#it is very in character for sorey to know full well hes not coming back. and its also very in character for mikleo to know

[mxdotpng]

its actually something i think about often which is sad. nobody sees this vision more than i do. or at all actually

[igneouswyvern]

After nearly two and a half years of being completely obsessed with Zestiria after I beat it way back in July of 2021 I finally decided to go back and watch the anime, Zestiria the X and, yeah I have some thoughts

I'm gonna start with the good. Definitely the best part was getting to see Rose and Alisha interact with each other, and Dezel and Zavied interact as well, since they were never in the party at the same time in the game. The anime format also did a lot of good for both Alisha and Zavied's characters (I'm so glad Zavied is something besides "the horny guy" now). Really the story works a lot better with the full party of 8 together towards the end.

The anime also gave me the one thing Tales games never give me, which is a full proper ending, and by that I mean showing us exactly what happened to the world after the final battle was won. I've never been very good at using my imagination when it comes to a peaceful and normal world so it was nice to see that fleshed out. While unrealistic I am also glad Sorey came back within Rose and Alisha's lifetimes because that always kinda bugged me in the game

Using Berseria as a legend in Zestiria was pretty cool considering they didn't get to do that in the game since it came out first. I thought it worked really well. However I am very confused on why they decided to animate the first three hours of post-prologue Berseria smack dab in the middle of the Zestiria plotline and just...never return to it. I don't know why they decided to do that, it didn't fit at all and the whole time I was just wondering if or when they were ever gonna come back to it. And if they were gonna do it for context's sake shouldn't they have, I don't know, jumped ahead to some part where Velvet actually fights Artorius?? It just felt so strange to me.

Onto some more bad: Why the hell did they make Maltran a good guy. She worked just fine as a twist villain. They just cut that entirely for no reason??

And there's one particular huge thing that they just completely changed. One of the most interesting things to me about Zestiria's narrative was the underlying theme that "you can't save everyone." From "everyone knows you can't purify a dragon" to that first moment in Pendrago when they encounter a hellion so strong that the only way to quell its malevolence is to outright kill it, leading all the way up to the finale of the game where Sorey has to kill Heldalf because he can't be purified. They learn over and over again that malevolence has consequences, and that the Shepherd's journey isn't without sacrifice, and that sometimes taking a life is the only way to save that many more.

And Zestiria the X just throws that whole concept out the window?????

First they straight up replaced the corrupted church lady in Pendrago with something totally different and far less impactful, just a corpse that can be purified. And then they go and purify a real dragon??? You can't just do that????? And of course that means they won't kill Heldalf either. He ends up unrealistically purified as well. It just bugs me so much. It goes against everything the original game wanted to set up. Sure it gave us a happier ending but we don't always need a perfectly happy ending! Life is full of heartache and tragedy and sacrifices, and the original Zestiria showed that in a really neat way. And the anime just goes and tosses all of it out the window. It just...it makes me really upset. Tbh the Pendrago sequence is one of my favorite moments in the game, and the dramatic sequence where you kill Heldalf is another favorite, and I was really excited to see those in anime form. And instead they just got binned entirely. My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined :(

And for that matter they also kind of completely got rid of Sorey's character arc, as meager as it may have been. One of my biggest gripes with Zestiria the game is that Sorey is just too perfect a guy, he's too pure and innocent and never really makes mistakes and the game had opportunities to allow him to do that but were too scared to actually commit to it. But despite that, Sorey still has a character arc of some sort, mainly in what I mentioned above where he has to accept that sacrifices are inevitable but in some other ways too. Meanwhile the anime just removes all of that. Sorey pretty much never struggles, except maybe in matters of strength in the beginning you know, and he always gets his way--he never has to make a sacrifice and always saves everyone. All this culminating in The X Sorey being somehow even more flawless and perfect and static than game Sorey. And it's really disappointing to see because I was really hoping to get a more fleshed out Sorey as a result of the anime format.

Something pretty insignificant that bugged me was the fact that they pretty much never got to explore ruins or old temples or whatever else. The game's gameplay loop was pretty much go to a town, deal with some political stuff/watch some cutscenes, go to a ruin or temple and fight a boss, back to the town. Which worked really well for a game setting, but I recognize doesn't work as well in an anime. However, what the anime decided to do was completely cut out any ruins exploration and focus exclusively on the political conflict in the towns. I see why they did this, don't get me wrong, but I just can't help that it doesn't really feel like Zestiria when Sorey and Mikleo aren't nerding out over random stuff in ruins, you know? All that political stuff started to get really boring after a bit. And like so much of the game's story and lore takes place in those dungeons, so it just feels so odd to have them completely removed.

Pretty minor thing but I felt like they kind of messed up Lailah's character. Her whole thing in the game is that she knows everything about the Shepherd's journey but she's not allowed to talk about it because of her oath, so she does the whole inconspicuous whistling and deflecting to other topics the whole time. And I kind of liked it because she looks totally airheaded but it isn't true, she knows a lot she just can't tell us. But in the anime it felt like Lailah didn't know all that much about the whole situation, like she seemed just as surprised as the rest of the party in a lot of scenes. And I feel like that just kind of took all the life out of her character. She was already kind of generic in the game and taking away the one thing that made her interesting just made her even worse.

Okay I'm starting to make it sound like I hate Zestiria the X, I don't. I think I am just a huge purist when it comes to the original game and the anime did a lot of things contradictory to the game that I didn't like very much. But it's okay it was still a good anime and worth watching

It didn't really help me like my favorite characters (Sorey, Mikleo, and Edna) even more, but it did help bring the characters I was lukewarm about (Alisha, Rose, Zavied) about up to par with the original three in terms of how much I liked them, so that's nice. (Lailah and Dezel were more interesting in the game anyway.) I think if you took The X Alisha, Rose, and Zavied, and put them into the game's narrative, you'd have a pretty solid experience in total.

[tatlinanise]

The Tale of Heroines & Sorey’s Love Life: Solved

In an older post, I searched out into the wild in hopes of finding out something the root of a certain quote concerning ToZ’s heroine controversy. “Are Rose and Alisha considered heroines?” “Is there officially recognized romance in Zestiria?” “Is Sorey “too pure” for women?” Well, it is with great pride that I can actually say I have come back with something to show!

Thanks to @silent-shanin​ owning the Tales of Zestiria Complete Guide, I finally have a direct, textual proof of the quote that confirms that this dated post and translation by @kiraleshoot​ is 100% accurate and legitimate!

The full page text is as presented:

Q : There’s not much romance this time, is there?

A : While romance is a very fun element in terms of character drama, this time we chose to water it down, or shall we say, put it on the low priority list. We want Sorey to be a character who grew up pure, chasing his dreams about history and ruins. If we put a prurient man-woman relationship in there, it might just upset the direction we want to go with him. Still, ‘Boy Meets Girl’ is still a powerful introduction to a story in the end, so he meets Alisha, and in meeting her learns about the world. However, Alisha is a normal human, and she has to face the reality that she cannot measure up to Sorey. The girl he meets after that, Rose, is less of a 'heroine’ than Sorey’s 'foil’. Mikleo, Lailah and the others would tend to think about their problems the same way as Sorey does, so Rose is the character who views things differently, assisting Sorey who has just learned about his limits from his parting with Alisha. We made her into a character that, at the end of the story, you can see her accepting what Sorey leaves her with, and know that she will certainly continue it and keep it alive.

So there you have it. An official answer from the game devs about the lack of romance in Zestiria as well as their reasoning for not pairing Sorey up with any of the girls in the traditional Tales fashion. It’s also a more comprehensive look at the roles Rose and Alisha were meant to play as well.

As a disclaimer: I would like to reiterate that I did NOT dig this quote up in hopes of inciting fandom drama. I wanted to find the direct source of the quote for the sake of proof and fandom archiving. Do what you like with this information, I just wanted the existence of the quote and it’s legitimacy to be known.

[troofless]

Just finished watching a walkthrough of Tales of Zestiria, and I must say it is as HYPE as its opening.

My favourite parts:

Sorey and Mikleo bickering — actually, every sormik scene

I swear 99.9% of Mikleo revolves around Sorey, the other 0.1% is him getting teased by everyone (this could be his biggest writing strength and flaw depending on who you ask)

The opening song. A BANGERRRRRR

The different branching routes you can take in Ladylake. Sell the knife? The pipe? Don’t sell both? Sell the pipe later on to get a cool hat as well? How do you enter the Sacred Blade ceremony? YOU CAN CHOOSE

Mikleo leaving Sorey, in the game: Oh don’t worry, Mikleo will be fine, I trust Mikleo to take care of himself :) :)

In the anime: dkjasfnlD MIKLEO DID WHAT??! LAILAH WE MUST GO AFTER MIKLEO RIGHT AWAY

Tbh the argument ‘arc’ he has with Sorey? One of the best parts of the game.

'Does a frog think of getting rid of snakes?’ ‘OH SO AM I A FROG NOW?’ ‘Your LIABILITY will be waiting in the inn’

When in the manga this slow burn (JUST GET CONTRACTED WITH MIKLEO ALREADY) gets extended to after Sorey contracts with Edna

When Mikleo calls Sorey out on his blindness in a skit THEY NOTICE EVERYTHING ABOUT EACH OTHER OKAY

Yeah also, just thinking about how Sorey’s known Mikleo’s true name for a long time now HNNNRNNHSDGGGGGHHHH

Mikleo using his rod not as a conduit for magic but as a whacking tool. He has a mystic arte Crystal Rod where he throws his rod at the enemy saying NOPE (best...) and a mystic arte Final Player where he uses it like a hammer saying “I’ll crush you! Again! Again and again!!” smacking the enemy into the ground LOLLLL

That One Mystic Arte where Edna rides on her umbrella like it’s a flying broomstick and shoots out earth rocks with a finger gun

Zaveid coming out of nowhere at random times, busting out his persona shooting himself in the head and demanding that they fight him

Rose shaking her hands with Sorey at supersonic speed when Sorey gets her to hear the seraphim and she thinks she’s hearing ghosts

The whole ‘we’re married’ scene when they get to Rolance, and the whole joke of Sergei continuing to think Rose and Sorey are married

Dezel laughing at Lailah’s lame animal jokes in the background

Dezel not being able to see, but that’s okay… because he can read the wind!

Dezel being the walking encyclopaedia for all animals and plants bc he’s been everywhere

Rose wants to catch a butterfly and sell it for money, but Dezel interjects and tells her it’s a ‘shae monyurose’ moth, so Rose gives up on catching it, saying people don’t pay a lot for moths

Another skit where Sorey and Rose want to catch these rabbits to eat, (they’re cute... AND delicious.) Dezel is horrified and chases them away by shouting really loudly (HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT??!!)

Everyone who plays Zestiria complaining about how Alisha isn’t a permanent team member, then having mixed debates about whether the anime saved or broke the story with Alisha-Armatization

ZAVEID RUNNING DOWN A WALL

“My way is to put the hellions back in hell” Zaveid says while doing the Dio pose

WRYYYYYYY

I love how he just appears out of nowhere and gets him to fight you, multiple times, in both Zestiria AND Berseria

Dezel suggesting they could just fly all the way to the top but Sorey and Mikleo go “But we WANT to see the ruins...!”

In the bad ending Heldalf is just like ‘nothin doing… just standing here…’ when the team goes in and slays him

Heldalf: You want to defeat me, right? But if you do, you can’t get the TRUE ending… bitch

Sorey:

I love how Rose and Alisha are uncommon heroines, using lances and twin blades instead of magic (Mikleo takes that one, hah). 

It’s like the writers of Zestiria were like Hmm. How do we explore the dark elements in this game by showing how people in Age of Chaos possess immense malevolence in their hearts and align it to the main story, and then went, Got it. Assassins. (Story of how Shepherd Sorey went gallivanting around with a princess *cough cough redactedbecauseshedoesn’texistinthegame* and an assassin~~)

Mikleo: Zaveid, there is literally NO REASON for us to fight. At all.

Zaveid: You gotta beat this ass first

And I think that is very sexy of him

Apparently if you take Dezel out of your team during the third fight with Zaveid, he will yell at you

Zaveid, T-posing on the ground: oh don’t mind me, just setting death flags for the only other wind seraph in this game so I can fill the XXX-shaped hole in your team later on in the game. Also here, take my glock

Dezel 🤝Eizen

    being the same person

GIVE ME THE HIDDEN DEZEL AND ZAVEID LORE (but Dezel doesn’t appear in Berseria…)

Rose “I just noticed, whenever Mikleo gets angry, it always has something to do with Sorey” after merchants look at Sorey and think he’s a con artist Shepherd, then in a later skit comments that No, that’s not true Mikleo does get angry even when it doesn’t involve Sorey, then Sorey says, Nah, he’s not angry, just overreacting.

When the plot says Sorey and Mikleo were destined to be the Shepherd and Sub Lord all along :o :v :O

THEY ARE FRIGGIN MARRIED OKAY

BOTH OF THEM. FROM THE SAME VILLAGE. BABIES. RED STRING OF FATE AAAAAA

Sorey and Mikleo in a skit talking about how they’re not really affected by their past bc their real family now is Elysia. It’s a really quiet and sweet moment.

Zaveid in a skit doing flower fortune readings bc he’s worried that the group hates him bc he was all FIGHT ME! before, but Lailah cheers him up with her own flower fortune telling (‘Uh, your origami flower only has... one petal Lailah’) saying Zaveid is their friend AWWWW

GIVE ME THE HIDDEN LAILAH AND ZAVEID LOREEEEEE

gdi I know we see more Pacifist!Zaveid in Berseria but I want a sequel nowwwwww

Sorey and Mikleo having a final conversation under the stars

SOREY FILLS IN MIKLEO ON HIS PLAN breaking the trope of not telling his team that he’s going to save the world by disappearing

One of the main messages Zestiria delivers is how one person shouldn’t take all the burden on themselves and how Sorey learns to rely on other people

Like Lailah staying silent bc of her oath and how that pains her

Like Mikleo... forming a pact with Sorey.....

God I love Zestiria for breaking tropes everywhere

Did I mention how Alisha and Rose have such good platonic relationships with Sorey? Yeah and you can take out the romantic hinting and it is still a good relationship? Without any shoehorning of ‘forced het couple’?

Sorey calling back to the time he had to close his senses to get Alisha to hear Lailah, tying it back into the main plot!!!! :o GALAXY BRAIN

SOREY PUTTING DEZEL’S HAT ON IN THE STARRY SKY CUTSCENE AND ROSE AND ZAVEID TRYING TO TAKE IT BACK

How the hell is Muse alive and not, like, a hag

Love how the final part is Sorey going “I’ll defeat you with the power of friendship!! And this gun I found”

*flashback to AFOvsAll Might* Sorey: You thought it was over with that punch? I have TWO HANDS!!!!

Ok no lie the final fight was epic

THIS... IS MY EVERYTHING!!!!!!

fsdljfnsdkflsfs;fsf look all the seraphim went into the battle not expecting to live and Sorey went in fully expecting to kill his seraphim friends and prepared to KILL

Compared to the start when Sorey was full-out 'don’t kill hellions Zaveid how could you!!!!’, you can see how the darker themes shine here

What I wouldn’t give for a corrupted!Sorey though, I was expecting it bc of clips I saw on Youtube BUT IT NEVER HAPPENED!!! Lowkey sad tho. Would love an arc where Sorey gets overcome by malevolence and becomes, like a jerk, but as like a morally grey character not fully blown evil (like Jerk Rose ig)

The epilogue with everyone!!! The Lord of the Lands (yeah Uno is very pretty)!!! Lucas!!!! Sergei and Alisha!!! The little drawings in the credits detailing Sorey’s journey!!!! Awwww

Overall a happy ending for Sorey and friends which is GREAT

SMOL SOREY AND MIKLEO EXPLORING RUIN TRAPS AT THE END

oh god I swear they are lowkey married they just don’t mention it to anyone look if you go back and play the whole thing with that in mind NOTHING ABOUT THE PLOT CHANGES

Mikleo my friend you have too many cape thingys on your back PLEASE

The callback to Sorey catching Mikleo though is so cute. In the anime we get the callback to “So this is the world!” htgdgmfgmmmmgfg idk the anime is one hole I don’t want to explore rn

sfaljdfsdlf but yeah though the epilogue was nice and clean and up to reader’s imagination, I wished they expanded more on the epilogue (LET US SEE SOREY..... *fighting back tears*), at least THANKS TO THE ANIME we get to see post-Heldalf Alisha and Rose tho hnggggrrgh

*chanting* D-L-C, didn’t know they had a D-L-C

DLC

ROSALI VIBES jkahdfjksdfs give it all to meeeee

Rose and Alisha catfighting sjdnflsjdfadfhgnfghth THIS IS THE ICONIC ROSALI VIBE I SWEAR

Because of this, this DLC is now elevated to god standards

Edna and Lailah casually talking while Rose and Alisha roll in the background LMAOOOO

Rose must be the most unconventional Shepherd ever and that is GREAT

Bruh is Alisha wearing an abbreviated costume of Mikleo’s

Anyway she’s so cute in her DLC outfit!!!

Alisha ditching keigo is so. Very. Cute.

Alisha and Sorey: :) :D :)))

Alisha and Rose: Bitch. }:(  >:V

Love the girl’s party vibe, and how we get cameos of Zaveid and Mikleo (LET US SEE MORE DEVASTATED MIKLEO PLEASE....) along the way

Sadly no more DLC episodes :( wonder why that got axed, bc fans didn’t like it?

Overall I must say the Zestiria cast is awesome, I really like all the characters and how they are fleshed out very neatly with their own quirks and goals. Edna being god tier with her monotone sarcasm (she is QUEEN....), Zaveid being that dumbass that looks like a stripper (HIM.... baby...), Mikleo being ultimate waifu and how his comedic moments shine with Edna and everyone else when he’s being teased, Sorey being so pure and cute when he geeks out with Mikleo and how his character arc is just such a refreshing take on the hero archetype, Dezel with his stoicness Imma Get Revenge but also his cast knowledge and love for animals, Rose for exploring the side of reality in the malevolence in people’s hearts and her :3 smile and her determination to get things done and how she’s so different from Sorey which only brings out her charm, Lailah with her awful puns and eccentricity and quiet compassion. And uh, Alisha for being the bait-and-switch heroine but a decent character with her own personal goals that are separate from the main character. Sergei and Lucas are also very lovable.

As for the setting, Rolance and Hyland as two kingdoms seem a little small scale compared to lets say if they added one more kingdom, but seeing as this is a 2015 game I think the exploration map is pretty good (then I compare to Xenoblade Chronicles which came out in 2010 and just change the subject). Love the outside game mechanics Giant’s Fist, Wind Stepping and Water Shield (when Mikleo protects Sorey with that!!! And Sorey calls him out by saying he’s been practicing it for a long time... And you recall every time Mikleo asks Dezel and the other older seraphim to teach him stuff so he can get stronger to help Sorey and how 99.9% of his character revolves around Sorey). ‘That spinny mist thing sure gets the job done’ haha. 

