Picture all 5'6 of me stomping on in and seeing you put up a valentines prompt, you already know where this is going before I came in, us, the people, us starving men-women-and everything in between, require what is necessary to keep the elixir of life sustainable and it involves two dumbass, hair gel obsessed, what the hell is a car- bicycles are good enough, let's serve tall blonde men being messy as hell and duck out for a 'break' mid world meeting, men that yearn and are useless and extremely weird about it have their moment, must i say more? (🖤💕)
I couldn't decide which amazing request to finish, so have this collection of Valentine-themed sketches instead (peak comment btw)
In this AU, the Nordics (minus Finland) are each a "Spirit" (i guess sort of like a god) of 1 of the 4 season. Norway is the winter spirit, Sweden the spring spirit, Denmark the summer spirit and Iceland the autumn spirit. They each live in a land of their permanent season, and despite all being brothers, dont see one another often. Only when the seasons on earth change, when the spirit currently in control travels to the next spirit's land to pass over responsibility. But they cannot stay in their brother's season too long or else they will get sick. Opposite seasons (Norway & Denmark, Iceland & Sweden) can never travel to one another's lands because they can't survive the conditions.
Each spirit has their own partner, which can be romantic but isn't always. Their partner is a human they save from a natural disaster that occurs during their season, who becomes immortal thanks to their season. Each partner is from the land of the season before the one they end up in, Sweden's partner is Finland, who is originally from Norway's winter world. Denmark's partner is Ireland, Iceland's partner is Seychelles, and Norway's partner is Scotland. It is the partner's job to travel through to earth to ensure a smooth transition between seasons, they handle communication between the brothers, and also stop them from going insane from loneliness. Sweden was the first person to save his partner, Norway was the last.
The brothers are somewhat immortal, but not fully. Their health can be severely impacted by humans. Norway becomes bed bound when the seasons transition from autumn to winter because the humans dread his season so bad. But a season having a child will also mean for eventual death. Usually the father season will pass on their role, unless another brother dies before them, in which case the baby will take on that season instead. Partner's immortality is tied to their season's life. Potentially having a child is a large part of Denmark & Ireland's story. If a spirit dies without an heir to take on the season, the season will cease to exist and the harmony of the earth will fall apart.
"Hi, Shannon." Mathias smiles sheepishly as he sits beside Shannon in their shared English class.
"Hello." Shannon responds as she ties her long strawberry blonde hair up into a ponytail, "I hope you'll behave in class today."
"I will. I don't want to get you into trouble with me." Mathias laughs loudly.
"I hope so." Shannon smiles, "If you need help, please tell me."
"Actually, do you want to meet later at the café?." Mathias asks as he smiles back.
"That would be okay." Shannon giggles.
Later, after class, Mathias met with Shannon in a small café.
"So, what was it you needed help with?" Shannon asked as she sat down at the table with her tea.
"Well, could you look over my essay before I hand it in?" Mathias asks before taking a sip of coffee.
"Of course." Shannon smiles sweetly.
After twenty minutes, Shannon finished reading Mathias' English essay and gave tips on improving it.
"Thanks, Shaz." Mathias beams, "You'll make an amazing teacher."
"So, how did you end up at university here in Dublin?" Shannon asks.
"Well, before I say anything please don't say anything about this to anyone but, I'm the Crown Prince of Denmark, and I was sent to school after causing a sandal with my best friend. I had a little street race through Copenhagen against Lars, the Prince of Orange." Mathias smiles sheepishly.
"Oh, I don't care that you're royalty. I still want to be your friend. Honestly, I'm not surprised you would do that." Shannon smiles.
"Now that you know the truth. I can take you out for dinner if you want to date a prince." Mathias offers.
"That would be lovely." Shannon smiles softly.
"I'll pick you up tomorrow night." Mathias laughs.
The next night, Mathias picks Shannon up outside her flat.
"Hi." Mathias smiles, "You look beautiful."
"Thank you." Shannon blushes, her pale skin glowing bright red, and runs her hand down her short green dress.
"I was thinking of having dinner at this small restaurant." Mathias suggests as she shows Shannon to his red sports car.
"That sounds good." Shannon giggles, getting in the passenger seat.
