#|| Arcana shift hero ||

[rubbarbandnsfw]

Arcana shift hero

Closed Harem rp with @fhulhuse-of-muses

-

It's been a hell of a ride for Desmond, our hero was thrown into a world where he had to chase down a villain in inaba and ran into the young adults of the investigation team- with their powers combined they stopped the threat and even delt some damage to shadows involved.

Once it as all over the hero headed home- but not before establishing a link between worlds- The team heard of a group of persona users dealing with a similar threat in shibuya, a young group of teens were fighting shadows as crime fighters, and des was tasked to join them. But Desmond didn't expect that he'd be blowing these kids minds.

"Damn...futaba I gotta go meet up with haru- who's teaching you kids head game like this?" These kids hated adults but took a shine to Des, probably because of his honesty.

[azuries]

SEES RYOJI MASTERPOST i hope you guys enjoy reading through it! i was heavily inspired by all the amazing art and content ive seen of the concept that i wanted to explore it too!

ART:

Moonlight Trio

Yukari and Ryoji going shopping (SEES!Ryoji winter clothes variations)

Ryoji accidentally hitting MC with his scythe

SEES!Ryoji sketch dump

SEES!Ryoji Theurgy splash

SEES!Ryoji Theurgy Storyboard

Ryomina in Tartarus

Ryomina in Tartarus P2

Ryomina in Tartarus P3

SEES!Ryomina Illustration

Cooking with Yukari

SEES!Ryoji Sprite edit

SEES!Ryoji fanmade P3RE screenshots

Ryomina SEES!Ryoji animatic

feral SEES!Ryoji

Clumsy SEES!Ryoji

Charmed Ryoji

All Out Attack Splash

SEES!Ryoji Cut In Splash

Comic

Ryoji learns about evokers

More SEES Ryoji sketches

Ryoji killing the Reaper

Twitter post  

After Ryoji finds his resolve through the Hero, he offers to join his team. He gives him a choice to go through a better, yet harder way to get through Tartarus, a way only he can access. It features new bosses, content, and a new spin of the final fight with Strega.

Contains: Art, battle stats, Theurgy, combat dialogue, Tartarus dialogue and banter, and more!

Full post under the cut:

—-

This AU explores the idea that instead of Ryoji leaving for the last  month, he offers to join the team as a temporary team member to lend his power to help SEES reach the remaining floors of Tartarus before he merges with Nyx. More events happen that prolong the time you spend together. 

Ingame, it’s treated like a bonus mission and an addition to get to know Ryoji better during the aftermath of November. 

As a new addition to the team, he’ll join SEES in the dorm and have his own version of FTEs with plant tending, movie watching, book reading and cooking. He’ll have interactions with other party members. 

The player will also get to know more on his personal feelings as the Appriser. Through conversing with Ryoji, you learn in depth about Tartarus, and the player gets to see a more subdued side of him as he tries to come to terms with his identity. 

He uses an evoker to trigger his form as Thanatos instead of using it to summon a Persona.

The player can choose to go through this route, or play the game like how it was originally set. The ending remains the same.

Party Stats:

Level: Scaleable, 2 levels higher 

Element: Dark and Almighty

Weakness: None, reflects pierce damage 

Combat style: Prioritizes debuffing, tank 

Theurgy - Death’s Call: Deals massive almighty damage to all foes. Fears both enemies and allies. 

Theurgy condition: When Ryoji sees his friends suffer a lethal blow, he feels determined to take vengeance.

Theurgy Personality bonus:

Chance to grant Arcana Burst even without completing your Major Arcana stack.

+ More damage to weak foes. 

Intercepts an incoming lethal blow for a party member.

DIALOGUE:

Ryoji’s first Tartarus entrance dialogue: 

Ryoji: - So this is Tartarus.

I, I can feel her. She’s keeping an eye on us. On me.

Remember that I’m here to help. Tartarus is Nyx’s realm, but I should know a better way to help you get to the top. 

Keep in mind that I may not be as impenetrable while I’m here, and shadows will be a lot more hostile if we go this way. Are you sure you wanna do this?

MC:

> Nowhere to go but up.

> Let’s do this.

> Are you sure there’s no other way?

Don’t worry. Whatever‘s waiting for us, I won’t let anything happen to you. They’ll have to get through me first. 

First Summon dialogue: 

I have to do this. Everyone..I’m sorry for what you’re about to see. 

Get out here, Thanatos! 

Turning into Thanatos (Persona Summon) 

If this is what it takes.

Please look away.

Thanatos!  

Do what you must!

Combat 

Shift dialogue:

All up to you! 

We’re in this together!

Receiving end of shift dialogue: 

I’m on it! 

They’ll get what's coming to them.

Item use: 

This will help, right? 

Getting healed:

I don’t deserve this.

Death:

I-I hope it was enough. 

Sorry..

AILMENTS

Distress

It’s over.. Why do we still try?

Confuse 

Guys? What’s going on?!

Rage

Come on! Take me down if you can! 

Charm

So, how about dinner?~

Down

You’re kidding me! 

Shock

What is this?! 

AOA

Before All Out Attack:  

We’re going in! 

Before splash art: 

And that's how it's done! 

Splash art Caption: 

DEATH IS INEVITABLE

All Out Attack splash art line:

Pointless to deny your fate.

Basic victory dialogue: 

I hope it was worth it. 

Heh, how was that? 

Battle aftermath:

That was impressive. You’re all amazing!

Stairs discovery

Found the stairs. There’s no time to lose! 

Found the way up! You know best, leader.

Treasure

Ooh, something shiny! 

Hey, guys! Found something useful? Maybe?

SEES advantage: 

They never saw it coming! 

Ambush / enemy advantage: 

Leader, stay close to me!

Hit by crit: 

That’s impossible! 

SEES Tartarus dialogue w/Ryoji 

Junpei: Hey, so.. Ryoji… What’s with the long scarf? And how do you not slip from it when you run? 

Ryoji: I don’t think it’s that long! 

Yukari: Seriously? Out of all the questions you can ask him, that’s what you go with? 

—-

Mitsuru: For someone with no prior experience, you’ve been keeping up well, Ryoji-kun. 

Ryoji: I’m glad you think so, Kirijo-senpai.

Akihiko: Don’t push yourself, though, alright?

—-

Junpei: Ryoji! Now that you live with us, we have got to continue the game we were playing! 

Ryoji: I don’t think you’d want to…Didn’t I delete your save on accident?

Junpei: Eh, I wasn’t paying much attention to the story in the first place. 

—-

Ryoji: I never got to thank you before for helping me settle in, Fuuka. How about I take you out? 

Fuuka: Oh, of course! Let’s invite the others too!

Junpei: …Yikes, dude.

—-

Fuuka: I’ve always wanted to do karaoke with you all. You should join us, Ryoji-kun!

Ryoji: Oh, m-me...?

Junpei: Yeah, you’re always holed up in your room and we never know where you’re out at night! How about we sing our hearts out instead? 

Ryoji: Ahh.. haha..I… I’ll think about it. 

—-

Ryoji: *Humming Mass Destruction* 

Aigis: Ryoji-san. Were you the one making those sounds? 

Ryoji: Sorry! Makoto-kun and I were listening to some songs, and now I can’t get it out of my head. 

—-

Ryoji: Aigis..About what happened before. I feel like I should apologize one more time. 

Aigis: Instead of apologies, let’s make a promise. That we’ll see this through, together.

Ryoji: …Yeah. You’re right.  

—-

Aigis: It’s strange. In the real world, you’re impenetrable. But in Tartarus...

Ryoji: Until the promised day, I’m an obstacle to Nyx. I wouldn’t put it past her to limit my power. 

Mitsuru: So she was expecting this. Well, we just have to plan accordingly, then.

—-

Aigis: I decided to live, but…how do I even begin? How would I know? 

Ryoji: I already sense life within you, Aigis. You’re doing more than enough.

—-

Ryoji: Wandering Tartarus must feel repetitive. Maybe I can try something! I can add some arcade machines? 

Ryoji: Oh… but if I do that, Tartarus will just take it away again. *sigh* Nevermind, then.

Ken: Can.. Can you actually do that?!

Yukari: *sigh* Of course he can’t. 

—-

Akihiko: How are you holding up, Mochizuki? Think you can still keep up?

Ryoji: Heh, that’s not even a question, Senpai.

—-

Ryoji: I hope I’m not bringing you guys down. What do you think, Koromaru-san? 

Koromaru: *barks enthusiastically*

Fuuka: Hahaha. Koro-chan seems to enjoy your company!

—-

Yukari: Whew..! You guys notice the shadows have gotten…much more alert?

Akihiko: You’re right. It’s like we unlocked the deepest depths of Tartarus that Nyx didn’t want us to see.

—-

Junpei: Jeez Ryoji, you weren’t kidding. The shadows of this detour are a whole different monster! 

Ryoji: I’m sorry, Junpei. But I promise it’s just a little longer. 

Junpei: Who am I to back down from a challenge? This’ll be a piece of cake! 

—-

Mitsuru: Are you settling in the dorm well, Ryoji-kun?

Ryoji: Oh. I am, thank you. 

Mitsuru: Of course. Just let us know if you need anything.

—-

Ken: Did anyone hear footsteps in the boys’ dorm last night? 

Yukari: Must have been Aigis sneaking to Makoto’s room, even if I told her to not leave past curfew…

Aigis: It was not me. I was out for my monthly checkup. 

Yukari: Then… who was it?

Ryoji: It wasn’t me! 

Yukari: No one said it was you! 

—-

Ken: So, where have you been living before, well, all of this, Ryoji-senpai?

Ryoji: I-I actually don’t know. Anything outside of school and Makoto-kun becomes a blur.

Fuuka: Ryoji-kun…

—-

Ryoji: You’re amazing to lead such a capable team, Makoto-kun. You look good like this. 

—-

Yukari: Ryoji-kun and I went thrift shopping the other day. It was actually pretty fun!

Ryoji: Thanks for taking me out, Takeba-san. I wanted that jacket, though.. 

Yukari: Unless you wanna blind someone with that thing, there’s no good reason to wear it! 

Ryoji: *sighs sadly*

—-

Ryoji: There were so many couples on Paulownia Mall for Christmas Eve. It was lovely to see.

Junpei: Ooo, does our newest member have a special someone they have in mind?

Ryoji: I-I wouldn’t say that..

Junpei: Hahaha! You’re like a tomato right now, dude! 

Ryoji: Hey, knock it off!

—-

Ryoji: Wait, you’ve reached past the 200th floor?! Akihiko: All in a day’s work. Everyone has been putting in their all. 

—-

Akihiko: You’re hardly breaking a sweat. What’s your routine, Mochizuki?

Ken: I’m guessing it’s him not being human in the first place?

Akihiko: Ken, that’s not..!

Ryoji: It’s alright, I don’t mind. He has a point, though.

—-

Yukari: I won these chocolate bars, I brought them in case anyone wanted a snack. Want some? 

Ryoji: Oh, that’s okay. I don’t eat sweets that much. 

—-

Mitsuru: I have to say it was quite convenient for the Kirijo Group to have an extra weapon. 

Ken: Yeah, and what’re the odds it was a scythe too?

Ryoji: Hahaha…. I guess.

—-

Koromaru *bark*

Aigis: Koromaru-san is asking that if you’re Death, what will that make of the Reaper?

Junpei: I bet Ryoji here can take him down, no problem! 

Ryoji: I’d rather not stick around to find out. For your sakes.

—-

Ryoji: I was told you lost a close friend to the Dark Hour. I’m sorry for your loss.

Mitsuru: …Thank you, Ryoji-kun.

Akihiko: He’d want us to move forward. There’s no use dwelling in the past.

Ryoji: I guess you’re right. I’m here to help however I can. 

—-

Koromaru: *bark bark* 

Junpei: Hey… you think Koromaru sensed Ryoji’s true identity? 

Ken: Oh, do you mean because  of dogs’  intuition to ghosts and spirits? 

Fuuka: I don’t think Ryoji-kun’s just any ghost though..!

—-

Ryoji: Hey Takeba-san. Can I ask you something?

Yukari: I swear, if it’s you trying to ask me out again…

Ryoji: Oh, that’s not what I was gonna- Wait, do you want me to? Because-

Mitsuru: -I think I saw something important there, leader. Let’s check it out.

Ryoji: This feels too familiar.

—-

Junpei: Kyoto was so fun! School trips should happen more often. 

Yukari: *glare*

Junpei: Eep! 

Ryoji: Ah-! I-I swear, that wasn’t our intention! It was all a misunderstanding! Leader, tell her! 

—-

SP LOW: 

Mitsuru: Ryoji-kun. Make sure not to strain yourself. 

Ryoji: I’m fine, please don’t worry. I can’t let up in front of a pretty girl like you, now can I? 

—-

Fuuka: Leader… Ryoji seems tired. 

—-

If Makoto has low SP: 

Ryoji: You don’t look good…Please, pace yourself. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you.

FTEs: (WIP)

Plant tending event

anddd thats it so far!! if this post ever needs updating, i definitely will!

thank you so much for reading! it really means a lot!

[iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia]

The Arcana HCs: How M6 act when they're sleep deprived

Julian

What do you mean? This is his permanent state of functioning, MC, he wouldn't know who he was if he wasn't exhausted

Now give him back his coffee. He wasn't done with that

Julian's version of properly sleep deprived is akin to a normal person's version of "so close to dead they've never felt more alive"

You'll only know he's at the true edge of his exhaustion when his eyebrows reach a new height of bushiness and his pupils dilate to two tiny pinpricks of black in a sea of shaky grey

His normal eye will be so bloodshot that you'll have a hard time telling which one needs an eyepatch over it

Be prepared for the theatre kid plague doctor version of zoomies

Were you hoping to read your book quietly? Not anymore!! Allow him to spice up your story by assigning different voices to your beloved characters and loudly reading them from atop the table

Better yet, watch him vault from the table to the windowsill as he demonstrates the dashing hero's getaway!

The plot takes a turn as the book goes flying into the sink and he continues undaunted, improvising a three person fight scene with the lid off your soup pot and the fire poker

This ends when you either guilt him into bed or he crashes mid-sentence

Asra

To say that they don't take well to being sleep-deprived is an understatement. They exist in a constant state of "just rolled out of bed and will happily roll back in." Life revolves around sleeping in

He can lose an hour or two of sleep here and there. It's not even super unusual for him to accidentally stay up into the wee hours of the morning because he got stuck in a curiosity spiral

But they usually make up for it with cat naps through the next day. When that proves impossible, though -

There's no nice way to put it. He's grumpy. Irritable. His tendency to make sarcastic, cutting comments about things he doesn't like increases tenfold

Their hair gets frizzy, the annoyed wrinkles around their eyes could rival an elephant's, and their usual easygoing expression is replaced with a scowl so deeply disgusted by existence that it rivals Muriel's

He doesn't yell or snap - no, he just stumbles through the shop with his hair in his eyes and a random object in his hand (is that a half finished rendering of the Palace carved on a banana peel?)