Anyway, great game and plot, please go check out if you have time, esp rn since animes and other games coming out will be stalled it is a great time to check out older games aaaaaaa

[ice-cream-beat]

Title: Dreaming of You

Author: 深山 Circle: ETERNITE

Series: Tales of Zestiria Main characters: Sorey, Alisha, Mikleo; also some Lailah and Edna Ships: Sorey/Alisha

Content rating: G Warnings: Spoilers, also a bit of a tearjerker imho Pages: 16 Ease of reading: you don’t even need to read | super easy | know some grammar first | tricky | advanced | this was really heckin hard

Summary: 

(High school AU ayyyy)

Sorey and Mikleo are at school, and Sorey looks exhausted. Mikleo guesses that he’s still having trouble sleeping and suggests he go to a hospital to get his insomnia checked out, but Sorey dejectedly refuses, finally saying that he doesn’t think the issue is physical.

Mikleo looks concerned and suddenly asks if Sorey believes in remembering one’s past life--which makes Sorey laugh and wonder if Mikleo’s also been missing sleep. Mikleo gets defensive and insists he’s being serious, but Lailah and Edna interrupt and indicate that he come with them. Reluctantly, Mikleo does so and promises to get back to Sorey later.

Elsewhere, Edna criticizes Mikleo for that “past lives” line, but Mikleo argues that the situation is no longer about Sorey “being a slow case,” as his body is at its limit and the lack of sleep is bound to hurt him if it continues. Edna explains that while Mikleo was probably correct in thinking Sorey’s faulty memory is the cause of his insomnia, attempting to make him remember his past life against his will is dangerous. She adds that the aforementioned cause can’t currently be found, and that it’s meaningless, anyway, if Sorey can’t recall what it is himself--although she’s already figured out what it is. Lailah says she has, as well, but Mikleo’s dumbfounded because he has no idea what it is lol.

Lailah assures them both that things will be alright, since Sorey’s missing “cause” recently enrolled in their school and she spoke with “her” earlier, someone who’s also lost her memory like Sorey has. Lailah encourages Mikleo and Edna to believe in the power of Sorey’s and Alisha’s bond.

Sorey eventually gets up to leave. He bumps into someone in the hall and they both apologize, but he freezes up when he sees that it’s Alisha. She explains that she just moved to town and promises to be more careful; when she realizes he’s staring at her, he assures her it’s fine and quickly goes to leave, wondering why he’s been seized by such a strange feeling. Almost immediately, he passes out.

While unconscious, he dreams he’s talking to Mikleo, who looks like he does in the game’s epilogue. In his narration, Sorey’s confused that Mikleo’s an adult, but dream!Sorey is talking with him and insisting that he hasn’t “changed his mind” about something. Mikleo teases him, saying he’s surprised that the first thing out of Sorey’s mouth wasn’t “let’s go explore some ruins,” but admits that Sorey’s always been full of surprises. Mikleo leads him through a ruin filled with tombs, noting Rose’s and Sergei’s, and mentions that the one they’re looking for is further in. Sorey wonders if it’s really okay for it to be out in the middle of nowhere, but Mikleo tells him it’s what “she” wanted, because “she” wanted to see the ruins. They come upon a grave on an open hillside decorated with Alisha’s lance.

(Surprise not really a high school AU ayyyy)

Back in the present, Sorey wakes up in the nurse’s office. Alisha comes to check on him and says she’s glad he’s okay, and that Rose and Dezel-sensei helped after he passed out, and Zaveid-sensei called the doctor--but Sorey interrupts by sitting up and suddenly hugging her. She’s embarrassed and confused, but he says that he remembers everything now.

“I remembered... I remembered all of it. How could I forget something so important? Alisha and Rose and Sergei... by the time I woke up, all the humans I'd known were gone. Mikleo and Lailah and Edna... and Zaveid... I met them again, and they were all so happy. I found my conviction before I went to sleep, but... it didn't help at all. I never, ever forgot those feelings of regret and helplessness. So I..."

Meanwhile, in his narration: "I finally understand. The reason I couldn't sleep until now... was because waking to a world without you was terrible."

Alisha admits she doesn’t know exactly what he’s talking about, but then hugs him back and promises that she isn’t going anywhere--and says his name for the first time. This surprises him and he asks if she also got her memory back, but she admits that the name just came out of her mouth without thinking.

Sorey realizes she has a while to go before she also remembers, and instead asks if he can make one request: that she sits beside him while he sleeps. She cheerfully agrees to do so and holds his hand. They exchange "goodnights," and the last line is Sorey asking what she wants to talk about when he wakes up.

Impressions:

what I expected when I saw the cover: “aw cute fluffy coffee shop AU probably!”

what I got: CHEST PAINS AND TEARS

First off, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I heckin’ love when Mikleo gets these little moments to shine, even when the story isn’t strictly about him. The idea that he’d try to bend the rules to protect Sorey is just  👌 👌 👌 👌 YES, I love these bros so much and I would die for them and this doujinshi just nailed it perfectly ugh my feelings

Edna also gets a special mention, since she was a bit soft despite her teasing Mikleo a couple times and her attempts to look apathetic on the matter. <3

Anyhow, onto the main characters lol

It’s not completely explained, but I think the point of the premise is that everyone has been reborn into this modern/high school setting, and dreaming is their way of recovering their memory of their past (canon) lives. Sorey subconsciously resisted, because at the point he’d reached in his dreams, Alisha was dead and gone and he couldn’t handle it.

YEAH THIS HURT ME. I was legit getting upset when Sorey was explaining how lonely he felt lskjdfhnnggghhh I didn't ask for this. It pulled some LOST-level plot twist there at the end (except, you know, actually well done) which I WAS NOT READY FOR, THANKS, and while this is actually a happy ending since they all get to be together again (THAT CASUAL DEZEL MENTION ;___; ) I'm still? really?? upset??? :’|

also HEY screw the idea that Mikleo was involved in burying all their human friends t h a n k s  I  h a t e  i t

there's only... one other doujinshi, I think, that left me this shook, so yeah y'all can look forward to that

hnghhh but emotions aside, I really liked it! very nice art, good twist, excellent characterizations all around, also Sergei got some love which was nice!! (is he the overzealous drill-sergeant-of-a-coach in the high school AU, I wonder...)

This was one doujinshi I had to overpay a bit for via a mediator site (~$28 iirc, which... isn't terrible, but it's still scalping :T ) and then found for half the price elsewhere later on rip but it was worth it! 10/10, highly recommend, would cry again.

....I’ll probably think of this doujin every time I use the high school costumes in-game now great

[codeadleaves]

According to plan

Additional tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alcohol Characters: Sorey, Mikleo, Rose Prompt: Mulled wine Summary: "The bed was all warm and comfy, and for a moment he contemplated the idea to stay here a few more minutes before steeling himself. Now wasn’t the time to laze in bed. For today was the day he would impress Mikleo Luzrov." In which Sorey is a gay disaster.  

Notes: I suck very much at titles. Here’s my entry for @sormikadventcalendar 12/18. A big thanks to @toradh for betareading <3

Read under the cut or on AO3

*** The first thing Sorey noticed when he opened his eyes was that he had forgotten to turn off the light string on the wall. The second was that his room was brighter than it should be for a winter morning.

He turned to look at the window - of course he had also forgotten to close the shutters. The sky was clear, no traces of clouds or falling snow, but more importantly, the sun was higher than he expected it to be. His body jolted upright, hand searching for the phone lost somewhere on the bed - not under the pillows, not under his butt, not under the sheets, where on Earth-

Thunk.

Sorey looked down. There it was! He reached for the fallen device. 12:07 pm. A bit late but still enough time to get ready. He let out a relieved sigh as he fell back on his pillows. The bed was all warm and comfy, and for a moment he contemplated the idea to stay here a few more minutes before steeling himself. Now wasn’t the time to laze in bed.

For today was the day he would impress Mikleo Luzrov.

Perfect Mikleo. Caring, intelligent, beautiful Mikleo. Sorey’s dear crush and rival, met through an endless battles for the highest grad on the ancient history classes.

They had only known each other names back then, and if Sorey had been daydreaming about who could be Mikleo before meeting him, he was now completely smitten. How could it be otherwise? Mikleo was perfect. Smart. Pretty. And unlike Sorey he could achieve the best without sacrificing his health and hygiene. Not that Sorey was the kind to wallow in dirty laundry and strong body smells, he was just so passionate about his studies he would often forgot about basic needs, like cleaning or eating. Frankly, Sorey couldn’t understand why a sophisticated person like Mikleo would enjoy spending time with him, and yet only a couple of months after officially meeting thanks to their common friend Rose, there was hardly a day they wouldn’t see each other, Mikleo taking it upon himself to teach Sorey how to behave like a proper human being, helping with chores and feeding him when needed.

But not today, Sorey thought as he started gathering dirty clothes scattered on the floor. Mikleo and Rose would come in in a few hours to spend some “quality holiday time” - Rose’s words - and Sorey was determined to prove he wasn’t a complete disaster and could welcome his guests in a clean apartment. He took a quick shower, finished organizing what needed to be and concluded the cleaning session by opening all doors and windows to properly let air into the apartment - he certainly wasn’t about to relive the shameful moment Mikleo had first stepped into the garbage container that used to be this place.

When everything was in order, Sorey moved to the kitchen. Now the real challenge began: the concoction of the Omega Elixir. Or rather, a modern version of it; being an history nerd would be of no help to gather ingredients such as a narwhal’s horn or some extinct bird species’ egg. The true Omega Elixir recipe, said to be a gift from the god Maotelus to purify mankind, was lost to time. Still, Sorey had found an old book with a few variant of the beverage in his Grandpa Library. With the celebration of Maotelus’ birth coming in a few days, it was the perfect drink for the holiday season and a perfect topic to debate with Mikleo later - only if Rose would allow it.

Sorey set himself in front of the kitchen worktop, reading the recipe one last time. Everything was ready, he had macerated the ingredients in a large pot covered by a clean cloth, for three days and nights. The tricky part now was to progressively add the correct amount of alcohol at the right temperature, while slowly heating the pot. He hadn’t used the right utensils in his previous attempt, the result giving him a nasty headache. World tree leaves liqueur and Malak’s tear were too strong for his liking - and way too expensive, blessed was his Grandpa for being so fond of old alcohol bottles.

Sorey removed his hoodie to have better freedom of movement and threw it on a chair. A timer in one hand and a cooking thermometer in the other, he set to work, carefully measuring the proper dose of blue liqueur. It was the last of it, he couldn’t fail this one.

And after two hours of meticulous mixing it was finally ready. And by Maotelus, the smell was divine. It was hard to define but it sure was a lot nicer than the strong odor that came out of his previous attempt - just smelling it had left him dizzy.

Yes it was perfect, everything was going according to plan, Mikleo would be impressed and wouldn’t give him his trademark disapproval look. Sorey was smiling so much his cheeks hurt. The recipe’s final step was to let it rest in the snow. Sorey had prepared a bassin of ice cube in case the weather wouldn’t be cooperative but luckily it seemed to had snowed all night.  

He was on a little cloud. Tension had left his body but as he stepped into the hall he was hit by the cold, his nose tickling.

It all happened in the blink of an eye. Sorey abruptly turned his head to sneeze on his shoulder pressing the scalding pot between his arms. He yelped, reflexively releasing his hold on the pot, tried to grab it back, burned his hand, felt the heavy pot fall on his feet, and slipped.

Lying on the ground with the wasted Elixir, not daring to move and tempt his cruel fate, a resigned Sorey wondered if he could make a new drink out of his own tears.

***

“So.” Mikleo’s gaze swept through the kitchen, taking all details into account. The floor tile covered by some bluish liquid, the sink overflowing with dishes, the bandage on Sorey’s left hand. His friend truly had overdid himself today. “What happened in here?”

A disheveled Sorey - well, more disheveled than usual, if that was even possible - was looking away, all sheepish. A fit of sneezes was the only answer he gave.

“Why is it so cold in here?” asked Mikleo, tightening his coat against himself before turning to the hall window. “Did you leave it open all day?”

Green eyes shot to the window. Sorey looked like he was about to slam his head on the wall.

“The windows” he sighed, defeated.

Mikleo bit the inside of his cheek to repress a smile. And just like that Sorey spilled it all. How he had tried his best to impress Mikleo, just to see his efforts crushed by a single sneeze, and how he had tried to get rid of the evidence before his friends’ arrival.

Mikleo had to admit he was indeed impressed.

“How are you still alive?” he jokingly pointed.

Sorey laughed that awkward, cute laugh of his, scratching the back of his head. Mikleo sighed, how could he win against this? Another sneeze made him roll his eyes.

“Alright, you go close everything and sit next to the heater.” he ordered.

“But-”

“No but, you’ve done enough for today. I’ll take care of things now.”

“That wasn’t the plan,” whined Sorey.

“It is now.”

Mikleo pushed Sorey toward the living room, leaving no place for argument. He watched as Sorey did as he was told.

“Where is Rose?” Sorey asked while turning the heater back on.

“She dumped me on the way.” With a slap on my back and too much snickering for it to be innocent, he added for himself. That was probably her way to say have a fun night, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, you have my full approval. That was usually what she said anytime he met Sorey for studying. “She said she had business to take care of.”

“What kind?”

“We’re talking about Rose, I can’t and don’t want to know the answer to this question.”

“Fair point.”

Sorey reached for a blanket and wrapped it around himself, hiding another sneeze in it before crashing on the couch. Now that he was all settled, Mikleo could get to work. He turned to the kitchen, starting to unbutton his plaid coat.

“Seduce me with your big history knowledge.” came Sorey’s voice in his back.

Mikleo paused, throwing him a bewildered look.

“What?”

Sorey blushed, letting go of the blanket to lift his hands in front of him in a defensive gesture.

“That’s not me, it’s written on your back!”

Dread fell upon Mikleo. He promptly reached behind him, just where Rose’s hand had slapped him before parting ways. Sure enough he found the piece of paper stuck there. Now that explained why she was snickering so much, he thought, feeling his cheeks warming as he crushed the note in his hand.

“I will be in the kitchen!” he exclaimed before storming out.

“O-okay.”

Damnit Rose, was embarrassing her friends so fun?

He took a deep breath to calm his nerves, before grabbing the mop. There wasn’t much left to clean, Sorey had managed to wipe most of the elixir. Such a waste despite his best intentions, maybe they could try again later. For now the lingering smell was nice.

Another sneeze rang out in the apartment. Sorey needed to be warmed up.

Rose’s laughter echoed in his ears. He shook his head trying to calm his heart. There was no way he would ever follow her instructions. Sorey was just a friend, a precious rival he had to take care of so they could keep the competition going. Nothing else. He hadn’t fallen for those shiny green eyes and warm smile.

… Mikleo cleared his throat, finishing to mop the floor.

Another sneeze. He could make Sorey some hot cocoa. He set the cleaning tools aside going for the fridge. No milk. But a few red wine bottles next to the fridge. Surely, a bit of wine wouldn’t hurt Sorey. Mikleo looked around, catching sight of oranges, and smiled. They wouldn’t be drinking elixir tonight, but there was still a chance they could enjoy some good old mulled wine tonight. He searched for what he needed in the cupboards, impressed to find what he needed - except for sugar, but honey would do just fine.

He sliced an orange, washed one of the dirty saucepans lying in the sink and poured everything in it before placing it on the stove. Half an hour was all he needed to make a nice mulled wine. Sure not as fancy as Elixir but still fitting for the holidays.

When he came back to the living room, warm mugs in hands, Sorey was pouting. Mikleo felt his heart doing weird things again.

“Is that your way to thank your guest?”

“It’s not fair.” Sorey falsely complained. “I was supposed to be the one taking care of this and impress you, not let you fix everything once again.”

Mikleo set the mugs on the coffee table, before sitting next to his friend. The temperature of the room had finally reached a comfortable level. “If it can comfort you, I had planned to bring homemade cookies.”

Sorey’s perked up.

“Where are they?”

“In a trash can.” deadpanned Mikleo.

“Uh.”

“They all burned.”

The growing smile on Sorey’s face was as infuriating as it was adorable.

“So you’re not perfect in the end.”

“I’m still better than you.” Mikleo huffed.

“Harsh.”

Sorey carefully took the mug with his good hand, sniffing the content before taking a sip.

“That’s so good! I never had mulled wine before!”

“I’m glad this modest drink is to your liking.”

Sorey laughed, gently pushing Mikleo’s shoulder. Mikleo took a sip of his own drink. Not too bad for a last minute pull. If only baking could be that easy...

“So now that we’re all settled and that Rose isn’t here,” Sorey trailed while standing. “I shall try to seduce you with my big history knowledge.”

Mikleo almost choked on his drink, cheeks burning. He couldn’t mean- surely Sorey wasn’t that kind of guy, was he? Or was the wine too strong for him?

A large book was set on the table in front of them, ending Mikleo’s internal panic. He huffed a discreet sigh of relief. No, Sorey was just a nerd. A lovely nerd even, when he wasn’t smelling of sweat, though Mikleo would die before admitting it out loud.

Shoulder to shoulder, they leaned back onto the couch, careful not to spill any drop of mulled wine on the opened book.

[birbleafs]

[fic] Silk and Steel

Rating: G Genre: . Game-Canon, Humour. Character(s): Sorey, Rose, Mikleo, Dezel, and Eguille, with mentions of the Sparrowfeathers. Warnings: Brief mentions of slight injuries, but nothing serious. Summary: In which Sorey and Rose engage in a friendly sparring match. A/N: Here’s my full piece for @zinestiria (with some minor edits). This was actually written sometime in Apr/May 2018, but hey, it still counts for the first posted fic of the new year, right? lol. This was a lot of fun and I'm grateful to be able to write more Sorey and Rose brotp moments for this project. Many thanks to the mods for all their hard work, and to everyone else who supported us by ordering a copy!

Fic can also be read on AO3

In retrospect, he supposed it all started with crabs. Well, crab hellions, to be exact. Which was an actual thing and not just a regular crab—Sorey was almost proud to say he and Mikleo had easily figured out how to tell the two apart after the incident on Camelot bridge. Both creatures had pincers capable of deadlock grips and tended to gurgle out foam bubbles. But regular crabs didn’t have more than eight legs and—as Dezel had assured them waspishly—definitely didn’t come in over thirty-feet-tall. Neither were they usually dressed in what looked suspiciously like tattered pieces of civilian clothing, unless crab-people were another thing Lailah had conveniently decided not to mention.

Sorey was glad, of course, that they’d managed to stop the crab hellions’ rampage through the port side town and had eventually purified them. But whatever tiny victories they’d achieved then didn’t seem quite enough for Rose. He was in the midst of helping Dezel tend to the injuries of a small squirrel (that they’d picked up after crossing paths with the Sparrowfeathers, on the way out of town) when she stomped up to him, fixing him with a scrutinizing glare. He stared up at her, startled, and then, perplexed. He’d just about managed to gently prompt Dezel to share a story about his friend Lafarga. But with Rose swooping down over them like a hawk now, Dezel had quickly reverted to his default aloofness, complete with monosyllabic grunts of disapproval. Sorey sighed inwardly—well, he’d tried, at least. He endured Rose’s scrutiny for two whole minutes, listening to the soft clatter of cutlery by the fireside where Felice and Talfryn were preparing supper, before finally working up the courage to break the awkward silence between them— “Um, Dezel?” Sorey began, hesitantly. “What’s Rose doing?” Rose only tutted, hands at her hips and her gaze still pinned squarely upon him. Dezel grunted, muttered something incomprehensible, and continued tending the squirrel. Its injured front leg was already bandaged neatly, but that didn’t stop the wind seraph from wrapping yet another unnecessary roll of bandage around it, if only so he could continue to avoid Rose’s gaze. Something shifted behind Rose, and Mikleo soon appeared at her side, fixing Sorey with an equally penetrating gaze. “Guys—” Sorey tried again, only to have Rose punch his shoulder. “O-ow! What was that for?” “Hm,” Mikleo said, and then sighed—a sign that he’d arrived to a decision of sorts. “I hate to admit it, Rose, but it is a bit worrisome. I regret not realising it sooner.” “Told ya!” Rose waved a hand. “And no worries! It’s still not too late to fix this.” “I honestly have no idea what’s going on,” Sorey said helplessly. “What’s worrisome and needs fixing?” Rose and Mikleo leaned closer over him, their expressions ominous, their eyes glimmering with fire. “You,” they said. Before Sorey could protest, they yanked him to his feet and shepherded him away through the shrubbery.

