#jtta aus

[journey-to-the-attic]

let it be known that solomon isn't holding ik's hand to protect her; ik is holding solomon's hand to comfort him

(this is that comic idea i had that ended up becoming the rpg au)

#(slamming fists into ground) (wailing) i don't know how to draw backgrouuuuuuunds #art #obey me #obey me solomon #obey me diavolo #obey me barbatos #jtta ik #also they're very briefly there but i'll tag em anyway: #obey me simeon #obey me luke #jtta aus #rpg au #these designs are veeery shaky by the way #i wanted to give everyone a little twist on their hair so now diavolo has a ponytail and barbatos... his hair's just a bit fluffier #yeah i couldn't think of anything for him #solomon and ik have matching braids :) #also solomon's outfit is based on flynn rider (with the colours from his casual outfit in-game)

[archived-kin]

totally spies (reuploaded to the RIGHT BLOG THIS TIME)

note from kin: i’ve watched totally spies before but i barely remember anything about it

anyway this is part three in this sort of series! this is set in the same modern au (here’s a quick guide to it) as the xiao and zhongli pieces (see masterlist if you want to read them!)   ^^

i put this on my jtta blog by accident first time whoops

fandom: genshin impact

character(s): gn!reader, yanfei, xiao, zhongli, diluc, diona

pairing(s): yanfei/reader

warning(s): not really a warning but if you’re here for romance, you probably aren’t going to get it… i ended up writing more about the character dynamics than i did about the romantic interaction whoops

genre: i’m not entirely sure actually?? fluff?? crack??? gen????

“You’ve got the fancy skirt out today,” Xiao comments as Yanfei hops into the living room, struggling to pull her thigh-high socks all the way up as she goes. “What’re you getting all dressed up for?”

“I’ve got a date,” She says. “Have you seen my hat?”

“Still in the wash,” He answers inattentatively, swinging his legs up onto the sofa beneath him and looking back down at his book. “Dad forgot to turn the— wait, a date?!”

“Yeah.” She turns to him, patting down her skirt. Xiao’s book has fallen out of his limp hands, and he looks pretty close to falling off the sofa himself. “Is it really that surprising?”

“No, I...” He misjudges his inhale and chokes, thumping himself on the chest as he attempts to speak. His face has drained of colour. “I mean… you’ve got a… partner?”

“That’s what they call it when you’re in a relationship, yes,” She sighs, sitting beside him. His right hand instinctively moves to throw a blanket over her lap, but Xiao himself doesn’t seem to be processing anything around him. He seems completely shell-shocked.

“You’ve got a date,” He mumbles, slumping backwards. “And a partner.”

Yanfei sighs again and shakes her head, leaning back against the cushions behind her. “Xiao, this is why I didn’t tell you I was seeing someone in the first place.”

“You’re seeing someone,” He repeats numbly. “And you’ve got a date with them.”

“Oh, come on,” She punches him in the arm, but he doesn’t protest or retaliate like usual. He doesn’t even look like he feels it. “I knew you’d freak out like this—”

“Who’s ‘freaking out’ about what?” asks Zhongli, walking in with his sixth cup of tea that afternoon. He smiles as his two children turn around to look at him, apparently not realising how sickly his son suddenly looks. “Are you going out, A-Fei? You look lovely.”

“She’s got a date,” Xiao says dully.

A beat.

Zhongli drops his cup.

He continues to smile, but his eyes are completely blank. As the steaming puddle of his tea spreads across the hardwood floor and starts seeping into the ornamental rug, he finally opens his mouth.

“What?”

“She’s got a date,” Xiao repeats robotically. He still doesn’t look like he’s quite processed the entire situation. “And a partner. That she’s seeing.”

“Oh, you’re both being ridiculous,” Yanfei says with a huff as her father continues to stare emptily at her. “Is it really that ground-breaking? Did you think I was too ugly to get a date or something?”

“What? Of course not!” That seems to shake Xiao out of his trance, and he frowns at her, looking almost offended. “Why would I think that?!”

“...it isn’t any fault of your own, A-Fei,” Zhongli says after a long while, sitting down heavily on the armchair across the room. He ignores the shattered teacup and the still spreading puddle of tea, looking as if he’s aged about fifty years in less than five minutes. “We… well, I suppose we aren’t ready for you to… venture into that world.”

He trails off, staring at the dark stain in the rug without really seeming to see it. Yanfei shakes her head in disbelief. “I’m nineteen, Dad. And, in case you’ve forgotten, I have ‘ventured into that world’ before.”

“I know, but...” He inclines his head slowly, frowning at the memory. “...A-Fei, I have faith in you, you know that… but I can’t help but be cautious.”

“I’m not a little girl anymore,” She mutters. “[Name]’s not like Hu Tao, anyway.”

“Hu Tao didn’t seem to be like Hu Tao before,” Xiao points out, folding his arms and tapping his fingers agitatedly against the sleeve of his jacket. “And then it turned out that she was the shadiest person in the entire world. She got arrested a month ago, you know.”

“This is different!” Yanfei snaps, and Xiao reels back slightly, surprised by her sudden aggression. “Just because one person turned out to be a bad egg doesn’t mean the whole batch is rotten!”

“A-Fei—” Zhongli tries, but she clearly isn’t listening. She gets to her feet, tossing the blanket that had been covering her up directly over Xiao’s head.

“I’m going now,” She says flatly, making a point out of checking her watch. “I’m late.”

She strides out into the hallway, beginning to tug on her boots with much more aggression than usual. Zhongli silently emerges from the living room as she's fastening the laces a moment later, and while she allows him to wrap her favourite scarf around her neck, she staunchy refuses to say anything to him.

Zhongli returns to the living room and takes a seat beside his son. The front door slams.

“...I think she’s angry at us,” Xiao says after about five minutes of dead silence.

Zhongli sighs. “It would seem so.”

They both go quiet for another minute or so. Xiao fiddles restlessly with the edge of the blanket that Yanfei had thrown at him earlier.

“It was an overreaction on our parts,” Zhongli murmurs. “A-Fei is mature enough to know what she’s doing.”

“But— it’s dating,” Xiao replies, gesturing at nothing in particular. “And dating’s a— it’s a dangerous thing, Dad!”

“I know that,” His father replies with a nod. Xiao waits for a reply, but gets none.

“Is that all?” He asks a little incredulously. “No ‘but’?”

Zhongli shakes his head silently. Xiao hasn’t seen him look this serious in a long while.

“...well, it’s broad daylight,” He mumbles after a long while, flopping back and trying his hardest to relax. “No one in their right mind would try anything, right?”

His father makes a low sound of agreement. They both settle back, staring off in their own respective directions, attempting to get comfortable.

Finally, after what feels like a lifetime of shifting and rustling, Xiao sits up again.

He turns to his father. “Fei’s walking, right?”

Zhongli looks at him, raising an eyebrow. “Probably. Why?”

Xiao gets to his feet, brushing imaginary dust from his pants. “That means they’re probably meeting up at the party. If we leave now, we should be able to catch up.”

It takes him a moment or two, but his father does realise what he’s implying. “...A-Xiao, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Sure it is,” Xiao says, scooping up his jacket and tugging it on roughly. “It’ll just be this once - just to check. If Fei’s date’s alright, then we’ll leave them alone from now on.”

His father shakes his head, but he’s getting up as well, clearly already on board with the idea. “A-Fei is going to be furious with us.”

“I know.” Xiao replies. They both nod at each other in solidarity, then move out into the hallway to put on their shoes.

They opt to take Zhongli’s car rather than walk or use Xiao’s motorbike - walking would mean it’d be far easier for them to be spotted, and Xiao’s bike is loud and distinctive enough that Yanfei would notice them almost immediately. The car, on the other hand, is of a nondescript and fairly common black variety, and as long as they keep the windows up and don’t do anything too attention-catching, they should be able to remain fairly undercover.

The streets are relatively busy, but Xiao manages to catch Yanfei’s distinctive pink hair bobbing along the pavement ahead after they turn a corner or two, and, sure enough, she’s heading in the direction of their local park. Zhongli quickly spins the wheel as they come to a roundabout, taking the second exit rather than the third - it’s more prudent to just take the long way round rather than go along the same road that Yanfei’s taking and risk being spotted.