Be prepared for them to mumble out all kinds of hilarious swear combinations as they give you their real opinion on yesterday's finnicky shop patron. They'll read her outfit to filth

Nadia

She just gets stressed and depressed

And depending on how bad the deprivation is, slightly panicked

First she gets stuck asleep for literal years. Then after waking up she can't sleep enough, thanks to headaches and nightmares. She's just so done with the discomfort of it all

She also associates you with being able to sleep in a way that is safe and restful, so you're about to become a personal stuffie

If you complain, she'll immediately apologize and leave you to go about your day. Otherwise she doesn't realize what she's doing

You're coming with her. Everywhere

She's either got your arm looped through hers, her hand holding yours, or (depending on your height) your shoulders tucked firmly into her side while she runs her fingers through your hair

She will instinctively tighten her grip on you if you squirm

If she gets too lost in thought while she tries to get her tasks out of the way, she will bodily pick you up and carry you from room to room like an animate teddy bear. You are her comfort item now

Forgets to verbalize her thoughts. The plan is so clear inside her head, no need to pause to enact it

Which is how you ended up plopped on a horse with 0 explanation

Muriel

Oh dear

His anxiety skyrockets. Sleep is his coping mechanism for an ugly world. Sleep is an escape. And now sleep is ... unavailable???

His personality slowly shifts. Is he still grumpy? Yes, but faster now. Without access to the thing that helps him feel safe, he's full of anxious energy to the point of becoming frantic

Starts obsessively doing everything he can so that sleep is possible again. Is there a lot to get done? move out of the way.

Is it insomnia? He's trying everything from filling the hut with myrrh to making an uncharacteristic march into town so he can raid the shop for remedies while Asra looks on, jaw on the floor

He'll do anything, just let him sleep

Absolutely refuses to have anything to do with alcohol to make him drowsy, though. The same goes for any type of strong sleeping enchantments, medicines, or potions

He wants to maintain control over his body

It was a strange experience to come back after a day out to find the entire hut rearranged, with a borderline manic Muriel pacing the floor and muttering to himself about "something soothing"

Apparently that was you, by the way, you were all he needed. He took one look at you, heaved a sigh of relief, and then dozed off to the sound of you puttering around

Portia

For someone who's usually so cheery and on top of things, she gets really mellow and spacey - almost childlike

You will have to repeat yourself up to five times before she's able to process your question and tell you that she moved your shoes to the closet because she needed to sweep earlier

Slow frog blinks, first one eye, and then the other

Keeps putting stuff down where it's not supposed to go and then completely forgetting about them

Why is there a wet bar of soap on her pillow. Why is there a teacup half-buried in the garden. Why is Pepi covered in flour

If the reason for her sleep deprivation is overwork, there's no chance of her getting anything more done until she's had a full eight hours of rest. She physically cannot focus enough

If the reason is just insomnia, she just gets sad. One glance at Pepi curled up into a cute little roll and snoozing in a sunbeam will lead to silent tears pouring down her cheeks and quiet sniffles

Gets so so sweet - she already is, of course, but to a whole new degree. If you bring her a cup of soothing herbal tea, she'll look at you like you're a fairy and whisper "thank you" while she cradles it

A good backrub is usually all she needs to conk out

Lucio

He values his beauty sleep and he is not happy when he doesn't get it. Do you know what it takes to maintain skin like his??

Loud and cranky but refuses to acknowledge why

He wouldn't feel this lousy just from not getting enough sleep! What are you talking about? This is clearly some kind of foul magic or sickness at work - check his temperature! Is that a fever??

He doesn't need sleep, he needs answers. Who's fault is this? Who does he need to beat up? Leave him alone!

Wait no no no he didn't mean that, don't leave him alone, MC please, he loves you, don't go (note: you haven't moved)

He knows what he needs to do. He needs to hunt down whoever or whatever is causing this misery and force them to put an end to it

It must be some kind of curse. Loud noises hurt his ears, the sun is too bright, his eyes are tired and itchy, his brain is full of fog, his whole body feels slow and heavy, this isn't right!

Maybe this is actually his cue to throw a party - no? Yeah okay, he wasn't really feeling up for one anyways

Which is clearly another symptom of the curse! MC, help him!

You'll have to change tactics and tell him that you'll only be able to help him kill the curse if he falls asleep so you can see his dreams

[lovebvni]

Pink Pick-A-Pile (from 08.28.2022)

LMFAOOA IDK WHY I USED THIS PICTURE!!

but before reading, please realize when i made this, i was in a My Hero Academia reality shifting community. Currently, I am no active there, so if you find these posts,,, yes they were me. LMFAOOAOAO and some of this blog has been edited for my sanity.

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│ᵒᵖᵉⁿⁱⁿᵍ ᵐᵉˢˢᵃᵍᵉ...

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[ 🖊 ] created ⋮ 27.8.22

[  ] published ⋮  27.8.22

˚₊·͟͟͟͟͟͟͞͞͞͞͞͞➳❥ ꒰ ⌨ ✰ Arsyn   ⋆  ⁱˢ ᵗʸᵖⁱⁿᵍ··· ꒱ | ೃ࿔₊•

┊       ⋆     welcome to my blog !

┊     °

hi lovelies!! changing what i did last time for a pick a pile, im going to be doing a more motivational one!

by no means does it mean im going to be all nice, im just going to praise you and all that you and all you’re doing. its just gonna be less about WHAT and more about HOW you can change it and also motivating you to do more/what other things you can do to help you shift faster (if you’re still working to your first attempt) or how you can positively change your shifting journey. also you guys know i can be kind of blunt and then the alice in wonderland tarot is BRUTAL but im using the White Numen deck this time (which honestly is my nsfw deck LFMAJSUHNTE BUT I WANT AN EXCUSE TO USE THEM FOR A PICK A PILE!!!)

breathe in...

and out...

now please, pick a pile or two

Pile 1

Hello pile 1 and welcome to your reading!!

confirmation for this pile: 1111, angel numbers, reunions, supernatural dr, stability, not changing ‘im not seeing results’, pisces, water signs, christmas/yule, holidays, “its just out my reach”, unstable perspectives, cows, animals, outdoors

cards: the hanged man, knight of cups (r), six of wands, ace of swords

not even gonna lie, at first i got 11 cards.., i shuffled the 11 i got to make this pile smaller so i dont drain myself during the first pile jaoishtioeh

this pile is in either a state of waiting or a state of wanting change. you’re waiting for it and you’re working on it but its almost tiring? maybe you’re loosing the hope, motivation, the fire under your ass because of this waiting. i just remember that one blog that said that sometimes shifting is like a waiting game, i feel like thats the place you guys are right now.

in the kindest way possible, your emotions are out of wack. i feel a lot of stress, anger, hurt and just instability in emotions. maybe doing shadow work, vent art, sharing your feelings, poetry, etc. dont avoid these feelings because once you confront them and move on with life, it will be much easier.

again with being creative and venting in a not natural (?) way, ace of swords and six of wands is kinda like a ‘yeah do this.’ a nod in the right direction. being creative and changing the way you develop and think about things will help you a lot. you got this babes! you’ll get the big change you want when you start thinking outside the box. dont do the things you always used to do, but change the way you approach them and how you look at things. glass half full not half empty.

thank you pile one! i hope this resonates!! 

Pile 2

hello pile 2! and welcome to your pile

heres confirmation:  burning bridges, coming to an end, breaking negative cycles, “i know how it is”, not trustworthy, being pissed off and arrogant, 555, spiritual connection (soulmates, twin flames, etc), 888,666, snakes

cards: Temperance, the hierophant (r), 10 of wands (r), the lovers

okay wow the first thing i have to say is so many major arcana cards - literally i thought the would ALL be major

this pile seems burnt out in a way (no pun intended based on the pile image) and you need to find a way to light your flame again. dont give up, and dont be scared to ask for help. if you’re struggling with spiritual beliefs/shifting/your journey PLEASE ask for help. dont cry in silence. break free from any cycle you’ve been in. cleanse your energy and the energies around you. break ties with people who aren’t helping you in any way. who are negative in your life. hold your ground and speak what you think and know is right. dont let someone else control and manipulate you in any way. be powerful, because you are. you’re in control.

with temperance and the lovers coming out i feel like this is almost why you’re shifting/what keeps moving you to shift. its moving into your god/goddess energy. being that powerful being you are. being assertive and knowing what is right for you. when you’re shifting/thinking about shifting/making an attempt remember why you started. remember your past self and who you want to be in the future, and who you want to surround yourself with. the people? are they different? know how to control and change the situation if you need it. you got this okay? you’ll see who you want to see and be who you want to be.

thank you pile 2! i hope this resonated

Pile 3

hi pile 3!! literally accidently typed 333 so anyways

confirmation: 333, childhood, hello kitty, red, actions speak louder than words but its more about the effect on you life rather than what they did, water, ocean, 555, penguins

cards: five of wands (r), three of pentacles (r), death (r), the chariot, five of wands

okay first things first we have 3 reversed cards and thats like kinda?? because pile 3, accidently typing 333 and three of pentacles?? but lets move on

you’re moving away from hardships and being stuck in your own head and coming to terms and being at peace with your cr/or. you’re letting go of the things that made it bad and accepting them as memories and just things to hold on to and never let go of. more about the people than what they did.

are your goals not written out pile 3 and your true intentions behind them? or are you just not working to them? you may know your goals and not work to them, are you burnt out? take a break then! take care of yourself. you guys are the stubborn time but you need to listen to me when i say TAKE A BREAK ITS FOR THE BETTER! you may even shift on your break. you need to take a moment and be still because it will actually boost you forwards in the long run. sometime taking breaks helps you move forward. being able to take time and relight your candle. this will lead you to a peaceful and good ending. you can see the shore and you’re about to pull up.

honestly five of wands seems out of place to me, i ask spirit to give me cards in a way thats comprehensive and makes sense with the cards near/around it. it represents rivalry, conflict in a way. maybe spirit is saying on this break fix your relationship with someone, stop fighting and going back and forth. hold your ground, agree to disagree, and let go. also shifting isnt a race or competition, so dont rush it or you can get thrown off course.

thank you pile 3! i hope this resonated

Pile 4

confirmation: water, water signs, oceans, harmony, boobies , feet?? IN WATER??, “the universe must have divined this” - dove cameron’s ‘boyfriend’, bo burnham, “i gotta get out of here”, deities, blue, white, red, AMERICA

cards: two of wands, four of cups, six of swords, three of cups

okay so something i noticed right off the bat is there is a LOT of water i mean even in a card that supposedly represents air signs, shes in a boat in the water. anyways you guys are PLANNING unlike the last pile, you guys have a set out plan, goals, and reasoning. now you have a decision to make, are you going to look to external sources or work with yourself? i was called to get an oracle card bc you guys are different.

I got two cards actually, a time to give rather than take, new moon in virgo and a time for healing balsmic moon. so these cards, surprisingly, are saying the same thing. a change is coming, it may seem like its slow but its coming. i promise, and it will be surprising when it happens.

back again to tarot, because i actually only got to one card(!!) you guys are reevaluating and reflecting, i feel like you have been for a while, thinking and dwelling on the things you can change, have changed, and how far you’ve come (NOT GOODBYE BY BO BURNHAM COMING ON IM DONE walks out door ok im back.. but anyways) stop romanizing everything and look at it in worse case scenario vs best case. the best case was already stated, now look at it as the worst thing that can happen. make that like the fuel for your flame and dont let it hold you back, let it drive you forward. this is where six of swords comes in, you ARE moving forward and you will keep moving forward the more you do. you will heal (ORACLE!!) and you are healing. six of swords can also be interpreted as an escape. maybe shifting is an escape for you?

for the last card, 3 of cups is all about harmony, friendships and community.

i know a lot of people (AND I MEAN A LOT OF PEOPLE) have left the MHA shifting community recently, but keep close to the ones you need/have made an impact on you. maybe they’re leaving/have left but yk what you do? ask around. search and find. it reminds me of a bible verse “ask and you shall gain” or something like that. keep close to those who help you, keep the positive in your life not the negative. keep friends close okay? and talk to them, dont let go.

okay pile 4!! thats it, hope this resonated and you have a great day! also little side note, throughout writing this pick a pile i saw the lovers. so that may be important to some of you. im not putting it in confirmation because if you get this far down that means something for you.

[shytastemakerthing]

⚜️Welcome weary traveler, it would seem that you have stumbled upon my blog. Come, rest yourself and relax, enjoy some reading and indulge.Wish to make a request of your own, do take note of the rules below before you send anything in. This masterlist contains requests and another separate one shall be created for my match-ups. I do hope to hear from you soon~ 300 Follower Event Rules for requesting

🌜Matchup’s🌛

⚜️WIP

🪞Twisted Wonderland Masterlist🪞

Heartslabyul

Riddle Rosehearts with a jealous S/O

All dorm members x Albino!reader

Platonic!MC telling him that he is her favorite

OB Boys with Yuu who can read minds

Savanaclaw

Magic shift trio + Jack with Hogwarts!Yuu teaching them quidditch

All dorm members x Albino!reader

Platonic!MC telling him that he is her favorite

Malleus and Leona with crush (angst to fluff)

Savannaclaw with raccoon beastwoman MC

OB Boys with Yuu who can read minds

Octavinelle

Platonic!MC telling him that he is her favorite

OB Boys with Yuu who can read minds

OB Boys with Yuu who can read minds

Scarabia

All dorm members x Albino!reader

Platonic!MC telling him that he is her favorite

OB Boys with Yuu who can read minds

Pomefiore

Vil with an S/O who has a hard time saying his last name

Magic shift trio + Jack with Hogwarts!Yuu teaching them quidditch

All members with Albino!MC

OB Boys with Yuu who can read minds

Ignihyde

OB Boys with Yuu who can read minds

Diasmonia

Platonic!MC telling him that he is her favorite

Baking together with Lilia Vanrouge

Malleus and Leona with crush (angst to fluff)

All members with Albino!MC

OB Boys with Yuu who can read minds

🎤Ensemble Stars🎤

Rei Sakuma with a sleepy S/O

🔥My Hero Academia❄️

⚔️Demon Slayer⚔️

Giyuu finding child!reader

Kokushibo reuniting with gn child in the afterlife

Kokushibo with adult reader who gives him a rock

Hantengu Clones with adult!love clone reader

Love clone reader in love with a human

Modern!Au Zohakuten with baby sister reader

Child!Love clone in normal time line

Both love clones within the Demon slayer timeline

Modern!AU ZOhakuten meeting girl always around the quads

Zohakuten x platonic!best friend reader

Child reader with sentient braids representing the Hantengu clones

👑Ikemen Series👑

⚜️Nothing at this time

Magic!And the boys who love me

⚜️Nothing at this time

Arcana Twilight

⚜️Nothing at this time

Black Butler

⚜️Nothing at this time

Court of Darkness

⚜️Nothing at this time

Ouran Highschool Host Club

[blackjackkent]

I think Rakha kind of likes the Wyrmway initially.

It's very quiet and cool down here. It doesn't smell like blood like the Undercity Ruins, or like sewage like the Guildhall area. There are no people here endlessly talking and jostling her like in the Lower City and the South Span.

It's just... quiet. And her mind is quiet. And she is here for Wyll. This is, very briefly, the most hopeful she's felt possibly ever.

There's a note from a past adventuring team on a stone bench further down the passageway.

Rakha's only direct experience with dragons is the one that blew fire directly in her face back on the nautiloid, so she's maybe a little less than enthused to read that the dragon's goodness or lack thereof is in question. But the idea, theoretically, is that Wyll is here specifically to provide it direction from his heroic nature, so this soothes her immediate concerns.

