#full talent swap au | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

kindlespark · 2 months

Note

omg i was just going through ur babel posts and i was wondering if u had any more details abt the cohortswap au, it looked super interesting! love ur art btw <3

HELLO. I AM SO SO MAD THIS TOOK ME SO LONG TO ANSWER BC I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO ASK FOR MONTHS but i haven't had like a single free hour until now ANYWAY OF COURSE THANK U SM FOR TAKING INTEREST

MAJOR BABEL SPOILERS AHEAD //

cohortswap is basically an au eren @chromathesia came up with where griffin and robin swap places in the story; robin is now the older golden child gone astray, and griffin is now the younger second failure. and the rest of the cohorts get swapped with them!

we have a lore doc that is like over 14 pages long but we are keeping the full thing under wraps for now because eren is writing a massive fic they don't want to spoil too early lmaooo

some foundational deets:

ramy still dies... so sorry. except in this case he and robin planned to run and leave babel for the hermes society together (the um. romantic eloping is implied but unfortunately i don't think either of them get a real chance to act on it), and they plan for victoire to stay behind to keep leaking information out to them. letty finds out and betrays them the same way; calling the cops and barging in with a gun and. yeah. except this time, because it happens outside their dorm rooms, robin manages to escape, and drags ramy's body across half of oxford to bury him in the garden of the old library. he is deeply deeply fucked up from this

professor lovell doesn't die... so sorry. furious about robin's betrayal, he blames it on robin being corrupted by spending too long in his home country, and rips griffin out of china early. but he realises very quickly that griffin isn't fluent in chinese and can barely hold a candle to robin's talent. he never tells griffin about robin but very much takes it all out on griffin, who grows up feeling compared to a ghost his whole childhood. when he first meets robin it all clicks, and he can't help but resent his older brother for the hell he got put through

to save herself, victoire sucks up to letty, tells her that she almost got hooked by hermes and wants out and to put it behind them after everything, and letty is so desperate to believe it that she pulls all her strings to vouch for her and keep her safe. victoire remains at babel and she keeps working covertly with hermes under letty's nose. my comic was about letty and victoire first seeing griffin in babel, and mistaking him for robin. letty doesnt take it well lmao but also in her bullheaded stubbornness starts to treats griffin as her second chance to prevent robin's "mistakes" from happening again lollll

so that's like the general premise! here's some other fun deets:

robin is... severely depressed but is determined to follow through on hermes' work and not give himself an easy out like ramy implied. griffin is so desperately eager for more of hermes when he finds out, but robin keeps him at an arms' length for ages because he's literally been wanting to die for years and is not prepared or willing to have a little brother to look after now. they end up butting heads more often than not and it's a very strained relationship (as griffin and robin's relationship is in canon)

when griffin fails his silver-working test, it's because robin tries to help offhand by giving him a matchpair he came up with. griffin can't get it to work in the exam, but worst of all, chakravarti recognises it as robin's work. he doesn't report griffin for it since he's also a part of hermes, but he tries to give griffin a second chance to come up with his own, and griffin can't, so he fails. up until that point griffin had been trying to hide from robin how little he knew, so the look on robin's face when griffin next sees him is unbearable, like, the mix of pity and anger that griffin didn't tell him, the disappointment that griffin wasn't the connection to robin's culture he wanted, the guilt that robin let lovell rip someone else out of their home, and now griffin knows exactly what letting down an older brother feels like. but it all happens in the half second before robin squashes it all down and gets down to business because there are more important things to worry about and maybe it's good that can't get caught up in griffin's life like this. to quote eren: "i think the worst part to griffin would be that robin just treats it like a setback. like okay, that's one less tool for you to use, you'll have to make up for that deficiency somewhere, moving on, when he wants robin to react as though it's personal to him that griffin doesn't measure up because it should be, because griffin's not good enough for their father (and robin always rolls his eyes when griffin tries to claim lovell and griffin knows why but lies to himself that he doesn't) so he must not be good enough to this tarnished golden child, the prodigal son that lovell tried to recreate. but no, he's just slightly more ineffectual gear within the revolution now, that's a slight hiccup at best and not an entire childhood snatched away from a boy whose clearest memory of canton is the smell of sesame oil in a wok"

robin warns griffin about recruiting evie very early on, but doesn't tell him about letty or ramy for a long while because the wound is still fresh. griffin still persists, and robin is forced to whisk griffin out of babel after he kills evie. and he's just a mess whispering "you were right you were right im sorry im so sorry" because robin told him this could happen, but he let love and idealism cloud his judgments with evie, and robin has NEVER seen griffin like this, and any angry berating about griffin's stupid misjudgments die on his lips

griffin/anthony is so so very real. anthony is recruited by victoire separately, so griffin isn't even aware for a while and i think anthony actually held off on telling griffin bc of how close he was with sterling LOL. griffin and sterling had something insane going on at first, with sterling trying to be genuinely sympathetic to griffin's plight as an attempt to distinguish himself from his uncle's legacy, before the years drive them apart and griffin becomes aware that everything sterling conceded to him was merely lipservice. anthony and griffin get really close after they realise the other is already apart of hermes and post-evie as well. eren writes sterling as a critique of armchair radicals who see a sliver of violent liberation in practice and easily revert back into believing that the oppressed are savages. evie is a critique of white woman tears <3 i do believe she cries every time someone called her out for saying anything a little racist

yeah um there is way more and we both have comic/fic wips we're working on for the au but i will end this post here because it got so insanely long christ above. thank you so much for the question though i have soooo many thoughts about cohortswap au it's been absolutely taking over my brain

#cohortswap #babel #babel spoilers #enatchios #chromathesia #long post #i'm literally so sorry this got so long #i feel crazy

28 notes · View notes

jingchu-time · 1 year

Text

I got bored and was going through my files and found this Talent Swap AU I wrote down.

So I had to draw it.

David: Shut up! I don't even wanna be here. 'Ultimate Lucky Student', what complete bullcrap! Just a testament to my shitty luck.

Teruko: Hahaha. I'm really not all that, but the compliment is appreciated. I'm still not used to interacting with others but I hope we can get along.

---

Teruko is now the Ultimate Inspirational Speaker and David is the Ultimate Lucky Student. I didn't feel like doing full body art today, so this will have to do.

Drawing this also lead me to another thought...

David: I was a goddamn moron to think that I could trust people here. You guys are no different from everyone else. I should've known fuckin' better.

Teruko: Hahahaha! You idiots are right, I'm a manipulative asshole and you guys are nothing more than pawns! "I hope we can get along", what total bullshit!

---

Along with them swapping talents, they swap roles.

You see, Min and Xander swap talents in this AU, so this led me to thinking about the idea that instead of Xander attacking Teruko, Min attacks David. This then led to me think about Teruko being the manipulative asshole instead and now David is the one is with trust issues.

This idea isn't fleshed out at all, but I thought it'd be fun to draw out regardless.

(I'll draw more of this AU if you guys want, I already have everyone's swapped talents figured out.)

#drdt #danganronpa despair time #teruko tawaki #david chiem #drdt teruko #drdt david #alternate universe

97 notes · View notes

a-chess-lesson · 3 months

Text

working on a goofy little au (mysterious contraire society) where the kids and adults swap places. i have something REALLY sad planned for all the adults (reynie in particular), but here's a rhonda bio while i work on everyone else's profiles!

RHONDA KAZEMBE Age: 11 Gender: F (Reynie’s role)

Rhonda, a young orphan of Stonetown Orphanage, is relatively content with her life. She has a roof over her head, enough food to eat, and a room full of books to read. Sure, it may be a bit lonely (none of the other girls ever want to play with her) but she has her tutor- Mr. Cole- for company, and honestly, he’s more fun than those other girls anyway! Who needs ‘em?