After fifteen minutes, Mathias and Shannon arrived at the restaurant and were shown to a table.
"It's amazing in here." Mathias explains.
"It looks it." Shannon smiles, "So, how did you find this place?"
"I had just arrived from Denmark and was hungry, so I came in to get a burger." Mathias explains.
Mathias walks to the bar to order two burgers and a couple of drinks from him and Shannon. After returning to the table, Mathias hands Shannon her glass of Irish whiskey and puts down his pint of beer.
"Thanks, Mat." Shannon giggles before taking a drink.
"No problem and the barmaid said that our burgers will be ready in about twenty minutes." Mathias smiles.
"So, is there anything you want to do with your degree?" Shannon asks.
"I don't know. I don't want to rely on being royalty to survive." Mathias explains, "What made you want to go into teaching?"
"Well, I have a younger brother, Liam. He's ten years younger, and when he was younger, I used to help him with his school work, and I enjoyed helping and decided that I wanted to teach." Shannon explains.
"Is there a certain age group you want to teach?" Mathias asks.
"Yes, I'm better with the little ones over teenagers. So, I'm planning on teaching at the Primary stage." Shannon explains, smiling.
"I know I said it yesterday, but you make a great teacher, and the kids will love you." Mathias smiles brightly at Shannon.
"Thank you." Shannon smiles.
Soon, the waitress brings two burgers over to the table.
"These are amazing. I'm glad that you brought me here, Mat." Shannon laughs after taking a bite out of her burger.
"I am. This has been fun, and I can't wait until the next one." Shannon smiles.
"Is there anything that you're thinking of?" Mathias asks.
"How about a study date next week?" Shannon suggests.
"Sounds good; you can help me with my essays." Mathias laughs.
A few hours later, Mathias was showing Shannon back to his car. Before getting in, Mathias pulled Shannon into a tight embrace and felt that Shannon had relaxed. Mathias lifted Shannon's chin so that she was looking right at him and softly kissed her on the lips. After kissing for a few minutes, Shannon pulled away and smiled at Mathias.
"I'll take you home." Mathias smiles at Shannon before getting into the driver's side.
"Thank you, Mat. I've had a great time tonight." Shannon smiles from the passenger side.
"It's no problem. I've also had fun." Mathias laughs loudly.
"I can't wait until our study date next week." Shannon giggles.
"Me too. But I'll see you in class tomorrow." Mathias smiles as he stops the car outside of Shannon's flat.
"I'll see you tomorrow, and thank you so much for tonight." Shannon smiles and kisses Mathias on the cheek before getting out of the car.
Now that Ireland is canon, I'd like to submit some potential pairings to the council for review: Denmark, Scotland, Spain, Belgium, S.Italy, Normandy, Sweden, and Prussia (I just think the last one would be funny, smartass4smartass / Dumbasses to Lovers) I also think a ScotEng OR ScotFra, 'This is my boyfriend Alisdair, and this is Alisdair's boyfriend Sean.' would be comedy gold.
ksksk I am honoured to have made it onto the council. My thoughts are as follows:
DenIre
The scent of sea brine and brisk, cutting winds on early sails. The grey shores of winter giving way to the deep greens of spring. A tentative alliance built on a love for starlight and music. Easy laughter and stories shared over the sound of waves cashing onto shore. Love that is woven in silver, carried in myth. That endures in song.
ScotIre
It is the burnished scent of firewood breathed into fine wool and the amber warmth of morning. A shared reverence for nature and a rare kind of steadfast resilience in the face of adversity. It is coarse affection that goes uncontested; ordinary and practical. A common language that grows apart but will forever share the same roots and traditions, and the weight of poetry on their tongues.
SpIre
It begins with a smile. A kiss tinged with zaffron warmth and cold fingers slipping under loose linen. Hearts beating fast and matched to the beat of music as they dance, sure-footed and bold. Joy comes to them both as easily as breathing and it is dazzling to see them burn so brightly with it.
PrussIre
moronsexual smartarse4smartase rights
Knee-deep in mud and chilled to the bone; torn from every comfort to fight in foreign wars, called to duty and pledged to value the weight of gold over life. It is a comfort, feeling warmth after so long. Reaching out in the dark to feel a heartbeat, steady and growing familiar over the long nights spent on foreign shores.