As she approaches a nearby locked door, a voice bursts from a statue nearby, making her jump.

Narrator: The statue before you bears a familiar likeness. It is Balduran, the celebrated adventurer who founded the city of Baldur's Gate.

"Peril floods my province," the statue announces gravely. "The palisades fall, the earth does tremble,/The servants of shadow and blood assemble. Beyond lies the grand wyrm deep in slumber,/Awaiting a true hero's advent,/should my domain drown in torment. Be you the deluge, turn away./Be you the hero, answer true:/Are you worthy?"

(A/N: Gods, what terrible poetry. XD I honestly can't tell exactly if this is the same VA as the Emperor without the pitch-shifting. It probably is; there are definitely bits that sound like it could be. But it's not at all clear.)

"Poetic nonsense," hisses the Emperor inside Rakha's head. "There is no wyrm and no savior."

Rakha's jaw works. She is still furious at the Emperor after their last direct conversation, and she's particularly uninterested in any assertions it might make about Wyll not being able to fulfill his purpose here. So she ignores it completely and focuses on the statue instead, which is frankly fascinating.

[ARCANA] Examine the statue. What magic might be at work?

Narrator: You sense neither life nor spirit within the statue. A powerful variant of Magic Mouth has been cast on it, allowing it to speak only recorded messages.

Were there less time pressure, Rakha would definitely be intrigued to simply stay and examine this powerful spell for quite some time. But they have work to do.

She considers the question, then looks at Wyll, gesturing to him. He steps forward to her side and clears his throat. "I am worthy. Open the way."(*)

The Weave swirls around the statue, a Knock spell forming itself out of the chaos and bursting against the door.

"Ancient Ansur, hear me," barks the statue. "A champion is proclaimed! The test begins; let your judgment follow!"

The door slides open soundlessly, revealing a dark and high-ceilinged atrium beyond.

"Test?" Rakha asks.

Wyll shrugs uncertainly. "Of heroism, I suppose," he says vaguely, which answers nothing at all.

-----

(*) This is technically a PC line but I'm assigning it to Wyll cos it makes more sense. :D I think I did this with Hector also.

[dailydemonspotlight]

May I request Brigid please?

Brigid - Day 102 (Request)

Race: Megami

Arcana: Empress

Alignment: Light-Law

September 3rd, 2024

A strangely recurring trope in many mythologies is a goddess of the ‘Hearth-’ less one who represents fire and more the fireplace in the home, being typically maternal figures who stand in for the health of a home’s residence and the comfort and warmth of an open flame. This is a rather common role throughout many pantheons, and I suppose it makes sense- a hearth is a fixture in a home, after all- but it always feels a bit odd to prescribe such importance to one item in the house. And why is it always a goddess? No buff and burly men of the house with giant beards? A shame. My ramblings aside, though, today’s Demon of the Day is one such goddess of the fireplace, and one of the Tuatha Dé Danann as well- the Irish goddess, Brigid. 

While Brigid is associated with far more than just the home, a lot of importance is given to her role as such, being her primary moniker on top of being the goddess of poetry, healing, smithing, and several traditionally feminine aspects. Her roles mainly tie into her primarily being a goddess who represents, and stands in for, several things that are intrinsically art-related, painting (heh) a picture of her importance. However, curiously, all of these things aren't connected to one, central figure- much like Morrigan, it's believed that Brigid may be a title applied to several figures of the Tuatha Dé Danann, given to two of her stated sisters in the pantheon, being Brigid the smith and Brigid the physician.

According to the Lebor Gabála Érenn, a major collection of pre-Christian Irish texts dated back to the middle ages, Brigid and her sisters were each the daughters of Dagda, with her being a poetess who owned two oxen, Fea and Femen. To quote,

Brigid the poetess, daughter of The Dagda, she it is who had Fea and Femen, the two oxen of Dil, from whom are named Mag Fea and Mag Femen. With them was Triath, king of the swine, from whom is Tretherne. Among them were heard three demon voices in Ireland after plunder, to wit, whistling and outcry and groaning.

The description of them crying out when something had been stolen also seems to tie into the idea of Brigid being a goddess of the home, leading to basically everything regarding her and her role, in some way, tying into either the arts or the hearth. In yet more collections, she's described in much the same way, as a goddess of the hearth, the home, the arts, and everything related to them.

Of course, as time went on, the culture shifted, and Ireland became Christianized- several of the important folkloric figures were instead replaced in new, biblical sources, with similar figures who were stripped from divinity and instead given roles as saints, heroes, or witches. Brigid, of course, was no exception, and several historians believe that the Christian Saint Brigid was the Christianized version of Brigid, the goddess, likely adapted from her role and placed over a real person.

Of course, much like Morrigan, I find it just as hard as it is to write about Brigid as it is to understand her role as a possible triple-goddess. Isn't Irish folklore just fun? Curiously, though, adding on to her role as a saint, there was an alleged fire held and kindled for years by 19 nuns in the honor of Saint Brigid, putting a nice little bow on this whole thing- even after she had been possibly adapted into a saint, people still honored her importance in the role of the home and hearth.

In terms of design in SMT, there's not a lot to comment on? The pot she spews flame from is rather suspect, but for the most part, she looks like how one would expect from a gentle goddess of the home, albeit with some flair in the form of the silver arm and... well, the flare. Still, I really do quite like the design- it works for what it is, and it helps paint Brigid in a really nice light.

[star-arcana]

Pokemon Horizons + Scarlet and Violet DLC's theory(and headcanons) and small analysis on 4 major characters with their Pokemon and their archetypes. Btw Spoilers for Horizons and SV DLC's; Teal Mask and both parts of Indigo Disk

Hello, everyone, here is Star-Arcana again and here is an addition to @sxmmyspam's post (link is https://www.tumblr.com/sxmmyspam/765188173627375616/i-tell-you-its-totally-done-on-purpose-by?source=share) regarding how Nintendo might have intentionally built these Pokémon for those 4 to create meaninful interactions between them, though I had before their post some of these themes and similarities noticed, so I am not plagarizing here. However for the sake of keeping things brief, I assume most of my audience already knows what Pokemon Horizons as well as Pokemon Scarlet/Violet with it's 3 DLC storyline are, so I ask you better to watch the show and play the DLC, if you are not spoiled already. So without any further do, my small anaylsis:

With the 9th generation, we got for the SV 3 DLC storylines that featured most prominently one of the newest rising stars in the hall of fame for the greatest Pokemon characters ever, that character is Keiran at the top, literally, and he has a sister, Carmine, to the right. However with the 9th generation, the anime side of Pokemon also got after Ash's retirement a new storyline called Horizons, in which a new protagonist carries now the torch and is already massively popular, and becoming one of the newest rising stars in the hall of fame for the greatest Pokemon anime character ever, that character is Liko to the left, and she has a rival that is also an enemy of hers, Amethio, at the bottom.

These characters have diffrent storylines, but some similarities, especially with many of their Pokemon and I also think they can function as representations of classes and archetypes in role-playing and storytelling, primary the classes of warriors and mages:

Liko being the main hero of Horizons has two Pokemon based on mages: Floragato and Hattrem that could evolve into Meowscarada and Hatterene respectivey, with Meowscarada being a magician and Hatterene being a Witch. So Liko fits into the mage archetype, a hero that is magical and fights with her spells to repell evil. Kieran being a character from the Teal Mask and Indigo Disk DLC's shifts from ally to enemy and then back to ally and has two Pokémon that have a lot in common with Liko's, but are based on warriors: Incineroar and Grimmsnarl, with Incineroar being like Meowscarada a cat starter Pokémon and Grimmsnarl being a male counterpart to Hatterene, similiarly how Latios is a male counterpart to Latias. So Kieran fits into the warrior archetype, a friend who is strong and fights with his muscles against evil! These two have with these Pokémon (and without, which I will get in the future to in much greater detail) thematically a lot in common as trainers, since both Cat starters(with a secondary dark typing btw) are also cunning and crafty Pokémon, since both are said to use tricks and underhand tactics to win, as Meowscarada is a magician using illusions and Incineroar is a heel using unruly moves to win. This also works with the two direct Galar counterparts being magical beings based on folklore and fairy tales, hence both have as secondary type, the, well, fairy type. If these two ever meet, then I hope they would interact with each other a lot and their Pokémon as well, given their established similarities, while also being really diffrent in their themeing with their mons; Liko is a Witch, Kieran is a Brawler, which are highly compatible archetypes and balance each other out, like their Pokémon.

Amethio is a major antagonist and opponent of Liko in Horizons, and his two Pokemon are based on knights: Ceruledge and Corviknight, which fits with Amethio's honorable nature as someone who shows mercy towards those in need and is not nearly as brutal as the other explorers are, which is why he is portrayed as more sympathetic as antagonist, than say Spinel, who erased the memories of Liko once and set Amethio up for failure by making it look like he betrayed the explorers, which worked. So with all of this, he is like Kieran of a Warrior archetype, but unlike our ruthless and brutal warrior, Amethio is a chilvarous and honorable warrior, who may fight for the wrong side, but shows mercy when needed. Carmine is a supporting ally in SV's DLC's, but started out as nasty rival with her ace Poltergeist, that evolved into a Sinistcha. Sinistcha is a Pokémon that was used for Tea ceremonies, which were common in Japan and often done by monks, so I give this archetype to Carmine, as she uses a mon based on a ritual for healing and hospitality(an ability that heals the ally when Sinistcha enters the battle). Morpeko is the weakest link, but like all support mon, it is from Galar and has to fit here. It could be seen as a Pokémon using the power of the heavens when fed well, but falling to the dark side when hungry and represents the struggle of a monk dealing with earthly urges. Even so, Carmine fits the archetype of a mage like Liko and is also profficient in healing, but Liko is a kind-hearted and gentle as mage, whereas Carmine is mean-spirited and strident as a mage. With that said, her closest match here is Amethio, since their aces share not just a Ghost type, but similiar origin stories. Ceruledge and Sinistcha (or rather it's previous evolution Poltchageist) are Pokémon that were once simple objects that had the regrets of a human within them, and thus came to existence as will of a deceased person that failed at their task, Ceruledge with probably a heroic quest, Poltchageist/Sinistcha with making the perfect tea. this also reflects their characters as people who often failed in their task, and feuded with Friede, who just defeated them constantly. So maybe they can bond due to their failures and over hating Friede...And since Kights and monks are part of religious and spiritual orders, they fit as the motiv of roleplay classes that serve an honorable, but misguided goals; Amethio wanting to make his grandfather pround, who however cares little about him, while Carmine wants to protect her brother Kieran, only for her to break his trust and furtherly damage his mind. Maybe the two will team up to beat Friede, and since Carmine can be petty and highly prejudice, she would have not much to object against it, she really can go too far.

Also, yes, my fellow Horizons fans, I do ship Liko with Kieran. Sorry Likoroy or Likodot fans, but my true Pokémon ship is LikoKieran or as I call it, Indigo Shipping, since when you mix Blue with Purple, you can get Indigo, and guess what is Indigo? Terapagos and both had interacted with one. They are my true OTP and I will die on that hill!

Tell me your thoughts? Does it hold up, or does it not? repost, write me a response or simply like it, anything is apprieciated.

[randomisedgaming]

A list of of the Xbox 360 DLC still up to buy in the store! Along with all delisted DLC we are aware of.

With just over a week list we've put together a quick list of every game where the DLC is still up to buy in the UK store. They may be delisted in your region however. This list was made using the all search list, which is still up at present expect it to disappear on the 29th of July.

Link here: https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-GB/Games/All?SortBy=Title&PageSize=90

Change the letters GB to the letters used for your region of the website North America is US for example.

All the games listed have at least one of their DLCs still up in the store, some DLC content may be delisted already and a few still show in the store and can't be purchased as we found out with the Map Pack for Ninety-Nine Nights II yesterday when we tried to buy it.

This is a full list and includes all games, some have the DLC on Xbox One / Series others do not. Some games like N+ and Lost Planet 2 have DLC on Xbox 360, but not in the Xbox One Store.

Some games like Fallout 2 and Star Wars The Force Unleashed have complete version. Others like Mass Effect, Borderlands 2 and Two Worlds have version with some of the DLC on disc, but not all.

I've tried to list free DLC and Compatibility Pack for games, but as I've done this in a hurry I haven't labeled them all. Hopefully I didn't miss any from the official marketplace webaite, but let me know if I did.

I've tried to list all games with their full name, but the shop's A-Z has some odd listings, something they list them by the word "the" but not others. Some games are just initials, some use the full name like Tony Clancy's etc.. others skip the author name and just use Splinter Cell.

Example Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes turns up in the C listing.

I've included a very rough list of delisted or unobtainable DLC at the bottom which is a work in progress. At some point in the future, I might try and turn this into a full list of games with DLCs.

All Xbox 360 Games With DLC in UK

0-9 Numbers

0 Day Attack On Earth

0D Beat Drop

3D Ultra Minigolf

A

A Kingdom For Keflings

A World Of Keflings

AFL Live

Alan Wake

Alice: Madness Returns

Alien Hominid HD

Alien Spidy

Alien: Isolation

Aliens Vs Predator

Aliens: Colonial Marines

Anarchy Reigns

Ancients Of Ooga

Arcana Heart 3

Arcania

Arkanoid Live!

Armored Core V (Has Compatibility Pack)

Armored Core: Verdict Day (Has Compatibility Pack)

Assassin's Creed Brotherhood

Assassin's Creed II

Assassin's Creed Revelations

Assassin's Creed III

Assassin's Creed Rogue

Assassin’s Creed IV

Assault On Dark Athena

Asura's Wrath

B

Band Of Bugs

Banjo Kazooie: N N B

Bastion

Batman: Arkham City

Batman: Arkham Asylum

Batman: The Telltale Series

Battle Vs Chess

Battlefield 3

Battlefield 4

Battlefield Hardline

Battlestations Pacific

Battlestations: Midway

Beautiful Katamari

Bellator: MMA Onslaught

Binary Domain

Bioshock

Bioshock 2

Bioshock Infinite

Birds Of Steel

Blazblue Continuum Shift Extend

Blazblue Continuum Shift (Has Compatibility Pack)

Blood Bowl

Blue Dragon

Bomberman Battlefest

Bomberman Live

Borderlands

Borderlands 2

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel

Brink

Brütal Legend

Bubble Bobble Neo!