But through this isolation, Rhonda develops an incredible ability- the ability to lie. She is an accomplished con artist. Whatever you need her to be, she is. Is this fluididity of identity healthy? No. Is it neccessary for a terribly dangerous spy mission that requires only the best and brightest children? You betcha. And Rhonda, if not the best, is certainly the brightest. When a mysterious ad appears in the newspaper one morning, she finally has a chance to put her talents to use and gain a family- even if she risks losing everything.

#i guarrentee someone else has done this before #but!!! i can't stop thinking about it so here's rhonda :D #not art #mbs au #mysterious benedict society #mysterious benedict society au #mysterious contraire society #chatting with chess #<- new tag! basically for all posts that aren't art or fics

18 notes · View notes

pawsmos · 5 months

Text

KAEDE AKAMATSU

ULTIMATE DETECTIVE

ok so basically this is a gift for my friend who will NOT shut up about how kaede and shuichi should swap talents

doodle of full design under cut

ok so basically this is me and my friends au where you start off as pianist shuichi and switch to detective kaede

pianist shuichi coming soon!! but yeah this has nothing to do with the plot just a fun design concept!

also i forgot her hat in the upper drawing oops

#danganronpa #drv3 #my art lol #fanganronpa #danganronpa v3 #danganronpa thh #kaede akamatsu #shuichi saihara #talent swap au #personality swap au #art #my art #drdt

49 notes · View notes

nyaifyz · 1 year

Text

Pink Swap AU

Main Swapped With Side Characters

In this AU, the roles of background/side characters are swapped with the main cast!

Renames/Characters

Doll -> D (nicknamed Russian Doll)

Lizzy -> Lizzy

Thad -> T

Rebecca -> R

Uzi -> Uzi

N - > Noah

V -> Veronica

J -> Jessica

The basic storyline of a worker drone befriending a murder drones stays the same, but the process of the storyline and character arcs have changed! Lizzy is the main character in this, however, she is not-so-popular and instead is the class freak. Uzi Doorman ends up becoming the popular girl of the class as she is well known for helping her father’s work, the Worker Defense Force, with protecting the colony. Uzi gets to build weapons to protect her team from harm while also representing a lot of school events and clubs. Uzi’s friends being Veronica and Jessia (which she often fights with) and dealing with her older brother Noah (Uzi and N are siblings in this au!!).

The backstory of Nori’s death remains the same, but Uzi does not result in being an emo angsty teen but a stylized conspiracy theorist. Which, Khan Doorman also dies later on, casuing Uzi to gain full control of his team, allowing her to protect the colony in her own way. Meanwhile, Lizzy is considered the class pet as she is the daughter of the Teacher, causing strange relationships with her and her fellow classmates. Lizzy’s mom, Vivia (replacing Yeva in this au), had been killed by one of the disassembly drones. Yet, Lizzy gains a special interest in the murder drones as she becomes fascinated with the idea of destruction and death.

This leads to Lizzy sneaking out, luckily Uzi is not talented at doors, and meets a very interesting Russian-speaking disassembly drone. This begins her adventure of seeing what life is like as being such a monster, while uncovering deep secrets JCJenson and others hide, as she becomes affected by the Absolute Solver.

----------------

I have SO MUCH more to say about this au including concept sketches and comic doodles

this is just an introducing of it >:3

!!!!! PLEASE do not steal my au !!!!! Its my silly comfort, however if you want to add-on things or draw art for it please use #pink swap md au

so I can see it !!! yippee !!!!

also feel free to ask questions in my ask box cuz I want to ramble more about it pls pls pls

Pings to those who were interested in reading: @minecraftfan101 @txdashi23 @artbot18 @diorysuss

#I have an entire Google doc of me rambling and figuring out little details #i almost named N Nick #PLEASE ASK ME ABOUT MY AU #murder drones #murder drones au #pink swap md au #sorry im hyperfixating

131 notes · View notes

ultimateplaylistmaker · 25 days

Note

Makoto: “I wanna call us The Happy Meatballs! That team name sounds awesome!” Komaru: “No offence, but that's really stupid; our team name will have to be a better name than that!” Makoto: “Oh okay, guess our team is called A Better Name Than That.”

BEJDHKDHS PEAK SIBLING BEHAVIOR

#trigger happy havoc #anon chaos #ultra despair girls #full talent swap au

8 notes · View notes

golden-travelers · 2 years

Text

Inspired by @nicebonescomrade faithless worship drabble but with a twist, In this AU will be called Role-Swap SAGAU cult AU (not sure if someone else did this but here you go) The one you choose your genshin char is the Creator of Teyvat, you will just replace their place.

This are mostly headcanon's in this AU

TW: Cult behaviors

If Aether & Lumine are the 'Creator'

Tbh they just played because their friend kept bugging them that their lonely without anyone to coop.

So lumine started playing genshin impact before aether, (he was just watching her before started playing they just shared acc), the twins slowly getting hook up playing it.

They started playing when the game just newly updated 2.0

They saw the leaks and twitter post about a new character will be release in 2.1

The character was a 5 star anemo, claymore user, it was you.

When the twins first saw you they KNOW they need to get you, no matter what.

They saw your gameplay making them more devoted on wishing you.

So they save all their primos, screw the other chars that they wanted to get in the event wish this update, they NEED you on their team ASAP.

A great dps that can also be a good support. (Your E skill gives 10% crit rate buff {when your c6} to all team party member, even in coop, making you the most broken character ever created in the game)

Your burst being like Eula but you don't stack dmg. (Aether realize that they need to relay on crit dmg if he wants to one shot some bosses with you)

Your last talents adds 3% atk bonus when someone crits, (can be stack 2 times)

So its a win/win situation for the twins (but they will always make you dps)

Not with your alt sprint being hovering 2 inches above ground using your claymore (kinda like HoS if your playing honkai)

Your alt sprint is not like any other chars with alt sprint that can't sprint in mismatch stairs.

The only thing is that you will stay on your place above, when you try to sprint the edge of a cliff/2 meters above ground.

They will have you and your weapon, no matter what cost *cue their parents trying not to cry because their children just spend lots of money just to get you*

They search everywhere on the internet, anything related to you, gameplays, animation style, fanarts, guide on artifacts. ANYTHING.

Be it on twitter, Instagram, YouTube, hoyolab, and etc.

When it was the releasing of 2.1, Aether and Lumine quickly updated the game.

After that they open up the game and went straight to the gacha banner.

It was the first release of Your banner.

They started pulling, (Lumine won on whose going to pull you till you came home, so Aether begrudgingly had to pull for Your weapon)

Meanwhile on Teyvat

Both you and Bennett were sitting at the nearby cliff, having a evening picnic.

You were actually nervous about the whole wishing thing.

Maybe because your scared that the twin creators don't like you or how you play.

Bennett saw this and reassured you, that the twin creators will like you.

You calm, thanking Bennett for the reassurance.

Your calm demeanor quickly shattered when you saw the sky full of falling stars.

Both you and Bennett are in awe at the beautiful sight as the twin creators showered the stars to both your very own eyes.

Your pretty sure all of the people in teyvat watch the breath taking view.

Most are purple, making you nervous.

That was until you saw the golden star.

You paled at the sight as your body stiffens.

Bennett gratefully hold you to calm yourself down.

You then suddenly felt the warm aura, hearing your twin creator voices.

"OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG!!! SHE CAME HOME IN 30 PULLS AHHHHHHHHH" - Lumine

"Welcome home! (Name)!!!" - Aether

You felt a tear drop roll down in your eyes as you were finally embraced by their godly hood aura.

"... I'm home..." You whispered thankful that they chose you to be their vessel.

