#maybe he takes the time to wander hisui as a human.

[blaiddraws]

What would happen if in the middle of the Fulcrum au Ingo just turned back into a normal dude

some scraggly stranger comes running up to Irida in slightly-too-large clothes, shouting excitedly, and it takes her a moment to recognize those clothes as Ingo's. Which is alarming to see on a Human Man. but then she remembers the slightly-too-small clothes Ingo had appeared in, and the silver hair and eyes, the characteristic frown even in his excitement, his voice-- albeit slightly higher pitched and smoother-- it was all unmistakable. Lots of confused shouting back and forth until Ingo calms down enough to try and explain.

(Not that he really knows much more than Irida. All he knows is that suddenly he was Like This. And though he still has no memory of before Hisui, something he hadn't even noticed finally settled down in him, a wave of relief as a strange tenseness vanished, as he went (back?) to his human form. that Familiar But Wrong feeling of his half-pokemon form vanished into only familiarity.)

[hoofpeet]

hm HM what if. it came full circle. sugar n emmet get eebied, but sugar get eebied further back in time than emmet— and subsequently gets left in the past bc emmet just assumes she didn’t get taken with him so he takes ingo and goes home. sugar thinks emmet abandoned her bc she can’t find him at all, and all the humans she’s currently meeting want her dead —> sugar is now spice

spice wanders hisui icelands, does whatever, and eventually meets ingo. spice’s vers of emmet isn’t based on how ingo sees him, but how spice does: a warped caricature. spice uses it to try and hurt ingo (and keep themselves safe bc OFC ingo will be overwhelmed with grief and anger like his brother)— but ingo seemingly isn’t bothered and keeps spice around anyway. And their relationship grows and spice slowly feels like maybe people aren’t so bad, maybe things can get better… and then emmet shows up or ingo goes out alone to gather, meets emmet, and gets un-eebied and spice gets hachikoed

there’s a cycle there or something, idk, i just wanna put this dog thru the wringer.

CHRIST FUCK OKAY . OKAY

[honeyglazedcalamari]

so like with my immortal volo au (Eternal Customer Service AU) i am planning alot for most of it to be obvi takin place in the present but i had some ideas for Volos life before all the events take place and i would like to share them

He realized he was immortal like 60 years into immortality when brushing a pokemon (im thinking maybe eevee or an evolution but that doesnt matter too much) and joking about its white furs before remembering humans are supposed to age too. He spent his life trying to cope and hide away.

He essentially raised an orphaned Cogita, her death after the events of Arceus leading to him leaving Hisui. (she was 108, living a long time due to a blessing from Arceus when she was young. She was apart of a prophecy to help Rei/Akari and needed to live long enough to help them)

1873

Somepoint after the fight with Rei/Akari he shelters himself from society in fear of what he had done, eventually catching the Alpha Ninetales on Firespit.

(around a few months after rei will have gone home and Volo would go see Cogita to tell her he was planning to travel out of region, only to see her on her death bed. He got to spend her last moments with her.)

1888

he is in Hoenn, simply wandering around (and helping with the whole customer service stuff he has too.) his pokemon are growing old.

1892

Roserade is wilting, his poison growing barely able to put Volo to sleep on restless nights.

1899

Volo moves to Johto.

Arcanine is sick, hardly having the strength to eat. She always tries her hardest to make sure the team is warm.

1909

Volo moves to Kanto.

Lucario tires himself out trying to protect the campsite. He cant even sense when Volo comes back anymore.

1913

Volo moves to Kalos. He can't help but feel like he should check on a person while there.

Garchomp isn't allowed to fight anymore, not since his bones grew so brittle he broke a fin when helping Volo climb a rocky hill.

1915

Spiritomb is fine. He is whispering.

1917

Ninetales is fine. She is scared of the whispers. She worries for her family.

1923

Volo moves to Alola. He gets a job as a clerk in a clothing shop, Hau'oli City.

1925

Togekiss.

She is trying her hardest.

She doesn't want to let go.

She doesn't want to leave Volo.

She loves him.

He loves her.

But she will be lost soon.

1926

One night, he goes for a stroll on a beach. Togekiss follows. Volo sits in the sand and cradles her.

A young Nurse working in a nearby center notices him. She goes outside to check on him.

All she sees is a crying man and his friend who is now long gone.

Not the first Volo will ever lose, but the one that will hurt the most.

Spiritomb and Ninetales are all he has left to remember Hisui.

1994

Volo has an encounter with a young man who goes by Looker. He claims to be a rookie Interpol agent. Looker was assigned to find a man who in Alola hadn't aged for over 70 years. There are plenty of rumors stirring up, and he was sent to investigate.

Volo is taken in by Interpol after a few investigations.

They give him an ID that entitles him to have help from them whenever needed.

1998

Volo moves to Galar.

Terrifying.

2000

Volo moves in Paldea.

He reads up on events.

He attends the Academy for a while.

2016

Volo settles in Unova.

It is there he will stay.

In order to avoid suspicion, he moves from city to city every few years, working in Coffee shops.

