Solo Leveling

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.

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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.

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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.

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

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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.”

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.

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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.

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.

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

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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."

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.