Omake:

Bennett was the one who comforted you when you where happily crying about being finally embrace by the twin creator.

How would 'Character you' will react in Normal SAGAU cult AU (Any genshin char you pick will be dub as the creator here):

You will not be so devoted like the other acolytes, yes you do worship him/her/them but not like the other acolytes.

You worship consist of normal offerings like, jewelries, your special dish, little trinkets that you made, and etc.

No you don't sacrifice people for offering the creator.

Of course your grateful for creating the world and everything about it.

But still you won't be too devoted on worshipping the divine creator.

Your the most compose one here when it comes meeting the creator.

When the creator appeared upon teyvat, the archons was the one who first meet them.

Of course, you just greeted the creator with respect and gratitude when they summon you to meet them.

'Fuck me Mommy/Daddy' - creator's thought when they saw you kneeling yourself at them.

Cue the creator, who suddenly put all of their attention at you (your actually suffocating at the attention the creator gives you, and the jealous glares you receive from the other acolytes)

Where ever you go, they follow you like a lost puppy (which makes the other acolytes jealous that the creator only gives their attention to you, mostly the archons are jealous)

When they want your attention, you gave them your attention because their your creator.

Who in the right mind would disrespect the creator Infront of their acolytes? Your literally asking for a death wish.

"Cuddle with me please, (Name)?"

You obediently follow their orders which makes their creator really happy.

Someone bad mouthed you? You may ignore and just leave them alone, but not the creator, no.

Their your favorite character/acolyte why would they just let that a slide?

Cue the archons obediently followed like a puppy when the creator demand them to bring the person who bad mouthed you.

Expect tomorrow the person bad mouthed in your doorsteps begging your forgiveness like your their creator

You had this wtf face when looking at the person

You did forgive them though

Your mostly a pacifist

Omake:

The divine creator, who was sitting on the throne, look down at the person who bad mouthed you who is shaking in fear, glaring at them.

"Your grace! You summon me?" You ask only to see the creator cutely smiling at you and their eyes shining bright.

"Ah, (Name) come! I want to show you something" They childishly said as they stood up from their throne, jogged at you, gently grab your hand, then drag you somewhere in the teapot, leaving the person that was shaking in fear pass out.

Will continue this later, cause I'm tired 🛌🛌

#sagau cult au #sagau x reader #sagau aether #sagau lumine #role-swap sagau #yandere #platonic yandere #genshin cult au

821 notes · View notes

tumblingxelian · 1 year

Text

So I was musing on a Mob Psycho Age Swap AU and what role Touichiro might play and how he’d be dealt with and I settled on something along these lines. (This might not be workable cos of his dad but who knows)

Touichiro sill adopts his philosophy and is akin to Teru, filling the same narrative role. The difference is that knows other psychics exist cos of his dad and has even managed to bring some to his side via his ‘best friends’ teleportation ability. They blur the line between delinquents, burgeoning gangsters and just full on terrorists with the trouble they cause and Touichiro totally thinks they’ll take over the world one day.

In steps Reigen who got dragged into their nonsense mostly by circumstance and belligerence. Unlike Mob he’s keyed into what’s going on with these guys pretty early on and potentially even does background checks before there’s any significant altercation but suffice to say when he does end up butting heads with them one of three things happens to resolve Touichiro trying to beat/kill Reigen with his powers.

Reigen has access to some cursed cologne which he disguised as a cigarette he could blow into Touichiro’s face.

Reigen legit snuck something into his food or drink that makes Touichiro think he’s dying & may be legit bad if he doesn’t start throwing it up right the fuck now.

He basically cons Touichiro into thinking he’s been poisoned and trying to make his own heartbeat with his psychic powers causing him to hurt himself and start freaking out.

The end result is that Touichiro ends yo as a terrified sobbing wreck on the ground, trying to get Reigen to undo whatever he did and being bailed on by his friends who dismiss him as not being cool anymore. Only after they leave does Reigen help, either just by revealing the truth or by forcing Touichiro to throw up and giving him a juice box after.

Touichiro briefly floats the idea of killing Reigen now but gets laughed at because, “To what end?” He’s already lost his crew, his dignity and has his ideals stomped on because if Reigen had wanted to kill him during his moment of weakness he could have. “Mercy is a gift from the strong right?” It basically causes his ideals to crumble and reshape.

Unlike Teru who basically adopted a “We are all ordinary people except for Mob”, Touichiro adopts a “Exceptional talents come in many forms, not just psychic powers, and Reigen is one of them”. So much like Teru eventually realized “Even Mob is ordinary”, Touichiro realizes that “Everyone deserves respect no matter who they are or what they can do.”

Also unlike Mob who breakdown crying after what he did to Teru and the school, Reigen seemingly swaggers off looking confident and wise but the moment he’s alone he basically collapses from how scared he was.

#Arataka Reigen #Toichiro Suzuki #Mob Psycho #Mob Psycho 100 #mp100 ageswap #MP 100 #Mob Psycho ageswape AU

64 notes · View notes

orithyiaeleven · 9 months

Text

UC Fanwork Celebration Day 1 (The early access version)

Day 1 was Favourite Arc / Roll for AU. My favourite Arc is Arc 3, and I rolled Class Swap, so I let the dice decide what each Arc 3 character's new class should be. I then re-imagined their first meeting with their new classes. This is shortly pre-Arc 3 Flashback.

However, I am not quite happy with the story yet, and will take the time to work on it before uploading it to AO3. Because today is the day, though, and technically the story is finished, I will post the current version of it under the cut here on Tumblr instead, and update you once I am happy and have uploaded it.

It doesn't even have a fixed name yet, but my working title would be "A different group of heroes". I hope you enjoy, and the finished piece will hopefully come soon.

The crackling sound of pyromagic mixes with the cheers of people, carried over to Lathe by a helpful little breeze gossiping in his ear. He closes his eyes and takes a moment to taste the caramel popcorn in the air. With a little smile, he quickens his step: Festivities are happening in the centre of Tyle, and he must know more.

Nimbly, he finds his way past the little shops and side alleys. A crowd of people is currently pushing towards the town centre, following the same siren’s call of laughter, fireworks, applause and cotton candy that he is tracking, but he knows the quickest ways around, and how to avoid getting stuck in the slowly moving mass of bodies. He sprints past the little bookstore with a “Good morning, Mx. Shinebearer”, through the backyard of a house that has been empty for ages, past a few spell component stores and the academy students gathered in front of them, until finally, he reaches the town centre. A man dressed in the borderline gaudy garb of a circus director stands on a small makeshift stage built up in front of the gigantic magician’s statue, addressing the gathered crowd with big movements.

“Come, come, one and all! Young and old, people of all shapes and sizes, come and gather to witness the magic and wonders of the Cinderbloom Circus!” More fireworks pop up, displaying flaming flowers in all colours of the rainbow.

“Now, people of Tyle and beyond, witness one of our audience favourites, our star, who has come all the way from frosty Glaceria to present her talents, our ice princess! And remember to come visit our full show and program in Maevir-Eirik-Park, from tomorrow until next week!”

With more cheers, the announcer clears the temporary stage they have set up for a young woman dressed in glittering pastel purple silks. She has a thin, but athletic build, and although she carries herself with the poise befitting her stage name, Lathe recognises the way her chin is slightly drawn forward, and the way her eyes seem to search the crows for someone daring to challenge her position.