Bulletstorm

Bulletwitch

The Bureau

Burnout Revenge

C

Command & Conquer 3

Command & Conquer Red Alert 3

Command & Conquer Kane's Wrath

Caladrius

Call Of Duty 2

Call Of Duty 3

Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare

Call Of Duty: Black Ops

Call Of Duty: Black Ops II

Call Of Duty: Black Ops III

Call Of Duty: Ghosts

Call Of Duty Modern Warfare

Call Of Duty Modern Warfare2

Call Of Duty Modern Warfare3

Call Of Duty World At War

Call Of Juarez: Bound In Blood

Capcom Arcade Cabinet

Carcassonne

Carnival Games: In Action (Subtitled: Monkey See, Monkey Do In North America)

Cars 2: The Video Game

Castle Crashers

Castlestorm

Castlevania HD

Castlevania: Lord Of Shadows

Castlevania: Lord Of Shadows 2

Champion Jockey

Child Of Light

Choplifter HD

Civilization Revolution (Three DLCs are not available for purchase on Xbox One)

Conflict: Denied Ops

Costume Quest

Crackdown (Game And DLC Is Free To Download)

Crackdown 2 (Game And DLC Is Free To Download)

Crazy Machines Elements

Crimson Alliance

Crossboard 7

Crystal Quest

D

Dance Central

Dance Central 2

Dance Central 3

Dance Evolution

Dante's Inferno (Trials DLC Delisted)

Dark

Dark Souls

Dark Souls II (Has Compatibility Pack)

Dark Void

The Darkness

Darksiders II

Darkstalkers Resurrection

Dragon Ball: Raging Blast

Dance Dance Revolution Universe 3

Dead Island

Dead Island Riptide

Dead Or Alive 5

Dead Or Alive 5 Last Round

Dead Rising

Dead Rising 2

Dead Rising 2 Off The Record

Dead Space

Dead Space 2

Dead Space 3

Dead To Rights Retribution (DLC is free, but only in North America, delisted in Europe)

Deadfall Adventures

Deadliest Warrior

Deadliest Warrior: Legends

Deathspank: Thongs Of Virtue (Achievement DLC)

Defense Grid

Destiny

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Diablo III: Reaper Of Souls

Dirt 2

Dirt 3 (All bar Online Pass delisted, needed for online play and only sold in Xbox 360 Store)

Dirt Showdown

Dishonored

Disney Infinity 3.0

Disney Universe

DmC

Dark Messiah Might & Magic: Elements

Dogfight 1942

Dollar Dash

Domino Master

Doritos Crash Course

Dragon Age: Origins

Dragon Age 2

Dragon Age: Inquisition

Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen

Duke Nukem Forever

Dungeon Defenders

Dungeon Siege III

Dynasty Warriors 6 Empires (All Free)

Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 (All Free)

Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 3

Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce

Dynasty Warriors 7

Dynasty Warriors 8

E

Earth Defense Force 2025

Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon (DLC not sold in Xbox One store)

Enemy Front

Enslaved

Escape Dead Island (All Free DLC)

Exit (All Free DLC)

Exit 2

F

F.E.A.R. 2

Fable Anniversary

Fable II

Fable III

Fable: The Journey

Fallout 3

Fallout: New Vegas

Fantastic Pets

Far Cry 2

Far Cry 3

Far Cry 4

Fight Night Champion

Final Fantasy XIII-2

Fist Of The North Star: Ken’s Rage

Fist Of The North Star: Ken’s Rage 2

Front Mission Evolved

Frontlines: Fuel Of War

Frozen Free Fall: Snowball Fight (Free Game With £40+ Worth Of DLC)

Fruit Ninja Kinect

Full House Poker

Funtown Mahjong

G

Guilty Gear Xx Accent Core Plus (Free DLC Upgrades Game To R Revision)

Game Of Thrones

Gears Of War

Gears Of War 2 (All Free)

Gears Of War 3

Gears Of War Judgement

Get Fit With Mel B

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier

Ghostbusters: Sanctum Of Slime

Gin Rummy

Goat Simulator

Golf: Tee It Up!

Gotham City Impostors

Grand Theft Auto IV

Grand Theft Auto V

Grid Autosport

Gripshift

Gyromancer

H

Halo 3

Halo 4

Halo Wars

Halo Reach

Hard Corps: Uprising

Hell Yeah! Wrath Of The Dead Rabbit

Hitman: Absolution

How To Survive

Hydro Thunder

I

IL-2: Birds Of Prey

Ilomilo

Infinite Undiscovery (All Free)

Injustice: Gods Among Us

Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet

Iron Brigade

J

Joe Danger Special Edition

Joe Danger 2: The Movie

Just Cause 2

Just Dance 2014

Just Dance 2015

Just Dance 3

K

Kameo

Kane & Lynch 2

Kane And Lynch: Dead Men

Killer Is Dead (One DLC Smooth Operator Pack not sold on Xbox One)

Kinect Fun Labs (Air Band, Avatar Kinect, Battle Stuff, I Am Super!, Junk Fu, Kinect Rush: Snapshot, Musical Feet,

Mutation Station) (All Free) (Some Expansion Delisted)

Kinect Party - Base Game

Kinect Sports

Kinect Sports: Season Two

Kinectimals

Kinect Joy Ride (All Free)

King’s Quest – Ch. 1

King's Quest

King Of Fighters XII, The

King Of Fighters XIII, The

Kung Fu Panda: Showdown of Legendary Legends

L

L.A. Noire (Complete retail edition features all DLC and the PS3 exclusive case not sold on Xbox 360. It also restores the DLC quest back to their intended place in the story making for a far better version of the game, than the base one)

Lara Croft And The Guardian Of Light

Left 4 Dead

Left 4 Dead 2

Lego Batman 2

Lego Batman 3 Beyond Gotham

Lego Marvel

Lego Movie Videogame

Lego Rock Band

Lego Star Wars II

Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7

Lego Jurassic World

Lego Marvel's Avengers

Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Life Is Strange Episode 1

Lightning Returns Final Fantasy Xiii

Lma Manager 2007

Lococycle (Free DLC Is Required To Play Game, So Download It)

Lode Runner

Lost Odyssey

Lost Planet 2 (One Pack Not Sold In Xbox One Store, Map Pack 1)

Lost Planet 3

Lumines Live! (Two free DLCs are only up for download on Xbox One)

M

Madballs Babo: Invasion

Mafia II

Magic 2015 (Free DLC Magic 2015—Garruk’s Revenge Must Search For As Game Is Delisted DLC isn't)

Marathon: Durandal

Mark Of The Ninja

Marvel Puzzle Quest

Mass Effect (Pinnacle Station DLC Only On Xbox 360)

Mass Effect 2

Mass Effect 3

Max Payne 3 (All Free Compatibility Packs Needed For Online)

Medal Of Honor

Medal Of Honor Warfighter

Mega Man 9

Mega Man 10

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

Metal Slug XX

Meteos Wars

Metro 2033

Metro: Last Light

Middle-Earth: Shadow Of Mordor

Might & Magic Clash Of Heroes (Achievements)

Mighty No. 9

Mindjack

Mirror's Edge

Monday Night Combat

Monopoly Plus

Moon Diver

Mortal Kombat [9] (Most DLC Is Delisted Only Compatibility Packs Remain Up, Must Use Search To Find)

Motionsports: Adrenaline

Motogp13

Mud

MX VS ATV Reflex

N

N+ (Still Up, DLC Is Only Up On 360 To Buy, One Is Free)

Naruto Storm R

Nat Geo Quiz! Wild Life

Naughty Bear Panic In Paradise

Need For Speed Most Wanted

Need For Speed Carbon

Need For Speed Rivals

Need For Speed Undercover

Nier

Ninety-Nine Nights II (3 DLC's The Map Pack Said It Is Delisted In The Uk When You Try To Buy It And Errors. Use Search To Find)

Ninja Blade (Free DLC, Use Search To Find)

Ninja Gaiden II

Ninja Gaiden 3

Ninja Gaiden 3 Razor's Edge

Novadrome

O

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Wizard's Tower DLC Errors When You Try To Buy On Xbox One)

Omerta - City Of Gangsters

Onechanbara

Orcs Must Die!

Outpost Kaloki X

P

PAC-MAN Championship Edition DX+

Painkiller Hell & Damnation

Payday 2

Peggle

Perfect Dark Zero

Photo Party (Free Game / App For Xbox Vision / Camera)

Pinball FX2

Plants VS Zombies Garden Warfare

Port Royale 3

Portal 2

Prey (All Free DLC)

Prince Of Persia (2008 Retail Title)

Prison Architect: Xbox 360 Edition

Project Sylpheed (Free DLC, New Missions)

Prototype 2

Puzzle Arcade

Puzzle Bobble Live!

Puzzle Quest

Q

Qix++

Quantum Conundrum

R

Rabbids Invasion: The Interactive TV Show (Warning Do Not Buy Ubisoft Season Pass As It Doesn't Work)

Race Pro

Rage

Raskulls

Red Dead Redemption

Red Faction: Armageddon

Red Faction: Battlegrounds

Red Faction: Guerrilla

Remember Me

Renegade Ops

Resident Evil 0

Resident Evil 5

Resident Evil 6

Resident Evil Operation Raccoon City

Residen Evil Revelations

Residen Evil Revelations 2 (Digital Edition)

Ride To Hell: Retribution

Ridge Racer Unbounded

Rise Of The Tomb Raider

Risen 2: Dark Waters

Risen 3 Titan Lords

Rock Band

Rock Band 2

Rock Band 3

Rock Band Blitz

Rocksmith 2014 Edition

Rugby League Live 2 (Has Compatibility Pack)

Rumble Roses XX

S

Sacred 2 Fallen Angel

Sacred 3

Sacred Citadel

Saints Row

Saints Row 2

Saints Row IV

Saints Row: Gat Out Of Hell

Saints Row: The Third

Samurai Warriors 2 (Xtreme Legends Upgrade, Expensive DLC)

Sanctum 2

Scarygirl

Scene It? Box Office Smash! (DLC Is Called Award Winners)

Sesame Street: Once Upon A Monster

Skate 3

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Sleeping Dogs

Small Arms

Sniper Elite 3 (Has Compatibility Pack)

Sniper Elite V2 (Has Compatibility Pack)

Sniper Ghost Warrior

Sniper Ghost Warrior 2 (Has Compatibility Pack)

Soltrio Solitaire

Sonic & All-Stars Racing

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed

Sonic Adventure

Sonic Adventure 2

Sonic Generations

Sonic The Hedgehog (2006)

Sonic Unleashed

South Park The Stick Of Truth

Space Invaders Extreme

Space Invaders: Infinity Gene

Spelunky (Game Delisted DLC Still Up To Buy Two Items)

Spider-Man 3

Split/Second

Splosion Man

SSX

Stacking

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II

State Of Decay

Steel Battalion Heavy Armor

Stranglehold

Strania

Street Fighter III: Online Edition

Street Fighter IV

Street Fighter X Tekken

Stuntman: Ignition

Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition

Supreme Commander 2

T

Tom Clancy's Endwar

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Blacklist

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Double Agent

Tekken Tag Tournament 2

Test Drive Unlimited 2

Texas Hold'em

The Crew (Bonkers I Know As The Game Has Had It's Servers Turned Off, But You Can Buy The DLC For This Dead Game!)

The Evil Within

The First Templar

The Gunstringer (one Is Free Two Are Paid For)

The Last Remnant

The Maw

The Outfit (All Free Map Packs)

The Raven Episode 1

The Walking Dead: Michonne - Episode 1

The Walking Dead: Season Two

The Wolf Among Us

Thief

Things On Wheels

Thrillville: Off The Rails

Ticket To Ride

Timeshift

TNT Racers

Tomb Raider

Tomb Raider Underworld

Tomb Raider Anniversary

Tomb Raider Legend

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5

Too Human (Game And DLC Is Free To Download)

Trials Fusion

Trials HD

Tropico 4

Tropico 5

Two Worlds II (One Of The DLCS Is Not In Game Of The Year Edition And Has To Be Bought "Defense")

U

Ugly Americans: Apocalypsegeddon

V

Vampire Rain

Vanquish

Vigilante 8 Arcade

Virtua Fighter 5

Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown

Viva Piñata

W

The Walking Dead

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine

Warriors Orochi 3

Watch Dogs

Way Of The Samurai 3

Worms

Worms 2: Armageddon

Worms: Ultimate Mayhem

Wreckateer

Wrecked Revenge Revisited

X

XCOM: Enemy Unknown

Y

Yosumin! Live

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Decade Duels Plus

Yu-Gi-Oh! Millennium Duels

Z

Zombie Driver HD

# - Symbols

虫姫さま��たり / Mushihimesama-Hutari-Black-Lavel (Japanese Game, DLC Listed For UK Owner Who Had The Game)

Delisted Games With DLC

Ace Combat 6

Ace Combat: Assault Horizons

Airmech Arena

Angry Birds Trilogy

Army Of Two

Army Of Two The Devil’s Cartel

Army of Two: The 40th Day

Batman: Arkham Origins

Battlefield: Bad Company

Battlefield Bad Company 2

Chromehounds

Crysis 3

Eets: Chowdown

Fantasia: Music Evolved

Final Fantasy XI: Seekers Of Adoulin (Online Only)

Forza Horizon

Forza Horizon 2

Forza Motorsport 3

Forza Motorsport 4

Grid 2

Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition

Hellboy: The Science Of Evil (DLC Was Never Released, But Achievements For It Were Added)

Hunted Demon’s Forge (Pre-order DLC Only Never Sold)

Just Dance (Need To Research Which Others Had DLC Likely Most)

Kinect Nat Geo TV

Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoning

Kinect Sparkler (Delisted Still In Store Won't Let You Buy It)

Kinect Star Wars (C-3P0 Background Dancing DLC Only Sold With R2d2 Xbox 360 Units.)

Kingdom Under Fire: Circle Of Doom

Kung Fu Strike

Lego Dimensions (Delisted, May Need The Lego Models To Obtain Some Of The DLC)

Lollipop Chainsaw (Pre-order DLC Only Never Sold)

Lord Of The Rings: Conquest

Magnacarta 2

Mercenaries 2

Minecraft: Story Mode

Minecraft: Story Mode - Season Two

Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition

Naruto Rise Of A Ninja

Need For Speed Shift

Need For Speed Shift 2

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax (Had Compatibility Pack)

Project Gotham Racing 3

Project Gotham Racing 4

Phantom Breaker:Battle Grounds

Pinball FX

Race Driver: Grid

Section 8

Skate 2

Skullgirls

Skydrift

Snoopy Flying Ace

Soulcalibur IV

Soulcalibur V

Syndicate (Limited Edition Version Had Gold Weapons And Scanner Never Sold)

Tales Of Vesperia

Tales From The Borderlands

Tekken 6 (Pre-order Only Content)

Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X

Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X 2

Test Drive Unlimited

The Darkness II (Limited Edition DLC, never sold)

The Lord Of The Rings: War In The North (Weapon Included With Collector's Edition)

The Saboteur

Toy Soldiers

Toy Soldiers: Cold War

Trials Evolved

Undertow

World Of Tanks

Worms Revolution

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[hotguysfugue]

i am thou, thou art i

a way i’ve best found to characterize an NPC is to perceive them as an agent of a card of the major arcana - it often leads to interesting and diverse personalities that may have not been present otherwise.

and of course, given my adoration of the persona games, this becomes even more relevant to my interests. bonds may have not been formed between the PCs and particular individuals on this list due to various reasons in the same way as the social link/confidant system (including party allegiance/politics or over-the-table interest in a certain character), but i really do feel like this is a good way of assessing major NPCs and how they fit into a greater world.