Per Xiao’s suggestion, Zhongli takes the car in several circles (just to make sure they don’t get there first and end up being recognised) around the streets before finally pulling up near the park’s main entrance. Sure enough, when they creep out of the car and peek over the hedge, they can see Yanfei sitting on a bench less than ten metres away, with someone they’ve never seen beside her.

You’re not exactly the sort of person they’d been expecting. Yanfei hasn’t dated nearly enough people for her father and brother to have a clear idea of what her type is, but whatever it is, you aren’t really what they had in mind. It’s clear that you’re a little rough around the edges, with a large plaster slapped on your left cheek and various tatters in your far too large coat, and though it’s hard to tell for sure from this distance, it looks as if you’re missing a tooth.

“...that isn’t a criminal or anything, right?” Xiao hisses, crouching slightly to stay as hidden behind the hedge as possible.

Zhongli imitates his position, though it’s a lot less effective for him. Sometimes having such long legs is a curse. “I can’t tell just yet…”

“...just an absolute legend, and then the first thing he does once he’s back in court is start trying to get an orca to testify over video call,” Yanfei’s saying, hands moving about animatedly. “I really hope I can meet him one day - he sounds like the coolest guy ever!”

You laugh. “Well, if Fei wants it, then the universe is gonna have to give it.”

Xiao immediately bristles. Zhongli glances over at him. His son doesn’t say a word, but he can read what his expression is saying perfectly: that’s MY nickname! You don’t get to use it!

“I heard from one of the other interns that he’s actually going to be visiting soon,” Yanfei says happily, unaware of the two men glowering at her companion over the hedge. “Apparently his husband works as a prosecutor in our district.”

“See, what did I say?” You chuckle, leaning over and knocking her gently in the shoulder. “What Fei wants, Fei gets.”

Shut up, shut up, shut up, Xiao chants in his head, so intensely that he’s half-sure that everyone in a two mile radius can hear him telepathically. He’s seen you for less than five minutes and already decided that he doesn’t like you - you’re too suave, too confident. You’re just the type of ‘cool kid’ that he’s always feared would swoop in and sweep his little sister off her feet, then drop her in the dust as soon as it suits them.

Zhongli, on the other hand, still seems to be open to giving you a chance. He’s never liked judging people based on appearances, after all, and he’s seen plenty of ‘rough’-looking students and teachers who were perfectly lovely people come and go throughout his years as a history professor. Still, he is a dad, after all, and he can’t say he likes the way you and his daughter keep inching closer together.

He shakes his head and gives himself a pinch on the arm. He can’t keep acting like the overprotective father forever - Yanfei’s grown up. She isn’t the little girl who needs his protection anymore, and it’d do everyone good if Zhongli could just remember that.

“What on earth are you two doing?”

Xiao and Zhongli jump so hard that they nearly fall face first into the hedge they’d been peeking over. Turning around like a pair of deer caught in headlights, they turn to see a red-haired man watching them with an unimpressed expression on his face.

“...Mr Diluc,” Xiao says after a moment.

Diluc frowns, but the usually intimidating effect of his face is a little diminished by the little girl clinging to his left hand. Zhongli looks down at her, and she immediately narrows her eyes at him in an expression that very much mirrors the man beside her. She steps behind Diluc and tugs on his coat, and he absent-mindedly turns and scoops her up, resting her on his left hip as he continues to scrutinise the two men still partially crouching to avoid being seen over the top of the edge.

“...is this your daughter?” Zhongli asks after a long and awkward silence. Diluc raises an eyebrow, then nods.

“Say hello, Diona,” He says softly to the little girl now firmly smushing her face into his shoulder. When she doesn’t respond for a moment, he gives her a little shake. “Like we practised, remember?”

She finally pulls away from him and turns to look at Zhongli and Xiao. Xiao’s face remains unreadable, but Zhongli’s expression softens, and he smiles; Diona reminds him almost uncannily of Yanfei when he’d first adopted her. Maybe it’s the pink hair?

“Hello,” She says finally, staring at him with unblinking eyes. “I like cats.”

Zhongli can’t help but chuckle. It makes sense - her hat has little cat ears attached to it. “I like cats, too.”

She looks at him for a moment, then turns around and smushes her face into her father’s shoulder again.

“She doesn’t like strangers,” Diluc says after a split second, bouncing her slightly. “Anyway - what exactly are you doing?”

When neither reply, he sighs and goes up on his tip-toes briefly to look at what they were watching so intently. “...were you watching Yanfei and [Name]’s date?”

Again, neither say a word, but Diluc can see the answer clear enough on their faces. He sighs. “I know [Name] looks a little suspicious, but you don’t need to spy on them.”

Xiao glances briefly over at where Yanfei is happily leaning into your side as you show her something on her phone. He feels a muscle pop in his cheek. “...you know them?”

“I’ve got them taking the afternoon shifts at the cafe on weekends,” He replies, adjusting Diona on his hip. “Just helping them make ends meet. They’re a good kid.”

Zhongli thinks back to the plaster he’d seen on your cheek. “...do they get in a lot of fights?”

“Every now and then,” Diluc says after a moment. “They have a bit of a temper, so they punch before they think a lot of the time.”

He catches the way that both Xiao and Zhongli immediately exchange tense looks, and quickly adds, “But that’s only if they’re provoked. Actually, the only fights they’ve been getting in recently are because someone’s insulted or threatened your daughter.”

“If they’re capable of physical violence, it only follows that they’re capable of directing it at anyone eventually,” Zhongli murmurs, frowning. He’s beginning to look close to storming right into the park and beating you off his daughter like a grandma with a flyswatter.

Diluc sighs in clear irritation. “Aren’t we all capable of directing physical violence at anyone at the end of the day? You both seem to be determined to suffocate Yanfei out of a potential relationship. Forgive me, but that seems a little unnecessary.”

“You have a daughter yourself, Master Diluc,” Zhongli says, suddenly sounding a lot colder. “Surely you know how we feel?”

“Of course I do,” He replies, unfazed, “I’d boil anyone who approaches my daughter with romantic intentions alive. But that’s only because anyone capable of having legitimately romantic intentions would already be relatively grown, and Diona’s only seven. Your daughter, if I’m not mistaken, is already an adult, and so is [Name].”

He’s making a lot of sense, but neither Zhongli nor Xiao are particularly happy about it.

“You barely even know us,” Xiao says after a moment, poorly disguising a glare. “So I don’t think it’s any of your business.”

“I know [Name], and it’s my business if you’re thinking of obstructing their relationship,” Diluc replies equally firmly. “And Yanfei comes by the cafe enough that I know her relatively well now. Take my word for it: they’re both happy. Trying to interfere with that would only make you a bad father and brother.”

Xiao practically growls at him, looking as if he’s just been been mortally offended, but Zhongli silently sets a hand on his shoulder, and he settles, though his glare remains poisonous enough to kill a man.

“...your rationality does you credit,” Zhongli says after a long moment, shaking his head. “I’m aware that our behaviour is unnecessary… but it’s difficult to let it go just like that.”

“I can understand that,” Diluc says with a sigh. “I’ll probably be the same once Diona’s old enough to start thinking about serious relationships. But there’s a difference between feeling cautious and downright spoiling a relationship before it can really start. I’m just warning you now - your daughter will probably never forgive you if you do.”

Zhongli nods absently, turning to look back over the hedge, only to see that both Yanfei and you are looking directly at him.

His daughter looks half-betrayed, half-annoyed, while you simply stare at him with an unreadable expression. He’s not sure whether Yanfei’s told you of his relation to her, but you’re looking as if you’re contemplating hopping over the hedge and slamming him into the curb for interrupting your date.

He ignores you for a moment, focusing on Yanfei. She looks steadfastly back at him, her face set, and reaches down to take your hand.

The message she sends is loud and clear. You can’t stop me from being with who I love.

Several seconds pass. A million thoughts seem to pass through Zhongli’s mind at once, but in the end, only a few stay clear.

He wants his daughter to be happy. His daughter is happy with you. Who is he to interfere with that? Even if he’s cautious now, he can learn to be trusting; he barely knows you, after all.

Zhongli smiles, and sends his own message right back. I won’t.

