Solo Leveling

A place for headcanons and fic ideas for Solo Leveling. (Will probably contain novel spoilers.)

[jeaniefranklins]

Sex scene as character study is so good. What is your relationship to your body? What is your relationship to your partner? What lessons have you absorbed from the culture about yourself as a sexual being? How much do you have to trust someone before being comfortable with intimacy? What fears and insecurities come to the fore for you when you take your clothes off? It's so good.

[headspace-hotel]

How do they communicate? How do they expect others to communicate? How well do they understand their body and their own capacity for pleasure? What do they tend to do to make their partner feel comfortable? How comfortable are they showing emotion in front of others? How much insight do they have into what their own emotions mean and are connected to? What are they focused on during the encounter? How conscious are they of exchanges of power and vulnerability? very very very good

[ohnoitstbskyen]

What do they assume from context and what do they know from experience? What roles are they socially expected to play vs what roles do they think they are expected to play, vs what roles do they want to play vs what roles do they actually play?

If they at any point during the encounter have the thought or emotional impulse of "how would my partner describe this to one of their friends later?", what happens? What would it mean to them to be caught in the act by a stranger? A friend? An enemy? How would they relate to catching someone else in the act?

[shadow-sovereign]

Who else thinks a Solo Leveling/Castlevania crossover would be fun?

It would be set in the Castlevania world, starting near the beginning of the series. The trio of Trevor, Sypha, and Alucard are traveling the countryside, not yet having gone to Trevor’s family home, when they hear of a town that’s doing suspiciously well at keeping the demons at bay.

They go to investigate and arrive near sunset, finding the entire town walled off. In the distance, there’s a large estate with its own wall, with enough land to grow crops for the city. (Plus, it’s a coastal town, so fish.)

When the demons attack, they’re surprised that a bunch of vampires show up and start fighting them off. And then a human with a long red sword joins the fray, taking down the demons with more ease than Trevor does. (Because Trevor is mostly out of practice. He’s probably fought some creatures off and on over the years, but Goto has been actively fighting and training all this time.)

And when Trevor gets a good look at this unknown Hunter, he’s shocked to realize he recognizes the man. Several years ago, when he was but a toddler, this Hunter visited his family, seeking training. Goto Ryuji, from a small Hunter family in the East, wanting to expand his skills and knowledge.

After a few years of training, the man left and Trevor never saw him again. And now he’s here, looking at ease around these other vampires? Fighting side by side?

—

Now for some backstory: (Also, this part will be Jin-Woo/Ryuji)

I’m playing around with geography here, so imagine Jin-Woo and Ryuji are from some large country in the East and Wallachia is some country in the West. Jin-Woo is a vampire lord, master of shadow magic and with his own army. Ryuji is an ambitious Hunter in his twenties, determined to rid the world of evil and make a name for himself.

Ryuji and Jin-Woo clash several times over a two year period, and each time, Ryuji gets more aggravated by his defeat while Jin-Woo gets more intrigued by this headstrong Hunter. But Ryuji is unamused by this vampire flirting with him and still denying his attraction. He decides he needs to increase his skills before fighting Jin-Woo again, and sets off for the West, having heard of a famous Hunter family in Wallachia.

Little does he know, that Jin-Woo is not pleased by his disappearance and follows shortly after. While Ryuji is training, Jin-Woo sets up his own base in a coastal town. Building a large estate, fighting off other vampires who want the territory. By the time Ryuji is done with his training, everyone has heard of the new vampire lord in Wallachia.

Ryuji tracks him down and during their fight, it’s revealed why Jin-Woo followed him to Wallachia. And he’s floored at this centuries old vampire being…enamored??…with him??

He’s not sure how to react. As a Hunter, he shouldn’t want anything to do with vampires, but he has encountered Jin-Woo enough to know that this vampire has morals. And doesn’t see humans as livestock or pets.

Their relationship is mostly physical at first, Ryuji giving in to the attraction in a fit of frustration after losing another fight. But over time, he gets attached, and it starts to become a real relationship.

Jin-Woo has power and status, his estate full of riches and resources. He’s everything Ryuji wants and everything he wants to be. It’s what lures him in at first, what he uses to justify his attraction, but it’s Jin-Woo’s personality and how the vampire treats him with respect that gets him to stay.

—

Jin-Woo’s backstory is that he’s a three hundred-something year old vampire, sired by someone even older. Perhaps over a thousand years?

Ashborn, the Ancient Vampire Lord of Shadows. He’s gathered up his own army and sired a few people that became strong enough to be the Generals of his army (the canon equivalent of Marshal). But none of them were able to wield his shadow magic until he turned Jin-Woo, who became his heir.

At some point, Ashborn decides to ‘retire’ and lets Jin-Woo take over his estate. Either Ashborn is tired of the mortal plane and moves on to the next, or he takes a long nap, hoping that when he next wakes up, the world will have changed enough to renew his zest for life.

—

But all that’s backstory. If I wrote this story, I’d start it off in the present time, when they’re fighting against the demons, and maybe show some of the backstory in flashback scenes. I like the idea of writing Jin-Woo and Ryuji in an established relationship, together for years, having worked out any emotional issues that might have prevented them from having a healthy relationship. A hunter and vampire lord, trusting each other to fight side by side.

Over the year that Dracula gave humans to prepare for his demon invasion, Jin-Woo had a large wall built around his coastal city. The locals were a bit hesitant to allow it, not fully believing Dracula’s threat, but Jin-Woo had steadily built up good will over the years that he had been living there, so they didn’t protest too heavily.

Jin-Woo established the same deal with the people in this coastal city that he has with the people back in his original territory. If anyone needs food or shelter, he’ll provide it in exchange for them donating blood once a week. They can either have it drawn with a needle or be bitten directly, whichever they’re most comfortable with.

So, when the trio of Trevor, Alucard, and Sypha arrive in the city, they’re quite shocked to see that after the battle, some of the citizens are donating blood to the vampires that fought off the demon horde. Trevor is uncomfortable with it to due his Hunter background, but Sypha thinks it’s quite progressive. Alucard is a bit overwhelmed by it, this proof that the two sides of his heritage can get along like this.

After the fight, they track Ryuji down to Jin-Woo’s estate and start asking questions. Their first priority is understanding Jin-Woo’s intentions towards the humans in the town. And once they’re assured that he’s genuine, try to get his and Ryuji’s help to fight Dracula.

Part of this story would be the trio’s outside perspective on Ryuji and Jin-Woo’s relationship, then some chapters from their own pov, and finally traveling and fighting Dracula.

Not sure when/if I’ll write this, but I needed to gets thoughts down. And maybe this will give someone else inspiration. It would be nice to see a crossover that wasn’t My Hero Academia, for once.

[shadow-sovereign]

So a while ago, i-bring-crack had reblogged this post and added their thoughts to it and I was working on a reply to it, but by the time I was done, their blog had been deactivated. And since their reply was under a read more, it was gone. But I had copy and pasted their reply into my word document, because I find it easier to scroll up and down, read part of their reply, scroll down and write a response to it, etc.

Hopefully, they don’t mind, but I’m going to copy and paste their reply here, then reblog again and add my reply.

—-

i-bring-crack reblogged and replied:

lmao its a bit of an adding on here so sorry in advance but I got a lot of headcannons right now!

First, cant help but imagine Alucard watching the Goto/Jin Woo’s relationship and being like “They act like my parents, but if they were dead inside. (two tired men with life what chu expect)”

Trevor: at least its not the outside *gets smacked*

Also, I imagine the army would have the usual Igris, Bellion, Greed and Tank as vampires, meanwhile the beasts like Beru, Jima, Kaisel, Tank would probably be handled by some forgemaster if we are going by the Netflix series lore.

That last one could either be like, a lackie of Jin Woo who is very faithful to him(maybe Ju Hee/Esil/Jin ho who have been helped in the past by him and wanted to serve in their own cause, kinda like the mentor-mente relationship between Dracula with Issac and Hector, and since Jin woo has no romantic feelings for them, maybe sees them as a little sister of sorts, reminding him of Jin ah back when he was a human, Goto doesnt mind them too.) or it could be case where Jin Woo was once a forgemaster before turning into a vampire, a possible reason as to why he is able to take the mantle of Ashborn so well also.

There is also the fun idea of Goto being the forgemaster, which could have been a reason as to why Goto always managed to come somewhat unharmed from Jin Woo’s fights, cuz he had an army of his own too, but doesnt value them as much (and it changes as he spends more time with jin woo, ahaha I just imagine all his night creatures getting attached to him because he treats them better, especially Beru!)

Maybe there could be the korean S rank hunters as other vampires in jin Woos army watching the socially ackward Jin Woo being so bad at swooning the hunter and grabbing popcorn each night when they fight because oh dear is he trying and failing. Baek Yoon ho is the only one who has a partner(Jong In or Min byung gyu or both idk), and Jin woo tries to ask them for dating help and he is just like “-_- try asking them out?…”

It fails even more horribly as in Goto misunderstood “taking out” with killing him.