Three circus assistants jog up to the statue and quickly arrange some silks to drape around the arms and the wand of the stone wizard, while the acrobat takes out a little flute from a pocket hidden in her garments. She bows to the crowd, looks to the assistants for a quick sign that they’re done, and grabs one of the aerial silks. Within moments, she is up on the statue’s shoulder, dangling her feet, and gives him a coquettish little kiss on the cheek before sliding down again to the tune of her own melody, seemingly falling. Just inches above the ground, she catches herself again, and climbs up the way she came. Her movements are fluid and seem entirely effortless, coming to her as easy as breathing, and all the while she still continues playing the flute as if to underline how little mind she has to pay her motion. Even the way her pastel purple hair falls seems to be choreographed and trained to perfection. She moves through the silks with ease, somehow finding grip on the smooth fabric. All of it seems so in sync, it’s captivating.

Her performance is only a few minutes, but the crowd explodes with cheers for her as she is finished. She gives a smile, together with a head movement that seems to say “see, I told you I could do it”. It fits her stage name, but again, Lathe recognises the signs of someone who had to prove herself all her life. While the announcer reminds the crowd again to visit the full show, the purple performer is already going backstage again, and Lathe follows. Instead of an actual backstage area, the circus has rented an empty store as their dressing room. Before the young woman enters, Lathe manages to get her attention.

“Excuse me, Miss! Can I talk to you for just a second?”

“A second, sure, how can I help you?”

“Lathe Nightrym, my pleasure, truly, what a wonderful performance-“

“Oh thank you, sir, I am always happy to inspire people.”

“You have definitely done that today, my dear. Could I ask you, would you be willing to join a little adventuring party?”

“Ah. Right. I, uhm, I am very honoured by your request, but I must say no. As the circus is travelling around quite a lot, it is simply not possible for me to take up any other obligations. But thank you, I always enjoy talking to fans.”

“Please, just think about it.” He hands her one of his flyers. “A small group of friends travelling through all of Hyranor, defeating monsters, saving the world – have you never dreamed of that? Of not having to prove your worth, but having the stories about your heroic deeds precede you?” She breaks eye contact and looks to the side. “Take the flyer, just consider it, for a moment. The adventures we could go on. The stories they would tell. Being invited to court by the Queen, mere hours after defeating a monster. I am currently trying to form such a group, and I just know that you would make the perfect addition. I have handed out and put up flyers all over town, and in two days, we will meet at the Brewster’s Potions for brunch to meet up. No strings attached yet, absolutely no requirements, just to get a feel for the people, do some brainstorming… And if you don’t like it, you can just leave and go back to this life here.”

She sighs and lets her fingers wander over the flyer. He really did his best to draw the dragon, but maybe in this case it’s not bad that it is reminiscent of children’s drawings. “Alright. I will consider it”, she finally says.

Lathe can’t help but grin. “Amazing. See you in two days, then!” He turns to leave.

“I said I will consider it!”

“Brewster’s Potions, right next to the Gilded Quill!”

Brewster’s Potion, right next to the Gilded Quill, is not empty, but also not bustling with patrons two days later. There is a pleasant drizzle of conversation from the surrounding nooks and tables as Lathe Nightrym sits at the back of the room, waiting for people to show up.

“Are you ordering, or still waiting?”, the server asks again.

“Still waiting, thanks, dear”, he answers with a smile.

“Alright love, you just call when you want anything.” For a moment, Lathe believes to see pity in her eyes. But people will show up, he was just early. He handed the flyers out to at least fifteen people, and put them up in places all around town, someone has to show up.

Mere moments later, they do. The big guy he met at the Academy enters the tavern, and Lathe waves excitedly to get his attention. Carefully, the Firbolg makes his way over to him, the greyish hair on his head scraping the ceiling, his Academy uniform neat, but not freshly ironed. Only when he is already standing in front of the table, Lathe sees that he has brought a friend, a young Halfling woman who seems even smaller, near comically tiny next to him, but dressed in full armour. Eagerly, Lathe puts out a hand, and the big guy shakes it.

“Hello, hello, so glad you decided to come! You’re the first here, and I see you brought a friend as well?”

“Annie Wintersummer”, the young woman answers, putting out a hand as well to greet Lathe.

“Delighted to meet you, Annie Wintersummer. Sorry, friend, your name was?”, he asks, turning towards the Firbolg again.

“Aldrum.”

“Right, right! I’ve met you during the Open Day at the Arcane Academy, truly, what a glorious performance of arcane work you did. And you, Annie – I hope it’s alright if I just call you Annie? – are you a student at the Academy as well?”

“No”, she answers, and Lathe can see Aldrum make the “delicate topic” face. “No, the Arcane Academy did not think my magical talent was… worth cultivating at their esteemed institution. So instead I decided to hone my skills with weapons. I spend my time with technique instead of theory. And my magical gifts can influence my blade as well.”

“That sounds incredibly interesting, would you care to show me?”

“Not inside here, but later outside I can absolutely show you what I can do.”

Lathe smiles with excitement to see what the young woman would show him. Having someone of her size who would be able to run through enemy lines and legs and stab them from behind could be very beneficial, and she seems determined enough.

His smile widens even more as he sees the woman with the pastel purple hair enter the tavern, her eyes searching around. He stands up and waves to get her attention, and she floats towards them.

“You really came! How wonderful, please, take a seat. This is Aldrum, a wizard from the Arcane Academy, who has recently presented a very interesting project on some new protective spells he is working on, and his friend Annie Wintersummer, who apparently is a very skilled fighter.”

“Fighter and warlock. I can do some magic. Even if the academy cannot appreciate it.”

The purple woman smiles and shakes their hands each. “Happy to meet you, my name is Fey Moss.”

It is only then that Lathe realises he never actually heard her say her real name before. “And Fey Moss here is an acrobat with an incredible skill set, truly, I have never seen anyone move that nimbly before, what a performance!”

She nods her head down, as if to indicate a bow. “You might have heard of me as the ice princess.”

“I haven’t, actually”, Annie says.

Fey looks a bit taken aback, although she catches herself with ease. “Well, I am also quite skilled at martial arts, if it is necessary. I would love to see you fight as well, Annie, I think it would be very interesting to see your skillset.”

“Surely, yes. I would appreciate that. I always like to broaden my horizon and learn new styles and techniques.”

“How wonderful!”, Lathe exclaims and claps his hands. “Truly, I am so glad you are getting along already. Let’s get some brunch, and we will get this party going! Excuse me, Miss- we would like to order, please!”

Right as the server brings them their milkshakes and sandwiches, the tavern door opens again. At first, it seems no one entered, until Lathe sits up straighter to be able to see down, where he can track the long ponytail of an elderly Halfling man move towards their table.

“Lathe Nightrym?”, the man asks, looking at him. “I believe you were looking for people with the mind and skillset for adventures?”

Lathe quickly scans the man. He doesn’t seem particularly strong or dextrous, but not frail, either. He wears sun-coloured robes, and there is a certain glint to his eyes that seems almost animalistic.

“Yes, absolutely, take a seat here with us. What’s your name, friend?”

The man gives a polite smile and takes the offered seat. “Diarmad. I saw your flyers around the city.”

“Oh perfect, so they did work, then! May I ask, what kind of skills do you bring to this group? Your robes seem religious, but I cannot see any symbol on them?”

“Right, no, I am a magician, but not the divine sort. The robes are just the kind of garments we wear at my commune. But I was, let’s say born with magic.”

“Why do you say ‘let’s say born’? Were you born with it or not?”, Annie asks, trying her best to cover a probably not too kind remark about sorcerers and nepotism from Aldrum.

Diarmad throws a quick glance over at the Firbolg in his shirt and cloak with the Academy logo, raising a brow, and then turns towards Annie with a much nicer expression on his face, nearly mischievous. “It’s not my first time around. My people have found a way to basically concentrate weak flows of magic in a person through a ritual of reincarnation, so… The weak magical potential of my previous life has been focused into a pretty mean set of magical skills.”