0. the fool; naïve, wandering, transcendental.

jack frost is the fool, a creature of fey mischief unknowingly trapped into a cloth of bureaucratic fabric. he is the beginning of a heroes’ journey; his refusal of the call catapults his whimsical self into something far darker than he had ever anticipated.

i. the magician; manifestation, conduit, creation.

dr. wyndi čeloscas is the magician, a conduit to the goddess sibyll born to serve many greater than herself. in turn, her actions - the reincarnation of chaos’ child to an angelic form and the gift of mass transit to the world - would spark creation in her wake.

ii. the high priestess; divine, actualization, mysticism.

aryll maledict is the high priestess, a human held so gently by the goddess of adventure becoming a woman deeply inclined to aid those in need. there are few in the world who understand themselves more than those who serve the material, and her love for humanity is divine.

iii. the empress; creativity, beauty, youth.

navi helekas is the empress, as despite their refusal of the masculine and the feminine, they prioritize their outward beauty as a way to pursue paths of greatest success. they endeavor to discover wrongdoing and trap the kingdom into the international criminal court at any means necessary, including an obfuscation of their own identity.

iv. the emperor; stability, logic, leadership.

morpheus torrentum is the emperor, as he shifted from a fellow who was kicked out of his masters’ program to becoming one of the most cited and revered academics that the world had ever seen. in his elder years, he has settled down with his husband and become a central individual for many communities.

v. the hierophant; tradition, organized religion, spirituality.

captain marlene scaffa is the hierophant, representing centuries of continued tradition within the occidental kingdom. though this steadfast devotion to ideals of truth and candor inevitably led to her downfall, she epitomizes the archetype of orthodoxy.

vi. the lovers; unity, guidance, love.

the lovers are represented by two on the same card: carlen the arcanist and cyril the broadcaster. their fates have been entwined since they laid eyes upon one another in that strange coastal town, and their relationship only burned brighter when faced with the strife of the most secure prison in all the multiverse.

vii. the chariot; victory, willpower, courage

karyon beeching is the chariot, a being who led an empire to freedom from tyranny. though his recent years have lost the drive once felt in his youth, his victory stands as a turning point for the rest of the world - a change in era.

viii. strength; fortitude, compassion, love

orion ermendrud is strength, as her ability to remain steadfast in wake of her underdark imprisonment has allowed her to overcome any fear directed her way. she achieved this through aiding her fellow prisoners and concentrating on the one person who would free her from these bonds.

ix. the hermit; wisdom, solitude, introspection

thomas penningon is the hermit, having his youth stolen away by a creature that took him to the feywild on a whim for over a half-century. he wandered and wandered, becoming a dreamwalker and communing with the natural world; by the time he was able to reunite with his sister, he had become truly self-actualized.

x. the wheel of fortune; destiny, serendipity, possibility

kos vessar is the wheel of fortune. his very existence is the keystone on which this plane is balanced on, and his state of being informs the destiny of all who live upon it. despite limited interactions with any at the table, kos is a being from which two long-form campaigns managed to stem.

xi. justice; equilibrium, balance, harmony

dahlia was justice, as in her long life she was able to bring a semblance of balance to the turgid ecosystem that his her hometown. when she was cut down for restoring a series of poisoned wells, the little equilibrium found in the city came to a grinding halt; upon the revelation of her death, so did the peace of her closest allies.

xii. the hanged man; self-sacrifice, patience, divinity.

there are none who represent the hanged man better than urthaz chrestwyth, an archmage who sacrificed everything to allow his found mother immortality. the goddess of suffering consigned him to a fate worse than death - infinite isolation at the heart of the sea’s most dangerous whirlpool - as punishment for allowing a mortal to ascend in such a way.

xiii. death; ending, transformation, cycles of life.

achlýs, goddess of suffering, is death. though she is not responsible for the physical act of dying in the way winter’s lord does, she has been the catalyst for an uncountable number of transformations (whether physical or moral). she is the change of a body from living to dead and all the pain that stems from it.

xiv. temperance; balance, virtue, intentionality.

sibyll, goddess of arcana is temperance. as the sole deity who was once mortal, she understands the balance between metaphysical, divine, and mortal rationality that those below need to thrive; she has gifted this understanding to them time and time again. she is far more personal than the pantheonic twelve, and will gift her champions the tools they need to stand in the face of those that seek to upset the balance of the great wheel.

xv. the devil; vice, temptations, addiction.

drifter is the devil in both the physical and moral sense, manipulating other creatures to do his bidding out of sheer boredom. his modus operandi is to entrap youth and to groom them into creatures who enact his will, habitually toying and breaking their spirits.

xvi. the tower; disruption, upheaval, radical change.

in the sole act the table has been privvy to thus far, the tower is the lady maud. she impersonated their closest ally for nearly a month before revealing her true form and utterly eradicating all sense of trust. she brought about the death of a king, causing utter instability in an (admittedly authoritarian) though stable land.

xvii. the star; hope, health, spiritual reflection.

arrah beeching is the star, as her journey dealt with internal and spiritual conflict far more than anyone else’s. upon resolving her conflict with a particular archfey, she found solace with the goddess of adventure and freedom.

xviii. the moon; intuition, danger, deception.

sam the bastard was the moon, a roguish archetype who convinced the destitute to become his underlings before betraying them in stings and setups. before his death, he contracted a great many people into doing his and his masters’ bidding. he considered danger to be intoxicating, engaging in riskier and riskier behaviors prior to his demise.

xix. the sun; success, contentment, material happiness.

the sun is oysters rockefeller, a pirate who found herself stranded with her crew following her pursuit of a hefty paycheck. though she has yet to undergo the same sort of development as many on this list, she is a person whose drive is towards success, happiness, and freedom.

xx. judgment; new epochs, transformation, outcome.

igor was judgment; the warden of the multiverse’s greatest prison was obsessed with the idea that he could bring about a new era of humanity via consuming the fear of all mortals. a child of suffering, he believed that he could usurp his mother’s position by transforming into something far greater than himself - he was thwarted.

xxi. the world; enlightement, oneness, divinity.

the world is the end of a cycle, and the erlkönig (despite his many, many faults) represented this shift to a divine singularity. he was singlehandedly responsible for many of the plane’s problems through incredible manipulation, and was eventually able to ascend to godhood through the aid of his cultists around the world. though he would be defeated by mortals and the god of fate, his ascension and eradication marked the end of thousands of cycles that he put into place.

though these names may not mean much to anyone beyond my table, i really think that this sort of categorization is extraordinarily helpful to my understanding of my own characters as they fit inside of my setting.

[neonacity]

ARCANE : INIZIO | CH.6 | NCT DREAM X READER

Summary: When human deviants granted with the abilities of the legendary Arcana cards find themselves racing against devious forces, they are left to make a choice that might change the fate of the world itself: be the victims of the game, or become the masters of it themselves.

But will this war end with a crowned hero?

Or will it just create another mad villain?

*****

Note: This is the second book of Arcane. The happenings in this story is a prequel to the first installment which you can check in my Masterlist. Since the lore is highly dependent on the first book, I highly suggest you check it out first—otherwise, new readers might have a hard time understanding what is happening here. Expect lots of time jumps and flashbacks throughout the chapters.

Pairings: Dream 00’ Line + Mark x Reader

Trigger Warnings/Themes: romance, violence, torture, trauma, poly dynamics, suggestive themes, language, psychological, mystery, sci-fi. The concept of the tarot or Arcana cards will be loosely used throughout the series. Note that I am not a trained doctor so there may be some slips here and there about medical things. Again, this is a work of fiction and I am not implying any likeness between the characterization here of the boys to their real life counterparts. I also reserve the rights to all my work—I do not post anywhere else other than tumblr. Minors DNI. Please do not repost. I only publish my works in Tumblr.

© neonacity, 2022

Previously > CH. 1 | CH.2 | CH.3 | CH.4 | CH.5

In the beginning, there was everything and nothing.

Quod est superius est sicut quod inferius, et quod inferius est sicut quod est superius.

That which is above is like to that which is below, and that which is below is like to that which is above.

Harmony and equilibrium is the great thread that runs through the universe, and the very same law that keeps the aether, the nether, and the mundane world coexist peacefully with each other. For billions of years since the dawn of existence, humanity prospered in between the world above and the underworld, supported by opposing life forces necessary to keep the universe from tipping over. For centuries, there was peace, until a great shift started unraveling the fabric of the three worlds.

Greed. Pride. Lust. Gluttony. Envy. Sloth. Wrath.

As human consciousness grew, so did their desire for more festered. Kingdoms were created at the expense of tearing apart lands, wars were waged for vainglory, and lives were traded in exchange for earthly pleasures. As darkness threatened to tip the great balance of the three worlds, heavenly and nether forces were forced to work together to keep the universe from losing its equilibrium. Where the three dimensions once co-existed separately before, the greater powers threaded in the greater cosmos lent parts of their forces to the mundane world to try and keep its balance.

And thus, the twenty-two Arcana powers were born.

Each heavenly and infernal force chose its human stewards, vessels who can wield the energies of aether and nether in the mortal realm. The powers were neither good nor bad, but the first Grandmasters—and their succeeding bloodline—were given a task that they will have to carry along for as long as humanity exists: keep the equilibrium in the mundane world and protect it with their lives.

The powers are divided into three classes, the same way the universe is with its three dimensions.

The First Class: The Knights. Arcana masters whose abilities can bend matter and elements to affect the physical realm.

The Second Class: The Oracles. Arcana masters who have control over the subconscious, the psychic, and the ethereal.

The Third Class: The Triad. The holders of the last three pillars of the Arcana. Alone and separated from the bloodline, they are powerless, but together with the great system, they are the only ones who can tap into the abilities of the other masters.

For decades, the bloodline grew and prospered as new masters were born every generation. While the Family's existence is kept a secret from the greater mundane world, its members prospered and made their marks known in society as its secret vanguards. Kings, Queens, Inventors, and Great Artists, the force of the secret brotherhood was threaded and felt throughout the course of humanity. Wars were won and some battles were lost, but one thing remained the same. Regardless of the battle, the Grandmasters are here to protect the balance of the universe.

And so it begins, once again.

******* "Make one wrong move and you lose your head."

You turned around, not in fear of the words that managed to break through the mundane talk over at your breakfast table, but because of the familiar voice that said it. Beside you, Renjun, Haechan, Jisung, Chenle, and Jaemin also did the same, their expressions changing as their eyes landed on the group now smiling at your lot. You gasped the same time the boys made their own expressions of surprise, some even jumping from their seats.

"Johnny-hyung!"

"Woah, Jaehyun-hyung and Yuta-hyung—"

"Taeil-oppa?” 

"Hey, kids. What's up?"

The tallest of the group, a man with black hair that fell over to his eyes, gave your table a wink before reaching over to ruffle Haechan's hair. Everyone was still pretty much stunned by what was happening that Ten's amused laughter had to pierce through the ruckus to bring you all back to focus.

"I told them they can all see you later after classes but these losers had to force their way in here to make a scene. I guess the cat's out of the bag then. We have visitors."

"You're talking as if we didn't just graduate here a couple of years ago," a guy standing by his side with a playful smile nodded over to him, his eyes sparkling. "Is that what being a teacher does? You used to run around with us and do—"

"Shut the fuck up, Yuta. And I'm not a teacher here, I'm the Academy's doctor. Kun is the one who ended up with the boring job."

"I'd love to call it boring, but I think it's actually pretty cool. You saw their breakfast buffet? Do teachers also get that now?" A shorter guy with close-cropped hair motioned towards the half-finished plates on your table. Taeil gave you all a small smile seeing the still stunned look on your faces.

"You all look like you're seeing ghosts," Johnny teased as he plopped on the vacant seat next to you. With a big grin, he draped an arm over you and pulled you into a half hug that almost cut off your air supply. 

"Hi, Princess. You've grown up, haven't you? You still single?"

You couldn't see anything while being smothered by the bear of a man, but you heard Haechan clearly from somewhere across the table.

"Yah, hyung!"

"Uh-huh, I think she is still single."

“Yep. Definitely still single.”

Another voice chimed in, sounding extremely amused. You were on the verge of protesting when Johnny finally let you go with a laugh. You pulled away, a little disgruntled, and came face to face with a chuckling Jaehyun across from you.

"What are you all doing here?" You finally managed to ask, your tone a little disgruntled as you tried to straighten your hair that Johnny managed to mess up. A few of the other students still lingering for breakfast threw you looks from the other tables, gawking at the newcomers. Not that you can blame them. For the general student body, this group had a reputation as the ringleaders of the Academy in their heyday. 

For you and the rest though... It’s a little bit more complicated.

After all, there is just no way it is plain coincidence to have the strongest Arcana Masters back in Rosewood.

In terms of control and maturity of abilities—and unlike the current masters enrolled as students—the earlier batch of Arcana masters are at the apex of the current generation of ability holders. Their powers have matured enough to be at their full potential after years of training and practice. If this were a battle, they would be considered the war generals—and seeing who is at Rosewood at this very moment can in no way be lacking of any significant meaning.

Johnny, Master of the Justice. Arcana Number: 08. One of the most physically strong in the family, his position is at the forefront of battle, not because of his sheer prowess in fighting alone, but due to the nature of his power. Ability: Karmic Manipulation. Whatever's done to him, he can cast tenfold of it back to its wielder by mere compulsion alone.

Jaehyun, Master of the Tower. Arcana Number: 16. He stands next to Johnny in the line of fire, being the human embodiment of carnage itself. Ability: Destruction Magic. Jaehyun has the power to shift energies to destroy everything on his path, including their life force so that they are totally erased from the cycle of the universe, never to be reincarnated again.

Yuta, Master of the Hanged Man. Arcana Number: 12. Another ace of the family, Yuta is one of the few members whose power can be projected to the outside world and to himself. Ability: Gravitational Manipulation. He can control the physical laws of gravity to his advantage, allowing him to also be the only member to have the ability of flight.

Taeil, Master of the Hermit. Arcana Number: 9. Though not a physical caster, his powers are probably one of the most terrifying among the Oracle class. Ability: Nightmare Inducement. He can get in anyone's head to know their greatest fears and project them to the physical world.

Ten, Master of the Chariot. Arcana Number: 7. He rarely uses his powers because they can affect the fabric of destiny alone. Ability: Space-Time Manipulation. The lord of time himself, he can jump through different dimensions and locations at will.

"Can't an alumni visit their home school?" Johnny asked back, his tone light. You exchanged a quick glance with Jaemin and Renjun beside you. 

"Aren't you supposed to get married next month, hyung?" Chenle asked politely but pointedly. It was brief, but Johnny's friendly smile slipped ever so slightly before he caught himself again. For once, he actually seemed like he didn't have any answer to shoot back.

"Masters just can't go back any time they want to… We are all meant to go somewhere to watch over things after leaving Rosewood. Aren't you working for the Korean Central Intelligence Agency, Jaehyun-hyung?" Renjun said next.

"I'm pretty sure you don't get a lot of vacations there to spend for a quick school visit," Jaemin trailed off to drive the point across.

If the group wasn't obvious earlier at least for the clueless, they certainly are now with the way they exchanged looks. Ten looks like he was on the verge of breaking when another trio caught all of your attention as they strolled towards you. Your eyes rounded in surprise when you recognized their faces.

"Taeyong-hyung," Jisung voiced out the man's name who was currently flanked by Kun and another girl whose face you know so well. What on earth has your father done this time? 

"I thought we agreed to talk to all of them together?" Kun frowned at Ten who gave him an exasperated shrug.

"They never listened to rules as students, do you really think that has improved now?"

