araniaeous-blog

[araniaeous-blog]

[araniaeous-blog]

djhookwizardpuppy‌:

he listened to her words as well as managing the crowd. it seemed this place was quite busy! but it was also safe, apparently so that was good. he looked over to her and saw that she seemed a little surprised as well. maybe she was away for a bit. he knew sometimes going back to the guild after an absence could be — interesting.

he laughed at the warning about the sailors. “ah, i don’t really fear them! i doubt some drunken sailors could beat the time i teleported in the middle of a dark guild battle. like, it was these two guilds who were battling out one moment and the next moment, bam! it was me! i was able to alert the rune knights though and i was able to diffuse some of the tension between them. until the rune knights showed up. OG goldmine was equally impressed with my work and upset at how i got there. his disapproval face is so bad, man.” he shuddered at the memory. rip past dj. “what about you? any fun mage stories?”

after the war had ended, arania had not wasted any time. she had packed her suitcase, had said goodbye to marina and the others and then, she had travelled to midi. she had not been home as much as she had wanted to, but there was nothing like a war and someone dear to her getting hurt in said war to make her reevaluate things. she had stayed longer than she had planned to, had even wondered if she should go back to fiore. unlike many other mages in mermaid heel, she had a family that loved her, a family that missed her. 

“ there's not much i fear, but marina being disappointed? that's a scary thought, ” arania said as she shuddered and turned a corner, continuing her path towards her home. “ i took a break after the war. so i don't have many recent stories ... unless you're interested in the grand tale of how i had to cut a blue pegasus mage free from a tree? ”

[araniaeous-blog]

[araniaeous-blog]

THE SUN AND HER FLOWERS (rupi kaur) starter sentences

‘i deserve someone who is willing to stay.’

‘it isn’t what we left behind that breaks me it’s what we could have built had we stayed.‘

‘do you think flowers will grow here?‘

‘something is better than nothing.’

‘i thought love looked so much like you.’

‘maybe we are all looking at it wrong.’

‘love does not look like a person. love is action. love is giving all we can.‘

‘you will suffer the way you make me suffer.’

‘tell me, is there anything i can do?‘

‘how in the world did we get there?‘

‘how do we live through it?‘

‘i can tell when you are lying.’

‘we were good together, weren’t we?‘

‘i will be your greatest loss.’

‘they leave and act like it never happened.’

‘you will make it to the end.’

‘it took something human out of me.’

‘i used to dream of being so strong nothing could shake me.‘

‘you are waiting for someone who is not coming back.‘

‘i decorate my body in gold.’

‘i wash yesterday out of my hair.’

‘i was the warmest place and you turned me cold.’

‘the irony of loneliness is we all feel it at the same time.’

‘this place makes me that kind of exhausted that has everything to do with the people around me.’

‘like the rainbow after the rain joy will reveal itself after the sorrow.’

‘i try to rot into the earth below my feet.’

‘i must have done something terrible to deserve this.’

‘i will not subject myself to their ideology.’

‘nothing in this world was promised or belonged to you.’

‘i am both the poison and the antidote.’

‘i was not given the breath in my lungs to choke it out.’

‘what is stronger than the human heart which shatters over and over and still lives?’

‘you can imitate a light like mine, but you cannot become it.’

‘and here you are living despite it all.’

‘every word you say is your own responsibility .’

‘you need to be vulnerable to live but rough enough to survive it all.’

‘i am sorry this world could not keep you save.’

‘sacrificing yourself is not how you must show love.’

‘it was the happiest i had ever seen you.’

‘it looked like the life had been drained out of you.’

‘when they buried me alive i dug my way out of the ground.’

‘the rest of the city slept while we sat awakened.’

‘i have lost the best thing to have happened.’

‘i am solar systems away from you.’

‘the earth has waited its whole life for this.’

‘i am made of water. of course i am emotional.’

‘when death takes my hand i will hold you with the other.’

‘vulnerability is always the right choice because it is easy to be cold.’

‘mint chocolate chip ice cream will fix just about everything.’

‘if we can’t learn to be kind to each other how will we ever learn to be kind to ourselves?’