“Told you not to listen to him, he literally asked me out in an inn half drunk while fighting!”

Jin Woo: And you said yes???

An old vampire, old as Ashborn though pretty weak bc he is not interested in humans or eating, advices him to follow his heart if he really loves the man. oh Go Gun Hee being Go Gun Hee, always has the best answers for him and manages to bring him down to earth from all the vampire nonsense in his territory (and the other vampires/hunters from China or the americas are also migraines to him).

Cha hae In wouldnt at first be interested In the whole deal at first, I think, despite being his closest vamp friend, but then she would definety try to put them into romantic situations because “Its been two years already, at this point its more than just a rivalry thing Mr Sung.” Accidentally at first and then only to tease jin Woo as time goes on.

Though Im not sure whenever they would also be morally good like Jin Woo. Some could try (Hae In, YoonHo, Jin Chul) or some would outright never but they seem to have benefits with Jin Woo as an ally, maybe Gun Hee was the one to help Jin Woo adapt to a better lifestyle were he can treat humans as equal.

The japanese vampire hunters are also not doing well. At first they think that Jin Woo is probably just playing with his meal (Goto) and getting under the skin of their teacher, but when Reiji is suddenly questioned by this vampire lord as to where Goto has dissapeared to, he begins to doubt it. Just a bit.

And it takes a while, long while but eventually jin Woo’s moral values and actions manage to put some ease into Reiji who then also manages to ease the worries of Goto’s students (the other S ranks). they cant believe it as much, but hey, its not like Sugimoto is able to stop them from falling in love and helping them solve untold trauma as they get closer together so. He is also very happy his boss has something else to do apart from nagging about the other hunters and their incapabilities here and there.

The speakers, like in the series, could also have like, some oral stories about Jin Woo being this one of a kind good vampire who helps others, bc I dont really expect much from Jin woo when trying to pass as a saint apart from the usual “I wont kill you unless you hurt Goto or my army.”

Overall its more up to Goto (and the villagers) to make them understand that Jin Woo is a far more stable vampire than the trio thinks.

[shadow-sovereign]

My reply:

I love this! It’s always amazing when something I write has inspired other people, and I love seeing other people’s thoughts on the ideas I have. You can give the same base idea to a bunch of people and get completely different results.

I hadn’t really thought about the other Korean and Japanese Hunters and how they would fit into the story. Mostly, I thought about how Jin-Woo’s army would be his shadow army, but as vampires. Though, I do like the idea of his beast summons being created by a forgemaster in this au.

Having Jin-Woo be the forgemaster and that’s why he could accept all of Ashborn’s power is a clever idea and I quite like it. Though whether he’d keep that ability once turned is something I don’t know. I’m not really familiar with much of Castlevania’s lore, so I don’t know if that’s ever addressed. (I never saw any of the games, and I’ve only watched the first 2 seasons of the Netflix show. I just hated how Trevor and Sypha left at the end of the season, right when Alucard was grieving the most! I’ll probably end up watching the rest of it at some point, though.)

I don’t think I’d make Ryuji a forgemaster, though. It would certainly be an interesting plotpoint, but it’s not how I see him in this au. And I see what you’re saying about it helping him be unharmed in his battles against Jin-Woo, but the vampire has never been out to seriously hurt him. Jin-Woo has always seen their fights as sparring, it’s only Ryuji that was out to kill him because he distrusts vampires.

I don’t remember if I mentioned in the original post, but they met on a hunt Ryuji was doing. It was in Jin-Woo’s territory and the vampire was separately investigating humans going missing in one of his towns. Then Ryuji found him, there was a confrontation, and when Ryuji found out why Jin-Woo was there, he didn’t really trust the vampire to handle the monster by himself and actually save the humans, so the two of them ended up sort of working together to find the monster and take it out.

This is when Jin-Woo’s initial interest began. Here was this prideful Hunter, with maybe a kind of gruff personality, but who was clearly dedicated to saving other people. And maybe one of the humans they saved was a child and Jin-Woo got to see Ryuji soften just slightly when talking to them.

After that, Jin-Woo began to seek Ryuji out, perhaps just within his territory at first, accompanying him on hunts. And after Ryuji moved on to different areas, Jin-Woo was intrigued enough to keep seeking him out.

Of course, that just made Ryuji pissed off, and led to him initiating fights against the vampire. But if we know anything about Jin-Woo, it’s that he loves a good fight. And seeing Ryuji’s strength up close and personal just made him all the more interested. (And Ryuji slowly comes to realize he’s got a strength kink, much to his own annoyance. He really doesn’t want to be finding this annoying vampire hot.)

Also, I don’t imagine the other vampires are watching the fights. Talking about it later with Jin-Woo, sure, but Jin-Woo is having to chase Ryuji across the countryside to initiate meetings. The others don’t really care enough to follow him if he’s just meeting up with his crush.

And I was recently going through my notes and realized that I did post more about how they got together in a second post. It’s over here: https://shadow-sovereign.tumblr.com/post/643851107797516289/i-like-stories-that-have-scenes-of-one-character

But it’s basically, sometimes when Jin-Woo sought Ryuji out, instead of sparring, Jin-Woo helped patch up Ryuji’s wounds from whatever monster he was fighting. And at some point, he even saves Ryuji from a blizzard, where he surely would have died if Jin-Woo hadn’t shown up. It helps make Ryuji realize that Jin-Woo might actually be serious about his feelings.

It also mentioned about how humans are turned, that it takes more than just a vampire giving them blood or biting them. Which means that Ryuji can let Jin-Woo feed from him once they’re close enough for that. And Jin-Woo can give his blood to Ryuji, which in my headcanon helps a human live longer, especially if the vampire is powerful.

I liked your description of them being two men, tired with life. Because in some ways, yeah. Jin-Woo is at least a few centuries old, Ryuji is roughly middle age and has Seen Some Things. He’s seen Too Many Things.

Basically, they know the world can be horrible, that it’s not even just monsters preying on humans, but humans will do horrible things to each other too. But on that same note, they’ve seen just as many hopeful things, people going out of their way to help each other. And both of them have the same philosophy, of not letting the world drag them down. They’re both tenacious and stubborn enough to fight for the world they want to live in, even if it’s just within their own little corner of the world.

How they are with each other, after being together for a decade or more is, I think, companionable. They’re comfortable around each other, with existing around each other even in silence. They don’t always need words, just being near the other gives them peace.

Like, they’re more aggressive and playful when they’re sparring and they can be rough when they’re in the mood for it. But otherwise, they’re pretty calm.

One of their favorite couple activities is reading in Jin-Woo’s library, maybe leaning against each other on the comfy couch. Both of them love to learn and Ryuji has a knowledge is power mindset. And I imagine in this older setting, that books maybe wouldn’t be that widespread? As in, I don’t know if they had the printing press yet, so books were probably copied by hand. So, a big library like Jin-Woo’s would be a Big Deal.

Ryuji spends a lot of time in Jin-Woo’s estate, but he still goes on hunts. Only now, Jin-Woo’s people, whichever vampires in his court that like to travel, will send word of various monsters. Some of them, the vampires will just deal with it themselves, since the monster is like right there and actively doing harm. But other times, they’re hearing rumors of things going on in neighboring towns and sending word back, via magic letters so the information gets back pretty quick.

And I see Jin-Woo as having either a teleporting or portal ability via shadows that he can send Ryuji through. So, Ryuji no longer needs to travel quite as much. He deals with the monsters, has a way of contacting Jin-Woo for a portal back, and spends a lot of his time at Jin-Woo’s estate. Reading/studying, training/sparring, maybe helping Jin-Woo manage his estate once it becomes clear to them both that they’re going to be together for the long haul.

Hmm, I wonder if Ryuji could learn magic in this au. Can anyone learn magic in Castlevania canon or do they have to be born with the ability? Well, if not spells, perhaps Ryuji could use magical items that have been pre-charged. I can certainly imagine Jin-Woo supplying him with a heck ton of magical gear, in an effort to keep him unharmed during his hunts.

But back to him helping Jin-Woo with his estate. I think, after they’re together long enough, Ryuji would have the official title of being Jin-Woo’s consort. He’s got a certain amount of authority to direct things and the vampires in Jin-Woo’s court will listen to him as long as it doesn’t contradict any of Jin-Woo’s orders.

And if they disagree with each other on anything, they’re careful not to fight in front of the others. Jin-Woo, because he knows his subordinates would automatically take his side out of loyalty and he doesn’t want to gang up on Ryuji. And Ryuji doesn’t argue in front of the others because he respects that Jin-Woo is their liege lord and doesn’t want to be seen as trying to undermine his authority.

Ryuji doesn’t see himself as inferior in any way, but he understands that Jin-Woo is the one who’s been leading them for centuries, earned their loyalty, and created this estate. He plays a supportive role, to a certain extent, but he will absolutely let Jin-Woo know if he disagrees with any of his decisions, just not in public.