2018

He now lives in Nimbasa.

News of a local celebrity going missing is rampant.

Volo does not bother to care much.

2020

He catches a Gothorita he named Rose. She seems attached to him, yet still opposed toward.

2022

A man comes into the Coffee shop. He is familiar to Volo, but in a way still not. Perhaps he knew this mans ancestor.

The man says his name is Emmet.

[kimberlyscout]

This thread contains spoilers for PLA

Subway Masters Order and Chaos AU

There were once two brothers Ingo and Emmet who cared for each other unconditionally. The two worked together seamlessly, and with a spark of joy. They didn’t have a complicated life, but all they needed was each other, and their love for trains and Pokémon to live a happy life. However, life can also take unexpected turns, and not all happiness can last forever. All it takes is a flash of light for the two to be separated and for everything to change for the worse.

Years pass by, and the two are now changed themselves both in mind and body. Perhaps they are no longer human. Ingo now serving under Arceus, and Emmet serving under Giratina, the two have become the human incarnate of good and and evil, order and chaos. On the day they reunite, they meet not as mutuals, but as enemies, determined to stop their plans of either maintaining order, or spreading chaos around the world.

As a result of the brothers serving under the two legendary pokemon they become changed as well, to the point that they both are able to channel the abilities of pokemon, and are practically like pokemon themselves.

Emmet -

Emmet decides to accept the offer to become Garitina’s adherent as a result from the despair of losing Ingo. However, over time as a result of his new abilities, and his prolonged time in the distorted dimension, he has developed a new perspective and outlook on life.

Emmet is a lot more mischievous and dubious, with a lack of morality. He has no clear goal other than to create death and chaos amongst communities, and often likes to manipulate others in order for that to happen. He also has the ability to inherit other Pokémon abilities and moves, and either use it on himself or on his scythe, but can only happen from other Pokémon casualties. He often dwells in one of his old trains which ever since has grown much more dilapidated, but was also enhanced to be able to transport him to the distorted dimension.

Ingo -

After years of being in Hisui, Ingo eventually finds a way to make it to the rift, and meet up with Arceus. Over that time, he has recovered some of his memories, but many of them are still hazy. Arceus offers that if Ingo becomes their guardian, that they can fully recover his memories. After all of his memories were recovered, Arceus finally allows Ingo back to his original timeline, only to not except what had happed during his time in Hisui.

Ingo is overall more distant and at first appears more cold. He has some inherited abilities from Arceus, as well as has the same ability as Emmet of inheriting Pokémon abilities, but is done from a slower but more humane way of building friendship with that pokemon. He purposely keeps a low profile to prevent others of taking advantage of him, and has a hard time trusting people, but does have a heart of gold once you get to know him, especially to pokemon and those he trusts. He has the capability of solving or ending world crisis's and disasters, but also purposely refrains from doing so to keep the balance of nature, and will only take action if absolutely needed. Ingo is more of a wanderer than anything else, and often hitch hikes on train carts. With his newfound abilities, he has a full opportunity to live in a house or a life of luxury, but instead chooses to live as a nomad.

Thank you so much for reading the concept for my submas AU. This took me a couple of hours to write, but I hope you find the same amount of intrigue and excitement as I did when creating this. Again if you have any questions or input on the AU don’t be afraid to message or ask me. I hope you are having a wonderful time. ❤️

[cutekittenlady]

What do YOU wanna see?

So I have, like, a lot of ideas that need developing and maybe some writing. So I figured, yknow, since I've been doing a lot of polls anyway I might as well poll to see what ya'll would most like to learn about. This isn't ALL the stuff I'd like to write/think on but its the stuff I think yall might most like to see/hear about.

Frail Emmet Au - Emmet arrives in Hisui looking for Ingo, but his experience goes... poorly. He doesnt have nearly Ingo's luck with where and when he landed appearing in the remote area of the Icelands (or on the top of Mr. Coronet) during the cold season FAR from the pearl clan settlement. He's found barely alive and starving, and eventually identified as Ingo's "Man in White". Emmet must go through an arduous recovery period all while trying to help Ingo recall his memories. Ingo meanwhile is juggling regaining his memories, his duties at the Jubilife training ground, acting as a translator and diplomat between Emmet and the clans, and also dealing a set of VERY determined poachers after Lady Sneaslers latest batch of eggs.

"Too Late" - Akari and Ingo are finally returned to their "appropriate spaces in time" by Arceus, Dialga, and Palkia. Unfortunately though, in the interest of keeping the timeline in tact they have to returned to a point in time after their disappearance that is equivalent to their time spent in Hisui. Over decade later, a now fully grown Akari finds herself in Unova hoping to find signs of a very old friend...

"Whatever it Takes" - Also knows as the "Emmet and Elesa in Hisui" concept I've touched on before; Emmet and a team of trainers arrive in hisui hoping to collect a set of very special pokemon at the behest of a team of professors while also looking for Ingo and Akari. Meanwhile, the residents of Hisui are faced with a crisis as the Noble Pokemon begin to one by one disappear with reports pointing fingers at a perpetrating whose description sounds a lot like Warden Ingo...

