but. too bad! WHICH LEADS TO EVEN MORE PARALLELS. slash foils lol.

because when it comes to the prophecy? noelle isnt supposed to be in it!!! while this au is sort of a roleswap in that noelle takes kris's place its not a roleswap in Any Other Way, which means, yeah, the prophecy is still supposed to be a human. and noelle, uh, isnt that! but she goes around and helps close dark worlds and is part of the delta warriors anyways, which is, for ralsei, this like, really scary point.

cause ralsei? adores noelle!! thats her best friend!!! ralsei doesnt know if she has a crush on noelle or wants to be noelle! noelle just does what she WANTS. she bucks against the pressures her family puts on her. she dives into the dark despite the fact that this world was never made for her. shes TRANS. shes a GIRL, and she can just DO THAT, and ralsei looks at her, and just. wants. in every sense of the word.

because noelle has all these things put on her like ralsei does--but noelle gets to slip out of them. noelle gets to be a person.

and ralsei, non-person, darkner: she doesnt.

she never will.

[kiwikipedia]

The funniest part about li shuwen being summoned by Kirei in my mind is the constant wrench thrown into Tokiomi’s plans because not only does this motherfucker refuse to follow orders but he keeps trying to fight Gilgamesh for fun, but only on his own action so he won’t even fake his death for the sake of deceit at the start of the war. And he doesn’t listen to Tokiomi and if Kirei asks him on behalf he also doesn’t listen because he thinks that’s stupid as hell.

[becauseplot]

The Oldest Story

woe, ordem paranormal au enigma twins angst be upon ye. this is a drabble that came to me as i was falling asleep last night and i've cleaned it up. might still make edits to this throughout the day but who knows. spoilers for my fic Relative, and tw for angst and character death.

qsmp x ordem au created by me and @factorialsotherfandoms. yknow. just for the funnies.

Bagi was born just three minutes before Cellbit. There were three minutes in her life where she existed without him in the world. Even when their parents died and they were separated, she held onto the notion that he was still out there, living, like a good luck charm tucked in her pocket. As she got older and her life smoothed out, she… No, never started to believe him dead, but in the few efforts she made to reach out, to track him down, the paper trails always ran cold. She had waited too long. She had lost her chance. She was forced to accept the fact that she would live the rest of her life with nothing of her twin brother but that good luck charm tucked in her pocket and that quiet sense of reaching in her chest. Besides—she learned that there were plenty of other horrible things in this world that were worth her worry.

The fact that they did find their way back to each other probably should have meant something. She at first thought it cruel (she had already dedicated her life to the Order at this point, she didn’t expect to reach the age of thirty, and now she finds him?) but also kind, in a way: they could try to make something, with the time she had left. 

In the end, though, it was just cruel. He got dragged into this deadly game despite her best efforts. (It was going to happen either way, she knew, but God. God.) They weren’t perfect, and she abandoned him and he abandoned her when they most need each other but they always found their way back, no matter the rift. They always fell back into each other’s orbit, stretching themselves across the caverns, reaching, reaching, fingertips brushing, I’m here, I’m here, twin star, twin stem, twin blood, my twin, I’m here.

…The creature, though killed, has left them both a bloody mess on the floor. Ten feet between them. They crawl. Red trails behind them, sand slipping through the hourglass. Cellbit’s body gives out when he’s just inches from her but Bagi manages to close the distance anyway, grabbing his outstretched arm (reaching... reaching…) and dragging the two of them together. She pulls him into her bloody arms, matching death-rattles in their lungs, and cradles his face. He looks especially thin with how pale he is. He hasn’t been eating enough. Neither of them have. She holds him and looks into his eyes until they’re nothing but balls of glass sitting in his head. His chest has fallen still.

Six minutes. There is a total of six terrible minutes in Bagi’s life where she is without her twin brother. The only mercy granted her is that it is six minutes and not a second more. 

~*~

“Someone has to leave first. This is a very old story. There is no other version of this story.”

– Richard Siken, War of the Foxes

[art-blogge]

Kay’s very-definitely not-fun time-loop hell-zone

It was a normal morning. Sir Kay had finally come downstairs to join his Master and fellow Servant- His adopted kid and his boyfriend.

"You're alive," Griflet plainly stated upon seeing Kay, to which Kay nodded and put his eyepatch on.

"Yeah. Sorry I didn't cook this morning, I stayed up late doing some tax forms."

Kay looked sheepish, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. He was still a bit drowsy, so he missed whatever Master Kidd said, but perked back up when his own name was uttered.

"--Kay, could you make sure Griflet doesn't wander off? It's his turn to take the trash out!"

Kay nodded and watched as Grif walked out the front door, trash bags over his shoulders. Kay heard the sound of the cans hitting the ground, and sighed before raising his voice.

"Stop THROWING it, Grif! Just put it in the cans!"

No response. Kay was about to walk away when Griflet very suddenly shrieked. Kay immediately rushed to the door and threw it open with enough force to dent the wall it slammed into.

Griflet was dying, Kay realized with horror. Griflet had JUST stepped outside, and less than a minute later he was dying on the pavement, the tell-tale golden glitter sparkling off of him in contrast to the fresh blood along the driveway. There was no sign of a struggle, no sign of anyone or anything else being there.

No. Nonononono. Nononononononononononono. Kay tried to rush to Griflet's side, but he didn't make it- Instead collapsing a couple of feet away from a fit of dizziness. No, no, he could process the blood later, Griflet was--! -- Kay woke with a gasp, still in his own bed. Oh. OH. It'd just been a nightmare. Kay held his hand over his heart, trying to will it into slowing down. There was nothing to be worried about! There shouldn't be. Just to be sure, Kay got up and looked outside the window. Nothing. The driveway was clean, and the trash wasn't out. There wasn't anything to be w-- What was that?