*

“Okay, here’s the thing, Sorey—you kind of, uh, suck,” Rose declared, hardly batting an eyelid. She’d led them into a clearing away from camp and beside a gurgling stream. Even though he’d feigned indifference in the earlier conversation, Dezel had dutifully trailed after them as well, the squirrel now chittering upon his shoulder. “What she means is,” Mikleo offered, to soften the blow, even as he tried to hide his smirk behind a hand, “you’ve been slacking off from training and it’s starting to show. Your unarmed combat has been sloppy lately.” “Sloppy is putting it mildly.” Rose threw out her arms for emphasis, frowning twice as hard now. “That hellion this morning really threw you off when you lost your sword. Without it, you were like a sitting duck waiting to be shanked!” “Come on, guys. It wasn’t that bad!” Sorey said, slightly wounded at these sudden accusations. “So I was caught off-guard this one time…” Rose and Mikleo only exchanged a look, unconvinced. “One time?” Mikleo echoed, folding his arms. “What about the incident with the werewolf hellion just days before?” “Or that scuffle with the bandits while on the road last week?” Rose added. Sorey winced, brushing a finger gingerly at the small cuts across his right cheek. The cuts were healing, but his skin still felt tender to touch—the werewolf hellion had scratched him up pretty badly after it’d bitten his sword arm. And well, one of the bandits had gotten too close and very nearly gouged an eye out.  He didn’t like where this conversation was headed, but… All right, so maybe they both had a point. “Fine, so perhaps there were a couple of times I might not have dodged soon enough,” Sorey admitted. “But you guys covered for me then and it all turned out just fine, right?” Rose sighed. “That’s the problem! I mean, sure, you can count on us to keep an eye out  for each other during battles. But that doesn’t mean being careless and leaving yourself wide open!” “That werewolf hellion was a lot stronger than we had anticipated—even Edna and I got knocked around a bit,” Mikleo said. “But Sorey… Rose isn’t wrong either. While you have the advantage of seraphim to aid you in battles, there may be times where even we might not be able to fight alongside you, however much we wish to…” He trailed off, eyes downcast now. Sorey felt a twinge of guilt at Mikleo’s expression; there was truth in those words. The memory of his temporary resonance loss in Glaivend Basin—the helplessness, fear, and desperation a roiling dark cloud—still weighed heavily over them. “No, you’re both right,” he said. “I haven’t been as focused lately and look what that got me—bruises and bites that I could’ve easily avoided. And I could really learn a thing or two from you, Rose. You dive into battles with just a pair of daggers but still come out with little more than scrapes.” “Well, it’s one part Rose-awesomeness and two parts battle experience. But flattery will get you everywhere, so fret not! I know just how to help!” Rose said, clapping her hands together. At her signal, Eguille appeared beside her and tossed Sorey a short sparring stick. “Eguille’s been training me in close combat since I was a kid, so I’ve asked him to share some techniques that you might find useful.” “Not sure why Rose still thinks I’m one to offer pointers, considering how I got my rear handed to me by you at Rayfalke,” Eguille said coolly. “You’re a tough fighter, Mister Shepherd.” Sorey could only return an embarrassed grin. “That hadn’t really been a fight in your favour. I did have help from my friends—uh, the seraphim, after all.” “So the rumours are true then. Well, let’s start with the basics.” Eguille turned to Rose, who was twirling her sparring stick idly. “First rule of the Scattered Bones Fight Club,” Rose began, her expression solemn. “We don’t talk about the Scattered Bones Fight Club. Second rule: leave no corrupt officials or Shepherds alive—” “Righ—wait, what?!” Sorey flinched, incredulous, only to be met with bubbling laughter as Rose chanted, “Just kidding!” Eguille coughed politely, and Rose attempted a contrite Cheshire grin, gesturing for him to continue. “Always with the teasing, boss,” Eguille chuckled. “Anyway, back to the lesson. First rule of combat: never underestimate your opponent, even inexperienced ones. Sometimes you can learn a lot just by assessing them—when you’re able to discern your opponents’ drive and limitations, you can anticipate their moves better.” Eguille nodded at Sorey, watching as he mimicked Rose’s stance. “You’ve witnessed Rose in battle a few times. Let’s see if you’re able to assess her moves and spar one-on-one against her without relying on your magic tricks.” “Okay, I think I got this,” Sorey said, holding up his sparring stick and balancing on his toes the way Eguille had shown him. “All right, hit me with all you got, Rose. I’m ready.” He wasn’t ready. Sorey had lunged forward, right arm pulled back for a jab with his stick, when he realised his first mistake—letting Rose leap out of his line of sight; she was already gone in the blink of an eye. He wondered, briefly then, if Dezel had gotten nosy somehow and cast Wind-step to assist her—but no, Rose really was as quick as lightning. By the time he could react, Rose was already darting around him from the shadows. Sorey dodged, swinging his stick just in time to parry a blow—but not before he felt a sharp strike across the back of his shoulders. He gasped in surprise, stumbling forward. Rose landed lightly in the grass several metres behind him, keeping her guard up. She grinned. “Eguille’s right about you being a natural at rough-housing. Gotta work on your speed and footwork, though.” Sorey chuckled as he straightened up, raising his stick again. “I’ll keep that in mind.” “We Scattered Bones are more nimble than most fighters,” Eguille said. “Rose uses this to her full advantage. Think of your own advantage and strengths in battle, Sorey—use it as a counter-balance. You’re physically strong for your size, but agile enough to stay light on your feet. Keep your movements fluid like water, silent like silk; strike hard at your opponents, like steel. Try again.” Sorey exhaled slowly, taking a moment to reflect over Eguille’s words. Then, finding his centre, he dashed forward once again. This time, Rose rushed ahead to meet his attack directly, catching his stick with hers before jabbing her fist forward. Sorey blocked her flurry of punches and strikes, matching her speed step by step. Then, seeing an opening, he dove past her guard to knock the stick from her grip. But his victory was short-lived—with both hands free, Rose caught his outstretched arm, and using his own momentum against him, easily flipped him over. Sorey wheezed painfully as he hit the ground. His back was going to hate him in the morning. “Good disarming move,” Eguille said. Sorey wasn’t sure if it was praise directed at him or Rose, but praise was praise, right? “However, you let your guard down by assuming the fight was over when Rose lost her weapon; she easily worked that to her advantage instead.” Eguille held out a hand, helping Sorey to his feet. “So, second rule of combat: put the battle on your terms—you should always be acting, not reacting.” “Battle on my terms…” Sorey repeated, readying himself once more. “Acting, not reacting.” Rose was already on the offense, charging straight at him. Sorey moved to meet her rush, and then side-stepped away easily. He caught the flicker of surprise in her expression, before it morphed into a smirk. He returned the grin, eyes bright with daring, a playful challenge, which Rose readily accepted; pivoting on her heels, she darted around him like a fierce whirlwind. Sorey deflected her blows, searching for an opening to disarm her again. Acting, not reacting— He struck out as Rose swung her stick, felt her punch connect instead—hard enough to bruise his wrist—and his grip slipped from his weapon. Still, he pressed forward, ignoring the pain. He dodged Rose’s kick, before lunging forward enough to ram his elbow against her guard, knocking her off-balance. Yes! He grinned, unabashed at the unexpected win, and— “Sorey, the water—!” “Tch, watch it, you fools!” Mikleo and Dezel’s mental shouts were his only warning, before Sorey felt Rose seizing his shirt. “Gyeaaah!!” Rose yelped, tugging at Sorey as she flailed about. She slipped over the grassy bank, sending them both tumbling into the stream with a splash.

*

Sorey sat down beside Rose, handing her a mug of hot cocoa. “Thanks,” she said gratefully. They sat in comfortable silence by the fire as they sipped at their drinks, wrapped in blankets to keep the chill out. “Sorry about earlier,” Sorey said at length, his mug balanced carefully between his fingers. “I should’ve noticed how close we were to the stream before charging at you like that.” Rose narrowed her eyes and snorted, leaning in to nudge her shoulder playfully against his. “You’re too soft, Shepherd. All’s fair in combat if it keeps your hide safe. Besides, it’s not like that was the first time we’ve fallen into surging water together.” Sorey grinned sheepishly. “Still, I’m glad you weren’t seriously hurt or anything—o-ow!” This time, Rose elbowed him in the ribs, scowling hard. “Seriously? C’mon, it’ll take a hell of a lot more than that to put me out of commission. Let’s just compromise and say we’re both a force to be reckoned with.” “Fair enough.” Sorey let out a soft laugh. “Eguille did call it a draw, so I guess we both win this round, huh?” “Yup! And while it’s great to know we’re both capable of holding our own against each other in combat, I think I very much prefer us fighting on the same side.” Rose downed the last of her drink with relish before she yawned widely, leaning back to rest against the fallen log behind them. Sorey could feel the fatigue finally catching up to him just from watching her. His shoulders and back were already protesting the mistreatment from the day’s sparring session. “I’m really glad we’re on the same side too,” he said, stretching languidly to ease the kinks out of his sore back and settling down to rest beside his Squire.

“And together, we’re the bestest. Vigilantes of the people, for truth and justice!” Rose declared sleepily, one arm raised in a victorious fist-pump.   Sorey thought back to the look of fright and horror the townspeople had cast their way during their scuffle with the crab hellions that morning, and smiled wryly. He didn’t quite have the heart to tell Rose otherwise.

*

“All right, kiddos—get your suppers while they’re piping hot… Ah.” Eguille paused in his steps, balancing two bowls of stew and a basket of bread rolls on a tray. Sorey and Rose had both dozed off, their backs resting against the log as they curled close to the warmth of the fireplace. “Supper will have to wait till later then,” Eguille sighed, setting the tray down on a nearby tree stump so he could adjust the blankets over the two. He watched and listened—to the way the flames flickered a little brighter, to the sound of a stray breeze rustling the leaves of the canopy above—and glanced back at Rose and Sorey’s sleeping forms. “So the rumours are true, huh,” he murmured to no one in particular. He clasped his palms together over his chest, a show of gratitude. “This supper isn’t much, but I hope you’ll be able to share it with Rose and Sorey. Thank you for always watching over us.” The branches above bobbed lightly as if in response; while he’d never had any resonance for it, Eguille felt in that moment he could almost, almostsee the Shepherd’s seraphim beaming silently from the shadows.

—End—

[applegelstore]

So we (=my sister plays, I watch her and do other stuff besides) have finally marathoned through Tales of Berseria (only the post-game sidequests left). So here’s excerpts of my final verdict (mostly in contrast to Zesty because sorry but I can’t help it. Plus, it’s the prequel for Maotelus’ sake). Cut for massive length and very heavy spoilers, obviously! No reviews, though, just incoherent ramblings. Many, many incoherent ramblings.

-The plot is indeed kinda more exciting than Zestiria. Which isn’t particularly hard. I mean there are many reasons why I love Zestiria, but the plot (and the villains) sure aren’t one of them. The plot was kinda just… there and didn’t do any harm, but honestly I could just have watched a 200 episode show of plotless party banter and would have enjoyed it just the same. The plot in neither game makes particularly much sense, tho.

-I have a billion questions and somehow most of them concern Zaveid’s gun in both games. Like, how does it actually work? It separates fusings, but it’s the basis for the invention of the armatus? Apparently it also boosts magic? Idk. And where does it come from? Let me guess, there was that super advanced sci-fi-civilization that lived on the planet like 20 000 years ago and is now forgotten *insert dramatic music here*

-How on earth did Velvet get out of that volcano…? But as long as Morgrim is safe, I’m good.

-On that note, Velvet literally screaming WAKE UUUUUUUUUUUUUP!!!!!!!!! at the volcano made me kinda happy

-whenever she has facepalm/I’m so done/I’m surrounded by idiots moments, I feel her very much

-Despite the headscratchers, I’m totally digging the Berseria/Zestiria worldbuilding, like hell

-Sue me but I still like the Zestiria characters lightyears better than the Berseria characters. Mostly because they’re funnier, more relatable, and also because I honestly don’t like the Darker and Edgier trope. But also because the costume designs are goddamn awful, Magilou is an obnoxious pest, and it takes Eleanor far too many hours of game play to get that other people than abbey members have human rights (I ended up liking her in the end but honestly getting there was a pain). BTW yes, Velvet, Phi and Eleanor probs have more dramatic changes in personality over the course of the game than the Zesty squad combined, but can anybody explain to me what kind of character development Eizen, Rokurou and Magilou display? …Thought so. Also, no, dramatic 180° turn character development is NOT a prerequisite for good character writing in my opinion, thank you very much. I also think that mental breakdowns aren’t a prerequisite, just in case you were wondering. I’m honestly not a big fan of the Heroic B.S.O.D. trope, although there might be some exceptions where I thought it was well done. I still prefer to do without.

-At least I can tolerate Magilou and Eleanor now that the former got a backstory and the latter finally learned how not to be a dick

-Phi’s constant complaints that he doesn’t want to be treated like a child (I’ve got bad news for you sweetie, you’re TEN) do horrible things to my headcanon that he simply stays physically 10 for eternity, but don’t think I’d give up too soon

-however, I guess we can establish that he plays splatter games with a burning passion

-I am very glad that the monster doggies and the monster bird are safe and sound in the epilogue

-WHERE IS FIRE MUM

-How on earth do people defend the opinion that Berseria was less of a button smasher game than Zestiria?? Because honestly in Zestiria I never managed to win battles by doing nothing but frantically smashing X/Square/Triangle/Circle without any plan or order.

-THE BATTLE CAMERA IS SO MUCH BETTER THO I can control it freely! Oh bless the new camera. I want that so hard in Zestiria. It would help a bunch.

-the equipment upgrade and drop system is also a billion times more effective in the sense that you don’t have to carefully plan your fusings (guess who’s always too lazy to do that) and fruitlessly try to farm the drops for that for hours (guess who’s too lazy for that as well, and also helplessly underlevelled because she’s so lazy and ends up with bosses one or two hitting an armatus even on normal mode *coughs*). Bless.

-I mean the new equipment system in Berseria is basically Final Fantasy IX but for lazy noobs. There’s ups and downs to that, I guess?

-Meirchio is so goddamn pretty, I didn’t even realise that in ToZX. Guess I was distracted by how bad the trainwreck is. Anyway I love everything about this town

-Aball and its surroundings incl. Taliesin also deserve awards

-the dungeons and field areas weren’t anymore interesting than Zestiria, tho

-btw Aball=Avalon? Magical apple island and stuff? Just asking because honestly some of the Arthurian references are pretty obscurely named (it took me quite a while to get the Lastonbell=Glastonbury reference, too, trollolol. Anyone else reminded of Good old Ah! My Goddess translation sins? I mean, come on… Verdandi to Belldandy? Apparently, correctly transcribing Roman letters into Japanese script is even more difficult than Ancient Avarost)

-Morgrim, let me love you, please take all my blessings, you are purrfectly pleasantly plump and I want to cuddle you and give you kisses

-why exactly was Shigure one of the bad guys?? It still escaped me after we cut him in half, sacrificed his soul to some ancient deity, and killed his deceased, reincarnated, dragonised mum

-speaking of which, is it really clever to use the souls of your mortal enemies to revive gods that you want to be on your side!?

-anyway, screw you, Melchior, in particular

-Bienfu is a strong contender for most annoying mascot ever and I still wanted to throw him into the ocean hours into the game. I swear if I have to hear him yell BIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN just once more in my life I’m gonna punch the screen.

-I’m with Jude on the pengyons. I mean I guess killing and eating them is preferable to killing them but not eating them, but still. Everyone speaks about representation, where’s my representation? Is there a single JRPG in which at least one of the playable characters is a vegetarian?

-I was surprised how much I enjoyed the Jude and Milla cameo, cracktastic as it was. Milla was actually my favourite in Xillia, although I had and still have severe problems with her character. But here I only saw of her what I love about her, and it made me happy. You go, Milla

-The skit writing with the constant “all males are perverts”, “all women are deceitful whores” and “men and women are fundamentally different and will never understand each other or be friends unless they’re incestuous siblings” is goddamn awful, period.

-apparently if your vessel becomes malevolent even the tiniest bit (no need to go full tainted), that physically hurts your malak/seraph. I’m glad that doesn’t happen in Zesty.

-Zaveid. Buddy. I feel sorry for you. But it also kinda shocks me how fast you get over your girlfriend’s death. I also have bad news: Eizen’s little sister will still look like a 12-year-old in a 1000 years from now. I actually hope you’re NOT into that.

-btw Zaveid and Eizen jump from mortal enemies to true name basis pretty fast holy shit

-I wouldn’t have minded more Aifread’s Pirates shenigans and nobody is surprised

-I want the cracktastic enemy book back

-I want my elemental powers back. Fuck this don’t ya try to talk down my beloved Magical Dragqueen mode IT’S THE POWER OF LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE y’ignorants

-dear malak NPCs, thank you for establishing that the abbey version armatus is a sucky beta version which will be replaced with the awesome real thing in a couple of centuries, and will eventually symbolise harmony between humans and malakhim. Bonus points for carrying along the motherfucking Galahad ruins bow to drive home the point

-I’m a little too amused by the fact that the ending credit cards are a “everyone’s happy, nobody ever died, and everybody’s friends with each other” AU

-uhm, guys? Did they give Artorius’ sword to Sorey’s gay pride armatus in the anime? I didn’t like it even back then but now I hate it even more, pls no

-I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want

-I know there will never be a Zestiria sequel because it didn’t sell well enough for that, but just in case: the only premise I’ll accept is “Phi, Sorey and Mikleo free Velvet from her prison and finally tear Innominat apart for good”. I don’t know how that would work without killing Velvet and Phi, but hey, I’m sure we’re gonna find a solution because it’s as JRPG and all we need is the POWER OF LOVE *dundundundun*

Everyone is happy. Also what is this “reborn Malakhim aren’t the same people they died as anymore” crap, don’t give me this heartbreak material you assholes

-is it wrong if I wanna play Zestiria after finishing Berseria? Actually, we would have gotten there far sooner if I hadn’t insisted taking breaks so I could play a few hours of Zestiria in between. Whoops.