Eelektross in Hisui - The people of Hisui are terrified to learn that some unknown and terrifying monster has taken up residence in the waters of the Obsidian Fieldlands. It rises from the waters and will chase any humans who wander too close. Akari and Prof. Laventon have been tasked with hunting down the creature and do what needs to be done to ensure the safety of the people of Hisui...

Pokemon Journey - Elesa is out on her first ever pokemon journey with her blitzle, determined to do better and get farther than her (unsuspecting) rival Skyla. Along the way she meets old faces she knew in trainer school and makes a few new friends along the way. (Elesa's pokemon journey also featuring Emmet, Ingo, Skyla, Burgh, etc.) Contains a LOT of headcanons about the characters pasts, family and school lives, and the various conflicts that come with growing up.

With all that listed and VERY roughly summarized, now I'd like to host a poll.

[synthetic-radiance]

[It's a video from anon perspective]

Orion sits at a river bank, staring at the rushing current, evidently deep in thought. He lets out a deep sigh and flops back into the grass, there's a dull 'thunk' as his inhibitor helmet hits the ground.

After a few moments, there's the sound of footsteps, and a figure appears. They're wispy and thin, wearing an outfit similar to what one might have seen in the hisui era. They have long white hair and red and green eyes and a longish white beard. A metal ring in the shape of Arceus's wheel floats just behind them, following them. They sit down in the grass next to him, a worried look on their face. They scratch their chin, thinking of what to say, Orion breaks the silence first.

"Why did you make me like this?"

Arceus jumps a little, seeming a little surprised by the sudden question, but it relaxes. "Were you not satisfied with the answers from earlier?"

"...You revealed the information. and then wouldn't speak with me when I began asking questions."

Arceus hums, "Well... I figured you needed some time to get your head on straight after information like that. To think for yourself. And I wasn't sure anything I could say would help so.. I gave you some space."

Orion groans, covering his eyes with his hands, "I don't need space. I need orders. or an explanation or- something."

"I explained earlier-"

"Not well enough! You- Why didn't you just discard what was left of me! Why make me into this- this weapon this guardsman-"

"Because you cared."

Orion stutters, taken aback by the comment. "because I- What?"

"There are plenty of humans who call on me at any time. I cannot help them all. I am only one me. It's impossible. But there's very few who seek me out... and then find me. You found the flute.. and climbed the steps... and instead of attacking me like I thought you would... you asked me to save your sibling for you."

"...So you turned me into your immortal sidekick about it-"

"no no no. After I saved Pip for you... After rewriting their life so that they would live instead of dying in that hospital... What was left of you... after sacrificing for your sibling... I... I don't know why. I have saved one in exchange of the other before. But this time. I wanted you to have a second chance as well. So I pulled you from time and space and put you back together."

Orion stares at Arceus, disbelieving. "So you.. put me back together on a whim."

Arceus brightens up, "Yes! I did."

There's despair written across Orion's face. He groans again, rolling over and planting his face in the dirt.

"Did I say something wrong?"

"...You brought me back because you felt like it. That's a horrible reason to bring someone to life."

"Because I wanted you to have a second chance! It's not so bad- you're here! And you're alive! Instead of wandering as a husk of a human being in the distortion realm! Isn't that great?" Arceus beams at Orion. Orion is still not happy.

"You brought me back as a weapon... and not even to use me. To display me up on spear pillar. like some decorative blade."

"...And that makes you unhappy?"

"Yes." Orion sits up now, and glares at the legendary pokemon.

"...Apologies, I didn't realize."

Silence falls between the two. Arceus frowns, looking at the river. Orion sighs.

"...Well, we're here now. And, as I see it there are two- no.. Three. Options," Arceus finally speaks after what feels like ages, "Option 1, I release you of your duties at Spear Pillar, and you strike out wherever your whims may take you."

"mhm."

"Option 2, We return to Spear Pillar, and you continue your duty as my guardsman."

"Nothing changes."

"Correct. Nothing changes- though maybe we repair the temple. After Gratin Potatoes destroyed it I think it could do with a fresh coat of paint."

"...not too bad. What's the third."

"Option 3 I deconstruct you and send your husk off to the distortion realm." Arceus smiles at Orion like that's not a terrifying sentence.

"Absolutely not."

Arceus chuckles. "I thought you might not like that one. But it was an option if you were feeling it."

"So two options."

"Yes, two options."

"Stay with you or... see what the world has to offer."

"I mean I'm not saying you can't change your mind in the future but. The choice is yours."

Silence falls again. Orion stares at the river, contemplating again.

"...I want to go."

More silence, like it hadn't been the answer Arceus wanted, but it was willing to let the choice be made.

"Very well." Arceus smiles again, and claps its hands together. In a small flash of light a backpack appears. Orion's naginata clatters to the ground next to it. Arceus gestures to the items. "I've packed your things. You're free to go whenever."

Orion stares at the pack, at Arceus's smiling face, a little bewildered by the sudden change in demeanor from the legendary.