Kay rubbed his eyes and looked again. No, he'd definitely seen SOMETHING just behind the cans. That was no wild animal. Furrowing his brow, Kay went downstairs after putting his eyepatch on.

"You're alive," Griflet plainly stated upon seeing Kay, to which Kay nodded.

"Yeah. Sorry I didn't cook this morning, I stayed up late doing some tax forr..." Kay trailed off, recognizing that he'd just said this. Hadn't he?

He completely missed what Kidd had said, only tuning in when his name was said.

"--Kay, could you make sure Griflet doesn't wander off? It's his turn to take the trash out!"

Kay nodded and then paused.

"Wait. Grif, can you hold on a second?"

Griflet stopped in the doorway, looking back at Kay. This was his chance.

"I think you're going to die. Don't ask why, but I don't think this is ending well. I saw something weird outside the window and it's worrying me."

Griflet blinked. He didn't seem fazed by this at all.

"Nothing can kill me. I'll rip it to shr-"

He didn't get to finish his sentence due to the inky-black tentacle... thing, that was now through his chest and backside. Griflet yelped in pain, dropping the trash bags and clawing at the tentacle that had pierced him, to no effect. Kay immediately withdrew his sword and tried to cut through it, also to no avail. Griflet sunk to his knees as the tentacle withdrew and vanished around the doorframe, the death sparkles beginning to shine.

"I fuckin' told you!" Kay snapped, dropping to his own knees next to Griflet, "Stay alive this time, will you?!"

Griflet didn't say anything in response. He just kind of looked at Kay with a real guilty expression, and-- --- Kay fell out of bed in a panic. Okay, there was. There was no way that was a dream that time! He jumped up from the floor and peered out the window again. Yep! There that thing was again, lurking behind the trash cans!

Without a second thought, Kay sped downstairs, not even bothering with his eyepatch.

"You're ali-" Griflet started to say, but Kay interrupted.

"I'm alive, yes, but you won't be if you go outside! I've seen you die twice today, we're not doing it a third time!"

Both Kidd and Griflet stopped and stared at him. With their attention, Kay continued speaking.

"The first time I thought it was a bad dream, fine, okay! But twice? No, Kiddo, Grif's not taking the trash out and I'm not watching him do it!"

Wisely, Kidd decided to stay out of this situation and shuffled into a different room. Griflet did not, tilting his head slightly and continuing to stare at Kay.

"You can't rip it to shreds, Grif. You said that and then got shanked."

"Hm," was Griflet's entire, extended response to that statement.

They stood there for a couple of minutes. Nothing happened. After a few more moments of nothing, Kay looked towards the window. He didn't see anything this time. Phew.

"Okay, I think it's gone now, but I still don't think we should go out there. I don't like the chances and I really don't wanna watch you die a third tim--"

Something crashed through the window, directly into Griflet. This time around, Kay was the one who screamed. Kay didn't even get a good look at what the hell THAT was, because-- ---- "You've gotta be fucking kidding me."

Bed. Again. Kay put his hands on his face and groaned as loudly as he could manage. Okay, there. Now it was out of his system. Let's try this again, faster this time.

"You're ali-"

"Shut up, I'm alive and you won't be," Kay stated with a startling amount of very serious confidence, "You've died three times in front of me today. Kidd, back room. Grif, I'm locking you in the fucking bathroom. Block the window while you're in there."

Griflet responded, but Kay ignored it, grabbing Griflet by the arm and forcefully dragging him to the bathroom. Griflet looked confused, but went with it- With all the weird things he'd dragged Kay through, it was only fair he believe what Kay was telling him.

After making sure Griflet had blocked the window somehow (Griflet did not specify with what he'd blocked it with, which was concerning), Kay sat down next to the window. He could see the shape wriggling behind the trash cans still, and it started to peer around before seemingly spotting him. Kay stared at it, and he assumed it was staring at him, too. Kay flipped it off.

Something crashed in the bathroom, LOUDLY, followed by Griflet yelling "I'LL KILL YOU!". Kay winced, and after a moment of deliberation, left the Thing by the cans alone to check on Griflet.

When Kay got to the bathroom door, there was no sound at all. Oh no. Oh, no.

"You've gotta be shitting me," Kay murmured, definitely smelling blood from the other side of the door.

"Don't worry about it, I'll clean it up," Griflet croaked from the other side of the door. Oh. Maybe he was okay, then? Kay opened the door and Immediately Regretted That Decision. At no point of his life had he ever had a desire to see what Griflet looked like when cut in twain. And despite this! Despite clearly dying on the spot, glittering away! Griflet was still trying to use a towel to contain all of the blood.

Needless to say, Kay shut down on the spot. ----- Kay didn't move. The complete shut-down of all higher processes persisted over the day resetting, and he just... Laid there, unable to process anything more than the previous image. It was stuck at the forefront of his brain, and nothing was removing it any time soon. He didn't even register the crashing, or Griflet shrieking. ------ On reset, Kay immediately woke up, but he felt violently ill. Okay, he'd better skip this one. He wouldn't be able to function like this. He hated how quickly he'd gotten used to this, too- He wasn't built for this sort of thing, was he? ... No, of course not, that would be absurd. He wasn't Griflet, he wasn't designed in Ye Olde Alien Sims... And there was Griflet screaming. Kay sighed, closed his eyes, and waited. ------- He still felt sick on reset, but he had to move. He HAD to do something. Griflet had died six times already!

"Kay? Are you okay?"

Kidd leaned into the room, looking concerned. Well, that was different.

"No. I watched Grif die again, Kiddo. Time loop. You didn't come up here before, what's up?"

Kidd blinked and almost forgot to say why he came upstairs.

"Grif's dad said you were feeling bad. You're not sick, are you?"