-my sister was worried that Phi would miss his auntie Velvet very much and suggested Sorey and Mikleo should adopt him once the sweet baby slumber party is over. At this point I’m wondering whether I should give her fanfic recs to brighten her days, or whether that will cause her to forever ban me from her Playstation and refuse to cook for me ever again

-after watching the Zesty DLC, she also told me: “I don’t know what was the point of it, but Rose and Alisha were very cute.” She’s on the path to righteousness.

[mabufu]

me: can i get uhhhhhhhhhhhh some sweet thots on yusorey,

yes omg you can get endless thots on yusorey at all times……. i’m gonna go with p5 verse for this so it’s a bit more #specific and also bc i love your p5 verse! :D

first & foremost: yusuke and sorey are both very passionate people. they’ve been called ‘weird’ for their enthusiasm in the past and are prone to doing eccentric things in the name of their interests. in sorey’s case, it’s history, and in yusuke’s case, it’s art. they’re also interested in certain elements of each other’s ‘main focus’ - yusuke enjoys researching historical events, and, in sorey’s case, you can’t really study history without acknowledging the cultural context of art during that time period. related to that, their interests 100% overlap in the form of art history in general, lmao. so the bottom line here is that they learn from each other a lot… which is important for characters like them, i think. they get excited abt documentaries and marathon them and Nerd Out and stuff. and tbh, this what made me fall for yusorey initially. yusuke is 100% attracted to sorey’s passion; to him, it’s just… so incredibly beautiful? sorey’s interests are fascinating and inspiring to yusuke and they really help each other out when it comes to fully exploring what they love. yusuke wouldn’t be afraid to text sorey paragraphs of information about an art piece. he’d trust sorey to actually read it and enjoy it and not brush him aside as weird. imo establishing that trust is a super strong foundation for their relationship. it’s part of why yusuke was so determined to get involved with sorey’s problems in the first place.

in p5, yusuke’s major fear is becoming tainted; in toz, sorey is associated with purifying taint. need i say more?!

dlgkld;fkd but in all seriousness: yusuke is really preoccupied with the figurative concept of one’s heart, and he becomes fascinated with sorey’s ‘heart’ from their very first meeting due to his… unwavering kindness?! yusuke isn’t used to that at all. he’s used to being kept at a distance. sorey was the first person outside of the phantom thieves (prior to his joining) who treated yusuke like his opinion mattered, u know?!!! that goes a long way. their first meeting w the crepe means so much to me now bc while we were being silly back then, it absolutely showed that sorey accepted yusuke’s thought process from their very first encounter. he had the option of mocking him or calling him strange or, hell, even correcting him, but, instead, he went with it. it became a fun friend/couple joke as time went on, too. it genuinely set the tone for their relationship. 

they can definitely relate to each other in terms of their past experiences. their circumstances are different, of course - but they have that key similarity in that they both know what it’s like to be a victim of some corrupt adult’s cruelty. they both end up confronting extremely uncomfortable truths and have to work through all that leftover trauma, now. in doing so, they form a powerful support system with each other bc they can really empathize with each other. there isn’t any pity or anything, you know? it’s like a mutual understanding. both of them lost their mothers due to the actions of evil father-like figures (well, in sorey’s case, he wasn’t even a figure - he was flat-out his biological father… but u know what i mean). both of them know how it feels to kind of… be alone. separate from the world while also harboring curiosity. they can absolutely recover together, and are secure enough in their relationship to outlast even the rough patches.

this isn’t rly a meta point but like… when pre-pt sorey confided in yusuke re: his connection with heldalf, and yusuke decided he’d also confide in sorey w/o even consulting the other phantom thieves bc he trusted sorey just that much and was also willing to help sorey alone if he had to… that was gay culture in action right there.

we haven’t written out sorey’s journey into heldalf’s palace yet, but from what we’ve discussed… i just wanna say how amazing it’ll be. yusuke going into a palace that is based so firmly in fire elemental stuff - fire being one of his fears; not to mention his major canonical weakness - because he flat-out refuses to sit this one out. sorey learning a bunch of truths that will clearly have quite the impact on him, and yusuke being able to relate strongly to everything and being gripped by this determination to keep sorey safe; to protect his beautiful heart, to keep it free of the taint that afflicted his own heart after the madarame stuff… my god. it’ll be good. i could prob write a full meta piece based on that alone.

this is pretty unrelated and i can’t really take it somewhere deep just yet, but i’m also still rly (eyes emoji) over their phantom thief names. shepherd and fox. kind of cool in a weird way?! kind of fiesty?! a shepherd working alongside a fox has some kinda rad symbolism to me. yusorey is pastoral, now, apparently.

ok anyways: this is totally restating my first point but i want to drive HOME that they can genuinely be themselves around each other. given yusuke’s personality, that’s the most important, special thing possible lmao. they have such incredible compatibility and became friends so… quickly?! and their progression into romance was so fluid and natural, it’s just… iconic. i love yusorey so much and i’m so glad sorey babyboy was patched into p5 to be a member of the phantom thieves! thanks, atlus!

[littlepurinsesu]

Written in the Stars

Title: Written in the Stars Fandom: Tales of Zestiria Characters: Mikleo, Sorey Relationship: Sorey/Mikleo Rating: General Warnings: None

*Read on AO3*

Summary: I remember you fancied the idea of there being as many emotions as stars in the sky. But now that I look up and trace my fingers between the tiny orbs of light, my other hand stroking absentmindedly at the feather tied around my waist, I think there are as many memories as there are stars, too. I’d teased you for being a romantic back then, but it looks like you’ve influenced me in more ways than I imagined, huh?

Author’s Notes: I haven’t written fanfiction in over five years, and have never really thought about participating in a fandom week. But Sormik gives me feelings and makes me do things I never intended. Inspiration struck and I came up with a way to somehow encompass all of the days for this year’s Sormik Week into one comprehensive piece. So here I am, presenting a very late entry for Sormik Week 2017! Most of it is based on game canon, with one scene taken from the manga and quite a bit of headcanon and filling in the gaps. Enjoy (hopefully)!

[Sormik Week 2017 Prompts] Days 1-7: Innocence | Trust | Nature | Loss | Truth | Acceptance | Fate Bonus Day: Rebirth

Sorey, do you remember those nights when we watched the stars together? And how we would fall asleep under their light, only to wake before dawn and bid the retreating stars good morning?

Because I do. And I think about those nights a lot lately, especially tonight as I lie alone, gazing up at the same stars. It’s chilly and empty, a little nostalgic, and so very lonely, but it reminds me of you. It reminds me of your smile and your hope and all the traces of you in there, and suddenly, the centuries passed and the ones to come, however many they may be, seem just a little more bearable. Only a little bit, though; I am yet to master the art of stargazing without the tears keeping me company in your place, but I’ll get there. Have some faith in me.

In retrospect, I seem to have taken for granted all those times when we would lie with our faces turned towards the sky, mapping constellations and creating stories that made it all the more easy to believe that they were just as real as us. On more than a few occasions, when I thought I had my eyes focused directly above, it would take me several moments to notice that I had tilted my head for a glimpse of you instead. Sometimes, I could rest my eyes on your serene face, the edges of my lips lifting unconsciously at the sight of those two emerald orbs, sparkling with awe and fascination as they took in the expanse of glitter overhead. Other times, when my head turned intuitively to my side, I would be met with your affectionate gaze instead, with an expression so doting that I couldn’t look away with a feigned statement of annoyance if I tried.

And when you were feeling particularly romantic, we would make the sky our theatre and the stars our audience. You would wrap your fraying brown blanket around our shoulders and lean in to whisper all sorts of endearments and declarations of love. They were so hopelessly sappy, I could never tell if you had memorised them from a romance novel or composed them yourself in that dreamy mind of yours. But the soothing drift of the wind would carry each of your words like a star itself, scattering them to join the rest of the jewels in the night sky, like a fairy sprinkling a bag full of enchanted pixie dust. The sky was like your canvas, and each night, you would seemingly bless those shining lights with your endless love and inspiration, while I watched your face and saw the brilliance of galaxies gleaming in your eyes. Each amorous word you offered me was a sacred treasure to which only the stars bore witness, before I tucked them into the depths of my heart, sealing the lock with a kiss that you were all too ready to give.

Recently, I often feel the loneliness burning in my chest, welling up and straining the back of my throat, only to remain that way because there simply aren’t any more tears left to shed. So on those nights when the longing is particularly unbearable and I feel myself suffocating, I turn to these same stars. I drown myself in their soft glow and think of you being gone, of not being able to hear your voice when I call or feel your skin when I reach out. That is usually enough to drain all the feeling from my body until I am left with nothing but my raw yearning for you. And when that’s all that’s left, the tears can finally flow, and I feel a little better afterwards.

I remember you fancied the idea of there being as many emotions as stars in the sky. But now that I look up and trace my fingers between the tiny orbs of light, my other hand stroking absentmindedly at the feather tied around my waist, I think there are as many memories as there are stars, too. I’d teased you for being a romantic back then, but it looks like you’ve influenced me in more ways than I imagined, huh?

Say, Sorey, that cluster of stars on the far left kind of looks like an Elysialark, don’t you think? Just like the ones that dropped a few of their feathers that day when we went birdwatching together for the very first time. You tripped on a fallen tree branch and went plummeting forward, sending the larks away in a terrified flurry of flapping wings. I was clearly irritated and more than a little disappointed then, so you picked up two of the smallest and fluffiest feathers they left behind, comically holding them to your ears in an attempt to raise my spirits again. Because, like you said, if I couldn’t watch the larks I had been waiting for all week, then you would happily be a bird for a day, or any animal I desired to see, as long as it put the smile back on my face. With a grin that stretched from one ear to the other and creased your eyes into crescents, you playfully waggled the tiny orange feathers and asked me how you looked. I huffed, crossed my tiny arms, and turned my head away, informing you that you looked silly. But then Kyme, the traitor, let slip that I admitted to him that you had looked quite cute and lovable back then. After spending the entirety of the next day holed up in your bedroom, you proudly emerged that night with newly fashioned feather earrings of your own craftsmanship, vowing never to take them off. If I liked them, then you liked them, too. And most of all, you elaborated, if a stranger were to ask about the earrings, you could tell them all about me and how amazing I was and how lucky you were to have me. You really were stretching the correlation, but I was immensely flattered and more than a little delighted, even if I didn’t say so.

See that long stretch of stars, curving and twisting to form the smooth frame of our bow? That will always be one of my favourite memories. Hearing my true name spilling from your mouth in that confident and protective tone, I probably would have melted into a mass of trembling light even if it hadn’t been for the newly forged Sub Lord pact. But melting into you, and feeling the soft vibration of our souls becoming one, the cool rush of my element enveloping our body, and the excited hammering of our heart in our ears, of our blood in our veins, and of our dream guiding us as we fired arrow after arrow… That had to be the epitome of our synchronisation. You said that ours was your favourite—the one you could command most easily at will and felt the most at home with—and somehow, each time when I think of those words, I still feel the pride and pleasure surge in the pit of my stomach. Our bond is something that cannot be rivalled, because, like you reminded me in the dim light of one of the inns we slept in, I am your one and only. Even now, I still feel my cheeks tingle at the memory of your voice that night, soft and low as you lay on your side and ran your fingers through my hair. I went for a light punch on your shoulder and a declaration that you were a hopeless sap, but now that I think back on that moment, I wish I had been more honest with my response.

Look there, can you see those stars lined up evenly to form the stout trunk of a tree? It makes me think of that great towering tree and the way it stood, tall and proud, watching over the people as their town recovered from the epidemic. I remember turning furtively towards my left and seeing the joy on your face as you watched the lush greens carpeting the earth and the radiance return to the blue afternoon sky. You couldn’t stop the cheerful exclamation from escaping your mouth, which was set wide open in the shape of my favourite smile, as a single butterfly emerged from the blossoming bushes nearby, taking to the sky in a burst of the most vibrant of purples. You turned to peer at me quizzically when I let out a slight chuckle, and told me, so nonchalantly yet so genuinely, that the purple reminded you of my eyes. And as the butterfly circled a tree branch twice before disappearing into the distance, I thought of how the violet had looked so picturesque against the brilliant green all around us. They belonged with one another, and each time you locked me in your bright emerald gaze, I knew there were no two colours that could be as beautiful together.

Over there above the tree, there’s a smaller patch that looks almost like a paper crane. That night, the wind carried our crane into the bleak darkness of the sky, and while its journey might have been a lonesome one, I know it found its way to him. I remember we spent that night together, alone, and how you broke down and collapsed on me, remorse and shame eating away at the usual passion in your voice. He was important to us, and you wanted and tried so hard to save him, but you couldn’t. None of us could, and I think that was the night when we truly understood the weight of our journey. People we cared about, and people we didn’t even know or had never even met, could leave us at any moment. You clutched at my tunic, sobbing into my chest at the thought of losing anyone else—of losing me. And before I realised, my fingers were tightening as I grabbed fistfuls of your cloak, holding you tighter and closer as I felt my own tears fall and land in the brown mass of your hair. We ended the night with pledges to keep everyone safe, and most importantly, promises to protect one another so that either of us wouldn’t have to endure the pain of losing the other. That, then, had been enough reassurance to lull me into a restless slumber, yet here I am, living that fear and still going strong. Maybe not as strong as I would have hoped, but I’m trying. I really am.

If I squint and tilt my head a little, I think I can make out a petite flower on the far right of the sky. It isn’t anything extravagant, nothing too fancy, just a small and innocent dandelion flower, like the one you picked up when you gingerly approached me that evening. You caught my shuddering form in your sturdy arms, cradling me against your chest as my tears stained the right side of your cape, where the fabric stretched across your broad shoulder. As my distressed and infuriated cries echoed in the tranquility of the evening, you gently detached my fingers from their tight grip on your clothes, looked me in the eyes, and assured me that I was special. I was important, I was needed, and I was loved by so many people, but most of all, by you. And no historical revelation of my past or disturbing truth about any bygone Shepherd could change that. You offered me one of those tender smiles then, the kind that only you are capable of giving, the kind that can somehow make me want to drop to my knees and gather all the pieces of the hope that I had just thrown away. Carefully, you brushed the hair out of my teary eyes and tucked the flower behind my ear, beaming softly at how the cool violet of my eyes brought out its dazzling yellow. You kissed me gently on the tip of my nose, and spoke of your desire to see my spirits as bright as the flower again. I cling to those words today, too, even though I don’t think it possible for my spirits to be as bright as any flower without you around.

Can you connect the lines between that mass of stars down there, just underneath the Elysialark? They’re arranged so precisely that I can almost make out the outline of a book. Not just any book, though. That one I always had to deftly pry from beneath your cheek before attempting to wipe away the small puddle of your drool. That one with the tiny heart with my initials inside, carefully and lovingly penciled into the bottom left corner of page thirty-six on water seraphim, where you thought I wouldn’t notice. That one you passed to me on that fateful night, when you passed your dream into my hands. Standing a few steps above, it was a rare opportunity to see you from a higher viewpoint, since this privilege is usually only granted when you would lift me up with your arms secured around my waist to spin me around in uneven, dizzying circles. Without the need to yelp or squeeze my eyes shut to prevent lightheadedness, I could truly take in your form, and it was at that moment that I realised just how young you were. You stared at me with those bright juvenile eyes, emerald green against the dark of the night sky and practically dancing with life, and spoke with a confidence that betrayed the naivety of your soul. You’d come such a long way, Sorey, and there was still so much for you to learn. And there you were, the conviction radiating from your smile and the determination firm in your stance, an innocent youth ready to set off to serve as the world’s saviour. Anyone who looked at you wouldn’t have believed that a candid, lively young man such as yourself would be the hope for humans and seraphim alike. But I knew you well—perhaps even better than I understood myself, sometimes—and I was confident that you could do it. And you did. Even now, you’re still doing it, aren’t you? You’re out there somewhere, playing your part in creating the world we once dreamed of, and I’m lying here… Don’t worry, I promise I’m doing my part in protecting our dream and making it a reality. But sometimes, I just need a small break. A small, self-indulgent moment to reflect and remember what it felt like to just be us. I’m almost done, though. Just one more constellation… one more memory… is that okay? Just one more and I’ll be done for tonight.

Hmm… the last one has to be special, right? What about the closely huddled band of stars there, right in the middle? The rise and fall of their path and the distinct glimmer in the centre remind me of the glove. Yes, the glove that transformed from a mere plaything I had mischievously dangled just out of your reach to the symbol of the burden that would later weigh down on your shoulders. The gears of fate were already turning, steering us towards our journey. But that journey on which we embarked together, shoulder to shoulder and heart to heart, has ended. And now, fate has put me on the path of a new journey, where I’m learning to keep my head held high and my eyes trained to the front, rather than to my right, because only then can I keep my promise of preserving our dream by moving on forward. But not too much. I know I always loved the pleasure of getting a head-start, but this time, I don’t want to get too far ahead of you. The race isn’t nearly as exciting or rewarding when I can’t hear your loud, hurried footsteps thundering from behind. I’ll take it slowly, and when you’re here to join me again, I’ll backtrack and retrace the steps of my journey with you by my side. No journey can end without you beside me, so while I wait for your return, my journey will continue. And maybe by the time I can reach instinctively to my right and finally take your slightly calloused hand in mine again, the Shepherd’s glove will be but a mere fragment of our past, and your hands will be free to embrace the new life that your deeds have breathed into this land.

You know, Sorey, sometimes when I stare wistfully at these stars and see them blinking back, it almost feels as though you’re up there somewhere, casting your adoring gaze upon me. It’s like the warm feeling of home, because no matter where I am, I can look up and be assured that these stars, these same stars that have witnessed the countless secrets and promises and kisses we’ve shared, will understand my feelings and pass them on to you. Does it ever feel lonely for you, Sorey? Because if the loneliness ever becomes too much, just turn your head to the sky and know that somewhere, I am gazing at the same stars, too. If you try really hard, like I have on so many occasions, it might even be possible to send some of your thoughts to them and hope that they can pass them on to me. Go on, give it a try! And if I do receive them, I’ll have the confirmation I need: that the stars really can act as a bridge between us, and that my feelings really can reach you. That would make a really big difference for me, you know?

And if not, I’ll still be okay, because I have all of the emotions and memories etched into the twinkle of these stars to keep me company. There’s pain and suffering and grief and despair, but there’s also joy, excitement, determination, courage, love, hope, and so much more. So I’ll be okay as I wait while time keeps passing by. Time waits for no one, but I will wait for you.

Sorey, will you allow me to break the tiny promise I made just before? Because now, as I lift myself from my resting position and make to retreat indoors before daybreak, I see the pair of stars we always followed whenever we became lost on one of our grand adventures, and I suddenly want to stay out here to look at them for just a little longer. We compared them to all sorts of things in the past: a prince and a princess living their fairytale ending, a pair of cherries perched enticingly on top of the fruit sundaes I often made for you, or even the two rose bushes we planted together during our first gardening lesson with Melody. We never got around to deciding what they were, so tonight, I’m going to go ahead and name them myself. You wouldn’t mind if I did that, would you? Sometimes inspiration strikes, and like so many things in our lives, can trickle through the gaps between our fingers if we do not hold onto them tightly.

That one on the left will now be known as ‘Luzrov Rulay’. And the one beside it on the right, its light shining so bright and so close that they almost merge into one big spark, is now called ‘Sorey’. How does that sound to you? Do you like it? Or maybe, if I continue to hold out with the patience and trust that I have always had in you, a time will come when I can give this star a different name.