"...Just like that?"

"Of course just like that. It's better you get an early start on things. The world is full of glorious sights and people and pokemon. I'm sure things have evolved out there that I don't even know about so-" Arceus stands, and pulls the giant of a hybrid up with itself. It picks the pack and the weapon up quickly after, holding them out.

"Go go go- and I don't want you back here for at least a hundred- no A thousand years."

"A- a thousand I- What if something-"

"Psh. It'll be fine." Arceus shoves the weapon into Orion's hand and makes an attempt at hoisting the pack onto Orion's shoulders but struggles. Orion crouches a bit to better accommodate the action. "Team Galactic hasn't been around for years, and anyone else is negligible. I can handle myself. I've been around for... I dunno how long. But I'll call you if I need you. Now Go."

The pack is secured on Orion's back, and Arceus smiles up at its chosen. Orion looks down at the legendary, and lets out a deep breath. Arceus pats Orion on his arms.

"You're going to do great."

[pika-ace]

Legends Arceus: Silver Phantoms AU

Soooo I've had a basic 'Ingo and MC kinda just go off and do their own thing' AU in my head for a while, then @creativewildmind made a Wild Child AU which is amazing, so I figured it was time to finally polish this brainrot and post about it before I possibly fanfic it. Okay? Here we go.

So to start, three major differences; one, Akari is sent to the past when she is much younger, maybe 10 or 11 this time around. Two; Emmet is ALSO brought to Hisui, but with no memories and separated from Ingo. So we got two amnesiac twins wandering around with no idea the other exists. And three; both their partners are here for the ride, meaning ONLY Chandelure and Eelectross.

Now, this part is basically a big prologue before the main plot of PLA happens, So to start, Akari, Ingo, and Emmet aren't found by any humans; they all woke up in some area in the Coronet Highlands. Akari woke up in the Fabled Spring, Ingo woke up at Chamberclaw Cliffs, and Emmet woke up in the Primevil Grotto. No memories, no Pokemon, nothing but the clothes on their back (also since Akari is younger here, let's say she's wearing kinda typical pajamas, like a small nightgown and pajama pants both kind of a silver-blue color). Luckily, for Akari, the Budew and Roselia there, as well as the Clefairy line that appears at night take decent care of her, teaching her which Pokemon to avoid. Emmet and Ingo...aren't that lucky. Ingo has hostile Geodude, Graveler and Bronzor to deal with and poor Emmet has to avoid blood-hungry Gligar and Gliscor and neither of their Pokemon have good type advantages for these guys.

Luckily, Emmet and Ingo are able to scrape by and survive, until they inevitably run into each other, mostly thanks to their Pokémon. After doing the Spiderman meme, they immediately become wary of each other. I mean, they woke up with no memories with every living thing trying to kill them, of course they're gonna freak out when they see someone with their face. (Poor Chandelure and Eelectross have no idea how to handle this) This goes on for a while, them glaring each other down every time they meet, expecting the other to attack, but when you're in the Coronet Highlands where a bunch of Gligar will charge you if you even look at them wrong, you learn to put your differences aside for survival pretty quick. After a while, they decide that sticking together is their best chance for survival and their bond grows from there.

But then they come across Akari due to some wild Roselie looking for help. Because apparently, a ten-year-old living in the wild without proper care and nourishment during WINTER is grounds for a bad case of pneumonia. Emmet and Ingo immediately take pity on the child and quickly decide that now they REALLY need to seek out civilization, but...it doesn't go well.

Emmet tries to go to the Pearl Clan during a blizzard, and with his white and red coat, you can imagine how THAT went. Ingo tries to go to the Diamond clan at night during a windstorm, but with his ragged appearance and Chandelure lighting his way, everyone thought he was a Drifblim or some kind of vengeful spirit from the many ghost Pokemon that roam the Mirelands at night. And when they tried Jubilife Village they were driven away almost instantly, due to their Pokemon being completely unknown and terrifying to the guards and making them attack. So now, Ingo and Emmet are getting worried as Akari is getting worse, and that's where the Nobles come in.

See, Ingo, Emmet, and Akari have definitely caught the Nobles' attention. Sneasler and Electrode witnessed them falling from the sky, and from the way they interact with non-hostile Pokemon, it's clear these humans are different from their Wardens. Plus, they're not completely heartless, so when they see a very sick child, they're of course going to help. So with their help, Akari slowly recovers with Ingo and Emmet's care.

Akari, of course, remains with the twins, and the three of them slowly learn to live amongst the wild Pokemon of not just the Coronet Highlands, but all the other areas of Hisui as well. They can scavenge food, climb trees, and navigate the terrain better than any human can, by themselves and with the help of fellow Pokemon. And they were able to establish a bit of a hierarchy among the hostile wild Pokemon, which is just fancy talk for saying that if a Pokemon gets nasty, they know how to establish dominance and get them to back off, mostly through battles. However, they do have material needs, and since they don't want to risk talking to the three groups again, they basically resort to stealing, like food and clothes. Think of them like regular-sized Borrowers; they take stuff that kids have outgrown for Akari and things that the adults don't want, nothing important or big that someone's obviously going to miss. The Pokemon help out too. It's not perfect, but Ingo, Emmet, and Akari have made it work as a small little family.