"No, of course not," Kay quickly reassured him, waving his hands, "If I was sick, I would've locked the door so you can't get in."

Griflet's dad, huh....... Kay had a plan for the next loop. Just wait for the inevitable scream.. -------- Kay skipped all of the previous steps he'd gone through on previous loops. Completely ignoring Griflet's greeting, he immediately asked to speak with Griflet's dad. He had Questions and it was Urgent.

Upon being passed Paimon (the orb), Kay knocked on it.

"Hey! Yog! What the fuck is going on?!"

Paimon lit up, and after a moment of static (from plugging in headphones), Griflet's dad answered.

"A lot, but I cannot interfere directly," Yog admitted, but his voice did not betray his emotions on the matter. "If I left Griflet to his own devices, he would most certainly attempt the exact same method of escape every single time." A brief pause, and then he added "Griflet, there is a threat outside, behind the garbage cans. It can kill you in one hit. Be careful."

Griflet nodded and headed outside, leaving the trash bags behind. Once he was definitely out of earshot, Yog continued speaking.

"I am sorry to force you into this position, Sir Kay. No one else can. I am unsure why Griflet is not retaining his memory, it may be related to his deaths. I'll work on it in the background. Death in twenty."

Kay sighed, hard. So that's how it was. Seeing the Thing coming out from behind the trash cans, Kay shielded his eyes with one hand and waited for the inevitable. It was over in seconds. --------- "Grif, I gotta talk to you!" was how Kay started the next loop. Best to start immediately. Griflet was there in seconds, patiently waiting for whatever Kay had to say. Kay had a lot to say, and patiently explained exactly what was going on. He also made sure to write it all down in a pocket notebook, which he jammed into his, well, pocket.

"In the end, listen, Moron. If you die, we have to start this entire loop over," Kay finished, crossing his arms. Griflet thought about this for a couple of moments.

"I see. So we can spend more time together if I die lots and lots."

"NO!"

Kay threw a pillow at Griflet, and Griflet let it connect. -3 hp.

"You die too fast for that to mean shit," Kay finally replied, shaking off the shock of Griflet having said that to begin with. "I don't want to watch you die more. I want this over with. I'm going with you this time."

Griflet wanted to object, but Kay didn't let him. None of that "But then how do I protect you?" shit. It was Kay's turn to try.

...

Well, he definitely tried, but he got instantly downed as soon as he attempted to stand in front of Griflet. He didn't even need to roll over to know Griflet also got one-shot, and he just sighed. Okay. Let's try this again. ---------- Kay called Griflet upstairs again, and explained the situation a second time. He slightly abridged it this time- For time reasons- and didn't let Griflet make the stupid comment. Kay was also pleasantly surprised to learn that everything he'd written down in the pocket notebook had remained, so he quickly added to it.

"Grif, this is the tenth, FUCKING, loop. If this one goes badly, I'm letting myself die next loop."

Kay was bluffing... Mostly. He hated every part of this. He didn't sign up for this! If they failed this loop (and they most certainly were going to), Kay had every intent to try and fight this Thing by himself. ----------- Kay went out to fight the Thing by himself. He didn't say a single word, just went outside and flipped off the wriggling Thing. Nothing happened. Kay blinked. Was... Was Griflet specifically the target here?

It turned out, yes. As soon as Griflet stepped outside, the Thing started priming to launch a tentacle. Kay put an arm out in front of Griflet, and shook his head.

"Get back inside. This is mine."

To Kay's shock, Griflet listened. It didn't help. ------------ For the third time in the row, Kay explained everything to Griflet in his own room. He took extra time on this one, explaining what had happened to Griflet every single time. As Griflet processed this information, Kay scribbled down the contents of the last loop.

"Wow... Ten deaths in one day. That's a world record. Amazing"

Well, at least one of them was amused by this.

"Eleven," Kay corrected, before sighing. "I don't know what to do, Grif. And don't say "I'll tear it to shreds", please, I'm goddamn serious."

They thought about it for a while, and occasionally one of them would voice a particularly stupid idea. Kay would immediately shoot down Griflet's dumb ideas, and then shoot down his own when Griflet attempted to agree with them. They got absolutely nowhere.

Then Kay noticed. Griflet was still alive. His surprise must have been very clear, because Griflet looked at him oddly.

"I think this is the longest we've lasted," Kay explained, looking towards the window, "I didn't want to say it because I know it'll get ruined."

Griflet didn't respond to this. Instead, he asked his own questions.

"The first step to time looping is recognizing you are in a time loop. The second thing is to recognize the conditions that trigger the time loop. Is it the same thing killing me every time?"

"Yeah, it is. Your dad is resetting every time you die, I think. He wasn't specific."

Griflet nodded, and then pulled out Paimon. Unlike Kay, he didn't knock on it or anything- He simply addressed it.

"Dad, are you resetting this time loop?"

Yog answered affirmatively, then added that this loop was about to reset before hanging up on them. They didn't have time to process this before Griflet was impaled through Kay's window.

"That's a big "oof" from me," Griflet muttered, and then died. ------------- Kay used the following loop to collect his own thoughts. There had to be a way to avoid this, right? What could they do as hum--- Well, that was the first problem. They were Servants. There was probably PLENTY they could do to avoid this. Kay smacked his own forehead in embarrassment, opting to not share that detail with Griflet later.

"Did you think of something?" Griflet asked, not bothering to knock.

"Yeah, about how stupid I am-- Why are you up here? I didn't call you up here."

He hadn't. Kay hadn't called for Griflet at all this loop. Griflet narrowed his eyes, thinking.

"I got used to it," he said, explaining nothing at all to Kay. He proceeded to explain that he didn't remember anything else, just coming upstairs and then being miserable. He was starting to remember.