‘life and death are old friends and i am the conversation between them.’

‘to hate is an easy lazy thing. to love takes strength.‘

‘trust your body. it reacts to right and wrong better than your mind does.’

‘the day you have everything i hope you remember the day when you had nothing.’

‘it is a trillion-dollar industry that would collapse if we believed we were beautiful enough already.’

‘you already have everything you need within yourself.’

‘you can keep your lies.’

‘they threw us in a pit to end each other.’

‘this is the legacy we’ll leave behind.‘

‘i love you too much to remain quiet as you weep.‘

[araniaeous-blog]

djhookwizardpuppy‌.

DJ gleefully took the bag she handed him and held it closely to him. he followed her and titled his head when she spoke. he laughed softly, because, yeah. she was at a disadvantage, but it wasn’t his fault. he just didn’t like public attention that much and the OG Goldmine didn’t want him on the team in case…things happened. which was fair. knowing his luck, he’d end up teleporting himself out of the arena and be automatically disqualified. 

“i’m a teleportation mage,” he told her happily. “it’s a wild magic and quite fun! at least, i have fun with it. keeps me on my toes, y’know?” he sidestepped a bit as if to demonstrate. her bag was safe, however. no need to worry. “it’s also been WICKED GOOD for like, building problem solving skills yknow?. i end up in strange places all the time and have to figure out where i am and whatnot. it’s never a boring day, that’s for sure!”

she had expected a real name, not a pseudonym, but this was fine, too. arania was flexible, she could run with this particular brand of ... wildness. during the games and during the disaster afterwards, she had gotten to know some of his guild mates. not him, however --- he was quite the figure with his height and his hair and she did not think she would have been able to  not  see him, had he been around. and really, not all guilds brought every single mage among them to the games. it would be irresponsible; there were still jobs that needed to be done.

“ heather is pretty safe, on that side, ” she said as she sidestepped a group of fellow mages, nodding briefly in acknowledgement but not stopping to chat; she was hungry. some of them seemed to be new, she realised with slight wonder. maybe that would explain why there had been another addition to the guild building when she had returned to heather, a day before. “ well, unless you wind up in the middle of a brawl in a bar. some of the sailors here seem to strive to be as stereotypical as humanly possible. ”

[araniaeous-blog]

djhookwizardpuppy‌:

ah heather. that was the name of the place. he knew at SOME point, but details sometimes just…flew off of him. at times and honestly? other than respecting their power, DJ had nothing to do with mermaid heel. he was a guy after all.

 he gave the other finger guns and a bright smile. “thanks for the info!! and it’s chill, i still remember your fight wayyyy back then with that guy ren from BP! your magic is hella cool.” he had no issue with complimenting others because, well, why not? 

dj hummed and then noted that she was carrying bags in her hands and his eyes widened. “oh, hey, do you want any help with those bags? i get that i’m a stranger, but QC honor dictates that i help whenever wanted!”  OG goldmine probably meant around the guild, but DJ was quite alright with putting that philosophy in every aspect of life. 

eyeing the other mage for a moment, arania shrugged before she handed over one of the heavy bags. she could carry them herself, the way she usually would, but she was not above accepting help. well, she might have, had it been a certain mage from a certain guild, but ... this was an entrely different story altogether. one she did not like to think about much, truthfully.

ah yes, ren, she said grimly. she had never been a sore loser  ( growing up with siblings had seen to that ),  but this was a loss that had stung. outside of the arena, whenever their paths had crossed, ren had proven to be an opponent she could overcome, but the setting of an arena favoured him far more than her. but she could not complain about this to a stranger.

mentioning for him to follow her, she continued to walk at a slower, more relaxed pace. “ you have me at a disadvantage, however, ” she admitted as she angled her head to look at him. “ you know who i am, but i cannot say the same about you. aside from ... quatro cerberus, i suppose? ”

[araniaeous-blog]

djhookwizardpuppy‌:

@araniaeous liked for a starter!