#unedited #genshin impact #genshin impact imagines #genshin impact x reader #i can't believe i put this on the wrong blog first time around i'm so angry #genshin yanfei #genshin diluc #genshin zhongli #genshin xiao #genshin diona #zhao family #yanfei x reader #fluff #crack

[journey-to-the-attic]

i just think it'd be funny if gabriel ultrakill was inexplicably also a member of the celestial realm, and also he was massive

#lord have mercy i don't know how to draw people holding spears #i also don't really know how to draw gabriel but staring at the reference for like ten minutes straight helped #logically it's not a super complicated design but i really had to parse it to be able to draw it #obey me #art #obey me raphael #obey me luke #jtta ik #ultrakill gabriel #does this count as an au for the sake of the tag #yeah sure #jtta aus #ultrakill

[journey-to-the-attic]

THE DRAWING WITH DIA WAS SO CUTE!!! Could you do one with Asmo but she asks him to play dress up??

(If you have time and motivation ofc!!! Not forcing!!)

((ALSO ILYSM AHHHH YOU'RE MY FAV CREATOR))

normally it'd take me longer to do an extended art reply but inspiration struck with this one

(alternate final panel where the dress-up outfits are mulan and mushu instead):

#can the demons change out of their outfits in demon form??? who knows #i assume they can and their demon clothes just like respawn back next time they change forms #art #obey me #answering asks #anon asks #(also thank you so much!!! honoured to be your fav creator <3) #obey me asmodeus #jtta ik #oh i should probably tag this au since it's part of one #i'll go back and add it to the og dia one as well #i have more Thoughts on this au so like. if anyone wants to hear please do ask me #jtta aus #infernal friends au

[journey-to-the-attic]

After becoming overly fixated on Dragon!AU, I ended up creating brothers in Flight Rising's (free dragon browser game) generator.

What do you think? :Dc

.

Lucifer

.

Mammon

.

Leviathan

.

Satan

.

Asmodeus

.

Beelzebub

.

Belphegor

OH YEAH THESE RULE!!! i love how you managed to get belphie's hair even on his dragon form - his cow patterns and the peacock patterns on lucifer are nice touches too!

you nailed them all, this is brilliant!!

(mammon would get ik to pick bangles and such from his treasure hoard to decorate those spines on his neck with)

#i need to check out this flight rising thing now #also side note belphie looks SO cosy #hang on i'm looking at them all again #oh hey beel's tiger-y pattern sort of resembles that flame motif he has on his boots and shirt in demon form!! #ooo and levi's pattern looks like water ripples #asmo's colouring in particular reminds me of hibiscus #answering asks #innocent-beano #dragon au #jtta aus

[journey-to-the-attic]

3rd anni req 2: [DRAGON AU] mammon / first encounter

ao3 link

note: requested by @whensam! i have to admit, i was hoping this'd pop up. i know i can write what i want, but i always feel i need an excuse anyway. you didn't indicate a preference for pov and i also just ended up wanting to do both, so this is a little longer than expected as a result!

∎ ∎ ∎ ∎ ∎

Baker's children don't make good hunters. We’re used to carrying sacks of flour, not sprinting across fields with pitchfork-wielding mobs in hot pursuit. We don't make good kindling, either, but that hasn't stopped about half the adults in the village - for shame, I'd say, if I had the breath to speak.

Here's the thing. Our village isn't exactly a popular spot by any definition of the term. We're too far from any big cities to make good business, we don't make much worth selling, and the people certainly aren't charming enough to warrant a detour.

More important, though, are the creatures we share land with. Through the grassland that border the crop fields, there are invisible lines drawn in the soil - ones that no one crosses.

These lines mark dragon territory, and everyone knows that a dragon would sooner eat you for breakfast than stop for a reasonable conversation. Reasonable conversation is not something I have the luxury of at the moment, which is why I’m already several hundred paces over the line.

Just fifty already takes you into the forest. I don’t hear footsteps in pursuit anymore - they’d have to be mad to follow me so far in, which is exactly what I'd been banking on. The issue now is that, rather than being pitchforked, or burnt at the stake, I’ll probably just get eaten instead.

I pick my way through rotting leaf litter and ridged roots before collapsing against an old oak, wondering if the moisture dripping from overhead is safe to drink - or at least to wash my mouth out with. Gnawing through rope seems like a clever idea until your teeth start bleeding.

I can’t stay here, I think. Dying now would be like letting them win. Then Dad will have smacked the alderman for no reason.

Just as I get back to my feet, something whooshes overhead. I freeze. Those wings were larger than any bird I’ve ever seen.

Surely it couldn’t see me through the leaves. I crouch low to the ground and try to hide in the undergrowth - the wingbeats disappear until all I can hear is distant birdsong.

At least they’re having a nice day. I duck my head and trudge through a hedge - and come face to face with a dragon.

“Argh!”

I leap backwards. Bad move. The sunlight falls across its pointed face just in time for me to watch its pupils expand into full moons, like a cat on the hunt.

It doesn’t pounce. It doesn’t charge, snap or growl. It creeps slowly, eyes fixed on me the whole way forward, as if making sure I know that I can’t escape.

Nowhere to run. I press my back against a wizened old pine and shut my eyes tight - throwing out an arm, as if that might shield me.

Nothing happens. Then something cold presses into my palm.

My eyes snap open. The dragon blinks down at me. Its eyes are such a deep shade of blue that it’s almost dizzying. Oh. Oh, okay.

Its - his? I wonder, noting the ridges on his nose - snout rests carefully in my palm. He seems to register me staring at him, and snorts. The hot air is just on the brink of scalding, but not quite enough to hurt.

Then, almost experimentally, he opens his mouth - a yawning chasm of teeth, poised as if to ever-so-gently bite off my head. Except he doesn’t do that. There’s no pain - no crunch of broken bone or split sinew - far from it. The dragon leans down, carefully hooks his teeth into the collar of my shirt, and takes off.

I’d have screamed if it wasn’t for all the air leaving my chest at once. The forest shrinks to a dark blanket beneath us faster than I can even register it happening, and I realise very quickly that I’d be dashed to bits if I so much as slipped.

Wyvern, says an unhelpful voice in the back of my head as we soar. The dragon’s white-and-gold wings blot out the sun, but they’re so brilliant that it’s hard to tell the difference. They’re good fliers.

Before long, the dragon lands - legs first, digging his talons deep into the soil as he skids to a stop. After a moment, he huffs, then (strangely gently) drops me in a heap on the stony ground.

There’s a rumble, a swoosh - then several thuds, a swoosh of wings. I watch a shadow fall over my field of vision, then slowly raise my head.

Oh, I think a little faintly. 

All sorts of colours, all sorts of demeanours. One in particular steps forward - dark, with crimson eyes, and the sort of air about him that tells me he's the leader. Boss, I'll call him, if only to settle my own nerves. The dragon that brought me here (Goldie, I decide, still trying to settle my breathing) steps forward with a sort of chirrup in greeting.

It's a spectacle, if nothing else. Here are seven dragons, horns and wings and all. I've heard cautionary tales and horror stories, but they never really tell you how majestic they look in real life - scales shinier than any jewel I could imagine. Marvels of creatures, really. If only I had the wits to appreciate it.

Boss is growling now - there's a sort of heat rolling off him in waves. Some of the feeling coming back to my numb legs.

If only I knew what they were saying...

-

It isn’t often that the forest bears treasure - usually it’s all very boring things, like meat and berries and leaves. To be fair, Mammon's used to treasure of the shiny, golden kind - not this weird little critter crouched against a tree.

It smells faintly of smoke and burnt wheat. He stalks closer, but he's testing it more than anything - it doesn’t look like any prey he’s familiar with.

When he gets close, it sticks out a little starfish-shaped appendage and closes its eyes. He smells bitter fear now.

Is it greeting him? Telling him it isn’t a threat? That’s smart. He thought only dragons could be smart, but it’s not behaving - nor does it look - like any dragon he's ever met.

So he returns the greeting with his snout. He half expects to be stung, like the time Asmo brought that little spidery thing home, but all the critter does is look up at him fearfully.

Interesting. On a whim, he scoops the little round thing off, and decides to take it back home.

The weird not-prey goes still as soon as he takes off. Once home, he lets it disembark (drops it on the floor, though he tries to be gentle), then looks up to face his brothers as they land around him.

The others decide to keep their distance. Lucifer is the first to plod forward and investigate.