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I have a few scoteng + Ire fics in the works! No scotfra + Ire wips as of yet but Alasdair has two hands, and strong arms. And broad shoulders. And—
Therefore, I posit:
This Alasdair fiancé, Arthur. And this is Alasdair's husband and Arthur's ex-husband, Francis. And then this is Alasdair's boyfriend, Arthur's competition for this year's Garden of the Year award, and Francis' happened-once-in-a-dream, Seán.
Not sure if I should tag, but it started with discussions with my friend Eir when she mentioned/reminded me that Vikings are the ones credited with having originally founded Dublin (the capital of the Ireland, in case some of you don't know).
Nations weren't really a thing back then, but to put it a bit simplified the Norwegian Vikings generally went west (Iceland, Vinland - etc), the Swedish went east/south-east (Gotland, Finland, the Baltics and further south), while the Danes mostly caused a ruckus in the British Isles - and apparently founded the capital of Ireland. xD
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Anyway, for me it kind of spiraled from that discussion with Eir, and I "infected" some other friends in a Discord server with the thought as well. x) My friends and I have mostly worked with DenIre in human AUs, but I think they make a cute couple, where Denmark is absolutely the more energic one and Ireland is his common sense. Kind of. xD
I should probably mention that we mostly worked with a friend's female OC for Ireland, but we're having a lot of fun, and I can absolutely see Denmark pair well with my own Ireland, Patrick, as well. 🧡 😄
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(Also, since the UK brothers are canon-canon now I hope Himaruya will officially introduce Ireland soon as well.) 🧡
Compared to some of my other ships, DenIre are a very recent pairing. They’ve both known one another since they were really young, but there was never any feelings there until more recently.
They kinda fit the she fell first, he fell harder trope. Also friends to lovers. Becoming better friends and allies in the modern day, Saoirse was the first to feel something, but it was slow developing. Whereas, Mathias took a bit longer, but once he felt it, he fell so hard.
They’re not a romantic couple, not at all. High romance isn’t for them, most of their dates consist of going to an Irish bar and getting cheap kebab street food afterwards. Sure, it’s not some people’s idea of a good date, but they both leave laughing, with huge grins on their faces because they’ve had so much fun.
During the summer, they’ll go on more outdoorsy dates, probably not hiking, but they might have a picnic by a nice lake, go out cycling together around the Irish fields, or beach dates in Denmark.
Whilst they’re not low-commitment or casual, they’re also definitely not planning towards their future. They both have end goals that align, but that’s years away. Right now they just wanna have some fun.
They’re a low-jealousy, and definitely not obsessive couple. Mathias might jokingly flirt with his friends, and Saoirse doesn’t pay any mind. It’s nothing serious. That being said, if need be, they both can get protective of one another.
Mathias can and does fuck up and Saoirse isn’t afraid to put him in his place sometimes. He loves a strong woman who can put her foot down.
Saoirse is insecure about her hair and Mathias’ type exactly is ginger women 😍😍
If they’re attempting to learn one another’s languages, it’s not going great. Saoirse’s fine with reading and writing in Danish, but listening and speaking she cannot wrap her head around. Meanwhile, the only good thing about Mathias’ Irish is how committed he is to it. But nothing he says or writes makes any sense, unfortunately.
Saoirse doesn’t care much for physical affection, but she doesn’t mind it with Mathias, who’s a bit of a hugger when they’re at home. In public, they’re both fine to hold hands and he might wrap an arm around her in a bar or something, but they’re never going to make anyone uncomfortable with PDA.
Mathias has become big on planning and organisation to help manage his ADHD. He has his schedules, and he hangs them up everywhere in his house in case he winds up getting distracted or forgetting. Meanwhile, Saoirse is a very laid back woman, who might often put off doing something she really needs to do. On a bad day, they might clash. Or, Mathias might be a good influence on Saoirse in this aspect.
Mathias loves a cosy night in at the end of the week, and Saoirse will force him to watch Father Ted- an iconic Irish sitcom from the 90s- with her. It’s almost part of their routine at this point.