Five years pass, getting to the time the actual main plot starts, and the little family of three have basically become household names among the clans and the Survey Corps. Stories and rumors are created about the three mysterious figures that have been sighted all over the region. They’ve only ever been seen during storms, fog, blizzards, or basically anytime vision is obscured. And with Ingo and Emmet wearing black and white respectively and Akari wearing kind of a mix of both, they come across as grey or silver, hence their name, the Silver Phantoms of Hisui.

They've basically become this era's boogeyman. Parents tell their kids that if they wander too far from home during a storm, the Silver Phantoms will whisk them away forever. Friends dare each other to stand outside during fog or snowstorms to see if they'll be taken by the Phantoms.

The Diamond and Pearl clans pretty much treat them like they would dangerous Pokémon: Keep your distance and run away if you can; if we don’t bug them they won’t bug us. But of course, Kamado being Kamado is all ‘Shoot to kill.’ He even sends Beni out a few times to try and scout these dangerous phantoms, but thankfully, they’re very good at hiding. Due to this, Emmet and Ingo pretty much raise Akari, teaching her that if she EVER sees a member of the Survey Corps, RUN. Because they will hurt her without a second thought. In fact, they tell her to be careful around the people in general in all three groups, as they're scared of them, and people do reckless things when they're scared, and Akari takes the lessons to heart.

But everything changes when Akari meets Rei.

It all starts when Rei is having trouble sleeping at the camp near the Lonely Spring. He lies awake and eventually hears noises. He sits up, blinking through the morning fog, and sees someone hunched over and rummaging through the storage chest. At first, he thinks it's a fellow Galaxy Team member, but then he sees a bunch of Yanma perched on them. Rei then sees the grey outfit and remembers all the horror stories about the Silver Phantoms, and starts backing away. However, the figure abruptly looks at him, making him gasp, and the figure vanishes into the fog. Rei tries to follow, but due to the fog, he tumbles off the nearby cliff and into the river below the Lonely Spring. The fall knocks the wind out of him, causing him to sink, but before he blacks out he sees someone reaching for him and a bunch of shadows pulling at him. This turns out to be Akari, who enlisted the help of a bunch of Basculin to help her get Rei to the shore and to safety.

Akari drags Rei to a nearby cave (Akari, Ingo, and Emmet know ALL the good hiding places in Hisui) where she builds a fire and warms him up until he wakes. Were the situation any different, Akari would have just left some berries or something and left him be because he's Survey Corps; he can't be trusted. But Akari had been watching Rei when he first entered the Highlands. He was nothing like the Survey Corps that Ingo and Emmet described; Rei was gentle, timid, and not at all threatening. So now, curiosity has her, and she wants to learn more about this boy. On the other end of the spectrum, Rei is EXTREMELY confused when he wakes up. He was suddenly rescued by one of the supposed Silver Phantoms, who not only isn't a phantom, strange Pokemon, or monster that the stories claimed, but is just a kid who's his age that apparently lives in the wild.

However, the two seem to hit it off very well and find that through each other, they can learn many different things. Rei's Pokedex gets filled with tons more notes thanks to Akari's vast knowledge from living with them; and Akari learns about the Galaxy Team's true values through Rei, learning that humans are scared of Pokemon, and hopefully with the help of Professor Laventon's Pokedex, humans and Pokemon can live in harmony. Plus, Rei can introduce Akari to things from Jubilife Village that she or her guardians wouldn't be able to get their hands on through their 'Borrowing' means, like Potato Mochi and tea or whatever they casually drank in Hisui.

So now we basically have a forbidden friendship here, with Akari and Rei which I'm sure won't end in disaster like these stories tend to do. And I'm gonna leave it here cause good lord this post is long now, but I'm open to brainstorming and questions you may have about this AU and hopefully, I'll add to it soon!

[answrs]

the problem I'm having is there's like 4 (okay, 3.5, the last one is definitely not on the table for this au's canon but just a general PMD idea) settings i could take the ing(o)men au into and they all pretty much clash with each other, and since i can't decide which to focus on, *none* of them have had any progress done on the plot basically since the damn inception of this au :|

this post is honestly just me brainstorming since maybe if I write my thoughts out with the pros/cons it'll help me narrow things down? (edit: lmao it actually worked and I've narrowed it down to just 2 possibilities, leaning towards 1, so woo! massive progress!)