"That's useful!" Kay exclaimed, jumping up, "If you're able to remember, it'll make this so much easier!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Griflet admitted, before being called downstairs by Kidd. Kay went with him, just to see how Griflet would die this time.

It proceeded to be the same way as usual- Getting stabbed straught through the torso.

"I'll remember this," Griflet threatened, clawing at the tentacle, "I'm gonna tear you to shreds!"

Griflet then expired. -------------- Griflet barged into Kay's room before Kay even had a chance to open his eyes. This startled Kay enough that his hand leapt to his sword, only relaxing when he saw Griflet.

"Kay, I died again!"

"Yeah you fucking did. Did you remember this time?"

Griflet thought about it, drumming some of his gauntlet claws against his armor.

"I got stabbed. Kidd wasn't there."

Huh. That was... Kidd had barely been involved in any of this, thankfully. Kay had no intention of getting their young Master involved, though, so he didn't do anything with this information.

"Have you figured out what entity is killing me so we can figure out it's weakness?"

Kay shot Griflet a flat look for the question.

"If I goddamn knew entities, I'd tell you. It's behind the trash cans. Look yourself, Beastmaster Griffy."

Kay pointed out the window, and Griflet looked outside. He pulled up his menu and started scrolling through his Bestiary, comparing the Thing with what he already had recorded. Amorphous... Non-earthly.... Size unknown....

"The Wailing Writher," Griflet finally said, pulling up an entry. Kay couldn't read a single thing (it not being in English), but there was a picture to use. A horrid thing, with a base of tentacles, and tens of facial features- Mostly mouths.

"It's Uncle," Griflet added, noting Kay's clear confusion. Oh. Oh. That explained a lot, actually, and Kay let that be known.

"It's that piece of shit?! Again?! That explains so goddamn much!!" A pause. "But wait, I thought he liked you. Why would he kill you?"

"Ah. That's simple. That's how we bond as a family, I think-" Griflet wasn't given a chance to finish that sentence, because Kay threw a pillow at him. -3 hp. Griflet ignored it and kept going.

"-Except Dad. Dad doesn't try to kill me."

"That would be the opposite of my job," Yog piped up from Griflet's menu.

"Anyway, this isn't within the first fifteen times he's tried to kill me," Griflet casually said, like it would make things any better. Ignoring Kay's outburst of "Permanently?!", Griflet suggested they figure out a way to stop him. Kay stared at him like he was raving mad.

They didn't get to finish planning, because Griflet's uncle charged through the window and impaled Griflet. Again. --------------- They hadn't finished the plan, but they didn't have anything to lose. If they lost, the loop would reset. They were going to use this to their advantage.

Kay walked outside, having donned his Ascension 1 armor. Griflet was presumably behind him, in Spirit Form. Kay hoped that Griflet wouldn't wander off like he usually did- That'd ruin everything.

The Thing saw Kay, but ignored him. Perfect. Sure that it was looking at him, Kay fingergunned, and Griflet appeared behind the Thing with an LED flashlight pointed straight at it.

"Eat this, Nyarlathotep!"

Nyarlathotep proceeded to shank Griflet immediately. Okay, this plan needed work.

"Surprise," hissed Nyarla, all of his mouths grinning.

Griflet groaned, and then started mumbling incoherently. When asked to repeat it, Griflet mumbled "This is just like that one scene from Blue's Clues."

Both Nyarla and Kay stared at Griflet, squinting and having no idea what the hell he was talking about. In hindsight, Kay should have gone after Nyarla now, but he also wanted to know what the fuck Griflet was talking about.

"You know..... When the mail arrives?"

"Excuse me, what?"

That was it for that loop. Mission failed miserably. ---------------- While Griflet was waiting to strike, Kay sat down on the driveway and started writing down what had happened in the last few loops. He saw Nyarla getting close and inched away, frowning.

"Stop trying to kill my boyfriend. I like him alive."

"Okay," said Nyarla, directly before impaling Kay. Ah. So that's how it felt. ----------------- Kay sat a little further away this time. He didn't get involved in Griflet's sneak attack, and just watched Griflet get demolished. By this point, it wasn't even bloodshed- It was just Griflet dying again. Kay worried about actually getting used to this. Pros: He wouldn't be so afraid of bloodshed. Cons: He'd be used to Griflet dying violently.

"You know, I could adapt to this if I wanted to," Nyarla casually mentioned, throwing Griflet's body to the side like a trash bag. Then he impaled Kay again. Oh. Okay. ------------------ They tried a different approach this time. Griflet went outside, dual-wielding flashlights, while Kay followed him in Spirit Form. Kay was also equipped with two flashlights, and he was also ready to unleash flames if the situation called for it.

Descending upon Nyarla at the same time, they unleashed several light sources directly into Nyarla's eyes, stunning and hurting him. Seeing this working, Kay took a deep breath, held it for a couple of moments, put one finger in front of his mouth, and blew, releasing a stream of fire along the path of the flashlight's beam. It was working! It was working! It was--

Griflet got slammed aside by a single tentacle, sending him flying. Both of his flashlights fell to the ground, and Kay immediately sprinted to grab them, all while keeping his own high-beams on Nyarla. As a tentacle reared back, Kay pointed one of the flashlights at it, forcing it to recoil back. Kay kept all of his attention on his enemy, fierce determination snarling across his face. He wasn't doing this again! He refused! He adamantly, genuinely, absolutely refused to go through this again!

Something touched his arm, but Kay only spared a quick glance to his side. It was Griflet! He was still alive!

Grunting in pain, Griflet grabbed onto Kay's hands to also hold the flashlights. Kay felt his own hands getting warm, and he was sure Griflet felt it too. Not important right now, though! After jamming the flashlights into Griflet's hands, Kay withdrew his sword from its sheathe.