he did not know how he manged to end up in this place, but that was what usually happened. he was a WILD NIGHT out with some friends in the guild, so he supposed he must have teleported then and just…slept somewhere. hm. he looked around and stretched his arms and back. it didn’t look to be outside of fiore, so that was good. his eyes caught a familiar face and he smiled. “yo what’s up! sorry if i alarmed you, i’m DJ Hook Wizard Puppy, from Quatro Cerberus. i sorta end up places cos my magic. i take it i’m near mermaid heel, then? nice to mee ya, you’re pretty badass, yknow?”

taking a brisk walk through heather was one of the first things arania did every morning when she was not out of town. by now, she was a few points further down on her to-do list, was carrying groceries and, as luck would have it, frowning at a quatro cerberus member who, according to his own statement, had wound up in heather  on accident.  because his magic apparently sometimes worked in such mysterious ways.

for a moment, she tried to imagine it --- the idea that her magic would sometimes have a mind of its own, that it would not always obey. it was a, mildly said, terrifying thought.

“ you  are  in heather, ” she confirmed as she shifted her bag from the left to the right side. “ and, uh, thanks? i guess? ”

[araniaeous-blog]

please, can someone tell me whether or not i can disown arania as my muse for having committed treason against me?

[araniaeous-blog]

today  jana's ramblings  the special episode called  using the gmg as indicator which mages are strong is difficult and potentially misleading:

for a lot of mages, surroundings matter a lot. for example, arania's fight against ren would have gone a lot differently had they not met in an arena. it was a playing field that largely favoured ren as arania was forced to meet him face-to-face instead of being able to use her surrounding to attack him from multiple angles, seemingly at once by making use of her superior speed and agility  ( and the spider abilities she probably has but did not show in canon ).

arania was  robbed  because ma.shima had to force the '''''''cute''''' moment between sherry and ren. that i think it was not cute but rather toxic is no secret at this point, but my anger grows whenever i consider that for this awful ship, my girl had to suffer. actually, both my girls suffered.

on a more general note: i think that very few mages would realistically seek the kind of confrontation the games forced on them. sure, yes, there is honour in fighting a duel and it makes for a good show, but --- when it is not about honour and a show but victory or even survival, many of the mages we have seen in the games would not fight the way they were shown, especially not those who are known to be strategic masterminds. thus, i don't consider the games to be reliable at all.

[araniaeous-blog]

arania is perhaps not exactly  immune  to gravity magic, but it does not throw her off her game the way it would others. for one, she prefers to have the higher grounds in her fights. and secondly, short of illness, nothing can make her dizzy. this is something she found out after meeting lamia's ooba babasama who, true to form,  spun  her for one reason or another. additionally, she has no fear of heights. if anything, she struggles when gravity is increased as it effectively disables her agility, but even then, she is not helpless --- and she has to be actually  hit  by gravity magic, first.

[araniaeous-blog]

mermaid heel is not the first guild arania has been a part of, but she does not tend to talk about her first guild experience as it would mean to reflect on a time in her life when she was possibly the worst version of herself. she had joined young, at thirteen, as it tends to be in midi, and she had quickly made her way to the top, being one of the most reliable mages her guild master had among the ranks. however, there was a major downside to this as the guild environment was  highly  competitive, not just in regards to jobs but also in regards to popularity within the guild. having spent formative years there, this was what arania's understanding of normal was like.

when she was young, most of the competitiveness was directed at who would get which quest. and this, this was innocent. it got a lot less innocent when she was older and the men of the guild became fair game, most importantly: the guild master as he was the central figure in how the guild was run, was the one who assigned missions. and while he was widely unaware of the bad blood among some of his mages as the guild was too big for him to keep track of everything, those who  were  fighting for his favour were keeping track of every little thing that might mean to gain an advantage.

as these things tend to, everything escalated around the time arania turned eighteen and she was no longer the talented kid in the eyes of those who had long turned this fight into an artform. instead, she was now a rival. and arania, for all her strengths, was too competitive, too ambitious to just ignore them. she did not just live in a toxic environment, no, she had become a part of it. and things would have escalated a lot further, had her older sister not become aware of what was going on.

the scolding of a lifetime later, ramira had convinced her sister to leave the guild and try her luck somewhere else, somewhere far away, somewhere where no one would have heard about the guild, where no one would be able to tell how much effort it took arania to be nice after such a long time of being venomous. it was still ramira who booked the train ticket to fiore, who promised to come up with a better-sounding, nicer story for their parents.