You’ll have a true name by the time you come back to me, won’t you? Or perhaps I could be the one to give yours to you? I’ve never told you this, but I already have so many ideas! Sorey with the Sweet Tooth, Sorey with the Bottomless Stomach, Sorey with the Tickling Obsession… Sorey of Adventures, Sorey of Feather Earrings, Sorey of a Sacrifice… Sorey the Hope of the World, Sorey the Light of the Future, Sorey my One and Only…

I think I’ll save naming this star for a later time. Maybe by then, I’ll get to name it something different, or maybe its name will still end up being simply ‘Sorey’. But either way, hopefully when I finally get around to giving it a name, I’ll be able to turn to my side and see the brightest star in my life, shining so gloriously that everything else dulls in its presence. Actually, knowing you, you would find a way to give that light to everyone else as well, and even then, you would still be the brightest of them all.

And if you don’t remember, I’ll lay you down and chart every single one of these constellations just for you. We can take it slow, because if the time comes when I am the only one of us to still be in possession of these memories, it would mean that we have all the time in the world. Your memories, our memories, are safe with me, and when you come back home, I’ll lovingly place them back into your hands and watch the stars reflected in your eyes as you relive them one by one.

Okay, I’m done. For real, this time. Tomorrow, I’ll continue working hard to achieve our dream, and as usual, I’ll work extra hard for your share as well. The air is frosty and the ground is uneven, but I think I’m going to sleep out here tonight. Don’t worry, I won’t catch a cold or anything. I just really want to remain like this: the stars in the sky, the memories in my mind, and you in my heart.

We have a big dream that I am guarding, but for now, I’d like to dream of something much simpler. Of you. Just you, and nothing else. And that will be enough for tonight, I think.

Yes, that would be more than enough.

[tmariea]

We Have No Need to Swim

For Sormik Week Day 4 - Loss

Summary:  What if sea monsters are water seraphim who went down into the ocean and never came back up? They sunk down to the depths to escape the pain of malevolence and grief, and there they fell anyways. They lurk in the darkness, lithe and sinuous, with milky blind eyes and wavering points of bioluminescence, ready to consume anything that comes too close. There is no happy ending.

WARNING: Major Character Death

Read on AO3

It is around year five hundred that the question comes to Mikleo – is there anything left to explore?  Somewhere along the way, he lost count of how many times he had crossed the continent.  He had documented every known ruin, and then gone back to document how they had changed with the deterioration of time.  He had published innumerable books and papers on the subject, reread and reworked them often enough for the words to lose their meaning.

What is one to do when the world loses that fantastic glimmer?  When the one thing that could bring back the light of discovery and novelty slumbers on, for ages unknown?

In the kinds of worries that strike late in the night, pulling sleep from his grasp, he wonders if even Sorey’s return can bring back his sense of wonder.

Other times, when those thoughts crept up the back of his spine, he would seek out Lailah or Edna.  Each were a comfort but in very different ways.  This time he doesn’t.  This time there is a restlessness in his feet that he hasn’t been able to quench for decades, though not for lack of trying, and so he packs a bag and heads out, on the hunt for even one last unseen corner of his world.

He keeps moving, through daylight and under the trail of stars.  The same trail of stars they had watched overhead one night in Lastonbell.  Mikleo had wanted to scream at Sorey for leaving, had wanted to kiss him and beg him to stay.  He hadn’t.  He had been so full of hope, then, full enough to drown out the worries.  He feels he’s done well at keeping hope, but even best efforts can be eroded with time.  He keeps moving; he doesn’t look at the night sky anymore.

He walks and walks until his toes meet the edge of the ocean tide, and looks across.  There is nothing but water as far as the eye can see.  And that is when Mikleo gets an idea.  What exists under the ocean, where no one has ever seen?  It is not as if he has ever had trouble breathing within his own element.  He leaves his pack on the shore, aside from a small notebook and some charcoal that he can use artes to protect from water damage, and takes his first steps into the surf.

It is beautiful in the depths of the ocean, like nothing Mikleo has ever experienced before.  It feels new.  The light is different in the way it shifts under the force of the waves above.  The creatures are different, in the schools of fish that come swimming up to him cautiously and curiously, only to dart away at the slightest movement.  He spends days carefully sketching them in his book, barely shifting aside from his hand.  The press of the water on his limbs feels like an embrace, and the way his hair drifts in the currents feels like gentle fingers on his scalp.  It’s been eons since he felt these things, and he is loath to give them up.

He doesn’t.

Mikleo leaves his spot near where he entered the water and begins to travel down the coast.  He is fascinated by the geography of the ocean floor, the way the water shapes the sediment, and the rocks.  Gentle waters create sloping sands which lead back up to the surface.  Where the waves are harsh, they crash against the rocks above.  There is the sound of their beat in his ears, murkier waters before his eyes, and plenty of rough ground to stumble on under his feet.  When it gets too bad, he swims instead.  Sometimes, cliffs drop sheer into the water, and if he goes far enough out, there’s a cliff under the ocean as well.  That drops off harshly and into darkness; Mikleo decides to leave that place be, for now.

He loves feeling the barest changes in pressure as the tides roll in and out.  He’s always had a faint sense for the moon, but here it is stronger than ever.  He can feel the way it shapes his environment, shapes the water.  The moon, he thinks, must be a water seraph.  Then, he laughs at himself for the fanciful notions.  That is the kind of image Sorey would have loved, he thinks, then notices the past tense and corrects himself.  Sorey will love that image, some day.

He jots a note in the back pages of his book, separate from his observations of the ocean floor, and then tamps down anything he might feel on the matter.

Mikleo hasn’t been keeping track of time well, but he thinks he has spent a few months under the water when he comes upon the ruin.  He can feel his heart soaring, in a way that it hasn’t in ages.  This is a new ruin, new history, new things to explore and build theories on.  It’s exactly what he had been missing before.  He wonders who lived there.  He wonders how this place came to be under the sea.

There is an open archway leading inside, and Mikleo walks through, after taking a moment to brush his hands along the frame.  Between the creatures that have made their home there, he can make out patterns.  They are long since worn down by the constant sway of the ocean, but he will have to come back later, to see what he can find.

Just inside the hall, it is dark.  Not much sun finds its way to the ocean floor anyway, and none inside this ruin.  Mikleo summons mana in his palm, calling on it to glow.  Once he has a sufficient ball, he sends it towards the ceiling, and then makes a second for himself to carry.  Even this doesn’t fully illuminate the space, although he gasps in delight at the what he can see.  The ceiling soars several stories high, and is decorated by delicate, beautiful vaulting.  In a way it reminds him of the Sanctuary in Ladylake, but there’s something slightly different, too.  He will have to swim up and examine them later.  For now, he heads towards the ground story walls, where his light catches on the curves of engravings and casts the dips into shadow.

Mikleo is examining the fresco he found - which is a fascinating mix of styles, parts harkening to Temperance of Avarost while others, strikingly, bear a resemblance to the art which arose during his own Age of Chaos despite the fact that it must be thousands of years old - when he feels a domain brush his own.  It’s the last thing he expected to find down here in the depths of the ocean.  He whirls to face the room, hair floating softly in the eddies caused by his sudden movement.  His eyes strain against the darkness, as the outline of a figure wavers across the vast space.  He summons his staff and holds it at the ready, waiting for the figure to approach.

It is a woman who comes into his light, moving in a way that glides more than she walks or swims, with tendrils of blue hair drifting around and in front of her face.  As they shift, he can see that the tips of her ears have turned to fins, and the pupils of her eyes are slits and milky with near-blindness.  She raises a hand in greeting, and there are blue webs between her clawed fingers, blue fins along her forearms, and the glint of scales visible through the patches in her deteriorating robes.

“Can you put out the light?  It’s too bright,” she says.  Her voice sounds scratchy, unused, even through the way the water distorts sound.  He suspects if it was not their element, they would not be able to understand each other at all.

“Ah, okay,” Mikleo says and lets the light above them shrink and fade.  He lets the one near him fade, but not go out, and keeps his staff at the ready; while the seraph might be acting calm, she looks as if she has been tainted.  “Who are you?”

“My name is Amelia.  Although, it has been a long time since I have had reason to say it.”

“I’m Mikleo,” he ventures, for the sake of politeness, and then wonders if a half-tained seraph would have any care for manners.  He nearly snorts at the strange thought, but holds it in.  For a moment more, the two of them look at each other, just as wary as before, before Mikleo asks the question burning in his mind, “How did you come to be here?”

Amelia blinks, and the fins on her arms twitch, as if she is anxious or unsure.  “We came here to escape the malevolence of the world above, when it became too much.”  She must have some sight left, despite her milky eyes, because her face twists and she laughs as Mikleo winces.  The laugh is a hollow, grinding thing, like waves against the rocks.  It is not pleasant, but even more than that, it is frightening; it contains no emotion at all.  Mikleo clutches his staff until his knuckles turn white, and wills himself to hold his ground and not take a step back.

“It didn’t work, as you can see,” she finally finishes, once her bout of strange laughter is done.

“The world above is much more pure now,” Mikleo blurts out.

She stares him down, without blinking this time, and then says, “That is a nice thought.  I am glad.  But it is not one for me.”

A moment of silence passes, and then another.  Amelia does not seem inclined to say more, or to move just yet.  Finally, Mikleo clears his throat and asks, “We?”

“There were more of us once.”

And he knows.  He knows exactly why there are no others here with her.  He asks anyway, “How?”

She laughs her awful, soulless laugh again and Mikleo forces himself not to cringe.  “How am I the only one left?”

That wasn’t what he had meant, but he is not willing to correct her.

Amelia shrugs.  “Some fall faster than others. Those who hold sorrow or darkness in their hearts, perhaps. I'm one of the lucky ones. Or maybe, I'm not.”

Suddenly Mikleo doesn’t want to talk to this woman anymore.  Standing in front of him is a fate that he has spent his life pushing back against, that Sorey had sacrificed himself to prevent.  And here it is still.  He feels the last five hundred years spent alone - and for what? - laying heavy on him.  He feels sick to his stomach.

She studies him for a moment more, eyes narrowing and ear fins twitching.  “Stay away from the depths,” she warns, and it sounds like mourning.  “Stay away from the older ones, the darker ones.  There is nothing left there.”  And then, Amelia turns and walks away, out of his light, and taking the feeling of her domain with her, wrapped tight around her shoulders like a cloak.

In the time that Mikleo spends scouring every inch of the entrance hall and the rooms nearby, he does not meet Amelia again.  It seems she is just as content to stay away as he is to have her gone.  Although, he does always keep the senses in his domain alert for any other surprises that might come along.

From time to time, schools of fish swim in and out.  These he likes, and always takes some time away from his study to coax them close and let them swim between his fingers and hair.  Their cool, smooth bodies and vibrant, tiny lives are grounding.  They move so fast, reminding him of the time passing in a way that he often forgets.  He tries to rack his brain for how long he has been under the water, and comes up short.

He doesn’t mind that as much as he thought he would.  He remembers the way time was starting to drag before he came down into the ocean, so he could do with a little bit of feeling like it’s flying by.

At any rate, the ruin is vast and there is much more to be explored.  By questing with his own domain, he believes that there are several upper stories and a basement, perhaps two, in this vast place.  Upper floors are the way to go, he thinks as he approaches a grand, soaring stairway and begins to ascend.  Superstition can’t help but tell him that there will be darker things, more things like Amelia, down below.

And yet, something in him is still not surprised when, several rooms into his grand exploration of the second floor, he finds a monstrous creature.  Or, really, it’s not so much that Mikleo finds the monster, than the monster finds him.  He is narrowly saved by the feeling in the water of the thing’s passing, and reflexes which make him bring his staff up to block as it rams into him.

This thing is all teeth, rows and rows of them, and tiny, milky eyes, and wicked-sharp looking spines.  For half of a panicked second, he remembers a frightening, hollow laugh, but then he realizes this thing is small, and for all its fierce appearance, not very powerful.  Mikleo gathers the water before him, chills it hard and fast enough that it freezes despite the salt in the water, and waits for the monster to attack again.

It circles for a moment before charging again, and runs head-first into Mikleo’s ice spear.  It shakes itself, shrieks in a way that makes the water all around him shudder, and then turns tail to slink off.

Mikleo is careful, reaching forward with all of the senses at his disposal before he tries to enter the room the monster came from, again.  It seems to be empty.  He guides one of his lights inside, and steps up to the doorway before he freezes.  Inside, there is a dark purple miasma slowly pulsing and twisting in its own mindless hunger.  There are eons of hurt here, little eddies and pockets of it that drift about on the currents like dark jellyfish.  They had always known they needed to purify the land, but who would ever think to purify the sea?

His heart thumps madly, painfully in his chest. There has been so much work done, to purify the land.  And yet, this reminds him of nothing so much as the cities of Glennwood when he and Sorey first set out from Elysia centuries ago.  And this is just one room, in one ruin, in the vast ocean.  How much of the water is infused with malevolence, how much of it has he touched?  If things are still like this here, how in the world will Sorey ever cleanse enough of the world to wake?

That is not a thought to be thinking.  Instead, he swirls the water in the room into a cyclone to chase away the patches of malevolence.  It goes streaming past him as he directs it away.  Inside, there are more fascinating carvings, similar to the ones in the grand hall below.  Even without looking closely, he has a thrill up his spine that these ones might help him unlock answers.

He decides, even though there is malevolence here, that he will stay.

Mikleo hasn’t written in his notebook as much as he once has.  The beginning, when he flips through, is packed full of sketches of fish and notes in a tiny exacting hand on comparisons of art and architecture between historical periods and the periods in which he has lived.  The notes are still tiny and exacting in the later half, but it certainly took him several times the amount of time that it did to fill the front, especially since he’s collected plenty enough on the art style here to put together some answers.  When he reaches the last page, he finds a note, to tell Sorey that he once had the silly notion that the moon was a water seraph.  Until then, he hadn’t even remembered the thought.

Mikleo looks at the page for a moment, decides that he will not write anything more there, and shuts the book.  He slides it into the pouch on his belt, still wrapped in magical protections.  The thought that he should return to the surface for another is gone from his mind almost as fast as it came.  Besides, it’s become hard to write anymore with the webbing slowly creeping between his fingers.

There is a day, when he leans close to a section of wall, to examine an old trap.  It’s no longer a danger to him - the rope connecting the mechanism has long-since rotted away.  But it’s fascinating anyway.  As he looks, his eyes begin to hurt.  He rubs them, feeling his fingers skim along the tiny ridges forming underneath.  The ridges had concerned him once, but not anymore.  The touch does not help with his eyes, though.

He thinks that maybe he has been looking at fine detail too long, and that they need a rest.  He turns away from the wall only to come face to face with one of his glowing spheres.  The light is harsh on his hurting eyes this close.  He’s always kept two with him, one for up close and one to illuminate the wider spaces, so he thinks it might not be a bad thing to put one of them out for now, while he rests.  He lets it fade, and breathes a sigh of relief.

He has been practicing finer control of sensing his surroundings in the water.  There are things his eyes miss these days; probably his eyes have always missed things, but the water - it’s in everything.  It misses nothing.

That is probably the reason he feels the creature in the water first, knows the shape of it to be like a man, before he ever senses the domain of a seraph.  He is shocked; the last time he felt something of the like was when he met Amelia again a few months - years? - ago.  Even then, she had hardly felt like a seraph anymore, and certainly nothing like this one, who is pure to the core, and in some way familiar.

He decides his curiosity is enough to venture up from the basement level where he has spent most of his time lately, back up the grand staircases and out to the hall, where this one waits.

As he makes his way through the series of halls and rooms, he feels something flash by his cheek.  It makes beautiful trails in the water with its passing.  It takes him a moment to realize it’s a fish, and he feels something strange in his chest when he can’t remember the last time he saw one.  He does remember, though, feeling them dart around him, and in and out of his fingers.  When the next one passes him by, he snatches it from his path, with the aid of the webbing on his fingers and a twist he makes in the water.  He feels it wriggle against his palm for a moment, the smooth, coolness of its scales.  He wonders what it might be like to eat it, but then he lets the fish go and continues on.

There in the entrance hall is the owner of the domain.  He senses it is a man, shorter than him but not by much, and sees with what failing eyesight he has left that the man is swathed in blue.  Although, it is hard to tell through the light.

“Mikleo,” the man says.

He blinks, tries to think when it was he last heard that name.  He tries to think of who this man is.  He looks up towards the ceiling, and remembers this man in a similar place once, another grand room with grand vaulting and a sweeping roof.  “Uno,” he says back.

“I was sent to look for you, by Lailah and the others.  Although, Edna claims no interest in this endeavor.”

“Ah,” he says, and his mind runs through a hundred bored expressions, more often than not hidden away a moment later by an umbrella.  He thinks he says, “that’s just like her,” but when he looks back at Uno, blinking against the lights the other seraph has brought with him, he can’t be sure.

“They want you to come home.”  His senses in the water tell him Uno’s mouth and eyes are twisted with some kind of emotion.

Before he can even truly feel the word on his tongue, he’s saying, “No.”

“Brother,” Uno says, “can you truly say that this is you speaking, and not the malevolence?  I know the things it will make you do.”

He wracks his brain, his memories of the world above.  Edna is easy, since Uno mentioned her, she is her teasing and snide comments, but also in the way her voice cracks when she is truly worried for someone she claims not to love.  Lailah, she is warmth, and bad jokes, and a teacher despite her sometimes childish ways.  Zaveid is an old, solid presence, for all he tries to hide it under all of the flirting.  The memories are warm, but his heart twists in his chest to think of missing them, to think of how they would see him now.  He clutches his elbows, feeling the scales there under his fingertips.

And then, and then there is the one who is not there.  Sorey.  He is ruins, and bright green eyes, and falling asleep together as children.  He is sparring together, and tickle fights, and the only person Mikleo has ever kissed.  He is books, and a heart that welcomes in all he meets, and he is sacrifice.  And he is gone.  For more years, more centuries, than he ever got to live.

He no longer trusts that Sorey will be coming back.

His heart twists again, and it’s worse this time.  There’s a name to it, too.  Loneliness, sorrow, despair.  All feelings that spawn malevolence; all feelings malevolence spawns.  It is a vicious cycle, he thinks, and it is not a new thought.  He has thought it many times over the years, but this is the first time that he adds, what a cruel world .  Perhaps it is better to stay down in the dark and the silence.  He can’t escape it now, oh no, but he would no longer have to see others suffer for it.  No one would have to suffer when he, too, succumbs.

Finally, he looks back to Uno, who has waited in silence for his answer.  “I am the one speaking,” he says, as clear and as strong as he can.

“It would be a shame to lose a good water seraph. And a good friend.  You won’t reconsider?”

“No.”  He waits, for Uno to say something else.  When there is only silence, he adds, “I’m tired, Uno.  Tired of waiting for something which will never come.”

There must have been something in his face, because Uno sighs, and nods.  “I have strict orders to bring you back, you know.  But if this is truly your choice, I will respect it.  Lailah will roast me alive when I come back empty handed.”

“I am sorry,” he says, and he does feel it.