I think, by the time Dracula has set his hoards on Wallachia (roughly ten years after they’ve started dating?) that Ryuji and Jin-Woo would just be very comfortable around one another. High trust, willing to listen to each other. I’ve got a vague thought of when the trio (Trevor, Sypha, and Alucard) reach Jin-Woo’s estate, searching for rumors of a village able to fight off the hoard), they asses the situation and ask Ryuji and Jin-Woo for assistance in taking down Dracula. And Jin-Woo is the one more hesitant, to leave the village he’s guarding, but Ryuji, as a Hunter, is the one who feels duty bound to go out and fight. So, he either talks Jin-Woo into it, or he’s like, I’m going, you can go with me or stay here, and of course Jin-Woo isn’t willing to let his lover go off and fight Dracula without him.

And while traveling together, I imagine the trio will be quite interested in seeing how Ryuji and Jin-Woo interact with each other. Trevor is just bewildered that a Hunter could trust a vampire enough to be dating, Alucard is reminded of his parents, and Sypha perhaps thinks it’s romantic? Kind of a star-crossed lovers trope, and I believe she would find it sweet, seeing the subtle ways they show they care.

Like when they’re resting around a campfire, Ryuji and Jin-Woo sit close together. One of them would plate up food for the two of them or just get rations out of their bag, depending on how much effort they’re putting in to make camp food at the time. And the other would get out drinks for two of them, just little things like that, working together and showing that they’re thinking of each other’s needs.

Something else that comes to mind is that while they’re traveling, Jin-Woo would eventually need blood. Alucard likely would as well, but I assume he drinks animal blood? But Ryuji is used to Jin-Woo drinking from him by now, though it’s usually an activity reserved for the bedroom. So, he wouldn’t be comfortable letting the others see. Instead, Ryuji and Jin-Woo would find a private spot, further into the woods, a separate room, depends on where they’re at, and Jin-Woo would take a small amount of blood, not too much so Ryuji doesn’t get light headed (need to be at top health when fighting monsters).

Alucard would of course smell the blood, but he’s not an idiot, so he doesn’t say anything. And if the others noticed the bite mark, Ryuji would just glare at them and tell them to mind their own business. He really, really doesn’t like others questioning aspects of his relationship with Jin-Woo. Yes, a Hunter dating a vampire is unconventional, and no, he doesn’t want to talk about it. He hates having people question it. Mostly, because he’s a private person, but it also bugs him when people assume that Jin-Woo might be taking advantage of him.

One of the things that ties into that is collars. In this verse, some vampires have a custom of like, their favorite human wearing a collar. For some, it’s an ownership thing, having a human slave. For others, they have their human consort wear a collar, to show other vampires ‘this one’s mine, under my protection, don’t even think of touching them.’

And in the latter case, there are usually protective spells woven into the collar that can actually keep other vampires and monsters from being able to lay a hand on the human. It’s limited by how strong the vampire is, but Jin-Woo comes from a very strong vampire bloodline.

When Jin-Woo first heard about the collar custom, he wasn’t interested in it. He was recently human and thought it sounded way too possessive and that no human would actually want to wear a vampire’s collar. But then he started getting attached to Ryuji, finding him after he fought various monsters, helping to patch up his wounds. And he realized that if Ryuji was wearing his collar, imbued with protection spells, it would have helped him greatly in avoiding at least half of those injuries.

Jin-Woo probably wouldn’t bring it up at first, maybe at least...five years into the relationship? He’d suggest it as something to try in the bedroom first, having learned by then that Ryuji is at least willing to try out some new things if it’s related to sex. Ryuji probably gives him a narrow eyed stare at the suggestion, makes a dubious hmm, but agrees to think about it.

Ryuji doesn’t really get what the appeal is for Jin-Woo since he knows this vampire, at least, doesn’t see humans as property, and that if Jin-Woo saw the collar that way he wouldn’t have suggested it at all. But he does understand the normal jealous and possessiveness that people feel in a relationship, where they want their partner to be theirs and no one else’s. And after trying the collar on, he does notice that Jin-Woo seems even more satisfied after sex, so he continues to wear it from time to time.

But Ryuji doesn’t personally see the appeal, until one morning when he wakes up with the collar on and it feels like Jin-Woo is still in the room. (Normally not noticeable since Jin-Woo likes to wake up together, but this time he had an early morning meeting or something.) Since the collar is enchanted with protective spells and powered by Jin-Woo’s magic, then the collar always subtly feels like Jin-Woo’s mana.

Now, Ryuji is not likely to admit that he likes this, but he does. After 5+ years of dating, he does actually like Jin-Woo. And likes having him around. When he’s away on Hunts, he does begin to miss having his lover around. But it’s not always practical for Jin-Woo to go with him, and Ryuji is dutiable enough that he’s not willing to quit going on Hunts altogether. He likes his job, that he’s making the world safer, but he has to admit, at least to himself, that during Hunts that go on for weeks, having Jin-Woo’s mana around might be...nice.

I imagine it would be a while before he’s comfortable wearing the collar outside of the bedroom and he would wear a scarf or something to hide it at first. Eventually, he’d be more comfortable wearing it openly around Jin-Woo’s estate, where it’s mostly just other vampires around who understand the culture of it and know not to comment on it.

However, he’s getting the most comfort from it out on his Hunting missions, where he could be spending weeks away from his lover. (Weeks, because it could take him time to track down the monster after it’s gone through a village, longer if he hears news of another monster after that.) And while he’s outside of the estate is when he definitely feels the need to hide the collar.

After all, things like that can be controversial now, imagine how it would be in that time period? Would they even have any other reference for collars besides slaves? Just, Ryuji has no interest in dealing with people’s reactions. He just wants them to leave him to go about his life.

And the collar isn’t just a comfort item. While he didn’t expect it, those protection charms do come in handy, saving his life a few times. Though it can be annoying when a weaker vampire recognizes the feel of Jin-Woo’s mana and takes off running, forcing Ryuji to chase him down to enact justice.

(It especially galls him that they’re running because they’re afraid of Jin-Woo, rather than himself. He’s killed so many monsters that were hunting humans, but do the monsters care? Noooo, of course not. They just see a human and automatically think he’ll be easy prey. It definitely pisses him off.)

Hmm, it means that Alucard would be able to sense Jin-Woo’s mana on Ryuji, though his mind probably wouldn’t automatically go towards collar, not with the prideful and somewhat aloof way Ryuji acts.

Ryuji would probably get flustered if anyone outside of Jin-Woo and his vampire subordinates saw the collar and then get annoyed at his own reaction. He’s not ashamed of wearing it, not anymore, but it is very personal. He hates the idea of anyone misunderstanding what’s practically a wedding ring by this point, a symbol of Jin-Woo’s care for him and a way of keeping his lover close even when far away.

[Also, while I was working on this reply, I got this message from i-bring-crack that says:

hi hi hi, (｡･∀･)ﾉﾞ sorry for sliding in just had a small thought that popped into my head wile i was re-reading the castlevania/solo leveling AU nothing and i wanted it to voice it out somewhere (you can ignore this if you like thats fine im just too nonsleep rn) and that is: what if Jin Woo kinda knew Vlad and Lisa before, like he was also meeting other vampires who resonated with the 'no killing every human they meet' agenda and met Alucard at that young age (kinda like a parallel to Goto meeting young trevor) but parted ways with them and years later jin woo can recognize Alucard but Alucard cant--- also I just imagined a bit of Jin Woo reflecting how he would react if they also tried to kill Goto like they did with Lisa but in the end just trusting that he is able to take care of himself (not to mention that Goto already has a lot of nobles that respect him around the world, not much but a lot, considering he has been hunting down demons for ages so if anything they wouldnt dare anger him much less try to kill him. )--- okay thats it bye bye take care just wanted to share the ideas somewhere （。＾▽＾） (oh yeah, I think Min byung gyu as a vampire would be fun to explore but anyways bye bye) ]

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I like that idea of Jin-Woo meeting young Alucard. Perhaps after Jin-Woo moves to Wallachia and begins establishing his territory, he would be scouting out which local vampires would be potential enemies and which could be allies. And since Vlad had a human wife at the time, Jin-Woo reached out and they had a relatively amicable meeting.

And if Alucard doesn’t recognize him, he was probably fairly young, under 12 at least, and maybe wasn’t paying that much attention to his Dad’s ‘work friends’. But Jin-Woo would be fascinated by this little vampire/human family with their halfling son. Fantasizing about such a relationship with Ryuji, though whether they’d want kids, I don’t know. They can’t have any the normal way, but there is adoption, and maybe magic to give them biological children?

I don’t see them as having any children at the time of Dracula’s madness, but ten years of dating isn’t that long for a vampire, especially with Jin-Woo extending Ryuji’s lifespan, so they’ve got plenty of time to decide whether they want to raise little ones together.

And once Vlad goes crazy, Jin-Woo would definitely start thinking about how he’d handle it if Ryuji died. But I think a major difference is that Vlad used to kill humans before he met Lisa, that he already seemed to hate humans before she softened him up. Jin-Woo was never like that, he’s much less likely to go on a murderous rampage. But if Ryuji died, Jin-Woo would definitely go hunt down the people or monsters responsible and get revenge on those specific beings.