He sniffs carefully at the air, then makes a crackling noise somewhere at the base of his throat - which isn't usually a good sign.

“That’s a human, Mammon," He says, glaring at the little critter. It’s still sitting, frozen.

“It’s a what?”

“What’d you bring that for? Stupid.” Belphie settles back on his haunches, blowing out a puff of frost. “Can’t go around snatching humans. We’ll get hunted. Stupid.”

“Shut up,” He grunts. “And I didn’t snatch it. Found it walkin’ around in the forest.”

“That’s impossible,” Satan says nearly immediately. His tail swishes back and forth - slow and deliberate, an analytical glint in his clever eyes. “They don’t let their young anywhere near us.”

“Well, whaddya call this, then?”

The human - apparently - suddenly seems to regain use of its limbs. Springing to its feet (Levi shrinks back, crest flattering over his head), it stumbles for a moment, then abruptly ducks under one of Mammon's wings.

The rest of his brothers - who'd similarly drawn back - relax again with a simultaneous murmur of vague confusion. Mammon blinks. Then his tail starts flicking at the end - like it always does when he's pleased.

“...you are not keeping it,” Lucifer says, looking as if he'd very much like to fly off into the sunset.

“It might have a disease!” adds Asmo.

“I don’t care what any of ya say,” Mammon says stubbornly, snapping at Beel when it looks like he might creep in for a bite. “I’m not sendin’ it back to the forest. It’ll be dead in a day.”

"It might be dangerous," Levi hisses. "It's totally giving me the evil eyes."

"Stop scaring it, then,” Mammon says loftily. “Relax, ya big baby - You’ve got teeth bigger than its whole head.”

“You are not keeping it,” Lucifer says again, as if repeating himself will make him sound more in charge.

“Pfft. Can’t tell me what to do.” He snaps at Beel again. “Oi! No bitin’! Go raid your stash or something.”

Beel’s horns seem to droop a little. “...fine. C’mon, Belphie.”

“I was busy,” complains Satan with a huff as the twins flap off. "This is boring. I've seen deer carcasses more interesting than that weird little thing."

"Go look at your stinkin' carcasses, then," Mammon shoots back, fighting the impulse to spit something at him.

Satan does exactly that. Levi soon slinks off as well, apparently still intimidated - and Asmo seems to have disappeared as soon as he decided the human wasn't going to make a good accessory.

Lucifer, meanwhile, stands his ground. His tail is beginning to lash in agitation. If Mammon’s lucky, maybe he’ll even start spitting fire.

“I'm not gonna eat it,” He says stubbornly.

“I wasn't going to tell you to,” Lucifer replies, but he sounds very much like he’s considering it. “Belphie was right. If a hunter sees us with one of their young, they’ll take it as a threat.”

“Like we wouldn’t win,” He scoffs, sitting down with a thump. "Anyway,don't ya smell the fire on it?"

A single scarlet eye narrows a little. Evidently he hadn't - though Lucifer's always smelling smoke, by virtue of the literal furnace in his chest, so he can't really be blamed for not noticing.

The human is peeking out from beneath his wing with a little more bravado now. Lucifer eyes its round little face as if it might start spitting poison at him.

"...humans don't usually try to set fire to their young," Lucifer says after a moment. "You're sure she doesn't have anywhere to go?"

"Wouldn't've been in the forest if it— uh, she did." He glances down. "C'mon! Not like we don't have the space."

Lucifer is silent. Then he gives a long-suffering sigh - sending a plume of dark blue smoke into the sky - and bends down to the human’s eye level again.

“Will you behave?” Lucifer asks her severely, as if she can understand dragon-speak.

The human child blinks up at him. Then she reaches up and plants a hand on his snout.

Mammon holds his breath. After a moment, Lucifer’s wings flutter, then settle.

“I’m not having any part in this,” He announces, stepping back. “This is to be your responsibility only. Don't make any trouble for your brothers. Do you understand?”

“Yeah, yeah,” He says dismissively, occupied with keeping his triumph from showing in his tail. Got it.”

Lucifer glances down at the human one final time. “...take care of her.”

And off he flaps - to attend to his usual nighttime duties. He says he's keeping watch for danger, but mostly they seem to involve gazing darkly into the sunset.

With his brothers dispersed, Mammon takes a moment to actually consider his situation. He doesn’t actually know what taking care of a human child involves. He doesn’t know much about humans in general - it’s not like he usually pays them any attention. Maybe some of his brothers could give him some advice… if any of them were interested in the kid’s well-being, at least.

They’ll come around, He decides after a moment, unfurling his wings and attempting to nudge the human in the general direction of their living caves. First, I gotta figure out what these things eat…

#3rd anni event #obey me #writing #dragon au #i mentioned this in the ao3 notes but it's crazy to me that it's been two years since dragon au started #like woa. time passes #jtta aus #obey me mammon #jtta ik #obey me brothers #(won't tag the others individually since they're not as prominent) #whensam

[journey-to-the-attic]

3rd anni req 9: [DRAGON AU] lucifer / bonding

ao3 link

note: quick note/clarification just in case: ik has nicknamed lucifer and mammon "boss" and "goldie" respectively, so those are the dragons she's referring to in her narration!

∎ ∎ ∎ ∎ ∎

“I’m not having any part in this,” Lucifer had said. “This is to be your responsibility only,” He’d said.

He’s… not entirely sure how this happened in the first place. At some point over the last few weeks, he’s gone from disapproving overseer of Mammon’s inexplicable adoption of a human child, to that same child’s primary caretaker.

Mammon is usually in charge of finding her a spot to sleep, but it’s Lucifer who makes sure she eats at the same times as them, or escorts her to the stream every morning so she can wash her face. Occasionally, he brings her strangely-shaped rocks, or sticks and flowers from the forest, so that she has something to play with.

He’s not sure why he feels the need to intervene. He’ll blame Mammon’s incompetence - and the child’s rather unhappy habit of walking straight into mortal danger.

The latest in her series of mishaps involves fish, a river, and a very panicked Levi. Lucifer is - as usual - surveying the territory when his brother comes racing up the hill, and dumps the human in a soggy heap at his feet.

“What now?” He asks, mildly aggravated, then pauses. This isn’t the first time she’s taken a tumble, but this is the sorriest state he’s seen her in so far.

“It’s not moving!” wails Levi, bounding in distressed circles and getting water all over the rocks. “I think— I think I killed it, Lucifer!”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” He replies, a little distracted by his running. “What hap— will you stop that?!”

Levi skids to a stop. His barbels twitch anxiously.

Lucifer ducks down and nudges the child with his snout. When she doesn’t respond, he puffs a cloud of smoke into her face, then tries again. This time, she makes a bubbly sound.

“Is it alive?” Levi asks anxiously.

“Stop calling her an it, Levi,” He grumbles, then straightens up. “She’s fine.”

“Oh. Okay.” Levi relaxes. He regards the little human for a moment - nose twitching - then flicks his tail and bounds off again.

Lucifer watches him go and heaves a silent sigh. He’s been seeing a new, fickle side to his younger brothers as of late. They can’t seem to decide whether or not they enjoy their new ward’s company.

Well, except Mammon. Perhaps this is the upside of being simple-minded - he doesn’t seem to care about everything that comes attached to the word ‘human’ for dragons like them.

Lucifer isn’t so naive, but it’s hard to look at this half-drowned little creature and think ‘dangerous’. It’s even harder to think ‘cruel’, ‘murderer’, or anything else in between. Still - best not get too attached.

“Up you get.” He attempts to nudge her to her feet. She just coughs pitifully and slumps back onto the ground. “We can find you a sunny spot to dry off in.”

The child - predictably, considering she can’t understand him - doesn’t move. She looks rather ill, actually.

Lucifer thinks for a while. The child blinks up at him with far-too-large eyes as he clicks, ignites the fire in his chest, then settles down beside her.

“Don’t get used to this,” He warns her, which is completely futile, and he knows it. “It’ll be a hassle if you get sick.”

The human doesn’t respond, of course, but manages to prop herself up enough to huddle closer to his side. He finds himself blowing idle smoke rings as he waits for the heat to dry her off.

“Be more careful next time,” He says after a while. “Leave the fishing to Levi.”