He watches, as Uno turns to go.  A moment later, he calls, “Uno!” and reaches to his belt for his notebook.  It’s been eons since he’s thought of the thing, but hearing him speak about returning empty handed reminded him.  At least some part of him must have remembered, though, because his artes are still firmly in place to keep it safe from the water.  He holds it out when the other seraph turns back to him, feels a second set of artes wrap around it, and lets go of his own.  “Give this to him,” he says.

Uno nods, takes the book, and turns away again.

He stays to watch Uno leave.  This won’t be the last, he thinks.  Lailah will find another water seraph to come retrieve him, and the next perhaps won’t be willing to leave him in peace.

Perhaps it is time to move on.  He walks out of the ruin once he can no longer feel Uno’s domain.  The light outside is nearly blinding, and so he closes his eyes, puts out his own lightt, and uses the water to guide him.  Where to go, which will be dark and hidden?  There are further depths, down the cliff in the water.

As he glides through the towering gate, he stops for a moment to run his hands along the sides, to feel the patterns under his fingertips between the creatures clinging there.  He never got the chance to come back and examine them.  He thinks he should be disappointed by this, but instead he just feels empty.

Later, when he reaches the cliffs, he doesn’t bother to create a new light for himself.

Light is a thing he knows as glowing points of blue.  They adorn his body in swirling trails, occasionally flicking in and out of vision as his body undulates in the current.  Other creatures come to it.  They slink through the darkness, into his small light, with eyes blurred and senses dulled and he eats them all.

Which is why it is so strange when another creature comes that makes its own light.  It’s a small thing, although not as small as some, but its light is so bright as it floods his milky eyes.  They feel like they’re searing out of his skull.  He hasn’t seen anything this bright since the days of sunlight.  That is a word that the ancient parts of him know, that the rest of him no longer understands.

But this creature, this man, is sunlight.  The brightest, most wonderful and most painful thing he has ever known.

He freezes when the man reaches out to touch him.  Nothing has touched him like this in eons, with gentleness and no fear.  “Oh Mikleo, what has become of you?”  Sound does not carry right through water, but he hears anyway.

That word, that name.  He’s heard it before, perhaps in a dream.  In a dream of sunlight, and air and this man.  There is noise in his head now, beating on his skull.  There are words there, trying to fight their way out of a mind that no longer understands, a mouth that can no longer shape them.  His heart beats fast.  He can feel this man’s heartbeat in the vibrations of the water.  It is fast too, but familiar, and that hurts.  Everything is hurt and confusion.  He wants it to all be quiet and dark again.

Because if it is not quiet and dark, then he has to remember what he was, what he has become, and what could have been – what they could have been.

The man is still touching him.  He’s speaking again, and no, no, stop, no more words.  He cannot take more words – they claw at him, wrench out these feelings that he cannot bear.  But he hears them anyway, because the world is not kind or merciful, and the man says, “I have searched for you for so long.  Won’t you come home?”

And there is a wave of anger.  “I have no home.  You left!” screams the ancient part of him.  Tries to scream it through his mouth, but it comes out as a roar.  There is no sound in the water, but the vibrations shake the stones on the sides of his trench; they come crashing down.  The man doesn’t flee; he clutches closer.

That touch seems to burn, that light burns, those thoughts crashing through his mind burn him from the inside out.  The ancient parts of him are still screaming.  They are crying and wailing and trying to claw their way out of these scales and fins and this cloud of darkness.  Anguish and the most bittersweet joy rise up and crash over him like waves, and he’s going to be dragged under.  He just wants it all to stop.  He reaches forward, to impose silence and darkness and a stilling of his thoughts in the only way he can now.

Somewhere in the depths of the ocean, a light goes out.  It is unnoticed, but for the small flock of creatures that had begun to swim towards its alluring glow.  They turn back now, interest lost.  Beneath them, a creature settles back into the darkness and the solitude, and wills his thoughts to stop and his heart to turn to stone.

[dustingrayves]

staying on an even keel

part of seawards | read the previous one (this can be read as a standalone)

Pairing: sormik Characters: sorey, mikleo, rose Rating: T WC: 2801 AU: merman au; merleo Category: hurt/comfort Notes: im not too sure about the flow of this one but by now im too tired and zzzzz

ao3 mirror

The moon is already high on the sky, bathing the ocean’s surface with soft silver light, when a head pops up, disrupting the already agitated waves. Sorey takes a few gasps of air, hauling himself onto the raft as Mikleo emerges as well, the rock serving as an anchor getting placed onto the wooden raft by the brunet’s feet.

The boy looks around; dark, menacingly thick clouds swarm the moon, threatening to cover its shine, and the ocean’s flow is also very harsh, wave upon wave sweeping over the raft and over Sorey’s feet. The wind is also blowing in the exact opposite way of home.

“I’ll push,” Mikleo says, having to raise his voice to be heard over the water splashing. His brows furrow and he grabs the back of the raft tightly, tail flapping so hard that water droplets spray all over to get them going.

Sorey sits by the mast and holds onto it as Mikleo pushes him, frowning against the cold wind. Maybe they should’ve stayed down in the cove. Sorey opens his mouth to voice this exact thought, but by then the shore of the island is already visible in the distance, and Mikleo is gritting his teeth, his powerful arms trembling with the exertion, so he closes his mouth again and makes a mental note to thank the merman again later.

Though they both tense up when the silhouette of something that shouldn’t be on the beach come up.

A ship.

And from even closer, they can spy a campfire as well, blazing high and warm, and figures sat around it.

Humans.

Mikleo’s heart skips to his throat and he gives the raft one final push with all his strength, ducking underwater and out of sight. But even so, even hidden underneath the unforgiving waves, he doesn’t feel any better, any safer.

Grandpa had spoken of this day, of the day Sorey would meet other humans. ‘The ocean is no place for a human,’ he’d said. ‘He will want to go and see the world, he will want to be with his own. There’s nothing we can do about that, Mikleo. So when that day comes, you should be ready to say your goodbyes.’

In retrospect, it wasn’t the best thing to say to a seven year old, especially when the words lingered in his brain and kept dragging with him. He spent every day dreading just this, and now that it’s here, he realizes one crucial mistake.

He isn’t ready.

Sorey looks back into the water, but there’s no sign of Mikleo left. They’d both been taught what to do if humans popped up; hide and pretend mermaids don’t exist.

Sorey’s eyes move back to the shore and he swallows, gripping his paddle and helping himself towards it. He’s greeted by a few dozens people. Even in the fading light of the moon and the flickering one of the fire, they all look tired.

All the eyes turn to him as his raft hits the shore.

Nobody moves, though, except for a short girl with hair that looks on fire as it bounces on her shoulders. She walks over to him and while he’s tying the raft to the secured pole buried deep in the sand, asks him, “Who are you?”

“I’m Sorey,” he says, turning to her. There’s something dark in her eyes, for just a split second, and then the light from the fire moves and it’s gone, so fast that Sorey wonders whether it had been there in the first place.

“Sorey…” she repeats, “What’re you doing here?”

“I live here!” he huffs, crossing his arms.

“Ah! So that hut over there is yours?” Rose points to his house with a thumb, and Sorey nods. She looks him and down with a keen eye, “You’re soaked! You should come and warm up before you get sick.”

Sorey has to look down at himself to confirm that, yes, he was soaked to the bone. He’d just gotten so used to being wet that he didn’t even notice. Despite that, and the fact that he’s just fine, he takes up the offer and follows the girl to the campfire where a few people scoot to make room for him.

Immediately, he’s handed a tin cup full of something from a wooden barrel, and the conversations that have been cut the second he’d arrived start anew, multiple voices talking over each other as they drink and eat — they’re roasting fish, and Sorey feels anger bubbling within his chest. Those fish were from around the island, and therefore weren’t seen as food, but more of friends.

To try and calm himself, Sorey brings the cup up to his mouth and takes a sip, proceeding to immediately spit the disgustingly bitter concoction out.

The red-haired girl laughs, downing her own cup in one swift chug. “What?” she asks, “You don’t like beer? What kinda man are you?!”

Sorey scoffs, setting the cup down next to himself with zero interest of drinking any more of whatever it is. “What’s beer?”

The girl scoffs back, cocking her head to the side and looking at Sorey like he’d just grown another set of arms. “You don’t know what beer is?” she asks, voice incredulous, “How long have you been stuck on this island anyhow?”

“Stuck?” Sorey repeats, shaking his head, “I’ve lived here all my life.”

“Huh,” is her only reply as she holds out her cup to one of the guys, who refill it with ‘beer’. She takes another long sip, but doesn’t immediately down it all this time around. “Where are the others? We’ve only seen your house so far.”

“There are no others,” Sorey answers honestly, “I’m the only one on this island.”

Mikleo’s hand rests on the side of the ship, eyes looking over the damage. There’s a hole at the side of it, but it’s above water, and thus doesn’t need immediate attention. All the other damage seems to have already been repaired, if the raised shadows of the plants nailed to it are any indication.

The same shadows hide him from the view — not that any of the humans are even on the lookout. No one even glances his way, they’re all too preoccupied with their talking and eating.

Mikleo watches, because he couldn’t bring himself to go back home. To see grandpa’s knowing look.

But more than that, he wants to make sure Sorey is okay. There’s no telling if these are sailors or pirates, but they’re still humans, and therefore dangerous.

Sorey seems to be talking to a girl, and Mikleo strains his ears so he can hear them even from so far away, eyes narrowing to see the befuddled expression on Sorey’s tanned face.

“Holy cow!” the girl exclaims, grabbing the attention of a few nearby people. Her voice is powerful, and even though it’s not that loud, it still carries far. It’s not hard to imagine her shouting orders at the men with the same ease with which she drinks from her cup. She leans over to look at Sorey closer, “Are you serious? Know what, I’m Rose, and this is my crew of sailors. We could take you to the mainland!”

And then all of Mikleo’s breath is gone, disappearing in a rush out of him, and his claws dig into the wood, chipping tiny pieces out. They fall into the ocean, too quiet over the roaring of the waves or even the blood thumping in Mikleo’s ears.

His ear fins droop and his deadly grip loosens, hand falling into the water.

Why did just hearing that hurt so much? He slithers beneath the surface, leaving behind only a few bubbles as he breathes out, a heavy weight settling on his large ribcage.

“What?” Sorey asks, eyes going wide while Rose’s shine.

“We still have a little bit of repairing to do in the morning, but we’ll be setting off after that,” she explains, “It wouldn’t really be trouble to take you along. You must be really bored here, all alone.”

Sorey stares at her the same way she stared at him before, full of disbelief. “No,” flies out of his mouth as soon as he finds the power to move it again, “No, I’m happy here. I don’t want to leave.”

Rose startles, pulling back to shrug. “Your loss,” she mumbles, “You sure you’ll be all right here on your own?”

I’m never on my own, Sorey thinks, but instead he just says a simple, “Yeah.”

Rose seems to let it go, returning her attention to the meal and other people. Sorey stays, if only to keep an eye on them. In reality, though, he would like nothing more than to return to the cove right now.

He finds out that he really doesn’t like the company of humans. They’re too loud and too harsh and ungraceful and he grimaces at the mere thought of the merfolk thinking the same about him.

Eventually though, the ‘beer’ tank runs out and that seems to be as good a night call for the sailors as any, and they retreat to their ship, a few staying to sleep on the beach after setting out some patchworked blankets.

Rose lingers, looking at him in silence for a while while she formulates her thoughts in her head.

“Hey, Sorey.” The name sounds stiff on her tongue, unlike when Mikleo says it, all fluid and soft. “If you change your mind, just tell me, okay? We won’t take you after we sail off, though!” She chuckles as if she’d just said a great joke, but Sorey doesn’t seem to get it.

“Yeah,” he nods, thankful when that seems enough for her, and she twists on her heel, her shirt blowing with the wind as she retreats to the safety of the ship. Sorey watches as she scales the frail-looking ladder and hops on board, and thinks that that’s the most natural she’d looked all night.

As all the sailors settle down, Sorey himself makes his way back home, feet dragging in the sand as he pushes the door open. Mikleo is inside, shoulders bobbing in the water at the left of the small house, holding onto the floor with a grip that makes the scales on his wrists stand on edge.

“Is something wrong, Mikleo?” Sorey asks, closing the door and immediately on his knees, peering down at the merman with furrowed brows.

It obviously takes that for Mikleo to do a check of himself, letting go of the edge, arms slipping under the water in a soft splash of the liquid. He frowns momentarily, mostly at himself, and then shakes his head.

"No," he says, "I just wanted to say bye before you, you know, go."

No it's Sorey's turn to frown, his concerned look turning more confused than anything. "Go? Go where?"

"Where? To the land. Ah, I heard the girl offering to take you," the merman confesses, head dunking halfway under the surface, small bubbles blowing out of his nose. Sorey had always found that particular habit cute, but right now, it's anything but. "Grandpa said you'd leave one day."

"Mikleo," Sorey cuts him off before Mikleo could come up with anything more to say. He reaches out and grabs Mikleo under his arms, pulling him back above the surface, and halfway onto the floor. "I'm not going anywhere."

Mikleo's words fail him. So does his brain. Which is probably tied to the words, when he takes a moment to think about it.

"W-What?" he stutters, very intelligently, mind you.

"I'm not going with Rose," Sorey says. Normally, his soft, almost condescending tone would piss Mikleo off, but right now, it's just making him feel weirdly better.

"I- But why? You will be happier with the humans," Mikleo argues, propping himself on his arms so he's towering above Sorey, giving himself the tiny feeling of having at least a little control of the conversation. He's still confused. He'd prepared himself for this for so long. Why is it so much harder than he'd ever anticipated?

Sorey smiles, that toothy smile that seems to light up the place even with the sun long gone. "But my home is here, with you, Mikleo."

"But… You're a human. That's a fact you can't change. You're not… built… for our cities. You'd be much better off on land. And we… we can't go on land, so, with other humans… it'd be better for you…"

Sorey's hand reaches up, stopping just shy of cupping Mikleo's cheek, eyes looking for any sign of discomfort. When he finds none, he touches the soft cheek, thumb brushing over the rigid ear fin which lowers at the touch, along with Mikleo's tense shoulders.

Sorey keeps quiet, just petting Mikleo's cheek and fin with his fingers until he sees the merman finally relaxing a little.

"It almost sounds like you're trying to get rid of me," he jests, and immediately realizes that had been a poor joke when Mikleo's crystalline eyes go wide and horrified.

"No!" he exclaims, covering Sorey's hand with his own wet one. Sorey notices it's trembling where the rougher skin touches his. "We all just want you to be happy. And we… always knew we couldn't give you everything you need." Miklo's eyes fall down. "Deserve."

"I am happy though, Mikleo! There is no way I would ever leave."

"But what if you'd find you're happier away?" Mikleo insists, sharp teeth biting down at his own lip, peeking through.

"Mikleo…" Sorey sighs. "I don't want to leave and I'm not leaving, and that's final. Are you going to be on the land? I don't think so. And I only want to be where you are. Wherever that is."

Blood rushes up to Mikleo's face, coloring it a bright shade of pink that travels both up to his fins and down to his gills. Sorey startles, letting go of Mikleo's face too hide his own with the and.

"Ah, did I say that out loud right now?" he laughs. He's also turning a very visible shade of red, so Mikleo doesn't feel as bad. "I did, didn't I?"

Mikleo punches Sorey's upper arm weakly, retreating back into the water, back to just the top half of his head bobbing at the surface. "You mean it?"

"Well, you promised to help me with the leatherwork tomorrow," Sorey replies easily, almost chipper as he motions to the table by the other wall, covered by cleanly cut leather waiting to be pierced and sewn.

Mikleo raises an eyebrow, aware of Sorey trying to alleviate the tension. "Is that the only reason you're staying? Really? Me, doing work for you?"

In reality, there's a million reasons. And somehow, they all meet at the centre with Mikleo, like a big spiderweb, intricately and delicately woven just for him.

"Eating fish with you is great as well," Sorey says instead of that, if only to watch how much more embarrassed Mikleo could get.

Not much more, probably.

“Let’s sleep,” Sorey offers, “Rose said they’re leaving in the morning when they fix a hole in their ship.” And Mikleo knows exactly which hole he means.

Sorey shucks off his clothes and Mikleo pulls himself out of the water more. The two of them settle down, Sorey curling up next to Mikleo’s bigger body, letting his arms wind up around him, hold him close. He’s probably still worried Sorey could disappear while he’s asleep, and wants to make sure he’s still there.

Not that Sorey minds one bit.

“I’ll ask Rose to not tell anyone about the island, okay?” Sorey whispers, looking at Mikleo’s face, so comfortingly close. The merman nods. “Were you really this scared about me leaving?”

Mikleo ducks his head at the direct accusation as one of his hands winds through Sorey’s short hair, carding through and scratching at the skin with his claws. “Well, Grandpa said... “ and that’s where he trails off, feelings swarming his chest in an uncomfortable mess that he can’t make sense of. The only thing he can make sense of right now is his happiness; at having Sorey close, at not going to lose him.

“Hey, Mikleo,” Sorey says, leaning into the touch of his hand, eyelids fluttering closed. “I’ve never thought about leaving. I’ll make sure you don’t get scared like that anymore.”

Mikleo’s heart skips a beat. Now Sorey feels responsible for the family’s common sense. He feels silly. “You don’t need to do anything different,” he mutters.

Sorey hums, pressing himself even closer, one leg wrapping around Mikleo’s tail. Sleep tugs at his mind, but he isn’t sure what he’d like more; to close his eyes and drift to sleep, or watch the soft expression back on Mikleo’s face, where it belongs. “I know.”

[find-your-rp-partner]

fandoms and originals

Hi, my name is Coll! I’m a 29 year old lady with a full time standard 9-5 job. That said, I have some free time on my hands. I’d really love some new RPs.  =D I’m very friendly and willing to plot. I mostly roleplay video games and original plots.

A few things about me:

- I am looking for people who play in the third person and post multiple paragraphs in their responses. (Please give me at least 3 paragraphs and I'll be happy with that. Anything less and I get put out and most likely will not respond back to you out of disappointment ^^; Sorry.) I will also match my partner's response length. Also, please have a decent grasp of grammar and spelling. I won't respond if you message me in all chatspeak. When you message me, also, please have an idea of what you want to do. "Hi, wanna RP?" is kind of unacceptable. Of course I want to roleplay--that's why I put the add up.

- My hard limits are rape, vore, mpreg (good god no mpreg never ever mpreg), pedophilia, and a few others in between, but those are the big ones. If you ask for any of these four things, I will delete your post immediately. I don't mind rape being mentioned in a backstory, but I won't play it out. I'm not too keen on large age gaps unless we're playing a supernatural creature with a human. They need to look about the same age.

- I don't really care for unhealthy ships. I don't like cheating or abuse in relationships--that sort of stuff. I'm not about that life. - I am a slash (both mxm and fxf) roleplayer. I will not tolerate seme/uke paradigms. You will play a switch or there will be no smut. There are only certain canon ships I'll do mxf for. (like Lightning/adult!Hope or Tidus/Yuna for example.) I won't do mxf for originals.

- I will only accept roleplayers who are 21+. If I find out you're under my age limit, I'm going to delete you immediately.

- All kinks are based off of character preference, not my own. I'm also not really a kinky person. Sorry about that.

- I like canonxoc for certain canons. If I play a canon for you, I expect you to play one for me. Compromise! Some ships I will not do canonxoc for.