I hadn’t considered the idea of Ryuji knowing some nobles before, but that gives me worldbuilding ideas. Because how do Hunters get paid in this world? Whoever has money and has a local monster problem. Who’s got the most money and the most to lose if a monster starts rampaging? Whoever’s in charge of that area.

Some of the Nobles would be good people and actually respect his work, while others just barely tolerate him for his skills. And when that whole mess with the church going after the Belmonts happens, there’s probably a worry that they’ll go after Ryuji next. But the difference between the Belmonts and Ryuji, is that he’s got a very powerful vampire lord on his side. (Even though they might not have been together yet at this point, I’m not quite sure on the timeline.)

But Jin-Woo absolutely would have gone around to the Nobles and either subtly or outright blatantly threatened them if they went after Ryuji. And since Jin-Woo has his own estate and is essentially running that little coastal town, he likely counts as a type of noble himself. And probably is a noble back in his own country, inherited from Ashborn.

So, he’d send word ahead to the nobles that he’s visiting, noble to noble, and they’d invite him in, unaware of what he is. And perhaps remain unaware of what he is, depending on how the meeting goes. But he’d definitely make his affection for Ryuji known, along with how many loyal soldiers Jin-Woo has. And how he’d most definitely take it personally if anyone goes after his beloved.

And Ryuji’s response to this would really depend on how long they’d been together by this point. I haven’t sat down to write out a timeline for this au, but it would at least be very early on in their relationship. But Ryuji isn’t necessarily going to be pleased by this.

He’s a proud man and doesn’t appreciate Jin-Woo going around, trying to warn his enemies off for him. But he’s also not stupid and can acknowledge that nearly the entire Belmont family was killed off (or might even assume it’s all of them depending on whether anyone knows that Trevor is alive at that time.) Whereas Ryuji is just one Hunter. Does he believe he can survive what an entire Hunter family couldn’t?

So, he’s not happy about it, but he can understand why Jin-Woo did it. And deep down, is a little relieved to know it wouldn’t be him against the entire country if the Church decides to declare him an enemy as well.

---

And I can’t think of anything else. It doesn’t entirely feel done, but if I keep trying to think of more things to add, it’s going to be even more years before I post this.

I quite like this au. Someday, I might want to write a short original story based on this concept. A vampire lord and Hunter that fall in love in medieval times, and possibly have to avert some kind of supernatural disaster? It could be fun.

[shadow-sovereign]

Who else thinks a Solo Leveling/Castlevania crossover would be fun?

It would be set in the Castlevania world, starting near the beginning of the series. The trio of Trevor, Sypha, and Alucard are traveling the countryside, not yet having gone to Trevor’s family home, when they hear of a town that’s doing suspiciously well at keeping the demons at bay.

They go to investigate and arrive near sunset, finding the entire town walled off. In the distance, there’s a large estate with its own wall, with enough land to grow crops for the city. (Plus, it’s a coastal town, so fish.)

When the demons attack, they’re surprised that a bunch of vampires show up and start fighting them off. And then a human with a long red sword joins the fray, taking down the demons with more ease than Trevor does. (Because Trevor is mostly out of practice. He’s probably fought some creatures off and on over the years, but Goto has been actively fighting and training all this time.)

And when Trevor gets a good look at this unknown Hunter, he’s shocked to realize he recognizes the man. Several years ago, when he was but a toddler, this Hunter visited his family, seeking training. Goto Ryuji, from a small Hunter family in the East, wanting to expand his skills and knowledge.

After a few years of training, the man left and Trevor never saw him again. And now he’s here, looking at ease around these other vampires? Fighting side by side?

—

Now for some backstory: (Also, this part will be Jin-Woo/Ryuji)

I’m playing around with geography here, so imagine Jin-Woo and Ryuji are from some large country in the East and Wallachia is some country in the West. Jin-Woo is a vampire lord, master of shadow magic and with his own army. Ryuji is an ambitious Hunter in his twenties, determined to rid the world of evil and make a name for himself.

Ryuji and Jin-Woo clash several times over a two year period, and each time, Ryuji gets more aggravated by his defeat while Jin-Woo gets more intrigued by this headstrong Hunter. But Ryuji is unamused by this vampire flirting with him and still denying his attraction. He decides he needs to increase his skills before fighting Jin-Woo again, and sets off for the West, having heard of a famous Hunter family in Wallachia.

Little does he know, that Jin-Woo is not pleased by his disappearance and follows shortly after. While Ryuji is training, Jin-Woo sets up his own base in a coastal town. Building a large estate, fighting off other vampires who want the territory. By the time Ryuji is done with his training, everyone has heard of the new vampire lord in Wallachia.

Ryuji tracks him down and during their fight, it’s revealed why Jin-Woo followed him to Wallachia. And he’s floored at this centuries old vampire being…enamored??…with him??

He’s not sure how to react. As a Hunter, he shouldn’t want anything to do with vampires, but he has encountered Jin-Woo enough to know that this vampire has morals. And doesn’t see humans as livestock or pets.

Their relationship is mostly physical at first, Ryuji giving in to the attraction in a fit of frustration after losing another fight. But over time, he gets attached, and it starts to become a real relationship.

Jin-Woo has power and status, his estate full of riches and resources. He’s everything Ryuji wants and everything he wants to be. It’s what lures him in at first, what he uses to justify his attraction, but it’s Jin-Woo’s personality and how the vampire treats him with respect that gets him to stay.

—

Jin-Woo’s backstory is that he’s a three hundred-something year old vampire, sired by someone even older. Perhaps over a thousand years?

Ashborn, the Ancient Vampire Lord of Shadows. He’s gathered up his own army and sired a few people that became strong enough to be the Generals of his army (the canon equivalent of Marshal). But none of them were able to wield his shadow magic until he turned Jin-Woo, who became his heir.

At some point, Ashborn decides to ‘retire’ and lets Jin-Woo take over his estate. Either Ashborn is tired of the mortal plane and moves on to the next, or he takes a long nap, hoping that when he next wakes up, the world will have changed enough to renew his zest for life.

—

But all that’s backstory. If I wrote this story, I’d start it off in the present time, when they’re fighting against the demons, and maybe show some of the backstory in flashback scenes. I like the idea of writing Jin-Woo and Ryuji in an established relationship, together for years, having worked out any emotional issues that might have prevented them from having a healthy relationship. A hunter and vampire lord, trusting each other to fight side by side.

Over the year that Dracula gave humans to prepare for his demon invasion, Jin-Woo had a large wall built around his coastal city. The locals were a bit hesitant to allow it, not fully believing Dracula’s threat, but Jin-Woo had steadily built up good will over the years that he had been living there, so they didn’t protest too heavily.

Jin-Woo established the same deal with the people in this coastal city that he has with the people back in his original territory. If anyone needs food or shelter, he’ll provide it in exchange for them donating blood once a week. They can either have it drawn with a needle or be bitten directly, whichever they’re most comfortable with.

So, when the trio of Trevor, Alucard, and Sypha arrive in the city, they’re quite shocked to see that after the battle, some of the citizens are donating blood to the vampires that fought off the demon horde. Trevor is uncomfortable with it to due his Hunter background, but Sypha thinks it’s quite progressive. Alucard is a bit overwhelmed by it, this proof that the two sides of his heritage can get along like this.

After the fight, they track Ryuji down to Jin-Woo’s estate and start asking questions. Their first priority is understanding Jin-Woo’s intentions towards the humans in the town. And once they’re assured that he’s genuine, try to get his and Ryuji’s help to fight Dracula.

Part of this story would be the trio’s outside perspective on Ryuji and Jin-Woo’s relationship, then some chapters from their own pov, and finally traveling and fighting Dracula.

Not sure when/if I’ll write this, but I needed to gets thoughts down. And maybe this will give someone else inspiration. It would be nice to see a crossover that wasn’t My Hero Academia, for once.

[shadow-sovereign]

So a while ago, i-bring-crack had reblogged this post and added their thoughts to it and I was working on a reply to it, but by the time I was done, their blog had been deactivated. And since their reply was under a read more, it was gone. But I had copy and pasted their reply into my word document, because I find it easier to scroll up and down, read part of their reply, scroll down and write a response to it, etc.

Hopefully, they don’t mind, but I’m going to copy and paste their reply here, then reblog again and add my reply.

----

i-bring-crack reblogged and replied:

lmao its a bit of an adding on here so sorry in advance but I got a lot of headcannons right now!

First, cant help but imagine Alucard watching the Goto/Jin Woo's relationship and being like "They act like my parents, but if they were dead inside. (two tired men with life what chu expect)"

Trevor: at least its not the outside *gets smacked*

Also, I imagine the army would have the usual Igris, Bellion, Greed and Tank as vampires, meanwhile the beasts like Beru, Jima, Kaisel, Tank would probably be handled by some forgemaster if we are going by the Netflix series lore.