1) Ingo falls to Hisui as an absol

pro: have a very specific scene for this one (a panicked thrashing as he nearly gets strangled to death by his own tie because the only garment remotely loose enough around his form is his coat, the rest of his outfit becoming scattered in the wind as he fights for air). also because of him never being a human to the people there, his fighting to help when his senses warn him of danger. and then there's a clash of the guardian angel image the clans with no prior expectation of absol eventually see him as vs a devil harbinger the Galaxy Clan thinks him based on their various homelands' folklores where absol are native makes a compelling wedge, especially once the MC falls and grows close to him

con: can only really have a full connection to Sneasler and still leaves the warden spot needing filled, since he can't communicate and (since he's a pokemon and an unknown one at that) is held much further than arm's length from any of the humans, even the clans that appreciate him. might be an angle to learn about Irida and Adaman through connecting with their eevees? but then basically have to do 50 OCs for each of the respective partner mons in place of their humans.

2) Ingo is changed from human to absol in Hisui - possibly during the Red Sky? (possibly mortally wounded by Beni/Kamado defending MC?)

pro: human connections! immediate angst! drama! the clans mourning him only for the biting winter snow and Lady Sneasler's frantic cry to reveal him staggering towards the settlement on a wounded leg, coat billowing in the wind, looking for help

con: very far into the Hisui storyline, don't get anywhere close to as much traction from the omen aspect of his existence. probably muddles the importance if you throw all the Lord Sinnoh and Banishment and Everything Else in sy the same time as his change. but if it's not during Red Sky and is just like. him tripping off a cliff one day and coming back as a pokemon is the exact opposite problem of it being so stupid and anticlimactic and no reason for a blessing from Sinnoh to give a reason for him to come back.

3) Hisui is the same but the reverse-deebying turns him into an absol

pro: classic Arceus Fucked Up Whoops, can throw in Hisuian Zorua MC shenanigans trying to get home while being amnesiac and also a wild pokemon are always a classic

con: no point on him being an absol vs Literally Any Other Pokemon (and honestly even less plot relevance than other people's Hisuian Sneasel aus). i love the trope but really doesn't fit the concepts i wanna explore with it.

4) pokemon mystery dungeon it

this is a joke. maybe as a different au where imagine Emmet just gets yoinked and Arceus just. forgets to make him a pokemon. didn't It already change this guy? (no Arceus that was Ingo). so Emmet's just wandering around as a human and sees this absol wearing his lost brother's outfit yelling about safety checks to a pair of rambunctious zorua pups (Akari and Rei) playing on a cliff lmao

[ridiasfangirlings]

AU where the different Kings' headquarters are like shrines protected by their head priest (King) and then a spirit animal. Like Homra's got Mikoto as their head priest and say Yata is a fiery crow or phoenix with three legs who also has a human form. Fushimi is the lone white and blue kitsune who's friends with Yata in Homra, but he really is destined to be the spirit animal for Scepter 4's shrine run by head priest Munakata. (I just want to see them all in pretty robes!)

Putting everyone in pretty robes is a 100% valid reason for an AU :D So imagine AU where maybe the Kings are almost like gods of nature, they take on the form of a human but have powers beyond normal people. The Kings each have their own head priest who's like their right hand (so imagine Kusanagi as Mikoto's head priest and Awashima as Munakata's priestess) as well as like a 'guardian' spirit animal. In practice the high priest communicates the god's will to the rest of the worshipers when the god is too busy to do so, so like Awashima and Kusanagi run a lot of the day to day work in the temple and their respective gods often wander about unseen doing whatever they feel like – Mikoto just likes to go into human form and nap on his own altar, while I could see Munakata taking on a variety of human forms to mingle amongst his worshipers because he finds humans to be so very interesting. The guardian spirit animal is in charge of defending the temple against interlopers, while the gods themselves often clash in person the temple itself is sacrosanct, the King's sanctum where no one but the King and his chosen followers can go.

Yata ends up being chosen to become the guardian spirit of Homra, like imagine Mikoto takes over as the god after the previous temple god, Kagutsu, died in a battle with rival god Habari. The battle between the two causes a lot of destruction in both the nearby lands and the two temples, which stand empty for years before Mikoto and Munakata awaken as the new gods. Due to this both temples are without a guardian spirit for a long time as well, Kusanagi and Awashima take over as priests and plenty of the worshipers can defend the temple but there's like an obvious 'hole' left by the lack of a guardian beast. Meanwhile Yata and Fushimi live in the forest near the temple, Yata's a six-legged crow who lost track of his flock when he was only a fledgeling and stumbled upon lonely little kitsune Fushimi, who's an outcast even among the other kitsune due to his parentage.

The two of them have been living alone for a long time when they stumble across Mikoto's temple, when they step over the threshold they both get like a strange feeling that comes over them. For Yata it's almost like an exultation, like he's finally stepped into a place where he's always meant to be, while for Fushimi it feels almost like an itch that he can't scratch. When they meet Mikoto Yata's amazed while Fushimi can't help but shake and back away, Mikoto looks down at Yata and immediately knows that Yata's meant to be the guardian beast of this place. He puts a hand on Yata's head and Yata gains the ability to take on a human form as well as gaining like new stronger powers, like his black wings turn red and the tips of his feathers change to fire and all that. Yata thinks Mikoto is super cool and he's excited about his new role, everyone in the temple treats him like he's someone special and it's like the family he always wanted. For Fushimi though everything is uncomfortable, like imagine when Mikoto gave Yata his powers he also glanced down at Fushimi and gave this rueful smile like he knew something Fushimi didn't, and that gaze has been bothering Fushimi ever since. He can't transform into a human himself and it feels like he's just nipping at Yata's heels, an animal who can't catch Misaki's gaze anymore now that he so much better things to look at.