"Kay? What are you doing?" Griflet asked, squinting. Kay glanced back at him and smirked, giving a single nod. Griflet knew exactly what was about to happen just from, and promptly shut up.

"Master! Permission to launch a Noble Phantasm?!" Kay shouted, charging up. He didn't actually care what Kidd's answer was- He was going to no matter what. He wanted this OVER.

Without a hint of hesitation, Kay approached the cowering Thing, chanting under his breath. His sword started to cover itself in thorny scales, and a multi-colored flame erupting from the hilt coated even that.

"Hope you're ready for what you deserve! Here's Chapalu's Scale Sword!"

Nine blazingly strong slashes, and the battle was over. What was once Griflet's uncle (or an avatar of his) was now a pile of steaming, neatly cut and cauterized alien flesh. It was over.

"Kay!"

Griflet nearly bowled him over, barely stopping before he could topple them both over. No response.

"Kay?"

Kay barely registered Griflet speaking, much less him being there. He felt... Exhausted, oddly so. Why? He'd only used a single Noble Phantasm... Ah. His brain had decided that now, in his moment of weakness, it was the perfect time to start jamming images of Griflet's previous deaths to the forefront. Everything he'd put off thinking about was returning with a vengeance. Fucking stellar.

Griflet had grabbed onto Kay as soon as he'd realized that Kay had gone unresponsive, and tightened his hold when Kay started to sag in his arms. Ah. This again. He must be exhausted, Griflet figured. Kay had been killed several times over the time loops, and he wasn't designed for easy revivals. All the damage must have caught up with him. That, or the other thing. It didn't matter. What mattered was getting Kay inside, and maybe finally taking that trash out. - - It took him a few moments to find his bearings and shake off his exhaustion. As soon as he did, though, Kay's heart leapt into his throat. He was waking up inside? Had they failed anyway?! He very abruptly sat up, and immediately regret doing that, as it made him nauseous.

The feeling cleared after a few moments, and he blinked as the last brain-fog lifted. Wait. This wasn't his room. There was confetti on the floor. He knew as well as Griflet what that meant--

"Mission completed!" chimed Yog from a nearby chair, Paimon resting on the cushion. Sitting on the floor next to this was Griflet, who had been doing who-knows-what with his menu until he saw that Kay was awake.

"Mission completed, Kay," Griflet repeated, in case Kay hadn't registered it, "You did it. You beat my uncle."

Not even a moment later, Griflet changed the subject.

"I took out the trash, and I took out the giant Crab Assassin that was lurking inside of our bathroom while you were sleeping off the revive sickness. That killed me earlier today, Dad said."

Kay blinked. Absolutely none of those words got through Kay Processing, especially not in that order.

"The fucking what?"

"The giant Crab Assassin," Griflet repeated, making a "Stop-Making-Me-Have-Extended-Dialogue" expression.

Kay decided he wasn't going to ask, actually. A few beats of complete silence passed, and then Paimon shifted slightly, as if turning to look at Griflet. Griflet noticed, did nothing.... And then covered his face with his hands.

"Kay," Griflet muttered, not uncovering his face, "Uh. Um..... Thanks. Without you, I would not have gotten through this without you. Certainly, I would have ended up trapped for all eternity."

Kay stared. That was a fucking first. Griflet never thanked anybody unless it was absolutely necessary.

"Don't forget the pre-marital hand-holding," Nyarla added from the windowsill.

"Pre-marital hand-holding...!" Griflet echoed, clearly beyond flustered, "I have committed a grievous sin...!"

"You Moron! We've been dating for months!!! That's not new!!"

Kay huffed, frustrated. And then he paused. He thought about everything that had just been said. And he slowly turned to stare at Nyarla, who was still there like this was a normal thing to be doing.

"Hey, wait! Get the fuck out of my house, you fuckin' inky bitch!"

Chapalu's Scale Sword- Searing Cat O'Nine Blows [B+], NP1, 200%. Good-bye, Nyarla. No afterlife would possibly want you.

[ocymoron]

And there he stands, Dabi—his big brother— wreathed in flames every shade of blue with this strange look on his face.

His lips downturned and pressed together tightly, trembling. His furrowed brows and scrunched nose. It’s an unfamiliar face, one that he only remembers through cracked doors. No tears fall— they don’t even form, they can’t— but his older brother still looks like he’s holding them back.

“I’m proud of you.”

The air is heavy between them. It feels weighed down by emotions too complicated to name— grief, it’s grief— and he doesn’t know how to respond so he doesn’t.

But it’s fine because his older brother— Touya-nii— keeps talking, voice choked.

“I wish I could’ve known you.”

[rosehippiefield]

Sometimes I imagine yttd winx AU because each time someone is sacrificing themselves they don't die. They get enchantix and beat their enemies up.

Oh, Miley, you wanted to twist the knife when Sara grieves? Well, Joe is not dead for long. He's getting reincarnated, his spilled blood is now fairy dust that will dispell your strongest magic

Oh, Gashu, you wanted to kill Nao so badly? Did you really think metal press would do her in? It's her beautiful corset now and she's going straight for you

Oh, Midori, you think Sara's incapable of sacrifice, so she's never getting enchantix aka Bloom? Guess again, she saved Gin/Keiji/Joe/whoever she likes. With that power you're going down

And like this everyone obtains enchantix. And defeats Asunaro. Happy end

[chenziee]

Until we drown | Obstacles | Chains of Fate | Ashes of Life

Also if anyone wanna pay me for any of these (or anything else), hit me up! :)

[forgottenamira]

Amira, Witch-Queen of Kolchis

headcanon time!! ok so this has the chance to get loooong so imma spare us aLL and bulletpoint this one, but everyone and esp @forgottenedmund as both admin and the other person currently playing a calainon, lmk what you think bc this might just be ~too insane and idk what you have planned etc alskdjflkjsdfjkdf