That last one could either be like, a lackie of Jin Woo who is very faithful to him(maybe Ju Hee/Esil/Jin ho who have been helped in the past by him and wanted to serve in their own cause, kinda like the mentor-mente relationship between Dracula with Issac and Hector, and since Jin woo has no romantic feelings for them, maybe sees them as a little sister of sorts, reminding him of Jin ah back when he was a human, Goto doesnt mind them too.) or it could be case where Jin Woo was once a forgemaster before turning into a vampire, a possible reason as to why he is able to take the mantle of Ashborn so well also.

There is also the fun idea of Goto being the forgemaster, which could have been a reason as to why Goto always managed to come somewhat unharmed from Jin Woo's fights, cuz he had an army of his own too, but doesnt value them as much (and it changes as he spends more time with jin woo, ahaha I just imagine all his night creatures getting attached to him because he treats them better, especially Beru!)

Maybe there could be the korean S rank hunters as other vampires in jin Woos army watching the socially ackward Jin Woo being so bad at swooning the hunter and grabbing popcorn each night when they fight because oh dear is he trying and failing. Baek Yoon ho is the only one who has a partner(Jong In or Min byung gyu or both idk), and Jin woo tries to ask them for dating help and he is just like "-_- try asking them out?..."

It fails even more horribly as in Goto misunderstood "taking out" with killing him.

"Told you not to listen to him, he literally asked me out in an inn half drunk while fighting!"

Jin Woo: And you said yes???

An old vampire, old as Ashborn though pretty weak bc he is not interested in humans or eating, advices him to follow his heart if he really loves the man. oh Go Gun Hee being Go Gun Hee, always has the best answers for him and manages to bring him down to earth from all the vampire nonsense in his territory (and the other vampires/hunters from China or the americas are also migraines to him).

Cha hae In wouldnt at first be interested In the whole deal at first, I think, despite being his closest vamp friend, but then she would definety try to put them into romantic situations because "Its been two years already, at this point its more than just a rivalry thing Mr Sung." Accidentally at first and then only to tease jin Woo as time goes on.

Though Im not sure whenever they would also be morally good like Jin Woo. Some could try (Hae In, YoonHo, Jin Chul) or some would outright never but they seem to have benefits with Jin Woo as an ally, maybe Gun Hee was the one to help Jin Woo adapt to a better lifestyle were he can treat humans as equal.

The japanese vampire hunters are also not doing well. At first they think that Jin Woo is probably just playing with his meal (Goto) and getting under the skin of their teacher, but when Reiji is suddenly questioned by this vampire lord as to where Goto has dissapeared to, he begins to doubt it. Just a bit.

And it takes a while, long while but eventually jin Woo's moral values and actions manage to put some ease into Reiji who then also manages to ease the worries of Goto's students (the other S ranks). they cant believe it as much, but hey, its not like Sugimoto is able to stop them from falling in love and helping them solve untold trauma as they get closer together so. He is also very happy his boss has something else to do apart from nagging about the other hunters and their incapabilities here and there.

The speakers, like in the series, could also have like, some oral stories about Jin Woo being this one of a kind good vampire who helps others, bc I dont really expect much from Jin woo when trying to pass as a saint apart from the usual "I wont kill you unless you hurt Goto or my army."

Overall its more up to Goto (and the villagers) to make them understand that Jin Woo is a far more stable vampire than the trio thinks.

[shadow-sovereign]

I like stories that have scenes of one character helping patch up another’s injuries or nursing them back to health. And I had this image in my head of Jin-Woo finding Ryuji out in the snow, perhaps a blizzard, and needing to carry him back inside and get him warmed up.

Then I wondered, what Au can I use that in? It probably wouldn’t happen in the canon verse, after all. Not unless they ended up in a Red Gate together?

But I could see a lot of ‘patching up each other’s wounds’ in the Castlevania crossover idea I had. In that au, Ryuji is an excellent hunter, but he’s also human, fighting against creatures that are naturally faster and stronger than him. It’d be normal for him to get injured after fights like that.

With Jin-Woo being a vampire, their relationship starts off as enemies, but once Ryuji realizes Jin-Woo’s interest in him, it gradually shifts into an enemies-with-benefits/grudging allies-with-benefits. And during that time period, Jin-Woo starts seeking him out more and noticing when he gets injured. He’ll bring medical supplies and talk Ryuji into letting him patch up the injuries that are difficult to take care of by himself.

And one day, Jin-Woo is visiting during the winter. Ryuji’s gone off into the woods or mountains to fight off some kind of monster that can speed up the fall of snow, that is, create blizzards. Jin-Woo gets worried when he sees how dense the snow in the forest is getting and leaves the village to go looking for Ryuji.

Jin-Woo finds the hunter injured and collapsed in a snowbank, the corpse of a monster nearby. He uses his shadow powers to teleport them back to his manor and lights up the fireplace in his room. Then he gets Ryuji out of his wet clothes and bundles them both up in front of the fire. As a vampire, he’s not as affected by the cold but also doesn’t give off as much body heat. Still, he gives off some warmth, causing Ryuji to subconsciously lean into him.

As he’s warming Ryuji up, Jin-Woo calls for his servants to bring him medical supplies and hot food. He bandages Ryuji’s injuries and coaxes the man awake to eat.

Ryuji is completely bewildered to wake up safe in Jin-Woo’s room, having seriously thought he was going to die out there. He doesn’t know what to think about Jin-Woo having saved him. All the times Jin-Woo patched up his wounds, he assumed it was just an excuse to touch him, as it usually led to them falling into bed together if he wasn’t too injured.

But Jin-Woo had gone out of his way to find him in a blizzard and save his life. What did that say about how the vampire felt about him? This is when he seriously starts to understand that Jin-Woo has deeper feelings for him and slowly begins to trust him.

By the time Dracula goes crazy and sends out his hordes, Jin-Woo and Ryuji will have known each other for more than a decade. First, two years of rivalry before Ryuji went to Wallachia to train. Three years spent training with the Belmonts before meeting Jin-Woo again. Two years of a mostly physical relationship before Ryuji starts to think of their relationship as something more. Then eight years developing a deep emotional bond. So, they’ll have known each other for about 15 years.

Then they meet the Castlevania trio of Trevor, Sypha, and Alucuard. Traveling with them across the countryside, fighting demons and vampires along the way to Dracula’s castle.

I’ve also been thinking about how humans would be turned into vampires in this au. I don’t know if there’s an official way in Castlevania canon, but this is an au anyway.

The human first has to be drained of blood, to the point they’re on the verge of death. It doesn’t have to be the vampire that drains them, but he does need to have the human’s blood in his mouth when he bites himself. It combines their blood and the vampire’s venom, creating some kind of substance that kick starts the process of turning the human into a vampire. And the more blood the vampire gives the human, the faster they turn and the less violent they are upon waking up.

Without the human being on the verge of death, exchanging blood has a different meaning. Vampires rarely give their blood when they’re not turning someone. It’s an intimate thing for them.

When giving blood to a human, it can extend their life and keep their youth for a longer period of time. It doesn’t work forever, though. Eventually, if the vampire wants to keep their human companion, they’ll need to turn them. But depending on the strength of the vampire, they can use their blood to extend the human’s life for around 1-2 hundred years. Enough time for the human to decide if being a vampire is what they want.

It would also create a bond, if they’re exchanging blood, rather than just the vampire giving to the human. (Also, two vampires could have a bond from exchanging blood.) I’m not sure what all I’d make the bond do, but they’d at least be able to sense where the other one is. Always being able to find each other and perhaps able to sense when the other is seriously injured or feeling threatened.

By the time the trio have met Jin-Woo and Ryuji, the two have been together long enough that they’re sharing blood. Ryuji is still undecided about becoming a vampire. Falling in love with one didn’t erase everything he was taught by his Hunter family. But the lure of eternal life with access to all the riches Jin-Woo has at his disposal will eventually sway him.

[shadow-sovereign]

Yo, I found your Might makes Right AU (MmR) and I am FOAMING at the mouth to tell you all the shit that popped up in my head about how I think Jinwoo would be impacted to a degree.

Naturally, given that there's a massive need for him to ensure that he can actually keep his head above water, and Joohee being a Decent Person who is seen as Valuable (not a mere C or D but the very useful B rank even though she's not of the valued A or the worshipped S rank) enough to make good money, I can see him being forced to rely upon her to a degree more and actually getting access to better weapons and gear cause she eventually realized that he was only in it for the money so to speak.

Given how the Might makes Right mentality likely impacts how Hunters view each other in general, Decent People (like Joohee and Song Chi-Yul) are the ones Jinwoo know how to spot right out of a lineup FAST given that he knows he needs to know which person will throw him to the goblins and which would actually save his ass.

Anyway, here's the ranking system shaded by the MmR mentality.

S -> worshipped as the ideal

A -> Very revered, though not as much as an S rank, but still high up

B -> Seen as incredibly useful, but more "accessible" than an A rank.

C -> Relatively in the middle, depends to a degree on if they have a good history of killing monsters like Song Chi-Yul did or they're potentially seen as "barely a C".