"Sorry for barging in. Are these guys bothering you?" Taeyong asked, his eyes kind as usual as he regarded all of you. It's been a couple of years since you've last seen him since he graduated, but you realized that the former Head Boy and well-known Legacy in the family has retained his kindness until now. Taeyong, like Kun, is a member of the bloodline but lacked any powers, but that hasn't stopped him from playing a pivotal role in the clan. While Kun stayed at Rosewood to defend it should something happen, Taeyong was sent to fight for it and protect it from a distance. The duty given to them is what earned the pair the title of this generation's Ace of Shield and Ace of Sword.

"Taeyong-oppa… You're also here," you trailed off before your gaze unwittingly slipped towards the girl standing by his side. She looked like she didn't want to impose her presence, but you couldn't stop yourself, not when you know her face all too well.

"And you… Mijeong?"

Her head jerked and she looked at you wide-eyed as you called out her name. Despite the strangeness of the situation, your lips slightly twitched into a knowing smile.

"You remember my name?"

"We were classmates at Advanced Psychology. And you've also been watching over me since I joined the University. I hope my father didn't force you to do it."

If she looked surprised earlier, then Mijeong definitely seemed shell-shocked now. Beside her, Taeyong raised his brow curiously before glancing at Kun who looked like he was trying his best not to smile.

"You, you've always known that I—"

"Was tasked to guard me? Yes. I wouldn't think too much about it though. You're really good, but I've also spent my whole life living with my father's schemes."

"I guess she wouldn't need too much introduction then if that is the case. Kim Mijeong, she's the master of The Strength and—" Taeyong started before he was cut off by a flash of silver darting from out of nowhere past him. The movement was too quick for all of you to notice, but the next thing you saw was the butter knife safely tucked between Mijeong's middle and forefinger. The girl raised her eyebrow before twirling the blade casually in her hand.

"Yuta… Can you please not do that?" Taeyong asked with a sigh. The boy in question smirked, his eyes set on the other Master.

"When they said La Fuerza is from the Kim clan, I didn't expect it to be the little sister. I had to check if she’s good since that family thinks they're too good for Rosewood," Yuta said, his eyes dancing. Mijeong returned the snark by staring him down.

"We have a different training as the working guards of the family. I don't think it's such a bad idea to skip the Academy too if it means we get spared from mingling with douchebags like you," she snapped back smoothly before making a show of making one last twirl of the  blade in her palm before closing her fist around it. The lot of you watched, jaw slacked, as she easily folded and bent the metal in her hand like it was a piece of paper. The next second, she was flinging it back to Yuta's direction with a flick of her wrist. The now crumpled clump of metal stopped just a few inches from hitting the other in the face as he stopped it with gravity.

Chenle gave a low whistle, impressed by the show. Kun, however, looks like he was done with the exchange.

"Okay, can we just stop throwing blades at each other for a moment? It's 9AM."

"Yes, which makes it the perfect time for you guys to answer our question. I'm afraid even this isn't enough to distract us," you added before giving the newcomers a pointed look. Taeyong gave you a slightly guilty smile before touching the back of his head.

"Your father invited us for a little bit of help. We don't think we will be here for a long time though, don't worry. I think he just has a few things he wants to try."

The way you and Haechan looked at each other at the same time told you one thing. He’s not lying, but he’s definitely not telling the whole truth either. If there's one thing you all know about Taeyong, it's his talent to make the worst of things sound like a frolic in the garden.

"When you say a few things he wants to try…" Haechan asked, prodding for more.

"A few… classes specifically. And drills," Kun was the one who answered this time. Silence dropped on your table, thick and loaded with meaning. The next one who broke it was the most unexpected of all.

"Is something happening? If there is, I think we have a right to know about it," Jisung said, his voice still polite but steady. Several pairs of eyes swiveled towards him, surprised by the youngest’s comment. You could almost physically touch the lingering guilt from his older brothers before Taeyong finally sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"We want to tell you, but the Headmaster hasn't given us a lot of information either. He called us back to protect Rosewood against attacks—from who, I doubt he knows himself—and to prepare everyone. Especially you kids."

"What does that mean?" Chenle asked, confused. "All of us got calls from our families yesterday. They said we might leave the Academy temporarily."

"Not until you finish your training," Jaehyun said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Training? With who?" Jaemin replied.

"With us." Johnny answered as he finally picked himself up from his seat. You and the others froze, not expecting his answer. Nobody needed to say anything for all of you to piece together what’s happening.

The seniors are not only here to protect the Academy, but to prepare all of you for a bigger war.

"We're officially making an announcement later but since you're all here…" Kun started, looking at each of you. "The rest of the student body will be sent back to their homes today. Regular classes are indefinitely postponed to make way for drills which will start tomorrow."

"All Knights class will be divided into groups and will be trained under Johnny, Jaehyun, Yuta, and Mijeong. The Oracles will be assigned to Taeil and Ten. Taeyong and I will be moderating everything."

"And the Triads?" You asked, causing Kun to stop. He looked unsure of what to tell you, but you didn't waver, keeping your eyes steady on him for an answer. 

"I think you need to talk to your father first..."

Your hands balled into fists under the table. You haven't talked to the man again again since your confrontation at his office, but the fact that he didn't include you in any of his plans does not mean anything good. You kept silent now, however, knowing that you should be more careful of your actions.

"You can all go back to the dormitories now. We'll just call you again once everything is ready. I suggest you just… relax today," Taeyong said before looking at the other newcomers to signal them to leave. You all watched quietly as the group picked themselves up and bid you their goodbyes.

Renjun was the first one to talk once everyone was out of the door.

"What's going to happen now…?" He asked quietly. Haechan dropped again to his seat, looking as worried as the rest of you.

"Training under those beasts? We're going to die. That's what's going to happen. We're going to fucking die."

******* "Get up. We need to go."

Jaemin opened his eyes and gave you an unbothered glance the moment you locked the door behind you. He looked unsurprised by your sudden barging in, a look of mild curiosity tracing his features as you started pacing in his room. He remained unmoving from his spot on the bed even as you finally turned to him, gnawing at nail on your thumb.

"What exactly are we up to today?" He asked mildly, raising his brows at you in question. You paused, not knowing how to best phrase the answer.

"We're ransacking my father's office."

The silence that followed was almost painful. You winced, expecting the worst reaction.

"You've absolutely gone mad, noona."

Your shoulders slumped at his reply. He is right. You've reached the point of being batshit crazy this time, but you're also desperate, and time is not necessarily on your side.

"Look, I need to do something. There is no way Papa will tell us anything so we need to find our own answers. This is the only time that we have. I checked. He left the Academy again so his office is free," you paused before finally staring at him. "Will you help me?"

It took him a bit to answer. The truth is, when it comes to things like this, he is the only other person you could trust to have your back. Mark is too straight-laced to try and do something like this—that and the fact that he still refuses to talk to you—and Jeno... Jeno would be another good option too if only he hasn’t been avoiding you as well. The rest, you didn’t want to drag into trouble in case you get busted. You didn't realize that you've been holding your breath until Jaemin finally sighed and started picking himself up from his bed.

"They say I'm the devil, but you're actually more dangerous. Don’t play innocent, you already know my answer when it comes to you," he said as he straightened his clothes. You tried your best to hold back your grin from showing.

"You can say no, you know," you quipped as you both headed to the door. He easily opened it and motioned for you to lead the way.

"When I can ask for a payment for this favor? I don't think so. Lead the way, love. We have some sleuthing to do."

******* "So, what exactly are we looking for?" Jaemin asked as he went through the stacks of books in your father's shelves. The room was dim with only one small fluorescent lamp that you decided to open and you squinted in the dark as you flipped through the folders on his desk.

"I don't know… Anything that can give us a clue. He told me that the Kims alerted him about people trying to pass through the barriers of Rosewood a couple of months ago. I don't believe he hasn’t been working on getting any leads since he found out about it."

At your words, Jaemin froze on his spot and slowly turned to look at you. You returned his gaze knowingly as you closed another folder and placed it back to its pile.

"People? You mean—"

"Humans… Mundanes who aren't part of the bloodline," you muttered grimly. This is the first time you've shared the information to any of them since your talk with your father. You figured this is the best time to give him an idea, given everything that has happened in just a span of a few days. 

"But how—" he paused, his face strained. "Is this what this is all about then? Whatever it is that we are preparing for, it's against the humans?"

"Not just any group of humans, I guess. Someone powerful, or else they wouldn't have much influence to pull something as big as this. That's what we need to find out. Whoever wants to steal the Arcana powers."

"So this isn't really a fight but a hunt. That's why our parents are asking us to leave and why Jaehyun-hyung and the others are going to be training us. We're running away and being taught to defend ourselves."

You didn't immediately answer, though the look on your face was enough of a confirmation for him. The truth is, you still do not want to follow the path your father is drawing up for everyone. Escaping is the most logical course of action, but it can also start a cycle that none of you might be able to break. If you run now, you'll be looking at your backs and living in fear forever.

"Is that why he is also marrying you off to Mark-hyung?"

His question was not surprising, but it still definitely made you pause. Ever since your father told you about the arrangement, you haven't really talked to anyone about it, Mark included. After your talk, you are convinced he was trying to stay away from you as much as he can—and for that, you couldn't really blame him.

"It was a discussion between him and Mark's father. None of us said yes to it," you said, shifting your eyes away from him and continuing to sift through the other files on your father's desk. Jaemin was quiet, but you could feel his stare heavily on your skin.

"I think you know what his answer will be given the choice. The question is, do you want to marry him?"

This time, you felt your heart clench.

"I don't want to marry anyone for convenience."

Jaemin's loaded pause was so palpable you almost wanted to escape him.

"You love him. You can fool anyone, but not me. You've always loved him."

"If you're so good about reading me, then you should also know the reason why I can't be with him," you said as you finally met his gaze steadily. The light from the lamp threw shadows over the curves of his face from where he stood, but it was the look in his eyes that spoke the words none of you wanted to speak out.

You didn't know when it happened, but as you grew up, both Jaemin and you somehow came upon a silent agreement never to talk about things like this. It wasn't needed, because you both know where you stand in each other's lives. It was a silent dance, one that both of you were content in doing for as long as it could work. He never rocked that boat, but as you looked at him now, you were also gripped by the sudden fear of that world slowly being tipped over.

"It is the right choice…" he said slowly, almost as if he was forcing the words out of his lips. "If the humans are after us, that means there is a traitor in the family. The Masters will be vulnerable, especially you and your father. Mark-hyung's family… You can either be a part of them, or have them as your number one enemy."

"Do you want me to marry him, Jaemin?"

This time it was him who stopped. His expression didn't falter, though you noticed the way his jaw slightly ticked as if he was trying to control himself. 

"If my family can give you the same protection that his can, then believe me, I would have whisked you away by now and married you on the spot."

You took a slow breath in at his answer.

"You can’t say that. You know that I—  "

"Love me just as much as you do him, Jeno, Renjun, and Haechan? I've personally never had any problem with that. I think you know that by now. I want you. I don't care whatever else comes with that."

To say that you weren't ready for this conversation was understating it. Jaemin had always been safe, that one person you knew would always have your back without really losing sight of what should and shouldn't be done. Right now though, he is making you look at things that you aren’t ready for yet.

You were so lost in your thoughts that you didn't notice him crossing the distance to where you were seated. The next thing you felt was warmth touching your cold cheeks as he ever so gently tipped your face to look at him. The way he held you and the look in his eyes almost made you want to fold into yourself.

"Tell me what's on your mind… You're hurting…" he whispered as he started gently running his hand over the corner of your eye.

"I wish you didn't know me so much."

He smiled.

"IL Matto or not, you can't run away from me when it comes to that, love."

It took you a moment to answer again. After a few more heartbeats, you finally stood up and walked towards the center of the room, as if putting distance between the two of you would somehow lessen the impact of your words.

"I don't think I will be living long enough to marry anyone, Jaemin," you started, voice low enough only for him to hear. His eyes slowly widened and you avoided his gaze to not see the realization there.

"It hasn't been part of my plan. Ever. I don’t want to stay here for a long time. How can you live in fear knowing that you can turn mad one day and just lose everything? It's terrifying."

"You're not going to—"

"I will. In time," you cut him off before he could even finish. "Papa knows it and I know you do, too. I can feel it. It will happen one way or another. It’s the curse of IL Matto."

He was quiet. For the first time, he actually let his emotions run free as he stared at you. You could see the gears working in his head and you gave him a small smile as you watched him piece things together.

"You want to fight," he said lowly. “You’re going to go against your father’s plans.”

"Yes. Somebody had to stand up to him. I don’t want to run. I want to try to fix things while I still can.” 

He was about to say something again when a sudden beeping rang through the room. You both turned to the phone on your father's desk, it's red light beeping from the incoming call. You were still both frozen on your spots when the ringing finally stopped and the system switched to voice mail.

"Sir, we're done trying to process the specimen that we got from the night you were attacked. The men were using unknown technology that was unlabeled but we traced some of the scraps we got from the site and made a successful match. We have a name now."

Both you and Jaemin stared at each other, faces pale. Your heart was beating so loud against your chest that you thought you wouldn't hear the unknown man's next words.

"It's Cypher Institute."

******* "I'm surprised that you're actually the one who showed up today. I thought you were making sure to keep things under the radar."

The lilting, almost amused voice of the woman felt like thin ice needles slowly sinking into his skin. The private room's lighting was dim, but even the lack of proper illumination didn't tarnish the deep red lips that now tilted into a mirthless smile across from him. Everything about her looked cold, almost to the point of artificial perfection, and that's coming from a man who is also known for icyness himself.

"A show of faith to this unlikely partnership, if I must say. I didn't want you to think I might stab you on the back," he answered back just as smoothly, his expression never-changing. The woman's smile widened, showing perfect white teeth.

"Now, now. I think you don’t have too much faith on us. Why would I think that, after all that you've done for us…?"

"Junho Lee."

The mention of his name almost made him flinch. As one of the most prominent members of the Arcana bloodline, he does have an ability of sensing energies of others. This woman might be powerless—a regular human—but what she has is something more sinister than any of the ancient powers above and below.

Unadulterated greed.

And madness.

"I want to personally have your word about our arrangement," he said stiffly, his cold gaze unwavering on her. She merely turned her head a little to the side in mild interest.

"Mm… Is this the one about your son? Feel free to be specific. The consequences of your betrayal run deep after all."

Her use of words finally shook his facade. His fists closed in response, an action she did not miss from the way her eyes lit up with amusement. When Junho Lee signed up to this agreement, he knew he was permanently damaging his sacred ties to the Family. Playing with fire was part of the game, but he did not expect to be against the Devil herself.

"I need your word that my son will be unharmed once all of this is over and done. I don't care whatever else you do, but Mark stays safe."

"Of course. Is that all?"

He paused. The woman’s expression didn’t change but something about the way she looked at him told him that she was probing for... more. Junho knew this time will come when he will be asked to make a choice, but that didn’t make the process any easier now that he is finally at the crossroads. 

When he decided to sell his soul to Cypher, he only had one goal. To make the man who was behind the death of his wife suffer. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. IL Giudizio allowed his own wife to go mad and wreak havoc on others, resulting on the death of a whole generation of Masters. He was the reason why his family was ruined and why Mark's mother was ripped away from him. The man deserves to suffer, his family included, and yet… he couldn't bring himself to betray his daughter to the Institute. While he has no trace of care for the current IL Matto, he knew—from the way his son looks at her—that she is one he is willing to burn the world for; the same way he is doing now for his own lost love. 