Aldrum doesn’t seem convinced. “And… how exactly is magical talent enhanced through reincarnation? That sounds like it contradicts most current theories on magic.”

“You tell me, you’re the scholar. It worked for me, and that’s all that matters. But you academy people prefer to keep the magic to yourselves anyways, right?”

Annie puts a hand on the hilt of her sword, glaring at the elderly Halfling. “Please don’t talk to my friend like that,” she says in a tone that isn’t a request.

Lathe decides to steer this conversation around as fast as possible. “Alright, friends, I think that’s enough of that, we’re supposed to become a party after all!”

“A party?” A tall person with brown skin and some suspiciously alive and worm-like looking accessories in her hair leans over the half-high room divider between the table they apparently sat at alone, and the table Lathe had ordered. “I love parties, can I come as well?”

“Oh, not that kind of party, we’re trying to go adventuring-“

“Adventures are fun, I love adventures, too!” She smiles, climbs over the wall instead of going around it, despite wearing breastplate armour, and squeezes in between Fey and Annie around the table. Fey looks at the, oh yes, definitely worms, with a mixture of morbid fascination and absolute horror.

“Alright, hi then,” Lathe begins, not too sorry about the distraction from the magic discourse, “and you are?”

“A friend! And a new party member for your group. Six is a much better number than five, anyways.” They smile at all of them.

“…And your name is?”

“Oh! Right! Bombyx Mori. Pleased to make your acquaintance,” she says slowly, tasting out every word in her mouth.

Annie continues the questions. “And you do adventures?”

“Absolutely! All the time! The forest is filled with adventures.”

Now, Diarmad seems intrigued. “You’re a forest kind of person?”

“Yes, definitely, that. I met some very nice trees some time ago, and they asked me for help against disrespectful woodcutters. So I helped them, and then I swore to help all the trees, and protect all the forests, and apparently, when you make an oath, that is really meaningful in this world. So now I have to protect the forests, and I haven’t really figured out what exactly that means, yet, but I have already fought some monsters and that has gone really well for me so far, so I think I might just have become invincible.”

“For sure, for sure”, Lathe says, trying to not show his disbelief too much. A paladin is something their party could use. Whether Bombyx Mori is the perfect addition or the last missing piece for a perfect disaster, or possibly even both, he isn’t as sure of, yet. But it’s worth a shot. Especially if they actually have some experience already. “Alright then, let’s order some more milkshakes for the two of you, and then I can already tell you about a potential first adventure.”

#unprepared casters #uc celebration 2023

21 notes · View notes

1-up-chump · 7 months

Note

Hello, I share your indignation about the new part of MK. Everything was changed too much and strangely. Can you write down the moments you didn't like? For example, I’m not happy with this whole situation with Kuai Liang - Scorpion, Tarkata - a disease, Raiden - Liu Kang 2.0, Fujin - Raiden’s sister, who is Kung Lao’s lover, seriously?

I WILL STATE that i have not bothered to look at everything myself but hear from reliable sources of the basic information of the game so i cannot give a full and fair critique. And i will not give this game anymore attention than i already have given it since it is just NOT a mortal kombat game.

Lets talk about the reasons you listed bc i agree.

Kuai liang as scorpion and in role reversal:

I am not a fan of this even remotely being "canon" Although the idea should be explored by fans WHO UNDERSTAND BOTH KUAI LIANG AND HANZO HASASHI AS CHARACTERS ORIGINALLY. It completely disrespects hanzo as a character and erases his connection to scorpion being a "gimmick thing to slap onto someone" as a title rather than a personal journey of meaning. And kuai deserves more respect as well, originally being an assassin whose clan tried to "modernize" by removing free will of warriors to ensure obedience and make their spirits and talents disposable. Trying to fight against that. It seems ironic in the end his fate is nothing more than to be toyed with by this unoriginal and uninspiring "role swap au lolz"

The tarkatan race being a disease:

I shouldn't even have to clarify how fucked up this is. Right after in mk 11 we saw tarkatans just being another race living in outworld minding their own business, and kotal fucking up (kotal khan is a wasted character but thats for another post) so we got what was once a "bad guy evil race" to something better. AND THEN THEY FUCKED IT UP AGAIN like isnt that, at best, the most tone deaf shit after what happened in real life with a certain disease and people being uber racist??? And dont get me started on how they messed up mileena with that too. (God damn the writers fucking hate her just as much as kung lao)

Raiden role reversal:

Let me tell you as a raiden enjoyer i fucking HATE them making him a basic ass protag like they did with liu kang (i love liu but lately they just removed all personality from him) its so fucking uninspiring and boring as shit AND THEY MAKE HIM CHAMPION INSTEAD OF KUNG LAO???? THE ABSOLUTE DISRESPECT WHAT THE FUCK i love raiden but he doesn't deserve champion title, that belongs to KUNG motherfucking LAO.

Fujin being a sister????:

Listen i havent seen it but this is the dumbest ass shit i have ever seen in my entire life. As if they couldn't show how little they actually care about fujin......

And the shallow fans who care little about fujin other than a "pretty fuck toy to do teh yaois with uwu" which is also what they did to shang tsung now which is like YOU FOOLS! CARY HIROYUKI TAGAWA-SAMA IS RIGHT FUCKING THERE!!! YOU SEXUALIZE HIM WHEN HE'S AN OLD MAN TOO OR YOU'RE A COWARD AND A SHAM!

And then there's the absolute nothing plot that really shows they ran out of ideas and just slap together bullshit. The villains arent really villains and they suck, its just "stop evil shang tsung but hes not actually evil bc theres this other timeline-" ITS FUCKING LAZY AND PATHETIC WRITING it shows that they want to have it all just to appease fans to take their money. Thats it, thats all this story boils down to. A shoddy scam to bullshit a story to take people's money. I mean you cant even get shang tsung or marjory of fan desired characters without dlc and the base game is like 60-70 bucks like the fuck????

As a regular fighting game? Mid but enjoyable i guess. But as a mortal kombat game? No, thats not even mortal kombat thats just some dumbasses wattpad fanfic after they watched avengers endgame in their crusty batman shirt

I'll end this with a small side note: if my opinions offend, I'm sorry im passionate about a series that was a part of my childhood and made me appreciate Japanese and Chinese culture and kung fu cinema in general. Im sorry if the memories of playing a fun game and caring about the characters having strong bonds of friendship in a violent world designed to be a "kill or be killed" system and despite that choosing to do the right thing in their mind.

Sorry if i seem to be playing a different game bc i am.

Its mortal kombat: shaolin monks for the ps2

-gets head ripped off-

#plz play it its legit fun and stupid as hell #its not the best mk in terms of plot but its got so much love and soul into it #also play mk deadly alliance too its fun #rant #and watch the shitty defenders of the realm cartoon it has the best raiden and nightwolf is in it too #and watch the 95 movie NOW for the best raiden shang tsung and liu kang #and watch conquest if you want to stomach through late 90s tv cringe and for the best raiden ever in the history of ever

14 notes · View notes

wspcal · 5 months

Note

I am in love with your designs and idea omg.

I wanna ask, is your talent swap au also in a killing game? If so are the victims and blackened the same as the drdt series or do you have your own planned out? And is there a change in the characters roles(protag, antag, support, etc)?

hehe tysm!!

to answer ur question;

TR!DRDT will still have the same plot with characters and their deaths but their deaths would be different since their custom weapons are different too, (but I MIGHT scrap that since I don't know the full plotline)

there's no difference in the character roles too! Teruko is still the Protag! (*´꒳`*)

I'm not sure if I'll draw everything that happens in the show with my AU, but if needed I will try!! (´∀｀*)

9 notes · View notes

acacia-may · 3 months

Text

Rhapsody (Rantaro Amami Gift Exchange 2024 Fic)

As Ultimate Pianist Rantaro tries to prepare for his practical exam showcase, he is met with nothing but a lack of inspiration and composer’s block. When he takes a break to help his friends Kaito, Kaede, and Maki with their projects, however, he might just find the inspiration he needs.