D -> A bit on the bottom rung, but still useful in terms of filling up numbers and can work to collect mana crystals or dead monster bodies easy-peasy. Maybe can get "true hunter" status and respect but often that is super rare unless it's a D rank sacrificing himself/herself to save a much higher ranked hunter and the higher ranked hunter decided to try and memorialize him/her out of gratitude. They may either punch down on the E ranks often though to deal with their own insecurities of being very weak or find comradery in being weak with the e ranks, though the latter is MUCH rarer as the blowback can be severe.

E -> Lowest of the low, don't even look at em for help, weaklings. Only take them in if you just need numbers or to pick up other useful stuff from a dungeon while the "real hunters" do the work of killing monsters.

And Jinwoo's the weakest E rank so that's even worse for him. I can easy peasy see him grabbing E rank gigs of collecting mana crystals and monster bodies on the regular if he's desperate for cash and can't get a raid in time. There's probably a special E rank job board targeting them for gigs as they're numerous, weak, and can be exploited a lot more easily by the higher ranked hunters who have money to throw around. Kinda like how regular people can be exploited in the gig economy easy peasy.

E ranked hunter often end up going into regular jobs and using their limited mana there, only to often be called "cowards" by regular humans who want hunters going into dungeons to prevent dungeon breaks. It's a major reason Jinwoo isn't thinking about pivoting to a civilian job despite how much worse his working conditions are because hey, he's heard stories from other E ranked hunters of how they got screwed over by regular humans who didn't know how E ranks get treated by higher ranked hunters so ... yeah, he's got a good reason not to consider going into a regular job even though he's getting screwed over heavily here.

Plus, he works with the Association, which takes everybody and is paying his mom's medical bills for him to a degree, but he's gotta fill out the quota somehow or he ends up having to cough up some money himself (might makes right mentality mainly makes the guilds so much more vicious and profitable as they focus on the "high value hunters") so he's tossing himself into every dungeon that's available to him, D and E, to pay the bills quickly.

As for the "regular humans" that are the unawakened, I suppose they'd be seen as a useful support base, though they would never really be treated as important in their own right the way a "true hunter" would. A hunter would see their own loved ones as important yeah but not many hunters look past the regular civilian to see the person underneath regularly.

Jinwoo knows this and is AMAZING at spotting hunters out on the street. He just knows what to look for in their eyes. The look of, I'm doing good and am better than the rest of you extras, in most hunters' eyes that Jinwoo never fell for cause he was the worst off. The difference between the hunters that die and Jinwoo is basically this. Laryna analysis of cognitive dissonance

Anyway, Jinwoo's a pretty smart cookie. He knows that he's fucked and he can get pushed around easy-peasy. He DOES get pushed around easy-peasy, especially by jerkass D, C and even E ranks who desperately need to feel tough by looking down on someone weaker. He needs a little strength in his corner to be respected, or, at least not always the one being screwed over, and he can't be strong on his own so he has to borrow it from others.

So yeah, he's leaning on Joohee and Chi-Yul a LOT more than in the canon in order to not always be fucked over. Mainly in terms of like, gear and stuff that's very physical cause there's NO FUCKING WAY they're letting him go at it so cheaply the way he did in canon when they know how fucked up his situation is.

It's not his fault they found out he has a sister to support, turns out Joohee ended up meeting Jinah by accident when she was walking home with him cause "she wanted to feel a bit safer with someone she knows she can trust" after they left a dungeon together and it was dark out, but she knew he needed to go home and rest asap so she insisted that he can drive her home in the morning and rest at his apartment, and he was pretty weak from the stab wound in his leg, so he agreed and then promptly regretted it when Joohee and Jinah met, looked at his wounds, and teamed up to make sure he'd be safe and then Chi-Yul heard (read: Joohee tattled) and was like, heck yeah I'm helping out.

So yeah, he's being a little more helped out than in the canon, but he's also very much screwed over in terms of social support in a way that he wasn't canon-wise. There is a LOT more shit dumped on him financially as an E rank that he tries to get them to not help out with cause he feels guilty about leaning on them so much, but also, his clothes fall apart regularly if he doesn't get some help so he swallows his pride on occasion.

Chi-Yul figured that they couldn't push him to take so much help without him giving back something in turn and was like, how about a compromise of some provided gear and weapons, but in turn you gotta pay us back by X favors and treating us out on occasion?

Turns out that does help out a lot, but since being Jinwoo is suffering (or more importantly, the E ranks as a whole are suffering but Jinwoo has it really bad) it has backlash from OTHER E RANKERS mainly those who are really jealous cause they were weak but they could laugh at Jinwoo but when Jinwoo was starting to change his luck, his former friends who weren't really friends but kept him around cause they wanted someone they could pity, so some of the E ranks but not all.

Anyway, so it's a mixed bag for Jinwoo's hand. He's a lot closer to Chi-Yul and Joohee, way more than in canon, BUT he's also subject to a lot more verbal bullying and stuff like that when he's not in their sphere of protection, which is definitely something Ashborn will look at and go

Lizards are a major threat to E rankers who decide to gamble on going into a higher ranked dungeon, and they all know it. There's basically an E rank reddit page where they all come to shittalk the higher ranks who push them around and warn others of potential scams and stuff. E rank unionization is a potential force in its own right but even then it can be vicious as there's plenty of people trapped in a debt spiral akin to Jinwoo in canon, and they're all desperate to climb out but it's became crabs in a bucket to a degree. Misery loves company after all and plenty of them have given up on anything better, but at least they can be miserable with other E rankers.

Potential Lizard scams are noted on the E rank subreddit easy peasy so that it's mainly D rankers falling prey to the lizard group that Jinwoo slaughtered in canon tbh. They just look up the dungeon listing and the group and just go, oh dude, that's tots a lizard group, don't join. They don't say it's a lizard group outright but they know what's going on there. Jinwoo joined specifically because he knew he had a shot at getting more powerful in the raid even though he was likely running with a lizard group and the money. It's hard to get into C rank dungeons as an E rank and he had the rent to think of, so the risk was well worth the potential cash. He made sure to let Joohee and Chi-Yul know which group he was risking it with and where that dungeon was though, so if worse comes to worse, they'll know.

I can't believe I spitballed all this in a single ask and I got more incoming, brace yourself.

So anyway, I say we follow the stations of canon enough that Jinwoo becomes a Player, cause why not, but then we see a lot more focus on PRIVILEGE and how the richer E ranks who had more gear coming in had a better shot at survival than the poorer E ranks like Jinwoo who often ended up immediately in a debt spiral if they got unlucky, and in a dungeon you should expect the worst. I can see Jinwoo minmaxing coupons plenty even when he became an S ranker cause it's normal and mundane and he kinda needs to have something normal to ground himself despite his new reality. He's sharing the wealth he's gained plenty though, he remembered what it was like to be poor and struggling, he doesn't want anyone else to suffer like that and that's why he insisted to Jinho that his guild better have some of his e rank friends along with Chi-Yul and Joohee brought in.

He does try to hide some of the stuff to a degree, mainly the system as a whole. It does seem crazy and Jinah seemed so incredulous when he brought up gaming, it's best to make Chi-Yul and Joohee not think he lost his mind after sacrificing himself in the double dungeon. He doesn't need a healer as much anymore, but Joohee clearly needs help and he remembers how many times she's helped him before. She didn't even want to abandon him, they had to force her out.

Looking at how Joohee fell apart, he realizes he had a lot more mental strength than he realized to keep himself together. He does worry about losing his emotions though and he spoke about it with Chi-Yul. Chi-Yul knows that he's still got a chance at keeping that good, softer side easy though, he just needs to make sure to connect to people and keep a healthy emotional state. Joohee has been recovering well with Jinwoo near to ground her and Jinho is a cute, naive kid she needs to heal every once in a while anyway. Jinho realizes, oh, Jinwoo reawakened, he's not a False Ranker. That def helps him out a lot.

Anyway, I am super squeeing over the cuteness of Golden Retriever Jinho lighting up Joohee's life. #Jooheedeservedbetterthancanon

But anyway PLOT

When Jinwoo starts off on the quest to be more powerful, he kinda lets some stuff slip but not everything. However, one major change of him being closer to Chi-Yul? MAGE TRAINING BABY. I mean, they kinda have amazing parallels foiled by their ranks? Blade wielders who become mages later? Check. Both being good people who have "debts" to pay? Check. Both being VERY experienced and in the Association because the guilds found a reason to consider them "lacking"? CHECK.

Bro this is a galaxy brained take and I will die on it.

When Jinwoo starts up his own guild, he doesn't need to ask Go Gunhee to be an exception to the rule, he just posted a job listing for E rank hunters asking them to fill up his guild so he can clear higher ranked dungeons. He's paying them free money to do nothing and they all leapt at it. Heck, some of them just leave the site in the midst of the dungeon clearing to come back with snacks cause hey, bossman might get hungry after all that hard work, gotta support the guild right? They love the new situation. Heck, I bet some E ranks MOVE to Korea specifically to join up on this sweet gig. It's hard to learn Korean at first but making some E rank friends and immersion helps very quickly. Besides, they can grab some extra bucks yoinking the stuff their guildmaster isn't touching/is too busy to touch.