Mark already lost his mother. He can't bear to rip the last woman he loves from him too. For that, he is willing to spare some souls. 

"Yes. Just him. You can do whatever it is that you want with the other Masters."

"Ah… how cruel. To think that your family used to be the number one trusted clan of the whole bloodline itself. Who would have thought that you would be the one to send them to the slaughterhouse yourself."

"I am loyal to no one and nothing but power."

The woman paused, her smile frozen in her lips. Her vision was one of the most terrifyingly beautiful things he's ever seen, her eyes piercing… still probing.

"One last question then," she said slowly, deliberately. His facade never changed despite the cold starting to gnaw at him from the insides.

"Who is IL Matto?"

"I do not know. IL Giudizio considers me as his closest confidante and trusted ally, but not enough for him to betray the last member of the Triad even to me. If you want to look for the last Master, you'll have to torture it out of his own lips."

He delivered his answer so smoothly and so effortlessly that he could have fooled anyone with his lie. But this woman is evil incarnate herself, and for that he had to work harder. It felt like having a stare off with a beast waiting for its prey to blink and show any weakness. He didn't waver though until finally, she smiled at him once more.

"I see. If that's the case, then you have our promise. Your son will be spared. But only if you deliver your end of the bargain. Time is running out and I am growing bored."

"Bring IL Giudizio to Cypher."

Junho took that as a cue for him to finally stand up and leave. Straightening his coat, he gave her a look that could rival her ice.

"One of my men will give you a call once everything is ready. Tell IL Mondo... I send my regards."

Miyoung’s smile sharpened at the edges as she followed the man's retreating back until it disappeared out of the room. Her soft voice lingered in the air, an echo of the closing of the door.

"Let the games begin."

CHAPTER 7

*******

A/N: So... It’s  been two months. Are there people who even still remember this story? Lol. Anyway, I’m just dropping this here real quick before I semi-disappear again. This feels rushed and and is shorter than usual, but I’m glad I was still able to finish a chapter. Enjoy!

@effulgentfireflies, @kasperneo, @lostlovesoul11, @byunniebaekhyunnie, @smolpeyy, , @dearj43, @bettyschwallocksyee, @babyksworld,   @yongboksfreckles,  @user103843, @lovehowdream, @glitching-wren, @jhornytrash, @coconuttiez8d, @negincho​, @stopeatread​, @ellatizw​, @huangberryyy, @wonyofanclub​, 

Untaggable for some reason: @renjunsflower, @coconuttiez8d

[stupidcvpid]

Reality Shifting Scripts

Find your reality down below..

App that’s I use are Notion, Google Docs, and the Lifa App (they have both Apple and Android versions out)

Some people have had trouble with the Lifa App but it’s been working great for me! Use at your own discretion.

(It looks easier for my brain and feels a lot more visualized and organized)

Baldur’s Gate

Five Night at Freddy’s

Hogwarts Legacy

My Hero Academia

One Piece

Spiderverse

Stardew Valley

Stranger Things

The Arcana

The Owl House

Not all of these are done

[the-earth-priestess]

i'm going to try something new. i'm going to take you along in my journey of transformation and growth and healing, and i'm going to share with you my personal readings, learnings and shadow work. i hope you enjoy, think and grow with me!

where am i heading right now?

Three of Cups -- you are heading towards a time of celebration and fun with friends.

Page of Wands -- you are heading towards embodying the spirit of the rogue, making enemies but enchanting just as many with your heart and charisma and intelligence.

Three of Wands in reverse -- you may experience frustration and delays in your journey, perhaps even returning home. but remember you can turn this energy upright and continue forward in your goals.

Nine of Coins in reverse -- you are heading towards superficiality, overinvestment and being work-obsessed. but remember that with the Three of Cups, it doesn't have to be this way in the long run. you have the power to recognise your priorities and shift your focus, balancing your life the way you deserve to.

The World -- this is a Major Arcana card, so it casts a theme over the reading. you may reach a satisfactory, fulfilling conclusion soon regarding all of this. with every ending comes a new beginning.

Three of Swords -- you may be heading towards heartbreak, or hurting yourself. this is a card of self-sabotage, so remember that your survival mode fears don't serve you in a safe, secure and happy life.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

‎what do i need to know right now?

Secret Spring speaks of success. success that you already have. you are deserving of success. when you feel as if and behave as if you are already successful, more success pours in. the Secret Spring Fairy is here with you, and encourages you to be your own hero emerging from the waters.

Spirit Guardian of Spring speaks of activation. now is the time for speaking your truth, and diving into new adventure. it's a fertile time, of new growth and energy and turmoil too! but remember that it's all part of the exciting time of activation.

Spirit Guardian of Winter for retreat suggests it's time to retreat from situations and people that do not serve you or empower you. it's time to nurture your inner resources, your wellspring that you have inside of you. cosy up by the fire inside your cabin in the blizzard and rest.

Fire Spirit for energy reminds you of Creation. you have so much energy right now, so much life and vivacity and motivation. fire represents Creation, creativity and imagination -- and you have plenty. now is the time to act.

Enchanted Forest Grotto is about refuge. the ferns, fairies and forest creatures are welcoming you into their abode to shelter you. you've been doing a lot lately, and it's time to nurture yourself. practice extreme self-care.

Ancient Oak Spirit. strength. you are being called to stand in your power, but not overmuch. speak your truth, because there are possibilities of mystical experiences ahead.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

shadow work

these readings are seemingly giving conflicting messages, and that speaks to me of a chaotic time. which is true, i'm going through much growth and stagnation, learning and failure, magic and mundanity. i feel as if i'm experiencing two halves of a story at once, like i'm trying to make two different halves of a puzzle fit together but it's not meshing.

i think this is very much a call to reprioritize. i've been doing a lot of new things, but also keeping with old mindsets. i need to practice doing new things with new mindsets. i need to figure out how to colour the two puzzle halves the same colours, or else discard one for the other.

i think i do need to discard one half actually. this metaphor is about my survival mode. my fears. my self of the past 27 years. i need to figure out how to let go of all of this, because i don't need it anymore.

i don't need it anymore because i need to focus on who i am becoming. someone who is radiant, kind, beautiful. someone who is intelligent, empathetic, silly. someone who is loving, lively, chatty. i need to become more of these things, because even though i already am these things, i have so much untapped potential.

the old me likes to dwell in negativity, funnily enough. you may not catch that vibe from me at first since i try to be such a sunshiney person, but i tend to assume the worst, force myself to look past red flags, and then get rose-coloured glasses.

i need to listen to my instincts more instead. instead of listening to what my trauma, what my fears, scream at me, i need to listen to the whispers of my gut. anxiety screams, instincts whisper. and i know i want to become more of a intuitive force for good.

by feeling my way through my fears, i can let go of the desire to always be in control, i can let go of the desire to self-sabotage, i can let go of all that doesn't serve or empower me.

and i feel my way through my fears as follows. my fear is always abandonment, or betrayal. i always behave in ways ... i always have behaved in ways that felt to me as if they minimised my chances of getting abandoned or betrayed.

but i know that that's not how it works, actually. you need to live your truth. you need to express yourself. what you can't accept runs your life, and that means that the way i catered to people ran my life. i refused to accept the truth of myself. but now, i refuse to try to cater to everyone anymore.

instead of people-pleasing, i will express myself. i will speak my truth. i will cry and laugh and live loud. everything i do will be in balance -- neither solely for myself, or solely for anyone else. i will practice walking the middle path and gently guide myself into a life that equitably supports me, and my partner.

there isn't a hard and fast fix for any of this. i know i need to take little steps forward everyday. practice working on believing i deserve my current success, and putting that belief into practice. i will do my utmost best to have a life that i want.

it's not a matter of urgency. it's not a matter of spite. it's a matter of need, deserving, and love. it's an act of extreme self-love to choose a path that supports me. that makes me feel like i am empowered. not necessarily in control, but free, alive, and myself.

i will always choose love, both for myself and the people around me.

[missingmywing]

@strangefellows made a direct attack against me so alas, take my wips. XIV has taken over my life and I’ve created a sprawling verse of the butterfly effects and accidental Ascian untempering and recruiting so that’s what most of these are lol, though none of them are published yet.

You once again get an essay length response because it’s me.

Rules: Share the first lines of ten of your most recent fanfics and tag ten people. If you have written fewer than ten, don't be shy and share anyway.

It was time. There was an underlying buzz of energy amongst the Shadows within the Palace, and Arsène and Izanagi leaned against one of the upper walls on the outside of the fortress, looking out over the forest around them as the other ultimates of their arcana ensured everything was organized.

-First paragraph of chapter 4 of Shadows Within. It’s finally infiltration time! Which means that Arsene and Izanagi are Plotting.

2. Etheria didn’t know what compelled her. She should have known better.

Hadn’t the shard of Themis - of Elidibus - in the tower told her?

“The reality you wish to save - the reality to which you must return - exists as a result of the Final Days. You cannot reshape the past to undo the tragedies of the present. Cannot unmake the sorrow and suffering fated to come.”

She’d thought he’d meant that the events were unchangeable. That the past was set in stone, and she wouldn’t be able to affect it. But wasn’t G’raha the direct contradiction to that idea?

First section of Two Steps Back, one of my time travel fics in which my main WoL messes up in Elpis and creates a split timeline bc she panics and destroys Kairos. The Convocation quickly gets involved and oh look, now she has two timelines’ Final Days to avert. Azem is delighted at her involvement though, so there’s that.

3. As she slammed face-first into the ground, Etheria took several moments to comprehend what had just happened.

Cierread, a Sharlayan scholar studying the mechanics of time, had recruited her to help him investigate a dungeon that supposedly had tomes created by a former scholar who had been studying the subject as well. It had been a relatively routine run, they’d collected the tomes without undue issue, only to find them locked by magicks.

She’d ended up calling the other Scions for aid after the rest of the Sharlayan library had failed them - well, she’d mostly called on G‘raha and Y’shtola, as well as Themis and Heph, but the others had ended up there either by circumstance or curiosity - but when they had managed to force the first of the tomes open-

First section of Antics of Chronology, my second time travel fic that’s… well it’s supposed to be a much more humorous take on time travel shenanigans but it’s rapidly turning serious as per usual, so we’ll see. Basically I take the post-EW Scions and yeet them back to ARR, and they have to deal with the consequences and figure out what to do now. Etheria looks up from landing and sees Ifrit and goes “oh no”. (And just as a fun tidbit, Cierread is my versions Source shard of Nabriales and he did come back with the rest of them, so that’s going to be a fun interaction when he shows up with Moenbryda XD)

4. She awoke slowly, dry heat shifting uncomfortably around her in what should have been a cooling breeze, but wasn’t. It-

What was going on? She’d been… been…

… at her computer?

Yeah, she’d been at her computer, on vc with her FC, waiting for the new update for the 6.1 patch to finish downloading, and then they’d all hit play together and… and…

White.

Hear… feel… think…

The adventure continues.

What…?

First section of Fantasy’s Dawn. Aka Log Horizon, but it’s FFXIV and everyone wakes up in their avatar at the beginning of 1.0 (for legacy players) or ARR (for non-legacies) with each WoL having their own self-contained MSQ that adjusts to their own actions - except our main six heroes who somehow share an MSQ instance. Everyone is left scrambling trying to figure out how the metaphysics even works, and how much control they actually have over the world and story. (A lot, it turns out, to the horror and amusement of many.)

5. It wasn’t that Etheria didn’t trust Urianger’s judgement, or his expertise in aetherology, but she still maintained that they should have done fire directly after water, before moving on to earth and then wind, and then lighting. He’d gone into a lecture about aetheric flow and why activating directly opposing elements together could potentially do more harm than good, either canceling each other out or clashing and causing rebounds.

And she understood that - she did - but that was mere speculation and it now left them with their conundrum of lightning priming the area for life, but nothing actually growing.

Windburn, part of my exploration of how Eden goes in my main verse, this is the lead-in to the Ifrit-Garuda fight and my WoL’s terror at fighting not one, but both of them because she has very very bad memories of them both.

6. It had been quiet since the appearance of Mitron, none of them quite sure how to handle the situation. Hephaistos especially had been quiet - that stiff stoicism and clipped logic that spoke to a guilt he refused to admit to, something that she and Thancred had talked about following the events in Eden earlier.

They were all returned to Ahm Areng, for the moment, with Mitron still unconscious from her battle with him. It had been… different from her other fights with the Ascians. There was no precise calculation, no higher goal, no intent for the world at large.

He’d been frantic, focused solely upon Gaia, and his thought process had been disjointed and difficult to follow.

Paradise Forfeit, skipping to the halfway/end point of the Eden raids, which went slightly different from canon thanks to Lahabrea being untempered and Etheria more aware of the situation in general, so Gaia gets shielded and doesn’t lose her memories. Mitron his ass kicked a bit sooner too, and dragged out of Eden to be stabilized. It’s an exploration of Artemis letting Gaia go and finding his own stability, in the lead up to 5.3 (bc I place my Eden raids together in the span between 5.0 and 5.3 for streamlining reasons in this verse).

7. They knew. They all knew - had known from the moment they’d heard him speak at the gate.

But none of them could even begin to guess the details. How G’raha was here, how the Crystal Tower was here - it made no sense. The Crystal Tower was still standing tall and cold next to Silvertear Lake back home - closed, sealed, with G’raha most certainly still inside.

The theory they felt held the most weight, currently, was one Aella and Yiskah had formulated based on the Exarch’s words - that he was from a time removed from their own. Likely some years in the future, and he had been summoned to this world along with the tower and awoken upon arrival - thus making his earlier claim that he’d summoned the tower from a random point in time technically not an absolute lie - not that they would let him get away with that once they eventually confronted him about this.

Orchestrations, my SHB case study of Etheria’s relationship with the Exarch and Urianger and their plots. G’raha can’t get away with shit with my WoLs, sorry G’raha. Aella and Yiskah are archons who helped him with his own thesis and he with theirs, and S’ohlis has been pining since the CT raids. Etheria can sense aether, and Vale and Rosalia are a mercenary and pirate, they can recognize voices and tell when someone’s lying.

8. Etheria wasn’t entirely sure what to expect as she led the way up the stairs of the Crystal Tower, into the Ocular where the other three stopped. Themis in particular appeared wary of entering the Umbilicus - not that she could blame him. The version of him that was the piece of his soul she and the Exarch had sealed within the Tower was… Elidibus. While he had still retained some of his memories and mentality of his time as an Ascian, the majority of it had remained with the piece of his soul they’d pulled away; while the memories of his life before the summoning of Zodiark that he had reclaimed from his brief fall into the lifestream before Hades and Etheria had pulled him back as the him of here and now.

None of them were sure how the piece of Elidibus in the tower would react, or how their souls would react together.

Unto Elpis, as the name says it’s the lead-in to the jump back to Elpis in EW for Etheria in my main verse. Not much to say, other than poor Themis is in for a rough bit of adjusting to getting all the rest of his memories of the post-sundering back at once.