In the end Fushimi decides to leave the temple, thinking Yata won't even notice he's gone. However as he's walking through the woods he ends up in this clearing and he's met by a man in glasses with a strong aura, holding out a hand to him. Fushimi is wary but he also has an odd feeling meeting this person, like he should recognize the man in front of him. Munakata notes that Fushimi is indeed a strong being and that his abilities were being wasted in Homra's temple, offering to take him somewhere that he can belong. Fushimi moves forward despite himself and when Munakata touches him Fushimi feels all this power rushing through him and realizes that Munakata's a god as well. Fushimi becomes Scepter 4's guardian beast and gains his own human form and everything, though unlike Misaki he isn't awed by his chosen god and prefers to complain about Munakata's irritating habits and idiot worshipers and all that. Even so he's fiercely protective of the temple and committed to his job, which Munakata praises him for quite highly.

Naturally since the Homra and Scepter 4 temples are nearby and their gods traditionally at odds this means their spirit guardians tend to clash often too and Fushimi is more than happy to have the chance to fight with Yata again. Yata's initially shocked that Fushimi's gone to the 'enemy' and Fushimi leans into that, wanting to seem like an awful traitor who abandoned Mikoto and chose Munakata instead, when really Mikoto at least is well aware that Fushimi was always 'meant' to be at Scepter 4. Maybe eventually rogue god Hisui shows up and the Homra and Scepter 4 temples have to work together to defeat him, during the conflict Yata realizes that Fushimi really does belong in Scepter 4 and Fushimi realizes that he was always important to Yata so they reconcile (though they do still fight occasionally but more just as a way of testing their strength, enjoying going up against each other and being proud of their roles as guardian spirits).

[ridiasfangirlings]

A la Fushigi Yuugi, could we have Munakata as Seiryuu and Fushimi as his priest? Then Mikoto as Suzaku and Yata as his priest, Hisui as Genbu and Yukari and/or Sukuna as his priests, then Shiro as Byakko with Kuroh as his priest.

I'm just liking this for the mental image of the Kings in like cool flowy robes and all that. Like maybe some kind of AU where each of the gods rules a certain kingdom, sharing power with their followers. The priest of each god is chosen personally by that god and say it's like some kind of 'destiny' thing, like it's determined by fate and no one knows that they're the priest until they meet that god face to face. Like imagine Yata and Fushimi are these roaming orphans in Suzaku/Mikoto's territory and they dream of becoming one of his chosen warriors, tasked with protecting the peace. One day the two of them get in over their heads with some bandits and are saved by the timely intervention of Mikoto and one of his chosen warriors, Totsuka. Totsuka is the weakest of the warriors and only has illusion skills, he tries to intervene to help the kids and gets himself into trouble instead, which summons Mikoto to come save him. Mikoto scatters the bandits and then looks over at Yata and Fushimi and immediately there's like this 'feeling' that passes between Mikoto and Yata and Totsuka realizes that Mikoto's finally found his chosen priest.

So Yata, Fushimi and Totsuka return to Mikoto's palace and Yata gets to be all decked out in the outfit of Mikoto's priest (I imagine Mikoto's being more warrior-like than priest-like in design though), Yata is also given access to a great amount of Mikoto's power because as priest he's basically like second only to the god himself. Fushimi is treated as a warrior of the clan but he resents it, with Yata being Mikoto's priest there's like a closeness between the two of them that Fushimi can't match even though he and Yata have been friends for so long. Fushimi basically stews angrily in the palace wishing he could be anywhere else until the day a procession from the neighboring country ruled by Seiryuu/Munakata arrives. Munakata is secretly traveling with them in disguise, he runs into Fushimi in the palace and he immediately recognizes Fushimi as his priest. Munakata tells Fushimi that it is up to him if he wishes to leave Mikoto's lands and Fushimi decides to go with Munakata, naturally after breaking things off with Yata in the most painful way possible and now the two of them are total rivals (and meanwhile their respective gods are just like well they'll work it out eventually I'm sure).

Meanwhile there's also Genbu/Hisui and Byakko/Shiro, I imagine Hisui's lands being the ones plotting to take over the rest of the countries in order to unite them all under a single banner. I'm kinda imagining Yukari being his priest, like maybe Yukari was the disciple of this wandering demi-god Ichigen Miwa who was like a force of neutrality in the world but then when Yukari meets Hisui he abandons all that to become Hisui's priest. Sukuna is Hisui's only chosen warrior (well, him and the parrot) while Iwafune is like a fifth god who everyone thought was destroyed when his lands were ravaged in a battle thousands of years ago. Meanwhile Shiro is like this reclusive god, people live peacefully in his lands but he has no warriors and no priest, he refuses to intervene in his lands at all whether the people are content or suffering. A warlord named Colorless starts making inroads in Shiro's territory, claiming that he's going to become a god and supplant Shiro's rule, and Kuroh arrives to protect the common people. He ends up running into Shiro, who is living as a normal human in his modest shack along with his pet pink kitten and the moment the two meet they feel the electricity between them, the destined bond of god and priest.