The E rankers of the Ahjin guild literally set up a whole goddamn system of 11 people, Jinwoo included, so that one person can get to leave for a bathroom break, another gets the harder job of darting in to see what's going on, and the rest can relax if they wanna or go in the dungeon to see if there's anything the soldiers don't mind them picking up. Jinwoo doesn't mind letting them have a crack at the stuff in there, unless it's a red gate and he's trapped in there by himself. They never let anyone go in until 10 minutes pass outside to ensure no one gets trapped in the red gate that isn't the Necro S ranker.

Like, holy shit, them plot bunnies are MULTIPLYING like mad but I gotta stop eventually so I'm pausing here (for now).

Well, I don’t have the energy for a long reply, but I wanted to post your ask to the blog because I think it’s cool. I like your additional thoughts to the Might Makes Right story idea. In this kind of AU, Jin-Woo could either become more distant from everyone or as you mentioned, learn how to tell who he can trust and form tighter bonds with them to try and keep each other alive. In this kind of AU, it’s a natural progression for Jin-Woo to get closer to the hunters who were the most kind to him and look out for them in return, especially once he starts getting stronger.

[shadow-sovereign]

My Love is a Fire - Ch 16

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25719682/chapters/167290954#workskin

Pairing: Sung Jin-Woo/Goto Ryuji

Rating: Explicit

Summary:

After their fight is interrupted, Jin-Woo and Ryuji sneak back into the gym, unable to ignore how thrilling their brief bout had been. It leads to a night of passion that leads to another and another, both of them inexplicably drawn to the other.

Ryuji hates that Jin-Woo is stronger than him and hates that he’s weak to the fire that Jin-Woo ignites in him. But Jin-Woo holds no hate for him, just wanting to see more of his passion and pleasure. It’ll take work to make a relationship between them succeed, but Jin-Woo is willing to put in the effort to break down Ryuji’s walls.

[shadow-sovereign]

https://archiveofourown.org/works/48648538

Title: Sweet Kisses in the Woods

Pairing: Goto Ryuji/Sung Jin-Woo

Summary: This is a future scene for my story “Lipgloss and Sweet Kisses”, where it’s post canon time travel. Jin-Woo meets Ryuji on a trip to Japan and later finds out he’s in the yakuza. It’s a story that mostly just focuses on them being sweet and kinky together.

In this oneshot, Jin-Woo and Ryuji have been together for a few years. Ryuji has learned about Jin-Woo’s magic and they occasionally use that for some kinky fun together. Such as here, where Jin-Woo makes himself intersex and they go for a kinky walk in the woods together. Look at the tags to see if you like the kinks.

[rainvillage-trio]

look I may be ace but sometimes aesthetic attraction means I see a handsome / pretty person and I'M SUFFERING

[rainvillage-trio]

for real though, aesthetic attraction sucks sometimes bc I'm like 'what am I supposed to do? stare at this picture for three hours and slowly go insane?'

[shadow-sovereign]

I have reread some of your stories 😋😋😋

Thank you! I think it’s one of the highest compliments a writer can receive, that their story is interesting enough or engaging enough to be worth a reread. It makes me happy to hear that there are people that like my stories enough for that. ^_^

[shadow-sovereign]

Hello! Did Tumblr eat my ask? Lullaby

Ah, probably not? I’ve had low energy/creativity lately, so I’ve been focusing more on writing my stories. The blog has kind of gotten pushed to the side for now. Generally, I’m faster on replying to questions about Solo Leveling canon, rather than story ideas, because those kinds of questions are easier to answer.

I do want to reply to all of my asks at some point, I’m just...really not sure when that’ll happen. It probably doesn’t help that tumblr doesn’t get nearly as much engagement as my stories on ao3, so I have much higher motivation to work on those stories.

Right now, for tumblr, I’m focused on replying to the person who replied to my castlevania crossover idea with their headcanons about the idea. It’s exciting when people are inspired by my ideas and so now I’m working on expanding my own headcanons about that crossover idea to share in a reply.

Also, I have multiple story idea prompts in my inbox right now, which is...a little overwhelming? It’s kind of hard to know which to focus on sometimes, and my brain kind of ping pongs between them and...not a lot gets done that way. It’s something I need to work on, how to have...focus.

Sometimes, I’m tired from work too and maybe didn’t get enough sleep, and on those days, not a lot gets written. Like at all.

And I’ve got like a dozen stories I wanna work on at once and which one I have inspiration for can change on any given day. It’s a mess.

I have no idea how people get books written. How do you choose just one?? And write it all the way to the end?? What black magic is this?!

All that to say, I will try to reply to all of your guys’ story ideas...sometime this year. There just might be a month or two in between posts on this blog.

[shadow-sovereign]

My Love is a Fire -- Ch 15

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25719682/chapters/114934033

Pairing: Sung Jin-Woo/Goto Ryuji

Rating: Explicit

Summary:

After their fight is interrupted, Jin-Woo and Ryuji sneak back into the gym, unable to ignore how thrilling their brief bout had been. It leads to a night of passion that leads to another and another, both of them inexplicably drawn to the other.

Ryuji hates that Jin-Woo is stronger than him and hates that he’s weak to the fire that Jin-Woo ignites in him. But Jin-Woo holds no hate for him, just wanting to see more of his passion and pleasure. It’ll take work to make a relationship between them succeed, but Jin-Woo is willing to put in the effort to break down Ryuji’s walls.

[shadow-sovereign]

Currently writting a fanfic and I needed some help sorry but, have there been important scenes cut from the LN that are important? I couldnt find as much from the wiki but people still say that there was a lot of info cut out? is it true or would it only be fine to just read the manwha without missing important bits?

Well, it’s been a while since I read the novel and manhwa, but I do remember noticing some differences. Like, I read the manhwa first, back when just the first season was out, and then I started reading the novel from the beginning.

Honestly, if I had started reading the novel first, I probably wouldn’t have kept reading it, because the actual writing is kind of so-so. But I was invested and I wanted to know what was up with the system and how the story would end.

The first season of the manhwa was really good, I think. It had a good pace and even added a few things. But the second half felt pretty rushed. (And I’m still salty about how the manhwa revealed Antares’s name. It was way less meaningful.)

I think you can still write a good fanfic just by reading the manhwa, but you’ll get more detail about things by reading the novel. The manhwa can’t go into as much detail due to it being a more visual medium. Whereas with a novel, you can see more detail into what a character is thinking.

Personally, I think if you don’t mind reading novels and you have the time, then I would recommend reading the novel. It’s just nice to have more insight into the characters and get to see...more of the story, I guess? Like I said, the second season of the manhwa felt rushed and sometimes I felt kind of confused by what exactly was happening, especially in the fight scenes. It’s easier to understand in the novel.

You could also go to the solo leveling subreddit and find the threads for individual chapters. Sometimes, someone will mention the differences between the novel and the manhwa in the comments.

Off the top of my head, there’s a few things that come to mind.

In the beginning, I don’t think the manhwa mentions that Jin-Woo was getting like, these little rewards for completing his daily tasks? They were things that would be useful for him that day. He got a pen while he was in the hospital, because he would need to sign the forms to check out of the hospital. And he got an umbrella because it was going to rain later, which I think he gave to Jin-Ah before she headed out of the house.

The manhwa did a couple of extra things that I liked, though. Like, in the novel, Hwang Dong-Soo didn’t come to Korea, only to be thwarted by Jin-Woo being in a red gate. But we got that cool scene where Hwang and Baek Yoon-Ho almost came to blows, Jin-Chul stepping in and almost getting his arms broken if only the two didn’t hold back their strength in time.

And the scene with the Japanese Hunters in the gym. I don’t think we originally had that scene where they sparred with the Korean Hunters. Also, I saw someone say that not all the Japanese Hunters were named in the novel?? I wasn’t paying enough attention when I read through it to know, but that’s interesting if it’s true.

Really, it seems like both the novel and the manhwa have their ups and downs. If you want a more complete picture, it’s best to read both of them. You get a bit more detail with the novel. You get some different details with the manhwa plus really good art.

And in the novel, Antares giving his name to Jin-Woo was actually a significant moment. Unlike in the manhwa, where he just announced his name like it was whatever. Still not over that.

Right, I think I’m just rambling at this point. Really, it’s up to you whether you want to read the novel. I think you can write a good fanfic by just reading the manhwa, but you’ll have a more complete picture of what’s going on in canon if you read the novel too.

[shadow-sovereign]

Not sure what to call this post. Maybe an update or low-key announcement.

1) Chapter 15 of My Love is a Fire is almost done! I’m at nearly 10,000 words now and I just need to figure out how to end the chapter, do the author’s notes, and edit for any spelling mistakes. But if all goes well, it should be posted sometime this March.

2) I wanted you guys to know that I’m still working on the asks you guys send me. I’ve just been in a creative slump lately, but it seems to be getting better. It might take a while, but I will get them answered.