The child looks up at him cluelessly, then makes a series of chirpy noises. This is, in particular, is something new to him - he’s used to hearing human language from a distance, in gruff shouts from steel-clad giants, or shrill shrieks from beige-clothed merchants.

The way the child talks is almost musical, lilting from one register to another. The strangest part is that, sometimes, he feels like he might understand.

He supposes he’s a little glad that she doesn’t seem frightened by the growls of dragon-speak. He’s found himself unconsciously making adjustments, anyway - speaking softer, trying not to make the sounds too harsh, as if trying to imitate a human register.

He’s almost dozed off by the time he remembers why he lay down in the first place. He looks down. The child’s gone and fallen asleep, still curled against his side. For some reason, the sight makes him think of baby ducks.

Lucifer contemplates this for a while. Well, he supposes there’s no helping it. Humans must get their rest, especially small ones - otherwise they won’t grow properly.

Which means he might as well stay here. If he’s needed for something, surely it can wait.

-

Boss definitely seems like the most frightening dragon of the lot, but he’s actually pretty easy to get along with - as long as you follow the rules. If he starts rumbling, proceed with caution. If he’s blowing smoke rings, you could start hitting him and he won’t even care.

At least, that’s the impression I have. My fists are of inconsequential force to a dragon with near-impenetrable scales, though, so he might not have even noticed.

Living with dragons is a lot more ordinary than I thought. I had images in my head of them smashing mountains and eating boulders for fun, but mostly they just hang around and play - just like people do.

Apart from Boss. He seems to spend most of his free time standing silently on the mountain peak, staring out into the horizon. Sometimes he goes out hunting, and sometimes he goes for a fly around the forest, but mostly he just… watches.

He’s much more considerate than he looks at first glance. Less brutal killer, more affable-but-irritated caretaker. I knew all the dragon horror stories couldn’t possibly be true, but it’s nice to be vindicated.

I want to try returning the favour, but I’m not sure there’s anything I have - or can get - that a dragon would want. So I pay a little extra attention to what he gets up to the next day, and I note something useful.

Sometimes, while he’s land-watching, the wind whistles through the mountain ridges in just the right way to produce a little song. When that happens, he closes his eyes, and puffs out contented little smoke rings until he notices someone looking. So…

Goldie has a lot of shiny things in his cave. I don’t quite dare touch his main hoard, but he leaves a lot of the less precious-looking things unorganised by the walls - which means there might be something I can use there.

He’s clinking happily through his coin collection when I slip into his cave. He grunts in greeting, then goes back to organising them by colour.

“Hi, Goldie.” I stoop and squint at something small and bony-looking. “Do you think you have a flute or something around here?”

He tilts his head to the side. “Rhh?”

“It’s— ah, don’t worry. I’ll figure it out.” I set aside something that looks like a watch face. “...oh!”

A pan-flute - it’s a little dusty, but not damp at all. I try blowing an experimental little melody. I’m no maestro, but I still think it sounds lovely.

Goldie makes a chittering sound. His spines flatten back as I test just how high the pipes can go.

“Oh— sorry!” He makes a show of ducking down and covering his head with his wings. “Did I hurt your ears?”

He peeks a single blue eye out and trills. It’s funny - neither of us really know what the other’s saying, but we always seem to get the message across anyway.

The next day, as soon as I notice him flapping off to find a vantage point as usual, I scramble after him. I don’t know if I’m imagining it, but I feel like his spot today is a lot easier to navigate up to than usual - less vertical rock faces, less jagged edges.

I sit down on the ledge beside him. He’s radiating heat, as always - his crimson eyes flick down to me, and stay there.

“I’ve got something to show you,” I announce, then pull out the pan-flute. “Listen.”

His tail flicks cautiously. I bring the flute to my mouth - slowly, so as not to alarm him - and play him a little tune.

Just as he does when the mountains whistle, he closes his eyes and relaxes. The smoke rings come soon after that.

I play through all the tunes I can think of, then improvise a few new ones. Some time after I lapse into silence, Boss opens his eyes again.

Something about him seems to have shifted. A little nervously, I give his dark scales a pat. He snorts (there’s another puff of smoke), but doesn’t look irritated at all.

“Do dragons have names?” I ask him. He just looks at me.

I tilt my head to the side, as if listening to something, then point up at him. He stares for a little while longer, then makes a rough, crackling sound, and looks off into the distance again.

Then he looks at me. Then to the sky. It takes several more tries before I realise he’s trying to draw my attention to something.

“Sun?” I muse. “Is that your name?”

He doesn’t react. I try again. “Sunny?”

Nothing again. What else do you call the sun that’d make a good name for a dragon? “Hmm… Morning-star?”

Or something that means the same thing?

“Lu…cifer?” I try.

He blinks. Then his wings flick up, and he exhales - blowing what I can only assume is a pleased puff of smoke into my face.

I beam up at him. “Do you wanna hear another song?”

I don’t know how much of the question he understands, but his eyes light up when I pick up the pan-flute again. He settles down in that way that so reminds me of a cat, and lifts a wing to shield the bright morning sun from my face.

Lucifer likes music. That’s good to know.

#3rd anni event #dragon au #obey me lucifer #jtta ik #obey me mammon #jtta aus #writing

[journey-to-the-attic]

3rd anni req 8: [INFERNAL FRIENDS] diavolo, barbatos / bullies

ao3 link

note: the au name looks oddly ominous when it's formatted like that... anyway, not much for me to add - infernal friends is one of my favourite aus, so enjoy!

∎ ∎ ∎ ∎ ∎

Diavolo has been suspicious for a few weeks now. At first, he’d put it down to humans simply growing too fast for someone his age to keep up with, but he’s very sure now - something is wrong with his little friend.

It’s not that he insists on showing up on a regular basis, but IK’s already made a routine of summoning him at least once a week. When he realises that it’s been almost three since he last felt the call, his first thought is one of mild dismay, but also resignation.

Then he stops to think about it, and, no - humans don’t suddenly go from dependent little children to full-fledged adults with no need for demon companions in that short a time. And perhaps he’s self-inflating his own importance, but Diavolo has always rather felt that IK likes him best out of her demon friends. It feels strange to have had such radio silence for this long.

So, when he finally does feel that tug, he wastes no time in heading straight there. The council meeting will simply have to adjourn without him; the brothers will understand.

He realises he’s miscalculated a little when Barbatos follows straight behind him. Perhaps leaving his duties at the drop of a hat was not a wise decision to make in front of him. His butler doesn’t have time to scold him, though - before either of them even have the time to get their bearings back, something small collides straight into Diavolo’s legs.

“Aha! There you are!” He folds his wings back and scoops the little human up. “It’s been— ah? What happened?”

IK stares solemnly back at him and doesn’t say a word. Barbatos crouches down, then clears his throat delicately and gestures to something on the floor.

A pair of scissors, and a clump of hair. That would certainly explain things.

“You cut your hair?” He asks IK, who nods silently. “Why did you do that?”

She shakes her head and buries her face in the fur around his shoulders. Barbatos surveys the scene - the book bag haphazardly tossed to the wall, and one shoe kicked off - then wordlessly begins to clean up.

Diavolo sits down and attempts to coax an explanation. It’s not particularly unusual for IK to go quiet like this, but the circumstances are certainly cause for concern - though exactly how much, he doesn’t know. The persuading doesn’t work; IK just stares.

Eventually, he gives up, and resorts to play instead. Once she’s ascertained that he’s stopped interrogating her, IK seems quite happy to solve a puzzle with him, and if it weren’t for how visible the damage to her hair is, Diavolo could have quite easily forgotten the whole situation.

Barbatos seems to have other plans. First, he avails himself of the kitchen and brings in a little plate of chopped apples. Then he waits for IK eat a few, and sets about a round of gentle (but determined) questioning.

Diavolo’s not sure whether to tell him to stop. IK won’t give any verbal responses, but Barbatos seems able to put together something from all the nods and head-shakes.

Even his patience isn’t endless, though. Eventually he sighs, and asks if IK would prefer they talk to her father about it.

The look of distress on her face is so abject that he immediately drops the idea again. And that's the end of that.

Diavolo is still thinking about it all when they have to return to the Devildom. Evidently Barbatos is, too, because he starts following along every time he gets wind of someone else being summoned - not minding, apparently, the evident dismay on IK’s face when she realises he’s here again.

