#optiprisms

Oooh what a fun spot to explore!!

So @loafingdragon​ and I have actually talked about this a lot, and we (she more than I) have built an AU around it!

If Yuno stayed a crybaby, that would mean that Asta was never a major presence in his life. The reason: Asta got adopted when he was little. Yuno didn’t. (Most of the AU actually focuses on Asta, but obviously this is pretty damn important for Yuno, too.)

That doesn’t stop Yuno from being loved by mana, and it doesn’t stop him from wanting to make something out of himself, but instead of wanting that out of his rivalry with Asta, I think that it would be more out of low self esteem and obligation. He’s always been a burden to the church; he’s been gifted this incredible power; he has no choice but to make something of himself, whether he likes it or not, to repay the orphanage for caring for him and so that his power does not go to waste.

So he takes the magic knights entrance exam, and he snivels and cries the whole way through, but he also shows off his wildly impressive power. However, his crybaby attitude is a pretty big deterrent to most of the magic knight captains, and the only ones who want him are Yami, whose whole MO is taking in disarming but powerful weirdos, and William, who would really rather not deal with him, but Patry can’t not have Licht’s son on his team, even if he is a big baby.

Yuno doesn’t have the confidence to be a Golden Dawn member, so he accepts Yami’s offer. The Black Bulls haven’t changed a lot in this AU. Asta is even still there! As a matter of fact, he treats Yuno terribly, and overall, Yuno is tough for the bulls to work with. But they do what they do and they love him into success– at least to an extent.

But Yuno is still Licht’s son and William HAS to figure out a way to get him on the Golden Dawn before the elves wake up. So he and Yami are going to have to do some bartering. At some point, Yami decides to call his bluff and tells him that he’s free to take Yuno if he wants him that bad. But he’s going to have to drag him, kicking and screaming, from his black bull friends.

William is forced to actually do that.

Still waiting for @loafingdragon​ to actually fill in some of the holes in this AU (it’s her AU, I’m just her captive audience) so this is all I’ve got for now, in terms of Yuno. If you’re curious you should ask her about it, she would really appreciate a chance to talk about it with someone other than me! Asta’s role in this AU is really spicy. We’re having a lot of fun with it.