Non-Despair Talent-Swap AU feat. Ultimate Pianist Rantaro, Ultimate Adventurer Kaito, Ultimate Assassin Kaede, and Ultimate Astronaut Maki, and lots of Friendship Fluff and Shenanigans.

Word Count: 4,564 Rated G. No Warnings Only Friendship Fluff Here.

Written for the lovely @foldable-mattress for the Rantaro Amami Gift Exchange 2024 hosted by @toxicpineapple

Link to work on AO3. Full text below the cut. Thank you for reading! 💚

Rantaro’s long, spindly fingers hovered over the smooth black and white keys of his piano. With a thoughtful sigh, he reached for a sharp, then a natural, but he didn’t tap either. Even the flat he considered was left untouched. Instead he recoiled his fingers, curling them into rigid talons in front of the instrument. He took a deep breath, and allowed his long eyelashes to flutter closed as he extended his hands again—trying to feel the music, to hear the song he wanted to play, but his mind was empty and for the first time, possibly ever, his music lab was completely silent.

Running a weary hand through his hair, Rantaro sighed—opening his eyes once again to stare at the blank page of sheet music he had set up on his piano months ago when he had first begun to seriously plan for his midterm practical exam. It was, of course, a staple of Hope’s Peak Academy’s Ultimate Education Program. Instead of having traditional, academic exams, all of the ultimate students were tasked with presenting a showcase of their work and abilities to powerful, wealthy, and influential people from the school’s board and around the world, almost like a school festival of superhuman talent and excellence. In previous terms, Rantaro had prepared performance sets of the most intricate and difficult piano pieces in history, then, when his advisor had insisted he personalize his showcase, he had moved on to his own variations on those pieces and a few improvisations. This term, however, it seemed even that would not be enough, and he had been tasked with composing his own piece to perform.

He sighed at the empty sheet music. It had not been going well.

Despite trying to work on his piece for months now, Rantaro didn’t have one note of music written. Even more than that, he didn’t even have an idea of a note of music. It all felt wrong. Now, in the final weekend before their presentations, here he was—locking himself in his ultimate music lab trying to create something, anything that would prevent him from having to show up to the practical exam empty handed. He sighed heavily. Even that wasn’t working.

“Woah, I didn’t know you were in here,” said a warm voice with a laugh, pulling Rantaro out of his introspection. Rantaro’s mouth twitched in the corners as he turned to find his friend, Kaito, standing in the doorway wearing a large backpack and holding what appeared to be a bunch of film equipment. He laughed again. “It’s never this quiet when you’re in here. I can always hear you practicing all the way down the hall,” he teased with a laugh. “That one song’s been stuck in my head all week.”

Kaito hummed a few bars of Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. Rantaro sighed. He often played Mozart whenever he had music block.

“Sorry,” he apologized with a shrug of his shoulders, but Kaito just laughed.

“It’s fine—kinda nice to have background music sometimes.” His smile widened. “So how’s your showcase coming? You almost ready?”

Rantaro shrugged again. “Not really. I have to write an original composition, but I’ve had composer’s block for months.” He sighed, shrugging his shoulders again with a certain resigned nonchalance. “I’m not too worried about it though. I’m sure it’ll work out. You?”

“I’m heading out to film mine right now. You wanna tag along? If you need a break, maybe you can help hold the camera? My tripod’s been a little messed up ever since I dropped it while I was spelunking a couple weeks ago.”

Rantaro hummed. He supposed it wouldn’t hurt to take a break. It wasn’t like he was actually getting anything done anyway. “Okay,” he said with a slight smile and a shrug.

“Awesome!” Kaito’s face lit up into a bright smile as he patted Rantaro on the back. “And hey maybe you’ll find some inspiration for your song in the great outdoors!”

Rantaro wasn’t sure about that, but he’d give anything a try, especially when it was recommended by Kaito who was always so enthusiastic about everything. He supposed that as the Ultimate Adventurer Kaito found a lot of inspiration in the outdoors himself. Maybe Rantaro would too.

He certainly found the cliffs where Kaito was filming to be very majestic, even though he could admit he had a little trouble keeping up with him as he practically sprinted through their hike, excitedly prattling away for another riveting episode of “Kaito Vs. The Outdoors”—his series of popular videos which mostly consisted of Kaito filming himself on exhilarating, if often dangerous, adventures in the wilderness. He had lots of practical tips too for his fellow adrenaline-junkies who wanted to try these things on their own.

Right now, for instance, he was demonstrating the proper form for cliff jumping by pulling his arms close to his body, pushing his legs together, and pointing his toes. “You wanna make sure your feet are pointed down and that you’ve scrunched up real tight so you make less impact with the water.” He waved his hand motioning for Rantaro to move the camera he had been holding so that the audience would get the full view. With a smile, he relaxed again and sighed staring out at the horizon.

“Woah! Would you look at that sky!” exclaimed Kaito practically sprinting to the edge of the cliff. He waved at Rantaro again, so he’d know to get a shot of the horizon. As he turned towards it, his expression softened, and he sighed. It really was so beautiful here.

Kaito didn’t give him much time to enjoy it, however, as he quickly exclaimed, “Alright. Time for the jump.”

Rantaro chuckled lightly as Kaito winked at the camera then dove off the edge of the cliff feet first with an excited yelp. Rantaro made sure to record everything with the filming equipment and watched in impressed astonishment as Kaito gracefully disappeared under the water with a big splash.

When he reemerged, he struck a playful pose then took a bow. “And that’s how it’s done, folks,” he said with a dramatic flourish of his hand. He pushed his deflated, sopping hair out of his face, then laughed. “It’s actually pretty easy. I bet even you could do it, Rantaro.”

Kaito’s smile widened teasingly, and Rantaro’s brow furrowed. He had to be planning to edit that out, right?

He paused the video feed before he called back, “I’m good.”

“Oh come on,” called Kaito. “It’s fun and totally safe. Why else did you change into your swimsuit?”

Rantaro shrugged. “Because you told me to before we left school.”

“Yeah—so you could also go cliff jumping,” Kaito insisted as he started swimming away from the cliff, Rantaro assumed, to give him room if he wanted to jump in himself.

“What about your film equipment?”

Kaito waved his hand dismissively. “Eh, don’t worry about it. I’ll just hike back up and grab it before we leave. Come on!”

Rantaro sighed—staring over the edge of the cliff. It was a very long way down. While he didn’t consider himself as much of thrill-seeker as Kaito, he could enjoy a risk every now and again—thought it was probably good for him to push himself outside of his comfort zone. He just wished that, in this case, outside his comfort zone wasn’t a 20-foot free fall off the edge of a cliff. But he had listened to Kaito’s careful instructions as he had filmed his episode, helped him check the depth of the water, and even made sure there weren’t any dangerous rocks or debris in the landing zone. He had even watched as Kaito dove in himself and emerged from the water safe and unharmed. Yes, Rantaro knew Kaito was the Ultimate Adventurer—an almost superhuman outdoorsman, so it probably wasn’t the most prudent to compare himself to him, but as long as he used the proper form and landed correctly, he would probably be safe too, right?

“Live a little!” teased Kaito in a playful sing-songy voice. “If you don’t jump, you’ll regret it.”

Rantaro chuckled lightly to himself, amused by the irony of his friend literally pressuring him to jump off a cliff and wondering if this had, perhaps, been Kaito’s plan all along, but he shrugged his shoulders and conceded, “Okay.”

