Norman & Virgil roleswap AU! God I’ve had this idea in my head for the better part of a decade but nothing I put down on paper ever looked QUITE right (Virgil’s anatomy is still kida wonk -- BIRD SKELETONS ARE STRANGE) but I took another crack at it today and finally ended up with something I liked.
I can’t remember who put this idea in my head all those years ago?? I think it was @wanlingnic but it may have been @deedee-sunflowers
I kinda jokingly referred to this in my head as “hard mode” because the goal was to keep their personalities intact while still swapping the roles, but it actually wasn’t that difficult!
Virgil as Guardian is less tank and more DPS, fighting with a variety of both weapons and magic to deal damage swiftly and efficiently. He’s strategizing twelve steps ahead or more in every battle, focused entirely on the end result of Max’s safety. But, being Virgil, he’s often stubborn and once he decides the best path to a result, you will be hard-pressed to get him to change course. HE’S ALSO VERY HIGH-STRUNG, as one would expect of Virgil. Probably still carrying a lot of trauma from being unable to protect Maximus when it mattered most.
Norman as the Teacher is, like his canon counterpart, very gentle with Max and focused on stepping back to see what he does before adding input. He is that teacher you had who will keep asking YOU questions, helping you figure out your own thought process and working through the problem yourself. Of course when Max is truly stumped, Norman will provide some answers, but he rarely has to because Max himself is pretty damn clever.
Actually thinking about it, Teacher Norman is a lot like Garnet.