“It is necessary to gauge the extent of the problem,” He tells Diavolo when he asks him about this. “I can live with her annoyance now, but I cannot possibly stand by if she is unhappy.”

At this, Diavolo vows to help. Barbatos clears his throat and tells him that will not be necessary - it’d be best for all of them if the prince, at least, was to remain in IK’s good graces.

And his sleuthing seems to pay off. One evening, he sits Diavolo down with some tea, and explains what he believes to be the situation.

There is a group of children at school who have not been treating her well lately. Barbatos has been able to gauge at least three of their names, though not due to any special detective work on his part - they’re written on the exercise books that IK has stolen.

Now, IK understands perfectly well that it is bad behaviour to take other children’s property. Diavolo knows because she's gotten in trouble for calling another sticky-fingered child several rude words (that he’s fairly sure Mammon taught her). What this means, then, is that IK has decided these children don’t deserve that decency.

Lessons about the morality of thievery notwithstanding, Barbatos goes further. From what he has been able to piece together, this group of children likes rough-housing, and one of them (whose name Barbatos recognised from the exercise book that IK has treated most poorly) has a nasty habit of pinching and hitting to get something they want.

Then comes the last piece of the puzzle. One sentence, spoken on the brink of a nap: “She pulled my hair, so I cut it off.”

Barbatos had attempted to press further. This has won him exactly one more sentence in clarification: “Her hands were dirty.”

Which is where that leaves him now. Diavolo mulls it all over for a while, then declares, “We have to do something about this.”

He debates speaking to IK’s father about this, then remembers how upset she’d gotten at the notion when it was first suggested. How has she managed to hide it from him so far, though...?

There’s not much they can do in-person. There’d be mass panic if they showed up in all their demonic glory in the middle of a school-children’s playground, and they’d probably still be detained in some capacity even if they showed up in disguise as regular men. Then again, there are other options for cover.

And so that leads them here: two pigeons, perfectly ordinary apart from the colour of their eyes, sitting on a telephone line, and watching the playground intently.

A magpie is staring at them rather suspiciously from a roof across the street. Diavolo wants to ask Barbatos if it could blow their cover, but they don’t actually have any way of communicating in these forms, so all he can do is attempt to look as innocent and gullible as possible.

Then they spot it - IK clutching a tennis racquet, and another child attempting to wrestle it out of her hands.

Barbatos’s head snaps forward. Diavolo tears his eyes away from the magpie and copies him.

The child says something and stamps her foot. IK mumbles something, eyes glancing everywhere but at her opponent, then shrinks back as another child - this one a burlier-looking boy - starts stomping towards her.

The racquet snatcher reaches forward. She only has time to grab a fistful of IK’s cardigan before two pigeons promptly divebomb her.

No beaks, of course, and no claws - just a lot of wing-flapping. Enough to scare away assailants without touching them, and it works like a charm. The racquet snatcher leaps back with a squeal, and promptly runs off.

IK, to her credit, takes this in her stride. The burly boy attempts to stand his ground at first, staring warily as the two pigeons land in front of him and slowly stalk closer.

Then IK points her racquet at him and declares with adorable fury, “I’m the PIGEON KING. Leave me alone or I’ll KILL you.”

Diavolo, normally, would gently reprimand her for that sort of threat, but this is a special occasion (plus, he doesn't have his usual vocal cords). So he opens his beak and pretends to peck at the boy’s shoes instead.

It works. He turns tail and runs, too.

Barbatos preens his wings in satisfaction. IK stands there for a moment, then beams to herself and performs a little celebratory hop.

It would be most wise for the pigeons to leave as soon as possible, to avoid drawing suspicion. Diavolo, however, is decidedly unwise when it comes to catering to a child’s whimsy, so instead he struts right up and stares at IK with beady little eyes.

“Hello,” She says, as if it is the most natural thing in the world, and crouches down. Diavolo lets her run a finger over his grey-feathered head, and the delight on her face is worth all the flash-studying it took to learn the transformation spell on such short notice.

Barbatos - who has the talent of looking distinctly disapproving, even as a pigeon - makes a sharp cooing sound, as if to tell him off. IK glances at him, then stretches out her hand.

He looks hard at it. He, too, is powerless in the face of this earnestness. Begrudgingly, he perches on her little wrist.

“I am the pigeon emperor,” IK mumbles in awe.

Barbatos coos again, softer. It is very unfair that he bends so easily now, in places where Diavolo is sure he would have been scolded as a young demon, but it’s hard to be annoyed.

He wonders what IK will tell him about the pigeons next time she summons her best demon friend. He can’t wait to hear it.

#3rd anni event #infernal friends au #obey me diavolo #obey me barbatos #jtta ik #writing #jtta aus

[journey-to-the-attic]

diavolo calling ik his daughter feels so much crueler when you realise the ghost of her actual dad is literally there the whole time jhsshdhjsj

im really curious abt ik's story before becoming a demon though

i was thinking about that actually!!! okay so in this au, since the rules about demons and the devildom are different, i also get to make up new lore for how demons are born

so there are natural-born demons and human-born demons, and there's not too much difference apart from the way they're created; natural-born demons just sorta spawn in the devildom, while human-born demons are created from the remains of dead humans by certain scout demons

normally, human-born demons are created by violent/angry/spiteful/vengeful/etc. deaths, and the nature + abilities of the demon depend on the circumstances of their death. ik's death was an accident while playing like regular kids do - which is why she's mostly benign, and has weird cartoonish powers

these sort of deaths are usually left to reapers, but in this case the scout demon took pity and decided to give her a 'second life' of sorts by bringing her back as a demon - though, as is the case with all human-born demons, she doesn't remember her old life at all, and is only vaguely aware of her origin

i'd place her as originating from a few centuries in the past, plus she's used to all archaic magic tech in the devildom, so she is very wowed by human technological advancement. levi shows her super mario and she is totally enthralled

#answering asks #anon asks #ik (though having tragic notes) is actually a more whimsical happy-go-lucky character here #but zhao is really Going Through It #he'd have figured out (or at least suspected) the being-turned-into-demon thing #or potentially is just so deep in grief that he'll resort to any means necessary #but he ended up dying and being stuck as a ghost because he tried employing the same sorts of occult arts that sonno was in the present #this also means sonno could potentially come back as a ghost and either ruin everything #or be stuck in sitcom purgatory where he can't do literally anything and everyone is dunking on him all the time #jtta aus #the office demon au

[journey-to-the-attic]

Well that’s terrifying, glad you came out of it alright!

For au distraction, with pet zoo, do you think when entering the Devildom the brothers carried over any behaviors? Like you mentioned Lucifer once almost attempted to intimidate his reflection—would that still be an impulse for a time?

Also for creatures class, would Professor Elderflower still classify IK as a rabbit? …would she even be expected to turn in a school work as a sheep?

oh i LOVE imagining the troubles the brothers have getting used to being bipedal again and defaulting to their animal behaviours, so yes i'm absolutely making that a thing! lucifer catches himself glaring at his own reflection several times - one time it's while he's in demon form, and he instinctively flares his wings the same way he did while he was a peacock. he is very glad no one was around to see that

satan still impulsively shoves things off tables, so they will be sitting around the dinner table, then hear a loud CRASH, and everyone slowly turns to look at him sitting innocently next to a shattered plate. it keeps happening for so long that they've convinced he's just using the cat thing as an excuse now

levi is so used to only needing to eat once a week as a snake that he nearly passes out from hunger the first month back, and even after that he has this weird impulse to just. swallow his food whole. sometimes he misses being able to do that unhinging thing with his jaw, because dang did it feel good to yawn and reset it

also there is something so funny about professor elderflower looking at this little sheep and STILL going "ah yes……. you are a rabbit" (though for lore reasons, since they go based off of souls and weird spirit stuff, ik would still get assigned the same thing!)

in terms of schoolwork... diavolo and lucifer would attempt to set something up, but it's all so fiddly that they just sort of give up and assign ik the role of teaching assistant instead. they give her these little enchanted saddlebags plus a ribbon for identification, and within a week she is beloved by the whole r.a.d. faculty for her fluffy charm and helpful document-fetching

#answering asks #anon asks #pet zoo au #jtta aus #ik's ribbon also has a bell so everyone in class knows then TA sheep is approaching because you can hear her jingling #asmo regularly changes the ribbon too so that she's rocking fresh fashion

[journey-to-the-attic]

OMG, I'm so sorry that happened to you that sounds awful !!! I've definitely been there before, so happy you only came out sore 🙏🏽

As for AU stuff-

I think a super cool side spin to the Drangon!AU would be if IK became the world's first dragon rider, like a HTTYD situation !