( because no matter how angry ramira had been, their mother finding out would be much worse and they both knew this. )

when arania first came to fiore, still reeling from the wakeup call she had gotten, she considers multiple guilds. in fact, la.mia sc.ale would have been her first choice and she still thinks that its intellectually driven mindset would have been a good fit her. however, she is trying to turn over a new leaf, trying to be a better person --- trying to be someone her younger sisters can look up to. mer.maid he.el and the complete absence of any men in the guild sounds promising.

and marina imni has proven to be a less oblivious guild master than arania's last, something she is ever grateful for. in retrospective, she is not sure where to place the blame. it is difficult to pinpoint, really, and she feels it would be too easy to decide that if her guild master had noticed more, he could  ( and would )  have put an end to it. blaming him would also mean to absolve everyone who had fed the toxicity of their guilt and arania does not think she can do this; it would feel too much like  forgiving  them and after all that has happened, she is not about to forgive anyone.

[araniaeous-blog]

i tried to stick to canon, i really did, but ... arania is 25 during the gmg. i have my reasons and they'll be explained in other hcs

[araniaeous-blog]

❅ || Headcanons || ❅ 

MERMAID Heel is a guild located in a large port town & is located directly on the edge of a private beach. The guild itself is only about ten years old && has a lot of developing to still be done. 

THE founder &&& current Guild Master, is a woman named Marina Imni. Marina grew up very romantic, with high hopes for love and life. At sixteen, she fell in love with a travelling mage & they were married quickly. Marina’s marriage took a turn for the worst, as the man turned out to be extremely abusive. 

SO, Marina trained her own magic in secret && found she had a very high potential for magic. When she thought she was strong enough, she turned the tables on her husband &&& ended up killing him. Or at least she believed she did. This was ten years after marrying him.

THIS experience completely ruined Marina’s opinion of men & she very rarely tolerates them. Marina used all of her ‘late’ husbands money to buy a private beach where she began building Mermaid Heel. Determined to create a place where young girls && women would have a safe place to live.

SHE didn’t originally intend for it to be a mage guild, but as she let more and more girls in she wanted to give them skills with which they could protect themselves. So, as the guild grew, it became a guild for mages &&& if you weren’t yet capable of magic a place that taught it. 

CURRENTLY, Marina is very ill & on a very reluctant bed rest. This is very well known information among the magic community && is why no one commented on her absence during the Grand Magic Games. Which she was watching from home, very aggressively cheering her girls on.

DUE to her illness, Marina is preparing for the worst. As Kagura is both one of the most responsible members &&& the strongest, she is the one that Marina is considering for title of guild master to should she not recover.

SOME images of what I imagine Mermaid Heels guild to look like: 

x. xx. xxx. xxxx. 

[araniaeous-blog]

❝ what a sudden and strange interest in my well-being. ❞

arania recoiled, nearly dropped her jacket. gods, kagura could be so prickly that sometimes, she really wondered why she even bothered. it was --- frustrating to be met with this ...  attitude  whenever she tried to be nice, when she tried to be a good comrade. if this would keep up, she would stop trying. there was no joy in being constantly treated like this, and arania had certainly not joined mermaid heel to be snapped at either.

crossing her arms, she angled her head and sighed. “ you know, kagura, that was unnecessary, ” she said quietly. “ i get that you're the ace and all, but that doesn't mean you get to snap at me. or anyone else, really. ”

the second part of her sentence was hardly a mere afterthought --- mermaid heel was more than a guild, was a shelter for women who had been trapped in unhealthy relationships, before. and this had been why arania had joined; she could have chosen so many other guilds when she had first come to fiore but this guild had been what had captured her interest. well, that and the idea that she would be part of a guild consisting exclusively of women. arania had sought sisterhood, not snappy remarks when she had only wanted to know how someone was doing.