[ridiasfangirlings]

A Red Riding Hood AU with a twist where Nagare and his clan are werewolves and their opposing clan are hunters. In this AU, Fem!Shiro is labelled as the 'Silver Riding Hood', hunting down werewolves with her silver blade :)

Silver Riding Hood Fem!Shiro, with her attack umbrella :P Like imagine Shiro is part of the Silver clan of wolf hunters, whose job it is to keep Shizume Forest free of werewolves. Shiro's been living in seclusion in her tiny hut for a long time, ever since her sister Klaudia got killed by a wolf when delivering information to one of their allies who goes under the alias 'Grandma.' Shiro felt that she should have been the one to take the trip, as the information in question was the results of some research she'd been doing into the werewolves of the forest and about this mysterious Dresden Stone that's supposed to be at the heart of the forest and capable of defeating the werewolves.

One day Shiro's only friend Kokujouji goes out to hunt wolves and doesn't come back and that finally gets Shiro to get out of her funk and decide to see if she can figure out what sort of mysterious plan these wolves have going on. She grabs her cute silver hood and her umbrella with the blade inside along with her brave pet kitten Neko and heads out into the forest. Maybe while she's traveling she runs into wandering woodsman Kuroh, who is trying to guard the forest from werewolves and doesn't completely trust that Shiro's really a human and not a werewolf in disguise. In order to prove her innocence Shiro offers to let Kuroh accompany her on her trip, following the only path through the forest to the safe place of Mihashira tower on the other side. Kuroh agrees, acting as bodyguard as Shiro continues through the woods.

Meanwhile the whole time Shiro's walking through the woods she's being watched by the werewolves of jungle. Hisui has taken an interest in Shiro from the start, he's the one who received the information that Klaudia was originally carrying which contained research into how the Dresden Stone might be used to turn all people into werewolves. Hisui figures this would be a great idea, he was originally like some small orphan kid who was walking in the woods one day and got attacked by wolves, he only survived due to becoming a werewolf himself and he figures that if everyone could be wolves there would be peace. He likes to hang out just off the path and calls to Shiro whenever she's on her own, trying to convince her to step off the path and talk to him. Shiro's wary though and suspects that Hisui's really a wolf, knowing that eventually the two of them will have to meet in order to settle things between their clans.

[ridiasfangirlings]

What would it take the Kings (Mikoto and Reisi) to do the ugly cry? Like break character and truly break down sobbing. A death of a family member or a push to their limit? Watching them be so calm and collected, especially Munakata who shows only minimal reactions of surprise, makes me wonder what would break them down...

I’ve answered a couple asks about Munakata breaking down here andhere, so I’ll focus mostly on Mikoto for this one. It’s hard for meto think of a situation where Mikoto would be really crying andsobbing, he generally seems to keep a lot of his emotions clampeddown and internalized – we do have a situation in canon with himafter all where one of his most important people dies and from whatwe see he doesn’t even so much as cry. I think if Totsuka’s deathdidn’t make him break down it would be hard for anything else tomanage it, that death was enough to push Mikoto over the edge intosomething close to suicidal and even then he didn’t shed a tear. Ithink for Mikoto to really ugly cry it would probably have to involvemore than just one person he cares about getting killed, likesomething happens to all of Homra including Kusanagi and Anna.I wonder if he would break down if there was a situation sort of likewhat he was seeing in his dreams in S1, where he’s standing alone ina destroyed wasteland but in this case it’s real and his Sword ofDamocles did fall but for some reason he survived while everyone elsein his clan died. Like say this is all part of Hisui’s plan somehowand Iwafune used his power of absolute defense to protect Mikoto fromthe shadows, there was still a Damocles Down but the power ofIwafune’s sanctum kept Mikoto alive and only Mikoto. Mikoto sees hisSword falling and then everything goes dark and he assumes Munakata’skilled him as Mikoto intended, instead Hisui and Iwafune interveneand when Mikoto opens his eyes he’s standing in a burned wastelandsurrounded by the dying and dead bodies of his friends. Mikotowanders around shell-shocked, trying to figure out what happened, andhe slowly starts to tremble as he recognizes body after body, Yataand then Kusanagi and finally Anna and that I think would be thepoint where he’d really break down, seeing that the most importantpeople in the world to him are dead and it’s directly due to hisactions. Ooh and maybe even because Mikoto’s Sword did fall he’s nota King anymore either so he can’t even go on some kind of revengemission to find out who kept him alive and stopped Munakata fromkilling him, he’s just a normal human now who’s killed the peopleclosest to him and has no one else he can blame or get revenge on,it’s only him, and that’s when Mikoto finally loses it for probablythe first time in his life.