KOLCHIS & INTRO

house calainon does not exist or, it perhaps once did, but if it ever truly did, the ages have turned its true history to legend and myth

nonetheless, amira and her brothers make claim to that descent through one tenuous proof: witchcraft

while, given her husband's acute hatred of all seers, this might seem a great shock, this is also the truth, and it is (part of) why amira so tenaciously clings to the memory of her grandmother's gift

so real talk, im using kolchis as the place-holder name for the place amira's from (yes i ~did lift that from greek myth and just partially changed the spelling and no i will ~not apologize ;D), but im picturing an ancient athens meets mythological colchis meets constantinople/the byzantine empire w/ just a dash of ptolemaic alexandria sdlkafjskljdfjkdsf gotta grab all my greek-rooted mega cultures ig laksdjfkjlsdf (and yeah im sure the soldiers there def dip into sparta shhhh) so yeahhhh when you picture amira growing up, its that

CALAINON

in ages past, it is written, there once lived a young and ambitious warlord, called calainon, who is said to have conquered the known world (think alexander the great meets achilles meets hercules meets oedipus meets pelops meets atreus etc etc)

many legends speak of this ambitious fellow, holding often that he was the son of a god and a mortal woman, that he was possessed of superhuman strength and skill and daring, and that no mere mortal could stand before him

while there is no certainty, in truth, that this person ever did exist, it is said that he was the founder of the great city of kolchis, which he made the center of his great empire and that he built the still unfinished, storm-struck tower which was, for many eons, the highest building in all the world and called the stair of calainon (as according to legend he had built it as an attempt to reach the heavens and tear the gods from their holy temples in the skies)

there are two versions of the tales of calainon -- one in which he is cast as a tragic hero, and another in which he apears as a twisted villain

known to history both as calainon the deathless (for it is said that he groans still, buried deep in the bowels of the earth, half unable to die as his father was a god and half unable to live as his mother was a mortal) or, more popularly, cursed calainon the balsphemer

it will probs not surprise you to learn that calainon has always been a great hero of roderick's and thus that, tying his own burgeoning legend to the great calainon's, was a very appealing prospect to roderick

many hero-kings, horrific monsters, celebrated seers, cruel despots, and tragic martyrs of myth and legend are said to have descended from the house of calainon, and it is said that the line of calainon will endure until the end of all time for, cursed though they may be, half-gods they once were also

yet, if any of them ever did exist, it is ages past since any of them were known, save one source: local legend of kolchis speaks of the high priestesses of kolchis...

CALAINON THE VILLAIN

often held up as an example of hubris, calainon dared so much that the gods, themselves, stepped in

a great war took place and, it is oft said in kolchis that calainon committed the heresy of not merely daring to lock away the gods -- a heroic act -- but of attempting to steal their power

all of this he attempted w the erstwhile help of the guardian of kolchis known as the kolchian dragon

some myths hold that the great poisonous drake aided him only in sealing away the gods, and he forced the guardian's hand in attempting to steal the power of the gods

but others hold the guardian wished to aid him in both quests

tales disagree as well on how much calainon achieved: did he manage to seize for himself the power of the gods, or did he fail?

all sources agree on one thing however: there was a titanic battle fought amongst the clouds. the earth shook, lightning broke the fortress below, tidal waves sweeping the broken battlements away, and whole islands were drowned in the uproarious fury of the gods

but ultimately, though sealed away, the gods prevailed and cast down the heretic calainon in his hubris, imprisoning him forever beneath the earth

in his defeat, they cursed him, blinded him, and buried him alive, hurled from the heavens into the abyss of the earth (think: fall of lucifer sort of imagery)

in some variants, the gods also cursed his bloodline forever after, but this is another point upon which there are several variants

CALAINON THE HERO & THE HIGH PRIESTESS OF KOLCHIS

one of the many myths of calainon relates to an unending fire and a dragon, and it is in this version of the story (which happens to be roderick's favorite), that calainon appears not as a villain, but as a hero

in this legend, calainon's war with the gods is a fight for freedom, suppressing the deities with the help of kolchis' legendary guardian, known most often as the kolchian dragon

in the tragedy of the great calainon, he fights the gods only to be cast down in their vengeance, but not before sealing them away forever

in this version it is said that his warrior's spirit shall someday be reborn in a new form to lead the world once again (i invite you to guess how roderick might think he could potentially tie into this myth ;DDD)

according to a local legend in the great city of kolchis, before launching his campaign against the gods, calainon as god-king of kolchis appointed his eldest daughter, arsinoe, as high-priestess

she was a great seeress, famed for her wisdom and power, whose responsibility it was to tend the sacred eternal flame at the shrine of the kolchian dragon

hers was a fiery offering to keep the dragon-guardian strong against the fearsome gods, where her female descendants (for in kolchis it is held that a true seer must be a woman) shall forever after continue her great work, tending the eternal flame to assure that it may never go out or the kolchian dragon, the great guardian, will fade to nothing and die and, it is said, upon that day the gods will be unleashed and bring apocalypse upon the mortals who dared give them chains

this flame was a great bonfire at the center of the shrine, so vast that in ancient days, it was said that it could be seen in every part of the old city, a beacon that never went out

according to this legend, it is the divine blood of calainon which gives a seer her powers and, thus, it is believed -- according to this obscure kolchian legend -- that every single kolchian witch may trace her descent back to mighty calainon

A THOUSAND THOUSAND YEARS PASS...