I think about the transition from "small weakling human" to "precious baby child" all the time, so I feel like the process of them learning about each other (the brothers + IK) in the sense of being in tune while flying is so sweet,,, like, they all obviously have different flying styles, and I'd imagine that Satan, Levi, and Belphie can't even fly at *all*, so getting accustomed to the ways they operate was probably pretty tough but SO cool for IK yknow

And on the flip side it was probably a struggle for the brothers to learn to trust her cues when training or even actively fighting something when they're so used to being independent, but they have to realize that she's not trying to control them, but work as one essentially

Idk, they just make me so happy!!!!! I love dragons!!!!!!

Any thoughts on maybe who enjoys flying/riding with her the most/who has the easiest time adapting to her cues? or any other misc thoughts, up to you!!

oooooooh humans becoming so close to their creature companions that all their movements are in sync is something so dear to me

i reckon mammon (who is nearly always ik's first friend, no matter what universe, and also the best flier) would be super quick to get used to giving her rides around the place, but at first it's more like just carrying a doll around because ik is clutching him stock-still in Terror the whole time

but then!! there's a moment where it just sort of clicks. i'm vaguely remembering a trick in one of the httyd movies where hiccup jumps off toothless's back, and then toothless catches him again? it'd be like that, except it happens completely by accident the first time, but then they keep doing it for fun

on the other hand lucifer would take SO long to properly sync, because he's always like I Will Do As I Think Is Best, Your Commands Are Mere Suggestions. for him i think it'd take a moment of him being in danger and needing to rely on ik, and that's where it clicks for him. he mellows out, but he keeps acting as if he marches only to the beat of his own drum, even though he is absolutely doing everything ik tells him to

in general ik would have a set of subtle but specific gestures (some of which are unique to each brother) that she uses to both communicate and instruct, and i reckon levi likes that bit the most. since he's more geared for swimming, he'd have a range of clicks and whistles designed for underwater communication, and ik learns to understand and reply - so it's like they have their own secret language

#answering asks #whensam #dragon au #since satan is more arboreal i imagine he'd have the most problems taking ik around #it is very easy for a human on your back to get dislodged when you're weaving between branches like that #ik hangs out on his back a lot when he's not out in the forest though so that makes up for it #also belphie (who either already had or i decided to assign ice-related powers in the mammon dragon au req) #is probably cold as hell #so they have a special riding blanket and belphie is specifically attuned to make up for the extra slipperiness of a blanket-wrapped human #jtta aus

[journey-to-the-attic]

Îl coming home to fox belphie and my dude just made a hole in the couch to sleep in (IT'S COMFY OK???)

everything belphie gets up to ends up being this (imagine it's a fox and not a cat)

he is an absolute Little Shit but he's also very sweet when it counts, so ik and her dad have no choice but to forgive him

#answering asks #anon asks #zhao is too susceptible to puppy eyes and being guilt-tripped so when he finds out he'd just let belphie get away with it #however his massive sad eyes do not work on ik so he still gets a mild telling-off #as an apology he helps her take down the laundry (and then falls asleep in it and gets fur everywhere) #jtta aus #pet zoo au

[journey-to-the-attic]

I've been playing a game called Rain World (a game I have a love-hate relationship with, because it's Rain World) and I think it would be really funny if IK was a slugcat, or more specifically, a slugpup, which is what the babies/children are called.

The demons are expecting a human to show up but instead get a tiny creature that's (most likely) about 1/4-1/3 their size, if not smaller. Bonus points if they could somehow understand her when she "talks" because I feel like that would be funnier than them not understanding her at all.

Feel free to ignore this ask, just wanted to send this because I really am a fan of your story and aus and IK, to the point where it's starting to leak into my other hyperfixations.

i hadn't heard of rain world before this but oh my GOODNESS the slugcats and slugpups are so CUTE... and i love getting to turn ik into a Creature so i had to draw it

i think i've made her a lot rounder than they look in game art but NEVERTHELESS

also i'm not 100% sure what the slugpups 'talking' sounds like, but i saw a short of one going 'WAAAAAAA' with this sort of electronic beat in the background so that's what i'm going with. i reckon it'd be funny if only some of them can understand her in the beginning, and the others have to learn to translate for themselves

diavolo, barbatos, belphie and solomon specifically just KNOW what she's saying somehow. little creature pops up in the rad assembly hall and immediately starts going 'waaaa', and while lucifer is staring in bewilderment, diavolo is carrying a full fluent conversation with it

#answering asks #anon asks #she looks jelly textured... to me #like she has the same consistency of a stress ball #like real-life cats and like the animation of this game ik is fluid #give her a tiny container and she will go *sploot* and now she is container-shaped #jtta aus #rain world #art #obey me simeon #obey me satan #jtta ik #slugpup ik

[journey-to-the-attic]

I'm so sorry that happened to you! Glad that you were able to come out the other side just a little sore!

As for an AU distraction, what about a classic swap where IK is the only demon and the rest if the cast are just ordinary humans?

oooooooooh i like it!! for fun, let's take this out of the devildom context and make it more horror-movie-demon-esque (mostly bc there's a lot of logistical fun in integrating their demons' roles in particular into a modern human society and turning them into like, regular salarymen)

okay here's the premise: diavolo inherits his father's Miscellaneous Big Company and must now revitalise it and also manage all the business malpractice lawsuits left behind. in doing so he uncovers his dad's secret second life as a pseudo-cult leader who is convinced of the existence of demons

it turns out! the demon that his dad was attempting to contact IS real, but hasn't been responding because she doesn't like his gross offerings of blood and bones or whatever. one day, while cleaning up his dad's old cabinets of stuff, diavolo happens to leave behind a cereal bar on a summoning circle, and then when he comes back in the next morning there is a demon just chilling there

in this au's version of the devildom, there's really not much for a young demon to do, so ik starts visiting the company building whenever, and ironically all the haunting rumours this causes actually helps them out somehow

this ik i think would still be very earnest and sweet, but just by virtue of being a demon, she's also a little bit unhinged by human standards - and also impervious to things that would usually kill a person - which could make for excellent comedy

(lucifer's a lawyer who, as part of an agreement, is helping diavolo with all the lawsuits, so either his brothers all have their own jobs, OR they all work in the same law firm together, and they started it after lucifer was disowned from the original family law firm -this au's version of the celestial realm - for exposing corruption)

#answering asks #sythesizeher #jtta aus #diavolo will worrying over taxes or something and ik (sitting on the ceiling) will innocently offer to blow up government buildings to help #also the big question: would being human give the brothers better or infinitely worse ways of processing trauma #the office demon au

[journey-to-the-attic]

3rd anni req 4: [RPG AU] solomon / past life

ao3 link

note: i really enjoyed writing this one! i've been meaning to do more for this au for ages, it's just such a fun concept to work with, but i just never get around to it

brief context if needed: fantasy rpg au setting, solomon is a reincarnation of the evil sorcerer solomon who was trying to evade persecution, and in his new life he is best friends and travelling companions with young hero ik, and here he finds out the truth about himself

∎ ∎ ∎ ∎ ∎

This place feels more like a mausoleum than a house.

The reports say that the owner died decades ago, and that the house has lain undisturbed ever since - up until recently. That isn’t the story Solomon’s seeing here, though.

It’s dusty, but it doesn’t feel like a place that’s been abandoned for eighty years. Try five, maybe.

He brushes a finger through a thick layer of dust on a shelf. These odd contraptions littered around the place - cogs and glassware with no rhyme or reason - aren’t ancient by any stretch of the imagination. He picks up something that resembles a wind-up toy and turns the key. The wheels still spin smoothly.

Welcome home.

He jumps. “...IK?”

No response. He listens hard - he can hear footsteps coming from upstairs. But that voice came from just behind him - surely she can’t move that quickly?

“That wasn’t funny,” He calls, attempting bravado.

Really? I thought it was hilarious.

He manages not to jump this time. He swings around and presses his back to the wall, hand falling to the knife at his hip.