Kaito gave him a round of applause as he swam off to the side. “I’ll spot you, so don’t worry, okay? You’re gonna be fine.”

Rantaro hummed. He certainly hoped so.

He had never really considered himself much of an anxious person, but as he made his way to the cliff’s edge, staring down at the long drop to the murky water below, his hands began to tremble. He swallowed hard—feeling his wildly pounding heartbeat in his ears, steadily growing louder and louder, a crescendo building anticipation to the moment when he finally shut his eyes tightly and leapt over the edge.

The free fall was silent except for the gusts of the wind swirling around him and the distant encouraging whoop and whistle of Kaito’s encouragement, but he felt an exhilarating swoop in his stomach, a surge of adrenaline, and a bright smile he couldn’t quite hold back before his feet finally hit the lagoon and he was overwhelmed by the rush of cold water against his skin.

When he swam to the surface, gasping for breath, Kaito applauded again and gave him a congratulatory slap on the back. “That was awesome! How do you feel?”

With the twitch of a slight smile in the corners of his mouth, Rantaro pushed his sopping hair out of his face—water still dripping into his eyes. He twisted his mouth to the side and dryly quipped, “Wet” causing Kaito to burst into raucous laughter followed by a bantering splash of water at Rantaro’s face.

Despite a shower, a dry change of clothes, and a hairdryer, Rantaro still couldn’t shake the lingering squishy, cold, and damp feeling when he finally returned to his music lab and his, still nonexistent, midterm practical exam project. For Kaito’s credit, he had asked if there was anything he could do to help Rantaro with his showcase to return the favor, but Rantaro had just shrugged and encouraged him to go finish the editing for his video instead.

Rantaro sighed, turning back once again to his blank sheet music and the shiny keys of his piano. He ran his hand through his hair which, he could have sworn was still wet from his cliff jumping adventure.

He could only hope it wasn’t all that noticeable, but when a tinkly voice chuckled, “What happened to you?” he figured he was probably wrong about that.

His mouth curved into a slight smile as he turned to find Kaede, leaning against the doorway with a crossbow. “I didn’t realize playing piano was a water sport,” she teased, and Rantaro let out a light, breathy laugh, rubbing his hand across the nape of his neck.

“I was helping Kaito with his project,” he explained. “We went cliff jumping. I tried to dry off when I got back, but I think I’m gonna be soaked for a while.”

Kaede laughed again, but she tilted her head. “You know if you want to help with a project that doesn’t involve any water, maybe you could give me a hand with mine. I could use some help with target practice, if you’re not too busy.”

“Sure,” said Rantaro, standing up from his seat at the piano—once again pleased and somewhat relieved to have the opportunity to take a break from staring at his empty sheet music.

“Thanks. I’m happy to help you too,” Kaede insisted, but Rantaro shook his head, waving his hand at her.

“It’s fine. I’m happy to help out, and I’m not sure there’s much anyone can do to help with my project unless you have a entire concerto just floating around in your head,” he quipped dryly, and Kaede laughed.

“Can’t say that I do, but I do have this crossbow if you want to threaten someone into giving you a good grade.” She held up the crossbow in her hands though something teasing, jesting sparkled in her eyes. Rantaro tried his best to stifle a laugh. Kaede could make some particularly dark jokes sometimes—an unexpected sense of humor for her seeing as she was generally such a warm and bubbly person but, Rantaro supposed, perhaps it was to be expected from the Ultimate Assassin. He always felt a little bad for finding her darker sense of humor as funny as he did, but she never failed to make him laugh, even if it was in spite of himself.

Rantaro supposed that between Kaede and Kaito he had some particularly funny friends, and it seemed that their great senses of humor were not the only thing that they in common, seeing as they both appeared to be intent on putting him in near-death experiences today.

With a heavy sigh, Rantaro frowned trying to glance up at the top of his head where Kaede had just set a bright, shiny apple. “You know, when you asked me for help with your target practice, I thought you just wanted me to set them up or something—not actually be one.”

Kaede shrugged. “I need practice with moving targets. The stationary ones are too easy.”

Rantaro sighed. She seemed a little more nonchalant and matter-of-fact about it than he would have expected, but he supposed she was the Ultimate Assassin. “You don’t want me to actually run around while you try to shoot at me, do you?” he asked with a light chuckle, and Kaede laughed.

“No, of course, not, but if you could just breathe and fidget a little that would be helpful.”

Tilting his head, Rantaro shrugged. “I’ll try my best.”

Kaede instructed him where to stand then scurried off several paces away. She shifted in place—holding up her hands and angling herself in relation to him until she was, Rantaro could only presume, at the perfect position for her shot. “The apple’s falling. Can you push it over a little?” she called.

Rantaro reached up and adjusted it as best he could, though he wasn’t sure how well he could do that considering he couldn’t see what he was doing. He did not tease Kaede that he thought the unstable, shifting apple was the whole point of this exercise, but he did allow himself a dry quip, “You know I feel like the only thing missing here is the ‘William Tell Overture.’”

Kaede’s brow furrowed, and she tilted her head at him with narrowed eyes. “Huh?”

“It’s from an opera by Rossini. In the third act, William Tell has to shoot an apple off his kid’s head just like this.” A dry, somewhat playful smile twitched in the corners of Rantaro’s mouth. “If I survive this, I’ll play it for you.”

His dry sense of humor made Kaede laugh, seemingly in spite of herself given the way she rolled her eyes at him. “I’m the Ultimate Assassin—of course you’re going to live.”

“I’d feel better about my chances if you were the Ultimate Archer. Assassins shoot to kill,” he answered in a matter-of-fact voice, but his mouth twitched in the corners, a sign he was joking with her. Kaede was his friend. He trusted her. He wouldn’t be here if he didn’t.

Kaede pointedly tilted her head towards him, but her mouth twitched in the corners. “Assassinations require precision. I can aim not to kill just as easily. Watch.”

Before Rantaro could even begin to brace himself, she readied her crossbow. He inhaled sharply, holding his breath as she sent an arrow soaring through the air. As he watched it fly towards him, he closed his eyes tightly—afraid he would instinctively swerve out of the way when it started to get too close. His heart pounded—the only sound in Kaede’s entire research lab, until finally he heard the apple fall to the ground with a ‘thunk!’ followed by Kaede’s amused giggling—warm, bright, and tinkly like the jaunty melody of a music box.

As Rantaro opened his eyes, he could not hold back his sigh of relief as he glanced over at the apple skewered exactly in the middle by Kaede’s arrow—a perfect bullseye. Quite without thinking, he patted the top of his head—ruffling his hand through his somewhat damp hair just in case…but it hadn’t even grazed him.

Kaede picked the skewered apple off the ground with a triumphant hum and a wave of her hand. “See, perfect shot,” she said with a bright smile, playfully throwing the apple to him.

As he caught it, he teased, “I really hope you’re not planning to do this to one of your judges at the practical exam.”

Kaede’s smile widened. “That’s the plan,” she said with a wink before she nudged him in the arm with her elbow. “Now, since you lived, will you play me that song? I’m thinking it might be more impressive with some mood music.”

Kaede had seemed to enjoy his rendition of the ‘William Tell Overture’ though, thankfully, she decided not to use it during her showcase—at least not this particular one. “Maybe for next year’s practical exam,” she had joked. Like Kaito she had offered to stay and help Rantaro with his project as well, but he had politely sent her on her way, urging her to keep practicing her archery. He knew Kaede was incredibly skilled—she had just proven that, after all, but he also thought it would be best to do whatever they could to avoid headlines like “Mogul Dies in Horrific Archery Accident at Hope’s Peak Academy Practical Exam Gone Wrong.”