9. Azem had to admit, they weren’t… entirely sure how they were going to approach Lahabrea. Not that they were at all adverse, but they wouldn’t have gathered the boldness, the audacity, without Hyth’s prodding. The man was stern and focused on his work above all else, and certainly not the type to fool around. Especially with Azem, who was undoubtedly the greatest headache for him more often than not.

Styx knew that he didn’t hate them, or even truly dislike them, for all that he was often the first to criticize their methods and actions. But that didn’t change the fact that they were in opposition more often than not and that he would likely respond scathingly to a “distraction from their duties”.

Then again, perhaps it was simply a matter of constraints to work around.

The Lahabrea chapter of I Próklisi, a fic with the premise of Hyth going “Hey Azem, bet you can’t seduce the whole convocation” and Azem going “CHALLENGE ACCEPTED”. It’s a silly ridiculous premise that’s supposed to be generally lighthearted, but is… okay honestly it’s mostly a character study in Convocation dynamics, general lore, and character headcanons wrapped up in a thin veneer of smut. For example, I got less than a quarter into this chapter and was trying to plan ahead and just stopped to stare at Lahabrea and go “oh you have so much trauma from Athena don’t you” so. I can’t even say these are “plot what plot” because while there’s no real overarching plot, each chapter is definitely going to have a character based subplot.

10. Would that the rest of the Convocation was as easy to approach as Mitron and Loghrif, Azem thought ruefully to themself as they considered who to approach next.

There was always Nabriales, of course. They and Aion had casually tumbled into bed - well they usually didn’t make it into a bed; offices or debate rooms or far flung corners of the star were far more common - together several times. If they asked if he was up for it, chances were low he’d be uninterested.

That was kind of defeating the point of the challenge, though - it wasn’t supposed to be easy.

(The fact that Hyth had strongly implied that he’d managed it made them very curious about the stories there.)

The Fandaniel chapter of I Próklisi, though Azem doesn’t decide on him in the opening paragraphs. So far it’s just Azem worrying if he’s adjusting to Amaurot and the Convocation seat okay, inviting themself over for dinner, and then going to check with his lover (Asclepius, the ancient of my other WoL Yiskah) to make sure their overtures wouldn’t be overstepping bounds. I’m 2k words in and haven’t even gotten to the dinner, it’s just talking about boundaries and comfort levels so far. If that gives you any indication of what this fic is. XD

Uhhh who to tag.... @mirintala, @up-sideand-down, @boomchickfanfiction, and recent writing you feel like sharing?

[gravesung-moving]

CASSI » BIO.

even in a modern verse where his eyes and hair are not golden, even when wearing rags or hungover in bed, horatio cassius aventinus radiates this greek hero aura of ‘something more.’ his charisma is captivating. he knows it, too, in a comfortable, selfsure way; cassi was always relaxed and confident in his self-perception, to the point of not much caring about it at all. 

when he told his parents at a very young age that he was a boy, actually, he said it so casually and confidently that his mother couldn’t help but laugh. it took some explaining, both from cassi and his twin sibling virilis, as they both came out at the same time.

their mother, sura, didn’t understand any of it very much. it took her a while to get used to the new pronouns and to accept that it wasn’t a bad thing, that she hadn’t done anything wrong as a parent. eventually, it sort of Clicked. she was watching cassi roughhouse with some of the neighborhood boys, and suddenly realized how much more he seemed like himself, seemed comfortable and happy in his skin. she thought back on earlier memories and realized how his deadname made his face twist in confusion, how he used to shift his weight and move around like there was an itch he couldn’t scratch. that was the “oh” moment – sura nodded to herself, and afterwards put active effort in to rewire her brain and support her kids as best she could. their town had very little experience in the way of arcana or medicine. it had sprung to life from a camp of refugees and soldiers, stranded near an arcane dead zone during the first days of the war that still raged on. sura and her husband hadrianus were both soldiers; sura was a swordswoman, hadrianus a war bard. they took turns being deployed so that one could raise the children while the other was away. cassi had come out to hadrianus in a letter, and he’d received one back with much quicker full support than sura was able to give at first. essentially, his dad said “hell yeah, another boy for the boys team, also when are you gonna learn guitar” and cassi was like “when you come back obviously”

throughout his childhood, cassi simply was. he focused on life outside of himself, wanting to make sure it was worth living. he was stubborn and fiery and got into arguments, but he wasn’t afraid to cry on virilis’s shoulder when his emotions took over. they, on the other hand, were a bit more of a mess. cassi came to think of himself as responsible for them, as virilis was a loudmouth and a frequent target of bullying from older kids; the amount of times cassi stood in front of them to take a punch soon became too many to count. only then, around twelve years old, did he start to understand the burden of fighting for, and sacrificing for, those you loved. he became a little more serious, but his relaxed, confident charisma remained steadfast and only their mother noticed the steady maturing that took place underneath it. “i don’t think i can do this” became “i can handle it.” “could you help me, please?” became “don’t worry about me.” “can i talk to you about something that’s weighing me down?” became “no, no, i’m just a touch sleep-deprived.” virilis left the country to attend Wizard Boarding School at thirteen, too restless to stay in their little town, too hungry for knowledge to put down roots. then, their little sister came into the world. hadriana. named for their father because her ears were just as long as his, not shorter and blunter like sura’s and cassi’s, she was the spitting image of him – and cassi held her for the first time, and cried because he’d never seen anything so lovely. while sura was occupied completely with the first months of raising her new baby, cassi stepped into his father’s shoes to do everything else that needed to be done. he took watch at night to allow sura to sleep. he cooked, cleaned, fed the animals. the war provided them income enough to stay comfortable, but he wrote to his father frequently to keep him updated on everything going on in their lives so that he wasn’t confused when he came back. once hadriana was old enough to be healthy and stable in the hands of family friends, he approached sura and asked her to teach him how to fight. hell if he was going to grow up unable to protect the people he loved, especially in the middle of a global war. their town was safe enough at the arcane dead zone, as dragons and their armies were mostly magic-based and avoided the area. but that didn’t mean there was no threat. it wasn’t easy at first: cassi was fit and sporty, but he preferred the soft neck of a lute to the pommel of a sword. alas, hadrianus had been away for two years and there was very little in the way of an ETA on his return, so rather than going to school with his friends, cassi trained full-time to be a fighter; his mother encouraged him to study at first, but he was never interested in such, beyond learning to read and write. virilis was the intellectual of the two. so sura let him do what he felt was right, because more than anyone else in the family, cassi’s compass was always true. he knew what he wanted. and that was that. it wasn’t until he was a teenager that their town’s lack of magic and surgical practitioners became an issue for cassi. hadrianus was at home this time, sura out being a badass in the field. hadriana was no longer a toddler who needed to be watched at all times lest she burn the house down with her budding magical abilities – whatever had touched cassi upon conception to make him an aasimar, it had given young hadriana the gift of fire. she calmed down a great deal after reaching four or five years old, though. during one of their late-night dice games, cassi told his father in confidence that he was starting to feel uncomfortable in his body again. he didn’t like his chest, didn’t like that he only seemed to gain weight in his hips, that he couldn’t seem to put on muscle as fast as the other boys and that his voice was so high. hadrianus wasn’t sure what to do about that, or what to say – the best he could do was suggest that cassi go visit virilis in the neighboring country. turns out, that was the best suggestion he could have made. cassi traveled alone while hadrianus stayed behind with the kiddo; it wasn’t the safest way to travel, but he wanted to explore, so he took trade routes and journeyed with merchants. finally, he made it to DRAKARTH ACADEMY, where virilis (and much later, riposte and keon) studied. drakarth was attached to an archive of the same name, and the school specialized partly in magical research. a friend of theirs referred him to a surgeon with whom he could schedule top surgery. additionally, cassi learned that in their artifact collection lay a dwarf-crafted belt that could alter the hormone balance and genitalia of the attuned wearer. unfortunately, he could not obtain the belt, nor could virilis as the artifact collection was more a museum than anything. this was where virilis worked their top-student magic. by studying in great depth the rules of the school handbooks, they learned that they could invoke the rite of trials: essentially, they could ask a member of staff for a boon. if it’s accepted, a trial would be created for them that matched the severity of the ask. sometimes the trial was a duel, sometimes an obstacle course, sometimes a written test. virilis was tasked with retrieving another artifact from a dangerous underground graveyard in return for the one they planned to take; they did, albeit gaining a few new scars along the way. cassi’s recovery was swift with the aid of clerics and potions his family happened to be able to afford. virilis took some time to recover from the delve as well, as they’d gone alone, and by the time they arrived at their dormitory where cassi was temporarily staying, they had the belt in hand and a great grin across their face. something to remember you by, they said, twisting around to show cassi a claw mark carved over their scapula. did you know that owlbear-liches exist? bloody rude, if you ask me. the twins spent a few more weeks together at drakarth getting up to mischief. then, finally, it was time for cassi to head home. he returned to find soldiers at their door, demanding that hadrianus come with them for emergency draft deployment. his father was shaking his head, and hadriana was hiding behind his legs – she’d already grown again, just in those few months! – and cassi rushed to stand in front of his family. hadrianus looked like a ghost. even at cassi’s prompting he didn’t speak, so cassi whirled to face the soldiers, demanding to know what was going on. sura was dead, they said. hadrianus was needed in battle. he didn’t have a choice; he’d made the agreement, and the war had gone sideways. what else was a hero to do but volunteer in his stead, mulan-style? hadrianus refused, vehemently, but cassi shook his head and told him that hadriana needed her father. he’d been absent for most of cassi and virilis’s lives; this was his chance to rest, and to be a father for once. to this day, cassi regrets those being his last words to his dad. he went off to war, a combination of his mother’s fighter prowess and his father’s bardic charm, and quickly rose through the ranks until he’d been appointed the youngest general in quite some time. much of this was due to the fact that no one could raise morale like he could. he was magnetic, confident and brave, and he shone gold in the sun with his pale-glowing aasimar wings. let there be light. he was a beacon. the next ten years provided no more gaps in duty when he might be able to return back home. those soldiers weren’t kidding when they said the war had gotten bad. they were losing. cassi had become necessary, not in place of his father but as himself, and war had become his life. he was eventually put in charge of a group of elite soldiers that would be called the sunsetters, because when they returned at sunset, very few among their number remained alive. the sunsetters were essentially the s.uicide squad – they went into situations that no one else would go into, those risky missions that could turn the tide of the battle at the cost of lives. they needed the morale. for some reason, be it fate, luck, skill, or a blessing from the gods, cassi survived every mission, including his last. it wasn’t supposed to be his last, of course. the sunsetters were leading the charge and scouting ahead across what seemed to be an advantageous but very open route. the battle began: cassi and his sunsetters versus a high-level wizard and the dragon he served. they were not prepared to fight a dragon and a mage without the support of the rest of their army; the wizard identified cassi as a threat early on and focused in on him, turning him to stone before he could get close enough with his sword. and that was that. his soldiers were too busy trying not to get killed by the dragon to save him from his fate; as the transformation took hold, he watched his men fall hopelessly to the enemies whose jaws he had led them into. then... nothing. silence and darkness. he awoke 500 years later to a new world. as it turned out, the battlefield he stood in was now a war memorial, so no one had looked too closely at the statue standing right in the middle of it; that is, except a group of archaeologists piecing together untold stories from the battles lost to time. one of them realized that cassi was, in fact, alive under there, and... well, i’d say the rest is history, but. ha.

[sage-sips]

Major arcana energy is right in the middle of it.

You know that moon energy that has been lingering the past few weeks? The same message here but in a more direct, confrontational way. Major arcana cards tend to be more energetic, urgent, profound, far reaching...you name it.

The literal full moon is in two days. I chalk that up to a good old fashioned Jungian sychronicity - a meaningful coincidence. The Moon card has shifted to the Death card, but the energy of change remains.

As we all know from watching the Simpsons, the death card isn't literal death...it is a big change. It's not 'you are going to get hit by a bus' death, it is the death of an old view, action, persona...the "old" you that makes way for a new you. This is the 'natural cycle' energy from the past few week's Moon card and the 'only the empty cup can be filled' energy we talked about last week but with the volume turned up to 11.

The cup is brimming, and is soon to turn over. The moon is nearly full, it's time for tides to turn. This week feels like a tipping point of some sort.

Maybe it is the outrageously loud pavement cutting and water line work that is going on in front of my house right now, but I have a twitchy, gut churning 'bad feeling about this' worthy of Princess Leia. Something is up somewhere, but I don't know what and I don't know when. All I can do is sit here and take my own advice.

Fading energy: Queen of Pentacles, reversed. The Queen of Pentacles in any orientation is about nurturing. Often it is about nurturing yourself to preserve your capacity to help and nurture others. The reversal makes it feel like a reminder to let others nurture you. We all need a little care. If you don't even have the reserves to care for yourself, allow others to help. Just ask nicely. It's that simple. The fading energy here may be ours. It doesn't feel like a go-getter, entrepreneurial kind of week. Astrology might blame it on the Mercury in the microwave phenomenon - it feels like a bigger pattern, more of a tectonic shift than a zippy little optical illusion.

Current Energy: Death. The funky mojo energy reminds me of the beginning of covid to be honest. Maybe we are finally shifting out of that phase of human history. It doesn't feel quite like impending doom, but a sea change of some sort. Sea change is a good way to put it...it connects with the moon cycle, ebb and flow imagery that has been so prominent lately. The phrase "Brave New World" comes to mind, although it doesn't feel like an Aldus Huxley reference at all. The unknown can be gut-twistingly frightening. Maybe that is the bell ringing resonant energy that is going on here. We are finally moving out of that storm, cleaned up a little of the mess and are being forced to face facts. Everything has changed and will never be the same again.

I'm going to go put "We Don't Need Another Hero (Beyond Thunderdome)" on loop. Maybe we are looking at the unknown beyond Thunderdome so to speak. Ah - there it is - "I wonder when we are ever gonna change, change Living under the fear, 'til nothing else remains." Is this going to be fear or freedom for us? I suspect it will be whichever we choose.

Growing energy: Five of Pentacles

It's interesting that the Pentacles are the only minor arcana cards showing this week. It's right back to that hunker down and be practical vibe from 2020. Maybe this really is the unknown other side. Again, the sense of this card as fearful or freeing is again up to us to our choice.

The card also brings to mind a TikTok I saw yesterday. I forget the creator, it was something survival. It was a very sped up video of someone who dug a hole and built a survival shelter out of branches and dry grass & mud daub. They even dug out a fireplace (about the size of a small cooler) complete with chimney.

I looked like a totally warm, dry Hobbit hole when it was done.

The Five of Pentacles is about seeking shelter in a storm.

You can focus on the storm or you can focus on the sanctuary that is available for you to take. Again, our choice.

I 'hear' "wrap your wisdom around you like a cloak." Sheltering through a storm means gathering in, yin, not pushing, not being ostentatious. But it also means being happy that shelter exists to take.

Sometimes humble but sturdy and reliable is a wonderful thing. Look for those kinds of things and take whatever shelter you need this week.

Thank you for reading! Your support through likes, follows, social media shares, and comments is always appreciated! Nothing on this blog is paywalled anymore, and none of my social media is monetized so YOUR Tarot message always comes first. Your support through private readings, memberships, and virtual coffee tips are what fuels it all.

Next up - Wednesday "Odinsday Oracle" - not because I'm particulary norse pagan. I am, however, irrationally fond of alliteration.

See you at the next sip!