Hey, there’s no need for that, says the strange voice, amused. I’m a friend.

“A friend,” He repeats warily.

Quite an intimate friend, agrees the voice, and he hears the groan of wood from just around the corner. Come with me. I have something to show you.

Don’t bother, it adds as he makes for the hallway, to call IK down to join him. There’s nothing here worth the little girl’s attention.

“Don’t call her that,” He grunts with a spark of indignation. “And—”

I daresay what you’ll find would only hurt the youngster, adds the voice, and at this he pauses.

“...fine.” His mouth feels dry - he hears the irregular pattern of his own breathing as if from miles away. “What do you want to show me?”

Follow me, croons the voice, and something shimmers at him from around the corner.

Let me show you something remarkable, it tells him. The brightest mind in any generation. The most prolific mass murderer this land has ever seen. There’s plenty to learn.

“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,” He growls. “But I don’t want any part in it.”

And yet he finds himself following the voice anyway.

Aren’t you just a little curious?

Wouldn’t you like to just take a little peek?

So close now. What a shame it would be to miss out.

And what a shame it would be to not know more. How close-minded!

Sharp pain lances through his temples - he stumbles, catching himself on a red velvet curtain, gripping the side of his head with a groan. “What— what are you playing at?!”

Side effects. Don’t mind those.

“I…” He can hear colours, taste sounds - feel as he’s never felt before, like millions of icy needles drawing fire from his skin. “...this…”

Why don’t you take a look behind the curtain? The voice whispers.

His mind feels in free-fall - he shakes his head blindly, but he finds himself reaching forward. He seizes a fistful of cold velvet and pulls.

Everything around him seems to shrink to a point. His own pale face stares back at him through the mirror.

“Is this some sort of joke?” He mutters.

His reflection grins back at him. “Welcome home, Solomon. It took you long enough.”

“What…” He tries to step back, but his feet feel anchored to the ground. “...I don’t understand.”

“Of course you don’t! Poor, gullible human that you are.” Mirror-Him laughs. “How cute. Did you have fun living with the mundane, at least?”

He tries to find words, but the reflection doesn’t wait for an answer. “I suppose I don’t need you to tell me. I’ll know soon enough. Now, come here. It’ll all make sense in a moment.”

He doesn’t move. His reflection frowns at him.

“Slow on the uptake, aren’t you?” Mirror-Solomon presses a hand against the glass. “It’s me - I’m you. I’m the part of us that had to die so that you could walk free. Me and you - two pieces of a glorious arcane puzzle.”

He feels his own hand moving to meet his reflection, and fights to keep it still. “That’s ridiculous. I’m not—”

“Not a sorcerer?” Mirror-Him sighs. “I’ve got news for you, cupcake. You wouldn’t be able to see me if you did.”

His head thumps. He says again, lost, “I don’t understand.”

His reflection’s expression softens a little. “I told you, didn’t you? We are the brightest mind any generation has ever seen. Before I died, you prised secrets of life straight from time’s mouth. We unlocked it together - in death, you would be reborn.”

“And when we reunite, I will be whole,” He recites, then claps a hand to his mouth. He doesn’t know where the words have resurfaced from.

His reflection grins at him. “Now you’re getting it. Come on, Solomon. Set us free.”

I know you.

I’ve felt the weight of your sins everywhere I’ve gone. Every place you’ve touched, people have died. Every time I bring your face somewhere new, it’s as if the land itself remembers what you’ve done. I hated it.

Now I understand. I feel it now - your hatred. My anger.

IK is upstairs. I can’t let you hurt her.

“Worried, are you?” His reflection leans closer, dropping his voice to a whisper. “I’ve got a secret to tell you. Once you remember everything, you won’t care.”

That’s exactly what I’m afraid of, he thinks, and the pain in his head suddenly intensifies. It’s all he can do to keep himself from crying out.

“You’ve been waiting for me - you just didn’t know it.” Mirror-Him doesn’t sound surprised by his disobedience. Perhaps that’s the worst part.

A thought, a foreign memory - he’d known this would happen, and that he wouldn’t be able to resist it. He’s a weak-willed mortal, after all.

He moves before he can stop himself. His hand meets the reflection - the cold of the glass cuts into him, and in one silent instant, everything ends. And everything begins.

He feels his legs collapse beneath him - he lands against the wall with a cough, heaving for air as if he hasn’t tasted it in years. Indeed, half his soul has starved in that mirror for the past five years.

Solomon stares down at his hands and sees blood. His fingertips buzz - warm sparks dance across his palms, as if the magic itself rejoices to be reunited with his mortal body. He feels himself smile.

He stands up. His reflection moves with him now. To be honest, part of him had been worried the mirror wouldn’t hold up for long enough - but he hadn’t exactly had time to seek a crystal looking-glass. Oh, that’s new. I remember…

“Oh, how I’ve missed you,” He says to himself.

He imagines this is how the man in the desert must feel - who finally finds water after hours in the scorching heat. How clever he is - a lesser being wouldn’t be able to cope with even a fraction of this operation.

His two sets of memories melt into each other easily. Like simply adding water to a jug. And—

“Solomon? I think we should get out of here.”

He whips around, and immediately knows he’s made a mistake. IK blinks at him from the end of the hallway, clearly unnerved by how quickly he reacted.

“...I think we’re dealing with magic scraps here,” She says after a moment, still eyeing him warily. “Some kind of crazy wizard or something. We need to get someone who knows about that kind of thing to look at it.”

“Crazy wizard?” He repeats almost incredulously. He’s blinded fools for lesser insults.

“I’ve never seen some of the stuff upstairs.” She grimaces. “The shadows were all moving - I swear one of them had teeth.”

Her left arm is dangling uselessly at her side, and he suddenly registers the dark red stains on her sleeves. He feels a familiar rush of worry, and hurries forward without thinking.

“You got bitten?” He reaches forward to inspect the wound, then thinks better of touching it just yet. “Are you alright? How do you feel?”

“Just stings like hell. I’ll probably live.” She attempts to make a thumbs up with the injured arm, then sucks in a breath and shakes her head. “...I’ll ask Luke to look at it later. We should really get going - I don’t think it’s safe here.”

He thinks about telling her that this house is under his control - that the shadows she saw were likely the remnants of failed experiments, that they’re some botched form of life that didn’t know how else to play. He thinks about telling her that that bite might well have been venomous, and that only he knows how to prevent the toxins from rotting her arm from the inside out.

He thinks about telling her that it’s all been for nothing - all the times she’s had to defend him from mobs, everyone from royal guards to fruit vendors, who’d seen him for what he was and rightfully spat at his feet. He thinks of telling her that there’s no need to shield him like this as they leave the house.

He thinks about telling that he knows fifty ways to kill her right there without leaving a trace, and hundreds more that would leave some far worse than a corpse.

But he doesn’t. He lets IK take his hand and lead him down the hill.

He can’t seem to smile now. His hands are clean, and yet he tastes iron each time he tries to speak.

What happened? What happened, Solomon? How did your master plan go wrong?

There was one contingency he didn’t plan for. He’d known he wouldn’t have the power to reject his old self - but somehow missed that, equally, he couldn’t simply abandon his new life, either.

Solomon realises now that his plan had been spoiled from the moment IK helped him out of that pit. The sorcerer, in all his wisdom, had failed to consider this - that he could love and be loved in that next life.

It feels as if the earth should swallow him whole, and yet nothing seems to have changed. The local lord greets him cheerfully when he rides past on a hunting expedition. He remembers poisoning that boy’s father.

New knowledge supplanted by the old, and memories from both past and future in tandem. What could he possibly do now?

#3rd anni event #rpg au #obey me #writing #obey me solomon #jtta ik #jtta aus

[journey-to-the-attic]

in the dragon au: the language barrier means they don't actually understand each other, but the brothers still talk to ik in dragon tongue normally, so ik starts slowly picking up bits and pieces of it

eventually she figures out that this specific grumble-chirrup they make whenever they wake her up means 'good morning', so one day she uses it herself, and the brothers essentially react like parents would to their baby's first words

#at some point they're so closely bonded that they can just make noises at each other (that are neither human nor dragon language) #and still understand each other perfectly #in the beginning it's like trying to communicate with aliens #jtta aus #dragon au