in roderick's day, the most recent high priestess (sometimes called the 'fire-keeper' or 'witch-queen' of kolchis) was none other than the seeress who was amira's grandmother, with amira seemingly destined to be the next high priestess after her

while once the high priestesses of kolchis were revered, regarded almost like oracle of delphi meets melisandre of asshai-type figures, and each was regarded as the chief and best mystical advisor to the so-called god-kings of kolchis (so called bc it was calainon half-god who had established kingship in kolchis)

these priestesses were known as a powerhouses in their own right, the last known vestiages of calainon himself, ruling the hearts of the people of kolchis, and running a powerful temple overflowing with priestesses and acolytes, almost a small religious city within the greater city, itself, leading to them being known to outsiders as the 'witch-queen of kolchis'

yet by the time of amira's birth, the position had centuries since lost any luster, becoming a ruin of its former self

as the old religion faded into only memory anywhere but astaira, the high priestesses came to be despised, an embarrassing reminder of an age of backwater supersticion compared to the cosmopolitan center kolchis had became and wished to be

without the temple economy still running strong, kolchis' stratification intensified, till it was said that in kolchis, the rich fed not on fruits but on the poor

still worse for the temple, itself, nearly a thousand years ago, a war of religion broke out and the temple was sacked, much of it pulled down and the rest -- though marble -- burned (fun fact: marble ~will burn if the fire is hot enough) till all that was left of the erstwhile 'jewel of kolchis' was a crumbling, burned out shell of its former self. still, the high priestesses endured in the slums, and still the eternal flame burned on

the old city, where the ruined temple was located, was now located in the slums and grime of kolchis amongst its most dangerous dark corners

there, only the lost or the most daring would venture: the ruinous temple of the dragon and its keepers were seen as a supersticious and untrustworthy lot who lurked in the shadows, preying upon unsuspecting tourists

pick-pockets, liars, and harlots who played at mysticism and fortune telling to make off with valuables and steal souls, so the supersticion ran, for their dark, twisted magic

THE LIFE & TIMES OF AMIRA CALAINON

it is with this reputation and in this situation that amira and godfrey grew up, doing their utmost to protect little tristan from the sad truth of the world around them

their father had disappeared when tristan was a babe at the breast, likely murdered in the dangerous streets where they lived, while fleeing with what few valuables the family had left

their mother, the high priestess's only child, died of the pox while her children were still quiet small

thus, though blind and decrepit, it fell to their grandmother to raise her grandchildren

not thinking much of men in general, and regarding the sight as the realm of women anyway, as the kolchian culture long had held, the grandmother relied largely upon amira, training her in what arts she could with the expectation that, someday, amira's magic would show itself

a true believer, her grandmother was sure that, as the last female calainon, amira must be a witch or else the line of high priestesses would die with the grandmother, herself, unless amira were to produce a seer for a daughter

not wishing to surrender her only utility to an unborn daughter who may never even arrive, amira did her best to play along as a witch

a thing which exulted her in her grandmother's eyes who, though she loved her grandchildren fiercely, regarded only other seers as her equals

amira learned to read bones and fires and stars for potential futures (or at least to guess at them)

she learned to read people and 'see' in their futures what they wanted

she learned trickery and slight of hand and, perhaps most of all, she learned about poisons

such things were sacred to the kolchian dragon, known for poisonous fangs and breath and fire hot enough to melt the bones even of beings divine and cold as winter

meanwhile, living in extreme poverty, godfrey and amira learned to lie, to steal, to spy, and to cheat simply in order to subsist

RODERICK

by the time roderick invaded, things were desperate indeed

the star of the cosmopolitan center of kolchis, even, was well into its decline

kolchis had become so corrupt and top heavy that the rich knew little at all of what their ppl suffered -- and cared even less -- living in sublime luxury while everything they sat upon rotted beneath them

still, the god-king was eager to keep what little was left of his so-called empire, now reduced only to a single city

it was soon quite clear that kolchis was roderick's target

the god-king sent many troops to die in vain upon the teeth of roderick's armies, but nothing he did would hold the young would-be conqueror back

at last, with roderick upon him, the god-king ordered the impregnable gates of kolchis closed and laid in wait for a siege

the people in the streets began to starve -- and soon enough amira's own grandmother succumbed

but watching their grandmother slowly die, amira and godfrey had already long since sprung into action, lying and deceiving their way into the palace as servants

there they watched and listened and plotted, aligning themselves with a growing restless movement amongst the poor who meant to tear their god-king down w them

so it was that the common ppl stormed the god-king's castle, killing his guards and his ministers and hanging their bodies from the high walls and trees of of kolchis (yes this is a golden fleece reference)

ultimately, guided by amira and godfrey who knew the freedom fighters of kolchis could not possibly overpower roderick, the god-king's head was delivered to roderick as a gift, and the gates opened to him, inviting him inside as their celebrated and longed-for emperor, with amira as the chief intermediary sent to treat with him given her status as high priestess of kolchis

seeing an opportunity, amira immediately set about seducing the emperor, cleopatra and anne boleyn-style

while also taking full advantage of the local legend she'd heard from her grandmother, and introducing herself as amira calainon, supposedly acknowledged descendant of calainon, the first god-king of kolchis

she was willing to bet, afterall, that roderick probably admired and wished to associated with himself. she wasn't wrong.

so she brought him a head and a crown of laurel leaves and slowly made herself a queen

amira crowned roderick king of kolchis (roderick abolishing all use of the term 'god-king'), herself, in her role as high priestess of kolchis, in the sight of all the kolchians, at the ancient temple of the dragon which roderick had had esp restored for the event

before her marriage, she appointed an acting high priestess to keep the eternal flame burning

which roderick permits as a cultural tradition relating to the cultural hero, calainon, his own relative by marriage

a connection sealed with the birth of their son, edmund

VENGEANCE -- OR FEAR

to be clear, amira is not in love with roderick (they have some weird twisted thing that i could write its own novella on probs but that's for another time), he is the means to an end. for one thing, with one move she had gone from desperately clinging to survival in the slums to one of the richest and most powerful women in the known world, but this was not her only goal in wedding roderick.

