#jatd au

[thelightfantastik]

Someone mentioned a Pepper/Rake Tangled AU and I've been thinking about it forever

[incorrectjane-andthedragon]

More context/explanations for the AU I made with @thelightfantastik that I mentioned in a previous incorrect quote. There's no real name for this AU (yet?) so I'm just going to call it the Curse and Ghost AU.

So basically:

-I always JATD as being a world with "soft" magic-Dragons and that being pretty much it-if that makes any sense, but in this AU, full blown "hard" magic exists, like magic curses and ghosts.

-John D'ark, Sir Theodore, and the unnamed woman in Sir Theodore's mysterious portrait all knew each other and eventually got caught in an extremely tangled and painful love triangle.

-Then an invading army is about to take Kippernia.

-John D'ark uses powerful and dangerous magic to destroy them all, but in order to do so, he turns himself into stone, and turns Portrait Woman into stone too, either because a.He's madly in love with Theo and has a "if I can't have you then no one else can either" mentality, or vice versa, with Portrait Woman instead. Or b. something Happened and he was agonizingly furious with them both and wanted to hurt both of them at the same time and take down the invading army in one fell swoop.

-Army is defeated, but D'ark and Portrait Woman are still stone, and Theo is left behind to pick up the pieces.

Here's where things get a little bit tricky.

-In one version of the AU, everyone knows what happened and just decide to not talk about it because, hello? World shatteringly traumatic wartime event involving magic most people don't understand? Best to just let some sleeping dogs lie and silent statues stare. Because the statue is of magical origin, it can't be moved or destroyed. It remains, a constant reminder.

-In another version of the AU, the Castle Wizard uses a spell of his own to wipe everyone's memories of what happened. He possibly even wipes some of Theodore's memories, as per his request, so he's not left shouldering the burden of everything that happened, or the memories of what the man he loved became.

-Then, somehow, D'ark and Portrait Woman get free. My personal interpretation is that a specific frequency on the dragon sword either reverses the spell or breaks the stone. D'ark is back, but far from better than ever. In fact, he's worse than ever, having spent decades frozen in a moment of blinding heartache, obsession and agony and now freshly dropped into a kingdom that has changed immensely. It's time for everyone to reckon with what they thought they could sweep under the rug. (note: in the amnesia version of events, everyone who remembered what happened would also get their memories back when he returned.)

Miscellaneous(?) stuff:

-In a version of events where Jester also dies, then that opens up a whole new can of worms, like Corrupted!D'ark and Ghost!Jester bonding and Ghost!Jester being led down a darker path.

-Also, Theodore sees parallels between D'ark and Jane, and that scares him. Maybe he can remember the exact details of what he's so afraid of, maybe he can't. Regardless, seeing Jane act a little too much like D'ark makes his stomach sink.

-Also I basically just thought of this right now- What if the secret to everything: D'ark, the curse, how to break the spell, was hidden by the Wizard in the one place no one would even know to look: The Book of Dragons created by King Bartok, hidden away? If Jane and Dragon find that book, they find out everything else too. But of course, Theodore-whether he understands why or not-knows that it is imperative that Jane and Dragon do not find that book, so he starts hindering their efforts to learn more dragon lore. This drives a wedge between Jane and her mentor, making her side more with Dragon (an allusion to the whole conflict of Jane needing to choose between the castle and Dragon in Dragonblade.)

[itssowholsomicoulddie]

I have Pokemon for literally every character so if anyone is interested I would be more than happy to share.

(Gunther's Dad bought him most of his Pokemon, but his main partner is one he found and raised himself.)

Anyone that sucessfully guesses what the main Pokemon for anyy character is gets five imaginary dollars and a shout out in the reveal post.

[gogogoats]

Monster Hunter AU - JatD Gift Exchange Gift for Caffee

The sound of crockery shattering bounced down the dark alleyway, momentarily joining the cacophony of screams as the monster and its pursuers tumbled from the restaurant service entry onto the cobblestones below.

 The monster moved with unnatural speed but its steps were uncoordinated --only freshly turned it had not yet mastered its full power. Still, it was big, abnormally yet expectedly so.

 Jane was quick to regain her footing, another plate held in her hand which she sent spinning with reliable accuracy to smash against the horns pushing through the beast’s forehead. The horns were new and evidently still tender if its answering roar was any indication.

 “Well, I can cross that off my list,” said Jane cheerfully to her companion.

 “Breaking a plate on a monster’s head?” Gunther’s tone was not incredulous, he knew her too well by now, but it hinted at curiosity.

 “Breaking a plate over his head,” Jane clarified.

 “Ah,” replied Gunther. “Charming.”

 “If you wanted charm you chose the wrong profession,” she pointed out blithely.

 “Or the wrong partner,” was his rejoinder. “Still, you could show a little respect. He is --was-- my father, after all.”