( she had seen enough of  that  in her old guild. )

straighting up and  relishing  in every centimetre of her rather impressive height, she scoffed. “ i wanted to know how you were doing, heard that last job was ill-described, but you know what, i don't care enough to let you snap at me, ” she finished as she turned away, throwing the guild master an apologetic look. the woman did not like it when people fought in her hall, but arania had learnt when to draw a line.

“ so i'll keep my concern to myself, in the future, and leave you alone. ”

darkest dungeon sentence starters. accepting.

[araniaeous-blog]

darkest dungeon sentence starters, part iii

below, you will find 40 lines from the red hook game darkest dungeon. spoiler free, i suppose. trigger warning for mentions of death / poison / medical treatment / diseases. 

1. ❝ everything is blue in this world. ❞ 2. ❝ dancing and fighting — there is no difference. ❞ 3. ❝ hope, it seems, is not for sale. ❞ 4. ❝ why fight the push of blind ambition? ❞ 5. ❝ i’ve seen nothing i’m not prepared for. ❞ 6. ❝ fear wears of in time. much like mild poison. ❞ 7. ❝ if they filch one penny from me, i’ll burn them alive. ❞ 8. ❝ silence! i’m praying for your worthless soul. ❞ 9. ❝ we’re all falling apart. ❞ 10. ❝ i’m here for adventure. when does it start? ❞ 11. ❝ i still haven’t decided if you are worthy of my company. ❞ 12. ❝ the reward shall be mine to claim. ❞ 13. ❝ the poison still lingers in my veins. ❞ 14. ❝ inhale this. it should make you feel much better. ❞ 15. ❝ a stiff drink is all i need. ❞ 16. ❝ give me the thrill of fortune and the risk of the ruin. ❞ 17. ❝ i fear no demon for the greatest monster lies within. ❞ 18. ❝ i’m too young to have my name etched in a stone. ��� 19. ❝ life is a gamble, after all. ❞ 20. ❝ how many adventurers does it take to die in a pit? ❞ 21. ❝ once, our estate was the envy of this land. ❞ 22. ❝ everything has a weakness. ❞ 23. ❝ i must master my fear. ❞ 24. ❝ do not damage the head! i need it for my rituals! ❞ 25. ❝ hold fast to your convictions. ❞ 26. ❝ let’s tempt fortune, shall we? ❞ 27. ❝ whoever packed all this food, i could kiss you. ❞ 28. ❝ called your bluff, friend. ❞ 29. ❝ no one may kill that which defies death. ❞ 30. ❝ i know just where you’re weakest. ❞ 31. ❝ you wound me, and i’ll be impressed. ❞ 32. ❝ why did i trade her for this life? ❞ 33. ❝ to vanquish evil and discover what’s been forgotten by history, glorious. ❞ 34. ❝ being prepared is often about knowing where to look. ❞ 35. ❝ she loved me. ❞ 36. ❝ what a sudden and strange interest in my well-being. ❞ 37. ❝ yes, in a moment, in a moment … maybe. ❞ 38. ❝ i am too old for this. ❞ 39. ❝i don’t take bribes. never have. ❞ 40. ❝ it is a sad day, when i am your best hope.❞

[araniaeous-blog]

"fun story. at one point in my life, i was addicted to the hokey pokey. but i turned myself around."

arania grimaced, though she could restrain herself from rolling her eyes. her guildmate was surely what many would call an acquired taste, that much was a given, but she had gotten as used to arai's shenanigans as she ever would. and most of the time, it was --- fun. maybe not the same kind of fun that arania had known in her childhood, the kind of fun one could only feel when tackling the oldest sister and throwing her into the fountain in the garden, but it was still the childish kind of fun. and sometimes, especially after a particularly --- stressful mission, arania needed not to think.

needed to get out of her  grown-up brain  for just a moment so that she could leave the things she had heard and seen while lurking in the shadows like a spider on the wall behind, so that she would not take them with her. some might call arai immature, but arania did not think it was that.

( the other mermaid was too good at her job to be  truly  immature. )

“ one day, ” she said as she kept unpacking her bag, “ i will have to ask you why you are the way you are, arai, but today, all i want is a hot bath and then some spicy food. not necessarily in that order, if you wanna join me for dinner? ”

[araniaeous-blog]

*switches language mid sentence*