amira wants money, she wants power, and she wants revenge. she wants vengeance on roderick, as she blames him (as well as the god-king of kolchis, but she's already wreaked her vengeance upon ~him) for the death of her grandmother, the only person besides godfrey who ever really looked out for amira, and certainly the only one who ever saw smth superior to all others in her.

she also wants revenge against all those -- and even the symbols of those -- who held her head underwater so long so that they, themsleves, could breathe

amira enjoys, endorses, and encourages all of roderick's worst traits bc his zest for conquest is a weapon she wields against the rest of the world. now ~she's the the one holding ~their heads underwater. bitch.

but most of all she wants revenge upon the world for allowing any of it to happen

she means to wait a long time to avenge herself on roderick, himself. when she is ready, he will die, as will all of his children save her own, and edmund will reign at last, and they will finally, finally be untouchable.

in the end, however, even amira's quest for vengeance is rooted in the deep horror she cannot face, the fear that she, too, will be conquered, defeated, helpless, and left to starve to death w the only ppl she truly loves in the fetid streets, just like the only woman who ever loved her.

however, she seeks always to project strength (even to herself!), as it is an armor, her last line of defense, to prevent this from happening, so she will stop at nothing, doing literally whatever it takes, to see her goals met bc then and only then will she be truly safe, or at least as safe as anyone in this world can ever be, with edmund as emperor

as a result, she is always quick to remind herself that it is vengeance and not safety she truly seeks -- but is that really true?

[fever-project]

I'm stoked for Uncanon Fates!!!!! Always good to see the noncanon Link's get attention! 🥹 Curious, if you're okay with sharing, which Link's are going to be in this AU?

Thank you so much! I’m okay with sharing most of the Links-and most of the non-Link cast that will show up eventually. I’m just keeping 3 of them a secret for now.

Here are the first batch of Links(8 of them) + two others we’ll meet and some info:

Rinku - mid-20s to early-30s, he lost count while in prison - he/him - First Hero: Basically the main character of this story, but we won’t focus on only his POV, just mainly on him since he’s kinda the reason this whole mess started. He generally doesn’t like people(he’s got some trust issues)but he’s always somewhat polite to new people.

Sir Raven - 26ish - he/thon but they/them is fine - From the OoA manga: That’s right I’m making a Link. Don’t call him that though, he won’t answer. He’s a bit of a goofy and mysterious guy in the manga. I’m making him more mysterious and goofy. He has the magical rings from that game as well, his favorite is the Green Ring. He’s also bad at keeping track of time.

Calli - 18.4 - he/maybe they??/maybe she????(he’s still trying to figure stuff out) - Age of Calamity: He can’t speak and and tries to come off as emotionless, but his personality still shines through his blank exterior. He’s cooked a lot before, but it wasn’t until after the war he’s tried to make it an actual hobby, because he never really had much of those before.

Trill - never ask a fairy her age - she/her - Cadence of Hyrule: She’s CoH!Link’s best friend and an assist fairy. She used to assist him with speaking-and the whole Assist Mode in the actual game-but since he doesn’t need that anymore, she chooses to help Calli with speaking instead.

Cadence - 16 - he/him - Cadence of Hyrule: He’s a bit quiet, but can talk on his own when needed. He can’t be killed-although he can die of old age-and will not let anyone know of this fact. For now. He also has a large hoard of diamonds on hand, and will jump at the opportunity to get more.

Kori - 15.25 - he/him - The CD-i games: Can not stand reflective surfaces for a multitude of reasons, only goes near bodies of water if he knows it’s safe. Does not tell anybody about this. He’s very cheerful and friendly, and has picked out most of the other Links’ nicknames by himself. His winged helm hides his eyes, which look quite uncanny to those that see them.

Cart - 15.23 - he/him - The Zelda Cartoon: Not as bad as in the actual cartoon. Somewhat lazy when it comes to anything other than heroing, flirting with Zelda, and napping. Complains a lot. Just generally insufferable, as teens kinda are. The universe will not allow him to swear, even though he really wants to. Somehow best friends Kori.

King Gustaf - 46 give or take a few years - he/him - The Minish Cap: There’s this fan theory that King Gustaf was actually the Hero of Men in the MC, which is what I’m going with for Uncanon Fates. He’s very wise, but also the most excited about this whole thing. It’s been decades since he’s done anything adventurous. He loves making new friends. He’s one of the first kings of Hyrule, and also holds the Light Force, also known as the Triforce of Wisdom.

Triforce of Wisdom - as old as the land itself i guess - does not care is literally a magical prism - Cartoon Zelda+CD-i games(at least the first two): Yeah I’m making the triforce talk. Less rhyming but still gives out vague advice. Currently in the king’s possession. Kori and Cart flock to him like birds.

Linkku - around 19 mentally, he’s basically a demigod he can live for a long time - they/he - Ancient Hero from TotK: Can’t say much about what he does in the comic, but I can tell you a bit of the made up backstory I made up. They’re Rauru and Sonia’s son and are being raised by a surviving Zonai and a Gerudo. Lesbians. His adventure mainly consisted of trying better the relationships between the Hylians and the Gerudo and fighting off what currently remained of Ganon’s evil magic.

After the first two-three-maybe even four if I feel like the characters aren’t fleshed out enough-chapters are done, they’ll be meeting some of the Hyrule Warriors cast-HW Link and Linkle will be the only Links there-who will be first briefly introduced in an interlude, and then the 3 Links I mentioned before at the start will come in and make you feel things. Impa, Zelda, and another character will also be there. That’s it for now, thanks for the ask.