- I know this sounds like me being a hard ass, but I really like becoming friends with my partners and exchanging headcanons and songs!

- I roleplay through email only. No exceptions.

- I try to post every day. I really do. Sometimes, I'm just too tired to do so. ^^;;; Be patient with me.

- Once the roleplay gets off the ground, I have skype. You can ask for it--but only after intros are exchanged. Every time I've given someone my skype before we started, the roleplay never got off the ground.

- If for some reason I stop responding, I legitimately forgot. Just poke me. There are times when I'm at work and look at an email and forget to respond to it later because i thought I did.

Well, if I haven't scared you off, you can check out the rest!

Contact: xdeathtarot@gmail.com

Current cravings: Final Fantasy XV, Fire Emblem Fates, and the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. That doesn't mean I won't do others!

Puella Magi Madoka Magica. I can play Kyoko, Homura, and Mami. I can also do originals in the PMMM setting, gender bends, or Puer Magi. (Magical Boys.) Seriously, my kingdom for a PMMM roleplay. I’m also not opposed to mixing canons and originals!

Original. Hit me up. I am open to most things. If you want a something with a lot of smut, just let me know up front. I especially am big on gothic/fantasy/horror settings with magic, darkness, twisted fairy tales as inspiration, Alice in Wonderland kind of settings, surreal or Silent Hill/Fatal Frame esque thing. Definitely willing to look into maybe some mystery/eldritch horror thing. I'm pretty flexible. Other stuff I'm into includes: steampunk, horror, creepypasta, victorian era, medieval/fantasy, modern/fantasy. I'll give anything a shot and I'm sure I have a character for it or at the very least, can make one. It must have fantasy, by the way. I’m also a big fan of supernatural beingxhuman, or two different races mingling with each others. The only thing I'll outright say no to is slice of life unless it's monsters/supernatural creatures trying to live among humans. I'll only accept mxm and fxf for original lines. Please note, I DO NOT play vampires or werewolves. I don't mind roleplaying with them, but I personally do not like playing them. If you want to do a plot that is vampire or werewolf based, you have to play those species. I'll also take random intros for original! Just tell me the genre you're sending me in the title or if you want platonic, mxm, or fxf! Please stick to the genres I have listed, or you'll run the risk of me not being interested or unable to come up with a character.

Fire Emblem Awakening. I’ll die of happiness if you’d like to do m!tacticianxChrom. I’m looking for a Chrom. I can also play m!Morgan, Lucina, and a couple others. Let’s chat about it. I have a couple AU ideas, considering, well, you know how Fire Emblem is. There’s a war, let’s go fight the war!

Fire Emblem Fates. This, here, is what I'm craving the most. I've played all three paths, but prefer Conquest and Revelation. I want to play Corrin. (Male.) and am open to ships. (As long as they're mxm and fxf.) I'm mostly looking for a Xander (!!! Boy, I want Xander the most. Xander/Corrin happens to be my otp.), Leo (!!), Takumi (!), Ryoma, Silas, or Kaze. I also ship Selena and Camilla. (I play Selena.) I like AUs and doubling, so I'm sure we can figure something out. I am also leokumi trash and can play either... though I'd rather do Corrin/Leo and Corrin/Takumi. I also like Sakura/Elise! (Slight preference toward Sakura.) I much prefer AUs and am willing to hash something out with you. No OCs for this. Sorry.

Addendum: Currently really craving Leo/Corrin.

Persona. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to do a Persona or Persona based roleplay!. My favorite pairing for Persona is Yu/Souji/ProtagonistxYosuke. I play Yosuke. I am seriously craving another Yu/Yosuke roleplay like woah. We can discuss this. I also REALLY like the idea of the P3 Female Protagonist/MinakoxMitsuru. I’d be playing the female protagonist. We can also do a whole new Persona group, too.

Addendum: Just got Persona 5, am interested in playing Akira--or maybe we could do our own team of Phantom Thieves? Really dig the concept. I do like Akira/Yusuke and Ann/Makoto--will play Akira and Makoto. I'm only about halfway through the game. (Just got Futaba.)

I’d also like to do something with Black Butler. I'd like to play a male oc against Ciel If you play Ciel for me, I’ll play Elizabeth for you in a fxf line or I will also consider playing Sebastian for your oc, but I'm VERY picky on this because Sebastian is a vainglorious bastard who needs entertainment. So! Try me, just don't say I didn't warn you if I tell you no. I also have a demon, if you want to play a contractor in an all original variation. (Note: my demon will not be your character's butler. He laughs at the very idea. He can change his gender, so he can be a she.) *Please note, that sebciel is a GIANT NOTP of mine, so don't even ask for it.

  Tales of. The first thing I'm looking for is a Sorey to my Mikleo. My kingdom for these two babies who are too pure for this world. The second thing I’m looking for a Richard to my Asbel and kinda have some vague ideas for this! I also roleplay Tales of cross overs and have a vague idea for that, too. I would also love a Gaius for my Wingul. Can discuss other Tales pairings, will be fine with ocs if you’ll afford me the same. I’ve played all of the Tales of games released in the US EXCEPT for Eternia and Vesperia. That doesn't mean you can't play these characters! I'm totally down for Asch/OC and will try and accommodate you as well. I also recently bought Tales of Berseria. I'm only about 40ish hours into it, so no spoilers!

The World Ends With You. I play Josh. Mostly looking for a Neku or whomever you want to throw at me. I'd prefer AUs (kind of have a basic idea for one) or post-game. Please, for the love of all things holy, do not play Neku as a weak willed little thing who won't tell Josh to go eff himself if he doesn't like what Josh is doing. We can also do a whole new Game with all ocs.

The Legend of Zelda. I’m looking for a Link and am looking to do a brand new Zelda roleplay where we split the cast and have fun times~! I have a male oc. There doesn’t need to be romance, but I would like there to be. I can play Ravio, Zelda, humanized Sidon or Revali (maybe) or Midna for one of your ocs, if you'd like. With Breath of the Wild out, I'd be happy to do something similar to that, too.

Devil Survivor 2. I want to play the main character (Hibiki/Hiro/MC) against a Yamato LIKE BURNING Also, Shin Megami Tensei IV, I'd love a Flynn/Walter chaos route roleplay where I play Flynn.

Kingdom Hearts. I kind of want to do an all-original setting with new Keyblade wielders, new villains and everything. We'd each play a keyblade wielder or something and fill out the cast. If you're not up for that, I do love SoraxRiku--I'll be playing Sora. (I love this ship with my whole heart.)

Final Fantasy. I'm cool with most things here. Some characters I play are Lightning (my favorite), Cecil Harvey, Yuna, Cloud Strife, Kadaj, Vanille, Terra Branford, Garnet til Alexandros/Dagger, Bartz, Faris, Noel Kreiss, Ramza (Tactics), and some others here and there. Some of the ships I play are Lightning/adult!Hope (I play Lightning and have some au ideas for this), Zack/Cloud (I play Cloud), Tidus/Yuna (I play Yuna), Fang/Vanille (I play Vanille. I'll also play Fang/Lightning), Zidane/Garnet, Cecil/Kain (Cecil) etc. There are others. I've played almost every Final Fantasy except the online ones, so just ask. There are a few canons I play that I'll pair with ocs, like Noel Kreiss for example. This is probably the only place you'll catch me for mxf. I would really love a Ramza for one of my ocs as well? Like I said, I'll play certain canons for you, too! ... or maybe just something with Final Fantasy Tactics in general.

Addendum: I just finished FFXV and would love to try out being Noctis--looking for Gladio, Ignis, or Prompto--or a mix of all four. We can discuss but my favorite ship is IgNoct. Will be happy to do Promptis or GladNoct, too.

  Bravely Default/Bravely Second. Ringabel/Edea, otp for life. I'd like to play Edea. Also willing to consider Tiz/Agnes (Tiz.) or Yew/Magnolia. (Magnolia.) Prefer an AU for this. I won't do this genre without Ringabel/Edea, though, keep that in mind.

Parasite Eve. Does anyone even know what this is? We can discuss--ocs, canons, I'm sure we can figure something out.

    Pokemon. I have a male Elite Four trainer I'd like to use against any character. I have a couple other trainers here and there. Why not, bring it on. If you want romance, it has to be m/m for this. I don't mind gijinkas or whatever they're called. I also beat Sun/Moon! So we can do some Alola stuff! Maybe a plot with the Ultra Beasts? Neaaaat.

Ace Attorney. Okay, okay. I only do canon/oc for this one, fam. I've also only played the first three games and Ace Attorney Investigations. I'm looking for a Miles Edgeworth to my male oc and for you, I can play Franziska von Karma for fxf. Might be talked into playing Phoenix Wright for you, depending on your oc. 

ATLA. I have a male earth bending oc (with a spirit pal who follows him) that I'll do mxm with. I'm really up for anything here, except LoK verse since he doesn't seem to fit in there so well. Canons? OCs? Sure, whatever. I'll leave it open. You wanna test a new OC or practice a canon against him? Cool.

There are also a few fandoms that I play, but only with an oc cast such as: Dead Space, Gravity Rush, Fatal Frame, Etrian Odyssey, and Silent Hill. Note: for Silent Hill, I will NOT be playing romance.

As for Silent Hill... I'm up for putting canons in a Silent Hill verse as well as using originals.

The same goes for The Last of Us. Canons in a TLOU universe could be fun. Same with ocs. I'm a little out of touch with this, though. It's been a while.

Maybe something based on Transistor? Or YoKai Watch? Yomawari Night Alone? Hey, maybe some creepy Japanese horror with a haunted town in the vein of Yomawari?

Suggest! If it’s along the lines of what’s mentioned above, then by all means. Other fandoms are: Okami (Human form!Amaterasu), a 999/Zero Escape based roleplay, Demon Gaze, Dragon’s Crown, Animal Crossing (humanized villagers), and more. Seriously, just ask. Ask away. I know some older animes but video games? I most likely know it, especially if it’s an RPG. I’m also a fan of AUs.

Again, if any of this interests you, mail me at xdeathtarot@gmail.com.

[fyrapartnersearch]

fandoms and originals

Hi, my name is Coll! I’m a 29 year old lady with a full time standard 9-5 job. That said, I have some free time on my hands. I’d really love some new RPs.  =D I’m very friendly and willing to plot. I mostly roleplay video games and original plots.

A few things about me:

- I am looking for people who play in the third person and post multiple paragraphs in their responses. (Please give me at least 3 paragraphs and I'll be happy with that. Anything less and I get put out and most likely will not respond back to you out of disappointment ^^; Sorry.) I will also match my partner's response length. Also, please have a decent grasp of grammar and spelling. I won't respond if you message me in all chatspeak. When you message me, also, please have an idea of what you want to do. "Hi, wanna RP?" is kind of unacceptable. Of course I want to roleplay--that's why I put the add up.

- My hard limits are rape, vore, mpreg (good god no mpreg never ever mpreg), pedophilia, and a few others in between, but those are the big ones. If you ask for any of these four things, I will delete your post immediately. I don't mind rape being mentioned in a backstory, but I won't play it out. I'm not too keen on large age gaps unless we're playing a supernatural creature with a human. They need to look about the same age.

- I don't really care for unhealthy ships. I don't like cheating or abuse in relationships--that sort of stuff. I'm not about that life. - I am a slash (both mxm and fxf) roleplayer. I will not tolerate seme/uke paradigms. You will play a switch or there will be no smut. There are only certain canon ships I'll do mxf for. (like Lightning/adult!Hope or Tidus/Yuna for example.) I won't do mxf for originals.

- I will only accept roleplayers who are 21+. If I find out you're under my age limit, I'm going to delete you immediately.

- All kinks are based off of character preference, not my own. I'm also not really a kinky person. Sorry about that.

- I like canonxoc for certain canons. If I play a canon for you, I expect you to play one for me. Compromise! Some ships I will not do canonxoc for.

- I know this sounds like me being a hard ass, but I really like becoming friends with my partners and exchanging headcanons and songs!

- I roleplay through email only. No exceptions.

- I try to post every day. I really do. Sometimes, I'm just too tired to do so. ^^;;; Be patient with me.

- Once the roleplay gets off the ground, I have skype. You can ask for it--but only after intros are exchanged. Every time I've given someone my skype before we started, the roleplay never got off the ground.

- If for some reason I stop responding, I legitimately forgot. Just poke me. There are times when I'm at work and look at an email and forget to respond to it later because i thought I did.

Well, if I haven't scared you off, you can check out the rest!

Contact: xdeathtarot@gmail.com

Current cravings: Final Fantasy XV, Fire Emblem Fates, and the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. That doesn't mean I won't do others!

Puella Magi Madoka Magica. I can play Kyoko, Homura, and Mami. I can also do originals in the PMMM setting, gender bends, or Puer Magi. (Magical Boys.) Seriously, my kingdom for a PMMM roleplay. I’m also not opposed to mixing canons and originals!

Original. Hit me up. I am open to most things. If you want a something with a lot of smut, just let me know up front. I especially am big on gothic/fantasy/horror settings with magic, darkness, twisted fairy tales as inspiration, Alice in Wonderland kind of settings, surreal or Silent Hill/Fatal Frame esque thing. Definitely willing to look into maybe some mystery/eldritch horror thing. I'm pretty flexible. Other stuff I'm into includes: steampunk, horror, creepypasta, victorian era, medieval/fantasy, modern/fantasy. I'll give anything a shot and I'm sure I have a character for it or at the very least, can make one. It must have fantasy, by the way. I’m also a big fan of supernatural beingxhuman, or two different races mingling with each others. The only thing I'll outright say no to is slice of life unless it's monsters/supernatural creatures trying to live among humans. I'll only accept mxm and fxf for original lines. Please note, I DO NOT play vampires or werewolves. I don't mind roleplaying with them, but I personally do not like playing them. If you want to do a plot that is vampire or werewolf based, you have to play those species. I'll also take random intros for original! Just tell me the genre you're sending me in the title or if you want platonic, mxm, or fxf! Please stick to the genres I have listed, or you'll run the risk of me not being interested or unable to come up with a character.

Fire Emblem Awakening. I’ll die of happiness if you’d like to do m!tacticianxChrom. I’m looking for a Chrom. I can also play m!Morgan, Lucina, and a couple others. Let’s chat about it. I have a couple AU ideas, considering, well, you know how Fire Emblem is. There’s a war, let’s go fight the war!

Fire Emblem Fates. This, here, is what I'm craving the most. I've played all three paths, but prefer Conquest and Revelation. I want to play Corrin. (Male.) and am open to ships. (As long as they're mxm and fxf.) I'm mostly looking for a Xander (!!! Boy, I want Xander the most. Xander/Corrin happens to be my otp.), Leo (!!), Takumi (!), Ryoma, Silas, or Kaze. I also ship Selena and Camilla. (I play Selena.) I like AUs and doubling, so I'm sure we can figure something out. I am also leokumi trash and can play either... though I'd rather do Corrin/Leo and Corrin/Takumi. I also like Sakura/Elise! (Slight preference toward Sakura.) I much prefer AUs and am willing to hash something out with you. No OCs for this. Sorry.

Addendum: Currently really craving Leo/Corrin.

Persona. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to do a Persona or Persona based roleplay!. My favorite pairing for Persona is Yu/Souji/ProtagonistxYosuke. I play Yosuke. I am seriously craving another Yu/Yosuke roleplay like woah. We can discuss this. I also REALLY like the idea of the P3 Female Protagonist/MinakoxMitsuru. I’d be playing the female protagonist. We can also do a whole new Persona group, too.

Addendum: Just got Persona 5, am interested in playing Akira--or maybe we could do our own team of Phantom Thieves? Really dig the concept. I do like Akira/Yusuke and Ann/Makoto--will play Akira and Makoto. I'm only about halfway through the game. (Just got Futaba.)

I’d also like to do something with Black Butler. I'd like to play a male oc against Ciel If you play Ciel for me, I’ll play Elizabeth for you in a fxf line or I will also consider playing Sebastian for your oc, but I'm VERY picky on this because Sebastian is a vainglorious bastard who needs entertainment. So! Try me, just don't say I didn't warn you if I tell you no. I also have a demon, if you want to play a contractor in an all original variation. (Note: my demon will not be your character's butler. He laughs at the very idea. He can change his gender, so he can be a she.) *Please note, that sebciel is a GIANT NOTP of mine, so don't even ask for it.

  Tales of. The first thing I'm looking for is a Sorey to my Mikleo. My kingdom for these two babies who are too pure for this world. The second thing I’m looking for a Richard to my Asbel and kinda have some vague ideas for this! I also roleplay Tales of cross overs and have a vague idea for that, too. I would also love a Gaius for my Wingul. Can discuss other Tales pairings, will be fine with ocs if you’ll afford me the same. I’ve played all of the Tales of games released in the US EXCEPT for Eternia and Vesperia. That doesn't mean you can't play these characters! I'm totally down for Asch/OC and will try and accommodate you as well. I also recently bought Tales of Berseria. I'm only about 40ish hours into it, so no spoilers!

The World Ends With You. I play Josh. Mostly looking for a Neku or whomever you want to throw at me. I'd prefer AUs (kind of have a basic idea for one) or post-game. Please, for the love of all things holy, do not play Neku as a weak willed little thing who won't tell Josh to go eff himself if he doesn't like what Josh is doing. We can also do a whole new Game with all ocs.

The Legend of Zelda. I’m looking for a Link and am looking to do a brand new Zelda roleplay where we split the cast and have fun times~! I have a male oc. There doesn’t need to be romance, but I would like there to be. I can play Ravio, Zelda, humanized Sidon or Revali (maybe) or Midna for one of your ocs, if you'd like. With Breath of the Wild out, I'd be happy to do something similar to that, too.

Devil Survivor 2. I want to play the main character (Hibiki/Hiro/MC) against a Yamato LIKE BURNING Also, Shin Megami Tensei IV, I'd love a Flynn/Walter chaos route roleplay where I play Flynn.

Kingdom Hearts. I kind of want to do an all-original setting with new Keyblade wielders, new villains and everything. We'd each play a keyblade wielder or something and fill out the cast. If you're not up for that, I do love SoraxRiku--I'll be playing Sora. (I love this ship with my whole heart.)

Final Fantasy. I'm cool with most things here. Some characters I play are Lightning (my favorite), Cecil Harvey, Yuna, Cloud Strife, Kadaj, Vanille, Terra Branford, Garnet til Alexandros/Dagger, Bartz, Faris, Noel Kreiss, Ramza (Tactics), and some others here and there. Some of the ships I play are Lightning/adult!Hope (I play Lightning and have some au ideas for this), Zack/Cloud (I play Cloud), Tidus/Yuna (I play Yuna), Fang/Vanille (I play Vanille. I'll also play Fang/Lightning), Zidane/Garnet, Cecil/Kain (Cecil) etc. There are others. I've played almost every Final Fantasy except the online ones, so just ask. There are a few canons I play that I'll pair with ocs, like Noel Kreiss for example. This is probably the only place you'll catch me for mxf. I would really love a Ramza for one of my ocs as well? Like I said, I'll play certain canons for you, too! ... or maybe just something with Final Fantasy Tactics in general.

Addendum: I just finished FFXV and would love to try out being Noctis--looking for Gladio, Ignis, or Prompto--or a mix of all four. We can discuss but my favorite ship is IgNoct. Will be happy to do Promptis or GladNoct, too.