With a slight shake of his head, he turned back to his piano and his sheet music with a frown. It was still blank. Rantaro sighed. He wasn’t sure what he had been expecting. As much as he may have wished for it, it wasn’t like the notes of an incredible composition were just going to appear on the page.

He sighed again but paused as he heard the slightest rustling sound—probably inaudible to someone who didn’t have the keen ears of the Ultimate Pianist. His mouth twitched in the corners as he turned to the doorway, finding Maki quietly hovering near the doorframe. Maki frowned as he met her gaze with a smile. Even though Maki was his friend and he had always considered himself a relatively intuitive person, Rantaro could admit he sometimes struggled in reading her serious and often deadpan expressions. Now, for instance, he almost wanted to say she looked pensive, as if she was worried that she was bothering or interrupting him, but he couldn’t say for sure. Even so, his face softened, and he warmly welcomed her into his research lab with an inviting wave of his hand.

“Are you busy?” she mumbled—her voice curt but not unkind.

Rantaro glanced at his empty sheet music but shrugged with a somewhat helpless smile and a conceding, “Nope.”

Maki frowned—pursing her lips together before she pulled on one of her pigtails. “I was wondering if you could help me.”

“You wanna try to kill me too, Maki?” he quipped with a dry, teasing smile. Maki just blinked at him in confusion, so he explained. “When I was helping Kaito and Kaede with their projects, Kaito made me jump off a cliff and Kaede used me for target practice. I almost died twice today—I’m thinking about changing my talent from Ultimate Pianist to Ultimate Survivor.”

As Rantaro chuckled, he caught sight of the slight twitch of a smile in Maki’s mouth and heard her let out two quick, heavy breaths. He knew her well enough to know that that meant she was laughing. Rantaro’s smile widened. It was always quite a feat to get Maki to laugh.

“It’s not dangerous,” she said matter-of-factly. “I was almost finished with my constellation map, but someone stole my ladder. You’re taller than me so I thought you might be able to help me hang some stars.”

Rantaro nodded with a kind smile. “Of course. I’d be happy to, but maybe we should go look for your ladder.”

“It’s not worth the time or energy,” Maki interrupted, shaking her head. “My map is almost done.”

Maki was right about her map, of course. When she took Rantaro back to her research lab and showed it to him, he would have sworn it actually was finished already if he hadn’t known any better. It was a truly impressively detailed map of the night sky like something someone might see in a planetarium, and it was so massive that it took up the entire back wall of Maki’s lab. He would have to ask her if she was going to need help moving it when the time came for her to present it for her practical exam.

“Wow,” Rantaro quietly gasped. “This is amazing.”

Maki’s face flushed, but she frowned and huffed, “It’s hard to come up with something to present in a showcase when you’re the Ultimate Astronaut. I decided to make a map based on my memories from my last trip into space.”

“You made this from memory?” Rantaro interrupted with wide eyes.

Maki’s cheeks turned an even deeper pink. She never could take a compliment, not even from her friends. Instead, she twisted her mouth to the side and insisted, “It wasn’t that hard.”

She paused, then handed Rantaro a couple of stars she had cut out and directed him where to hang them in the upper corners of her map. They mostly worked in silence aside from Maki’s curt directions of “there” or “higher” or “a little to the left.” Still, there was something steady and rhythmic about the sounds of her boots clip-clopping against the floor as she walked to various parts of the map pointing up at the proper locations for the constellations.

Despite Maki’s insistence that putting this project together had been easy, Rantaro could not deny that he grew more and more impressed by it the longer he looked at it. It was amazing enough that she had made it, but even more impressive that she had made it from memory. How awe-inspiring had it been to see this in person—to actually be a part of the night sky? The stars were so dim here amidst the bright lights and hustle and bustle of the city, but in vast expanses of space there was nothing to block out their light. It was beyond anything Rantaro could even begin to imagine, but Maki’s map project had been helping him to—helping him to picture the big, beautiful universe with all of its promise and possibility, and there was something about these clusters of constellations that reminded Rantaro of one of his favorite pieces of music.

Admittedly, he hadn’t realized how much it was reminding him of it until Maki asked him, “What are you humming?”

With a light chuckle, Rantaro scratched the back of his neck. He had a terrible habit of absent-mindedly humming without even realizing it—an occupational hazard of being a musician he supposed. A slight smile tugged at his mouth as he explained, “It’s Piano Concerto No. 3 by Sergei Bortkiewicz. He’s not a super well-known composer and often compared to Rachmaninoff…”

Rantaro sighed. Bortkiewicz was often criticized for his lack of individual style and voice in his music—something everyone might soon say about Rantaro, himself, if he didn’t manage to finish his composition for his practical exam showcase.

He sighed again—trying his best to push the thought away. “Its subtitle is ‘Per aspera ad astra’ which means ‘through difficulties to the stars.’ Your project made me think of it.” He paused and met her eyes with a smile before he dryly added, “Even if you insist that it was pretty easy to make.”

As Maki tried her best to stifle the smile that tugged at her mouth, Rantaro teased, “I’m not sure I believe that.”

“Well, I’m not sure what to tell you,” she said before handing him the last star for him to add to the map. “It was easy.”

Rantaro shrugged, but he couldn’t hold back his smile as he watched Maki’s mouth curve just barely in the corners, a sure sign she had been teasing him as well.

Though Maki hadn’t needed his help for very long, the sky was as dark as her constellation map by the time Rantaro returned to his research lab. He sighed, glancing at the clock on the wall then out of the pitch-black windows. Maki must have realized how late it was getting too, and she offered to stay and help him with his project so he wouldn’t have to be there all night. Like with Kaito and Kaede, however, Rantaro insisted he was fine and encouraged Maki to head back to her dormitory to get some rest. It had been a long day, after all, if Rantaro’s repeated yawning had been any indication, but unfortunately, he caught sight of the blank sheet music once again.

Running his hand through his hair, he let out a long and heavy sigh. He was nowhere closer to finishing his composition than he had been this morning when he had gone off on an adventure with Kaito or this afternoon when he had helped Kaede with her target practice or this evening when he had added the final stars to Maki’s constellation map. Still, something warm spread through his chest and a smile tugged at his mouth. If he was being honest with himself, he knew he had had a better day with friends than he would have had if he had just sequestered himself in his research lab, forcing himself to compose alone.

Taking a deep breath, his eyes fluttered closed, and he remembered back to the exhilaration he had felt as he jumped off that cliff to join Kaito in the water, the relief that had washed over him when Kaede’s melodious giggling told him she had perfectly hit her target, the sense of pride he had felt when he had made Maki laugh, and the lingering joy he carried with him, even now, knowing that he had such wonderful friends.

As his face lit up in a bright smile, he reached out his hands to his piano and played. Strong, loud, and exuberant notes for Kaito—swift staccatos as his fingers raced up and down the keys, growing louder and louder in joyful crescendos that could barely scratch the surface of Kaito’s enthusiasm and zest for life. These were followed by tender, tinkly melodies—sweet and bubbly with a strong, steady baseline for Kaede whose warm kindness was part of her strength. Then, the low but steadfast patterns of major chords in succession—slow but deliberate and so comforting in their constancy just like Maki. Finally, Rantaro pulled them together—the songs of each of his friends, unique and beautiful in their own way.

As the final chord sounded, Rantaro scrambled for his sheet music. It was blank no longer—filled at last with the song in his heart…his rhapsody.

#rantaro amami gift exchange 2024 #rantaro amami #amami rantaro #kaito momota #momota kaito #kaede akamatsu #akamatsu kaede #drv3 fanfiction #drv3 talent swap au #thank you for reading!

5 notes · View notes