 The monster bellowed at them, its contorted features twisting with the effort, every movement heavy and unpredictable.

 “Couldn’t have happened to a worthier person,” said Jane, eyeing it warily as it moved towards them. She had yet to draw her weapons, choosing instead to follow her partner’s lead --just this once. “Contemptible man. He knew the risks. How many times have you told him not to do business with those people? He must have known that there would be a cost.”

 “Yes, but you forget that my father did not believe in paying his bills.” Gunther’s voice remained even as he used his wrist-mounted crossbow to fire three quick quarrels into the cobbles at the monster’s feet, arresting its approach.

 An act of mercy, Jane noted.

 “There was always someone else for him to pile the endless debt onto. Usually me.” He added darkly.

 “Not this time. You know that Ivon and I can take care of this if you’d rather not?”

 “No,” Gunther had his back to her, his attention fixed firmly on the challenge ahead, but Jane didn’t need to see his face to know the expression he wore.

 There would be a price to pay later, she knew. Another debt left behind for the broken and betrayed son of a repulsive, selfish man. But right now there was only Gunther Breech, monster hunter, and he had work to do.

 “I can do it. I owe him that much, at least.”

 “You owe him nothing,” Jane hadn’t meant for her words to wear so much venom, and quickly calmed herself before continuing. “But I understand.”

 “Good,” said Gunther, folding the crossbow into its leather strap and reaching for the bow he reserved for the serious jobs. “Then shall we?”

 He glanced at Jane then, as the monster resumed its approach, and the faintest glimmer of a smile ghosted over his lips when he saw her, swords already drawn. The twin obsidian blades gleamed darkly in the dancing flame of the street lamp as she smiled broadly in response.

 “I thought you’d never ask.”

 -------------------- 

Monster Hunter AU. Set in a steam punky Victorian era London. The knights are monster hunters, part of an organisation that has long been funded by the Kippernook family, but funds are drying up and Jane, Gunther, Ivon and Theodore and the only hunters left.

 The staff are their support crew. Smithy makes weapons, Rake maintains the headquarters (as best he can --it’s a rundown Kippernook estate,) Pepper keeps everyone fed and cared for, Jester keeps the records, does the research and tries to keep an ear to the ground.

 Monsters are created by the bite of a vampiric race of Elite. Human-appearing, wealthy and powerful, they are difficult to spot but they can hold people in their sway, and use them until their value dries up.

 If someone runs out of use, annoys an Elite or just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time they are turned into a monster and rendered completely and hopelessly under the control of the Elite.

 There is no cure for the bite of an Elite --or at least no known cure.

[ph0tocynthia]

there once was medical intern-in-waiting...

let’s call her Jane

Hospital!JATD AU

[incorrectjane-andthedragon]

Dragon! Sir Theodore Ramblings from the Discord

*Charlie Kelly voice* Can we talk about the Dragon! Sir Theodore AU I've been dying to talk about the Dragon! Sir Theodore AU all day-

Okay so in a discussion on the JATD Discord, me and @thelightfantastik talked about an AU where Sir Theodore was secretly a dragon in disguise, and I love it so, so much, so here's some/most of it.

Yeah this AU is by no means concrete (yet?), it's mostly just a bunch of ideas that were floating around.

In my head, there are two versions of the AU: the "He Forgets" version and the "He Remembers" version.

Okay I'll stop with the intro and actually get to the meat of the matter now lol

-By some magic (possibly from a wizard or the Castle Wizard), Sir Theodore, born a dragon, is turned into a human. While this could be for any number of reasons, the most plausible of which seemed to be that it was enacted as a punishment, possibly for killing a dragon (or multiple).

-This is where the AU reaches a crossroads. In one version, he remembers his life as a dragon. In another, he has total amnesia of his time spent as a dragon and/or false memories in its place.

The "He Remembers" version.

-He remembers that he was once a dragon, but keeps it a secret from everyone. At first, he had no problem with this-why would he just walk around announcing willy-nilly that he's a cursed dragon? But when the titular Dragon of the series enters the picture, things start to get more complicated. Does he tell Dragon the truth and tell him he's not alone? Or does he keep hiding it, too afraid to upset the peace or to properly reckon with the weight of his punishment for murder? If we're going closer to the series canon, where he initially came to Kippernia to apologize to Dragon for being descended from dragonslayers, maybe he went to Kippernia explicitly ready to come clean and confess everything, but something delayed him from doing so. (Note: I'd also tossed around the idea of the dragons that he killed being Dragon's direct family, so...yeah, that definitely would add another layer to it.)

The "He Forgets" version.