3) @i-bring-crack I saw the reblog where you added your headcanons to my Castlevania crossover idea and I love it! I plan to reblog your addition at some point and add my thoughts to it. It might take me a while, though, since I’m also going to be like, expanding on my own headcanons for the verse, but I wanted you to know that I noticed what you wrote and really enjoyed it. And that I will be replying to it at some point. Since it can take me some time to reply to things, I didn’t want you wondering whether I had seen it or not.

[shadow-sovereign]

Since the Baran that Jin-Woo fought was just a shadow/recreation of his past self. And that the demon castle was just literally a recreation of the past. Doesn't it mean that Esil was dead all along ??? :( ( Same anon as the previous Antares ask )

Yes, I do believe that’s what’s implied in the novel.

We know from the flashback that Jin-Woo saw that Ashborn had already killed Baran, long before the Demon Castle dungeon. Which means that all those other demons in the Castle are probably also recreations. But it’s never outright stated that I know of.

Which means some of those demons could potentially be captured soldiers instead of recreations. So, if anyone waned to write a fic with Esil in it, they could choose to make her real and I don’t think it would directly contradict canon. And, well, people don’t write fanfic to stick exactly to canon anyway.

[shadow-sovereign]

Hi! Was wondering if I could ask you something since you run a solo leveling account. It's only cuz I wanna get to know how other people think of the Monarchs really, because I don't want to only use the scarse source material for my basis but— enough said, How do you think the Monarchs reacted to the Absolute Being's death? Do you think they ever tried to guilt trip the Rulers about that? Did they care even an ounce?

They don't look the least sympathetic to me honestly but they were also following rules of destroying planets and so forth because of the Absolute Being so like... they should have looked at least a bit concerned I feel, and canon ain't giving me anything to go off. I wouldn't like to think of them as simple minded bloodthirsty beasts because they had intelligence, they had armies which at some point would have needed some convincing to do for destroying all those planets, and even the insect Monarch seemed attached to her own kind. They seemed able to be more than just chaos incarnates, heck even the monarchs knew each other and how they would react to different things, they also had trust upon each other, or at least on the dragon Monarch, and they were also fighting against one another to best lead a course of action instead of just agreeing to everything in unison (unlike the rulers)Rulers.

Sorry for the long rant tho. I just wanna see another person's views on them.

I’m kind of on the fence about this one. Would the Monarchs have cared about the Absolute Being’s death? How well did they even know the Absolute Being (AB)?

We have zero indication in canon of whether the AB ever actually interacted with the Monarchs. Did the AB ever tell the Monarchs their purpose was destruction? Or did he just give them destructive urges? Did they know they were following the AB’s plan or did they think they were rebelling by destroying planets? (Planets that the AB may have made? Was the AB actually god in this universe or did he just create some things? Who knows!)

And how much contact did the Rulers have with the Absolute Being? They seemed surprised when the AB didn’t respond to their plea of aid, which lead to the revelation that this whole war was just entertainment for the AB. And Ashborn was loyal enough to the AB to die trying to protect him, so presumably the Rulers must have had some kind of contact with the AB.

Is that why the Rulers thought the AB would be on their side? They were in contact with their Maker and the Monarchs weren’t? Did the Rulers think they were following the will of the Absolute Being and the Monarchs weren’t?

What kind of revelation would that have been for the Monarchs, to realize that their Maker had created them for destruction, after all? Or did they always know? Did they mock the Rulers for never realizing it before? Did the Monarchs always know that this war was just a game to the Absolute Being?

Why else would they be created for destruction, with counterparts that were made to try and stop them? And how ironic would they find it, that the beings made for destruction weren’t the ones to kill their Maker, but the ones made for protection and creation were?

But it must be some kind of mind fuck to know you were created to fight and die for your Maker’s amusement. Would they care about the Absolute Being’s death, when the being never cared about whether they lived or died?

Can you miss what you never had?

Were the Monarchs ever children, craving a parent’s love? Or were they fully formed adults, independent and needing no one else?

At the very least, it seems they’ve always had each other.

Perhaps they’ve survived this long in their war against the Rulers because they’ve always had each other’s backs. Antares keeps them from fighting amongst themselves, directing their destructive urges to those outside their group.

Though I’m not sure how loyal they are to each other, whether they mourn. Antares didn’t seem to have much reaction to Baran’s death.

I think it was implied, or maybe outright stated and I can’t remember, that Antares actually planned for Baran and the Beast Monarch, whatever his name is, to betray Ashborn. So, it seems like spite rules them more than practicality. They could have killed off the other Rulers by working with Ashborn, but instead they let their grudge from when Ashborn was a Ruler shape their actions. Maybe their pride couldn’t handle needing a former Ruler to take out the other Rulers.

Maybe Antares didn’t like the competition. He was the strongest Monarch before. If the Rulers were killed, what would Ashborn do after that? Would he leave the group or try to lead? Assuming Ashborn has any morals, he wouldn’t really have been okay with the Monarchs continuing their quest to destroy planets. Antares might have known that and tried to use the element of surprise to take out their strongest opponent first.

After Baran was killed, though, it seems like Antares tried to do some damage control. To get Ashborn to keep working with them instead of turning his new Monarch powers against them. Because if Ashborn had joined up with the Rulers again, with his new shadow powers, I’ve no doubt that the Monarchs would have lost.

I’m not sure where I’m going with this now…

I guess, I think the Monarchs are capable of emotions and stuff, but I do think they like destruction more than other things. It’s what they were made for, so I think they were made to enjoy it.

I don’t think they would necessarily miss the Absolute Being because I don’t think they had a close bond with the AB. And they especially wouldn’t miss the AB if they knew that the AB just saw them as entertainment.

Beyond that, it’s possible they could be friends with each other. They constantly go on fun ‘trips’ to destroy worlds together. Maybe they’re attached to some of the beings in their army. Probably not the weakest ones, since they would have a higher chance of dying, but I could see them getting attached to the stronger members of their army. Probably more like pets than friends, though.

Since canon gave us nothing of their backstory, it’s really up to the individual to decide whether they’re like a found family that murders together or just a bunch of assholes who work together to avoid getting murdered by the Rulers. Personally, I see them somewhere in between, where some of them get along better than others.

And I’m curious to see if anyone else has any headcanons for them. Feel free to reply or reblog with your own thoughts. ^_^

[shadow-sovereign]

Trying to write a fanfic here but I'm struggling and don't have the time to read the novel so please can you give me an explanation about how Antares was able to enter the human/Why he couldn't do it in the first place or at least your headcanons about it ?

Okay, so I don’t remember if the novel gave an exact reason for this or if it was just vague implications, but I’ve got a couple thoughts on it.

First of all, we know that Antares and Ashborn were having trouble finding a human ‘vessel’ or whatever you want to call it, because they are the strongest, and their vast amount of mana ends up killing the human if it’s not done right. Hence, Ashborn teaming up with the Architect to solve that problem via Jin-Woo and the System.

But it does pose the question, why do they need a human vessel in the first place? What’s keeping them from showing up on Earth whenever they want?

The Monarchs who did find vessels were able to show up ahead of their actual armies, hence killing Go Gun-Hee and trying to kill Jin-Woo. But Antares did eventually show up – with the armies and through an enormous gate.

Maybe gate size factors into it? And maybe it takes time to create such a large gate or tunnel from the chaos realm and into earth? After all, all the Monarchs keep their memories when time is looped back ten years. Why did they never attack earlier? Maybe they couldn’t create those large gates any faster.

Perhaps when a Monarch is inside a vessel, their mana is more contained, meaning they can go through a smaller portal and get here faster? If the Monarch’s mana isn’t contained, maybe a small portal would get destabilized by their mana and they couldn’t travel through it.

I saw one person’s theory that suggested that earth might be destroyed if the Monarchs came here without a vessel, before the earth had soaked up enough mana from monsters. Like the planet wasn’t strong enough to handle their vast amounts of mana.

Though, I don’t think that theory quite works in canon because the Rulers only started trying to strengthen the earth in the last timeline. And if that was the only thing stopping the Monarchs from arriving early, then they could just have one of them pop over to the earth and destroy it before the Rulers could react.

And, honestly, I think the Monarchs would find it boring if their mere presence was enough to destroy a planet. They seem to enjoy the reaction of the people as they and their armies destroy the place and kill everyone. They’re very bloodthirsty.

Well, I don’t really have any other theories than that. Maybe it was explained in the novel somewhere, but I don’t remember it. If anyone does, feel free to add that information to the post, or even just your own headcanons on the matter.

I hope that helps and good luck on your fanfic. ^_^

[shadow-sovereign]

I wonder who he’s missing, huh, Jin-Woo...?

But shipping goggles aside, there’s a lot for Jin-Chul to be missing. All the friends and coworkers he had in the other world, he’s got a completely different job now! And with how much he grieved Go Gun-Hee’s death, that’s probably resonating in him too.

I think officer is a good job for him now, though. Previously, his job was to keep an eye on Hunters, looking for any suspicious activity and potentially dealing with dangerous criminals if he caught Hunters committing crimes. At least, that’s the general idea I got of his past job. An officer in the violent crimes division seems to line up with that.