  Bravely Default/Bravely Second. Ringabel/Edea, otp for life. I'd like to play Edea. Also willing to consider Tiz/Agnes (Tiz.) or Yew/Magnolia. (Magnolia.) Prefer an AU for this. I won't do this genre without Ringabel/Edea, though, keep that in mind.

Parasite Eve. Does anyone even know what this is? We can discuss--ocs, canons, I'm sure we can figure something out.

    Pokemon. I have a male Elite Four trainer I'd like to use against any character. I have a couple other trainers here and there. Why not, bring it on. If you want romance, it has to be m/m for this. I don't mind gijinkas or whatever they're called. I also beat Sun/Moon! So we can do some Alola stuff! Maybe a plot with the Ultra Beasts? Neaaaat.

Ace Attorney. Okay, okay. I only do canon/oc for this one, fam. I've also only played the first three games and Ace Attorney Investigations. I'm looking for a Miles Edgeworth to my male oc and for you, I can play Franziska von Karma for fxf. Might be talked into playing Phoenix Wright for you, depending on your oc. 

ATLA. I have a male earth bending oc (with a spirit pal who follows him) that I'll do mxm with. I'm really up for anything here, except LoK verse since he doesn't seem to fit in there so well. Canons? OCs? Sure, whatever. I'll leave it open. You wanna test a new OC or practice a canon against him? Cool.

There are also a few fandoms that I play, but only with an oc cast such as: Dead Space, Gravity Rush, Fatal Frame, Etrian Odyssey, and Silent Hill. Note: for Silent Hill, I will NOT be playing romance.

As for Silent Hill... I'm up for putting canons in a Silent Hill verse as well as using originals.

The same goes for The Last of Us. Canons in a TLOU universe could be fun. Same with ocs. I'm a little out of touch with this, though. It's been a while.

Maybe something based on Transistor? Or YoKai Watch? Yomawari Night Alone? Hey, maybe some creepy Japanese horror with a haunted town in the vein of Yomawari?

Suggest! If it’s along the lines of what’s mentioned above, then by all means. Other fandoms are: Okami (Human form!Amaterasu), a 999/Zero Escape based roleplay, Demon Gaze, Dragon’s Crown, Animal Crossing (humanized villagers), and more. Seriously, just ask. Ask away. I know some older animes but video games? I most likely know it, especially if it’s an RPG. I’m also a fan of AUs.

Again, if any of this interests you, mail me at xdeathtarot@gmail.com.

[codeadleaves]

Happy fourth @tozanniversary !

My contribution for today’s prompt will follow later, for the moment here’s my answers to the ask game.

How did you get into ToZ?

Exactly on the first day of 2015 because of this gif set.

Truth be told, I’m not a tales fan, I had only played Symphonia on gamecube (which is one of my favorite game btw) but had no interest for the rest of the franchise, and Zestiria didn’t make exception despite the few pictures I had stumbled upon while the game was still in development. Actually those pictures made me think it would be a generic jrpg with a dumb protagonist and an awful love triangle, there was absolutely no appeal there xD I coudn’t be more wrong.

And then I saw the gif set. The boys aesthetic was pleasing to look at so I watched the full oav, then I read about the game and then I learned there was dragons in it and everything was lost.

I’ve been living into the zesty pit ever since, and there’s no way out. Not that I want one, it’s all nice and comfy down here.

Favourite character to PLAY as?

Sorey, because he's the easiest to play with. Sometimes I switch for Lailah cause her fighting style is pretty, and I played the whole Alisha dlc as Rose.

Favourite location in the game?

Elysia, Lastonbell, Airfread's hunting grounds, Cambria caverns, all 4 elemental trial shrines.

Favourite party setup?

Sorey-Mikleo, Rose-Lailah, because though I adore the whole party those four are my faves. I tend to switch seraph whenever it feels appropriate though, like pairing Sorey with the seraph corresponding to the trial shrine.

Personal grade record?

Don’t be fooled, this is all because the NG+ grade shop makes chaos mode super easy to go through. I normally suck at video games, I can never dodge or guard to save my life so instead I went completey crazy on the equipment, like this no boss can resist me. Even the game called me out on it:

And trophy %?

100! Once again I’m not that good at games, but I love Zestiria so much I couldn’t get enough and needed to reach the 100%. Although it was only possible thanks to the lack of minigames from hell.

Favourite/most used armatus? EXCEPT water, we all know you’re gonna pick that.

WATER Favorite to play with after it is Fire, but though Wind is annoying to fight with, it's good looking with the blade wings and most importantly the artes mystic is really effective to farm equipment xD Before I started with the farming the order for most used was Water, Fire, Earth and Wind.

Favourite attachment?

Dezel isn't happy Zaveid took his place.

Favourite costumes for each character?

The delfaut ones + Alisha’s dlc outfit (though I wish she had pants instead of a mini skirt). Sometimes I switch for the school set so it looks like a school expedition gone wrong xD Here's a picture of Lailah just because.

Favourite boss fight?

Don't think I have one? Like I say I'm not really good at games, so I just wait for the party to finish talking and destroy everything as fast as possible. But I guess Tiamat and Eizen where nice with the music (no I didn’t enjoyed killing dragons, killing dragons is heartbreaking, even more in zesty) and beating up Landon and Lunarre was satisfying.

Do you run into enemies so you can windstep? Come on, you can admit it

Who doesn’t? The best combination is to run in circle while eavesdropping on townsfolks and keep it going by slaughtering everything on the way. It's rather funny to look at Sorey running at full speed, even more when paired with the lord of the land blessing that increase the speed.  

How do you prefer to play? (eg “on the sofa with chocolate bars in my mouth and a cat in my lap”)

This description sounds like the ideal way to play video games, unfortunatly my cat is way too distracting, between the random moment like “I’m gonna stand in the corner and meow until mom gives me full attention” and “let’s lie next to mom in the most ridiculous position ever so she will be too busy laughing and will lose her fight”, the best moment to play a game is to wait for him to be sound asleep, preferably with a safe distance between us so my eyes and hands don’t drift toward his soft looking fur… Add a nice cup of tea and it’s perfect.

Who or what is most fun to draw/write if you’re a creator?

I'm possesed by the spirit of Numin. She hijacks all my fics...

Anything you wish we could have learned more about?

Before Berseria I would have said Zaveid. Now I would love to learn about the ancient times, siegfried, the original Lady of the Lake, the first shepherd, stuff like that... A prequel to Berseria could be nice though I’m not sure I would trust bamco on this...

The game’s theme is “passion”. What part of the game are you most passionate about?

Very hard question. The characters. The story. The themes aborded. The Music. The aesthetic. The fact Natalie is looking toward the place Mason was killed. The cat on Sindra’s back. The dog that you all better have not let Lunarre kill. Everything. Here’s the game’s thoughts on the matter:

I’m very passionate about the whole game and will defend it against every injustified bashing I come across. …well, even against some justified stuff sometimes xD. Same goes with characters bashing, Zestiria is one of those rare game where I love every single party members, and hearing stuff like “Rose is a mary sue it’s impossible for her to be a killer and still be pure that’s shitty writing” make me lose it like have you even played the game ffs??

Free prompt: just talk about your personal ties to the game, go go

[desperatelyseekingroleplay]

fandoms and originals

Hi, my name is Coll! I’m a 29 year old lady with a full time standard 9-5 job. That said, I have some free time on my hands. I’d really love some new RPs.  =D I’m very friendly and willing to plot. I mostly roleplay video games and original plots. A few things about me: - I am looking for people who play in the 

third person and post multiple paragraphs in their responses.

 (Please give me at least 3 paragraphs and I’ll be happy with that. Anything less and I get put out and most likely will not respond back to you out of disappointment ^^; Sorry.) I will also match my partner’s response length. 

Also, please have a decent grasp of grammar and spelling. I won’t respond if you message me in all chatspeak. When you message me, also, please have an idea of what you want to do. “Hi, wanna RP?” is kind of unacceptable. Of course I want to roleplay–that’s why I put the add up.

- My hard limits are rape, vore, mpreg (good god no mpreg never ever mpreg), pedophilia, and a few others in between, but those are the big ones. If you ask for any of these four things, I will delete your post immediately. I don’t mind rape being mentioned in a backstory, but I won’t play it out. I’m not too keen on large age gaps unless we’re playing a supernatural creature with a human. They need to look about the same age. -

 I don’t really care for unhealthy ships

. I don’t like cheating or abuse in relationships–that sort of stuff. I’m not about that life. - I

 am a slash (both mxm and fxf) roleplayer. I will not tolerate seme/uke paradigms. You will play a switch or there will be no smut. There are only certain canon ships I’ll do mxf for. (like Lightning/adult!Hope or Tidus/Yuna for example.) I won’t do mxf for originals.

- I will only accept roleplayers who are

 21+

. If I find out you’re under my age limit, I’m going to delete you immediately. - All kinks are based off of character preference, not my own. I’m also not really a kinky person. Sorry about that. - I like canonxoc for certain canons. If I play a canon for you, I expect you to play one for me. Compromise! Some ships I will not do canonxoc for. - I know this sounds like me being a hard ass, but I really like becoming friends with my partners and exchanging headcanons and songs!

- I roleplay through email only. No exceptions.

- I try to post every day. I really do. Sometimes, I’m just too tired to do so. ^^;;; Be patient with me. - Once the roleplay gets off the ground, I have skype. You can ask for it–but only after intros are exchanged. Every time I’ve given someone my skype before we started, the roleplay never got off the ground. - If for some reason I stop responding, I legitimately forgot. Just poke me. There are times when I’m at work and look at an email and forget to respond to it later because i thought I did.

Well, if I haven’t scared you off, you can check out the rest!

Contact: 

xdeathtarot@gmail.com

Current cravings: Final Fantasy XV, Fire Emblem Fates, and the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. That doesn’t mean I won’t do others!

Puella Magi Madoka Magica

. I can play Kyoko, Homura, and Mami. I can also do originals in the PMMM setting, gender bends, or Puer Magi. (Magical Boys.) Seriously, my kingdom for a PMMM roleplay. I’m also not opposed to mixing canons and originals!

Original

. Hit me up. 

I am open to most things. If you want a something with a lot of smut, just let me know up front

.

 I especially am big on gothic/fantasy/horror settings with magic, darkness, twisted fairy tales as inspiration, Alice in Wonderland kind of settings, surreal or Silent Hill/Fatal Frame esque thing. Definitely willing to look into maybe some mystery/eldritch horror thing

. I’m pretty flexible. Other stuff I’m into includes: steampunk, horror, creepypasta, victorian era, medieval/fantasy, modern/fantasy. I’ll give anything a shot and I’m sure I have a character for it or at the very least, can make one. It must have fantasy, by the way. I’m also a big fan of supernatural beingxhuman, or two different races mingling with each others. The only thing I’ll outright say no to is slice of life unless it’s monsters/supernatural creatures trying to live among humans. I’ll only accept mxm and fxf for original lines. Please note, I DO NOT play vampires or werewolves. I don’t mind roleplaying with them, but I personally do not like playing them. If you want to do a plot that is vampire or werewolf based, you have to play those species. 

I’ll also take random intros for original! Just tell me the genre you’re sending me in the title or if you want platonic, mxm, or fxf! Please stick to the genres I have listed, or you’ll run the risk of me not being interested or unable to come up with a character.

Fire Emblem Awakening.

 I’ll die of happiness if you’d like to do m!tacticianxChrom. I’m looking for a Chrom. I can also play m!Morgan, Lucina, and a couple others. Let’s chat about it. I have a couple AU ideas, considering, well, you know how Fire Emblem is. There’s a war, let’s go fight the war!

Fire Emblem Fates. This, here, is what I’m craving the most.

 I’ve played all three paths, but prefer Conquest and Revelation. I want to play Corrin. (Male.) and am open to ships. (As long as they’re mxm and fxf.) I’m mostly looking for a Xander (!!! Boy, I want Xander the most. Xander/Corrin happens to be my otp.), Leo (!!), Takumi (!), Ryoma, Silas, or Kaze. I also ship Selena and Camilla. (I play Selena.) I like AUs and doubling, so I’m sure we can figure something out. I am also leokumi trash and can play either… though I’d rather do Corrin/Leo and Corrin/Takumi. I also like Sakura/Elise! (Slight preference toward Sakura.) I much prefer AUs and am willing to hash something out with you. No OCs for this. Sorry.

Addendum

: Currently really craving Leo/Corrin.

Persona

. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to do a Persona or Persona based roleplay!. My favorite pairing for Persona is Yu/Souji/ProtagonistxYosuke. I play Yosuke. I am seriously craving another Yu/Yosuke roleplay like woah. We can discuss this. I also REALLY like the idea of the P3 Female Protagonist/MinakoxMitsuru. I’d be playing the female protagonist. We can also do a whole new Persona group, too.

Addendum

: Just got Persona 5, am interested in playing Akira–or maybe we could do our own team of Phantom Thieves? Really dig the concept. I do like Akira/Yusuke and Ann/Makoto–will play Akira and Makoto. I’m only about halfway through the game. (Just got Futaba.)

I’d also like to do something with

 Black Butler

. I’d like to play a male oc against Ciel If you play Ciel for me, I’ll play Elizabeth for you in a fxf line or I will also consider playing Sebastian for your oc, but I’m VERY picky on this because Sebastian is a vainglorious bastard who needs entertainment. So! Try me, just don’t say I didn’t warn you if I tell you no. I also have a demon, if you want to play a contractor in an all original variation. (Note: my demon will not be your character’s butler. He laughs at the very idea. He can change his gender, so he can be a she.) 

*Please note, that sebciel is a GIANT NOTP of mine, so don’t even ask for it.

Tales of.

 The first thing I’m looking for is a Sorey to my Mikleo. My kingdom for these two babies who are too pure for this world. The second thing I’m looking for a Richard to my Asbel and kinda have some vague ideas for this! I also roleplay Tales of cross overs and have a vague idea for that, too. I would also love a Gaius for my Wingul. Can discuss other Tales pairings, will be fine with ocs if you’ll afford me the same. I’ve played all of the Tales of games released in the US EXCEPT for Eternia and Vesperia. That doesn’t mean you can’t play these characters! I’m totally down for Asch/OC and will try and accommodate you as well. I also recently bought Tales of Berseria. I’m only about 40ish hours into it, so no spoilers!

The World Ends With You

. I play Josh. Mostly looking for a Neku or whomever you want to throw at me. I’d prefer AUs (kind of have a basic idea for one) or post-game. Please, for the love of all things holy, do not play Neku as a weak willed little thing who won’t tell Josh to go eff himself if he doesn’t like what Josh is doing. We can also do a whole new Game with all ocs.

The Legend of Zelda. 

I’m looking for a Link and am looking to do a brand new Zelda roleplay where we split the cast and have fun times~! I have a male oc. There doesn’t need to be romance, but I would like there to be. I can play Ravio, Zelda, humanized Sidon or Revali (maybe) or Midna for one of your ocs, if you’d like. With Breath of the Wild out, I’d be happy to do something similar to that, too.

Devil Survivor 2

. I want to play the main character (Hibiki/Hiro/MC) against a Yamato LIKE BURNING Also, Shin Megami Tensei IV, I’d love a Flynn/Walter chaos route roleplay where I play Flynn.

Kingdom Hearts

. I kind of want to do an all-original setting with new Keyblade wielders, new villains and everything. We’d each play a keyblade wielder or something and fill out the cast. If you’re not up for that, I do love SoraxRiku–I’ll be playing Sora. (I love this ship with my whole heart.)

Final Fantasy

. I’m cool with most things here. Some characters I play are Lightning (my favorite), Cecil Harvey, Yuna, Cloud Strife, Kadaj, Vanille, Terra Branford, Garnet til Alexandros/Dagger, Bartz, Faris, Noel Kreiss, Ramza (Tactics), and some others here and there. Some of the ships I play are Lightning/adult!Hope (I play Lightning and have some au ideas for this), Zack/Cloud (I play Cloud), Tidus/Yuna (I play Yuna), Fang/Vanille (I play Vanille. I’ll also play Fang/Lightning), Zidane/Garnet, Cecil/Kain (Cecil) etc. There are others. I’ve played almost every Final Fantasy except the online ones, so just ask. There are a few canons I play that I’ll pair with ocs, like Noel Kreiss for example. This is probably the only place you’ll catch me for mxf. I would really love a Ramza for one of my ocs as well? Like I said, I’ll play certain canons for you, too! … or maybe just something with Final Fantasy Tactics in general.

Addendum

: I just finished 

FFXV

 and would love to try out being Noctis–looking for Gladio, Ignis, or Prompto–or a mix of all four. We can discuss but my favorite ship is 

IgNoct. Will be happy to do Promptis or GladNoct, too.

Bravely Default/Bravely Second.

 Ringabel/Edea, otp for life. I’d like to play Edea. Also willing to consider Tiz/Agnes (Tiz.) or Yew/Magnolia. (Magnolia.) Prefer an AU for this. I won’t do this genre without Ringabel/Edea, though, keep that in mind.

Parasite Eve. 

Does anyone even know what this is? We can discuss–ocs, canons, I’m sure we can figure something out.

  Pokemon

. I have a male Elite Four trainer I’d like to use against any character. I have a couple other trainers here and there. Why not, bring it on. If you want romance, it has to be m/m for this. I don’t mind gijinkas or whatever they’re called. I also beat Sun/Moon! So we can do some Alola stuff! Maybe a plot with the Ultra Beasts? Neaaaat.

Ace Attorney. 

Okay, okay. I only do canon/oc for this one, fam. I’ve also only played the first three games and Ace Attorney Investigations. I’m looking for a Miles Edgeworth to my male oc and for you, I can play Franziska von Karma for fxf. Might be talked into playing Phoenix Wright for you, depending on your oc. 

ATLA

. I have a male earth bending oc (with a spirit pal who follows him) that I’ll do mxm with. I’m really up for anything here, except LoK verse since he doesn’t seem to fit in there so well. Canons? OCs? Sure, whatever. I’ll leave it open. You wanna test a new OC or practice a canon against him? Cool.

There are also a few fandoms that I play, but only with an oc cast such as:

 Dead Space, Gravity Rush, Fatal Frame, Etrian Odyssey, and Silent Hill. Note: for Silent Hill, I will NOT be playing romance.

As for 

Silent Hill

… I’m up for putting canons in a Silent Hill verse as well as using originals.

The same goes for 

The Last of Us

. Canons in a TLOU universe could be fun. Same with ocs. I’m a little out of touch with this, though. It’s been a while.

Maybe something based on 

Transistor

? Or 

YoKai Watch

? 

Yomawari Night Alone

? Hey, maybe some creepy Japanese horror with a haunted town in the vein of Yomawari?

Suggest! If it’s along the lines of what’s mentioned above, then by all means. Other fandoms are: 

Okami 

(Human form!Amaterasu), a 999/Zero Escape based roleplay, 

Demon Gaze, Dragon’s Crown, Animal Crossing

 (humanized villagers), and more. Seriously, just ask. Ask away. I know some older animes but video games? I most likely know it, especially if it’s an RPG. I’m also a fan of AUs.

Again, if any of this interests you, mail me at 

xdeathtarot@gmail.com

.