-For whatever reason-an extension of the punishment, or a way of keeping the location of dragons secret-Theodore's memories were stripped along with his form as a dragon. He would probably only be left with really hazy, dreamlike leftovers of memories, which he would use to craft a new life and persona for himself. Maybe if he was turned into a human as a punishment for murdering another dragon, then that's why he would believe he was descended from dragonslayers.

-But then *something* happens, either the spell weakening over time, or something else more sudden, and his memories start to come back. He starts to think he's losing his mind for good, but then realizes his old memories are the truth.

The Reveal

-At one point I pondered that Sir Theodore's suit of armor was actually his silvery scales, but then I came up with another idea (not that the scale idea is a bad one)

-What if his suit of armor (or at least a part of it, as Thelightfantastik suggested) was the enchanted object keeping him in human form?

-Now it's really easy to joke: "Wouldn't people be like: 'why do you sleep in your armor?'" Armor is so impractical! But that could add another layer to it. If he was imprisoned in human form for killing another dragon then he could decide that the armor was a symbol of him fully committing to the life of a dragonslayer. If it made it easier for him to become a knight (or be seen as one) then it would be his tether to the human world and his new duty to it. It would be a sign of how he could never dismantle his emotional armor and never let anyone get fully close to him due to his inhuman nature. If it was simply an arm cuff then he could see it as a shackle, chaining him to his crimes, maybe even one he never meant to commit.

-And then the armor gets damaged.

-Something causes a conflict. Dragon snaps and breathes fire on Theodore while someone (Jane watching, probably) screams. The flames die down and he's fine, but he manages to grunt out a warning. Everyone is confused. The heat from the flames causes the armor to crack, a fatal crack, and boom.

-His true form is released.

-Dragon and Jane, too stunned by the extent of his secrecy to react, fly away. He slumps in rejection, lamenting the loss of his human form. For years he wanted nothing more than to be free of it, but now that it's gone he grieves it. I can imagine him clawing at the remains of his armor like "No! No! Turn me back! Turn me back now!"

-Next episode: Okay everybody we don't know where he fled too after we left in shock and we need to find Sir-Theodore-turned-dragon NOW before some villagers go after him with torches and pitchforks or far worse The hunt for him leads them to some important secret location for dragon society.

-So yeah that's the AU so far I guess

[incorrectjane-andthedragon]

So this is incredibly random but there was talk in the Discord of a Dragonblade AU where Jester inexplicably comes back to life, but it's gradually revealed that it's not actually him, it's another spirit possessing his body and pretending to be him.

My first thought? The Evil Ghost! John D'ark au.

In this au, D'ark's ghost has either been watching Jester + the castle residents for some time, or has been secretly somehow communicating with them. My mind immediately goes to Jester-he wrote a song about the old knight, so John would latch onto him and subliminally influence him in his life. Then, after Jester kicks the bucket in DB, John takes full control of his corpse. He's been around Jester long enough to decently imitate a good amount of his mannerisms-but there's definitely enough off about the way he begins acting for people to become uncomfortable. Most dismiss it as the trauma of his "horrifying near death experience", and that settles things for a while. But those closest to him, Jane and Co., just know that as happy as Jester suddenly seems to be after recovering, something is still seriously wrong. I feel like Jane in particular would be attuned to these changes-not only were she and Jester best friends, but, as Jane's grandfather, John is very interested in her and her life. How weird would it be if your bff's interest in your life activities suddenly changed from a manner that was platonic to paternal, grandfatherly?

(I have an idea-in this au, Jester breaking into Jane's room and crying over her stuff is the result of his possession. Either Jester and John fighting for control, or John becoming emotionally overwhelmed at his own circumstances. And as I've mentioned in Evil! John D'ark au concepts before, I have a theory that Evil! John would disapprove of women being knights as he came from an older generation. So discovering his granddaughter is a knight-or at least training to be one, under the tutelage of his former best friend-would make him...feel things, for better or worse.)

Speaking of Theodore, he would be the most disturbed of all. Sure, he's seen people and their demeanors change after severe trauma and/or near-death experiences, he's a knight, it's part of the territory. But this? This is unlike anything he's ever seen before. He can't pinpoint what is wrong with Jester, only that something is. And he shouldn't have recovered this quickly to begin with...

But he shoves the concerns out of his mind. All that truly matters is that Jester is alive and seems to be mostly happy, that's really nothing to worry about...

But then one day when the two are somehow alone together, an old nickname that only John D'ark ever used for him slips out of Jester's smiling mouth.

[incorrectjane-andthedragon]

Necessary context: So @thelightfantastik and I were talking about an AU where John D'ark and Sir Theodore were lovers, and then after D'ark's tragic death he became a warped ghost (I actually love this AU idea and I'll probably talk about it more later). Then, while discussing Jester's death in Dragonblade afterwards, this quote was born. - Jane: My lover turned into a warped ghost! Sir Theodore: First time?